#and I’m fairly certain it was just coincidence

[diana-daphne]

I had a possibly prophetic dream that rep tv will come out Jan 31, and I wanted to put it out there just because it would be so absolutely hilarious if I’m right

[4rk4n4]

Disability has been discussed heavily in Arcane as it is a reoccurring theme within the show, but I do think people forget that Silco is disabled and/or they have difficulty describing his disability despite it being very obvious. So, I feel like talking about this a little bit more here.

I don’t have the same disability as him, so feel free to correct me on vocabulary but from my understanding facial differences refer to a broad category that includes facial disfigurements which can be acquired through injury to the face. I do have experience with nerve damage, though, which I will talk about a little bit below.

Facial difference and disfigurement is considered a disability. I know you’re probably used to seeing villains with facial disfigurements. However, it is common for facial disfigurements to be associated with villains because real people with facial disfigurements are often ostracized from society.

It is difficult for them to find work, housing, relationships, etc. because of how we as a society position people with facial differences and disfigurements. On a social level, this disables them from participating fully in society. On a physical level, a person with a facial difference or disfigurement may not be able to utilize all physical senses though this varies greatly from person to person. As a whole, though, people with facial differences and disfigurements are socially and physically disabled.

The fact that villains represent the majority of on-screen representation for facial disfigurements is a problem. Any media could intentionally or unintentionally push those negative associations onto people with that disability. I think it’s fair to believe the same issue arises with Silco.

However, I do think Silco is a special case in that his facial disfigurement is not just a lazy trope, but one that is given a narrative explanation, though it’s still possible for the audience to consciously or subconsciously associate his facial disfigurement with his villainy. It’s in part why I appreciate that he still has a facial disfigurement in the alternate timeline, because Silco is clearly not a villain in that timeline.

Still, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that young Silco, who did not have a facial disfigurement, garnered more sympathy from the Arcane fandom when he was introduced on screen. People began to humanize him more. From my understanding, the fan content jumped in quantity. People began to associate his facial disfigurement less with his villainy and more with his trauma. This is the social impact on disability I’m talking about.

There’s also in-universe evidence that Silco struggles socially because of his facial disfigurement. Silco tries to cover up his scars with makeup. For people with facial disfigurements, makeup is not just an aesthetic choice. It could make a difference in how they are perceived or treated. Few people have seen Silco without makeup. This is not just vanity on his part. Some have fairly pointed out this might help with his trauma, but it may also be necessary for him socially.

As for the physical aspect of disability, we know the river water poisoned his blood, damaged his nerves, and infected his wounded eye. He says so. He does not cover up his eye with a patch nor remove his eye which suggests he may still be able to use it, but he may have limited vision in that eye. He is dependent on a dangerous drug to treat his condition. Medical dependency on a drug to survive and thrive is a sign of disability.

The infection and nerve damage also impacts his senses. Nerve damage limits movement in his face. It’s debatable how much he can feel on the scarred part of his face. It’s also pure speculation, but it’s possible that without medical treatments the infection could spread and damage nerves throughout his body. That’s why his dependency on Shimmer can’t be divorced from his disability.

We don’t know for certain what his experience with chronic pain is like, but I know what nerve pain can feel like and it can feel like your nerves are burning, freezing, or like “tv static.” We know that the injections don’t necessarily feel good, but he still does them which suggests the consequences of not doing them could be more painful. Chronic pain is a sign of disability.

Silco is not an open book in addition to being The Villain, though, so I think the audience struggles to understand what he is thinking or feeling and that extends to whether or not they view him as disabled. It’s just really interesting that he has a very obvious disability that people often don’t recognize at all. This doesn’t even get into the PTSD he likely suffers from, but that could be disabling too.

[yamujiburo]

I don't know if I've just been super blind and not noticed it before, but it feels like you and your work is getting a tonnnnn of unjustified criticism. Your responses every time have been a solid 10/10, least problematic person possible, but still just a lot of criticism. Do you know if something happened or is this just like a coincidence. I love your stuff and have tried to stay updated for a little while so it's weird seeing a wave like this. You'd know best so I wanted to ask :)

I don’t know if it’s criticism so much as just opinions (though I guess criticisms are just opinions at the end of the day haha)

I think I’ve just been answering a lot of asks lately! I usually go through periods where I don’t answer anything just bc I’m busy irl. I get A LOT of asks in a day and tend to just ignore the hateful ones, which do come in fairly frequently, but if I have the time and came come up with a thoughtful answer I’ll write up an answer. I also try to only respond to anonymous messages like this just because I don’t like when my followers dogpile in my defense.

While unnecessary to give these things attention, as someone with a large following I do think it’s nice to let my followers know where I stand on certain things so they can feel safe following me/supporting me. Or on the opposite end, if people don’t like what I have to say, they can leave.

I have a hard time just sharing my opinions out of the blue so asks are a good way for me to say what I need to say on certain topics.

All this to say, nah nothing happened! This is pretty par for the course LOL. I just had time

[frangipanilove]

Thoughts on Isabelle as a Beth proxy

(Beware of potentially unpleasant romance-related spoilers below)

@bethgreeneprevails I hope you have recovered from your traumatic morning the other day (hopefully this won't traumatize you further). As promised, here are a few of my thoughts on why I’m not terribly distressed by the prospect of potential hints of romance between Daryl and Isabelle. I typed this out the other week, then of course yesterday THOSE spoilers came out (under the cut, to save lives), then all hell broke loose, and here we are.

Yes, they are unpleasent spoilers for sure! I’ll address them briefly in here, but they actually don’t really significantly change how I already feel.

And honestly there’s not really anything new and groundbreaking in here in terms of analysis, just a few thoughts I’ve been having about Isabelle as a Beth proxy.

So to get it out of the way, the recent spoilers report that apparently Daryl and Isabelle will share a kiss. I know, I know. I wasn’t thrilled to hear that either. But I’m still not terribly concerned about it, and I’ll try to explain why.

First of all, I don’t know if these are credible spoilers or not. It’s my understanding that they originated from DearTV, but I haven’t been able to confirm that, so keep that in mind.

But at a certain point last night they seemed to be all over the internet:

And while I reserve the right to be moderately grumpy about it, I don’t think we’re in for a porno here. I expect it to be fairly harmless and innocent. I think we’ll survive. Unlike poor Isabelle.

I originally wanted to write this post because I feel strongly that Isabelle has so much Beth-proxyness (totally a word) about her, and anything that happens between Isabelle and Daryl, on some level says something about his relationship to Beth. While it was subtle during season 1, it was definitely noticeable, and I believe it’s going to become a lot more obvious during season 2.

First a few words on why I originally came to see Isabelle as a Beth proxy. It actually started long before season 1 aired, and it has to do with their names:

As you can see, the French “Isabelle” (and Spanish “Isabel”), originally derived from the medieval French /Spanish version of the name Elizabeth. And “Beth” is an established short-form of the name Elizabeth. So “Isabelle” is etymologically directly linked to the name Elizabeth, and “Beth” is an established short-form of the name Elizabeth.

I was curious about this connection even before the show had aired, because it seemed like such an unlikely coincidence. The two names basically share the same origin! That’s earns a major side-eye from me, why would TPTB do that if not for establishing a subtle connection between the two characters? Keep in mind that this was an impression that was formed before the show had aired, solely based on the name etymology. I wondered if Isabelle was there to function as a Beth proxy, and I wondered how this would carry over to the show.

Then episode 1 was released, and we saw this:

Yup, Isabelle has a wrist scar, just like Beth does. She’s definitely a Beth proxy. Because the wrist scar, that’s undeniably a Beth callback. That’s something that was a topic in 4x12 Still when Daryl and Beth had the fight at the moonshine shack, it was something Dawn used against her at Grady etc. The wrist scar has become something that’s tied to Beth, not anyone else.

And it’s significant that this is one of the very first things we learn about Isabelle. It’s quite literally the first glimpse we get into her character that goes beyond the superficial stuff such as her appearance, that she’s a nun etc.

It’s a defining moment for Isabelle, we learn that there’s more to her than just being a pious nun, and it’s something that ties her character directly to Beth.

And as the season went by, there were other things, dialogue callbacks etc. I don’t even remember. But that wrist scar was the main reason I could never unsee the parallels to Beth.

And towards the end of the season we could definitely see some sort of connection forming between Isabelle and Daryl, a connection that wasn’t necessarily strictly about platonic friendship. I expect us to see more of that in season 2, and no, it’s not going to be delightful to witness. But we’ll survive.

I'm not going to lie, we’ve had reports suggesting that Isabelle will die, and it’s likely that my anxiety would be higher if we didn’t already know that.

But if Daryl starts falling for her, he’s falling for a Beth proxy, because that’s how she was introduced to the show. Obviously that’s not all she is, she’s a character in her own right, but she definitely carries traits that are supposed to remind us of Beth.

Her presence makes room for Daryl’s memories about Beth. Again, it was subtle and understated in season 1, but I expect it to increase in season 2. For instance, I do believe we’ll see a conversation between them about Beth prior to the hallucination scene in the Euro tunnel where Daryl eventually instructs her to tell Merle, Beth and Glenn he tried, which I discussed briefly here and here.

Another thing; I might be in the minority here but I interpret Isabelle’s lying and manipulation differently than many others. I’m fully expecting pushback on this but hear me out:

Isabelle is Laurent’s de facto mother figure. She’s his only remaining family, and she’s protecting him as though he’s her own child. There’s a parallel to Beth here, in that she’s also been a parent figure (to Judith and others), she’s fiercely protective of children and has been surrounded by parent/child symbolism.

And while in isolation, Isabelle’s behavior towards Daryl is indeed manipulative, I interpret it as a mother’s (or mother’s figure’s) desperate attempts to ensure her child’s safety. I don’t think her behavior comes from a place of malicious intent, I see it as a testament of the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her child. She perceives Daryl as Laurent’s best chance of survival, and she goes all in, unapologetically. I can’t hold that against her, I would probably also lie and manipulate to protect my child. I think that’s human nature.

And we see how Daryl, while reluctant at first, slowly start to develop a bond with Laurent. That scene of them on the riverbank when Laurent let the boat go is stellar. First we see Daryl give into his anger, lashing out at Laurent, likely following the pattern he learned from his own father growing up.

But then we watch him reach a moment of clarity, where he sees himself from the outside, replicating the dysfunctional parenting style of his father. He manages to regulate his emotions and get control over himself. He then sincerely apologizes to Laurent and chooses a different path, a different parenting style, one of love, patience and tolerance. That’s an incredible moment of character development for Daryl, and it shows that whatever manipulation he’s been subjected to by Isabelle has in fact made him a better person. Maybe Isabelle knows what he needs better that he knows himself. Much like Beth did.

We see a similar moment of real, healthy parenting in the trailer, where Daryl talks to Laurent about the three of them going to the US.

Obviously, I haven’t watched this scene yet, so for all I know my analysis could be completely wrong. That’s a problem for future me. For now, I’m loving this shot. I’ve never seen Daryl this paternal, and quite frankly it’s HOT! This, to me, looks like solid, healthy parenting, by someone who’s come a long way, emotionally speaking. He excels when he gets to be a parent.

And he has Isabelle’s manipulation to thank for that. Her “manipulation” unlocked something good in him. I actually don’t see it as manipulation. She’s surviving and making sure Laurent survives too.

I think you could actually argue that Beth would have responded to the situation in a similar way, which is another reason I’m side-eying Isabelle’s character. I 100% believe Beth would lie and manipulate in order to protect her child, or any child. We’ve already seen her do that to protect her loved ones, in 5x4 Slabtown, before her escape attempt with Noah.

We saw her, ice cold and lying through her teeth, telling Dawn that she saw Gorman go into her office. Her steady gaze and cool calm demeanor as she lied to Dawn’s face, seconds after having fed Gorman to walker-Joan, just so that she and Noah could escape from Grady, that’s imo the same impulse Isabelle is following to protect Laurent. Do whatever it takes to protect your loved ones. Lie, manipulate, steal…

And she later does the same in order to save Carol’s life, when it’s decided that Carol isn’t worth the resources it would take to save her.

I don’t see it as manipulative as much as I see it as being fiercely protective and ruthless on behalf of your loved ones and your children. I don’t see it as an inherently “bad” quality, I see it as “doing whatever it takes” to protect your family. Both Beth and Isabelle have that same ruthlessness when it comes to protecting their loved ones. And I’m excited about that because it’s yet another parallel between them.

And Isabelle, just like Beth, sacrificed herself. She returned to her abusive ex boyfriend because she thought that would be Laurent’s best chance of getting to safety at the Nest. Beth sacrificed herself for Noah, twice. And stopped at nothing to save Carol’s life.

So yeah, I think all of this is just a long way of saying that I believe we’ll see even more similarities and parallels between Beth and Isabelle in season 2. We probably will see Daryl develop some sort of feelings for Isabelle. Yes, it will be difficult to watch, but I think it’s a part of the process Daryl needs to evolve. I think there’s a reward for us at the end of it. And ultimately it might even be good for Daryl to have a little taste of those feelings. He might open up about Beth, I fully believe we’ll see them talk about Beth, and I do believe it will be thoroughly communicated how important Beth was to him, either explicitly through dialogue, or alternatively more subtly, through symbolism. And Isabelle will most likely die, while Beth will hopefully “resurrect”.

I believe the budding romance (or whatever) will make space for so much Beth symbolism, if we can just tolerate watching it for long enough to get a good grasp on the symbolism surrounding it. I do believe it will mostly be fairly innocent, at least that’s what I’m going to tell myself for now. And Beth will always be lurking in the symbolic shadows. In the narrative it will be about Daryl and Isabelle, but beneath the surface it will also address Daryl’s feelings towards Beth.

I think my main message with all of the above is that I expect to see the Beth-proxyness of Isabelle turned up a notch this season, and that it will function as a primer for bringing Beth back. I think we’ll see it both in terms of more subtle, between-the-lines symbolism, but also increasingly by having her explicitly talked about, for example in conversations between Daryl and Isabelle, such as we saw from the leaked script pages the other week.

[shepscapades]

I think I may I have accidentally stumbled into your dbhc playlists a few months ago???

I swear I didn't know they were yours, I just thought they were fan made lists. But now all of them are missing so I'm guessing you privated them when you posted the mumbo playlist thingy out of caution. Either that or it's a coincident.

EEP Yeah no worries!! I honestly haven’t privated any of the in-progress dbhc playlists (or if I did, it was a long time/several months ago), they’re just all on a personal account so I haven’t put links to them anywhere yet. I made a more ‘professional’ account (under ‘Shepscapades’) so that I can put the finished playlists there and so they can be public/so I can share the links when I’m ready, but I’m fairly certain the only playlists on that account are the finished DBHC Etho one and the Souls in the Sand playlist.

All of the in-progress playlists will stay on my personal account, and I think the only folks who know about them/have links are folks from my stream discord, or anyone who’s made a lucky search. I would prefer that people not to go looking for the ones on my personal account, since I don’t want to have to private all of my unrelated personal playlists, and also because I’m planning on putting WIP versions of every DBHC character playlist on the more official Shepscapades account for when the Etho playlist gets posted, that way y’all can poke at all of the songs without them being linked to my personal account. Hopefully I’ll find a good rhythm to update the wip playlists on the official account every so often— not sure, I haven’t thought about it too much yet hehe

hopefully that clears things up a little!!

[auspicioustidings]

Firewatch Part 8

Summary: An unspoken ceasefire takes place and you struggle with sleeping arrangements.

Words: 2k

CW: as always, this fic is reader falling for captors, but nothing specific in this chapter

You just existed around each other the rest of the day more or less quietly. They treated you like a housemate for the most part and you finally felt like you were settling down. It had been the worst 48 hours of your life and there were only so many high emotional outbursts you could go through without needing some quiet from your thoughts.

When you got out of your frigid shower Kyle said Price had went to pick you up some things. Neither him nor the asshole with the mohawk sitting sipping away at his coffee mentioned the sudden cut off of hot water or how you had screeched about it. Price came back with bags full of clothes and toiletries for you. They were your size and you decided you were not going to get into the fight that you wanted to over the fact that the shampoo, conditioner and soap in the bag was what you had used at home. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he had went to the expensive store in the town where everything was handmade by what you were fairly certain was some sort of witch and somehow managed to pick out the specific products you liked.

It felt nice to be in soft new clothes that fit even if there was a small pang of something at stripping out of Price’s clothes. When you saw the wet spots you bristled and scrubbed at them, wringing out the offending item as best you could before folding it and leaving the bundle of his clothes on the bathroom counter.

You called Dosia a traitor at least 4 times before dinner for how she slunk over to get scratches off of Price. You cooed at her just as many for when Soap tried to pet her and she treated him with complete disdain.

“Ye should have got a dug” he grumbled after another failed attempt to endear himself to your cat.

“What? So you could have a litter mate?” you shot back before going back to coo at your cat.

“Woof!”

Kyle made dinner and you asked if he always cooked (“only when we want something edible” “oi! I’m a braw cook I’ll have ye know!”) before scolding yourself for the umpteenth time for being so casual and curious with them, but once again you just let it go. You could start thinking about how to get out of this situation again tomorrow, you really could not put any more brain power into being angry and pushing them today. It seemed to be an unspoken understanding that they felt a little the same way with nobody really pushing at you or getting into your space.

You weren’t about to look a surprise ceasefire horse in the mouth so you ate dinner, even gave Kyle a quiet thank you for cooking and Price an even quieter one for clearing away the table. There was one glaring issue that you were avoiding thinking about, the small matter of where you were going to sleep. Would they let you take the sofa or where you doomed to wind up in someone’s bed? You didn’t know how you’d fare with the threat to this shaky peace if one of these men nestled under blankets with you and held you the way Johnny had been when you had woken up.

You worried that as tired as your brain was from fighting and plotting and a thousand emotions happening at once today that you wouldn’t even stop them. That you’d take the comfort. And it would just make things so much worse when tomorrow came and you had rested and were ready to push at them again.

It had not occurred to you that there was actually a much worse option until Price told you that you could take Simon’s bed and left you in his room. It was simple but it had touches of the enigmatic man. A cute little crocheted skull on the dresser (had he been gifted it? Bought it himself? Made it?), a thriller book on the bedside table well worn (he must be the type of person to break books spines and dog ear them), a few sets of dumbbells in the corner that were disrespectfully heavy and a photo in a simple frame of him with the two Johns, Kyle and a man you didn’t recognise. If another handsome man walked into this cabin you would lose it, so he damn well better have just been a visitor.

The thing that really sent your heartbeat into overdrive though was right there lovingly pinned to a corkboard on the wall. Drawings. They were clearly from children and they showed their crude versions of him in his gear holding hands with them. These were what was taking pride of place in this simple room, these were what mattered to him.

You gently traced your fingers over one, trying to reconcile the drawing with the man in the closet who had left the mark still throbbing dully on your neck. You paused over a detail you had missed. The little skull sticker on the helmet. It made sense then the little crochet skull, but it also gave you such a vivid flashback that you heard a strangled sort of sound leave your mouth.

You had seen that little skull sticker before, on the man who had saved you. You thought it had been Kyle, but it was Simon. Simon was the one who carried you through the fire and laid you gently on the ground outside, whose eyes you had stared into and thought ‘oh, he is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen’ when you realised he was there and real and you were alive. It came flooding back with such force that you had to stumble away from the pictures and sit down.

It was only after a breath that you realised you were sitting on his bed and you flexed your fingers a few times, feeling the softness of the duvet. You wondered what blanket he would be using in the tower. It was boiling during the day but freezing at night, would he be cold? Certainly the sofa wasn't going to provide the same support as this mattress. It probably wouldn't even fit all of him, he'd have to curl in.

You couldn't. You could not sleep in this bed while he was in the cold, uncomfortable and barely getting any sleep at all, tossing and turning before getting up and looking out for any sign of trouble before repeating it again. No amount of telling yourself he was a bad person was going to let you do that with those kids drawings staring down at you.

So you stood, straightened out the duvet, wrapped yourself in the throw that had been draped over the dresser and curled up on the floor.

---

Price was on wake up duty. They had discussed sending Gaz since you seemed to trust him the most, but he had argued that in order to get you on side it was him you needed to trust the most. He reluctantly agreed when he thought about it, he was this teams Captain at the end of the day. And you were part of that now, his team.

He also did feel annoyed with himself at how he had dealt with you yesterday. He should have known better than to think it would all be easy and you'd be predictable. At least after a good night's rest he had settled a bit. It was strange how his feelings toward you had changed. They were more intense somehow, maybe a little rougher around the edges and complicated. But he was a problem solver and the way to solve this one was by trying to get on your good side, figuring out who you were when you weren't spitting mad at him.

There was a moment when he opened the door that he felt his heart stop. The bed was empty. And then he heard a soft sigh of discomfort and followed it to see you shivering away on the hard floor. It was then that John Price knew he cared about you. Not the you he had made up in his head, the you that had annoyed the life out of him yesterday and kept fighting him on every little thing. He hated seeing you almost whimper in your sleep from how cold and uncomfortable you were.

Why the hell hadn't you just slept in the bed? Were you trying to rebel by making him feel awful? Or could you just not stand the thought of sleeping in Simon's… oh. It was Simon's bed, you hadn't wanted to take Simon's bed. You felt guilty. Even through all that rage and exhaustion you felt guilty. Ah fuck, had to go and be a good person despite everything didn't you? You'd win the bet if he was a better man.

Soap and Gaz didn't question him when he emerged with you bundled in his arms still sleeping. It wasn't difficult to tell you hadn't slept well and while they did want to get you into a routine they had all the time in the world, one morning letting you sleep in wouldn't ruin everything.

He had considered just putting you into Simon's bed, but somehow that felt cruel. Instead he carried you to his room. Warmer than Simon's, more cluttered with years of knick knacks. It had a set of wingbacks with a table between that held a bottle of whiskey and some cigars. Price's room was where his boys could come for refuge if they needed someone to just listen.

You roused a little when he gently manoeuvred you under the blankets, instantly letting out a little sound of panic and trying to get up.

“Steady on little bird, it's my bed. Not making you sleep in Simon's. That a girl, go back to sleep” he said, as gentle as he could manage.

“I don't…” you murmured, not sure what you wanted to say.

You needed to talk to someone, you needed to get it off your chest, but there was nobody here but your captors. Nobody in this room with you but their Captain whose soft coaxing had made you relax despite yourself. It was pathetic and you knew that, but somewhere in the exhaustion it almost felt like this was a dream. Like what you said here didn't count in the real world.

“He's a good man isn't he? I could tell, from his room.”

Price hated how torn up you sounded, as if the idea of any of them being good men was breaking your heart. And while he wouldn't go as far as to call himself one, he knew with a fierce certainty that his team were the best of men. Would it hurt you to keep discovering that? Would it help you want to stay?

“Simon Riley is a good man” he confirmed, sitting himself on the edge of the bed and sighing as he ran a hand over your hair, soothing. “But he was rough with you for no good reason little bird, even the actions of good men have consequences. It isn't your fault he isn't here.”

Christ he should be trying to guilt you instead of this. He should be manipulating you into begging him to let Simon off of 24 hour watch. Twisting things until you loved them. He thought when they first decided to keep you that it would come easy. He never knew you'd be so hard to hurt.

You only made a soft noise in acknowledgement. You felt bone tired, completely wrung dry. You just couldn't find that fire within you right now that you had planned on stoking when you woke up. It wasn't fair for them to be good, for them to show you kindness. For them to be human.

You thought maybe a bit more sleep would help as you drifted off with John's hand petting your hair. That was what you needed, some proper sleep in a proper bed and then you could find that fight again. You hoped.

[aspenlovesmedia]

I am sure I am not the first person to notice this but I only noticed it because I’m planning the superhero au and I am very new to the fandom so I’m only really recently reading up on the lore and stuff so I’m fairly certain someone else will have noticed it but the fact that soulmates keep winning is so interesting to me.

Like Grian and Scar have both won, as have Scott and Pearl and Cleo and Martyn. Joel is of course technically the exception but that’s because we’re on an odd number and also they’re not necessarily winning one after the other if that makes sense.

It’s 100% just a weird coincidence but it’s also really cool from a writing standpoint. I can do things with this in my au.

Idk how well I phrased this. I need to stop writing posts at midnight when I’m sleep deprived lol.

[arcadiabaytornado]

So Chloe takes up two handicapped parking spaces and tries to take the money for the Blackwell handicap fund….

But then in the alternate timeline where William lives, she gets into a car accident and becomes paralyzed….making her disabled…

There’s no way this is all a coincidence right?? Right?? 

Like don’t get me wrong- I’m not trying to say that Chloe deserved to be paralyzed for what she did, (the poor girl has suffered enough) 

I just think these events really reflect on how society needs to treat disabled people better. Actions such as taking up a handicap parking space when you don’t need it may not seem too bad, but they are. And you yourself could become disabled at any moment and therefore need to rely on such accommodations  (Like how alt Chloe’s life was fairly “normal” up until she got into the car accident)

Apologies for rambling, I just had a lot of thoughts about this and I wanted to share.

Chloe stealing from the handicap fund and parking in a handicap spot in one timeline, and then ending up disabled on another, is 100% social commentary in my opinion.

Able-bodied people can very easily fall into not caring about disabled people's need's. There's a lot of reasons for this, but a huge one is that they struggle to put themselves in a disabled persons shoes because they assume a disability could never to happen to them.

They go to the grocery store and park a handicap spot they don't need because "I just need to grab milk real quick. I'll be right back," never considering the idea that all it would take is a bad slip in the shower for them to NEED the spot they're unfairly taking.

They argue that their should be less funding dedicated to social programs that help the disabled, ignoring the idea that with one bad car crash they might need that program to financially survive.

They don't invite their "friend" in a wheelchair to go out because "Oh. Well. I don't want to cater to them all night," trying to pretend like it wouldn't just take one bad illness for them to become the friend with the disability.

Able-bodied people are wayyy to comfortable treating disabled people a certain way because they assume that since they weren't born disabled they're in the clear. That isn't true as shown with Chloe and her car accident, and I REALLY like that the game addresses this so clearly. This was a great ask, Anon. Thank you for sending it!

[genius-built-donatello]

Oh, fantastic, so now we just share negative symptoms. Great. Coolcoolcool. I love this. Very helpful for me. Definitely does not negatively impact my very important job at all.

Excuse me. Why can I not get any of this timeline-sense.

[m-ayo-o]

vice and virtue

18+ // ex boyfriend Kisuke // female reader 18+ you’ve been hanging out, but he took you off guard tonight age gap // manipulation // unprotected sex // oral // “kitten” wc 2000

You were a student, he was the strange, pervy shopkeeper.

You honestly thought there was nothing more to it. Sure, he’s gorgeous, confident and funny, but he’s also much older than you, and left such a weird first impression.

Despite this, you got to know him and dated for nearly two years, ending up parting ways when you moved back home after university, forcing a distance on your relationship.

But after travelling, returning to save money and submitting countless applications, you’ve finally landed a great job. Your connections in your old university town worked in your favour, so you decide to move back and find your own place to live, excited to start this new chapter.

⋆⁺₊⋆

You allowed yourself to believe it was mere coincidence when you bumped into each other on your first night back. He’s just so casual about it, asking, “sorry, are you ok, miss?” when your shoulders brush past each other, pretending not to realise who you are until he looks up at you, “oh...[name]?”

You’re not fooled by the surprised look on his face. You know he can sense your presence from miles away. You can’t believe he waited this long, to be honest.

But he couldn’t just show up at your new place. He had to at least feign normality, bumping into you outside the supermarket when you were late night shopping.

But in reality, you’re relieved to see him, a familiar face in this old town. Of course, you’ve been trying your best to keep it to yourself– it would be insufferable if he found out just how happy you are to see him.

Despite your best efforts, you know Kisuke has realised after numerous “meet ups” and “hang outs” that you’re glad to be back, the possibility of resuming your relationship growing by the day.

Most of your encounters have been fairly laid back, meeting after work, having drinks, then he’d walk you home through the park.

You try to ignore the feelings that are resurfacing and spreading, taking hold with every flirty comment and casual touch.

You’ve always wanted to believe that the light outshines the dark with Kisuke, but realistically, you often can’t place his intentions.

During your relationship you came to understand that Kisuke doesn’t exactly play by the rules, and sure, he was a little manipulative at times.

But you can’t deny that you’ve missed him, enjoying the incredible rush it gives you to speak to him again. After all those years he’s still the same; facetious, quick witted, observant.

And yes, of course he’s gorgeous, and he knows it. But the way he looks at you… his eyes lingering where they really shouldn’t– it makes you realise he has a certain power over you.

After getting the message that you at least want to spend time with him, he’s decided to take things up a notch, but you weren’t quite prepared for his next move.

⋆⁺₊⋆

Nostalgia hits you so hard when you see him perching on your windowsill, giving you a little smile when you turn to face him, sensing his presence, “you missed me?”

You hold yourself, feeling exposed in your skimpy pyjama set, as if he hasn’t seen you like this before. How long has he been watching?

He steps in, ignoring your hesitation and making himself at home.

He has a way with his words, so charming and persuasive, you swear he could get away with murder.

“Kisuke,” you settle on the arm of the sofa as he lays back comfortably, “what are you doing here?”

“Just…” he tilts his head up, giving you a big grin, “visiting the prettiest girl in town.”

Your face shows obvious irritation, grumbling as you get up and walk to the kitchen. You forget how cheesy he can be sometimes.

It’s now that you’re facing away from him that he speaks up, his voice a little lower, “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Me too,” you reply, partly satisfied with his answer as you get a glass of water

“Are you not happy to see me?” he asks, his mischievous eyes peering at you from under his hat.

“Well, I–” you start, sitting on the edge of the sofa again, folding your arms, “tonight– I’m just surprised, that's all. The way you showed up outside my window…” you trail off, a smile playing at your lips as your eyes find his.

He returns your gaze, “Glad you remember, anyway.”

You just sigh and take another sip of water, trying to keep your cool. Of course you remember.

He edges closer to you, his hand reaching out to tug on your cute socks, “Because I remember,” he continues, “I remember it all.”

He studies the frilly material, his fingers twiddling and toying as he speaks.

“I remember…” he tilts his head up, his eyes flicking to yours, “what we used to do together.”

You can’t help the way your stomach twists up at his words. And he can’t help his hands tracing up your legs. 

Now that he has his hands on you, your body feels frozen in place. Part of you begs to flee, another urges you to stay.

But you know it’s too late.

If Kisuke wants something, he’s going to get it.

He’s going to ask for it nicely, with flirting and compliments, or he’s going to take it, using more coercive, manipulative methods.

He doesn’t mind either way.

The dangerous thing is, you find it hard to tell the difference.

“You remember all that too, right?” you hear his voice again over your rushing thoughts.

You nod and squirm under his gaze, your legs wriggling in a feeble attempt to free yourself.

“It felt good, didn’t it?” he whispers over your bare leg, making you shiver.

You can’t deny it. He knows his way round your body like the back of his hand. You’ve never met anyone before or since who’s made you feel like he did.

“Kisuke…” you give him a look of warning, “we shouldn’t…”

He only inches closer, his lips pressing over your shin as he sits below you.

You try to pull away, only to find his hands circling around your ankles, keeping you seated on the arm of the sofa.

He mutters your name and kisses up to your knee.

“You know it’ll feel good, and you’ve missed me, hm?” he coos, taking his hat off with a ruffle of his hair, looking up at you almost endearingly.

His timing is immaculate as always, showing off his pretty grey eyes and blonde mop of hair right before you were about to edge away completely.

But that would’ve meant he lost, and that’s not going to happen.

“I haven’t changed too much, have I?” he asks, a hand running through his hair with a smile and a laugh.

You know what he’s doing, and it’s working. 

Your hand almost instinctively reaches out to stroke his hair, faltering slightly, then bringing him in closer.

He’s got you. Your hands on him are a sure sign, clear as day, that you want him.

His lips seal over you again, his eyes studying your every reaction as he parts your legs, working up your thighs.

Your hands just remain entangled in his messy blonde hair, impulsively pulling him closer.

He crooks an eyebrow, smirking over your inner thigh as his eyes find your cute pyjama shorts.

He strips you and dives between your legs right where you’re sitting, smiling over you.

He’s won. The game is over. Now he can enjoy his sweet prize.

And in all honesty, you haven’t felt like this in… years. Probably since you were last with Kisuke. Nobody else has compared.

It’s just the way he eats you so… unashamedly. There’s no hesitation– it’s not as if he’s rushing. He can take it slow if you ask, it’s just the lack of inhibition and pure enjoyment he gets from making you feel good.

Once he’s satisfied with how wet and messy you’re getting he pulls away, his tongue licking up to your clit teasingly. He stands, licks his lips and finally places a kiss on yours. 

You smile into his kiss, finding it amusing that he managed to kiss your pussy before your mouth. He seems to agree, a chuckle escaping as he opens up to feel your tongue working into his mouth.

Finally, you taste each other again. You can’t help the grin spreading over your face as you pull away, reveling in the familiar sweet flavours on his tongue.

There’s no chance he’s missing the pink in your cheeks right now. He stares down at your smile and returns his own, your hands finding his chest.

“Been so long…” you murmur quietly.

“I know baby, c’mere, let me make you feel good, ok?” as if he’s asking politely, taking your hand in his, soon finding your bedroom in your new apartment.

He’s got you right where he wants you, stripped and splayed out on your bed, looking all cute and defenseless.

He discards his clothes, revealing his muscular, toned body and hard length, climbing over and pushing into you in seconds. You’re both just so impatient, pulling each other closer.

You don’t know why you hesitated so much in the first place. Maybe it was just part of the game you two love playing.

He loves it when you play hard to get, trying to deny him, and you love it when he convinces you to have sex with him.

But now he’s inside you, he’s got you letting out cute little whimpers of his name, wishing you let him have you the first night you arrived back.

“Aw, did my pretty girl miss me, hm?” he coos, pushing your leg back to get deeper.

You try to convince yourself that you’ve just missed his body, the pleasure he’s giving you right now. But you know it’s not just that. 

You nod in defeat, looking down at where he’s repeatedly entering you.

“S’ok, girl, you’re back with me now, yeah?” he mutters over your lips as you get dangerously close to your release.

He’s planting this idea in your mind now, knowing you’ll have pleasurable memories when he starts convincing you to get back together with him.

But in actual fact, he’s been working on that since the day you arrived back in town.

“‘m with you,” you nod and look up at him with those gorgeous, wide eyes that he’s missed so much– those eyes you give him when you’re basically begging to cum over him, “Kisuke–”

He gets nice and rough, hearing his name from your lips, “fuck– you gonna cum f’ me, kitten?” his voice is soft in your ear, delivering that pet name you completely forgot about.

Your body arches up, your eyes rolling back as you squeeze his length, the details flooding your mind.

Maybe he’s just allowing you to remember everything at the right moment, building a full picture back gradually to ensure you don’t get scared off.

“Remember that now, hm?” he questions as your hips grind up to his, your orgasm pulsing through you for what feels like minutes, “mm, remember how I had you trained so nicely?”

Fuck. He had you wrapped around his little finger.

And he’s doing it again. He’s got you cumming over his dick and nodding blindly, agreeing to stay with him and let him use you whenever he wants, effortlessly bending your will for his own benefit.

But he can’t help it. It’s what he does best.

And now he’s got his pretty girl taking his cum without question. He smiles and kisses up your neck and cheek, to your lips, praising and holding you, feeling pleased with himself.

He's got you back.

[masterlist]

likes, comments + reblogs appreciated!

[rabbitholessk]

Coincidence

Jinshi is unsure what in particular is ailing him tonight.

No amount of tossing, turning, and changing positions has brought him any rest since his head first hit the pillow. 

It’s late. He knows that. Rising from his bed, he sips on the readily accessible water pitcher. Haphazardly throwing on an outer robe, he stuffs pillows under his sheets that give an impression similar to his build. Jinshi knows Suiren more than likely won’t be looking for him, it was just a precautionary measure. Not only that, he’s fairly certain she knows of his excursions, both past and present. They aren’t often, but it’s been enough times that she is not so easily fooled by his antics. 

What is strange is why she keeps letting him get away with it. Maybe she knows that his sense of duty weighs heavily enough upon him, that he has no other choice but to return.

Opening his bedroom window as quietly as possible, he slips away. At this hour he tries to jog his memory of where the nighttime guards are posted. Unfortunately, he’s had to learn their rotations the hard way, since getting caught a few years prior. After that incident, he’d made it a point to learn the rotations and times they switched the guard. 

However, to get out of his house grounds, he has to get on his stomach and crawl through a hedge to arrive at a less guarded area of the palace. 

His stomach scratches against a few twigs on his way through, but he makes it without being seen. With the hard part over, he stands, weaving his way around court buildings and dividing walls. 

Tonight, he ends up at the medical grounds. Scaling the lead office, Jinshi sneaks around the attached dorm building, until he happens upon the modest plot of land Maomao has commandeered. With the help of the other medical students and doctors, they’ve managed to  nurture a thriving garden, filled with herbs and vegetables.

What he does not expect is to find someone tending, or are they stealing ? From said garden. Moonlight helps illuminate the rough outline of a figure kneeling down in the dirt. He’s hidden behind a large tree just a few paces away from the mysterious person.

“Whoever is there, come out.” The stranger voices in his direction. 

Revealing himself from behind the cover of the tree, he steps into plain sight, making his way closer to the no longer mysterious stranger. The young woman, unsurprisingly, is unnerved by his presence. She continues working in the dirt. When his footsteps are close enough to her, she glances up. 

“Jinshi-sama?!” 

That was odd. Did she not realize it was him when he first showed himself? 

He crouches in front of her, using a hand to cover her mouth. When he deems she understands that she needs to be quiet, he lets go. 

“What are you doing?” 

“I’m out for a walk.”

Even with the limited light he can tell from the quiet alone she is narrowing her eyes at him. A similar chill that Maomao’s scrutinizing gaze evokes, reminds him of Suiren when she is about to scold him.

He’s not exactly sure what to do with that. 

“Does Suiren know you’re out?”

Jinshi chooses his words carefully.

“She knows that I always come back.” 

“So she doesn’t.” 

Jinshi remains silent. Maomao sighs. 

“What are you doing?” He turns his attention to her.

“Weeding.” Maomao continues to tend the soil. 

“At this hour?” Jinshi questions. 

“Why not?” 

He can think of quite a few reasons why. Knowing Maomao, she knows the reasons too. If she was awake and trying to distract herself to the point of weeding the medical offices gardens, at this unholy hour, then something must be really bothering her. 

Jinshi stands from his crouched position, and brushes away any dirt. 

“Come on.” 

Maomao looks up at him from where she’s plucking greens from the garden. This is not his first endeavor. He’s come prepared. 

Pulling a small bottle from his sleeves he shakes it in front of her. With the low light he can’t tell if he’s imagining things, but he’s certain her eyes just sparkled with delight. 

Maomao is up and fixing the wrinkles out of her skirts.

“Where to?” Her eyes track where he stuffs the bottle back into his sleeves. 

“I know a segment of wall where there is a blind spot from the guards.” 

“After you, Sir.”

—

They make it to the part of the wall that is for the most part unseen from a guards standpoint at night. After a few close calls, and ducking behind manicured shrubbery, Jinshi sits himself behind a large oak tree. With his back against the stone of the wall, he pulls the bottle out. 

Maomao quietly sits beside him. With how close they are, the trunk of the tree is able to cover both of them from any onlookers. Jinshi uncorks the bottle with his teeth, spitting the cork into his palm. He takes a swig, and passes it off to Maomao. 

For a wonderful moment, he revels in the feeling of her shoulder pressed against his arm. Peering up to the starry sky, he makes an assessment that it more than likely will rain soon. The storm clouds slowly creep along the dark expanse of sky, gliding closer to block the moon's light.

Jinshi snaps out of his viewing of the heavens when he hears loud gulping beside him. Turning his attention back to Maomao he snatches the bottle from her tight hold. 

“ Oi! Leave some for me!” 

Maomao wipes the excess liquid off her lips. “You weren’t done?” 

Maybe he’s more tired than he thought, or perhaps Maomao brings out his childish side– either way he meets her eyes and tilts his head back to gulp down as much of the remaining alcohol that he can.

The look of shock on her face quickly morphs into panic. He anticipates her next move. Switching hands, he holds the bottle in the hand farthest from Maomao, while blocking her grabby hands from taking it away from his mouth. 

Jinshi manages to hold her at bay, before he removes the bottle from his lips, and adds an exaggerated ‘ ah’ sound . 

He of course left her some, he doesn’t have a death wish! Though he does have to tease her that little bit. 

Maomao’s current expression would have once made him break into a cold sweat. To taunt her just that much more he swirls the contents of the bottle so she can hear there is still a fair amount left over. Maomao rolls her eyes and snags it out of his hand.

Jinshi smiles. “The rest is yours.” 

Shaking his head, he listens on as she greedily drinks the rest. Gazing back up, he tries to catch the last glimpse of stars, before the clouds move in and hide them from view. The scene dredges up a memory, followed by an idea. Jinshi stands and examines the area, assuring they were still hidden enough. 

Maomao sets the empty bottle on the ground beside her. 

“You’re not plotting something indecent are you?” 

“Of course not!” He voices harshly.

Now that she’s mentioned it though…

Jinshi moves towards her, leaning down in front of her. He offers her a hand to help her up.

“What’s going on?” Maomao questions, reluctantly giving him her hand. Jinshi gets her back on her feet. He does not let go of her hand. To his surprise, neither does she. 

“I’m reminded of a time where I was alerted, that there was a certain apothecary dancing on the palace wall.” 

Jinshi moves to face her and reaches to take her other hand. She’s immediately on edge.

“That was a long time ago.” 

“Mm, I disagree.” Jinshi recalls the foggy lessons from his youth, attempting to adjust his hold on her, and discreetly fix their stance.

“Again, what are you doing?” Maomao asks again, her body becoming more rigid than it already was, halting Jinshi from trying to proceed with his final move. He knew trying to ease her into a dance would not be an easy task. 

With her hand in his, and his other now splayed on her middle back he stands tall. If he can trick himself into a confident stature, maybe it would transfer to his ego. 

“Will you allow me a dance?” 

The initial look of disgust on her face is quickly hidden when she shifts her gaze to her feet. The mock confidence he had been trying so hard to keep up begins to crumble.

“I thought I told you I’m not versed in dance.” 

The barely noticeable tremble in her voice restores him slightly.

“But you know the basics.” 

Maomao peeks up at him, he grins, knowing he has her. He could mention how she seemed to dance perfectly fine with Rikuson during their first trip to the West. Making the smart choice, he refrains. There was no need to dredge that back up.

“I swear I will never request this of you ever again, if you allow me this once.” 

Maomao takes a breath, yet her hand remains in his. His self doubt increases, before noticing Maomao straightening and placing her spare hand on his shoulder. 

“Go on. You lead.” Maomao commands. Despite the chill in the air, he distinguishes the mild warmth and clamminess of her hand. 

With his eyes trained on Maomao’s face he steps first, she follows. Their dancing is disjointed, there are countless missteps, and they step on each other's toes a few times each. 

They end up bonking their heads, trying to study their footing. They let go of their hold on the other. Maomao rubs her forehead. It’s getting darker, the storm will more than likely begin at any moment.

A selfish thought comes to him. The last thing he wants is for this moment to end with sore heads and stomped toes.

Jinshi gently re-takes her hand and pulls her body to his. The side of her face presses into his chest. 

Nerves continue to pester him, but Maomao remains. She’s not fighting out of his hold, rather, he could say she’s leaning against him. Jinshi knows better than to get his hopes up, this is all just some series of happy coincidences. 

“I’m gathering neither of us are suited for classical dances.” Jinshi whispers into the top of her head. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, he starts to sway in place. Maomao limply follows along. Her arms are at her sides, and her head remains nestled against him. Jinshi rests his cheek on the top of her head, inhaling her familiar scent of muted florals with the barest hint of spice. 

The sleep he’s missing out on, begins to make itself known. Their swaying devolves into them standing against each other. 

A loud clap of thunder startles him from falling asleep standing up. To his surprise Maomao is unbothered by the sudden sound. Carefully, Jinshi reaches for her shoulders, keeping her in place. When he takes a small step back, Maomao’s head lolls forward. Quickly, he reaches out to steady her head. Squinting in the low light, Jinshi notices her eyes are shut. 

She fell asleep against him! 

Shock shifts to worry. His fingers skim up from her chin, to her forehead. Maomao is radiating heat. Jinshi kicks himself for not realizing sooner. 

Carefully, he reaches behind her legs and hoists her into a bridal hold. Maomao shivers, then groans at the change. Muscle memory takes him back to his house, uncaring if guards end up noticing him. Maomao’s safety is his top priority. 

Sneaking back through the window is no longer an option. Instead, he’s forced to knock on the front door. A couple nerve wracking minutes pass before the main door creaks open. Suiren holds a lantern out to take in the scene. Jinshi is certain his appearance is a frightening one, haggard and sweaty from racing across the palace grounds in the middle of the night, with Maomao asleep in his arms. Suiren assesses them before further opening the door and ushering him in. 

The door shuts as the sound of heavy rain begins. Jinshi refuses to imagine Maomao, alone, sick , and plucking weeds from the medical grounds garden in the middle of a dark downpour. He knows better than anyone that a tired and sick Maomao would ignore her pain, and continue her self appointed task if given the chance. 

The universe really was creating the strangest coincidences that evening. 

–

Throbbing pain, and bright light wake Maomao from an otherwise restful sleep. Judging by the feel of the mattress she’s laying on, she knows she’s not in her dorm room. By mistake, she jolts when she realizes exactly where she is. 

Clutching her head in her hands, she blocks the sunshine pouring in from the window across the lavish room. 

“You are always trying to get me to rest.” 

Maomao turns her head in the direction of the thankfully soft, heavenly voice.

“You should really heed your own advice, and before you ask, the medical offices know you are accounted for.” 

Jinshi is seated on one of the plush chairs in the common area of his room, a few feet away from his bed. Rising from his chair he pours water into a cup, walking over to the bed and handing it off to her. Maomao takes it, realizing how parched she really is. 

“Jinshi-sama,” He pauses, waiting for her to continue. Maomao glances at her reflection in the water, then focuses back on him. “We shared a drink last night. Seeing as I’ve developed a fever, you are likely to as well in the coming days. Assuming what I have is catching.” 

“And whose fault is that?!” Jinshi exclaims, leaning down into her space, sounding more worried than angry. 

To be fair, Moamao had not realized she was ill until she woke moments ago. She’s never been great at detecting illness in her being. Between her high pain tolerance, and general perseverance, her bodily awareness cues will at times blur. 

It’s probably why she decided to go out in the garden last night. The previous night in bed, she recalls not being able to sleep. Her first idea had been to get fresh air, that method has historically helped her rest.  

A light tapping on his bedroom door interrupts her thought process. 

“Young master, your presence is needed.” Suiren announces.

With his pointer finger and thumb Jinshi pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes tightly, so much so his forehead wrinkles. She fights the urge to reach out and smooth them. Jinshi inhales before responding. 

“Understood. I will be out shortly.”

Suiren’s footsteps fade down the hall.

“Suiren knows not to let you leave until your fever has run its course.” 

Jinshi steps to the door, sparing Maomao one last glance before being whisked away to his work. 

“That won’t be a problem. Jinshi-sama’s bed is quite comfortable.” 

The dull aching of her head reminds her to drink the water she’s been given. Maomao watches curiously over the rim of the cup, as Jinshi’s back straightens before sliding the door open and walking out.  

Later, when Jinshi’s carriage is long gone, Maomao’s cloudy-feverish mind realizes the connotations her final remark might have had. 

There was nothing she could do about that now. 

The thought of escape does cross her mind. There were always a plethora of tasks that needed to be done at the medical offices, but somehow the promise of Jinshi and Suiren’s combined wrath keeps her rooted in place.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

I’m breaking up my emojis this week because the most recent murder mystery party bit has me desperate for more!

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

Ahhh yay! Glad you're enjoying! 96 for ☠️:

---

Athena thinks if she were facing a murder trial, she might make her social media private. But it looks like Tommy has just abandoned his. There have been no updates since before the murder mystery party. 

There are no photos of Buck. Maybe he deleted them? He’s not following Buck, either. Has him blocked, in fact. Interesting. Athena looks through Tommy’s tagged photos. Obviously any from Buck have also been removed. She scrolls back a bit, to December. There’s a photo of Tommy with his arm slung around a shorter, handsome man with dark hair and eyes, an eyebrow piercing, and a very expensive-looking shirt. Athena thinks he looks familiar, but she isn’t quite sure why. 

She reads the post. 

ro.ortiz93. Another night in the sky with this hunk! 🚁 Thanks for the lift @ tkinnard 

The date is January. Not long before he met Buck. Hmm. Something is amiss here. 

Athena clicks on the profile. 

It belongs to Roman Ortiz. Self proclaimed ‘Los Feliz DJ living the high life’ according to his bio. It only takes reading down a few posts for Athena to realize why he looked familiar. On his grid, Roman has shared the obituary for Kyle Ortiz. The son of Councilwoman Olivia Ortiz. Kyle, who Roman refers to as his cousin. Meaning…Meaning, before he dated Buck, Tommy Kinnard seems to have dated Councilwoman Ortiz’s nephew. The woman who took away Mara from Hen and Karen. 

Which means… Hen and Karen have a motive not only for wanting Gerrard gone, but for framing Tommy Kinnard. Potentially. If Athena really thinks about it. 

This could all be a damn coincidence, she supposes. But when is anything ever? Athena doesn’t believe this isn’t connected for a second. The only question is, how much?

Athena pinches the bridge of her nose and gets to thinking about the timeline. Kyle Ortiz died in March, while Athena and Bobby were on that damn boat. Buck and Tommy showed up together at Maddie and Chimney’s wedding in May. She doesn’t know all the details about how they got together, but she’s fairly certain they hadn’t met before Tommy flew the helicopter rescue to the sinking Uno. Which was within twenty-four hours of Kyle dying, if Athena’s memory serves. And it usually does. 

Hen’s troubles with Councilwoman Ortiz only started in May. Whatever trouble she’d been in on the day of Kyle’s death, it was short lived. He’d refused care. Her hands were tied. There was nothing else to do but reinstate her, because she didn’t do anything wrong. Somewhere in between March and May, Councilwoman Ortiz gathered all that information on Hen. Slandered her career. Attacked her family. 

Could Tommy have been connected? 

If Buck found out, would that have made him snap? Would he and Hen have worked together? Both bringing their partners in on the plan? Because based on the way they’ve been behaving, Athena is certain Buck and Eddie were together in some way, shape, or form before Buck and Tommy broke up. A double-date murder and frame job. How sweet. 

Now that she thinks of it… Eddie had been right by the door when she knocked. Could he have gone outside to call 9-1-1 and slipped the functional epipen back in the truck? Could he have been on the phone with Dispatch while planting evidence? Is that insane? 

And where does this leave Chimney? Would three of his closest friends and his brother-in-law plan this sort of a crime without involving him? Or Maddie? Maddie, who was home watching Mara, Denny, and Jee during the party. On the one hand, Chimney has more reason to hate Gerrard than anyone. He put up with his abuse the longest. He was instrumental in getting him moved, only to suffer from him being brought back. And he has reason to want revenge against Tommy in the matter of Mara, if Tommy was at all involved in helping Ortiz. He and Maddie love Mara, too. They’ve fought for her, too. On the other hand, this is still Chimney they’re talking about. Chimney Han, notoriously bad secret keeper and liar. 

Then again… Chim was stressed and fled on an impromptu vacation. And, did he lie? She thinks back to his interview. Come on. Tommy didn’t do this. 

Athena has no idea what to think when it comes to Chimney and Maddie. She has some very serious suspicions about the others. And that hurts. It hurts her to feel suspicious of people she loves. There is a game of tug-o-war in her chest. One side telling her to pursue truth and justice at all costs, like she has always, always done. The other? The other side tells her to close her eyes and ignore what she is unveiling. To stop. Before it’s too late. 

[purplehairedwonder]

Chapter 1081: Heartbroken

Me, reading this chapter:

Okay, let’s start with the stuff on Hachinosu:

Garp and his ship land in the wake of the giant explosion at the end of last chapter. He’s worried he’s losing his touch while everyone else looks on in horror at the thought that this is what losing a step looks like. (Just saying, Akainu should be sending Sengoku flowers and chocolates for saving his life at Marineford when he stopped Garp from attacking.)

Moreover, thankfully we don’t have to wait for Garp and Coby to reunite.

But there is a complication: turns out Kuzan is actually on Hachinosu after all (which leaves Lafitte and Catarina Devon to potentially be on the ship heading to Egghead). I am genuinely surprised by this; I felt fairly certain Kuzan would be at Egghead with all the Ohara references. But now I’m wondering if Kuzan will cross paths with the Straw Hats at Elbaf... which is also where Saul is. That would be something.

(Also, I still want to know where Smoker is.)

Kuzan announces his presence by freezing Hibari. 

So, this could be a coincidence, but there’s also a potential for something more dramatic here. There are theories floating around that Hibari is Akainu’s daughter, so Kuzan freezing her here could be a sort of revenge against the man who cost him the position of Fleet Admiral and his leg.

We also get a flashback to Kuzan joining the Blackbeard Pirates:

NGL, it’s pretty sus that Kuzan and Blackbeard just happened to end up at the same place. I don’t feel like this stops the speculation that Kuzan is undercover, especially considering some of the things he says:

Back at Ohara, he says

Later, when he saves Smoker from Doflamingo on Punk Hazard, he tells Smoker

(Side note, this is very much like what Law tells Smoker about why he became a Warlord--seeing things at a different angle.)

Kuzan, despite being with Blackbeard at this point, is calling himself independent. And he says,

Which brings us to what he says on Hachinosu:

He’s acting according to his own wishes, not the World Government’s and not Blackbeard’s. After all, consider what Blackbeard says when he recruits Kuzan:

Kuzan clearly has his own agenda here--one he’s had in mind and has been inspired by for a long time, only now he feels free to act on it--and if he has to fight Garp to keep up his place in their midst until his goals are achieved, he will do so. 

(I just want to take a moment to note that we have yet another contrast between Blackbeard and Luffy; Luffy’s crew is full of his friends who fight for one another and want to help each other achieve their dreams. Blackbeard’s crew is entirely transactional.)

The way he phrases the need to make sure Coby isn’t rescued is also telling:

The optics would be bad for his mission if Coby got out in his watch, and that’s the only concern. He’s not a true believer here; he’s doing what is necessary for whatever his mission is.

So, Kuzan is an immovable object and Garp is an unstoppable force. They collide.

AND NOW TO THE PART OF THE CHAPTER THAT WILL BE LIVING RENT FREE IN MY BRAIN FOR THE REST OF FOREVER.

Oh no.

WELL, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY.

This panel... hit me like a physical blow. Law’s been on the Tang since he was 16. I’m emotional about it.

Law whumps so pretty, sorry not sorry. (Add this to the file with him on the Heart Throne in Dressrosa and being tortured in Wano.) Bepo is... really adorable? And I love that the two of them are together here? Bepo’s with his captain, and I cry. This was also a brutal fight since it was Blackbeard and three Titanic commanders vs. the Hearts.

And another Rocky Port mention:

So, this confirms that Law got his hundred hearts at Rocky Port, and they’re all still on Hachinosu.

Meanwhile, Bepo (in another adorable panel) eats a new rumble ball from Chopper. (Can we talk about Chopper making this for Bepo? Chopper, bb, I love you so much.)

Law, stop being so pretty while you’re bloodied up.

Blackbeard knows about the Perennial Youth Operation, which is not surprising since he’s been hunting down Devil Fruits and Law’s is known as the Ultimate Devil Fruit. It’s interesting, too, that when Blackbeard ambushes Law, he says it’s for Law’s poneglyphs, but when Law is defeated, he talks about his Devil Fruit instead.

(Speaking of Law’s poneglyphs, did Blackbeard get them? With the Tang sinking and the captain and navigator escaping... wouldn’t it be ironic if he ambushed Law for his poneglyphs only to forget to take them in his victory.)

AND CHOPPER’S GIFT LETS BEPO GO SULONG WITHOUT THE FULL MOON. HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPE.

This bear, who is constantly apologizing for silly things, TAKES ON BLACKBEARD AND HIS TITANIC CAPTAINS to protect Law. I love their friendship so much.

Bepo takes Law and escapes in the sea. (Fun fact, polar bears can swim about 6 mph/10 kmh, and the longest known distance a polar bear has swum is 220 miles/354 km. So, Bepo is capable of getting Law to safety.)

Also, Law is leaving his hat and Kikoku behind -- two of his most visible signifiers. This... this hurts.

I am genuinely heartbroken by this moment. We know how much Law cares for his crew; he sent them to Zou to protect them from Doflamingo, and he gave himself up to be tortured in Wano to rescue Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin. He takes his role protecting his people very seriously, so he begs Bepo to turn around even though he’s in no shape to do anything. He just won’t abandon them (reminds me of him refusing to abandon Luffy if he were to die in Dressrosa).

But Bepo tells Law to trust in the Hearts. They’re tough and they’re survivors. This makes me think the Hearts will survive and regroup offscreen while Law and Bepo get away. (I can’t help but think, though, about the Hearts scattered on Winner Island and in the water and how Blackbeard is involved in the slave trade. Could you imagine the rage if Blackbeard sold the Hearts into slavery and Law had to rescue them? Or, if Blackbeard brings the survivors back as prisoners and lets the pirates with missing hearts at them... Yikes.)

Despite being conscious, Law must be in really bad shape for Bepo to be worried about him dying here. (I get that going underwater is safer against threats like Van Augur here, but Law is a badly-wounded Devil Fruit eater... he’s not going to be able to stay under very long, Bepo, heh.)

I want to examine, for a second, the way the defeat of the Hearts is framed versus the defeat of the Kid Pirates (versus the defeat of the Straw Hats in Sabaody).

“Winner Island, New World. On this day, the Heart Pirates, led by Trafalgar Law, were soundly defeated.”

“On this day, in the New World by Elbaf, the Kid Pirate crew, led by Eustass ‘Captain’ Kid, a man worth 3 billion, was completely eradicated.”

“Grove 12, Sabaody Archipelago, the Grand Line. That day, the Straw Hat Pirates, led by Captain Monkey D. Luffy, were eradicated.”

It’s quite noticeable how much more dramatically both the Kid Pirates’ and the Straw Hats’ defeats were described. For one thing, the descriptions of the Kid Pirates’ and Straw Hats’ defeats are more flowery. 

Plus, the use of the word “eradicated,” which sounds permanent. Obviously, the Straw Hats weren’t permanently broken up, but they are separated for two years. It’s a dramatic defeat. We don’t know what happened to the Kid Pirates, but it didn’t look good, as both Kid and Killer, who can’t swim, were thrown into the water. On the other hand, the Hearts are described as being “defeated” while Law and Bepo escape.

So, what comes next? On the one hand, it would make a lot of sense for Bepo to get Law to safety and then call the Straw Hats. This could be a great excuse to get Law back onto the Sunny for the duration, especially since his goal to learn about the Will of D. is aligned with Luffy’s without competing with his. Plus, you know Luffy wouldn’t hesitate to help Law.

On the other hand, if we think about where Law is in conjunction to the other two captains...

He’s closer to Elbaf than Egghead. It would not shock me if we start to see all these plotlines (Straw Hats, Kuzan, Law) converge on Elbaf.

Ugh, this chapter has completely wrecked me.

[bestworstcase]

[most predictable man in the world rn] do you think neo is gonna come back at some point and if so, is she going to be neo, or someone else entirely? i know you put on your bingo card that she's just taking the scenic route home but it felt very...final to me. also i cried over the cat. i wanted to see the little baby come to remnant :((

what’s striking to me about neo’s send off is—well, a whole handful of things:

1 - through roman’s simulacrum, she states a very clear and specific emotional desire (“to have what they have, huh? what a thing”) and this is what incites her decision to ascend—right after he says this, she goes to the edge of the platform to consider, and roman again vocalizes what she’s thinking (“so… that’s it, then? …yeah. i know. i’m not real.”) so that’s a really, really overt narrative statement of character intention. neo ascends because she wants to find real connection, real love, not the empty facsimile she’s been clinging to, and team rwby is her model for what that looks like.

2 - this is paired with multiple beats of ruby pausing to turn back for neo, including one where ruby clearly does not feel Great about leaving her crumpled on the ground, and ruby is also the one who affirms that neo can find herself and deserves that chance. so neo’s dawning realization that she wants to be loved the way ruby is loved coincides with ruby realizing this sympathy for her and being hesitant to leave her. (and ruby has also just had this very healing experience in the tree herself; “she’ll find herself” is grounded in that experience).

3 - neo cannot get what she wants in the ever after. she wants human connection. she craves the kind of love team rwby has for each other. the ONLY place she can get that is remnant.

4 - the way neo gestures before she bounces read VERY STRONGLY to me as “you haven’t seen the last of me yet.” that emphatic point at ruby with hush? neo does that exact gesture to convey violent threats (at least once off the top of my head, to cinder in 8.13, but i’m fairly certain that’s not the only time). but this time she does it as a preface to the curtsy, which reverses the threat into a promise.

and 5 - all of this occurs in tandem with the parallels between neo and alyx being brought to fruition via neo being the alyx that jaune COULD protect. helping neo heals the wound of failing alyx. alyx chose to stay behind because she wanted to set things right before she went home. but she did still want to go home. what this says to me is neo, like alyx, realizes that she cannot go home yet. there’s things she needs to fix, first, and the first step is facing herself honestly. she also knows that the tree can help her do that, because she can plainly see how it helped ruby. and if neo is the healing of alyx’s story, the setting of the broken fairytale… it follows she’s going to get the ending right, too. fix what’s broken in herself, perhaps make amends with the cat and the jabberwalker, and then return home to finish her journey.

there IS a certain finality to the scene, but it came across to me as the ending for neo’s character as she existed up to this point—a send-off for neo-the-villain as she chooses to open the door to the neo who looks at team rwby’s embrace and thinks i want that. i know what i need to do to get it, and i’m ready to change.

we’re also two for two on characters from remnant ascending whilst still alive and returning as themselves, memories intact, which is a pretty strong point in favor for thinking the same will be the case for neo; certainly she’ll change a lot more significantly than they did, but we’ve already seen the shape of that change. she lets go of roman, she lays down her petty quest for vengeance. her ascension is about affirming and settling those choices so that she can grow into them.

i think there’s also a pretty decent chance that neo will come back accompanied by the cat. alyx broke the cat’s heart by breaking her promise -> the cat tried to twist neo into the fulfillment of that promise by using her as a vessel -> neo kills the cat (thus sending the cat to the tree where they can finally heal) -> neo decides to let go of vengeance and find herself before returning to remnant -> neo completes the healing of the broken fairytale by fulfilling alyx’s promise to the cat. yeah? it all tracks.

[stiffyck]

(Considering the Hotguy cramps post, sorry if Mumbo’s voice is off slightly. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t watch his videos all that often)

Mumbo’s eyes snapped open as they hit the ground. They’d been closed in the first place due to the wind- that came from being carried by the city’s local hero Hotguy. Who was carrying him because there had just been a charged creeper explosion that shaken his office building. He was pretty sure it was just shaken, granted it wasn’t certain. Hopefully it was just shaken, but then that raised the question of why he’d been rescued. His heart was still racing and his feet hit the ground so he had to focus on getting his legs to stand instead of the likely imminent danger he’d just been in.

He zoned back in to actually looking around as the arms holding him released. Hotguy stepped back, before grumbling slightly as he grasped the side of his stomach. The hero bent forward slightly to support his free hand on his knee. And oh, maybe there was quite the danger earlier and Hotguy took the majority of the pain. No, he wasn’t hurt any so it was all.

“Are… are you alright?” He asked, leaning slightly forward with a hand raised tentatively. Hotguy responded by holding a finger up, making further pained noises. Mumbo lowered his hand, staring with increasing concern. By the time Hotguy managed to reply in words he was certain that his brows had become stuck in the pinched position.

“Please just give me a moment. My uterus has decided to cramp. Just have to wait for it to stop.” Hotguy said, giving a slight thumbs up. Mumbo stood there wringing his hands. He didn’t really know how to respond there, maybe say he was sorry?

When he opened his mouth to do so, Hotguy yet again motioned for him to wait. There were a good few dozen seconds of silence before Hotguy pat his knees and stood up fully with a surpassingly quick snap.

“Sorry about that! It likes to mutiny. Right, okay. Are you hurt? Alright? Do you need something?” Hotguy said, grinning- even if it looked slightly pained. Mumbo blinked a couple times before responding.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Umm, I’m sorry about the uterus mutiny?” He said.

“Oh well that’s great! And I know it’s a real bother.” Hotguy said, placing a hand on his chest before continuing in a far more dramatized tone, “Such a horrible betrayal, however will I trust one of my organs again? Will they all follow suit? And then what would happen if I’m out of commission, unable to save fine folks such as yourself? Truly it’s the greatest villain ever seen!”

Mumbo chuckled slightly at the theatrics. Hotguy looked at him grinning. It was a simple coincidence that Mumbo had to readjust the ends of his sleeves at that exact moment.

“Well, I’ll be off then. Stay safe and have a good day!” Hotguy cheered, waving as long mechanical wings unfolded from his suit.

“Yup! Goodbye!” Mumbo said, waving slightly as the hero took off into the sky.

Once he was certain he was out of Hotguys’ line of sight he placed his head in his hands and grumbled slightly. His face felt hot, according to his friends he’d always had a fairly visible blush. So he was definitely visibly blushing now. Hopefully it had only appeared now, and not when Hotguy was standing there.

At least his heart was racing for a different reason than earlier. He could handle being flustered far better than the fact that his office may have been destroyed by a charged creeper. And, his office had nearly been destroyed by a charged creeper if it wasn’t actually destroyed. That was a problem. A very big problem.

He decided to focus more on the sound Hotguys’ voice as he began to walk home.

FUCKING SOBBING /POS OH MY GOD

THIS IS THE GREATEST THING IVE EVER SEEN DKVKFKGKS THANK YOU THIS WAS THE BEST THING TO WAKE UP TO

[opal-inna]

Alhaitham is King Deshret megapost

Genshin Impact Lore / Speculation

I’m fairly certain that Alhaitham is either King Deshret reincarnated or is related to him in another way. There’s plenty of visual and lore evidence to back this up, hence I decided to compile it into this post. Note that I didn't include the latest content from 3.4 as I didn't familiarize myself with the new lore. This is a copy of my twitter thread.

This post is by no means 100% complete, since I couldn’t find all of it myself and I will be adding more once other evidence is presented. Feel free to send me more lore and visual hints via DMs and replies and I will add them to the thread. And if you have your own theories, please discuss them in the replies or rb with your own thoughts.

Part 1: Visual Evidence

A bit of storytime.

I’ve been familiar with the King Deshret theory a while back, but I wasn’t 100% convinced back then. However, during my time exploring the Mausoleum of King Deshret I encountered this. Notice the symbol on the ceiling, looking like the symbol on Alhaitham’s chest.

That’s when I stopped having doubts.

After looking closer, I’ve noticed many other design choices from Alhaitham’s appearance to motives of King Deshret’s civilization. I will list them below, note however, that this isn’t all of them, because I’ve only selected the most important ones, despite there being dozens of smaller ones, for the sake of making this post as concise as possible.

Motive of a blue eye

Symbol on Alhaitham's chest, motive of feathers

Motive on his boots

Motive oh a hawk

There were many statues of hawk like creatures, possibly being the statues of Deshret himself. It's also notable that Alhaitham means "young hawk" or "young eagle" in arabic. There's also a lot of other bird motives which I might list later, if you'd like.

Okay, but all of the above is just clothing and coincidences, isn’t it? These things could be attributed to him being a Haravatat member, and his interest in ancient scripts (so history and culture too) of King Deshret, no?

Ignoring the fact that Haravatat mainly focuses on linguistics, whereas it’s Vahumana that focuses on history and culture, there are other visual clues to suggest that Alhaitham isn’t who he seems.

This gem, however weird it might be, doesn’t seem to be a part of his clothing, given that it’s detached from it. Instead, it looks like it’s a part of his body. Despite the color change (more on that later) it’s suspiciously similar to these symbols.

This likeness of King Deshret also conspicuously has a gem in the chest area. The gem also is highlighted, meaning it’s probably important.

This isn’t even subtle.

While weird pupils are not uncommon for Sumeru’s playable characters, Alhaitham’s eyes are a direct copy of King Deshret’s likeness from the cutscene. The choice of blue/green iris combined with an orange pupil is peculiar, because nowhere in the game do we see such different colors just clash with each other. This choice was deliberate and I believe it’s hyv giving us a hint.

Part 2: Lore evidence

There is also some evidence in the lore of both characters.

But first, a little bit of Honkai lore.

This won’t be long, because I’m not as familiar with Honkai lore. Most of my research here is based on what I found from the internet and wiki and not the original source material. However, it’s important to mention it, because Alhaitham is a Su expy and some more concrete evidence is found in Su’s lore.

Su, in Honkai universe, is a leader of Project Valuka. This name doesn’t sound familiar at first, until you remember the Aranara questline. 

“Valuka” is Aranara speech for the desert, and the ruler of Valuka is none other than King Deshret.

If Alhaitham is a Su expy and Su has a lot in common with King Deshret, then the parallel between these characters seem more than just neat design choices.

However, it gets even more interesting. Because Su from Honkai prior to the game’s events “had imprisoned himself in the Seed of Sumeru as an act of redemption” - (direct quote from the wiki).

Which smoothly brings me to my next point, which is:

Part 3: The why - how is it even relevant?

Okay, so they are similar in their design. But does that mean they’re actually the same person? And how is it relevant?

Well, it brings the personality of both in another perspective.

If you’re unfamiliar with King Deshret’s lore, here’s a quick recap of the most relevant points.

King Deshret was one of the three rulers of Sumeru with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Goddess of Flowers. He was also deeply in love with the Goddess of Flowers and she was aware of his affections. He was proud and foolish. After the archon war ended was offered a gnosis by the Celestia, but he declined.

One day, he told her what his greatest dream was. Though unspecified, his dream involved rebelling against the divine. Despite her warning, he insisted she showed him “all there is to know about the skies and the abyss”. As a result of this ritual she perished, though King Deshret was unaware she did it intentionally.

After her passing, King Deshret was unable to move on and his sorrow drove him to madness. He created an utopia, which was supposed to be “free of worry, schemes and slavery”. He either created it to eradicate forbidden knowledge, but failed, or he tried to create an utopia and caused the forbidden knowledge to spread (more likely according to “The Lay of Al-Ahmar. Note that the validity of this book isn’t determined). Whatever the case might be, the result was that countless of his people died that very night.

After the leakage of forbidden knowledge, King Deshret and Rukkhadevata joined efforts to get rid of it. In order to do that King Deshret sacrificed himself and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata used most of her powers.

You might have noticed that these two characters, despite few similarities, are completely different from one another. One is cautious and reserved, and another is foolish, ignorant and sentimental. So, here’s my theory.

I believe that Alhaitham is King Deshret’s reincarnation, but without his memories. Not only that, but in my opinion the difference in their personalities seems intentional. Whether it was King Deshret’s reflection upon himself or Alhaitham’s own choices, it looks like Alhaitham purposely avoids acting like Deshret.

Deshret doesn’t think before he acts - Alhaitham’s demo trailer is literally called “Think before you act”. Deshret becomes a king and destroys his own kingdom - Alhaitham avoids situations in which he’d be placed as a leader, saying he’s not good in this role.

It could be King Deshret’s or Rukkhadevata’s design (more on that later) or Alhaitham’s conclusion based on his research in King Deshret’s legacy. It’s possible he’s even aware or suspects his own relation to him, as he’s very intelligent. 

Part 4: The how- Is it even possible?

In short, yes. There are many hints towards the possibilities of reincarnation in the story. This might be simply another samsara or a more direct intervention, for example of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.

Nahida, being Rukkhadevata in the next samsara is just the beginning. In the Aranara questline, the Aranara say that death is just a loss of memories. Next we have Flower of Paradise Lost artifact set, in which it is said "Those who bloom like flowers, die like flowers, and rise again with the seasons like flowers can never be troubled by the likes of 'death.’” (these are the words of the Goddess of Flowers, perhaps about herself, but I can’t say that for sure).

Staff of the Scarlet Sands polearm description says: “Fear and grief must be torn down, and so the barrier between life and death must be removed”. (This is about him building his own utopia, mentioned previously).

Even if those interpreted individually mean different things, having so many mentions of rebirth is certainly worth taking into account. But how did King Deshret in particular get reincarnated?

Notice, how in this cutscene, King Deshret is removed to a single crystal, before disappearing. It appears as purple at first, but then changes color to a greenish blue.

Very similar in fact, to another gem.

In my opinion, this is Deshret’s soul - an empty husk without his memories. Why does it appear green in Alhaitham’s chest? Well, I think it was the Greater Lord who rescued him. Using her power of life she gave him another chance. It could have happend in another way, but I find it the most plausible.

Either way, regardless of the means, we can’t rule out reincarnation as a possibility.

Part 5: Conclusion

Keep in mind that this evidence isn’t directly stating that Alhaitham is King Deshret. Other than his eyes being the exact copy of King Deshret’s image (which usually would imply the same soul/identity), all this evidence is pointing out to them having a relation, not necessarily being the same person.

With that said, I am fairly convinced on that being the case. I encourage you to discuss it in the reblogs and share any interesting evidence you’ve found.