#and immediately cut himself off from all of them to go work for the Evil Organization even harder. his ass is NOT coping

[courfeyracs-swordcane]

@nosongunsung11’s Ambrose Finch-Fletcher diagnosed with Sells Bad Weed and Causes Problems as one of the top four guys who Absolutely Cannot Cope with mortality in this city

[meowmeowriley]

Ghoap Actor AU but 'Ghost' is the stage name used by a a mysterious man who takes "faceless" rolls. Rolls that require pounds of makeup, tons of prosthetics, huge armor suits and feats of puppeteering. No one knows what he looks like, or his real name, and he likes it that way.

Sorry, it got kinda long lol, ficlet after the cut.

Johnny is a new face but damn is he winning hearts quickly. He loves fantasy and sci-fy rolls, and for him getting cast as the heart throb muscle-bound hero is as easy as smiling. A smile which sweeps any and all off their feet, straightness be damned.

Working next to The Ghost is as much a dream come true as it is fucking terrifying. His list of rolls is as long as Johnny is tall, the man is a legend.

Said legend stalks into the catering tent in full makeup, extras scattering because the man is honestly pretty intimidating. Ridges and bumps, red skin and horns, all work to completely dehumanize his features and frighten away any potential lunch buddies. After grabbing his food he stalks back out wordlessly.

They hadn't shot any scenes together yet, but the schedule called for the two of them to be working together nearly every hour of the next week, and John was determined to make a good impression. He grabbed his own food and swiped some fancy wrapped chocolates, perhaps to share and make friends, and scampered out after Ghost.

The man was seated alone, at a table under a tree. He'd popped his fake fangs out and sat them on his tray, and was digging into his sandwich. Red hands tipped in wicked red claws expertly avoided spearing and shredding his food.

Johnny plopped down across from him.

"Cannae be comfortable, wearin' all 'o that all day." Best to get the whole 'being Scottish' thing out if the way immediately, he often had to hid his accent for rolls and this was no exception. Opening his mouth and speaking naturally always garnered a huge reaction, generally glee, from his co-stars. Though, if Ghost was surprised by it, he made no comment.

"Been doin' it for years, 'm used to it." John found himself the one surprised, he hadn't expected the man's voice to be so lovely. Nor had he expected the man to be a fuckin' brit. Clearly he'd also been masking his accent. Shame, Hollywood always loved an evil Brit.

Delighted by this new discovery, Johnny launched into introducing himself, gushing about the rolls he'd seen Ghost in and how he'd loved his performances. Ghost didn't respond much, but slitted pupils with gold and red irises never left him, and even through the makeup a small smile played at the corner of his bright red lips.

Ghost didn't participate much, throwing out a hum or a nod, an occasional quip, but Johnny quickly realized the man was simply quiet, as every time he stopped he'd receive a few words, a gentle nudge to keep going. All was well until Johnny finished his meal and started in on his chocolates.

He'd held one out to Ghost, who took it, and wordlessly sat it on his tray, mirth dancing in his eyes, amplified to a mildly animalistic predatory level by his contacts.

Johnny had rolled with it, assuming the man was just happy about the sweet, and popped his own in his mouth. Only to spit it back out immediately after crunching down.

"Ach, that is VILE, the fuck is wrong with this chocolate?" Johnny stuffed his fingers into his mouth, attempting to scrape the bits that had secured themselves in and between his teeth.

A deep rumbling belly laugh enveloped him, the sound coated his body, every last inch of him, and locked it into place. Fingers still stuffed into his mouth and crouched over like a golem, Johnny watched wide eyed as Ghost leaned back, shoulders heaving and a clawed hand over his brow as he laughed uncontrollably at John's plight. "It's not chocolate," the man gasped out, "it's bloody hand soap!"

Johnny groaned and spat out his fingers as well as a few bubbles. He'd grabbed them from beside the hand washing station, but hadn't thought anything of it. Why the fuck were they wrapped all fancy like?!

Ghost stood, and clapped a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "I look forward to working with you, Johnny." He sighed between fits of laughter. He grinned and popped his fangs back in. "Keep up, Soap."

Johnny turned and watched Ghost stalk back into the catering tent to return his tray, silicone tail swishing side to side, really lending itself to Ghost's jolly demeanor as he left, still chuckling. Johnny felt his face flush, knew he must be as red as Ghost's makeup, in embarrassment, knowing he was gonna be stuck with a ridiculous nickname, but also from realizing he was still bent over and staring at Ghost's ass. Was his ass really that nice, or were those heels, designed to look like hooves, just working absolute wonders?

Thus began Soap's insane crush on a man he knew nothing about, not even how he looked.

[colored-cloverfeilds]

I really do think that ONE hit the nail on the head when he made reigen. he's a conman. when things aren't going his way his immediate reaction is to beat the other person up and it somehow always works. he violates every working law immaginable. he is so unreasonably lucky for no reason. his best friends are an autistic middle schooler, an evil spirit and an ex-terrorist. he pays his workers pennies and is worried theyll join a union. he lives in a shitty one bedroom apartment. he gets drunk off of no alcohol. hes constantly surrounded by other autistic middle schoolers. he has no real, functioning adult friends. he has a license but hasn't used it in 10 years, and when he did use it, it was to take a bunch of kids to meet aliens. he's written his own biography. God hates him. his family hates him. he hates himself. and yet there's a psychic kid with a bowl cut who looks up to him with nothing but admiration. he throws salt at evil spirits and people if they annoy him. he would protect his students no matter what, and has almost died multiple times to help them. the only thing that makes him happy are dogs. in fact, he had a dog before, and it was eaten. he's canonically sexy and depressed, but also very, very ugly and sweaty. he's tried to shoot and kill a man not because he was super evil and trying to take over the world, but because he was hurting his kid.  he was told he would go to hell and couldn't care less. he met real aliens and all he could think about was how he was gonna pay his bills. he has god awful posture. he smokes cigarettes but never smokes in front of the kids. he wrote his will by age 29. all the animators wanna fuck him. he gets no bitches canonically. he's ONEs favorite character but he always makes him want to kill himself. he was doxxed. he was cancelled on Twitter. he entered a wack a mole competition and won 4th place. children make fun of him. he describes himself with having motherly love. no one likes him. everyone loves him. the anime designer draws him starting from his ass -> waist -> back because "it's like running your tongue over his body". his theme song sounds like a mario kart course track. he's so utterly pathetic.

plus he's just a genuinely good person and he's one of the best characters ONEs ever created??? genius.

[honeipie]

Hi love! I love your works and writing style so-so much! May I please request Bakugou falling in love with a weak and sick fem!reader that is bound to hospital bed because of her disease (she can walk but she is too weak to do so). They could meet at the hospital while she still had strength to walk. Basically, he falls in love with her watching her wither away.My heart is craving angst and some soft Bakugou💔It's okay if you can't write it. Anyway, thank you!!! Sending you lots of love 🩷🩷

THE PROMISE

katsuki bakugo x fem!sickreader

synopsis: katsuki fell in love with you, but all good things must come to an end

author note: my first writing request i will treasure this forever!

cw: sick reader, the sickness is not specific, mentions of dying

“thank you for coming dynamite! the kids will be excited to see you here!” a woman in scrubs bowed in thanks, which katsuki only grunted at.

“don’t have to bow or anything, but you’re welcome” katsuki dipped his head a bit as a sign of respect. the woman held her clipboard with a smile.

“well aren’t you humble? come on now, the kids are right this way”

the nurse led him through a pair of doors that were decorated with stickers and kids names from top to bottom.

katsuki had decided that he would spend his volunteer days at the local hospital. it was either that or wearing a hairnet at the local soup kitchen. telling kids about some of his battles and even doing a damn craft if he had to.

now he had thought the doors were colorful, but the room was something else. children’s drawings were hung up all over the ceiling being held together by small clothespins and wire. there were shelves of toys and stuffed animals across just one wall, and a playmat for a safe area to have fun in.

though there were no kids on the playmat letting their imaginations run wild with dolls. neither were there at the easel’s painting a new picture to hang up.

they were all sitting at the table enthralled with something in front of them. katsuki was about to get their attention before he heard your voice.

“and then they came in contact with the evil king. he sat on top of his throne which towered above the hero and the princess”

“why’d he make his throne so high up?” one of the kids asked eyebrows scrunched together.

“because the king thought he was better than everyone. thought everyone was small compared to him, but that’s not the right mindset to have” the child nodded in understanding which allowed you to go on “then the king yelled out to the two-“ you looked up finally noticing the pro hero staring into your soul. your next words stopped in your throat at his presence.

blinking your eyes you gained your composure again sending the kids a smile “the king yelled out you’re gonna have to wait until next week to find out” all the the kids screamed ‘no!’ collectively, disappointed that their story time was being cut short. all you could do was laugh as they all gathered near your legs begging you to continue the story.

“i don’t think you’ll want to hear any more of the story when you see the special guest" all of the kids immediately turned around at your words now noticing the big pro hero that had been lingering behind them.

"dynamite!" they all screamed and went over to him as fast as they could. he was now being bombarded with questions and stories about himself.

"guys c'mon! let him breathe" you walked over giving him a smile "sorry, they're just really excited"

katsuki shook his head at your words "it's fine. better then damn villains attacking me-"

"he said a bad word! y/n he said a bad word!" the kids started feeding off of each other's energy until it turned into a full on shouting match.

"i heard it everyone don't worry, but dynamite is an adult so he's allowed to say the bad words" you gently tugged the kids away from dynamite so he could collect himself. some part in you hoped he had something planned, but he just seemed to stand there awkwardly. this was nothing like the hot-headed hero you saw on the television. he shifted his weight from one foot to the other looking at the kids, then up at you again. catching the memo you nodded.

"why don't we all introduce ourselves to dynamite, yeah? go find a seat and then we can start"

he watched as all of the kids followed your instructions without further push back. katsuki sent a subtle nod your way in which you returned "right this way dynamite"

you led him over to the chair you were sitting in "you can sit right here then we can go over names" katsuki sat down in the chair, but had to scoot up to the edge of it. between his hero suit and wide hips fitting in the chair simply wasn't going to happen.

for the next hour you directed as the kids introduced themselves and were able to ask the hero questions. katsuki answered most of the kids questions, well the one's that weren't 'do you have a girlfriend?' or 'why do you look mad all the time?'. your personal favorite being 'why do you sweat so much?'. as soon as it came out of the kid's mouth you burst out in laughter.

dynamite rolled his eyes not even looking at you "glad you found that funny"

"sorry! just- just wasn't expecting that"

by the time the last question was answered it was time for them to go back to their individual rooms "everybody say thank you to dynamite!"

"thank you dynamite!" they yelled out before filing out of the room one by one. there was a smile on your face as you turned to clean up but immediately jumped at the sight of the pro hero that was now particularly close to you.

"hi!" it came out in such a high pitch you had to clear your throat to make sure you were alright "thanks for spending time with the kids. they really enjoyed it i could tell"

"good"

his empty response only left you more confused. blinking away the confusion you put back on that polite smile of yours "well i'm just going to go clean" you stepped away from him walking over to the table. you had gotten the bright idea that each kid should make colorful nametags and give them to the pro hero.

"what was i doing wrong?" he asked quickly, but you still caught it.

"excuse me?"

"what was i doing wrong? cause some of the kids were looking at me like i was stupid when you walked in"

a smile crept onto your lips hearing his words. the katsuki bakugo asking for feedback.

"well i know you're a blunt man, so let me be blunt with you. when you walked in you kinda looked stupid. like you just got shocked by lightning and couldn't move. correct me if i'm wrong. that's probably because you don't have much experience with kids"

he scratched his chin a light stubble growing on his chin. he hasn't had much time to shave "i don't"

you could tell that there was more that he wanted to say, but couldn't bring himself to say it. taking one of the pencil boxes you slid it back into place "if you wanted to visit again. i could teach you some of the things i've learned along the years. i could take you on a walk around the hospital" his eyes stayed glues to the floor making you just a bit nervous "i didn't want to assume but the kids really had fun. plus i know they would love if you came back"

taking his fingers off of his chin he looked up. there was no way the paparazzi was catching him in a hairnet "okay, let’s go, show me around the hospital"

you raised your eyebrow at his swift demands and stepped aside to show him the mess on the table "i know you're some popular pro hero, but here? you're a volunteer. so what we're going to is clean this place up. then we'll see about that walk" you went over and gave him a pat on the shoulder "welcome to the team"

the next two months went by pretty quickly. he would come to hang out with the kids and you'd help him with how to interact with them and setting up activities. and after all the festivities were over you would take him on walks around the hospital.

this was the third month he had come, and you were showing him the gardens. the two of you had established your own kind of relationship with each other built on respect. he even let you call him bakugo now.

"sometimes i like to bring the kids out here and teach them all about the plants and how to garden. they don't like it because they're learning though. they like it because they're big dirtballs and love to play in the flowerbeds"

this made katsuki let out a stiff chuckle. he would take this to his grave, but he was genuinely enjoying the time that he volunteered here. his manager didn't have to threaten him with late night shifts just to blindly pick up volunteer hours anymore. there was some sort of fulfillment he got out of hearing the kids call "mr. dynamite" when they had a question. or when they laughed so hard their tiny stomach's hurt just because he called them "little brats". he watched as you went to sit down on a nearby bench going to make sure that the flowers next to them had been watered recently.

plus, he didn't mind spending alone time with you either.

he sat down next to you moving his focus over to your hands "you know a damn lot about this hospital. how long you been a volunteer?"

you stilled at his question, and he was one to notice details. you pulled your hands away from the flowers going to face him "i actually don't volunteer. i'm a patient" you didn't like people asking questions, so you prepared a speech every time someone asked "i don't know what illness i have. doctors have been running tests for years and they still can't seem to understand. at random times i'll just get things like flareups, or my body will become absolutely exhausted out of nowhere. there’s other symptoms too, but i don’t want to bore you with the details. they won't let me go because it's like every time i walk out of the walls of this hospital something bad happens and i need to go right back to bed rest"

katsuki did something that a lot of people who asked about your sickness didn't know how to do. he listened. he was attentive and never let his eyes leave your face as you explained.

"i've been in and out of here since i was a kid. that's why i know the hospital and the workers so well. that nurse that brought you in the first day? she was just my nurse years ago, but now she's head of the pediatric floor"

it was all coming together now. the way you showed him the most secluded hallways. how you knew what times they would be doing building wide activities. and he was finally making sense of your words that you had told him on his first day.

"you have to know the hospital to really understand the kids. i know it sounds stupid, but this is their home, and some people can't understand that. most of these kids spend more time in the hospital than they do in their own house. so know this hospital. have enough respect for them to at least try and understand what they're going through"

you had felt so deeply about this because you had gone through the same exact thing, and you weren't going to have someone mistreat these kids.

“cool”

your eyebrows raised at his response.

“cool? i just told you about my lifelong sickness and you’re gonna say cool?”

“well whaddya want me to say? you want me to treat you like a fucking dying plant?”

“no”

“then i’m going to say cool and we can move the hell on”

“wow! is the number two hero dynamite really being a sweetheart?”

with one hand he gave you a playful shove “fuck off” he mumbled taking that arm and letting it rest behind you on the bench “and call me katsuki”

as the months pass, katsuki grows more comfortable with the children, and with you. he decided that he should come more frequently. once every month turned into every two weeks. then those two weeks turning into one. the two of you never really defined the relationship. you didn’t need to. all that you needed to know was he cared for you, and you him.

it only took one week to change everything.

katsuki walked onto the children’s floor heading into the room. all of the kids were doing their centers, but you were nowhere to be found. he saw the nurse though, helping one of the children with a computer game. when he walked over he ruffled the hair on top of the kids head “sup brat. mrs. harada, ‘s y/n here?”

mrs. harada’s expression grew soft. she placed a hand on the child’s shoulder letting them know she’d be right back. gently she grabbed katsuki’s forearm and walked him to a corner of the room.

“y/n relapsed. it was a two days after you came to volunteer. she was fine, about to head out from cleaning then just collapsed”

katsuki felt his blood running cold. how the hell could this happen? he just saw you. you were just fine.

why didn’t you call him?

mrs. harada placed a gentle hand on his shoulder “i’m sorry. i know you two are close, and i'm sure you don’t know how to feel. i can tell you her room number so you can see her. i’ll step in for both of you today” she smiled writing it on a sticky note and handed it to him. he gave her a nod then went to storm out “bakugo” she called out to get his attention “i understand you might be feeling betrayed, and you’re allowed to feel that way, but y/n is feeling a lot at the moment. she finally thought she was getting better and- and here we are. so please go easy on her”

katsuki thanked her, then headed out the door.

he walked through the hospital on a mission. he didn't stop to greet anyone or take autographs. the only time that he stopped was when he saw your room number.

the door was cracked open, but he couldn't see you from the angle where he was.

it was strange.

katsuki has trained for more hours than he could count. he had been facing villain's since he was at least fourteen years old. he had been through a whole damn war for crying out loud. and yet, as he stood there he felt a weight he had never felt before.

you glanced up seeing katsuki walk through the door. your heart started beating faster as soon as you saw him. even if you tried to put up a facade about it, your heart monitor gave everything away.

“you found me”

“ ‘s not like you gave me any other choice”

you watched as he stood in the doorway. hand stuffed in the pockets of his sweats. you had recommended that he didn't wear his hero suit since it would probably get uncomfortable after a while.

"katsuki you can come in-"

"why didn't you tell me as soon as it happened?"

"it's complicated"

"then fucking explain it to me" he stared at you his face unmoving.

"fine" you sat up wincing slightly at the pain shooting up your spine. katsuki almost faltered seeing your face contort from the pain "I don't know why I didn't tell you okay? The thought crossed my mind about a thousand times, but I just couldn't do it" a shaky sigh left your body and you tried to fight back the tears "there's just a lot going on.. and- and-"

the door clicked softly behind him, but you hadn't noticed. katsuki had made his way next to your bed and was already climbing in beside you. the bed let out a groan because of the added weight. he wrapped one arm around you and wiped your tears with the other. his thumb had a rough texture from all the explosions they've let out throughout the years. but they were gentle for you, and only you.

"you don't gotta say anymore. i've got you"

you leaned onto his shoulder letting the dam of your emotions break onto him. tears ran down your face, but you let them flow this time.

so you cried, and you cried, and you cried and cried and cried.

and katsuki let you.

it had been a while before you could compose yourself again. the room was filled with comfortable silence and the occasional snuffle from you.

"do you feel better?" he asked turned his head to face you.

"yeah.. 'm sorry you had to deal with that"

"don't fuckin' apologize for crying"

you chuckled at his words going to grab a tissue to wipe any excess. he tilted his head some analyzing a spot on your face closely.

"you got somethin' right.. there" he swiped a piece of tissue that had gotten stuck on your face.

you faced him getting a better look from up close. blond hair stuffed under a black baseball cap. bags under his eyes from all of his night shifts.

katsuki couldn't handle you looking at him like that. eyes still puffy from crying. your tongue running over your lips.

fuck it.

katsuki's hand slid from your cheek to the back of your neck. he pulled you close as gently as he could. your foreheads touched before anything else.

"you don't want to kiss me. my face is disgusting" you whispered making him laugh, genuinely laugh.

"i've seen some disgusting shit and this isn't one of them"

you smiled before closing the distance between the two of you. there was a nice contrast to the kiss. between the roughness of his palm on your neck and his soft lips pressed against yours.

you could stay this way forever.

katsuki sneakily moved his tongue over your lips and pulled away. he made a face shaking his head "salty as shit"

"shut up!" you pushed him playfully making the both of you fall into laughter.

you and katsuki went on like this for months. constant visits, playful kisses, and when he was tired from patrol, he'd even let you read to him until he fell asleep.

but with the good, also came the bad.

your body had been getting weaker throughout the months. it came to the point where you couldn't get out of the bed unless you had help. katsuki had offered to take you on walks by putting you in the wheelchair, but you always refused. that is until you got the news.

"kats" you said causing him to lift his head from your shoulder "i wanna go on a walk"

he was confused at first. the sudden request to do something that you never wanted to was strange. though he didn't ask any questions as he went to get your things set up.

katsuki wrapped his arms around your torso lifting you up to be placed in the wheelchair. he had studied how the nurses did this thousands of times. you were embarrassed that he had to do this for you, but he'd do them a million times over it if meant walking with you.

there were no questions asked on where you wanted to go, you both knew.

katsuki pulled your wheelchair right next to the bench, but ended up putting you in his lap. you leaned against his shoulder looking at the cherry blossoms.

"when i die-"

"y/n don't start with that shit. you're not gonna die. you're gonna come back from this"

your one hand weakly played with the hair on the back of his head "we all die kats. it's okay if i talk about it"

"yeah, but you're talking about dying soon"

with a sad look in your eyes you watched his eyes follow the falling blossoms.

"can you at least promise me something then?"

"yeah"

"when i die, take care of the kids for me. you're so good with them and i don't trust just anybody handling it up there"

katsuki's eyes stayed glued to the trees in front of him.

"I can do that"

"and also-"

"idiot you said one promise!"

"hey! i'm dying i can make as many promises as i want" you smiled weakly at your own joke, but he didn't think it was too funny.

"promise to take care of yourself"

you saw his throat bob up and down at your words.

"you take care of so many other people and don't make time for yourself. learn how to rest kats. i can't have you dying either okay?" you placed a soft kiss on his cheek for good measure "you promise?"

katsuki rubbed one of his hands up and down your arm. a slow, shuddering breath leaving his mouth.

"i promise"

knowing that he would be okay you could finally rest, forever.

[ineffable-suffering]

Why Aziraphale is an unreliable narrator

Part 2: The Story of wee Morag

This is Part 2 of 3 total metas. Here are:

Part 1, in case you want to read about my analysis of the Story of Job first

and Part 3, in case you're impatient and want to jump ahead.

Fair warning though, for the sake of understanding some of the references, you're probably better off reading this chaptered meta chronologically. However, every part should work just as well as a standalone! I'll do my very best to make it so.

Alright, off or on you go beyond the cutty cut!

I'll start this second part off with a very brief summary of the main take aways and points from Part 1, which go as such:

Memory, as opposed to a third party's narration, is not a factual, objective retelling of a story or event. It's mingled and mangled with emotions, imaginations and exaggerations, projecting both the feelings and impressions you had back then as well as those you might have now in the present time back on whatever it is you are remembering. (Which is why we need to put everything that Aziraphale is remembering into the context of what he might have felt in the past, as well as what he's feeling right now.)

While this doesn't mean his (or anyone's) memories are lies, it does mean they're a very subjective and sometimes factually distorted representation of what actually happened, which, in our case, gives us a lot of subtext and a lot of not-there furniture to figure out and look at.

So, let's continue with S2E3 and the Story of wee Morag. We start our flashback with a scene of Aziraphale writing his diary entry on the 10th of November, 1827. Immediately, it's firmly established that this is once again not an outside-point-of-view narration, but rather what Aziraphale remembers and wrote down.

One thing that immediately stuck out to me here, is how helpful and kind Crowley is to Elspeth, pretty much from the very beginning when they meet her in the graveyard. Not only does he take on a Scottish accent so she won't perceive him as English (as she does with Aziraphale), but he also helps her drag the barrel that has the fresh body in it and, in the end, even pulls it all by himself while Elspeth simply follows behind them. Here's a rather poor-quality picture, for reference:

Now, we know that despite not showing it very often, Crowley has always been very fond of the humans and never really put himself on a pedestal simply because he's an immortal being himself. He likes humans, just like Aziraphale does. But, just like this story will tell us, Crowley knows that on top of liking humans, you can't just put them into boxes of good and evil and expect them to always do what is supposedly the "right" or "divinely good" thing to do. (Which is what differentiates him from Aziraphale in the way he understands and treats them, as we're shown in this minisode).

Him immediately and unspokenly helping Elspeth with dragging the barrel therefore might also be a first sign of a tiny projection from present day Aziraphale, as opposed to what Crowley might have actually done (probably just walked beside her, like Aziraphale) because he has the knowledge that Crowley really was so very kind to her in the end, wasn't he? And that he's kind to humans in general. ("Not kind! Off my head on Laudanum!" Sure, babe.)

Most of this minisode, in my opinion, is actually there to establish how Aziraphale's view of morality and good vs. evil used to be quite flawed and elitist –– and how Crowley has always been there to gently nudge him towards questioning his black and white view of heavenly right and hellishly wrong. That's why I think there's not as many hints in this minisode about Aziraphale's memories not being an accurate portrayal of what happened, as there are in the Story of Job or the magic show in 1941. (And, fear not, the latter will definitely be the most hint-heavy one). Alas, there's still a few bits and bobs in the Story of wee Morag that stuck out to me, that make a brief yet good case of the whole unreliable narration thing.

First of all: The way Aziraphale describes all of it in his diary is so different from the way we see him actually remembering it. It's almost like he tried to write this entry (and possibly all of his diary) as a bit of a thrilling short story, with himself as the main character. Which makes sense, given the fact that he adores books and would certainly be keen on dabbling in the art of capital-w Writing himself. It's yet again hinting at the fact that sometimes people (and angels) try to polish and bedazzle stories (and memories) to make them seem more exciting and adventurous, often to distract from the not-so-fun parts of it.

Like when Aziraphale's diary narrates:

"It was with heavy heart we arrived at Elspeth's destination. I was determined to thwart her monstrous plan!"

... and yet we see Crowley and Elspeth casually walking down the alleyway, very obviously not heavy-hearted in the slightest, while Aziraphale nervously scurries on behind them, very obviously not determined to thwart. (Timestamp-wise, it's around 17:38 in S2E3, in case you want to see for yourself.)

We get another cinematographic/auditory hint at the fact that Aziraphale's memory is heavily influenced by what he's feeling that very moment, when Dr. Mister Dalrymple –– FRCSE, thank you very much –– shows him the tumor he removed from the seven year old boy. You can see the shock and horror on Aziraphale's face once he learns of this child's cruel fate. We then proceed to hear Mr. Dalrymple's voice grow sort of echo-y and far away as the sad music swells up and drowns out his voice almost completely. It's awfully similar to what it feels like when really horrible news are broken to you and you dissociate and drift into a state of shock. Here's the clip of it, so you may listen for yourself:

It's clear that this is a very subjective portrayal of what Aziraphale is going through during this part of the memory. He's deeply horrified and saddened about the little boy having passed away so early in life – and we hear and feel this shock with him. Through him, because this is his memory. Whatever it is he's feeling and thinking, we're feeling and thinking it too because we're seeing it through his lense.

Another (less sad) hint at a possible exaggeration is the abnormally deep hole Crowley makes the two graveyard watch keepers fall into. I'm pretty sure he's very much in charge of his miracles, making this random slip-up seem a little silly – which is why I'm also pretty sure the "Might have slightly overdone it on that hole" is a wee bit of a meta hint at this just being another one of Aziraphale's dramatic bedazzlements of this story. For the *flings feather boa around neck* drama!

You know what else might be exaggerated? Hm, I dunno, maybe Crowley growing into the size of a tree for no apparent reason. Sure, yes, he's pretty high on Laudanum which is making him a bit loopy. But apart from that, it does seem an awfully big cinematographic euphemism for him being the metaphorical (and, once again, for the drama of it) literal bigger person in this scenario. He's the one who ends up saving Elspeth and who manages to secure a safe life without poverty and grave robbing for her. While Aziraphale was so tangled up in his own moral journey and main character-ism, missing that wee Morag was seconds away from death already, Crowley is the one who actually ends up growing stepping up for the human in need and saving them for good (pun intended).

In a way, it might just be Aziraphale's view of/feelings for Crowley in this very moment. Watching the demon outgrow what, according to Aziraphale's heavenly logic, is supposed to be a foul fiend, bestowing evil upon humanity – and growing into someone who does the exact opposite and saves Elspeth instead. Another larger-than-life character development, in Aziraphale's eyes. Literally.

Let's switch back to the topic of the diary entry one last time, so I can make my final point of the this minisode's unreliable and a smidge over-dramatic narration of Dr. McFell. If you pay close attention, Aziraphale starts the entry we're all getting to experience with: "Last month, Crowley and I both happened to be in Edinburgh." Which means it didn't actually happen on the 10th of November, but rather at some point in October, 1827. Once we see Crowley get hydro-pumped back to Hell after rescuing Elspeth, the minisode ends with, presumably, the last sentence of Aziraphale's diary entry: "And that was the last I would see of Crowley for quite some time."

Take my hand and let's look at where the furniture isn't: This very clearly means that Crowley couldn't have been gone for more than a month, at best. Read again: "It happened last month and that was the last I would see of him for quite some time." This, albeit indirectly, clearly implies that when Aziraphale had sat down to write the diary entry, he had already run into Crowley again. Otherwise his phrasing would have probably been more along the lines of "... and I haven't seen Crowley since" or "... and Crowley has yet to return from wherever it is Hell's currently keeping him".

What's the point I'm trying to make? Good question. I guess my main point of storyteller Aziraphale being a bit over-dramatic in his narration is simply backed up by this, since A Single Month would barely pass as "quite some time" for an immortal being like him. And yet that's how he puts it, in his little Confidential Journals of A.Z. Fell, Vol. 603.

And another point that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this meta (but I'm still gonna make it 'cause this is my memory post): The meeting at St. Jame's Park in 1862 that so many, post-S2, took to be their first run-in after the Story of wee Morag, actually wasn't that at all. They saw each other at least once only a month later, as Aziraphale's diary lets us know. Which explains why he wasn't very surprised or concerned when he met Crowley in London, 1862. If there really had been 35 years in between those two events, the first one ending with Crowley being sucked back Downstairs to receive more than three decades worth of hellish punishment, wouldn't Aziraphale have been at least a tiny bit worried or more interested than:

Just saying.

Alright, let's string this inflated hot air balloon of a post back together so we can outline some invisible furniture. This time with only two humble points:

Crowley through Aziraphale's lense Backed up by how we are introduced to Bildad the Shuhite in the Job minisode (suave, cheeky, smart, passionate in shoemaking and obstetrics), it's growing quite clear that Aziraphale's memories and impressions of Crowley are very fond and impressed ones. He sees him as someone who's not only witty, funny and cool, but also as someone who has figured out way sooner and faster than him that nothing's ever black and white. Not God's plans and not the human's choices either.

Aziraphale as a bit of an exaggerating adventure author With the direct parallel we get of inkslinger journalist!Aziraphale in the present day, it's quite apparent after this minisode that Aziraphale's memory is not only deeply influenced by his emotions, but that he also tends to have a bit of a dramatic touch to him. Although, you gotta give it to the guy: A month without seeing the love of your life, even if said life is eternal, can indeed seem like "quite some time".

Well, would you lookie here, we've reached the end of Part 2! What a journey it was. I hope you forgive me for the fact that I drifted off-course a few times. I just can't seem to reel in my silly little observations, even if they've got nothing to do with the point I'm trying to make. But hey, doesn't that just make me a little bit like Aziraphale's storytelling, in a way?

I'll let you be the judge of that.

See you in Part 3! And in case you haven't snuck a peak yet: here's Part 1 again.

Ta!

[lynn-tged-posting]

tged webtoon ep 163 spoilers and thoughts that are making me procrastinate on like all of my work but its totally fine below the cut

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i am so serious i was completely tricked into thinking this would just be a light episode with some ominous foreshadowing but still some answers for how to defeat fate. i thought we'd be in silly haha territory now and that soon we'd reach the end and everything would be wonderful now and they can finally have what they want. I WAS PROVEN WRONG

YOU. YOU TRICKED ME FROM THE GETGO BY SETTING THE MOOD OF THE EP TO BE SILLY OFF THE BAT. YOUR STUPID CUTE HAIR BEING MESSY WHEN U WAKE UP AND THOSE SILLY ASS D*SNEY ANIMALS. YOU YOU YOU YOU RAPHAEL YOU FOOLED ME

it's super cute and funny that his singing and his general demeanor is so fairytale esque that animals and people just love him even though he tried to destroy what they were working on . he looks adorable with messy hair. i wanna see it more. cute and blond. but also. FUCK YOU

like we went from that to this and i was like "oh my god they're gonna have a bonding moment" and i was so so happy i just,, i really thought,,,,

like he looks so pretty here!! and then javier says something so sweet and so javier-brand of affectionate and they're being funny about it and it's so cute and they're all smiley afterward in the reflections of the water so its like "awww stupid fucking idiots being happy at each other without even really knowing it i love them so much" AND THEN.

STUPID FUCKING OMINOUS REFLECTION GOT ME ALL WORRIED. BUT THEN I THOUGHT OF RAPHIE AT THE START AND WENT "nahhh thats just. yknow. the normal foreshadowing at something bigger. they haven't even gotten answers yet. it's fine" oh lynn. oh girl you had no idea.

like they're so close to the truth cmon they wouldnt dump what they need to do to stop fate AND whats going on w javier at the same time right? ha. ha. ha.

ominous panels aside POOR LLOYD,,, OF ALL THE SECRETS HE COULD HAVE CHOSEN,,, he had no idea its not fair </3 we got blushy lloyd as a result i love this panel btw he's very very cute. super duper bug of him. i really like that the artist has been drawing the two of them at this angle a lot recently they look so stupid i like it a lot

ALSO JAVIER DO YOU. HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SAY. WHY DID HE ASK THAT I. JAVIER U CANT JUST ASK PEOPLE HOW DEE- WHAT THE FUCK

and then we got hit w javier being worried and i was like "man me too buddy, im worried too but im sure itll be oka-"

DEATH FLAG. WHY. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO THINK THAT LLOYD OH GOD. i read this and my worry that was briefly washed away IMMEDIATELY came back . tged is very good at giving me tonal whiplash. i dont think thats a bad thing but also its not good for my health either so. /lh

AND THEN WE GOT HIT WITH THE JEWEL OF TRUTH SECTION AND. AAAAHHH AAAAAAAAHHH the darkness that lloyd is in, he's all alone when he hears this god i . oh god i have so much to say okay

it's kind of hard to go shot by shot with this section because all my thoughts are overlapping with each other but ill try my best???

he's immediately pushed into communication between just him and the jewel and shrouded in a very very isolating darkness. there's so so so much empty space and all my yapping about how much lloyd has been isolating himself for the sake of finally protecting his loved ones kind of comes to a head here. and then we hear the truth...

lloyd is a BUG. the fact that he EXISTS is a problem that has been the catalyst of all the pain and work that he and javier have had to go through, so so early in the story. he's essentially being told that its HIS fault fate is threatening their lives. AND WOW THAT HURTS. how do you cope with being told that?? how do you manage that???

and on TOP of it all, in order to fix it, he has to choose. rid the world of this bug, or let the bug take over. THAT'S SO EVIL

the only way to protect his loved ones is to forfeit his protection over them, giving up his life. and yet the only way for him to continue being there to protect them is to lose the life of the one he absolutely loves most, javier. WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT THE FUCK WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT

the moment he hears this he falls to his knees. im so fucking ill IM SICK . THIS IS SICK AND TWISTED!!!!!!!!!!!

some more thoughts on the language and just. inherent despair of this section:

i think the choice of calling lloyd a bug is so so so heartwrenching. i don't know if it's an intentional thing by the writer/adapter or if it's just something they defaulted to since the world is considered a system, but either way it makes me so damn emotional

i'm a computer engineer, so i take some computer science classes too as part of my major, and one of those fun facts that you learn in those classes is that debugging/bugs became common terminology in compsci for a very silly reason. "bugs" as a word to describe error and defects had been present before, but it became conflated with programming due to a team of programmers actually finding a moth, a true to life Bug, interfering with their computer and thus messing with their program.

see, the JoT could have called lloyd anything. an error, a mistake, a problem, hell even a glitch would have worked. but they specifically said bug (and again whether or not thats intentional is up for debate but i will treat it like it is)

and the thing about bugs, the thing that haunts me now, is that without them the rest of the program (theoretically) works fine. if that moth hadnt entered the computer of those programmers, then their code would have been operating smoothly. the system would be chugging along well.

the knight of blood and iron would be functioning just fine.

yeah it'd be sad, yeah javier would have lost everyone, but it would have gone exactly as the program was written. the memory allocated for the class lloyd_frontera would be freed, and the story wouldn't have had to call on it, ever. but lloyd, the bug, the moth, stuck around. errors ensue.

and often, bugs are HUMAN error. it's a problem in a human design, not a natural glitch or mistake. the moth wouldn't have been able to enter that computer if it was built differently. bugs do not appear naturally. and they do not go away until you go back to where the bug appears and FIX IT. lloyd cannot fix the story, he can NEVER achieve the happy ending he's always wanted, because the program will always be bugged because of HIM.

suddenly too, all the little changes that have happened in the story thus far make so much sense. all of those events happening EARLIER than they should have completely tracks.

the choices lloyd made - to defeat neumann, defeat lacona, go to cremo, go to the capital - pushed javier's presence ahead, and i know that's like really really obvious, but coupled with this bug analogy i feel insane because

something that's very common in programming in general are function calls, where on the side you have the function written out all complete, and in your main code you can just say the name of the function. when it compiles, itll know what to refer to when it sees the name in your main code.

something else thats very common is conditionals! y'know, your classic "if (comparison here) then do (this thing here) else (do this thing here)", you might have seen this before (or not, im not sure how well versed tged tumblr is on programming which is why im explaining this)

and u think back to javier being there EARLY and oh. ooohh....

if (javier.location == magentano.event_location(banquet)) {

kyle_betrayal(alicia);

}

this function, this betrayal, was called early. THIS WAS CALLED EARLY because a certain character object, lloyd frontera, changed the state of javier's location way sooner than it should have happened. a bug. a bug. a bug. a bug made the code jump to this conditional. he's been a bug this whole time

and you think to when the glitches on javier first started appearing and oh. oooohhh. the object referred to as javier, disabled the "protagonist" variable on him and passed it onto lloyd. but that won't do, because all these functions for the ENTIRE STORY rely on javier's class object. how can it call on lloyd instead? lloyd should have been freed, aka the memory storing his little array of data, should have been REMOVED. CAUSE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE

theres more examples of this throughout the whole story that maybe ill list another day (as much as im yapping about it, its really not that hard/deep on figuring out where things were called early lol) but yeah yeah yeah. yeah this is so so evil and i cant believe i didnt put two and two together earlier. this analogy is SO EVIL WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS TO ME

apologies for the jargon btw. i have no idea if i explained this right or if anyone else really knows what im talking about but i've been losing it over this for the entire weekend ALKDFJLSDKF

WHATS WORSE IS THAT IVE BEEN CALLING LLOYD A BUG FOR LIKE. ACTUAL MONTHS. I WOULD REFER TO HIM AS A CREATURE AND AS A LITTLE ITTY BITTY BUG AND NOW I FEEL SO SO TERRIBLE BECAUSE HE REALLY WAS A BUG. I MADE A SHITPOST AND EVERYTHING (that ill prolly post later) THAT I HAD NO IDEA WOULD. AGE POORLY SOB SOB SOB

I AM SO SO SORRY LLOYD. I DIDN'T KNOW I DIDN'T KNOW I DIDN'T KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sniffle,,, sob,,, anyway,,, thats enough yapping about bugs and programming and lloyd being a bug,,, back to the anguish

the following section is just. god ow ow OW. the shaking linework, the shadows setting in at the top with the dramatic bottom lighting, and the blur on javier as he loses focus and starts truly, truly panicking makes me INSANE. artist you're making me CRAZY!!!

javier truly has no idea either but god dammit he's trying his best to help, but how can lloyd explain this to the man whos completely and utterly loyal to him to the point of sincere devotion? if lloyd tells him, whos to say that javier - the martyr that he is - won't just give up his life for him? god that's so... GOD. GOD GOD GOD WHY AGHHH

AND AGGHHH AGGGHHHH THE FLASHBACKS TO THE P PANELS OF SUHO WORKING SO SO HARD TO REACH THE LIGHT. GOD FUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK

ITS DIMMER ITS HARDER TO REACH AND OH MY GOD THE PANEL OF LLOYD REACHING UP EVEN IN HIS PANIC TOWARDS HOPE. THE THOUGHT THAT "ITLL GET BETTER ONE DAY" COMFORTED HIM AND KEPT HIM ALIVE BUT NOW ITS BEING RIPPED FROM HIM I FEEL ILL. EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL

this panel of that light going out . not much words on this i just feel sick to my stomach. why would u do that.

and finally at the end of the chapter we have this incredibly HAUNTING panel of lloyd panicking. the despair here is UNREAL. the lineart is shaken and messy and scribbly, and the focus on his face and his hand gives the panel a very claustrophobic and hard-to-breathe feel and it makes mE SICK!!! IT MAKES ME SICK!!! SICK AND TWISTED!!!! JEWEL OF TRUTH I HATE YOU!!!!!!!

anyway that's all my thoughts for right now . i really really hope they figure out a loophole or something . if they dont im actually gonna keel over and die /j not literally but yknow what i mean

SICK AND TWISTED!!! is my final word on this ep

thanks for joining me in hell ill see yall next week salute emoji

[ohanny]

so i saw this picture and like any normal person my first immediate thought was

change host club show when

and as a totally normal person i immediately set to plot one out so... enjoy, i guess?

part 1/3

bear with me ʕ◉ᴥ◉ʔ

benz as the manager

he is rich, a little spoiled and a lot bratty with divorced parents. after finishing his masters and graduating at the top of his class from a very exclusive business school, his father expects him to come work for some multinational evil corp and fulfil his destiny as the heir. instead, he shows up at his estranged mother’s door, asking to take over the host clubs she owns. what are his motivations, exactly? what is he getting out of this? who knows. but he has a vision and no one is going to be standing in his way.

nut as the investor

benz and nut went to school together and during their freshman year they were - you guessed it - roommates. he is rich, very spoiled and a little bored so once he hears benz has acquired a host club of all things to manage, he simply must check it out. as a man of refined tastes, his first reaction is “you pissed off your daddy for this dump?” which rubs a lot of people the wrong way. not benz, though. benz shrugs and says “if you want better furniture, go buy it.” and when you have more money than sense, might as well, right? nut becomes the club’s new investor and takes a very hands on approach to making sure his investment is going well. aka booking the vip lounge every saturday to entertain himself and his friends and running sassy commentary while refusing to lift a finger to actually help.

pavel as the ex-manager

before benz came along… pavel used to run the place. the club might be one of many in benz’s mother’s nightlife portfolio, kind of forgotten about, but for pavel it is his passion project, his safe space, his. he put his blood, sweat and tears into keeping the place from shutting down and now this rich bitch and his even richer, bitchier friend show up to tear the entire place down and change everything? he gets demoted and sent to work the floor and there is nothing he can do about it. but he sure as hell isn't going to quit - he won't give them the satisfaction and someone needs to make sure they won't turn his home into some tourist trap strip club or drag the staff into shady dealings. not on his fucking watch.

pooh as the boyfriend

pooh is pavel’s boyfriend and they live together in the small apartment above the club, two broke boys style. pooh used to work part-time at the club because he’s studying and well… scholarships don't cover everything and it quickly adds up. however, after benz takes over, pavel wants him nowhere near the place. the vibes are off and he really didn't like the way benz zeroed in on pooh when pooh came down on his way to night class. the thing is, with pavel already so stressed, pooh might have failed to mention how the university decided to cut back on his financial aid and he really, really needs to find a way to make money fast.

part 2

part 3

[a-whispering-echo]

below is a transcript of the rambles in my notes on my Pirate Au.

the concept is THERE okay? just not that thought out. Dream was originally in this au too, he has since been nerfed cus i just dont really like Dream, oops.

They're all from different ships and we're stranded on the same island - They have to work together to make a new ship and get off thhe Island

Dusts ship was infected with illness, he killed them all to stop them dying painfully from it, he planned to drown himself after killing them all, this didn't work, and he ended up washed up on the island - The grey Spirit

Most of Horrors ship died of starvation after they were low on supplies and the captain hoarded all the food for herself. when they were hit by the storm, Horror get his head wound from that and doesn't remember much of his life from before the crash, just knowing that he had a brother and that he has to make sure he's safe, he doesn't know he's already dead. - the Qualm's Tail

Killers ship had broken out into civil war, and almost everyone was killed in this war, most of them to his own hand, he was in the side of rebellion against their captain who was killing off their own crew for more shares of treasure, when they were hit by the storm, they're were only around ten men altogether, Killer doesn't much care what happened to his crew mates, he saw a lot of them as traitors and those he didn't he wasn't very close to anyway. - the Something New

Cross was sailing on his own, he was sent out by his town for supplies by his father, one of the leaders. Gaster hoped his son would die at sea, or at the very least, not come back. He got his wish when Cross' small boat couldn't handle the fierce tides of the ocean. Cross was mostly honoured to be chosen to go out, thinking it a time to prove himself, never realising that the people hated him until he spoke about his home life with the others, and they picked up on things he didn't. - the X

Nightmare was a prince who ran away when he was young due to the villagefolk believing him to be cursed by the devil due to his magic being dark in nature. he ran away and became one of the most feared pirates on the seas, stating that if everyone was going to treat him as if he was evil anyway, he might as well actually commit the crimes he was accused of. Nightmare exclusively worked alone, using illusion magic to make it seem like he had a huge crew to scare people off, but on his own he couldn't fight the tide and his ship hit a rock while he was asleep. - The Nightfall Mare

They arrive on the island withing a few hours of each other, nm lands first, relitivly unharmed, just a few nicks and scratches, but he has some food with him, just some bread and berries, and fresh water to last a good while. The mtt then wash up on quick succession, Horror first, unconscious and extremely wounded ,Nightmare doesnt know what to do, and mostly just tries to stop the bleedlng as best as he can with his clothing, until Dust washed up. He's also unconscious, and almost drowned, but when he's resuscitated by nm, he immediately helps horror, as dust was a medic in training, horror stays unconscious for a few days, but is mostly okay in the end, minus some memory problems, due to dusts help. Killer shows up about 20 minutes after dust wakes up, he's awake, but cut up pretty badly, but not in fear of death, but he has weapons, several knives, and axes on his shipwreck, dusst helps patch him up too, and then a few hours later, cross shows up. He has a bag of supplies, of water and rope, but most importantly, he knew fire magic. Together, they had enough supplies to survive, and become very close along the

[lowcosmic]

—— as long as i’m with you .

“ he lovingly stroked your head , lifting your chin up so he could kiss your forehead. you had stopped crying. ”

— 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : kokichi comforts you after a breakup.

— 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 : fluff

— 𝐜𝐰 : mentions of cheating

— 𝐚/𝐧 : total brain rot. anyways , dw for all my audiences , this is gn! reader.

“ (y/n) … why won’t you answer? ” kokichi muttered to himself. he’d sent you probably over a hundred texts and at least fifty calls , and you’d replied to none of them.

he was beginning to think something was terribly , terribly wrong.

kokichi made his way over to your house. he doubled his steps when thinking of all the possibilities on what happened to you.

finally , he reached your doorstep. you’d given him a spare key a few months back , because he’d kept coming over and over repeatedly , and it was becoming annoying to have to keep getting up and answering the door yourself.

he unlocked the door with a small click , quickly kicking his shoes away and dashing around your house after shutting your door with a swift slam.

he called your name. the house seemed almost quiet … except for those small sobs he could hear from upstairs.

he exhaled in meager relief. at least you were still alive. he dashed to your room.

without thinking , he pulled open your door. his heart almost immediately sank at the sorrowful sight he looked upon.

you were on your bed , arms crossed over your legs against your chest. a box of tissues was next to you as your figure trembled slightly. you thought you looked pathetic.

kokichi jumped to your side. the bed creaked as he got on , the sheets crumpling more than they were before.

without hesitation , he hugged you.

he was conflicted as you cried more into his arms. should he ask about what happened? should he just let you be? he wasn’t too educated on comforting , but he rubbed your back in small circular motions to try to help.

it was like a smooth rock plunged deep in his throat , a question he wanted to ask but was too nervous in case he’d upset you more.

but he’d never be able to help if he didn’t ask.

“ what happened? ” he squeezed you tighter.

your voice disappeared and reappeared at the question. you knew exactly what happened , but the descriptions were too bitter to get out.

with a little more reassuring , and a few tissues , you spoke up.

“ he … he broke up with me. ” your eyes shut , the last part of what you said being slightly slurred in order for you to get all the words out before your tongue stopped working again.

kokichi’s heart grew cold. “ how could he — ?! how could he break up with you ?! you’re amazing and perfect and — who’d wanna give that up ?! ” he shut himself up before his mouth got the best of him.

“ … i … saw him kissing — a - another person … ” you mumbled.

kokichi felt his blood boil. “ he cheated on you and then he had the audacity to BREAK UP with you ?! that bi — !! ”

“ … why do you care so much about me? ” you cut him off.

“ it’s not obvious? … ” his voice dropped to a soothing , almost whisper ; contrast to his prior enraged tone.

you gripped the back of his shirt harder , fisting the material between your fingers.

he sighed , as if he felt he were going to regret what he was about to say. “ i like you. a lot. no , no. i love you. that’s a whole lot more than just ‘ like. ’ ”

your breathing hitched just a moment.

he continued. “ you don’t have to return the feelings or … deny them just yet. for now … i want you to feel better. ”

“ i love you , too. ” you murmur. now , it was kokichi’s turn to be surprised.

he lovingly stroked your head , lifting your chin up so he could kiss your forehead. you had stopped crying.

“ … do you want anything to eat? we could stay in and watch movies or something , anything you want to do. ” kokichi smiled. not one of his devious , “ i’ve got an evil plan that may or may not include people getting involved in my tomfoolery ” smile — but a smile of warmth and solace for you.

“ um … sure. as … as long as i’m with you. ”

please don’t repost , translate , or claim my works as your own.

[rosemaidenvixen]

Witch Hunter

Chapter 1

Next>

Ao3

“Hello mother, sorry I haven't been here for a while. I’ll try to visit more, but the harvest is coming up pretty soon, it’s going to be a lot of hard work and I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to get away,” Claire cut herself off with a breath, tangling her fingers in her skirt “I do have some good news, Goody Kline purchased some sugar and arranged to teach me and the other young ladies to make wild berry preserves,”

“And Claire promised to ask Goody Kline to let me sit in on the lessons as well,” Jim added “I’m eager to learn, though I may have to buy Goody Kline’s favor with wild game and honey,”

Claire giggled and swatted him on the shoulder “Don’t talk about purchasing favors from ladies in front of my mother,”

Jim let out a sheepish chuckle, face flushing pink “Of course, a thousand pardons Mistress Nuñez, though in my defense we do have an escort,”

He gestured behind him with his thumb, a pair glowing in the bushes. The sharp yellow standing out in the silver moonlight.

“I apologize for my companion’s untoward boldness,” Jim squeaked but Claire paid him no mind, shifting her folded legs to reach into her pocket and pull out a braided chain of pale purple flowers “I have another gift for you. Aster, the blossoms are delicate and fine. I think you’ll like them,”

“I’ve got something as well,” Jim reached into his pocket, pulling out a small stone with a hole in the center “It’s a hagstone, mother says they can protect against the evil eye, it’s too dangerous for either of us to carry around so I’ll entrust it to you for a while,” he flashed a meek grin at Claire “Purely as a gift not an attempt to purchase favor,”

Claire smirked at him before plucking the stone out of his offered hand “Forgive him mother, Jim may be a rogue but he means well,”

She leaned forward, hanging the floral chain from the side of the wooden cross, setting the stone in the dirt at its base.

“I hope you like them,” she said quietly.

A soft breeze blew, ruffling the flower chain slightly, but otherwise there was no reply.

“Enrique’s getting so big, he’s already sitting up all by himself. No talking yet but I feel his first word could be any day now. I’m sure that when father meets him he’ll be so happy he won’t be upset that…”

Tears burned in her eyes, throat sealing shut with emotion. She heard more than saw Jim reaching out. His hand on her shoulder grounded her, allowing her to swallow back her tears and find her voice again.

“Father will return soon and take us all back to Spain, I know he’ll be sad you’re gone, but he’ll be together with Enrique and me and we’ll be a family again, and we can all mourn you together,”

Jim squeezed her shoulder but otherwise left her to her emotions, the two kneeling in the hard packed dirt, with only the wooden gravemarkers for company.

Eventually Claire pushed herself to her feet “I promise I’ll visit again soon mother, I’ll tell you all about the jam making and Enrique and everything you’ve missed,” more tears burned behind her eyes but she forced them back “I love you mama, I know I didn’t say it often enough before, but I’m saying it now,”

With that she plucked the aster chain and hagstone off the grave and strode away towards the woods, unable to bear it any longer, Jim scrambling to his feet and hurrying after her.

Claire didn’t slow down once she entered the trees, even though what scant moonlight there was faded to near nothing. Leaves rustled overhead, a chill biting into her that hadn’t been present the last time. Summer was ending, it may not be long until it was too cold for their night time meetings. Would her father return by then? Or would the weather seal them indoors, cutting Claire off from the one person here who made life bearable. 

Shoving the thought away, she continued her trek through the trees. Not stopping until she reached their hollow oak, kneeling down and ducking her head inside.

Immediately she was surrounded by dozens of dried flower chains, bits of beads and shells, the various charms Jim and his mother had given her. Everything she would have adorned Ophelia Nuñez’s grave with had she been buried at home and not half a world away where such things were forbidden.

Claire delicately placed the aster and the hagstone with the others, moving back and standing up straight, hastily wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

“We should head back,” Jim had followed her, of course he had the sweetheart “The constable will be making his rounds soon, we don’t want to run into him,”

She gave him a quick nod, not trusting herself to speak. 

“And besides,” Jim said with a soft chuckle, glancing down towards his feet “I don’t think our chaperone is very pleased with our conduct,”

She followed his line of sight to a pair to the glowing yellow eyes peering at them from where they were twining through Jim’s legs. Her somber mood didn’t dissipate, but a trickle of mirth did alleviate it.

“Of course,” she held out her hand, allowing Jim to grasp her fingers with his own “Can’t have Cinder being cross with us,”

“Us? What us?” Jim said with mock offense “Cinder adores me, it’s you he’ll be cross with,”

Claire giggled, the two of them walking hand in hand through the trees.

They finished their walk in silence, this close to town they had to listen carefully for any sound of Constable Mayhew, slowing to a reluctant stop when the trees thinned and their routes diverged.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the service,” Jim said slowly, releasing her fingers and moving to lean down. Standing back up straight with a large, black yellow-eyed tomcat in his arms. Cinder looked profoundly displeased, as he always did, but didn’t struggle in Jim’s arms.

“I’ll see you there to,” Claire said with a small grin “But no talking, not unless you want the constable to box your ears,”

“Of course, if he’s going to box my ears it should be for something much more fun,” Jim said with a laugh, waving farewell as he headed down the path, Cinder held snugly against his chest “See you then,”

Claire waved back as she walked the path in the opposite direction “See you then,”

[swervinonalatenight]

So many have interpreted The Emperor Balduran as a meta commentary on the how the player interacts with game characters and acts as a mirror of how you’re character acts to others. Which is super interesting and props to the writers for it.

But I always see The Emperor, “The Character”, which is its own can of juicy worms.

I should start off by saying this. The Emperor is NOT Balduran.

Ceremorphosis in its final stages destroys the soul of the host and replaces them with a mind flayer that has some of the memories and experiences of the host. They are not a transformed version of the original. (So sorry to pull out the rug on those who want to save Karlach with ceremorphosis, but that’s not Karlach anymore, it’s an ilithid based on Karlach.) They cannot be resurrected, they cannot be recovered. Their fundamental nature has changed from whatever they were, into a new mind flayer.

With this in mind, we can examine The Emperor from the start of your first meeting. The Emperor lies to you. He comes to you in a form of a dream guardian, someone who appeals to whatever you or your characters ideal is. He is everything you would want from the start and promises to protect you if you help them.

When The Emperor does reveal himself as a Mind Flayer, he doesn’t do it willingly, when you have grown to trust him and he you, it’s when he was forced to, when all options of hiding are gone. IIRC he never says anything about revealing it to you, if he could he would have kept lying to you for as long as he needed. He plays off his deceit by saying that he needed you to trust him, that you weren’t ready for the truth, shrouding you in wool of “forces beyond your understanding”.

He catfished you.

Then next you talk he tries to relate, tell you of his exploits as a human. A noble act yes, but again, shrouded in mystery as to who he was. He says he only killed criminals to feed off of, but never what kind of criminals. Were they murderers? Petty thieves? Gang members? Someone who stole bread to feed a starving sister and their son? He never says, just “criminals”. He worked with someone to make the place better, only to have it turn out he mentally controlled her to the point of making her brain dead.

His best friend, most likely lover, saw he was sick and went from heaven to hell to try and get him better, while he said he was fine with how he was, until the point where his lover was unable to accept him being gone and he killed him in self defense. Only, as it turns out, his lover may have actually been trying to stop him from doing something evil.

He says he has a troubled, but understandable past that you should sympathize with.

He then comes to you shirtless, ‘vulnerable’. He says there is a connection between you two that has driven you closer, that you understand him and he you. He gets you, and thinks you should “get to know him”. He seduces you, and he’s happy if you go along, but if you refuse he sounds miffed, like he was banking on it happening. And he says he knows everything about you and what you want.

He uses sex and a perceived attraction as a means of gaining trust, started with a false sense of vulnerability.

When you do as he says, follow his lead and “trust” him, he acts happy, overjoyed that you trust him and that you are following your best chance at salvation. That you see Balduran, not a mind flayer.

When you don’t do as he says, not necessarily distrust and go against him, even just thinking “maybe there’s a better option” he calls you a fool, and idiot, an incompetent who will damn themselves and everyone else because they don’t follow his vision. Even in the end, when you say you trust him but killing s bound and helpless man who he’s enslaved and exploited to get this far is wrong and that freeing him is best. He immediately cuts all ties and goes to a higher form of authority to get back at you. He exploits your desires about you, using the dream guardians as fodder. All your desires are nothing but tools to break you down. He knows you, but since you defied him, he will break you for daring tho think against him at all.

Really, The Emperor is an abusive/manipulative partner. He breaks down natural barriers of trust with his words and charisma of “trying to help you” and that you are the only hope (“I love you so much, you are so much better than me”). But only in so much as you follow his word. (Why are you doing this? Aren’t we partners? Don’t you love me? I’m the only one who can help/love you!) He isolates you from the others by talking to you alone, wraps you in six different kinds of lies to protect your sweet precious mind. (DW, it’s fine you don’t need to think that hard about it baby. I will take care of everything you just listen to me) And the moment you decide any other way than his way may be better, he goes against everything he has ever said to you and joins with the thing that enslaved him before just to get back at you, using everything you gave him against you. (Why don’t you love me!? We shared so much together?! Fine! Hope you love getting harassed and swatted bitch!)

The Emperor never cared about like he said. He’s a mind flayer, you are just, a really important thrall to him. That’s all you ever will be. A mind flayer mind is so alien to the thought of “other races are ok” that the closest they can get is “my favorite slave”.

He cares about you only in so much as you ensure his freedom. Becoming a mind flayer, is his way of gaining total control, as you are now HIS ideal, alone from anyone else that may care about you.

[desired-misery]

Snippets from the many many Resident Evil wips I have been working on

...

The drips of iodine on the surgical cloth are dark as blood, but on his skin it is more of an ochre color. Layered over the green marks on his skin, it turns his guides black. Easiest step done— the first, which starts the whole process. He can still take a moment to breathe because he isn't bleeding, he hasn't opened up his own chest yet—

[Luis removing La Plaga, ~4k, about 70% done]

...

Why is Adam yanking him around like this if he’s not going to do the damn job himself? Why even bother talking to him if that’s all he is going to get?

When Adam doesn’t say anything, Leon tries again. “I thought, since you called—”

“Keep it professional, Kennedy,” Adam cuts him off, cold and firm.

Leon curbs his instinct to snap back, smoothing his anger out just enough to count as humor. He pushes because he always pushes, even though it pisses Adam off— especially because it does. "Jesus, did someone kill the Queen or something?"

"Or something," Adam repeats, drier than a rock. But Adam doesn’t scold Leon for his smart mouth, which means that whatever stick is up Adam’s ass isn’t Leon’s fault.

[RE4R "missing" scenes, focused on survival and all the bullshit Leon and Ashley (and probably Luis) survived, ~16k, about 10% done]

...

Leon’s sharpness is not limited to his humor. He tilts his head to catch Chris’s gaze again and touches Chris’s wrist next to his head. 

“Are you uncomfortable about complements and want me to stop, or are you just really shy?”

“I am not shy,” Chris protests, for his reputation’s sake. 

“Yes you are,” Leon says, catching the obvious lack of heat in Chris’s answer— and the implied permission to be allowed to continue. The glint in Leon’s eye that is more than just teasing. “You look like a greek god, Chris.”

When Chris’s flush turns into a burning across his face, Leon grins.

"Easily embarrassed, then.”

“Shut up.” Chris leans down to do it himself because he doubts Leon will. Leon laughs in his mouth.

“It’s cute!” Leon says in between kisses.

“I am not cute,” Chris pretends to gripe.

“No, you’re handsome as fuck,” Leon replies. His hand comes to the back of Chris’s head to take control. Chris doesn’t have the capacity to turn even redder because Leon’s tongue is in his mouth and there is nothing else worth thinking about.

[Chris meets Leon at an event, they hook up for a few days, ~10k, ???% done]

...

"Holy shit!" Nivans yelps over the line— and Chris thinks that Jill is going to be right, the kid is gonna freak—

until the large BOW falls, the side of its pelvis blowing out in time with the crack of Nivan's rifle.

"The hell is that?!" Nivans demands, still sounding horrified, but not blind with panic. "What is that?!"

"Bio-organic weapon— all good, they die if you shoot them, so just keep doing that." Jill says, steady and casual in her way that will hopefully keep Nivans focused. "Headshots are the best way to stop one, if you don't mind."

Nivans laughs a little, breathless. "God—"

The echoing crack of his rifle cuts him off. The downed thing's head explodes.

"Good work," Chris praises immediately, "You're doing great."

"That's awful!" Nivans says, but he keeps lining up his shots so Chris makes sure he and Jill stay clear of the alley they are funneling them down.

[How Chris (and Jill) cross paths with Piers and how he gets recruited to the BSAA, ~1.5k words, just a fragment of a fic]

...

Piers has to remember to call late enough that his mom doesn't worry about him losing sleep, still believing that he is in a completely different time zone. Lying to her leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but not bad enough that he wants to tell her what is really going on. He does tell her to hold off on sending any care packages under the guise that he believes he is going to be moved to a different base and doesn't want it getting lost in the logistics of trying to track him down while he is being transferred. She responds in less than an hour, email full of relief that he is doing okay and excitement that he'll be calling so soon. That makes him feel worse than shooting people ever did, and that night he spends over an hour trying to fall asleep, wondering if she will be able to tell if anything has changed about him.

[Piers before he gets recruited to the BSAA, stuck stateside when he should still be deployed, ~4k, ??? who knows how this will fit in? maybe with Chris's POV?]

[sunflowersandsapphires]

Injured HCs

The lovely @mattkinsella asked me to write more HCs about how the boys react when you’re injured! (And I included small thing about them being injured too tee hee)

Frank:

When he’s injured, he will hide it. Same with being sick. He’s worked through worse, there’s no reason to get upset about it. 

He trusts you to stitch him up tho, and that means a lot. 

Matt

Doesn’t necessarily try to hide it, but will not stop to rest. Might ask you for help meditating. Accepts coddling, but will get defensive if you ask him to rest. 

Mikey

Not a drama queen, but much less averse to resting than the other two. Like in my illness HCs, I think he would be perfectly content letting you take the reigns and leaning into his time off. Adores that he has someone there to help him. 

Frank

If you’re injured? Oh boy. 

Very demanding. Leaves no room for argument. (Just hands you stuff, doesn’t even ask.)

“Frank, I’m—“ “Take the damn pills, doll.” 

Trusts himself and Curtis ONLY to stitch you up, 

Definitely not happy that you’re injured/comfortable with it, but he’s the most chill of the 3. (This is not saying much.)

If someone intentionally harmed you, they’ve sealed their fate. He will wait until you’re sleeping peacefully to take care of the problem tho. 

If your injury is because of an accident (clumsiness, general misfortune, etc) rather than a person intentionally hurting you, he’s a bit less intense. 

Once the initial shock of your injury has worn off, he will tease you about it, if it makes you laugh. 

“Careful, babygirl. Ya sure you’re ready to handle those evil stairs again?”

Relatively realistic about the severity of injuries, depending on the reaction of his partner. 

Like he won’t freak out over a paper cut if you don’t want him to. He’s perfectly willing to kiss it better if you ask tho. 

Matt:

The LEAST chill of the three. 

Treats a paper cut with the same severity as a broken limb. 

Though, I can’t imagine how scary it would be to smell your partner bleeding or hurt. Like that has to set off alarm bells regardless. 

Soooooo protective. Glued to your side immediately, practically snarling at anyone who gets too close. 

Won't let you lift so much as a FINGER if you don’t have to. 

Panics a little and offers you all of the options until you help him calm down. 

“Do you need painkillers? Or an ice pack? Or something to eat? Why don’t we take a nap or—“ “Matty, breathe. It’s just a pulled muscle.  I’m ok, love.” 

Will absolutely kiss it better and would prefer to do so. 

Tries to teach you to meditate to heal faster, but you keep giggling and turning to press kisses to his cheeks and neck, so he gives up. 

I think he would want to take time off from both his day job and deviling, but would ultimately compromise by splitting his time between all three of you, unless you really needed his company. 

Mikey:

So soft, the softest guy. 

More concerned with what you want than what he thinks you need. 

“How can I help ya, pet? Tell me whatcha need me to do.” 

Unlike Frank, he does NOT trust himself to assist and would much rather take you to a medical professional. 

Asks so many follow up questions after the doctor examines you to make sure to get everything right. 

I feel like he’d take notes on his phone or in a physical notebook even. He’s SO worried he’s going to fuck it up. 

Very hesitant to leave you alone, in case you need something. 

Regularly checks in on how you’re feeling, willing to help however he can. If you need cuddles, he’s wrapped around you before you can even finish the request. Looking for company on your walk to work or while running errands? He’s there with a smile on his face. 

Tbh this doesn’t only happen when you’re injured, I think he would take every available opportunity to spend time with you, but he will prioritize you to a higher degree when you’re sick or injured. 

Will tease you if you ask him to kiss something better, but only because he thinks it’s adorable to make you squirm. 🥹

[slashhinginghasher]

Dog Day Afternoon - Ghoap x reader

I've been binge-reading @ohbo-ohno's blog all day and just had to write a companion piece to their amazing story Don't Leave Me Locked In Your Heart.

No warnings, just fluff, but like, really really stupid fluff.

***

In a normal housing situation, you'd be baffled by how quickly your shampoo tended to disappear. You'd carefully measure how much you used each time, eye every roommate with suspicion when they emerged from the bathroom with wet hair. Maybe you'd even hide the bottle in your room between baths for safe-keeping, or fill an empty bottle with something gross to see who came out covered in a gunky mess.

But you didn't live in a normal housing situation, and you didn't have to wonder where all your shampoo was going because the thieving Scot who took it also made you wash his fucking hair with it. Every. Damn. Time. Sometimes even more than once.

"Can't have me gettin' split ends, bonnie," he said knowledgeably. "No' like Simon over there."

You didn't inform him that washing one's hair multiple times in the shower did not make the shampoo work better. You did not point out that he and Simon, being military, both cut their hair too short and too often for split ends. You didn't even accuse him of only knowing what split ends were because it was written on the shampoo bottle.

No, you kept your thoughts to yourself. Because while Johnny was apparently in possession of mad military skills - including manhandling, referring to Simon by his rank, and probably guns or something - they paled in comparison to his true talent: spouting an endless amount of bullshit at you until you accidentally said something sexual in return, and then taking that as an opening to be actually sexual.

Once, when you were fussing over a blemish forming on your nose, Johnny had sworn that you could contract flesh-eating bacteria and he'd still love you, holes and all. You had been physically incapable of stopping yourself from muttering that his love of your holes was what had gotten you into this situation in the first place. Johnny immediately got an evil gleam in his eye, and Simon had laughed. Out loud. Then they took you to bed for an entire day. Literally a full twenty-four hours. You hadn't been able to walk right for almost a week.

So yeah, you'd learned your lesson and you didn't goad Johnny, even when you had something spectacularly clever to say.

"Think you're a bloody show dog now, Johnny?" Simon rumbled. "Yappin' on about your hair like a damn poodle."

"A poodle!" Johnny shouted, affronted. "Am no fuckin' poodle, LT. Naw." He rubbed his hands together, warming up to the subject. "A german shepherd, maybe. Or a doberman. One a' those fuck-off big boys that makes you piss yerself a little when you get too close. What d'you think, hen?"

Oh, there were so many answers you could give to break this man's ego. Breeds they'd have to look up on google to feel the full impact of your devastating wit. But no, you had to stay strong. You pressed your lips into a tight line and maintained a dignified silence.

"Oi, I'm askin' ye a question."

"You ask me a lot of questions, and almost all of them are stupid."

Johnny looked positively offended.

"They are not stupid!"

"'If a guy was on the moon and he jumped hard enough in the right direction do you think he could launch himself back to earth?'" you quoted. "'Do we say things suit people because suits look good on you or is it called a suit because it suits you?' 'If unicorns were real do you think they'd let people ride them and if they did would you attach the reins to their mouth like a normal horse or would you tie 'em around the horn?'"

"All of which are important questions and not at all stupid!"

"Everything is stupid when you're asking it at 3 am, Johnny!"

Simon's eyes were bouncing between the two of you like a tennis match. He looked like he was having the time of his life (in Simon terms, which meant that one corner of his mouth was turned up in a microscopic smirk).

"I cannae help it that my deepest thoughts come late at night," Johnny said solemnly. "An' you're avoiding the most important question: what dog am I?"

"You're a mutt, Johnny," Simon said. "A scraggly little mutt that's gonna get muzzled if it doesn't learn to stop asking stupid questions when people are tryin' to sleep."

Johnny grinned. You weren't sure if he was the sort of person who could shrug off vitriol from anybody, or if he was so over the moon about Simon that he would preen under any kind of attention he got from him. And the last thing you wanted was to feel bad for either of your captors. But damn, the bigger man could be downright mean sometimes.

"Belgian malinois," you said.

"Come again?"

"Mouthy police dog that starts trembling if you order it to stay still for too long," you clarified.

"Sounds about right," Simon muttered.

Johnny cocked his head, mulling over this with extreme deliberation, before pointing at Simon.

"What about him?"

You considered Simon. Big, scary, unflappable Simon. "Shit your pants if you see him in a dark alley" Simon who could definitely rip your head off your body but also somehow gave the best hugs and turned into a pile of goo if you scratched his head right.

"Caucasian shepherd," you announced. "Also known as the Russian bear dog."

Simon nodded. You were pretty sure he had no idea what kind of dog that was and would have agreed with anything that sounded appropriately large or menacing enough.

"Aw fuck off!" Johnny cried. "How come I've gotta be the vibrating cop dog while he gets to be the fucking bear dog?"

"And that's what you get for askin' stupid questions, mutt."

Johnny huffed and pouted for a moment before turning back to you.

"And you, love? What kinda dog are you?"

"I'm a cat," you replied. "Obviously."

Your stomach dropped as that devious spark kindled in Johnny's eyes.

"Too true, kitty, too true," he purred. "Fancy a bit of a chase?"

How the fuck did he always manage to do that???

[frooogscream]

Why Izzy’s death doesn’t work as Ed’s redemption 

This show that was so good before with avoiding overused tropes really did the “redemption arc for the antagonist just for him to heroically -well actually just without any point- die” trope, as a season finale, mind you! Just to give Ed a redemption free pass? 

Because if the character he arguably did the worst things to forgives him, then of course everybody else including the viewers also has to. And if Izzy says that actually it was all his fault/that he is the one who is sorry, well then obviously that also has to be true./s

-Sorry for what? What is this, 101 how to be the perfect abuse victim?!-

 “bUT iZzy SYmbøLiSEs êdS…..”- NO! Stop right there, that’s not how this works: “the kraken killed my dad”- does not take away Ed’s responsibility for killing his father. Him sinking his leather clothes to the bottom of the ocean to symbolically kill Blackbeard, how he is talking of “Ed” and “Blackbeard” as if they are two different people, the whole time Ed is pretending that the things he can’t face about him self are not actually part of him. This is obviously very unhealthy and I was sure that the storyline of the show would let him face these things and learn how to accept himself with all the good and the bad(!) he’s done.

But nope- the show seams to agree that projecting all his flaws onto something (in this case somebody) else is a legitimate solution and then immediately kills that character off, so Ed is redeemed with in seconds, without actually showing any character growth??! 

I am sorry but this just does not make sense! And I’m not even going into how you can use Ed clothes or the silk in S1 or a petrified orange as a symbol but not ACTUAL PEOPLE. 

And “you are surrounded by friends?” No Ed is actually quite right, Izzy at this point is his only friend (not saying that Izzy always was the most helpful or supportive friend, but he stood by him no matter what). The crew on the other hand clearly does not see Ed as a friend, rightfully so. He did nothing to rectify his actions towards them, hell he didn’t even apologize properly because clearly Stede wrote his apology speech (that’s why he doesn’t know what a fucking safe space ship is). So no character growth/ taking accountability on that front.

If Ed would have actually gotten just the tiniest bit of character growth, if he had actually faced that HE is the one who did these things, the least DJ could have shown us, is him saying that he is sorry too/disagreeing when Izzy, even now while dying, is taking the fault for Ed’s actions yet again.

But he doesn’t because he still believes “the kraken killed my dad, I didn’t kill them the fire did, Izzy made me cut of his body parts and become evil”.

This scene successfully ruined the complete character arcs my two favourite pirates supposedly were going through this season: Ed wanting to change and find out who he really is as well as completely undoing Izzy’s emancipation from him

[phantomyre]

Do you think that the devs/writers are going to be leaning more into the “Vincent is the father” theory? The way how he talks about Sephiroth in rebirth is very peculiar and also how an ashamed father would talk. Personally I hope not for many reasons.

Also when Vincent claims that he had many opportunities to purge Sephiroth from the world but he couldn’t pull the trigger, that implies that he died after Sephiroth was born and not before. Of course this could be to do with the fact that he simply doesn’t want to kill a child and or the son of his love, but it’s still weird non the less.

Unless they choose to retcon already established lore, they will not go that route. It adds nothing to Vincent's character, as much as some people want to make it seem it would and here's why.

Vincent being the father and him just sitting back and letting things happen would make him to be worse than Lucrecia and Hojo, turning him into a coward and a complete asshole. This would also vindicate Hojo completely and make Vincent to be the worse villain, not Hojo. People always like to point to their looks but Tifa and Elena use the same model with some tweeking, and no one says they're related. Or how Naio clearly has Tifa's model as well. Whether people like to admit it or not, these are anime designs, they do shortcut their work, and models get reused all the time. However, the one reason why they may have made the decision to have them both look similar may be due to the fact that originally, Sephiroth and Vincent were originally one and the same person. The main villain had white hair, a tall standing collar, and a headband. Either people are not aware of these things or they are stretching a concept that doesn't have any true solid foundation.

Aside from that, Vincent's connection to Sephiroth had always been weak, and there was little motivation for him to pursue Sephiroth in OG. His focus was always Hojo, and his penance was always too extreme in the eyes of fans. He was this sad little man that was just all woe-is-me for a sin that didn't justify his punishment. Lucrecia was always the one pointed at as the least forgivable. And rightly so. At the time, Vincent's only sin was following orders as a Turk and not overstepping his bounds to prevent the experiment. But that was hardly a reason for him to bainish himself to eternal nightmares. Until Rebirth.

Vincent's connection to Sephiroth finally holds more weight in that Vincent idly stood by while innocent lives were being cut off by Sephiroth. He likely knew enough about the nature of the experiment and that the purpose was to create a dangerous being, and then for years on end, still chose to passively allow Sephiroth create carnage. This alone makes Vincent an accomplice of Shinra's evils. While it isn't clearly stated in DoC, the Ultimania mentions that Sephiroth was already a toddler by the time Vincent decided to approach Hojo. So if that still remains canon, Vincent likely saw Sephiroth's early stages of cruelty as a child.

All of this adds plenty of reasons for Vincent to have a strong feeling towards taking Sephiroth down, yet still hesitating because he is the son of Lucrecia. Him being the father doesn't add anything important to him. As a matter of fact, it hinders his character. One of the many reasons why Vincent is so loved is due to his unselfish personality.

In OG, Vincent harbored doubts about Hojo, but his hatred wasn't that deep yet. In the Ultimania, Vincent counted Hojo's experiments on him justified, therefore putting himself lower than Hojo. It wasn't until Vincent learned the truth about Hojo that he suddenly became enraged, and all anger he had towards himself was immediately directed at Hojo. And yet in spite of it all, even after taking Hojo down, Vincent says "rest in peace, Hojo". What person says that to their most hated enemy...? This scene depicted that even towards his worst enemy, he was still gracious. To force in the idea that he is Sephiroth's father would override all of that, and would make Vincent no better than Lucrecia or Hojo, and 'killing his own son' would never redeem him of that. Sparing the life of your worst enemy's child holds more impact than killing your kid (which is also extremely unoriginal and tropey).

Can they play with the idea of him being the father? Absolutely. Will they actually make him the dad? No, unless they want to completely undo what Vincent is. And and far as we've seen, if there's one thing they have been very loyal to and careful about, it's the characters. They build upon what they already are, and do not change what is already established canon. And in Vincent's case, his guilt was something that needed further weight. And that weight is that he was complacent with what both Shinra AND Sephiroth had committed, many times over.

I also go into detail about the depth of Vincent's guilt in this post. https://www.tumblr.com/phantomyre/745158867895418881/rebirth-vincent-analysisbreakdown-1-vincents?source=share

In short, I believe Vincent was aware of Sephiroth murdering the townspeople of Nibelheim, and due to what he says in Rebirth, he was also privy to the suriviors ending up as test subjects. And by way of association, Zack and Cloud as well. This is how they're going to give reason to Vincent's pursuit of Sephiroth. Not being the father.