#and saying literally anything would be such a betrayal of trust or whatever

[look-at-the-stars-tonight]

im not going to be messy im not going to be messy im NOT going to be messy. 

[dnangelic]

distortion god's fragment .

the story remains unchanging between the niwa and the hikari. the hikari's pride inspires them to push beyond both moral and mortal limitation. the niwa's pride inspires robbery and an equal arrogance. in a time within azumano the ancient ancestor of the hikari devoted the entirety of his life to the process of both summoning and taking control of arceus, the creation pokemon, for his penultimate masterpiece. it was at the exact moment of summoning that the ancient niwa ancestor, and the very first phantom thief 'dark' interrupted the process, causing the ritual to go completely of control. following the aftermath of the cataclysmic event, the hikari inherited a shattered fragment of the summoned avatar of arceus's power, further warped by the hikari's deep feelings of hatred, loneliness, and sorrow, thus becoming krad. the niwa were infected with antimatter and fragments of the griseous core, (one of the precious artifacts used to summon the mythical pokemon,) causing their very D.N.A to change and distort. this nameless fragment of giratina, or what ancient azumano called 'the kokuyoku' (black wings,) was born into chaos and confusion without its own body or its dedicated heart, until it came to take its hosts, dark's, name for himself.

ordinary human beings became even more terrified and mistrustful of pokemon following the incident. catastrophe followed catastrophe and the birth of dark and krad caused mass-persecution and punishment upon innocent pokemon, both natural and artificially created alike, the hikari themselves beginning to hunt them down as monsters that had to be dealt with before they could cause harm. in the midst of the endless guilt and horror of it all, dark was captured and transported to his very own distortion world by the means of a hikari-created pokemon named manisumea. curious as pandora, she ultimately released dark from his confines - only to be punished by the hikari for the act and left for dead.

furious over her mistreatment, dark made his decision to betray the hikari - and to devote himself to becoming a 'legendary' phantom thief, despite being ensnared in misery and irremovably attached to the niwa's bloodline like a curse. it's been 18 hosts since then, niwa daisuke dark's 19th, but time, at least in regards to anyone and anywhere apart from their own selves, has lost its meaning to them: thanks to the distortion god's power, dark is capable of traveling dimensions, often appearing in the midst of ominous distortions in an attempt to settle them and 'tame' the unruly pokemon inside when he isn't committing a public heist. his reputation is still of a criminal and a villain, and giratina's shadowy, ominous barbed wings on his back aren't helping, but he never confirms nor denies any accusation. the fault of all these things, after all, in one way or another, was his own.

----- quick notes.

dark's wings reflecting giratina's is the only appearance change. emotionally, and as nothing more than the product of what he perceives as multiple mistakes and ill influence, he severs himself from any concept of giratina's (or the 'kokuyoku's) actual identity. he'll respond if you to refer to him as either or if your muse has the historical/mythical knowledge necessary to identify him, but he might not be all that happy about it - having his own identity, being 'dark,' and being acknowledged for his bond with daisuke, or something that's become very human-like makes him much happier than being praised, worshipped, or damned as a monstrous distortion deity that he feels disconnected from.

dark is continuously the subject of public debate. is he human? is he a pokemon? is he a monster? are space-time distortions and all the outraged, rampaging pokemon HIS fault, since he's so often found at the center of them? why would they not be when he shamelessly steals just about anything that takes his interest, from artworks, treasures, to even people's pokemon? scientific communities and research related groups debate endlessly over him, and he's as admired for his unearthly appearance and skill in theft as he is reviled. all anybody knows is throwing a pokeball at his ass and landing it doesn't actually Do anything. except make him mad. wiz also remains his familiar for both theft and battle, and is a unique, artificially created pokemon that originally belonged to the hikari.

dark still has powers, and they still have limitations. the power of god and anime(tm) is a lot for an ordinary eety beety 15 yr old human boy's body to handle, but dark doesn't kill his hosts with the sheer force of it or his presence like krad does to the hikari. dark's moveset consists of the usual cautious debuffs: inflicting sleep or confusion on both pokemon or humans alike, but he's also capable of stronger, actual damage-dealing attacks such as shadow balls or dark pulses, (and non-elemental ones, such as fire or lightning strikes,) moves he only uses as a last resort. in a developing battle, dark's top priority will always be to safely run away and escape, he's one of those legendaries and opening/manipulating extremely minute distortions or alternate dimensions for the sake of this does not exacerbate his condition too much. dark can also both coherently understand and converse with the average pokemon - daisuke cannot.

if your name is volo and you have an extremely weird obsession with arceus then dark is making faces at you. this could be Good or Bad. not saying which is more likely though!

[mayasaura]

One of the biggest unanswered questions—to me—coming out of Nona the Ninth is..... Did Kiriona really think John would make her his cavalier if she opened the Tomb and dispatched Alecto?

It seems highly unlikely. I don't doubt she would want it, if she thought the offer was both genuine and possible to achieve, but those are some big ifs.

She was present for the fight that revealed Alecto as John's cavalier. She was there when John broke his amiable facade to say don't call her a monster. She knows first-hand what it is to share a part of your soul with someone. And we're meant to accept she believed John wanted Alecto dead? Doubt.jpg

But let's say she did believe that. John told a super convincing story, and she wanted so badly to believe someone loved her more than that slab of freezer meat. Whatever. The "possible to achieve" hurdle still looms large. Kiriona saw her father survive being reduced to atoms, she knows his cavalier is the source of that power, and she heard him say that what sleeps in the Tomb is "as dead as [he] could make her" and that she's "not the dying kind." And Kiriona was going to kill her with.... what? A rapier? Her knuckle knives? Because John said her blood was so super special, it would work just for her? Come on.

Kiriona—Gideon—is not that gullible. She grew up at war with Harrow. She grew up literally hunted for sport by the House Marshall. She considers angles, she tests motives, and she looks before she leaps. She expects to be betrayed, used, and discarded, and John made a hell of a first impression in the betrayal category. I believe she loves her father. I believe she'd do just about anything if she thought it would make her father love her. But blind trust? No way. She may or may not be a good judge of character, but she's definitely a skittish son of bitch.

And that's not even touching all the logical holes in her story—she stowed away to New Rho so she could open the Tomb? Girl what?—and the way she dropped the idea as soon as Ianthe pushed her to admit she was really there for Harrow.

Actually, you know what. I take it back. My biggest unanswered question isn't if Gideon believed any of it. There's no way. What I want to know now is whether John ever really asked her in the first place, or if it was all just a load of hot garbage she ad libbed to avoid mentioning Harrow to Ianthe. The implications either way are voluminous for the shape of the story to come, and I honestly can't rule either option out with the information we have.

[tobi-smp]

you know, with hindsight now what it is I really do think a more literal reading of c!techno's chat would have helped his characterization a Lot

and mind you, this was originally intended to be the case, and very well may have been intended all along even if it wasn't usually emphasized within the lore

and don't get me wrong, I Get why it fell out of favor within the fandom. it coincides with a Very storied ableist trope that demonizes DID and disorders adjacent to it, and Can be spoken about in a way that is essentially indistinguishable from it depending on the word choice.

but the thing is ! not only does it not Have to be an allegory for DID, I straight up don't think it is At All.

because we Know what it's an allegory for. It's His Chat. there's technoblade playing the game, and there's the thousands of people watching with expectations and wants that he's compelled to meet (or, at the very least, pacify through Entertainment).

and this makes much Much more sense when conceived of as Supernatural. be that spirits, gods, demons, or anything that could fill that role. separate entities that, for whatever reason, only techno can sense the presence of and be affected by.

and of course, to an extent this is true for all creators. everyone had an audience that they were meant to entertain and the choices they made were influenced by that fact.

but technoblade came in with a Very distinct set of expectations that heavily impacted the choices he was Expected to make and the kinds of stories that he could tell. he was more or less a living legend in real life just as much as he was in roleplay, and these things were inherently connected.

and it's like !

when c!technoblade says he was peer pressured into killing tubbo at the red festival he Is technically talking about what happened within the roleplay. schlatt was demanding it from him, there's a sort of pressure there. but schlatt was also the dictator they were set to kill, and techno has never had any trouble fighting people he considered a dictator before, and certainly not Schlatt of all people.

but he WAS being peer pressured By His Audience. by thousands of people, most of which were demanding blood Because It Was The Expectation, because it'd be Fun.

out of universe technoblade made the decision he thought would be the most Entertaining, and he was right! consistently he made choices that would let him do the most bombastic Spectacles possible. And It's Great. he's Excellent at pulling dramatics and making a compelling scene that give other people room to work off of. in that sense I'd consider techno an Excellent actor, and I have to imagine that he was fun to work with.

the problem is when you then have to justify it from an in character perspective, grounded in those mushy things like Feelings with characters that can be traumatized and sustain lasting damage, Especially Without acknowledging the out of character incentive.

mind you, it's not Impossible to Create a backstory that could justify it. why a character as consistently powerful and feared as technoblade would feel pressured to kill an ally by someone he not only Can kill but Wanted To Kill. why a character as seemingly secure and in control as technoblade would lash out the way that he does to perceived betrayal, and yet consistently puts no weight onto having killed and permanently scarred an ally that trusted him.

what that'd need is tragedy. a storied history of being hurt and having to survive. building up To an untouchable god from a much much more vulnerable position. Long Lasting trauma that's lead to this deep insecurity and paranoia. and that's Possible and that's Compelling.

but it's just not in the text.

not only did we never learn basically Anything that c!technoblade was up to pre-series, we actually know Less by the end than when we started because of the sbi retconning.

it's a Theoretically Possible interpretation that's technically never Contradicted by canon, but would have to be created by scratch. it's a compelling idea for a fan fic (and one I'd like to read) and it's compelling for a theoretical recontextualization of the character, but it's just not In The Text.

meanwhile, we have the video above.

we have the Objective Fact that technoblade's decision making was often subject to the rule of cool (very Very effectively) to entertain his audience.

and most compellingly, these concepts Don't Need To Be Separate. in fact, in my opinion they're Stronger when you put them together.

because the thing is. it's Difficult to imagine techno as ever being in a vulnerable position. he is just Objectively more powerful than everyone else on the server, both in real life And within the lore. How could he have ever been afraid when he was stronger than anyone and everyone combined? when we saw with our own eyes that techno could face nearly the whole server at once and win.

but he Is a tragic character, at least he's meant to be. and that tragedy makes much Much more sense as something Inward.

technoblade as a character who Needs connection, who Needs stability, who Needs security, who Needs friendship and community and Love. but Lashes Out, Obliterates to the core of the earth, because of something that's not only out of his control but that other people Cannot Understand.

how do you explain to a child that you killed their best friend because a chorus of the undead called for his blood and you (in all the glory that he'd idolized) were unable to do anything but comply? how do you explain to that child that you beat him senseless in a pit as the restless dead jeered and laughed?

That's interesting. That's Compelling.

technoblade is idolized like a god, feared like a force of nature, and in an instant cut himself off from nearly everyone who'd considered him an ally. and that seems to be a pattern, over and over and over again. he's left isolated, and in return he faces retaliation, and in return he's always Waiting for retaliation.

and what do you say to someone who wants to kill you for being a monster? that it's Fine Actually because you only did what you did because you have a curse that compels you to? that the supernatural guided you to destroy their homes and kill their people? (rip jack manifold you will be missed)?

That Doesn't Quite Help Your Case.

technoblade as someone who is beholden to this literal cycle of violence and Loses those things that could ground him, community, stability, People, as a result. who Tries to overcome this very fact (to become a better person, in his own words as per the clip above), but is pulled back into it as a consequence of his own actions.

that's a tragedy !! that Makes Sense. that allows him to be Both this force of nature that other characters have to survive And A Person Who Is Hurt By The Same Conflict.

"I'm a person!" that fear of dehumanization makes So So Much More Sense when you see technoblade as someone who Already fears himself. who fears being a monster, who fears losing control, who has faced isolation again and again and again.

and, importantly, it doesn't have to be anyone else's Fault.

by making the source both Internal and Completely External (something that none of the other characters have any awareness or control over), you can Have techno as a tragic character without demonizing anyone else Or erasing the impact that c!techno had on them.

and in that sense, it Can be an allegory for mental illness, but not in that direct "oooooh how scary he hears voices" kind of way that people fear it looks. but in that sometimes people Will do things that can hurt others while not feeling in control. anger and mania and paranoia, things that you can't always Control and yet that impact that you have on other people still Matters.

and the answer to that is, often, vulnerability and accountability.

I think a lot about technoblade isolating himself so near entirely from the rest of the server, and slowly gathering a support system Back by the end. and I Really Do think that framing of it through this lens is a Very impactful way of breaking it down.

tubbo, tommy, wilbur, ranboo, niki, I think they'd All understand not feeling in control. lashing out, maybe even feeling justified in the moment, but hurting people they care about and furthering their own isolation.

There's Something There, and it's already In The Text. it just needs to be expanded on.

and why not do that ourselves now?

[angelyuji]

An idea has formed lol. What if you somehow managed to escape from Stan and Ford. If this question is too hard for you to answer what if Stan and Ford catch you while you try and escape. (Ford would be more likely to look for you, Stan.... not so sure lol)

i see what ur putting down🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

tw // physical abuse, implied noncon, kidnapping (lmk if i missed any tags!)

minors dni!!!! 18+

i feel like escaping stan is definitely easier than ford purely looking at logistics

stan allows you in the main areas of the house to clean and cook. once he believes he’s broken you into submission, he’ll even allow you to stay unlocked in the house to do your daily chores. for the first couple times he leaves alone, you’ll play along, gardening and doing yard work to see if you can fully like escape. stan doesn’t leave the shack for anything until the weekend and sometimes he’ll take you with, so like a month into this new “normal” he’ll leave for some “shopping” (telling you to cook dinner and finish up some chores) and that’s your chance. the moment you see that car leave your view, you pull on some pants and fucking book it. you run like hell until you reach the other side of the forest and hitchhike to fuck-knows-where. just away from gravity falls.

for ford, it’s wayyy harder cause he wouldnt let you out of his basement lab. like… ever. he practically lives down there and if he does need anything, he just tells stan and stan gets it. plus, ford has hugeeee trust issues. like the only time he ever removed your chains or whatever he’s using to keep you locked up, is when he’s running an experiment and he wants to use you as a guinea pig. i can think of one instance where he might bring you upstairs tho.

mabel and dipper find out abt you and ask to meet you (obvi they’re under the impression that you’re willingly staying with ford) and ford doesn’t want to disappoint his grand-niece and nephew. reluctantly, he gets you all dressed up and brings you up the stairs. he thinks he’s gotten you broken down but just in case, he gives you a bracelet that works similarly to those electric fence collars that dogs have. if you leave the shack property, he’s alerted and you’re tranquilized. you can’t take it off, but someone with pines dna can. halfway through this introduction, ford’s like “oh i gtg some research stuff i need to do is finished (idk im not a scientist)” and he leaves you with mabel and dipper!!! mabel fs sees ur bracelet and goes “omg!!! i need to male ur bracelet prettier!!!” and takes the bracelet off of you. dipper tries to stop her since its “your property” but you’re like “nooo!!!! like its totally fine!!” trying not to sound too eager loll the moment mabel takes the bracelet off, you calmly tell the kids that you’re going outside for some air and fucking SPRINT the moment your foot hits the grass outside the shack.

when it comes to getting you back, ford would def help stan and vice versa. the both of them have their strengths, so they’d definitely be able to help each other out.

stan is a grade A criminal. like he knows how to fake identities and hide from the fbi. at first, he waits a couple days, thinking you’ll be back. he obviously doesnt believe you’re capable of surviving without him, but once a week or so passes, he’s getting pissed. he has…. connections… that he can use to keep an eye out for you. say you do somehow manage to evade him for a while, that just pisses him off even more. stan (as lazy as he is) can get shit done if he puts his mind to it. so with the help of ford, he will find you. when stan does find you, he’s definitely relieved that you’re okay, but also he’s fucking pissed. he’s going to drag you out by your hair and shoves you into the back, ranting about your betrayal. he’ll bring you back home and will literally never let you out of your “cage” with supervision again. if he does let you out again, he’s going to be in the same room and ford def made him a nice collar for you, so you’re gonna be quite literally chained up like his dog. he’ll stop treating you like a person until you properly show him that you’ve understood what your place is.

smarty-pants ford will come up with something and stan would help with finding you becuz fords kind of a mess. when ford does find you, he’s like a desperate, manic mess. like he’s fr tweaking out, ranting abt how you broke his trust and how scared he was and how scared mabel and dipper was. you’re like cornered and freaked out cuz this guy looks crazy af. hes got you by the shoulders and shaking you, tearing up. he’s going to bring you back to the shack and put you back in the basement, but to make sure you won’t pull a stunt like this again, he’s going to snap your ankles. hes going to be telling you that its for your own good, but as punishment he won’t be giving you any medication. but yeah, now, ford’s never trusting you again so you’re gonna be stuck down in the basement forever :)

[amorremanet]

For Fandom confession ask game: I think jiang cheng loved Wei wuxian in a more than brotherly or platonic way but didn't have the emotional knowledge to recognize it and that's why it hurt him so bad when Wei wuxian defected from the jiang sect and later went off lan wangji because Wei wuxian was supposed to be his person and he left him behind

Y E A H

YEAH

And this isn't even me being amatonormative about it, because it doesn't even have to be romantic or sexual to be an intensity that is beyond what is typical of siblings or best friends or sworn confidantes. I posted once about how Jiang Cheng embodies Jo March's reaction to John Brooke asking to court Meg in Little Women:

“Of course not. It would be idiotic! I knew there was mischief brewing. I felt it, and now it’s worse than I imagined. I just wish I could marry Meg myself, and keep her safe in the family.“

IF ONLY HE COULD MARRY WEI WUXIAN HIMSELF AND KEEP HIM SAFE IN THE FAMILY!!

Of course, if you are interpreting this in a romantic/sexual context, there is SO MUCH to unpack there, especially re: his resentment towards Wangji, and it is outrageous to me that it's not one of the top Jiang Cheng ships.

[grasshopperdoingdogpaddle]

Do you think Raimundos betrayal affected his and Omis relationship at all?

Oh yeah, gravely.

The foundation of that bond was built of deep trust, on Omi's end.

After a lifetime of growing up in the temple with fellow monks and colleagues who never had to question their values against each other, Raimundo is the first outside person who Omi grows to trust and really warm up to. He's the most confusing, but also the most fascinating.

Omi learns that even though he says and does things he doesn't understand, Raimundo loves them. Even though he lies and tricks them, he never does so maliciously. It is curious. It is funny. Raimundo has a sort of cleverness that Omi vocally acknowledged and admired. Omi sees him as confusing and knows he won't really get a lot of Raimundo's actions, but still trusts that they will always, at the core of it, be driving by caring about them, and trusts that Raimundo's cleverness and experience simply means there are some things Omi will need to have blind faith in him for.

Omi literally can't even fathom that Raimundo would actually want to hurt them. The foundation of his feelings for Raimundo is that even if Omi can't understand Raimundo's mind, Omi can trust Raimundo's heart.

Even the confusing, strange things Raimundo does, he does them because he cares about them, in Omi's eyes. He loves them, and Omi can't imagine wanting to intentionally hurt people you love. They always came through in the end for each other before.

So when reality does eventually hit, with the betrayal and how far it's taken, the entire foundation of that faith crumbled, along with everything about the relationship that was built on top of it.

The other dragons almost die multiple times, and would have definitely died if Jack hadn't been a surprise wildcard in the events. Omi almost loses the temple he grew up in. The others think that Omi has been lost to the past forever, and all of that... doesn't change anything in Raimundo, it seems. Not til the very end.

Omi can't come out of that experience feeling the same way. All his friends were nearly lost to this. Loyalty and honor were integral to Omi's being, and this was his hard way of learning that that's not universal. As it turns out, Omi understood even less than he thought he did, and he can't just have blind faith that the parts he don't understand are still something he can rely on anymore.

Omi's the first one to speak up against Master Fung to advocate that they let Raimundo come back to the temple after everything that happened, because he does think Raimundo deserves a second chance and a place there.

But Omi also is very honest about the fact that he's deeply traumatized by everything that happened and does not feel ready trust Raimundo again. He's willing to go forward with some manner of team relationship, but not with trust again. That's Omi's boundary.

Omi feels really uncomfortable around Raimundo after that and isn't even sure if they can be called friends anymore.

And Raimundo is very resentful of the fact that Omi isn't giving Raimundo the same unconditional trust that Omi used to have in him.

He's angry that things won't just go back to where he left them off. He changed his mind and doesn't think anyone else should dwell on what he did either if they're supposed to be moving past it. But especially not Omi, since Omi doesn't try to hide how affected he was by it like the others do.

Omi's discomfort and Raimundo's resentment and their pain become the new foundation for whatever is to be rebuilt.

Which leads to its fair share of highs and lows.

Highs, like Omi being the one to never lose belief that Raimundo is reachable and fighting alongside them during the Heylin Comet incident, and even being the one to reach him! And Raimundo being the one brought to tears when Omi's turned into a cat and the one vocally challenging Chase to gamble for Omi's freedom, even being the most protective about Omi there.

Those two moments even being direct callbacks to each other!

"The Four of us!" "...Four?" "Yes, Four!"

But also, lows, like... everything that happens in The Return of Master Monk Guan, for example. A whole episode about deliberately reopening the others' scars from the first betrayal, and ending on such a callous note, too. Whatever progress towards healing the gap there was, that episode definitely stops it in its tracks and backtracks it.

Their bond's recovery has not been linear, to say the least.

It's a contentious relationship, and what it might have become without the betrayal is probably not what it's ever going to be now. But those are the circumstances they'll have to move forward with.

And despite it all, despite the things they'll never ever get back, they are, in some way, moving forward. Whatever that looks like.

[bestworstcase]

anyway about cinwin and my ongoing losing-the-plot situation: i think it’s really interesting to lay what winter does in v8 against cinder’s whole thing—because winter witnesses the culmination of ironwood’s military coup when he shoots councilman sleet and then glances across the hallway to make eye contact with harriet, only to see her slam down the standard-issue indifferent “what are your orders, sir?” mask, whereupon winter realizes that a) everybody here except her is going to fall in line, and b) she’s stuck in a hospital bed right now and if she speaks out ironwood is just going to shoot her too, which helps no one. and therefore c) it falls to her to get back on her feet as quickly as possible so that she can do what she can to be a guardrail.

every choice she makes after this point is a calculation: what are the general’s orders, what is the right thing to do in this situation, and how can she—to the greatest degree possible—bend the former to meet the latter, until that becomes impossible and she intervenes to protect marrow and get both of them safely into a position to help. which is to say, winter spends the majority of v8 actively undermining ironwood, without him noticing. as he says, he expected betrayal at every turn but never from her.

and of course when they fight in the end it’s, “you closed the borders! you squeezed mantle until it broke!”—her trust and faith in him have been diminishing quite literally since the fall of beacon. likewise in v7, when winter is alone with people she trusts (weiss, penny) she is quite open about the fact that she doubts and wrestles with the choices ironwood is making, and it’s clear from what she says that this is very important to her; that—whatever she thinks of herself—winter has never been one to blindly follow orders.

the point being, winter is in fact exactly the kind of person ironwood, on paper, should have been monitoring for any hint of disloyalty, except that she hides her skepticism and personal disagreements so well that he doesn’t suspect a thing until the very moment she gently questions his orders to his face for the first time ever in a last-ditch effort to talk him down, and then almost literally stabs him in the back when he doesn’t waver. WHO DOES THIS SOUND LIKE–

this is , er, Cinder Behavior. the flawless mask of whatever the distrusted authority figure wants to hear hiding loyalty that is extremely conditional? the utter lack of self-worth. the covert subversion and open defiance? they do those in reverse order of each other in v8 but it’s the same in principle.

this in itself is not suggestive of a romantic arc being in the cards however, it does mean that winter is—out of the heroic cast—uniquely equipped to Understand Cinder Fall, for reasons of wearing masks herself in addition to being intensely concerned with the morality of her choices.

(there is something very compelling about winter specifically hearing… anything about rhodes, because winter is the ultimate symbol of atlas in cinder’s mind—a schnee, a soldier, a huntress—and winter would also be viscerally horrified by the way rhodes handled the situation. it’s an obvious narrative opportunity to wrench open a second crack in cinder’s worldview; winter is the last person cinder would expect to be outraged on behalf of the enslaved girl who killed her abusers.)

in conjunction with everything else… hm

[myfairkatiecat]

nightfall was crazy, but I'm also kind of confused??? It went by sooo fast I was like WHAT? WAIT, WHAT? WAIT WAIT WAIT-

Love the fact that they went on with keefes whole "I'm not worth it, but you are, so I'm going to take over decisions we need to make (as a team) and screw them over so that they cause harm to me and not you!" Kinda vibe, honestly thought that after he came back from the neverseen in lodestar they were just going to forget about it, yk??

Only thing I really didn't like is that like...everyone has a slight distrust to keefe (at least in the start, till he apologized ) but Sophie, the person who was (in my opinion) most affected by his 'betrayal' never once had a doubt???? Like, if someone betrayed me, right? Yk they're my friend whatever whatever, ID STILL HAVE SOME KIND OF LIKE ISSUES WITH THEM???

I feel like her distrusting keefe and then slowly learning to trust him would have made the book MUUUCH better!!

Also, I'm still not getting where the Fitz discourse is coming from, like, his sibling just betrayed him, fell unconscious and WOKE UP WITH NO MEMORY OF ANYTHING?? I can see where the anger issues come from

Holy shit this was long, sorry!

-- @localburntoutkid

Had a blast reading this!

You’re so right about Keefe. That definitely doesn’t get dropped after lodestar, or even nightfall—it’s one of his character’s main flaws, and while it does shift and evolve as the series moves on, it’s kind of there, you know? And I’m really hoping it resolves in some way by the end of the series, because his arc is just… so interesting to me. Because it is NOT arc-shaped. At all.

I get what you mean about Sophie being the only one who doesn’t distrust Keefe when he comes back. I really like that too acknowledge that it’s a Sophie-specific thing, though! Too many people forget that this is a third person limited story told by an unreliable narrator, and act like Shannon Messenger herself is telling us Keefe deserves to be fully trusted. Sophie Foster decides, at the end of Neverseen, not to hate him, and Lodestar is where she has her moments of doubt and distrust, but even in Lodestar, she always believes in Keefe’s good intentions. There’s even a scene where she says something like “Yes, Keefe’s plan is horrible and I hate it, but his heart is in the right place. I have to believe that.” The part about keefe’s plan is paraphrased, but she did say she needs to believe his heart was in the right place, in that wording, and it’s fascinating to me. She’s very attatched to Keefe (obviously) and I think it’s mostly for her own sanity that she chooses over and over to believe that there’s something right about what he’s doing, because letting him go sounds excruciating, even by his own fault.

I actually have no issue with this being Sophie’s perspective, and I actually find it interesting especially in the context of sokeefe, but I wish we got to see this portion through another character’s eyes. For example, Fitz. Someone who does distrust him afterwards, and rightfully so.

As far as Fitz discourse goes, that stuff stemmed less from nightfall and more from flashback and legacy. I don’t hate Fitz in either of those books, but you’ll probably notice the moments that made people kind of go nuts about hating him and ran away with his character (personally, I think Fitz is fully understandable in both books, but don’t fully condone the way he acts in a few scenes, particularly in legacy. I’ll explain later after you’ve read it)

Don’t apologize for length, I’m literally Katie, have you met me? Everything I write is longer than I intend

I’m glad you’re having fun with the KOTLC series. Keep me updated!!!

[goodoldfashionedengineer]

Even though I post shitty/funny billford memes, this explains perfectly what I think their relationship was like pre betrayal

As someone who is aspec myself, I love the idea of aroacespec Ford within the context of billford. *Especially* Ford grappling with a lifetime of bafflement about romantic and sexual attraction, and then feeling *some* kind of powerful emotion about Bill and getting excited about it like “this is it! This is the attraction thing that everyone always talks about! I’m finally experiencing it for someone, I’m doing ‘humaning’ correctly!!!” and maybe he’s correctly identified it, or maybe its something else, such as queerplatonic attraction, or scientific fascination, but either way, feeling something like this for someone for the first time that feels more genuine than any of his attempts to feel heteronormative love in the past for an *eldritch god* is a whole other thing for him to grapple with, like, the internal confusion of “Why am I feeling this for the first time for a non-human entity? Does that cancel out the increased normalcy of me feeling This Kind of Love? Does it outweigh feeling Love and make me even weirder??”

And maybe, with any luck, this could end with Ford realizing that it *doesn’t matter* what kind of love and/or affection and interest he and Bill have towards eachother, and it doesn’t matter how much he conforms to society’s ideals for what a human being “should be like.” It doesn’t *have* to be romantic for them to want to be together from now til the end of time. And even if sometimes their relationship might seem like it crosses into romantic and/or sexual territory, *they’re* the ones who get to define it, and the multiverse is the limit. They don’t *need* to confine the way they see their love for eachother to the human definitions and expectations for how people should feel and act within a long term relationship. And if humanity thinks that makes Ford less human, well, he doesn’t fucking care, because what has the seemingly-always-just-out-of-reach ideal of “being human” that society has pushed upon him ever done for him except make him feel intensely isolated and unworthy? It doesn’t matter if society hands him the title of “human” that they’ve cruelly dangled over his head his whole life or not. He is living the life he wants to lead, in the company of the person he cares for most, and that is all that truly matters.

[luvfy0dor]

I Like my Boyfriend !! ♡ Fyodor Dostoevsky x GN!Reader ༉‧₊˚.

╰┈➤ Word Count; 2.9k ♡

Warnings; Cheating, angst, some Sigma x reader, abandonment, perchance ooc

Description; Your boyfriend wasn't treated the best as a member of the DOA, the sole benefit being the casino he gets, but that casino is the very place his own partner starts to feel more for his boss than him.

A/N; Im so sorry y'all I know I should be doing requests instead but I think I won't be able to work on other stuff if I don't write this out ykwim 😞

The sky casino became just as much of your home as Sigmas when you started seeing him romantically. You spent many nights there, convincing Sigma to come and lie down with you when he was over working himself or massaging his shoulders after he had to deal with a stressful conflict between visitors. Sigma had welcomed you into his home with open arms once he was convinced you wouldn't take advantage of his naivety, sharing his rather short yet tragic life story and entrusting that you would be as loyal to him as he was to you.

The heels of Sigmas shoes clicked against the floor, making a soft tapping sound as you walked through the Casino corridors, his arm hooked around yours. His long, choppy hair fell over his shoulders so beautifully, the silky strands bouncing as he walked. He seemed tired today, having a little less pep in his step then usual, if you could even call it that. Energy was a better word, the poor boy looked utterly drained this morning. These are all the things you would usually notice and tell him about later, either through means of complimenting him or gently scolding him for spending too many hours memorizing small details about the casino's customers. Today was different, though. Your mind was clouded with the thoughts of someone else, another man, specifically the one you were so excitedly making your way to visit.

Ofcourse, whenever Sigma is around, you feigned strong dislike towards Fyodor, but that couldn't be further from the truth. You enjoyed your short time spent around Fyodor, he was utterly sublime in your eyes in every single category; smarts, looks, and honestly everything else. Despite his musty-seeming aura, he actually kept himself very hygienic. He showered every morning, alluring you with the clean and fresh scent of whatever soap he used to scrub away any accumulated dirt from the day prior. The quiet and quick glances you took of each other made your heart flutter, having to bite your lip in order to hold back a flustered, shaky breath.

You didn't realize just how emotionally disloyal you were to Sigma until he started ranting about Fyodor one evening and you objected him. It's not like you said anything too jaw dropping in your opinion, instead you said something along the lines of "Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit, honey? He's not all that bad." Was that the right thing to say to your boyfriend in that moment? No, absolutely not. Would that be the right thing to say to Sigma in literally any other moment? No, absolutely not². You knew that, you knew that real good and well, yet you couldn't stop your words once they already started to pour out of your mouth like a waterfall. The look of absolute shock and betrayal that painted Sigmas face was one you wouldn't forget in a million lifetimes. You could still hear the sound of his angered, yet not aggressive questions lingering in the back of your head at all times. Anytime you peeked in Fyodors direction with a blush on your face, you heard it.

"Y/n, are you being serious? You know about everything he's done, to me, to all those innocent people!" Sigma quietly murmured to you, the room falling silent with no white noise in the background to take your attention away from his truthful words. "And you really think he's not all that bad?" He says, visibly heartbroken, especially since he had shared all this with you; he trusted you to be the first person to back him up when he participated in Fyodor discourse, you taking the opposing side was something he could almost never predict. In all honesty, he didn't think you would have the heart to.

Sigma firmly believed that if you fell in love with another man, you would atleast tell him instead of leading him along like a horse with a carrot on a stick, but he was clearly wrong. He noticed your brief glances and exchanges with Fyodor, he noticed the way you started to get more nervous around him, and not the unsettling nervousness. It was the kind of nervousness a high schooler would have when talking with their crush. The kind of nervousness you get when you quickly interact with someone you've been so actively pursuing for months now, feeling as though you're finally making progress over a mumbled "excuse me" or "I'm sorry." Sigma believed that you were making progress with redirecting your hearts focus to him rather than to his superior, but today was going to either prove him right or wrong.

"Are you alright?" Sigma asks, the speed of his walking slowing down a bit as he turns to you, his eyes fluttering from your eyes to your lips quickly. You gave him a small smile and nodded. "Ofcourse, why do you ask?" You softly ask him, twirling some of his hair around your finger.

"No particular reason. You just seem a little...dazed this morning. Did you sleep well?" You hummed in confirmation, giving his hand a small squeeze. "Ofcourse I did, I had you sleeping next to me." You smile, knowing damn well you were lying through your teeth. You still loved Sigma, but recently many nights you found yourself gazing out the window, watching the stars for a while as you question your relationship with him. The main reason you stayed was because you weren't confident that Fyodor was in love with you the way you were in love with him.

"Alright." Sigma sighs, reaching for the handle of one of two big doors that towered over you both. "Let's just get this done and over with." He mumbles, pushing the door inwards and walking into the relatively spacious office. Fyodor sits in one of the chairs near Sigmas desk, adjusting his ushanka as he gazes at you both over his shoulder. "Good morning, Fyodor." Sigma says, sitting in his personal chair. Your eyes were glued on Fyodor as your brain turned off it's comprehension function, to dazed by the beauty of his gorgeous, purple eyes. You could hear both of the men speaking, but you had no idea what either of them were saying. You listened to the Russian accent in Fyodors voice, imagining him saying the things you wanted him to. You wanted to hear him tell you how lovely and fantastic you are, you wanted him to tell you he wanted to spend every moment of the day with you, your mind even slipping into fantasies of marrying him; envisioning pretty flowers on tables and what you would say in your vows.

You snapped out of your fantasy just in time to notice Fyodor looking straight at you, continuing to talk with sigma but staring into your soul. You blushed and averted your eyes from him for the very first time since you arrived in the room, diving back deep into your silly little fantasies about an average life with Fyodor before being so rudely interrupted by a loud and echoing knock. Sigma beckoned the person inside, the person only turning out to be one of the casinos many lower-ranked staff.

"Sigma, you're needed out on the floor. I'm not quite sure for what, but one of the customers requested to speak with you." This evoked a loud sigh from Sigma, who didn't really want to leave you alone with a man you had been "all over" a couple of months ago (and still were) , but he really had no choice. In the end, however, he would sacrifice you and your loyalty if it meant he got to keep the one thing he finds true, genuine, and unwavering stability in. The familiar sound and echo of his shoes fill in the silence, the door being left wide open deliberately. The staff member follows Sigma out onto the casino floor, leaving you and Fyodor in the room together, sitting across from each other. You stared at him for a moment, and leaned back in your chair.

"I noticed your staring. Do I have something on my face?" He asks, his calm yet teasing smile made a shiver run up your spine, giddy over the entire situation. Your boyfriend has stepped away, leaving you with your dream man. Alone. You shook your head at Fyodors question.

"No, no. Sorry." You mutter an apology, blushing. He hums, watching as you twiddle your thumbs or twirl your hair, doing anything you possibly could to avoid eye contact. He softly chuckles. "You seem so nervous around me...do I make you anxious? Are you scared of me?" He asks, continuing to tease you and trying to get you to admit your attraction, to which you shake your head quickly. "Not at all, no. I just...sorry, I didn't mean to stare...zoned out." You mumble. He lets out a soft "ohhh" , nodding and leaning back in his chair, his legs crossed.

The room falls silent for a moment, the clouds slowly passing by outside hold your attention. You can so clearly feel his eyes burning holes in the back of your head, and if that had hurt you, it must have been utterly agonizing for him. You turn to look at him, your head tilting ever so slightly. Your eyes immediately lock with his, creating even more tension in the room than you had previously thought possible. "I know where your attraction lies." He says with a smirk, resting his head on his slightly balled fists. Your face felt as though it had immediately lit up in flames of embarrassment, trying to arrange your words in the most intelligible way possible.

"Ofcourse you do, you're a smart man." You say, raising one of your eyebrows and bouncing your leg a bit. "Ah, and Sigma is not?" He mutters with a large grin. You sigh a bit, shaking your head.

"I don't recall saying that." He hums, nodding. "You didn't say that, but it was kind of implied. Unless, ofcourse, Sigma knows that you're far more interested in me than you are in him." He says, rising from his chair and walking over to you. He gently grasps your face, squeezing your cheeks ever so slightly between his thumb and every other finger. His gaze flickers between your eyes and lips in the same way Sigmas had earlier that day. This time, instead of feeling nothing at all, you felt a strong, almost magnetic urge to connect your lips to his. One of your hands found itself on Fyodors chest, the other on his thin bicep.

"You're right, it did sound that way. I think he knows, but I think he's really trying to salvage the relationship." You say, subconsciously leaning into Fyodors body. You barely felt sorry, any pang of guilt that nearly hit your heart was rebounded right off because of the high speed that Fyodor had caused it to beat at. The pure excitement and thrill you felt any time he acknowledged your existence made your heart flutter, easily overriding every other emotion. You knew he could feel it too, his eyes softening compared to when he conversed with Sigma, a new gentleness to them. His thumb gently caressed your jawline as he shamelessly stared at your lips. "Hm, so you're leading him on, no?" A soft chuckle erupts from his chest, his hand moving away from your face to rest in the space between your neck and shoulder, almost pulling you in closer.

"You're right again, what a surprise." You smile, flashing your teeth in the slightest as you both mutually lean in, ready to kiss before Fyodor brings his finger up to your lips. "Hm, no, not right at this moment." He grins, pulling away and removing his hands from your neck. You can't help but frown at the lack of affection, this doesn't go unnoticed by the highly observant Fyodor.

"You can get all of that and more from Sigma, dear." He smiles, almost as if he were trying to pull a confession out of you, and boy, was it working. Both of you knew you didn't want that attention from Sigma, not anymore at least. You had seemingly gotten bored after about a year or so. Ofcourse Sigma had his qualities that kept you enthralled for some amount of time, but Fyodor really could offer you all that and a bag of chips. Fyodor was more so your type than Sigma was, and obviously Sigma was beautiful, but Fyodor was resplendent. Sigma was determined, but Fyodor was unwavering, every quality you seemingly loved about Sigma was easily one-upped by Fyodor, and yet you still stayed with Sigma.

You groan a bit. "Fyodor, I don't want the affection from him." You say, caressing his shoulders as he sits, planted in the original chair he had greeted you both from. You softly stroke the fur on Fyodors ushanka as he hums, acknowledging your statement. "Oh, I'm fully aware of that." He mutters. "Why do you think you deserve it? You're quite rude. Leading such a naive man on like that." His grin never fades as he sits cross-legged in the comfortable chair, teasing you with his words.

"You can't talk, you've done worse, and regardless, Sigma may be naive, but he's not emotionally stupid." You say, trying to convince Fyodor to hand you the love and attention that you want from him on a silver platter. He hums, seemingly thinking for a moment. "Mm...maybe later, we'll see." His Russian accent is as present as ever while he speaks.

You nod. "Alright, I guess it'll be worth the wait." You say, playfully rolling your eyes before returning to your chair next to Sigmas. It doesn't take too much longer for Sigma to re-enter the room, reclaiming his spot next to you, the spot that you wish was being occupied by Fyodor. Again, you zoned out, not really caring to listen to whatever it was that they were blabbering about. You found yourself stuck in some demented loop every time Fyodor was in your presence, always ending up almost entranced by him. Bewitched, even, and then going back to Sigma the second he left yet still having him overtake your thoughts and desires. This had to come to an end, and you knew it.

As soon as Fyodor exited the room, you would tell Sigma everything. About how you've simply fallen for Fyodor instead, not intending to break his heart but going unbothered if you did. About how you've been thinking about it for a couple of months now and it was time to end this. It just was not what your heart wanted and had it gone on any longer, it likely would have been detrimental to Sigma. Your heart simply could not beat for him anymore.

You heard them wrap their conversation up, Fyodor standing to shake Sigmas hand, which he hesitantly accepted. They said their goodbyes, and Fyodor grinned at you before he walked out of the office room. Sigma sighed and sat back down for a moment. He looked exasperated, and you knew what you're about to say was only going to make things worse.

"Sigma." You called his name softly, not wanting to disturb him just yet. You gently massage his scalp as he hums in response, leaning his head back into your hands. "I'm not in love with you anymore." You mumble. You can hear his breath hitch and his eyes widening for a moment, his whole body freezing as if someone had hit a pause button on his life. He brings his hand up and pushes yours off of his head, getting up out of his chair. "And you're one hundred percent sure of that?" He asks, his face still having a baffled expression. You nod.

"Alright. Get out." He says, pointing to the door of his office. A part of you wants to apologize, but it would be disingenuous, so you only nod as you head for the doors. Once you shut them behind you, you pick up your speed to a jog and search the hallways for Fyodor. You turn numerous corners before you spot the familiar black fabric of his cape, encouraging you to pick up your pace a little more. "Fyodor!" You call out to him, slowing down when he turns around and grins, indicating your possession of his attention. You walk up to him and start to speak after catching your breath.

"Him and I are over, we're done, I'm not leading him along anymore." You admit, staring deep into Fyodors eyes. "Oh, and how are you so sure I'm not doing the exact same thing to you that you did to him?" Fyodor asks, his hair falling towards one side as he tilts his head, looking you up and down. You roll your eyes a bit. "Are you?" You question the Russian man in front of you.

"No, but what if I was? That would certainly be a crime-fitting punishment scenario, I feel." A small smile is present on his face as he looks at you, taking in every detail of your face, noticing how truly void it was of guilt for your actions. Maybe some pity for Sigma, but nothing more. You smile at his sentence. "Hmm...I don't know, I'd probably be pretty sad." You murmur, placing one hand on his shoulder. "So it's a good thing you're not.

He grins and leans in before whispering softly against your lips. "It absolutely is, someone needs to give you that attention you crave so desperately, right?" He softly says, his grin doesn't fade as your lips connect in a kiss, his hand on your face softly caressing your cheeks. After a moment, you pull away for oxygen.

You nod a bit at his question prior to the kiss. "Yes, and I'm so glad it's gonna be you."༉‧₊˚.

[ritsukaaoyagi]

loveless volumes 5 & 6 both have a lot going on with Believing ♥ in someone most specifically on soubi's part to obviously a kind of like devotional (don't know if I'm using that word right) degree and with ritsuka being kind of suffocated by that pressure put on him by soubi as he is soubi's Sacrifice... ummm and it goes without saying that soubi also in his way "believed" in seimei in like a religious sense too what with literally everything starting in volume 1 and then in volume 5 he even outright says "seimei was my god" and yeah but the way the believing and whatever functions in each of their dynamics (seimei/soubi vs ritsuka/soubi) is different and fun... and also demonstrates the differences between how soubi functions in his bond with ritsuka vs. his bond with seimei in that it is "safer" for soubi to put that pressure of belief i mentioned before onto ritsuka. because it isn't as if ritsuka is a similar figure to soubi as seimei was to soubi, like that much is clear but it is especially clear because of how soubi doesn't only want to believe in ritsuka but he wants ritsuka to believe in him as well and vocalizes that with some desperation in volume 5.

though ritsuka does kind of kickstart this himself before the above scene, during the initial Seimei Might be Alive reveal

and while ritsuka's way of believing is obviously much less devout than soubi's believing as soubi is soubi, it still comes with a pretty significant level of devotion or like... there is a certain "clinging" kind of vibe to it............ evidently............. i was gonna say there is some level of delusion to it as well because it's sooo so obvious seimei is alive but ritsuka keeps going around before goura saying or thinking that seimei must be dead solely because soubi tells ritsuka that seimei is dead (also because of his own belief in seimei, "if seimei's alive, he would be here with me"), but by this point soubi has proven time and time again that his word cannot be trusted regardless of whether or not soubi actually believes himself that seimei is dead, and obviously ritsuka is aware of this but chooses to believe soubi as an expression of trust more than anything else.....this crazy girl scene

AND THIS IS LIKE. A NOT TOTALLY QUESTIONABLE WAY OF THINKING arguably... I mean there's a lot going on what with betrayal and forgiveness but generally speaking the idea behind this is that ritsuka isn't going to revoke his trust or belief in soubi even if soubi is wrong or slips up or "betrays" him in that Believing in someone is kinda just like Loving someone. but "betrays" holds a lot of heavier connotations so yeah and then this says enough about unconditional love and unconditional love is just not a reasonable concept at all which is a major theme in loveless HAHAHAH OR AT LEAST WITH HOW LOVELESS TALKS ABOUT IT LIKE existing without boundaries and/or self respect. again it's one of those things where ritsuka clearly has some pretty """""normal""""" ideas on what it means to love someone and what a relationship needs in terms of healthy trust and belief, but because ritsuka is ritsuka and soubi is soubi, and with their respective relationships w/ seimei, nothing is ever that simple and ritsuka's beliefs and ideas manifests in a more co-dependent or like devout kind of way like he def has his own soubi moments... and then of course comes this scene in volume 6

and then this from soubi... so fun

ya i don't know i had more to say i think about soubi and seimei but i shouldn't have brought ritsuka up too soon because now idgaf. no analysis sorry i just wanted to talk about sourit... I guess

[moonlightdancer26]

There's something very fascinating and horrifying about the werewolf 'prank.' Canon presents it as a very simple, not very prominent thing, but I think it was huge.

Like, even beyond what could have happened (mainly Severus getting seriously injured, killed, or infected and Remus being killed or imprisoned) there's a lot of really messed up stuff.

For starters, it's a huge betrayal on Sirius's part, that probably affected Remus deeply. Imagine thinking that your friends are like super cool with your lycanthropy and that they accept you and they even became animagi to be with you-then suddenly you wake up from a very painful transformation to find out that the person who has very valid reason to get you expelled, imprisoned, or killed knows your secret. Because of the best friend you trusted literally facilitating that.

And then after that, instead of actually trying to fix things and make sure Snape doesn't want to tell (Snape can tell, as shown in third year. Plus, a 'theory' that can ruin Remus's life if shared) Sirius and James just keep on bullying Snape in a truly atrocious way.

They just don't care beyond having fun. That's all Remus's condition is to them. Play. If they did care, they would have actually apologized to Snape and made his life much better bc that would have made Snape less likely to tell. Not bullying is the bare minimum, the Marauders also could have given him money and a safe place to live during the holidays.

I also think this damages Remus's relationship with his friends. He gets to know how they think of him, and he's afraid they'll do it again. Why wouldn't they? It's not like anything actually happened.

It also probably creates a huge change in Snape and Remus's relationship. I think this is why Remus is reasonably favorable to Snape, because he literally never told until Harry's third year. Remus also has reason to fear Snape, because Snape could just ruin Remus's life completely. I also think it's why Remus is so nice to everyone, because he fears upsetting someone so they hurt him. Someone (I think Ottogatto) proposed that Remus was once an active bully instead of an enabler until the prank, and I have to say I agree.

I really got to give some pro Snape vibes and say it's genuinely amazing (and speaks to Snape's incredible determination to do the right thing even if it hurts him) how he never told until third year when someone else but him was endangered. Snape had so many reasons to tell. He could've gotten more favor with the Slytherins, he could've gotten the Marauders to stop bullying, he could've gotten revenge. I wouldn't blame him if he had just snapped and then ensured himself a Marauders free Hogwarts.

(Though it would've been horrible for Remus since while he's a lousy person to Snape he's innocent in this regard and doesn't deserve to be murdered for Sirius's stupid actions.)

Serious respect for Snape here.

On another note, the prank also demonstrates that James and Sirius can do whatever they please. It's really horrible how Albus couldn't really do anything without revealing Remus's secret, but Albus still could've punished Sirius more, maybe made SIRIUS swear not to tell (maybe he did, I don't know).

And it's like...Snape's Worst Memory happened in plain sight, somewhere the teachers could see. James and Sirius knew they wouldn't get in trouble, even if they did it in front of EVERYONE. No one would do anything serious about something that could've resulted in murder, so bullying definitely isn't going to cause problems.

It's awful.

I’m legitimately about to cry because of how brilliant this is, I can’t even respond to what you’re saying because all I can say is how much I agree with you, anon. You’ve said it all perfectly.

[cristinfox]

Things I think about Tsukinami that make sense in my head

Man, I've had Tumblr for about a year and I've only just come to write something here. I'm even surprised at my ability to forget such a great app. 🤦🏾‍♀️

Well, here are some opinions about the Tsukinami brothers, I hope someone has the same perception as mine, or whatever, just understands what I mean. Remembering that these are just opinions and ideas taken from somewhere in my head, that have no real relationship with someone's life. Some canons and headcanon too.

❐❐❐❖❏❏❏

❖First of all, I think it's crazy that people who say that Tsukinami would be “liberal” guys. Like, I don't know, they would let their partner do whatever they wanted after some time together where they had more trust, or something like that. Dude, honestly, in MY OPINION, they wouldn't do that. On the contrary, in my view they are extremely toxic and invasive, your partner would barely have freedom, or personal space, just the bare minimum.

❖Another thing I find strange is the fact that some people say that Carla would never go to extreme lengths to restore her own bloodline. Like, there are people who doubt that he would be capable of sexually violating his partner to get what he wants and, bro, I'm sorry to say, but he would. In the game itself you can understand that this supposedly happened to the protagonist, so I can't believe he would respect his partner's time to, I don't know, have sex and his partner conceive.

❖I also see Carla as someone very desperate to have children, so I can't see him as a 100% gentleman, in my head you either accept having sex with him willingly or fuck off.

❖Another character who would be like this would be Shin and I believe it would be even worse, because the guy is a sadist to the extreme. Like, he wouldn't respect his s/o, much less listen to what his s/o has to say, on the contrary, he would literally treat his s/o as someone who simply exists to satisfy him and meet his needs.

❖Another thing that I don't want to believe is that Shin, in my theory, is very similar to his father and also a great playboy daddy's boy, consequently I think he took several toxic traits from Giesbach, so yes, I I think he would actually cheat on his s/o. I'm not saying it would be a betrayal in a sexual way, but I imagine him a lot flirting and hitting on other women, even kissing or going out with them, letting her touch his body and vice versa, but not going to the extreme. Just to show your s/o that you're not the only one. Simply because he is a brat.

❖The Tsukinami for me are very complex characters, partly due to the countless traumas they had in childhood and also because of their strange principles, such as the fact that I faithfully believe that they are somewhat "sexist" and for that reason they see women as inferior and naturally submissive to their male supremacy. So man, as much as I like the brothers I can't ignore these ideas that may or may not be true.

❐❐❐❖❏❏❏

Well, these are some of my opinions that may or may not make sense. Remembering that these are MY OPINIONS and that you should not base them on the anime/manga/game. If you have anything you would like to comment on, feel free, I accept CONSTRUCTIVE criticism! (Sorry if there are some errors, my main language is not English.)

I hope you liked it, see you later!

[deprivedofbraincellsandsleep]

quotes from the bonus content that destroyed me! + other fav quotes

Warning: Spoilers below the cut also extremely long post (5 pages of my notes app btw) that will most likely be followed with an equally long reblog of me screaming about each quote:)))

"I don't trust her" [...] "She's Andrew’s"

"What could you be holding on to still that would drive you this far away from her?" "No. Don't ask me that."

"Maybe she was right or maybe she didn't have enough nightmares to understand."

"David rubbed a thumb along his knuckles, looking for blood he washed off years ago"

"Did you think you were my only lover? He isn't yours, David"

"Should have, could have, what-if"

"Coaches have no honor" (this one made me want to rip my hair out)

"Your word is enough. Just yours."

"One more for the road, then" (seems insignificant but it just reminded me of Nora's name on tumblr)

Neil "Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing" Josten David "Defeat's a heavier mantle than hope" Wymack

"You might not have noticed, but he and I look alot alike! They'll look at him and see me, and we both know how little they think of me."

"Have to stack the deck in his favor somehow"

"Oh, Bee," [...] "You assume they were stupid enough to get caught."

"They cannot keep him. I will not let them."

"I know what happened to you today was beyond cruel, and that Drake's death will not undo what he did to you." [...] "I know our system has failed you every step along the way and that a part of you will carry that distrust and betrayal for many years to come, if not for the rest of your life. And I know you have done astoundingly well despite life's every attempt to crush you. I'm sorry, and I'm so, so proud of you."

"Everyone knows now, Bee" "They will not judge you for it"

"Who fears the monster that knows the taste of a whip?"

"Maybe it's past time to put the monster away."

"Andrew had loaded the gun himself; he couldn't be surprised when Aaron took aim and pulled the trigger."

"They were twins; there was too much of them in each other despite all the years they'd spend apart."

"Matching set." (...I'm ugly crying at this one)

"Someone like you wouldn't understand the importance of hiding scars"

"Andrew was trying to pull him off track, and Aaron knew beyond a doubt he'd never find his way back if he followed it to whatever ugly truth Andrew was hiding."

"He forced Andrew's words aside to haunt him later"

"I wanted nothing to do with him, but he tried, and he tried and he tried anyway. He took care of us." [...] "He refused to give up on us no matter how hard we tried to push him away."

"I don't care if you're gay, and I don't care that you picked the literal most irritating person on the planet to fall for. I care that you're being a hypocrite."

"If someone talked about Katelyn that way, I'd have punched him out years ago. I'm not going to tolerate his lewd jokes just because he's my cousin."

"Finding out how important he was to Andrew was an ongoing, eye-opening experience"

"Aaron still didn't particularly like her or trust her, but he didn't have to. She truly mattered to Andrew when so few people did anymore."

"I love Katelyn. I love her more than anything. I want to spend the rest of my life for her, but I am trying so goddamned hard to wait until graduation because you asked me to."

"'Tell me about Katelyn,' Dobson invited him. Andrew made a dismissive noise, but Aaron would take any chance he could to talk about her."

""I'm trying, okay? I'm trying. Years too late, I know, but you refused me first. I begged you to come home with me. You can't blame me for not trusting you." "I am capable of multi-tasking," Andrew said. Aaron heard what he didn't say: I blame us both."

"We've spent years making each other miserable. Can't we finally make peace?"

"I don't want to lose what we're doing here. I don't want to lose you. But I won't lose her, either. There has to be a middle ground somewhere."

"I don't trust her." (AJAHAKHAKA THE TWINYARD FEELS THE KATEAARON FEELS THE 'I DONT TRUST HER' SAGA COMTINUES. I was so convinced there would be a 'I don't trust her in the TRK story aswell but there wasnt :( )

"She's followed your rules for a year then, loving Aaron from a distance because she understands how important you two are to each other. That has to mean something, Andrew. You know it does."

"He deserves the right to try." "You both do."

"You promised me once you would never lie to me," Dobson said with a gentle smile. "A wound can't heal so long as the knife is buried in it. It's time to pull it, Andrew. You can't be brothers while you are each other's jailors."

""Peace?" he asked. "We're Foxes," Andrew said. "There's no such thing." "Ceasefire, then," Aaron tried. "Give her to me, Andrew." "You will regret it." "Says the man dating a mafioso." "I'm not dating him," Andrew said, with a hint of impatience. Aaron saw right through him, and it was enough to makehim smile as he turned his gaze out the window. "Liar.""

This entire excerpt.

(pic from @tscsunlover)

Other fav quotes:

"Nicky wasn't the only one so easily swayed, but if Nicky and Kevin were both too blind to figure that out David wasn't going to put it together for them."

"One week Neil had been the subject of some very grandiose conspiracy theories, and the next Andrew had only said 'He's Kevin's problem now, the end!' and refused to elaborate."

"'Bane of my existence,' Andrew said, and did not elaborate." (Andrew minyard and the art of not elaborating)

""Bee likes musicals," Andrew announced brightly, though David had found that out the hard way. Andrew didn't bother to explain how he knew, and Betsy only smiled when David flicked a shrewd look at her."

"Trusting he would keep a discreet eye on her most precious charge..."

"One of these days Aaron would love to know what about that mouthy liar had people bending over backwards for him, but the jagged heat that used to accompany such thoughts was long gone."

"He tried to punch me out" "You bring out that urge in people." (I have thoughts about this one)

"I liked him more when he wasn't speaking to me, Bee" "I doubt that"

"'I told her you were never going to develop a personality of your own,' Andrew told Aaron. 'She held out hope for youregardless. She has a thing for lost causes.'"

[t4tpumpkinduo]

tangentially, whenever ppl get annoying abt merchantisms it makes me wanna dangle the streams in front of their eyes. how do you get that they don't like eachother or either one is an abuser abt anything they've done. what show are you watching. el heich.

like. no yeah the dude who whole deal is that he isn't the heartless monster he wants to portray himself as, secretly IS that heartless monster. despite the narrative over and over going hey, this guy makes some awful mistakes but he clearly cares for people deeply and is being portrayed sympathetically and isn't some irredeemable asshole. this goes fr both btw but i'll focus on cq here cuz i see that one the most in these discussions specifically.

he made cfundy sign a contract saying if he ever left or betrayed lnv, he'd kill him. then didn't enforce it at all 😭 he let him do whatever he wanted. cfundy literally BROKE into his room, STOLE his clothes to LOOK like him and match, and this deeply paranoid guy got all flattered abt it, then let him leave lnv on good terms. they're on /pos standing w eachother explicitly.

he was completely blindsided by the cpurp betrayal. he was genuinely so shocked that it would happen, he completely forgot abt the rammies . he blindly trusted him (abt multiple situations INCLUDING the cookie outpost) and walked up to what was clearly 😭 a trap. and didn't even blink or think it through for a second. like.

it never even crossed his mind ccharlie would be upset w him in any way. and the whole time he was w him, while obviously he had problems like projecting shit onto him and trying to manipulate him, he was v much trying to protect him and shield him from the shit that happened to him, and was ALSO shocked when ccharlie betrayed him fucking sniffling and snorfing and horking like a loser the whole time

and after all that he's STILLLLLLLL very chummy and friendly w foolish, and in lnv5 foolish has to like tell him off and go hey man we're not close like that lol. yr just my boss.

LIKE!!!!!!! the whole point is he's not sm one note evil demon! he stays wack he makes horrible mistakes and choices but he still stays a deeply earnest freak for the whole series. that's the POINT.

but no yeah 😭 smhow despite not displaying these wacko traits w any other person, except one hyper specific situation where the guy he's mauling is a violent stalker murderer who kills and kidnaps children, tortures inoccent people, and is actively and selfishly withholding a deeply important resource that would guarantee the safety of everyone on the server bcs he wants to have power over the kids he keeps beating. and cq wants to stop him from doing those things. hello.

but despite all evidence against it, despite it all, he's still merchant cschlatt's horrible demon captor. to him specifically. somehow. like.

yeah, there's nothing to read into the fact cschlatt would go to him in the first place, despite objectively having MANY MANY other options, including avenues he himself could take alone. not to even mention theres nothing on the dsmp tht would allow a soul binding contract that they would have access to. they deffo just shook on it lmao. it doesn't have that horrific weight ppl give it. 😭 they can both tap out whenever but they do noat.

there's nothing to unpack abt the fact q was grumbling the whole time he was in the gym, but was still following schlatt around and giggling at his jokes. there's nothing to dive into abt the fact cq goes ewwwww i don't even wnna see you lolllll go awayyyy. but if i win the bet you have to stay w me forever. forever. always.

and nothing to say abt cschlatt being portrayed as "having no power" in the situation, as just being a poor uwu pathetic idiot w no agency despite the fact his agency and intelligence and cunning are deeply important to his character, despite the fact he's also being a huge weirdo. saying he was jerking off to q, and trying to tie him down like a dog to a post so he could keep him down in the gym, or even bothering to seek him out and trust him w all that in the first place specifically. 😅 nothing to say abt the fact the merchant is doing the exact same shit he was pulling in the mansion 😭😭😭 and nothing to be said abt the fact twitter character ints are canon and ccschlatt in character replied "you've come a long way sugar pumpkin, let's play mancala" to a lnv5 stream tweet. which.

even Then, while i have my v severe severe severe problems w lnv5, it objectively ends w cq going forward even more w trying to make amends w ppl, and finally trying to open up fully again. AND lnv survived the dsmp world ending nuke.

ANDDDDD to address "the mansion takes place in the distant future" argument, the mansion objective canonically takes places way before lnv even happens as confirmed by multiple streams and characters, including cschlatt and cconnor themselves so. like regretfully i must inform that if you watch tht stream its nowhere near a happy ending for cschlatt, was never intended to be, and objectively like sucks severely out there. he's desperately sad and lonely, and then everyone abandons him again including ckarl. 😭 how is that the best scenario.

so yeah, he's in lnv and he and q are hanging out gay style playing board games and kissing under the moonlight and in good standings no matter which way you slice it and you can mald abt it AND get REALLLLL. all roads lead to cpumpkinduo you miserable slut