#and then they pulled the rug out from under us
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comfort - roronoa zoro
a/n: i for sure need these headcannons so bad at the moment😭😭 luckily, i should be starting some antidepressants soon!! i'm a bit nervous about it but it's definitely worth the shot, since i have tried literally everything else 😭 anywho, only the fluffiest fluff for now 😭😭😭😭 its all my heart can take
nothing but fluff here 💗
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when he comforts you:
-the green haired swordsman was the type of man to notice something was up before you ever had the chance to say anything about it. while he may not seem like it, he always has his eye on you.. he notices the slightest shifts in your mood, body language, the way you speak, the glimmer in your eyes, he'd never come out and say that.. but he shows up in smaller ways
-he'll spend a lot more time with you. invite you to watch him work out or drink with him under the stars, just making himself more present in your life, he'll never let you really be alone, unless you asked him for that.
-you may have to initiate it.. but the second you looked at zoro with teary eyes asking "can you just hold me for a second?" he'll grab you and pull you into his arms so fast... and he's not letting go anytime soon. his tight muscles enveloping your body, the rhythmic sound of his heart beating against your cheek is a sense of calm you can't experience with anyone other than him... it isn't until you lightly slap his arm with gentle giggles saying "okay.. zo, i can't breathe when you're holding me this tight.." that he loosens his grip on you (the absolute tiniest bit)
-the swordsman isn't the chattiest when it comes to talking through problems, but if you want advice, his straightforward and blunt outlook is surprisingly more helpful than you anticipate at times. zoro doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to his advice, so he'll only tell you if you really want to/are ready to hear it.
-you'll catch him staring at you more often than usual. this man always keeps an eye on you. it's his silent check in.. his casual way of asking "you doing okay?"
-when you're sick, injured, or on your period: while he is mr tough guy ™️, he does not play around with you and your health. he'll grumble and pout when you aren't resting. his typical methods of forcing you to rest (but also still make you feel useful) is to have you lay on his back while he does push ups or dragging you to take naps with him. he doesn't outwardly express his worry but you'll find yourself waking up from naps with his watchful gaze on your face, his brows slightly furrowed, his gruff voice asking "did ya sleep okay? were you comfortable?" and he'll only relax when you reply with your typical soft sleepy smile, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek, whispering "yeah.. im okay... since you're here with me."
when he needs comforting:
-again, zoro isn't the chattiest guy in the world..so you can tell he needs you when he wordlessly pulls you close to him, burying your face into his chiseled chest, his rapid heartbeat sounding off in your ear, one hand tangled into your hair holding you head close to his heart, the other tightly gripped around your waist. the rugged soft murmur in your ear asking "can we stay like this for a bit?"
-one of his favorite ways to unwind is up in the crows nest with a bottle (or ten) of sake, with you by his side. resting your head on his shoulder as you both stargaze with the ambience of the crashing waves beneath you
-the swordsman also loves to throw himself deeper into his training as a distraction.. so he's absolutely thrilled when you one day approach him asking for help improving your fighting techniques and combat maneuvering.. be prepared to work hard though.. he'll train you until the sun goes down, eventually all his worries washing away when he sees the smile of satisfaction on your tired face after finally perfecting what he taught you.
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a/n: getting to write this with the soft patters of rain outside my window healed a part of my soul 😭😭 this is truly the quickest and easiest time i've had writing for zoro so hopefully that streak continues 😭😭😭
a/n: enjoyed this fic? here's my masterlist!!
#one piece#one piece fic#one piece fanfic#one piece headcanons#one piece fluff#one piece x reader#one piece roronoa zoro#op roronoa zoro#roronoa zoro#roronoa zoro x reader#zoro x reader#zoro x you#one piece zoro#op zoro#zoro fluff#fluff fic#via's fics
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Ghostface/Kindapping Dark Romance Prompt 🔪🤍
“Okay my little whore. I’ll give you to the count of ten. Run, hide, whatever suits you. If I find you I will fuck you while you squirm and scream to get away against the earth.”
My breathing was heavy as he rips the bag off my head. My eyes squint to adjust to the naturally dark night with storm clouds looming.
The lightning cracks through the sky and rumbles through the atmosphere. There was nothing around us but dark dense woods.
Why did it make my panties wet thinking about it?
This man had not only kidnapped me from my home, put a bag over my head, was wearing a Ghostface mask, and he had a knife to my breasts, his arm vise gripped around me, and he was threatening to rape me if I didn’t run and hide fast enough for him to get me.
I should be terrified. I knew with the lightning he would see me. I was only wearing an oversized shirt with a thin thong on. I was also barefooted.
His massive arms unwind off my chest and release me. He takes a few steps back.
“One.” His voice is deep and rugged. It sends heat pooling between my thighs.
It takes my fogged brain a second to catch up with his words when he starts counting down less than a millisecond after one.
“Two.”
Adrenaline spikes into my veins sending my gummy legs into action. I take off through the overgrowth, and under the low hanging branches.
“Three.” There’s a deep sense of thrill coursing through me straight to my core at the deepness of his voice.
The pain starts shooting up both my bare feet. I couldn’t see but I assume it’s thorns. I knew I had to push and keep going to get further.
Fuck. My breathing becomes labored but I don’t stop. Behind me I couldn’t hear the heavy foot falls of someone hot on my heels.
The lightning overheard was brief and shown very little of the path before me. I was almost completely blind in the night, my hands out before me, my legs moving carefully but as a decent pace.
I trip over an unseen limb free fall into the dark, my body hitting into the ground, rolling, before my body slams into a tree trunk.
I groan at the impact.
“Ten my little attention seeking whore.” I could hear the voice from beside me or behind me. The heavy boots. I was too tired initially to fight or ward him off as his hands gathered my ankles in a harsh grip and pulled me fully down to the ground. “Caught you.”
I could’ve kicked him, flailed, screamed, cried out, but I didn’t want to.
The fabric of my shirt was torn away, exposing my body to the dark of the night. My nipples harden as the chill of the wind perks them. My thong is also torn away from my pussy leaving me bare to him.
Fuck. I’d lost. But my body nor my mind seemed to mind or protest.
My head pounded at the impact my body had sustained from the tree and my body throbbed painfully.
I can hear a belt unbuckling, a zipper sliding down, and then the massive kidnapper leans over me with his massive frame, hooking my knee over his large hips and thrusts into me with one stroke. No warning. No hesitation.
I gasp as he filled every inch of my aching pussy.
#ghostface#ghostface smut#ghostface fanfiction#smut prompts#smut#cnc kidnapping#kidnap fantasy#kidnapping k1nk#kidnap roleplay#tw kidnapping#kidnapping rp#rapekink#rape/noncon#tw sex assault#rapemedaddy#fantasy#writing#writer#prompts#writers on tumblr#writerscommunity#writing prompts#story prompts#story prompt#writing ideas#i want his dick so far down my throat it leaves bruises#dom/sub#scream smut#scream fanfic#my hunted darling
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Hah!! I knew it!! (I'm onto your storytelling tricks now GJM!!)
Yeeeah you coulda acted a little quicker though Zhuo Yichen... like before Pei Sijing got thrown into a pillar... (although on second thoughts, no, fuck her traitorous ass, as you were Zhuo Yichen, you're good....)
Oh god, the angst of it all...
If he were to die, the burden would just be passed to someone else. He would be condemning someone else to the pain and self-loathing that he feels.
Oh dang, the bottle he drinks from all the time is a liquid that helps suppress malicious energy!! He's literally dosing himself all day every day to try and stay in control!!
Shit, he is visibly shaking with effort, struggle to keep even a smidgen of control, and begging Ying Zhao to kill him before it's too late
Wait, what's grandpa gonna do? Why's he telling Ying Lei goodbye?!!
Did he... did he just fucking sacrifice himself to help suppress Zhu Yan?! Did he put his... spirit?... into Zhu Yan to help suppress the malicious qi?
That might save everyone's lives but jfc that is NOT going to help Zhu Yan's guilt/self-loathing problem!!
Oh GOD the usually carefree and silly Ying Lei outright SOBBING over his grandpa is fucking killing me!
Good god, his FACE. He looks happy at first... I guess that the blood moon is over and he is in control? But then he looks up and sees... sees the aftermath... of what HE has done...
My poor fucking boy. He is so tormented. 😭
He is indeed grandpa
So they've got a month where the malicious qi won't affect him...
I'm still not sure I understand what it is he's done to himself to get those scars? Was he being literal about lightning strikes? And secluding himself *after* the blood moon... why? To let the malicious qi levels lessen?
God the visuals of this show!!
Sure ya do buddy.
Why are you no match for Li Lun? I thought you were badass demon? Oooh wait up though... the subs on iQiyi said "I'm no match for Li Lun"... but the subs on the my downloaded file say "I can't kill Li Lun". Which is it? Because one is can't as in not able to... and the other might mean can't as in can't bring myself to...
Oh wait what? It can?
Oh god Ying Lei's grief has me genuinely crying.
No she hasn't, they're having to take turns at the scenic moping spot and Zhu Yan had it most of the night...
Yeah you DESERVE to be hated girl cos Zhu Yan didn't have a choice... you did. He was literally being controlled by malicious energy. Regardless of what Chongwu camp used to get you to spy for them, you made the choice to.
WHO? Who should have almost completed his great mission by now? Cos that did not sound like you were talking about Zhao Yunzhou there...
I STG if you fuckers pull the rug out from under me by making Xiao Bai be a fucking spy too I will cut a bitch...
Aaaaand the next scene jumps straight to Xiao Bai. Don't you do it. Don't you fucking dare!!
Oooh they've somehow all magically got furry winter clothes now...
Oh dang, my boy's had a mountain god makeover.
Awww he's leaving the gang to stay there?
Oh god damn don't give the magic travel device to the fucking spy. She'll land you all straight into the middle of Chongwu camp instead of where you want to go...
Yeeeeeaaaah that ain't all it means mate... 😂
They're all having protracted heartfelt goodbyes... and where is my poor Zhu Yan?
Group hug!! For everybody except the Great Demon Zhu Yan... 😭
Ugh that was an emotional rollercoaster and I am exhausted.
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Is that the aunt's assistant/maid or whatever from the first episode?
She's a ghost, right? How did she die? Also, is she haunting the aunt or the hospital? (I think aunt)
This is interesting. We still have a property that is managed by the aunt that hasn't been exorcised yet so is that where this is going?
Can't say this is making me trust the aunt any more, although she's been so comically self-centered that she's probably a red herring. Or maybe that's what they want us to think?
#peaceful property#peaceful property the series#also can we talk about what clever misdirection it was to tell us in the 1st ep that home has inherited 12 properties#which obviously lead us to think one ep = one property and that is how they started as well#so they lulled us into a false sense of security thinking this would be a nice ghos-of-the-week comedy#with a not too intrusive overarching plot in the background#and then they pulled the rug out from under us#very clever
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It's incredibly funny to me that NPMD has multiple points where you could stop the play and it would leave off on a happy ending. If you stop it right before Max falls, you can pretend they have a party and he stops bullying them because he had a good time. Or, if you stop it the second Richie says he's happy to be alive, you just need to erase the first 3 minutes of the musical from your brain and boom, Richie has been accepted by his peers and he's loving life. Lastly, if you want to stop it at the end of Best of You, you have an upbeat ending worthy of a 2000s Disney Channel original movie.
#you could also end it right as jason kisses grace but you need to be quick on the draw for that#npmd spoilers#npmd#nerdy prudes must die#richie lipschitz#max jagerman#ill be honest best of you feels like an ending i thought it was when i first saw it but then i saw there was 5 minutes left#and 5 minutes is plenty of time for these guys to pull the rug out from under us
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Musical Touken Ranbu: Michinooku ~ Hitotsu Hachisu (Michinooku ~ A Single Lotus)
Here we go! Only a few days after the archive release and toumyu's ninth anniversary (congratulations!)
Michioku, or Michihasu, is a myu I have many conflicting feelings about, both positive and negative. However, I do believe that with the right amount of care in the next Mika-related story myu, the negative can still be cleared. Plus, I'm glad about a lot of things being re-established. The writer does need to step up her game a little on the plot-writing side of things, as well as the understanding-and-respecting-past-myu side of things, but as long as she does, this can still be given a proper place within what was already established.
Keep in mind that these are only the subtitle files, timed and tled to the DMM senshuuraku and the bluray respectively. The archive version will have a talk at the start, so the starting times of the subs will have to be delayed accordingly.
You can find the subtitles and my TL notes document here!
#touken ranbu#toumyu#water's translations#michioku#michihasu#how do I put this#seeing as myu's director Kayano has said in an interview right before Michioku that Kogi and Mika have a special bond#different from other swords-- and then they try to speedrun *Tsuru* and Mika having a what feels like it was intended to be#even greater relationship using a song called Kage Futatsu where KOGI'S signature song from Utaawase was Futatsu no Kage???#I SINCERELY want to believe it's incompetence rather than the writer deliberately pulling the rug from under Kogi's feet#bc the alternative is just cruel#I don't particularly mind the relationship Mika and Tsuru have in this play but I feel that not for a moment Kogi and kara respectively#were considered in the writing#anyway my final verdict is that this myu is what too many people think tsuwa is: the divorce myu (between Mika and Tsuru this time)#in all cases I hope myu can bring Shirakawa Yuki in again like with Datemyu just to offload myu's already deathly busy writer (she's done#5 myus in a month before which is just insane) because I feel this just isn't sustainable with the amount of carefulness a long-running#franchise like myu demands and the *writing* quality (not the production quality AT ALL Michioku's is great) is suffering for it.#like sure Michioku is loaded with references but they're references that either don't serve *Michioku's own* plot or their treatment shows#a lack of understanding of the work it's referencing-- for example Kashuu calling upon atsu's “This is how the shinsengumi fights!” actuall#goes completely contrary to the lesson he's supposed to have learned from atsuibun: that swords aren't disposable and that he has duties as#both soldier (captain in atsu) and as COMRADE and he makes the (already highlighted in Michioku!) dumb decision of butting in without#thinking-- and with that framed against manba's breaking trauma as well! He's supposed to have learned to stay rational and consider both#duties yet here he is ---BECAUSE of the reference--- completely leaning on the pre-atsu-development side of the scale#as if Ishi's words went one ear in one ear out. And yes the scene by itself could've worked as a subversion to show Kashuu makes the#'irrational' decision against what Ishi taught him to consider precisely because he cares for the people he's protecting but there is NO#groundwork laid at all for that in the rest of Michioku! This is what I mean with the carelessness of the references and the lack of#consideration for what prior myus were trying to SAY and ACHIEVE which is insane because she was the lyricist for those#it's more a collage of feelings provided through a set of characters calling back to the scripts of prior myu rather than#a story that evokes feelings bc the humans in it walk forward and act upon-- interact with-- the scenery on the road as left by prior human
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I do wonder when they're gonna get into "you do not want to be the chosen one" aspect. Cause yes they have shown the madness and what the Aes Sedai want to do to him but we do still have some show onlies thinking being the Dragon is a good heroic figure? Guess I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop in the show where they're like "actually this is more like finding out you're the antichrist."
#wheel of time#wot book spoilers#talked about this on twitter#and someone brought up a good point#that they think what they're doing is setting the dragon up as this good heroic figure#and then they'll pull the rug out from under us and be like 'well actually everything you thought you knew is wrong'#which will be both for the characters and the audience#which might work better in a visual medium? idk
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apps for digital collage
hey all, i had been using the app landing to make collages but they recently discontinued it and replaced it with something completely different. ive been doing some old school methods where i download every PNG and add them to another app (phonto), but that app kind of sucks, especially on android. landing was great because it was 1. free 2. database of images 3. worked on desktop 4. any aspect ratio. what's most important to me is i can upload as many PNGs as i want and toggle their size, placement, layers without fear of crashing, and i can make the board whatever size i want (i have the flip phone with 2 screens).
please drop your recommendations!! i want to make a visual shopping list/meal planner BAD 😭 for fun heres some of my recent collages :)
#png community help pls#WHY do good collage/photo apps always pull the rug out from under us#i need a study#the green set is my wallpapers rn#but late summer has become autumn and i need new new
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alright so the dude who owns the house we (trans polycule with varying levels of disability) live in visited....and idk why
since I am now nervous abt us needing to leave faster than our timeline allows for, i'm asking for vehicle funds
we have ~$3k saved but need a bit more than $5k for even the cheapest used car, and we need it as soon as humanly possible bc, even if we AREN'T losing our home earlier than anticipated, we still need to be out in less than 3 months
you can send monies via ko-fi or cashapp
#i will manually update the ko-fi donatotal with anything i get from cashapp. please help#mutual aid#please boost#we're halfway there but i don't trust that the rug won't be pulled out from under us before we can actually make it...
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taking khn valentine's into consideration, what are your prediction for the next lim banner?
Somehow, I’m going back to the thing I initially said since the last white day event ran:
Akito
#asks#this is assuming it’s boys focused still#if not they could pull the rug out from under us and do like. idk. mafuyu?#speculation#i would say rui on the lineup but that means b2b 4*#uh I haven’t though this through either because it’s 7:30 am and I haven’t fixed my spreadsheet yet
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Does Bill know Dipper's real name, and if not, how would he react to learning it's "Mason?" Under what circumstances would he call him this??
He already knows, he just hasn't found a reason to use it yet! He's waiting for the right moment.
#answers#Bill knows that Dipper's unaware that he knows#So obviously Bill's kept that little tidbit to himself#A reveal like that is a card you only get to use once#Bill's saving it for a special occasion#Or perhaps a smug info drop to startle Dipper when he thinks he's uncovered one of Bill's own secrets#The learning about each other goes *both* ways#If Dipper admits to what his legal name is before Bill gets to pull the reveal he'll be miffed#Hey! He was going to use that! Now Dipper went and confided the secret and Bill can't surprise him with his very infinite knowledge#Dipper then gets the double-whammy of relief from Bill not being offended at his (minor and petty) secret#And the joy of pulling the rug out from under his plans. That's always a rush#A win for Dip!
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Something I’ve been mulling over bc it also stuck out to me when I first watched the season, took the symbolic reasoning, and then didn’t think too much over it. However, I think I do know the in-character / story reasoning after some time & reflection, so let’s talk about it. Or rather, let’s try to answer
Why didn’t Callum figure out the mirror?
Simply put: because he didn’t, Narratively, need to.
Let me explain.
What’s the Point, really, of Callum being interested in the mirror? We know it’s in character because he’s always in curious about magic. We know it’s in character because he already has a tendency to fixate and attach meaning to objects. And we know it’s doubly sound in-universe given that Callum knows from Rayla’s binding and the Storm Spire archway that elven stuff is hardly ever meaningless or without a deeper meaning underneath.
From a symbolic standpoint, of course it’s meant to show his parallels to Viren, even if his and Viren’s personalities and circumstances are wildly different. However, Callum has even less context for the mirror than Viren did. All he knows is that it’s something Viren has had and is seemingly elvish in design. He doesn’t know it was in the lair of the Dragon monarchy or any hint at all that it’s connected to the archmage mentioned in his father’s letter / that he has a somehow related Key.
One of the main reasons I thought Callum might go after Rayla into Xadia from a storytelling structure was because 1) we need humans in Xadia as an audience surrogate (hi all the kiddos just going into Xadia with Zubeia and Rayla to provide just that) and 2) I always thought they wouldn’t have the time for Callum to have a full fledged arc with mirror Aaravos the same way Viren had and that it could end being too similar to what had come before. (Turns out I was right because the plot didn’t have time lmao! But I digress)
Don’t get me wrong, Aaravos manipulating Callum through the mirror in terms of conversations could have worked (and I’ve written a few here and here pre season release) but that always felt like it might infringe a bit on Callum’s character for two main reasons
1) Besides Rayla being gone, he has virtually everything he ever wanted; helping his brother, a powerful mage, getting to pursue more magical resources etc. Viren only went to Aaravos out of outright desperation because he believed that had “nothing left to lose” and because he had goals he was chasing. Until Aaravos possesses Callum, Callum is a hot mess, sure, but he’s not particularly desperate. There’s no tangible way in - Callum was offered unlimited power back in 2x08 and still turned down being a dark mage. Just something nondescript wouldn’t really work this time either
2) Callum is skeptical as hell and is accordingly slow to trust, and even barring Rayla’s absence, he still had a support system of people who cared about him at the castle, particularly Ezran and Soren (and even Bait) who would keep an eye on him. Callum can be reckless and let his curiosity get the better of him, but he still listens to his instincts (2x03 with Soren and Claudia) and the people around him.
The main information Callum could’ve gotten from Aaravos, if the Startouch elf had been 1) willing and 2) truthful would’ve been details of his backstory - well before his imprisonment, as everything else (the fact that he is imprisoned, the lack of knowledge about where he is, who put him there, etc.) are all things we really knew. So it’d require more of a switch from Aaravos than Callum in a lot of ways too - elongating and stretching things out, and not necessarily giving Callum a segue into an arc where he’s actually able to start processing his feelings. And again, no desperation as a way in
But with all that out of the way, why have Callum be more obsessed with the mirror beyond the initial scene in 4x01? Why not have him investigating the cube because it’s also related to Aaravos and could communicate the same purpose? Why have it be the arguable C-plot of 4x02 at all if he’s just going to be interrupted?
Like I said, there’s the very blatant symbolic reason of Rayla’s entrance being what deters Callum from getting too close to the mirror, her halo’d by the moon figure representing the other path he’s going to choose away from the more blatant visible path of darkness (black dark magic eyes, gazing upon a fallen star, “what if i’m on a path of darkness” etc etc) in the end. I do think that’s the Surface Level reading we’re meant to have as a takeaway, kind of similar to when Rayla spares Marcos in the forest in a moment of emotional illumination. Another path.
However, I think it actually goes deeper than that:
Which is to say, step out of the narrative / audience mindset, and look at it from Callum’s perspective.
You see the six primal sources Rayla has drawn after the craziest night of your life and think of something exciting and familiar. The cube in the Banther Lodge. Conveniently on the way and free of humans. You have to go get it.
You give up on having it when shit hits the fan. You just want to make sure everyone, especially Rayla, gets out safely. You completely give up on the cube. And even though she’s pissed at you, she tosses it into your lap anyway.
It turns out that, of all the possible things and secrets your stepfather could’ve given you that you might have missed out on, he intended and left the Key of Aaravos to you. It soothes the ache in your chest. It feels like destiny, especially after a week of being lost and magic-less
You bury yourself in your work to soothe another heart break. You hate the bulk of what you’ve inherited from your predecessor. You learn how to translate runes. But no matter how much you learn, you can’t translate the mirror. The gleam routinely catches your eye. You hate a riddle you can’t solve
You have a feeling the mirror is related to the evil returning to the world due to Ibis mentioning the Fallen Star; the same way you had a feeling that the cube could help you. (A feeling that Rayla couldn’t be trusted, a feeling that the storm made you feel like it did when you cast fulminus.)
Then you cannot feel anything except numbness as your limbs and mouth move beyond your control and it’s worse. It’s so much worse.
You worry you’re on a path of darkness, that you will inevitably, accidentally, play into his hands because you almost have three times before without even realizing.
You cannot let go of the cube.
In every adjacent encounter, Callum has had a step of separation from Aaravos. He thinks and behests they make a heartfelt detour so he can go get the cube, but Rayla is the one who finds it. Before he can even know the cube is more special than it seems (although he already thinks it’s more special than Rayla does and certainly not worthless), Harrow is granting him key ;) information. He didn’t find the mirror, Viren having already stolen and hauled it back into Katolis, as the last thing Runaan ever saw. By the time Zubeia tells him what it is, it is too late.
In so many ways this exemplifies how even before Callum knew it in 1x01 for a decent chunk of the episode, the events that would radically transform and destroy his life had already taken place in more ways than one: assassins spotted, egg stolen. Harrow dead just as the narrative truly begins.
The cube is his part of the puzzle to decipher, not anyone else’s. Claudia, Viren, and Callum are all needed as equal parts of Aaravos’ plan for his pawns. For Viren, it was the staff and the mirror; for Claudia, it is the quest; and for Callum, it will likely be the cube. This is shown even in 4x01 when the two times Callum is talking about the mirror, he is Interrupted by either the guard coming to fetch him on his brother’s behalf or by Soren messing with the cube, and Callum is interrupted again by the cube glowing and then Rayla’s arrival, literally turning away from the mirror for each.
The point of the mirror and Callum’s obsession with it wasn’t to solely highlight how he’s like Viren, necessarily (otherwise they could’ve just kept throwing in the same parallels they have from the very beginning), but to show how his agency has been undermined from the very beginning and will be to the end (of S6 at least), that he and Viren are tethered by the same thing that is Worse than Death, and that while more cognizant of it, by the time Viren realized Aaravos was using his Power and that Callum was entangled, it was already, as Harrow says
If Callum had figured out the mirror and that it was a prison or even communicated to Aaravos on his own, he would be able to look back and see and know all the places he could’ve stopped, all the places he actively chose to wander down. But even that is taken away from him. Even with delays, even with self-preservation, even by both repeating and rejecting Viren’s mistakes, it adds to Callum feeling like his destiny is already written, that this path as a pawn is inevitable. That no matter how different or similar he is to Viren, there’s only one way this can end, that there are no divergences, there are no other choices - there are no safe choices except to take him out. That he will continually come back to Aaravos regardless of if he knows it or not, that his own wishes will hook him right back in, that his fate is already sealed. That it’s written in stone.
Callum has chased agency (magic) his whole arc, wanting to be able to protect his loved ones and make something of himself. However, he’s also had more agency than he was giving himself credit for even in S1, stopping Claudia from going after them, having the final say about going up to the tower or not. Thus S1-S3 is largely Callum deciding who he wants to be with the agency he has and recognizing his strengths, building his confidence. He hasn’t struggled with concepts of agency more than he has since S2, which is one of the reasons S4 mirrors S2 so heavily in how its emotionally structured for the main cast in particular. Realizing that the ability to fully commit to the choices he wants has been within him all along; that’s why he narratively gets the Sky arcanum. So of course an external factor reaching inside him and taking control is the most bone-chilling inversion of that possible.
If he went the Viren arc as a slowburn in S4, we would get the Viren S4 resolution, of Callum unknowingly giving away his agency until he has basically nothing left. If he was driven to figure out the mirror for it or his own sake, we would see him being having Claudia’s arc, falling further and deeper in with a devastating relentlessness.
Instead, we get that lack of agency on speed run to give Callum the opposite arc of having agency brutally ripped away from him, only to open up a path for him to take it back stronger than ever before. In many ways, Callum has more to lose and more at stake, the fact that he can be possessed an even greater blow now than it would’ve been in Arc 1.
Arc 1 for him was about acclimating and adjusting to Power. and believing in his own Potential .This first portion Arc 2 is about how much of a say does he have in how he uses that power, now that he’s no longer a child; now that he’s no longer free.
Callum doesn’t typically worry about making the wrong choice, however. Most of his anxiety tends to stem when he feels like he has no choice. Thus, it sets Callum up to have a really interesting arc of reconciling these dualities rather than just retreading old steps. Viren had full agency when chasing after Aaravos; as Soren says to Claudia, “Dad is dead; you don’t have to do what he wants anymore,” believing that Claudia is merely picking up where Viren left off, not that she’s steamrolling their own father into it in order to save his life.
It’s one of the reasons that of all characters, Callum arguably also parallels Zym a great deal as well. Like Zym, he’s being treated like a thing and a weapon more than a person. Like Viren believed of Zym, Callum worries he may be forced into a terrible destiny. That:
Callum being possessed is still a form of manipulation, if not also a misdirect, forcing him into a desperate position that makes him even more vulnerable to Aaravos than he ever could’ve been otherwise. But it’s a different form of manipulation than how Aaravos lured in Viren, and a different form than how he’s manipulated Claudia the past two years. Aaravos is terrifying because he knows what strings to pull, not because he’s pulling the same strings every time. For a character with such a strong breath / mouth / freedom motif, being choked / being robbed of his voice / and of his freedom is the absolute biggest smack in the face. I’ve long mandated that the worst possible thing that would rattle Callum the most would be feeling like his mind was unsafe because of Aaravos, not his body.
Callum seeking Aaravos out in S4 of his own accord is thematically / narratively opposed to the possession plot line. The possession plot line is the ‘replacement’/subversion chosen, but it’s not a bug; it’s the feature.
It also sets Callum up to have a really interesting arc of battling for control, eventually winning it (S5 and/or S6) but still losing to Aaravos, making the wrong choice or call or being forced into something anyway while he’s cognizant enough to make a choice at all, anyway. It’d be empowering and demoralizing all at once.
But still not without any hope, since, after all:
Nothing is truly inevitable. Nothing is written in stone. It is never wholly too late, not for anyone. Aaravos just doesn’t know it yet - but Callum will be sure to show him, by S7 at the very least if not sooner.
#tdp callum#4x02#s4#arc 2#analysis series#establish theme series#analysis#mage boy#callum#i cannot tell if this makes any sense but#callum not figuring out the mirror before the rug gets pulled out from under him#is the whole reason he's so freaking Paranoid in the first place#if this was the third time you'd found this kind of connection you'd be freaked too#you cannot have callum figuring out the mirror And the possession plot line for him as a character#bc it'd get too thematically cluttered#however the mirror does help set up callum's connection with aaravos later so it comes less out of nowhere and#gives us that sense of dread / curiosity#but yeah it's not a plot hole or even a bug#it's the whole Point tbh#tag ramble#insp by talks with some of my fandom friends
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so like now what.... where does pinocchio get his power from now that reality is shattered and is on stepmothers shit list like..
#neverafter#dimension 20#neverafter spoilers#i just havent seen anyone talk about this...#im still reeling from this episode holy shit it was insane#bc she is his patron right#like i know patrons dont always like their warlocks and want bad things to happen#like whats his name from cr#i didnt really get into it#but doesnt his patron try to kill him or something idk#but like..#EDIT: i havent watched the adventuring party#i just hadnt seen anyone on here talk about it#and idk what this opens up like so much happened#the rug got pulled out from under us and now reorienting is gonna be hard#especially since we have little to nothing to go off of
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I am laughing a little bit at Gotchard trying to do the whole shock-twist-reveal of Inspector Woman Lady being evil, because -- I mean, of course she's evil.
You introduced two new characters to us, and make it clear one of them is a spy -- one who is overtly aggressive, kind of shady, and is all but accused of being a spy early on, and one who seems pleasant and agreeable.
Of course it's the pleasant and agreeable one. It's always the pleasant and agreeable one. At this point, the red herring is so well worn that I think it'd actually be more of a surprise if the one who everyone dislikes and who seems shady actually was the evil one.
#kamen rider gotchard#like it was so obviously the pleasant one that i was half-expecting the show to pull the rug out from under us by making sabimaru the spy#or rinne#which they might still do! nobody said there's only one spy!
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late night with the devil soooooo good
#texts from the void#man i had such a good time#i'm such a sucker for analog tv and found footage and cheesy old shows#the film grain and aspect ratio alone were quite charming#it lets you get comfortable and then repeatedly starts to pull the rug out from under you#until you're used to the rug pulls#and then the big one comes and you're STILL able to go ''oh shit'' at least a little#like you always know where this thing is heading. it's possession horror. we know how those end up#but knowing a roller coaster is gonna bring you back to the station doesn't make it any less fun of a ride#anyways looooved the vibes loved david dastmalchian will watch it again
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I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to new characters I have the same attitude as a poorly socialized dog. I swear every time new content comes around and we get the news of new characters my instant reaction is to just. Dislike them. Hope they have little to no importance in the plot. Even when the design looks nice and the characters seem interesting. They're taking screen time away from my faves and my heart tells me to Bite
#this isnt even about the Thing. Its about Astrid#that cool and interesting looking old lady#(im assuming thats her name its what ive seen people use)#Im pretty sure there's something ot be said about my autism here#i dont want things to change. I dont want to risk the show taking a turn for the worse and becoming Insane#if it were up to me#s2 would have just been a reprise of s2 while focusing on different things#and s3 would be a reprise of s2#which means ofc that the show wouldn't be nearly as compelling as it is. that' why i trust the writers#but at the same time I HAAAAAATE CHANGE#I think the longer hiatuses contribute to this. I am given time to adjust to what can be considered canon and then BOOM#rug pulled from under me with only like 2 months of antecedence.#and I have to be prepared to let go of my headcanons and my current views of this world and its characters#and to accept that these new faces they're throwing at us will be just as important as the ones I already know and love#like I WANT to be spoiler free but at the same time I gotta prepare myself for what's coming#bc otherwise I'm gonna get the air knoked out of me fr#cons of letting a show take over 60% of your brain#turns to the other 40%: at least I've got you. you'll never change or abandon me#*the Cells look at me uninpressed and tell me to get a job*#hilda the series#hilda s3
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