#because it would make a LOT of sense for their situation

[ghostlyferrettarot]

❗️This is a collective reading, take what resonates and leave the rest❗️

✨️Paid Services ✨️ (Natal charts and tarot readings) Open!

🫧Join my Patreon for exclusive content!🫧

🖤If you like my work you can support me through Ko-fi. Thank you!

🎀Masterlist🎀 🎀Masterlist 2🎀

༘⋆📼˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚Pile 1: Hi, Pile 1! The first thing that stands out is that you have something very special, an energy that seems to shine effortlessly, your giving center of the group, your giving it girl. It's not just what you do, but the way you do it. People would feel that, somehow, when you're on stage or when they see you in public, there's something almost magical about you. As if your mere presence could light up any room. Your talent is indisputable, and I'm not just referring to your artistic abilities, but how you combine them with that unique spark you have. Whether singing, dancing, or acting, your ability to connect with people is something that can't be overlooked. It's not just a matter of being good at what you do; it's the way you convey emotion and how you make everyone feel involved in your world. It would be as if you could make the audience feel close, as if they were part of your story. They'd see you as authentic, someone who truly cares about what they're doing. Plus, you wouldn't be the kind of person who stays in their comfort zone. You have that energy to innovate, to experiment, to always surprise. And most importantly, all of that would come naturally to you. You wouldn't have to force it, because it's obvious you do it with passion. And that, believe me, is something the audience values ​​greatly. The authenticity you convey will be what stands out most about you. And as for how others would see you… Well, many would likely see you as a kind of inspiration. Not in the typical "wow, I want to be like her/him" kind of way, but rather in the sense that your presence makes them believe they too can shine. They'd see you as someone who not only has talent, but also an inner light that guides others to feel good about themselves. The audience would admire you not only for what you do, but for how you make others feel.

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• Your Song:

༘⋆📼˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚Pile 2: Hi pile 2! I feel like no matter what situation you're in, they'd always see you as someone who never gives up, who always gives your best. There's something incredibly strong about your work ethic, as if nothing could stop you, as if you could overcome any obstacle without losing focus. You wouldn't just be good at what you do, you'd be one of the best. Others would see how hard you work and how every step you take is designed to improve even more, and that's something that doesn't go unnoticed. You remind me a lot of Jihyo from Twice, I love ypur vibes pile 2! Your talent is obviously noticeable, but what would truly mark you as an idol would be your tenacity and your will to keep going, no matter what. The public would notice it right away. Fans would see you as a role model. As that person who never gives up, who's always pushing forward, who fights with everything she has to get what she wants. It's not just that you're talented; it's that your capacity for personal improvement would be one of the things that would make you stand out the most. In every show, in every performance, they would feel that you're giving your all, and that would generate deep admiration. Fans wouldn't just follow you for your art, but for who you are as a person: tenacious, resilient, someone who proves that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Their perception of you would be that of an idol with enormous inner strength, someone who inspires not only for what she does, but for how she does it. They would see you as a model of self-improvement, of constant work, and struggle. People would feel motivated just by seeing you on stage, seeing how you achieve things that seem impossible only because of your determination. They wouldn't just admire you; they would thank you for showing them that effort is worth it, that there are no limits when you truly dedicate yourself to what you love. The audience would feel that, by following you, they're also winning, because with you, effort and perseverance always have a reward.

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• Your Song:

༘⋆📼˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚Pile 3: Hi Pile 3! Right away, I feel like you're about to be the people's prince/princess. It's not just your talent, but the way you make people feel truly seen and understood. There's something about your presence that makes people feel comfortable, as if they could open up to you without fear of judgment. That warm energy you transmit, that softness, is what would stand out most about you as an idol. Imagine being on stage or in an interview, and the audience simply feeling like they have a real connection with you, as if you were truly speaking to them from the heart. You wouldn't be the distant idol who only shines from afar, but the one who reaches out and makes everyone feel like they're part of her world. And this isn't just about what you say, but the way you express yourself. Your forte may be something like music or art in general, but it's not just what you do that people fall in love with, it's the way you do it. Your creativity shines, and that freshness you convey is what draws people in. You wouldn't be doing the same old thing; there would always be something new, something to surprise your fans, but you'd always maintain that unique essence that's completely yours. Many people would see you as a safe place, a kind of muse aswell, that inspires others. I feel like in difficult moments, when your fans felt low, they would find solace in you, because your very energy would make them feel like everything would be okay. People would love your authenticity. You would be that idol who, despite fame or public exposure, never loses touch with what truly matters. You would be seen as an approachable person, almost as if you were everyone's friend, and not just an "unattainable star" type of person. I love your vibe, it reminds me of Yoona from SNSD or IU.

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• Your Song:

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• Thank you for reading and let me know if it resonated!༘⋆📼˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

[formulaonecrumbs]

part two: what a bland goodbye.

Lando Norris x secret (ex)girlfriend!reader

part one.

(partially requested) @idkwhatsoever04: I need a part -2 where lando regrets leaving reader and she moves on and makes him regret a lot or whatever the ending you prefer or she makes him work a lot to forgive him

summary: lando regrets letting reader go after hiding her and making her feel invisible. she moves on, but not without heartbreak, self-doubt, and him realizing what he lost too late.

warnings: heavy angst, secret relationship, jealousy, heartbreak, self-comparison/insecurity, regret, implied moving on, no happy ending.

A/N: helloooo low-key i was gonna give them a happy ending cause i love my baby lando and i hate putting him in sad situations but then i had a bad day and needed to take it out somewhere. SOOOO i hope someone cries to this, that’ll always be my aim when it comes to angst 🫶 also yes the title is the lyric from loml, i was crying to it earlier and just felt it was fitting. anywaayysss enjoy, my loves ❤️

୨ৎ ୨ৎ ୨ৎ ୨ৎ

it’s always after they lose you that they realize you were everything.

lando didn’t expect silence.

he expected a fight. yelling, maybe. tears. a messy conversation that ended with you forgiving him like you always did.

but not silence.

not a blocked number.

not your clothes missing from his flat. your toothbrush gone. the empty drawer where your things used to be. not the absence of you lingering in every space he used to take for granted.

you didn’t leave a note. didn’t text. didn’t even say goodbye.

and for a while, he told himself it was for the best.

he told himself it was just temporary. that you needed space and you’d come back like you always did. that you’d cool down and realize that being private had always been the safer option. smarter. better.

but days turned into weeks.

you didn’t come back.

and he started noticing the little things.

he’d scroll through his camera roll, looking for a photo of something else, and find a video of you laughing instead. blurry. sunlit. caught mid-sentence.

his chest would ache.

he’d walk past a shop and see a display with that sweater you loved — the one you always stole from his closet. the one he found balled up on his side of the bed the day after the call.

he’d see a meme online and his first instinct would still be to send it to you.

and then he’d remember he couldn’t.

you were gone.

what he didn’t see was how broken you were after.

how you cried yourself sick on your bathroom floor the night you ended it. how you stared at yourself in the mirror and wondered what she had that you didn’t. if it was her smile. her style. her body. her confidence.

you picked yourself apart piece by piece, comparing everything you were to amelie — the girl the world wanted for him.

you stopped eating properly. stopped sleeping. everything reminded you of him. the playlist you made together. the shampoo he said smelled like “home.” the inside jokes that didn’t make sense without him.

it wasn’t just heartbreak. it was grief.

like mourning someone who was still out there, just choosing someone else.

but no one saw that.

because just like he kept you hidden, you kept your pain hidden too.

you didn’t want to be seen crying over someone who wouldn’t even say your name out loud.

so you disappeared for a while.

and when you came back, you weren’t the same girl.

you started going out. not to party — but to feel something other than sad. you met new people. you smiled in pictures even when it didn’t feel real.

and then one day… it did start to feel real.

your smile didn’t feel forced.

your laughter wasn’t fake.

and then there was him.

you met someone new. someone who didn’t keep you a secret. who held your hand in public without flinching. who posted blurry pictures of you with captions like “my girl” and “how did i get this lucky?”

he made you feel seen.

and lando noticed.

he saw the post late at night. a friend sent it to him without a word. just a link and a heart emoji.

it was a picture of you — hair messy, eyes bright, laughing into your drink while someone kissed your cheek. the guy’s arm was around your shoulders. your hand rested on his thigh.

you looked happy.

you looked like you’d moved on.

and that’s when lando felt it — the regret.

not the kind that flickers. the kind that burns.

he’d lost you. not just temporarily. really lost you.

and he didn’t even fight for you.

he let you walk away because he was scared of what the world would say, forgetting the only opinion that mattered was yours.

he kept you in the dark while someone else brought you into the light.

and now he was the one watching from the outside. alone. silent. hidden.

just like you had been.

he thought about texting you. a long apology. a plea. something.

but he didn’t.

because he knew.

he could see it in your eyes in that photo — the peace, the lightness, the way you weren’t looking back.

you weren’t his anymore.

and that was his fault.

he let the world have him. but you?

you were the best thing he never had the courage to claim.

THE END :>

[asinglemagpie]

Sometimes I think I conflate a lot of captain/dealer things because of Dan, lol, but Exy is one of those sports where the captain isn't required to always be on the court - we know this from the general high rate that the larger teams swap out the players throughout the game, and because we see Dan swap out with Allison. So to me it makes sense that the dealer has a little more say in the moment on how they think they can give the team a leg up during the serve.

Captains to me are a lot more about running the team when coach isn't there, being a model player (in ability and personality) for the others to emulate, and in Exy terms definitely being the face of the team for the press since there's a LOT of press around the games and teams.

This does of course make me want to take Wymack by the shoulders and go, "Neil? Really? Do you maybe want to think about that?" but the man knows what he's doing - Neil thinks the world of his Foxes, and he's going to want to do the best by them. It's not going to make him bite his tongue too much, but giving him that responsibility not only gives him a solid, undeniable place to hold on to but gives him a reason to grow as a person to be a good example, to be a good spokesperson for the team. Wymack knows he's not going to try to be any of those things without a good reason lol.

Anyway, getting off track...

I think anyone on a team can suggest a change in tactics - it's up to the captain and/or coach to decide if they think it's a good idea. Andrew is reliably uncaring about exy - but when he dials in his attention he's pretty flawless. Wymack knows it, and I'm sure that Dan noticed it too. Add that to the fact that everyone knows he wouldn't purposefully put Neil in a situation he didn't think he could handle. He was also factually right - Neil was the only person on that team with the needed skillset to make a difference - he was not only fast, he had backliner experience, and specifically he had backliner experience against Riko in Raven training sessions. That was something that Kevin could offer explanations of, but hearing and living it are very different. It was a risky play, but at that point their either had to take a risk or concede defeat. They had nothing to lose by listening to a madcap idea from the most apathetic exy player currently known to man XDD

As for the specific of changing a striker into a backliner, it seems that as long as the correct number of people are playing a position that there's some element of leeway as to who plays it - as we get to see when they lose Seth and have to start getting creative with who played which position for a while as Kevin and Neil worked up to playing entire games. It suggests that people are not locked into a specific position, and can only play that position on that team (or ever?). No one in their right mind would usually yank a striker and make them a backliner with no training, so there's little risk of it happening under normal circumstances (especially as every other team is bigger than the Foxes and wouldn't need to lol) - they just had the intense fortune that Neil was capable.

Ok so other than jerejean coming together, possibly via continental drift the way things are going...

[iamhereinthebg]

Let's talk about the clock keepers!

With the last chapter (124), we have a lot of new things to look at and mostly, a lot of new questions. So let's look at what we know about them for now!

N°1's rumor shows right away what they are capable of. Putting even more emphasis on it and what they really do in the festival arc.

The owls eat away the time of whoever entered the boundary and wasn't allowed to. And the dolls Kako creates would answer the question of 'what happens to the souls after the body is destroyed' . (Knowing that Mirai can destroy the souls and bodies, so the Owls are probably not that powerful.) It's a cruel and awful price to pay, but not that surprising from the supernatural's perspective. Knowing the skate was 'a human who wanna play god and control time'.

What they are doing is also literally written in their titles, they are described as 'Time guardians, representatives of the Past, the Present and the Future', they are called clock keepers because they are protecting the clock that controls time within the school, act and punish according to it.

But with this chapter showing them in a really grim light, it’s pretty hard to see how they can be described as ‘good’ guardians.

The last chapter is really showing the danger Nene is facing. Showing the boundary as a cold place with all the things the clock keepers have been hiding. To show all the risks she is taking to go back to her friends knowing fully what could happen to her. If she tries to change the past, the clock keepers may change her into a mechanical doll wandering aimlessly in their cold boundary.

AidaIro have been trying  a lot to show how wrong and dangerous they were in this arc. We saw them through a lot of character’s pov, and all of them have been treating them as the biggest threat like Akane described them in chapter 108.

Nene sees how horrible their methods are, everything is pointing at them for being cruel. They will maybe even not listen to her because she seems to have broken the representative of the present’s watch and Akane is nowhere to be seen. 

Do they just punish anyone that seems to get too close to their powers? Humans mostly? Since the clock keeper of the present is a human too, does it mean they are affected by this?

The only reason for this would be if they gain something out of it. Would it mean the dolls have a bigger use than just filling the boundary. But what for? A soul? A body? A kind of sacrifice? 

But it would be insanely hypocritical of Kako to do this, showing his clear disagreement about the pit god's situation and Hanako’s choice to not do anything when the school is in in danger.

It’s not impossible, but only if the representative of the present breaks those rules they would suffer the same consequences as a normal human, they clearly have ‘autorisations’ over anyone else.

And I also think it makes sense for  a human to be part of this mystery.

Let's look at what happened when they decided to rewind time too.

We just can’t decide which timeline is the worst. On one hand we have a muderous curse, and on the other hand, we have a whole school being 'killed' in record time, the students are being turned into supernatural beings and even if they can turn back they are still attacking other students and people present for the festival. The school is even more crowded than usual, the number of victims at the end of the day will be pretty horrible in both timelines. I am not surprised the clock keepers decided to act. 

Changing a whole timeline is a huge deal, we even know that all of the Mysteries have limitations, prices to pay to be powerful.

Shijima can’t stop drawing even if she wants to, Tsuchigomi has the power to know but is not allowed to act on anything, Hakubo can bring things back to life but also kills everything he touches, and the Clock keepers have mechanical/broken bodies.

It may be the price they pay for their powers, Mirai seems in better shape than Kako too. The latter has to keep his mask on to hide his fake eyes. And they are dolls, the things they create to punish people. They can use their power to change the course of events but then have to go to sleep for a really long time, here for around 50 years, and just hope that what they did was the right choice. Kako’s role is one of ‘control’ over a lot of things, so not being able to do anything and not have any relevance for a long time is a big risk and price. Even more knowing a supernatural needs their rumor to continue to spread around to exist.

N°1 have a human in their team because they can break the ‘curse’ of their power. If Kako and Mirai can’t see anything and are forced to sleep to change the past, the clock keepers may use a human because they can observe what is happening in the living world, so they can observe the present. Akane was left to be the eyes  for the clock keepers in the new present like he is already in the original timeline. He reports things that seem suspicious to Kako.  Kako said it in his second appearance, their role is to observe at first, they take actions if they deem it necessary. 

Another thing to have in mind is that the clock keepers have also been kind of an exception since the beginning of the manga. They are the only mysteries to have ‘split powers’ in three, and several representatives. They are clearly important for the mysteries, being named number one and the oldest. Most of them show up to a meeting when they don’t when Hanako, the leader, calls for one. N°1 also don't fear to put their 'boss' on a trial.

They have respect from the mysteries, but also from exorcists. None of the characters want to take action against them in a big part of the manga despite having caused a real mess across the school. Tsuchigomori’s yorishiro was taken for no real reasons than Hanako's plan, and Shijima '’only'’’ trapped 2 students in her painting for example.

Teru always talks about the clock keepers like they are above the others too. He lets them have a pass on a lot of things and they are the only mystery he was willing to ask for help, probably mostly because a human is among them. But if the clock keepers always had such insane techniques to recruit a human (pretending to kill students (cf:chap 25 with Aoi)), it’s strange that no exorcist has done anything against that. Teru threatened to get rid of other mysteries, like Hanako even when he is the leader. Even after saying how much he hates the timeline and being 'controlled' by them, he never actually mention getting rid of them after or regretting not doing it sooner. It's considered a problem for Akane for him, he is only ''vexed'' to work with them and he even advised Akane to be careful about the yorishiro to be able to use their power.

We can point out that the inactions of the Minamotos clan may be because the mysteries are the real ‘pillars and yorishiros of the gods (Kami)’. Kako is the one who confirms that they are proxies of the gods , so close to deities. The mysteries’ yorishiros being clearly seals to a bigger danger (probably the pit god) But I still think the clock keepers have had a pass for the thing they did when others didn’t. Only two yorishiro were destroyed when they messed with the students' time.

The broadcasting club strengthened their methods with each new mystery and they had to use an old mystery power to do only a distraction for n°1 with their usual use of Hanako and Nene, knowing that they are really cautious supernatural. They went right away for their weak link, the mortal one, and they are the last mystery they want to take out before the most powerful one (Mitsuba not even being considered as one) It's also the time where they finally use Natsuhiko's curse. A curse that can take out Mitsuba down immediately. They were rarely as pro active to go against a Mystery in terms of power.

The moment being ‘now’ is also something to note. The clock keeper's powers may be more ‘fragile’ and/or powerful during this time, since the three days-ish of the festival are the time limit for people to forget if they ever rewinded time. The days before and during the festival are also the moment where the school time is the most unstable. Maybe they can do something that drastic only at this time, but it’s also the period where they are the most ‘weakened’ hence why the broadcasting club may have chosen this precise moment to act on them, Natsuhiko taking contact with Akane only when the preparations of the festival started. I would say that they can’t change the timeline when they want, a power like this may need a pretty big limit. 

The whole school being infested and killing students, their big clock being threatened, the boundaries between the supernaturals and humans nearly don’t exist anymore, the ‘enemy have gone this far’ with the curse on the school etc... The solution was to get rid of the root as Kako said. Because only rewinding time for the day wouldn't have been enough. I also think they didn’t mind what Shinigami did in the previous arc if it set things right. Kako even admits that Hakubo has extremes measures but doesn't stop him. It's not that surprising when you see what has been happening in the manga. They are “judges” after all and condemn things as they think it’s better to do.

Number 6's story being the last arc before the one of the clock keepers, was full of insane and drastic measures from a lot of characters. The story has more skates, it's normal for its progression. The more we go into the manga, the bigger the punitions are too. They lost everyone to the severance in the previous arc but they could get back because they weren't 'dead'. Now they don't exist as 'themselves' anymore, they have to literally change time to go back to their statu go. The clock keepers have been in the manga since nearly 100 chapters, it's great their story and the way they are handling things are awful to the characters. It doesn't mean they are right, but it's logical in term of story telling.

And now this is more of a personal preference, but I truly believe making a supernatural, especially a mystery, truly 'evil' now would go against the themes of this manga. None of the mysteries are shown through an ‘only evil lens’. Obviously they all take drastic measures that are awful to the livings half of the time, their morals and comprehension of life and death are way different than humans, it’s not even comparable. But the story always reminds us they do this for a reason, at least to them. Showing the clock keepers going 'oh yes we have been sacrificing people only to keep our power/be more powerful and nothing else' would be pretty strange in my opinion.

Hakubo was only doing his job this whole time, being more a servant/slave unable to take decision on his own, Hanako has done of what he did out of love, Shijima tried to kill Mei only because she thoughts she was hurting her by existing, Yako wanted to see the only person she ever cared about and who teached her everything, etc

All rumors have a part of truths and lies in them we are missing a lot of informations here.

That would break the whole point of the mysteries and the fact we as readers try to empathize or at least have a perspective on why they do this. Even the God pit wasn't shown only as an evil entity when it has been eating dozens of people. And we could even argue that it tries to do the right thing from its pov by wanting to bring 'happiness' since humans asked for it, all of it is also being amplified by rumors. The villagers thought that to keep the pit god calm they had to sacrifice young girls, but it was also to ask for wishes, like 'happiness'. And the god pit answered.

This is more of a stretch now but Kako being so extreme in his rules and choices may be because he is the one who already saw. He is the oldest supernatural they introduce in the manga, he is maybe even older than the god pit. He doesn’t even hesitate to say what It is to Akane, he seems to be the only one knowing that Tsukasa and him have merged. (w/o Tsuchi probablybut too many rules forces him to stay inactive/silent)  What kind of perspectives are we missing?

 Going this extreme must be for a reason that we don't have for now. We don't know how many times they rewinded time, we don't know what happened to them.

And especially we don't know why they had to leave their city and country. Why did they have to go into a foreign land, keeping only the memory of an endless snow day spent next to the chimney with sweets and tea as the representation of what they can call home. It is also shown that the clock keepers, compared to other mysteries, spend a lot of time in the innermost reach boundary. Akane has clearly been there several times. And it's so personal too, they have their house here. We see that Tsuchi spends more ’casual/mundane’ time in the school than his boundary, Yako’s innermost reach is the start of the staircase where Misaki died, Hakubo's could only be described as 'the awful village Sumire was from' and Shijima's was Mei's dream. These last two mysteries never went into them before Nene appeared. Everything they still do and cook is filled with their previous life/home, and it's always shown in a reassuring light. I think there definitely will be a story around this, and I hope we will see how it's important to their roles, and their powers.

Their yorishiro is a key to the big clock to control time,something that exists for them only because they are a mystery. But it also seems to lead to an ever more ‘secret’ part of the boundary. I have no idea what it means for them, but fire and comfort are always here in all their ‘most important places’.

It's too easy for now, to judge them and only categorize them as evil. Yes it's insane what they do, and not right to any other characters. But it's also not that drastic when you know the consequences of altering Time and what already happened in the manga previously, the two ideas can coexist.

The clock keepers are not an exception among the mysteries in terms of personnalities, they have traits all of them have.

They represent Judgment, or at least think they represent it. All mysteries are arrogant, the one being the most neutral about it being Hakubo, he's just doing his job and knows his capacities. But the clock keepers? They really are, probably the ones with the biggest ego. Kako is arrogant enough to not even care and take his time when danger arises because he knows he has time on his side.  His introduction actually already shows this side, his first appearance showing he came late because what's the point of being on time when you literally control it. Nothing is a problem when you can just go back in time like it never happened.

Mirai may not go with the definition of arrogance at first glance, but she definitely shows it in a different way. The world is her playground, she is kept in the clock keeper's boundary because she can't help herself but use her powers and turn the whole school into a retirement home. Whenever she fights she has a big smile on her face and she is seen laughing a lot at people following her, acting like a child whenever she doesn't get her way. I think their arrogance is the main point of their story. They are awful because of it. 

It's no wonder Akane is in the clock keepers , the idea to judge someone forever and stick to it is something really strong for them too. Kako has been stuck on Hanako's first introduction to him not even wanting to see him again for a really long time, just because he said ONE thing and Kako made his whole view about it, even bringing it back in a trial. They make their views on something and just stick to it forever. It’s not that surprising to see they go this far for people who try to control time, because they think they are right.

Once again, it’s easy to see what’s wrong with them but they are not only shown as evil supernaturals since the beginning of the manga.

 They are always shown as duty centered and described as stern and strict supernaturals. Kako doesn't hesitate to turn back time because it's Mirai who wrecked the school. So it's only fair 'because it's one of our own who did it, it's normal for me to fix it'. He works by the rules since his introductions in his manga, he is the most strict mystery and the one being the most bothered by what is happening in the school because it is ‘Their sworn duty to protect the school’.

 And they are just once again, as a lot of mysteries, taking their roles to an extreme for humans' standard. Kako's problem is that he is TOO serious, he knows his role, he knows how powerful they are, he knows his duty and he will make sure to do it. Even if his methods are awful. And I personally think that's what their arc, the next chapters, will be about.

That they were wrong and that it cost the lives of a lot of people and that especially Akane was a victim of it too. 

Putting them as only ‘cold blooded and evil’ characters is also not fair when there are a lot of little interactions that at least shows that they care about human lives and the school to some extent and Akane. Mirai literally took a blow for him. After getting destroyed, the first thing she does when she wakes up, is checking if he is alright and asking to be praised, she doesn't check anything else only making sure he is okay because she knows Kako can physically fix her. And we know that Kako can rewind Akane’s time, but he maybe would remember what happened, which means Mirai took the blow to avoid him to feel the pain of being stabbed. This wasn't even scripted since Akane planned for Mirai to escape. She acts like a kid more whenever he is around and wears the name he gave her like a badge, clearly having fun with him. She is absolutely shocked when he orders her to never take a blow for him ever again, saying she is a child rather than a beast/monster like he does in all previous chapters.

Kako forces Akane to have tea with them because he wants to congratulate him on a job done well. He is a bitch about it and is shocked because ‘what do you mean someone said no to him?’ and he uses his power to force him, but it’s a classic supernatural move, he does this because he can’t fathom that Akane would say no when they baked cakes specifically for him, it’s just another representation of his ego. Akane even admits that Kako listens to him at some point. If Teru wanted to ask for their help is also because they seem ‘'’reasonable’'’ supernaturals.

Akane has gone through a development in the manga that makes him question A LOT of what he knows, sees and assumes, that's his whole role. In the last chapters it is shown that Akane has a hard time to pinpoint exactly how he feels really about the clock keepers because he knows what their real role is, they are 'protecting' and that's something he can understand. But he hates the way they work. He says it throughout the whole series, but what can he do? He is literally just a random human boy among god powered beings. And it's no wonder Akane is also one of the only half supernatural.

Their whole thing is 'being humbled' by humans in this series. 

And it's easy to say that humans are only victims in all the supernatural stories. They need to realize how much their actions and consequences are a part of the supernatural world. Supernaturals especially the mysteries, are bound by duties and rumors, they have to respect rules for the humans if they want to be part of their world, things happen because rumors were written, supernaturals start existing because of humans, the god pit became so powerful because humans made sacrifices asking for wishes. I kinda hope that Human’s greediness will be addressed, they are far more powerful than they think they are in the grand scheme of things.

And it’s even more obvious when we see that all mysteries have a human and their death linked to their yorishiro. Which is also why I think there is more behind the clock keepers’ backstory, we know nothing of it and it will give us a new insight at what is happening. What happened to make them feel so much that they now go to all those extremes to respect their sworn duties as mystery n°1? I think they are arrogant and need to be put in place for what they are doing but I don’t think they are as greedy as a lot of fans are saying.  I have so many questions and I hope we will have some answers soon. 

We are missing information on so many things, why was Amane trying to get the clock moving too? He wanted to change time probably, but it’s not as simple as trying to move a 'magical' clock. Was his fate a consequence of this at some point? If Kako already knew Tsukasa had the god pit in him why not do anything sooner (Tsukasa became a real threat recently though, since he was locked in Hanako’s boundary probably and the clock keepers waited to be active)

So many things can’t be answered for now and it’s blurry on so many parts so it’s easy to make speculations, but once again I think the important thing here is ‘nuance’. Not all humans are ‘only nice’ and the supernaturals aren’t ‘only evil’, otherwise AidaIro won’t have any story to tell. And unfortunately I think it's a thing that has been clearly lacking in the writing of the recent arcs and the consequences of rushing storylines.

I am really scared for the next chapters but I also can’t wait for the clock keepers’ story to finally be shown! 

[moonpie016]

>:3

Prop up the mic, or something. Uhh. THESE TWO! — — —

— — —

I FINALLY HAVE A DESIGN FOR COUNT ELEVEN!!!! Every time I’d doodle him, I wasn’t satisfied with the result. But now I’m content.

He kinda reminds me of Security Breach…. But I wanted him to have lots of patterns, but not too many to crowd him up.

(Though would make sense for the nature of the song.)

And yes, he is a robot. But fully robot, not like Mind.

For April’s Fool, I didn’t really want to change anything. Though I did give the man big pants reminiscent of clown pants. And gave the pants horses, each going around with a smile or frown. Because reasons. And also the months.

Quite satisfied. :3

And speaking of Mind.

— — —

— — —

So I was existing, when all of a sudden I remembered a character of mine, a robot named Jammy. Then I looked closely at him and realized…..he has similar features to my Mind design. (Even though he was made WAYYYYYYYYY before me knowing CCCC.)

Guess I couldn’t let those aspects of character design die. Or maybe I just like designing stuff that way. Probably cus I do it a lot.

Thought it would be fun to see them interact. Jammy being curious and excited at anything similar to himself, and Mind….not understanding who this is at all. And merely trying to leave the situation. (How is it even meeting him?)

— — —

A. But that’s it for today/tonight/whenever you’re seeing this.

Enjoy. :3

(References stand-alone, reference for Jammy

(cus context??? Idk. Underneath)

— — —

— — —

[markantonys]

3x08 might reveal something that makes a fool of me for this prediction, but until then: since lord luc was kinda giving Just Cameo vibes this season rather than giving off the impression that he's a character to keep an eye on for a bigger role later, what if we've already seen the extent of him and he won't return again, and instead in s4, berelain=graendal=slayer?

say perrin gets brought to a city of some sort in advance of his trial, and once there, he meets a friendly noblewoman (berelain) who takes his side against the whitecloaks and offers some help in preparing for the trial. at the same time, perrin is getting involved in the wolf dream and there is a mysterious evil presence lurking around, who the wolves call slayer. eventually it all comes out that berelain is actually graendal, and she's the one who's been fucking around in TAR and killing wolves & antagonizing perrin there. this preserves the whole "slayer is actually somebody i already know in the waking world and have been hanging out with" vibe that luc-as-slayer had in TSR. (casting-wise, they could use just one actress and have perrin never quite catch a glimpse of slayer in TAR so that we don't realize it's berelain, or they could have a different actress for the berelain disguise which graendal permanently sheds after s4 once perrin has uncovered her, and in this scenario perrin fully sees Real Graendal in TAR but just doesn't know either that she's a forsaken or that she's "berelain" in the waking world.)

in the books, graendal and perrin are both involved in TAR shenanigans during the last battle, and a quick wiki check confirms to me that they even fight each other in TAR during the last battle, though they both end up getting away and moving on to do other stuff for the rest of the battle. in addition, graendal is pretty far-removed from any EF5 and from the main plot for the vast majority of the series, besides her brief beef with rand in TGS. likewise, perrin is far-removed from the main plot a lot of the time because he is so often off doing his own sidequests and because his main antagonist is slayer who has basically no relevance to any of the other main characters or storylines (besides the brief crossover with egwene in TOM and besides the family connections to rand & lan that go absolutely nowhere). therefore, turning graendal into perrin's Forsaken Archnemesis would be a great move for several reasons: it pits their TAR abilities against each other and could create a final showdown between them in the last battle, it gives graendal a bigger role in the story directly antagonizing one of the main characters, and it keeps perrin more connected with the main story by having him dealing with a forsaken just like everybody else is and puts his story on level footing with everyone else's if they're all dealing with forsaken instead of many of them dealing with forsaken while perrin's busy with Just Some Guy.

the berelain-graendal merger has been theorized for a long time, and it makes a lot of sense. both their MOs are basically "being really beautiful and trying to seduce people for their own ends" so it's easy to merge them because they are so similar in vibe, and perrin's pursuer being a forsaken rather than just some lady turns the whole situation from a pointless and petty love triangle that isn't a love triangle because perrin is not interested in berelain whatsoever into a truly scary and tense conflict with him being stalked by a forsaken. i'd say berelain either has to be cut or has to be graendal, because berelain as her own character just doesn't contribute enough to the story to justify having her there in this streamlined version.

so let's say "berelain" is included but is actually graendal. even in this scenario, a beautiful woman trying and failing to seduce perrin would have to be a short-term beat, they can't just keep on that for multiple seasons. so it would have to be going on for maybe one season, and then perrin and the audience finds out this is actually graendal. now what? that's where graendal-as-slayer comes in.

skimming the wiki, the main thing graendal is doing prior to the last battle is causing trouble in arad doman offscreen (until rand goes there for 1 book) and messing with ituralde and his efforts against the seanchan. i speculate that ituralde will be cut and mat will take over as the Great General leading a military campaign against the seanchan, and perhaps semirhage will be the main forsaken he's dealing with in that whole situation since she's attached to tuon. this would leave graendal without much to do, so rehoming her in perrin's notably forsaken-free storyline would work, and giving slayer's activities to her as her main role in perrin's story (once the jig is up with the berelain-esque seduction scheme) would also work because TAR fuckery is perfectly within her standard MO and abilities, and it keeps the heart of the slayer story intact while hugely simplifying the lore and fully cutting out the ABUNDANCE of explaining that slayer-luc-isam would require in order to be even remotely coherent (even if they axe the jekyll/hyde situation and make it just luc by himself, we still have to explain why This Random Guy is so skilled in TAR and his backstory with tigraine and family connection with rand and ideally we would make something out of that family connection so it doesn't feel like a random thread that goes nowhere etc etc etc, it's just a lot of information the audience needs to get in order for the character to function well in the story, and absolutely none of that is required for graendal-as-slayer because we already know that the forsaken are dangerous in TAR and love fucking around there, no further explanation needed).

when we first heard that luc would be in s3, i thought "oh interesting, luc/slayer seemed like a prime candidate for some cutting & merging since it's a thread that feels somewhat random and unrelated to the main story and main set of antagonists, but maybe they're planning to expand his role and make him feel connected to the rest of the story and also beef him up so that he's sufficiently on par with the other antagonists". however, the two rivers arc of s3 came and went and luc had about 3 lines the whole time and no particular attention was drawn to him, which is now leading me towards thinking maybe he's just a cameo as faile's hunter companion to lend credence to her being part of the hunt (instead of just showing up randomly all by herself), and maybe we won't ever see him again. glancing at the actor's imdb page, he tends towards 1-2 episode stints in a variety of shows and no long-term role in any, which would support the idea that his role in WOT was a short one and won't recur. plus, nothing about his show aesthetic seemed to indicate that they were setting up for a reveal that he's andoran royalty and related to rand (surely they would've made him a redhead or strawberry blond to set up for that, but he has dark hair in the show), so that's another point leading me to think he is Just Some Guy in the show and doesn't have book!luc's whole backstory or overall plot importance.

but i could be completely wrong! he does seem to be hanging out with the whitecloaks, which is where perrin will be in s4, so maybe they intend to do him as slayer next season and simply didn't have time to give him much setup in s3, and maybe my whole graendal theory will turn out to be silly. we shall see!

[lover-of-mine]

Sick day kinda felt like filler? Like. It's a huge emergency and that's usually great but what are we doing though. What plot lines are we advancing here. It feels like drama for the sake of drama. And I agree that it was a good watch if you don't think about it too hard but just. It feels like they just needed a way to [spoiler ig] fake Bobby's death to bury him alive, but even that is a weird plot line for the latter part of the B half of the season.

I've said it in a post and I still think so - this should have been the s9 kickoff disaster. It should have been a 3 episode arc with ep 1 being the setup and episodes 2 and 3 being inside the lab. That way the plot could've made more sense and it would have given the emotional moments more time to breathe. And the characters would've had the rest of the season to deal with the trauma.

This is just. Weird. And it kinda feels like a bit of a. waste is a harsh word? But I just think it could've been better as a kickoff disaster to set up the arcs for s9.

Yeah, there's the spoiler part of it all too. Like, yes, the episode is getting all these big emotional responses because of Chim and Hen, but they very publicly leaked Bobby's funeral. We know Chim and Hen will be fine, and when the inevitable Bobby is dead twist comes, we also already know it's fake, so it cuts the stakes of the whole situation down a LOT.

And I don't want to call it a filler, but out of 15 episodes, 7 episodes of the season are part of a somewhat self-contained multi-episode event, and it feels like a lot. It's almost like they are overcompensating for the criticism about the lack of calls in s7 by giving us all these big-budget emergencies. I don't understand why this is happening in the middle of the season. Save it for a finale with a better buildup and shove us into a cliffhanger. Work the idea more and make it the opening arc for s9.

It feels like SO MUCH when Maddie just got kidnapped and almost murdered. And I feel like this is gonna feel even more glaring once the whole season is out and you can watch it all in one go. Because what's stopping them from doing yet some more crazy intense shit on the finale too. It's so much happening and half the team being about to die feels excessive rn. The plot is flimsy overall, but like its kinda crazy that we left the Maddie serial killer arc, into Bobby's mom has a cult, Eddie is uber, everyone forgot Hen's birthday haha, straight into 👹there's a deadly virus that will liquify your organs in hours trapped with 4 members of the team 👹

The pacing of the season is all over the place and the plot of this doesn't make sense. If all they wanted was for the Bobby is dead plot, I'm sure they could make it happen with a more run-of-the-mill call. I don't know, I'm holding on for the other half of the emergency, but I don't know how to feel.

[thatoneweirdo0113]

The Politics Situation of The Republic

A good place to start with this is the 4 states of the republic: Prosper, Southlight, Far East Sang (now known as FES)and Great Wolfacre. Despite not being about politics one thing to mention is that if we follow normal naming conventions then the existence of FES implies that there is another place called Sang that exists westward of FES as you wouldn't name somewhere by the direction unless there was another place by the same name, this Sang is most likely a city of sorts.

The Legislature

Thanks to Corvus Crow (don't take that out of context) we get quite a lot of information about the political system of the Republic. We learn that he is the representative of Great Wolfacre, the largest of the states, this implies one of two things either that each state only has one representative or that each state has one representative on the top then other representatives that deal with the other areas of a constituency a little like in America with the house and the senate or like Scotland which has a much similar system to what I am describing.

This second situation would make a more representative government so that is the more likely of the situations but who knows maybe President Wintersea wants to have an unrepresentative legislature. If you go by the first situation there would only be 4 representatives in the legislature which would be insanely stupid for a legislature. However, considering how it seems like these terms are only 1 year long which, if we look at the us house of representatives, would make a quite unstable government but again that could be because of President Wintersea wanting to control the narrative by having a weak legislature for her to control as a powerful executive.

Political Parties

We hear from the prologue that the Wintersea party has been in power for 9 ages at the time of Morningtide on the age of aristocrats, and if you do the maths of 11 to 17 ish years per terms you get between 99 to 153 years that the Wintersea party has been in power. And if you believe what Squall said when he said that he helped President Wintersea take over the states then it implies that the Wintersea party has been in power since Squall was banished from Nevermoor 100 years prior to the age of aristocrats.

One big question that comes of this is that if the Wintersea party has been in power for all the time that the Republic has been the Republic it begs the question on if there are other political parties. While you could argue that Corvus being stressed in the first book implies that there is another political party but people of the same political parties can run against each other.

The Monarchy

It is revealed in book 2 that there is a monarchy in the republic however there is some nuance. We are introduced to the House of Ra which is the monarchy of FES. This is important that we get this clarification as it implies that there is either a monarchy in all the states or that only FES has a monarchy. It makes more sense on it's own that FES is the only monarchy however we are told in one like in Hollowpox that the Free State has a Queen which can imply that each of the states have their own monarchy but the other option is also a possibility.

However, it doesn't matter what the type of monarchy it is as to how it fits into the politics. It is a near 100% chance that the type of monarchy in this is a constitutional monarchy which means that the Monarch doesn't have any real power other than in places like tradition. This is the most likely option as all information that we get about President Wintersea would imply that she would want to keep all the power in the Republic which would mean she would not allow for any type of power to be in the monarchy.

That is all, I apologise if i forgot something as I only learned the political systems of the UK and US

[pooks]

in my straw hat!ichiji AU, i thought about how Ichiji was captured and dragged back to Germa sometime before Sanji was in Zou

we all know that Sanji's only purpose was the whole arranged marriage sham, but it also rises the question why Ichiji was also taken. the reason is simple; Judge wanted his perfect masterpiece back.

unlike Sanji, Ichiji is not full human. he's a genetically modified human and maybe his "metal skin" ability lies dormant, he's still faster and stronger than anyone, he has Sparking Red and Stealth Black powers and to top it all, he can use Observation and Armament haki.

in this AU, Judge is way more toxic and borderline obsessed with making Ichiji the perfect heir. Niji and Yonji are fine soldiers, but he sees them as expendable. he's also really pissed off that Sora succeeded to ensure all her son are human and has emotions, even if she never lived to see it. so he does what he does best and that is to torment Ichiji to break his will and turn him into the mindless puppet he wants. also he wanted to punish him for betraying him and releasing Sanji.

Reiju, being the only one who knows the lengths Judge are willing to go, can't bear to see this happen again. Ichiji was lucky the first time around, but she knows that he won't be able to handle a second time. he might not return to the Straw Hats alive. so Reiju makes sure to hide certain clues around which she knows Nami will be able to find.

once Nami realizes what's going on with Ichiji, she is horrified...and then, she along with Brook, Chopper and the minks has to physically restrain Luffy from storming Germa castle and fight Judge head-on. Nami has a worse time during this AU because Ichiji's situation reminds her too much of her own experience with Arlong.

in this AU, Niji has uncontrollable rage and often misdirects it while Yonji is more subdued and is tired of every order he must follow. Niji and Yonji are self-aware and has their own traumatic experiences, but the difference is that under their cruel masks, they are too afraid to stand up against Judge. both of them has given up and can't see any hope.

Yonji even lampshades this at some point, saying that "even if all five of us fight him...he's gonna win anyways. why even bother?"

i thought making all the Vinsmoke brothers being self-aware would make more sense for the story, since they are all victims in canon. they never chose to be emotionless or evil from the start. Judge just fucked them up because he could. what makes it worse that Judge is a human but he actively choses to be cruel and evil.

so that's why Luffy ends up to not only save his cook Sanji and his archivist Ichiji, he decided to liberate all of them.

post-Whole Cake, when everyone's safe onboard the Sunny again and sailing towards Wano, Chopper makes the horrorfying discovery of exactly what Ichiji suffered; his entire back are covered in scars, still healing, and he has bruises on his neck and wrists because of the shock collars Judge forced on him.

i think the journey from Whole Cake Island to Wano was a little longer than we're led to believe, so Chopper does a lot of damage control about what happened to Sanji and Ichiji.

Reiju and the other two doesn't stay for long and bids the Straw Hats a fond goodbye, thanking them for freeing them. Reiju, Niji and Yonji sets sail on a small four-person prototype ship (Franky finished it before they came to Dressrosa) which Luffy gave to them. she along with her younger brothers destroyed their raid suit cannisters and sailed away to begin their new lives. as they leave towards the horizon, Sanji hopes they might stop by Baratie if they ever get to East Blue.

i had the thought about maybe letting Reiju, Niji and Yonji join them in Wano. but i thought it'd be better that they make the choice to go wherever they wish to go and have their own adventure, but not before thanking Luffy and the straw hats for liberating them.

the straw hats gets ready to continue to Wano, but not before they encounter a strange weather; the skies are blue and the sun is shining, but it's a light drizzle. Luffy, being very Luffy, says it's like the heaven are happy and crying at the same time.

it's a metaphor for Sora; she's long gone, but she's happy and crying because all of her children are now free.

[dayshift-confessions]

Not an confession but it's an topic i always wanted to ramble about: How Dee's death (Deeath) went down

It's actually a LOT more elaborated than you would think; There's multiple cutscenes and small lore tidbits that add so much more to it. I'll contextualize what was going on first:

June XX, 1973 - Henry killed 2 kids at Fredbear's Family Diner, leading them to possess the Spring Freddy and Spring Bonnie suits (i believe it happened on june 19th, as that would make it less than a week before y'know what); He then convinces William to help him get rid of the evidence (this is BEFORE he was lobotomized, back when he still had a moral compass and acted as a fairly normal person. This detail is gonna be insanely important so keep it in mind). Worth noting that for whatever reason the robots aren't agressive, likely because the fat iguana knew how to keep them controlled by exploiting their fear.

June XX, 1973 (june 20-21th is where i think it makes the most sense) - Henry's original plan was to rig Will's Springbonnie suit and then frame him as the murderer but William Fucking Afton always comes back HOWEVER this was even better for Henry as it made Willy a perfect labrat to Miller's research... That's a topic for another day though.

Afternoon June 23, 1973 - Jack leaves Dee at the Diner for her 6th birthday and goes home, buries his dead dog and then drinks 'till he passes out.

6 pm june 23 - The party's over, the restaurant is closing down, almost everyone went home and now Dee is left alone. Henry sees this as a opportunity to kill a third kid so he uses the Spring Freddy suit to lure her into an employees-only room (not the saferoom; likely the maintenance room as this was before cameras where put everywhere)... except Dee actually tries to fight back. Henry does injury her but he's playing it safe, not taking any chances that she might set off his springlocks,

After a few minutes of unsucessfully trying to kill her, Henry instead leaves her locked and bleeding out in that room and tells William about the situation, asking for his help. Willie hesitates and even tells Henry "Why can't you do it yourself?" to which Henry replies "She keeps struggling". He then forces Dave to do it.

Reminder: he HAD morals, THIS is the moment that they get shattered. He wasn't just hesitating, he was crying his eyeballs out. Hell, i think part of the reason flipside Dee forgave him fairly easily is because she saw the sheer agony he was in because he HAD to do it. this deeply traumatized him, Davetrap freaks out in the evil ending when Jack brings up Dee because THIS is what broke William and turned him into Dave; It was his first kill, what led to him questioning Henry's ethics and ultimately getting lobotomized. Deep down he WANTS to redeem himself but his devotion to his "father figure" - the closest person to him - prevents him from doing so.

When Jack got there, She was still alive. He was THIS close to saving her and yet... he couldn't. (Also the reason Dee must have been at the maintenance/backstage is because Jack died in the saferoom and she wasn't there, at least not initially)

When he was dying in the spring freddy suit, he SAW Henry carry Dee's corpse and put it in the SpringBonnie suit (it's literally her hair style). My headcanon is that Miller was trying to do the whole "two souls haunting one robot" that Fnaf Golden Freddy has, except it didn't work out here so he made the Puppet instead.

TL;DR: Dee's death is basically THE moment the lore revolves around; it's essential to Jack, Dave, Henry, Blackjack and (obviously) Dee's characters, adding so much depth to them just from how they were impacted by it.

Just wanted to lore ramble and i don't think anyone ever went in depth as i just did so... Thanks for coming into TED talk (:

:]

[randomness-is-my-order]

I've seen a lot of people say that if wwx was a girl jfm would've made her jc's betrothed, however I've always thought that he wouldn't do that because of wwx's social status, that said I'm curious as to what your thoughts on that are, because as I've said, your perspective regarding the book is always amazing!!

hi again!!!

honestly, any scenario in which wei wuxian and jiang cheng are hypothetically paired together is instant nightmare fuel. 😭

but considering your question: no, i don’t think jfm would plan this betrothal because how the hell would he convince madame yu? wei wuxian being a girl won’t change the “rumors” about her being jfm’s illegitimate child with cangse sanren and neither will it change wei wuxian’s capability with cultivating and her embodying the jiang spirit. instead of just being compared with jiang cheng, imo she’d also be pit against jiang yanli. the latter might be less intense, perhaps, but might be another cause for bitterness within madame yu.

thing is, in canon, there is no betrothal planned for jiang cheng, only yanli. maybe if lotus pier massacre hadn’t occured, jfm and madame yu would arrange jc’s marriage as well but it would be with a lady of some high status, so i do agree that wei wuxian’s social status would definitely be a major reason for this betrothal not happening.

i flat-out refuse to consider this situation somehow involving a besotted jiang cheng who would covet wei wuxian and thereby, somehow ask for a betrothal to be set up (genderbent!wwx would still choose lan wangji, obv).

wei wuxian had enough challenges to face in canon—but being a woman would just make it so much worse. i’m not even sure what her main purpose as a disciple in the jiang sect would be—as in jfm wanted wwx to be jiang cheng’s lifetime companion and subordinate but would a female wei wuxian be levied with the same expectation. would her marriage be planned within the clan so she would have to stay and help jiang cheng anyway? would being outclassed by a “girl” hurt jc’s ego even harder, alienating wwx from the clan faster and deterring even the thought of planning their betrothal for jfm? i mean, jfm had the good sense to understand that yanli and zixuan’s marriage wouldn’t have worked, at that point in time, so it stands to reason that he would notice this within jc and wwx as well. whether wei wuxian’s choice would matter in the equation is another question.

okay, enough rambling, my final answer is nope, jfm won’t plan this betrothal because 1) wei wuxian is the daughter of a servant like you said 2) madame yu’s existence. i do have more tangential thoughts—like the possibility of female wei wuxian being used for sect alliances after she’s gained a rep in the cultivation world or her being trained under madame yu to be her personal servant, only madame yu treats her personal servants kinda well so maybe not—but i’m gonna end it here because scatterbrained-ness is kicking in. fun question again, though, thanks!!

[laniemae]

its such a mystery as to how ojima got drunk. its kinda (very) concerning if he was coerced/forced to drink and i feel like that would mess with him a LOT once he sobers up but i digress. if he got drunk on his own accord then i suppose it could make sense. user blake0022 on youtube left a comment on [cage game] where they theorised that he could have taken alcohol to numb stress. that does have some validity but i feel like takeshi isn't the kinda guy to drink (unless he is and just hasn't done it until now). also why was he still wasted after THREE HOURS??? AND AFTER SLEEPING AS WELL?? 2 shots of vodka ass phenomenon 🙏😭🙏(2x13 more like...)

earlier i mentioned how i felt like takeshi being forced to drink would mess with him a lot. the reason why i think this is because the reality of something being done to him without his knowledge would take him back to his trauma of not being able to control how he was treated at the hands of his uncle. (<- although, i could be overanalysing here and could also be proven wrong come friday.) back when i was watching [bruise], i remember him describing his headspace as 'somewhere where he could control things', and that statement is part of why i believe he'd be disturbed once he sobers up.

this leads me into my next point. in [cage game] hiroaki tells ojima to get off of him multiple times, implying that ojima was being very touchy with him; of course, he was absolutely PLASTERED at the time but it is still kinda weird (takeshi is still my goat though...). but this really makes me think about how he'd react upon sobering up and finding this out. i personally believe he'd be mortified--this also ties into my earlier point about doing things without knowledge or control over what is happening. i also think him being overly touchy towards hiroaki would contribute to him being distraught if we take his trauma into consideration. there is a slim chance this may also trigger his ptsd but i'm not familiar with the (c)ptsd experience and don't know anyone who do have it, so i'd like to be corrected if i got anything wrong here. i would like to inquire your opinion on this topic.

anyways i like ojima. hes very cool and interesting. on a different note, i believe he'd be more popular in the fandom if he were as whimsical externally as he is internally. i do feel like he's gaining more attention after the Drunkeshi Incident, but he's still fairly underrated compared to characters like hiroaki and kamimura. although he isn't as unpopular compared to isono and sasaki (i love you sasaki hitomi)

while we're at it i'd like to mention sasaki for a bit. i don't think about her as much as i do ojima but i'd say shes like my second favourite tetro character. i think shes just really tragic cause she was healing from her trauma and she was living a good life with a good family and good friends and then she just has it all ripped away after being put in a killing game and deprived of sleep then she snapped and killed someone and executed and and,,,,also shes NOT EVIL 😭😭 im ashamed to say that i did not like sasaki a bit after [right hand] when hiroaki said that she didnt care about yanagi at all. but honestly i feel like shes justified in a situation such as that. i probably wouldn't want to get my hand slashed either (i think it was the hand she passed onto yanagi i cant remember) and she was a very good leader as well--while i don't really like extremely assertive people (if i can describe her that way), the situation definitely called for a leader and she fit that role very well. also i enjoyed [follow up] a lot because it showed a kinder, softer side of her that we hadn't seen up to that point. i think ojima was justified in feeling angry over being (or feeling) pitied after his secret was leaked in confession game, but i feel like sasaki could have been empathising with him to an extent seeing as they both are survivors of s/a.

i also think about her possible relationships with the other characters had she lived past chapter 1. i remember von saying that her and hiroaki would have bonded had ojima not been placed in the killing game (and canon implies that they would have bonded in some way regardless if ojima was there or not.) i can imagine her and hiroaki talking about true crime and mystery books that they like together lol. also i read her secret log on the tumblr and found out that she writes poetry?!?!! i cant remember if it was ever brought up in canon but she writes poetry and that is Cool. i also think about her relationship with ojima a lot. i wouldn't really ship them (i'm not really a shipping person myself) but they have an interesting dynamic--i find it interesting how they were like the leader (sasaki) and co-leader (ojima) at the start, and after confession game that kinda deteriorated, likely due to the others "pitying" ojima after finding out about his trauma. i feel like if sasaki lived they could have bonded more.

sorry if i talked about sasaki way too much haha. i like your analyses on characters a lot and as a result i like to Ask you things. truthfully, it's a bit hard for me to analyse characters without looking at what other people say and i feel like my analyses can come off as a bit stiff sometimes. i love tetro a lot (been here since the prologue but i forgot about it for a few months then came back and found myself getting really invested in it esp after confession game. it's a part of why august 2024 was such a good month for me. i don't normally make myself known in fandom spaces so yeah) and the characters, particularly ojima and sasaki as you just saw really stick with me. i feel like i've been getting better at media analysis though. anyways i hope you liked reading allat. if you did.

Yeah the whole Ojima getting drunk thing is something that particularly stands out to me compared to the rest of the times the other students have been targeted as it feels so weird. Unlike with Hasegawa getting high you can’t really slip Ojima that much alcohol without him noticing so you would have to force it on him somehow. But that also conflicts with the culprits MOA with setting up traps or poisoning people, so why would they risk like attacking Ojima to get him drunk if he could very easily fight back and see who was doing it? Even while dissociating if he was suddenly being force fed alcohol he would’ve fought back and why risk yourself getting exposed like this just to get Ojima drunk, it really leads nowhere.

So the other option is that Ojima got drunk willingly. This also feels kinda odd but I can see it in a way. Ojima’s been struggling a lot with trying not to daydream as he worries he’s going to hurt someone again while zoned out so he could’ve tried to find another coping mechanism. And with all the shit going on with the killing game and perhaps his accidental love confession to Hiroaki he could’ve just reached a breaking point and took a huge sum of alcohol. It would be quite interesting if Ojima actually did this willingly. But how would he have gotten his hands on that stuff? We know that there’s no booze in the school and since he was that drunk for such a long time I doubt it was just mouthwash, and he said he was going to the art room so he was likely intoxicated there which feels weird. And I’m pretty convinced on that wherever this alcohol came from also came from the same place where the substances Hasegawa got high on might’ve came from, so I’d think it was a defence game reward. But then how would’ve Ojima just taken the alcohol like that if he didn’t even accept the reward? And to me just a bit if he’s worried about hurting someone without knowing it I feel like the idea of getting drunk could feel even more risky but idk.

It’s really something that’s kinda confusing either way you think about it but I do feel when he sobers up we’ll hopefully get an explanation if he remembers being attacked or he took it himself. Coercion could also be another reason but I feel like that’d make it way too obvious for the culprit. Either way Ojima’s gonna have a really bad hangover which would fuck him up for a while like with how everyone’s getting sick.

I really don’t think that this whole incident of getting drunk would relate to his trauma. We really have no reason to believe that being drugged was an aspect in his childhood and it definitely seems that this incident only really is important to whatever the fuck is going on in this chapter with everyone getting attacked somehow and Ojima just so happened to get drunk for whatever reason. I don’t feel like we should be jumping to anything potentially trauma related with Ojima whenever something comes up as we know he can still function as a person even if he has a lot of issues, so things seem to not be related to that in this moment.

You do have a point saying Ojima will probably be very upset after sobering up. He definitely was being quite handsy with Hiroaki in cage game definitely implied by the dialogue and how Tamba and Yanagi were weirded out. And since being drunk lowers someone’s inhibitions, especially sexual inhibitions, it makes sense why Ojima was behaving this way when it’s something he’d absolutely never do. And he wasn’t even really being too bad as he did stop when Hiroaki told him to but he still made him very uncomfortable and Ojima would absolutely be mortified by this. And like I mentioned he was really distressed after he unconsciously attacked Hasegawa by grabbing his arm hard which affected him really badly of him doing something violent without being aware of it. And how scared he was that he’d also attack Hiroaki in a similar manner. So with Ojima getting blind drunk (willingly or unwillingly) he’d absolutely be beating himself up so badly that he made Hiroaki uncomfortable by acting overly sexual towards him without remembering.

And what you mentioned about potential trauma correlations with this that I can kinda see. As from what I know people with cptsd have tendency to feel very negatively towards themselves with feelings of shame and guilt. And in some cases people with trauma tend to worry about repeating the actions of their abusers, and we don’t know too much about this with Ojima but this could play into how upset he was when he was violent towards Hasegawa and potentially believing that he’s a bad person at heart. But again this is something we’d need to see more of to see how this incident specifically would affect him. As it seems pretty clear at this point that Ojima has a crush on Hiroaki and would absolutely not want any harm to come to him especially since he’s worried about hurting him.

Ojima’s a really interesting character and I hate how so many people neglect that side of him because he’s a lot more introverted and quiet compared to the rest of the cast. I could just be liking him a lot as I’m a sucker for characters who are very fucked up psychologically and I can do a ton of research into him but it feel off when people call him boring unironically as he’s anything but that. And he’s kinda been in the lesser half of the characters as Tetro has moving on which really sucks especially since he’s made it so far. I still pray everyday that we should get more info in Ojima’s inner world as that would expand his character so much especially since his daydreaming is such a massive part of his life and that would really let people appreciate him more.

And oh Sasaki Sasaki Sasaki Sasaki, gone too early and overhated but I still love you. I haven’t really talked about Sasaki here much but I really do find her such an interesting character and she really played the role she did as a chapter 1 killer very well but I do wish we could’ve seen more of her personally, but that’s always the drawback of dying early. I think what von said specifically iirc was is Sasaki lived longer she would’ve been friends with Hiroaki which definitely makes sense with how in [Breaching the Gap] Hiroaki was talking to Sasaki in the medbay. Like Hiroaki was being a massive asshole in chapter 1 and being very antagonistic towards Sasaki with their conflicting ideas on leadership but even with all their bickering it definitely seems that Sasaki could respect someone who was very strong willed on how to lead the group. And Hiroaki was definitely right when he said that in the end the group only knew Sasaki for a short amount of time and never really got to know about her as a person where she wasn’t in this incredibly messed up environment and you had to be a bit ruthless. As Hiroaki can also attest to that with his own behaviour but with him he actually survived much longer. I wonder how different things would be if Hiroaki was the one who died early instead of Sasaki, and how peoples opinions on them would be switched.

Even with all the selfish and hypocritical actions Sasaki had done it feels kind bad that I can actually quite understand why she did most of the stuff she did. Especially with Yanagi I can see that she was probably creeped out by his obsessive behaviour towards her, of course from what we know about Yanagi he’s not like that at all, but first impressions from a group that just met each other it’d make sense why she passed that punishment onto Yanagi when he offered it. Yes it was quite selfish but I can very much see her thought process and I can’t exactly hate that for that. Honestly Hiroaki has done more stuff I can’t forgive him for than Sasaki in chapter 1 lmao.

I do think that Sasaki was quite a good leader (before the motive at least) as she was really the only person who got the students moving to actually set up a plan to escape and organise all these group meetings while in the later chapters everyone was a lot more disorganised and only got into group meetings from the idea of Sasaki’s leadership. The situation was incredibly dire so it makes sense she was acting quite assertive. The motive really fucked her over and understandably so. She was already putting enough pressure on herself as it so being tormented by the sleep deprivation motive while still trying to be a leader to the group it makes sense why she became a lot more assertive than she initially was and ended up hurting a lot of people. And from all this pressure, and how from the beginning putting herself into this role would inherently isolate herself from the rest of the group while trying to get them closer, she didn’t really have anyone she was close with and this and all the pressure it was only inevitable she’d snap and kill someone from all the stress and that’s why I think she’s such a good chapter 1 killer.

Sasaki to me definitely feels like she takes safety in control and leadership. The secret logs say that after the incident with her teacher she nearly ended up quitting the student council, but decided to stay and that’s where she got the support from her friends who were there to help her. The incident would’ve probably made her feel helpless and out of control so perhaps she would’ve developed the idea of trying to feel in control to feel safe, especially in such a threatening environment as been trapped in a school with 15 other students all forced to kill each other and be tortured.

Sasaki and Ojima’s dynamic was also something I found quite interesting with them being a subverted typical danganronpa protag duo who ended up splitting apart after the motive and went their separate ways, in death or not. And that’s why [Follow Up] feels really interesting to me like you mentioned as it was the only real time Sasaki properly interacted with Ojima after confession game. I do think Sasaki was genuinely trying to help Ojima with talking to him after knowing that they come from a place of similar trauma. But how since Ojima is a much more isolated person he didn’t like how it felt like Sasaki was pitying him and playing therapist with him when Sasaki bought up the idea of talking to people. As that’s what helped with Sasaki but Ojima doesn’t feel comfortable with that sort of stuff and it being treated as an ends all to recovery and with how Sasaki got somewhat annoyed/confused on why he was so insistent on not doing that when it helped for her. And this interaction was especially interesting considering how Sasaki was treating him before confession game being a lot more snappy at him whenever he zoned out and quite bossy and assertive. So Sasaki’s sudden change in treatment after the game makes sense why Ojima was mad about her pitying him.

Honestly I really love getting these super long analyses I’m always up for reading them and adding onto them and it was quite interesting talking about all the newer events in the series like whatever was happening with Ojima getting drunk then taking a trip back to the beginning talking about Sasaki and it really makes me view how much the series had changed and I couldn’t imagine any of the stuff happening back in chapter 1. I also have been here since the prologue after Yanagi’s interview and kept up with it from the beginning of chapter 1 til now and I always quite liked it from the start but same here as well Confession Game is what got me really hooked in the series and it’s still one of my favourite episodes for that. It’s always fun analysing series like this no matter how you feel you may come across diving deep into the stories and personalities of these characters is some that always makes me appreciate the media even more.

[our-queer-experience]

Okay this might be kind of long but i need to know if anyone else has experienced something similar. uhh Content warning for internalized transphobia/homophobia I guess

So basically I'm transmasc nonbinary and for the longest time I've thought of myself as a lesbian, and I've always been very uncomfortable with the idea of being with a guy, even before I knew I was queer at all. And like, I definitely am at least predominantly attracted to women, i don't usually find men attractive at all.

But recently I've started to really like this guy in a way that's pretty confusing since I already have a hard time distinguishing between romantic and platonic attraction. But also sometimes when I think about it too much it just feels so wrong and makes me uncomfortable.

I've struggled a lot with gender dysphoria and self acceptance related to being trans and I'm not sure if the discomfort is picturing myself with a cis guy makes me feel like id be the de-facto girl of the relationship (I realize what a weird thought that is but it has been also been a feeling I've experienced a lot in the past, note the aforementioned self acceptance issues.) Or if I'm feeling insecure about my masculinity in some way. He's bi and very accepting of my gender so it's not like he would only see me as a girl or anything but it still just feels wrong and icky somehow

Also it reminds me a bit of stories of people in denial about their sexuality like I've literally had the thought many times of if he was a girl I would totally want to date him no hesitation. so idk.

But it could also be that I'm just not actually attracted to him? Cause i love my friends very intensely and it could be that thinking about being romantically involved with him makes me uncomfortable because I'm not actually attracted to him, and i actually just really love him platonically? And also I'm usually only attracted to women so the fact that the only exception to that is someone I already really care about as a friend seems kind of suspicious?

Labels aren't really my concern here idgaf about what my sexuality is called I just feel like its so messy that I cant actually tell if i actually like him or not. because if i do actually want to like ask him out or something and then realize I'm not actually attracted to him that would be a fucking nightmare, especially since i really care about our friendship already.

TLDR: I cant tell if im not attracted to men or the thought of being with one just makes me feel really insecure about my gender. Has anyone else felt like being trans and dysphoria made understanding their sexuality and attraction really confusing???

i completely get this! im bisexual and have always been confident in my attraction to guys (minus maybe 2 weeks as a preteen when i wondered about lesbianism) but for me it comes with the sense that ill probably end up settling down with a woman because that is the way to Be A Man, and i cant be The Man when around another guy. masculinity is so competitive and while im aware of it, that makes it not easier to defeat, but easier to not be toxic and project it onto other people.

i think its the kind of thing that gets better with time and confidence. nothing you can rush. as for with your friend…. giving it time and thinking on it cant hurt. human relationships are really hard. knowing how you feel is really hard. i cant tell you what will fix your situation, but i can tell you that youre not alone.

[for-a-longlongtime]

I love all of y’allz optimism, and I still expect the ‘twist’ will be that she either gets with her ex or does this dramatic ‘I decided to focus on myself and I’m not continuing with either of these guys’ which will be touted as a twist. Dakotas character seems to deal for a very major part with the money aspect re: relationships, so I can see it being phrased as ‘omg the twist is that when she has the chance to bag the unicorn that she decides to not go for it because money isn’t everything!’. Am I wrong? I’d love to be! And I would like to have higher expectations, esp because it’s indeed A24 and Celine Song and Pedro —- but see, the casting of Dakota and Chris leaves me extremely skeptical about it truly being a movie with a surprising twist. (Yes I’m prejudiced, I’ll fully own up to that)

Materialists was touted to be inspired by movies by James L Brooks as Broadcast News and Terms of Endearment, which I haven’t seen — but based on the synopsis, those two movies only have as a twist that it’s not ‘a happy ending’ but still a romance movie tho (and with a ‘triangle’ for Broadcast News. Let’s be real, anything like a triangle is often already presented at WOW LOOK AT THIS TWIST). Yes I’m also thinking of Challengers, written by Celine’s husband.

@oliveksmoked you know that I would go hard for a movie that has a polycule, but once again here to me it’s like… I could believe this if it wasn’t Dakota and Chris, but since it is, my expectations are simply very low. And while I would absolutely eat up a fic like this, especially if it’s written by you, also because I think there will be nuance to it — I actually fear for a movie where this is Harry’s “dark secret”, because I simply do not trust a fairly mainstream movie to handle that in a proper way.

I feel like the biggest giveaway is Chris’ character talking about “I see you with wrinkles on your face/when you’re older and with kids”. Not to mention he’s portrayed as a ‘young type’. Meanwhile we don’t hear shit about Harry’s wishes to have kids — so I’m fully expecting a ‘this unicorn of a man can and will give you everything you want, materially and emotionally, except for kids’ angle that’s going to make her pick her ex because “we may not have a lot but we’ll have each other and our kids”. Or she decides that instead of ~~~choosing a man she will choose herself and stay single in the end~~~.

Again- I SO hope to be wrong. But I’m highly skeptical that will be the case. I also feel like it’s possible that we’re holding out for a ~revolutionary twist~ because we’d like to think that’s the kind of movie Pedro would do so there must be something special to it, since we don’t expect him to do a romcom. But hey, I think it’s safe that many of us never expected him to do a Marvel franchise either, you know? (And I’m not even criticizing him for that, I’m just saying - just because it’s not the typical kinda movie for him, doesn’t mean that it’s not just a typical kind of romcom).

I’ll throw in one more thought. When my wife and I had watched Freaky Tales (she loved it too btw) and drove home, she asked me “Why has Pedro never done a movie that’s all about him as a romantic love interest? You know, him as a leading man, but then clearly about the relationship of him and his partner” (yes, she’s seen Strange Way Of Life, but I’d argue that is very different than the ‘leading man with love interest’ role that you generally see in more mainstream stuff). So then I told her what we know about Materialists and she was like “yeah that’s totally what I mean, where he’s like a catch for the female lead etc and you get to see him in romantic situations and with a sex scene or something! Cool, so I guess that’s coming up”.

So — a romcom (even if that isn’t very ‘twisty’) would make enough sense for Pedro to do simply because it’s not a genre he has explored yet. And considering he’s probably at the height (only so far, I bet there’s tons more to come) of his popularity this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just as simple as ‘Pedro Pascal playing the ideal man in a romcom’ as a major selling point for this movie. 🤷‍♀️ Because you’ve seen the response to it so far; the majority of people is eating it up, as romantic comedies are popular with a large segment of cinematic audiences, and I can’t even count the amount of women that I’ve seen say something like “omg obv one would have to pick Pedro!” - meaning, they have opinions about this and are invested, which means that the movie is already attracting audiences.

Also, doesn’t A24 often work repeatedly with the same actors? It may be part of a ‘package deal’ of things he’s doing for/with them, also because Eddington is an A24 movie too. I’m still hoping for him to work together with Halina Reijn (who wrote and produced Baby Girl) in a nineties style erotic thriller tho. GIMME THAT, I’ll inject it right into my veins because I bet it’ll be fab.

I’m Calling It Now…

Y’all out here writing these sweet and fluffy fics about a rich and loving Harry Castillo like he’s the “unicorn” they make him out to be in the Materialist trailer.

The trailer continuously emphaszies how he’s the perfect catch. Almost too perfect. I’m calling it now. There is something WRONG with him. I don’t know what it is - maybe he’s a con artist, an identity thief, or he has someone locked in his basement. I’m not sure…but I feel like a major twist is coming.

Or, it’s the only logical explanation my brain can conjure up to justify that someone would choose Chris over Pedro. Whatever… I’m sticking with it.

I’m mean look at this face. It just screams SNEAKY LIAR. 👀

EDIT: Adding...maybe his name really is Randy. Maybe Harry is his fake name. The one that he stole from the guy that's locked in his basement. Also, as @iknowisoundcrazy kindly pointed out, it's an A24 movie. They aren't exactly known for sweet and fluffy happily ever after type movies. 👀

Not that any of this matters…I still wouldn’t turn him away.

Ruin my life, sir. Please.😮‍💨

💜Mysty

[skyward-floored]

In iAU, It seems Legend and Wind are going to public school in the AU, are any/all of the other Link kiddos going to public school?

Everyone except Hyrule goes to public school! Hyrule had to catch up a little, and school would just be... a lot for him, so he's homeschooled for now. He prefers being home anyway. He'll probably go to public school when he's a bit older, maybe high school? haven't decided yet. He's also home because there was a little plot hole I needed to fix and that fixed it nicely heh

And actually, in the period of time where Four's powers show up and he's adjusting to them, he joins Hyrule with the homeschooling since splitting into four people in the middle of math class would be pretty problematic. I think I have him do that for just a school year before going back though.

[spotaus]

New Age AU (Obtaining Killer)

Hey guys! Through with a bot of stuff for the day and I have a sneaking suspicion that this stress headache will not leave me until I finish some projects for work, so I *may* be m.i.a. for a hot second until they stop.

In the meantime, I want to drop this! (Unedited, unrefined, raw off the slab style)

Andddd @ancha-aus and @papiliovolens ! Hello! (Mutzelputz if u see this, the tags weren't working for some reason, I apologize.)

Hope y'all enjoy!

Ccino had convinced him to leave the castle. After nearly a year had passed since his last true public appearance. Since he'd stolen the apple from his brother. Nine months had passed since he'd sent Dream away. He tried not to think about it.

Nightmare had been finding out a lot about his magic. How it made him jittery, and how he felt like he understood so much more. How it made him deeply paranoid, quick to react.

How it made people listen to him.

He figured it was because he was scary now. The negative magic condensed over every inch of his bone wasn't exactly appealing, and the extra limbs which had sprouted from his spine now acted like his own personal weapons. If someone didn't listen, didn't give him an answer he liked, the limbs moved without him even thinking.

It had taken time to learn to better control them. Even now, they writhed in his wake. His nerves expressed through their lashing and twitching as they hovered just above the ground.

The streets weren't exactly crowded.

Upon word of the King's arrival to this small providence, Nightmare had found that many people fled from his path. His travel party of several soldiers, and himself on horseback. He'd always wanted to ride horses. The traitor twin was someone that every citizen wished to avoid.

Ccino had coaxed him outside with promises of fresh air. Apparently there were promising young members of the city guard that Ccino swore would be wonderful future knights. Young warriors for him to bring up loyally under his name, no fear of betrayal.

It had made sense, at the time, but Nightmare hadn't chosen to recruit any of them.

It wasn't to say he didn't want to. Several of the humans and monsters were very talented, and he did his best to give them praise, but he could tell. None of them wanted to work under him. They didn't like him. Rejection and hatred that had pierced him immediately, he could practically taste it.

Ultimately, they would do better here in their hometown. A place they were passionate about protecting, and with people they cared for. Night would not try to mold promising soldiers into his perfect guard. No matter how smart of an idea it may have been.

And so he'd moved on.

Night had visited several smaller shops, onces which couldn't afford to refuse him, and he bought some fabrics, a trinket, some small thing from each place he stopped by. He payed exactly the price he needed for each thing. He wouldn't bribe his people, either. The best he could do would be to remain neutral.

He did discover, against all odds, that he was enjoying this day out. Ccino was, in fact, usually correct about this sort of thing.

The travel had been enriching. Almost exciting. He'd never gotten out of the castle much at all, this was all new and excitingly mundane.

Good things do not last forever.

It was almost sunset when he noticed it. Torches being set up, a platform prepared. A crowd gathering.

An execution, came the mutter from one of his soldiers. Though he recognized the set-up, Night had never been in attendance to an execution. He was morbidly curious. The crowd held such a contempt. A broiling hunger for blood.

He wished he'd wheeled his horse away when a few people were ushered out of a nearby building.

The prison, maybe?

There weren't many of them. Nightmare dismounted his steed, and much to the dismay of the soldiers at his side, he found himself sinking. Into the growing shadows cast by the dying sun.

He re-emerged beside the stage, where the few people were lined up. Ready for death by hanging.

That trick wasn't one that Nightmare quite understood yet, but he was always drawn to feelings of intense negativity. He knew that, now. Something about these prisoners were bothering him, even at a distance, and he found himself more curious as he stood before them.

His guards, at the back of the crowd, hadn't seemed to figure out where he had gone. He had the time, now, to loom over the small group of prisoners.

The city guards, the trained ones, had likely seen him earlier at their headquarters. They did not speak even a word against him as he stared.

Nightmare stared at these faces.

A dog monster, scrappy and scarred, black fur clashing against a few patches of white. One of her ears was missing.

A pair of humans, both men, one with long, curly red hair and another with short-cropped red hair and the beginnings of a beard. Maybe they were brothers?

A skeleton. His sockets dripped with black magic, and his soul was a piercing crimson, just infront of his chest.

A flame monster, small and stout. Their flames a flickering green and purple. One of their eyes had a patch over it.

Nightmare was not great at determining emotions yet. He was hardly versed in his own feelings, but there had been improvement recently. Understanding new emotions had been coming more naturally to him.

Sometimes it hurt, but he was learning.

Now, past the blossoms of a headache, he felt a bit baffled as he subconsciously picked through the negativity these monsters exuded. Their fear. Their pain. Their loss, and their anger.

Oh.

"Only one of you is guilty."

He'd said it without thinking, practically announcing it with a voice that still felt unnaturally deep. A voice which rattled his ribcage and seemed to force past the barrier of darkness around him.

The group before him seemed startled. Confused.

Well, all but the skeleton, who seemed to only raise his skull slightly. As though just noticing Nightmare was there.

"How could you have possibly been jailed in the first place?" He muttered a bit quieter to himself.

He knew, deep down, that there were many, many rules in place for situations like this. Laws which he could challenge. People he could speak to. He could appoint members of his court to each of these people and try to earn their innocence through the rites of the law.

Then again, he remembered the rage of the crowd. The frustration of the people waiting to see these killings take place.

He didn't know what to do.

Now the prisoners, especially the two humans, were staring at him hopefully. He'd managed to shatter the negativity a bit. He believed them. He knew this was wrong.

"I don't know..."

The mutter came again unprompted.

These people would not have the means to repay him for his help. He couldn't just waive fees, or risk his court turning against him. He couldn't afford enemies being made so close to his inner circle.

He couldn't just leave them, though. Not after he'd seen the injustice of it all.

Stuck in his own thoughts, he was drawn out of it by a snickering laugh.

"Just set them free." A voice followed, "You are our King, aren't you?"

Nightmare then found his eyes drawn to the skeleton.

The others had eased themselves away from him. He stood, now, almost alone. He seemed unbothered by speaking up, his sockets held in an almost lazy posture. Tension going completely un-held.

He grinned up as the King, and seemed to watch contentedly as the thought settled in Nightmare's skull.

He could do that. Simply waive their charges. Pardon them. He could do that, surely. Many royals had done it before him for less certain terms. His mother had plenty of times.

"And you are guilty. You'll still be hanged. You know this, don't you?" Nightmare asked.

That was when the Skeleton's lazy sockets seemed to tighten with a sort of glee. Some hidden joke Nightmare wasn't privy to.

"Hmm." This was a poor choice. This was a bad decision. "Tell me, quickly, how you came to be here. Before I proceed?"

Nightmare didn't know why he was asking. He was... curious. Just like he had always been.

Very few people would ever speak straight to his face. Ccino, that was the only one who'd done it since his change. Since the prophecy. This skeleton had done it. He'd spoken when no one else could muster even a plea.

The silence he seemed to bring to every room. Broken, just briefly.

The skeleton stared at him a moment.

"Name's Killer, your majesty." The tone was mocking. "A while back a buddy of mine got into hot water, and I decided to help them out. Now, plenty of bodies later, I'm the one stuck on death row."

Simple. An admission of guilt.

Nightmare stared at him some more.

Finally, it seemed his frantic guards had noticed him. Found him. They rushed to his side, though not as fast as he would've liked. He could feel the frustration seeping from each armored body around him.

"You don't have an aversion to it," Nightmare voiced, "Killing, I mean."

Killer nodded. Unashamed.

It felt strangely calm, still. Perhaps it was because the crowd was still chattering. They likely hadn't noticed Nightmare at all.

The king turned to the city guard, still stood on the steps. "Free these four people. My judgement decrees them as not-guilty."

And, before any time could pass in the slightest. "Killer, I would like you to accompany me, before you abscond."

He'd noticed it. Killer had undone his cuffs before their conversation. Completely freeing himself from his weak imprisonment.

Killer seemed amused at the concept of sticking around to chat.

"If you would, I would like to recruit your services at my castle. I need a man who is willing to kill. And kill swiftly." Ccino said to establish an image. It was obvious now that his reputation would remain in the gutter, no matter what choices he made. He was not Dream.

Killer's sockets narrowed.

"And what would I get for being your little hunting dog?" Again, it was bold. It was new.

Nightmare was sure his expression hadn't changed since he'd come before the group. That same angry glare that sat permanently along his skull. The magic had an image to project.

His tendrils flicked, slightly.

"Payment, room, Fresh meals, and any other amenities you may like, so long as it does not break our treasury." He replied, "All I ask is that you simply obey me. And Me alone."

Not true. He'd probably ask for him to listen to Ccino as well. Once he knew for certain he'd stay.

Killer seemed to be thinking. He eyed they king, up and down. He looked to each of the guard around the king. The ones who were back in position now, though Nightmare could feel their annoyance. Their confusion.

Then Killer turned.

Then he turned back.

"Mm. Can't be worse than the ol' noose." Killer replied. "Funny way to run a country, my king. Hiring the first murderer you spot?"

Nightmare didn't humor that with a response. He was honestly shocked the skeleton had even agreed.

Though, all of that negativity had been swapped out for a glee. Something deep in Killer had changed during their brief interaction. A hope. Night could barely grasp the edges of its existence with his subconscious. But it was there.

.

He ignored the crowds as they grew confused. He ignored the worry pouring from the criminals as he had them released and informed them of their pardon.

He did not ignore when his guards told someone to keep their distance. He glanced up. Killer was standing beyond the guards, looking bored.

Nightmare, trusting fool he was, didn't even ask a guard to watch him to ensure he stayed put.

"Stand down." He ordered the guard, who begrudgingly allowed the skeleton to smugly slip past.

His tendrils kept the monster at a distance Night preferred all on their own. He seemed to take the hint.

"They're all gonna be dead by morning, you know." Killer voiced easily.

Nightmare turned to him, confused. What did he mean by that? He'd pardoned them?

"Are you deaf? The crowd wanted us dead, especially me." He chuckled, "Leaving them here is definitely going to get them killed. If the crowd doesn't rip them apart the second you leave, then it'll happen at night. There will be no witnesses."

Oh... Night hadn't fathomed that these people could turn on the innocent once declared. It hadn't even crossed his mind. Did they have a home to return to? A family they put at risk?

The noose was a fast death, but being murdered? That would've been so much worse.

He could tell, by the way they evaded looking at Killer, that he was right. Nightmare would be sentencing them to a new sort of death if he did it like this.

But he didn't have time for a trial. Or several. The sun was going down, abd Ccino expected him back. The castle needed him present, or they might revolt.

Someone might hurt Ccino.

Oh, he was such a poor ruler. He did not know his people well enough. How he lamented the lessons Dream had taken about crowds and current issues abd how to be likeable.

Night didn't know how to handle this. He was still learning!

A trembled in his hand. He tucked the limb quickly away from where it had been lightly clutching his tunics thick fabric, now hiding it beneath his cloak.

"Killer is right. It won't be safe here, for any of you." He spoke. Thank the gods it didn't sound as shaken as he felt. "I extend an offer to you all. You may stay here, or you may come take up positions among my staff back at the castle. Unlike Killer, I do not expect any crime from you, but you will be paid and housed."

The offer was met with a roar of frustration from the crowd, Nightmare chose to allow his guards to handle it. He watched, carefully, as the four looked between eachother.

The brothers agreed first. (They introduced themselves as brothers as they knelt in thanks.) Then the Dog. She said she had no family left to watch over, starting a new life would be for the best.

The flame refused, saying they would leave town by morning, and try to stay safe.

And so, Nightmare left the town with four new party members. Each had been provided a horse, each tied to one of the guards. Aside from Killer, whose steed was held personally by Nightmare.

He figured Ccino would chew him out for this, for bringing criminals into the castle when he was sent to collect soldiers, but Nightmare had a good feeling about these ones.

They did not hate him. Or fear him. He was helping them. And it felt good.