#but what tf am i realistically supposed to say

[httpsserene]

𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 | 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨

summary: nobody can keep up with your growing list of hobbies, except fernando.

pairing: fernando alonso x brazilian!fem!reader

content warning: fluff and humor. explicit language.

from, serene: requested by and written for @loomiscorpse 🤍 i promised that i would write this for you in july and i finally found the time to fulfill it! this is how i learned fernando has a back tat. what rock have i been living under? happy reading, babes xxx

(in case i'm m.i.a., there's a category 5 hurricane that's looks pretty serious. i'm probably going to have a power outage. prayers to anyone else in the path of the storm, evacuate if you're on the west coast, and stay safe.)

⌕ join taglist | upcoming chapters | table of contents ↻

igstory • yourinstagram just uploaded!

[caption1; sip and paint with the ladies 👩🏽‍🎨🎨 carmenmmundt kellypiquet][caption2; for my first painting, this is good right?]

alexandrasaintmleux: i'll put it in a gallery 🤩 alexandrasaintmleux: i can't believe i'm friends with the best artist of our time 😌 yourinstagram: alex pleaseee omg 😳🤭 yourinstagram: you realize that means you think i'm better than claude monet right ? alexandrasaintmleux: ,,,second best artist of our time yourinstagram: 😆😆😆

fernandoalo_official: looks beautiful 😍 yourinstagram: you really think so??? fernandoalo_official: yes i like what you did with the colors and brush strokes of course yourinstagram: what detailed compliments meu bem 😂

carmenmmundt: i still don't believe that you've never painted before 🤨 carmenmmundt: you did so well !!!!!! yourinstagram: thank you my love 🥰 yourinstagram: i think i am going to keep painting. it was very fun! carmenmmundt: you should! you're quite good at it :)

instagram • yourinstagram

liked by heidiberger_, fernandoalo_official, francisca.cgomes and 101,723 others

yourinstagram encontro noturno em cores 🖼️

view comments

user1: ptbr to eng translation "date night in color 🖼️"

user2: wow!!! you improved so much already! have you been taking lessons?

➥ yourinstagram: thank you! the only lessons i'm learning are from youtube haha ➥ yourinstagram: and i have painted every day since i started! ➥ user3: you definitely have a natural talent for this! and a lot of potential!!! ➥ user4: it's taken me years to develop a minimal understanding of color theory and shadows. she's done it in two weeks 😕

user5: i know leonardo hates that he didn't paint this 😩😩😩

➥ user6: he's rolling in his grave for sureeee 🙂‍↕️ ➥ user7: bitch why tf would a ninja turtle be mad about this ☠️ ➥ user8: leonardo DA VINCI YOU UNEDUCATED CUR ➥ user7: my fault forgot the turtle wasn't the only person named leo 🫣🫠 ➥ user8: HOW DO YOU FORGET THE MAN WHO PAINTED THE MONA LISA ⁉️⁉️⁉️

pepemartiofficial: i loved doing art in school! i can teach you a few things if you want 😁😁😁

➥ yourinstagram: you mean primary school? which was like last year for you? i think i'll pass garoto 🥴 ➥ fernandoalo_official: josep maria marti sobrepepa don't piss me off. ➥ fernandoalo_official: test me and you can say goodbye to a formula one seat. ➥ user9: ain't no way pepe just tried to step to fernando's girl who's TEN !!! years older than him ➥ pepemartiofficial: shhh i can be mature for her 🤤 ➥ fernandoalo_official: count your days 🥱

carlossainz55: the painting is really good, you made the water look so realistic!

➥ yourinstagram: obrigada carlitos! ➥ carlossainz55: where's fernando's painting 😈 ➥ yourinstagram: it was very good! but he did not want me to post a photo of it :((( ➥ fernandoalo_official: it was very ugly carlos 🙄 ➥ yourinstagram: it was not that bad i just could not tell that it was supposed to be a tiger and not a house cat that was struck by lightning 😅 ➥ carlossainz55: i will pay to see this painting 🤣🤣🤣

twitter

igstory • astonmartinf1 just uploaded!

[caption1; admin was just forcibly handed bear coasters ??? she said they remind her of lance 🐻][caption2; the crochet culprit is on to her next project!]

user: lance bear agenda still going strong 💪

lance_stroll: i want bear coasters 😞 astonmartinf1: meet me downstairs, she gave me extras to hand out to the team lance_stroll: she's the best 🤩🤩🤩 lance_stroll: see you in 5?

user: DUDE she's onto clothes already??? how?!!!

user: admin i need you to send me photos of that sketchbook 👺🤲🏻 user: i need her patterns admin i'm not playing around astonmartinf1: lol get blocked loser 💀

instagram • fernandoalo_official

liked by carlossainz55, lance_stroll, yourinstagram and 234,586 others

fernandoalo_official there is yarn and hooks in my car. this has gone too far.

view comments

yourinstagram: you make a man a shirt with the materials HE bought for you and it's a problem. ungrateful behavior nano 😤

➥ fernandoalo_official: the shirt is very nice i even posed for a picture. all i ask is for no hooks to be left in the cupholders? ➥ yourinstagram: can we compromise and i leave them in the glove box 🥺

user10: let me get this straight: you crochet for a month and suddenly you become a fashion designer?

➥ yourinstagram: not a month, three weeks* i have been crocheting ➥ user11: oh fuck off- how are you good at everything 😩😩😩 ➥ yourinstagram: i am not! and i still cannot make a granny square no matter how hard i try to ☹️ ➥ user12: you don't need to know how to make a granny square when you can make actual pieces of clothing!!!

landonorris: may i have something crocheted too?

➥ yourinstagram: what would you like landinho 😊 ➥ landonorris: may i have a beanie? or a sweater?? ➥ georgerussell: ooooh i'd like a beanie too! ➥ francisca.cgomes: i want that top you're wearing! or something similar!!!! ➥ lance_stroll: what about earmuffs? ➥ lilymhe: a cardigan would be so nice ➥ charlesleclerc: i want a sweater!!! ➥ fernandoalo_official: leave her alone you greedy children 👹 ➥ yourinstagram: ignore him! text me what you all want with inspiration photos and i will let you know!!!

messages • sebastian -> fernando

igstory • yourinstagram just uploaded!

[caption1; hobby update >>>][caption2; to the woman at the craft store who put me onto oil paints...you saved my life][caption3; the wag crochet requests are almost finished!][caption4; first pottery class! had a really fun time :)]

user: i-i need to sit down👄 user: how do you even have time to do all of this?

user: i feel like i've never taken my hobbies seriously after seeing this

user: ffs how long have you been doing pottery? user: it's hard to learn at first but it's worth it if you stay committed 🫶🏽

instagram • yourinstagram

liked by charlesleclerc, lilymhe, francolapinto, and 192,037 others

yourinstagram que divertido! thrown, painted, and fired by me 🌸

view comments

user13: this is a reminder that there's always somebody out there doing what you love better than you 😒

➥ user14: wasn't she JUST at her first pottery class? and she already has a set of dishware 😨

user15: i feel like i have to apologize for even attempting pottery

user16: i would hate to give my gift after her on birthdays and christmas 😬😬😬

➥ user17: valid take. she can make custom clothes, paintings, and ceramics??? i might as well not even show up 🤦🏻‍♀️

kellypiquet: where do you even find the time to do this?

➥ yourinstagram: i have not slept for more than five hours in a very long time. it also distracts me when nano is away so, i keep myself busy. ➥ kellypiquet: please take better care of yourself! the clay will be there after you sleep and i'm sure fernando would like you to sleep too. ➥ fernandoalo_official: 8 hours at least mi amor ❤️ ➥ yourinstagram: fiiiiine 😞

lance_stroll: bring the domino set next time! i want to learn how to play!!!

➥ yourinstagram: i will make you cry if we play dominoes 🤫

user18: you need to start an etsy shop or smth? i think anybody would buy something from you!

➥ yourinstagram: if i do that, i'm afraid it would stop being a hobby and become a job. i don't want to lose the love i have for them :) user19: you could do limited releases? or just list a few items at a time? yourinstagram: i guess that's true. i don't think i will though, i didn't start my hobbies to make money. it's just fun for me 😁

twitter

igstory • fernandoalo_official just uploaded!

[caption; onto the next obsession]

user: damn you didn't lie about the entire botantical collection 😧 user: she's crazy user: i respect her grind though

user: and she made them look like actual boquets 😍 user: why didn't i think of that???

yourinstagram: they are not obsessions. yourinstagram: the proper term is hobby, we have talked about this nano 😒 fernandoalo_official: do you want the vespa or the bonsai…🤨 yourinstagram: both por favor! and get the porsche 911 kit while you are there 😚😚😚😚😚😚

user: she crocheted her own cover up dress user: i love women 🙂‍↕️

instagram • yourinstagram

liked by fernandoalo_official, kellypiquet, landonorris, and 317,940 others

yourinstagram um hobby? ok. quatro hobbies ao mesmo tempo? não repita meus erros 🤕

view comments

user20: ptbr to eng translation "one hobby? ok. four hobbies at the same time/once? do not repeat my mistakes 🤕"

➥ user21: thank u translator woman ➥ user22: thank u translator woman ➥ gabrielbortoleto_: thank u translator woman ➥ user24: one of these things is not like the others 🧐

landonorris: can't wait till it gets chilly in monaco 😌

➥ landonorris: the only thing i'm going to be photographed in is my crochet beanie and sweater ➥oscarpiastri: i'm surprised you're not wearing it now since you're perpetually cold ➥ landonorris: i didn't want to bring it in my luggage in case it's the time i lose my luggage 🤓 ➥ oscarpiastri: wow…that's smart ➥ landonorris: why do you sound so surprised 🤨

lilymhe: i see you learned how to make granny squares 😆

➥ yourinstagram: it took me three whole days to make one 🤧 ➥ lilymhe: damn 💀 ➥ yourinstagram: i am not lying when i say making that first granny square was harder than making your cardigan 😮‍💨

fernandoalo_official: is it weird if i feel proud of you?

➥ yourinstagram: i think it is something to be proud of :) ➥ fernandoalo_official: well i am very proud of you mi amor 😘 ➥ yourinstagram: 🥰😚😚❤️❤️❤️

user25: those paintings!!!! woah, you're like a serious artist now 😨😳😱

➥ user26: fr! you can see her own unique style clearly in these! ➥ yourinstagram: you all are too sweet! it took me a while to switch from reference painting into creating my own art pieces! ➥ alexandrasaintmleux: i wasn't joking when i said i want to put your work in a gallery 🤭🥱 ➥ yourinstagram: alex pleaseee 😖

user28: what are you going to do next? book binding LMAO

➥ yourinstagram: you are right! nano is out buying the supplies for me now 😁 ➥ user28: i was joking 😟 ➥ yourinstagram: and after that i think i am going to learn how to make a cute scrapbook!

© httpsserene - do not repost. photos used are from pinterest.

[viktoriaashleyyx]

My thoughts during different points in ACOTAR.

(It been like 2 months since I read it so these aren't direct quotes but I remember my reactions)

*Feyre contemplating killing the wolf. I remember her thinking "it could be a fae, I'm pretty sure it's a fae but realistically it's probably just a wolf and I am an emaciated teenager so I better use the element of surprise to kill it before it kills me."

Fair. Fair judgment. Can't argue with that tbh I do the same with yellow jackets (I'm surprised I don't see this take that often)

Lucien being mad at her for killing what she has now confirmed was Andres

Bro, she was a starving human and Tamlin did a good job at making him look like a wolf. Also, isn't that what you wanted her to do? Be mad at Amarantha, not some 19 yr old. (First and last time I disagreed with Lucy baby). At least Andres didn't die in vain like the others did now you have a shot.

"You can tell us your name, you can eat the food and we are not affected by iron. We can lie. We are affected by ash though."

Elves. You're elves. Why write Faerie if you're just gonna shit on everything that makes a Faerie, a Faerie?

Explaining the masks nonsense:

Bro you ever seen a man in a hat? Covering parts of a man's face makes them hotter. That's why they can grow beards

Hybern comes up and I am listening to the Audio books so sjm can't hide behind the spelling change.

Okay so we are just taking a shit on the Irish with this shit huh? (Hibernia is the original Latin name for Ireland)

"Dance Feyre"

Awwwe 😍

Tamlin writing her limericks and and then was super chill about her not knowing how to read even though she was pretty confrontational about it. He kept his cool, and reassured her and tried to teach her a little bit.

Awwwwwwwe 😍 they're getting along. Not mad at anyone here tbh. I can see why feyre would be ashamed and scared, but tam handled it well.

Rhysand shows up at the manor and Lucien stands in front of Feyre to shield her

Ugh go away RhySAnd you asshat. But also: Damn Lucy 😍.

RhySAnd makes Tamlin and Lucien beg to not tell Amarantha

I know this is a power play and I am supposed to think RhySAnd is the hot one, but.. to humble yourselves like that. To do anything in your power to protect her even if it's embarrassing. Damn. Tamtam and Lucy you have my heart.

Tamlin sending her away

Say it. Say it. Say it. Please feyre say you love him.

RhySAnd twisting her broken arm to get her to agree to a deal.

(By this point I had spoiled it for myself and knew that RhySAnd was the fan favorite) Bro what the fuck did he do to make up for this?

RhySAnd having her painted and drugging her to dance for him until she vomited.

Babygirl I am glad no penetration happened but like WHAT THE FUCK DID HE DO TO MAKE UP FOR THIS??

Feyre contemplating "he's a fae and I am a human, I'm fighting to have maybe a few decades with him at best"

First off babygirl you haven't even been alive for 2 decades yet, calm down. Second, they're gonna turn her fae. Please don't "turn" her fae that's not how that works these aren't vampires.

Tamlin crawls to Feyre still bleeding, kills Amarantha when the other High Lords couldn't, and then holds her the way she had told him she wanted to be held when she dies.

Tam, baby, how did you fumble so hard? What tf do you do in the next book that makes people like RhySAnd more?? It makes me not want to keep reading but also want to keep reading cause what the fuck.

She dies and is revived by the high lords and turned fae.

They fucking turned her fae. This isn't how this works. Holly black did it better with the "hey I know you think you're a human but really you're a changeling." (Tithe, I haven't finished her other stuff yet idk what goes on with Jude)

[butch-bakugo]

Im so glad we all rightly clocked the Minecraft movie as probably going to suck and I'm not alone. I was so worried I was just being a pessimist but after seeing what other's have said and what moistcritickal posted (haven't watched it yet), I feel a bit safer sharing my opinion. So, as a mc fan and player for almost, if not exactly, 10 years, I'll give my opinion.

It wants to be the super Mario movie. It wants to be it SO BAD but it doesn't care to actually commit to it. So many awesome movies about gaming IP have come out over the last 5 years from the Mario movie and the fnaf movie to detective pikachu and sonic. All bangers. Idk what it is apparently about 2024 and letting the most sludgy shitty gaming movies being announced/coming out but this is... Not it. This and the borderlands movie (tbf I'm only repeating popular opinion as I haven't seen the movie and am not a fan of the franchise but mega and even casual fans plus it's horrific box office say it enough. ) are probably gonna end up the same.

It looks terrible. Period. Almost everything in it looks terrible and I garentee it's budget was 150 to 300 mil and it still looks like fucking garbage. It can't even commit to being a live action or animated movie. It wants to be both so bad and not lose the recognition of the 2 celebrities it dumped probably a quarter of the budget on. Everything from the mobs to the world design to the cgi already looks like fucking garbage. It looks so fucking bad y'all I'm not even exaggerating. Holy shit. Everything has that fuckin cursed style of realistic components but cartoonish attitude and shape. Everything in the trailer looks like jigglypuff or Mr. Mime from detective Pikachu bred with sonic before everyone bullied them into giving him justice.

Tell me this shit doesn't have the same fucking energy.

This isn't cute, it was never cute, it's fucking creepy to put hi-def details on an originally cartoonish characters. Its giving fleshball with hair. Side note, since tf when were creepers made of grass and leaves n shit? I feel like I'd puke if I touched one by accident.

I want to give credit where credit is due and say the piglins and the ghasts look great. I fuckin love the fact the ghasts are stitched at the seems. They look great. It's almost like cartoon proportions but realistic style can look good in its creepy nature when out on top of characters who are supposed to look creepy and not right. 🙄

I have no idea why they wouldn't just fully animate this movie. Why are there fully human live action actors in this bitch but literally everything else is CGI. These poor actors are just standing on green screens when they very literally could have just been live action segments of them popping in and out of the world of Minecraft while voicing their minecrafty looking selves while animated. Literally just give it the ready player one treatment. Also why is Steve, the titular Minecraft character, a live action human as well? Even if your weird fascination with Zionist autism-speaks devotee Jack black is what you paid ungodly money for, he's a good voice actor. He showed that in the Mario movie as Bowser. Why does he have to be not only an IRL human but also his beard nor skin tone match canonical Steve. Jason Momoa, the only moc on the cast of human characters, would match Steve's actual skin tone. The boy's got melanin, Jack does not.

Speaking of the human characters, I can smell the uninteresting cookie-cutter nerdy boy with a crush he needs to profess to protagonist a mile away, I'm sure the little girl character is tough on the outside but soft when she warms up and is quirky and joins the bad guys for a bit only to come back but never has any actual character, idk litterally anything about the adult woman character other than her outfit is giving Dora and she litterally says nothing during the trailer and jason Momoa? I'm alittle worried. First off, why you got this whole ass man in that shitty ass wig. That is party city shit. I could find better for $8 on Amazon. Second off, though I think he's trying to be like... 80s 90s pop star twisted sister style shit, im NGL... My first thought was " is this a transmysognistic caricature?" Because of notch and the fact he moves pretty femininely through the trailer. I won't judge it yet but like... My hackles were UP up. I'm stressed. Another thing of note? No Alex nor Villagers. The villages were there and actively plundered but no villagers.

Something interesting of note is that the villagers were originally made, by notch, to be antisemitic caricatures. That's why they have the big nose, the nasally voice, considered primitive, the specific obsession with emeralds of all gems, why their deals always suck and they come off greedy. Mojang did very little to change their original design and even though you couldn't tell nessesarily without knowing that context that the villagers were a caricature, that doesn't make them less of one and Mojang really should of made the choice to change them by now. I, like many other allies and obviously the Jewish community, always felt a little uncomfortable with them but are now especially nervous about their more realistic but still cartoony take. We've seen plenty of human/realistic but cartoonish takes on villagers fully lean into the caricature with hooked noses, pointed ears and other common ethnicly Jewish features. Some even Include Payots ( the curly pieces of hair worn on orthodox Jewish men), Yamakas and stars of davids. These are clearly antisemitic caricatures and I, and many other fans, are worried about their one screen translations. I can only hope they humanize them as some more realistic takes on villagers can be good.

My second to last note is the setting, holy fuck is it UGLY ugly. Like I dont watch any Minecraft YouTubers or streamers so I'm not accustomed to tracing rays 1,000 mods realistic lighting, realistic resources, needs huge processors to run without the computer becoming the same temp as the surface of the sun to be happy with the way it looks but like... Ew. I play raw mc, no mods on console (and PC at one point but that was awhile ago and also with no mods) and I, through buildings or natural landscapes and locations, etc have seen prettier lighting and locations than what they chose. Like, one of the many joys of Minecraft is the simplistic but natural and real and relaxing atmosphere the world of Minecraft can be. Even when it's raining or snowing. Minecraft sunsets and sunrises after you spent the last real world 56,000 hours on this big building complex and finally resting and watching the sunrise over your work and the mountains or ocean or forest or even desert around you become pink then yellow then bright as the start of a new day is a healing experience. It can be emotional even. That landscape looked like garbage. Incredibly monotonous and boring and plain. Just nothing. How you squeeze the very easy thing of a beautiful atmosphere out of Minecraft is beyond me.

Speaking of emotions, let's talk about the story and the humor/dialogue. I'll start with the later and end my thoughts with the former. The humor, the little we did see, seemed at least a little bit on brand for Minecraft. The animals especially. I'll give it that, I just hope it's not unending poop or fart or pee jokes. Finally, I, like many others, are very worried this is a modern isekai ass Jumanji style shit take of minecraft. We are very worried this is just modern people shoved into minecraft to solve a problem, save the world and leave. This isn't what Minecraft's about, it's not it's messaging nor ever been a " hero/band of heros story" about saving the world, I don't even think it will honor the final poem of the game.

Minecraft has always always ALWAYS been about community, belonging, making a place for yourself in a world that won't accept you, working together and coexisting. It's about peace. It's about sharing. These messages are very near and very dear to the 6 yr old gen alphas who've been playing it since they were 2 or 3 yrs old and beat it 60 times to the elder Gen z and millennials like me who grew up with the game and have a special place in our hearts for the world's we've built and lost to the 89 yr old grandma who played it over covid and built a home for her whole family to visit and live in with all the accommodations they could want. Minecraft is for all ages and everyone has either played it or heard of it, it is the most successful singular game in the world ffs. It has sold more copies than ANY single game in existence, over the most common production of solitaire and Tetris and Space invaders AND any super Mario or Pokemon game. Minecraft rakes in over billions of dollars and millions of players every single year. Those who start playing it struggle to stop. It's a cultural icon, a seriously beloved and wholesome one. One the fans truly took, made it their own for everyone's benefit and spawned so much spin off media and love that it's done better than most games could ever dream to do. Minecraft's success and communal love, despite the unsavory trend of pedo and bigoted YouTubers centered on the game, is its soul. It's driving force. Its succession literally cannot be understated and cannot not be attributed to its fans.

I fear this movie is a slap in the face money grab disrespectful turd in a doggy bag left on the community's porch. I fear this movie will have none of the game's and community's values and lessons and love. I fear this movie will do what Mario, sonic and fnaf did not, hurt it's audience. I, like many other fans, already have an unsavory taste left in our mouth's from this trailer pie and we can only hope it didn't come from American pie or the help. The movie looks fucking soulless. It looks corporate. Like it only exists to make money off the already successful IP that is Minecraft. Like they saw the box office explosive success of sonic and Mario and fnaf and decided to shit something else explosive out as quick as possible to jump on the trend. I fear because it's fucking Hollywood, the messages it holds will be watered down and tasteless like a fucking LaCroix where someone ate a cubic millimeter of an orange peel and shat in my can and called it flavor. It'll be the same old schmut that every kid friendly movie has. It will have no nods to and for its existing fans to comb through and point out and smile that they are seen.

It may not even have a fucking ender dragon or a wither. Will it even have the nether? People already pointed out that most movie trailers include some of the big cool (expensive) parts of the movie and if they eventually fight the ender dragon, they would of probably included that in the trailers due to how cool (expensive) that scene would be. It's not there. All we see is piglins, a relatively small enemy in the game, pillaging villages (why no , ya know, actual pillagers pillaging. Why piglins... Who are barely present in the over world....who dont attack unless provoked... and only attack the player not suddenly aggro with every AI in sight... Why are they attacking villagers suddenly....) which.... Isn't super interesting. That and the irl actors walking around and discovering how to fucking play the basic shit in Minecraft like getting wood.. and making crafting tables.... And talking to Steve. Like this has bad shitty written all fucking over it... I'm so worried.

We, the fans who work and love this game tirelessly, deserve better than isekai diet Jumanji live action meets shitty animated garbage.... I can only hope and pray that my take on this ages poorly. I hope it ages poorly and I'm horribly wrong and it's the next fnaf movie and shows huge amounts of respect for the fans. I want to be wrong. I want us to be respected. However you can't ignore the blood in the handkerchief concerning movies with a highly popular IP, too many a-list celebrities, high costs and piss poor CGI. It rarely doesn't lead to disaster. Please let me be wrong.

[pammydawes]

Alrighty folks we are at 8.5 hours left of hell bent and BOY HOWDY do I have some thoughts!!

🛑!!Spoilers below!!🛑

BWAHAHAHA I am being so fulfilled and validated!! Im glad it worked out so that this check in is right before they descend into hell and everything

All my mercy and pammie nerd bonding dreams are coming true. Leigh idk what I did to personally deserve this but ty

TRIPPPPP he’s back my golden retriever is back!!! Not doing so hot but he’s had it p good in life so far. Can’t wait to see how he does in literal hell!

Abel turner continues to be the mvp!! Also just realized he’s Christian and Abel is a biblical name…..as in ‘Cain and’. I’m worried and pretending not to think abt it!! Hope he doesn’t have any older siblings!! “Your demonic boyfriend” on the floor. I Gagged. when I heard that. turner stop giving the people what we want idk if we can handle it

I’m deeply concerned about the status of darlingdemon’s physical body?? Is that what’s at black elm or not?? If they’re only bringing his soul back what are they planning on putting it in???

While I am a little overwhelmed by the addition of yet more seemingly unrelated plot intrigue, linus rider has been an absolute blast so far!! The whole time Alex was comparing Ariel and eitan and Len and drug dealers generally to vampires she was on the nose!!! I kinda wonder how eitan is gonna play into the more supernatural plot lines now. Could he be a vampire??

ALSO, odds that Linus is the terrible new Lethe supervisor whose name I can’t remember’s long lost lover??? Any takers?? Speaking of whom, wow! I have never well and truly disliked a character so quickly! I feel like Leigh made him so intentionally dislikeable right off the bat that something is gonna happen later to turn that on its head, idk what yet. It’s never what you see is what you get with miss Bardugo…….

Speaking of dislikeable, anselm’s cool card is revoked for being a creep! Drain him dry Alex!!! Although that whole convo was pretty enjoyable I will admit. I like the juxtaposition of him with darlington, anselm being the sort of jaded realist darlington might have grown into if he weren’t…darlington

Speaking of vampires and dislikeable, huge fan of the scene where Alex tells darlington’s parents to eat shit and die!!! And Alex seeing DTA3’s memories, that was sooooo good. Also COSMO……my funky little guy….what are Bowie cat’s secrets I am dying to know!!! What if he really is David Bowie, and David Bowie was a demon the arlingtons made a deal with way back in the day. (Minus the David Bowie part that is an actual theory)

The part where pammie and Alex fought…… :(. Shit hurted pretty good I must say

Just WHAT is going on with Michelle???? I literally have no ideas do we really think she might be linked to the murders?? Is SHE a demon?? I take back everything I said abt her being meh I am deeply intrigued

Sexy gardener lauren ahahaha. When it was mentioned that the ritual is supposed to have a whole bunch of people all together keeping time on the surface while ppl are going to hell my immediate thought was that they were somehow gonna bring their liquor treat party to the ritual site and blast music. Still think that would be fun but idk if it would make sense. Does feel like some mercy type innovation though, and it would rope Lauren into the plot a lil more

Because I’m a hornball thirstgremlin with repressed anger issues I am DESPERATE for a scene with demon Danny threatening someone who’s been giving alex shit. My top picks are eitan and Linus, anselm is also a candidate. lord imagine demon darlington policing the houses of the veil, that would serve them goddamn right

I’m wondering if we’re going to get any more answers about Alex’s nature any time soon? What tf is a wheelwalker? What was her grandma’s deal? (Cool lady all the memories of her are so compelling) what was her DAD’s deal? Is her mom really that spacey or is there something more to all of her flakiness? I am SO curious!!!! What if her dad was connected to Lethe somehow!!

I’m also enjoying the further intrigue abt lethe’s origins and the gauntlet. Never trust an organization that’s main purpose is to uphold the greater broken institution yall

And still we don’t know wtf is going to be the deal in november!!!!!

See y’all in another four hours ig 👀

[ghostaholics]

ooOoo boy, I’ve had this saved in my likes because I was overwhelmed by the massive word count of this fic and wanted to dedicate an appropriate amount of time to being able to fully immerse myself in this and let me tell you, what an experience it fucking was: 17k+ words and I can’t even imagine anything less after reading it.

Everything about this is so brilliant. The characterization, the plot, the chemistry/romance. I’m such a sucker for bodyguard/protect-you fics and this really nailed it on the head for me. I love this civvy reader with Price, and it was executed wonderfully. I don’t have words. Their relationship is so freakin’ cute and I love how you demonstrated how much he cares for her and the protectiveness that’s there.

This was intense and I’m astounded by how the action unfolded. It’s really interesting to see things from the perspective of the reader and it felt so so realistic. It’s like, creeping towards 6am where I am right now because I randomly woke up a little bit ago, had the urge to pick up my phone, and then immediately went to go read this and settle myself in the for the long haul. I felt like it was calling to me, and I do not have one ounce of regret about staying up to read this. This is an amazing piece of work; it deserves nothing less than an entire essay dedicated to how fucking good it was.

Every single line, every single detail was just so fun to read. This was literally more satisfying than smut I’ve ever read. Is that an appropriate thing to say? I feel like the build up and the payoff really made this fic. I was almost debating and doing a bunch of keyboard smashes and everything else, but I’m currently writing this in the dark and know exactly what I want to say just so that I can convey the depths of my feelings.

I wish I could point out my favorite parts, but it’s the whole thing. All of it is outstanding. I love the way the flowers were worked in, the suspense — my reaction: omfg, the guy’s been stalking her for how long?! And the knowledge from the reader that this is not Price’s doing. Soooo much to unpack there and I was with this fic every step of the way. I kid you not, I could not put this down until I got to the very end, and it was absolutely worth it.

Everything about to the writing: from the plot, to the mood, and to that gorgeous fucking title. I’m losing my mind over here still wondering if I’ll ever be able to shut up about this fic, because I feel like I have so much to say. This really highlighted the difference between civvy and military life and propelled the action all the way to the end. I liked the workplace chatter in the beginning about the flowers and I was blown away when the military aspect of 141 was brought in towards the last third act (though it was already introduced through Price’s characterization towards the beginning and I think the other TF members involvement really drove that point home).

By the way, I saw your comment about the author’s note and waited for the other shoe to drop but it never came. This was perfect through and through. I think the pacing and passage of time on this fic was well done. As I said before, I think the word count made a lot of sense – everything had to be fit in, and there’s no limit to how much description has to be involved to make something like this work. I also think that even though you believed there was plot deterioration at the end, I would have to wholeheartedly disagree and regardless of whether you think there could have been more text, or if you have any things that you want to nitpick about this, I think the fic itself is sublime.

I have never loved anything more. I want this buried with me when I die. The thing about reading is that it’s supposed to really transport you to another place, and I’m so so sad that I have to back to reality after finishing this. I’m going to sit here and stew in my suffering until the end of time.

Sensational fucking work.

See No Evil

Pairing: John Price x F!reader

Synopsis: The flowers came every week – Tuesday, two O’clock, two minutes after your break. The only problem was that you knew they weren’t coming from John.

Word Count: 17.5k

Warnings: Stalking, violence, intense gore, blood, abduction, angst, fluff, protective!John, not quite smut, swearing, stereotypical ‘Bad Guy’ character who gets his ass beat, minor character death

A/N: Finished this at 3am so forgive the absolute deterioration of the plot near the end.

Keep reading

[skinni-girls-eat-books]

Monday, January 29th, 2024!

8:00am he doesn't have any grasp of how poorly he handled money while living here. Didn't know when bills were due how much they cost and never bothered to ask. Just wanted me to keep asking him for money like a fucking bank. Does not grasp the concept of why would I ask you for money when every other week you asked me for weed money (indicating you literally didn't even have $40?). How am I supposed to turn around and ask you for bill money?

No longer my problem!! He's my friend not my problem, I'll find a partner who is willing to understand how things work OR already knows and I don't have to teach them how to be an adult! Can you imagine? I can I know there's guys out there that handle all of their own finances and that's very attractive! I want that! :) *manifesting** lol ✨✨

It's not your responsibility to explain to him what he did wrong. X 1000 queen 💅

12:14pm Checking in, just got out of class, want to get lunch and do work after! There's a bunch of teeny tiny things to do this week. It's cold outside too!! Freezing my feet and a lack of blood circulation lol.

11:43pm day kind of was a drag due to an uncoordinated group project and untimed meeting but we go on!

Weaponized incompetence! That's the word lmao, yeah she can have that! Oof idk man just doesn't sit right with me, but it's not my problem anymore! Yayyyy :) I really need to figure out how to redirect my mind when I feel like telling him some bs he did to me. I did really well and I'm proud of myself today for asking him first if he wanted to hear my rant and he said no politely lmao and I think that was smart for me. It just kind of subsided, at least enough for me to get my work done today. I just want to keep focusing on me :) always something I can be doing for myself tbh, don't really need to be doing things for an incompetent partner 😎 she can have thattt.

Tbh I feel like I'm just gonna live my whole "life" and probably not f around with settling down until I'm at least 30 and I'm cool with that lol. What's the rush, I don't want any crotch monsters so I really dgaf about all that (plus there's fostering etc). I kind of want to get off the dating/ relationship reddit stuff bc it's just not realistic tbh 😅 I don't want to compromise, I don't want to fuck around on someone else's schedule, I literally don't want someone telling me anything what to do, nothing I don't want to hear a man's opinion 😂 probably not the best time in my life to start dating haha

So yeah they always say, what do you want out of a relationship rn? Still nothing serious, I'm not serious, I would love a fwb, I would love a concert buddy, I want a happy hour buddy, club buddy, watching sports together buddy, and these really don't have to be men btw (men are low-key trash another reason I should not be dating haha bc I will be mean AF). Just vibe, my new year's resolution was to have more friends and I think I'm on the right track :) I definitely am having a healthier mindset now, making friends was not on my to-do list 3/2 months ago 👀👀 but that's what growing is about!

I feel bad that my ex isn't getting this same self growth but 🤷 what tf am I supposed to do with that info lol I guess he just perfectly knows himself..... 🤣🤡 The end.

[purplefnafpasta]

Introduction

Aka, I finally realized that i didn't make an intro yet, so I'll make one now. (Below the cut because I dunno how long this will get)

Gonna put the DNI above the cut though:

Anyone under 16 DNI thanks.

(Also, here is my ToS with an extrended DNI, as well as any other thing you may possibly need to know about usage of my art, designs or fanart, etc)

A little about me:

Hello! My name is Sam. However, I also commonly go by Wolf or Purple online. I am 19 years old, and I am a hobby artist. I don't really do art with the thought in mind to get big and popular with it. I would rather just make art for myself and then post it online for anyone who is willing to look at it.

I am mostly active on Toyhou.se or Discord. However, if you don't have either of those, then I am most likely to be reached on Tumblr. Here are my other socials, though, for anyone interested.

Username origin:

I came up with my username at around 2020.

Purple = one of my fave colors (i have 3 fave colors, purple, brown, and black. However, purple was the one that sounded the best when trying to pronounce my whole username)

FNaF = fave game at the time (still fave franchise, though I prefer Hollow Knight as of right now)

Pasta = my favorite dish at the time (by now, it's ramen)

Nickname Origins:

Sam = is my name, not a nickname lmao

Purple = because people commonly use that for a short version of my user (who tf would wanna say/write my whole username, anytime I am mentioned in a convo, lmao)

Wolf = I can't actually remember where that nickname comes from. I just know that at some point, I always got called Wolf (mostly on Discord), so I just ran with it, i suppose. My best guess is that it happened because my fursona is a wolf.

What kind of art I'll post:

I am by heart an OC artist, meaning I draw and post mostly my own OCs, or art I made of someone else's OC(s). I rarely ever draw fanart, but who knows, maybe ya'll will catch me do some fanart (on rare occasions).

I usually draw animals (anthro and feral). However, recently, i have been attempting to draw more human/oids to better my art skilly for those as well.

I may also draw my spin on what the Warrior Cats look like. Because why not, I love the book series. (meaning i won't stick to drawing realistic cats, since i just design em what i vibe with, but i'd explain that in detail in my first warrior cats design that i'd post)

I may attempt drawing some more complex/detailed chars (like robots or smth). However, i also aren't too great with that, so please bear with me and my (slow) learning progress. (Yes, I am a slow learner)

What can you DM/PM me for?:

Commissions (if they are open, however I prefer taking that to discord after the initial DM where you ask to commission me!)

Trades (if they are open)

Asking for toyhou.se invite codes (if i still have some left, which I do currently btw. please use the codes i send you within 48 hours, or i'll give it to the next person who asks, i don't wanna have to wait months for someone to just make an account- i can see when a code is used and when not btw!)

Asking me about my art or my ocs (be aware that I easily drift off and start to rant though, lmao)

What should you not DM/PM me for?:

Touhou.se coding issues. I give away invite codes. I have absolutely 0 clue how to code, so I can't help with that, you can check in Toyhou.se forums for help though, I am sure there are quite a few who are willing to help you!

Asking me to message someone who had blocked you for you. (I am sure the person who had blocked you had their reason, and I do not feel comfortable acting as an extension for you to message someone who blocked you.)

Venting/ ranting about something. Just do not, please. The only exception is, if I know you already.

Can I send you an ask?

Yeah, go for it. I just can't promise when I'll see it.

How can we find your art easier between all of the reblogs you make?

I will try to implement the "PurpleFNaFpasta's art" tag to all of my art pieces, so if you wanna find my art between the reblogs, you should be able to find them with that (hopefully).

[Edit from March 18th 2024]: i have also implemented a new tag as well, if you are looking for random funfacts about my oc's, this tag is where you will find them: "Purple's Random OC Funfacts" [Edit from September 16th 2024]: Changed my age from 18 to 19 in my intro lol. Birthday moment xd

[toffeemugg]

YES YES YES i LOVE how in depth this is!! i went slightly into detail in my tags on how i thought it worked

the whole having mail woven in was an uneducated attempt at saying it was brigadine? i had a mental image of what i wanted (flexible padding with some metal reinforcement) but not the proper terminology. thanks for bringing it up!

i think the whole 'gold' thing is purely in reference to the colour and not material (as you have said, gold is extremely soft so it's probably tempered metal). i honestly think a material that is more flexible is most realistic for the emperor's coven and by extension the golden guard. magic combat as we've seen in the show involves a lot of quick movements and agility, so it'd make sense.

but i love the idea of it being brigadine. i'm not as well-versed in historical armour as i am with more contemporary fashion - my interests are typically late victorian-edwardian fashion. very much outside the realm of armour. point being, it's so nice to see a lot of people share the opinion that it is leather-adjacent!

i think the mask and pauldron on his shoulder (which.... how tf is it attached?? i'm definitely wanting to explore that in my drawings later today lol) are DEFINITELY metal. the shading on his armour i did was supposed to be reminescent of something having a more, idk, shiny sheen to it? a bit of glitz and glamour for the emperor's right hand man.

i am in love with your sketches btw!! it helps visualise his design and gives a sense of realism to it.

so..... what the fuck is his armour made of

[mrfutureboy]

tmi i guess but how many days can i throw up from anxiety before my shift before i have to tell my supervisors. its happened 3 times already out of 4 days i worked (called off one day which was humiliating but honestly necessary)

[courtney-deserved-better]

SOME THOUGHTS ON NEW TD CHARACTER DESIGNS

she has beads in her hair and they look fantastic. also she has brown eyes as does a fair chunk of the cast which is making me so happy because very few td characters have brown eyes :)

it took me a bit to realize but this guy actually has a longass ponytail 

i think this is a hockey shirt?

she has an eyebrow piercing in addition to ear piercings and i feel kinda cursed saying this but she looks like someone combined courtney and duncan with maybe a splash of brick. regardless she is my fav character in terms of looks so far (little confused about what is going on with her shirt(s?) though)

bleached blond hair and an undercut plus a purple shirt, what i’m gonna guess is a purple vest, and a cool necklace. loving the fashion sense. pretty sure ive seen one of my best friends in this exact outfir

it might be the quality of the image but she looks like her eyes could be purple? maybe just an odd shade of brown though

love the pleated skirt as opposed to those weird wrap things fresh used to do. glad we’ve moved on. the winged eyeliner!! also super cute sneakers which brings me to the observation that only one female character is visibly wearing heels which makes me SO happy. im so sick of girls on the show being designed with 3+ inch heels like how tf are they supposed to do challenges like that. but almost every female member of this cast is wearing sneakers and im so here for it

THE CURLY HAIR WE LOVE TO SEE IT!! actually this cast has a fair amount of curly/textured hair it’s making my curly self so happy

the first td character to wear high waisted jeans!! looks a little weird to me tbh but i get it considering how extreme the art style is when it comes to waists. anyways this character looks very sweet :)

bonus: my guess for the gay couple is these two bc they’re looking at each other like this from across the campfire

in conclusion, while the designs aren’t as colorful/intense as, say, the pahkitew or roti designs, i love how natural/realistic they look and am super happy fresh changed things that bothered me in the past (heels, lack of brown eyes + curly hair) very excited to learn more about these characters!

[just-being-leonest]

Live thoughts about season 2 episode 1

I am exhausted mentally so have fun deciphering what I’m saying

Transition from 0;48-0;49 was abrupt

why haven’t we heard about siblings before?

“cease this bitch crying” the curse is unneeded. it doesn’t fit with the kingly vibe of the character. he’s an asshole father yes but hes also supposed to be a regal king. you don’t need a curse there, it breaks character.

the circus bit with just blitz and fizz seems... kinda dumb and nonsensical? maybe something is just flying over my head but that scene feels empty and not in a good way

hold up... so i havent finished the episode yet (at 5;21) but did stolas’s family fucking own blitz? if so that makes stoliz even worse of a ship and even if they didnt that power dynamic is so fucking off. 

the balloon animal scene is... interesting

blitz having an abusive and manipulative father doesn’t excuse the fact he is now an asshole that ignores boundaries and uses people. a great example of this is bojack horseman

why hasn’t it been mentioned that they fucking know each other from childhood before? 

“I’m so good at daddy-ing” the only funny quote from helluva boss

“The living world” so are... demons and imps and shit not alive or smthing?

yeah no hes not a good boss. 

imma be honest, maybe it’s me being aromantic and not understanding love and shit, but if the person i liked as a kid came over and stole a bunch of shit from me, tricking me into helping them, 25 years later i wouldn’t still like that kid.

OKAY DOES STELLA FUCKING LIVE THERE OR NOT

LIKE SERIOUSLY EPISODE SEVEN

STOLAS SAID OCTAVIA WAS AT HER MOTHERS

IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT

WE CAN ASSUME SHE LEFT WITH OCTAVIA

SO DOES STELLA FUCKING LIVE THERE OR N O T

edit: apparently this was a flashback which. wasn’t made clear. at all

edit edit: SHE STILL FUCKING LIVES THERE????

also is no one gonna stop and think that Stella was also forced into this marriage?

like oh no shes an asshole kid

so is blitz

okay nitpick but the glass was empty when she threw it against the window why did it leave a red stain. 13;37

WAIT THIS ISNT PRESENT DAY

TF YOU COULDVE MADE THAT MORE CLEAR

Also the power imbalance here isnt sexy its disgusting

✨manipulation✨ and ✨power imbalance✨

“i barely remember your name” bitch why tf you lusting after him still-

sex repulsed ace just became more sex repulsed 

i skipped through the... i dont want to call it foreplay. ive read better foreplay in smut fanfiction written by virgin 12 year olds.

“thats the sound of a fucking divorce” SO WHY IS SHE TRYING TO KILL HIM

calling anti depressants happy pills is classy. stay classy viv. 

im not listening to the song i have no energy nor time for that bs i have an episode of welcome to demon school iruma-kun that’s begging to be watched after this

DOES

STELLA

FUCKING

LIVE 

THERE

OR

NOT

OKAY THANK YOU FOR THE ANSWER

Can you not kick her out

or just 

idk

fucking

move

YOU HAVENT GOTTEN THE DIVORCE YET

also random thoughth but yes i do consider stella abusive

funny how all the female characters in helluva boss with any sense of story purpose are either dicks (or framed as such in the case of Verosika) or are just there as props to give the male characters some semblance of a character

all in all

episode was confusing

and characters werent v realistic

3/10

[chaotic-simp707]

RATING ANIMES BASED ON MY OPINIONS PART 1:

WARNING: Cursing and SPOILER

.

.

.

Kuroko no basket - 10/10 This is the second sport animes i watched in the past AND DAMN THIS IS GOOD ASF! It may be unrealistic(cause of the zone and other things) but i like the light moods and relationships they have here. The ending tho i'ma cry my ass of-

Slam dunk - 10/10 I havent finished this yet but uhm.... All i can say is this is more realistic compared to kuroko no basket... And also they all be relatable asf- This one deals with darker themes

Haikyuu - 999/10 idk what to say abt this one yet i have many things to say... I fking love this anime!!! First of all, The relationships, animations, battles, and backstory are damn good. I remember i used to watch this anime in like- 3 am in the morning 💀

Spy X Family - 9/10.... NOW NOW PLZ CALM DOWN- 😭😭😭 This is my opinion and i dont want y'all to attack me with this one- But for me... I think spy x family is kinda.... Uhm... Overhyped..? I'm not saying i dont like it! But its more of overhyped for me. I saw the comments first and they were all damn hyped.. so i have high expectations... But when i watched the anime i kind off didn't got the uhmm.. how do i say this.... The vibes? I dunno- but overall the animations and their family are so damn sweet 😭

Tokyo revengers - 100/10 IM STILL WAITING FOE THE SEASON 2 JSJAKAMSSB ITS SO GOOD 😭😭😭 AND ALSO THEIR TRAUMAS DAMNNNN, When i saw the 'its mikeys fault' meme i was like 'who tf is mikey?' and then procceed to watch the anime. ITS ALL KAZUTORAS FAULTT 😭😭😭😭. The plot and the songs are- 😩👌✨

Hunter X Hunter - I HATE THE ENDING/10 JWIZOAKAMAJHSHS FUCKING ENDING I HATE THE ENDING AHHHHHHHHHH PLS MAKE MORE 😭 this is fanfictions purposes. To finish what is supposed to be done 😩. I LOVE GON AND KILLUA'S FRIENDSHIP PLSSSSSSSSS 😭😭😭 I WANT MOREEEEEE

Assasination Classroom - My tears/100 AHHHHH THE ENDING OF THIS TOO 😭😭😭😭😭 I WANNA CRYYYY 😭 I KNEW KOROSENSEI WOULD DIE SOMEDAY BUT WHY AM I STILL CRYING 🥹. Also, I. Fucking. Love. Karma. Akabane

One punch man - 100 punch/10 This. THIS! Many people dont like this anime cause they said saitama is too overpowered and shits but for me. I like this. Cause even though saitama is overpowered, he still have problems. His emotions, his being overpowered is also the problem itself, his non-existent happiness, and his hair-

Naruto - 99.5/10 Y e s. Naruto is my childhood anime and i friking remember every moments of it(exaggerating). Personally, i like naruto more than boruto because of the adventures, battles, characters, backstories, trauma, etc. Theres more to say but all i can say is UCHIHA ITACHI IS MY FAV CHARACTER NO ONE CAN CHANGE MY MIND

My hero academia - ...10/10 tbh i stopped watching this- 💀 I left the fandom a long time ago and then was surprised that deku now became the new spiderman, bakugou maybe dying, the traitor in the ua?, Deku becoming crazy and wtf is happening-

Jujutsu Kaisen - sukuna's fingers/100 I. AM. WAITING. FOR. FKING SEASON TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAMN I LIKE THIS ANIME The animation, the feels, the hawtness 😩👌. Love them all

Demon Slayer - ....me crying again but blood this time/999 JSIAKAMSNSHSY WHY WHY WHY 😭😭😭😭 i know it has a good ending but why did they have to dieeeeeeeeeeeee???

Mob Phsyo 100 - 10.5/ 10.... Damnnn the actions, battles, humor, character developments, and pacing are so damn good 😩 Love it!

Tomodachi Game - brains/100... My brain is not braining- 😭😭😭 This is hella good and full of trauma. The facial expressions, relationships, big brains and backstories are cool asf. Im having a rollercoster of emotions with yuuichi- 🗿. Also KEI SHINOMIYA YOU HAWT PIECE OF HUMAN

Shadow House - Kids/100. Full of trauma ✅, cute kids ✅, powers ✅, none faces humans ✅. Y e s

[lostinwoods]

A different take on SessKag relationship or why it would be more realistic than InuKag.

Let me begin with

Sesshomaru's and Kagome's past and how they are similar.

Sesshomaru had always been a very sentimental and emotionally receptive being. He had loved and cherished his dad the most. Loving and competing with him, wanting to surpass him, desiring recognition and acceptance so much so that his entire world revolved around his father. He did not want the swords because they were powerful or the bs about supreme conquest. What is that shit? Sesshomaru never needed that. The swords, especially Tessaiga was the most important acceptance to Sess. I will get back to this later.

Now Kagome. This kid was born and then we never saw her dad even when she was a kid. Another classic case of growing without a dad? Perhaps. But I feel her grandpa filled her missing dad's place. That is why the kid grew up in a lovely household, filled with love and peace and made Kagome what she was later on, a selfless girl who wants to love and protect her friends. Because that is what she learnt. Her grandpa, mom, everyone and her own family dynamics taught her how important it was to cherish the ones she loved.

What they initially thought of Inuyasha in their life

Now back to Sess. When his dad died, he dies saving Izayoi. What is the thing he feels at the time I wondered. Surely devastated? Yes, but even worse. His most important person, his goal, the thing his life revolved around was gone. And for what? To protect a weak, useless bitch like Izayoi? Here is a thing, he never knew Izayoi but knew the hut had collapsed on his dad when Izayoi had escaped. What can a teen feel when they hear such a thing? 'That useless bitch, ran away when my dad was in danger and cost him his life. Fuck that bitch and that kid they made. Useless, all humans are useless and weak.' This was really where his hatred came from. Probably.

Kagome on the other hand from the beginning was shown as a selfless kid, who loved both humans and demons alike. Reason? She had never lived in the feudal era. She was a kid grown in a society where everyone is placed on a equal pedestal. How would she, a modern kid understand the bad blood between demons and humans? If she were ever born in Feudal Japan, would things have changed? Maybe. Then she falls into a world where nothing was similar to where she was from. She was frightened, unsure and confused. And then Inuyasha came into her life. Honestly their first meeting was not romantic and pretty terrific in a sense. That was a weird day for Kagome. She fell into an alien world only heard in fairy tales, got involved in a weird prophecy, learnt she was a mythical sort of being herself and then got attacked by a guy who had saved her only seconds before, all ready to rip her heart out. In such a case, the 'osuwari' was probably a safe word for her. Why she uses it later in the series? Probably because she never trusted Inuyasha and felt more comfortable using a word which gave her power over him. Honestly, what would you expect? Kisses and love showers?

Analysis: Kagome was still scared of Inuyasha for a long time and did not trust him completely.

Before Inu no Taisho's tomb battle

Kagome before this went home and then cane back because she felt that fixing the Shikon was her duty. More honestly, she just returned coz Yura attacked and she wanted her family to be safe. Here I want to take some time to gush over how cool Kagome is. Intelligent, smart and extremely powerful. How she understood that Yura's skull was her weakness and breaks the god forsaken thing with just an arrow. That is some level of OPness. Who says Kags is useless?

Anyways, after that when Inuyasha called her 'Kagome', a lot of the viewers thought that Kagome was ecstatic because it was romantic and she was in love. But that is bs. It is not possible to love someone a week later they tried to gut your heart out. It is masochistic and unreal. Kagome over here felt a sense of acceptance from a guy who she felt previously hated her enough to kill her. And that to Kagome was a sign of friendship and more like, 'don't worry, I am not at least gonna attempt to kill you anymore.'

Kagome, inheritently a person who gives a hand when given a finger. She accepts Inu as her friend and they were far from being lovers.

It is exactly this time that Sess attacks them. And quite cruely might I say. Bringing Inu's dead mom like that was not funny and Sess was an outright jerk for doing that no matter how much he hated Inu and Izayoi. He is all weird and sarcatic at high levels. And Kags hated him. She hated how he was attacking this one friend she had made in the era. She hated how cruel this bastard was and how much pain her friend was going through. And her own lovely bond with her brother did not help her to look into their complex brotherly bond which seemed to her more like some battle royale. She probaably hated the bitch for showing up and hurting her friend like that even when he, being the older brother should have loved his younger brother and nurtured him like she would do for Souta.

For Sess, it was really weird and shitty all over. A basic human bitch, standing behind Inu like she was weak fawn. Reminded him so much of Izayoi. Someone who never even tried saving his dad. That was why his sarcastic words were like, "Inuyasha, it suits you so much to have a human behind you". Ya and he was irritated by looking at how helpless af the bitch was. He was narcisstic, filipant of Kags presence and all around indifferent to a 'weak human filthy woman', who he felt was just like the one for whom his dad died.

Surprise is how he did not outright murder her. Perhaps he felt like they were worthless and beneath his boots.

Lol, these two are the best.

Inside Inu No Taisho's tomb

Kags was really angry with this bitch who just chained her up, clawed a pearl out of her friend's eye and then jumped into a black hole. That is why she followed with, "This sort of a person, with no blood or humanity in his veins, I cannot forgive him" and then she chased. Even Inu was like, WTF bro. It was fun. Then she spouted lines like, " Take the sword Inuyasha, it will be like a hit to his pride, what a shame!"

How tf did she know about how much his pride hurt him. Lol felt like Kags knew Sess more than Inu ever would and they only met. That was some soulmate level shit right there. Lol!

Then there was Sess who was outright dismissing Kags and she was not even a spec of dust in his eyes. Then she went and pulled that sword out. Remember the scene where he was so surprised that he stopped the battle with Inu and turned around and LOOKED. Like really LOOKED. It was such a heart stopping moment and for good measures as well. He saw a girl, a woman standing there, holding an inheritance which was supposed to be his and she did something he could not. Did Tessaiga accept her then, did his father accept her more than him? He was baffled, confused and low-key awed. That was why he said, "What are you?" And legit measured her top to bottom. That was some turning point for Sess. Something that proved to him that all humans cannot be dismissed. But he was in rage. How can a mere human be worthy of Tessaiga and melted her along with that sword. I wonder if it was his second test to see whether Tessaiga would protect her or not. And then it did!

Sess went ape-shit crazy after that. A sword he desired for so long (The sword used to protect Izayoi was a thorn in his heart. Made him feel like his father had chosen a human over him. But if the sword had accepted him, it would have proved that his dad had still loved him, thought of him). That was the significance of Tessaiga to him. Power sure, but more of an acceptance. His dad's acceptance. And then what happened? The sword preferred a human who then gave it to his damned hated brother.

Aftermath of tomb battle

Kagome never really liked Sess's guts and probably had no form of sympathy towards someone like him. On the other hand things picked up with her and Inu's relation. She came to know some facts about Kik. And her inferiority complex began with her incarnate. But having a part of Kik's soul in her, began her obsession with Inu. She strived to understand him, make a better person of himself. But their relation was still not there to lovers.

Then Sess came across Naraku. He probably just wanted to dick around more with Inu and accepted the human hand.

2nd battle for Tessaiga

Sess's desire to possess the Tessaiga had increased at this point. His rage of having his arm cut off by that sword felt like the worst rejection from his dad. He was going insane and might have wanted to kill Inu for real in this fight. He was in no mood for theatrics in this one, unlike the tomb where he actually watched some InuKag drama and even applauded (lol). He was absolute business this time. He snached the sword and showed Inu exactly why he should not get that sword, 'You cannot even make the wind rift, why should you be more worthy?'

He meant to kill Inu and then Kags arrow sailed in, charging with enough power to even cancel the demonic energy filled into the sword by Sess himself.

His thoughts were for the same reason, " She canceled Tessaiga's transformation? Who is this girl?"

His respect scale jumped for her here. He truly had never met anyone who could rival his power to such extent. He had never met a girl who stood so powerfully in face of danger to protect this some half-breed scum. She was like the embodiment of everything he had hoped Izayoi to be to his dad. A strong woman who would wager her life to save the one she holds dear. Sess had learnt this fact from his dad's death. To sacrifice in name of love and then in this fight he understood how much that meant both for Inuyasha and Kagome. He probably somewhat understood what this feeling was after seeing these two.

Sess had an idea of love and protection and Kags became its centre. She was this vague expectation Sess had of human love and an absolute loyalty towards whom you love most. He felt complicated towards her. He respected her.

3rd Tessaiga battle

Sess's most sceptical battle yet. Why break the tessaiga? 'I will break it if I can't have it!' Desperate much?. Then the wind drift appears and for the first time Sess acknowledges Inu. For maybe being a somewhat worthy of having Taisho's blood, only if a little bit. He is saved by Tenseiga. Oh, how he hated this worthless sword more. This sword could not cut throught things and saves his life. What a worthless shit.

Kagome's narrative here was important. "How can he weild the Tenseiga? He needs a compassionate heart for that." Always wondered why Kags was the one to say this. But realised the reason later on.

Rin

Obviously the most controversial topic of Inuverse. What Sess felt for Rin, why was she there.

Rin has often been compared to be the Kagome version of Sess. And that is the only truth. She came in like a ray of sunshine when he was in most need. He was in self doubt, hate towards Inu and complex emotions towards Kags. And then Rin was there with the exact same face and the same warm feeling like Kags. Even he knew what InuKag were to each other then and no matter how much he respected Kags, he was not really interested in a further relation with Kags. But his deeply unsated desire to understand his dad's mentality and reason behind saving a human was what made him think of Rin. As she was his chance to understand that. His chance to understand why his dad could do that, why Inu could do that and why humans like Kags and Rin could save and love demons. It was not romantic in any sense. He had a confusion and Rin was his way towards a solution. Though it was a different fact that he loved her later on and cherished and protected her. Enough to feel that there was no meaning to his anything if she was not there.

So yes in a way, she is Kags embodiment in Sess's life, a picture of Kags selfless love. His desire to truly understand such beings called selfless humans and the result of his single minded belief of human women being trash and unable to love shattering.

And for fun just to contradict Kags speculations, for first time ever, Sess uses the sword and we viewers realise how wrong Kags was. Sess had every bit of compassion in his heart.

Later events

The events went on with Kags finally understanding her position in Inu's life and her single-minded chase to be accepted by Inu as just Kagome and not Kikyo's reflection. I do not even know if this could be called love or just a misinterpreted need of attention from someone you hold dear. But whatever, we realise Kags is in love with Inu now and still cannot stop from feeling compassion towards Kikyo. Honestly she and Sess are truly two opposite sides of a spectrum.

Sess on the other hand gets Tokijin and attacks Inuyasha. This time around, I highly doubt he was still chasing Tessaiga. It had more evolved into his need to show he is more powerful than Inu. 'What you do best, I can do better.'

Stopping Inu from transforming

In this the most debatable question was whether he was there to stop Inu or not.

Sess had wanted to see and experiment the limits of Inu's blood beast.

After some fighting, Kags jumped in. Sess stared at her, like forever. That staring tho. Even when she was like, "Stay away, you idiot." Sess stared. For Sess, that was what he admired the most in Kags. Her selfless devotion. He was staring at that fearless figure who once again surprised him by being a sacrifice to save her loved ones. She was to Sess what he had always thought of 'love' to be. She was the embodiment of the term 'love' to Sess. For a guy who knew nothing of how to define emotions, it was Kags who showed him what love was. And thus he jumped over and over again in front of Rin to protect her. She taught him how to cherish even the even the most weak individual in a group, and thus he protected Jaken.

Rin was there to show him the same thing everyday. But no matter how much Rin showed him her own loyality, love and warmth, Kags always remained that shining beam to him. I will say later on how I understood this.

Kag's love was the validity of his dad's sacrifice. A way for him to make sense of his dad's mindless death over protecting some weak human.

And in this scene for the first time ever, Kags saw Sess as more than an insufferable pest to her friends. She saw his noble ideals and realised why he was there and thus she thought, "Was he here to save Inuyasha?"

It is very curious as to why Kags was again given these lines. It was probably because her opinion mattered, to Sess it did. And we will see more why in the future.

Random encounters

There was one time when Kags saw Rin while Jaken was trying to steal Tessaiga and she had asked herself, "Why is a little human girl traveling with Sess?' It was again a small thing which she did not need to feel but was very imp. for her development towards Sess. How she started to understand him more.

Kohaku incident

Here we saw how was the first time Sess listened to Kags.

Kags opinion mattered. Inu's mattered and when he realised that Kohaku was being used he let him go. There was one reason that he did not want to be used, the next I am sure was for Kags and Inu. He knew then that Kohaku was imp. to them and he stopped. Big character jump for him.

Then the most curious fact was how Kags knew what the girl meant to him, "Please let him go Sesshomaru, the girl is fine."

Kagome: Thanks Sesshomaru!

Sesshomaru: I just never wanted to be used by Naraku and fall into his trap.

Lol...

Then after Rin left, Kags thoughts about how she had left with Sess and was awed . An important point for her change in feelings towards Sess. She understood the guy was changing and Rin was changing him.

The fun fact was how she was instantly in love with this little girl and that would become important later on.

More random events..

After that it was shown that many times Kags was the only one who could stop a fight bet. the brothers. Example that time when he fought with Inu to get some direction for Naraku. And then Kags came and told him to go north or something and he was like, "That is all I wanted to know." And left.

What is to be seen in these parts is how RT made only him and her interact like this. He listening to her like they have been friends forever.

The saving of Kanta's father was also an example of how much she affected him.

Her plea to save Kanta's dad even when no one believed and no one bothered to ask him. Tensaiga moved because he felt deeply moved by her plea. He might have never wanted to voice it but since Tensaiga only worked when the weilder felt compassion and a need to save someone. Sess must have felt it subconsciously and Tensaiga had stired. Or it had stired because it is a SessKag shipper as well. Lol!

Mukotsu

I wonder how Sess knew Kags was in trouble. Another fun fact like how he appears at times when Inu is not there to save Kags. Sess is there. Probably he knew her scent too well and hence could even distinguish between that and the poison. After that was the gruesome death of Mukotsu. The thing to notice over her was how large Sess looked in that hut doorway, it was a symbolism to how big and huge his protective self looks when he is protecting Kagome. A very romantic thing indeed. The first time he protects someone who is not under his protection. A complete selfless act if considered from his pov. Sess being a very private person and while saving Kagome showed her place in his heart. Yeah and that was very visible from how he killed Mukotsu.

The takeaway from this episode is not this though. It was the fact that Kags defended Sess. For the first time ever, all the good deeds she had seen him doing had outplayed her hatred for him. She accepeted him as a friend with these words, "No Inuyasha, he was here to protect us, he saved us." It was a completely unnecessary detail in the whole scheme of this episode but very important for Sess. Her acceptance matters, her opinion matters and Sess is a Tsundere.

Sesshomaru: I did not save YOU, I just killed him coz he did not answer me properly.

This proved how much she affects him, rattles him and how much her life means to him. And an unspoken promise to himself to protect her when Inu was not around.

Fight with Shishinki

No one ever mentions this fight. But there is a very important SK interaction in here. Something which was important for Sess. Kagome's understanding.

When Sess was lost in the same darkness of never being accepted by his dad, Shishinki made things worse by saying Tenseiga was a cast out of Tessaiga and it was given as a leftover to Taisho's least fav. son. Sesshomaru was hurt, lost, and his daddy issues, his biggest weakness was sharply opened by a knife, cruely and Kagome's words saved him.

Kagome: But there might have been a reason their dad had done this.

Kags belief that Taisho had infact not rejected Sess was like a balm to his soul, the only thing he had needed to hear throughout his life. The thing which made him accept in the end that Tensaiga was there to protect Inuyasha, the thing that was needed to sort of activate Tessaiga and then he finally formed his biggest and truest meido. It was romantic, touching and outright heavenly. Then it was made cute with Inu's awkward concern. It was the best ep. as of yet.

Kagome's deep concern and her understanding of Sess's pain was brilliant and alien level insane. She should not have, but she did and that's why they felt more like soulmates.

Battle with Magatsuhi

Sess had gone batshit crazy when Magatsuhi had hurt Kagome and that had only been worsened by him questioning Sess's honor and pride. Sess had turned full on doggy mode and lost control in that way for the first time since the tomb. And the strike at Magatsuhi's eyes was another symbolism of his revenge for doing shit to Kags eyes and mindfucking her.

RT has always thrown these small hints in between IK drama. Which are brilliant and lovely. Even that one scene where he stands protectively inbetween Kags prostrate body on Kilala and Magatsuhi. Beautiful symbolism, really.

It was also fun to see how Kags half power was sealed by Magatsuhi and Sess's half power was returned via Bakusaiga. I felt that Sess's true acceptance of his protection to Kagome and his detachment from Tessaiga was what made him the true daiyokai and surpass his father. Since somehow Tessaiga has always been linked to protecting Kagome and somehow protecting her might have also been the thing to finding Bakusaiga. The desire to protect her perhaps.

Soul mate mind link theatrics

This is something only some people realise. Sesshomaru and Kagome have been shown not once, but twice to be doing this. Once while fighting for Kohaku's life and the last shard and the other in Naraku's body. Kagome and Sesshomaru had been shown to think in absolute synchronisation. He thinks half the sentence, she completes the rest. Absolute soul mate shit.

SessKag power combo

Shown a lot of time in Inuverse. Sess attacks and Kags completes. A small thing but their timing is insane. And is defintely the best power combo, far better than an InuKag combo.

Fight in Naraku's body

This was the time when Sess finally shows what Kagome means to him. Where she stands and how much he cares for her. She is his FIRST priority. Proof? When Rin and she are in simultaneous danger, he stands there infront of Kags for God knows how long, removing those snake things like he had all the time in the world and once she is awake he is concerned about her well being.

Sess: Those wounds, are those Inuyasha's doing?

And his disappointment in Inuyasha not being able to protect Kags.

Sess: As expected of a half-demon. He lost himself in the bloodlust.

Kags obviously considered Sess to be a friend at this point. A very close friend at that. Family perhaps? Their familiarity here was not missed by anyone. Her defending Inu and then still prioritising Rin over Inu were only somethings we realised this chapter.

The most important was her belief in him.

Manga exclusive,

Kags: I believe that you would be able to do it. Do not fall into Naraku's trap and play his cards that is what he wants. Only you can do this, I know.

Wow, Kags wow...just wow... It is the best actually. She does not believe Inu in this situation but she does Sess. She believes in his protection and she knows her influence on him. This speaks volumes. This shows her unreal connection to him and how they match each other instinctively.

Sess knows her influence. This is his weakness.

The mokomoko scene was truly Sesshomaru's best confession. For him who cannot say much in words, allowed her to fly on mokomoko. Something which everyone of us know has a heavy weightage for Sesshomaru. It is his weapon, his forever companion and his support when he is injured and tired. Offering such a thing to her for whatever reason was truly his way of showing what he exactly feels for her. He cherishes her the most and I could say even more than Rin. Trusts her the most and would jump in front of danger to protect her.

Which is only seen more when he asks her to stay away from the fight because she would be a 'hinderance'. Which means he could not fight if she is in the middle. He would be vulnerable and weak. Intersting, very interesting. Another time where he stood between her and a dangerous blood beast that Inu had become.

The best part was truly him getting concerned when she fell down from the top while removing Tessaiga and then when Magatsuhi tried to possess her.

His anger was so vibrant. "Get away from her!"

What a brilliant thing to say. The possessiveness. The will to protect her. The absolute anger. Brilliant. So much was spoken in those lines.

The best ending though was the SessKag power combo of Bakusaiga and holy arrow. Best ending. Inu was not even much involved in ending Naraku. It was weird how the titular character failed in finishing the main villain with his meido. Shows a lot what SessKag meant to RT.

Big brother

Yes, the iconic scene where fans of all ships shout out that SK is not a romantic ship.

Well over here I want to say that Kagome truly saw Sess as a big brother figure at this point. Part of it was because she still felt that she was in love with Inu and part because she was not receptive to her reactions to Sess and what he truly meant to her at this point. She feels an intimate connection to him but cannot justify the weirdness because she still feels a closeness to Inu so she thinks of him as big brother. Which was a very intimate thing for Kagome to say. She loves him like family and clearly places him higher than the rest of her friends only second to Inu. That was more of a declaring her closeness to Sess rather than a confirmation of her and Inu's relationship. Kags is not a vain character who does things coz they are convinient. She would not call a friend if they are not a friend. And certainly not a big brother if she does not feel so.

Sess actually was relieved, ecsatatic and happy when Jaken informed hin of Kags arrival as was seen in his expression. Very funny actually. Because next second he was called big brother and he was hilariously ticked off. He could not believe what he was being called. Lol that interaction though. It showed how close they ended up being. Even more close than he was to his own brother.

But he accepted the title even if with much pain in his neck and then was really offended when Jaken badmouthed Kagome.

Conclusion: No one badmouths Kagome.

Haaha....end of this long analysis. I tried to analyse it from the character's pov and found some interesting small tidbits and detail that RT had hidden in this story.

Thus I felt that SK would be a more natural ship maybe not outright. Since Sess loves her truly but does not understand the nature of the relation and Kags is still too much blinded by Inu filter a.t.m. Maybe given years when Kags will realise exactly what sort of love she feels for Inu. Which will happen because such a toxic relation like IK should not exist and then she will probably see Sess's love for her.

My Conclusion: SK is a defintive. It will happen with some time and care. When both would mature. But it will happen for sure. All the ingredients are there, the stage has been set just the players have to realise what they feel for each other.

[bluexiao]

what's your opinion on inazuma archon quests and characters? personally, i feel that it's rushed and the quality in writing has decreased compared to liyue and mond. when i started playing genshin i rushed through the archon quests in mond and liyue but still felt like the pace was good. but in inazuma, even when there were waiting gaps between updates in the archon quests, it still felt lacking. plus, i feel like mhy's trying so hard to force characters in inazuma to like the traveler so much. there's a voiceline of ei where she tells traveler she fears what happened 500 years ago, then she says that if traveler was there then perhaps the traveler could have saved everyone or something along that line. and i'm just there thinking like, yeah, the traveler helped inazuma, but ei barely knows us plus she's an archon so i don't think she should be saying such things so lightly? idk if it's just me but mhy's just trying too hard to make everyone practically fall in love with the traveler

hello there! i apologize for the late response but i think i stated my response to the archon quests before but ok lemme say this in one whole post (i’m gonna use they/them for traveler)

(will have 2.1 and 2.2 spoilers)

personally, i enjoyed the 2.1 archon quests; act 1 and 2. the pacing was good, and so is the way traveler acted in most of it. i remembered loving how the traveler had attitude more than they did in mond and liyue quests. but on the last part of act 2, i felt off when they suddenly wanted to join the resistance. by then, i knew that this was gonna be rushed and circle back onto what they were in mond and liyue archon quest.

a very long review utc

first issue: the traveler

the traveler (our) goal was to find their sibling, but then they were now willing to go to war to a literal god just because of what happened? i get the fact that what raiden was doing was wrong, but it showed how traveler will resolve to violence instead of trying to find a way to talk to raiden first. 

now, going to 2.2, it seems like that goal to find their sibling was in the back of their mind because why in the world did they not question ei about it? 

second issue: traveler is the “savior” and “fixer of everything”

aren’t they supposed to be wary? why in the world would they trust someone who doesn’t dress like them, doesn’t talk like them, and doesn’t seem like a mortal at all? even mond and liyue was wary of the traveler, but in inazuma, like you, nonnie, said, they relied on the traveler TOO MUCH. i get that most of them are in great peril and all, but have ayaka done something other than give “missions” to the traveler? she did not even fight the shogun. i get that her family name is in line, but would you rather have a traveler die for you, then? 

as for the ei issue, i think it might be because she trusts traveler too much because of their power and prowess, i think that’s how ei judges people, and she does not trust a lot either, so maybe that shows that her issue might be in dependency than ayaka and the others. still, i can’t say it’s good too. 

third issue: the disaster that is act 3

wtf was in 2.2? we got to know ayaka and even had more time with yoimiya than with kokomi who surely should play a more important role than either the two. kujou sara even had more screentime?? it’s obvious they rushed that first part and not just the last one. 

speaking of the last part, why was “restoration” just a fucking cutscene? do you think people forgive that easily? my point, it is not realistic. even kokomi’s story quest had more info than in the archon quest cut scene, besides, they only showed the positive side, what happened to those who had gotten their visions? were they retrieved? were they able to remember again? to regain their ambition? well who tf knows because there are no guarantees at all!

am i mad? of course i am. act 1 and act 2 had a very nice pacing and it all went down in act 3 where literally everything was rushed. too many plot holes, too many questions. and traveler did not even get to question ei and only got to do that with miko! unlike the previous story quests. ei is the one who traveler had traveled for, why is it a good idea to ask the friend and not the god herself? 

so disappointed, that’s all. i digress. if i remember something i might rb this or so but these are all my thoughts and criticisms! i don’t hate everything, i enjoyed it! it’s honestly just a waste since as a writer myself, i feel like the characters did not get what they deserved (good or not). 

[jadespadegames]

5 and/or 7 for the writer ask?? :0

Cass bless you for asking aaa

(Fic ask game)

5: Share a snippet that you’re proud of from an upcoming fic/chapter.

DAMN CASS YOU REALLY WANT A THV PREVIEW SNIPPET HUH

(For those who don't know, I am rebooting my fanfic, more info in my pinned post.)

PLEASE DON'T COUNT ON THIS SCENE STAYING THE SAME IN THE FINAL PRODUCT BUT ANYWAY CRINGE PARAGRAPHS FROM MY FAIL WRITING

MonoWither backed away from the throne as three ghostly vexes, which looked like smaller versions of Yingzhe with dragon wings, flew in front of them.

"Careful there!!!" MonoWither cried out as the vexes pointed sharp swords at them. "Remember the rule about no violence against the show's hosts?! You're getting really close to breaking it!"

"I DON'T CARE!!!" Yingzhe glared up at the machine, burning hatred in his eyes.

7: Were there any ideas you had for [insert fic] that you couldn’t make work? What were they?

I'm just gonna answer this for Withering Hope, but there were so many scrapped ideas that I can't possibly remember them all. However, I am happy to say that I have actually figured out how to write some of the ideas that I previously gave up on into THV!

(Withering Hope/The Hopeless Void spoilers in the Read More)

I had a lot of ideas for the third case to try and make things more complicated. I originally had Ashley be the one they found unconscious in the cello case instead of Jordan (she knocked herself out to seem innocent), but I couldn't figure out how to actually make that work. I also wanted Ashley to frame Annie for her crime, but that didn't end up happening partly because I forgot about that idea until later but also because I couldn't figure out how Ashley would be able to do that.

I wanted Ashley to have a flashback to her childhood with Bodil where they played in the snow, prompting her to start deliriously making snow angels until the avalanche buries her, but since the story was strictly told from Seto's POV for the most part I had to scrap it. In hindsight though, I feel like her canon final moments where she just stared up at the avalanche coming her way were a lot more realistic, so I don't really regret having to scrap this one.

I thought I would use the incinerator more in the cases (especially the third one), but I ended up not really needing it past the first case.

CODIE was going to just straight up die in the fifth part, but then in the sixth part I realized that I still needed that boi for clues so I had to bring him back 😭

Later on in the story, I had a lot of second thoughts about killing off Jason. I guess I got a lot more attached to him than I thought I would? It might be because in the very beginning, back when I didn't really have a good grasp of the characters, I had considered him to be more of an asshole after Husky died. (Or at least, not as likable as he ended up being.) Ultimately, I stuck to my guns and killed him off. Wish he could've lived, but I have a story to write and I can't afford to show mercy-

At some point, I wanted a scene where Seto saves someone from an execution??? I definitely wasn't able to fit that anywhere in the plot though lmao

There have been so many scrapped ideas for the ending of WH, but I can't describe any of them because obvious spoilers. Even now, I'm still reworking stuff for THV's ending. Endings are so hard jesus

The original epilogue that I wrote very early on was ultimately scrapped. I might rework elements of it into THV's ending, but we'll see. It makes me sad because I really liked it, but I made a lot of changes to the ending that rendered said scene unable to occur.

ONE ending that I briefly considered in my writing midlife crisis was this really stupid ending where it turns out that everyone was just brainwashed into believing the Minecraft VR they were trapped in was their reality 😭 Can you imagine if that actually was canon I think that would be the dumbest thing in eternity holy shit

In Part 04, I wanted Bart and Dave to actually hide the evidence that showed Steven was the killer. Ultimately I scrapped this because I didn't need them to do this, nor was there much evidence for them to hide in the actual murder anyway.

Everyone other than Tyler and Seto was going to have badass fighting moments against the robots when they all went to rescue the two, but I got way too lazy in the end. Plus, it would've probably ruined the pacing. (That's what I'm telling myself, at least.)

Thought about having Tyler kiss Seto in Part 05 before Seto went to spy on the Puppetmaster. Ultimately I thought that was way too cheesy and would distract from the moment.

I swear Sky's amulet was supposed to show up a lot more, but I kept forgetting about it. That probably describes a lot of scrapped ideas that I'm not recalling.

There were... a lot of YouTubers that I wanted to have in WH. I am so glad that some of them didn't make the cut because of shit that was uncovered about them-

Uhhh I can't think of anything else. This ended up being a lot longer than I expected, god I love to ramble I'm so sorry

Finally, here are two more scrapped ideas, but they need a suicide trigger warning. You don't need to keep reading if you don't want to. (If you did read this far, thanks so much hghhgkdgmd).

(Suicide tw ahead)

Had an idea where Bodil would try to kill himself in Part 04 but proceed to fail and Yingzhe would save him??? It ultimately didn't fit the pacing/tone I was going for so I tossed that one.

Jordan was also going to attempt suicide by jumping off a ledge, only for Steven to grab his arm. However, Steven wouldn't be able to pull Jordan up, resulting in him accidentally letting go and "killing" Jordan. Scrapped this one because how tf was MonoWither supposed to manipulate that specific scenario into happening for sure??? It was also a lot harder to connect that back to Steven being a spy.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

TWDG: The Final Season | Character Discussion | 1/2

Part 1 | Part 2

“Everyone’s counting on me to step up. Be the leader they need me to be... I really want to be that for them.”  

So.... let’s talk about Marlon. 

I mean, let’s really talk about him. Ever since I started this blog, some common questions I get revolve around Marlon- “How do you feel about Marlon?” “Do you think he deserved a redemption arc?” “Why do you think he was sent to Ericson?” “In your opinion, is Marlon a bad person?” and many others. 

Some ask with expectations that I’ll express a distaste or hatred for him, while others ask with a more sympathetic approach. If you know me, if you’ve been here for a while, then you know that I do indeed like Marlon as a character, and today I want to talk about him from my perspective while playing this game. 

And with that comes a seemingly unnecessary disclaimer, but one I feel I need to add in order to make it abundantly clear: I will be discussing MY thoughts, experiences, and feelings about Marlon within TFS and give my take on his character. Because we’re not the same person, you may have a different opinion or perspective on his character, you may disagree with something I say, and that’s perfectly okay. You’re entitled to your opinion as I am mine, and I do encourage you to join in on the discussion and express your thoughts about Marlon, but I also want to let you know that you can do that without attacking me or anyone else. 

Really, this is pretty much me looking at Marlon’s role and arc within TFS, discussing points of his character that I find interesting, exploring the why’s and how’s of his actions, maybe coming up with a couple theories as to why he was sent to Ericson, and basically giving a lot of personal opinions of him. It’s a discussion meant in good fun, that’s all I’m saying. 

Before we dive right in, I do want to thank @pi-creates​ for providing me with most of the screenshots used in this. I appreciate the help! If you haven’t already, go check out Pi’s blog for some of the best screenshots and model swaps in the TWDG community! Thank you, thank you!

[First and foremost, y’all are sleeping on Ray Chase’s performance as Marlon and it really shows]

“Looks like I was announced as Marlon, the central focus in this first episode of The Walking Dead Season 4 coming in a few weeks. I've been playing this series since the beginning, and it was a real honor to be a part of the canon. I hope you enjoy!“ - Ray Chase’s Twitter account | July 26, 2018

I want to start this off with praising Marlon’s voice actor, Ray Chase, for doing such a perfect job of bringing Marlon’s character to life. Every emotion and infliction feels genuine, and there’s isn’t a single moment where I don’t “see” Marlon, y’know? I mean that in the sense that every line delivered is believable and doesn’t break my immersion with, “Oof, they really used that take?” 

I know we throw praise upon Melissa, Tayla, Sterling, and Gideon [and for good reason, they’re all fantastic, too!] but even with them there are a couple of lines that I notice have a lack of flow or sound just a bit off. I’ve played TFS how many times? And not once have I had that issue with Ray Chase as Marlon, so bravo to this man. Credit where credit is due, his performance is damn near flawless.

Especially in the confrontation scene at the end of Done Running. I’ll get into that scene as a whole later, but just looking at the performance and the intense, impactful emotion brought to that scene, just..... *chef kiss*

Thank you, Ray Chase. 

[What’s up with your haircut, Marlon?]

“Uh, I look cool... I say, I look cool.”

Lemme talk a little bit about Marlon’s design- I think he looks great. 

I love the little details in the Ericson varsity jacket he wears... including the fact that it looks just a tad bit too snug on him. Like, either the boy doesn’t have another jacket or he’s grown so attached to this one that he’s not willing to admit that he’s outgrown it a bit. 

I’ve had a lot of people point out that it’s nice to see a teenage character in these games with actual acne since most media pretends that acne just doesn’t exist, and I agree. We all know that if this were more realistic, then everyone would have terrible, greasy, dirty skin but... y’know. 

And y’know what? I like the mullet! It’s unique! And I choose to believe it’s a representation of Marlon’s past with bad decisions he’s too stubborn to admit were bad decisions... I mean, he’s had it since he was a kid and hadn’t grown it out or cut it off [to our knowledge, I suppose] sooo... there’s that. 

Or maybe he does actually think it looks badass. Either way. 

Hell, my biggest complaint about Marlon’s design is that I wish they kept more to this concept art attire:

Because Marlon looks super good in this concept art. I love the headband with the mullet and his clothes actually look more comfortable... but like, it’s fine. He still looks great in the game, his little jacket’s cool, bringing back the mullet...its fine. I’m just sayin’. He looks great. 

[Marlon’s introduction in TFS]

“It's our little kingdom. I just do what I can to keep the peace. Wasn't always like this, though. There used to be a lot of us, but...you know how it goes.”

Let’s talk about how Marlon’s introduced. 

We get our first look at him after Clementine and AJ crash their car during the walker attack. A bunch of arrows come flying, hitting walkers attempting to get ahold of them, and as Clementine glances over she sees a figure pulling AJ out of the car. And even though you can tell it’s Marlon, this closer shot from Pi-

-100% confirms that it’s him. Not that you had any doubt, but still.

What’s interesting, though, is that while snooping around for some insight about Marlon from the writers/devs, wandering around reddit, replaying the game myself, and even glancing over the all-knowing wiki that’s never wrong ever, it seems agreed upon that Marlon wasn’t alone, despite no one else being specifically mentioned to have helped Clementine and AJ. 

Which makes sense that that’d be the case, but I did come across a handful of people who are pretty adamant that he was alone, which is an interesting take, though I disagree.

I’m pretty sure most people do, too. I mean, Marlon says, “It's good we found you when we did. It wasn't easy getting you two out of that wreck, and walkers were on the way.” So I don’t even think that was the writers’ intention of it being solely Marlon who saved them.

What’s funny is I came across a post Instagram [I know, the most legitimate source for info and thoughtful opinions] that was surprisingly trying to redeem/defend Marlon rather than chastise him by claiming he’s a hero who saved Clementine and AJ by himself. 

The thing is, they’re both unconscious after the wreck, so unless Marlon has super-human speed to grab AJ, zip around the car to grab Clementine, and then uses super-human strength to carry both of them AND their belongings all while killing any threatening walkers coming after them with his bow... I’m gonna have to press [X] Doubt. 

Besides, I like the idea of it being vague. I like to think that was the intention. “Who was Marlon with? A hunting party! You fill in the blanks!” That sort of deal.

With everything that we know about Marlon and the safe-zone, it does lead to questions about why he and whoever felt they had to go outside it to see what was happening. Marlon points out in his conversation with Clementine that they “had to work fast. I don't know what would've happened if we hadn't seen the smoke...” And later Violet mentions an explosion, so I think it’s safe to say that they heard the explosion and followed the smoke to the location. 

If you don’t know about the raiders and the twins [like it’s your first time playing] then you probably assume that Marlon and his group were being kind in rescuing them, which I don’t doubt but it does make you wonder about things from Marlon’s perspective, y’know?

This is one of those “shhh, don’t think, just go with it” moments. If I had to give a reason, I’d say that the group he was with didn’t think twice about checking it out and even if Marlon did protest, he didn’t have much choice but to follow. Then, seeing that it’s Clementine and AJ, I believe he genuinely wanted to save them. 

“All alone with the kid? Not a pleasant thought. I've seen some rough scenes. But that one would've been up there.”

We get our second and more official introduction to Marlon after Clementine escapes her dorm and confronts Tenn... and it’s pretty fucking good. I mean, everything from him being hidden in the shadows with his bow drawn, to the clear concern yet sternness in his voice as he assures Clementine they’re not going to hurt her and to put the knife down, to his sympathetic apology for scaring her is just an A+. 

One thing this season does exceptionally well is introducing its characters. Marlon has such a confident yet chill way about him when you first meet that it’s actually disheartening to think that in two hours he’s gonna be pulling a gun and MURDER....

Sigh. 

Let’s not jump that far ahead yet. I’m not ready. 

What I find appealing about this next part is Clementine’s reaction to seeing the inside of Ericson for the first time and how taken aback she seems by it. I also love how easy and comfortable it is to talk with Marlon as they’re walking through the yard even though we just met him. 

I enjoy that you can tell he’s trying to get a better idea of who she is without pressuring or overwhelming her and doing his best not to offend. And even when Clementine questions if he doesn’t think she can handle herself, he’s decent about apologizing and explaining that’s not what he meant. But he’s also not afraid to be upfront about AJ’s behavior since they brought him here, either.

He does come off as annoyed when talking about AJ being a handful. We don’t know how long Clementine’s been passed out or how long they had to deal with AJ after he woke up, so who knows how much of a little terror AJ was before they either dumped him with Louis or Louis decided to take him to the music room to chill... where he then bit Ruby. 

Anyway, the first impression I got of Marlon is that he’s genuinely friendly, trying to help Clementine and AJ even if AJ’s been a nuisance, and he’s confident in the system he has in place for them. He is rather forward and proud about being the school’s leader when first telling Clementine. 

Having played through the whole season several times and knowing how Done Running ends, it’s interesting to look at Clementine’s first conversation with Marlon with that all knowing perspective- knowing what he did to the twins, knowing that Brody’s involved and that Marlon’s going to eventually kill her, going to try and frame Clementine for the murder, knowing that he was planning on giving Clementine and AJ away...

I can definitely look at this conversation with a more skeptical lens and say he’s more so trying to sell the idea that he has everything under control in this kingdom for kids and he’s a proper leader with a system in place despite being so young with no adults around. But hey, that’s the natural progression- Ericson is a perfectly chill safe haven and the Ericson crew get along swell... except no, the cracks slowly begin to surface as the episode goes on until all hell breaks loose with Marlon at the center. 

[Rosie is best girl]

“You said dogs brought back bad memories. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were so scared of them. But I swear, Rosie's not as frightening as she seems...See? She's harmless. She just needs to get to know you, is all. Here. I'll show you. Do you trust me? “

I’ll be completely honest- the thing that initially sold me on trusting Marlon the first time I ever played this episode was his relationship with Rosie. 

If you know me, then you know that I love dogs. I have a pup named Piglet that I adore, I’ve grown up with dogs my whole life, and I have a huge appreciation and soft spot for animals.  I’m one of those people that can’t stand others who are mean or cruel to harmless animals. It’s different if you’re hunting for food or if an animal attacks you and you’re defending yourself... but I’ve known people who have gone out of their way to hurt animals. I’m out in a country area with a lot of dangerous roads for wandering animals, and the amount of people I’ve driven with who’ll swerve to hit a squirrel, a cat, a dog because they enjoy it is too many. After those incidents, I cut those people out of my life.  If you don’t have that love and appreciation in your heart, then I want nothing to do with you. 

So when I saw that Rosie, while the school’s dog, is more portrayed to be Marlon’s dog above everyone else, I remember thinking to myself, “Okay, I trust him. He clearly loves this dog, wouldn’t mistreat her, and that’s a step in the right direction.”  

While I wasn’t skeptical of him and his intentions before, it really was that natural relationship he held with Rosie that kind of sealed the deal for me- “I like Marlon! He’s probably going to die because he’s the leader and they never last but when it does happen, I’m gonna be super upset about it.” 

And well, to be fair... I was super upset when he died, just more so than I originally planned because there was also that element of betrayal mixed into the pain, y’know? 

Speaking of trust and Rosie- My second favorite Marlon scene is the office scene. But let’s talk about the Rosie bit specifically. After Tenn leaves and Rosie comes in, she scares Clementine and brings back those traumatic memories of when Sam attacked her. 

Marlon comes in and cools the situation, and I love the way he talks to Clementine in this moment. 

I love that he doesn’t immediately turn to Clementine like, “What’d you do?” but recognizes that she’s afraid of Rosie due to her previous experience, one that he remembers her mentioning. He also knows how well trained Rosie is to recognize scents and people, which explains why she’s behaving that way- she doesn’t know Clementine. 

I feel like I’m using this word a lot, but Marlon’s approach to helping Clementine with her fear of dogs feels so genuine. He holds his hand out and waits for her to accept, and if she does, he walks Clementine through what to do, beginning Clementine’s bond with Rosie. 

“Get down on her level. Let her get your scent. It's okay. She's not gonna hurt you.”

It’s incredibly sweet and humanizing to see Marlon like this. 

The best part about this scene, though, is that you can reject Marlon’s offer and he won’t be upset. 

“No problem. I'm not gonna pressure you.”

And he doesn’t. He doesn’t get annoyed, he doesn’t press, no questions asked, and he doesn’t say anything to make Clementine feel bad for her decision. He respects that she isn’t ready to get close with Rosie.

The reason I love this is because how many times have we made decisions in this game, big and small, and had the other characters get annoyed or try to guilt us? “Oh, you don’t want to bond with the dog? Rosie’s the best, everyone loves dogs! What’s wrong with you?” None of that here. That’s something I appreciate about Marlon in this moment. 

It shows that when he wants to, he can listen and understand those around him... something he clearly struggles with when it comes to certain members of Ericson.

I’ll swing back around and talk about that entire scene in a bit, but one last thing about Rosie... can I just say how heart breaking it is to hear her whine at Marlon’s funeral? Solidifying that she was definitely Marlon’s dog more than anyone else’s? And the way Rosie lays on his grave several times in episode 2? 

Oof. 

[Ericson’s perception of Marlon prior to the final confrontation and after]

“...when the world went to shit, he bailed. All the other adults did. Left us behind to fend for ourselves...  Now it's just us kids left.”

I want to touch on how the Ericson crew seem to view Marlon as a leader before and after the final confrontation.

When looking at and discussing a character, it’s important to not just focus solely on them. You can gather a lot about a character based on how others respond and perceive them.

Not everyone expresses something towards Marlon within Done Running. Y’know, like Omar or Ruby, for example. Though we do get a bit more from them after Marlon’s death, their perception of him is different now that they’ve learned what he’s done and witnessed his murder.

So we don’t know how Ruby, Omar, Willy or Mitch viewed his leadership prior to those events, y’know? It’s safe to assume that they’re fine following him as a leader since they’re background characters at this point and make no objections to his leadership at any time before the confrontation. But, after learning the truth, they turned against him. 

Then things get complicated when Marlon’s murder traumatizes them. 

What a mess.

But for this section, there are two characters I want to get into specifics about. They’re worth talking about because they further Marlon’s character, but they’re not the most important, y’know? Characters like Louis, Tenn, and Brody will get their own sections. 

The one I find most interesting among side characters is Aasim. Right off the bat, you get a feel for what his relationship is like with Marlon:

Marlon: “How'd it go out there?”

Aasim: “How do you think it went?”

Brody: “Be nice, Aasim.”

Aasim: “The safe zone's nearly dry. I could barely find enough for tonight. We're gonna have to scout out further if we want food for the winter.”

Marlon: “We'll talk about it later.”

Aasim: “Bullshit, we should talk about this right now-”

Marlon: “I said later, damn it!”

So... they’re not exactly besties. The game makes a clear point that Aasim is more vocal in his disagreements and concerns towards Marlon than the others. They even reiterate it when you talk with him later:

“He keeps pulling back the safe zone. We have fewer and fewer places to hunt. Which means we're gonna have fewer and fewer things to eat.”

No one else opposes Marlon like he does, not counting Brody in the basement since that’s a whole other thing and Brody will get an entire segment to herself later.

It’s pretty clear that this isn’t the first time they’ve had this conversation, but because Marlon’s in a place of power, Aasim doesn’t have much choice but to go along with it. Because no one else is speaking up, he doesn’t have anyone to back him up, and you can tell he goes with it reluctantly. He also voices annoyances when it comes to how Marlon treats Louis if you go hunting.

Knowing this, you can infer that Marlon doesn’t want to hear what Aasim has to say, and he doesn’t appreciate someone questioning his leadership. When Aasim steps in Marlon’s path and says, “Bullshit, we should talk about this right now-” what does Marlon do?

He shoves his shoulder into Aasim’s as he pushes past, and in a louder, commanding tone, replies, “I said later, damn it!” which leads to Aasim glaring after him... but he doesn’t pursue. Marlon has a hard time with someone like Aasim and his response is to shut him down rather than stop, listen to his concerns, and address them.

That’s something Marlon struggles with as a leader- control and listening. Control over his temper and anger, listening and addressing the concerns of the people he swears to protect.

The reason I bring this up is because Aasim is our first indication that the image Marlon was giving off previously isn’t as spotless as he wants us to believe. Aasim plants a seed of doubt, y’know? He gives an argument that the player can get behind.

“Yeah, why not extend the safe zone? If food is really as bad as you say it is, then what other choice is there? Just be extra cautious so no one gets hurt,” which can then lead to thinking, “Why is Marlon so insistent about the safe zone? Is he hiding something?”

Once that seed is there, it grows.

Now as for how Aasim’s view of Marlon changes during and after the confrontation, you can see that he’s one of the few that wants to hear Clementine’s side to things, and he steps forward after Louis/Violet intervenes.

Then after Marlon dies, Aasim is... well, he’s rather neutral? And I say that meaning he’s more in a middle ground between Louis and Violet, who are on extreme opposite ends. Aasim isn’t okay with Marlon’s death, nor is he okay with AJ killing him, but he can see that kicking Clementine and AJ out isn’t the best solution. Hence why he voted for them to stay.

You can see he’s still angry at Marlon for what he did during the funeral scene, but the game doesn’t care to show more beyond that. Which, in my opinion, was a missed opportunity on their part.  

And because I’m me, I also want to add that this perfectly sets up the idea of Aasim taking over once Marlon died and the writers shot themselves in the foot for wasting him like that. Good job.

Now let’s talk about Violet. People love when I do that.

Marlon and Violet don’t interact too much prior to the confrontation. The most we see them together is during the card game, and they’re chill. Violet makes fun of his hair, he says he looks cool, they’re decent to each other, it’s all good. They’re on friendly terms. 

Which I do find it interesting that she seems like she’s chill with Marlon, but she has such a hard time with Brody. Granted, that’s because she was supposed to go with them but asked Brody to cover her, and then when the twins died, she felt guilty. But you’d think that she’d also have some issues with Marlon, given that he was also there and, like Brody, unable to save them.

You could argue that because Violet and Brody were friends before it had a stronger effect, whereas she and Marlon weren’t ever that close, so it didn’t strike as bad, y’know? 

Though this does kind of get explained later if you choose to stick with Violet through ep4. Well, sort of? A little? She tells you:

Violet: “...I remember how Marlon described it, what we were gonna turn Ericson into. It's not the way any of us pictured it.”

Clementine: “How did you picture it?”

Violet: “I guess I couldn't. I just listened to what Marlon said. How it would be a home, a real one. But I couldn't really wrap my head around it.”

And when she talks about people who cared about her that she pushed away, she does list Marlon as one of those people, which is super interesting given all the loathing she’s done towards him after the truth came out.

It could be that in the past, she saw Marlon as the leader and why would he lie? He’s the one who stepped up, promised that they’d made Ericson into something special, into a brand new home... what reason does she have to distrust him?

So when she finds out the truth... well, that betrayal completely shatters everything she has for Marlon, going as far as for her to believe that AJ was justified in what he did and shit talking Marlon in front of his mourning best friend. 

So her reaction to Marlon after this makes sense, but what does this tell us about Marlon himself?

Again, depending on how you view him, you can look at this idea of Marlon being kind to Violet and them being on friendly terms after what happened to the twins a few different ways- Marlon was manipulating Violet solely for his sake, or Marlon felt guilty that something he did hurt her this bad and tried to make Violet feel better, or both.

I think it was both. After the twins died, we all know the amount of guilt Marlon carried with him, so having to be confronted with the fallout of that in the form of someone like Violet... he had to be careful. I don’t doubt that he cared about Violet or that he tried to reach out to her, but he also had to protect himself for the sake of maintaining his leadership and control of Ericson. So, of course, he had to lie to her which manipulated her feelings about him and the situation. 

I believe Violet recognized it, too. When she says they should’ve asked more questions about what happened, I think that’s her being more pissed with herself for trusting Marlon and not questioning him further, for taking his word for it. 

I’ve come across theories suggesting that Marlon actually manipulated Violet into placing blame onto Brody rather than him, which is why she is on friendly terms with him but not so much Brody. And that’s a valid interpretation. There isn’t any solid evidence of this within the game to suggest either way, but I can definitely see how someone would come to that conclusion. Especially after the confrontation.

Now let’s touch on Violet if you appeal to her, because Marlon does something that makes me go “Hmmmm...”

Clementine, when she appeals to Violet, say, “Violet you have to believe me.”

To which, Marlon immediately steps in and says, “You don't. You met her, like, two days ago!”

He doesn’t even give her a chance to speak. 

With Louis, he’s so overly confident that he has him completely wrapped around his finger that he doesn’t feel the need to say anything. He feels he has control over Louis. But with Violet, he feels his control might not be as strong, so he needs to remind her that she just met Clementine, whereas she’s known him for years- something he uses against the whole group.

And when Clementine tries to talk to her, Marlon takes a low blow and it’s super shitty.

“Don't let her get in your head. Hey, what would Minnie want you to do? She was my friend, too. So was Brody.”

He’s desperate to crawl out of the grave this situation has put him in that he’s willing to go this low, doing everything he can to make sure Violet doubts Clementine... and y’know, whose to say this is the first time Marlon is using Minnie to manipulate her? And when it doesn’t work, he gets frustrated like “Violet being difficult. Why am I not surprised?” which could suggest that it hasn’t always worked. 

It goes back to what I was saying- Marlon tried to get close to Violet and she never let him. She was difficult to be around after the twins died due to her grief and Marlon struggled with that. 

When he finally comes clean, this is where the real shift happens with him and Violet. You can see the hatred burning on her face every time the camera pans over to her now that she’s felt betrayed by him and his actions. 

Right before Marlon dies, if you choose to say nothing, Violet will step forward and start saying that he doesn’t get to stay, but gets cut off when AJ shoots him. 

All in all, Violet is a big case against Marlon and a showcase of how far his manipulation as gone within Ericson.

[Marlon’s office and foreshadowing of motivations]

“Whenever someone goes outside the safe zone, bad shit happens. People die or disappear. I just... I could really use the help, Clementine. Taking care of these kids, it's not easy. I'm worried that if I don't figure something out, if...if I don't fix our food situation... I can't lose anyone else. We've already lost so much. Friends, siblings... I can't let another kid die. It could break us.”

Swinging back around, let’s talk about the rest of the scene in the office. 

First off- it’s implied that Marlon uses the office as a bedroom given the mattress on the floor and some of his personal belongs laying about. Like the photo he keeps of him and Louis. 

The bed isn’t for Rosie, we assume, since we later see her sleeping outside while chained up. This might be just because they wanted Rosie present for the confrontation scene but didn’t want her loose, so they put her outside when you’d think that she’d sleep inside with everyone else. 

Or, maybe she just prefers to be outside when the weather’s nice, or they keep her as a guard in case something were to happen, that way she can alarm them. 

Anyway, why does Marlon potentially sleep in his office rather than in a dorm? Or does he have a dorm that he’ll sleep in, but keeps the mattress there just in case? 

Well, a show of authority, for one. Even if he does keep a dorm room, it’s likely that he made the office his own as a way to be like “The headmaster is gone, this is my office now. I’m in charge.” 

Which makes sense. 

And when you think about what Louis tells us about Marlon having all these sleepless nights and tough calls, it’s not hard to imagine him spending late nights in his chair going over different plans and stressing over the food situation/safe zone, as well as letting the guilt of the twins weigh on him to the point were he’s too exhausted to even leave.

Moving on to the actual conversation between him and Clementine. He does show a vulnerable side to her, which I like. He can feel the pressure he’s under and sense the loss he’s suffered. But...like before, looking at this knowing what I know, it’s not hard to see certain things in a different light opposed to what you’d see as a new player.

What’s interesting, though, is while I do enjoy this conversation and the bits of insight it gives to Marlon’s character, there is this subtle, slightly off undertone of the whole scene after the Rosie bit. 

At this point, we’ve talked with Aasim and he’s planted the seed of doubt.

We’ve heard the story about the twins. Violet came and talked to us about it, we could visit their graves and learn that they died at this time last year. Anyone who has played any game or heard any story can pick up on that the twins are important. They’re not going to use these girls as some throw away lines. They’re going to come back one way or another. 

We’re literally living in their dorm. The dorm that Marlon put us in. They’re heavily connected to Tenn and Violet, two important characters I previously discussed. Then, Violet comes barging into our room and talks about them some more. 

It makes the gears turn, y’know? 

And with Marlon being very insistent that they stay in the safe zone, it’s not hard to question the story about the twins. I went through and skimmed a couple play throughs on youtube to this scene and a lot of them were theorizing that the twins weren’t actually dead or something wasn’t right, some cracks are starting to show. Why else bring it up? Marlon being the one to push the dangers of the safe zone and everything with Aasim... it’s not hard to pick up that he might be hiding something.  

The thing I find fascinating about people’s perception of Marlon is how they interpret his motivations when it comes to Clementine and AJ, and that can be tracked back to this scene. 

We all know that he’s planning on giving them to the raiders if they come back. It’s a hard fact. Brody warned us before she died, and dialogue during the basement scene backs it up. 

But the question I’m curious about is... when did this motivation begin? 

When did Marlon decide that he would give Clementine and AJ to the raiders if they ever came back? 

Because the text doesn’t tell us anything until Brody’s death, I feel like we all have a different moment where we believe that became Marlon’s secret motive, y’know? 

In all my digging, I’ve read posts about this idea, people giving their thoughts on when they think Marlon secretly turned on us, or if he was ever really on our side. 

One has people theorizing that Marlon saved Clementine and AJ with the intention of giving them away from the beginning. 

So he saw taking these two in and earning their trust as an opportunity to save everyone else at the school [the people he cares about] rather than have to sacrifice anyone else like they did with the twins. Clementine and AJ were just a means to an end if the raiders came back. 

Which is a rather sinister way to look at it and puts quite a negative spin on Marlon’s actions towards them - like how he’s willing to let them stay at the school not out of kindness but out of bad intentions, and every kind thing he ever did was to win over their trust so he could lure them out into the woods and do a trade if necessary. 

The line “Take this. I don't want you gettin' lost.” gets pointed at a lot due to how Marlon says it, the infliction of it, and it’s theorized that the hidden meaning behind it is “Take this, if you get lost then I can’t make the trade.”

Same thing with “Just remember to stay in the safe zone. We need you to come back home in one piece.”

Which isn’t a wrong interpretation of this. You can totally look at this conversation between Marlon and Clementine as Marlon subtly foreshadowing his turn, or betrayal, at the end of the episode.  

“...It's how we've kept ourselves from unwanted attention for so long. Well... For the most part, anyway.”

“I can't lose anyone else. We've already lost so much. Friends, siblings... I can't let another kid die. It could break us. Sorry. I'm just... There's a lot of pressure.” 

“What, did you think I was gonna throw you out?“

Then there are the middle ground people who believe Marlon didn’t save Clementine and AJ with that intention in mind, but it started to appear as an option to him either a bit before or during the office scene. Y’know, it came as a passing thought that ended up lingering until he acknowledged it as a solution to a potential problem. 

Again, pointing at the dialogue from before- him suggesting that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his community alive... just like he did before. 

And while he gets along with Clementine and AJ [or as some would suggest, he appears to be friendly], they’re not his family. He isn’t close to them the same way he is the rest of the school. and if he has to give anyone away, it’s going to be them, whether he wants to or not. 

Marlon didn’t want to give Sophie and Minerva away, and he’s carried that with him up until this point. We see it manifest to a breaking point that lead to Brody’s death and, eventually, his own. 

Finally, there are the people who believe that the idea of giving Clementine and AJ away didn’t occur to him until after the incident with Abel. After Brody panicked and told him about getting robbed, then Clementine claiming they met a man with different colored eyes who wanted food, and the realization that the raiders could be back. 

This is where I personally stand when it comes to this idea. I believe that Marlon didn’t decide on this until he heard about Abel, and solidified it during the fight with Brody down in the basement. 

But what about the dialogue in this scene that potentially has double meanings? Well, I believe that’s the writers suggesting Marlon’s turn and motivations rather than Marlon himself, if that makes sense. Like I said before, you could take nearly everything Marlon says as some sort of foreshadowing or suggestion of what happened to the twins, what his true intentions are with Clementine and AJ, and what will happen to him at the end of the episode. 

That’s the thing- Marlon doesn’t ever go on a mustache-twirling monologue about how he knew he could use Clementine and AJ as trade if the raiders came back and that’s the real reason why he saved them, nor do we see him come up with the idea on the spot. 

Hell, Marlon never admits to the player that he was going to do that. The most he says is, “Shut your fucking mouth! I made the right call. I saved the lives of everyone in this fucking school! If they came back... I'd do it again!”  

Brody is the one who told us everything, and every time Clementine throws it back in his face, he tells her to shut up and threatens her with the gun. 

But from what I’ve tried to gather about what Marlon and Brody talk about in the basement before Clementine gets down there...

Marlon: “Why can't you just do what I ask you to do?”

Brody: “Because we caused all this, and now we have to deal with it!”

Marlon: “I am dealing with it!”

Brody: “By tradin' more of us away? That's not fixin' the problem, that's runnin' away from it!”

[I’ll come back to this full conversation later when I go over the basement scene by itself. It gets pretty dark.]

Which.... yeah. So, I’m not trying to say Brody was lying or anything just because Marlon never flat out admitted it to us the player, I’m just saying that we don’t know for sure when he made up his mind about this since the game never gives a clear suggestion for the sake of his dramatic turn from friend to antagonist. 

Did he have this idea from the start or did he come up with it during this conversation? 

We don’t know, but it’s interesting to look at the different views surrounding this question and how it applies to Marlon’s character. Because yeah, if you truly believe that Marlon had this intention from the start, it makes all of his actions in this episode pretty scummy. And again, that’s not wrong because there isn’t an answer here. 

I choose to believe that maybe the idea came as an unwanted thought in the beginning, but manifested into something real when he heard about Abel. He shared his plan with Brody, who didn’t want to go along with it. 

And y’know what... let’s finally get into the basement scene and Brody...

Continued in Part 2/2