#feel free to correct me if i got some facts wrong

[murd3rouscrow]

I was mildly disappointed with the three gables, and the ending also worries me a bit. More thoughts below the cut

If you've following my posts through the first two parts, you'd know I was rooting for some big angst. And needless to say, I was disappointed when it was resolved with a quick scolding and a laugh.

But this also doesn't bode well for John's mental health. Because he is actively letting these things happen. He's letting his boundaries be crossed and is laughing them off.

Just a run down of everything Sherlock and Mariana did;

Gave John a safeword he could use if he wanted to go home and then ignored it

Lied to John when he asked them to not bring the mic (also I don't think they asked if they could use the mic for funsies anyways)

Got him to go to a party when he's said he didn't want to go

Then ignored him at said party and ran off

Did a case behind his back and then got him to join said case, despite John saying he was on hiatus.

Now, do these things make Sherlock and Mariana bad friends? No, or at least not unforgivable. But they still deserved some consequence. Because all this shows is that John will let them ignore his wishes, and just not express his frustration with them. Which worries me cause it's just building up then. Especially with all this imagery of falling and how we're inching closer and closer to the final problem.

And yes, I do recognize that nice moment where Sherlock toasted to Mary Morstan. Yes, it was a very nice moment and a kind of apology to John. No, I do not think it was an adequate apology, they never actually apologized for the list I gave above. John deserves better.

In my honest opinion, I think they should've just left John at home and had this be entirely a Sherlock and Mariana adventure. But that's just me.

[loopyarts]

Shouma Ginzaki, I have so many thoughts on this little guy. That I wish to ramble about him for a bit. Mostly about things that I find interesting such as his character design but also my thoughts on him so far.

For context I am going off from just the demo alone, so I don’t have the full picture of what he will be like in the full game.

First off, the red marking on the characters foreheads seem to have some inspiration in both a red dot called a bindi and traditional Japanese kabuki theatre make up. A bindi has ties to Buddhism and is linked to the Ajna Chakra which is also known as the "third eye" or "inner wisdom". And if you’re an anime fan you might have seen at very least one character with a red dot in their character design. So there might be some pop culture aspects to the inspiration as well. Which is why some of the characters have such dot markings in their battle ready designs.

Another thing worth noting is that the colour red in Japanese culture is a pretty prominent and versatile colour with multiple layers of symbolism. Such as being associated with protection, joy, and strength, but also with passion, power, and even danger etc.

Finally, with Shouma and Mako they both have two dots markings above their forehead. It kinda look similar to geisha dot eyebrows or Hikimayu (引眉). It’s probably just a coincidence but I thought it was worth noting.

Shouma number is nine but interestingly enough it is written in upper capital Chinese Hanzi instead of Japanese Kanji. which is probably on purpose because in Japan the number nine is considered an unlucky number because the pronunciation (苦) (ku) is similar to (苦) (suffering). The association with hardship, pain and ties to bad luck/misfortune overall contributes to the negative reputation behind this number. Similar to how the number 4 similarly avoided in Japanese culture.

While in Chinese the number nine has the opposite reputation with it being associated with good luck/good fortune and can also mean long lasting and represents the maximum level of martial happiness and longevity. I just think that is a nice subtle detail in his uniform and weapon design overall with his number being nine and all. 

This probably means nothing but nine or more correctly eight phases of the moon can spiritually is often associated with cycles of growth, release, and renewal. Also the number Nine is symbolically represented by change and having a very empathic and compassionate soul. In numerology the number nine is usually linked to things such as completion, idealism, and a strong desire to help others. Which mostly fits Shouma personality in terms of his ideals and morals.

Also his star/zodiac sign Pisces is often associated with compassion, empathy, creativity, imagination and strong intuition but also a deep connection to the sub conscious. But also the weaknesses of the sign is being indecisive, sensitive, prone to escapism and their own inner turmoil. And melancholy behaviours feelings of sorrow and poignance; where they would rather go through and meditate on deep emotions such as despair/sadness rather than have no feelings at all.

Overall, the zodiac sign Pisces is very emotional driven sign and I don’t think it is a coincidence that Shouma as a character is written to be very driven by his strong emotional feelings and thoughts.

Anyway, this line of dialogue stuck out to me while playing the game demo. There seems to be a bit of a moon theme going on here? Or at the very least I think that the moon might be an important plot beat for this game story.

Which also lead to me noticing Shouma’s mecha also has some moon imagery on its design via the shoulders pads. Another interesting thing is that the chest of the mecha is designed with a Shiba Inu face notable a black one.

Shouma’s dog is probably not a literal black shiba ha ha. Although, his weapon having the chest be of the head of a black dog reminded me a bit of the Chinese mythology of the black dog called Tiangou/the heavenly dog. Which in the myth Tiangou either eats the moon or sun causing an eclipse but the moon is more notable one. Which could have inspired some design aspects to Shouma weapon perhaps.

Real quick, I will say that I haven’t looked too deeply or check to see if other characters have a subtle moon theme to their designs. Also, if you look closely on images of the other characters weapons they also have an although I will say a more subtle animal theme going on in their weapon designs as well.

Now onto his character design. First off, his backpack resembles a Kame/turtle shell get it because he’s hiding in his shell and need to slowly come out of it. Man, you gotta love the creativity Rui Komatsuzaki puts into his character designs overall.

Shouma’s boots also have a bit of a turtle-like pattern and with them being green, it looks like he has little turtle feet. His boots also partly resemble wellies, which are commonly associated with children at least in fiction giving him a childlike feel to his design. Plus they’re also outdoor boots and are usually quite popular with dog walkers as well.

Finally, his cap in terms of shape resembles either a frog, bear or hamster which adds even more to the animal theme to his overall character design.

I’m honestly curious with how Shouma’s dog, which is most likely a Shiba Inu and Sirei are connected somehow and it’s also interesting how he’s the only one that didn’t technically fight. Like there has to be a reason for it right? I also think Shouma is more important than he gives himself credit for, although I may wrong who knows. 

I don’t know if others have noticed this but Shouma to me seems to be a very peacemaker type of character. He doesn’t like conflict and always puts others comfort and needs first before himself a far good amount of the time. Plus, the way he talks about his dog in optional dialogue. Makes him appear to have a selfless and kind hearted soul underneath all the self esteem/self deprecation issues of course. 

I also think Shouma appears to be pretty good at reading the room and how others might be feeling. On the rare occasion he chimes in, he has some pretty possible ideas and theories on what might be happening in the current situation. But given how many times he’s gets shot down or told he’s stupid for thinking or saying anything at all.

Which probably breaks his confidence to where he feels he shouldn’t have said anything at all. Which is why he’s just accepts it and doesn’t push against it. Because he truly believes he can never be right on something but also insists on being a peacemaker making him unable to truly take on conflict.

Overall, from what I’ve seen so far, Shouma seems to be a very gentle soul. Who is way too harsh on himself but I do have faith that he will develop as a person as the story progresses. It probably won’t be perfect and I don’t expect his self esteem problems to just magically go away, that takes time. Honestly, Shouma so far is very relatable to me as someone who has gone through similar hardships as a teen.

Shouma has so much potential to be such a lovely and compelling written character overall and I look forward to see what the writers have in store for him in the full game. (He’s so autistic coded to me but that could just be me projecting a little onto him ha ha…)

Lastly, gameplay wise Shouma has the potential to be pretty op as a unit depending on how his abilities and moveset functions in the gameplay mechanics. 

He is a counter defender and his ability shut-in gives 1+ attack with every emery that hits him. Which could have potential to be stacked if his ability can get even stronger. Reflecting back attacks is his key, so Shouma ideally will probably excel being throw at enemies head first and focus on crowd control. 

Shouma will probably work best with the more frail units. Leading the enemies onto him while doing chip damage and letting heavy hitting units dish out the big hits. He’s also will probably have good synergy with the healer/support units as well but overall. I think he will probably be one of the better units in the game due to his ability to do crowd control in a game, where crowd control is key. Also depending upon on how his ability works he could also be quite a decent boss slayer as well. 

Anyway, that concludes my little slightly mentally ill ramble on him. OvO’)

[blushweddinggowns]

Eddie sighed as he turned to the bartender, “Can I have the cheapest beer you got? But you only let me have one?”

The guy nodded at him, passing one over with a sympathetic smile, “Designated driver?”

“Something like that,” Eddie said, his eyes wandering back to the dance floor. At least the two of them were having fun, giggling and twirling each other around. They were cute together, always were. No one could make Steve smile like Robin could, a fact that Eddie was just going to have to accept.

He sipped his beer as he watched them, smiling to himself a little at how happy they looked. Until someone was tapping on his shoulder. Eddie glanced up, surprised to see a guy standing there. He looked… good. J.Crew-esque with a bright smile.

“You don’t really look like the type to come in here,” He said, taking the bar stool next to him.

Eddie gave him a once over, deciding to be quick about not leading him on. He shrugged,  “I’m not, but the people I love are.”

The guy nodded along, his eyes trailing to the dance floor. Eddie followed the line of it, frowning when he realized he was looking right at Steve. Robin was in the middle of dipping him, both of them laughing. Eddie swallowed as he looked at them, watching the shine of the bright, colorful dance light cross over his face. He looked gorgeous, relaxed and giggly as he went to return the favor to her. Though now that Eddie was looking around he was realized he wasn’t the only one staring.

“Speaking of that,” The guy went on, “What’s the deal with the guy you came in with?”

Eddie’s frown only deepened at the question, “Who, Steve?”

“Is that his name?” The stranger asked, obviously interested. 

At least he had good taste, Eddie had to give him that. Even if the question had his eye twitching, “Yeah, that’s his name.”

"So is he single or is the blonde a permanent fixture?" He asked. 

Eddie snorted, “She’s a permanent fixture, all right. But she’s queer as a three-dollar bill, so not much to worry about there.”

That was the wrong answer if the excited look on his face was any indicator. 

“You know what kind of drink he likes?” He asked, already motioning for the bartender. 

Eddie swallowed, the sick feeling coming back. The worst part is that he could see it. Steve with someone like this. Handsome, self-assured, confident. Actually comfortable in their own skin. He couldn’t help but think they would look good together. 

The thought just wasn’t enough to stop Eddie from blurting, “Of course I do. He’s my boyfriend after all.” 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, why did he just say that? Eddie bit the inside of his cheek at the stupid lie. At how easily it had rolled off his tongue. 

“Oh yeah?” He asked, disappointment coloring his voice. 

Eddie had ample time to correct himself, to say my bad. He’s my best friend. That was a slip of the tongue. To say anything else.  

He doesn’t.

No, not when the anxiety he had firmly nestled in the pit of his stomach finally started to soften. Besides, Eddie liked how disheartened he looked. 

He liked it enough to keep lying his ass off. He took another sip of his beer, feigning casual, “Hard to tell since the two of them have been hanging off each other all night. But yeah, he’s mine.”

He hadn’t expected for those words to feel so good.  

The guy sighed, “Well, good for you man. He’s a looker, I doubt I’m the only one who had my eyes on him.”

“He has that effect on people,” Eddie said, his eyes trailing around the room. Watching every face that was looking Steve’s way. He hated it on them just as much as he did on the stranger next to him. 

Fuck it, he was already in this deep. He might as well keep it going.

“Feel free to spread the word,” Eddie added as the guy stepped away, “It will save me some time.”

“Will do,” He sighed again before walking off, setting his sights on someone else. 

The bartender chuckled as he wandered off, clearly eavesdropping in, “You want me to spread the word too? I’ve already got four guys who are looking to buy him a drink when he gets off the floor.”

Eddie was barely surprised. 

“Spread it like wildfire,” He said easily, his eyes going straight back to Steve.

Part of him had expected some guilt when people started looking his way. Whispering to each other while Eddie glared at anyone who even looked like they wanted to get to Steve. He knew he could cut an intimidating figure when he wanted to. The way he dressed usually did most of the heavy lifting, but he didn’t doubt how harshly his expressions were coming off. It also helped that every last guy who came to saddle up to the bartender to try and get a drink going for Steve walked away disappointed once he pointed a thumb towards Eddie’s direction. It definitely earned him a disproportionate tip, despite the fact the Eddie was internally freaking the fuck out.

He didn’t feel guilty, but he felt… possessive. Offended almost that people didn't just assume he was taken. Something that he didn’t know how to rationalize. But that didn’t stop him from trying. 

from the latest chapter of this fic

[uramakimochi]

HOME IS WHERE YOU ARE

James Potter x Reader

WARNINGS: some use of Y/n, FEM!R, bad parents (but nothing explicit), hurt/comfort + fluff.

English is not my first language so feel free to correct me.

///

Big dark clouds covered the sky during that late afternoon at Hogwarts and the last rays of sun that had illuminated the day up to that moment disappeared behind their blackness. You could say that the day had gotten worse, speaking of weather, so much so that even small, light drops of rain began to fall. Some like bad weather and some don't, but at that moment you felt like you were part of the second group.

A beautiful sunny day had been ruined by rain and the same thing had just happened to you too, you felt just like the sunny sky covered by clouds. And the clouds in question were in the shape of a letter that had been delivered to you in the middle of completing the last homeworks before the Christmas holidays.

You intended to carry on as much as possible and while you were writing on the parchment, sitting at the table of your house and surrounded by your friends, an owl entered the Great Hall and fluttered above the heads of those present, until it reached your seat. You smiled slightly when you recognized the family owl landing in front of you and paused your work to pet his feathered chest, a gesture to which he closed his little eyes in contentment.

"Did you get a letter?" your friend sitting next to you asked curiously and the others also leaned over to look.

You nodded slightly.

"It seems so. I wouldn't know who to expect it from, if not from my parents" you replied almost in a tone of monotony.

The situation at your home wasn't the best and all your friends, plus James, your beloved boyfriend, knew about it. They were all such good company that you almost considered them more like your real family than your parents. You loved your parents, but the more time passed, the more you got tired of feeling depressed and heartbroken because of them.

You delicately slipped the envelope from your owl's beak and once done he flew away.

"It's probably more insults about how i'm a bad daughter or that they regret giving birth to me. They usually just wait until i come home before yelling at me" you said, shrugging and opening the envelope.

You read in silence, but you realized that that letter contained something worse than just psychological abuse. Your parents had written to you that they didn't want you to come home for Christmas. In fact, they didn't want you to come back to your house ever again.

It felt like a series of knives piercing your heart with every word. You felt your eyes becoming teary and you quickly rubbed a hand over your eyes, also to make sure you hadn't misread. But alas, you read very well.

As your mouth dropped open in shock, your friends exchanged worried looks.

"Y/n, are you okay?"

"What does it say?" they asked you thoughtfully.

You didn't answer, running your eyes over each line to read again. You weren't wrong, it was all true, written in black on white.

You were no longer welcome in your home, the place where you had spent your childhood, with those who you believed would be the two people you would love most in your life. They didn't want you anymore. And you who every time tried to interact with them and tried to improve yourself in the hope of going back to how you were when you were a child, when you were loved by those who had given birth to you. All for nothing.

And the worst thing you thought was that they didn't even bother to show up or wait for you to come back for the holidays to tell you. They had only done it all through one damned stupid letter.

You quickly folded the letter to put it back in the envelope and stood up from the bench.

"I-I'm sorry, i have to go…" you slipped the letter into your pocket and walked quickly towards the doors, ignoring the worried calls of your friends and leaving your stuff on the table.

A few tears were already starting to slowly fall from your eyes and down your cheeks, paying no attention to the students' questioning looks and heading as quickly as you could towards the Gryffindor quarters.

You said the password with a small sob and walked from the common room towards the stairs to the boys' rooms. You didn't want to feel other people's pity on you, you only wanted comfort from one person at that moment.

When you arrived at the door, you already heard the voices of your friends from outside and hoped with all your heart that James was there with them. You quickly tried to wipe the tears off your face and took a deep breath, before reaching out and knocking weakly on the door.

A few seconds later it opened and you were met with Sirius's smiling face.

"Y/n, what a pleasant surprise" he said with a smile and you almost laughed too when you heard his words, but his serene expression almost immediately changed to one of concern. "Doll, are you okay?"

You nodded, sniffling.

"Y-Yes... Sorry Sirius, is J-James there?"

"Of course he's right here, come in" he said softly and you thanked him, walking past him to enter their room. You felt your cheeks burn with embarrassment as the eyes of all four Marauders landed on you.

"Y/n love, you're finally here!" James exclaimed with a smile, but when he saw your shiny, red eyes he immediately got up from the bed to join you.

"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" he asked you worriedly, stroking your arms with his hands.

You lowered your head.

"James, can we talk... In private, please?" you asked him back, squeezing one of his hands in both of yours.

Your intention was to leave the room with him to reach a more secluded place, but James beat you to it by glancing at the other three present.

"Yeah, absolutely. Guys, would you mind...?" he said, leaving the sentence hanging and indicating the door with a nod.

All three nodded without hesitation and you felt a little guilty about kicking them out of their room, even though it had been James's idea, but when Remus passed you by giving you a quick pat on the shoulder with an understanding smile, you understood that there was nothing to fear.

The door closed and the room fell silent. You had your gaze glued to the ground again and your heart felt as heavy as a boulder. Even though you couldn't see it, James gave you a pitying look as he listened to you holding back sobs.

"Hey..." he cooed in that usual sweet tone he only ever used with you. "Why don't we sit down for a moment? Hm?"

You looked at him with your lips pressed together and then nodded, letting him drag you by the hand, to lead you towards his bed. He sat in front of his pillow and you right next to him, with your legs crossed. James said nothing, waiting for you to speak.

"I got a letter" you only said, reaching into your pocket to take out the envelope and hand it to him.

"It's from your parents, isn't it?" he asked and you nodded.

Even though your entire circle of friends knew what kind of people your parents were, James was the only one you confided in when your parents made you feel bad, he always picked up the pieces of your shattered heart and put them back together. Even during the holidays, when you sent him letters in which you freed your thoughts, he was always ready to answer you to send you all his support.

James opened the letter and began to read. And just like what happened to you, he too, who was expecting to read the usual words of disapproval that your parents had for you, felt his heart skip a beat when he read the content.

Thinking back to the words you had read, tears began to fall down your cheeks more than before and even if you tried to dry your face, it was all in vain.

James raised his head to look at you and even if at that moment the first thing he wanted to do was tear the letter into many small pieces, he knew it was his job to try to console you as best he could. So he left the letter on his bedside table and then stretched out his arms towards you.

"C'mere, darling. Come on" he said, holding you against his chest, over which you cried and sobbed loudly, wrapping your arms around his waist in a weak squeeze.

James didn't say anything, he just caressed the back of your head with one hand and your back with the other, while every now and then he left a few small kisses on your head. He couldn't tell you things like "There's no need to cry" or "Everything will be okay" because nothing was okay in that moment.

After a few minutes the tears stopped, at least during that period of time and you moved away from him leaving the last sobs. James turned to his bedside table and pulled out a silk handkerchief, which he used to gently wipe any remaining tears from your cheeks.

"They didn't even bother to wait for me to come home to tell me. I feel so broken"

"It's normal to feel like this, okay? Say everything that's on your mind, let it out a little" he said, caressing your face with one of his hands. "And i know you might not like hearing this from me, but they were being really shitty this time, more than usual i mean. This is wrong"

You shook your head.

"No, you're right. It's just that..." you let out a long, loud sigh, then squeezed his hands and lowered them into your lap. "I thought they still loved me, even just for a little bit. I'm still their daughter, aren't i? And i love my parents. I tried to put their words behind me and i worked for them, i always tried to improve myself in the hope that they would've loved me again. Apparently it was all in vain. Who knows how long ago they stopped considering me part of the family..."

James nodded carefully with each word as his fingers caressed the palms of your hands.

"Jamie..."

"Mh?"

"Is something wrong with me? Didn't i try hard enough? What did i do wrong to deserve this?"

You almost felt like crying again, but you managed to hold it back. Disappointment was all you could feel, both in your parents and in yourself.

James immediately shook his head frantically.

"Hey, hey, no no no. No sweetheart, nothing, you did absolutely nothing wrong" he quickly said and moved his hands to rest on top of your cheeks. "Now look at me and listen to me carefully, okay?"

You nodded slowly, resting your gaze on his eyes full of love and determination.

"My love, there is nothing and i mean absolutely nothing wrong with you, is that clear? We've all seen what you've done until now, all the effort and the love you've always put into trying to fix things with your family. You did everything you could and they are the ones who don't deserve you as a daughter. You don't deserve to suffer because of them. You have still me, Sirius, Peter and Remus. And Lily and the girls too. I'd say ours is an even nicer and funnier family, right?"

You giggled when you saw his bright smile and James felt relief wash over his body when he heard you laugh, knowing that he had succeeded.

"Yes, you are" you nodded again in his hands and James came closer to leave a kiss on your forehead, and then remained with his lips resting there for a few seconds.

"Look honey, i think you need to put this behind you for a while" he said against your skin and you closed your eyes for a couple of seconds, enjoying the contact. "It would do you good not to think about it"

"And how can i not think about it if i'm going to stay here at school alone for the holidays? Without you and the others, what should i do?" you asked him with a bitter smile.

"And who said you'll spend your holidays here?"

You frowned slightly and pulled away to look at him. James clearly had the look on his face of someone who was holding back from smiling and you looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, until you understood.

"No..."

"Love, i can't leave you here all alone for the whole holiday" he replied immediately and you shook your head.

"Maybe i can find some relatives who can host me at the last moment. And at the end of the school year i will go to them too... Whoever they would be..."

"Y/n..."

"Jamie, i can't do this to you! Taking advantage of you like this isn't right" you said as you stood up and started pacing in front of the bed.

"We've already welcomed Sirius into the house!"

"Exactly! And i can't just show up like that and cause you more problems. What... What will your parents say?"

"They will be understanding because they already know you and love you, darling, maybe even more than me" he replied, chuckling at the ending.

"And...And what about Sirius? Would he agree to this?"

"Y/n we're talking about Sirius. Do you really think he would say no? Especially to you? You're as much his friend as i am and when it comes to family problems i think he can understand you even more than me"

You fell silent for a moment and then nodded slowly.

"You're right. But... I mean, i'd come and live with you James. Under the same roof, maybe forever!" you murmured, tightening your fingers. "Are you really willing to do this? Do you want to have me around all the time?"

"If i didn't want you around then why are we still together?" he asked in turn, standing up as well and giving you a smile.

Your lips curved upwards for a moment and James reached out to take your hands again, while you began to nervously play with his fingers.

"Darling, i don't want to do this because i feel like i have to. But because i want to do it. Of course, i'm sorry that we've come to this point, but i would be more than happy to host you in my house. For the whole time needed. And i can assure you that no one will have any problems with it. I just want to help you, okay?"

You looked into each other's eyes intensely for a few seconds, until you finally smiled again, lifting a hand to fix his glasses that had slipped down his nose a little.

"Okay" you reached out to hug him and James hugged you back. You rubbed your cheek against his sweater and closed your eyes. "Thank you so much James. For everything you do for me. I don't know what i would do if it weren't for you"

"You'd probably be in Azkaban, because only a criminal wouldn't want to be with someone like me, i mean, have you seen me??"

"I might think about Sirius then" you said with a smirk and giving him a small slap on the chest.

"You wouldn't dare, you're too much in love with me now" he replied, giving you a playful swat on the backside and you both laughed.

"Anyway" James continued, placing his hands on your shoulders to pull you away a little and look at you."Everything i do, i do it because i love you. And you know you can always count on me, right?"

"Mh. I know" you nodded and exchanged a kiss on the lips. "I love you too"

-

That evening, in the Gryffindor common room, when Sirius heard the news, he didn't stop himself from letting out a scream that almost woke up the students who had already gone to bed.

"Hell yeah! I'm so glad you'll be there too, dollface, we're going to have so much fun!" Sirius exclaimed, wrapping his arms around you and lifting you into the air.

"Sirius!" you laughed, holding onto his shoulders.

"Hey, lower your voice" Remus said to him with a smile.

"Welcome to the Potter-Black house, my dear" the other then continued, bringing you back down to ground. "Don't worry, one day during the holidays we'll invite Remus, Peter and the girls too, so you don't have to put up with me and James all the time"

"First of all, it's the Potter house and that's it. You're just the little dog we adopted, Padfoot" James then interjected, leaning forward to take your hand and making you sit on his lap.

You giggled, but Sirius waved his hand indifferently.

"It sounded better that way, but whatever"

"And who gives you permission to invite people to my house anyway? From what i remember, i'm the host, or am i wrong?"

"You're wrong because if we really want to clarify, the boss is your father. And in any case, i give myself permission because i'm practically your brother now" while the two were talking you watched them interact with tenderness.

You liked the relationship between James and Sirius and even though all four Marauders made a great little group, you knew that James and Sirius loved each other just like they were two blood brothers.

"The important thing is that you two don't snog at every hour of the day around every corner of the house, since i already have to put up with your 'couple things' here at school" he said then pointing at you two with a finger and you raised your hands innocently.

"Don't worry, Sirius" you said, before James could speak. "We will try to hold back for the sake of your eyesight"

"What?!" James exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"Thanks" Sirius nodded.

"But darling!" James complained.

"But darling!" the other three copied him and James glared at them, while you giggled amused.

"Sod off"

///

[psychopomp-namine]

YE6's butterfly effect. AKA: how did vein "die"?

I'm trying to puzzle out the butterfly effect in YE6, and here is my interpretation so far. if this theory is correct, it would also answer the question of who has the faking death ability and what exactly was liu xiao doing during the whole arc.

of course, feel free to correct me if I got this wrong. I could be missing some key information. I'm just writing this in an attempt to figure it out myself. also, this is gonna be a long post, sorry.

a lot of people are speculating that lu guang directly killed vein somehow through an ability, but I don't think that's what actually happened (although I wish that was the case). I also don't think the situation is as simple as "lu guang wanted vein dead" because I also think that liu xiao is interfering with the same events. there are two puppeteers in YE6, imho.

let's start with lu guang. for one thing, we know he can't directly kill vein with any of the abilities he has, since both scanning 12 hours of photo history and diving into the past require, well, a photo, which lu guang did not have. yingdu even stressed the rules of how both abilities work. if lu guang directly killed vein through ability use, this would imply he has another ability up his sleeve, and I really don't think we've been given enough evidence that points to that. if he always had this ability, why hasn't he used it before on vein in other timelines?

remember that yingdu has a lot of visual metaphors in its storytelling compared to other seasons. I believe lu guang caused the chain of events to happen in such a way that vein would die, but he was not the one to kill him, and that's why there's the animation of him orchestrating vein's death through wang qing, like a ventriloquist would control a puppet. in fact, I would go even further: lu guang and wang qing never got the chance to kill vein, although lu guang certainly thinks he did. we will circle back to this under the cut later, once we've built up the evidence to reach this conclusion.

another thing is the info we learned from an interview with director li. it is unfortunate, imo, that we had to learn this through an interview and not from the show itself (I feel this is yingdu's biggest writing flaw), but whatever. here are the key points to know though:

vein doesn't have an ability during yingdu arc

liu xiao has more than one ability (we know one of them already, which is interestingly enough, heartbeat related)

(not from the interview, but hinted in the show) someone has a "faking death" ability

before we go into the butterfly effect and how vein died, let's go over the details of his death:

from the autopsy report: vein's cause of death is myocardial infarction. aka a heart attack

xia fei later says there were no external injuries and no signs of poison

also, tiny detail, but vein was holding something like a tranquilizer gun in the clinic. the "bullets" he fired on both wang qing and cheng xiaoshi were meant to put them to sleep, not to kill them.

finally, let's lay out some character motivations. this will be important later.

liu xiao wants to get the notebook that belonged to cheng weimin. vein is working with him on this.

lu guang wants to avoid cheng xiaoshi's death node, and he plans to do it by killing vein

now, for the analysis. how did vein "die"?

let's establish something first. since xia fei doesn't know what happened to vein and is looking for the true culprit, we can rule out his involvement. he probably doesn't have the faking death ability, since it was used on vein. and vein doesn't have an ability. so the most likely person to have this ability would be liu xiao. he is also most likely the one to open the body bag with vein in it.

so we can now assume that liu xiao has two abilities:

he can sense someone's emotions and intentions through hearing their heartbeats

he can "fake death" (it is unclear how this works)

well. what an interesting combination! let's put a pin on that for now. remember this for later.

okay. now. let's switch over to lu guang. the big important question here is this: how did lu guang know that delaying vein from entering the clinic would lead to his death through a butterfly effect?

for full context, let's look at what lu guang says in his conversation with vein (I'm using ani-mi's translation, but I watched the bilibili one first and there aren't any drastic changes imo):

do you know the butterfly effect? in a dynamic system, event the smallest changes in initial conditions can lead to vastly different outcomes. I've been wondering, how do you alter a destined ending? what would happen if, before the conclusion, we added another fixed point? another unchangeable node? instead of avoiding deviations, why not let it deviate completely? I know I can't stop you. but I can make you stay a bit longer. now, you can go in.

two things here. first, the mention of an unchangeable node. aka a death node. lu guang for sure wanted vein to die. because if vein dies first, he can't kill cheng xiaoshi. simple logic; great plan.

next, from this speech, we can infer that lu guang planned to create a small change (a butterfly effect) that will lead to a big consequence (vein's death).

it's the second part that should clue us in. he said, "I can make you stay a bit longer. now, you can go in." he knows he can't stop vein from entering the clinic. but he can stall him. he can add a small bit of delay, long enough that it actually matters that vein went into the clinic later than usual.

lu guang knows the effect he wants (vein's death) so how does he know what event (stalling him) would cause the domino effect that leads to it? why does that small delay matter?

let's look at what that extra bit of time actually changed. by delaying vein, another important event happens: cheng xiaoshi has extra time with wang qing, long enough for him to meet his mom, shao yuanyuan. cheng xiaoshi then learns that shao yuanyuan is trying to save cheng weimin. he promises to wait for them and to stop investigating. it is after he makes this promise that vein enters.

we can now infer one more thing here: cheng xiaoshi did not meet his mom through wang qing in the original order of events. this event only happens because lu guang stalled vein.

most likely, in the original order of events, vein incapacitated wang qing too early for her to do anything to him. we don't know what her ability is, but it doesn't matter for this post. all we need to know is that lu guang believes wang qing could kill vein if she was never put to sleep. that is the point of stalling vein from entering the clinic early.

so here's part one of my theory. from lu guang's perspective, this is the plan to kill vein:

stall vein from entering the clinic

because vein entered late, wang qing was possessed by someone with better fighting abilities, allowing her to hold out during the fight

she is then freed from possession, and is still awake when vein tries to leave with the notebook

I don't think we have enough information to really explain what happens next, but what's supposed to happen, imo, is that wang qing kills vein, either through her own ability or someone else uses her to do it. it doesn't really matter how, but this is what is supposed to happen. this is what lu guang wanted to happen. for the sake of this post, we will assume wang qing has an ability to kill vein

vein dies, therefore he can't go to the time photo studio in the future to kill cheng xiaoshi

that's lu guang's butterfly effect. stall vein -> vein dies -> cheng xiaoshi lives.

simple? not quite. I did mention there's another person interfering with these events.

everything I mentioned above is from lu guang's perspective, and that this is what's supposed to happen. but let's look at the actual order of events.

wang qing wakes up (is freed from possession), notices the notebook on vein, and calls his name (interesting point: she knows his full chinese name). at this point, her eyes have NOT changed color yet.

vein gets a heart attack

only after that does wang qing's eyes change color

we know that changing eye colors is not diegetic, meaning this is more for the audience's benefit. their eyes don't really change color in-universe. sometimes they don't even show us eye colors changing. but when they do show us, we have to pay attention.

therefore, I believe that the timing of the shift in eye color matters.

so here's part two of my theory. liu xiao knew lu guang is going to interfere, so he already arranged a "fake death" for vein in advance (which he doesn't tell vein about lmao, but he seems to have figured it out when he gets the heart attack)

this is how, I believe, yingdu happened from liu xiao's perspective:

he wants cheng weimin's notebook. wang qing has it, but would never give it to him. but she might for cheng weimin's son

he baits cheng xiaoshi into going to bridon

he heard lu guang's heartbeat in the airport, which tipped him off that he's someone he should watch out for

he confirmed that cheng xiaoshi and lu guang are investigating cheng weimin

he assigns xia fei to keep an eye on their progress

he planned to use cheng xiaoshi to bait wang qing into giving up information about the notebook. this is why when xia fei told him that cheng xiaoshi was about to meet her, liu xiao reacts like this is the expected outcome

he assigns vein to get the notebook because wang qing is about to reveal the location. but he also knows that lu guang is kinda shady, so when lu guang stalls vein (and tells him! bro don't tell your plans to your victims! don't tell him you're trying to make a butterfly effect!), liu xiao either just knew this would happen or vein tipped him off before going in

now, notice that vein gets a heart attack before wang qing uses an ability (or is used, whatever) to kill vein. and what have we established before at the beginning of this post? liu xiao has a heartbeat related ability and can fake a death. we don't know the mechanics of the second ability, but we know that compatible abilities can combo with each other. it's not far-fetched to think that liu xiao can fake death with a heart attack

later, we see vein wake up after someone (most likely liu xiao) opens his body bag

so now who's fooled? the police arrives and even does an autopsy. they declare vein dead. lu guang is relieved, and for years he believes this. vein doesn't even visit the studio in 2021 (though li tianchen does, through liu min, but that's neither here nor there). he avoided a death node by creating another one. we can let him believe this lie for a little while...

TL;DR lu guang created a butterfly effect by stalling vein, and that creates a domino effect that should have led to vein's death. except he's not the only one interfering with the timeline. while this is happening, liu xiao orchestrates a fake death for vein before his supposed death actually happens, allowing him to act dead during the autopsy and "revive" later

EDIT: this post was written before the interview translation came out, though I don't think this it contradicts anything here; if anything, this post is in line with the interview.

if you're interested, additional thoughts on vein's death can be found in the following links:

reblog of this post: the fake death ability might be wang qing's, or an effect of a combination of wang qing and liu xiao's ability. I posit in this post that I think liu xiao has the ability; in hindsight, it probably relates to wang qing, though I still think that the "heart attack" is related to liu xiao

thematic analysis (as opposed to plot analysis) on vein's death. I am a huge believer that link click is best analyzed through themes than plot tbh

additional thoughts on lu guang's characterization throughout all of this

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Hii, feel free to ignore this if i got things wrong lol

I just read through a few posts about sonic with chronic pain au/thingy

"3. Sonics aids glow green when theres an overload of chaos in his body" you wrote in one of them

This made me think of the fact that shadow's inhibitor rings serve a similar purpose in canon

Would his inhibitor rings help sonic? Or could tails make something similar specific to what sonic needs? If he hasn't already that is

(I love your comics btw they're so cool, have a nice day)

You're literally correct and I'd be doodling something for it as we speak were I not attempting to take a breakHFJFJTJ

Tails has 100% been attempting to recreate something similar to what Shadows inhibitor rings do and he's gotten pretty close but it takes him a while cuz he's missing some crucial pieces of the puzzle.

Shadows inhibitor rings can work on Sonic short term but they are specifically designed for shadow and while they are very similar there are some big bio differences between them (spicifically the black arms dna) which means Sonic does need something more specifically coded to him.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

So I am feeling insane about all the yellow and blue around Eddie in El Paso and so I am making it everyone else’s problem by writing a meta on the stills - it will be a bit of speculation based on my colour theory knowledge and the previous costuming of the show, but I always enjoy writing these and then seeing how close I was when we have full context - so I hope you all enjoy! Also - I got carried away and went on a deep dive so this is ridiculously long!! 😬

Firstly though we need to talk about his hair and the return to the helmet hair of yesteryear Eddie - the loss of the floppy floopy bit that broke free as Eddie danced around his living room and was front and centre as Eddie turned to look back at buck - gone - swept up into place with gel - this is El Paso Eddie - the army Eddie - the Eddie at war - protecting his head with a helmet in the form of his hair. It’s all about reverting Eddie and about protection and conformity and trying to fit his parents expectations. This is Eddie under siege and preparing to be under the same attack as before. Its not quite as rigid as we saw it in the begins scenes, there is still some softness to it - giving us a hint that Eddie is not that same person he was back then, and that he’s not got things quite as fixed down as he had before, but we likely won’t see a hair fall over his forehead unless he’s in a less fraught scene (video call with Buck maybe) or until he has dealt with Shannon’s ghost, Chris’s trauma, his own trauma and his parents (mom) fully. Only then can he be his true self and let his hair be free!

I obviously am screaming about the fact we have Eddie in a yellow toned shirt - it’s yellow ochre, brown and cream check and it’s being very loud! The check pattern is very clearly telling us that things are not going to to go well for Eddie in this scene - and in El Paso more widely based on the fact we see him in check pattern more than once in the stills - the blue check shirt also playing into the theme of change and that change not being easy. Check on out mains is usually ultimately a good thing - it’s about getting them off the path they are on and onto a new one - correcting a wrong course etc. So here to have Eddie in check and yellow (or blue) check at that is pretty much telling me that this is the show getting Eddie on the right path - that he’s been on the wrong one but now he is on the right one for him.

I’ve written extensively about how yellow and blue coding has been used by film and television since colour film and tv has been a thing - and how it became a thing due to the wizard of Oz - I’ve also written extensively about that film and 911 and about Eddie and the significance of yellow and him and also about the importance of Buck and blue - all these metas can be found linked on my pinned post if you want to give them a read!

But what is the colour meaning of yellow I hear you cry - well it has many meanings and it all depends on the shade of yellow we’re talking about - the shade and tone of any colour determines some of its meaning. Every colour can be warm or cool toned and can be bright or dull, rich or pale and all of those factors have connotations attached to them. The warmer brighter and or richer the colour the more positive meaning it tends to have (there are some exceptions such as a very bright green which is generally viewed as toxic or poisonous and has negative connotations attached to it despite sitting in the bright rich and warm toned spectrum!)

Yellow is a colour of communication, cheerfulness, it is connected to the logical part of the brain and is therefore a symbol of intellect, clarity, and perception. However it can also mean anxiety, sickness, fear and cowardice as well as impulsiveness and caution.

The scene in the Diaz kitchen is full of yellow - its everywhere and the lighting is yellow toned (at the cooler end of the yellow lighting spectrum) but the biggest thing is the walls being this pale yellow. Paler more pastel yellows are associated with the negative traits of yellow more than the positive ones - so malaise and sickness, anxiety, and cowardice. The fact the room is yellow and blue is one of the most interesting things to me as someone who was going on about the fact the kitchen was yellow and red back in season 5 when Eddie had that conversation with his dad.

As you can see in the two pictures below, the walls were a darker more ochre toned yellow with both a darker brown toned red (the cabinets) and a brighter red (the curtains). This is a real contrast to the paler yellow and the blue we now have in the Diaz kitchen and it all goes to prove that Both Ramon and Helena are meant to represent aspects of Eddie - Ramon Eddies heart and Helena Eddies head or mind.

Because Ramon is a physical representation of Eddie heart - so the red accents make complete sense for that scene. It’s a play on the heart - and the use of two different shades of red - one concentrated around Ramon and one around Eddie is all about playing on the concept of health v not healthy (we actually see the same thing in the previous scene in this kitchen - when Eddie arrives - Ramon is in front of the darker rend and the lighting is darker while Eddie is more brightly lit and the brighter red is around him) The darker more brownish toned red is around Ramon - a symbol of poor health - of deoxygenated blood - which has a browner colouring and its also the colour of drying blood. This is a play on time - missing out on things and on Ramon representing the old way of thinking for Eddie - basically a symbol that his upbringing was not a healthy one.

Whilst all the red around Eddie is much brighter and vibrant - blood full of oxygen is brighter red and where the brown toned red is symbolically closer to death the brighter red is more energetic and suggestive of life. The set design is literally playing on the theming around hearts and heart health that we saw connected to Eddie all season. It is helping to tell us that Eddies way is the right way for the future, especially as it is combined with the green foliage print on that red background - green being a symbol of growth, while the yellow walls are more positive toned because it is a richer brighter colour - indeed it actually is pretty much the same shade of yellow as Eddies yellow shirt - the one from the lasagne scene and the confessional scene (both of which come later - but that makes them all the more interesting!) that is Eddies shade of yellow and it is the first time we really see Eddie surrounded in some way by that particular shade of yellow. Along with the yellow cup sitting between Ramon and Eddie, it is just further proof for the yellow and Eddie theory and that it is not only a symbol of his underlying queerness, but of his truest self - at its healthiest.

He is able to forgive Ramon and move forward - vowing to be a better person - not for Chris, but for himself - that is huge growth for Eddie at that point in his arc so that yellow being there is key - the fact it follows through and transfers onto him at the stat of season 6 is indicative of that growth and embracing of self having stuck. The fact we then see it go backwards as s6 progresses (especially after Bucks death and resurrection but that is a meta for another day!) leading us into season 7’s insane events before we get the reappearance of the yellow (the same shirt) as Eddie tries to recapture that self growth - so that he can reach a point of being able to work through things with Chris - which is where we have reached now - Eddies still wearing the darker yellow - suggesting that growth is still there and part of who he is, but the paler yellow he is surrounded by now is indicative of the work he needs to do outside of himself

It is also worth noting the blue table runner that sits between Eddie and Ramon in this scene as well - because Ramon never touches the blue - but Eddie does

So to have the kitchen go from this darker, stronger more positive yellow to now become this pale and sickly yellow when we’re about to have Eddie dealing with Helena - who is a representation of Eddies mind - is very telling. We are playing on the idea that Eddies mental health is not great right now and that is what he needs to fix. The other thing to note about this yellow is that it is the same colour as the exterior of the Diaz house - as we saw in the begins episode mostly but also briefly in the background of the retirement party in 517 - its all playing into a permeating malaise engulfing Eddie - its always in his background - its always been lurking and hasn’t been confronted. So yes it’s yellow and that’s a good thing. But it’s a bit like the darker - navy- blues we kept seeing on Buck (and still do to a certain extent) when he’s following his colour but in the wrong direction compared with the lighter brighter blue when he’s on the right path.

The fact it is the kitchen - the heart of the home - is what makes the use of yellow and blue in combination espeically key here, because for me the yellow is likely going to be playing into the idea of cowardice on multiple fronts - that Eddie is not yet able to confront what he needs to, that Chris is not in a place where he is prepared to have the actual conversation he needs to have with his dad, that Helena and probably Ramon will be too cowardly to Suport Eddie and his needs - to recognise their own failings and mistreatment of Eddie in this situation. Whilst also calling back to the overall family trait of running away when faced with a situation you don’t like or know how to handle maturely (Chris gets some grace here as he is still a child and has learned a behaviour from his family!).

But we also have the blue is framing the windows (and being present in a lot of other places but its the curtains that are the most obvious blue in the scene) - windows are symbolic in and of themselves - they are connected with transition and perspective or obstruction and also as a source of illumination and we’ve seen the show using glass and windows (or even peep holes) to great effect - using glass as a barrier but also something that can be crossed and as a way of gaining perspective. The windows here are shrouded, but they let in a lot of light - they are illuminating - and therefore this scene is likely to be an illuminating one - most likely into the struggles that lie ahead for Eddie. But all the windows also suggest that he is entering a period of transition. The fact those things are surrounded by blue - a calming colour associated with honesty and commitment, security and protection, trust loyalty and support. It is also a conservative colour and can tend towards passiveness and avoiding confrontation.

In combination with the check that Eddie is wearing, I’m expecting this scene to end on a tense note and with Eddie not actively doing anything to resolve his issues - it feels very much like its the set up for Eddies arc and nothing close to a resolution in any form - its going to be about showing the audience all the things Eddie has to resolve before LA is a possibility again.

As for his shirt - its yellow ochre - along with the brighter toned shades of yellow it trends much more towards the positive end of the yellow spectrum - so the communication and logic, clarity and intellect and cheerfulness. In combination with the brown - which is one of the colours the show is using as an overarching theme this season - its telling us that Eddie is attempting to create stability and an new foundation from which to build his future. Brown is a colour of stability, foundations, enrichment, reliability, wisdom, support and honesty. It can also be seen a dull or boring as well as conservative, loneliness and isolation.

All things that apply to Eddie right now - the stability and foundation meaning comes from the earth being brown and it being where seeds are planted - bringing about new growth (but not actually being growth) - which is exactly what Eddie is trying to do in El Paso - he also thinks Chris has stability in El Paso and that has left him feeling isolated and alone. The other thing with this shirt (and the later blue one) is that this is very much the Eddie of old - this shirt and style - just go look at any of the Eddie flashback scenes - especially in Eddie begins and you will see a series of shirts just like it. Eddie does not wear check patterning all that often - we see it popping up from time to time in season 2, but then not again until we hit Eddie begins when we see lots of it - and then it disappears again until we get the blue and black check patterned shirt when he calls Marisol at the end of season 6. So basically its symbolic of his El Paso existence - its decreasing appearances throughout season 2 as Eddie adjusts and settles into LA shows that change and growth in him from the Eddie of El Paso we get to meet in Eddie begins who is wearing so much check and has his hair in this same style. The check is all but gone from his life - until he calls Marisol - when it reappears and proves that that is Eddie acting on old expectations - connected to El Paso - and therefore his parents expectations for him. So this yellow and brown shirt is all about signalling that Eddie is reverting back to who he was - whilst being on a new path and that he will be somewhat isolated in this scene, that his return to El Paso is about starting again - building from the foundation up, but that he is doing so by forcing himself back into the skin he wore before he moved to LA.

Ok on to the other things I have spotted in this scene firstly lets go back to the blue because it extends far beyond the curtains! Blue is Bucks colour and it’s always around Eddie - far more than any other character in the scene. There is the blue curtains I’ve already talked about, but there is also blue placemats and the dish towel Eddie is holding is blue striped. A lot of the little touches are blue - like the tiles above the sink or the background of the heart art above the door and the various blue jars we can see.

Amazon box still

Even the tape on the amazon box is blue coloured - and it’s teal/aqua when we see the other amazon product placement boxes (see the car sales still!) which suggests they deliberately chose the blue in this scene to help with the blue theming. Eddie is not the only one constantly surrounded by blue, but he is more than any other character in that scene from what we can tell from these stills, but he is the only one constantly in contact with something blue (that isn’t their clothing - not counting jeans or dresses etc here) - the amazon box, the dish towel, and the fact that the napkins are blue and Eddie is the only one with one on his lap (it swaps legs but this show doesn’t know continuity!!) the fun thing about that napkin is that with the yellow shirt it gives us a fun parallel to Buck (yes I am probably clowning a bit here, but go with me!)

Because my guess is this is the first scene we’re going to see Eddie with Chris, Helena and Ramon in together since Chris left at the end of 710 - when Buck was wearing yellow ochre trousers and a navy blue top. Who is now wearing a yellow ochre top and has something navy in his lap?? Yes - we have a reverse colouring going on here. This is Eddie having Buck close even in his absence - all the blue is a list Buck to a certain extent, but this napkin especially - its hidden - not that visible to the others, but Eddie has a touchstone with Buck through that napkin - it is the Eddie equivalent of Buck saying Eddies name 500 times in the last episode - and Buck is probably not going to get much of a mention here if at all in this scene - but we still have him present in some way through colour coding. The fact that its hidden under the table - its all about the suggestion that Eddie may end up feeling alone at that table, but he isn’t - Buck is there for him - not physically present, but always having his back even from 800 miles away - its also a play on the yellow/blue queer coding and the fact that Eddies feelings for Buck are currently hidden - but that fact we the audience can see that blue napkin is a low key nod to that fact that those feelings are there - along with the Buck watch being very visible and a connection to LA and the life he has given up.

Ok last thing from this scene is Helena being in fuchsia - have to admit when I saw her in that colour in these stills I laughed out loud becasue the colour fuchsia has some very specific colour meanings attached to is and they perfectly sum up Helena Diaz! It’s a colour of certainty, confidence, and strong beliefs, self willed and arrogant, controlling, manipulative, and opinionated. It does also have connections to nurture and maternal instincts.

So it is a colour that really helps to tell us who Helena Diaz is and what her motives are - especially in this scene, where we are likely to see much of that come into play - we see her seated on both sides of the table, and even though we have zero context right now, in the image below it is clear that her focus is on Chris and the hand on his shoulder feels more controlling - the fact that in these stills she is either always looking at Chris (even when Eddie is looking at her) or in contact with him physically and the only time we see her looking at Eddie is when he is on the other side of the room and his back is to he - making it clear where her maternal instincts lie.

Onto Chris and his very interesting colour coding in these stills. Chris does wear a fair amount of grey across the seasons of 911, but there are usually in t-shirt form and bearing a brightly coloured logo - which is always connected into Eddie or Chris’s arc in some way for the season and the bright colours of those means the grey is really there as a neutral background. But now we have him in that neutral grey - but with a black logo - its all much more washed out and muted than we’ve seen Chris in before now - and it carries on the theme we’ve seen in the video chats where his colours have been muted and washed out (and lots of that El Paso check!!)

The black logo, which is on his back rather than the front is the face of a big cat - a panther/puma most likely. Now there are several potential meanings to the use of this black cat/panther. There is a very famous tale by Edgar Allen Poe called ‘The black cat’ which is an allegory for self justification and the black cat is the prism through which the narrator explores the twisting of reality to fit the narrative one wants it to be. Its an exploration of Jungian psychology - which interestingly was heavily focused on the concept of repression - of ones self, personality and instincts - which when this repression of self builds up it is likely to explode in a destructive way (tell me this doesn’t;t sound like Eddies s7 arc I dare you!!) more generally black cats or panthers symbolise power, darkness, death and rebirth and resilience in many cultures. This suggests those are elements we will be seeing in Eddie and Chris’s arc. The concept of the death of their previous relationship with the rebirth of a new one, the play on Shannon’s death creating darkness in their family unit - which still persists - and the ultimate rebirth as a new family unit (also including Buck down the line!) and it also suggests the death and rebirth of the Diaz family more widely - so including Helena and Ramon. The resilience is also a key thing here - both for Chris and Eddie - they are both displaying that trait and it feels likely that it will continue to be one we see as a key part of their arc.

The neutrality of the grey is unemotional and detached and this plays into the idea of being closed off - of Chris being unavailable to Eddie at this point in time - emotionally and communicatively . It is also a pessimistic and indecisive colour which is also in keeping with the likely story arc we’re going to get and are two meanings that do speak to teenage behaviours and feelings. I think it’s a fascinating colour choice to grey Chris out and potentially make the scene more about Eddie, Helena and Ramon - with Chris present but not the thing we should be focused on in the scene.

This muting of Chris’s clothing is also on display in the stills on the veranda - and this costume is such a mini Eddie costume that it speaks volumes. The colour way is all Eddie - we have the brown trousers - which are check patterned, we have a cream tee (which has a logo of some sort on but I can’t see what it is from these stills!) and a hoodie jacket that is stitched in a denim jacket style but is a heavy weight jersey knit fabric and in a khaki green which is very much in Eddies colour wheel! The fact he is in muted colours that are straight out of the Eddie Diaz colour book and the fact he is also playing chess - its all about paralleling Eddie himself. Eddie has worn this type of green both as a piece of colour coding denoting his military past, but also as a sign that he’s at war with himself in some way - its most obvious display of this was his breakdown scene and his subsequent battle with his depression. Therefore this costume is reflective of him being like Eddie - it’s speaking of underlying unhappiness (and trauma), but it is also a play on running away - as his parents both did. Eddie is the stronger parallel for the obvious reason that he is the main character here not Shannon - plus the fact that Eddie went to war - making the addition of the game of chess a key part of the narrative and connection to Eddie. Chess is a game of war and strategy is suggestive of Chris being at war (the battle is internal) - which is caused by his trauma - but its also indicative that he has only been getting support on that front from Ramon - the act of him teaching Chris chess is a play on the idea of him teaching him coping strategies. It is placing Ramon in a much better position than Helena - at least Ramon is trying to help Chris - something established back in 8a and the only one we’ve been shown/ told is doing something with Chris that is an attempt to help him. Helena has just been shown posturing and talking a big talk (putting in a swimming pool) but none of that has been about Chris in reality.

The entire scene is intriguingly set up - in part because it appears to be at Eddies new house - his fixer upper - with its peeling green trim and doors and general run down appearance. We also see Eddie in a dark maroon/brown shirt - with no watch in sight - which is very telling to me at least - I’m undecided as to if its mean to indicate the lack of time, or if its absent because this scene will really start to dig into past Eddie and the relationship he has with his mom especially and therefore there is no need to play on time - we’ll find out when we see the episode. The maroon/ brown is yet more brown to add to the season colour theme, but its maroon undertones really fits it into the parental maroon colour theme the show uses with most characters, but especially with Eddie - the fact it is so brown toned is playing along similar lines to the reds in the kitchen from 517 - and that’s pushing me towards thinking that this scene will be doing something of the exploring Eddie being parentified by Helena (and Ramon) when he was a child himself that this is about fixing or starting to fix that part of things rather than it being centred on Chris. That it is about Eddie going back to the beginning to be able to correct and repair his present and future.

Helena is in a floral shirt and white and this pale blue that does have a slightly lavender undertone to it. Shes very much in contrast to Eddie here - her colours are cold and closed off and she sits in start contrast to all the colours around her - Eddies brownish maroon is in the same total pallette as the background - the house, the furniture and the wall hanging, even Chris and Ramon sit withing that colour pallette as well. But Helena - like her fuchsia cardigan from the previous stills, stands out from her surroundings. The blue being a cold tone makes it conservative and impersonal and also predictable, but the fact that it makes her stand out is the key here - its sets things up as her being the focus of the scene - both visually and most likely narratively. What these stills from both this scene and the kitchen one are doing is showing us that they are scenes focused on the Helena of it all - the major thing Eddie truly needs to deal with early on and that’s what is making me excited for this episode and these scenes. The visual framing is all set up ready to go - now we await the other aspects of a scene to reveal more!

Blue check Eddie with is yellow ochre toned binder and the yellow and blue colouring we can see - the cabinet, the flag in the background and the blue chair. It’s giving me calling Marisol shirt vibes from 618 and that’s intriguing to me considering that she turned out to be a former nun - the entire still is giving me either church or church school vibes, but it could also be a fire station and there is a character called assistant chief Jamie De La Cruz - so its entirely possible that it is some form of fire department building - it feels like its going to end up being a not great outcome for Eddie - along with the check pattern helping out on that front - if that’s not being offered a job or being offered one that is going to diminish him in some way who knows, but its not a positive looking set up on the visuals front!

Car lot still my beloved! There is literally soooo much in this one still for me to talk about - all the yellow and blue around Eddie is incredibly loud - literally everywhere - from the stickers on the the car windscreen behind him being predominately yellow and blue, to the light blue wall behind the chainlink fence and rthe blue cladding trim on the building to the left, you can include the yellow and blue bunting if you want to, but there is also pink red and green there so I’m not discounting it, but putting it much lower down in its relevance. And there is the fact that in the refelections in the Denali we can see lots of yellow and blue which I’m sure we’ll see more of in the actual scene. We seem to get a huge amount of yellow and blue colour coding around Eddie at locations connected to cars - especially this season with ‘No place like home’ giving us Eddie at Weston’s Dad’s motor shop with all its very very loud yellow and blue theming in an episode heavily colour themed with yellow and blue.

The fact that link to yellow and blue and cars exists in connection with Eddie and that it is also tied into parents and their children (because 504 also played on that same theme) is interesting to me (and not just because it is also tied into Hen’s arc - the main queer character on the show - and her parenting journey) because the fact this scene seems to be Eddie selling the Denali - a car heavily connected to Shannon and Eddies struggles with his grief ( as well as to Buck - in his bright blue fraying shirt jacket - and his own struggles with the grief of Eddie leaving) - i want to wait until I’ve seen the scene in full, but right now this scene is a really important one in terms of queer Eddie - not necessarily explicitly so, but very definitely in the subtext because this is Eddie letting go of his grief and therefore letting go of Shannon. But it also does one other thing - the play on the car name - Denali - with denial - its also a symbol of denial no longer being an option going forwards - for Eddie, or for Buck (the only other person we have seen in this truck).

And then we get to Eddies outfit in this still. Have I ever mentioned how much I love the wardrobe team - especially when they a repeat an outfit? And have I ever told you how much I love it when that outfit is repeated for a third or even 4th time? Because yes this is in fact the the 4th time we are seeing Eddie in this costume of a western style pearl popper button up denim shirt with dark olive khaki trousers and brown shoes!! Yes that’s s right - the 4th time!

Time no.1 - Abuela’s hospital room at the end of 204 we see Eddie by her bed as Carla brings Chris in to see Abuela - having started working for Eddie - after Buck introduces them. We don;t get to see much of the trousers in the scene, but you can see from this screenshot that the dark olive khaki trousers are there.

Time no. 2 - in Eddie begins we see Eddie fight with his parents and talk on the porch with Chris when they decide to move to LA - It’s also worth pointing out here that the yellow is the same as the yellow in the Diaz kitchen in the new stills. Same pants, trousers, white undershirt, slightly different but still brown boots and the same hand in the pocket vibe!

Time no. 3 - really hard to get a screen shot of this one because we don’t really see the pants and shirt together much, but you can see the pants in the below screen grab and take my word for it that its the same shirt - or rewatch the scene if you’re so inclind. This scene is the ‘welcome back to the land of the living Buck’ scene from 701

There are a few significant things at play here. Most of the scenes when we see Eddie wearing denim are connected to family in some way - Abuela, Shannon, and Buck, and the Diaz parents. Eddie doesn’t wear denim shirts all that much in the grand scheme of the show and that makes their use and particularly the use of a repeat outfit in this way particularlyy important. This outfit is essentially a symbol of being o the right track - on the right path, its s heavily connected to the idea of breaking free or moving forwards in some way. Carla is now there to help Eddie (thanks to Buck) so Eddie is able to fully settle into his LA life and is no longer at risk of proving his parents right - it’s freedom from El Paso and shows that LA is the right path for him - that accepting Bucks help and support is the right path as well.

The fight with Helena and Ramon and the subsequent conversation with Chris is about moving and escaping a situation that is holding you back, Eddie making that choice to move to LA and to not listen to his parents - again it is him on the right path.

The same can be said of the locker room scene with Buck. Buck was being held back by his death, but so too was Eddie. Death had changed their relationship (graveyard scene) and Buck dumping Natalia because all she talked about was death ultimately sets not only Buck free from his death, but Eddie free as well - they can both start living again - and ultimately what this scene is doing is resetting the Buck and Eddie of it all and putting them both on the right path - its about setting buddie in motion which is the longer term right path rather than a more immediate pay off right path (its also a symbolic nod to buddie being free of network restrictions and being allowed to happen with the move to abc).

So having Eddie wearing an outfit that is a symbol of breaking free and setting himself on the right path as he sells the car is likely about him finally breaking free of his grief and anger around Shannon and her death. Its about him finally being able to let her go so both he and she can move on (and Chris as well because Eddie clinging to her ghost has stopped him from grieving properly and has caused him trauma). I’m not saying this scene magically does all of that - just that it is the marker point for Eddie and sets him on his path to healing and moving on and in a more low key way is setting Eddie fully on his path to his feelings realisation that will be the culmination of his letting go of Shannon arc. It is a key indicator of Eddie’s story arc over this episode of the next couple of episodes.

Just to further add credence to this costuming choice. We do see this shirt pop up in season 4 - when Eddie introduces Ana to Chris as his girlfriend - the difference here is that the trousers are light tan rather than the dark olive green - it is an indicator that this path is not the right one - its not the entirely wrong path - as it is technically him trying to move on from Shannon, but its not the right path because he is doing it for Chris and not for himself - trying to provide that mother figure he thinks Chris needs.

And just to get even more unhinged about it we have the boating lake scene with Kim - which is a reverse of the repeat costume - the colours are right - we have the olive green and the dark denim, but its the western style popper button up shirt that is green with the dark denim jeans - its not the right way around and Eddie has got turned about and has taken the wrong path. That his pursuit of a woman who looks like his dead wife is not the way to go about dealing with your grief that you have failed to deal with up to this point. The colours are correct - suggesting that in the same way the wrong colours meant the wrong path for Ana - a minor setback in that instance, that this too is the wrong path - but that its one that will set him back much further!

I”m going to stop writing now - I have gone on far far longer than was my intent and I ended up on several side quests I did not expect to end up on - worthwhile ones as I got to deep dive into Eddies repeat outfit a bit more as well as explore the muting of Christopher and that he’s becoming a mini Eddie visually and really get into the colours of the Diaz kitchen - so all worth it im my book - hopefully you enjoyed it and found it interesting and worthwhile as well - let me know your thoughts in the tags and comments and as always thanks for taking the time to read my very long rambles. I can’t wait to see how it all ends up playing out in the episode!

Tagged people below!

@lover-of-mine @spotsandsocks @fruityfirehose @wanderingwomanwondering @livingwherethesidewalkends @buddiediaz118 @bewitchedbewilderedbisexual @satvojihusana @elvensorceress @icebergeddie @buckleyanddiaz @eddiedisasterdiaz @kejfeblintz @cookie-kat777 @leothil @bucksbelly @kyoteugly @bi-moonlight @somebodycall911onabc @trudayss @chaosandwolves @lemotmo @buckleyanddiaz

[ablobwhowrites]

Hello I saw your posts on the false ruler Y/n au and I must say YOU COOKED WITH THESE AU'S and I got a question, when will you post a part 3 of false ruler Y/n cuz ngl I want more of these parts bruh, When seeing this it got me thinking. Is it possible for you to Grant me my Request Cuz I've thought about it on how Part 3 will look likee or how I think about how it Will look like How will the Ancients and the main trio along with the other cookies will take it after they found out after Y/n Escaped and gotten corrupted when they find Y/n in the ruined castle after they destroyed the statue and heard the crys and screams of Y/n telling them to go away while crying on their knees, making them question what went wrong when they kept Y/n in the castle.

When I was thinking about this, I thought of paths on how will this go if they found Y/n inside the castle but in their Corrupted state and thought a path of my own when I read the Second part of False ruler when it mentioned "They felt their wings clipped" and "they wanted to be free as a bird" (which Idk if I was right or wrong if it's in the second part) but it reminded me of Okita souji from record of Ragnarok and made me think of a path where Y/n Abandons his Name and everything and starts a new life as Okita Souji, Hear me out. When Okita lived through out his life during the Era of Bakumatsu (tell me if I'm correct or wrong), He wanted to be free as a bird when fighting but was always afraid when the demon inside him took over and took his place before one day on a walk with his caretaker, Okita asked him how can he become a honorable samurai if the demon inside him will always takes over, The caretaker said if he stakes his life on something he truly believes in, then in the end, he could meet death with a smile. He thought that was what it meant to truly be a samurai. Okita believed in him for out the rest of his life before one day He got sick with a illness that took his strength away day by day with feeling of the sword getting much heavier with every swing he took, during one of those days He falls to the ground and looks up at the sky before reaching out his hand to the sky before he starts crying due to the fact that he might die without a smile on his face on what He liked doing the most Which was Fighting Samurais and facing death in the face which made him feel like a bird when flying freely in the sky with the sickness making him feel trapped inside a cage.

God That was long but That was my own path of False ruler Y/n Au of Y/n Leaving everything behind and starting a new identity as Okita Souji But If you see this PLEASE Respond With a Text or something, I know you got a lot on your hands but Please as soon or as fast as you can 🙏щ⁠(•́⁠ ⁠ ⁠‿⁠ •̀⁠щ⁠)

IF YOU WANT TO READ THE PATHS I THOUGHT OF, THEIR HERE |

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V

PATH 1: NOT WITHOUT MY DEAD BODY

Warning: angst, Suicide, Violence, Swearing and lots of yelling

In a Ruined castle, Cries and Screams of pleading can be Heard Within the Castle.

Gingerbrave, strawberry and Wizard cookie along with the Ancients after Many trials and errors are Fighting against you with You in your Corrupted state,

Finally after finding out where Y/n went after going missing for weeks before rumors of a cookie similar to Y/n, is crying and screaming their hearts out inside of a Ruined castle, They Gathered up and decided to investigate the ruined castle after Their questions and Worrying of Where Y/n have been answered, Where Was Y/n at?, Were you alright? Hungry? Injured? Or wanting some company around? Nevermind that They're happy now that they can bring Y/n back to safety to their castle in their very own kingdom without problem!!!!!

Or...

Is it with a problem....

"GET AWAY FROM ME" Y/n yelled as they jumped away as soon as that the statue that they stayed in crumbled after Gingerbrave, Strawberry and Wizard cookie along with Ancients see you after they defeated the horde of rock monsters and water monsters.

"Y/n Please You have to return back to the Kingdom for your safety!" Gingerbrave pleaded back, He along with everyone else were distraught at The condition you were in,

Your body was about to crumble with pieces of your Dough missing or barley hanging onto your body that is about to crumble, your once gleaming armor, Now rusted with a color of dull grey along with your trusty weapon now in a bad condition with your arms having noticeable cuts with your face Now having tears running down your cheeks with your eyes bloodshot as Jam

This was not the condition their Precious Bird Ruler is supposed to be in, What monster done this to their Y/n, Once they find the cookie THEY'RE CRUMBLING THE COOKIE TILL NOTHING!!

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Why, why, why, why, why why JUST WHY!" as soon as You Moved out of the way, a magic circle appeared underneath you before it summoned a bubble, missing its Target

"Y/n Please for your sake, Our sake please We have to return you back to your Kingdom for your safety" Golden cheese cookie saids before Flying towards you just to grab you before you dodged it before Punching her in the face with the force of your punch making her dough crack before sending her back into a pillar before it crumbled on top of her

" *sniff* Y/n... please... Your dough.... it's *sniff* falling apart..." White Lily cookie cried before summoning vines with her staff to restrain you but were cutted down by your weapon before dodging another magic circle that summoned another circle to trapped you which was being casted by Wizard cookie

"Y/n please Just come back with us and you'll be safe back at the kingdom" As soon as Wizard cookie said that, You didn't hesitate to appear before him before Socking him right into his face, sending him back before you blocked and clashed your blade against Dark cacao's blade after he tried to sneak Attack you

"Y/n.... Why.... Why here when your kingdom can be your safe haven..." Dark cacao saids as he looked into your bloodshot eyes as he was struggling to withstand the strength of your blade

"Safe haven.... You CALL THAT KINGDOM A SAFE HAVEN!!!??!?!" Y/n yelled back as You pushed him back before slashing against his armor with your strength breaking through the armor and landing a slash against him

"WHEN WAS IT THE LAST TIME YOU GUYS LET ME FREE!?!" As soon You were about to slash him again, Your crumbling body made your body stood rigid for abit, not before something bashed against you, Sending you crashing into a wall with a window near it breaking due to the force of the attack, making your body wanting to crumble even more as more rubble began to fall and surrounded you

"Y/N!!!!!!!!!!" White Lily along with everyone exclaimed in horror as they saw you get buried by falling pieces of the ruined castle

"Oh no nononononononono WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!" Hollyberry yelled in horror, almost started crying at what she done

Her along with everyone else though Someone else used your magic on you and corrupted you and made you turn your Rage and grief against everyone else before hearing you cry once more, making everyone's heart ache at the sound of it

"*sob* just why... *Hic* just why wouldn't you guys let go on a adventure with you all...*Hic* what was even the point of keeping me locked inside that damn castle..*Hic*" Y/n said while sobbed their heart out before bringing your knees to your face while your arms were bleeding out jam while you cried you more tears

"Was the...gifts and luxury not enough..." Strawberry cookie said, on the verge of tears as she sees climb out of the rubble and stumble and limp towards of what remains of the statue that kept you hidden away

"Maybe it was the servants or the food that was served to Y/n?" Pure vanilla cookie pondered as he was healing the wounds of wizard cookie

"I think it was the gold that didn't suit Y/n needs" Said Golden cheese cookie before getting out of the rubble of the pillar that crumbled on top of her "Hmmm oh I think it was-

WAS NOTHING DAMN IT" You interrupted her as she and everyone stayed silent " 'FOOD THIS' 'GIFTS THAT' IT WAS NONE OF THAT.....ALL THAT SUITED ME WAS FREEDOM AND AN ADVENTURE BUT NOOOOOOOOO, YOU THAT WHAT I NEEDED WAS TO BE KEPT INSIDE THAT CASTLE AND BE LOCKED AWAY!!!!" As Y/n yelled back at them on what you said,

"But Staying in the castle was the best of keeping you safe!" Gingerbrave retorted back

"Staying in the casTLE WAS THE BEST!?!" You yelled back in anger "GINGERBRAVE TELL ME HOW THE HELL IS STAYING IN THE CASTLE WAS THE BEST IDEA FOR YOU GUYS WHILE THAT DID WAS MADE ME WANT TO LEAVE!?!?!" as you grabbed one of the false gifts and chucked it towards gingerbrave, With it hitting him in the head

"And I have one question for ALL OF YOU" Y/n looks at everyone else before your voice went into Despair "When was it the last time you guys saw me truly happy..." Your voice croaks as you cried more tears from your eyes with them getting more red from the amount of crying

"What.." him along with everyone else said it as if you said something that they haven't heard

"It must have been the gold that I given to Y/n" "No it was that necklace that I gave to Y/n" "No it was the time Y/n had when walking around the garden" "No it has the be the juice that I Gifted to Y/n" "No... It must have been--

While they were talking, trying to figure out when was the last time you were truly happy, You didn't see the magic circle that was forming underneath you before you saw it the last second before getting out of the range of the spell barley before it summoned another bubble, trapping your left leg and snapping it off, causing you to scream out in pain as you fell to the ground, everyone else turned you and saw you on the ground and didn't hesitate to rush over to you to tried to bring back to your cage,

You saw this and didn't hesitate to getting up and hopping away on your one leg while using your weapon as a walking stick to help hop away out of the room while everyone was chasing

(Why is these happening... WHY. WHY.... WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT ME BACK...WHY!?!) Your mind was having millions of things run through your head while you were hopping away from the group of cookies chasing you, yelling and telling you that the kingdom is the safest place to return or you having to return is the best option but you weren't having it

(This was the last straw, Trying to trap me was the FINAL STRAW! Trying to get me while I'm down was FINALLY IT, Enough is Enough and I'm ending it here and now) You thought while you hopped into the abandoned throne before White lily cookie summoned a vine, causing you to trip and lose your balance to fall to the ground before She pinned you down

"Y/N PLEASE!!!, STAYING IN THE CASTLE IS THE BEST OPTION FOR YOU TO STAY SAFE!!!" White Lily cookie Cried out before you threw her off of you before Grabbing something hidden within your armor with it being a small but very sharp dagger before bringing to your neck, Causing Everyone to go wide eyed and panic

"OVER MY DEAD BODY WHITE LILY" "Y/N NOOOO"

But it was too late for her or anyone to stop you as you stabbed the dagger into your neck and slashing across it, Causing your own Jam to be sprayed from your neck in front of everyone else and causing you to drop to the ground with a heavy thud

.

.

.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" She along with everyone else began crying their eyes out at what you did with Pure Vanilla Using every ounce of magic he has to heal you and stop your jam from bleeding out while crying at the same time

Why take your own life WHY Was it because not even life suit you that wasn't the case All that was important was your life needing saving

"WIZARD COOKIE SEND OUT THE FLARE"

wizard cookie didn't waste a second on casting a flare before sending two into the sky, breaking through the roof and alerting the party's that were with them

First one being a red flare signaling that they found you but something was wrong before the second flare was known and it made the party's jam to run ice cold

The Second flare was a green one signaling that Y/n was in need of medical attention ASAP

———————————————————————————

HEADS UP THOSE WHO ARE READING THIS I ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO NOT ATTEMPT ON WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS PATH ALRIGHT YOUR LIVES ARE VALUABLE AND YOU HAVE PEOPLE THAT LOVE YOU

Welp if that was long as hell but Ay if you have the time to create part 3 to False ruler Y/n au Then I hope you have the time to do it, DO WHAT YOU DO BEST HERE.

(PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY ACTION IN THIS! AS THIS IS ONLY ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES AND PLEASE YOUR LIVES ARE ALL VALUABLE! AND YOU ARE LOVED!)

I have to say this is absolutely amazing writing. Im thinking of making a second kind of scenario of the second part but you can send a second request of what you'd think the second path would be.

The withering Castle echoed cries, the walls having vines wrapped around pillars that cracked and showed it's age for long it was abandoned for. And the groans and roars of the monsters that rained the halls had rang through the walls. "This castle is like a labyrinth, every turn is just to another one of these stone and water beasts!" Hollyberry huffed as her shield was ready for another attack from a water creature but was sliced in half by dark cacao. "We must find y/n, that's all that matters." Dark cacao weary of what could have happened to y/n, many at the kingdom panicked as the 'royal advisor' told them what y/n was kidnapped by the state of their room. Objects thrown and it seemed that way but it must have been a corrupted cookie who had done this. Room after room seemed endless as monsters kept coming after them as who ever it was didn't want them to come any closer to what may be in the last room of the castle.

Until the final doors opened to a grand hallway with a room at the end, the walls having withering objects thrown to the sides, vines grew around them as some having cracks and faded colors. And the crying grows louder. "Please, just go away! Don't come any closer!" Y/n's voice sobbed through the last room. "Y/n must be in trouble!" Gingerbrave panicked as he run to the door but was was blown back by something. "Gingerbrave!" Strawberry cookie cried as gingerbrave hit the ground as the thing that blew him back had been a corrupted version of y/n's horse, it's body covered by armor and its eyes glowing white. "Y/n's horse? But what would it be here?" Wizard cookie confused seeing y/n's noble steed that was missing when y/n had first disappeared. "The cookie who is behind this is sick! Who ever this cookie is must been punished for what they may done with y/n." Golden cheese cookie angered had ready her spear as strawberry cookie took out her lollipop as well as dark cacao with his sword and hollyberry her shield. The corrupted horse huffed ready to protect the room with its life.

Y/n trapped in their statue form heard the battle outside as they hoped that their steed would win as they didn't want to go back, they wanted to run away and get away from the people who trapped them in that prison of a castle but the vines wrapped around their legs kept them in place, forcing them to have to face the ancients and the very cookies who put them in the castle. "Why? Why couldn't they just stay away from me. Why couldn't they just leave me be." Y/n quietly sobbed as more tears flowed with the fountain. "Please I just want to be free..."

The steed let out finally cry as its formed shrunk back to its original body, as the horse was exhausted from the battle with the cookies panting as the battle wasn't easy as it put up quite a fight but now it's time to get y/n back home. Gingerbrave opened the doors and was confused seeing the giant fountain in the middle of the room and the other cookies became confused as well. "Y/n should be here, was this a trick!" Golden cheese cookie shouted as she had lost so much and she wasn't willing to lose y/n. "Why couldn't you just leave me alone." Y/n's voice whispered in the room. "Y/n? Where are you?" Pure vanilla cookie called out as he looked around the room. "I don't want you here, your not welcome here!" Y/n's voice screeched as the statue on top of the fountain cracked as its arms began to move as well as other parts to have y/n move. "YOU HAVE HURT ME ENOUGH, GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Y/n screeched their stone face having their eyes still closed as more tears ran down into the fountain. "Y/n, wha- who did you to you? Please just come back to the kingdom! You'll be safer there!" Hollyberry pleaded but y/n grew more angry. "No, I won't be your prisoner anymore, you hurt my steed, you have hurt me. For simply wanting freedom. I will fight for my freedom, even if it means I have to crumble." Y/n said as vines grew around the bottom of the fountain forming large and clawed hands.

No

no

..

NO NO NO NO!

IT WASNT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY!

THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DEFEATED AND GO AWAY!

I FOUGHT FOR MY FREEDOM!

WHY!?

WHY!!?

The fountain crumble as y/n panted, their tears still running staining their dough. Their body hurts, it aches as the stone that had fallen off y/n had crack their dough, their dough barely holding together as their jam dripped out of the wounds. Their face also damaged as half their face oozed jam into their tears. "GO AWAY! I DON'T WANNA GO BACK!" Y/n shouted as they tried to use their vines, the water, stones. Anything but nothing happened as they looked at the ground that they were kneeling on. "Y/n, please just cooperate with us, it's not safe here." Wizard cookie said in a sympathetic tone as he knew it was best for y/n to be in the castle even the ancient knew this but why? Why do you have to fight this much y/n? Hollyberry walked up slowly to y/n as they tried to crawl back. "Y/n please, I...we just want to keep you safe." She said as she saw how y/n looked at her with fear. "STAY AWAY! I SAID. STAY. AWAY!" Y/n used a dulled knife to try and slash at hollyberry but it didn't even pierce their armor she had, the heart on her chest only having a small scratch from the blade. Y/n shook violently as more tears ran down as they cried, they were scared, they leaned against the rubble that trapped them. "Please...please I just w-wanna go home."

Y/n cried as didn't wanna go back into the castle soon the saw a bright light on the ground as a bubble shield was about to form and y/n tried to climb up the rumble to escape the bubble shield spell but Hollyberry grabbed them and hugged them close as y/n struggled as they saw the opening from the shield about to close, desperately reaching up for it but being held tightly by hollyberry who hugged them closer, she didn't want to lose them. She won't let them be hurt every again, nor will anyone else have y/n hurt again. Y/n saw the opening close as they lowered their hand and started at the last second of freedom they had.

Why must they be punished for wanting to be free again?

(anyways guys that just me yapping but yeah. If you guys like this one please don't be shy and request any ideas for stories or y/n. And please know that you guys absolutely make my day when sending requests for any kind of stuff you want me to write or just yap about, please keep being amazing but for now please stay safe and drink water!)

[bees-with-a-camera]

Ok so contrary to popular belief most bees don’t have hives, they are solitary, but there's different levels of solitary that are comparable to different levels of housing. The first level is just “solitary’’, this level means that they emerge from usually burrows, go out, mate, and make a burrow of their own (female) or just die (male). The female will gather all the required material and lay the eggs and then seal it shut. This is equivalent of (from a females pov) building a whole-ass house from scratch, filling it with food and baby stuff, with no help at all. The second kind is as aggregation. Aggregations are formed when several fully solitary bees nest in one area, its unknown why they do this, but it’s speculated that it has to do with protection (neighborhood watch basically) and a good nesting opportunity. This one is like a neighborhood where everyone makes their own house but still lives close together. The next level/type is called semisocial. Semisocial bees basically have an apartment where everyone contributes. Unlike honeybees and other eusocial bees they still fit the description of “solitary” as the mothers never meet their kids, the colonies only last for one generation. These colonies have jobs that are usually based on the size of the bee, larger bees stay behind, lay eggs, and take care of the babies, while smaller bees go out and forage. Theres also a version called “quasisocial’, meaning semi social, but I don’t know enough about it to accurately describe it. I can however say that its most commonly noticed in orchid bees living in central and south America. The last type is the most well-known type, eusocial, meaning true social, notably characterized by the mothers actually meeting their children without dying off first. The two most common species (not the right word but it gets the point across) known in this group are honeybees and bumblebees, however kinds of sweat bees are included in this. The thing with honeybees is that they are considered highly eusocial compared to the others which are considered primitively eusocial. This is because of many factors, such as the fact that they have MUCH larger colonies (several hundred vs 50-100 vs less than a dozen) and the fact that honeybee queens are so different from the workers, with honeybees and sweatbees only having a size difference to distinguish them and being fully independent before the making of the hive. And going back to honeybees, most bees do not leave their stinger in the body. From what I remember honeybees have to do that in order to cause more pain because their hives make larger targets compared to others. To do this they have barbed stingers, most have smooth, which gets caught in rubbery skin and pull out the venom gland and some intestines which is why they die shortly after. Another fact about the stingers is that they are modified ovipositors which is why males can't sting, please use your imagination and context clues to figure out how the male bees in the bee movie sting. It's not fun. I'll probably update this with more bee facts later. Anyway, here's my bee rant @justyouraveragebird

((also tagging @bees-official and @that-weird-bee, please feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong))

((@silhouette-system behold, my namesake))

((@daringcrafter and @carb0n-m0n0xide))

[yusuke-of-valla]

So, Video Game Voice Actors Are On Strike: A Quick and Dirty Guide for Tumblr Users

Starting on July 26th, SAG-AFTRA members that are part of the Interactive Media Agreement (so mostly voice actors for video games) will be on strike. If you're a member of SAG-AFTRA with questions, I would speak to them.

Most of this information is coming from the SAG-AFTRA website, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything or ask if you need anything.

If you are a random tumblr user who wants to know what's going on, here we go.

Why are video game voice actors striking?

AI, as one could expect. From the union's statement:

Although agreements have been reached on many issues important to SAG-AFTRA members, the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language.

Which Games Are Being Struck?

Games from: Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc. are all being struck.

There is also a website to confirm which union projects are being struck but you'd need to be a member actively working on it to use it.

Ok so I'm not a voice actor, union or otherwise, I just like games. What should I do.

I can NOT stress this enough. Do NOT stop playing games. The union has not asked for this, and is instead asking for people to amplify our messages online using #LevelUpTheContract, #VideoGameStrike and #SagAftraStrong."

You can also sign this petition in support of voice actors getting a fair deal.

I'm not a union representative but if a game you're looking forward to is being covered by the struck companies, I'd blow up your social media and their mentions with how much you love the voice acting and the actors deserve a fair contract, but other than that you are not being asked to boycott any games or not cosplay or attend events.

A Streamer is playing a struck game! Is that crossing the picket line?

No, SAG-AFTRA explicitly says that is fine, and in fact encourages it.

An actor is promoting/promoted a struck work at SDCC, is that crossing the picket line?

No, the statement explicitly says those attending SDCC can still do work there because of the short notice, they are also fine.

Wait didn't SAG-AFTRA already do some weird bullshit regarding video game voice actors and AI?

Yes, at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, SAG-AFTRA signed a deal with Replica AI to allow their members to create digital replicas, it was a whole thing and many voice actors were pissed.

So they're hypocrites?

Ok it's more complicated than that. Their logic for the Replica AI thing is rather than allow companies to do whatever they want, it was better to have a system in place to be able to clearly say when a company was breaking the rules and ensure that talent got some compensation.

We can debate the efficacy of that strategy all day and voice actors at the time were not happy, BUT the companies being struck here refuse to even rise to THAT standard and will not agree to the most basic protections for actors, which is worse.

People and organizations contain multitudes and it is not a betrayal or hypocritical to disagree with SAG-AFTRA leadership on the Replica AI situation and side with them, and more importantly their members in this case.

Why aren't game devs striking/ It's not devs on strike so I don't care

The Screen Actors Guild covers actors, so it would not be in everyone's best interest if they were to try and negotiate on behalf of people in different fields with different needs.

However, one way to build support for the various movements to unionize at places like Activision-Blizzard and Bethesda is to support labor movements everywhere and show solidarity whenever it comes up.

Why are the actors striking when the developers should be paid more.

They should be paid more! And they should not be laid off as much. One way to help with that is to be able to point to voice actors and say, hey they got a raise, I want one too.

[moonsaver]

Good day moon! Okay I normally don't do asks when it comes to yandere cause it's not my usual thing but seeing the last post you made of Yan!Sunday and his darling, that one where he just desperately wants to have that normalcy in their relationship but couldn't ever have it because of what he's done, made me think of something rather angsty; like how the darling's backlashes against his affections would probably go turn for the worst as time passes on, they don't hate him in a sense because he's really trying hard to not make them hate him and they can see that his love is real (just really fucked up) but that deep urge to hurt the person who took their freedom away is still there, it wouldn't just go away just because he loves them so much that he wouldn't dare to break them. Oh that satisfaction on seeing Sunday looking so hurt after yelling at him, they know it doesn't make them any better than him but at that point, what else is there for them to lose? Maybe in hurting him so subtly, they may find some pity in themselves for him to actually give him some semblance of love but until then, all Sunday ever receives from them are either silent treatment or backlash

Such relationship could only thrive in the worst way possible and maybe Sunday knows that but even then, he still holds out that little (delusional) hope that maybe his darling will still love him someday

Sorry for the rant, it's just that I feel for Sunday but his method will never work and it'll just deeply hurt him and his darling in the end asgfjgsfg also if it's alright, I'd request this but I'll leave it to you with how you write it, be it an imagine or anything else since I'm fine with it!

- Elys

Hello Elys! Im so sorry it took a long time for me to get to your request lol, tons of things got in the way but I remembered this request for a while.

In any case, I feel you've summed it up quite well!

Sunday isn't harsh or as brutal as I imagine him. Unlike my [i have to self advertise here, sorry HAHA] soft yan!blade, Sunday most likely wouldn't even need a bit of working around to be a softer yandere.

He's so loving, it's painful. His love is like despaired poetry for a lover who is still alive, just further than their reach. I imagine his love to be very tender, even as a yandere, if he doesn't become even softer.

And it's hard to convince him he's wrong – mainly because he already knows. But rather that's a bit distorted in his view; instead he thinks it's a wrongdoing against your nature as someone who wants to be free, but correct in the context of the situation rather than actually understanding it is absolutely wrong in general. And he doesn't budge. He's stubborn, almost infuriatingly. And instead of getting angry, I imagine he rather looks disappointed or disgruntled, which somehow does more damage/strikes more fear than anger.

And it's still heartbreaking; frustratingly for both of you, not just yourself.

You lash out, you scream, cry, wail, argue, relentlessly push and resist against him. it's your only way of getting back at him, you're sure as hell you're going to strike the hardest that way. And you relish the hurt you see in the eyes of your captor, but something more sympathetic tugs at you when you see his lovingly sad eyes. It's this cacophony of guilt, frustration, anger, and utter despair at the loss of your freedom. Sunday feels all of it, aswell, and you want to be relieved that he does – if it weren't for the fact he still wasn't letting you go.

He continually withholds your freedom from you. That single injustice to you is enough to weather your patience over time – your anger only burns hotter and hotter, pushing away any semblance of sympathy or reasoning, and it only hurts Sunday more, until you realise what you're doing, and quietly give in to sooth him for the time being. Just a little. Until that little injustice starts bothering you again. It's a toxic cycle.

And it hurts even more when Sunday tries to find normalcy in your relationship; he's trying so hard to be your lover, to hold you gently and bathe you with care, to dry you off and still love you after seeing you bare. He wants to come home and see you smile, be happy, elated that he's there, just as he feels when he sees you. But that's not what happens. His delusions and flimsy expectations are shattered the moment he steps into the dimly lit room, your form refusing to even look at him. The silence is strangely stronger than his hopes.

Anyways, that's all i can think of at the moment. I love angst yandere sunday time.

[mydearestbeloved]

okay, you said illusion is part of reader's arsenal so i think it would be cool if she has an AOE skill where she creates a fragrant field of flowers that heals and buffs allies but any enemies that step into the field will be teleport back to the other side before they can cross over it, kinda like a never ending loop? samsara? the cycle of life and birth? (i was inspired seeing shu arknights skill set)

?System¿: [Under review. Ideas considered for future versions.]

Interesting idea you got there. 🤩

You might notice by now that I love giving some logics behind what was supposed to be pure magic, if I can. That's one of my ways to make this story concept a bit more distinct than the others, and also a way for me to fit in the original narratives. Because as far as I know, from spoilers of the webnovel/novel and game, and from the webtoon/manhwa and anime, the mechanics of healer class hunter's power is not widely explained and developed. It's like filling in the gaps/plotholes with what-ifs and all that. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. 🙏

So, let me clarify a few things about the current Reader's powers as of now (12/11/2024):

For AOE heals, buffs, and even enemies debuffs, Reader's butterflies already got that covered.

The butterflies' main power is inspired by the very nature of butterflies in real life, pollination. While they might not be as effective as bees in that regard, they still feed on flowers' nectar (enemies' lifeforce). When they do this, their bodies collect pollen (excess energy) and carry it to other plants (allies) to help produce new seeds (in the form of heals and buffs).

The reason I also choose butterflies instead of bees are for their physical appearance. Hear me out first before anyone could get mad.

I'm not saying that I chose butterflies purely because of their aesthetics, over the effectiveness of bees. What I'm trying to say is that bees' have visible stinger, butterflies don't. This fact plays part in the Reader's vibe of being beautiful but deadly. Illusions is one of the reasons we perceive something that were actually dangerous as harmless, it tricked us into thinking that something so pleasing to the eyes couldn't possible hurt us, yet reality says otherwise. As the saying goes, "Don't let the looks fool you."

Now onto the 'field of flowers' concept in what is as of currently the latest drafted chapter of my Trial Player AU.

Plants in general absorb carbondioxide (mana, or other versions of it, like the contaminated ones) and produce oxygen (lifeforce) in exchange.

Additionally, in my story, the concept applied is that living beings continuously produce their own mana while they're alive. If they're freshly dead, there will only be residue mana from being alive just moments prior, limited and will be dispersed into the atmosphere as time goes on.

To simplify: 'Lifeforce' is the essence of mana. Being alive automatically produce mana, hence taking just a small amount of 'lifeforce' sourced from living beings can be converted to an abundant amount of mana. However, while Reader can still take back a mana's essence with the flower field, the field needs to take a larger amount of mana (CO2) just to produce smaller amount of 'lifeforce' (O2) to then be used by the butterflies (conduits) in a cycle and for Reader herself.

Hence the scenes in my Trial Player AU rendition of Solo Leveling's Demon Castle Arc. The land are roaming with demons and the undeads, perfect for the flower field. Though there's a catch that I can't fully explain for now, the 'contaminated' mana of the creatures there. The current Jinwoo in the manhwa can't extract Metus' shadow for exactly that reason, and while Reader was still able to use that mana, the contamination in it will have an effect on her, as shown briefly at the end of the chapter.

Last but not least, your Samsara cycle idea.

Awesome idea actually, one I want to ask for your permission to incorporate this concept in the future since you're the one who brought it up. 🙏

As of you know now, the current Reader's power is limited. To use that idea of yours now would be to imply that Reader could've reversed wounds to heal instead of accelerating cells (or other automatic biological processes) and subsequently trigger <Decay> if too much was sped up.

The current her was already struggling with <Erode>, a spell that supposedly accelerate weathering (not an automatic process) that needs outer factors like water, air, sunlight, or the help of living organisms, in which she managed to substitue them with applying more mana, hence the cost, time, and focus she needs to use the spell.

To simplify, to reverse a wound would be to reverse the cause of that very wound, hence dominion over space is also required, not just time. To make a 'Samsara Cycle' as you described needed the same power of space and time. A limitation for the current Reader...

For now. 🤫😉

---

That's all I can say for now regarding your ask. Hopefully, this was a satisfactory answer.

Thank you, for reading my stories, for your ideas, and for giving me the opportunity to share my own ideas. 💞

[unlimitedhearts]

Some disparate thoughts about S5 of SPN bc none of these were long enough to be its own text posts.

I dont think it's talked about enough how effectively this season breaks Dean's resolve to keep refusing Michael. You could say it starts with Ellen and Jo sacrificing themselves but honestly? I think it starts all the way back in Changing Channels. Seeing even an avoidant dick like Gabriel get involved to try and convince them? I feel like Dean was affected by that. Its a great early parallel to Zachariah bringing Adam back to convince him. A completely separate third party that had nothing to do with this brought to convince him

Christian Theologists please feel free to correct me if im wrong but AFAIK Jesus and Joshua are the same person. Jesus is etymological related to Joshua and some cursory research on the Internet (so check this out... lmao) tells me that there is no Angel Joshua. But there is Angel of Joshua and thr Angel of Joshua is also the Angel of Jesus. Joshua is another name for Jesus. We've all seen the Jesus JJBA post. Why am I talking about this?

I believe The Gardener at the Centre of Heaven, the person Castiel calls "the Angel Joshua" is Jesus. He is the only person God speaks to. He's able to take Sam and Dean from Zachariah in Heaven with no fight aside from mild arguing from Zach. Implying that Joshua is higher up on the org chart than he is - he's killed other Angels for less and if we're assuming he's at full power on his home turf he'd have no problem icing Joshua. Why wouldn't he?

Unless he knows. Joshua is not to be touched.

Dean being empty on the inside and therefore immune to Famine is such a great illustration of his depression and impending sense of hopelessness.

Ik why its done in the show but WHY TF WOULD DEAN GET ADAM UP AFTER HOURS OF TORTURE FROM ZACHARIAH AND LET HIM WALK ON HIS OWN. AND THEN CARRY SAM OUT WHEN HE GOT IT WAY LESS. DEAN YOU D U M M Y YOU JUST HANDED ADAM TO MICHAEL ON A SILVER PLATTER.

Its now Destiel all the way down.

When Castiel goes on a weeks long Bender upon hearing God doesn't care, he's taking a page out of Deans book. Dean, having seen this behaviour several hundred times before in himself, helps Cas through it. "Yeah your dad sucks and has just given you abandonment issues. Been there. Here have some ibuprofen and let me tell you you're more than your dad." Cas would have been Angry with Dean saying "yes" to Michael anyway.

But i think this conversation is why he became outright *pissed* at Dean for even CONSIDERING it.

"How are you going to give me a lecture on picking myself up and getting where I am and then TURN AROUND AND BETRAY ME?!" G o d

When Dean tells Cas to blow him. And Cas looks like he's considering it for a second. Thats it thats the thought.

"I REBELLED FOR YOU! I GAVE UP EVERYTHING FOR YOU AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?" is EVERYTHING to me. Of course Cas would be pissed but this is SUCH an excellent illustration of his devotion to DEAN. Not God, not the world, not the impending apocalypse. The entire reason he's not on Heavens side is because Dean wasn't on Heavens side. The entire reason he was hoping to stop the Apocalypse a different way was because DEAN wanted to. Cas would have supported Dean in whatever decision he made with his free will. If Cas was on the side of ending the Apocalypse against all odds now that all roads are exhausted, he would jave supported Dean fully. Yes, he's pissed that he gave up everything only to be confronted with the fact that he didn't have to - but I think he's more pissed that Dean doesn't see he did it for HIM. That Dean is betraying his own ideals and therefore betraying Cas.

Ow

When they're about to go get Adam (my beautiful sweet boy...) Cas takes off his tie and Dean looks like he's so into it for a second. He checks Cas out for a fraction of a second and THEN LOOKS AWAY. Man's is not BEATING the bisexual Angel Lover allegations.

Cas ripping open his button up to banish himself and 3 other Angels using sigils HE FUCKING CARVED ON HIMSELF?!?! Hot.

[uramakimochi]

PLAYING TOGETHER

|Leclerc sister drabble| (See for more here)

Charles & Arthur Leclerc x (sister)Reader + mom Pascale

Warnings: fluff, use of Y/n, fem!R, physical fight (between children lol), R is the little sister of the Leclerc siblings because i said so, cameo of Hervé and Lorenzo.

Translated english because it's not my first language so feel free to correct me.

///

The sun was shining on Monte Carlo that day and the Leclerc family, made up at that moment only of mom Pascale and her children Charles, Arthur and little Y/n, had gone to the park to play. Lorenzo was spending the afternoon at his friend's house and in reality Charles hadn't been to the playground for some time either, but under Y/n's pleas he had decided to join in too, having nothing better to do. Hervé, however, was away, leaving his wife alone to keep an eye on the 3 children, of which the two youngest were full of energy and 'complicated' to keep under control. Not to mention their arguments, promptly resolved by the older brother.

"I want to play with you too! Me too!" Y/n exclaimed as she jumped on the spot, making Charles chuckle.

But Arthur didn't seem so happy.

“Charles and i are doing grown-up things, Y/n” he retorted, rolling his eyes slightly.

Y/n pouted her lips, clutching onto his arm.

"But i'm a big girl too 'Thur. You're only two years older than me"

Arthur shrugged her off, huffing.

"You're too little! And you're a girl, Charles and i want to do boys things"

"But-"

"Go away!" Arthur interrupted her.

Y/n stomped her foot on the grass, now annoyed by her brother's attitude.

"It's not fair!"

Charles lightly tapped Arthur on the shoulder.

“'Thur stop it, Y/n can play with us, no need to chase her away” he said, alternating his gaze from Arthur to Y/n.

"But she's always stuck to us! It annoys me!" replied the youngest.

Charles noticed Y/n clench her fists at her sides, but before he could calm her down he saw her turn and run towards their mother, who was calmly sitting on a bench reading a book, alone.

"Mommyyy!"

Arthur opened his arms in exasperation.

"See?! Now she's going to snitch and cry like she always does, saying it's my fault and blah blah blah"

Charles looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Well... After all, it is your fault, isn't it?"

Arthur glared at him.

Meanwhile, Y/n ran to sit on the bench, next to her mother. She sat down and crossed her arms, glaring murderously at Arthur, who had just started playing football with Charles. Pascale placed the still open book on her lap and turned, shooting a small smile at her daughter.

“He’s so obnoxious” Y/n muttered. "I can't stand him when he does that"

Pascale giggled lightly, reaching out to gently pet her daughter's head.

"You're right darling. Arthur was wrong in the way he treated you, but you also have to think about the fact that he is a boy and boys are like that, they believe that girls are not capable of doing things the way they do them and so they don't want us around. Let them play a bit on their own and then you can join them"

Y/n still looked at her slightly sulkily, sad that she couldn't have fun with her brothers.

"What if 'Thur still doesn't want me?"

"Charles and i will force him to play with you, don't worry"

Y/n nodded and got up on her knees so she could give her a kiss on the cheek, making the woman smile.

"Mommy will you come with me on the swing?" Y/n asked, pointing with a finger at the empty swing.

Pascale shook her head gently.

"Darling, i'm too old and big to go on it. You go, i'll watch you from here ok?"

"Okay..."

Although still slightly sad, Y/n got off the bench, heading towards the swing. Charles glanced at her to see what she was going to do, until he was called back by Arthur.

Y/n got on the swing, starting to swing back and forth and when she saw her mother waving at her in the distance, she waved back.

A few minutes passed until suddenly, the swing suddenly stopped moving and little Y/n almost fell to the ground, taken aback, but thanks to her reflexes she managed to hold on to the chains of the swing.

"H-Hey!" she exclaimed, turning around, thinking she would find Arthur behind her, but was surprised when she saw a boy she didn't know.

The boy, you could see at a glance that he was older than her in terms of age, moved in front of her, crossing his arms.

"Move over, it's my turn now" he said.

Y/n shook her head.

"Right now i am here. I'm sorry, but if you don't ask me nicely, i won't give you my place"

One second before, Y/n was sitting on the swing and a second later, the little girl found herself pushed backwards, falling with a squeal on her back onto the grass. A small pang of pain shot through her back, causing her eyes to widen and immediately become shiny.

"Not anymore" the boy said simply, looking down at her.

The little girl's lower lip began to tremble, but before she could stand up and protest, another figure from behind her threw the boy off the swing.

"Leave my sister alone!"

The boy fell to the ground and Y/n's eyes widened again when she saw that Arthur himself had thrown himself at him, pushing him off the swing in the same way he had done with her. The boy looked at him in surprise, seeing Arthur clench his fists in anger.

"Apologize to her. Now" Arthur ordered.

But the boy, instead of answering, got up and threw himself against Arthur's body, causing them both to fall to the ground. So the two started a fight, under the frightened gaze of the younger sister.

"Arthur!" she cried in a trembling voice.

Y/n wanted to get up to help him, but it was difficult since she still felt pain from the fall. And then, before she could even get up, she saw Charles and Pascale running towards her.

“Y/n!” “Are you okay sweetie??”

The two immediately knelt next to the little girl's body, asking her questions one after the other, while the older brother's light eyes scanned his sister's body from head to toe, looking for injuries.

As soon as Y/n saw Charles, she obviously didn't miss an opportunity to hug him, seeking comfort.

“Charlieee” she whimpered.

A couple of tears came out of her little eyes, but she tried to keep herself from crying as much as possible, not wanting to look like a crybaby in front of her family. Charles looked at his mother, gently stroking his sister's back.

"HEY! ENOUGH! STOP IT YOU TWO!"

Pascale saw that while Arthur was still busy fighting with the other boy, a man was trying to get between the two of them to make them stop. She hadn't understood whether it was someone who had witnessed the scene or a relative of the other boy, yet.

"Charles, can you stay with her?" Pascale asked Charles, nodding towards Y/n.

Charles nodded without hesitation and so the mother walked away, leaving brother and sister alone.

“Hey, Y/n. Look at me, look at Charlie”

Y/n lifted her head from Charles' shoulder so she could look him in the eyes, sniffling. Charles couldn't help but smile, because even though his sister had gotten hurt, he always found her cute, even in tears.

"Are you okay? Did that guy hurt you?"

Y/n nodded, biting her lip to try to hold back the sobs and slowly showed Charles the palms of her small hands, red, dirty with dirt and blades of grass and decorated with a couple of simple scratches.

Charles made a small pout at her and quickly, but gently, tried to clean her hands as much as possible. When he finished he left a couple of kisses on both her palms, a gesture he always did with her since he learned it from mom Pascale.

“That's it, better now?” he then asked her softly.

Y/n nodded with a smile, sniffing again.

"It didn't hurt before either" she murmured.

"No? It means you're very brave, then. My sister is the bravest little girl in all Monaco, hm?" Charles said in turn, reaching up to her face to wipe away the tears.

And when he heard her giggle, Charles knew the worst was over.

Now things just needed to be resolved between Arthur and the boy who had started it all.

///

When Hervé and Lorenzo returned to the house together, they certainly didn't expect to see Charles trying to console the Leclercs' youngest daughter, sitting together on the sofa.

"What happened??" Hervé asked worriedly, while Lorenzo approached his siblings, kneeling in front of Y/n, who was sitting between Charles' legs.

"Enzo..." Y/n called him, stretching out her arms to hug him.

Lorenzo wasted no time wrapping his arms around his little sister's body, as he looked over her head at Charles.

"Where are mum and Arthur?" he asked.

"In the bathroom" Charles replied, looking at both him and his father. "Arthur and another boy fought"

"What?!" "Why??" the two newcomers asked in chorus.

"Because that idiot treated Y/n badly" another voice replied in Charles' place, making everyone present turn towards it. "I saw him. He pushed her off the swing and he hurt her. He didn't even want to apologize"

Lorenzo and Hervé opened their eyes wide when they saw Arthur appear in the living room, followed by Pascale, with a bandaid on his cheek, his face dirty with dirt and one nostril of his nose covered in caked blood.

"But luckily the other boy's parents came to us and were deeply apologetic on his behalf" Pascale interjected, stroking Arthur's head with a smile. "Nobody got hurt too much and now it's all solved"

Hervé let out a small sigh.

"Thur!"

Arthur was taken slightly aback when he felt Y/n's body wrap around his, squeezing him as tight as she could in her arms. Normally Arthur would have made her move away, feeling disgusted (jokingly of course), by his sister's affection, but at that moment he just didn't feel like doing it.

Because even though among the three older brothers, Arthur was the one Y/n tended to argue with the most, their parents knew perfectly well how fond and protective he was of his little sister, in the same way Lorenzo and Charles were. He was the kind of brother that "Only i can bully and make fun of my sister, if YOU do that i'll punch you." In fact, that was exactly what happened that day.

Arthur returned the hug with a small smile, patting Y/n's head.

"I'm sorry if i made you go away today" he muttered, even though everyone in the room could hear what he was saying. "If i hadn't done it, you wouldn't have gotten hurt"

Y/n shook her head frantically.

"I-I don't care 'Thur! But are you okay?? Does it hurt a lot??" she asked back, pointing to the band-aid on his face.

Arthur shook his head, touched by the fact that she was still worried about him, despite everything.

"No, i'm fine now, don't worry" he replied, taking her hand with his. "I promise you that i'll let you play with us more often, even if it's boys' things. So you won't be alone anymore"

Arthur and Charles exchanged a quick look and the former saw the satisfied smile of the other, who nodded.

Y/n also seemed even happier than him upon hearing her brother's words, hugging him again and more tightly.

"Thank you Arthur, thank you! I love you so much you know that?"

Arthur rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Me too... Hey! But i don't want you around all the time. You have to leave us alone sometimes, and i mean just us brothers, okay?" he asked back, making everyone else, including Y/n, giggle.

She nodded, continuing to hug him with her eyes closed and rubbing her cheek on his shirt.

"Okay~"

///

It's so late and i should go to sleep, hope i didn't make a lot of mistakes lol hope u still like it

[somerandomocto]

Gingerbrave probably isn't meant to be sentient/sapient (crk especially)

Alright ramble time: Gingerbrave was probably a mistake. Now not like in the traditional sense, no. However, I do think him getting up specifically was (stating the somewhat obvious gimme a second to explain), as in most if not all (at least ovenbreak forward) cookie run games, Gingerbrave is the only one of his batch to "wake up" realize where he is, realizes its uncomfortable (burning), and actually does something about it (and then after some shenanigans forms the starter group of the game).

Focusing on specifically kingdom, baking a cookie is a really intentional process, even the lesser baked cookies all have some specific flavor and a personality and/or gimmick, most of the baked cookies (with emphasis put on it) are really strong (Moonlight, Squid Ink, literally all of the beasts) and have some sort of purpose to their existence. The only other cookie that kinda just happens is Stardust cookie, who was made with failed batches of proto Moonlight cookie dough, absorbed space dust through exposure, and compressed and baked through semantics and gravity, explaining why he actually gets to be cool.

Now here's where the kingdom specific part is important (also spoilers)

When White Lily cookie comes across the witches baking and eating cookies, every just barely alive cookie there can't speak, can't move, and look almost exactly like Gingerbrave (this is also probably why Dark Enchantress cookie provokes him with the whole "We're all made to die! Tell them Gingerbrave!" thing at the end of the forgotten academy (roughly). Considering the fact the there's a tangible difference between cookies baked to be alive on purpose and cookies to be eaten (beside flavor), but both are (physically) articulated about the same amount, I really don't think Gingerbrave was remotely intentional.

On that note I think the intentional part, and the reason Gingerbrave was able to actually live despite not being meant to, was life powder.

It's pretty important (at least to how cookies are alive) in a fair amount of the games, being the dragons' general source of power in ovenbreak, and being so important that like half of kingdom's legendary rank is devoted to just moving it around and making sure nothing bad happens with/to it. Considering the witches in this game bake a lot, I think it's also safe to assume that the witch that baked Gingerbrave made a few intentionally living cookies (idk vampire cookie and alchemist cookie? he has flavor text about thinking the oven was kinda cozy so at least him (and probably alchemist cookie in roughly the same batch) was baked) and the batch the Gingerbave was in was most likely a snack batch or something, but there was enough residual life powder (either in the utensils or on the tray or something) to make one living cookie, and the lucky* one just happened to be Gingerbrave.

*protagonist

so anyway if anyone wants clarification, I most likely can, and feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong!

edit: adjustment

[dorky-kawa]

As I’m waiting for tcb and the official translations to form my final opinion, I just wanted to write out some thoughts onwhy I take issue with Kusakabe said, at least from having read all the different versions of the translation of the leaks so far:  

Yes, he did tell the kids to act like kids and not feel like they are responsible because it wasn’t their fault. But what he was saying was that it’s not their (even Yuuji’s) fault that Yuuji didn’t die; that the blame lies solely with Kenjaku for his craziness and the grownups for not following through with the initial execution order. Whether or not that’s objectively true (and yeah, anyone can say that the events of jjk wouldn’t have happened if Gojo had just killed Yuuji chapter 1), that’s an absolutely shitty way of comforting anyone, which was what he was trying to do with that statement.  

Also, to have him reiterate that he was in the pro-execution camp and that they only have Yaga to thank for being here even at this point of the story is a really banana thing for him to do. Take Nanami as an example. He also originally said that even though he thinks the higher-ups are shit, he believes in abiding by the decisions of the higher-ups. But Nanami also turned out to be biggest softie there is. Nanami grew to care for Yuuji so much - Yuji made him believe in the future. Nanami would never have said something like this after getting to know Yuuji. Kusakabe might not want Yuuji to die at this point, but he still firmly believes that Yuuji dying was the correct decision from the beginning.

You can say he is just stating objective fact and that he is actually the most sensible one in the series, but this inability to be moved by the kids to try to fight against what is “right” and for something bigger is my issue with Kusakabe being one of the few adults left to be a teacher/mentor/adult figure in the lives of the students. 

Saying that ‘well, I don’t think anyone was right or wrong - everyone had their truths and all those truths led us here, oh well’ doesn’t make it better. Because it’s such a wishy-washy (but in-character) thing for him to say - which brings me to my problem with him: that Kusakabe ultimately doesn’t have it in him to risk everything and stand up to injustice and the status quo. 

It’s easy to say “kids should be kids” and to be a “nice” person. It’s harder to stick with those beliefs under massive resistance and opposition, and that’s where I think Kusakabe falls short. 

I don’t think that Kusakabe is a bad character. He is someone who both Gojo and Nanami referred to as "kind." When the world was in chaos, he stepped up and put his life on the line to protect the students. He obviously cares about students, but I think he also takes the easy way out when something doesn't concern him personally, and he limits what affects him personally quite strictly (we've seen that can do things that go against orders, ie. freeing panda, to repay his debt to Yaga). He is a character that finds it hard to stand up for something on his own, to be at the forefront of something without other forces pushing him. 

Kusakabe hasn’t demonstrated his potential to be revolutionary, to have the will to fight for something because he wants to see change, and maybe that’s not necessarily a character flaw inherently. But the jujutsu world (and Japan) is in upheaval. Gojo got rid of all the higher-ups. Now is the time to change things, break the cycle, and build a better world. He’s one of the few left who is in a position to do it. He cares about the next generation. But I don’t see Kusakabe stepping up in the same way as Gojo, Nanami, or even Yaga would have in his position. So yeah, I really don't like his stance this chapter.