#gonna talk about it here so if you really don’t want spoilers and haven’t seen it. keep walking

[mabaris]

i haven’t actually seen pictures (which is definitely spoilers) but people are talking about a thing and. not tagging their discussion of the picture as spoilers. so unfortunately i still know about the thing. good work team👍

[ironcroft11]

In defense of Gwen in Across the Spider-Verse

Okay. First of all: This post is gonna be super long and have tons of spoilers so if you don’t want to get spoiled for Across the Spider-Verse then don’t read this post. I have seen way too many people hate on Gwen because of her actions and her behavior towards Miles in Across the Spider-Verse. I’ll show you why that hate completely misses her arc in the movie and her true intentions/relationship with Miles. This post will also delve into Gwiles/Ghostflower since that is a big part of what shapes her intentions.  Many people say Gwen betrayed Miles and doesn’t really care about him. They say Miles shouldn’t forgive her and that she is a snake for what she did. I’ll show you why the opposite is true by going through the events of the movie in cronological order: The movie literally starts off with Gwen talking about Miles. She is drumming away, which is, mentioned by herself, a way for her to cope with her feelings. That opening from Gwen is a small glimpse into her head. We see how she feels and what she thinks. The interesting thing is that it’s basically Gwen broadly narrating the events of the entire movie. We even see glimpses of future scenes in that intro. The line of narration that is most important here is Gwen saying “I didn’t want to hurt him. But I did. And he is not the only one.” This shows us IMMEDIATELY that Gwen did not intend to hurt Miles AT ALL. Quite the contrary. It also shows that she is AWARE she hurt Miles. She knows she fucked up. That is going to be important later on when she needs to make the tough decision regarding Miles/The Spider Society. 

We then follow her as she goes home, still thinking about Miles and then, of course, her Peter. Note that this is roughly 1 year after Into the Spider-Verse. 1 year after she met Miles she still thinks about him daily. “I haven’t really made any friends after that [Peter’s death], except one. But there is no way to get there.” She misses Miles and wishes there was a way to visit him. Obviously she still very much cares and thinks about him.

At Gwen’s home we are first shown what her conflict with her father looks like. That conflict is obviously one of the main aspects of her arc and what drives her actions later on in the movie. You can see it is strained but you can still see that they obviously love each other very much. Gwen struggles as her father is basically hunting her down without knowing its is actually her. What pains her the most, though, is that her father is convinced that Spider-Gwen killed her best friend, Peter Parker. That way he, without knowing, makes Gwen feel guilty about the death of her best friend. Gwen is trying to get over Peter’s death but is held back by her dad, unbeknownst to him. 

Gwen caring and missing Miles a lot is brought up again when she sees the picture of her and Miles that they made in Into the Spider-Verse (which she had made into a polaroid so she can actually have it on her/in her hands). Her eyes look on with sadness and her color is dark blue. The colors in Gwen’s dimension are used to portray her feelings. Dark/blue tones for sadness and light/pink tones for happiness/comfort. At this point, seeing Miles again is probably one of her dearest wishes. Miles understands her and knows who she truly is. This is going to be important later on.

During Gwens fight with Vulture at the Museum we are introduced to Miguel O’hera, Spider-Man 2099, who saves her from Vulture. He introduces himself but Gwen seems unimpressed and uninterested. What she is very much interested in, though, is Miguel’s Dimension Watch. “You can go to any dimension you want with that watch?” She just met an entirely new Spider-Man and all she is interested in is his technology that might allow her to go and visit Miles. That is how much she misses him.

As the duo fight off Vulture Miguel calls for back-up and they are joined by Spider-Woman Jessica Drew. Her and Gwen have an immediate bond which will be very important later on. Gwen immediately looks up to her and sees her as a mentor from who she can learn a lot. Gwen impresses Jessica so much that she asks Miguel if they want to recruit her for Miguel’s Spider-Society. “What about her?” “No.” “Why not?” “You know why.” Miguel and Jessica studied the entire Kingpin collider event. They know who was involved and they know that Gwen and Miles are friends. Miguel doesn’t want to recruit Gwen because she is too close to Miles. Why that is a problem we all know. (Miles being the original anomoly) From the start they knew Gwen’s relationship with Miles might end up jeopardizing their goal of protecting the Spider-Verse.

We then go on to this scene. Gwen confronting her father and her father finding out that Spider-Woman, the vigilante he was dedicated to catching and locking up, is actually his daughter. This is a key moment in Gwen’s arc throughout the movie. Her father accuses her of lying to him. All Gwen wants right now is support from her father. She doesn’t get that, instead her father wants to lock her up for the murder of her Peter Parker. At this point she is immensely conflicted. “I don’t know how to fix this.” Jessica Drew notices that and convinces Miguel to let Gwen join the Spider-Society. 

Gwen seeing no immediate solution to her problem decides to accept the invite. She is not yet ready to confront the problem and walks away from it, despite being conflicted. This will be at the back of her head throughout her entire arc and throughout the entire movie. Until she is ready to confront her dad who, remember, wants to lock her up, she CAN’T return to her home dimension. Her going back would mean her having to confront a problem she is not yet ready to confront. 

The next time we see Gwen is after we are introduced to Miles again. This is Gwen seeing Miles again for the first time after 1 year and 4 months. Her immediate reaction is to tightly hug him. You can, in that hug alone, see how much she missed him. You can also pick up all kind of little things in this scene. One is how awkward Gwen is. She is cringing at herself for telling him he had a growth spurt. There are obviously some unresolved feelings between the two.

Gwen then goes through his sketchbook and finds Miles’ drawings of her. She is surprised to see so many drawings of her but plays it off smoothly. “Missed you too.” It’s obvious that both missed each other immensely. But we haven’t even seen the entire extend of how MUCH Gwen ACTUALLY missed Miles. We only find out about that a bit later.

Miles and Gwen then swing through the city and catch up. Their chemistry is on full display here. I absolutely adore this scene. Gwen tells Miles that the Spider-Society is really strict about where she goes otherwise she would have come to visit him sooner. What’s important here is that at this point Gwen KNOWS about Miles’ “condition”. She knows he is an anomoly and she knows that his father dying is a canon event. And at this time she BELIEVES in these canon events. She thinks they must be upheld or the multiverse collapses. That’s what Miguel told her. 

During their swing Gwen uses a moment in which Miles is distracted to place her surveillance device for Spot. You can see, even with her mask, how much it pains her to keep the truth from Miles nd having to leave him in the dark. We find out: Gwen is not here because of Miles but because she is supposed to catch Spot since Spot is an anomoly. 

What follows is one of the biggest Gwiles moments in the movie and also a very important scene when it comes to Gwen and her feelings towards Miles. They sit down at the Williamsburgh Bank Building and have a heart to heart. 

Gwen tells Miles that it is always so great to talk to him and that he is the only friend she ever really made since Peter died. Miles, knowing about Hobie, says “Other than Hobie, right?” and Gwen answers “That’s different.” This shows us that Gwen’s relationship and feelings for Miles are different from the relationship she has with Hobie. That’s because she literally has feelings for Miles, and she knows that Miles, in some way at least, feels the same. “We’re the same, in the important ways.” Gwen then says a line that literally shows she has fallen for Miles, otherwise there would be no need for her to mention it. “In every other universe Gwen Stacy falls for Spider-Man.” This is Gwen telling Miles that she has feelings for him. 

Hearing that reassures Miles and he moves his hand closer to hers. 

This is important: Gwen sees this! 

And then closes her eyes and flinches. She flinches because she wants to take his hand so bad that it literally pains her that she can’t. We find out why she can’t with her next words: “And in every other universe it doesn’t end well.” Gwen knows about canon events and knows they need to happen. She was probably being told that Gwen Stacy falling for Spider-Man and it not ending will is a canon event. 

She then gives Miles a look that I can only describe as “loving”. She would probably love to tell him more about canon events and everything regarding the Spider-Society. But like she said: She doesn’t know how to. She doesn’t want to hurt him and she wants to protect him.

Miles then tells her “There’s a first time for everything, right?” which makes Gwen chuckle and smile at him. It’s the first time where Gwen is confronted with Miles’ philosophy of going down his own patch and not bending to the rules of canon. Even if canon dictates something, Miles believes there is always a way. 

This rubs off on Gwen as she affectionately leans on Miles, enjoying the sunset with him.  Not only is this overall scene incredibly beautiful and masterfully animated but its purpose is to show us that these two indeed love each other. They want to be together but Gwen, at this stage, feels like canon is against them.

Miles and Gwen then enjoy some food in quiet and keep talking about the Spider-Society and how Miles wants to be a part of it. Gwen, without being able to tell him the truth, shuts him down and lies to him. Again, she is not ready to tell him everything, the same way she is not ready to confront her father. These 2 conflicts go hand in hand as they are her 2 biggest conflicts that she has to overcome. Gwen then snaps at Miles because he was about to find the surveillance footage of Spot which would therefore uncover her true reason for being there. Gwen obviously doesn’t want that to happen because she doesn’t want to hurt Miles. She wants to keep him away from the Spider-Society because she knows he is an anomoly AND because she knows he wouldn’t be safe there.

After she snaps at him she immediately apologizes though. They both get REALLY close after that, closer than I had remembered from my first viewing. They also lock eyes. I’m pretty sure if not for Rio, Miles and Gwen would have kissed here. Rio interrupts them and they have an awkward talk. Rio and Jeff obviously think there is something going on between Miles and Gwen which is the source of the awkwardness. 

Gwen then gets a signal from her dimension watch which is caused by the explosion that Spot caused. She missed her time window to catch him because she was having so much fun being around Miles. Gwen quickly leaves after that, having to lie to both Miles and his parents. 

You can tell she doesn’t want to leave Miles. She wants to stay, but she can’t. She is conflicted. And she is conflicted throughout the entire movie. That makes her arc so interesting. 

What follows is one of the most important interactions in the movie that show Gwen’s motives. She arrives at the explosion and realizes Spot escaped. Jessica Drew, who Gwen looks up to, remember, calls her and asks her where Spot is. Gwen tries to play the whole situation down, not wanting to be seen as a failure. That has one big reason: Since Gwen is a liability to the Spider-Society because of her connection to Miles she has to constantly prove her worth, otherwise Miguel will send her back to her universe. That is one of Gwens biggest fears. Having to confront her father again. She is not yet ready for that so she basically does everything that is asked of her, even if she doesn’t necessarily agree with it.  Jessica notices that Gwen is nervous and asks her if she visited Miles. Gwen again tries to play it down but eventually admits she went to see Miles. Jessica gets angry with her and Gwen tells her she will never see Miles again. Her voice noticeably breaks when she says that. That interaction tells us one very important point: Gwen was not allowed to visit Miles. AT ALL. Miguel has forbidden Gwen to see Miles. He probably also told her why. Miles is an anomoly and him getting entangled with the Spider-Society might end up badly. And Gwen, knowing all that, knowing she might risk the multiverse, knowing she might risk getting sent back to her own dimension and having to confront her father, STILL decided to visit Miles. That is how much she cares about Miles. She literally risked the stabilty of the multiverse for the opportunity to see Miles again. Even if its only for one evening. This alone should end the debate about how Gwen “doesn’t care about Miles”. She obviously does. A lot. 

This can be taken even further.  “You never made a mistake? Never got too close to someone?” This is literally Gwen telling Jessica that the reason she went to see Miles is because she has feelings for him. Jess replies by saying she did but that she got over it, prompting Gwen to do the same. We, of course, know that she can’t. 

This is one of the most emotional scenes in the movie for me. After Gwens dialogue with Jess she knows her only chance to stay on Miguels good side is to follow Spot to Mumbattan and catch him. She has to leave and knows she will never see Miles again. She longingly looks towards the rooftop she and Miles stood on just moments ago, not knowing Miles is invisible and right in front of her.  She whispers a last “Goodbye Miles” as she heartbreakingly decides to leave. As much as it pains Gwen, she thinks leaving now without explaining anything to Miles might hurt him, but it does keep him safe and away from the Spider-Society. It’s a lose lose situation for Gwen. She is fighting a losing battle. On one side she has Miles and the desire to be with him, on the other side the entire Spider-Verse and the conflict with her father. The fact she is even contemplating shows how loyal she is towards Miles.

Miles follows her through the portal and catches her off guard. Gwen didn’t know he was listening and thought she would never see him again. Miles, being in another universe without a dimension watch, glitches and endangers both him and Gwen. Gwen then says that she “never should have visited” Miles.  She obviously meant the fact that NOW Miles is involved and they can’t go back now. She didn’t want Miles to be a part of it and now regrets that she pulled him into this. She is more angry at herself than at Miles here. 

When the canon event approaches Gwen tries to stop Miles from disrupting it. Again, a lose lose situation for Gwen. She knows (or at least thinks at this point) that disrupting canon events can cause universe to unravel. She also knows how dangerous canon events are and that there is a good chance Miles might die if he tries to intervene. 

Miles, not knowing about canon events at all yet, intervenes anyway. (Because he is Spider-Man, duh) While trying to save Captain Singh and the little girl he gets covered by rubble. Gwen and Hobie go down to the scene and while Hobie immediately helps Pav to pull up the bus Gwen literally makes a dash for the rubble and tries to find Miles. All the while screaming his name, her voice breaking while doing so. The relief in her voice when she finds him alive and well is very noticeable. (Great voice acting by Hailee Steinfeld)

After disrupting the canon event, Miles asks Gwen what she thinks of the situation. Gwen, almost affectionately whispering to him, tells him that she always thinks that he is amazing. Another moment that makes these two get closer and it shows how much admiration Gwen has for Miles. Even after disrupting a canon event, Gwen thinks the world of Miles. This highlights her conflict again. While still believing in these canon events, Miles is slowly but surely changing her mind about them. He is not quite there yet but it’s coming.

We then go the Spider-Society HQ where Gwen introduces Miles to Miguel. Miguel immediately becomes hostile and blames Miles for disrupting the canon event. Gwen knows that Miles did in fact disrupt the canon event but still defends him.  “He doesn’t know any better:” Miles has no knowledge about canon events or anything related to it so he can’t be blamed for what he did. Gwen knows that, which is also a reason why she tried to stop him. 

Miles then finds out about the structure of the Spider-Verse and about canon events. Miles also finds out that Gwen did not only try to save him but also stop him from disrupting the canon event. 

When Miles finds out his fathers death is a canon event that has to occur you can see Gwen frowning. She knew this and now Miles knows it.  There is no easy way to tell that to someone. Not if you’re close friends and not if you haven’t seen each other for a year. It pains Gwen that Miles has to go through that, and on top of that she can relate to it as well, because...

... Gwen’s father is also a Captain who’s death is a canon event. This adds another layer to her inner conflict. She believes in these canon events and therefore also believes that her father has to die. Gwen, in that aspect, is similar to Miguel. She accepts it, runs away from it. Similar to how she runs away from the conflict with her father. 

Miles confronts the other Spider’s and tells them he can’t sit back and let his father die. He then tells Gwen, referencing her earlier statement, that she was right and that she never should have visited her. Miles does NOT say that because he hates Gwen. He says that because he is distraught and because of the fact that if Gwen hadn’t shown up he’d still be in his dimension. (Where he wants to be to protect his father) Gwen starts to cry because this is OBVIOUSLY not how she wanted it to go and how she wanted Miles to find out.  The fact is: There was never a right time or way to explain it to Miles. Gwen isn’t an emotionless puppet that never struggles or is perfect. She loves Miles and she simply couldn’t bring it over her heart to tell him that his father will die and that he isn’t supposed to be Spider-Man. She wants him to be happy and to be safe, and from her perspective the best way to do that is to keep him away from the Spider-Society. 

When Miguel traps Miles to stop him from going home Gwen and Peter get really agitated.  “That’s enough.” “Stop it Miguel.” They don’t want to be on opposite sides to Miles. They want to talk it out. Of course the chance for that is now gone. You can still see that both still very much are on “Miles’ side”. Gwen is put into a situation where she is forced to choose between her friend or the Spider-Society. 

While they chase Miles, Jess confronts Gwen and tells her that even though Miles is Gwen’s friend, capturing him is the only way.  Gwen then tells Jess that that’s not what her gut says. This, again, shows her conflict. She KNOWS she is supposed to be on Miles’ side. It’s what her gut is saying. It’s what her heart is saying. Her head is still thinking that the multiverse must be protected, and that canon events must be stopped from being disrupted.

She then listens to her head and tries to grab Miles with her web. The look on her face says it all. It’s pain, love and an apology all in one. Miles destroys the web, symbolic for their trust.  Miles breaks the net, he is saying that he doesn’t trust Gwen anymore.  Gwen knows that, which is why after Miles breaks the net her look is one of complete sadness and disbelief. Not disbelief because she couldn’t imagine Miles not trusting her but rather diesbelief because she can’t believe it has come this far.

She continues the chase for Miles because she doesn’t know what else to do. When Miguel calls for every Spider-Man after they found out Miles’ location you can see Gwen having a look of dread and defeat on her face. She did’t want it to go this far. She still wants to talk it out and make up with him. She feels sorry and is slowly starting to regret her choices. 

While on the train Gwen and Peter keep calling out to Miguel, telling him that he should stop and to take it easy on Miles. Miguel doesn’t listen.

This scene is where the trust between Miles and Gwen is broken completely. Miles finds out that Gwen knew all along that he is an anomoly and that his father is supposed to die. He finds out that Gwen didn’t know how to tell him that and that that’s one of the reasons she didn’t come to visit him. 

Gwen then tells Miles that its for his own good, a lie she told herself to make her feel better. She full on regrets her choices by now. She knows she made a mistake but feels too distraught to really do anything about it. Her world slowly comes crashing down on her.

Miles is able to overpower Miguel and sends him flying down the train. The way Gwen looks down at Miguel is really interesting. Its a look of pride and relief. She is proud of how far Miles has come that he is able to escape from Miguel and reliefed that he was actually able to.

While Gwen thinks that now the way is free for her and Peter to get to Miles and explain everything to him, Miles just gives them a look of hurt, sadness and betrayal. He then says “Goodbye Gwen”, again mirroring Gwen’s goodbye earlier in the movie. Both were sad but for very different reasons.

The change of expression from Gwen says it all.  This goodbye from Miles, in his eyes, is final. He feels betrayed and hurt and just wants to get home to save his dad. While Gwen and Peter probably want to just talk to Miles and explain everything, Miles may think they want to capture him, too. And Miles can’t take that chance.

After Miles decides to jump Gwen, again, has an expression of relief on her face. This time the relief is because Miles managed to really escape Miguel and the other Spiders. She knows Miles will be safe, for now.

Miles manages to escape and Gwen is furious with Miguel. Furious as to how he treated Miles and how he managed the whole ordeal. 

She speaks up and Miguel blames Gwen for the Spider-Society losing Miles.  This is where Gwen starts to see that she actually doesn’t have the Spider-Societies back and that she should have taken Miles’ side from the beginning. She slowly realizes the true extent of her mistake. 

Gwen then proposes to talk it out with Miles, on her own. Miguel refuses, saying they tried that already.

She goes on to tell that Miles is her friend and is starting to question the whole “Canon event” topic. “Do you know for certain what happens when he breaks the Canon?” She is starting to fully side with Miles. 

Miguel tells her he knew from the beginning that her relationship with Miles was a liability. Gwen looks to Jess for support but doesn’t get it. She is now on her own, same as Miles. 

Gwen gets sent to her home universe, the thing she dreaded most. The last thing she tells Miguel is that they are supposed to be the good guys. That shows where she stands in regards to the conflict inside herself. She now knows that what Miguel and the Society does is wrong.  She was on the Society’s side, now she is on Miles’ side. 

She immediately tries to go to Miles’ dimension but she is locked out from using the dimension watch. Miguel denied her access. Gwen is furious and now trapped in her home dimension. 

She returns home and wants to collect the polaroid of her and Miles. She doesn’t want to confront her father yet, but we all knew it was inevitably coming.

Gwen confronts her dad and opens up to him. She pours her heart out and tells him how she really feels.  Remember, Gwen is a 16 year old girl. She carried the burden of her rensponsibility and the conflict inside her while still always trying to do the right thing.  But she says it best in this scene, “She doesn’t know what right or wrong is anymore.” The entire time she believed these canon events to be absolute and followed through with the Spider-Society’s plans because she thought it was the right thing to do.  In the process she hurt and betrayed the only real friend she had. And that was the straw that broke the camels back. Her intentions are now clear.

“I can’t lose one more friend.” She doesn’t know whats right or whats wrong, all she knows is that she can’t lose Miles. 

During her speech her father decides to quit his job as captain, freeing him from the canon event. This is when Gewn realizes that canon events might not be absolute and that they can be disrupted without dooming the dimension. She realizes Miles might have been doing the right thing all along. 

After making up with her dad the only thing left to do for Gwen is to go and find Miles. With the help of Hobie’s watch that is actually possible now.

Gwen arrives in Miles’ universe and finds out that Miles is in the wrong universe. She overhears Rio and Jeff talk about Miles. They mention Miles lighting up when he is around Gwen and that they hope she doesn’t get him hurt. This is where the full realization of her actions become clear to Gwen. She hurt Miles and didn’t help him when he needed her the most, and she hates herself for that.

She blames herself for what happened to Miles, even though it is not her fault entirely. 

Gwen tells Rio and Jeff that she is going to find Miles and bring him back. She also tells them what she learned from Miles. “All is possible.” This is the lesson Miles gives Gwen in this movie. It is a lesson she needed to learn. She now fully believes that anything is possible. This will come into play in Beyond the Spider-Verse when they are going to try and stop canon events from happening. 

She resolves the conflict with her father, parts ways with the Spider-Society and has only one goal left now: To find and make up with Miles. In her arc Gwen faced the conflict of choosing her friend or the greater good. On one hand is Miles, who she obviously has feelings for. On the other hand there is the Spider-Society who tell her how the multiverse works and how dangerous Miles and other anomolies are. In the end, her friend won, though it was a harsh process that damaged their trust and relationship.  Gwen is not perfect and isn’t always right. She is a 16 year old girl with tons of complex conflicts going on. She fights a constant battle with herself and her feelings. She makes mistakes, as do Miles, Peter, Miguel and the others. The important thing is that Gwen learns from these mistakes.  This also shows that she doesn’t hate or not care about Miles like some people have said. If anything her actions show to which lengths she went for Miles to be safe.  She knows she hurt Miles and is going to make up for it in Beyond the Spider-Verse. 

[trolliworms]

I’m finally gonna make my post about the pjo show, spoilers if you haven’t seen it

I loved it so so much, so I’m just going to list some of my favorite things

“I am Sally Jackson’s son!”

Literally just everything about Sally she was such a queen I love her

“You burn what you’ll miss most.” And then he burns his blue jellybeans to talk to his mom instead of his dad, who’s an actual god.

“I finally have some real friends here. I think they really like me.” Percy, are you trying to make me cry?

“Not you sunshine, you’re with me.”

Flossing Percy, his smile when he pet the lizard, that whole scene was just perfect. I love Walker so much he’s so perfect.

“You fell in love with God? Like, Jesus?”

Luke. Just Luke omg. “She’s my little sister.” The way you can tell how much he despises the gods. The way he’s looking out for Percy. The way you know how he’s going to betray him in the end 😭😭😭. Also why did they have to make him so fine?

Annabeth was perfect, no complaints. “I’m sorry.” Then pushes him into water lmao. I feel like I can feel everything she’s thinking, Leah did such a good job.

Grover was perfect, too. I really liked how he told Percy his mom wasn’t actually dead, even though he might have gotten in trouble for it. A+++

Clarisse’s scream when her staff breaks, the absolute despair in her face. You just know that staff meant the world to her because it was a gift from her dad, I honestly felt really bad for her when that happened.

But Percy in that fight scene? He was such a beast like omg. I feel like in his pov in the books you don’t realize how good a fighter he is, but now we can see him kick butt without looking through his goofball lenses. I especially liked during that scene when Clarisse looks at her friend, and you can just see them exchange a really confused look because they expected him to suck lol.

The way they explained quests through Mr. D wanting alcohol and tricking Percy? It was played off as a joke but that is like genius writing. You get quests explained, it characterizes Percy, Grover, and Mr. D a little more, and it’s a goofy little joke.

Uncle Rick’s cameo!!! In the office scene!!! When I saw him I literally screamed at my friend, “THERES UNCLE RICK! IN A CHAIR!” lol

Bonus: the credits are so pretty 😭 I love them

Thank you for reading friends! Go watch the show if you haven’t!!! <333

[paravillintiniay]

I don’t have any mutuals on twitter who really care about The Penguin and we all know twitter is terrible for getting your posts to the people who want to see them so I’m gonna talk about The Penguin over here because omgggg episode 4 is crazy!!! Spoilers for The Penguin up to episode 4 under the cut!!

Okay so not to be an Oswald apologist because let’s get this straight with the context that I’m first and foremost a Sofia falcone truther BUT.

I really don’t think Oz meant for any of that to happen to Sofia. Oz probably couldn’t have known the full extent of what Carmine did to those women since he’s just Sofia’s driver and I don’t believe Sofia shared any of her suspicions about her mom with Oz, so I think Oz was afraid that when Carmine inevitably caught wind of what Sofia was toying with that he’d end up taking the fall for her and his head would be on the chopping block. Think about it, what was Carmine going to do? Kill his daughter that he loves? That he wants to take over the family business? No. But she could be punished, her driver is pretty expendable.

Oz tried to talk to her in the car and she basically told him to shut up and know his place because he’s just her driver which I think hurt his ego and that also contributes to why he told Carmine. He seems to have thought they were friends or at the very least that she respected him. I think after she refused to listen he got scared and went into cockroach survival mode which is a pretty consistent character trait from him throughout the reevesverse (and really all Oswald cobblepots)

I think it’s also fairly telling that he didn’t sign any of the papers calling her insane despite being around her CONSTANTLY and being a prime witness. He should have stuck his neck out and vouched for her but how could he? He sees what Carmine is framing her for, how ruthless he’s being to his own daughter? No. If there’s one thing about Oz it’s that he’s a survivor.

Now this absolutely doesn’t excuse what he did to Sofia in the present day, he’s a pussy for that how do you fumble a bad bitch like that!!

Also while we’re at it I do want to expand more on the cockroach survival mode thing Oz seems to do because I find it reallllly interesting!! I’m not entirely sure everything he does is manipulation (some of it obviously is, like playing both sides with the falcones and maronis) but instead I think it’s like a knee jerk reaction/compulsion. Like how in episode 3 Oz is very friendly with Victor and tells him he shouldn’t be ashamed to take up space! His disability doesn’t mean it’s okay for people to put him down! Paying him well and trusting him! And then immediately when he feels threatened and afraid he might lose Victor as a trusted employee he throws it all back in his face and hits him where it hurts saying exaaaactly the right things to make him feel small? I think he does this almost instinctively without thinking it through, which I really do find interesting about him and I haven’t seen anyone else talk about so maybe I’m reading too much into it idk. Maybe I’m reading too much into all of this. I just like to think about my favorite shows and characters a lot!!

If you see this and read this I’d looooove to know your thoughts and theories too!!!

[brooooswriting]

A very timid Hello from your best customer broko loco anyway hi I'm out of my request block anyway

How about some hurt/comfort with our baby gurl

Tara Carpenter

I had two prompts in mind either Tara having a nightmare about Gf killing R Orrrrrrr It was her killing R (

SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SREAM VI YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

(because she killed Ethan so her subconscious is making her see herself killing R) so R comforts her and reassures her

or

R getting into a fight when she was taking a stroll with Tara and Sam because some 4ssh0l3$ called our Fav duo murderers so Tara is patching up R afterwards

or

R taking care of T after the 2nd massacre like bringing her thing (painkillers, snacks, food, cuddles)

Those were my ideas but you can also do whatever you want Idm

Have a good day broko loco <3

Motherfucker

Tara Carpenter x reader

A/n: so I haven’t really been writing lately and I need to get back into it so yeah

“It’s just so much you know” Tara complained as you two and Sam walked around New York City. It was a small tradition you build up as soon as you moved here. You walked around to figure out the best ways through the city, it made Sam feel safer while you and Tara just liked to walk around. Her hand was slipped into yours, fingers carefully intervened.

Tara loved complaining about college during these walks, you loved listening to her and Sam would do anything for her little sister. There were a lot of people who didn’t recognized you guys but some did. Nobody ever said something, you were unsure of wether it was because of sams killer glare or just their common sense but you were happy about it.

You knew them during the attacks in woodsboro but you weren’t with them. At least not until the end, you and Tara kept your little flirt private which was why you weren’t attacked. You only arrived when everybody else was dead, you were at the party and you forgot your phone which was why you turned around. The way Tara broke down into your arms made you believe everything she told you, there was no way that she faked that.

“I know, but you’ll be fine. You’re a fighter through and through and something like college won’t bring you down” you told her, squeezing her hand for good measure. “She’s right, you’re gonna do great” Sam added smiling at her sister before checking the street over her shoulder.

You walked through a small park where a group of three boys, around 22, sat and watched the three of you. You watched them suspiciously, slipping your hand out of Tara’s and instead slipping your arm around her waist to pull her closer. Tara smiled up at you, unaware of the situation while Sam looked out for a man around the corner. You listened carefully, hoping to hear any kind of movement but it was quite for a moment.

“Look, that’s the murderer and her slut sister. I knew I recognized them from somewhere” one of the boys said causing you to slow down. “Fucking murderer. Both of them. They should have ended dead” another one added which made you stop. “I’d still fuck the slut tho” the third one said which finally made you snap. You turned on your heel and stalked over to the group. “What did you just say?!” You nearly screamed out on your way, Tara still standing at the same spot completely confused while Sam had a stare down with the man around the corner.

“What’s your problem huh?” You asked again, stepping up to the one who said he’d fuck Tara. “I could ask you the same thing, why don’t you go away with your two murderer friends?” He asked puffing out his chest, trying to scare you. At every other time you’d probably been scared but not now, now all you could feel was rage. “Say that again and watch what happens asshole” you dared. “They are murderer” the one next to him said. You were quick to punch him straight in the face, his nose immediately started bleeding and his eye started to swell. The one you talked to before drew his arm back but you were quick enough to dodge it, not seeing the third one make his way towards you, his fist landing in your stomach causing you to groan. You turned as quick as you could, your fist landing in his stomach this time before you turned and kicked the other one to the ground.

By now Sam was done with her stare down and finally noticed your fight, “fuck y/n” she mumbled and went to your help but Tara held her back. “She will kill you if you go there, she’s fighting because they called you a murderer and if you hit them it will be contra productive” she explained, it pained her to see you like this but she knew you were strong and she didn’t want Sam to suffer even more.

It took you five more minutes before they finally gave up, your face and hands were bruised and you were spitting blood but you won. “Gosh, you’re so stupid” Tara mumbled as she ran up to you and hugged you, pulling you close to her which caused you to wince. “Are you alright?” Sam asked as she walked closer, wrapping an arm around you shoulder. “M fine. Thanks. Can we maybe go back?” Both of them nodded and turned around to walk back to your apartment.

This time Tara wasn’t holding your hand, she was scared that she’d hurt you. The nervousness and the guilt was radiating off of her, so you wrapped your arm around her waist and pulled her into you which made her calm down. Sam was also somewhere else with her mind but you knew that something like a hug wouldn’t fix that and you knew she wasn’t going to talk about it in front of Tara so you decided to ask her about it later.

When you arrived home Tara immediately ran to the bathroom to get some things for your knuckles, giving you a moment with Sam. “You alright?” You asked her quietly so T wouldn’t hear.

“Yeah, it’s just that… thank you y/n. You protected us and you stood up for us. It was the nicest thing anyone ever did for us so, thanks” she answered squeezing your shoulder before disappeared into her room.

“I got everything that may be helpful. Like gauze, disinfectant, bandaids and some other stuff” she told you, quickly pulling everything out and cleaning your wounds on your hand. You kissed when the disinfectant started to seep into your flesh. The brunette quickly apologized before putting on the band aids.

When your hand was finally cleaned she moved on to your face, focusing on the wound above your eye. This time she warned you before putting on the disinfectant, which made it a bit less worse. You couldn’t help but admire her focused face, the way she bit her tongue and how her brows furrowed. It nearly made you forget about your headache.

“Do you need anything else? I’ll give you some painkillers as soon as you’re in bed and some snacks too” she told you and you smiled before pulling her closer to plant a small kiss on her lips. “Thank you” you said before kissing her another time and another, distracting her from her work.

“Stop, I gotta clean the rest of your wounds and I wanna take a look at your stomach” she giggled when she finally convinced herself to pull away. “And you taste like blood” she added. You smiled sheepishly and kissed her one last time before pulling back.

She sat on your lap as she looked at the cut you had on your lip, her legs on either side of you as she titled your head down to get a better angle. “This Looks okay I guess” she mumbled to herself as her fingers carefully touched the wound. You were getting bored and started to play with the hem of her shirt.

When she was done with your face she moved on to your stomach, there wasn’t really anything she could do about it. It was a bit bruised but there werent any cuts nor any placed that were so sensitive that she should be worried.

You both got changed and laid in bed, Tara made you swallow some painkillers and gave you some of your favorite chips before letting you decide what to watch. She made sure that you iced your hand and your nose, even if it might not be comfortable. She knew that you didn’t like the cold but there was nothing she could do. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Her voice was soft and still filled with guilt which made you hurt inside.

“T, you know that I did it on my own account right? It’s not your fault or anything. I decided to do what I did” you said as you cuddled closer to her. Her body melting into your which made you melt too. “And even more important, I’d do it again and again because nothing is as important to me as you are” you added and kissed her head.

“I love you, a lot. Not just because of what you did today obviously” she grinned and titled her head up motioning for you to give her a kiss which you did.

“I love you too baby” you grinned as your hand rubbed up and down her back.

[tater-tot-jr]

Yapping time! Spoilers for DRDT C2E14

So the entire episode was great, but there’s one part I’d like to talk about most. David’s monologue towards the end. Specifically the second half, where he gets away from his logical stuff and into the more interpersonal stuff. I’ll break it down line by line.

“All I want is for Teruko to distrust others.”

Okay we are starting off interesting. Now, due to David’s nature we can’t trust him to be honest. We cannot take this as explicit confirmation of any sort of goal. With that said, his goal appears to be fucking up the class trial in some manner. We don’t know his motive, but that goal seems consistent enough to work with. So let’s work with it. Teruko is literally one half of this classes helpful trial participants. Her and Charles are the entire brain of this class. Charles can be killed, he has a glaring flaw in a debilitating fear of blood, he’s easy enough to deal with when the time comes. Teruko is stupidly resilient. To everything. The one thing she obviously struggles with is her trust issues/paranoia. If you’re looking to get under her skin that’s where you gotta go. Saying this is a clear demonstration he intends to poke at Teruko emotionally, which is an interesting thing to admit out loud. If I had to guess, it’s because he’s trying to kill two birds with one stone and make the class start to distrust Teruko as well.

“That’s why I’m doing this, telling such obvious lies.”

This is him saying he’s lying about seeing the body, I think. He’s doubling down on inciting paranoia, in both Teruko and the class. It’s interesting he would say this out loud. He’s hyper focused on fucking with Teruko and it shows. If you take out the brain, the body goes as well. It’s certainly a strategy of all time.

“There is no other proof of Eden’s innocence.”

As far as we know, this is a true statement right now. Unless I’m unaware of something that was the biggest piece of evidence meant to clear her name, and he brought it into question.

“As long as there’s a possibility that the evidence is false, as long as there’s even the slightest reason to distrust others, then Teruko cannot trust Eden.”

Oof, he’s got her dead to rights. I don’t think there’s a good faith argument for him being wrong. It’s cool to see how much he understands the cast. It’s an interesting way to show how Teruko’s thoughts process works without betraying her guarded nature. Having a character so ready to pick at her weakness is a good writing choice, and I hope they keep David around for a time. Teruko is the least trusting character I’ve ever seen in any fangan game, granted I haven’t played them all but still. There’s a chance the story doesn’t have any sort of lesson, and we’re just gonna watch Teruko suffer. The idea that she can’t bring herself to trust if there’s even a 0.001% chance of something being false is such a good character flaw. She’s clearly terrified of risk, and she doesn’t know how to get rid of her paranoia, even though I think she wants to.

“Isn’t that right, Teruko?”

Ohohoho you smug piece of shit. You fucking dick. This is more proof he’s not just saying these things in an objective way. He’s just trying to hurt her, as far as we can assume.

“…”

Yeah she’s fucking rocked. Teruko really doesn’t take things lying down. Befitting of her backstory, she’s the type to struggle and fight back against anything she can. But here she has nothing to say. David has read her for filth and they both know it. Now that I think about it, this probably also plays on her fear of being vulnerable. What could possibly be more vulnerable than someone telling you your own exact thought process?

“It’s in your nature to distrust people.”

This is a more interesting statement than it appears at first glance. Specifically because he says it’s in her nature. To him, this isn’t a choice she’s making because of the killing game. It’s not circumstance that has pushed her into this. No, this is who she is, and this is who she’ll always be. Which is a horribly insulting thing to say, because it’s within most humans nature to trust each other somewhat, and it’s life circumstances that push them away from collaboration. He’s saying that Teruko is so fucked in the head that she’s fundamentally different from the standard human baseline.

“Everyone you know has already betrayed you. There’s no one in this world who won’t hurt you. Even the people you love will turn their backs on you in the end. You know that well enough, don’t you?”

…Jesus Christ. He really is just the devil on her shoulder. These are her worst thoughts said out loud and back to her. Do you think she considers someone dying on her and leaving her alone a betrayal? Is that a part of this? Him saying “even the people you love” is interesting, does she really even have anyone she loves in the cast? Or does she just tolerate them. He’s making grand, sweeping statements about her life potentially before the killing game and hitting the nail on the head every time. An impressive feat of manipulation and perceptiveness.

“So distrust in others. Because that’s the only way you know how to live.”

Ow. Ouch. Owie. Not only is this a banger way to end the monologue but it’s just so telling. Teruko doesn’t even say anything in response she just waits for Charles to change to subject. Also, is he even really wrong? She tried to afford people trust and then she got stabbed and everyone else blamed her. She’s definitely swung too far the other way, but it’s not like she was good at knowing how much trust to afford people. This life is really the only way she knows how to live. How things are now, she’ll suffer any other way. It’s such juicy character writing. Damned if you do damned if you don’t. David has definitely been watching Teruko’s behavior, and quite frankly he has her figured out. He’s perceived her, and she hates it. I think we all know Teruko is lonely, she deeply wants people around her. But between being a danger to them and all her trust issues she shuts herself away. David is doing everything he can to keep her as far away from forming meaningful connections as possible. He’s clearly got some sort of plan.

—

There’s also a few things I want to talk about that I didn’t have the ability to put under a spoken line, so I’ll yap down here.

Firstly, Teruko extending some “trust” to Eden doesn’t prove David wrong. If anything, it strengthens his argument. Looking at the actual content of Teruko and Eden’s back and forth, it’s barely a scrap of trust and it’s completely conditional. Teruko basically said “because you helped me last trial I will trust you enough to investigate you second” which is still incredible progress for her, but it’s nothing close to genuine trust. This is not to diminish the progress Teruko made in that scene, but it’s nothing close to countering David’s claims.

Secondly, THAT VOICE ACTING HELLO?!?? David’s VA has always been great, but combined with DRDTdev’s wonderful writing and sprite design/choices he really brought this scene to life. He was perfectly smug and condescending. He had a voice that really portrayed that “I’m 100% right about you and you can’t do anything about it” vibe. Just a total piece of shit. 10/10 would listen again.

[templeofvengeance]

☽ Welcome to the Temple of Vengeance! Greatest of the Great Gods, Khonshu, presiding. ☾

☽ Inbox: Open ☾

[Indie RP/Ask blog for Khonshu from the MCU's Moon Knight. Set after the show ends by default, but also open to other verses. Open for questions or threads! More info on the blog, or under the cut for mobile users.]

Updated: 11/03/24

Laws of the Temple

☽ BASICS ☾

- MUN STUFF: My name's Kew! She/they, well over 21. No triggers. I don't have DID, any attempt to portray it is based on the show/comics. I only speak English fluently and any other language will be google translate. Please forgive any mistakes!

- MINORS BE WARNED: I'm not going to be super strict about weeding out minors since I don't expect things to get NSFW around here, but the show Khonshu is from does explore some darker themes for a TV-14 show. I dunno. You've been warned.

- GENERAL RP ETIQUETTE APPLIES: Don't make actions for my character without asking, don't assume past relationships/deep history without asking, don't read my character's mind (unless your character is a telepath, and even then I don't know if that works on gods), etc. - GENERAL CONTENT WARNING FOR: Descriptions of violence, religious stuff, swearing, emotional manipulation, a.bleism (especially surrounding mental health stuff.) I’ll try to tag other things as they come up. - FEEL FREE TO REBLOG MEMES FROM ME. It actually helps me remember to send stuff out. You can also reblog art/headcanons, pretty much anything except RP threads if you're not the other party!

- NOT PRIVATE, BUT SELECTIVE: I sometimes don't follow big multimuses back since I have pretty strict tastes in fandoms, and I don't want to clog my dash with characters I don't know. That doesn't mean I don't want to roleplay with you though! As for selectivity, I reserve the right to say no if things just don't click writing-wise.

- SPOILERS FOR MOON KNIGHT EVERYWHERE. There will be untagged spoilers for both the comics and especially the show. I highly recommend watching the Moon Knight TV show if you haven’t seen it! It got me into comic books and made me interested in the MCU. - That said, I haven’t seen all of the content in the MCU, not even a third of it, so I’m sorry if I get any lore details wrong.

- KHONSHU IS AN ASSHOLE. Nothing he says reflects my real views about anything. If he’s mean to you, it doesn’t mean I don’t like you or you’ve done something wrong.

- FOR OTHER MARC/STEVEN/JAKE MUSES: By default, I'll play Khonshu like he's connected to your Marc/Steven/Jake. If you want it to be dimension-hopping shenanigans (which I'm super down to do, especially for ones more heavily based on the comics) you'll have to let me know! All these interactions will be on different verses, and I don't plan to have Khonshu be 'mains' with any muses.

- FIGHTS: With extremely rare exceptions, I'm just gonna say no to fight threads with Khonshu. Partly because he's incorporeal and really can't be hurt or hurt anyone else directly. Mostly because fighting other muses has always stressed me out. If it's something you really want to do, we can talk about it. (This doesn't mean your character can't attack Khonshu ever, it just means it probably won't work.)

☽ MUSE INFO ☾

NAME: Khonshu OTHER NAMES: Chons, Bloody pigeon, Silly old bird (He accepts none of those) PRONOUNS: He/him HEIGHT: Varies, usually around 8-10 feet tall. WEIGHT: N/A (Incorporeal, like a ghost) AGE: Has existed since the dawn of time, so who knows.

- KHONSHU is the Egyptian god of the moon, vengeance, healing and time, among other smaller things. While he is enormously powerful in theory, he’s mostly unable to affect the physical world without use of a mortal AVATAR, dubbed his MOON KNIGHT. Those who agree to be his Avatar are granted superpowers and near-invulnerability, in exchange for agreeing to carry out his mission: Bringing vengeance against those who harm his travelers of the night.

- Khonshu is also somehow a billions-year-old grumpy baby who flips over trash cans when he doesn’t get his way.

- By default, Khonshu's current Avatar is JAKE LOCKLEY, and only Jake Lockley. But, he can also be played before the events of the show, when he (technically) has the triple threat of Jake Lockley, MARC SPECTOR, and STEVEN GRANT.

- Jake will make occasional cameos on this blog, but I wouldn't call this a dual muse. (You can request him in asks if you want.)

- Normally, only his Avatar (or Avatars of other gods) are capable of seeing/hearing Khonshu, but let’s say this blog is a holy space where he can answer your prayers questions. (In threads, we can always BS a reason your character can see Khonshu.)

- This Khonshu is HEAVILY BASED ON THE TV SHOW, which means he lacks a lot of the harsher history his comic book counterpart has. That said, as a god, he is aware of the multiverse and has at least a rough idea of what his counterparts are up to. You can ask about comic stuff, he just might have a different opinion.

- Some comic lore has been added/built upon, namely his fraught history with his father, AMON-RA. (This probably won’t come up much, but it does inform a lot of how I play the character.)

[heroictoonz]

king I've been putting off a rewatch of s15-17 for ages do u think its worth it

My instinct is so say no save yourself but like jokes aside I think that’s up to you like, I always said that they gave the RvBs a “bad ending” and that they ruined Tucker’s character post Chorus however, that was back when season 16 was literally first coming out

Flash back here but so when s16 was coming out I was just getting more and more upset with the writing of the show especially and honestly almost specifically Tucker. Somewhere near the end of s16 I stopped watching (didn’t even finish the season) and then after a bit I heard that the next season was gonna revolve around whole new characters

Now this, I only recently learned was weird miscommunication. See I’m trash ass shit at keeping up with news of shit even shit that I like so for the longest time I thought the story of this group I’ve been following since I was a teenager ended at s16 which KILLED me inside so I swore off the rest of the show and vowed to never watch it. Instead I mostly just rewatched Chorus or s1-s13 if I wanted to rewatch the “whole” show. Basically just watching till the end of Chorus and stopping. Every time I tried to go rewatch s15 to mmmaybe finish the show I kept remember how bad things got and kept running away

I’m gonna give some vague spoilers from here on out but it’s cause I do genuinely wanna talk about how I feel having literally only a few minutes ago finished s16 and s17 for the first time

I decided to finish RvB LITERALLY last night like no joke and it’s cause I saw spoilers out of context for s19 and I was like fuck it I need to see what the hell that is show is over anyways might as well finish it. So I am doing that now

I rewatched/finished s16 and fucking hated it. The good parts were Wash being cute and silly and my favorite guy ever of all time and forever. There’s also Grif and this character named Huggins they’re like on god one of my new brotps of all time damn RvB writes some good ass season specific supporting cast cause holy shit man. Also! I liked that Kai was in it! I enjoy Kai so so so so so much! I’ve always wanted more of her in the show! UNFORTUNATELY!

Tucker is so hard to watch. It’s so honest to god painful to watch. Maybe that’s what they were going for I don’t know. But, having now seen season 17 I get what they were TRYING to do I just don’t fully like how they did it.

In s17 Tucker admits to himself that the reason why in s16 he was acting so weird and gross and toxic masculinity “I have to have the biggest and most talented dong in the room at all times or I’ll kms” character ever is cause he was trying to be a leader

It’s sounds stupid and personally I think it IS stupid but now that I know what they were TRYING to write it makes these post Chorus seasons more bearable.

Basically, Tucker spent all that time in Chorus forced to be a leader. Once he finally got comfortable in the position of one Chorus no longer needed them. He wanted to keep being a leader keep feeling like a leader and it went to his head. He tried acting cool and tough and macho cause that’s what he thought a leader was and he says this! Out loud he admits all this to himself in s17! And honestly? That’s SUCH a good fucking concept it’s super fucking interesting and I really dig it plus with Tucker FAILING at being the leader it gave Donut well deserved character growth. I’ve always hated how sidelined Donut got compared to the others cause I’ve always liked him but s17 is definitely Donut’s season and to see him finally get screen time and respect and also have genuine moments of connection with the others was honestly really fucking awesome

So, do I like s16? God no. Do I recommend it watching it? Hard to say. You have to watch it if you wanna finish the show. Is finishing the show worth it? Honestly I dunno yet I haven’t seen 18 or 19 so it’s to be seen rn. But s17 where not perfect was definitely better than 16 and gave better insight on what they were trying to do. I don’t like the execution I don’t think it was as done very well but I like the ideas I like what they were attempting

S15 I admittedly do not fucking remember at all cause again it’s not a season I’ve rewatched more than maybe twice cause I kept stopping cause I just did not wanna deal with what I knew was coming. And I know me I know myself I know if I tried rewatching the show from the start or even s15 in an attempt to finish it I’d ever fucking do it so instead I just started from s16 and went forward

I don’t remember out right hating s15 but similar to the above I think there were good ideas and not all of them were perfectly done in writing. Also there’s this like really cool interesting thing that is about Tucker that then ends up being a stupid child support payment joke and that sucks so much it makes me so burningly livid I don’t even have a joke here it just makes me mad

But! It brings in the concept of other reds and blues other soldiers that were left in the rubbles of project freelancer which is super interesting again I think they coulda done more with specific parts of it and the “Tucker doesn’t pay child support for the buncha kids he fucked into existence” joke sucks especially when they CONSTANTLY SHOW HIM AS A VERY DOTING AND LOVING FATHER it’s fine I’m not mad I’m not bitter I promise

But uh yeah honestly if you like the show a lot I say watch it even if it sucks. Some of my biggest special interests are GARBAGE shows with writing so bad it makes me wanna commit actual arson. But, I love the characters I love the settings and I love what could have been maybe that’s why I always keep sticking around in stuff like this lol even if it sucks I like to imagine what could make it better cause I love it! And if I didn’t love it I wouldn’t care to put as much energy into wanting it to be better as I do! That’s the same with RvB! I wish it was better I wish SSOOOO BADLY that it was better but it’s cause I love it so fucking much not out of any sort of hate if that makes sense?

Idk tldr it’s up to you and you might suffer a bit but if you love the show I say go for it

Aaaand it’s 2am and I read ur ask wrong I thought that said “watch” not “rewatch” but? Points still stand I’m the kinda person that will rewatch even the seasons I hate to remember why I like the ones I love (I’m looking at you Ninjago season 3 you hot fucking garbage that I’ve sadly seen more times than I would like)

[kakujis]

omg i love ur work so much- i wanted to ask if u can write fluff scenarios with ryusei sato since there arent many fics for this pretty boy its completely fine if u dont want to!

HAI NONNIE... u had me thinking of final timeline, future!ryusei.. like ryusei who works at chifuyu's pet shop cus WHY NOT. ngl is it really my writing if its not a LIL sad at some point? anyways here it is!

warnings: gn! reader, spoilers for the spinoff duh!, mentions of violence, height diff (reader is shorter), very very slight angst, not proofread ehe. thats about it! 0.7k wc

“ryusei…” 

“hey.. earth to ryusei!” with the snap of your fingers, ryusei sato comes back to reality. one hand is placed on your hip, the other holding a dustpan. you’re in your pekejland uniform, head tilted to the side as you stare up at your boyfriend. his mostly white hair falls in front of his face, as he continues to blink at you, long lashes fluttering. 

“uh.. sorry,” he says, scratching his head, “what were you saying?” 

you sigh, “i asked if we were still getting dinner with baji, chifuyu, and kazutora after our shift.” 

ah, that’s right. before he went off into another odd daydream about losing their friendship, all of them beaten and bloody, at the height of fighting yotsuya kaiden, the two of you were talking about dinner plans.

he shakes his head, physically trying to free himself from such thoughts, before he nods, locking up the cash register in the process, “yup! we can’t miss it!” he beams. 

“you always act like you haven’t seen them in years.” you giggle, before you too finish cleaning up, setting the dustpan back into the supply closet. walking over you turn your back to him, “help me get out of this thing?” 

he rolls his eyes, “you just use this as an excuse for me to touch you, right?” he says, giving a soft laugh. but he always does it anyway, untying your apron and lifting it off of you. “also, no i don’t.” 

“you do,” you sing, before you’re beckoning him to turn around so you can take his off. “sometimes i think you like them more than me. bend down for me?” and he does, a smile gracing his face as you pull the fabric up and off him. you turn to leave and put them away, but he catches you before you do. 

pulling you back against him, he buries his face into your hair. “what are you doing?” you ask and he mumbles, “just let me hold you for a little bit.” trapped in his embrace, you still. you reckon it has something to do with what he was thinking about earlier. it’s been happening more lately, the way he spaces off with a darkened face. you’re not sure what to do besides ground him back into reality, although, you do wish he’d tell you. 

“if i did something stupid, like really stupid, would you stick with me?” he asks, the deep timbre of his is nice on your ears, especially when he’s this close. 

“like eating cat food?” you tease, your hand rubbing comforting circles on his arm. 

he groans, “that was baji! not me!” 

you giggle, “mhm, mhm, sure.. to answer your question though, of course i would.” 

he spins you around and before you can make a noise, he presses his lips into yours. you kiss him back, humming as he cards his fingers through your hair. you wrap your arms up around his neck, pressing into him. the two of you are so wrapped up in one another you don’t hear the chime of the door bell. 

“you’re gonna suck face in my shop?!” chifuyu yells, scaring the two of you. you squeak as you pull away, turning to stare at your boss. 

“no wonder neither of them are picking up the phone.” baji snickers while kazutora pops in from behind them. 

“can’t believe neither of them asked any of us to join either,” he laughs as chifuyu shoots him a disgusted look. 

“i’d rather die than kiss ryusei.” chifuyu comments and baji quirks a brow. 

“you’d kiss y/n?” the other two ask in unison. 

“as if i’d let you!” ryusei snaps, pulling you tighter into him. 

“oh shut up, i don’t want them either.” chifuyu quips, but if you squint there’s a red tint on his face. 

you decide it’s best to get things back on track, before ryusei gets on chifuyu again. “sorry guys, did you already get dinner?” 

baji shakes his head before he smiles, holding up a convenience store bag. “nope! we got it right here.” he rustles it and you can see the boxes of peyoung yakisoba inside. 

“ooh! yummy!” you clap, before tugging ryusei’s arm to stop the stare off he’s having with chifuyu, both of them practically snarling. 

as the night continues to wind down, the pet shop is filled with the sound of laughter, especially as ryusei and chifuyu continue to bicker. but deep down, ryusei is happy. happier than ever, that he gets to live each day with his friends that light up his heart like a candle in the dark. man, what dumb daydreams to have. 

[carigm]

Today Millie had a fan panel in which she answered that her ideal ending would be Mike and El getting married and Will being happy and confessing to Mike (lol) and ofc the Stranger Things fandom kicked up the old Byler vs Mlvn war once again, regardless of the fact she doesn’t write the show. But I want to break down some points here about things I’ve been noticing today, but also for a while and that I think need to be discussed. Keep reading if you want.

I’ve seen a lot of hostility towards Byler and Bylers on Twitter lately, saying we’re delusional and don’t know what we’re talking about. This always seems to be the go to argument even tho it’s all in the narrative. Today it got really bad after Millie’s comments and even people that were merely disagreeing with her opinions got called everything from delusional to misogynistic.

IF the Duffers suddenly decided to ignore everything they’ve carefully crafted and put into their narrative that doesn’t make anyone delusional, it just makes them terrible writers. Who would be doing a great disservice to all three characters involved in the love triangle.

There’s been an insurgence (on Twitter) of so called “Will stans” who seem to be completely fine with the idea of mlvn being endgame because “Will can just get another boyfriend” Not only is this insulting to what the writers have already established for Will’s character but it’s also a defense and endorsement of the worst kind of lazy/bad writing that could graze our screens.

The Duffers CHOSE to tie Will’s character arc to Mike’s and El’s.

How do you expect them to undo that and create a well fleshed out character that’s deserving of Will, in 8 episodes that we know are not just gonna be dedicated to Will’s supposed love interest, because there’s a shit ton of stuff to resolve?

If this was the route the Duffers were going for, they could’ve clearly given Will a love interest last season (like with Robin) or two seasons ago (like with Dustin) And yet somehow, people think it would be totally okay for Will to get the most meaningless romance of all time as the writers ignore the same story they’ve created.

Another point I’ve been seeing a lot from these people is “Mike won’t come out. Let it go. He’s just a very unlikable character” What does that say about the quality of the writing and content you’re willing to consume then? You’re okay with characters being poorly written? And please someone explain to me how Mike’s actions, especially in S4, make any sense unless he likes Will.

The more people try to simplify this story the more plot holes and inconsistencies it creates.

The funny thing is that a lot of these “Will stans” used to be Bylers themselves but are so deathly afraid it won’t be endgame that they’ve started to use the same rhetoric mlvns use every day to justify what would be atrocious writing.

And this next thing might be controversial but I think it needs to be said.

So many people on Twitter have hit those who disagree with Millie’s opinion today with “y’all are misinterpreting Millie’s words” and let me tell you, no one has. She’s been saying the same stuff for forever and quite frankly she’s never had a coherent thought about Will. Which is fine, at the end of the day that’s not the character she plays. However, I haven’t forgotten how last year (at another panel) she was asked about Byler and said it was just a reflection of Finn and Noah’s friendship and that was what people were seeing…

Whatever the fuck that means, I guess.

Again, I’m not taking her answer today too seriously cause truth be told she’s been saying some version of this since she was around twelve, and has even at times said she was joking about it. If a wedding were actually happening she wouldn’t be able to say it cause I’d literally be a spoiler, even if she doesn’t have the scripts yet or doesn’t know I’m sure there’s things that would be off limits for any actor to say at this point.

But this defense squad that formed today begging for us to not misconstrue her words because “she really cares about Will’s character” is laughable.

Her answers regarding the topic of the love triangle have been anything but nuanced. If she doesn’t want to get into it or address it, that’s fine. It’s her choice.

But of course, mlvn stans are gonna take her answers seriously, as well as those who are now “Will stans” who basically ship mlvn too.

And to me there’s a fundamental flaw regarding the ship wars in this fandom, which these people don’t seem to grasp. At this point, it isn’t so much about “which ship is better” but “which outcome isn’t violently homophobic”

That’s it.

I don’t care how much you ship mlvn, this is the undisputed truth here.

But when your lead actors act like it’s not a big deal, it’s no surprise the fandom doesn’t give a shit.

I can only hope the Duffers were smart enough to see reason and were able to write the only outcome that won’t set television back around 10 years or so.

And hopefully one day, when S5 is out, we can get a more in depth and honest conversation with the actors about all of this.

As for me, I’m gonna lay low and not give much of a fuck until we start getting those Reddit leaks, which were very much accurate for last season. I’ll take a peak at those, and depending on what they look like, I’ll stay around or dip completely.

If you read all of this, thank you.

[utytimeline]

Thoughts on UTY (Pacifist Version)

Reactions from when I first played Pacifist, and observations I made as the game progressed.  A lot of these will be outdated by the time I get this list compiled, but it’s a faithful list of my reactions.  No spoilers, plz.  I haven’t done Geno, betrayal kills, or boss kills yet.  (I kinda don’t want to, these are my babies.)

Long post ahead.

Ruins

Questions

Clover is the narrator, aren't they? I don’t think Chara’s even in this game.

What happens if we don't leave a tip at the lemonade stand?

Is there a way to wake Decibat after he goes to sleep? (I know that's cruel, I'm just curious.)

Dalv keeps talking about a friend, talking like he thinks he will meet them again- Kanako?

Dalv is mistaking us for the human that attacked him, isn't he? The one that made Chujin decide to kill the next human?

Who was leaving Dalv corn? My best guess is Ceroba- that she's felt sorry for him this whole time.

How to look in Dalv's locked doors/drawers? (Probably have to kill him. That... is gonna hurt. I like Dalv, he's a sweetheart.)

Observations

Decibat's music volume decreases the more you stay silent. (Which makes me think all battle music is being generated by Clover, not the monster.)

"Penilla draws near." (Italics added for emphasis.) *facepalm*

"Rorrim" is "mirror" spelled backwards.

Also, "Dalv" is "Vlad" spelled backwards, so might Rorrim be Dalv's personal mirror? Seems to fit, Dalv is extremely tidy.

Dalv's furniture's "fine craftsmanship" is probably Chujin's work.

Other Thoughts

I feel like a sponge cake with 2x absorption should have an effect where it absorbs damage for at least 2 turns.

Snowdin

Questions

Does the Snowdin ice block ever move? The guy that comes here from the Dunes just stands there and does nothing. Perhaps I need to check very late in the game, return from the last SAVE in New Home or something.

What kind of creature is Mo? I looked it up, and all I can find is "he looks like a raccoon." Yeah, I can see that, but he's kinda reddish-brown, so maybe a red panda? I also considered the possibility that Mo could be a tanuki, a Japanese raccoon-dog (and yes, it looks like a raccoon) that supposedly tricks people, especially tricking them into buying drinks- and Mo is a drink salesman.

What are we to make of the human on the wanted poster that Marty describes?  She said they wore a hat like ours, but they came from space.  I can’t think of a single equippable UT item that seems outer spacey.  And since she’s describing a wanted poster, I don’t think she’s talking about Red (the monster she thought was a human).  My first guess is that some monsters may equate the Surface with outer space, since they’ve never seen either (and many monsters are obsessed with the stars- Starlo and all the monsters making wishes in Waterfall, for instance).

Observations

Flowey: "We won't be anywhere near your fancy surface air for a while." (Italics added for emphasis.) He sounds... jealous? This was when I first realized that Flowey's only playing nice, but I still have no clue what he’s really planning.

"Snowy" is just barely recognizable in "Snowfall."

Mo's theme is easy to recognize because not only does it use the Sega Genesis soundfont, it even includes the Michael Jackson whoop from Sonic 3&K.

Ice Wolf was when I started to realize that Yellow isn't that long before UT. (Yeah, I know, Flowey should've been my first clue, but I simply assumed he couldn’t be Asriel, that he was someone else that somehow turned into a flower.  Anything can happen in these games, after all.)

The Shufflers are all named after things you do with a drink: Toast, Swig, and my favorite, their leader Rephil (Refill).

The Shufflers scold Clover for starting a fight, but later Axis is the one trying to drag us into a fight.  I guess battles can go either way.

Shopkeepers have full animations, it's not just facial expressions.

Yellow finally gives us real puzzles. Some of them even take a bit to solve.

Flowey makes a comment about mailing ourselves to Asgore.  He clearly already knows about resets, so I think it’s likely that he’s seen the moment (at the end of The Dunes) that the whales start shipping people by mail.

Other Thoughts

Frostermit is so adorable. I need a Frostermit plushie.

Mo makes me think of what Spamton must have been like before Gaster (no, I'm not suggesting a connection, just that's what he made me think of- but given the other, more obvious DR inspirations throughout the game, I think it’s possible they were going for that kind of character).

Headcanon: Insomintot is related to Knight-Knight. They both inherited a genetic tendency to fall asleep when a human sings.

I love the UGPS jingle, it's so cute.

"(The remnants of a snowman. Once full of life. Now full of potential for new life.)" This line is a little creepy, to me. Clover may not realize it, they're probably just joking, but WE know that some snowmen in the Underground are alive, and I'm wondering what happened to this one.

I don't know if it's the same soundfont, but the Honeydew Resort theme reminds me of Final Fantasy: Mysticquest.

I actually picked "minor scales" when talking to the cellist at the resort, because I actually do like minor scales.

Being a Shadow the Hedgehog fan (the character, not just the game), I got a chuckle out of the description of coffee bean ammo. What do you mean, you can't eat the beans???

I haven't actually noticed any 4th wall moments, but Martlet's message on the second ball puzzle, the message that apologizes for making it too high to see and says the human must be very good at guessing, makes me think it's a very obscure allusion to the fact that Clover is being possessed by the player. There aren't enough moments like that in this game for me to go all crazy with lore and theories, but it's a nice touch to see such an allusion.

In all fairness, Marty has some craftsmanship abilities. Unfinished, shoddy workmanship notwithstanding, it still takes some knowledge of mechanics to make a water-powered door lock.

I just love Marty, she’s so sweet, I want her to be my little sister.

Waterfall

Questions

Why does the Royal Guard bother to survey their prisoners on “auditory ambiance” and things like that when they’re just gonna deliver the SOUL to Asgore???  I mean, isn’t the victim (except Red, apparently) usually dead before they get this far???

Observations

Not sure, but I’m guessing this is a different river than the one we travel with River Person.  Not only do we never meet River Person, but the colors of the ground and plants behind Ava look like the marshy sections of Waterfall that we never get to walk in.

Other Thoughts

I love how we never actually visit Waterfall (unless you count the post-credits scene), we just float past it.  Acknowledgement of the source material without actually copying it.  And gave them that much more time and room to include an entirely new area (2, if you count the Wild East as separate from the Dunes).

The mention of a Royal Scientist threw me off.  I totally did not expect Alphys, I thought this game took place many years before UT, and I’ve seen no Gaster references in this game at all.

The Dunes

Questions

More of a complaint than an actual question, but… if they wanted to make a Zelda reference, WHY OH WHY did they have to do the Death Mountain rockfall???

Since the Dunes are so near Hotland, could the gigantic Swelterstone be responsible for Hotland’s heat, too?

Since El Bailador calls us a “Sentinel of Silence,” how will killing Decibat affect the fight with Bailey?

If you do well in the Bailey fight, does he stop saying you don’t love dancing as much as him?

How to move the sunbathing (wait, what sun?) cactus that blocks that one road?

Observations

The Dunes is where I noticed that the battle theme changes depending on the location.

Sea Tea still increases SOUL speed.  Loved that they kept this in.

Same black slime that we met in MTT Resort Hotel.  And still outraged because of an elevator.  Feels like he’ll never find a working one.

Bowll being a china bowl shaped like a bull is probably a play on the phrase “a bull in a china shop.”

Clover got the green healing flowers (the ones in the Omega Flowey fight) from Violetta.

I sucked at Mew Mew Love Blaster, but I watched a walkthrough, and DID THEY SERIOUSLY GIVE MEW MEW A “BIG SHOT”?!?  (Coming back to this after finishing the game, I went, “yup, they did.”)

Other Thoughts

“Vigorous Terrain” is my favorite location theme, but I still haven’t figured out whether there’s any significance in it being a remix of “Your Best Friend.”

That first tumbleweed, the one that comes rolling out of the hole in the cliff, had me like “wut?”  I did love how they replaced Undyne’s rocks with tumbleweeds.

I also love the mines music.  The first few notes remind me of Zelda’s Lullaby (from LOZ).

I actually missed getting a free pickaxe because the monster’s trivia question about the Royal Scientist threw me off.  I still didn’t realize this took place after Asgore hired Alphys, I thought it came WAAAAY before that.  (This also finally confirmed for me that Flowey is, in fact, the same one we know from UT, Asriel.)

I tried not to make a lot of comparisons to DR, considering this isn’t even canon to UT, but I did feel like the mouse attack in Bowll’s fight was very similar to that one attack in the Maus fights in DR.  But I think the Maus fight itself was probably a reference to some old video game (can’t remember which one, it just always felt familiar), so maybe UTY was making the same reference.

Was stunned to see Undyne look-alikes in the Mines, was more surprised that they mentioned her, and was the most surprised to find that they’re not related.

Clover has a very cute animation for hopping in the mine cart.

I could not figure out Bailador’s fight mechanics, and tbh, I got thru it on an absolute fluke (and the silver scarf).  I had to look up a walkthrough later to realize you have to move into the right space AND press the action button when the color lights up.  I thought it was just being in the right space.  Every rhythm game controls differently, it seems.

Wild East

Questions

Do mail whales keep notebooks full of potential rhymes, like Marty and her notebook full of puzzle ideas?

Is “designated naptime” a reference to siestas, or did Star just not want to overwork everybody?

“A ballet shoe could be lethal if used enough times.”  Um.  Got anything to share there, Blackjack?  “Don’t question my morality!  I’m not prepared to speak on it!”  OKAY, I REALLY NEED YOU TO SPEAK ON IT NOW….

Can we get into the locked farm cellar?  (Preferably without killing anyone?)

Observations

Animals still living in the Underground at least provides some explanation for where monsters get their food (in addition to the corn).

The BEST part about the health overcharge?  You don’t lose it when you SAVE!  He might be a plague doctor, but Doc works absolute miracles.

Star paid double price for the gun he bought us.

They actually take around 15 paces for the dual (I lost count).  (And yes, I spelled it “dual” on purpose.)

Moray comments that Star made them walk around with a rubber snake in their boot.  I looked it up, and it looks like the first and most well-known movie to use that “snake in my boot” reference really WAS Toy Story (although it has origins outside of film from farther back).  So Starlo also watches animations (as long as they have cowboys).

Vengeful Virgil’s comment that not caring about others’ feelings is what makes him a villain, comes while we’re on our way to console Star after his cocky selfishness drove everyone away.  This was not a coincidence.

Every monster has a magical ability, and Starlo’s is literal “bullet time” (he can slow you down).

^This also makes me wonder: remember how he flew backwards in slow-motion when we shot him in the dual?  I wonder if he was using his bullet time on himself for dramatic effect.

Star’s family: his dad, Solomon (the sun), his mom, Crestina (the moon), and a brother who’s name I never found but looks like a 4-pointed star.  (I’ve seen people call him Orion, so I’m going with that, for now.)

Star has several sticky notes in his dad’s almanac, and keeps dad’s almanac on his own bedroom nightstand.  Seems like Star probably took his life on the farm seriously before he left home.

Star also apparently had an interest in outer space.  Possibly some confusion stemming from Toy Story?  (I actually started headcanoning that Toy Story got him into cowboys, and put together a fic on that.)

Not sure where the term “space cowboy” originated, or what Clover’s actually referring to when they say it about Star, but the first use of that phrase that I’m finding is a Steve Miller song from 1969 (referenced later in Steve Miller’s “The Joker” from 1973, the line that a lot of people associate with Steve Miller: “some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love”).  The phrase has been used numerous times in multiple ways since then.

Seems like Star sewed his own outfit.

Other Thoughts

Picked “no” when Star asked if monsters die when you ride them into the sun cuz I thought the whole town would converge upon me, heh.

Was honestly surprised that the dummy finally showed up.  This was the first time I tried using the FIGHT option, and it turned out to be rather difficult.  I am not looking forward to Neutral or Genocide.

Star tells Ceroba we’re as good of a shot as him, and she goes, “Really?  A child?”  Still not entirely sure whether she’s poking a bit of fun at Star, but I don’t think she is.  Star doesn’t take any offense to her comment for himself, and her sprite when she speaks next, saying she’s “impressed,” looks extremely surprised.  (In all fairness, despite Blackjack’s claims, Star actually is really good.)

I suck at them all, but the mini-games in UTY are all so fun.

Love the change-up to the battle animation during Feisty Four’s attack, how they switch between characters and even team up.

“A tumbleweed rolls by.  It says hello.”  Well, why not?  I mean, the rocks and cacti are sentient.

The first mention of Kanako at The Lab had me in tears, because, like… we KNOW what happened to her.

Steamworks

Questions

“The Steamworks was the main power source of the Underground.”  This statement confuses the timeline a bit for me.  The Core is now the main power source of the Underground, but my understanding is that the Steamworks was operational long after Gaster died.

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THAT LAST AWARD ON THE WALL SAYS.

Does the story change at all depending on what parts you use for Axis’ gf?  (Also, I wonder how many of us just picked up the first 2 or 3 items and then realized there’s way more than 4 items to choose from and wished Ceroba would let us start over.)

Is there a way to fix the grandfather clock?

Does the grandfather clock say something different if the time on your PC actually is 6:26 on a Monday morning in spring?

Observations

Ceroba telling Clover to wait in the corner, kinda refers back to her doubting that a child could be as good of a shot as Star.  She has very little respect for Clover at this point.  Not entirely sure if it’s just because Clover’s a human, or if it’s also because they’re just a kid.

Don’t think I missed Flowey’s comment about The Lab.  He clearly does NOT want us to go there.

Ceroba must have some kind of dimensional satchel, herself.  I don’t see how else she can carry the hunkajunk we built (not to mention pulling her staff out of hammerspace).

BTW, “dihydrogen monoxide” is just water.  Vendy probably just called it that to make it sound poisonous.

Vendy said their last boot up was yesterday and that their creator always comes by on Mondays to restock them.  Sadly, the grandfather clock is stuck on 6:26, Monday morning.  Kinda feel sorry for Vendy.

Guardener is actually nice.  She even grows a flower just for the bot that came late.

Telly-Vis starts using the bullet patterns of other monsters during the “reruns” portion of the fight.

You can cheat on the Axis fight if you have the silver scarf.  Just deliberately miss Axis when you ping-pong the red balls for enough turns to heal up.

I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m guessing that Ceroba would get mad and ditch you if you kill one of the robots, turning the run into a Neutral.

Other Thoughts

Screw those water puzzles at the start of Steamworks.

DAT MUSIC, THO.

I’m not gonna try to discuss Ceroba’s growing respect for us.  That needs a whole analysis post of its own.  (Well, everything about Ceroba needs its own analysis.)

Axis rolled in and I was like, “Oh, no, another one.”  Seems like we just keep running into these darned toaster ovens on wheels.

Axis music is fire, tho, all of it.

I swear I hear some DR inspirations in the music.  Haven’t learned the names for all the tracks yet, but at one point I thought I heard Digital Roots (when Ceroba’s fiddling with the generator) and at another I thought I heard Card Castle (the room where you build Axis’ gf).

A game mechanic I love: Ceroba’s shield effect (well, as long as it’s shielding Clover).

A mechanic I hate: Jandroid’s slippery floors.

I also love the manta ray ferryboat.

Mo’s level of professionalism is off-the-charts.  He ain’t about to let a little thing like his clothes and his stand catching fire ruin a sales pitch.

Being a Christian, I’m not going to share what I really think of the Axis chase.

Loved seeing the return of popato chisps.

I swear, I thought all that white stuff was monster dust at first.  Walked into the Science Division and nearly burst into tears.

I hope somebody finally has chance to either fix Guardener or shut her down properly once they reach the surface.

Conveyor belt puzzle caused me trouble because I kept trying to box up trash.  Took me a while to realize “red” and “blue” referred to the highlights around the objects.

I’ll talk more in depth later, but I love how Clover has this calming effect on Ceroba when she’s chewing out the productivity bot.

Believe it or not, I didn’t get caught by Axis in the fireplace room!  Go me!  (Actually, it’s really not that hard….)

Still not entirely sure what I think of Axis deliberately handing us a “weapon” just to give himself an excuse to attack us.

I’ve said this before: he took me an hour and a half to fight the first time.  I really hate the mechanics in his boss fight.  And it was especially humiliating for me because I’d only died, maybe, 3 or 4 times before him.  Didn’t have any trouble with Starlo, and while I never did get the hang of Bailey’s fight, I think I only died to him once.  Guardener was responsible for the other deaths.

I love how Ceroba’s been insulting the Steamworks the whole time, but I don’t think she ever insults Axis.  That was her late husband’s baby.  And then she even gives him tips on dating.

Ceroba finally respects us after the Axis fight.  It takes remembering why she needs us for her to be able to press on with her mission.

Chujin’s House

Questions

Woodworking, robotics, SOUL research, video game designer, loving husband and father- I know Chujin was kinda old, but how DID he find time for all this???

Marty finds Kanako’s room to be unsettling.  Not sure why.

Clover doesn’t like the gas stove and worries it will cause a housefire.  I’ve wondered before whether they came from an orphanage.  Did they lose their family in a fire?

“The Founder’s Crest.”  Who are the Founders?  Founders of what?  Or is this just a reference to something I’m not familiar with?  (Possibly something in Japanese culture?)

Was Chujin actually that much older than Ceroba?  Or did he just age rapidly because of his research?  If boss monsters only age when they have children, how could he have become so old before marrying Ceroba… unless he’d already had, and lost, one child before?

I’ve been told there’s a secret behind Chujin’s grave.  Will have to check it out the next time I do a Pacifist run.

Observations

Strange that Ed found the trapdoor so easily when Ceroba didn’t know about it until Chujin told her.  Ceroba must not have covered it up properly before locking up the house.  Possibly also Chujin somehow arranged it with her that he would be the one cleaning the dining room.

I feel like Moray’s the smartest one of the Four.  They knew it was a good idea to send for Marty.

And THIS is where Marty gets smart.  She takes charge in Star’s absence.  The Four listen to her, even Ed (reluctantly).  And SHE’s the one telling us to stay on track.

(Ok, she’s still a bit naïve- she doesn’t seem to consider that Chujin’s paper with her name is actually ABOUT her.)

The drawings on Kanako’s bedroom wall: Dalv, the monster on the Dunes swingset, her family… and a flower?  Well, I mean… a lot of little kids like to draw flowers, so that might not be anything.  Also a drawing of what looks like Axis lying on the floor.

“Nuh-uh!  Kids shouldn’t mess with knives!”  Nice little reference there, dev team.

And, of course, it’s Flowey who makes light of Ceroba’s mission, calling it a “science fair project.”  Well.  He has every right to say whatever he likes about SOUL research.  Doesn’t he.

Of course, we didn’t get Star’s letter in time because Ceroba wouldn’t let us check the mail.  But I highly doubt she planned it that way, as she had no idea the Five would be snooping around her old house.

Other Thoughts

Starlo is so. completely. PISSED.  And… uh, he has a right to be.  Like, she’s doing a lot of what he just did- lying and scheming and using Clover to fix her own problems (those two are a match set, I swear….)  And he’s torn.  These are his two friends, Clover being the human he practically worshipped, and Ceroba being one of his closest friends (not to mention the love of his life, but I digress).  He doesn’t want anything to happen to her, but he can’t let Clover get hurt, either.

The fact that Moray sent for Marty as soon as learning that Clover was in danger just seals in the idea that Marty is part of the family.

…how long has that corn chowder been in that fridge, anyway???

I’ve already discussed my thoughts about Chujin in other posts, a lot of them still in queue.

Hotlands

Questions

Kinda wonder what could’ve made Clover suspicious about the wall to the left of the UG Apartments.

Never did figure out where the “rain” was coming from.  I figure it’s just a leaky sink upstairs or something.  (I’d thought at first it was from the janitor cleaning the hallway, but that’s on the other side of the building.)

Observations

I’m sure everyone recognized it, but in case someone didn’t, Bailey’s in the colored tile room.

I think Muffet herself blocked the way thru Hotland, renovating for her pastry shop.

Mr. Cursor mentions a 10-sided die.  They have some version of D&D in the Underground.  Probably more like… idk, Houses and Humans?

Working for Mettaton must have taken quite a toll on the janitor.  He doesn’t look nearly so tired or decrepit here.

There was a flier on the bulletin board in the Wild East that was advertising the acts at the UG Apartments.  The band we saw in Honeydew Resort has a gig at the Apartments on Fridays.  So, this game- or at least by the time we reach Hotland- is on a Friday.

Other Thoughts

The monster candy is butterscotch-flavored.  *nods*  Of course, what else would it be?

Poor Heats.  Defeateeeeeeeeed again….

Star can actually survive drinking magma.  I’ve got headcanons about this boiling in my brain….

I thought Know Cone said he was just gonna look at Hotland from a mountaintop…?

New Home/Pacifist Ending

Questions

If there’s an elevator leading to the castle, I’m guessing that means at least one of the other endings has us actually fight Asgore.

How exactly does Kanako’s mask give Ceroba superpowers?  I feel like it might be a reference to Japanese mythology, but I know very, very little about Japanese mythology.

How exactly does Clover have the ability to see into Ceroba’s memories?

I kinda hate myself for asking, but… what happens if you choose FIGHT after you beat Ceroba?

Observations

Star is the one asking Ceroba if she’s gonna kill them all because while he doesn’t know all the details, he recognizes the headspace she’s in.

Other Thoughts

Not only am I thrilled to finally get to explore some of New Home, I’m absolutely in love with the design and the music.

I think when Ceroba says she lied about Kanako, she’s not saying she lied about Kanako falling down, or about sending her to the lab.  She lied about having any hope that Kanako would return safely.

How the heck do frikkin’ cherry blossom petals have so much attack power???

The dash mechanic took me time to learn, but if Toby ever decides to steal from Yellow, I hope he steals this :P

My reactions to Ceroba’s plan: “But Chujin specifically begged you NOT to use Kanako!  How do you think you’re honoring his memory by going against his final wish?!”  “Oh, I see, finishing the serum was his death wish.  That’s still no excuse to use your own daughter, tho.”  And finally: “…oh…”

I tried to get thru the game without cheats (except for being on easy mode) but I did have to turn on auto-fire for Ceroba’s final phase.

[noelwho]

Ultimate Chronological Order Imodna Playlist!!!

Hello! I feel like I have to introduce myself ‘cause I’m barely on Tumblr. I’m still learning how to use it, I posted a couple of fanarts and they went really well, so I want to try and make myself a spot in here. My name is Noel (they/them) and I’m a big fan of Critical Role. I started watching a few months ago, with Exandria Unlimited. Once I was done I went ahead and started Campaign 3. I’m currently on episode 49 (I know, I have a lot ahead yet). I also watched the first season of Candela Obscura and a couple of One-Shots.

Today I’m here to talk about the Lesbian Southern Gothic Witches. Earlier this week I started to obsess over a playlist. An Imodna playlist, to be more specific. It started with me listening to one I found on spotify (I will credit below because it’s been a huge inspiration for this project) and I got the urge to make my own. At the beginning it was something chill, something normal…until it was not. Over the course of the last 3 days I haven’t thought about or listened to anything else. I got the idea of making the playlist in chronological order and I started to take it very seriously. I divided their history in 10 different chapters and assigned each song to the correct time period. At first it was just gonna be into chapters, but then I started to put them in order inside the chapters too, and it became very personal. For real, this playlist has been the one and only thing I wanted to talk about for days. Last night I finally finished it. I’ve played it for run tests several times and I think it’s finally ready to see the light (kinda feels like the project of my life even though I only spent a few days working on it).

After all this brainrot it didn’t feel right to just tweet a link to the playlist, I wanted the world to know everything that went through my head in the process of making this. I also don’t have many people around who care about Critical Role, and I thought it was a good opportunity to connect with the fandom. So all of this took me here, to tumblr. All of a sudden it became very clear that this was the perfect place to set my baby free.

There’s some things I wanna make clear before you start reading, the first being the classic: english is not my first language. Sounds like a joke at this point but for real, it’s very likely that this thing is full of grammatical mistakes and I want to apologize in advance (specially about the in/on/at situation, I’ve been having lots of trouble with those for some reason) This is also the first time I do something like this so it may not be perfect. The second thing is that this will obviously be filled with spoilers. In fact I actually haven’t even got to The Scene, I saw it around on Tumblr and Twitter (impossible to avoid that spoiler, but I don’t really care). I’m aware that there’s a lot of Imodna moments that I haven’t seen yet, but I couldn't wait to start this playlist. I don’t know if the episodes I have left to watch will translate into new chapters or into new songs for the chapters I already have but either way, I will keep this post and the playlist updated.

With that being said, welcome to this ride through an unhinged mind. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy!

The tether scene is one of my favorite ones. I love that metaphor with a passion. That’s why I chose this name for the playlist. With the photo I wanted to make an allusion to the red thread myth given that Laudna herself carries around a spool of red string. I even edited the picture so the hands on the right are slightly gray like Laudna’s.

There’s not just one specific vibe to this playlist, but I find it to be a very calming one, with the exception of some specific moments that we will talk about later. I tried to avoid strong and distracting beats so I could keep it a little ethereal. Lots of acoustic guitar (which I love). I’m not going to talk about every single song because some of them have pretty obvious meanings. Usually the songs aren't a 100% match, but they do have a part to it that speaks to me and to the story on a certain level.

× Imogen and Laudna’s separate lifes ×

At the beginning of the journey that is this playlist, I wanted to introduce the characters. Intertwining their songs, we get to know Imogen and Laudna’s pasts, before they have each other to face the terrors of being witches in a world that doesn’t quite understand them.

Delilah - Florence + The Machine (Laudna)

I sometimes wonder if Marisha has ever listened to this song, because oh my fucking god. I wanted to start the playlist with Abbey, I didn’t because with the intertwining I couldn’t make it fit, but this one is a very good start as well. This song shows perfectly how it must have been being brought back by Delilah and having that power all of a sudden.

Abbey - Mitski (Imogen)

Matilda - Harry Styles (Laudna)

Imogen - Nick Mulvey (Imogen)

Laudna's lullaby - Ginny Di (Laudna)

Time comes in roses - Bess Atwell (Imogen)

The Tradition - Halsey (Laudna)

Burn it down - Daughter (Imogen)

There’s several songs from this album on this playlist. It couldn’t fit better. It reflects perfectly the moment Imogen started to develop her powers. It even refers directly to the way she parts ways with her town (which doesn’t happen for a few chapters but still I felt this one belonged here). Her fear of being a disappointment, her father becoming absent, the feeling of being cursed. It’s all here.

The hanging tree - The hunger games (Laudna)

Still I wait - Anna Leone (Both)

Even with everything they had to go through, they both still wait and cling to hope.

× Imogen and Laudna meet ×

Finally, their paths cross. They experience the feeling of warmth for the first time in a long time. They both feel the need to keep the other one close and begin to appreciate the little things in life, learning how to be taken care of. Goodbye loneliness.

Season of the Witch - Lana Del Rey

I'd like to walk around in your mind - Vashti Bunyan

How important is this song knowing what Imogen can do…

Comfortable Silence - Bella Porter

Without you without them - Boygenius

A hole in the earth - Daughter

That Moon Song - Gregory Alan Isakov

Love brought weight - Old Sea Brigade

That distant shore - Steven Universe

Sick of losing soulmates - Natalie Dawn

I Hear a Symphony - Cody Fry

Sidelines - Phoebe Bridgers

The bug collector - Haley Heyderickx

Sometimes I feel that it’s always Laudna taking care of Imogen, as if she didn't have anything on her own plate. It can't be easy to live with a voice in your head and paranoia. This song shows how Imogen is there to hold Laudna too when it becomes too much.

Look up - Joy Oladokun

If the last one was an Imogen’s POV, this one is totally a Laudna’s POV. Her and her silly little pep talks. “You’re so capable”.

Daylight - Taylor Swift

I love the idea of them learning that life can be good if you find someone to share it with. This song encapsulates that perfectly.

Spell - Dora Jar

I wanted this one to be the last one of the chapter because it introduces the idea of leaving together.

× Imogen and Laudna run away together ×

“Would you run away with me?” They learn what it’s like to have a home that’s not a place, but something entirely new. The past still follows but they’re no longer crushed by it, because they don’t have to sustain it on their own.

Departure - Daughter

Second child, restless child - The Oh Hellos

Just the two of us - Grover Washington, Jr.

I really like to imagine Imodna slice of life scenes when I listen to this song.

Dandelion Wine - Gregory Alan Isakov

Homesick - Dwara, Khotton Palm

Graceland Too - Phoebe Bridgers

When I realized how much of a Laudna's POV this song is, I almost cried.

Telepath - Manchester Orchestra

I really really like Manchester Orchestra, it's one of my favorite bands. I never let go of the chance of spreading them around, and this one is the best song they have. Laudna's POV for sure.

everything i wanted - Billie Eilish

With songs like this one and Intertwined, I wanted to introduce the idea that even though they're definitely better off now that they left the town, that doesn't instantly solve all of their problems. As I said before, the past follows, but they're no longer alone with it.

Savior Complex - Phoebe Bridgers

Intertwined - Dodie

Nothing else matters - Phoebe Bridgers

As long as they're together, nothing else matters.

× You lied ×

Even though I only have a few songs for this precise moment of the story, I thought that it was very important to include their first fight. The gem is broken and Imogen feels betrayed. Laudna is left abandoned and thinks she deserves to be punished for Delilah’s wrongs. We explore jealousy for the first time.

Witches - Daughter

The silence at the end of this instrumental song represents the loneliness that Laudna felt when Imogen left her alone after her incident with Delilah

Landfill - Daughter

There are two possible ways of reading into this one. This is in my opinion a Laudna's POV. She could either be talking to Imogen, expressing her deep rooted desire for a punishment for what she’s done; or to Delilah, alluding to the attachment she has to her own powers (that at least as far as she knows are there because of Briarwood) opposed to the hatred she feels for her and for herself for wanting those powers (this is a theme that they explore later on future chapters)

Are you okay? - Winnetka Bowling League

Afterglow - Taylor Swift

The archer - Taylor Swift

× Laudna’s death ×

Otohan Thull relentlessly kills three members of Bells Hells. A coin is flipped and Laudna is gone, again. What awaits beyond the afterlife? Perhaps a little girl, a monster and a tree.

DVD menu - Phoebe Bridgers

If death’s not exactly DVD menu by Phoebe Bridgers, then someone tell me what’s like because I can’t imagine otherwise. I freaking love how this song connects with Daffodil.

Daffodil - Florence + The Machine

Death with dignity - Sufjan Stevens

Bells in Santa Fe - Halsey

I like to imagine that Laudna didn't appear in Nightmarish Whitestone immediately. Up until this point, she's in a limbo, accepting her own death. Bells in Santa Fe marks the moment she sets foot in that Upside-down kind of world. The constant repetition of “All of this is temporary” is like a mantra for her, the only hope she has of getting through it with her sanity intact is believing that this will also end and she will finally find peace.

Willow Tree March - The paper kiss

Hard times - Ethel Cain

Tether me - Galleaux

With this song and the next one, I wanted to express desperation. We don't get to know in the series how she feels throughout all of this, but I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been. There's a point where anyone would have started begging for help.

Matilda - alt-J

× Imogen’s grief ×

“Is she your favorite?”. Imogen feels deeply guilty for what happened. The possibility of bringing Laudna back is the only thing that’s keeping her from losing it completely. All the regrets, all the words she wishes she said before, all the times she didn’t approached her when she wanted to, come afloat. Grief, disassociation and sorrow.

Words - Storefront Church, Phoebe Bridgers

This song is meant to represent the exact moment of Imogen floating and losing control, with Otohan in her head pushing her to let go.

Goner - Twenty One Pilots

No other song in existence can express better the moment Imogen realize Laudna's gone for good.

Lanterns lit - Son Lux

True Faith - Ashley Johnson

Hurt for me - SYML

Carry you - Novo Amor

My love - Florence + The Machine

Lucky for you - Novo Amor, Gia Margaret

Killer + the sound - Phoebe Bridgers, Noah Gundersen

Should have known better - Sufjan Stevens

Ya'aburnee - Halsey

Show you a body - Haley Heyderickx

Imogen (even Laura) loses hope for a moment during the ritual they do for bringing Laudna back. The end of this song summarize this repeating a lyric over and over (you can clearly see through this playlist how much I love repetition).

× Back together ×

After Bells Hells confront Delilah at the Upside-down-Whitestone of Laudna’s nightmares, Pike manages to bring her back to life. Imogen and her are back hand by hand, and nothing can ever tear them apart again. Here’s where I think something awakes inside them, but they are far from realizing it.

I am the Antichrist to you - Kishi Bashi

Like an angel “fallen from the sky with grace”, Laudna’s back on Imogen’s arms.

Darling - Halsey

This love (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

Now that you're home - Manchester Orchestra

Lose you again - Manchester Orchestra

Halloween - Phoebe Bridgers

But not kiss - Fayer Webster

Like I said, something changes after this. What they’ve been through is not nothing. This song is here to show that something is born deep inside them, on their subconscious far from their reach yet

× Back to Gelvaan ×

Same as with the “You lied” chapter, I felt that this one was important even though I just have one song for it. It just matches perfectly. Imogen and Laudna visit Imogen’s hometown and the place where they met, searching for answers. Old wounds, some closure and an emotionally absent father.

My tears ricochet - Taylor Swift

× Tethered ×

In this chapter the platonic bond is peaking. It takes place right before The Unraveling, giving in to the “Can I kiss you?” phase and becoming romantic. They’ve been through hell and back just to stay together. This is my personal favorite bit of the playlist, everything is extremely intense but not yet explicit.

Tethered - Sleeping at last

I Will - Mitski

Anchor - Alli X

Don't let them see you cry - Manchester Orchestra

Crosses - José González

Quietly - Manchester Orchestra

Francesca - Hozier

Moon song - Phoebe Bridgers

Capital Karma - Manchester Orchestra

Everywhere, everything - Noah Kahan

In a week - Hozier

Monster - King Princess

j's lullaby (darlin' i'd wait for you) - Delaney Bailey

I will follow you into the dark - Miya Folick

I wouldn't ask you - Clairo

× Can I kiss you? ×

Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The beggining of something new, the next and most logical step of this journey. The platonic becomes romantic and they get to truly explore the feelings they always had, and some novel ones. This is the moment I know less about, but I’ve used my imagination and my own headcanons.

Can I - Genevieve Stokes

I debated a lot whether to put this one at the end of the last chapter or the beginning of this one because I don't know how relevant Laudna's death is up to this point, and there's a huge reference to this in this song. I know for a fact that the Delilah’s plot is not over and things will change, but I couldn't resist the urge to put it in here, given the name of the song and its obvious connection to the chapter.

We'll never have sex - Leith Ross

Wading in Waist-high Water - Fleet Foxes

This is the last time - The National

All my ghosts - Lizzy McAlpine

Prière pour la nuit - Barbara Pravi, November Ultra

Chewing Cotton Wool - The Japanese House

Bandages - Rachel Bobbitt

This is it, this is The Ultimate Chronological Order Imodna Playlist. I don't know if I'm the first one doing this, probably not, I don't know if this has any value to anyone beyond myself, but I had a hell of a lot of fun. If only one person were to read this till the end I would be more than satisfied.

I’ll link here the playlist that started all of this. Massive respect for this person whoever it is, I took lots of the songs from here

Infinite thanks to anyone who gets here or saves my playlist, feel free to respond with any song that you think adds to the story!! Something tells me this isn't the end of my Imodna brainrot so,,,, more things could be on their way (a fanfic, perhaps?).

No idea how to end this so… long live Lesbian Southern Gothic Witches!!!

[penaconys-hound]

OOC: We’ve got new lore folks

//I just wanted to talk about the new lore I’ve seen in 2.2 so far and mini changes to the blog to fit with it

I have yet to finish it yet but I don’t care about spoilers I’m just that kind of person, but I respect other people not wanting spoilers so if you haven’t finished the new updates content yet I’ll put it under a cut:

So first off: The Dog has a name!

….It’s fucking SLEEPIE. If you don’t believe me, here:

It does have another name but that kinda just. Flew in one ear and out the other- So I will not be changing Sleepie’s tag (#👁️ The Dog.) because it keeps in sinister because it’s not common knowledge Sleepie is just “a Little aggressive”

It’s seriously just:

Caelus: Hey how are ya-

Sleepie: GRAAAAGAFAFSBSHSBSINSTWUD/SU

Caelus: GET YO FUCKING DOG BITCH-

Gallagher: It don’t bite :D

Caelus, getting stabbed: Y E S I T D O.

However when not In character/Character doesn’t call for it, I’ll refer to it as Sleepie, but I’ll still call it the Meme, or by it’s true name when I remember it, when In character

Second of all: Gallagher is apparently just a non-evil little guy, I never thought he was actually evil in my opinion, I saw him as the Grim Reaper, can be very easily characterized as evil, but he’s really not and was just tryna do a job man-

and it’s pretty satisfying to know I was right, means I’m good enough to be him/hj

With this new information I can Still see him as the Grim Reaper, however now I see him as the Sims 4 Grim Reaper specifically.

Ya’know, the job of guiding people to the afterlife (in this case people from the sweet dream to the real dreamscape) but then proceeds to do something like this immediately after-

And yeah he really is an Enigma follower and it wasn’t just for the Reaper bit (I doubt people thought that but the game clarified this so)

Anyways because of this I’m gonna set the Gallagher we meet here as the “True” Gallagher (until the games like “Hahah it’s another aaaact.”/hj you never really know and again I didn’t finish the update yet)

The Gallagher who acts as a Bartender as Half-True Gallagher, since it’s kinda cover up but he’s not very different then the one we’re seeing now-

And the “Villain” Gallagher You know the one that uses this Grimace Shake text on this blog Will just be when he’s ether being mysterious to fuck with you or he’s hinting at/playing his reaper role,

or when going full Enigma mode cause I think it’d be a neat idea to have Star Rail characters change the color of their text to match a path they’re following when they’re getting Really into it- (So for Trash President, my OC for an example, he follows The Destruction so in this idea it’s next could randomly change to this)

Anyways I don’t have anything else to say right now other then this cutscene scene is really pretty

//

-Mod Hanu

[uno-in-the-clouds]

I have. So many thoughts about Sun in help wanted 2. Not bad ones at all, just a lot thoughts. (Spoilers ahead for HW2 and a little from Ruin) also this is a long one, so buckle up

Aight, so I have not watched a lot of gameplay of the Arts and Crafts minigame, bc I would have simply been way too excited to even stand still and not get overwhelmed by pure joy. BUT I have listened to his voice lines in the game (via YouTube)

After listening to all of them, I got three main thoughts (and a bonus thought about Moon)

One, holy smokes he is a freaking savage (and even more of one once I discovered that apparently his line “It speaks to me!” Was actually NOT him complimenting you genuinely and he actually immediately shreds your work in front of you after saying that, and I’m dying of laughter here FHSGGFGDJDJG)

Two, I’m like, actually kinda happy that there’s this side to Sun? Like, it gives more nuance to his personality overall. And I think has been a part of him from the start, back in the main security breach game? We just haven’t been shown it much. Maybe not much of his sassiness, but I’m also thinking about his temper. Like, sun was really pissed at Gregory at the end of the daycare mission, to the point that he bans the poor kid. And there’s also that one cut voice line of his that goes “I’M PUTTING YOU IN TIME OUT!” And it’s in a really angry voice, unlike moon surprisingly, despite both of them sharing this one line. And then there’s also that one fazwatch about how moon practically traumatized kids enough that they’re scared to sleep with the lights off, but when the lights turn on, the kid straight up wets themself. Which implies that not only has Moon terrified kids, but so has Sun as well. And if we’re really supposed to be a kid in the arts and crafts minigame, then i think we found the context for that part of the message. I feel bad for that kid.

I’ve kinda kept in mind for a while that Sun is not always so patient and uh, kind. And I kinda like that since then it’s easier to write him In certain different situations. And this revelation from HW2 honestly validates the way I’ve written him in my own AU, and oh boy is this gonna fun!(no sarcasm) (I not gonna elaborate on that point bc it’s not the focus of this post, tho im happy to talk about my AU if anyone wants to know more)

Three: I genuinely wonder if we’re specifically playing as a kid, an adult (maybe a staff member) or, as I’ve heard from other people’s theories, we might be playing as a possessed staff bot?? I feel like the first idea might be likely since there’s a voice line from sun in the minigame, where he says that we (the player) are gonna be in timeout until our parents come to pick us up. However, I’ve only seen the beginning of the minigame, and only know the rest through listening to voice lines. So I don’t have much context for the voice line and I could very well be wrong.

Bonus thought: I’ve heard that Moon appears a lot in other mini games compared to other characters, including Sun. But despite that I really can’t get a good read on his personality besides either him being a silly yet unnerving boogie man (SB and HW2) , and literally in aggressive pain(Ruin) and probably a softie but we really haven’t seen him act that way, only just read/seen it second hand, like his moondrop posters and one description from Cassie in Ruin. Again it could be bc I haven’t seen much of the new game and only heard voice lines from one of his mini games, but I’m really not sure.

Aight that sums it all up. This game is really good.

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1082)

Haven’t written anything in a while on here manga-wise but there’s no way I miss talking about such a banger One Piece chapter. To start off with we get an adorable cover of Chopper mistaking Zeus for cotton candy. It’s good to know our collective son is being fed. It takes a fandom to raise a human animal hybrid after all. Jokes aside, I’m going to be diving into spoilers for this chapter below the “Keep reading” so check it out if you’re curious. Also, ya’ll should probably hold onto your butts cause this one’s gonna go a lot of places.

R.I.P T-Bone. As a lover of weird and offbeat characters in One Piece, I am genuinely crushed by T-Bone’s death. If you don’t remember, as he was mainly a minor antagonist in Water Seven, here are some reminders. 

He is one of the most lionhearted and kind character’s of One Piece, looking after both his subordinates and innocents. To me, the most logical way for T-Bone to have been killed is to have seen the citizens' plight and laid down on his sword so that he could get the reward money for his family. That’s the kind of man T-Bone was. He transcended the Marines as an institution and stood up to the strawhats as he believed them to be villains on the way to enact evil. After having his car disconnected and facing Rocketman bearing down on him, he faced Zoro in a one move duel, losing but having Zoro acknowledge him in the process. In a certain way he was also used to foreshadow Ryuma in Thriller Bark as he was skeletal looking and a swordsman. But most of all, he was an unquestionably good person in a world where muddled alliances and the forces of the world can waylay and mislead someone from their dreams and ideals. In my heart you will be missed T-Bone.

Moving on, with a heavy heart, I do want to take a second to talk about old One Piece, specifically Water Seven. As I went back to get screenshots I couldn’t help but marvel at the art of Water Seven. While Oda’s art has probably gotten better, his paneling in those days was in my opinion, at the height of Shounen paneling, matching up with the original Dragon Ball in terms of fluidity of action but bringing such a heavy emotional weight to the characters and line work that it really felt like the peak of his art style. His art has gotten a lot more refined but I really missed the adventurous romantic feel of his pre-timeskip art. As a whole, as things get more dense and locked in, the lack of romanticism and sense of adventure is really felt at times. Despite that, it has been replaced, for the most part, with other equally amazing things. Though I can’t help but miss it at times. 

Talking about the actual chapter again, I’ve looked favourably on the Marines in the past, like Garp and Koby, but if I spend an extended period of time thinking about them, that pleasant taste turns to ash in my mouth. Because the Marines as an institution, are broken and corrupt, more intent on perpetuating themselves than they are with forward momentum and progress. As is the territory with institutions. It’s a portion of why policing doesn’t work in real life. Living in Japan, with their harsh views on crime, Oda would know better than most. Despite what this chapter seems to be about, this chapter is actually exploring what I believe to be one of the main themes of One Piece, the inevitability of institutions. There are probably punchier and more accurate ways of conveying this theme, such as systemic oppression and such, but this really resonates and covers the full gamut of ideas that I believe Oda covers. I will expand on this as we move along but I wanted to put it out there so it would be on the back of yalls mind.

I absolutely despise Sengoku. Like as a person. As characters I don’t think there’s any that I actively dislike because the way Oda characterizes just works on me. I need to make that distinction because I think my dislike for Sengoku is something Oda has purposefully generated within me and others. Talking earlier about Koby and Garp and Hibari and T-Bone and other marines, there is a very important distinction to be drawn in that regard as well. And some very important points to be made. Marines that are on the younger side, like Koby and Hibari and Tashigi, are people that have joined the Marines to do good without having yet become fully complicit in its evils. But they have done so because it is, despite its flaws, the best way they can make a difference and not be stopped. It’s the inevitability of the institution, where despite it’s evils it must provide some sort of benefit, and where those with dreams must filter through it and make it greater just to have a shot at their dreams. People like T-Bone and Smoker are clearly different from similarly old people like Garp and Sengoku and Aokiji in that while the former may be in the Marines, they do their best outside of its systems, being forces of good in spite of their association. The latter on the other hand, as a result of their complicity, whether or not they have good hearts, have become tools of the Marines oppression. Garp’s name is repeatedly used to strike fear into the hearts of pirates and as a symbol for common people to look up to, despite his best attempts at changing them from the inside. And the argument for changing the Marines from the inside itself is such a flawed argument as can be seen with Garp himself. Trying his whole life to change things ended up with him being ground into the dirt while watching his grandson be murdered by a coworker. Dragon must have realized this as well and so created an organization to oppose it. The revolutionary army are an institution itself but one built on the premise of opposition rather than self perpetuation. They are meant to end when the World Government and Marines do. Though I do believe Oda also doesn’t think that to be the answer as our hero is a Pirate. Arriving at the end of this paragraph I just realized I didn’t address the moment that made me go on this tangent. As pictured above, Sengoku hears of T-Bone’s death and rather than mourn the man who many looked up to, he worries what it will do to morale. He wonders how the institution of the Marine’s will keep going. If he was ever a good man, the ways of the marines have corrupted him to think this way. In a way Cross Guild, another institution, also occupies a similar area as the Revolutionary Army, but Oda makes it even clearer that it’s not the way as our first big introduction to it is through the death of such a great character. 

Now let’s move on to the meat of this chapter. Buggy and Cross Guild. As we see above, this really down on his luck man was the one who killed T-Bone. Though knowing how strong T-Bone was, being called the ship slasher and being acknowledged by Zoro, as well as how kind he was, it’s easy to believe he let himself be killed to save this man's family. But it’s also through this interaction that we get a repeat of the theme that I mentioned earlier, The Inevitability of Institutions, as well as a great bonus where we see the inherent romanticism of Buggy. Buggy and his lackeys, Mihawk and Crocodile, have propped up Cross Guild to be an institution for Pirates, a much more successful version and iteration of both the Utopia Crocodile wanted and the Pirate Kingdom Blackbeard wants. They have made themselves the doors one must walk through. But this need also sets up the way that Buggy will later reject this monolithic thinking. 

As we see here, these institutions make it so that now, even to live, you must subscribe to one of them. As much as Cross Guild claims to be pirates, they are an entity in and of themselves. Because the whole dream of piracy is the freedom of not having to cater to anyone else's whims or conform. Cross Guild aren’t pirates, they’re Cross Guild. Another thing I want to comment on is the In the Flesh chants. Obviously the dramatic irony makes it funny since most of it is just cloth, but it’s also such a great representation of the makeup of Cross Guild itself. By propping up Buggy as the leader of Cross Guild, he comes to represent something that is mostly not him, just like how his giant persona isn’t him. 

In the panel above incorporates One Piece’s trademark humour, and later levies it into an emotionally resonant and stirring declaration. I know most people are freaking out about Sabo returning but I can’t get over how much I love Buggy. And his crew pulling a similar stunt to Barto Club, and having him be the figurehead of the ship actually also highlights how close Buggy is to Luffy as well. Also I love Buggy’s crying face, it’s so pathetic. 

I know this panel is mainly played for laughs but I can’t help but feel sorry for Buggy. He really hasn’t done that much wrong to deserve this. And seeing the meeting room, it seems Mihawk, the edgelord that he is, really enjoys his torture. Remember, Mihawk’s full name is Dracule Mihawk, the first part being based on the famous Vampire who’s namesake in turn was known to impale and torture people. It’s really interesting how, other than the mentor and goth side of Mihawk, we also get to see his sadistic side here. But Buggy’s declaration that his life wasn’t supposed to be like this really calls my attention. While Mihawk and Crocodile argue about how to make sure Cross Guild and Crocodile’s Utopia can stay afloat and perpetuate its own system, Buggy dreams. 

Buggy is one of Luffy’s best foils in the story, their interactions being so explosive that they can’t help but reveal things about each other. Luffy has a lot of parallels in the story from Blackbeard being a cowardly mirror to him to Koby being a weaker version whose cowardice was driven by his lack of strength. Buggy doesn’t have courage or strength and his circumstances had forced him down quite a dark path by the time the two crossed paths. Buggy was someone, who, seeing the potential of his peers, was forced to give up on his dreams and take the route that life gave him. As he stated, he never wanted to be what he became, he genuinely believed in Shanks and probably would have followed him had he set out for the One Piece as Shanks was the reason he gave up on the dream in the first place. Buggy, in an elevated sense, also represents those swayed by the circumstances of their life into having their path chosen for them and filtering into an institution, this time in the form of Cross Guild but earlier in the form of Impel Down. Buggy is someone who was forced to give up on his dreams and Oda shows what dark paths that can lead to but he also loves Buggy a lot because he doesn’t let Buggy fully give up on his dreams. 

And there it is. With just those words, driven purely by dreams, Buggy injects such a heart-stirring sense of romanticism back into the series. Because here's the thing. We already know Luffy’s unwavering goal has been the One Piece. And he is the most romantic character in the series in terms of love for adventure and exploration. But it’s been a constant and now he has the strength and clout to do all of it without barriers. Buggy is chasing that dream while impeded by some of the strongest people in the verse. In the face of such strong adversaries, Buggy dares to blindly dream and it reminds me so much of Luffy at the beginning of the series, looking down a Sea King as it stood in his path. Crocodile and Mihawk are monstrous but Buggy actively defies them. I love One Piece ya’ll.

So is Buggy a bad guy? Or just a fool who couldn’t hold onto his dreams as the waves of reality slammed into him? Here, he rekindles those dreams by verbalizing the feelings that drove him and every other pirate out to sea. A dream of freedom and treasure. The dream that you could aim for something other than what life had laid out for you. 

This is by far, one of my favourite speeches in One Piece. It reminds me of Rogers speech and delivered by such a pathetic character, hits so much harder. By doing this, Buggy defies Crocodile and Mihawks desires for a self perpetuating kingdom as there is now an end goal and really stands for the ideals of the series itself, a blind dreaming hope, the desire to chase after impossible dreams, and the love of the journey itself. What matters to these people isn’t that they’ll get to the treasure, it’s that they tried to. And were free while doing so. 

Not me crying at Buggy D Clown. One Piece gets me so emotional sometimes. It’s so beautiful. But asides aside, let’s wrap up some other thoughts in this final Buggy panel before getting to Sabo and the Revos (good name for a band?). First of all before we get to what this symbolizes for the series itself, I want to say a few more things about Buggy. His situation of failing upwards has always been shown in a comedic light but I believe it shows the insidiousness of the world. Because while the lower rank people, like the man who killed T-Bone, have to get filtered through these organizations to live, so does someone like Buggy, who doesn’t have the strength to resist such a fate. If you don’t have the strength to resist these institutions, they will use you as tinder, as fuel. Luffy isn’t in an institution because he’s strong. Almost every other character in the series doesn’t have a choice against it. Wheen you think about it, Buggy’s story really is a tragedy. Somewhere along the way, through necessity of survival his values got twisted. He’s always been a dreamer through and through so I think that’s why it’s sent him on an upward trajectory. But it all began with Luffy, who not only set him on the right path, but also gave him hope when he broke him out of Impel Down. 

And now the other purpose of this panel. With Buggy declaring his hunt for the One Piece, all 4 Yonkous are now on the hunt. Do ya’ll realize what this means? What the structure of the next arc is going to be? So this part is going to be mixed with some speculation and some evidence, but I strongly believe the next arc is going to be a showdown at Elbaf for the last poneglyph with every major Yonkou involved, with the final arc possibly after getting the One Piece or at the location itself being a showdown between Luffy, the Revos and the Marines. Or it very well could be a final showdown with all the involved parties at Elbaf. That all depends on how fast Oda wants to end things. I believe one of two people could be the man with the burn scars. The obvious choice is Jaguar D Saul. And that would be the way to go if Oda wanted to end the series faster, as him having the writings of Ohara as well as the last poneglyph would also set the Revos and the Marines scrambling after him. The other could be Scopper Gaban, the third prominent crew member of the Roger Pirates. That would be the final Roger Pirate marking Luffy’s journey and a great source of info. The last possible bead we had on him, if it wasn’t Shiki the lion, was him drinking with Crocus. But effectively, having one person hold the last key to the One Piece makes it so that the four Yonkou’s are on a collision course with them. I would love to see a Mad Max style race where the Yonkou’s are forced to clash purely for the love of adventure and their dreams, instead of ideological differences setting them against each other. It would be a really romantic and fun way to cap off some character’s journey’s. 

Moving on once again, we see some new Revo’s and I particularly love Ushiano and Ahiru. While the other two are also very cool, I love Ushiano’s way of speaking and his character design, he reminds of Barney but if he was soft and lovable. And Ahiru’s character design is just so great. I don’t know if anyone remembers Nami’s early character sketches but she was supposed to have a bionic arm so I’m really glad to see that return in another character. 

And here we get to see them interact with Sabo and find out that Ahiru was going to blast him. Ugh, Oda’s just so great with characterization! In about three panels we find out that she has a stoic demeanor, is a shoot first type of character, and worries about and misses Sabo, letting her guard down and being quite cheery around people she just met. And Ushiano is just adorable. I want to hug him. 

Oh yeah, Sabo’s back by the way. So it appears that Sabo did indeed survive the bombing of Lulusia and he’s seen something. His interaction with Koala is adorable and mirrors Koby and Hobari to a tee. 

And here we get the theme of this chapter rearing it’s head back one last time. Another set of down on their luck, weak citizens forced to filter through an Institution. This time the Lulusians through the Revolutionary Army. Oda has, in every instance possible in this chapter, where we look out into the world, highlighted the absolute despair involved in the inevitability of institutions and the forced choices that come with such a world. And is it a coincidence that this only happened when we took a look out into the world, away from our beloved strawhats? No, as we saw even earlier, through Aokiji being forced into the Blackbeard Pirates and the 100 damned souls onto beehive, in a world of inevitable institutions and forced choices, such decisions are forced on the weak. It’s why our protagonist is Luffy, and why he desires freedom. It’s exactly what he fights against, and it’s reflected in his crew as well as he took them away from the lives they thought they would be forced to lead. 

And finally we arrive at the final panel of this chapter. The truth about Mary Geoise. And a promise of a reveal. Oda usually likes to cut away at moments like this to maintain the breakneck pace of weekly releases but I really hope we get to learn what happened. Because it could very well contextualize for us what the next part will look like and whether or not the final confrontation will include everyone. It’s also very sweet that Sabo thinks about now involving his subordinates as it might get them killed. This information could also line up with the potential release of information that could happen from Egghead coming up so it could be saved for that. I’m really excited to see what it brings. Another thing that this chapter, being so good, makes me think about is how I’ll feel about it later when I binge the series. Because it’s always a balancing act between week to week storytelling and making an engaging continuous story. Back in Dressrosa, the week to week was a bit of a slog but on a reread and binge it was frankly amazing. I wonder if the breakneck speed and absolute amazing experience week to week right now will affect it negatively as a whole later on. Well, the only thing we can do right now is wonder and wait for next week.

If ya'll got this far, thanks for reading. I'm super late on this one but I'm glad I took my time because I could let my thoughts develop. And once again, if anyone wants to talk One Piece or any other manga with me in-depth, don't be afraid to hop into my dm's. See ya'll next time.

[sixpossumsinatrenchcoat]

Natural Satellite [ch 5]

An In Stars and Time AU. In ch 5, Isa & Sif finally put their heads together. You can start from ch 1 here!

Isa’s grip tightens on your shoulder and your mind goes utterly blank. You can feel his—his thumb, just the edge of his thumb brush your collarbone and all you can think is that you want to feel it on your skin because you know, you just know he’d feel so warm. You’re shaking. You want to pull him closer. You have to push him away. If you push him away it will kill you. Why is he touching you, how do you make him stop, how do you make him do it again. How do you make sure he never ever stops. You could cut off his hand. You could cut off his hand and keep it with you, always, always. You could freeze him in time. You could eat him alive. (You’re disgusting.)

[ISAT spoilers thru act 4! CW for panic attacks]

“An article about the King?” Isabeau echoes. “Like… from a newspaper?”

You nod.

“You mean like the one on the first floor?”

“The what?”

He blinks at you. “Umm… on the wall, right? I think it was in someone’s dorm room… I can’t remember exactly where, but—”

“The candle maker?”

“Huh? No, I don’t think—”

“The one with those weird drawings?”

“Oh! Yeah! I think that was it!”

“On the wall?”

“Yyyyes?”

“Like a poster??”

“I mean… yes? I guess so, yeah.”

You throw your hands up. “Who puts up wall art of their impending doom???”

“Pfft,” Isabeau snickers. “The Housemaidens of Dormont, I guess?”

Wow. Wow. That is… You don’t even know where to begin. You just spent the better part of twenty loops scraping the entire House top-to-bottom. Every bookshelf and every barrel; every secret passage and every stupid, pointless dead end. And now you’re supposed to believe that the article was on the first floor? In plain sight?

“...Sif?”

“No,” you hiss, and then snap to attention. “Sorry. I mean, yes? I mean. What?”

“That was your main goal right now, right?”

You nod.

Isa’s eyes sparkle. “So… maybe I saved you a little time?”

“...Maybe.”

“Enough to earn me a favor???”

“Depends,” you tell him, grudging. “What do you want?”

“Can I have today?”

You squint at him.

“Um!! I just mean!! At the House tomorrow, you can do everything how you’re used to, and I won’t even get in the way. Honest. But can I pick what we do today? Can I just, like… book you? For the day? So we can maybe actually talk?”

Hrmph. You can’t understand why he’d want to, but. Well. It’s not like you have other plans. Killing the King is easy now. You still try to help Mira, most loops—her shield really is very useful—but it’s a convenience, not a necessity. “…Fine.”

Isa lights up. “Really???”

Do you need me to write it down for you?��You bite it back. By now, Isabeau should already know that you’re poison. There’s no need to beat a dead horse. “Sure.”

“Yeah!! Yes!! Okay!! Thanks, Sif!! I just have a few questions! So just, um, bear with me, okay?”

* * *

Isabeau gets right to the point.

“So… Loop. Any theories?”

You think about it. “I asked who they were once.”

He looks up with interest. “And?”

“They told me to guess.”

“Figures,” he sighs, going back to his notes. “What’d you guess?”

“I thought they were probably me.”

His writing hand lurches, gouging an ugly black streak across the page. “Um??? Um… what made you say that??”

“They know a lot about me,” you say, evasive. It’s true, but it’s not the whole truth. In all honesty, you don’t really know why you said it. It’s hard to put into words. Though, to be fair, you feel that way about most things.

“Um. Um, well… I mean… What’d they say?

“They laughed at me for like, ten minutes.”

“...Right,” he mumbles. “Um. Okay. I’m just gonna mark that down as inconclusive.” He makes a few notes, his tongue trapped between his teeth, before looking up again. “What about the King? I can’t remember what you guys talked about, what with… um. Y-You know. What happened after. But he sorta seemed like he… recognized you?”

You shrug. You haven’t figured that out yet, either.

“He had white hair, too,” Isa muses. “I’ve never seen anyone else with hair like that.”

“So, what? You think he’s my long-lost brother?”

“Wh—No!! I just meant you might be from the same region or something!!” He pauses, looking surprised. “Actually, Sif, I just realized… I don’t think I know where you’re from!”

You nod. That’s true, yes.

“So… where are you from?”

“Oh, um…” You trail off. Isabeau is looking at you, expectant. Like he’s waiting for something. Did you zone out without noticing? It wouldn’t be the first time. But you can’t remember your next line. “I— Sorry, what were we talking about?”

“...Where you’re from?”

“R-Right. Sorry. It’s, um. I’m—“ Your mind stalls out. What did he ask, again? Was it maybe a yes or no question? “Um… Yes?”

“What?”

“What?”

Isa looks concerned, for some reason. Not that he needs a reason. You’re concerning company. “Sif, are you— Can you hear me right now?”

“Huh? Yeah, of course. I lost my eye, not my ears.” Too late, you remember that it grosses people out when you talk about your eye. But you already did it, so you might as well finish the job. “‘Eye’ can hear just fine.”

“Ri-i-ight,” he says slowly. “Um. You’re not, like, messing with me, right?”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I really didn’t think so. Okay, lemme try this.” He scribbles something down in his notebook and hands it to you. It’s a question. Hi Sif :3 Where are you from?

Oh. Weird. He just asked you that, didn’t he? And you said—you said— What did you say, again?

Of course you know where you’re from. You haven’t been traveling forever. Everyone’s from somewhere. And you—you grew up with your—with your… family, right? Of course you have a family, everyone has a family, so why can’t you—

Why can’t you remember?

You can feel your breaths coming faster, the words blurring on the page but you can still read the question and he’s still waiting for an answer; you have to say something. You know where you’re from! You forget a lot of things but you couldn’t, you wouldn’t, how could you forget your own family? What kind of a monster could forget their own family? So why can’t you— Why can’t you—

“Sif! Sif! Hey! Hey, Sif, come on, can you breathe for me? Can you try to breathe with me?”

But you can’t. You can’t. Your hair is white like the King’s and your parents, your parents must have, they must have had white hair like yours, but were they— Were they short, like you are? Were they stupid and clumsy and quick? Did they— They had a boat, didn’t they? Didn’t you have a boat? Did you even have a boat or did you only dream you had a boat because you, you can’t picture it, one sail or two, its shape, its color and what was its name? You bury your hands in your hair, white like the King’s, like your—

“Sif!” Isa says, frantic, and you realize that he’s reaching for you.

“Don’t touch me!!!” You slap his hand away, flinch out of range. He’s not supposed to touch you, no one is supposed to touch you, there’s something WRONG with you and what if it’s contagious? You’re— You can’t let him get any closer, can’t let him find out that you CAN’T REMEMBER THE NAME OF YOUR HOME, YOUR PARENTS’ FACES, YOU CAN’T LET HIM KNOW THAT YOU—

[ f e e l   a   t u g   a t   y o u r   s t o m a c h ]

—and you’re lying in a field.

Isa stands over you, looking a little nauseous and more than a little frantic. “S-Sif!! Crab, Sif, are you okay?”

“I… What? Yes? What just…”

“It’s okay!!” he says quickly. “It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t worry! You just… I think you h-had a sort of a p-panic attack and you… We looped again. It’s okay, you’re okay, you’re totally fine. We’re just talking. We were just, um, talking about the King.”

You stare at him for a few seconds. “...You found that article.”

“Right!! That’s right! Yeah, you got it! I—” When he looks at his notes, his shoulders slump a little. “Aw, crab. Looping wiped my notes.”

Well. Obviously.

He darts another nervous little glance at you, like he’s afraid of what you’ll do. Like he thinks you’re dangerous. (He’s not wrong. You are dangerous.) “So, it… seems like it happens when you get upset, huh? When you’re overwhelmed or, um. Freaked out.”

You shrug.

“Does that track with the times it’s happened before? When you looped without dying, I mean. Y-You don’t have to tell me what happened!” he adds hastily, when he sees the look on your face. “I’m not asking for details! Just for you to think about it, and… think about if you were usually upset?”

Reluctantly, and very much under duress, you reflect on the times you looped on accident. Just now, having a—what did he call it? A panic attack. That time you scared your family, near the entrance to the House. Watching Isa freeze.

(You do not think about what you did in front of the Favor Tree.)

“...Maybe,” you concede.

“Okay!! Hey, that’s good, right? We just gotta figure out how to do that, and we can totally skip all the, you know. Um. Dying.”

You’re not convinced. Your current system works. And having to get upset every loop… Honestly, it sounds even worse than the dagger.

“Hmmm,” Isa hums, chewing on the end of his pen. “I could… try to scare you?”

You stare at him.

“H-Hey!! I could be scary!!”

You don’t bother arguing. “It wouldn’t work, anyway. I was scared the first time we fought the King.” You give it a little more thought. “I was really scared the second time.”

That makes him wince, for some reason.

“It doesn't scare me anymore,” you reassure him. “Not for ages.”

That does not appear to help.

Isa darts another glance at you. He’s fidgeting more than usual, shifting his weight and picking at his fingernails. “Um. Okay, I— I sort of have an idea, but only if it’s okay with you…”

…Interesting.

“And I— I just wanna say in advance that I'm really sorry about this, it’s just—I think watching you die kinda messed me up a little, haha, s-so if there’s, like, even the tiniest chance that we can find another way, I think we actually really have to—“

“Isa.”

“S-Sif??”

“It's fine.” Whatever he has in mind, it can’t be worse than what you’ve already done. When that doesn’t seem to reassure him, you raise an eyebrow. “We said you could have today.”

“Right. Right!! Okay!! Then I'm just gonna—um—try this. If that’s okay. (Sorry.)”

Isabeau clenches his fists and draws a deep breath, like he's steeling himself for something dreadful. Then he takes two slow, sliding steps and suddenly he’s a lot closer. Closer than in bed in the Clocktower, closer than the greenhouse, (almost as close as when you—)

He’s looming over you, almost. Enough to fill your field of vision. His face is flushed and he’s staring fixedly at the ground to your left, but his eyes keep darting back toward you, like he can’t stop them. Like he can’t help himself.

“S-Sorry,” he mumbles, looking away again, and reaches for you.

You wait for him to pull away but he—doesn’t. He doesn’t. He doesn’t thump you on the arm, like he always looked like he was going to. He just… grazes your shoulder, the barest touch with only the tips of two fingers.

Your breath snags. Your heart is in your throat because he—he isn’t supposed to do that here, or anywhere, ever. He doesn’t touch you, he doesn’t want to touch you so why is he— WHY would he—

Isa’s grip tightens on your shoulder and your mind goes utterly blank. You can feel his—his thumb, just the edge of his thumb brush your collarbone and all you can think is that you want to feel it on your skin because you know, you just know he’d feel so warm. You’re shaking. You want to pull him closer. You have to push him away. If you push him away it will kill you. Why is he touching you, how do you make him stop, how do you make him do it again. How do you make sure he never ever stops.

You could cut off his hand. You could cut off his hand and keep it with you, always, always. You could freeze him in time. You could eat him alive.

(You’re disgusting.)

He’s so beautiful. You’re a monster. He’s not even a person, he’s only an actor, he’s playing a role. But this wasn’t in the script. You can see the flush creep down his throat and you want to trap it in your hands. Catch his pulse between your fingers like a firefly. Drink the heat from his lungs and seal it in a jar where you can’t ever forget. Really take his breath away, ha ha ha.

…You’re disgusting.

He has to force himself to look at you. You can see that it takes effort (but of course it does, you’re DISGUSTING) and when he finally meets your eye you can feel his hand trembling a little, even through your cloak. Just for a second, your self-control slips. Just for a second, you lean into his hand, his touch, his warmth.

You have no idea what your face looks like, but it must be pretty appalling. Whatever he sees in your eyes seems to terrify him. He jolts back, electrified, and you—sag, like someone cut your strings. You’re exhausted.

“Sorrysorrysorry!!!” he babbles, holding both hands out like a shield. “Sorry! Wow! Sorry!! Crab!!!! I really thought you were gonna loop!!!”

Oh. Of course. That’s why he touched you. For his theories. His little experiment. You said that he could have today.

Isabeau wrings his hands. “I-I’m really sorry, Sif, I know you don’t like being touched, I just thought if it worked, you might… hate it less than being stabbed, I guess? But you were totally right, I don’t know what I’m doing, I just thought— I don’t know!!! I just really thought that would work!!!”

You reach for your shoulder, for the place where he touched. You know it's stupid, but it feels warmer than it should. His heat signature, stamped onto your skin. “Why.”

“U-Um? Just because… you know, the whole thing about getting upset, and… Aww, never mind! It was stupid! Sorry!!!” He shakes his head vigorously, jumping in place a little. “Phew! Um! That’s… probably enough for today, haha! I’m sure you need a break!”

Maybe you just didn’t touch me enough, you think. Maybe you needed to hold my hands. Hold me close. Hold me down and break me in half. Tear me apart. Swallow my heart. Hold my face in your hands and lean in so, so close. Hold my heart in your hands and squeeze.

You don’t say anything.

Isa’s gaze drops to his hands. He runs his thumb over the pads of his fingers, gently, gently. Maybe you would loop if he did that to you. But you don’t know.

“...I really am sorry,” he says softly.

Don’t be. “It’s okay.”

“If you ask, I can— I’ll never do it again, if that’s what you want.”

Your chest seizes up. “No.”

He looks up, startled.

(Calm down. You’re scaring him.) “I—wouldn’t mind. If we tried again.” (Stop. You’re taking advantage of him. You’re holding yourself hostage. Can’t you see how gross that is?) “It could be—um. I think it would be better than the dagger.”

“Pfft,” Isabeau snickers. “Careful. I might get an ego.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.” He glances at his notebook, heaves a sigh. “I guess as long as you don’t do it with the knife…”

You frown at him. “You said I could have tomorrow.”

“I-I’m not telling you not to loop!! I am literally just asking you not to do it in the most horrible way possible!!!!”

Ughhhh. “Okay, but that means we’ll have to finish off the King…”

“Uhh,” he says. “...Uh huh?”

“It takes a really long time.”

“Pfft,” Isa snorts. “Yeah, I think I can handle it. Still sounds a lot better than watching one of my favorite people die.”

“I’m—” You bite off the rest of that question. He isn’t talking about you. He's talking about your character. “Um. I mean. If you get a request for my day, then I get to ask something too.”

“You got it!! Anything!! W-Well, maybe not anything, but… pretty much basically anything. As long as it doesn’t… um. Hurt you.”

Ha ha. What a nice idea. But that doesn’t leave a lot of options. Everything hurts you.

“Soooo, what did you wanna do?” he asks cheerfully, and then hesitates. “Oh. Unless you meant that you, um, wanted some time alone, or… you wanted to make plans with someone else…”

Look at the stars with me. You almost say it.

You choose your words carefully. “I want… rest.”

His face crumples into something painfully fond. “Aw, bud. You’ve been doing this for way too long, huh?”

Finally, an easy question. You nod vigorously.

“Poor Sif,” Isa says softly. “And all on your own.”

“We sleep in the same bed.” It’s an evasion. An obvious one, at that. You’re pretty sure you used to be better at this. (‘Bed-ter.’ Is that anything?)

“That’s not what I mean, though.”

…Yeah.

His arms twitch toward you before falling back by his sides. You watch his hands flex and unflex. You think about reaching for them. Maybe this time he would let you.

You don’t move.

Isa tilts his head, curious. “What would you normally do today? If I didn’t call dibs?”

Teach Bonnie to fight. Find Odile’s book. Help Mira with her papers. Look at the stars. Eat dinner. Go to bed. Fight. Book. Papers. Stars. Dinner. Bed. “...Run around after everyone else, mostly.”

“Aw, Sif.”

“And go fishing.”

“Oh!!” he gasps, brightening. “You fish?”

“I—used to. I think.”

His eyebrows twitch, but he doesn’t press you. “Do you really have to do all that stuff every time, though? Of course you gotta eat, but you could nap until then!”

“Mira always wakes me up.” Also, you don’t sleep.

Isa thumps a fist into his palm and squints menacingly. “Well, she’s gonna have to go through me.”

You can’t help it. You snicker. It comes as an almost violent shock. When’s the last time anything actually made you laugh? “She could do it, though.”

“Oh, yeah. She wouldn’t hesitate.”

“No mercy.”

“But I’m tough too!!” he insists. “I can take her!!!”

You huff another laugh. Two in one day. A new record. “…I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Well, I’ve got bad news, Sif,” he says seriously. “Today’s my day. I get to do what I want. And I wanna guard your nap! Nap guardian!! Protector of sleepyheads all across Vaugarde!!!”

Pffft. “There’s no way you want to do that.”

“I do!!”

“There’s no way I can let you do that.”

“You’re gonna have to!!”

You should stop him. Laugh and say you changed your mind. But you can’t. You’re selfish like that. "Well... I guess it does sound bed-ter than sleeping alone..."

"Pffft!! Sif!!!!"

“And I could definitely use a few winks.” You can’t resist winking cutely. It’s kind of your signature.

“Hah!!!!”

“So I guess I could pill-ow you to help.” Oof. That was bad, wasn’t it? “Um. You know. Like, ‘allow?’”

“Hey, you don’t gotta tell me!! And c’mon, Sif, you know I just wanna help! After everything you’ve done for us, it’s the sleep-st I can do!!”

Pfft!!! Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. He got you. “Snrrrk—khhehehe! Hee hee hee!!”

When you look up, Isabeau is beaming at you with eyes so bright they hurt to look at. Your chest clenches. Your stomach swoops. You look away. “S-Sorry.”

“Please don’t be,” he says, painfully earnest. “I’m… It makes me really happy to… Aw, don’t worry about it. Get some rest. I’ll wake you up in time for dinner, okay?”

“You really don’t have to…”

“My day!!” Isa says fiercely. “I do what I want!!!”

You want to argue. You know that you should. But you're so, so, so so so so tired. At the end of the day, you just don’t have it in you.

I usually get around to posting on tumblr eventually, but if you wanna find out about updates as soon as I post em, you can follow the series on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53412649/chapters/135189547