#i also think about the fact that there isn't anyone alive left that would be able to tell the difference of the sound

[elizabeths-storytime]

Do you ever think about brook thinking about being human? How that changes how his music sounds? How the skin of your fingers grow calluses from the strings, and how bone doesn’t do that? How bone against string will fundamentally sound different rather than soft flesh? Do you think Brook ever misses the way his music sounded when he was alive? Or do you think he's glad that the sound changed? That they way he used to play will always remain with his first crew and his new sound is for memories with his new crew?

Also a version in one image below :)

[floatyflowers]

Dark Platonic! Fire Nation Royal Family x Non-bender Reader

Part 2

With Ozai:

At first he didn't accept the fact that you, his youngest child, is a non-bender, and ignored your existence.

That was until he noticed how his older brother, Iroh, spends time with you, Ozai got extremely jealous.

And decided to spend time with you, only to realize that you are his favorite child, and felt like an actual father.

Yes, you can't firebend nor do you even have the ability to protect yourself.

But why would you need to protect yourself when your father is going to be the Phoenix king of the fire nation?

Ozai will burn down the world for you.

"You, my sweet child, will grow up in the presence of a very powerful father"

With Ursa:

When Ursa found out that you couldn't bend, she became overprotective of you to the point of paranoia.

Since childhood, she refused to allow you to play with anyone except Zuko.

One time, one of her handmaidens scolded you harshly for playing outside without your mother's permission which resulted in you bursting into tears.

The next day, that handmaiden was fired and Ursa made sure that she gets no other jobs.

While thinking of escaping, she thought to take you with her.

However, Ozai has forbidden that from happening.

"When you find out the truth, promise to come find me"

With Azulon

While still alive, he made sure you had the best education and guards.

Azulon also made sure to have you believe that the fire nation is without mistakes or faults.

He tried manipulating you into believing that just your loyalty to your people is enough duty.

However, you are kind, too kind.

Yet, he Azulon didn't hate you for it even if he considered a weak trait to have in the royal family.

He also still has the flower crown you made him stored away safely so it doesn't rot.

It is rumored that the last word he muttered was your name.

With Iroh

Uncle Iroh isn't really as possessive as the other characters, but he focuses on advising you from time to time.

You enjoy drinking tea with him and gossiping about everything.

Even though, Ozai has forbidden him from speaking with you, you would sneak behind your father's back to drink tea with him.

After the loss of his son in the war, Lu Ten, Iroh felt depressed.

Yet you managed to comfort him with your cheerfulness and playful attitude.

It reminded him of his son.

"The best quality in a princess is her kindness, something which your sister clearly lacks"

With Zuko

Zuko thought you would be like Azula but you have proven him wrong.

You are kind, gentle, and nurturing just like your and his mother.

That's why Zuko always found himself by your side, being your playmate...being your protecter.

His mother told him that it's his duty to protect you from danger considering that he is your older brother.

Even though Azula has never hurt you, but Zuko was always wary of her, especially after his mother disappeared.

When Ozai challenged him to an Agni Kai, you were the first to cry out and plead with him to let Zuko off, but Ozai felt jealous of your relationship with Zuko and was determined to teach his son a lesson.

However when your brother got banished, Zuko took you with him in secret not wanting you to be left with Azula.

"I know the journey will take long but once I restore my honor we can return home together"

With Azula

Azula was extremely jealous when you were born, thinking that you will take all the attention from her.

But she realized that you deserve all the attention.

You didn't treat her like a monster, you weren't scared of her.

Instead you showed her love and called her 'big sister'

You would cling to her as a toddler, whenever there was lightning, you would secretly sneak to her room and sleep beside her.

"How can you be scared of lightning, we control it, silly"

Mai and Ty Lee saw how Azula softens whenever you are around.

And when Azula discovered that you have left with Zuko, she destroyed everything in her way and burned a few servants.

"She's mine, and only MINE"

[dolche-tejada]

You know, I think this ending would have been slightly less of a fucking disappointment if the heroes hadn't been so unfairly favored by Horikoshi compared to the villains. I mean, seriously

Deku destroys every bone in his body multiple times throughout the story and is warned that if he continues, he'll permanently lose the use of his limbs ? Everything's fine, his body's just got used to being reduced to a bloody pulp somehow so there's no consequences for him. In fact even when he literally loses his arms to Shigaraki, he gets them back two minutes later thanks to Eri because guess what ? Her horn still works even when cut off from her body. How convenient.

Gran Torino gets his ribcage obliterated by Shigaraki ? Don't worry guys, he'll survive that despite his old age and injuries, and this to have no particular role in the plot afterwards.

Bakugo dies heroically trying to buy time before Deku arrives ? Lmao, did you really believe it ?? No of course not, Edgeshot just uses his last-minute Deus Ex Machina to save his life at the cost of his own and- Oops nope he's fine too, my bad !

Hawks murders a criminal fleeing for his life in cold-blood ? The best Hori has to offer is him completely free and in charge of the HSPC.

And no, losing his quirk isn't a real consequence for him because not only it literally played a major part in saving the world with Vestige!Hawks raising an insurrection among AFO's quirks, but also because his quirk has always been the element through which people exploited him.

Endeavor abused his family for years and completely destroyed his eldest son ? No jail time and no media backlash for that, the only blame he received was due to the heroes' failure to stop the League during the Raid Arc.

And don't even get me started on this bs about facing hell or whatever for what he's done : He's literally free and wealthy ; he has Rei, Fuyumi, Shoto, his sidekicks and Hawks on his side ; and all the difficulties he's apparently going to suffer are off-screened.

Deku had to sacrifice OFA and his future hero career to save the world ? Guess what, Bakugo invested all his time and money to make him an Iron-Man suit and now he can still be a hero with everyone else.

There are plenty more examples of this but I think you get the idea. Now let's take a look at the villains' ending :

Toya is now a piece of charcoal kept artificially alive for the few years he has left, unable to move a finger, and whose few minutes a day during which he can stay awake will be spent talking to his father who abused him as a child.

Toga, a literal teenager, killed herself to save Ochako and because she knew it's still better than rotting at Tartarus her whole life.

And not only did she die but she did by bleding to death. Let me repeat for those who have trouble grasping what I've just said : In a manga where the heroes can survive having their heart blown to bits, being impaled Kakyoin-style or smashed against buildings like a fly on a windshield, one of the main antagonists died of a fucking hemorrhage…

As for Shigaraki, after learning that his very birth and all the tragedies of his life have been orchestrated by AFO, after all this development and narrative promises about him being saved in the end... Deku just kills him.

Because despite all his speeches about saving him, it seems like the best our MC could do was beating him both physically and mentally until he crumbles to dust…

Compress on his side is apparently locked up for life and kept alive by machines too.

A begging Kurogiri tried in a desperate attempt to save Shigaraki, only to be unceremoniously blown up by Bakugo and dying off-screen without anyone giving a shit, including Aizawa and Mic.

And Spinner will now spend the rest of his life struggling with the extra quirks inside him that affect his body and mind, while having to cope with the thought that his boyfriend best friend and companions have either died alone or are locked away for life in horrifying circumstances.

Clearly not the same as with the heroes...

Now don't get me wrong, even if they suffered just as much from the consequences of their actions or the plot as the League, this ending would still be a disaster in terms of writing but AT LEAST it wouldn't reek that much of hypocrisy.

[drenched-in-sunlight]

I think to make sense of how Marika feels about her Omen twins, you need to follow a string of:

1/ how bad is Marika’s PTSD?

2/ how bad are people in the Lands Between in general feel about the Hornsent? The Hornsent is very much leading a whole empire that is hunting down anyone they deem inferior, even their own brethren. the fanbase tend to forget that people of Land of Shadow and Lands Between have every reason to already feel grievance towards the Hornsent royalty, even without Marika’s influence.

They were the Golden Order before Golder Order was even a thing (and they want that, btw, the Greatsword of Damnation skill description very much pointed out that the Hornsent royalty wanted to build their own Golden Order under the banner of the Spiraltree, they are just pissed as hell Marika wrenched that divinity from them and made it under the Erdtree instead).

And Marika, even as a God, was still just one person, with an ailing son at the beginning. If she wanted to consolidate power, she had to unite other people under a common cause. And I do think she promised them a world abundance of healing blessing and no death, and no one will suffer under the Hornsent anymore (sounds awfully familiar, isn't it. except that Marika was always gunning for revenge as well). Omens being shunned that badly can’t be just because of Golden Order propaganda, it’s also because people in fact did suffer under the Hornsent and still remember it too.

3/ Messmer, who is fanatical to the point of even though he admits the Tarnished has Marika’s sanction, he will still hunt them down because he considers them lightless / unworthy, who was very much around when the Omen twins were born, why did he do nothing about it?

I’m pretty sure he has no qualm about killing babies, he doesn’t gaf about his siblings chasing something doomed to fail, he very much goes extra miles to torture any Hornsent on his way. So who protected the twins from him? Who hid them from him?

1 + 2 + 3 = you have a Marika who still very much suffered PTSD from what her people went through, she thought she had escaped, she thought she had managed to build a world where everyone was free from Hornsent’s cruelty and always bathed in gentle ray of healing - something the minor erdtree in her village could never do, because there was no one there to heal. But now she gave birth to … Omens?

It’s a sign that whatever the Hornsent once did to her, it’s left a taint forever inside her (yes i very much believed she was under the Hornsent capture before she managed to run away, either via the Mimic Veil or other means). That she never really escaped that cold dark gaol. And for all of his belief in her sanctity, I think Messmer knew that too, that it’s a wound he could never heal, and now all he could do was to make sure she wouldn’t be tainted further.

And after distress, came fear. Fear for the Omen twins, even though she should hate them, she still loved them, she couldn’t help it. She carried them for months and had loved them all that time. That wouldn’t stop even when they triggered all of her trauma at once.

I think it should be noted that in the DLC there is an item that is the same as Omen Bairn item in the base game, which points out that Omen (or in their case, Hornsent) babies with overgrown horns meet a frightfully early demise. Morgott and Mogh both have overgrown horns. But they are alive! They are ! Very much alive! And grow into adulthood!

Who healed them? Who kept them alive? Who else but the woman who used to make several blessing flasks for her cursed firstborn, whose innate power is healing, right?

Before the Omen twins, Omen babies had their horns excised, causing them to perish, but once there are ones born into royal linage, exile is on the table? and again, they have overgrown horns, and still live to adulthood. if they were left to rot in prison, they would have already died.

Marika built a world with a promise that the cruel shadow the Hornsent cast would never befall there, but now… she gave birth for two of them. Her position as a God Queen was of no use if her people clamored for the twins’ death, her duty to them will always outweigh her personal feelings. But she sure as hell would not let her sons die, either.

They weren't exiled to faraway land, they were kept under the capital, presumably so Marika could visit and heal them if their horns caused them pain, the shackles were made so they wouldn't wander up above and ran into civilians that pretty much would call on the Omenkillers to go after them. it was a cruel existence, yes, but it's all she could do for them. she tried her best out of love.

That is why Godfrey never held it against her, even when it's apparent he loves Morgott (as he cradles his son's body gently in the boss cutscene). Godfrey knew she had done everything she could.

All of that above answers this 4th question: why Morgott was accepted as Lord of Leyndell, even went so far as having command over a whole army of the Night's Cavalry?

In the time of unrest, Omens were welcomed in the army, but they were distrusted, even their weapons have an enchantment on it so it could be taken back if they tried something funny.

But Morgott was trusted to command a whole army and held the walls of Leyndell for that long?

The only way I could rationalize that is after she was forced to separate from Messmer, Marika brought both Morgott and Mohg back to live with other demigods. A big part of the Erdtree's power force was in Messmer's hand, now that he was not there anymore, I imagine people would become more accepting of letting Omens join their rank. And because Messmer was not there, the twins would actually not have to deal with him. In a twisted way, when Marika lost her beloved firstborn, she gained the other two back.

Even though they weren't officially recognized as her child, but more as warriors serving in Leyndell army, Morgott proved himself with his tactical mind and combat prowess (while Mogh used the resources brought by his new position to secretly started funding his blood cult, and this is how I think he met Miquella and all the stuffs in that part of the lore happened. Like you can't convince me he built that whole palace and had all that fancy clothes without money or resources taken from somewhere else).

Then Godwyn died, and Morgott witnessed everything thereafter. and the rest of the story, we knew how it played out.

So yeah, that's my take on the timeline and story of the Omen twins. I know it doesn't have a strong official description backup as my theory on Messmer, but I feel like this makes sense with all of my other interpretation, and if you agree with those, they are what actually back up this one.

If I draw Morgott in the future, it'll also be based on this premise.

[oh-no-its-bird]

Fic where, in practicing to get edo tensei right, Orochimaru uses Izuna as a test subject and tries to substitute DNA to make it work, using Suigetsu's bc like it's extra flexible or whatever bc shape change

Edo tensei mermaid Izuna locked in a tube somewhere in Oro's lab,,

He's SO mad about it and has literally no information ab what's going on at all bc hes locked in a fucking tube !!

Bonus points if Orochimaru doesn't even specifically know who he is

They unearthed him w the rest of the founders on a whim but bc no one really requested him specifically, the body just kinda sat there and eventually got mixed in w the rest of the Uchiha corpses, till Orochimaru requests an Uchiha corpse and they shrug and send him over

He still has Madara's eyes too (left alone either by oversight / or bc they decided not to pull them before he got mixed in w the other bodies, who had by then already gotten scooped of their eyes so they assumed he'd already been harvested)

Ok but like. No one even tells him what happened/where he is/that madara made the village. Why would anyone?? The only one Izuna sees regularly is Orochimaru, and he doesn't know those facts would matter??

Izuna doesn't even know what Konoha IS, he isn't gonna recognize the name

From Izuna's perspective, he died in his bed and then BOOM. Tank time.

Orochimaru might tell him it's been some years since his death (thinking he died in the massacre) and even if Izuna doesn't believe him bc like, enemy, enemy territory, he sure as fuck probably won't be thinking "Ah yes it's been decades since my death and my brother went against my dying wishes to make that village"

Tho he might get nervous and start picking up those cues when he sees the tech

Oro mentions offhand that the Uchiha were all killed and Izuna immediatley assumes the Senju won the war and loses it

He'd figure it out eventually obviously (probably after being set free, most likley by Sasuke w Suigetsu) But he'd also probably keep that to himself, bc like, enemy territory n stuff

Mermaid shapeshifter Izuna terrorizes the shinobi world,, Sasuke doesn't know what he just unleashed.

Ok actually but like. Suigetsu's shape-shifting but bc Izuna has a fire chalra nature, make it liquid fire shape-shifting. Fuckin, fire mermaid Izuna. He has an awful time retaining his form and actually for the first chunk of time, him being in that tube is genuinley just for the best. He keeps turning into liquid fire with no real solid body and can't put himself back together for hours.

Izuna hears his brother is still alive and running Akatsuki and is so down to clown till he realizes THATS NOT HIS FUCKING BROTHER HOW DARE YOU USE HIS NAME

Anyways oh my god Izuna on team Taka,,

He and Sasuke would be SUCH a dynamic actually, they look alike so much?? Sasuke doesn't recognize him but he's clearly a close relation, so there's some mystery there. Sasuke is like super shaken by finding a member of his clan and Izuna, by that point aware that apparently the rest of his clan is dead, is sticking to him like GLUE. Sasuke is bitchy little brother coded and Izuna understands this is probably karma bc he is also bitchy little brother coded

They probably clash a lot, especially bc both are expecting to be in charge here, but ultimately I think they'd get along better than Sasuke does most people, and there's also that bonus vulnerability of like. Izuna is an older Uchiha boy who's trying to brother him (with a noticeably different brother-ing style to Itachi too) and Sasuke has been alone for so, so long.

Sasuke accidentally calls him nii-san then promptly has several break downs about it

Suigetsu and Izuna either get along ALARMINGLY well or they hate eachother. I think I wanna go with the first bc it sounds more fun. They couldn't talk to eachother in the tanks but they could still see eachother, so maybe they kind of developed some sort of code to communicate?

They are "cause problems on purpose" friends. They're also "wdym I can't kill him???" *looks of genuine confusion* buddies. They're giving Sasuke the biggest headache actually, someone stop them. If you leave them to "take care" of a problem, there will be carnage.

Also, like, Izuna literally has Suigetsu's DNA in him. That's a thing.

Mmm maybe some complex thoughts ab how Izuna has effectively become a bloodline thief against his will (the ULTIMATE taboo for shinobi from his era) and he's like, actually fucked up about it.

Running joke where they refer to each other as cousins, could be funny. They argue over who's the bastard child (it's Izuna obviously but he won't just take that title lying down)

Izuna is like, in his 20s, and Karin is around 16 or 17 at this time I think?? She definatley has a bit of a crush on him (which helps take the edge off Sasuke) but like, he's not acknowledging that beyond patting her on the head. She'll get over it eventually. (Sasuke hides behind Izuna when Karin is trying to flirt w him and Izuna absoloutley laughs at them both)

Izuna is actually really impressed w Karin's sensing abilities specifically. I think he'd be a bit on edge around her at first, bc Uzumaki -> Senju ally. But he'd quickly assume she's a deserter (he has no idea the Uzumaki are pretty much wiped out rip) and becomes cautiously chill after a minute or two (also when he first escapes, he REALLY doesn't have the luxury to pick and choose his allies. He's instantly attached to Sasuke and cautiously fond of Suigetsu, and Karin seems to have Sasuke's trust at least, so he'll keep an eye on it but otherwise trust Sasuke's judgment)

Izuna and Karin besties arc where they paint eachothers nails is a must. I love the take that Izuna is really into fashion n stuff and he and Karin should like, trade hair tips or smthn. Karin knows modern soap brands where as Izuna bought his soaps from clan vendors who no longer fucking exist, so like, it's definatley helpful.

Karin is the only one of them to have any real hint of where tf Izuna came from (tho even she doesn't have the full details) it'd be cool if she was the one to figure out more details ab his general mystery— maybe something about her chakra sensing gives her a hint as to how old he really is?? Or she finds the paper trail that hints towards the bodies being mixed up???? Idk but she deserves to have an "aha!" moment

Also Izuna's medical knowledge/standards are NOT up to modern and Karin is so mad about it, she's giving him hella lessons on first aid n shit and he's very, very interested in all this free medical knowledge

I know the least about Jugo so bear with me on this one pls— I think Izuna would find Jugo to be pretty fascinating as a person actually. He enjoys tentatively poking him with sticks, and comes to genuinley like him as a person (when he's calm) pretty quickly

Also cats love Izuna so he gets bonus points from Jugo bc of that, they can bond while petting Izuna's contracted cats or smthn idk

Yeah I really don't know much ab Jugo so that's all I have to offer sorry

Ok let's backtrack a bit, back to Orochimaru ->

Fun scene towards the very start of the fic, where Izuna still has no fucking clue what's going on, but recognizes Orochimaru as a member of the Orochi clan. He says as much, and Orochimaru has to pause.

No one's mentioned his clan to him in years. They haven't been relevant in Konoha since Orochimaru was born— even before that, they were barley relevant. Izuna should not know who they are.

(The only reason he does know is bc they had a neutral to positive relationship w the Uchiha back in the warring era, and Izuna had visited them once before)

Immediatley, Orochimaru is squinting at this guy. He's giving Danzo a ring asking who exactly he got sent over, but Danzo doesn't actually have anything to offer him??? The paperwork is a mess and there were a LOT of Uchiha. He's not registered as a shinobi tho.

Hmmmm.... ok.

Orochimaru is suddenly aware there's some kind of mystery here now, which is dangerous for Izuna. Izuna is, again, in enemy territory, and he's able to pick up on the fact that Orochimaru doesn't actually know who he is. This ofc means that HE sure as hell won't be telling him.

Maybe he bares his teeth and sarcastically says he's the second coming of Uchiha Madara (not even that big of a lie when u think ab it)

Pivoting time ->

Izuna is listed in the data books as like, being equally as talented as Madara and I think we should talk ab that more actually

I love Tobirama but he really did get him by surprise

Izuna just got cocky and taken by surprise!!

HE DIDNT EVEN GET COCKY HE JUST LOGICALLY DIDNT EXPECT TOBIRAMA TO FUCKING INVENT TELEPORTATION

Then he went down in the history books both in canon and out of it as the weakest of the 4, that's so tragic

Izuna gets mermaid edo tenseid and (once people know who he is) everyone is like "Ok well at least he's uhh. The weakest of the 4 right?? I mean tobirama killed him when they were like only 19/20 so we'll probably be fine???"

Then he just fucking bodies them all bc hes a nightmare actually AND on whatever special test trial edo tensei steroids they gave him

Izuna is fueled on rage and spite and he's full up on both

Imagine he gets the full story of everything that happened while he was dead too, like.

Ok so Madara goes against his EXPRESS dying wishes and makes his village. (what the fuck!!) Then backs out (yay!!) but in an awful way that effectively fucks over the entire clan for years to come (nii-san what the FUCK)

Then gets literally backstabbed by Hashirama (HE FUCKING TOLD YOU!!! WHAT DID HE FUCKING SAY!!!!!)

Then the Uchiha seem to thrive and like. Ok. He's still mad about it, but at least something... kind of nice came out of it.

THEN BOTH THE VILLAGE AND MADARA'S(?????) SCHEMES KILL THEIR ENTIRE CLAN

Izuna is SO mad at literally everyone, holy shit. The only one safe from his rage is Hikaku, god rest his poor, poor soul

Actually, I think it'd be funny if Izuna was like, indescribably extra awful mad at everyone— but then is like. Normal mad amounts at Tobirama, who was a bitch but at least didn't seem to carry on a personal fucking vendetta against the Uchiha like EVERYONE ELSE INCLUDING FUCKING MADARA FOR SOME GODDAMN REASON

Izuna is going like, "FUCK you, FUCK you, OH, EXTRA FUCK YOU—" then squints at Tobirama and goes "...fuck you." Then goes back to screaming

To be clear, Tobirama absolutely contributed to the end of the Uchiha, but like. A) it'd be funny, and B) at least his seemed slightly less on purpose than literally everyone else

There's also I think a difference of like. Izuna never expected Tobirama to suddenly turn around and be pro Uchiha

Where as everyone else (again, including his brother!!) Was like. A genuine betrayal

Tobirama fucking over the clan was never a surprise

He never pretended to be on their side (like Hashirama lowkey did)

Tobirama vs Izuna but it's them getting to relive their rivalry where as Izuna vs literally anyone else is emotionally charged as hell and filled with demented screaming

Leaving it there for now, I might actually try to write this one but who tf knows

[theriverbeyond]

how exactly is John lying (/about what) and is that the worst part of him and how explicit is it in the books? i often dont understand general/fandom characterizations of fictional characters and HtN is definitely not the book I paid the most attention in, so I just wanna see if I missed something wholly obvious

So John is a Lying Liar Who Lies, and I think the most damming evidence for the sheer enormity of it all is this bit in HtN, page 482:

Many of the things John says are like, him reflecting or discussing things only he has memory of, with no one left to dispute his version of events, and it's clear that he has long ago lost the "objective truth" of his own history--some of this is likely the side effect of being alive for ten thousand years, but a lot of it is probably due to the fact that he doesn't want anyone to know what actually happened. HtN p. 158:

John is talking to Harrow here, but to Me, he is also reassuring himself. He KNOWS that people would judge him for his actions, and alters the stories he tells accordingly. Nobody has to know. It happened, and he can't undo it, and they wouldn't understand. He's motivated to lie, he's capable of lying, and he himself has stated that he believes that there is no difference between the truth, and the truth he tells himself. Because he's God.

Anyway. re: "how explicit is it", a lot of the times where we know for sure John is telling an untruth, he isn't directly lying per say, but rather misrepresenting events to such an insidious extent that it is functionally the same as lying. Here is a short and incomplete list:

All the times Harrow begged him to protect her from G1deon the First, and John was like sorry I can't do that, when in fact JOHN was the one who ordered G1deon to attack Harrow

Changing the names of all his friends and not telling them what their previous names or personalities were (and if he didn't tell them that, it's very reasonable he may have kept other things from them as well)

Saying that the House of the First was killed by "rising sea levels" and a "massive nuclear fission chain reaction" when the Earth actually died because John initiated a nuclear standoff, and then set off a nuke. like yeah what he said was technically the truth, but it also served to paint an extremely different picture when compared to what we learn in NtN

In NtN, in the dream, John tells Harrow about the time he killed all those cops, and he mentions that when it happened he was like "I swear to God, I didn't know what I was doing" "I freaked out, it was an accident", "I made a mistake". and then like half a page later he tells Harrow "Come on love. Guys like me don't have accidents"

Saying he ate peanuts "discreetly", and "the once"

"is this the worst part of him" I think that is up to you, I really like the layers this adds to the story. So much of NtN is literally just John telling Harrow/the reader a story, and we know he misrepresents events and tells untruths and is motivated to protect his own image and no longer sees a difference between the truth and the truth he tells himself. So it's like... we are getting all this info about what happened pre-appocalypse/resurrection, but how much of it is REAL? How much of it is reliable? How much of it would match the story if anyone else was alive to tell their side? It is so interesting to me. It's like a hefty peanut butter filled kong, to me.

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Helloo! Thought of a prompt, thought you could fulfil!

Stoic Hero doesn't like anyone knowing what they went through. Villain finds out anyway?

(So specific, Ikr?)

Most of the time, the villain tried not to act like a total idiot around the hero. It wasn't necessarily because they feared judgement. It was mostly the fact that despite all, they wanted to stay professional.

But looking back, this probably counted as idiotic behaviour.

"If you're mad at me, I can live with that," the villain said. Their eyes were on the hero in the hospital bed and slowly, it dawned on them that they themselves hadn't eaten in hours.

"You shouldn't be here," the hero croaked in response. With their black eye and their arm in a sling, they looked miserable enough to make the villain's stomach turn. Usually, the hero wasn't one to use many words and the villain had seldom actually argued with them but considering all circumstances, the villain was ready for a lecture.

Hospitals had always been a no on both sides. Identities being revealed and civilians getting involved was something both had agreed on to avoid.

But the villain had panicked. They had seen the blood and the broken bones. The hero hadn't responded.

Of course, they had called an ambulance. Of course, they had tried everything in their power to make sure the hero was alive.

"Honestly, if you're mad at me, that's fine. I understand. I just need you to know this wasn't on purpose. The medical staff isn't allowed to leak any personal information and nobody treated you any differently from other patients. It should be safe for you to be here."

The hero closed their eyes and leaned back against the mattress.

"Did anyone see you?"

"…I hid when the ambulance arrived. And then I showed up at the hospital and said we are dating.”

The hero let out a pathetic laugh.

It made the villain truly uncomfortable to see their nemesis like this. They barely moved, almost as if it was too painful to even lift a finger.

The exhaustion carved itself into the hero's face and their usually calm and perfect expression was similar to a tortured angel's.

The hero took in a deep breath.

"Why are you here?" they asked. Their voice was weak.

"I couldn't just...leave."

"Because we sleep with each other?"

The villain frowned. No, they didn't think it was because of that. If this had happened two months ago, they wouldn't have left either.

They wanted to take the hero's hand but they didn't find the courage.

"You've mentioned that a few times before and I'll say it again if you want me to: I don't care about you because you are good in bed. I care about you because I respect you and I think what you're doing is impressive."

"We are enemies," the hero reminded them.

"Enemies with benefits."

"You could have left after the ambulance arrived. You didn't have to stay and watch. You didn’t have to go to the hospital and say we are a couple," the hero argued and the villain came to the conclusion that the hero truly didn't comprehend how anyone could ever care about them.

It wasn't easy for the villain either; to accept that there was something between them, some unspoken thing that lingered in the air when they looked at each other.

Some horrible silent truth. Because, at the end, "I care about you because I respect you" was a horrible excuse for something that reached a little deeper.

Maybe that was also the reason as for why the villain was so satisfied after a night with the hero.

They couldn't imagine having someone else in their arms and if they were to find out that the hero had other lovers, the villain feared that would break them.

"It's okay that you are angry," the villain said. "I am just not sure if you are angry at me for staying or…?"

"No…no, I…I am not angry at you, it's just…I am scared of what we have." The hero's eyes found the villain's and to the villain's surprise, their serious hero let actual sadness go over their face. It looked like it didn't take much for their tears to drop.

The villain took their hand.

"What do you mean?"

"What if you use me?" the hero whispered. Their bottom lip was shaking. "What if this is a big act and you…you're trying to get information out of me or some day you will lock me up when I am asleep next to you and you will torture me and I will still love you and-"

"Listen, that is actually sick and cruel. I did do some questionable things in the past but nothing ever came close to that," the villain said. "Why would you even think I…?"

And then it dawned on the villain that it wasn't just a fear but a memory. Something the hero had experienced.

Why are you here? Because we sleep together?

The hero thought the only reason as for why the villain was here was because the villain didn't want to lose their fuck buddy.

Holy shit.

The villain could only guess what had happened to the hero in the past and how they'd been used by someone they had loved.

“Okay, please listen. I like what we have and…perhaps we could be more if you want to. I have never really been in a relationship before and I am too dumb to manipulate you. I…I don't really know what to say, I just…I am here. I am here because of you. I don't have any other motivation or desire right now. All I want is for you to be alright."

"I think I need time." They squeezed the villain's hand weakly.

"Take all the time you need," the villain said but they felt like throwing up after hearing all this.

They had thought the hero would curse them for bringing them to a hospital.

It turned out this was only the tip of the iceberg and the villain truly wasn't ready for the entire truth.

[adripakoffee]

Thinking about Curly too because you mfs give him too much leeway!!! FUCK CURLY MAN!!

So like, obviously, what happened to him was tragic but he could've prevented the events of the game so easily. Firstly, he's the one who got Jimmy on the ship. Jimmy's not supposed to be there, he literally isn't even a freighter pilot. It's heavily implied the reason Jimmy is on the ship is that Curly was helping him run from the law.

This exhibits Curly's biggest problem in the game. He's Jimmy's friend first and his boss second. He puts Jimmy ahead of everything, so despite his past history of what we can presume to be violence, he puts him on a small ship with other people who are now vulnerable to his abuse. And he knows, he's aware that there's a chance these people could be victimized by Jimmy and says and does nothing. This next part is my personal theory, but I think he knew Daisuke was coming with them before he invited Jimmy, he just didn't say anything.

Curly's second big sin is what he does to Anya. He finds out what Jimmy's been doing to her and he says he'll do something, anything. But he doesn't. I said it earlier, but I think Anya thought that Curly would have Jim arrested on landing, but even then, there's some short term things he could've done. Here's a list actually because oh my god, there's so much he could have done.

Set up a bed for Anya in medical. Y'know, a door with an actual lock.

Put Jimmy in a cryopod as a holding cell.

Fire Jimmy, which seemingly wouldn't do much until you remember you need the captain to do half the shit on the ship.

Lockdown Jimmy, essentially lock down anything Jimmy could use as a weapon. The only two weapons on the ship are guarded by codes, but anyone could figure them out in a couple days. this goes hand in hand with the last one.

Literally just fucking kill him.

And before someone says "Oh, if Curly did anything, Jimmy would've acted out, he would've turned violent anyway." There are four other crew members and one Jimmy. If Jimmy had turned violent so early on, I fully believe Daisuke could've just bodied him. It wouldn't be that hard to pacify him if, say, he was ganged up on by three men.

The problem at the end of the day is that Curly is Curly, Jimmy's best friend before he's Captain Curly of the Tulpar. He cares more about Jimmy than the well-being of the people he's supposed to care about. He doesn't take Jimmy seriously when he is outwardly awful and pretty much straight up tells Curly he's gonna crash the ship. Like Curly does nothing because he doesn't think of Jimmy as a bad person. He can't even comprehend it until he's in a position where he's completely at Jimmy's mercy.

Now there's a couple of interpretations on the metaphor of what Curly's disability means and I'm gonna yap about at least 2, idk I'm just ranting.

The first one is that Curly is now Anya, or rather in her position. He's got no agency over his own body, he literally can't move, and he's forced to trust Jimmy with his life. He's in constant pain, he wants to die, and he can't. Anya cannot stand giving Curly his medicine so she lets Jimmy do it. She's putting a vulnerable person at Jimmy's mercy, just like Curly did, except this time he's on the receiving end. And whenever it's just Curly and Jimmy alone in the med bay, Jim is just beating the shit out of this guy for no reason. Like there is no need to be doing all that, but Jimmy is a violent person, and Curly just ignored it for too long.

The second interpretation that I also really like it that Curly is Anya's baby. Jimmy has done something heinous and it's left Anya caring for someone she can't feasibly support. Her ability to keep Curly alive for so long is a testament to how resilient and determined she is, but at the end of the day she can't take it. It's not just the fact that she has to care for Curly that drives her to take her life, it was a lot of things, but the stress of dealing with Curly was definitely part of that.

This next part isn't Curly's fault, it's Pony Express' but if he survives long enough to be found, he no longer has a future. He can't be a pilot anymore, he'll more than likely be forced to take responsibility for the deaths of the crew, the rehab process will take years and probably hundreds of thousands of dollars. He's cooked. This leans into the him becoming Anya thing, he's been put in a position where he can't work but is forced to deal with a heavy financial burden. The difference is, this is his own fault.

He could've prevented all of this if he hadn't ignored all the red flags. In the dead pixel scene he says the one pixel doesn't hinder his enjoyment of the whole image, he can ignore it. That's what he did. When he looks a the bigger picture or the grand scheme of things he can ignore a few dead pixels. The way he sees it, he's given Jimmy a whole year to pull himself out of a "struggle" so when he gets back to Earth things will be okay again. In his eyes, Jimmy's bound to have a few slip-ups and unfortunately, what he did to Anya was one of them. So that's just a pixel he can ignore.

LONG STORY SHORT, CURLY IS AN ENABLER AND LITERALLY THE ONLY WAY HE WAS GONNA LEARN WAS IF HE BECAME A VICTIM TOO!!!!

Apologies if any of this is worded weird, it's just brain vomit.

I also did an Anya rant

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I feel like the Ghost Marriage event shouldn't have happened. I mean, it's a little sus that this dead chick was proposing to a bunch of TEENAGERS in the first place, but not only that, but she was a royal, and as I understand only a few of the students at NIght Raven were of noble/royal decent.

Personally, I don't think there's a huge issue here?? Depiction of something doesn't automatically mean endorsement or condonment of it. Ghost Marriage clearly depicts Eliza wanting to quickly get hitched to one of the NRC students as a patently bad thing; it is in no way promoting what she's trying to do. (Small correction though: she's not proposing to anyone, Eliza is just outright kidnapping the one she deems to be her ideal groom; it is the other NRC students who are proposing to her in an effort to rescue Idia.) The mere existence of Ghost Marriage is NOT Twst saying, "Hey, it's okay for minors to marry adults and this is what we should be doing!" That's like claiming that Sebek being depicted as racist or Epel believing in gender norms is promoting racism or gender norms. If you look at the context surrounding these situations, you'll quickly realize that these depictions are, in fact, NOT promotions. Sebek, Epel, and Eliza are constantly told their viewpoints are wrong or clowned on for expositing their beliefs.

When it comes to age, the devs kept Eliza's pretty ambiguous. Just because she is dead doesn't mean she's like 80+ years old. They never put a number to it, but they allude that she "died young", but she isn't exactly a child since her attendants speak of her childhood like it's a thing of the past (ie "[...] ever since you were a little girl"). Judging by her immaturity and even her looks, you could honestly argue that Eliza is roughly the same age as the NRC students or is at least a fellow teenager herself. (Furthermore, in the original Japanese text, Eliza promises to visit the school again with a baby; this was scrubbed from EN--why? Maybe because they didn't want to imply a young woman close to the boys' age getting pregnant so soon.) Whoever she marries wouldn't be left alive; her kiss will literally kill them, also rendering them a ghost too. As a married couple, both Eliza and her groom would be dead; it would not be a situation where one is dead and the other is left alive. I don't find it problematic that students potentially younger/older than her proposed because the intention was never to go through with the marriage, it's to trick her so she puts on a magical ring that will dispel her from the world of the living. Again, CONTEXT MATTERS. No one here is actually seriously wanting this legally binding marriage except Eliza herself. Idia (the intended groom) is 18, so he could marry if he wanted to. It might be weird if Eliza was younger than him, but I think that even if that's the case, it's fine because she's supposed to be viewed as immature and unrealistic about love. Eliza is MEANT to be seen as a little cuckoo, not an example to live up to (literally ALL the other characters, including Idia, see her as unhinged); the writing in this event isn't trying to tell you that you should aspire to be like Eliza. On the contrary, you shouldn't be like her, and Ace even calls her out for this at the end of the event. I would take issue with Ghost Marriage if it had done the opposite and tried to promote her behavior as "good" or "desirable" when it very obviously is not.

I don't think the typical rules for nobility and their marriages apply in this case. Eliza is dead and technically has no country, wealth, or anything to her name. She is chained to this mortal coil because of her unfulfilled desire to marry the perfect prince--so that's the desire she seeks to fulfill. Her retainers help her because they lament that she was not able to achieve her dream when she was still alive and they feel guilty for not being able to help her flee before their kingdom was brought to ruin. Eliza doesn't have to heavily vet lineages or even necessarily marry another royal. That kind of stuff is only really important if you have countries to rule over, assets that could be impacted, politics that could shift. You know, actual things at stake that are dependent on who she marries. But Eliza currently has nothing but her own desire fueling her, so nothing is riding on who she marries. She's just driven by her own selfish longing to find her perfect prince because... oh yeah, everyone in her country is already dead and this is literally all she has to "live" for left 💀 (though if we really wanted to get technical, Idia may not be nobility but he’s still pretty rich and influential; he’s close to being a noble without the actual title attached to it.)

[thesoftboiledegg]

"Unmortricken" was a lot. In fact, it might have been a little too much.

To start, I loved the glimpse of what exists outside the Central Finite Curve. The visuals were stunning and reminded me of M.C. Escher's drawings. The Jetson-like family was a nice touch--if anything can happen, who says they can't have different animation styles? All those colorful portals make me wonder what's lurking just out of sight.

It's also funny that the space outside the Curve is full of Rick's favorite thing: crystals. If he took a trip there, he'd come back with his pockets stuffed with gemstones.

Evil Morty's reappearance gave us a decent character study. Since he wasn't the antagonist, we saw him interact with the C-137s as a regular person. Morty's a little impressed, and Rick has a grudging respect for him. Others have called Evil Morty the Rickest Morty, and I agree: similar intelligence, similar technology and similar bloodthirst.

I was glad that he left in the end because that's what his character arc is about anyway. He doesn't want to be part of anyone else's story, not even another Morty's.

However, that's also part of the issue that I had with this episode. Seeing Evil Morty was great, but it was also a little...pointless? You could've had the same story without him. He's not working with Prime, and he has no ties to C-137 after "Rickmurai Jack," so it felt like the writers just said "Hey, you know what would be cool?"

I'm not against writers having fun and giving the audience what they want. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (yeah, groan at me, Marvel haters) is fan service in blockbuster form, and it was one of the best theater experiences I've ever had.

Still, if Evil Morty came back, I think he should've had a separate episode. The episode juggled C-137 Rick, Morty, Evil Morty and Prime Rick pretty well, giving them satisfying interactions with each other, but no Evil Morty would've meant more relationship development for the C-137s.

Evil Morty's backstory also didn't reveal much about him. I mean--yeah, we all figured that he had an abusive Rick and got fed up. The fact that he had a "regular" Rick instead of a deranged lunatic does make a point about the banality of abuse. Monsters aren't always raving maniacs who torture people in their basements. Ordinary people can wear you down with a slow drip of toxicity and neglect.

I enjoyed this episode, and Evil Morty's return was exciting, but cramming the series' two biggest antagonists and storylines into twenty minutes was a little overwhelming. New plot developments kept showing up, too: Rick found Prime! Prime's various lairs! Omega device! I would've preferred a two-parter.

I'll admit that if you told me that we'd see Evil Morty and Rick Prime in the same shot, I never would have believed you, but here we are.

On that note, Prime's characterization was perfect. No attempt at a cutesy, sad backstory; he's a laughing monster until the end. And is it really the end? He has regeneration abilities, but C-137 acts like he's dead and even gives up the search. This leaves us with a few options:

C-137 killed him.

Prime fooled C-137 into thinking that he's dead when he isn't.

C-137's keeping him alive for later use.

Hopefully, this is more complicated than it looks because I'll be disappointed if this is the end of Prime. He's a brilliant reflection of C-137: the Rick he'd be without his tiny shred of humanity.

And Prime's a maniac, but he tells C-137 the truth. Rick broke into Prime's house. He pretended he belonged with this group of strangers. He latched on to Prime's grandson because he never had his own. His brutal, violent streak never went away no matter how long he tried to play house.

Prime says "Admit it! You would have been me!" In season three and parts of season four, Rick was close. His love for his family--love that he pretended he didn't have--and desire for their approval just barely pulled him back. But what kept that spark alive? How close was he to becoming a cold, unfeeling shell?

In the end, C-137's not satisfied after he destroys Prime--and weirdly, I'm not satisfied, either. Beating Prime to an unrecognizable pulp doesn't bring Rick's original family back. It doesn't erase the atrocities that Rick's committed. It doesn't make his grief go away. It doesn't change the fact that Rick teetered on the edge of turning into the monster that he despised.

What's more satisfying is that Rick didn't turn out like Prime. His Morty doesn't give two shits about Prime, but he loves him. He hugs him in relief (come on, Rick, hug him back already!), cries out "Rick? Rick!" and shakes his body when he thinks he's dead, and talks excitedly as they return home.

Rick's going to therapy, which Prime would have mocked. He went from having nobody to living with FIVE kids if you count Morty and Summer. Even he and his Jerry are pretty tight.

Rick knows this, but he still feels empty all the time. Vengeance doesn't work, drinking doesn't work...wouldn't it be easier if he just switched off his humanity and laughed at everything, even his own death?

But now that he knows how it feels to be loved, especially by his hypothetical grandson, I think he'll always find himself at the Smiths' doorstep.

[fallloverfic]

Mithrun and the changeling shapeshifting

This isn't directed at anyone in particular, but I see comments about Mithrun and the changelings/shapeshifting mushrooms a bit and I think there's some misunderstanding about what the shapeshifting does. Spoilers for the manga for chapters 51-the end/volume 8-beyond, and the Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: Adventurer's Bible (first one) below the cut. (Also yes, I know it's partially played for laughs in the manga, but I think Kui also does some neat stuff with it, particularly in Mithrun's case).

The shapeshifting emphasizes different racial traits, and that's going to be defined differently by each race, like how each race has different beauty standards, abilities, and puts on muscle differently (e.g., Senshi is maybe beautiful by dwarven standards, and his beard is huge, so as an elf he's beautiful by elven standards, but his beard is too powerful to shapeshift, so he has a mustache despite the fact no other known elves have facial hair). Kabru, for instance, is a sort of smaller tank, and is kind of waify as an elf (possibly because elves are just kind of waify generally, though this might also be due to his losing weight after being revived; he also doesn't have much magical ability: he has even less than Laios does, versus Mithrun, who's maxed the magic stats chart).

The most muscular elf we know of is Lycion, on the left:

Lycion still looks "skinny" in a way, but he's strong and muscular, just not Hollywood bulky. He matches a race that doesn't put on thick, bulky muscle, at least not easily. Compare this to Mithrun on the right, who isn't as naked as Lycion so we can't quite see what he looks like as an elf under his clothes, because the clothes give him some padding. The closest we get to modern him as nude as Lycion is, is that shot in his cabin in the Adventurer's Bible:

It's hard to tell, but his arms are decently muscular for an elf (also one-armed push-ups are hard, that's not something you do on a lark). His whole thing since Milsiril talked him into getting back into shape to go to dungeons has been solely that: getting back into shape to go deal with the demon, and he's had to build up his body to be able to walk on his own and stay alive long enough to deal with the demon. Given he's also a powerful magic user, but he seemingly doesn't have those abilities as a tall-man (or at least he wasn't using his magic on the door), it might be his tall-man form is also compensating for that. This is Mithrun's stats chart:

"Though he's an elf, both his strength and stamina are excellent. His one weakness is his terrible sense of direction." p.73, Chapter 01 / Characters, Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: Adventurer's Bible. Dudes' beefy even for an elf, even if he doesn't precisely look it. But compare Mithrun and Lycion here:

Mithrun's shorter, and the clothing is probably making him look bigger than he is, but they're somewhat similar, comparatively, once you compensate for the height differences.

We also get some shots of him in motion and wearing that tightish shirt/dress.

Clothing can of course make your bust look more defined than it is, but it's notable that we get some obvious muscle definition to him in the chest area (for an elf), and his lower chest/trunk is rather solid-looking, rather than the thinner forms of his female companions. He seems to be a bit thicker in his mid-section than Pattadol, for instance, who's only slightly taller than he is, and she and Cithis have similarly-sized waists (actually Cithis might be a little thinner? Which would make sense as her focus is on casting).

His focus is movement and physical interaction more than the other casters in his party (he has to touch stuff a little to teleport it), so he builds up his body accordingly. Which also makes sense for how he does one-armed push-ups in his ship cabin in his spare time.

I think a big reason Mithrun is viewed as weak/tiny is because he's often around Kabru so we often compare them physically. Mithrun is thinner and six inches shorter than Kabru, who is not in the best physical shape due to his revival, on top of, at this point, not having a great meal regimen due to neither of them being good at gathering or apparently making meals.

Some shots of Kabru and Mithrun together, for comparison, including Mithrun helping Kabru stand. Kabru is more muscular, but not the bulkiest for a tall-man (he's smaller than Laios, even accounting for the height difference, though still tanky in his own right, I mean he grabbed Falin pretty easily, and Kabru and Falin are the same height; Laios is just big).

(I know Laios' armor makes him look bigger than he is, especially when Kabru has his off, but, ignoring the height difference, Laios is broader than Kabru, seemingly, particularly in the chest and arms).

Yeah, Kabru lost weight after the first revival, so he's not the best comparison, but if Mithrun, an elf, doesn't look rail thin even next to Kabru, who's not that skinny for a tall-man (skinnier than he used to be, but not skeletal), it kind of also says something about Mithrun. He's not like... bones. He's thin, but not rail thin (we know because he was shown rail thin in Daydream Hour during his recovery, and he put on muscle since then). And shots of him, while variable at times - sometimes he's drawn thinner, sometimes thicker, often in comparison to who he's sharing a shot with, e.g., Sissel - often emphasize how thick his arms are, even near Kabru, who is broader and more muscular. I think my best description of Mithrun is "mostly solid for a dude often running on fumes".

And we see him moving fast and hitting hard a lot. Whenever he fights, he's running, jumping, punching, or kicking something. Being lithe would help with that, but he'd need muscle too, especially for how fast he is (an easy comparison is a ballerina or a track runner, both of whom have to build up specific muscles for their craft, and regimens for both can be grueling). And he's not just teleporting people, he's smacking them hard.

He also was (and is) still notably good-looking for an elf. He has nice hair (that he doesn't pay as much attention to as he used to, but still is nice), a good body (even without half his ears, which seem important for elves), and would be considered attractive by a lot of people.

So yes, he's possibly still stringy-ish for an elf because he's likely exhausted due to lack of proper sleep (the bags under his eyes, his noted issues sleeping while in dungeons without aid), and doesn't eat regular meals (while in dungeons). But he's still muscular - to an elvish degree, anyway - and strong, particularly in terms of magical power, so it makes a lot of sense that the guy on the left would become the guy on the right when shapeshifted into a tall-man to become a race that better creates bulkier muscle and has to compensate for Mithrun's magical abilities (also looks kind of cliche handsome, maybe mimicking how Senshi looks as an elf).

I mean obviously there are strong human magic users, like Falin... and she has stronger stats all around than he does/roughly close in some places, so it makes sense he'd be as tall and bulky as she is.

Mithrun is, canonically, way more powerful than Kabru, as well, (at least against monsters), hence probably part of why he's seemingly bulkier than Kabru as a human. Mithrun is the one who deals with almost all the monsters for a reason. It's only when Mithrun is distracted or tired that Kabru gets one over him (e.g., in Sissel's house, or when Kabru grabs Mithrun at the dungeon entrance). Notably, when Mithrun crawled out of a spider and got knocked out by Kabru in chapter 76, Kabru was pointing out that Mithrun needed to rest. He was at his most wet cat moment then... when he was exhausted. So to me at least, this shapeshift makes sense. Normal Mithrun isn't really a wet cat most of the time. He's strong. He just runs himself ragged for various reasons.

[cenorii]

Suspicious mentions

Today we will focus on something interesting, a little sad, and also squint and pretend to be surprised by something. A little bit of Jake, a little bit of Wesker.

I wrote once before that I find any mention of Wesker in games since his "death" suspicious, but I want to talk about it again because I have something to add. All of this is my personal opinion, seasoned with facts.

Capcom jettisoned Wesker very early on, failing to find a proper\interesting use for the character other than "antagonist who dies at the end of the game". Wesker has too long and complex a history that intertwines with all the games, and dying so early and so stupidly is obviously not a very worthy development for such a character. And they came to that conclusion too, but very late. This is the reason why Jake Muller, a wonderful character, and the whole thing with his mother was invented. Jake is a nice way for Capcom to continue Wesker's idea, but without him, or an attempt to end his story in a more dignified way by giving him a "suitable successor".

But they couldn't achieve the desired result with Jake either, so they continued to get out of the quagmire they got themselves into because of the ending of re5 by adding references to Wesker in Umbrella Corps, where it's gotten to the point where he's probably alive or his clone is now in charge of the Corps. A convenient way to prepare players for his return? Do they really intend to develop him? I'd like to see that happen.

But no one would be surprised that Wesker isn't dead, knowing his regeneration abilities and so on. So Capcom is forced to write in every note mentioning him that he's dead, reminding everyone that the volcano is his end. But… as we can see, this certainty of his death is the delusion they're trying to make us believe. All those notes, all those mentions… they are unreliable, because no one has ever answered the question "did anyone check out that volcano?". Can anyone in RE at this point be 100% certain that Wesker is dead? I don't think so, since no one has checked his "place of death".

In re7 Capcom decided to remind players of Wesker again, stating that BSAA is now, all of a sudden, partnered with Blue Umbrella, and using Wesker's weapons recovered from his designs. Why bring up Umbrella again? Why give them the same logo as the Corps but in blue colors? Why make Chris use Wesker's weapon? These details were chosen by Capcom for a reason, because games aren't developed in 5 minutes, they are created over years and all these small details are discussed repeatedly. Wesker's weapon also appeared in Umbrella Corps, which kind of hints that Capcom had some development planned for him as early as 2015. Empty references and a sudden clone? No, it's all for a reason. It all carries some sort of meaning and will lead to something in the end.

The note Jake's mother left him before she died reads:

«My beloved son, Jake. Please forgive your mother for leaving you alone so soon. And please don't hate your father. Your father surely still loves you from the bottom of his heart. Stay strong and know that you will meet him one day»

(Project Umbrella Translation)

I'd like to talk about Ms. Muller's assurance that Jake will one day meet Wesker. This, of course, could be a dramatic element, telling the viewer that Jake will not meet him, since his father is dead and he is now all alone. However, now, knowing all the facts telling us otherwise, Jake's mother's words sound different. They sound like a prophecy. Why was she sure that Jake and Wesker would meet? How deep is this iceberg?

There are no answers to these questions, we can only hope Capcom continues to pursue this line in future games. Given the presence of a picture of the old Wesker in re8 - they're really determined to develop this subtle storyline. And that's a great thing.

It's about time they stopped killing off "negative" characters at the end of games if they are "negative", because sometimes some of them have great potential for a second life. A character like Wesker, with a background that can only be compared to the deepest iceberg, is capable of something more than just antagonism. And I'm really enjoying the fact that he still hasn't been brought back, only tossing us small details that only slightly hint at his continuing life. After all, this is how a character like this should be revealed, he's perfectly at home in the background, behind the scenes, as someone who doesn't like to get personally involved. He's a head, but not a leader.

And if that's exactly what they're leading us to, they don't want to surprise us with Wesker's return at all. That would be too easy, don't you think?

[tarraxahum]

This was gonna be a reply to a reply but I thought maybe I should just make my own post. Yes this is about Vi again.

It's no secret that "Vi should've fought for Zaun" and the expectation of her being Vander's prodigy and feeling like the plot dropped the ball on her in that regard and the betrayal at the fact that she's living comfortably in Piltover now are. Frequent sentiments in the fandom. Which I get, but also I feel that this line of expectations is. Diverging from who Vi actually is by the end and what she was realistically capable of.

Vi in season 2 is basically running on fumes and because she has no other options. It is a well known thing in irl activist spaces that to participate in any kind of fight for justice you need to take care of yourself, otherwise you won't have the energy to be any kind of useful to your community. Ekko also says this - "It's not enough to give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live". Vi has been surviving and not living in any shape or form for years, she's exhausted and broken in places. That's no mental state to fight for Zaun or make any kinda change. I think it's extremely realistic and human and hardly a flaw of writing or the character if by the end the only thing she was able to do was collapse into the safety and peace she was offered for the first time in forever (aka Caitlyn). It's clear that in her last scene she's still recovering mentally - Cait seems to be excited to have any sign of life (singing) from her at all, and the "Are you still in this fight?" question is very loaded. (But it's indicated that Vi is very much still in the fight, so? It's really anyone's guess what she'll do once she's healed and remembers how to live. And don't bring up LoL's Vi brutality thing, it's clear they're different characters).

I think in wanting to see Vi stand up for Zaun or be Vander's prodigy we often deny her the flaw of being a breakable human and forget just how much she's held together by duct tape. Just because she was full of this 'fuck Piltover' fire as a kid doesn't mean she is still capable of matching that energy. Sometimes after lots of trauma humans grow up into tired adults who just want to sit down and feel safe regardless of where it happens and how questionable it might look (re: living in Piltover). Not to mention, that even as a child Vi's main reason for fuming at the Topside was wanting safety for her family and herself. Well, now she's all out of family, she's estranged from the community of Zaun thanks to being in prison for 7 years and Silco changing the place so much, and the only person who's offering her safety and not more fighting (which she's exhausted and thoroughly burnt out from!) is Caitlyn, so. How is where she ended up any kind of surprising or a failure of her writing/character?

Yes, a lot of people wanted a revolutionary, no, Vi isn't one. Dare I say, never really was one. At her lowest, when she's got no one left to protect, she's not trying to fill in that void by taking on protecting Zaun and becoming a vigilante or something, no, she spirals. That is not something on her radar, that's not something she's visibly cut out to do, she cares so so much but on a smaller scale. Even the whole shimmer factory debacle was less about Zaun and more about her desire to hurt Silco personally for what he'd done to her family. If Jinx agreed to run away with her back at the tea party Vi would ditch the entirety of Zaun (potentially leaving it to Silco forever since he's still alive at that point) in a heartbeat to keep her sister and save Cait in one move. She puts on an enforcer uniform BECAUSE she cares for Jinx (through convincing herself that at the very least she should take her out of her misery herself rather than leaving it to people who don't care, yes) and Cait both.

Perhaps a hot take, but not becoming a leader despite being good at taking hits to the head and caring about people in general and being a daughter of one does not make Vi a badly written character or a bad person. It just makes her a person. And a character whose arc culminated in choosing herself. And choosing yourself sometimes means leaving the fight to others (perhaps temporarily, considering the final dialogue). And that's okay.

Arcane is tragedy about flawed people, not a feel-good story about a successful revolution and rich people paying for their crap, and it was never going to be. Ergo one of our main character isn't an upcoming hero in shining armor who was allegedly robbed of her potential. She's just a broken young woman who barely knows how to keep her own little life together and her biggest victory by the end is allowing herself to take a breath and live for once. Yes, while her home down there is still in shambles. Yes, that sounds selfish. For some people a bit of selfishness is the greatest thing they can ever learn for themselves.

[mysterycitrus]

All of your Bruce takes are so real and so true. It must break your back having to carry the weight of being the most correct batman account on this website. 🙏🏻 I love your thoughts about Bruce and Dick in particular and I was wondering if you had any thoughts about Bruce and Damian? Something about them is just… oh boy.

that’s very sweet but untrue, anon 🫰

i love damian and bruce's relationship, but it's hard to talk about without mentioning two other crucial people - talia and dick. for my own sanity i only accept damian's conception as a consensual act, so in this context talia is a fundamentally well-meaning person who attempted to protect her son from a violent life, and hid his existance from bruce until she felt he could be safe. damian loves and respects his mother. this is important.

dick, on the other hand, is really the foundation for their relationship. bruce spent like two weeks with this kid before he went on his timestream roadtrip and left everything behind for dick to juggle. contrary to popular opinion, i think it's a real disservice to act like dick taught damian to "be a good person" or like basic etiquette - a more realistic interpretation would be that dick taught damian that he didn't have to prove himself to be worth something.

the robin mantle from the time it was taken from dick has always been about proving yourself to bruce, to justify your role as his partner. always unfairly, mind (think how tim is treated vs. steph, for example), but damian is the first robin's robin. dick isn't a wayne, he's a grayson. there's an interesting point of comparison being that dick is the only robin who had a clear trajectory for his life prior to his parents dying - he was a core member of the worlds greatest acrobatic troupe - but he then left that path to become something else. damian is destined for the bat, but becomes robin instead, serving beside someone who achieved greatness by his own skill and kindness. damian has been told about his father, and here he is with someone who knows bruce better than anyone but also understands what robin means, better than anyone. i cannot emphasise how important i think dick being damian's first batman is for their own development. it's so so crucial to combat damian's perspective on family and blood. it's so important that he has that foundational knowledge of what robin means.

by the time bruce returns, damian has made tangible human connections in gotham. he's not the prickly, reactive kid that bruce first met. he's allowed himself to trust that the people around him have his best interests in mind. he knows that he isn't cared for because he's bruce's son - he's cared for because he's worth loving. his siblings aren't competition for affection or honour. he no longer sees bruce as an omnipotent force, and rather as a man he could learn to love. i think seeing bruce through both talia and dick's persepectives really helps with that.

bruce i think is confronted by the fact that for the first time in his life he can't try and hide behind the "im not really xyz's father" excuse. not that his adopted kids aren't his kids, obviously, but i do think he sometimes tries to lean on that as a crutch so he doesn't get attached (way too late for that lol). he loves damian, and there's a lot of fear about damian reflecting his worst habits, his most self-destructive behaviours back at him. maybe there's some fear about damian's history of killing, and how close bruce himself always feels to that edge. maybe there's misery about missing one of his kids growing up, again, like he's always a second too late to the important moments. bruce and damian are so similar, but this is bruce's second chance to be there. he is thomas wayne, emerging from the alley alive. do u think damian looks like his grandparents?

[yanderes-galore]

Could you do a romantic concept for yandere Boba Fett?

Sure! I'll try my best, hope it came out well. This is a general view.

Yandere! Boba Fett Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Violence, Blood, Murder, Threats, Manipulation, Kidnapping, Isolation, Forced relationship.

Boba Fett is infamously known as one of the best bounty hunters out there.

For the most part he's emotionless due to his past.

He's a hired gun killing for money, it's the life he's used to.

He's been a bounty hunter since the death of his father.

In fact, not showing much emotion makes the job easier.

It's canon that Boba Fett once had a family.

Early on in his career he tried to live a normal life.

He had a child with a woman but ultimately felt this wasn't where he belonged.

So... what if he found someone new while working as a bounty hunter?

Boba Fett probably still isn't sure how to deal with romantic feelings.

Even with his old family he was cold at times.

He's not used to love or any emotions like that.

Not since his father died, at least.

To him, life was about killing for money.

So much so that everyone knew of him.

If you think about it, having a man like him come after you is terrifying.

After all, he tracks down targets to kill all the time.

When it comes to you... He's tracking for other reasons.

There's a few ideas that come to mind when it comes to Boba's darling.

Maybe you were a target, maybe you helped him with an injury after a mission, or maybe you were his previous lover?

All of those would be reasons Boba would pursue you.

If you were a target, his obsession takes place over time.

He takes time to track you and maybe you're even capable enough to defend against and evade him

By that point, he gets infatuated because you always manage to be elusive.

This is no longer a contract, it's the thrill of the hunt.

One way or another he plans to get his prize, this time it isn't credits.

Then there's the case of you helping him with an injury.

Bounty hunting is a dangerous job, Boba is quite used to getting injuries.

He isn't used to anyone offering to help, however.

He tries to push you away at first, telling you he doesn't need help.

Yet his injuries seem to be worse than he thought.

This results in him reluctantly allowing you to treat him.

He doesn't stay long once stable and healed.

You aren't surprised that he left without saying much.

He didn't speak much except for telling you off or saying a reluctant 'thanks'.

You thought that's the last you'd see of the bounty hunter.

He's alive to hunt another target, that's that.

Unfortunately, his next target seems to be you due to his new obsession.

The last idea is based on his previous family.

Boba had left his last lover and child to continue his work path.

In this scenario, you'd take the place of this family and be devastated that Boba left.

You thought you were a good lover... You were affectionate even when he was cold!

Sadly, that doesn't stop the bounty hunter from leaving.

You actually continue your life eventually after Boba leaves.

However, you have no clue that you've been plaguing Boba's mind.

You don't even think he's spying on you between jobs, a quiet yearning deep in his chest.

That is, until decades pass...

Leading you to meeting your old love again... yet you've moved on and he hasn't.

Despite all these scenarios, I imagine Boba acts similarly in all of them.

Boba, for the most part, is a yandere who spends most of his time stalking.

Tracking is one of his most honed skills.

It allows him to learn more about you and track you down if you manage to evade his grasp.

This also means when he has you... you aren't running.

Boba doesn't take much joy in murder... It's a job for him.

Yet that means he has no issues killing to get what he wants.

He kills those who have wronged him... and those who have gotten in his way.

Which means, if anyone is helping you escape him or taking away your attention...

He'll get rid of them.

He's known to be ruthless and has all sorts of ways to get rid of a target.

Disintegration is his most common one, yet if he feels it's deserved...

He'll spill blood too.

Boba isn't someone you want to mess with.

Having him obsessed with you is scary because there's no real way to get rid of him.

He's evaded death before and the only thing he can't evade is his failing health once he's older.

But until then, you're stuck.

Boba may spend most of his time tracking you and observing you...

Yet he'll strike when you don't expect it.

He isn't even very reactive when he meets you.

There's times he's happy and times he's mad...

But most of the time he's quiet, even as he stalks closer.

Boba isn't one to spend time getting to know you.

Or, more accurately, you getting to know him.

He already knows more about you than you do yourself.

I wouldn't be surprised if he just kidnapped his obsession once he felt he was ready for that.

He'd keep you tied on his ship, whichever one he has at the time.

He doesn't respond to your cursing or screaming.

In fact he may just find a way to gag you.

"Before you ask, this isn't for a job... This is for myself... For us, if you will."

Many know Boba for tracking targets in return for credits.

Although you'd never expect him to kidnap you because he's fallen for you.

He plans to take you somewhere far from your home.

He'll have somewhere you two can live together and maybe he can try again with this whole love thing.

He doesn't seem to care if this is wrong, kidnapping someone to be his new love.

Yet he's been messed up since he was a young boy.

Sometimes you have to do unsavory things to get what you want.

What he wants happens to be you.

Affection is not common when it comes to Boba.

He's usually cold, occasionally asking you if you need anything around his ship or your shared him.

Although, sometimes I imagine he removes his helmet for you... and holds you close as some form of affection.

He isn't used to it but he wants you to know he loves you.

You can hate him, you should...

It doesn't stop him from kissing you and holding you close, just happy he was patient enough to prepare everything for you.

You're kept rather isolated with no one else to talk to.

Mostly because Boba tends to... kill them if they get too close to your home.

You know as you can hear his blasters go off.

However, if you somehow managed to escape with help... or even alone...

Boba's going to come find you.

If he found you before, he'll find you again.

It's only a matter of time before the master tracker finds you.

He isn't afraid to shed blood or take you back with force.

Eventually he'll drag you back to his ship... drag you back home...

Then you won't have a chance to try again.

[s0ph4e]

Okay so I have a little prediction about yuumori part 2, the events of pt.2 might possibly drive a bit of wedge between the moriarthree. They haven't seen each other in 2 years, all of them have matured in one way or another, and have moved on from the past. And while having a strong family bond is nice and all, it's more probable than not that now they WILL run into all sorts of disagreements much more often than before when a huge amount of their decisions felt like they were made with the trio in mind, barely any "selfish" choices were made.

However, now they are actual individuals, and have established their own lives, Louis is now the head of MI6, William has spent 2 years in the US on his own (well maybe except for Albert, that man just decided to put himself in prison and it was just him and his intrusive thoughts for 2 years, but solidarity changes people, too, he's come to a lot revelations, thought his life choices through, etc.)

Louis might secretly have some mixed reactions after their reunion. In my humble opinion he has every right to feel bitter about brothers' return, they both just left him on his own after all these years that he sacrificed his own interests for their well being. Heck, if I were this man, I probably wouldn't be even able to face those two. William and Albert coming back, is, of course, a blessing, but at the same time, deep down it might also feel like a curse. Louis has finally started living his own life, and it might just revert to the way things were before. But being in the shadow of his brothers isn't his thing anymore. Would he be able to give up his wants and needs for the sake of his brothers lime he used to?

Now onto Albert, he's always been there to provide financial support for the brothers, kind of like a parent. But what happens when both of the people you've grown used to providing things for, can now provide for themselves just fine, and don't need you anymore?

And most importantly, what about the main character of the story, William? Does this man really expect his brothers to stay the same, and leave an empty space for him to return to for so long, after he tried to unalive himself, survived and went to live with his new bestie instead? I know he wasn't allowed to contact them, but he could've at least contacted them in secret, he's not exactly the type that follows the rules, is he? But no, he kept the fact that he's alive a secret for 2 years, after most of his team finally started to move on. He used to be their leader, but now that things are running perfectly without him, will he, with his saviour complex, be satisfied with a role "less important"?

It would be very interesting to see the new moriathree struggle to get along in some situations where they used to think like one and the same before. I think a lot of people know firsthand just how much people can change, when they're apart, with completely different influences, in such a big amount of time.

Besides, now that the main plot point is allegedly resolved (the large amount of classism amd elitism in Victorian era Britain), since in the final scene Louis suggested that no more work needed to be done, what else would do for a good follow-up conflict? I like to believe there's a secret traitor in MI6 but probably the only ones capable of secretly plotting their own thing without getting caught are the brothers themselves, and something needs to happen for any of them to choose to follow a different path than the rest.

(also, I'm really sorry if the text might be just straight up incomprehensible in some parts, English isn't my first language... I just really needed to talk about my silly little predictions for part 2 somewhere since I'm really REALLY excited for the manga to return but don't really know anyone in the yuumori fandom irl)