#i don't think he would be able to break up after that

[soft-beams]

could i have a fic where reader tries to avoid telepathic!vi in an attempt to hide their feelings for her pls?

telepathic!vi x reader

you don't want vi to read your mind–it could fuck things up.

You've been avoiding Vi for days now, slipping away before she can see you and running off before she even gets a chance to say hello.

It's sad; it's heartbreaking, really, because every time you leave, you manage to catch a glimpse of Vi's confusion. Which is much better than the following sadness you don't get to see but you, unfortunately, hear about.

"You can't keep on avoiding her," Ekko tells you one evening, both of you hidden away with beers and some wraps. "Every time you leave, she turns into an upset puppy dog and when I tell you it's the most heart-wenching thing I've ever seen—"

"Shut up," you groan around a mouthful of chicken wrap before you swallow it down. "It's not like I don't know, alright? I'm highly aware of how sad my avoidance is making Vi." You sigh, running a hand through your hair. "It's just...her telepathy doesn't make it easy to be around her."

Ekko raises a brow. "Her telepathy?" He says, surprised. "That's kind of odd, I just thought you never had anything to hide from her. You two are as thick as thieves, Vi being able to read your mind would sound like a dream come true."

You take a swig of beer, relishing in the slight bitter taste, before saying, "It would be a dream come true if..."

"If...?" Ekko pushes after you go silent for a long moment.

"If... I didn't have a giant crush on her." You reveal, cheeks warm as you avoid eye contact with Ekko.

Ekko, who stares at you before going, "Ooooh. Yeah, that's a problem."

"No shit," you say with a roll of your eyes. "It's so annoying because It'd be fine if my mind knew how to shut up when Vi's around, but it doesn't! Every time she's around, my brain goes dumb and all it thinks about is how hot Vi is and how I wanna hold her hand and kiss her stupid face—"

"Whoa!" Ekko interrupts, raising his hands with a laugh. "Too much information. I see where those words were going, and I don't like it."

"I know, I'm sorry," you say, laughing weakly. "It's just...I like her so much, Ekko. And I don't want to freak her out with my dumb brain. So I'm just going to avoid her until I can get a better hold of my thoughts."

Ekko nods. "Sounds like a good idea in theory but what about Vi?" He asks, smiling sadly. "She's miserable without you, y'know? And she's worried that she's done something wrong. Thinks that her powers have freaked you out."

You groan, hiding your face in your hands as your heart shatters at that.

"It's not her, it's never her," you say firmly. "It's me—"

"Ekko?"

That's Vi's voice.

"Ekko, are you here?"

Shit.

"I gotta go!" You whisper, knocking over your beer as you hurry to stand up. "Don't tell her I was here!"

"Like she couldn't just read my mind but sure," Ekko says, deadpan, and you roll your eyes before waving goodbye, making your escape.

"Were they just here?" You hear Vi asks Ekko the moment you descend onto a rooftop, and break into a run.

Inwardly, you curse.

Why does this all have to be so complicated?

[skzthelomlhehe]

Telling bang chan you want a baby~

And hence begins my brainrot... Again. Lolol it's all just comfy stuff there's not much to warn about so just sit back and enjoy my baby fever antiques.

Warnings: unprotected sex, multiple cream pies, oral (both receiving)

Genre: smut, fluff, established relationships

Masterlist for this series <3 Total Masterlist

Husband!Chan x afab reader

It was just a random day in a random week. You and your husband Chan were all snuggled up comfy in your couch.

You were sitting up while he laid comfortably on your lap. Both of you busy in your own phones. This was your own way of spending time. Both of you believed that a soothing moment didn't always need to be going out and about on dates.

Sometimes it was about snuggling in a couch and showing each other memes on your phones.

You brushed your hand through his hair occassionally while scrolling through your social media.

It was your ovulating period. You were having a big baby fever. And the fact that all your socials, tiktok, insta, YouTube, snap and anything else was just full of baby stuff was far from helping.

In the middle of scrolling, you kept looking at these baby videos on youtube shorts. Your fingers scratched Chan's scalp gently when you suddenly spoke up, "Hey baby?"

"hmm?" Chan hummed in response, still busy in his phone. "Can I ask you something?" You put your phone aside. He took the hand that was on his head and placed a gentle kiss on it, "sure, love."

"can we make a baby?" You finally popped the question. "Mhm sur..- wait what??" His phone fell on his face as he realized what you just said. "Wh-wha...? What did you just say?" He got up, stumbling. You giggled at his response.

"I meeeaaann...~ We've been married for an year now and dated for 8 already! I think it's a good time." You smiled cutely at him before your expression turned to that of worry, "wh-why? You don't want to?" Your voice was soft and low, overflowing with concern and a tinge of fear.

"No... No! Baby! Of course I want to!" He rushed to give you the tightest hug. "We-well... You never brought it up so..." You let your face nuzzle into the crook of his neck, holding him close. "I... I just wanted you to take your time... It's a big thing after all." He mumbled before breaking out of the hug and holding your shoulders, his eyes locked onto yours in a lovingly stern gaze, one of devotion and sincerity.

Both of you leaned in to a deep kiss, your heart thumped knowing this time you would be able to feel him well inside and also have the chance to grow the life produced by both your love for each other inside you.

His lips trailed down, kissing your jaw, then your neck, until he was down to your collarbone leaving marks as he went down your neck. You tilted your head to grant him better access, whimpering as you felt his hands gently fondle with your boobs from above your clothes.

he stopped what he was doing, looking at you with lustful eyes. Both of you panting, both your hearts thumping in a matching rhythm. "Should we go to bed, my love?" he whispered. "Mhm..." you hummed and nodded in respone.

In one swift motion, he picked you up and carried you to the bedroom, throwing you (extremely gently because the man can't bear hurting you) on the bed.

He wasted no time, putting his hand under your shirt, brushing against your torso before snatching it off of you. You let him take the lead, undressing you little by little. He down to your back next, undoing your bra before throwing it away as well.

He let himself rest on your body, nuzzling into your neck, "God you're so beautiful..." He mumbled. You giggled at the sight. You could feel his heart racing. Suddenly it felt like your first time all over again.

You flinched when you felt his hand go down into your pants, gasping at his gentle yet burning touch. "Just give me that baby already, won't you?" you whined making him chuckle. He got up to give you a kiss, pushing a finger inside your pussy, "Patience, pretty~" he cooed, "look how wet you are already."

He shoved in another finger, squelching inside your hole and making it spread even more. He pulled his hand out, licking the digits that soaked in your love juices. And god was it the most sexiest thing ever.

He then proceeded to pull his shirt off, throwing it aside making you shudder in arousal at the view. His nicely built abs, his firm pecks... You still wondered just how to snagged such a Greek god looking man.

He leaned down, pulling your pants off revealing you slick. You could feel his hot breath against your skin. You just knew he had this god awfully hot smirk on his face. It didn't take him a second to connect his lips with your clit.

licking, sucking and softly biting the swollen bud while his fingers worked on fingering you, prepping you up to take him in. His tongue soon penetrated your hole while you laid there squirming in his touch, moaning like you've never felt it before, clenching the sheets as tight as you could.

He held on to your thighs, spreading them open as you tried to close them. Not a word was said but you knew he wanted you to be a good girl and so you did. "Cum... Cumming...! I'm cumming..!!" you moaned out. And in response, he just kept fucking you, both with his tongue and his fingers. It was his way of telling you that you can cum on his face as much as you want.

You gave out one big moan, letting lose. Flinching and trembling as you reached your climax. He sucked and licked you clean before get up. His lips and chin covered with your fluids. He wiped it clean, licking it up as well.

You got up, sitting, one hand on the bed while the other held his face as you gave him a soft kiss. You pushed him down catching him off guard, "Wha-what are you..?" "It's my turn now, channie darling~"

You rubbed on his bulge from above his pants, making him throw his head back and groan. You pulled his pants down, revealing his big throbbing cock. It was clear, no matter how many times you see it, you will never not be surprised and equally aroused at the sight wondering how to hell you manage to take him in.

You licked the entire length making him shudder before shoving the entirety of his cock in your mouth at once. Shivers went down his spine as his hands reached for your head, his fingers threading in your hair.

You started bobbing your head up and down, sucking and licking as you did, swallowing around him as well. "Fuck baby... You're taking it so damn well..." he groaned, a series of moans coming out of his juice plump lips. You whimpered too as you continued to suck him off.

A while of sucking and moaning, you could feel him twitching in your mouth even more. You pulled out with a pop, "Are you gonna cum, baby?" You asked, a seductive tone in your voice. "Yeah... I will, baby..." He nodded.

You smirked, still stroking him while you climbed up on top of him, positioning your hold on the tip of his dick, "Then do it inside me, love..."

He chuckled, holding on to your hips gently to help you. Meanwhile, you pushed down on him, showing his cock inside. You whimpered as you felt your hole stretching while Chan rubbed sloppy circles on your clit with his thumb, his hand holding you steady.

After a little more pushing, it was inside you completely. A wave of satisfaction washed over you as you felt yourself being so full... So full of him. You started moving, slowly at first, gradually picking up your speed.

Chan groaned, thrusting in to match your rhythm. At this point, the both of you were holding hands, fingers intertwined. You let yourself fall on Chan, his arms wrapping you up in a warm embrace as he continued to thrust into you relentlessly.

With one big slam, the tip was now kissing your cervix. You moaned louder, Chan still holding you in place. "Th-that... That feels... So... So gooodd~" You moaned out, whimpering and squealing with each thrust.

He pushed you down, grabbing your waist, thrusting deeper. You wrapped your arms around him, your nails digging in his skin making him hiss. But did that stop him? {Spoiler: FUCK NO}

He reached his peak, one big slam into you and he shot his load. Cum oozed out of your hole while you trembled. He pulled out, wiping up the overflowing fluid and shoving it inside you with his fingers, "Can't let that go to waste now, can we?" He chuckled.

He grabbed on to your legs, resting it over his broad shoulders before pushing his cock in you again while his previous load filled you up. He started pounding you again, his hands holding your hips steady.

Your head became fuzzy with how fast and deep he was going. Both of still high and sensitive from your previous climax felt even more stimulated.

He groaned as you clenched your walls around him. Your moans, the sounds of your skins meeting each other and the filthy wet sounds filled the room.

Chan turned to kiss your thigh gently, "Your voice is like music to my ears, y'know that?" he chuckled. With the very little scope of movement and energy you had, you threw a punch at him, a hard blush creeping up your face.

He let your legs relax, leaning down to kiss you while both of you let loose again. "I love you so much, my love..." he whispered in your ear. "I love you too, Chrissy~"

He stayed inside you, both of your fluids mixing with each other.

"Wanna go for round three, honey?" Chan smirked slyly. "Do I have a choice here?" "Don't think you do~ ❤️"

ehehehehhe personally i'm happy teehee 💕

[vaguely-concerned]

for what it's worth I personally don't believe spite had anything to do with the pantry near-kiss experience at all. I think that was a 100% lucanis naturel disaster no supernatural additives present or indeed required. at most spite was watching that whole situation go down with mild puzzlement about approximately every part of it, I don't think he'd have much interest in it one way or the other. the explanation seems much more mundane and grounded and in some ways much sadder to me.

if your nervous system has never been in a place where any surge of emotion, even -- in fact sometimes especially! -- a good and exciting one makes you feel like your soul just touched a hot stove it can't get away from, then sincerely, from the bottom of my heart and without a trace of snark, thank goodness and I hope you never experience it. For the rest of you... fistbump of solidarity it's rough out here but *grits teeth* we stay silly etc. In the place lucanis is in during that part of the game, feeling like you're losing control (again even for ostensibly good happy reasons) can feel an awful lot like you're dying, or worse. on top of everything else going on for him -- again going only with non-supernatural elements and not even comprehensive: a year of non-stop horrific trauma added to pile of previous mountain of childhood and attachment trauma. chronic sleep deprivation. apparently dead grandma doubling as mother figure. cousin-brother aggressively fucking around and in real danger of finding out. fucked up the ONE thing he thought he knew how to do that's been the central pillar of his identity. the world might be ending even more than it already was because of it. keeps faceplanting with barely any dignity and having to get up again with alarming regularity GOD how could I ever not save treviso this man desperately needs a W (just one!!) like few people in the history of the world have before him. he's more caffeine than man because the alternative feels worse. it's bad in here. and ON TOP of all that he's in the process of falling just. appallingly soul-shrivingly in love, which can notably be playing on hard mode even when you're in a mostly functional place, that shit routinely rocks people to the core under the best of circumstances.

so I'm not surprised it's too overwhelming for him to handle when he tries to throw himself in head first -- in fact I'd have been more surprised if it weren't lol. he clearly wants it so much, which only makes it so much more painful that he can't actually bear to touch it when it's offered to him freely and eagerly. this is the tantalus-level awfulness of this kind of attachment trauma; food seems to be right there, you can see it, almost smell it sometimes, but no matter what you just can't seem to reach it. seemingly not for any flaw in the existence of the food, but because of something broken in you that can't or can't bear to actually eat. his deliberate flirting routine is kind of deeply dorky tbh lol (in the most endearing way possible let's be perfectly clear) and I don't think it's entirely natural to him -- that's a hastily cobbled together 'oh god I am getting the vibes here it is happening for some reason they like me for my personality quick what would illario do' approach if ever I saw it, supported by the fact that it never really makes a return after this --

BUT I do think his obvious near-unbearable delight with rook's existence and person that shines through in that scene is entirely real and unfeigned. he likes them so much. he wants so bad to be able to be close to them. he's so hungry for the reprieve and release and relief they represent to him, just for one moment, just one break from all the awfulness to have something uncomplicatedly good. and it's here, it's been offered, he's welcome!!! and he has to flinch away at the last minute anyway because he's an exposed nerve of a human being. there's a point at which every sensation including joy becomes indistinguishable from agony. he's pretty much exactly at that point. for the love of god have some mercy on him people. the feeling that salvation is right here but you're too broken a vessel to hold it is one I wouldn't wish on anyone. let him have a few moments to stare into the void before he's ready to get back up and try again surely we all deserve at least that much lol

[lennythereviewer]

Theory: Jax is NOT a self-aware NPC nor is he actually trapped in the circus: He's a hacker who can leave at any time.

Even what little we got in terms of Jax content in episode 3 has been reinforcing a belief I've had for awhile, and in fact Jax's brief standout moment in ep 3 added a new wrinkle to my thought: That he's not some NPC who gained sentience and slipped in with the humans, he's actually a hacker who backdoored his way into the Digital Circus, and he's not trapped there.

Jax seems to have an affinity for keys and getting into places he shouldn't belong. Twice now he's done this thing of spinning a key on his finger while boasting about it. He mentions in episode 1 that "I got keys to everywhere" and in episode 2 he swiped the key to the kingdom from Ragatha, and the candy monster calls him a "Master of Unlocking Things" which I think could be genuinely some subtle foreshadowing. A hacker would potentially be able to do something like clip out of bounds, find security keys, crack passwords, and so on and so forth. All he's done with this however is seemingly just pull pranks and leave things in peoples rooms; he's a troll.

We've all speculated about the mysterious pin-back covers: The official pin merch line showing everyone's rooms except for Jaxs, which only shows his door and peeks of The Void tearing through the wall. We're not privvy to what's in Jaxs room if he even has one at all. His room door might actually be his own sort of exit door since he's not trapped. For him it's like loading into a VRChat server and he can log off any time he wants, he's just always sure to be there when everyone else is active so no one notices.

A small stupid thing but, "Jax" is not too far off from "Hax"

Okay, so if Jax is a hacker who can come and go as he pleases, a question is why? Why does he keep coming back to torment everyone around him? His brief gag in Episode 3 I think filled in the blanks for that: He's not just a hacker, he's a streamer and he's broadcasting everything that's happening in the Digital Circus to a watching audience.

He's the one character who has consistently broken the fourth wall in all three episodes so far, the first two episodes were him mugging to the camera and giving comical shrugs and knowing glances to the viewer, but in this episode he outright addresses the audience while seemingly talking to no one to the POV of the other circus members. He's acknowledging his chat. Plus in merch promotion Jax has openly acknowledged his IRL popularity, another form of fourth-wall-breaking.

This may also explain his overall behavior; the reason he's always causing problems on purpose or forcing the group to go on the most dangerous path or take the most 'exciting' option in their adventures: It makes for a good show. Audiences don't want some stupid silly candyland fantasy! They want car chases and explosions! They want to see what wacky things happen to the other circus members! The show must go on! Jax is chasing content, and when he can't get that content it upsets him like the end of Episode 2. Maybe that ties into his self-worth, maybe he needs that sort of validation from his chat and audience.

This angle also adds a bit of a meta angle to the entire series: We the viewer also tune in to watch our favorite circus buddies suffer through whatever zany adventure Caine cooked up. Are we any better than Jax's livestream audience who tune in to see how they're tormented by Caine this week? Heck maybe in-universe we're the audience Jax is playing to! We too want to see them sweat and suffer to get that sweet character growth so are we part of the problem?

Time will tell whether this comes to pass and whether or not I'm overthinking this, but I've had this thought for awhile and only after this episode did the livestreamer angle come to mind.

[cakemoney]

i don't want to die on any hills but i sometimes feel like I'm the only person who read the last scene of romeo and juliet

paris stands between romeo and juliet's tomb. he is not part of the audience; he has no idea juliet and romeo had secretly fallen in love and gotten married; he is not privy to the plot of the story. all he knows is that tensions between capulets and montagues are at an all-time high, and now a banished criminal is breaking into the capulet mausoleum. he does what anyone with the information that he has would think is honorable. romeo approaches, rambles at him unhinged and doesn't explain anything, and calls him a boy; a youth, the same way everyone else talks about romeo throughout the play. in fact, he does it again after he's killed him and come closer to see who it is:

this isn't meant to be a defense of paris, really; i think paris's character very much varies based on how his lines are performed, and depending on the production he could be anywhere between outright sleazy to obliviously presumptuous. it's certainly true that many of his lines are possessive of juliet, and that he is incredibly pushy about pursuing marriage, but no, he is not way older and definitely an adult. and i think that detail matters, because i think the real thesis of the play is unveiled when we reach the end and check the tally and realize that all five people who died—mercutio, tybalt, paris, romeo, and at last juliet—were all explicitly or implicitly referred to as young at some point.*

i see the point in the original post! the enforcing of patriarchy is absolutely a part of romeo and juliet, but it's woven into the greater premise; the social order and power that maintains the rivalry between the two houses is the same social order and power that disregards the opinions and agency of all the women in the play, starting from the very beginning when both ladies capulet and montague fail to deescalate the brawl. montague doesn't show up again until the end, but we see a lot of capulet, arguably responsible for setting most of the wheels in motion. in act 1 scene 2, he's in a good mood; he says outright that it's time to put the rivalry to rest, and tells paris that if he wants to marry juliet, "my will to her consent is but a part", that it matters whether or not juliet likes him. it's clear in his initial resistance to the marriage that he cares for her. but then tragedy strikes, he's reeling and upset, and though he was hesitant, he decides that the best course of action is for juliet to marry paris; and, having decided that, he flies off the handle when juliet disagrees. he had promised juliet to someone, so if juliet doesn't follow through, it will reflect poorly on him, and that's the last thing that he needs right now. his behavior is inconsistent; sometimes he's jovial and chill, but sometimes he's overtaken with fury and lashes out at people he has power over. his wife, just as before, is powerless and falls in line quickly; the nurse attempts to defend juliet, but once they are alone, she counsels juliet to accept her father's decision as the best outcome she can hope for. they live in a patriarchal society, and in this specific society, the patriarchy manifests in the form of a rivalry based on nothing but pride.

the patriarchs themselves are fully grown adults. they know that the rivalry is frivolous and perhaps even in bad faith. capulet is able to threaten violence (over some random servants crossing paths on a public street?) during the day and then dismiss romeo montague crashing a party in his house as not a big deal that very night (tybalt tells capulet about romeo's presence, and capulet tells tybalt to take no note of it). montague's first lines on first appearance are "let me at him!!!" but then once the crowd has dispersed, he has to ask benvolio what happened and who even started it; he was starting a fight for no reason, and he knows that. but the young men in the play have grown up in the shadow of this nebulous hatred; they take it seriously, because they don't know any better, because they don't have the life experience and context to understand that they shouldn't. they take their cues from the leaders of their society—men who, instead of controlling their anger, blow up at random things and then call it honor. in act 1 scene 1, the first time tybalt picks a fight, he's saying dramatic shit like "turn thee, benvolio, look upon thy death"; more grandstanding than combat. he brandishes his sword because it's what his uncle capulet does, so it's the honorable thing to do, so he tries to do it again at the party that night and is so confused when his uncle berates him and calls him a "saucy boy". he's belittled and dismissed, and he doesn't understand why, so in act 3 scene 1, desperate to prove himself, he's now talking completely differently. he ignores benvolio who he had claimed to hate, does not rise to mercutio's taunts and even says "peace be with you"; he states his challenge to romeo plainly, uses formal language and frames it as defending the honor of his house, and does not even draw his sword until mercutio did it first.

romeo is repeatedly described as sensitive and well-mannered by other characters; he tries to keep his cool, keep the peace, he resists tybalt's challenge. but then tragedy strikes; his love is no match for the expectations of hatred and violence that surround them. o sweet juliet, thy beauty hath made me effeminate, he says, and kills tybalt, because that is what masculine honor demands. he's devastated, grieving, angry for how unfairly tybalt had targeted him, horrified at what he's done, terrified of what this means for his future and the life he had wanted with juliet, and he doesn't know how to process any of this except as hatred, for others and for himself; he spends the rest of the story desperate to die, threatening to kill himself when his execution is converted to banishment, because violence, as always, is the only honorable path open to him. his love for juliet was the only thing that stopped him, and then again his love isn't enough, because juliet is dead. in the last scene of the play, in a graveyard, paris calls romeo a villain and challenges him, exactly the way tybalt did, and romeo sees him for what he is: just another boy playing at being a man, in a neverending cycle. do not urge me to fury, he says. i'm a man, i've killed before, and i cannot control what i will do.

that's what the play is about. if you raise your children in a hateful environment, they will destroy themselves. the future of the noble houses, even the prince's, is ruined, because this society is unsustainable, because the men (the boys) that it creates don't know how to function as adults; they don't know how to mediate and resolve conflicts and compromise, they don't know how to express emotion and assert their personhood except through violence, and even when there is no longer anyone around to inflict violence upon, they turn it upon themselves. when the carnage is discovered in the morning, both capulet and montague vow to personally make amends, because both of them know intimately that the tragic, wild, seemingly unpredictable actions of these children were their fault.

*mercutio is the only one for whom i can't recall any lines regarding age. his behavior and friendship with romeo seem to indicate that they are peers, but mercutio and benvolio also have the air of older guy friends (boyfriends?) who are dragging their depressed younger cousin with them on outings because romeo's mom asked them to cheer him up. relatedly, i think there is a viable interpretation (although i'm not married to it) that when mercutio is killed and curses both houses, it's because he's flabbergasted that his goading on of tybalt and romeo's fight led to real consequences. like "wtf, did you just kill me for real, i thought we were playing around"

It’s always so funny to me when people push the “Romeo was grooming Juliet” theory, especially when Paris is right there.

Romeo is around Juliet’s age and we can tell by his lines that Paris is way older and definitely an adult. Like. Look at R + J’s banter, it’s two total equals having fun with each other. They kiss and then Juliet asks for another kiss!! They match each other’s weird vibe!! Romeo says shit like “I wish I was your pet bird” and Juliet responds that she would literally crush it to death because she’d love it too much. Weirdos!!! They match each other’s freak!!!

Compare that with how Juliet interacts with Paris. He’s predatory and possessive over her, and it’s pretty obvious she’s uncomfortable. He pushes her dad to let him marry her even though he knows she’s too young!! Instead of playful banter we get Juliet being quiet and subdued, the complete opposite of her fiery, weird self she is with Romeo!!

“Oh, Juliet should’ve just married Romeo” No! If she did she would have ended up just like her mother, forced to marry an adult man and have a baby way too young, rendering her unable to connect with her child, and then the cycle would continue!

The theme of men preying on young girls and the patriarchy leading to destruction is there!! But Romeo is not the problem!!! He’s actually the opposite of the problem !!!!

[salemrph]

Breaking down "Where Drakeshadows Fall"

We are far from done, breaking down Sylus Myth. Grab pens and paper. This feels like connecting dots on a crime scene.

I came across this comment under a video on TikTok, the creator explains everything so well. Here is the video: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGd6j4Eb2/

@Gem: sylus mentions that one of those weapons in the cave was used 108 times or something, and I thought "maybe the 109th time it will actually work with MC" and then I thought "109....109??? 109!!"

I will try to connect every moment we have seen on the current timeline to reference the Myth. (If I'm forgetting something, leave it in the comments)

We start at the very beginning. Sit back this may be long.

Our first encounter.

Violent, just like the first time they met in the Abyss.

MC attacks Sylus with her knife, cutting under his eye.

He strangles her. In the Myth, she is the one—

The voice in her head urging her to claim the power inside Sylus’s eye.

And again, the second attempt. He hands her the gun and pulls the trigger himself. MC doesn’t truly want him to die, so she presses against the wound, and Sylus heals.

"Save that for the day you actually succeed in killing me."

Main Story: Cap. 1-8

MC and Stylus are at Philip's Lab (I think that was the name of the Shopkeeper). So, Sylus is desperate to resonate. And Philip is just like "she is either rejecting you, scared of you or disgusting by you..."

Um… yeah, that must’ve hurt. A lot.

There she is—his beloved, weak, without her memories, and outright rejecting him. Maybe he’s angry at her, but maybe he’s also furious about whatever happened to bring them to this point.

We know he isn't a patient man.

Main Story: Chapter 2-1

Little Girl "... He's a monster with huge wings that never dies. And he has horns!"

The Auction: Chapter 2-10

Of course we have the flashback to the Myth before MC is finally able to resonate with Sylus.

"That life you own me—now is not the time to repay me."

When they return to the Base, MC brings up the topic with her vision, asking if it was real. His response?

"If I say yes, will you give me a sincere apology?"

I guess the apology would be because of the curse. Like, hey, you killed me and you brought me back. So...

Nightplumes

"Do you know what you look right now?"

We hear in both the same sentences. I just love Nightplumes.

Midnight Warmth

"I want to leave a mark too"

Even if he isn't a vampire, the need to leave a mark on MC. Argh... Just beautiful.

Continuous Symphony.

The song and the conversation.

*A wounded person might never wake up again if they fall asleep"

We have the dream and the song. I don't need to explain but...

MC asked him why he stopped playing the song and him replying "There is no “after”". Which is not the whole true. She refused to continue because it’s a requiem for the departed. Since he was injured because of her, she didn’t want to be the last thing Sylus heard.

"Sincere feelings are hard to forget"

Grassland romance

Both talking about where Home is... Yeah, Sylus just says something like he will stay wherever she is.

I would relate this to their conversation and this dream-like memory we have in black Chapel. Being their home.

Melodic Weave

"Unfortunately... the string of fate connecting us can't be cut that easily."

Immobilized

The Snake analogy about their evol linkage, maybe remind what MC said: "...Sylus, did you already know that we would instinctively want to devour each other?"

Making also a reference at the curse they share.

"When two snakes are devouring each other, one will inevitably be crowned the victory"

I'm 90% sure that Sylus must know why the evol linkage appears.

"Does this mean, that one day, even without the linkage, you'll choose to stand by my side?"

Destiny Café

The Hand interaction: Sylus bites our / MC hand. Like she did before.

Heartbeat cheeking: "If our heart rates sync up, then maybe we can resonate" After bonding their soul, they were like one. More coordinated then begin just one. This made me think about Luke and Kieran. (What gone through... That's another topic).

Outfit: Golden Crow's Feather of Eternity

Maybe there is more, but I'm just Lvl 75 with Sylus.

Anecdotes

MC and Sylus are the two faces of the same coin. Is insane.

Searing Touch & Call: Remote Support

I'm mentioning the call because, with the through Searing Touch, we learn or in another way, he admits once more that MC is his biggest weakness.

"Who could ever do anything to me except you?" (Call)

Far away that, after the Myth, we have the absolute and devastating confirmation: She is life and death for him. In the broadest sense.

She asked him about why he was at that place. Half joking if it was because of her. Well...

"Yeah, you're right. I went there for you."

"I'd rather rush exposing my weaknesses when I protect you then see you injured."

Again, he would rather sacrifice himself...

Gem Hunting: Charon

No need to say too much, the N109 Zone is basically Taurus City.

Maybe if destiny continues their way, could it be that MC will leave the Hunter Association. Or she will be tagged like as a traitor... But like Sylus said, if she wants to understand his world, MC needs to step beyond light and shadow.

Back to the event. I love their interaction. I love the style.

So that all, for now. Maybe I update this when I find more connecting points.

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

The last time TK and Carlos talk about Jonah onscreen is after the raid on the house in ep 8. And then in ep 9 TK tells Tommy and Nancy that if it's a choice between Jonah and Carlos he chooses Jonah, and Carlos needs to make a decision. At this point TK doesn't seem to have much hope that Carlos will change his mind from where it was.

What I'm struggling with is the fact that the quick words exchanged between them after the raid were apparently the end of their conversation about Jonah full stop. After that TK is apparently in a position to tell his work colleagues that they might be splitting up, which felt like a huge leap to me. Am I missing something? You seemed to enjoy the plotline and filling in the gaps so I'm curious for your thoughts!

Well, thank you, anon! I appreciate this opportunity!

This is all off the top of my head after just one viewing of the episode. I'm sure I'll work on my headcanons and modify things as I rewatch and discuss and read fic, but I surely have THOUGHTS about how to fill in these blanks for now.

(Ok, this got long so...under the cut lol)

The way I see it they never really had the opportunity to continue their conversation. Trying to figure out anything to do with a timeline on this show is usually a losing battle, but from what I can see, they likely weren't home together (or at least not home and awake at the same time) between the events of episodes 8 and 9.

We don't know what Carlos did after leaving the hospital in episode 8, but he was obviously very shaken by what he found out from Nestor Grimes. It's incredibly likely, really almost certain, that he immediately went to start investigating those CIs who were killed and gathered the information he presents to Bridges at the beginning of 9. So Carlos probably got home late when TK was already asleep. Then, the next morning (I'm going with it being the next morning because it works for me and I don't think the show contradicts it lol), Carlos goes to work early, ready to show Bridges what he found. It's very possible he left before TK woke up. Even if they were briefly home and awake at the same time, with everything on Carlos' mind and his urgency to get to work to talk to Bridges, I doubt they would have had a serious conversation about Jonah right then. Really, it works best for me if they don't even see each other, so that's what I'm going with!

I think this goes a long way towards explaining TK's stance early in the episode. He has decided that he needs to take Jonah. He can't abandon his brother. I think this is very valid and incredibly in character for him. In the brief moments that he was able to talk to Carlos about this, Carlos was resistant to the choice TK has already made, but they weren't able to finish the conversation. As far as TK knows, the murder investigation isn't going to end anytime soon, and he might even be a little extra annoyed with Carlos for not coming home early enough to allow them to talk this through all the way (particularly if he has no idea of the monumental revelations that are rocking Carlos' world right now, which I think it's likely he doesn't.)

Carlos may not feel able to adopt a toddler right now, but TK HAS TO. I don't think TK is sitting there planning to initiate divorce proceedings, but I feel like it's reasonable and realistic for him to be thinking that if Carlos does not feel able to make the same choice he is making, this could break them. But I don't see it as TK not having much hope that Carlos will change his mind. I think he's really just unsure about what's going to happen and what choice Carlos is going to make. Carlos hasn't been given the opportunity to make his choice yet. He isn't going to force Carlos to do this, he hasn't sat Carlos down and given him an ultimatum, and I don't think he knows what's going to happen to them in that moment. But the one thing he is sure about is that he's going to adopt Jonah. It doesn't bother me that he tells Nancy and Tommy this because they aren't just his work colleagues, they're his FAMILY. He probably would like to be telling Carlos, but circumstances have prevented them from getting that chance, and this is not a conversation you have over texting!

So then throughout the course of episode 9, TK and Carlos don't ever get the chance to talk. Carlos is going through some MAJOR SITUATIONS, but it's all happening very fast, and TK is also at work by this point. What Carlos is going through is also something that he's not going to be able to fully tell TK through texts or even a quick conversation at the scene. When TK and Carlos are at the scene together, it's night. Then, when Carlos is in Presidio for their Ranger Soup manhunt, it's day, so clearly another day has passed. However, has Carlos been home? I'm sure he hasn't. I looked and Presidio, Texas is about 8 hours from Austin. Sam is trying to cross the border into Mexico and they need to intercept him before he does. That means they must have driven there straight through the night. I have to imagine Carlos gave TK some information about what was going on, but I doubt he had the opportunity to tell him the whole story, and they certainly didn't have a chance to discuss Jonah. Maybe TK himself was on a 24 hour shift at the time so they didn't have time for more than a quick update of where Carlos was going and when he might be back. Then, Carlos gets shot and ends up in the hospital.

Since we're told the bullet simply ricocheted out of Carlos (😂), I'm thinking he was not in the hospital for very long. Since you only have to be in the hospital a few days and are immediately fine after enduring a coma, I think it's safe to assume a bullet ricochet situation only requires an overnight stay. I'm not sure where Carlos would be in the hospital, but probably not Austin, since he got shot in Presidio, which is 8 hours away. This means TK would have to be driving to get to him, so I guess I'm going to assume TK hadn't arrived yet when we see Carlos in the hospital. He was certainly on his way! Since Carlos was up and about, he would definitely have communicated with TK by phone by that point, so TK knows Carlos is ok. When TK finally arrives at the hospital, I imagine a big conversation about Jonah would be the furthest thing from his mind! Carlos could have DIED and also he just SOLVED HIS FATHER'S MURDER! They have so much to talk about aside from the Jonah situation.

Next, Carlos gets discharged from the hospital and comes home. He and TK have conversations about Gabriel and his grief. They probably talked a bit about Jonah as well, but I could imagine TK may have put off the real serious decision-making conversation himself at this point. He knows that the real roadblock to Carlos making a decision on this issue was his search for his father's murderer. That search is over now and Carlos is dealing with the immediate aftermath, not at all an easy thing to be confronted with. I could absolutely see TK saying "let's not talk about this right now" and not pushing it on him or forcing him to make a decision in the midst of everything else. While the Jonah situation is somewhat urgent, it's probably not so urgent that they can't take a couple days when such a monumental thing has occurred.

I think things are still moving very quickly because Carlos hasn't even told Andrea the whole story yet, as he mentions to Gabriel that he is going to do that next. The way I imagine it, Carlos probably came home from the hospital, went to bed, got up and went through some kind of Ranger debriefing in the morning, went to the cemetery with TK, and then planned to go see Andrea. During that time, TK has taken care of him and given him comfort and talked to him about his father. Carlos has been sorting everything through in his mind...it's A LOT!! And he has now come to the conclusion that it's time to tell TK he's ready.

Ok, this is all very long and I doubt anyone has read to this point so I'll stop now lol

I'm sure I'll have many more thoughts on this subject in the coming weeks!

[bberetd]

GUYS. I went to bed last night and dreamt up the craziest scenario for the final section of brothership, specifically the fake Mushroom Kingdom part. I HAD TO EXPAND ON IT.

So this part right?

Every time you say no, Peach gets a little more frustrated, but she's smiling through it. And what throws the bros off is that she initiates a battle with them because of this. She's in no fighting position, just beaming at them with her hands folded. Her level is ????? and named Peach?

When it's Mario or Luigi's turn to fight... the thing is that they don't; they don't want to fight Peach. I was thinking:

the Bros. attacks, Jump, and Hammer boxes are grayed out, or

You CAN choose Jump or Hammer, but the bros take one look at Peach, stop themselves and go back to their original positions, letting the player choose their action again.

So you would only be able to use your items if you needed to or rearrange your plugs, which would be Brothership's version of "sparing" Peach. Even if she's fake, if she's someone she's not, they couldn't bring themselves to fight their princess!

When the bros' turns are up, Peach says some more optimistic dialogue while she performs attacks on them with her umbrella. They're not too strong because it's Peach, who isn't renowned for damage dealing, but more of giving paralyzing or dizzying attacks. Though it is IMPOSSIBLE to dodge this Peach's attacks, so either bro will always take the same amount of damage whether they emergency guard or not.

But THEN once Peach is tired of going back and forth with the bros (say after five turns), her facade breaks immediately and she becomes Glohm Peach (but make her more edgy-looking, kinda like Shadow Queen Peach). She readies a deadly beam from the tip of her umbrella that would kill either bro instantly... internally. Externally, I think it would make them either super weak-minded or wipe their memory clean, for good. But we don't want that, right? (...right?)

Who the beam goes to is random, and if it does hit either of them, then it would show a Game Over screen with the conscious bro hovering over the unconscious bro with their hands out to hold him. But if they hit the beam with their hammer on time, it ricochets off it and goes back to Peach, making her take a LOT of damage and sending her toppling over (no xp is earned because it's all in the mind).

We cut back to the castle and now we see an effed up version of Peach, merging her and Reclusa's appearance together (Peaclusa? Reclusa Peach?). Her voice sounds very distorted, a hint of Reclusa's voice slipping every now and then. Reclusa delivers a few more chilling lines before collapsing, as he's too weak to deal with the bros at the moment, but recovers quickly by the time they meet him in the real world. But for now, Mario and Luigi run past the fake Peach to get their heads out of those flowers.

[chasing-posts]

Team Gai "Needs" a Medical Ninja

I often see the talking point that Team Gai does not have a healer on their team, and that makes them incomplete/ lacking in some way. I'd like to bring up a counterpoint:

Team Gai does not need a healer, because every member of team Gai acts as a healer in their own way. Sometimes, better than any medical ninja could provide on their own.

Gai & Lee

Now one might think that these two knuckleheads are the most likely to get injured or need a healer after they fight. And it's true, these two are the most likely to hurt themselves. Both in how up close they get to their opponents, and with how the Eight Gates effects their bodies.

However, those same Gates that break their body appart, can also heal them.

Gate 2, The Gate of Healing, has been shown to actively heal bad cuts and stop the bleeding of any major wounds. Although it takes up a lot of energy, it will save them in almost any emergency situation. By Shippuden, both are able to open the gates multiple times back to back without permanently damaging their bodies (minus the 8th), so these two actually have the highest chance of recovering from serious injuries on team Gai.

Further more, Gai particularly has extensive knowledge on the human body. To the point he can make his own food pills and set any broken bones he or his kids may acquire. So long as he has the right tools, he can protect his kids.

Neji

Neji has probably the best chakra control of the group which could technicallymake him the best chance of being the team healer (although I don't think canon went with this or confirmed it). More importantly, he has the Byakugon. If he or his team got hurt, he could look inside them and see what the injury is, how its effecting them, and how to handle it

If they need to stop the bleeding, he could probably do so with his gentle fist. Temporarily stopping the blood flow and tourniquet any wound until they could see a doctor. His eyes are like having an MRI and a Xray machine with the team at all times. He could pinpoint the extent of the injury and see if the damage is to the bones, blood, tissue, organs or even chakra network. Analyzing and discovering his team's injuries would be his to and protect his team.

TenTen

Contrary to popular belief, Tenten is not just a weapons expert, she's a summoning expert. There is a LOT more than weapons in her scrolls and she could summon an entire medical tent and full of supplies at a second's notice. There is nothing her scrolls can't carry: cables, bandaids, tornaquets, burn remedies, antibodies, antipoisons, medicine, even blood bags: TenTen could have all this and more. Should anyone get injured, she could physically tend to the team or at least provide all the equipment neccessary to protect the team, should anyone get hurt.

In conclusion: Team Gai does not NEED a Medical ninja. Because every member of Team Gai could act as a medical specialist in their own way, without the use of medical Jutsu.

[sweetbunpura]

Filled with Static pt.2....

Summary: Yuu was already fed up before coming to Playful Land and now that it's over... She has some very choice words for she has reached her boiling point...

Part 1

Crewel commands his dogs to heel before they come running towards the front door. Yuu timidly followed him inside and rubs her eyes before they lock onto his dalmatians.

"Pongo and Perdy."

Yuu crouches down and pats her thighs to bring the dogs to her, they both look at Crewel as he nods his head. She pets the dalmatians as Crewel closes the door. He looks at her as she laughs at the dogs licking her face.

"Pup." Green eyes move towards him. "What happened?"

Yuu's quiet for a few minutes before she begins to explain everything: from the overblot scars, to how tired she's been being the sole reason everyone is still alive, to what happened today. By the end, Crewel nearly crushed the glass cup in his hand.

"I didn't know where else to go and I remembered you saying you had a guest house in town to stay close to the school." Her shoulder slump as tears filled her eyes. "I-I-'m sorry."

Crewel approached his pseudo daughter and easily lifted her up. "Never apologize for something like this. You can stay here for now."

"Thank you."

He drops her off in the guest room and calls Trein. After explaining the situation to the older man, he shows up at the door a few moments later.

"So this is why Lucius told me her scent was stale..." Trein sets the feline down in his lap as he sits down. "To think they would be as reckless as this, they've put themselves into more danger than they were able to get themselves out of."

"They've done this before-"

"Yes, but not to this extent, Divus." Trein interrupts. "Yuu told you that they technically didn't get out of this. That phone call was coincidence, along with that Honest man hating his boss enough to destroy the park." He sighs and Crewel can clearly see his old age coming through. "And she has a wooden styled scar?"

"Yes."

"...She can't keep going like this, we can't send her back to NRC."

Before Crewel had a chance to talk, the soft sound of a door opening caught their attention. Yuu entered the room in only her NRC pants and white shirt. Lucius hopped off Trein's lap as the teacher moved to wrap Yuu up in a hug. She hugged him tight and sobbed softly into his shoulder.

"We'll address the others tomorrow." Crewel speaks softly. "And we should tell Crowley-"

"Don't." Came Yuu's muffled voice. "He doesn't care about me."

"Regrettably, he has to know."

Yuu pried her face out of the elder man's shoulder. "You know that winter break? Where Scarabia stayed behind as well as Grim and I? And our wonderful Octotrio?"

The teachers looked at one another and then at her. "Yes."

"He gave me a phone to contact him in case of an emergence. Grim and I got held captive by Jamil and the dorm, so I called him... But the phone's service was shitty and when we did contact him, it went straight to voicemail. I tried several times before realizing this man didn't care enough about us and that the phone was just given to us so that he could pat himself on the back about giving us a means of communicating."

"...Viper kidnapped you?" Trein blinked in surprise. "And Crowley did what?"

Crewel leaned against the counter. "....Pup, what happened over winter break?"

"Jamil overblotted." She moved her collar to show off the ink stain snake bite. "And I got scarred in the processed."

"He over....Oh my lord." Trein covered his mouth. "Has anyone else overblotted that we haven't been made aware of?"

"Vil and Idia."

Crewel let out a low growl. "He's kept three overblots from us!?"

Trein sighs and pets Yuu's head. "Head on back to bed. You're tired and Divus and I need to plan out how tomorrow will go."

She nodded and bid them a goodnight and a farewell before leaving. The teachers stared at her before Trein spoke up.

"Calm yourself, Divus."

"How can I knowing what happened while we were blissfully unaware!?" He snarled. "That is my daughter and I knew nothing of her condition! How are you calm?"

"I'm not, I'm absolutely lived. Now, let's brainstorm how to handle this."

[fairestbeard]

Did Richie jinx Sydcarmy?

(This is not an attack on Richie, just an attempt to understand his mind space regarding Sydcarmy at the time)

This scene has been playing in my mind for quite some time now and I've been wondering what part (if any) Richie played in the conflict between Carmy and Sydney. Was he just a passerby/observer in this or did he actively participate in the separation of sydcarmy?

In my last meta, I talked about how Claire's call spooked Carmy because he couldn't reconcile his intentions/desires with reality and that's why he blew off the food tour with Sydney. However, I don't think it stopped there. There's a chance that Richie may have further spooked him and contributed to breaking whatever remaining resolve Carmy may have had to still try to make things work with Syd (maybe intentionally, maybe not).

One thing we observed in season 1 is that Richie would lash out for any scrap of control when he's feeling powerless. We saw him go head to head with Syd when he felt she was influencing too much of a change in "review", leading to the ever infamous Syd/Richie fight scene.

Now we see him witness Carmy giving Syd all that controlling power in season 2 as well, even more than season 1. He's witnessed her rise to an unofficial partner of the beef, being able to raise dust when anything significant goes on without her knowledge, while he's literally unable to define his own purpose. Clocking them and making a petty signal about it as a mini lashing out is very on par for pre-transformation Richie.

One thing about The Bear is they would leave gaping plot holes, like a fill-in-the-blank-spaces kind of thing, so viewers can make up their own version of stories and interpretations. They never show what happened with Carmy running that errand for Claire but following that was Carmy being the most almost overtly romantic he had been with Syd yet, when she surprises him at The Bear later as the wall is being taken down- a scene that all fan edits never do without.

Maybe he was feeling guilty about blowing her off, but I think he was more trying to get back to the closeness they had experienced in the apartment. The way he touches her, kicks debris out of the way for her, patiently tries to understand her gripe with the recent renovations and work out their differences to a mature and logical conclusion screams "I know I veered from the path and I'm trying to get back" in the most Carmy way. But then, he completely backs off from Syd after Richie made it known he had clocked them.

Richie's main focus is the success of The he Bear. He has nowhere else to go.

Unlike the rest of them, he really has nowhere else to go. The Beef/Bear is it as at that point. Everyone else has other prospects, from Carmy even down to Neil Fak- they can pivot. He, of all people, is, in my opinion, the most desperate to have The Bear succeed and I can imagine him thinking about the possibility of a silly romance sinking or stalling its progress. He is already aware how important Syd is to that project and also how problematic Carmy is. He most probably also wanted to protect them from each other and the project from them. Even in season 1, when he was majorly wilding out, it was still in the interest of keeping The Beef afloat and running.

"It's a delicate fucking ecosystem"

I wonder if he verbally said something to Carmy after that scene. Maybe voiced his concern or gave a warning. Maybe he even just confronted Carmy about his observation in his usual jokey manner, causing Carmy to do what he does the best- "running away". Richie also clocks his next move, running to Claire and that statement Richie made to Carmy when he brings her to the restaurant is all kinds of loaded.

"Mold is the death knell"

Now, all of this things I have talked about have been more practical and doesn't equate to jinxing in the real context, so I will refer to my previous meta about the episode Pasta and the use of the magical in The Bear.

Richie is the one who ends up spoiling "the magic" in a symbolic sense when the mold (death knell) is unloaded on him, the spell master, supervisor, etc. He was the one to signify the doom to come to Sydney and Carmy's relationship. So by butting himself into their affairs in any capacity, whether with good intentions or not, maybe he put the final nail in the coffin?

All these kind of makes Carmy's unhinged outburst to Richie seem a lot less surprising (not saying that Carmy was right but that it doesn't seem as left field is you consider that Carmy partially blamed him- which Carmy is known to do, blame others). That would be why he was so triggered to unload that much unhinged vitriol at Richie, especially with Richie saying he couldn't let something good happen for once in his life.

The incredulous look Carmy gives seemed like saying no, YOU wouldn't let something good happen for once in my life, you had to ruin it like my family always does. Because even when Richie calls him Donna he was mad but didn't totally lose it until Richie made that statement. Also their conversation in season 1 about Richie only bringing bad news and Carmy afraid of good things happening seems very congruent to the leading events and to this scene.

Is Richie against sydcarmy? I would guess that with him being pleased about Carmy moving forward with Claire and with the way he was so hard on her side- encouraging Carmy to go out to her during F&F and chewing Carmy when things didn't go well- he actually was, at least initially. But I don't think it was for malicious reasons. I think he just wanted to protect The Bear and maybe Syd and Carmy from what he probably guessed would be a disaster for several reasons (one important one I'll talk about later).

So, yes, I think Richie jinxed sydcarmy.

NB: I didn't intend to post this right now but it accidentally posted, so I have to do all this rushed edit and update.

[enden-k]

Was not expecting the (partial) lore drop with Saran's name. Excuse me while I hyperfixate on that because ONE AND A MYSTERY LETTER IS TOO SHORT FOR ME TO CRACK IT....for now at leastLiterally too short.

I have speed consumed the entirety of the available content to determine what it's about. I am going to speed consume it once more the SECOND I have time because the theories-

Currently, sitting at the theory of last name. What i find the most interesting is that he will call himself that, but hates it when others do (the whine is mostly the same across non traumatized and reverse Saran so clearly, not that BIG an insult to his person/ego but still not enjoyable) AND it's seemingly a part of his actual name. It's not "Don't call me that" but "Don't say my name/like that"

(Second working theory and the reason i need to speed consume stuff once more is for my theory of Saran not being his name/being a nickname- Bit of a long shot. But!! If he's never/rarely mentioned by name across all of the content with pre Vika people, it becomes a little more possible. After all, he seemed to have reinvented himself after his death to a point where he was comfortable again after such a betrayal, who's to say he didn't ditch a name he disliked?)

(Or it could be just his last name he ditched. Who knows? Certainly not me)

-🦜

"saran" is the first syllables of his very long last name (family name). when his parents named him, he was given a first name and an unknown nickname for the time being until he was able to choose one for himself. which he later changed to "saran"

in their family, the first name is smth blessed and saying it is very intimate and only between close ones like family members or partners which is why they pick nicknames for outside the close circle

he went with "saran" bc its just the very shortened version of his family name and saved him the trouble of thinking of a new nickname

azai is the only one who knows his first name bc theres an important moment (OG amygdala ofc) where saran takes him HOME home; not to his apartment but to his families home to get a few things for their early amygdala experiments. azai overheard sarans mother calling his name bc its been ages since he showed up at his home again; later on when azai is alone with her bc hes not permitted to enter the sacred halls, she has a very sweet, motherly talk with him which he understands as permission to have her son

when he uses his name for the first time, saran has quite the feral reaction bc like i said, its very intimate. azai uses it without his permission and saran doesnt like it, esp not the way he says it, bc it implies theyre romantic partners

when he tells vika his first name, its given bc he wants him to use it and bc he sees him as his spouse. he loves the soft way vika says it and insist to call him only this. it visibly makes saran flustered too. bro could break vika any time he wants yet hes the one being broken whenever vika says his first name akjsbckj

(so yea, when baby saran yells at saran not to say it, its bc saran is mimicking his dad to piss off baby saran and its super effective. its ok for him to say bc its lit him and also the only ones using it in that time is his parents so yea, baby saran def connects it with his annoying dad LMAO

meanwhile in the reverse amygdala doodle, saran tells azai not to say it (without much bite tho than he would do in og) bc azai mocks him ("aw are you crying") - he only allows it here bc i doodled this as an azaisaran request ajksbck)

anw, saran keeps his names after death bc its probably the only thing left from his past and his family. have fun figuring it out tho until he drops it himself AJKBSCKJBK if someone would actually get it right they have one free wish bc that would be insane fr---

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

I’m not super familiar with TSATS (have only heard secondhand things about why it sucks) but would you be willing to speak about the issues you have with it?

I'll try to keep this relatively short (future Alder: HA) and to the point, because, well...there's a lot of ground to cover. If I missed anything, or if anybody else wants to add on their own grievances, consider this your ready-made platform!

Also, if you did like TSATS, this is your warning to scroll. I respect your opinion, and simply ask you to respect mine.

In no particular order (and as they come to mind-)

Hades sends Nico to Tartarus

This makes ZERO sense because Hades was the one to BAN Nico in the first place. Furthermore, he sends Nico because he, Hades, cannot just scoop Bob out of Tartarus...but then later does just that with another character. MAJOR plot hole, and a dumb one too.

this also makes Hades the WORST godly parent btw. at least Zeus didn't send Apollo to superhell.

that moment when you're an even worse parent than Zeus...a canonical abuser...

2. Where Are The Campers

For SOME ODD REASON Nico and Will are the ONLY demigods at CHB. Only ones. There is NO POSSIBLE WAY that they are the ONLY year-round campers, especially since this directly contradicts- you know, already-established canon. Austin and Kayla are both year-round campers. Damien White and Chiara Benvenuti. Billie Ng. Miranda Gardner and Sherman Yang. Harley. Cecil Markowitz. They are all year-round campers, and have been established as such since The Hidden Oracle.

There is NO WAY they ALL suddenly decided to be summer campers.

Not to mention...with some focus on Will, you'd think we'd get some attention- even a bit! - towards his siblings, right?

NOPE. AUSTIN AND KAYLA ARE OUT OF THE PICTURE RIGHT OFF THE BAT.

oh and the three newest Apollo kids- Jerry, Gracie, and Yan- just don't exist I guess. rip the new kids because THEY ARE NEVER BROUGHT UP.

3. The Tone & Pacing

Look. I know TSATS is aimed towards mainly middle schoolers. But so is the rest of the RRverse.

And you know what TSATS does that the rest of them don't?

It treats the reader in a condescending manner.

Or at least, that's what I felt. When I was reading, I got to the part where we meet the god of nightmares, and then we're suddenly hit with a PSA on gender identity and I was like "...okay. there's no need to shove it down our throats. you could have just had them correct Nico and Will without giving everyone a lecture. especially since GODS WOULDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT GENDER IN THE FIRST PLACE." <- Canon! See Apollo's return to Olympus in Tower of Nero! He says mortals have strange conceptions of gender! It's fucking canon.

There was no need for that PSA. There are much more natural ways of incorporating LGBTQ+ identities than constantly talking down to the reader. Children are not dumb. They do not need LGBTQ+ topics dumbed down to understand them. I was 12 when I first read House of Hades, and after a bit of brain buffering because I wasn't exposed to much LGBTQ+ things, I understood that Nico liked guys and not girls. I understood he was gay.

And there was no PSA needed for me to understand that. Just as there was none needed during the entire series of Trials of Apollo, narrated by our first bisexual protagonist, Apollo. The only time where it could get PSA-y is when Apollo breaks the fourth wall for a split-second to essentially tell homophobes to fuck off.

Something along the lines of- "What's that? Oh, are you wondering if I'm okay with my son dating a dude instead of a girl? HA! Of course I am lol do you know who I am."

And that's that. also solangelo fic writers who make apollo homophobic...you best stay away from me, okay? okay. i know you exist.

Magnus Chase introduces Alex Fierro without getting preachy about genderfluid or trans people. because guess what! THEY ARE JUST PEOPLE.

Plus- the RRverse books are fun reads for adults too. I'm able to reread just about any book ('just about' because of tsats now...) without feeling like I'm being treated like a 5 year old.

which was what reading tsats was like tbqh.

As for the pacing? It's. So. Slow.

tsats has 60 chapters.

HOW COME HALFWAY THROUGH - AND I COUNTED BTW - WE AREN'T EVEN IN TARTARUS?

in the words of a mutual- "I shouldn't be rooting for the gays to go to Hell already."

by this point in a normal RRverse book, we'd already be on the road, had a few near-death experiences, perhaps some actual death, character bonding and growth, ect ect.

Instead we get...whatever happened in the first half. so unimportant that i honestly don't care to remember.

but i will for this post and that will be that.

4. UwU Nico & Cardboard Will

If I haven't already pissed off the stans...I am going to now.

So. Many. Times.

So many times Nico is treated like the poorest, most tragic uwu emo boi who has suffered more than anyone else. and it's done in a very off-putting and rather irritating way.

not to mention, Will suffers as a result. He didn't feel like a person in tsats. Instead of building up a character for him, everything falls flat.

Example? Will admits he feels guilty over killing Octavian. Great! Perfect time for a character moment! Dealing with trauma-guilt! How has this affected him?

What we get? Nothing. It's not treated as any sort of trauma, and that becomes a trend in this book with Will.

Apparently, Will has not suffered. Not like Nico, the poorest of meow meows. Will has no trauma. Yes, even after fighting through two wars and stressing out over the possibility of losing his father (who he loves and adores very much) for good, Will is trauma free!! He knows nothing of suffering!! Yes, the majority of his siblings were ruthlessly slaughtered, going from 20 to 3 campers by the time of ToA, but no!! Will has no trauma!! because he's sunshine hot therapy boyfriend!!

This Will does NOT feel like the Will we met in Blood of Olympus, or like the Will in ToA. These Wills are stubborn and kind, fiercely loyal to their father, and most importantly, feels like a human being.

Which brings me to my next point...

5. The Apollo Conundrum

A couple things to say here.

Will keeps acting like he hasn't seen Apollo in forever. That he never came back after going after Python.

A complete, blatant, lie because Apollo did come back after going after Python! He was there when the fucking tsats prophecy was made in the first place!

Did Mark even read ToA. At all.

One good thing came of this, I guess. At least Apollo wasn't character assassinated, even if you could argue he was anyway because he never shows up.

A direct contradiction to where we left off in ToA.

FURTHER. you know what infuriates me?

Apollo's arc about being able to change, no matter what you've done in the past or who you are, is shoved onto Nico in a very half-assed manner.

That pissed me off. Nico did not NEED such an arc. He is VERY MUCH ACCEPTED AT CAMP. WE HAVE PROOF BECAUSE THE ORACLE OF DELPHI WAS ABLE TO MOVE ON TO RACHEL.

pardon me i need to scream.

FUCK

okay. i'm good.

...for now.

6. The 'Coming Out' Scene

oh my lord and savior jesus christ this GOT ON MY NERVES.

so on paper, sounds good right? solangelo comes out to CHB, in a positive, welcoming environment! very nice!

...EXCEPT THEY ARE ALREADY OUT AND IN A RELATIONSHIP IN TOA. THERE WAS NO NEED FOR THIS AT ALL.

not to mention just how utterly ridiculous it's handled. apparently, solangelo inspired other campers to come out- a good thing- but...

this is so laughably dumb because there is NO WAY the campers aren't all cool with the LGBTQ+ community.

wanna know why?

BECAUSE THEY CAN HAVE SAME-SEX PARENTS. HELLO KAYLA, THE OG MPREG DAUGHTER

you're gonna tell me that CHB is NOT an open environment for LGBTQ+ kids? that they did NOT normalize it? really? are you really gonna tell me that? you're gonna look me in the eyes and say that?

"but sometimes it's hard to come out even in a welcoming environment!" yeah you're right there. it can be hard to do that. and i would know. because i have done just that. was shaking in my boots when i told my mom and stepdad that i was queer. despite knowing they were both supportive of queer rights.

and yet i'm saying this anyway. IT MAKES NO SENSE FOR CHB TO NOT BE AN OPEN LGBTQ+ ENVIRONMENT. ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING WHO THEIR PARENTS ARE, AND THE FACT THEY CAN HAVE SAME-SEX PARENTS.

Nico was barely at camp pre-ToA. I can totally buy him not knowing CHB is pro-queer because of how little time he spent there.

BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT HE IS AT CHB FROM BOO TO THO, AND IS IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH WILL BY THO. ONE THAT EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT.

and yet...tsats thinks it's a GRAND IDEA to do this coming out scene.

again. DID MARK EVEN READ TOA?

you know what else ticks me off about this? it's that Will is made to come out...by Nico.

you know. Nico. the one that the fandom flipped out over because he was made to come out. by Cupid. who is vilified for it.

and yet. it's treated by the narrative as the Right and Good thing for Nico to do. because Nico is Always Right and Good and Knows What's Best For Will.

it drove me up the wall.

also personally i'm not a fan of bisexual will. it's used too often as a 'will cheats on nico' thing in fics, so i was already disillusioned to it, and in tsats it's really only there for will to briefly thirst over persephone for some odd reason. let us have a gay4gay couple please i am begging you. but that's a personal opinion and i get it if you like bi will. that's just my thoughts.

7. The Bob Thing

this is something that's been on my mind ever since i first heard of tsats.

Is rescuing Bob even necessary? Like...okay, from a worldbuilding perspective...what does he add? Or was all this just fanservice done to 'save' a character who, by all rights and purposes, should be double dead. worse than dead. nonexistent.

like. first of all...how did Bob end up trapped by Nyx, when he was fighting Tartarus? Tartarus who, btw, is able to disintegrate you and cause you to cease to exist. Which is what- canonically! - happens to Damasen.

I guess Bob is different? But...so is Damasen. Since they are fundamentality different from their respective brethren...shouldn't they both have been safe from Tartarus's power? And not just Bob?

Look. I like Bob. I was so sad when we lost him in HoH. But honestly?

I think bringing him back cheapens his & Damasen's sacrifice.

Not to mention...I vividly remember earlier in the book, Nico for some reason takes a pot-shot at Percabeth, assuming that they wouldn't care about Bob.

Like. Hello?? That pissed me off too because it's such a gross misjudgment of both Percy and Annabeth that I had to take a few minutes to cool off before continuing the incoming shitshow.

8. Will's Powers

another hot take alert.

I don't subscribe to Plague!Will. Fun headcanon, have read fics with it (subscribed to a really good one too, in fact), but not something I would accept as canon.

even if tsats "made it canon" (BIG quotations there)

here's the thing. Will doesn't need a Cool power to be useful. He has healing and light. Defensive abilities, good for a healer! Which is what he wants to be!

there's no need to give him an offensive ability. he managed perfectly fine without plague powers before this.

(coughs in "Nobody hits my boyfriend and nobody kills my dad!")

This also ties back into the whole 'Will doesn't have much of a character' thing. like okay, we've introduced this new ability! cool! it's a dangerous one, and the exact opposite of everything Will is. do we explore that? do we do anything worthwhile with it? perhaps we could take this as an opportunity for some father-son discussion?

Nope!

also for some reason Will can grow the Curse of Delos flowers by singing. something he has previously been established to not be very good at as far back as BoO- "I'm just a healer" and all that.

also also. that's not how the Curse of Delos works...they only grow on Delos, and around Cabin 7. no where else. magically growing flowers isn't even an Apollo kid power, and yes the Curse is Apollo's flower but that means nothing because Apollo kids don't grow flowers. that's Demeter.

sobs in so many contradictions

9. The...Cocopuffs.

groans dramatically.

first thing's first- What The Actual Fuck.

It's emphasized that the cocopuffs are Nico and Nyx's children.

Children Nico did not want.

Guys this is literally rape. This is literally rape why is it treated as a good thing??

i'm chill with them being manifestations of Nico's trauma. i'm NOT chill with this!! Or with Nico's trauma apparently being magically cured because of them, when he's, you know, our only character who canonically goes to therapy?

it feels like the help therapy can give is cheapened here.

plus...the Cacodemons (as they are actually called) are not good demons in the mythology. they are not good. at all. they are specifically evil spirits, and personally, I don't like the connotation that trauma correlates to them.

a better choice would have been a daimon, a neutral spirit. something that just Is and isn't bogged down by definitions of "evil" and "good".

also this is literally rape :) get it away from me.

10. The Retcons/Continuity Mistakes

Bianca Is Not Nico's Mom Get Your Damn Facts Right How Could You Make That Mistake It's So Dumb Like Oh My God Did You Even Do Any Reading For This-

ahem.

I will give tsats ONE point. The ONE THING I think it did right.

i know. shocking. Alder giving tsats one (1) W.

Will's mortal anchor when he fell into the River Styx.

It was Apollo. That is something I can definitely buy as canon. Will's love for Apollo is ever-present in BoO and ToA. That makes total sense for him!

(Plus, I'm glad they didn't make it Nico. cause like...come on. we already have romance with Percy & Annabeth, and we also have siblinghood with Apollo & Meg, parent & child would be the next, very cool and logical step!)

Too bad Apollo is shunted to the side in tsats and we never get to see him with Will... (oh, except in that one nightmare-induced hallucination. but that doesn't count because that's not actually Apollo. strike against you tsats.)

this is all i got. definitely not exhaustive list because i am NOT subjecting myself to reading tsats again. i will not be losing more braincells.

anywho, if anybody would like to add on their own grievances with this book, go ahead! i probs missed some.

and again. these are just my opinions/observations. this is NOT an invitation for discourse.

[shan-yee]

•𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙄𝙑 = 𝘛𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘱.1

•𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 = 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 [𝘙𝘌], 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘳𝘢 [𝘞𝘉], 𝘌𝘬𝘬𝘰 [𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘦], 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 [𝘛𝘙], 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘺𝘢 [𝘈𝘐𝘉]

•𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 = 𝘛𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘰𝘤 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 ?

•𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 = 833

•𝘼/𝙉 = English is not my first language, please let me know if you see any mistakes ! Enjoy ✨

——— 𝐒 𝗨 𝗠 𝗠 𝗔 𝗥 𝗬 • • •

𝐈 :: 𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗻

𝐈𝐈 :: 𝗦𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗿𝗮

𝐈𝐈𝐈 :: 𝗘𝗸𝗸𝗼

𝐈𝐕 :: 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻

𝐕 :: 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝘆𝗮

╰─► 𝐈 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗻

⇰ His job is clearly one of, if not the, most dangerous job in the world. And yet, he will never stop, he will always accept his missions without saying anything.

⇰ Even if he wanted to leave this corrupt and violent world he couldn't, simply because he knows too much now. Ending up in a trash can, with a bullet between both eyes, is not really his goal.

⇰ He knows it's selfish to ask his partner to wait for him for days or even weeks without knowing if he's still alive, but Leon needs the comfort she gives him once he gets home.

⇰ Unfortunately his work is not the only downside, there is also this woman, Ada Wong, whom, even with the years that pass, he cannot forget.

⇰ Every time he thinks he's moved on and plans to move forward with his girlfriend—marriage ?—, she reappears and shakes up everything in his life.

⇰ Sometimes, he will even ask himself who he would choose if the situation forced him to do so.

╰─► 𝐈𝐈 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗦𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗿𝗮

⇰ Sakura will always have scars from his past, even after finding his « family » and being in a fulfilling relationship. A voice in his head will always whisper to him that this is only temporary and that he should not let his guard down.

⇰ His insecurities will manifest into jealousy and lack of trust in his partner, after all, she wil have no problem finding someone better than him, right ?

⇰ He won't be able to help but always doubt her and wonder why she stays with him, which will create many arguments where he will never admit being wrong.

⇰ Sakura will refuse to talk about his problems and will tend to reject hus partner even if deep down he would like her comfort.

⇰ And if one day the reader decided she had had enough and wanted to take a break he would tell her that he knew she didn't love him and that he was right, making his case worse.

╰─► 𝐈𝐈𝐈 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗘𝗸𝗸𝗼

⇰ Ekko is surely one of the biggest green flags in the world but there is just one downside, he is busy all the time.

⇰ Ekko is the leader of the Firelights, so he's always going around making sure everything is okay in the community.

⇰ And when he's not caring for others, he fights against Silco's men and risks his life without thinking twice.

⇰ There will be times when he disappears for days, or even several weeks, and poof, he will reappear as if nothing had happened with his arms wide open.

⇰ If his partner tells him that it bothers her, he will say that he will try but it’ll never last very long. His role as leader is far too important for him and even for the one he loves, he will never be ready to abandon it.

╰─► 𝐈𝐕 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻

⇰ There Is a saying that says that you never really forget your first love, and Draken is one of those people.

⇰ He never wanted to talk to anyone about it and for years he acted as if nothing had happened, as if Emma's death hadn't affected him that much, which is totally false .

⇰ Upon meeting his partner he really thought he could get past the memory of his first love but no.

⇰ Unconsciously he will always compare the reader and Emma. He will look for something that reminds him of the blonde, a smile, a laugh, an expression, but nothing will make him feel what he felt for her.

⇰ Draken will truly love his partner but not in the same way he loved Emma. He’ll never admit it and honestly I don't think the reader will realize it since he will never talk about the blonde and will always be the perfect husband.

⇰ Draken will never say that he still thinks of Emma and will continue to live his life as if nothing had happened, to fill his guilt he will be extremely gentle and loving with his girlfriend, protecting her from what he feels deep down.

╰─► 𝐕 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝘆𝗮

⇰ As we have observed several times in both seasons, Chishiya is the master of manipulation and unfortunately, even in a relationship, that will not change.

⇰ He won’t hesitate to use the most twisted ⇰ techniques to get what he wants from his partner, even tugging at her heartstrings.

⇰ If she makes the remark to him, he will agree with her and make sure to be forgiven with sweet words and acts of tenderness.

⇰ Unfortunately he will never change, manipulation is part of him and yet he knows that what he does is not considered something good.

⇰ Also, if the situation forces him to, he will not think twice about sacrificing his partner to get out of the games and live.

⇰ His love for his girlfriend is real but it is not healthy and is not as strong as his will to save his ass . He might blame himself a little and will surely end up regretting it but ultimately he will make peace with it.

[bhaalsdeepbat]

last night's Astarion origin highlights:

It was Creche time!!! Taking the girlfriend to the creche !!! We had to leave the boyfriend (Gale) behind, but Astarion and Lae'zel wore matching ocean colors to go on a double date with Catha and Shadowheart. (Astarion wears black and red when matching Gale, now)

Astarion stole a bunch of shit from Esther then killed her when she realized he stole most of her inventory with the Cat's Grace he bought. Daddy Money Bags is currently out of money, but Mr. Meow Meow can pounce like a panther and steal whatever he wants.

Astarion just fucking going DOWN to the Gith patrol in Waukeen's Rest and landing, again, facing his romance partner. It looked like he was reaching out to Lae'zel while doing his saving rolls.

Astarion using his girlfriend as bait because Shadowheart and Catha went down, so he kept reviving Lae'zel, putting distance between him and the remaining Gith, and letting the soldier just keep focusing Lae'zel while sneaking around. He is a death machine, but we are still at one hit per round until next level up.

I like to think he was feeling pretty fucking tough after the Gith patrol. Like he was cocky going into the Creche. cocky enough I was not worried when he failed his initial persuasion check and aggroed the creche, but the game glitched so we had to F8. It was a vision from Selune to Catha letting her know if she let Astarion go in without guidance and eagle's splendor, they'd be FUCKED.

I get turned around in the Creche and went to the hatchery thinking it was the infirmary, but then Astarion was like. Steal. Steal Egg. Like it was a delightful experience for him. I had never seen Lae'zel talk about how happy she is to have the egg and like. That little peek at the fact that she DOES have her own wants and desires that are in opposition to the beliefs she was taught. She's disgusted by the whole birthing process, but raising the child? it's such a hopeful, happy thought. Astarion was kinda standing there just speechless bc she had been so rough so far.

Needless to say, the egg is in her inventory, now. She asked him to keep it close and dammit he isn't gonna let his girl down...not that he likes her (or Gale) or anything,,,,,,,,

Lae'zel and Astarion fucked !!! And then he was heavily encumbered the next day because the potion of hill giant strength wore off, but it was a very funny happenstance. but taking her to the creche (not even finishing up yet, just going there and starting stuff) was enough to get her to look at Astarion differently AFTER HOW HARD SHE FUCKING BURNED HIM

like this is the astarion origin where NO ONE wanted him but Minthara at the Goblin party, and now the two companions that AREN'T taken are vying for his attention (bc we only have gale, shady, and lae'zel XD)

Astarion trying to disarm one of the traps at the Creche, only for me to suddenly see his body go FLYING off the side of a ledge because the trap blasted him while doing the disarm roll. Lae'zel followed very, very shortly after....because it did the same thing during the roll screen XD when i say i was on the ground LAUGHING.

Astarion was very proud of himself because he thought he lied his way out of a fight with the medical lady inside the infirmary at the creche. The tools she went to get were actually child soldiers and it was a battle to the death. Lae'zel went down. Astarion shouted her name.

The lesbians (Catha & Shadowheart) got shit DONE. Astarion is the disaster gay and cannot get his shit together. Catha and Shadowheart literally saved his ass with the Death Shepherds bc of user error on my end but it worked really well from a rp perspective XD

like Astarion is literally like SHIT SHIT SHIT everything is always going wrong, but Catha and Shadowheart generally have it on lock. Like I will have him sneak around and start / end fights before those two can even get involved, but the higher level fights sometimes I forget to position better XD

I'm not sure if Astarion is going to end up with Gale or Lae'zel....or pull a wild card and go with Minthara once we find her again. like i keep bouncing back and forth i literally do not know what i'm gonna do until the moment comes

[longagoitwastuesday]

I have learnt things about Geto that I wish I could unlearn