#i really wanted to explain the ground my opinion is based on

[surielstea]

Tattoos older than you

Based off that Tik Tok trend: “I have tattoos older than you.” because age gap is everyone’s favorite trope, let’s be honest.

Pairing: Azriel x Archeron!Reader

Warnings: Age gap | suggestive | cute fluffiness

1.2k words

I peek my head through the door of a familiar Shadow Singers bedroom with a mischievous grin. "Love, not tonight," The male warns from his desk, giving me a pointed look. I enter anyway, closing the door behind me with a soft click.

He sighs in faux disappointment as I approach him, footsteps padding on his carpet as shadows swarm me, curling around my ankles, up my arms, into my hair. "They love me," I beam, looking at the dark tendrils.

“They do,” He nods in heavy agreement, as if they never shut up about that fact.

"And so do you," I redirect my attention to the winged male in front of me.

"Do I?" He tilts his head tauntingly and as my reply I straddle over his lap, mounting his hips with a knowing smile. "I think I'm too old, forgot how to love," He shrugs.

"Az you're not that old," I groan.

"I'm twenty-three times your age," He argues, and my amused grin returns.

"You did the math," I tease, leaning closer to him, and pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips.

"Of course I did, I can't get you out of my head," He grumbles as if it's my fault he's always thinking of me.

"Then why can't you admit that you're in love with me?" I cup his face in my hands, tilting his head and forcing him to look into my eyes.

"I do love you, and that's why I refuse to subject you to the judgment that us being together will bring you," He denies and my smile falters.

"I don't care about the judgment, I just want you," I confess, dragging a hand through his hair. "C'mon, Az," I huff, arching my back so my chest is pressed to his as I tease his lips with my own. His large hands come to my waist, his touch is tender and for a moment I think he'll give in, but instead, his grip tightens and he lifts me off his lap, placing my feet down onto the ground.

"No, the difference is too much," He rejects and I groan dramatically. The Illyrian stands, looking down at me with lowered brows. His height towers over me and his wings only add to the intimidating factor. Such an animalistic thing to do, making himself appear bigger than he truly is. He was trying to scare me off, and it wasn't going to work.

"You're fae, does age really matter as an immortal?" I take a daunting step forward and he mirrors it with a step back.

"When I'm old enough to be your great, great, great grandfather? Yes," He argues and I roll my eyes, such a stupid analogy.

"But you're not," I take another step forward.

"But I could be," He doesn't pace back.

"But, you're not," I repeat with another stride and suddenly I'm directly in front of him, chest to chest. He looks at me, his eyes swirling with both adoration and regret, adoration because he loves me, and regret because he allowed me to love him back. I stare with the most devoting and comforting gaze I can muster, I don't dare break eye contact, making it clear that my stance on the matter won't sway.

"I have tattoos older than you, love," He drags his hand through his hair, and I know in that movement that he's been defeated.

"Oh, I know," I bring my hand up to his neck, my nail tracing over dark ink that's lived there for centuries.

"You're like a friend to—" He tries but I cut him off, "That's bullshit, I could treat you better than all your previous lovers and you know it," I claim and he looks at me with those same hazel eyes I fell in love with.

He sighs, clearly upset because he's horribly losing this argument.

"Your five-hundred-year-old brothers are dating my twenty-year-old sisters. They can't judge and isn't it their opinion that matters most?" I point out and he slowly closes his eyes, needing a moment to think about the situation.

"They're mates," He attempts to explain but I don't buy it for a moment, I sling my arms around the nape of his neck with a troublesome smile.

"Are you trying to tell me you don't feel a connection between us?" I ask and he only stares down at me, knowing that if he spoke all of his truest intentions would come out.

"We're in love, let yourself be happy," I whisper, we're close enough so he can hear me. I lift onto my toes, our noses brushing and he doesn't have it in himself to back away. "Let me help you be happy," I murmur and his brows crease, in conflict with himself and everything else going against this, but I could tell by that look on his face that he wanted every part of this too.

"Do you know how helpless you make me feel?" He rasps and my smile widens.

"That's called love, Az," I explain.

"Is it always so consuming?" He asked, his voice tender and raw. My heart swells against my rib cage and I tilt my head, nose moving past his as I press a gentle kiss onto his lips then pull away as quick as I came.

“Yes,” I whisper, knowing the exact feeling he was describing. “And it’s not going to go away,” I smile softly. "Because you love me," I mumble, mostly to myself, the new confession will be at the front of my brain for the rest of the week.

"A little too much for my liking," He hums.

"Impossible," I shake my head with a grin and he leans in, pressing a hard kiss to my forehead, then one on the tip of my nose, and finally plants one to my lips. I pull him closer, my chest pressing to his as I smile onto his lips, my fingers twining into the back of his hair.

“I do love you,” He whispers against my skin as he begins to peck down the line of my jaw.

“I know,” I tease, dragging my hand from his hair and down the expanse of his tattooed neck. He pulls back only a fraction, narrowing his brows with a glare and I giggle.

“I love you too, Azzie,” I roll my eyes, pressing a tender kiss to his lips which he barely got the chance to reciprocate before I was pulling away.

“I hate it when you call me that,” He huffs.

“Would you rather I call you my great-grandfather?” I smirk and he playfully pushes me away, and I dramatically fall down onto his bed.

“I’m revoking sex tonight for that,” He warned and I smirked.

“Not even for the rest of the week? You must really love me,” I croon and he tosses me a glare before climbing into bed beside me.

“An unfortunate turn of events,” He sighed while slinging his arm around me and pulling me into him, as if it was torturous to be cuddling with me even though it was him pulling me closer.

I sling my leg over his waist and roll over, straddling his hips.

“I can’t believe you ever thought you could reject me,” I scoff and he looks up at me with a knowing expression.

“Shh, sleep now.” He pulls me down onto his chest, my chin propping up on his sternum to stare up at him. “You can tease me all you want in the morning,” He promises as I stretch out, my legs intertwining with his.

“Sounds like a perfect plan.”

General Taglist: @fxckmiup @olive-main @iluvyewman-blog @gaymistakeboi @glitterypirateduck @amara-moonlight @impossibelle @fauxdette @going-through-shit @glam-targaryen @cauldronboilme27 @sarawritestories @tele86 @rogerbarnesxx @azriels-shadowsinger @stinkinstuffie @sandramalikstyles-blog @sassyangel16 @lilah-asteria @starsinyourseyes @inloveallthetime @melsunshine @nighttimemoonlover @ireallywannasleep127 @cumuluscranium @adharanotfound @azrielsmate3 @aelincaddel @hiddlestonspassionsackx @dee-writes-smut @secretlyhers @pit-and-the-pen @mybestfriendmademe @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @circe143 @bubybubsters @joshysloshy @username199945 @notsarareallynot @vixenshiftsvrs @mahealanipunea @pey2618 @loving-and-dreaming @andreperez11 @nerdy4itall @whatsupbi8

Azriel Taglist: @coolepowersthings @lovely-giggles @quiettuba @ilovewarner45 @judig92 @tothestarsandwhateverend @je-suis-prest-rachel @call-me-a-fool @brieflyclassymortal @cherryjain17 @stqrgirlies-blog @chelsiemp @nyxbranwenn @dnfhascorruptedme @summerandsalt @annamariereads16

[mywitchyblog]

I just wanted to say your takes on age and shifting have been really helping me. I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy my teenage years and I feel like everything is falling apart in my adult life, so I really want to age myself down and experience life as a teen again. However, tiktok constantly made me feel like a creep and I was even starting to doubt myself and my motivations, which is crazy. So thank you for standing your ground and having our back lol and stay away from shiftok yall

AS.YOU.FUCKING.SHOULD.

Girl, keeping your distance from ShiftTok? Absolutely the right call. That place is less of a community and more of a cult with a superiority complex, stuffed with self-appointed “moral guardians” who’d rather police everyone’s shifting practices than actually understand a damn thing about shifting itself 💅. They’re too busy gatekeeping, throwing their tired opinions around, and stirring up drama to realize just how hypocritical they look. Chile, the irony is thick enough to choke on, and trust, we see it 👀.

And don’t even get me started on the anti-age-change crew. These people couldn’t argue their way out of a paper bag without leaning on the same three tired-as-hell logical fallacies, dragging them out every time to keep shifters in check without an ounce of actual understanding or empathy.

Ad Hominem – This is anti-age changers’ go-to move when they’re out of actual arguments. They skip right over any real discussion and dive into calling people “pedo” or “creep” just to shut them up. Rather than taking the time to understand why someone might genuinely want to experience being younger again, they grab for the ugliest insults they can think of and throw them like confetti 🎉… only it’s confetti made of trash 💀. Example: A shifter explains, “I age down in my Desired Reality because I had a tough youth and want to relive a better version of it. Plus, I want to experience a healthy, innocent romance from my teenage years.” But instead of even thinking about the idea that there might be something healing and meaningful in that, here comes an anti-age changer with: “If you want to age down to date, you’re a predator—plain and simple.” Here’s the kicker: these critics don’t care about the reasons. They’ll weaponize shame to make shifters look like villains, ignoring the fact that not everyone who age-shifts and dates does it for predatory reasons. Many want to experience that sweet, teenage love they didn’t get in this reality, to relive the simpler emotions of that time without adult complications. But the anti’s? They’d rather throw accusations than try to understand even a sliver of the truth. They’re using the “pedo” card because they know it’ll silence some people, and honey, it’s a sad attempt at control through fear 🙄.

Straw Man Fallacy – Here’s where things get especially messy 🥴. Instead of listening to what you’re actually saying, they twist it into something completely off-base, creating a fake argument to attack. They don’t want to engage with your actual reasons; they’d rather paint you as something you’re not so they can feel good about their so-called “moral high ground.” 🙄Example: Imagine a shifter saying, “I age down because I missed out on a carefree youth and want to date someone my age in that reality. I want to experience young love in a non-sexual, simple way.” The anti immediately twists this into, “Oh, so you’re saying you’re an adult wanting to act like a teenager to date kids? That’s sick.” See the problem? They’re creating a whole new argument based on something you never said. This shifter just wants a clean, innocent experience of being young again, complete with those little flutters and first dates that only make sense at that age. Some shifters may even explore young relationships with some intimacy, but it’s coming from a place of reliving a time they missed—not about attraction to minors or anything predatory. These critics twist the intention, making it sound like a fetish when it’s about pure curiosity, nostalgia, or healing. They’ve crafted their own horror story and are trying to pin it on you 👑, and honestly? It’s lazy, transparent, and completely off the mark.

Hasty Generalization – This is when anti-age changers pull out the big, sloppy brush and slap the same, tired accusation onto every age-changing shifter. Because they’ve heard one example of someone age-shifting for sketchy reasons, they assume everyone who does it must have some secret, shady agenda. Girl, the logic isn’t even there 🤦‍♀️.Example: Anti-age changers will say, “Oh, I heard about this one person who aged down to act out some weird fantasy, so clearly all shifters who age down to date are predators.”This is their way of weaponizing a single, extreme case to invalidate every other shifter’s unique, personal reasons. There are countless reasons people age down and engage in romance, and most have nothing to do with predatory behavior. Imagine someone who wants to experience a first crush all over again, or who never got a chance to date as a teen and just wants that innocent thrill of hand-holding and kissing at a school dance 🕺💃. Some might even explore sexual intimacy because, for them, it’s about curiosity and filling in experiences they missed—not some twisted attraction.Let’s get real: most age-changing shifters just want to feel what it’s like to be young again, to make memories that heal, to have those butterflies and firsts they missed out on. The antis are so obsessed with scandalizing that they can’t imagine a reality where someone wants to age down without any creepy motives. This broad-strokes accusation is not only unfair; it’s lazy as hell. It paints every age-changing shifter with the same brush, and it does nothing but create stigma and misinformation. Like… maybe sit down and breathe for a second instead of trying to stir up a scandal? 😒

Here’s the reality: these fallacies are tools they use to twist, shame, and silence. They’re not here to have a real conversation about why someone might age-shift or date in that reality, or to understand that those desires can come from totally normal, even therapeutic places. They’re here to make it sound twisted, full stop.

The next time they pull out these tired arguments, just remember: they’re not about facts, they’re about control. They use moral panic as a blunt weapon, hoping people won’t look closer and see right through their paper-thin accusations. Keep doing you, stay fierce 🔥, and don’t let their fallacies dull your shine.

[blackbat05]

The Gall of HeR!

Evan Buckley x Reader (Gender not Specified)

Plot: You come back home feeling blue from work. Luckily, Buck is there to lend you some support.

Genre: PG-13

A/N: New character! Only started watching 9-1-1 last year but wasn’t in the best back then. It’s been such a huge support to get where I am today so it’s only appropriate to do this! Also I can’t deny this is based on actual experience recently so this is my way of therapy😂 In all seriousness, note to self to always fight for myself because no one will do it for me.

“Hey! I’m home!”

Buck pads out of the kitchen in his “kiss the cook apron” that Eddie gave him as a Christmas Present last year as a joke.

“How’s work?”

I sigh, putting my bag to one side before unceremoniously dumping myself on the couch. “It was good, and then it was bad. Do I make sense?” My nose crinkles in confusion and I at that point I wished that my brain would stop running at a hundred miles per hour. Though, a part of me really needed to vent my feelings in a safe space. Buck was my safe space.

“They approached me for a possible promotion at the Library.” I start and Buck’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, that was my reaction. Inside. I didn’t expect this at all.”

Buck comes to sit beside me on the couch, body angled to face me fully. I take a deep breath and proceeded to explain how I had to ground myself first, to hear more details from HR before committing to that decision.

“So, I had that first meeting with Esther and obviously I needed time to process right? I didn’t understand some points that were raised and I wanted to clarify with her what some things meant to I called a second meeting the next day.” I explained. “The second meeting goes fine. It mostly involved her clarifying my doubts. Then after the meeting, she sends me an email noting all the things we discussed, and guess what?” I find the rage in the pit of my stomach bubbling.

“She adds in the extra clause that initially, they thought of reverting me back into my original position if things didn’t work out. But after considering the company’s position, if I did not perform or if I decided not to continue, I would have to leave the company!” My voice gets higher with each passing second. Buck reaches out to grab my hand, a soothing reminder that I was not in the library reading that darned email but I was here, with him.

“And then, Esther had the gall to storm into the library and yell at me what I meant when I sent that email and now she’s in trouble with the higher ups! My fault? How is expressing my opinions in a professional manner my fault?”

I finish off telling Buck that I wasn’t afraid of taking on the challenge. But my biggest issue was only being informed of this only after my second meeting and when I bought up the possibility of not taking on the role to her.

“Wow.” Buck purses his lips. I look at him reproachfully.

“You think I’m acting up too.”

“No. I think you’re standing up for yourself. No matter what others may say or think. It’s good that you question everything that’s being presented to you least you be taken advantaged.”

“Even if it means they might pass me up on this because they think I’m such a prima donna?”

Buck laughs. “In all seriousness. There are more ways to grow than besides promotions at work. You’re growing as a person and that’s more important. Do what you want to do and always do it for yourself.”

You don’t know what you did to deserve this man in this lifetime. Someone who supported you no matter what. That’s what you really needed right now.

“Thanks Buck,” you threw yourself into him for a hug. “I think I really needed to hear that. After all those times of doubting myself, I really needed to hear it.”

“Hey, you know I’m always your biggest supporter. Now let’s go and have dinner. Bobby taught me how to make this lasagna and we are not about to let it get cold.”

“Gosh, what would I do without you?”

“You’ll never have to know.”

[dearweirdme]

Hi 👋

First, I wanna thank you for being honest with me. I'm not the best at reading social cues so unless you are direct with me I'll be thinking "I think we're getting along!" and go on completely oblivious to any implications lol So your honesty is greatly appreciated, I'll keep everything you said in mind in the future.

On a second note, I'm really sorry for how my words came off 🙏, that really wasn't my intention. But now I see exactly what you mean, it really wasn't my place to tell you how to run your blog, it came off really bad. I sincerely apologize for that.

Now, to be real with you, I don't see you as delusional or wrong, or to be more accurate, both our opinions are based on pure speculation and personal interpretation, so I don't see you as any more delusional than I see myself.

In my perspective, I don't see Jikook as a real couple because they have never confirmed themselves to be one. And as long as that question lies unanswered, I'll only truly believe what they have described their relationship as, which is close friends. There's a part of me that suspects they're a couple but I don't see it as a fact.

So, keeping that in mind, I'll only believe you are actually delusional if there's not a single fiber of your being that believes you could be wrong, you are 100% sure Taekook are a couple. But that wouldn't be because you're a Taekooker, it'll be because you, a complete outsider to their life, believe your speculations to be a fact. And that's just a dangerous mentality to have in general, and unfortunately, I see it frequently in both jikook and taekook circles.

I don't come here to try to change your mind about Taekook, I come here cause I like reading your takes. You give very grounded opinions and debunk many biased assumptions I have of jikook, showing me different perspectives I couldn't see in my little bubble.

Moving on, I wanted to ask you: what really sold you on taekook, that made you go "they're dating"?

One thing I see as suspicious is the weird tension they have with each other, I don't see any other members having that same tension.

I think it's this very tension they have that makes Taekookers believe that taekook prioritize hiding their relationship to protect themselves, and Jikookers believe that taekook really did grow distant and got closer after In the soop.

Taekookers: tension = sexual tension and hiding relationship

Jikookers: tension = distance and awkwardness

I understand both of these takes, but I have some different interpretations of it, but ain't nobody reading all that. This shits WAY too long already lol.

Borahae 💜

(the more you look at him the more beautiful he gets, we can't blame Jungkook for getting a little lost in him kkkkk)

Hi @moo-mood!

I’m glad you understand.

As for your question about Tae and Jk, I think your ask really shows how people outside of tkk fandom don’t really understand where we are coming from.

We don’t generally focus much on sexual tension I believe. I’m sure there corners in our fandom that do, but in general sexual tension between Tae and Jk is not that often a point of discussion. There are moments that I feel classify as that, or at least as strong attraction.. but we don’t really get to see much of those. We also don’t expect to, because the last thing we would be privy to see between a closeted couple is obvious sexual tension. They hide that, and I think they hide it well. We see flirting, we see tenderness, and we did get some more loaded moments.. but imo not as much to be able to say Tkkrs generally explain the tension between Tae and Jk as it being sexual.

Sexual tension is only one part that might clue us into wether two people are in a romantic relationship though. What clued me in was how Tae and Jk are just a level up in closeness when compared to the other members. Imo they are closest physically and emotionally. There’s a reason why despite efforts to show Jk and Tae as less close (and yes, imo it’s been efforts) there are still soo many who never believed that. It’s because all throughout the period that Tae and Jk were deemed to be distant, their bodies and their interactions showed us differently. We often get laughed at because of our words on stares, looks, touches.. but those things are actually the hardest for people to consistently fake and to consistently hide. No other duo is as aware of each other as Tae and Jk are. No other duo gets each other as easily as Tae and Jk do… and that is actually something I am quite sure of… regardless of wether that means they are in a romantic relationship.

So it started with me believing Tae and Jk are closest. And what made me believe they are more than friends is basically everything else around them. The way they are the biggest ship, and yet Hybe does not commercialize them. The way they get jealous and/or annoyed because of the other. The way they are at times possessive of the other. The way the other members react to them (wether in a good way or in a way that they’re afraid of discovery). It’s all supported by my belief that individually speaking I feel Tae and Jk are possibly queer.

All in all, when I think of how I feel a closeted idol couple within the same band would be dealt with in SK.. it’s just basically what I see happened with Tae and Jk.

[infriga]

I convinced my mom to try the live action One Piece, because she's the type to like this style of show even though she isn't into animation and would never read manga, but I didn't think I'd be able to convince my dad because he's usually a stickler for more grounded and realistic stories (his favourite genre is war movies, his favourite movie is Saving Private Ryan, for reference). But, when I brought up with him how I figured it probably wouldn't be his thing because it was fantasy, he mentioned to me that he does enjoy some fantastical stuff if it has like an internal universe logic, like Star Wars, and the more I thought about it, the more I remembered that he also enjoys campy fun action adventure stuff that doesn't take itself too seriously like Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Carribean.

And One Piece has both that internal logic for why people can perform crazy feats (even if it isn't explained right away) which I mentioned to him (just that there is a reason why people can do crazy things in this world), as well as the campy fun action adventure thing going for it, especially in the Live Action (the fight against Morgan's base even has a major Indiana Jones vibes ngl). So I explained that to him and asked if he wanted to try it, and he agreed to watching the first episode with me to decide if he'd watch it with my mom and me.

AND HE ACTUALLY SAID IT WAS INTERESTING SO FAR!! Like, he is NOT the kinda guy to enjoy anime or manga or even western cartoons, always refuses to watch anything anime and doesn't show any interest when I talk about it (I've managed to convince him to watch a few movies like Sword of the Stranger but it's obvious that even when he's not bored or doesn't hate it, it still doesn't catch or keep his interest), and he's really picky about anything fantasy or SciFi, if it like sets off his bullshit meter too much he starts nitpicking the logic behind certain abilities, or decisions, or explanations, etc. I once tried to get him to try Gravity Falls and he wanted to stop after the first episode. He's THAT picky.

So the fact that he actually laughed several times while watching the first episode of OPLA with me, commented about Luffy's character positively several times (he seems to think Luffy is really funny which surprised me cause I thought he'd be the most entertained by Zoro but I mean I can't blame him it is Luffy after all), never cringed or criticised or said anything about how ridiculous it was, means a lot coming from him cause he's always really blunt and honest about his opinion on this sort of stuff (which is fine I don't want him to pretend to enjoy stuff when he doesn't). He actually watched the whole first episode without it losing his attention, and seemed to have fun! And he agreed to watch the rest with my mom and me!

This sort of thing is one of the reasons why I dislike when people just dismiss the idea of live action adaptations entirely. I get that people are jaded with past failures, and don't like when live action is treated like a replacement for or improvement from animation when it isn't. But it is a valid medium just as much as animation or comics or writing are, and can be used to produce some amazing things. And the fact is, there are people who have a hard time connecting with other mediums who will otherwise never engage with this media in its original forms. Live Action, when done well and done right, can reach new audiences and welcome them into the fold in ways the original formats never can.

One Piece didn't need the live action to be popular, obviously, and the live action cannot and will not replace the original, nor should it. But I love that we get to have it alongside the manga and anime. It's just more of what we love, it's the cherry on top of an already stellar multi-layered cake. It complements the original rather than taking anything away from it. And for the first time in over a decade I might be able to share One Piece with my parents, who would only ever have a chance of experiencing it and enjoying it in live action. There's just something so awesome about that for me personally. I just wish more live action adaptations would understand what the One Piece live action understood about the adaptation process, and that's how to keep the heart of the story in-tact, so more people from more fandoms could have a chance to share something they love with more people who it would otherwise not reach.

Anyway, thank you Oda and the OPLA cast and crew for doing live action right for once!

[floofanflurr]

Thoughts on Asgore? Just curious since a lotta people are divided on "divorced haha man" and "mass murderer"

Ohohoho this is very much a slippery slope for me! And a topic I have many opinions on. Thanks for the ask!

Please note for anyone that does not have the energy to read something like this, that this is overall, a critical piece of Asgore. (though not shamelessly bashing him.)

I'm prefacing this to anyone reading - I am not looking to fight, and I will not engage in any arguments around this. I don't have the energy to engage like that. I will delete/block any comments looking to start an argument and move on.

So here's my character analysis of Asgore under the cut, and my personal feelings about goat dad.

Asgore and his incomplete character arc, and why he honestly kind of got shafted:

I think Asgore is an interesting character, but I just... really struggle to like him.

"But Floo!" you may say "Why do you like Undyne, and the other monsters that killed/hurt Frisk/the other kids but not Asgore? Why is he different?"

I debated on that long and hard myself for a while. Why does Asgore rub me the wrong way when Undyne doesn't? Could it be because he is the reason everyone else is doing what they are, because he ordered it? But no, that didn't feel quite right.

And then I realized that it's because Asgore never truly grew as a person. There are some fics out there that I've read where I really do like Asgore. He's a fuzzy goat dad, and I just adore him! But when I examined the differences between those fics and canon, that's when it really stood out to me about WHY I don't like him in canon.

Every other character in the game gets growth that was (while caused by your/frisk's actions) still decided on by themselves. Let's go in order of the decisions these characters made that showcased their growth (in a pacifist run)-

Toriel - She, after having been given suitable time to ruminate, realizes that what she is doing will not work and tears herself out of her isolation to go after the last child and protect them. Her passivity wasn't saving anyone, so she changes herself, grows, and goes to protect them. (it's late, but it DOES happen)

Papyrus - I think the place he really shines in a pacifist/neutral run is when he beats Frisk 3 times and lets them go, but his character arc is all the same, anyway, even if you do beat him. Namely, that he lets them go. He could keep going, he could keep fighting, but he realizes that his want for friends and fame wasn't worth hurting someone. (even if that's not directly how he phrases it.)

Even if you outlast him and beat him the traditional way, he still decides to use his last special attack instead of fighting you until you're down. It's pretty clear he could have kept going if he wanted to.

Undyne - She, like Papyrus (and almost every other monster) has the character growth of letting Frisk go. A decision she actively makes. When Frisk saves her in hotland, pouring water over her head, she could have continued on with the chase, and kept going. But she didn't - she was honorable and conceded her defeat.

Mettaton - Same song and dance as Papyrus and Undyne (I love this character growth, and that's not to diminish ANYONES. They all have different flavors and motivations for going after Frisk that need confronted, even if the action is similar.) But he lets frisk go and realizes that the people underground need him more than anyone above ground. And also learns to touch base with his family a bit more, and value his friends/family more.

Alphys - Alphys decides to confront her crimes and reveal herself! There's still a bit of external pressure here (the "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID" note from Flowey) but still, she didn't have to come clean. But despite everything, she did, and she faced her wrongdoings and also told the people she loved.

Flowey - Do I need to explain this one? There's so many character essays on him (and Alphys tbh LMAO) Long story short, he learns to move on and let go. (and also broke the barrier and released the souls)

So now we move to the crux of the issue. Asgore.

He had a HELL of a character arc building up! So many flaws and bad decisions! We know he's kind, and a pushover, but also responsible for all of this hurt and death of children. (Yes, he had reasons, but that doesn't change his actions.) To be honest, it's the kind of character arc I love. Someone who has caused harm, learning to grow and be a better person. (Cough cough, Heart on the Table, cough cough)

...But he never actually got to the "better person" part.

We know monsters in Undertale are flawed. It's why it's such a great game! So many characters have done so much bad, but! The core of the game is that anyone can be a good person if they try! Look at all these people learning and growing, and being better people than they were before!

But the true pacifist ending kinda shafted Asgore, to be honest. He's a coward, and he never really has to face what he's done. He never decides to just... stop. To face his crimes and the world he's shaped around him.

If he had, independently of others, decided to spare Frisk, that would be one thing. But he didn't - it wasn't until Toriel showed up, and then all of Frisk's friends that he stopped.

Asgore's core conflict was that he was doing something he hated and he knew was bad, but he couldn't stop because how would everyone else react? His people needed him to do this bad thing.

A completed character arc for him, from a story telling perspective, would have had him stop what he was doing, while still under the impression that this would be a hard decision, and that everyone would hate him for it.

(A bed he made for himself! Through his action and inaction, he stoked monsterkind's hatred for humanity back up. There is a much larger discussion to be had around this topic, also how Chara was treated by him and monster kind (also his hand in Chara and Asriel's death) and many more factors. I am aware this is a highly debated topic, and I don't have the energy to fight it, so I will leave it at that.)

Regardless on if you agree if that would be a good or bad decision on his part, that would have been character growth - basically, Asgore having to face all of the accumulation of his cowardice and actions.

But he didn't. He didn't back down until he was basically told "hey yeah, so we all like this kid so you don't have to kill them."

He never wanted to kill them! That was never the issue! The issue was that he was willing to kill them anyway. And if Frisk's friends and his ex wife hadn't shown up and said "hey so we actually DONT want you to kill this kid" he would have! He was willing to kill a child because other people wanted him to, and we never get to see him overcome that hurdle of not killing a child despite other people wanting him to.

We can talk about the potential ending where he offers Frisk his soul, but even then, he still never actually confronts his actions. He's still unwilling to face all of the people he's harmed. (and YES allowing and ENCOURAGING his citizens to murder children is harming them, too. Especially because monsters don't see humans as people. (another essay I don't have time to get into right now, but is based on canon fact))

So... Yeah. I think Asgore has a lot of wonderful conflict baked into him, which is something I love in a character. He's torn, and a coward, and a father, and a broken ruler and king who is doing what he thinks his people want. But it's frustrating to me because he never got the character arc he deserved, and never got the chance to grow into a better person like everyone else in Undertale gets.

I do actually enjoy writing about him... and drawing him too on occasion! (though he's hard to draw) and ASGORE and Bergentrückung are actually my favorite songs in the soundtrack since they are filled with so much emotion. He really is a delightfully conflicted character and that conflict and hurt and pain in a character is addicting to me.

If he had a resolved character arc in game... well, to be honest, he'd probably be my favorite character??? Like, maybe even more than Papyrus (before the hyperfixation took hold, of course. That's a beast you can't reason with.)

But alas, it is what it is, and Asgore never grew. He's stuck being the same monster he was from the very beginning.

Thanks again for the ask and sorry you got a whole ass essay in response lol! I have many feelings about this game and the characters in it, Asgore included.

(Also, to anyone reading, I am aware what I have stated is simply my opinion, and many people have different ones. My opinion has no more value than any other persons.)

Another disclaimer - I love Undertale, and all of it's characters and everything that went into it, and while there are things that I feel about Asgore's character arc, I love and appreciate the way the game played out in actuality, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. Toby wrote a masterpiece, and is not only allowed, but should write characters the way he wants to. Who cares if it's not textbook?

Have a cookie for making it this far:

🍪

(I was gonna drop an Asgore sketch but HOLY HECK it was not cooperating.)

[punksocks]

Astrology Observations Pt.6

Based on my experiences, take them with a grain of salt

People rag on Leo suns but some of the sweetest people I’ve known have been Leos. The most warm in a subtle way have been Leo suns with earth placements. If you need someone to root for you no one believes in you like a Leo, it’s a feeling like a warm glow in the dark.

Aquarius suns think unconventionally in a conventional way. Like they will come up with creative ideas that still are still under a conformist umbrella. If something is trending they want to be at the head of that trend. Aquarius moons have the real out there, out of the box ideas. Sometimes they won’t be grounded enough to make them work but Aquarius moons will really make you think differently.

Sagittarius and Geminis tend to set the trends first, can’t explain why but their energy and clever ideas tend to be infectious. Pisces are also really good at this with their dreamy energy, less intentionally though. Virgos will also find very clever ways to use the tools at their disposal.

Every time a cancer has suddenly gone from distaste/indifference to being nice to me they’ve been trying to get something out of me 🤷🏾‍♀️ (Cancers that are always nice are a different story lol, very kind people)

Where a sign falls in your houses will definitely influence how you perceive them. Signs in your 8th house will come off as suspicious and secretive, 2nd house will be seen as grounded and with affection, you’ll identify closely with signs in your 1st house, etc.

Gemini placements really have their shit together when it’s together imo, they can really balance a lot of things well. This can be hard to perceive sometimes because Geminis can fake having a harmonious life better than any other sign. Libras get a lot of flack for being fake but Libras are a sign of balance. They like to have a sound image to project socially but they can be deeply off balance when anything is lacking in their life.

Trust a developed Virgo’s (sun, moon, rising) advice, even if you don’t want to hear it, they know what they’re talking about.

Heavy Capricorn or Scorpio placements? Welcome to the family karma club. Odds are you have a relationship that’s strained with at least one parent, uncle, aunt, grandparent, etc. The good news is that if you break out of cycles with your family (and don’t fall into cycles with people like them) you can have a much more rewarding life and a found family to match no other as an adult.

I’ll probably do a family post soon. I have a lot of ✨opinions ✨

Whole house astrology can teach you a lot about yourself and frankly I prefer it.

For example, my standard birth chart has Saturn/SN in Aries in my 5th and 6th house- but my whole house birth chart has Pisces in 5th and Aries and 6th and that makes more sense for me. I’m a creative and have had a sort of winding journey to make my art my full time job. I’ve also had to bring in a spiritual/healing focus to my creativity and my life in general but it’s vastly improved everything for me. Also I definitely have had very delicate physical health and a lot of sudden rivals in the workplace.

[twopoppies]

Hi! So I was actually at Morriña festival a few days ago and wanted to ask your opinion on the theory that Harry was there, then saw that you already posted a bit about it. So here’s my take. I’m actually still on the fence about it, but leaning towards “within the realm of possibility”.

My arguments in favour:

• Louis was very funny and cheeky with fans for most of the show, but for some specific lines he got significantly more serious. What stuck out to me personally was “love you cannot hide” in The Greatest, the entirety of Saturdays, the second verse of We Made It. His gaze seems to be much more focused and pointed, not moving at all, and with it being during these specific lyrics… I am ready to clown lol.

• In the beginning of We Made It (and maybe more times, this is just what I recorded) he pointed twice somewhere high - too high for fan signs, but lower than he usually points for emphatic value. And I think that he pointed in the general direction of the projector tower, which, as I’ll explain later, is the likeliest place for Harry to be if he was there.

• There was technically a place for Harry to hide at, despite the open layout of the festival. You can see the scheme at the festival’s insta page here https://www.instagram.com/p/C9zvd7ni6MF/?igsh=MWdkMWhkZDZqb2NsYQ== and the building you initially posted about was indeed just a warehouse with toilets. I was inside, although a little drunk already, but I only remember very high ceilings and windows to let in natural light, so I am 99% sure that there is no proper second floor. Other buildings on the site are too small, so instead my best bet is the projector tower in front of the stage. I saw some people say that there was someone in the side of the stage, but I couldn’t notice anything, and I had an excellent view of that side, plus Louis didn’t look that far to his left.

• After the show Louis posted a picture of himself from the back, and the tower is well within his range of aforementioned medium-high pointing.

• Harry’s most recent bike pictures - they were backdated exactly to July 26. I don’t have nearly as many experience as you, but to me such backdated pap pictures have come to mean that Harry was actually in a different place that day.

My arguments against:

• Based on what I could observe from my spot, Louis’ gaze doesn’t seem to (always) land on a plausible spot for Harry to hide in. Sometimes it goes a little too far to the left from the projector tower (even on the picture he posted he seems to be looking more to his left), and there are no other suitable buildings in that direction. Unless we consider industrial buildings beyond the festival grounds, but this seems ridiculous to me. I doubt that Harry could’ve come to a random Galician cement company and be like “Oh, my secret boyfriend is performing in front of here tonight, can I please hand around your cement mixing tower or whatnot for half the night?”

• I only notices a lot of the aforementioned things a good while after the show, when I heard that Harry was supposedly there and began rewatching my footage to prove or disprove that. So I may be cherrypicking facts to fit what I would really like to be true. Except for the Saturdays thing, though; he was genuinely so emotional during it, and his demeanour shifted so suddenly when he started it, that I noticed this even in the moment.

So here’s what I can say, what’s your opinion?

And an unrelated fact for your interest: the majority of the crowd, or at least those who camped and ended up at the barricade, were larries (I was at the barricade too btw… best night of my life). During Back To You Louis didn’t sing the “I love … “ line at all, but we all screamed “I love him” and he nodded and smiled at us.

Lots of love and best wishes :)

Hi, sweetheart. You comment about the cement mixing tower made me laugh. 🤣🤣🤣

First of all, I’m so glad you were there and got to be at the barricade, and had such a good show.

Second, I do think the photos of Harry in London were likely from any day but the day they dropped, based on his clothing (and that there was no particular reason for him to be papped in London that day)

Third, I don’t think it’s impossible that he was at the festival, and your comments about why and where, make more sense than anything I’ve seen yet. We’ll never know for sure, but I’d love to believe he was able to be there.

x

[rnsk-kousatsu]

On Cherubimon's evolution

One thing that people often don’t realize about Shuuji, despite it being fairly obvious from the beginning of the game, is how easily influenced he is by those around him. Although he seems stubborn on the outside (at least initially), he’s actually quick to yield to external pressure and bend to others’ wills. You could argue that, initially, he only kept giving in because he kept getting outnumbered. However, this tendency to relent to others is still apparent even in the Truthful route, where he’s no longer pressured by numbers the way he was during the beginning. For instance, when he suggested moving in order from the shrine with the strongest barrier, Aoi objected, insisting they should start with the weakest one instead, and they ended up following Aoi’s suggestion. This shows that he hasn’t fully shaken his habit of giving in to others even when he’s outgrown his other early game traits.

Part of why I think this behavior remains in Shuuji is because of the way he was raised by his father. While it’s true that Shuuji — very much like Aoi — has a strong sense of responsibility, I believe this sense duty also comes from his need to meet the expectations others have of him. His urge to fulfill these expectations seems to be driven by a desire to be accepted, as his father has made him believe that living up to these expectations is the only way to gain approval. In short, he constantly seeks external validation by repressing how he truly feels and following through what other wants.

Cherubimon’s evolution scenario seems to address this persistent trait of his and attempts to make him grow out of it even if just a little. Due to the simplistic scenario presented in it (much like any other affinity-based evolution scene in Survive), perhaps not many notice it’s meant for that. However, ever since the first time I watched it play out, I’ve been intrigued by how this line by Cherubimon is worded:

“シュウジが責任感だけじゃなく、自分の中に見つけた『正しさ』を信じたから、ボクにも力が湧いたんだ”

This line (very literally) translates to “I was able to find strength because you (Shuuji) didn’t just rely on your sense of responsibility; you also believed in the ‘rightness’ you found within yourself.” Something to note is that I couldn’t quite come up with an appropriate word to translate “正しさ”, but we’ll get back to this later. English localization has it translated to “Believing not only in your duty, but in your own righteousness, you filled me with strength,” which isn’t wrong per se (it’s correct and it flows more naturally than the very literal translation I’ve come up with, in fact), but translating “正しさ” as “righteousness” in this context doesn’t really click in my opinion. Let me finally explain why.

While translating “正しさ” as “righteousness” isn’t necessarily wrong, “righteousness” often has a stronger moral or ethical connotation, implying a judgment of moral superiority or adherence to a strict set of principles. For me, this feels too heavy or “formal” in the context where Shuuji is simply discovering and trusting his own sense of what is right rather than claiming a broader moral high ground, which I believe is the case here. It’s probably why it’s written in quotes (『正しさ』), perhaps implying subjectivity since it comes internally from Shuuji’s own judgment.

Now, to connect my interpretation of what “正しさ” means with what I said earlier before about the line intriguing me: the line makes it seem like Shuuji’s sense of responsibility/duty (責任感) isn’t necessarily the same thing with what Shuuji believes to be right. The way Cherubimon puts it implies that duty is external, and this new thing that Shuuji discovers comes from within and it’s what has triggered the evolution. In other words, Shuuji finally finds it in himself to just follow what his heart believes without getting too concerned about what others think of it, instead of constantly focusing on fulfilling duties and obligations in response to external expectations, which is represented by his strong sense of responsibility.

The dialogue that comes after that line drives home the point even further too — Shuuji wonders if what Cherubimon calls his “rightness” is just his ego talking (the Japanese word used for this is literally also “ego”/“エゴ”). Instead of saying he’s wrong for thinking about it like that, Cherubimon reassures him that he doesn’t care whether his “rightness” is driven by his ego or his selfish desires (身勝手), because to him, it still holds value if it can be shared with and understood by others. Essentially, Cherubimon is saying that Shuuji’s own personal beliefs or actions are valid as long as they resonate with someone else, making them his form of justice or righteousness (as a note: “正義” usually translates to “justice” in English, but I think this is where the word “righteousness” would be appropriate to use). He wants Shuuji to realize that personal motivations can still lead to something meaningful and just when they connect with others. I personally find how this is incorporated in Cherubimon’s evolution beautiful — it’s in the way  Shuuji finally allows himself to embrace his personal beliefs after struggling with trusting his own heart (since it’s been long overshadowed with his need to meet the expectations imposed on him), and by doing so, he doesn’t just empower himself, but also enables Lopmon to reach his final stage of evolution.

Note: Something else I noticed just now, even if not very relevant to this writeup, is that Cherubimon uses the pronoun boku/ボク in that particular line, which is inconsistent with the pronoun he usually uses (watashi/ワタシ). I wonder why that is, but I figure it’s simply just a slip-up.

[thefuzzzz]

Ranking Nico Di Angelo ships as a multishipper with a crazy imagination, a Nico hyperfixation of 3 years, and the willpower of a god:

1. Solangelo - 8/10 I love them!! I adore Will in TSATS and he’s easily one of my favorite characters. I wish Rick had let us get to know Will separately before he was immediately made Nico’s boyfriend, but I love him anyway. I think they’re good for each other and very supportive. I think I spend too much time consuming media of them than their actual book interactions, because in media I hate their fanon portrayals, but I adore them in cannon. I only had the chance to read half of TSATS, but I thought it was cute!

2. Jasico - 10/10 I love them for the same reasons I love Solangelo, but Jason got character development and Will didn’t. Also, they had a cool moment with Cupid that I think about once a week at least. Jason is constantly someone Nico trusts and (I may be wrong) hugs at some point in the series. The only people Nico has shown direct physical affection to within the series (to my knowledge) are Will, Jason, Hazel, and Reyna. This proves how much Nico trusts Jason, even after Cupid. Also they’re silly and dumb and I love them so I’m right always

3. Nico x Conner - 10/10 I FUCKING LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Lemme explain. So when Nico came to camp he stayed with the Hermes cabin, but Luke was already fucked off (I think) so Conner and Travis were probably in charge of the cabin. Conner’s age changes several times, so I headcannon him to be just a tad older than Nico. I think since he knew Nico when he was a kid he can make present day Nico less doom and gloom and know when he’s truly happy. Also, Nico went to a notably strict military school before coming to camp, yk what they say, strict conditions raise sneaky kids. Thats right, these two are fucking nuts. They are little thieves. And I don’t even wanna mention the implications of Conner’s dad (Lin Manuel Miranda) being the god of travelers and Nico essentially being an eternal traveller. They make me so sick I love them

4. Nico x Clovis - 7/10 they were mentioned as friends MAYBE once and I took that shit and ran with it tbh. I don’t even remember if it’s cannon. I just love them. I THINK it was mentioned that Clovis helps Nico with his nightmares, but atp this shit might just be my imagination or a fic I read once. Anyways, Nico is noted as a very anxious person, and Clovis is very laid back. I really like that duo and the idea that Clovis can help to ground him a lot and help him relax

5. Valdengelo - 6/10 while I do adore them, they have hardly any time together or any bonding moments at all (Note: I am a hypocrite over Clovis let’s fight abt it) I do love media about them and consume it at rates not comprehendible by mankind though. Aside from no time together, I think they’re epic. Nico experiences a lot of the same things as Leo, such as losing his mother and general sadness, but they cope in wildly different ways (neither of which are healthy). Also, Nico grew up in the lotus casino. I’m sick of us all acting like he doesn’t understand technology. Let them be engineer boyfriends PLEASE

6. Pernico. - 0/10 I don’t care at all if other people ship them, since it’s fandom and you can do whatever you want. I just personally don’t enjoy their chemistry and see them more as brothers. You do you tho.

Keep in mind this is just my opinion please don’t take anything too personal!! I love all ships (almost.) equally and if you have any fic recommendations for any of these please give them to me I’m desperate

(Also, this doesn’t represent my FAVORITE Nico ship, just a ranking based on how much I giggle when I see them. It does not take many logistics into account)

[quibbs126]

could i get a mintrock fankid,if possible?

Okay so I feel like I went a bit off prompt, but here you go, I finally made her, this is Mint Toothpaste Cookie

Admittedly, maybe I could have given her a more occupational name instead of Mint Toothpaste, but I can’t think of one. Maybe I could come up with one in post, and if she has a different name, you know I changed it. I do at least have her character down, so

Anyways, Mint Toothpaste here is actually a scientist working at Astronaut’s agency (I don’t remember the specific NASA pun and right now I’m too lazy to look it up), and she specifically works with the Xylitolians, trying to learn and integrate their technology with their own. She’s also a bit of a fan of their fashion sense and has altered her outfit to more resemble theirs

Okay I know this angle is completely out of nowhere for a mintrock kid, but let me explain. The idea was based on her being made of toothpaste, and wanting to incorporate that into her character. Originally my idea was to maybe go a dentist route, though it felt a bit boring to me. Then I remembered Planet Xylitol also has a dentist/teeth theme, so I decided to use that concept and say that they’re connected

Also, I couldn’t think of anything interesting/something I liked that had to do with Mint Choco or Rockstar’s music angles. All I could think of was basically just going into a different genre of music, and that felt incredibly boring, so why not go in this sci fi route? In retrospect maybe I could have found something to ground her more to normalcy, but screw it

I don’t really know how she came to the scientist conclusion in her life, but shut up, she just did, don’t ask questions. Maybe it was Pink Choco

She does however still have music in her life, it’s just more of a hobby than a lifestyle. She is in fact, an accordion enjoyer and player (though I’m realizing it doesn’t look super good in that sketch now). She also enjoys music from video games she plays, and will sometimes play some of those songs on her accordion. She’s not the biggest strings fan, which is somewhat disappointing to her parents, but at least they didn’t have to compete over whether she would like the violin or guitar more (she thinks they’re just okay)

She’s a bit of a know it all, and while she does good at her job, and the Xylitolians like her, outside of work she kind of lets her job of integrating with an alien culture, being part of intergalactic history, go to her head. She’s sort of become that person who’s annoying after coming back from a study abroad (or so I’ve heard that’s a thing, I haven’t experienced that yet. Or maybe that was me with Britain last year), except she never left to go there and isn’t planning on ending her communication with them. Hopefully she gets better

And yeah, on to the design

So I called her Mint Toothpaste because it’s mint, and I like to imagine Rockstar as being made of shaving cream, and thus I like to imagine his kids not really having the most normal flavors. I didn’t really do that previously, but I did here. I believe the original name was going to be Mint Sauce

Mint toothpaste:

One thing I will say right off the bat, I’m sad that I couldn’t make her hair look as good as it did in the sketch. I tweaked it enough so it doesn’t look horrible, but in my opinion it looks much better in the sketch

But anyways, so her design was mainly based off of the Xylitol NPCs, since she was going to be connected to them. I actually didn’t decide until late whether or not she was living with them or working remotely, but regardless it’s a way to tie them in together. Though I also put in some Mint Choco flair with the coattails so she had something to separate them

I’ll admit right now, I don’t think she looks a lot like Rockstar, at least in the outfit. I used his jacket color in the accents, and she has his eye color, but I don’t know. Or maybe I only think that way because a lot of her colors come from Mint Choco

Also the little triangle in her top part of her suit is supposed to look like Rockstar’s necklace. It was just added to make her have a bit more to do with Rockstar, but I think it looks good on her

Honestly, I actually quite like how her design turned out. Yeah it’s not the most complex, it works with what she’s trying to do, and I think I did better than last time

And yeah, that’s it for Mint Toothpaste. I hope you like her!

[pico-farad]

I've been watching Vrains for the first time, and I finished season 1

some thoughts below (a lot. a lot of thoughts below)

Setting & Setup

The setting is a very smart choice, and the highlight of Vrains in my opinion.

The aesthetic is relevant, it integrates well with Konami marketing its mobile games, and it neatly deals with the problem every Yugioh series has to address of how to make consequences for duels that can be safely broadcast on children's television (aka the shadow realm / sent to the stars problem)

The virtual world opens up so much possibility in how to present things. 

In the character and setting designs, obviously, but also, the duels have their own visual identity. They don't need to play cards on a duel disk or hold cards in their hand, cards will just appear and disappear in pixels (it also probably saves on their animation budget). The duel grid and other visualizations can show up as they're relevant. And seeing the character take gashes to their avatars is dramatic while still being kid-friendly.

Every Yugioh needs its peanut gallery to react to the duel and be explained to, and Vrains incorporates them the most easily of any series, since they don't need to be physically present.

Kill the frog and the pigeon though.

On the topic of duels, I like both link summoning and speed duels.

I like the spacial/positioning element of link summoning, it puts an additional layer on top of "little monsters make big monster."

And speed duels have all the advantages of turbo duels, allowing for dynamic action, visual metaphor for the tide of the duel, and the ability to change locations without sacrificing pacing, all while requiring less suspension of disbelief than card games on motorcycles. It's easy to take for granted, but the heist sequences wouldn't work at all if they had to be standing duels. 

I also liked this about season 1 of 5Ds, where there's two modes of dueling (turbo duels and ground duels). The contrast between speed duels and master duels is fun.

Skills are cool too, though I feel like they could have designed better ones. Seeing Yusaku drop below 1000 got kind of predictable.

And finally, there is rich thematic potential in this kind of virtual setting. Themes about our relationship with social media, video games, artificial intelligence, and tech corporations are very relevant and have depth. I don't have the highest of hopes for Yugioh tackling them, based on how this first season has gone, but I'll withhold judgment on this until I'm finished.

Yusaku

I like Yusaku. He's blunt, but he's not edgy like I thought he would be. He's actually kind of nice toward Naoki when they meet. The three things tic is charming. I like his hacker deck, it's probably my favorite protagonist deck theme after Elemental Heroes.

Yusaku's problem is not that he's boring per se, but he isn't really put in any interesting situations in S1. 

A lot of his duels are just him being challenged to a duel he has no interest in (Go, Blue Angel, Ghost Girl), he beats them, and they don't actually end up forming a relationship or establishing a dynamic. Because their characters don't have anything to do with each-other except mutually not wanting the bad guys to do bad things.

Yusaku gains allies, but he doesn't make friends. He starts off with his only real relationship being Kusanagi, and that doesn't really change by the end of the season (and his relationship with Kusanagi is not very developed either).

Now, there is a reason for this, which is I think the core of Yusaku's character in S1. It's that due to the traumatic event of his childhood, time has stopped for him. This is very real for victims of traumatic events, being unable to move forward in their lives, develop relationships or think about the future, because their minds are still stuck in the past. This is why Yusaku seeks his revenge. It's not revenge he's seeking, it's closure.

This is a theme that's worth exploring. The problem is that I don't really think they explore it, not sufficiently enough for me to give them credit. If they were exploring it, they could have shown Yusaku reckoning with the divide between him and others in a number of ways. 

Most chiefly, by forcing him to make friends anyway. This is Yugioh goddamnit. The opportunity was right there with Naoki, but it's just played as a joke. Instead, most of this theme is squeezed in at the end of the final duel vs. Revolver, and without the proper build-up, the moment of Yusaku renouncing his revenge and reaching out to be friends with Revolver doesn't land nearly as strong as it could have.

If there is one relationship that Yusaku maybe develops though, it's...

Ai

The relationship between Yusaku and Ai should be what the show hinges on, based on the premise, Ai's status as the "partner," and glimpses I've seen of them through fandom.

Ai is the inciting incident of the story, his existence drives the plot forward, because Hanoi wants him, but Yusaku has him, and Ai doesn't want anything to do with either of them. This premise is gold. It's rife with dramatic potential. Ai is forced to work together with his captor. Yusaku is forced to work together with this goddamn annoying AI. They are both just trying to use the other, but end up developing a bond.

Or at least... that's what I think should have happened...

Very little happens between them in season 1, and it either goes nowhere, or comes out of nowhere. Ai tries to escape, but that thread is just dropped and forgotten. Various Hanoi guys hint that the Ignis can't be trusted, but it doesn't really faze Yusaku because he already doesn't trust Ai. The same thing happens when Revolver reveals that Ai is his counterpart from the Lost Incident and has known it this whole time.

There's only one turning point in their dynamic, which is in the second to last duel vs. Revolver, where Ai uses his body as a shield so that Yusaku can use Storm Access. And even then, Ai says it's because if Yusaku loses, Revolver will kill him. But that's been their entire dynamic for the season anyway? Why is this positioned as the emotional moment where they become partners?

By the end of season 1, they're... allies. The same as the rest of the characters on Yusaku's side. But if there was one character Yusaku should have made friends with, it's Ai. Especially if they are positioning for a humans vs. AI conflict.

His design is cute though.

Go

Go's problem is that he needs to be integrated into the story and cast. Aoi at least has a relationship with her brother and Ghost Girl. Go is connected to... some nameless orphan children, a nameless manager, and a childhood orphan friend who shows up for 5 seconds, is put into a coma in order for Go to have a motivation to duel Genome, and never appears again.

Go isn't a best friend character, and he's not a rival either. He's not even a friend character, period. He really just seems there to be a third duelist.

Does he even know about the Lost Incident, or why Playmaker is even fighting Hanoi? Go has no clue what the plot even is, how can he be involved in it? My guy is living in a different story.

It's a shame, because Go does have some interesting bits to his character. Being a charisma duelist is central to his character (unlike Aoi, whose relationship to charisma dueling seems to end at being a cute idol girl), which could have been used to explore the culture of Link Vrains and the performativity of online spaces.

This is tied to some kind of theme he has going on of dueling for others vs. dueling for yourself. It's brought up in contrast to Yusaku, and why he initially dislikes Playmaker. All of that could have been interesting, but it doesn't really get a full treatment.

Revolver

Revolver is fine as a season 1 antagonist. He's not really a character yet, but I'm interested in where they take him from here. His backstory is sympathetic honestly. It's a pretty familiar and tragic situation, where a child narcs on their parent, who isn't even a good parent, but then comes to regret it.

I also think Revolver is sympathetic because I would nuke the internet in a heartbeat.

His Link Vrains design is cool. Mirror Force is funny, so are the gun dragons. The final duel vs. Yusaku was sick honestly, I loved the extra extra link.

Anyway, I still enjoyed season 1 and think there's room to take a turn for the better. In my experience, there's two kinds of yugiohs, the ones that start off strong, and the ones that end strong. My suspicion is that Vrains is the latter.

On to season 2! Time to meet everyone's favorite Salad king :^)

Hm? Was there someone I missed?

ha ha...... you get your own post, Aoi.

[rainstormcolors]

top 5 seto kaiba moments

Oh, you sent this right away!

Okay, so my top favorite moments are prone to shifting around based on various things, so I don't consider these set in stone. But here are some, in my opinion, outstanding Seto Kaiba moments:

Seto, after being defeated and knowing he's failed over and over and over -- in so many ways, just staying as a heap on the ground in Pegasus' dungeon until *something* inside him makes him stand up and move forward again. He can still stand up and move forward.

I feel the 3 pages we get of Seto backstory within the manga at Death-T are absolutely outstanding and it's kind of astonishing how so much is explained and contained and implied and ambiguous all in those 3 pages. This is a bit of cheat to include the whole thing so if I have to pick one specific moment in this backstory, Seto challenging Gozaburo to chess as Gozaburo smirks is the moment I suppose as it's so crucial and telling and life-changing. It could be said it was the first time Seto offered his "life chip" to try reaching what he wanted.

There are many good Seto moments, so choosing five is difficult. But this moment where Seto feels compassion for Isis and is taken aback by this capacity for compassion that maybe he didn't realize he had. But he does have it. And how this compassion is brought out by Isis admitting that she's failed. And how everything in Seto's story and all the threads he's been holding meet in this moment. And how emotions and people are strange to Seto but he does gravitate to them, even if he thought that part of him had been lost and destroyed. It is still there.

"For him," is also up there as a powerful Seto moment within DSoD. But this agonizing heartbroken lonely expression from Seto as he realizes Atem isn't here is poignant and harbors the heart of the movie, and how this is a character who can't admit it but is desperate for human connection to this lost person and is devastated by this absence that he can't deny anymore. And Seto might deny it but his heart does break and does hurt and does feel lonely.

This moment is one of the whole series' most powerful and vivid moments. This and Seto walking backwards to the ledge after this vision. It's like the backstory where I feel these two moments are inherently linked so I don't really feel it's "correct" to list the hallucination and Seto stepping to the ledge as separate moments. This entire beat of storytelling is vibrant with heavy emotion and character, of the heart and the mind, and is complex and desperate and human and aching and it's not about "good" or "bad" but how Seto survives -- in the sense of how he gets what he wants by offering his "life chip" to be chopped and being able to live on despite offering his life chip and living with that.

Thank you for the kind ask! I hope these were okay as answers.

[catreginae]

Thou Shalt Not Fall: The Consequences of Hiding an Injury

Twilight forgets the most important rule to feeding your vampire friend: you need blood to spare. Based on a prompt about somebody fainting while Warriors is feeding.

[Previous] - [Next]

View the Master Post here!

In hindsight, the amount of blood he had to wash out his clothing maybe should have told him that he lost a little too much of it. Instead of focusing on how much blood there was, he focused on cleaning it and when he was done, he could barely see where it was. It was only really noticeable if somebody knew there was blood there in the first place and the only person who knew there was blood there was Twilight himself. Warriors didn't say anything, so hd figured that their resident vampire didn't catch the scent of smell.

The cut wasn't that big, in his personal opinion, and it was completely healed after drinking half a bottle of potion. After a couple days passed, he thought nothing of it. He wasn't in pain, he could stretch his muscles around the area and not feel anything.

As far as he was concerned, Twilight managed to get away with hiding an injury. Hiding an injury wasn't easy to do with a big group, especially when one of the members of that group was a vampire with a keen nose for blood. If Warriors noticed anything, he said nothing, which Twilight didn't really feel like was something that Warriors would do when he called out others for injuries Twilight couldn’t even see. Warriors didn't even hide his own injuries – mostly because he couldn't when they were so obvious, but that was beside the point.

The fact that he was injured just a couple of days ago before wasn't even on his mind when Warriors asked if he could drink some of his blood. Twilight agreed because he didn't ask then that often and if the captain felt like he had to, there was probably a good reason for it.

He felt Warriors’ fangs pierce his wrist.

And then he woke up to shouting.

“No, nothing about this is fine! I depend on you guys to tell me when something isn’t right! I can’t fucking tell how much blood you still have in your bodies! How am I suppose to avoid hurting you guys if you lie to me?”

“Warriors-”

“I need some air and something to eat.”

Even though he was kind of dizzy, he could put two and two together. He was must have fainted while Warriors was feeding... and he was short on blood because of the injury he hid. Twilight tried to sit up but Wild shoved him back to the ground.

“Just let him go. I doubt he’s in the mood to listen.”

Twilight simply nodded. He had to accept defeat for now. Warriors would come back eventually and then he would apologize for scaring him.

“Now, do you want to explain what all that was about?” Four asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you were supposed to one of the more responsible ones.”

“I... I can be!” he squeaked. He was usually pretty responsible. He was one of the older ones in the village, he kind of had to be responsible and be a good example for the younger villagers! “I got injured a few days ago but I drank a potion and washed up on my own and I was fine! It wasn’t worth anybody fussing over it. I was just not fine enough for him to drink my blood, apparently. I honestly felt fine though. I just forgot I had an injury not that long ago when he asked me.”

“Who would have guess that Twilight was one of the ones who hides an injury?” Wild asked with a giggle.

“Wild!”

Time shook his head. “Now, now, everybody. We’re all allowed to hide one injury. Twilight, this is your one injury. Don’t do it again.”

Twilight sighed. He was glad everybody was treating his predicament seriously.

They decided to stay close to where they were for the rest of the day. One of the reason he heard was something about making sure Twilight took it easy. Wild and Sky stuck to his side and he was pretty sure it was because they didn’t trust him to actually take it easy. Normally, he would be a little hurt but at the moment, he was mostly annoyed. The other reason was to make it easy for Warriors to find them again.

The second reason was probably a good call because it had been hours and Warriors was still gone. Either he was really angry and he didn’t feel like coming back to camp or he had a hard time finding something to eat, which made Twilight feel kind of shitty about the whole thing. If he remembered, Warriors probably would asked somebody else and they would all be here.

Twilight was thinking of how he could sneak away and shift to go sniff out their vampire when Warriors made his sudden reappearance, silently walking through the camp before jumping into a tree. He still wasn’t used to the fact that Warriors could just shoot himself into the air like that with just his legs. He stood up and started walking over to it, looking up once we reached the base.

Warriors was hanging upside down about halfway up the tree, his arms folded in front of his chest. He still had his fangs out too. Twilight usually wasn’t bothered by his eyes but when there wasn’t a lot of light, his eyes seemed to almost glow and with Warriors above him, they made him feel kind of small.

The captain didn’t say anything when their eyes met. It was already going better than he thought. He was sure that Warriors would ask for more time to himself and shoo him off.

“Hey, Wars...” He swallowed thickly. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for scaring you. I was injured a few days ago, handled it all myself, and just kind of forgot about it. I felt pretty good until, you know. It wasn’t your fault at all and I’m sorry I hid that injury because none of this would have happened if anyone else knew I got hurt.”

Warriors raised an eyebrow and squinted. “How did I not know? I can usually smell it on you guys.”

Twilight shrugged. He remembered being surprised that he somehow got past Warriors’ nose. Warriors let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes.

“I accept your apology. Just be more honest, okay? I know it’s hard for us hardheaded heroes to think about ourselves for a change, but if you guys want me to be open about needing help with my hunger, then you need to be honest about how much blood you guys actually have. Feel free to spread the message, I’m just going to stay up here for a while.”

It was a relief that he was forgiven, honestly. However, it was quickly forgotten when something else entered in his mind.

“Upside down?”

Warriors blinked at him, like it was weird for Twilight to ask about being upside down. “This is surprisingly comfortable. Sometimes I do my watches like this.”

Twilight rolled his eyes but Warriors simply shook his head.

“The wall crawl made me realize that vampires can’t get motion sick. What would be the point of walking on ceilings if we can’t handle being upside down?”

“I guess you got me there,” Twilight mumbled with a roll of his eyes. “I’ll got leave you alone now. I’m surprised that Wild and Sky haven’t tackled me yet.”

Warriors waved as Twilight walked back to where Sky and Wild were waiting for him. Sky had his bedroll set up in the time that he was gone, which was enough of a clue for him.

“Did he forgive you?” Sky asked as he tapped on Twilight’s bedroll just as he was getting into his own set up beside his.

“Yeah, he did,” he answered as he prepared to turn in early for the night.

I'm not exactly sure when I'll have another chapter ready as this is the last chapter I had that was mostly finished. I have some writing to do!

[slashersgostabbystabstab]

Indissolubility

Dredge x Reader

Here is the first fic for the newest killer to my roster lol (as if I write for anyone besides Singularity...). Pleae bear with me, I struggled a bit with this and I'm just really hope this is decent or at least future fics can prove to be better(which speaking of future fics, those will also explain some stuff going on here but I can always answer questions).Hopefully you guys are able to enjoy this and understand what I was trying to do ^^

My bestie reassured me so you can thank her for me posting this again

Words: 3,583

Warnings: Abduction, typical chase stuff, Druanee can not communicate or take a hint

Your knees instantly collided with the solid dirt beneath you, and you were quick to catch yourself as you ignored the new pain in your legs. With a new dose of adrenaline shot into your body, you lifted yourself from the ground to resume your sprinting. 

It was never in your intentions to stray too far or to stay out for too long, but with night having fallen in these already dark woods…you found yourself lost. And hunted. Even the campfire’s light seemed to have disappeared once the darkness engulfed you, leaving you stranded and running for your life in the Entity’s forest. 

Voices wailed and whined and sobbed all around you; some cried out for help that would never come, while others whispered your name. You ignored them all, lifting your arms in front of your face to shield it from the sharp branches of nearby trees that reached out to you. The branches were sharp and seemed far too reminiscent of hands that clawed out, getting hold of your clothes every now and then to keep you in place for what trailed behind you. But with how this thing gave chase, was it still behind you?

After swatting away branches and ripping your clothes from their sharp ends, you took a second to glance behind you where the one preying chased. The voices…they were gone, as was the predator who seemed to have left you alone. You glanced in every direction; left, right, and even up for added measures.

One of your hands came up to your chest, feeling the pounding of your heart against its cavity as you attempted to soothe yourself. While a few shaky breaths escaped you, you rested your other hand against the bark of a nearby tree that appeared much more harmless than the others.You knew it was dangerous to go out, yet something told you to just do it. Whether it was curiosity or a desperation for something other than the campfire, it brought you to this outcome.

Many times you had been advised not to cross the invisible line that protected you and the others from…them. You had been warned that the campfire would keep you safe; that the perimeter surrounding it kept the danger out. Sure, your new life in this realm was an endless cycle of danger, but the campfire was the one place where you could rest from it all. Even if it was just for a few moments. 

A good portion of the survivors, you learned, liked to take risks at times. They went “out of bounds” and explored the dangerous waters that were this entire realm. And after learning more about this world and its inhabitants…you decided to take a risk of your own. Take a short, hopefully harmless adventure.

Strangers who were now considered your acquaintances gave you their thoughts and tips based on the length of their stay in this world. Yet out of everybody, the opinion that mattered most was your one and only confidante’s: Haddie. Besides being the one person you technically knew coming in here, she proved to know a handful of information despite being one of the Entity’s later additions. Naturally you trusted her advice and kept inside the campfire’s perimeter, until today.

Whether it was curiosity or the want for some newer surroundings, you stepped out and came to quickly regret it. The moment after your hesitation dissipated and you stepped a single foot outside of the perimeter, it was as though the forest came alive. As if it sensed you and quickly alerted every predator in this world of your presence. And a single one of them answered the call.

The one time you decide to go against Haddie’s wishes, and you quickly find yourself being hunted by a killer. To make things worse, it was the killer you were certain Haddie discreetly specified when she warned you about all of them.  When she described the dangers out there, it was this killer she most definitely did not want you running into. 

But after a good minute of silence and a rather unnerving tranquility, your lips finally released a much calmer breath. You removed yourself from the tree that concealed you for just a few moments, right before you brought your arms up to hug your quivering body. Now that the adrenaline seemed to be simmering down, the realm’s cold atmosphere began to hit you more than what you usually felt. 

Ignoring the feeling, you turned your body away from the tree to begin your route towards where you hoped the campfire would be. But you were soon struck with a shot of fear once you caught sight of it.

The killer.

You stumbled backwards whilst trying not to run into or even look at that hazardous body of theirs, the body that was practically an extension of the Entity itself. In the process of avoiding the killer you found yourself on the ground once again, and desperation prompted you to crawl away as fast as possible. 

But the killer was faster, it expected your every move which was why it now stood over you in its usual menacing manner. Before you could make another hasty escape, a multitude of hands shot out and took hold of your body that fought against them. 

You protested to no avail, soon finding yourself in the clutches of the killer who did not hesitate to make their way to their desired destination. All the while they ignored anything you said and did. 

Just like in every trial, you wiggled for your life as the predator held you tightly under the amalgamation you could call one of its arms. You squirmed, shouted; you kicked and even punched your abductor to the best of your abilities considering how their body lacked a complete solid structure. 

“Please, just stop! Put me down!” were the words you cried out under their arm, now feeling as they adjusted your body once you began to slip out again.

“Please…” “...stop…” “...down…” From their body spoke a multitude of voices you could barely distinguish as men and women, and it was as though they mocked your protests while carrying you like they did in past trials. They were determined, no doubt, but you were terrified of what went through that horrid mind of theirs while they glided through what you instantly knew was their realm. The Garden of Joy.

Haddie had told you all about them…the Druanee. In fact, you had been made aware of this…menace even before you were dragged into this world by the Entity. She had described it as a force of malice; hysteria incarnate. It was a creature that faced animosity ever since the mere thought of it was conceived. An abomination that was born out of a paranoia that was pushed onto people by a false shepherd. 

“Let me go!” you kicked once more, desperation growing in you when you recognized the path you were now being carried over. The killer trailed through the front yard you found yourself running in several times before, already hurrying up the front steps to enter the main building. 

“I said, let me go!” you kicked the smoggy figure, right before your wish was granted. Your body met the plaster surface of a familiar flooring at that moment. You caught yourself with your hands, careful not to land on your face while your chest and abdomen ached with pain from colliding with the so-called ground. Almost instantly you pushed yourself onto your knees before landing on your bottom to scramble in the opposite direction of the killer, back soon clashing with the crumbling wall.

The Druanee,no, the Dredge… stood before you in what you already knew was the upside down bedroom in the house centered in the garden. You had no doubt that it planned on bringing you here, but the reason why was unbeknownst to you.

The creature peered down at you with its singular eye, making sure that its body blocked the only doorway in the bedroom. Where there was meant to be silence were guttural sounds in addition to a plethora of voices who did not speak but instead moaned and screamed in pure agony. They practically called out to you, almost trying to tempt you to join them if you would not be their salvation.

“Please,”  you began as if to reply to the voices, prompting a head tilt from the killer. “Please don’t hurt me.”

Hysteria incarnate. Born from the paranoia of others. You were aware that the creature sensed every ounce of fear in you, a fear conceived from the very moment you encountered it the night the Entity brought you in. A fear that continued to grow with every trial in which you had to face the creature. A fear you were now being forced to confront.

You didn’t know what it was, but you had begun to connect the dots: the Dredge sometimes appeared to keep its eye on you. It felt as though you had caught its attention after the first encounter. This may have solely been its way to get back at Haddie, seeing how close your bond was, while she and the Dredge acted like long time foes.

“What do you want from me?”

“What…” “...do you…” “...w a n t…” the taunting resumed. Or could this have been the voices attempting to communicate with you?

The creature almost basks in the trepidation dripping from your quivering voice, practically goading you to continue as it studied you ever so consciously. Most thought of the Dredge as some animal, some hound the Entity let loose to plant more seeds of malice than what already existed. But no, this simple interaction made you realize just how aware it really was.

“Please,...you don’t have to do this.” you pleaded before emitting a wince the moment the creature finally made a move. Your forearms lay flat against the wall behind you once the monster shifted, hovering in your direction without hesitation. 

This of course provided your much needed exit, a fact the Dredge accordingly took into account. Hence why a miniature cloud of fog was left where it originally stood. You recognized it as a remnant, no doubt a safety measure in case you did manage to run past it. 

Looking back at the creature you noticed how much closer it was; far too close for your liking as its head shifted through the fog to meet with your face. You were practically merging with the wall at this point seeing how you further pressed into it while trying to avoid the Entity’s child.

The sounds had grown closer; awful, agonizing cries that still shrieked your name like they knew you from another time. Like…this thing knew you, and needed to see more of you. 

You glanced away from it, not wanting to look into the bloodshot eye that stared deeply into you as if prying at your soul.  It was especially discomforting when the monster grew close and turned its head so the eye directly faced you. With the new proximity, you removed your hands from the wall to instead retract into yourself. 

The Dredge then used its scythe appendage to pry at your arms, prompting a growl to escape from its form when you still attempted to shield yourself. You eventually obliged and let it open your arms, now displaying your terrified form. 

Even then you refused to look at it, only feeling as it pushed your arms to the side before prodding at your coat. With that, you made an effort to slightly eye the Dredge who further examined the article of clothing as though it was familiar with it. 

“I-Is this what you want?” a stutter escaped you before you flinched at the killer’s sudden move, the Dredge having whipped its head to look you straight on. You didn’t want to give up the coat; you couldn’t give up the coat. Not when…it was the last gift you got from your Haddie.“No…I can’t.”

You immediately received a sound of disapproval from the Dredge who threatened to get closer, making you realize you weren’t getting out of this very easily. 

“Okay…fine… y-you can have it. Just…p-please…let me go.”

Shutting your eyes you removed your coat as rapidly as the Dredge would allow, soon holding it in front of your chest with arms that hesitated to extend out. Your breaths were shaky as you awaited any sort of reaction from your abductor, and your body itself shivered at the sudden coldness that hit your skin. You felt the offering be taken from your hands ever so gingerly despite your tight grip on it, and you opened your eyes to find an entanglement of smaller limbs holding the coat. 

It felt awful giving up your favorite coat, seeing the value it held. But you were sure Haddie would understand.

Finally the Dredge created a greater distance between your forms, and it stood at its full height while giving the article a good scan. It really did seem like it recognized the coat, seeing how it made sure to check every inch and every pocket as if to make sure that you were not giving it a faulty item. It admired the deep scarlet color, feeling every bit of its material like a child with their favorite blanket.

“Okay,” you quickly interrupted the Dredge’s actions, watching as it shot a look in your direction while the smaller limbs continued to fiddle with the jacket. Particularly the ruby buttons on it; perhaps that was what caught its attention most with how they closely resembled the jeweled seeds of a pomegranate.

“Can I…can I go now?” your voice broke them out of their fiddling, and a glance was shot in your direction.

The Dredge repeated its own actions from before, only hovering in place with a tilt of its head that scrutinized your entire form. It was thinking, perhaps, thinking if it was satisfied with the offering you had gifted it. It pondered to itself, pondered if this was enough after abducting and bringing you to its garden where its intentions remained unknown to even itself. 

And after a good few moments of silence in which it stared, the creature shrunk into itself in its own wicked version of spinning in place with it now facing the wall to your left. Against the wall was a large wardrobe that you had seen before, and its doors swung open to reveal a collection of sorts that proved to be more of a floating mess. 

Smooth stones, burnt papers you knew were letters, tarnished planks of wood and even a few skulls were some of the items you could see in the strange collection. And amongst them now was your jacket after one of the smaller appendages delicately placed it inside, careful not to have it clash with any of the other items that would disappear from existence for seconds at a time to take turns displaying themselves.

Seeing as the Dredge was rather occupied with sorting out its stock, you took the opportunity to get back onto your feet without making a sound. Your one escape was still blocked by its remnant, but…perhaps the killer’s mind fixated enough on the wardrobe’s contents to allow you a run past the cloud. 

Running would no doubt alert it to your actions, so you turned to a more patient route you hoped would end in a desirable result. You held your breath, afraid that even the sound of your breathing would be enough to notify the creature who never paid any mind to you as it still adjusted its collection. And just like that, you made sure to return the favor by looking in the direction of the doorway where the remnant stood. If this was like previous trials…the remnant would surely dissipate once you made contact with it and you had one less problem to deal with. 

And as you grew closer to the miniature fog, you cautiously lifted a hand to it in an attempt to dispel it. Only to have a sharp gasp escape you once a hand shot out to take your wrist and pull you inwards before other arms followed the disembodied hand. The arms simultaneously tugged at you as the monster emerged from the cloud, and its actions from before were repeated so that you once again found yourself under its arm.

“You got what you wanted! Put me down!” you fussed while trying to punch at the arm, but your fighting proved worthless once you were shifted enough to be carried in a similar fashion to when being put on a hook. Not having to look behind, you knew the creature intended on adding you to the collection in the closet. “Please, don’t do this!”

“...y o u…” “...want…ed…”

“No, no! No I don’t!”

Your arm swung forwards and landed a blow on the Dredge’s head; you were able to hear a vexed mix of a growl and roar while the monster still tried to force you inside the small space.

“Quit it!”

“...No…no…”

“Please!”

“...please…stop…”

It had now become clear that your fighting was useless, with how the darkness within the wardrobe began to engulf your head. The darkness was surrounding you, swallowing up your face as your legs still kicked the air outside of the closet. And if the clammy feel of the Dredge’s limbs was not enough, the darkness invited you into a coldness that only seemed to increase the further you were pushed into the void. The previous choir of tormented souls grew louder, whispering and murmuring and wailing right into your ears. 

You could only shut your eyes and tug at your own legs before the Dredge released your body, but this led to the loss of your sense of direction. It made you panic and wonder if you were still in what you believed was the enclosed space of the mansion’s sole wardrobe. Your breathing quickened as the distress remained, and your vision had become completely pitch black.

Until…

A light. A light bright enough to flash you even with your closed eyes emerged, and so you opened your eyes to see what it was. And from the neverending darkness of this wardrobe, you witnessed an all too familiar spider claw that extended itself towards you. Its fire burned bright and warm, never hot enough to burn your flesh once it took hold of you and pulled you out like some twisted kind of savior. 

Following its own logic, the Entity extracted you from the small space before you found yourself being taken out from the Garden of Joy’s mansion. Despite how terrifying it was, being drawn out like the times you reached your final stage on the hook, this proved a much more manageable experience when compared to everything that had gone down. It was preferred and appreciated, seeing as the Entity was kind enough not to maul you as it brought you back to safety.

And safety it was, for in the blink of an eye you immediately found yourself back inside the campfire you were warned to never leave. Your body was still flooded with the Entity's warmth, but it soon began to diminish as you looked around the campfire at all the familiar faces of your fellow survivors. And in the sea of survivors, you caught sight of a familiar head of dark hair with blue streaks, right before its owner looked in your direction as if on cue.

“Haddie!”

“Hey!” 

You sprinted towards her and watched as she turned her entire body to face you, already making her way with a smile you could already sense a confusion emanating from. The two of you ignored the looks from the other survivors who you learned never understand the bond between you, but they quickly returned to their own business as you wrapped your arms around Haddie.

“Hey…are you okay?” 

Haddie’s arms returned the embrace without hesitation. The question she asked was more of a way of letting you communicate, but she knew you had experienced something. She always did. 

“You’re safe. It’s okay.”

You nodded as you sighed a breath of relief, opening the eyes you never realized you had shut tightly in the first place. You would explain more later, you just needed a moment to ground yourself. 

But this realm knew better than to let you be at ease, denying you the temporary rest you much needed. As you opened your eyes and scanned the surroundings, just beyond the campfire’s perimeter…there it was.

Ruby jewels sparkled under a nonexistent light, displaying themselves on the scarlet jacket you lost not too long ago. And the jacket like a grim reminder swayed with the wind that sang through the forest, hanging from the scythe-like appendage of the monster. 

Its bloodshot eye stalked you from afar, watching the camaraderie in full display that practically taunted it. And it watched as you shut your eyes and buried your face into Haddie, refusing to look at it once again. 

It understood. It knew what you felt and thought.

But…was it all genuine? Did you feel an animosity towards the abomination who you gifted such a valuable offering to? Had your fear dissipated to give it one last look? Enough for it to remain in your thoughts?

“...Want…”

Perhaps…you had unintentionally created a new bond you would not be allowed to escape.

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

I know you said in your comments on my last post that I didn't need to make you anything as congratulations, but girl, I've been concocting this thing in my head for the better part of a month and finally had the time to work it all together the last day or so. You're getting this thing one way or another! It's not perfect, but I've been watching edits for all sorts of fandoms with this song on TikTok for a while now, and it was too great of an opportunity to miss. Plus, this trend came about with perfect timing, so it works for both a mental plot eraser and a graduation gift all in one!

Now, although I'm sure you can piece it together yourself as it comes from your idea of what I've been calling The Playhouse Playoffs, I'm going to kind of explain how I thought things would go down/why I used the clips I did. However, first, please take a minute and fourish seconds to watch this thing that's been festering in my head for the last... I don't even know how long, honestly. Also, Tumblr screwed up the timing a bit in certain parts if you're watching it on a computer, but if you're watching it on your phone, it should be fine.

My take on the little story within the clips:

Part 1 - The camp is the gun.

If they're not riding together to camp, Riven and Vivien have a yearly race to the grounds to not only see who can get there first, but also who can be the one to claim Lakeside. Lakeside isn't a first come, first serve type of deal as their group (friends and family) always stays there, and Grandpa George and Nonna Dawn know this, but the person who claims it first gets to pick out group activities outside of planned events. Riven has beaten her almost every year, even when they were just riding down from Hill House on their bikes. In this case, Riven gets there first and is quick to see Nonna to claim Lakeside, but Vivien is more concerned with getting there with her friends for once and doesn't really care until he begins teasing her about it. Given her already rough start to the summer (as you saw in my preview of the first chapter), she finds it hard to take his light teasing as light.

Part 2 - The playhouse is the gun.

As the only two senior staff members who actually enjoy anything related to theatre (sadly, Carrie doesn't count as it's only her second year working there), Riven and Vivien are tasked with figuring out what show to put on. When neither can come to a clear choice in their meeting, Nonna suggests they do both - a battle of sorts to see who could take seniority for the next year based on ticket sales. Vivien, in a desperate attempt to prove herself capable so that her grandparents know the camp is in good hands when they eventually hand it off to her, agrees despite dreading how hard she knows she's just made her summer when she wanted nothing more than to enjoy her time with her friends.

Part 3 - Carrie is the gun.

As you've established (and I love), Riven steals Carrie away before Vivien has the chance to. Frankly pissed off by her lack of opportunity, she takes out her frustration on Riven, who reminds her that she had the chance to snatch Carrie up early, but was too caught up with everything else to even try. Despite her reluctance to admit it, she knows he's right and backs down, but the stress of everything is mounting, and she refuses to return to Lakeside that night as she knows Riven will have his show's crew over for a script-reading party, resigning to watching from afar.

Part 4 - The shows are the guns.

In my opinion, a lot will have happened between the initial reading party and the actual shows - apart from the obvious passage of time, I mean. While Riven’s been gliding through things without much stress due to having Carrie and a few stragglers from Vivien’s group on his side, Vivien’s been struggling with making things as perfect as possible. On top of this, things have been rocky in her personal life. She-who-must-not-be-named has been poking her nose where it doesn’t belong, rumors have been spread like wildfire, and the people she cares about have been keeping so many secrets that she feels like she’s drowning. Now, two days before the weekend their shows are set to perform, she finds all of the handmade costumes she and her group have worked so hard on sitting torn to shreds in a mud puddle after a particularly rough storm. The only person other than herself who has access to the locked area of the playhouse where they're keeping the costumes is Riven, making her believe that he must have had something to do with it despite his claims that he had no idea. Things get fiery between them as Vivien unleashes all of her previously withheld thoughts and emotions, and Riven argues that if she thinks he had anything to do with her show crashing and burning like the literal fire in the script, she must not know him at all. Riven walks away to pour his feelings into making his show great while Vivien picks up the pieces of the mess she's created and tries to figure out a way to get things back on track.

Part 5 - The actual performances are the guns, and it's not just the two of them reaching this time. The casts are reaching too.

After everything blows up between their directors and neither returns to the cabin that night, the two casts join forces the next morning to fix things without their directors' knowledge. They find ways to repair the damages done while Butchy and Miles try to talk Vivien out of her lockdown at the Hill House, and Carrie works on prying Riven out of his basement. Butchy convinces Vivien to at least try talking to Riven after his show's final rehearsal and, despite herself, she allows them to drag her back to the camp and waits out back for the cast to leave before slipping inside to talk with him. They've never really had a falling out before, and it takes a while to work through things with Vivien on the brink of an emotional breakdown and Riven sitting there, stonefaced, but they talk nonetheless and decide to work everything out as much as possible before the weekend so that they can comfortably enjoy each other's shows and go back to something resembling the "normal" they're used to.

I'll leave it at that for now, but just know that I have a lot of ideas for that storyline and really needed to get them all written down so they wouldn't bounce around in my head for the foreseeable future. I hope you enjoyed my little video and the thoughts behind each part, but honestly, El, I love this idea for Camp Wanamaker and am so excited to finally be able to post something for it!