#its also implied his mom is still alive

[askchilchuck]

hi chilchuck! i was wondering if you have any siblings,,, and if so, do you have any advice on how to support them through crappy days? i'm not good at comforting others, but i'd like to try my best, and i think we have that in common/pos.

but yeah, if you have any ideas for activities that sound fun (like, ones that you wouldn't feel dragged into) or just your two cent, then that'd be great :))

I've actually got four siblings, but I was the middle child so I wasn't very good with that sort of stuff. My older brother and sister handled most of it, the rest of us just followed along. Usually getting someone out of the house worked pretty well, though. Try taking them somewhere they like going, and see if that helps.

[crushedsweets]

What if Toby was the older sibling instead of Lyra....

And he's tryna get money for a apartment so they both can move out but then the crash happens.... -💀

anon do you understand what this just did to me. CW for grief and briefly implied abuse

i just got off of work n its getting late so its pretty messy and incoherent and mostly just me thinking to myself . . . also i end up talking about normal/younger brother toby for half of this anyway cuz no self control or direction.

i imagine younger brother toby already feels a ton of guilt from the crash. i cant remember if this was canon, but i HC he blames himself for a ton of reasons. she was driving him home from a doctor appointment, he thinks slendy mightve been involved cuz of him, he just cant remember if maybe he had a tic and thats what startled her, if it all comes down to him, if he just asked mom to pick him up instead, if he got a damn bus, anything else

so the idea that he's older. HE'S THE ONE DRIVING COME ONNN. he's driving her to school or something. man.

obviously tobys a protective person, but i imagine it comes tenfold towards a little sister. and it would fucking KILL him that 1. he couldnt always protect her at home because he was trying to work enough to get them out of there 2. his own driving is what took her life.

this is half on topic to your ask but. in my AU, around age 13 toby started being a menace and incredibly unfairly cruel to lyra (needless insults, taking her stuff, arguing with her) because he had so much pent up rage. and lyra always tried to give back kindness, and eventually (a yr or so later) toby calmed down and got close with her again .

so. realistically, if toby were older, he'd still have an asshole phase. but i like to think its more in the like. "leave me the fuck alone" way rather than trying to have some power. and he'd eventually get over it and realize he's gotta pull it together for her because she's even more scared and powerless than him and it sucks and she needs someone to be there for her .

however, i think after her death, the guilt he'd feel from even having that sorta asshole phase with her would EAT HIM ALIVE.

i dunno. this entire dynamic hurts my soul. please give the rogers siblings joy for once.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

the shroud family curse and its implications for intimacy

I was thinking about what the Shroud parents must look like under their helmets and then I started wondering how they met and fell in love 🤔 While wondering about that, I came to the realization that Mr. and Mrs. Shroud's romance must have been a complicated one.

***Spoilers for books 6 and 7 of the main story below the cut!!***

Idia’s grandmother, Aidne, was the previous director of STYX. She was succeeded by her son (Idia’s father), which implies that the Shroud blood and the curse that comes with it are from the paternal side of the family. Idia’s mom, then, is the one who married into the family. (It’s not clear at this point if those that marry into the Shroud family are also magically afflicted with the same condition, but for the purposes of this post whether it is or not isn’t relevant as my point will still stand either way.)

The Shroud curse quickly burns away any blot the individual has in their body without the typical means of recovery (ie rest and self-care). If there is no blot to incinerate then the curse will turn to consuming the magical energy of the individual themselves, which could pose a threat to their wellbeing and even their life. Because of this condition, ancestors to the Shroud family threw themselves into research on blot in STYX. This would ensure that Shroud members were always around blot that could be burned in the place of their own energy, and provided a sense of false hope for them. They believed that if they worked hard enough, they may be able to find a cure for their curse--but over time, that belief waned, and instead it seems they are all now resigned to their fate and don't try to defy it. We see this is true of the latest generation of Shrouds, as Idia was groomed to become the next director of STYX from a young age even when he disliked the idea and how his responsibilities restricted his freedom. In fact, the Shrouds in general are described as being gloomy people, and this is possibly the result of the hopeless feelings they have about their curse.

A secondary consequence of the curse is that it socially isolates members of the Shroud family from society. Idia is somewhat of a special case since we also have to consider the mental and emotional anguish he experienced following his involvement in Ortho's death. However, even disregarding this horrific tragedy, it can be inferred that the Shrouds are forced into positions which make them more alone than others. For one, their jobs seem to be very demanding and literally physically keeps them away from others (besides colleagues) since the headquarters are located in the bottom of the sea. In Idia's post-OB flashback, we get dialogue which implies that he is not allowed outside very often--something which we can attribute to his being the heir to STYX. This may imply that previous Shrouds experienced similar childhoods, and this is just a continuation of the cycle. (I do want to point out here that Idia says his family used to go out to various places together when Ortho was still alive, so it's not a strict requirement that the Shrouds have zero outside interaction. They obviously do go outside the lab and into the surrounding city, but we cannot say for sure how frequently.)

More importantly, there is also an emotional and psychological component to isolation. You do not need to actually be alone in a room to be considered "isolated" from others. You could, in fact, be in a room full of people and still feel "isolated" because you haven't made any meaningful connection with them. This is what I think it must feel like to be a Shroud out in the world. You may technically be considered a part of the population, but you still don't quite fit in. For example, Idia has previously expressed worries that people will stare at his hair and recognize him as a Shroud, then ridicule his appearance and attitude. Indeed, the gloomy presence that the Shrouds give off seems to be a major deterrent for others to interact with THEM. All that time spent in physical isolation must have also had an impact on the Shrouds' ability to socialize. Idia is a strong example of this; he is an avid gamer and feels comfortable with taunting people via a screen. His face-to-face manner of speaking, meanwhile, can be incendiary and often rubs his classmates the wrong way. His father is not the exact same as him, but Mr. Shroud seems to have his own issues communicating affection and tends to describe things in a serious manner or in terms of work. Thinking about the way the curse is constructed too, there is a built-in fear that the Shrouds can never truly form long-lasting relationships with others, nor completely reveal their true selves to friends. Idia exposits as much in book 6. When Ortho tries to get his big brother to be friends with the OB boys, Idia dismisses the idea and says it won't matter in the end because they will be "sent down the river" and have their memories of those fun times completely purged. This illustrates a defeatist mindset which may be pervasive in all or most of the Shroud family: if this is going to be the fate of my loved ones, why bother getting close to anyone at all? It will just be more painful for us in the end.

SO LIKE. What was Mr. Shroud probably going through when he was seeing his then-girlfriend????? ??? ??? ??? ? ? ??? ? ?? He was probably so frustrated that he couldn't tell her anything about who he really was, and probably even more frightened that if he did ever tell the truth, he might lose her forever (via River Lethe memory wipe). And even if she still accepts him for it, then what??? Then she has to join the Shroud family, and that's basically damning her to the same mopey life he has, researching blot in the middle of nowhere until they're nothing but bones. Imagine how intense that guilt must be, knowing that you (yes, YOU) are responsible for "dragging down" your beloved into the same miserable circumstances that you're in. Not only that, but surely then you'd also have to tell your S/O that any children you conceive together will have the exact same destiny in STYX. It's not just Mr. Shroud either, it must be generations of Shrouds going through this same thing.

But, but, but!! In spite of his fear, Mrs. Shroud must have said yes because she truly loves him with all her heart… Their relationship must be built on such a strong foundation of trust and loyalty 😭 (From here, this is all speculation/headcanon/me rotting about the Hades-and-Persephone-esque romance I picture Idia's parents having. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.) I don't think that Mr. Shroud would be the one to initiate or to be affectionate. At most, maybe he had a shy sort of crush on her. More likely it was Mrs. Shroud that first expressed a romantic interest and passionately pursued him. And then maybe over time his feelings blossomed but he was still too afraid to put this massive burden on her shoulders, knowing the responsibility he bears as the future director of STYX... BUT HE HAS ALSO BECOME TOO ATTACHED TO HER TO CUT HER OUT OF HIS LIFE COMEPLETELY... Her very presence is screwing with his usual sense of cool, calculated logic 💀

AND WHAT ABOUT "THE TALK" THEY'D HAVE TO HAVE TO FULLY DISCLOSE EVERYTHING???? HOW MUCH MR. SHROUD MUST'VE BEEN SWEATING WAITING FOR HER ANSWER????? ?? ?? ? ? ? Oh, Sevens. Now I've done it. Here comes the moment where he gets dumped and his mom sends in a whole squadron of men to kidnap his girlfriend and clean her brain up. But NO 😭 Instead Mrs. Shroud just clasps his hands and insists that they should get married so he'll never have to wallow in those miserable thoughts all alone... He's confused and keeps begging her to reconsider, because this decision will inevitably throw her entire life off course.

"Are you sure about this? If you say yes to me, your fate will be sealed. You can never turn back. Your life will be sworn to the Isle of Woe." "Yup, I've never been more sure of anything in my whole life! Let's burn in the Underworld together, darling <3"

She provides a response that’s so easy and devil-may-care that he doesn’t know what to say back, so he just quietly laughs… and slowly those quiet laughs morph into quiet sobs… (like how flashback!Idia transitioned from laughing to crying when he was bragging about how indestructible the “new” Ortho is 😈 LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON—)

Idia drops this line during his extended post-OB flashback: "So it's romantic when a hero rescues his ladylove from the Underworld, but when I do the same for my brother it's wrong?" WHAT IF THAT WAS TRUE, BUT WITH THE GENDER ROLES REVERSED, FOR HIS PARENTS???? ?? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? Mrs. Shroud willing to literally throw herself into the Underworld to "save" Mr. Shroud... like how Persephone was willing to stay there with Hades... 🙃 I'LL EAT THAT SHIT UP, JUST DROP THE "HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER" UPDATE OF TWST, DEVS..... . . . .. ..... . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. .... . . .. . . .... . . .. . . . .

Okay, I'm done screaming and sobbing at the wall for now--.

[triviallytrue]

Watching something as iconic as NGE is kinda funny because every now and then something happens and you're like "oh! that guy! from tumblr!"

General thoughts:

Poor Shinji. Dude keeps getting put in situations.

The Ender's Game comparison keeps coming up for me - child soldiers utterly essential to the cause. The big difference is that they are just completely flubbing their psychological management in NGE - in Ender's Game they had eyes on the kids 24/7 and maintained in-depth psychological profiles on all of them, whereas in NGE they have loads of money and manpower focused on maintaining the EVAs but their equally-essential pilots are just... going to school. Shinji got punched and they didn't know!

And what is Misato's deal, anyway? She's in her 20s and has a crazy amount of authority (she just requisitioned all of Japan's power) and they're just kinda... letting her manage Shinji? It's not her job, but she's just doing it? She's his commanding officer but also his mom/sister, which is a really bad combo. Also I don't think I'm imagining the grooming undertones, those seem intentional.

The real motivator for someone like Shinji is (of course) his social connections - the two schoolkids and Rei, and then maybe to some degree Misato, and then even more distantly his father. Kids don't put themselves through severe distress just for the abstract concept of "saving the world," especially a world that has thus far been very unkind to them. To bring back the Ender's Game comparison, this feels like a very deliberate point that Graff and friends were aware of (the way they used Valentine as a strategic resource) but in NGE it seems to be mostly happenstance that Shinji made some human connections before completely shutting down.

Rei thus far is an interesting foil to Shinji. Normally I get kind of put off by scenes like the one where he walks in on her, but it gives you a lot of important information about both of them. Shinji, underneath all the abandonment issues and repression, is still a pretty normal kid - awkward, horny in that embarrassing adolescent way, deeply self-conscious. Rei is alien (or perhaps just very autistic). She just doesn't clock 90% of the tension at all. She pilots the EVA without complaint (though perhaps with equal psychological distress, just heavily repressed). She also gets along very well with his shitass dad, which is revealing in its own way.

I'm told there is another child, a red haired one, named Asuka(?), the thus-far only implied Second Child. Wonder why she isn't here yet?

I heard that it was some kind of twist that the EVAs were alive in some sense, but doesn't that naturally follow from the first couple episodes? Unit 01 moves to save Rei without a pilot and then goes berserk to kill the angel. Maybe there's more to the twist that I don't know yet.

What's up with the angels? Why are they here, what do they want, what are they exactly? Who cares. They are a plot device in purest form - they enable the rest of the show, but the show is not meaningfully "about" them. They didn't half-ass it though - the designs are absolutely phenomenal.

Oh, and there's some second project NERV is working on, a human transformation thing that got mentioned once and never again. That will probably be important eventually.

[writeforfandoms]

I'm Still Tangled Up In You

Find the series masterlist

Soooo. Been a while, huh? I'm so sorry, guys. Totally lost all inspo for this. Regained it at random. Wrote this entire chapter in a day.

Yes, this is the finale of this story. But. If I find more inspo and continue writing in this universe, this won't be the last we see of these two. Just a little something to look forward to.

Warnings: Idiots in love, implied sexy times, kissing, Feelings, allusions to violence but nothing explicit, allusions to dragon harm but on par for the story.

Word count: 1.3k

Jack didn't tell you anything until after the two of you finally stumbled inside. He left his hat on its peg by the door, ruffling a hand through his already disheveled hair. 

“Everyone is fine,” he said before you could get too antsy, ignoring the kitchen for now in favor of settling into an armchair. He also dragged you down into his lap, apparently unwilling to relinquish his grip on you just yet. “No major injuries, nothin’ bad like that.” 

“And the dragon?” You couldn't keep the hopeful out of your voice. 

“I won't lie, darlin’,” Jack said with a low sigh. “She's in rough shape. She might not make it. But she's in good hands - Harry and Merlin will do whatever it takes for her.” 

You nodded slowly. Worse than you'd hoped, but better than you'd feared. Still. That she was alive and safe was better than the alternative. “And everything else?” 

Jack huffed softly but obliged you. “Didn't ask if Javier and Marcus figured out jurisdiction. Don't much care. Poppy was killed attempting to escape. Got plenty of evidence against her, and the organization.” His lips curled in amusement very satisfied smile. “The Golden Circle is gone, darlin’. Permanently.” 

You smiled and kissed him, relieved that he and everyone else had gotten out okay. Honestly, it was about the best outcome that you could have asked for. 

“Think I'll ever get to meet her? Eggsy's mom, I mean.” 

Jack made a complicated series of expressions before he shrugged. “Hard t’ say,” he hedged, in a way that made you certain there was already some kind of plan in place. “Need t’ see how she recovers, first. If she does.” 

You nodded, willing to accept that for now. That was good enough. 

“Done questioning me?” He asked, more playful than anything, even as he briefly dug his fingers into your sides to hear you squeal. “‘Cause I missed you like hell, and I've got better things I wanna do with my mouth.” He waggled his eyebrows at you. 

The two of you didn't talk any further about dragons or the events in Cambodia. 

Reality reasserted itself in the rudest possible way.

You had to go back to work. 

Jack offered to drive you, but you declined. It was well out of his way, and you should get some laundry done. Things like that. Probably needed to clean out your fridge, too. 

Having a bit of space from the situation helped too. Helped you think about what you wanted and where you wanted to be. 

Your apartment seemed very lonely now, with no dragons and no Jack. 

You ended up talking to Jack every night. Not about Cambodia, or even anything in particular. You just talked. Honestly, it was relieving, to just talk. To not have the Golden Circle hanging over your heads. 

You drove back to the ranch on Friday after work, drumming your fingers on the steering wheel, barely paying attention to the music coming through the speakers. Your usual bag lay on the floor on the passenger side, mocking you with one thought. 

What if it wasn't just the one bag? What if it wasn't just for one weekend? 

You had a feeling he felt the same - you two had been interrupted before Cambodia. He'd brought it up, albeit briefly. 

You wondered if he'd bring it up again, now that things were over and calmer. 

You wondered if you'd be brave enough to bring it up, if he didn't. 

You parked in your usual spot and took a moment to breathe, engine idling. This was fine. Nothing wrong here. 

So why had your nerves reared up again now?

Scowling at yourself, you turned off the car and got out. 

Jack grabbed you immediately, making you yelp. You hadn't heard him coming, hadn't seen him. But you forgave him the instant his lips touched yours. One big hand cupped the back of your head, cradling and keeping you close. Your fingers scratched through the short hairs at the back of his neck and base of his head, and he shivered and made a soft noise against your lips. 

You almost decided to forget your bag and take him inside, but he pulled back first. 

“If that's how you say hello, I should come grab you more often,” he teased with a grin, eyes sparkling. 

You couldn't help your little huff of laughter. “Only because it's you,” you told him. “Anyone else would get hit.” 

“Atta girl.” Jack grinned at you. “I got dinner started for us. You go on in and get comfy, I'll bring your bag in.” 

You didn't even try to argue, just kissed him once more, soft and sweet, and made your way inside. 

All was as you'd left it. The chairs and table sat as they always did. The armchairs looked the same. The warm smell of food made you inhale deeply, appreciative that Jack could cook too. 

This place felt homey. This felt more like coming home than your apartment did. 

Jack carried your bag in, putting it in the bedroom as he always did. 

“Smells good in here,” you told him, peering at the stove. 

“Glad you think so.” Big hands settled on your hips as he stepped up behind you, swaying the two of you to some unheard music. “There's somethin’ I wanted to ask you, darlin’.” 

“Mm?” You tipped your head back into his shoulder, moving easily with him, weight shifting in sync with his. You didn't need any music, not with this man. 

“Would you move in with me?” He spoke quietly, lips next to your ear. 

For a moment, you froze, forcing him to stutter to a halt behind you. You turned, forcing him to shift his grip on you, to put your hands on his chest. “Really? You mean it?”

“Really,” he murmured, lifting his hands to cover yours. “Wanted to ask you before, but then there was the Golden Circle…” 

“I understand,” you whispered, blinking rapidly. “We'll have to figure out some things, like my apartment.”

“Wait until the lease is up, or I'll help you break it.” 

“And my job.” 

“Is remote work an option? Or if you wanted to find a different job, I don't mind.” 

You smiled. “What if I wanted to help you?”

His grin was all the answer you needed. “Already taught you most everything,” he murmured, thumbs stroking over your skin slowly, tantalizing and soothing. 

“And the dragons like me,” you added, giddy and mischievous and breathless. 

“Better'n they do me, some days,” he agreed, leaning forward slowly, pushing against your hands. 

“Might make things easier, to have two of us doing the work,” you whispered, completely caught up in his pull, not trying even a little to get away. 

“We know we work well together,” he agreed. “Be a damn shame to pass up such a golden opportunity.” 

“I agree.” You licked your lips, watching his gaze drop to follow. “I'll enjoy the short commute.” 

“Speaking of short commutes…” Jack leaned back slowly but kept you pressed to him, guiding you slow and steady back towards his room. 

Your shared room, now.

“You have something in mind?” Despite knowing well and good what was on his mind, you couldn't help but play, raising one eyebrow at him and trying your best to keep your smile off your face. 

“I do indeed,” he purred, flashing a grin as he guided you around the two armchairs. “Gotta welcome you home properly, after all.” 

Your heart lurched. Home. Your home. 

Your kiss was the only answer you could come up with, and the only one he needed. 

Everything else would wait. For tonight, you needed to celebrate your new job, your new coworkers, and, best of all, your new home. 

[yuukei-yikes]

is it ever explained anywhere in the kagepro media what is Haruka's condition? tried to look into the kagepro fanwiki what it was but it just says "[...] implied to be cardiovascular". You got any clue?

SORRY FOR THE SUPER LATE ANSWER i have been Crazy busy and Crazy going through it. hope it's still helpful!

anyway!!! neither haruka or takane's conditions are outright stated, and are only mentioned as a heart disease and a sleeping disorder. even haruka and takane themselves don't know much about each other's diagnosis, and seem to know the basics of it. i always liked this detail because it's like they didn't want to ask each other too much about it, since they know what it's like to be constantly interrogated about it.

yaaay ill talk about takane even if u didnt ask but i promise its to make a point

with takane, the general consensus is that she's got specifically narcolepsy, because her symptoms are described with enough details that narrow it down to what it could be. she randomly falls asleep, and is extremely tired/sleepy all the time. when she dies... supposedly kenjirou had... poisoned her? but that's not stated anywhere im pretty sure it was just a popular headcanon (im so lazy to go check gang sorry. but i am pretty sure it's not mentioned also when tf would he have done that) however takane was extremely accelerated from running and her epiphany, and as soon as she falls she says "no way im having an episode rn" like she immediately knew what was happening, so it seems like cataplexy is also something she experiences. basically narcolepsy is... like spot on described and shown.

instead, for haruka its much less clear. like you said, he's only described to have a heart disease that's very serious and sends him into cardiac arrest erm kind of often, and it's also genetic because his mom had it and died from it. that's... it! there's never been popular headcanons on what it could be. unlike a sleeping disorder, a heart disease can be caused by a million different things and still have the same result (heart attacks). meanwhile sleeping disorders are a little bit more specific so takane's is easier to deduce.

haruka's illness could be many things, but my personal headcanon has always been arrhythmia. to be honest i decided on this hc as a teen bc it was the only heart disease i knew at the time so i kinda ran with it LOL but ive done some more reading later on (not extensive studies of it... just random google searches) and ive still landed on arrhythmia being my headcanon because it's also genetic, and there are different types of arrythmia, some being really really scary... not that arrhythmia in itself isnt scary tbh. its the irregular beating of the heart, so a heart attack can literally happen any moment!! scary as hell. but that's also why i think it's fitting, like even a sneeze could make haruka jumpcut scene to an ambulance.

these are some old hcs of mine but a more recent one is haruka getting treatments and surgeries post str. despite awakening eyes keeps haruka alive, it doesn't Cure him, but makes him strong enough to stand these treatments he wasnt suitable for before, increasing his lifespan. so even if awakening eyes doesnt cure him, it definitely helps him live.

so post str haruka is still very much a regular patient to the hospital and both him and takane continue to be medicated for life

[hopeymchope]

what's some criticism you have about makoto/the most valid criticism you've sene of him?

I've been sitting on this ask for like a week, because I've been struggling with it. Even when I think I remember one that hits a solid mark, I then mentally argue it down to being a non-issue.

The only criticism I've seen that ever hit any kind of mark for me is some fans' frustrations that he didn't endure/overcome much personal loss compared to many of the characters around him, because he repeatedly seems to luck out and have it work out in the end. This usually comes from people who are bitter about Kirigiri's survival in DR3, but I can understand that having Naegi's seeming losses get reversed or resolved whereas someone like Fuyuhiko has to lose his sister and then just carry on with it... it can seem kind of unfair. Why does he get to keep his secondary protag/potential love interest, but Hajime loses Chiaki? Why does he get his sister back safely while Asahina loses her brother forever? And so on.

The first counter to this complaint is that, well, he seemingly / maybe / probably? lost his parents during the tragedy. But those with this complaint find it frustrating that this is kept open-ended and hopeful, still leaving him with a chance to once again reverse/undo his loss. Despite seeing their corpses pretty clearly broadcast on television during Ultra Despair Girls, when Komaru finally gets to the actual place the Naegi parents are supposed to be? They aren't there, leaving her with a sense of hope that she'll still find them somehow alive.

The second counter to this complaint is that obviously Makoto still loses tons of friends during the course of DR1. Even if he doesn't immediately remember how close they all were, its implied in DR2 that they maybe/probably got those memories back later. Which had to make it pretty devastating.

Those who harbor this complaint have sometimes said that Naegi's unrelenting hope would mean more if he actually had to overcome a permanent loss. But I think that rings kind of hollow when you consider that he manages to remain hopeful even in the immediate aftermath of Kyoko's "death" in DR3. At this lowest possible point, he stands strong.

And despite how much I'm arguing against this complaint? I still think it rings kind of true. Because it DOES feel unfair that he gets off relatively lightly compared to so many other characters. Togami loses everything that defined him, everything that he based his pride and reputation on. Kirigiri loses Samidare brutally, finds her father's body without even knowing if the two of them ever achieved any kind of closure, and the question of whether she ever reunites with her grandfather is left wide open. Class 77-B may only lose ONE of their friends and classmates, but they also lose their freedom and their ability to live a peaceful life by accepting and embracing not only the guilt of their actions as Remnants, but also taking on the guilt of what happened in the Future Arc of DR3. Maki loses Kaito, Shuichi loses Kaito AND Kaede, and so on. These characters are forced to carry on after permanent, undeniable losses.

For those reasons, I do prefer to think that the Naegi parents are later confirmed dead. It gets Naegi more of a permanent, personal loss to endure and overcome in the longer term—I even wrote a fanfic one-shot about it.

But you know, I feel like I should mention that, for those who think Makoto gets off light because he's a "creator's pet" or something? There is someone in the DR1 who ultimately gets off even lighter than Naegi: Yasuhiro Hagakure. The ONLY seeming personal loss he ever endures is his mom — and he gets her back safe and sound! But I guess he's very rarely explored seriously since he's mostly comic relief... so maybe people don't worry about him as much.

[raindrop-on-a-spiderweb]

Is there a time in which you plan to share the plot/ending of stories that have been shelved, like Wayfaring Daughter? I finished my second reread of the chapters published and I am soooo interested to know what happens next and what is the endgame for those well-developed characters!!!

Or is that something you want to keep close to you? I imagine long, multi-chapter original stories are so difficult to finish, it is insane you already have one completely finished and one nearly done! Props to you!!

Keep up the great work!!! 💗

Answering these both at once if that's ok!!

I've come to a sad conclusion that Wayfaring Daughter will never be completed. It's a hard pill to swallow, but I bit off more than I could chew with this story. The world circumstances at the time in which I was working on it intimidated me, and I made the worst decision an author could do--I let fear and self-doubt creep in, and inspiration get away from me. So I'll tell you what I had planned for Wayfaring Daughter.

Here is what I had planned:

Rosannah gets pregnant while in the attic and is forcefully married to Robert, while Jeremiah still prowls around. Leland threatens them into a threesome because he knows that Rosannah is still wanted by the FBI.

Meanwhile, it also turns out that it wasn't Robert who was fucking his mom Perdita. It was her brother Harland. Rosannah had the two rooms in the back wing switched. The argument that led to Josiah's death was that Robert was Harland's son, and not Josiah's, as he had the recessive pale hair of the Beauforts instead of Leland, who was a brunette and Josiah's legitimate son–and that's why Josiah hung himself in the coat rack room.

This was revealed to Robert and Rosannah during a scene with ranting, dementia-riddled Ezra in his bed, who had walked in on his brother and sister fucking each other.

Knowing that if Leland–the only legitimate son–would inherit Bethlehem Hall that it would fall into ruin, Rosannah smothered Ezra, as Robert was unable to do it. Connected to that, it was also gradually revealed that as a child, Rosannah had purposefully slit the threads that sewed the rattlesnakes' mouths shut so they couldn't bite during church services. Resulting in that the next time her Pentecostal father had a snake-wielding service, the snake got its mouth loose and bit him fatally. 

Rosannah finds a diary in a nook, about a house slave girl named Philomena, who was the unwilling paramour of her half-brother Clement. She is the many-greats grandmother of Noah Broughton, who had inherited all the land in Savannah from the Beauforts and is why Letitia had hated the Broughtons so much. Clement had gotten Philomena pregnant, who hated Clement and was sickened by his abuse because she regarded him as a brother.

Philomena fell in love with a field slave called John, who is the many-greats grandfather of Arletha. This was the crux of Noah and Arletha's love, the descendants of two star-crossed lovers who could never be together.

This ties into the basement plot. Uriah was a serial killer and rapist of the slave women of Bethlehem Hall, as well as Maudelynn at a party when she was a young girl, as she had retreated into PTSD when she was asked about him. As the Union forces approached Bethlehem Hall, the fathers and brothers of the women who'd been murdered and raped by Uriah rose up, stormed Bethlehem Hall, caught him in the wine cellar and burned him alive. That's where the dark scorch mark comes from, and the spirit in the basement is him, trapped there forever. While the slaves are freed, Philomena is already pregnant and doesn't dare approach John, feeling unworthy of him as she is already pregnant. They part without ever seeing each other again. This is where it was implied that the Broughtons got their fortune, from Clement willing his land to Philomena and her son.

Liza Ann, Linney Belle's mother, arrives at Bethlehem Hall to take her daughter back at one point. While Rosannah liked her and she was completely apologetic and looking forward to connecting with her daughter, Rosannah was wary and angry that she would dare take Linney Belle away from her, and got Robert and Leland to strangle her to death and bury her in a grave out in the Bethlehem Hall lands.

When Linney woke up the next morning and asked what happened to Liza Ann, Rosannah tells her that her mother abandoned her again, and hugs her.

While investigating Liza Ann's death, Jeremiah finally makes his way back to Bethlehem Hall and confronts Rosannah, Leland and Robert.

From there, there were a lot of endings that I had in mind.

1. Rosannah was executed by hanging, but her spirit still haunts Bethlehem Hall. Linney Belle, an impoverished old woman, gave tours of her dilapidated old home Bethlehem Hall, and after one of the tour groups left, she walked into an empty room and saw Rosannah in her familiar dress turning to meet her, and she died on the floor.

2. Rosannah holds the men at gunpoint, kills Jeremiah, and restrains her husband Robert and Leland with rope. She flees into the night, but even after Linney's entire worldview of her is shattered, she still runs after her, begging to come along with her. Rosannah kisses her and says when she is old enough, they will be reunited. On Linney's 18th birthday, she receives a postcard of an American state and a PO Box. She travels there, and the PO box contains another postcard of another state. On and on it goes until Linney crosses the border to Mexico, riding donkeys across the Darien Gap, traveling hundreds of miles until the final postcard is simply an address. She walks into the Colombian forest until she comes across a gate, and a pale-haired little girl (Robert and Rosannah's daughter) greets her and tells her she knows who she is. Linney follows her up the winding road to a house, and in the distance she sees a figure with curly black hair, and Linney lets go of her suitcase to burst on the ground to scatter clothes all over, and she runs.

3.  The 3rd ending is the worst one. The same series of events happen with Rosannah killing Jeremiah and running from Bethlehem Hall, but this time she accepts Linney coming along with her. They leap on a train going out west, then it segues into a flashback of how Rosannah's first baby died. It's from the point of view of Jack Semple, and he spies through a sliver of door Rosannah pushing her daughter under the water and drowning her with a blank look in her eyes.

After the funeral of their baby, they trudge back to their shack, and Jack hesitantly asks if she really did it. Rosannah seems inhuman in that moment, and tells him he saw nothing and was imagining things.

And then he went to the liquor cabinet and swigged from a bottle of whiskey to forget his memory, although he had never done so before. Implying that he had started drinking because of Rosannah's manipulation and to forget what he had seen, and that what we've seen from Rosannah's point of view had been totally false, and that perhaps she had been the real villain the whole time--manipulative enough to get Leland and Robert to kill Liza Ann, manipulative enough to kill her father, and brutal enough to kill her husband.

Then the scene cuts to Rosannah and Linney on the train, Rosannah pregnant and Linney resting her head against her belly as Rosannah caresses Linney's hair.

The last scene is Rosannah, not pregnant and no longer with Linney, coming across a rural Mexican village. She smiles, says she's from out of town, and asks if she can take a teaching job. After all, she loves children.

[lunarthecorvus]

You said you’ve read multiple fics where Wylan and Kaz’s moms were friends, can I get the links?

Kaz Brekker's Mother's & Marya Hendriks fanfiction recommendations

part of Lunar's soc fanficiton rec series

-------------------------------✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧----------------------------------

blood of my blood by @garbagef4iry

Wordcount: 9,332 Chapters: 9/9

Characters: Kaz Brekker's Father, Kaz Brekker's Mother, Original Characters, Marya Hendriks, Jan Van Eck, Kaz Brekker

Tags: Women’s Rights Movement, city girl x country boy, Misogyny, Badass Women, mentions of abuse and violence, late victorian england vibes, Prequel

Author's summary/notes: As Kaz struggles in his confidence with becoming a father, he yearns for his own. For both of his parents. This is the story of his mother and father— Wilhelmina Trapp and Abram Rietveld. My summary/notes: I love this fic so much. You have badass women fighting for the women's right movement, I'm obbsessed with Kaz's mum in this, and it has Anika's parents?! Also Marya my beloved <3 and how she ended up where she did + so many other original characters

---------- ☾₊ ⊹

Keeping Me Alive by @martinakl13

Wordcount: 510,662 Chapters: 175/?

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck, Jan Van Eck, Marya Hendriks, Anika Imogen, Alys Van Eck, Inej Ghafa's Mother, Original Characters, Jakob Hertzoon, Inej Ghafa's Father, Jordie Rietveld, Specht, Per Haskell, Jarl Brum, Pim, Keeg, Roeder, Tante Heleen, Pekka Rollins, Colm Fahey, Asha, Hanzi, Big Bolliger, Oomen, Hanne Brum, Saskia Rollins, Kaz Brekker's Father (Mentioned), Kaz Brekker's Mother (mentioned), Matthias Helvar's Sister, Matthias Helvar's Father, Matthias Helvar's Mother, Genya Safin, Reyem Yul-Kaat, Nikolai Lantsov, Zoya Nazyalensky

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Sports, Alternate Universe - Ballet, Gambling, Dyslexia, Trauma, Violence, Past Child Abuse, Mixed Martial Arts, Past Character Death, Touch-Averse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Swearing, Implied/Referenced Sex, Alcohol, Hacking, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Slow Burn, Jordie Rietveld Lives, Soft Inej Ghafa, Soft Kaz Brekker, Drug Use, Depression, Kaz Brekker Needs a Hug, Mutual Pining, Inej Ghafa Needs a Hug, Eating Disorders, Drug Addiction, Survivor Guilt

Author's summary/notes: A boy who lost everything and is still fighting for his chance at a better life. A ballerina who wants to make her dream come true. A soldier running away from a terrible truth. A multilingual girl, abandoned by her own family, trying to find her place in a world. A talented musician who struggles to overcome his father's prejudice and mistrust. A boy who solves his problems by making bad decisions. Six students of University of Ketterdam deal with their past and traumas to find love, understanding and friendship. My summary/notes: I have recommended this fic before so I won't add any new notes but although it is only in the background they do speak about Marya and Kaz's mothers shared past friendship. Also, Martina is so sweet and such a great author with so many other soc fics so go check them out

you'll get the green light (and i'll get the old door in the face) by @honeii-puff

Wordcount: 698 Chapters: 1/1

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Marya Hendriks, Wylan Van Eck (Mentioned), Alys Van Eck (mentioned), Plumje Van Eck (mentioned), Jesper Fahey (Mentioned), Kaz's Father (mentioned), Kaz's Mother (mentioned),

Tags: no beta, Title from Problems (Mother Mother)

Author's summary/notes: In which Mayra Hendriks invites Kaz Brekker for tea twice, and one time he accepts My summary/notes: I know this fic is short and only talks a bit about it, I still think its sweet and is great ground to think about the friendship more.

These are the only fics I can find now, I will keep on the look for the others, and if anyone has a fic with this friendship feel free to let me know and I'll read it and rec it <3

[fictionfixations]

bridon arc ep 6 reaction fheuishfuisfhauidhsufh

this photo was taken seconds away from disaster

so not an hour huh... AAAA

WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED IM SO CONFUSED

im gonna rewatch this on crunchyroll in a few hours when it appears and comb over it again because im SO CONFUSED my brain is stalling what the fuck

'as long as we stay in the same time we're bound to meet again..'

also wait does that mean the dad got with a student??? or was she someone else im SO CONFUSED??? cause that makes no sense since his dad already mentioned he had a kid when she was a student so im assuming its two different people just that the student had talked to the mom (who is a therapist) and for some reason is acting as her??

also wait is she aunt shao or is that someone else and if so who is aunt shao ????? cause i know qiao ling and xiaoshi are close enough theyre family so logically you would call that person's mom aunt or something right?? but ??? im so genuinely confused on what her name is at this point

also actually doesnt have the power to read minds she just observant as hell wtf

VEINS ALIVE???

sorry hold on backtracking okay okay im so confused

?? maybe his mom is the future her who went back in time??? I DONT KNOW MAN im so confused

ALSO MOM HAS CLAPPING POWER BUT I DONT KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IT DID

what was the importance of the book !?!?!? how does she know veins name? what the fuck did she do that led to his 'death' im SO CONFUSED

also girl what the fuck were you doing going to the location of the hidden object and revealing it??

like you knock him down, hes not knocked out, you turn your back, you go and reveal where the hidden object is, he grabs you by the hair and like beats you up and takes it for himself

???????? what??????

?/ im so confused guys someone explain to me what just happened. link click is confusing. but i hoped id understand SOMETHING

okay so also xia fei in s3 potentially?

also what happened with the xia fei getting information to xiao what the fuck was the last name or something i forget im hfaiuhdsj

like ah no reveal of so i was actually hired to spy on you or some shit??? and i know hes on our side but i kinda thought thered be more to it

also tetris cameo

also when vein was standing on the street i was imagining what if a car ran over him LMFAO

also im so confused on the whys??

how come vein interrupted when he couldve just been like sorry i cant help you, then go deal with what he was trying to get?? or like did he need a therapy session to happen so she'd be in that room?

????

also how come he shoots xiaoshi (not with a bullet people please stop shooting him actually what the fuck why does this happen so much wtf) but not therapist lady (sorry i just did not get her name i think shes going by chris???)

like i guess he needed to know where it was but id think she was the main threat that needed to be stopped and then he could just look at everything since its likely he prob knew it was in that room just not where exactly?

the only reason i coulud think was to be like so xiaoshi doesnt think hes a bad guy but also he already shot xiaoshi so like ?????

x for doubt

um

sorry my brain is like stalling rn im so fucking confused

also how come vein came back though???

also xiaoshi said he didnt recall what happened before he passed out but its very likely he did.

also there was that story that im confused on trying to understand.

also lu guang having the same answer makes me wonder if he naturally had that response or if he somehow heard of it from xiaoshi? except xiaoshi claims to not remember anything and lu guang doesnt push him on it so..??

also vein somehow knowing lu guang knows like. idfk time bullshittery?? *waves hand at the entirety of them* how do i explain their time travel stuff in little words

or its implied at least?

also vein still somehow has a connection to time or like stopping people who mess with time which makes me wonder

xiaoshi's mom seemingly has powers *likely* to do with time, i dont really know the exacts of it im so fucking confused on how she did what she did???? is that why he came over

what teh fuck was in that book

also vein didnt even end up keeping it i think she took it back?

but

??????????????????

so how come vein hasnt targeted lu guang then for changing the past? because wasnt xiaoshi supposed to die in bridon or something and now hes not?

in the first place how the fuck did xiaoshi die what teh fuck was it vein again

also questioning how come lu guang can act somewhat normal around him though i guess itd not be a good idea for xiaoshi to be confused on why lu guang is like that again (im referring to the 'ah yes you can have my friend for your modeling thing' ???? although im thinking maybe hes a lil salty that xiaoshi has been paying a bit more attention to other people....)

also the with your body thing and misunderstanding lmao?

xia fei having the same misunderstanding when his roommate brought up modeling

ive recently been reading the toilet-bound hanako-kun manga and like lmfao 'youll pay me back with your body' = 'manual labor!'

also actually had same thought process as lu guang when the dude who got fired showed up like ??? wheres your proof why would i believe you when youre the reason who got fired

then bringing up xia fei's good looks like ????? isnt the point of being a model to be pretty????? like. like what are you implying?? that hes successful just because he has a nice looking face??? is that not the point???????

??????????

also name change but

difference? shiguang.... the ship name..........

i have to wonder if its coincidence or intentional because lu guang and xiaoshi are the two people doing time shenanigans but also at the same time we handle time!

although actually its maybe xiaoshi changed it to mark a difference of hey this is a specific time where its not hero photo but time photo (although im pretty sure xiaoshi's done this multiple timelines perhaps? so at the very least to be at a time where ive already met my mom, though maybe itd also be changed regardless because of the realization of the abilities they have to do with time and photos?)

am i forgetting something to go over i have no idea

💀

OH YEAH THE THE THE SHIGUANG MOMENTS TAKING PHOTOS TOGETHER AND BEING FUNNY THAT WAS CUTE but also xia fei... it made it hard to enjoy it because he was like being wracked with guilt or something???

like like it gives me same vibes as in the game Until Then when Mark is telling them the truth about. um. um. what. happened. (dude its such an important reveal that id hate to spoil someone before they can get into it) and then Cathy is just standing to the side having this look on her face...

aAAAaaaa

im so stressed

i wonder if lu guang even knows anything about what happened in the therapy session?????/

??????

i want to think that if he knew vein was gonna attack xiaoshi then he wouldnt let it slide but at the same time would he if he knew xiaoshi wouldnt die from it?

cause he does place a lot of importance on following what happened and not changing the past even though he is very much breaking many of his rules to do just that to save xiaoshi (maybe in the past timeline he changed too much of the past that that was why vein came along and shot at them in the studio? i dont know)

........................i know people are like we want more show dont tell but im really better at understanding stuff better when told

specifically when written down

😭😭😭😭 never underestimate link click's ability to make ones brain melt in a now how did this happen

also actually how come xiaoshis mom DIDNT visit him like what are you doing what is your objective what is that hidden object why does vein want it are you trying to hide are you in danger what is going on

also actually lmfao lu guang tripping during when they were going to take photos 💀💀💀

[bodyalive]

The Consciousness of the Heart

I am a big fan of public television mysteries, especially those made in Europe. Good acting, intricate plots. So here’s a summary of a French mystery I just saw:

A woman gets a heart transplant and immediately begins having nightmares involving the heart donor and her own teenaged daughter, whom the woman and her husband had adopted at birth. Turns out the heart donor was a young woman who died in a car crash, but the nightmares indicate to the woman that the girl’s death was not an accident.

She meets the adoptive father of the young woman; he too believes his daughter’s death was no accident; so they team up to find out what really happened; her teenaged daughter gets pulled into this detective work too.

We find out that both daughters had issues about being loved related to being adopted. Lots of twists and turns in the story due to this, after which...the new heart comes close to failing. But, seeing her mom so sick, the teenaged daughter realizes how much she loves her mother. The young woman’s father becomes aware of how he tried to push his daughter into a career in medicine (his career) rather than letting her be the singer/musician she wanted to be.

In the only way that he can communicate with her now, the father places his hand on the woman’s chest above his daughter’s heart, and, speaking to his beloved deceased child, apologizes to her heart for his lack of awareness of her needs when she was alive.

You can guess the rest: The transplanted heart settles down, the woman gets better, the teenaged daughter gets over her own anxieties —and by the way, they catch the man who murdered the daughter by forcing her car to crash.

Well, it was way better than it sounds.

But here’s what really caught me—that scene where the dad talks to the heart of his daughter. As if the heart carries its own consciousness and he was able to communicate with it.

Even more than European mystery dramas, I love stories about consciousness-- there’s a literary conceit that involves a body part being transplanted into another person and taking control of the hapless recipient—say, someone gets a hand transplanted from an executed criminal and the hand takes over to steal or murder –sinister stories, even tales of horror.

An alien consciousness inside one’s own self. We are familiar with this theme. And part of what makes these stories work is the notion of the implied consciousness of the body part, the power of the body part, for example, of a hand that has its own mind.

In our age, we are used to the notion that consciousness dwells in the brain, we don’t find that strange at all. But many peoples have believed that consciousness dwelt as well in the heart. The heart responds by quickening, by aching, by urging action, or by relaxing into peacefulness. It rises up to greet its love; it sinks into despair. It feels. It seems conscious. Now we can trace the complex biological directives that guide the heart’s functioning, the chemicals and mechanisms that control it. But still, subjectively, the heart feels.

We have a complicated relationship with our hearts from this perspective. The heart as a conscious part of us that may have inconvenient feelings. It is in a sense an alien consciousness within us. I am speaking of course of emotions. And how we can harden our hearts, turn against tender feelings, deny that affective link. I’ve done it and I bet you have, too. Other emotions are there to step in—rage, fear, greed, lust.

Dr. King said he could not figure out how to reconcile the contradictions in humans (we can be so good and also so evil) until he recognized the power of love, which must be our guide.

I had a hateful spell the other day. I was, as my mother cautioned me against in the past, “being ugly.” Judging somebody harshly. Thinking about a situation that had come up that was not gonna be easy to resolve with some other people. Money was involved, of course. Odd how that often happens.

Several of us talked together, trying to come up with a solution. Someone suggested a generous resolution and then someone else countered with another generous perspective. That night, in bed, I lay there imagining how this conflict could maybe turn out to be a victory for love. I crossed my hands over my chest, above my heart, and breathed.

[Lynne McFarland]

[duhragonball]

Phantom Blood Liveblog JJBA ch.1-5

🇬🇧🗡️⚰️🩸🧛🐸🧂Yikes! P-part 1!🌭🍫🏰🧟🛳️🎩🥖

Back in May I liveblogged JoJolion, because I've been wanting to do it for a few years and couldn't find the time. Once I finally got into it, I had a blast, and that got me motivated to block out time to do other JoJo parts. I tried to cover the anime as I watched it in 2017, and the manga for the parts that weren't animated at the time. But I didn't really get a handle on how to do it right until later, and I always wanted to go back and read the manga for the parts I only saw in cartoon form.

And since Part 1 is the shortest one, I thought this would be the easiest one to squeeze into my busy schedule of reading comic books uh... important business. Yes, important sexy business. But liveblogging JoJo is pretty important and somewhat sexy in its own right, so let's begin, shall we?

The story opens on an ancient Aztec sacrificial ritual from sometime between the 16 and 12th centuries BCE. I don't want to spend a lot of time on that, since the main purpose of the scene is to showcase the weird, spooky mystery of the stone mask that appears throughout the story. For the first several chapters, it seems to be little more than a curiosity, but it quickly turns into something much more important.

We then jump to 1880, where Dario Brando is trying to talk to his son, Dio. Look at this. Just look at this. This is the very first time Dio has appeared in anything, anywhere, and he's flipping us all off. No one holds a book like that, Dio, you salty, salty bitch. You ain't slick.

What Dario wants to tell Dio is that he once "rescued" George Joestar back in 1868. I'm using quote marks here because what actually happened was that Dario and his wife discovered the Joestar family in a carriage wreck and tried to rob their corpses. But George was still alive, and he mistook Dario's actions as a kindness. This naivete pretty much defines George Joestar's whole character arc.

George's driver was killed in the wreck, and so was his wife, but their infant son, Jonathan survived. The anime implies that Jonathan's mom used her own body to protect Jonathan as best she could, but that isn't spelled out here. I guess that's kind of a given, though. I mean, she died and the baby lived, so what other interpretation could there be?

Anyway, George wanted to reward the Brando family, so he gave Dario a bunch of money, which he later used to start a hotel, but kind of blew it. But also, George promised to take care of Dario's son if anything ever happened to Dario. So now that he's dying, Dario tells Dio to go to the Joestar estate, where he can become a rich man.

Dio agrees to do this, but not out of any love or respect for his father. He hated Dario, mostly for being a failure who mistreated his mother, and he vows to become rich and powerful, but not for his father.

On the day Dio arrives at the estate, young Jonathan tries to rescue a doll for a girl named Erina. He doesn't know her, but he just happened to see bullies messing with her and chose to intervene. Jonathan gets his ass kicked, though. That doesnt' matter to him, though, because he considers himself a gentleman, and a true gentleman always has the courage to help those in need, even if he can't win. Especially if he can't win.

And this page might be the throughline of the entire JoJo series. I was watching some Hamon Beat videos a few weeks ago, and I was impressed with his response to the notion that Part 1 is "boring". Part 1 is literally the foundation of the entire series, and establishes all of the themes that run through the Parts that follow it. Sure, the 19th Century setting might be a little off-putting for some, and it takes a little while for the nutty super powers to kick in, but Hamon Beat makes a pretty strong argument. How much can someone really enjoy Stardust Crusaders or Diamond is Unbreakable if they hate Part 1?

Young Jonathan standing up for Erina--even when he doesn't know who she is, even when he's outnumbered-- is exactly the same thing that makes Jotaro advance towards Dio when he doesn't seem to have a chance of winning. It's the same thing that drove Josuke in his battle against Kira. Having preferences is fine. It's one thing to like Part 5 better because you liked the Stand powers or fashion choices more. But it's weird that people got into JoJo and seemed to completely miss the real heart of the story, so much so that they held the origin of it all with such contempt.

So Dio arrives to be adopted by George Joestar, and when Jonathan introduces himself, his dog Danny runs up and Dio knees him in the jaw. Keep in mind that Dio's whole agenda here is to play it cool and get in good with the family so he can score a huge inheritance. All he really has to do is behave for a few years until he's established himself, but he hates dogs, and he's too angry to hide it.

The family dynamic becomes pretty clear up front. Dio's main goal is to demoralize Jonathan any way he can. Presumably he wants to diminish Jonathan in the eyes of George, so that Dio will get the lion's share of the inheritance. And Jonathan is a little too nice for his own good, so he lets things slide in an attempt to get along. And George is still to naive to see Dio as anything but a perfect little gentleman.

For example, one night George scolds Jonathan for his table manners and sends him to bed before he can finish dinner. George points out Dio's impeccable table manners, which is... kind of ironic, considering what Dio will be doing for nutrition later on.

Anyway, the isolation really starts to get to Jonathan, and he wonders in a moment of teen angst if anyone will even miss him when he dies. This always gets to me, because Jonathan is part of this lineage of JoJo protagonists, but he's the very first one, and the second one won't show up for decades. Jonathan's the founder of this thing, but he has no way of knowing that, and it's a very lonely position to be in. If only he could know how dearly he'll be missed after he's gone, and how much his loss will mean to his descendants in the future. Maybe this is why I like Part 2 the best.

Oh, also this scene of him staring at the moon kind of reminds me of Jolyne looking at the moon in prison. But let's move on.

No, wait, let's not move on, because Jonathan's morbid thoughts lead him to notice the portrait of his dead mother that's mounted over his bed. Maybe that gives him some small comfort, the reassurance that if he misses her despite having no memory of her, then perhaps his life can mean something to others as well. Anyway, he forgot he had secret bedtime candy in his room, so he won't go to sleep hungry tonight.

But Jonathan's life still sucks. Dio quickly steals away all of Jonathan's friends by beating him at boxing with his superior fighting skills. Jonathan and his pals box for fun, but Dio grew up on the streets, so he knows all the tricks. He offers to teach the others, but warns them not to share his secrets with Jonathan, whom he says can't keep secrets.

This is sort of the basis of Dio's interpersonal skills. "Everyone wants to be friends with someone who is strong or will do something for them!" By making himself useful to the others, and making Jonathan appear weak and useless, Dio can ingratiate himself to the other boys, and isolate Jonathan further.

Later, George sees Dio checking out the Stone Mask and explains how he bought it at a yard sale in London the day of the carriage accident. Dio is curious about its value, its history, and the Aztec writings inside it, but he denies having any interest in the thing.

Meanwhile, Jonathan hits it off with Erina Pendelton, the girl he tried to help earlier in the story. They ride old-timey roller coasters and swim in old-timey swimsuits and so on.

Here's a panel of Erina chilling out with Danny that I thought was pretty cool.

But Dio quickly finds out about this, and decides to forcibly kiss Erina just to wreck what little happiness Jonathan has left.

You might have noticed by now that Dio is kind of an asshole. Again, this is the blueprint for every other villain in the franchise. Dio's already got a bright future ahead of him as an adopted son of George Joestar, but he wants more, and he believes he can increase his own fortune by oppressing others. Dio wants to dominate Jonathan, Kars wanted to dominate all of nature, Kira and Diavolo wanted to erase all evidence of their crimes to live as they pleased, and so on.

But it's not as easy as he likes to think. For all his cruel tactics and ruthless plotting, Erina can shut him down just by washing off her face with gutter water to show her contempt for him. Dio could just let this slide and appreciate how well his plan is working, but he can't. He knows he's being insulted, and he can't stand that. Deep down inside, he wants something that can't be reduced to a simple display of power. He can hurt and manipulate others but he can't make them love him.

For a while, Jonathan isn't aware of this incident between Dio and Erina, because Erina is too ashamed to go near him or tell him. But Jonathan still has Danny. George tells Dio about Danny's backstory. As a pup, Danny was timid, so Jonathan use to tease him and throw rocks at him and stuff. But then Jonathan was drowning in a river, and no one was there to help him, except Danny, who dove in and pulled him to safety like a good boy.

The moral of Danny is that he had no reason to repay Jonathan's cruelty with loyalty, but he did it anyway, and after that they became good friends, with Jonathan never giving him orders. The bond between them was more like that of trusted friends.

Of course, Dio can't understand any of this. He just sees Danny as another vulnerability of Jonathan's to exploit. It's possible, though, that Dio envies what Jonathan and Danny have together, and he can't have that for himself because the concept is so alien to him...

Later, Jonathan finally finds out about what Dio did to Erina, and he confronts Dio immediately. Dio kicks his ass again, but this time Jonathan refuses to back down. He knows if he loses this fight, he'll never escape Dio's shadow, so he knuckles up and...

BAM! PART 1 IS BORING? BITCH WHERE?

YEAH FUCK HIM UP JONATHAN! FUCK HIM UP!

So as they fight, some of Dio's blood splashes onto the Stone Mask, and it falls off the wall, then a bunch of claws come out of it, as though triggered by the blood. This distracts Jonathan, but not for very long.

Dio actually cries, although I suspect this was just a diversion so he could pull a knife, but before he can escalate things, George shows up and scolds them both for fighting in the house. Being George, though, he leans harder on Jonathan for beating Dio excessively. Dammit, George...

Dio retaliates by locking Danny into the incinerator, and the next time one of the servants uses it, he discovers Danny burning alive. I'm pretty sure the anime didn't show Danny getting out of the incinerator, so here you go.

Jonathan comes home to find out Danny's dead, and he knows Dio did it but he can't prove it or start another fight, so he just goes to bed and has a depression nap. As for Dio...

He finally does enough self-reflection to realize that he's overplaying his hand. Dio's plan is to play the long game and win the Joestar estate, but he underestimated Jonathan's righteous fury and pushed him too far. If he tries any more shenanigans, it might wreck everything, so he resolves to dial it back for a while.

Meanwhile the Stone Mask... uh... doesn't do anything. Patience, folks...

[superthatguy62]

Recapping The [REDACTED]’s Plan

(Not to be confused with [REDACTED] the collaborator. At least, I assume so)

If you’ve seen my previous SoP related posts, you’ll know that I’ve gone through this before, but this is more of a step by step walkthrough of sorts.

*Spoilers for Stranger of Paradise's DLC, as well as the Dissidia series in general*.

Part 1: The Plan

Stranger of Paradise’s DLC has a meta plot regarding the machinations of a certain newborn spirit. The DLC in general has more explicit ties to another game: Dissidia Final Fantasy. While the first DLC did not offer much, the second involved Gilgamesh, who also knew of a ‘Garland’ and brings up the possibility that said ‘Garland’ was a future version of Jack, although he wasn’t entirely sure if that was the case. The third DLC features the Emperor from Final Fantasy II who is actually coming from the world of those games. However, there are other nods up to and including the title (DiFFereNT Future). And then there is the Moogle.

As revealed in the missives, the Moogle hails from the World of Conflict as seen in Dissidia. A quick recap: the World of Conflict (hereafter referred to as “World B”) was a destroyed wasteland version of the FF1 world circa the first Dissidia. Shinryu was resting there when “The State” stumbled upon it and were promptly wrecked by it. The land also contained a crystal ore that seemed to be alive. “The State” experimented on this ore and created manikins: Living crystal which took the shape of the people who approached it (more on that in a bit).

When Chaos roars out of anger at his mom being shot, he creates a space-time phenomenon that destroys the lab and sends himself, Cid and Cosmos to World B. Garland is also here, for reasons unexplained though vaguely implied to be due to the lab where this took place being the (future?) site of the Chaos Shrine. With Shinryu also nearby (more on him in a bit), the 5 entered a pact to power Chaos up enough to escape.

In the end, however, it was not meant to be. Cosmos, inspired by her pawns, sought to break the cycle, arranging for her and Chaos’ deaths. With Chaos dead, even after Cosmos returned to life, the world was unbalanced and would sink into the Void.

But then, it didn’t.

Instead, the world was reborn with two new gods, born from the will of the old. This would be the setting of Dissidia arcade, with the two gods waging war on each other in the struggle of the gods: Not only because of their tensions, but because the world itself now relied on the energy sparked from such conflict to maintain its existence.

When the Moogle speaks to Jack it continuously speaks of a future, the one that it is to return to. While it doesn’t tell Jack all the details, it recaps the details of Dissidia NT’s story mode, heavily implying that that is the future it speaks of.

The missives explain that the Moogle was born from “the will of harmony” that exists within it and serves that will in place of “the two departed gods”. While we don’t know for sure where and why it needs new gods for World B (though my personal theory is between OG and NT), the bottom line is that it sees Jack Garland and his Warrior of Light as suitable candidates.

But what does one need to do to become a god of discord (or harmony)?

Part 2: Light & Dark

The balance between Light and Dark has been a recurring trend in Final Fantasy for ages. In the Dissidia series, this commonly takes the form of Harmony and Discord, which are represented by the two gods. In the Chaos Reports (which are no longer canon, but still worth mentioning) Cid notes that it is the opposing natures of Chaos and Cosmos that keep the realm stabilized. In the game itself, Cosmos’ plan to end the cycles is to more or less kill both gods, arranging for Chaos to kill her and trusting her warriors to kill Chaos. As Cid notes in the secret ending: The balance has been distorted. Even if Cosmos has been revived, the world is doomed to be destroyed. Cosmos’ description in Theatrhythm also describes her as one of the two pillars supporting the world, the other being Chaos. Finally, a cutscene towards the end of the game has Chaos speak with Garland about a dream he had: one in which he and Cosmos jointly governed the world and he suppressed disorder. He laments that dream, finding the happiness and warmth that he noticed from the people and Cosmos cruel to one who who has lost all memory.

Dissidia NT explores the concept of the gods having to jointly rule over the world. Materia and Spiritus are inheritors to World B, which is now sustained through conflict. While the gods are initially attempting to stamp out each other (Materia in particular is gung-ho about getting rid of Spiritus), their champions help the gods to realize that Shinryu is the true threat to the world. By the end, wielding copies of their champions (more on that in a bit) the two wage war on each other to build up the world, although Materia remains determined to someday settle the score with Spiritus, an attitude that he encourages. The ambiguously canon Dissidia Opera Omnia also explores the concept of the gods acting as pillars (literally, in the case of Act 4) as well as the possibility of the Warrior of Light and Garland doing the same at the end of Act 2.

On that note, there is the matter of the Warrior of Light and Garland. In the original game, both were more or less the champions or ‘right-hands’ of their respective gods. In some ways, they are the poster children for Harmony and Discord, and since the only such god that the player can fight is the one that closely resembles Garland’s empowered form, it goes without saying that they’re the main physical representatives of their respective sides. However, the Warrior of Light and Garland themselves have never been gods. While Opera Omnia comes the closest (and indeed, I spoke about it here) it doesn’t go the whole nine yards.

Still, this could be a reason the moogle settled on a variation of the Garland it knew: Since Garland and the Warrior of Light are the embodiment of darkness and light, versions of them that have reached the seat of divinity would be excellent choices to become the pillars of the future World of Conflict. However, unlike the originals, SoP’s world did not have the necessary components required to facilitate their appearances naturally: Jack and his allies were strangers and the game puts more emphasis on the darkness and chaotic emotions created by the crystals for Jack to absorb, instead of the powers of the crystals themselves. Likewise, the Warriors of Light seem to come from another world entirely, to the point that in one timeline, Jack and his friends gave into despair and degenerated into monsters because the Warriors of Light never appeared. Even when the Warriors of Light did show up, Jack was able to easily defeat even their strongest warrior.

One of the ways the Moogle settled this was by sending Cid Tonberrini to aid Jack Garland in the Dimensional Labyrinth: The weapons dropped by Gilgamesh are shown to Cid, who either takes them and offers something else in exchange or lets Jack keep them, powering him up. Of particular note are the Ame no Murakumo and the Excalibur.

The Murakumo unlocks the true potential of Jack and company, although Cid warns them that they’ll find themselves “dangerously close to the realm of the divine”.

Meanwhile, the Excalibur is noted to be a true holy blade rather than an imitation or lesser version. While Jack can’t directly use it, Cid offers to teach Smith – the dwarven blacksmith from FF1 – how to make it, saying that the Warriors of Light will “become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”.

As for the second way...

Part 3: Divine Authority

As one of the Missives mentions, it is not enough for light and darkness to oppose each other. For Jack and his Warrior of Light to reach the seat of divinity, they themselves must be divinely anointed. To that end, the Moogle found the spirit of Bahamut – a variation of the recurring summon who was once worshiped by humanity until they overthrew and killed him – floating in the rift and sent him to Jack’s world.

Jack and the Fiends manage to win Bahamut’s favor, not only receiving boons from the Dragonking, but enacting a deal so that he will do the same for the Warriors of Light.

In Dissidia, Chaos and Cosmos were originally unique manikins: Chaos having the memories of 10+ people and Cosmos being a ‘perfect manikin’ (or at the very least, a heavily custom one) in the visage of Cid’s wife. That’s not to say Chaos wasn’t strong: He was designed as a weapon and by all accounts was an effective one, even managing to seal away the summoned beasts and Omega. But he wasn’t the god of discord just yet.

Enter Shinryu. Shinryu is the recurring superboss of the series, introduced in FFV and is generally positioned as a godly creature (its arch nemesis, Omega, being positioned as a godslayer as a result). When Cosmos, Chaos and Cid made the deal, Shinryu blessed all of them; Cid gave up his physical form and became The Great Will while Cosmos and Chaos became the gods of Harmony and Discord respectively[1].

Materia and Spiritus had no personal anointment in the traditional sense. However, supplementary material suggests that they were born of Cosmos and Chaos’ wills, and possibly inherited their godly status. That said, the ambiguously canon Opera Omnia reveals that the gods are familiar with fellow god Enna Kros, giving an indirect endorsement.

All of this provides a second reason as to why Bahamut’s boons were critical: In addition to making Jack and his Warrior of Light stronger, it is a large step in both of them becoming divine. However, Jack would come into possession of another power critical to securing the future of the world of conflict – the ability to create life.

[1] The original Dissidia’s Chaos Reports, interestingly, make no mention of Cosmos and Chaos’ souls being elevated. In fact, it implies that they were already gods when Cid made the deal.

Part 4: Pawn Take King

The third DLC for Stranger of Paradise is a stage representing Lufenia Central. Throughout the stage, purple crystals are strewn about, which summon “Manikin” versions of enemies. This continues until Jack reaches his former boss, Nil, who has her own crystals; One of which allows her to make manikins of Omega. The Moogle notes in one of the missives that it is just like how the [REDACTED] of its world “created an ore from which they could forge an approximation of life “.

This section grew beyond the scope I originally intended, so you can find the full post here. The cliffnotes version:

Manikins were created by “The State” using the crystal ore discovered in World B and are a sort of artificial lifeform. They were considered for use in warfare, but had numerous problems, chiefly that they lacked a Will. Cid of the Lufaine was summoned in order to perform experiments to get them in a more usable state. One of the fruits of this experiment was the manikin that would be named Chaos: A manikin created from the memories of 10+ subjects who boasted immense power even before he became a god. The second result from this research is Cosmos, a perfect manikin modeled after Cid’s wife as a means to control Chaos after she refused to help “the state” further. Whose memories she is derived from varies depending on the game: In the original, it is implied that she was born from Chaos’ memories while in 012, it is stated in the final reports that she is derived from the memories of Cid’s wife. Either way, she resembles her original subject, but lacks the force of will that she had.

According to Cid, the key to making a successful memory transplant is to have an unclouded mind. After “the incident”, he decided to create another manikin much as he did with Cosmos to determine if the events of everything have left his memory unclouded. His initial experiments fail and it is only after he does a partial memory transplant rather than a complete one that he manages a body that doesn’t crystallize. Even then, the resulting manikin’s will is seemingly absent. Cid decides to place him in the cycles of conflict for observation. The manikin is found by two people: Prishe, who takes an interest in the new warrior and Garland, who seems to know him quite well...

In both “The State” and Cid’s research, failures that were unable to maintain a human likeness were disposed of via the Door to the Rift. They would eventually start taking the likeness of Cosmos and Chaos’ champions. During the events of 012, Exdeath discovered the door and the manikins within. Before long, most of Chaos’ forces were using manikins as minions. The manikins were so omnipresent and dangerous was such that the climax of the “Treachery of the Gods” storyline revolved around a number of Cosmos’ forces traveling to and destroying the Door To The Rift. This culled the number of manikins to more manageable numbers, at the cost of the champions themselves dying and being removed from the cycles.

The manikins return in Dissidia NT as minions. As I currently experience NT through the free version, I have no context for the manikins’ appearance in the storyline, if there is any. While not directly related to manikins (as far as we know), It is worth mentioning that Dissidia NT ends with the champions being presented with crystals. These crystals create copies of them to fight in their stead for the gods.

The manikins are one of the more harder to explain elements of the plan. However, given that World B subsists on battle energy by the time NT rolls around, it could be a means to provide further incentive to spark conflict. It may also be a means for Jack to create champions, just like how Dissidia NT ended, although this won’t be much of an issue given the next part...

Part 5: Rift Asunder

The other crystal the Lufenians possess is the Dimensional Matrix. The Matrix (no, not that one) is a device given to the Lufenians by Shinryu their mysterious collaborator and the means through which they are able to do their dimensional shenanigans. They can reset the world, i.e. “...travel backwards in time and reconstruct the world from a chosen point in the past”. The Lufenians use this tool to retool and remodel the world as they see fit; Initially, it was to fix the collapsing balance between light and dark, but as time went on, it was largely in service of their own experiments or ensuring that none of the ‘primitive Cornelians’ had a means of reaching and befouling their ‘glorious utopia’. At the climax of the game, Jack breaks into Station 19, absconds with the Dimensional Matrix (i.e. the Dark Crystal from the original game) and uses it as part of his plan to bring about the creation of the Warriors of Light. However, that was not the only matrix.

Nil, Jack’s boss prior to him going CHAOS, sends Lufenia spiraling into ruin to obtain an improved version of the Dimensional Matrix. Unlike the model that Jack stole, this matrix allows for significant manipulation of other worlds, opening rifts and summoning – or erasing – elements of the worlds beyond them. Wanderer of the Rift focuses on Nil bending space and time to ensure that Gilgamesh or Warmech the Death Machine kills Jack. By Different Future, Nil seeks to erase Jack’s world and begin from scratch using the Dimensional Matrix. She proceeds to give Jack a demonstration by summoning Omega to deal with him.

In Dissidia, the concept of interdimensional shenanigans is key to the backstory. A team in Onrac discovers a “door to the Rift”, which links to World B and leads to them finding the ore that becomes the basis for manikins. When Cid’s Wife is shot, Chaos creates a phenomenon that sends him, Cid and Cosmos to World B. The entire point of the cycles (in 012, at least) is to reopen the way to the Door to the Rift [2]. However, Exdeath and the other villains of discord find the door and the manikins sealed within it, giving them minions to use. During the events of Treachery of the Gods, Yuna, Tifa, Kain, Vaan and Lightning manage to destroy the Door to the Rift, stopping the manikins, but also destroying any hope Cid had of escaping the world. And, of course, the gods are able to summon their champions from other worlds. The Gateways in 012 are said to work due to a combination of the Door to the Rift, the summoned’s memories and Shinryu.

Needless to say, Jack having the ability to summon people from other worlds would go a long way to facilitating another war like the one Cosmos and Chaos waged.

[2] In 012, at least. In the original, it is implied in the reports that forging Chaos into the ultimate weapon took priority in Cid’s mind

Conclusion

To sum up The Moogle’s plan and how it echoes the events of Dissidia

- Two people to embody Darkness and Light are needed. The Moogle chose the right-hand men of both the past and futures gods to provide this: Garland and the Warrior of Light. Specifically, it chose Jack Garland and his Warrior of Light.

- They must hold great power to become worthy of godhood. The Dragonking’s boons and the weapons found in the Labyrinth greatly increase their power.

- They must be anointed by a godly being. A godlike version of Bahamut bestows his blessing upon them.

- Jack must gain the Lufenians’ crystal. One such crystal allows the user to create manikins to fight on their behalf, just as how Cid’s ‘failures’ populated the world after being released from the Rift.

- The other crystal allows for greater control over other dimensions, including opening doors to other worlds; Perfect for summoning pawns to fight on your behalf.

[riahlynn101]

"[You] Should Know Better Than That" (Chapter 6)

Chapter 6

Trigger warnings: childhood trauma, implied neglect, guilt, and mentioned blood.

Sorry for the sudden hiatus <33

--

Vanessa oscillates between furious and anxious the entire drive to Mike’s house. Technically, what she's doing could be considered an abuse of power. She knows it wasn’t Mike’s fault, but this is the only way she can stop him from going back. 

She has to stop him from going back. 

It hadn’t been her first time cleaning up their mess. The blood and body parts. But she can make sure Mike isn’t added to the list. 

There are two cars in his driveway. One of the cars she recognizes from the other night, but the other is much nicer than anything Mike could afford (based on what she knows about him). 

Maybe a family member is visiting him? She hopes not. Vanessa would rather not have this conversation in front of a third party. 

She knocks on his door. There’s a light on in the dining room, she can see it through the panels of the blinds. It’s a little early for dinner, but then again, Mike is supposed to work tonight. 

He answers the door. “Officer,” he says. 

“There’s been a break-in at Freddy’s,” she says. 

Mike’s mouth opens and closes. “I-”

“If you’re going to be too messed up to remember to lock up, then maybe you shouldn’t be taking these while working.” 

A dog pokes its nose past Mike, greeting her with a droopy smile. Mike does his very best to prevent the dog from getting out, but it’s a losing battle. Vanessa’s never been a dog person, but that’s only because of her lifestyle. Cats are more understanding of late nights and double shifts. 

Vanessa reaches out, but she remembers why she’s here in the first place. Blood and guts and senseless violence that never seems to end. 

Her somber mood must be more obvious than usual, because Mike leans in closer. “Are you okay?”

No one’s ever asked her if she was okay. Maybe back when her mom was still alive, but that was ages ago. Way before everything went to hell. 

It’s a nice feeling, but also a terrifying one. And Vanessa finds herself unwilling to indulge in it any longer than she has to. She forces a smile. “I’m great.” She uses the following silence to pull out the pill bottle she found in the security office. “I’m actually here, because it seems like you can’t do your job sober.” Emphasising her point, Vanessa shakes the empty bottle. 

Mike stares at her, not saying a word. He’s still doing his best to block the dog from coming outside, but most of his attention is focused on Vanessa. Eventually, he manages to get out an uncertain, “it’s not like that.”

In all honesty, Vanessa doesn’t care what his reasoning is. She cares about the lives that were ruined, taken, by a careless mistake. She cares about the man in front of her, at least in terms of not wanting to mop up his blood. 

“How?” 

Mike looks behind him. “Do you want to go for a walk?”

-x-x-x-

Mike sighs, trying to force down the wave of nausea that thinking about his parents and brother gives him. 

He loves them, and even with everything that’s happened since then, that hasn’t changed. But talking about them is difficult, if not impossible. He can count on one hand how many people he’s told about his past. A social worker. A pastor who made him open up in exchange for a janitor job at the local church. A judge.

Vanessa looks expectantly at him, waiting patiently. It’s a nice change of pace. Most people expect things out of Mike. Never at his convenience or comfort. It eases some of his rising nausea. 

“I had a brother,” he starts, voice strained, “his name was Garrett.” Thirteen years on and his brother’s name still hurts to say. “And when I was….about twelve he….he was….” he trails off, stalling. But he can stall as long as he wants, the outcome remains the same. Garrett is never coming back. He sighs again, stalling some more. “He was taken.” 

Next to him, Vanessa continues to listen. She doesn’t cut in or ask him questions, which fills Mike with relief. He can’t recall how many people wanted answers out of him. Answers that he didn’t have or didn’t want to have. 

He continues, “they never found my brother, and they never found the man who did it.” He rambles about dream theory, barely pausing just in case she stops him. But she doesn’t. 

Vanessa is silent, and he doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. A part of him, the part of him that’s been burned too many times, worries that she might be judging him. It wouldn’t be the first time, but another, larger, part of him knows that isn’t true. She doesn’t seem the judging type. 

“So, the bottle of pills-”

“Make it easier to dream. Familiar sights and sounds also help.”

“Pining for fun?” 

Mike ducks his head, suddenly self-conscious. His mom once told MIke his ears turn red when he’s embarrassed, and he really hopes she’s wrong. “Visit Nebraska.”

Vanessa grabs his hand. Mike jolts, startled by the sudden movement. He notices three things all at once: her hand is soft, warm, and she has a much better grip than Mike does. His hand grip was a point of contention (among many others) for Mike and his father. No amount of being forced to shake his father’s hand ever made it better. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t care. His dad sure thought so. 

He lets her hold his hand, trying to remain still. Mike finds himself afraid if he moves she might let go. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs, and it sounds genuine in a way that Mike can’t quite articulate. 

He feels something close to safe. It’s been such a long time since he had someone to confide in. Abby might be his sister, but she’s still just a kid. And he would rather play in traffic than talk about his feelings and past with Aunt Jane. He’s sure the feeling is mutual. 

“So, you live alone?” 

MIke shakes his head. “No-”

“Got a girlfriend?”

He tilts his head, confused. What could have possibly given her that conclusion? 

“The car,” she explains. “The nice one.” Vanessa winces. “I didn’t mean it like-”

Mike laughs, waving her concern away. “No, you’re right. My car is one pothole away from the junkyard, and as for the other car, it belongs to my babysitter.”

It’s Vanessa’s turn to look utterly bewildered. “You…you have a babysitter…?”

If his ears weren’t red before, they are now. “Wait! No! My sister! She has a babysitter, because she’s ten and I don’t think ten-year-olds are allowed to stay home alone.”

Vanessa stares at him, which makes him even more nervous. He continues to ramble, hoping, at some point, she might have mercy and stop him. “Usually the babysitter…uh…Max…doesn’t come over until I have to leave, but something happened today and I-”

“Mike,” Vanessa says.

“Actually, now that I think about it, the break-in at Freddy’s might be related to what happened to Max. She said her brother was killed by something at the pizzeria.”

“Mike,” Vanessa repeats, patiently. He stops. “I’ll take a statement from your babysitter, but you have a sister?”

He nods. “I do. Abby.”

“And it’s just you two?”

Mike feels a little uneasy talking about his little sister with someone he barely knows, but Vanessa doesn’t look all that threatening. Hopefully. 

“Yeah, my dad left on my eighteenth birthday, and my mom died not long after that.”

“No,” Vanessa murmurs, squeezing Mike’s hand. It brings him a little comfort. Enough to keep talking. 

“Yes. After Garrett was taken, my mom couldn’t handle it all. She became catatonic, almost zombie-like, and stayed in bed for the first year. And then, one day, she was back. Not like the mom I had before, but I suppose it was close enough. She had Abby not long after that, and instantly sunk into another depression. I didn’t know it at the time, but she apparently thought the baby was going to be another boy. Another Garrett, but she got Abby instead.” He looks at the ground, feeling secondhand guilt from that time in his life. He had been barely a person, navigating life with no guidance and a moral compass crafted from overwhelming guilt. But that didn’t matter to mom and dad. Grief ate them up just the same, leaving only Abby and him as the lone survivors. 

“They weren’t always like that,” he adds, not wanting Vanessa to get the wrong idea of his parents. They hadn’t been perfect or even decent towards the end, but that’s only because of his mess up. “Before my brother was taken, they gave me and Garrett tons of attention. They played with us, and we held hands and said grace every night around the table.”

Vanessa’s hand slips from his. He has to stop himself from holding on, but decides that that might come across a little creepy. “That sounds nice,” she whispers. 

“It was.” Mike can almost hear their laughter, echoing in his memories all these years later. 

“Well, from where I sit, I would say you two are pretty lucky, You still have each other.”

Vanessa’s right. In spite of all the things that have gone wrong in his life, Mike’s always had Abby. She’s his pride and joy and reason for continuing on. 

“Yeah,” he agrees. 

She pulls out the bottle of pills, likely empty, but he can’t remember. “When you’re at Freddy's, stay awake.” She emphasizes her point by tossing the bottle into the ravine. Mike purses his lips together. 

Don’t curse at a cop. Don’t curse at a cop. Don’t curse-

Vanessa turns to leave. He jumps up. “You can stay for dinner. If you want, of course.”

“I have….” she trails off, seemingly lost in thought. “Some time to kill.”

“Great. I’m sure Abby will be happy.” 

[suffarustuffaru]

Hello not so local character analyst may i ask you on your opinion on roswaals and beatrices relationship? Imagine finding out your homie has been chilling by your side all along when you thought theyve been dead for centuries

yo YO hello!! :O ok it took me a while to answer this bc i was like "man i want to think on this..." and then i ended up rewatching at Least one and a half season two episodes. (i DO actually like the english dub of rezero for the most part okay...... sue me... HAH)

but okay!!! beatrice and roswaal are characters that i feel like i dont know as well. but i adore both of them for the depth they have - i mean to this day i still feel like i dont 100% understand roswaal (i will eventually i swear. gotta get through all those side stories ljslfj) though i enjoy the absolute duality he has hah between showing he does care for others (LIKE BEATRICE.) vs um. insert all of arc 4 and all the body hopping bc that shit is insane for sure. but as for beatrice and roswaal specifically you put it super well - "Imagine finding out your homie has been chilling by your side all along when you thought theyve been dead for centuries". thats a HILARIOUS way of putting it lajsdlfjs but its true!!!

beatrice in the beginning of her story Basically has this little family with echidna and ryuzu and roswaal—echidna is her mother of course, and ryuzu and roswaal are almost like her siblings. roswaal though—because he has this. Odd relationship with echidna (because shes his tutor and she acts motherly towards him too but also Romantically. its. yeah we all know how messy that is), youd think roswaal and beatrices relationship would skew a little odd, but with what little screentime they have in their early days, ros and beatrice act pretty comfortable with each other? like you could easily compare it to subaru and beatrice—ros likes to tease her and shes a tsundere about it, but theres a clear fondness there!! it really gives off the energy that ros is like beatrice’s big brother? but you know. it doesnt Exactly last because of everything that goes down at sanctuary and in one fell swoop, beatrice essentially loses her three closest companions—ryuzu and ros and echidna—and, as we know, she goes to the forbidden library to wait for “that person”.

its a sad beginning to a story. beatrice thinks shes lost the people shes been closest with, and the people she essentially looks up to. with her personality and the fact that echidna is her mom, she was Absolutely the baby of the group. now shes stuck in a limbo almost, of Waiting. Alone. but—you know, ros starts doing his body hopping thing. and theres a certain detail about this that gets to me, which is—ros Definitely visited beatrice. over and over again. ros’s character wiki says that hes read every book in the forbidden library which. makes sense. he wants knowledge, his dear teacher loved knowledge, theres a convenient library right there connected to his dear teacher thats just in his house, etc etc—but the fact that hes read Every book in that library implies visiting the library Repeatedly.

because ros still stays fond of beatrice over the years— even as beatrice has grown increasingly closed off and abrasive bc of the situation with That Person shes waiting for, it seems like for ros he still sees her as the person he knew then, too. this is Probably added to with the fact that beatrice is an immortal spirit that looks the same no matter how much things change around her, but ros Still continues to think of her fondly time and time again. i think its similar to how he thinks of his teacher and how he wants to bring back the Original. he doesnt want her copies, he wants the person she was when she was alive—the person he remembers. and he remembers beatrice as the person she was when he was in his original body, i think. sweet and well meaning even if she pretends not to be.

for beatrice though—YEAH she thinks ros is dead. long dead, once time passes, and shes just seeing roswaal’s descendants pop up over and over again. its Gotta be haunting, knowing your dear friend is dead and has been for a while, but his children keep returning to visit and they all look like him. they all have his name. they all sound so similar and im Sure that they even act like theyre a little familiar with her. im sure that for beatrice its like seeing a Very Insistent ghost—and she most likely acts aloof with all of roswaal’s incarnations bc the emotions that would bring up would be a bit T^T overwhelming, probably. we see her act distant with roswaal through arc 2, for example—shes likely acting this way bc of 1. the aforementioned Haunting feeling of seeing your dead friend’s descendants and being So Close to your friend yet so far and 2. being distant with said descendants probably makes it less painful bc—no pesky emotional attachment when theyll be eventually replaced by another ros and 3. beatrice thinks these are all different people each time. as much as they look and sound and act like HER roswaal, theyre not her roswaal. so, in a way, both her and roswaal focus on “the original”… ros wants the original echidna. beatrice wants the original roswaal, not any of his descendants.

and another thing thats interesting is that when roswaal reveals the body hopping to beatrice at the end of arc 4–that he IS the original roswaal she knew—beatrice and roswaal look at each other and finally reunite and the anime specifically emphasizes it with this:

as you may already be familiar with, the anime uses this motif of characters looking at each other and Seeing the other person in their eyes to show that they TRULY see each other for who the other person is. and yes, of course ros sees beatrice because hes known her all this time for the past four hundred years. but beatrice? the reflection in her eye is roswaal’s original appearance, just as she remembered it. shes making the connection between her roswaal and all the other roswaals shes seen throughout her life and the fact that theyre all the Same Person. beatrice and ros foil a lot—beatrice looks the same, but shes undergone the drastic change of finally leaving the forbidden library. roswaal has tried to look the same over time, but hes also changed bodies and identities over time for his consistent goal of trying to bring back his teacher—beatrice’s mother. they have the similar weight of four hundred years of various Pains and seeing various people come and go and theyve both been Deeply affected by the same person (echidna of course) who has driven their actions for so long. theyre simultaneously older and younger than they look—beatrice still acts like the child she appears to be, but shes also simultaneously matured bc of her long lifespan and Suffering. roswaal, too, but hes still the same young man chasing after the woman who saved him physically and mentally. theyre two immortal characters who Now know that theyve been so near each other this whole time. even if beatrice didnt realize, ros was Right There. right near the forbidden library.

i think its interesting that its after 99% of arc 4 that ros chooses to tell beatrice that its always been him, the original ros, this whole time. im not entirely sure on Why roswaal waits until this moment, but i think its because now beatrice has left the forbidden library for good and shes Let Go of That Person. shes like a butterfly spreading her wings. and im sure with her distance towards roswaal’s various incarnations as well, she wasnt Exactly open to hearing roswaal out until Now. because now that shes a free and changed person and the two of them are finally seeing their echidna’s tomb, roswaal knows that she’ll hear him out now. he even talks to her about how she got out of the library too, and he iirc either assumes or asks if its bc subaru made beatrice his number one—but beatrice replies that no, thats not why. its bc she intends to make him her number one. which is something that roswaal can see and agree with bc echidna is his number one.

i think its also interesting that beatrice has ros kneel down so she can hit him, and bc ros has. an a bit of a Terrible image of himself and Knows hes done bad things, he assumes its bc of the terrible things hes done in both season 1 and 2. but beatrice replies that no its bc he burned down the forbidden library!! and i think its like. shes ultimately glad to have her dear friend back, and when you spend four hundred years with someone, thats a whole kind of Closeness of its own. and also just. she knows that roswaals lost already. but hah she had to get her bit of justice in for him destroying the library—bc even though she was mentally trapped in there waiting for That Person and wanting to die, it was still kind of her home. for four hundred years. and her mother was the one who put her there.

she also says later that ram has terrible taste in men which. HAH. well beatrice is aware shes been near ros for four hundred years and ros’s actions have hurt subaru especially, who beatrice is now close with. but i also really like that line bc its giving little sibling telling the person crushing on their sibling that they have shit taste akdndndn but no yeah beatrice is aware of roswaals misdeeds. shes aware about the damn body hopping. for crying out loud. but shes overlooking it a bit which is fascinating!!! not entirely sure why (could be just bc shes close with ros therefore she overlooks it near automatically bc of that) but i think the relief of my dear friend was here by my side all this time won out for sure!! we all know immortality is inherently lonely, and the inevitable loss that comes with life is Dialed Up bc of ur long lifespan, but now beatrice knows that she wasnt 100% alone.

roswaal was there for all those four hundred years. they are straight up the ONLY two people who can understand each other with their extremely specific shared history + immortality + complicated relationships with echidna parallels.

so. um. tldr: you know that trope of a character duo where one character is immortal and the other character keeps trying to find character 1 in each of their different lives/incarnations? HAH ros and beatrice are a weird version of that!!!

[felixcloud6288]

Higurashi: Cotton Drifting Final Chapter

We've reached the end of this arc and we're given a bunch of new questions to ponder. In particular, we have to figure out where the mundane ends and the supernatural starts.

Among Mion's victims is her grandmother Oryou Sonozaki. That detail kind of throws a wrench in the entire premise that the Sonozakis as a whole are behind this series of murders cause why would Mion act as if she were still alive.

At the bare minimum, this may imply Kimiyoshi, Rika, and Satoko's murders had nothing to do with the curse itself and Mion killed them for some other reason.

Keiichi has admitted to himself why he didn't give Mion the doll. He was embarrassed to think of her as a girl.

I don't think he was worried about there being any awkward romantic feelings between him and Mion. I think it was a case that he was comfortable with his more shallow and casual relationship. He's from the city and strangers don't care to give each other the time of day. But in a small village like Hinamizawa, everyone is in everyone's business.

He's likely uncomfortable being intimately knowledgeable about his friends' personalities, likes, pasts, etc. It's much easier to interact with them if he sticks to simple stereotypes and personality tropes.

But if he didn't do this, maybe things would have been better in this arc and the last and the next.

Keiichi hurt Mion's feelings in the first chapter. And every time he tried to make things right, he screwed up and made things worse. And at the end, he tried to give Mion the doll only to get blood on it. And trying to clean the doll only made it dirtier.

Nobody likes Detective Delicious Ooishi. Keiichi's mom is utterly creeped out by his presence.

And now what is a more mundane arc ends on a supernatural note.

On the night Mion stabbed Keiichi, she also pushed Shion from a balcony, killing her.

But as it turns out, Mion has actually been dead since the day Keiichi and Shion were rescued by the police. On a similar note, Takano was apparently dead during the Cotton Drifting Festival.

I want to tie this back to something from the Abducted By Demons arc. Mion and Rena mentioned the "Director", whom Keiichi believed was the Dam project director murdered 4 years ago. He included that in his final note but it was removed by someone.

So we have two definite instances and one potential instance of the dead being brought back. Perhaps they're puppeted by demons?

And it was the living corpse of Takano who instigated everything when she got Tomitake to break into the Saiguden and invoke Oyashiro-sama's wrath.

The next pair of two-page spreads are another master-stroke in using the manga medium to it's fullest potential. Since it is read from right to left, the reader will naturally turn their attention to the right side of the page where Keiichi is sitting up in his hospital bed. When the reader decides to look at the left side of the page, they notice the hand.

The hand was always there, but because it's on the left side of the spread, the reader wouldn't notice it at first, giving the impression it appeared suddenly.

And with your eyes locked on that hand, you turn the page and a head starts to make its way up as well.

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Spoiler Discussion

Just to add how much Keiichi keeps screwing up his apologies to Mion, every time he apologized, he apologized to Shion instead. Maybe if he actually took the time to know his friends well, he wouldn't get the twins mixed up like he did.