#losing consciousness I assume has characters looking that way

[pixelatedraindrops]

Yuma Month: Day 30: Drowning

Falling deeper…deeper into the dark murky abyss…

[twistedwonderlandimaginesblog]

Hiii can i request jamil, idia, riddle and leona have to fight with their s/o that been brainwashed (like a gas that brainswash ppl in a gas mask yk srry i cant explain things ;-;) by unknown enemy so they have to fight each other

Idia Shroud:

Horrible situation. Idia hated this trope. That’s not entirely true, watching the MC feel conflicted about fighting their love interest actually added a bit of interest into a story, but reality wasn’t the same. Idia didn’t feel anything ‘fun’ about this situation. Ortho was ready to take you down in an instant but Idia had stopped him, worried about him going overboard and potentially hurting you more than he needed to. He had already started to formulate a plan to overcome the brainwashing to at least subdue you, the only issue is mustering the courage to potentially hurt you himself during the process.

Idia has to tell you about how annoying that situation was after. He started ranting about games that just fell back on popular tropes for the sake of torturing their characters but eventually sighed, saying he had enough for an evening. He didn’t want to leave your side as much as he did want to disappear back into his room, wondering if there was a way to have you just stay in his room with him while you recovered.

Jamil Viper:

Jamil is tired of his bad luck, tired of the only things that brought him joy being taken away from him and then thrown back in his face like it was no big deal. His surprise is clear and for a moment he does think he’s pushed you away too much, that you truly were sick of dealing with someone who would never be able to go after what he wanted. It’s your choice of using magic against him rather than your words (which would cut deeper than any physical wound to him) that showed him there was something more going on, with you being a puppet on strings for some other being. He wondered if his unique magic might steal you away from them but it would be a shot in the dark, since you were aware of his ability (while the ‘you’ in this brainwashed state might not be).

Jamil is frazzled but relieved the situation is over. Looking out for both you AND Kalim was an exhausting feat, and he didn’t know why he added to his never-ending workload. He’s glad you’re back to your normal self, which still seemed to regard him in a positive light, allowing him to push down his worries for the future of your relationship a little bit longer.

Leona Kingscholar:

There’s no one who knew your weaknesses better than Leona but he couldn’t assume this would be a walk in the park. He didn’t intend to hurt you but he’d do what he had to for the sake of this situation ending sooner rather than later. Apologies could always be given after but there’s only so much he could take, seeing you like this, invisible strings attached to your limbs as you’re forced to turn against him. If he had been quicker he would’ve saved you from the invasive feeling of having your body controlled while your consciousness is present, and he forced himself to focus on the task at hand rather than the hell you might be living in as it would only make him angrier.  

Leona didn’t want to talk about it when you were back tomorrow. He hit you with an ‘it is what it is’ and moved on to your wounds, minor as they were there was still some scrapes you couldn’t get away from. You didn’t blame him and he didn’t blame himself, but he’s still not happy about having you turned against him. You were his, after all, and losing your loyalty even temporarily dealt a blow to his ego that he was desperate to keep hidden.

Riddle Rosehearts:

Riddle is alarmed at how quickly the situation escalated, flinching when his words don’t seem to be reaching you. He’s not used to being on the other side of you in a fight, even if you were to practice magic with him it was never with ill intent. He finds himself fighting against being distracted, trying to think of you as a simple misbehaving student who needed to be collared. His unique magic did make it a little easier to wrangle you in but he’s wracked with guilt cutting you off from your magic when it’s not really your own actions that caused you to be punished.

Riddle is wary about talking with you after, until he knows the brainwashing is gone and you’re back to normal. He shuffled around the actual topic he wanted to bring up which was incredibly unlike him, a fact you pointed out before telling him in the kindest words possible to spit it out. He admitted seeing you brainwashed was disconcerted, and that he’d rather never see you as an enemy again. He knew it wasn’t your choice but he’d prefer you stick close to him in the future, just so he could stop the problem before it even began.

[rottenpumpkin13]

So I got diagnosed with PTSD and whenever there’s a problem in my life, my immediate urge is to project it onto my favorite characters. Now, that being said, assuming that they DO have PTSD from the war and other traumas, do AGZSC have flashbacks, and if they do, what do they look like?

I hope I did this concept justice 💚 wishing you well

• Genesis’ PTSD, years after he's been doused with a cure, begins with the itch beneath his skin. No matter how hard he scrubs, no matter how dry the scarring is, he feels it raw and sticky beneath the hot leather. He can feel the burning in his muscle, resurfacing to his skin like it’s breaking apart, like it’s rotting again. The smell of decay, of something foul and wrong, floods his senses even though the air is clean. His hands tremble, fingers tracing invisible cracks on his face, terrified they’ll split open. The fear of the degradation gnaws at him constantly, fearing that the goddess revoked her gift, fearing that one day he'll start degrading all over again.

• Sephiroth’s PTSD smells like antiseptic, that sharp, clean scent that coats the inside of his nose, no matter where he is, no matter how hard he fills his environment with lavender, vanilla and other desperate attempts to stifle the phantom horror. He can smell it everywhere he goes, and initially believed his mind was failing him.

He can be working in his office or peacefully reading a book in his bedroom when the hum of lab equipment buzzes in his ear, faint but clear. Sometimes it's the dull click of needles being prepared, and Sephiroth flinches.

He can be laying in bed when the familiar feel of restraints scratches his wrist, phantom sensations that won't let him rest.

• Cloud’s PTSD is heat—scalding, unbearable heat. The fire burns it's brightest when he's overheated, roaring in his ears, licking at his skin, smoke filling his lungs as the villagers' screams overtake his hearing.

He smells the burning wood, the burning flesh, his mother’s voice lost somewhere in the flames that swallow everything in its wake.

And then he sees him, accompanied by a crack of green pulling his consciousness back to the moment he saw that Sephiroth for the first time—not Sephiroth the hero, but Sephiroth the embodiment of everything Cloud would lose.

• Zack’s PTSD is the weight of Angeal’s sword in his hand he feels in the weeks following his mentor's death. It's the body he doesn't want to be in, the flesh that grips the bones Angeal should have broken when he killed him, not the other way around. When when the sword is clung to his back, he can feel the weight of it in his hands, dragging him down, forcing him to press his knees to the dirty ground again and face Angeal's dying body.

• Angeal’s PTSD wakes him up in the middle of the night and pins his eyes open with memories that won't sleep. His apartment is always silent, just like he remembered the house was that night—oh the trivial details the mind picks up. But it always starts with the silence before the screams hit. He can hear his mother's cries, raw and desperate, tear through the quiet. His mother’s wails are like a knife dragging across his chest. He feels the emptiness of that house, the coldness of the room after the life has drained from it. His father had just passed, and once again, just like when he was a boy, Angeal is suffocated beneath his blanket, eyes wide open.

[wingedshadowfan]

⚠️arcane s2 act iii spoilers // criticism ⚠️

in caitlyn's post-war speech, she talks ambiguously of history and of ups and downs and of a story not yet over, but there's no promise for the future, no motivation to keep going, no bigger picture, no lesson learned. we're not shown much work being done either and i'm about to examine why it felt that way to me, leaving me a bit confused, somewhat unsatisfied, and deeply, profoundly sad

of course, jayce and viktor are dead. heimerdinger is gone, potentially also dead but unlike the latter two, we don't quite know what happened to him, he just kind of disappeared. i was left under the impression the were two ekkos - one for each universe, and our ekko's consciousness just changed bodies briefly due to the hexcore before heimerdinger managed to send him back to his own body in the right universe. but it seemed there was only one heimerdinger (body and soul) who'd traveled to the alternative universe as a package and lived there for a thousand years until our ekko came around in the alternative one's body, and instead of traveling back with him, heimerdinger's body and subsequently his consciousness ceased to exist. so... who's inventing things now? who's rebuilding piltover?

jinx and warwick (because there's no vander left there anymore, we made sure of that) are also presumably dead. we see how this is affecting ekko and vi, but not necessarily the undercity, for which jinx was a symbol of freedom, of unity - the perfect person who could've broken a cycle of violence, poverty and oppression. zaun doesn't get its sovereignty and seemingly loses its beacom of hope.

we see sevika as part of the council in piltover instead, but it's not like she's making merry with the other new counselors, in fact they throw her some nasty looks. and of course, i didn't expect it to be easy and it's admirable she's even there at all but unless i missed anyone, she's the only zaunite there out of 9 counselors (w/ zaun being 1/4 of piltover's population in canon afaik). i guess there's work to be done there but there was no indication of it even being able to go in a good direction, since she seems to have no backing from anyone now and again, we don't even know the extent to which the undercity managed to unify under her.

mel, a character always depicted in white and gold, an image of purity and mercy, defiant of her mother's brutality since childhood, now dons her red eyeshadow and sits on her throne on a ship for noxus. in an attempt to save her city, the city she was exhiled in to "learn" this brutality, to be hidden from the black rose from, and that's she's instead given her everything to care for (after barely getting the time to grapple with her own identity crisis and the predetermination of her fate) she's left no choice but to surrender her mother to the black rose, and watch her die in her arms. perhaps it is by virtue of noxian law she assumes her place and has to return to noxus. she leaves her beloved city in such a perilous and war-torn state, riddled with guilt and confusion. is she a wolf now? has she always been one?

ekko presumably grieves jinx by burning a piece of paper for her (my first thought was it was for heimerdinger, his "mentor" whose contributions and potential sacrifice made ekko coming back home possible, and with the time reversal device at that - but i interpreted it as being for jinx because it was in the place he kissed her alternate self in the alternative universe). what of ekko's future, of his commune? what happened to the tree getting corrupted? heimerdinger had plans to fix it with jayce's help or at least find the sickness' origin (the hexcore, yes, but we don't know if what happened to the tree got reversed), instead they found out the undercity was completely reliant on piltover's mercy for their water and air, and this knowledge seems to have died with them (bcuz i doubt ekko has the power to do anything about it).

caitlyn's looking at the kiramman house files, including city plans, potentially to rebuild things after the war but how? first of all, what are they gonna do with the hextech, the weapons, the gates, the magic in general? would they even want to try that again, and what implications would this have for piltover and zaun individually but for their precarious newly founded relationship? and secondly, she's a policewoman/detective turned anti-civil-war-commander turned just war commander, she's not an engineer or a scientist. all those ones? gone. all the people we know of who could rebuild the city in its previous progressive state are gone - jayce, viktor, heimerdinger, even jinx as a technological wildcar in vi's words. caitlyn seems to be telling the story or archiving files and plans for any future kirammans but she doesn't seem to have any work of her own to do anymore.

vi is the saddest case here, which says a lot. she's lost everything and is completely devoid of purpose. it's okay not to be okay, but what she says to caitlyn completely destroys me (and i'll do a separate, more detailed post but this shall do for now). she's depressed. easily. she's grieving jinx, humming a song her mother used to sing to them, the same one jinx was humming when we first saw her this season. when she says, "I'll always be dirt under your fingernails, cupcake." she isn't being cute, flirty, or romantic. she's being self-deprecating, indicating she deems her presence a nuisance to caitlyn, she deems herself unworthy and unwelcome in her house, but it's not like she's going anywhere. where else could she even go? caitlyn is all she has left. that's what she means when she says, "nothing's ever gonna clean me out", but perhaps even more so, she implies she's beyond repair, that she'll never be whole, never be truly okay again after this.

(the only person who got a "happy" ending, and the reason why this pisses me off is because he was truly vile and wicked and idc abt his motivations i will not be convinced otherwise, was fucking singed, who somehow got to have his immortalized robot daughter despite everything)

[1moreff-creator]

hii!! so idk if you saw, but i recently posted a theory abt how xander and eden were survivors from a previous killing game.

you’re super cool and smart so i was wondering what you thought of it lol

(this sounds like free promo for my theory but i promise it isn’t)

(i just want opinions on it bc i can’t tell if i did a good job or not)

Hey there! Yeah, I saw it, and I think it’s a pretty good theory! I enjoyed reading it, your writing style is fun. Below are my full thoughts on it. For anyone else, please read the original first, this is going to be incomprehensible otherwise.

Also don’t worry about looking like you’re “promoting” your theory. It’s Tumblr, no one gains anything here, we all just lose. What would you even use the promotion for lol.

Also also you people have gotta stop giving me so many compliments it’s feeding my god complex /j

CW: Violence and blood, death, Danganronpa V3 Spoilers

[Background]

Admittedly, I don’t know how literally connected V3 is supposed to be to this whole situation, given the difference in the settings and the like. Especially since Teruko’s only mentioned remembering “that other killing game”, implying she doesn’t know about the 50 others despite vaguely knowing about the THH one. However, it is perfectly valid to bring up V3 as a meta point (which I think is what you’re doing?); the idea exists, so DRDTdev could have certainly taken it for DRDT. In any case, it sure is an interesting premise!

[The Survivors]

[Xander Matthews]

“[Post]: he has the personality for self-sacrifice.” True!

[For the sake of clarity, I refer to this scene as “the pre-prologue scene”, given that we see it before the Prologue title card appears]

““Them” could be the other people in the killing game. [...]

And, most of all, he says that he has to end the killing game. How the hell would he end a killing game without having been in one? (don’t answer that)”

I mean, solid reasoning! The idea that Xander was actively in a killing game while this scene happened has been thrown around, such as in my “original killing game” theory that we don’t talk about ‘cuz it was insane, because it’s a pretty reasonable conclusion to draw from the dialogue, as you said. For a while now I’ve sorta assumed that Xander was speaking of ending the killing game before it began, but there’s both semantic arguments to argue your theory and that one. The way Xander speaks in pre-prologue seems to imply the killing game is already underway, which is a point to you, but the secret David received mentions “The killing game is all your fault,” potentially implying there’s only ever been one modern killing game (“modern” as in, after THH). I think the idea of Xander actively being in a killing game in pre-prologue is stronger, though, I’m only bringing this up to account for all possibilities.

And “them” could be whoever so :p

[Xander Picture]

“When was this?

Why would he be in the same outfit, while having both eyes?

It makes sense if he was in a previous killing game, doesn't it?”

Well I mean. It could be. It could also just be from the time the cast (or most of it at least) was in the same Hope’s Peak class. Keep in mind all the outfits the characters were using at the start of the prologue are the same as the outfits they first went to Hope’s Peak with, as otherwise they’d have pointed out that their clothes changed between the moment they “lost consciousness” (the last moment of their memories, which is going to Hope’s Peak) and their appearance in the killing game place.

So, I propose that, seeing as it originated from LGI, this image could just be the first time David actually met Xander in person, or some other notable memory between the two of them. Of course, I have no evidence for this as much as there’s no great evidence for your take either. Basically I’m just saying this isn’t a very strong point in my books, but it’s not like I know any better than you what’s going on here :v

[Eden Tobisa]

“First of all, there’s the similarities between her handwriting and the handwriting of the note that Xander received. [...]

The T’s are the same, the E’s are the same, the A’s are the same. Don’t deny that it’s a strong, and the most likely, possibility.”

Uh… I don’t agree :v

I’ll give you the i’s and maybe the capital T’s, but I think the e’s and the a’s are too different for me to really consider it a possibility. It’s hard to explain this, so I’ll try to make some Paint diagrams to exaggerate the differences to get my point across.

-The T’s are pretty similar, but Eden’s have a slight curve towards the bottom, which the other note’s T’s seem to lack. In the diagram, you’ll find the recreation of Eden’s letters to the left, and the recreation of the “kill Teruko” note’s letters on the right.

-The e’s in Eden’s handwriting have a circular head, while the other note’s is almost triangular.

-Similarly, Eden’s a’s are a bit more circular than the note’s, which are sharper and triangular.

This all leads me to believe that the dev explicitly used different fonts for the two (assuming they dev used a text writing tool and didn’t draw the notes by hand, which I feel is a reasonable assumption). When coupled with the fact that Eden could potentially have been defending Teruko in pre-prologue (unless there’s more context we’re missing, Xander wanted to kill Teruko & Eden attacked Xander -> Eden didn’t want Teruko to die), I don’t think Eden wrote that note. Sorry :v

[Eden CG]

Now this is evidence of Eden being in the same killing game as Xander (of course, assuming Xander even was in a killing game in pre-prologue in the first place, which is as of yet unconfirmed). The CG itself heavily implies Xander and Eden were in the same place when the whole eye-fork situation happened, being that Eden is the person who hurt Xander before the pre-prologue scene (pre-pre-prologue?). If that happened in a killing game, then clearly, Eden was there!

“Why would the two of them have images of their past selves wearing the exact same outfits?

Oh, wait a second.

In V3, we see Rantaro’s past self. He was wearing the same outfit that he did in the killing game. And he was a member of a past game too.

And it’s not like we haven’t seen them in other outfits. Xander has been seen in another outfit in his bonus episode.”

I mean. As I mentioned, the characters probably just frequent these outfits, given they were wearing them when they first went to Hope’s Peak. The Eden thing is a bit more notable because, unlike Xander’s which could just be from any point of Hope’s Peak time, that image has to be from the pre-prologue situation. But the idea that she was wearing that because it’s just an outfit she wears often isn’t too far fetched to me. This isn’t a point against your theory, I just don’t personally find the outfits to be the most convincing point of evidence for it.

[Eden’s secret]

“Why is this secret so mundane? (At least in comparison to the others)

Wouldn’t it make more sense to say something about what she did to Xander?

Of course, that could just be because they didn’t want her to know about something she did during the missing year.

But it could also be because it happened during the last killing game.

That one’s a stretch but I just thought I’d put it out there.”

Well, you recognize it’s a stretch, and I agree. If Eden doesn’t remember the Xander thing, then the secret which would be most effective for her would be something different, and apparently she doesn’t really have many serious secrets outside of her sexuality. Keep in mind these secrets don’t necessarily have to be the worst thing the person in question did, as stated by Veronika in 2-13.

“Why specifically these two?

Dev didn’t have to post the colored picture of Xander.

It’s clearly important.

Same for Eden.”

Also not a point for Xander imo. Dev posts a lot of stuff that isn’t necessarily important, such as the Veronico Christmas comic or the “long hair style” images. That is to say, dev posting it isn’t sufficient evidence of something’s importance, you gotta find something important in the content itself to claim that.

And even if the image is important, it could be important in a different way. There is the whole “why does someone turn their back on who they’re talking to” caption or whatever, which could for example be trying to draw a connection between David and Xander in this scene and Mai and Teruko in the 1-6 dream sequence, among other interpretations.

But that’s Xander. I will agree with you that the Eden one is important because it appears in the main series and has a clear connection to the pre-prologue, though.

“Why would he say this?

Unless he knew Teruko in the past, of course.

My guess is that Teruko was named the mastermind during his game. Whether or not she actually appeared, who knows. But she was to blame (supposedly) (to his knowledge) for the killing game. And apparently, killer her would do something important.

This ties in to the note that told Xander to kill Teruko as well!”

I would actually argue that Xander in the pre-prologue doesn’t think Teruko is the mastermind, because “ending the killing game” and “killing Teruko” are two separate goals. If you assume that killing the mastermind ends the killing game (which is a fair assumption I think), and Xander believes Teruko is the mastermind, then what he says is “I have to end the killing game. And even if I can’t do that, I have to end the killing game a different way.” Doesn’t really track does it?

But “ending the killing game” and “killing Teruko” do seem to be aligned goals, at least, so it makes sense to think that Xander believed she had some sort of involvement in it, which is sufficient for your theory I think. Of course, this is very speculative, we don’t know a lot about why exactly Xander wanted to kill the girl.

Btw, what is Teruko’s deal in your theory? Is she another “sacrifice”, a recycled mastermind or traitor of some kind, or someone who was known to the participants of the previous killing game but didn’t participate until the one seen in DRDT? I feel like that ended up a bit unclear lol.

“Who do we think were the survivors of their game?

My first guess was maybe a couple of the AltDRDT characters, but I’m not sure.”

I mean yeah, there’s kinda no one else we can really point to lol. As you said, it’s a guess, so I’m not gonna bother you about the lack of evidence, but yeah. That is a lot of survivors, though, so I’m gonna guess that if this theory is right, the survivors of the old killing game are other people who are probably unknown as of yet.

Overall, a really neat read, and a fun theory! Pretty plausible, too, at least the idea of the pre-prologue killing game and Xander and Eden (and Teruko?) being in it. I disagreed on some points, but that’s only natural with highly speculative things like this. I thought the post itself was well written with a pretty unique style, easy to understand (even if I feel some points could have used a bit more elaboration, but that might just be me), so there’s that. Hope this was enough, thanks for the ask!

[secret-engima]

I have tea and a soap box let's spill something shall we (Wakfu Rant)

*sips tea*

I've been in this fandom for like. A month? more? Depends on how long it took me to work through the show. I've not actually interacted with the *fandom* at all, just the canon stuff and my own spiralling insanity. But while I'm here I might as well make enemies /s. Therefore:

Oropo is a much more compelling character deserving of redemption than Qilby. Qilby:

Had a loving literal goddess mom and a bunch of loving siblings.

A beautiful planet and thriving culture he could go anywhere and do anything on

The capability of going into space without any technological aids once he got bored of the Eliatrope world and started to suffer the effects of his eidietic memory thing. We know for a fact that Eliatropes and their dragon sibs literally don't need so much as a helmet to vibe in space, they could have gone out there any time, explored the cosmos a bit, found cool things as souvenirs and brought them back to show off to his siblings.

While this is very clumsily and blatantly retconned in s4, in s2 Qilby is very open and blatant about the fact he willingly picked a fight with Orgonax with the INTENTION of forcing his entire people to flee their world into space just so he would have more company than Shinonome. An entire world and no doubt thousands of Eliatropes and who knows what pieces of their history and culture were lost because this man, and I remind you again that s2 Qilby taunts Yugo with this fact no matter how s4 woobified him, wanted to FORCE his people to join him in space rather than just let manning the fuck up and going out there with his sister on a buddy roadtrip.

Seems very convinced that some or all of his specimens in his lab are the last of their kinds, which at best means he intentionally targeted dying species on alien worlds to capture and put into jars for literal eternity which is all kinds of animal cruelty (assuming some of them aren't sentient!!) and at worst means he is the reason they are the last of their kind because Qilby wanted his souvenir to be Unique.

when his people finally found a new world to settle on and be happy and try to reclaim their culture, he instigated a SECOND GENOCIDE, this one taking out not only their home world but literally every. living. adult Eliatrope (and dragon considering the propensity for dragons to have Eliatrope twins as stated in s1). Literally thousands if not millions of people are dead, thousands of children are orphaned and left trapped in a realm where they cannot *grow up*, the vast majority of his own siblings are dead and oh look at that. He's stuck in sensory deprivation hell. Man. If only there was some course of action he could have taken that would not have led to him fighting his own siblings, losing his arm, and getting stuck in the white void of horribleness. Man this truly is a tragedy of fate. Definitely no way he could have gone back into space without the Zinit. Definitely could not have just hopped on Shinonome's back with a packed lunch and gone out there on his own knowing he would have a loving family to come back to whenever he got lonely. Man.

upon breaking out of the White Void Of Horrible he is even more mentally unstable (and yes I know he's mentally ill during the above events, that does not excuse his actions when he is aware enough of them to gloat about them to yugo later) and immediately decides that he's going to kill this entire world in order to leave and he's going to take his siblings and the few surviving eliatrope kids with him by force.

has ANYONE other than me noticed the incredibly dark and horrific implications of him apparently planning to kill Phaerys and Yugo (and Adamai likely). Yugo says he couldn't go through with it and I'll believe that, but the fact he apparently consciously PLANNED it. Am I the only one who saw that scene and went "if he kills them, then they go back to the dofus and hatch without any memories, which means he will be able to RAISE AND GROOM THEM in the Zinit to believe that whatever Qilby says is right and do whatever he wants, like galavant in space for eternity".

S4 can retcon as much as it likes to make the Orgonax thing an accident and Qilby a mama's boy (which I freely admit was funny and I would have enjoyed in any other villain), but going off s2 and moving into s3 I REALLY cannot see why people like him more and hate Oropo.

And even if we DO count s4's retcon that made the first incident an accident the SECOND WAS STILL DAMN WELL INTENTIONAL. And Qilby is still responsible for the death of thousands twiceover on top of the death of an entire culture. All of Eliatrope history, culture, science, medicine, *music*, *STORIES*, it's all gone save for whatever the Emrub kids happen to remember (and the kids will not remember it accurately because they are children). All their architecture is destroyed, all their native cuisine is GONE and so are the ingredients to make them. All because Qilby wanted to force them into space WHEN THEY DID NOT WANT TO GO and HE COULD HAVE GONE ON HIS OWN AT ANY POINT WITH SHINONOME.

Speaking of Oropo! Let's look at what we know about him for comparison!

Was created by accident and is intimately aware of it.

was thrown back in time and lived most if not all of his life perpetually terrified of changing history or accidentally erasing himself and his siblings

Not only saw all of his siblings die off over the years but had their energy absorb into him in something that is no doubt extremely traumatizing to undergo. if any of you have watched the Oropo-centric ova, man for a mastermind manipulator he sure do look like he wanna cry and throw up and curl in a little ball when two of his siblings die in front of him and he is forced to assimilate their life energy.

"Supposedly" staged several key villain creation events which I personally press x to doubt because it's so clunky when mixed in with s1 and s2 lore BUT if we graciously assume that he did then gee. can't possibly be a factor of the third bullet point and his terror of erasing the timeline with his own existence can it? Can't possibly be Oropo falling into Every Heroic Time Travel Trope Ever where the hero ensures a certain event happens in order to maintain the timeline in key points hm? Even if it's a bad idea?

Has been successfully and lovingly married? partnered? mated? to a badass half-dragon wife for literal centuries and every time they are on screen together before the Dramatic Amalia Bullshit they are loving and balanced and give off so many Old Married Vibes and then THEY RESUME that dynamic for the few seconds on screen they have before they both die.

Adopts and raises hundreds of orphaned demigods who apparently were more than happy to live in the Tower and follow him throughout their lives, and in fact show no sign of abuse or manipulation in their behavior until the finale when Anakam decides it's time for everyone to think Oropo is horrible

is actively DYING when we meet him and not just dying but faced with the prospect that there is no happy ending for him. He will never see his loved ones in the afterlife, he will never know peace, he will be assimilated by his creator Yugo and at *best* be essentially digested into raw wakfu and at *worst* be a ghost stuck in the head of a man he has extremely complicated and negative feelings about for the above time travel and sibling trauma.

Adamai EXPLICITLY MENTIONS THAT OROPO IN S3 IS ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER when he goes into his more Blatant Villain Moments. Which sure, could be "the mask" falling to reveal someone "oooo evil" but isn't it far more likely he's acting out of character because he's dying and having a crisis about it.

canonically hates violence, but was so desperate to ensure his loved ones would have a better world he was willing to resort to turning himself into a suicide bomber to "create a better world". Was this a good idea? no. but ppl apparently love to point out how Qilby is mentally unstable to justify his behavior soooooo like. Why is that excuse not applicable to the guy who's literally spent his entire life being uncertain he's even real and has a right to exist but is real enough to DIE and never see the people he loves again and therefor go off the rails in his attempts to make something better for them?

in s4, the same season that makes Qilby sympathetic so if you count that as canon then by gods you better count the Oropo moments as canon, Oropo gives Yugo a reprieve from the literal life sucking torture he's in, helps him get a new outfit, and lets Bouillon play fight him (because again, Oropo hates Doing Violence) to keep him distracted and SANE while his body is being horribly tortured. In the end Yugo even confirms they are real and a part of him which is literally all Oropo wanted in his dying speech if you rewatch the finale and boil down his fury to its bullet points (he is a clone without a future and literally says stuff along the lines of just wanting to be REAL and wanting Yugo to ACKNOWLEDGE him).

For a supposed mastermind villain who wanted Yugo dead Yugo sure does seem Super Duper Alive in the months/two years/whatever timeline Ankama is using this hot second since he created the clones and was therefore *no longer necessary* for Oropo to keep alive.

At the end of the day Qilby actively chose HIMSELF over the wellbeing of others and got multiple siblings killed as well as two worlds and an entire civilization/culture wiped out. OROPO set himself on a path of similar destruction and then ACTIVELY TURNED BACK because he was faced with the choice of his ambitions or HIS LOVED ONES and he PRIORITIZED THEIR LIVES OVER HIS OWN AND HIS OWN GOALS where as Qilby not only did not do that, he didn't do it TWICE. TWICE. Oropo's death count is miniscule and he chose to sacrifice himself rather than lose the people he was doing this for and Echo knew he would make that choice, which means she also knew his love of them was genuine. You cannot compare that to Qilby and tell me Qilby is in any way better.

Okay rant over I'm going back to planning my wakfu canon rewrite and my various Echo/Oropo oneshots thank you and good day.

[destinygoldenstar]

Human Pomni Was Evil? (TADC Theory)

Keep in mind this is a theory and is absolutely open to be totally wrong.

We know the Digital Circus characters, minus Caine, we’re once human and not from here.

And there might be a good chance the new characters shown in the recent trailer are also A.I. The reason I make this assumption is because some of them are similar in style and theming whereas the tent crew is unique from each other. And Jax asked Caine in the episode if Pomni was one of his NPCs.

Why would he ask that if every NPC looked the same and were all the mannequins? If that was the case he’d instantly recognize Pomni was a new character. But no. He had to ask the question.

Does that mean these new characters are one off? Probably not. I do think they’re gonna be important. But this might be the aspect that separates them from our main six.

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about and suggest an idea of.

What kind of people were these characters before the circus?

They have no memories. For we all know, they could’ve been completely different people in the real world than we see them as in the circus.

The sweet motherly Ragatha could’ve been a wicked stepmother or something.

The bully Jax could’ve been the victim of bullying in the real world.

The erratic and fragile Kinger could’ve been a mindful therapist.

The shy, anxious Pomni who seems all innocent and naive in the circus could’ve been a truly malicious evil being or a full on criminal.

Especially that last one is an interesting idea that came in my mind.

One of my biggest theories so far is that Pomni’s human self worked at C&A. Makes sense right? A lot of people have said this. She pauses at a desk as though she recognizes it and has a mental break as a reaction to it.

Just because you don’t remember anything consciously doesn’t mean your subconscious loses that memory entirely, especially if it sees something triggering.

But did she help make the game? Honestly, idk. She could very well not have.

Either way, what if C&A itself is a very shady company?

The ringmaster of the game, the main AI, is Caine.

C

What if this AI is a self insert by the game developer?

Here’s what I think happened, in my theory mind:

The real Caine, not the AI but the creator that made Caine as a self insert, tried to design the Digital Circus in the 1990s (the tech’s quality in the office) as a revolutionary innovation in gaming. So some employees back then became test subjects for it. One of them being Kinger. Cause he was here the longest according to the show. (So they didn’t all show up at once)

But it went horribly wrong, the test subjects are lost in the game forever, and the creator is wanted and charged for the losses.

But he got away and continued his operation, illegally distributing the game to anyone naive enough to not know what scams are. Thus making him a full on criminal with other criminals as his employees developing the game to perfect it. To make it the perfect escape from reality.

Also explains why their tech would have never been updated.

Fast forward to this keep going on till 2023. Which means we could safely assume human Pomni wasn’t even born yet when the disaster happened.

If she was an employee, she was also one of these shady people who knew exactly the harm they were doing, but did it anyway because selfish money and profit.

Especially if, say, Pomni was raised into this criminal setting her entire life.

Maybe she’s the creator’s daughter who had too much to drink with a co-worker one night. Idk.

That would probably be an interesting explanation for why Caine is often going to her for advertising purposes. (Other than her being the MC) Obviously Caine isn’t Pomni’s dad. But Caine being the AI self insert of the dad of human Pomni. Would make him a more familial figure.

Especially since I don’t think Caine himself is evil. He’s just being an AI and doing his job and trying to ensure the safety of the residents of the circus.

Human Pomni could’ve been born and raised into the shady life and became an employee when she was old enough and had the training. Making her be a helper on the circus.

“Well that doesn’t mean human Pomni was evil. She could’ve been different.”

I Doubt it. When you’re born in a life, you’re heavily influenced by that life. If you were born and raised in an evil nation, you will likely have the mindset of that evil nation because that’s how you were nurtured to see the world. You wouldn’t know anything else.

Plus that mental break Pomni had.

This could very well be the real Pomni slipping through.

She isn’t this shy sweet bean. She’s actually an evil maniac.

But how did she end up in the game if she knew what it did?

There’s multiple ways.

As punishment for doing something wrong in the company.

It was a sudoku-cide to get out of the real world.

She wanted to fix the mistakes the company made for some reason.

But does that mean her digital self has to be evil too? From the story this is based on ‘I have no mouth and I must scream’. Probably not. Maybe she’s actually the savior like Jesus or something. Idk.

I expect this theory to be completely wrong and contradicted when Episode 2 comes out.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I don't know if this has been addressed, but what is Floyd's "squeezing"? I assumed he dragged students away to beat them up since the victims always reacted with fear. However, if Floyd's tsum copies his behavior, is he literally just squeezing students with all his might? It seems a little anticlimactic to elicit such a response because of a tight hug, don't you think? I mean, it will obviously hurt to be crushed, but it's better that getting beat up, right? 🤔

Interpreting Floyd's squeezing as only a "tight hug" is... well, it's sort of downplaying the harm he's causing to other people 😅 Depending on the context in which the phrase "squeezing" is used, I do believe it's a euphemism that can either mean beating people up (in a general sense) or actually squeezing them (because he is shown to do both). EDIT: In some contexts, “squeezing” can also mean playful hugs. It’s just that most of the time when Floyd’s threatening to squeeze mob students or other characters in the main cast, it’s meant in a more malicious way.

One thing you should keep in mind is that the size difference between regular Floyd and tsum Floyd is significant. Tsum Floyd does not have the arm or body length to completely wrap around someone, but regular Floyd definitely does (especially if we consider his merform). Therefore, even though they carry out the same action, the results are not necessarily 1:1. LOOK AT TSUM FLOYD'S NUBS, YOU THINK YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO A PROPER FULL BODY SQUEEZE WITH THOSE????? At most, it can handle someone's arm. Given Floyd's larger stature and longer limbs (to completely ensnare others), he'd be able to deal much more damage. There's a very clear example of Floyd "squeezing" someone so hard that they pass out early in episode 3 of the main story. He's strong enough to make them lose consciousness with physical strength alone, and (if we really want to go into darker fandom interpretations), this may even imply strangulation 💦 Floyd also has a number of voice lines in which he promises to "wring" people out, meaning he knowingly applies as much pressure as possible to deprive his victims of air. It isn’t some accident or an “oppise”, it’s intentional. Consider his merfom as well; he could easily coil around his enemies and squeeze them until they go blue in the face and their eyes pop. Just because Floyd squeezes people on land without the tail doesn't mean the matter is any less serious. Restricting someone's movements in general and/or cutting off their air supply will naturally elicit a panic of fear response. There's also the possibility of Floyd squeezing someone so hard that it damages their internal structures (ie like how even helpful movements like CPR compressions can break the ribs). "Crushing" someone in this manner is something that I would consider the same as "being beat up", not "better than" or "worse than". It's still damage, it's still legitimate fear and trauma. It's cruel, period, and the other characters' apprehensive reactions are 100% valid.

Again, tsum Floyd is presented much differently than regular Floyd. They don't match in size, and there is much more of an overall innocent, playful energy to the Tsumtsums. Them being a part of an event also says a lot about their presentation; TWST events are much more lighthearted than how the characters are typically portrayed in the main story. Mismatched anatomy aside, of course TWST won't show tsum Floyd squeezing students so hard they pass out. That's not the vibe the event is going for, so when tsum Floyd squeezes, it’s meant to be playful/cute and not at “full power” capacity.

(Side note: this is NOT to say that Floyd isn't capable of just normal behavior or genuine tight hugs/playful squeezes as well. He can do those too!! I'm just saying when he does threaten to "squeeze" others, there is always the potential for very real damage to be involved.)

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

some last anna karenina thoughts copied over from discord so I don’t lose them:

I forgot how bluntly the book portrays suicidal ideation, I liked how it goes into anna devolving. and her awareness that she cannot really control her own feelings. and just the stream of consciousness of her attempting to calm herself down and noting really trivial things like shop signs while internally spiraling over how she seems to have no way out of her life. it’s all done in a more naturalistic style than I would’ve anticipated from a novel of that era. I also didn’t realize this on first read, because I didn’t know the book’s conclusion but it sets up the concept of death as a means of escape for the characters through different plotlines so early!

I said it before at one point, but I’m really struck with the continued theme of banality? and that’s really the note the book ends on! levin as the near deuteragonist, and most distinct foil to anna in terms of anxieties and emotional tumult, suddenly has that epiphany of faith, deciding he does actually believe in *a* god, if not in church doctrine. and he assumes this sudden answer to like… the meaning of life… is going to change him completely and his relationships with others, and then on the very last pages he’s just taken by the regular day to day irritations, his relationship with his brother is no better, and he still yells at his wife even tho she doesn’t deserve it lmao. but something something there’s still meaning in life despite it all.

so there’s an interesting balance of the two arguments being like “nothing matters… might as well kill yourself” vs “nothing matters, therefore every small thing matters”

it’s fascinating given how much tolstoy hated the book while he was finishing it! and generally his own spiritual crises in old age. I also can’t help but read too much into levin as an author stand in— given there are autobiographical elements in that storyline. and also just “levin” -> “of lev”

a quirk I also noticed is that we never get any real scene setting for the city environs (I remember being disappointed about this on first read! I wanted to know what the fancy parties looked like!) vs the in depth descriptions of rural scenes, what the sky and fields look like etc.

anyway I do generally find the way tolstoy writes women really interesting. there tends to be *a lot* of depth allowed but there’s always a little bit of a high handed patronizing kind of vibe along with it. and I’m mulling over how I feel about how he wrote anna in that light as an irrational woman vs the novel itself as a reckoning with despair. but yeah idk really interesting with all cultural context how she is written, the choice of her as protagonist at all, and the handling of her affair and societal fall from grace

[dangermousie]

How to do character studies in a scene that is ostensibly about nothing much

The weiqi game between FL, cousin and 17 is my favorite scene in these two eps because it so brilliantly illuminates all three characters (and shows why cousin would be such a bad fit for FL while 17 is a good one.)

Basically, Cousin wants to play weiqi with 17, who is apparently known as a weiqi genius. But FL is grumpy because she’s the one who wanted to play against cousin (who is not interested because she’s terrible.)

For cousin, of course he wants to play against the best; it’s insane for him to play against someone who is useless (he can’t hone his skills or learn against a bad player.) It’s sort of a parallel of him only being interested in people in this village if they are useful to him. But 17 has no interest in that. He wants whatever would make FL happy.

The thing is, this does not come across as weak or codependent or pathetic in the least. This is a man who is secure in his priorities - and for him playing a game is immaterial in the grand scheme of things, but making FL happy is important. That does not impinge on his dignity or his will or his masculinity. He just someone who cares about the wellbeing of his loved one and making her happy is way more important than some random game. He has no particular ego interest in showing off how good he is or beating some other dude or w/e, not even in a “if I show off how smart I am, she will dig me” way - because he assumes the utterly sane but so rarely practiced position that you know what would make my loved one happy? They know that better than I do so why don’t I listen to what they say will make them happy. Quite different from cousin who is very much “I know what’s best for you” type.

What sticks out here is twofold - FL’s dedicated attempts to deny she cares (her very denial confirms she does) and the teeth 17 shows to Cousin as compared to his meting look at FL. This is very much a dog thing to me - he may be loyal as hell to his owner but anyone else he can certainly bite!

Heeee, they agree on her playing cousin but 17 advising and I love the positioning with FL and 17 a team against cousin.

This is honestly so brilliant! 17 advises her but when she wants to go a different way, he doesn’t even demur, he is fine with it and easily agrees. The utter indignant shock on cousin’s face is glorious. But that’s the thing, I can’t see cousin ever acting like this even if he knew FL was his long lost XY. (Or if he did, he’d make a show of it - he’d act this way because he wanted to consciously demonstrate his caring - as opposed to 17, where it’s not showing off or demonstration, he’s genuinely not sacrificing anything because the point of this game to him is making FL happy and nothing else.) Even cousin’s question highlights that he does not understand 17 at all - 17 does not “let” FL do anything because “letting” would imply a degree of control or desire for same and 17 never feels that, he just wants to love her and make her happy and if there is any ownership thoughts it’s his wanting to be owned by her not the other way around. 

The above is your future life cousin ahahahha (he’s a great, complex character who reminds me a lot of LCY from Goodbye My Princess but I do NOT like him as a person.)

And once again she ignores his advice and he Does. Not. Care. His priorities in this game are so different from cousin’s that they might as well be playing two different games. He knows what move is better (and it’s his) but he is fine with her picking her own move or agreeing with his - what matters is that she gets her choice, whatever that choice is.

Cousin keeps trying to center it back on him and 17 just refuses.

The moves were hers but he is the one who takes the responsibility for losing and I love that so much. The whole calm acceptance of losing, the whole taking responsibility on himself tho he didn’t have to - I just love the man.

And then we get the below little coda:

This man, with his good heart and utter lack of ego is a total keeper. 

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. I am so impressed by the screenplay, the directing and Deng Wei’s acting because it’s so hard to make unalleviated goodness interesting but 17 is so layered and complex and fascinating and real and yet utterly good at the same time.

[askdamasky]

About This Blog

This is a Marble Hornets/Creepypasta ask blog featuring Masky and Tim Wright. This is a crossover blog which means my muses will be able to interreact with other Marble Hornets characters and OCs as well as ones from the Creepypasta fandom! What we do-

Roleplay with canon and ocs from both the Marble Hornets fandom as well as the Creepypasta fandom

Possible drawn answers as I deem fit

Headcanons galore!

Short drabbles featuring my boys and other characters from the fandoms

MUN questions/announcements

What we don't do-

S*xual roleplay of any type

Ab*se of any kind

Heavy acts of vi*lence or t*rture

We may touch on some hard topics here occasionally but all will come with the appropriate trigger warnings in the tags to prevent from upsetting others. Aside from that the longer rp threads will have a tag on them as well. If you do not want to see these threads blacklist 'long roleplay' If you have a question that you don't want others to see please let me know and I will post it privately just for you. Aside from that you can always DM me and we can discuss it but there will be NO RP in my DMs thank you! :>

~~~~

Meet The Muses

Tim Wright

Marble Hornets/Creepypasta

Age: 29

Height: 5’ 7”

Gender: Male (He/Him)

Sexuality: Panromantic Asexual

Disorders: Paranoid schizophrenia, seizures, anxiety, depression

Personality: Some may call him a broken man with how he sees the world but its more like he is cautious and tired. He has been through a lot in the past couple of years and his whole world has been shaken. Between seizures, massive bouts of depression as well as hearing and seeing things others can't he is more than a little stressed. He finds himself in odd places with no memory of leaving his home and it causes him to become extremely paranoid. He has a distrust for people and also doesn’t trust himself to be around them thanks to his ‘curse’ or ‘attachment’ to that weird faceless creature that peers into his home from the treeline. 

Headcanons

Had a massive mental break when his schizophrenia started to show in his early 20s causing him to be admitted. He stayed there for over a year before they got him on the right medication to help

While there he started to lose time and have gaps in memory resulting in him becoming confused and more than a little freaked out

Because of this he tends to be on edge when it comes to medical professionals as well as medical buildings and equipment

He is currently seeing a therapist, however, and has been working through his issues and learning coping mechanisms to assist him in everyday life. They have also been looking into his memory gaps but Tim refuses EMDR treatment to really look into it

There is a stray cat that has been trying to worm its way into the house and commonly walks with Tim on his evening walks

Lives just out of town in a rather run down home but the rent is cheap and he doesn’t mind a fixer upper

Is afraid of the dark and has a keychain flashlight for if he is outside when the sun goes down. Sometimes he loses himself and ‘wakes up’ somewhere out in the woods behind the house

Hasn’t stayed in touch with his college friends and is a bit of a recluse. Not leaving the house now that he has a work from home job

Has been trying to quit smoking but has found himself addicted to vaping now instead. Still not that great but he is trying

Tim has the ‘slender sickness’ which is assumed to be the reason behind his seizures but there is no true way to prove it really

Has a sort of Jekyll and Hyde situation with Masky as they are technically the same person. Tim just doesn’t know it other than his memory loss but even then he doesn’t think about himself having a whole different state of consciousness. His only clue is that white mask that keeps showing up in his house no matter how many times he throws it in the garbage

~~~~~~~~~

Masky

Marble Hornets/Creepypasta

Age: 29

Height: 5’ 7”

Gender: Male (He/They)

Sexuality: Aromantic Asexual

Disorders: PTSD

Personality: Masky is a man of few words and some could call him the quiet type. The man doesn’t seem interested in others most of the time and only speaks his truths without concern of how the other person will take it. He has a knack for showing up to places seemingly out of nowhere and has a habit of staring as he sizes up whomever he has found. Masky works for/against the Operator/Slenderman in a constant push/pull relationship with the creature. He is often trying to scare others away from the creature’s haunting grounds but it doesn’t always work. He will never stop trying.

Headcanons

Has quite the temper but is not physically aggressive towards others unless his life or wellbeing is on the line

Does not work for the Operator/Slenderman by choice but has a pretty strong connection to it. Often times his time is spent trying to get away from the creature rather than actually do any of its dirty work

Is ‘technically’ considered a proxy to the Operator/Slenderman though he isn't a very obedient one which causes a lot of headache

Loses his sense of self and free will when the Operator/Slenderman is too close and results in him doing the creature's bidding. This mostly includes stalking and kidnapping though he has had times where he has to get violent

Has the ‘slender sickness’ which results in a lot of coughing and seizure like fits though he is not diagnosed with seizures (he would never go to any medical facility to get it checked out)

Knows of some of the other proxies though he only ever works with one nicknamed ‘Hoodie’ though he doesn’t really feel one way or the other about the rest

Masky knows about Tim in their odd situation though he doesn’t really care about him. Masky is only ever thinking of himself and his own needs rather than an alternate state of consciousness he has no communication with. He also doesn't WANT any communication either

[xaeethebaee]

Shuji x Shortcake Chapter Five

Chapter Warnings: This chapter is quite tame other than some cussing, vomiting, and Hanma being a little possessive.

Disclaimer: All characters are at least 20 years old.

A/n: The long-awaited reunion is finally here!

Word Count: 3.4k (I still don't know the purpose of this. I just see everyone else does it lol)

Chapter Five

Slowly but surely, the effects of the drug are wearing off. It has gotten weak enough which allows you to regain some of your senses although, you’re still a bit dazed. Your brain barely manages to register an odor that eerily resembles the stench of cigarettes. Your eyes crack open and through the darkness and haziness of your vision, you notice the unfamiliarity of the environment you are in.

It took some time, but you’ve regained your consciousness, immediately noticing your body wrapped in a quilt. Despite the raging headache, you wiggle your arms and legs in an attempt to set yourself free. That is proven harder than anticipated due to the residual effects of the drug. During your feeble attempt to escape, you unintentionally start rolling your body, which made you realize the tightness of the quilt loosens up a bit.

Using that revelation, you continue to roll more, not realizing the edge of the bed is quickly approaching. In no time, you fall on the floor causing you to grunt in slight pain. On the bright side, you’ve been set free by the stuffy material. Relief immediately turns into panic upon seeing that your dress has been discarded, with the only thing left on you is your underwear. Your heart shatters into pieces assuming the worst has happened to you while you were asleep.

The last thing you remember was being on the dance floor when you were drugged, and now you’ve woken up inside of a messy bedroom. Looking around, all you see are the black walls adorned by photos of landmarks from across the world, and empty bottles. Additionally, you see a black hoodie, lying next to you. Even though you’re reluctant to do so, you take the clothing and pull it over your head to cover your nude body.

All of a sudden, a loud pop was heard. The pop sounds eerily similar to a gun firing further convincing you that you are still in a dangerous environment - most likely still at the Haitani house. Hearing that made you lose more hope; therefore, the only thing you can do is continue to cry.

Your body shakes in fear as you can no longer contain your emotions. Tears flow down your cheeks like a river and things are not made any better once you feel an uncomfortable sensation in your body. That sensation stems from nausea which is hastily followed by the urge to regurgitate the toxins within your body.

Getting on your feet, your vision goes dizzy nearly making you vomit on the spot. You remain in control of your body until you spot an open door, leading into a dark area. You march to it and realized it is the bathroom which is just as messy as the bedroom, however, you do not care as getting to the toilet is your highest priority.

In no time, you lift the seat before leaning your face over the bowl. Instantly, vomit rushes out of you while one of your hands frantically pulls back strands of your hair. You are constantly gagging from the disgusting smell of alcohol mixed in with stomach acid along with partially digested food you ate prior to arriving at the party. Feeling disgusted and absolutely heartbroken from the situation you’re in, you cannot help the intense sobbing from releasing.

You’ve spent a few minutes leaning on the toilet while using the back of your hand to wipe your mouth as well as running snot. Through your cries, the urge to throw up returns. Immediately, leaning over the toilet seat, you let out more vomit, violently gagging from how nasty you feel. 

You’re a broken and emotional mess at this point as you have completely lost hope. Releasing more vomit, a few strands of your hair fall in front of your face, but before you could move it out of the way, a masculine hand does it for you. The grip on your hair tightens; however, you’re too preoccupied with vomiting out the rest of the poison from your body to say anything. That does not stop you from noticing a figure kneeling beside you. 

Constant cries leave you as your vision is blurred by tears, and you barely notice your back is being rubbed. Despite that, you gag again from trying to cough out the rest of the poison from your body. Vomit rushes out of your body once again, and this time it feels like you’ve been completely cleansed from the toxins. Clarity sets in and you take in a deep breath, in an attempt to calm your nerves.

“It’s okay, Shortcake.”

A soft yet deep voice enters your eardrums, immediately causing your heart to pump erratically. The voice was unfamiliar to you; however, it was the name the man muttered that sent sparks around your body. There was only one person in your life who called you Shortcake, and he is someone who you have not seen or heard from in more than ten years.

Regaining your composure, you slowly turned your head to face the individual that is behind you. To your surprise, a pair of soft golden orbs peer back at your e/c ones, while you swiftly recognize a familiar piece of gold jewelry dangling from his ear. 

“My necklace…?”

You croak, voice hoarse due to the constant vomiting and crying. The man pulls you into an embrace, rocking your body back and forth. Although there is a smell of cigarettes, you’ve managed to distinguish that from the familiar natural scent of the man holding you. All this combined was enough to convince you that the person whose arms are wrapped protectively around you is none other than Shuji Hanma.

“Shu?”

You ask him for confirmation, and the man just nods with a smile.

“Long time, no see, Shortcake.”

That moment of confirmation was enough to overshadow the despair you were feeling. Your arms wrap around him as you snuggle your face into his chest, crying softly. 

It has been more than a decade - more than ten years - since the last time you hugged Hanma so tightly. That same morning was the last time you saw your childhood best friend. That same friend who protected you kept you warm during the winters and told you corny jokes. He is the same friend who’d you have a teasing match with. Additionally, Shuji Hanma was someone who you trusted with your life, and he felt the same way about you.

“I’ve missed you!”

You’ve blurted out though much of it was muffled because your face is buried in his chest. Hanma nonetheless heard and understood exactly what you said; therefore, he hugs you tighter as if he is afraid you’ll be whisked away by the wind. 

“I’ve missed you too.” He says, wasting no time returning the sentiment.

It was not long before you slowly separated your face from his chest to take a breath. That is when you noticed a wet spot along with a strand of snot on the shirt Hanma is wearing. It is the same spot you had your face snuggled against as you cried. Through your soft sobs came laughter as you frantically start rubbing your hand over the spot.

“I’m so sorry, Shu! I didn’t mean to do that.”

Shuji just chuckles at how adorable you look as you try cleaning his borrowed shirt. The man just gently grabs your wrist forcing you to stop.

“It’s okay.” He says softly while rubbing his calloused thumb over your hand.

Your eyes look at Punishment that is adorning his hand. You smile to yourself as you think back to when Shuji wanted to get a tattoo to which you suggested Kanji characters. Right before you were about to reminisce with Hanma about that day and talk about his tattoo, you notice blood leaking from his arm. Your smile immediately drops and concern for him washes over your body. Shuji notices your change in demeanor as soon as it happens.

“Oh my God, Shu. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Nothing serious.”

Hanma just says, brushing off the obvious gunshot wound. He can see that you are still showing concern, so he slowly stands up. Gently, he pulls you to your feet, and then guides you to his bathroom sink. You watch as he clears off space on the sink.

“Hop on it so I can get you cleaned up.”

He demands; however, you look up at him with a confused expression. Shuji just heaves out a deep chuckle before wrapping his uninjured arm around your waist forcing you to sit on the counter. You gasp, surprised by his strength, but you only just adjusted yourself into a comfortable seated position.

While Shuji grabs clean washcloths from a nearby cabinet, you took the time to piece some things together. Firstly, you always knew Hanma was a problem child as he always got into fights, hung out with delinquent kids, and even smoke a cigarette here and there. Your brain then flashes back to just a few days ago during your night shift - that same night when your work friend invited you to the Haitani party. That man who had that chilling smile on his face when you were serving his meal was no doubt Hanma, and Hanma was sat at the table with none other than the Kanto Manji Gang. 

The realization hits you like a truck although, you are not entirely surprised by it. Hanma was not surprised either when he sees that your facial expression and body language has shifted significantly. He sees that you’ve become tenser, so he approaches you carefully. He stands in front of the sink while you’re sitting on the counter next to him, waiting on him to break the awkward silence that filled the bathroom.

The man just run both washcloths under the running warm water. After that, he hands you one of the damp washcloths with a smirk on his face.

“We got a lot to talk about.” He states in a matter-of-fact tone.

There is no doubt in Shuji’s mind that you have pieced together his involvement with Tokyo’s most dangerous gang. A foreboding emotion filled his body even when he was dabbing at the gunshot wound on his arm. Despite the sharp pain emanating from his attempt at cleaning his wound, the unnerving feeling of your reaction to his gang involvement was what made him more uncomfortable.

He is a very violent man after all. The two mutilated bodies in the downstairs guest bedroom are proof enough. Hanma also knows that he isn’t exactly ‘sane’ either. Both of these alone could be enough to scare you away from him. He wouldn’t know what to do if he lost the person he has cared about for so many years. In fact, you are just one of two people he cared about, with the other person dying not too long ago. Hanma knows he cannot let you leave his life too especially after it is so soon since you two reunited.

“Shu?” Your soft voice pierced through his ears which was enough to bring him out of his trance.

Hanma did not realize he was bestowing a dark expression on his face until you brought him back to reality. You begin to contemplate what you were about to ask him as a very important question comes to mind. What happened to you since you were drugged? Although, you believe you have a pretty good idea about what happened considering how you woke up in Hanma’s bed, naked. A part of you cannot fathom the possibility of your childhood best friend taking advantage of you like that, hence your hesitation to ask him.

Instead of anything coming out of your mouth, you just use the damp cloth in your hand to wipe your face. Your free hand hugs your other arm in a self-soothing manner as you fight to hold back more tears from coming out. You did not even notice your body shaking due to your state of mind.

“You didn’t get raped.” Shuji suddenly says with a blank face, catching you off guard.

You quickly look at him with disbelieving eyes. There is no other explanation as to why you’d wake up naked after being drugged. You shake your head, allowing more tears to flow from your eyes. Scared, you start speaking with a shaky voice:

“Shu, I-”

“I made sure nothing happened to you.” Hanma cuts you off.

Both of you are locked in a fierce staring contest. The words you want to speak are trapped in your throat upon seeing the earnest look on his face. It’s been years, but you remember that face. It’s rare when Shuji Hanma is serious about something, and this moment is no different.

“I got to you just before anything happened.”

The man reassures, leaning closer to you. His Sin hand caresses your cheek using his thumb to wipe the tears flowing down it. Hanma couldn’t help but gaze at your quivering lips before looking back into your e/c eyes. The room is silent but a thick mist of tension fills the air as you two continue to stare each other down. Your mind is still in somewhat of a haze because of the turn of events from tonight and the same can be said about Hanma. 

“Shortcake?”

He calls for you in a low growl, sending shivers down your spine and between your legs.

“Yea, Shu?” You answer back, making him feel the same sensation.

There is another long pause as you anticipate what the tall man is about to say. He just smiles softly while leaning even closer to your face. You prepare for what is about to come, even closing your eyes in the process. Unintentionally, your lips pucker.

Hanma presses his lips against yours sending sparks throughout his body. For so long, he has been wanting to kiss you, but he never had the chance to do it. Now you’re right in front of him, in a vulnerable position. He couldn’t contain himself, especially after feeling so much joy after officially reuniting with you. He’s been watching you from afar for far too long, and he wanted - needed - to be with his best friend again. He wanted - needed - you in his arms again. 

Your hands feel his toned chest as he deepens the kiss. Your repressed emotions are finally spilling out once you let out a quick whimper. Hanma wastes no time sliding his tongue into your mouth. His free hand rub on your thigh, feeling your soft s/c skin against his rough fingers.

All of a sudden, loud knocking is heard from Hanma’s bedroom door. The knocking is quickly followed up by a rough tone of voice:

“HANMA! GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OUT HERE!”

The loud noise startles both of you. Hanma separates from you before letting out a chuckle. He pats your head as you have a look of worry and fear.

“Don’t be alarmed. It’s just Shion Madarame. He’s harmless.”

Shuji says as he finishes cleaning up his gunshot wound while Shion continues to bang on the door. The man then goes back into his bedroom before opening the door, finding a feisty Shion on the other side.

“Mikey needs you down in the basement. We’re about to interrogate that woman.” He says.

“Why? We already know she’s part of Brahman. What more information do we need?” Hanma rhetorically asks.

“There were reports that she came here with another woman. That woman is nowhere to be seen AND the guards confirmed that she didn’t leave here.”

Hanma just laughs, knowing the woman Shion is referring to is you. His laughter just annoys the light-haired man, prompting him to breathe out in rage.

“Wow. So angry.” Hanma gaslights and he resumes his laughter.

From the bathroom, you can vaguely hear the conversation going on between Hanma and the other man. Curious, you get down from the sink before poking your head out of the room. You notice Shuji is engaged in a conversation with another man, who looks unhappy. That man, spot you spying.

“So that’s what you’ve been up to?!”

The man asks Shuji with an annoyed tone. He turns around and looks at you with a soft yet amused expression. He then looks back at Shion.

“Yea. We’re getting cleaned up, now leave. I’ll be down there in a few.”

Hanma tries shutting the door but the man on the other side stops it with his hand that is adorned with brass knuckles.

“She matches the description of the woman that came here with the Brahman bitch. You’re harboring a person of interest.”

You can practically feel the dangerous aura radiating from that man Shuji is talking to. You sink back into the bathroom but Hanma’s demanding voice stops you.

“Shortcake? Come here.”

Although reluctant, you emerge from the bathroom and slowly made your way to the door. Your anxiety starts to spike once again realizing this is another member of the Kanto Manji Gang that you’ll be facing. Despite this man being shorter than Hanma, he looks more intimidating to you. As soon as you arrive at the door, you mostly hide behind Hanma’s body as you can feel the other man’s gaze searing through your skin.

“This is Shion. As I said, he is harmless. And Shion, this is Y/n. She’s harmless too.” Hanma introduces you two.

There is a moment of silence before Shion crosses his arms.

“She came here with that Brahman bitch.”

Hearing those words reminded you about your work friend. Since seeing her with Ran Haitani, you haven’t heard anything about her. Your mind starts thinking of the worst that may have occurred, so you’re once again filled with concern.

“Shortcake, do you have any involvement with Brahman?”

The black and blonde-haired man asks, catching you off guard. You’re confused as you’ve never heard of Brahman before; therefore, you truthfully answer ‘no’.

“There. You got the answer you needed.”

Hanma tries closing the door again but Shion blocks it, this time more aggressively.

“Fuck that! You’re just gonna take her word for it!?” He asks.

“Yea.”

Came Hanma’s plain response, reinforcing the fact that Hanma fully trusts you, so it was easy to believe you.

“Mikey would never accept that! We need her down there too!”

The smile on Hanma’s face fades away slightly, showing that he too is getting annoyed. He puts his arm over your shoulders in a protective manner.

“I have every reason to believe she has zero involvement with Brahman.”

“Where’s the proof?” Shion asks, grinding his teeth in frustration.

Hanma’s smile has completely faded away and it is replaced by a glare. He stares down Shion Madarame with killing intent.

“Either you bring her downstairs so Mikey can question her or I’ll call him and tell him that you are harboring her in your room. You know that means he’ll come up here with his coke-addict henchman Sanzu, and they’ll retrieve her by any means necessary.” Shion threatens.

“Fucking snitch.” Hanma curses.

Shion just smiles knowing he has forced Shuji into a compromising position. The taller man thinks over the options given to him. Neither of them is ideal; however, one is remarkably worse than the other. The last thing he wants is for you to be this close to the rest of the Kanto Manji Gang - not because of how ruthless they are. His possessiveness wouldn’t cope with the idea of you being around them knowing the possibilities of how the other guys would act towards you.

On one hand, bringing you down of your own volition could be the best option as it’ll lead Mikey and the rest of the guys to believe you aren’t a threat. That means they’ll see you as no other than some whore - or worse, an innocent friend they can attach to. On the other hand, having Sanzu drag you downstairs will cast unneeded suspicion on you. That will cause them to think you are a threat, which could lead to you being killed or used as a slave. It did not take long for Shuji to decide.

“Fine. I’ll bring her down there to meet everyone else after we get cleaned up.” He begrudgingly agrees.

“Good. I’ll meet you there.” Shion just smirks before taking a longing look at you.

Hanma swiftly notices his lingering stare, taking the opportunity to hastily slam the door in his face. Both of you listen to Shion’s fading footsteps until he is no longer around. That allowed you to release a breath that you did not know you were holding.

Looking down at you, Hanma just smiled before asking in a fake enthusiastic tone:

“Ready to meet the rest of the Kanto Manji Gang?”

He asks you, causing your heart to sink into your stomach. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If you're wondering why Hanma wasn't hesitant to introduce Reader to Shion, it is because Hanma thinks Shion is too pathetic to pose a threat.]

A/n: I'll be taking a short break as I have another story (A super Smutty one) with Draken that I really want to write. If you want to be on the taglist for that one, just let me know.

Taglist:

@510hz @reiners-milkbiddies @sleeplessreader

[theproperweirdo]

Ramblings and analysis [part 1]

Scarlet | The Arcane Shadow

My long time favourite character in AFK Arena since I started playing has been Scarlet ❤️ her backstory is killer and I feel like her design is detailed and enhances her personality even more using these details you really have to look into

To start, her past! Please skip the next two paragraphs if you know her story 👍

Scarlet’s mother (who I’ll call Ms. Laurence for convenience) raised her from a baby to around what I assume was preteen age. Their family carries a maternal “curse” of psychological torment and dark energy. Scarlet’s grandma had previously killed herself during an opera performance, after being driven insane by the voices she heard. Ms. Laurence wanted Scarlet to overcome this curse, and have her become a respectable woman like her own mom. Scarlet? Not so much. And although she loved her very much, Ms. Laurence didn’t get to see Scarlet’s future. She spiralled into insanity as well, and was taken to a mental institution.

Scarlet was taken to the Violet Orphanage afterwards, which could have a very long post on its own. 💀💀 While there, she tried and failed multiple times to escape. She felt like something was off about the strange people and weird tests they did. After having enough of her midnight missions, they started to amp up the tests in intensity and aggression, in either magical or physical ways. During one of these tests she passes out, and in the haze of her consciousness, she receives the last wishes from the spirit of her mother, before coming too. Once she’s awake, she makes her last attempt to escape— by burning the entire orphanage to the ground.

Her past is tragic. She’s stuck with a curse that’s taken both her mom and grandma, then used as a lab rat til she has a mental break. But there’s so much more to analyze! (Wowwww)

Her family’s curse is one described as one of “madness,” that blurs reality and fantasy. In a setting like this, it seems to be some kind of arcane affliction passed from mother to daughter.

However, there’s the obvious subliminal implication of her curse— that it’s a genetic mental illness. Although disorders are not often hereditary, they’re still most commonly seen in an individual when a direct family member has the same one. For Scarlet and her family, this sounds like a long line of women who have schizophrenia. Hearing voices like auditory hallucinations, erratic behaviour, and having extreme delusions, are the most prominent and aggressive symptoms. Scarlet’s grandma took her life after losing the ability to differentiate between real and imaginary. Scarlets mother became overwhelmed by her delusions. Before burning down the orphanage, Scarlet herself begins to hear voices and monsters. Now on her own, she doesn’t want to become what her mother and grandmother did.

She also possibly fights her own hallucinations better because she had to reassure her mother when she was young. She probably never met her grandma though.

As a violent and dangerous curse, it’s effective and seems to stem from some older power. But I think this reflection of mental illness in women is powerful and incredibly well written for a character in a mobile gacha RPG game.

Okay, that’s on her story! Now for an artist’s eye on her design… let’s move top to bottom.

Scarlet’s hair is visually more black with streaks of red highlights. But we know from the description of her mother, along with her 4koma-style comic, that she had a full head of red hair.

The red itself is said to be a sign of the curse in her story. Seeing that the black has come and overtaken it in her recent years, I think it’s meant to represent her own hold on her sanity. Scarlet’s mother still has (I assume) all her hair red when she’s taken away. The black in her hair might be her own control on the chaos magic, and how she’s managed to harness it.

Or, the black came through as an awakening of sorts. It comes in the climax of her grand escape, when she seemingly inherits the destructive power of the curse. If her mother didn’t manage to fully grasp any control over her own magic, maybe she never had the same moment of magic-puberty as scarlet. So maybe this magic changes her both mentally and physically, leaving a few remnants of the red, because even though she’s improving, the curse will never stop its assault on her. Either way, it’s a physical tell of how her magic has changed her.

Her clothes seem to be a personal choice for herself. At six years old, Scarlet rejected any kind of fancy teachings or proper dresses. She was likely just a young girl who had her own preferences and didn’t like the suffocating atmosphere of noble life. But her mother’s most sincere wish for her was to see her grow into a distinguished and elegant lady like her grandmother.

I imagine she had a lot of time to think and reflect on her memories in the Violet Orphanage. Her mother loved her genuinely and dearly, and they were separated in the end because of their shared curse. I imagine she would remember the one thing her mom wanted to see most in her. The dress and corset were probably picked out herself because she wants to fulfill the one thing her mom wanted. :( even though she hates dressing up, she wants to make her mom proud in this way. The makeup and heels are probably for the same reason.

Her armour and signature item are both made of this gold coloured metal, but her shoulder guards got some red by the edges.

The one other character with the same kind of armour is Morrow, the only other in game person who was a victim as the Violet Orphanage (aside from Isabella and Silvina).

They were kept there in different periods of time, but it’s obviously not a coincidence that they’re the only ones who share this design motif.

These are the Signature Item descriptions for both Morrow and Scarlet ⬇️⬇️

Both for controlling dark magic! However, the origin of Scarlet’s item says that it was formed during her destruction of the Violet Orphanage. Also the gold armour is on Morrow’s arms and not his book. Scarlet is the same, she’s got it on her shoulder guard, but not the stabilizer. My theory is that it’s either 1. A material they used in the orphanage to conduct experiments on the kids using dark magic, and they both now use to to chanel their own magic and cast spells. 2. It’s a normal kind of metal, but the red shading comes from use of dark magic. That would explain why both of their armour has it.

Either way, it’s a very cool detail! :) other things I’ve noticed are:

Her attacks have the possibility of hitting allied heros. I interpret it as her magic still being unstable and hard to control. She’s got her sanity and magic under control, but not completely.

There’s no clear distinction between “dark magic” and “hypogean magic” so it’s possible she controls some variation of void realm arcanum, or a hypogean cursed her bloodline and she now channels its energy instead of suffering from it.

She looks considerably older than Isabella. Makes sense considering the timeline, but makes me a lil sad.

Anyways, that’s the end of this long ass post. Hopefully more to come in the future (if I remember)

Til next time 🫣🫣

[sabrinatvband]

The Craft II - VI

"I don't get it. You've been talking up Nancy as the main character of these movies but she was a supporting character in this film." "Yeah, she's not the main character in the first one. That starts with the second one. At the beginning of The Craft II: Gambling Your Life she escapes from the asylum and kills the main character from this one." "Really?" "Yeah. It's a very Resident Evil-type move, to immediately contradict the ending of a previous installment at the beginning of the next film. The actress who plays whoever the main character was in this first one refused to show up for the short scene, and so they got a body double who looks nothing like her. They use the same wig, though." "What happens in the second one?" "Nancy is hunted down by some witches from Nevada who detected her presence. There's a big showdown in Las Vegas, and she switches from getting her powers from Manon to getting her powers from Lilith." "I thought these were like, based on actual witchcraft or something?" "The movies pretty much immediately lose any pretense of actually being about real Wiccan stuff." "How does Nancy escape from the asylum if she can't get powers from Manon anymore? I mean, I assume she can't."

"Well, she escapes without using magic. But she starts getting powers from Lilith, and eventually her magic becomes innate, as if she were a natural witch. It's very transy, really, how she has to earn her abilities instead of them being given to her at birth." "What happens in the third one?" "I feel like I shouldn't be giving away these secrets before you actually see the movies, but sure, why not. In the third one there's this loser-y nerd guy who's mean to Nancy, in like a misogynistic way, and so she casts a spell on him and he starts to feminize, and Nancy toys with him and stuff. It's kind of the A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 of the The Craft series." "Does it deliver on the forced feminization stuff?" "Oh yeah, definitely. And the nerd turns goth, too. And then she turns into Nancy's brainwashed subservient girlfriend. They have an open relationship. Well, it's open for Nancy, at least." "What happens in the next one?" "Yeah, so in the fourth one Nancy is processing her trauma from growing up catholic and she terrorizes a bunch of nuns and some lesbian nun stuff happens, and she fights some priests. She also turns into a vampire. It's really good, maybe the best one." "How many Craft movies are there?" "There's six of them. Except Fairuza Balk didn't want to do a sixth one, and so they got a replacement actress and it killed the series." "What was the fifth one?" "Nancy vs Carrie. Very heinous film; not nearly as fun as you would expect. Like, the movies get consciously more ridiculous as they go on, which is just how horror franchises work, but it didn't work here. The big problem was that Nancy and Carrie should've teamed up instead of fighting, I think." "It's so obvious." "Yeah! But what happened was all the prior films had been written and directed by queer people, and the studio made a straight guy do Nancy vs Carrie. Just totally fucked the whole thing up."

Originally posted on my Letterboxd

[seraph-of-sizes]

Writing ideas

Here are some writing ideas I have, I'm already working on the Fontaine siblings (Human Freminet, Borrowers Lyney + Lynette) but y'all can pick what others you find interesting. :D

Lumine + Aether w/ borrowers Lyney, Lynette, Freminet (modern au)

Freminet w/ borrowers Lyney, Lynette

Wriothesley, the DUKE, giant lowkey equivalent to Atlas, LITERALLY holding the primordial sea at bay as his sentence. Neuvillette finds out. (Wriolette fluff)

Scara’s consciousness occasionally gets shot into the husk of Shouki no Kami, its stressing him out but he refuses to talk about it, believing it's just a nightmare. Nahida figures it out when she catches the Traveler going down into the workshop one night through a hole at the base of Sumeru City’s tree roots, scaralumi/scarather will be neutral so you can read it per your preference.

After the mirage in the bottle, Eula and Collei head back to Sumeru to see Nilou perform. Unfortunately, Eula isn't as familiar with Sumeru’s rainforest and loses collie after being attacked by a Rishboland tiger. Thankfully a particular forest watcher was nearby.

Navia, sizeshifter that runs Spina di Rosula. After Act two of the 4.0 Archon Quest, she's constantly tiny. And it rains, a LOT. When Poisson begins to have a small crisis from the downpour causing flooding, she makes the journey with the Traveler to see Neuvillette and straighten out the hurt in her heart. (Why the Traveler thinks this will fix the flooding, Navia has no idea.)

Neuvillette, who can be as small as an otter (and sometimes confused with one) or as large as the sovereign he is the incarnation of, as his body winds along the trenches of Fontaine. Loud pops make the water churn as he stretches completely for the first time in one hundred years. However, when he opens his eyes, he wasn't really prepared to be face-to-face with the infamous child diver Freminet, and neither was Freminet prepared to actually see the hydro dragon in all of his scaled glory.

Zhongli has had a few forms over the years, but never has he stayed so long without donning his Exuvia, an itch to be large and powerful itches under his skin. It's not until the traveler introduces him to the Iudex of Fontaine and a low territorial growl escapes him that it truly becomes unbearable. Escaping into the wilds of Juyun karst, he dives into ancient caverns to hide from the people of Liyue, after all Rex Lapis is supposed to be dead, not roaring his head off in the woods somewhere.

Kaveh had explored a fair number of ruins in the desert of Sumeru, he even stumbled across the one that trapped Faruzan for a century (he gave it a wide berth, no thank you), but the tiny dais before him was something so foreign he couldn't help but open it. I mean, yes, it LOOKED like a tiny coffin, but the worst that was going to happen was a dead lizard falling out of it or something…. Turns out the 'or something' is a tiny person. That looks almost exactly like Alhaitham. Wait…is this King Deshret?

Kazuha gently kneels before the sword and masterless vision that lay right where he had left them. With the vision hunt decree and sakoku decree abolished, he was a free man. He could help being bitter about how he made it to the other side alive and whole, and yet had lost so much along the way. He shook his head, such negativity would get him nowhere, even the wind was whispering of new beginnings, chances to make amends… “Niwa?” What he had assumed was a discarded doll suddenly moved towards him, speaking. Kazuha centric, character study. Kabukimono formed from the lost doll scara had. Wanderer comes in later.

[desultory-novice]

can you enlighten me on why people pair up marx and gryll so much? is there actually a reason for it or is it just a random fandom thing that stuck

So, side-stepping the issue of shipping for a moment, there's a lot of good reason to put Marx and Gryll together as characters...

They're both "magicians" (I've mentioned this before but Magolor and Taranza are explicitly "wizards" 魔術師 where as Marx and Gryll are "magicians" 魔法使い. It's hard to define the difference, as there's no set one definition, but most people consider the methodology of magic to be key in what separates a wizard from a magician.

What we can assume based on character animations is that wizards are more structured. Their spells seem more crafted. You can see Magolor and Taranza concentrating/focusing to perform spells. It's an effort for them. Whereas magicians seem to perform magic in a more natural fashion, almost without thought. Marx's attacks all happen as a matter of fact. He just does them. We've seen very little of Gryll, but flying through space without a care in the world looks like second nature to them. Interesting when even Kirby was starting to lose consciousness when left in the void of deep space!!)

Marx and Gryll are also both members of the funny hat club! They arrived on the Kirby series scene within about two years of each other; they both enjoy a dramatic entrance; Gryll is, at this point, either canonically non-binary or canonically without a gender (but given the fact that modern Kirby is finally okay with declaring characters non-binary, I think we can safely say Gryll would use they/them pronouns if their game was to ever get an official release and, just by looking at people's gijinka, Marx is maybe also not the most gender-conforming character ever. XD)

The biggest evidence in favor of them knowing each other is that they open up with the exact same "Hey, hey, hey!" in their respective games. That's distinctive enough that you almost KNOW they must know each other.

As for shipping them... Well... it's valid? Like most of Marx's implied relationships, canon gives us NOTHING so there is no real reason not to ship them...? Similar to how a lot of Marx and Magolor ships happen post-Milky Way Wishes, I see a lot of Marx and Gryll ships/shipping content happening pre-Milky Way Wishes. Marx and Gryll learning magic together, or knowing each other since they were younger and watching as the other changes (in this case, Marx getting more and more obsessed with his wish) as they grow up.

Dynamics-wise, there's something tempting about shipping Marx with someone who possibly knew him at his most fragile and innocent - when he was still "good" - and is still capable of seeing him that way. (And I did see one short MaruGuri piece that got me good - where Marx was in the process of growing his wings out/transforming between his two "states" and was having a rough time of it but Gryll was there to comfort him through the process.) Gryll is also someone that Marx, from his POV, doesn't have any reasons to be antagonistic with.

Despite that, I don't really ship them because 1) I just ended up liking them as having a familial/found-family relationship more - Marx doesn't have any close (...on-screen...) bonds with anyone outside of Kirby and so giving them Gryll (in a non-romantic way) helps flesh out Marx's character and give him someone to confide in and someone who can give him a good talking to when he gets out of hand and 2) they kind of neutralize each other?

It's the same reason I don't ship Magoranza, even though I think it's a fine pairing! They've got similar-ish (?) backstories and hobbies and interests, and I'm sure they'd make great, even close friends, but they don't have anything that, to me, gives them that strong spark.

Between he and Gryll, Marx is, obviously, the more troubled one. Also the more bombastic one. (Although Gryll has plenty of pep. Also just lots of big sibling energy. ...What ARE Salt, Sugar, and Pepper, by the way? Gryll's kid siblings? Gryll's familiars? ...Gryll's KIDS?!)

It just feels like, though they have a lot in common (loving a good fight/challenge) the generally good-natured Gryll would just be overwhelmed by Marx's force of personality? Again, same with MagoRanza. Nothing against the pairing but w/ my takes on the characters, I feel like Taranza would be lost in Magolor's depths.

I also worry that in a MaruGuri pairing, Gryll would spend more time wrangling Marx away from his more dangerous habits and it would eventually feel confining to Marx? Whereas that's a dynamic that feels pretty natural with two sibling-esque characters.

With two agents of chaos like Marx and Magolor, there's a fear they'll encourage each other to TRULY dangerous stunts (and if you believe Marx baited Magolor into the Master Crown, then they absolutely do) but at the same time, they're probably best suited to knowing their own limits? At the very least, there shouldn't be a power imbalance there, emotional or magical.

Of the four magic-users, only Magolor is a fully realized character. Taranza comes in second but still has a TON of gaps. Marx is mostly made of HC at this point, and Gryll is nearly 100% that.

So you can really see them as any way you want! And if you like coupling the magic-users, MaruGuri is a more natural way to "pair the spares" than trying to put Taranza and Gryll together. Or MagoGryll. Or MaruRanza for that matter! (Or you could skip the headache and just polycule them??)

EDIT: I FORGOT that Marx Soul also has pointed toe shoes that are a lot like Gryll's! Really weird connection, but there you go!