#mention: breakdown

[nenoname]

It's still interesting that TBoB called more attention to Stan's control over his mindscape (And if you go with the interpretation that the lost pages are partial truths that are heavily influenced by Bill, then he's the one insisting that only someone with training should be able to have that much control over the mind.)

Meanwhile we have a memory!Stan. Someone who apparently knows too much and is rather aware for being a simple memory.

From the Wheel of Shame, we know Bill was able dig up all kinds of dirt on Stan but... that wasn't why he was there in the first place, was it?

Bill couldn't find the code immediately despite a memory of Stan opening the safe being a few hours old at most and decided to have Mabel try find it for him (The original concept of the ep had it far more hidden but this was likely cut because of time constraints)

Ford did experiments on Stan's mind which likely meant using Project Mentem and actually looking around his mindscape, and his only reaction was to comment on his jokes-- despite what little we the audience know being enough to render us sobbing wrecks

(yes I refuse to shut up about this part cos the book's intro is extremely underrated)

Stan was able to replace his memories of Ford with the swingset instead and managed to hide Ford in his Bar Mitzvah memory. And that's not even mentioning the lack of visible Portal and Stan o' War which noticeably show up in Ford's dreamscape (the broken swingset manifesting anyway pains me tho)

He subconsciously has misdirects for his secrets that are both silly and manages to disturb everyone too

And while Bill-as-Soos being bored by the vending machine memory is a joke that's basically the crew's way of going "hey remember the thing way back in the first ep that's going to show up in the next one?" and in-universe appears to be Stan slipping up, it's interesting that they had Stan input the wrong code when it's consistent literally every other time its inputted (especially when it shows up correctly in the very next episode)

It's even possible that the safe code that Bill found could have been a misdirect too but we'll never know since the safe got blown open by dynamite.

Stan was able to buy time by making his mind blank despite being genuinely terrified when Bill enters his mind (to the point that he breaks character and uses his own voice to yell), and could conjure up his living room (in colour opposed to his mind's regular greyscale) to make sure Bill didn't have enough room to flee, slamming the door in his face before the effects of the memory gun kicked in.

(EDIT: Random door analysis here)

And maybe the twins eventually told him that Bill had already been inside his mind after their W3 reunion, but all we know was that his conscious self was left in the dark for ages and wasn't really aware of Bill until Weirdmageddon.

TBoB showing McGucket's dreamscape also brings up the idea of the effects of the memory gun manifesting differently to each person. To Stan's mindscape, the memory wipe manifests as blue flames which immediately brings to mind Bill's powers but it's a far lighter shade (maybe to more closely match the memory gun and its eventual fade to white?)

The end of TBoB and the website poem also firmly reminds us about Stan's connection to fire but there's also the question if Stan himself is actually aware of it...

[asinine-nerd]

Chat… WHAT

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

The contradictions in Eddie Diaz have sucked me in, I'll admit. He gives great insightful life and love advice that he takes none of. He's former Texan army with a silver star— an all American hero — but only enlisted to run from his responsibilities. He's a Paramedic who joined Fight Club. A self-sacrificing single father who somehow leads a double life as a high roller. He has to be dragged into any new romance kicking and bitching but once there will pleasantly play house (right up until he does something dramatic to blow it all up). He obviously has commitment issues but has no problem emotionally and legally committing to his best friend. He doesn't believe in religious indoctrination or the supernatural but is very Catholic. He's Latinx and speaks fluent Spanish yet claims to watch Telenovelas for no reason other than to 'practice Spanish'. He's a regular, mentally stable guy. He's the least normal of them all, nor is he anywhere close to mentally stable.

[egophiliac]

starting off with an amuse-bouche of some of my initial favorite bits! y'all, this update was WILD.

[courtofparrots]

Maybe my favorite thing about re4 remake is all the moments that feel distinctly human, in a really heartbreaking way. Like when the game makes me go ‘oh my god that’s just Some Guy in a horrific situation’

All of the Ashley moments count as this for me but I wanted to post my top 3 Leon/Luis moments because they’ve been replaying in my head for days:

1. Luis turning his head away when he thinks he’s about to witness Leon being murdered by Mendez:

This one took me a little while to notice but it feels so sad because it’s like, to me he obviously just doesn’t want to have to watch another person die for what he perceives to be a direct consequence of his actions 😭

2. The way Leon’s voice cracks on the word ‘up’ when you look at this human sacrifice situation:

It reminds me of 21 year old Leon tbh.

3. Leon’s little stumble when he tries to get up and rush to Luis when he collapses after saving Leon from Krauser (this one is so owie to me)

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 304

SO. Turns out that Danny is apparently a clone. Who knew? Not him! Would have loved to know that earlier, but he doesn’t exactly have time to freak out about that because Ellie is melting. She’s going to die if he doesn’t do something and he already gave so much ecto that they both look ten now, but the only thing he can do is pray to everything and Clockwork that this portal works. 

Because Ellie needs their Original’s dna to stabilize her, not his own slowly destabilizing blood, and that means going to another dimension to where they’re still alive. This has to work- even if they can never go back, it’ll be worth it if he can just make sure Ellie lives. She’s all he has now.

[textsfromcybertron]

(302): Also, we can’t be seen together looking suspicious or sexually satisfied

[bigfatbreak]

Birds of a Feather previous / next tw: anxiety attack

[coolname-ver3]

(cw: canonical mention of child abuse)

People will see that moment in Tanetane Island where the Flint hallucination threatens Lucas to beat him, and interpret it as Flint literally being a physically abusive father, but to me there's always been something a bit more subtle to it.

Because nowhere in the game has Flint ever actually been shown to be the type to be violent towards his children. At the start he's characterized as a stoic but reliable father, later on he's desperate and absent, but never violent towards his family. The only point in the story where we know Lucas has actually witnessed his father's violent side, the only time he would have seen him as an actual threat, is the campfire scene way back in chapter 1, where Flint completely loses control and starts blindly attacking people. A villager even comments on this, trying to reason with Flint (and failing) by reminding him his children are watching him.

Something like that can be terrifying for a child to witness, especially for a sensitive kid like Lucas, especially right after the loss of his mother. The one who's supposed to guide and protect him in that moment of need has not only completely lost control, but looks like a genuine threat to him.

That scene imo, like others in tanetane Island, isn't really meant to be taken at face value, but it's simply the representation of something that haunts Lucas. It's the mix of the survivors guilt that's all over Lucas' tanetane events, and the memory of his father at his most terrifying, the reminder of one of the moments that marked the end of his safe and happy childhood.

[runwhileyoucan]

The real darkness.

[bloodfin]

Phantom slides down the cold tile wall, forehead pressed into his palms. The scrub cap is barely holding in his unruly curls; a few flecks of blood stain his sleeves.

Rain pauses in front of him, clip board in hand, on his way to check a burn patient down the hall.

"You okay, bug?"

Phantom glances up, takes in a shaky breath and lets it out slowly. His nod is barely noticeable.

"Where's Aether?"

"Closing."

Rain hums, glances at the clock ticking too loudly above the door.

"It's your first day in there, right?"

Another nod.

"My hands... they were... they were inside them and it -"

"It's intimate," Rain supplies helpfully.

"Yeah."

Phantom blinks hard, looks at his carefully glamoured claws, and turns his gaze back to Rain.

"Does it get easier?"

He watches Rain worry at his bottom lip, looking for the right thing to say.

"In some ways."

It was Phantom's turn to chew his lip, nodding in agreement.

"Bug, if it doesn't feel right, we can -"

"No, " he interrupts, something that looks like determination flickering in his eyes. "I want to be here, be as good as Aether and Omega some day, but I'm scared."

Rain cocks his head, encouraging him to continue.

"I'm scared that one day it won't feel so intimate, and maybe that's the day I don't care so much. Maybe that's the day someone gets hurt."

Rain nods in understanding, drops to kneel in front of Phantom and places a cool, calming hand on his knee.

"You're afraid of the right things. Sometimes fear holds us back, other times it holds up."

Phantom sniffles.

Rain stands, offers him a smile, and carries on down the hall. His smile grows when he hears the swish of a heavy door, not having to look over his shoulder to know that Phantom chose to scrub back in.

He tugs on the purple and gold thread of the pack link.

"He'll be just fine."

[askthemedbay]

Ooo, I wonder how they feel about the decepticon medics. Do they have the same sort of code?

Those guys are scary!! I don’t think they care about the Medic’s Code… have you seen their tools?!

[transingthoseformers]

I am getting the feeling for a kossbd situation where Starscream is also living with Skywarp and Thundercracker, and they tease him so much for getting involved with Knockout & Breakdown

[howlsofbloodhounds]

The way people are complaining that jinx isn’t the same character this season because she’s “sane” (aka not actively having an episode of psychosis, even though she literally did experience a hallucination when seeing vi with the enforcers), is strange.

also I find it strange that people talk about jinx and powder as if they’re separate people. they aren’t. jinx is powder, grown up and traumatized and mentally ill. like i completely understand that jinx likely struggles to realize this, because extremes are often the stable of bpd and she shows all the signs, and well—a personality disorder is a personality disorder.

but no jinx did not kill powder and taint her memory. powder is not gone. jinx can not exist without powder, and vice versa—because they are eachother. that’s what vi needs to realize and accept as well—her sister is not gone.

her sister just grew up and changed and is traumatized and mentally ill. it’s impossible for jinx to kill powder, or for powder to “come back,” the exact same she was. vi could never have powder back because the powder vi remembers was a scared, helpless little girl who depended on her for almost everything. powder was never going to remain that way forever—not if she wanted to survive.

powder has grown up and changed without her. that was always going to happen, it happens to everyone. if nothing happened as it did, their family was still alive, vi was never thrown in jail and powder never taken in by silco; powder still would’ve changed, somehow, someway. She’d likely still just be going by powder rather than jinx.

[egophiliac]

ch 5 is coming in twsten ch5 is coming in twsten ch5 is coming in twsten (we gon die it's been a YEAR since I saw some clips and I have not emotionally recovered from the incredible deliveries by Silver's seiyuu because holy fuck) EGOOOOO ARE YOU READY TO SEE EVERYONE DESCENDING INTO MADNESS AGAIN (and a pool of tears??? MINE SPECIFICALLY)

YESSSSSS I AM SO EXCITED FOR EVERYONE ON ENG, chapter 5 is some of the most PEAK Diafamily content imo. 🤌 it's definitely my favorite part of episode 7 so far! (though 6 is pretty close...)

some (mostly) non-spoilery advice: on the hex maps, check out the non-required story cells, especially in the later parts! some are basically just throwaways, but there's some real good scenes hidden in there too that are potentially missable. 🥄 (it shows which cells you've cleared on previous attempts, so if you're low on resources and/or super impatient like me, do just the required ones to get through it, then when you're ready go back and restart as necessary to get to the others. enjoy! >:)

[lovelycatdraws]

Personal headcanon