#obviously not his true intentions at first lol xd

[qcoded]

In the Baby Collector Au, I feel like Hunter would be like an Older Brother/Cousin to The Collector!!

But of course, I don't think Belos can keep coming up with reasons as to why the toddler hasn't aged in about 10+ years.. must be the genetics

[matan4il]

911 ep 709 first watch reactions

The way this ep starts with giving us a clear shot focused on the front, solely on Buck sitting between the man he's dating and the man he's been married to for the past six years, and only on them. XD I'm here for it.

Oh, Bobby. :( Feeling unworthy of his medal, and remembering his dad, and how everything went wrong after he got it. </3

Aaaah. Man, IDK. The openly and explicitly homophobic and racist captain cartoon just feels like an easy target now. Prejudice doesn't seem like it mostly gets expressed that way anymore, and when we only teach people to reject that kind, we not only fail to teach them to recognize subtler forms, we may be misleading them to think those more nuanced ones don't count.

Love Athena trying to "save" Bobby by contacting Amir. I'm always a sucker for a couple where they both save each other.

I enjoyed the little play with "Mother Hen," and I know it's not specifically about Buddie, but it is damn funny that when she's told she's raising more kids, they're the ones the camera focuses on. lol Raising a kid together for 6 years, still a couple of morons in desperate need of parenting from their colleagues. Even when Bobby's "wordless goodbye" moment with Buck is letting him cook for the 118, Eddie's by his side and they're doing it together. I swear, 911 said, "Take note, this is what a marriage looks like" and then just kept hammering the point for 6 seasons now.

Okay, I am pretty sure that, while Bobby's acceptance of Buck's first relationship with a guy, is really lovely, "Because we haven't had to talk about it" is not an actual good criterion for discerning whether someone is good for their partner or not. People whose spouses are abusive don't talk about it, either. :/ I am NOT saying that's Buck and Tommy, because it obviously isn't, it just feels like a line thrown in there to be cutesy, but which isn't actually helpful to people, who might take it too seriously.

I AM GONNA LOL FOREVER. So, just like Buck's bi awakening was all about Eddie, now Eddie's messed up whatever he has with Kim is gonna involve Buck, too? Gotcha. Battlefield boyfriends being off-battlefield boyfriends once more.

So... Buck was going to see Tommy, in an ep where TPTB have already paid for Lou in the role, so might as well use him as much as possible, but instead a non-emergency run in with Eddie's current whatever-Kim-is makes Buck ditch Tommy, and run straight over to Eddie's to help him? Look, I'm obviously a One True Pairing kind of shipper, so Buddie are it for me, as much as I can enjoy and see the value of Buck and Tommy as a stepping stone, and nothing will make me stop shipping Buddie (especially not after the tsunami eps), but 911 is feeding me way too well with how it frames these scenes and stories, I don't think the show's trying to get me to stop.

Man, if anyone's ever had a doubt that Eddie is the world champion at denial, this kitchen scene will def cure that.

"I'm worried about you." "Yeah, I'm worried about me, too." And then Buck, the one person who can ALWAYS penetrate through Eddie's denial wall, no matter how thick it is.

Eh, IDK how much the part where they try to re-define Shannon as the love of Eddie's life works, or how much it just serves to show he's still in denial, just a different kind than before, when Buck got through to him that he can't go on like this with Kim. For one thing, in his little retelling of their dysfunctional r/s, Eddie doesn't mention that Shannon was leaving him a second time, even before she died. Literal denial and repression.

So I'm gonna choose to believe Hen and Karen will get Mara back, because I can't deal with that particular storyline otherwise.

Kim's reaction is too deranged for me. Who does something like that, even if we assume the kindest of intentions? And then Marisol and Christopher's timing... I didn't sign on to watch a soap opera, but I guess I'm getting one free of charge?

"Now you gotta save yourself." If that ain't a painful summary of what growing up means, IDK what is. the conversation with Bobby's dad in his sleep was a good, painful scene, built right, leading to him hopefully getting his closure through saving his wife from a fire, and leaving us with just the right amount of suspension for next week and the season finale, where we'll see if he can let go of his past mistakes without a doppelganger dressing up like his dead wife...

Thank you for reading! If you’re looking for more, you can find my s7 reactions tag here, and more of my Buddie meta and content in my pinned post. xoxox

[mazzystar24]

I've been thinkin bout that bt scene. Obviously I might be totally wrong but idk, I feel like T kinda muttered "god I hope so" into his wine glass & not directly at Buck & he was being maybe kinda insecure, like in his head maybe since we assume he's older & more experienced he might think that's why Buck is sticking around?

Like idk, it's a call back somehow to the first date and the closet comment? Like T wants this to work out because he thinks Buck is adorable but you know they aren't really clicking so ya know whatever works? (But eventually it will fully break down)

And the way Buck said "but you think I do?" about the daddy issues is like Buck goin "....wait what?" in his head because his head does tilt a bit to the side like 🤔🤔🤔 And it's showing that they don't fit.

That it was intentionally weird & off putting.

Tho I do think the bit where T says "but your father is alive" wasn't meant to be snarky. Buck then says "Exactly" which I took as Buck being all "exactly, my dad's just THAT shitty and he's not going to change."

Off course then the speech Buck gave Chris is a bit eh, but like two things can be true at the same time. XD

Also I'm def not a bt shipper, Buddie all the way but yeah that's just how it came off to me. Lol.

I hope this makes sense.

I have been swamped with exams and neglected my inbox so 💐💐💐💐💐

Eh I feel like it was definitely more flirty than insecure like I’m tempted to add the gifsets for reference but I don’t want it to show up in the gif makers’ notifications but yeah like as he’s saying it it’s 100% like suggestive vibes rather than self deprecating making a joke about an actual insecurity vibe

Like I think for me this is definitely a horses not zebras moment

I do keep think that maybe the like off putting moments are intentional because so many weird choices have been made with BT

For the your dad is alive I think I wasn’t super clear on my opinion on it but like I don’t mean he said it to be snarky per say more so that the implications behind that line are things like “you’d feel differently if he wasn’t” or “you can fix things before he does” or as if that’s something to be thankful for or recognise when talking about his pseudo father nearly dying

Like the reason I hate this line isn’t that it necessarily has to be cruel intentions on Tommys part but rather that this sorta narrative gets forced down traumatised peoples throats CONSTANTLY (sometimes with good intentions) and it’s such a bullshit rhetoric and it’s even more bullshit to use that line while talking about this found family/pseudo father he has nearly dying

Also yeah that’s definitely what that “exactly” was meant to be like yup a dead dad would at least be less traumatising, a lot easier to explain, and probably easier on my therapist than this clusterfuck but alas

BUCKS SPEECH TO CHRIS- okay lots of thoughts on this because my mom got confused and picked thought daughter:

Do I love that the writers low-key made it sound like he’s comparing Eddie to the Buckley parents? no I hate it but KR was writing for this ep so what did we expect

Do I think a marginally better way to interpret it is that it was more so continuing that theme of paralleling buck and Chris’ issues? Yes

Are the basic and I mean like the very abstract very simple and nothing further parallels there? Yeah like parent not over their grief causes conflict between parent and child

Other than that no not at all Eddie never involved Chris in this, Kim came over with her Shannon cosplay without telling him, Eddie also never intentionally emotionally harmed Chris while the Buckley parents spent bucks entire life intentionally being the absolute worst™️ and emotionally neglectful and were shit parents to Maddie too by forcing her to pretend her brother didn’t exist while she was a child and mourning said brother

But I also think it’s actually very in character for buck to continue to sympathise with them and cut them an impossible amount of slack by trying to draw parallels to this situation like it’s less trying to paint Eddie more like them and more so using Eddie (someone he cares about and loves and sympathises with deeply) as a frame of reference to mentally try to humanise and sympathise with his own parents - idk if I’m making sense but in my head it makes sense

Like it’s actually a pretty common thing you see with traumatised people they’ll sorta draw parallels that aren’t there between themselves or the people they care about and the people who traumatised them because a lot of traumatised people will just constantly seek to understand that perspective more and sympathise with it like hell I’ve seen it with the people in my life doing it and it’s like woah those situations are very different I need you to recognise that

Loved hearing your view of it and it totally made sense!!!

Gonna see if there are any quick asks I can answer before I get back to my revision cos I definitely yapped more than I expected for this

[egg-emperor]

do you consider sage a child mentally or just a fully developed ai with the appearance of a child?

Definitely not a child mentally and that's canon too. I get confused by the popular take of fanon Sage acting like an actual toddler because she wasn't like that at any point in the game. I see her being infantilized a lot with people saying she's just a poor little baby that needs protecting despite her being very smart and mature and literally being created to be Eggman's protector instead lol

Because Eggman obviously didn't create or code Sage to be a child because he wasn't looking to create a daughter, she was an AI program built to protect him, an "it". He didn't see her as such for a while after creating her. It would just be weird and random if Eggman decided to make his AI a child when she wasn't even going to be like a daughter to him in her creation, it doesn't make sense.

Plus I'm in the belief that Eggman didn't design her appearance at all and that was a way Sage just took form by her own choice or something like I talked about here. Because in the prequel comic, intro, and post credits, she's just a disembodied voice like an AI program would be. Plus she doesn't look like his typical style of design for his creations.

And with this Sonic Channel art caption of him not liking how Sage looked without shoes so he gave her some in it, that also gives the impression that he didn't design her because he could've just created her to have those in the first place and made her to his preference otherwise. So yeah there's quite a lot of basis for him not having a hand in it.

Because making Sage his child wasn't the intention behind her, the most childish she could be is if he unintentionally coded his childishness into her as the manchild he is. XD But it seems she only reflects his genius and intelligence in the way he really wants for with her smartness, loyalty, and efficiency and was actually more mature than him in some moments.

He wouldn't purposely program her with "negative" traits and if she did show childishness instead of smartness, loyalty, and efficiency then she would lose her appeal to him, as that's specifically what made him like her so much. She's supposed to be reflecting how much of a genius he is and her acting like a child would only do the opposite and he'd be unhappy with that.

Her being superior to organic kids conceived through traditional procreation and birth by being made with code and electrons instead like a true genius would as Eggman put it in the memos, and also smarter than the average child with her intelligence, are things for Eggman to brag about for how it reflects his own genius as her creator, just like he bragged in the memo.

So it just wouldn't make sense for Eggman not only to design her to be a child, which I don't believe he did as there's stuff than can be used to support that theory, it also especially wouldn't make sense for her to be coded to be a child mentally either and if she did turn out that way somehow, I think Eggman would alter and fix that as her maturity and intelligence are the things he values.

So yeah I see her as an ageless artifical intelligence program that happened to take the appearance of a child but that's the only sense she is one, she's designed to be ageless and with the intelligence of the adult middle aged man who coded her lol. I see people making her act like a toddler on Charmy and Cream levels (not to say they're dumb but I mean in terms of behavior) but really a closer match is Tails for her behavior and intelligence

[copepods]

Hii! I really liked your god morality chart and was wondering what influenced the way you positioned the characters? I can be more specific if you want but I'm only interested in all of them!

thank you! tbh i wouldnt consider myself an expert on most of those characters so it was mostly based on vibes, im sure someone more familiar with characters like foolish or bad or charlie might move them elsewhere lol.

xd and kristin were 2 positions i find very interesting, because kristin imo doesn't give a damn about mortals but also doesn't wish them harm most of the time? like she'll smite anyone who pisses her off and she probably accidentally kills people all the time but overall mortals are mostly inconsequential to her. like ants. meanwhile XD i think is SO interested in humanity and mortality, finds mortal life fascinating, and wants to pry it apart in a scientific kind of way. and this manifests in a very dark fashion (manifesting everyones personal hell after they die to see what they do lol). xd doesnt do all that much in canon so most of this is made up obviously.

eret is interesting i think because in a way, her amnesia gave her the opportunity to really invest herself in the mortal realm in a way she never would have while accompanying foolish. she doesn't know she's immortal, so she has no frame of reference for how she should behave around non-immortals. it gives her the chance to enmesh herself within humanity and discover humanity within herself. (i think she still finds herself drawn to positions of power, as a fault of personality. she likes to be in charge and leverage that power over others, even if she does so with kind intentions.)

phil ive talked about a little already, i think he struggles to invest himself in mortals' lives because he's lived so long already. he's relatively nice to people, but he also won't go out of his way to help them, and he certainly won't balk at killing someone if it benefits him enough. techno is one of the first people outside of kristin he actually connects with, mostly because techno is also immortal and so phil has spent much more time with him than with others. i think techno is a little more naturally kind than phil is, also, and (maybe unknowingly) nudged him out of his comfort zone and caused him to make some other friends, like ranboo and niki. phil's big life-changing moment of introspection comes after wilbur's death, i think. it's the first time phil has lost someone he really, truly loved, and it shocked him out of his apathy enough for him to start caring about the injustice around him. (he did care a little before, i think, but was more following techno's example than anything else.)

techno is quite a bit younger than phil (phil is like 4000 while techno is ~300) so he's never been quite so apathetic towards mortality. he still struggles to connect with people, but it's more because of his duty to the blood god (ie Killing People, A Lot) that prevents him from making any real friendships for a long time. the antarctic empire is when he sees the true effects of his brutality on a large scale, and it's enough for him to swear off hurting others as much as he can and turn to anarchy. most emissaries to gods aren't nearly so attached to the mortal plane as techno is, especially those of the blood god. technos just very special :]

drista, like kristin, is pretty amoral, but has a bit more of a malicious streak. she isn't particularly compelled by humanity, but xd is and she's his servant, so she ends up observing mortals a lot out of sheer boredom. as soon as one stops being interesting, though, she'll drop them.

[asoulofatlantis]

Honestly? Chosing who to have those "bonding" - Events with was so much easier with Rean. I do not miss the fact that basically, every interaction with the girls was a chance for an accidental romantic scene when I tried to be faithful to Alisa, but that is exactly the point! With Rean, Alisa was almost the only Girl I had bonding events with and choosing between the boys wasn't hard either with how many bonding points I had left after only choosing Alisas events, if there even where any. Here its like... you feel bad for everyone you don't do because you can do them all without fearing too much about romance. Obviously, on later occasions (Kuro 2) they get more of a hint of romance then these onces have, but its still so subtle and mostly onsided that it never feels like a reason to avoid any of them. Hm... so whos events do I watch this time?

I honestly didn't want to do the discount-princes connect event at first... but they talk about Olivert here, so I am quite happy with my last minute choice that was only lead by the Walkthough telling me filling his bonding-points would grant me a nice reward ^^' Guess my true reward ended up hearing about my favorite prince of all time ♥

I feel like there is something more to Yume than meets the eye. We know for a factthat she is human, as she was conceived through to humans and born by a human and she also looks well enough like her parents. So there is no doubt about that. HOWEVER that Mare and that Curse could control her like that... makes it look like she is... somewhat receptive to magic, if that makes any sense to you. Like... I don't know... maybe her soul is something special? I can not help it but wonder if there isn't a reason why Mare chose to control her, other then the fact that maybe a child was easier to control, that is. And Paulette seems to think so too, because she oddly seemed to understand that something was going on with Yume at the end of Kai, when they chased after Agnes. Not sure what to expect tho.

We always knew something was off with her, but seeing her in this connect event I think would there not be one particular scene closer to the end of this game, I likely would have allowed her to fool me into believe I was wrong - just like Crow did back then, even tho I had been so damn sure until that one point that he was in fact C. (Tho to be fair... I would not have seen that coming with her, even tho I knew something was off with her ^^')

BTW... does her had actually literally say "Disguise"? XD Way to go Falcom *lol*

Renne proved immense leading-skills throughout the Calvard-Arc. It makes you wonder what the future has in store for her. I wouldn't put it past her to become a politition. She would make a great asset for any intelligence-division too. Easily enough, with her technical know-how she might as well work for ZFC or any technical company. The world is really open for her.

Renne went from trying to gut us like a fish to pushing our buttons in the span of just 6 lousy years XD

And here I was thinking she was at least a bit closer to being 30 XD Sorry Kaela. I just feel so old these days, seeing how it won't take long for me to reach a point were I could be everyone's mother. Heck, I very well could be Feries or even Agnes mother at this point ^^'

As an Alisa-Fan and an Erebonian-Bitch I feel like a damn cheater being at Verne XD I mean Rean and the other were here too in Kai and the CEO was speaking highly of Alisa, so I really shouldn't feel that bad. But I do ^^'

I believe that the wording was different in the Japanese version, but essentially he did ask Quatre if he prevered to be called a boy or a girl, so the more "woke" approach of asking for pronouns is merely making it sound more modern and does not take away the original intent of the question - as people have been pissed about the game being more into trying to... be more diverse if you will. We have a few people with darker skin-tones and we try to be more open to slight differences in religions and there is that guy, you remember, from that one sidemission, who is in love with the boy from the flowershop and Aaron is cross-dressing and so on. I do not think its a big deal, but given how media have been trying to be diverse just so they can say they are I do kind of understand that people are a bit wary of it these days. Anyway... I do not think it is as extreme in Kuro as people say it is.

I have qualms with the way they pronounce Quatre... but what else is new? XD

Quatres little crush on Agnes was cute but I felt like it let to know where and ended up being just a push to get him more interested in this team then that it actually mattered in any way, shape or form. Then again, it was nice that for once, someone didn't crush on Van XD And then again... looking at Kai... we did take a shape turn here, huh? ^^'

Okay... its sunday... so... lots of stuff to do as preparation for tomorrow. which means this will be it for today.

[strawkeki]

my creepypasta headcanons !! ✿

to clarify, this is my version of the sillies, some headcanons are really different from the general view that people have and others are ideas that i read long time ago lol but anyways ;3

ok, first of all, in my world they don’t kill random people ?? like, innocent people, but they do kill bad people. the creeps are in charge of creating a balance in the world, cleaning up the excess of people that just mess up society, a yin and yang. an example would be; if a child dies, so does a rapist, or something like that !! xD but let’s continue

— most of them aren't really human, so they can't age, they're stuck in their bodies

— ben found the idea of ​​living in the body of a child really unbearable, but luckly for him, he can modify his appearance as he please. advantages you gain by being a literal ghost lol

— but, sally can't age physically and mentally, she is destined to be a kid forever

— the proxies on the other hand, are human !! well, kinda, they have more physical strength and speed than the average human being, their bodies themselves are like a kind of steel, almost indestructible. they also age, but really really slowly.

— none of them really likes slenderman ?? but they don’t hate him either (maybe sometimes). it’s like some kind of super complex and codependent relationship, slender takes care of them someway, they are his children, his creations, he feeds them and keep them safe, so i think it's normal for the creeps to get confused about his true intentions.

— the proxies feel this more intensely though, as they have a closer relationship with him (they have no choice anyway)

— the mansion does exist, but not everyone lives there (example; ej, laughing jack, candy pop, jason, etc) and the people who lives there are rarely seen, like, all together, they have other places to stay.

— (ok… ik that this is probably kind of cringey, but, i like the found family trope !! 😭) many fights happen, and it can be about anything lol, but after a while everything goes back to normal. the truth is, since all of them have been together for so many years, they know each other quite well, obviously some more than others, but still. maybe they are thankful to have each other just a little ??

— this happens more with the creeps that know each other from the beginning, we are talking about DECADES

— all of them care of sally, they even laugh when she is being mean to one of the residents. she is the princess of the house, an icon !!

and i think that's all for now !! i have more headcanons in my mind so i’ll probably continue with this later lol. ( if i have any spelling or grammar mistakes please let me know !! ☹️ )

[javic-piotr-thane]

oh interesting! i can’t read books at the moment so i havent read any of them. that makes a lot of sense ab leadership. i like my little hc that they made it more communist - ianto did behind the scenes stuff/correspondence w thr queen etc, tosh was coordinating from the hub, & then the other two also pitched in for other causes (nice and vague, well done me hahah). i actually wondered when i rewatched KKBB if they had spread out the leadership & then the writers were like ‘haha nope!’. ive read a lot of nice ianto takes over fics which is probably swaying me a bit lol

i actually dont mind broken! its a bit strange but i think it fits well enough. its more that i dislike that it (kind of) limits the options for fan-decisions on when they sleep together first. while lots of people are happy to wiggle canon about and create wonderful new things, lots more tend to stick w canon as is (or major points) and i think defining when they first sleep together gives it a bit more weight and impact (even belatedly) on the episodes (& fanworks). i mostly enjoy the plotline otherwise (although the sleeping together did catch me off guard the first time!)

thats true about fandom shaping it. i am still very much on the fringes - i think i follow you & perhaps one other tw blog - just because i find fandom a lot of stress and i’m in my early 30s so lots are younger - but i’m working my way through the available fic (well, mainly the ones on ao3 ik there are many on LJ that i am gonna have more trouble finding later lol) and that probably is shaping my view of characters. some more than others, i suppose. but i have been finding a lot of ooc representations (for me) which makes me think perhaps theres a fandom-intent on portraying them. i cant quite word this!

i’ll do a comparison - i consumed a lot of HP fanfiction, it was my main fandom for fics for a lot of years, and my first fic ever. and now i cant tell you for certain which portrayals are true to canon, and which are based in fanon. because i stopped engaging w canon (for many reasons including the most obvious) and now i’m left wondering - eg was that how neville was in the books or is that how fandom has shaped canon into their own desires and interpretations. and thats not to say thats a negative! because i think fanon is incredible. but i do wonder when i read a fic without that background, without the decade of engaging in fanfic as it shifted, if i am reading it as OOC when it’s actually in character for the fanon version of the character.

i hope that makes sense, i have a lot of trouble with coherence lol

you're making sense!! this is a problem ("problem") for many fans i think, which is why engaging with the source material (when possible/comfortable, obviously, i know which situation you're referring to) can be important if you really want to keep your interpretations close to canon. (you might not want that, or not care, at least in particular instances; something something Sherlock actually makes 100% of the tea on the show with his name and not John.)

as for fic that feels OOC to you; if you don't like it, i recommend you learn to spot it early and avoid it. simple as that. god knows i went through that phase in my early time in this fandom XD you have to read a bunch to figure out what you like and don't like in the first place, i think, but after a while it tarries out and might only shift slightly afterwards - and you know what to avoid and what to seek out.

[not-poignant]

I honestly can't wait for Dr Gary to figure out and find out about all the abuse / mistreatment Efnisien has suffered. Do you think he'll be mad?

I can just imagine his horror, and the horror that slowly dawns on other staff members of the facility, as they put it all together and come up with a very ugly picture.

Call me a softy but I'm kinda looking forward to people being mad on Efnisien's behalf? 😅 And I'm looking forward to him getting to experience what it's like to actually be cared for and protected in his life.

But obviously I know it'll most likely take a while to get there, and enjoying all the chaos and angst in between XD

Do you think he'll be mad?

Dr Gary's already mad, because it's been made his problem and he's not happy about it, lol. At this point, his main emotion - that he's taking out on Efnisien - is anger. And the more anger he has at Efnisien's family, the more he kind of does end up taking it out on Efnisien. He has a degree of pity, as well, but like...a character being angry on another character's behalf doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be nice or kind to them. Even if that anger comes from a place of felt injustice on the other person's behalf.

(See also: Pitch in the beginning of The Golden Age that Never Was who clearly felt sorry for Jack because he felt Jack would die in the mountain, so he organised him to go last so he'd almost definitely die in the mountain, and basically gave him a 'pity death sentence.')

I think the thing with Dr Gary - and this was also true in Falling Falling Stars - is he can hear about extremely horrible things and he's not particularly shocked by it. Every omega in their facility has past trauma of some kind, many from abuse, and some from neglect, and some from both. So abuse backgrounds don't really shock him anymore, if anything, I think he believes they're inevitable for an omega to end up at his facility (which...true). None of the alphas there are going to be shocked to know that Efnisien has been abused. These are all people who are companions to abused omegas etc.

The degree of the medical experimentation I think is the thing that Dr Gary is so far finding most shocking, and that will be the same for many of the other alphas as well. But he still has to put the safety of his other alphas and omegas first, so it's not like he can soften to Efnisien right now just because he had a bad past. There are serial killers who were abused by children, and murderers, and certainly Efnisien has attempted murder already, to one of the alphas who is known for being particularly kind and laidback.

Dr Gary is more horrified by this, and that also makes him angry. The thing that people want Dr Gary to feel for Efnisien - compassion and worry for him - is the thing that Dr Gary right now feels for the other alphas (and their omegas) in the facilty. Efnisien is dangerous, unpredictable, and has displayed murderous intent. It's hard to override that until you know the other people in your care, who trust you, are safe.

So yeah while I am looking forward to Dr Gary sort of becoming more attached to Efnisien and kinder to him, it's funny to say but - Dr Gary already recognises a degree of monstrous abuse, and he already is angry at the situation, and he also doesn't believe he should have to deal with someone who is putting all of his staff and omegas at risk.

I think the other alphas will get mad on Efnisien's behalf in a way that makes them soften towards him a lot faster than Dr Gary will, but also, none of them are responsible for the staff in the facility like Dr Gary is, so they have this luxury.

[redwinterroses]

RIIIIIIIIIGHT SO.

I just finished chapter 13 of Dog At The Door and holy hot cross buns batman if you're not reading this fic you NEED to. It's literally one of the best written fics I have ever read in my life and I've been reading fanfiction for over 15 years, lol.

I went back and reread the entire fic to lead up to chapter 13 and I decided to treat it like I used to treat things I had to read in college so I took notes as I went and please I am warning you this post is incredibly long. Almost 3k words. PLEASE do not hit that "read more" button unless you're good with having to scroll past it all and also spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.

~*~

Rereading Dog at the Door reactions (spoilers, obviously):

· Doc finding Ren’s body to be cold and for a second thinking he’s actually dead—my heart

· “That’s Ren, alive and kicking.” Oh…no, Doc. No it’s not.

· The first “Where is my hand?” hits different the second time through

· Gah the ice and winter imagery ALL over the place—my English degree brain wants to watch and see if that shifts to warmth at any point as we go? Thoughts for future Red to think.

· It’s fascinating to me to see Doc constantly thrust into the prey role. This is a guy who is very much not that person normally, but something about the Red King is beyond anything he’s really encountered before—or at least not since Dinnerbone—and it pushes him into an entirely new role that he clearly chafes in

· “I should get back to work on your new arm soon,” he says, making a mental note to add claws to the fingertips. Honestly Doc why tho. XD

· “It feels like something Ren would want him to do.” </3

· Side note: I just watched Doc’s freaking hour long shulker farm vid, and that’s making it a lot easier to hear his voice in this fic

· I’m more curious about the hand.” New Ren laughs a bit at his own words, as though there’s something funny about that phrasing. I MISSED THIS LINE THE FIRST TIME THROUGH

· The bead curtain being cursed hippie treasure XD

· The fact that Doc just so quickly accepts that Ren is gone—maybe not permanently, but at least for now—is kind of heartbreaking. Because you know he hasn’t really accepted it, he’s just… deciding not to feel anything about it. Just nod and move on and pretend you don’t need to stop and cope with the possible/probable death of your best friend and the fact that Someone Else is wearing his skin. That’s so sad.

· “high-fiving the finished hand with his own metal hand.” Aww… Doccy.

· “He shoos away the images of New Ren holding him up by the throat supervillain-style and turns around.” Hmmmmmmm want that fanart. Scary New Ren/RK is good stuff. (post-chapter-13 Red popping in with a WHAT THE HECK)

· “that makes him seem like a ghost in Ren’s body.” YA KNOW. LIKE HE IS.

· Okay side note time: why is the Red King here? Ya know? Like – in 3rdLife the idea of a possessing spirit of bloodlust makes some sense. But why stick around? Was RK trying to escape the 3L server, or was this not deliberate? At what point did he take over from Ren—at Black Heart Altar? In which case, was the whole idea Ren’s to begin with, or was he influenced? Maybe it happened the first time Ren died? The Red King took over then—or at least started to? Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts, thoughts…

· Wait more theories—what if RK is connected to the ????? entity that spoke to Martyn when he died? In which case, cMartyn said he was considering making that canonically a Watcher (he ended up not doing it, but he also didn’t do anything that contradicted it either). I’m not saying RK is a Watcher… but boy he sure does stare a lot, don’t he.

· Holding the screwdriver like a dagger—mmmm

· Okay funny thought: all this frost, RK’s gonna need to be real careful about rust lol. And straining the metal, tbh, all that freezing and thawing is going to have an effect but the rust idea is making me laugh

· Until I realized it would look like blood and it’s not funny anymore

· “Renbob is in the beanbag stuffed next to the driver’s seat” right so is this where Renbob sleeps because I have been wondering—

· “something about having two people look like Ren when neither of them are makes Doc stop to take a shaky breath” *sob*

· “Renbob clears his throat, looking up at Doc with a smile that is so obviously fake that it hurts.” Ugh the LOT of you stop repressing everything you’ll give yourselves a collective hernia

· “he’ll probably have to break the news to the other hermits, too, Iskall and False and all the others.” All these painful lines I somehow missed the first time through

· Awww warm air comes in when Renbob opens the door—with the flowers and everything, Renbob is so easily associated with spring, I love this contrast.

· Aaand there it is, yup, RK is shocked to see his face on Renbob, and Renbob is shocked to see that this is so clearly Not Ren.

· They both recover pretty quickly, though. Survivors, both of them.

· RK calls Renbob their “ferryman” and I’m not sure if I was supposed to get “crossing the river Styx” vibes from that But I Did. (does RK think he’s dead? That they’re all dead?) (post-chapter-13 Red here with a little bit of wordless screaming.) (and also a bit of pride that I picked up on this.)

· “And what a help you’ve been! Fixing me up, replacing my hand.” Hi yes, 911? there’s a dagger stabbed into my feels.

· “he’d rather remember rage than see another person’s heart break.” Dang that’s such a raw line. Oof.

· ”the Red King says, his voice hoarse with tears.” Really interesting that this blood deity can feel such emotions—like, anger or even fear, I can get. But to see this entity upset to the point of tears is fascinating.

· “There is a crown on Doc’s workbench.” Right, yeah so like—is RK unwillingly manifesting these artifacts? Because that’s wild, man. …how long before he manifests an “enchanter”?

· “I’ve never seen it [the crown] clean before.” Okay that definitely implies that maybe RK didn’t come around until after Black Heart Altar?

· “The Red King has the crown in his lap when Doc turns back around, claws gently tracing over the engravings, leaving frost patterns behind.” I really wish I had art skills because there’s this image in my head of a drawing of the crown held in RK’s hands, with his face (one eye glowing, one in shadow) reflected in the surface, and frost patterns following behind a claw that’s daintily tracing the surface. But I can’t draw so—

· RK asks for a change of clothes. What was he wearing when they rescued him, I wonder? The Red King outfit with the fur capelet? Or Ren’s Stargazer outfit? Which begs the question: where does Stargazer fit into all this? Was Ren’s return to Hermitcraft RK free, but when he came so close to dying to Sith, RK found that as a gateway to take over? (Post-13 Red here, Looking Intently at this note.)

· Awww… the image of a one-legged RK clutching new clothes to his chest and hopping down to change in the bathroom… That’s weirdly endearing. He’s less menacing when he stands up somehow. Less lurking, maybe.

· Oooohhhhh he messed up his back sleeping on the floor. Gotcha.

· Doc keeps telling himself (and RK) that saving him and working on these parts is “the right thing to do” and while he’s not WRONG I just want to see him realize that it’s not only the right thing, it’s realistically the only thing, because if he didn’t, then he’d have to deal with the fact that he’s lost his best friend and we can’t have that.

· “I don’t need to eat” ummmmmm no hold on this definitely implies that RK is possessing a dead body and I’m not okay with that where is Ren

· LOLOL “I can’t stand to see [you do] this” is such a raw line to be about watching Doc eat cereal with his hands

· “The voice doesn’t belong to who he thinks it does.” Ugh, Doc. This isn’t the first time he’s lost a close friend to Something Else, something otherworldly.

· “All of them are waiting for him, waiting for him to do something more, something better—” aaand there it is. Doc’s characterization in this fic in a single sentence.

· Doc waking up and thinking he’s seeing Ren and RK’s hesitation and the gentle “I’m not Ren”—OH MY HEART

· RK’s coffee = Renbob’s friendship bracelets

· Randomly can I just say that I love how RK’s dialog is all in italics? It concerned me at first because I thought it was going to keep pulling me out of the narrative, but instead it really just feels right. Also I’m looking forward to the moment when he says something and it’s not in italics because it’s REN and oh my lands please give this to me I beg you (post-13 Red here with a bit more mindless screaming)

· “watch your tongue with me, Atlas, because I’m the one person you can pass the sky to.” Okay okay okay—English studies brain coming out. This suggests that there is a burden RK and Doc can share: something Doc is currently struggling against that only RK can help him with. In the moment, I don’t know if this is really fair of RK to say—after all, Doc does technically have Renbob too, if we’re just talking about Doc’s unhealthy coping mechanisms. In fact, if that’s the context, then Renbob is a much better fellow-Atlas because he and Doc have known each other much longer and they’re both dealing with the loss of Ren. BUT, knowing about the upcoming conversation where Doc and RK both realize that they’ve lost someone (Ren for Doc, Martyn for RK) this line suddenly has a lot more weight. Again, I don’t think that in that moment RK quite has the right to pull this zinger. But in later context, it turns out to be true after all. They are the only two with this particular shared pain.

· Doc upset with himself because he can’t get over his “stupid hang-ups” DOC MY LAD. “I’ve lost my best friend, you’re in his body, and I don’t know how to process any of these emotions” is not a “stupid hang-up” PLEASE stop blaming yourself for everything!?

· “I’m so tired” in the middle of his nightmare—oh my gosh. That hurts so much for some reason.

· I also very much wish I had the ability to draw the image of Doc with tears on his face, staring dead-eyed down at his workbench while RK looms over from behind, pinning his wrists to the table with one metal arm and one frost-bitten one, a look of exasperation and concern on his face. Why can’t I draw the things

· “How do you know Etho” “I watched him die.” OW ow ow ow ow

· Doc takes this as calmly as only someone used to living in a world where death has low consequences can. Oh. Oh—that means… huh. Doc isn’t used to losing people permanently on any basis, especially not death. So no wonder he doesn’t know how to process Ren being gone (I can’t bear to write “dead” there). He literally doesn’t have context for it… and what context he DOES have is like—I mean, Etho and Bdubs came back. Ouch.

· “Twenty-five.” The Red King makes the number sound like a threat. Yet another banger line I missed the first time through. Imagine waking up and thinking you’re in 3rd Life again but instead of 14 players there’s almost twice that many and you think you don’t know any of them.

· I still don’t quite understand the “when was etho added/should have known there was something different” bit or why RK is so emotional about it… but I have trust that it’ll make sense at some point. (post-13 Red: ...is this something about the fact that he thinks he's dead...so he thinks Etho has died before? Like, that 3rd Life wasn't Etho's first hardcore? ...I feel like I'm almost grasping this but I'm missing an element somewhere.)

· And now a sword. RK. My man. You need to stop manifesting things—especially when they scare the ever-living daylights out of you.

· I absolutely adore the in-universe lore that Fire Aspect is a PvP enchantment because it threatens dropped loot, and yeah I very well might steal that. (Along with something I read at one point who-even-knows-where that Knockback is a coward’s enchantment, because I love that too.)

· He really shouldn’t. / Doc picks up the sword by the scabbard and hands it to him, hilt extended. Doc you already trust this guy so much and you don’t even know it—but is it just because you still subconsciously trust the face he wears? Or is it something deeper?

· Ugh, the “I was supposed to kill someone for him” conversation/scene is SO FREAKING GOOD

· “I don’t want it. Not like the crown.” Why, though? Why doesn’t he want it? Because it’s more to do with death than kingship? OH. Oh, I hadn’t even considered that. I’ve been thinking of RK as this like, god of blood and vengeance but maybe he’s not. Maybe he hates the bloodshed (“the blood! It’s drippin’ in me eyes… I’ve been blinded by the violence…”) just as much—more?—than Ren did/would have. Huh. That’s a new facet.

· Oh my heart the “have you ever lost someone and it was your fault” line. Dagger to the feels. Dagger to the feels.

· This like… “I’m on a roll and even though I know I should stop I really don’t want to” mode? Man. That’s relatable. Especially when you’re working to avoid dealing with something else.

· “Not making it for you—it’s for Ren” oh ouch ouch ouch the denial suddenly breaks through it’s okay, Doc I’m with you on this

· The second time reading through it’s far clearer that Doc has a blind panic attack here—when he starts rambling that Ren’s coming back, he’ll be there for season eight and RK goes to…do whatever he was going to do and Doc just blanks out. The manic productivity should have been a warning sign, the poor guy is crumbling.

· “Doctor” and “he’s not sure he deserves that title right now” UGH Doc needs a hug someone please hug him and tell him it’s all going to be okay. Someone please hug me and tell me it’s all going to be okay.

· “his hand on his throat” over the scar from the Red Winter axe? </3

· “I did do that. I have done that.” RK admitting to it actually having been him in Doc’s nightmares?

· Okay sorry the conversation about beating Dinnerbone will never not be funny to me

· RK mentions that people used to call him m’lord or Ren, and then mere minutes later you have “Ren. You couldn’t save him because of me, could you?” He knows exactly what’s going on here. Not maliciously, but he’s no dense-head, he’s put the pieces together. (post-13 Red: MOST of the pieces. Most of them.)

· Watching Doc slowly stop fighting his nightmares—like, the first time, he fights. The second time, he accepts it but still struggles. And this time… this time he gives up before it even starts. That hurts, man.

· Good grief the whole “get my head chopped off” / “you really don’t want that” bit. O.O I’m not sure what emotion I’m feeling but I’m Feeling An Emotion.

· “Snow’s new. Dream’s not.” </3

· …Doc’s not gonna be a fan of snowier-snow after this trip…

· "Dr. M77" Actually he’s Doc Monster, RK, but we’ll let it go. XD

· OKAY BUT THIS EXCHANGE? The “how are you feeling” / “better” / “you’re a bad liar” / “I said better not great” that’s such a good exchange and I don’t know why every other time I’ve ever seen it used they stop at the lying accusation? Doc with the snappy comebacks, man.

· Aaah, Doc and RK, two establishment bros bonding over a shared disdain for hippies.

· The bit about the fella who wore an iron helmet and called it a powdered wig—fear is in my heart. *shoves Scar into an obsidian box and blocks it closed*

· “Who was Ren to you?” </3

· Doc is more than willing to spread the flames, to sear his loss into RK’s bones. / The king’s face stops him. Ren’s face stops him. Holy CRAP is that a good set of lines. So much going on there, and ALL of it good.

· Again. I wish I could draw. I would draw RK sitting on the edge of the bed, gently hugging a collapsed-in-on-himself Doc. </3

· “And I hate the devil that forced us apart, that mixed my blood with his.” *adds another layer to Scar’s obsidian fort*

· OKAY STARTING CHAPTER THIRTEEN I made the mistake of logging into Tumblr earlier and saw people screaming so I’m sure I’m not ready for this but here we go

· Oh no RK has been hippie-ified

· “You started a paramilitary organization because you have hay fever?” *dies laughing*

· Ugh I need to go back and watch s6 I’ve only seen the tail end of Mumbo’s side of things and there’s so much I don’t know.

· HAHAHAHAH I do know the trident bit though—

· Wait he said Scar

· PANIC

· “Kingslayer. bloodthirsty. Time King. The coward. And the mastermind behind it all, the loyal soldier to the very end, the whole damn reason either of us are in this mess.”

· HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY—

· “Is this the afterlife I deserve? After everything, this is the hell I’m going to endure?” I AM SCREAMING

· Doc pinned to the wall with ice, struggling to breathe—I CAN’T WHAT IS HAPPENING

· ((You know I’d get through this a lot faster if I stopped pausing to write reactions—))

· “A break in the ice. A whisper of spring.” Symbolism. Symbolism.

· “Ren was dead when I found him again,” NO I REFUSE TO READ THIS

· “don’t use the hand I built you to hurt yourself” DOC. SIR. MY HEART.

· RK don't run, RK get back here—what are you—

·

·

· I

· JUST

· ACTUALLY

· SCREAMED

· AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

· *several long moments of just breathing*

·

·

·

· *rereads*

· Holy crap on a garbage cracker with an extra serving of what-the-heck sauce

· REN

· REN

· Okay lol okay hahaha calming down

· I literally threw myself back in my chair away from the computer reading that last paragraph. I don't usually... physically react to things I read. LOL. Heh. I’m. Ah. I’m not emotionally invested in this or anything.

· Holy crap.

· Okay. Okay. Okay.

· Um.

· Great chapter, guys. Awesome stuff. Really good. I’m absolutely okay right now and it’s all totally fine.

· …please enjoy your break and get lots of rest and I very much look forward to the return of this fic you have no idea.

· I need to go breathe for a little bit.

EDIT: no, you know what--I'm not going to be a nice polite fangirl over here and quietly hope y'all see this I'm straight up tagging you, @fluffy-papaya and @betweenlands. THANK YOU but also how dare.

[itsclydebitches]

PFFFF The newest Witcher trailes LITERALLY throws shade! They have the 'Geralt, but you've been such lone wofl so long, what change' and deadass show JASKIER before later shoving Geralt saying 'Yennefer' like a cheap 'no homo!' excuse. I can't. xD Whoever edited it knows what's on. xD

I feel so conflicted about the Jaskier-Geralt relationship in the show because on the one hand, yeah, they're definitely leaning into this non-romance in a way that can get uncomfortable for some, how shall I put this... jaded viewers lol. We know they'll never be canon. No matter what else we might say about Netflix's inability to accurately adapt the books, Geralt/Yennefer has always and will always be endgame, so getting intimacy between Geralt and Jaskier in these particular ways (flirty jokes, bath scene, argument staged like a breakup), while not explicitly queerbaiting, can make viewers feel... icky about it all. Especially for any show-only fans who might not know that Geralt/Yennefer is endgame. Many viewers, particularly American viewers, approach shows as malleable forms of entertainment that can provide them with the representation they crave, provided the fanbase is vocal enough about wanting it. And the more talk that surfaces about major, crucial changes to the plot that reinterpret huge swaths of the books' purpose and intent, the more it can feel like they might just change Geralt's love life too! Even though they (obviously) won't. And frankly shouldn't given that this is supposed to be a faithful adaptation.

Yet on the flipside, the Netflix versions of Jaskier and Geralt don't feel intimate to me at all. Their hostile introduction, Geralt outright punching him, the continued performance of 'I'm a big strong manly man who can't admit that he cares about others,' reducing decades of their bonding to a surprising, throwaway line, that argument when Geralt blames Jaskier for all his problems... it's terrible and I've never liked this dynamic for them (even as I, somewhat hypocritically, play with it in fic). So I'm like, you're intimate enough that fans are starting to side-eye the creators' intentions and yet simultaneously not intimate in any of the ways you should be if you were actually faithful adaptations of the book. And these problems, I believe, go hand-in-hand. By ignoring the actual friendship of the books, Netflix has been forced to "prove" that they care for one another by falling back on tired buddy tropes that, historically, fans have used as evidence for a potential romantic relationship. By not writing Geralt and Jaskier as having the open, witty, philosophical, caring-but-also-taking-no-shit relationship they had in the books, Netflix has fallen back on a dynamic that isn't doing their show any favors. Fans either hate it, or love it to the point where they expect something of the show that the show can never deliver.

So it's a mess! And that mess hasn't done Yennefer any favors either. I'm really not in a position to be defending that pairing - I've never hid that I'm not a Geralt/Yen fan - but whatever the books did that made others love their relationship... I don't think Netflix is capitalizing on that either. In that other ask I brought up how in the games their relationship seems to revolve entirely around Ciri and sex. If they're not talking about their daughter (or if Yen isn't being cruel) their relationship is just about how horny they are for each other, which... isn't really a relationship to me. Or at least, not the deep, "We belong together forever, we're basically soulmates" relationship that the franchise is going for. Same with Netflix. I never liked the foundation of their relationship being an ambiguous wish that tethered them irrevocably and a quickie in the rubble as a replacement for actually getting to know one another... but Netflix takes those aspects and emphasizes them to a disappointing degree.

"You spent a lifetime alone. What changed?"

"Yennefer of Vengerberg."

Yet when it comes time for the trailer to show us what this deep, insightful relationship is that changed a man after an entire lifetime of wandering alone... it's just sex. That's literally all Netflix is able to show us because that's the only meaningful interactions Geralt and Yen have had together. Here's a clip of them falling into bed together and Geralt, without any of that emotional work shown to the viewer, professes that he loves Yennefer the way she's always wanted to be loved.

Here's a clip of the joke we got where Jaskier is gaping over them having sex on the floor post-Yen nearly killing the lot of them.

I'm like... what out of any of this is meant to be appealing to me? Besides the fact that they're both hot as hell? (The casting does make my little bi heart happy lol.) For me, Geralt and Yen are a classic case of a story insisting they're meant for each other because That's Just How Stories Work, without doing any of the actual, you know, work to show us why they like each other, or how they got there, or why these superficial things (the sex is great!) trump the huge hurdles they should be working through. The games might have their flaws, but god bless 'em for letting the characters point out, "Hey... how do we even know this love is real and not just a byproduct of the djinn's wish?"

Geralt and Jaskier, as established, absolutely have their problems in the show, but I can understand why so many fans ship them over Geralt/Yen. And no, though bigotry can play a part, we also can't demonize the entirety of its popularity with, "You just hate women/are racist/creepily obsessed with queer men/whatever the latest accusation is." Rather, the popularity exists because, whatever their faults, it feels like they actually have a relationship in the show. We see them developing together in a way we simply don't get with Yennefer/Geralt and because that development isn't largely reduced to sex scenes—the narrative trying to pass every bonding moment off as True Love, with True Love equaling physical attraction—it comes across (at least to me) as more realistic and believable, especially given Geralt's character, someone who is emotionally closed off. If Vesemir (I think it's Vesemir) asked what changed and we deliberately cut to that moment of Jaskier leaving after Geralt drove him away... I'd more easily believe that yeah, this relationship is causing Geralt to rethink things in a way he hasn't for an entire lifetime. We've seen them travel together, become (begrudging) comrades, defend one another, do favors for each other, tease each other, have a major fight that they'll inevitably make up from, Jaskier is presented as Geralt's first friend, and none of this is tied to a questionable wish, or passed off as the totality of Geralt's development.

The fact that Netflix would include those lines, cut to a legitimately heart-wrenching moment between Geralt and Jaskier, but when it comes times to show his relationship with Yennefer, the most powerful moments are her without him (smashing the mirror, undergoing her transformation, stepping out in her new body for the first time, etc.) and their moments together are just sex—one of which is used partially for comedy—well... that just illustrates the problem for me. What relationship? The one that supposedly exists simply because the story says it's there? I don't think I'll ever be a Geralt/Yen shipper, but I'm perfectly capable of separating my personal preferences from subpar writing choices. Netflix is far into the latter. The way that they're adapting the story is, imo, hurting both fans of the book material and fans who are on the fence about book material. Because so few of these changes are working well, we've lost all the good the books contained and are now stuck with so much new bad. Basically, "No one liked that."

Except, of course, for the Geralt/Jaskier shippers riding the coattails of those tropes... though many will likely be disappointed and hurt by the series' end when they're not made canonical, with others growing frustrated with how the fandom has turned on them simply for liking what they were given. It's really turning into a lose-lose for everyone involved.

[fanficsforheartandsoul]

Haunted | [Darth Maul x Fem!Reader x Savage Opress]

Notes: 

Lol I said only 1k per request but well… I got too invested xD

Haha, it happened again xD I hope this is somehow what you expected, Anon. Thank you for your request!

Fandoms: Star Wars, The Clone Wars

Warnings: Angst, Death, Alcohol Use, Mention of Rape, Slight OOC, Fluff

Summary: Some men follow Y/N after she got drunk at a bar. She’s not capable of protecting herself but thankfully she has two knights with red lightsabers who take care of her pursuers..

Word Count: 2′262

Taglist: @princessayveke​

If you want to be tagged in my stories send me a pm with the fandom/character name! Or comment on the fic :)

Masterlist

This is loosely based off my  Cold Skins and Warm Hearts  oneshot!

They hadn't seen each other for a long time. 

Well, it was understandable, the brothers were at one end of the galaxy, causing havoc for the Republic, while she was laying low somewhere on Corellia. 

But although all three of them were busy, they thought of each other from time to time. The brothers more often than her though. 

They could not forget their last encounter, the feelings still too prominent. They needed an answer. 

What feelings did the woman have for them? Were they indeed just platonic? 

So it was no wonder that they actively searched for her. 

And albeit she was trying to lay low, they found her rather easily because of her force presence. Both of the Zabrak could not forget its radiating pull after all. 

But when the brothers found her, they also encountered annoying pests. 

Obviously, they would get rid of them immediately. 

-

Y/N did not have the energy for any trouble today. 

She had been feeling unsafe for a week now, but she wrote it off as her being paranoid after all the things she had gone through. 

It wasn't a mystery she knew she had some trauma after having fought for the Jedi for so long. Her nightmares were proof of that. 

Usually, she wouldn't have tried to find comfort at the bottom of a bottle, but after feeling so stressed out, the fiery heat of Corellian Whiskey felt satisfying in her throat. 

She did drink more than she should have, though. 

But there was no one to tell her to stop, she was her own master now, and she enjoyed it. 

But when she stumbled home, her hand on her lightsaber, while her head spun, she did not expect to be followed. 

She didn't notice at first, her attention muddled from all the alcohol. But after somebody walked by, and rudely bumped into her, Y/N felt a little less smashed, and therefore she noticed the eyes on her that followed her body's every move. An uncomfortable feeling rose in her stomach, and she turned her head slightly to look if somebody was pursuing her, but she was too intoxicated to see clearly. 

The streets in her district were all dimly lit, and only the cantinas and occasional dancer bars had flickering neon lights, which made it hardly possible to see the faces of the few people who were still awake at this hour. 

But she could feel that someone was tailing her. 

Her hand automatically reached for her lightsaber, but there was nothing at her hip. 

Fuck, I didn't take it with me! 

She cursed inwardly and quickened her pace. 

The knowledge of being watched sobered her up enough to remember that she didn't have that many options anymore when it came to a fight. The force wasn't with her any longer. 

Y/N hadn't been able to use it for a few weeks now, that's why she had decided to move away from the Outer Rims where the chance of getting into a fight was much higher. 

But maybe she had made the wrong choice with Corellia. 

The woman knew that she couldn't possibly hold her guard against several attackers while she was drunk. Hence, she could only flee. 

As soon as she turned around a corner, she began to run. 

Genuine fear trickled through her veins, and the former Jedi felt nauseous. 

If she got caught... 

She had a good idea of what could happen and desperately wished that it wouldn't come that far. 

Her breath quickened, she knew she was close to a panic attack, and she dreaded it. 

Y/N saw the familiar green glow of the bar one block away from her small run-down apartment, and she breathed out in relief, only to catch her foot in a pothole and crash face down onto the pavement. 

Her whole world spun, and she knew she was only a few seconds away from throwing up when she heard footsteps approach the alley she had just turned into. 

Fuck, here we go. 

She struggled to get on her knees when a gloved hand suddenly materialized before her, and a deep soothing voice said: 

"Do you need help?" 

She tilted her head upwards and could make out a tall figure with horns. 

"Sa-Savage?" 

Her voice was weak, and before she could even think about why the Zabrak was here, she wheezed and crumbled, her adrenaline rush and fear too overbearing that she fell unconscious.

-

Maul and Savage hadn't expected to see the woman, who had entranced them both, in such a miserable state. 

They had been following her to the bar, trying to come up with a plausible reason why they suddenly showed up, their pride too big to actually just tell the true reason. 

Savage just wanted to walk right in there and say hi, but his older brother wanted to follow the woman some more from the shadows. 

Something was different about her, and they would find out what it was. 

So they waited, waited for a very long time. 

"She seems to be quite a drinker", commented Savage, surprised about the revelation. 

Both of them wouldn't have expected that. 

Y/N L/N didn't seem like a big fan of alcohol. To tell the truth, if they remembered correctly, she had rejected the wine when they had met for the third time. 

So it seemed rather weird for the former Jedi to suddenly go and visit a bar to drink. 

But neither of them knew what had happened to the woman in the last few months, so they couldn't judge if something was wrong with her. 

They loitered around in a small alley from where they had a good view of the bar's entrance. Savage almost fell asleep when his brother gave him a shove, and he stood up out of reflex. 

Maul pressed a finger to his lips and pointed at a small figure leaving the bar. 

Both could immediately feel the connection they had somehow established that one night on Ilum. The emotions from their connection felt weirdly numb. 

Savage frowned, and the two used the force to jump on the small building to get a better view of Y/N. 

If they followed her directly she would probably notice them too soon, and they wanted to avoid that. Although it seemed unlikely that the former Jedi would spot them. 

The woman walked like a sailor, she staggered forward, clearly having drunk too much for her good. 

Worry sprouted in both the brothers' chests, and they followed her silently. Y/N followed the main road, but then she suddenly froze.

It was only for a second, but her head turned back as if she was searching for something. Maul immediately noticed what she was looking for. 

A group of men loafed in a dark corner and ogled the woman hungrily. They seemed to discuss something, and right when Y/N turned back around and started to move faster, they left their corner and began to pursue her. 

Maul concentrated on the force, and he could feel the malicious intentions of the group. 

"...Let's get her today, I know her usual route and..." 

His eyes darkened considerably, anger burned in his chest, and he said with a growling undertone: 

"You go get her, I'm going to crush some insects." 

Savage eyed him from the side, but when he followed the other Zabrak's nod and heard a snippet of the men's conversation, his expression turned sour too, and he snarled: 

"Leave some for me, brother." 

Maul rolled his shoulder, and right before Savage jumped to the next building, he uttered: 

"No promises, these bastards made a mistake I can't forgive." 

He jumped down the building and landed silently right behind a closed food stall.

The men noticed how Y/N turned around a corner, and they hastily followed her. He did too. 

He stalked them like prey, contemplating whether using his lightsaber to obliterate these bugs would cause him more satisfaction than his fists. 

They rounded another corner when they began to run, and Maul decided now was the time to strike. He used the force to close the distance between him and the five men. 

His yellow eyes glistened with rage, but the Zabrak tried to restrain himself. 

"Good evening, gentlemen", he greeted them with a silky voice. 

They turned around abruptly, definitely not liking his sudden appearance. 

"What do you want?", asked one of them annoyed. 

He was a dirty looking human with bleary eyes. He wasn't the only one who seemed to have drunk too much. 

The alcohol plume around the men stank terribly, and Maul snarled in disgust. 

"Oh, I only wanted to inform you that you shall not live to see the dawn in the next few hours." 

Before one of them could even react, he had clenched his raised hand to a fist, and the only Twi'lek of the group began to cough and grab his throat. He crushed the man's windpipe, while his friends shouted in disbelief and shock. 

Maul sneered at their cowardice, and he gleefully wiped out their lives and disgusting plans they had harbored for his love. 

"How dare you look at Y/N with such disgusting thoughts!", he lost his cool and punched one of the men repeatedly, not even showing mercy when the men's face was completely bashed in. 

The noise of breaking bones and their blood-curling screams resounded in the alley, but no one came looking. 

"How convenient", muttered Maul and shook his fist, but then he changed his mind. 

The ignorance of the Corellians might have killed Y/N if he and his brother hadn't shown up. 

The burning fury in his chest did not diminish, instead, it burned even brighter, and he couldn't stop himself from crushing one of the dead men's skull under his boot. 

The crunch calmed him down a little, and he wiped his shoe at one of the other dead bodies. 

Satisfied, Maul turned, and he strode into the alley where Y/N had disappeared, only to see the woman crumble and fall right into his brother's arms. 

"Y/N!" both he and Savage shouted at the same time, full of worry. 

-

When she woke up, she was wrapped in a warm embrace. Her head pounded, and she frowned in pain. 

Where am I? What happened? 

She turned her head only to look straight into Darth Maul's face, the Zabrak she had kissed only a few months ago. 

She blinked, then noticed the arm on her hip didn't belong to Maul. 

A sigh escaped her lips, and she could imagine what had happened. 

It didn't really surprise her to see the brothers, although it probably should have. But it wasn't the first time where they just showed up out of nowhere. 

Y/N breathed out slowly and right when she wanted to sit up, a deep voice muttered: 

"You're awake." 

She turned to her left, Savage's sunflower eyes boring straight into her. 

"Hi", he whispered breathlessly, and she couldn't stop herself from grinning weakly. 

"Kind of a weak greeting, if we think about the fact that we're laying in bed together, wouldn’t you say?" 

The Zabrak's cheeks tinted, and her grin widened. 

The younger brother had a shy side to himself, and she loved it. Mainly because it was such a huge contrast to his tall and intimidating looks. But then he grabbed her hip tighter, and she couldn't stop herself from shrieking. 

His face was suddenly way too close, and he eyed her lips with a somewhat hungry look. 

"Are you suggesting something?", he whispered, and his deep voice resonated in her ears. 

A pleasant shiver ran down her spine but then a voice interrupted them: 

"Savage." 

It was only a single word from his brother, but both the yellow Zabrak and Y/N could hear the threatening undertone and the warning in it. 

She turned again, and Maul squinted his eyes at her. 

"Good to see you too", she mocked, and he lifted an eyebrow. 

"Is it?" 

The mattress dipped behind her when Savage shifted and supported his head on his arm. 

"Would you mind explaining why you drowned yourself in alcohol only to almost get raped?" 

Y/N stiffened, she remembered the last week of feeling unsafe, and she couldn't stop herself from sinking deeper into the bed, her shoulders quivering slightly. 

"I-I was...", she tried to find some words to explain, but the fact that Maul's angry words held so much truth hit her right in the gut. 

She could have been raped. Or kidnapped and killed. 

She remembered her sad attempts of using the force but not succeeding, and she blinked, tears forming in her eyes. She stared at the ceiling of the brother's spaceship, not noticing how Maul's anger turned into worry, and both brothers watched her with burning gazes. 

"Don't worry", said Savage finally, "you're safe now." 

Maul brushed a strand of hair out of her face and Savage wiped her left eye just in case. 

Y/N breathed out slowly, her voice shaky when she muttered: 

"Thanks, guys. I'm really happy to see you again." 

Both Zabrak flashed a grin and then the younger asked: 

"What to sleep some more? You seem to need it." 

She nodded and yawned as if to confirm his words. 

Y/N smiled and warmth spread in her chest, when they wrapped their arms around her again. 

Both brothers simultaneously tilted their heads to give her a kiss on her forehead, but what she didn't notice was the jealous glares they sent each other when they moved back. 

"Sleep some more, Y/N. We got you."

[resonating-kitty]

I spent the last two days writing this little.... uh... I don’t think I’d call it a gem tbh. XD 

Just some head-canon ideals that were swimming around in my head about the Dream SMP storyline and how many paths it could go down. And my hands slipped, as they have been known to do. 

I would just like to preface this by saying that I am sorry! LOL 

Final Word Count:  2,884

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Implied Reference to Suicide, and Character Death

A03 Link

Exile.  

Tommy sat on the beach, staring vacantly out over the raging ocean. Dark swirling clouds rolled over head and the wind whipped around him, chilling him but he made no move to head for cover. He was paler, skinnier. His clothes were in tatters. Dark circles were visible under his eyes. The spark that usually lit up his bright blue eyes was gone. Nothing remained.  

His exile had taken its toll and every day his isolation ate away more and more of him. He longed to see his home again. He longed to see the land he knew and loved so much. Most importantly, he missed Tubbo. 

Tubbo, who was supposed to stand by him, unwavering and loyal, and yet. Yet here he sat. Exiled and alone. 

A twig snapped somewhere behind him.  Well not completely alone. 

“Tommy” Dream’s voice was nearly drowned out by the wind but Tommy still heard him.

Tommy felt the other’s presence materialize behind him. Knew that if he turned to look, the green hoodie cladded figure would be stepping from the shadows. That infuriating white smiley mask regarding him.   

“The storm is getting closer Tommy,” Dream spoke again, closer this time. 

“I don’t care.” Tommy replied, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the raging waters. Nearly everyday since his exile, Dream had materialized to taunt him. Reminded him that he was truly alone and that he would not see his home again.   

“You do.” Dream insisted and Tommy felt the weight as the hand landed on his shoulder. “You do care. Get up Tommy.”    

Tommy doesn’t know why he obeyed, he doesn’t want to obey but he pushed himself to his feet and turned to glare weakly at Dream. 

“Don’t be like that,” Dream says and Tommy can hear the smile in his voice, the sheer amusement, “We’re friends Tommy come on.”  

Tommy lets himself be led away from the raging waves of the ocean and toward Logstedshire’s sturdy walls. Dream guided him as if he were some poor pitiful peasant. The anger that tried to ignite within him was quickly washed away. After all, as Dream had so eloquently put it days before, what was his anger going to solve? He’d been truly abandoned by his friends, left to rot in strange lands. He had no one anymore. No one except a ghost with no memories, and even Wilbur abandoned him to return to L’Manburg for days on end, and Dream, a demon who constantly taunted him and appeared in his nightmares night after night. 

Dream was the only true constant in his life. His only connection to a world he was no longer a part of. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, Dream was the only thing that kept him from losing what small thread of sanity he had left.

Logstedshire was quiet when they entered, the walls blocked the wind, creating a safe haven from the nasty weather approaching. Tommy was led to the barrels and he plopped down heavily onto one. He watched, warily, as Dream meandered about, inspecting the area. He watched as the green man walked over to the signs he’d hung up. His to-do list. 

“Blaze powder.” He heard Dream mumble to himself before the green man turned to address him, “You hunting for blaze powder Tommy? Why would you need blaze powder?” 

“Oh you know, the same reason anyone else would need blaze powder, drugs obviously,” Tommy snarked, averting his gaze. Dream had been doing that too. Showing up and asking him what he had, making him throw his belongings in the dirt and making him watch as they were destroyed. Keeping him at rock bottom. Little did Dream know, Tommy succeeded with that item on his to-do list. He had gotten the blaze powder and made the enderchest. It was hidden beneath the prime log. 

“Really?” Dream didn’t seem convinced. Tommy saw where this was going before the man even spoke his next words, “Well then, you wouldn’t be opposed to emptying your inventory on the ground then would you?” 

“Why?” Tommy asked, hopping off the barrel. He’d done this dance with Dream many times before. Was so used to it that he didn’t even flinch when Dream drew his sword. 

“You know why.” Dream said, exasperated, stepping closer, “Empty your inventory Tommy or I will kill you.” 

“No you won’t” Tommy sighed. It was a bluff. He had figured that out a bit ago. Dream wouldn’t kill him because Dream wouldn’t be able to taunt him anymore if he were dead. Wouldn’t be able to make his life a living hell anymore. He’d learned this after the first time he was allowed in the Nether, with Dream trailing behind him. He’d been allowed to go to the hub that led to his home but Dream would not let him through, promising to kill him if he stepped foot inside that portal. That’s when he’d contemplated it the first time. Contemplated just throwing himself off the edge of the pathway to the awaiting lava below. Dream had appeared at his side, grabbed his arm and pulled him back, leaning in to whisper in his ear, “It’s not your time to die yet Tommy.” 

“I will,” Tommy was brought from his thoughts as Dream all but purred and stalked closer, pressing the blade of the sword right under his chin. They stood, staring at each other, as the first streak of lightning flashed overhead. 

“Just do it.” Tommy sighed. He was so tired of playing this game. He looked up, his blue eyes boring holes into the white mask that started back at him, and said, “Kill me. End it all.” 

“I didn’t know that even you could swoop this low mate,” A new voice sounded, causing Dream to immediately shove away from Tommy. Tommy stumbled back, catching himself on the barrels. He and Dream turned toward the entrance of Logstedshire, his eyes widening in shock as Dream’s frame tensed. 

Leaning against the outer wall, stood Philza. His black wings were folded tightly against his back. He held a sword loosely in hand. His blue gaze was focused intently on Dream.  

“Thought you were neutral in this Philza,” Dream remarked, hard edge to his voice now. Danger seemed to radiate from his form, turning the air around him heavy. 

“Oh I am,” Philza smiled, pushing himself from the wall. He walked into Logstedshire, glancing briefly at Tommy before focusing back on Dream, “However, torturing a child is just a bit too much for me to ignore. Even if that child is Tommy.”

“Gee thanks Philza,” Tommy mumbled, sarcastically. 

“Shush child or I will leave,” Philza warned and Tommy clicked his mouth shut. 

“You’re going to leave anyway,” Dream ordered, swirling his sword in his hand.

“Am I?” Philza smirked, flaring his wings out. A challenge. 

“Yes you are. Or else you’re going to meet your end.” Dream promised as light rain started to fall from the sky.  

“I’d like to see you try mate,” Philza tensed, readying himself. 

Lightning flashed overhead and Dream struck. Philza brought his sword up, just in time to parry the blow. Tommy watched, horrified, as the two men lunged at one another. Clashing over and over again.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Dream lunged and lunged, backing Philza back with every thrust and blow. Philza sidestepped on one of the blows, sending Dream stumbling past him and into the wall of Logstedshire. Dream quickly recovered, dodging just in time to avoid the downward swing of a sword. 

“Not bad,” Philza grinned, twirling his sword and dropping into a stance. A bit of hope sparked within Tommy as he watched Philza face off with Dream. If anyone could defeat the green bastard, it would be Philza. He had experience. Knew how to fight. Was friends with the literal Blood God himself.  

“Hm.” Tommy’s gaze slid over to Dream. He knew that Dream was pissed. The way he stood rigidly, knuckle tight grip on the hilt of the sword. Tommy figured that this might just be the first time that Dream had to face an adversary that could potentially outplay him at his own game.

The hope that had started to sprout within Tommy grew just a little bit more, until Dream started to chuckle softly. 

“Philza, Philza, Philza,” Dream started in between his bouts of chuckling, “Do you honestly think you stand a chance against me?” All at once, the whole air seemed to shift with some sort of unseen power. 

Philza frowned, his brow creasing and his eyes narrowing as if he could see something that Tommy couldn’t. His wings spread out, readying for flight. Dream dashed forward, faster than any human. Philza took to the sky just in time to avoid the attack. 

“Now Philza,” Dream growled as a crossbow materialized in his other hand, “You know flying isn’t allowed here!” He aimed and fired repeatedly, multiple bolts appearing. 

Philza twisted and turned, diving and skirting. Dodging some of the arrows while deflecting others with his sword. He flew closer to the trees, letting the branches take the brunt of the arrows. Unfortunately, he lost sight of Dream and heard, too late, the tale-tell whoosh of Dream teleporting directly behind him. 

Pain laced across his wings, causing Philza to shout out in pain. His sword clattered to the ground and he plummeted, landing heavily in a heap just feet from Tommy. 

“Philza!” Tommy screamed, horrified. Blood coated Philza’s back, feathers hanging crookedly from where they’d been cut. 

Dream landed from the tree with a heavy thud. He stalked to where Philza laid unmoving. 

“Dream. Dream don’t!” Tommy pleaded, dropping down to his knees as Dream raised the sword, readying to drive it home. “Dream! Please don’t!” 

Dream’s head snapped up, as if he’d forgotten Tommy was even there. He said nothing. Tommy watched, frozen to the spot as Dream raised the sword a bit higher, poised both his hands on the hilt.

“No!!!” Tommy screamed as lightning flashed and Dream drove the sword down, straight into Philza. Philza’s eyes snapped open and a silence scream escaped him. 

The ground shook with the force of the thunder that rumbled. Tears slipped down Tommy’s face. He gazed unseeingly at Philza’s still body. He didn’t even notice when Dream yanked his sword free and moved toward him. 

The hand that landed on his shoulder startled him, his gaze shot up to the masked man. Fear bubbled deep in his gut as Dream leaned down slightly, just enough to whisper in his ear, “Let this be a lesson. I am your only friend.” 

Dream leaves him. Completely disappearing into the shadows once again. 

Tommy crawled over to Philza’s sprawled body. Sobs racked his body as he wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his face in the junction.

“Tommy,” Tommy’s head snapped up at the sound of Philza’s voice. 

“Phil! Oh gods! Oh gods! What do I need to do? Should I get a health potion?” Tommy panicked. “Wait! I think Will has some stashed around here somewhere.” he made to get up but was stopped as Philza’s hand shot out to grab his wrist.

“Won’t do any good mate” Philza wheezed, a slight smile on his face, “I don’t have much time so I need you to listen to me.” Tommy settled back down beside Philza. He was released and watched as Philza reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a crimson stone that just fit in the palm of one’s hand. The stone was glowing dully, pulsing every few seconds. 

“Do you know what this is?” Philza asked and Tommy shook his head. He truly had no idea. 

Philza chuckled, “I figured. This is a blood stone.” 

“Blood?” Tommy interrupted, “Phil don’t tell me that’s from Technoblade!” 

“Hush,” Philza sighed, “The blood stone was a gift from Techno. When my heart stops beating, it will shatter. And Techno will come. You go with him. Make him take you with him Tommy. I know you two haven’t always seen eye to eye but you need him right now. He is your only hope to escape that green demon. Promise me. Promise me you’ll do that for me, Tommy.”

“It’s Techno! He’s more liable to kill me than to help me!” Tommy argued. 

“You’re my son.” Philza stated, his breath hitching slightly, “Techno won’t harm you. Tommy, promise me.” 

Tommy regarded his father. His father who was quickly slipping from the land of the living. His eyes flicked down to the equally dying blood stone. “I promise.” He mumbled. 

“That’s my boy,” Philza smiled, eyes slipping shut. Seconds later his body fell still. In his palm, the blood stone gave one final glowing pulse before it shattered. 

The rain grew heavier, until it was pelting down in sheets, soaking everything. Tommy sat unmoving, eyes staring blankly at Philza’s body. He didn’t notice the rain or when he became soaked to the bone. He barely paid any attention to the chill that was starting to creep in, causing him to shiver slightly. 

He also didn’t notice the galloping sound of an approaching horse. Didn’t notice when the horse was stopped nor when the figure stepped into the mouth of Logstedshire. He finally noticed, starting violently, when a pair of boots appeared in his peripheral vision. 

Tommy looked up and was greeted by the sight of the Blood God. He was adorned in his royal blood red robe and the signature pig mask that he never took off. His long, pale pink hair whipped around violently in the wind and the crown that sat atop his head glittered faintly in the torch light. The heavy scent of blood lingered faintly in the air. His hand rested loosely on the hilt of his sword, tapping it periodically with long fingers. 

Silence hung between them, Techno not speaking and, for once, Tommy had nothing to say. His words had been taken from him and Tommy just hung his head when it was apparent that Techno was not going to speak. 

They stayed like that for a few more moments before Techno moved. Tommy found himself gently being lifted from the ground as if he weighed nothing at all, which he supposed he didn’t, not now anyway. He didn’t even fight it as Techno carried him over to the small shack that Wilbur had built for him and settled him under the overhang, out of the rain.  

Tommy’s eyes widened in shock when the blood red robe was settled across his shoulders and tucked against his shivering body. Warmth swaddled him and he all but melted against it. He watched Techno move across the yard. A sharp whistle sounded and moments later a demon looking horse was trotting into the space. Techno went to the creature, untying a shovel from the saddlebag.  

Wordlessly, Techno started to dig a grave. Tommy watched until exhaustion overtook him and he couldn’t stop his eyes from slipping closed. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious was Technoblade waist deep in the makeshift grave. 

--

When Tommy woke up, he was momentarily confused. He was wrapped in warmth and felt safer than he’d felt in weeks. It took only seconds for the pleasantness of the feeling to be washed away by the horror of the events of the previous evening. Tommy sat up sharply, finding himself on the makeshift bed in the shack with Techno’s robe thrown over him like a blanket. 

His heart was racing and his breath was coming in short pants. His hands buried themselves in his too long blond hair and a sob tore itself from his throat. Philza, his father, was dead. Dead by the hands of Dream. Dead because of him. Because he’d been too weak to resist Dream’s will. If he’d just jumped on that day Dream let him go to the Nether- 

That train of thought was stopped abruptly as the door to the shack was thrown open and Technoblade walked in. 

“Tears won’t make it better.” Tommy laughed humorlessly. Of all the words that Techno could’ve said, those weren’t something that Tommy expected to hear. 

“What will then?” Tommy questioned, gazing down at the robe. He felt more than saw Techno draw closer. He watched as the other reached out and pulled the cloak from his loose grasp. Tommy looked up, gaze lost as he stared at the older man, looking for some sort of answer, “What will make it better Technoblade?” 

Techno smirked and leaned down so he was eye level with Tommy before saying, simply, “Revenge.” 

It started clicking into place as Tommy sat there, staring into the pig mask’s eyes. The old flame that had been extinguished, burst back to life. The chaos within him rose to the surface. 

And Techno, as if he could see what was happening, laughed and straightened up, offering his hand out for Tommy to take. “What do you say, Child of Chaos, ready to cause some destruction?” 

A smile lit Tommy’s face for the first time in weeks. It was a cruel thing as he reached out and gripped Techno’s hand, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. 

“Let’s go kill us a Green Bastard.” 

[dahniwitchoflight]

Homesquared Chapter 16

Alrighty, that was a fun tangent, now back to John it seems?

Oh, no, Narration of John (So Actually Dirk, speak of the devil and he shall appear and all that etc etc)

“ leaving John with one final touch on the shoulder. John leans into it in response, though he’s a bit ashamed of chasing down a sliver of physical affection so soon after obliterating Karkat’s evening like he had. “

pfft lol so Im not the only one that thought it would be funny if that scene was interpreted in a Pale Romantic light, even though that really wasn’t what was happening

OIh! but we still get Roxy, just the other version of Roxy

Roxy subtly being like “hey!! shit has apparently gone down, were not exactly close atm but I feel bad about you dying to want to know if youre still alive so im gonna message you while trying to make it look like i dont care about it as much as I do”

JOHN: trying to align my memories of my youth with whatever is happening right now so

and the wonderful question is, what IS going be happening with you now John?

Roxy looking nice and casual, but also yeah narration, why are you making this ominous, its not like Roxy’s out here to double spy on behalf of Jane, I don’t think Roxys on her side THAT much

ROXY: may have to do a smidge more if my old bff decides im next on the list for bombing out

ROXY: but so far so good

ROXY: just a coupla exploded cars in the yard from some shenanigans our dear son and his friends were in but u kno it is what it is!!!

Roxy once again being a master of hiding how shes feeling, even when trying to open up, feeling pretty stressed about whats happening with Jane, understandable, the exclamation points give it away lol

The narration is really trying to make John nervous though

OH lol that was the implication haha no lol John it obviously wasn’t that

“John feels his shoulders unbunch. Of course. Yeah. He’s almost embarrassed by how relieved he feels. So what if his ex wife wanted to hook up? Shouldn’t that be a situation he could navigate? Don’t people like to find solace in human physical connection during dire times? Why did the idea of it make his mind white out in panic more than, say, any number of the traumas he just experienced? He doesn’t know, but he believes Roxy that he must look pretty haggard. He probably feels haggard? Maybe sitting down will feel better.“

lol once again, Dirk has no idea how to read Roxy at all and just trips over himself and his assumptions XD

Yeah, looks like Roxy not on the Jane train and is doing some takesies backsies, shes glossing over her feelings on the matter still though, I know thats par for the course of how Roxy tends to handle stuff too but I wish shed open up a bit more, but maybe shes playing the smart game, yknow, knowing that Dirk has a hard time reading her, so glossing over stuff is how you protect yourself against the narrative force, confusion and vaguery in the narrative and her actions only helps her to keep control over it, because at any point, you can decide to “clear up” any narrative “miscommunication” or “confusion” and lay down what is it thats actually happening with you any time you want

Void working in the behind the scenes to do what they want

JOHN: like it’s my HOUSE.

JOHN: but mostly it always felt like my dad’s house?

JOHN: and when i started living there after i moved out of here, it was like i crammed myself back into whatever was left of my kid self?

JOHN: and it didn’t feel good, but it at least was familiar, you know?

JOHN: like living there let me feel closer to my dad, trying to be like the way i remember him, or like how i remember him wanting me to be, or something?

JOHN: and i didn’t realize how much i hated doing that until i saw it all go up in flames.

JOHN: so i guess i could have used my powers to stop the fire and save whatever was left of the place, but i couldn’t bring myself to do it.

JOHN: like some fucked up part of me was glad i got there too late?

JOHN: so i just sat there, watching, trying to figure out why watching my house burn down felt like i was being released from prison.

JOHN: and even now i keep trying to explain it away, as though it’s because of how fucked up everything else is that it made me feel good.

JOHN: but that’s just bullshit.

JOHN: it DID feel good.

JOHN: i DO feel free.

JOHN: sorry.

ROXY: no need 2 apologize

ROXY: we just delved in2 my whole gender thing last time so it seems fine for u to have a turn

JOHN: i didn’t say it was a gender thing.

Im pretty sure you’re talking about a gender thing John, like, very 100% sure now this is what’s happening

because if you were actually a girl, of course you’re dad leaving all these notes about how one day hes gonna be so proud of the man youll become, yeah, that can feel a little pressuring, even if your dad didnt mean it like that, since he was unfailingly the kind of dad just bumbling around trying to understand their kid as best they could and leave encouragements everywhere, thats what his intent was, but all his notes come off a bit wrong in particular issues

remember the note under the fridge that was all like “SON. IF YOURE READING THIS NOTE, YOUVE FINALLY BECOME STRONG ENOUGH OF A MAN TO PICK UP THE FRIDGE.” not exactly that but that was always the vibe Dad’s little notes always had

Yeah, i can see how John would view it as a bit off, but if he hadnt the self awareness to realize it was a gender thing at the time, hed be understandly confused as to why such a thing would bother him

now though, he’s realizing, maybe, he doesn’t exactly want to be the man his dad always encouraged him to be

John does seem a lot happier here in his convo with Roxy than he did on his own when the house was burning, that conversation with karkat left me wondering if John was about to start dissociating he was so down, but here he says he feels freeing and happy about it?

ROXY: but like now that u mention it

ROXY: *meaningful pause*

JOHN: …

JOHN: i

JOHN:

John’s beginning to question stuff, or acknowledge that he’s questioning stuff, cuz it’s true, and hes feeling happy about it, in a way that he wasnt before, but he hasnt quite connected the dots here between the happy feeling and what exactly he has to be happy about

ROXY: aight then no wind bending just use your mangrit

Roxy flexes, the corner of her mouth pulled up into a familiar grin. John feels his guts, so recently calmed, twist up into knots again. Her eyebrows shoot up and the smile loosens. He must have shown something on his face.

ROXY: ok or just like push when i push

ROXY: we both got sick muscles

ROXY: no other adjectives necessary

JOHN: yeah ok.

Yeah Roxy’s 100% picked up on it, and maybe Dirk has as well if the narration is commenting on it

Alrighty then, to the secret lair under the bed!

oh I just noticed how kind of cute and interesting Roxy’s nickname for Harry is, “Lil H A” Harry Anderson shortens to Ha like laughter haha

and if Harry had Roxy’s last name, it’d be Harry Anderson Lalonde

Lil HAL

lol what is Callie doing under Roxy’s secret bedchamber XD

This whole secret bedchamber thing is turning into one big metaphor isn’t it?

That thing behind the curtain kind of looks like the Attic Portal shape from Hiveswap though

that’d be neat if that was it, like obviously we knew one of the cherubs had to have something to do with that portal just going by the design of it alone

Honestly it makes sense that Callie is doing it under the curtain of Roxy’s Void, it’s honestly the safest place to do something like that

lol Calliope has grown past writing fanfic about shipping and being in love, now the drama of broken relationships and divorce is all the rage XD character growth? haha

CALLIOPE: besides, hUman divorces are even more fascinating than i had ever imagined, and being able to witness yoUrs in motion was an honoUr.

CALLIOPE: so i consider Us aboUt even at this point.

Calliope just burned him harder than his childhood home’s destruction

CALLIOPE: ah right, right. yoU're probably a little cUrioUs as to where the dickens we are.

have you been talking to Jake lol (I mean, probably Original Grandpa Jake tbh if that portal is actually the portal)

Alright so John is getting caught up on the major plot points, Earth C is indeed in the large black hole, his choice didn’t matter since both choices happened anyway yadda yadda

CALLIOPE: think of it like a coin flip.

CALLIOPE: the series of events that led to Us being trapped beyond the event horizon of an Ubermassive black hole could be considered "tails", while the events which would have occUrred otherwise could be considered "heads".

CALLIOPE: since both were possible, and paradox space is the way it is, they actUally both happened. and we jUst "happened" (hee hee) to get tails instead of heads.

yup yup yup pretty par for the course of timesplits in homestuck so far

CALLIOPE: not at all! since both possibilities depend on one another's existence, it really doesn't make sense to call them "right" or "wrong". they both just "are".

yup, this is true, the ending’s of both referenced the others, so it’s disingenuous to say one is “canon” while the other isn’t

one is simply in the realm of actual possibility, the other is in the realm of unlikely possibility

More than likely, John would have chosen to leave and go die and be the hero like in Meat, but there was still the possibility that he would stay, even if it was unlikelier than the other, but since both were possible choices for him to realistically make, both actually happened for real

CALLIOPE: anyway, the reason i went on this tangent in the first place was to explain that the space we are standing in right now has a special significance, in that it is the location which corresponds to the black hole's singUlarity

that’s interesting, so there’s the original meteor that crashed into the surface of Earth C, and it’s in here that the singularity of what I don’t wanna call the Green Hole to match the Green Sun when I wanna talk about this specific Black Hole lolol

but yeah, here in this meteor lies the crux of the paradox it seems, interesting, also interesting again, this is where that Hiveswap Portal is

Hiveswap does have a plot point of “Joey must do thing in 11 days otherwise Earth and Alternia will be destroyed” and the only known destruction event of Earth and Alternia so far in canon is the Green Sun’s Creation from the destruction of both universes (and then later Callie’s destruction of the green sun into the black hole) so is Hiveswap gonna be a factor in the green sun’s destruction/creation as well? (Joey has the symbol of the Green Sun for a reason, I’m super curious as to what factor Joey has in relation to the Green Sun’s Existence, We still don’t know what the fact those black monsters are too, they’re like nega-first guardians, the kind of things that look like would come out of a Black Hole that came from the Green Sun tbh)

It’s all inter-related I tells ya

ROXY: ur not gonna enter a weird time vortex and change the trajectory of a little girls life with the power of love

JOHN: aw.

You say that now but

CALLIOPE: it's not strictly speaking "bad" for Us to be inside of a black hole, mUch thoUgh that contradicts most of what anyone knows about them.

CALLIOPE: of coUrse, if we had fallen into it, that woUld be a whole other kettle of fish.

CALLIOPE: the tidal forces woUld have stretched Us all into spaghetti and then ripped us apart!

CALLIOPE: bUt the natUre of oUr arrival was more akin to simply "being" here, sUddenly. one moment we were not, and the next moment we were, and somehow always had been.

yeah that’s basically how this multiverse’s reality works, the future is a thing that already physically exists, just in a different location in the universe somewhere else

time travel and spacial teleportation could be said to be the same thing all along

that’s why violating the events of the future has actual consequences, because its like asking to go somewhere that doesn’t exist but how has to exist because it’s the future, too much of that and reality starts cracking at the seams to make room

same thing happens with sessions and playing sburb

the planets and dreaming moons and all that simultaneously have always existed here, and started existing only because the player played the game and the planets were generated upon entering a session, but to the player involved, it looks and feels like you are just being teleported to a different location in the universe, because you also kind of are

CALLIOPE: i mean, the natUre of space and time is a little finicky in here, bUt for the most part it doesn't seem to be anything too oUt of the ordinary.

CALLIOPE: bUt beyond that, it means that we are sealed away from the rest of existence.

CALLIOPE: oUr sphere of inflUence is limited to the sphere of the black hole's bounding horizon.

CALLIOPE: as far as everyone else is concerned, we might as well not even exist!

So you’re just in a little seperated bubble, that’s not connect temporally to any other place of existence, you aren’t anywhere in the past or the future of anywhere else

nowhere leads here, and here can not lead outwards either, theoretically, and yes it exists, so it must also

JOHN: is there no way we could let anyone know that we're in here...?

CALLIOPE: almost certainly not!

CALLIOPE: there are very few ways for anything to escape the kind of predicament that we are in right now. one of them is to be an all-powerfUl being with control over the very fabric of space, with the energy of two Universes at yoUr disposal.

CALLIOPE: in which case, escape woUld become rather trivial, if a little Unscientific.

JOHN: ok. i am going to assume that we can't just do that.

CALLIOPE: yoU've hit the nail on the head, UnfortUnately. U_U

CALLIOPE: the method i described was the one employed by my alternate self, who yoU may recall crashed through the event horizon in the body that once belonged to jade harley.

CALLIOPE: she departed through a pUnctUre she created in the black hole's surface shortly after consUming my brother, a deed which provided her with the necessary "oomph", and which was frankly rather breathtaking to watch. =u=

CALLIOPE: bUt Upon her departUre, the rift closed for good. as far as i can see, there's simply no way for Us to commUnicate with the world oUtside the black hole.

CALLIOPE: i woUld certainly be very sUrprised to find oUt that anyone had managed sUch a thing!

So someone else definitely has managed to do such a thing

JOHN: knowing that we're inside of a black hole... does that actually change anything?

JOHN: like, can't we just go on living like normal?

CALLIOPE: oh absolUtely not.

CALLIOPE: i don't know if yoU've noticed john bUt this world is on the brink of a total cataclysm.

JOHN: oh.

CALLIOPE: oUr exclUsion from the overarching coUrse of events which governs all reality means that oUr existence here is liable to dramatic and violent Upheaval.

CALLIOPE: to pUt it another way, becaUse nothing in here "matters", we are likely to be sUbjected to things which are a bit bats in the belfry, for no reason other than it's totally insignificant to the wider canon of reality.

CALLIOPE: and mUch thoUgh i am personally titillated by some of the conseqUences of this predicament, it is a degrading way for Us to live. u_u

JOHN: that's... certainly one way to put it, yeah...

yeah, so because here in the black hole neither affects the past or the future of anywhere else, being so disconnected, they are technically free of the reigns of the Alpha Timeline that exists elsewhere in the multiverse

the Alpha Timeline now being understood to simply mean, The Narrative

Things are the way they are because they are thus written to be so

CALLIOPE: at first, i believed that this was simply necessary. Us playing tails to oUr coUnterparts' heads, the black to their white, and so forth.

CALLIOPE: bUt over the years i have come to the conclUsion that this is simply not kosher.

ROXY: its total bs is what it is

CALLIOPE: right, yes.

CALLIOPE: a steaming pile of bUllshite.

CALLIOPE: and so we have decided that something needs to be done aboUt it.

Hmmm. It’s a dangerous idea to be playing with for sure, to decide all the black pieces in the game of chess suddenly become white, it is a very flip turning of reality upside down to be sure

To be honest, I’d think you’d need a powerful Doom player at your disposal to even try something like this

or actually, a powerful Doom user would be most likely to shut this entire thing down, knowing how bad of an idea it’d be, maybe it’s more you need a powerful Life player to do something like this instead

is that also why Dirk viewed Jane as an ally then? She would technically have the kind of power to upend the black and white doomy laws of reality if driven to her full potential, i mean obviously yes, we know this already because of the candy colored I-can-do-whatever-I-want-with-no-consequences lollipop

Is this what Calliope hopes to achieve with the Hiveswap Portal then? her goals for Joey and friends are to be the ones to prevent their universe’s twin destructions, and thus the Green Sun’s initial existence and then also the destruction into the Black Hole after the fact? that would be one way to prevent the Black Hole from existing, making it so the thing that creates the black hole never exists either

and that's certainly a canon event that would be difficult to tear asunder without major consequences

That would be a “Re-writing Homestuck from the very beginning” level of canon event

And if I’m correct, Joey is theorized by me to be a Mage of Life, if any classpect at their full potential was gonna do something like that, or have the impossible knowledge to something impossibly paradoxical like that, well..

ROXY: but u dont need to worry abt busting us outta space jail tbh

ROXY: thats not ur problem to fix

JOHN: oh.

JOHN: i'm... not sure i follow, then.

ROXY: i mean yeah ur gonna obvs facilitate it in a sense

ROXY: but only by going and busting the person who can actually help us outta normal earth jail

CALLIOPE: we need yoU to free vriska from the clUtches of oUr misgUided friend jane, and bring her here, to the singUlarity.

ROXY: weve been calling it the plot point

CALLIOPE: yes, the plot point is a key part of oUr plan.

CALLIOPE: as far as we have been able to sUrmise, the only remaining method for escaping oUr grim confinement depends on leveraging the UniqUe properties of this location to create an event of sUch catalcysmic proportions that it simply cannot be contained within the black hole any more.

CALLIOPE: something SO dramatic, so hyper-relevant, that it becomes ontologically impossible for anyone to ignore it.

CALLIOPE: for that, we need an individUal of sUfficient narrative cloUt, so to speak.

CALLIOPE: and to liberate her, who better than the embodiment of the aspect of freedom itself?

I mean yeah! makes sense! Johns major factor here is Freedom, Vriska’s is Importance

and yeah, I can think of no other wholly dramatic event that to mess with stuff with the Green Sun, everyone will have eyes on that, they have to, their whole existence the way it is relies on it

But, they could also mean something else, its only condition is that it has to be something so imflappably impossible, something so not-canon and so outrageous that it basically horse-shoes around to the other end of the canon spectrum to being something that truly exists again

and that could be literally anything and it’s nerve wracking and exciting to see what thing theyre gonna come up with to just directly kneecap Homestuck itself

ROXY: thx babe

ROXY: oh is it 2 soon for that joke or

JOHN: no, weirdly enough, that one’s fine.

(yeah that’s because Babe can be construed as feminine June)

so, I’m basically convinced they’re doing June Egbert now

that to me was like, pretty severely on the nose

John: Hey Roxy, what it does mean when you find a sense of freedom when all of the symbolism of the masculinity surrounding your childhood burns down around you

Roxy: idk It’s probably a gender thing man

John: I didn’t say the word gender-

Roxy: It’s ok babe no pressure, we can hash it out later

John: Hmm, later then. :)

Roxy: (Turns and looks towards the camera with a knowing smile)

shit all that imagery makes me think of Roxy as that picture of the small kid smirking at the camera while a house burns in the distance XD

[devintrinidad]

You know I was talking a bit on it on Discord, but I honestly think 3803 doesn’t know how 1146 sees her. I bet she thinks of him as a good friend. But she’s still not sure how he defines their relationship. That’s why she was unsure how to answer Rod Cell’s answer. He’s so secretive and he never tells her anything about himself unless he has to. As far as she knows, based off her answer to Rod, she probably thinks he sees her as more of a charge to teach and look after. Like he’s her sensei in a way. 1146 repeating her answer only validates her views (makes me wonder if she was disappointed in his answer). I kind of thought she was giving him a easy option to define their relationship when she gave a simple answer. But instead of saying ‘and we’re friends too’. He just repeated her. 

Obviously they both know the other cares a lot about the other.

But lately I’m thinking she thinks her views of friendship aren’t completely mutual. That he likes to hang out with her not only because he likes her, but also sees her as someone to take under his wing. She does see him taking care of others a lot. After all, someone else (I think Shiny Armin) has pointed out they don’t go beyond idle chit chat. She has no idea he knows half of what he does about her. Their relationship is actually a pretty uneven one with 1146 having a lot more perspective of it. 

That’s further proof to me that 3803 would have no idea 1146 is crushing on her because she has no reason to think he’d ever feel that way about her. 1146 definitely knows a lot more about 3803 then she does him. I get that’s why he feels more deeply over her then she might him (not saying she doesn’t love him back a lot. But it’s definitely not as intense/big in the way 1146’s is back at her). 

It makes me wonder if something could happen that would make him realize he has a different view of their relationship and he’s no longer okay with that? Like he wants to get closer to her and he has to open up more if he wants her to open up to him more too? Maybe he’d be shocked if she didn’t think they were as close to each other as he feels to her because of this unequal footing they have.

Idk. Shrug, I just bet 1146 has had plenty of opportunities to see why 3803 is someone he could fall in love with. While 3803 could see 1146 as her type, but because he’s made this wall between them (accidently(?)) she’s never had the chance to see why she’d think of him beyond a good friend - who might not even be interested in being a close intimate friend with her.

Makes me a little sad. 1146 you dummy. She’s so happy when you show any amount of interest in her. Open up a little more about yourself. A good relationship can’t continue to blossom when you have one sided moments thanks to stalking/eavesdropping. X (

Lol, if this was a bigger romance series and if 3803 ever decided she wanted to date. She’d never ask 1146 out because she’d assume he’d never want to. Meanwhile he’s all grumpy and upset she’s not interested in him and scaring off any cell he thinks wouldn’t treat her well in all his overprotective worry glory nature. XD

Then there’s almost everyone else just slapping their forehead in cringe reactions to how easy 1146 could fix this whole situation. XD 

~~~

Oooh, you bring up a lot of points and discussion here. Let’s see how I can explain my side of things....

To be honest, while I find myself shipping 1146/3803, I don’t see much of a romantic light in their interactions so far??? If that makes sense? I mean, yeah, you can easily interpret their interactions as being the stepping stones to a passionate, romantic relationship (he’s saved her plenty of times, recent development has cause for us to believe that 3803 is definitely going to have further character development that not only influences here, but also 1146 as well, the character development mirrors each other... etc.), like I get it. Plus, their interactions and the way they regard each other ever since the first time they met is just a gold mine for romance.

I get that.

However, it’s all too easy for me to rationalize and know that what we’re seeing here may not lead into romantic implications. Especially on 3803′s side of things. Like you said, if there were romantic implications, she seems to be overly oblivious and not as receptive (???), like, I would imagine she would be okay with being in a relationships with 1146 (if that was even allowed), but I don’t know... I feel like there needs to be more development and insight on her part before I can fully be on board with the actual “canon romance” within the manga.

Furthermore, it’s true. There is definitely a lack of transparency and knowledge, especially on 1146′s side of things. I don’t think he’s ever revealed that he followed her one day during her circulatory route to make sure that she was doing fine. While most would say that he has good intentions, 3803 could just as easily interpret that as 1146 not trusting her enough to do her job (this might also be a case where we might delve deeper into feelings of insecurity and helplessness considering that she’s different than the rest of the cells of the body... if the manga ever decides to go down that route). 

It just doesn't sit well with me that 1146 may or may not be transparent with her while 3803 is, for the most part, truthful not only to herself, but to others. 

If they were to have a relationship within the manga, I want full transparency on both sides. 

But yes, if feelings were reciprocated, I really do want 3803 to be the one to initiate while 1146 acts all flustered. Honestly, that’s the best dynamic I can think of XD

TLDR; I ship fanon wise, but within the canon, I need more character development and revelations before that sort of thing can happen. At most, they’re best friends. :D 

[harunokazesblog]

I know I asked you question (sorry) but I wanted to remake again to add more on what's going with chapter 137 if that's okay.

If Porco, Ymir (104th cadet), Grisha, Kruger Kushava, (previous beast titan holder) Bertholdt, Marcel, are willing to help the Alliance where are the rest of the previous titan shifters that want to stop the rumbling (and Eren) what would that prov in the end? Will the cycle of hatred (that Eren mentioned in Chapter 130) finally end or keep on repeating itself (like Kruger mentioned)? What is the mission exactly?

If Ymir (104th cadet) wanted Historia to have a future why would she agree to help the Alliance to stop Eren (and the rumbling)? Does Ymir (104th cadet) know that Eren has protected Historia for the past 4 year's to keep her safe?

If the rumbling has stopped (for now) it isn't over for Eren because when he fully wakes up (inside his titan form) the real fight starts. Remember in Chapter 117 when Reiner held Eren down and Eren was pissed off I'm betting it will happen again in Chapter 138.

The next chapter (I think) we might get a pov view (or a flashback) with Eren and Historia to continue the rest of the conversation (and confirmed the truth) where it left off and a fight between Eren and Reiner for the final (5th) battle begins. Also if the previous (dead) titan shifters are helping the Alliance I wonder if the founder Ymir might appear to join the fight to help Eren?

I wonder what Eren might be planning because we got nothing from him yet. The last time we saw Eren was in Chapter 133 (as a kid) he hasn't been show since then.

Do you think Isayama wants us to think that the Alliance might win against Eren (and the rumbling) and Armin will survive because he's the narrator of the story (in the anime not manga) and the final panel (teaser) means nothing of the character holding the child while saying: you are free? Sometimes if a narrator dies then there could always be someone else to replace them in the story right?

The foreshadowing of you are free was mentioned first by king fritz (in Chapter 122 as he freed Ymir to go and die in the forest) then 11 chapter's later it was also mentioned by Eren Yeager (in Chapter 133) so if it's possible that Eren (maybe) will survive at the end of Attack on titan chapter 139 (final chapter) then it will make sense that he will the one holding the child (from Historia) in the final panel (teaser) that Isayama has revealed in 2018 in his interview.

It can't be Grisha because he's dead and he also forced his own child to inherit a titan curse to live for 13 year's. A parent has a choice to either listen to their child or not.

It can't be the farmer (unknown) because how would he know that the child is free? Free from the cycle of hatred that Eren is trying to get rid of by unleashing the rumbling (colossal titans) and destroying Marley? So what the he'll has the farmer done to free the child (that may not be his flesh and blood)?

Only 2 chapter's left then it's over for Attack on titan manga (even though we still have the anime to watch for season 4 until that ends) and honestly I have no idea what to do after Attack on titan ends for me.

Hello, sorry for the delay with the answer, mostly I answer it from my cellphone, but since it is a rather long question I do it from my laptop (LOL).  Reading all your post, I agree in the majority; let's remember that the author throughout this last arc has shown Eren's POV on half of pieces (ch 122 - 130 - 133) his true motivations and real intentions are still a mistery, like this cover he hide jealously his hand.

Characters like Armin or Mikasa (his best friends) have failed to understand Eren, a clear proof is the currect Anime Director, he must constantly ask Isayama about the scripts, try to understand and translate correctly the character, the same seiyuu Yuki Kaji (who reads the manga) can’t understands his character 100%, it’s certainly something that the author does on purpose to give the final WOW factor to us the readers...and it will be interesting to see.

Chapter 130 give us pieces, but they’re so mixed and put in a way that It can cause different interpretations and that is what the author wants, he gives us the clues but at the same time misleads the reader.

On that chapter Eren mixed like 4 POV’s (on different times) with Zeke, Yelena, Floch and Historia...

Ironically Historia is not on that panel where the rest of 'friends' are...

To add some point on your comment  ch 137 Eren didn’t appear in any panel, no expression, no surprise of defeat, or anger like Ymir.

Hey Armin and CIA are ruining his plans!!! ... this obviously raises doubts that he has been defeated, he simply has allowed things to happen on this way 

Why? We don't know yet the only clues we have is that Eren had access to a future moment that hasn’t been revealed yet, and that allows his current friends freely to fight.

Eren on this entire manga he has repeated the word 'freedom' ‘free’ more than 50 times

and the man on the last panel mentions the same thing, (how funny XD)

If Isayama really said that the man on the final panel "surpassed his father"... well...

Thanks for asking!