#only understandable reaction

[myylivinglegend]

she is me. i am her.

[sacrosanctitty]

i love how much it fucking sucks to be the protagonist of a da game. you did not choose this and will be seen as a legend but when the story is over you have nothing and everyone leaves you. unless you're rook then you did sign up for this and you get to keep your found family as everyone heralds you as a hero

[keferon]

Two Peas in a Pod: part 2/?

*slips another piece into your mailbox*

_____________________

Jazz was still feeling a little woozy from his donation in the dark hours of the morning. Blaster had breakfast changed from the usual to something that felt more like a treat, probably a reward for his good behaviour, and to help his body recover. Fish heavy in proteins, fat, all that healthy stuff. Something that normally he would have tried to savour, but he wolfed it down from excitement. Too many questions ran through his head, and most he couldn't bring himself to voice.

The mer, the mer would pull through. Blaster told him about how he had saved their life with his blood. Praised him high and low. Because Blaster knew how Jazz felt about seeing blood, about how hard blood tests were for him, and that was only a tiny vial. Not three big bags of it. Jazz hadn't seen how much they had taken – because he had kept his eye closed until they left in a hurry –, and hearing about it made him dizzy for other reasons, but he honestly felt real proud of himself.

It was a new feeling, different from other moments of pride – like when he figured out the lock codes. Yeah, this gave him butterflies and the drive to help more.

Blaster laughed when Jazz offered that the vets could take more if the other mer needed it. His handler didn't think it would be, but he would pass it on to the vet team.

Jazz's morning checks were a little off, expected with having a little less fluids and feeling off-balance, but it was kept short and quick. Blaster told him that if he learned anything more, he'd tell him next time he came by and then hurried back down to the staff area. Blaster was needed elsewhere, understandably as there weren't many mer experts here, though he did leave Jazz his waterproof stereo if he wanted to play some of his favourites.

But, the orca mer was far too busy causing a whirlpool from the laps he was swimming. He was too excited to sit still, and embarrassment be damned he started practising old vocals. He didn't remember much of his mother tongue, and he was pretty sure that his pronunciation was off, that or had one hell of an accent. Echo-speech was even more rusty. And once he had gone over and over what he could recall, Jazz began to really worry. A few sentences and handful or so of words was all he had? Gods, I hope I can at least make a decent first impression. Blaster said they were just like me, so hopefully, that will give me some starting points.

More than he cared to count, Jazz would swim into the shallow waters of the medical bay and hope to see something through that window. But no one ever came close enough for him to hear any news of the mer. He couldn't even see anything on his radar, wherever they had done treatment, it wasn't in the hospital ward. It almost felt like he was being purposely kept in the dark.

And just when Jazz was starting to worry that things had taken a bad turn, a group of staff turned up around four pm. He wasn't able to ask any questions, or rather they refused to answer. Shooing him away as they got to work. Starting with closing the gate to the bay to 'keep him out'. Jazz could easily climb those walls, but that wasn't the point. Even if the gate window was closed, he could pick up that they were setting up the water hammock. But it wasn't until he heard the cautionary beeping of the hoist lift approaching that it dawned on him – the mer was coming. Now.

"Jazz," Blaster called, "… Jazz," he blew the training whistle and finally got his mer's attention. "Stop pacing and get over here."

"But–" Jazz looked back longingly up the wall.

"Jazz," his tone dropped to a firm one, and Jazz begrudgingly swam over to the pier. The human crouched and made sure that they held eye contact before he spoke. "I need you to promise me that you will stay in your enclosure."

He sunk a little, trying to play into his cuteness, but being far too anxious to really pull it off. "What do you mean?"

"Jazz," now warning him. Blaster knew full well that he was more than capable of getting into or out of places he shouldn't, bloody Houdini mermaid, "this is serious. Things are going well, we want to keep it that way. Which means keeping things calm and feeling safe. You're excited, I get it, we all are. But in about an hour, they'll be waking up and – from past experience seen with wild Mers – they will likely freak out. And the last thing we need is you hauling your tail over that wall and making things worse. Understand?"

The beeping was louder how and the hiss of hydraulics caused Jazz to look up. The arm of the lift was visible over the wall. They're here!

"Jazz," Blaster hopelessly called for his attention once more.

Within moments, a massive bundle was carefully raised, the staff calling out and coordinating. Jazz's gaze was fixed on the black and white fluke poking out, it was the only part of them he could see, and his heart began to race. Once they became hidden by the wall again, Jazz moved back to pacing by the gate without even thinking. Listening to people hopping into the water to unstrap the mer and call back n' forth. "Careful, careful! – Watch the head! – Someone give me a hand over here! – We're clear on this side! – Keep the head up!"

Really starting to sound like a broken record, Blaster chirped the whistle and called out to him again. The expression he wore must have been pretty pitiful because the look on Blaster's face dropped. "If I open the view port… will you promise me that you will wait, that you will stay in your enclosure?"

"I promise," he answered hastily, placing his hands on the gate, over the panel that would slide open.

"And that you will wait until everything is in the clear, till the staff come to oversee the integration. There will be no rushing things and no asking staff when we will open the gate."

"I promise," he repeated, trying not to beg.

Satisfied, Blaster pulled out his radio, "Blaster to Control; when the team is out of the Mer enclosure's medical bay, open the view port. Jazz's stress is mounting without a visual."

"Can do," came a quick reply.

Though, opening the panel was not. Several minutes went by, the hoist had cleared out, and much of the staff had returned to their other duties. Only two remained double-checking the mer's breathing and pulse. The moment that the last of them left, Jazz heard the lock disengage, and he retracted his hands as the panel shifted and began to slide open. The window was too small to get more than his hand – maybe up to his elbow if he wanted to push it – through, and sat just at water level– any movement sending water hopping to either side. But it gave him a clear view of the surface area inside.

Oh.

Oh. Jazz stopped breathing. While the mer's body was mostly supported by the fabric of the hammock, cradling them on their side, effectively hiding most of them from Jazz's angle. Propped up on a soft floating platform was the mer's head, face towards the gate. Sharp features and elegantly shaped finials, with flattering lines of their markings complimenting the peaceful expression as they slept. The butterflies from earlier came back stronger than ever, his heart thundering as words fumbled from Jazz's lips, "he's beautiful…"

_____________________

-GLC

Orca Prowl really is just-- too fucking pretty, omg, I'm living through Jazz in this moment like when I first saw your designs of him.

I'm more than happy to continue writing for you, you bring me so much joy. I screamed when I saw how much you liked it. If you have any requests you would like me to add to the story, leave it in the tags or comments ♡ I now plan to continue until the tsunami and a bit afterwards, maybe more, we'll see~

Upd: There is a next part!

Previous

Oh. MY GOD. OKAY ALRIGHT OKAY ALRIGHT OKA

I'M ABOUT TO START PACING IN CIRCLES JUST LIKE JAZZ OVER HERE KDLCNFJFLFB PL E A S E THIS IS SO GOOD. The tension?? You can fucking TASTE it IT'S SO GREAT GLC I LOVE YOU

The way it all starts at night and then you (as a reader) have all this additional time to boil in your anticipation?? So fucking great. Like you can really feel how little power Jazz has over the wholse situation. The plot is moving but he doesn't have any saying in it. Well. Yet heheh

Anyway haha. Im normal and I made some art>:D

[dreadark]

so why is Luka obsessed with Hyuna anyway?

(mostly just trying to get my thoughts on Luka down before blink gone rewires my brain)

every pet human is extremely limited in freedom, but Luka's case is definitely the worst literally even his birth was by Heperu's design... he can't control any aspect of his own life, from his participation of ALNST (twice!) to what he eats on a daily basis

*translations all by whatafruit

humans have no power over segyein, and Luka doesn't even have any power over own his own body so what can he have power over, then?

other humans, of course

most obvious in round 5: Luka would've had an easy win even if he barely tried, but he goes out of his way to provoke Mizi anyway until she finally snaps... and he smiles as he's beaten

because this is his "power." he successfully manipulated Mizi into reacting, proving he has some control over the situation no matter how pointless it is in the grand scheme of things, this is all he can influence, so he makes the absolute most of it and this control is so important to him he doesn't care about his own physical injuries

it's Hyuna talking in this comic, but clearly reflecting Luka's own mentality

while for Hyuna it's likely just her love for singing and performing (whatever happens, they can't take this away from her) for Luka I imagine it's the ability to influence others from the stage (crushing his opponents, but also shaping his fanbase?)

...so back to Luka -> Hyuna

it’s mentioned more than a few times that Hyuna’s a really talented performer, but seeing their respective stat pages really drives it in

(think the “superiority test” Hyuna was put through relates to this also)

Hyuna doesn't seem to have been created in any special way like Luka was… she just has a natural affinity to performing. and that's enough that she’s considered a real rival to Luka—Luka, who was literally made for this, and put through constant hellish training on top (the pain of having your heart stopped...) to mold him into the perfect idol

to Luka… if he can’t dominate Hyuna, he can't even take pride in his own ability (that everything he's forced to go through amounts to something?). and power over other humans is all he has, so he needs to overpower Hyuna (also he likely admires Hyuna’s talents at the same time, which just adds to his twisted feelings)

so since his ability isn't enough... by making someone think of you, only you… that’s another way of having power over someone, isn’t it

“your life is mine” “I told you I only wanted one thing”

whatever exactly happened with Hyunwoo… well that certainly worked. both removing Hyuna's most important person and making Luka someone she can't not think of (oh and he doesn't seem particularly interested in Hyunwoo despite how similar the siblings are in personality? Hyunwoo was even the first to approach Luka, not Hyuna so it's likely because he doesn't have his sister's talents)

but you know how his intimacy(?) value for her is only 70% I figure that's because she escaped, so they could never actually face off onstage... maybe he's disappointed in her "wasting" her ability

what all this amounts to is that she did end up escaping his control, and he never even got to compete against her. so until he can somehow completely overpower her, he'll be obsessed with her

I wonder if this represents his final effort to that... ultimately, he values control over his own well-being, so if he can goad Hyuna into killing him, then doesn't that cement his power over her?

and maybe "saves" him from this hellish life too

kind of a tangent, but I really like how their designs contrast this dynamic Luka looks really angelic and androgynous, so from appearance he seems fragile and like someone to be protected (which even Hyuna seemed to be tricked by when they were younger) and Hyuna obviously looks the stronger one in comparison (very #girlboss (lol...))

but their relationship is one where Luka's trying to control her and Hyuna's trying to escape it... that "beautiful lady" line of ruler of my heart always felt somewhat uncomfortable, and then learning it's actually pitiful (가련한) instead of beautiful is... ...it's a very gendered dynamic, if you get what I mean. despite their surface-level appearances going against what's considered typical

[heedra]

one of my biggest turnoffs from a discussion style podcast is when the hosts get off on a side topic outside their 'field' and it becomes apparently that they are extremely willfully ignorant abt something pretty basic and easy to google.

[bunnieswithknives]

Can we possibly get your version of osma? I'd be interested to see what you did with her

Here you go!! I was putting this off a bit cause, I'll be honest, the way the reveal/transition scene was handled was actually kinda upsetting for me.

I did read on her Wiki though that she's apparently a fairy which is awesome as hell. I haven't gotten to that part in the books yet but I'm glad to have something to chew on in my time of need.

[frankiebirds]

[sallymew4]

i just remembered something ive been thinking about since i was reading Mogami arc. Mogami CHEATS

he was all high and mighty with his “this is how everyone would REALLY ACT in REAL SITUATIONS” and im not doubting him, im sure he was being very honest about this aspect up until these panels. Mob, despite everything he was put through by Mogami and Minori, is letting her off the hook. he even seems a little hesitant to tell her off when he sees how scared she is! he’s yet to let these experiences make him cruel and unforgiving. in the anime he’s cut off with a rock to the head, but here? the only interference is from MOGAMI of all people. when Mogami comes to the conclusion that his plan has essentially failed, he takes action. directly signaling something in Minori to then do this:

now im sure this isnt an impossible situation. im sure that she isnt just carrying that around for no reason and WOULD use it whenever she felt like it. however, in this particular moment, Mogami manipulated this action to occur. it wasnt a natural reaction from Minori. Mob wasn’t giving him the reaction he wanted, so he gave him a little extra push. i just think that’s a very important distinction from the path the anime took, where it makes it seem that Mogami’s plan worked a lot better than it did in the manga

[theramblingvoid]

I'll be honest I never really gave Tim a second thought on my first listen through, but on a relisten I've realized that yeah actually that's me. That would be me. I too would get really frustrated and angry and make a million bad sarcastic jokes if I was trapped in The Office That Makes You Die Badly and could do nothing but wait around to die badly in the office. And also still had to fill out timesheets. I mayhaps would also lose my composure just a little actually.

[aurantiumred]

how do you think jason would react if he knew his best friend replaced him twice, once with percy and once with thalia

one grace sibling traded in for another.

[braxix]

Erestor: Name one thing!

Glorfindel: Rocks.

Elrond: That ones good. Mine was the ineradicability of hope despite the futilty of effort.

Glorfindel: Actually rocks is more than one thing...

[wolvertooth]

theres some xmen fans out there that really just make me wanna make an hbomberguy style video defending sabretooths character good fucking lord

[unknown-cold]

Video by: @unitNo3113 on Twitter/X

Seriously why don't some people understand that Vi stopped Caitlyn from killing Jinx for the second time! and not only that but she compared her to the person who killed her mother and ruined her life, and let's be serious guys imagine your friend comparing you to the person who killed your mother, that's cruel! I know Vi didn't mean it, but she should have comforted Caitlyn instead of arguing with her

[neverpathia]

anyone else think about how oppy inherently has so much more fear than witch? or at least it affects him more.

when proto-witch bit off her own hand, it was fear that drove the opportunist. from a standpoint of pure greed, he had no greater benefit to obtain from slaying the princess than freeing her. but he must've been scared. he must've seen her as a danger and reacted accordingly.

and it was also fear that drove the witch to fight back at first. but it was this fear that she set aside upon her death.

where oppy's fear only grew in chapter 2, the witch simply gave up. she cast aside all hope of survival, of freedom and negotiation.

his fear turned to distrust turned to masking turned to deception. her fear turned to despair turned to spite turned to deception.

it's this fear that drives oppy to self-preservation and borderline narcissism. he's afraid of what he knows she's going to do to him, and he'd rather retaliate in kind before it has a chance to happen. but the witch isn't scared at all. she knows, but where he cares far too much, she doesn't care at all.

where the opportunist yearns to be at the top, where he craves control: it's safety he seeks above all else. he wants to let go, to stop being scared, to be free of this fear that plagues him so constantly. it's kind of the same as paranoid.

but the witch just doesn't give a fuck, though as we see in thorn, she's tired of this farce too. not because she's still scared of being hurt, but simply because she doesn't want to be hurt anymore. what she feels is fundamentally different, though she wants to let go as much as he does.

they both want it all to end. i'm chucking them into the laundry machine

[tears-of-xion]

Jagged Stone's reaction to his kids finding out about him will always be funny to me.

He really just goes 'Aw, you caught me! :( Oh, well, guess I better be a Dad now! :D' and it's just...so funny.

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 4x1 - "The Long Way Down Job"