#or something similarly life-threatening. which is... not a good look

[bobblestheninja]

Wait, they don't bedazzle your intestines when you go in for a hysterectomy? They don't add sparkles and glitter and make it all aesthetic? You don't get a cute little heart shaped stud or some piercings on the lobe of your liver so you look adorable on the X-rays next time you need one?

I, a cosmic surgeon, have done thousands of procedures to implant the beauty of the night's sky into the abdomen of every person who finds themselves on my table. Nurse, bring me my bedazzler, the void left from removing the uterus will be perfect for my next masterpiece.

/heavy sarcasm, in case anyone was even slightly concerned.

.

This is maybe the funniest (worst) radfem post I've come across in a while. It was a comment about cis women getting hysterectomies.

Do y'all know how many feminists have been fighting to be allowed to get hysterectomies without a) birthing (often multiple) children or b) a husband's permission? Including many people who have extremely painful and/or dangerous uterus-related conditions, like PCOS or menorrhagia? So many doctors HATE giving hysterectomies specifically because "you really should have kids first".

Also, cis men don't need to "remove their ballsack" to avoid having kids. They get vasectomies. An incredibly simple, routine procedure.

People who are getting hysterectomies are often doing so for reasons not solely related to pregnancy - if it were just about fertility, getting your tubes tied would suffice if you were averse to other forms of birth control. My mum did that after my sister was born, and then went back in for a hysterectomy a few years later because her periods were agonising. My aunty also had a hysto several years back, because not only were her periods agonising, but they would cause flare ups in some of her other conditions.

I just... how are you calling yourself a feminist while advocating for LESS bodily autonomy for women? How can you act like women are being stupid or reckless in their choice to get a hysto and not see the indescribable misogyny you're utilising?

"It's never [cis] men who remove an organ just because they don't want it" yeah, I wonder if that's because they don't have an organ that causes agonising blood loss on a monthly basis? Like... nobody's out here getting kidneys removed for fun. It's a very specific organ only being removed for very specific, personal reasons.

It's my body, not yours. Hands the fuck off.

*This post is authored by a trans person. If you're agreeing with me about this topic while being against trans healthcare, consider that your whole ideology is built in opposition to bodily autonomy for people outside your ideals of gender. Sit with that information.*

[twisting-roads]

DEBUNKING COMMON RAIN WORLD MISINTERPRETATIONS

The target audience for this was for people who don't know too much about the game as well, so I'm going to explain things that a normal player might already know.

Rain World is known for how it simply throws you into the world with almost no tutorial, and is often praised for it.

But this lack of explanation if you do not go out of your way to find it has also lead to a lot of misinterpretations from those who did not read all the game’s available information, or misunderstood what they were being told. I used to watch some RW lore videos that would explain and summarize these things, and in the past I believed them.

I’ve since stopped doing that after having some time to actually process what I’ve been reading, and I’m here to say...

YOU ARE ALL WRONG ABOUT RAIN WORLD.

Ok, hyperbole. Not everyone believes these, and art can always be interpreted in different ways by different people, and I won’t stop you from having these beliefs. But also, there’s plenty of ingame content which completely disproves most of these unsubstantiated points from those who do not fully research the game before making videos about it.

Looking at you Tale Foundry…

The purpose of this is to pick apart some of the sadly far too common points I’ve heard many times before from Youtube videos, to Tumblr posts, to people I’ve spoken to on Discord.

Starting with my least favorite…

------

“The 5 karma were seen as sinful”

Obvious westernization of a game based off fucking Buddhism aside, there’s no ingame text directly supporting this claim. There isn’t any that says otherwise, but we have good reason to believe this isn’t the case.

The 5 natural urges, as they’re sometimes called, were NATURAL. They were what bound you to the cycle. They never worsened your life or made you a terrible person should you keep following them, but an aspect of life on the same level as suffering or ecstasy.

Hey, I’ll break down the 5 karma and their meanings to show you that they're not just "sins"

I believe the natural urges have 2 different meanings: an animalistic one, and a more “human” one.

KARMA 1 This obviously represents violence, as you see one guy stabbing the other. I believe it also represents competition and intense emotions, For example: Artificer experiencing intense grief and lashing out in violence as a result. It was not the violence that started it, but her emotions. (Yes, its Downpour. But it’s a good point.)

KARMA 2

They’re having sex. They’re fucking. They’re- ok you get it. Karma 2 represents reproduction. But, I also believe it’s desire. Joyful bodily experiences, and such. The 2 figures seen here are in a much more playful pose than if they were simply doing this only to reproduce. No, they’re having fun.

KAMRA 3 Connection. Bonding with others. Yet also trade and personal belongings. Attachment to things that are not yourself.

KARMA 4 It’s mentioned ingame that this represents gluttony It’s overindulgence, you know. Similarly to karma 2, it can also be searching for fulfillment. I'm not particularly good at telling what the meaning of this could be.

KARMA 5 Self preservation. Self preservation can come in many forms, from an animal running away from a predator or somebody getting defensive after being accused of something or being threatened, this one is rather vague about its meaning.

I do this to show that the 5 urges have very NEUTRAL meanings. It being positive or negative is entire dependant on context. They’re not sinful, get out of here with that Catholic shit!

The 5 karmas have both positive, negative, and neutral contexts which they can fit into.

------

“The ancients hated being alive”

The ancients simply hated the cycle itself and its unknowable properties, as well as being much more aware of things like karma and the urges. Rather, they valued being effortless to disconnect themselves from this cycle.

“This was an eternal dilemma to them - they were burdened by great ambition, yet deeply convinced that striving in itself was an unforgivable vice. They tried very hard to be effortless.” – Bright Green Pearl (DS)

Some practices did of course include things like starving yourself, but as mentioned by Moon, these methods proved to be mostly obsolete. Void Fluid fundamentally changed their culture from what we see. Rather, we do see the ancients enjoying life and valuing it in their own way, which is INCREDIBLY important to some of the games themes, but I’ll get into that later.

"[...]'In this vessel is the living memories of Seventeen Axes, Fifteen Spoked Wheel, of the House of Braids[…] Seventeen Axes, Fifteen Spoked Wheel nobly decided to ascend in the beginning of 1514.008, after graciously donating all (ALL!) earthly possessions to the local Iterator project (Unparalleled Innocence), and left these memories to be cherished by the carnal plane.The assorted memories and qualia include:Watching dust suspended in a ray of sun (Old age). Eating a very tasty meal (Young child). Defeating an opponent in a debate contest, and being applauded by fellow team members (Late childhood/Early adulthood).’...and the list goes on. I'm sorry, little creature, I won't read all of this - the list is six hundred and twenty items long.” – Deep Magenta (SH)

There’s quite a lot to pick apart here, I had to cut down some parts short, but even the cut parts have important details. Just not important enough for me to bring up here.

The Memory Crypts we see ingame are… well where memories are kept. The qualia (personalized experiences) is stored within these mutated fleshy neural organisms referred to as “cabinet beasts”. These of course, contain the “living memories” or qualia of those who have ascended. There are people smarter than me who have already covered these ideas of course, so I won't go TOO indepth.

The ancients greatly valued titles and achievements just as us. They still lived normal lives. As well as this, they valued personal experiences and memories of the carnal realm so much they built an entire citadel to store memories.

As we can see as well, Seventeen Axes has quite a lot of enjoyable memories from throughout their life. Eating nice food and winning a debate contest and getting validation from their peers? That sounds rather… complacent with the 3rd and 4th natural urges, doesn’t it?

I do not believe this screams “I hate being alive!” as much as people have made it out to be, and is honestly ruins part of the game’s messages of compassion and personalized experiences, especially in the game’s ending where Survivor dreams of home.

“You have no name. I once had! I was embalmed, adorned, readied for the journey. So proud. There was jubilation! My name was sung, loud and clear. Did they know? That I didn't quite leave, didn't quite stay? Should I be ashamed? That I linger here, where my memories are kept? Should I be ashamed that I now envy your flesh prison?” - Four Needles under Plentiful Leaves

This is leaning into personal theory territory, but...

I personally believe that the ancients were somewhat terrified of the unpredictability of the cycle and the fact that life would always have more suffering in it.

RW’s religion is heavily based off Buddhism. This is well known of course. The Cycle is a variation of Samsara. Now, I’m not Buddhist, and I’ve tried to do my research about some of these topics. Feel free to correct me, I’m simply going off what I know. (Also I'd love to hear what you have to say regarding your thoughts on the game!)

In Buddhism, each new life you could be taken into the body of an animal, or even end up being tortured in hell for a very, very, VERY long time if you made the wrong decisions, which made escaping it as soon as you could seem like a rather reasonable thing to do.

The ancients never fully grasped the scope of the cycle, and the prospects of having your soul wake up in the body of some miserable worm with no memory of your past or any ideas of your future might’ve seemed bleak.

Suffering is inevitable. But that doesn’t mean they hated being alive, like I said before.

------

“Rain World is post-apocalyptic.”

It really isn’t. There was never any apocalypse. The ancients simply left on their own accord, leaving behind their mark on the world that will slowly be buried once again in the ever so present cycle.

“The bones of forgotten civilizations, heaped like so many sticks.” - Two Sprouts, Twelve Brackets

The world is thriving, even. The purposed organisms left behind have evolved and taken over and become it’s own ecosystem.

The iterators are dying though. Dying very slowly, but soon they’ll all decay and everything will move on.

It’s all just another manifestation of the cycle.

------

“The creatures in Rain World cannot die”

This is definitely something I hear from people who haven’t played much of the game and only hear about it from outside sources and watch the gameplay.

Yes, it is easy to believe this. As slugcat, when you die, you wake back up again. This is entirely a gameplay thing and not actually related to the lore. Saying this might seem like I'm avoiding the question at hand here, but the rules that apply to you do not seem to apply to other creatures.

Every creature in the game has a 4 integer ID (it can go higher, but not in a standard playthrough).

This makes every creature you see an individual of sorts with its own randomized values or appearance.

As well as this, creatures spawn from specific marked dens. When you kill a creature that spawns from a certain den, the next cycle, that creature’s ID will never appear again. Instead, the den spawn is replaced by a creature of the same species with a different ID, or a new species entirely.

Through gameplay, you see that the respawn rules that apply to you do not apply to other creatures. I’ve heard many points about how these dead creatures are transported to another alternate universe where they are alive, but I really do not want to delve into that theory. You do that yourself.

Excuse my unprofessional language, but this is kind of stupid. Billions and billions of little timeline splits accounting for every single insect and microbe that dies seems far too complex of a solution. Occam's Razor and all that.

With this gameplay element you see, I also want to give LORE explanations as to why this is incredibly stupid.

1) If death had no impact, the 5 natural urges would not matter

If no creatures died, there would be no point in eating (karma 4), competing with other species (karma 1), or any form of self preservation (karma 5). Reproduction (karma 2) has no role and there would be absolutely no reason to do anything any longer. All natural processes would be useless.

2) Light Blue Pearl

The information received from the cycle is most likely from the Light Blue Pearl, found in Outskirts.

“[...]The repeating mantra is important because it symbolizes the cyclical nature of life and death, and the termination verse is a symbol for ascension above and beyond it. I don't know how familiar you are with the nature of life and death, but I imagine like all living creatures you have some intuitive knowledge? Then you know that death isn't the end - birth and death are connected to each other like a ring, or some say a spiral. Some say a spiral that in turn forms a ring. Some ramble in agonizing longevity. But the basis is agreed upon: like sleep like death, you wake up again - whether you want to or not. This is true for all living things, but some actually break the cycle. That doesn't apply to you or me though, you are too entangled in your animal struggles, and for me not breaking that cycle is an integral part of the design. Our mantras keep repeating.”

“Then you know that death isn't the end - birth and death are connected to each other like a ring, or some say a spiral. Some say a spiral that in turn forms a ring.“

This line is very misunderstood. Moon specifically mentions birth and death. She mentions death. She never brings up the notion that nothing truly dies either.

As well as this, Moon says that “some say”, implying that even the ancients weren’t sure what the cycle was either. This is more important to my point regarding how the unfathomable nature of the cycle was why the Ancients were so averse to it from above, though.

------

“Sliver of Straw found the solution.”/"There is/isn't solution"

No she didn’t.

.

.

Ok fine I’ll explain.

If you’ve played Rain World you know that the purpose of the iterators is to find the solution to the “Great Problem”, the problem of how to ascend ALL living creatures.

You’ll also know Sliver sent out the Triple Affirmative…

“[...]affirmative that a solution has been found, affirmative that the solution is portable, and affirmative that a technical implementation is possible and generally applicable. She's also one of few that has ever been confirmed as exhaustively incapacitated, or dead. We do not die easily.[…]” - Pale Yellow (SL)

After sending out this affirmative, the iterators became conflicted. They never could figure out if she really ascended and had found the solution, or if it was some sort of catastrophic error.

The answer to the Great Problem is clearly intended to be as obscured as possible. There cannot be an answer one way or the other. The themes of it and the endless tolling of the iterators would not be as impactful if we knew there was or wasn’t a solution.

“[...]Either way, after that these different factions developed, as well as a huge forensic effort to recreate and simulate Sliver of Straw's last moments. Some of the simulations were wrapped in a simulation wrapped in a simulation, in case something dangerous might happen. Nothing much has come from it.[…]“ - Pale Yellow (SL)

Here’s my favorite way of explaining what I mean…

Imagine Schrodinger's Cat, the famous thought experiment. There’s a 50/50 chance that when you open the box, you either find the Solution, or find out there is No Solution.

Except you cannot open the box. And the box is entirely theoretical and nobody’s seen it. It seems impossible, but maybe one day you’ll find that box. That’s what the Great Problem is.

Sliver apparently having found the solution would have completely broken everything. Five Pebbles wouldn’t have ended up hurting himself and Moon had Sliver finding the solution been known with certainty. He was taking a shot in the dark.

------

“Ascension is akin to suicide.”

I strongly believe this point harms the role that ascension and the void sea play in Rain World’s narrative. Ascension is meant to be a final destination, a goal you build up to and prepare for when you’ve lived every bit of life you possible could, and can now move on.

Bringing up the Memory Crypt pearl from earlier, Seventeen Axes lived an incredibly fulfilling life from what we see, and ascended happily.

As well as this, Buddhism strongly encourages those who wish to liberate themselves to discover their own path, which is also subtly shown through the gameplay, as there are many many routes you can take to Five Pebbles, Looks To The Moon, and The Depths.

I do also think this is why Five Pebbles failed. He tried to brute force his way to ascension.

Suicide implies that ascension is only meant to be a fruitless escape and that it’s wrong to ascend. I… do not want to go into why suicide is bad. It’s a strong topic and I’m just here to talk about video games. But ascension is a neutral thing that you can choose to do or not do and to wait until you’re ready.

------

Conclusion...

I really only have the time to cover these 6 misconceptions, and I believe it should be enough. There have been many others I’ve seen, such as the ancients being malicious or that there weren’t any civilizations before them, but there’s not as much to say about them, and they aren’t as common.

Rain World is a very confusing game. I’m not upset at people who think these things to be true, and I do not believe they’re stupid or don’t have any media literacy. I just wish that the people who did actually cover this game did some more looking into it, and actually discussing it with Rain World fans.

Also I should say, that during this entire discussion I have avoided talking about Downpour- RW’s DLC- as it’s more of a official fanmade project. And so much of what it says may not be entirely in line with Vanilla. Because my life isn’t easy and of course there has to be an incredibly divisive and confusing thing like this that I need to avoid bringing up so that way the conversation isn’t muddled.

Thanks if you managed to make it through all this by the way

[arceus-insanity]

Something I never particularly liked about Endeavor's atonement, is that he never gave or gave up anything he actually wanted.

Like Endeavor was always willing to risk his life and limb as a hero, so any life-threatening risks or bodily harm he receives is just part of the job he was always willing to do from the beginning.

Him building a house for his remaining family members, only he won't be there?

Endeavor never cared whether he lived with his family or not, all that mattered to him was creating the strongest hero in Shoto.

So he never showed any want to be with his family until Shoto was already on his way to being a great hero.

It was barely an afterthought to him that was never followed through on.

The ending only makes all this worse, because it looks like he replaced each member of his family that he lost with heroes, the people he really wanted to be around...

Fuyumi = Burnin, onima = Natsuo, Hawks = Touya

Shoto on the path to heroic success.

And Rei there too, I guess for some reason???

Just wheeling him around...

Do you feel similarly or different about all this?

DING DING DING We have a winner!

Endeavor never has to sacrifice anything, he never chooses his family over his precious number one spot. He only even remembered they existed after he got his Precious.

And something I noticed is he is full of shit, and believes his own shit.

Like he thinks that 'oh I'll make a house for all my family members to live in' (Which we never see happen, so once again empty bullshit as always). But he never asks them what they want, it is incredibly bold to assume they would all want to live together, or even be able to with their careers, and if the kids want to start their own families. We also know Shoto likes traditional Japanese flooring, but what about the rest of them, and does Endeavor even know that?

One thing I've never seen anyone call out is his manipulative gaslighting speech to Natsuo after being rescued from Ending. He says that he didn't save Natsuo because he didn't want to make like Natsuo feel like he has to forgive him, only to without hesitation force him into a hug. So fucking much for respecting Natsuo's autonomy.

And this ain't the first time this lazy coward has froze when his kids are in immediate danger, we see him standing safely outside the flames with his fire resistance while Touya who's weak to fire burned on the peak. With Endeavor of course claiming 'he did everything he could'.

We also find out he harrassed Fuyumi into giving him Shoto's, his fucking masterpiece, number. Which he uses to text Shoto, in the middle of not just his workday, but fucking class hours! So much is wrong with this, this doesn't make him look good or show any atonement or redemption. What it does is make me think a lot less of both this excuse of a human being and his daughter (The start of her enabler arc). He's doubling down on past behaviour, quite stupidly I might add. And why the fuck did he need to get it from Fuyumi? Presumably, he's the one paying for the phone, he should just have the number from that!

Once again this man openly admits he only offered the work-study to Deku and Bakugou to manipulate Shoto. And constantly favors him when it comes to teaching. Understanding Deku's word vomit isn't difficult, even with him stupidly over-explaining it

What we don't see (or hear of) is him doing anything for or with Fuyumi, the only kid that wants anything to do with him (despite her character profile saying she resents him)

He is constantly given credit for shit he actively isn't doing!

But he and the narrative constantly throw him a pity party the second consequences are even hinted at. Not to mention he is also constantly rewarded for his (non-existent) efforts, Shoto chooses to work with him, Rei forgives him, Hawks, Burnin, Best Jeanist, etc are around to lick his boots clean and make sure he doesn't have to face any of those hinted at consequences. Boo fucking Hoo, the League (and specifically Dabi in this) deserved to win, and by the end, I was convinced that they would have been better for society

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Helmeppo,Koby,Garp - Perv Headcanon

warning : Minors don't read/interact, perverted behavior, tiny yandere if you look closely, this is for the real life and anime version of the series, no use of Y/n, female reader

masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~

Helmeppo :

Before his time in the Navy, he would totally take advantage of his position as the son of Morgan. I mean who was going to stop him. The navy? No to the things his son was doing his father would just shake his head but stay out of them he had long given up on properly raising his son to be a good man and now he wouldn't try. A habit that Morgan has, however, to his son is to provide this maid. These were actually meant to keep the room clean, do his laundry and make him food when he was "overexerted". Which is why he takes advantage of everything. He always had a favorite among his maids. They were his to decide and to rule over. He would develop almost like a little god complex over the young women. But what he liked best was to buy them new uniforms. New uniforms that were too tight and too short. He sat down in his chair with a wide grin and just watched his favorite get to work. Tried to escape his gaze only to bend down with red cheeks to pick up something and show him her butt. ,,Shameless, isn't it? How rude to your master" he asked, chuckling as she hastily spun around and tried to finish as quickly as she could. But those were the easy days, when he let her go, it was over. There were also days when he wanted to get caught when he was pleasuring himself, the door was left unlocked and the thought of her coming in was only more arousing for him. He knew she would find the mess he left behind and clean it up. But that extra when he heard her surprised gasp knowing she had found her own panty he had cleaned himself with. When he walked past her his still soiled hand over her stroke and enjoyed it to the fullest. Let's just say that he finds himself back in the Navy too much under the watchful eye of Garp and the other higher-ups. But above all, he is too busy subordinating himself to his new captain, for whom he would suddenly do anything, I just say mommy issues.

Koby :

Before his time in the navy under Alvida he is a little angel always anxious to give his mistress everything she wants. Her well-being was the greatest thing he could do for Alvida. Similarly, his mind had been reorganized in the Navy. For a long time he was and still is the model soldier with his friend Helmeppo under the watchful eye of Garp. But as soon as he saw you, something awoke in the pink-haired man. The navy had found and rescued a hijacked passenger ship when he found you. So delicate, fragile and he knew the world would break you, he knew what it was like. But you no he had to protect you and yet his eyes that thanked him, your fingers that laid on his shoulder and pulled him into a grateful heartfelt hug. He suddenly wanted more. He wanted more thanks and more thanks from you. The righteous people stayed on the Navy ship until the next island, which meant Koby had plenty of time. He knew the Marine ship by heart and sneaked into her room at night. On the one hand, as a Marine, he knew it was wrong. But on the other hand, his side of the traumatization by Alvida, he wanted only the best for her. Which is why he ventured closer to the bed to move his trembling fingers over her sleeping one. Playing with strands of her hair, he buried his nose in them and gasped. She smelled of love and caring all he ever wanted. But he kept his hands running and was about to lie down when he saw his heart spinning around. Threatening to wake up, he fled, taking a T-shirt with him for relief. But he would do it again came every night in her room wanted only the best for her. And during the day he would watch over her from far and near. Would bring her everything she needed. But the thought that he knew how she looked under her clothes, how soft her breasts were and how warm her lips were was enough to almost make him hard again. But he was damn good at hiding his perverted time. Once again he would do anything for her.

Garp :

Garp had full power on his ship and actually in the navy if you knew it better. The legend beside Sengok were with the most well-known navy members. But just because he is known, older and dazzling doesn't mean he doesn't have a darker side. I mean, who would suspect an older, noble man of having his eyes on one of his female soldiers on his ship? No one. Which is why from the outside it looked more like he was supporting her where he could. Always having her by his side because he saw something in her, a great talent in the Navy. But even if this was the case on the one hand, on the other hand it was his desire for her. Since they had laid down and his eyes had settled on her, he felt the desire that went far beyond love. Called her to him initially only talked to her, just wanted to listen to her voice, see how she moved slightly on the chair. The uniform clung perfectly to her body and he knew that he could overpower her at any moment. She was so delicate in his hands he was sure. But soon these conversations were not enough for him, he finally wanted to touch her. Which is why he trained with her privately, initially together with Koby and Helmeppo afterwards only with her. But even though her form was perfect, he always found a way to get close to her. To let his hands wander over her body and to press himself against her. To feel how fast her heart was beating and to feel how her body warmed up with love when his big rough hands ran over her breasts of course only to correct her form again. When he pinned her to the wall in the fight and had to take himself back not to kiss her and yet wanted it so much. But in the end, when he would be completely addicted to his madness for her, he knew that it only took one command to bring her to him. To force his will on her I mean can such a legend demand something immoral?

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

@tinfairies , @rottengorepiez

[juuuulez]

📰 | part thirteen: capulet.

info: Carl Grimes x Saviour! Reader, no pronouns/no use of (y/n), FINAL CHAPTER, canon divergence (i rewrote the ‘wrath’ episode), non-descriptive violence, blood.

summary: The Saviour-Alexandria war comes to a close in one, final battle.

guys i just wanted to say thank you all SO MUCH for loving this story, because it’s truly my favourite thing i’ve ever written….these two mean the world to me and i’m so glad everyone understands my vision

i actually loved writing this chapter, and i think the ending is really appropriate to the themes and nature of their relationship

i’ll publish an epilogue next, which will be the 6-year timeskip, and just wrap things up nicely so you know what the future held for carl and reader :,)

-> masterlist <-

Truthfully, you were a little nervous. It had taken a week for these negotiations to settle, and you were worried as to what state the Saviours were in. You hoped that Negan was doing alright. Strangely enough, you’d never been away from him for this long, not since getting stuck together all those years ago.

A meeting spot was decided, though everyone was still wary. You’d been cuffed again for safety, and carefully transported alongside Rick, Carl and Michonne. They kept a close eye on you, wanting to ensure that nothing went haywire at the last minute.

It was a large clearing, a small grassy hill with an oak tree. Hanging from a branch was a beautiful stained glass panel, the intricate design having become slightly rusty with time and lack of care.

As you stepped from the car, the adults left your side, trusting you in Carl’s watch for now. He held onto your forearm, walking a few paces behind everyone else, allowing you to gain your bearings.

But something didn’t feel right.

“Carl,” You whispered, garnering his attention. “I don’t.. I don’t think this is a good idea.”

There was a look of worry on your face, one that made Carl’s heart break a little, wanting to assure you that everything is okay, though he didn’t know if that was true. He knew how risky this plan was: a plan that he couldn’t tell you, for you’d absolutely loose it.

“It’ll be okay.” He ends up saying, giving you a small squeeze and continuing to usher you forward.

It wouldn’t. Not for the Saviours, at least.

Fortunately for them, Eugene was still on their side. He’d expressed how the Saviours intended on sabotaging the deal, in hopes of taking power and taking you. This awareness led Eugene to rig the bullets with an explosive mechanism.

Carl had been uncomfortable to hear it at first, but knew that it was necessary in defending their stance. He couldn’t tell you. There wouldn’t be a single universe in which you’d hear him out, and see their side of the argument.

Yet, he understood. If someone was threatening his father’s life, he’d react similarly. So, Carl kept his mouth shut.

As you approached the hill, the Saviours became visible, and it seemed Negan had certainly brought backup. You could identify a few of them as Simon’s men, and wondered how loyal they’d been since his death. Or… murder, you suppose.

The more you focused, the more you realised the sheer amount of guns they’d brought. All standing defensively, weapons at the ready. It started to settle in, and you remembered your long history with the Saviours. They didn’t do things peacefully. They didn’t take deals, there was no such thing as compromise.

“Carl, Carl, I’m serious,” You urged him, suddenly stopping in your spot, causing Carl to stop with you. “This isn’t right. They’re gonna fire, I know they are. We have to—“

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Carl interrupted, trying to calm you. “Trust me, okay? I know. And it’s alright.”

Something about that sent off an alarm in your head, a look of confusion crossing your face. You stared at Carl, eyes darting back to the others, then to him.

“You know?” You repeat, “What do you mean? Carl, they’re gonna shoot you, shoot everyone here. This is bad.”

The more you spoke, the more you seemed to panic, so Carl tried to quiet your tangent with a hand over your mouth. It worked, and had this been another situation, you would have laughed at the irony.

His hand doesn’t move, looking subtly nervous despite trying to calm you down. “You need to listen to me, okay? Just breathe, and—“

Whatever he was suggesting doesn’t matter, as suddenly there is crackling in the distance, loud pops as the Saviours attempt to discharge their weapons. Several guns break down into pieces, flames overtaking their inner workings as the mechanisms shut down and killing several of their owners. Those who survived were injured, their hands crippled and burnt.

You’d cover your ears to protect from the noise, if not for the handcuffs, but Carl seems to have a similar idea. He’s looking around, looking for something, before he pulls you down against the grassy hill, trying to duck and shield your body from something unknown.

“Carl!” You yell over the gunfire, “What the fuck is happening!”

Finally identifying a group of Oceansiders in the distance, Carl cups his hand over your ear, the one uninjured and still intact. You try to squirm away, but to no avail, confused and freaking out, unsure whether his hold was supposed to be comforting or threatening.

As you realised what was happening, it was too late to do anything. Molotov cocktails were used to alight the remaining of Negan’s army, the alcohol splashing at their feet and soaking into the grassy hill, spreading with reckless abandon.

“No! You asshole!” You scream, jerking your head away from Carl and trying to find your bearings. But being handcuffed, and your current lack of balance since the injury, you just end up falling back against the dirt.

“Hey! Listen to me,” Carl interrupts your protests sternly. He clasps his hands on either side of your face, keeping you still despite your attempts at moving away. “It’s over, okay? This is it. It’s done.”

You’re panting, looking practically feral, sweat beading on your brow and skin. Dirt is in your hair, stuck to your bandage, marred over the flannel you still wear. Carl’s flannel. Instinctively, you want to bite his hands, to do anything to get away.

But after everything, you know better. There’s nothing you could do to change this. Whether it be him, or you, someone had to face the music. Someone had to loose.

“Uncuff me.” You demand, chest rising heavily with each breath you suck in, still lying flat against the grass while Carl leans over your form.

He shakes his head, “I can’t do that. Not until we get back to Alexandria. You’ll get a house, your own place, and—“

You interrupt him with a scream, “Uncuff me!”

Though your pleas don’t work, Carl pulls your body up against him, trying to get you into a seated position. If you had control, you’d probably be able to hold yourself up, yet you remain helpless to his control.

“I don’t have the key.” He finally reveals, holding you up by your arms, unconsciously rubbing away some of the dirt that’s stuck there. “Even if I did, we have to wait, alright? I’m on your side, I promise.”

You’re on the brink of agreeing, of finally calming yourself, of accepting that this really is the end. Even your head begins to nod, a small motion, still looking a little breathless and confused.

Meanwhile, the battle isn’t entirely over. The remaining Saviours had seemingly submitted, abandoning any semblance of control under the promise that they would live, if they left for good.

You catch the end of that speech, confusion flooding your featured as they’re commanded to leave. The pair of you still sit in the grass, away from the main commotion.

Carl must have similarly picked up on the sudden shift in tension, his mind finally catching up with everything happening.

The realisation clicks instantly: if the Saviours are disbanding, they had no leader.

At the same time, you’re trying to stand once more. “No, no! Let go of me!” You scream, jerking yourself away from Carl even when he tries to help you up. You only make it a few steps before lack of coordination hits, and despite your hostility, Carl wraps his arms around you in assistance.

Carefully, he helps you over the hill, standing right on the crest. From here, the two of you can see everything. His breath caught in his chest as he realised that Rick had been shot, though he stalled himself from doing anything, understanding there was a much more dire situation at hand.

Everyone stood in awe as Negan essentially choked on his own blood, the liquid seeping from a slice in this throat, no doubt a critical wound. Rick stood above him, hands soaked red, dropping the shard of glass he’d used as a weapon.

It felt like there was no more air in your chest. Like you’d been thrown into space, the oxygen sucked from your form. You stood there dumbly, watching, mouth open but nothing came out. Next to you, Carl was saying something, but you couldn’t hear him.

You couldn’t hear when Rick ordered for Negan to be saved.

Nor could you hear Maggie’s shrill screams, begging and accusing Rick of betraying her.

Everything sort of just stopped moving. All of the noise had stopped, leaving this deafening silence and overwhelming feeling of pure emptiness.

Whatever happened after that didn’t sink in. Somebody had spoken to you, but you weren’t listening, nor did you have any clue where they’d taken Negan. Or where they’d take you. It was likely that you were told, but it didn’t stick.

The entire time, Carl was by your side. After getting into the car, he slid in next to you, a small metal ringlet in his hands. He unlocked the handcuffs from behind you, however had been instructed to cuff you once more from the front, shooting you a sympathetic look as he did so. At least now, he could hold your hand, which he did for the whole trip.

It was mildly comforting, some place in the back of your mind appreciating the gesture, despite the numbness that had worked itself into every corner of your body.

Eventually, you’d arrived at Alexandria. They took you towards the back of the community, to a house standing far from the others. It had been emptied of any objects that could be deemed weaponry, and was fairly bare-bones, but contained the minimum for survival. It was the first time you noticed Carl wasn’t around, a notion that allowed your senses to return slightly, offput by the sudden seclusion.

You allowed yourself to explore the area, opening each drawer only to find them all empty. The windows were barred, the door locked, leaving the house to feel more like a prison than a home.

Unsure what to do, you sat down on the couch, facing the door. It was comfortable. You poked at the fabric with your fingertips, trying to gain your bearings and come back to a place of consciousness, but everything still felt fuzzy and far away. Like you just couldn’t reach reality.

Hours past, though you weren’t too focused on the time. The only way of telling was when the sun had lowered, shadows being cast through the partially obscured windows. You hadn’t turned the light on earlier, causing the room to just become darker and darker, as you had no intention of getting up.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door unlocked with a distinct click, before creaking open. You hoped that Negan would walk in, that he’d be alright and he’d hug you and say you’re going back to the Sanctuary. Together. But that was wishful thinking.

Though when Carl entered the house, you didn’t have the energy to be angry. You probably should have been.

“It’s dark, isn’t it?” He comments, having instantly spotted you sitting on the couch. When he doesn’t get a reply, Carl knows that small-talk won’t cut it, that he’s messed up.

So, he comes over, sitting next to you on the couch. In another life, you would have probably punched him. Screamed and accused him of lying to you. But you couldn’t be that person anymore.

When he wraps an arm around your side, you don’t protest, allowing Carl to pull you against him. You’ve finally begun to realise just how tired you are, as you rest your head down on his shoulder, tucked nicely into his side.

“He’ll live,” Carl whispers, “And they’re gonna keep him in a cell. I dunno how long… but probably a long time.”

You give a small nod, just to acknowledge that you’re listening. It makes sense. As long as Negan was alright, that they’d help him get better, then you could deal with the rest later.

“Can I see him?” You ask, voice coming out a quiet whisper. They’re the first words you’ve uttered since everything went down.

Carl feels guilty for his answer. He wasn’t even supposed to be here, with you. “No. Not for a while. Someone’s gonna come here, live in this house, just to keep an eye on you,” He has to swallow to clear his throat, “And.. it’s gonna be weird, I know, but… you’re here, and that’s all that matters.”

There’s little protesting you can do, not in this state. The shock still hasn’t fully worn off, Carl knows this, so he tries to move away from the heavy conversation.

He shifts on the couch, laying down and pulling you with him. You settle there easily, head resting over his chest, though he’s wary of not putting any pressure on your injury.

“We should get you something to eat.” He suggests quietly, brushing back some hair so he can see your face.

You shake your head, not having much of an appetite anymore. “Can we just stay here?” You whispered, lifting your head slightly to look at him.

Carl feels himself getting choked up again. He doesn’t quite know why, as he’s glad that this is over, that Negan will be confined to a cell, unable to harm anyone. This was the best-case scenario for his community.

But he knows, in another life, this could have ended badly. That he shouldn’t have been so lucky as to survive. The idea hurts, a deep ache in his chest, though he tries to keep the emotion out of his face.

“I’m just glad that I’ve got you.” Carl ends up whispering, the words slightly vague and confusing, but they mean everything they need to mean.

For Carl does, quite literally, have you in his arms. It didn’t matter where your relationship stood, or all your differences, for he had you.

You seem to realise this, a smile finally making its way onto your face. “Dork.” You mumble, the slight jab helping Carl to smile as well.

That numbness fades, as you lift yourself up a little, hovering over his body as your lips connect in a kiss. It’s the first one since weeks ago, after your fight in the alleyway.

This time, it’s softer, and Carl places one hand on your hip and the other to the back of your neck. Your breathing slows to match his own, lips moving together in an almost tired manner whilst your fingertips stroke the sides of his face.

Tomorrow will likely be difficult, as will the next day, and the next. But right now, things felt alright.

That night, you fell asleep on top of Carl, the pair of you tangled on the couch. You’d wake up to his voice in your ear and lips against your cheek, and though neither of you knew it then, you’d spend many, many more mornings together.

Eventually, the noise would fade, and you’d find some sense of peace in Alexandria with Carl. Years from then, you’d even help Negan find his peace, too.

Life would never be easy, but it certainly felt a little better with each day. That was enough.

[suckerforcate]

This is so exciting!

I love Kate Stewart!

May I request a Kate Stewart x fem reader? Older woman x younger woman ( legal age gap of course)

A one bed trope/ forced proximity/ will they won't they trope.

Reader works closely with Kate Stewart. They have a very caring/ slightly flirtatious dynamic but both are in love with each other and Kate is very protective and possessive over reader and gets jealous when men flirt with reader as reader as regarded as a total catch .

Can be a mixture of fluffy , angsty and smutty😊

I'm so happy Kate is getting the love she deserves!

Pitlochry

Pairing: Kate Lethbridge-Stewart x fem!Reader

Word Count: 4223

Warning: 18+, oral sex

Summary: When you drive to Scotland with Kate and spend the night in a pub where a guy hits on you something in your relationship finally shifts.

A/n: So it's just a hint of the one-bed trope and more of a shared proximity. I also sprinkled a bit of pretend/fake relationship in there. I hope it's what you had envisioned!!! It's a bit longer than I had planned, hence why it took a bit longer. @freshmoneyalmondathlete <3 It's also my first time writing for Kate, so I hope it not totally off-character. I would love a repost, like, or comment <3

■----------------------------------------■

It had been months. Months since this strange sort of dance had started. You both knew there was something, but no one acknowledged it and work was way too time-consuming and hectic to talk about it.

You’d been working for UNIT for some time now, having started there as an exited young scientist just finding out about the wonders of the Universe. And you were good at your job, which helped you quickly work your way up into a bit of a lore important position. You still did mostly lab work, and that was a part you’d never give up. But it was nice to be recognised for your hard work and to be given more responsibility.

More and more often you were right in the middle of the action. A trusted consultant for Kate when hell went loose, and it felt good. To know your opinion was valued by the boss herself. But it was more than that. You admired her, no question about it. What she does and the way she worked for it couldn’t be described as anything else than admirable. But you also couldn’t keep your eyes off her when you were in the same room. She took your breath away in all her smart pantsuits and high heels.

And whether Kate knew about it or she felt similarly, there’d been a sort of charged air around the two of you right from the beginning. It wasn’t unknown for the two of you to flirt even, or maybe especially in life-threatening situations. A way of staying grounded, keeping some light-heartedness to the job was all you could do to stay sane.

You obviously cared for each other immensely, but no one dared to make a step forward. And whenever you thought you’d ask her out something happened. Cybermen came, the earth was nearly invaded, the Doctor showed up. It felt like the Universe itself was against you. At least until now.

Your hard work had led to Kate taking you with her to a call they’d gotten up in Scotland. Someone had apparently seen something that could be connected to a scientifically unexplained phenomenon that Osgood had picked up upon a few days ago. It needed to be looked at and that’s how you found yourself in the passenger seat of a UNIT vehicle next to Kate on the way up to Scotland. It was cold outside. And considering it was November and you were driving up north, that was not surprising. You had thrown a sweater over your long sleeve, but you were still cold.

„Turn the heating up.“ Kate suggested, clearly having registered that you were cold. The way you were practically curled up into the passenger seat and had your arms crossed, it probably wasn’t hard to put one and one together. You turned to look at her and shook your head.

„Too much heating air gives me a headache.“ You explained and looked back out the window. It looked peaceful, just miles and miles of fields and flat land. In the corner of your eye you saw Kate nod in understanding. It was silent for a few seconds before she spoke.

„I have a jacket in the backseat. You can put it on.“ You looked at her and then turned your head around very uncomfortably to look at the backseat. Sure enough there was a cardigan, looking soft and incredibly warm. For a moment you hesitated. Another look at Kate, but she was just smiling softly. It was probably a bad idea and would make you fall even more in love with her. But you were so cold.

So you bent your back awkwardly and reached behind your seat to grab the cardigan. Your shoulder brushed Kate’s and your face was far too close to hers. The sift smell of her perfume filled your nose, and it made your heady dizzy. As soon as your fingers wrapped around the soft fabric of the cardigan you pulled it to the front and sat back normally. With a little bit of fidgeting you put the jacket on. The fabric a little tight around you, but so wonderfully warm. You let out a happy sigh and nuzzled into the cardigan with a soft smile.

„That’s much better, isn’t it?“ Kate said and even though you’d closed your eyes you could hear the smile in her voice. That beautiful smile, the one you wished would always be because of you. The familiar sensation of fluttering butterflies made itself known inside of you. You hummed in agreement and just nuzzled deeper into her cardigan. It smelled exactly like her and that gave you so much comfort.

You felt a tender touch on your cheek, soft fingers brushing over the skin there. Unconsciously you leant into it, humming happily. A warm chuckle, soft like honey made its way through the fog of sleep.

„(Y/n), dear. We’re there.“ The same warm voice said, soft and quiet. Sounding so much like Kate. Suddenly your eyes snap open. It was Kate. You immediately sat up straighter and untangled yourself form the complicated mess you’d brought your limbs into in the seat. You blinked a few times to adjust to the darkness around you, just a little light in the car on around you.

„I remember when I could sit like that.“ Kate chuckled amused as she pulled the car key out of the ignition. You looked at her next to you, still a bit out of it from the sleep. You hadn’t even realised you’d fallen asleep. But that soft, tender touch in your cheeks… You couldn’t stop thinking about it, you craved more of it.

„My old body won’t allow something like that anymore.“ She said, laughing, and before it registered in your brain she had stepped out of the car. You hastily put your shoes back on and in an attempt to quickly get out of the car, nearly fell face-first into the mud. In the last second you caught yourself, albeit not very gracefully. When you looked up you saw Kate peeking around the car from behind and grin at you, eyebrow raised. A bit embarrassed you stuck your tongue out to her and closed the car door. A hearty laugh came from Kate, slightly morphing into that absolutely ridiculous laugh of hers. It wasn’t heard too often around UNIT headquarters it always made your heart warm.

„You’re being mean.“ You said, sounding like a petulant child, but it was clear you were joking. You rounded the car and stepped up next to her, grabbing your bag from the boot.

"And you’re not old.“ You added, the actual reason you’d even started that ridiculous exit from the car. Without waiting for an answer you walked away from the car and into the little inn that Kate had parked in front of. Kate looked after you, as soft smile on her lips and slightly shaking her head. She closed the boot and followed you inside.

The inn really wasn’t big and was more of a Pub with a few rooms than an actual inn. Very Scottish, but cosy and most importantly warm. You could just hope the rooms would be warm as well. There were a few people scattered across the room and an old man behind the bar. You walked up to him and his thick Scottish accent immediately woke you up. Half asleep you wouldn’t have understood a single word he said.

Kate came up next to you, and you looked at her, right in the middle of paying for the room. Room, not rooms. Kate suspiciously eyed the one key you had. You quickly wrapped up with the man and practically shoved her through the room and into a very badly lit hallway with creaky stairs.

„I didn’t understand a single fucking word of what he said.“ You told Kate as you walked up the stairs. The whole Pub had an unmistakable smell of spilled beer to it. „I think he said something about the other rooms all being full. And I think he assumed we were a couple.“ You explained, trying to remember the few words he’d coherently spoken and string them together. You heard a sharp intake of breath behind you and stopped in the last step to look back at her.

„Everything alright?“ You asked a bit concerned, it was hard to make out faces in the near complete dark of the hallway. But you could see Kate nod and wave you off. For a moment you hesitated but figured she’d speak up if something was wrong, so you kept walking. The room was at the end of the hall, and you opened the door easily, though just like the stairs, it creaked a bit.

You stepped inside holding the door open with your foot until you felt Kate hold it. Two steps, and you were in the middle of the room, and you abruptly stopped, resulting in Kate practically walking into you.

„What-…“ She started but immediately got why you stopped. Not only was it fucking freezing in the room, and you shortly thought about sleeping in the much warmer hallway, there was also just one bed. One, quite small bed. Your insides practically fell over themselves, fluttering at the thought of sleeping in that bed with her.

„I’ll sleep on the floor.“ Kate’s words pulled you out of your daze. Turning around to her, an eyebrow raised critically you shook your head. Absolutely not.

„Don’t be ridiculous, your back would kill you.“ Was your simple answer, and you stepped further into the room, rounding the bed and setting your bag down on the right side of the bed. You took Kate’s cardigan off and slipped out of the pullover underneath, leaving you in a long sleeve shirt. It was definitely freezing in the room. You just wanted to put on a thicker sweater on when you see Kate remained standing by the door, just watching you.

„Kate, we are grown people. We can share a bed for two nights.“ You nearly sounded like a scolding mother and that seemed to snap Kate out of it. She walked to her side of the bed and silently started unpacking her bag.

A part of you wishes Kate really would sleep in the floor. It was the reasonable part, the one that this couldn’t end well. The bed was too small, the room to cold. Your body would surely seek warmth in Kate.

„I’ll treat you to dinner downstairs. As compensation for having to sleep in a bed with me.“ Kate said a bit softer again and looked up from her bag, now nearly completely unpacked. You look at her, your pj’s in hand and tilt your head.

„That’s really not necessary, but thank you.“ You knew arguing would get you nowhere with Kate, so you just accepted it. Quickly you finished unpacking your things as well and saw her waiting for you. She was leaned against the wall, hands stuffed into the pockets of her pants. She had taken her blazer off and the pale blue blouse underneath drive you crazy. The upper buttons were opened, and her sleeves were neatly rolled up. The sight alone made your mouth water.

You shook yourself out of it and without thinking put Kate’s cardigan back on. You missed the way Kate looked at you in her jacket and smiled softly, her cheeks ever so slightly flushed. The long sleeve and the cardigan would be too cold for the room, but the bar room had been nice and warm, with the fireplace alight. You walked over to Kate and gave her a smile. Opening the door you gestured for her to step into the hallway. She shot you a smirk and walked past you.

Nothing had changed in the bar room since you’d crossed it to get to your room half an hour ago. The old Scottish man still stood behind the bar, now reading a newspaper. Seven people were spread around the room. Three young women, crouched into a corner chatting and giggling like teenager. Best friends, you assumed. An old, presumably married couple sat at a table by the bar, eating fish and chips. And two men, about your age sat at a high table on the wall opposite the bar. They were just drinking beer, a bag of crisps in front of them.

You simply followed Kate to a table close to the fireplace. Sitting down across from her, your back turned to the warm fire you sighed happily. Kate smiled at you softly and opened one of the menu’s. When she was done looking through it, she turned it around and pushed it to you.

„What will you eat?“ You asked absent-mindedly, while looking through the menu. She leans back in her chair and crosses her legs, running a hand through her blonde hair.

„Fish and Chips and the bitter they have on cask.“ She answered and pulled her wallet out of her bag. She looked ready to stand up and walk to the bar, just waiting for you to decide.

„I’ll have the pie and mash and the lager on cask, please. Thank you.“ You said and closed the menu, putting it back in its holder. She stood up and walked over to the bar to order your food and pay. You were thankful actually, at least you wouldn’t have to talk to the old man again. His accent really was not understandable. You watched her lean on the bar, looking so effortlessly attractive. One hand pushed into her pocket and the other gripping her wallet.

She had one leg behind her other, foot propped up in the tips and tapping on the floor impatiently. It brought out her figure even better, and you shamelessly stared at the way her suit pants clung to her ass. She paid and as you saw her reaching for the two pints in front of her you turned your head away. She placed the beer down in front of you and sat down on her chair again. You blinked your glasses together and spent the time waiting for the food talking about anything but work. A welcome change to your usual conversations.

At some point your mind slipped away, and you barely listened to a word she was saying. Her lips were moving, but the words didn’t hit you. You couldn’t help but stare at her lips, your eyes flickering down the few open buttons of her blouse, a tantalising amount of cleavage exposed for your eye. You were thankful that at some point the food had come and Kate was too preoccupied with it to see where your eyes were directed to.

„What do you want to drink? I’ll buy you one. You already paid for the dinner.“ You said after you had both finished eating and shoved your empty plate away. Without warning, she grabbed your glass and took the last sip of it.

„I like that. I’ll take one of that.“ She said nonchalantly and puts the glass back down. All you could do is nod, your eyes still glued to where her lips had touched the rim of the glass. You grabbed your wallet and headed over to the bar, trying to get your head straight. You ordered two half pints and paid for them.

„I’ve never seen you here before.“ Surprised you turned your head to the side. You saw one of the man from across the bar standing next to you. He was your age, brown curls, a tad taller than you. A slight Scottish accent could be heard in his voice. He actually looked kind of nice. Like someone, you’d be friends with, definitely not someone you’d date. But with men you could always see it in their eyes, he definitely wanted to pick you up. You gave him a polite smile.

„That’s probably because I’m not from around here.“ You said, putting your card back into your wallet and looked back at him, waiting for beers to be ready. He had his eyebrows raised, the question clear on his face.

„London.“ You offered as an answer, and judging by his understanding nod you’d read his question right.

He leaned on the bar, trying a bit too hard to look relaxed. You turned to him fully and grinned, in the corner of your eye you could see Kate's eyes glued to you. A tilt of your head helped you take a look at her. She looked...jealous?

"And what does such a pretty London lady do in a dump like this?" His word shook you out of it, and you looked back at him, chuckling amused.

"I'm afraid, that's classified." He looked a bit taken aback, but he quickly found his smirk again and nodded.

"Classified, huh? What are you, the MI5?" Awfully pleased with, he grinned at you and just at that moment two half pints of Lager were placed in front of you. You took them, shoving your wallet into your jeans and smirked at the man.

"Maybe." You simply reply and walk past him, towards Kate. You missed the dumbfounded look on the man's face and just saw Kate's eyes still trained on you. A hint of possessiveness and jealous still gracing her features. You more assumed than knew that the man would be following you. And when you set down across from Kate he stood right beside the table. You sighed and crossed your legs. Taking a sip of your beer first before giving him any attention.

"Let me give you my number, we would have to talk about your classified work." He said, and the innuendo was clear in his tone of voice and the smug expression on his face. You had to concentrate hard to not roll your eyes. You shot Kate a look and hot an idea.

"Sorry, mate. But I'm already spoken for." You said and looked at Kate in just the right moment to make it clear who you were spoken for. You saw Kate's eyes widen a bit, but for the sake of the moment she pulled herself together.

You did not like the look in the man's face when he eyed Kate. Not at all. He looked at her disparagingly, like he would be a better match for me. And no doubt that's what he thought.

"Come on, how old is she?" He said and that was definitely a mistake. Your little thread of patience you had with men like him ripped in mere seconds. You looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure that's any of your business. Besides, she gives better head than you." Well, that effectively shut him up. He gawked at you for a moment, like a lost fish and then retreated back to his table. You snickered amused and sipped on your beer, but when you looked at Kate you didn't see the smirk you had expected.

Her whole demeanour had changed, and her eyes had darkened. The only word you could think of to describe what you saw was hunger. Sure, the two of you had danced around each other for months. And you were quite sure that there was something between you. But this was new.

"Drink up." She said and her tone of voice cut right through you and went straight to your core. A bit perplexed you stared at her, blinking a few times. But there was no patience in her eyes, so you quickly drank the rest of your beer. She stood up and reached out a hand for you to take. You took it and followed her through the pub, past the guy that had hit on you and into the darkened hallway. You went up the stairs, her hand still tightly gripping yours, and towards your room.

Inside the room you were immediately pulled flush against her and soft, warm lips pressed against yours. Considering the hunger and possessiveness you'd seen in Kate's eyes downstairs the kiss was surprisingly tender. But that was Kate for you, full of care and gentleness. It was what made her such an excellent leader. She always kept a clear head and could lead and make aliens falter with one look. But she never lost the care and empathy she felt for the world. For her officers and her team. For you.

Instinctively your hand reached up and tangled itself into her honey-blonde hair, soft and silky. You’d wanted to touch it for so long, and it nearly made your legs give out, the way she kissed you, so fiercely and yet so loving. When you both felt like you might suffocate if you don’t take a breather she pulled back and rested her forehead against yours.

„I don’t like men flirting with you.“ She admitted and nearly sounded embarrassed, like she had no right to feel that way. And you assumed in some ways she didn’t, but you wanted her to feel jealous. You wanted her to want you for herself.

„I figured as much. You were quite jealous.“ A soft giggle bubble out of Kate as you said that and the sound was so unfamiliar, so unusual for her, it made your heart stop for a moment. And with the way your heart warmed and everything inside you felt like you just wanted to hear her make that sound again, there was no denying your feelings anymore. You were head over heels, absolutely stupidly in love with her.

Gently you let your hand wander from her hair into her neck and played with the soft hair there. You felt her shiver slightly and a soft sigh escaped her. Her hands gripped your hips a bit tighter, her fingers digging into the material of her own cardigan draped around you.

"So, you think I give better head than that douchebag, huh?" She whispered, but there was a hint of a challenge in her tone, and you chuckled in responds. Slightly pulling back you were able to look her in the eyes. With a mischievous smirk on your lips you spoke.

"Why don't you show me?" She answered with a grin and suddenly her hands were all over you. Tugging the cardigan off your shoulders, pulling your shirt out of your jeans and pushing you back towards the bed. With a slight oof and a giggle you fell back onto the sheets, and you quickly kicked your shoes off. The sight in front of you made heat pool between your legs. Kate easily fell to her knees, settling between your legs in front of the bed. Her slender fingers made quick work of the button on your jeans.

"You'd like that, huh?" Kate practically husked, and it was enough to tell you that she was just as affected by all this. Eagerly you lifted your hips when she hooked her fingers under them hem of your jeans. Tantalisingly slow she pulled them down your legs, exposing more and more of your skin. From up in the bed you had a delicious view right into her blouse and the soft pale curve of her breast drove you crazy. Before you knew it your knickers were gone as well and strong hands pushed your thighs apart, digging wonderfully into your flesh. Your head fell back onto the mattress, and you just heard her hum.

"You're dripping, darling." She commented and that alone nearly made you burst. You needed her, now. One of your hands made its way back into her hair, impatiently pushing her closer to where you so desperately wanted her. She chuckled, deep and warm and the sound went up your spine and through your whole body like honey. The next thing you heard was your own moan as her tongue trailed through your folds and your fingers tightened their grip in her hair.

"Shit, Kate." You gasped. She was good at this, really good. No doubt better than the guy from earlier. Her tongue on you felt like heaven, and you asked yourself how you'd been able to resist her all these months. Your hips lifted up involuntarily, and you ground against her. Desperate for more, for her. Her hands held you steadily in place, fingers massaging the soft flesh of your thighs. Gasps and moans filled the room when she sucked on your clit, a wonderful mix of hungry and gentle that made your head spin. Your free hand gripped the bedsheets desperately. When you came your back arched off the bed and your thighs wanted to squeeze shut. But Kate held them open, spreading them for her to ride you through it and clean every bit of you up.

The smug smile on her lips when she pulled back and looked up at you made you laugh. Breathless but absolutely content. Gently to untangled your fingers from her hair and cupped her cheek.

"Come here." You said, smiling and pulled her up on top of you. One leg wrapped around her, you pulled her flush against you. Your thumb tenderly trailed over her bottom lip.

"You were definitely better than that douchebag." You confirmed and chuckled at her happy face, she looked awfully pleased with herself. Swiftly you pulled her into a kiss and switched your positions on the bed.

"Your turn."

The small, single bed definitely wasn't a problem anymore.

[generalluxun]

I know it wasn't intended by the writers and even from a purely in universe perspective it was likely not a conscious decision but...

It really does feel like Andre was setting Chloe up for failure.

There's obviously letting doing Sabrina most of Chloe's labor for her thing.

But we also have that whole aspect where he taught her explicitly to cheat, extort, threaten and bribe her way to victory. A strategy that works for him because he's not doing that stuff to the people he wants to vote for him, but that ends up making Chloe hated by her peers.

Similarly, there's encouraging her Audrey impersonation, which even if we ignore the creep factor. Still means he is rewarding her for engaging in damaging and anti social behavior that only serves to make her miserable and more dependent on him.

His total tolerance for Audrey's overt cruelty towards her can also feel like it feeds into this. Again I don't think he is necessarily aware of or planning it, but this still serves to, A, not make Audrey upset with him, and B, mean he remains Chloe's primary source of affirmation and affection.

Add in him in season 1 being willing to act against her if she impacted 'him' negatively and it really does kind of feel like he, at least subconsciously, wanted Chloe to need to hang off of him forever and to generally lack other support networks or avenues of self sufficiency.

I mean, yes. There's a reason I'm very much on the 'Audrey's behavior is bad and abusive, but André's is worse' wagon.

Audrey is openly abusive to those around her, that is clear. She also wants absolutely nothing to do with kids. She removes herself from her daughters lives. She does it out of selfishness, but the net result is she she does not *make* herself a role model.

André on the other hand loves having a kid! They play great with the press. They make for awesome photo opportunities, and now and then he can play family just like in movies! What he doesn't like is *raising* a kid. He himself is horrible an self centered, so he doesn't think that maybe he needs to change his behaviors for the child, so he passes all of his Andreness on to them.

I know guys who were pretty useless until they had a kid, I know guys who are pretty useless with anything that *isn't their kid, but both groups still realize that *parenting* is something you have to do right, something worth changing or at least concealing your worst-self behaviors from. André can't even go that far.

André goes past 'oops haha silly me' or 'overworked parent' tropes too. The man is filthy rich. He could *make* time for his daughter if he wanted to. He also fails so completely on the very basics of parenting when *he has the resources to get help*. It shows he hasn't even really tried.

Well, he tries like a 4yr old tries when they don't want to do something. One half-hearted attempt, then they whine.

How do we have obvious proof, canonically, that this is on André? Look at Zoé. She had as much if not more contact with Audrey, and we are not giving her credit for being a *good* influence, are we? So then it comes down to the influence of the other parent, and what differences does canon show us there? Hmmm.

Look like André is a net negative in a child's life.

Oh and miss me anyone who claims children are just 'bad seeds'. That line of thinking can go jump in a wood chipper.

[nyx-express]

Black.

Info: This is part of a drabble series I'm starting about colours and their associations with emotions. Starting off with a real bummer, sorry for that. More happy things to come soon!

A/n: This drabble is better suited to spawn Astarion and is my explanation for why it's rather hard to convince him not to ascend, although I think he'd feel similarly after ascending, but would never admit it.

Warnings: Canon-typical talk about fighting, death and Astarion's enslaved life with Cazador and the ongoing abuse

Word count: 670

Astarion - Black [associations: death and mourning, fear and the unknown, emptiness and absence, anger and aggression]

How it would feel to kill Cazador, Astarion could hardly wait. To free himself from his abhorrent master who had kept him as a slave for centuries. He didn’t have the words to explain what he had to endure until now. The lashings, the scars, the abuse and torture he and his siblings had lived through, the starvation, the year he’d been put in a coffin for disobeying! Not to mention his body, which hadn't belonged to him all this time, used to seduce and lure hundreds of souls to the Szarr palace in a myriad of wretched ways.

The anticipation was unbearable, to slit the very man’s throat that had harassed and violated him ever since he could remember. The rush he’d get thinking about it was so deliciously sweet, his fingers itched even when he lay in the Elfsong Tavern’s bed daydreaming. He’d give everything, anything for a chance to end that wicked monster’s life once and for all.

And when he did it, when he finally found him, had escaped the ritual and wielded the blade for the final time, hearing his former lord gurgling his last breath, Astarion felt… nothing. 

Emptiness enveloped him when he looked at the corpse in front of him and sunk to his knees. A terrible pang shot through his head, first in his ears, down his neck and back up behind his eyes. Where was it? Where was this feeling he’d waited for, sought after, for what felt like an eternity? Where was the satisfaction, the glory and relief he had promised himself? He paused for a moment, two. Surely, it would begin to feel good, any minute now. It had to, this was all he had worked for. No, no, this couldn’t be. This couldn’t be it. 

The longer he looked at him, the clearer it became that Cazador’s corpse was nothing more than a man. Just another man, like the countless others he had killed in passing on his way back to Baldur’s Gate. But this was Cazador! Not simply a man or a nameless creature, this was the diabolical beast he had dreamed of killing every night since he had been captured and turned. It had to feel good! By the nine hells, why didn’t it feel good? The blandness of it all threatened to crack his skull.

A half-broken cry, helpless and pathetic, tore from his mouth as he looked up to the dungeon’s ceiling. Up to the Gods that he had prayed to for so long, that he had begged day in, day out, to set him free. None had answered all this time, no, he was the one to free himself in the end. And for what? For this feeling of nothingness? Two hundred years of pure shit for it to feel the same as having killed any other insignificant rival? Two hundred years of his life wasted because of Cazador. Centuries he could have spent on himself, his job in the magistrate's office, hells, he could have been rich by now or have started a family. Instead, he’d been bound to his involuntary pact, to lure in the innocent and foolish for Cazador to play with. All that cruelty, the manipulation and crimes were supposed to mean something!

But what had he expected? For Cazador to crawl to him, wailing apologies and begging for mercy? That he could be the one to laugh and spit in his face for once, before landing the killing blow? Would that have made any difference?

It dawned on him that forgiveness might be the true liberation he had been seeking. But he could never forget, no, he could never forgive what had been done to him. As the realisation hit him, he felt the tears streaming down his face, wet and sticky as they mingled with specks of Cazador's blood. 

No more Cazador Szarr, no more rats for meals, no more lashings, no more seductions. And no forgiveness. Never.

@bg3-fanfic-reblogs

[thevelaryons]

How do you think it was Addam and Jace's relationship?

Nice content btw 💙

Thanks! ☺️

I think there might have been some underlying jealousy between the two of them. Although they are quite similar as the dutiful elder sons always looking out for their family, both of them lack something which the other has. Though because they are so similar in personality, despite their physical differences, they would be better able to understand each other than others would. As long as they can work past the jealousy.

For Jace, he’s faced scrutiny his whole life with the rumours circulating about his bastardy on account of him not looking Valyrian enough. Then here comes Addam who is described as looking just like Laenor. They’re the same age and yet it’s Addam who takes after their “father” and on top of that, Addam also ends up claiming Laenor’s dragon, Seasmoke. There’s no way Jace isn’t affected by this.

After Rook’s Rest, Corlys was threatening to take his forces home and stop supporting the Blacks, so Jace had to really work to get his grandfather back into the fold. Many concessions were made, one of which I do believe is concerning the Hull boys. After all, it was said Corlys brought the boys to Jace specifically. So Jace might feel a certain jealousy and hurt that his grandfather seems to prioritize Laenor’s other sons (never mind the fact that they’re probably Corlys’ sons). In order to stay in Corlys’ good graces, Jace might feel like he has to be really accepting of his new half-brothers, hence him advocating for Addam as heir to Driftmark (bypassing the claim of his own brother, Joffrey).

I think Addam would feel similarly jealous of Jace. He believes Laenor is his father but he never knew him. It’s Jace who had Laenor’s fatherly love and affection. Not to mention, Addam looking like his absent father, Laenor, might’ve created some mixed feelings in him (certainly every time he looks in the mirror he sees the face of the father he never knew). Even if Jace is an illegitimate child and looks nothing like Laenor, he is still presented as the perfect son and brother and prince. Taking into account that it was Jace who ultimately convinced Rhaenyra to legitimize Addam and make him the new heir to Driftmark, I can see Addam feeling grateful to him for that. At the same time, in Addam’s mind, there might be this idea that he too can’t be anything less than perfect. They’re both good hearted people but due to the nature of their parentage, the two half-brothers seem like they would have some competitive rivalry hidden beneath the niceties on the surface.

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere Knuckles the Dread(romantic) having your obsession, what travel with Sonic to other dimensions.(Sonic Prime)

Yeah, I'll try writing something for Prime :) Hopefully I read your request right. Plot conflicts with Prime's plot but trust me, I tried ^^

This was written as I was watching Prime and takes place in an alternate ending after Season 1. I actually think Dread has good potential as a yandere.

Yandere! Knuckles the Dread with Darling that travels with Sonic

Short Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Implied obsession at first sight, Kidnapping, Manipulation, Possessive behavior, Forced affection, Forced relationship.

You met Dread the same way Sonic did.

Or at least, similarly.

Sonic got to No Place by running really fast to the point he warped.

You could've gotten there by a shard portal created by Nine.

Either way, you're meeting up with Sonic again in a world of pirates.

When you meet Dread, he comes off as extremely friendly towards you and Sonic.

Not many come to his ship, he wasn't even expecting a looker like you either!

You quickly find this version of Knuckles is the life of the party when you first meet.

He offers you food and cannons of confetti, a fanged grin on his face as he talks to you.

Admittedly... calming down with Sonic in this universe isn't that bad.

Until the parties start becoming excessive....

"Come on! Just relax and talk to me, won't you? There's no need to waste the day! I want to know more about you and that hedgehog friend of yours."

You notice Dread becomes rather invasive towards you when it comes to privacy.

Like a pirate to treasure, the captain already seems to have taken a liking to you.

You try to distance yourself from him as you don't know anything about him.

You also couldn't trust him since when Sonic asked about the shard, he looked a bit hostile.

Although... you allowed Dread closer to keep him under control while Sonic tries to get info about the shard and retrieve it.

Going off script from Prime, the general idea of how you meet Dread is through Sonic.

For the most part, Dread is a coward when you first meet him.

Although as you help build up his confidence with Sonic... he becomes a much more bold pirate towards you.

Once Sonic encourages Dread to become a legendary pirate, you'll notice he's crueler.

While this helps you closer to the shard... Sonic has no idea what he's sacrificed.

Dread was originally overly friendly with you.

He tries to charm you with parties and cheery songs, often doing what you'd assume is sheepish flirting?

For being a captain, the lack of confidence makes him less threatening.

It's better to have him be overly friendly than... the alternative.

Pirates are greedy towards what they want.

Which to Dread... that means the so-called shard... and you.

"Well aren't you a treasure... a treasure that's definitely mine...!"

Recall how Dread acted when he got the shard in Prime?

Yeah, that's essentially what his yandere behavior would be like.

Once Dread obtains the shard, Sonic's teleported within it while you wait with the others on the boat.

Your worry increases when neither of them come back.

You worry something happened to them... which is not entirely wrong.

When you manage to help the crew get the ship closer, you're met with Dread.

Just Dread.

"... Where's Sonic?"

"Oh! I was wondering when you'd catch up, treasure."

His grin is unhinged, filled with greed while he holds the shard close to him.

"It's a shame Blue didn't take you with him, huh?"

Worry pools into your stomach.

"What?"

"Sonic left. He's gone. Not like it should matter though... not when you have me!"

"Have you lost it!? I need Sonic to go home!"

"Why follow him now when you've got me, a legendary pirate, to follow?"

Dread is much more intimidating when overcome with greed.

The greed caused by the shard only makes his obsession darker.

Now he doesn't have to worry about Sonic being so close to you anymore!

You're lost and alone...

Ready for him to take you as his own.

You're subjected to the worst of his obsession when Sonic is removed from this universe without you.

His greed makes his own crew scared of him.

Scared to the point they can't do much to help you.

Dread is awestruck about you like something to be admired.

His purple eyes hold so much yearning.

He keeps the crystal away from everyone, especially since he fears you can use it the same way as Sonic.

He'd be a fool to give up a treasure like you.

You'll notice the more confident pirate is even bolder with affection now.

After all, he's convinced you're all his now.

"Our meeting was the start of something fruitful... stop squirming, will you? You're mine... I get to hold you because you're MINE."

Utterly unhinged.

He is not the same pirate you knew with Sonic after he gets the shard.

Part of you wishes to blame Sonic... although you know he wasn't entirely at fault.

Sonic caused all of this...

But you believe he'll fix it.

For Sonic, you tell yourself, you allow Dread to do what he wishes.

You just feel when this is all over you'll never see Knuckles the same way again-

It saddens you to know that Dread was once part of your friend.

A part of your friend that's greedy... possessive of anything he deems a treasure.

Including you, a close companion in his heart.

Every affectionate nuzzle from the captain feels too needy.

Dread's gaze tells you everything you need to know when he holds you.

No matter what you say, he's convinced you're his.

Words won't get through to him anymore... you have to play the waiting game now.

"You're mine... I'm never going to let you go. Not even Sonic will take you away from me! Not when I have you!"

[jadedandconfusedao3]

And Then Make The Sucker Disappear

Draco was so angry that he didn’t know what to say or what to think. The sight of Hermione getting close to that evil creature filled him with fury. He knew it was jealousy and he knew he had overreacted, but he couldn’t help how he felt.

“That was hardly necessary,” Varek commented after she left.

The sadistic genie was leaning nonchalantly against his dresser. Draco hated the very sight of him. He was a physical reminder of everything Draco had done.

He picked out clothes and stalked into the shower. His parents were expecting him for brunch out in the main dining room and his father would give him hell if he was late. Sighing, Draco recalled the last interaction they’d had. The man had thrown him against a wall and threatened to rape his former wife. He was at least thankful Astoria had been saved from that.

This version of his father wouldn’t remember that altercation but there were plenty of other instances where he had done similarly monstrous things. Draco stepped under the warm water and banged his head against the tile. His mother should have left years ago, but she loved the man, however ill-advised that feeling was.

When he finished bathing, Varek was still in his room, looking bored.

“Would you fuck off already?” Draco hissed.

Varek’s eyes flashed. “Would Master Malfoy like me to make myself invisible?”

Draco stalked out the door. “I don’t give a shit.”

By the time he made his way down to the dining room his mother and father were already seated. From an outsider’s point of view, he was sure it must look like a sweet domestic scene. However, he could tell, from the red in his mother’s eyes and the way his father tapped his finger on the tablecloth that there was something sinister underneath the surface.

His parents were both still very attractive people. Narcissa looked like she had barely aged. Her face was youthful, a true testament to the longer lives of wizarding folk. The only indication she was not as young as she seemed was the slight hint of grey at her temples. His father, on the other, hand had settled into his looks. Rather than turning grey, his hair had lost colour all together, turning pure white. His face had simply grown more chiselled and severe as time passed.

“Good morning,” Draco greeted politely.

Narcissa smiled and Draco’s heart melted. No one could deny his mother’s love when she looked at him like that. It was like he was the centre of the world. A fact he firmly believed his father hated and for which he had been torturing Draco his entire life.

“Good morning, darling,” she crooned as she stood and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Good morning, Draco,” his father said gruffly from his seat.

As Draco circled around to take the spare chair, the man took another sip of his tea. Draco lowered himself and his mother poured him a cup of the Berlingot Alizes winds Tea that she imported from France. Mipsy popped into existence beside him and clicked her fingers, making the breakfast dishes appear on the table.

“Thank you, Mipsy,” Draco murmured.

His father glared at him as Mipsy handed him his napkin. The man had never approved of Draco’s treatment of the elves.

“Mipsy dropped the Miss off exactly as you requested, Master.” The little elf chirped. “I also checked that she got inside safely.”

Lucius stilled and Draco grimaced. “Thank you, Mipsy. You may go.”

“I thought I felt an aberration in the wards last night.” His father grated out. “It had not occurred to me to check whether that person had left. Really, Draco? Random one-night stands? At your age?”

Draco cleared his throat. “That matter was conducted discretely.”

Draco briefly wondered how many people had seen he and Granger making out in the park. He was reasonably sure no one had been there. Though he admitted he had been slightly distracted. Regardless, the lie will serve for now.

“Draco,” his mother cajoled. “We just want to see you happy, sweetheart. It’s been years.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “My friend Esme is visiting at the moment. You remember her daughter, Celine?”

Draco heart clenched. Celine was a lovely girl. She really was. Pretty and poised and everything a pureblood scion should want in a wife. Exactly like Astoria had been.

“Mother – I –”

“Excellent choice,” Lucius interrupted. “The Auvergne Family are a proud and noble French line. She is related to their current King.”

“I don’t need any help finding a wife, Father,” Draco objected.

Lucius slammed his cutlery down on the table. “If you didn’t need any help you’d be married by now.” He glared at Draco. “You will meet Celine and you will make a good impression. The Malfoy line need an heir, Draco.”

“Yes, Father.” Draco, grit his teeth. “When will I be meeting with her?”

His mother flashed him a grateful smile. “I’ll set it up for this afternoon.”

“Peachy,” Draco grumbled as he stabbed his eggs.

Read the rest on Ao3.

[the-elusive-soleil]

State of the Union: Curufin

So I have Thoughts about Curufin and his unnamed wife and their relationship in general

Most of which stem from my general assumption that Curufin wasn't dark and twisted from the beginning in Valinor--he just sees the world in a very particular way, and that perspective on the world ends up lending itself rather well to developing a dark side later on, but it didn't have to

(I tend to headcanon Curufin as having a highly analytical way of looking at the world; he's very, very good at figuring out all the little moving parts of something, at identifying root causes, at understanding what and how and why. For material things and devices and such, yes absolutely, but also eventually people and what makes them tick. And sometimes he can get a bit in his head about it and see people more as additional moving parts of the universe than as messy, feeling individuals, but in Aman he's got a handle on it and it's not causing problems)

Anyway

A lot of the headcanons I saw early on were of him and his wife having a falling out clear back in Aman (a la Feanor and Nerdanel) and her electing to stay behind either before Alqualonde or immediately after

And there's nothing wrong with those, they just don't...sit right with me

If we're running with the assumption that Curufin wasn't a horrible person from the word go, then let him have a healthy and happy marriage

Related to that, I also tend to question the assumption (perhaps based on the thought that Celebrimbor Had To Get The Niceness From Somewhere) that Curufin's wife was all sweetness and light and an overall sharp contrast to his own personality

It just seems more likely and more interesting to me that he would fall for someone who sees the world similarly to how he does, that that would be something they bond over and that she sees as a feature, not a bug

I don't necessarily want her to also be a smith/inventor/maker, because then we're veering dangerously close to just having Curufin but female

So someone with a different craft/profession, but who approaches it the same way that he does his making of things

For your consideration, a scenario:

Curufinwe doesn't usually go hunting with Tyelko, but he is good at it when he wants to be (strong pattern recognition makes for a good tracker) and so he happens to be out with him the day Tyelko falls and breaks a bone

It's nothing life-threatening, but it is serious enough that they need to seek out a healer

(Perfect paradise or no, I refuse to believe that there wasn't any call for Amanyar healers; you know the Noldor picked up plenty of injuries in pursuit of their crafts, to say nothing of the Teleri's boating accidents)

And usually the healers they've dealt with before have tended towards nurturing and coddling and sternly admonishing whichever of them is injured to take better care of themselves next time, but not this one

[guess I'm gonna need a name let's go with] Cestanolwe

just calmly sets the bone and gets it splinted/cast/whatever, and she sets Tyelko up with painkillers, and she's not brusque but she is. businesslike. She doesn't fuss or carry on or insist on pity that Tyelko doesn't want--although she does have quite a few questions on just how he broke the bone in the first place

She and Curufinwe get to talking, and it turns out she's really into studying the way bodies work and all the different weird things they do and ways they can go wrong. Helping people is great, but she's in this for the scholarship and the discovery

When she's done with Tyelko, her parting care instructions are less like a normal healer's chiding and more like a craftsman's advice on this or that material's capabilities. Somehow this is actually more effective

Curufinwe is kind of in love with her right then and there

The funniest possible version of this is where he doesn't quite realize right away, but just keeps on coming up with excuses to see her again. His brothers haven't seen this much of him since he came of age and got unrestricted workshop time. When they run out of injuries, he shows up at the clinic with a severe burn

(Which was not on purpose, but also could probably have been avoided if he hadn't been distracted with why am I like this, what is going on and then an abrupt realization)

And Ceste had probably figured out what was going on around the third or fourth time he dragged a brother to see her, but now they're on the same page, and they really do get on like a house afire

They're a fun pair, because they are both so analytical and logical, and yet they are willing to mutually jump into the bonkers irrationality that is being in love, for each other

Eventually they get married, and come up with little Tyelpe. My dad!Curufin headcanons should be in their own post, but suffice to say: both of them love their son dearly and think he is amazing, and Tyelpe does not grow up in a cold and stifling household

Then the Oath happens

Ceste is very clear that she is not going to be left behind while her husband and son and assorted in-laws go off to war on another continent

I am not actually sure to what degree she might participate in the Alqualonde kinslaying. If she does participate, she would probably be better than average at the mechanics of killing (considering everyone involved has zero practical experience), but it would also significantly mess with her head because she is a person who fixes things, not someone who breaks them

She still sticks with it and continues to Middle-earth (although she doesn't do combat again)

And I think she makes it as far as the Dagor Bragollach before death finally catches her

And Beleriand had not been doing either of them any favors, but after she's gone, Curufin just sort of. stops trying to be anything but the worst version of himself, because what is the point

[venus-is-thinking]

Fanmade DRDT Playlist Explanations

Hey everybody! About a week ago, @accirax and I made this post about a character playlist we made for DRDT. It was in a randomized order in case people wanted to take guesses and figure out whose song was whose. We’re going to be giving out the answers now, but if you want to take a shot at placing any of them, feel free to take a look before looking at our answers! They’re written out beneath the cut.

In addition to just saying which songs were intended for which characters, Accirax and I decided to write out explanations for each of the songs in the same way that we did for the official DRDT playlist. So, for anyone who saw that a while ago, it’ll be a fun little throwback. Any explanations will be preceded by an A or a V depending on which one of us wrote it.

Also, spoiler warnings for DRDT through Chapter 2 part 1. Sections with specific content warnings will be flagged, but in general, content warning for murder and death.

Okay, onto the songs!

Homunculus by Trickle: Levi Fontana

A: Homunculus is a song about trying over and over again to create a better version of yourself to escape the parts that you hate. Personally, I think that it relates to Levi and his character themes pretty well. Levi is always looking to the people around him to figure out how to act and what the “right” thing to do is. When he messes up, like with getting fooled by Arei or threatening Ace, he’s filled with regrets, and turns to others to help him right his wrongs.

Presumably, it’s due to his estranged family that made him act this way. He may have been able to get away from them, but will he ever be able to get away from himself?

Realized in my last life That I hate the light So I keep running And running I’m trying to hide

Levi’s struggles to converse with others and to trust himself are the results of his own low self esteem. In his secret quote, he talks about “his heartlessness,” and while many people speculate that he is a “killer without remorse,” his worries about not being a good person are sort of remorse about not feeling remorse over doing bad things, if that makes any sense.

I'm broken, torn, and tattered I'll never be full again

Many of Homunculus’ lyrics feature the singer berating themself for various reasons. They worry about not being up to par with what people expect of them, not fulfilling their own expectations of themself, and being a shell of who they should be, among other things. These premises may be similar to how Levi feels as someone who wants to be a reformed hero, but fears their villainous origins are too powerful to ignore.

Also, if the popular theory that Levi is involved in the Chapter 2 murder (whether as the sole blackened or as an accomplice to someone else) holds true, the singer’s resolution to do better “in their next life” could hold additional meaning to Levi. 

So maybe in my next life I'll finally find Find a way to wash away all the shame To erase and wash away all the shame

Either he’s about to die, so the next life is the only chance he has, or he’s managed to screw this life up so badly by being involved in a murder that his morality might be unsalvageable. Even though he would continue living for at least one chapter in that secondary case, the quest to continue reforming himself might seem too insurmountable.

Hate It! Hate It! Huge Ego! by KurageP: Arei Nageishi

V: Here we are with Arei! This song cold opens on some lyrics that fit Arei pretty obviously: 

That small girl, I just hate her! She always acts like a nice person.

This refers to Eden. Arei picks on Eden, but it’s because Eden is a very good person in Arei’s eyes. She doesn’t believe that’s something that can exist, and she takes out her frustration that she isn’t allowed to be nice on Eden.

Arrgh! I want to be loved! I want to be loved!

Similarly to how we gave Shunran to Arei “they say that praying to be loved is a sin. It has such a sweet scent” Nageishi, I generally associate feelings of wanting to be loved with Arei. Additionally, the frustration and anger present in this demand to be loved makes me think of Arei; she wants to be loved, but doesn’t know how to get it, and that frustrates her.

Just like that kid did to me,  I just crush the garbage underfoot, right?

This line is probably the best for Arei in the song, given that it directly ties into how she developed her worldview. Arei was once nice (like Eden), but her sisters bullied and abused her until she no longer could be. She learned to stand up for herself by mimicking her behavior and pushing them and others down. She “crushes the garbage” of other people under her foot, just like how her sisters did to her.

I hate humanity! All they do is flock together. I try to pay attention to others’ feelings, But I just get completely ignored!

Arei wants to be a caring person, but she doesn’t let herself be anymore. She used to “pay attention to others’ feelings,” like Eden does, but her attempts at solving the situation peacefully were always ignored. Because of that, she learns to hate humanity.

I’m the most special of them. I need people to understand me!

Arei builds herself up as a queen bee type and praises herself about being the best (bowler and in general), but she also wants people to understand why she’s cruel the way that she is. Deep down, she wants to be nice, even if she believes it to be impossible. That understanding is something she searched for in David.

I didn’t do anything. But, but, but, but, but… Aah, I want to be forgiven, I want to be forgiven. I’m so lonely.

This song adds in a moment of sincerity, showing the remorse that the singer carries and how they feel alone. Again, I think this reflects how Arei thinks at times rather than how she acts. However, it quickly returns to the same, full-power chorus as before, showing that Arei won’t allow that loneliness to actually change her base persona or get her down; she wants to be loved, but she’s still the same strong, confident Arei at the same time.

I don’t even recognize my own face!

Shoutout to J/Arei swap theory on this line if that ends up being true!

A: While I overall agree with the interpretation of the opening paragraph(?) best fitting Eden, while reading through Venus’ analysis, I came up with an alternate interpretation.

That small girl, I just hate her! She always acts like a nice person. Is she just gonna act like I don’t notice? Those! Eyes that look down on me!

These could be Arei’s opinions about herself in the past. Arei hates her past self for being small and weak, and thus leaving herself vulnerable to her sisters’ abuse. Why didn’t she see how pathetic she was being? And why would she even have the thought that her past self might hate the person she’s become…?

That popular girl, I just hate her! She only likes fashion,  Abruptly talking like it’s her business. So shallow. Shallow, shallow, shallow.

And these are Arei’s opinions about herself in the present. Because, come on, you can’t watch that Chapter 2 breakdown scene and think that Arei is actually as confident in herself as she pretends to be. Arei may now be a typical queen bee who enjoys fashion and girly things, but that doesn’t actually make her any stronger or cooler. She cuts into conversations to inject her own hateful comments, shallowly feeding into her own worldview. I don’t know if Arei in the story would actually recognize that she has any of these feelings, but I think they could be there to be noticed had she lived longer.

Also, Milgram fans, rejoice in the bullet you dodged that we didn’t wind up giving Arei Reversible Campaign. Even though we didn’t like giving her literally the Mikoto cover of it, we almost did before we remembered that Huge Ego existed. Like, seriously, what would have been up with that? Arei should’ve been Mu, if she had to pick a Milgram character…

Please Play-Bite by Pinocchio P: Nico Hakobyan

A: Remember that scene in Chapter 1 when Nico spent an hour just reciting tongue twisters to MonoTV? In my opinion, that was the best written scene in all of DRDT. Ah, memories. (/j)

Anyways, if you get past the most obvious premise of the song, “Pinocchio P flexes his tuning and songwriting skills by making Miku recite a bunch of tongue twisters” (which does not apply to Nico at all), the rest of the song makes a lot of sense.

My head is full of anxiety God, I’m begging you to [finish] me I bit my tongue again (Oh no)

Due to their anxiety (and perhaps other neurodivergence), Nico struggles to communicate with others on their/society at large’s terms. They hate talking to people because people always react negatively to what they have to say, even if they’re trying to be nice.

In the song, I think that “I bit my tongue” is more literal– the singer messes up saying the tongue twister, and with their tongue in a nonstandard position, they accidentally chomp it. In a metaphorical sense, this could signify how Nico can’t keep up with a “normal” conversation, and keeps having things come out wrong if they just speak off the cuff. However, there’s also the more traditional interpretation of “biting your tongue,” which is refraining yourself from saying something that you want to say for the good of the situation. There have probably been a lot of times in their life that Nico has wanted to say something, but has stopped themself from doing so because they don’t want to cause trouble.

The song has a lot of references to not understanding what people are doing or saying.

Isn’t it difficult to live a normal life, ouch ouch ouch

The sensation that enthuses the young and the old I’m not quite understanding it, oh what do I do

Kind words sound distorted to me

I don’t really know what the section about loving someone at the end would mean, though. You could extrapolate it to be about Rose, and how she used to like Nico before losing some faith in them now. However, any change of heart Rose may have had wasn’t because Nico was bad at communicating– she doesn’t care about that– it’s because Nico went behind her back to steal her turpentine and nearly kill Ace with it. So, who knows.

Also, shout out to this lyric for clearly being about Ace.

My neighbor eats [persimmons], he’s from Planet Complaint

I’m going to start saying that Ace is from Planet Complaint now. Thanks, Nico.

Last Score by Sekikomi Gohan: Eden Tobisa

V: This is a very positive and loving song, which is fitting for Eden. After all, she’s someone who cares a lot about her friends and family, and she tries to spread cheer and positivity to those around her. 

A face full of tears doesn’t fit your profile really that well

I let go of both my worries and anxieties, happy day! Yeah!

This voice of mine will be with you No matter where you go

There are also a lot of references to time, which, obviously, fit in with her role as the Ultimate Clockmaker.

I’m stricken by my valuation of time The traffic light stays red, unchanging

Experiencing the past, the future and the now that I’m grasping

Hundreds, thousands of years, or even an eternity, in this endless life of mine

However, it’s the combination of those two things that make a narrative that I think fit Eden. Her secret quote– “You can never go back, no matter how hard you try”-- implies a sense of desperation to return to the past, something that ties into the themes of her Ultimate talent. When paired with her secret, “Ever since you kissed her, you were afraid your sexuality would ruin your friendships,” it becomes clearer that there’s someone in the past who she loves.

If you combine the two, you can come to the conclusion that Eden longs for the past, partly or entirely because of the person she kissed. This song is one of longing for a past relationship.

The love/sorrow that we amassed Is proof of my existence with you Even my dreams, my wishes, and my painful memories as well Everything, everything, everything, I was with you

This interpretation works with a general longing, which I’d argue is present in Eden’s character no matter what. Accirax and I, though, along with some others, believe in Eden Chapter 2 culprit theory, with the belief that her motive is to reunite with the people she’s left behind, notably the girl she kissed. 

If that is the case, there are also song lyrics that would allude to her taking direct action to get back to the life she left behind.

The reason why I can run without feeling down Is because I’ve known love

I’m overturning the notion that our parting is inevitable

Either way, though, I think that this song fits Eden as someone with a lot of love and desire for others’ happiness that guides her actions.

Change by Monkey Majik: Hu Jing

CW: Suicide for this section!!

V: Okay, so this one is a lot more speculative. Like, obviously we know some things about Hu, but a lot of what I’ll be talking about is about where I believe her character is headed/what I think we can determine about her. For what it’s worth, I’ll be assuming that the hopeless child secret– “Dying once wasn’t enough, so you attempted suicide three times”-- is Hu’s. (This analysis by @1moreff-creator focuses on Min, but it’s a lot of why I believe Hu’s secret to be this.)

So, that being said, I’ll be speculating a lot about Hu’s mental state, so… my bad if I get anything wrong.

You had your wishes but you threw them away It made you happy yeah for more than one day But now you're lost and cannot figure a way To get out of this lie that comforts you

This is, in my opinion, about Hu’s transition from being the “hopeless child” to where she is today, in the killing game. Something must have changed to aid her mental state (could easily be something she “threw away”), which fits with making her “happy” (not actively suicidal, at least from what we’ve seen). However, now she’s here in the present, and she’s not sure what to do. What should she do to move forward, especially in this context?

You'll never change if you keep running away

I’m not sure exactly what Hu feels she’s running away from, but I feel alright saying that she is, given her secret quote: “I want to pay for what I’ve done. But even then, I still want to live.” Hu wants to be someone different and make up for something (or, if this occurs in the future of the series, to be someone different from the person who takes whatever action this describes), but she doesn’t know how.

Brothers on the top pressing all the melodies

Takatantan!!! Sweet sound of the shamisen Tsugaru style if you know where they're coming from

I don’t know much about music, and while I assume these lines wouldn’t successfully relate to zither playing specifically, it’s still true that the more traditional sound of the song and the references to music make me think of Hu’s talent.

Wouldn't it be nice if the whole world got along?

This relates to Hu’s desire to have everyone get along and be on their best behavior. She wants everyone in the killing game to work together peacefully, but that’s difficult to pull off, given the stronger personalities in the group.

I need a change 'Cause it's all gone wrong for me Somebody else to lead me now (I want) somebody else to lead me now

This can definitely also relate to Hu’s dynamic with David; she saw him as a co-leader, someone else who could help her keep the more unruly personalities under control. However, with his heel turn, it’s plausible to say that Hu would be looking for “somebody else to lead her”-- someone else to support her views and to make her less alone in the struggle to keep people under control. 

The rest of the lyrics I’d have to interpret based entirely on my own predictions, but I’ll give a quick shot at it:

Sing them your song You'd be surprised how many people wanna hear what you're saying

I suspect Hu will, after dealing with the fallout of David, seek to try to enact that same stability onto the group. Some people, I think, will be receptive, and Hu will realize that what she has to say has meaning.

Maybe! Who knows! I still think this song fits Hu’s vibes.

A: Wait a minute… what’s that?

Apples are red, but taste The same as green, wooo!!

Is that a hint about Color Theory? Are red and green the same person? Is Monkey Majik trying to tell us that Hu is confirmed for the green color, but also the red color? Does that mean that Hu is the mastermind? Is this–

CW: Suicide over!

Get Chemical by Polite Fiction and Audiodile: Charles Cuevas

V: Okay guys, I promise, this song makes sense beyond “get chemical.” I know it’s a weed song. But not for Charles. If you ignore the weed part it’s a Charles song. Trust.

A: It’s not about weed. Ignore the weed. Pretend it’s not there. It’s Charles time.

V: Okay, but in all seriousness, this song fits him really well. The song moves him through his character arc chronologically, so that’s how I’ll be looking at the song’s lyrics. The song starts off with Charles’ more no-nonsense worldview.

There's a time and a place For wasting space And if you're not coming home Then it's a slap in the face

It's nothing worth doing If you just can't do it alone

Charles starts out not wanting to “waste time” or bother with any of the other students. He thinks the only things worth doing are by himself, so that’s what he does.

But I don't wanna wait for days

Charles then gets tired/bored of being by himself (as he warns Teruko will happen to her at the start of Chapter 2). He starts getting impatient, and thus ends up spending time with some of the other students.

And I'm tired of the games we play While you sit and judge me there from on your throne

Charles gets frustrated, though, because he feels that no one takes him seriously. Notably, Whit and Teruko make fun of him a lot. He feels judged by the others. However, once he tells Whit this in the bonus Chapter 1 free time, he starts to make progress; Whit understands him, and thus stops judging him so harshly.

Put the train wreck on display Marvel and wonder how it sways Wear that disapproving stare right through the phone

Then, the murder happens. Xander purposefully triggers Charles’ hemophobia to put him out of commission, and Charles then has to be visibly out of it for the entire Trial. Though Whit tries to preserve his privacy, he eventually has to reveal why Charles is acting up. Thus, Charles, the “train wreck,” is on display for everyone to “marvel” at.

Is it a trending feat or a single case Is it dignity if it gets misplaced Am I justified in adopting casual tones

Charles, after the first Trial, formally becomes friends with Whit, as well as generally leaning towards being friendlier with the group. Thus, while “adopting casual tones,” AKA being friendly, might be a “single case” (just Whit) or a trending feat (befriending everyone). Previously, not befriending people and acting above them was part of how Charles displayed his dignity, but after the first Trial (in his eyes) stripped him of that dignity, he has to reposition himself.

Well pinkies up, 'cause it's in good taste And if you can't throw down then you know your place There's a hundred different ways that this could go

After the first Trial, Charles has to confront the fact that he isn’t reliable. Thus, these lyrics to me best fit him giving Teruko the secret motive he received (Eden’s). He “knows his place,” realizing that he could easily be incapacitated again, so he does what he can. He plans for contingencies.

And I am still quite functional when I am prone

This line switch up fits the second Trial well. Charles can’t investigate fully or contribute in the way he’d like, given that he can’t actually enter the Playground or look at Arei’s body, but he can still be a major benefit to the students in the Trial. He can find evidence elsewhere and be a logical ally for Teruko. He even got to cut in to help her in the last moment before the hiatus. 

Obviously, I can’t really apply the lyrics chronologically beyond this point, but I can still point out the things that make sense.

Hitting bottom's so much better when you're stoned

I can’t deny the weed allegations on this one, but if you just replace stoned with gay with friends it makes sense. “Hitting bottom’s so much better when you’re surrounded by a support system.” That kind of thing.

Most of the rest of it is just the chorus, which is pretty easy to see the connection. I mean… the Ultimate Chemist definitely gets chemical. Not in the weed way. And the “upright to vertigo” is sort of reminiscent of Charles’ reaction to his phobia.

Anyways, this is the end of my essay. Get Chemical is a Charles song I promise!!!

Tokyo Teddy Bear by Neru: Arturo Giles

CW: Suicide for this section!!

V: Okay, I’m going to preface this one by saying Arturo was a hard slot for Accirax and I to fill on the playlist. We don’t have any songs that really boil down to “you’re ugly,” so that element of Arturo’s character is out. That means that our best bet was anything that vaguely related to philosophies of fashion/aesthetic, as well as trying to interpret Arturo’s trauma/mental state. That second part is hard, because while we do know his secret– “Your younger sister killed herself because of you. You never should have left.”-- we don’t really know the details or how he reacts to it, other than “badly.” So, take everything here with a grain of salt.

The connection to aesthetics isn’t super strong, but it’s definitely there to be seen. 

I crush the heels of my unfashionable shoes

I’ll find some tougher scissors And cut out my face

With the theming of a teddy bear, there’s even references to cutting/replacing physical features of a living being, which ties into Arturo being the Ultimate Plastic Surgeon. Additionally, this often pairs with parts being “replaced.”

I’ll make a ridiculously sized pattern for it Anything will do, as long as it serves as a replacement

Please fill in the gaps in my seams

This, again, can relate to plastic surgery. It’s inherently something where you take a physical feature and alter it in order to get a “better” result, which means that you’re replacing the previous feature with a new one. It’s a bit of an angsty description of plastic surgery for Arturo, but it makes enough sense.

However, the lyrics pertaining to family and home are what sell this song for me. While we don’t know a lot about Arturo’s situation, we do know that he “never should have left,” meaning he did leave to some extent. He also clearly feels guilty for his sister Felicity’s death. 

I personally theorize that they likely had harsh parents, so while Arturo was able to use his promising career and older age to escape, Felicity had to endure the toxic environment on her own, which eventually led to her death. Thus, it would be understandable that Arturo would want to leave, but would still feel awful about the end result. Either way, though, I think the lyrics can definitely connect.

Mom, Dad, I’m sorry for everything

Brother, Sister, I’ll see you later

Goodbye, everyone; teacher, take care

Arturo is sorry for the situation, but he still leaves. It seems like there’s a specific point in Arturo’s life that would change pretty drastically when “leaving,” so it makes sense if it’s something treated with a lot of drama and severity.

Then there’s this part of the song:

There’s nothing left, nothing left anymore: it’s all torn off Even my cells seem to disappear into this sea of lint That’s right, I’m gone, gone, thrown away I don’t even have a home to go back to

This would read to me as a reaction to Felicity’s death. There’s nothing left of the home he cares about, meaning he’s officially on his own. It’s also a lot of emotional turmoil he’s struggling with, obviously.

I want to complete it, I want to cheat, give me the answer I can’t change? Do I want to be kept like a pet? Is it all gone? This isn’t me! The seams have split and torn apart

This part reads to me as some sort of big reaction to something in-story. It could just be the secret reveal; he wanted to “cheat” by threatening Eden into silence and claiming not to have a sister, but he learns that he can’t “change,” or otherwise escape from his past. How the ending of this song will be interpretable is going to change heavily with where he goes after this reveal, whether it be being the Trial 2 killer (and likely explaining his logic more in the post trial) or continuing to move forward into at least one more daily life.

That’s pretty much all of the analysis for the song, but I’m going to just quickly talk about some aside theories for Arturo!

CW: Body dysmorphia for this section!!

Anyways, while looking at the lyrics of this song, I started wondering how Arturo’s views on beauty and being the Ultimate Plastic Surgeon might’ve tied into his past/Felicity. Arturo clearly developed very strong views on what was beautiful/ugly somewhere along the way, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if Felicity held some of these views as well.

I think it’s possible Arturo may have attempted plastic surgery on Felicity if she had some sort of body dysmorphia. A lot of people with body dysmorphia try to use plastic surgery to ease their negative thoughts, but it doesn’t usually work, because the issue isn’t their actual appearance, it’s their misperception of their appearance and how it impacts how they believe others see them. Body dysmorphia is also a condition which has a high suicide rate (some studies say 25%+ of people with Body Dysmorphic Disorder have attempted suicide), so that could definitely be part of Felicity’s struggles.

This is also much less specific, but do you think Arturo has ever had plastic surgery or tried it on himself? I kinda just assumed his mask was part of the surgeon aesthetic, but it’s true that we don’t super know what’s under it, right?

Anyways, ramble over! Onto the next song!

CW: Suicide and body dysmorphia over!!

Punching Bag by Set it Off: Ace Markey

A: And here we have our first Set it Off song! Venus and I listen to a lot of Set it Off music, so it was hard to cut down to just two when we wanted to do a couple more. Rest assured that the two we went with are going to be fitting.

(V: They are my top artist on Spotify ever :D

Also side note, we also like Full Moon by Rare Americans as an Ace song on vibes. The lyrics are less fitting, but like… the Vibes are there)

A: I think the scene that most closely parallels the lines of Punching Bag is the one in Chapter 2 Episode 4, where Veronika intervenes in Ace and Nico’s fighting. To quote Ace, “Is that what everyone really thinks about me? And it’s fine that you drill it into my head over and over again, because you think I’ll forget about it in 5 minutes like you do? … You think I act like this for fun, and then I go to bed and sleep soundly at night, you dumb piece of shit?”

I'm up all night when you think I'm sleeping People pleasing's never good for your health

I’m sure you can see what I’m getting at here.

V: There’s also the fun part with the “up all night when you think I’m sleeping” that Ace (I’m pretty sure) goes to the Gym and stuff while other people are asleep! Plus, there’s him overhearing the David/Arei conversation. So, in a lot of ways, Ace actually kinda is up all night when other people might think he’s sleeping.

A: People not taking Ace, his emotions and his struggles, seriously is one of the things that infuriates Ace the most. 

Punching bag Just another pot calling the kettle black Take it out on someone who won't hit you back 'Til we're all as broken as you

Based on what others have told him, he knows that they think he’s a fragile coward whose bark is worse than his bite. How dare they insult him when they’re just as fucked up as he is, if not more?!

So say goodbye to your Mr. Nice Guy You got your wish, he's rotting in Hell

Even though we are aware that he wasn’t really a nice guy before, this scene (and the one investigating the Gym with Levi) is reflective of Ace’s Chapter 2 declaration that he’s in it only for himself. He’ll be a terrible person if it’s the only thing that’ll defend him from everyone else’s onslaught of attacks.

And, on top of all that, there are a bunch of lyrics that seem to reference damage inflicted on the singer by some kind of string.

Hanging on by the strings that you're pullin' (So you) cut me down just to push me around

And hope I'd tie a rope 'round my throat 'Til I start to choke

Don’t worry Ace, I’m sure this will never come back to bite you. Play-bite you, even.

So go fuck yourself

Well, that’s not very nice :(

Grave Dancing by David Bays: Veronika Grebenshchikova

CW: Self harm and suicidal ideation for this section!!

A: This song kinda tracks Veronika’s experiences with boredom, and how experiencing the terrors of the world that make most people cower makes her cackle. We begin with Veronika’s backstory, detailing how she felt before the killing game began. Now, this is based on speculation, but the idea that Veronika has the secret, “you only took on your talent to distract yourself from your incessant need to harm yourself for fun” is generally a pretty popular one. If she really was injuring herself just to feel something, we can assume that she was in a pretty bad mental state.

I stared into nothing completely entranced A spectacle vortex of mesmeric dance Millions of voices invite me to jump Into the pool of the opiate pump

Veronika was lost to her own desires, only focusing on what was fun (the “mesmeric dance”) even when it was putting her in danger (“inviting [her] to jump,” presumably off a high place). However, once Veronika finds horror, she finds that you can’t spell funeral without fun.

I’m dancing on my grave As my pleasure turns to pain I waste my days In this haze The more I satisfy myself the emptier I am

When most people would be sobbing at a gravesite, Veronika thinks to dance. When Veronika is experiencing pleasure, it’s at the hand of pain, whether hers or someone else’s. Even when she succumbs to her desires to live her life for the sole pursuit of fun, she’ll always be chasing a high that doesn’t exist. 

The fleeting euphoria begs me for more

Or, well– not without a killing game, anyways. The “round robin race” and “endless buffet” mentioned in the lyrics could both refer to the killing game, and “a wishful need to want to leave” would be more of a commentary on how people like Xander and Eden keep making plans to end the killing game. It’s her typical psychoanalysis stuff.

Do you remember how to be I don’t And you’re all stuck here with me As we throw away our time On momentary lives

Veronika seems to know that she’s abnormal (although she frequently forgets it in the moment), and even relishes in it in the presence of people like Arturo or David. Even if she doesn’t remember how “to be” (a normal person), everyone is stuck with her in the killing game, where her opinion holds the most power. The concept of “throwing away our time on momentary lives” sounds like the kind of thing she would say to get under someone’s skin– pointing out how fragile everyone’s life is in order to try to incite murder. Overall, the song just reminds me a lot of how Veronika speaks and thinks.

Entertained forever till we… DIE

Like… Yeah, that’s Veronika alright. You get it, I hope.

CW: Self harm and suicidal ideation over!!

Hallelujah by Hunter Oliveri: David Chiem

A: Did you know that David… is in a poor mental state?

Everybody is dumb I'm feeling numb Hallelujah

While exactly how much David’s “real personality” mirrors what he’s shown us in 2-11 is still up for debate, that infamous episode certainly showed us that there’s something off with how David views himself and the world. Namely, he’s a pretty pessimistic guy who seems pretty cavalier about throwing at the very least his own life away (given that the person who receives votes WILL die, either in a correct blackened vote or an incorrect spotless vote). If you assume that David is not actually the blackened in Arei’s murder, you can also get this line to factor in:

Everyone's got a gun Let's kill everyone

If the other students use their “guns”– their votes– to kill David, everyone will die. That’s a plan he’s completely fine with… Or, at least, he’s acting like it is. You could also link this line to Xander and his fake gun. Obviously, Xander didn’t actually use his fake gun in his attempt to kill Teruko, but it’s still an acknowledgment of how Xander was a participant given a gun like everyone else, and how he did decide that murder was his best course of action. Betrayals like that are likely part of what gave David this attitude in the first place.

In his breakdown, David also shows his perverse desire to call out the other students for their naive idiotic beliefs in trust and the goodness in humanity. So, you know. Everyone (in the Class Trial) is dumb (for believing in all of the inspirational bs David spews), (David is) feeling numb (to his own survival, as well as potentially still being in shock regarding the state of his career)-- Hallelujah. In the Hunter Oliveri version, the call to Praise The Lord is certainly meant to be sarcastic, and David means the same. In the way that “the Lord” can also imply fate/morality or a powerful establishment, David can be telling those things to fuck off too with his “Hallelujah.”

All of this is probably clear enough. However, what makes me like THIS smugly apathetic song over potential others are the frequent references to telling people how to do things and success. Let’s start with telling people how to do things.

It all means nothing I'll tell ya something They'll sell ya something, yow

Now I can't do a damn thing. And I'll take you out your misery And now I can't move a damn thing And I'll take you out your misery

Although the singer is feeling numb and therefore shouldn’t care about their audience, the song is still clearly framed as the singer giving their advice on how to best approach life. “Telling you something,” AKA the wisdom David dispenses in his inspirational speeches, is the exact same thing as “selling you something.” David knows that he profits off of exploiting others’ hopes, and he hates himself for it. Because he believes that people can’t ever change, he “can’t do/move a damn thing,” but will still “take you out your misery.” On the surface, people think that David is taking them out of their misery to move them to somewhere happier. But the way David sees it, he might as well just take them out of their misery by killing them, because life for the corrupt and unmotivated is pointless.

On that happy note, let’s talk about success.

I Gotta buy a big house Driveway full of cars trophy wife on the shelf

Here's what I'm all about Spending big money on a ticket to hell You've probably seen me around I'm like the Walmart in your hometown

I can’t remember if it’s ever been officially confirmed by the story, but I would not be at all surprised if David was the most independently financially successful Ultimate in this killing game. Like, obviously if J got along with her mom, she would have access to way more money and fame than David would. But, given that J tries to hide her identity, David is the only character who seems to be particularly recognized by anyone else (Xander) at the start of the killing game. Calling him “the Walmart in your hometown” is kind of a funny way to get that point across, but if you say that David is calling himself that’s incredibly well-known but also not that particularly special/well-regarded, I think it fits.

David has been able to ride his career as an inspirational speaker to immense success, but he feels very empty about it. Because he doesn’t believe in what he’s saying (and in Arei’s case, may even believe that the things he said actually kill people), he knows that the “big money” he’s earning will come back to ruin him in the end. His actions before and after his big reveal are what will send himself (and those he’s affected) straight to hell. The worst part is that he doesn’t even have any particular ambition about how to use his success. He knows what successful people act like– displays of wealth, happy relationships– but he doesn’t actually know how to achieve them. He doesn’t even like expensive things. So, what’s the point?

David’s got a lot of opinions about how people should feel about their brief lives on this miserable  “third rock from the sun,” and I think Hallelujah represents them pretty well. Just… don’t ask me about the lyric four lines down from that one. I have no explanation for it. We’re ignoring it. Moving on.

Egoist by Onuma Paseri: Min Jeung

V: It took us a while to pinpoint what exactly we wanted to pick as Min’s song. We strongly considered the obvious but fitting Lost One’s Weeping, but in the end, we decided to bring something new to the table instead. That song is Egoist!

A: (This is because we wanted to avoid putting in songs that other people had already brought up themselves, to make the guessing game fun for Min. I applaud everyone’s efforts in coming up with so many great songs for Min, but goddamnit did you have to come up with SO MANY great songs for Min??? /j)

V: Egoist is an interesting song for Min, because a fair amount of the lyrics actually focus on not wanting to be in school.

I usually spend my days falling ill. Let me withdraw from school, professor!

Let me go home early, professor!

However, I think this makes sense given that, in Min’s bonus episode, we see her starting to have more doubt surrounding her school career. She begins to realize she’s become extremely focused on school to the detriment of everything else. To me, that’s what these kind of lyrics actually relate to in a Min context.

I want to talk about something life-related. Won’t you listen to me, professor?

I understand that patience is important in life.  Won’t you realize it, professor?

Min has started to realize that not only school matters, but the people and the environment she’s surrounded by encourage her to continue focusing on academics entirely. She wants to have patience in life and explore other possibilities, but she finds it difficult to actually broach the subject with anyone.

You, dyed orange,  Will melt into darkness before long. Though time passes, my anguish will not disappear. I spend an eerie night together with you.

This set of lines is much more plot-oriented. Though you could try to spin these to be about Mai, I think it’s easiest to make this song largely about the night that Min kills Xander. Xander, dyed orange, “melts into darkness” (dies via electrocution). Min’s anguish can’t just disappear, because the Class Trial exists– it has to result in more death. I think you could call the whole thing overall an eerie night.

Get sentimental, and it’s goodbye. Go quicker and further away than anyone else!

Min “becomes sentimental” when she wants to save Teruko from Xander. However, because this results in both Xander and Min’s deaths, her sentimentality means “goodbye” for her.

Becoming impulsive is the right move. Cross through the night, more than anyone else! There’s no going back from here. After all, there’s no consequences.

This relates to Min trying to win the Trial. The right move is to become impulsive– she has to act quickly when she sees Xander or he’ll simply kill her too– and after that, she has to “cross through the night” more than the students she’s trying to deceive. She has to be the absolute best to clear the Trial and escape to the outside world. There’s no going back from here.

The “no consequences” thing is a little weird considering there very much are consequences for her actions, but I could see that potentially relating to her mindset of fixing “mistakes.” Killing Xander doesn’t have to be a mistake, as long as she does succeed more than anyone else. There are only consequences if she fails to correct her mistakes in time. Unfortunately for Min, that’s exactly what happens.

…Actually, I take back what I said earlier about some of the lines being potentially applicable to Mai. THESE lines relate to Mai:

You had entered my heart, and your smile Will melt into darkness before long. Though time passes, my memories will not disappear.

Problem solved! Min gets to reference Xander, Teruko and Mai!

A: I also tried to pitch Hungry People by the Happy Fits as Min’s song; but Venus didn’t really get it, so we went with this (which I think she did a great job explaining!). However, if anyone wants to hear me ramble about the commercialization of Hope’s Peak and the Ultimate Student as a talent through the context of Versace, Versace, Versace or Klein, hit me up.

Always Tired by Weathers: Rose Lacroix

A: This song doesn’t have a ton of lyrics, but the ones it does have fit Rose pretty well. The most obvious connection is just due to the fact that Rose is, believe it or not, always tired.

I'm always tired, I just can't fight it I'm always picking up my body, oh

Whether as a result of her hard work, an attempt to run away from her depressing day-to-day life, or straight up narcolepsy I don’t know, but the fact remains that one of Rose’s most apparent character traits is her tendency to fall asleep at a moment’s notice. And, despite the dangerous killing game situation, she doesn’t make any attempts to try to keep herself awake, like drinking a ton of coffee or whatever. She doesn’t really have the drive in her to try much of anything after being chained to the Spurling Foundation for life. Instead of making art based on her own creative drive, she has to execute whatever the Spurlings tell her to. She has to force herself to do things, mentally picking up her body instead of just letting it carry itself forward.

There’s also the matter of Rose’s nightmares, the combination of her photographic memory and the troubles she’s faced. The song is a lot about sleeping, but also a lot about seeing.

A quarter to three, still rolling in bed A party for me with demons in my head Do you ever know how eyes lie? Do you ever see how I'm-

Even when Rose does try to sleep, she can’t avoid her photographic memory filling her mind with nightmares that feel incredibly real. Xander’s dead body, Min’s crying face, and Teruko’s haunting glare could all seem pretty demonic under the right circumstances.

The song’s continuous repetition of the chorus also speaks to how bland Rose finds her life now. It’s just a cycle of unfulfilling days doing the same thing with the same tired energy following her around. Unfortunately, that’s just her habit.

Evolutional by Big Data: J Rosales

V: This song largely centers around J’s relationship with her mother, Mariabella Rosales, and how J wants to make her own future rather than the one her mother wanted for her. In that lens, a lot of the lyrics to this song are honestly pretty self-explanatory.

It's my future, not a mystery These games that you play, you're my history Not your possession, you don't own me Said it's all for the best, I disagree

J takes ownership of her own future, leaving her mother and the stardom she was born into in the past. She’s not just her mother’s child; she’s her own person, too.

Ooh, boy, what you gonna say when I walk away? (Got a mind to eliminate) Ooh, ooh, boy, what you gonna do when I'm not with you? (I'ma show you another view)

J would much rather walk away from the whole situation. I have no idea what Mariabella’s reaction was when J walked away, but I have to imagine she wasn’t happy about it. J would probably enjoy that fact.

Gonna make a change, gonna rearrange Improve myself, I don't want your help

Something I like about the lyrics to this song are that they focus on how J has taken ownership of her future rather than just rebelling against her past. Yeah, she changes from her past, but she does also “improve herself” in the sense that J has still found her way to an incredibly successful career, Ultimate-level worthy, through her own enjoyment of SFX. She doesn’t want her mother’s help to become famous, but she still thrives on her own terms.

Used to build me up, used to knock me down Thought you were so clever, who's laughing now? Are you listening? Do I have your attention? I'm telling you now, I'm your final invention

J, as we know her, currently seems to have gotten the upper hand against her mother, given that she HAS become unrecognizable to most people and got to live out her life in relative privacy. I’m sure her mother is aware of this, though, meaning that J is the one “laughing now.” And, of course, if Mariabella is feeling like an Endeavor kinnie, she might see J as her “final invention.” Ryan is younger, but still, J is the evolution of the Rosales bloodline.

Remember the Empire by House of Heroes: Xander Matthews

A: Remember the Empire is a pretty general song about rebellion, which means that it definitely fits Xander, but not necessarily with the same specificity as some other songs. However, there are still some good lines to talk about, so let’s get into it.

Stand, stand up! What choice have they given us?

Remember the empire, Tear the king from the throne!

While possibly not as medieval as House of Heroes intended it, the rebellion that Xander asks people to stand against is definitely about taking down a king. Or, more specifically, a Duke. I doubt that Duke is actually a king by divine right or anything like that, but if you say that he was the old money ruler of the town in which Xander lived, there’s hardly a difference when it comes to modern day. “Remember the empire” is about Xander remembering both his family and hometown in the ways he wishes they would have stayed, and “tear[ing] the king from the throne” will at least restore that kind of peace to other families and homes.

Fight for the life that our children should have, Fight for every freedom that we never had, There's no turning back all the bridges are burned, Our peace must be earned, so

Again, Xander is focusing on children because he was a child when the river in his town was poisoned. Speaking of rivers, sometimes they have bridges over them…? But also, “burning bridges” just means ruining your relationship with someone, which Duke Spurling definitely did.

While I would say that the majority of this song is more about Xander’s backstory than his (brief) time in the killing game, there are still a couple of lyrics that I think speak more to that time period than his past.

Here they threaten with murder and bribe us with peace. Here they treat us like slaves and convince us we're free.

MonoTV sure did threaten them with murder! And bribe them with peace, too: given that Xander attempted to kill Teruko before the motive videos were actually given out, the main motive for the majority of the students was the temptation of going back to their peaceful, everyday lives.

“Treat[ing them] like slaves and convinc[ing them they’re] free” is a bit of a stretch, but who says I’m not flexible? MonoTV and the killing game establishment want the participants to believe that every decision they make is on their own terms– if a student chooses to become a killer, it’s about the despair secretly hidden inside of them, and not the external pressure of being put in a month-long life or death situation. But, the students are still “slaves” to both the headmaster, the structure of the killing game, and, in Despair Time’s case, the entertainment industry.

We wrote it down in blood, in blood. We gave our lives for love, for love.

Also, while Xander didn’t actually write out an accusatory dying message in blood, the blood around his neck and on his fingers were relevant to the case. He is also (probably) related to the blood falling on the pieces of paper in DRDT’s opening scene, and certainly the recipient of the “kill Teruko Tawaki” note, which was written down to call for Teruko’s blood.

Similarly, while the direct reasoning behind why Xander decided to kill Teruko is yet unknown, it really feels to me like it would be “for love” of something. Love of the rest of his classmates? Love of Mai? Love of the world? Whatever the case is, he gave his life for it. Remember the Xander– tear the song from the list!

SAD (Clap Your Hands) by Young Rising Sons: Whit Young

A: There is precisely one section of the lyrics that made me believe that this song was for Whit.

I've still got memories to repress But I still hear my mama saying If you're sad and you know it And you don't want to show it Clap your hands If you’re sad, that's okay You can clap it all away Just clap your hands

This part screams Whit so hard to me. Whit represses his emotions and memories about his home so that he can pretend that everything is fine. Whit’s mom is very important to him, and is more likely than not dead, such that anything she says would have to be in a memory. Much like how “bitter things should go down the drain,” Whit always chooses not to show his sadness, deciding instead to play things off as jokes.

Erase any unease you have with these two simple steps! Step 1: Clap! Step 2: Profit.

So, anyways, that’s clearly the best part of the song. What about the other parts? Well, they are probably making Whit into a bit angstier of a character than he actually is. Probably. (V: Yet. He will have angst. We can all feel it.) Compared to people like Xander or Min who have their own bonus episodes, or even people like Arei or Rose whose backstories have been explored a bit more in canon, we don’t actually know that much about Whit’s past. And, yes, I know that we literally got an entire scene almost entirely focused on Whit’s backstory. The problem is, given that he likely has a history of… omitting information, one could say, we don’t know how much of what he’s said about his past is true, and how much might be reframing things in a more positive light.

Still stuck in bed Try to remember how Unscrew my head That's too left brain right now

[...T]hey say that if I try That I could maybe be someone But I'm scared because I know deep down That day may never come

Shut up and be happy It's all in your head Grow up and be happy 'cause it ain't that bad That's what my doctor said

Like, all of this could be true about Whit, I dunno. Or it could be false. To try to end this on a smart note, I’ll try to explain each of these sections as best I can.

Whit is probably a more right-brained person, to the extent that that model means anything, because of his strong intuition and innate understanding of how others are thinking and feeling. The left brain helps you with sequencing and facts, two things which Whit probably tends to ignore.

There’s definitely an argument to be made that Whit doesn’t see himself as a particularly talented matchmaker, despite being an Ultimate. When Charles asks him to break up the fights between J and Arturo, Nico and Ace, and Arei and MonoTV, Whit deflects, saying that he’s only a matchmaker, not a relationship counselor. (Charles points out that he didn’t bring up anything about matchmaking at all, which implies that Whit may frequently feel out of his depth when asked to do things as a matchmaker and is used to coming up with excuses.) Whit’s sales pitch for himself as a matchmaker in the prologue is basically a joke, too. And then, there are the details thus far only brought up in his character profile: he dislikes Valentine’s Day, and has never been able to succeed in finding a relationship for himself. That failure to matchmake the perfect partner for himself (assuming he’s interested in that kind of thing, but he does say he likes boys and girls and was confirmed as bisexual in a Q&A) may make him insecure in his skills, and thus in his future as an Ultimate.

Of course, his bio also says that “if you get the Ultimate Matchmaker to find you a romantic partner, you’re guaranteed to have a happy and stable relationship for life,” so do with that what you will.

And finally, Whit did ask other students about their prescriptions, and seems to have some familiarity with mental health issues, given how he was able to help Charles. I mean, any good doctor would not actually say “grow up and be happy ‘cause it ain’t that bad” to someone struggling with their mental health, but my point is that the lyrics could have some extra meaning for Whit if he did see a doctor for whatever in the past.

Look, like I said at the top, there is precisely one section of the lyrics of this song that made me think it worked for Whit. The rest of the song does not make as much sense, but the guy was hard to pin down. And, hey, it’s not our fault that Good Grief was already taken–

Killer in the Mirror by Set it Off: Teruko Tawaki

V: This song is such a #TerukoSweep. We were looking at songs and this was one of the first ones we locked in. It very clearly shows her shift after Chapter 1 to being more distrusting of everyone else, after both Xander and Min betray her.

Look out, they're closing in on you now Wake up, or you'll wake up six feet down Nobody's got your back in this town Knock 'em in the teeth now

Teruko quite literally has to wake up or wake up six feet down after Xander stabs her, considering she’s unconscious for a long time. After that, she fully believes she can’t rely on anyone, so she becomes much more aggressive to the people around her, pushing them away.

Out here, there's no negotiation No room to start a conversation Before you get a taste, it's taken Never let your guard down

This relates to how she doesn’t even want to talk to anyone after the Trial. She can’t ever let her guard down; that’s a large part of why she refuses Eden’s attention in particular. She can’t negotiate or start a conversation, because that, in itself, is letting her guard down– it’s opening herself up to friendship, which she no longer trusts.

Get back, put your hands up, kinda messed up, but it's tough luck

Tough luck you say? …Anyways.

And I'm sorry, but I don't feel bad for you 'Cause I know if you could switch this You'd be dishing out the same shit Saying sorry, but I don't feel bad

Teruko seems to hold the view that anyone could betray her at any time, and thus, they should all be considered enemies. She can’t feel bad for any of them, because they could all do the same to her.

Now I know there's no one I can trust I used to think there was Tell me that I'm cutthroat I think you got your eyes closed

This is the same kind of thing. She can’t trust anyone, even when she used to think she could, because Xander and Min’s betrayals proved that not even those closest to her could be trusted. People say that Teruko is cutthroat for turning her back on everyone, but to Teruko, they don’t see the facts. She’s not being cutthroat, she’s being cautious. 

Feel the fear and swallow back the tears Let weakness disappear

This relates to Teruko cutting out her friends because they’re weaknesses, etc. etc.

There's nobody but me here The killer in the mirror

This is actually one of the harder lines to justify in my opinion, because Teruko hasn’t actually killed anyone. …That we know of.

I’m kinda just banking on Teruko’s likely secret of “How could I even select what secret to be your motive? Just about everything you’ve done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault” in addition to any inflicting-bad-luck-on-other-people-like-with-Min type situations being enough to justify calling Teruko a killer, at least in a hypothetical sense. If she really is responsible for the killing game (questionable) then she’d sort of have killed Xander, Min and Arei at this point.

The other verses’ lyrics definitely fit too, but it’s really just a lot of repeating Teruko’s philosophy. She doesn’t trust anyone for her own safety, she can’t have friends anymore, all that deal. Classic Teruko.

Conclusion

V: Thanks for getting all the way through this post! This thing ended up WAY longer than we meant it to. Still, I guess it makes sense, given that we tried to pick songs we thought had strong lyrical basis for the characters. Hopefully you enjoyed, coming from me and Accirax :)

A: Yippee, essays over! Thank you for reading. Now go listen to our immaculate taste in music some more (/lh /nf). And the original playlist, too! We could all use a little more DRDT brain rot in our lives.

[blueinkedfrost]

Villain Likeability

Some antagonists are just despised by readers who want to see them meet a painful end as soon as possible ... But others get a lot of audience sympathy and attraction.

Why? This is what I think is important.

Tragic backstory that gives some explanation for why they are the way that they are.

Villainous virtues such as perseverance, verbal wit, initiative, ingenuity, a good cause that they've taken too far, etc.

If it's a visual or audible medium, how attractive they are in person and/or how attractive their voice is. (This does not apply to written works.)

Melodrama: The extent to which their bad deeds are viewed by the audience as melodrama that's very dissimilar to the real world, such as destroying an entire galaxy or committing telepathic torture, as opposed to all too realistic bad deeds such as bullying, cheating on your spouse, abusing bureaucracy for cruel purposes, racism, Nazis, or child sexual abuse.

The fourth factor is probably the most important. If the villain's horrible behaviour feels close to real life issues you deeply care about, then you probably despise them regardless of how sexy the actor is. If the villain's horrible behaviour feels more fictional and melodramatic to you, then you can enjoy watching them cackle and threaten from a safe distance.

So by this standard, here is the least attractive villain possible: A spiteful, petty, and lazy person who lives a normal suburban life, is played to look unattractive, and makes their neighbours' lives as miserable as possible by bullying them in their role with the Home Owners' Association.

Now here is the most attractive villain possible: Angsty backstory where their horrible family sold them into slavery, very witty and creative, played by a good looking actor, and commits stylish murders using weird gravity-related superpowers.

Why do these tropes work?

Tragic backstory: Angst turns the story wheels around! From Cinderella and probably even earlier, stories where horrible things happen to a character cause us to root for them. Humans like underdogs and stories about characters overcoming bad things.

Villainous virtues: If they have some admirable traits mixed with the badness, that's fun to read. Witty or entertaining characters amuse us, while competence alone at being a dangerous or threatening villain is attractive.

Attraction: As simple as whether the audience generally finds them attractive, or not. This can be closely related to demographics and bias. In Western fandom, the stereotypical fan is an educated white woman who's attracted to men. So even if a female antagonist has a tragic backstory, high wit and charisma, and attacks people with her clever musical magic, female fans might not like her as much as her attractive male counterpart. Similarly, fandom is often criticised for poor attitudes towards characters of colour and it's easy to think bigotry in our society has something to do with this.

Melodrama: Also varies by the individual. Your personal experiences won't ever be the same as another person's, so your fun melodramatic villain might remind someone else of their real life high school bully. Medium and setting make a difference. Villains who are literally cartoons in a science fiction universe will be taken less seriously than villains in a live action story in a contemporary mundane setting. Visceral impact of the character's misdeeds also has a role: a villain who brutally tortured and killed a beloved favourite in explicit detail is less likeable than a villain who killed thousands of random unnamed characters in a brief sentence, even though 'likeability of victim' is not how we (should) judge crimes in real life.

[honouredsnakeprincess]

There are models for the proposed terraforming of Mars which involve the use of lichens and similar organisms to transform the soil and atmosphere. There's something fascinating about entire strains of living things reproducing and dying for the sake of humanity's own propagation. This is the reduction of entire species of life to a sort of instrumentalism, and there is a horror to that.

There is a (primarily but not exclusively american) cultural cohort who I will call for the purposes of this list the astro-futurists. They are strong proponents of space colonization, frequently for the purposes of building humanity's resilience against supposed "x-risks", such as asteroid strikes or sapient computers that we are unable to control. Even if Earth dies, humanity will live on on martian soil and around the stars of Alpha Centauri!

There is a certain type of high school 'nihilist' who has no philosophical groundings for his works, but has a primitive understanding of Darwinism, and so concludes that the purpose of all life is to reproduce. In the most base sense, he is correct; all extant life is shaped by the need to pass on its genetic material. Most people would say this is reductive, however, and they are correct too.

The lichen would not be the first thing humanity has bent to specific purposes like that. Billions of chickens are kept in factory farms for the sake of meat and egg production, and so their lives are similarly reduced to a singular purpose in the service of humanity. In the reductive eyes of the high schooler, who views procreation as the highest virtue of life, humanity has done these chickens a great favour! While disease and predators might threaten populations of junglefowl in the wild, the structure of the farm protects the chickens from predators, and judicious cullings ensure that some part of the population will always be resilient against disease. Even as humanity kills the chickens for their meat, we ensure that there will always be another chicken.

The chicken is, therefore, the immortal junglefowl. Bar a vast reorganization of human civilization, the domestic chicken will last as long as humanity does. The genes which distinguish them from their wild relatives will propagate forever, just as the lichens humanity plants in the martian soil will have a monopoly on that soil, free of the rival strains of lichen which populate the earth. No one, however, looks at a factory farm and says "How charitable of humanity to make these birds immortal!" Why is this?

The most existentially concerned of the astro-futurists might consider the cultural and social development of space travel, like their more idealistic peers, but ultimately their prerogative is the survival of humanity against any threat which might render Earth uninhabitable. Some have criticized these efforts as a new form of colonialism to further enrich the global north, and note that the countries most capable of creating space colonies are those mostly strongly integrated into the capitalist system. The first flag on Mars will in all likelihood be that of the United States, or that of whichever ascendant capitalist power who succeeds them.

There are two problems with the existential programme of the astro-futurists, beyond the ways in which it unduly advantages the global north. The first is that Mars, and indeed much of space, is a terrible home for humans. Those who live there will suffer from radiation, and poisonous dust, and will likely reside in cramped underground dwellings. The lower gravity will cause their bones and flesh to atrophy, and should they have children on Mars, there is a good chance their young will never return to the home of their parents, lest Earth's gravity crush their feeble lungs and hearts. These lives will be bold and novel, entirely distinct from those of all humans before them, but they may not be enviable.

The second problem is that, even assuming that Mars somehow becomes wholly self-sufficient of Earth, in the event that Earth is destroyed, Mars will not save humanity. A narrow slice of the cultures of the global north will be salvaged by the Martians, perhaps. English will still be spoken, but the hundreds of languages of Africa will likely perish. Recorded music will survive, but the little regional songs no one thought to record will not. This is the survival of humans, not of humanity.

The notion of 'memes' is sometimes attributed to Richard Dawkins, a man with a complicated legacy not worth discussing. I have heard rumour that the idea originates from somewhere else, however. If one takes the traditional formation of memes to be true, then astro-futurism can be considered a sort of meme or collection there, as can its more existentially-concerned strains. If we settle Mars to survive the loss of Earth, then perhaps humanity will die and this meme will continue to propagate. What remains will become another example of the instrumentalization of life, with a vast complexity of experiences reduced, ultimately, to the ability to serve the propagation of others.

[channiebelly]

chan’s enjoying life with his roommate mingyu since he handles all the cooking and it’s a nice break on him. as he expects he puts on weight but he doesn’t really expect mingyu blowing up similarly and he’s curious as to how much he’ll gain before realizing. sampling the recipes and matching how much chan eats can only accelerate how quickly he grows alongside his roommate unknowingly

i am so sorry this took so long! I hope you like it <3

ship: mingyu/chan

wordcount: .9k

tropes: mutual gaining, unintentional gaining

When Chan and Mingyu moved in together, they set up a chore distribution system. The most important part was that Mingyu would make dinner every night.

Mingyu was famed for being a good cook, and he promised Chan that he would never need to eat out again.

"I need a lot of food," Chan had warned him, jiggling his rounded belly so Mingyu would know exactly what he was referring to.

"Don't worry, I know. I'll keep you well fed."

Mingyu did. Every night there was a delicious meal set out on the table. Mingyu would split the food evenly between them and they would eat. Chan would have to consciously try and avoid moaning at the table due to how good the food was, and how creamy and oily it was. Creamy and oily were Mingyu's specialities. He would always leave the table feeling that comfortable heaviness in his belly, his skin stretching to accommodate the amount of food.

Just three weeks into living together, Chan noticed that he was gaining weight. His pants became harder to button up and his favourite tshirts started becoming skin tight. Chan didn't mind, though. He'd always liked his belly. He thought it was cute and comfortable and very sexy. So what if it got a little bigger? There was just more of him to love.

Mingyu was getting bigger too. Chan was shocked by that. He'd always been an avid gym goer and he was taller than Chan so Chan had thought that Mingyu would be able to handle eating the same amount of food as him. Mingyu's growing muffin top was proof that that wasn't true.

Mingyu liked to walk around the house shirtless, proud of his sculpted gym body, so it was easy for Chan to notice the changes that were happening. Chan didn't mention anything to Mingyu, even though it seemed like Mingyu hadn't noticed this change in his physique.

Chan watches as over the weeks and months, Mingyu's muffin top develops into a pot belly which gets pinched by the waistband of his pants, and then into a round, bloated beer belly which never seems to go away. His chest muscles stop looking so defined and the muscle there morphs into baby moobs.

As Mingyu's weight climbs and climbs, Chan contemplates whether he should mention something to Mingyu. He doesn't want to. Mingyu always looks so happy when he eats and he gets this relaxed vibe to him right after the meal's finished, as if he's enjoying the fullness in the same way that Chan does. No, Chan decides. He won't tell him. Mingyu is happy like this.

Chan decides to test Mingyu's limits, subtly, of course.

"I barely ate today, could you make some extra dinner tonight?" he asks.

"Of course," Mingyu says. Chan knew he would agree.

When Mingyu sits down for dinner, he again evenly splits the dish and they sit down to eat it. Chan celebrates to himself. His plan worked! Mingyu is eating even more of the greasy, buttery food than usual.

Chan repeats this same statement that he barely ate multiple times throughout the coming weeks, claiming that he'd just been really busy lately. Soon, he doesn't even have to ask and Mingyu is making these larger meals without Chan having to ask.

Mingyu's weight piles on even faster. Chan doesn't feel guilty because now Mingyu's after dinner glow lasts even longer. He's happier than ever.

It all comes to a head one day when Mingyu knocks on Chan's door, wearing nothing but his boxers. Chan notices how the waistband is almost stretched out as far and it can go and how Mingyu's thighs are threatening to rip the seams.

"Can I borrow some shorts?" Mingyu asks.

"Sure. Why?" Chan asks. He starts digging in his closet for a pair.

"I don't fit any of my pants anymore. They won't button. I need to go buy some new ones." He sounds miserable. Chan hands him a pair of shorts. "I got so big and I didn't even notice." He pokes a finger into his squishy side and looks sad.

"What's wrong with that?" Chan asks. "You like my belly, don't you?" He places his hand on his belly and gives it a soft shake. Mingyu always used to tell Chan how cute and cosy his belly made him look. He would tell him that under absolutely no circumstances should Chan lose weight. Chan knows that Mingyu likes his belly. Mingyu nods. "So now you have one too."

Mingyu still looks sad.

"You like eating, don't you?" Mingyu nods again, more enthusiastically this time. "And I think you look really good like this. So be happy. Now you can eat even more."

"You think I look good?" Mingyu asks.

"Yes. You're big and soft, just like a giant teddy bear. I want you to give me a big hug."

Mingyu giggles.

"Go buy yourself some new clothes, and for dinner we can get takeout."

Mingyu turns to leave. "I think I need a tshirt too," he says. Chan hands him one.

It was easier to convince Mingyu than Chan had thought. It seems like he didn't need much pushing to accept that his belly was amazing. It seems like that was always the body he was meant to have. Chan is just happy he could help get him there.