#organ manipulation

[robo-milky]

[Read: Left -> Right]

You have NO idea how hard I was fighting for my life when using screen tones in CSP until I learned about layer properties 😭😭 I think I’m finally satisfied with a manga-esque style now!

[Excess + Thumbnail/Sketch]

Although I really like the first Cloche panel- The full bleed crop is more visually appealing, and makes Cloche’ introduction dialogue feel more natural.

Idk if anyone is really interested in my process, but I love looking back at drafts and seeing how things change- (I typically write my scripts on the notes app-) TBH, even now, I still find formatting things in templates SUPER confusing, but I think I’m getting the hang of it? It’s so jarring to focus on a safe zone, and my gosh is it a whole beast to consider all the potential printing mishaps there could- My respect for pros are going way up.

[spaceandbones]

Homicipher MC is very cool and groundbreaking for her trope subversion of "cute weak human mc thrust into a world of monster men" by being a serial killer and a vicious monsterous brute warped by a world she unknowingly made blood sacrifices to and I don't ever want to take away her autonomy BUT there is also something fascinating to me about the concept of her having No memory of killing people and No Idea why she even would in the first place

[miamaimania]

"Untitled" by Daisuke Yokota ☀ Chemical erosion on darkroom print ⌾ Surface becomes substance

[july-19th-club]

baru and aminata are such a fucking tragic comedy of errors neither of them ever knows WHAT is going on with the other and it is going to get them sooooooo fucked

[flumpermergen]

Listen… comparing hoyoverse characters can be a bit annoying but sometimes it’s just too un-fucking-canny to NOT point out

[infinitesimalvermin]

LISTEN TO ME. VIKTOR LEAGUE OF LEGENDS IN THE STYLE OF PHIL HALE. SHAKES YOU. VIKTOR ARCANE IN THE STYLE OF FRANCIS BACON. ARE YOU LISTENING

[scratchandplaster]

Tales of Arcadia - Lost

A little recapture!AU for your palate. Have you ever wondered what Shepard had planned to happen in the first chapter? Well, the more you know...

CW: stalking, manipulation, kidnapping, noncon drugging

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

The bass nearly deafened all other noise surrounding them. Horrible, just horrible, Lukas wished they rather had stayed at home. But no. No, Ben practically begged to go out into the screaming masses and work off his little spring fever while electronic beats assaulted Lukas' eardrums from every direction. 

The redhead Ben so desperately tried to impress, surprisingly charmed by this huge klutz of a brother, only laughed sweetly.

Good for him, Lukas thought, and hoped Ben would remember that he was allowed one single drink tonight. 

The last thing I need is-

Someone bumped against his shoulder from behind, nearly throwing Lukas to the ground. As quickly as they appeared, the person was swallowed up by the sea of colorful dancing shapes.

-him getting alcohol poisoning.

Squinting through the flashing lights, his lovestruck brother was visible to everyone as his companion stepped closer to dance, if this spastic twitching could even be called that.

Everything was too loud, too embarrassing - Lukas could only suffer through this farce in short laps. Not a flicker of patience in sight, he quickly gave his roommate's shoulder a few hard slaps, guiding the attention away from this doomed mating dance: "I'm going to get some air."

"Huh?" Avery screamed, too amused or disinterested to care.

Lukas just shrugged and squeezed through the mass towards the exit, suffering unknown skin rubbing against his, letting sweat soak into his clothes. Quickly swallowing down his urge to gag, he finally rushed through the side door, and took in a few gulps of the crisp night air.

Days ago, they had agreed for Ben to try his luck on campus or a local bar, but Avery - who else - brought up the bright idea to drag them to a club in the back of beyond.

The damp touches still clung to him, as did the drums inside his ears. He should have stayed home. No matter how unsuccessful Ben's efforts were tonight, in the future he was free to run around town on his own.

Walking through the parking lot, step by step away from the packed circus, Lukas passed more cars than people. The bushes separating concrete from the short piece of woodland next to the industrial district invited him with the dark peace he needed so badly.

Fingers twisting into each other with painful pressure, he simply hummed, a sound to drown out all others. He rubbed his shirt across every inch touched by others, friction cleansing him from the tacky prickling on his skin. With every step away from the building, breathing came naturally to him again.

The night was cold, and now, Lukas was too.

Great. Thank you, guys. 

How long would it all take? The flirting and the chatting and the groping and whatever else they were here for; his insistence on keeping Avery and Ben apart came back to bite him in the ass.

Nobody was left to blame but himself.

I want to go home. The hum in his throat turned into annoyed hissing. The sooner, the better.

Busy walking circles on the forest floor and holding any remaining warmth inside him, Lukas suddenly felt a jacket drape over his shoulders from behind. He jumped a little, then huffed. Sometimes Avery couldn't help but act like a mother hen, despite his dismissive way.

"I'm fine, you could've stayed inside." 

Silence. Lukas awkwardly hoped that his nagging didn't ruin Avery's mood: "Can we go home soon?"

"If you like to," an all-too familiar voice responded.

The air had shifted in a heartbeat, and with a chill on his skin no longer caused by the temperature, Lukas slowly turned around to meet his visitor. In the shine of a lonely streetlight, his father studied him intently. 

Too close for comfort, yet still a good distance away from being eye to eye...

Lukas stumbled back. In his head, hundreds of questions with no answers in sight merged into an unstoppable maelstrom of dread that threatened to let him freeze up.

Despite the state of shock, Shepard didn't come closer. His son's troubled expression caught him like a slap to the face.

"What are you doing here?" Lukas finally gasped.

"Oh, you know my love for..." The old man squinted at the sign leading lost visitors back to the club, "...electronic dubstep."

No quips could lighten his mood at all, the demand getting even louder: "What do you want?"

"Two years, Luke. After two years, that's the first thing you ask me?"

Ben, that fucking idiot; who else could have brought him here? The older brother cursed himself and everyone around for not being careful enough. All these extra steps I took, and what for?

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Shepard mused, strangely sorrowful, "I only want to talk."

"I have nothing to say." The day for his vindication had arrived, yet any words of defense were caught in the throat of the prodigal son. As if he owed that man anything! 

What he owed himself was quickly realized: taking big steps back to reach the parking lot, Lukas squeezed through rows of cars. The entrance to the club still felt miles away. Avery; he needed to get back inside so Avery could get this whole chaos settled.

"Why?" his father called out behind him and pursued, "Please, tell me why."

"Do you really want to do this right now?" 

"What happened? Did I do something wrong?"

If he did- 

Shock turned into rage quicker than Lukas could have ever expected from himself: "Are you fucking serious, where do I even start?"

"Just start, I'm listening."

"First of all," Lukas whipped around and came to an indignant halt, "you look insane."

He had always hated the creepy farmer look that hid the man who once was the center of his whole world, the specifically procured aesthetic for everyone who had joined them on their homestead.

His father sheepishly peeked down to his jeans and flannel; sure, it had been a rough couple of months, maybe he let himself go a bit more than usual...

All other reasons Lukas had neatly listed in his head bubbled out of him in a fountain set free:

"Second of all, I hate staying with these screwed-up hippies. I hate living on a field, I hate that whole thing you opened up my home to, ripping these idiots off for their last cents."

"Who gets ripped off?" Either he played dumb, or started to buy his own bullshit. No matter which way, Shepard hadn't changed a bit.

"Everyone who sets a foot on there, everyone who buys only one of your words, you fucking liar."

"Language, dear." Shepard watched him mumble and hiss in response, pacing on the spot, and wondered since when his boy had concerns for strangers. "They are happy."

"Exactly," he huffed, "that's the worst thing about it!"

"So how am I ripping them off then?"

Luke kicked a stone against a truck's tire, so hard it ricocheted off to skim a layer of varnish on the unlucky car next to it.

"You loved our remote living. No school, little traffic-"

"Yeah, when I was three years old!" Lukas yelled and threw his hand up in frustration. Like always, he preached common sense to a wall. "I'm not anymore, as you can see and as I've told you many, many times. But somehow you still don't get it, not even right now."

"I'm sorry, Luke, I don't want to argue with you." Shepard looked around and sighed, like he didn't just ask for this thorough lecture, hoping to shift the discussion in a more friendly direction: "How's Ben doing?"

Fantastic. Getting plastered, dancing, ruining the life I built.

"What do I know? I left him with you." Left him because I thought he was safe, you psycho. And if he sees you here, he's not safe anymore. None of us are.

Pensively watching him like Shepard spotted a rare bird in the wild, Lukas realized this back and forth got him nothing but wasted time. His father needed to get off their backs. Fast. 

Despite his gall, Lukas felt powerless: physically he couldn't get very far, he had never been a good runner. And undoubtedly, his father wouldn't take another "No" serious enough and leave it at that for tonight.

Damn it. To slip away from this ghost of the past, to get all three of them home in one piece, to avoid a family discussion in the dark cold, Lukas needed to entertain this poor attempt at reconciliation.

"I don't want to argue with you either," he finally murmured, somehow trying to spin it like it wasn't Shepard alone that drove him away.

"That's good. But if you won't tell me, I need to ask again: Why?"

Why should I have stayed, Luke loved to ask back, but a firm bite on his tongue stopped his spite.

"I just wanted to be on my own. Not with these people."

His father looked like he was near tears: "Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I did, every day. And you. Didn't. Listen!" he spit through clenched teeth.

Not that it mattered. Lukas had a hunch about what happened in his absence, and of everything Ben told, he already heard enough. The three of them were long past family breakfast in the camper, like all those years ago. 

Wrapping the jacket closer around himself - because he was cold, no other reason - he frantically thought of his next move. Maybe Avery had the mercy to come out here soon, or anybody else for that matter. Hidden between the cars, Lukas wished to be back in the crowd, invisible to the man in front of him.

As his father took a step towards him, Lukas flinched back. Hurt flit across Shepard's face, halting him on the spot and silence spread out again, both men unsure of what to say next.

"Would you..." His father's fingers fiddled with a set of car keys, "Can you imagine sitting down with me for a bit? We can go to a café or somewhere that is not a parking lot. And we could talk."

"I'm not going back there."

Time stood still, as did the broken family.

"You didn't change a bit, Lukas. Always so perceptive, I shouldn't be surprised you wanted to be independent sooner or later, hmm?"

His son shrugged wordlessly.

"When you say you never want to see these people again, does that include me?"

Yes, Lukas lied to himself. I don't miss you.

In fact, he missed Dad, the man always by his side and ready to be here for him. The only person who understood why the world as it was often felt too overwhelming for Lukas to live in, a man who never called him difficult, even if he was. 

Nevertheless, he couldn't admit it to himself. So Lukas said nothing.

"I think of you," Shepard confessed, helpless against his son's silent treatment, "every single day."

Biting his quivering lip, Lukas let all his anger and sadness flow together: "You can't just come here and expect me to play along, it messes everything up!"

Would he be furious with Ben? With Avery, even? Anxious thoughts caught up to him, now jittery again and trudging on the spot.

"I'm sorry, Luke," the old man said and took a step back again, "I don't want to scare you. Ever."

This doesn't change anything, get a grip! It's good that I left, it's good that Ben followed.

"I'm not going back," he growled.

To this, his father only nodded, as if slowly digesting his answer. 

"Okay."

"I'm not."

"I understand, it's okay." The gentle tone in his voice resonated with hurt, and this time, Lukas believed him. "I need to know that you're doing well. Are you?"

Shaking in the breeze, grinding his teeth and thinking of the many hours he slaved away his life at the sink of a rundown restaurant, the son couldn't be as truthful as he would like to be: "Yes, I am."

"That's good to hear," Shepard exhaled deeply, like a great burden was lifted from his shoulders, "I'm so glad."

Awkwardly, Lukas rubbed his soles into the asphalt. Shepard took the bait without any problem, but leaving itself was not the only sin he committed during his trip to Atlanta.

"Are you mad?"

Shepard stood much closer now, rows of cars surrounding the pair at all sides. He blinked, then glanced back questioningly.

"Because of the money." Lukas explained, "I don't have it anymore."

The bit of seed capital he took from the collective register; five thousand dollars, to be exact. A missing sum his father surely had to explain to the residents... And still, for the first time in years, Lukas saw his father smile - more amused than happy.

"No, no. Impressed, you could say, I really didn't see that coming."

His son gazed up, the same amber eyes as the old man, framed by Claire's features: "What about Birdie?"

"Oh, you know her. Don't get me started."

Good! I hope that bitch had an aneurysm. 

Lukas' smirk quickly gave way to another beat of silence as he zipped the jacket around his shoulders open and close, still uneasy: "What happens now?"

"I have no idea, Luke," his father sighed somberly, "But maybe you could give me a chance to come back into your life again."

"Well..." Perhaps I can visit you, once a month or so. Lukas quickly shook this thought away. Thank goodness Ben didn't run into him, he would've begged and cried to go back already. "I need some time to think, so if you're planning on staying around here, we could set up a... meeting or whatever. "

Unless he managed to relocate himself and his brother first. Lukas wanted to throw up at the thought of explaining this whole mess to him later, as he carefully handed over the jacket back to its owner, who unlocked the truck behind him and tossed it inside.

What is he thinking anyway, Lukas wondered, driving around town and creeping through the parking lot like a weirdo?

The light from inside the vehicle let him see his father a bit better, and the deep lines of worry carved into his face. He suddenly seemed much older than he was, the beard didn't help much either, yet he wore a small smile on his lips. His old man looked relieved.

If he - by some force of nature - should come back to himself one day, Lukas may rethink his plan. But as long as their peace of mind fell victim to strangers on a meadow, he needed to keep them both away from this life as far as possible.

"I missed you so much," Shepard breathed as he turned back to face him, even closer now, and suddenly pulled him into a gentle hug.

Lukas' muscles tensed up, surprised, but there was no force behind the embrace. It felt nice, being held like that.

I missed you too, Luke thought for a second and rested his forehead against his dad's chest. Why couldn't he act like that all the time? Patient, a bit silly here and there, and attentive like he used to be; like he was most of the time. 

But sometimes, he just-

In a fraction of a second, Shepard's grip tightened around his son. Before Lukas had a chance to register it, he was picked up, spun and pushed onto the passenger's seat of the truck. The impact knocked a silent scream out of his lungs.

What-

Hot flashes of pain surged from his back up to his head, where he took an unlucky fall on the center console. In his confusion, Lukas managed to lift his leg and land a kick against his father's stomach. With a twist of his hand, Shepard swiftly grabbed his ankle and pressed it down onto the seat. Big eyes full of panic gawked up at him.

"You can't-"

A cloth pressed into his face, calculated and determined. Luke tried to scream, but all efforts stayed smothered by the thick fabric.

"Shhh." The hand only held on tighter against his face.

Fumes burned inside his mouth and nose, forcing cough after cough out of his lungs. As if all air was slowly disappearing, Lukas felt his mind freeze up, paralyzed by fear and chaos.

It hurts, was the one thought echoing through him, Dad hurts me.

Haplessly, he tried to stem away from the cushion, to maybe get a leg on the ground and slip out, yet all the twisting and turning only gave him another well-meant shush and more weight pushing down on his body. 

The smothered whines hurt the most, nearly ripping his father's soul in two.

"I know, I know," Shepard whispered into his hair, "it's alright."

Laying flat on his stomach now, Lukas knocked his useless feet against the locked door. Nothing more than a cry for help, he focussed his whole strength on trying to get out of an embrace that only grew firmer with every motion: nails scratching against flannel, an elbow between the ribs. 

All the noise fell on deaf ears. Nobody was coming to help him.

With every kick and scream, Lukas' struggle became less and less coordinated. His dizzy vision made it hard to aim, and despite the scratchy fibers digging into his face, his skin suddenly felt warm, so warm that it felt hard to pull away anymore. 

One blink, and keeping his eyes open became impossibly difficult, like the biggest chore he could manage. Images melted into each other, a kaleidoscope of colors and vertigo.

Another blink, and his tired limbs gave up the fight, leaving him to droop further into the cloth. Only his eyes still fluttered, until even this task became impossible. They shut eventually, long after the last thought got wiped away from his consciousness.

Slow, deep breaths pulled Lukas even further away until he fell asleep, calm and peaceful, in his father's arms.

--------

Inside his mind, Shepard counted. He had to be accurate, for his and Lukas' sake. It kept his thoughts from what he was doing to his son right now, but in extreme situations, a father resorts to extreme measures.

And in refusing to contain his stubbornness, Lukas had left him no choice.

Gradually, the body beneath him grew slack under his weight. After another minute, Shepard carefully pulled the cloth away from his airways when he felt confident enough that the boy wouldn't start throwing another fit.

In the dark, he listened for any unrest outside the truck, any unwanted onlookers. Nothing but the remains of what they counted as music shook through the surrounding metal. Finally, then, Shepard realized it was over.

Lukas was back. Back with him. It was unreal, like a lovely dream come true at last.

His son laid motionless on his side while he held him close, a kiss on the forehead to take away any anxiety left. Checking his breathing and temperature - his skin a bit too cold to the touch for Shepard's liking - the father only marveled at how Lukas looked exactly as he did the evening they last spoke. Nothing had changed, and soon, Shepard knew it would be just like it used to be. Only the two- 

Only the three of them.

A part of him stung from having to leave Reuben behind, yet Shepard had no doubt that he would follow them soon after. He did feel a bit disappointed, though, that Lukas would so blatantly lie to him, but nobody should be surprised by that. There were bad influences all around in this part of town.

"I know it's unfair." A lone tear got wiped off Lukas' cheek. "We'll talk about it later."

Safe and secure again, he positioned him in the passenger seat, buckled in tightly to keep him from slumping over.

With a twist of the key, the engine sprung awake and let ease shake through his chest. His little one would surely be inconsolable when he woke up, but for tonight, the restless void in Shepard's heart had stopped aching.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Thanks for reading 🤍 [Masterlist]

Taglist: @whumpyourdamnpears

[minothtime]

HWAT DO YOU MEAN THREE ENTIRE MILGRAM CHARACTERS ARE DEAD AND IN THE GROUND??? HELLO???? IT ISN'T EVEN SEASON THREE??????

AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU AMANE WHEN I GET YOU

[endlessfuckup]

Okay I've had enough

this shit is so fucked up and obnoxious I cannot take it anymore

I get slightly reworded versions of this exact same message with using the same 3-4 pictures at least 20 times a week

!While there absolutely are legitimate fundraisers being set up and circulated by/for actual Palestinians in need!

They are being completely drowned out by these scam/bot accounts spamming the same 2-3 messages with the wording changed around slightly if changed at all

This has got to stop

I have every tag related to PayPal/gofundme/fundraisers/Palestine/the genocide blocked for my own sanity and I STILL, no matter what the fuck I do, cannot avoid seeing fundraiser posts containing pictures of dead or severely injured children or graphic text descriptions of the ongoing genocide(ex. starvation/death/illness/injuries) EVERY. FUCKING. DAY.

I don't care if I sound selfish for complaining it's genuinely taking a toll on me

I already have ptsd and a slew of other mental issues so seeing this stuff on a daily basis is actually really fucking me up

Realistically, I have no ability to help or change what is going on on the other side of the world.

I legitimately have zero ability to do a fucking thing about it actually!

I have no platform, I am not a politician, nor am I financially able to provide support.

I am barely surviving myself

Please let me have one fucking place where I don't have to see traumatic shit on a regular basis

@staff @staff @staff

[alethianightsong]

Christians use hyperbole to manipulate the fuck out of people. They call it a "sex addiction" when it's a healthy amount of masturbation for someone of that age range. Imagine if we applied that logic to eating. "I am a glutton" (ate 3 meals today instead of 2). "I am a gluttonous sinner with no self-control" (ate a snack cuz they felt peckish). It sounds silly but sexual urges and hunger are basic feelings. Instead of processing them in healthy ways, the church wants you to break down in tears of self-hatred every time you satisfy them so they can "absolve" you of the "sin" they created.

[comradetoad]

Kai Winn is one of the scariest, most sinister villains in all of Star Trek, and did a lot of horrible things, but her talking down to Kira about mourning for her boyfriend who died a horrible traumatic death just a few months ago is what makes me hate her the most

[eveninglakehomeworld]

someone posted this regarding the book club codex entries and it perfectly captures one of the biggest issues with the companions and their writing. the game is trying to convince us that they've all become a found family but only does a fraction of the work to get there.

when it comes to most of the companions, not only is HR in the room, you are HR! companions don't seek you out unless they need something and they don't really include you in anything. you can listen in on their conversations with each other but never participate (unless they need to be guided through basic conflict resolution).

why wasn't rook invited to the book club??? it could've been really fun to pick the genre of the next book or something! if you're going to emphasize going grocery shopping, skipping rocks, taking the griffon for a walk, and other mundanities, lean into it! let me join!

and the way you only find out from meeting minutes Bellara leaves lying around - considering there are no ambient dialogues or references to it (that I heard) - really makes it feel like they're going out of their way to keep it from you 😭 and it feels even worse that they're excluding you all while telling you you're such a great friend that helped them move through really hard things in their personal lives. I feel used 🫠

it makes it feel like Rook is the saddest character in the entire game and it wasn't even on purpose! like, I would start hallucinating a supportive friend if I was treated this way, too!

[firestorm09890]

FUCK what I said about the majority of significant changes to dialogue in Re:CoM being to adjust Axel's characterization, the most egregious change is actually this

(GBA CoM)

(Re:CoM)

if I had to guess, the reason for this change was because in GBA CoM, The Superior was a spooky, unknown being at the head of this Organization we had very little knowledge on, and for Vexen, the guy who runs his mouth constantly about how much better he is than the others, to be terrified of him, he must be some pretty scary dude. But then after kh2 we know him, it's Xemnas, he's very dramatic, he likes to talk to the moon, and the effect of your mind filling in the gaps about what "The Superior" must be like is gone. So it wasn't really necessary anymore, right?

(rest under cut because it's long)

Except... the way they changed it is so weird. In the GBA version, what's happening is pretty clear:

Marluxia tells Vexen that his project is a failure

Vexen demonstrates that he does not give a shit about Marluxia's opinion

he does care very much about The Superior's opinion, though, and Marluxia uses this to blackmail him into eliminating Sora- an action which is nonsensical, as the entire point of what they're doing needs Sora alive, making it clear to everyone in the room that he is deliberately sending Vexen to die

and then after that, when Vexen shows up to fight Sora, he goes "if you want to fight me for real you've gotta do it in the memories from the other side of your heart lol bye" and Sora goes "huh? other side?" and then it cuts to a scene on the top floor:

and then this gets more into subtext but here, Vexen has realized he's totally fucked and his only hope is to mess directly with Marluxia's plans (well, they were the Organization's plans, but it's pretty obvious by now Marluxia's abusing his power for his own purposes) by giving Sora more information than he should know. This does get the traitor gang worried enough to send Axel to go kill him (as opposed to just letting Sora take care of him, which was presumably the original plan)- he very specifically cuts Vexen off to keep him from saying too much (this is retained between the original and the remake)

Anyway, what happens in Re:CoM sort of follows the same order of events, but everything is changed slightly in a way that just makes things more confusing.

Marluxia tells Vexen his project is a failure and Vexen demonstrates that he doesn't give a shit about Marluxia's opinion, as before

Marluxia threatens Vexen with a weapon, rather than threatening to tell the Superior

this, notably, does not seem to faze Vexen very much. he continues to run his mouth while having the scythe pointed at him.

Xemnas is still leveraged- Marluxia points out it was the Superior who entrusted him with the castle

...even though reasonably Vexen would already be aware of this, and has still demonstrated that he has zero respect for Marluxia despite it

the lines about betraying the Organization being a capital crime are retained, probably because it's super relevant later, but then that line of thinking is abandoned in favor of Marluxia and Larxene just taunting Vexen instead

The part where Marluxia says "do it. you won't" could be seen as a sort of threat... if not for Axel's line: "You give a challenge like that to Vexen and he'll seriously want to eliminate Sora." It frames it all as though Vexen went to fight Sora out of some sort of pride.

And look, Vexen may have a temper and a superiority complex, but he's not stupid. They're obviously baiting him. Plus, what happened to him seeing himself as above the others and countering things he doesn't like with "well actually I'm higher ranked than you and also you're an idiot"? Is he that insecure in his fighting capabilities? I could deal with characterization changes doing him dirty if it didn't also make no sense in the context of the plot.

So now we have Vexen going to try to kill Sora, something that really makes no sense to do, out of pride. What was the purpose of sending Sora to Twilight Town? Also pride, over the fact that he managed to get that information? Giving the writing the benefit of the doubt, I could say that these nonsensical actions can be explained as evidence that Nobodies can have hearts and people with hearts do strange and rash things, but that just feels like a reach, which is bad because what they had in GBA CoM worked perfectly fine and made sense without any reaching for the "idk emotions make you do strange things" explanation.

It continues. After Vexen gives Sora the Twilight Town card in Re:CoM and Sora wonders about what the "other side" means, this is that version of the conversation the top floor members have:

...what? "If Sora disappears, that would mess up the Organization's plans"? what are you worried about? the only reason Sora would disappear is if Vexen killed him. there's no way they think Vexen being in Twilight Town would give him an advantage, right? they know he's a pathetic fighter. "Vexen has clearly committed a treasonous act against the Organization" HOW? HOW IS IT CLEAR? they don't express any worry about Sora learning too much, up until Axel says "I came to stop you from talking too much" when killing Vexen- and that being there makes it seem like they were worried about Sora learning to much, but if that's the case, why would they replace the perfectly serviceable lines in the above scene? it's just... baffling that they would want to lean into the narrative that Vexen going to kill Sora (which he'd been goaded into doing) is the problem here, because it just makes so little sense compared to what it was originally.

once again giving them the benefit of the doubt: Marluxia's real plan was to take over the Organization, and he saw an easy way to pick off one of the members, so he took it. the motive for stopping Vexen doesn't actually matter.

buuuuut it's the same as with Vexen earlier. Marluxia may be too self-absorbed and power-hungry to notice Axel is scheming against him, but he, too, is an intelligent man. he's plotted for a while, getting into Xemnas's good graces in order to be put in charge of the Castle. this is incredibly sloppy for him. I guess it could be said that getting so close to his goal would make him sloppy, but again, if they'd just left things the way they were in GBA CoM, I wouldn't even have to be saying this

in conclusion: GBA Chain of Memories' intra-Organization strife subplot is so tightly woven with calculated moves on all sides that Re:CoM changing certain things without taking into consideration the consequences makes certain parts of the plot fall flat and become far more confusing than in the original story

[tape-deck]

maybe im just too mentally ill but the way every character in the bright sessions takes one look at damien and immediately goes This Guy Is Evil Incarnate Scum Of The Earth kindaaaa owwie hurts me

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

how are you going to handle ashfur in wcr? i’ve always loved him but also felt like he should have been more clearly written either as a sympathetic tragic character or a total asshole, instead of kind of both

Technically, both!

On one hand, his mother was brutally murdered when he was young. He and his 3 siblings relied heavily on each other, but when Ferncloud got together with Dustpelt, Tulipfur grows closer to the older cats of Thunderclan, and Elderleaf buried herself in her work to try and become Camp Keeper, he feels upset and left behind. He has a right to feel that way, but he keels feeling that way. Stuck in the past... And over time, he blames everyone around him for his troubles.

A bonus scene shows his trial shows that he is incredibly charming. He sways the jury by pleading to see his mother, being incredibly loving towards her, and asking about his passed on nieces, Larchkit and Hollykit.

He plays up the sympathy card, talking about how it was such a foolish thing to do, how he just loved Squirrelflight too much, and how he totally deserved what Hollyleaf did. He blames Brambleclaw in a roundabout way. See, he just looked do much like the cat who killed my mom :(

The jury is mostly split and the final vote falls to Yellowfang.

After she and Raggedstar split up, he became mates with Foxheart. He didn't love Foxheart, just used her feelings and affections to hurt Yelf. Yellowfang admitted that, though she knew what he was doing, it still hurt. She wanted to shout at him, hurt him, and even wanted to hurt Foxheart, who hadn't done anything wrong.

She votes in his favour, because she finds it a bit relatable. She fell for the act, many cats did. She is ashamed to admit it later on, but in that moment, she knew what that anger was like. She still disapproves of his treatment of Hollypaw, and his anger towards the Three, but his trial is about The Fire Scene specifically, and all of Starclan knows Squirrelflight is going to be on trial when she eventually passes away.

And, for a good chunk of his time in Starclan, he looks normal. He hangs out with his nieces, cheering when they get their Star names, Hollyfoot and Larchwhisker. He hangs out with Tulipfur when his brother dies during AVOS, defending him when his cross-clan relationship comes into question.

In Squirrelflight's eyes, he was strange, and controlling, he treated her like some precious thing that couldn't do too much or she would break, some kind of prize to be hoarded.

Many cats alive did not like him. His was an ass towards most cats in Thunderclan, and he wasn't popular.

TBC shows his true colours. Controlling, manipulative, holier-than-thou, vindictive, and entitled.

Squirrelflight is glad to finally put him down for good.

[bookwyrminspiration]

I was going to make a post saying something like "rip to timkin but I'd simply lie better and never get caught if I was faking an ability" but then I got to thinking about the fact they literally sent him to exillium. they created a system that prioritized abilities so much he felt his best option was to lie about having one and then punished him for the situation they placed him in. and then Timkin managed to come back? to re-enter society semi-respected having worked hard enough to come back from Exillium? sure he's grumpy sometimes, but Timkin knows what's up. so sorry they caught you king but I believe in you. except for that weird alicorn thing that one time that was rude but otherwise you're ahead of your time <3