#so she limits her time in ace as much as possible

[sidesteppostinghours]

6 9 15 for your choice of character!

evening!! thank you for the ask jay! dont. dont look at what day it is. its irrelevant dont even worry about it.

6. Who will they take advice from, no matter what it is? Who won’t they take advice from, no matter what it is?

answered this one here!

9. Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)?

and this one over here! :]

15. What would they consider a waste of time– other than school or work?

unanimously the answer is sleep. cecilias case is a bit more complicated because she doesnt have her puppet as an escape (she Hates being ace so bad), but for all of them its like. the most rancid mix of "i cant get anything done+the Horrors" that makes all of them see sleep as some variation of 'useless bad thing Do Not Do This." for individual answers though:

Caine- cooking. and cleaning. and decorating. honestly basically anything other than the bare minimum upkeep of their living situation that wont end directly impact his work. he lives in an r/malelivingspace ass house. dont even talk to them about their base. this is why ortega still thinks theyre poor.

Cyrus- social hangouts. he used to enjoy these when he was younger, but ever since heartbreak he couldnt see any real point and stopped participating in them. its only recently that hes started doing them again. everybody point and laugh at the loser making Friends again.

Cecilia- this is interesting to answer for her since, after heartbreak, she absolutely Refused to do things that she didnt find interesting or at the very least useful in some way. she would classify her whole life before heartbreak– hell, before becoming lupin– to be a waste. a waste of time she didnt know was precious, a waste of people she didnt know she had to cherish. nowadays, she doesnt have the luxury of time to waste on things she doesnt want to do.

Cynthia- would it be depressing if i said investing into relationships. she Wants to– she so desperately wants to cultivate a real relationship with somebody without strings attached, but shes not naive enough to think that she can. she still puts in effort, but theres always the small nugget in the back of her brain that it isnt worth it.

questions from here!

[usersanon]

Please be aware of the user @/saintsugu also known as Ezra.

Past pseudonyms include (but are not limited to: @/aces_high

I never thought that I would have to create a post like this. In my near 12 years on the internet, I never thought I would have to write down the words I am about to type, especially about a fellow fanfic creator, one I used to enjoy before I found out about the type of person he really is. I apologise for the long post, however I want to make sure I am as thorough as possible so I can bring this person to justice.

Before opening the read more/ continuing with this post, please read the trigger warnings. This will deal with heavy topics, ones that make me sick to my stomach. I apologise for all of the censoring in this post as well.

TW: P*DOPHILIA, UNDER*GE, SEXUALIZATION OF EDS AND SH

I would just like to start off by saying how difficult this post is for me to write. I have had to take multiple breaks while typing this out. I have felt disgusted since I first saw the posts on his twitter. Like I need to take a shower and scrub myself clean, however, at the same time I feel like I cannot sit idly by while Ezra still has a platform.

The posts I have seen on his twitter, what he actively endorses is just disgusting and predatory in nature. I have done my best to censor them so as to not continue the spread of such material. As of the time of this post, his twitter is still public.

HIS TWITTER (X) IS CURRENTLY UNDER THE NAME @/ezr_ace

First, I’ll give evidence I have to prove that the twitter account stated above is in fact his. I was wary at first as well, however, I believe this evidence in fact proves that beyond reasonable doubt that the account is his.

The obvious reasoning is as follows: Ezra goes by the pseudonym Ezra currently, and has gone by the pseudonym Ace in the past. Both the twitter account and his tumblr state that he is 21. Both twitter and tumblr themes are the same in nature, featuring manga panels of Suguru edited in the same way.

If you’re familiar with Ezra at all, you would know that they are very close with another user, Flora, also known as @/fyogasm. Previously known as @/pussydrunkfyodor on tumblr. When going through the followers of this twitter account, I noticed someone by the name of Flora following him (one of about 34 followers), with the user @/floratumblr. This account had their tumblr linked in the bio of the profile, and it led straight to Flora’s tumblr. Screen recording is posted below:

UPDATE: since Ezra has been called out, Flora has unfollowed Ezra’s Twitter as well as deleted her account. I can only assume it is to try and dodge the backlash of being associated with him. Here are screenshots proving they are moots/ interacting with each other.

Note: I do not know what this means for the content of Flora’s character. All I can say for certain is that she is close friends with him (to the point they have each others numbers), and that she follows his Twitter. I did not dive deep into her Twitter before she deleted it. But I can say that I do believe she knew the content he was posting about, otherwise she wouldn’t have deleted her Twitter the second he was called out while remaining mutuals with him on tumblr.

UPDATE 1/19/24 1:50 pm: Since creating this post, Flora has reached out and stated that they have broken all contact with Ezra. They state that they are not frequently on twitter, and was completely unaware of the type of content he was posting on the account. They state that the content found on the account has made them feel sick and that they are no longer friends anymore.

Back to the main point, this only adds to the similarities listed above. A close mutual that he has been seen actively talking to on his tumblr also follows him on twitter, endorsing his behavior. This alone was too much for me to ignore. However, one final factor came into play that solidifies that user ezr_ace and user saintsugu are the same Ezra.

He not only posted to his tumblr about hateful anon messages, but also his twitter at the same time. Right after the messages were sent, he tweeted the following, as well as posted the following messages on his tumblr. Screenshots with time stamps posted below:

This for me, confirms that the two accounts are the same. There are simply too many coincidences for me to ignore. I feel that there is no argument about the validity of the accounts, as there are just too many similarities to ignore. Now, I can delve into what the post is really about. The content of the Twitter account.

P*DOPHILLIC ACTIONS AND UNDRE*GE CONTENT.

To put it simply, I was horrified when I first opened the profile to be greeted with Shotacon artwork. Full on artwork of an adult Toji a*saulting a child Gojo. In this artwork, Gojo looks as if he can be no older than 10. Most of the image is censored for obvious reasons, however, part of the screenshot appears in the video above as well. Proving that it cannot have been doctored in any way.

As you can see, the post is tagged with tw sh*ta. For anyone unaware, the definition of Sh*ta is as follows: “Sh*ta is a term used in manga and anime fandoms to indicate sex involving an under*ge boy.” (Fanlore.org) Aka, CP.

It is disgusting to see someone who I once enjoyed, once trusted, interact with literal cp. Drawing or not, the effect of it is still massive. Viewing children (ANYONE UNDER*GE) in a sexual nature is harmful to everyone. It breaches past dark content into something horrible. Something dangerous.

I felt sick seeing someone be as brazen as to repost a picture of a child being a*saulted. To get off on it. It is p*dophilic. That is the only way it can be put.

Further on this, he has written smut of, in his words, “not necessarily under*ge” Suguru in highschool. There is a whole thread on it on his profile, however, I will not be showing it here. The screenshot below describes the nature of the whole post from his own words.

When I first read “not necessarily under*ge”, my first and only question was literally, what the fuck does that mean? Either he is under*ge or not. There is not some fuzzy grey area coating the world between adults and children.

But sure, give him the benefit of the doubt. That does not excuse him liking multiple posts tagged with under*ge content. The most recent being less than an hour ago. Posts censored to the best of my ability below.

These posts all point to the same thing. The disgusting, undeniable truth that this man is attracted to under*ge content. Content depicting minors in sexual scenarios. Content that no member of society should ever consume. He is a p*dophile. For viewing this content of his own accord. For liking it, for reblogging it. For creating it on his own. He is a disgusting person.

FOLLOWING MINORS.

Him interacting with content like that above, consuming it in any capacity at all makes him unsafe to be around. For anyone. Especially minors.

Even though his blog is 18+, even though he preaches that minors should stay away from his blog. He still found himself following a 16 year old. Becoming mutuals with them. The fact this person is 16 is clearly displayed on their blog as well (in their pinned post).

Screenshots shown below. The individual’s user is censored out as, once again, they are a minor and I don’t feel they should have to be wrapped up in this mess.

Once again, Ezra is someone who preaches about minors staying out of adult spaces. Multiple times he has complained on his blog about minors following him and having to block them. You would think he does the same and would be more careful about curating his online spaces, however it he fails to do that.

I don’t believe this can be boiled down to a simple case of missing the age in their bio— this user has their age in their pinned post, as well as their about me. Along with the sexualisation of minors prevalent on his Twitter, it makes me extremely uncomfortable to know that he is following a minor in any capacity. I’m sure it would make anyone.

SEXUALIZING EDS AND SH.

To end the laundry list of posts on his twitter, we have him writing smut glorifying eds, as well as liking posts depicting sh in a sexual light. As always, screenshots are shown below, censored to the best of my ability.

In the post listed above, Suguru is described in a way that is hard to stomach. While it is not nearly as bad as everything else stated above, I feel it is still necessary to include, especially because in this pairing he has often described and implied Suguru to be a minor. There is a line and he has crossed it several times, this is just another example of such. Serving as the cherry on top to further demonstrate his mindset.

Dark content and discussion of these subjects in fiction are not the problem. The disturbing part of this is that Ezra often uses these tropes within his min*r/adult sexual fantasies, and when paired with the sh*ta and under*ge content, leaves a very poor taste in the mouth. It comes across as not only a gross f*tishization, but a gross f*tishization of taking advantage of a minor that way.

A DISCUSSION ON THE LIMITS OF DARK CONTENT.

In this section, I feel that it is important to touch on how dark content plays into all of this. I’d like to expressly state that this is NOT a condemnation of dark content or its consumption.

Dark fiction and dark content are a fine line. It’s a fantastic tool for exploring taboos and emotions or experiences that aren’t often talked about openly. DC creates what is essentially a safe space for exploring things that are not typically done or seen in the real world, with the knowledge that writing or engaging with it does not necessarily mean condoning it. That being said, this callout post is NOT about being anti-dc. Dark content is a literary or artistic tool. Keeping all of this in mind, to actively engage with sh*ta content in which a character is depicted sexually not only as a minor, but as a child, and to be sexually aroused by that image is the definition of p*dophilia. Writing or drawing children and engaging with that content in a sexual capacity is p*dophilia and at the very least, has p*dophilic tendencies. This is not dark content, this is p*dophilia.

It is one thing to write or create dark fiction between adults for the purpose of gratification or exploration of social dynamics and it is entirely another to engage with art of a child engaging in sexual acts with an adult for (seemingly) the intent purpose of sexual gratification. Everyone draws their own line, but it is also important to acknowledge that there are some depictions of taboo subjects that border (if not fully step-into) harmful, p*dophilic content that perpetuates behavior and mental tendencies that truly are dangerous.

To engage with a drawing of a child and a full grown adult in sexual acts for the purpose of sexual gratification is incredibly fucked up. And the fact that minor and adult p*rnography are not just common, but dominating Ezra's twitter page, should be an absolute red flag. It’s okay to acknowledge that dark content is a medium for fiction while also acknowledging that there are some ways of engaging with it that are harmful, especially when it is so glaringly obvious that the content is between a child and an adult (the art I am talking about specifically really is a child. I don’t urge anyone to look at it, but it is gojo depicted as a child of maybe 8 - 10 years old. I’m not using the term child as an umbrella term for minors here).

The problem, stated very plainly, is that the post/s he is engaging with are sexual depictions of a child with the purpose of sexual gratification. That’s the point here. It’s not the dark content, but rather that he is retweeting posts depicting a child of about 8-10 engaged in sexual acts and created for the purpose of sexual gratification.

Once again, this is not a condemnation of dark content. Dark content can be used in so many valuable ways— facing trauma, dealing with taboo subjects, exploring the literary world in a safe and healthy way. As someone who actively consumes dark content, I will be the first to tell you this. However there should always be limits to the types of content produced. Gaining any kind of gratification from looking at a child being a*saulted is disgusting. It is p*dophillic. Especially when he actively engages with minors on his platform.

This is not a conversation of morals— which side is right and wrong. But rather a conversation about the safety of children. This is not a conversation about ageing up as that is not what he is doing. The characters being depicted here are not being aged up, rather are being depicted as minors, or literal children being used for the sexual gratification of adults.

The issue here is a p*dophile. Not dark content. Not anything else.

CONCLUSION.

I’ll be honest, post was extremely hard for me to create. Discovering that someone I once thought was close to me is this kind of person feels disgusting and abhorrent. I honestly wish I never had the displeasure of meeting them in the first place.

Hopefully, by the end of this post you are able to see the kind of person Ezra really is. I could not be silent about this. I knew that the moment all I found all of this out. This post has been very difficult for me to write, but I hope by the end of it some good will come. Some people will be able to avoid interacting with this man.

I believe Ezra needs professional help, and truly hope that he is able to get it some day soon.

Please be careful with who you interact with on the Internet. Adults and minors alike, there are predators everywhere. Please try your best to stay safe in your own online spaces. All of the love in my heart goes out to anyone who has survived child expl*itation. I hope for nothing but the best for you in the future.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this post. I know it is long and triggering for most people. I hope you all have wonderful days and try your best to take care of yourself.

Listed below are some important numbers I would like to bring awareness to before this post is over.

National Child Ab*se Hotline (USA): 1-800-422-4453

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (USA): 1-800-843-5678

The National Sexual A*sault Hotline (USA): 1-800-656-4673

Childline (UK): 0800-1111

International Child Helpline: 116-111

TLDR: Ezra has a Twitter account where he retweeted artwork of a child gojo being a*saulted by an adult toji. He liked as well as created posts depicting under*ge characters (literally tagged with ‘under*ge’). All while being mutuals with a 16 year old on tumblr.

Tags used to try and spread awareness. I tried to mostly include fandoms that he is in.

UPDATE: lmfao, he has since deleted the retweet of sh*ta gojo after he was called out. Literally proving that it was him.

[pangurbanthewhite]

Hey guess what it's time to talk more about Stray Gods.

Specifically about the concept of "reactive narrative" in video games and how I think Stray Gods executes it as gracefully as you can possibly execute on the concept.

I think a lot of people balk at how choice-based games do and can only change in a limited way based on your choices. Which is a shame, because only being able to change in limited ways is a hard rule of both hardware and the concept of a story.

I think the games that handle it best are the games that lean into that fact. They should flesh out those limited choices as much as possible rather than try to stretch them to their breaking point. They should accept the reality that there WILL be fixed points in the narrative and build around them.

Example - Pan will always turn up in your apartment early on in the game and lead you into the "tutorial" song that is "I Can Teach You". But, based on your choices, the song can sound entirely different.

And that's if you stick to one color exclusively over another. You can weave the choices in and out to create dozens of unique instances.

The choices you make do not fundamentally change anything beyond the song, excluding the last choice. But those choices set the tone for what kind of story you are going to tell. Is it a story of how Grace, even when granted the powers of a god, still values her humanity and cherishes her human bonds? Or is it a story of how Grace, who begins by feeling adrift and out of place, immediately chases down any chance she has at belonging somewhere, at having a purpose? Is Pan a mentor or a source of suspicion? How big of a part does Freddie play?

Your thought processes behind making a choice, your reasons for choosing red over blue, do make a story unique as much as your choice to let Aphrodite "live" or "die". I think you have to accept that if you really want to get a lot out of these kinds of games.

Some scenes WILL always happen, and that's okay! That's good, even! Because differences in the journey matter just as much as differences in the destination! You might always wind up in the same place, but you will have told a different story in getting there. You'll be in a different headspace, you'll bring different baggage, you'll have had some different conversations which drive you to feel differently about characters along the way.

Freddie does always die, yes, but if you've spent the entire game flirting with her, expressing affection and admiration for her, traveling to find her in the Underworld leans so heavily into the Orpheus and Eurydice parallels. Orpheus becomes a dark mirror of Grace as much as Persephone.

Do you retrieve a Freddie that you love from the Underworld because of that love, or do you retrieve a friend as much out of spite, as if to prove that you can succeed where Orpheus failed? Is godhood worth her friendship? Is godhood worth her love? Are you making a sacrifice at all, or are you glad to be rid of these powers that you never asked for? Freddie returns either way, but your motivations have changed the story.

I'm getting a bit lost in the weeds here, but hopefully people get what I'm going for. The fact that, ultimately, Grace is going to wind up on trial against Athena, with the primary differences being whether or not Freddie is there driving the song, or whether it's Aphrodite in one body standing there vs. another, doesn't invalidate the choices and the uniqueness of the journey to get there.

And I cannot stress enough that the potential variation in any given song is so impressive. I'm genuinely kind of bummed that there's no way to listen to some of the versions I made, that I feel like really added to the story I was trying to tell.

And, most importantly, I think Stray Gods understood that this kind of variances gets infinitely more complicated and precarious the longer a game goes. 6 to 8 hours is almost certainly your upper limit possible. Anything much beyond that, and the variations you have to account for spin out into something approaching infinity. And, yes, they do and can get much less meaningful as a result.

IDK! I like this game a lot. I think it did some really cool and inspired things in really cool and inspired ways. And I think its understanding of how to use player choice within the narrative and hardware constraints of a video game is one of those things.

[queenscodex]

When your on your period

Dorm leaders; Riddle, Leona, Azul, Kalim, Vil, Idia, Malleus

Female reader !

Warnings; mentions of blood, cramps and period stuff under the cut

Headcanons

Notes; a post no one saw coming hshshs. Im not dead :] wrote this before my break, not caught up with story or lore

-

Riddle Rosehearts

Among all the dorm leaders, Riddle is among the best and dependable when it comes to taking care of his girlfriend during shark week.

He even marks it down on his calendar so he can prepare in advance beforehand :'D

In the beginning he will be inexperienced, confused but determined to help you in any way possible.

The only female figure in his life was his mother who rarely touched upon the topic of periods. But after the first and second times, he becomes really reliable

He has a lot of patience and handles your mood swings fairly well. Though there are times you may catch a glimpse of surprise in his eyes, your mood switches unexpectedly.

Where did all these emotions come from? He can only imagine

Speaking of which, Riddle has come prepared for any and all moods you may be feeling.

Upset? He has some sweets and herbal tea ready for you.

Sad? No matter, he's coming back with some fluffy blankets and promises of snuggles.

Angry? He's taking out the emergency snack box he's got store

Riddle also has tea suited for any pains you may experience! Ginger tea for any cramps, honey lemon tea if you're feeling particularly nauseous, and some lavender tea for headaches.

He has some meds if that's what you prefer though !

He even asks Trey to prepare more sweets than usual, all in hopes to distract you from the pain.

Anyone who touches your tarts are dead

He gets Heartslabyul, mainly Ace and Deuce to tone down their mischievous antics, preventing any other distractions or bothers that may hinder your day.

He's a bit bashful when it comes to buying pads. He'll still do it but avoids eye contact with the nearby people while dawning little blush on his cheeks. He even stocks up on some heating pads if that helps with his girlfriend's pain.

" My rose, is it that time of month? No need to worry, I'll ask Trey to prepare some tarts; would you like it with less sugar or more?"

-

Leona Kingscholar

Not the best, oofles

Leona, when it comes to taking care of his girlfriend while she's on her period, can be a bit of an ass. Added on that his understanding of such can be limited

But that's not to say he's entirely oblivious, he understands the key aspects to it.

He still makes an effort though, you're his girlfriend after all and seeing you twist and turn in pain only causes him to be in a foul mood.

Makes the argument that you wake him up but that's not entirely the truth

He thought that some teasing may help lighten the mood. But that very much did nothing to mend the situation. If anything his behavior may make you more annoyed at first.

For the most part he leaves you alone unless you explicitly state you want him to be with you and vice versa.

His worst fear? His usually calm(?) gf snapping at him cause you run out of sugar packets

He can't really keep up with your mood swings, if anything the sudden shift in behavior only makes him annoyed as he struggles to understand what you want. Dw he gets better with each month but man doesn't know what you wa n t.

He makes the effort to tone down any teasing and blunt nature(though as nature does it can slip out without warning).

Whatever you need he's spending Ruggie to get it while he keeps you company. This includes pads, need any? Ruggie will get it for you, poor guy

Though Leona isn't opposed to getting you pads and other things himself if ruggie can't do so.

When it comes to sleeping, he resorts to resting on your stomach hoping that his added body heat combined with a heating pad will help soothe you

Prepares some warm foods he thinks would help comfort his girlfriend such as soups and nutritious meats, all cooked to your liking.

He makes sure you eat it too and not skip on any meals. Imagine him over your shoulder tapping his foot impatiently as he nudges the spoon to your lips

keeps a close eye on your body language, picking up any discomfort you may be displaying and when he notices these signs, he is quick to send Ruggie off to pick up medication or heating pad depending on the situation

" I prepared you some soup, I believe it will help with the cramps. Now eat up, I'm not leaving till you're alright."

-

Azul Ashengrotto

Panics, a lot

His girlfriend will have to explain what periods are

Probably thought you were dying with all the blood leaving your body. And when he found out that was something you had to deal with early in the month? in disbelief and yet still curious about human anatomy

Having to endure terrible pains for extended time? 'Your very strong my dear'

On one hand Azul is dependable; however, he has moments where he is unsure of what to do since periods don't really occur within the Coral Sea(at least that's my hc).

But he very quickly masters what he should do when that time of month draws near

He notes that you should drink plenty of water with some pain killers if need be. He has a glass set beside your bed and that will never be empty, he will be constantly refilling it as needed.

Can't handle your mood swings. He's a patient person but seeing his girlfriend's behavior change every few minutes makes him internally panic and at a loss of what to do.

Especially when you cry. He made be compelled to cry as well :<

Thankfully, he has the entirety of the Monstro Lounge at his aid. He can cook you up some quality meals that will help with your period, both nutritious and easy to the stomach. Along with the many meals, Azul also buys you a lot of snacks, many of your favorite types

He offers some messages whenever his girlfriend gets some cramps. His fingers are nimble on your shoulders, feet, and hands, trying to distract you from the pain.

He really hopes this works because he doesn't know what to do otherwiseeee

He isn't one to become really embarrassed when it comes to buying pads since he isn't really aware of what it is, and seeing as it will help his girlfriend he doesn't give it much of a second thought. Though he does become uneasy at some of the stares he gets.

Although he panics at times, Azul puts aside a lot of time to keep an eye on his girlfriend, his eyes attentive to any of her needs. At some point he even starts to mark it down on his calendar with little reminders to bring you food, water at random intervals throughout the day

" What are they called again? Pads? Alright, I will be back with a pack soon. In the meantime, I have drawn you a bath, I hope that will soothe your aches until I return."

-

Kalim Al Asim

Clueless boy but still tries his best :D

Though clueless Kalim does have a moderate understanding of periods and what to do. He has many younger siblings, and periods are a normal thing that occurs and one shouldn't be ashamed of it

However, because he has grown used to the aid of servants, when it comes to taking care of his girlfriend he can be a bit lost but gives his best attempt nonetheless

Kalim is going to do everything in his power to make sure his girlfriend is comfortable. He will build a little nest of pillows and stack some blankets of different varieties. Still feels uncomfortable? No need, Kalim will buy a ton more pillows with extra fluff.

Will spoil you so rotten

Is bewildered by your mood swings and comes to understand that there will be times you want to be alone and other times you want to be affectionate. Regardless, he remains calm with a smile on his face, hoping his happy nature will at the very least ease his girlfriends worries

Feeling hungry? Kalim will buy the entire snack section of the store. He doesn't know what to get you so why not buy everything? He has a snack ready for you at any given moment.

You could be sleeping and upon waking up, you'd be met with a pile of your favorite snacks beside, with a little note from Kalim(filled with little doodles <333)

Kalim becomes heart broken when he sees you in pain. Clutches you close to him, resting his head on top of your own. Let's you squeeze his hand whenever the pain becomes overwhelming

He is not even the slightest embarrassed when it comes to buying pads. And like the snacks, he buys many packs since he isn't sure which one will be the best, pick your favorite !

During the process, Kalim becomes more clingy(unless you need space, that's perfectly fine as well !)sticking by your side for as long as he can.

He cuddles with you more and rest against your torso during the night, giving light pecks

Kalim lets you get onto his back if your feet ache or in too much pain to move. He even takes you on a magic carpet ride if the pain becomes too much, using it like as a distraction

Whatever you need he'll get you <3

" The new pillows I ordered came in, wanna switch them out? I read these ones were made specifically for periods."

-

Vil Schoenheit

Like Riddle, Vil is very dependable during these times and handles the situation with care. He is always preparing a few days before the start of your period(as he marks it on his own calendar), just to be ready for anything his girlfriend may face

Does his own research and looks for the best methods to help someone during this time of month.

He even goes to his agency to let them know he may be busy for the next few days tending and caring for you ♡

Vil will buy the highest quality and most comfortable pads and tampons out there. He carries some on his person in case of an emergency along with a pair of pants or shorts. And with the pads he also carries some medication, making sure you take the medicine at the right hours.

No need to worry about heating pads or tea, he's already got those pre ordered and it's the top of quality and does wonders

Vil becomes very observant to what you're eating, cutting back any caffeine or spicy foods and instead giving you a light meal with fruits.

Will seduce you into healthy eating habits 😙

takes care of any work you need to finish, such as any laundry, cleaning or any school stuff as you rest.

Something he isn't the best at though is when it comes to your mood swings. It can be unnerving sometimes, especially if you're upset. Vil tries to keep a straight face during these moments but his brows furrowed together every so often.

Vil takes his girlfriend to get a message whenever her body starts to ache along with other self-care activities to distract you from the pain.

Meanwhile at home, he is cuddling with you in bed, rubbing shapes on your back, sweet whispers meeting your ears as you fall asleep

" All the pain will be gone soon, sweet potato. Right now focus on the sound of my voice, how what does a luxury spa day with messages sound to you hmm?."

-

Idia Shroud

Help him, he doesn't know what to do and panics a lot

Idia has zero knowledge on what periods are, with the exceptions of some things mentioned in anime and read online but he's still clueless on what to do. 

It's a process of trial and error, noting what works best and what he needs to alter and fix. 

Your mood swings make him p a n i c. The look of surprise is easily readable on his face like an open book, his eyes widening in surprise as he arms bunch up to his chest. 

From that point he is always anticipating for your mood to change and tries to do anything to prevent you from getting upset, cause let's be real, you're scary when mad. 

He even goes through the effort to clean his room a bit so his girlfriend can easily find her things without getting annoyed with the mess(not that you had a problem with it in the first place)

Idia gets you lots of snacks, especially sweets. He has a stash hidden in one of his drawers, it's his 'girlfriend is hungry, panic button' saved for these times of month. 

He also buys a weighted blanket, many of them, all with the purpose to provide heat during the night

He tries to give you messages but it can be rough sometimes as his movements become shaky, sometimes pinching you involuntarily. 

Idia places a hot towel on top of your stomach when the cramps become too much, changes it occasionally when bringing you a glass of water + medicine 

He tries to distract you by gathering all your blankets and pillows and creates a nest around the couch, and puts on a nice anime to watch while you cuddle against him, munching on the many candies he has store away

Idia pefers to buy the pads and tampons online. But since shipping takes a few days, he was forced to exit the den that is his dorm room and go to the store. He runs in quick, grabs a few packs before dashing away- next time he resorts to buying it online in advance

May become a bit of a broken record, asking you daily if there was anything you need.

But feels like the proudest person alive when it all pays out in the end in the form of cuddles and affection from his girlfriend <3

" Do you need anything? I- I have some candies, we can share if you like. Ah… I don't know what I'm doing."

-

Malleus Draconia

Malleus, as a fae can he probably smell blood and was concerned at first. If you're bleeding does that mean your hurt? Then whoever hurt you will face the wrath of the dragon fae.

Much like Azul, his girlfriend would have to teach Malleus about periods and that it's an normal thing that happens every month.

Malleus' response was to look at your stomach and poke at it a few times, like that's going to stop the blood. Good attempt tho 😗👍

Although not very knowledgeable in what periods are, he becomes a master of taking care of his lover within the first few months- he's also another one who tracks her period and marks it down.

If you thought Kalim was spoiling, Malleus takes it to another level. It's a sea of pillows and blankets with him, always having a new pillow to try out if the last one was too bulky or something.

He tries to make the atmosphere as cheery and light as possible to mask the situation, every morning you wake up with a vase of flowers and a little glass of water.

Malleus holds some medication, heating pads, tampons and any other thing you need on his person while you're both in public, he doesn't want you to worry about a thing.

He buys lots of ice cream during these days among your other favorite snacks and goods. May end up overdoing it and buying more than needed but at least your stock up for next month-!

Gives some of the best messages!! Works out any aches you may have, easily soothing the pain you may have.

Kisses your stomach, he knows it won't help with the cramps but maybe it can help his girlfriend feel even a little bit better. Each kiss is gentle and soft, perhaps a bit feathery to your skin

Malleus handles your mood swings pretty well. He was surprised at first at how quickly you changed moods based on a small little thing but he learns to adapt and change whatever is bothering at you in a given moment

Many dates ! Takes you on panics under the moonlight, walks around the school and other activities that will work to distract you from the cramps and stiff feelings

Compliments. Many many many compliments. With mood swings can come with some undesired thoughts about one's self. Malleus will always voice his love for you and the worth you have. A day will never pass in which he forgets to do so <33.

" My treasure, though you may see yourself as undesirable, I see the most beautiful person in this world. I truly wished I could take away your pain."

[justanotherhh]

what does being aroace do for alastor's character?

thing about alastor being aroace is that there's so much juicy potential (cannibal joke) embedded in this concept that i don't know about going too far into, as it's still early days and who knows what the direction will be. but. some analysis. some predictions. some headcanons. mix and match with hedonistic abandon. and at the end a bunch of feelings

first and foremost and basically what all the subsequent points will be about in some way, is it's such a great flipping on its head of a tired idea that aspec-ness (in the vague way it's often discussed) is a way of depicting inhumanity -- characters who can't love are Other, characters who don't want sex are childlike, the way to become a Human Adult Person is to enter into these partnerships, to be fixed. in alastor, being aroace is very much the thing that brings him to humanity, grounds him in something beneath the constant mask he wears. to dig deeper...

just visually, i like how his mask literally slips when he's propositioned/involved in sexual comedy/when people discuss romance too much around him. he glitches, or becomes otherwise uncomfortable, or zones out. i like the crack hc that he avoids val at all costs, that val is actually vox' best weapon against alastor, just because his whole Essence is outside of alastor's ability or wish to process

2. the fact that he's caught off-guard by attachment. he's created an untouchable persona (emotionally and physically to an extent/with exceptions -- the distance of the radio to the listener is something i think about a lot), that with the aroace read comes off partly as protection, especially considering how hypersexual hell is, and how generally hyper-romantic earth would have been (hell is romantic with caveats... more in a sec), so when he realises he almost died to protect the hotel gang it sends him into a full-on meltdown

3. that being said, the way he interacts with women is full of charm and ease: mimzy and rosie first and foremost, then also charlie and niffty, and even to an extent vaggie and possibly carmilla, and maybe cherri in future. he's able to get closer to women, able to be respectful in a southern gentleman old-timey way. it reads as chivalry-with-a-demonic-twist. alastor may be unsettling and untrustworthy for other reasons, but not about crossing sexual or romantic boundaries, which makes him surprisingly safe to hang around. i wonder if this was the case whilst living (and if, ironically, it meant that women ended up crossing his boundaries)

4. i especially would be into this tying into his relationship with niffty, who feels like a woman scorned/wronged/hurt in some way in a 50s housewife-ish romantic way (i personally think her story will be incredibly messed up when it's finally shown), but is very happy hanging out with alastor. sidenote, i bet alastor is so proud of her for killing adam

5. the fact that "ace in the hole" is a comment directed at the idea of alastor-and-charlie is fun and spoken about in-depth, and i will wonder until we find out (if we do) how rosie figured it out, and what it says for their relationship that she hasn't told alastor. that they have limitations to their closeness, or that she knows he'll reject it, or that he needs time to get there. personally i think alastor is so detached from himself that he wouldn't know what to do with it at present, it'd be functionally useless until he's learnt to come into himself more -- aroaceness as the end of a journey of humanising a character, not the thing that needs to be gotten away from in order to be seen as human

6. romance! in hell! it's a little stickier there, with sex-with-no-strings seeming to be a more popular pastime, so i think that part was more of a concern whilst he was alive, but that being said, im interested in how this plays into the above relationships, how characters will react to this part once he starts being more openly on the side of/affectionate with the wider hotel gang, and in how this might come up in future, with regards to...

7. vox! voooox! oh i want vox to become. so creepy. currently we've got underlying creepiness to vox' pathetic obsession with alastor that's coded as having been partially romantic and sexual in nature at one point (if not still romantic and sexual...). there's something about it that speaks to the way that alastor is not aroace because of trauma, but there is trauma involved in being aroace

8. that is, constantly having ones boundaries overstepped, whilst not having the words to say how or why or assert them properly, being projected onto by vox and maybe others while he was alive and post-death, potentially when-alive having that framed as a form of inhumanity in and of itself (and how that ties to him being a serial killer, which im so into)

9. the idea of having been made to feel alien in his own skin due to amatonormativity and not knowing why he feels this way, and compensating by creating boundaries that are extreme, but they work as coping mechanisms, up until... perhaps they won't (hinted at in the finale of s1)

10. (i soooo want vox' creepiness to eventually lead to him actually beating alastor in some way, temporarily, and alastor having to face the mortifying ordeal of being saved by the hotel gang, knowing he's weak and needs to be taken care of by them, knowing that they know that vox won in some way, knowing that vox will take it as vindication and become more powerful from it, know all his walls weren't strong enough in the end -- like a part two to the finale, which ultimately the others didn't see (although vox did) and was already such a big deal for him. gimme some alastor angst!!!)

11. smthinsmthin when we have an aroace character whose whole Deal is being untouchable (emotionally and physically, barring Certain People) being pushed into a space where he has to allow himself to be cared for and through that engage with his own boundaries and which ones have become poisonous to him vs the ones which are actually Who He Is

12. i like to think that he and angel could have an unlikely friendship with a lot of shenanigans, because they both have narratives focused on (re)establishing a relationship with their own bodies, after being made to feel unable to inhabit them as who they are -- angel due to abuse, alastor due to being aroace/repulsed (angel learning to respect alastor's boundaries and being protective of them as an extension of his own journey)

13. alastor filtering through what parts of him are him and what parts are the walls/coping mechanisms -- it's been a lot of years, even before he died, of building them after all. who is the man beneath it all?

14. big fan of how this interacts with his past as a murderer too -- the metaphor is made into something much deeper when the character's aroaceness is a humanising factor in a story about people who have done/do bad things. this not to say he'll necessarily be redeemed (but who knows, vaggie has killed a lot of people and probably will be, or, she'll probably stay in hell with charlie, but the narrative will go "she's chill now." in fact it already pretty much has), but that it adds to all the grey areas of his character. he's not a pure, sad little soul who's always suffering, he's dealt in suffering himself, he enjoys the suffering of others, and he's in control all the time

15. it must have been incredibly humiliating not only to die so stupidly/randomly/without say, but to become a deer demon after that. again, prey, weak, lack of control. his whole Thing is control of the narrative, and his death was totally out of that control, and that in and of itself plays into aroaceness as the idea of "if you can't verbalise yourself, if you can't adequately create boundaries, then overcorrect. become the most inscrutable, untouchable, unsettling, disturbing version of yourself. make people not want to get close to you in the first place"

16. and yet despite all that, he can't help liking people, he can't help being charming and funny and smart and in some ways there's a mask in that too -- sharp wit to cut people down, when you're not... literally cutting people down, a cool, shallow friendliness that deliberately keeps a tension at the forefront, the smartness helping to control and shape and keep power. funnily enough, when he's ready to be aroace, oh the real power he'll have (whether he'll use it for good or bad, or a mix of both... who knows, but he'll be fully himself at last, and that's a happy ending)

17. on the flipside to angel, i think it would take charlie a hot second to deal with it -- she'd be supportive in word, but also she's a known boundary-crosser/someone who has her fixed ideas of how things ought to be and it takes a strong "no" to make her realise when she's got it all wrong. all this to say, she might get the ace part, but she could struggle with the aro, trying to twist it into a version of love so that she could humanise him on her terms, using the word "love", until someone steps up for alastor in some way (in my head, angel, but that's my angel and alastor unlikely friends agenda)

18. husk already knows in some way. also not with words, but he's like, yeah this guy. none of that. are y'all surprised????

19. i wonder if when alive he briefly thought he might be a homosexual, or if he knew from the start that he wasn't, especially considering that men are more disgusting to him overall than women

20. i wonder if mimzy knows or suspects, and also if she was in love with him during their lifetime

21. i like to think in life he's utilised the tactics of the song "the gentleman doesn't believe" and just gone "i hate kissing i mean and uh. dancing. and jazz. and uh... smoking. and walking. and everyting else!!!! (but mostly kissing)" as a way of getting out of someone suggesting a date

22. alastor as hot and charming and unfuckable and unromanceable and repulsed by the idea of it all, and who has the supremely aroace fantasy powers of a. "am not being perceived" and b. "am so terrifying you wish you couldn't perceive me" and whose relationships are dictated by his aroaceness, not despite it!

23. ultimately, this point is the main one for me, regardless of how the story actually gets there: aroaceness as the end of a journey of humanising a character, not the thing that needs to be gotten away from in order to become human

24. pal of mine @creepysora said: "they didnt let anyone walk so now he waltzes ready for murder" and yeah. jumped straight to complex character with big, wonderful flaws in a strange little universe, bypassing all the dull explanatory 1-0-1 that just isn't my cup of tea and into a way of writing aroaceness that can be complex and nuanced and based in character, story, theme, rather than education -- he's not implied, he's not one-note, he's not there to explain, he's not defined solely by his role in the story as the token so-and-so, he's not there to be fixed, he's not there to be dubbed as Other, he is

this character genuinely doesn't exist elsewhere, outside of the stories and ideas i see shared and share within my community. this kind of focus, it's... kind of heady to be honest. like you only ever tasted something sweet in crumbs, and then someone gives you a boatload of it all at once

and tbh. he deserves a little murder. as a treat. because fuck, being aroace is hard

[the-lincyclopedia]

In Defense of Juliet

I just read Romeo and Juliet with @socialshakespeare, and I felt like I understood it for the first time, since it’s a play I’ve never studied, and I’ve mostly been exposed to it by seeing it performed a couple times. And I am so angry on Juliet’s behalf. She has been done so dirty, both by the adults around her within the world of the play, and also by the way she’s been remembered in pop culture. She’s not a foolish, simpering teenager the way she’s often thought of as being. I honestly think that Juliet is the most reasonable and pragmatic character in the play, and that there aren’t any major decisions she makes where she truly had a better option. 

Romeo and Juliet, the characters, are both often mocked for how quickly they fall for each other. And I do think there’s something to that when it comes to Romeo, especially given that he was professing love for Rosaline literally hours before meeting and apparently falling for Juliet. But Juliet? What people often forget is that, right before she meets Romeo, Juliet is informed by her father that he has arranged a marriage for her, and that she has to marry Paris whether she likes it or not. 

Now, a few notes on this: 

Juliet is 13 years old. There are plays and books where you have to kind of guess at characters’ ages or figure it out from context clues, but this is very much not one of those times. Juliet being 13 gets talked about, explicitly, a lot in this play. 

It was not normal for girls to get married that young, even in Shakespeare’s day. Here’s a great essay on that. 

Paris is definitely older than Juliet. It’s unclear by how much, but it could be over a decade, maybe by a substantial amount. He’s also canonically pretty skeezy. 

Even in many cultures where arranged marriages are common, it’s also common for the consent of the couple to matter. “Arranged marriage” does not by necessity equal “coerced marriage,” and indeed, the Church in Shakespeare’s day did (at least in terms of doctrine) require the people being married to consent in order for their marriage to be valid. (See the essay linked to in point 2.)

So here Juliet is, knowing she’s going to be forced into a marriage she doesn’t want. Her options are basically to go along with marrying Paris, or to do something that her parents can’t undo that will make the marriage to Paris impossible. What are her options for that? Well: 

She can become a nun. This isn’t her first choice, and she’s not too keen on it even later in the play, when her options are much more limited and Friar Lawrence suggests it. 

She can run away but not become a nun. This would basically mean she would be destitute and incredibly vulnerable. It’s not surprising she doesn’t choose this option. 

She can kill herself. Again, unsurprising that this isn’t her first choice. 

She can quickly and secretly marry someone who isn’t Paris and present the marriage to her parents as a fait accompli. 

It’s really, really not surprising to me that her first choice is option (4). I mean, personally I would have considered becoming a nun, but I’m ace, and Juliet seems to, uh, probably not be. So, okay, you’ve got Juliet, literally fresh off a conversation with her father about how he’s going to force her into an unwanted arranged marriage, and she’s trying to figure out how to get out of it, and then this guy approaches her at a party and seems totally into her. Like, are she and Romeo hasty and probably hormonal to think they’re in love this fast? Yeah, probably. And Romeo a) was professing love for someone else this morning, and b) does not seem to be under urgent familial pressure to marry. But Juliet is desperate to marry someone who isn’t Paris, as soon as humanly possible, and Romeo seems both interested and more tolerable than Paris. Is it surprising that she’s all in? 

So then Romeo and Juliet have the balcony conversation, and then the next day they get married in secret at Friar Lawrence’s. Cool. Now they can break the news to their respective families, Juliet won’t have to marry Paris, and everything will be fine. Right? 

Except then Juliet’s cousin Tybalt picks a fight with Romeo’s friend Mercutio and winds up killing him, so Romeo retaliates by killing Tybalt. Romeo, by law, should be facing capital punishment, but the Prince commutes his sentence to banishment. Which is still a problem for Romeo and Juliet since they’re newlyweds and the Friar and the Nurse are the only ones who know. After spending the night with Juliet in secret, Romeo leaves town because he doesn’t really have a better choice. 

Meanwhile, Tybalt’s death has significantly increased the urgency of Juliet getting married (which her parents don’t know she’s already done). Tybalt and Juliet are the only two in their generation of the Capulets, so Tybalt was The Heir, which means that now that he’s dead, Juliet needs to marry immediately, because, as a girl, she can’t inherit. Ideally, she needs to start producing heirs as soon as possible. Her father suddenly moves the date of her wedding from some inexact time in the future to this Thursday. 

So Juliet’s close cousin has just died, her husband has been exiled, and her second (and, by the standards of the time, inherently sinful) marriage is suddenly very, very soon. She tries to talk her parents out of forcing her to marry Paris, and her dad is still very much not having it. She is, understandably, desperate. She goes to the Friar’s place and starts talking about suicide. 

The Friar tells her not to kill herself, and he gives her a potion that will make her seem dead for a couple days. He tells her to take it before she’s supposed to marry Paris, and then instead of getting married, she’ll be buried, and then she can wake up and get smuggled off to join Romeo in exile. Juliet goes home and takes the potion as instructed. 

But unlike Much Ado about Nothing, this is not a comedy. The potion works; Juliet’s family finds her “dead” and holds her funeral, and Friar Lawrence sends a letter to Romeo informing him of the plan. But the letter doesn’t make it--the friar carrying the message is quarantined for fear of plague--and meanwhile Romeo hears that Juliet has died. He comes back to Verona, duels Paris at Juliet’s tomb, finds Juliet seemingly dead, and kills himself. Juliet wakes up, finds Romeo dead, and (despite the deeply inadequate arguments of the Friar, who leaves Juliet by herself when he hears someone coming) kills herself. 

And like, what the fuck else was she supposed to do? At any point? I thought of the musical Six a lot during today’s read-through, and Anne Boleyn’s line “Like, what was I meant to do?” feels so appropriate for Juliet (as does "All You Wanna Do," for other reasons). She couldn’t just keep living with her parents and being a teenager--she was going to be forced into an unwanted arranged marriage unless she could find a way to make herself permanently unavailable for marriage to Paris. Marrying Romeo seemed like a better idea than becoming a nun, running away and becoming destitute, or dying. Taking the potion of living death and then joining Romeo in exile seemed like a better idea than entering a sinful second marriage. Maybe becoming a nun would have been better than suicide, in the end after Romeo has died, but Juliet has been through an incredibly stressful few days at this point, her cousin is dead, her parents clearly don’t care about her happiness or well-being, and, oh yeah, she just woke up with her dead husband in her lap--I think she’s allowed to be Done at that point. 

I’m not sure that Romeo and Juliet make a good couple with long-term potential or whatever. But this is absolutely not a story about how teenagers are dumb and impulsive. The adults are the ones making terrible decisions--the Montagues and the Capulets for having a deadly feud, the Prince for not doing more to end the feud earlier, the Capulet parents (especially Lord Capulet) for trying to force Juliet into an unwanted marriage at a very young age, Juliet’s Nurse for encouraging Juliet to marry Paris even though she knows Juliet is already married to Romeo, Paris for continuing to try to marry Juliet when she’s clearly unhappy about it, Friar Lawrence for leaving the tomb before Romeo arrives and then leaving again when Juliet wakes up and is freaking out--literally all of the adults suck, and Juliet is trying her best in the face of some seriously awful circumstances. 

If the throughline of tragedies is that they couldn’t have gone any other way, I think that’s especially true for Juliet, specifically. She’s so smart, and she’s trying so hard, and there is no way out.

[di-tarot]

Disclaimer: Readings are meant for entertainment purposes only. English is not my native language, so errors or inaccuracies may occur

Ateez as Husbands. Tarot reading

Hongjoong

(Knight of Swords, Queen of pentacles, Queen of cups, 3 swords, 2 swords, Death, page of pentacles, 10 cups)

Hongjoong will be sincerely interested in a partner. He wants to talk to his wife for a long time without stopping. He is sincerely interested in his wife's hobbies, supports her in all her endeavors. He will try to build strong and reliable relationships, will help his wife in everything and take care of her a lot. Hongjun will surprise his wife. Arrange a surprise date or give a cute gift. When she's having a hard time, he'll spend all his free time with her until she gets better. He will fulfill all the whims of his wife. He will value his family and treat it as the most precious thing in his life. He will do everything not to lose the trust of his wife, will not allow her to be emotionally closed from him.

Seonghwa

(4 wands, 10 swords, the devil, rhe justice, the star, 5 cups, King of wands, the Temperance)

A husband with a very high libido🤭. Seonghwa will take responsibility for his thoughts and actions. He will always please his wife, make her laugh. He will not close himself off from her if any bad situations happen, he will trust her and do everything so that she trusts him. I feel that they will spend a lot of time together. Permanent exhibitions, dinners, going to the cinema or shopping. He will appreciate every moment he spends with his wife. They will also travel the world together often and visit many new places. She will not allow her partner to feel unnecessary. He will constantly talk about his love for her. It will give the partner a sense of security and confidence in the future.

Yunho

(Ace of Wands, 9 swords, 3 pentacles, Knight of cups, 8 pentacles, Knight of pentacles, Queen of Swords, 4 cups, 4 pentacles, the Emperor)

He will help his wife in everything, he will share household responsibilities. He will arrange romantic dates and surprises for his wife. He will provide for her financially. It will be important for him that the relationship in marriage does not stand in one place, he will want to know everything about his partner. Yunho will be one of those husbands by type: "Do you want to eat pizza? Then I'll buy you a pizzeria." Another guy with a huge libido. His wife will be the brightest woman for him. He would dream only of her, want only her. He will be ready to discuss and solve problems in the relationship. He will often talk to his wife about serious topics. Perceives his wife not only as a wife, but also as a friend. He will not limit her in anything, he will be a little jealous of her if he sees that she is talking to some man.

Yeosang

(10 pentacles, 5 swords, 5 wands, 10 cups, 3 wands, 9 cups, 6 wands, thr devil, 8 wands)

Yeosang will value his wife very much and take care of her. He values her very much. He will smooth out the sharp corners in the relationship in every possible way, prefers calm conversations instead of loud quarrels. He will be very faithful to her. There will be no other girls for him. He wants to grow and develop with his wife. I am ready to take on household responsibilities. He shows his love by his actions. He will do everything so that his family does not need anything. They will often go out into nature and spend time just the two of them. He will always support her and her choices.

San

(King of wands, court, 2 pentacles, Knight of cups, 4 cups, magician, 3 pentacles, sun, King of swords)

San will treat his family very responsibly, putting his family first. He will adhere to his moral principles. The relationship will be fully enabled. There will always be a wife to choose between someone and his wife. In case of a quarrel, the first one goes to reconciliation. I am ready to make compromises. He will talk a lot with his wife on various topics. He will often arrange romantic dates. He wants his wife to be able to rely on him completely. It will take a major role in the relationship. He will not mind if his wife does not work, but at the same time he wants his wife to always develop as a person, so that she has her own hobbies. He wants to be a father and will be fully ready to have children, to take care of children. He will protect his wife.

Mingi

(4 swords, King of Cups, Queen of Cups, 3 cups, 8 pentacles, King of swords, King of pentacles, 6 swords, 2 pentacles)

Mingi will be a very calm husband. He will never yell at his wife during quarrels, or show other signs of aggression. He will give a lot of love and care to his wife, treat her like a queen. He will often arrange some kind of celebrations even for minor events. He will always please his wife, raise her spirits, joke with her. He will also talk a lot with his wife on a variety of topics. He will work hard to ensure that his family does not need anything. Mingi and his wife will travel the world frequently. Mingi will deliver a lot of positive emotions to the partner.

Wooyoung

(10 swords, the strength, 4 wands, 8 pentacles, Queen of Wands, the Hermit, 9 pentacles, 4 swords, page of pentacles)

Wooyoung will be a strong owner, but he will not put strict restrictions (forbid wearing any clothes, make up, etc.), He will be jealous of her because he will cherish her very much and be afraid of losing her. He will admire his wife, brag about her in front of his friends, and say something like: "look how f@cking great she is, and she's mine😎" He will treat his wife like a goddess. He will develop intellectually with her, explore the world. He will fulfill all her desires, even if they are absurd. He will be looking for some kind of hobby that only the two of them will be engaged in. He will try to spend a lot of time with his wife.

Jongho

(The Star, King of Swords, 3 swords, the justice, the Hanged, the lovers, 2 pentacles, King of wands, magician)

Jongho is a proponent of more traditional and patriarchal relationships. He will be the main breadwinner in the family. He will make his wife feel comfortable. It will protect her from problems and worries. He will fulfill her wishes, help her realize her dreams. He will support her in all her endeavors, give her good advice. He will arrange many romantic adventures for his wife. He will respect her choice, even if he doesn't like it. If his wife does not feel well, he will be with her all the time. (For example: if she gets sick, he will make sure that she takes medicine and eats well. He will buy her various sweets, just to please her.) He will be very attentive to her and to her wishes.

[ganondoodle]

i kinda want to read books again, i havent read any in .. more years than i know to remember but idk how to find anything i like, especially these days (i dont read fanfiction either .. , i tried a few times but it never really caught me q-q)

even when i was young i was somewhat picky (though there are plenty books im sure i finished but just .. dont remember) the last series i think i read was skullduggery pleasant (as i said, its been many years) but dropped it after it got a little 'weird' (in like .. i guess the shonen powerscaling problem, at least thats how it felt back then) and the annoying love interest boy that was seemingly only introduced so protag girl could do what normal girls do tm (i know theres many more books in the series so idk if hes actually more than that but eugh)

funnily enough i only seem to remember the books i loved so much i kept rereading them (the bartimäus trio, though i loved the forth prequel more than the others .. still sad i lost my copy of it in school) or the ones i stopped reading bc something completely threw me out of it-

there was one i literally only remember it was a protagonist (teen?) girl (is that a general common thing for the fantasy genre?) and she was travelling via a ship in that scene, idk if it was a flying one but something was different magical tm i think; and left it or ran away or so and sought shelter from the rain at some point and annoying boy caught up to her and they uuh .. started making out of nowhere?? (im sorry i literally only remember i felt rly uncomfortable and awkward, didnt like the boy, thought they had zero chemistry/felt forced AND i did NOT see it coming, like at all, maybe its my aro/ace/autism .. ness (that i wasnt aware of except being def different for most of my life, haha fun.) but i rememebr feeling like i got flashbanged by what i read, the only actual sentence i (think i) remember was "she felt the weight of his hips shifting onto hers" bc it weirded me out so much and i might just have stopped reading it at that point and never looked back lmao)

another one was one with a setting of having dragons and they were used like horses, also feathered! (though the cover picture, i think, was a big dragon eye surrounded by scales, pretty sure it annoyed me constantly but i might missremember, again its been so long and i went through things my brain wishes it could unlive) and the protagonist worked at a stable or soemthing (also girl? idk), last thing i remember was that all dragons started to go mad and kill themselves .. idk if i read any further

(honorable mention to uuh .. dämonenzeit (demon time), was a demon protagonist and it was a little brutal for my taste but when do you get a demon as the main guy, apparently there were two entries and i only read the first one, also lost that copy- Xarors (an OC of mine) first designs were based on the cover of that book and the thing the band 'disturbed' tended to use (the hooded guy with red glowing eyes) i was very original)

maybe all those were super well known ones and i just never knew (grew up without/extremely limited internet and tech in general after all.... the only one i knew was popular and also read all of it and had all parts .. was a certain bad wizard series that should not still be so popular *watches in horror as my niece gets into it and wants nothing but merch for it*) or really bad peepoo baby books, im possibly confusing or mixing some things bc i read quite a few ones with dragons and similar themes, but thats just what i remember/remember feeling like

(maybe i should see if i still have them somewhere and see how much is true of any of this .... though a part of me also doesnt want to)

[xandermatthews2290]

The Final Secrets Theory

With Chapter 2 starting back up again in about..8 hours, I’m gonna make my last prediction with the information currently available

So just taking the entire motive and murder at face value, we have 14 secrets, and if somebody isn’t dead in 4 days they are getting revealed

The logical step is then gonna be that the culprit must be among the group that still hasn’t had their secrets revealed, gonna include some visual aids

So far: Arei, Ace, Nico, Eden, David, Charles, Rose, J, Whit, and Arturo have had their secrets outed at the point we’ve left off at

that’s 10 people hypothetically out of contention, but as Rose never checked her secret, Whit actually cannot be included in that group of 10 leaving us with just Levi, Teruko, Veronika Whit, and Hu as potential culprits

Also it is worth noting that prior to the trial being started: Eden, Ace, David, and Arturo’s secrets were not public knowledge

Ace and Eden’s get revealed with very little fanfare

And one of the last points of contention, the dead students secrets, outside of Xander’s depression and potentially suicidal thoughts , the only thing we learn about Min is that she may have killed someone to earn the title of Ultimate Student

The 5 of them at the start of the case, Levi and Teruko are cooperating and reveal they got Arei and Rose’s secrets

Veronika, Levi, David, Hu, and potentially are all looking suspicious now but really what secrets are left

“You’re a murderer and you hold no remorse”

“You only took on your talent to distract from your incessant need to harm yourself for fun.”

“You were quite the hopeless child, dying once wasn’t enough, so you attempted suicide 3 times”

“How could I even select what secret to be your motive? Just about everything you’ve done in your life is worth killing for. This killing game is your fault”

The above secret was credited to Xander, however it is not clear if the dead students were included in the swap, along with another secret mentioning survivor’s guilt, however it is still possible that Levi or Hu’s family could be dead

“Your mom is dead. You always omit that truth”

So just looking at them, I’d say Teruko not being able to tell which is hers is pretty messed up.

But otherwise which of these is worth killing for? The murderer one is of course terrible, but killing someone now will just reinforce that point, this secret seems most likely to be Levi’s given the limited suspect pool, Teruko and Hu are far from emotionless though it is possible it’s Veronikas though 1 other fits her better

Only took your talent to distract yourself from self harm? The most popular theory is that this is Veronika’s following her scene in the movie theater

Though it is possible that Hu could have this secret, Veronika is much more likely, by extension Levi is also out for this secret as we can actually see most of him, and Teruko didn’t take up her talent at all

Hopeless Child, 3 suicide attempts, I lean towards this being Hu’s out of the secrets remaining, she seems to be a bit of an outsider, going by a different name to fit in.

This could easily be Teruko’s as she openly knows she can’t die and that failed hanging attempts are extremely painful, however David has also been openly more suspicious of her this chapter so it’s most likely he has Teruko’s secret, that being her being the reason the killing game exists, likely to test the ultimate luck

The mom one is probably Whit’s, which kinda undermines the theory that he’s lying about it but really? This doesn’t fit Teruko who’s an orphan and would recognize it immediately , Veronika has never acknowledged her life outside of the academy

Looking at Levi, he isn’t close to his family at all making this secret less likely to be his, it could be Hu’s but I’d still say it’s a reach

So now onto the meat of this theory, the culprit is most likely Eden or Levi based on the information available

The motive doesn’t end at your secret being revealed and while some people have claimed that certain secrets are not worth a murder, we’ve seen Charles and Arturo do complete face turns and Arturo himself nearly slit Eden’s throat in a moment of panic

Charles nearly had a breakdown and is now questioning his entire life’s view, he might not kill for what he hears but he might kill to find out what really happened with Elliot, unlikely this chapter since he’s the most active trial investigator but Arei’s bloodless death is certainly unnerving

So take Eden’s innocuous secret: “Ever since you kissed her, you were afraid your sexuality would ruin your friendships”

her secret is basically that she is a lesbian, or bi, who am I to say. Everyone’s else’s secret dives into deep trauma and fear, their crimes, their deteriorating mental states. Not that her secret isn’t valid but it’s also extremely mild, it also could be the first time we hear of Mai Akasaki, she’s hasn’t shown up at all and her role is still unclear.

Having her be related to Eden’s secret and subsequent murder would be a way to semi-naturally introduce her to the story

Now onto Levi the other most likely culprit, he’s been shown to snap relatively easily threatening Ace’s life the first trial after just being an arrogant annoyance

So the main trigger for this was Ace calling Levi a coward something he openly isn’t able to take nearly as calmly. He also barely acknowledges Mom’s violent execution, claiming it was simply “too absurd for words”

Yeah does anybody really think that Arei could have had a talk with Levi about his secret and not have brought up something similar

it’s also why several pieces of evidence don’t seem to go anywhere, the rope under the carousel, the milk jugs, the fish

It wasn’t used for anything, Levi was strong enough to break her neck, something Eden likely wouldn’t be able to do, and strong enough to hang her with no assistance however with Xander now dead it’s important to make it seem like somebody that wasn’t jacked could have killed Arei

So it it’s with that that I conclude my last pre CH2 part 2 theory, the culprit is Eden or Levi, though I lean towards Levi as he was my first suspect when I watched it so I’m committed.

Whit is also my crackhead theory but I’m at the point where I feel the evidence stacks up nicely but still leaves a lot to desire, though I would still like to be right so here a mini theory to go with this brick of text

In the words of Charles they fucked up, Whit is somebody to not only have an alibi with Charles but to also have taken credit for a secret that can’t be validated

He also did something a fair bit more damning:

He’s the reason David went to the relaxation room, Arei does say that she snuck a peek at Whit’s secret but isn’t it also possible that Whit simply told her and coordinated their meetup that night?

He’s not overly suspicious but sometimes there’s beauty is simplicity

Now for the short wait and to hope all these theories don’t get nuked the second part 2 starts

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 13: Initial Thoughts

We're back again! I'm probably just gonna do one of these for every new episode this chapter at least, just because there's so much to talk about in all of them!

Basically, I'm going to run through my not-live-but-sort-of-live-thoughts of the episode, then at the end I'll give my thoughts on any more overarching theories/conversations that are relevant.

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT CH 2 PART 2!

T/W: Murder, suicide, hanging

The Reactions

Knowing where Levi's explanation is going now that I'm rewatching, it makes sense that this is the first thing he'd think of in regards to the secret. It's not about the lives lost or his status of being a "murderer," it's the real, concrete consequences of his actions-- AKA, the law.

Just, like, 'cause, or...?

Honestly, this adds a really interesting flavor to when Levi does threaten Ace. He's like, "do you think I don't have limits to my patience?" The fact that there was any amount of patience in the first place is honestly pretty cool for Ace.

Also, I don't really have a good place to screenshot this, so I'll just mention it: the clock motif in the backing track is really cool!! Has that been there before and I haven't noticed, or is it new? I also definitely find it personally suspicious that we're getting clock sound effects while Levi is talking about murder (Eden killer/Levi accomplice moment??) but that's probably just my confirmation bias talking. It could also definitely be something about wasting time in the Trial, which a point is definitely made out of. It takes them a long time to start talking about the method, and Levi even mentions that he's sidetracking before he starts on this monologue.

Extremely funny reaction from Eden if they ARE in on this together btw. "Wait... you've killed, like, more people?? This isn't soul-crushingly deviating from the norm for you?????"

I get that this is the point, but lmao, Levi's really just saying these things like they're normal. Forget the murder charges, did you get in legal trouble for any of this stuff???

Oh Hope's Peak, always the shadiest people with absolutely terrible priorities. I feel like you could tell me Hope's Peak did, like, literally anything morally dubious in a fangan and I'd be like, "yeah, checks."

Shoutout to this anon for slam dunking it! The phrasing Levi used in the other scene makes more sense to me now that we know how Levi feels about all of this. The dialogue didn't imply any different feelings to Levi's father than the other members of his family because the fact that Levi killed him means, like, nothing to him.

Still, I wonder what actually prompted Levi killing his dad. Like, I feel like he must've been provoked, at least. Hopefully we'll learn why someday.

This episode had more of J being more vocally anti-murder than most. I still don't know if that's just because she's one of few characters who's both loud and has morals, or if it ties into some specific aspect of her character.

"I can't forget about the fact that Felicity died because of me under any circumstances ever!"

I hope Arturo and Levi talk more about their secrets in depth at some point. Totally get why they're opposites on the narrative foils thing.

"I mean, we all know why I tried to kill Ace."

Unlike Arei lmao /j /lh

(To be honest, though, I think David at minimum is upset about Arei dying though. More on that later. Eden too, possibly even if she did kill her.)

This is such an interesting thing to learn as a Levi accomplice theory truther. 'Cause like, on the one hand, it makes it more believable that Levi would do some thing that wild; if the other people don't really matter, it's easier to justify killing all of them. But, at the same time, if he doesn't care about Eden, either, why the hell is he helping her?

I'm gonna need to rewatch this episode once I know who this Trial's culprit is, because I am incapable of reading the Levi/Eden interactions as anything BUT horribly suspicious.

(Also, god, the good person jumpscare counter this episode was wilding.)

Nice to get a confirmation that Levi is still trying to be a good person, even if he doesn't understand what that means.

Wow. Didn't realize Ace was gonna throw some emotional vulnerability (???) into his fuck you Levi speech. Or that he actually genuinely believed they had more of a connection than he let on! Like I said to Accirax, he's such a tsundere that I didn't even realize he was a tsundere.

me believing you

*squints in Ace is canonically gay*

I hope we'll get to learn more about this guy at some point. I'd expect we will, if nothing else in the bonus episode that correlates with Ace's death (or in the main story, if he lives long enough to be a survivor). "His memory" definitely makes it sound like he's dead, though. Sad.

Shoutout to the AceVi shippers, though. This episode must've been a WILD ride for you.

Thanks for clarifying, Veronika! It's nice to have a character who likes to psychoanalyze the cast so that the writer can basically use her to clarify what other people are thinking. Useful writing tip.

This does provide some interesting context to that early scene where Arei manipulates and kinda makes fun of Levi, though. He really could've just decked her ass if he wanted to.

Oh my god. Has no one actually said that David isn't behaving like a good person anymore? Is Levi still following David's example???

If so, it's a really good example of how little Levi understands about other people. Like, damn. You can't even tell with David??

To be fair, maybe all the stuff about ending the killing game confused him. Teruko and David are arguing about whether or not Xander was a good person. If everyone else can't even decide, how is Levi supposed to know?

Ban her? I'm not a forum moderator, dude. Also, I hardly even know her.

(Idk if that was meant to be a reference or not but. Whit brainrot go brrrrr)

Thanks for the confirmation, queen!

okay I'm Running Out of Images so from here on out I'm including stuff as indented text and only doing pictures when I think the picture itself is relevant

Veronika: After all, my own so-called secret isn't even the worst thing I've done. Isn't that so utterly disappointing of the motive?

What have you done. Tell me.

I do wonder if this is somehow character commentary on Veronika. Like, let's say Veronika has also murdered somebody or something. Would this imply that this is something she'd be more concerned with others knowing, possibly because it's more personal?

I'm not really sure. It could just be that Veronika doesn't really have any secret she fears at all, so they were at kind of a loss.

David: Achoo! Ah-- Bless me!

what is he so funny for

David: Teruko. Own up to your goddamn secret already. You are the last person to do so.

I so think David knows Teruko's real secret. Like, there's no way.

Interestingly, though, I read Teruko's hesitation towards answering David as her trying to figure out which secret belongs to Min. It's easier for everyone involved if Teruko and Xander's are backwards rather than it being a triangle scenario.

Yay!!! Even if I still think it's partially wrong!

Eden: W... wait! Before we move on! I have to know. David... What happened between you and Arei?

I'm still inclined to read this as Eden having not believed Arei back when she declared she wanted to be friends. Eden is still trying to get at the truth of the matter, because she can't just have killed Arei without knowing how badly she fucked up.

There's definitely still an innocent reading out there, too, though.

Arei: If even a perfect inspirational speaker like you turns out to be an asshole, then there's no such thing as a "good person."

This was a really interesting direction to take this conversation, for both Arei and David's characters. It's true that they both lie about their personality often to get their way; Arei's lie is just WAY easier to see through. It makes sense that it's something they could bond over.

However, the INSANE thing is that this means that David probably actually cares about Arei. Like, to a meaningful extent. Maybe it's just the Kazui vibes, but I feel like if anyone actually understands David enough to see through him, that would be really impactful to him.

Also, the vibes on this scene were wild. The Arvid (????????) shippers sure could have a field day with this one.

But, of course, we can't forget:

...WHAT????

Okay, so first of all, I have no idea if David actually knows/remembers this or if it's just meant for the audience. But, either way, this thing is crazy.

The first thing I noticed was definitely the fork; is that the same fork that we see in the opening sequence?? The one commonly thought to be of when Xander lost his eye?

I know there's some LGI stuff with the fork too, but I'm not going to dive into that right now. I think Accirax is touching on this more strongly in hers.

The other thing is, I have NO idea what this says about Eden culprit theory. I definitely still think it's possible that this is a level of lore that's gonna follow Eden to her death and give her a reason to haunt the narrative, but this could also be something that we're going to explore later.

The main reason why I think this could lead into her death is because as far as we know, Eden doesn't remember anything included in this flashback. If Eden doesn't know about the lore, it's sort of weird if we, the audience, have this vague piece of knowledge about her that she doesn't. It's not a death sentence or anything, but I think it could still be in line.

I'll leave the speculation as to what exactly this means for another post/another theorist. Right now, my guess is that there might've been some kind of other killing game with this class before, or something. But, I'm DEFINITELY both alarmed and intrigued.

Arei: Even she must've made a mistake she couldn't take back.

The inclusion of "mistake" in this section is really interesting to me. Is that referring to whatever we see here? Was it a mistake she later came to regret?

Or, I also think this could actually be a reference to Arei. Not the image itself, but the mistake. If Eden genuinely believed Arei wouldn't change and killed her, only to realize Arei was being sincere, that's a mistake she couldn't take back.

I wonder if this is going to be Arei's last voice line (in the main series, I'd expect she'll talk in the bonus episodes).

If so, I think it's a nice way to end her character arc. Not only is she trying to be friends with Eden to be better, she's also able to reach out to someone like her and help them, too.

David: ...Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I didn't say anything to her, and she didn't have much to say to me either.

This was CRAZY. I was expecting we were all gonna have to play the "to what extent is David lying" game again, but instead, it seems like it all MUST'VE been real, because it came straight from his mind because he didn't even say it!!

It's funny to me that he says he didn't say anything to her, because from what we saw, that was... accurate, maybe?? Was David really just standing there bluescreening that entire time? Like, man loves his elipses, but goddamn, don't leave her hanging! /j /ref

It's also interesting that David is keeping this from the class, and more specifically, from Eden, who Arei clearly liked. Is it because the moment is personal, and he doesn't want to share it? Or, does he have suspicions about who her killer might be or how to catch him that would interfere with him sharing?

Anyways. Wild.

David: One hundred and one percent, I promise. Ace overheard everything, and what he told you all was the entire truth. Does that satisfy you?

I wonder if Ace stopped listening for real, or if there's a chance he heard all of this. If so, I wonder why he's not calling David out. Is he still coping too hard over the Levi thing?

Whit: Dang, we really got hung up on those secrets, didn't we? I thought you all would be on those for years. MonoTV: Years indeed. Some people had to wait one year and five months for you to get this far.

I KNEW MonoTV and/or Whit would make a joke about the time gap! Hope that one doesn't get lost in translation for the people who join the fandom after the hiatus, lol.

Teruko: They filled those jugs up with water and used them to increase Arei's weight.

Oh hell yeah.

Veronika: I'm not an expert, of course, but my intuition tells me that jumping off the top of the swing set isn't enough to break Arei's neck.

Whit: The way hanging normally works is that the victim is put in a noose with enough slack in the rope that they're unharmed. It's only when the victim falls from a high location to a low location that the rope becomes tight, and the noose strangles them.

Very interesting to have Veronika call attention to the fact that she's not an expert shortly before Whit goes into a long explanation of the mechanics of hanging, including with bolded words for emphasis/added ethos. I definitely think we're supposed to notice that he knows this for... some reason.

I know Accirax's theory is that Whit's mom might have hung herself, which is... dark, if true. Like, that means that after the fact, Whit probably hyper-researched how hanging works. Yikes.

Also, I honestly didn't get why people were saying Whit was so sus before the hiatus, but I feel like it's been cranked up afterwards??? Whit are you the mastermind I thought you were chill??????

Whit: It's not like you can grab the rope when she's falling to stop it at the right time. If she's moving at a speed fast enough to snap her neck, I'm sure trying to stop it would shred your hands.

Caught between "yeah that's why they used the stopper rope" and "IS THE USING THE GLOVE TO STOP THE THING STILL REAL???"

YEAHHHHH

Tape truthers rise up!

Teruko joins the murder diagram contingent!!!

Incredibly real though. You simply can't figure out what the hell happens in this thing and how it works without being able to See It.

Teruko: Now that we've actually discussed the mechanism of murder, I realize that I've seen this murder method before. Eden: You have? Teruko: That's right. And so have you.

Funny you remind us of that, Teruko.

YES! GYM MURDER METHOD ANSWERS! PLEASE TELL US WHAT HAPPENED THERE!

Wow. What an episode. We truly learned so much.

Theory Update/Analysis

Okay, so I already yapped about most of the character stuff for a while in here. Similarly, I don't think all too much changed for my murder theory.

I'm still tentatively on Levi accomplice, but firmly on Eden culprit. The way I see this going is towards a Nico bait that goes nowhere because they have an alibi, then eventually causing the class to realize the culprit has to be one of the people who saw Nico's original murder method (who doesn't have an alibi)-- Eden, Ace or Teruko.

From there, they can discuss the Arei murder method more thoroughly, eventually circling back to the fish. That confuses the time of death more than anything.

Eventually, the tape can be the damning evidence. Or that could happen before the fish, not sure.

In summary, I liked this episode a lot! It's exciting that we're finally starting to get answers to the murder method that we all went so insane over.

This was. A short theory update section. If you have any questions please feel free to send in an ask! I like talking to people :)

[princess-of-the-corner]

HEY MY DUDES

Okay so we went down the Rabbithole with the Princess Bee AU and now I have a bunch of Nextgens I slapped together! Some may end up being yoinked over to HC/LL eventually but for now! Let's go down the list!

(Note: obvs I am limited in color pallet by the picrew so some colors are not accurate to the show so like. Take what their parents' colors are and roll with that)

Name: Dawn Mellifera

Gender and Sexuality: Female, Lesbian

Info: Chloé's daughter! Main character energy. Snarky as hell but genuinely kind.

Name: Louis Dupain-Cheng

Gender and Sexuality: Male, gay

Info: Oldest of the Adrienette kids. Got a lot of the high-energy and the occasional brain cells from his parents.

Name: Emma Dupain-Cheng

Gender and Sexuality: Female, Lesbian

Info: Charming and sweet middle child! Absolutely overthinks her romance options.

Name: Hugo Dupain-Cheng

Gender and Sexuality: Male, Aroace

Info: Baby of the family(by like a year and a half but still)! Somehow 100% done with everyone's romance nonsense. Soft and sweet, but boy has a TEMPER

Name: Blossom Lahiffe

Gender and Sexuality: Female, bisesxual

Info: The older of the twins! A bit brighter and more cheery! Loves mystery novels and pranking people by switching with her sister

Name: Carmen Lahiffe

Gender and Sexuality: Demigirl(she/they), Pansexual

Info: The younger of the twins! Slightly more mature, but loves doing voicework. And also pranking people with her twin.

Name: Asphodel Couffaine

Gender and Sexuality: Male, gay/ace

Info: A bit peppy but morbid as HELL. I love him so much actually.

Name: Erika Couffaine

Gender and Sexuality: Female, Pansexual

Info: Dresses punk, acts polite enough that everyone assumes it's for aesthetic purposes rather than genuine, absolutely punk rock.

Name: Lê Chiến Summer

Gender and Sexuality: Genderfluid, Pansexual

Info: Into every sport possible and wrecks house at all of them. A touch competitive and one-track-mind, but a good friend!

Name: Vivian Bruel

Gender and Sexuality: Female, Lesbian

Info: Takes after her father very much in being large as FUCk, but is sweet softie like her mom!

Name: Viola Kubdel

Gender and Sexuality: Agender(they/them), Achillean

Info: Quite soft and shy. Likes to spend their time painting, hoping to one day be as great as the ones in the Louvre. They do have quite a sense of humor though, as they joke about the idea that their mom adopted them from another timeline. (no one knows if it's really a joke)

Name: Abigail Anciel-Kurtzberg

Gender and Sexuality: Female, Straight

Info: Absolute mom friend. Somehow the most stable of these idiots.

Name: Westley Keynes (Wambli)

Gender and Sexuality: Demiboy(he/they), Bisexual

Info: Probably the only one of the group who /expected/ to become a Superhero, though had yet to begin training as the next Sparrow by the events of Canon.

Name: Artemis Graham de Vanily

Gender and Sexuality: Male, Pansexual

Info: Just as socially awkward as his parents, which makes people think he's innocent. In reality, he's the most likely to commit vigilante murder.

[moonshere]

Another day another ISAT live posting, some more thoughts and potential spoilers

Man man man where to even BEGIN! God this game gets more and more heart wrenching by the minute!!

to be clear, I’m currently at Act 3 I think? I tried to help everyone all at once so I did one full run with no skips to get all the info I needed, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what every else’s pov of Siffrin is like. At the moment my Siffrin is over lvl 60, so he managed to one-shot a lot of the enemies.

How does it look to everyone else? Your friend, the cheeky, pun-loving, trap and puzzle master. Who’s known more for their speed, killing enemies faster than anyone else. And while exploring they don’t look around, they just take the keys in the correct order and manage to choose the correct path every single time.

I noticed that some interactions you can make your friends notice that you’re acting suspiciously. So far I only got Odile to comment on it (and get interrupted rip) and Isabeau to say they will talk later about it. But I’m REALLY hoping there’s a way to get Siffrin’s friends to actually confront him before a loop end so he can actually freaking open up!!!

On that note, I know that I’ve only been talking about Siffrin (I can’t help myself ajdbhsbs they’re my absolute fav and consume my every thought!) I ADORE all the other characters too!!!

Mirabelle is soooooo freaking cute!! (I’ll be honest her character design is one of the reasons that made me want to play the game aidhisns) I’m so so so happy that she’s someone who’s aroace and adores romantic novels!!! There really isn’t that many aroace characters out there, especially one I relate to. But her!!!! It made me so happy!! I loved the scene between her and Siffrin (and that they’re ALSO ace and maybe alloromantic?? Demi??? I’m still unsure haha) their friendship means everything to me!! I also love the subtle way they confirmed she has anxiety! I’m kinda half wondering where she used to live before the House of Change considering how much she talked about how the headmaiden taught her everything

Odile is also so cool!! Finding out that she was only looking for half of her heritage, trying to find somewhere she belongs was something I did not expect but expands so much on her character. At first I thought she was just gonna be the Adult of the group, wise, knows what she’s doing, distant and Too Cool. But this was genuinely so good cuz it showed that Odile is just as unsure as everyone else. Hell, she and Siffrin turned out to have so much in common!! Finding a place to belong but finding nothing but yourself. I loved it so much!

little Bonnie!! They are so stinking cute I would absolutely die for them!! I like how- in a turn on how kids in video games are always put in incredibly dangerous situations and adults let them just cuz they are determined to help- Bonnie is always the one the group wants to protect the most. Even though they wanna help (and they do!! Their heals are lifesaving frfr) it’s always within the limit of their own safety. I also loved their hang out, the hug was so sweet!! Seriously, if anything happened to them I would cry

And lastly Isabeau!! He's so sweet!! i love how much he looks out for Siffrin! I’m not sure if it was a scripted event or that I managed to raise enough sus points for him to notice, but I love how when he noticed that Siffrin isn’t doing ok, he decided to postpone the confession just so he can properly focus later on Siffren’s own mental state! Also also! After looking at the romance novels once again, I almost screamed when Siffren said they were aware!!! They know that Isabeau likes them!! (And their self deprecating comment once again,,,,) Seriously, what torture it must be to see him almost confess over and over and fail everytime!! I definitely want to go back to the ending one more time to see if he ever manages to say it (but man is the king fight long,,,) His hang out was also sweet!! I think also a possible nod to what Siffrin’s home town is? If related to the stars?? But either way, the full on picnic afterwards was so cute!!

I just had to do a full run with them all together once again without any looping cuz Siffrin said so, all the new cutscenes with them together was just the sweetest!! The woodcutting one, the hair brushing, all of it is so soft!! the ending scene where they said they were a family just 🥹🥹🥹🥹 I can’t I can’t this game is too good!! I think the worst part of this though, is seeing Siffrin hoping, despite himself, that maybe, maybe, this time might be it. That all he needed was to be safe, to be happy, to be loved

And it still wasn’t enough

[aroace-ventplace]

I don't know how to put this right. I really hate qprs, I hate how they're just pushed as "relationship for aspecs" not just in fandom but real life. I hate just the emphasis on lifelong friendships and alternative deep relationships. It drives me up a wall, this seeking out for relationships "equivelant" in depth and closeness to romantic partners without the romance or sex. Maybe this isn't me being aroace? Maybe I really am aplatonic also? But I can't stand the thought of suffering a relationship that suffocatingly close, that's how I knew I was aromantic and I feel like I'm going crazy every time I see other aros and aces lamenting and mourning never getting to have such a deep relationship. Familial relationshipd are the best, because they have a limit to their passive degredation. My cousin doesn't mind it's been 2 years since we talked she still invites me over to her house to see her and talk! Friends are already exhausting what on earth could possibly ever make someone want to deal with something even more than that! What's so appealing about it? What is it everyone even other aros see in these relationships that make them lament lacking them? I can't see anything but cons. It feels like when people get upset about a friendship ending, I'll never understand that drive. I've never felt expected to have a romance or sex life, but I've always felt expected to want an equivelant, to "not be alone" and I can't tell how much of it is subtler forms of amatonormativity and how much of it is just spectrum.... I don't even know what I'm ranting about anymore...

i definitely relate to a lot of what you’re saying. the a-spectrum is so wide that constructs that are really important to one part of the community (like qprs) can make other people (non-partnering aros like myself) feel alienated all over again. this is a bit of a messy subject to tackle, but personally, the idea of being in a qpr fills me with the same kind of revulsion i feel towards being in a more “traditional” relationship. i’m genuinely happy for the aspecs who feel comfortable in qprs—it’s just not something that’ll ever fit me, and that boundary can sometimes feel a bit isolating in general aspec spaces.

i… can’t really discuss aplatonicism/friendships without bringing up the fact that i’m autistic (as are many aspec people). to me, autism feels like being an alien that’s forced to pretend to be human. i don’t understand other people, and most of them don’t understand me, and trying to keep up with them is exhausting; it’s easier for me to just keep my distance. i do have people i consider friends, but what i define as a “friendship” looks very different from what society expects it to be. as an autistic person, most of my relationships are less… “intense,” i guess. prolonged social interaction just isn’t something i’m suited for, and that’s how my brain works, and it’s fine—just like it’s fine how i don’t experience “romance” in the societally expected way.

sorry for the rambling; if nothing else, i hope it at least helped you feel like there’s someone else out there who’s experiencing the same things as you. best of luck!!

[florida3exclamationpoints]

Steggy Week Day 1 - Meta

@steggyfanevents and everyone else pls accept my late offering of brainrot ranting into the void

Peggy's face says so much during the Endgame dance it's insane. It's such a contrast to Steve, who is very expressive yeah but he's really just showing one thing - that he's peaceful (if anything his eyesbrows are drawn in a little but it's just concentration, not any uncertainty like Peggy has). There's not as much going through his head because he's dealt with all of this already. He already wrapped his mind around every factor of what got him to this point, he's just savoring the moment now that he finally can. Peggy's only had the last few minutes. Of course whatever happened when she opened the door is up to everyone's headcanons, but he had to give her something good enough to convince her. Personally I think when they were dancing, he hadn't explained much yet. He just convinced her it was him by telling her something only he would know. He'll get to the 70 year nap and aliens and time traveling later lol I think he wanted to ease her into it as much as possible. Because the door is still open I really think it was just "Oh my god what the hell -> wait I can prove it (with something only Steve would know 100%) -> we've waited long enough for our dance -> ok but actually what the hell??" which leads to the entire explanation after they dance

Regardless of what Peggy knew while they danced, she hadn't had long to process it at ALL. And you can see that. She's not simply happy and peaceful. She's soooooo timidly happy. Her eyebrows are furrowed a little and you can tell she's trying to slow her thoughts down and enjoy the moment. Her smile isn't completely ear to ear uncontrollable. You can actually see her try to contain it a few times - it starts to get a little bigger and she stops herself. She's so used to not being able to feel this kind of pure unadulterated happiness. You can also see her keeping her chin and bottom lip stiff, like if she let go she'd break down crying. At first her eyes are open and it feels like she's looking into the corner at nothing to keep herself grounded. When she closes her eyes, her eyebrows relax a little. I think she was able to let go a little bit with her eyes closed. That's when you see her smile start to get a little wider, then she stops herself, then she opens her eyes again. Then she looks up at Steve. Like the grounding herself by looking at something or not looking at anything didn't work so she had to look at Steve.

Anyway back to her being timidly happy bc I think that's the best way to describe it. Look at this frame

(Sorry idk why the quality is so bad on youtube lol) she doesn't just look happy and teary. And I wouldn't say she looks confused either. If she were confused she wouldn't be dancing with him. I think it's just an instinct for her to limit her happiness. She looks like she absolutely can't believe this is happening but she knows she can't argue (again, or else she wouldn't be dancing with him), and like her mind is racing but she wants it to stop. This restrained happiness reminded me of something else and at first I couldn't figure out what it was but I did. Look

She's making the exact same face here except there's no genuine happiness in this one. Her smile is a little tighter because there's nothing behind it. But otherwise. It's the exact same expression. In both she's thinking of "another chance" with Steve, but when they're dancing it's real. In the AC scene it's just his blood that she felt like she had to defend. But when they're dancing ITS REAL!!! look again side by side sorry I'm going insane

Main point - there's just so much trepidation in her face while they dance. Timidly happy restrained joy etc etc. When she looks at Steve is when it starts to fade. Her eyes scan his face I think bc she's really trying to allow herself to feel happy and she's like look it's him you know it's him calm down it's him. Steve's smile just get bigger when he looks at her but he knows everything!! This frame shows her starting to relax

But when he smiles at her and she smiles back she's still biting it back a little and pulling her bottom lip in to control herself

That face is just. There's so much I feel that I should say but words can wait. Do you see the difference in how Steve is just so openly radiating joy but she's not there yet.

This is the most relaxed she gets the whole scene. She has to shut her mind off and remove herself from the situation and just feel to get to that point. She can do that when she kisses him. And that's where the scene cuts, when she is finally able to just feel and relax and live in the moment with him.

[sabo-has-my-heart]

Please (Don’t) Find Me

alright so this is waay longer than I meant it to be (seriously, 80 ish words over my personal limit! No, I don’t plan to go over my limit again.) but I liked how it turned out. The request was, 

“I wanted to use your chibi soulmate AU but in this one chibi can talk however chibi will talk and think like real you. Reader is a girl who is shy and timid because of past relationships and doesn’t want to be hurt again. While looking for their soulmate chibi soulmate is honest with them because she really want her bigger self to be happy. So chibi let be more open telling the boys how to earn her trust. While the reader has both chibi’s with her she tells them she’s an author and baker. Who travels the grand line working wherever and she isn’t looking for them out of fear. So chibi Sabo and Ace do all they can to break down her walls.”

I tried to include as much as possible, I hope you like it!

Part 2: Can’t Resist Your ‘Treats’

Warnings: Black!Reader, Chubby!Reader, polyamory Ace x Reader x Sabo

Word Count: 2080

     Sighing, Sabo leaned over the map on the table, placing another red X over the latest island. Sitting at the edge was a tiny female, only a few inches tall, laying on her stomach as a tiny pencil flew over a tiny paper. She was writing again, glancing up at him every now and again. Getting up, she walked over to the blond, leaning down and patting his hand reassuringly, making him smile. He didn’t understand it sometimes. Why were they having such a hard time finding her when someone so sweet should be easy to find? Grabbing his pen, she carefully maneuvered the writing utensil, her face contorted in concentration as she moved the pen over the bottom of the map. As hard as he tried not to stare at her adoringly, how could he not? The pen that was way too big for her, resting on her shoulder as she tried to write in letters that were probably about as big as her tiny forearm if not larger. Messy writing from attempting to write something to cheer him up and encourage him. The door opened, drawing him out of his thoughts as he looked up to see a familiar mess of black hair, a hand running through the dark locks in frustration as he approached the table.

     “So the last island was a bust, I got into contact with some friends, they said they might have seen someone matching her description on the next island, said that if they see her try and leave, they’ll try and hold her up.” Ace said, sitting in a chair and resting his head on his crossed arms on top of the table. The tiny version of his soulmate walked over to him, climbing on his arms to pat his head comfortingly.

     “Did you actually give a proper description this time or did you simply tell them ‘stunning, adorable, and perfect’.” Sabo asked, giving his brother a deadpan look.

     “Once! I did that once! And I corrected myself!” he argued, giving Sabo a small glare. 

     “Oh yes, because ‘her eyes are just wow and her smile is like the sun, she’s got an adorab-” Sabo was cut off by a tiny piece of paper hitting his face, both boys now paying attention to a very huffy soul sprite. Reaching down, she picked up a ‘large’ piece of paper, giving both of them her biggest, saddest eyes as she looked at them, ‘please stop arguing’ written on the paper, making their hearts absolutely melt. 

     “No, I gave them a proper description. Promise. I really wanna find her.” Ace said with a small smile as he sighed, “dark skin and hair, probably quite a bit shorter than us, and adorably thicc.” Ace said, gently caressing the tiny woman’s ‘cheek’ with the back of his finger, almost like he would with a kitten, though it was more like he was caressing the side of her entire face with the size of his hand compared to her head. Sabo nodded as he smiled down at their shared soul sprite. Reaching down, she pulled out another ‘large’ piece of paper, writing a few words of encouragement before holding it up, struggling to wave it around enthusiastically. Both boys chuckled, Ace taking the small sign from her while Sabo held his hand out for her to climb on, placing her on his shoulder before briefly glancing down at the map.

     “We’ll find her somehow. I won’t give up on someone like her.” Sabo said, the two boys clasping hands in agreement, their determination returning.

     Humming slightly, you seemed to glide across the kitchen, taking things out of one oven, popping something else in another, pouring one mixture into tins or pans before stirring another mixture halfway across the kitchen. Sitting on a small side table, two miniature boys smiled as they watched you, adoration written across their faces. Glancing over, you smiled at the two, blushing when you noticed how they were staring at you. They always did this, giving you the most loving looks in the world as you worked. Walking over, you quickly grabbed a couple of large muffins, setting them in front of the boys. 

     “Please continue to behave. I’ll take you two out for something nice for dinner if you keep being good.” you said, the boys smiling and nodding rapidly before starting in on the muffins. Pulling out your latest works, you set the stack of papers on the side table with them.

     “I know it’s a bit big, but if you want something to read, I could always use a second and third opinion.” you said, lightly patting their heads before getting back to work. Sighing, you glanced back at the two. They were so sweet, so caring, it made you wonder if the actual boys were just as sweet and caring. Could any real person actually be like that? Be that amazing? Every now and then you wondered if maybe you should go find them, quickly shaking the idea away each time. No, it was probably better that you didn’t go find them, soul sprites might be a manifestation of your soulmate, but it was only temporary, they’d just turn out like everyone else. The tiny males looked at you in worry and sadness as your smile dropped, a little less enthusiastic as you moved around the kitchen once more. They’d spent enough time with you to know what was going on, both of them jumping off of the side table to try and cheer you up. They’d gladly give up whatever nice dinner you had promised if it meant cheering you up.

     Crossing her arms, the tiny female stared at the boys, deep in thought. She knew that her bigger self had been hurt by others; she didn’t know the specifics, but she knew you’d been hurt, that you would inevitably be scared of being hurt again. She knew because her first few months around the boys were spent shyly staring at them, afraid of telling them too much. But she’d gotten to know the boys, she knew that they weren’t like that. They’d spent so much time treating her so well, helping her open up, she had no doubt that they’d do the same for her bigger self. Still, if they couldn’t even find you, how were they supposed to help you open up? Looking down at the map under her feet, she walked from one X out island to the next thoughtfully. She had to help find you, not just for Ace and Sabo’s sake, not just for your sake, but for her own as well. Just as Ace and Sabo were your soulmates, the Ace and Sabo soul sprites were hers. She wanted you to be happy more than anything, as well as Ace and Sabo’s happiness, she wanted you to realize that these two wouldn’t hurt you, that they were kind and caring and loving; she wanted to see the two boys who looked after her happy, smothering her bigger self in love and affection like they had with her, but she also wanted to be with her meant-to-be soul sprites. Following the trail of islands, she stared at the next 2 possible islands in deep thought. After a moment she took a large jump, landing on one with a big smile. She quickly grabbed Sabo’s red pen, carefully circling the island before grabbing her own pencil, writing in as large of letters as she could before struggling to drag the full sized sheet of paper to the edge of the table. Huffing and puffing, she jumped up and down, waving her arms, hoping to draw the two boys’ attention. After a moment, the movement caught Sabo’s eye, the blond walking over, noticing the circled island as the soul sprite crawled under the paper, the sheet covering her as she held it out to him as best as she could. Sabo chuckled and waved Ace over, looking at the circled island. 

     “She thinks like our soulmate, I think we’ll find her here.” Sabo said, pointing at the island. The brothers smiled at each other before hurrying off to let the crew know about their next destination.

     Staring at the two soul sprites, you couldn’t bring yourself to scold them. They hadn’t behaved like you’d asked, but could you really be mad at them? You knew they’d done it for you. Your look softened as you caved, using your apron to start cleaning the batter from their faces. They’d inevitably need baths, but at least for now, you’d be able to look at them properly. 

     “You know this means that you don’t get that nice dinner, don’t you?” you asked, the two soul sprites shrugging as if it was no big deal. Then again, compared to your happiness, it wasn’t a big deal. The dark haired boy walked over to you, giving you the biggest puppy dog eyes he could as he ‘hugged’ your arm. Granted, your arm was much too big for him to wrap himself around, but it was still sweet, the boy doing his best to apologize and make you smile. You wouldn’t admit it, but it was kind of working, your heart melting at the gesture. No, no, you couldn’t let them get away with this! They’d misbehaved! If they did this now, who knows what they’d do in the future! A voice in the back of your mind reminded you that they’d only done it to cheer you up, to draw you out of your thoughts. Picking both boys up, you headed to the sink, pulling out some soap, spare sprite clothes, and filling the sink part way.

     “Wash up, you two are filthy. I’ll be off the clock soon, I’ll take you to get some dinner.” you said with a defeated sigh. 

     It was a couple hours later, attempting to lock up when the two soul sprites jumped from your shoulder, surprising you.

     “Where do you think you’re going!” you shouted, quickly locking the door before running after them. Despite their small stature, they were surprisingly fast, leading you down the street as you chased after them. Huffing and puffing, you stood at the docks, the two boys standing on a post, seeming to be looking for something, “You two! I swear! And to think I was going to let you off the hook!” you scolded between heavy breaths. 

     “You uh, you might want to let them off the hook for this one.” a voice said, making you look up. A familiar splattering of freckles greeted you, followed by a familiar gloved hand, the blond attached to it offering to help you stand up straight.

     “You have no idea how long we’ve been looking for you.” the blond said with a sweet smile. You could feel your heart pounding in your chest, whether from fear or attraction, you weren’t sure.

     “I… you… you’re…” your words were lost as you stared at the boys, the actual full sized boys, your soulmates.

     “I’m Sabo and this is Ace and we’re so very happy to meet you.” he said softly, placing a gentle kiss to the back of your hand. Ace smiled as he took your other hand, holding it to his cheek before kissing your palm.

     “Very, very happy.” Ace muttered, holding himself back from pulling you into the tightest embrace you’d ever felt. He remembered what it was like when they first got the soul sprite, he didn’t want to scare you, “We get that you’re probably not real pleased to meet us, but give us a chance, alright?” he asked, giving you the same puppy dog eyes his soul sprite version had given you earlier, puppy dog eyes that you found yourself unable to say no to.

     “I… was just heading to dinner… you… maybe you’d like to join?” you said softly, unable to stop the words from leaving your throat. 

     “We’d like that, we’d like that very much.” Sabo said, giving your hand another kiss before picking up the three soul sprites that were busy hugging on top of the post and letting you lead the way to the diner. They’d have to thank their miniature selves later for opening you up a little. It wasn’t much, you were still afraid of being hurt, but they’d broken enough walls down to allow their bigger selves to worm their way into your heart and that was all they needed.

[jaggedwolf]

Ace Attorney ficlets

uh spoilers for AA4, AA5 and AAI2 I guess, in that order

Awakening

The last person Mia expects to see walk into her hospital room is Phoenix Wright.

The doctor explained to her the circumstances of her injury and subsequent coma. He'd done it with the kind of patient benevolence that would have infuriated Mia, if it weren't for the aching of her body and the wall calendar saying 2022.

She expected Maya, maybe. They said they'd call her, when Mia's first words upon awakening were just her sister's name repeated, but Maya must be the Kurain Master by now, busy and far away. She hadn't expected to see the boy she'd defended, the man whose career she'd only so briefly touched.

Phoenix stares at her. There's a stupid-looking blue beanie in his hands. "Hey, Chief."

"They don't care about you"

The beauty of dressing as brilliantly and as boldly as Klavier does, is that it is child's play to navigate even Los Angeles without drawing attention. The people expect the purple jacket, the Gavinner necklace, the styled blond hair. 

He has given it to them recently enough. Last week, even. He roared into the concert venue's parking lot on his favorite blood-red motorcycle, to thunderous cheering and eye-watering camera flashes. Dozens of autographs granted. A few soundbites. He played the — what was it the Fraulein Detective called him — ja, yes, the glimmerous fop to a tee, a loose smile as he ignored the few questions about the Misham trial. Most of the media understood the deal. If they accepted that Klavier the lawyer would not answer their questions, they would get as much of Klavier the performer as they wanted. 

Not as much that night. He was there to lend publicity, not steal it. The Gavinner's opener from that last peformance with Lamiroir had had their own tour derailed from the murder case. Attending their concert was the least Klavier could do. Not a hardship, to be surrounded by music and people who paid no attention to murder trials, even ones as big as Kristoph’s. 

Today, Klavier dons a disguise. A baggy blue windbreaker that hides his excellent figure, his necklace, chain and rings absent, topped off with an inspired final touch, if he says so himself. A plain black beanie, all of his hair stuffed and twisted within it. He even abandons the motorcycle.

His ride is a beat-up car, picked up from an out-of-the way garage. He drives for an hour or so, strip mall after strip mall and yellowed hill after yellowed hill passing him by on the highway, the telephone wires and billboards blending together. His head grows warm. The car is too quiet. 

He opens a window. Leaves the radio untouched. The beanie stays on. 

The prison’s parking lot is mostly empty, and when he passes his ID to the guard, the woman barely blinks. All part of the routine.

Not part of the routine is the guard returning within five minutes to say that Kristoph will see him. Klavier stumbles out of his plastic seat so fast that he almost trips. Kristoph never sees him. Klavier has made the drive every week since his return to LA. He’s been turned away every time.

Perhaps Kristoph’s final collapse in court has brought about a change of heart. Unlikely. Yet an opening is an opening, and is meant to be pursued.

Solitary Cell 13 is as plush as it appeared in Wright’s video. Plusher, possibly. Kristoph sits in the floral pink armchair with crossed arms. As Klavier steps closer to the cell bars, a small smile grows on Kristoph’s face.

“Come to boast of your victory?” Kristoph looks as put together as ever. “You always were a sore winner, Klavier. It doesn’t suit you.”

“I wouldn’t call it my victory.” Klavier points out the inaccuracy before Kristoph can. “I lost the Misham trial. I didn’t prosecute your case.” He watched from the gallery as Prosecutor Debeste brought the trial to its final conclusion. 

“It’s good to know the limits of your abilities,” says Kristoph. The corner of his eye twitches. “I would invite you in, but I am no longer trusted with that privilege.”

“I prefer the view out here,” says Klavier. The hallway light flickers above him, a crackling that catches his ears’ attention and will not let go of it.

“Weren’t you listening? You don't get to choose,” snaps Kristoph. His gaze narrows. “Why are you here?”

For the first time, Klavier understands his brother. As neat as his hair is and as pressed as his suit is today, Kristoph will always appear to him as he did at the end of the Misham trial. A pathetic, cruel man, with no allies and no escape. 

The purpose of Kristoph’s question then, is plain to any lawyer who’s been in court. A trap. 

Klavier walks into it. “You’re my brother.”

Satisfaction sparks in Kristoph’s eyes, and Klavier is brought back to a distant memory, of his mother cooing over the similarity of the brothers’ eyes, over a teenage Kristoph’s disgruntled objection that their eyes were different colors. 

Kristoph tilts his head. “Does that mean something to you now?”

“It has always meant something to me,” answers Klavier. More honesty. More fodder for his brother.

“I find that hard to believe,” says Kristoph, an edge creeping into his voice, “given the way you offered me up to the slaughter.” He laughs.

Klavier loathes that laugh. In a few months, he will never hear that laugh again. Sooner, if Kristoph decides so. 

“And your attire,” continues Kristoph, “is even more ridiculous than usual. Are you taking tips from Wright?” 

Kristoph glares at Klavier’s beanie with more passion than Klavier himself has felt for any article of clothing. It hadn’t been intentional, but as with music, who is to say where one’s influences came from? 

“Perhaps,” says Klavier. 

“Wright.” Kristoph spits the name. “Don’t be naive. They don’t care about you.”

“What?” 

“Phoenix Wright. Apollo Justice. Trucy Wright. That detective.” The growl in Kristoph’s throat grows with every sentence, and Klavier finds himself distantly grateful that Skye's name has escaped Kristoph’s notice. “None of them care for you. You were nothing more than a tool for a trial already planned.”

“Oh,” says Klavier. He shrugs. “I’m aware.”

“You—what?” Kristoph rears back as if he were slapped.

“Do you think it was sentiment that moved me?” Klavier steps closer. “A worthy adversary in court. A teenage fan. A man I got disbarred. A capable if distracted subordinate. Did you think I cared more for them than you? I thought you were cleverer than that, ja?”

Kristoph’s mouth moves, but no sound emerges.

Klavier has a dazzling smile, one that breaks the hearts of men and women around the world, one that can make the peak of a guitar solo even higher, one that photographs beautifully. He flashes it. “At the end of the day, Kristoph, all of us are tools. Of each other, of the system, of the truth. The past year has taught me that much.”

“Caring about me,” says Klavier, “is not something I expect of them. Or ever will, I think.” 

“It’s time for you to go,” says Kristoph, a venomous look in his eyes. Of all the points in their conversation to upset him so, Klavier had not anticipated this one. Kristoph raises his voice. “Guard!”

“I will be back next week,” says Klavier, though his brother must already know that. “Do you have any food requests? I assume the guards will permit it, given your cell.”

“I can get anything I want here.” Kristoph’s expression grows more spiteful. “Your assistance is unnecessary.”

“You have always been good at going after what you wanted.” Klavier laughs. He raises his hand to run it through his hair, only to run into his beanie. He skims his fingertips against the top edge of the brim, well-aware that Kristoph has cataloged the mistake. 

The guard arrives to escort him out. As he turns to leave, Klavier adds, “I learned that from watching you.”

For your own good

"Athena, have you found Aura's-"

"No," says Athena, her voice distant.

The headphones are so light. That's Athena's first thought, when she picks them up from the mess of a desk drawer. Her second is that her hands are so big around each of them. Had her head really been that small?

"What?" says Simon's voice. "Oh."

When Athena looks up, she thinks: You're standing too far away.

He's back by the lab window, his hands behind his back as a look of surprise crosses his face. They're used to each other in court, she swears, a flurry of "Objection!"s and "Silence!"s, a case and the truth on the line. Here in this lab that belongs to neither of them but is undeniably theirs, Athena is reminded of all those times Simon casually patted her head as he walked by, or the few occasions she'd dared to tug on his sleeve to ask him something.

She makes a face. It'd be weird for any of that to happen now. She doesn't want it to. But she does want to be friends with Simon. She stomps over to him so he can actually see the stupid headphones.

Simon frowns. "I thought I cleaned it off and left it with you."

"Mom always kept extras in the lab." Athena shrugs. "In case I forgot them upstairs." Her eyes dart to the photo of her mother on Aura's desk. "I'm surprised she didn't throw them all away."

Simon opens his mouth, and then shuts it, apparently thinking better of what he was about to say. Athena spins one of the headphones around her index finger, letting it go round after round before catching it in her palm.

It's funny. As a kid, Athena liked Aura more than Simon. Simon was new and talked way too loudly and spent so much time with her mom using words she didn't understand. Her mom left conversations with him using even more of those words. Athena didn't enjoy one of the few voices she could stand being taken from her that way.

Aura liked and knew how to explain her robots to anyone, even Athena and often Junie. And sure, sometimes Aura got into moods where she'd spend hours on her robots, with Mom saying she didn't want to be disturbed, but Athena understood that. She hid from people so often herself. It wasn't like now, every person an opportunity for discovery, a potential puzzle to be probed and resolved. Back then, people's voices bled straight into her heart with no interpretation to mediate, a flood of warring emotions, false faces, lies to themselves. Retreating to the lab to scrawl out a drawing felt so much better. Mom and Aura had never minded.

Athena wanders over to where they've organized all the other stuff they've found. "We can toss these into the throw pile."

She's halfway through digging through the rest of the mess in drawer when-

"The headphones were to help you," says Simon suddenly, from his own messy corner.

"I know," snaps back Widget, before Athena can. She doesn't hate them. She's just not that little kid who needs them anymore.

When she looks at Simon, there's a tension around his eyes, as if he needs Athena to understand this. As if he hadn't already said this in court. As if it's important he says it outside of court too.

Maybe it is, Athena thinks, remembering all those hours that his sister and her mother spent working together here, spinning up ideas that had nothing to do with space travel. She shifts the headphones to a different pile, the one for unfinished projects that other engineers might pick up. "Maybe they can help someone else."

Simon opens his mouth. Pauses. This time he charges ahead, saying, "She wanted you to see the world, you know." His words are slow. He's reluctant to betray her mother's confidence, all these years later. "She hoped that your ability could be a gift to you, not a curse. That you wouldn't have to spend years trapped here. Or anywhere."

Every word is wrapped in a thin layer of fear.

Athena wants to scream. She wants to yell at him again for what he did, to ask him if her mother's words were why he did it, if it was worth what has become of his sister.

Instead, she grins, holding out her hand in a peace sign. "I've been to so many countries, Prosecutor Blackquill. Way more than you!" She takes a step back towards the desk, and then turns back to point at him. "What was the most annoying thing about my mom as a mentor?"

"What?" Simon looks grievously offended. It makes him look years younger. "Your mother was an excellent mentor."

"There had to be something you didn't like. Anything. You have to tell me, you know."

He squints. "I'll....think on it. I doubt there is anything."

"Think harder! Come up with something before I'm done with this drawer." Athena dives back in.

Beauty

It's unusual of him, Miles knew, to have disclosed his history with Wright to Kay. There were too many possible causes to fault. That Kay was an adult, for long enough that she'd stopped reminding him of that fact. That they were thousands of miles away from Los Angeles - her on a grand tour of Europe for purposes he'd prefer not to hear about, him studying yet another law system in yet another country. That halfway through pouring small glasses of scotch from the bottle kept in his desk, he realized it was Von Karma's favorite kind.

That Wright's latest email revealed little and accepted even less.

Kay leaned back against his desk next to him. She gestured with her glass, the liquid sloshing dangerously within it. Kay spoke before Miles could encourage some restraint. "Mr. Edgeworth! That's so beautiful, your friend would make a very good thief. Not as good as me, of course."

"I-" Miles sputtered. He reached up to place his own empty glass on the desk behind him. "A thief? How does that make any sense?"

Kay gulped down more scotch. When she grimaced at the taste and tried to hide it, Miles couldn't help but think of the first time Franziska had drank with him and Von Karma. He'd never seen Franziska drink whiskey since Von Karma's arrest, only the occasional pilsner.

(He tried to remember if his father had drank.

Miles could ask Mr. Shields.

Miles wouldn't.)

The comparison with Franziska was dismissed from his mind when Kay passionately clenched her fist to her chest, her eyes softening.

"Von Karma stole you," explained Kay with unwarranted confidence - perhaps he shouldn't have poured her that second glass - and she turned towards him, "and Mr. Wright stole you back!"

"It's not theft when it's a person..."

It seemed there would be no end to the thief metaphors. Or the Jammin' Ninja metaphors, for Kay then deemed it necessary to compare their past to some absurd plotline from that inferior show, casting Wright as the Ninja and Miles as Princess Misola. Ridiculous. Wright had no knack for music.

Furthermore, there was a Steel Samurai storyline from three years ago that fit the situation far better.

The conversation drifted to which European countries they've both been to and which they haven't, Miles grateful that Kay either forgot to or declined to ask what happened with Wright next. He had no intention of spreading the news of the man's disbarment. A disbarment he knows must be unwarranted.

Yet the few emails he'd sent to Wright had been met with nothing more than polite bemusement, casual acceptance of the end of a career and mentions of that new daughter.

If Wright needed him in the courtroom again, Miles would be on a plane tonight. If Wright was in the hospital again, Miles would be on a plane tonight. But Wright's emails were clear. Wright had no need of him, and so Miles had no right to interfere.

Stole you back, Kay had said. Thieves, as did most criminals, cared little for what their rights were.

Miles Edgeworth was no thief. He was a prosecutor, through and through.

I owe Wright too much, thought Miles, his chest warm from the alcohol, to be the one to steal him.

"It's broken"

“I spy an incongruity between our victim and these surroundings. The full autopsy report might offer an explanation, of course, but…Sebastian. What do you think explains it?”

Sebastian had heard the last question a lot ever since he started shadowing Mr. Edgeworth. Usually, it meant Mr. Edgeworth already knew the answer to his question, and wanted to see if Sebastian could figure it out on its own. Maybe he’d already solved the entire case in his head? No, Sebastian reminded himself, Mr. Edgeworth doesn’t like wasting time. If he had solved the case, he’d be storming into the coroner’s office by now.

His conducting baton flexed between his hands, Sebastian considered the question. The victim was a middle-aged man dressed in a fancy-looking tuxedo, the kind Pops hated wearing, but the body was lying in a shabby studio apartment that was smaller than the garage of Pops’ house. My house.

He shook off the thought. Mr. Edgeworth was still waiting for an answer, his arms crossed as he stared at Sebastian. Sebastian would’ve thought it a glare, but he’d learned over the past few months that Mr. Edgeworth’s face was just like that.

An answer came forth. The victim didn’t live here…which means someone moved the body here….maybe the killer? The killer lives here, and was interrupted. Yes, that must be it! Sebastian opened his mouth.

He closed it. He reminded himself that he couldn’t trust his first guess. His gaze traveled to the victim’s face, and then to the pictures stuck to the fridge, the bills on the table, and the shoes by the door. “He lived here. There are photographs of him on the fridge in that scarf that’s on the couch.”

“Hmm,” said Mr. Edgeworth.

Sebastian pressed on, “I-I don’t think the outfit is his. The shoes are too big. I think someone either lent him the clothes, or dressed him after he died. Maybe the second one, because there isn’t blood anywhere other than on his clothes.”

“We haven’t looked under the body yet,” pointed out Mr. Edgeworth, and Sebastian winced. Mr. Edgeworth continued, “However, in essence, I’ve arrived at the same conclusion.”

Sebastian straightened up, pleased. A loud CRACK! erupted between his hands, and sudden pain whipped across his chin. He staggered back. Two sticks dropped from his hand. Two? But—

He dropped to his knees, grabbing one of the pieces of his baton. It was the bottom half, a sharp edge across it that explained the throbbing of his chin. He’d bent it too hard. Stupid. He needed to find the other half. It’s from Pops, I can’t lose it. 

“Sebastian,” said Mr. Edgeworth, suddenly next to him and not across the room. When did that happen? Mr. Edgeworth’s hand hovered over his shoulder. “Sebastian, you’re bleeding.”

“It’s broken,” said Sebastian, tears welling up in his eyes. Mr. Edgeworth looked confused, and Sebastian realized how stupid he sounded. He stuck his hand under the couch, relieved when he felt the other half of his baton. He showed both pieces to Mr. Edgeworth, and tried to explain. “I don’t want to laminate—I mean, contaminate, the crime scene.”

Mr. Edgeworth’s gaze dropped down to the pieces in his hands. Sebastian didn’t like the way Mr. Edgeworth’s forehead tensed up, as if he were solving a crime scene. 

“A well-founded concern,” said Mr. Edgeworth. “To that end, Detective Gumshoe should be able to assist you with that injury. He is well-supplied with band-aids, given his own mishaps.”

Sebastian nodded, jumping to his feet. “I’ll be right back.”

He fiddled with the broken pieces of his baton in his pocket while waiting for the elevator. He’d only ever had the one baton. He didn’t even know it could break. Of course my idiot son found the one way to break it, says Pops’ voice. Maybe he could find out where Pops had gotten this one? Justine would help. More tears came.

No, retorted a part of Sebastian, that’s enough. He blinked hard. He—he didn’t need a stupid baton to prosecute. Especially not one from him. He needed to stop reacting to every little thing like this.

Pops had alternated between floods of tears and fires of rage, leaving Sebastian and everyone else in suspense as to which mood was next. Sebastian had meant what he’d told Mr. Edgeworth. He wasn’t going to be like his father. If he wanted to be like another prosecutor, he wanted to be like Mr. Edgeworth. He wanted to be even better than Mr. Edgeworth.

And Mr. Edgeworth didn’t cry.

Sebastian stepped into the elevator, and swallowed down his tears.