#the first option will be shown to you forcibly

[crowcryptid]

what’s worse 175 GB install size 8 year development hell 8k eye texture with dynamic cheek fuzz (it blows in the wind) 10 krillion dollar budget epic war battle royale third person cinematic universe (2) esport the next generation in storytelling you choices matter open world

or

cozy So Retro farming sim with roguelite elements crafting survival you can pet the doggo to wins the internet game

[echantedtoon]

Demonstober Day 1 Dragon

A mythical monster resembling a giant reptile, sometimes shown as having wings. In European tradition the dragon is typically feared and tends to cause chaos or evil, whereas in East Asia it is usually a symbol of fertility, associated with water and the heavens.

(Warnings for death mentioned.)

Tagging: @lavenderdropp @six-eyed-samurai @trancylovecraft @cherrysuzaku

Remember if you want to be added to the spooktober taglist lemme know

Matagi.

Only the most fearsome hunters of the village were allowed to be hunters and go up into the mountains and bring back big game of elk and bear. It's always been this way generation after generation to not displease the gods. And honestly whoever heard of a woman matagi anyways? It was unheard of. A woman's place was at home tending to children and keeping up the housework. 

At least that's what you've always been told. 

By both your parents. 

Since you were little, you had no interest in becoming a typical housewife. Staying home all day and night, doing laundry, scrubbing floors, and being at the beck and call of whatever man was 'gracious' enough to take you as a wife. No. No you weren't going to do that. You wanted to go hunt and earn your living the same way your father did before you before he passed away from a bear attack when you were very little. 

Unfortunately both your parents agreed that it wasn't an option for you. Your father was more gentle about it always refusing to teach you how to use a bow and arrow but he did show you how to make traps for game capture. Meanwhile your mother was so much stricter. If she so much as saw you holding a mere rope or just even looking longingly at the weapons your father would use, she yell, scream, and drag you forcibly by the back of your kimono and 'set you straight'. Which meant she'd make you scrub floors until your hands and knees were numb, practice embroidery until you couldn't feel your fingers, or other things 'a proper woman is supposed to be doing.'

You came to resent her after that, because after your father's death her insistence became overwhelming. You couldn't even go outside without her checking you for weapons. Not even the other matagi hunters thought you were a good enough hunter. One even offered to marry you because-

"If you can't be one you might as well marry one to continue your father's legacy."

Your mother agreed but you refused. But jokes on them! You hid everything you needed in the woods near your home. All you had to do was go out and set up the traps just like your father taught you! And not just any traps! Bear traps! If you brought back something as big as a elk, moose, or especially a bear then everyone have to take you seriously as a matagi hunter! So the very last night when your mother was asleep, you had snuck out into the snowy night and gathered up the ropes from under the rock you hid them under, and ventured up into the mountain to set up your trap. There was a small pond up in the mountains that they say is the home to an ancient dragon-

However no one believed it.

If asked by the matagi hunters then they'd laugh at you and say that some old superstitious ancestors who thought everything revolved around spirits and spooks. You've been up to the pond several times yourself out of curiosity and to see if the water would attract wildlife but you never saw anything either. But do you know what you DID see last time you went there? TRACKS!! They were all misshapen by the new falling snow and the fact whatever it was had been dragging something, but they were big enough to be a bear's! The trail ended just at the Water's edge which was strange but it was snowing so the trail must've been already gone. 

But there was definitely some big game going through there!! 

But first things first! You needed to have all the advantages you could get! So along with the rope, you brought a long some homemade ohagi and some yen. Even if there was no dragon, an offering might at least bring you good luck. Plus it never hurts to be on the safe side. 

The snow crunched under your feet, and your breath turned to fog around your head as you huffed and puffed through the night. Trying to be quiet to not disturb the wildlife in case a good buck was roaming about. Step after step you took until you got passed some bushes. And-

AH! THERE IT WAS!

The moonlight sparkled off the snow and shine on the water like little stars floating on the surface. It was peaceful without any life in sight. Human or animal and no sounds except for the breeze coldly rustling through the branches and your steps as you walked forward and stopped at the Water's edge. Smiling down at the pretty reflection before giving a breath, getting on your knees, and bowing.

"Please, Oh Great Wise Dragon. Allow me to capture something  to show for my actions. I humbly offer you this offering as appeasement." 

Snow crunched softly as you gently placed the food and money, wrapped up in a cloth right by the Water's edge before standing back up and dusting yourself off and turning around starting to lift the strings of heavy ropes off your shoulders. Ok! Time to get to work. You'd set up a really big trap here for the bear and then add a lot of little traps around the area! The more traps the better chance you'd have to actually catch something.

You didn't notice the soft hand gently reaching out of the pool to wrap itself around your gift before disappearing back down into the water without so much as a sound. 

You made sure to set up one big trap hidden in some snow a little bit away from the pond before going around to set five smaller traps in various places near the biggest one making sure to study and remember where each one was before quickly leaving the area. You needed to get back home before your mother woke up and found you gone muttering to yourself.

"I'll come back tomorrow night and see if I caught anything."

And then you promptly left. Back home with just enough time to skip inside and hang up your winter coat before your mother got up to start working again. You had to wait all day and then a little bit into the night for your mother to sleep again before you could slip out by night and run up to the place where you set up the traps. Giddily looking at each one until you stopped by the smallest one furthest away from the pond. Your eyes widened at what you saw-

Oh my. It was.. beautiful!

The purest of white rabbits sat there in the rope trap with its back leg caught up in the string. It's fur so fluffy and white that it rivaled the snow itself. Perfect for making a muff that could sell for a good fifty yen. It's neat could make good soup for at least a week. Pink eyes blinked up at you oddly calmly wide eyes catching the moonlight and sparkling like rubies. Ok! Ok! You can do this! You can do this! Just one slice! Hands fumbled for the dagger tied to your side, shakily reaching it up into the air. Moonlight gleaming off the silver metal-

... Before you lowered it staring at the innocent face blinking up at you..And sighed.

You know what? This rabbit is too small anyways. It's not worth the effort and anyone could catch a rabbit. You decided to cut the rope around it's foot. Immediately it bolted off. Shooting up snow before it stopped just a few yards away looked at you for a few seconds before scattering away disappearing into the snow.

You sighed again picketing the blade. "I'll come back again tomorrow. Maybe something bigger will be here by then."

You did just that. Coming back the next night you found yet another prize even more beautiful than the fluffy rabbit. A absolutely BEAUTIFUL red fox. It's sleek fur shiny and such a beautiful orange like a tiger lily just blooming. It stared at you with beautiful eyes as it dangled from the rope wrapped around it's middle. ..That looked painful for the poor thing as it just stared at you with big eyes-

No. This wouldn't do either. It was...still too small even if it's pelt would've been worth at least a good hundred yen. So you cut it down and watched as it ran off into the darkness and disappeared from sight leaving only a few tracks for your work. You'll come back tomorrow night and see what else you might get. 

The next night was possibly the best one.

For there was the most beautiful creature of all.  

A doe. Graceful and as beautifully brown as chocolate. Her big body and meat could go for more than the fox and rabbit combined. Her hide could make perfect bags. Her head sold as a trophy to place on the wall and yet-...

She ran away as soon as you cut the rope from her neck. Bounding quickly away through the trees like she was flying almost.  She was...still too small. You needed something like an elk or moose to really show your worth and how well your traps worked! 

"I need something really special in my nets," you thought out loud to yourself. Instantly the mental image of your mother nagging you to get married already popped into your mind. Making you huff. "Like a husband. That way my life can be completed."

You chuckled to yourself as you started home. Imagining the funny scenario of one of those rude hunters dangling and yelling from your ropes like a fish on a hook. It made you feel the tiniest bit better about the losses you had when you went home to wait for the fifth night again to go back to the pond. 

You took your time just imagining what could be in your next trap. A juicy elk. A big moose. Or maybe a majestic bear! Your traps have been so successful so far so that proves you could be a successful matagi!  When night finally fell and your mother slept you took your coat and exited back where you came. Through the cold and snowy night. Carefully trudging through the snow towards your destination until arriving again to check the remaining three traps you didn't destroy cutting the animals free. The two little ones were empty upsetting you. But you had high hopes for the last one. As you slowly approached the bush. AND perking up as something large moved from inside the bushes. As your hands grabbed your dagger and slowly pulled back the branches ready to strike the bear-

"Oh hello. It's very nice to finally meet you face to face."

You stood there frozen. Your eyes meeting purple orbs with black cat like slits.

Sitting in the snow before you was a man. Or.. what looked like a man. Aman a little bit taller than you say there perfectly content in the snow with beautiful robes draped over his body. Now a man dressed like a wealthy noble sitting in the middle of the woods would've been so weird enough...if he didn't have two white horns poking out from his head, cat like eyes, and a long purple lizard tail poking out from the base of his spine. The tail had white fluffy hair running down it's length ending in a fluffy tuft of hair and a rope was wrapped around it suspended it in the air as he sat. 

However despite everything he smiled at you.

You still stared at him wide eyed. Dragger dropping from your hand to land with a thud in the snow. There was silence for another minute before you finally spoke. "I-...W-Who?"

"My apologies." He slightly bowed to you. "My name is Ubuyashiki. I am the Guardian of this mountain region. You'll forgive me for surprising you like this, but I haven't had any visitors for quite some time. "

"I-..V-Visitors?"

"Indeed. You see I used to have many visitors coming to leave me offers but I think sadly I've been reduced to a mere legend until you came by days ago and left me that delicious food. So in return I tried my best to grant you your wish of a good prey."

Wait a minute-

"Wait. So this entire time..it w-was YOU who put those animals in my trap?"

He nodded. "However you never seemed satisfied with what I brought you but then you mentioned wanting to catch a husband within a trap." He slowly stood up making you realize how close you were. "And I have been rather lonely these past ten thousand years." His smile was gentle, kind. Despite having sharp claws they gently scratched your face as he tilted his head up to you with a smile. "It would be so nice to have a companion as kind hearted as you for my partner."

You swallowed the lump in your throat under his gaze. Perhaps your hunting skills were a little too much.

[kitthenameless]

I made this other post about the Emperor and Ansur once, but I had more things I wanted to say and couldn't quite fit in without muddying my point.

This is perhaps a bit of a reach, but this is not the first time I've found a portrayal of turning into a monster that I relate to as a chronically ill / disabled person who became ill later in life. It has nothing to do with feeling monstrous (I don't feel monstrous) or even body horror, and everything to do with how disabled people are treated by society and even those closest to us.

Obviously disabled people don't go around eating brains. We are not dangerous any more than abled people are. But becoming a mindflayer (or whatever monster) is comparable in the sense that, it can happen suddenly, and then your whole life is different, your body is not what it used to be (maybe visually, maybe the way it works or doesn't work now), and you need certain accommodations in order to thrive or even just survive. But people treat you differently now, you're not really given any help, and truthfully a lot of people would rather you just be dead. You're abandoned by society to figure out your new life and all its difficulties on your own. If you're lucky, you have some people who care enough to help you. If you're not lucky, you do the best you can in your desperation.

And that's why it feels so messed up to me that Ansur just gave up on Balduran/Emperor once he couldn't cure him. He clearly believes this is still Balduran, as shown by how he speaks to him when you meet him. So in his mind, he wasn't even trying to kill some creature that just had Balduran's memories. He was trying to kill Balduran. Who forcibly underwent a change to his body and accepted it and decided he still wanted a chance at living.

Edit to add: I'm pretty sure the Emperor even says it wasn't easy at first, so he didn't immediately embrace being a mindflayer. He came to accept it with some time, and that feels even more significant to me.

Like I said, I know becoming a mindflayer is not exactly the same as becoming disabled because mindflayers are dangerous. But also like I said, in my other post, the game shows us there are options to living ethically as a mindflayer. It's just that no one even helped the Emperor try to find them. And even so, he did his best on his own by eating criminals (which there is proof of, in a transcript).

I don't even blame him for disguising himself to the player at first. Look at how society treats freed mindflayers. Look at how the Emperor's own best friend and lover treated him. It makes perfect sense to assume we would hurt him or refuse to help him too.

Some people are so quick to forgive the companions for all the messed up things they've done because they have trauma. The Emperor has been through shit too though. He wouldn't admit to having trauma, but he was kidnapped, had his body forcibly changed, had his mind enslaved, had his lover try to kill him, had to kill his lover in self-defense, and was enslaved a second time. Sounds pretty traumatic to me.

Anyway. It's probably random to end this by talking about books, but that's what I do (literally, I also have a book blog), so. The other stories I also related to in this way were Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman (vampires) and Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella (werewolves). Maybe look 'em up, if you like that sorta thing.

[eunxhan]

❝ I'll do whatever it takes to keep you locked up in my arms, and no one else will ever have you. ❞

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Ꮺ 😻 Anon Requested ⨾ Hiiii!!! First of all good day/night before all! I just saw that you write for Identity V and I couldn't stop myself 😔 I need a yan!joker and yan!ripper right now!! (Not really but you surely understand what I mean 🤭) - 😻 Anon

Ꮺ Eun Replies ⨾ Hello, good day for you too. This was interesting for me as i never seen any yandere types of both of the characters much and identity v is so underrated to me. I'm not sure if you wanted separate or poly so i decided to go with the first option, of course if you wanted polygamous I wouldn't mind writing them both again— I hope this brings you joy.

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Ꮺ Disclaimer — I do not condone this kind of behavior in real life situations. Unhealthy relationship, possessive and obsessive behavior, delusion, abduction, abusive behavior. English is not my main!

Reader & Genre ⨾ GN!SURVIVOR!reader,

Words used ⨾ 10, 300+ ( 24 headcanons )

Character ⨾ Yandere!Ripper, Yandere!JOKER, A bit OOC for me.

Links ⨾ My Navigation and Mandates

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I view Ripper as a possessive type of yandere. He often desires and demands attention and affection from his beloved, and can quickly become enraged and jealous if his beloved gives attention to others or ignores him. He is very possessive and controlling, and will go to extreme lengths to keep his beloved all for himself.

Which he often tries to charm and seduce his beloved, and may even use his charm and sweetness to manipulate his dear into doing what he wants. This could involve him using his darling's love and affection against them, making them think that he loved them more than anything else and that they must do what he wants and cater to his desires. Attempting to shape their thoughts, feelings, and behavior according to his own desires.

Ripper also been shown to be very obsessed with his beloved. His obsession with his beloved can often lead to irrational and violent behaviors, and he frequently resorts to violent means to ensure the preservation of their relationship.

Ripper's possessiveness can often reach obsessive and unhealthy levels. His jealousy and need for control over his beloved's actions, attempting to prevent any opportunity for his beloved to even consider or interact with others. Such as forcibly isolating his beloved from the rest of the world.

If Ripper sees his beloved in the trial, he would likely be incredibly furious and possessive. He would want to be the one to take his beloved out of the trial, and would not want anyone else touching or coming near them. He would likely resort to extreme measures to try and prevent anyone from taking his beloved away or causing him to lose control over his beloved.

He likely not hesitate to kill any other survivors who try to get near or touch his beloved. He would have extreme anger directed towards the hunter, as he blames the hunter for putting his beloved in this situation, He would resort to desperate and obsessive means to free his beloved by whatever means necessary.

If his beloved tries to avoid him in and out of trials, he would likely become very frustrated and angry.nHe would view the avoidance as his beloved rejecting and avoiding him, which would fill him with jealousy and fear of losing his beloved.

He'll try to become more pushy and clingy towards his beloved, wanting to always be close and attached to them and not letting them escape or reject his advances. He would also become very demanding and insistent towards his beloved, wanting them to give him attention and affection and to stop avoiding him.

Ripper wants to abduct his beloved away, resort to very dangerous and violent means to try and abduct them away. He would likely resort to extreme measures such as kidnapping his beloved and holding them captive somewhere private and secluded, not letting anyone know their whereabouts or preventing any possibility of their beloved escaping him.

Wanting to keep them constantly by his side and not allow any time away from him. He will not allow any chance for his beloved to escape or have their own freedom.

Ripper, when he is the hunter and dealing with a survivor darling, may be more unpredictable in his behavior since he can be more emotionally reactive and impulsive than Joker. Ripper may still attack his beloved when they're a survivor, as he may see them as not being the perfect version of his beloved that he wants so desperately. He may prefer to kill them and start over with a new version of his beloved, not wanting to deal with an imperfect version of his beloved that he can't control or manipulate.

Ripper would likely want to immediately hunt them down and attack them. Ripper is a very possessive yandere, and would feel extreme rage if his beloved is interacting with anyone else besides them. This would trigger his obsessive and controlling mindset, and would quickly resort to violent means to abduct them and keep them to himself.

Ripper suffers from insanity, he will have a distorted view of his beloved and would experience delusional thoughts and feelings.

In his head, he may hallucinate and perceive his beloved as having different physical features and appearances than they actually do. He would also be likely to have extreme beliefs and views about his beloved, such as viewing them as an extension of himself or belonging to him.

His twisted perceptions and beliefs would likely cause Ripper to act in extreme and violent means towards his beloved, attempting to abduct them and forcefully remove them from everyone else and isolate them only to himself.

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I view Joker as a manipulative and calculated type of yandere. He often acts in a charming and sweet manner, but also has a twisted and manipulative side to him. Joker as a sadistic type of yandere. He takes pleasure in making his beloved suffer and feel pain, and enjoys seeing them scared and helpless. He wants to break down their will and force them into a state of dependency on him for protection and comfort.

Joker's sadism can be viewed as a form of mental and emotional abuse. He wants to completely control and manipulate his darling, treating them like a puppet who must follow his whim, and showing no regard for their feelings and desires.

He wants to break down his beloved's identity, breaking their will and brainwashing them to make them comply to his desires and fantasies. Joker enjoys seeing his beloved weak and helpless, enjoying their suffering and fear and finding comfort and satisfaction in dominating them, rooted in his need to have power and control over his beloved.

He wants to be the source of all the joy and happiness in his beloved's life, and wants to make sure that they are completely dependent on him for comfort and security. He has a very controlling and manipulative mindset, and wants to keep total power over his beloved, wanting to shape and mold them into the perfect partner for him.

If he sees his beloved in the trial with him, he would likely feel a mix of emotions. He would likely feel excitement and a sense of power and control over his beloved, wanting to be the one responsible for their protection and saving them from the trial.

Just Like Ripper, He would also likely feel a sense of jealousy and anger towards the other survivors in the trial, wanting to be the one who has all the attention and affection from his beloved, and not wanting anyone else to get in his way or come close to them. Because why would you want anyone else, when you can have him?

He would likely try to immediately separate his beloved from the other survivors while still within the trial. Being aggressive and violent behaviors towards the other survivors while trying to forcibly separate and take his beloved away from them.

If his darling tries to avoid him, he would become extremely frustrated and angry, feeling rejected and abandoned by his beloved. The lack of affection and attention from his beloved would fill him with anger and jealousy, and his possessive and controlling nature would be activated. Trying to force them to give him attention and affection by any means necessary, even if it means physically dragging them away with him.

For example, he might resort to restraining them physically to try and hold them so they are forced to be with him. He might even resort to kidnapping and abducting his beloved to ensure they cannot get away from him or reject him.

With his extreme possessiveness and controlling nature, would not hesitate to use force and aggression to possess and control his beloved.

He would possibly resort to more violent and abusive means to maintain control over his beloved, keeping them completely isolated and trapped with no means of escape. The lack of control and the feeling of rejection and abandonment would trigger extreme anger and rage, which could cause him to direct his violence and aggression towards his beloved in a fit of rage. He will do anything as to dangerous methods such as kidnapping, physical force, and threats or manipulation to get his beloved away from everyone else and keep them all to Himself.

If he sees his darling survivor in the trial, he's unpredictable sometimes he'll attack his beloved directly but sometimes he wants to save them, at least not until he managed to abduct them. Once he had manage to separate his beloved from the other survivors and take them with him, then he would have no issues with attacking his beloved or treating them quite recklessly.

Joker suffers from sadism and sociopathy, he would have a distorted and twisted view of his beloved as well. He experience delusions and hallucinations, and would not see his beloved as they actually are but rather how he wants them to be. He have a twisted and demented version of his beloved in his mind, seeing them as a broken and helpless slave who needs him to maintain their stability and sense of self. His delusions would likely trigger his anger and violence towards his beloved, as he would act out in obsessive and abusive ways to force these delusions to be reality.

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Ꮺ ⨾ I DO NOT CONSENT TO MY WORK BEING COPIED OR TRANSLATED.

[classicanalyzer]

Jedi Survivor Retrospective - Coruscant/A Hopeless Fight

"Someday when your children see this, they'll know the Jedi never stopped fighting for them." Cal Kestis

After an optional cinematic recap with amazing music, we begin the game with Cal seemingly captured as he sees the former Jedi Temple now the Imperial Palace of the Empire. Outside of LEGO SW media, I think this is the first time we saw the Imperial Palace in visual media. The opening of this game serves as a foil to the first game's intro where Cal is hiding and unsure of himself, now Cal is more confident and mostly in control of the situation.

Coruscant is as oppressive as ever as Sejan forcibly removes people who are already living in poor conditions to benefit himself. It's quickly made apparent that the Senator is way over his head as Cal quickly turned the tables on him. I really like the bond between Cal and Bode..however in hindsight, we know why Bode made sure to tell Cal that he's providing for his daughter. And I love Cal turning the Senator's quote against him into a defiant statement.

After Gab is killed, we see a glimpse of Cal Ketstis' inner darkness emerging as he approaches the Ninth Sister with Lightsaber in hand ignoring Bode and Bravo's calls to him. Even the music fades as Cal's intent on avenging his comrades is all he can think about. Cal even uses the same Force trick that Trilla used in opening Fallen Order on a gunship to achieve more successful results as Cal takes the controls.

Senator Sejan represents the corrupt politicians who traded democracy for "security" at the end of ROTS. Despite him claiming to do this for his people, it's clear with his lavish lifestyle and corrupt nature that he's really doing this for himself. I do find it funny how he was placed in the first trailer of this game as a major antagonist...when he was quickly dispatched by the Ninth Sister.

The Ninth Sister is revealed to be still alive after an ambiguous end to her fight in Fallen Order. Since then, she has become even more unhinged and rage-fueled, no doubt thanks to her humiliating loss at Cal's hands. A major theme for this game's villains is obsession. The Ninth Sister is our first look into that theme. It's clear she's been obsessed with killing Cal and it's all she wants to do. By the end, even when Cal tries calling out to Massana Tide (the Ninth Sister's true name), she can't break out of her obsession and what the Empire made her.

"It's time to set you free." Cal Kestis

Cal's growth is clearly shown as compared to the last game, he can better handle the Purge Troopers (interestingly wearing their Clone armor despite the game taking place in the same year as the Kenobi show) and even the Ninth Sister who went from being a major boss to the starter boss of this game. His dual blade stance now became a proper stance rather than just a few special moves.

Cal would also get along with Ezra on how the Empire uses their old photos for their wanted posters.

By the end, despite getting the intel, Cal feels hopeless about the impact he's making and has just lost his new family. With the Mantis now in dire need of repair, Cal has to seek out the original owner of the Mantis, Greez Dritus, who is now on the world Koboh. Little does he know that he will reunite with his old family in time.

I really love this section for capturing that bombastic SW opening action sequence. We also get to see how Cal is starting to feel the weight of the seemingly hopeless situation against the Empire.

[all54321]

The Spell of Silence

Grian joins Hermitcraft still as a Watcher. He still split from the ones who turned him, but he still acts as one even solo. Scar discovers and it doesn’t go well for him.

This is the first AU that isn’t really Scarian. I tried, of course, but the way I made this AU and the direction I was taking it… it just didn’t seem like a possible option anymore, not for this AU at least. I made a different/generally darker AU where they do get together, but that’s a whole other thing. Scar does kinda have a crush on Grian still, so… there’s that? His love quickly turns into hatred though.

Grian is pretty evil in this au, but in a more passive sense. He just doesn’t care about so many things that he should care about. The life games though, he goes fully unhinged with them. Like, have you heard his laugh in 3rd life?

—————

Grian rubs a hand over his face, this was not how he saw today going. He paces a few feet away from where Scar lays on the ground, unconscious. He’s not worried, he’s… he just doesn’t want to deal with this at the moment. Grian especially doesn’t want to deal with this if the spell doesn’t work. He casts a glance at Scar again, he also doesn’t know what he’ll do if his spell has… side effects. It shouldn’t, but it’s not like he’s tried to do something like this before.

A quiet groan pulls Grian from his thoughts. He leans over Scar, “Scar? You okay?”

He slowly opens his eyes, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “Grian… what…?

“How are you feeling?” Grian prompts again, wanting to make sure he’s fine. He may have little regard for what happens to others, but he doesn’t want to permanently hurt any of the hermits. It could also blow his cover if Scar doesn’t recover from this.

Scar stares up at him in confusion still, as if trying to piece the last few moments of his prior consciousness together. After a few seconds he seems like he does because he bolts upwards and backs away from Grian. “You- you were…” he trails off, clearly unable to form the words. Scar still tries, as shown from the increasingly more horrified look on his face.

Grian sighs in relief, “good, it worked.” Considering how little time he had to prepare the best spell, this worked pretty well.

Scar refocuses on him, “w-what?”

“You’re not going to say a word about what you just saw,” Grian says, all traces of warmth gone. “Literally, you are unable to say anything.”

Scar doesn’t say anything, clearing trying to test if that’s true. His horror returns full force the longer the silence goes on. Grian’s rather impressed by this, he didn’t anticipate the spell working this well. After a while Scar swallows, his voice full of nerves and resignation, “why…?”

“Why what?” Grian asks, curious, before immediately realizing, “ah, right, the spell. You can’t clarify.”

“That.”

“The spell?” Scar nods, so Grian continues, “so you can’t tell anyone what you know now. The only other option is to forcibly remove the memories from your mind, but that has a chance to completely shatter your mind, and I’d rather not do that.”

And Scar’s back to looking horrified.

“Now,” Grian adds, “I’d recommend pretending like none of this happened so no one asks questions. I will take my chances with the memory altering spell if you leave me no choice.”

Much to Grian’s surprise, the horror fades from his eyes. Less to Grian’s surprise, it turns into anger. “You… what are you!?”

“I don’t think that’s relevant,” Grian replies easily. Anything Scar learns can’t be shared, that doesn’t mean he needs to tell Scar anything.

“And why not?”

“It’s not important for you to know.”

“It’s not like I can say anything anyway, what’s the point?” Scar angrily snaps.

Grian scoffs, “I don’t need to tell you anything. You barged in here first, I don’t owe you an explanation.”

Scar just glares daggers at him for a few seconds before respond, “why are you doing all of this?”

A grin spreads across Grian’s face, “why? Because it’s fun, of course.”

“Fun? You consider that fun?”

“Chaos is always fun, I thought you guys knew that.”

“You literally-“ Scar falls silent.

“What better way to cause chaos then those games?” Grian says gleefully, knowing what Scar was going to say. “All of you crumbling into fear and paranoia, fighting each other to come out on top, killing without mercy, betrayal. So, so many fun things that don’t happen here on Hermitcraft.” Scar takes a step back at Grian’s passionate response, nerves not even hidden. “I create those games because I can’t do any of that stuff here.” Grian pauses as he realizes he’s doing exactly what he said he wouldn’t. He shrugs the thought away as an idea comes to mind, “you know,” he begins, voice dropping low and edging on a purr. “Wouldn’t it be fun if in the next game I let you keep your memories too?”

“Next?” Scar whispers, taking another step back.

“Of course, why would I stop making those games, I have so many more ideas.” Grian approaches Scar, enjoying his fear, “two is far too low of a number.”

“Get away from me,” he mutters, any heat behind the words lost to the fear that’s taken over again.

“You’re free to leave whenever, I’m not stopping you,” Grian replies, only pausing when he’s right in front of Scar. “I don’t really care what you do as long as you don’t elude to what’s happened here today.”

“And- and if I do?”

“I’ll take my chances with that memory altering spell. So it’s really in your best interest if you keep silent,” Grian says, grinning widely.

Several expressions flit across Scar’s face before panic and fear take hold again. He takes a couple more steps away and, after Grian doesn’t follow, turns tail and flies away on his elytra, spamming rockets to get away faster.

Grian watches the slowly disappearing sparks in silence. This is a little annoying, he’s not too fond of Scar holding this knowledge, even if he can’t use it. It doesn’t help that he’s somewhat fond of the terraformer, because it makes him want to try less risks with keeping this under wraps. Well, he’ll just have to keep an eye (or several) on Scar to make sure everything is fine.

[tiny-feral-arachnid-man]

Follow-up of this post!

[necrostar]

The lights once again came on to show the full scene. That child, hidden in a stable under hay. Bright flames through a window, the screams still coming from the adjacent room. Depictions of soldiers, weapons in hand, bodies coated in crimson splatters, looking around the area for survivors. Further down is that same boy, climbing out when the bright yellow sun rises over the rooftops. 

A monotone, robotic laugh filled the room after Ruby spoke. Despite how hollow it could feel to most people . . . it was the most emotion it's shown yet. As soon as she knelt down, eyeing the boy in sympathy, those violet eyes fixated on her. His tanned hands moved to uncover his mouth. And he stood up, expression blank. How strange it was that these paintings could move on their own.

"Do... Not... Speak... To... Me... With... Such... Pit... y." Was that chiding or a threat? The world may never know. "I... Must... Con... grat... u... late... You... For... Get... ting... This... Far. Most... Would... Be... Dead... By... Now." A fact is a fact is a fact. It could count on a single hand how many have survived the first two rooms.

"Rise. You... Are... Not... Done." The sludge rose on its own, climbing on top of itself to try and forcibly push her into a standing position. The painting moved a hand to touch its face, swiping a finger against the tears gently brushed onto its face. It looked down at its finger, emotionless as ever. "How... Weak. Be... yond... My... Com... pre... hen... sion... I... su... ppose." It was wiped onto its clothing. "We... Will... Now... Con... tin... ue." The painting once again assumed position, and the narration began.

"He waited until dawn to leave that stack of hay. If he made one cry, one scream out of place, it would have become his grave. There was nothing but death and decay left of the town he called home. Scraps only lasted so long. He thought his home would be his grave, too. Just as it was to his people. Until... a desperate decision became his salvation."

At this fork in the path lay two options. To the right, the boy climbing down someone's cellar, the way lit by a makeshift torch. The left, a temple with a secret passageway. The boy navigating blind, feeling his way through a tight crawlspace. A very faint scent, incense most likely, came from the left. 

it was trauma. such...bountiful trauma. it would have been a four-course meal in any other circumstance, something she would rend and tear an entire universe apart to absorb into her form. it would give her so much strength, enough to clash again with the burning sun.

but in this context, watching this child go through a hell similar to her own and yet so wildly different...

it felt wrong.

she didn't care about the bodies, the people melting down into nothing. she had seen death before. she had caused death before. but it was the expression on the child's terrified face that made something deep within her twist with something strange.

she didn't even notice the way the ink flowed beneath her clawed feet, instead following the trail to the right where the boy hid among the straw and lowered her head down to be eye level with the unseeing illusion.

"you..."

[the-firebird69]

This is a big deal and they listed three options that they have as a response to his failure to appear and they're ignoring the lawsuit it does not apply and it will simply kick it out of court. Today all of Donald Trump's employees are in the government are being removed forcibly most of them because they refuse to leave and they're being arrested for trespassing and failure to leave a government post which could lead to charges of sedition and attempts to overthrow the government which has been accused of and now they're finally charges on this man and they'll turn on him. But the three options are quite serious two of them are contempt of court and one is contempt of car Congress and when is a civil contempt of court when is and that would be a separate court that would rule in that and then the other is a criminal contempt of court and that would be a criminal court and the Congress themselves which will contempt of congress and what they're saying is one of those three will be used or all three or two out of three and then later the third that's what they're saying. Because they said these are our options but they know they're saying is Trump you should have shown up to your deposition. Now he's saying that our son is holding him here as he is tormenting the s*** out of him following him around and ordering people too and paying people too all that's recorded this guy could become a huge embarrassment in seconds should the media get a hold of some of this overseas too it's going to be crucified.

The January 6th comedians meeting today this morning and deciding what to issue as the charge and what the issue to get him to his deposition because he is to appear and they sent to subpoena and he's in violation of the subpoena. We all got it loud and clear finally something they can hear. We think they're going to go with the first two options no it's contempt of congress it doesn't belong in the court that much unless he's civilly disobedient in court or criminally and contempt of congress isn't as bad as criminal contempt if you put this congress with criminal content he's going to go to jail for real and be held there

Thor Freya

With contempt of congress they threaten to charge threaten to hold you in prison if you don't show up and you're able to appear to absolve the contempt of congress charge and that's the courtesy to people who are former presidents and if he ignores it they're going to slap him with some fines and put it in jail for a little and his image will be gone. And he'll be found guilty

[sweetchup]

Bi•valve

Noun

an aquatic mollusk that has a compressed body enclosed within a hinged shell, such as oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops.

AKA

The Most Common Seashell in the Ocean

————————

Vol. 1: Just Keep Swimming // Ch.1

Type: Poseidon x reader

Word Count: 1,800+

Masterlist

————————

“Ok… ok… is there anyway you could—… no? Wait please don’t—…” You let out a sigh as the other side of the phone line goes dead. “Another miss…”

You crumple to the floor of your bedroom in a heap. The storm was still in full swing outside even though hours had gone by and it was now dark. It seemed the storm had caused quite the ruckus in Athens—the capital where you were staying at—and most emergency services were busy.

They even ignored you at the police station you went to earlier, though it likely didn’t help your situation that you couldn’t even speak their native language of Greek…

—.—.—

“No, no. Lost. Child. Not mine.” You explained once more to the officer in front of you, the only one in this place that knew of the slightest hint of english.

The officer only shakes his head once more at you before walking away, turning his attention to the other patrons here that needed help. You wished it was just that they didn’t understand you—that they didn’t understand that you had found a lost boy struggling at sea—but it was slowly becoming clear that they just didn’t believe you.

Tan skin. Brown hair. Brown or green eyes. That was what the average greek boy here looked like. A big contrast from Triton, the pale skinned blonde haired blue eyed boy who you were currently holding in your arms. They just simply didn’t believe that he was a Greek child that had gotten washed away at sea during the storm.

It also didn’t help that no one had called in a lost child that had a similar description to Triton. And, with no other option and too much to do, the police just chose to ignore the glaring problem right in front of them.

“Miss (Y-y/n)?”

At Triton’s call, you looked down at the boy and realize that the more that you look at him, the stranger he gets. Soaked from the rain and sea, you would have expected him to be shivering like a leaf but he was as still as stone. As if he couldn’t even feel how cold his skin was right now. As if he was used to being soaked with the coldest depths of the ocean.

“Miss (Y/n)?” Triton calls again, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Ah, sorry, I spaced out. Yes?”

“I-I…” You watch patiently as the boy begins twiddling with his thumbs. As if he wanted to tell you something but was quite embarrassed to be so.

“Is something wrong, Triton?”

“N-no!” The boy shouts out, the loudest you’ve heard him speak so far, before instantly realizing his tone and caving in on himself. His shoulder and back slumping forward as if to hide himself from your sight.

“It’s alright. You can tell me, I don’t mind.” You reassure the boy. You can’t help but sincerely wonder what happened to him. What happened to the little boy, who looked no older than 10, that made him so scared and skittish? And you doubted that getting lost at sea is what caused it.

“I…”

A loud growl cuts off Triton and not the animal kind either.

“Oh… are you perhaps hungry, Triton?” You ask the boy as he bashfully ducks his head into your shoulder out of embarrassment.

“Y-yes.”

You can’t help but let out a small chuckle at Triton’s antics. Even though he was quite strange, he was still a cute child at heart.

“Well let’s go grab something to eat. It seems there’s no one to help us here anyway.”

—.—.—

As you reminisce about Triton—who you soon find out after that is a lover of raw fish, extremely strange if you had to say so for yourself—you can’t help but wonder where he went.

After you took him back to your place, a small, only two rooms, one bath apartment you rent near campus, you allowed him to take a shower and borrow some of your clothes. He should still be sitting in the living room watching some cartoons and eating after you left him to take a shower and make a couple of phone calls, all unsuccessful by the way, but it had been well over an hour. You wonder if he could have perhaps gotten bored by now.

Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to check up on the boy, you sit up from your spot on the floor and make your way out of your bedroom.

“Triton, is every—“

You stop mid sentence as you take in the scene in front of you. Water…. Water was floating. Triton was floating as well.

It was hard for your brain to rack around what you were seeing. Triton, the strange boy that you had saved from the sea, was floating in your living room on top of a bubble of water. He didn’t seem surprised in any way either as he was in the middle of playing with some tiny bubbles of water himself. Separating and un-separating them at will.

“T-Triton?” You call out again, this time catching the boy’s attention. His face turned to one of surprise and shock as he released the bubbles of water allowing it and him to crash to the floor. Even though your living room floor was now soaking wet, that was the least of your worries.

“M-Miss (Y-y/n), how long were you…?” Triton’s voice trails off as he realizes the question was not needed, you had already seen enough. He begins to pale at all the possibilities. Even though he was in fact a god and could not be hurt by human weapons, there were still many things that could happen to him. He was still a child after all, no were near his mother’s and father’s level of strength.

“Triton…” Your voice calls out again causing Triton to flinch as you draw closer to him, “Are…are you okay?”

Triton, whose gaze was locked at the floor, turned his head upwards in surprise to look at you. Your gaze was not one of disgust or anger. No. Nor was it cold, a gaze he had come to know that his father often wore, or of disappointment, a look his mother often glared at him with. No. Your gaze was kind. Sure, it looked confused but it was also filled with warmth out of concern for him.

Triton felt the hot bubbling feeling of tears in his eyes. He would normally try to hold it in, forcibly stop himself from crying as he knew if his mother found out she would surely beat him. But, he didn’t.

He let the tears spill out. Tears that felt hot against his cold marble skin. Marble skin that was an aching reminder that he was a god, a perfect being. That he shouldn’t be feebly crying in front of a human like this.

Yet, as you wrap your warm arms around his shaking form, he finds himself not minding his warm tears. Warmth reminds him of you, the only one who dared to comfort him. Not his father, nor his uncles and cousins, or the servants, and never, never, his mother.

Triton finds himself crying again. Instead of out of fear, it is out of misery this time. He wished he wasn’t a god, he wished he didn’t eventually have to go back to his terrible mother, he wished that his father would pay more attention to him and show him something… anything. He wished he could just stay like this in your arms. A stranger that was more of a mother to him in less than a few hours, than his own mother was in his hundreds of years of existence.

“It’s okay, Triton. Everything will be okay. I’m not angry.”

Triton couldn’t help but think how he never doubted you in the first place.

—.—.—

As you run your hands through the Triton's hair, who was curled up on your lap, you think about what he had told you.

“So you’re a god…The son of Poseidon and Amphitrite…”

“Yeah…” Triton whispers out, his voice slightly strained from all the crying he had done.

A god. Triton was a mighty Greek god. Even though you couldn’t wrap your head around the situation, you knew you had to. Especially after all that has happened up til now and if you were—

“Are…are you angry?”

You pause for a second, shocked slightly at what Triton had muttered out, before finally answering, “I’m not. Not at all. I just…”

You wondered how you should phrase it.

“… I don’t know how to get you home, Triton.”

The silence is overwhelming after. You didn’t know if you should have told the young boy that but it also wasn’t right to lie to him. You feel Triton shift under your arms and you loosen your grip as he slowly sits up.

“I…” Triton starts before pausing. His gaze shifts from his hands to your eyes, the first time the boy had ever locked eyes with you since you saved him. It reminded you how icy blue his eyes were, a blue that you now realize is not possible for a human to obtain. At least not naturally. A firm reminder that Triton wasn’t one, he was a god. “I… I don’t want to return home.”

“What…” You say startled, “Ok, then how about one of your uncles or—“

“No. I…I want to stay here. With you Miss (y/n).”

Stay here… with you. You didn’t know what to think. You were a struggling college student who spent hours upon hours studying every day. Could you even take care of a child, nevertheless a god? What about his mother, who Triton explained was a horrible being? Or his father, the king of the sea? Could you protect Triton from them? From a god, a being so much stronger and powerful than you?

“I…” You started before abruptly stopping. You wanted to protect Triton, help him. You had to find a way. You couldn’t abandon the child before you like this. Not after hearing his anguished cries for the last hour. As you held him, you felt as if he was made of glass. Like if you even squeezed him too tightly he would shatter into a million pieces in your arms.

“I…I can’t assure anything, I am just a human after all. But you can stay here for as long as you want Triton.”

As you watch the young boy before you smile and collapse in your arms, it was then that your mind had decided. You would protect Triton for as long as you could,

…no matter the cost.

Author Note: Oooo things are heating up. It seems Triton and Zeus have opposite plans for the reader and that could spell trouble. Hehehe. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I am immensely thankful for all the support that got shown on my prologue chapter of this series. Please contunie to give your support and tell me your opinions about my work. It really does help as it shows what I can improve on in future chapters and works. Till next time 💕💕

Taglist: @angeli-fucking-cat @marixxhq

[kaidatheghostdragon]

Danny has also had to contend with his parents and the giw. The giw pretty much define the worst case extreme, happy declaring ghosts nonsentient and not caring about pain. The fentons could land anywhere on the spectrum, depending on how you want to characterize them and how much they know about danny.

If danny chanced (finding a way for that to happen is an adventure on its own) upon batman's contingency plans for himself and ghosts? He'd definitely be concerned at first, but reading through it might actually quell any fears. Why? Batman is known to be extremely thorough. His contingency plan would read like a research paper, detailing a ranked list of every countermeasure he's discovered. Everything from nth metal, fenton gear, literal magic, and probably even blood blossoms.

Each would be meticulously described. Efficacy, side effects, long-term consequences, is this better suited as a temporary or permanent measure, any unanswered questions he still has, you name it.

Something like nth metal would be near the top of the list, as something he's worked with before, already has access to, and knows how it works. But limited supply, and its very simple function (cant be phased through) makes it best suited as a temporary restraining device.

Fentonworks weapons would be middle tier, and loaded with unanswered questions. Batman would have carefully read all of the fentons papers and noted the obvious bias. He might even forgo something as convenient as the thermos for something much larger and clunkier for simply not knowing if forcibly condensing a ghost would be painful to them or not.

He would also like to study ectoplasm in his own lab for quite a while before committing to using tools and weaponry that use it as a fuel source. Any amount of study would reveal the degree of relatedness between ecto and lazarus water, which might bias him against it even further.

Magic is low on the list because Batman Does Not Like Magic. It forces him to rely on jld, and to contend with unknowns that he would never imagine to think ahead about because sometimes magic just be like that. Magic is little more than a reactionary emergency stop gap while he tries to piece together the situation.

Blood blossoms would be dead last. He's not going to use a bioweapon without extensive testing, and said testing would reveal how it practically dissolves all ecto samples he introduces them to. Odds are extremely high that it would be debilitating and extremely painful. They are clearly a last resort for world ending threats or when all other options have been exhausted. Its plainly documented that he hopes if he has to use them, merely the threat of doing so would be enough to force compliance.

As for danny actually reading this? Its canonically shown pretty early in the series that he and his team take ghost hunting pretty seriously. They carefully schedule danny's time, plan out training sessions, keep files of their rogues, and regularly measure danny's growth. Only later in the series when an equilibrium has been reached do they really start to slack off.

Batman's contingency file would not be an alien concept to danny. His team has regular discussions about their rogues and how to handle them. They likely have a list of contingencies for various scenarios. The only thing terrifying about batman's file is how exhaustive and clinical it is. They are gonna have some feelings of inadequacy comparing batman's professionalism to their own work. (Meanwhile, if batman saw their database, he'd likely be impressed. Very few members of the justice league bother with record keeping to stay organized and on top of their rogues. Everyone hates paperwork.)

Honestly, danny and his team would probably use it as a learning tool long before being offended by it. They've seen the giw's and the fentons' (former or current, depending on characterization) databases, and batman's does not even remotely compare to the level of callousness for the ghost's well-being that they exhibit. Are they gonna be a bit nervous around batman for a while? Maybe, but it isn't any sort of deal-breaker or act of betrayal level of concern.

Now if they chanced upon batman's file of phantom specifically while he was still investigating, that could be very similar or entirely different, and can depend somewhat on the circumstances that caused the two worlds to cross paths. Is batman doing preliminary research on a small-town vigilante or a "wanted criminal" on the run? Is he able to find connections to the fenton parents, or is danny a true unknown from another reality? Is danny the newest homeless meta in gotham, or the ambiguous newly crowned ghost king? Is danny running from something, or just living his life?

How much and what kind of evidence batman has collected at that point could also strain or alleviate things. Does he have access to amity park news media, or giw files? Nothing except his own surveillance? Whatever he does have will be meticulously examined and all possible interpretations explored. Might be a bit difficult for danny to read through, though, for simple fact that he's reading a report about himself.

With either files, im kind of imagining gremlin danny printing everything out, marking it all up with red marker, crossing out incorrect theories and circling correct ones, then returning it to batman like a teacher that graded a book report. Batman gets a solid B- (B for batman, clearly, the minus because danny is just that much of a nuisance and he thinks that's probably the lowest grade a guy like batman has ever gotten).

You know, one thing I never get in DPxDC fics is when Danny finds out about Batman coming up with countermeasures against ghosts and becomes livid about it, going on the warpath against Batman to keep him from developing weapons that could be used against ghosts.

Y’all.

This kid has literally seen an alternate timeline where he destroyed the world. If you think he wouldn’t have schematics for ectoweapons and advice on how to counter him just in case on Batman’s desk as soon as he learns about Batman’s countermeasures, you’re lying to yourself. He’d be downright relieved to have someone else able to take him out if Dan ever happens again.

Also, imagine the look on Batman’s face when this new Meta he’s been researching just shows up out of nowhere in the batcave with a file going over his powers, weaknesses, schematics for weapons capable of hurting him, and his own contingency plans for if he turns evil, asking for advice on how to improve them.

[moomingitz]

It’s... interesting looking back at the Jak and Daxter series, because when the second and third games first came out during my edgy teen years my mindset for them was mostly, “OMG Jak is now a buff and rugged edgy boi, he’s saying curse words, and has a literal edgy dark side to him. And Daxter is a big playboi who doesn’t hide his love for bewbs. Jak and Daxter is no longer for babies but for mature big kids like me!”

But looking at the series now; Holy shit, Jak has had it rough. Where do I even begin? This is going to be long, so get comfortable:

First, Jak was ripped away from his father at a very young age due to an insurrection. Then he was kidnapped by one of the people who was responsible for it, with the intention of being used to awaken some ancient Precursor technology, but luckily he somehow escaped and then was taken in by a rebellion group.

Then he was sent back into the past to be raised by Samos, the Sage of Green Eco. While that was a good thing for Jak, since he was able to grow up in a loving and supportive environment, what happened to him before that is something that would still be traumatic to a little kid especially in the form of something like Separation Anxiety. While this goes into headcanon territory, I can’t help but wonder if that had a lot to do with why Jak was the mostly silent type before the events of the second game. But thankfully he was lucky to grow up with two best friends like Daxter and Keira.

Surely you think that would be the end of misfortune Jak would have to go through. Wrong!

Fast forward to where he’s now 15 years old and everything seems all good and exciting after he and Daxter saved the world from Dee Snider and his twisted sister. Sure they didn’t accomplish what they set out for by turning Daxter back into his old humanoid self, by Daxter is content staying as a furry anyway. At least they saved the world and found some ancient Precursor technology. But hold up! Turns out it was some kind of rift gate and the moment they activated it some giant bug monster pops out and they’re all separated and thrown into some new place they’ve never seen.

Literal seconds later, before Jak or Daxter have any time to react or process what exactly just happened and where they ended up, Jak is immediately arrested and knocked unconscious, despite doing nothing wrong. He’s then tortured and experimented on for the next two years, in hopes of turning him into a living weapon by pumping Dark Eco into him. Keep in mind Jak was only 15-16 years old during those nightmarish two years of his life. But his BFF Daxter never gave up looking for him and eventually rescued Jak.

Upon busting out Jak has no damn idea where exactly he is, and when he does it turns out him and Daxter are now in a totalitarian, police state of a hellhole where never ending propaganda is blared everywhere you go, and where Jak’s only crime is just existing. Oh, and there’s currently an ongoing war between this police state regime ruling the city and some species called Metal Heads, so the territory outside the city is near inhospitable. So just simply leaving Haven City isn’t really an option. It’s either deal with the Krimson Gaurd who will get on you for just sneezing in the wrong direction, or claw your way for survival outside the city walls.

Until finding Samos and Kiera much later, Daxter is the only familiar and welcoming face Jak still had until then(the only exception being Sig in the “welcoming face” department).

Oh, and it turns out those Dark Eco experiments gave JAk some dark Hulk like form that he has trouble controlling(at least that’s what the game tells us). Oh, and they eventually learn that this shithole place they found themselves in is actually their home 500 years into the future. Oh, and it turns that this little kid they’ve been having to protect from both the Krimson Guard and the Metal Head army is actually Jak’s younger self.

Despite all that, the rebellion group and many of the criminals they had to work with eventually warm up and even become their friends, the authoritarian regime eventually crumbles, and they kill the Metal Head leader. Even though Jak doesn’t go back to his childhood home in the past, Keira, Samos, and Daxter choose to stay with him in the future, so he’s definitely not alone in the end. Happy ending earned, and that should be the end of all the bad stuff to happen in Jak’s life, right?...

Of course that wouldn’t be the end of bad traumatic shit to happen to Jak!

Right after the events of the second game, Jak is not only blamed for the fallout of the Praxis regime falling and the Metal Head army’s demise, but he’s outright banished to the Wasteland, no thanks to some weasely council member, Veger.

But ya boi Daxter snuck out to join Jak in his exile, so at least Jak still has his best friend with him. Jak now has to survive in a Mad Max esque land after proving himself worthy to Damas, the leader of some refuge village. But it’s kind of good because he slowly gets on this guy’s good graces.

Oh, but later on it turns out this Damas guy is actually the very father Jak was forcibly separated from during his very early childhood. But, Jak only figured that out just as Damas was dying, and he didn’t have a chance to tell Damas that he was his son that’s he’s been wanting to find for years.

It also turns out this Veger douchebag was one of the people aside from Baron Praxis who was responsible for Jak being separated from Dadmas, and was the guy who kidnapped him in an attempt use him to obtain that ancient Precursor technology.

Of course everything works out in the end. But yeah... You see what I mean? Jak was put through the wringer during the events of this whole trilogy! He's done nothing wrong! Yet starting from a very young age he’s either been targeted or dragged into other’s messes for just existing, or for something he had no choice to do in order to survive. The only real thing he did wrong was dragging Daxter over to Misty Island, which led to him being accidentally transformed into an ottsel in the first place. But the events of the first games was all a lighthearted adventure anyway. Aside from that it’s been one unfortunate or traumatic event after another for Jak.

When letting everything Jak went through really sink in, there’s guaranteed trauma and the resulting PTSD this poor guy is going to have to address or else it will inevitably manifest itself in some way later on. Acting gruff and blase' will only work for so long. I know some people get tired with pieces of fiction being compared to Steven Universe, but Steven’s eventual mental breakdown seriously came to mind. And some people will say, “It’s just a vidya game, stop thinking too much into it.”, but there was a conscious decision to take this series into a more dark and mature direction after the first game. So, it’s a bit hard not to think about more possible unpleasant implications based on what happened in the sequels, especially when looking at the events of the games through the lenses of today.

Taking all of this into consideration is also why I think Daxter is seriously the “MVP” of the series.

Daxter grew up being Jak’s best friend, which I’m sure helped Jak a lot after being separated from his father and taken to a literal place in time completely different and unfamiliar to him. I’m very sure his time growing up in Sandover Village and hanging out with Daxter was the best period of Jak’s life. Even after Jak dragged him to Misty Island, accidentally causing him to be transformed into an ottsel, and sacrificing his chance to be turned back to normal in order to save the world, Daxter showed no hard feelings towards Jak and he even learns to like being an ottsel.

He spent two years trying to find out where Jak was being held prisoner in Haven City, and infiltrated the place once he did and helped Jak escape.

And despite not having any fingers pointed towards him for the fallout after the events of the second game, Daxter still chooses to join Jak in exile in the Wasteland.

Daxter has never shown any ill will towards Jak despite him being the one responsible for being turned into an ottsel, and he’s never really abandoned him even when he is given many chances to or a way to get himself out of really bad situations. Despite everything, Daxter is still the same quippy, upbeat dork of a friend Jak has grown up with.

I really believe Daxter helped a lot with keeping Jak’s sanity intact during all of the hell he was put through and beyond. If there was a guaranteed way for someone to sign their own death warrant with Jak, I think harming or outright killing Daxter would be it.

[butwhatifidothis]

I’d personally argue that the framing of a character’s actions matters much more than what those actions are when figuring out what a story wants to say, and that with the stated authorial intent Edelgard’s framing is very much about wanting you to sympathize with and feel bad for her. So like, I 100% get why people are confused? Making El sympathetic IS more important than the plot in CF, and I’m pretty sure it’s because some of the devs liked her so much.

I get what you’re saying on one hand, but on the other there are moments that definitely are supposed to make you stop and think about exactly what you’re doing, hard-baked into the plot of CF.

Like don't get me wrong, I get what you're talking about - framing is very important to a story when figuring out what it wants to say. But like... tbh? Claude, Dimitri, and even Rhea, for all that Edelgard tries to demonize them to the player, are actually pretty damn sympathetic on CF, even just on the surface.

You have all of them, somehow someway, mourn the deaths of those they've lost - Rhea's is ironically the most blatantly distraught at the lost of her loved ones, even though she is by far the most dehumanized of the three. This is, interestingly, something you don’t see on the other routes - even on AM, where you see Edelgard’s side of things, she never mourns anyone she’s lost. Claude is outwardly praised for taking the fighting away from the citizenry, and while Dimitri is criticized for "not fighting fair," that's what he does as well when he takes the fight to Tailtean. Dimitri and Claude literally never even strike first on CF - and the Church doing so with Seteth and Flayn has them immediately reminding the player that oh yeah... Garreg Mach was these bitches home that we forcibly kicked them out of. The last fight with Rhea, yes, has her very blatantly be a villain in burning down Fhirdiad - it’s also after she’s spent the entire route openly lamenting that Edelgard and Byleth have stolen everything from her. Her home and her family, the two things Rhea had left after a genocide, and she’s forced out of one and has the other, one way or another, taken from her forever. In CF, it’s not portrayed as “Those darn rascals, stealing allll of my powerrrrr away from meeee!” It’s shown as “Everything that I have ever held dear to me is being taken away from me, by people I have been nothing but kind to.” 

Making Edelgard look sympathetic is definitely an important part of CF, don’t get me wrong, but I’d argue that these moments with the antagonists of CF - seeing them mourn, seeing them not attack first (and when they do, being immediately reminded of what we as players have done to them), have the biggest villain of CF be constantly shown in a grieving light as everything around her crumbles to ash - these moments that aren’t optional, that one has to see as part of playing CF, are of similarly extremely high importance to CF’s narrative. Part of CF’s narrative is that you have joined the baddie side despite all of the warning signs telling you not to, and these moments are blaring sirens telling you that you aren’t doing good, you aren’t a hero, you are horribly affecting the lives of everyone you come into contact with. The scenes with Edelgard are meant to wave keys in front of the player’s face as they set the world on fire.

Because if Edelgard being sympathetic was really the only thing that mattered in CF, these moments simply wouldn’t exist. We know this because they don’t exist in AM, SS, or VW - Dimitri, Seteth/Rhea, and Claude don’t have moments where we switch over to the antagonists’ side and watch them mourn. We know this because it’s Edelgard, on these routes, who is going on about how Dimitri/Seteth/Claude are trying to take away her dreams of world domination (”There can only be one ruler of the world”), not about how everything she’s ever loved is being stolen from her. These moments of sympathy for the antagonists are entirely unique to CF. While the framing of Edelgard to be this sympathetic figure on CF definitely, uh, worked lmao, there was a definite effort on CF’s part to counter that with sympathy for the antagonist’s as well, at least imo

[frosteee]

"You should be scared of me" - Why Shiemi will need to break tradition to truly best Amaimon

The new chapter threw a heck of a lot of stuff at us at once, raising a hundred questions for the few it answers.

We're given a brief synopsis of Amaimon's history with Shemihaza, a relationship that has been hinted at in previous chapters, and the nature of Shiemi's final challenge: to "subjugate" Amaimon, as Shemihaza and all other 'successors' before her.

Shiemi's grandmother instructed her in such a way to make a violent battle between Shiemi and Amaimon inevitable, and Amaimon himself solidified this inevitability by deriding the strength of her abilities, implying a respect for Shemihaza's - whom he serves in a as-yet unexplained way. He may serve Shemihaza, but he is not servile to her, nor is he compelled to respect or serve her successors. Shiemi must prove herself worthy in the power department.

However, I believe that the long-term solution to her and Amaimon's respective barriers will require a change in approach to those before her. Even Shemihaza.

Amaimon's Anger

An unspecified amount of time ago, an angry Amaimon made the land. Given that he has a defined physical form, and the nature of it and his clothes, it is definitely a time in which humans are around and who nature a fear of demons.

It isn't made clear what made Amaimon so angry, but it's clear that it spurred a rage so intense that he took it out on the earth, making it inhospitable for any kind of life. This is when Shemihaza steps in, as Emperor of Creation and Amaimon's foil - she is life and creation, he is death and destruction.

Prior to this point they may have co-existed. Shemihaza may outrank him, but they share many similarities and can be seen as the two sides of the same coin, necessary to keep the world's natural order. Life and death. But Amaimon's outburst and complete annihilation of the land disrupts this order, and requires Shemihaza's intervention.

Shemihaza took pity on Amaimon, and may have also seen the practical reason for keeping him around (going back to the 'two sides of a coin' theory) and so rather than destroy him, Shemihaza sacrificed her body and crystallised herself, binding Amaimon to her in servitude.

It appears that in doing so, Shemihaza sealed parts of Amaimon - his power, or even his persona - in crystals around her frozen form. She allowed him to continue to have a 'self' - or consciousness - by becoming her servant.

Whether it was the act of sealing parts of Amaimon away, or the terms of his service, that quelled Amaimon's anger, it's clear that these measures did not really fix the issue.

Amaimon still carries intense rage within him, evident in his fits of violence and intense anger that break through his usual impassive exterior. He particularly reacts to any whiff of a suggestion that he is weak, which supports the theory that the crystallised parts of Amaimon are parts of his power. With this into consideration, Amaimon has even more reason to be angry now.

Shemihaza's Legacy

If this is the case, then it makes the problem worse in the long term. Amaimon still feels intense rage, but no longer has adequate means to express it like he did in the past. Rather than get to the root of why he feels so angry, Shemihaza has left her successors with a being that grows progressively more hateful and angry with each passing generation, despite lacking the ability to create the same destruction Shemihaza faced.

The flashback of Shemihaza and Amaimon, showing Amaimon kneeling before her, suggests that Shemihaza did not have to exert brute force in order to stop his rampage. As I mentioned earlier, in looking down on Shiemi's power he implicitly expresses respect or at least a past respect for Shemihaza's.

Kneeling before Shemihaza, who has greater power and status than his own, and with whom he may have shared a close relationship (speculation on my part), Amaimon is given a choice: serve Shemihaza and seal parts of his power/self away, through her sacrifice, or lose his sense of self.

Amaimon's options were eternal servitude and what he would probably view as castration, or death. Amaimon chose the former. As Mephisto states, once demons experience life with a body and five senses, the alternative to that, a conceptual being with no thought, senses or freedom, is the closes thing to death they can imagine and completely intolerable.

Shemihaza may have found a solution to the immediate problem of the ruination of the land, but failed to address the ongoing issue of Amaimon's anger, so her successors have continually had to 'subjugate' him into obedience, following her example. Shemihaza may not have needed to brawl with Amaimon, she likely had enough power to subdue him without fighting, but her successors command far less power than she did, especially at the stage Shiemi is at when facing Amaimon.

Pity /= Empathy

Shiemi's grandmother states that Shemihaza's pity for Amaimon's anger motivated her to give him a choice. But pity does not equal empathy, and the 'better' choice Amaimon took, as I said, does not really solve the problem with Amaimon long-term.

She felt pity enough to give him a choice at all, but a bit of empathy for why Amaimon is angry and a desire to help him could have resulted in a far better long-term solution to the problems he was causing.

When Lucifer was suffering and begging the Grigori Shemihaza to continue research into an elixir for him, he furiously pointed out her lack of compassion. Her response was that she had 'abandoned human compassion' when she took on the position.

This shows that while those connected with Shemihaza can feel pity for those around them, they are compelled or even taught to abandon feelings of empathy or compassion for others, following in Shemihaza's footsteps, for the 'greater good'.

There are positives to this way of working, and the Grigori can likely attribute their long service to this, but it also has drawbacks - shown plainly in Amaimon.

If Shemihaza had felt, or allowed herself to feel, compassion and empathise with Amaimon's plight, she may have given him a different choice that would benefit Amaimon himself also and make him a willing ally to her successors instead of a half-tamed beast who still suffers the same anger that they must forcibly take down.

Shiemi's Choice

While her grandmother stated that she must defeat Amaimon in combat in order to enlist his services, this is the will of Shemihaza and will only pass on the same issues to another generation.

If anything is to change, and if Shiemi wants to truly help 'everyone', she will need to go about her fight with Amaimon differently than her forebears.

She will need to rely on her strength, certainly, to not get killed by him, and also to prove herself worthy in the strength department, but she cannot hope to really make a difference and show her growth without showing her characteristic empathy and kindness to him as well.

Shiemi has grown stronger this past year, but her greatest strength has always been her ability to forgive and show kindness to others, especially those who are suffering, even when they hurt her.

Amaimon has hurt her, physically and mentally, but kind Shiemi will still be able to see the wounded soul behind the anger. Amaimon owes her an apology, not the other way around, but as a demon who has never known compassion he must be shown it first before he can reciprocate.

This challenge compels Shiemi to prove her worthiness to command Amaimon, to show her superiority, to order him by fear of pain or worse - as Shemihaza, Mephisto and likely every other demon he has interacted with has done.

This is not Shiemi, or who she should become. The Shiemi we know would never seek to be superior to another being, but on equal level. She would not wish to make anyone her slave, but her friend, even a demon.

When Shiemi states "You should be scared of me", she dangerously echoes the words and actions of her forebears. She cannot truly win by making Amaimon fear her wrath as she fears his, or as Amaimon feared Shemihaza's.

Shiemi needs to hold on to that compassionate side of herself, or else lose her humanity. And keep Amaimon an emotionally frustrated bomb waiting to explode for another generation.

[yeahhiyellow]

19, 22 and 23? :^)

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Tbh there are a lot of things I hate, although by this point it's only very certain parts of the fandom that have these problems, since most of the shitty people have lost interest by this point. If I had to choose just one thing though, it'd be the overwhelming focus on white, male characters over female and/or characters of color. And there are a lot of areas where this shows up. One major example is that a lot of people like the idea of Connor, Hank, Gavin, and Nines (all white, male characters, mind you) staying at the DPD even after:

The DPD was the one (along with Cyberlife) responsible for the deaths, arrests, and brutal treatment of androids, the main oppressed group in the game's world

Connor and Nines are a part of that oppressed group, and at least Hank is shown in game to support them

Connor has already worked at the DPD and was routinely called an "it" (which as someone who is nonbinary and has been called "it" knows how insulting that can be and understands the need to get away from situations where that happens), was allowed to be sent to his death by, and was routinely harassed and nearly murdered, or in some playthroughs actually murdered, by workers at the DPD (*ahem Gavin ahem*)

Hank (if he is your friend) risked his career just to cause a distraction for Connor to keep him alive

Just because the android revolution was successful doesn't mean the DPD was going to follow that. I mean, the androids were heavily compared to African Americans in this game, and we all know how the current police system treats them (and if you don't, pay attention to the news, like, ever. Also read Jim Crow as that book is very informative on the oppression of blacks in the entire incarceration system as well as before and after that)

So I hope it would be pretty obvious to any sane person that suggesting these characters would join/remain in the DPD after everything is offensive on all sorts of levels.

In addition to that, you also have some people saying that they only cared about Connor's story, or that his was the only good one. The female protagonist that risks her own life several times to save that of a child (no matter if she is human or android)? Not important. The (half) black protagonist who is shot by police, has to rebuild himself, and leads his own people to freedom? Who cares? The only important story to these people is the white, male, cop android who spends most of his time hunting down the good guys. And if some people honestly prefer Connor's story because of their own reasons, that's fine. And yes, Kara and Markus's stories have lots of problems. But Connor's does too, and none of this gives people an excuse to ignore the other characters, especially since they are the minority characters. Then, there are also the people who say Connor's machine path was better than his deviant path, or that him being replaced by Nines in the end was unfair. And... what the fuck??? I mean, I get it, it's fun to play through different options, and Connor is hella badass in the machine path. But he is also hella badass in the deviant path (killing the guards in the elevator, possibly the team at the bottom if he doesn't catch the security camera, fighting Sixty, walking in front of all the androids he freed, like, come on), and he also, like, has morals and isn't oppressive??? In the machine route, he kills his own people, including those who just want to be free and might have been completely pacifist the entire way through. So I'm sorry, anyone who thinks his machine path is better is just looking for an excuse to be oppressive without openly admitting it.

Then there's the Gavin apologizers. While fanon Gavin is awesome, some people have way overstepped the line of redemption and allowing oppression. I've seen posts defending Gavin's in-game behavior, just because he refers to androids as "he" on occasion. This is despite:

Suggesting "roughing up," or being violent to Shaolin (the HK400 in "The Interrogation")

Insulting his partner, Chris, when he doesn't forcibly move Shaolin against Shaolin's will

Pointing a gun at Connor after Connor rightfully says to stop touching Shaolin for both succeeding the mission and for Shaolin's sake, and only stepping down after Hank points a gun at him and even after insults Connor

Punching Connor right in the thirium pump regulator and then pushing his head right where his LED is in the break room if Connor refuses to get him a coffee

Insulting and threatening Connor in the same scene even if Connor follows all of his demands

Insulting Hank's alcoholism in the Eden Club "it's starting to stink of booze in here"

Purposely pushing Connor to the side in the same scene

Trying to literally murder Connor and admitting he'd wanted to kill him ever since he first saw Connor, sometimes successfully

Both physically and verbally assaulting Connor

I forgive very easily and strongly believe in redemption, don't get me wrong. But trying to excuse Gavin's behaviors is so inexcusable, especially when most of his aggressions are towards androids, the oppressed minority.

Now, let's look at Ao3, shall we? Let's see how many fics posted there are with each of the "main" (including Gavin and Nines since even though they are not main characters in canon they are in fanon) characters... (also, keep in mind, I gathered this data about a month ago so it might not be completely up to date):

Connor: 16,150

Markus: 5,395

Kara: 1,504

Hank: 13,135

Nines: 9,807

Gavin: 9,939

Amanda: 1,177

Chloe: 1,521

North: 3,056

Simon: 3,192

Josh: 1,965

Alice: 1,098

Luther: 848

Rose: 193

This means that certain characters get unequal amounts of attention:

White: 59,042

Black: 9,578

Male: 60,431

Female: 8,549

White, Male: 52,223

White, Female: 7,179

Black, Male: 8,208

Black, Female: 1,370

Well, this says a lot. Now, some people reading this might realize that there are more white and male characters to begin with, so it could be fair even with their numbers being higher. So, okay, let's see the average amount of works a single character in each of the above categories would have (so divide each of the values by the number of characters in that category) (also I rounded to the tenth place aka first decimal point):

White: 6,560.2

Black: 1,915.6

Male: 7,553.9

Female: 1,424.8

White, Male: 10,444.6

White, Female: 1,794.8

Black, Male: 2,736

Black, Female: 685

If anything, these are even more telling. And if you don't believe me, look on Ao3 and calculate these yourself, because you'll get the same thing.

To be clear, I don't have anything against Connor, Hank, or any of the white and/or male characters. I even like the way that the fandom has redeemed Gavin. But the fandom has not done the same job of redeeming other characters, especially the minority ones, and pays way less attention to them, and that needs to be called out with evidence by someone.

Anyway, I spent a LONG time on that first question, so I'll try to make the next answers shorter!

22. Popular character you hate?

There aren't any popular characters that I thoroughly hate. The only characters I hate are ones that are already highly unpopular (Todd, Zlatko, Perkins). If we're talking canon characters, I do hate Gavin with a flaming passion. I mean, he is meant to represent police brutality. But fanon Gavin is cool with me, so I'm not sure exactly how much this counts.

There is one semi-popular character that I dislike though, and that is Kamski. I'm half-counting him again because within the fandom there are very mixed opinions. I personally dislike him mainly because of his treatment of one of his Chloe's: he is willing to let her get shot in the head and killed just to find a dumb answer to his Kamski test just because he feels like it. If Connor doesn't shoot Chloe, he tells Connor he's deviant, knowing full well that Amanda and Cyberlife are watching being the one to design the program, endangering Connor. While he arguably is responsible for deviancy and wants androids to succeed, that doesn't make up for those facts.

Another character that half-counts is Daniel. There are mixed opinions within the fandom on him as well, with some arguing that he is only wanting to not get replaced and protect himself. However, since his first response was to kill the dad, and then he proceeded to shoot at least 3 more cops, killing 2, and hold Emma, the young girl he had been friends with for years hostage, even though she had nothing to do with his replacement. You can't argue that he didn't want to kill Emma and only used her as protection for himself, either, as there are multiple endings where he tries and sometimes succeeds in killing Emma, even when he is also killing himself. I'm not closed to a redemption arc for him, but his in-game actions are inexcusable. He's the one deviant who truly has no valid defense for his actions.

23. Unpopular character you love?

There are a few. I absolutely adore North, Josh, Adam, and Alice, even though the fandom has conflicted opinions on them. Then again, none of these characters are really considered unpopular, just not as popular as others with a select few that don't like them. With North, I've been in this fandom since a few months after its release, when there was a lot of North hatred, and was actually in a group called the North Protection Squad lol. However, now most people like her, and she's really grown in popularity. With Josh, it's less that he's hated, and more that he's ignored. People say that Simon was the peaceful option when he was really the neutral, and recently I've seen more people against Josh's opinions on the revolution. While I don't always agree with Josh being so passive and undemanding (neither do I agree with North's violence), he's still an awesome character with some very valid points. Then, I do understand why some people dislike Adam, as at first he's against androids and almost reveals Kara and the others. However, if you meet him at the border crossing, he apologizes to Kara and changes his mind, promising to help androids. While he may start out scared and not on the right side, he does have a good heart and ends up making the right decisions in the end. With Alice, I haven't seen many people hate her, either, although I have seen some saying she's annoying and lacks a personality. I agree that she lacks a personality, although I argue that's the writers' faults rather than her character's (as are problems with other characters, I mean David Cage wrote this so what were we expecting). I also don't think she's annoying, as after all she is only 9 (in human terms), doesn't admit she's an android because she's scared Kara will reject her (and Kara actually can reject her for being an android, leaving her completely on her own in a world that wants her dead. Also, living her whole life with Todd can absolutely not help her feel more secure with who she is or make her trust Kara to still love her for it), and she is only cold and feels sick because her model of android is literally designed to replicate human sickness and discomfort (and it's clear she doesn't know how to turn them off, because even after Kara knows she's an android Kara still has to help Alice not feel cold anymore. Also, this is November in Detroit, in which the average temperature is 42°F (5.6°C). There are also scenes where it is snowing, meaning the temperature is below freezing. Still, despite the temperatures, in some scenes not having a coat, and feeling sick, she says Kara and Luther can't stop because of her, risks her life to save Kara's if you fail QTEs, and says she's "fine" even when she's cold to comfort Kara. So if you think she can be annoying, yeah, all 9-year-olds can be. But if you think she's annoying enough to actually hate her, idek what to say).

In terms of characters that are really unpopular, I actually like Leo. His actions at first are inexcusable. I mean, accusing Carl of loving an android more than hin, insulting Markus and treating him as less than human, threatening him, breaking into Carl's house and attempting to steal his paintings for drug money, and framing Markus for Carl's death leading to him getting shot and nearly killed are obviously not okay things to do. However, he is clearly on drugs, specifically red ice, the most dangerous drug in the world. Also, if you decide to push Markus leading Carl to still be alive, when you return to Carl's house, you can find a message Leo sent to Carl in which he apologizes for everything and promises it won't happen again. In the extras section, you also find out Carl missed out on Leo's whole childhood, only first meeting him once he was much older. Given that Carl spends all of his days pleasantly conversing with Markus while ignoring Leo, not calling him, only talking to Leo once he comes around himself, and doesn't even argue when Leo says Carl doesn't love him, it's almost fair that Leo thinks the way he does. Since he's also high on drugs throughout the story, at least up until Markus gets shot, we also know that the Leo we see isn't the real Leo. Later, if Carl is dead and Markus visits his grave, he encounters Leo again. This time, when Leo sees Markus he is only shocked. Now, off of red ice, not only is he going to see Carl's grave, expressing love for his father, he also doesn't try to hurt Markus, insult him, or anything mean or dehumanizing. His expression lacks any signs of aggression. It was only when he was high that he was such an asshole. Although that doesn't excuse his behavior, it does give a reason for it, and by the end I consider him redeemed.

~~~

Wow... that was a long response to a very short ask. No need to read all that (although I would highly suggest reading my first answer, at least, since that does contain some very relevant points). Although then again, if you've made it here, you've probably already read all that. In which case I would love to hear your opinions if you're willing to share (as well as anyone who sees this!) I guess I just had a lot of opinions that I needed to put out in the world lol, so thank you sm for the ask!!!!! 💛💛💛

[dahniwitchoflight]

KHUX - Where’d they all go?

Alright so, first!

Who and what and where did everyone end up?

Maleficient: Took a pod to a specific point in the future, achieved this by also using her pet crow to force memories of her present self by having it fly her cloak to the great fairies and make them remember her

Ephemer: Brain from outside manages to send two pods back into the data Daybreak Town to rescue Ephemer and Skuld, (with the last Pod still in the Data meant for the Player, so all three could escape) Pops out of the pod to see the destroyed real Daybreak Town, goes back in with Skuld to escape the dying worldline along with the others, Gets flung forward in time just a tad from his own perspective to become the Founder of Scala Ad Caelum from the ruins of the destroyed Daybreak Town (Still doesn’t answer how or why he popped out in KH3 to help, but eh, guess that’s a question for Dark Road?)

Lauriam: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Gets flung to present KH Times in a flower field from Snow White’s world, most likely proceeds to become a nobody some time later

Elrena: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Gets flung to roughly the same time and place as Lauriam, but on the stormy mountain from the Witch’s area of Snow White’s world,  most likely proceeds to become a nobody some time later

Ventus: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Ends up in the keyblade graveyard, roughly a few years before BBS and is found by Old Xehanort starting that story

Player: Tricks Ephemer into sealing them and the 4 darknesses into a piece of the Data Daybreak Town by pretending to have fallen to darkness, ends up dying from the 4 Darknesses, sacrificing themselves to save Ephemer and Skuld. In the realm between Death and Sleep, their dying heart then reincarnates eventually into a new young Heart (as they sometimes do), into that of newborn Young Xehanort, who is from Scala Ad Caelum in the time of Dark Road-ish, gets sent to Destiny Island’s by a mysterious old man who then dies, and then Young Xehanort begins his journey in Dark Road

Strelitzia: Her apparent Nobody gets sent to the future into the real world by Luxu, but it’s unknown where or when she ends up, last seen walking off in a white version of the Nobody Coat  (I suppose this is another question Dark Road will likely answer?)

Skuld: Brain from outside manages to send two pods back into the data daybreak town to rescue Emphemer and Skuld, Pops out of the pod to see the destroyed real Daybreak Town, goes back in with Ephemer to escape the dying worldline along with the others, We don’t find out her whereabouts, but the remaining theory is that she is Subject X from BBS, Lea and Isa’s friend with amnesia (I suppose this is another question Dark Road will likely answer?)

Rest of the Sleeping Dandelions/Fallen Keyblade Wielders: As their hearts fall asleep, the Chirithy that is bound to their hearts also takes on a sleeping form and become Dream Eaters, Spirit shaped by their wielders Dreams in order to protect them

Luxu: Last seen dragging along the box, holding the keyblade, and lifting up his hood to reveal that he looks exactly like Brain just without the hat

Brain: Gets flung forward roughly to the time of Dark Road-ish, last seen in Scala Ad Caelum that has been rebuilt for a while now by Ephemer the founder from a long time ago, just without his signature hat, and due to his conversation with a figure named Sigurd (who gives him his hat back), has likely fallen roughly into the times of KH Dark Road, and is perhaps a closer ancestor to Eraqus than first thought! maybe even a grandpa or great-grandpa

now the fun thing about Luxu and Brain and why they might look the same, cuz there’s a few options:

Is that before their final scenes, the 2nd last scene Luxu and Brain had was with eachother, right after Brain sent everyone on their merry way, Luxu pops up and says hey watcha doing, and Brain says he wants to stay behind to help free all the sleeping keyblade wielders, even if it takes him the rest of his life, and Luxu comments at him that it’d be a shame for him to waste his life like that or something to the effect before a fade to black

and the thing is, we don’t get to see their individual arrangements for how Both Luxu and Brain escape to the worldline along with the others. We just know that for sure he doesn’t stay and wake up the wielders, because all of their chirithy’s turn into the dream eaters. (And also that apparently he left his hat behind before he left as he picks it up in Scala when Sigurd gives it back to him)

And since there’s only one seemingly possible pod left to take, the one from the data world left for the Player (who never took it and instead dies), theres seem to be only one spot left on the ride out, and with Luxu’s body snatching tendencies, it seems to suggest that Luxu overtook Brain’s Heart and Body, grabbed the last pod from the data and adios’d

BUT the key here is in their apparent attitudes that we know this is likely not the case, and also the Hat, not only does it make it obviously clear who is who, the logistics of the Hat make it clear as well

In both cases, the boy who ends up in the graveyard with the box and the key, and the boy who appears in Scala, neither of them have Brain’s hat

But Brain IS last seen with his hat

If Luxu had overtaken Brain, there would be no reason for him to discard the hat, since the entire point of the body snatching is to be that person

Then, when Brain wakes up in Scala, Sigurd comes along and presents the hat saying “We’ve been waiting for you.” and Brain takes it back

Brain would neither remove his hat, nor would Luxu remove it if he had overtaken Brain

Instead, the likelier option is that Luxu forcibly put Brain into a pod and sent him to the future, saying it would be a shame if Brain were to die while Daybreak Town fell to darkness, because that’s what would’ve happened if Brain tried to stay behind

Where does that Leave Luxu though? How does he get back?

Well back in the data daybreak town, there are actually two Pods left, one meant for the Player who never used it, which Brain likely ended up taking, and a Destroyed Pod that got written off since who would know how to fix it?

Oh, Luxu would! And we know he does, because he specifically taunts Brain with that knowledge, asking him if he even knows how their supposed to work, And wouldn’t ya know, it’s in the Data Daybreak Town, meaning Luxu wouldn’t have even need to physically fix it, he could have easily reprogrammed it to be fixed from the computer side

So, two people, two pods, Luxu sends Brain on his merry way, in the scuffle because Brain would have resisted, the hat might’ve been removed, and Luxu could have easily set it up so that the hat could be preserved and in the future they would know to look and wait for Brain to appear

The only mystery remains then is why does Luxu looks like Brain?

appearances are tricky things in the KH series as well all know, and Luxu’s face has been hidden all this time, likely because his face would have been a spoiler or potentially confusing had it been shown from the beginning of KHX, not KHUX even

The one hint we have, is that in the Back Cover cinematic, which takes places during KHX, If you look closely, apparently you can see a shaggy lock of hair under his hood that matches Brain’s

which means Luxu has probably looked liked Brain all along from the start!

And before getting into the crazier reasons of why someone would look like someone else in the KH series (look at you Ventus/Roxas, Sora/Vanitas, Kairi/Namine/Xion) 

the one that makes the most sense to me personally, consideriong this fact, is that Luxu is a Replica of some sort, of Brain, made by the Master of Masters to fulfill a specific purpose for him, and considering Luxu’s purpose was easily the most important of MoM’s plans, and with how in his early appearances Luxu appears very withdrawn, shy, or dependant on MoM but also separate in some way from the rest of the 5 and with how we know that MoM has no qualms creating living things to do his bidding like the Chirithy’s, we know he’s aware of the replica technology at the very least since the pod system appears to be a workaround for this very issue of needing a medium for the flesh at the appropriate time and place

I think him being a replica with Brain’s appearance makes the most sense, Brain was certainly already on MoM’s radar as a special keyblade wielder, since he was one of the ones MoM chose to be a new union leader, and the way that Luxu’s appearance has always been hidden, how he always wore the black coat which in KH3 seems to be confirmed as what a “default” Replica body appears in when not in use, as we see when Riku Replica shunts out evil Repliku to have the body for Namine, it appears as a doll covered in the black coat

To me, I think it’s fitting, and I think that Luxu being comfortable with shunting from body to body and switching between forms is also part of that, his original form is a replica made to mimic another person, so why wouldn’t he continue that trend? Moving his heart from vessel to vessel, never getting attached to the flesh or identity itself? 

So yeah, I believe that Luxu taking over Brain is a red herring that KHUX ending presents, but I believe it will ultimately not be the case, and the rest of Dark Road/Verum Rex will go further into the reason why that is, with Luxu being a Replica of Brain from the very start coming out on top as the most likely series of events