#the snake shed arc

[a-echo-of-gotham]

Waters of Youth: A shimmering sky blue liquid that swirls eternally, sitting in a small circular bottle. The muse becomes a child and loses all memories of adulthood

(do how long you want Mun Kore!!)

Tim gasps awake. His eyes blurry with tears and a ache in his chest.

He was just floating in the Eclipso. He used to be Dead. He isn't supposed to be alive.

Softly he stands up on wobbly legs. It looks like Gotham? But like a playhouse version? Weird.

He peaks under the clothes he is absolutely swimming in and gasps seeing no scales. No diamond?

He tightens the clothes and curls in the cloak as he walks around. His hand tight on his Kunai.

@humanity-forgot-me

[a-echo-of-gotham]

It flicks open. Pages glowing Black before fading into a single one

Uuuuh.

Open Sesame Ominous Journal

@a-echo-of-gotham

[dreampearls]

while i personalyl think her short hair is cuter i do like that they gave her longer hair if only to further cement her theme of rebirth But more importantly. Most importantly. she is transgender

[amuseoffyre]

While poorly, I've been rewatching Deadloch again.

I've watched the show so many times and yet every single time I notice something new. Like the prevalence of snakes and snake imagery all the way through the whole thing from the opening scene. Even the cakes Ray is putting out are snakes.

Especially in Margaret's arc - she's always pointing out other people as the enemy and the threat and using snakes as an implicit threat, when it turns out she - the colonising white lady - is actually one of the dangers.

Something about Margaret - the living incarnation of entitled white colonial power - being bitten by a tiger snake on stolen land that she killed to keep, then dying on the grave of her ancestor who colonised the area, ending her family line just... perfect poetry.

It also delights me that for all that Margaret goes on about snakes as the unseen danger, Tammy wears a hoodie with snakes all over it and Faye redecorates the exterior wall of the community centre with a beautiful mural of a tiger snake.

Also reading about tiger snakes in Tasmanian lore - the snake recognised as a protector of the land & also tied with the flow of rivers. Interesting then that the murderers in the show meet their ends a) on an island denied to its rightful people and b) in a powerfully flowing river.

Bonus aaaaaa about the symbolism of a snake shedding its skin - renewal and rebirth and the way the show ends with a new sense of community for all the people finally able to be and live as themselves in Deadloch. Especially Tammy and Miranda both adorned in ochre, something they've been denied for years because of the Carruthers family.

I love the layers and layers that the writers have built into the storytelling. The more you watch, the more you see in it. A multi-textured tapestry which makes such a fantastic complete image that at first you might overlook the little details all the way through it.

In conclusion I love Deadloch with a fiery passion and can't wait to see what shenanigans they get up to in Darwin in S2

[sgt-tombstone]

different first meeting au

after Ghost escapes Roba, he runs and he doesn’t look back. a part of him doesn’t care enough to go back and kill him; the rest of him can’t stomach the thought. it’s cowardly, he knows, but he doesn’t care about that either. after eight months of being tortured, the last thing he wants to do is go back. but he also doesn’t want to go home.

he runs to Belize. there’s a safe house there, he knows; a well-stocked one. it’s deep in the jungle, far from civilization: just what he needs. it takes him a while, but he gets there, and the safe house is paradise in earth. hot and humid, with bugs the size of small dogs, but it’s the same forest that Chiapas was in, so he’s used to it, and this… is definitely not Chiapas.

Belize, he has to admit, is beautiful. the forest is a riot of color and sound, sunlight filtering through the dense foliage to glitter off of perpetually dew-coated leaves. the forest is thick enough that he never worries about running into anyone because no one in their right mind would be out here.

and the house… it was obviously built by someone with money burning a hole in their pockets. some rich drug lord, if Ghost had to guess; probably got arrested and their property confiscated by the British government before Belize gained independence. he doesn’t think too hard about it. the house itself is massive. two stories, nestled deep in the forest, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the sunrise. if he squints a bit, he can almost see the Caribbean sea, or maybe it’s just isolation setting in. either way, he’s never been happier. the house even more well-stocked then he’d hoped; there are several month’s worth of food and supplies piled in the pantry and closets.

he originally only intended to stay for a few days, maybe a week. long enough to catch his breath, lick his wounds, and get back on his feet. but a week comes and goes and no one has found him. no one has shown up at the door threatening dishonorable discharge for going AWOL. technically, he thinks, he’s MIA. they probably think he’s dead. strangely, he doesn’t have any particular urge to disavow them of the idea.

as one week turns into two, he starts to relax. he keeps his semi-automatic by the door and his sidearm by his bed, just in case, but access to all the food he could want, no responsibilities, and nothing but calm surrounding him urges him to let his guard down. it’s a heady feeling after so long being on guard; his whole life, really.

he finds himself lying in bed at nights, staring at the ceiling, wondering if he ever has to go back. Roba is still alive, still a danger, and he should probably do something about that. he’s the only one alive to do so. but the alternative is even more alluring. he could simply… disappear. shed his skin like a snake and start over. take the opportunity for what it is and let Simon Riley die for good.

he’s been moving for so long that stopping feels foreign, and yet. good.

would it be so bad to stay? he could let it all go, all the pain and trauma and torment. the stress and rigidity and discipline. would it be so bad to lay it all down?

it’s a pervasive thought, and he tries to convince himself that it’s not fear. he doesn’t let him think about stagnation, about endless days stretching before him. he tries to enjoy every day, one day at a time, and resolutely shuts out the looming threat, bigger than even Roba: boredom.

he’s been moving for so long that stopping feels foreign.

at the four week mark, there’s a knock on the door, and every ounce of military training comes rushing back. he has his gun in his hands before he even registers the sound. no one should be here. no one should know this place exists. it’s completely off the map, known only to SAS who have used these lands for training. which can only mean…

they’ve found him. he tries to quell the panic that the thought sends arcing through his chest as he presses himself against a wall, breath held in his throat, gun clutched tightly. he’s not hiding, he’s not. he just wants them to go away.

the knock echoes again, heavy and insistent. yet still… polite. the fact that they haven’t busted the door down is shocking, if they know who he is, if they’re here for him. if they’re not…

he slowly approaches the door, weapon at the ready, and nearly shoots the man who falls through the entryway in the head before his reflexes kick in, just in time.

he studies the man for a moment, assessing. trying to figure out what the fuck to do, because it’s not every day that your safe house gets infiltrated by a passed out soldier bleeding heavily from his head and leg. finally, Ghost drags him further into the house so he can close the door, and grabs his first aid kit.

several hours later finds the man patched up as best as possible, given the limited resources, and propped up in one of the spare bedrooms. Ghost sits on the floor next to the bed and tells himself that it’s for security and not because the man is unfairly attractive. young, maybe a little too young for his tastes, with a stupid looking mohawk and a couple of inches missing, but what he lacks in height, he makes up for in bulk. his lips are caught in a perpetual pout, jawline and cheeks accented by a light brushing of stubble, grown out a bit from being stuck in the jungle for days, if not weeks.

he’s obviously SAS, and if Ghost had kept track of time, he wouldn’t have been so shocked; the SAS always sends a new batch of fresh-faced hopefuls to Belize this time of year. this one must’ve gotten separated from his squad. it happens with every new group; at least one wanders off into the jungle and usually is never heard from again. this one got lucky.

he wakes up a few hours later, and Ghost forces himself to pretend that the man’s piercing blue eyes aren’t the most gorgeous thing he’s ever seen. the first words out of the man’s mouth are, “I need to get back,” which is odd because the first words out of Ghost’s mouth are, “I’m not going back.”

stalemate.

the man, Soap, he learns, is an enigma. he’s grumpy about his leg and the fact that he won’t be able to walk for at least two weeks, which is fair. he’s cheerful, though, in a way that Ghost can’t fully wrap his head around. he thanks Ghost profusely for saving him, which Ghost shrugs off because what was he supposed to do, let the man bleed out in his foyer?

Ghost tries not to let on that he’s former (current?) SAS, which is a doomed attempt from the start; looking the way he does and acting the way he does, he could never be anything hut military, and Soap’s not an idiot. he sees the muscle mass and the facial scarring and the close-cropped hair and clocks him in an instant. Ghost finds that he doesn’t really mind. even worse, he finds that he’s kind of missed it. the discipline, the camaraderie, the purpose.

having Soap in the house is… something. infuriating, at times, because the man could talk a wall into crumbling if he set his mind to it, but it’s mostly relaxing in a way Ghost isn’t quite ready to explore yet. Soap’s presence, his constant chatter, highlights just how lonely Ghost had been. he finds himself gravitating towards the other man as often as possible, finding excuses to be in the same room no matter what they’re doing. he learns that Soap likes explosives and baking, that he has a big family back in Scotland, that he joined the army at 16 and he’s hoping to be the youngest candidate to pass SAS selection. Ghost doesn’t like the way his smile drops whenever he says that, reminded of his injury and the fact that he’s probably not even considered a candidate anymore.

as Soap heals, something in Ghost does, too. every passing day makes the restlessness under his skin itch more, makes his fingers ache for the pressure of a trigger. nightmares of Roba’s torture shift to dreams about Roba’s death, about bloody hands and slit throats, but not his own.

still, he’s not ready to give up the tranquility yet. the itch hasn’t gotten bad enough to don his fatigues once more, and Soap doesn’t seem to be in a rush either. even after his leg heals, he seems content to lay around the house, soaking up sun and sleep like a lazy teenager. which… he’s only eighteen, so Ghost supposes it’s not wholly inaccurate. not that Ghost is any better; his mid-20s body is more than willing to take full advantage of the rest he gives it, the rest he’s never been able to have before.

one month turns to two, and still they linger. they linger around each other, too. somewhere along the line, Soap started to let his gaze wander over the shape of Ghost’s body when he thinks he’s not looking, and Ghost would feel flattered if he weren’t the only human being in two hundred square miles, at least. Soap is a hot-blooded soldier stuck in the middle of the jungle; of course he’s making eyes at the only thing with a pulse in sight. but Ghost can’t deny his own growing attraction to the other soldier, built day by day, shitty joke by shitty joke. it’s their favorite pastime, even if they both profess to hate each other’s jokes, and one day, Soap makes a joke so bad that Ghost can’t help but to lean over and kiss him, just to shut him up.

it’s like a dam opening, and every surface in the house gets christened. every ounce of pent-up frustration and desire gets poured out in between them, soaked up into bare skin and open mouths. but even this is, ultimately, relaxing. there’s no rush, no sense of urgency, and something about it makes Ghost’s skin prickle. he can tell it’s getting to Soap, too.

three months after Soap’s arrival, Ghost tells him about Roba, tells him about his torture and his escape, tells him that Roba is still out there somewhere. tells him that you get six months of MIA before they consider you dead. it’s too late for Ghost, but it’s not too late for Soap. he could still go back.

together, they make the decision.

together, they set out, leaving the house behind. it feels weird, being in fatigues again, holding his weapon again, marching alongside someone again.

he’s been stopped for so long that moving feels foreign, and yet. good.

together, they kill Roba. it’s not easy and it’s not painless, but they work as well together as Ghost thought they would; they meld together seamlessly, following each other’s unspoken commands as if they were in each other’s heads, and the sparks of satisfaction that race along Ghost’s spine are only partially due to Roba’s rotting corpse that they leave behind.

when Ghost picks up the skull from the floor, the same one that Roba had used to torture him all those months ago, and carefully carves the front off, Soap doesn’t question it. and when Ghost pulls a black balaclava out of his pack and carefully affixes the skull plate to it, Soap stands by patiently, watching without a trace of judgment. and when Ghost pulls it on for the first time, settling the hard bone over his own face, gazing out through white eye sockets, he doesn’t miss the way Soap’s own eyes darken at the sight.

with an unspoken agreement, they head back to the UK. back home. getting out of Mexico is hard, especially once the US border control gets involved, but a flash of Soap’s rank opens doors. sergeant, Ghost thinks approvingly; he’s never thought to ask before, but it suits Soap.

when they get to the UK, all hell breaks loose. Price is, to put it mildly, livid, but Ghost can see the true concern and relief tucked under his ridiculous mustache and boonie hat. it’s been a year, almost to the day, since Ghost had gone missing, and four since Soap went AWOL. their return causes a stir around base, and the upper brass push for both of them to go through selection again, but Price pushes back just as hard, and within months, they’re both reinstated and under Price’s command in the 141.

they keep their relationship secret, or as secret as they can, because neither of them is nearly as subtle as they think they are, but Price doesn’t care. they’re essentially trauma bonded; do not separate. eventually, Ghost will tell Price what they did together, what they left in their wake at Chiapas, but he doesn’t need to know for now. it’s enough that both of them seem settled, seem happy. it’s enough that they’re both alive.

every single night, as Ghost settles into his uncomfortable barrack cot, the sounds of sleeping soldiers seeping through the walls, Soap curled up in his arms, he thanks whichever higher power is listening that he didn’t stay in that safe house.

[a-echo-of-gotham]

Ooc: GAH PLS PRETEND THAT WAS ON ANON

A VERY large Pigeon hops over. Gently it places down a letter. His collar says Gerry.

"I am out to see if I can save Bart. I will be slightly unreachable as to maintain cover. Remember, I'll be ok. -Echo, Mage of Gotham.

Reading over the letter, Duke just could hope that Echo remained as safe as he could be. He thanked Gerry, keeping the letter close to himself now.

[cassidyamber]

this is nothing new and people have been saying this but i think it's really interesting, with the speculation (and without it too tbh) that kai may be slotting into a support role and diana into an antagonistic role moving forward, to think about these two and damon in relation to change and transformation.

diana is probably the most in your face about this, with her chameleon motif, the way her arc seems to be set up for her to change to be more like wolfgang, her imitation art being titled "a change", etc..

kai's imitation art also depicts an altered version of his reflection (he's got dyed hair and his canon outfit in the fragmented reflections we can see, while his hair is undyed and he's in a more generic outfit in the center of the piece), his animal motif (butterfly) is also one that's linked to transformation and change, etc.

damon's change is perhaps slightly less obvious (where kai's undyed roots are visible drawing attention to the change, damon's roots remain dyed), but with the imitation and echo artwork seeming to emphasize a past, seemingly happier version of himself he gave up in favor of the path he's on, something symbolized by him dying his hair. additionally, his animal motif is also one that can be linked to change, as snakes shed their skin as it no longer fits them.

rotating these three in my mind... ahhhh the decision to become someone else is so deliberate (diana's speech. the echo piece where damon dyes his hair) but at a certain point it just becomes second nature.... could you go back to who you were before if you wanted to?

[dammit-neal]

Eddie's Character Arc This Season and Why I Have Issue With It:

Eddie Diaz has been going through some character arcs, and the way they're treated and the accompanying lobotomies transitions have me concerned. Here's why:

The mustache arc: We never had moments with Eddie alone with the mustache that gave us clues as an audience of his motivations for it, how it represented him hiding and denying himself joy. It means that the whole moment with the priest was, frankly a ridiculous amount of "tell" instead of "show", and it also means that when he shaved it off, instead of feeling incredible catharsis as an audience, we were like "okay then, cool for him, I suppose." That needed to be set up and executed WAY better

Additionally, making the mustache the punchline of multiple jokes instead of giving Eddie serious moments with people who love him to address it was a huge mistake and a disservice not just to him but to the other characters--the way Bobby interrupted Eddie's heart-to-heart to make a jab at the mustache? OOC for both of them, and such a slap in the face to Bobby's relationship and rapport with Eddie. In Eddie's shoes, after that, I wouldn't go to Bobby for advice again. This was so MCU-snappy-humor coded I wanted to throw up.

Can the writers please stop treating Eddie's Stoic Caretaker personality as if it's a fatal character flaw? It's who he is as a person, both for good reasons and bad, and it's one of the main things that makes him so endearing as a character. Does he take it too far and forget himself sometimes? For sure, but that doesn't mean he should shed the whole thing like old snake skin and become someone else--a more self-interested, constantly emoting, abandoning-his-friends kind of Eddie.

On a more personal note, I really hate the general idea of media making characters so self-interested, telling audiences that the way to be a better person is to stick your head up your own ass and wait for the sun to rise in there. It won't. And meanwhile it's very hard for us an audience to like the character, in the same way that in real life we don't like selfish, self-congratulatory people.

Eddie going on an arc where he finds the balance between being there for himself and being there for others? Awesome, as long as they don't keep leaning into this "funny, punch-line Eddie" that the writers have been leaning into that isn't like Eddie AT ALL. Can he be goofy? Yes, especially when he's doped up on Funny Brownies. But Eddie's brand of goofy is VERY different from what they've been trotting out lately, and while making him Mr. Funny Guy, they've also been demoting his personality from stoic and in control to this over-emotive mess. It actually reminds me of what they did to Sherlock (in BBC's Sherlock). A little character transition is great, a complete lobotomy? Like who is this man?

Anyway, thanks for listening to my Ted Talk, and I'd love your thoughts on this--what do you think?

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday

Tagging @socially-awkward-skeleton @shallow-gravy @direwombat @derelictheretic @adelaidedrubman @g0dspeeed @nightbloodbix @carlosoliveiraa @corvosattano @cloudofbutterflies92 @chazz-anova @voidika @onehornedbeast @softtidesworld @minilev @titiagls @wrathfulrook @afarcryfrommymain @aceghosts @turbo-virgins @deputyash @purplehairsecretlair @florbelles @inafieldofdaisies @josephseedismyfather @josephslittledeputy @ladyoriza @megraen @skoll-sun-eater @snake-in-the-garden @starsandskies @thewanderer-000 @strafethesesinners @strangefable @la-grosse-patate and @shellibisshe + anyone else who is interested. Here's the taglist for those who wish to be continued to tagged or not.

Songs for Far Cry The Silver Chronicles, Life, Despair & Monsters and A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore. Music below the cut.

Vega, my Fallout 76 OC, is one of the "Residents" of Vault 76. Originally a settlement planner, she is now on a quest of revenge against the other residents of Vault 76 for "wrongfully" leaving her behind in the vault. Truthfully nobody wanted to deal with her bullshit and didn't want to wait on her when they had a job they'd been waiting 25 years to do, so they left her to sleep in (because she had a bit wee too much to drink during the night of Reclamation Day), thinking she'd catch up to them later. Vega did not take it likely. She also has a particularly concerning obsession with Vault 76's Overseer, viewing the older woman as her rival (even if the Overseer views Vega as merely a minor annoyance at best and always poking holes in Vega's delusions). This song pretty much sums up Vega's POV regarding the Overseer (and her fellow Vault 76's Residents).

"Oh, wherever you go You know I will follow you You know I will run to you Oh, the sun and the moon It don't matter what you do You know I will run to you

Can't believe in all this time I'm hurting for you But you feel like hold down The love you give it lift's so high I'm dying for it I'm dying for it And I can't let you go

Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Or you'll lose, or you'll lose Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Or you'll lose, or you'll lose

If you hide away I'll hunt you down And follow you to the end of the Earth My heart beats with yours My lungs breathe with yours You're a piece of me I can't hide away

Oh, I'm under your spell I'm making and I'm fading And nobody can see I'm your heartbeat You're part of me

Can't believe in all this time I'm hurting for you But you feel like hold down The love you give it lift's so high I'm dying for it I'm dying for it And I can't let you go

Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Or you'll lose, or you'll lose Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Or you'll lose, or you'll lose."

Have a lovely ship song between Mercy Omar-Seed and Carmina Rye (the former is the daughter of Silva Omar and Faith Seed, the latter the daughter of Nick and Kim Rye). While Old Dusk (the WIP of the New Dawn arc) can be quite bleak (not as bleak as Silva's Hope though) due to the circumstances, this relationship is one of the most heartwarming highlights that I've been developing.

"Let's go below zero and hide from the sun I'll love you forever where we'll have some fun Yes, let's hit the North Pole and live happily Please don't cry no tears now, it's Christmas, baby

My snowman and me, hey My snowman and me Baby

Don't cry snowman, don't you fear the sun Who'll carry me without legs to run, honey? Without legs to run, honey? Don't cry snowman, don't you shed a tear Who'll hear my secrets if you don't have ears, baby? If you don't have ears, baby?

I want you to know that I'm never leaving Because I'm Mrs. Snow, 'til death we'll be freezing Yeah, you are my home, my home for all seasons So come on let's go."

Imagine being amongst a group of individuals who have been brutally mutilated, experimented on or in general fucked over by the same short dude who's not only from another dimension and can travel through it to other worlds, but also runs a cult-like science organization dead-set on ruining humanity's life to help them "evolve" and laugh at their despair... well, that's the crux of Life, Despair & Monsters, a group of individuals, some of whom sure weren't the greatest (but still didn't deserve what happened to them), whose lives were negatively and irreversibly impacted by that of one Sir Enigma Malvolio and his Ruins of the Midnight Rise. All because he wanted to see how humans could cope with erratically spontaneous and disastrous change to their livelihoods.

"You say I'm craving hope in this darkness You say I'm just a joke, just a joke

Shivers my spine so much Swimming in the river styx too much They try to let go of us But the truth is... Once you're in then You're one of us

Truth is... Once you're in then You're one of us One of us Truth is once you're in then You're one of us

My darling in fire My darling rolls in fire You liar You say my darling rolls in fire, in fire You say my darling burns in fire You're a liar."

[a-echo-of-gotham]

Almost instantaneously waves of overwhelming peace/fear/shove it down down down burns through like a wild fire.

Liar

Cruel

Safety

Danger

Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and Over

Who am I again

I want hal. I want Eddie and Venom. I want my people

They are safe

Over and over again

She Moves Beautifully. Is this blood?

More tea. More more more.

I am so thirsty.

Sorry

Sorry

Sorry. Lantern. Remove Yourself before the claws dig too DEEP

The Connection is bitten and blood spills from his wrist slowly.

Uh Hal. Did you forget your Telepathic Connection to Echo?- Fae Anon

I don't know if it can reach him. That entity seems to be.. way too powerful.

But i will become stronger than it, i am going to be improved. I will get better.

{{ooc. @a-echo-of-gotham pspsps, come here}}

[a-echo-of-gotham]

C'mon kid. Try to connect to Hal... use eachother as something to lean on and keep sane. -🪭

Mmmm.

Mk.

Uh. U̵̧̧͈̳̖̪̭͈̜̰̜͛̔̈̉̏̈́̌͝n̷̨͎̺̮̘̺͚͓͚̔́̅͒̿͂̋̓̉̐͜c̶͗̑̃͊̃̚͘ͅļ̷̧̨̹̘͖̻̝͔̐͌͐͆̄̀͑̎̈́̆̂̓͑e̴̖̣͇̲͗̾͌̀̀̈͗͒̎̏̊̚̚͠ ̵̖͈̖̭͉̫̗̭̥͒̆H̷̢̼̲̹͖̖̙̥̥̗̬̱͈̋̈̀̇̅͗͜a̸̡̯̜̲͔͓͐̿́͊́̑͛̈̄͛̓̊́͘͝l̶̟̑̆͒̍͝͝?̴̘̙̃̒̍̎

(Uncle Hal?)

Ẅ̶̨̛̦̟̙̤̺̙͔͙͈̻̥́̉͊̅̉͒̒͆̓̔͗̕̕h̵̫͑̈́͌̒̑̾̅̂̂̒͝à̵̛̛̱̻͖̯̹̈͋̽͐̊̒̕͠͝ͅͅt̵̡̘̰̝͖̤͎̙̗̥̗̏͑̑̈̈̚ ̴̢͎͕̲͓͎̲͓̬̙͎̐͠i̵̧̧̭̮̱̼̜̍͌͜s̵̡̡̛̙͖̱͕̝̬͇̳͔͍͐̋̾̈̌̍̐̿̓̈́͘̚͜͜͜͝͠ ̶̠͕̜͓̮͈͍̝̯̥̻̬̮̼̞̂̂͂̏̌́̇̈̆̂̌͝g̶̜̿̏̆̂͐o̵̢̡͔̤̖͝į̵̧̳͇̣̫̥͇̮̭̝̘͍̞̄̈́̒̓̈́ņ̷̨͈̲̂͗̓̌̂̈͋g̸̜̲̬͉̅ ̷̯̥̦̳͖̰̳͖̻̼̩̎̾̎̿̐̑̃̇̃̿͊͜ȍ̷̧͇̳͙͙̗̗͖͕̜̣͔̔̏̏͐̎́̀͒̚͜͠ͅn̶̛̺̄͌̓͛̔̈́̓̓͘͝͠?̷̧̛͔̫̜̻̣̼̘͗̆͊͐̀̐̄̅͆̔̀̒͝ ̵̧̟̫͔̭̰̺̘̩̝͉͇̮̠̬͂̈́̑̈̊̀̈́͒͌̏͘̚T̷͍̓̔̾͗͑͝ḩ̶̨̞͖̣̭̻͚̟͓͔̺͇̯̾̉̏̾͆̀̒͋̈́̈́̇̃͘͘ͅè̶̼̺͝͝ͅ ̷̢̦͊͆̎͑̒͒̂̎̄ͅÄ̸̜̈́͛̑́̋̽̈͊̿͝ņ̴̢̨̖͊̂͒́̑̕o̴͇̜͇̫̙̖̱̫͈̺͇̹͋̈́́́͗͆̂̒͗̀͝n̵̨̖͓̹̞̖̙̘͉̎̄͆͑̓̿̈́̐͆̔̈͝s̵̢̪͚̟͕̪̻͗͒̐͂ ̶̤͇̊̓̄̀̈́͐͌â̷̯̹̪͚͖͍̜͒̅͂̆͋͂̌́͛͐̎r̸̠̰̙̂̽̈́́̓̀̐͛̍͐̈́͂̚͝e̷̻̠̫̯͚̘̠̮̗̱̩̿̈́̂̍͜͝ ̶͈̯͚͛͛̈̑̈́͋̏̃̄̐͘̚̚̚͘s̵̙͎͎̞͈̩͂ç̸̢̬͎̣͒̀̽̎͂̌̎͝a̸̘̪̰̻̪̩̟̅̂̄̊͋̇͜ŗ̸̭̲̗͓̖͓̰͖̮̅̃i̴̢̧̛͙͕͇̙͓̲͓͒̑̀̑̕̚͜ͅͅn̶͖̣̦̒̔̚g̴̢̛̺̟̤̖̠̮̦̖̤̙̜͎͇̜̎̉͑̍̀͒̀̾͂̄̊̄̊̕ ̵͈͑͗̂̈͐̌̏m̵͙̖̆͂̂͆͂͌̿͑̉̌̚͝ë̴̤́̈̿̂̄̇̌͌́̕̚̕̚ ̸̝̲̘͇̘͚̥͎͚͚̺̮̎̌̚͠ͅ

(What is going on? The Anons are scaring me)

My head hurtssss

( @oceanicflyboy)

[hollie-san]

have you ever thought about how now that osomatsu san is coming out in july we probably wont hav another episode set during spring? no more cherry blossoms for poor oso unless they make a new season or have an obscene amout of episodes in this one :V

it hadn't crossed my mind!

if we're following patterns: season 1 had spring and no summer, season 2 had summer and no spring, and season 3 had spring and no summer, so season 4 is likely to have summer and no spring.

i think with the new writing direction it would be thematic to HAVE spring episodes though, considering the comment about it being the year of the snake and how osomatsu-san as a show is going to "shed it's skin" and be "reborn," and spring is the perfect season for that.

so far the narrative of osomatsu-san has been "we don't want to change, but the world is changing without us" and because season 4 is meant to introduce "modernity" to it, there is once again change happening but we're currently unsure if this change involves the matsuno's or not.

i think spring would be a great writing tool for the show but it's not necessarily needed to make a point. obviously there's no way to know atm where the direction of osomatsu-san WILL go from here, but the characters themselves have arcs that narratively need completed. i'd say season 3 wrapped up nyaa's, for example.

i'd like to hear your thoughts / everyone else's too!

[bizarrzibub]

Dear @duskycervitaur ,

15 years ago now I lived in a big house out in rural Tennessee. I can't have been older than 10 when we first moved in, and i think I was about 13 when we moved out.

The house was theoretically very nice. When it was first built, it must have been beautiful, but decades of neglect and emptiness had left it in poor condition. It was a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom place painted an ugly shade of brown. The front yard was about the size of a football field and the backyard about half that. An ancient wooden fence separated the property from a corn field on one side. The other side was bordered directly by the hilly forest that surrounds Tim's Ford Lake.

Every day, when I got off the bus from school, walking up the driveway felt like taking a long journey to magical place. The road and the driveway were both gravel and bled into each other like two rivers. Standing at the mouth of the driveway, you could never see the house itself, hidden away as it was by the hilly terrain and the mingling pines and oak trees. In the summer, bizarre little green fruits would litter the ground, smelling strongly of unripe bananas, as memory serves.

The driveway curved and dipped like the coils of a snake laying over smooth river stones, and I always wondered if it had been built that way or eroded into that shape over time and lazily gravelled over. In the rainy season, water would rush over the gravel from my right, some of it diverted through a black pipe buried under the ground, before fanning out on the other side and drifting lazily down the wide path to my left, a path that always seemed to be covered in fall leaves and led all the way to the back yard in a wide arc.

The backyard always felt somehow separate from everywhere else on the property. To the right was an unused garage that seemed visually inconsistent with the house. It was made of cinder blocks and its walls were covered in huge black spiders on summer nights. The space in front of it was always occupied by my dad's boat trailer. I never saw what the inside looked like. Three evenly spaced pine trees loomed there, covering the ground in brown needles no matter the weather. I found myself sitting there often, thoughts drifting as I pulled apart bundles of them.

A huge maple tree sat in the center of the backyard and taunted the house with its shear thereness. It had been there before the house and I believe it will be there when the house is gone.

Next to the tree sat a red pickup truck, filled with spiders even in the daytime.

And in the very back of the yard, there was a shed that seemed even older than the house, though I don't think it could have been. I never saw the inside of the shed either, but it had its own little shaded side porch with a hammock that seemed wrong to sit in. It overlooked what felt to me like a huge drop to the forest floor below.

Going into my backyard at all always felt like crossing a threshold into a wild place. Some summers, my dad gave up mowing entirely and the yard would be covered in tall grass and thick stalked plants I never saw anywhere else. Bumblebees would flit around, bumping into the maple tree and each other on their daily business. Far more alien buzzings would ring out over the bees, belonging to odd bugs that I always had trouble finding. We might say the backyard was ours, but the forest never fully let it go.

That shed was another threshold, though. I only remember braving the rotting grey wood once. It stuck out over the edge of the steep hill and gave me a view from high up enough that I knew I would get hurt if I jumped, but low enough that I didn't quite disregard the notion.

What strikes me in hindsight is all the memories of looking at that shed from below, and remembering that the bottom of the drop didn't feel like the other side of the threshold.

Where the portal at the ledge would have taken me, I don't know. Nor have I ever been certain I didn't cross it that day. What I do know, and what I will never forget, is what it feels like for a place to know I am there.

[intrigd-voyagr]

voyager yaps masterpost

all my oc and worldbuilding yappings i could find in one convenient place... sometimes featuring friends along the way !! Be sure to check out the tags + replies cuz there's sometimes juicy babblings in there too :]

Some of these chars don't have a lot because much of

Animalia worldbuilding

Speculative evolution of animalia serpents [doodle]

Ideas for animalia evolution [doodle]

Serpents and shedding

Serpents two anatomical quirks

General size of reptilians

Yes, there are still "real" snakes

On true "animals" [doodle]

Charity food vending machines

Some anatomical differences between humanoid serpents vs humans

On some reptilians having only patches of scales

What happens to reptilian hybrids?

Croc gang bounty hunters [doodle]

Atlas is a sweetheart.....

Croc gang and leadership through battle

Addie

Strength

Hair

Lifespan musings

Flexibility

Voice claim

Tongue flicks

Thermoregulation

Favorite color+food

The nests they raid for eggs

Family tree

On being noble born

Addie's parents are alive

Addie and the housemaid

Addie can only eat eggs

No, seriously - they can ONLY eat eggs. Anything else results in, well... [doodle]

Addie cooks the best eggs [doodle]

Game dev hobby

On being defensive over Sonny

On having a constrictor and rattlesnake tail

On having a rattlesnake rattle inside their tail

On brumation

Meeting Parry (crossover)

Meeting Rhett (crossover)

Bonding with Owl

Thoughts on Erica

Heading into town with Snag's tooth necklace

Before canon musings pt. 1 [dark]

Before canon musings pt. 2 [dark]

Nursing them back to health

Croc arc sabotage concept musings

Vespa

On being wasp-like

ANTivirus

On distancing from people

Mushroom

Her Kinito

Where she gets her clothes

Her home

Parry visiting (pre-canon)

Character musings [dark]

Black Heart

Smidgeon of backstory

LOTS of backstory

Voice claim

Boltz

Voice claim

On observing existence

Preferred form and true form [doodle]

On meeting fellow "immortal" beings

Pausing time

Ahtsy

General lore [doodle]

On being a god during the events of the game

On being a traveling artist

Admin Alt Route

Altered fate beginnings

Addie's reaction to first meeting Sonny

Sonny taking care of Addie's shed

Addie seeing snakes kept as pets

Settling into earth life

Making breakfast + falling in love [doodle]

Cephalopod City Concept Arc

Ceph city arc beginnings

Ceph citizens reacting to seeing Addie walking around the city

Adapting to city life

Addie being stolen for being rare

A ceph insulting Sonny for dating Addie (cont.)

Addie being detained by animal control [doodle]

Sonny rescuing Addie from animal control

Getting tired of the stress of the city

Modern!Animalia

Addie's job [doodle]

The Croc gang and their new roles

Modern!Addie vs Canon!Addie differences

What have the cephalopods been up to...?

Misc.

Perception musings + what do the ocs do for a living

OC height chart

OC ask blog crossovers

[dylawa]

"I heard Dad, you know." You blink, and spin around. He overheard your phone call? "What?" "In my hallucination. He was off in the distance, somewhere. I'm surprised you didn't hear him." Apparently, you're too slow to shake the horrified look from your face, because then your brother asks, "Did you hear him?" "I-- no. No, I didn't." "You just... don't like the implications of it,” he substitutes. You nod. Your brother grunts, and swings his legs over the side of the bed, clearly ready to get dressed and get a move on. "Yeah. Me neither. I didn't figure it was worth mentioning, since it took such a far backseat in comparison to the walls and the snakes. But I figured it was something you should know." The reasoning doesn't need to be said. You swallow the knot of anxiety in your throat, and mumble out a "thank you" as you wave down a passing nurse in the hall to retrieve your brother's things.

Chapter 5 of "something that does right by you" is live on AO3! In the aftermath of the seemingly random attack on your brother, fellow hero Tengu comes to shed some more light on the situation.

[ghostlycoze]

What do you think about the scene in the Cave of Tempters when snakes turned Sohone into a demon?

I'll answer these both at once since they're quite similar

Ooh, I honestly think that's one of my favourite scenes for a couple reasons!

Despite Mune and Glim being my favourite characters, they admittedly don't receive a whole lot of character development. That's the big appeal of this scene, we really get a deeper look on the abilities of the snakes, and the real point where Sohone's character arc kicks off. Not to mention Phospho's sacrifice, and the little conversation the two have before that point.

~little ramble under the cut~

With the snakes, we had only seen how they work with Leeyoon. It's a rather fast scene, so it's explored a little less in depth (although I must say the way they completely encase Leeyoon in the end of that scene looked amazing, like it was a coffin). Though by this point they knew how quickly it was to corrupt someone, especially if they have enough negativity brewing. Leeyoon was already brimming with jealousy and anger, so he was an easy target. Sohone was a little less so, though there was certainly a couple points where his cocky, proud attitude cracked (e.g. when Mune and Glim didn't respond well to his behaviour while they travel through the forest, that little "I'm terrible with the ladies" line, or... something along those lines, upon seeing Mune and Glim bond). He's got insecurities, and seeing Mune succeed when he didn't even want this only reinforces those when Sohone had been training for so long. He holds onto the idea that Mune is a bad guardian as long as he can, and once the snakes reach him, they feed off of it.

I vaguely mentioned it in the last Mune-related ask, but I particularly like the body language they gave Sohone in that scene. On all fours, growling and looking around wildly; much like a cornered animal. Scared, threatened, caged. The more corrupted he became, the more these aggressive behaviours grew, until Phospho was able to talk him down and shed him of the demonic rock growing over him.

It's a moment where Sohone's character changes. He sees the cowardly ex-guardian make a brave sacrifice, and gains a new perspective on Mune in the moment too. Even with Phospho's "Going out in style. For the ladies, right?" joke, Sohone remains serious (and, well, devastated to see Phospho die), his focus shifted, the gravity of his position finally weighing on him. His ego cast aside, when Mune and Glim arrive he doesn't hesitate to agree to do this together with Mune.

Big ol ramble, my bad, I just love analysing this character! Sohone arguably received the most development (aside from Necross, I'd say, with Phospho close behind Sohone), and it's nice to see these kind of "all brawn, no brain, egotistical asshole" characters actually grow beyond that archetype.

Thanks for the excuse to talk about these silly movie characters some more! I'll always be open to more conversation and analysis :)