#this was SO much and im so sorry. but i have to cover everything for it to make sense. context is key

[v3lvieraven]

Big squeeze pt.2

Note: I’m so sorry it took so long but I’m back!

Characters- Ace, Deuce, Cater, Jade, Jamil

Warnings- deuce pushing you away, deuce summoning a cauldron onto his head, deuce crushing ace with a cauldron, Jamil giving you the silent treatment

Ace-

• at first I think he wouldn’t like it that much, mainly because it would catch him off guard and he didn’t want to seem vulnerable

• honestly ace would be one of those guys who would squeal then cover it up by yelling because they don’t wanna seem girly

• Ace’s face would be red but yes he likes it (loves it)

• He’d tease you for it a lot, but the moment you revoke his squeezing privileges he’d be a whiny mess

• like a five year old who was told they couldn’t have ice cream type of whiny

• Ace would try, key word is try, to discreetly follow you around until he got what he wanted

• but everyone can tell by the way he’s trailing after you that he’s probably wanting affection

• he’s not very good at hiding his feelings, his face says everything before he can even speak!

• Ace isn’t very used to being the one chasing after someone’s attention, he used to be a playboy after all.

• so it’s strange for him to be feeling this way.

• Once he gets what he wants he’s in pure bliss though, he likes the feeling of being secure in your arms.

• After a long day of dealing with failed potions and deuce summoning a cauldron that ends up falling on him, he’s just happy to recharge in your embrace.

Deuce-

• he’s a lot more of a sweet heart about it

• Deuce definitely likes the squeezing but sometimes it can be a bit much

• so you need to make sure to read his mood before giving him one because it reminds him of his fights he used to get in

• on those days where he needs affection he will ask for one, maybe in his dorm room (he doesn’t want Grimm or Ace to be there) it’s a lot quieter compared to ramshackle

• he will usually lay next to you awkwardly for a while until you get fed up and pull him on top of you, his favorite position

• it’s the easiest way for you to squeeze him, but eventually your arms will get tired

• when that happens he likes to switch positions so you can still give him that sense of pressure and security

• don’t take it to heart if he randomly yells when you do it though, he isn’t mad, just startled

• he accidentally pushed you away a few times, each of those times he summoned a cauldron to drop on himself

• be surprised he doesn’t have brain damage

Cater-

• as long as you don’t do it in public he loves them!

• even though he’s a very social person and seems to not care too much about what others think of him, he does.

• he likes to keep this wall up, only allowing others to see a part of him that isn’t entirely truthful

• but when your alone he feels he can be himself, affectionate and calm

• he doesn’t feel like he needs to hide himself away from you

• he likes when he can just experience something without sharing it with others

• of course he will sometimes post you squeezing him, but those types of posts are rare because even though he loves to show you off, he likes to keep some aspects of your “relationship” (crush, or relationship) private

• he’s the type that likes it every once a while (maybe twice a week?) but overall doesn’t mind it if you do it all the time

• he just thinks it’s nice to be surprised, it feels more special this way, and less suffocating

• when you do squeeze him he always gets flustered, burying his face into your neck

•These are the times you see him smile, and not one he put on just for show, a real smile…

Jade-

• Im not even gonna put it any other way- he will bite you.

• he’s like his brother, mischievous and sneaky, except he doesn’t have so much mood swings as Floyd

• he’d shake his arms around your waist, and before you can continue to squeeze him harder he beats you to it

• he doesn’t do it as hard as Floyd usually does but it still takes your breath away.

• that just makes you love squeezing him even more.

• but be aware you will be getting harassed by Floyd because now he’s jealous and that just will not do!

• Jade likes to be a tease and kiss the place on your neck where pulse can be felt against his lips

• he enjoys how it’s quicker do to the restrained breathing

• “Jade I cant breathe!” You’d say between giggles

• “should’ve thought of that before you squeezed me…” he’d mumble, voice muffled with his lips against your neck

Jamil-

• at first he’s NOT having it

• that’s his personal space man like what the hell do you think your doing?

• once you get in a relationship he’ll be more accepting of if (he loves it)

• he’s never really felt like he could have something to himself so he’s happy that you aren’t doing it with anyone else-

• what’s this? You gave kalim one of your squeezes because he did you a favor?

• que temper tantrum

• I’m talking silent treatment, side eyes, huffs of air, avoiding you like the plague.

• you will literally have to trap him for him to acknowledge you

• of course he misses you but his jealousy is strong, he’s had to give up so many opportunities to serve Kalim and now that he thought he had something for himself, it wasn’t just for him?

• you quickly pick him up bridal style, causing a loud yelp to leave his lips

• he feels you bury your face into the crook of his neck as a hand goes through his hair with a certain care

• “I’m sorry for whatever I did to make you mad… please stop ignoring me..” You said, sounding genuinely confused and hurt.

• damn now he feels like a dick! Especially with how you sound like your abt to cry (srry if your not that type of person)

• “I…don’t worry about it…” he’d grumble

• obviously you don’t take it as that, squeezing him tighter as you change positions so that his legs are now wrapped around your waist, giving you more access to hugging him.

• “I am worried about it though…”

• he sighs hiding his face away with a small groan “I was jealous

•You park up “Hm?”

• “I was jealous of when you squeezed Kalim, I don’t want you doing that with anyone else…but me.” He’d whisper

• that’s when you cup his cheeks and press a kiss to his lips.

•you learned quickly that it was worth it to just share this with him, you’d show your appreciation some other way because this was reserved for Jamil.

[sitp-recs]

hi!!! i appreciate everything you do and your fics are always soooo goood, last night i read a drarry fic that upset me and now im in need of fics where draco feels safe with harry and seeks comfort in him. so if you have any kind of fics with that vibe id appreciate it very very much, take your time, and thank you for looking into it!!!

Thank you for the kind words, anon! I’m sorry you’re feeling upset, I hope these fics work for you 🫂

in advance by M0stlyVoid (E, 3.5k)

Draco's been scared of fire since the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry likes wax play. This is how they work together to face Draco's fear and get what they both want.

Silence series by RurouniHime (E, 10k)

It was his battle, yet he never hurt me, and he could have.

Solve Us Like a Mystery by tryslora (T, 12k)

When Harry stops in at the bookstore where Draco works, they find a surprising shared interest in mysteries.

The Body Keeps Score by amorsindolor (E, 13k)

Draco cries during sex. A story about touch, intimacy, and the healing we find through mutual trust and love.

Between Myth and Man by slytherco (E, 16k)

Draco, lost and a little broken, navigates post-war reality convinced that people like him should not be allowed to make their own choices. To solve the problem of his self-sabotaging tendencies, he starts taking a few drops of Veritaserum every morning.

Vale Sanare by RurouniHime (M, 23k)

Draco’s world gains a new component just when he thought he’d sorted everything out.

In Your Arms, Rests My World by @l0vegl0wsinthedark (E, 24k)

Harry presses his mouth to Malfoy's forehead; he wants to tell him that he’ll never leave, that he wouldn’t dream of it. “You make me feel safe, Potter” Malfoy whispers. “You keep me safe.”

Inside Your Mind by @lazywonderlvnd (E, 36k)

Goyle's taken it upon himself to act as Malfoy's personal, one-man guard and Harry can't help but feel like it's only making the bullying worse.

As Souls From Bodies Steal by Femme (E, 41k)

Hope may be found in the oddest of places, even in the bleakness of winter.

Super Rich Kids by trishjames (E, 81k)

Draco Malfoy has become disillusioned by the glitz and glamour of the scandalous lives of the Post-Second Wizarding War Pureblood Elite. Enter: one existential crisis, one group of thieving cynical friends, and several terrible, terrible decisions.

The Paradox of Active Surrender by korlaena (E, 108k)

When Draco shows up as a suspect in a murder case after eight years of no contact, Harry has to balance his professional life and his past friendship with Draco.

A Sword Laid Aside by korlaena (E, 128k)

When Draco’s cover is blown during a deep undercover operation and the Ministry is compromised, Ron takes Draco to the only safe place he can think of—Potter.

There Is Always the Moon by firethesound (T, 159k)

Draco's life after the war is everything he wanted it to be: it's simple, and quiet, and predictable, and safe. But when a mysterious curse shatters the peace he'd worked so hard to build, there's only one person he can trust to help him.

[curioushabitforarivergod]

Responding to the ask request ‼️

What if.. tragic seer!harry au... He keeps making prophecies about an incoming but no one listens because they want to stay in their little bubble where there's no conflict and all is peaceful .. I got inspired by the song "Cassandra" by Taylor swift if you've ever heard it <3 the timeline and the characters around harry are up to you if you are interested in this prompt !! Hope you have a great day <3

(Ive not heard the song, but Im familiar with Greek mythology! This, though, is set shortly before 1348 and the bubonic plague that killed 1/3 of England's population)

-

Harry fingers the fine embroidery on his robes — a gift from his parents for turning 16 — and tries to banish the images of destruction from his mind.

"Are you concentrating, Harry?" His tutor. An old friend of his parents who he's known forever.

Harry shakes his head. "Sorry, I was. Something about Hastings?"

Lupin hums but a smile twitches across his face. "If I'm boring you, we could take a break? Your father was suggesting you spend some time practising for the jousting competition at the end of the month."

Harry shakes his head, again. There is a sour taste in his mouth, something rancid — not as rancid as the bodies, he tells himself, piled on carts, covered in red sores, and then, out, out, out. He doesn't want to think about the plague he knows is coming, the death.

"What would..." Harry hesitates. He's pleaded with his family over the last year, to close the borders, to ask the alchemists and the cunning folk to find a cure, but they laughed him off easily the first few times, and talked about sending him away after that. "If the population..."

Lupin sighs. He kneels beside Harry's desk, his knees creaking slightly. "We've talked about this Harry," he says softly, like he's being kind. "God won't deliver penance when we haven't sinned."

It's not about sin, Harry wants to say. He shuts his mouth instead.

They won't listen. They never do. They'll suffer for it, Harry knows, and there is nothing that can be done, but he prays every night that this time will be the one they take him seriously.

"Never mind," he says instead, frowning a little. "Keep talking about 1066. It doesn't matter."

The gift — it's not really a gift, it's a curse — came from Riddle. An older boy in the castle, Harry had liked him, liked him a lot, actually. Too much so, that was the problem.

Riddle was manipulative, he'd persuaded Harry into things Harry wasn't sure were allowed, and things Harry was certain weren't allowed.

"I'll give you a gift," he said, smile sharp as they'd leaned in the shade of a tree. "It'll be our secret, yeah? And then you can come away with me."

Harry grinned back and nodded. Seconds later, he was aware of every moment of being, twisting from him in a map of coloured threads. And when he'd looked at Tom, looked at the possibilities, the futures, the everythings, he realised couldn't be with the older boy anymore.

"No," he'd said. "No. You should leave and never come back."

Tom had shrugged, sneering slightly. "You know what you're doing. You'll come crawling back to me soon enough, begging me to love you."

Harry had laughed. "I really won't." He was the seer nobody believed, he was a myth, he knew exactly what the future held and it didn't hold Tom. "Goodbye."

His dreams came true, his thoughts. Things happened around Harry, and they kept happening and they wouldn't stop. Harry knew everything and it hurt in the base of his heart.

(And when the bodies had piled up, no one missed a local lord's son, and no one cared to remember he had warned them.)

[n4rval]

hi I just wanted to say your tags on the gaster poll posts are so correct yessss (always enjoy your takes just in general). thank you for being one of the seemingly very few people out there who also believes there's no way the timeline works for gaster and alphys to have been colleagues. however, him haunting her benevolently is something I'm 1000% here for <3 (also I hope your finals went well and you get to have a nice relaxing break!)

HII HELLO HI im glad you like them!!! knowing you read these motivates me to keep being Absolutely Very Normal About Him on the internet

personally it's less of a believing thing and more of a come on it's written right there thing, but since we're here.

behold! dingus timeline. (and the hottest of takes with freshly baked personal headcanons otherwise what am i doing)

Not a skeleton?

Isn't 201X too early?

Indeed, not a skeleton, but rather, some guy. Something about how monster's bodies are manifestations of their SOUL, and him oddly resembling a strange looking man does well to represent his insatiable curiosity and love for creating. (things humans are known for in a better light)

On the other hand, you will be pleased with how fascinated he is by "FLESHLINGS AND THEIR CALCIUM DEPOSITS".

And then they fucking died.

201X is the year the first human fell into the underground, and shortly after, the royal family has moved to New Home. This means some decent exploration of the cavern has already been made. Scientists could very well already have been working on optimizing life underground, with special attention to the large and ever growing new capital.

My idea? As this idiot has been aiding exploration with his antics, Gerson was the one to appoint him to Asgore. Something about his talent with turning garbage into non-garbage. With a little patience and getting familiar with his odd manerisms, it was not too long until he got to be the prince's weird godfather.

Cracking already?

And everyone was devastated, mainly the close family. Not only that, but amidst your mourning, the one couple responsible for your unrealistically high standards for romance just divorced. Is love even real anymore. You eat ants with your cereal and your work consists mainly of convenience improvements and absolutely nothing groundbreaking. What's the point of breaking that pesky barrier again? Child murder? Come on.

That's the Wingdings PATIENCE and BRAVERY encountered in their adventure. Dear god, you're lame. Aren't you some kind of genius? Get yourself together! And together he got his self, now, he has children to look after. Surely there must be some other way. He must stop coming up with new flavours for chips and find some other way.

... Dear god, the King is going to kill them.

BONES and DT

Listen. He's old. You got your wrinkles, he's got his cracking. What? You meant to point out some major event of injury must have been responsible for his current state of deformity? Well, he's old AND heartbroken. That's a direct blow to the SOUL, okay.

Jokes aside (kind of), doing any lasting damage to a monster is quite difficult given their magic forms can easily be healed through, well, magic. They can, however, eventually "fall" (wink wink) and dust away with age - which cannot, however, be fixed with magic.

With a little determination however ...

Something about the anomaly.

He found it, the other way. It was the bones all along, the so needed sustainance for channelling such a high concentration of that power. Well, not necessarily, but a boney structure will endure much more and last much longer than a meaty one. Also, it looks so cool.

You know this guy, he gets first dibs on any and all dubious substances that might or might not deal the last hit to the nail on his coffin dust urn(?). And when it all works out (dubious), he might as well play a little. What kind of things can he make? With the material properties of these calcified remains infused with his own magic, animated with determination.

Some new, powerful magic tricks?

A new kind of monster, maybe?

DARK, DARKER, YET DARKER.

There is a lot of interesting things one can do with isolated DT, aside from making bones rattle with life - for example, peeking onto the complex layers and ramifications of what composes reality. This is when the already kooky scientist grows a little mad; manic, if you will. This is the Wingdings sans was familiar with.

Time travel this, resets that, blah blah blah alpha timeline, the anomaly, the angel, the anomaly again, all things that only make sense to him and his illegible mess on the black board. The lack of detail is killing him, he needs to know what it is - what it does, why it does, how it does. Not to stop it, no, there is no stopping it.

Rather, an overwhelming need to understand it.

He falls somewhere in recent history, details of it left ambiguous. The shattering, combined with the amount of DT running in his magical... mathematical physiology, rendered all of his self but an espectator of his reality; confined to the code and unable to do anything but watch, powerless before the nature of his very being, like a corrupted program.

It is all rather frustrating, besides the burden that is coming to terms with simply not existing anymore, watching was pretty much all this research was and now ever will be. That is, until something interacts with him. It is different from the tragic prince, whom no matter how much DT he's accumulated, he is just as confined to this world's rules as other elements. Not this one, not the force from beyond. Not "YOU".

He makes it a mission to reach out, despite the limits of the code, to give away bits and pieces of him and see if you bite. But not too much, he's seen how you tend to exhaust a world for knowledge, something he can oddly sympathize with. I mean, what will you do once you find everything? One cannot fully know a person.

Maybe in another world, prophetized by a cute, little white dog. A much better world for everyone, without so much as war or disease, his greatest creation yet. And he could invite you to it, to experience bewilderment, to be reminded of wonder. If it could even help you, wherever you are, to deem your own world worth of partaking ... then the experiment was a success.

[faaun]

procrastination is starting to have its consequences finally

[emceescha]

can i ask why you dont ship with the newer(i forgot the word but like. 2021/current) cabaret emcees? no hate just curious!

it's okay anon! i figured someone would ask eventually. it's kind of a lot so i’m putting this under a read more, but i preface it all by saying GO WATCH CABARET. 

the ‘93 mendes off-west end production (which was cut for tv) & the 2014 revival (broadway, based on the ‘98 revival) are both free and available on youtube in their entirety. you can also find the ‘72 film easily online, but it's quite different than the previous two.

okay preface over.

tl;dr they kind of made him a representative of nazism, but without making him a nazi. not only does it ruin the character (who has been primarily represented as a queer jewish man for 30 years now) but also the core of what makes cabaret so powerful of a story. 

warning: something near 1200 words of cabaret/emcee analysis ahead

so. before i can talk about current cabaret, i kind of have to go over previous cabaret. if you are entirely unfamiliar, it is a musical that takes place in 1930s weimar republic-era germany. you can see where this is headed, i’m sure.

it's wholly a musical about the consequences of political indifference, and a LOT of what makes it so powerful thematically is that there is no happy ending, famously, and the audience is very much meant to feel uncomfortable. we all know what happens in the 40s in germany. even your most basic world history knowledge will assure you that. throughout the story, there is an ever-increasing presence of nazi ideology, and we see the trickle down of indifference and support of the nazi party begin to affect our characters lives, until the main plot (which is a love story) becomes overshadowed by the very real presence of modern (diegetically modern, at least) politics. the sentiment is echoed very much so at the end, either with characters stepping up outside of the narrative to quote themselves (“its just politics, what does it have to do with us?” and the like) or in the case of the film, literally showing the titular cabaret’s audience littered with nazis. it's quite the shock to those who are unfamiliar, but so, so powerful a message in the end, that there is no ignoring it. and such a message is so very very relevant currently.

so. now onto emcee, a character that exists only within the frame of the cabaret (the kit kat club, as it's named within the story). there's kind of two ‘types’ of emcee: emcee as a concept, and emcee as a character. 

in the original productions, he was definitely more a concept than a character. like of course he was physically present, but his role was really more about what he represented; all of his songs mirrored plot points and cultural sentiments -- i’ve seen a lot of people interpret him as the devil in the film? i am guessing because he is so disconnected to the rest of the cast, and because he is so very grounded only in the thematic representation of how the culture in germany allowed the nazis to rise to power without explicit consent. he isn't a nazi or anything, just this indifferent figure with a sort of sinister vibe, he doesn't do a whole lot otherwise. we don't know anything about him, really. he's just kind of an off putting little pervert. i kinda dig it though.

but, flash forward to what a lot of people think of as the definitive production, in 1993. sam mendes absolutely fucking KILLED it with this one. the production had a modern taste to it, no longer was cabaret stuck in the aesthetic of the old burlesque, the new aesthetics and theming was really like nothing else. the show got far more explicit, from the dingy visuals of the club and all its inhabitants to the raunchy, in your face humor, the emotional acting of every performer, it was an entirely an incredible interpretation, somehow still so alluring, it was easy to find yourself drawn into this world (or rather club) that frames the show -- which made the ending hit so much harder. 

in this version, emcee is more a character than a concept. still one we know very little about, of course, and still existing only within the club, but a character nonetheless. i always say this is an emcee you can see going home to some shitty, dingy, waterlogged studio apartment. alan cumming kills the role, and brings a nuanced emotional performance to a character that, before, had little but aloof apathy to his surroundings -- even down to a subtle character arc. he begins as this grand hedonist, and following the arc of the story, slowly degrades, even down to subtle detailing implying he is an addict (this is more explicit in later productions), desperate and alone, and doing really anything to survive, including feigning indifference to everything. 

the ending of this production has him center stage, in full camp stripes (bearing both jewish and homosexual insignias, i may add, which establishes him as a queer character for the first time despite it being very heavily implied -- honestly i'm inclined to say downright stated -- throughout the show, and which has since become a staple of his character) and ends with him being killed there. it's a fucking shock, given he is someone that has seemingly not existed outside of the club (i’m compelled to quote his purposefully ironic repeated line, “we have no troubles here”) or within the political turmoil and problems that exist outside of the kit kat's walls, facing this very real consequence of the rise of nazis to power. 

so, yeah. it's kind of a lot. but the point is, the ending is what makes it so effective. it establishes that no matter who you are, no matter if you take a side, they will come for you. there are no ‘good ones’ to them. 

the ‘98 production hones in on perfecting the emotional development of the characters really, including the emcee (this is where his drug addiction is fairly explicit, and you can see his facade begin to crumble throughout the show, among a few other details that really tie his arc together) and refining the parts that didn't quite work in the ‘93 production, but we don't have a recording of that. the 2014 production is replicating ‘98 (as are other smaller productions, like the 2019 olney theater production with mason alexander park who was later cast in the 3rd broadway revival, which is to say the ‘21-’24 productions i will talk about momentarily) so if you choose only one to watch, i cannot recommend the 2014 production enough. 

now, the ‘21 london (and onward, including the current broadway run) productions are…strange. they take the aesthetics of the ‘93/’98 productions and mash them with the upbeat/kind of ethereal tone of the original. it's not bad per se, just really bold. i think it would put off a lot of potential fans on presentation alone.

for some god fucking forsaken reason, they also decide that instead of showing nazis explicitly, they're going to dress people up in this corporate-drone getup? which is so….??????? okay? but they still set the show in 30s germany and show swastikas? ?????

in this production, instead of the slow decline of emcee from this aloof character divorced from the outside world to a frightened, broken queer man facing death (i will never overstate enough how good they handle him in ‘98/’14), he begins to dress..conservatively. from the near-naked, striptease outfit to…a suit. and a blonde wig. and no makeup. and…yeah. you get it. in the end, there is no resolution to his character, which may i remind you is the WHOLE ending in ‘93/’98/’14. that's what hammers the “you need to fucking ACT” part of the theme, which is to say ALL OF IT. he's just suddenly a representation of nazism, without being a nazi. i guess they're trying to go back to “emcee as a concept” except…it's so ineffective. the show just ends. no call to action. instead of leaving audiences with the reminder they WILL come for you, that there is no “indifference,” only silent consent, you're leaving them…with the idea that they're a nazi? except 99.9% of the audience will walk away saying “well i’m not a nazi, so…”

it takes the first step of “indifference is just as bad as support” without the second half of “and now they will come for you anyways.” it's SO dumb. i could rant forever about it. 

so, yeah. i don't care for the new productions. and i don’t care for the desecration of a character that makes the show as powerful as it is. and i really fucking hate they made him kind of a nazi.

[phagodyke]

the masculine urge to take a saucepan off thr draining board and bash myself repeatedly over the head with it until I pass out and no longer have to experience feeling Bad 😍

[itsseriouslyridiculous]

I really hate how my physical body looks so so so much. unfortunately there isn't much I can do about it.

[heirtotheempire]

The Bad Batch season 3 has been interesting thus far. I really liked episodes 1-7 and I've nothing particularly bad to say about any of those episodes. But honestly episode 8, and after today, episode 9, it's once again gotten to be a bit of a pain to get through. Maybe I'm just too much of a Crosshair guy, idk. Today's episode especially irked me but last time I discussed the topics it delves into I got some pissy people in my notes and I'd rather avoid that this time around.

[dirt-str1der]

Random people put a like on my ryusen marriage post every once in a while this makes me happy i like ryusen

[llumimoon]

literally still thinking abt the liveshow. like that will be burned into my memory but also im SO SAD bc i think bc of technical difficulties this show isn't actually being uploaded to the paetron BUT IT WAS GENUINELY SO FUCKING GOOD. Like the dads as teens interacting with the s2 teens ??????? the dads as babies ???????? GENUINELY? I WISH I COULD BEAM MY MEMORY OF THIS SHOW INTO ALL UR BRAINS i need more ppl to know of its existence so i can scream about it. Also never fucking recovering from emo teenager henry actually

[tamaharu]

okay thats interesting! in the SF try-outs during the song "legally blonde" she sings about how she cant be legally blonde, while in the official version AND THE DEMO she sings about letting her be legally blonde. which means that at some point they changed the lyrics around, and then changed them back! laurence o'keefe.... nell benjamin.... what occurs in your twisted minds

[generationa1trauma]

flatmate has a girl over i am suddenly extremely uncomfortable

[todayisafridaynight]

OH about the finale at the shrine, this completely slipped my notice when we were talking about it, but Ichi says he's "reporting" Jo's verdict to both Arakawa and Masato. It's just not translated that way.

Not too big of a difference (well, it is to me, but I'm insane), but if it was highlighting anything, I'd guess it's probably Masato's change of heart. It would've been fair for Ichi to assume Masato wouldn't care and only "report" to Arakawa, but in the context of Ichi doing his damnedest to show Masato they all love him, it works in terms of, "Maybe I made him reconsider, and maybe now he would care."

Also... I'm looking at it in a "measured" way, since the chapter trophies are always just standard "Nth Chapter Cleared" messages that the localization team just spices up for us, but there's something I find really poignant about the Chapter 13 trophy being worded as "Fate of Our Fathers." The pluralization of both the noun and pronoun. Realizations that come too late.

Of course, Masato definitely didn't "know" and had no real reason to suspect it, but the Arakawas have this bizarre subconscious almost-psychic link. So even if he doesn't really think so, there's this sense that Ichi "might as well" be Arakawa's "real" son because they're so much more alike. And maaaybe he felt that way about Jo and himself at one point, because (as we've discussed) there has to be a reason Jo was Masato's "favorite."

[Follow up to this ask]

[itsalwaysdark]

oh nooo i stayed up late . do you think theyre going to kill me

[omanu]

.