#under a readmore because of length | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tsubasaclones · 2 months ago

Text

"wtf is that book", "do i have to read clear card", and other questions you might have after reading holic rei chapter 58

this post is going to be under a readmore because it contains spoilers both for xxxholic rei chapter 58 and like, the entirety of clear card lmao

soooo the last page of chapter 58 of holic rei made me gasp out loud because i never thought i see this fucking book again

for those who may not know, this is the new magic book that's introduced in clear card, generally labelled "alice in clockland" by akiho (who does not know about its magic properties)

the most important thing here is that clow reed once had this book in his possession, and even he failed to use it successfully

i don't have a screenshot on hand rn (too lazy to keep looking) but he then continues on to speculate that it might have been connected to why clow split his soul in half.

if you know why clow exactly clow split his soul in half you can get a pretty good idea of what clow was trying to accomplish with this book (especially with the "couldn't achieve the impossible" bit): he tried to use it in relation to yuuko.

now you might start to see why i'm a litttttle bit nervous to see it in xxxholic! we already established that this thing can't bring yuuko back. what's the point? are we going to rehash that? try to retcon it? what is clamp cooking here???

now you might be asking, what does this book even do? so glad you asked because it's been too long since i wrote an essay-length post yapping about clear card's bullshit.

to summarize, it can rewrite time, with some limitations.

this thing's not exactly easy to use either, if you couldn't tell by clow fucking reed failing. at some point in clear card it's stated that it's been over a century since it was successfully used (until clear card's nonsense, of course)

in clear card, kaito uses it to rewrite akiho's life so that she's actually sakura's twin (but in order to make things largely the same so they didn't have to get into it as much as they Really should have, clamp was just like "oh she was sick as a kid so she had to go live with the great grandfather until conveniently around the time she would have become part of the story originally anyway" which really gives me a lot more questions about this altered timeline that, of course, never get answered. lmao)

the catch here is that he couldn't rewrite anything that was older than him. so he can rewrite akiho's entire life no problem because he is in fact significantly older than her, but her mom had future-seeing abilities and kaito is younger than her so he couldn't erase that completely, so the past/young version of her knew something was up. he also didn't account for the fact that the guardian of this magic book was fucking sick of his shit and thwarted this plan behind his back by leaving a message to sakura that stayed in the altered timeline.

and that brings me to my next point. the guardian of this book, momo (who i love very much. she's awesome)

here's a fun fact about her that's not relevant to what role she could possibly play in holic rei: she's [most likely] named after the book momo by michael ende, which makes sense considering her ultimate role in clear card's plot, but she has this name because akiho is a fucking book nerd who decided that was her name.

you see, the way she works is that whoever she's in a contract with or whatever decides her name and her book's name. now akiho does not have magic and is not in a contract with momo, kaito is, but akiho's mom gave momo to akiho (in plushie disguise) the day she was born, and akiho had no clue she wasn't just a plushie until after the timeline shit (they also never get to reunite after this and they just straight up don't let akiho express any opinion about this ever afterwards??? hello?????????????? but that's beside the point of this post). anyway

but because akiho had momo with her long before kaito realized she was a magical creature and got into a contract with her, and because he was raising her (yes, he's raising her. yes, he's like literally twice her age. yes, clamp thinks this is romantic. this is not a post about how i dislike certain writing choices in clear card so i will leave it at that.) he got used to calling her momo so once he started a contract with her she became officially named momo.

^ also. look at them. why would you separate them clamp.

anyway all that to say, momo is her name & alice in clockland is her book's name now but clow would have called them something else. don't know if holic rei will elaborate on that.

also here she is in her true form. the crown thingy is actually the ring from akiho's mom, lilie, which she gave to her for magic reasons or whatever (yeah there's a little bit of subtext between them but also i might be crazy. that's besides the point)

although when she shows up in clear card's special chapter (not physically, it's some kind of apparition type deal) she notably does not have this ring-crown-thing anymore. which makes me wonder if holic rei will answer why that is.

anyway there's a reason besides "we already established that she can't be used to save yuuko" that makes me nervous for her appearance in holic rei, and that's clear card's ending.

she actually doesn't show up in the last chapter of clear card (chapter 80), she's mysteriously MIA (and i guess we know why now ???) but the situation that makes me worry is as follows:

-throughout the story we are told time and time again that due to his overuse of time magic kaito is literally on the brink of death.

-he finally manages to use momo's book, which is an insane feat as we know because it hasn't been done in over a century and clow couldn't even do it. in any case this is a stupid big amount of magic, since earlier in the story he turns back like a couple hours or something which is noted as being significantly more than he had done before. then when he uses the book he's turning back WAY more than just a couple hours. he's rewriting several years. people's entire lifetimes.

-when the timeline shit is fixed thanks to sakura (which, it took her so much magic to do that that she was passed out for FOUR DAYS and a couple of the clear cards straight up died in the process) he should be in much worse of a condition that he's in, and he's only fine because his time got stopped.

DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR???

now i guess their sneaky little loophole is that they don't say "he should be dead" but just like, he should be doing really bad, but fuck that. like man, he was ALREADY on the brink of death before this which we were shown very clearly, he should be dead. what worries me about this is they're having akiho go "i'm gonna find a way to un stop his time and heal him" as if that's possible! as if that doesn't go against, well, yuuko's entire circumstances around her death.

which has always been extra baffling to me BECAUSE of how they implied clow used momo's book to try (and fail) to save yuuko. so when the chapter came out i was like "lmao they can't have momo here because she'd know this isn't going to work"

and the thing is, they've done dramatic irony with akiho a couple times before this

(this still makes me laugh btw)

but this isn't framed as that. it's framed as a good ending, like they may actually be able to pull that off at some point. but like??? they really shouldn't given. you know. everything that tsubasa & xxxholic established. and clear card is very much connected to these, given that the only thing that even really fucking matters at the end is that sakura has a second staff conveniently due to the timeline bs (and not anything she even did herself) so that when she has to give up the old staff she's not even inconvenienced, which kind of cheapens the whole thing imo. but besides that clear card has sooooo many tsubasa references, some of which i'm fine with but a lot of them i don't think really work in its favor.

so that's why i'm really worried about them bringing clear card stuff into holic rei. i can't trust their writing skills anymore. i can't trust that they won't be like "wellllllll what if we can bring her back after all"

i can't even be excited about the possibility of seeing momo again when she's one of the best things to come out of the trainwreck that is clear card. i'm like lowkey scared they're gonna use her to fuck everything up. please clamp. please

in general, i think clear card kind of needs to be quarantined as its own thing. i don't want that energy brought into their other stories that still have good writing. OTL

also, here's another fun fact: as of the end of clear card, all of the clear cards (except for one) were basically made to go be part of momo's book by the forces of the universe because they're also kind of forbidden magic like her book is (and whose fault is that? not sakura's. it's kaito's, because he was indirectly manipulating her into situations where she'd subconsciously make them in hopes she'd make one that worked for his plans so he could steal it and use it instead. but that's beside the point)

so uhhhh we might see the clear cards in holic rei? what fucking timeline are we living in

sorry this ended up long. i got nothing else to do rn

#sorry this ended up reallyyyy long when i said clear card spoilers i MEANT it #this um. like 1.7k words...#most of the time spent on this post was me trying to dig through my own screenshots afterwards to support my points.#didn't take much time to actually write. i love yapping about clear card.#xxxholic #i wouldn't recommend clear card it kinda really sucks. i'm just insane and have read it like 5 times. go read tsubasa instead #clear card reallyyyyy wants to be tsubasa and fails. just go read tsubasa instead you'll have a better time.#also that's my mii of her at the end. i found that screenshot when i was looking for the other ones and i wanted to include it

59 notes · View notes

a-host-of-dancing-daffodils · 24 days ago

Text

HOKAI so I have been wanting to do a post about this for a while so in order to distract myself from The Horrors here we go!!

What's Up With the Countess??

I'd like to start by pointing out that this analysis is almost entirely based on Episode 3.7 of the show (The Double Clue) because I haven't read any of the books that she's in / mentioned in. SO. Feel free to Take All of This with a Grain of Salt. But. as far as the show is concerned. I believe I am. Onto Something Here.

While I do think that the Countess if she's even really a Russian Countess...we'll get there DEFINITELY has the hots for Poirot (I mean. Who could blame her? He is Very Sexy), I do NOT think Poirot wants her carnally at all. He does seem compelled by her. And he does seem to both Respect Her Methods and Want to Study Her Like a Bug. And he seems to relate to her as a refugee a great deal and, from this, seems to feel a bit protective of her in some ways. But let's take a look at how he actually interacts with her, and it'll become clear: the attraction seems to be VERY one-sided, and it seems to on the part of the countess, not on the part of Poirot. This is especially clear if we contrast their interactions with the way Poirot acts around Hastings (with whom. we all know that Poirot is actually in love. and I will Die on that Hill Thank You Very Much).

Anyroad! I will put most of this post under a readmore because it got superduper long. like. it is now legitly essay-length and yes there are citations LOL

Итак. Начнем. [So. Let's begin] The way Poirot acts when he first sees the Countess, I can get why Hastings thinks he was "taken" with her. But.

If you ask me, I think it's quite the opposite: she was quite taken with him right away, and I think he picked up on this...and immediately thought "Oh. Oh, I can use this".

Case in point: We see him use another person's attraction to him to probe into their involvement in a case in other episodes, too, such as in 10.3 After The Funeral:

And that's what his interactions with the Countess feel like to me especially since, as he talks to her, she seems to be bent on giving herself away to him?? at nearly every opportunity??

But his interactions with the Countess differ from the other cases of him doing this in two ways. For one, they have the added aspects of him understanding what she's gone through as a refugee and relating to her in this way. In some ways, he seems to understand why she would turn to a life of crime, and it seems like he very much respects her, but (for two) because of this, he wants to warn her away from trying to live this lifestyle in HIS territory. During their interactions, he is CONSTANTLY implying that he IS onto her and he WILL Get Her if she's not careful. Which. only seems to make her want him more? and. I mean. Fair I guess. He's So Sexy when he's Dangerous.

First, during their initial little promenade together, he tells her that he's the most famous detective in all of England - this is a bit of a downplay from his usual "greatest detective who ever lived" shtick, which I always found to be a bit odd...but when you really sit down and think about it, it almost feels like he's firing a warning shot across her bow...Like he's trying to warn her that he's on her trail, and England specifically isn't big enough for the both of them.

and don't even get me STARTED ON THE IMAGERY HERE of the stone ornament in the foreground LITERALLY SEPARATING THEM FROM EACH OTHER as they talk about this???? LIKE!!??? HELLO???

Then. After this, SHE'S the one who brings up that he's investigating the jewel thefts (plural), and he smiles as he says, "It seems a simple matter, Madame." Like. 'Oh yes. And I already know who did it.'

And when she ASKS HIM IF HE SUSPECTS HER, he turns it right back on her by asking "Should I?" And she admits "I was there". IMPLYING SHE WAS ON THE SCENE OF EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF THE JEWEL THEFTS. NOT JUST THE LATEST ONE. LIKE??? JUST CONFESS TO HIM OUTRIGHT THAT YOUDONEIT, WHY DONT'CHA???

And then, when they're at the museum, she brings up a specific one of the jewel thefts, implying that it is 'the perfect crime', and he fires another few warning shots, implying that he knows it was her:

"It is strange that you should choose to relate this to me, Countess, I also have read of it. Oh yes, the Atherton Diamonds? And it is true that the police, they were confounded, but it is because they look with the eye that is too, uh...English"

He then MENTIONS that the police failed to think of who the lowest common denominator was - who was present for all of the thefts?

and then he all but points the finger at her when he says "Because the culprit, he is not English enough".

And Look at their expressions here! She seems to be very exited by the danger he poses to her. She is leaning in. She is INTO this. But Poirot's little smile? That isn't an I'm Into This smile. That looks like his I'm Onto You smile. It doesn't even really reach his eyes.

^^^^That^^^^? is NOT the smile of a smitten man.

Now THIS? THIS is the smile of a smitten man:

Like. When Poirot meets Hastings again at Styles? When he smiles that fond little smile at Hastings in so many different episodes?? His WHOLE FACE smiles. His eyes. His nose. His cheeks. His lips. He positively Glows with it. You look at that smile and you can FEEL the fondness radiating off of him.

He smiles at the Countess? and there's nothing in his eyes but a warning. In fact, sometimes when he's smiling "at" her, he's ACTIVELY LOOKING AWAY from her.

Which leads us to some other points about Poirot's behaviour and body language when he's around the Countess: Poirot seems to be very Pointedly Keeping the Countess at Arm's Length, which. He kinda does that to everyone, sure (in some ways, he even keeps Hastings at arm's length, too). But. I feel like many of his particular behaviours towards the countess wouldn't make sense if he was actually interested in her:

Firstly. Taking Poirot's own understanding of Love as our definition, when someone is in love with someone else, they smile at them and can't take their eyes off them (see episode 11.3 The Third Girl). and if you take another look at those pictures above, you'll see: Poirot's behaviour towards HASTINGS fits this definition quite well, actually.

And sure, Poirot smiles at the Countess sometimes. But, as I mention above, HE BARELY LOOKS AT HER WHEN THEY'RE TOGETHER. And half the time, he's looking off into space and he seems to be deep in thought.

During their first little promenade scene, he glances at her all of three times, and each time, it is for less than 2 seconds. He's not gazing at her like a man infatuated.

He gazes at Hastings, though. (Oh my, does he GAZE at Hastings. And Hastings gazes right back.)

Secondly, the Countess calls Poirot 'Hercule' twice in this episode, and each time, he doesn't seem to like it very much.

When the Countess calls Poirot 'Hercule' for the first time, it's at the museum. In response, he simply says "I do not think that there is anyone of my acquaintance who calls me by that name" (I would read that as a clear reminder that, она - знакомая, а не друг, и для русскоговрящего, это - очень важное различение [she's an acquaintance not a friend, and that is a very important distinction for a Russian speaker]). And when she apologises, he doesn't reassure her that it's alright. He doesn't say something to the effect of "Oh, it is alright for you to call me Hercule, I was simply surprised". No. He says "Madame." and goes DEAD SILENT. Almost as if to say "Yeah. Don't call me that." It's like he's saying "You're not allowed to get close to me. Don't Even Try."

And here's him looking away from her right after it happens. Again, I feel like he'd at least be looking at her if he was actually happy to be called that again

The second time she calls him Hercule, it's when she's about to leave on the train:

"Oh, I won't forget you, Hercule." "Nor I you... countess."

When he answers her, HE ANSWERS WITH HER TITLE, NOT HER NAME, and he doesn't even lean into her kiss look at how far out the window she's leaning, like. c'mon.

Which brings us to my third point: he doesn't seem to want to touch her. And when she touches him, he doesn't seem to know how to Handle It.

Like. To provide contrast for this, we know he touches Hastings every chance he can get, because whenever he gets an excuse, it's clear that he wants to touch him so bad. Just for one in-episode example, in the wound-care scene, he's feeling guilty for putting Hastings in danger, so he leaves his hand on Hastings' shoulder for a good. like. 20-30 seconds. He wants Hastings to feel his remorse, and so he lets his hand linger. and watch closely the next time you watch this episode, because when it's time for him to leave, he doesn't just take his hand away, he lets it slowly slip off Hastings' back like he doesn't want to let go.

And don't even get me STARTED on Hastings' Biting little Jealous "Where are you taking her?" Comment BABY IT'S OKAY HE'S NOT ACTUALLY INTO HER YOU ARE HIS ONE AND ONLY LOVE

He does touch the countess at the Picnic, but it's only for a moment, and, the way the shot is framed so that we never see his expression as he reacts to the touch? it really seems to be more for her benefit than it is for his own.

And when the countess takes his arm at the museum, he doesn't smile, he doesn't blush or look flustered. No. He was smiling to himself right before that, and the second she takes his arm, he looks surprised and he actually STOPS SMILING. Look at the set of his eyebrows...pointing down towards the bridge of his nose instead of up. He almost looks annoyed.

^^I don't feel like this is the behaviour of a man who is happy to be receiving attention from someone he's attracted to. I feel like this is the behaviour of a man who is NOT into this at all, but he's gotta keep stringing her along if he wants to distract her from stealing more jewels^^

Which brings us to my next point: Yes, he's 'taking her out on dates' or 'letting HER take HIM out on dates' or whatever. But when you think about why he's doing this? He seems to be trying to Keep Her Occupied. No more jewel thefts? No more threats to Japp's career.

and again. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE IMAGERY HERE. She's reclining on the blanket and he's not even reclining next to her!! He's frikken SITTING IN A CHAIR ABOVE HER. That's not "I'm into this person" behaviour!!!

Perhaps he's doing this as an experiment - if there is a robbery while they are together, he can eliminate her as a suspect, but if not...

Of Course. He Can't eliminate her as a suspect. Because He Knows She Totally Did It. But he kinda feels sorry for her. Because in some ways? He can relate to losing everything. In some ways, he respects her. And in some ways, he thinks of what she does as a necessary evil.

He tells us as much at their picnic together when he implies to her that it's criminals (like her) that give him job security. Perhaps he respects how smart she is and how well she was able to commit the crime he was brought in to investigate (even though he obviously saw right through her from the very beginning). And perhaps he also respects that, despite her chosen occupation, she chooses to be a Refined and Proper Lady who Doesn't Kill People and Only Robs Rich People. And that she's clearly someone with a method. All things Poirot can respect/appreciate.

THEN. TO KEEP HER OCCUPIED WHEN HE CAN'T DO IT HIMSELF, he gets two other private detectives to keep an eye on her, implying that they're there to make sure she leaves the country without doing any more crime: "during your time here in England, there have been four very clever robberies. I do not wish for you to be involved in a fifth."

SO. Poirot basically spends the entire episode trying to give the Countess time to run away and continue her...somewhat necessary work Somewhere Else Please And Thank You and to sneakily tell her 'England isn't big enough for the both of Us. Don't You Dare Let Me Catch You Being a Thief in My Town Ever Again Or I Will Not Be Able To Give You A Second Chance And It Will Greatly Sadden Me.'

And he says it right out loud when he says: "You must continue your work and I must continue mine. But not in the same country."

AND FINALLY, and perhaps most importantly, let's get to the whole reason I started writing this post in the first place: What's UP with the Countess??

Well. I don't think she's the Countess Vera Rossakoff at all. I don't even think she's actually Russian.

What? Yes. Listen.

So She's supposed to be this countess-turned-refugee from Petrograd (which is known today as St. Petersburg)? Okay. You know what? Fair. I would absolutely buy that she's a refugee given that she seems to understand what it's like to lose everything. And it is clear that she is familiar enough with Russia to understand something about Russian impressionist artists and to know that an educated Russian person at the time would absolutely know how to speak French.

And she does make a compelling statement when she calls the city she is supposedly from Petrograd (even though by the time when the episode is set, it would have already been renamed to Leningrad); By calling the city Petrograd and not Leningrad, she's invoking a time period during The Great War when anti-german sentiments were enough to take the german-root words Sankt and Burg out of the city's name, but of course, in her case, right up until the Bolsheviks rose to power, which would supposedly be a clue as to when she left Russia.

So Why don't I think she's Actually Russian if she does all these things """correctly"""?

Well. I'm a Linguist. So my impression is mostly based on how she speaks.

First of all, we never actually hear her speaking Russian (only French and English), and the way she speaks English doesn't follow some of the more frequent patterns of Russian phonotactics and grammatical constructions that often find their way into Russian speakers' English. For example, she uses the sound [ð] (the "th" sound in words like "this" and "the"), which is a notoriously difficult sound for Russian speakers to learn because it's not a sound that's found in Russian, and even her education in French wouldn't be able to help her master that sound, because it's not a sound Parisian French speakers typically use either. Moreover, she uses definite and indefinite articles (the words "the" and "a" respectively), which are notoriously difficult for native Russian speakers to learn because Russian does not have these articles. Her education in French should help her with these, but even if it did, she would probably use more of them than a native English-speaker would expect (kind of like Poirot does) because articles are used in more places in French -- and she doesn't.

Second of all, she doesn't use Russian intonational patterns in the places I would expect to hear it. For example: she asks 'Do you suspect me?' with a rising intonation at the end of the phrase. Based on the Russian intonational patterns most commonly used with questions, I would expect a Russian speaker to say 'Do you suspect me?', emphasising the focal word instead and ending the phrase with a falling intonation.

(Obviously, in reality, these little quirks of her speech are probably just due to writing choices and the actress not knowing much about speaking Russian / probably not having an accent coach, but. It's fun to come up with little in-universe explanations for these things!!)

SO. Let's be real, lads. A jewel thief could absolutely assume the identity of a dead Russian countess if she said all the right things & had enough money from hocking her wares to buy a really nice wardrobe and some good luggage / manage to look and act the part.

But the simplest--and, if you ask me, most damning--piece of Evidence-That-She's-Not-Russian of all?

That would be her saying that she has no use for the cigarette case Poirot tries to give her because she read the initials engraved there as the English letters 'B' and 'P'.

AND POIROT IS THE ONE WHO HAS TO EXPLAIN TO HER that those symbols also stand for the 'V' and 'R' sounds in Russian!!!!

AND WHEN HE DOES, she only looks dumbfounded and says "You've been studying!"

If she was really a Russian Speaker? She would have taken one look at the BP on that cigarette case and read it as a 'V' sound & an 'R' sound just as easily as reading it as English "B" & "P".

Source? As a bilingual English-Russian Speaker myself, what happened in my head immediately upon seeing that cigarette case at the beginning of the episode. Was that my brain unhelpfully lol supplied both the English Phrase "Blood Pressure" and the Russian Word "время" (time), which starts with those two letters.

I would argue that. If the Countess was really a Russian speaker, a similar kind of thought process should have happened in her brain, too. And given that Russian is supposedly her first language (or at least one of the ones she would have had the most exposure to), she should have read those letters as 'V' & 'R' first. But this so-called Vera Rossakoff? Reads these letters as the English 'B' & 'P'? Come ON.

Now. I guess you could argue that, since she was in England and speaking English with Poirot at the time, that she would have been ""In English Mode"" and that she could have "Not Been Thinking" that BP also makes the 'V' & 'R' sounds in Russian.

But. There is a lot of literature out there in the psycholinguistics world to suggest that multilinguals cannot suppress one of their languages to that extent (especially not a language one has supposedly known since birth) - and most recent scholarship on competition between a multilinguals' languages agrees on one thing: words and sounds in all the languages known to the multilingal are activated in the brain during linguistic processing.

There are many psycholinguistics studies which delve into these mental processes. In case you're interested in the scholarship on this particular topic, here's some links: Here's one that talks about between-language competition during reading in multilinguals who speak languages with different scripts (English vs. Korean): Moon & Jiang (2011) Here's one that talks about between-language competition between words with a similar orthography (spelling) during reading in Dutch-English Bilinguals: van Heuven, W. J. B., Dijkstra, T., & Grainger, J. (1998) And here's a couple of studies by the same people that focus on a similar kind of between-language competition in Russian-English bilinguals specifically (although it's about spoken language instead of reading, but the mechanisms in the brain are probably very similar): Marian & Spivey (1999); Marian & Spivey (2003)

All of the above scholarship basically suggests that, when someone is processing words or sounds, even if the sounds/words of one of their languages do eventually get less activation than those of another, there is always some activation of all languages known to the multilingual at any given time during processing, and that competition between languages for activation differs depending on how familiar a speaker is with a given language (in other words, the more familiar the person is with a specific language, the more likely its words/sounds/etc. are to get activated in the brain during perception or production).

ANYWAY. I'M SORRY I KNOW SOME OF THAT WAS WORD SOUP. BUT LADS?? ALL I'M REALLY FUCKEN SAYING. IS SHE DAMN WELL SHOULD HAVE RECOGNISED HER OWN FUCKING INITIALS.

THEREFORE. TLDR??? I DON'T THINK SHE'S REALLY A RUSSIAN SPEAKER. BECAUSE ANY RUSSIAN SPEAKER WOULD SEE THE LETTERS ON THAT CIGARETTE CASE AND READ 'V' & 'R' FIRST. AND IF SHE DIDN'T RECOGNISE SOMETHING SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GETTING FAMILIAR WITH FROM THE TIME SINCE SHE STARTED LEARNING HOW TO READ, I DON'T THINK THOSE ARE REALLY HER INITIALS.

AND I BROUGHT A BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PROVE IT.

ALSO. TO RECAP MY POINTS FROM EARLIER. POIROT WAS NEVER INTO HER, EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE--INCLUDING HASTINGS--THOUGHT HE WAS.

NO. HE WANTED TO STUDY HER LIKE A BUG BECAUSE SHE'S A JEWELLERY THIEF WHO IS GOOD ENOUGH AT HER 'CHOSEN OCCUPATION' TO IMPERSONATE A RUSSIAN COUNTESS AND BASICALLY GET AWAY WITH IT, DESPITE ALL THE STUPID MISTAKES SHE'S BEEN MAKING. AND, LIKE A BUG, POIROT CAN APPRECIATE HER PLACE IN THE ECOSYSTEM, AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT INCLUDE HIS HOUSE.

IN THIS EPISODE, HE BASICALLY PUTS HER IN A GLASS JAR FOR A FEW DAYS TO OBSERVE HER SO SHE WILL STOP WREAKING HAVOC AND THEN HE PUTS HER OUTSIDE AND TELLS HER NEVER TO COME BACK INTO THE HOUSE AGAIN, OR ELSE.

AND!!! LET ME REITERATE!! THAT!!! HERCULE POIROT!!! IS IN LOVE!! WITH ONE PERSON!! AND ONE PERSON ONLY!! AND THAT PERSON'S NAME IS CAPTAIN ARTHUR J.M. HASTINGS!!!

I REST MY CASE YOUR HONOUR.

Anyway!!!! TLDR-TLDR: If you ask me, Poirot's behaviour towards the countess isn't that of a Man in Love. It's the calculating behaviour of someone who knows a good adversary when he sees one (even if her attraction to him made her transparent from the start) and a man who would feel a little like he was vandalising an exquisite forgery of a Rembrandt if he had to go and get her arrested - like. Sure, she may not be the real thing, but damn, is she good at playing her part.

AANYWAAY Now that I have shouted my opinions at the subway walls. I will stop here. because this post has already gotten entIRELY too long.

If you made it this far in this post, thank you very much for reading my ramblings to completion!! I hope you enjoyed them!! Спасибо ��а ваше внимание!!

#Long Story Short: I'm arguing that Poirot is NOT in love with the Countess and She's Not Really Russian IMHO спасибо пока #I know. It's pretty well canon that he's attracted to her in the books but. Listen. From the show??#All I know is what I see on the screen babe. and I do NOT see the attraction here #but y'know. this is just my own interpretation. I'm not looking to convince anyone who isn't already convinced LOL #what's up with the countess #essay #and yes. It DOES have citations #Character Analysis #long character analysis #REALLY long character analysis #this post took me four days to write okay. it's looooongggg #OKAY LIKE ON A WHIM I DECIDED TO SEE HOW MANY PAGES THIS WAS?? THOUGHT IT WAS LIKE. MAYBE 5?? LADS THIS IS 8 PAGES #8 PAGES OF ANALYSIS. THIS IS VERY NEARLY 3800 WORDS. WOW. I HAD WAAY MORE TO SAY THAN I THOUGHT #long post #3.7 The Double Clue #10.3 After The Funeral #Poirot #watching poirot #agatha christie’s poirot #David Suchet #Captain Arthur Hastings #Hugh Fraser #Felicity Lemon #Pauline Moran #Countess Vera Rossakoff #Kika Markham #back on my screencapping bullshit #and Back on my Essay-Writing Bullshit again apparently????

37 notes · View notes

zeravmeta · 1 month ago

Text

Hundred Line DLC Route Concepts

So since hundred line might get some dlc and kodaka wants to hear concepts im gonna put this out in the wild and hope the psychic forces of the universe beam it into his head

note im not 100% on HL yet so maybe some of these ideas were done/are fulfilled in other ways BUT this is my post and while I DO think some routes can get expanded on, im sticking strictly to actual new concepts even in expanded routes, if I want to expand on a previous route id want it tacked on post the supposed ending where a last minute choice could branch off the end

spoilers obvs btw and also long so readmore for spoilers and length

Preamble: BIGGEST AND EASIEST WAY to make a lot of these routes possible as DLC is to allow Eito to kill Sirei on Day 2 and work from there, but they can easily be added at other junctures. With that out of the way,

Concept 1: Last Defense Academy 3rd Run / Inherited Will -> Nozomi as the time looper coming back

I think the title is pretty self explanatory BUT I could see it going in two ways: Takumi after his death in Second Scenario manages to rewind himself back to Day 1 and, using the knowledge of the truth and greater context that Truth/Second Scenario provided, does one more go around for the 100 days to stop Humanity's invasion of Futurum and try to save everyone. Alternatively, you can have Nozomi as the protagonist for this 3rd run, having inadvertently absorbed Takumi's cryptoglobin following the end of Second Scenario and she rewinds, letting us play through this third run with her as the protagonist where she tries to save Takumi in turn and, with a newfound contempt for humanity, can choose whether to strive for coexistence or to sabotage humanity's efforts for using her friends as living weapons.

Concept 2: Bad End Takumi Invasions

So Hundred Line definitely has what I call the Three Houses problem, wherein a character who has time travel powers they can use pretty freely to fix the immediate problems in front of them STILL does not use them because the story demands they not have the reset button on hand, BUT i think this could be used in an interesting way: Have alternate Takumi's from bad end routes use their powers to invade the Academy to try and take our Takumi's better circumstances for themselves. For example, you could have a Retsnom end Takumi try to kidnap our non-Retsnommed Darumi under the logic of "You don't love or appreciate her like I do, so I'll take her off your hands. You don't care anyways so this isn't an issue.", or maybe a Cult Takumi obsess over our Takumi being another extension of his will and try to absorb him because he needs to fulfill his role as the ultimate fix-it tool, or perhaps a Failed Rebellion Route Takumi trying to find a new Futurum after he accidentally ruined his own, you could take this in a whole ton of ways and it could even be as simple as different Takumi's who died early trying to live and absorb and take our Takumi's place.

Concept 3: Expanded V'ehxness & Eva Routes

I think this one is also pretty self explanatory, as while the despair sisters commander siblings have some of the best routes, they're also pretty short, written out as really good endings but with little substance in the middle.

Eva routes can be expanded just from letting Eito kill Sirei: She doesn't get brainwashed, and because Sirei isn't there to shock Takumi and the SDU every waking minute, Eva and the SDU engage in more dialogue where perhaps she has the SDU join the Futuran rebellion against V'ehxness earlier on because now with Sirei no longer manipulating info, they talk for a literal 5 minutes and realize the truth about the war far earlier. Takumi when he was actively shunned in the class managed to befriend her in 10 days this one is so easy.

V'ehxness route can also be expanded upon easier, maybe there can even be an offshoot following Ending 44 where V'ehxness, now having someone she actually loves and wants to survive FOR as opposed to being an eternal unthinking god symbol, manages to escape with Takumi and narrowly survive their fatal wounds. From here it could go a few ways: Maybe they become vagabonds fighting all sides and relying on each other to survive, maybe the commanders and SDU slaughter each other and the satellite humans invade, leading V'ehxness to tenuously team up with Kahmyun and you fight against humanity's invading army as an unlikely allies rebellion where it's an awful tenuous peace but Kahmyun recognizes that V'ehxness is needed for her power and at least this time she actually has a person she cares about other than herself so she can be directed using Takumi.

Honestly I think V'ehxness and Eva should have more interactions in general, maybe even the Unlikely Allies Rebellion route has Eva as the only surviving commander from the massacre and V'ehxness and Eva are forced to actually talk like equals, and we get more backstory from both perspectives.

IDK something something pull both sisters? that'd be kinda funny. Moko spontaneously materializes from Takumi's blood to beat the shit out of him.

Concept 4: Traitor Route / Satellite Invasion Route

Takumi as a "Paragon of Despair" commander allying himself with the Commanders and leading the invasions against the SDU, each battle ends with the capture of a friend and you have to choose to either imprison or eat them. it could be that he's captured early on, MAYBE he revealed his foreknowledge and that leads to his capture and from there they talk more.

I think there's so many ways this one can be done in general: Not only would this be the route where Takumi can bond with the commanders vs the SDU students, but maybe Takumi can have mini routes associated with various commanders as he reaches an understanding/deeper connection with individual ones? Like Nyewgank straight up also has a time power and is depicted as a priest so maybe he can have a mini route dedicated to more worldbuilding as he teaches Takumi about his Futuran heritage? Maybe Takumi even embraces the religion and the internal strife within the commander ranks can have Takumi pick between factions like V'ehxness, Dahl'xia, and the like.

This one would def need to start with letting Eito kill Sirei but perhaps it can be its own golden end scenario with Eito finding out the Second Scenario truths and nudging the other students to join as commanders, with this route's enemies being an invading human army instead of the little monster mobs. Maybe it can even do a rehash of the Second Scenario final battle, but the combined might of the SDU and the Commanders helping them this time actually leads to a happier end for them.

This one is one of those route concepts I like not just for story reasons but for gameplay reasons as well, using the commanders in place of the students can expand gameplay a ton, you fight your endgame gigabuffed students that you spent all those previous routes building up with your giant 4 space bosses, maybe the human army has a different enemy variety type with a whole bunch of different new gameplay mechanics.

Concept 5: True Golden End -> This is the School Mode Dating Sim Option

Eito kills Sirei, then Takumi locks up Eito. Once everyone else wakes up, he uses Second Scenario foreknowledge to not only get the SDU on his side, but also takes the Commanders prisoner, eventually culminating in all the Commanders invading at once (maybe around day 20ish where you have half the army imprisoned and half the army invading). Because Sirei isn't brainwashing them this time and the captured commanders realize "oh shit these aren't humans they're artificial Futurans who literally didn't realize they were being used as weapons", Takumi and the gang + captured Futurans manage to establish a true dialogue with the remaining Futuran commanders and from there they have 80 days of fucking around in free time where you can date them ala the Danganronpa School Mode post games.

We can also date Shion AND Nigou.

Concept 6: Multiple Minds / Takumi remembers multiple routes

This one is a more loose concept and I already think Takumi remembering Second Scenario alone leads to a whole bunch of new route options BUT we could maybe expand on different routes and using multiple routes foreknowledge to give them good and or bad endings? Maybe Retsnom Takumi manages to go back and take Retsnom into himself instead of Darumi, and the rest of the route has us play as Darumi and making the choices to support and/or maybe even kill Takumi.

This can be used for a whole bunch of different routes, like an Eva/V'ehxness route Takumi going back and trying to help the commanders earlier on, an embittered Failed Rebellion Route Takumi being more merciless to try and prevent any SDU casualties, etc so I'll let you have your personal route blorbo pick

Concept 7: Eitovision Route

Listen if we're gonna have Eito be the government assigned yaoi for this boy, why not have a route where Takumi actually sees and lives the world through Eito's eyes? We see distorted versions of all the SDU and Commanders, even Eito and we can decide to help sabotage humanity alongside Eito and the route has a dramatic end with both of them being the only living SDU members left and it's a rehash of the Day 2 Eito solo battle.

Concept 8: MatchMaker Route

This one is more comedy focused but hear me out. Romance routes have Moko playing matchmaker and hosting an outright gameshow with Takumi's lovelife, so what if TAKUMI joins in on the action and tries to make his friends happy by playing cupid with them. Already there's a ton of potential choices in just setting up your fav pairs and you can even make your yuri/yaoi piles canon (take this to the extreme imagine if Takumi mid battle is like "V'ehxness you should really check out Addamaque you both love violence and murder :)" ), but maybe this could also be the Moko romance route.

Concept 9: Karua is Real Route

Ok so we all know that Second Scenario revealed that Karua was just an artificial memory in Takumi's head put there to make him fight extra hard for humanity as were all the hundred liners' backstories, she just happened to take up on Nozomi's look and history because Nozomi would always talk to test tube Takumi. But what if Karua actually WAS a real person on the satellite?

Second Scenario's end cutscene has Karua's spirit appear alongside Takumi, so perhaps from alt timeline shenanigans or whatever reason Uchikoshi cooks up, Karua actually IS real and this completely sends Takumi spiraling because there's two of them now!? And with Karua by his side and technically safe there's not really all that much reason for Takumi to want to fight for humanity.

You could take this in a ton of ways: Karua could be a plant by humanity, maybe a double agent by Sirei or even one of the executives from the Satellite who had a soft spot for this particular experiment, maybe this is a new Futuran commander/other party who was a plant IN the satellite and she nudges Takumi to abandon the cause and join Futurum because she likes him or DOESNT like him, maybe she's from an alt timeline where SHE is the artifical soldier and Takumi was the implanted memory, maybe this could even be a spy thriller/conspiracy esque route where Nozomi is the one trying to figure out what Karua's deal is because she KNOWS something is up. It can be taken in a ton of ways

Concept 10: Monster Mash

Another loose concept comedy focused one but what do you MEAN that there isn't a single vampire in the game where you eat other people's blood. Takumi literally reads about a whole bunch of human mythos in the library so what if he finds a cursed halloween book and now MONSTERS INVADE idk this one is more funny meme idea than anything

#thllda spoilers #the hundred line last defense academy #zerav meta #yapping about my fun ideas #yay or nay like comment subscribe etc etc #kodaka i dont have twitter so im sending this heart tipped arrow out into the wild and hoping it plunges into your back

39 notes · View notes

furba · 9 months ago

Text

🌟 1998 Furby Re-Lashing Guide 🌟

A visual step-by-step guide to my own process for giving 1998 Furbies lashes that retain the classic look. There may be other guides and methods out there, this is just my own way to do it!

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Detached Eyelids ( guide for removal: CLICK HERE )

13mm D-Curl Lash Extensions ( see photo )*

Mod Podge

Tacky Glue

X-Acto Knife

Small Paint Brush

Q-tip

Lightweight Paper

SHARP Scissors

Clean Water

Washcloth or Paper Towel

Optional, Ruler with cm/mm marks & Marker or Pen * 13mm will be closest to original length, I would not recommend anything longer than 15mm unless you want the lashes to really look insanely long.

I will put all of the steps under the readmore! 👇

Step 1:

Use the x-acto knife to gently peel up an eyelash foil strip, and be careful not to disturb the lashes. Go slowly and only handle the strip by the sticky foil. You will only need one strip for a pair of lashes!

Step 2:

Place the sticky strip on the lightweight paper, I put it close to the edge because it'll be easier to cut out later. Paint a thin layer of Mod Podge over the base of the lashes on the strip to secure them. This is an important step, there isn't much else keeping them in place, otherwise!

It's hard to wait, but let the glue dry before handling the strip again, I suggest a good 30 minutes or so.

Step 3:

Now that the glue has dried, cut out the paper around the strip and very carefully trim the foil and paper at the sides and underneath the curl of the lashes. Do this slowly, so you don't accidentally snip the lashes, you ONLY want to trim back the paper+foil. This will make them appear more flush with the eyelid when glued in.

Step 4:

Optionally, use a ruler to find the center of the strip and mark it with a marker, I used a Sharpie because it dries instantly. It's possible to eyeball this, but I like them to be as even as possible.

Snip the strip in half, very sharp scissors will prevent the foil from bending or warping. Again, be careful not to snip the lashes themselves! It's ok if you lose one or two in this process, as long as they still look relatively clean and even once split.

Step 5:

Apply a drop of tacky glue to the back of each eyelid and use the Q-tip to spread it in a thin, sticky layer. The eyelids have a little trench you can use as a guide for placement.

You can repeat this process if you wish with the top of the lash strip where it will be applied, as well, to make it stick better. I haven't tried this myself, yet.

Place the base of the lash strip over the tacky glue and press it into position, I use the backs of my thumb nails to hold them firmly while the glue sets. It make take some effort and patience to get them to stay in the curve, just try not to slide them around.

Step 6 (Final):

After the tacky glue has had some time to dry, I like to apply a final coat of Mod Podge over the paper and underside of the eyelids to seal and protect everything. Give this 30 minutes to an hour to fully dry before re-assembling your Furby!

✨ Voila! Fresh new eyelashes! ✨

They won't look exactly like the original, but close enough for me. I'm sure the process can be improved in some ways, so if you have any feedback please share it in comments or tags!

Good luck with your projects and thank you for reading! 🌟

#furby #furblr #all furby #furby community #safe furby #furby 1998 #safefurby #furby gore #custom furby #guide #furby guide #furby eyelashes #relashing furby #furby eyelash guide #furby eyelash tutorial #tutorial #furby tutorial

81 notes · View notes

moghedien · 4 months ago

Note

hi! was it ever explained in the books how Siuan became the Amyrlin Seat? (also, does she have a Warder?)

Siuan becoming Amyrlin is never like directly discussed at length in the books, but we know a lot of details about how it came about. I will explain if you wanna know, but put it under a readmore in case you don't. It shouldn't really spoil anything that's to come in the show.

The last three Amyrlin Seats before her died in what we'll call "mysterious circumstances" aka they were killed by the Black Ajah. I'm actually not 100% certain if the last one was, but she probably was because the two before her definitely were.

But the thing about those three Amyrlin dying under "mysterious circumstances" is that no one thought it was mysterious. Most people thought they just died of natural causes because they were older and it's a known thing that if an Aes Sedai starts getting old old, they can kinda just drop dead one day because no one really knows what the deal with the Aes Sedai aging and extended life spans does or how long they can last

So three Amyrlins in a row die after having pretty short reigns, and there's some tension in the tower about that and about it not allowing for stability in the tower. So Blue Ajah rising star Siuan Sanche gets suggested and eventually chosen, because not only is she one of the most power sisters in the tower, she's young. Like, she's in her 30s when she takes the Seat and is the youngest Amyrlin Seat that had ever been chosen. So they take the risk of giving this one woman potential hold over the tower for decades if not even centuries in hopes of there being stability rather than the whiplash caused by frequent regime changes with very different ruling styles.

And the reasons why it was Siuan that was chosen is twofold. First of all, after Siuan and Moiraine became full Aes Sedai, Siuan was sorta taken in by an elder Aes Sedai to assist in some of the spy network activities. She wasn't necessarily supposed to know that it was the spy network activities, but she figured it out quickly and from there realized that if she stuck with being this older Aes Sedai's assistant, she could work her way up into the political side of the Blue Ajah and have her hands on the biggest spy network in the tower. When she and Moiraine began pursuing the prophecy, Moiraine needed to leave the tower to avoid getting caught up in something else, but they realized that it was best that Siuan stayed and worked within the tower. I'm not sure "become the amyrlin seat" was the original idea there, but you know, it was sorta the plan.

and yes, book Siuan has a warder. he comes up exactly once in a scene that doesn't entirely make sense with how the Aes Sedai warder bond works tbh. I think if he existed in the show, he woulda come up already though, so I imagine she doesn't have one in the show. he's not terribly important

#wheel of time #wot book spoilers #siuan sanche

45 notes · View notes

carminecherry · 9 months ago

Text

RAIN STAINED CRIMSON | mikey sano

this is part five of the series kill the lights

⇝ PAIRING: timeskip!biker!mikey sano x fem!reader

⇝ SERIES SYNOPSIS: after moving by yourself to tokyo, you black out at a party and wake up with a new friend. as she sweeps you up in her fast-paced city life, you feel yourself falling deeper and deeper for her mysterious brother. but something dark is brewing in the city. as his past threatens to resurface, mikey must fight not only physical enemies but the mental battle of his feelings for you. he can't resist you , but could he ever forgive himself if something happened to you? he'll love you selfishly and protect you savagely.

⇝ PART FIVE LENGTH: 3.6k words

⇝ PART FIVE WARNINGS: violence, injury, blood, distress (18+ minors do not interact):

all characters are 20+; Alternate Universe! Canon Divergent. you meet up with emma for another coffee date and get the debrief. however, on the way back to your apartment, the comfortable life that you've known will be stained in darkness. there is a world of suffering that has never touched your life until now... something is set into motion and nothing will be the same.

⇝ AUTHOR'S NOTE: this one was pretty heavy to write. happy spooky month but please take care of yourself! more chapters coming soon! keep an eye on the tags and stay safe! <3

DO NOT INTERACT WITH THIS WORK IF YOU ARE A MINOR. BY CLICKING THE READMORE, YOU CONSENT TO VIEWING ADULT CONTENT.

You woke to rain. The droplets tapping on your window, drawing you out of sleep. The sound is barely louder than the hum of your AC. It was peaceful. The darkness the thick clouds provided left you dozing in and out for a few more minutes. The sky was churning shades of black and gray, thick like torn wool. The gentle patter of the droplets didn’t match the scene.

You finally rise, starting your routine. Your phone is your companion this morning, as your TV screen sits, black. There was still a gnawing feeling after the news stories yesterday. Two violent attacks in one day are highly irregular, at least here in the city. You knew your mental health would suffer more if you shuttered yourself inside for a second day. Seeing Emma would be good. Surely, her sunshiny personality would wash away some of the anxiety prodding you for attention.

You leave, locking the door behind you. The rainy weather provided some relief to the heat of the previous week. It came in gentle waves, washing over you and your umbrella. The commute to the café was uneventful. You had a dutifulness that kept you from burying your nose in your phone like you would normally do. You watched the world pass by out of the train window, thin streams of water chasing each other. With each droplet the stream acquired, it grew fatter and heavier, rushing across the pane. You entertained yourself with this as you approached your stop, placing bets on which stream would win.

Emma was waiting for you near the ticket gate. She lit up when she saw you and you already started to feel better, your shoulders relaxing. You tap your train card to exit and the moment you’re through the gate her arms are around you. You’re starting to acclimate to Emma’s physical affection. “It’s so good to see you!” she says, swaying with you. “You too! I’m glad to see you’re in one piece” Releasing you, she whines, “I thought I was gonna die yesterday!”

You begin the short walk to the café. “I thought you were gonna die two nights ago. How come it hit you so hard anyways. I thought you were some crazy party girl, shouldn’t you know your limits by now” You tease. At that, she taps her umbrella into yours, the droplets shaking off. “You see, it’s because I’m a ‘party girl’ that I willingly surpass those limits, my friend. Often.” With that, the two of you arrive at the café.

It's quaint, tucked under the train tracks. The old brick is covered in thick ivy that hangs heavy with rain water. You push open the door, greeted with cool air and the smell of freshly ground coffee. The grinder hummed pleasantly, the sound of soft music mingling with the ambient noise. Your eye is caught by the source of the music; a vintage record player. There is natural wood throughout and dark, warm accents.

It was cozy and small with only a few other people seated at the counter. One typing away at their laptop, another lost in the pages of a fat novel. You tried to peek at the cover to no avail as you approached the counter and ordered. There are two worn leather sofas near the front window, the ivy from outside giving some natural privacy. The two of you sit there, sinking into the seats. You chat, waiting for your drinks. You feel at peace

***

“I can’t believe I did that!” She said, burying her face in her hands. “It’s all good, I think Mikey and Draken took care of it.” You say, taking a sip of your iced coffee. “On my LIFE, I’m swearing off liquor!” You look at her incredulously. She flicks some of the condensation water from her glass at you. “At least until next weekend.” She compromises. “Speaking of, there’s an event at a club I promote at. I get plus three if you want on the list.”

This grabs your attention, “Really? That sounds like a lot of fun! I’d totally be down. What’s the vibe?” “It’s a hip-hop place, they want more cute girls in there to drum up drink sales. Basically, we just go, shake ass, and get free drinks from guys that pay the event markup. The club makes a fat stack and we party for free.” She says devilishly.

You could get on board with that. It’d been ages since you’d gone clubbing. You used to be a bit of a club rat in your university years. You imagine that clubbing in the city would be more fun than at the grungy college clubs you used to frequent. A question popped into your head, “You said plus three, are you going to invite anyone else?” “Yeah, Senju already said yes. I wish I could’ve introduced you at the party. I know you guys are gonna get along great. I also invited Yuzuha. She’s gonna try to make it work with her schedule.” Emma says thoughtfully pulling out her phone. You nod, the prospect of making more female friends is exciting.

Emma turns her screen to you, displaying a pretty girl with short, fluffy, white-bleached hair. She’s pixie-like with small defined features. “This is Senju” Emma says, swiping through a few pictures on her social media page. “And this is Yuzuha.” Emma turns her phone back to you. Yuzuha is more mature in appearance, sensual. She has long, silky, coppery hair that falls over her shoulders. “They’re so pretty.” You say, awestruck, unable to look away from the pictures as she scrolled through Yuzuha’s feed. “Wait till you see them in person.” She winks.

“I’ll make a group chat later so we can coordinate and you can add them.” She says, placing her phone on the table. She laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them. “So, you and Mikey?” She says, a glint in her eye. Catching you mid-sip and off guard. You choke on your drink, some of it going down the wrong way. As you cough you manage, “What do you mean?”

She laughs, a twinkling sound that cuts through the buttery air of the moody café. “You’re too easy to read. How charming~” The compliment adds to the redness in your face as you get your coughing fit under control. “No, I’m not.” You counter, doing your best to pull a stoic expression. She laughs in your face again. “You’re blushing ! Too cute, trying to be serious.” She gushes, your face growing hotter.

“I mean, he gave me a ride home if that’s what you mean.” Turning to your drink for a distraction. “Boo~ you’re so boring. I’m talking about at the party. Gimme the goss.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You half mean it. You didn’t want to tell Emma about your dark fantasies about her brother . “Don’t be like that~'' She teased, the look in her eye told you she had something in mind. “Why? Did you hear something?” “You. Mikey. Sofa.”

Your heart skipped a beat. “Oh, I mean we talked.” She hummed incredulously. “No, really. We just talked about bikes and stuff.” “Boooooring.” She huffs, thudding into the leather of the sofa as she reclines. “I thought it was gonna be something juicy. I heard you had him wrapped around your finger.” Your mind raced to replay the evening. In what way shape or form had you had that man “wrapped around your finger”.

“You should check your source. I think they might’ve mixed us up with the couple on the sofa before us.” You pictured the pair again, their hot and heavy conversation. “He was practically inside of her before Mikey showed up.” Now this piqued Emma’s interest as she sat up from the sofa, leaning across the table to you, a conspiratorial look in her eye.

What had his name been? “Yeah, it was some guy Mikey knew, his name was like Hakk- something.” “Hakkai?!” Emma supplied excitedly. You shot her a finger gun, “That’s it! Blue hair, mouth scar.” You dragged your finger across your lips tracing the phantom scar the blue-haired man sported. “And she was GORGEOUS. Long brown hair, big,” You gesture to your chest, mimicking the woman’s endowment. “She was like on top of him. A houseplant might not have been the only thing Yuuki would be replacing if you catch my drift” The thought of cleaning velvet makes you cringe. “Once she saw Mikey she switched it up pretty quick though.” Remembering the way she had fawned under his gaze.

Emma made a face and snatched up her phone, “No. Way. Is this her?” Emma showed you a picture of the woman from the sofa, but in this picture she was in the arms of a different tattooed man. Another solid 10. “Yeah, that’s her!” You confirm. Emma makes a noise, fingers flying across her screen as she types a message to someone.

“That’s Sera. Not to not be a girl's girl, but she’s a total wannabe and a homie-hopper. Hakkai should know better than that. I miss when he couldn’t even look at women.” You nod, soaking in the tea. Picturing a little Hakkai freezing up when a girl tried to talk to him was an endearing image. One in stark contrast to what you’d seen on Friday. “She’s been trying to get with Mikey for ages and she won’t take no for an answer. I guess fucking all of his friends is her plan B.”

You hum. You’d met your fair share of fuck boys and girls in university. After hooking up with a couple of them you decided that you preferred to stay out of the drama. “I guess that explains some things. They cleared out after he saw Mikey.” You sip thoughtfully, nearing the end of your drink. Remembering how Mikey hadn’t acknowledged the pretty brunette’s presence. It was starting to make more sense now. “That tracks” Emma replied, her phone buzzing but she makes no move to check it.

She finishes her drink, the ice settling as she returns the glass to its coaster. She runs her fingers up and down the side, tracing a pattern in the condensation. “Well, whenever you’re ready to talk about what happened with you and Mikey, let me know. He’s been acting weird all weekend” She said in a teasing tone. “Nothing. Happened.” You impress upon her. Tucking that crumb of information she tacked on at the end in your pocket.

“Whatever you say~” She shrugs, finally checking her phone. She smiles rising from the sofa. “Mikey usually doesn’t let anyone on the back of his precious bike. So do with it what you will.” Two crumbs in your pocket. Your blush returns. You try to turn from Emma but it’s too late. She snickers.

“Let’s do this again, next Sunday. We can have ‘Sundates’.” She proposes. “I’d like that.” You smile moving to exit. “I’ve got some errands to run out here so I’ll split after we get to the station.” You nod. The two of you call back a ‘thank you’ to the barista as the bell above the door jingles.

You say your goodbyes at the station and board the train. The rain falls harder now, in heavy sheets that pelt the windows of your train car. The train lurches to a stop one station before your home station. The doors open to the platform and an announcement plays, “Due to extreme weather conditions, the service on this train line will be temporarily suspended. We apologize for any inconvenience.” The message plays on a loop and you curse how close you were to getting home.

You weigh your options. Truthfully, it wasn’t a far walk. Maybe 15 minutes. The platform grew more crowded as people retreated from the rain. The growing crowd made you nervous and you decided a 15 minute walk is preferable to elbowing your way onto a packed muggy train when it does start running again. You ready your umbrella and venture out into the storm. Thunder clapped loud enough to shake the trees, a sprinkle of extra water added to the downpour you were battling. It was amazing how loud just the rain was.

Your visibility was poor and you were having second thoughts about this adventure. You were about halfway at this point, too late to turn back. Over the sound of the rain you heard something. A voice. You stop dead in your tracks, frantically looking for the source. Again, a voice cried out. The pain in the voice sliced through the deafening rain. Your body was moving before you could think. If you had, you probably would’ve frozen. You round a corner, carelessly splashing through the puddles in the sidewalk. You’re met with an alley, tucked between two large buildings, the space somewhat sheltered from the rain.

It was then you saw a figure crumpled on the ground and a larger one standing over them. The larger figure, a man, loomed over them. His dark hoodie drenched in rain. Your eyes scanned down his back and landed on the knife in their gloved hand. The blade reflected back a sickening red. Your body starts to shake. You want to run, to disappear. The body on the ground curled into the fetal position and cried out again.

“Help! Someone. Please.” Their voice cracking. The gurgle in their words made your stomach twist. The hooded figure stomped them once, then again. The wounded cried out with each impact. “ Oi oi- .” The attacker punctuated each blow. “It’s no fun if you don’t fight back~” His tone was saccharin and sing-songy. It makes your skin crawl. “I swear I didn’t-” The attacker kicked them hard in the stomach. The sound of retching pushing you over your fear threshold. “ If you’re gonna FUCK around you better be ready to find OUT! ” The hooded man’s deep voice echoes off the walls.

Now was the time to act. You could slip away unnoticed, pretend none of this ever happened, or better yet, call the police and have them sort it out. But in your heart you knew that if something didn’t happen now, that person was going to die. Thunder crashed again and you took a deep breath, forcing your body to move. Your eyes land on a pile of trash, tied up for pick up. Next to the bags you see a rusted pipe. You wrap your fingers around it, wet and grimy. You test its weight in your hand, dropping your umbrella, breaking into a sprint. The hooded figure stooped, coming to kneel over the smaller who tried to crawl away. He raised the knife.

CRACK! It was a sick, wet sound as you brought the pipe down on the man’s head. His body went limp on top of the figure below. You kick the knife hard and far into a pile of trash bags before grabbing the wet material of his hoodie and heaving him off and away from the other. You step, splashing a puddle that stains the hem of your pants red. You rush over, kneeling next to the injured figure, their body shaking harder than yours. You let the pipe drop. The figure crawls to you, hugging your legs with little strength. You see now he’s just a boy. No older than 18. His lip trembles, tears pouring from his eyes. He looks so scared.

You move to cradle him, your body blocking the rain. “T-thank you.” He cries weakly. You nod, the lump in your throat prevents you from responding. You look him up and down, your vision blurring through the tears. You count 2 stab wounds to his chest and stomach. The red is spreading through the material of his T-shirt faster than you care for. You manage, “I’m going to call for an ambulance. Can you press on the wound?” You wiggle to free your phone from your pocket, fighting the water on your screen to dial the emergency number. “Which one?” He tries to chuckle before wincing. He still has a sense of humor, that’s a good sign. You hit the speakerphone button as the line starts ringing.

It quickly connects and you steady your voice, telling the operator, “Hello! Please, I need help. There’s been a stabbing, um..” You look around, realizing you don’t actually know where you are, “Are you at the location now?” the operator asks, she has a soothing voice. “Yes!” You say ardently. “Alright, I have your location on my screen now, we have emergency service vehicles on their way to you, but it’s going to be a few minutes. Are you with the victim now?” “Yes, I’m here, he’s here. He, uh, he has at least two stab wounds to the torso.” You tell her frantically. The words feel strange and clinical.

“Okay miss, we’re going to apply pressure to the wound. I want you to look for something you can use, like a towel or blanket.” You look around the dirty alley. “Nothing, there’s nothing.” You say, a sob escaping. “That’s alright, so what we’re going to do is, I want you to use your hands to apply pressure.” “I-I am. I’m doing that.” “Good, you’re doing great. EMS is almost at your location.”

The stab wound in his chest seems to open further as the red seeps between your fingers. You quickly adjust your hands to apply more pressure to the wound, wiping your tears on your sleeve. “Please tell them to hurry.” You say pathetically, more tears streaking down your face. He starts to fade, his eyes fluttering “No. Stay with me.” You say firmly.

He’s fighting. He locks eyes with you, “I don’t want to die.” He whispers, voice cracking. “Please, please, please.” You mutter, each a prayer that EMS will arrive. “I’m scared.” He says with a strangled voice. “I’m here with you. I’m here.” You cry. “ Mom .” He begs. You hear from your phone, “We’re going to do this together. EMS is a minute away. Hang in there” You hear a groan as the hooded figure reanimates. The boy sobs out, his limp body unable to move. “Please, please, please.” You pray. The hooded figure groans again, bringing a hand to his head.

“Miss, I need you to talk to me, what’s going on?” You hear the operator ask. “Police! We need the police. The man, he’s waking up.” You squeak, your veins feeling electric. Then you hear them. Sirens in the distance. “Police are on their way, miss. They’re almost there. You’re doing so well.” The operator encourages.

The hooded figure pushes himself up feeling around. He sees the two of you, his masked face streaked with blood. His or the boys you couldn’t be sure, “ You bitch. ” He says venomously, his golden eyes searing into you. The sirens are so close. “Please.” You beg the universe. He looks around once more, seeming to hesitate before he takes off; staggering out of the alley. Your eyes follow after him, sure you'll see him reappear.

The body in your arms slackens. “No!” You cry, jostling the boy. “No, please.” You move again to adjust the pressure. You see them from the other end of the alley, the flashing lights of the ambulance.

What happens after is all a blur. You lean back on the wall of the alley, watching them work. You can’t look at your hands but you feel the warm liquid growing cold and sticky. He has a pulse, you gather from the paramedics. He lost so much blood, too much blood. They load him into the back of the ambulance and they are gone.

You don’t remember when, but the police must have arrived. You feel a blanket being wrapped around your shoulders as you're led to a police car. “Yes. No.” Those are the only words that remain in your vocabulary. “Miss, are you injured?” “No.” "We're going to have the paramedics check you, okay?" "Yes." “We're going to take you to the station the station to help us file the report, are you able to do that?” “Yes.” “Is there anyone we can call for you?” “No.”

You don’t know how long you were at the station. How many questions you answered. You hear word that the boy was in serious condition at the hospital but doctors were hopeful. They said you saved him but it hardly felt like it. There was a familiar hole in your chest. How long has it been since this old friend visited you? You let the world move around you, there was a child-like comfort in releasing control to someone else. That a parent knows best and will act in your favor.

A police woman, perhaps a decade your senior, takes you to another room. She has kind eyes and her touch is soft. She helps you change out of your clothes. She told you they would be evidence. She uses warm, wet rags to clean you. You sit there and let her gently wipe between your fingers. She is attentive and steady. She moves slowly, like you're something fragile. Right now, you are. The minutes tick away before she is dressing you in a light, baggy shirt and sweatpants that are a bit too big. You let yourself be led to a police car. The edges of the sky taking on that luminous blue that previews sunrise.

You ride in silence. It’s not long before you are home. The engine is turned off and the officer exits the car, opening the door for you. He offers you an arm and you take it. “If you need anything. Please call or message me. Any time.” He hands you a crisp, white business card. You pocket it, quietly thanking him. He walks you to your door and makes sure you get in safely. You stand in your entryway, back against your door until you hear the car pull away. You slide down the wall and sit there. The smell of the cheap, plastic shoes from the police station is unpleasant. Still, you sit.

#mikey sano x reader #manjiro sano x reader #manjiro x you #mikey x reader #Mikey Sano #Mikey Sano smut #tokyo revengers x reader #tr x reader #tokyo revengers fanfiction #tr smut #tr x you #carminecherry fics

79 notes · View notes

atricksterproblem · 3 months ago

Text

Unpopular Headcanons: Papa V Perpetua

All right, we're doing this. This is take one, subject to possible changes as canon information is available. Note also that I'm leaving the question of his being trans ambiguous at this point since we don't know anything in settled canon. If he's confirmed trans in canon I'll make a note of that too. For V, see also this excellent post since it is very, very close to how I think of V myself.

Adding a readmore. Some of these are NSFW.

V is a guy who feels everything too intensely. At this point in his life he's self-aware about it, but he can't really control it much either, so he tries to keep from getting too close to people. This doesn't always work, and if he falls in love he falls hard. Rejection goes through him like a knife.

People tend to think of him as somewhat quiet and reserved because of the way he distances himself. Offstage, this is sometimes interpreted as shyness (people who have seen his performances will know that this isn't entirely the case). Except with those few people he gets really close to, he's a man of few words. He pours his heart out into his songs, and his singing voice is versatile and often raw with emotion.

That said, he does love flirting, and he particularly loves doing it with body language, proving the effect he can have with few words and often without even touching at all. He's the king of smouldering looks, he can make your heart beat faster with his smile alone and he knows it. Sometimes he uses this as an outlet. He may be afraid to get too close, but he loves enthralling people he's attracted to.

He's got more demon in him than most of the bloodline. This gives him a lot of magical and physical power. He knows it and he's used to it. This tends to give him an air of casual authority onstage, and this confidence helps him keep people at a distance too. If that's the only side of him they see, they may never realize what a mess he is inside.

V's sire came from House Lilith just as Terzo's did, but he was a different order of demon and the traits are expressed somewhat differently in V as a result. Terzo is more of a siren thanks to his incubus sire; he relies often on his voice and persuasive words. V's form of persuasion is more physical, through enticing body language. He is also subject to an almost-violent sort of passion that he goes to great lengths to restrain. His magic, also, is more aggressive. If you didn't know better, you might mistake him for a scion of House Asmodeus if you've seen the way he fights.

He loves to keep his edge by sparring, usually with the least-tame of whatever ghouls happen to be in the Abbey. He prefers to fight with clawed gloves, so he's a good match for the ghouls. Combat tends to bring much of his power to the fore and his demonic nature right along with it. It's not uncommon to see him laughing as he fights with a fiendish grin on his face. His wings, like Terzo's, manifest when he's using a lot of his power at once, but unlike Terzo's his resemble a bat's.

His power makes him faster and stronger than he looks. If he needs to, he can move like a blur for short distances. His fights don't tend to be long because of this. You may never even see his claws while he cuts his opponents down.

The use of his power has a drawback: because it brings his demonic nature to the forefront, it makes him very dangerous unless and until he can get himself under control again. He has had a lot of training and practice to this end and he is good at it, but accidents happen and there are no guarantees. When he's in a demonic state, all of his senses are heightened. He's particularly sensitive to human emotion, and to some extent he feeds off of it.

If he ever loses control, he experiences crushing guilt, and he lives with a lot of deep self-loathing because of what he is. He thinks of himself as a monster, not worthy of being loved and too dangerous to be around anyone he cares about. Loving him requires a lot of patience and willingness to draw him out until he feels safer.

Sexually speaking, he loves anything that takes him out of himself and makes it so he doesn't have to think. He lives too much in his own head most of the time so he experiences this as a relief. He gets a lot of pleasure out of being in subspace, he particularly enjoys being edged until he's incapable of doing anything but begging for release. He likes to be restrained (and you need to use pretty significant bonds to do it given his strength!) because it makes him feel safer to let go, knowing he can't harm his partner even if he gives in to the more dangerous side of his nature. And yes, as he's noted once or twice, he really does like it rough.

Being who and what he is, he often has the urge to take on the dominant role himself and just wreck the bed with his partner, but he's usually too afraid of losing control to do it. If he gives into this side of himself, he gets very predatory. He would love to run someone down to make them his prey but he's terrified of hurting anyone he cares about. When he lets himself, he tends to bite a lot and to scratch his nails down his partner's back.

Far too often in his life, he's had the experience of opening up to someone, falling hard for them, and scaring them away because of his own intensity. He feels he's too much and not fit for human interaction, but he can't resist trying again sometimes because he does feel so much and craves connection.

There is nothing he wouldn't do for someone he loves. In fact, you have to watch out for him because he has a tendency toward self-sacrifice. It's much harder to get him to take than to give under normal conditions. He struggles with accepting compliments.

Despite his demonic side, he's normally sweet-natured and inclined to kindness. This makes it that much harder for him to accept the shadow side of who he is, and he is always trying to suppress it. He wants to love and to be lovable. He wants to take care of people. He fears that he's destined always to do harm in the end.

21 notes · View notes

maythedreadwolftakeyou · 7 months ago

Note

Hi! Cause you forced me to acknowledge how many damn WIPs I have (rude) I shall now send you an ask about yours 😌 So I'm gonna be super shameless and predictable and ask about that one Spite Lucanis x Rook fic I spy in there 👀👀👀

from this tumblr game thank you!! :)

ahahahaha well. this was indeed a character exploration about Spite's involvement in Rook/Lucanis' relationship but uhhhhhhh taken to the logical and less favorable conclusion than i have seen in fanfic so far, hence the word "interruption" in the title 😂 posting a longer snippet because... really i've just been writing random scenes for their relationship and am not sure if/when/how i will structure it into fanfic yet (handful of one shots? a longer thing? i am so low on free time though 😭 idk)

timing is after the romance lock-in but before the act 3 romance scene, so Rook & Lucanis are together as a couple but haven't slept together yet... though they may have been heading that way before Spite decided to get involved. under a readmore for length!

STOP, Spite suddenly roars, surging forward from the back of Lucanis’ awareness. The demon’s wings burst forth, their first downward stroke hard enough that it sends him reeling backwards, away from Rook. “What?” he cries, and “—what?” Rook echoes in sudden alarm, as their bodies tumble apart, Lucanis barely managing to throw out an arm to brace his fall as he crashes to the stone floor of the pantry. His feet tangle in his discarded waistcoat and trousers as he leaps back to his feet, nearly sending him to the floor for a second time.

He looks around wildly, for the attackers or whoever else is responsible for Spite’s sudden disquiet. But there is no one. No demons, no Antaam pulled into the Fade, not even one of their companions wandering too close on accident. He fumbles at the table for one of his knives anyway, trying to listen, to figure out where the danger is coming from. “What’s going on? Spite, what happened?!” There, Spite says, all calm satisfaction now. If you kept going. She would have come. Now she wants more. “She—excuse me? Spite, what are you talking about?” Lucanis demands. She will think about you all night now, the demon replies happily. If you kept going. It would have been over. “I—why would you do that?! That’s not how it works!” “What’s he saying? What’s going on?” Rook stands in front of the bed, frantically staring around too, searching for enemies that clearly never existed. Her hair is still rumpled from where his hands had tangled in it, her breaths still coming fast and heavy. He cannot believe he has to not only sit here, disgraced and ashamed, but he is left alone in actually explaining what’s happened. “Mierda. He did it on purpose. He thinks it’s—fun. To stop us.” He presses a hand over his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Spite—ohhh. Oh.” “I’m going to kill him,” Lucanis says flatly. “I’m going to take myself out back and—” I’m RIGHT, Spite howls in defiance, baring his teeth inches from Lucanis’ face. Despite himself, he flinches back. You wanted. Her to think about you. MORE! “No, stop that, it’s fine,” Rook tries to soothe him, her hands scrabbling to re-fasten her tunic around her waist. As though this catastrophe is something she can just brush off. “I guess we should figure out, uh, how Spite—how you and he—” “I can’t talk about this,” he mutters into his palm as he drags his hand down his face, dropping to sit back down on the cot again.. “This is not happening.” He knew Spite was a part of him. He was resigned to his presence, was growing used to the new precautions his life involved. He even, though he hated to admit it to himself, enjoyed the extra momentum and power the demon brought when they fought against enemies. What he hadn’t considered was the demon barging into the personal, intimate— You did it BEFORE, the demon sulks. And it WORKED. She wanted to kiss you more because you stopped. “That was different,” he snaps in response. He ignores Rook’s baffled expression at his half of the conversation. “I mean—he is Spite,” I guess, Rook acknowledges. “Uh, maybe I should leave you two to talk about this together?”

Panic surges in his chest, as he bites back his urge to shout No! at the suggestion. But she doesn’t deserve to half-witness the mess of the argument he’s already having. He was an idiot. He should never have assumed something might be going right in his life for once. “I don’t even know what to say to him,” he can’t help saying in exasperation. “He doesn’t listen, just does—whatever he wants.” What YOU wanted! You SAID it! I was only HELPING. “Well. You said you didn’t have much experience with, um, relationships—” “I don’t think this counts as the kind of experience anyone has, Rook,” Lucanis responds, dropping his head into his hands again, elbows resting on his knees. “I can’t exactly stop him from—he sees what I see. What I… feel.” Admitting it fills him with shame. He should have told her before this. Whether or not she’s guessed, there’s no avoiding it now, or pretending anything in his life could ever again be normal. Simple. “No, I just meant—maybe try to explain it to him, is all.” Rook sighs, and he can hear the shift of fabric over skin as she tugs her clothing back into place. He wonders if she can see the bright flush of shame to his skin behind his hands. “He’s only got your memories for how to interpret the world,” she continues. “Maybe he… misunderstood something.” He doesn’t want to tell her that Spite probably understood more than he did himself. Lucanis certainly hadn’t realized just how close she’d been to—he shakes his head to clear away the thought. “You two will figure this out,” Rook says, with a firm conviction he does not mirror. She leans forward and kisses the top of his head, but he can’t bring himself to raise his face to meet her gaze. “I’ll see you at dinner later.” He hears her soft footsteps pad to the door, and slip away, out of the kitchen and back to the other parts of the Lighthouse. Maybe if he never leaves the pantry, he won’t ever have to think about this again. Maybe she’ll forget the whole thing ever happened. Won’t forget, Spite cackles gleefully. Definitely. Won’t forget.

24 notes · View notes

timetravelinghearthian · 2 months ago

Text

I’ve been thinking about Hearthian timekeeping.

AKA: "Welcome to Timber Hearth, where the days are made up and the light doesn't matter."

youtube

[Video ID: A time lapse video of a solar cycle on Timber Hearth. The camera is positioned on the rim of the Village crater, with the observatory and fire watch tower visible. The Attlerock and Timber Hearth satellite pass overhead multiple times each. The solar cycle takes just under 7 minutes. End ID]

We know Hearthians must delineate time in some form, as they refer to the Hatchling’s departure as “Launch Day” and Hal estimates the time they would take to have a foothold in translating the Inhabitants’ language in “six months.” We can also presume that a “day” doesn’t match up with a single light-dark cycle, as it’s still Launch Day after we’ve gone up and down the crater, typically several daylight cycles.

(As a note: the following is all assuming that what we see is 1:1 with the "actual" conditions on Timber Hearth. It's certainly possible that everything has been significantly compressed for the sake of gameplay. However, I like the idea of exploring the implications of a mini solar system, and so here we are.)

With how fast (or even nonexistent, as the place lacks any sort of visible axial tilt and is thus likely aseasonal (without seasons)) Timber Hearth’s celestial clocks are, my headcanon is that biological clocks rule the roost here in terms of timekeeping. The two most common biological clocks are related to activity level and life cycle. (We’ll look at the latter in the discussion of “years,” but for now let’s focus on the former.)

Under a Readmore because, again, got long.

The simple fact is that most creatures with complex nervous systems can’t keep up their preferred level of activity indefinitely. Even creatures that require constant movement, like pelagic sharks that force water over their gills by swimming, practice some form of rest (for the curious, the current thought is that their brain enters a period of unconsciousness while their spinal cord keeps the swimming rhythm going. Neat!) This cyclical change over time is called a circadian rhythm. Typically, these cycles are determined by light level (e.g. diurnal animals waking up with light stimulus, nocturnal the opposite.)

The problem here is that Timber Hearth “days” are so short (between 5 to 7 minutes thanks to the fact that the planet is both spinning on its own axis and traveling along its orbit around its home star) that it would be nearly impossible for a light-based rhythm to form; there’s just not enough time for most organisms to really “wind down” into a state of rest before the sun rises again. Therefore, any cycle would need to be detached from light stimuli and likely entirely endogenous (coming from the organism itself.) We actually see something like this in some humans! Called “non-24-hour sleep–wake disorder” (or non-24 for short,) this variation of the sleep-wake cycle is characterized by its complete detachment from light stimuli (usually because the person in question is totally blind, but it still occurs in some sighted people as well.)

Assuming Hearthians sleep for uninterrupted stretches of time like most humans do, this sort of internal clock could easily be used for timekeeping. Though, of course, being untethered like this means that it’s easy for individual cycles to not be the same length or be in phase with other cycles. I imagine that, while a “day” is likely measured by the average sleep-wake cycle length, the idea of everyone being asleep at the same time is somewhat foreign to them. (Also, it makes sense for a social creature like them to not have everyone asleep at once; everyone can take turns watching over the group. The human phenomenon of “night owls” and “early birds” is theorized to arise from the same pressure.)

There is also the option that they rest multiple times a “day” in shorter segments (polyphasic sleep.) This is pretty common in mammals (see: cat nap) Though at that point, why not just define a “day” as one of those smaller sleep-wake periods? Another possibility is having only part of their brain in a sleeping state at a time (unihemisperical sleep) but that is typically only seen in creatures that need to be able to react to their surroundings at all times, such as flying birds or aquatic mammals, so it’s a less likely mode of sleep for a terrestrial creature that appears to be at the top of the local food chain.

As a final note, Hearthians also seem to have a quirk of being able to enter and exit at least a light sleep at will, as suggested by the “doze off” mechanic, and if their sleep patterns are untethered to external stimuli as mused above, that makes sense.

[[Author’s Baseless Headcanon Alert!]]

For MBMP, I wanted to have Olivine’s loop be longer than 22 minutes for a number of reasons related to plot and logistics. I decided to stick with the fact that the loop is around 3 1/2 Timber Hearth light-dark cycles (“sunrises”) long and expand things from there.

My selections for both the new light-dark cycle length and the number of such cycles in a “day” were largely arbitrary. Eventually, I settled on about an hour and forty-ish minutes for the light-dark cycle length (to bring the loop to just under 6 Earth hours, plenty of time to both do stuff and account for travel time in my somewhat scaled up version of their solar system.) For the latter, I chose 12 cycles per “day” (because I see Hearthians having a similar 2/3 awake, 1/3 asleep ratio like us; and because it’s funny,) and you have an average Hearthian “day” lasting about 20 Earth hours: close enough that they won’t run into immediate trouble keeping pace with the humans, but not exactly the same because that would be boring.

On sleep cycles, the headcanon here is that part of the reason we only see 20-ish Hearthians in the crater (aside from video game scaling) is in part to there being at least a few others currently in the resting phase of their cycle, and Hearthians of similar age tend to synchronize their cycles (though not always.) Further, very young Hearthians actually do follow a daylight-based sleep cycle, but eventually grow out of it. Among the three in MBMP, Hal's cycle has been shifted back relative to Olivine's (i.e. they wake up earlier) due to being more in sync with their and Marl's treekeeper mentor during their training. Gabbro's cycle, on the other hand, is sort of all over the place, and it wouldn't surprise me if they had the Hearthian equivalent of non-24 (non-12?)

[[End Alert]]

We’ll discuss the keeping of larger periods of time in a second post, seeing as this one got so damn long.

#outer wilds #outer wilds headcanon #my headcanons #original posts #hopefully now y'all are beginning to understand how autistic I am about this shit

12 notes · View notes

lordmaddie · 3 months ago

Text

Enderal: Forgotten Stories — Ultimate Prophet Asklist

Thank you to jilljoycearts for working so hard to create this massive asklist! You can find the template here. Answering this for my Prophet OC, the Marksman 😌 Keeping things under a readmore, since it’s long!

[Some things that need to be clarified first! 1) The Marksman isn’t the “intended” Prophet; in his eventuality he caused so much shipping disruption that the Morning Dew would not have made it to Nehrim to pick up the “true” Prophet and Sirius. Hand forced, the Veiled Woman sunk his ship and made him the Prophet instead. 2) He does not have dreams of the Nehrim house/Daddy 3) He didn’t wash up in the same part of Enderal as other Prophets, and so didn’t go through the Abandoned Temple 4) He arrived in Enderal ~2 years before the “true” start of the game (where you meet Jespar in Riverville) 5) There’s a number of quests he's simply not done/even picked up! I have edited/removed some questions to reflect this!]

Basics: 1. Let’s start simple — what’s your Prophet/ess’s name, age, race, etc.? Name: ▮▮▮▮▮▮ [The Marksman] Age: ~25 Race: Kiléan (birth), Half-Kiléan (blood) (doesn’t know he’s only half-Kiléan; other half is something northern, maybe Enderalean) Height: Nice round 6’0” Weight: Heavy. Don’t ask me for specifics ^-^’’

2. Show us what they look like, or describe their appearance in detail. All his art is available on his Toyhouse page. The Marksman is tall and broad at the shoulder. He has black-ish hair, red eyes (unrelated to the Red Madness, I just think it’s cool), and pale skin (though the latter’s due to underexposure to the sun - he’d tan very quickly if he ever went out much in daylight). Years of repetitive use of a longbow has left him with osteophytes (bone spurs) in his shoulders and wrists that impede some of their movement (however their growth was halted when he was made Fleshless). One arm is also larger than the other (but I will never draw this).

Personality: 3. What’s their personality like? During his former occupation (assassin) and unpleasant upbringing (understatement) he got too used to learned helplessness and ignoring his own emotions. Even now as a free man this has left him numb and apathetic; unable to have an emotional response to most situations that call for it. If one occurs, he often finds it confusing or unparseable. Besides that, however, he is confident and fairly easygoing - after all, what could anyone possibly do to him? Complain to the guards? They don’t get paid enough to deal with him.

4. What do they usually wear — for fighting, traveling, being in the city, relaxing at home? Combat- Layer 1: Shirt, trousers, leather arm-sleeves. Layer 2: Leather torso+shoulder armour, leather armguard (right arm only), leather archery gloves, leather trousers, either soft leather shoes (for stealth) or hard leather boots. Layer 3: Cloth hood+collar+mantle, shoulder-belt (bow + quiver are sheathed/clipped to this), leather double-belt (dagger sheath is buckled to this), leather greaves. Travel- The above, his pack, and sometimes with the addition of a cloak. Non-combat (at home/in the city/etc): Shirt, belt, trousers, “walking about town” boots. Usually also his cloth hood+collar+mantle. All of his clothes and armour are dyed or stained black. If asked, he’d say because it’s practical and “hides stains”. In truth it’s because he’s a little vain, thinks he looks good in black, and likes that people find it intimidating. He owns six of the exact same shirt, which he purchased in bulk.

5. What’s in their travel bag? Varies depending on length of expedition, but usually: food+water rations (dried meat, oats or barley, dried fruit, salt), cooking/eating utensils, needle+thread, bandages, shaving mirror, shaving cup+brush, shaving razor, soap, flint+steel, tinderpouch, whetstone, spare bowstrings, string wax, oil (for his bow), small amount of woodstain (black), spare clothes.

6. Any pets or mounts? None - he’s a poor rider, and has no desire to be responsible for the welfare of an animal.

7. Do they have any treasured possessions? None - the Marksman’s failed to make any emotional connection to or gain any particular fondness for any objects - even his bow.

8. Do they drink/smoke/do drugs? He’s always up for a pint! (Or eight…). Prefers ale or other beers, but’ll drink almost anything. Absolutely refuses to smoke anything, finding the thought of smoke in his lungs incredibly off-putting. Has no desire to partake in any other drug.

9. Do they have any markings — scars, tattoos, birthmarks? No tattoos or birthmarks. Purposefully rubs salt into wounds he wants to keep the memory of, so they scar. Two major scars: bite scar on left side of neck/shoulder, cut scar on right leg.

10. How would you describe their combat style? The Marksman uses a heavy-draw longbow (warbow) and bodkin (non-barbed) arrows. This is capable of piercing even heavily armoured targets. Shoots targets from stealth or distance; excellent aim and marksmanship, usually only requires one arrow per target. Middling skill with a dagger, recently learned; agile on his feet but not particularly when striking. Dodges until an opportunity for a lethal blow presents itself, else seeks to disengage. Only engages in melee combat if out of arrows.

11. Have they ever killed before? Ha ha ha How do they handle combat emotionally? He feels absolutely nothing during combat, and nor in victory or retreat. He used to - he enjoyed fighting - but there’s nothing now. Sometimes he thinks that maybe he should have some kind of feeling about this, but…

12. How did they react to discovering their magical powers? Do they actually use them or hesitate to do so? Has a trick to ‘become precenceless’ - not literal invisibility, rather a confusion of the observer’s senses: in reality he is still visible, but the observer(s) brains do not accept the information from the eyes. If an observer witnesses him engage this trick they remain aware of his presence whilst they are still ‘looking’ at him and concentrating - if they look away or lose concentration, then he cannot be located again until he disengages the trick. This was originally a joke at how stealth works at very high levels in Skyrim et al, but I suppose in his ‘lore’ it’s a kind of Psionics he doesn’t realise he’s casting. Eventually he also learns how to Ghostwalk, but only does it very rarely. In the fanfic I wrote with him, he has a number of other powers pertaining to literally being the Main Character… But that’s just flavour for that story, and not truly part of his ‘lore’. Other than that, he has no magical talent or senses.

13. What’s their education level? How intelligent are they? He’s of no significant intelligence and only rudimentary education - though he did receive tutelage in Inal (Kiléan is his mother tongue). He has a knack for speaking languages, but learns best from exposure and immersion. He can’t read Inal for shit, though.

14. What are they proud of in themselves? What are they embarrassed about? The Marksman is proud of his strength, prowess with his bow… And though he’d never admit it to himself or others, his skill at killing. He’s good at it. He’s rather embarrassed about his awful skills at lying, though… It’s so easy to put fear in people, and yet the second he attempts to utter any untruth it seems everyone possesses a curious telepathy that clocks it immediately!

15. What, if any, aspects of their mother's culture influenced them growing up? He was not raised in traditional Kiléan culture, rather in an insular and cruel cult of assassins. The children of the cult were purposefully raised without cultural influence to keep them isolated.

16. How honest are they? Under what circumstances would they lie Well, since he can’t lie and the consequences of regular people are ineffectual to him, he generally always tells the truth. He’d attempt to lie if circumstances dictate it, or to attempt to spare the feelings of someone he cares about.

17. What’s their worst memory? How about their best? Worst: The various means employed by his family to turn the children of the cult into killers. He does not talk about it. He does not allow himself to think about it. Best: The dust of the Pit. The baying of the crowd. His bow in his hand. A black-armoured Rhalâim across from him, twin swords drawn. The first time he felt something real and true in years. Let’s see you dance, Marksman!

18. Fight, or flight? Fight, almost always. He doesn’t start them, but by god does he end them! That said, he’s not above a retreat. Honour is no use to a dead man.

19. What motivates them? What do they seek? Absolution. The guilt of his past weighs heavy and choking. The only thing that keeps him from putting himself out of his own misery is the fact that one meagre death - his own - would not right the scales against the sin he’s committed. He allowed himself continued life only so he could, even in part, make up for what he’s done.

20. How do they feel about death? Do they fear it? No. It’s what he deserves, after all. He only asks for a good death - either in pursuit of atonement, or at the hands of someone he trusts to judge him.

21. What (else) are they afraid of? The sea - He never learned to swim, and nearly (actually) drowning will certainly put a fear in a man. He’s likely never getting on a boat again. The Father and Brother Sorrow - At least, when he didn’t have backup. The Petrified - He’s very aware that he’s only ever been a cheap knockoff. Myrads - Yeah he’s never flying on one of those fucking things.

22. How do they act around people they like? People they dislike? And how do they behave when they’re alone? It might be difficult to tell the difference at first… But for someone he likes, he’s loyal; willing to help them, spare a thought for them, to back them up even unasked. An enemy of his friend is, well… A very dangerous position to be in. For someone he dislikes, he’s not willing to listen to them, or even be in their presence. If unable to leave, he makes his displeasure clear by being as difficult and/or as threatening as he can get away with being.

23. What do they do to lower their considerable stress? Describe their perfect day off. The Marksman’s got an awful habit of trying to ignore problems he can’t resolve. Stomp down on that stress, shoulder those burdens, plumb the ever-decreasing mines of ‘It Is What It Is’! A perfect day off, though: A nice breakfast (salted porridge, bacon, tea, an orange), going to see the minstrels capering or listening to the bards, getting some house-chores done, the evening spent with a loved one (😏).

24. List three of their favorite things and three things they hate. Favourite: Ale - bitter, for preference. What can I say, he’s a bit of a fiend. Oranges - the sweetness, the intense taste! Plus it keeps scurvy away. Eggs - eggs are truly the perfect foodstuff. Filling, nutritious, and so easy to cook! Hated: Bright sunlight - Hurts his fucking eyes, limits opportunities for stealth, usually means he’s awake long past he wants to be (naturally inclined to be nocturnal). Snow/slush - The cold night or even the chill of winter is fine, pleasant even, but snow? It sticks and melts and makes your clothes miserably wet. Impractical opulence - Sometimes opulence is practical, such as when some authority wants to show off how powerful it is by having a fancy building, or a merchant wants to advertise their business acumen by displaying their wealth. But most times? Why do you need to much stuff, especially when it doesn’t do anything? Oh, your family is rich? Literally who asked?

25. What makes them angry? And how do they act when they’re mad? Anger no longer comes easily to him - but when it does it takes him by surprise, making him lash out unthinkingly. Nailaq and Aixon made him angry, the former by saying that he reminded him of Qalian, and the latter by being super annoying.

26. What do they regret? All the murders he did as a former assassin, and the pride + professional satisfaction they took in it. Also: not pushing Arantheal off the Sun Temple when he had the opportunity.

27. In moments of despair, who or what do they turn to for guidance? Oh, he bottles that shit up big time. Even if he’s literally in the trenches of misery, won’t talk about it (unless someone he loves asks…).

28. Let’s talk about their nightmares. Have they always had them? Yes - most nights, he dreams something about his past in Kilé. It’s a product of his guilty mind, and he’s long resigned himself to it. The nightmares get worse/more frequent the more stressed he is.

29. How would they describe themselves, in their own words? Would most likely misunderstand the context of the question and answer in literal terms: “Kiléan. 25. I have a bow. You have eyes, why are you asking?”

30. Is your Prophet/ess inspired by any other characters? I fear greatly that my subconscious has produced them from some source that would embarrass me if intuited. The Marksman didn’t exist as a character until I’d finished the Rhalata questline in my recent Enderal playthrough - I accepted the consequences of my choice with Qalain, but I did have a niggling thought that I could come up with an argument that would’ve saved Tharael even with Qalain unspared. The Marksman was designed to be a mirror to Tharael - someone who’d done equally bad things, but importantly still thought himself capable of atonement for them.

31. Share a song (or a few) that remind you of them. LISTEN TO MY MARKSMAN PLAYLIST: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZc5-Jlvqmo2zV4f3eHYgmdghoGWa-S6-&si=iL1aLHjcf0PtkK4s Carrion (Corpse) at the end… Because that’s how he leaves you >:)

32. On the topic of music — can they sing? What does their voice sound like? Can they play any instruments? The Marksman sings like a strangled cat, and only after he’s had a drink far too many. No musical talent whatsoever, and would struggle with the finesse required for a lot of instruments due to the loss of dexterity in his fingers.

The before: 33. What was their life like before coming to Enderal? Pretty shit! Of course there was the various unpleasant means that were employed by his cult to train the children into assassins. After, they’d be sent out on contracts: supervised at first, then on their own. They were started out with easy kills - people you’d want to kill, murderers and rapists, and you’d be told all about their crimes. The contracts would slowly, subtly transition into more and more ‘normal’ people, and increasingly vile murders.

39. What led them to the decision to leave Nehrim Kilé? He didn’t want to be with his family anymore. Fleeing Kilé was a necessity; if he’d stayed on the islands he’d surely be tracked down. The Marksman chose to escape to Enderal as he knew some Inal.

40. What subtle cultural differences did they notice when they arrived on Enderal? What did they struggle with the most — unfamiliar food, strange traditions, or something else? The concept of the Paths was extremely confusing and nonsensical. He never bothered to wrap his head around it, since being foreign means he’s Pathless anyway.

Main quest: [Note: Tharael joins the Marksman for the entirety of his main quest journey]41. How did their journey begin? What were their feelings about being thrown into a major investigation right from the start? After completing the Rhalata questline and adventuring with Tharael for a number of months, the two decided to start taking on bounties. This sent them to Riverville, where Jespar found them at the bounty board and offered to buy them a drink - which is what convinced the Marksman to hear him out (even though it was like 9/10 in the morning…! They had small beer and breakfast, though, nothing major). Since Jespar’d paid, and they were there to make use of themselves anyway, they agreed to help him.

43. How did they react to meeting Tealor Arantheal and learning about the Cycle? Arantheal dangled the promise of absolution before the Marksman like keys jangled in front of a baby - claiming that all sins would be forgiven if the Cleansing was averted. The Marksman fell for it hook, line, and sinker - helping Tharael kill the Father was supposed to be adequate atonement, and in the wake of that failure he was desperate for another purpose.

44. The visions of the Echo of the Past and the true nature of the Prophet — how did they respond to those revelations? Honestly, the Marksman kind of didn’t listen to a lot of the stuff he was told - filing it away in his mind as “wizard nonsense I don’t understand”. He does not like experiencing the Echo - it makes all his muscles lock up, he sees a flash of bright light, the vision/voices are far too loud, and he gets a headache. Experiencing too many Echoes consecutively starts giving him heart issues.

45. What were their thoughts on joining the Order? Did they feel honored, wary, trapped? It was done on sufferance, only because Arantheal insisted it was needed, and he did not mean a single of the vows he uttered.

46. How long did they spend in Aixon’s realm, and what was that experience like for them? All of five minutes, probably - Aixon pissed him right off from the get-go. He couldn’t stand his whining, insults, and tiresome comments on the philosophy of reality (who spends time thinking about this shit? If reality is real? Who CARES if you can’t DO anything about it??). He lashed out, ending the dream.

47. How did their first encounter with the High Ones go? What was their reaction to facing such beings? Like Aixon, he didn’t listen. He was in no mood to pay attention to weird ghosts telling him how shit he was.

48. How hopeful were they after discovering the old Pyrean Beacon prototype in Old Dothulgrad? Cautiously hopeful… And yet it felt like looking at an hourglass and noticing how little sand was left in the top bulb. He never expressed this feeling to anyone.

49. What are their thoughts on the Aged Man? The Aged man had a lot to say to the Marksman, mostly about how he’d “fucked everything up” and “made too many changes” (he knew, of course, that one such as the Marksman was never supposed to be an Emmisary, knew the Marksman’d never successfully stop the Cleansing, and was resigning himself to yet another Cycle)... The Marksman’s thoughts on the matter are basically summed up as “Creepy house. Weird mannequins. Was quite rude.”

50. How did they process the news of an impending war with Nehrim — Taranor Coarek’s warships nearing Enderal’s shores? By not processing it at all. He had enough on his plate with the Cleansing! Besides, it’s not as if he has a particular love or loyalty for either Enderal or Nehrim.

51. Coming across their own dead body in the Living Temple must’ve been horrifying — how exactly did they react? He was going through an awful lot at the time (the cleansing, the suspicion that his own time was rapidly running out, having just killed his only true brother, having Firespark die so wretchedly…) so in all honesty he had a total breakdown. Afterwards, when his awful emotions had finally spent themselves, he shouldered his burdens again and tried to Get On With It. He felt a bit guilty about his outburst… Tharael was there to witness it - another lost soul inhabiting a false vessel. Thankfully, Tharael forgave him very easily. Later, once he’d gotten over the shock… Did it really matter, that his body was something fake, made by another? It was his now, belonging to him… And he’d carry on doing whatever he wanted with it.

52. What did they think of Coarek and his companions? How did they feel about the failed negotiations with Arantheal, and the mission's ultimate failure? He found the whole ordeal an utter pisstake and waste of time. Of course two men with egos that size would never agree on anything. He felt resentful that Arantheal managed to convince him on the fool’s errand.

53. Finding Lishari murdered was a major shock most likely — what was going through their head at that moment? Not a lot… “Damn, what a shame. Anyway.” It occurred to him only later that he probably should’ve had more of an opinion on the events.

54. How did they go about retrieving the three Black Stones? In what order, and why? What emotions came with each journey? They went for the Dal’Galar stone first, as they thought it was in the Undercity. Calia headed them off and set them on the right path. The discoveries in the castle were… Unpleasant, to say the least. As was being forced to listen impotently as the Kiléan mercenaries attempted to have their way with Calia… Then Calia shredding them to paste. The Marksman was greatly concerned for her well-being… But lacked any comfort to give, even though he tried his best. Second stone was Dal'Geyss’. It was easy enough to break in, easy enough to blackmail the man (not easy to be in the presence of a Petrified, though…). But Silvergrove… It hurt. It hurt to know the place was so twisted and wrong, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It hurt to have the child look at him so lovingly, the hope in his voice when he called the Marksman a brother. It hurt to be begged to give mercy, at the end. Not help. Not comfort. Everyone sees him for what he is: a killer. And death is all he has to give. Last stone was Dal’Varek’s. Jespar had received the courier’s package and found his sister’s notes… Fearing the worst, he asked for the Marksman and Tharael to accompany him as backup. Events transpired tragically. Looking upon Jespar’s corpse… He felt it, truly felt the grief of a friend lost. A slippery feeling that defied all attempts to wrangle it, yet thrashed and bit and clawed inside him. Then, of course, the Veiled Woman and Jespar’s resurrection. Again, the Marksman utterly failed to provide any comfort.

55. With Ark under siege and the Nehrimese in the harbor, everything falling apart — how do they take it all in? It made the world finally make sense again, for a brief time. Here were enemies to kill. He had his bow. He knew this dance.

56. What’s their impression of Kurmai and his starship, Gertrude? How did they feel about flying to Star City in search of answers? The starship felt much safer than a Myrad - he’d never seen Starling machinery go wrong, but beasts can be temperamental… He got to enjoy looking at the clouds and the world below. Although… When people said it was a STARship, he expected to go above the stars, and sail through them like a sea. Should’ve called it a cloudship, in his opinion.

57. Do they believe the Beacon can be lit safely using the consciousness of a High One? After all the betrayals, do they still trust Tealor? What’s keeping them going at this point? Well, yes. It was really rather too late in the game to start having doubts… The only thing keeping him going was the desire to finally be absolved… Even though he knew it’d take everything from him.

58. What was their experience like in the City of a Thousand Floods? Harrowing. The fighting was desperate and the Echoes felt like they were going to kill him.

59. When Yuslan makes his move and Tealor abandons them to trigger mass extinction — what goes through their mind? He hardly had time to react to Yuslan’s betrayal. He was unconscious for Tealor’s.

60. How do they react to the Black Guardian’s revelations? Didn’t listen to him either, lmao (and so was spared the 40 minutes of dialogue -_-). Pretty much just hung back, didn’t approach… And certainly didn’t press that button.

61. What’s their final choice — self-sacrifice to save the world, escaping with someone they’re close to to become the last people on Vyn, or… did they take the time to brew a certain special potion? What drove their decision? The Marksman was ready to sacrifice himself to stop the Cleansing - he truly thought he could manipulate things and still do it… But he knew it’d be his end. Tharael convinced him otherwise - the world didn’t deserve to be saved, and the Cleansing was a mercy upon it! They escaped to the Star City, vowing to prepare the way for the Final Prophet, and the true end of the Cleansing. However, if you’ll indulge me… I’ve been musing over a kind of AU, Everything Turns Out Ok in the End (working title). Together, to their end AND the Cleansing’s, Tharael and the Marksman sacrifice themselves into a rudimentary Numinos… The Prophet, a tool of the High Ones and the Cleansing - and a human soul, the source of High Ones… It works, just about. A blow is struck; not lethal, but enough to let this Cycle continue for a time unmanipulated as the High Ones nurse the wound. It takes everything from them. But… There stands the Veiled Woman. An easy task, for her, to subtly alter the terms of their sacrifice: The Prophet, yes… But just that part, not the whole man. And a false human vessel, so similar to how a High One is a false amalgam of human soul. Just similar enough to be adequate… And to allow the men’s souls to be unconsumed. She fashions them new bodies: Same as the old, but utterly mortal. Usual. No more prophetic powers, no more ‘Main Character’ abilities, no more relentless drive of the Fleshless nature. One last round in the arena of a world, yes? A hero’s reward… After all, they did such a service, did they not? And the Veiled Woman gets to take a holiday. She goes to the seaside - all of them, everywhere. With the defeat of the High Ones and the aversion of the Cleansing, everyone comes to their senses… It seems so obvious, in its absence, that events were being maliciously influenced by an outside force. So… Everyone downs arms. Sorts it out. Carves out what peace can be gained. Enderal becomes a vassal state of Nehrim, religion outlawed. But… What people really want is for tomorrow to be like today. Despite everything, everyone wants normalcy back. Those who worked under Arantheal are allowed to live if they swear service to the Free Order (working name; the Nehrimese government in Enderal). They’re allowed to work on seeding clues for the Final Prophet who will avert the Last Cleansing when the High Ones return (which, views on religion aside, everyone can agree is necessary… Plus it keeps Arantheal’s people out the way). They seed the message thusly, all over Vyn: I: IT ALL STARTS WITH THE DREAMS. REMEMBER. II: THE BEACON WILL DESTROY THE ENEMY. III: THE BEACON NEEDS A TARGET; USE THE ESSENCE OF THE ENEMY. IV: THE RULER WILL ABANDON THE PROPHET V: DO NOT ALLOW THE RULER TO BRING THE LIGHT They hope that it’ll be enough. And yet, for Tharael and the Marksman… It doesn’t need them. Oh, Calia and Jespar are useful, and the mages, but… No-one needs a pair of killers, or a former Prophet. Tharael joins the Free Order; the world still needs people like him… Especially to temper the idealists. The Marksman joins the Rhalata.

Characters: 62. What was their first impression of Jespar? First time they met, Jespar offered to buy him a drink so they could discuss Magister Yero… And the Marksman’d never turn that offer down. Initially didn’t have much of an opinion on the man, but found him amusing.

64. Does your Prophet/ess share Jespar’s views on life? Mostly. Living in the moment, for your own happiness… As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else (and, of course, as long your personal scales are fairly balanced…), why is that any worse a life than anything else?

65. What about his views on relationships — are those something they agree with or challenge? He’d agree, even if he does think that Jespar has an odd way of putting it. If you’re not going to be loyal to your partner, if there’s no love, why continue the appearances of a non-existent relationship?

66. How does your Prophet/ess feel about Jespar’s family history? And what are their thoughts on Adila in particular? Remembers to think sympathetically about it, because Jespar makes it clear that it’s something that affected him, but otherwise doesn’t have particularly strong opinions… Everyone has had something awful happen to them. As for Adila… Well, she’s dead now (and Jespar isn’t), so that’s the end of that.

67. Would your Prophet/ess consider escaping with Jespar before the Nehrimese invasion of Enderal? What about after everything is over? No. The end of the Cleansing will be his atonement. Nothing would’ve swayed him from that course. And afterwards…? He’s not getting on a fucking boat ever again, so that rules out leaving Enderal 😅.

68. What does the Prophet/ess like about Jespar? What do they dislike? He loves Jespar’s stories of his adventures and experiences, and always listens raptly. He finds his jokes funny, even if he doesn't get some of them (Jespar is FLIRTING WITH HIM and the Marksman is oblivious). Plus, the man's always down for a drink!

Seeing Jespar's sorry state in the Silver Cloud was difficult - he honestly thought better of him.

69. What was their first impression of Calia? Appreciated how she was at least polite, unlike the other novice.

70. How did learning about Calia’s childhood and the disturbing story from her past affect your Prophet/ess? He wishes he could be the kind of friend she needs.

71. What was it like meeting her “second soul” in Old Dothulgrad? How did they handle it? Gave her a little round of applause - didn't realise this wasn't something she was doing on purpose.

Forgave her the needless brutality of the kill - sometimes you just want to make sure the dead stay dead, you know?

72. How exactly did your Prophet/ess manage to grow closer with Calia? What are their common views and opinions? They both agree on attempting to make the world a better place (though of course for the Marksman, it's to atone for his misdeeds).

Calia thinks she sees some good in him… She might be right.

73. Was discovering the full truth about Calia’s past a shock? How did your Prophet/ess choose to support her? He can only settle for being a cautionary example for what happens if you fail to resist your own evils.

74. Does your Prophet/ess believe that embracing Calia’s demonic half is the right path forward? Or do they see it as a weapon to use — or something that needs to be purged permanently? It would be nice - fairytale, even - if it could be purged… But that's not how the word works.

Everyone has the capability of evil within them… Calia is no different, even if her’s is a separate entity placed there against her will.

He thinks her demonic half should always be resisted.

75. What does the Prophet/ess like about Calia? What do they dislike? The Marksman greatly admires Calia’s fortitude, bravery, and willpower for resisting her demon. He also recognises that she's genuinely a good person, and that she's managed to hold onto that despite everything she's been through.

He's found little to dislike her for.

76. If your Prophet/ess ends up in a romantic relationship, what is it like? How do they express love, and what’s their dynamic as a couple? The Marksman is loyal, unflinchingly, though often finds little opportunity to express it. He tries to show his care through little things - boiling enough water for two, remembering to pick up something needed from the Marketplace, taking on his partner’s chores or tasks to make things easier… He has no experience with romance, and his observation of other people's relationships seems to glean no useful pointers for his own with Tharael. If asked about love, he would describe it as someone who’ll bring you back from the cliff’s edge, if you can't come back yourself. Someone who'll take the blade you hold to your throat… Or tell you if you should cut. A loved one is someone who can judge you.

Lastly… He's a bit of a dog, ngl. Greedy with his desires, if the leash is allowed to slip.

Factions: Rhalata: 77. Has your Prophet/ess fought in the Dust Pit of the Undercity? What made them do that? Yes - it made him nostalgic for home, as his siblings-in-training would fight one another to keep their combat skills sharp. Earning a bit of gold was an afterthought.

78. What are their thoughts on Tharael’s ideas? And what do they think of him as a person? The Marksman desired him from the get-go, though never made a move at the time (and Tharael was far too concerned with his revenge to even notice). As the questline progressed, he saw a lot of himself in him and had great sympathy for the horrors he’d been forced to endure. He fully agrees with Tharael’s view of the world, though his views on relationships and the like… He did agree. Until he heard Tharael say it, at which point he had a major “is that what I sound like??” moment. He realised it was a sad and empty existence.

79. Do they believe Nailaq deserves to live? Absolutely not! Would’ve killed him himself, had Tharael not deserved the kill.

80. When it comes to Sister Pride — did your Prophet/ess choose to kill or spare her? Why? The Marksman would not compromise the mission. Even if she hadn’t begged for death, he would’ve killed her.

81. Tharael or the Father — who did they side with, and what was the reason behind their choice? Tharael, all the way, from the very beginning - their situations were so similar, after all. The Father’s arguments (“The children were sick and would’ve died anyway.” “I am a scientist.”) utterly failed to convince him… And he suspected the Father was lying about a lot of it to make himself look good, anyway.

82. What do they think about the Father's goals? And what about the methods he uses to pursue them? Utterly reviles them, and agrees with Tharael that the Father is evil incarnate. It was nothing but sensless torture and slaughter of children for personal gain!

83. If they chose Tharael, how did the ending of the questline go? Before fighting the Father, they vowed to each other: His end, or ours. The Marksman took that quite literally… He would not allow Tharael to go off that cliff alone. Thankfully, he convinced him to have a second chance at life.

84. If things went well — how is their life now with the new housemate? In the Refuge, the Marksman presumed Tharael utterly uninterested in anything besides perhaps friendship, so he politely locked away his feelings to mourn later. After the Rhalata questline, he dedicated himself to looking after Tharael - keeping them both busy to distract from… Everything that’d happened. Eventually they return to Ark and Tharael settles in the spare room. However, despite his promises of a path to atonement for them both, the Marksman has no idea how to actually move towards that goal… And a life of quiet domesticity was not for the likes of them. Eventually it was Tharael who suggested taking on bounties. Some time after the end of the Rhalata questline - maybe half a year or so? - The Marksman decides it’s time to open that lock in his mind, so he can move on from his unrequited feelings. This does not go as planned… His feelings are insistent, distracting, and he cannot dismiss them as he intended. Worse, he doesn’t know what to do with them and doesn’t know how to shoot his shot… He borrows a book on romance from the Ark library, but it’s all flowers and poetry and other useless advice. Tharael clocks him acting more and more strangely, quickly works out the reason, and gets increasingly fed up with it until he takes matters into his own hands.

Golden Sickle: 85. How did joining the Golden Sickle go for your Prophet/ess? He turned up, agreed to beat up the beggar for Rogash, was cursed out for it, and told to join the Rhalata. So he went to the Undercity to (attempt to) do just that. The Golden Sickle has since been ignored.

World, game and lore: 93. How is their story paced? How long does it take your Prophet/ess to complete the main quest? It goes by incredibly fast, I think - a matter of months, less than a year. Not enough time to question what’s going on.

94. Do they change over the course of the story? In what ways? Most of the Marksman’s personal growth occurs during and after the Rhalata questline. For the main quest… He is fully self-deluding himself and tunnel-visioned on the goal of stopping the Cleansing, so there’s little room for reflection.

95. How do they view the concept of fate versus free will in their journey? Do they believe they’re destined for something, or do they shape their own path? He believes he’s shaping his own path and doing what he wants…

96. What do they think of Enderal in general? Thinks it’s alright, strange religion opinions aside. He doesn’t want to go back to Kilé and doesn’t feel any desire to explore other countries, so…

97. What is their opinion of the gods (or lack thereof)? And what about Tealor Arantheal in particular? The Marksman was never a religious man… The gods never helped him, so he doesn’t dedicate any headspace to them. He finds Tealor pretty unlikeable - the man is far too used to giving orders and having them obeyed unquestioningly, which the Marksman finds grating.

99. If given the chance, would your Prophet/ess ever side with Coarek? Tell us more about their political views. No - thinks him exactly like and as bad as Arantheal. He considers politics (and laws) something that happen to other people. A fine enough system for society in general, to keep order (very important)... But personally, he only obeys laws he agrees with.

101. If they had one question to ask the Living Temple, what would it be? “Can you put Firespark back to normal, please.”

102. Is there good in the Black Libra’s activity? Can the Night of the Blind Daughters be justified by everything else they presumably did to punish sinners protected by their status? He was cautiously agreeable with their goals until Tharael revealed it was all based on the dreams/visions of some magic child. Plus he sees no value in the Night of the Blind Daughters - especially in the unnecessary and abhorrent way the killings were done.

103. How did it feel to witness Lishari’s final hours from within her mind? Do they find the Word of the Dead useful as a tool? Or do they feel like some lines should not be crossed? Bad - I headcanon that the Word of the Dead forces you to experience and feel the deceased’s entire death - and when it releases you, there’s a horrible moment where your own body thinks that it’s dead, too. He didn’t have a chance to develop any particular attachment to Lishari, though, so the fact that it was her death wasn’t significant to him. He wouldn’t consider it a line to be crossed - if he bothered to think on it, he’d consider the Word of the Dead as a tool that produces some kind of vision like the Echo, not some intrusion into another.

105. Speaking of, do they carry a shard of the Sigil Stone to protect themselves from the Red Madness? Why or why not? Yes, he believes what he’s told about it protecting him.

106. What do they think of Magister Yero — his ideas, his life story, and the conclusions he came to? He can’t read Inal very well at all, so he read none of the letters or diaries - they were given straight to Jespar.

107. Were they familiar with the concept of other eventualities? If they had full access to the Plainswalker, how would they use it? Any and all “wizard nonsense” is ignored… He doesn’t bother to even try to learn about magic. He wouldn’t use the Plainswalker… There’s nowhere he wants to go. He did not help Yuslan with this quest.

109. Any particular place they want to visit on Vyn? And on Enderal? Why? Nowhere else on Vyn, but in Enderal he’d like to spend more time exploring the Suncoast and Farmer’s Coast - the climate agrees with him, and he’s less likely to encounter annoying enemies such as Crystal Elementals.

110. How do they spend their time when staying in Ark? He doesn’t like spending much time idling about in Ark. When in the city, he deals with purchasing supplies, keeping his house, weight-lifting or sparring with Tharael, going drinking with Tharael, Jespar, and/or Calia (the latter when she’s not busy with her Keeper duties). If he wants to practice archery he goes off to the woods to shoot at deer or birds - he’s banned from the butts in the soldier’s barracks. He can’t butcher his kills, so he trades the carcasses with hunters for already butchered meat.

111. Do they enjoy the Ark theatre? Do they have a favorite play — or do they prefer bard songs? Or maybe they’re more drawn to the art gallery or museum? Tell us about their cultural and artistic tastes. The Marksman is a HUGE fan of jesters, minstrels, joculators, clowns, and magicians (the kind that use sleight-of-hand… actual magic is boring). He’s never before heard any of the jokes and always laughs. Loves to hear bardsong, too, since he hadn’t heard any of the songs before coming to Enderal. His favourites are “Wayward Wanderer”, “Wildmages”... And, of course, “Night of the Raven”, from the black-eyed bard in the Undercity.

112. Where do they stay while in Ark? How do they feel about owning a home? How did they manage to earn enough money for it — if they did? He stole as much money as he could carry from his family before he fled the cult that raised him… Though, in truth, as the cult’s best assassin, he’d earned most of the money himself in the first place. It miraculously washed up alongside him when he arrived in Enderal. Of course, it’s a terrible folly to be wandering about with a literal fortune. He purchased a house to have the gold tied up in property (where it can’t be stolen). Having a house is convenient. He has privacy when he wants it, and a place to store his things.

113. Do they enjoy city life, or do they prefer the countryside? Is there a specific region of Enderal they particularly like — or avoid? It’s nice to have many amenities so close, though sometimes it’s a bit too much to be surrounded by so many people… Especially when they keep making comments in passing.

114. What are their feelings and opinions about the Undercity? Honestly, the Marksman really likes the Undercity, and probably live there instead if it wasn’t for Tharael. The darkness suits him, he’s more familiar with the etiquette of such places rather than the nicer Ark, and people know not to ask inconvenient questions such as “why are you buying so many arrows” or “where did you get this from”.

115. If offered to join the Rhalata, would they consider it? If so, what would their new name be? He understands and even agrees with the need for the Rhalata - as loath as he is to admit it, the Father was right about one thing: without them, the resultant gangs and militias would only cause chaos and suffering. Even the Dust trade… People will always cook up foul shit to sell. At least the Rhalata has an incentive not to kill their users (too quickly), because they want the money and the shadow tax. He has no truck with the weird religion/cultish elements, however. In his eventuality, following the Father’s Transcendence and the death of the High Seer and most of the remaining Seers (by the Marksman’s hand, to stop them tracking down Tharael), the Rhalata goes through an upheaval and schism, resulting in the new Rhalata discarding their old religion. There’s no opportunity to interact with them further as he’s busy with the Cleansing, of course… But in Everything Turns Out Ok in the End AU (working title), feeling useless and directionless, he joins the Rhalata properly to help keep the Undercity in order. He trusts the new High Seer (who they call the High Speaker… Because he doesn’t). Mostly he’s their assassin… (Negative character growth, baybyyyy! You can never escape what you are!!!!!!!!)

116. How do they feel about the idea of leaving the human shell behind? Would they prefer Apotheosis or Transcendence? (The Marksman never did the Apotheosis questline) He’s a big fan of fleshly pleasures, so giving that up to… What? Be some kind of dreaming ghost? Seems utterly shit. Part of him hopes the Father and the others simply died horribly.

117. Speaking of, what does their moral compass tell them about Psionics, Sinistra magic arts in general and Phasmalism? Do they find it ethical enough to justify its use? Very much not a fan of these magics, especially when they’re aimed his way. The Father in particular has given him a very disparaging view of Psionics. He’s not encountered any Phasmalism.

119. What are their thoughts on the cult of the Veiled Woman? What do they think of her persona and what she does to people? (The Marksman did not do Esme’s questline. This is his opinion on the Veiled Woman herself) He tries not to think about her, to be honest. She’s obviously extremely powerful and not an entity he can affect at all… But she seemed to be an ally? Or, at least, he seemed to not be her enemy…

121. Do they take on bounty quests? If so, any particular ones that they remembered? Why? Yes - He views those with a bounty on their heads as wasting their chance to atone for whatever evil shit got them a bounty in the first place. If the guards could catch them, they’d be on the gallows already… So they could flee, change their names, repent. But they don’t. So he takes the opportunity to better his life by ending theirs. None stick in his memory as particularly notable - he’s not completed that many.

122. Have they heard of lycanthropes? Or could they be one themselves? How did that happen, or how did they discover it? The Marksman had heard of lycanthropes in passing, so was aware of their existence before he fought the one in the Dust Pit. He wouldn’t become one himself, but if he did… He’d be a terror. As a man, he seeks to atone for his past. As a beast? Aren’t you angry? The beast asks. Aren’t you tired of paying back a world that made you this way? It made you to kill, so kill! Kill! Wash away the glitter! Paint the world in it’s true colour: red! Red! (He’d have the Ravager affinity)

124. How do they feel about myrads, leors, or other creatures they aren’t used to? What about monsters or the undead? Are there any that they fear? He fears no creature, but he’s also not stupid enough to take on something like a Boneripper without a lot of range. Many enemy creatures annoy him greatly: mainly Crystal Elementals (because they break his arrows) and Fire Elementals (because they explode). He has no significant opinion on Leoran… But thinks Myrads are the height of stupidity. At least if you fall off a horse, you only might die…

125. Was there anyone — other than companions or major characters — that they were particularly close to or disliked? He’s friends with Uajaan, since they’re fellow Kiléans. Uajaan’s teaching him scamming tricks, and they’ve got a bit of a Game Penny back-and-forth.

Choices and reasons: 128. Do they spare or arrest Hallys, the farmer-turned-bandit in the quest Deus Ex Machina? Why? This decision was left to Calia, since she was the only one who would make a lawful decision. The Marksman would’ve killed him and been done with it.

Lastly… Thank you so much for reading this much about my silly man! As a reward, I’d like to talk about the Marksman’s name. He does have one - all the characters know it, and refer to him as it. The only time anyone calls him “Marksman” is in the Dust Pit, or if the Free Peoples of Nehrim refer to him at all (since he does not give them his real name), or maybe Tharael continues to use it as a nickname. But you? He’s not your friend, someone you know, someone you see in the Marketplace. He’s a character, a non-real thing… The Marksman :) I’ve seeded a number of clues about his real name for people to work out. As a little bonus for anyone who made it this far, I’ll collate most of the clues here: - His name is 6 characters in length - In some of his art, I’ve scribbled out his name… But not quite. See here and here. - In my fic Absolution, when he reveals his blood-brother’s name is “Jackdaw”, Tharael comments that it is similar to [The Marksman’s] own. - He also states that the cult “named them all like that, after birds and beasts”. - In my fic To Right the Scales, the Marksman reveals that his other siblings were named Wolven, Ox, Goshawk, and Rat. There’s a few more clues in the fics, but I can’t point them out without basically stating the answer ^-^’’

#enderal #vynblr #enderal: forgotten stories #enderal prophet ask #enderal prophet #prophet OC #Prophet OC: The Marksman #It was so fun filling this out! Felt a little guilty for removing so many questions though ^-^'' ...#I'm so excited to read this for other people's prophets!!#Tumblr threw a right wobbly when I was pasting this in from Google Docs so be careful with that #seems you can only have 4k words per “block”#so don't use too many shift-enters!

16 notes · View notes