#waughhh i like them so much

[champmorado]

I'm so sorry this is going to be SO long.

Uhm welcome to the LightningStorm Club!!!

So like, their dynamic is super special to me especially since it just makes sense?

And no it's not just your typical enemies to lovers, but also two characters being able to understand one another and comfort eachother because of that.

Storm is much like rookie Lightning in which he didn't want to work with anyone, didn't trust anyone, and was a one man show. And I'm super sad Cars 3 didn't have Lightning realize the similarities between their personalities.

I feel like Lightning could definitely teach Storm a thing or two. Their personalities are SUPER similar. In which they were both extremely ageist and only cared about winning. That was their goal.

Another thing that bothers me is when people blame Storm for crashing Lightning. Lightning had a mid life crisis, and pushed himself too hard. Something I don't see people talking about.

I actually feel like Storm blames himself for the crash and that could also go super heavy into their relationship.

I don't think Storm hates McQueen. And I don't think McQueen hates Storm. He just hasn't realized how similar they are. They could understand each other so well, so so well. If someone just told McQueen that he should give Storm a chance, like they gave him a chance, they'd probably be super close.

I feel like Storm secretly looks up to McQueen and is slightly intimidated by him. He wants to impress him. And I feel like the stuff he said to McQueen was out of panic, we know from his story that he's just not good with people and interacting with them.

When it comes to enemies to lovers, the beautiful thing about it is the story you can tell. You can explain how they warm up to each other, what they learn about each other, who falls first, how close they get to be as friends, and then the eventual confession

Again, I don't think they hate each other, they just need to understand each other, bond on the fact that friendships can be difficult and trusting people is hard, but its something that can be done.

Both of them aren't good with friendships and trust and that's heavily shown in their books and the movies/shows. I think their relationship would be rocky, but they'd still enjoy each other's company.

As for general head canons.

I feel like McQueen loves board games and Storm loves video games, so they can bond over that and show each other their versions of entertainment.

I feel like they could bond over nerdy things like dinosaurs and aliens and zombies.

They teach each other how to be patient, which is something they both need to learn.

I feel like Storm would fall first, and confess to McQueen in the stupidest way possible.

Lightning plans most of the dates because I feel like he's more experienced and romantic and into romance then Storm.

Storm loves to show his appreciation by cooking and helping clean and organize.

Their eating habits are different, but they try to come to a compromise.

I'll write more but this is SO long already 😭!!! (I have head canons on my page!! If you wanna snoop through go ahead :))

This ship means SO much to me, there's so so many possibilities with them, you just really have to try to dig into who they are as people and how it could help them grow together!!

I GET IT NOW 🤯🤯🤯🤯 /genuine

and your headcanons are so cute, im obsessed!!!!

[skitskatdacat63]

Senna show has me constantly like this:

[autism-corner]

Hm

[mambodork]

Hi!!! So sorry to bother but I miss the isekai au and made some doodles for it! Is there possibly any more crumbs?

Either ways I love your aus!! Hope your day goes well!!

AHHH HAZEL OMGG THANK YOU SO MUCH <33 THESE ARE SO CUTEE 😭😭

Grian just looking longingly at his Scar design. Oh my god this guy is such a cringefail loser. How is he supposed to save the world... we are so doomed 💀

I LOVE HOW YOU DRAW SCAR SO MUCH, what a handsome fellar (^.^) and the big jellie is so cute WAUGHHH i love this smn Hazel you dont understand...

Anyways, some crumbs:

Boatem crew is like an RPG team in here... Mumbo is support, Scar is mage/sub DPS/AoE, Pearl is main DPS/fighter, Impy is tank/fighter/defense.

Rn Grian is completely useless, man cannot fight at all and can only help them by giving them hints via his "intuition" (nobody believes him when he says that all his life saving decisions to just be "intuition" they think that he's an oracle or something. There are many running theories).

[azumasoroshi]

suzume no tojimari spoilers ! hi guys im Insane

literature analysis brain is going haywire so here’s a bunch of incoherent ramblings some themes motifs and symbolism i love in this movie because AAAAAAA

Love and Sacrifice.

Obviously, but like the different kinds of love and devotion and how they’re never perfect and sometimes self-destructive but they’re so powerful and just waughhh. It was so important to me how after exploding at her Tamaki (suzume’s aunt, ik im not the only one who forgets names) was like “you know I don’t feel that way all the time, right?” like not denying that yes, she has felt exhausted of taking care of Suzume and sometimes wished she didn’t have to take care of her, trying to be the parental figure she needs while also trying to not encroach on her sister’s memory. It means so much to me that she didn’t deny those feelings but instead told Suzume that it’s not how she always feels, because loving someone means sacrifice and ewughghgghfgfh im not putting this into words well but htrggfhgf.

and ALSO the reciprocation of kindness with daijin - as thanks for the taste of freedom at last, and wanting to be with someone whom you love but not really comprehending that what they want (that “suzume doesn’t love me” killed me) and how by the end daijin helped her pull souta out and sacrificed himself for suzume because he really loved her ggrgfggfhfnfnch

And just. everyday love. This is kind of a mix of themes and motifs but every time we flashed back to the memories of whatever abandoned place they were in - the simple “good morning”s and “be back soon” and “it’s so hot”s made me choke up. the mundane love of Chika and Suzume in their newly found friendship, Rumi’s kindness in picking Suzume up off the street and her love for her children, Serizawa’s platonic love for Souta letting him drive these two crazy women with crazy beef for 7 hours across Japan, there’s just so much expression of love and the hardships people go through because of it and rhgrjgrjhgdhgjhb

Mourning and Closure.

Makoto Shinkai himseld said that he wanted to write a story about “mourning deserted places” (at least according to Wikipedia) so this one is all but textual but like yeah. the motif of opening/closing/locking doors and locking the bike and things like that? AaAAaAaa

To close the gates, you need to imagine the emotions of people who once lived there - i can only imagine what Souta was thinking in the abandoned bathhouse area, but hrhggejghw the school and the amusement park and the shots we got of normal life in tokyo before the worm revealed itself in the climax, it just. really speaks to the beauty of everyday life. im a sucker for that kind of stuff as both a psychology major and just a weird person who thinks “man i wonder what happened to this person for the past 22 years of their life that led them to be here with me in this moment” whenever i pass someone in the grocery store. Hodaka could let japan be flooded in weathering with you because of his love for hina, but suzume’s whole arc was learning about the common people and living their lives and embracing all the kindness they had to offer to herself and others and it really hits that like. of course she can’t just let tokyo get destroyed to save Souta, every person in all of tokyo is just like Rumi and Chika and Serizawa and they’re all people who love and are loved. She finds herself in Souta’s place as one who stretches himself thin between being a gate closer and studying to be a teacher because he loves life as well, and-

oops i forgot i was talking about mourning and closure

anyway the doors keep getting reopened because the grief never fully goes away and the worm of “calamity” is letting yourself be consumed by the grief and destroying the people around you and not being able to move on, and it comes from the Ever-after becomes ever-after is a place where time doesn’t exist and you wish you could be there forever because it’s where you can relive the events of your past, it’s where you can live in denial that time moves forward and you have to move with it, it’s where Suzume goes after her mother dies because she wants people to stop giving her condolences and just give her her mom back. “Ever-after” in itself is a “happily ever after” - a place where mortals aren’t meant to go, no matter how beautiful it looks. Souta goes there too because he is the catalyst Suzume needs to go back and face Ever-after - and it’s no longer beautiful, but it’s torn apart by grief and everything is in flames. The idea of a keystone as well, locking the memories and hurt away, is one that Suzume removes to relive her memories and puts back in place when she’s ready to move on. htrhgfhgfghfghf. she won’t let souta be the keystone because she refuses to move on without him.

Also both Souta and his grandfather tell Suzume to just forget everything she’s seen, but it’s too late for that because connections aren’t so easily forgotten. Even when Tamaki couldn’t remember telling Suzume she’d be her new mother, that doesn’t change that she cared for her for the next 12 years anyway. Suzume visits Chika and Rumi by the end, and obviously she’s never forgotten her mother, both because her chair was still in her room by the start of the movie and because she looks like her by the end. Even though relationships change, they’re never forgotten in the movie, and I think that’s beautiful, really.

(also cool detail: 12 years ago is when the tsunami that killed suzume’s mother struck. the movie came out in 2023, and the touhoku earthquake/tsunami that inspired this film was in 2011. nice)

Reality vs Fantasy

The scenes where Suzume goes out into public again following stopping the worm from destroying Tokyo were especially poignant to me. This girl’s been going on a fantastical adventure with her talking chair and talking cat, meeting nice people and making friends, excited at the idea that she’s doing something important, but after Souta’s gone she shuts down. Her feet are bloodied, her clothes are destroyed, and people keep giving her strange looks and calling her homeless because she may have stopped the worm but even without being consumed by grief, it still isn’t pretty or picturesque. Standing out in Japanese society is discouraged, as most of us are well aware, but she’s been doing nothing but that with all the running around and talking to chairs and flying through the sky she’s been doing. Without a concrete goal in mind, without Souta as company, she’s alone in the world of adulthood and has no one to tell her what she should do, no Souta to guide her through Tokyo. And without that confidence or charm, people don’t come to her aid like they did before. It’s only once she finds her resolve to save Souta, quite literally walking in his shoes/footsteps, that the next helpful stranger (Serizawa) comes in.

She could imagine those abandoned places as alive, but the truth is that they were abandoned and will stay that way - none of them miraculously revived by the end, unless something happened in the credits that I couldn’t see through all my tears. Reality will not bring those places back, but what really matters is how we carry the memories of those places with us? I think. man maybe it’d be easier to write this post if i had actually seen the end credits

this post is really fucking long so im calling it here 😭 makoto shinkai has done it again. goddammit

[mushroomwarning]

A sorta long post on why I believe Lightbulb SHOULDN’T win season 2 and instead, the other three should be the candidates for winners

Before I start this off, PLEASE DONT BE MEAN TO ME WAUGHHH I’m just respectfully sharing my thoughts as someone who loves writing and I don’t even hate Lightbulb. I just don’t think she would make a good winner to make the story feel satisfied! So this isn’t LB neg, okay? Also keep in mind, I haven’t seen S2 in a hot minute so maybe I might get SOME things wrong but I’ll try my best to go on with my side.

Lightbulb

To start off, I’ll say it, Lightbulb as the possible winner of II S2 will be the most predictable and bland of the four possible contenders. Out of the four, she’s the one who’s managed to get the most out of the show, new friends, enjoyable experiences, a new pet, etc. She also has gotten a lot of screen time ( I think? ) and is a fan favorite for her wackiness n such. Yeah, she’s a little sad her friends are gone but she could always go and be with them if she just quit.

Her friends are waiting for her, honestly I’d say that’s a prize enough For her story, being able to go back and be with her friends, enjoying her time with them without worrying about the game anymore. She’s shown to be distraught with TT leaves, just go and be with your friends to stop being in this game that’s made people way more miserable. She’s got the winner attitude but it’s just. Boring. Predictable. Something that would not be that fun by a story standpoint tbh, at least in my opinion

The other three, I feel would make great winners in their own ways.

Baseball

I’ll start with Baseball, definitely an underdog and a guy nobody expects to win. That’s why he would be a wild card as a possible winner! It would shatter people’s expectations completely, but here’s the twist…If Baseball were to win, it could possible tie back into his story with Nickel. with Baseball probably thinking Nickel would pressure him to share the prize with him and his thoughts of how much of a doormat he’s been for others, Baseball could make his own decision without others influencing him, giving up the prize and giving it to the second place winner, which could be Suitcase or Knife it doesn’t matter.

THAT WOULD BE COOL WOULDN’T IT? Something that ties together Baseballs story thematically eh eh?

Knife

Anyways, Now onto Knife. He’s different from the other three in that, while he hasn’t lost anything like Suitcase or Baseball ( if I remember correctly), unless you count his dignity, he hasn’t gained anything either, unlike Lightbulb. He’s very much a pretty intelligent and strategical person, very much someone who could easily win if it played his cards correctly. There’s also a bit of a lesson he learns from S1 to S2, due to Trophy.

He learns to become less rash, mellowing out after Trophy gave him a bit of a reality check to the way he acts, even if the way he showed him wasn’t the best in the slightest, Knife learns to control his temper, mellowing out and instead uses his smarts to advance more in the game without relying on others and even gives advice to people Like Suitcase, Pickle and Microphone as he goes on.

He learns to be a better person and would honestly make a good contender for first, to reward him for his growth and change, or maybe second place if you want to show his new found humbleness in regards to his emotions

Suitcase

As for suitcase, while she’s sort of predictable as well, she isn’t as predictable as Lightbulb due to the events that she’s gone through and honestly is sort of the most deserving thematically to win out of everyone. Unlike Lightbulb, she’s lost a lot, not really gaining many friends excluding Balloon and gained mental health issues due to the treatment Nickel was giving her. This game has not treated her well in the slightest and she gains growth as time goes on, learning to stand up for herself and speak on her own.

She very much deserves the prize but at the same time, I don’t think she would care if she won or lost. She’s lost a lot and learned from her experiences in the game

Conclusion!

BUT YES. these are my reasons for why Lightbulb should not win. The others have very nice thematic reasons for why they could win but Lightbulb basically gained way WAYY more then they have out of the experience

But yeah, my ranking would go

Lightbulb- not a winner, Fourth place

Baseball - First place ( gives up prize) or Third

Knife - First or Second place

Suitcase - First or Second place too

[boynarcing]

thinking of sappy dadson w leon gr00ming reader since a very young age.... "homeschooling" you bc he doesnt wanna let his little boy go and let anyone see or corrupt him..... but all the lessons r just how 2 b a good sex toy and housewife for him.... y would u need school when you're gonna stay together forever and he'll take care of you... potty training you to only piss when and where he says you can (bc he's still gross ♡ and loves seeing ur desperate face when ur holding it in and the relief when you let it all over where he said u could ...)

he teaches you how to makeout with him and jerk him off b4 you've even hit the double digits.... says its how you show family that u love them very much but it has to stay private bc its very intimate so they're only allowed to do it to each other.... and he keeps "prepping" you to take his dick (he's careful bc you're his precious boy) but you insist you can "make love" already bc you're a big boy!!! not a little kid who cant even show how much he loves his daddy..... so he finally snaps and r4pes you and then it becomes a daily occurrence and he doesn't have to be so gentle anymore bc you've proven you can take it..... spending most of the day fucking e/o all over the house.... waking up to him already balls-deep in you and falling asleep with him still fucking into you (you never know how much longer after you fell asleep he kept using your body.... its so hot being loved sm by ur dad ♡)

you both keep only noticing there's no groceries too late bc you're both too wrapped up in e/o.... ur teenage rebellion phase barely lasts bc if ur good u get to come and he makes u feel so good ..... augh. when u hit 16 he's even nore strict with when u can leave the house bc those gross men and boys outside will think they can claim you.... so he makes sure to fuck you even more..... nghnnn

whether its trans or cis reader its just so good. waughhh i want him to do that to me so bad.... maybe in another life

- 💫

everyone is in my head omg!! I always think about having a codependent relationship w dad leon … straight out the womb he was all over u like that one guy from twilight with bella’s baby LMAOOO that’s him!!! He’s like “ever since my son was born I knew he was gonna be my wifey my sweet househusband❤️❤️” and everyone else is like??? Uhm… okay Leon … get a grip old man !!

[shitolodise]

Hi!

Just wanted to say that I am absolutely in love with your Medics! You're one of the first fan artists a friend showed me when I first got into TF2 and I've loved every bit of your art!! <3

Jhon is an absolute dear who I want to give all the headpats to, and Det is incredible and I love him so much (would pat him too if acceptable). Content with them brings me so much joy.

WAUGHHH THANK YOU!!!

Jhon would accept the pats, now Det would probably be against them, but it's ok, I'll tie him and you can give him as many pats as you like

[lautity]

maybeee its bcuz lomes is my favorite singer ever and i have t4t brainrot but pigeon pit is so them. sorry

"she calls me a loser and i get worried that i'll lose her".... "we drive each other to our tipping points, months of lean blunts, pizza joints".... "and even though its been getting easier lately it takes a lot to convince me that people don't hate me"..... like hi stephanie lauter

^ literally just what happened

im going to kill someone. oh my god oh my goddd. breakdowns and fights and locking yourself in your bedroom and shes terrified that she might actually lose you this time. and youve never actually seen her afraid before. intoxicating that you're able to make someone so stoic worry. addictive because she hates that you can do that to her.

"bury myself in the people i meet" is unspeakably them as well. waughhh

admit that im hurting you (and tell me to do it again) (stop hiding from what you're really here for) (the only closeness you're familar with is that between hands and your neck or a blade and your skin)

cw self harm . and regular harm. lol

sorry if this is a crazy thing to say but like. most of the time when people see steph's arms (if they dont get Weird) its a mix of pity and attempted comfort. nobody has ever been angry at her before. people have told/plead/demanded that she stop... but never because they wanted to be the only one hurting her. this is far more compelling than "i just hate seeing you hurt :(" or "[give it up] for me [because i love you so much]" or "you're an embarassment to this family, get over yourself"

shit has her giggling and kicking her feet like wdym you want to be the person responsible for punishing me when i fuck up and rewarding me when i'm good (the outcome is identical. the only difference is in lex's cruelty while she does it) wdym you want to be fully in control of my body .... you can't stand when other people hurt me...... you want me to belong to you forever..... you'll never let me forget what you meant to me..... (all said with extreme joy. girl who just wants to be wanted)

[cyberdragoninfinity]

For the shipping bingo, toughshipping and orichalcumshipping please?

TOUGHSHIPPINGGG...MY GALS

waughhh i love rio/anna so much...THE WORLD IF ZEXAL LET THEM INTERACT. LIKE. AT ALL. butchfemme annario world domination im so serious. icetrain call that shit snowpiercershipping. they could be jocks.... TOGETHER!!!! ANNA WOULD THINK RIO BEING KIND OF AN ALIEN ACTUALLY IS COOL AND HOT EVEN I THINK!! also something in there symbolically with anna and her explosions and rio and her fire trauma.... healing and associating heat with something positive over time... sniffle...

AND OF COURSE, THE MARRIED COUPLE

orichalcumshipping is like. this isnt even a 'ship' per say to me this is just indisputable text at this point. thats just canon. jim and axel did not go through a homoerotic war movie in gx season 3 for me to not acknowledge the fact theyre basically married and soulmates and so on and so forth. they dont make me CRAZY BANANAS like some ships do but i love them to bits. just guys who deserve to have each other and be happy 🥺

[korrasamibottles]

Where do I even fucking start.

I love the way you write characters' inner monologue. I feel like I'm in their heads and it's so delightful!!!

You have a way with including small details that really flesh out a scene too.

And your metaphors really hit beautifully.

Waughhh thank you😭 I've never met a small detail or a metaphor I didn't like, and it really really means a lot to hear others like them too💖 Also glad to know the inner monologue works because I always feel like I'm on a knife's edge trying to make characters introspective enough to have a distinct voice, but not so much that it gets navel-gazey and shuts them off from other characters...

[dead-finch-420]

I just wanna tell you like everybody else that i LOVE your lgts art so much!!! especially how you draw elise LIKE GENUINELY ITS SO GOOD😭 the characters are exactly how i imagined them! I got into the game myself a couple of weeks ago and It already had me hooked its so unique and definitely deserves more popularity!!

Also the dynamic between Elise and Lebkuchen is so 😭😭😭 LIKE I LOVE FREYA BUT LEBKUCHEN IS JUST SO PLAYFUL N STUFF YK (I also followed you on twitter because i NEED em lgts crumbs your art is just amazing🙏)

WAUGHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH you can tell elise is my favorite i think HAHAHHAAH i cant stop drawing her she's so silly

AND THATS SO REAL i adore leblise sm, i think between all the routes, elise was most comfortable with leb. like, you can feel the trust they have for each other in everything they say or do.

i played through their route, and i can imagine the history they have. the longing glances they sneak in when the other isn't looking, the inside jokes, the late-night escapades, all of it.

i am very normal about them i promise 🫡

[autism-corner]

[emetkoto]

so like, unironically that screenshot is *really* good. Hands are impossibly difficult, and in that screen they look so natural. The lighting of the scene matches the palettes of the outfits really well, and the expression on Haurchefant's face is impeccable. Like, really well done screenshot.

sorry I'm high and got distracted from my chores by this

THANK YOU WAUGHHH,,,,i always worry about going overboard with effects and such but i really just love my warm unified colors so im glad it worked out and looks good to even eyes that arent biased like mine :,D hands are truly a nightmare frfr i spent so long just tweaking them on here...ivcs third finger bones my beloved it wouldnt be possible without them 🙏🙏🙏 this was my first attempt actually messing with the new face skeleton too, my last post dt gpose i just used existing expressions with motion blending hehe ;;w;; it was difficult to capture the love in his eyes but i think i got there in the end! this means a lot to me fr ty so much

[hopetune]

hc + 😃

thematic headcanons (accepting!) | hc + 😃 for a happiness-themed headcanon

i've been mulling over how to answer this prompt and honestly i think two words can sum it up pretty nicely: simple and real. it doesn't take much for robin to feel joy. while she does have her own wish, her happiness ultimately does not need some grand design. she is happy seeing birds fly, playing games, singing to children, being with others, helping others, eating sweets. like you don't need to go to great lengths to put a smile on her face. she's happy and grateful for many things in this world! so that's simple explained. but why real? well i make the distinction because she is aware that a lot of the joys in this world can be fake. she hails from penacony, after all—a planet known for sweet dreams that don't exist in reality. i think, especially after she leaves penacony, robin comes to sincerely appreciate all that exists in the real world. so she doubly appreciates knowing that her joy is tangible and exists even without needing the dreamscape to conjure it up for her.

on a slightly related note: i feel like this is why she enjoys shopping so much. having something she can hold that is a physical manifestation of her joy. i think she particularly enjoys trinkets (she is not Plushies_are_Best for no reason!) that serve no use but hold great sentimental value for her. she'll buy just about anything that sparks joy or brings up any good memories. (i want to emphasize the memory thing since memories are something intangible... so i feel like, in her little trinkets and doodads, she gives these memories a physical vessel to live in... something that, when she holds or sees, she'll be certain that whatever memory it's attached to is real)

she definitely goes crazy at tourist shops. i can imagine she's sent sunday a lot of things over her journey through the cosmos. she's also mentioned having way too much random shit in her room. she's an anik-anik girlie! (i don't know if there's any equivalent thing for this in your guys' sphere, but in my country, there's a concept known as 'anik-anik' which is something like holding onto your possessions as a way to curate nostalgia and memories. i'm not explaining it very well but here's an article on that.)

on this note! i emphatically believe that robin is a great gift giver. i feel like it's her way of sharing that tangible joy. in one of her train dialogues where she mistakes pom-pom for a rabbit doll, she offers to send them a gift as an apology.

not to say that she's materialistic! i don't think she chases these things because she's money-oriented or particularly concerned with owning worldly possessions. i just think that she prefers to have something concrete to attach her abstract feelings to. something simple and something real! 

ADDENDUM: I JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING WAUGHHH

with regards to robin preferring physical objects!!! she has a voiceover line where she mentions how music is preserved on physical records that goes like this in english:

wiki screencap since i don't have robin rip

but anyways! she mentions how "the feelings they left behind are eternal" and i think that really captures how i feel about her collecting physical items really well. since they're, well, physical, they exist in the plane of reality. they won't slip past your figurative fingers so easily. and i think that's why she so often chooses to preserve her joy in the form of physical objects. this uh doesn't really add anything new to my point, i just wanted to add this here since it was one of the things that made me think about robin preferring physical stuff, i just forgot to add it here in the first pass LSFBDGFJKFG

[loderlied]

i am crawling into your inbox like a depraved creature from the depths of long abandoned fungal ridden sewers, holding to you the mycelia born from a long dead corpse in offering so that i may pick your grey matter about zeke's time before the temple of bhaal, im curious as fuck and the dynamic you have written for him and gortash is SO fun and interesting, also really fun to think about in comparison to my own durge and gortash, g-d your brain is huge, but i really want to know what experience he had outside of baldurs gate before mr butler extraordinaire walked into his life like hey! ur like. the chosen of bhaal lol :) i want to pick apart zeke as if he is a new and rare creature of the deep sea that i have to keep in a pressurized tank just so that his body does not melt and turn into mush from the depressurization

waughhh thank you sm!!!! framing this ask on my wall i feel like you understand™️ hi hi hi yes of course i will talk about my creature!!

so, i don’t know how others handle timeline stuff but i always imagined zeke being no older than 10 when being taken into the temple of bhaal, so most of his life was the temple, but there is some stuff that i can tell you because i am spending all of my braincells on him (and gortash) these days lol:

his adoptive parents were older, humble librarians who didn’t have much, but took in a few children without homes like him. about 6 other kids lived with him. i feel like due to their experience they could sort of tell that zeke was. different in a way? they loved him all the same.

didn’t learn how to speak at all before sceleritas taught him (he perfectly understood people, just didn’t like doing it/find it to be a necessary skill lol) he mostly wrote to people in a little notebook he carried around with him everywhere.

of course my uquiz declared dweeb spent most of his free time in the library with his parents.

was one of those kids who you can just tell is a genius from an early age—he could not only read books with an advanced reading level as soon as he could hold them in his hands, he could also comprehend a lot of these concepts.

he never had any friends or genuine connections. he tried to befriend others, which for him looked like stalking them around the street, learning every possible thing there is to know about them and never actually approaching anyone because he was too scared to.

his first “kill” was during one of those uh. watches? ig. a girl he liked was playing alone near a creek and started to pick a beautiful bouquet of flowers—wait, he’d read about those, they were highly dangerous to touch. before he could step in and warn her, she already fell over groaning in agony. he tries to take another step towards her, but then his entire body shudders and freezes at the sight of the light leaving her eyes. he doesn’t go over and finish the job or call any help—he just watches. watches until he is sure that she is beyond saving and cries. out of sorrow? fear? joy? this he doesn’t know or understand (yet), those pesky little nuisances called emotions always puzzled him way more than a book ever could—in himself or others.

while those “need to please father/parents above all else i’m worthless otherwise” tendencies of his were of course highly amplified by his life in the temple, they were already there before. he tried to be the “best child” of his parents, wanted to impress them at every turn. that there were so many of them certainly didn’t help either.

so, one day his father complains about one of the other children, they were all troublemakers/outcasts in their own way—one of them had accidentally smashed a window while playing. and zeke thinks to himself that he would never do such a stupid thing, how dumb could you be? and decides this is the perfect opportunity to test out a thing he read about.

later that evening, despite the quarrel from earlier, everyone is sitting around the dinner table, and zeke voluntarily and eagerly helps with setting the table today. a few minutes after starting to eat, the kid who broke the window starts coughing heavily, spitting blood, everyone starts panicking when zeke interrupts them by tugging at his father’s sleeve and excitedly showing him his notebook, his father thinks that zeke being the clever boy he is might know what’s going on or even how to help, so he leans down and reads. reads a detailed description of how zeke created a poisonous powder with the flowers from earlier and coated his sibling’s cutlery in it to not spoil the food they had. the last sentence of the page says something about a “perfect solution” to mom and dad’s problem.

his father is obviously starting to lose it, then his wife tells him that their child is beyond saving and already dead, which just makes him fully lose it—he just starts screaming and uncontrollably sobbing and shaking the confused to the hells and back zeke demanding why he did it. the others eventually start catching on what happened and understandably freak out as well.

zeke is just so confused man. wasn’t this a good thing? he certainly thought he felt good watching his own sibling die—his bloodshot eyes and fingertips turned black just like how the book described it would happen. he did it perfectly. so why were they acting like this? weren’t they proud? they were supposed to be.

next thing zeke remembers is standing in a pile of corpses and a ruined house in a pool of blood and tears streaming down his face, when a certain little butler approaches him.