#we doubt either of them need support for it they feel like the sort who would be very open and unabashed abt It All

[lisaasila-stuff]

Sans and Papyrus work so goddamn well together in canon that it feels impossible to implement a third person into their family(your other reblog about them having Nano and Lilo dynamic is a great example of that). Only really distant figure like an acquaintance or a buddy, or maybe like a cousin or a grandpa (after all it seems that Gaster based on grandpa Semi; you can have up to 4 grandpas after all) doesn't affect their dynamic that much. However, if they work as a parental figure from the very beginning, then it's going to cause the changes to their dynamic yet again.

The reason is because Sans probably did raised Papyrus. If they had grew up like all other kids together with a proper parent, then even a huge age gap wouldn't make that type of dynamic (personal headcanon it's around 8-9 years gap, to keep Sans as a brother rather making him into a father). You can have Gaster as a parental figure and Sans raising Papyrus, if Gaster dies early enough — which could reinforce even further the connection with Nani and Lilo.

But it's common to think that if Gaster was a parental figure to them(we'll roll with him being a father, since it's the most common trop; and it's too long to type "parental figure" each time), then he affected them both in similar way. Gaster was an abusive parent? Then he was abusive to them both. Gaster was a good parent? Then he was a good parent to them both. Which is totally fine, actually — remember to have fun guys — but it doesn't seem to be the case if we want to try to implement it with Sans and Papyrus canon behaviour.

Sometimes, more rarely, people seem to think that Sans was a favorite — which doesn't make that much sense, either (remember to have fun though ok??? I will say it a million times and then a million more if needed). It definitely would gave some kind of effect of different childhoods, however favoritism would also affect Sans' and Papyrus' dynamics tremendously, even if they'll try their hardest to be nice to each other. It's about the inside sorrow and guilt you can't fight, which the skelebros don't have — or perhaps not something we know of. If anything, they're proud of each other's achievements and don't feel like it's a competition.

So we have a problem of not quite hitting their personalities and the way how they interact with each other from that. The reason for that is because it seems like Sans and Papyrus had really different childhoods.

And by different childhoods I mean literally different childhoods in every aspect.

It seems like Papyrus had a healthy environment when he was growing up. He knows how to handle his emotions and address them (genocide route interactions), which is often a problem for victims of abuse; he knows what he wants despite thinking about the wrong resolution to the said problem (it's the "when I become part of the royal guard I'll be so popular and everyone will want be my friend!" guy, he literally tells us what he wants and it's part of his character to be so goddamn good at addressing his struggles); his struggles are external rather than internal (loneliness) and he copes with it in a healthy way than just giving in to his damaged self-esteem ("I, the great Papyrus," is better way to cope with damaged self-esteem than giving in to your doubts. Learn from Papyrus, folks, he knows what he's doing!). (No but really Papyrus actually quite cracked at psychology, and I wonder how much of his motivation to learn it comes from Sans' depression, Paps just lacks actual experience with people; as opposed to Sans, who doesn't really know psychology but have a lot of social experience)

Someone may question damaged self-esteem, and someone might interpretate it as a sign of some sort of problems at home that was before. However, the thing is — even with the best support you can get, if you keep trying over and over again at something without any success, you inevitably will start doubting yourself. "Maybe the problem in me rather than in everyone else" type of shit, which might lead to doubting yourself in almost everything.

(though it might be a sign he recognized that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed; he seems to have some a big struggle with word puzzles, after all. It's okay to know your cons as long as you're chill about it lol)

Here I cutted off a chunk of analysis where I've got carried away and just started to analyse the effect of his loneliness instead of guessing the effects of his childhood on what kind of person he is now, but it also kinda proves my point. Papyrus probably had a great home life back in the days, he have confidence in the fact that Sans will help and support him with everything (genocide route interactions; or to be exact, the moment when Papyrus can't handle the situation anymore and asks Sans for help. "Sans! They keep skipping over my puzzles!"), and that kind of trust is really telling. Papyrus' main struggle is yet again from his loneliness. And if we can say anything about his state when he was a child, then we probably should address the fact that Papyrus seems to project himself on Frisk heavily. With any other character I didn't notice that kind of behavior, and yet when it boils down to one of not many children in the cast, Papyrus for some reason sees himself in them. On Pacifist (and neutral I think?) routes just before the fight Papyrus projects his own feeling onto Frisk("the excitement of finding another puzzle enjoyer and pasta lover... That what you must feel right now!" Or something like that, I don't remember the exact quote), and in one of these descriptions he calls them "a lonely human". In Genocide Route interactions Papyrus sees a strange child who keeps skipping over his puzzles and not replying to the questions, and instead of holding the grudge or assuming the worst he immediately goes "It's okay, you probably have some kind of cultural shock or just don't know how to behave with other people! The Great Papyrus will explain it to you, so we can work on it together!" (That one is my personal favorite actually!!! I can't.. isn't Papyrus just the coolest??). And if keep the theory of Papyrus projecting onto Frisk something he felt a long time ago, then "the cultural shock" part becomes even more curious. Especially considering the theory "skelebros are from Deltarune".

Sans, on the other hand, shows some concerning abilities which people who had a proper childhood wouldn't learn in the first place. His ability to read expressions is absolutely astonishing, and knocked out socks of millions of people — especially when he starts to count your deaths in the Genocide Route. And the one can argue it's probably easy to tell by Frisk's expressions — after all, they're a child, they probably don't have any understanding of making pokerface yet(Frisk seems to be described as rather expressionate by the narrator and other characters, as far as I remember).

But there's a difference between "the time traveler looks pissed off just about I'm about to fight them; considering my dejavu, I've probably killed them", and "the time traveler looks pissed off just about I'm about to fight them; considering my dejavu, and judging by their expression, I can tell for sure I've killed them 3 times now". You don't learn the difference between ten shades of angry expressions in a happy house. I bet Sans can tell who's walking down the stairs by their footsteps.

And yet, it seems that it got better at some point? Sans had to learn from someone what a good parenting is, in otherwise Papyrus wouldn't have such a good childhood; Sans learned how to joke and how to laugh; Sans learned that maybe, even the worst person can change (after all, from whom else Papyrus could gain this mindset? Though, it seems like monsterkind overall prefers to think like that (maybe having a king as a serial child murderer does have consequences on the public lol)), Sans learned to keep moving despite everything seeming to be worthless. Because by the end of the day, maybe everything will change for the best.

However, there's still effects that comes from abusive childhood. He does have some troubles with dealing with complex negative situations — he tends to back off instead of resolving/addressing the conflict, and laugh it off without explanation for his actions or decisions. One of such instances is the lamp interaction between Sans and Papyrus — Papyrus calls him lazy, and Sans hints him to back off; however it immediately gets followed up with a joke. There's a big chance that Sans uses humour as a coping mechanism, considering the way how often he tries to lighten up tense situation with it(I mean, doesn't he literally tells you jokes along the way as he fights you in Genocide Route). The only instances I remember of Sans not trying to soften negativity is when he wants to be threatening (bad time moments and some of the neutral endings), and there's a few more when he starts to soften negativity with a joke, then cut it off and continues to be passive aggressive (some of neutral endings; I wonder if he jokes because he doesn't want to feel so much negative emotions, out of habit, or because he wanted to have the situation end on more light note but changes his mind along the way).

Sans tends to lie and keep everything in secret for seemingly no reason, but it actually reinforces even further the idea that he isn't familiar with being emotionally vulnerable. One of such instances is at the dinner.

The whole scene is quite curious, because by body language you can tell that Sans either not comfortable of sharing something or just didn't get used to being emotionally vulnerable. He pauses, changes the topic like two-three times, constantly looks away os if it hard to keep it face to face. Personally I think he feels guilty there, which leads to him telling the famous "you'd be dead where you stand" phrase in the first place (there's really no reason for him to threaten you in this conversation). The body language is important here, so I'll remind you how it goes.

* but...

* someone who sincerely likes bad jokes...

* had an integrity you can't say "no" to.

(Sans turns away, and then turns back.)

* do you get what i'm saying?

* that promise i made to her...

* do you know what would happened if she hadn't said anything?

* ... buddy.

(Sans turns away.)

He doesn't even look at you! And afterwards he looks at your reaction and immediately brushes it off, telling you to lighten up and that he was "joking with you"!! (I can't with those idiots ughhhggughh).

It's also an example of how Sans tends to try lighten the mood as soon as it becomes negative, instead of properly explaining himself.

In other words, Sans did get through some shit and made sure that Papyrus won't feel the same. Which leads to their trusting and respectful relationship, where Papyrus feels absolutely comfortable to be vulnerable— and Sans tries his hardest to be vulnerable, too.

I remember seeing a take where dadster actually adopted Sans and Papyrus instead of being their biological father; and it's one of instances that could suit them, if Gaster eventually dies early enough for Papyrus being raised by Sans. Another take is Gaster being Papyrus' and Sans' brother, which is curious — but I'd say I don't see Gaster as the older brother (remember to have fun ok!!!!!), it feels like throwing out the window the whole dynamic. As a middle brother, though? I dunno, but sounds interesting for me.

But it really does seem like Gaster had close relationship at least with Sans.

Otherwise, why would he try to fix the machine?

I strongly hc that undertale sans raised papyrus which is why papyrus has really cutesy ways of talking to him in the jpn version

I stan the hc that Sans raised Papyrus so hard. Like, so hard that I don't care if it's canon or not, it's canon in my heart. I like to think maybe they had a Lilo and Nani dynamic when Papyrus was a kid. Or that Sans was more fatherly in the way that dads tell shitty jokes and sit on you to be annoying. Whenever I see an edit on tiktok about Papyrus only being able to see Sans as his dad I have to rip off both of my legs to stabilize myself

And now knowing that Papyrus has a cutesy speaking pattern in the Japanese version? Hoo boy. HOOOOO BOY. Sans must've been a really good fucking "parental" figure/older brother because whenever I see adults that are okay with calling their parents terms of endearment like 'mama' or 'big sissy' they have almost exclusively had a good relationship with them. So if Papyrus is cool with calling Sans brother in a way so cutesy and endearing they must have a really comfortable and happy relationship. And I love that for them.

Also, the only reason we know that Sans IS the older brother is because of the Japanese version of ut. Let that sink in. Thank you Tobias Radiation Fox.

[mantisgodsdomain]

I feel like doctor H.B. Would be part of the “attracted to the horrors” therapy group because while I don’t have anything specific in mind she’s definitely the type and if nothing else she’d do it for science.

...yeah you're right we have one(1) applicable AU we can import her from.

[stfrancisofinfidelity]

i need to hear all of your thoughts on whitaker’s background, you have a very insightful pov

thank you so much!!! he reminds me of some of my guy friends so he’s v precious to me. whitaker... how i love him so much my little scrungle

whitaker is so interesting to me because i feel like compared to other characters (mostly the med students), we don't actually know that much about him! he def shares things about himself, but he doesn't give up much to his coworkers, the people he should be trying to get close to. instead he's more open to his patients! he's similar to robby in that way and i think it's why they connect (in a weird emotionally stunted way) so well.

what's very important to me is how whitaker is very aware of the labor of others and how he sort of deflects off of his own achievements or involvement. "my parents have a farm" not "i lived on a farm" or "my family has a farm", "they sacrificed a lot to get me here" not "i worked hard" unless something goes wrong, then it's his responsibility. when robby asks him about the EKG he ordered, whitaker doesn't lie and say he thought of it on his own, he says a nurse told him to. he was the only one doing compressions on mr. milton even when offered help, "especially when it's your fault" (in reference to milton's death), he like never accepts help or support and when it's just given to him he looks incredibly uncomfortable.

this is not the face of someone who is super jazzed to be comforted.

santos mentions her extra room to be passive in her extending of help, expecting whitaker to take the chance at a room, but he just simply doesn't seem to have the expectation that people are there to help him.

like he is not thinking about asking her for anything! oh my god he looks so tired here.

all this to say that i think he’s either the youngest or the second youngest with close age gaps between him and his siblings. his parents probably had a lot to deal with and in turn he became a very “calm” child to try and help his parents deal with the stress of having multiple kids. i see him as being the kid that throws up in the corner and tries to hide it because he just doesn’t wanna worry his mom.

with his parents owning a farm (i assume a livestock one since he talks about mucking out a stall), we saw how calm he is around animal death/killing animals. however he does it in a way that’s a quick death, he’s nice about it. he’s probably had to deal with the death of livestock a lot. if his parents are raising animals to eat, then he’d probably get an age where he’s trusted with putting down livestock. this is a really emotional and difficult thing to do, even if it’s your job. he’s not very outwardly emotional but i think as a kid he was and this is part of why he was picked on by his brothers.

he feels deeply and while he wants praise he’s incredibly uncomfortable with people taking too much notice of him (with the exception of the rat. but that was a silly moment). so i feel like he stayed in the periphery most of his life and still prefers that. he probably didn’t start wanting to go to college til high school and i figure he probably had to work a fuck ton in school to try and help his parents pay for his education.

i really doubt he’s told his family that he’s “between houses.” i think he would call his parents maybe once or twice a month but not because he doesn’t love them or doesn’t miss them but because he just hates lying to them. i also think his parents would try and convince him to come home. just from my own observations of rural families (and more religious ones if that’s the route we’re going for) they typically find a lot more security in having their family close, a lot more so than suburban families.

i love whitaker. i could probably go on and on but this is like the majority of my thoughts!!

[watcherintheweyr]

'Rhaenyra is a bad mom bc she knowingly gave birth to bastards and she knew how much danger they'd be in!!!!'

1. She had no way of knowing those babies wouldn't pop out looking exactly like her, beforehand. And unfortunately she couldn't stop at Jace. The throne needed an heir. Driftmark needed an heir. And a spare was needed as well, given the sheer rate of Targaryen children dying untimely deaths.

2. She had to provide heirs to the throne, and to Driftmark. If she hadn't, society wouldn't have blamed Laenor, they would have blamed her- which makes her position even more unstable, bc then she 'can't fulfill a woman's duty' so why would men think her 'able' to fill a 'man's role' by ruling the kingdom? And she and Laenor tried. He was either unable (meaning infertile or impotent, or unable to get it up), or unwilling. (And they did try. We dont know what they tried but Rhaenyra is shown to be clever in the show so honestly i have no doubt she attempted what Margaery suggested with Renly.) Laenor was in on the entire thing. He was aware of every part of this. He wasn't duped, he wasn't cuckholded- it was a plan greenlit by him, bc this way he and Rhaenyra would both have their heirs and a family. This cannot in any way shape or form be compared to Cersei cuckholding Robert (fuck Robert Baratheon tho), seeing as Robert was **not** at all aware that his children weren't his, and wouldn't have been OK with that.

Either way- she chose not to maritally r*pe her husband and put him through more trauma after it was clear their attempts weren't working. Yall are always so upset for Alicent (rightfully so, bc show!alicent was maritally raped, even if it wasn't considered as such in that time), but you... WANT Rhaenyra to do that to Laenor? Hello???

[And no. Rhaenyra did NOT rape or coerce Criston Cole. The actors, writers, and directors have all stated their sex was consensual and 'an act of love.' It was Rhaenyra going to someone she felt close to and trusted after feeling abandoned and unwanted and betrayed. In that scene you literally watch, as after Cole tells Rhaenyra to stop undressing herself, she moves aside so she isn't blocking his way to the door. The director states that the moment they show Cole folding and setting down his cloak was him choosing his desire over his oaths. And Criston Cole has known Rhaenyra since she was 14. He knew damn well the sort of person she was- and she was not the person who would have harmed him for saying no. She was an intoxicated and emotionally vulnerable 19 year old- Criston was in his late 20s to early 30s. And it's explicitly stated in ep.9 that the ONLY person a Kingsguard cannot refuse is the king. In ep.7 Criston disobeys a direct order from Alicent when she wants him to mutilate Lucerys. Criston Cole was not assaulted. Stop trying to assign Aegon's sins to Rhaenyra so that you can feel better for supporting him.]

3. In the books, the rumors of their bastardry at large halted when all of Rhaenyra's boys' cradle eggs hatched. The ONLY people who continued to try and raise issue were the core green faction. But the realm at large *did not give a fuck* why? Because every actually relevant party claimed those boys. Repeatedly and without flinching. Laenor claimed and loved those boys even face to face with Alicent's bullshit. Corlys claimed and love those boys- he was proud of them, and it's been stated by the actor in the show that Luke was his favorite- that given the... events of ep.10, Corlys will be out for blood. And Viserys repeatedly insisted upon their legitimacy- because Laenor and Corlys claimed them, because he knew that by forcing Rhaenyra to marry Laenor in order to repair the damage his insults caused House Velaryon, that he had backed her into a corner.

Rhaenyras boys are remembered to history as Velaryon. Even **Green supporters** noted that they were good, capable, intelligent, and **worthy** princes. That their deaths were unfortunate *for the realm.*

Legally, those boys are legitimate. They cannot be proven illegitimate without Laenor renouncing them, and he never did. Furthermore, trying to declare children illegitimate due to their appearance is a stupid, dangerous precedent. The fact that it's people who have no ties to House Velaryon pushing these rumors and pushing for disinheritance makes it even worse, because they're meddling in the succession of a House that *is not theirs.* if that became a standard, imagine the feuds and conflicts that would erupt- lords pushing for the children of rivals to be declared illegitimate all for the sake of trying to grasp and steal land, power, and influence as a norm? The realm would tear itself apart. Not to mention the sheer danger that would place women in, in Westeros.

Furthermore, even whilst usurping her, even while calling her children bastards, the Greens also imply Laenor's homosexuality was inherited by the Velaryon princes- that they would use Rhaenyra's 'promiscuity' and Laenor's 'predilections' to turn the Red Keep into a brothel- ironic, considering that's more what Aegon would've done. So even while claiming that Rhaenyras children are bastards that shouldn't inherit, they try to state that what the boys inherit or learn from Laenor makes them unfit for the throne. They can't keep their own damn story straight- because their usurpation was never about what is moral, what is right, or the greater good. It was about greed. Power. Sexism.

It doesn't matter what those boys looked like, especially seeing as Rhaenys had dark hair in the books. What matters is that Corlys and Laenor and Viserys claimed them and declared them legitimate, and that they **never** deviated from that.

As for Vaemond, he was a second son. And he waited until Corlys and Viserys were dying and too ill to stop him to make a grasp for power. Youre not supposed to look at that and feel hes in the right. Youre supposed to look at that and see a man consumed by greed, and literally trying to bury Corlys' will and intentions before the man is even in a grave. He was NEVER Corlys' heir- he just wanted power. It wasn't about his House, or their legacy, it was about him.

(And before yall start shit about Rhaenyras boys stealing Laena's girls' inheritance... Rhaena and Baela are *TARGARYEN*. Not Velaryon. Their claim was to the throne or to any holdings in Daemon's name. NOT to Driftmark.)

Rhaenyras boys being betrothed to Rhaena and Baela tied up any issue of 'Velaryon blood.' Baela would have been queen consort of the seven kingdoms at Jace's side, and they very clearly adored one another in book and show. Rhaena would have been Lady of the Tides- which she never would have had a chance for, without Rhaenyra (and Laena) making those betrothals. She and Luke were also canonically very close- and in show she's very encouraging of him whenever he looks nervous or uncertain. They had a bond.

Rhaenyra stole nothing. She gave those girls more. And she loved them- they were the only daughters she got to have, seeing as the Greens treachery caused the early death of baby Visenya. If she hadn't loved them, she wouldn't have trusted Rhaena to look after Joffrey or give her Morning's egg from Syrax. She wouldn't have immediately invited both girls to the table when she was queen, which is something her father did not do for her until much, much later. He allowed Rhaenyra's voice to be silenced too often when she was first made heir. Rhaenyra did not repeat that hurt to her girls or her boys.

Anyways, moving on.

You lot do also remember that Rhaenyra herself has Velaryon blood, right? Jaehaerys I's mother was Alyssa Velaryon. Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya the Conquerors' mother was Valaena Velaryon. It's not immediate, but there *is* Velaryon blood through *all* of Rhaenyras boys.

Ultimately, Rhaenyras boys were only in danger because of the core Green faction usurping the throne. If they hadnt- no succession crisis or rebellion could have truly threatened Rhaenyras boys- because none of them would have had dragons. All of Rhaenyras children loved one another- her sons by Daemon would not have turned on her sons with Laenor (and Harwin). They were a true, loving family- possibly one of the healthiest and most close knit one House Targaryen ever boasted.

And another thing... 'her having babies with Harwin was stupid, she should have picked someone Valyrian!'

Here's the thing. Rhaenyra had to be careful as hell choosing who would father her and Laenor's heirs. She had to choose someone who was physically close, and who could be trusted. Someone who wouldn't try to publicly claim those boys in boast or jealousy. Someone who would keep their mouth shut and had no ambition of their own in regards to the throne. Do you really think Vaemond Velaryon (as I see him suggested a lot) would've kept his mouth shut? That he wouldn't have tried to use this to blackmail Rhaenyra and Laenor for more power and status? Do you think Rhaenys would have ever fought for or supported Rhaenyra if Rhaenyra had tried to have Corlys sire her children? And flying to see Daemon in Pentos and having a purely Valyrian child 9 months later would have made things look even more suspect.

Furthermore... she chose someone who cared for her deeply. Who clearly had a positive relationship with Laenor. She chose someone so she wouldn't have to traumatize herself- she took power over her body in a way almost no Westerosi woman has ever been able to. They were a family unit- Rhaenyra, Laenor, and Harwin. Those children were loved and cherished by two fathers and their mother. They were raised never doubting their mothers love, nor their father's- either father. They were raised and educated to be true, good princes of the realm.

Rhaenyra fought like hell for her children. She was an incredible mother. Yall just believe everything the Green faction says without looking at it critically, and that's unfortunate as hell.

[liecraves]

If you think about it, the Mel and Langdon ship is more profound than what some people are letting on. OK, I get it, they're both pretty and all (if you want to get superficial about them) but think about them individually first.

We can see from the start Langdon is very arrogant and sure of himself. He grew and flourished in the ED environment where a character like that is appreciated and encouraged in men. We see him sort of going up, and up, and it wasn’t until Santos noticed cracks in his work-persona that we see him falter. And that’s when the audience finds out about his addiction and the way he’s been getting the drugs to sustain his addiction*.

Season 2 Langdon is going to feel very alone and he’ll need tons of support. He lost his mentor and the fellowship Robby wrote a recommendation letter for. He'll probably have to repeat the last year of his residency and he most likely lost the trust of most of the people he works with.**

With Mel, we see her being empathetic, kind and maybe even naive entering the ED so hopeful and excited to be there. And as the season progresses, we see her more settled and confident of herself, taking charge and performing complicated procedures. But, still needs the reassurance of senior doctors: Stepping away from patients on two different occasions to find an attending to help them perform procedures and both times Santos and Mohan took the lead to take care of the patients.

Season 2 Mel could grow into a more confident doctor and even take the lead in multiple cases, without doubting herself or needing to be constantly watched over by Robby or Langdon, even now that he has returned. As for her feelings for Langdon, she’ll most likely treat him the same as before. She has heard of what happened, maybe she doesn't know he stole from the hospital, but she definitely knows he went to rehab.

As for the two of them, I think Mel can ground Langdon and help him settle into working on his sobriety. Why Mel? Because we don’t see Langdon interact on a personal level with anyone aside from Robby, Dana and Collins. And assuming his relationship with Robby is on the rocks, with Dana he was straight-up selfish, and Collins we don’t know her reaction ‘cause she didn’t know (but honestly, it could go either way, resentful like Robby, or supportive like Mel). So Mel is the only relationship Langdon could rely on at work. She didn’t know him for long, which gives her an unbiased opinion, and he’ll probably appreciate her not really knowing him. It gives Langdon the space for him to change as well, because he won’t be constantly compared to his past self.

And this makes me curious about how next season is going to go for them aside from all the fanon stuff. As I said, the type of person Mel met during her first shift is going to be very different to the type of person Langdon comes back as. Same for him, the Mel he met is not as confident as the “new” Mel is gonna be, having 10 months of experience in the ED.

Still, Langdon will need someone who can understand the rough parts of his addiction and his job, and Mel will need someone to take care of her when she’s done taking care of her sister. (We saw the way she ends s1, going home to take care of her sister after taking care of people during her 15 hour shift. She is a primary caretaker 24/7 and she’ll probably burn out at some point next season)

Why would Langdon value Mel's opinion? I think Langdon recognizes and values people he can learn from. In season 1 we can see he really admires what Robby teaches him (and during the end of the season we can see him admiring Dr. Abbot’s work as well) But we don’t really see him appreciate or recognize his peers or subordinates' knowledge. (Medical students, Interns, Residents, Nurses) But, in comes Dr. Mel King into this world where he thinks he’s the ruler of. He says it himself, that he is learning things from her: being more attentive to patients, not to rush into the initial evaluations, especially with neurodivergent people.

Also, we don’t know the real Langdon. We don’t really know why he started taking drugs or for how long (or we do, in case he was telling the truth), we don’t know his relationship with his wife, kids, parents, siblings, etc. So it’s interesting next season will focus on his return to the ED, and probably will navigate aspects of his sobriety and how he is now that he is newly sober. Especially the interactions with his peers and the probable flashbacks he’ll have throughout the season.

So, for me the Mel+Langdon pairing makes sense. They fit together and there’s a lot of room for growth for a relationship (romantic or platonic– even though I really see the potential for a romantic one) There are aspects of their dynamic that sort balances the other and as I said before, they can help each other in different aspects in their lives and be together during the tough parts of life. They both need that.

(Having said that, I do want very much to get that scene at the end of season 4 or 5 of them walking away from the hospital holding hands.)

notes:

*Also, I think it is very relevant to point out the way prescription drugs are given away like that. If what he said was true, it means a doctor prescribed the initial doses of painkillers, very well knowing the risks of addiction and dependence to those drugs. Season 2 can very well be also about that: doctors giving away drugs that reduce pain without actually considering the addictive factors of said meds.

**I actually don’t want him to be treated differently. Sure, stealing drugs from the hospital is bad bad, but he’s an addict surrounded by doctors and medical staff who know how addictions work and shouldn’t be judgmental about it. The lens that should be put upon him is to watch him not endanger a patient again (and of course not kill himself by doing drugs), not the addiction itself, I think.

final note: Even if they keep being platonic, what I wrote are several reasons why they could be good for one another, this is the whole point of this post. And also, I think relationships are the point of the show. We know the writers want to make something as close as possible to how real hospitals work and as far away as possible from medical dramas where the main focus are the romantic relationships. However, I think the show targets how lonely and alienating it can be to study medicine and work in a hospital, and it highlights the importance of relationships: Robby-Dr. Adamson, Robby-Dana, Robby-Collins, Robby-Langdon; and how those can grow or be ripped apart.

[randomahhbrainrot]

General Deltarune Spoilers: We’re talking about the public demonization of the Soul/Player and whatever it’s called when you say ‘oh it’s a baby can do no wrong I feel so sorry for them’-ization of Kris.

I think it’s pretty ridiculous how everyone’s doubled down on the Soul/Player being an evil entity in this story ever since Chapter 3 and 4 came out. This is of course, not considering the Weird Route.

It’s like we didn’t get a single additional drop of nuance to that conversation handfed to us by Toby himself.

Now, to be clear, I’m not trying to be those people who say “Kris is evil and I’m actually the good guy here!” As I said, Toby airdropped us some quality nuance in both of the new chapters.

The nuance lies in how our relationship as the Player with Kris is a transactional one. One where we have apparently been gotten ahold of due to our ‘necessity’ according to the phone call.

Yes, Kris dislikes us and takes measures to incapacitate and contain us when they need us to not see whatever they’re doing, or just because they want a break from us. Or both, as seen with Noelle’s house.

But consider, Kris is not a bad person. They’re a bit of a problem child, but they’re not malicious. I don’t believe that they would actually be going along with a fundamentally malicious plan, even if they were coerced. This means that they must have some sort of personal stake in the plan that Team Knight is trying to pull off, whether it’s helping to find/purify Dess, or supporting Rudy or Carol (in the event either of them are the knight).

Kris has shown that whatever plan they’re a part of, it’s worth acting as double agent against Susie and Ralsei, AND taking on the Soul within themselves. Which, let’s get back to.

I highly highly doubt that Kris legitimately hates the Soul. I personally believe that they dislike us, sure, but in the way that one would dislike a grueling responsibility that saps someone of their time and energy. You don’t like that this is something you have to do, but you know that you HAVE to do it, for the sake of something down the road.

I think that the sentiment that Kris is a pure victim who’s being abused by the antics of the soul and that they don’t get to eat or whatever and we’re so shitty, I feel like shit, BLAH BLAH BLAH, it’s all a load of BS.

We were summoned from whoever we came from in the void, and taken into Kris willingly to achieve whatever it is Team Knight wishes to achieve (which I have a theory for if you check out my previous post). The process is strenuous and exhausting, but in exchange, allows Kris to do things such as sealing dark fountains and banishing darkness, something no one else can do.

I firmly believe that in the coming chapters, our relationship with Kris will finally evolve, especially once Susie realizes that she befriended two different people (Kris as a person, the Soul’s actions) and was betrayed by Kris working with the Knight. We will break up with Susie (not in that way) and leave us alone with Kris, who we will have to make peace with so that we could understand them and fight together for the same good, after which we will have to confront Susie and try to get her back on Kris’ side.

Toby believes in media, and especially games, as vessels for hope and empowerment, and that people can always do the right thing.

I highly doubt that he’d write a story where a player who had done nothing wrong gets demonized purely for following along and anyone who believes otherwise needs to lighten up.

[shadow-cat-with-red-roses]

Here it is. The full analysis because someone finally tipped me over the edge. This whole thing is to deconstruct the point that because oCiel and Sebastian are dancing the waltz there has to be a romantic correlation there.

For the first part of the trailer, we see oCiel and Sebastian in a cage. Dancing the waltz. While sebaciel shippers try to say this is obvious romance, I heavily disagree with this shallow conclusion.

It’s a clear sign to show one that oCiel is caged in his contract. While, also showing that he needs the demon for support because without said demon, he would fall. And that’s shown in the pose that they’re in. With oCiel dangling like a ragdoll. We also see how far apart they are from each other. Showing that this contrast isn’t made because of any sort of “love”. The only care and compassion is false. It’s a façade. Only act that Sebastian shows either to gain more trust in oCiel or to play into his butler persona.

We see this is in juxtaposition to Sullivan and Wolfrem. Who clearly have a father daughter relationship. Their relationship as we see with their closeness and them actively looking at each other is built up of familial love and care. We can also see this in the expression that they’re making. While oCiel’s expression is solemn. His eyes looking away from Sebastian. We see Sullivan and Wolfrem looking at each other. As we see these two scenes are meant to juxtapose eachother. Meant to show the relationship between both of the characters. 

Also, overall, if you look at the two in the cages on the bars with Sebastian and oCiel are way more close together, making them feel more caged and more trapped. While was Sullivan and Wolfrem we see that the bars are more wide apart. 

Now for these parts also not romance. Especially for the Sebastian part. Theses moments are clear foreshadowing to this part of the manga.

This part of the manga goes over all the death all the sacrifices that oCiel had to made to bring himself out of the dark and plunged himself to Sebastian the final person that brought him up to where he is now. His strength to get revenge. One of the reasons why I hate when this part is taken for the shippers delulu. Because this whole thing shows oCiel’s strength…his self doubt and self loathing. His survivor guilt. And his trama. Sebaciel shippers ignore all of this just to fit there delusions. My anger to this is cold. Very very cold. But now I shall go into the phantomfam.

We also see the phantomfam the main reson why there are there is because oCiel’s relationship to them and how they build up his identity as Ciel Earl Phantomhive. It also builds up my reson that the intro shows more then romance is trying to be shown in theses character relationships. As if it was only romance then why even show them in the first place? Such as the continuation dances between the Pantomfam and oCiel before leading into oCiel reaching for a light up star. That also links into his trama. And how Sebastian is his hope and also his dispare. And that his acts of kindness are more manipulation to drive oCiel further into darkness.

[rtv-puzzlevision-studios]

☆ THE RTV!PUZZLEVISION TOUR [Part 2]

Participants actions:

Becky

Marie

Loyboo

Astro

Nia

Nicknack

Harley

Grinnames

Asper

Vex

Lucas

Lari

Rayas

Lily

Creature

Sci

The Director

Bunnybot

The Scammer

KuromiPuzzles

Messy

Orion

Nira

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

While the voting continued, RTV was kind of just pacing around near Colores giving a smile here and there, asking how it’s going.

Typical host behavior.

Okay, maybe he was also shooting a few glares, especially in the direction of a certain head of the Delivery Department.

He was really considering not paying her that overtime because her grumpiness was starting to piss him off.

Something she managed quite often.

Tearing his eyes away from Nicknack, he now turned his attention towards that same brown-haired rough looking girl he talked with before.

Now she looked even worse, oh boy.

“Okay! I’m not sick, just sleep deprived!! The nightmare realm takes out on me a lot.��, she defended herself, even though RTV never even voiced his suspicion that she was sick. Apparently he had been a bit too obvious, whoops.

“I never MEANT to imply-”, he tried to say, but was immediately cut off again as the girl ranted on.

“All because my “friends” abused me and left me to die in a crumbling castle, which was my home. But the King - of the Nightmare Realm - is my friend and took me in. But… he doesn’t understand that keeping me up and having a panic attack every 5 minutes-”

“Miss.”, he interrupted her now, really trying to keep the exasperated tone out of his voice, as he folded his hands behind his back. “With respect but that sounds like something you should discuss with a professional.”

The TV head gave her a faked look of pity, before patting her shoulder once and moving past her.

“Preferably someone in the PSYCHOLOGY department…”, he muttered to himself, before quickly distancing himself from this particular participant before he was there to witness a live breakdown.

Perhaps incidents like this were why he should get some sort of therapist or psychologist on the team, but he really didn’t need people to think that his studio was a bad work environment. It was fine! Aside from a few hiccups here and there everyone was satisfied with the pay, the work-

Okay who was he kidding, alone the Film Department was a mess. Internally sighing, he put it on his very long to-do list. 

Note to self: Hire mental health support.

His attention was briefly diverted to another person he had talked to before. The brown haired guy with the missing arm. 

They were currently happily yapping about all the props and Puzzlevision elements before noticing RTV’s glance and slightly shrinking.

“Ahem…apologies, Mr.Puzzles.”

Was he that intimidating?

Flashing the participant a smile, he waved the apology aside.

“Why apologize? You came here to ADMIRE after all!”

He extended his arms.

“Please, feel free to look AROUND the studio while we are still here!”

In the next second, RTV’s smile slightly froze as he got a notification from Wr3n.

Taking his phone out of his coat, he spared it a quick glance.

Got one sneaking away.

Attached was a screenshot of a blonde figure sneaking towards a certain office door. Ah, that explained why Wr3n was notifying him and not security.

He raised his eyes, muttering an “Excuse me”, before moving towards the crowd straight towards the target which was just about to open the office door.

Mask’s office door.

“Now now, GOING somewhere?", he now spoke, placing a hand on the person’s shoulder watching with satisfaction how the deviant froze and then looked up to him.

“Sorry, thought I heard something, thought someone maybe wandered off and uh, well you know, figured I get them." they said, giving a shrug with a chuckle, before they looked off to the side, and avoided eye contact.

RTV was not buying it for a second, but right now he was way more interested in the person’s resemblance to Mask.

Another doppelganger no doubt, either from another universe or an insert without  background. He was betting on the first.

Either way, they had no business being here.

His eyes narrowed a tad at the familiar feeling that cursed through his cold hand as he touched the participant’s shoulder.

Could it be…?

“Oh but of COURSE, can't have that, can we? However I assure you everyone is accounted for, perhaps NEXT time, let security do their job, no need to wander off, hmmm?" RTV now snapped out of his observations, before his hands clasped together.

For now he needed that one away from this office.

Luckily, they seemed to play along, giving the TV head a nod.

"Very good! Now, why don't you join the OTHERS and cast your vote, we'll be leaving for the next department shortly!”, he announced before placing his hand on their back instead now and pushing them along, back to the crowd.

As soon as he had led them back there, his smile dropped and he gestured for Chris to keep an eye on that one.

What was their name even again…? He typed the question to Wr3n.

Astro.

Astrovision AU.

Ah, that explained a lot.

“Ah, Sorry-”

Stuffing his phone back into his coat, he turned to look down at the horned girl who had bumped into him a second ago.

His dry stare slightly softened as he saw the Puzzles Plushie in her hands.

A fan apparently.

If a clumsy one.

“No worries, go along, but do take CARE of your surroundings, yes?”, he spoke in a forgiving voice, gesturing for her to go along, before shaking his head and moving back to his previous position.

One that was approached by an individual with swirly eyes, black and red horns and weirdly floating ribbons around her waist a few seconds later.

He recognized this one as “Grinnames”, as she was one of the people whose submissions he had read through and saw sometimes when on the site for business with his ask box.

Well, at least the visitors seemed to warm up to them enough to ask questions now.

And he didn’t have to wait long for Grinname’s.

Raising her arm, she voiced her question in the next question.

“Colores! Mr. Puzzles! I have a question! Two questions actually. First, why aren’t Bob and Saiko on the crew anymore?”

Ah.

Well, he should have seen that one coming.

“Also…”, Grinnames now continued more sheepishly, tapping her fingers together. “Could I… possibly… if it’s no trouble… have the box of fan mail from Valentine’s day?”

RTV’s eyebrows rose in the air.

Luckily, Colores managed to ask the question that was running through his own head, but nicer.

“And… why would you want the fan mail? They’re not… addressed to you, you know.”, she asked Grinnames, confusion clear in her voice.

“Well, to be completely honest with you, I was planning to read all of them. And then eat them.”

“…”

The silence was deafening as even more questions filled RTV’s head.

“So can I have them?”, Grinnames repeated.

Feeling Colores’ helpless stare on him, he now sighed, crossing his arms as he looked down at the menace.

“I highly advise you against eating these letters, as they probably taste like tears, CHEESY romance and PARASOCIAL relationships.”, he spoke dryly, before smirking. “So that’s a no, I’m afraid.”

Next to him he heard Colores hide her chuckle behind a cough.

“As for your first question, well, Saiko and Bob have been…let go a while ago due to some HEAVY tension in the crew.”, RTV explained with a saddened tone, one hand absentmindedly tapping on the long scar that was hidden behind his sleeve.

Why did that guy even have blades for hands?

“So, I fear they won’t be appearing on the shows anytime soon.”, he continued, shrugging with a shake of his head. “Rest assured though they are just FINE.”

Physically.

“Oh yeah, I also heard someone ask about Luigi.”, Colores now added, folding her hands. “He’s fine as well, but he resigned from the crew even before I was hired because of what happened to his brother.”

“And there you have it. Now, if you would excuse me…”, RTV spoke, his solemn expression immediately turning back to a bright smile as he now turned to the next asker.

This was going to take a while.

☆

“ALRIGHT, THE VOTES ARE IN! WE ARE GOING TO THE FILM DEPARTMENT!”

Lucian who had been leaning against a wall next to the door after his talk with Sci, now watched how the people slowly started to leave the studio and started gathering in the hallway.

Chris and Swag already followed the crowd which meant that he was staying in the studio until the last people had left.

He briefly looked up, watching as his sister talked to that one anxious participant with the fox ears, visibly assuring them.

“Lucian.”

The object head tensed as RTV suddenly stood next to him.

For someone this tall, the TV head had the uncanny skill to sneak up on people.

“What’s up…boss?”, he forced himself to a casual attitude even though he felt like throwing his fist right into that man’s screen.

RTV gave him a narrowed glance for a second, the condescension visible in his eyes for a few seconds, before he lowered his voice.

“What’s the status on Animsay?”

Ah, so this what it was about.

“Worried she has more things planned that you didn’t know about?”,Lucian couldn’t help but mock, clearly referring back to the fanmail talk.

A scowl slowly faded into RTV’s expression.

“You already managed to ruin your relationship with your sister all on your own.”, he slowly drawled, slightly leaning down to Lucian. “Do you think I can make it worse?”

Everytime he brought Colores into this Lucian felt like taking his gun and ending this story once and for all, but he lost once before.

He was surrounded by people who obeyed RTV, followed him.

His sister included.

If she killed him, she would be one of the first to call security on him, probably hate him forever too because you didn’t just break out of brainwash like that.

RTV had a solid grip on his sister’s mentality and he wasn’t afraid to remind Lucian of it.

“Wr3n set her loose shortly before the tour began.”, Lucian now answered, forcing the hostility out of his voice. “If she’s not here, she’s probably roaming around. You know she’s not exactly caring about set timelines.”

“She better be about THIS one.”, RTV muttered, now walking past Lucian towards the crowd, screen displaying a happy face again though his muttered sentence did not match. “Or her vacation is going to be permanent.”

Lucian lowly snorted at that.

As if.

Without Animsay this whole tour would not even have been set up.

RTV needed her if he wanted to manage that whole 4th wall business even if he was too proud to admit it.

The sound of rustling paper made him glance up the ceiling where he saw Colores now picking something up from some of the cubicles.

Some kind of paper.

He quickly looked away when she looked over to him, not wanting to spark another argument because of his “overprotective brother behavior”.

Tsk, if she knew.

“Do me a favor?”

“Huh?”

Lucian looked up as his sister floated over to him, handing him the paper.

“So now we are talking again?”, he asked, but took it, giving the paper which turned out to be a drawing a puzzled look.

It included several versions of Puzzles with RTV in the middle.

Absolutely something that belonged to the tour participants.

“If you could stop for once to stop behaving like I can’t do my job-”, Colores started.

“It’s not about your job, it’s about the boss-”

“-that gave YOU a job after you wrecked your whole life and that of a bunch of others.”, Colores hissed, before shaking her head. “No, I’m not going into this again with you today. Take the drawing, give it to the one with the striped uniform. See you later.”

With that she turned around, giving a desk with what appeared to be a star on it a side glance before shrugging and disappearing into the depths of the studio.

Lucian stood there for a second, hesitating before cursing and turning around to catch up to the group which RTV had meanwhile began leading to the next destination.

Finding the owner of the drawing wasn’t too difficult as her uniform stood out quite easily and she was at the back of the group.

Putting a hand on the robotic fox-like girl’s shoulder, Lucian turned her attention towards him.

“Keep going.”, he told her reassuringly, noticing her startled expression before handing her the drawing. “Don’t lose it, alright?”

Taking it, she muttered what appeared to be a thanks before turning around and moving on.

Lucian did notice how the tension he had previously noticed on her seemed to slightly leave.

Well, his sister always had been better at making people happy.

Sighing, he crossed his arms, as he proceeded to walk at the end of the group, blending out RTV’s speech.

☆

“The Film Department makes the CORE of the Headquarters, after all Puzzlevison’s main thing is to create MOVIES and SHOWS for everyone!”, RTV meanwhile explained while leading the group back the way they came. Luckily for them, there was a second less cursed staircase in the hallway to the left that led back to the ground floor. “I could of course show you all the different studios we have, but I think you may be interested in a PARTICULAR part of said department.”

RTV now stepped to the side, gesturing for Swag to take the lead for a second.

He had to check up on something.

While Swag began leading the group onto the ground level over the staircase, RTV moved past it and a few meters back to the elevator they passed beforehand.

Pressing the button he called for the elevator, before slipping inside as soon as the doors opened.

If anyone were to step in as well, they would have seen RTV slightly sizing down to fit better into the lift.

It had been a premonition pretty much, a little hunch if you will and lo and behold, he was right to have taken this way.

A scowl placed itself on his screen as he glance at the floor buttons.

Below the two buttons that were accessible to everyone, were three other buttons that led to the basement levels.

Floors which were usually hidden behind a secret panel, one that a certain other TV head had carelessly left open.

He was seriously regretting his decision now.

It's always something like this.

Small things that could cause disaster, intentionally left around for her amusement.

To bring in some action as she would say.

RTV didn't want action in this tour, he just wanted a civilized little event, gather some data about these people and that was it.

With a loud sigh, he now put the panel back in place with a practiced motion, before pressing the button to the ground floor.

Really, one of these days he was going to-

Ping!

The doors of the elevator opened, revealing a much smaller TV head with a turquoise scarf and black and green clothing.

The black screen, which only displayed a few blue lines, temporarily showed a digital sweatdrop running down the face, before it revealed a curled smile.

“Oh, hey RTV-”

“YOU.”

In the next second, Animsay was lifted off the floor by the collar of her jacket and came face to face with a very angry RTV.

“I decided to let you back for the first time in MONTHS and this is how you repay me?”, he snarled at her.

“Weeeeeeelll”, Animsay drawled slowly. “If you look at it, I’m simply trying to fulfill our promise to the other audience by leaving narrative devices that could be used later to-”

“-to RUIN me?”, RTV ended the sentence for her, glowering.

“...well, it’s all a matter of chance…?”

“One. Just ONE more of these shenanigans and I swear I will-”

“Ahem.”

The fake cough made RTV halt in his threats as he turned his head to look at the rest of the tour group which had now arrived around the corner.

….great.

“- haaave a TALK with you.”, RTV now finished his sentence, before placing Animsay back on the floor.

Said TV head gave a thumbs up, before turning to walk away.

“Great! I will keep that in mind, See y-”

“Don’t even try.”

“On the other hand, staying with you sounds like a very good idea!”, Animsay announced, making a U-turn to join the group to which Swag let out a groan.

She wasn’t exactly beloved among employees.

“Hello, bonjour, assalamu alaikum, hallo!”, she now began shaking several random people’s hands, among them those of Asper’s, Nia’s and Vex who seemed to be zoned out by all the talking, before pointing at herself. “The name’s Animsay, some of you may know me from a certain site, wink wink, others maybe not. I’m the head of the Social Media Department but we will probably get to that later! Probably.”

She turned her head away from RTV, whispering behind her hand.

“Depending on your choices, yada yada. You read the rules.”

Running a glove down his face, RTV’s eyes closed for a second as he mumbled something under his breath before he turned back to the group.

“MOVING ON- if you would start following me again.”, he now raised his voice again, this time a clear strain to his cheery tone. 

He began leading them down the hallway with several doors with name tags on the one side and windows that showed an open area outside on the other side. In the near distance one could spot a familiar purple themed castle.

Animsay had efficiently placed herself in the middle of the crowd just far enough away from any security guard who would rather have her standing not to them. 

Whistling, she now slowly moved next to a certain trio consisting out of a Siren, a robot and an undercover TV head.

“Glad to finally meet you face to face! Hope you’re enjoying the tour so far.”, she innocently began small talk, before nodding to the side.

“Oh, by the way, the many doors we are passing? All offices, mainly of the Administration Department. Pretty neat, right? The offices of the heads, such as myself, each have their own office in the building block their department belongs to. Well, with exception for 3 he prefers to keep in the castle. Mine and Colores are in B!”, she happily began rambling.

The Director just quirked an eyebrow, confusion and scepticism in his gaze, while ​​the Siren blinked in surprise but seemed intrigued.

Bunnybot on the other hand grinned, greeting the fellow, what he assumed was a robot, with a bright smile and a wave.

 "I can't speak for everyone here," he shrugs, "but I'm having a great time!~"  

He listens quietly as the newcomer begins to ramble about this and that, leaning in with interest whilst stealing a glance at "Micheal" out of the corner of his eye.

“Well, anyway I probably shouldn’t hang around too much or the boss gets weird, bye bye!”

With that she moved on to search for the next victim to yap to, in this case a former employee and friend.

“Hey Mi, wait for me!!”

“Ani??”, the black haired girl gave the TV head a hug, before lowering her voice. “Are you okay?”

“Yep! No need to worry!!”

“I’m sure you’ve GUESSED by now where we are heading.”, RTV now spoke again, now opening a set of doors that led to the inner courtyard. “The SMG4, now SMG3 castle has gotten a bit of a rework to fit more to it’s NEW crew.”

Setting the doors so they wouldn’t move he now took the lead again, walking past the grassy fields and a few planted trees and benches.

“This area is often used by employees during BREAKS by the way. It can be accessed from ALL building blocks. Building Block C contains the studios of the Film Department. If you WISH we could take a look at them later, but I think you may be much more interested in the crew’s residence.”

A few moments later, they arrived in front of the SMG3 castle’s gates which Chris and Swag opened for them.

Stepping inside, they were welcomed by the familiar yet recolored interior. 

Checkered floor, two staircases leading up to a room above and several doors with pillars next to them leading to more side rooms.

However, instead of being blue shaded and decorated with SMG4 banners, the interior now was colored in several purple shades and Puzzlevision as well as SMG3 logos.

If one looked above they could also see that the ceiling had been turned into looking like a star filled sky.

“WELCOME TO THE SMG3 CASTLE!”, RTV announced, now moving in the middle of the room, next to the crew who had meanwhile been gathering while the group fully walked in.

Behind them, Lucian closed the doors in front of Animsay who had tried to slip back outside.

The “SMG3 gang” looked pretty similar to its original self if with less members and slight signs of overwork and aside from Tari missing Clench.

All were in uniform, now greeting the group with Meggy and Boopkins giving a bright smile and a wave, while Tari settled on a more sheepish and hesitant one, avoiding eye contact.

The head of the group, SMG3 meanwhile stepped next to RTV, looking awfully tiny next to the 12ft TV head.

Barely hidden dark shadows could be seen below his eyes and although it was clear that he had tried to look his best for today, there was still an aura of exhaustion surrounding him.

Clearing his throat, he now gave the group a two-fingered salute.

“Hey! I’m SMG3, but I’m pretty sure ya know that already.”

He now waved over to the rest of the crew.

“I’m the head of the Film Department and also the leader of the SMG3 gang.”

He then nodded to the other three.

“Me, Tari, Meggy and Boopkins welcome you to our crib- I mean base of operations!”

The meme guardian let out a small sigh of relief as Meggy now took over.

God, he was so tired.

“The film department is responsible for creating all the shows and movies that you know from Puzzlevision.”, Meggy now continued. “Of course, we don’t make alone at headquarters, some of our other locations also have their own studios, but all the movies and shows containing our cre- gang, specifically, are made here in the headquarters.”

SMG3 couldn’t help but rub over his eyes as he remembered the bunch of work he had to go through the next few days.

Maybe he should start asking for a vacation, but what would people think?

The Film Department was already known as the most dysfunctional part of the headquarters ever since he took over.

Constant bickering, overtime, deadline stress and then Saiko and Bob got fired.

Even now he hated himself for doing that, but he just couldn’t do it anymore.

Had he overreacted?

Sure, maybe, but he didn’t think it would end with them cutting contact with everyone.

He really thought they would come around eventually, understand why he pulled Puzzles into this and maybe they could have talked it out.

No such thing possible apparently and now-

…and now he was zoning out.

Blinking a few times, SMG3 forced himself back to the present, clearly feeling Tari’s concerned look on him.

“The Film Department consists of the whole castle and a few studios and offices over in Block C.”, he now heard Meggy move on. “Aside from acting, we are of course also responsible for editing, the whole technical aspects like cameras and sound and script writing though the latter is often taken over or proofread by Mr. Puzzles.”

RTV nodded at that.

“So yeah, if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask them! Other than that feel free to explore the castle! I know a lot of fans always want to see it, so go ahead.”

“You can go anywhere except for the room upstairs.”, SMG3 now butted in, stuffing hands into the pockets of his overalls. “It's, uh, not cleaned up.”

In reality he simply didn’t want people putting their nose into his and SMG4’s setup that he still didn’t put away.

It just felt…wrong.

“Yeah, aside from that you can access the kitchen where we have a few snacks and drinks standing, the storage where honestly ain't much except a bunch of equipment and whatever we stuffed in there, the gaming room if you want to play a few games with Tari, the guest room if you just want to relax for a second I guess and lastly the bathroom if, ya know.”, Meggy added on, before crossing her arms and giving a nod. “Thaaat’s pretty much it! Have fun exploring!”

“Oh-oh! Can I play some animes on the TV in the guest room, pleeeease?”, Boopkins now perked up, prompting the gang to all look over to RTV to make the decision.

Said TV head looked like he would rather not have that happening, but sighed.

“...sure. Whoever wants to watch an ANIME, though I doubt we even have the time-”

“-I will put on the mini-episodes-!”

“-they can follow Boopkins into the GUEST room.”

“Yippeee!”

SMG3 watched the small green fish waddle off in the direction of the Guest Room.

Despite all the exhaustion of the last days, he was still somehow the most enthusiastic of them all.

The meme guardian used to find that trait of his annoying, now he really wanted to desperately know his secret.

Unfortunately the price for it was a sleepover and an anime marathon.

Well, until he got over to doing that he would just have to stay through this.

Answer questions.

Play nice.

☆

After a while, RTV figured that it was time for another vote.

In the meantime he had pulled SMG3 away from the interacting crowd and next to himself for better observation.

The man was done, he could tell as much and it may have been the fault of the last movie deadlines that got way too close to each other.

Well, it stressed RTV too so he wasn’t the only one suffering.

What he was more worried about was the fact that SMG3 tended to overthink when in this state and when he overthought stuff it often came to him questioning everything about the event that started his whole career.

The Puzzlevision movie.

And that was something RTV would rather not deal with today.

“ALRIGHT, NEXT VOTE STARTS NOW!”, he announced, his loud voice making SMG3 flinch for a second, before he quickly tried to hide his reaction by rubbing over his neck.

The rough feeling of missing texture quickly made him lower his hand.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

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All characters of mine are able to be interacted with as usual! If you questions about how they would react, never be afraid to shoot me a message!

[sleepyslag]

Loving your perspective on the launch and feeling comfortable. Notice how Dan is touching Phil again in the new end of show pics? I really feel Phil is letting Dan decide how to navigate the new boundaries and letting him take it at his own pace but there's no doubt things are shifting.

I just want them to be happy and know we all support them regardless but I think Dan who thought himself unlovable, loving openly & being loved would be so amazing.

Yeah, it seems like Phil lets Dan take the lead in these sorts of things a lot. Not that it doesn't matter to Phil, since he's always been the more private one, but Dan has a more complicated past and relationship with his queer identity, so I think he has more to work through. For Phil I get the sense that once he decides he's ready to take a step like this he doesn't think about it as much? Whereas Dan might be ready but he still needs to work his way up to it. But either way this is a major step for them and they've been taking it super slow pushing the boundaries little by little. I'm going to be so proud when they do hard launch the last 15 years have been tough on them.

I think it'll be good for them to be more open. What we've seen of their love is so beautiful, and I'm sure they'll still be very private but just being able to acknowledge it in some way will be amazing.

[heavenlymorals]

In Defense of Bill Williamson: A Curious Case Of Hear Me OUT-

Warning: this post contains mentions of rape, homophobia, and period typical attitudes.

The first time I played RDR2, I was very curious and went into Sonny's cabin. If you know, you know.

I was horrified over learning what happened to Arthur and the shock of it all was impalpable. The fact that Rockstar put in such an encounter was diabolical, but either way, it happened, and I was pissed and heartbroken for Arthur. Out of all the encounters that happened in this game, all the awful encounters, this is the only one that did not get a journal entry- mostly likely due to the trauma of getting raped and the shame of it as well- let us not forget that Arthur is a man, a very tough and burly man, living in 1899 America. The likelihood that there would be any support for him is nigh on none.

I fed Sonny to the alligators (obviously) later and more or less forgot about it because I avenged my Arthur.

Then Bill came along.

"I met a guy at the swamp who seemed to know a lot about you. I mean A LOT about you…"

I was pissed and it was the first time in the game that I heard pure, unadulterated hatred in Arthur's voice as he more or less growled at Bill to go away. From then on, I always antagonized Bill for seemingly mocking Arthur like that for getting raped.

But then I played again and again and played Red Dead 1 too and learned that Bill is gay. Even though it isn't said outright, it is implied so heavily that it would be laughable to suggest that he liked women.

So after a while, my reaction to Bill's words changed. I pity him now.

Now I know what you are thinking- Heytham, how the hell can you pity a man who mocked a fucking rape victim?

Because I don't think Bill thought Arthur was raped.

Here is how I came to this conclusion (feel free to disagree with me, but here is how I came to this conclusion):

Being a homosexual in the 1800s was a very isolating and daunting experience, with the threat of jail time and even death. Society was super judgemental and cruel to people who did not fit into what was expected of them, so being a homosexual would feel like hell on Earth because there wasn't a real way to express this attraction beyond longing and secrecy, which would make finding other gay people hard to do.

Beyond just isolation, homosexual actions can ruin careers, which we can assume is one of the reasons that Bill got dishonorably discharged ("deviancy") alongside attempted murder. Crazy to think that "deviancy" is on the same level of attempted murder and was probably shamed more, but that is neither here nor there.

Even the gang wasn't really accepting of Bill's sexuality, which speaks a lot about the gang's supposedly "progressive politics", as they aren't really politically progressive and more so idealistic in the romantic standards of 1800s America. In terms of Bill's sexuality, it felt more like a outta sight, outta mind sort of deal. Bill is the butt of jokes and his sexuality is too ("Is he gonna kiss that guy or punch him", "Bill and Phil", "He likes to do a lot of things with men on their knees (RDR1- John says it to purposely shame Bill more to the people he works with)")).

When his sexuality seems to be a bit more upfront, there is agression and disgust. The biggest example of this is Arthur's reaction to Bill wanting hair pomade. He sounds disgusted and mean and the sneer in his "Yeah, I'll get you your hair pomade…" is very telling that Arthur thinks that Bill is asking him for pomade for gay sex because of the way he reacts to it- he already has a disposition to thinking this is why Bill wants the pomade and it disgusts him, even though he does it anyways.

To give Arthur the benefit of the doubt, I'd be pretty weirded out if someone asked me for lube, but Arthur didn't know if that is what Bill actually wants. He could very well just need it for a job that requires him to look nice, which happens in the ball mission. The point is that he had a disposition and that disposition made him react in not only a bewildered way but a disgusted way. Im serious, just listen to that interaction- I don't think I am reaching.

In any case, it is quite obvious that Bill feels isolated and that isolation makes him awkward and aggressive around men that he does like (Kieran) and overall just angry at the world because of it, amongst other things. He has no one to talk to, no one to relate to, and he is shunned and despaired over something he cannot control.

So then Bill meets Sonny and whatever the hell they did together, Sonny talks about Arthur, and let us be real, what is the likelihood that he would flat out tell Bill that he raped Arthur? Low, I'd think. Most likely, he would just say that the two of them had sex.

Now think about this- Bill has mostly likely lived his entire life hiding his sexuality and only expressing it in secret because if he does otherwise, he will be punished in some form or another. But now he learns that another man in camp, the fucking enforcer of all people, has apparently went to this man for sex.

Do you realize what this means for a gay person? Especially a gay person who lives in a society that actively discourages and punishes same-sex relations? It doesn't necessarily mean that that person would try to drum up a relationship, but there is comfort in the fact that now you know another person who is experiencing the same thing you are- the solidarity in that is priceless. I would know, I come from a culture that still kills gay people.

When Bill comes up to Athur, he genuinely sound giddy, like he found a big secret. There wasn't really any malice in his voice, other than a "haha, guess what I just found out" sort of tone.

When Arthur tells him to get out of there, he didn't seem offended. He didn't seem annoyed or aggressive, which is unusual for Bill. He just puts his hands up in surrender and goes off, almost as if he was saying "hey, I get it man," in the sense that a man during this time period, especially a man like Arthur, wouldn't want to be found out as gay. Internalized homophobia was definietly rampant.

He genuinely doesn't seem to have malice in that tone- Bill only talks like that when he is either excited or happy or acting like a human being. And at this point in the game, Bill still respected Arthur, so I doubt he would want to step on his toes, especially in a way like that.

If I am not talking out of my ass, this could be such a great moment of character development for Bill- sympathy for another man supposedly like him in the world that they lived in. Fucking Bill having sympathy and empathy- who would've thought.

Or he could be mocking Arthur for being a rape victim because Bill is genuinely a piece of shit.

But on the off chance that he does not? What an interesting microcosm of LGBTQ+ dynamics in 1899 America.

In any case, FUCK SONNY AND DONT GET INVITED INTO HOUSES IN THE SWAMPS-

[theprinceandagcd]

20 Fanfic Author Questions

Thank you so much @anincompletelist and @caterpills for tagging me!! These are fun and I haven't done one in while, so :)

1. How many works on AO3?

77 !!

2. Total AO3 Word Count?

481,726

3. Top 5 fics by Kudos

but daddy, you love him

this is the first time I've felt the need to confess

we broke all the pieces (still wanna play the game)

can this be a real thing (can it?)

one single thread of gold tied me to you

4. What fandoms do you write for?

Red, White, and Royal Blue now! I have written for others in the past but I'm a hyperfixation girlie at my core so just that one :)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I haven't always, but I do now! Sometimes I get behind but I try to go through my inbox and knock some comments out at least once or twice a week.

6. Angstiest Ending?

I don't really do angsty/not happy endings - it's not in my capability, honestly? you can run (but only so far) was angsty up to VERY close to the ending but that's probably the best I can do

7. Fic with the Happiest Ending?

I ALMOST answered this with gay chicken just because they do get a... happy ending. i'm SORRY.

Probably the but daddy, you love him universe - the third installment especially is just sob-worthy happy. (although, perhaps that third installment isn't their final story, either)

8. Do you get hate?

I did get one guest comment once telling me to kill myself? But otherwise not really - I'm really grateful for it, too.

9. Do you write smut?

I do!! I didn't in previous fandoms and didn't when I started with RWRB, but I've got a few now and have a multichap coming soon that is VERY smutty. I've gotten a lot more comfortable with it and it's a nice tool to have, although works don't need smut to be good and I like choosing to do stories without it still, too.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I do not - the hyperfixation is too real.

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

A few, yeah!! it's super cool. I'm always very enthusiastically supportive of people doing this.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Not yet!! but there may be a doc that exists where someone says "okay hear me out" every five seconds

14. All time favourite ship?

excuse you

probably captain swan but don't tell firstprince i said that

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oooh. i have a handful of multichap ideas/outline docs that like, just odds are that not all of them get written. not sure which ones, but I'm sure at least one of them will wind up not working out.

16. Writing strengths?

Dialogue!! my go-to beta thinks it's because I did theater in college and took script writing classes which are dialogue heavy, but I LOVE putting dialogue together. sometimes when i'm in the process of writing, I'll do dialogue skeletons just to feel successful in writing and go back later to add exposition and fill everything out.

17. Writing Weaknesses?

other than having sort of favorite words that I tend to overuse, I think my main weakness is emotional weight in stories. I've read so many fics where I'm practically gasping for breath at the end because it's really hit me in the heart, and I just don't think my writing has that? I tend to think my best writing is when I'm being funny or cute, writing in banter and etc, and when I try to do something heavy or emotional it never feels like it's quite got the same punch to it as what I wanted.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

Love reading it - I don't typically write it because of time and not knowing any languages other than English and American Sign Language - which isn't easy to put into a fic. I've looked up small lines before for specific purposes and checked with someone who knows the language, but it's not something I typically have the time to do right - and I am NOT going to do it wrong.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

oh my god. high school musical. don't fucking look at me.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Can I say a WIP that I haven't posted yet?? I'm gonna say a WIP I haven't posted yet :)

no pressure tags! @agostobuwan @bitbybitwrites @blueeyedgrlwrites @clockwrkpendrxgon @dreamtigress @everwitch-magiks @fckngyrs @firenati0n @fullsunsets @henryspearl @heysweetheart-writes @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @inexplicablymine @itsmaybitheway @jmagnabo92 @kj-bee @miharaikko @milowren29 @myheartalivewrites @ninzied @nontoxic-writes @onthewaytosomewhere @orchidscript @pinkamour1588 @porcelainmortal @priincebutt @read-and-write- @softboynick @sophie1973 @stellarmeadow @suseagull5914 @thesleepyskipper @thighzp @thinkof-england @tinyarmedtrex @wordsofhoneydew

[haedalkoo]

https://www.tumblr.com/haedalkoo/780102784032866304/do-we-think-the-members-know-is-that-a?source=share

No we actually need to have this conversation because that's something i have always wondered soo many times.

Remember when jimin said "The memebrs might think he's just my dongsaeng" whatever that's supposed to mean because if they were in rs and members knew jm wouldn't say this and if he's saying this then that means members doens't know the depth of their rs? Like it could be anything the close friends, lovers or wtv.

Just Today i saw this tweet from a Tkkr and yeah it was about how tae prepared a game of peppero to play with jk when he asked the staff to bring jk during that one vmk live where jm came before jk because they both were eating together after concert. My question is why would you wanna play the peppero game with ur bestie's supposed BF?

I have no idea where the pepero game thing comes from anon, is that even confirmed or is it just ttk talk? 😭 if you can provide more context itd be appreciated!! but anyway, bts' boundaries and comfort zones with each other are very different from what we know and special to each of them so if it were true, i'd just assume all parties involved would be ok/comfortable so, no big deal, doesn't debunk nor confirm anything imo ! (no shade to you, i understand it's a bit jarring from an outside perspective)

now onto the fun part: jikook and the members. on one hand, i think there's no way they don't know. even for the sake of the group, shouldn't something like that be disclosed eventually? but then there are moments where the members say something or have a specific reaction to jkk that makes me think they don't officially know (but they know something is up.)

this scenario makes sense to me because we know bts are the type of friends who support eo quietly. when someone struggles, they let them figure it out by themselves and step up when they're asked for help only. they're very respectful of boundaries within the group and that's why they have such a healthy dynamic. so, for me, i could imagine all of them sort of having this understanding that there's something more than platonic going on, but they're not going to meddle. they'll tease (are you two dating? are u a couple or what?) like friends do, but they won't actually sit down with either one and say: hey, have u considered you're in love with your bandmate

but this is all possible only if jikook were not in an established, steady relationship, aand instead were in a sort of homoerotic, years of oblivious pining, slow burn type of friendship. but honestly, i highly doubt that. they're just too romantic and domestic for all of that. they have too many moments associated to anniversaries or special dates/numbers, and they have stellar communication. there's just simply no way that they wouldn't have talked it out at some point, especially with their MS and buddy system approaching.

which leads me to the starting point of: the members definitely know. they probably just try their best not to pry, or act "nonchalant" so to say, as to make them feel more comfortable (which is really sweet and very bangtan of them).

all of this is very self indulgent speculation and by no means im trying to assume anything, at the end of the day their friendship (i mean bts') is intimate and special to them and what may seem "normal" or the right thing to do for us might not be for them. !

[landoscar-f1]

Too Sweet for Me - Ch 02

taglist (strikethrough could not be tagged): @alessiali @piastri-my-boy @adreamerinadream @landosgirl please fill this form if you wish to be added!

pairing: CS55 x fem!reader, eventual!OP81 x fem!reader genre: fluff, angst, slow burn, smut chapter warnings: relationship anxiety, distrust, gaslighting (pls lmk if i missed anything!) ch 02 wc: ~680

ch 01 | masterlist | next

Read the chapter under the cut

The next morning, you woke up with a heavy heart and a mind full of questions. Carlos was already up, making breakfast in the kitchen. The aroma of coffee and scrambled eggs filled the air, but it did little to ease your tension.

“Morning, hermosa,” Carlos greeted you with a warm smile. “I made your favorite.”

“Thanks,” you replied, trying to match his cheerfulness. You took a seat at the table, watching him move around the kitchen with ease. How could he seem so… normal?

As you sipped your coffee, you mentally rehearsed how to bring up the message you saw last night. Every scenario felt either too accusatory or too dismissive. You needed to find the right balance.

“Carlos,” you began cautiously, “can we talk about something?”

He turned, concern flickering in his eyes. “Of course, amor. What’s on your mind?”

You took a deep breath, deciding to ease into it. “I just feel like we’ve been drifting apart lately. You’ve been so busy with work, and we hardly spend any time together anymore.”

Carlos sighed, setting the spatula down. “I know, and I’m sorry. The work’s been intense, but it’s important for the next season. You understand that, right?”

“I do, but it’s not just about the work,” you said, your voice trembling slightly. “I saw a message on your phone last night. From someone I don’t know.”

His expression shifted, guarded. “A message? From who?”

“I don’t know. The name wasn’t familiar. But it said, ‘Can’t wait to see you again.’” You watched his reaction closely, hoping for an explanation that would ease your mind.

Carlos’s face hardened momentarily before softening. “It’s just a colleague, amor. We’re working on a project together. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Then why haven’t you mentioned them before?” you pressed, feeling a pang of doubt.

“I didn’t think it was important,” he replied, turning back to the stove. “I’m sorry if it made you feel uneasy. I’ll introduce you next time we have a work function.”

You nodded slowly, not entirely convinced but not wanting to push further. “Okay. I just needed to know.”

The days that followed were marked by a fragile truce. Carlos made an effort to spend more time with you, but the underlying tension remained. You tried to convince yourself that it was all in your head, that Carlos was telling the truth. Yet, the nagging feeling persisted.

One evening, as you were sorting through some old photos, you stumbled upon a picture of you and Carlos from a few years ago. You were at a carnival, laughing, with his arms wrapped around you. The contrast between then and now was stark. What had changed?

Just as you were lost in thought, your phone buzzed with a message from Lily.

Hey, let’s grab coffee tomorrow? We need to catch up.

You agreed, needing a friend to talk to. The next day, you met Lily at your favorite café. As you sipped your lattes, you couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Lily, I need to talk to you about something,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper.

“What’s up?” she asked, concern etched on her face.

You told her everything, from the increasing distance to the mysterious message. As you spoke, the weight on your chest lifted slightly, but the uncertainty still lingered.

“Do you think he’s cheating?” you asked, needing an outside perspective.

Lily was quiet for a moment, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t know, but I do know that you deserve honesty. If something feels off, trust your gut. Have an open, honest conversation with him. Don’t let this fester.”

You nodded, grateful for her support. “You’re right. I just… I need to know.”

That night, you prepared yourself for a deeper conversation with Carlos. You needed answers, and you were determined to get them, no matter how painful they might be. As you waited for him to come home, the picture of you two at the carnival lay on the table, a reminder of the love you once shared and the hope that it could be rekindled.

all credits to @landoscar-f1 2024

[mumms-the-word]

Notes on a Caretaker

I find something about this note so fascinating. Every time I pick it up or scroll back around to it I have to sit with it and just...linger, trying to understand it.

So this is my attempt to break it down and sort through my thoughts about this note, which I think is so obviously from Solas. I think it hints not only to his spirit background, but also his perspective on the path he feels is set before him. Which, idk, is cool!

Mini analysis under the cut! Also a lot of Veilguard spoilers!

This note has a smear of paint on one corner: Have they always been here? There are beings in the Crossroads unknown even to the wise, though the most ancient ones make any domain their own. Certainly, this Caretaker belongs here now.

We’re led to believe this note must be from Solas because of the smear of paint. And I would argue the paint perhaps clues us in to when this might have been written. No doubt Solas was painting murals when he was running around as the Rebel Fen'Harel, since we see some of them in Trespasser, but I think he painted the murals in the Lighthouse after he left the Inquisition (in part because we have that last mural where he kills Flemythal, and he left his paint pallet in the music room after recreating the Inquisition murals there). So it could go either way, but...

I can just imagine Solas, lost in the throes of his regrets, painting his sins on the walls of the library and his memories of the Inquisition in the music room, finally noticing the Caretaker who has arrived, or perhaps was always there. Perhaps he pauses to consider the nature of the Caretaker, and the mystery of when it arrived. We find this note in the kitchen/dining area, where Solas still has a single place setting laid out for himself. So perhaps the Caretaker arrived to take care of him?

Or maybe this is a really, really old letter from when Solas first retreated to the Lighthouse and began to use it as his base of operations. How ancient is the Caretaker? Did they arrive to see to the Lighthouse during the days of the rebellions against the Evanuris, or did they arrive later? Did they arrive because they were drawn to the needs of dozens, hundreds of rebels and refugees, or drawn to its echo after they were gone? Which is it?

I personally go back and forth about it, but it's fascinating that the letter subtly supports both perspectives. Anyways!

I wonder what we look like to them. Need is a scaffold, and the needs of the living ever rise and fall upon it. Hunger, thirst, sleep... imagine the constant cacophony to one sensitive to such things.

The "we" suggests maybe this is a much older letter. I can see a much younger Solas leading his rebels to the Lighthouse and contemplating the nature of this Caretaker, worrying about how so many physical bodies in one space might affect a spirit sensitive to physical needs. But I can also see a much more recent Solas pondering this new (or new to him) creature, so I don't know.

Either way, "we" vs. "them." Solas is well and truly part of the living here, as opposed to viewing this all entirely as a spirit. It's like he's wondering what these spirit-born elves, or even mortals in general look like to a spirit like the Caretaker. A spirit whose focus is on needs, surrounded by these elves with physical bodies who now have very real, tangible needs. Hunger, thirst, sleep, things a spirit does not feel. But the Caretaker does, at least, sense these things in others.

The chorus of one person's needs must be a lot, but the cacophony of dozens, hundreds, as there would have been when the Lighthouse was in its prime? No wonder Solas has a moment of concern for this benevolent spirit.

Or am I too simple? Wants are fleeting; needs have deeper roots. Perhaps that's why I find this particular spirit's presence both comforting and disconcerting. The prospect that our heart's desire and our truest need could differ—or are even at odds—is hard to contemplate.

This. This is the most fascinating part of the note.

Or am I too simple? I think this is a hint, super early in the game, that Solas is a spirit. Spirits are the pure manifestations of emotion and thought. Complexity comes with personhood, with being part of the living in the tangible world. But spirits in the Fade (even before the Veil) are always pretty simple.

Solas is grappling with his nature here.

Wants are fleeting; needs have deeper roots. Perhaps that's why I find this particular spirit's presence both comforting and disconcerting.

I wonder if this is Solas struggling a bit with the unique experience of being both spirit and elf, undying but also very much alive, originally intangible but now physical. Wants come with being a spirit—spirits want to see beyond the Veil, if they're curious enough, or Cole as Compassion wants to help, he wants to look like the boy who died in the Spire. But here it's like Solas is suggesting that need is an intrinsically mortal or at least physical thing—something he didn't need to consider much before he had a body.

After all, spirits who don't have purely physical bodies don't seem to have the same needs. Like when Dorian talks with Cole about having a body, despite him not seeming to have physical needs:

Dorian: Do you need to eat, Cole? Or sleep? Cole: I thought I had to. But I don't. The Old Songs can pull me.

Or Blackwall suggesting that now that Cole is more human (if you take that path) the physical needs will likely come up:

Blackwall: So now that you've dealt with the templar, you're a real boy? Cole: Realer. Blackwall: Good enough. I suppose you'll stop looking into people's heads soon? And you might want to look into, I don't know, eating. Cole: Blech.

Often I think Solas struggles with where he stands, what he is, what he can be, what he should be as someone whom was first a spirit and then a person with a physical body. Short of dying, it sounds as though the process of going from spirit to elf is irreversible. He cannot return to the Fade as a pure spirit anymore. After the Veil, he can only return in dreams, at least until he finds ways of tearing through to the Veil to enter physically again.

But time and again he thinks and acts like a spirit with a simpler, focused nature rather than a complicated nature like a person might have. When he asks, Am I too simple? it feels like he’s acknowledging this. Is he too simple, too focused, too spirit to understand the experience of being fully, complexly mortal or physical?

The Caretaker’s presence is both comforting, because Solas knows that his (or others’) needs will likely be tended to, and yet disconcerting because it’s probably weird to even have those needs.

Ah but here we come to my favorite part.

The prospect that our heart's desire and our truest need could differ—or are even at odds—is hard to contemplate.

I’m sure this is hard to contemplate even for a normal person. How often do we struggle with knowing what we want isn’t always what we need? We may want the sugary cake, for example, but our bodies may need the healthier vegetables or fruits instead.

But going deeper, it’s easy to conflate needs and wants when it comes to abstract things. Like, say, vengeance, penance, atonement, or restoration.

Solas wants to repair the mistake he made thousands of years ago by creating the Veil, but he doesn’t need to do that. Yet in his mind, he treats it like a need, with roots so deep he can’t escape being bound up in them.

He wants to honor Mythal, who died because of his mistakes, who died again at his hand, but he doesn’t see that he can let go of that purpose, because somehow this want isn’t fleeting or fading like wants normally do. It sticks around. Therefore it must be more than want, right?

His heart’s desire is for the elven people to be restored, immortal, free, prosperous, and he throws his entire being into making that goal come true, that dream a reality. But he doesn’t see that his truest need is actually to be freed himself. Free from the purpose he’s given himself in the wake of Mythal’s death. Free from a path of vengeance that no one asked him to take, but that he feels obligated to walk.

His truest need, which he can’t see, because he can’t seem to sort through what is more want versus what is more need (and who can really, when they’re in the thick of things?), is not to cling closer to Mythal and honor his friend (or whatever it is they were), but to be freed from any and all entanglements with her.

He doesn’t want to let her go, but he needs to.

But without her around to release him, he clings to his plans to restore the elven people, restore her people, and hope that that will be atonement enough.

I think that’s why in the redemption ending, when we do see Mythal release Solas, he nearly collapses with this mixture of grief and relief. When he finally straightens up again, yes he’s hurting, but he’s the calmest he’s ever been in the entire game. As in, not tense, not plotting, not agitated. You get the sense that he can see or think with clarity now. Perhaps even breathe freely for the first time in ages.

And he finally sees that what he needs to do is not fix his mistakes, if doing so only causes more chaos and heartache and death for thousands or millions around him, but to seek atonement.

I love the line Rook can say when they’re trying to talk him down and make him bind himself to the Veil.

“[Making the Veil collapse] is what you want. Making amends isn’t about what you want.”

It doesn’t convince Solas, because he still doesn’t see removing the Veil as a want. He views it as a need. Not his need, but the world’s need. The world needs to be restored to the way Mythal would have wanted it, or so he believes.

I think that’s why Mythal has to release him before he can see everything clearly. She is the only one who can give him what he needs but does not what—freedom from her service.

It may not be everyone’s favorite choice, but I understand how we get here, especially since we find this letter so early in the game. Whether this letter is Solas from the distant past or the more recent past, it sets up a trajectory that we can trace all the way to the end of the game. And I just find that fascinating.

[detshin]

uhm, how exactly will gosho develop the cousin thing in the manga.

I mean, I wouldn't know, honestly. What goes on in the mind of that man only he knows (and sometimes I doubt even that).

My opinion under the read more...

Personally, I've already stated many times that it's a trope I've liked and headcanoned for a long while now, and it's not like it's COMPLETELY out of the blue. The whole "they look the same" is a big factor, there have been references to them having some sort of "ancestor" in common, the Toichi and Yusaku tease was already there in the childhood case of Shinichi (where Toichi appeared and called Shinichi big bro btw 👀) and there was a time long ago that Gosho said something about it in an interview and that it was going to be talked about.

Anyway, point is, I could see this going in different ways. I would LOVE to see this being explored and dealt with nicely and seriously, but my hopes for that are low. He'll either just have it mentioned and never more explored or talked about (like with akemi and akai), or maybe in the mk manga now to talk about Toichi, I don't know?

Because honestly, I feel like people are getting hung up on the cousins thing and are forgetting about the confirmation of what we all have been fearing and it's that Toichi is indeed alive and both of Kaito's parents suck ass. And what scares me is the possibility of it being comedic or Kaito being okay with it or something when he deserves to have that be explored. He became a criminal because of it! And his parents know and aren't doing ANYTHING!

I've said this before, MK is not as shits and giggles as it seems. Story is pretty darn dark if you think about it. Kaito is one of if not THE most solitary (lonely) character of the dcmk universe. He is not as the fandom tends to represent him sometimes. That's not Kaito. The over the top, flirty, pompous one is Kid. It's a mask. A facade. Kaito is not like that, he is just a teen who is struggling to make real connections with people and who is terrified of being found out as a criminal and cannot for the life of him let people IN because they'll see right through him and whose "dead" dad taught him NOT TO SHOW HIS EMOTIONS.

Kaito NEEDS some support. Jii alone is not enough. His own parents have lied to him his entire life and he's constantly alone, grieving for something that is not real. He has Aoko, but he CAN'T let her in completely for obvious reasons. Hakuba's there, but same thing. And I'm sorry but Akako I don't really think counts either, he actively seems not to really even like her or whatever...

MY POINT IS. If Kaito can get some new family members that could support him... Why refuse it, no? I'm not talking about Yusaku because he's also been keeping him in the dark and all and hasn't really seemed to do anything about it. But Yukiko (yes I'm choosing to believe she's also oblivious to Kaito being put in that situation) and Shinichi? Oh, those two could do wonders for someone like Kaito, in my opinion. Because Yukiko is Yukiko (she was born to be the cool aunt), and Shinichi is... Well... Shinichi. He could understand Kaito and actively show him support and help. They COULD be amazing as family.

Now it's all just a matter of... Does Gosho WANT to go that deep into this? Or is he going to continue to disregard Kaito's suffering and not give him anyone to lean on?

Anyway, cousins Kaito and Shinichi rule!

[azaharinflames]

tbh two things bother me the most about 'eddie HAS to be gay!!! it'd explain everything!!!' that BoBs do.

the first is just the fact that it feels like waaaay too many people are willing to excuse stuff like misogyny if someone's gay. i get that its probably rooted in this 'well, at least he's not dating/marrying women!' but like... gay men still have women in their lives? some of the fucking abhorrent shit that some of them say is still misogyny and needs to be called out. but also fucking double standards because 'eddie being gay would explain his shitty behavior because repression' oh, like how tommy said and did shitty things because he was closeted? that he fully acknowledged were shitty things later on and that he wasn't proud of the person he was then? things the show implies were forgiven by the people he hurt enough to invite him out for drinks after work? like ok BoBs i see you

the second is like. okay, say eddie IS gay. why would that bring chris home right now? eddie's a single dad, there's struggles that will come with that (esp when he's a literal firefighter... like... that man works long ass hours and we know this), and the idea of finding love again in general can fit into that. but, idk, with eddie there's two things that really need to come first and its chris AND his own wellbeing. get that man into some grief counseling or some sort of support group for widows or something. regardless of his sexuality, he needs to address his issues first and repair his relationship with his son before he can think about introducing someone else into their lives. imo the best person for canon eddie would be a single mom who can both understand what he's gone through but also call him on his shit when need be, but that's just me!! man needs to deal with his issues, period. him being gay and kissing buck wouldn't bring chris home, it'd probably just piss him off more and make him think his dad still doesn't care about him (and probably make him hate, imo, buck for not telling eddie to get his shit together and be the dad that chris wants him to be).

idk i just think its a dumb fucking take to be like 'but if he's not gay then he's just another misogynistic straight man!' like... yeah? those do exist? and this is pretty much the forgiveness and redemption show, eddie's flaws can be overcome if the writers care enough to do it. (and also, like i said... he'd just be a misogynistic gay man if he was gay lmao like misogyny does not disappear just because u aren't straight?? lowkey feels like proof that some of them have never actually spoken to queer men at all to know that they're still diverse in personality lmao).

Hi, Nonnie! Sorry for taking so long to answer, this past month has been something lmao

Yeah, gotta say - that is my biggest issue with it. Being gay never gives you a pass on being misogynistic, and it wouldn't give Eddie one, either. Justifying his misogynistic tendencies and passing them as: oh he just doesn't know how to behave with women, he's gay, is an extremely harmful rhetoric. And one way too many people adopt. No one gets a pass on this, and even if Eddie were to be gay, he wouldn't either. Instead, he would have to acknowledge his bad behaviour and work on it. But it doesn't seem like even the show acknowledges this misogynistic tendencies, so I highly doubt it'll ever be addressed.

and to your second point: yes. yes yes yes yes yes. Even if he were gay, dating Buck would solve 0 of his problems. What Eddie has to do is work on himself for real, because the bs we saw in 806 was not it. He hasn't worked on his grief over losing Shannon, and he hasn't done work with Chris other than considering moving to Texas... not to mention, in canon Eddie is a shitty (romantic) partner. This we know for a fact! And being with Buck wouldn't fix that; if anything (in my opinion) it would make things worse, not better. And yeah, most likely Christ would hate it, because to him it would mean losing Buck too, at some point.

Overall, nonnie, I heavily agree with everything you said! Sadly, Bobs are the most hypocritical and dense creatures I've ever encountered, so even if presented with this, they won't care.

Anyway. My inbox is open for ranting, venting, giving opinions, or confessions!

Take care <3