#we're not gonna talk about the antagonist though

[narcoticwriter]

Chasca's character story is quite solid, methinks. In terms of her development, an epiphany was reached and that's decent.

[threepandas]

Bad End: Happy Wife

Thirteen servants were dead; Two estates on fire.

I never even made it to the gates.

The smell of smoke lingered in the air. Clung to his hair and skin, even after bathing. Because no amount of scented oils, scrubbing, could erase his sin. The scent of iron and cooking flesh. Cruel scents of ancient houses ablaze. Innocent people being slaughtered. For... for the crime of trying to help me.

It was all my fault.

Last time, I had escaped alone. Or... more laughably, he had let me escape.

So he could hunt me through the forest like a brightly colored deer. Some pretty prey to stalk and torment. Letting me exhaust myself. Run and run until I could no longer, before casually strolling up to come collect me. As though letting me get it out of my system. A man, merely humoring his wife's tantrums and overly dramatic, willful ways.

I never should have accepted help. No matter have lonely I was. How desperate my despair. Because... because-!

"I'll get you new ones. Don't be upset, Love." The monster that was my husband, said idly. His voice a low rumble like thunder, his so called 'sweet' tone. "Servants that can't obey their lord, can't be trusted. Shouldn't be kept. They were scum. I'll get you better ones."

Ha ha... more like, servants that obeyed him. Feared him. Had no shred of mercy or honor, left in their bones. Gods... I... I had condemned thirteen good souls. All for trying to help me. Save me. Just for trying to get me out of this hell and away from this man.

I would never forgive this life's sperm donor, for handing me over. Because... because after a betray like that? After I had begged? Begged and screamed, rioted and tried to run? And STILL he handed me over? He was no kin of mine. I had no family.

Not in this life.

My family may not have been perfect. May have been flawed. But they would never have handed me over to a psychopath. Sold me to the highest bidder, like chattle. And... and honestly? I would take them at their worst, over these bastards at their best.

I never should have read that STUPID book. Yeah, maybe, it had nothing to do with anything. Maybe, all it would have done is left me ignorant on top of being stranded. But? I had to blame something. Or I'd go insane. So it was the fucking book's fault.

Recommend by an internet friend. Historical fiction. Lots of complex characters and some spicy yandere. How FUN. Court intrigues! Poisonings! Bastards and hidden births! Great to read... literal hell to live through. Everyone wanted everyone fucking dead, and all I wanted? Was to marry far, FAR into the countryside. Live a boring ass life.

But apparently I blinked funny. Or was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wore the wrong fucking dress (well, not dress, but you get the idea). Because next thing I knew? Yandere Sr., of Yandere and Yandere, is looking at me! And not in that "oh, what an interesting bug" sort of way! Look looking!

I didn't know shit about him! Yes, his son. But him? Nothing!

Well... aside from the fact he was a VERY convenient Widower. Like... the SECOND he got a kid out of his arranged wife. It was all very "everyone suspected but no one could prove shit" Sort of thing.

And? Said son? Becomes a major antagonist in the book. Until he "embarrasses" his Father by going too far. Implied gruesome end to follow. Plot moves on. Which? Is all well and good FOR THEM. But what about me?! I had nothing to go on! Aside from "Aaah ha ha ha! Run." Which? Didn't fucking help, in the end! Still... s-still ended up married.

Though, my new "son" ended up dead, in relatively short order. Apparently wasn't too pleased to have a step-mom. Tried to do something about it. Disappeared between one day and the next. And now no one is allowed to so much as talk about him. But hey! It's apparently fine! Because at some point? We're gonna make a better one!

"Your thoughts are far away, Love. Should I help you concentrate?" Husband muses, from the edge of the bed. I jerk back as I jolt violently to the present, focusing on the threat. He looks pleased. "Better~, this wife should focus only on her Lord. And yet... once again she's wandered. Tried to run. This lord wonders what he should do, hmm?"

Scrunched up in a ball on the bed, I hoped the answer was fucking "nothing". Or maybe, perhaps, "leave". Inching backwards, like the hunted animal I felt like, I wasn't fast enough to avoid the hand that shot out. Capturing my ankle in shackle strong grip.

It wasn't crushing. Left no bruises. Yet the touch felt scalding, as his hand imprisoned yet cradled my ankle. Dragged my leg free of my curled up little ball of self. I froze, as I felt his other hand gentle running the tips of his fingers up and down my shin. Up and down, up and down. As though just feeling my skin.

"Should he make sure his wife can not run?" This grip tightened, nearly bruising. His other gripping farther up my leg. As though casually preparing to snap bones. "Or perhaps, he should chain you away? Hmm? This Lords wife is a troublesome girl. Causing trouble as she does... ah~, what to do with her..."

Terrified, sat froze. Mind numb. Please. Gods. Please, please, please! D-Don't. I was shaking. Could feel tears starting to build. Watched, helplessly, as he examined me. Something pleased, satisfied even, creeped into his expression. And without breaking eye contact, he lifted my leg towards his face, to gently kiss the skin right above my ankle bone. It could have been tender... if it didn't feel like a threat.

"This wife is so very lucky, that this Lord loves her so. That he would never."

It was almost mocking, in how sweet the words curled. As though suggesting that because this one thing was too far, he was a good man. As though suggesting that he would do far worse to others, in my place. But don't worry. You won't be hurt. See how benevolent he is?

"But come, let us not discuss your punishments tonight, hmm?"

Like a predator, stalking his prey, he crawled up onto the bed. Closer and closer. There was no where to run. Was this it? W-was this the day he... he-? Looming, on his knees, above my curled up ball of fear, he effortlessly worked his arm in and around my waist. Dragging me closer. All but into his lap.

"You are tired. Upset. Have made such messes for this husband to clean." He murmured, face pressed close. Breathe ghosting against my neck, my ear. All I could smell was rich soaps and smoke. "We can deal with this tomorrow. For now, it's time for bed. So go ahead, rest sweetly in my arms, Love.

"It's where you belong."

[helluverse-rewrites]

Rewriting Ars Goetia

That's right boisss we're gonna be talking about Stolass now 😎😎😎😎 and the others btw

Stolas

He is a villain. A bad guy. An antagonist. A big ol' bully

If Stolas was a villain, he would actually be a pretty good character me thinks

Like, he's manipulative, condescending, treats Blitzø like a worthless sex toy, shifts blame onto others, never takes responsibility, I could go on

So nothing about Stolas really changes actually. He's still the same but has a more sinister vibe going on. And he's going to be treated as if he's in the wrong. Because he is

Growing up, he was a sweet, naïve kid who just wanted to make his father proud. But no matter what he did, what he said, Paimon just wouldn't give him the time of day. He couldn't even remember his son's own name. His father's neglect mixed with the pressures of being in an arranged, loveless marriage, and the pressure that comes with being an heir to the Goetia throne. Made Stolas the person (or owl man) he is today

He has a lot of pent up anger that has been built up throughout his childhood all the way through his teens. And now as an adult he takes his anger out on those who don't deserve it

Whenever someone does confront him on his behavior, he often plays victim and gets all teary eyed and all that. He guilt trips, he lies, he manipulates. It's what he's best at

He👏should👏have👏been👏the👏main👏villain

Stella

Stella bbg I'm so sorry let me save you from this wretched show

The rewrite Stella is very different from canon Stella.

Stella, though very short tempered, has a huge soft spot for her daughter. No matter what happens, Octavia comes first. A killer breaks into the house but baby Octavia finally goes to sleep after hours of fussy crying! Stella will fend them off in the quietest way possible to avoid waking her up. You know what? That's a canon event in the rewrite now. Because I say so

Yeah but you get the point. Stella always puts Octavia first. At first Stella did try to make the marriage work, she really did! But Stolas just seems to find excuses to guilt trip her and make her the bad guy in the marriage. Despite what Stolas says, he did not try making the arrangement work in the slightest. It was always Stella doing everything and she's almost at her limit

Just one thing... it's not like she can just divorce Stolas. He's the biological heir to the Goetia throne for crying out loud! If she divorced him, it would be all over the news and everyone would just be real shitty about it. Not to mention Andrealphus won't be very happy to figure out his sister is no longer with Prince Stolas

So... she's stuck. Stuck with this life. This life of abuse and manipulation. But as long as nothing happens to Octavia, Stella is happy. As happy as she could be given her situation

She also had terrible parents that would belittle her and didn't give a shit about her feelings towards the forced marriage. So she vowed that she wouldn't be the same parent that they were to her

Octavia

Octavia is still relatively the same as in canon

But she does hide most of her life from Stolas, fearful that he'll be disapproving. But Octavia has a great relationship with her mother who has always been supportive of her interests

I think I'm gonna age her down a year and make her sixteen while Loona is seventeen because I want Loona to be kinda like an older sister

There might not be much for Octavia right now, but believe me, I have ideas

Paimon

Okay so I'm gonna be honest, Paimon doesn't do much. But I just put him here to say that a common thing among the Goetias is generational trauma

I like to imagine Paimon had a similar upbringing to Stolas and treated him the same way he was treated throughout his childhood

Of course he never took the time to realize that he was doing more harm than he could've imagined (because Stolas spreads his pain to other people and all that)

Andrealphus

Goddam I hate how long his name is

Anyways, along with Stolas, Andrealphus is the next big bad. He is a selfish, conniving bastard. He's Stella's older brother and a terrible one at that. He sees her as a moron and someone who doesn't even deserve the throne unlike him

While his parents also treated him horribly, it doesn't excuse his actions towards others. Remember that, kids

While his and Stella's parents did help arranging her and Stolas together, it was actually originally his idea to get them married. Just so he could have a chance of getting the Goetia throne

Andrealphus has made it explicitly clear to Stella that if she even thinks about divorcing Stolas, she'll regret it. And she doesn't, and he plans to keep it that way

Vassago

Vassago is a kindhearted and energetic bird.

Growing up, he always admired Stolas and loved everything about him. His looks, his intelligence, etc. Vassago has always wanted the young prince's attention and would try everything to get it, but Stolas just wouldn't pay him any mind. Discouraged, Vassago would stop his attempts at getting his attention and just stayed in the background. No point in trying to get acknowledgment if it'll never happen, right?

... Until something strange happens. So a conversation with a friend, they started to reminisce about Vassago's old crush on Stolas. Vassago was forced to laugh and joke along despite never losing his feelings

And the next day Stola came up to Vassago and started to... talk to him???? And make jokes???? AND COMPLEMENT HIM????? It doesn't occur to Vassago thinks about how it's a little strange that Stolas started talking to him only after the day where they were talking about his crush, but he ends up paying no mind to it. He's just being paranoid after all

[edwardteachswombtattoo]

*taps mic* ahem

Izzy Hands is so fucking basic.

No, for real. He's a plot device. He doesn't have a back story. Even Wee John and Lucius have more back story than him! Tell me more about Wee John making dresses with his mother and Lucius being a thief! Please! Almost everything Izzy does is to further someone else's plotline! And not even in a "wise old sage dropping truth bombs" kind of way. He falls down comically and the crew is like "oh fuck hey guys stop fighting wow at least we're not that bad holy shit" and then we get a nod to the flag-making in the pilot and more examples of how Stede has influenced his crew. Working things out!!! With arts and crafts!!! Working together!!! Group project!!!

"Where did he come from where did he go?" Does not fucking matter! He's shooting himself in the foot (or the leg) (literally getting shot in the leg) trying to foil the romantic leads! "oh yeah just gonna have ed's boyfriend killed in front of him this should work out in my favor (clueless)" cut to Ed and Stede smooching on a beach. "oh yeah just gonna talk it through as a crew and by 'talk it through as a crew' i mean bringing up stede and blaming ed for having big dumb feelings even though last time did not work out well for anybody surely this time it will be different :)" cut to Izzy getting shot in the leg and getting dubious basement surgery partially so Archie and Jim can have their cute little moment and make out. Izzy is not even wholly centered when he's half dead from leg surgery, Archie and Jim were literally about to fuck nasty covered in blood right there and then if Ed hadn't interruppted. Rude of him tbh.

Half of Izzy's screen time is dedicated to other characters and their personal journeys. The other half is...mostly made up?? Because Gaia forbid the white guy doesn't get focused in this story that Isn't About Him? When he only exists to...not even to foil the soft foppy femme romantic lead but to get his ass kicked literally and metaphorically and then have some nice moments with the crew and Ed towards the end of his life? Said before, he's not even Wise Old Sage, no one fucking listens to him most of the time and nothing bad happens when they ignore him. Imagine if Ed had listened to Izzy and not gone to check on Stede after the Ned Low incident???? Can you fucking imagine??

Gods. People doing Olympic-level gymnastics turning that angry white antagonist into a third main character when he actually sucks bad and he's supposed to suck bad because him sucking bad is the whole point. Like what if you tried to stop two guys from getting together but you'd never heard of LOVE before so you were just fucking bad at it and they ended up confessing to each other and kissing on the beach? What if all your plans backfired and everyone was better off ignoring your advice 99% of the time? What if you almost stopped your boss from comforting his boyfriend but thankfully he ignored you because they know themselves and each other better than anyone else and that's so goddamn beautiful? What if you interrupted their lovely morning after to make a stupid joke about docking and they were both pissed at you? Like. What if you just. Sucked bad?

[dzvelinaskebiyars]

Hajun's/Joker's analysis

(This is more like a rant tbh)

I don't see lot of people talking about Hajun, whereas I think he's fascinating character and even though there's a lot we don't know about him, he's written enough for me to rant and analyse about.

Hajun, a.k.a Joker, is a character in Windbreaker webtoon written by Yongseok Jo. He's part of Sabbath crew, which plays antagonistic role in the story. Joker's moral compass can be confusing at first because he's illegally making money, but he's also well-intented person. He has taken the role of caregiver and provider for his brothers and he seems to give everything he has to live up to that role. However, the money he's making is from underground and illegal boxing, where people bet money who's gonna win and who's gonna lose. I believe fight clubs are popular outside of this manhwa so, I'm sure you all understand what I mean. It's been shown that Hajun enjoys fights and he's fascinated by mma & martial arts, but boxing is what he has taken biggest interest in. He tends to get excited whenever he meets strong opponent (like how he immediately started a fight with Owen, who's supposedly cyclist genius) and immediately asks for a fight, whether politely or not. He never misses a chance to get into fight, not for money but because he genuinely likes fighting strong opponents. He has quick reflexes and can easily block random and sudden attacks, he's also a guy who starts throwing punches before others can even blink. Can he act impulsive? Yes. Is he a bad person? No. And I'm going to explain why.

Firstly, his little brother HATES that Hajun is making money by beating people up, hence he, himself, starts working and denies his education. Hajun, as a big brother, of course can't turn blind eye to it and hence approaches his brother about it more than once. Upon hearing what his little brother said in part 3 of Windbreaker, Joker decided to change his ways of making money so his little brother wouldn't have to work so hard especially at construction site, which is very dangerous for a kid.

Mind you, it's not easy for Hajun either because as I said, he truly enjoys fighting and he needs to make money as soon as he can but there's very little he can do without professional career or guardian. It's not only money as well, he's cooking for them, handling their healthcare and etc. He's trying his best to be emotionally available for them as well and makes sure to hear them out and be understanding in his own ways.

Aside from being caregiver to his brothers, he's a person who values fairness. He refused to against Dom Kang when it was two on one because he considered it to be unfair, he doesn't pick on weaker opponents because he knows it'd be unfair - like how he refused to block Shelly because she wasn't good at physical fights and he didn't want to injure her. But he went against his own morals few times in order to gain money, like helping Wooin with drug dealing just because Sangho gave them money.(Or maybe he thinks it's alright as long as he gets money out of it) However, Joker himself never doped and achieved everything by his own strength and skills.

His morals might be little questionable at some point but he's truly well-intented man. He even stopped cycling in the middle of race, despite being close to finish line, to save the injured puppy and go to the vet afterwards. He seems to be very responsible person as well, as he took the puppy under his care, provided for it and always made sure puppy was with him and safe. Once, he also stopped at the red light during the cycling race when he didn't have to.

He's quite hardworker as well, acknowledges his weakness and trains to improve himself. He's quite motivated character and has sportsmanship whatsoever. Author is portraying him as tough on outside, soft on the inside type of guy in the series. But again, there's more to his character that has to be explored but we're lacking information, unfortunately. A really good trait of his is that he's not changing his values and morals for someone, no matter what kind of situation he really is in. He has his priorities set straight and follows it with undying loyalty.

Tag list: @shintaru

[poppetsisters]

There's this really cool horror trope I've noticed lately of a villain being introduced in a simplified, unscary form, but later evolving into something so detailed and terrifying, it takes your breath away.

This is not the same as a traditional metamorphosis like in body horror cinema because the trope relies on the medium it uses to sell the scare.

Minor spoilers for Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Major spoilers for Inscryption and I Saw The TV Glow

To introduce you to the concept, I'm just gonna show you the Care Hound from Don't Hug Me I'm Scared.

It's the Carehound alright, or rather a pictorial representation of the Carehound. But how do they look in real life?

Ah.

Like the rest of the show, this is both terrifying and hilarious. You think because it's a 2D representation of the dog that the eyes on the side of the head are just artistic license, but then he turns toward you and you realise no actually, he literally has two eyes on each side! Genius. 10/10 joke.

But you see what I mean right? You're given a disarming image of the antagonist so that later, they can pull the rug out from under you with the truth. And there's an element of adaptation limitation that is then broken through. Suddenly the artifice doesn't feel so fake, and you're pulled in.

Now let's talk about Inscryption. Ironically, the game does this in reverse. Though Leshy is hidden in shadow during most of Act 1, we see his evolved form first.

and when Act 2 starts, we see what he was like before.

I believe this was done to de-fang our feral card master after having been our antagonist the whole game. Where once he was powerful polygons, he is now pitiful pixels.

But while all this has been happening, the real threat has been hidden in our deck this whole time.

P03 was introduced to us as nothing more than one card in our deck. He wasn't even a good card. But now it's Act 2 and we realise he, along with the other three Scrybes were trapped in lesser forms by Leshy when he took control of the game. For a whole act, we see something close to a status quo with these guys, who bicker and fight over control of the disc.

We see P03's true form in all it's 16-bit glory, as well as the environment he inhabits. While atmospheric, you can tell the graphics hold him back. He seems so small and pitiful. Simple and limited.

and then he takes control.

The first time I played this section, there was something so visceral about the leap. I stopped seeing P03 as an NPC inside a 90s TDC and was forced to see him as an entity haunting a cursed floppy disc. Once again, the artifice made me too comfortable, and now anything that felt more real than that became hyper real.

and no movie pulled this off quite has effectively as I Saw The TV Glow.

I am once again flashing a spoiler warning. If you haven't seen I Saw The TV Glow, do not continue reading until you have.

We are introduced to Mr Melancholy as the antagonist of a young adult fantasy series called The Pink Opaque.

Not as the antagonist of the movie we're watching, but the villain of the TV show within the movie.

Right off the bat, Mr Melancholy isn't even on our radar. Even worse, the special effects they use to portray him are laughable.

We see him once again as our lead characters stare dreamily up into the sky, further re-enforcing how silly this guys looks. I mean come on, he looks like an uncooked pancake!!

That all changes when Owen sits down to watch the final episode of The Pink Opaque, which was mysteriously cancelled after a cliffhanger ending.

The build up and climax to what happens next is one of the most harrowing cinema experiences I've had in my entire life. This is your final spoiler warning.

Isabel and Tara, the two leads in the Pink Opaque, are kidnapped by Mr Melancholy's henchmen and brought face to face with the moon man himself.

He looks... good. No, good isn't the right word... he looks convincing. The visual effects between the last time we saw him to now jumped a literal century, and combined with the crt filter hide any possible cg imperfections. In short, it make him look like he's really in the scene.

Or rather... that he's really in the room.

He gets closer, explaining his plan to trap the girls in a realm without magic or memory, where they will suffocate in the nightmare. Where they don't remember the powers they have, or the people they are. where you don't even notice the aspect ratio switched.

Where you don't even remember that you're dying.

and just like that, Mr Melancholy becomes the most real thing in the entire world. He becomes YOUR villain, he's trying to kill YOU! He's already succeeded in killing YOU. YOU are SUFFOCATING right now and you don't even KNOW!

and that's when you remember to breathe.

[groversoup]

The Search For Meaning in Everhood 2

I've seen a lot of confusion and negativity surrounding this game's approach to storytelling. "What was the point of all that? What does any of this mean? What is this game even about?" Alright, I hear you, and I'm going to try to answer those questions in my own way, assuming that you actually want answers. Here is my incomplete but still quite involved analysis of Everhood 2's major themes and narrative.

Part 1: What does any of this mean?

Whereas Everhood 1 was about death, Everhood 2 is about life. Well, that's part of it anyway- there's another major theme I'll have to get to when it's time, but for now let's just assume that it's only about one thing. Everhood 2 is about the meaning of life, or more precisely, humanity's search for that meaning. What is our purpose here? Does that question even have an answer- is that answer even worth pursuing? What does any of this mean? Something does get said about the meaning life, again and again: all is vanity. But who is saying it, and should you listen to them?

Shade and Nihilism

Shade is an overwhelming antagonistic force in the world of Everhood 2, an unkillable, unstoppable god that masterminds or manifests endless attacks against the player. Shade is also by far the most complicated narrative device in the entire Everhood 2 toolbelt, so we're gonna have to pick them apart piecemeal and only talk about their "pieces" as they become relevant.

Shade is more of a force of nature than an actual person, so they can't exactly have a philosophy on life as they experience it, but that doesn't mean they have nothing to say about it. It's their influence on the world and story of Everhood 2 that produces messaging about life's meaning. Specifically, Shade is an incarnation of Nihilism- the rejection of meaning. All is vanity. And all of their direct interactions with the player reinforce this idea.

The Singularity: The Rejection of Life's Value

From a moral standpoint, Shade's actions truly are meaningless. They give no weight to the value of life- positive or negative. Their control of the God Machine and the genocide of the alien race wasn't done out of hatred or a belief that they deserved death. It was done arbitrarily.

The God Machine itself DOES have a moral reason for its actions, though. "Abandon this reality, embrace true unity." The god machine views life itself as something without value, an obstacle to the true purpose of "unity" in death. It uses Nihilism as a justification to commit unbelievable atrocities.

Clown Dolls: The Rejection of Responsibility

Have you noticed how strongly Shade is associated with jesters? Bobo the Jester God is one of the game's most present villains, and the final pawn to fall before Shade finally stops using proxies and confronts the player directly. The Cazok doll is practically another form of Shade- after giving you a death coin, they state that you'll need it to see the "real thing." Shade's first musical theme upon reappearing in the soul cabin is Cazok's. Shade is the truth behind the falsehood of Cazok. Shade even refers to themself as "not evil, just an entertainer." What's the meaning behind this association with clowns? What do they signify in this world?

Absurdity. Meaninglessness. Entertainment. Cazok's role in the story is a bit too meta for this early in the analysis, so let's look at Bobo. Bobo The Midnight Jester is so much like their master in so many ways. Bobo is an actor, playing dumb in the scam district before revealing their true nature in the gold room. Bobo has a flair for the dramatic, wearing their nature on their sleeve by donning the jester hat. And what exactly is their motivation for their actions throughout the game? Only entertainment. They give you an infinite supply of useless currency because it's funny. Their final fight with you is defined by fun, Bobo viewing it as a game. They have a collection of sentient slimes which they presumably use as psychoactive drugs- BOBO is SMOKING PEOPLE.

So what is this evil clown mindset? Fun above everything else. If life has no meaning, then I can do whatever I want. My actions don't have substantial consequences because substance is fake. All is vanity.

That Insane Ending: Baiting You Into Nihilism

I don't need to tell you how bad the ending of Everhood 2 is. After sailing past the end of time, reality breaks down. Basic continuity stops making sense, your movement through the realms of consciousness seems entirely random, characters appear and disappear with no explanation, and at the end of it all, the crown jewel of the entire game… The Final Boss. Riley is possessed by Shade, takes over the Hillbert Hotel offscreen for seemingly no reason, and is unceremoniously killed off in a boss fight that doesn't even properly conclude. And then you breakdance on their splattered corpse. Cut to "A Game by Foregin Gnomos" with hilariously ill-fitting music. And then you get sent back to the checkpoint before the second boatman trip. If you got to this moment and said out loud "Are you kidding me?! This was all for NOTHING?", then allow me to clarify:

Yep! There is no grand revelation, no takedown of the big bad, no conclusion for any character. Perhaps it's a mistake to ascribe this much intent to a character like Shade, but I can't help but feel like they did this on purpose. Not just giving you a non-ending, but doing it in a way that was perfected in a lab to piss you off as much as possible. (That's definitely what the devs were doing at least.) They hijacked the narrative, tightened their strings around a character that has no business being a villain, and then didn't even let you say goodbye- in gameplay or story- before ripping them away and then flipping the table entirely. It certainly inspires thoughts of… "This didn't mean anything." But is that the takeaway you're supposed to have? If you still think this game is meaningless, I'm afraid you're losing the game. The villain, in a final bid to drag you to their level, ascended beyond the confines of their world to spit in your eye and goad you into accepting their ideology.

"The ending sucks, why did I even bother playing if it was going to end like that?" Well… that's a good question. That is THE question, the one we asked at the very beginning. Why do you bother? Why do you live? It's certainly not because you're going to like the ending.

The Search for Meaning

So there's Shade's role in the story. From one perspective anyway. Where does that leave you? Is the villain right? I said that Everhood 2 is about the meaning of life, so is this game saying that its own story- and life as a whole- is meaningless? Well, no. The God Machine wasn't right, Bobo wasn't right, and Shade isn't right. There IS a way to beat them, but it's gonna take some work. And I don't mean in the game.

Other perspectives

Shade is powerful, omnipresent, and ruthless. But they're just one voice. Who else offers up their take on the meaning of life? The characters of Everhood 2 have been alive for a long, LONG time, surely they've had some time to figure this stuff out.

Raven is the first character you speak to with their actual name displayed. Raven's purpose for living is pretty obviously spelled out- destroy the Root of All Evil. The thing is though… they're really bad at it. Raven is the spirit airlines of spirit guides. They make constantly wrong assertions, manipulate people to get their way, and ultimately fail at their life's work. Because it was never possible in the first place. After the duality trial with the mushrooms fails to bear fruit, Raven's purpose fizzles out. They're left directionless, meditating on what they can do now that they've given up on their original plan. What they settle on is helping you, in whatever way they can, to make up for their failures. So while Raven isn't portrayed as outright evil like some of Shade's puppets, their philosophy is… flawed.

The Boatman! Here we go, this is how you discover the meaning of life. A spiritual journey across space and time to meet god and attain Final Enlightenment. This has gotta be the answer we were looking for. The enlightenment you reach is that you were god the whole time, and then… something about duality. Does that actually mean anything? It certainly doesn't to you or me, in our real lives, but does it mean anything to our character? Does it mean anything for the narrative? This happens after the reset point, so it never actually happens, Shade just undoes it all. And beyond the observed events, you have to die to obtain this "grand revelation." Everyone on that boat has to die. Is that worth it? Was this worth pursuing? I don't think it was.

Sam and Irvine are what I would call… philosophically understated. They aren't into that spiritual talk like the edgy bird, they're just vibing! They've spent hundreds of years visiting countless realms through countless dimensional doors. Going on cool adventures, grabbing loot, playing video games, and watching TV. Awesome. This isn't… a worldview though, is it? Oh god I think it might be. Sam and Irvine don't actively pursue meaning through grand battles waged against the forces of darkness or long speeches from religious figures, they just exist. They do what they feel like doing. But in an important distinction from Bobo, their desires are not the peak of their existence. They don't sacrifice everything in the name of chaotic entertainment, they value their friendships, and sometimes they just lend a helping hand to vulnerable people who need it. Even if they know it can't last. Sam and Irvine adopt a simple goal over the course of the game- get to the Pandemonium and throw a wild party. And at the end of everything, past the series of endings and back to the point of no return, they're the only ones who achieved their goal. I believe that these two grey knuckleheads carry the true message of the game in their hearts.

The Meaning of Life

So what that's it? The point of life is to live? I know, not the most intellectually stimulating take, but that's my reading. The need to be "greater" than a mere human existence, the search for a divine enlightenment at the end of your life, the need for your time on earth to be one long all-encompassing narrative with a transcendent ending- it only ends in disappointment. The meaning you can find in your life is experiential, it's in the everyday. It's about having fun with friends, viewing interesting art, making things better for yourself and others whenever you can. Purple Mage says it explicitly (if you can find them), definining our own meaning is the closest we can come to divine creation. How your life ends doesn't matter because you won't be around for it. And when you choose to reject the importance of the ending, Shade's final insult to you loses its weight. They can't ruin the narrative because this was never a narrative in the first place, it was just a series of experiences, and it was fun! With that framework, I can't be disappointed in this terrible, terrible ending anymore, it is just too funny to be mad at.

Part 2: A Story About Stories

Philosophy about life out of the way, but it still feels like something's missing. It's irresponsible to ignore the bizarre structure of this game. There isn't one clear goal that you work toward over the whole game; the goal keeps shifting. What's that about? What was Evren's whole deal? And describing Shade as just a takedown of Nihilism feels reductive. Let's open up the second major theme of Everhood 2: the exploration and deconstruction of narrative.

Shade and Conflict

Much more explicit than any philosophical themes, Shade is the embodiment of conflict. Specifically, from a storytelling perspective. They have no personal stake in any of the chaos they cause, they just generate endless obstacles and villains for you to overcome. This is where moral analysis of the character becomes kind of tricky. Shade may be the root of all evil, the source of all evil, but in their perspective, they're not evil themself, just an entertainer. And I legitimately don't know if I agree with them, because I don't know if Shade is aware of their status as a fictional character. Despite their ties to nihilism, it would be difficult to call them a nihilist if they're only killing off fictional characters in a story that they're effectively writing.

That's not especially relevant, though. Regardless of Shade's awareness of the metanarrative, their impact on it stays the same. They create conflict, you enter the story to clash against it, and through your overcoming of adversity, you experience the joy of resolution. That is the dual purpose that you two fill in this world. Shade is obsessed with you because they can only carry out their nature in opposition to you. "I find your attention intoxicating."

Endless conflicts, endless climaxes, endless stories. But a piece of media can only have one story, only one climax, right? Well… not really. Everhood 2 is a videogame, a nonlinear and interactive piece of media, and there's no set order in which to experience things. The individual adventures within dimensional doors don't set up plot hooks for later parts of the game to pay off, they're basically their own short stories. Everhood 2 is less a novel and more a collection of tone poems. This is what I mean when I say the game doesn't have a narrative. But that doesn't mean the first 90% of the game and the last 10% are unrelated.

Little Bites

The stories told through the first three dimensional doors are explorations on the theme introduced in part 1: what is the meaning of life? Specifically, for a world of people where death seems inconsequential (and toward the ending, is confirmed to be so.) The veggie kingdom is a valhalla-esque world of infinite combat where meaning is won through competition. The hillbert hotel is host to an endless set of bizarre locations and people to keep you experiencing new things, forever.

The alien world has the strongest thematic throughline of the first few worlds, and that's probably why it's the longest. It serves as a kind of microcosm of the entire game, at least when it comes to one specific point it's making: you keep returning to this place, asking it to continue its story, and every time you do, it makes things worse. Every thousand year jump in this world gives you a new purpose to fulfill, but the collateral damage of your adventures leaves the species you initially saved functionally extinct, with only a single member alive at the end.

The Collapse of the Narrative

This is also the case for the game's world as a whole. You keep being given a goal, completing it, and then… being given a new goal. As a self-insert, your character doesn't have a motivation, they just adopt the motivation of the last person they talked to, and so there's no natural endpoint for the story. At first you slay the dragon, and that seems like a satisfying endpoint, conquering your internal demons to become a more complete person. In another game that would have been saved for the final boss, but in Everhood 2 it's just a stepping stone, and new stones keep getting thrown in front of you, shakier and stranger, until it all slips out from under you.

This is something you're directly warned about by Dmitri and Evren. Your endless conflict with Shade is a downward spiral that will rip apart the world if you let it. As Shade scrambles to keep you entertained with new stories, new conflicts, they eventually run out of puppets with a workable history of wrongdoing and have to improvise. Bobo was Shade's last villain planned for you to encounter, and if Riley wasn't the next big bad… who else could it have been? There isn't really a natural place for the story to go, but it has to keep going anyway. Shade will never stop creating villains, so the only way to prevent their complete destruction of the world and the degradation of the narrative is to not engage with them at all. You get sent back to Pandemonium, and by refusing to start the ending sequence of events over again, the "true ending" is a dance party with your friends. After all, that's what Irvine and Sam wanted, and if engaging shade is going to ruin the world, why not just… not do it?

Now this I find very interesting. What's the message here? A takedown of… sequels? Storytelling in general? ART in general? Well, this is where I think the two disparate themes of Everhood 2 coalesce into something more specific.

Part 3: Fiction vs Reality

The logic of storytelling doesn't really work in the real world, and the opposite is also true. You can't really comment on both of these things in the same way, you can only comment on them individually, or you can comment on their relationship to each other. For me, the linchpin of enterpreting this game under these two lenses at once comes from an incredibly cryptic and mysterious source: Evren.

God and Angel

I kind of passed over the player discovering their identity as God earlier, and that's because I didn't find it super relevant to the philosophical theme of Everhood 2. As a metanarrative element though, it's incredibly important. You are God, not in the sense that you created this world, but in the sense that everything in it exists in service of you: the player. The reader of the text. You are unstoppable in the same way Shade is, which is why you are their other half. You're the undefeatable force of good that surmounts every obstacle and ends every story.

Evren is closer to a god as we understand it: the progenitor of the Everhood 2 universe, the sculptor of every character and location. They love the world they built and they hate to see you and Shade destroy it. They comment that they could trap you in a void forever, prevent you from moving forward, but "that would only anger God." Yeah I can see that being frustrating. And their one line that I agonized to understand, the one that brings this whole thing together, is from their boss fight during the ending. "We cannot exist. I cannot exist if God is in our presence." Your avatar awakening to Godhood dooms the world to nonexistance. Specifically, I believe this refers to the tension between fiction and reality becoming irreconcilable.

Making Things Simple

Human beings love to narrativize things. Childhood fables meant to impart morals, epic journeys that explore complex themes and provide entertainment. But they're just stories, they're not what life is like- they can't be what life is like. Our human existence doesn't have neat little stories with a well defined beginning, middle, and end. It doesn't have clearly defined cause and effect, or thematic throughlines, in the way that stories can. So what do you do when you want to tell a story that's real? A story that really accurately captures the whole breadth of the human experience? Well you can't. You can probably get close, but these things are too different to be mirrors of each other.

Everhood 2 places you in a world that's "real," in the ways I just mentioned. There is no overarching goal, no 3 act structure, no hero's journey. And then it places Narrativization as a destructive force of the universe. The need to make things linear, simplified, structured- the need to have a villain to pin the world's problems on. It eats away at Everhood 2. You are God, you are something innately high above the characters in this videogame, because you're real. The depth of your mind can't be reflected in the actions of a videogame avatar, and the depth of your world can't be summed up in a 20 hour series of text boxes. When your character becomes real, when you become yourself, the game can't rise up to meet you. It can't make a Narrative out of real life. They cannot exist with God in their presence. And this calls forth the apocalypse that Evren tried to prevent by hiding their identity as an angel.

Shade, no longer mistakable for a mere character, becomes an engine of destruction for the world. The metanarrative subsumes all logic and folds the world into a shape better suited to meeting you at your level. The only way Shade can provide a real conflict, a real villain, to you- to God, is to take the story you've been reading and end it in a way that causes you pain. This is why I find the rewind to the Pandemonium "ending" so compelling. It doesn't provide closure to the characters or the world, but that's never something you're going to see in real life. This is just a moment in time after achieving a shared goal with your friends. You're having fun at a party. That's the kind of satisfaction that IS real and can be found in our world. You can leave the end of time and the death of all your friends as a hypothetical, stuck behind a save point that you never need to walk past again. You already know what happens.

Conclusion

Art is really useful. It's capable of articulating ideas that we might struggle to with just our voices. It can inspire great emotional depth, spur philosophical development, and even change lives. But it cannot dictate a life- it shouldn't. You cannot arrive at the meaning of life by reading about it in a book, you cannot narrativize your way into a fulfilling existence. You have to get out there and find it. Everhood 2 isn't a story. It's a world that gets ruined by stories.

[raayllum]

Arc 3 Predictions Electric Boogaloo

Because there's certain stuff that makes a Lot more sense now even as we're left with more questions, so let's talk about it.

Aaravos and the Cosmic Order / Claudia

So Aaravos wanted to take down the elves and dragons. Now the archdragons are all gone circa S7, which means he can hit the ground running upon his return in seven years. This means that the next target can fully be the Cosmic Council outright, and more recontextualization about how creating Eternal Night would make them suffer (though I don't think he'll repeat plans).

I could see him giving instructions / ideas to Claudia through dreams or visions, and she's armed with her amulet in the meantime and will maybe track down a replacement staff since she doesn't have one anymore. (Or she'll want to steal it back from Callum since it was a product of both her 'fathers'.) Other antagonists such as Finnegrin (maybe) and Kim'Dael (more definitely) will likely be interwoven.

That said, I think there'll be plenty of conflict already for our protagonists to deal with even before any of our old foes show up again.

Aanya + the Fire Ruby Project / Ezran & Zym

With the arrows temporarily able to dispose of Aaravos (even if I mandate he let himself get chained down in 7x07 in order to manipulate Ezran) and his imminent return, Ez and Aanya have an incentive to keep going with Project Ruby Fire. However, we also know thanks to interviews that Aanya has an adoptive brother, and from Tales of Xadia that:

The city is more fortified of late, as there are rumours of internal treason. The farmers worry that young Queen Aanya isn’t old enough or wise enough to protect what’s been built over the centuries.

So what I'm thinking is that adoptive brother Grark may pull a Karim and work on the project behind his sister's back or stage a coup. This could also put Ezran at odds with Zym, as Project Ruby Fire was designed specifically to be good at defeating dragons and to be so destructive that the mere threat of them would be enough (but, of course like the Mage Wars, someone's gonna use it). Having deeper, more politically / personally driven conflicts between Ezran and Zym (he had conflict with one brother, and now another) is also possible now that Zym can speak, and I think they'll take full advantage of it.

Ez and Zym together have always represented Hope the most (3x06), as Ezran found the egg, they're the two young princes turned kings, and are spearheading things forward.

So what happens if/when they start to crack? This could also provide a contrast to Janai and Amaya, as their new nieces/nephews through Miyana and Karim could provide a conflict. Even though the kids themselves will be too young and Miyana convinced to walk a different path, that doesn't mean they won't be used or treated as symbols by somebody else to sow more conflict.

Evrkynd and Elarion

The choice to establish a new city to show the growing unity between elves and dragons makes sense, but it made me wonder why do it now and not as an end-of-arc 3 idea. Then I considered that perhaps it's to set up Everkynd as an Elarion parallel: a glistening, shining city, where after it fell the land was divided and more chaos ensued.

Only Evrkynd will emerge and stand the test of time, of course, with the connection between the two halves being maintained and strengthened. But still, a thought I'll probably have something more eloquent for later.

Callum, Corruption, and the Cube (+ Rayla)

Was thinking over 6x06's "the darkness and corruption will overwhelm you" in addition to the choice in S6 to establish that Callum's father died of a chronic illness / the consistent comparison to dark magic as a plague/infection/sickness (2x08, 5x01, 5x03, 5x04, 5x09, etc). The options I'd considered for how the corruption would manifest post usage usually fell into two camps: instantaneous and complete, or gradual and ongoing. I'd thought the second one would be interesting for a mid-season dark magic use, speculating it'd be like the shadowmonsters in taking a few days or longer for something to take.

I certainly didn't think it'd be a process over Years, but given the seven year timeskip...

I'm picturing something like Callum still taking mushroom salves or potions regularly from Muhko (hence that inclusion for Zubeia) to stave off corruption overwhelm, and giving him parallels to Damian. This would also potentially enhance the feeling of "living on borrowed time" he and everyone, but him and Rayla in particular, are bound to feel as they know they have Limited Time before Aaravos comes back.

I'm also curious as to how openly or how much Callum will be studying dark magic, even in comparison to before ("Well, I've read a lot about it"). He has Viren-Claudia's relic staff, and the corrupted sun stone within it, so there could be interesting ideas or experiments there. The fact that Callum has the Staff and the Cube and the white streak does not bode well for him.

An additional assumption is that Callum will go to Elarion offscreen (cause that is a Long skip) but be unable to find what he's unknowingly looking for (the primal magic book?). I also don't think at this point I have to go into much more detail about CHET given that we've been here with the theory for 4 years, and pieces of evidence at the time that felt like a stretch are now being incorporated, such as:

The Cube pointing to Elarion, which was incredibly important to ancient humanity and Aaravos

Elarion poem is associated with nature (flowers of elarion) and dark-light motif

Rayla is Callum's light in the darkness and his destructive path. She was prepared to destroy him (7x09) and will likely save him in the future.

The flowers of Elarion were involved in a story where they were seen as gifts / "fair exchanges of beloved for beloved". Then Rayla, by Aaravos' own word, was described as Callum's "beloved" (7x09).

The entire conversation with Dark!Callum and the cube in the woods in 7x06 but especially "If you love her, you'll be the you that can save her" and "I have always been a part of you."

Basically: it's not over till the cube is plot relevant and all the foreshadowing / lines of dialogue surrounding it have come full circle in some manner. In Arc 3 we trust.

Misc Predictions / Ideas

that didn't belong anywhere else!

Given that we know Aanya has her older brother and Prince Kasef has a younger sibling, I think it'd be interesting if they teamed up to try and stage mutual coups or something.

Since the archdragons are gone, I'm curious what project ruby fire would be used against. Maybe just other dragons? Or invoking stuff from the past mage wars.

More info on the relic staffs and self-eating I think for sure can be expected, as well as what happened to make Kpp'Ar completely change his mind.

I'm expecting S8 to be catch up and set up much the way that S1 and S4 were.

There are river pirates between Duren and Neolandia (Tales of Xadia) so I could see Finnegrin being woven back in there, although I'd love to go back to Scumport and see any changes Elmer has made.

Kim'Dael feels like a 2 season antagonist to me, in order to reintroduce her (maybe Aaravos inverting the Moon Nexus set her free) and then to draw on her history with the Moon Fam (Bloodmoon Huntress graphic novel).

A lot more lore on the Startouch elves / I'm fairly certain Shiruakh was a star devourer dragon

Aaravos making the Cosmic Council mortal, etc etc.

Sol Regem lore and backstory

[timeslipcamp]

f the teachers tbh

literally from the prologue i was like what is this dude's deal....maybe it was just the discount gojo vibes or the 12 year old being in charge who knows. either way, i didn't trust them.

so let's get into that!

vague spoilers through ep 16

the prologue itself is insane enough, and then you walk onto an insane campus and up to the principal's office and then you find a literal CHILD who tells you that you will die in a year

bartender? i'll have what she's having

i did think nicolas was the hottest person in the game for a while though. and then you've got discount gojo and his ex boyfriend who was dead last year and then the assassination classroom substitute--

the teachers are just. so interesting. and shady. literally from the beginning something just felt odd, like the explanations about the ghouls that the chancellor was giving us just felt weird. the further it's gone on, the more i'm thinking that the faculty is in some way responsible for the clash and breaking up whatever good vibes the ghouls had in order to keep them disorganized and unable to unionize against the staff.

lmao can you imagine sinostra getting into union business

but i digress.

let's take a look at some of the times we've interacted with the staff and what led me to believe they would be the antagonists here.

nicolas was up first and i love him. honestly, if we have any allies on the staff, i'd put money on nicolas. he's a medical professional studying anomalous medicine and continues to be kind to yuri even though yuri is sooo bitchy to him. i love yuri lmao you hold that grudge babe.

he's been kind at every turn and does seem to be genuinely helping us. if he flips it'd be a hans from frozen level betrayal. (fun fact that was one of the ONLY characters i didn't catch ahead of time lmao. usually i'm pretty good at guessing but that one blindsided me. fuck you hans.)

i could see him going the way of him siding with the institution but only because he thought it was the right thing to do to help us. like we saw in mortkranken's more recent episode, the second he saw yuri was right, he full on supported us. so again, he might be on the institution's side for now, but if he sees that they're wrong and we're right, he'll flip.

so the second teacher we meet is hyde. he's pretty chill and 100% gives discount gojo and even kakashi vibes. i like him, honestly. if he goes the route of gojo and kakashi he's gonna come off as shady and then end up being on his students side, so. and like even with what we see between him and romeo and taiga, it doesn't feel malicious. it honestly just feels like he's trying to make money on the side 😂

i do love the taiga shovel talk though. if i'm being completely honest, i feel like he's at least partially eating the anomalies so romeo can't sell them to hyde. would love to know why he doesn't like hyde though. it's taiga's wariness and anger that keeps hyde on my shady list. that being said, i think the main reason taiga doesn't like hyde is because of romeo.

he's a real one for this though

but i think it's important to note that nicolas says there's no other teacher that cares more for the students than hyde. that's another reason, even after episode 16, that i still think hyde is on our side against the institution. i think he's playing both sides, and he's going to look shady until the end.

next is the chancellor.

what the hell is up with this dude

he looks like a child from genshin impact

but that's not why i don't trust him. in the beginning he seemed harmless enough, but given his reactions about the gala and ed and the way moby covered his mouth a few times...idk something isn't adding up. i don't have a solid motive or reason yet other than how the ghouls talk about the staff. we have rui, lyca, and sho all speaking openly about how they're bad and we should avoid telling them too much, their wack stances on imprisonment, etc; we have haku saying to just keep your head down and push through; we have one of them back from the dead and alan and tohma looking into it...the list goes on. it does seem to be more the institution rather than the faculty themselves but still

i don't trust them

zero idea what's going on with dante btw. how tf did he come back to life? is he a ghoul now too? hes hot though

the janitor has now been double confirmed to be elias, and that's the one that's working with haru (and taiga and their faceless allies gen and mio and s-something) but he still seems a lil off to me. i saw someone say former dionysia captain but idk how i feel about that. i definitely think he was a former student, and i'm inclined to think he's a ghoul despite having zero evidence because he's working with haru's lil team, but i dunno. something still feels off. i don't trust him, he knows too much.

speaking of weirdos

i hate this dude lol

my opinions aside, he's presented as kind if goofy and money grabbing and all about his kpop band or whatever it is, but this dude is my number one suspect. is he a demon? anomaly? other creature?

i don't trust him one bit. i think the first obscuary chapter is so important because it shows us that the LEADING PREMIERE RESEARCH FACILITY is incompetent at containing anomalies. ed even implies their research methods are wack. once again, it looks like they really don't see anomalies as anything other than creatures and beasts, so why wouldn't this extend to the ghouls?

i'm so fully on the train of thought that something about containing anomalies (aka actual thinking creatures, potentially another ghoul or person) was a big cause of the rift that may have had the faculty do something to cause the clash.

my main theory is as follows:

the staff and the institution don't see the ghouls as people. demons may be involved in the highest ranks of the institution. the ghouls at darkwick were staging a rebellion of some sort in regards to anomaly/ghoul treatment. a traitor was planted, hearts were broken, there goes the clash.

as usual, we have like, zero information still. i think we're about to get a lot more coming up on the one year anniversary of us being cursed, and especially as we start to go back in the loop. but that's my general guess that i'm going with for now

fuck moby tho he a freak

asks and dms always open!

[kittencomicslol]

Here's an idea! Modern AU, reader is dating Gyutaro, we're at college or later. The phase in the relationship like meeting the parents is meeting Daki to Gyutaro. When reader meets Daki, she's incredibly antagonistic towards reader, over dinner. Reader is a bit soft and can't make it through dinner. Gyutaro talks to reader in the hallway, afraid reader is gonna break up with him. Reader tells him she won't, she's just not tough enough to take how Daki's treating her, but she knows Daki's just being protective. Reader says maybe they're just not ready for the next step and leaves, after a kiss. Gyutaro has a serious talk with Daki, and fluffy ending!

UNFINISHED GYUTARO X READER FICS pt2

First of all, oh my goodness I am so sorry I never finished this nor posted any progress. The reason I decided to leave this unfinished (once again so sorry) is because I tried hammering this one done during the holidays and based the dinner off of that. I didn’t want to scrap everything I had but I also was sort of stumped for other concepts.

Anyways here what I had and the notes I wrote at the time and the unfinished product

——

Messy dinner

I couldn’t figure out a way to premise this in a way that wasn’t festive. Maybe it’s because I’m getting a little too excited about the upcoming seasons (I shouldn’t be bc I have hella season issues but nostalgia be damned 😭😭) so this is gonna sort of take place pre-Christmas and no holiday specified but it will still be sort of snowy and such. (I love snow!! >_<)

Also I know in the request it calls her Daki but considering this takes place in the Gakuen/highschool au (at least I assume it does :P) so I’m gonna refer to her as Ume. I will do my best to keep both of them in character but I have some strong feelings about a few differences between them all from the canon to the Gakuen. Anyways

Tws for mentions of sh (poor gyutaro is always goin THRUUU IT), and mentions of childhood abuse.

———

It had been about six months since you and Gyutaro started dating. The two of you didn’t exactly meet in college, rather meeting previously at an old job and bonding. Though by complete luck you and Gyutaro ended up going to the same college, and it gave you a chance to get closer with your boyfriend.

The extra time you had with him led to the two of you learning more about one another, regarding deeper concepts such as trauma and personal lives. There was nothing and never would be anything more romantic than vulnerability and you couldn’t appreciate enough how open he could be with you, especially after everything he has been put through.

No, he wasn’t well off and couldn’t take you out often. but he was never against taking you out or going somewhere with you. For as crude as many people played your lover off to be, he sure was a sweetheart with you. Which was why when you suggested you finally come home to meet his little sister for the holidays, his concern and hesitation shocked you.

Gyutato struggled with proper communication all the time so you figured at first he might have some nerves he isn’t expressing perfectly. After all, the boy had often expressed how he saw a future with you and wanted you to be part of his family.

You figured you would discuss it with him further, because you didn’t want him to be internally stressing over something alone. Whatever his worries were, you wanted to be there to help him.

After a long talk, Gyutaro finally opened up to you about how his little sister was.. less than friendly, especially to people who tried to get close to him. Of course he couldn’t stress enough he knew very well she only did it out of a fear of losing him and without malicious intent, but he still worried. He did not want you to get in a fight with his little sister, and he was worried that it would cause a tear between you two. So you figured you would do the absolute best you could to show Ume you weren’t a threat to her nor her brother.

The cold breeze hit you heavy, goosebumps crawling over your skin as you stood outside the small house. Even with the proper clothing, the weather becoming colder would always chill you, despite the proper precautions. But you quickly shook off the uncomfortable sensation and reached out to knock on the door, preparing yourself for a rough yet rewarding night.

Gyutaro was anxiously sitting on the couch while waiting for you to show up, internally horrified over the possible outcomes of this dinner. Ume had been brushing him off ever since he mentioned his girlfriend would be coming over. He had seen her act this way all to many times before when she was upset, the girl would disregard everything until the final moment when she would blow up.

The knock at the door snapped him out of his thoughts, perking up the second he heard it. You were here.

He tried to straighten himself up a bit, tidying up the living room again despite the fact he had already cleaned multiple times previously. He wanted it to be perfect for you, maybe that would lessen the blow of the inventible outburst Ume would have.

“You came..”

He murmured under his breath, holding the door open for you so you could enter the little run down home. You couldn’t help but feel slight concern by how tense your lover already appeared but you didn’t want to push. You knew he already had some hefty worries about his sisters reaction to you. But luckily for him, you came prepared.

“Of course came, I wouldn’t miss out on it for anything.”

You reassured, reaching out to pull him into a warm hug once he closed the door. It was comforting to feel his warm body up against your own after getting out of the chilled air. Gyutaro hummed, his own thin arms snaking around your body and resting his chin atop your head. God, you even smelled perfect.. how did you do that? How did he get so lucky..

He was snapped out of his train of thought when you suddenly pulled away from his embrace, instinctively moving his hands back to his sides to rest in his hoodie pockets.

“Don’t worry, honey. I’ve got this.”

You reassured for most likely over the hundreth time, but you would do it another thousand times if it was for him. In the other arm you didn’t hug him with, you held a small bouquet of flowers and small bag with perfume in it. From what Gyutaro had mentioned, Ume liked fancy and pretty things so you wanted to make a good first impression with a few gifts. Gyutaro could have sworn his heart melted when he noticed the fact you had gotten something for Ume. He could only pray she would appreciate the gesture, but the fact you were sweet enough to do that for someone you didn’t know was a subtle reminder of how kind you were. It was a trait he truely both loved and envied you for.

“I know you mentioned Ume likes the pretty stuff, so I got her a few things! Do you think she’ll like them?”

You looked so proud, so sure of yourself it almost made him feel guilty knowing even the most beautiful gift could stop his little sisters wrath. But he couldn’t break your spirits like that, not when you looked so determined and happy.

“I’m sure she’ll love them.. just…”

He sighed, hesitating with his words because he didn’t want to make you feel bad. But he also equally didn’t want to give you a sense of false hope that gifts would make Ume nicer.

“Just don’t expect her to be kind about it..”

He noticed the way you shifted a bit, your gaze faltering slightly. It was a sign you were clearly disheartened by his response, though the fiery determination you had wouldn’t be put out so easily.

“I guess I’ll just have to be super polite and use my charm on her.”

You responded, flashing him a grin in an attempt to calm his nerves. You were confident, that much was for sure. Maybe not the most realistic, but confident none the less.

Gyutaro sighed, reaching out and playfully ruffling your hair, his touch gentle against your scalp.

“Yea, yea.. works every time..”

He mocked, allowing himself to relax a bit and indulge in your more carefree attitude. Your ‘charms’ sure worked on him.. no matter how odd, silly, or unconventional they were.

Gyutaro reached down to wrap his spindly fingers around your smaller, softer hand. He was internally dreading even walking you into his kitchen, though the other part of him knew waiting would only worsen the stress. He figured you had already noticed this, your hand giving a small squeeze to his own. It was a small gesture but definitely a welcome one.

“Hey.. it’ll be fine. Remember, I want to meet her.”

You had seen the girl in pictures before, and you had heard she was gorgeous. But photos couldn’t fully capture the young girl’s beauty. Her long silky locks were a pure bright white, her eyes the same striking blue as your lovers yet hers were not stained from being bloodshot. Even in casual wear she was ethereal, and you could instantly tell why Gyutaro so often mentioned her beauty. Yet even with the way she shined, the teen glared back over at you from across her spot at the table once you walked in. Gyutaro attempted to speak up but couldn’t beat you to it, over enthusiastically greeting the girl.

“Hello! You must be Ume, Gyutaro has told me so much about you! It’s a pleasure to properly meet you.”

Umes glare didn’t falter even with the polite greeting, remaining silent while you walked over and placed the bag on the table by her. They darted over to the flowers you got, seeming more interested in the plants than you yourself.

“I got you a gift, and some flowers. I thought it would only be fair since I’m sure we’ll be around eachother plenty. They say first impressions are everything, right?”

It was safe to say the girl was not amused. Instead of lightening up and engaging in playful banter she just scoffed, placing her phone down on the table and looking at the perfume you had gotten her. It was fancy, scented as the quince blossoms from Japan.

“Thanks, this sure looks expensive.”

Ume muttured, though you couldn’t pick up if she was being sarcastic or not. After looking over the gift she got back on her phone, promptly ignoring you.

‘Well.. that didn’t go too well.’ You internally scolded yourself. But it wasn’t over yet, and you would die before giving up on her. You didn’t even notice Gyutaro left until you saw him re-enter the dining room with a vase for the flowers.

“Here, let me put these in some water..”

His calloused hands brushed across your palms in the process of taking the flowers, carefully unwrapping the plastic and placing the beautiful bouquet in the old vase.

“Ume.. put your phone down, we have a guest, show some respect.”

Ume groaned, placing her phone back on the table and pushing it away from herself in an exaggerated manner to express her annoyance.

“Well, How can I help? Want me to get the silverware ?”

Your suggestion was quickly shut down by your lover. Gyutaro wanted to have you come over and do something sweet for you, and he wound be damned if you did any of the work.

“No no, it’s fine.. Ume, help me set the table and get the food.”

Gyutaro’s words were the only sound Ume actually seemed capable of hearing. She didn't ignore him, far from it. But she didn’t exactly accept either.

“But Nii-Chan! I had a long day, I don’t want too!”

Her shrill whines caught you off guard for a moment. You hadn’t expected such a refined girl to have that in her. Though.. Gyutaro did say he spoiled her a bit. With a long sigh, Gyutaro spoke up once more

“I know you worked hard, Ume, but this means a lot to me.. so please help out, I promise I won’t make you do it the rest of the week.”

The room remained silent for a moment, Ume pondering her big brothers pleading for assistance. She was still only 15, it wasn’t shocking to see her so rebellious and lazy. Gyutaro folded fast for Ume and instantly offered to do more work for the rest of the week without even a moment's hesitation. The sight was something to instill the knowledge you already held of how deeply this man loved his little sister. He wanted her to live the most lavish, comfortable life possible and it showed. He worked his ass off day and night all to ensure she had a bright future, it made you admire him even more than you already had.

“Fine.. I get to pick what’s for dinner next.”

The teens voice was more leveled now, sounding much more akin to how you first heard it than the whining.

“As long as you’re happy, Ume.”

Gyutaro muttured, waiting patiently while Ume stood herself up and followed him to the kitchen without any more complaints. Or, at least not any more that you could hear from where you were.

The sound of the chair squeaking when pulled back rang through the room for a moment while you attempted to get yourself comfortable. The worn leather on the old seat visibly chipping off around the edges and the splintering wooden legs was a quick reminder that neither Gyutaro or Ume had the best living conditions. You had no complaints at all no matter how imperfect it could be, your only worries being working to be the best guest you could be for Gyutaro in front of his little sister.

Your fingers tapped at the table top, vaguely festive tablecloth wrinkling under the light mistrations. Would Ume be like this the whole night?.. you sure hoped not. But only time could answer the questions bouncing around your head.

Your thoughts were cut short by the sound of footsteps re-entering the small dining room, Ume setting up the table. She even folded the paper towels in a cutesy manner. Well, for her and Gyutaro at least. She placed the plates and utensils for everyone but you, lazily sliding the plate and paper towel over to your seat. The young girl looked upset that she had to do any sort of work to assist you, and you weren’t exactly sure how to go about interacting with her.

“Uhm— excuse me?..”

Your voice only caused her to glare over at you, giving no dignified response whatsoever. No matter what you did you couldn't imagine why the young girl seemed so upset with you. Had you not been polite or welcoming enough to her?

“I think you forgot my utensils..”

Your voice lacked any confidence by now while talking to Ume. She clearly wasn’t pleased with you and you didn’t want to upset her anymore. Though you didn’t know how to please her or come off as less threatening. Maybe that’s what she felt by your presence, threatened?

Ume groaned and walked back off to the kitchen, returning with the utensils and roughly placing them on the table by you. Meanwhile, Gyutaro got the feeling that Ume angrily stomping back into the kitchen couldn’t mean anything remotely good. He didn’t want to stall any longer in the kitchen after seeing that. No matter how fearful he was of you and Ume interacting over dinner he grasped the concept that it would be way worse if he wasn’t present.

The silence was deafening between you and Ume, and her glowering right at you didn’t make you feel very welcomed. Fortunately Gyutaro entered the room once more with a still steaming pot of faintly seasoned udon, the smell helping ease your tensions a touch. You always felt so blessed when Gyutaro would cook for you, and you found the culinary expertise he held to be something genuinely stunning. With how he grew up as a child, it was amazing how far he had come when it came to self care considering he taught himself next to everything he knew.

“Food is done.. Feel free to take as much as you’d like.”

Gyutaro did his best to remain calm and level headed, even if internally he was in a state of panic. He knew that look on Ume’s face, the way that she got infuriated when someone else tried to get close to him was always rough. Part of him knew it was only because she was afraid, scared by the thought of what life would be like if he ended up turning his focus away from her. Perhaps their mother leaving left a bigger impression on her than she enjoyed to admit.

Ume reached over and used the kitchen tongs to lift some of the udon into her bowl, her gaze softening in the presence of her big brother.

“Thank you Nii-chan.”

Her voice was much more gentle, she sounded genuinely grateful. Of course none of that behavior would be graciously extended to you, but you couldn’t help but be endeared by how she clearly loved Gyutaro.

You chose to follow in Ume’s footsteps and got yourself some of the Udon as well, glancing over at your lover while he sat down next to you.

“It smells great, Gyu. Please make sure to eat some for yourself, love.”

Your gentle reminders were something he was all too used to. He had grown up constantly fending for himself and Ume and because of that Gyutaro developed the mindset that he didn’t deserve food. He wanted Ume to always eat all she wanted first, even if she wasn’t there. Fortunately he was lucky enough to have you there to remind him to take care of himself at the times when he struggled. Gyutaro hesitantly grabbed his own food, his eyes intently watching Ume as she began to ate.

———

Even if I didn’t finish it I did have a lot of fun writing it and staying up late thinking about finishing it after the holidays ended TwT ❤️❤️

[jq37]

So, that lady FH episode was amazing and all, but...

Hoo boy, I already see the discourse around the Ratgrinders' fates forming and it is going to be painful. Be careful around the fandom space.

(I mean, resurrection is still on the table for them, but that's based on if the players feel like it and right now, we're looking at 50/50 odds at bests)

Yeah, don't worry about me. This isn't my first rodeo and also I post a lot about D20 and respond to asks I get but I don't actually personally engage with any of The Discourse (tm).

And I'm not really surprised at the reaction. I know people have been opinionated all season in two main camps (that have a lot of overlap): people dissatisfied with the narrative direction and people deeply sympathetic to the Rat Grinders to the point of being mad at the Bad Kids.

The first camp I mostly understand. I get wishing the cast would explore a certain storyline more. For example, I've been on the Aelwyn redemption arc train since literally the first episode of Fantasy High so I was a little disappointed that when that finally came to a head in Freshman Year, it was a big fight and then very little aftermath/unpacking because Aelwyn was sent to jail right after. And Sophomore Year hadn't been announced so I had no idea that she was gonna get another shot. But I wasn't upset or anything. Adaine at that point still hated her sister. She had no reason to want to reach out. And at the end of the day this is other people playing a game. Brennan presented them all the possible plot threads and they were most interested in self discovery, hanging out with each other, doing Shenanigans, and playing Tomb Raider re: Ankarna. Those are all options they were presented and it's not like they were doing crazy off-roading. It's well within the parameters of what D&D is. If you're gonna watch a show like this (or honestly any show), you have to accept that what's most interesting to you isn't always going to be the most interesting thing to the people in the driver's seat.

So yeah, I feel like this side of things I get (even though I'm fine with how things turned out).

The other camp--people being legit mad at the Bad Kids (and in some cases the actual cast) for treating the Rat Grinders like antagonists instead of victims that they were responsible for empathizing with and redeeming--I find kind of wild.

Like…you're mad at the kids who go to Child Murder School for killing kids who want to end the world and kill them specifically? Literally the first day of school the principal of the school says that adventurers are violent wanderers who engage in shenanigans and enact violence. This is the exact assignment they were given and that's what they're doing.

I think it's wild to at the same time believe that the Rat Grinders (who have killed people) are not responsible for their actions and deserve to be talked down while in the process of causing an apocalypse because they're just kids who were manipulated while at the same time calling the Bad Kids evil lunatics for trying to stop them by killing them (in a world where Revivify and Resurrection exist) even though they are ALSO kids who are doing what they've learned at Child Murder School. The Bad Kids have to be mature enough to thoroughly investigate the situation and have nuance about it but the Rat Grinders don't have any responsibility to not join a shady evil murder plan*? And do the Bad Kids really hate the Rat Grinders to the point where they're doing some overkill in this fight? Absolutely. But it's not like they're killing them because they hate them. They're killing them because they're trying to end the world--and they also happen to hate them. Are we forgetting that Kipperlilly killed Buddy--her own teammate--with a gleeful smile on her face? That was so out of pocket.

They're adventurers! Not guidance counselors! If Jawbone was like, "We need to kill these kids," yeah that would be weird but why would the Bad Kids extend an olive branch to the kids who (1) famously hate them, (2) killed at least one maybe 2 of their own party members, (3) endangered the entire student body population an hour ago, (4) are currently trying to end the world. Hell, Adaine was ready to be mean to her own sister in elf jail literally up until the point Brennan described how rough she looked from the torture and that's when she changed her mind. The Power of Love and Empathy is on the menu but it's a special item you only can get if you know the chef. Everyone else is getting a serving of These Hands. Just because you can find a vegan solution to a problem it doesn't mean you're obligated to.

This all comes down to, "Maybe teenagers shouldn't have godlike powers and the ability to play judge, jury, and executioner" but that's literally the premise of the entire show so you can't get around it without rejecting the show's entire premise. If they were like, "Hmm the systems that underpin our world are questionable and we should change the power structures" instead of, "Let's kill some bad guys!" then that's a totally different thing we're doing here!

And, idk man, this show has always had a Who Framed Roger Rabbit style morality where the normal rules of ethics stop applying when it's funny. They beat the crud out of Ragh and then lied to him that he shit his pants just for the bit. A pirate was rude/kinda racist to Riz so they scared him into killing himself. Riz ate the remains of the sentient (albiet evil) dragon he killed. That's all unhinged behavior but none of that is meant to be serious. Getting upset about Fig sending Ruben to hell to me feels like getting mad that Jerry hit Tom with a cartoonishly large mallet.

None of this is new so I have to assume that people are having a big reaction because they relate to the Rat Grinders or just really like them so it feels bad that the Bad Kids are treating them like fodder rather than beloved NPCs.

But again, this is a world where you can bring people back from the dead and the Rat Grinders have showed intent that is grievously neglectful at best and insanely murderous at worst so I can't muster a lot of sympathy for the fact that the Bad Kids are just taking them down without remorse. I don't think you have to try to empathize with the people who are trying to harm you if you don't want to especially while they are in the process of harming you.

(*And we still don't know how voluntarily they joined this plan. We don't know if they were killed and basically forced into resurrecting with rage or if they just leapt at the chance to join a plan that would let them get one over on their rivals. It literally could be either. We've had kid villains on this show strong armed into being party to evil plans by threat of harm (Aelwyn) as well was kid villains who just had their own selfish motivations and weren't tricked at all (Penelope and Biz). We actually don't have any clear answer on how culpable they are. We don't know if they all have rage crystals (except for Buddy). And we don't know how much having a Rage Crystal effects your actions. The best indicator we got is in this latest ep when Brennan said that there was a mechanic where Porter was going to call anyone with a rage crystal to fight for him but that says to me that he's only directly puppeting them when he uses that action and otherwise they have free will and are just angrier. The Bad Kids don't have a reason to believe definitively that the Rat Grinders are just unwilling puppets even if that is the case so of course they're treating them like enemies. Anyway, this is a whole lot of "I don't knows" but that's only because I've seen a lot of people talking like the Rat Grinders literally aren't in control of their actions but that's not info that we have. It could be true but we don't actually know that so it's not a good argument.)

[sirsealery]

mentioned this a bit at the bottom of some comment thread in one of my hunger games fics and figured i might expand on it a bit here? to see what other people have to say, i think. sotr spoilers !!

fyi im wearing a homemade lorax costume right now as im typing this. happy world book day!

so, anyways, i wanna talk about the careers. i wouldnt call myself a career fan or lover, and frankly i dont have much love for any of the careers in the series, especially in the first book and sotr. the only exceptions are finnick and annie (and i suppose mags? is she a career?) because theyre written as actual people. which leads me to my first point, which is that so often, theyre just so cartoonishly evil. they remind me so much of those disney channel bullies but take it up a notch. they kill people instead of shoving them into lockers or flushing their face in the toilet. but like with the same energy and the annoying jock voice you know what i mean?? lmao

and i mean i get it. in the first book theyre like the main antagonists and we're not spending more than a couple of pages with them, so they dont need to be all that fleshed out. which is totally fine, i dont care, but in some of the other books? in sunrise, where silka is actively trying to be humanized? to me, it fell very, very flat. i felt absolutely nothing reading about her eat chocolate and cry at the foot of the tree. and panache being a cato 2.0 kind of annoyed me. i get it! dumb brutes exist, but how are there so many of them? i dont think ive ever met a single person like this. ever. i dont know though, maybe my experience isnt universal. maybe in other parts of the world there are plenty of laughably stupid hunks. basically all of the careers are complete idiots, just running around and stabbing babies.

okay now what i really wanted to talk about after ranting a bit. sorry gang. i wanna talk about how sad the career existence is. i mean, theyre needlessly brutal and mean. but they were also raised this way? id love for someone more articulate than me to talk about this too. i had a thought a while ago kinda comparing the careers to like .. the people who peaked in high school? id love to have an exploration of the career experience, either an essay or fanfiction (lmk if theres any youve found !!) cuz like .. of course youre bringing honor and glory not only to yourself but also your whole district, patriotism and all that. but i wonder if its still the same once you start killing kids? i mean its basically a given that theyre pretty desensitized to violence, gore and death at the point where they volunteer for the games, but i dont think its quite the same when youre actually like .. doing it??

and when you go home, youre celebrated and praised, but only like until someone new wins, which is next year. and theres gonna be the trauma of the games and potentially life altering injuries and while in the other districts theres some kind of sympathy for victors, but since in the career districts they idolize it, theres not really any/as much i think?? i imagine itd be really weird to work your whole life, achieve your goals, and then come to the realization that you basically have no purpose now but to watch kids under your care die and hope that at least one of them will survive. i wonder if thats why some of the careers in catching fire were so eager to rejoin the games? since its all theyre known for and theyve had nothing for the last like 10-20 years and they want a shot to do what theyre best at again? relive their glory days or whatever? im honestly not sure, but i think its worth thinking about. thanks gang 🙏

[cloudmancy]

I have no desire to get you in trouble but I would be curious to hear your thoughts on the new episode and the preview because I also have.. thoughts and I'm interested in what other people clocked as not great or kinda.. idk. other people's concerns, because I have had a lot of them and I never see people really talk about those things

they're doing a new format this season where they film a bunch of rp episodes in a row then take a break when there's a battle so the crew can get the battleset ready, so I understand the dissonance. but the tone of this episode from the tone of last episode was SO jarring. I was ready to chew drywall at the end of episode 17 but we head into the episode 18 fight and at the end all I can say is... damn! that sure is a battle that happened. the entire fight felt really low-stakes even though objectively a few of the bad kids were in mortal danger, but the mood at the table was so relaxed and chill and there was almost no roleplay at all... which drove me so crazy

>no rp except for fun silly party stuff (no callbacks to the adaine elven oracle in a storm thing? after all the fun setup last time??)

>fought 8 different antagonists and none of them said a word

>nobody questioned why or what oisin's grandma or all those dragon were doing there they just started taking them out one by one like raid battles in world of warcraft

>cassandra/nightmare king showed up only to not make any impact or get a single word in

>dos2 lady vengeance fight did the floating boat/ballistas/dragon fight better SMH

and then after all of that we're headed straight into ANOTHER battle episode judging by the preview... and it's against the rat grinders and porter/jace! let me out I want PLOT & DIALOGUE fhjy cannot end like this (5 hours straight of battle where they just kill everyone that moves). there's 2 eps left so I really hope they do the last ep as a 4 hour long roleplay only epilogue episode because as we've all seen ending campaigns on a battle leads to frankly really rushed character and world decisions. it's ultra disappointing too because I loved this entire season so much so far. the setup and buildup and plot points and mystery of fhjy is the best they've ever done it in dimension 20 period

ep 18 fhjy battle was a letdown to me... not giving the party an rp episode after 3 hours of loredump + going straight into a final battle without being able to interact with the world after gaining info is bad. they should've had a chance to process everything they learned about house sunstone, porter's plan, the rat grinders being used as ascension fodder, whatever the whole deal behind ambrosia and lucy frostkettle and why they needed a helios cleric in buddy IN ROLEPLAY. I don't want all this stuff explained to me after the battle by brennan or in some throwaway lines in the adventuring party - I want the bad kids to talk to people! I want them to investigate! I want fig to pull some BS with porter knowing the full extent of all his plans. it really sucks for us as an audience too to be hit with all this lore and get approximately 0 time for it to sink into the implications of how the worldbuilding was shaped by it or realizations of "ohhh that's why that happened at the beginning of the season" before we go straight into killing everyone.

with the way this is going I don't have any confidence they're gonna be able to actually empathize at all with the rat grinders too before they start lopping heads off because in battle episodes everyone kind of just. becomes numbers and an objective to take out except for pet favourite npcs of the cast. and they've mostly been interacting with the rat grinders as nuisances all season 😭 I'm PRAYING to be proven wrong and the last 2 episodes of this are fantastic but it's not looking good folks

[spookscape]

Logged onto Reddit and saw r/dmc really angry about the Anime still, idk I thought it was really good.

People complain that it's the opposite of Devil May Cry's themes when it really isnt? We've always seen good demons and the games have always had bad human antagonists; Arius, Arkham, Sanctus etc. The revalation that there are good demons shoudlnt be anything shocking really, the whole series is built off of a good demon.

Doesn't it stand to reason that there would be demons that are also victim to the violence of Mundus and the other demonic factions?

I dont mind if there's political commentary in a piece of media because, beside how fucked everything is right now, the devil may cry franchise has always had a distaste for powerful figures. I mean Nero punches the Pope and Dante shoots an Aristocrat. All the Anime did was make an underlying theme from the games more clear.

It's really crazy to me that people are having this adverse a reaction to a very solid Anime, though it is definitely a reimagining it's not as antithetical to the games as everyone thinks it is.

It bums me out cause in the fandom we're now gonna have people coming out 5 years from now talking about how 'they totally always thought it was good and overhated and deserves a season 2' now that it's too late to do anything about it.

See the more recent reactions to the reboot if you think I'm pulling this out of nowhere.

Anyway I'm praying for a second season rn since its reviewed well with critics at least

[sodascribbles]

YEAR OF THE ECHIDNA - LOVE

@year-of-the-echidna

characters: maddie, tails, knuckles, sonic, tom; antagonist oc (The Handler) doesn't appear but is important

relationships: the wachowski family

contains: dehumanisation, Knuckles has Trauma (what else is new)

read on ao3 here!

Maddie sorts through the letters. "Junk mail, junk mail, that's for Tom," she hums, "oh, that's new."

There's no address on the envelope. Which means somebody put it in the mailbox. She scrunches her face accordingly, carefully pulling it open.

Hm. It's... well, there's writing on it, alright. Maddie just can't read a word of it. It looks familiar, though— maybe from one of her boys.

"Tails, you have a translator, right?" Maddie asks, pauses, corrects herself; "Let's start here. Do you know what this is?"

"Oh, wow." Tails leans forward, openly fascinated, but his eyes don't track the words. "It looks like Mobian... who's writing to us in Mobian?

"I, um, can't read it, but I have a translator." He pulls out a little yellow camera thing, scanning the letter with it. "Doesn't look like it says who it's from. Huh... the echidna..."

He reads it hurriedly, expression twisting. "You're not gonna like this."

"Hit me."

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Wachowski," Tails reads, frowning, "It has come to my attention that you are in possession of something very important and very dear to me. I speak, of course, about the echidna."

"In possession?" Maddie echoes, already nauseated by the words.

"It gets worse," Tails warns. "Red has been a crucial part of my operation, and I would be very appreciative if you would return him to me. I will compensate you for your troubles, of course; I have one million Earth dollars set aside for you."

Maddie hisses out a breath. "Jesus," she whispers. "That's a lot."

Tails looks at her— his gaze finds something behind her, ears flattening. She turns to follow and finds Knuckles standing there.

His purple eyes are piercing. "I apologize for listening," he starts. His voice is flat, eyes hollow. "Will I be allowed to say goodbye?"

Maddie feels like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing and opening again. "What?" she finally manages.

"To the Lord of Donuts. And the hedgehog... and Ozzie," he trails, finally breaking eye contact to glance away. "When you return me."

"What?" Maddie repeats, her throat going tight. "No, baby, no!" She sees a misunderstanding coming a mile away and hurriedly adds, "We're not going to 'return' you."

"Return you?" Tails echoes, paws folding together, "Do you know who this is from?"

Knuckles looks over the letter with eyes that really don't see anything. "I assume it is the Handler," he says. Tails sucks in a breath. "I know of no others who would call me that."

"Baby," Maddie interjects, because she is not done, "baby, we are never going to get rid of you or replace you or 'return' you. Okay?"

He still looks so devastatingly doubtful. He doesn't look at her, eyes still following the words.

"Knuckles," Maddie breathes, "never. Never. Not in a million years."

"It is... a lot. Of Earth money."

"You are worth more than money ever could be."

Tails zips over the back of the couch with a speed to rival Sonic's, arms suddenly thrown around his brother. "Mom's right. Never!" He gives Knuckles a (rather ineffective) squeeze. He steps back enough to look the echidna in the eye. "Never ever. Sonic and Dad will say the same thing."

"What will we say?" Before Tom even has gotten through the door, Sonic is standing there. He talks through a full mouth, crumbs on his face.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Tom chides, setting bags on the table. He gives Maddie a little look, brows furrowing.

"We got a letter," Maddie starts, stops, thinks for a moment. "There's somebody who wants Knuckles." She holds up the terrible paper.

Sonic swallows too fast and chokes. When he recovers, shaking out his quills, he says; "Well, they'll have to go through me!"

"Us," Tom corrects, trying to read the foreign text, "they'll have to go through us."

"She has offered a reward," Knuckles murmurs, stepping out of what had become a circle around him. He folds his arms and very obviously tries to look unaffected. "A hefty amount."

"Hefty shmefty," Sonic shoots back, folding his own arms.

"There's no reward that could make us get rid of you, Knux," Tom assures.

Knuckles screws up his face and takes in a thin breath. He looks... conflicted. Maddie's heart breaks once more.

"Baby," she says, reaching out to take one of his hands, "remember what I told you in the clinic?"

He squeezes his eyes shut. "I am a... part of your tribe. Your family."

"Family is worth more than any money." Tails mimics the boys' postures and crosses his arms, face fierce. "If someone offered you a million dollars for me—"

"Never!" Knuckles cries, eyes wet. His shoulders heave with the force of his breaths. He steps back, rigid. "Least of all to— to the Handler!" His arms pull tighter to his chest, gripping at his sides. Literally holding himself together.

Tom and Maddie share a split-second glance. Sonic's eyes go wide, hands hovering. "Knuckles—"

"Don't," Knuckles growls, knitting inward. "Don't touch me. Please."

"Okay," Maddie says, voice soft. "Nobody's gonna touch you, baby. You're safe here. We will do everything in our power to keep you safe."

"And us Wachowskis are pretty powerful," Tom adds lightly.

"I know," the echidna manages, "I know. I— I'm sorry." He glances up with wild, scared eyes. "I don't want to go back."

"You won't," Sonic says firmly, almost reaching out but thinking better of it. "You hear me? Never. Nobody's gonna lay their grubby hands on my brother."

"Yeah!" Tails casts a look over his shoulder in the direction of the garage, eyes alight with ideas. "Nobody's gonna get anywhere near you if we've got anything to say about it!" He pauses. "Maybe that was confusing."

"I got the idea," Knuckles manages, shoulders slumping. "I... apologize."

"You have nothing to apologize for. Not one thing," Tom tells him, voice soft but eyes fierce.

Knuckles' face twists. He starts, stops, starts again. His hands shift, clutching at himself.

Hugging himself, Maddie realizes. He asked them not to touch him and so she doesn't, but she wants to. She wants to hold him. She takes a little breath.

"I would like..." His eyes seal again, hissing. Like he's expecting to be hit. "A hug."

It ends up as a pile of Wachowskis, arms around each other. The best family around. Maddie kisses her boys and vows to not let anything pull them apart.

[poppyplate]

minor season 5 spoilers for lmk!!!

(some sketches + my thoughts on the new season :0)

this season was so good!! i'm gonna put my long rant about my thoughts below, just cause i have a lot of things i wanna talk about :3

animation: ik the animation change was jarring for some people and i did almost cry about flying bark leaving the show when the news first dropped, but i honestly think wildbrain did a great job and the animation is still super cute and fun. it's definitely different and you can tell, but they still do all the silly animation things that flying bark did and this season honestly had some of my favourite humor (visual and otherwise).

i'll definitely miss the old animation, fully hand drawn 2D animation is becoming harder to come by in cartoons now so it's sad to see this show lose one of the most exciting aspects of it, but i'm looking forward to seeing how wildbrain does in the following season(s?). i'm honestly just glad we're getting more monkie kid content.

plot: i did enjoy the plot they set up. this season did feel different pacing wise? if that makes sense. not that it's necessarily bad i just noticed it felt a bit different. i'm really excited to see more about this whole chaos thing.

ik li jing wasn't necessarily a villain, but he was an antagonist for a bit so i'm adding my two cents about him and nezha. i didn't love what they did with their story arc, but ik there's only so much that can be done in a 10 episode season where each episode is only 10 minutes long. i think their arc would've just benefited from more time :(

villain(s): i think the nine headed demon is such an interesting character (even though he did confuse me a bit) so i hope we get to see more of him. probably my favourite big bad so far personality-wise.

main characters: i'm glad sun wukong had more screentime this season!! he always either isn't around or gets trapped, so it's nice that he was present again.

i definitely felt this season focused a lot more on the monkie trio, which was bound to happen, but i like them so i was fine with it. idk how much of a redemption arc macaque is trying to have, but i kind of hope it's not a standard redemption arc. not that i didn't enjoy macaque's character this or any other season, i do like him most of the time. i just personally hope they keep him as more of a neutral figure even if he does stick around with the group.

i don't have much to say on mk that hasn't already been said. i love the guy and i hope he gets to be happy again soon T^T

side characters? ig: i thought mei and red son's episode was cute. i love dragonfruit interactions a lot, but i do hope red son gets some more screentime next season cause i miss him </3

i am happy sandy got some more screentime though, his episode with mk was cute. also tang was so real this season, he's just like me fr (i hate manual labor).

other notes and whatnot: this season felt shorter somehow, even though it wasn't and i'm not sure if we'll be getting a special like we always do or if they're just going to move on to the next season. either way, i'm excited to see where it goes from here.

although i wasn't in love with the ending of this season, it just felt a tad rushed and i definitely think we would've benefited from a few special episodes again.

i'd give this season a solid 8/10. i would love to go through all the episodes and share my thoughts on them, but i'm just gonna share my ranking of the episodes.

(i feel pretty even with 1-2 and 3-5)

1. collar the king

2. temple of the goddess

3. the cage

4. sacrifice

5. strings that bind

6. into the pagoda

7. claim to flame

8. harbinger

9. the storm within

10. festival fugitives