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jess-the-vampire · 2 years

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Guys, I Think The Leaks Are Fakes Made By The Owl House Crew

yes yes i know, right now that might be a WILD ass claim to make but i want those who are reading this to hear me out and read this whole post, because I've been chatting with friends since these leaks happened and i think there’s reason to suspect we might be getting punked here.

And i say this fully accepting there is a chance i could be entirely wrong about this and they could be real, but I think there’s some reason to doubt the episode actually was leaked to the internet.

Now to get those who need it up to speed, the first of the three specials for toh s3 “Thanks to Them” is airing this Saturday on the 15th, it’s a big 45 minute episode that takes place on earth in Luz’s town of Gravesfield. There was a comic con panel about it a few days ago were some fans got to see some sneak peaks, it was all over the internet and everything.

But the day after, some images floated around, 6 of them mainly, claiming to be spoilers from this episode and everyone went WILD with anger, rightfully so, this huge ass episode got leaked to the internet and spoiled for everyone? Man what a way to ruin a week huh?

Well i thought the same for awhile too, but i’ve had some time to cool down and talk to others and guys....something isn’t right about this whole situation.

Below i’m gonna explain why this whole situation feels REALLY off and why I think there might be a chance that not only did the episode NOT leak, but the leaks were fabricated by the crew itself.

And just to be safe, i will do so without showing said leaks, nor will i tell you exactly what’s in them.

Those who saw them will understand, but for those lucky enough to avoid them, i’ll give you an idea of what about them makes me and others suspect something isn’t right.

Now i’ve had episode leaks before in fandoms, it’s nothing new, they can happen to any fanbase due to issues with scheduling, or mishandling, or episodes being put up online and some people get to it fast.

So the idea of this happening isn’t odd.

However, i raise you this, because i found this to be REALLY Strange.

How come it’s only these 6 images?

Remember when ST and EE were shown privately to the TOH discord by crew members as a treat before they aired? Remember how afterwards there was a ton of images about lumity blushing and amity’s parents?

We were told the ENTIRE EPISODE was not only LEAKED, but put ONLINE.

And yet all i and anyone else have seen are these images and people claiming they’re real, and nothing else.

There were gifs, clips, dozens of frames from willow’s dad’s holding hop pop books to the “That’s rough buddy”. There was so much about these episodes the moment the internet found them.

So let me get this straight? Those episodes the moment the fandom gets them get dozens of gifs, clips, drives to watch them, screenshots, memes, and fanart.....meanwhile this HUGE 45 MINUTE EPISODE has nothing but these specific 6 images?

I’ve never seen anything besides these images floating around when it comes to the the claim the episode was put out, there are no clips, no audio, no gifs, no dialogue being mentioned, nothing.

Is that not strange?

Don’t you guys think if the entire episode was leaked we’d see more then these specific images? Don’t you think we’d see MORE then these shots?

Like this is a big episode, and there is nothing else worth spoiling? Nothing about the wittebanes? lumity? Huntlow? any other big reveals? You’d think if the episode was revealed those would be leaked too right?

Isn’t it so odd that these are the only leaks out there? if there’s video, why doesn’t it seem to be posted anywhere? Heck, where is the video that shows off what’s happening in the leaks with the biggest spoilers?

it’s also strange how this got “Leaked” over a week before the episode comes out, because how in the heck would someone get access to the full episode THAT early? When episodes usually leak, if they aren’t shown privately, it’s either the day before or because of a scheduling error.

So that also seems odd.

There’s also this to consider, the content of the images themselves.

I won’t go into detail obviously, but you know what i found so off-putting? That the images in question proved a specific theory, proved a few theories and predictions people were floating around the fanbase...theories that aren’t something that’s strongly supported by any current evidence or even liked by quite a few people.

The last images are so....out of nowhere too. They’re sequential enough that they could tell a story of what happened without context and some of them are DEFINTENLY SHOCKING.

But the first two, they have nothing to do with the context of those last 4, so why did they get leaked? they reveal nothing, they’re also things we get to see in the promos that just were released.

Except, if you consider they were “Leaked” to make these leaks seem more real.

Don’t you think it’s odd two of the leaks are things that ended up in the promo that showed up later that day? i mean, what are the CHANCES?

But if you were on the crew, and you wanted the fans to buy into the leaks, you WOULD pair up the fakes with real ass images the fans would see later that day wouldn’t you?

It’s so oddly deliberate.

You would also make leaks that would support big theories and have shock value so people were bound to spread them more. Which is EXACTLY what these ones are.

And if you’re on the crew, you know what the characters are wearing, so even easier to make them look real, because no matter what clips are shown in any disney promos or commercials they will appear to line up with the leaks.

There’s also other off stuff, like how one image is VERY oddly cropped compared to the others, or some character inconsistencies, some even seemingly off model.

“But the 6 minutes in HD are a thing-”

yeah and if someone wanted to fool the fanbase into thinking these leaks were real they WOULD release the 6 minutes alongside it to claim the episode had to be out.

The thing is, the 6 minutes have already been leaked to the fanbase from the nycc panel to the entire fanbase the moment it ended, it’s not as if putting the hd version out there will spoil anything because everyone already basically saw it.

And again, if the episode is OUT, why is that the ONLY footage that appears to have been posted anywhere? The footage we the fans already know about and saw?

And i wanna send off the rest of the suspicious details about these leaks by talking about the crew.

The crew, has been DEAD SILENT about these leaks, they have not said a word about these specific ones, not even to warn fans about them or how upset they are or anything.

So....

Which is not what they usually do, they have warned fans before, so why not warn us about these supposed BIG leaks about a big episode?

And ok, maybe they don’t wanna make a fuss about them, fair enough, but there’s something else.

Rebecca Rose, who works on this show, liked this tweet just recently.

Now for those who don’t know, Alex Hirsh (Voice of King and Hooty) is the creator of Gravity Falls, another Disney Cartoon. That cartoon is infamous for it’s mysteries and secrets, and Alex, actually made a fake leak about a major spoiler to troll the entire fanbase.

He made this tweet after it successfully tricked the fans.

Now not only does he work on this show too, but you wanna know where these “Leaks” started out? 4chan and reddit.

Same place his did.

What are the chances?

What are the chances a crew members likes this old tweet about his stunt NOW of all times? When the episode has supposedly been leaked?

Now would it suck to assume the entire fanbase got fooled into thinking the episode was leaked and all the posts made about shaming the leakers were completely for nothing?

Oh yeah.

For the crew to pull this stunt and make us all look like doofuses would be insane.

But i think there’s reason to find this whole situation off and i hope this post makes you all reconsider some details you might not of considered before. Maybe we were leaked, maybe this is all a huge coincidence.

But if you ask me.

This is all too fishy for my liking.

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greisekinderschar · 4 months

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Alright, guys, it’s been more than six months but it is time for a Radskier meta essay on why their storyline isn’t as badly written as many people say. (Includes spoilers)

Is it rushed? Yes. It’s a side-story of a side character and actually Jaskier’s first side-story on the show. Is it cliché? Yes. When I first watched the season I was terrified about where their story would be going, knowing what happened in the book and knowing how mainstream media treats queer storylines. (I did not know about Joey’s deep involvement in the writing until later.) But once I knew how it all ended, I was entirely sold. Of course, that’s a question of taste, Radovid just turned out to incorporate so many tropes I am obsessed with, but I am trying to say that compared to the overall writing of the show, their story is not particularly badly written, which blew me away considering it’s a queer storyline in a mainstream medieval fantasy show.

Yes, they gave Jaskier a queer story for the sake of having a queer story. That was another reason I was very anxious about it. But what they (read: Joey, and let’s be honest, Hugh too) made of it is so exciting to me.

Here’s the thing about them ageing up Radovid and making him Vizimir’s brother. I have seen people complaining that they could’ve introduced an OC instead of changing source material like that. But to me, the fact they chose Radovid makes it so much more than a queer storyline for the sake of having a queer storyline. He’s the prince and later the king of Redania. He is entangled in the greater scheme of things. He is /on/ the same chessboard as the main characters. Turning him into Vizimir’s brother rather than son is way less forced than introducing an OC to be Jaskier’s love interest. Because he is more than Jaskier’s love interest. He is the King of Redania, played by Dijkstra and Philippa. Also, he cannot be killed off.

As I already said because it’s obvious, their story is rushed. That’s just the fate of side stories in TV shows (that are not masterfully written, lbr). But to me at least it is amazing how much they managed to convey in these few scenes.

You have Jaskier’s role as a spy for the Redanian Intelligence. That begins his own side story where he has a role of his own, that has nothing to do with Geralt. He meets this guy who actually appreciates his music and openly flirts with him, showing that he is desirable, something new to the character of the comic relief (although he is the romancer but you know, we never saw it on screen, also this time he is being romanced). He is suspicious, because he knows the Intelligence is not to be trusted, and the Prince of Redania is kind of the enemy. But he is also Jaskier, and his interest is caught. Besides this interest, Radovid’s suggestion to bring Ciri to supposed safety is right up Jaskier’s alley, because he is one to rather avoid battles if possible. He ponders on whether it is a possibility.

Later, he uses this vague connection to Radovid to have some agency of his own. He negotiates with him about Rience without discussing it with Geralt. He’s following his own plan, checking out the possibilities. He’s like alright, this guy at least pretends to be into me, let’s see if I can put that to good use to help Geralt. He sweeps Radovid off his feet with his ballad, and then Radovid says things that blow Jaskier away. He speaks of his talents, of determination to get to know more about him, of how Geralt should be grateful for his loyalty and friendship. Jaskier, the comic relief, has never heard this before. He’s Weak and he’s Wanting™️. But he still knows that he is Jaskier, easily fooled by romance, and that there are great things at stake. At the same time, Geralt is also treating him with more respect to make the decisions harder on him. But Radovid stays on his mind, he doesn’t know what to make of it and discusses it with Vespula, and she knows. She sees what’s going on.

Then, Radovid shows up while he is looking after Ciri. He is still suspicious. But Radovid is different from the last time he saw him. He is scared and he is vulnerable, and Jaskier can see that the mask is gone, and that what lies beneath it is not a villain. He is still cautious, until Radovid sings him his own song and he cannot take it any longer. He is giving in, and he struggles still as he does, but he is Jaskier. He’s Weak and he’s Wanting™️.

The next morning, he is not surprised. Of course, stupid Jaskier got himself fooled by some pretty eyes once again. Of course such blatant desire and affection for him could have only been a lie. He never knew romance like this and he does not hesitate to believe it was simply not real.

But then, he finds Radovid surrounded by his dead guards, alone. The people he was supposedly scheming with left him behind, so he was not all that involved, maybe he really was their puppet. He’s scared and he’s full of regret, he’s a helpless prince in the middle of the outbreak of a war, but he’s telling Jaskier to not waste more time on him because he knows he fucked up beyond redemption. But he’s Jaskier. He has endless capacity for forgiveness. And now that their plans had failed and Radovid has no more reason to lure him in, he’s still begging for a second chance. He still wants to be with him. He wants to prove himself to him, even if that means leaving the court behind. Jaskier has other priorities right now and he’s still hurt, but if there is a chance that this affection he never knew before was real, he is taking it.

And Radovid? He’s the spoiled prince brat, underestimated by everyone (just like Jaskier), and he’s riding that wave, because he does not really care about state affairs. He likes Jaskier’s music, and when he sees him he thinks he’s hella fine. He has his fun and at the same time tries to show Philippa he’s capable of more than she thinks, but he was not expecting that Jaskier would blow him away like that. That he would challenge him (the Prince), that he would be honest with him, that he would see through his act and by doing that NOT underestimate him. Radovid is Vibing and he decides to enter Dijkstra’s and Philippa’s game until he realizes he Fucked Up with his arrogance and being a prince is actually worth shit. He knew everything going on in the castle is pretense, but he was not prepared for this level of violence. He is terrified when he meets Jaskier, and Jaskier is good to him. And, again, honest. Unlike anything he had known up to now, the courtly schemes that had only recently culminated to him being scared for his life. He is still a spoiled brat prince and wants to be with Jaskier very badly, so he Fucks Up again. It is that last mistake that makes him understand his faults. But when he sees that Jaskier still does not hate him, he is determined to fix it, and he will do anything. Fuck being a prince, I will leave everything I know behind to show this man that my feelings were true.

Jaskier changes this man’s entire life and Radovid is willing to do everything for him. Yes, the idea to just go off and find him WHEREVER was kind of idiotic, but that’s the beauty of these two. They are both smart and idiotic at the same time, and they let their actions be led mainly by emotions, which sometimes adds up to the idiocy of it all. But Jaskier has more experience, and Radovid learns from him how to be less selfish, he grows as a person through knowing him.

So yes, the love-betrayal-redemption story is hollywood cliché, but it fits the characters and leads to interesting character growth. And honestly, as a queer woman I enjoy seeing some queers having a cliché storyline in a mainstream media piece. Geralt and Yennefer had a similar story. It raises the queer love story to the level of the hetero story. They struggle and they suffer just as much as anyone else, and they have something that connects them, a story that has potential to be continued in an interesting way. They don’t just exist as the obligatory queers, and their storyline isn’t inherently queer either, to a point where it feels like they’re only queer so Jaskier’s love interest can be the gods forsaken King. (At the same time, the story has queer coded themes, like having to pretend to be someone else, but the way it is portrayed, it can be relatable to non-queers as well.) The cliché of it all does not feel more cliché than other storylines on the show (to me). Its not queered cliché, it’s just a story, and I love that.

Also, Joey and Hugh have actual chemistry. And - and no one really argues with that - immense talent that filled these few scenes with so many layers in the first place. We owe it to Hugh that Radovid is not just a romantic interest, but a layered, flawed character (although Hugh attributes it to the writing but he’s too modest).

The last thing I want to say is that I feel we are generally overly critical of queer storylines, which is not a bad thing per se, because we know how many harmful storylines there are, but I struggle to see how this one is harmful in any way. You have to relate them to the straight romances. The straights will just randomly smile at each other and then they will date, but no one complains about it being rushed.

I am obviously not saying everyone has to ship them, I genuinely do not care. I just think it’s unfair to drag their storyline when it is nothing but normal that they didn’t have enough time for an elaborate story, but they (meaning Joey and Hugh) put a lot of work into making it a good one regardless, an effort no one would have put into a straight love story, because they would not have had to.

#this turned out extremely long but cousin i had to get it out of my system #i already wrote a novel length fanfic about radovid but it was not enough #my opinions are my own make of them what you will #radskier #the witcher #the witcher meta #jaskier #radovid #twn #twn s3 spoilers #witcher #s: the witcher #otp: radskier #wiedzmin

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khalixvitae · 7 months

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★Stitched ★

Idia Shroud x Reader | ~5k words

Warnings: none really??? Idia is self deprecating as usual. Allusions to book 6 lore but no spoilers. I leaned into Idia’s weird hybrid inferiority/superiority complex (he’s frustrating and annoying but that’s my wife). I wrote way more than I intended lmao.

Info: GN Reader with no physical descriptions. slowish burn, potential to be friends to lovers? No resolution in the end, a smattering of angst bc Idia is… well he’s himself. Heavily based on his vignettes, Home Screen idles, etc etc (this is for the detail oriented baddies and by that I mean I have capital A Autism and I’ve been fixated on him for months). I have been very into the idea of Idia making cosplays and props since becoming obsessed w his Halloween card, so uh. Yeah! There’s no mention of what the reader’s costume is, so it can be whoever you want! Only mentions that it’s from a manga so go wild! <3

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When Ortho Shroud suggested that you commission his brother to build a prop for your Halloween costume, you’d agreed enthusiastically. You’d even said something about how sure you were that it would look great- a compliment he’d pass on to his reclusive sibling. After all, Ortho was living(?) proof of Idia’s handiwork, so making a prop would be playing on easy mode. Ortho did neglect to mention that his brother was not taking commissions (and frankly never would if Idia had it his way), but it wouldn’t be that big of an issue, right?

Wrong. The second Idia’s phone pinged with a message from an unknown number, from your unknown number, he was convinced he was going to die.

You were lucky you’d stated your case all in one message- if you’d started with just a greeting and expected small talk he would’ve just preemptively blocked you to avoid your little side quest. Besides, who messaged someone so early in the morning? Another look at his phone through bleary eyes would show that it was actually 6 pm, but nonetheless! He’d just woken up, so it was still far too early for that kind of shameless extrovert behavior. At least your message was pretty concise; Ortho had passed along his number because you wanted to commission him, and you’d offer payment in exchange. As clear as that was, there was still a lot to unpack. Ortho’s intentions to find friends for him were clearly at play here, which would’ve ground his gears more if it all wasn’t so well meaning. But giving someone his number for a cosplay commission? That felt a little excessive! What kind of meet-cute scenario was this? And how on earth did you plan to pay for a custom piece anyway? Not that he would actually make it, of course, but hypothetically. He’d heard through the grapevine (read: Azul’s chattering during board game club meetings) that you had a part time gig at Monstro Lounge, but surely you wouldn’t be spending your limited in-game currency on a cosplay prop. While he thought it would be a stupid decision, he had to respect your dedication.

Hypothetically, of course.

Despite any reluctant interest he had in knowing what costume you were putting together, there was no way he’d actually agree to a commission. Besides, it was probably a lame request anyway. And who cares if you’d probably (definitely) look great in your costume? Certainly not Idia, no sir. And he totally didn’t think about how happy you’d be if he were to accept your commission (which he’d never do, of course), or how you’d look holding a piece of his unquestionably perfect work. No, he wouldn’t lie awake thinking about any of that at all. Thus he decided to ignore your text indefinitely- it’s not like he had his read receipts on or anything. He’d just kick back, work on his own nearly finished costume, and maybe even send a halfhearted “soz, just saw this :/” a day or two before Halloween night. No unnecessary and draining social interactions, and you wouldn’t have to be inevitably disappointed by… well, by him. His craftsmanship was S tier without a doubt, but he had a charisma stat of 4 at most. So he’d just let the message sit there. That would be easier for everyone involved.

Well, that was the plan. But as it turned out, Ortho would have none of it. When he’d caught wind that Idia hadn’t bothered to answer your message a whole day later, he’d immediately bombarded his big brother with endless arguments for your case. It was the usual string of points- that Idia would be happier if he had irl friends (as if), that his general quality of life would improve if he had some positive social interaction (no way!), and so on. At least he was sure Ortho’s logic processors were working as irritatingly well as ever, though Idia found his points far too idealistic. But logos wasn’t the way to go when talking Idia into something he had no interest in doing- it would have to be pathos all the way baby, appealing to what really made him tick. Unfortunately for him, Ortho knew that too.

“I need you to make a friend before you graduate,” he said abruptly, arms crossed like he was prepared for a one shot k.o. “Just one. I’m sorry I gave them your number without permission, but I really think this could be fun. You make the coolest stuff ever, and it’s your favorite holiday, so I thought it was a good opportunity for you to talk to someone.” He was silent for only a moment, as if deciding whether or not to deliver the final blow. “I just need to know my big brother will be okay after graduation. And I’d like to see you have fun every once and a while, you know.”

There it was, the absolute punch in the gut Idia was dreading. “You see me having fun all the time, Ortho. We hang out every day.” It was a weak argument and he knew it.

“Yeah and I love hanging out with you, but that’s different! And I know other people would love hanging out with you, too! You’re the coolest person ever, big bro.”

And how could he ever say no to that?

“What’s the costume anyway?” Idia muttered, pulling his lower lip between sharp teeth.

“I’m not sure. They told me it was someone from a manga they really like! You should ask them about it!” Ortho was absolutely beaming. Something in Idia’s chest ached.

His response to your message was short and simple. He asked what your inspiration would be, and what prop you were looking for. Price could be negotiated, etcetera.

You responded with astounding speed; it made him nauseous. At least you were courteous, though. You gave him a lot of info to say the least- more than he needed considering he was a fan of the same series. Ortho had definitely known that, but that was a complaint for some other time. He had to admit it was a good choice- and the character you had in mind would suit you well (he’d never put that in writing so long as he lived). You sent him all of your inspo pictures- purely from the manga, you explained, as the anime adaptation had changed some of the details and you had a strong preference- as well as any measurements he might need. Idia couldn’t resist pointing out that the anime had made a number of phenomenal aesthetic choices, which did start somewhat of a tangent. Before he knew it, he was caught in a back and forth with you. It was… easy. Way easier than he had expected. When you stopped replying he was even a little disheartened; that is until he realized it was nearly 4 am. It had been that long of a conversation? Something about that made him warm all over. He’d ignore it for the moment.

When you messaged him back the following morning he felt the same rush of… something wash over him. And so a tentative back and forth between you two began. Draft sketches and material concepts on his end, and what felt like endless amounts of praise from you. That’s not to say you never brought any criticism to the table. You were just as fickle as he was, it seemed- and he liked arguing with you. Whether it was about the commission or over some unrelated tangent (which the two of you frequently succumbed to), there was something uniquely fun about debating your shared interests.

Over the week or so leading up to Halloween, your communication persisted outside of his prop updates. You even sent him photos of Grim! It was hard to stomach that he’d hit it off so well with some normie, but if you were sending him cat photos and had some (several) based media takes he’d tolerate that discomfort. Part of him kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, of course. The exchange was transactional- after Ortho delivered the prop to you, there would be no need to keep socializing with him. He couldn’t imagine why you’d want to anyway. Speaking of transactions, the two of you hadn’t decided on a price point. Or rather whenever you’d ask, he pushed the question aside by saying he ‘wasn’t sure yet’. He’d given you a relative range, but no exact number. He felt pathetic, but part of him didn’t even want to charge you for it. It wasn’t like he needed the money anyway, and Ortho had been right about the whole arrangement entertaining him. He couldn’t believe he was going so soft. But it wasn’t entirely his fault! Every time he’d start to work up the nerve to give a number, you’d do something so nice it made his head hurt. Sometimes it was asking questions about his games, or sending him voice messages so you could keep the conversation going when you couldn’t text. You’d even asked to vc once or twice! He’d denied that request, but nonetheless you asked! How was he supposed to follow that up? “Oh haha yeah, it’ll be like half your last paycheck sry lmao”? He’d rather die! He knew what his work was worth (and frankly so did you), but the idea of charging you that amount was a little nauseating. How fucking lame could he get?

And the other shoe did drop eventually, just not in the way he’d expected. It came as a lull in your late night banter, followed by ‘[name] is typing…’ for quite some time. That totally didn’t make him want to puke, no way. The message that followed was as short as it was sweet.

“Hey, so ik it’s not really your scene, but I’m having a Halloween thing at Ramshackle. Idk if I’d call it a party but yk it’s something. I was wondering if you’d want to stop by? If not that’s totally cool!”

Idia stared at that message for a while. Shit. Of course there was no way he’d go, not a chance, but he couldn’t just say that could he? He’d rather be dropped headlong into Tartarus than to go to some gathering of extroverts and npcs when he could be collecting his Halloween login rewards. At the same time, giving you a resounding ‘fuck no’ sounded just as unpleasant. So he just sat there and stared for a while before doing what he did best: he gave some vague, noncommittal answer.

“uhhh idk. I don’t wanna intrude haha. plus i have a raid planned so idk if i could make it sry”.

It seemed like you got what he was trying to say; Idia was beginning to resent just how well you listened to him.

“Totally get it! Just thought I’d ask :)! Send pics of ur costume tho! I wanna see it all put together :D!”

He tossed his phone aside, opting to throw himself face down in his pillow with a resounding groan. Why did you have to be so considerate? You had to have known he’d reject that request, so why even ask? And why did it mean so much to him that you had? His moping was interrupted by Ortho knocking at the door. Idia just grunted in response, turning his head to face him.

“What’s the matter bro?” Ortho hovered in the doorway, glowing eyes keenly focused on Idia’s sprawled figure. At times like this, only illuminated by blue screens and his own artificial fire, he had an uncanny effect that was hard to shake.

Idia peeked at him through his flickering bangs, huffing a little and sending the flames askew. He subsequently realized that they were streaked with a mortifying shade of pink, one that made him want to scream into the pillow all over again. “Nothing, I’m good. What’s up?” It was obviously a lie and he wasn’t helping his case by rolling over to face the wall.

“I wanted to see if you were up for a few pvp rounds before I set up to charge for the night. But what’s going on? My scanners detect no signs of physical injury, but your vitals indicate distress. Do you need medical attention?” Idia didn’t have to turn around to know his ‘brother’ had hovered closer.

“It’s nothing. It’s stupid-,” he planted his face back into the pillow defeatedly. “It’s- [name] invited me to some stupid Halloween thing.” It was muffled, but that didn’t matter. There was no way Ortho wouldn’t hear him, so there was no need to sit up.

“They invited you to a party? That’s awesome! We could go together! I know, you could even give them the prop in person and see their costume completed!”

“I’m not going.”

“What? Why not? You’ve had so much fun talking to them and working on this commission! You should go see them!” Ortho was gearing up for another uphill battle, one Idia was once again going to resist him on.

“Because I don’t want to. You can go, I guess. I mean I’m sure you’re invited. That’s probably why they asked me, right? Because we’re a package deal? You’ll have more fun without me there to weigh you down. And anyway, I don’t wanna be around that many people. It’ll probably be total npc shit anyway.” He fell silent for a moment, the quiet whir of machine fans filling the air in his stead. Ortho didn’t try to interject.

“It’s not like- it’s not like they wanna see me anyway. Maybe my costume, I mean its S tier, but not me. And I can’t even get on a vc with them- I’d be seriously delusional if I thought I could hang out with them irl.”

“Hey, they totally want to see you. I mean, I’m sure they want to see your costume too. But I know they want to see you. If you don’t feel like going that's okay, but I don’t want you to miss out because you think their invitation wasn’t genuine.”

“Why? Like I know we get along fine over chat, and they’ve interacted with my tablet, but what if they see me irl and get all weirded out? ‘Oh, why is he blue all over? What’s with his teeth? Ewww’. I think I’ll pass.” He chewed at his sleeve, nervous over the mere prospect of facing you like that. “Even if they’ve seen me in passing like once, being up close is a whole other level.”

There was another long pause before Ortho spoke again. “They like your hair.”

“What?”

“They told me they like your hair. Like you said, they’ve seen you irl once or twice in passing. Should I play the recording for you?”

Idia felt a little conflicted about that. It felt a little invasive somehow. But a far less conflicted part of him (his massive ego) needed to hear it, and ultimately triumphed. “Yeah, fine. Go ahead.” He curbed his anxious enthusiasm by biting his sleeve even harder.

“Sure thing! Commencing playback.” There was the sudden background noise of hallway chatter, followed by your voice. “I think I saw your brother in the library yesterday. Well, I’m assuming it was him, he looked a lot like you. He’s got great hair, I’ve never seen anything like it. It must’ve taken forever to grow it out that long.”

There was a measured click as the clip came to a stop. “Recording ends. See? They don’t think you look weird. And there’s nothing else in my data logs to indicate that they would.”

“That’s… not exactly reassuring,” Idia muttered, watching as the mess of curls surrounding him flickered to life with the same rosy hues as before. Of course you wouldn’t tell Ortho that you thought he looked weird, that was his brother. But nevertheless, that was technically a compliment. A win was a win right?

“We should go, I think they’d love to see you there in person. We could even go super early to drop off the prop and leave before everyone else gets there,” Ortho chimed in, clearly trying to find some loophole in his brother’s anxiety. “And we can show off our costumes again.” There was another long pause.

“Fine. But just to drop it off.”

The remaining few days passed without incident, aside from Idia’s mounting anxieties (which he was sure would culminate in sudden death). Half dressed for the function, he sat on the edge of his bed and sent you photos of the final product. At the very least he was sure you’d like it- how could you not? He was a master craftsman after all. Your response came back at the typical lightning speed. He doubted he’d ever get used to that.

“Holy shit, it’s perfect??? Thank you so so much, I love it!! <3 did u sign it?”

“no lmao?? y?”

“Bc it’s your work??? And u should be proud of it and put ur name on it ??? Duh??? And bc I want you to ofc.”

Well that was certainly unexpected. He sat there for a minute and mulled it over- what could you possibly gain from him signing it? Did you really just want that, plain and simple? God you were fucking weird. It did feel kind of nice though. Nice enough for a smile to fight its way onto his face as he meandered back to his workstation. What was the harm in indulging that request?

“can do ig. i charge extra for autographs tho, soz. so ik ortho was gonna drop this off, but is it cool if i come? want to make sure it doesn’t need any adjustments etc yk”

Even though it took him a few (fifteen) minutes to type, it came out smoother than he’d expected. He’d consider it a win. Of course the piece didn’t need any adjusting, it was perfect and he knew it, but he had to justify his sudden appearance (mostly to himself).

“You can make it ??? Nice !!! Yeah ofc! Come over whenever :D !!! <3”

Hearts. Were you trying to kill him? And why did your texts read like the logs of a dating sim? Maybe he should lay off the otome games.

Getting fully into costume was a little more complicated than he’d anticipated. Combined with putting the finishing touches on Ortho’s matching specs and engraving an insignia onto your prop, there was no way the Shroud duo would arrive early. In fact, they’d be perfectly punctual (which Idia loathed). Halfway up the driveway to Ramshackle he started digging his heels into the dirt. Even from a distance he could see light streaming through the dingy windows, along with far too many figures crowded on the porch. Part of him wondered how many students such a dilapidated structure could support- he decided to drop that train of thought before he collapsed in your front yard. “Hey- maybe this is a bad idea. Even if they wanna see me-“

But it was too late. Cater was the first to spot the two, and immediately came down the stairs to greet them. Oh great, a boss level extrovert right off the bat? He had to get out of here!

“Hey hey! I didn’t expect to see you two here! Ooh, whatcha got there? And nice costumes! Did you make them yourself?” The redhead had a cup in one hand and his cellphone in the other, his head cocked as he observed the brothers.

Idia’s mouth just sort of stopped working, and the more questions Cater asked the more he wanted to dip out. Luckily Ortho was way better at navigating normie conversations.

“Hi Cater Diamond! [Name] invited us! And yes my brother made our costumes, aren’t they so cool? We’re kind of in a hurry though, we have the last piece of [Name]’s costume! Once we get it to them, we’ll have more time to talk.” He started to move past Cater, who was now more than ready to usher them through the throng of people in the foyer. Idia followed behind in amazement. Having Ortho around was such an op move.

“Oh nice! They should still be upstairs. Once they’re all set the three of you should come back down so I can snap your pics, ‘kay? You guys really went all out!” Cater slipped away easily before either brother could refuse his invitation. Well, Idia would just have to make sure the coast was clear when he decided to make his escape. The two made their way up the rickety staircase (seriously, how was this place still standing?) and onto the landing above. Your bedroom door was open so at the very least you were easy to locate. Before Idia would go any further he slipped on the pumpkin helmet, properly obscuring his face. That felt a little better- maybe he’d actually be able to look at you.

He lingered behind Ortho as if it would block him from your view (despite being much taller than the android model), knocking at the door frame twice. “Uh… hey. Can we come in?”

You looked up from your phone with a start, eyes widening as you took them in. “Idia? Wait, holy shit, you guys look sick.” You were fully in costume- had you been waiting for them? The way you said his name nearly made him keel over right then and there. “Like I knew they would be cool, but this is insane.” Your gaze flickered to the prop in his hands. “And that’s for me? Dude, it’s perfect. Seriously, thank you so much. I’m so glad you came.”

Idia didn’t process half of it, including you taking the prop from his grasp. You looked so good he felt lightheaded. Forget talking to you, now he was worried about remaining upright. “You- uh- yeah. You too,” he stammered weakly. You too? That didn’t make any sense! “I mean- I mean you look cool. And yeah this is for you.” Breathing in the helmet was a bit of a challenge and he couldn’t recall a time his throat had ever been drier. Ortho made no effort to intervene either- he was just watching, practically on standby mode as his brother made a fool of himself. Great. So much for his op cheat code.

He decided that looking anywhere but at you was his best option, his eyes scanning along the walls of your bedroom. It did look liveable, he’d give you that much. You even had a small shelf with a decently sized manga collection- considering how long you’d been there and the wages Monstro paid, he was kind of impressed. It was cute (you were cute). Your voice snapped him back out of his meditative scanning.

“Sorry there are so many people. I would’ve given you a heads up, but I had no idea it would be this crazy. People just started posting about it and,” you sighed. “So now like half the school is in my condemned house. Happy Halloween I guess? Deuce and Jack got a few of the other first years to preemptively agree to help with post party cleanup, so that’s nice.” You were still looking at him intently; Idia had to remind himself that you were checking out his costume and not him, of course. Unfortunately that didn’t stop the ends of his hair from flickering a dull but obvious pink. He knew it caught your attention, but you didn’t mention it. Instead you opted to change the subject entirely. By the Seven, how were you so good at this? “Anyway, I wanna hear all about your costumes. I got bits and pieces over messages but give me the rundown!”

Now that he could do.

Infodumping was an art form, and boy had Idia Shroud mastered it. From the materials he used to the classic inspo, he was more than happy to tell you all about his creations. It took him a little warming up, but he was quickly in full swing. Down to the sound effect rigging, he gave you a thorough explanation of his work. You seemed particularly delighted in how he and Ortho’s costumes were a matching pair, and of course that opened the floor for him to explain the intricacies of making new specs for his brother. In his excited haste, he’d even taken off the helmet to show you its interior. He didn’t notice for quite a while, nor did you make any mention of it. You just watched him, smiling and nodding attentively. By the time he picked up on just how greatly his range of vision had improved, it was far too late. With his peripheral unblocked he also realized that Ortho was gone. A wave of panic washed over him as he reassessed his surroundings. It was just the two of you, standing beyond the threshold of your bedroom, alone. How long had he been talking? And why were you looking at him with those big, starry eyes? He tried to tell you to stop staring, but no sound came out. Once again, Idia was convinced he was going to die.

You definitely caught onto his nervous demeanor- he wished you’d stop doing that. “Hey, so how much do I owe you?” You asked, your voice gentler than he’d realistically want it to be. Why were you being so nice to him? You had the prop already, so just kick him out! There was a whole party going on downstairs, yet here you were spending god only knows how long alone with him! Wasn’t that depressing?

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t a hard ask, and only noobs care about production costs,” he muttered, his tone not entirely unkind but thoroughly dismissive nonetheless.

“Oh- are you sure? Idia, it’s really beautifully done. Even if it wasn’t hard to do, you still took the time to do it. I owe you something.”

“I could make another one in my sleep. Just take it,” he was planning his escape, but could see no easy way out besides just turning tail and running. “Sorry for uh- well, for keeping you up here for so long. You’ve got a party to get to.”

“I’ll take it if you’re sure. Thank you, seriously. And don’t apologize, I like talking to you. I know this really isn’t your scene, so I really appreciate you coming out tonight.” The way you looked at him had him itching to put the helmet back on in record time. Your next words would foil even that half baked plan and freeze him in place. “If you wanted, maybe you could come over and hang out sometime? It’s not normally this crowded, it’s usually just Grim and I. You’re welcome here whenever, and so is Ortho.”

Every turn of phrase felt like you were whittling a hole in his brain, which made it increasingly difficult to think straight. What angle were you trying to work here? Was it just to embarrass him? He couldn’t think of a single thing you could gain from befriending him, which frankly made your kindness even more concerning. You had him one friendly gesture away from counting five things he could see, four things he could touch, and so on in the middle of the function. “I’m gonna go find Ortho,” he stated, abruptly turning on his heel. Now was not the time to go nonverbal, but that was steadily where he was headed. And he’d been doing so well! He’d talked to you irl, face to face! You hadn’t even seemed grossed out- if anything it felt like the opposite (which he would ignore). But of course his brain had to catch up and ruin everything. No, he had to ruin everything, just like always. This fucking sucked. The pumpkin helmet was back on, and he wasn’t showing his face until he was safely back at Ignihyde.

“Oh! Yeah, of course. I’ll walk down with you.” You wasted no time following after him, still holding your new prop. The trip down the main staircase was a silent one, but the raucous sounds of the party below more than made up for it. You didn’t push him to speak, which he was begrudgingly grateful for.

It was no surprise that your arrival from upstairs with Idia in tow drew a little attention. Cater even snapped a photo, saying something about how “cammable” you two looked (Idia didn’t have the strength to wonder where that photo would end up). You handled your entrance to the gathering like a pro, deflecting all the attention away from him with a small smile. He really couldn’t decide whether or not he hated how considerate you were, but that would be a viable train of thought once he was safely in his own bedroom. As he slipped away to find Ortho, he heard you discussing your costume with those gathered at the bottom of the stairs. Working up the nerve to risk a look back, he saw you proudly showing off the piece he’d made for you. The way you were so eager to credit him for it was debilitating.

Part of him wondered what would happen if he walked back over and joined the crowd. He knew he didn’t belong there, of course, but hypothetically. He couldn’t stop himself from imagining what it would be like to stand there by your side for just a little longer, to even let people photograph the two of you together. You hadn’t seemed to mind it a moment before. But maybe you were just being nice. You were always so nice. Regardless these were only hypotheticals, and he was bound to ruin your time if he stayed any longer. He’d be doing you a favor by leaving, right?

Right. With one last look at you, he resolved to find Ortho and get the hell out while he could, for your sake and his own.

Maybe next year, then.

——————————————————————————

Tag list: @v-anrouge @vtoriacore @phoneymedic @gum-gum-time @heatofmyexoheart (dm to be removed or added! <3)

Soz for not posting for a while (and this late as hell Halloween fic eek!), I obliterated my ankle about a week ago and have just been taking time to recover (that is a lie I’ve had to go to work every day on it but I digress!!!)

#twst #Idia shroud #twisted wonderland #x reader #idia x reader #fics ! <3 #khalix writes （＾＿＾）☆#idia post （ ; ; ）<3

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akuneko-tls · 2 months

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Judgment by Fallen Angel - SSR Lato Card Story

Chapter 1 - Lato's Choice

※ A notice before reading the Butler Story This story contains spoilers for the "Judgment by Fallen Angel" event story. It is recommended to read up to Chapter 12 of the event story before proceeding. If you wish to avoid spoilers, please return by pressing the button in the upper left corner.

Several days after the opening night at the theater... The butlers were once again diligently rehearsing for the next performance.

Click

> "How are you doing, guys?"

Fennesz: "Ah, my lord. Did you come to check on us? Fufu… thank you for making the effort."

In the dance practice room, Lato and Miyaji were present, but Berrien was nowhere to be seen.

> "Is Berrien still working?"

Fennesz: "N-No… actually..."

Miyaji: "Berrien strained his throat. Just to be safe, he's resting in his room."

> "What!? Is he okay?"

Miyaji: “Yeah, don't worry. It's probably because he overdid his lines-reading practice. It's not that serious, so he should recover soon if he rests."

> "That's a relief..."

Lato: "Come to think of it, Mr.Berrien… has been practicing every day without fail."

Fennesz: "Yeah... And on stage, he always needs to speak louder than usual."

Miyaji: "True. He's probably just worn out."

> "Will he make it in time for the next performance?"

Miyaji: "No... As a precaution, I'll have him rest for the next performance only. The show must go on. It's better for him to take a break and focus on recovering."

> "But who will play Berrien's role...?"

Miyaji: "Yeah, we were just discussing that. Normally, we'd find a replacement, but... It's too late to have someone memorize the lines now. So, I have a suggestion... How about combining the roles of the two fallen angels who defend humanity into one?"

Fennesz: "But won't that... increase Mr. Miyaji's lines significantly? As for me, I remember everyone's lines in my head, it's better for me to take the role instead…”

Miyaji: "No, Fennesz. I'd like you to rewrite the script for three characters. Since you wrote the script, you're the most suitable for that job."

Fennesz: “I-I see... Understood. Then I'll... do my best to make it easier for Mr. Miyaji."

Miyaji: "Yeah, thank you."

Lato: "Um, Prof. Miyaji."

Miyaji: "Hm? What is it, Lato?"

Lato: "If it's about Mr. Berrien's replacement... I'd like to give it a try too."

> "Huh...?"

Fennesz: "Lato... as Mr. Berrien's replacement?"

Lato: "Because... I feel like I'd get tired of playing the same role all the time. Since it's a rare opportunity, I'd like to try a different role."

Miyaji: "Hmm... I see…"

Fennesz: "B-but Lato... Can you memorize all of Mr. Berrien's lines starting now?"

Lato: "No, I don't memorize lines to begin with. I just say whatever comes to mind at the moment."

Fennesz: “N-now that you mention it..."

> "But it's amazing how he's still doing so well..."

Fennesz: "True, the opening night went smoothly despite that... Um... What do you think, Mr. Miyaji?"

Miyaji: "Well... If Lato wants to do it, I'd like to respect his wishes. I've performed various plays with him before... and I believe in his ability. Lato, you must be suggesting it because you think you can do it, right?"

Lato: "Yes. Since you're coming to watch, my lord... I want to show you a splendid performance."

Fennesz: "I see... I understand. So, please leave the script adjustments to me. I'll rewrite it so it doesn't feel forced with three characters."

Miyaji: “Yeah. If anything happens, I'll do my best to do a follow-up.”

Fennesz: "Thank you. Then, can I leave the role to you, Lato?"

Lato: "Kufufu... Thank you both for entrusting me."

Miyaji: "Of course. I believe in your ability to pull it off, Lato. Besides, It should be a good experience for you… playing a role with different values from your own."

> “Break a leg, Lato"

Lato: "Yes. My lord, please look forward to the next performance."

And so, Lato took on Berrien's role...

Until just before the next performance, the three of them practiced diligently.

~~~

On the day of the performance...

I was in the audience, anxiously waiting for the start time. There weren't any problems during rehearsals, but...

Would it really go well during the actual performance?

> (I hope it all goes well...)

As I prayed for that… The curtains finally rose on the stage.

…………

Fennesz: "………… Sigh..."

Lato: "Oh? What's wrong, Mr. Fennesz? Looking down at the ground with such a sigh…"

Fennesz: "Lato... Look at that. Humans on the ground are at war again."

Lato: "Yes… It seems so."

Fennesz: "Even at this moment, angels are trying to destroy humans... Why can't they cooperate with each other?"

Lato: "Kufufu, the reason is simple... They're just like ants. You can tell from observing from above."

Fennesz: "Huh... A-ants?"

Lato: "Yes. Ants form colonies and often go to war with other colonies. Humans, ants... Perhaps it's the fate of living beings to fight among their own kind."

Fennesz: "Uh... I see... But even so... It's starting to feel more and more pointless. We've been fighting for so long to protect humans from angels..."

> (That was an improvisation, wasn't it…) > (I wonder if everything will be okay...)

From then on, Lato interjected ad-lib lines here and there… But thanks to Fennesz and Miyaji's follow-ups... there were no interruptions in the performance.

The audience didn't seem to notice anything amiss… There were no jeerings like during the opening night, and the play continued without a hitch… And finally, we reached the climax.

Chapter 2 - Lato's Choice

Miyaji: “I never desired to rule over humanity to begin with. They and I are on the same page when it comes to ‘the survival of humanity’."

Fennesz: "Yes... I agree. I have been given this power... I want to use it not only for myself... But also for those who are more important to me."

Lato: "Yes... It seems like we've reached a conclusion. We will continue to..."

As the play neared its end... I felt somewhat relieved, and while I was watching Lato's performance... Suddenly, our eyes met on stage.

Lato: "............"

> (Lato?)

Audience: "Hm...? What's wrong? Did he forget his lines...?"

Miyaji: "We will continue to protect humanity from now on... Right, Lato?"

Lato: "I'm sorry, Prof. Miyaji. But I really can't lie."

Miyaji: "Lie...?"

Fennesz: "Lie? What do you mean? You're not planning to say something like 'humanity would be better off perishing’ again, are you?"

Lato: "No, that's not my intention. I will protect humanity... But I just don't agree with 'equality'."

Fennesz: "Equality...?"

Lato: "Yes. Because even I want to freely choose whom to protect. For me, the value of life is not equal. Risking my life for people who don't matter to me is foolish. This life of mine... exists to protect those who are important to me."

Lato declared clearly on stage, while looking into my eyes: "I will abandon those who are worthless to me” ...

Even in a performance, those are such heavy words, for a devil butler who's stronger than humans. I could feel the unprecedented tension among the surrounding audience members.

> (W-what do we do...?)

After a few heavy seconds of silence, Miyaji spoke up.

Miyaji: "Yeah... That's fine. Sometimes, we may be forced to make such choices. Just because we have slightly more power than others... It's presumptuous to think we can save all of humanity. Since we can't save everyone... What we can do is... Make an effort to save as many lives as possible. And... Choose the lives that should be saved... It's about saving many 'precious lives'."

The tension among the nearby nobles seemed to ease slightly by Miyaji's words. It seemed like they interpreted the phrase "precious lives" as referring to themselves.

Miyaji: "Well then... Lato's conclusion is no different from ours. We will continue to protect humanity..."

Fennesz: "Well, even if they… hate us."

Lato: "Kufufu... Isn't that fine? Even if we're hated... there are already people who understand us. As long as there are people like that among humanity... We will never betray them...."

Fennesz: "........You're right. I guess that's enough for me, for now."

Miyaji: "Yeah. And one day, others will understand too. We believe that the sacrifices we've made for humanity will someday be worth it..."

Lato: "Yes. Let's pledge to continue protecting humanity from now on."

The curtains closed along with Lato's words on the stage. Applause and praise erupted from the relieved audience. As the play ended... After waiting for everyone in the audience to leave, Lato approached me and spoke.

Lato: "How was it, my lord? Watching from the audience... Did you enjoy it?"

> "There were so many ad-libs, it was nerve-wracking"

Lato: "I see. It seems we managed to not make it boring. Kufufu... It was also refreshing to me to play a different role from last time. And... While portraying Mr. Berrien's character... I felt like I understood his feelings even more now."

> "Berrien's feelings?"

Lato: "Yes. Mr. Berrien was... suffering because of the secret he kept from us, right? When I learned about it... I couldn't understand why he was suffering so much. If you only have the power to save one person... Isn't it natural to choose someone important to you? Sacrificing others for that person is inevitable. There's no need to feel guilty…"

> "But now you understand his feelings?"

Lato: "About that... …… I was able to think this scenario 'If I were in Mr. Berrien's position' once again. 'Being able to save only one person' might be crueler than 'being unable to save anyone'.

Because you feel responsible for the deaths of many people in exchange for saving one life.

Unlike before... I now have... others I care about, besides Alec. And when the time comes to choose only one from among them... I think I would suffer like Mr. Berrien did.

In order to save the life of one important person... It means choosing the life of the other loved ones to die…"

> "Lato..."

Lato: "What would you do, my lord? Between me, Flure, and Prof. Miyaji... If you could only save one... Who would you choose? And... Whom would you let die…"

> "That's..."

I didn't know how to answer Lato's question... I want to cherish the butlers... So even in a hypothetical scenario, I couldn't carelessly give an answer. But Berrien had been forced into such choices multiple times in reality. Thinking about it... I felt uneasy all over again.

Lato: "Kufufu... I'm sorry, my lord."

> "Huh...?"

Lato: "Even though it's hypothetical, I ended up forcing you to make a difficult choice. But just by looking at your face... I feel like I know who you would choose."

> "R-really?"

Lato: "Yes. I feel like I understand you more than anyone else does. Well, even if you chose someone else... I would surely choose you."

> "Why..."

*Close-up* Lato: "Kufufu. That's needless to say, because I've decided that 'I will protect you.' Including Flure and Prof. Miyaji... And all the other butlers. I treasure them, of course... But I think everyone... Probably will choose the same as me."

> "I see..."

Lato: "Your well-being... We, the devil butlers, will protect it at all costs."

Despite Lato's gentle smile... I could sense his unwavering determination in his words. To protect me, even at the cost of his life... Responding to his determination... I'd do anything to save Lato. Once again, that feeling grew stronger.

END

#aknk #akuneko #devil butler with black cat #Card story #Lato Bacca #Judgment by Fallen Angel

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kaiijo · 1 year

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WINTER ACTIVITIES — [GENSHIN IMPACT]

characters: kamisato ayato, diluc ragnvindr, tighnari, arataki itto, childe content: fem! reader, minor spoilers for ayato and childe’s backgrounds notes: happy 2023 and here’s to the revival of the blog!

kamisato ayato — building snowmen

ayato didn’t get much of a chance to have a childhood, given that he not only began training to take over the kamisato clan at a fairly young age but had to actually assume the role as head of the clan and restore it to its former glory not long after

so you weren’t super shocked when thoma told you that ayato never really participated in any of the winter fun when it snowed in inazuma. “milord always had a meeting to attend or paperwork to do,” thoma said. “all that, coupled with the fact that inazuma doesn’t get a lot of snow, he just never really had the chance”

well, this winter, inazuma saw the most snowfall it had in a long time, and you were determined to help ayato makeup for those lost moments of childhood

You were a little confused when you woke up to an unusually cold room. Usually, the estate was the perfect temperature in the winter, but today, it seemed like the few blankets you and Ayato slept under were no match for the chill air. You glanced over and saw that Ayato wasn’t beside you, which only added to your befuddlement. Wrapping yourself in one of your thicker sweaters, you slid on your slippers and shuffled out of the room, nearly smacking right into Thoma. “Whoops!” he said as he just barely avoided you. “Apologies about that. I’m just about to turn up the heat more.”

“It’s not usually this cold,” you said.

Thoma chuckled, “I guess you haven’t looked outside yet.” You raised a questioning eyebrow before you caught your husband at the end of the hall, gazing out the window. You quickly bid Thoma farewell, moving to stand beside Ayato.

A grin spread across your face at the white blanket of pillowy snow that covered the Kamisato estate from roof to ground. “Wow,” you said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen snow here.”

Ayato hummed, “The last time it was like this was the year my father began training me to become clan leader.”

You said, “Thoma mentioned that to me before. He also said that you never played with the other kids in the snow.”

“No,” Ayato said, “I suppose I didn’t. I don’t think I missed out on much.” Though he said this, you caught the wistful way he eyed the snow.

You glanced at the clock on the wall, which read just past seven in the morning. In about an half an hour, your husband would get himself ready for a long day of work. “Well, that won’t do,” you said. You tapped Ayato’s arm and said, “Get your coat on, we’re going outside.”

“Really? Right now?”

“Yes, right now.” He didn’t say anything further as you both returned to your room to grab your coats and slip on winter boots, making your way outside. You asked, “Was there any particular thing you really wanted to try in the snow?”

Ayato thought for a moment and replied, “Hmm, I was always rather fond of snowmen. I remember some of Father’s retainer’s children constructing them when it last snowed.”

You clapped your hands. “Perfect! Well, let’s get started then!” You showed Ayato how to pack together the snow and roll it forward, gathering more and more of the icy crystals on it until it turned into the large base of the snowman. Naturally, Ayato was a swift learner, easily creating the torso and head. You relished in the small, proud smile you caught on his face as he placed the head on top of the body.

“It needs its facial features,” Ayato said. “As well as a hat and arms, if I’m not mistaken.” You hummed in agreement and before you could go back inside to grab some of the things, Ayato was calling Thoma over to fetch them for you.

“I can do it,” you told Thoma.

He shook his head. “It’s my job, I don’t mind.” He returned with a carrot and an old top hat, handing them to Ayato while you found some pebbles on the estate. You handed some to Ayato, who carefully placed them to form eyes and a mouth before sticking the carrot in the middle of the snowman’s face, giving it a nose. He let you place the hat and arms and the two of you stepped back to review your creation.

Ayato smiled, wrapping an arm around your waist. “We should name him,” you said. Ayato nodded and finally answered, “Kenzo. That was my father’s name.” He motioned to the hat on the snowman. “That was his so I think it’s only appropriate to name it after him.”

“I think that’s perfect.”

There was a moment of silence before Ayato said, “That was rather enjoyable. Would you like to make another?”

You checked your own watch for the time and said, “I would but unfortunately, you’ll be called away for work soon.”

Ayato replied, “All those things can wait. I’d rather be out here with you today.”

diluc ragnvindr — shopping the winter market

every winter, an open air market took over the streets of mondstadt, bringing sellers and buyers from all across teyvat

diluc hadn’t gone in a while since he saw no need to wade through large crowds for wares he could easily obtain and had little use for, but since he started dating you, adelinde had dropped very un-subtle hints that he should take you there as it would be your first time experiencing it. “you can also get her a nice gift there,” adelinde said. “i remember that the jewels from liyue and sumeru were particularly beautiful.”

while he wasn’t a fan of the crowd or all the noise and chaos, he found that it was a bit more tolerable with you holding onto his arm with eyes sparkling with wonder

“Look, look, Diluc!” you said, pointing at a merchant’s stand to your left. The table was piled high with Inazuman delicacies like sandwiches and noodle dishes and a meal that was shaped to look like a cat, which, in Diluc’s opinion, was a little too nauseatingly cute. You tugged him over to the stall and asked, “Have you ever tried dango before?” you asked him, pointing at the skewers with tri-colored balls on them.

“I can’t say I have, no.”

You smiled at the merchant, an elderly lady who was looking fondly at the pair of you. “We’ll take two dango, please.”

“Of course, dear,” she handed them over to you and as Diluc got his wallet out to pay, she shook her head. “On the house today.”

“I insist,” Diluc said but she shook her head again.

“I won’t hear any of that young man. It’s on me, honest. You two just remind me so much of me and my husband when we were young. So, take it as a thank you for reminding an old woman of a nice memory.”

Diluc blushed and your smile only grew as you thanked her, taking the skewers and continuing through Mondstadt. The streets were packed with people and you held on a little tighter to Diluc as you chewed on your dango. “This is good,” Diluc said.

You nodded. “I know! I tried them when I visited Inazuma as soon as the Sakoku Decree was lifted.”

Diluc smiled warmly at you before another stall caught his eye — a seller from Liyue hawking intricately carved and decorated jade jewelry. He led you towards it, delighting in the way your eyes brightened at the pieces laid out on display. Your eyes drifted over a particularly lovely bracelet; it wasn’t overly intricate or as detailed as some of the other pieces but there was a phoenix carved into it that reminded you of your boyfriend.

“Do you like that one?” Diluc asked you.

“Yeah, it makes me think of you,” you said, pointing to the phoenix design. You laughed a little as Diluc’s face went pink and he handed the merchant his Mora.

tighnari — winter nature walk

given that sumeru was mostly rainforest and desert, it was expected that tighnari had never really seen or experienced snow. he was very curious to know what it was like though and he readily accepted your invitation to accompany you to dragonspine on a commission

on the way to the mountains, you two bought some wool-lined coats from a traveling snezhnayan merchant and tighnari was ever so grateful that you did since, the moment you two began approaching dragonspine, he immediately felt the blustering winds against his ears.

you finished the commission rather quickly and, rather than just leaving the mountains, you two decided to take a stroll to through one of the less monster and fatui infested areas

Tighnari blew out another long breath, watching as it hung in the air in a cloud of smoke. He looked up at the sky, awed by the dark gray of the clouds and the tallest peak of the mountain. You tapped his shoulder gently and he saw you holding a gray-blue shard of rock out to him. “It’s Starsilver,” you told him. “It’s only found here.”

“Fascinating,” he said. “I remember reading a book in the Akademiya that talked about the usage of Starsilver in Warming Bottles, which are supposed to mimic the effects of Warming Seelies.”

You nodded and he tucked it into a pocket in his coat, electing instead to take your hand in his. As you ventured through the mountains, you grinned at the way Tighnari’s ears would flick with every new sound they picked up. You loved the way he studied the new flora and fauna he found there. He looked over a mint sprig that poked out the snow, musing, “How can something like this survive in such a harsh climate?”

You two came to a clearing and found a fairly dry log to sit and rest on. Tighnari looked over at you and motioned for you to come closer. He reached out and brushed some of the snowflakes out of your hair and you laughed, shaking your head out. “Better?” you asked.

He chuckled and patted your head again. You leaned it against his shoulder and he stacked his atop yours. “Thank you,” he said, “for bringing me to such a beautiful place.”

arataki itto — snowball fight

you and itto were on your way to meet up with the gang for some meeting itto called, though you were almost certain it was more of a hangout than a formal meeting (as if there ever were any in the arataki gang)

it snowed for the first time in a long time on narukami island, so you and itto were taking your time making your way through inazuma city to go to hanamizaka. well, you were taking your time, your boyfriend was busy drawing caricatures of himself on every surface powdered in snow. suddenly out of the corner of your eye, you saw a white mass flying towards you and you moved out of the way just in time, letting it hit itto squarely in the back as he worked on another snow drawing

it wasn’t hard to figure out that it was one of the arataki gang members from the sounds of rustling and snickering and itto yelled, “you’ll pay for that!”

“Whaddaya think?” Itto asked proudly, turning away from the wall to reveal the newest stick figure he’d drawn of himself. You could make out the horns growing from the drawing’s head as well as his claymore sword but otherwise, it really didn’t look like Itto at all.

Still, you said, “Looks great, Itto!”

“Aww, you say that about all my drawings,” he said, slinging an arm around your shoulder and guiding you through the street. “Must mean I’m pretty good!”

You rolled your eyes playfully and said, “Sure.”

He scoffed, “What do you mean ‘sure’? Look, watch this!” He quickly broke away from you again and made his way over to one of the low stone walls, scribbling another cartoon with his finger. As he was bent over working on it, there was a small commotion that caught your attention. You glanced over your shoulder but didn’t see anything. Shrugging, you looked back to where Itto was still concentrated on whatever he was doodling but you kept your guard up. Just in case.

You were glad you did as you saw a white ball zooming towards you. You swiftly stepped back, the snowball missing you by a narrow margin and hitting your boyfriend’s back instead. He jumped up and whirled around, immediately catching his fellow Arataki Gang members hidden poor;ly behind shrubbery and suppressing their laughter. “You’ll all pay for that!” he yelled, lunging towards them and prompting the three to scramble away.

They weren’t fortunate enough, however, with Itto easily catching up to them. “We’re sorry, Boss!” Mamoru said as he struggled through peels of laughter. “We really a—” He was cut off when Itto launched a much larger snowball towards Mamoru. Mamoru ducked and the ball hit Genta instead.

“Oh, it’s on, Boss!” Genta hurled a snowball towards Itto, who retaliated with another two aimed at Genta and Akira.

You stood off to the side, watching the chaos unfold while shaking your head. Your boyfriend could be a lot but at the end of the day, you couldn’t deny the way your heart swelled as he laughed victoriously when he nailed Mamoru in the neck.

He packed another snowball together, wound his arm back, and threw it, though it wildly missed its intended target (Akira) and hit someone else instead: you. You wiped the cold snow off your face and your expression immediately dropped from affectionate to something more sinister. “I’ll give you three seconds, boys,” you said as you slowly crouched down, gathering snow in your hands.

Itto yelped and called to his members, “Retreat, guys, retreat!”

Beside the heavy snowfall, it was a pretty normal day in Inazuma City, the locals watching on in amusement as the men of the Arataki Gang sprinting towards Hanamizaka with you hot on their heels.

childe — ice skating

since getting engaged, childe decided it was time to finally bring you to snezhnaya to formally meet his family. he had gushed about you in letters to them already and you’ve even written a few yourself to them, but you never met them face to face though it felt like you all knew each other well already

as expected, childe’s family welcomed you with open arms and childe’s younger siblings were already begging you and childe to play with them and skate with them on the frozen lake a little ways away from the family home

you and childe gave in pretty quickly (as if there was any resistance at all) and you found yourself lacing up an old pair of skates childe’s mother gave you and wobbling on the ice with your fiance and his siblings

“Ouch!” you huffed as you tumbled onto the ice for what felt like the umpteenth time, and Childe had the audacity to laugh as he helped you up.

“I take it you don’t have a lot of skating experience.”

“Really?” you asked him dryly. “How could you tell?”

He just laughed again and took both of your hands in his, sliding to a stop in front of you and turning so he faced you. “Show off.”

“It’s easy when you get the hang of it, promise,” he said, starting to slowly skate backwards and pull you along with him. Tonia, Teucer, and Anthon whizzed by, the force of their speedy skating nearly knocking you off balance. You tripped into your fiance’s arms and he said, “Well, it seems like you’ve fallen for me.”

You made a face and said, “Get out of here.”

He grinned at you and started his slow backwards skate again as he guided you along the perimeter of the lake. “Just like that,” he said as you mimicked his movements. Gradually, he loosened his grip on your hands until he completely let go, skating further from you and opening his arms up. “Skate towards me,” he said.

“I would if you stopped moving!”

“That’s kind of the point!”

You pouted at him before focusing on your own movements, falling into the hypnotizing rhythm of skating and gliding. Before you knew it, you were sliding easily into Childe’s open arms, which he folded around your waist. “You’re a natural,” he said.

“I had a good teacher,” you replied, smiling at him. He leaned in and kissed you, which earned disgusted whining from Teucer and Anthon, and a squeal from Tonia.

When you broke apart, Childe stroked your cheek with a cold hand and said, “I’m glad you’re here.”

You pressed your face into his hand. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

#genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #ayato x reader #ayato kamisato x reader #diluc x reader #diluc ragnvindr x reader #tighnari x reader #arataki itto x reader #itto arataki x reader #itto x reader #childe x reader #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #genshin imagines #genshin scenarios

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horrorisunknowntoyou · 2 years

Text

BROTHERS REACTION TO VOICE ACTRESS / ACTOR MC CHARACTER'S DEATH SCENES.

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(Brothers x mc)

Part 1 - Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan ( SORRY IF THEIR OOC )

Genre - fluff and angst.

TW// death and description of violence and injury etc.

—---------------------------------------------------------------

I was very much inspired by clips of The Walking dead season 1 ending and other media. And i thought it'll be fun writing their reaction to seeing or hearing their mc " dying. "

Also spoilers for that as I used that as reference for Lucifer's part.

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You told your boyfriend about your job and roles you did in the human realm. Since he was fascinated by the work you did, and having your D.D.D on you. You decided to show him some clips or videos of your characters in which they watch how your character dies in the end.

LUCIFER

What was originally supposed to be you and him quietly conversing while he was doing his work. Ended with him forgetting his paperwork and watching a playthrough of a game in which MC voice acted in. He was quietly watching the video with you leaning beside him on his desk.

He was so absorbed into the media, usually he scoffed at this stuff as this was more leviathan's thing. However since it involved you , his interest was peaked.

The game he was watching was some sort of survival game in which you voiced the mentor. And they have to survive some virus he assumes, but as times progressed he noticed how the character you voiced was getting sicker and sicker. But trying their best to keep the child character happy and healthy and learn to live in this cruel world.

Then the infamous scene where all the players cried happens. After a brutal attack and being barricaded your character finally collapsed to the horror of the child.

" Honey…I don't think I can go further on…you're gonna have to do what you have to do…" *gasping* " I know you're scared, I am too…but…I know you can live on without me…" *coughs*

" No…no! (Characters name) you can't go…please…don't leave me alone…"

"Sweet pea…listen to me, you have to shoot me or else I might hurt you…you have to keep going..I'm too weak , and they got me good back there…as long as you're safe and healthy I'll be at peace."

The child character looks at them, crying as they stand up cocking the gun, recounting happy moments together. Even when dying your character tries to comfort them.

"It's okay…it's okay…I'll be okay… stay high and look for the others. And always keep moving…I love you kiddo…"

BANG

Screen went black and all that could be heard was a child's cry.

After some silence, the old memories and nostalgia of listening to your younger voice and your co workers made you smile. However, you didn't notice but while distracted by fond old memories. Lucifer had to look away at the end, he didn't want to let you know. Especially with his pride how much he was holding back tears, he was avoiding eye contact with you. Because his eyes were getting glossy, he knows it's fictional and he knows you didn't die in real life. But god it hurted so much hearing how hurt and tired you sounded. Eventually he couldn't hold it in and cried softly. His gloved hand hid his face embarrassed that it got him this emotional.

" Aw luci, it's okay..I'm okay " you gently say, wrapping your arms around him. Kissing his cheek and comforting him until he calms down. Once calm even with his face red and tear stain he looks at you so sternly.

" Mc, please…never show me that again.."

MAMMON

You two were talking about things you have been in. Like Mammon has done modeling , perfume ads, things of that matter. And you told him that you were in a movie much to his surprise.

You played as the love interest for a film (but you didn't tell him, it ended on a dark, sad note. )

You actually had a copy of the movie on deck and played it for him in the living room since he wouldn't stop bothering you to show him it.

At first he was really grumpy and jealous over the male lead making comments throughout. But secretly he was really into the movie and curious how it ends.

Midway through the movie, it foreshadows your character's death. Mainly with the symbolism of flowers in the background of your room.

Yellow hyacinth , red roses , lilacs , forget me nots, petunias etc.

While watching he noticed another girl, slowly getting involved with the main cast. She was there from the beginning but he didn't know what was going on. That was until that girl asked your character to hang out somewhere.

He was highly suspicious of what was going to happen but he didn't expect the girl to force you into the ground and begin stabbing you to death.

"How dare you take (love interest) he was mine since middle school! And suddenly he loves you!? That's not fair! That's not fair!"

You scream in pain, crying trying to defend yourself. Injuring your hands and coughing out blood. " P-please stop! I'll s-stop dating (love interest) please! I don't wanna die…please! I thought we were friends! "

The girl kept stabbing you , her hatred and jealousy was very clear.

You begged for your life, till the end.

"I'm s-sorry…I'm…" you took your last breath as your eyes rolled back clouded.

Mammon sat there in silence…pausing the movie, he didn't want to watch it any further. He then stood up and walked over to you pulling you into a tight hug , as you felt water droplets onto your shoulder.

" Human…I love ya…but promise me…never again…"

After that, you mysteriously lost the movie and mammon haven't left your side for a week. Completely ignoring his brothers and clinging onto you.

He was completely protective of you and would hiss at any one getting close to you. Especially women who looked similar to your characters killer from the film.

LEVIATHAN

You were in Levi's room watching some obscure long tilted anime. You thought it sounded really familiar and then you remembered that you voice acted in the English dub of it.

" Levi , Levi! Wait, we should watched it in dub, I actually voiced the space prince's sibling. "

He was so shook

"Ehhhh?! Really mc?! Your the prince's sibling! I had no idea you voiced acted!"

You nodded, embarrassed by it " I totally forgot about it. It was like the first role I did. I thought I did so bad in it…like there is a whole dedicated fan group for this anime.."

" Don't tell me what happens! I wanna see it!"

So you spent the rest of the day watching the series, around season 2 the finale. The prince was trapped with thier sibling..by then it was revealed that your companions betrayed you. And Levi was practically fuming at this point. Your character sounded so sad and disappointed it broke his heart.

But then it got worse.

" Prince Saturn…it's over! The kingdom will be ours…with your death…you will be nothing more…then a memory…" The prince looked behind him noticing only one escape pod left. Looking back at the hologram " I can't give up now! The zodiacs need their prince! I can't possibly throw the towel in! "

" It's not as if you have a choice prince the space shuttle is blowing up, you know that…only one of you will survive.."

Leviathan had his face Infront of the TV. Biting hard into a pillow practically ripping it apart. " I can't believe their using the prince's good nature to pick over him or his sibling knowing he'll pick his sibling." You watch him growl at the TV , knowing what's happening next. Oh boy…

Your character look into the distance, seeing the debris and explosion coming near. You looked back at your brother deciding what you must do, for the future of kingdom and your older brother. " Saturn…look at me…I love you so much…I'm sorry what I'm about to do…" you pushed the prince into the escape pod. "(Your character name?)..."

"Forgive me brother! You always protect me from others now it's my turn to save you. Live a happy life! Save our kingdom and become king.!"

Leviathan practically scream at the revelation " MC NOOOO"

You pressed the button as your brother screamed In horror …the hologram glitching behind you…as you cried loudly " Im sorry…I failed you brother…but atleast..I was useful in the end…" You closed your eyes as explosions engulf you killing your character off.

Leviathan was so hurt, your character just died! And they were his favorite , no wonder when he search up the series there was so much fanart of the prince's sibling. He was so emotional that he was in demon form crying his eyes out.

"M-mc!" He practically sobbed into your chest clinging onto you, his tail wrapped around you protectively. " Y-you died..and you s-sounded so sad! How dare t-they kill off your character!!!"

You literally had to calm him down and give him kisses. " Levi, baby…this is season 2 you have the movies and other seasons! But if you like…we can take a break and cuddle and watch a cute shojo anime or ruri-chan to make you feel better." He nodded to the latter option as he buried his head into your chest.

" Okay baby. " You kissed ontop of his head , rubbing his back gently. "

Also he definitely bought merch of your character and make you sign in. ( And totally not brag about it in Devildom equivalent of twitch/reddit.)

( Lol, I'm sorry if this isn't good I tried my best.)

#obey me brothers react to #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me scenarios #obey me x gender neutral reader #obey me x mc #obey me

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sortofanobsession · 1 year

Note

Buddie prompt: After Buck recovers from the lightening strike, Eddie is distant and trying to be stoic. One night Buck shows up for impromptu movie night. Chris is thrilled while Eddie barely holds it together. During the moving Chris lays his head over Buck's heart and listens to the beat, and then tells his dad to come and do the same. Before Eddie can protest Buck's pulling him in. The steady beat fills Eddie's ears and he finally looses it spectacularly, full emotional catharsis. Love ensues

Author's Note: I love this prompt soooo much. I stayed up later than I should have last night to start it and put off my actual work to get it finished. I just love prompts like this. They make me so happy. Hopefully I did it justice.

Buddie Fic

Ao3

Buck/Eddie, Christopher & his dad(s)

SPOILERS! other warnings: hospitals, injury, angst.

Word count: 3k+ (because of this song...)

youtube

I'm afraid of what you'll see, right now

Buck doesn't understand what is happening. Everyone seemed so glad to see him awake. Everyone but Eddie. Eddie would say he was glad, and Christopher was so happy to see him. But Eddie was pulling away from him, and Buck didn't understand why. Buck knows he was injured again. He was hit by lightning. The same lightning bolt had knocked Eddie off the truck too. Everyone has told him how Eddie reacted. They told him how Eddie had screamed for him over and over. Not even thinking about the fact he got hit too. Eddie had gone up the ladder without hesitation, without safety gear, without worrying about another lightning strike. A second hit so close to the first one would have killed Eddie. A second hit would have thrown Eddie off the ladder without a safety harness. Eddie could have died. But he had been more worried about Buck. That is what everyone told him.

So why wouldn't Eddie look at him now? Why was Eddie making excuses to avoid hanging out? It hurts almost as much as his injuries.

"Give him time, Evan," Maddie had told him.

"But I don't get it-"

"I know," Maddie adds, squeezing Buck's hand gently that is holding Jee-Yun to his chest. The little girl playing with the fingers on Buck's other hand. Maddie had hoped seeing his niece would lift his spirits. And it did for a bit. Buck had smiled and hugged her, but as usual, things always swung back around to Eddie.

"When he came by with Christopher, he stayed by the door or stared out the window. What if he is mad? What if he doesn't want me to be Christopher's guardian anymore because it's too risky?"

"I can't tell you what is going on in his head, but the fact he brought Christopher means it's nothing you did, Buck. You know that. He isn't taking Christopher from you. He brought him to you, even when you weren't awake. If he hasn't said anything about changing it yet to you or any of us, I think your safe in that one."

"Or he is just waiting until Christopher isn't around or until I'm better to break the news," Buck counters.

"Or you're overthinking it," Chim said from where he sat beside Maddie. "I mean, this is Eddie. He's broody, and he can be a jerk, but he isn't the best at tact when he is in a mood. He always lets that stuff slip out. And it hasn't. And you know he's normally too stubborn to ask for help or advice, but he still drops hints even if he doesn't realize it. And no one has seen any. Not to any of the team. And trust me. Bobby has been watching. Since the two of you got knocked off that truck, Bobby hasn't stopped watching him. So Maddie's probably right. Let Frank deal with it and focus on what matters, getting better."

Buck didn't want to admit he could see what Chim meant. He just also couldn't shake the doubt he still had. Because this was Eddie. And Buck liked to think he knew Eddie better than anyone, but did he know this Eddie?

It was like the lawsuit all over again. Eddie wasn't talking to him. Not like before. Not like when Eddie would tell him everything. It stung. But every time Buck would try and bring it up to him, Eddie would shut it down. Tell him he just wanted Buck to focus on getting better.

"You don't need my shit right now, Buck," Eddie had told him the one time Buck managed to get an answer. "You deal with getting better. Besides, that's what Frank is for." Then Eddie had made an excuse to leave the room, and Buck was left with just Christopher for a good half hour. Eddie may have thought that would make Buck feel better, but it didn't.

Buck had hoped it would get better once he was out of the hospital. That Eddie would see that the doctors had deemed him healthy enough to go about it on his own. But it only made it worse. After Buck's leg, Eddie hovered. He would drag him out of bed. Take him to PT and force Buck to socialize. After Eddie got shot, it was more dinners with Buck. They had guys' nights, movie nights, and game nights. This time was different. Eddie made excuses. He'd still drop Christopher off to have days or nights with his Buck.

"Oh, Buckaroo," Carla had hugged him one day as she dropped Christopher off with him. "It's not you. He's trying to work through his issues. He's just too stubborn to admit he has them to us."

"What issues? What has changed other than me?" Buck asks her.

"I wish I could tell you, but you're just going to have to be more stubborn than he is and wait him out. He won't fully disappear on you. I can guarantee that much. He just might need a bit of a push."

Buck thinks about that, and with Christopher's help, he makes a plan.

The next week he rents a movie. Buys a pizza and a few drinks and goes to Eddie's house.

Eddie's eyes go wide when he answers the door. Buck feels uneasy at the brief panic that seems to cross Eddie's face before Eddie can hide it. Buck thinks maybe he screwed up. Maybe he is pushing too hard, too fast. Or that maybe Eddie has someone over. Maybe he-

"Christopher is in the living room," Eddie says, interrupting Buck's mental panic. Eddie steps back to let Buck into the house. Buck hesitates, which earns a raised brow from Eddie.

"You coming in?" Eddie asks.

"Yeah," Buck nods.

"You okay? How you feeling?" Eddie asks as he takes the pizza from Buck and brings it to the kitchen.

"I'm okay," Buck tells him. His nerves have him shifting his weight back and forth as he sets the drinks down. His hands go into his pockets to keep from showing how nervous he is. "Doctors said I could start getting out more, hence…" he gestures to the pizza, the rented movie on top of it, and the drinks. "This. Figured no better place to be than a medic's place." Buck's stomach dropped at the way Eddie seemed to flinch at his statement. And Buck starts to think he made the wrong decision. He doesn't realize that Eddie flinches because of the idea that Buck is afraid to go out somewhere he would enjoy hitting him hard. Buck picked him because either Buck was here just because Eddie would keep him alive while he hung out with Christopher, or maybe Buck was just scared to go anywhere yet.

"You're always welcome here, you know that," Eddie told him as he grabbed plates.

Buck had to bite his tongue to keep from questioning that statement. Because to him, it felt like Eddie was pushing him away. Like Eddie was keeping him at an arm's length, and Buck hates every second of it. But it was selfish to want more. Eddie was letting him in his house. He was letting him see Christopher. That was more than he had gotten during the lawsuit. So Buck kept that question to himself.

Buck didn't see that as Eddie grabbed the plates. He was actually having a mini panic of his own. Eddie was taking a second while his back was turned to take a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Frank had told him something like this was a good thing. They needed to get back to normal. For Buck. For Christopher. For Eddie. It would help with Eddie's nightmares. It might help ease the constant fear that Eddie has now that every time he closes his eyes he sees Buck dying. Heart stopped by the lightning that hit both of them. Eddie had bile rising in his throat on more than one occasion since that night. He had been hoping the others hadn't noticed the dark circles under his eyes. That he didn't eat nearly as much these days. And the fact he seemed to run on pure caffeine and anxiety. Bobby had noticed but agreed to let Eddie keep trying to work through it with Frank.

Eddie forces himself to breathe before turning back around and setting the plates on top of the pizza box so he can carry everything. The less Buck has to carry, the better.

"Grab those, and we'll get the movie going," Eddie says with a gesture to the drinks.

They watch the movie as they eat. An uneasy tension fills the air that both men hope Christopher is spared from. Christopher was tucked tight between them, curled into Buck's side as they watch the movie. Or at least pretend to. Eddie couldn't describe the plot if he tried. He just watches the two of them out of the corner of his eye and tries to keep his breathing even. He had to force himself to eat normally. To not let Buck see the constant edge that Eddie seemed to teeter on these days. It's not until Christopher lets out a little hum of a sigh as he snuggles into Buck's chest that Eddie lets himself fully look down at him.

Buck smiles down at Christopher. Ruffling the boy's hair slightly. And Eddie's heart hurts. It hurts because they were so close, never having this again. If they hadn't been able to get Buck down as quickly as they did. If Chimney hadn't started chest compressions as quickly as he did. Eddie squeezes his eyes shut against the mental image. Only opening them when he feels a slight tug on his forearm.

"You should listen too. It helps," Christopher whispers as he tugs again at his sleeve. Eddie shakes his head. He was about to open his mouth to argue when he feels a hand on the back of his neck. Eddie goes ridged, and his gaze snaps to Buck's, but Buck just gives him a nervous smile and a gentle squeeze to the back of his neck. Eddie's muscles practically melt under Buck's movement. His breathing hitched, and he felt himself losing that tight grip he had had on emotions. Eddie's eyes close again as he tries to get himself together. But before he can, Buck is pulling him down. Eddie's eyes open to see Christopher now half on Buck's knee and half on the other side of the couch. Buck was now in the middle. Buck pulled him down until Eddie's ear is against his chest. And Eddie can hear the way Buck's heart beats steadily in his chest. He can feel Buck's breath in his hair and the rise and fall of his chest against him. Any grip Eddie had left on his emotions, his control deteriorated. The sobs hit him harder than the lightning had. Harder than he hit the ground that night. It stole the air from his lungs and blurred his vision. He fists tight in Buck's shirt.

"Eddie…" Buck starts but is stopped as he feels Eddie shake his head against him. "Eds, It's okay." Buck shifts to hold him tighter. He wants to comfort him. He can't help it. Eddie buries his face in Buck's neck and cries. Buck looks over at Christopher, who looks a bit scared. He hadn't expected such a visceral reaction from his dad. "It's okay, bud," Buck assures him. "I'll take care of him."

Christopher nodded and moved to sit on the chair to keep watching the movie. Or at least give his dad and Buck more space. But he didn't want to leave, not if his dad or Buck might need him. He knew his dad might feel embarrassed. So he would stay for now.

"Hey," Buck whispers to Eddie as he holds him tight. One hand rubs Eddie's back as he cries. The other is in his hair as he holds the back of Eddie's head. "I'm here, Eds." Buck could feel the way Eddie's breath stuttered against his skin. The way Eddie shook. Eddie was falling to pieces in Buck's arms, and it tears at something deep inside Buck. He had missed Eddie the past few weeks. He didn't like the idea of Eddie suffering without him. And now it was clear Eddie had missed him too. Eddie had meant it when he said he didn't want to put his shit on Buck. But Carla was right. Maddie and Chim were right. Eddie had clearly been working through something. He clearly didn't want to be a burden to Buck. He didn't want to hurt Buck and was willing to hurt himself to do it. But Carla, Chim, and Maddie were wrong about one thing. Buck shouldn't have waited. He should have tried sooner. Because if this was how Eddie was now, after weeks of working with Frank and trying to sort through it. And knowing what the others had said about that night. This is what they both needed. They both hadn't wanted to be a burden, but they both needed each other. "I'm not going anywhere, Eddie. Do you hear me? I am not leaving. I'm not going to leave you. You made sure of that. I'm here because you saved me."

"Buck…I…you…" Eddie tries.

"Shhhh," Buck brushes his fingers through Eddie's hair. "It's okay. Cry if you need to. Scream if you need to. I don't care. Take whatever you need. I'm here."

Eddie struggles to steady his breathing enough to speak. "I need you," Eddie manages. "God, I need you." He goes absolutely pliant as Buck pulls Eddie into his lap.

"I need you too," Buck tells him. He glances up when he realizes the movie is no longer playing. Christopher is no longer in the chair. He looks back to see Christopher put his finger to his lips and shush him and smile as he disappears down the hall. Buck's heart swells at how much he adores that smart and loving kid. When Christopher is gone, he looks back to Eddie. "The last few weeks have been shit because I missed you. Maddie and Carla said to give you time. You told me that too, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't wait anymore because I missed you. I need you."

"I'm so sorry," Eddie says. Any strength he had melts away as he meets Buck's gaze.

"Nothing to apologize for," Buck smiles before shifting himself so he can brush his thumb along the edge of the dark circles under Eddie's eyes. "I do regret not coming here sooner."

"You needed to heal," Eddie says, one hand still tight in his shirt. The other now pressed over Buck's heart to feel the steady beat under his palm. "I needed you to be okay. I can't lose you…I just can't. I'm not-"

"I know the feeling," Buck chuckles. "Eddie, when you were shot, it was one of the most terrifying moments in my life, and yes, that includes being crushed. The only moment that comes anywhere close to that was losing Christopher in the tsunami."

"Buck, you-"

"I know it wasn't my fault. Just like you getting shot wasn't. Just like it's not either of our fault that lightning hit me. Hit us." Buck brushes tears away from Eddie's cheek. "What you can take credit for is saving me. You made sure the line wasn't damaged. You helped get me down. You drove me to the hospital. And you give me every reason to keep pushing to get better."

"You saved me first," Eddie points out. "You got me to the truck after I got shot. You kept me from bleeding out. You took care of Christopher. You drove me home. Then when I just kept losing myself, you pulled me back. You took care of Christopher again. You called Bobby. You helped patch my walls. You are always the reason I get back up off the ground. Even after the lightning."

"We make one hell of a pair," Buck says with a grin. "Please don't push me away again. I know you thought you were doing what was best, but it just made me miss you. Because you were there, but you weren't really there an-"

"I won't," Eddie is probably too quick to agree, but he's sitting on Buck's lap, for Christ's sake. Who was he to argue now? "I was stupid."

"You were doing your best," Buck assures him, his fingers brushing against his skin again. "I know you weren't doing it to hurt me."

"I'd rather eat glass than intentionally hurt you again," Eddie admits.

"Let's not do that," Buck shakes his head but smiles. "And I was more confused than anything."

"Nah, I'm sure you had that kicked puppy look you always get," Eddie grins.

"That's rich coming from the guy sitting in my lap," Buck teases.

Eddie turns red when he realizes how he must look, but when he tries to get up, Buck holds him tighter.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, Eddie," Buck takes the opportunity to bury his face in Eddie's neck this time. "I wanted nothing more than just to talk to you the last few weeks. If you think now that I've gotten you here that I'm just going to let you get away, you are wrong. You must have forgotten that I can be just as stubborn as you."

Eddie shudders at the way Buck's breath ghosts across his skin. Buck can't help but chuckle.

"Chris is-"

"In his room," Buck grins.

"What?" Eddie looks around as best he can from his spot pinned against Buck.

"He shut the movie off and went to his room when you started talking again. I think he figured I had it under control. Bold of him to assume I wouldn't say something stupid. I did get my brain fried by a lot of electricity."

That earns a breathy laugh from Eddie.

"Probably was more worried he'd see something scarring. Like his dad balling like a baby in your lap," Eddie winced. "Poor kid's gonna need even more therapy."

"No more than the rest of us," Buck admits. "But he's a smart kid. He knows you can't just keep things bottled up. That this is a good thing."

"I am glad you're here," Eddie says.

"Me too." Buck grins, and it's Eddie's turn to reach up and touch. He runs his fingers along Buck's cheek. Then his birthmark. Something he's wanted to do since day one but never thought he would get to.

"I thought I lost you," Eddie admits.

"But you didn't," Buck assures him. "Quite the opposite. I think you're stuck with me even more now."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Eddie counters, his hand moving to Buck's jaw. "And the feeling's mutual. You thought I used to hover. Well, you're in for it now." He gently tugs on Buck's chin until they are a breath apart. "You're never getting rid of us."

"Never want to," Buck breathes before he closes the gap, and their lips meet in a kiss.

"Carla says the doctor says none of that serious stuff!" They hear Christopher shout from his bedroom. Buck blushes to the tips of his ears as Eddie groans. But Buck is first to recover.

"Tell Carla she's off the clock, and you come back, and we'll finish the movie," Buck manages to say. Eddie groans again but moves back to sit in his own seat.

"You guys aren't going to be gross if I do, right?" Christopher's voice comes from the hall now.

"We won't be gross," Buck says with an eye roll.

"I make no promises," Eddie mutters. His hand finds Buck's and laces their fingers together. Buck grins over at him and steals a kiss.

"Gross," Christopher mumbles as he sits in the chair, but the grin on his face speaks volumes. Clearly happy his dad is feeling better and that Buck is happy too.

"Sorry, not sorry," Buck smirks before grabbing the remote with his free hand and starting the movie again. He snuggles tighter into Eddie's side when Eddie drapes his arm over the back of the couch before dropping it on Buck's shoulder.

"Not one bit," Eddie mutters with a smirk.

"Nope," Buck agrees.

"Shhh, you already talked through half the movie," Christopher doesn't even look at them. The pair try not to laugh as they all settle back in.

"I don't even know what is happening in this movie," Eddie whispers. Christopher shushes him again.

"I'll explain it later," Buck assures him.

#911 fic #buddie fic #911 spoilers #911 fox spoilers #spoilers #prompt fill #buck/eddie #buck x eddie #injured evan buckley #evan buckley #evan buck buckley #eddie diaz #christopher diaz #tw: hospitals #tw: fear #tw: angst #tw: injury #tw: anxiety #tw: worry

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silvercat-s · 2 months

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Thank you for responding! I think I understand what you mean by the change of your views, since I have been following you on and off since then, I have happily witnessed your evolution here. As far as memory serves, you started off on the note of seeing Henry in not so insightfully nuanced way as you do now, and that's actually something no one can blame you for, the play did make us truly connect where Jamie Campbell Bower's empathetic defense emerged from since the beginning. Deep down, I wanted him to be redeemed too (his moments with El seemed way too genuine to be overlooked haha) but just like that you, I felt I didn't have enough evidences to point towards that direction till TFS spoilers started to drop by. But I am replying to you here to make you know that the perception which we have had it now overwritten under new Henry Creel content's light was not something to be embarrassed of. That was still you and your amazing analytical skills to have drawn what you drew with whatever limited info we were given. I understand that we are constantly growing, changing and that's a great thing, but that doesn't make your earlier reviews to be entirely wrong, they rather add beauty to its complexity which I believe we all should be proud of. It also commemorates our growth as a dedicated fan of a show which has a thing for life-changing twists for 001 of its characters. (pun obviously intended lol). Besides some of your speculations hit the bull's eyes. ( George being Henry after all) So your older blogs are still "a nice walk down memory lane" memories :))) I still admire your bravery for voicing your opinions no matter how odd one out they seemed at that time. Secondly, ( yeah I have already written so much I should be at its last para by now but still xD) I also understand the discrepancy of ship you are onboard now. And it doesn't bother me at all honestly. I actually believed in Creelarke before the play had me doubting till I decided " I will first watch the play whenever it streams on Netflix and then see for myself, what seems more canon lol" I am not like one of those toxic fans who would harass you or hold a legit grudge for changing your opinions or no longer agreeing with something rarely mutual as the matter is honestly very subjective at this point, but I appreciate the warning of ' things not being the same' you put in your response :) And lastly, (yeah finally), whenever I click on those 3 dots which would open to " view archive or block user yada yada" options, it no longer contains the Archive feature. I even tried the URL trick lol, ( yup completely not that desperate) but it would come back to this page, it's honestly like Eleven running in Nina only to return to the Rainbow Room with Henry being "Well well" haha. Hence, I hope you look into it!

You're right, I was never one of those "Henry is a heartless monster who deserved all the abuse he suffered" people, he was always my favorite character after all, and I always believed his fate could've been avoided if he had got any true help and love, and that his fondness for Eleven was genuine, but I was still wrong about him in many ways, I used to think he always had those murderous tendencies even as a kid, and I just assumed that was the direction they were taking it, it never crossed my mind they would want to subvert the evil child trope, even tho the clues were always there, I just ignored them for a lot of reasons.

TFS was a very happy surprise after the initial denial stage lol it forced me to acknowledge so much, and I'm now very glad to know the duffers actually put so much thought and care into his character and that there is still so much about him left to discover!

And don't even get me started on Jcb; that poor man was defending Henry from the very beginning, and I'm sure the play made him feel so vindicated 😅

I wouldn't say I even have any analytical skills, but thank you! I'm not really embarrassed of how I used to see Henry, because, like you said, I was doing my best with the information that we had (with some wilful blindness added to the mix), and I was having fun, in the end it's just a fictional character, you know? It's not that serious, it's not a real life issue, we should be allowed to have fun and be wrong about things, and move on.

but I'm embarrassed over how I behaved toward some of the most dedicated Henry analists. I have apologized and they have forgiven me, but it still bothers me that I did that, I could've handled that so much better

And oh god YES I'm so glad I got a least one or two things right! it saved me from feeling completely humiliated 😅 and ugh, you're almost making me regret deleting some of my posts, but I think I mostly deleted the ones where I was being a mean idiot, hopefully there's still something for you

I'm just not sure what you mean with ship discrepancy. I've never really been much of a shipper, I don't really ship anyone with Henry. I did used to ship hentty in a "well, they are canon" way, but after seeing what some of the people who watched the play said about them...they are cute still, but definitely not a one true love situation, Henry deserved someone who truly loved and stood by him, and Patty apparently wasn't that person at all, but I would still love to see the play for myself to form a better opinion on it too!

And I'm not a creelarke shipper myself, but I do understand the appeal now, and I would support anything that would bring that poor guy some happiness 🥲 so don't worry! I don't really have an issue with any ship or even have a strong opinion on it, just whatever makes our boy happy

AND I fixed it! It was the "hide blog from people without an account" setting, I had no idea it did that; it's disabled now! I'm actually very honored and surprised that you liked my posts enough to do that haha, you're very nice and insightful, I hope you come off anon someday! ❤️

#henry creel #asks

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reallytiredartstudent · 11 months

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I watched the movie a third time. Because I'm Very Normal about this movie and Not At All Obsessed.

And a thing i noticed this time (i don't think i will stop noticing things for a while lol) is how well they did things that other stories normally always lose me with?

.....okay that was very openended, this movie did so much what others didn't lol.

I'm talking about threat-escalation specifically though lol

Spoilers under cut.

Second parts of movies books series you name, often lose me the moment it goes from 'hey I'm new to this thing and damn i gotta save my friends' to 'hey let's go save the world'. Bc idk a lot of the time stories lose the part that actually made them interesting in that transition.

Also i just like the low-threat situations. I like friendly neigbhor hood spiderman that has to save one city and not the world. i like there to be consequences that can't be justified with 'well we all gonna die if we don't do this so it doesn't matter and nothing is on the table besides that'. I like it when the stakes are 'I need to somehow deafeat the villain, not die, keep my job, not jeopordize my relationship with my family/friends/partner etc and this is getting really complicated now'.

But this movie did smth really really interesting by yeah, raising the stakes, but also like. not. It wasn't a thing of 'hey we need to create more tension to show how Serious everything is now and because last time we saved the city lets now save the world'. The threat from the first movie? It just never went away. We just didn't know it.

Like, the first movie was 'let's not destroy the multiverse' and the second movie also has the general theme of 'gotta stop the destruction of the multiverse', but also Miles primary worry is 'gotta save my father'.

Which is the opposite of what normally happens. The threat Miles specifically worries about isn't the destruction of the multiverse. It's his father death. In a way the stakes have been at same time been held up, upped and lowered.

Held up, because 'the multiverse is dying' is still very much a thing.

Upped bc there's a frame in Miles vision about the Spot where like most of the spiders lie dead to the feet of Spot (maybe) implying that even if Miles did defeat him it could lead to all the multiverse being without spiders.

i need to get my hands on that movie so i can actually show what i mean instead of always relaying on my memory lol

Lowered, because Miles main priority currently is his dad. One person. (not that he doesn't want to save them all, but his father is like. A main priorty that nobody else has) and a lot of the time sacrficing ppl for the good of the world is a Thing that i simply don't like in stories, because it often contradicts the original message from 'saving one person is important' and makes it too large-scale and suddenly it is okay that people die, because the world is at stake and nothing matters.

In the same lane, a good part of the movie wasn't a epic battle against a invulernable being. It showed Gwen doing her usual job, Miles doing his usual life (the mf pigeons he avoided to get in his room lol, love to see you growing my dude) and even in the Spidersociety there had been just. Business as usual. Until they all tried to catch one fiveteen year old Spiderling and failed. (That was so good. It was so good. Miley my boy, that was epic)

(Is there any indication for how long the spidersociety exists, actually? Did it really only start after the collider incident in Miles world? gonna have to keep an eye out for that, bc if yes that means that Miguel has one hell of a year or two behind him)

And in the midst of all of that the movie never lost their jokes. It was dramatic and tragic and i laughed tears. The whole theater collectively snorted at scences, winced in sympathy and had a collective outrage at the cliffhanger. A lot of the time when things get serious, get tragic, stories become to heavy and the few light hearted scenes tend to feel forced. But this movie was like. yeah. We're up against the destruction of the multiverse, but Mayday also needs to take a crap and not even Miguel is going to get away from that no matter how stone faced he remains in the combined force of Peter B., Hobie and Mayday.

Another part of the Dramatic Doom Trap has been so easily sidestepped by the movie like its. easy. (It's not. It's really not. I can not emphatize enough how well made this movie is and how often it takes easy traps to fall into in modern media and just bounces around them like they mean nothing.) The threats faced are all consequnces of actions. It's very directly related to decisions that have been made, some by our heroes, others by our bad guys. And therefore the threats are directly tied to the future decisions of the characters. Their internal struggles are not a B-Plot, not a side story. Not a 'oh we remembered that you were teenagers so you have to worry about the destruction of the world and your crush to keep it #relateable' . It's interwined with the main story line, in a way it IS the main story line.

Miles struggle with who he is and who he wants to be is evident in all the layers of his life. In the way he interacts with his parents, his decisions about his future (the whole scene in the counselors office?), the way he treats his villains (cracking jokes about Spot, then the whole thing about 'villain of the week'), his struggle between being Miles, son of his parents, and Miles, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and how no one truly knows who he really is, the way how this inner conflict comes to a climax against all the other spider-people, how the 'Imma do my own thing' is the answer to a lot of his 'side-struggles' but also directly tied to the very heavy and big question of 'destruction of the multi-verse'.

Gwen's struggle with her father about what is right and what is not is in a way the same struggle she has with the spider ppl about what is right and what is wrong, just on another level and the other side of the coin. The same issues that make her unable to find a band makes her unable to ask for help with the whole Spot-situation at the beginning. The same struggle about right or wrong in combination of her inability to trust, rules/canon or gut feeling, makes it that she doesn't talk to Miles about what is going on, kickstarting a lot of the plot just as much as Miles actions did in the first movie. Her decision, resolving of her struggle, to talk and to take things into her own hands is the same for her band and for her to gather ppl to help Miles, to go against the 'rules'.

(I mean 'creating my own band' is a pretty nifty metaphor for 'following my own rules'/parallel to Miles 'i create my own story')

(Do i even need to mention Hobie here again and how he was the literal embodiment of the whole thing?)

My point is, Miles is not just about to rewrite the rules of the multiverse because that's what the story needs, Gwen isn't just gathering allies because it's very convnient to have support for Miles, both things are direct results of their struggles throughout the whole movie (and the one before that). And that makes it so damn interesting to watch.

Btw shoutout to my friend that i dragged along, that hadn't even seen a trailer and came out of this thing shell shocked and looking like they weren't fully in this world yet (understandable) just to have me vibrating out of my skin next to them finally able to talk about all the things and parallels and theroies that currently dictate my entire exsistence and never complaining once about but only suggesting that we should do cosplay about it. (Neither of us has ever done cosplay).

#I am still So Normal about this movie lol #across the spiderverse #gwen stacey #Miles Morales #spiderman atsv

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poppyandzena · 6 months

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(To preface, this isn't meant to be argumentative. I just wanted to share my 2¢; apologies if someone's already brought this up.)

I do think the "prime time television" thing is kinda missing the point. Watershed is done with mostly young children in mind; I don't think anyone actually believes that your average teenager isn't up past 8-9pm, or that they aren't watching stuff like Adult Swim or whatever (granted teens watch streaming more than actual cable TV these days - but my point stands). It isn't really an open secret or something anyone (besides some Christian conservative parents) makes a big deal about. It's... pretty normal teenager stuff?

The issue is that there's a significant difference between a teenager watching Rick & Morty or shounen anime, etc. on their own accord, and seeing suggestive content in those shows.... and what Poppy is doing. Sure, the level of risqueness in that art likely isn't worse than anything most teens have already seen on TV, but the source it's coming is what matters here. In this case, teens are being shown suggestive content by an adult (in her 40s, no less) who they're in direct contact with, who isn't a trusted guardian/teacher, and it's being done in an intimate/interpersonal setting. Not to mention, the art being of Poppy's own sona(s) adds an additional "personal" element to it.

For example, I definitely watched stuff like Family Guy, Austin Powers, and Adult Swim anime when I was 13 (and younger tbh). The suggestive stuff didn't harm or bother me, I had no problem laughing at the jokes (that I understood), and some shows were even a safe way to explore the topic. But... I would go to school the next day and still feel immensely uncomfortable being surrounded by my classmates making sexual jokes/comments - and those were my peers. I won't get started on how interactions with certain adults (online & irl) who made these kind of comments made me feel.

My point is, different contexts and situations can definitely alter what's comfortable and appropriate for a teenager. Like a teen seeing a sex scene in a movie is one thing, but their 40y/o neighbor sharing their personal Playboy collection with them is a whole other - yknow?

On top of that, Poppy just posts this stuff an area of the server that's supposedly designated as "SFW", where people don't expect to see suggestive content. She doesn't even have the courtesy to put a spoiler over the images. This effectively removes any option for members to "manage what content they want to view", short of just... leaving the server? Is this what she wants? At best, this seems really thoughtless towards all server members - including adults that may have valid reasons to want to avoid that stuff too.

As another personal example, I'm asexual and experience periods of sex repulsion. Of course I'm ultimately responsible for what content I see, but I would hope that if I were in a Discord server that claims to center around mental health, that I could safely stick to the "SFW" channels when I don't want to see sexual/risque content. And this is just one of several reasons why an adult may not want to see suggestive content that doesn't boil down to "puritanical BS".

If Poppy wants her server to be a place with no areas that are off-limits to suggestive content, that's fine and all. But she shouldn't mislead people into believing otherwise and should absolutely not be allowing minors to join if that's the case.

You're right. A child who stumbles upon Saw or a Playboy lacks the insidious implications that an adult exposing minors to pornographic content has. An adult has POWER. Poppy in those screencaps is arguing about if the minors even have a RIGHT to feel uncomfortable in her space. Those minors are now going to believe that it's okay for adults to show that content to them, to even go further. If Poppy is so comfortable showing sexual content and talking about her sexual exploits, then a child isn't going to see the red flags when another adult does the same thing towards them.

#poppy #poppy and zena #zena and poppy #poppy diabolique #ladydiabolique #poppy & zena #zenaandpoppyonyoutube

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sketching-shark · 1 year

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Im kinda am getting annoyed how much they r avoiding saying swk actual name. Like whats the point of him having a name if the show is not gonna refer to him with his name besides having moments of characters chastising him using his first name. Ie: just yelling out wukong.

Liek i want to here his various other titles besides monkey king. Its pretty weird how they’re solely just calling him monkey kings when hes just 1 of many monkey kings :/

Sometimes, i wonder if they knew that they could have kept swk w all of complex characteristics without having to downplay any of it so they can uplift mk. (Mk is such a amazing character dont get me wrong i do adore him. But it suck that in a equivalent exchange of a good character we get a frankly a worse vers of sun wukong.

Like not even other versions of swks ever acted(or granted made such repeated mistakes) like how lmk swk do. Like theres no one defending him within the shown(mk doesn’t count bc literally thats his teacher. But even he himself doesn’t realize he’s afraid of becoming like swk.) and as much as lmk writers, producer etc etc. want, they have to actually have to show swk’s side. Bc by the time lmk is over, its going to v hard to give him justice when almost everyone have a right idea of keeping him away bc how much hes a danger to everyone.

I also am a lmk LEMH hater forever. i just think he shouldn’t of have that type of importance to swk when hes just a dude w a pent up superiority/inferiority (he can have both bc yea)complex thats in a parasocial relationship to swk. Like sure he died and all but so did all the other demons in jttw. Hell he didn’t got the vore kill treatment like other demons like azure lion did.

Monkie Kid spoilers below

AWETTHGRFRWETETFGDSD THE VORE KILL TREATMENT THAT'S A PHRASE THAT WILL STICK WITH ME FOREVER ANON.

But YEAH this is a pretty good summary of many things said before anon...in particular it's genuinely disheartening how Qi Xiaotian's experiences have brought him from a state of being excited at the thought he could be like Sun Wukong to now being terrified that he's destined to be like the Monkey King...but then again how could be not be. We're now 4 seasons in and everything just gets worse and worse for the little monkey lego man in large part because of the things his shifu did or failed to do. At this point even with the hints of the torture headband making a significant appearance, trying to defend or even understand SWK's actions in the present kind of seems like a fool's errand, and I genuinely am worried that no backstory Flying Bark gives their version of the Monkey King will provide a satisfactory reason for why he acts the way he does. As it is there's been a pretty consistent flow of popular fan works about the Monkey King getting punched & yelled at & portrayed as completely in the wrong, and well I do not see that ending any time soon given the events of canon material :(

As always I want to note that I'm fully capable of being too negative and pessimistic & forgetting the good sides of SWK's lego show character and that yeah obviously there's a lot of other characters running around with more antagonistic intentions (including perhaps this mysterious person who may be behind Azure Lion being freed as part of some greater scheme). But between this already firmly established characterization of SWK as a liar who's ideas routinely end in nothing but catastrophe for even those he loves and the show itself pretty clearly having little interest in including SWK in the story's adventures outside of an explodey ending or being a problem that needs to be dealt with because of his disastrous decisions (given how much he keeps getting shoved out of the plot), well...you can see why many people think this could easily end with even Qi Xiaotian thinking Sun Wukong is a lost cause.

#anon answered #'he's getting better!' my dude he's literally trapped in ink hell world for all his monkey crimes #monkey critical

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bluecryptic · 1 year

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Velma (2023) vs. April O'Neil (2020) - Which Race Swap was done better?

Instead of hate-watching and writing a rant on how "terrible" the new Velma show is, I thought I'd simply watch the first episode of Velma and then watch the first episode of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to observe and compare how each of these shows handles race swapping established characters who previously were white.

(I'd give a spoiler warning but I'll only be referring to the first episode of each series so I don't think a warning is warranted for that. Though I will give a warning that this is just my opinion, so take what I say with a grain of salt.)

Round 1 - Moment of Introduction and First Impressions

Let's start with Velma who in her introduction scene involves physically assaulting a naked girl (who happens to be Daphne) in the shower, calling said girl a b*tch all the while talking about race-swapping in media. No, I am not joking. Said scene also occurs in front of other naked teenage girls aaaaaannnnddd my takeaway on Velma just from this scene is that she is calling kettle to the pot because she too is b*tch and that her being called a weirdo later on the episode is actually warranted.

For April, we first see her getting drenched in water as a result of the Turtles cannonball jumping into a pool at the same time and causing a massive splash. She doesn't get upset about being wet but rather cheers for her friends and exclaims how awesome the stunt was. Then we find out that the rooftop cannonball diving that they were doing was April's idea and then they decide to go have fun somewhere else and before leaving, April leave a "wet floor" and "dry pool" side. A wild first introduction with a lot of water like with Velma but with less nudity and violence. I also forgot to mention that Velma's introduction also made it clear that there was intense animosity between Velma and Daphne which is kind of ironic when comparing it to the scene where we first meet April and the Turtles, where we can clearly see that they are friends that enjoy hanging out together and having fun. So far, this version of April has been shown to be an energetic teenager that enjoys having fun with her friends.

I suppose it would come downs down to having a character attack another in the shower or having a character cheering at their friends cannonball diving to the pool as the first introduction scene.

Yeah, I think I prefer the scene that involves cannonball diving on rooftop pools.

April: 1 , Velma: 0

Round 2 - Interacting with other characters

For this round, I'll start with April on account that there's less in terms on character interactions like we have April's interactions with the Turtles as a whole (individual bonds are explored in later episodes), with the teleporting yokai and the bad guys if we want to stretch it a little. That is less than what we get from the Velma side which also is more messy when you go through how Velma acts and treats the other characters and I just want to take the simpler route first.

Back to April, let's start with her relationship with the Turtles. As the their first scene together has shown, they are friends. One of the Turltes, even calls April their "best friend." Yeah, she's probably their only friend at this point but it's clear that the Turtles hold her to a high degree. And the level of care that they have for her is shown when they are willing to jumo through a magic portal to who knows where to save her. On her side, April is shown to care about the Turtles as well. She stands up for Raph who is standing up for her to two bounty hunters and to avoid confusion, she basically isn't afraid to stick up beside her friends even if a scary bug monster on a hellhound is standing before her. There's also the scene where the Turtles get to the underground city and find April and the five of them have a group hug, happy to see each other.

Then there's the plot device of the episodein the form of teleporting dog/cat thing that will be called Mayhem so let's stick with that. Upon first meeting April, Mayhem takes a liking to her and April, despite not knowing what Mayhem is exactly, is quite affectionate to it. Fast forward to when Mayhem gets captured and taken away by the bounty hunters, April doesn't hesitate to chase after them in an attempt to save them. Mind you, this is all the while chasing the two bounty hunters into a magic portal that leads to who knows where at the time. April doesn't know what Mayhem is and yet she goes out of her way to save them despite the potential danger. By the end of the episode, April gives Mayhem their name and decides to keep it as a pet.

Not much to say about April's interactions with the villains within the episode aside from the fact that April was ready to throw hands at the scary monster-looking bad guys for hurting her friends. The girl literally threw herself at Baron Draxum to give him a good smack for Mayhem, a yokai creature she barely knew.

With Velma on the other hand...

Gonna try to be as positive as I can be or at least neutral but I'm going to call it as I see it.

Let's start with the first relationship shown in the episode, which is Velma's relationship with Daphne...and it started with Velma attacking a naked Daphne in the shower...

...and calling Daphne a b*itch, we get it, they don't like each other. And apparently the two were once friends but apparently Daphne became beautiful and started hanging out with popular kids, leaving Velma in the behind? Like that's almost the exact explanation they give in the show! Both are being shown being mean to each other throughout the episode and I'm leaving it at that.

The other relationships and interactions within the episode aren't much better with Velma being pretty rude towards the two lesbian cops interrogating her (who also happen to be Daphne's moms) and Velma's actually mean towards her dad, though that guy isn't doing himself any favors, and to her dad's pregnant girlfriend (I think so???) whom Velma showed that she would be happy to have the latter thrown away to prison if given the chance. I think Velma's opinion on her potential stepmother may have changed later in the episode but I don't know, it's hard to tell. Velma is also shown to be attracted to Fred but isn't completely gaga towards as she does get annoyed by the privileged white attitude this version of Fred has.

The most positive relationship, for Velma at least, is her mom but I don't think counts since we only get to see it from Velma's point of view and it also later turns out that Velma was something of a little shit towards her mom and that's kind of why the mom left though that plotline is still open to being resolved at later on? (Maybe the missing mom is the serial killer that is trying frame Velma for the murders?) So that leaves us with Velma's questionable friendship to Norville, where the later has a crush on Velma and she is very oblivious to it. To the point where Velma sees Norville's confession as a joke. Other than that, Norville is the one Velma goes to when she needs help though since he's her only friend and almost everyone else thinks she committed murder, not like she has a lot of options.

I get the impression that Velma has a mean streak to pretty much every character she talks to, intentional or not. Then there's the exposition dumps of dialogue on who's who to who in the show and maybe I'm overreacting but all these character interactions, especially the first five minutes and I actually start to understand why Velma is treated the way she is on the show. Aside from Norville that is but that boy is his own basket case of problems.

I actually want to be fair and try to give Velma a chance but no, the writers want to pull of a charming mean girl type of thing and the end result is an unlikeable gnat.

April: 2; Velma: 0

Final Round - Overall characterization (though at this point, I think it's obvious which I think is better)

Gonna start with Velma on this one since I actually want to end this post on as much of a positive note as I can.

Throughout the years and in previous incarnations, Velma has been portrayed as the smartest member in the Gang. A walking encyclopedia of knowledge and with a love for solving mysteries, Velma was often the one to piece a lot of the clues together and figure out the mystery. Not always she was usually the one to figure some of the more intricate clues in the mysteries. She would also be clumsy to the point of always losing her glasses as a running gag and while variations would vary, Velma had always been consistent when it came to her character.

Until now.

I tried to keep and open mind when watching Velma. I tried to forget all the criticism I heard before watching the first episode and at least try to at least give it a chance. And I somehow made it through the first episode without rage quitting at any point but thinking about the show and it's writing and it's characters and it all played out...

...it just makes me mad. I don't like it and it makes me more mad how the creators only used the names of the Scooby-Doo characters for the attention and recognition because otherwise, no one would bat an eye. This is like that Wolverine movie where they had Deadpool's mouth sewn shut. You can't take away what makes the character who they are and say it's the same character. Original Velma had her moments of snarkiness and cynicism but that Velma wouldn't go assaulting naked girls in the shower. Serously, even if this stupid version of Velma was white, I still wouldn't like her on account how horrible she is and nothing like the one from Scooby-Doo.

Okay, with that meltdown out of the way, it's now April's turn and while it's clear that April is a much better written character in my opinion, I still want to go into how despite the many differences between the RoTMNT April and the Original April, they're still in a way the same character. The character of April O-Neil has pretty much always been portrayed as the first human friend of the Turtles, a link to the outside world beyond the sewers they call home. Though she first appeared as an adult working as a reporter, more recent incarnations made April a teenager, and Ninja Turtles did it before Rise and I heard there were "strong reactions" to that creative decision though I think that the change to make April a teenager was a bigger shock than a change of skin color and that's why I don't anyone batted an eye when that character design was revealed but that's just my opinion.

Back to April in RoTMNT, I didn't have a problem with her because she was actually fun to watch. Just based on the first episode, I enjoyed watching this version of April and her friendship with the Turtles. They all had this energy that synced to the pacing and comedy to the show that that wanted viewers to have a good time watching. Sure it was different from the old but it was the kind of different that can be thought of as a refreshing change.

So between a snarky version of Velma that is being mean to almost everyone she talks to and a spunky April O'Neil that goes feral on tiny gargoyle minions for picking on magic cat she only met a hour prior.

With no doubts from my side, RoTMNT April wins as a shining example of when race-swapping a character can be done decently without destroying what made the character unique (and likeable) and without replacing it with woke cringe.

Many thanks to any and those who have read through my comparison turned rant to the end. Also sorry for saying this wouldn't be a rant on how bad the Velma show is but the doing it anyway. Was thinking if I should write more but I have some RoTMNT I want to make in the future and I want to be finished on the topic of the Velma show because it's just that bad...

#vs #versus #which did it better #velma #velma hbo max #april o'neil #rotmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #comparison #this turned into a rant #my thoughts

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plushiehamuko · 1 year

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HERE IS MY UP-TO-DATE P5R CHARACTER RANKING bc i think it will be funny if i post this now and then come back when i am later in the game and see that my opinions were severely bad and wrong. also i am doing phantom thieves only (but know shiho would be second if she were in the ranking)

(DISCLAIMER: you cannot get mad at me for my opinion on people who have not showed up yet okay. i have been avoiding spoilers and i know nothing about them so i just know what has happened IN THE GAME SO FAR. also very long post i went off about some people sorry about that)

1. ANN TAKAMAKI - MY GIRL OF ALL TIME. what can i say, i love myself a silly blonde girl. i think my favorite thing about ann is how she’s portrayed as both strong and emotional - she is consistently shown to be resilient, capable, and tough, but she also deals with her emotions in the same way that a teenage girl in her position would. it makes me happy to see that bc not a lot of characters get that right and i hate seeing emotional girls always being the pathetic ones. also i know she’s not canonically sapphic but she does feel very deliberately sapphic to me if that makes sense. having it be canon would be nice, but in a way, the fact that her and shiho have a very sapphic relationship without it being called that reflects what being young and confused about sexuality is like. it’s very common among teenage lesbians, and i know it probably wasn’t the devs’ intention to accurately portray sexuality confusion, but they did a good job of it on accident regardless. anyways i love and adore ann i am hugging her hugging her hugging her and pressing her lips to shiho's as if they're barbies

2. haru okumura - OKAY LOOK. LOOK. i know she hasn't shown up... i know she hasn't said anything besides that one time i saw her in the hallway and she talked about plants to a random teacher for 10 seconds... I KNOW BUT BUT SHE'S SO SKRUNKLY LOOK AT HER. she is so soft looking so silly looking i want to hug her so much. i am reserving this second place spot for her, if it turns out i don't like her as much as i thought then that's fine but nobody knows Girl Of All Time Vibes better than me and she has them

3. yusuke kitagawa - YUSUKE MY BEST FRIEND YUSUKE. I LOVE AND ADORE HIM SOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH... i honestly didn't expect to like yusuke when he first showed up but as soon as he spoke i was like. oh. Oh This Guy. LIKE HE'S SO SILLY he makes me giggle with how he's just so like. WEIRD. but i genuinely don't see how people find him creepy - the fact that he doesn't have any harmful intentions is very clear and he's just a guy who fumbles every social interaction he's ever in and i want to be his best friend for it I LOVE HIM.

4. ryuji sakamoto - I LOVE RYUJI HE'S SUCH A GUY TO ME i love him being best friends with ann and i love his stupid comments he is so funny fr

5. morgana - EVERYONE'S SO MEAN TO MY SILLY KITTY GUY... usually mascot characters like him are super annoying but i fuckin LOVE morgana he's so funny and adorable. i wanna cuddle him THE KITTY EVER

6. kasumi yoshizawa - she's really cute and sweet! the fact that i don't have anything besides that to say about her is why she isn't higher on the list lol

7. akira kurusu - he's a Guy. i like him as a protag, he has dialogue options that don't make me wanna rip my hair out and he had the emotional intelligence to comfort ann without making me want to be like "YOU'RE FUMBLING THIS FR SHUT UP STOP TALKING LET ME TALK TO HER" so i like him. however he's just a guy that exists to me

8. futaba sakura - she's cute! but being a woman in stem is like. every girl i know irl is Like That so she doesn't feel very blorbo to me when she's just An Average Girl In My Comp Sci Class, yk? i might be more interested in her when i actually come across her tho

9. goro akechi - i don't care about him at all i want what he has tho (knows sae niijima personally)

10. makoto niijima - SORRY SORRYSORRYSORRY SORRY. i know this is anti-feminist of me and considering she's so well-liked i am sure i will change my mind on this based on later stuff in the game. but MAN. her attitude is absolutely rancid in the pre-second palace scenes........ LIKE i'm not even mad at her for selling out the phantom thieves bc i get that she's been blackmailed but she said something to akira about how she "didn't know if ann being a victim of kamoshida was all there was to it" naming ANN SPECIFICALLY and not akira or ryuji and like. GIRL WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING THERE WHY ARE YOU SINGLING OUT ANN i do not like the implications there they're Yucky!!! you can do what you have to do without being nasty to ann and mean Okay Thanks.

#squishy talks too much #squishy plays p5r #i don't have super obvious favorites wdym #anyways i will come back to this when i get much further and change some of these opinions #sorry again about makoto i'm so sorry i want to like her i am keeping an open mind for her to change

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ac-liveblogs · 1 year

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Trigun vs Stampede

OR: Trigun newbie ponders if Stampede was a good adaptation or not, actually.

I lost my original draft. I think this one’s longer. The TL;DR is I liked them both. But.

I’m sure a lot of Trigun Oldies are pretty annoyed with Stampede, and as an obnoxious FF7 purist with an axe to grind with the “remake” myself, my sympathies are certainly with them. It’s really annoying to just want a faithful adaptation of the thing you like without people trying to get CLEVER about what made them good in the first place - especially if the changes don’t land!

However, as someone brand new to Trigun my attitude is more along the lines of “hey, three cakes!”, and I figure I’m in a pretty good position to provide a fairly unbiased comparison of the two. My Trigun creds are as follows; I’ve watched Stampede, I’ve read up to vol 3 of Maximum, I’ve watched Badlands Rumble (and didn’t like it), I’ve never seen ‘98 but have seen out of context clips and had very careful conversations with a coworker that has ONLY seen ‘98 and Stampede to try and share enthusiasm but still avoid poisoning each other with spoilers.

My original takeaway from Stampede: It’s a fun show that needed more episodes to accomplish what it was trying to do. I still stand by this. However, I think that Stampede has made a lot of clever decisions in adaptation, and I’m feeling pretty positive about the reboot in general.

Vol 1 of the original Trigun introduces us to Vash, Meryl and Milly; we have a volume of world-building and character-establishing shenanigans (as well as teasers about the “Lost July” incident) before meeting Legato and a handful of the Gung-Ho Guns in volume 2, after which we get some fights, hook up (ha) with Wolfwood and head to Jeneora Rock.

And then Jeneora explodes.

Stampede is simultaneously a prequel and a reimagining of these first two volumes. In the interest of giving us a 12-episode narrative with character arcs for all 3 main leads, certain events have been either brought forward or pushed back. For example, while we keep the fight with the Nebraska Family and the trip on the Sand Steamer, Lost July ceases being a backstory event and instead replaces Vash’s destruction of Jeneora Rock as the “season finale” - allowing Knives to serve as the arc villain for Stampede whereas Trigun ends with him being (temporarily) resurrected.

Some clever changes are made to facilitate this; if Vash destroys July at the end of season 1 there’s no reason to have him also destroy Jeneora, so establish Knives as the Big Scary Arc Villain by making HIM do it instead. Then, end the season with his apparent death at Vash’s hands - since Legato is the main villain in vol 2 and wants to resurrect Knives, push him back to season 2 so you can add some real crunch between his fanaticism and Vash’s guilt. Wolfwood is more prominent here; have HIM kill Monev the Gale instead of Legato. Then, you can have him project all over Rollo just in time to reveal his backstory and you won’t even feel the loss of Vash refusing to kill Monev too badly because the Nebraska Family is used to display Vash’s pacifistic ideology before Wolfwood gets a chance to shoot a hole in it.

That doesn’t mean Stampede is flawless; I have real problems with Wolfwood and Home’s inclusion, mostly down to the episode count, but I like a lot of the changes made in eps 1-5 and 10-12. Episodes 6-9 were strongest for their flashback segments; besides that, the pacing was fucked. Trying to accomplish FAR too much in too little time - don’t think anyone’s gonna argue with that.

Quickfire adaptation notes before I dig into the changes in characterisation;

It’s a shame that Stampede didn’t have time to do more world-building - Legato’s nonsense aside, that was my favourite part of the first two volumes.

Vash vs Monev the Gale was more fun in the manga than Stampede, but I liked the expansion on his backstory that Stampede gave us more than “I TRAINED… FOR 20 YEARS…”

EG the Mine was more fun in Stampede than the manga.

I recognise the need to get Meryl and Roberto on the Sand Steamer after Roberto wanted to leave, but the Bad Lads Gang were barely worth bringing back.

I wouldn’t have even bothered introducing Legato this season beyond a stinger at the end of episode 12; I get they’re trying to do Something with him and Wolfwood, but we really didn’t have the time.

Rem was cooler in the manga.

The trip to Home feels like a waste of time at this point, but I can only hope introducing Brad & Luida early means that if the Gung-Ho Guns decide to break in like in the manga things are gonna hurt more. I wonder if it wouldn’t have been more prudent to just go to Hopeland Orphanage instead to really dig into the tragedy of Wolfwood’s situation before rocketing into him completing the contract in July. Would’ve added more to Vash’s insistence that Wolfwood’s a good person, too - he’s objectively right, but would’ve been nice to see it more concretely.

In service of remixing the plot into a pseudo-prequel, our main 3 leads - Vash, Meryl and Wolfwood - all present as much less mature characters who are still growing into the roles they hold in the original. Vash’s bounty is considerably lower, he’s never hurt anyone himself yet (no Lost July ‘til the finale) and he’s much less capable of playing the clown to hide his true feelings; Meryl is a straight-laced rookie traveling with her mentor rather than a confident senior partner to Milly; Wolfwood is more openly caustic and is “the Punisher” and an undertaker rather than “Chapel” and a priest (whatever any of this means in the Eye of Michael), though they all more or less get there in the end.

Whereas in the original Trigun we spend a lot of time in Vash’s head reading his internal monologue, Stampede presents him more as a character to be observed or speculated on from a distance and, as such, somewhat more of an enigma. I think there’s an interesting line to be drawn between Vash’s missing POV and Stampede giving him a real consistent lack of agency - Meryl is often a catalyst for the plot, Wolfwood is transparently present to direct Vash to July whether he likes it or not, and Nai’s… absolutely everything all serve to give Vash less control of the decisions made in his life (I AM MEDITATING ON THE SAND STEAMER).

I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence that we only really get Vash explaining his feelings in episode 12 when he’s finally worked up the courage to fight Nai again, or that we get more information about his past from flashbacks than in the modern day.

I’m… fine with both, honestly. Vash being a bit of a black box in Stampede makes it harder to understand his feelings on certain topics, but I have to wonder if - assuming he’s now ‘reclaimed his agency’ - he’s going to be more vocal about his feelings going forward. I’ll be curious to see the Stampede version of the Eriks arc, anyway. Also, controversial (apparently) but I really like his Stampede design a lot more than OG - it being more ‘modern’ makes thematic sense for a character from the age of Lost Technology, and he looks less dangerous than OG Vash who… well, Diablo, you have shown your true face, Tristamp Vash isn’t there yet til the finale, etc. etc. That said, he needs a new design for season 2, and I hope it incorporates more elements of his OG.

Not much to say on Nai; he’s got a larger role in Stampede than OG. Obviously.

I think that Stampede did Meryl a LOT of favours - where OG Meryl gets more time on the page, Stampede’s Meryl is IMO set up to become a stronger and more impactful character in the long run. I found that OG Meryl and Milly blended together a bit too much; two halves of one comedy skit that were often difficult to meaningfully differentiate.

Stampede’s Meryl gets to establish herself separately from Milly and has a much more obvious counterpoint in Roberto, who gets to die a tragic mentor death and propel Meryl’s character forward into, apparently, an exhausted chain-smoking slacker assigned a bright-eyed newbie to mentor and, honestly? I think that’s really sexy for her.

Stampede has also gone on to give Meryl more agency; whereas in OG her goal is to follow Vash exclusively, changing her profession to a reporter in Stampede allows her to follow other plot threads independently of him. It also ties in nicely to her theming as a “witness” to the changes about to rock No Man’s Land; this is part of the reason the perspective change from a heavy focus on Vash’s POV to him as a character that can only really be observed by others works for me just fine, though Wolfwood tends to ‘observe’ Vash while Meryl seems to ‘observe’ events. Also, I really do adore her being paired up with Zazie.

It can also be noted that unlike OG, Meryl is the catalyst for a lot of events that occur in the show; she finds Vash, she has Vash take them to Jeneora Rock; she helps Vash SAVE Jeneora Rock; she runs over Wolfwood which brings HIM into the party; it is her being kidnapped that brings the plot to July and she is the one that saves Vash from Nai. She’s got far more forward motion at this point than her original counterpart, and while I HOPE that changes for OG Meryl she has basically vanished for about 3 volumes at this point and I haven’t felt her absence much.

I don’t have much to say on Milly and Roberto; Milly’s not the type of character I’m especially drawn to, her presence in vols 1&2 is pretty weak and I don’t think she adds much outside of occasional comedy. I like Roberto for the role he plays in Meryl’s storyline as well as the more unique texture he adds to the group but wish he got more time to develop. Next.

Okay, so. Wolfwood. My special boy, the most importantest bestest guy in both the world AND my heart. Uh, so. He’s… not in volumes 1&2 except for the last 3 chapters, and those… basically just exist to go “hey Wolfwood exists! He does NOT want to be at this staff meeting!” which, mood, but it also means that (I assume) a lot of his story beats get introduced quite a bit earlier so that he can also grow into his new role at the end of Stampede.

As of vol 3 of TriMax, we’re still piecing together what Wolfwood’s deal even is and I would even go so far as to speculate that if TriMax Wolfwood is meant to deliver Vash to Knives… well, that’s already happened, so where are we going from here? Are we pulling other plot points forward even sooner, or have we already derailed in a big way?

It doesn’t really help that Stampede’s time crunch was never more obvious than in the Sand Steamer & Home, which makes Wolfwood’s storyline a real casualty of all that lost time. In OG, the Sand Steamer was its own arc involving the Bad Lads Gang where we get to learn that Vash is connected to Plants; in Stampede, it’s… Livio shows up, Wolfwood’s backstory gets dropped, Legato is introduced, the Bad Lads are still there, Hopeland almost gets steamrolled because Legato must always be the least normal person in the scene AND THEN we figure out Vash is a Plant… and then Home. It’s so much. It’s too much. There’s no breathing room to think about the tragedy of Wolfwood’s situation because we don’t know him very well and we jump straight into Vash’s backstory straight afterwards. I assume Wolfwood had a mental breakdown off-screen.

It’s going to be difficult to speculate on what Stampede is doing with Wolfwood until season 2 comes out AND I’ve finished Maximum, but where I’m very optimistic for Meryl I’m a lot more cautious here because while I GET why they needed to introduce elements of Wolfwood’s backstory to tie him into the same theme of moving into a new stage of their lives that Vash and Meryl have, they’re going to need to do some real damage control in season 2 because otherwise I don’t think this is going to hit right.

Like, I do GET why Wolfwood was introduced early, seriously - he’s such a major part of Maximum that with Stampede’s goal of remixing Vash and Meryl’s arcs they couldn’t leave him for season 2 (unlike Milly, who... doesn’t do much) and they can make this work, but... he’s where things are most likely to fall apart here, and that sucks.

So like, IS it a good adaptation (of the first two volumes)? Yeah, I think it’s fine? There are more changes I’m excited about than concerned about, which might change as I progress further into Maximum, but I can only assume events are going to get remixed further (the stinger about Earth in particular makes me think that) so I think Stampede and TriMax will ultimately be two very different beasts by the end of things.

And ultimately, I think I had more fun watching Stampede than reading the Trigun manga at this point. (Trigun, not Trigun Maximum, I’ll get to that later)

But Stampede needs more episodes. Seriously. Spring for a 24 episode season, Studio Orange, take like 4 years if you need to, because the biggest problem Stampede has is timing, and that’s going to hurt the emotional impact of any plot points going forward. We can live with it in s1 where the fallout for some of those has yet to hit, but that grace period won’t last forever.

Final Verdict:

Tristamp 8/10 “needed more episodes” Trigun 7/10 “legato saves you, seriously”

In conclusion: “Whoa! two cakes!”

#ac watches trigun #ac reads trigun

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