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morkofday · 3 years

Text

pingxie thoughts (and prayers) bonus 2/2

continuation for this post where i try to make sense of all the visuals offered to us in the amazing bazaar photoshoot. had to divide the bonus part of this series into two bc of the amount of photos and my own tendency to write novels (even while excluding the video clips). hopefully these can offer you all at least something (more than just an eyeroll at my pretentious poetry).

side note: the photos from the digital magazine (the ones without a watermark) belong to @/thosch3i who i very much want to thank you for all the updates and translations ♥

The Bazaar Photoshoot – Future Dream

As stated in the first part of this “analysis”, the theme of this photoshoot was the Pingxie ten years reunion. I already managed to get through the “ideal reality” photos, so now it’s time to delve into the “future dream” in the remaining ones. These seem to offer a deeper look into Pingxie’s actual relationship during the reunion and how their past and future meet in that moment.

(placing under cut bc this gets long with all the photos!)

These photos really challenged me to think outside the box. Bc the obvious answer would’ve just been me screaming “Pingxie married!” on top of my lungs but that’s not really something I’m aiming at quite yet. So I decided to call this pile of photos “the (future) dream” instead, which I think suits it quite well. Just let me try to explain why.

Beginning with these two teaser photos where we first see their matching rings and then their matching necklaces. A lot of eternal promises and unbreakable bonds and soulmate symbolism here (my left brain: but Pingxie married!!! me: shush, not now). I feel like these photos in general show many of those themes, try to catch their bond and the deepest essence of their relationship. This is some type of core, them in their purest form, far outside of actual reality now.

The black and white colors make these photos feel even more like they’re part of a dream or a fantasy or a memory almost. Maybe it is about the things they now have and the things they have lost. Maybe it’s black and white bc things have changed but they still want the same things; they still have their bond and things still make sense. (Maybe I sob about this bc I’m just so weak and Pingxie soulmates, it’s confirmed now!)

Also gotta mention here – bc I will allow myself this one moment of gushing – that Pingxie in black and white, ZSX and XYL in these suits (both suits), is sinful. Absolutely sinful. But also stunning. And so soft. And well, what else could be more symbolic than making Wu Xie wear white and Xiaoge wear black? Tho I think that together, they have always been turning a bit gray. (And how many times did I read that as “gay”? Which,,, still true but. Not the point here.)

At this point am also fighting against my urge to talk about the video clip that dropped with the weibo update on the 1st of March and all the hand action we got in that. Bc I just loved how they played with each other’s hands and the snow and kept looking at their hands together in that clip. It felt like an inaudible love confession. And maybe these photos are just that; a voiceless, wordless way to say “I love you”. Neither of them is good with words anyway and the love is so loud am going deaf. I hope they’re happy.

But if we forget that video, I want to pay attention to the poses in these photos. They are sitting or lying down together, Wu Xie’s head on Xiaoge’s shoulder, Xiaoge’s face almost buried in Wu Xie’s hair or at least turned his way. It feels domestic. There is nothing but them. There is nothing else to care about in this world than them being together and this closeness they share after all the time without it. It’s what they want; this very intense focus on each other (and if that doesn’t scream love to you then I don’t know what to say). It’s a little bit like the ideal reality I talked about in the previous post but even more intense and somehow so much more open which makes me think about this as a “dream” or at least a fantasy of sorts.

Then in the two photos above, we again have Wu Xie looking at the camera while Xiaoge is focusing on him. It feels almost like Xiaoge is a prop here, all the focus placed on Wu Xie who is, unlike in that intense photo in the previous post, smiling. Slightly, but still. He looks soft, content, happy. He’s okay to be the center of all this attention bc he knows that it will take it away from Xiaoge (and omg I know yall whine now that such a thing is impossible with XYL’s beauty but just humor me for a bit). He’s so relaxed bc he knows that Xiaoge is content right next to him. (He might also be a bit smug bc he has a man like that but can anyone blame him?)

I have to note then that, after gushing about their outfits and how good they look in them, there also seems to be a deeper meaning to these suits. Because I don’t think it’s an accident (or a thirst trap) that in these whole-body pictures where they lie in the snow, we see their chests and they’re bare-footed. It feels like this is them being bare in general, open. Their chests show bc their hearts are open, feet are bare bc they are vulnerable (and when you google symbolism for being bare-footed, Wikipedia hits you with childhood and innocence so yes, they are innocent here, pure, like they wish to be). This is them being true and honest with each other, offering all those parts of themselves to the other to look at which they never previously had the courage to show.

At least that’s true in this dream, in this future they hope will become reality one day. In this future that, for now, ignores all the difficulties and obstacles between them (bc they have a lot of stuff to sort out and then Reboot happens and. Yeah well, the future never goes as you planned anyway).

Sitting and shoes on now, we then have Wu Xie offering this almost angry look to the viewer. He might be sitting slightly behind Xiaoge and lower than him but he’s the one who seems powerful here. Xiaoge looks almost childish (which might be just XYL’s personality showing through lol) and is focused on his own hands, the ground, and his shoes/legs. It feels like this is Wu Xie being the one aware for once, being the one who carries their worries, the one who sits there protecting Xiaoge so that Xiaoge can finally focus on something else. So that Xiaoge can be free and a little careless. That he can focus on himself and what he wants after giving so many years away for Wu Xie and his (at this moment non-existent or at least tainted) innocence. This is their dream; or at least Wu Xie’s dream bc somehow this whole photoshoot seems to focus on him instead of Xiaoge (like I stated before, he seems like a prop sometimes haha).

In contrast to that thought and the previous photos, this one actually puts Xiaoge on display tho. He’s at the front, in the middle of the photo, and if you don’t get distracted by Wu Xie’s eyes (hard, I know), then you most likely focus on Xiaoge and get stuck there. It feels intentional, like Wu Xie’s strong protective instinct is somehow left a bit hidden? Behind Xiaoge? Who is usually seen as the protector? Which is interesting imo bc at this point Wu Xie has learned to be very brutal, and in Ultimate Note (and before that), we see him being very fierce when it comes to him protecting those he loves. So this setting between them feels a bit like a dream too, a dream where Wu Xie has been able to pull away a little bc Xiaoge is alright while facing the world again. Xiaoge is not as vulnerable as someone who doesn’t know who he is and who to trust. He has found his place to be.

Then the two photos that confused me the most bc at first they felt like they didn't fit at all? They just felt... weird, even if they look absolutely stunning. Here we have Wu Xie and Xiaoge dressed in their second pair of suits (if these can be called suits?) with Xiaoge in this long cape thing and his arms half bare. Wu Xie’s outfit seems almost too simple compared to everything else he’s worn, and they are both now facing towards the same direction while previously they were either looking at each other, away from each other or, in Wu Xie’s case, the viewer.

Maybe these pictures were why I finally came to think about these as “the future” instead of just some type of “dream”.

Because in these pictures it feels like they are actually looking towards the future. Especially in this last photo they are both facing the light, side by side, in these clothes that feel almost like they’re… I don’t even know. Purified? Divine? Heavenly? Please excuse my lack of words but this just feels like that, like some kind of final peace where even their clothes are somehow on a higher level. It’s a dream-like future where they both can stand strong and be together forever, finally. (Also makes me think about how we see their rings in these pictures, like a sign of the bond they have formed and the bond they want to form (my left brain again: Pingxie married!!!! and this time am tired of arguing against that).)

And if we add the other photo up there, where they are slightly turned towards each other, sharing a look almost, it feels like they have decided to go. Like this is a mutual choice of walking forward, some kind of turning point like the last photo was in the previous post. They are going and the future is at their reach and it’s going to be amazing (or at least I believe so, once again, bc they deserve their happy ending).

What are we then left with? With a future that includes them being at peace, being content with each other and the surrounding world. A future that is, probably, more from Wu Xie’s point of view than Xiaoge’s but still so utterly loving for the both of them (bc what else would Wu Xie want than happiness for Xiaoge?). And then if we connect this to the other photos in the first part, this feels almost like that ideal reality coming to life in their future, that closeness and joy and basking in the other’s presence stretched to cover an eternity. It’s so soft and gentle and sweet. Just like Pingxie are always. And I’m not even surprised that their future includes all of this bc what else could they wish for than the final relief of being together?

#dmbj #ultimate note #pingxie #oh jesus this is a novel #i still hope any of this makes any sense #i lack words and a brain #but also just #this is my love letter to this photoshoot #bc bazaar is doing amazing #and i just have so many thoughts #and i realized so many things #while doing this #pls hit me with your thoughts #if you have anything to add or another view on this #am so curious #pingxiethoughtsandprayers

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somedayonbroadway · 3 years

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Santa’s Little Helpers

Fandom: Newsies

Word Count: 2k+

Characters: Racetrack Higgins, Albert DaSilva, Jack Kelly, Katherine Plumber, Smalls (Newsies)

Summary: When Albert had told Race that he’d had a surprise for him at the mall, this is not what Race had had in mind.

A/N: So this little fic was a request from Katrina Miller. This reviewer did ask for a Christmas fic with Race and Albert and while that's definitely here, this did turn into a bit of a Sprace fic. I hope that's okay!

Please enjoy!

When Albert had told Race he'd had a surprise for him down at the mall, this is not exactly what Race had had in mind.

Race was now making minimum wage at, what he had been told by Saint Nick himself, was the perfect job for him. He was an elf. If the pointy ears and ridiculous jingle bell hat weren't enough, the shoes certainly completed the outfit. He was clad up in ridiculous green and white socks and even worse tiny red overalls. What didn't make sense to Race was that he had never been particularly short. Neither had Albert. And yet, here they were, pretending they were tiny, had squeaky little voices and painting red little red circles on their noses and cheeks.

Currently, Santa's was on a ten and that meant that Santa's helpers had to deal with the oh-so understanding parents and their screaming kids who had been waiting in line for about two hours now only for Santa to decide he needed a break.

"Oh my gosh, look at him," Race groaned a bit at the voice, turning around to be met with the sight of his all too adorning big brother who was not even alone. No, he had his girlfriend on his arm. "Honey, look at our little elf! They grow up so fast."

The pair had bags and bags of things in their arms. And Race couldn't even be bothered to be the nosy kid he was and try to prematurely snoop. All he could do was glare as Katherine cooed at him, "Aww, we raised a good little elf, Jackie."

With a roll of his eyes, Race just prayed no one else he knew from school stumbled through Santa's Village. As much of a loser as he already was, he didn't think he'd survive the torment. Albert, however, didn't seem to care as he slung an arm around Race's shoulders and hung on him a bit. Albert was eccentric. People expected this kind of thing from him. Race, as he often was, was just along for the ride. Right now, that ride required red, white and green everything and a fake smile for the bratty kids that tugged on his hair and ears.

"Heya, Jack!" Albert grinned. Race pouted his lips over his brother, as though he was asking for some kind of help but Jack only reached into his back pocket and took out his phone, snapping a picture of the pair. Albert was grinning.

Not quite as ecstatic to be here, Race's pout turned into a small glare towards the man who raised him. "Have I ever told you that I hate you?" he asked, only getting a small laugh out of Jack. "I'm burning all of your presents."

Jack only smiled and shrugged. "Well, I guess that means I can go return all of this—"

With his eyes widened in fake terror Race shook his head. "No! Jackie!" he whined. "I want presents…"

"Then I guess you gotta be a good little elf and take all the kiddies to meet Santa," Jack shrugged. Then he smirked. He had such a knowing smirk and Race hated him and yet somehow still loved him for it.

Before he could further insult his big brother in front of the giant line of crabby customers, Katherine was quick to press a quick kiss to his cheek. "We'll be by later to give you guys a ride, okay?" he promised, moving to give a waiting Albert a kiss on the head. "Tinker away my little elves."

"Bye, Red!" Albert called.

"Bye, Red!" Katherine called back, walking away confidently without her boyfriend.

Jack paused to give Race a kiss on the head too. "Be good, okay? Give these kids a good meeting with Santa. You don't know how many of them might actually need it." That was just like Jack. Thinking about others first. Sometimes Race feared that it might be Jack's downfall. He cared too much about others. He was self sacrificing. He couldn't could the number of times Jack had literally given him the shirt off of his back and the food that never reached his mouth. They'd grown up poor. They'd grown up orphans.

But that was a long time ago.

Race was sixteen now. And he had a job like any normal sixteen year old does at Christmas time.

Turning back to Albert, he sighed. "Why did you make me do this?" It was true. If anyone from school saw him here, he'd be torn apart. He and Albert weren't exactly super popular and they had accepted that a long time ago. That didn't mean no one knew who they were. In fact, people knew them as geeks and/or nerds who were constantly the target of some popular kids' pranks.

With a cheeky grin, all Albert could do was shrug. It was impossible to make the redhead embarrassed at this point. Race figured they'd been through enough humiliation to get him immune. See, Albert had not only one, but two older brothers. They were a product of his father's first marriage and were much older than Albert by the fault. They had been tormenting him his whole life. Race loved Albert's older brothers but they had always had sneaky, effective ways of embarrassing their baby brother. "Um, I'm sorry, we spread Christmas cheer to every child in the world. We're basically like the most important people in the world right now. Our job is literally to make Christmas happen. God knows Santa just sits on his ass all year long while we do all the heavy lifting," Albert scoffed, almost looking offended. "And also… money…" he finished, like that part was some great bonus.

To be honest, Albert wasn't wrong. The money was a great thing and Race was glad to have a little cash in his pocket for the holidays. He still had plenty of Christmas shopping to do. "Whatever…" he scoffed, rolling his eyes as they saw Santa coming back. The guy wasn't the best, but he got the job done.

"You're the one who said you wanted a job, man," Albert said.

"I meant a normal job, Al," Race groaned dramatically as he forced himself to make his way over to that big red rope that blocked off their little area. "One where I don't gotta wear a costume." Albert just tugged on Race's hair. Race let out a small yelp but he got back to work, shooting a glare in his best friend's direction as he let the first child in line go through. He only got shoved a little bit by the mother who had only yelled at him the second Santa walked away.

Today was the seventh day Race had been working and that meant, coincidentally, that he was also getting his first paycheck today and that was something to be happy about. It was all he could think about at the moment, as he lifted screaming, kicking, smelly children on and off of Santa's lap while a bored photographer snapped their picture. Well that and, of course, lunch.

Well, sort of.

As hungry as Race was, and Race was really hungry, the idea of having to stand out in the cafeteria like this was enough to make him want to put a bag over his head. According to his manager, he was not allowed to take off the costume at any time. It would ruin the magic, apparently and that just meant they wanted to see what happened when they sent two teenage boys dressed as elves out into the most popular hang out in the city just to see what would happen.

There were literally twenty minutes left before Race and Albert could take an hour long lunch and that's when Race saw him. "Hi, are you guys ready ta meet Santa—" He froze when he looked up to see a very hot, very muscular boy standing above him. "Holy sh—" A hand clamped tightly down over his mouth before the word slipped out and he nearly bit it to get it off.

Spot Conlon was one of the most popular kids at their school. He was the athlete. The quarterback, captain of the soccer team, pitcher of the baseball team and the literal homecoming king was standing right there in front of him and Race was staring at him with wide eyes. "Hi, Spot Conlon," Albert greeted much too cheerfully. Race was sure it had nothing to do with the fact that he was the only person in the world that knew that Race had a huge crush on the older boy and had ever since the sixth grade.

Spot gave the both of them an odd look. "Uh… hi? Do I know you guys?" he asked. It was only then that Race noticed he was holding onto a little girl's hand. He didn't know that Spot had any siblings.

Easily, Albert pulled Race up and put his arm around him again. "Uh… we go ta the same school… I've been in your bio class for the past semester, you live in the same building as Race—"

"Oh you guys are the ones that had to run through the school in your underwear because the Delanceys stole your clothes!" Spot said, like it should've been obvious.

It was immediate, the way Race's face fell into his hands dramatically. Albert hardly reacted. "Yep." Race wished the earth would open up and swallow him whole. That had been one of the single worst days of his life and he loved to have that reminder right now by this boy with this random kid there too. "Anyway, is your sister ready ta meet Santa?"

Snapping back to the moment, Spot looked down at the little girl who seemed very interested in her little toes right then. "Oh, this is actually my niece. Her name's Saraya but we all call her Smalls," he explained. There was still another kid up on Santa's lap giving him a list about the size of himself. "She really wanted to meet Santa, but she's deaf so… h-he doesn't have to talk to her or anything, she just wanted to say hi."

So maybe Race was desperate to impress this boy somehow, but he actually got very excited at hearing that. He immediately looked up before he kneeled back down to that little girl's level. He lifted up his hands slowly. "Hi," he signed with a small smile. "My name's Tyler. Are you excited to see Santa?"

The little girl's face lighting up tuned out the voice of his best friend looking up at Spot and spilling his life story. "His brother is hard of hearing. They were in a really bad car accident when they were little so now he has to wear hearing aids but they couldn't afford them when they were little so…" Albert never knew when to stop talking.

It was true. Jack had lost his hearing almost completely when he was ten years old. It hadn't been an easy adjustment for either of them, especially since they were orphaned in the very same crash. Jack hadn't handled it well. So Race had helped him learn a language that he didn't have to hear and now here he was.

They'd both lived.

Saraya nodded to him and signed back, "I know that's not the real Santa, but my uncle says he's gonna tell the real Santa my wish!"

With a big smile, Race nodded right back. "It's true! Santa just so happens to be a personal friend of mine," he explained a bit smugly, his heart only warming when that grin on Smalls's face grew. "What are you gonna ask for?"

That's when Spot stopped her, picking her up to mask that fact. He placed her on his hip before looking down at Race who slowly stood to his feet. "She… uh… she wants to see her mom… I'm trying to get her to ask for something else, but… her ma ain't home because… well she just ain't, but… we're hopin' ta get her home by Christmas. We just need enough to get a plane ticket," Spot shrugged, clearly not up for explaining at the moment.

Something sunk in Race's chest. He nodded, glancing back and realizing that it was Saraya's turn. "Uh, it's her turn…" Race stated awkwardly. So Spot nodded and walked over to Santa, setting Saraya down on his lap and translating for her as she sighed and signing back what Santa said.

"You are so in love with him," Albert sighed.

Race elbowed his friend in the gut and turned to him. "I'm not even… I'm thinkin' about Saraya! She just… I don't know… reminds me of Jack, okay?" he shrugged. "Except she's not quite as sad as he was when…" Race shook his head.

"Okay, don't go gettin' all emotional. Just get her a gift 'r somethin'."

Race smiled at that.

So that's exactly what they did.

This is how Race ended up on Albert's back, still clad up in annoying green and red colors as they quickly went from store to store trying to find the right thing during their lunch break.

"And then Kat said, 'well, if you admit that you don't believe in Santa, then maybe he'll stop comin' around, so like… I'm sixteen and I still get presents from Santa and I call that a win," Race shrugged, resting his chin on Albert's shoulder.

Albert scoffed. "Jeanne is the reason Santa still comes around ta our house— she misses you, by the way," he stated. "She's honestly, the cutest little kid I've ever met."

With a small laugh, Race jumped off of his friend's back and bounced over to the little stuffed animals. They were, of course, in the Disney store. He didn't know where else one would go to get a gift for a child. "Of course she misses me, I'm her favorite," he said, like it should've been obvious.

He came face to face with a little Stitch plushie. His heart swelled. It was one similar to something a nurse had gotten Jack all those years ago when Jack was in the hospital. Race shook himself out of it as he pulled the thing off the shelf. "This is the one," he decided.

"Ohana means family or whatever," Albert shrugged. "It's cute. Get it."

When they got back to Santa's Village, they stole some wrapping paper off of one of the decorations to wrap the gift. Race mostly swatted away Albert's hand when he tried to put a piece down all of the place. Race prided himself in his gift wrapping skills. "Dude, if you're using more than three pieces of tape, you've done something wrong!" he laughed as Albert hung a piece of tape from his nose.

But eventually, they managed to have a gift to give to the little girl who missed her mother.

Race got so wrapped up in the thought as he and Albert continued on that he didn't even notice the Delanceys walk by and mock them. He was too busy trying to give the kids a nice visit with Santa Claus. Some of them might actually need it.

—

When someone knocked on Spot Conlon's door later that night, he didn't know what to expect. The little elf boy definitely wasn't it. So, maybe he knew what the kid's name was. Racer. That didn't mean he was supposed to care.

Race wasn't wearing his costume anymore. He only wore the makeup. "Uh… hi…" he said. Spot almost greeted him back before the kid kept talking. "Look, I know it ain't like we're friends and you can make fun of me forever but… I… I got Saraya this and… this is for you guys…" He handed Spot a neatly wrapped box for Saraya and an envelope. It was his paycheck.

With a curious look, Spot smiled a little bit. "Um… thank you," he shrugged, not really knowing what to say. "You really didn't have to—"

"Saraya should be able to see her mom on Christmas…" Race shrugged.

Spot squinted at him a bit. "What—"

"Also, just to put this out there, I don't always look like this," he said.

A sly smirk made its way onto Spot's face as he shrugged. "Too bad. You make a cute elf."

Doing his best not to go weak in the knees, Race smiled breathily and let out a small, delighted laugh. "Uh, anyways—"

"Hey, what the Delanceys did," Spot interrupted, scratching awkwardly at the back of his neck. "That was messed up. I'm sorry I didn't say anything."

For some reason, that might've been the best thing Spot had ever said to him. Okay so maybe this was the first conversation they were really having all alone, but still. "Well, since it's the season of forgiving an' all…" Race shrugged. Then he sighed. "Merry Christmas, Spot."

Spot smiled at him. "Merry Christmas, Racer… and hey… thank you…"

And with that, Race walked away, feeling the Christmas spirit flowing through him more than he had in years.

Merry Christmas everybody! Happy holidays! Much love!

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya, fansies!

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dapperdeerstabbing · 4 years

Note

How would the Hazbin crew react to a human who accidentally got sent to hell falling in love with them? If they develop feelings, how would they react to the human being willing to stay with them in hell?

Anon, this is my longest response to anything so far; I also wrote this the other night after coming off of a nine hour shift and was sleep deprived as fuck, I hope you’re still (somehow?) satisfied by this!

Charlie

• “Oh my god! Are you okay???”

• She’s very concerned for you.

• What do you mean you’re a human?

• What do you mean you accidentally got sent to Hell?

• You’re immediately escorted to the hotel for safety.

• Do you want to go home? She’ll help find a way for you to!

• “Wait, you…you like me?”

• Yeah, duh, how could you not like the Princess of Hell, who’s actually so kind and loving?

• Of course she develops feelings back.

• “Oh, but…you need to go back home, right? I shouldn’t keep you here. That would be selfish.”

• Telling her you’re actually willing to stay in Hell shocks her. She tries very hard to convince you not to, seeing as you don’t belong here morally.

• Arguing with you proves futile. She allows you to move in with her, in an attempt to keep you safe.

Vaggie

• The first thing you get is a spear pressed to your neck.

• “Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?”

• You’re a human. Vaggie was once a human. She just…doesn’t trust you. Though, she does eventually take the spear away from your neck. Only so you can speak.

• “Okay, how do you just accidentally get sent to Hell?”

• You don’t know. And you tell her as much.

• “Well…okay. Come with me. There’s no need for you to just…die out here, I guess.”

• Vaggie’s first instinct is to go to Charlie for help. She gets you a hotel room, just so you’ve got a place to call your own for now.

• When you tell her you’ve developed feelings for her, Vaggie doesn’t really reciprocate…at first.

• “You’re just…stressed, or something, from being down here. The feelings will fade.”

• They don’t, though.

• She really can’t believe that you want to stay there, in Hell, because you want to be with her. But she is willing to give you a chance.

• “I…yeah, sure. Let’s give it a try, okay?”

Angel

• He’s not that concerned for your health, not at first. Really, he thinks you might be dead.

• When you sit back up, he’s alarmed.

• “Oh! You’re not dead? That’s fortunate!”

• Angel keeps you close to him at all times after you explain your situation. He’s very…interested in you.

• It straight up takes maybe five minutes of real interaction for you to gain feelings for the spider boi. Honestly, how could you not like him?

• Truly, he’s not surprised at all. “Well yeah sure, you’re a human, but so what? Everyone likes me, toots.”

• Oh but, wait…your feelings persist? It’s not just admiration?

• And you’re willing to stay in Hell for him?

• “What the fuck?”

• Honestly, how could he not eventually get feelings for you in return? It was pretty much inevitable.

• Angel probably cries because most of the “feelings” people have for him are just pure lust. Not that he’s never been genuinely loved! It’s just rare, especially in his line of work.

Niffty

• Now isn’t this a surprise! A new f r i e n d.

• Niffty wastes no time in cleaning you up.

• “That fall really made your outfit filthy, and we can’t have that! Here, let me!”

• She’s asked too many times now if you’re okay or not. But you know she’s (probably) just a wee bit concerned. Though, maybe not, she is a demon after all.

• “I don’t know why you’re here, but I know the best place to go!” And of course, she means Charlie’s hotel; she gets some kind of bonus from Alastor for pleasantly talking about it.

• Niffty’s always around, keeping your new living space clean and providing you with food and small gifts, just because she can. You even tell her she doesn’t need to, but she never seems to mind.

• She’s just so sweet. And tender and caring and and and- yeah, you being able to go on about her is really making your feelings obvious.

• Unfortunately, Niffty seems to be on a quest of sorts to find a very specific man.

• Even knowing this, for some fuckass reason you want to stay with her? In Hell?

• “That’s so kind! You can help me find the man I’m looking for!”

• Plot twist: maybe you’re the man!

Husk

• To be honest, you go a while in Hell without seeing or even being made aware of Husk.

• And frankly, he’s indifferent about your situation.

• “Oh, so you don’t belong here? Heh, yeah, I’ve heard that one before.”

• He really doesn’t care about your predicament. Though, he is somewhat interested in it.

• Somehow, you find yourself falling for the grumpy cat boi.

• Husk never catches onto this. You wind up having to tell him.

• And - shocker - he just doesn’t care.

• “Man, I feel sorry for you. That’s gotta suck.”

• You even go a step further and tell him you’re willing to stay in Hell because of your feelings for him. Husk doesn’t necessarily share these feelings now; but he is a little interested in your choice.

• “I mean…I guess if you want to stay here, that’s fine. I don’t mind the company.”

• Husk is probably just fine with becoming good pals with you; he’s more interested in a solid friendship than romance, seeing as he literally doesn’t have the ability to feel love (or at least, so he says).

Alastor

• Oh. Oh, dear, of all the demons to run into while accidentally being in the depths of Hell, did it have to be the fucking Radio Demon?

• Of course it did! And my, is he interested in your weird…predicament.

• “Hm, a human here, in Hell? What a strange occurrence! Come deary, we’ll get this sorted out.”

• He’s such a gentleman, and so charming! You’re immediately smitten with him.

• Alastor figures this out almost as soon as it becomes apparent, too. This is amusing to him, nothing more, nothing left.

• “Darling, I’m flattered! But I’m afraid I simply do not share the same feelings.”

• Ouch.

• A demon overlord apparently hasn’t got the time for romance. Damn.

• You inevitably tell him you’re willing to stay there in order to be with him. While he still doesn’t reciprocate your feelings, he’s intrigued by the fact you’re just…willing to drop everything? Because of him?

• “My my, it seems I can’t change your little mind. Hm, perhaps I’ll have some use for you down here, then?”

• The Radio Demon gains a new acquaintance.

826 notes · View notes

duhragonball · 3 years

Note

Krillin for the character ask :)

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them: It’d be easy for me to say “he’s just a good dude” and leave it at that. I think people would agree with that statement, but I think it runs deeper than that. The thing that stuck with me about Krillin was when I was checking out the bonus features on the Movie 6 DVD I bought in 2002 or whenever, and they had an interview with Sonny Strait where he explained that Krillin only got into martial arts to impress girls, and that was the same reason Sonny got into voice acting. Maybe I’m misremembering that, but it always stuck with me.

Krillin wants things out of life, and unlike a lot of the other characters, he’s not looking to get them by wishing on a magic dragon. He wants to become worthy of the things he wants, and he may not always be sure of how to get there, he knows that he has to become more than he is.

Recently, I’ve been seeing excerpts from Barack Obama’s book, where he talks about reading up on subjects to try, unsuccessfully, to get girls to like him in college. I think the idea was that he was trying to be self-effacing, but it hasn’t gone over very well. I’m not sure if the problem was that he wasn’t being self-effacing enough, or if there’s something more sinister about reading Karl Marx just in case it helps your odds of getting noticed. I’m not going to wade into that controversy, except to say that it reminded me of Krillin.

Is it shallow to have self-serving reasons to improve yourself? Did I just answer my own question? The point I’m making here is that it’s a useful motivator. Krillin has self-esteem issues, and he joined the Orin Temple and then Kame House to try to overcome them. He thought “If I just get really good at this one thing, then people will like me.” And we can say “Oh, no, it doesn’t work that way, Krillin, people like you because you’re a such a good person, and besides, it doesn’t matter how good you are at martial arts.”

Okay, fine, let’s assume that’s true, and Krillin deceived himself by training in martial arts. Oh no! He put in all that work, and all he got out of it was... being the strongest human on Earth. Shoot. He made himself a better person for nothing.

The reality is that I don’t think he would be as well-liked if he hadn’t gone down this road, simply because people wouldn’t have gotten to know him. That’s really what it’s about. It’s easy to say that you’re liked for “who you are on the inside”, but what people really want is to be noticed long enough to be liked for who they are. And sometimes you gotta take a long look at yourself and say “I need to do something to grab people’s attention.”

And sometimes, in order to motivate yourself into that kind of work, you have to play that trick on yourself. “Just think, if I put in those extra reps in the gym, the ladies’ll be all over me!” And it never actually happens, but it gets you through that workout, and the next, and the next, and the next.

I think we can all relate to that. I’m writing this because three people asked me to, and I’m sort of hoping a few more will see it and like what I wrote. I try to get better, because I like the rush of validation that comes with it. And if I don’t get it, well, boo-hoo, I wrote a few hundred words about Krillin, a subject I enjoy writing about. It’s a no-lose situation, and there’s some non-zero chance that attractive single women might see this and decide to slide into my DMs. It’s a tiny chance, hardly worth mentioning, but it’s a lot higher than if I just sit in my apartment and stare at the wall.

Why I don’t: Ocean Dub Krillin really rubbed me the wrong way, because they wrote and voice directed the character to be really nebbishy. That wouldn’t necessarily make him a bad character, but it definitely conflicted with what you see on the screen, where he’s stepping to Nappa, Vegeta, Dodoria, and everything else he has to deal with. Once Sonny got the role, everything turned out cool. Mondo cool, if you will.

I suppose I should point out the flip side of what I wrote above. Krillin’s so focused on being worthy that he fails to recognize his achievements. That’s admirable in its way, but it also makes you worry about the guy. Like, he knows 18 is crazy about him, right? Wait, does Obama know people like him? Do I? Oh I might have made myself sad there for a minute, excuse me.

Favorite episode (scene if movie):

Probably the moment he tries to take on Super Buu all by himself. One of the cool things about Krillin is that he’s taken on every major villain from Piccolo Junior to Buu, despite being outclassed. I think the Super Buu thing is the best one, though, because in that situation there’s literally no chance of anyone jumping in to save him. His entire plan is to hold off Buu for a few seconds and maybe buy a few minutes for the others. He’s doomed and he knows it won’t even work as a diversion, but he still jumps in anyway. It proves that this is who he is. When there’s literally no one left to impress, and nothing left to gain, he’ll still play things out the same way.

Favorite season/movie: The Androids/Cell Saga is probably his best material overall, just because of his conflicted feelings regarding 18, and the difficult choices he makes because of that. You can make a strong case for the Namek Saga, where it’s literally just Krillin and Bulma and Gohan, so he has to take the lead by default, but I’m just not that into the Namek Saga.

Favorite line:

This is really more from one of the video games. I think Budokai 3, but I’m not sure. Piccolo demands custody of Gohan and Krillin’s like “No way, you’re probably gonna eat him or something!” and I’m pretty sure this wasn’t in the Ocean Dub, so it completely caught me off-guard, like it was the last thing I expected Krillin to say. And then Piccolo comes back with “I’m not going to eat him!” like he’s offended at the very suggestion. As a runner-up, I dig that part in DBZA 54, where Trunks and Vegeta are both reeling from their losses to Perfect Cell, and Krillin reminds them that they don’t have to posture around him, because it’s just him... “Krillin. Everyone’s friend.”

Favorite outfit: That’s easy.

Yeah, the Frieza Soldier armor looked mighty good on this dude, and the cop uniform does too, and the classic Turtle Hermit outfit is a signature look, but this, right here, is the Krillin for me. My man’s got the blue shirt under his orange shirt. No more of the Yamcha slipppers. Those look great on Yamcha, don’t get me wrong, but Krillin needs those big chunky Goku boots, because they’re perfect for stomping those pesky girlfriend-exploding remotes. Fellas, this is the ideal male body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

OTP: Maron HAHAHAHAHAHA oh wow. No. It’s 18, obviously.

Brotp: Clearly Goku is his bro, but it’s not surprising at all how effortlessly he gets along with just about everyone else. He’s bros with the entire world.

Head Canon: I’m pretty sure the Maron/Marron thing was just a coincidence in real life. Maron the girlfriend was a filler character, and Marron the daughter was introduced in the manga some time later, and both used the same naming convention to end up in the same place. However, I choose to believe that Krillin actually named his kid after his ex, and he somehow convinced 18 to go along with that idea.

By that, I don’t mean he had to sweet talk her into it or promise a bunch of stuff in exchange. I mean he must have discussed what to name their kid, and 18 was like “Your ex-girlfriend? Seriously?” and he was like “Yeah, I know she’s a ditz, but you gotta understand I was in a really low place and she helped me through it.” Or something like that, where once he lays out the whole reason 18′s like “Yeah, you know what? Okay.”

Or maybe Maron helped deliver the baby or something. Or she was the surrogate mother? Holy shit I might be onto something.

Unpopular opinion: Krillin clanks when he walks, due to the solid brass balls he’s got.

youtube

A wish: They should do a movie where Krillin just fights Frieza and wins. Decisively, undisputably, irrevocably. Krillin is stronger than Frieza from that point forward. I don’t care if that means nerfing Frieza or godmodding Krillin, but I just want it made plain that if they use Frieza from here on, it has to be with the understanding that Krillin can whip his ass at any time.

That might sound silly, and I guess it is, but you see what this accomplishes, right? It forces Frieza into a new character dynamic, so it’s not just the same old shit with him. Or Toei collectively admits that they can’t use him anymore, which was what they should have decided in 1995. I’m fine either way.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Don’t grow his hair back, okay?

5 words to best describe them: Qualified to sell real estate.

My nickname for them: The Kriller.

#ask duhragonball #dragon ball #krillin #heavydbz

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bladekindeyewear · 4 years

Text

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-05-19

Figured an upd8 was coming, it’s felt like enough time has passed for one.

Huh, looking at my last post I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to play through Pesterquest sometime... work is busy and stressing me out a bit, I’m not sure when I’ll have the energy on the side to do that. (Maybe I’ll livetweet it like I did Undertale a while ago, but this time not looking at my twitter replies so I don’t get spoiled by One Guy™?)

Also, including bonus commentary on A Threat Sensed.

Okay, going in completely blind. I’d guessed from context that we’re hopping over to Meat side to get a chapter there before we can come back to actually see Yiffy?

Yep. Okay, what is this about exactly?

(Agh, dammit, I’ve been copying and pasting so much at work remoting into Windows lately that now I’m automatically trying to hit control-C instead of command-C to copy.)

> CHAPTER 9. How Goes The Eulogizing, Dear?

CONTENT NOTE: This chapter contains Child Abuse.

Which one???

Wait

JANE: (Where is he?) JANE: (It's a question I've found myself asking many times in recent days.)

Holy SHIT we get two Candy chapters in a row??? So we might see her right away?? No, it’s gotta just be another tiny glimpse.

(Has two Candy chapters in a row happened before? Future Boots, scroll back up and put this here. FUTURE BOOTS: “I forgot to scroll back up and put that here.” EDIT: Also, not the first time with two in a row, but it IS the first time with THREE in a row, huh.)

So Jane has to be talking about either Tavros or Dave. --Oh, if this was a Candy Side chapter title, I guess Rose or Jade is eulogizing Dave for John?

> (==>)

JANE: (Where now is our merry savior?) JANE: (Where is the horn that was honking?) JANE: (Where is the cape and the codpiece, and the...) JANE: (The...) JANE: (Oh, fiddlesticks.)

What? Is she reading a childrens’ book? --Oh. She’s eulogizing Gamzee. So that gives us a third option, where the rebellion crashes the funeral somehow, probably audiovisually rather than in person. (Which would make sense, given Candy practically began with Gamzee crashing Dirk’s funeral.)

> (==>)

Ah never mind, she’s still writing it.

That sure is a single button drama-remote that’s going to be pressed at some point. Oh, and who the fuck keeps a spork in a pen cup??? --No no, don’t say it’s one of those pens with a spork at the eraser end, either ready-made or rubber-banded to the side. That would make sense. You totally know it isn’t that and is just a spork.

JANE: (Okay, poetry is out.) JANE: (What else?) JANE: (Hrm...) JANE: (I've always been pretty good at crying on cue.) JANE: (Could I try staging an emotional breakdown?) JANE: (That could work; playing to people's humanity.)

Why were you crying in Jake’s arms about his death if you didn’t care that much? Did you just want him to hold you and kinda make him feel in on things again? Or did you just cry yourself out about him?

JANE: (Or whatever is the more inclusive term.)

I bet the rest of Earth C figured out a more inclusive term millenia ago FUCK I accidentally added millennia to my dictionary misspelled instead of correcting it hold on--

...There, killed the entry for it. ...Huh. Take a look at my Chrome dictionary’s custom-added words over the years, apparently:

Caliborn Eridan Kanaya Matriorb Meenah Tavros alchemiter dichotomic nephilim reblogged uncaptchalogues uncaptchaloguing

That’s fun.

Okay back to reading. Millennia. Phew! Where was I.

JANE: (One really good and calculated weep could do it, I think.) JANE: (But then there's the danger that I might get carried away and do it for real.) JANE: (And I can't risk that.)

So still feeling something, just too used to calculating over the past years.

JANE: (What can I say about him that will stir up their emotions?) JANE: (Do I mention the stuff about the milk?) JANE: (Think Crocker, think.)

WHY would you-- how much did Gamzee normalize adult breastfeeding?!

JAKE: Ahoy over there!

Not the best time.

(The thing with the divorce papers from the Epilogue and John implying he was planning with Jake to execute something that sounds like a divorce... is that going to be sprung here? Did her lawyers send the divorce papers way back when she was in a fit of pique, and he just had them available to sign now at the tactical moment? Or... let me pull the exact text...)

JOHN: now, harry anderson, i know that you and tavros haven't always gotten along. JOHN: but i am going to have to ask you to try and look out for him for the time being. JOHN: your uncle jake and i... well, i'll explain later. JOHN: let's just say that gamzee isn't the only family member jane is losing today.

(So is John going to submit the papers? Or did they already go through a while ago and default custody to John or something who’s going to adopt him too or some nonsense? And did he plan this out with Jake NOW, or a while ago, and if only a while ago, is Jake going to KNOW whatever John’s about to pull in that respect is about to happen??)

> (==>)

Butte

Janepalme

> (==>)

JAKE: Er... how goes the eulogizing, dear?

Gah. I completely forgot again that capitalized-first-letter chapter names don’t mean KANAYA is saying them. That probably makes a lot more sense out of my wondering about the chapter title earlier to those of you who didn’t realize I was making that mistake.

JANE: It turns out that it's mighty difficult to find touching things to say about a person, the relationship with whom was predicated on deep-seated mutual loathing.

Hah!

--A loathing you regarded as largely more important to you than Jake ever was, by the way. You asshole.

JANE: I imagine this is one of the reasons no funerary tradition was ever established on Alternia, besides the barbarism of their culture. DIRK: Jesus christ. JANE: Not only did a significant proportion of their interpersonality depend on romance in the form of hatred, but it was a society based on cruelty and violence. JANE: What reason could they have had to provide for the dead? JANE: What kind of last rites could they have even imagined?

I wondered for a moment why (bg!)Dirk of all people would react to a single line of her starting to bring up prejudices, but then I realized that (1) Brain Ghost Dirk is a little more Jakey, and (2) Dirk knew that more ranting would follow the first line.

JANE: I can't think of anything good to write about him because deep down, I hated his guts. JANE: But he was and is beloved of the multitude, so I have to think of something regardless. JAKE: Im not sure i understand. JANE: Don't worry your pretty little head about it. JANE: This is politics, Jakey. JANE: Lying through your two front teeth about people you hate is about as good a definition as it's possible to get. JANE: But, by gum, is it tiring work.

Mm. It’s a position Jane put herself in, but it’s still a legitimate position once you’re there.

JANE: The funeral is tomorrow, after all.

Got it.

DIRK: Dude, the bowl. JAKE: Hm? JAKE: Oh, right. JANE: What is it now, Jake. JAKE: I brought something for our guest as well. JANE: You mean the prisoner. JAKE: Y...es.

Wait, bowl?

Oh god damnit which of you had the idea to feed her with a DOG BOWL. Either of you could have thought of it, and either of you would be horrible for it.

> (==>)

Huh, that outfit on Yiffy looks familiar, like a reference to something. And a black tail? This definitely isn’t quite the look I was expecting from Jade Plus Rose, but I suppose the snazzy tie is a Roseish vibe. Also reminiscent of Jade’s old Dead Shuffle dress. Formal wear and soccer cleats??

JANE: She's over in the corner. JANE: Don't worry, she won't bite. JANE: I've seen to that already.

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN. I don’t see anything over her mouth! Did she stick something in it, or drug her? File her fucking teeth???

I mean I did forget the Child Abuse trigger warning to be fair. Hoping whatever would be on her mouth is just not shown in-panel yet for stylistic reasons.

> (==>)

JAKE: Its only mac and cheese, sorry. JAKE: Its all I know how to make, haha. JAKE: ... JAKE: I um... hope you can safely partake of cheese? JAKE: ... JAKE: Well, JAKE: Bon appetit.

How the fuck did Jake eat on his island then? --Oh right, preserved food cans that Grandma Jade stored up, I think I remember. Why would cheese not be a thing for them, if it’s fine for Jade? I know he’s probably not just worried about lactose intolerance.

Either way, if she’s drugged here, that’ll mean we won’t get a good idea of her for a while, so which is it...

> (==>)

DIRK: Bon appetit. DIRK: Seriously dude? JAKE: (What? Did i pronounce it wrong?) DIRK: Jake. DIRK: You put the food in a fucking dog bowl. JAKE: (It was all there was, ok???) JAKE: (I feel awful enough as it is without you getting on my case about it.)

Ah, missed the bone pun. AND, yeah, Jake, you’re a fucking idiot, you could have put it in a cup or something.

JAKE: (So far ive yet to see anything come of that brilliant plan of yours.) JAKE: (Are you sure sending that message to the others was enough?)

Okay, so he IS coordinating this slightly.

> (==>)

Horrifying image to contemplate, eh Jane?

Or anger-inducing?

> (==>)

Seems about right!

> (==>)

Oh that’s a GREAT exasperated Jane face.

JANE: I hope you're not expecting dessert, young lady.

I like how Jane didn’t notice, comment on, or care about the bowl. How can you hate a kid so much??

> (==>)

Oh I know why I felt like I recognized the outfit style, it’s because it’s ANIME AS FUCK. Feels like some Persona 4 Arena nonsense, and I say that not having played any of those games or even remembering what they looked like. Also, white hair, black fur’d dog parts? Nice change of pace.

YIFFY: GRRRRRRRRR... JANE: Oh no you don't.

Red text? What color exactly... “#D00009”? Huh. That’s nowhere near Alt-Callie’s #FF0000, and darker than Dave’s #E00707. In fact, let me go back and check those spilled color pins the commentary pointed out from an update or two ago... no, the red pin is #E63225, closer to Dave’s color. (Also, is Yiffy blocking the doorway out? That’s a pretty slack chain then.)

Did Jane see to it that she wouldn’t bite with like, a water spray bottle?

(EDIT: Oh my FUCKING GOD, THAT's why it's #D00009...)

> (==>)

FUCK I didn’t notice the shock collar in the Yiffy image! FUCK YOU, Jane.

> (==>)

Keeping someone in line with collars, especially ones that punish whenever one strays out of line, has always been a decent way for her to mix in some Doomy control of others to show how she’s “grown” to balance her main role and her Tiara-controlled-like inverse for more power. Doom in part represents boundaries that you can’t cross without getting hurt or punished.

> (==>)

FUCK, those little buck teeth!? D’:

JANE: That's more like it.

She HAS to have more of a reason for hating her than hating her parents, right? Like, more than that and general racism applying to partdogfolk?

> (==>)

Hey fuck off with that!

> (==>)

This is a pretty cool ima-- are those piercings on her dog ear? I didn’t notice that in the first shot, neat.

JANE: You've been a thorn in my side ever since I agreed to enroll you at the academy, little madam. JANE: Back then, I was doing a favor for two old friends who made a disgusting mistake. JANE: I'm no longer going to play nice with you just because of your parents, however. JANE: That truce is over. JANE: Do I make myself understood?

What the fuck? WHY would you do that? Why does Jane run "Ms. Paint’s Home for Inconvenient Girls”? What did Yiffy do to piss her off so much there, how much trouble could she have caused?

I don’t know if she’s referring to the behind-Kanaya’s-back part as disgusting or she’s just being MORE racist.

> (==>)

JANE: We don't want you passing out during the ceremony, do we?

Oh, just showing the hostage off during the clown funeral, huh? Classy much?

> (==>)

JANE: Now, be a good hostage and get some rest, Yiffany dear. JANE: We've got a big day tomorrow.

For a politician, Jane’s not good at looking at herself in a mirror.

> (==>)

JANE: Night night. JANE: Hoo hoo.

> (Yiffy: Lights out.)

Huh, dream stuff is gonna be relevant out in Candy then? *click*

Okay, dark background all of a sudden. Properly dramatic? You even have to highlight the non-link “>” part of the Next link to see it.

> (==>)

-- thespiansGlamor [TG] began pestering adamantGriftress [AG] --

Well, I don’t know WHY it’s happening, but the white-backed pesterlog suddenly on the dark site framing is certainly evocative. Of like, a mood, or something.

TG: i thought he was pretty quiet down there. TG: we'll make a rebel of him yet! AG: Lol. AG: I think it's more that he can't sleep. AG: I know how he feels. TG: yeah. TG: today was a lot. AG: ... TG: do you wanna talk about it? AG: Ugh, not you as well.

It’s really jarring to transition between Homestuck’s “kids jarringly mentally resistant to freaking out about the end of the world” to HS^2′s more realistic “kids traumatized by their first firefight even though it was an overwhelming victory-escape”.

TG: but seriously, do you? AG: Not really. TG: not even about... you know? TG: her? AG: No. TG: ... are you sure? AG: A8solutely. AG: What are you, my moirail? AG: Just leave it, Harry. TG: ok.

Are they about to have an “I wonder what Yiffy’s like” talk?

> (==>)

Very similar Tav/Vrissy convo to the previous one.

GG: I havent ever shared a bedroom before,,, GG: Not even for a slumber party,,, AG: Tavvy, you are just a8out the saddest person I've ever met.

Well, we have an even better idea how horrible Jane can be with kids, now. From Nanna to THIS is quite jarring. I wonder how the double Nannasprites that must still be around here somewhere feel?

> (==>)

TG: nothing about my dad is cute. TG: what are you even saying. AG: Lmao. TG: seriously! TG: i think he has something against that word, even. he gets super weird about it. AG: He's a strange and funny m8n. TG: yeah. TG: ... TG: i think something bad must have happened.

...um. What? Why would John have some sort of trauma about the word cute or being called it?

Did John dress up as a hint of his buried June ambitions as a kid and Dad lavish him with “SO CUTE” praise in an epic supportiveness backfire that caused him to shelve the idea of wearing non-masc clothes and being happier on the flipside of gender ever again??? Because if that’s how June gets canonized as promised, it’s a little harsher than the back of my mind was hoping. I guess it kind of had to be though from the premise of how it was read into his childhood for the original idea, though. Fuck, I hope this Cute business is about something different from that (like a Terezi reference or such) just to get less John Sads. (But still June. Definitely still want to get June.)

> (==>)

Oh, and now Vrissy is doing nothing but talking about what she said she didn’t want to talk about, of course. (Also I like how JANE’s now being called the Batterwitch.)

AG: And the worst part was they didn't even fight a8out it! AG: That made me madder than 8nything else. AG: It felt like I was the only person who even W8S mad! GG: I dont think thats true,,, AG: What would you know a8out it?! GG: Maybe nothing,,, GG: Sorry,,, GG: Its just,,, GG: To me,,, all the way through the conversation,,, aunt kanaya looked even angrier than you,,, AG: ... AG: Adults are so fucking weird.

Guh, I don’t want to be reminded how hurt a good chunk of the fanbase is by Kanaya getting hurt this badly.

Original Tavros was always SLIGHTLY perceptive of others sometimes, but maybe perceptiveness is being hinted at as a Tavros specialty? We still don’t know his classpect/hero-title or have any firm guesses based on purely him evidence. (Also, frightened kids of abusive households tend to learn to get perceptive pretty fucking quickly I hear.)

> (==>)

TG: dad was sitting in the cafeteria with aunt jade and your moms. TG: it looked like they were discussing something important... they were whispering and stuff.

[etc etc] Alright, the what-happened-to-Dave bit. And I imagine they’re kind of helping John grieve there, since Rose and Jade have talked that out already.

TG: aunt kanaya's was the only face i could see. TG: she was standing next to them, but she wasn't looking at what was going on. TG: almost like she couldn't bear to. AG: I doubt it. Kanaya's got a8out as much Emotivity as a very reclusive stone. TG: ok, i think that is bullshit but whatever. TG: she saw me standing there, but didn't say anything. she just shook her head slightly, and pointed back out into the hallway i came down.

Yep, giving them some space to grieve. Also-- gosh, shouldn’t Vrissy have the same emotive senses that Aranea implied Vriska shared with her? Kanaya isn’t that EXPRESSIVE but she’s certainly full of emotion. Also, I hope part of her not bearing to watch wasn’t lingering anger toward Jade and Rose mixing with that, but there probably was a bit of that too, though Dave being gone is so much harsher than that. --I just realized they might not have broken the news to Karkat yet, either.

AG: I guesadxcxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz TG: vrissy?

Put to sleep by someone slumping down on your phone keypad, or surprised by something about the other conversation?

Oh shit, “other conversation” reminded me I didn’t look at Tavros’s chumhandle:

glutinousGymnast [GG]

HHHHHhhhhuh. Hm... huh? hhhh. huh? what, but. Why would. ?????

I really don’t understand what that chumhandle or any of its entendres should signify in this context.

Also, this means for our new four kids we have TG, GG, AG, and ??.

> (==>)

GG: I think she might have succumbed to sleep quite suddenly,,, GG: It would explain the,,,,,, interesting messages I've been getting for a while,,, TG: hehe. TG: i guess that tracks. TG: she does that from time to time.

That’s... strange. Homestuck’s taught us to be suspicious of that.

TG: ... TG: tav? GG: Yes,,, harry anderson,,,? TG: what does it feel like to know someone who's died?

Who is Harry referring to? (EDIT: Yes I know Gamzee for Tavros, but I meant Harry talks like he's worried he'll have to feel that way soon?) Is he just kind of inferring that something bad might have happened to Uncle Dave? Got that perceptive “parents are about to tell me about a death in the family” vibe? Or did he overhear more than he let on to Vrissy?

...alright, that’s the last page of this update. Looks like this chapter is going to continue to have a good bunch of grieving, or talk around it.

---

Now for Bonus Commentary for A Threat, Sensed. For some reason I have a dim memory of like... reading this myself without commenting on it? Or skimming it? But I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that. Weird. Must have imagined doing it.

Ah, I think I saw the opening paragraph scrolling Patreon, and my mind kinda filled in the blanks, this is still looking new to me.

Okay, mostly banter and japes in the commentary here. About Dirk “throwing a huge tantrum in his philosophy cave”.

We’ve had quite a bit of speculation on whether this is “really” Andrew. To that, I think we’d say that it doesn’t “really” matter.

Really? That was speculated about? :/

Here we discover that Dirk has not, as some people have speculated, been directly intervening into the Candy timeline, or influencing it in any way. In fact, he has a very hard time seeing anything going on there at all.

Mhmm, and that was a pretty important thing to learn.

A couple of years ago I might have agreed with the take that everything happening in Candy is simply too outlandish to ever happen naturally, without direct, villainous interference, but that was before literally every fucking batshit insane thing that has happened on Real Life Earth started going down, and now I will believe literally anything.

This is a nice bit of distraction from the idea that at least the opening parts of the Candy story were written/narrated by Original, Alive Calliope over on meat side. To refresh your memory of what was pointed out to me:

ROXY: back when jade first got all effed up callie saw somethin and it made them freak out ROXY: it took me weeks to convince them that it was safe to come home ROXY: but now we got the opposite problem and they arent leavin the house at all ROXY: they stay home all day with the blinds drawn paintin some weird ass shit on the walls TEREZI: WH4T? ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise ROXY: some of it is like ROXY: weird and violent?? ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um ROXY: nudity???? TEREZI: >:? ROXY: yeah yikes ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married and shit ROXY: anyway thats kept callie kinda busy

Which tracks with the initial out-of-character-seemingness of almost everyone at the start of Candy, and how they kind of tried to railroad things back onto the “Happy??” track after Dirk derailed it with his weird self-accumulation suicide, along with some of the flowery-idyllic descriptions of characters seeing each other bathed in a halo of light and such.

Of course, they’re not going to out-and-out STATE that Calliope was at fault for that narration, helping the Candy story not necessarily fall out the way it did “naturally”, until we finally get a glimpse of her on the heroes’ ship in Meat probably still painting the continuing Candy events, inspiring them into the void of the singularity with her latent powers. Til then, it’s a bit of misdirection whenever the topic is to be brought up. Along with a mix of Roxy’s late-Candy point to John of more or less “why COULDN’T we have done this naturally? you don’t know”.

He might even think that he has more direct power over the narrative than Hussie does himself. Surprise, motherfucker, you are a fictional character.

I’ll quote this next part in full:

There’s been talk of whether or not this bonus was written in the two days between its release and the Yiffy reveal chapter. The answer is--no. It was written over a month ago. But I think the things it addresses were not difficult to suss out. Obviously, Dirk is highlighting the issues that the readership are having with Yiffy, in his typical Dirk fashion. If it seems a little defensive, well...I suppose it is. Yiffy is one of the two hard lines drawn in the sand, and all of us love her, and we’re hoping that everyone else will love her too. But more than that, it focuses on the fact that update culture has a rhythm to it--shock, revulsion, acceptance (or not), and then excitement (or not). Will it follow that pattern this time? Who knows. I guess we’ll find out.

Yeah, given what was going to be dropped on us I expected they would have had exactly this lined up, especially because Andrew specifically mandated Yiffy. --I wonder why they aren’t mentioning that somewhere in the commentary and only on one of their Twitters?

Also quoting this:

There’s something both incredibly “cringe” and self-indulgent, as well as philosophically intriguing, about the author arguing with his villain, especially since he’s writing both halves of the conversation himself. You are, for all intents and purposes, trying to solve a problem that you have created for yourself. You are looking an aspect of your personality in the eye and asking, hey, what the fuck, man?

But in the end, isn’t that what every story is? Trying to untie knots that you put in the rope yourself?

Since it’s part of the central struggle of this story, and kind of the question Andrew’s tried to imply with every Homestuck work about what right we have to keep these characters trapped in a story, and if they’d be better off escaping it.

I’m really trying to avoid quoting so much of this, since the commentary is paid... but I think we can make an exception here? I’ll have only quoted about half of it; just, the really plot-important half. Plus, I left out a LOOOT of japes.

Dirk has a certain idea of how stories are supposed to go. That’s pretty much what the Epilogues is about. The audience also has a certain expectation of how a story is supposed to go. In a way, the Epilogues were also about that. They were taking a story that had reached the traditionally “acceptable” happily ever after, and saying, wait, no. What happens next? Thinking past happily ever after in any story is a terrifying prospect. Once Cinderella marries the prince, what then? Sure, she got what she wanted, but who knows that it will be everything she dreamt it would? What if she changes her mind, if not today, what about ten years from now? What if the prince dies of malaria?

And I’m...

Yeah I don’t have anything else to add here, I’m kind of out of brain juice to think about this tonight. BUSY day I had. Y’all take care!

#Homestuck #hs2 #Homestuck Liveblog #upd8 #Homestuck^2 #bladekindeyewear #blastyoboots #spoiler #spoilers #Homestuck Commentary

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risingmoonyue · 4 years

Text

Batman/P5 Crossover

-Sometime before Akechi but after Futaba or Haru

-Damian is sent to Tokyo to check it out for whatever reason (maybe they had a fight, or he’s going stir crazy, or he’s just the only one they can send at the time and didn't bother with all that "you're not old enough" business)

-Dami is younger than Futaba by a year or three or four

-He is baby

-He is transferred to Shujin as a child prodigy where he also immediately joins the "outcast" community because of his attitude and intelligence

-Talia goes too, manages to cut off all his communications with the Batfam, and is planning to take him home in a month whether he likes it or not

-For whatever reason, Batfam doesn't realize this??? (Like, either she's faking reports or they're too busy (think fight or chaos in Gotham scenario maybe???))

-Anyways, obviously Dami doesn't want this

-Somehow the Phantom Thieves hear about the situation

-Maybe he was assigned to shadow Makoto for a while, and they managed to overhear a phone conversation either to Talia or Dami trying to get in touch with the Batfam and nothing really working

-And eventually they outright see him fighting with his mother with him at some point (either in person or over a phone call) mentioning that she already disowned him, he's happy with his Father's family, and that he will head her family business over his dead body—and oh would you look at that, you already managed that, care to try again Mother?

-The PT's are understandably alarmed

-And learn her name from Damian (from Makoto maybe or someone else he bonded a little with) (MORGANA) (THEY GAVE HIM MONA FOR A DAY AND NOW THEY KNOW EVERYTHING FROM HIS MANY PETS TO HIS LEAST TO MOST FAVORITE SIBLINGS STARTING FROM TIM TO DICK TO HIS FAVORITE FOODS TO EVERYONE IN HIS FAMILY’S NAMES TO HOW STUPID HE FINDS EVERYONE AND WHY THEY'RE STUPID TO HIS FAVORITE MUSIC TO WHY ANIMALS ARE SUPERIOR TO HUMANS AND MONA’S LIKE OMG TMI BUT LOVED IT THERE BECAUSE HE WAS PAMPERED LIKE NO TOMORROW GOT ONLY THE BEST FOOD AND THE BEST BEDS AND TOYS THAT HE GOT TO TAKE WITH HIM BACK TO LEBLANC AND NOW AKIRA AND SOJIRO ARE LIKE DUDE WHY AND MONA’S LIKE IM KEEPING HIM THIS HUMAN IS GOOD SORRY AKIRA YOU’RE DEMOTED)

-The palace is basically a fortress full of assasin ninjas and clones

-Dunno what her keywords are tho

-Or her what her palace actually is

-Help?????????

-Cognitive Bruce, Ra's, Damian, Dami clones, and Jason (maybe rest of batfam??? Idk)

-Long story short, the traps are so assassin-y that they need someone who knows the actual Talia because egads, this is the closest they have all come to actually dying

-And they didn't really want to do it and were just gonna power through

-But Dami manages to find out and get in and of course uses his background to help out whether they like it or not

(-he's slightly off put by Joker's name, but then decides to just solely call Gotham!Joker "The Clown")

-At some point they are captured by the Shadow Talia who is decked out in super fancy traditional Arab clothing and probably every conceivable hidden weapon known to man

-Talia says Damian won't and can't ever change from who he "is meant to be", referring to him as her Alexander and basically brutally addresses all of his insecurities concerning the batfam and people and society in general

-And all this is kinda killing him cause he still loves Talia despite the fact that she killed him and had a violent citywide custody battle with Batman but he also loves the batfam too even if he would absolutely never admit it (except to maybe Grayson)

-Joker does his emotional kick-start thing and/or Dami is like Makoto and just gets so mad he triggers it himself, but either way, lo and behold, Damian is now a persona user, usurping Futaba's place as the baby of the team

-The outfit is kinda inspired by his future adult league outfit with the top and bottom and gold jewelry, but has a raggedy cloak with dull gold edges, a Robin mask and gauntlets, and his main weapons are batarang-sword hybrids

---acknowledging his past and moving on with his present

-Persona: Aladdin, Tsun Zu, Ali Baba, somone else???? Need ideas plz help

-Probably the fastest member of the group

-His small body makes his hits not as strong, but hoo boy can that kid move around

-Hits a lot and dodges most

-Most of his Persona abilities are physical and have high crit and/or are status affects

-Downside is he has not a lot of SP (compared to the rest of the group)

-And he has pretty good HP

-Those good ol' “superior genetics” have to be good for something after all

-Anyways they escape to find the treasure another day

-And Dami is all smug because HA you definitely can't stop me now

-And the PTs are just resigned to keeping an eye on the extremely competent snotty assassin/vigilante child

-They do like him though so it's not too bad (comes with learning all his darkest secrets via his mother and thought processes that tends to accompany watching someone at their lowest get a persona)

(-They do manage to temper him a bit and help him adjust better to actual society too that's nice)

-As such, they also know about Batman and Robin and his whoooole family. Both sides.

-Damian decided not to tell batfam because he does agree with the whole "most adults suck" mentality that the Phantom Thieves have; despite his deep, deep respect for his father and mother and Grayson, they all do kinda suck

-And he’s rather not get pulled out as he surely would if he told them

(-On a side note, he likes Sojiro

-The man gives him coffee, curry, and leaves him mostly to his own devices

-Instant win)

-He is dubbed "Mockingbird" apon return to the metaverse because of his freaky talented vocal skills in mimicking anyone and everyone's voice

-Eventually, they beat Talia

-She doesn't publicly confess to all her sins unlike everyone else

-PTs don't realize it worked until Damian came into school with a genuine smile on his face, and more relaxed than he'd been since he got there

-PTs are confused until Damian's like, this works out because hey, don't want to have several people assassinated and draw the entire freaking league to Tokyo

(-Which was probably why Talia didn't)

-They agree

-But she does break down to tears in Dami's arms and promise to ACTUALLY TALK CIVILLY with Bruce to try and make up for everything and try to fix up the league

-He stays for the rest of p5

-But steers all his reports very much away from the Phantom Thieves

-If anything, he downplays absolutely everything, and makes it seem like it's nothing super big but he's gonna stay a while to keep and eye out because y'alls are busy and I like it here and I haven't gotten expelled so there

-The PTs like to add funny stuff on there just to see if they’ll notice

-Like, Akira likes to have Dami describe his day in excruciating detail. Like, recounting the entirety of his nine or so months to Sae during police interrogation, excruciating

-Mona is pushing for the shiny stuff

-Yusuke just likes to put in bursts of randomness (Dami once mentioned that an acquaintance made another acquaintance T-pose in a church for art lol)

-Ann loves to rant about food

-Haru is always insisting on about feelings

-Ryuji likes to complain about everything and puts in ridiculous requests

-Futaba is just putting in every gen-z thing ever

-Makoto is actually responsible and tries to get him to talk about his progress in school and his social life

-And Akechi is absolutely nowhere near any of this and doesn’t know it exists

-When they have the Tokyo/Japan-wide calling card, Batfam sees it too because let's face it, that's totally the sorta thing that they would keep an eye out for even if he didn't look at the news in the entirety of the time Dami was in Tokyo

-And they send a message to Damian (the first actual communication they've had since before Talia) saying "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON OVER THERE????"

-And with the entirety of the Phantom Thieves looking over his shoulder, Damian's just like "Chill dudes, everything's fiiiiiiiiiine"

-And they're like "UH WHAT PART OF THIS IS FINE????" because they've dug around a bit and found every news report, and oh hey, this isn't anywhere near as calm as Damian described and he’s being super OOC and what’s going on?!?!?!?!?!

-And Damian, being egged on by the most of the PTs, just sends a winky face

-Just

-😉

-And he's smug, because it's still chaos over there so they can't actually come get him and try to pull him out because he's being super ooc

-Which means he's free to do what he wants/needs in the meantime

-Cue the end of the game

-And Dami is going with them on their summer road trip and cackling because the batfam is scrambling to find him in Tokyo but lol nope he's in a van the Japanese government tried and fail to follow

-And he found all the trackers like, a year ago

-Every

-Single

-One

-They eventually track him down to Akira's house where they're calmly eating dinner (and they've been expecting this for the past week so Mona was keeping watch just so they could pull this off) and talking about how uneventful the school year was

-Cue mass confusion in the batfam

-As the PTs enjoy just confusing them so much

-By talking to Mona

-Talking normal then crazy then normal again

-And just generally being their normal selves lol

-They explain absolutely nothing beyond gushing about how much progress socially and academically he’s made (gotta embarrass the baby of the group somehow) and making sure that if Dami absolutely has to go home that he's able to stay in touch

(-Later, Damian forms his own hero persona outside of Batman and Robin)

(-He names it Mockingbird)

(-Batfam proceeds to have a brain aneurysm while the PTs dab their happy proud tears out of their eyes on their regularly scheduled tea time at the Wayne Manor)

(-Damian sends a private plane every week or two lol)

(Bonus: ARTTTTTTT)

(Psst if you guys have ideas for art, outfits, interactions or scenarios, let me know)

#my writing #my art #batman #persona 5 #p5 #persona #batman x p5 #damian wayne #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #p5 protagonist #ive been holding onto this one for a wHILE

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deathgatesideblog · 6 years

Text

The DGC Anime, Part 1

So let’s figure out what DGC would be like as an anime.

(Cut because it’s PRETTY LONG)

Basics:

The theme/opener would be a narration (think Avatar: The Last Airbender) explaining how the Sundering happened and the Patryns and Sartan hate each other. As each world is mentioned, you see images associated with them.

Arianus: a dragon-ship, the Kicksey-winsey, and maybe the High Realms?

Pryan: lots of greenery (with a dragon or two blending into the background), the citadels, a tytan

Abarrach: a corpse that doesn’t look like a corpse (so it’s fresh) but has a creepy phantasm behind it (also you can’t see the Sartan hair, so I guess it’s bald?), the Fire Sea, Kairn Necros

Chelestra: an iceberg with… something… inside it… and the iceberg gets a little smaller each episode until all you see are red red eyes…. Surunan, maybe just a shot of the ocean?

Nexus: spires and pretty forests and stuff

Labyrinth: the River of Anger, the Final Gate, lots and lots of bones (possibly being gnawed on by horrifying monsters)

Vortex: idk, a big room, I guess?

*****

Someone would have to figure out Sartan and Patryn runes so that the spells make sense. I do not envy this person.

*****

Character designs are important. Each world and race has a slightly different style. I like to think that Patryns in the Labyrinth wear things like furs, leathers, and low-quality cloth in colors that help them blend into the background. Geg fashion is inspired by the 1800s and early 1900s, aka the Age of the Factory. The Kenkari need to look like butterflies. Humans on Chelestra can be kind of Polynesian-inspired.

Haplo: It’s apparently traditional to garb the hero/protagonist in red and blue, so let’s start him out in a very dark navy shirt and the most blend-in-everywhere brown pants imaginable. And bandages, of course. As the series progresses, he gets to wear lighter blues and maybe a bit of red. If he stays in an elemental world a long time, he keeps his basic color scheme but starts dressing like a human of that place to better blend in… until he gives up pretending he’s not a Patryn, that is. (It would be kind of funny to give him a trace of jailbird orange because he ends up in so many prisons, but I somehow can’t really imagine him in something like that.)

Alfred: He canonically has a pretty dumb, fancy outfit, but I can work with that. It’s purple, but the shirt beneath his coat is off-white. White is the color most associated with the Sartan, but Alfred is a bit, well, off for a Sartan (Zifnab might have a different shade of off-white in his design too). As the series progresses, he loses his frills and stuff so that he looks a bit more influenced by Sartan and/or Patryn styles. Also, it is very important to me that his eyes are the exact same shade of blue as rune-magic/Patryn tattoos to symbolize that 1) he has rune-magic, 2) is in fact obscenely powerful, and 3) has an affinity with the Patryns.

Hugh: Does not wear black because that’s the Kir color. He could also potentially wear dark blue at first because he’s the decoy protagonist. After his resurrection, maybe he could wear very dark purple to symbolize how Alfred has negatively affected him.

Bane: He needs to look nothing at all like the king and queen.

Marit: In flashbacks, she and Haplo wear typical Patryn garb. In the present, she’s kept the colors and general style, but the quality of her clothes is nicer. Less fur, more fabric. Practical hairstyle. I know it’s long on the one canon picture we have of her (though you could argue that cover art isn’t particularly canon), but maybe short or just shoulder-length? Also weapons.

*****

There are only six seasons. We skip over Elven Star almost entirely. On Abarrach, when Alfred asks Haplo if he found any Sartan on Pryan, Haplo gives like a three-sentence summary of important things we need to know, adds that it was awful and Alfred should be glad he didn’t have to suffer through it, and then we move onto the good stuff. There can be a few more flashbacks when Xar visits the citadel to explain anything more.

*****

Footnotes can be those little pause-things where chibi versions of the characters explain stuff. I don’t know what they’re called. However, we shouldn’t need footnotes about timekeeping because let’s just pretend that everyone uses days and years to avoid confusion, okay? Because the canonical timekeeping systems just confused me.

*****

That’s it for now. Next time I’ll ramble on about my thoughts for the musical score (I do not know much music theory).

Oh wow, what an excellent surprise! These are some really cool thoughts, allow me to add some of my own!

Theme/opener: I like the idea of the first opener being a narration/backstory kinda thing, but I have to also hold out for that classic Anime OP packed with symbolism and showcasing the characters fighting and junk. So gotta have some of those types of openings after the first hypothetical season.

Character designs: I really really did the Geg’s fashion/society being based off Industrial Revolution kinda stuff. Another route you could go is more steampunkish (and you’d have precedent, considering how the video game portrays Drevlin– not that you really want to use the video game for anything, but you feel me, lol) but that’s already kinda based on that time period anyway, so *shrug*

Haplo: iirc Haplo’s usually wearing a white shirt with brown pants and a vest, but heck, man, this is an anime, and more complicated costumes are kind of par for the course. Red-and-blue is a fitting color scheme, certainly.

Alfred: Here’s where anime’s proud tradition of ridiculous outfits can truly shine. Make me proud. Canon-wise he literally spends the whole series in that outfit, and I think it would be kinda funny to reflect that by having him wear the exact same coat all the time but in different colors, to suggest that he’s using the exact same pattern every single time. I think no matter what happens with the rest of his outfit, the coat’s probably staying. He just likes it a lot, okay??

Hugh: I like the idea of dressing Hugh up as a decoy protagonist, very appropriate. To me, his outfit is less important than what his hair’s doing, honestly, lol. He’s got a beard with a braid in it!! That’s cool!! And in the fifth book/season, when he’s depressed, he would look really sloppy and not taking care of himself.

Marit: LOOKS NOTHING LIKE THE ONE IMAGE WE HAVE OF HER, FIGHT ME, IN WHAT WORLD IS CHESTNUT HAIR BLONDE ANYWAY???? But yeah, pretty much what you said :P

Skipping Elven Star: Interesting idea. I mean, sucks if you happen to like that book, but I’M not going to argue with that, certainly, and it definitely seems like it’d be possible to do… You’d miss out on a lot of the setup, and you’d have to rearrange some things, especially concerning Zifnab, which could get messy, but I definitely think you could do it effectively.

(Relevant addition to this conversation: Hand of Chaos feels like the kind of season you get when the animators are waiting for the manga to get ahead so they make a filler arc. Except it’s not quite a pure filler arc. But it’s disjointed enough from the rest of the series to kind of feel that way. You get me?)

Little chibi characters explaining stuff in lieu of footnotes: OH MY GOODNESS CUTE (would also fit great for bonus episodes, or those little end-of-episode previews that are sometimes a thing)

#wow this is intense #love it though!#i love talking about this lol #submission #death gate anime

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scumbagbaker · 3 years

Text

Amen || Irish AU

He didn’t believe in God. Not that he ever had, but he understood the urge to, during recovery. It was tempting, the idea of some higher power that saw everything, that held them accountable, that knew the truth no matter what they proclaimed at the start of meetings. Benjy kept his head bowed and his eyes open during the prayer, just enough to look like he was going along with it all, nothing more, nothing less.

The same concept wasn’t applied to recovery itself. He’d taken to the 12 steps like a duck to water. No, that wasn’t quite right. He’d taken to the 12 steps like an animal that had spent its entire life in a zoo, who finally got to see real grass without bars for the first time. Sobriety had given him a freedom he didn’t know was possible. the idea of that cage surrounding him again was enough motivation to stay sober, with or without any kind of God.

Benjy feels his three year sober chip in his wallet as he sits on the train, his stomach souring with dread as the scenery gets more and more familiar. Three years sober, as of 29 days ago. Two and a half years single, since Ollie liked vodka more than him, and now, despite his success as a sober person, Benjy had come to the step he’d been dreading.

Amends.

Benjy stares at the piece of paper in his hands, tracing over the unfamiliar address with his thumb. He lets his mind wander, lets his thoughts creep into the darkness that’s always there on the edge of his consciousness-what would their address be if he had stayed? Would he had been able to give them a house in Foxrock? He doubts it. Benjy thinks of the sometimes pitifully thin envelopes he’d sent, without fail, every single one of those hundreds of weeks since he’d left. He could’ve gotten them something, at least, maybe, if he’d been able to keep it together. If he could’ve been a fraction of what they had deserved.

He’d told his sponsor, a grizzled old Scot named Al, nearly everything. How’d he’d slipped out early in the morning, how they’d both been asleep in the bed next to him. How she’d woken up, just a little, and that Benjy had told her he’d been right back.

It wasn’t the first time he’d lied to Cleona, not by a long shot, but Benjy couldn’t think of a lie that hurt more.

And now, 5 years, 8 months and 13 days later, he was finally turning his lie into the truth.

He’d called the bar three times, hanging up out of fear the first two. When the “Hello?” was softer than the two before it, Benjy faced his fear and spoke.

“Killian?”

Benjy hears his former best friend suck in a quick breath.

“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve.”

“I know.”

“What do you want?”

Benjy fights the urge to hang up again.

“I’m-in the program. I need to-I have to tell her I’m sorry, Kili. In person. And Shay too. Don’t you think they deserve that?”

Benjy, though he didn’t and still doesn’t believe in God, found himself praying in the silent crackle of the phone line.

“She moved on, you know.”

He hadn’t known. Not fully. There’d been a tiny, stupid, egotistical part of him that had hoped-

“As she should’ve. And-”

Benjy fights the lump in his throat to get his son’s name out.

“Seamus? Does he-?”

“Mate. You left before he was one.”

Killian’s voice isn’t accusatory, Benjy could deal with accusations. What he couldn’t handle was what was in his should have been brother-in-law’s voice; pity.

Whether the pity was there because Benjy had missed out on so much or because he was stupid enough to think his son would remember him, Benjy wasn’t sure.

“Right, right. Yeah. I-I’m moving back to town next month. Gotta take care of some stuff with my mum. And I figured she wasn’t still at uh, the cottage, but I was wondering...could you tell me where she’s staying?”

“What’s going on with your mum?” Killian says, suddenly wary. Benjy’s mom was just as nasty and cruel as any of the women in the neighborhood they’d grown up in. The fact that she hated Irish people was just a fun little bonus that further alienated Benjy’s already alienated ass.

“She died.” Benjy says flatly, no emotion in his voice.

“Oh.”

This is when normal people would apologize, but Killian knew Benjy enough to know not to waste his breath. Still, if his mum had been good for anything other than a genetic predisposition to substance abuse, maybe her death would give Benjy just enough sympathy...

“Alright.”

Benjy could continue falling into his own memory, but the train whistle sounds and the world outside starts slowing down. He gathers his secondhand, single suitcase from the overhead compartment. It contains two pairs of jeans, six pairs of pants, two plaid shirts, four black t shirts, four white t shirts, the suit he’d bought himself when he turned eighteen, nine pairs of socks, three photographs, paperwork from his mum’s estate lawyer, two dozen packs of cigarettes, and, the cumulation of three years of sober, sweaty work: €18,358.45

The cash took up most of the space, so Benjy reckons his suit is properly wrinkled now. He pulls his wool lined jean jacket closer around his shoulders as he exits the train heads towards the station doors. It was early April, the weekend after her birthday but Benjy tries to pretend like he doesn’t remember that. He pulls the black stocking cap down further over his ears, wishing he’d worn three of his flannels over his black t shirt instead of two. His yellow converse were nearly brown now, and Benjy is just thankful he doesn't have to open his umbrella before he hails his taxi.

The driver does a double take when Benjy gives him the address-clearly he isn’t the usual faire of that neighborhood, but he just nods at him and starts to dig in his bag for enough money to cover the cost without looking obvious. Once he’s achieved that, Benjy stares out the window, watching as the buildings surrounding them get nicer and nicer. They pause at an intersection with an empty storefront, and Benjy stares at his reflection in the window. He should’ve gotten a haircut, the curls on his neck were peaking out from under his hat, making his hair dangerously close to a mullet. He had at least managed to shave off his mustache, terrified of looking too visibly queer in front of someone who, a lifetime ago, had introduced him to his first queer friends. He looks odd without it, he decides. Somehow too young and too old all at once-though Benjy supposes that is how he feels. He’s still not entirely sure how he’d managed to make it to twenty-five, and, dully, he wonders if he’ll be strong enough to make it to thirty.

The dullness turns back to dread when the cab parks. Benjy has half a mind to tell him to forget it, or to keep it running, certain that whoever answers that door will have him thrown out at once. But, wordlessly, Benjy hands the bills forward and gets out of the cab, standing and staring up at the gorgeously expensive house in front of him even after it drives away.

Benjy takes a breath, his hand slipping into his pocket to fiddle with his 3 years chip. Al had found him a group to go while he was in town, staying at his mum’s “house” that Benjy was pretty sure wasn’t outfitted for regular heating, but facing the near homelessness he’d grown up with again was going to be rough. It was going to be too much, Benjy knew, if Cleona opened the door only to slam it in his face.

If she refused to see him, Benjy was going right back to the train station and getting a ticket back to London. Even if that meant...

Could he come all this way and not see his son? Was he such a coward that he’d run away a second time? Maybe then Benjy would wait until Seamus was old enough to deck him properly. Or maybe, Benjy can meet his dad the same time Seamus meets him.

Benjy is able to move his suitcase out of the way just in the nick of time as he violently vomits into the storm drain at his feet. Two impossibly polished women pushing prams give him the side eye from across the street. Benjy waves, for some stupid reason, and calls out “bad salad!” because, clearly, that explained projectile vomiting in a neighborhood where the benches cost more than everything he’s ever owned.

Benjy closes his eyes. He pictures his son, the hole in his heart, in his life. He pictures the thousands of versions of Shay he had spent the past 2,078 days missing. He repeats it to himself, the mantra he’s told no one about.

“I am the cycle breaker, I will make amends. I am the cycle breaker, I will make amends.”

Benjy sucks in a breath and opens the gate, heading up the front walk to the impressive house. He wasn’t sure where Cleona stood on God, but he hoped with a hope he had no business having that she believed in second chances.

#drabble #irish

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yuueimagine · 7 years

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HELLO! May I ask for the Phantom Thieves reacting to an s/o who is also a Persona user? Like, the s/o keeps it a secret until one day they see the Phantom Thieves going to Mementos and they tag along secretly? The Thieves are fighting Shadows and then BAM! A random s/o appears with a Persona!

Gotta be honest, I really like this prompt!

Akira:

He’s surprised at first but shakes it off for long enough to stand by his s/o’s side to fight the Shadow off.

When the fight is over, the first thing he wants to do is ask his s/o about their powers, but he knows it’s a conversation that will take a while so he waits until they reach a safe room to have it.

He’s pretty understanding if there are some details about their awakening that his s/o isn’t ready to share. He’s seen how deeply personal those moments can be. He also won’t ask any questions that he wouldn’t be willing to answer if they were turned on him.

If his s/o wanted to join the Phantom Thieves, he would be glad to have them so long as he thought they wanted to join for the right reasons. He would wait until they got back to the real world to bring it up with the rest of the Thieves and ask if they’d be all right with his s/o joining.

If they did join, Akira would treat them as he does other members of the group but perhaps be a bit more protective of them until he was sure that they were capable of handling themselves.

Ryuji:

It actually takes him a moment to realize that it’s his s/o who just showed up. And when he does realize? Total shock. His jaw goes slack and he just lets out a weak “For real?”

He’s majorly distracted for the rest of the fight, possibly even trying to grab his s/o’s hand and pull them away from the battle.

When the battle finally ends, his first priority is getting his s/o the hell out of the Metaverse, despite their protests that they can fight too. It’s not that he doesn’t trust them, but if he knew they were going into battle, there’s no way he’d be able to relax or focus on fighting.

If his s/o protested that they wanted to join the Phantom Thieves, Ryuji would be happy that they see value in what the Thieves do but too worried for their safety to be happy about the possibility of them joining and getting to spend more time with them.

If his s/o did end up joining despite all of Ryuji’s protests, Ryuji would spend a lot of time trying to protect them. Again, it’s not that he doesn’t trust them or thinks they’re weak, he just really wishes they didn’t have to fight.

Ann:

Like Ryuji, she doesn’t realize just who it was that showed up at first but the second she recognizes her s/o, she rushes to their side to help them finish off the Shadow.

The second they’re safe, she reaches out for her s/o to hug them and demands to know how they managed to follow her into the Metaverse. The answer is, of course, that they are a Persona user too. Ann can see that but the question came out anyway.

She’s willing to wait until they get back to the real world to have an in-depth discussion, but they do have that discussion. Ann hesitantly shares the details of her own awakening with her s/o. She really hopes they will share their own in return but she’s willing to wait longer if they aren’t ready.

If her s/o wanted to join the Phantom Thieves, Ann would worry a little but she’d be supportive of them and try to convince the others in the group to allow them to join. She knows how it is to feel like you have to fight and she’d rather her s/o fight with her than alone.

They would make quite the battle couple as Phantom Thieves. Always having each other’s back and rarely leaving each other’s side.

Yusuke:

He’s surprised, much more than shows on his face. But somehow the image his s/o creates while fighting outweighs the confusion and he finds himself desiring to capture their battling form in his artwork. He pushes that thought aside though to join his s/o and the other Phantom Thieves as they take down the Shadow.

He expresses some concern for his s/o after the battle, mostly because they had been separate from the group until the battle and if anything had happened to them, he wouldn’t have known or been able to help them.

Yusuke doesn’t tell his s/o not to come back to the Metaverse but implores them never to do so alone. It may be a cognitive world but the dangers are frighteningly real.

If his s/o wanted to join the Phantom Thieves officially, he wouldn’t mind. But if they didn’t, Yusuke would still want to come back to the Metaverse with them to try to paint them in their Metaverse outfit.

If his s/o did join the Phantom Thieves, Yusuke would be by their side in every battle. He would compliment their fighting form a lot, leading to a lot of “Get a room!” comments from Ryuji and Futaba.

Makoto:

Makoto’s surprise is instantly outweighed by her instinct to get in there and protect her s/o. She goes all out against the Shadow to beat it down quickly and get them out of immediate danger.

She goes full Mom Friend after the battle, checking to make sure that her s/o isn’t hurt and nearly demanding to know why they followed her and the other Phantom Thieves into the Metaverse without saying anything. She comes off as almost a little angry, but really she’s just worried.

If her s/o explained that they just followed because they were worried about her too, she’d sigh and give up her questioning because she knows that’s fair. The Metaverse is dangerous after all and their concern is warranted.

Makoto would explain her reasons for being a Phantom Thief to her s/o and hope that they would be able to understand why she does what she does. If they were moved enough by her own reasons to want to join as well, that’s more than she could have asked for.

If her s/o did join the Phantom Thieves, Makoto would be very protective of them during fights. Never enough to jeopardize the battle, but enough that it’s noticeable.

Futaba:

She senses her s/o’s presence before they show themselves for the fight. She’s been keeping an eye on them the whole time and when they jump into the fight, she provides them with the same support she does the Phantom Thieves.

When the fight is over, Futaba directs the group to a safe room and pulls her s/o aside to ask them why they followed the group without saying anything.

She’d be able to gauge her s/o’s power pretty well by what kind of readings she got from them, so she’d be less worried about them joining the Phantom Thieves if they wanted to since she could tell they’d be able to handle themselves.

If her s/o does end up joining the Thieves, Futaba teases them a little at first and calls them “newbie” a lot, but she really does her best to provide support to make the battles easier on them.

The s/o might become privy to a lot of activities Futaba takes part in that they weren’t before (i.e. hacking and stuff that she does for the Phantom Thieves) and it makes her very proud of herself to see the impressed look on their face.

Spoilers under the cut:

Haru:

Shocked to see her s/o here in the Metaverse and fighting a Shadow, their name falls softly from Haru’s lips before she shakes the feeling off and rushes in to fight herself.

When the fight is over, she asks her s/o what they’re doing there. Her worry is palpable. She’s already lost one loved one to this place and she doesn’t think she could stand to lose another.

If her s/o expressed an interest in joining the Phantom Thieves, Haru wouldn’t openly object but she would worry for them a lot until they’d proven that they could handle themselves in a battle.

If her s/o did join the Thieves, Haru would always be at their side, during battle and outside of it. Partially out of worry but also just because being close to them puts her at ease.

Haru’s s/o really gets to see a new side of her in the Metaverse. It changes how they think of her a bit, but in a good way.

Goro:

His first thought upon seeing his s/o in the Metaverse is “Guess I’m not the only one in this relationship who’s keeping secrets”. But he stands and fights by their side anyway.

He’s upset that they followed him without telling, almost a little angry about it, but he tries to frame it as concern for their well-being. It’s not entirely a lie because that is a part of it, at least.

Goro would firmly oppose his s/o if they expressed a desire to join the Phantom Thieves. He doesn’t want them involved in this for a lot of reasons.

If his s/o did join the Thieves despite all of his protests, Goro would have a lot of internal conflict (as if he didn’t have enough already). He still needs to betray the Phantom Thieves later, but he’d take more steps to ensure that the identities of everyone other than Akira were kept secret and safe for his s/o’s sake.

When his s/o first sees him in his black mask outfit, he expects a look of betrayal and disgust to show on his s/o’s face. He’s ready for that. What he’s not ready for is the flash of pain and understanding in their eyes as they grip their weapon and prepare to fight him.

Bonus Human!Morgana:

Rather than shocked at the sudden appearance of his s/o, Morgana is in awe of their competence. How had he not realized they had the potential until now? He still steps in to help them but he lets his s/o do what they can alone.

Rather than question their reasons for coming, Morgana wants to know more about his s/o’s Persona, it’s name, it’s abilities, how they awakened to it, all that stuff.

If his s/o wanted to join the Phantom Thieves, Morgana would be ecstatic. After all, that would mean he’d get to spend more time with his s/o and not keep them in the dark about this Thief activities anymore.

Morgana and his Phantom Thief s/o would be battle couple goals honestly. Constantly having each other’s backs, high-fives after every battle, and falling in love with each other all over again with each show of power.

Morgana would be a little hesitant to explain where he came from, but he’d really want his s/o to know. He’d share with them how he came into being and what he was created for and hope they’d still love him afterwards. (And of course, they would.)

#Persona 5 #Persona 5 Imagine #Persona 5 spoilers #Spoilers Under Cut #Akira Kurusu #Ryuji Sakamoto #Ann Takamaki #Yusuke Kitagawa #Makoto Niijima #Futaba Sakura #Haru Okumura #Goro Akechi #Morgana #Mod Sian

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