#it was supposed to be a quick parallel but then i got an idea to present it like this so it turned long

[teruel-a-witch]

5.20/1.20 Hiking Date Turns Murder Mystery

One of those glaring occasions when a Mcdanno trope/storyline/date is repeated with a straight couple later. Looking at the episode numbers you can't tell me this isn't intentional. To add insult to injury it actually illustrates that Steve and Danny have a healthier and more loving/lasting relationship vs actual married people but sadly will never be recognised as such by canon.

A husband not screaming his wife's name was one of the main reasons Lou was suspicious about his distress not being genuine. It happens so fast yet Danny screams Steve's name 5-7 times at least. Unlike Clay, Danny actually loves his spouse partner.

So Steve and Danny are 5 times more married than the actual marrieds via the show logic. Just a typical frustrating case of the disconnect between Show vs Tell, where the writers keep telling us Steve and Danny are brothers but showing them behaving like canonical spouses.

#mcdanno #h50 picspam #h50edit #h50 parallels #h50 #myh50 #h50 1x20 #h50 5x20 #hawaii five 0 #h50 graphics #mcdanno love conquers all #mcdanno was canon all along #lou grover #steve mcgarrett #danny williams #h50 season 1 #h50 season 5 #mcdanno dates #this took way longer than i planned lol #it was supposed to be a quick parallel but then i got an idea to present it like this so it turned long #honestly did the writers not expect us to connect the dots? #cause you only need basic reading comprehension to notice these things #h50 meta

[nolita-fairytale]

your past and mine are parallel lines | carmen 'carmy' berzatto x fem!reader

summary: a run-in with an old friend sparks a conversation between you and carmy of the people you loved before each other. or rather, the one in which you meet claire.

warnings: use of she/her pronouns, no use of y/n, second person pov, swearing, tooth rotting fluff, not-your-normal jealousy fic, soft!carmy, lives in the world of make my heart surrender

wc: 3.9k

a/n: ok so hear me out: i just want to write about healthy relationships right now and that is where i'm at. this is not your normal jealousy fic and i hope you still enjoy! this lives in the world of 'make my heart surrender' because of course it does and takes place a month after my oneshot, j is for j beard and jealousy.

masterlist

It begins with forgotten carrots, tops attached, of course – a necessary ingredient to the dish that you’ve been working on all afternoon together. Usually, you’d go for a rainbow bunch, but for the puree, aesthetically of course, the classic orange carrot is much better suited. You’d hadn’t put them on the grocery list the day before, certain that you had a bunch or two at home sitting in your vegetable drawer, only to find mid-recipe development that you did not, in fact, have carrots at home. It doesn’t take long for Carmy to suggest a quick trip to the store, insisting that you come with him because this is a date, after all. 

It’s something you and Carmy have decided to do, now that neither of you are needed at the restaurant 24/7: a cooking date at home which, despite the fact that this date night was an idea born out of both of your desires to introduce more fun into your lives, will inevitably become a dish that Carmy tries to put on the menu anyways.

Divide and conquer is the strategy: while you hit up the produce aisle, Carmy is sent on a mission to procure a bottle of orange wine for dinner later tonight. 

But what’s supposed to be a simple Saturday afternoon grocery store run takes a turn for the intriguing as you hear a laugh – a woman’s laugh – and the familiar sound of your boyfriend’s voice muttering something about the name of his restaurant.

As you approach, you spot your boyfriend and the woman he’s found himself in a conversation with. Carmy leans against the refrigerator doors, his chest square to the brunette, bathed in neon blues from the refrigerator lights. 

“Because you’re the bear. And I remember you,” you hear her say. You observe carefully, the look of surprise and the blush that runs across Carmy’s cheeks in response to her words are not lost on you. 

There’s a palpable energy between them as they converse, and it feels as if all the blood is rushing to your head as you cut the tension with a single: 

“Hey.” 

As the brunette turns to you, you’re only a little taken aback by how beautiful she is. With long, thick, dark hair, she has piercing blue eyes, similar to the ones you’ve found yourself lost in in your years spent loving Carmen Berzatto. You feel almost silly as you stand there, holding a bunch of carrots in your right hand, suddenly grateful that your have your favorite of Carmy’s denim jackets tied around your waist (for “just in case the store’s got the AC blasting,” Carmy had reminded you before you left the house earlier). 

“Hi,” is all she replies, an almost too-friendly smile plastered to her face, as she takes a few steps towards you. “I’m Claire. I’m…” She trails off before stealing a glance over at Carmy before continuing with, “...an old friend. Of Carmy’s.” As the woman called Claire extends a hand out to you, you take it, giving her hand a curt shake as you introduce yourself. 

It dawns on Carmy, who has slipped into a state of what can only be considered as shock, that he probably should’ve introduced the two of you sooner as he mutters an apology under his breath. 

“Shit, yeah, sorry. I probably should’ve-. I uh, um, Claire. Yeah. This is uh, this is my girlfriend,” Carmy manages to get out, his face growing increasingly deeper shades of red as the words tumble out of his mouth. 

“Your-? Wow, oh my god! It’s-it’s so nice to meet you,” Claire replies, trying her best to hide the surprise in her voice as it increases in pitch with every word. 

“So… what’re you two up to-?” she begins to ask, looking from you to Carmy with wide, quizzical eyes. “Carrots. We’re uh…,” is the first thing that comes to mind as the words fly from your lips. “... buying carrots.” 

You realize how stupid it sounds, completely caught off guard, as you scramble to find any word in the English language that doesn’t sound as ridiculous as what you’ve just said. 

You wonder if this is how Carmy felt when you ran into Nate at the James Beard Awards about a month ago. 

At this rate, something’s gotta be in retrograde, right? you think to yourself as you try to push down your feelings of embarrassment. 

“Right,” Carmy mutters, while Claire tries to get the conversation back on track. 

“Well, it’s really good to see you, Bear. Really. I’ll have to stop by the restaurant sometime,” she says, preparing to excuse herself. 

“Yeah,” Carmy nods, still avoiding as much direct eye contact as possible. 

Bear.

It shouldn’t bother you as much as it does, and yet, you can’t help the feeling that wells inside of you as she says the name. 

The family name. 

His childhood name. 

It feels more intimate than it should, and maybe it is. 

You swallow, trying to shake the feeling. 

“Yes. Yeah, we’d uh… let us know. When you’re there,” you continue, exchanging a look with Carmy, who only nods along. 

“Oh, you’re a-, you work there too? At the restaurant,” Claire asks, eyeing the carefully drawn fruits and veggies that adorn the length of your arms, permanently inked there forever. 

“Yeah. Uh. Pastry chef,” you reply with a small laugh. 

She nods, almost as if she’s accepted an unspoken agreement – something you’re not sure you’ll ever know. 

“Well it was nice to meet you,” she says once more, shooting a soft smile in your direction, before excusing herself. “And it’s good to see you, Carmy.” 

As you watch Claire walk away, Carmy’s still frozen inside of what he thinks could be the most awkward experience of his month so far. 

“So… that was weird,” you say, as you turn towards your boyfriend. He mutters something in agreement because the only thing he can think of to say is, what the fuck just happened. 

And he’s barely figured that out. 

“Do… you want to talk about it?” you ask skeptically, dragging out the ‘o’ at the beginning of your question. 

“Not really,” he mumbles softly, shaking his head. 

“Great, me either,” you’re quick to reply, even though you both know that you’re going to have to talk about this eventually. 

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

It seems to be a day of forgetfulness, as Carmy realizes that he’s left his notebook at the restaurant – something he’s been working out of for any and all new ideas, a habit you think he picked up from Syd. It’s not entirely out of the way, so the two of you decide to stop by on the way home. You enter through the back, hoping to skirt the tongue lashing you’ll both get for coming in – even just for a few minutes – on your day off. 

But a hall-pass just isn’t in the cards for either of you, as you’re instantly spotted, arm-in-arm, by Richie who’s just ended the pre-dinner shift all hands meeting. 

“It’s your day off! Get the fuck outta here,” Richie calls out to you with a shake of his head. “You two. I swear.” 

“I just forgot my notebook. We’re in, then we’re out. I swear!” Carmy defends himself, holding up his hands. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Richie dismisses him before issuing a warning with a wag of his finger. “You better not stay longer than five minutes, you got that?” 

“In and out. Scout’s honor,” you answer, before the abrupt interjection of Fak’s voice stops you from saying anything else. 

“Incomiiiiiiiing!” Fak cries, as he bursts through the doors. “Ahhhh man. Hey Carm! I heard you ran into Claire Bear.” 

Claire Bear?

You shoot Carmy a quizzical look that he’s more than eager to avoid. 

“The fuck are you talkin’ about?” Richie snaps as Carmy simultaneously lets out as: “Jesus fuckin’ Christ. What do you-? How? Already?!” “Fuck it’s been two fuckin’ seconds,” Carmy grits his teeth, trying his best to answer Richie’s question. “But apparently news travels fast.” He shoots you an apologetic look as he explains, “She’s uh… close family friends with the Faks.” 

“Ahhh,” you let out. “She seem good? Bet she was glad to see ya,” Fak inquires, overenthusiastically winking in Carmy’s direction. 

“Yeah she’s uh… she’s gonna be a doctor in a few months huh?” Carmy replies, trying his best to avoid Fak’s continuous winks. 

“Who the fuck is Claire?” Sydney asks, as she enters the conversation. Syd quickly notices the confused look on your face, in contrast to the embarrassed one on Carmy’s, and a more than eager Fak, much to Richie’s dismay. 

It’s as if he can read the situation in one look as Richie cuts in this time with an explanation:

“Will you stop it, fucko? Jesus Christ.” Richie turns his attention to you this time as shakes his head, brushing off Fak’s earlier comment. “She’s just a kid from the neighborhood. That’s all.” 

“Just a kid from the neighborhood?! You, Richie, you are not nice!” Fak exclaims. 

But Richie is faster, quick to dismiss the man as he cuts him off with a few sharp words about fixing his bowtie before dinner service starts. As they bicker back and forth, trading barbs like brothers, Carmy has returned to his ‘I really don’t want to talk about this’ body language, his shoulders slumped and completely avoiding eye contact. 

“Okay. Um…. Raise your hand if you’re off the clock but you’re acting really fuckin’ weird right now,” Sydney says, looking from you to Carmy, and then back to you. 

“I…” you try your best to explain to no avail – mostly because you’re not sure what to explain yet. 

“We should go. Let’s get out of here, yeah?” you propose, directing your attention towards Carmy again. You’re more than happy to be met with a nod as Carmy excuses himself, darting into his office to retrieve the notebook he came here for in the first place. 

You can tell that he’s not ready to talk about it, and after the weirdness today, you’re beginning to wonder more and more about this Claire girl. Carmy had never mentioned an ex-girlfriend. You knew that there were short-lived flings here and there throughout his twenties, but by the time you met him, it was just you and him, trapped inside your little bubble of denial and unspoken feelings until you weren’t. 

Claire doesn’t quite seem like an ex, but you could feel that she wasn’t just a girl from the neighborhood that Carmy grew up with either. 

“You good?” Sydney asks, immediately noticing your discomfort. 

“Yes,” you answer, unconvincingly. “Sooooo….?” Sydney begins to ask. 

So what’s going on? So what was that all about? 

“Girl, I will let you know when I know,” you answer, shooting her a matching look. 

“Godspeed, my friend,” Sydney replies with a salute, eliciting a much needed laugh from you. “I’m gonna get back to work but uh… I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” you nod, trying your best to shake off this weird feeling. 

As you watch her go, you’re too caught up in the what-the-fuck-ness of it all that you barely notice as Richie approaches. 

“You know you got nothin’ to worry about, right, sweetheart?” Richie asks you, interrupting the thoughts swimming around in your head. 

“No yeah. I-, he’ll tell me when he’s ready,” you reply, almost as if you’re trying to convince yourself. 

“You ready?” you hear Carmy ask. 

“Yeah,” you nod, before giving Richie a small smile because his reassurance means a lot. “Thanks, Richie.” 

As you wave goodbye, Carmy takes your hand before leading you out of the restaurant and en route towards home. There’s a thick tension between the two of you, filled with things left unsaid. It’s more of an awkward kind of tension as Richie’s words echo in your head: 

You know you got nothin’ to worry about, right, sweetheart? 

It means more to you than he knows – that Richie is in your corner. It’s not like the two of you are best friends, but you have a mutual understanding that you’ve been good for Carmen ever since you reentered his life. 

You’ve become a patient woman, knowing that, most of the time, Carmy has to come to you on his own time. You trust him wholeheartedly, and you trust that he’ll tell you when he’s ready. It just doesn’t help the anticipation that’s been building inside of you all afternoon. 

“You know. We’re gonna have to talk about this eventually,” you say, breaking the comfortable silence between you. 

“Yeah,” Carmy answers quietly, giving your hand a confident squeeze. And if it’s a promise, he adds, “Yeah, I know.”

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

You’re barely paying attention to George Clooney’s portrayal of a former raider turned newspaper columnist of a fox, entirely distracted by your game of cat and mouse that you play with Carmy and his attention. You can feel his eyes on you as you take another sip from your wine glass, the funky and sour notes hitting your tongue as he watches you closely, your head hazy from getting towards the end of the second glass.  

Carmy sighs, shifting his body position, as if choosing the comfiest position will embolden him to tell you what’s been on his mind.

He lets out yet another sigh, this one much heavier than the last and you know he’s working up the nerve. 

You cradle your wine glass in your hands, giving the last of the orange elixir a swirl as you settle into the couch, your back pressed against the arm of it as you stretch your legs out in front of you. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” you finally ask him, and he lets out one last sigh of relief, almost as if he’s been waiting for you to ask. 

“Uh… yeah, actually,” Carmy admits, hesitantly.

You’ve been waiting for him to get here, taking in the vulnerable look on his face as he searches for the words he thinks will best convey what he wants to say. “So… there was like… someone… before me, yeah?” Carmy drags out, his face soft as he asks you a question that takes you by surprise. 

You let out what can only be described as a laugh and a sob as you reply with: 

“What do you mean?” you choke out, the laugh that escapes your body providing much needed relief. 

It’s not what you expected. That’s for sure. 

“You know…” he trails off, before taking another deep breath because as much as he hates to admit it, it’s really the only example he’s got. “Like… I know… about Nate.” “Nate?!” you exclaim with an even bigger laugh. “Bear, are you… are you asking me about my exes?” 

“Uh… yeah…” he admits on an exhale, almost embarrassed to be asking. “I guess uh-, I guess I am.” In his bashfulness, you giggle, reaching out to give his arm a squeeze as you begin to understand that he’s ready to talk about what happened in the grocery store. 

Carmy takes a breath, and you watch his posture soften.

“Well, Nate barely counts as an ex. I don’t… That was more of a… one-time mistake kind of thing,” you admit, knowing that it wasn’t all that long ago that Carmy found out about it in the first place. 

“Right,” Carmy nods, his gaze focused on his knees for a moment because even though he brought it up, he’d really like to stop talking about Nate right about now. 

“But!” you begin, trying your best to meet him where he’s asking you to. “The guy I dated… right before I met you, Alec was… definitely someone I consider an ex. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah um… we were together for two years… just before I started working at our old spot,” you begin, willing to give him as much information as he wants. “So why didn’t it work out?” Carmy asks curiously. 

“I don’t know, babe. I racked my brain trying to figure that one out a ton when we first broke up,” you sigh, uncertain of how to answer that question. You take your time choosing to be as honest as possible in your explanation. “I think… I don’t know. He was never as sure about me as I was of him.”

“We were great together, y’know? He was kind, and smart… he made me laugh… And we were really happy together for a long time. I mean, I think we were exactly what each other needed as the people we were in that time of our lives,” you explain, elaborating on what really worked in your relationship with Alec. 

“But eventually, none of that stuff really mattered because all I wanted was to be with someone who felt as crazy about me as I did about them, you know? And… he wasn’t… entirely sure.” 

Carmy lets out a deep breath as he takes your words in. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he apologizes, as he feels the weight of your words. “I guess… well, I guess I didn’t know about all that.” 

“Well, I didn’t exactly tell you,” you shrug. 

Carmy thinks it over, wondering why he never asked you about your broken heart back then – not that he was ever really good about that kind of stuff  – the talking about feelings kind of stuff, and whatnot. 

But he wants to be good at it now. Or, at least he’d like to try. He wants to try to be good at it for you. 

“Guy’s a fuckin’ loser,” Carmy comments, a bitterness in his voice as he does. “I can’t imagine it.” 

“Hm?” 

“Not being crazy about you,” he answers, his tone confident as his eyes catch yours. 

Your heart flutters with the way he looks at you, and between his words and his certainty about you, you can’t regret the past – not even a little bit. 

“It’s okay, Bear,” you reassure him, and you mean it. “If Alec and I had stayed together… well, you and I never would’ve….” 

“Danced around each other for over two years?” Carmy points out letting out a dry laugh. “Right,” you chuckle in agreement, with a playful eye roll. 

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.” 

“We’re here now. Isn’t that what’s important?” you ask with a shrug and a half smile. 

This time, his tone much more serious, Carmy answers with a, yeah, that feels heavier than the previous ones. 

You and Carmy both take a beat, letting the reality of your life with each other sink in. It’s as if all the ‘no’s of the past lead you here to this moment, and you’d have it no other way. 

“So. Who… is Claire?” you ask, earning a groan from Carmy as he swears under his breath with a shake of his head. You stretch out your leg, just enough to poke him with your big toe as he chuckles, wanting nothing more than to avoid this question. 

“It’s just… well you’ve never really told me about any of your exes!”

“Well she’s not really… my ex,” Carmy blushes, averting his gaze once again. 

“Well, she doesn’t really seem like just a friend,” you point out, and it suddenly feels like you’re showing your entire hand. Carmy agrees with you on an exhale, reminding himself that he wants to try the whole ‘better at talking about feelings’ thing with you. 

“Okay. Uh… well… we’ve known each other for like… forever, I guess,” Carmy begins to explain running a hand through his curls. “Her family is close with the Faks and I-, I-, uh… well, I sort of… had this massive crush on her… like all throughout school.” 

“What?” you ask, genuinely curious about his sudden coyness. 

“It’s embarrassing!” he defends himself, with a dry laugh. 

“Carmy, it’s not!” you insist, sitting up straight this time to reach for his hand. “Was it weird for you? Earlier today?” 

“Uh. Kinda, yeah,” he confesses, stealing a glance your way. 

“Yeah?” you ask. 

“Yeah. Like… a lot. Was that… not obvious?” he shoots back, this time with a shake of his head. “I just-. I don’t know. It was weird.”

“Good weird or bad weird?” you ask again, patiently. “Just… weird, babe,” Carmy answers honestly with a shrug of his own. 

You nod in understanding, wanting to give him the space to share more if he’d like to. It’s not that you were worried about Claire… but it had been weird, earlier today – and even stranger when no one was giving you a proper explanation. “I-, I-, it’s like. I had such a big crush on her. And I could barely work up the nerve to talk to her like… I was sort of just this-, this total fuckin’ loser,” Carmy continues, his eyes narrowing as he talks about a younger version of himself. “And now here I am… with my super hot girlfriend and I just-. I don’t know. It sorta uh… reminded me of like… a different version of myself.” 

“Yeah, no, I-, I get that. It’s… it’s such a weird feeling,” you empathize, exchanging a look with your boyfriend this time. 

You nod in understanding, only to be met with a laugh and another shake of his head as Carmy lets out a sigh of relief. “You’re being like… waaaaay too cool about this,” he points out, his voice lighter this time. 

“Oh yeah?” you ask with a quirk of an eyebrow. “Uh. Fuck yeah,” Carmy confirms, as you exchange a laugh. He shrugs once again, only a little embarrassed as he adds, “You know… I just… I kinda lost my fuckin’ mind. You know. About Nate.” You shrug, “That’s different. I-.” A beat. “Do you want me to be jealous?” “No,” Carmy answers. A beat. “Maybe?” And another. “I-, I don’t know. This is all so new to me!” 

“Carm,” you sigh, as you lean over, placing your wine glass down on the coffee table before scooting closer to your boyfriend as you continue. “You and I have been through so much together and there were days that I thought we’d never speak again… but somehow we still ended up here.” 

He grabs your hands, pulling you in closer towards him as you meet him pound for pound–all heart on both sides. 

“I trust you,” you reassure him, your fingers sliding perfectly between his. “And I know I have your heart… ‘cos I know you got mine.” 

“Ffffffuck,” Carmy exhales, in complete disbelief that you really are being too cool about this. “Seriously?!” 

You laugh, incredulously this time, as you decide to give your boyfriend just a little of what he may be looking for. “No, but. It did-, it was weird for me… today. With Claire. And then later at the restaurant when Fak brought her up. I mean… you weren’t lying. News traveled fast,” you admit, much to Carmy’s relief. 

“Neighborhood’s small. That’s for sure,” he agrees, equally uncomfortable with how quickly that got around. 

“And… She is like… really pretty. And… what? About to be a doctor so I guess that means she’s really fuckin’ smart. I mean-,” you continue. 

It doesn’t take Carmy long to realize that you’re trying too, deciding it’s best to put you out of your misery sooner rather than later as he cuts you off with a playful, “Oh shut the fuck up.” 

It’s your turn to laugh this time as you lean in, pressing your lips to his. 

Carmy inhales, breathing you in as he tries to memorize the way you smell, the way you taste, the way your lips feel nestled so perfectly against his. He pulls away just for a moment, intent on telling you something. 

“You do, by the way,” Carmy says, his declaration soft but sure. “Have my heart, I mean.”

“I know, babe,” you reply, with a smile. “I know.”

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

a/n: if you've been wondering where i've been, i've been here! just living a whole lot of life offline these days. would anyone be interested in reading my thoughts on life? anyways, i feel like a hiatus was good for me, and now i have all this life i've lived that's inspired me to write again. i've been channeling a lot of my creative energy into other projects which has felt great and it also feels really good to be back.

#carmen berzatto x you #carmy berzatto #carmy x oc #the bear hulu #the bear fx #jeremy allen white #carmen 'carmy' berzatto #carmy berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto #carmy berzatto headcanon #the bear headcanon #carmy berzatto imagines #carmy berzatto fluff

[somekindofpoet]

Missed Connection 2

Summary: A flight delay causes a chance meeting between R and Jenna Ortega

Word Count: 2.1K

A/N: Laughing at the fact that I thought I could do a one shot of anything

Part 1 Part 3

“No big deal,” you grumble under your breath, fumbling with the keys to your apartment. “Oh yeah, I was just on SNL, no big deal.”

Your Uber driver, who informed you is named Dani, ranted and raved about Jenna for the rest of the ride home. She then insisted you watch Wednesday before you even thought about texting her. The words “respect on her name” and “so fucking lucky” were cried out several times. Dani refused to drive away before you promised her you would update her on the situation. It seems you were friends now. Against your will, but she appeared serious about not leaving, so you exchanged numbers and made your promises.

Your door opens, and you take a deep breath, happy to be home. The house sitter deep cleaned before he left, and you were grateful for the smell of fresh laundry the moment you stepped in. Your cat sat, perched on the shelves above your head, watching you closely.

“Hello, Mr. Burton, wonderful to see you too,” you smile up at him, and he narrows his yellow eyes at you. 

You nod and drop your bags to the side, happy to see nothing had changed in his world. You trudge into the living room and flop on the couch, sliding your phone onto the coffee table. Half of you wants to text Jenna and let her know you know who she is now. The other half is absolutely mortified at the idea of ever seeing her again. You decide you’ll watch one episode of Wednesday, then hit the hay. You can decide how to approach the Jenna situation in the morning. 

——

Four hours later, you’re still on your couch, valiantly fighting sleep for just one more episode. It’s 2AM, and you know you need to pack it in. She’s just so brilliant. Her version of Wednesday is quick-witted, hilarious, and naturally, insanely good looking. She’s so different from the person you ran into at the airport. She wears Jenna’s face, but that seems to be where the similarities end. Besides the straight faced sarcasm, that was a strong parallel. 

Your grogginess fools you into a sense of confidence, and you finally pick up your phone. You’d already saved her number hours ago, afraid you’d lose the gum wrapper. You open a new message and type out “…” nothing. Nothing comes to mind. What do you even say to a movie star? You remember how she reacted to you calling her a big deal and decide you can’t tell her how great she is in the show. You stare at the phone, sigh, then lock it. Maybe sleep will help.

——

Your phone buzzing on your pillow wakes you up. You forgot to turn on do not disturb, and now you’re paying for it. You crack open an eye and look at the name on the screen. You note that it’s 6 AM and groan as you slide the answer button.

“Sid, are you aware of the hour?”

“Good morning, sunshine! Welcome back to glamorous LA!” Sid’s voice rings through the speaker, her high-pitched singing making you wince.

“Uuuuuugh,” is all you reply, letting her know how you feel about the call.

“So I know you just got back, and yes, I know you’re supposed to be on vacay after your Nat Geo thing, but….”

“Sid, if you ask me for a favor right now, I’ll kill you.”

“Listen! Before you say no, I may have accidentally overbooked myself, and I need a favor.”

You groan, rub your eyes with your knuckles, “You need to get a scheduling assistant dude.”

“I know, but this is big. I have a thing that got moved up, and now I can’t do this Dior shoot.”

You open your eyes, your interest piqued, “Dior?”

Sid laughs, “I knew you’d like that. Uhm, just one thing though, it’s in like two hours so-“

“Sidney, are you kidding me?!” You shoot up and leap out of bed, beginning your search for decent clothes.

“I mean, if you’re late, it’ll be on me, but I knew you wouldn’t be up yet. Can you take it for me?”

You pull on a pair of black slacks and grumble, “I swear you owe me so big, Sid, like we’re talkin' drinks on you for the next month.”

“Okay love you I’ll text you the address you’re the best byyyeeee!”

You sigh as she quickly hangs up the phone and resume your search for clothes. It had been a while since you’d photographed people since you’d moved on to nature photography. The models weren’t bad; you just found the shoots boring. Everything is staged and unnatural, beautiful people in beautiful clothes with beautiful lighting. The biggest challenge to it was dealing with managers and temperamental brand agents.

You brush your teeth and tame your hair as fast as you can, gathering your camera and equipment for the shoot and hustling out the door. You paste the address from Sid’s text into your maps and peel out of your parking lot. If you hurry, you’ll make it with a few minutes to spare.

You should have known LA traffic would play you like a fiddle. You park your car four minutes before the shoot time. You’re not sure why you care if you’re late, seeing as you’re not the one who booked the shoot. But still, somewhere deep down, you want them to like your work, and no one likes a late appointment. It's for this reason you practically sprint through the parking lot and into the studio, your equipment making it nearly impossible to see.

For the second time in two days, you’re barreling into someone, knocking them on their ass and sending you flying over their body. You hit the ground with a grunt, your precious camera safely tucked into your chest. You sit up groaning, ready to spew apologies when you see who exactly you’ve run into. You think it has to be some sort of cruel joke or karmic intervention for sins from a past life.

Jenna sits up, rubbing her head, her oversized black hoodie draped across her frame. When you meet eyes, you both freeze, baffled. You gawk at her. You know you’re doing it, but you can't stop. She stares at you, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Is this how we’re always going to greet each other, do you think?” She asks, a smile pulling at her lips.

You grimace, “I can’t believe my luck. What’re you doing here?”

“Uhm,” she sighs, shrugs, “Working?”

You push yourself to your feet and offer to help her up, but she’s already gathering your things and piling them neatly in her arms.

“Thank you,” you tell her with a smile, “I’m working too, a favor for a friend.”

She frowns up at you, handing over your equipment, “I thought you were a nature photographer?”

“Oh, I am. Like I said, I’m doing my friend a favor. She’s an idiot and overbooked herself, so now I have to deal with models and Dior.”

Her eyebrows shoot up, her eyes bright, “Hi, it's me. I’m the model you have to deal with.”

You choke on your spit, coughing and spluttering, “You’re kidding, right? That's a joke?”

She jerks her head back, “Is the idea that horrifying?”

You're kicking yourself internally for sounding like an asshole, “No! Not at all. It’s just…I…well, to be perfectly honest, you make me a little nervous.”

A laugh escapes her throat, and she looks down at her feet, “You managed well enough yesterday.”

“Uh, yeah. I saw your billboard on the way in from the airport. You undersold yourself a bit.”

Her shoulders sag, and it makes you regret admitting it. You scramble to fix the situation.

“But! But I can pretend I never saw it. If that’s what you want. We can just act like this is some weird meet-cute again.”

She lifts her head, smirks at you, “You thought yesterday was a meet-cute?”

You blush, your eyes wide, “Oh. I…uh, yes?”

She nods, and you can see her mull over the idea. She seems to accept it because the next thing you know, you’re following her deeper inside the studio. You spot the door Sid told you to go to and follow Jenna inside. She disappears behind a mass of stylists and a curtain of clothes with a handful of other celebrity models. You work with the brand managers and review Sid’s vision for the shoot, making your own tweaks here and there. As a whole, it goes shockingly well. Like, well enough for you to reconsider your self-imposed exile in nature photography.

When the shoot ends, and you’re packing up to leave, you’re reminded why you left fashion in the first place. A throng of people wait outside the studio doors, flash cameras held high, yelling and jostling each other. They’re choking at the bit to get the best shot of Jenna and the others when they walk out the doors, like vultures waiting for their pound of flesh. It makes you sick. You stand behind the tinted glass doors, watching the mob with clear distaste.

A voice at your side surprises you, making you jump, “Day in the life,” Jenna sighs, eyeing the crowd.

You hum in agreement, looking back out the window. “You deal with this all the time?”

“Every day,” she grumbles, her eyes tired.

You decide to change the subject, turning away from the doors to look down at her.

“You were great today. You’re a natural.”

Her eyes leave the crowd and turn up to you, “I’m glad you think so, but it’s not natural. I’ve had my fair share of lessons.”

You shrug and start to walk toward the back of the building with her at your side, “Well, it seemed natural. So that’s a good thing. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that, though, because, well, you’re here.”

She snorts, “I guess I can’t pretend being in a Dior promotion isn’t a big deal, can I?”

You give her an exasperated glance, “No. You cannot.” 

When you round the corner, a man in a black suit is waiting at the back door. He opens his hand toward Jenna and dips his head, ushering her toward the exit. 

“Well, this is my ride. I meant what I said yesterday, though. Text me. I’d really like to hang out, you know, when I’m not working.”

You gulp, nervous at the thought, “O-okay, yeah.”

As soon as she’s out the door, you pull your phone out, frantic to tell someone, anyone, about this. For some reason, your first thought is Dani. You get one text through to her, and she calls you immediately.

“Hey! I’m driving, can’t text. Tell me everything. Did you text her? Did you watch the show? Are you in love yet?!” Her voice comes through with road noise in the background.

You laugh, holding the phone to your ear with your shoulder as you push open the door.

“So, actually, I just photographed her at a Dior shoot. I-”

“YOU WHAT?! God, how are you the luckiest person on the planet? Tell me everything.”

And so you do. On your drive home, you tell her about not knowing what to say over text, how you accidentally bowled Jenna over again, how the shoot went, the conversation about the paparazzi, and how Jenna insisted you text her.

“So?” Dani says, and you hear a horn screeching in the background.

“So what? And are you okay? It sounds like you’ve pissed every driver in LA off.”

“Oh, don’t mind them. I’ve got a great Uber rating they can fuck right off. Did you text her? She doesn’t even have your number yet dude!”

“Oh…shit you’re right!” You yelp, not realizing that, obviously, this interaction was one sided because Jenna couldn’t reach out to you even if she wanted to.

“Okay, I know this friendship is new, but I feel like we’re close enough now for me to tell you. That's your in, idiot! You know what, I’m hanging up right now. Text her. Then tell me everything.”

The phone line dies just as you’re parking. You stare at the phone, absorbing the onslaught of information you’ve just been assaulted with. Dani may have been slightly crazy, but she was right. This was your in. You open the phone, pull up Jenna’s contact and type out a new message.

Hey! Its y/n. I just realized I have your number and never gave you mine. 

Anyway, I want to take you up on your offer

I’m off for the next few weeks, so just let me know when you’re free

You stare at the phone, watch as the text bubbles turn blue and the delivered mark appears under them. You bite your lip, anxious about a reply. After a moment, you realize she’s probably an incredibly busy person and would absolutely not text you back immediately. 

Jenna

Hows tomorrow sound?

#jenna ortega x fem!reader #jenna ortega #jenna ortega x y/n #jenna ortega x reader

[theslotherin18]

Ok, so quick question fellow HH fans. What is Velvet supposed to be based off exactly, like her theme? Yes, I know she was a maid cosplayer in her earlier design but they kinda got rid of that.

Edit: I saw someone say she is a clown/jester which I think is pretty cool ngl.

Valentino is very clearly based off a moth with his fluff and wings and its obvious he is the porn overlord with his pimp fit. The moth theme is quite clever given how irl moths emit pheromones during sex to make it more inticing. His red and white color pallet gets this across as well.

Vox likewise has a tv head and Wi-Fi symbols, blatantly signalling what he has power over along with an electric themed color pallet. The more subtle shark theming with his lair and coat tail shape is a nod to the sin of greed given how shark demons come from the greed ring(helluva boss). His wardrobe being a parallel to Alastor (which I made a post about) and theming makes it clear what he is all about even if it’s nor 100% original (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it)

The character designs, despite all the bashing from haters of Vivzies art style get their point across which is the most important role of character design.

Velvet on the other hand, I am not so sure. If she is based off an animal, idk what she is. Looking at her upfront, you can get the idea that she is an edgy bitch. The only thing she kinda has to play into her social media stuff is the hearts on her vest(?) and the constantly changing hairstyle and scene kid outfit. If I had no prior info, I would think she was Valentinos evil assistant with the repeating heart theme or Val and Vox’s love child incarnate. She doesn’t give Social Media overlord on her own.

I did notice she had a line that is perpendicular to her lips that gives her a doll like appearance which could play into the social media perfection angle but nothing else from her current design seems to go along with this theme.

Now, I have my gripes with a certain genre of character redesigns(the ones who in bad faith trash the originals and try to “fix it” by making the exact same mistakes in their improved one) but if I had to redesign her, I would give her a clear theme.

You could lean into an ocean theme based off internet lingo like “surfing the net” and how the Envy ring in helluva boss is speculated to have a deep sea theme and be ruled over by leviathan(if you like the theory that sinner’s demon form takes inspo from the native born demons that originated from the ring of hell their corresponding vice they most indulged in their earthly life was.). Or perhaps a cat theme given how ubiquitous they are in the early internet, social media and memes.

Perhaps instead of hearts, Vivzie could of used thumbs up, which on social media is an almost universally understood symbol. Maybe more phone or app based iconagraphy(copyright free of course)

Maybe a color pallet that looks less like a blend of Vox and Val’s color pallet that could stand on its own. I think keeping red would be a good call given how vox and Val also have that color, which would unify them as a trio. She has a tendency to blend into the background given how her pallet is both muted(the reddish looking color) and neutral (white and grey)

Idk, I am not expert on this stuff but that’s just what I see.

#hazbin hotel velvette #yes I spelled her name wrong but I was half through this post and I way to lazy to fix it #hazbin hotel #the vees #character design #vox hazbin hotel #valentino hazbin hotel #helluva boss

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Loki 2x5 Voices Analysis

Spoilers for 2x5.

I was rewatching ep 5 and got to the scene right as Loki learns to control his time-slipping, he hears all these voices and they are kind of quiet and jumbled together but I did wonder if there could be any clues in those lines that might tell us what is going to happen to our characters, or just any other parallels or interesting connections.

So I turned on the trusty subtitles and I figured, as I've got some time to kill, I'd go through each line and talk about what I think the significance of it might be, as a quick note I haven't done these in the order that they are spoken in the scene as some characters had multiple lines. Also this is all just my own interpretation and opinions.

As I said above I do think there could possibly be some hints in here as to where are characters are ultimately going to end up, but I also think it tells us a lot about what Loki wants and what he was thinking about in this moment as he was losing everything.

O.B/ A.D Doug: It was a fiction problem.

To be honest if these are supposed to be hints as to where our characters could end up at the end of the finale then I haven't really figured out what this might mean for O.B. The line is in reference to the conversation he had with Loki earlier about the difference between a science problem and a fiction problem. Like science says its impossible for Loki to time travel in the TVA a place that supposedly has no time and that it's impossible for him to go back to the moment the Loom exploded and fix it , yet fiction says that he can, fiction says the impossible can become possible.

So maybe this line was added to remind us the audience but also Loki himself that if he embraces it as a fiction problem then maybe he can do the impossible, like going back and rewriting the story.

It could also be a nod to this idea of authors and the power they hold, the power fiction holds. You've got O.B, who was the author of the TVA handbook which played a very important part in this season, Victor Timely and how O.B based his work off of him and how Victor in turn based his work of O.B's creating that Ouroboros imagery. You also have HWR who very much played the part of the playwriter, dictator everyone's lives for them. Now you've got Loki who has figured out that he can be the author now and rewrite the story.

Another nod it could be to is the season 1 finale where Miss Minutes makes Sylvie and Loki an offer on HWR's behalf, telling them he can put them on the timeline together and give them everything they've ever wanted. Sylvie's response to this is that it is fiction and Loki follows up with We write our own destinies now. You also had Sylvie say earlier in this episode 'we are all writing our own stories now, you should go write yours.' So maybe this line is just playing into this idea of rejecting the story someone else has pathed out for you and instead embracing the power of writing your own story on your own terms.

As for what it might mean for OB I'm not fully sure but I do think there is more to OB than we know as he often seems to be the odd one out. Unlike the rest of the gang he doesn't seem to have had his memory wiped when HWR invented the timekeepers and began to work more in the shadows. He's the only one who doesn't have a team to work with in his department at the TVA, whilst all the others where in timelines with 2's in them, 1962, 1982, 2012 and 2022, but O.B is the odd one out with his branch being set in 1994. There just always seems to be something slightly off about him and I do think we might get some kind of big surprise reveal about his character at some point in the finale. What that reveal could be and whether its good or bad, I have no idea. Maybe if they form a new TVA and O.B stays he'll be given the role of like story protector or Story recorder, in charge of making sure people get to write their own stories and then recording those stories, if that makes sense. But I'm just kind of throwing ideas out here I really don't have a solid idea of where they might take his character, but I'd love to hear everyone else's theories.

B-15: I looked happy.

This line by B-15 I thought was really interesting because its from season 1 but also because she doesn't actually say it to Loki, he's not even present when she does say it, she says it to Sylvie after Sylvie shows her the life she had on the timeline.

For B-15 seeing her past life was a big moment for her, it changed her entire perspective of the TVA and there work they were doing. She realised how wrong it was that the TVA had kidnapped workers from their lives on the timeline, that they had lied to them, that they pruned so many timelines and variants, people, for what was actually a lie. Immediately she decided to do something about it, to fight to protect those timelines. She is the one that convinces the Judge to change her opinion on the future of the TVA and who tried to appeal to Dox as well.

I've been of the opinion since the start of season 2 that B-15 given a choice would choose to stay at the TVA instead of going back to her life on the timeline. At first when I heard this line I thought it might have debunked that theory and maybe it was hinting that actually B-15 would return to her timeline as she was happy there and that is one possibility.

But having thought about it some more, I do think there is still an argument to be made that she would choose to stay at the TVA as it could be a case of the context of what she is saying being more important than what she is saying. As I said, I think this moment is the moment she changed her motivation and view of what the TVA really was but also what it could be. It was the moment she decided that she wasn't going to let what happened to her happen to anyone else, no one else was going to lose their happy life on her watch, type of goal. So I still think B-15 will decide that she'll make more of a difference at the TVA than going back to her life.

I said that I also thought that these lines could tell us something about what Loki was thinking and what he really wants and I actually think this line is telling us that he doesn't just want his friends to be safe, he wants them to be happy to, it could be a hint that when the time comes he'll give the option to return to their lives back to them, because as much as he wants his friends with him, he also wants them to be happy, so he makes that sacrifice of letting them go for their own happiness.

Casey: The TVA...

So the only thing Casey says is two simple words, The TVA. So I think this will mean that Casey will be one of those who chooses to stay at the TVA. I mean his life on the timeline isn't the happiness and he even asked when Loki said that they should all go back home, if they had to go back to exactly where they were, so its obvious that he doesn't particularly want to go back to his life. At the TVA Casey has friends, people who think like him like OB, and he is useful, he can help people, so I think Casey will get a promotion and will continue with his life at the TVA.

As for what this line tells us about what Loki was thinking/wanting well I think this one is an obvious one, he wants the TVA back, its the one place where he has felt like he has a purpose, where he can be good and do good, where he had friends. So it makes sense that the TVA would be in his thoughts as he sees everything slipping away from him.

The rest of lines are also very interesting as both Sylvie and Mobius/Don get more lines than the others, where they only get one, Sylvie and Mobius get three each. I think the reason for this is because they are the two most important people in his life at the moment, the ones he is closest to, its the woman he loves and his best friend. He cares and loves them both in particular and he really respects their opinions and advice. So it makes sense that its their voices that are the most predominant in this moment.

Mobius

So lets start with Mobius and what he says in this moment. The three lines are actually two quotes split into three, the first is:

'No I have to go back to see my boys.'

And the second that is split into two is a quote from season 1 from the scene when he gets pruned:

'If I could go anywhere...'

'Where ever it is I am really from.'

So this may be an unpopular opinion amongst some fans but I think these lines make it pretty clear where Mobius is going to end up come the end of the series, back with his boys on the timeline. But I don't think this necessarily has to mean the end for his character in future MCU projects. I actually had a thought about what Mobius/Don's role could be going forward in the MCU. It seems like Clint Barton's character is going to be phased out, retired. One important role Clint played in the MCU was that he was the 'ordinary' guy who was also a hero. He didn't have a special power, or a fancy high tech suit, he had his bow and his arrows, but he was also a father, he had a family. This was important for reminding the audience of how high the stakes were and what the consequences of the heroes losing were. If something happened to Clint then it would deeply effect his family and vice versa. I think Mobius could fill this role going forward, he'd be the dad, the 'ordinary' guy who still does what has to be done because he understands what the stakes are if he doesn't. So I could see him living a happy life on his timeline with his boys but where he joins the team when the need arises and helps Loki protect everyone before going back to his family again.

Going back to what this tells us about what Loki wants and thinks, I again think this shows us how much Loki cares about his friends. He's thinking about how Mobius/Don has been ripped away from his kids, from his life and I think it comes back to Loki just wanted his friends to be happy, even if that means letting them go back to their timelines. I also think Loki might be feeling a little guilty here as Sylvie had helped him see that he had pulled the gang away from their timelines more for his own selfish reasons than because he thought it was what was best for them. Don/Mobius could have been back in his timeline with his boys, instead he has this moment of fear and panic as he sees people turning to spaghetti and realises that he could be next and his boys will be left alone. So that is also playing on Loki's mind.

Sylvie

So Sylvie's lines in this moment were the most interesting to me. So here are the three lines she says:

'Everything is falling apart.'

'What's wrong with wanting something?'

'Do you think that what makes a Loki a Loki is the fact that we're destined to lose?'

When it comes to the falling apart line I think this is again telling us more about what Loki is feeling and wanting in this moment. Like Mobius/Don's line about needing to see his boys, this line reminds Loki that Sylvie's branch, the one where he was told that she was happy in and had made her a life on was now gone. Loki wanted Sylvie to be ok and yet he wasn't able to protect her timeline like he kept promising the TVA could do, so again its playing into the feeling of guilt and failure he is feeling in this moment. Its showing us how much he cares for his friends, he wants them to be happy, he wants them to be ok but right now they are all lost to him.

The line asking what's wrong with wanting something is particularly interesting to me. Sylvie says this to Loki right after he says that everything turned out the way she wanted and that she was selfish and she replied that of course she was selfish, that she wanted a life and then she asks him that question of what's wrong with wanting. I feel like all his life Loki has been told he's wrong for wanting, he was wrong for wanting to be heir over his brother, he was wrong for wanting to rule, he was wrong for wanting to have a purpose. He's never been allowed to actually get what he wants, so I think he now has come to associate wanting something as selfish and as something bad. But Sylvie is asking him to question that to ask himself if wanting something is really wrong.

I am going to come back to this subject of wanting in a moment but I want to talk about the last line that Sylvie says as I think it ties in with the line about wanting. The interesting thing about the last line, loki's being destined to lose, is that out of all the lines its the loudest and clearest. It's this line that helps Loki gain control of his time-slipping, I think that remembering that line combined with seeing Sylvie disappear in front of him, makes him think, no I'm not losing this time. I mentioned in another post that something else that is significant about this line is that it refers back to Sylki's nexus moment in 1x4. It's the moment that they feel that romantic connection to each other, that shift in their relationship into something deeper. I think its kind of beautiful that as Loki is losing everything that its that reminded of his love for Sylvie, the love that he has for all his friends that allows him to unlock that control and power over the time-slipping, allowing him to have the chance of saving all those he cares about.

I said that I thought the line about wanting something and loki's being destined to lose were connected, this is because Loki believes two things, he's not allowed to have what he wants, it would be selfish and that he is destined to lose. When it comes to the conclusion of this season in order for it to be satisfying, in my opinion, two things need to happen. Loki needs to win and he needs to get what he wants and accept that its ok to want it.

So if we look back over the last two seasons what do we know Loki wants? Loki is really bad at communicating what he wants, likely due to this shame he feels around wanting anything, I mean Sylvie really had to push to get him to admit to something as simply as wanting his friends back. But I think looking between the lines we can figure it out.

Loki wants to have a purpose. There's this running theme with the Loki's having this glorious purpose and without a purpose Loki is kind of lost.

In episode 1x5, Loki also talks about wanting to find a life with Sylvie, when they are talking about what they'll do after they've got to the end of time and defeated HWR Loki says they could figure it out together. Also when Miss Minutes offers for them to be on the timeline together, they both look hopeful for a moment, like that is something they both longed for.

We also know that he wants Sylvie to be ok. He tells her in 1x06 that he didn't want a throne, he just wanted her to be ok. When he find her on the timeline and she told him she was happy there, Loki backed off and instead focused on fixing the loom and by extension protecting the life she had created for herself.

We also know that he wants to help turn the TVA into a force of good, something that can protect as we see him trying to convince Sylvie that the TVA could be used this way.

He wants to protect his friends, he wants to have his friends with him. He tells Sylvie after the Loom explodes that he wants his friends back. But I also think he wants his friends to be happy.

He doesn't want to be alone and he wants to find where he belongs.

So for me the worst ending for Loki would be if he ends up alone, without a purpose or a home.

I did have one theory based on the clips of Loki entering the loom without a suit in the trailers and its one that I really hate and I will cry if it happens, so naturally I am going to share it with you all so you can suffer with me. But I did think that maybe Loki will sacrifice himself in order to safe his friends. However I don't think whatever he does to the loom will kill him I think it will send him and trap him at the end of time, like maybe whatever he does cuts the end of time off from the TVA and there is no way to get there, Loki can still control the timelines and guard them against any HWR variants coming through but he can't return, it could be a parallel to Thor's story in the first Thor film where he makes the choice to destroy the Bifrost and cut off his way back to Jane but saving lives in the process, and Jane then trying to find a way to reopen that connection. Maybe we'll get some hope with Sylvie and the TVA using HWR tempad to try and figure out a way of getting back to the end of time and bringing back Loki but that it will be left open ended and we don't get the answer as to whether they ever actually managed to get there.

As much as I'll admit it would be a nice parallel between Thor and Loki and it would paint Loki as the hero, I still don't want this to happen, I just feel like Loki has lost enough and deserves to win for a change. The only way I could except this happening is if Sylvie and the gang do find a way to open that connection up and maybe Sylvie chooses to join Loki at the end of time, like HWR and Ravonna had planned, that way at least neither of them are alone.

Another option is that they both end up running the TVA together. I know alot of people think Sylvie will end up settling on her timeline and that would be a suitable happy ending for her, I personally don't agree. I think the show has made it clear that whilst Sylvie claims she is happy on her branch, actually there is something missing and she is lonely, people who are happy and content don't tend to listen to songs about loneliness and not feeling satisfied with your life like Sylvie often does. Also I think if they both run the TVA together there could be a kind of ironic poetry to it. They would essentially do exactly what HWR offered them in the season 1 finale, to rule together, but they would have got there their own way. Followed their own path there. It could be a good way of bringing their story full circle.

2X6 Prediction Summary.

So here's a quick summary of how I think the finale will go for each of our characters.

Loki and Sylvie will run the TVA together, or sit at the end of time together.

Casey, B-15 and possibly O.B (still unsure on him) will choose to stay at the TVA but will be given important roles within the new organisation.

Mobius will go back to his sons and life on the timeline but will still make sure that they know he is available if they ever need his help.

Anyway I've rambled on enough now, I might do a proper prediction post of everything I think might happen in the finale before the episode but that's all my thoughts for now.

#sylki #loki #loki x sylvie #loki spoilers #loki theories

[aho-dapa]

Worldbuilding Illyria + a sort of rant on sjm’s writing, again

I’m sorry but quick idea, yknow what would have been cool, (while the Illyrians were an actual collection of people in history from what I gather--groups of people that likely didn’t call themselves Illyrians at all), is some Sparta parallels with Illyria. Would have been cool is all I’m saying. Not only very warrior oriented but also treated women differently. Very matrilineal and all that and women were likely still expected to be athletic. 

But also would have been cool to highlight how even though women had some more freedoms than their other ‘greek’ counterparts, they still had their own disadvantages like not being able to be involved in politics and stuff. Would have been great actually to show how women with power can still be oppressed, would have been stellar and an actual conversation starter but eh. 

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER???

actually using the history of the people you named your people after. 

Or even parallels with Rome and the whole bar bar thing where the word barbarian comes from. 

Its giving: 

Velaris = Rome 

Hewn City = could represent the places Rome conquered / vassal type thing

Illyria = literally every unclassified tribe altogether known as barbarians 

Would have been great to actually show the different tribes of Illyria and their different customs like mini greek states or actual Illyrian tribes / poleis things or even mention that’s why they are so hard to control because of how different they are

this idea isn’t that thought out so a lot of stuff here might be wrong but I think its a cool thing to think about 

Also, kinda bothers me how the Illyrians are never given empathy in sjm’s narrative, they’re always brutes who hate women, where’s the nuance, where’s the tradition and the culture, what even about religions?? They're not even a people at this point, they're just a weak feminist narrative that doesn’t even try to tackle why this society is structured the way it is, and if you don’t understand the structure of something, how can even even begin to try to change it or even make judgements on it? You’ll end up sounding holier than thou, especially to the people your ‘trying’ to help

i’m just now realizing just how greek/rome everything is in sjm’s book, they don’t even get into anything truly celtic or irish even though a lot of the series’s lore is based on those cultures??? Don’t even get me started on the summer court, I have no idea what that’s supposed to be? Greek? Italy? African?? I don’t understand if Tarquin is supposed to be black or not (tbh it feels like just general POC rep but its very hard for me to understand what POC are in sjm world) some people see him as black but also brown?? (I also hate using those descriptors as if they mean more than just slapping melanin on a character and calling it a day) Idk, gods, helion??? Idk, idk, maybe I just don’t know enough to even make a sound judgement 

Not to mention so many of the names are so greek sounding

Like Helion, likely related to Helios, Greek god of the sun

We full stop got someone named Lord Thanatos running around in Hewn City

Does this mean Mor has Irish connotations?? Like my main frustration comes from that there’s very little identifiers for me (and maybe this is just me not knowing about Irish mythology) and if there are, it only feels like a cameo??

The fact the only thing I know about the ‘chinese’ land sjm wrote about is only the name of it, Xian. And Nuan, where only her appearance is mentioned to look like Amren’s. Which idk, tbh, it leaves a lot of room for irl interpretation. Asian, after all, is not just chinese. (And tbh if you didn’t know that Xian and Nuan are chinese sounding names, would they even understand that it’s chinese coded??)

The fact that Thesan also has ancestry to Xian means literally nothing to me, I don’t get to see that culture so it makes no bearing on that lineage, yknow??

I can’t believe I was so excited to think that sjm was going to actually do something with Xian, maybe even see some traditional outfits that would look different than the kinda europe medieval vibes we had going on... listen acotar was my first sjm book, I still had hope back then 

(gods, don’t get me started on Nehemia and Eyllwe, I haven’t even read crown of midnight yet and I’m still pissed off)

Again, idk, I would love to have a conversation about this especially since I’m very much speaking from a spanish/mexican perspective that grew up with a mixed family, so having culture behind the skin tone always makes it better to me when reading fantasy books, even if it’s made up, because people can have a skin tone that doesn’t match with that specific perception of a culture yknow 

Like what if someone grew up in japan and did all the culture things, but looks like a typical white lady, what then? 

I wouldn't even mind if sjm mixed some cultures around to make something new so that it wasn’t so one to one, but idk anyways 

what even is sjm’s calanmai

#anti sjm #sjm critical #illyrian #using different languages from another culture is great way to also kind of explicitly say hey this is inspired by this #but no not even that #yeah its better to have more developed cultures than just slapping a name on it #but it would have done wonders for my confusion #I'm afraid I'm only dipping my toes into the cultures and myths of these cultures so I mean no offense #let me know if I did #dapa rants #acotar era

[dephirium]

Dephi's predictions.

Hello. A bunch of people a lot smarter than me have already analyzed aspects of the prologue but I am bored and I want to get my thoughts out. General who I think survives or kills, ideas of what is going to happen, questions set up, directions of character arcs — That kind of stuff. It is just word vomit.

This is going to age like milk fast, I bet (I wrote this after the prologue was released). Also warning I have bad memory so correct me if I got a fact wrong or something, I rewatched the prologue sleep deprived so I am bound to make mistakes.

Spoilers for the prologue and stuff. Duh...

Also beware swearing, unfunny humor and the obligatory ''I am not above biases and personal taste'' warning.

Holy shit this took a while to make.

Miscellaneous hopes / guesses

(Considering the game's heavy ties with religion, here's a small blurb on that) I am not into religion and I have enough religious trauma as is but I think it would be very cool if there was a trial that paralleled the Ark of Noe situation; Someone saving only themselves, who god has deemed worthy, and leaving the sinners to drown is kind of similar to the death game premise. Also a case paralleling the Adam & Eve situation would be a neat but obvious pick considering the game's emphasis on it in their symbolism and themes. Just. The murders having some kind of tie-in with religion itself would be so interesting even if only on subtext.

Wonder why they didn't try to break the windows in the whole ‘Panicking bcs the gas’ bit (I mean yes it is necessary for the narrative for the characters to be put unconscious but it seems weird that nobody even attempted it or addressed it after-the-fact, nonetheless. Specially considering that they specifically addressed how helmet-wearing Jett was knocked out). Though Damon was very quick to fall, so maybe they did try it after he was knocked unconscious. Ah also it is very unlikely they were out for more than a day or two (because there are actually a lot of semantics involved in taking care of someone who is unconscious / unresponsive — and none of them are pretty y'all). Or maybe they did. Who knows with Danganronpa logic /shrug

Also the train was mentioned to be worse for wear than expected. Chekov's gun tells me it wasn't the actual train for Eden's Academy and they just yoinked the cast before the real one could arrive. As to the people Grace saw, it is likely that they were the mastermind group (The paintings depict many animals which could mean a group instead of a individual / the deadass confirmation we get with the tree of ignorance folk), hence why the knocking agent was planted beforehand.

What if Eden's garden is literally just a facade for talent yoinkers to kidnap and make ppl kill each other and who survives gets roped into the group lol. /hj

THE FUCK IS THE LIQUID ON THE BASEMENT??? It is not water, as it appears to be non-conductive, is way too much to seem like oil... Just. That whole sequence in the boiler room was so fucking weird, man. Is it water but doesn't touch any electrical wiring (Despite, I believe, the cables being mentioned as exposed)? is it NOT water? WHY IS THIS RELEVANT. IS THE DEATH GAME BEING HOSTED CLOSE TO WATER?

How fucking long did Damon and Eva take to get to the kitchen lol? Because they saw Akire on the floor (That was Akire, right? I remember the shoes looking like formal-wear...) and bee-lined to the kitchen afterward. Even supposing that canonically Damon checked every basement door to spite Eva (which isn't very long because Damon kind of gets bored after a bit of checking each room / is actually very on character so probably he did thinking about it), that leaves like... 10 minutes, tops. It just reads as weird in my opinion. Wonder if that is going to be mentioned later on.

I saw the walkthrough because my laptop had a aneurysm trying to load the game, but like. The tree of ignorance room has these... Egyptian hieroglyphs (?) Looking things that make me think that that's what going to open after each chapter / death. They look like mall stores what the fuck is this place (also it appears to have a second floor for what I remember ?)

Mara and Cara are very similar names. Wonder if they are related or something (they also both share a motif of guns) lol.

It is very likely that this isn't the first killing game, as per Cara's situation. However, it is very likely that it was a student council situation (meaning a "no trial just kill each other'' kind of deal), which would explain why Cara had a gun (because so far we haven't seen anywhere on the killing game ground that has access to fire weapons) and how the fuck the killer got away with such a simple killing plan.

Also considering the fact that all the cast calls Cara's murderer a man (idk why if gender neutral pronouns exist but ok) and that Tozu exists, it could be likely that he was Cara's murderer, and he won his killing game. or something. This also could explain why Tozu wanted them to solve how the culprit did it and not who the culprit is — He probably already knows who it was.

Considering what I said about Mara and Cara being similar, it kind of fits. That or he's related to a character of the cast. Maybe Wolfgang, considering his sheep-adjacent mask. Or both idk

It is very unlikely there's a mastermind amongst the students (kind of duh considering Tozu's whole ordeal, but still). However that doesn't remove the possibility of a traitor.

Speaking of, the death game grounds seem... Small? Like sure there's the living quarters, the "outside" and the tree of ignorance and they are somewhat big in their own right, but it just feels. Small in the context of official Danganronpa games. It is likely a engine limitation / self-imposed limitation for the devs sanity, probably, because doing a bigger environment would be more troublesome, but nonetheless I'm excited to see how they utilize the space. Maybe the areas that will open up in the tree of ignorance will help freshen things up.

GUESSES I HAVE FOR KILLING THINGS:

The locks in the living grounds are likely to become relevant in a trial (Probably the first), likely locking the cast out while the murderer is still inside? For what I remember the people who woke up on the tree of ignorance are not aware of the locks existence (Living quarters / outsiders are, however - Toshiko used them after all) and that could be weaponizable information in the trial.

I am super sure a death happens in the outside's fancy marble thingy and it will be beautiful and tragic.

Damon Maitsu

The vent connecting the boiler room to the kitchen is SO fucking obviously to be used as a killer's escape route I almost expect it to not be used just to spite us.

Start of prologue: Togami kinnie?

End of prologue: DAMON STOP UNLEASHING YOUR INNER TOGAMI GODDAMMIT

I have seen people speculating that Damon is going to die and there's going to be a Kaede / Shuichi protag switch, but honestly? I don't really see that happening considering the prologue already set up a very interesting character arc for him. BUT, I do see likely that there's a Komaeda chapter 4 situation where there's a POV switch for a bit with either Eva or Akire, most likely Eva because of her status as co-protag and/or sidekick.

Nonetheless, it is obvious that Damon is going to go through a character arc so he stops being such an ass to people. I love the guy but yes he needs to be knocked down that unhealthy mindset of his.

Because of his isolation from his peers it is likely that his motives to kill, if there are any, are family driven (It is also likely the fuck has heavy family issues because he kins togami too hard and that asshole didn't have a good relationship with his parents neither) the killing motives are likely to give us the context as to what nurtured this fuck’s god/inferiority complexes. Also because of this he would have the "protag doesn't have that big an incentive to kill" motive detachment like mister I Pissed The Bed Makoto Naegi.

Also people who are unable to see a nuanced / different take on the protagonist like Damon or Teruko on Despair Time without calling them names or misreading their characters pisses me off SO much, specially with Damon (Teruko is a different can of worms I am not opening today tyvm) because I am able to sympathize with him as someone ND who at some point decided to isolate from others and put this front of being a purely logical zero puny emotions individual because logic was just easier than facing complicated emotions I wasn't taught how to express and / or would be berated for. He's a interesting character a great deviation of the goody-two-shoes protagonist trope. I can't wait to see what they do with him and see him suffer and earn friendships with the cast.

Eva Tsukasa

I could go into detail but I am not that eloquent and other people have talked about it better. Here is a blurb-analysis of Damon in general and here is a analysis of him through the neurodivergent lens. Any opinion I have about the bastard is vocalized better by those two ngl (Eternity's Damon fics are also very good!) . I'll probably do my own separate blog about him if I have the energy, but I feel like I would just repeat points made better by other people.

Start of prologue: Pls don't be Kirigiri

End of prologue: PLS DON'T BE KOKICHI

Eva had a rough beginning because the first impression she gave was Kirigiri kinnie vibes and fun fact i fucking hated kirigiri on dr1 so i wasn't liking where this was going. That changed around 5 dialogues in with her saying she bridal carried Damon, which made me less prone to hate her on pure instinct. She's interesting! I like her a lot. I like the way that she and Damon share their pessimistic pragmatism and are the only two to shut down the whole buddy-buddy prospect; They both are very similar in a lot of ways, almost like character foils (but not quite — That's Akire) in a certain way. I cannot wait to see what they do with her talent, one of the most interesting ones I have seen in any fangan (though I do find it kinda dumb and a bit on the nose in a light hearted way).

Now onto the biased opinions — I think they shoot her shot way too early. While, yes, I found it very interesting that they didn't beat around the bush and didn't do the "ult ???" thing (I kinda find that troupe obnoxious at this point), I do view the fact that Eva's ultimate was revealed this early a very odd writing choice (and the reveal a bit clunky in personal writing taste). A good way to create intrigue and tension since the prologue to get the audience hooked, but I do wonder how do they plan to utilize her and this early reveal. In fact, if anything, this early reveal and her Eve motif - who doomed both her and Adam out of heaven's gates, and is literally implied to be bad since her conception out of Adam's left rib - make me wonder if she's being set up in a Rantaro fashion, and she'll be the reason the game starts (probably victim). I kinda hope not. She's an interesting character even if I believe that the most relevant part of her narrative was given far too early (although I do want to know how tf is Liar an ultimate talent).

Diana Venicia

Start of prologue: animal crossing character core

End of prologue: ... Are you a traitor lol?

She's a sweetheart and I don't trust it. With her sweet persona and her chameleon theming, she just screams killer red flags to me. I am unsure when exactly would she crack, but I think it would be kind of early on, like chapter 1-3 type of early. I think bears mention that everyone and their mom has called out the fact that Kara's dummy is way too realistic and her talent would enable to pull out that feat.

I don't see her being a particularly important blackened on the grand scheme of the narrative (unless she's in kahoots and she's like a traitor or whatever) but it would serve to show everyone the severity of the environment and how even the nicest person can crack against it.

The idea of yassifying a corpse to hide/obfuscate details of the cause of death or whatever is literally so so cool and I want it to happen so bad. But her and Kai's possible blackened situations (spoiler I do view both as killers as it makes the most thematic sense) seem a little too similar so probably if one is a killer the other will not.

Toshiko Kayura

Start of prologue: Hiyoko looking ass

End of prologue: Is your mouth fucked girlie

SIMILARLY, I don't trust the child. I am not sure why. She's good tho! I find her interesting enough for the setting and the prologue has set up enough with her character that I look forward whatever they want to do with her (and her formal way of speech is charming haha). I just hope it isn't a generic ''oh the kid is actually insane lol'' kind of deal as I am honestly tired of the Monaka twist, but I do see her being traitor adjacent at the very least. I don't see her killing (or, well, I hope™ she doesn't kill) but I can see her as a victim, probably in around chapters 3-4. I think the cast would try to be careful with her because she is the youngest of the group and that ends up being, partially, one of the reasons of her death. Everyone will be horrified if she does die.

Drawing it in the sand that her parents hated each other or something (or divorced), one had a meltdown and hurt her for whatever reason, hence why she uses her fan on her mouth. It'll probably become relevant later in her respective trial. Also this is the reason why she's a matchmaker.

Something something the bible story of Abraham being told by god to kill his child Isaac to prove his faith something

Cassy + Wenona

Start of prologue: Communism? / YOU'RE SO PRETTY

End of prologue: Oh so MrBeast then / Step on me!

Putting these two together because 1) I don't have much to say about them and 2) they are probably being used as character foils of one another so because of that my thoughts about them are interconnected. Here's my opinions of them:

Cassidy is... Okay. I like her well enough, she had her witty lines (the ace attorney reference was fun), and she feels cohesive enough for the setting and the other characters to not feel entirely out of place. Nonetheless, she is somewhat... irrelevant? Like, all her cards were played on the prologue itself, and there's no real way I can see her character becoming more relevant on the future or have any interesting development; She is a fun character, but not one I find interesting or relevant for the narrative. More like needing to fill lines because people need to die, probably. Her theming with spiders and that one sprite can prove me wrong, tho. Not saying she will kill, but that probably there's something else I am missing? (Addendum: this has taken me so long to write I had time to sit on my thoughts on Cassidy and I realized I kinda don't like how offhandedly mean she is lol. You know. Calling Damon bargain bin lawyer like that isn't an insult to his entire line of work and personhood and disguising it as a joke and all lmao. Wonder if this will be called out further down the line? Could be an interesting point of development for a otherwise stagnant character)

Wenona is interesting! Her design caught my eye since the train fuckery, and it made me deeply interested in her (also I like women so I am biased probably lol) and what her talent would be. While I kind of don't see how her appearance would convey the “ult entrepreneur” title all too well, I do forgive it because otherwise it is so fucking interesting and I am absolutely obsessed (and it's not fault of the writing and probably just personal taste of mine). Her possible character arc is a lot more obvious than Cassidy's, and ironically mirror Damon's "stop treating people like shit" own (Damon asking what is her deal when they are both assholes about talent and worth is very funny). I hope we get more information about her job and how she got where she is now are revealed because I am genuinely interested in her character trajectory and the parallels to the protagonist. Or maybe she stays in girlboss mode idk I wouldn't mind either way she can step on me regardless

I guess that in around chapter 2-3 Cassidy and Wenona are going to start to clash badly because of their different economic ideals (they probably clash on chapt 1 too but it is after a murder that things get worse as everyone becomes paranoid as hell). My guess is that they either end up killing each other or someone else uses the animosity to frame the kill on one of them.

I see Wenona having more chances of survival because so far Cassidy is kind of a (relatively) flat comedic character and doesn't have that many notes of character development / interesting said pieces. But I wouldn't be against her surviving to be honest. She's fun.

Grace Maddison

Start of prologue: SOYBEAN

End of prologue: You're literally a pacing risk huh

She's... a mixed bag. For one part, I like the fact that she raised a valid point in the trial despite the fact that she has been considered nothing more than the hotheaded, "stupid" vulgar one of the group. It gives her a decent amount of depth so far and makes me interested to see more of her. In the other... She's like disguised-Mukuro in dr1 for me, ngl. She's interesting, I can admit that, but definitely not a character I get too excited about (she's a bit annoying to me). Except I worry about how are they going to deal with her on trials, considering the fact that they had to literally knock her out on the mock trial so it could progress in a decent pacing (Which I kinda called out when I first saw her in the kitchen, but I thought she would've been a mukuro situation, details). Or maybe she dies first, which would be a shame ngl.

Wolfgang Akire

As she stands she seems to me like a pacing-risk character and it makes me worry about how they are going to use her going forward, although the fact that she was literally almost killed will probably chill her the fuck out while on trial. I just hope the writers manage to balance the fact that she's vulgar but not stupid as fuck. Oh and her and Akire's dynamic is very funny I love that

Trailer: Oh you get pegged™

Start of prologue: [Lost my shit laughing when I found he was called Wolfgang lol]

End of prologue: Unhinged bitch!! /pos

I like the parallelism of him and Damon! The attorney and the prosecutor, emotions and logic, the leader of the group (seemingly) and the social pariah. Akire is a character that works because in any other Danganronpa setting, he would be the protagonist. But the thing is this: He is not, here. This allows us to see raw sides of him that otherwise we wouldn't have — or that, in turn, we would have context for.

The mock trial meltdown works because we, as an audience, are seeing him through another person's (probably biased) perspective. The lack of interpersonal context of his thoughts or actions makes the slip of his calm demeanor to yelling—begging, almost—for reasoning of the killer's actions all the more jarring.

Anyhow thesis out of the way here are more thoughts:

This set up could not be achieved without Akire being the role he is, an antagonist for the mere factor that his entire existence is an antithesis of Damon's persona. But unlike the debater, who hides the fact that he cares and craves human connection, the lawyer hides a far uglier underside that he doesn't expose unless he is in familiar territory — His area of expertise, in fact — The courtroom. Quite literally, his territory, his area of expertise, his playground; He is confident in his abilities until he is quite literally denied the closure he craves for a killer's despicable actions against a ultimate.

In more ways than one, he, like Damon, probably has a god complex because of his title / the ultimates. He just demonstrates it... Subtly. He is the textbook example of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Akire ends up killing I am like 70% sure of this. He's too unhinged, and we never had a rival who did commit a murder themselves on DR so it would be interesting? (Kokichi doesn't count). Also the "28 STAB WOUNDS" man committing a murder himself would be a interesting prospect, with the wolf in sheep's clothing themes he has going on; Specially considering that he is most likely going to become one of the surrogate leaders of the class.

Calling him out as the killer would probably generate a Mikan-esque situation (Not like Kai's levels of bad but more born out of respect and lie-ridden logic than pity/empathy hard emotion bait) of nobody believing Damon and it sounds fun. It would be an interesting prospect considering Damon's possible "getting people to trust me after isolating myself and overcome my own biases" character arc. What better way to make a climax for such than to go against the leader of the group and getting people to trust you despite the odds?

Oh also it is very likely a relative of his (probably his dad) killed a important woman in his life (probably his mom. Or like, someone else killed her and was never caught or something idk pick your poison mom dead either way) and that's why he became a lawyer / has such strong sense of justice and the reason why he had that more-or-less breakdown on the mock trial.

Some other stuff I won't go into detail

This is the dump of other things I wanted to mention but I am too low energy to dwell onto and I don't want to procrastinate on this draft more than I already have (ITS BEEN A YEAR SINCE I STARTED THIS)

Anyhow:

I view that Kai would also be a killer, using his charisma in the same way Diana would (in a very Mikan way, as he's used to playing his audience like a fiddle and fishing out emotional responses) but in a more hardcore manner. That and the fact that Kai has latched to Damon from the first second of the prologue, it's probably setting up the fact that Damon will need to bring down Kai for the sake of the truth - and probably the first example of hesitance as Damon will probably grow to be "friends" with the guy, having to fight puny emotions he never had before (not particularly romantic, but like. Damon purposefully isolated from peers, so having friends would be odd to him, especially since I think that Kai is getting close to him for self interest). I deem this happening very late, and probably a chapter before Akire kills, as it would be a decent pacing from progression of severity ("friend" social person using the group -> the literal leader of the class)

Jett and Mark are also being set up as foils to each other (or at least the closest thing to that. A really pronounced character dynamic I guess), and the fact that just like Toshiko's mouth Jett off the suit is not shown in the prologue nor any outside material makes it obvious that it'll be a plot point later down the line (if I recall the most popular theory - or maybe mentioned in the prologue, I don't remember - is that he got burned to hell in a car accident mid race?), which makes me think that Jett is not going to be a survivor for the same manner - specially since those two are in the path of having a character arc together and the tragedy of demise needs to be written. Mark is maaaybe going to survive in his stead. Similar to Cassy, Jett reads to me as a comedy character mostly so he's more expendable in that regard. Without mentioning the fact that Mark had the bitchface(tm) look in the train scene, which implies that something is going on with the guy (either referent to the train/the kidnap group, or Mark knows Damon from somewhere. It'd be funny if they were classmates or someshit and Mark couldn't stand Damon's ass back then please p:eg team it would be so funny)

Jean has so many death flags (WHY ARE YOU SWEARING TO PROTECT THE GROUP YOU ARE THE BIG CHARACTER IN A FANGAN YOU'RE NOT SAFE) and I am literally so fucking sad because I actually really like the guy. Like, I don't have any relevant notes of how he's written or implied of him or anything (although I have personal thoughts of his backstory which I included in the fic I made of Damon and the guy), he's a decent character. I just wanted to scream about the fact that I am 80% sure he doesn't survive and I will forever cry about it. Same with Ingrid.

Ulysses is being set up as relevant as a notekeeper (which is really cool!!!! I haven't seen that in a fangan before I don't think), but I sadly do think that anything relevant from his notes might be discovered post-mortem, either relevant to the killing game as a whole or the case that might have him as a victim. My dude is literally falling asleep standing I am deadass so worried for his safety.

I don't have anything remarkable to say about desmond or swan girl (I forgot her name sorry) besides the fact that swan girl is being kinda set up as the "oh the cinnamon roll killed someone", and "the shy girl is actually very dangerous" which I am not particularly mad about even if I deem a bit cliché at this point. I hope Desmond doesn't die tho he is cool.

That's everything. Sorry for taking forever on this shit I am not the greatest writing consistently

#project edens garden #p:eg spoilers #p:eg #damon maitsu #eva tsunaka #wolfgang akire #cassidy amber #diana venicia #grace madison #wenona

[arcademgmt]

HI HELLO ive been brainrotting your miitopia ocs for like the longest time they are just so munchable i literally adore them ,, anytoodles moving on from that !! i have a question that’s been in the back of my little fustercluck of a mindscape:

what is arcade and jamie's relationship ? or, in better terms, how do they view each other and what do they think of each other ??

THANK YOU!!!!! i am so glad someone enjoys my terrible little freaks.

and as for the question. dear sweet lord this is going to be a lot. my apologies for the incoming novel-length post you did not ask for BUT...

so. to preface...

IMPORTANT NOTES

guardian spirit jasira is jamie's adoptive mother, having found him and his relative (her other adoptive son) lost in tschilly peak after losing their parents on a journey gone wrong. in my universe, deities are not supposed to interfere with mortal affairs, which jas cannot stand and finds unfair. obviously adopting mortal children breaks this rule. she was caught when jamie was around 16 and sealed within the antique charm as punishment, but not before bestowing some of her power upon her children. jamie struggles to think this is not his fault. for the sake of the post i will not get into the specifics of how the amulet works in terms of jas communicating with other people but she cannot communicate w/ jamie

rather than the sky scraper having been constructed by monsters for the darker lord, it actually served as a place for aforementioned deities to reside along with the otherworld. jas would sneak her children in there. she was not caught for years until uh. Yeah. this is why jamie has to fight not to blame himself

the dark curse, skyla, was jamie's childhood best friend and became the curse when they were, once again around 16 (rough year for jamie). he and his other friends sealed her away into the cursed amulet she had been wearing (the catalyst that turned her in the first place) but only because they could not figure out how to change her back. jamie swore he would find a way and has been trying for around 5-6 years by the time the events of the game start.

skyla and arc are narrative parallels. this is imperative. both were quite lonely growing up and are deeply insecure and terrified of losing people. both have issues using magic (contrasting issues with skyla not being able to control her super strong magic and arc just. Not being able to use standard magic).

the dark lord killed a good portion of the deities in the otherworld and used their scattered essence to create her monsters. when one of these monsters is killed, the EXP they drop is that essence. this is how divine power is gained... but what actually activates it is essentially determination/passion. this is why arc's power keeps getting sealed away when his friends are taken; he feels defeated, but does not give up, hence how he keeps coming back, much to the dark lord's dismay.

new lumos was a normal city prior to the events of the game. the dark lord started her proper attack there, as new lumos is... less prepared for magical attacks being the most tech-based place in miitopia, as well as the fact that it is densely populayed and on an island that would be difficult to escape quickly. arc grew up in new lumos and survived this initial attack, but had no idea what was to come.

A GENERAL SUMMARY

SO. arcade and jamie properly met in greenhorne as expected. the first thing arc noticed about jamie was how quick the dark lord was to flee from him in what seemed like annoyance rather than fear, like she did not want to deal with him. jamie, on the other hand, felt an odd sense of familiarity in arc. this is for two reasons:

arcade was carrying the antique pendant that jas was stuck in. jamie didn't know this, but could feel an oddly familiar aura coming from him.

this wasn't actually the first time they had met. jamie was the person who got arc out of new lumos, being one of a few people who were taking new lumos residents to safety on the mainland. arc didn't get a good look at the person who saved him, so he did not realize that it was jamie. jamie feels like he's seen arc before, but can't pinpoint where.

jamie becomes a fast friend of the group and seems to cross paths with them a lot because they are actually on a very similar path, considering jamie is also trying to find the dark lord and figure out exactly how to stop her. initially unbeknownst to him, arcade and his friends are building up the divine power it will take to put a stop to her already as they beat the monsters and absorb the divine essence they disperse into.

initially, jamie just intended to support the group along their way and slowly try to ease the burden of saving miitopia off of them (especially arcade), since he felt it was his job, considering it to be his fault.

that was until neksdor, when the original party aside from arc goes missing. this is when he realizes arc has something that is preventing the dark lord from fully stopping him, and that this journey is no longer his. arcade has whatever he lacked years ago that prevented him from changing sky back.

this realization is distressing and bewildering to him. in his mind, this should not have to be a burden arcade carries, but it seems that there is little he can do but support him along the way at this point. he genuinely considers arcade a friend and quietly fears losing another person to this mess, especially as a result of something he thinks is his own fault.

arcade is so much like skyla was. he can see it. the unspoken loneliness and the frustration with self is present, but it's markedly different in arc in a way jamie can't quite pinpoint, which is impressive – jamie has a knack for putting things into words and deciphering emotions, but this has even him stumped.

he debates with himself on whether or not to tell arc about the curse's identity, but it isn't so simple. he believes the curse is not a true embodiment of skyla's full person and does not want the world to learn that it came from her in the case that this theory is true and she is saveable. he wants her to have a second chance. telling anyone the origin of the curse would be a risk. he also doesn't want to make the curse problem more personal and make arc feel obligated to help as a friend. ultimately, he decides he will eventually tell arc, but now is not the right time; it would put more pressure on both of them, and he is trying to reduce pressure on arc.

now on the Other hand. arc is so. So grateful for jamie. jamie is outwardly a very emotionally sound and well-balanced person who has been supporting arc since they met, which he doesn't think jamie owes him at all. he feels he would be totally lost without his gentle guidance.

alongside this, jamie is one of the only true consistents from greenhorne to karkaton. consistency is INCREDIBLY important for arc in this context. the dark lord keeps robbing him of consistency in taking away his friends and abilities, purposely trying to wear him down. arcade has not had a good sense of consistency in his life in general. taking away what he has when he finally feels he has something stable is horrifying to him. for jamie to be there consistently supporting him is something he leans on heavily during that time. jamie goes out of his way to help him relax – stuff like encouraging him to stop for tea and accompanying him on walks when they cross paths.

arcade also needs some sense of direction and guidance when doing things normally, nevermind a world-saving quest. so naturally jamie's guidance is important to him and a huge relief. he wishes he could be that calm and orderly when need be.

and of course Uh. things go Very Wrong! after they beat the dark lord.

jamie showed up to support the gang in the fight and was pleasantly surprised and relieved when he arrived to find they had already beaten her (not that he didn't believe they could. just didn't realize it would be so fast). saw the cursed amulet on the ground and figured the curse was now trapped in there again. unfortunately this was not the case as the little blue freak was free! and when jamie realizes this and that it is going for arc, he protects him and is turned into the darker lord.

what is important here is that jamie did not do this because he knew arc was the only one who would truly be able to stop the curse. that is true, but that wasn't his thought in the moment. his thought was "i need to protect my friend who has suffered enough for reasons i blame myself for". like i want to be so clear here. jamie does not view arc as a tool to any degree. arc is his friend who he feels he owes the world by this point regardless of if he succeeds or not. it wouldn't matter if he gave up fighting the dark lord. he enjoys being around him and feels arc has done so much for him, which he never needed to do at all.

it is not easy for arcade to fight the darker lord. he thinks he is at fault for jamie getting possessed and is utterly distraught about it. he's terrified to proceed without his guidance, but he has to. he has all of his friends back and a mental fortitude that is still unbroken – if anything, he is more determined now (i feel like this is an apt time to mention he has the stubborn personality in-game type as a fun tidbit. he is. Very much stubborn) this is why the dark lord failed to seal his powers away a third time, and this is why he pushes on – he knows he has something that the curse can't fight, even if he doesn't really get what it is and struggles with discrediting his own abilities. and above all, he has to at least try and save the guy who was there to help at every turn. he learned so much from him, and now is the time to utilize it without that guidance.

part of why it is so hard for him to fight the darker lord is how jamie clearly still exists in there. he knows it isn't quite him, but he is in there. the darker lord has his face and speaks with his voice, though it lacks the warmth that the real jamie speaks with. using jamie's conscious, they know how to hit arc where it hurts when speaking to him. and oddly enough, it's no easier for the darker lord to fight arc.

the shattered conscious of the curse and jamie's conscious are fighting constantly in the darker lord's head. the curse has the upper hand, but jamie still manages to hold it back to a degree. this conflict of interest confuses the darker lord, who finds themself not really wanting to kill arc despite them thinking they absolutely should. furthermore, jamie is absolutely horrified at his own body being used as a puppet to treat arc in such a way. he knows that hearing the voice of someone you love speak to you like that hurts. he experienced it when sky first turned into the curse.

now. fast forward to when the darkest lord is beaten and jamie is freed. as he gets up his first thought is like "oh fuck where is arc" and he is TERRIFIED that he is hurt. that his body was used to hurt him, potentially gravely. he hears arc faintly rasp out his name behind him and whips around to see him. it is one of the only moments where he expresses visible fear, even if just for a split second. the relief that washes over him when arc stumbles into him to hug him is overwhelming – he's okay if not a little woozy. the fear quickly fades into solemnity as he hugs back, a little tighter than he usually would.

he finally explains sky's plight to arc and his friends once the curse is trapped. he is afraid to do this, but doesn't let it show. he doesn't want his own emotions to sway the answer to the choice he is about to propose to arc. he expects arc to be mad that he didn't tell him or to think his request is foolish, but this is not the case at all.

arc understands completely. the curse's story is... eerily familiar. there's a sort of cruel irony in how easily that could have been him. the curse is not a whole person, but a manifestation of the negative emotions, both rational and not, that its original form felt. it seems so clear to him, and it seems like a no-brainer to try and save skyla, who was, in a way, another victim of the curse. this assumption was correct. sky was distraught upon her rescue and tried frantically to explain that the curse was not who she was, having been the sum of her own inner turmoil.

postgame, jamie feels able to be a bit more vulnerable with arc. he divulges how he has struggled with thinking things are his own fault and how despite the fact that he can usually make peace with himself and know those thoughts are not true, it is difficult sometimes.

arc is surprised because jamie has never really expressed any form of clear discomfort with himself, but as he looks back, he realizes he has – he just hides it incredibly well. his careful wording of things and calm demeanor mask that self-doubt. jamie is not perfect, and somehow... this is comforting. he doesn't have to be for arc to look up to him. he is not below him. they are both human and share similar struggles, and jamie is comfortable enough to share those struggles with him.

for a long time, jamie preferred to sort of keep to himself and not really talk about his own issues. usually this isn't a big deal for him, as he is genuinely good at being rational about those bad feelings. however, seeing arc interact with his friends changed that a little. seeing how they supported each other and arc's "sometimes we may feel irrationally, but we don't have to ride it out alone" mindset made him feel he could afford to open up a little more, and he doesn't regret it.

i literally could not fit everything about their relationship in one post so this is just. once again a basic rundown focused on them specifically. i could go on and on. good lord

THE TL;DR

jamie and arc are very close friends who don't really realize the extent to which they have helped each other. there is a shared sense of comfort between them that transcends words but doesn't really need to be described. they have learned a great deal from each other :]

#miitopia #miitopia oc #miitopia great sage #i need to lie down THIS TOOK ME TWO HOURS TO WRITE. AND I STILL DON'T FEEL LIKE I HAVE SAID ENOUGH #the real tl;dr is like. theyre platonically gay. does that make sense #like. theyre friendly in a gay way. i literally dont know how else to explain it #magnus infodumps

[fictionkinfessions]

Dear readers of Fictionkinfessions,

Guess what? Turns out I… kinda awakened a new kintype. A Big one, lemme just say. Almost as big as, if not equally as big as, my Twilight kintype.

Take a quick guess who.

Well… Honestly, my new kintype is Luz Noceda, the Human Witch of the Boiling Isles! I’ve done a couple kinfessions on here since awakening, and I can tell you I’m mostly canon compliant.

Well. Mostly.

Turns out, in my Luz canon? I was Fictionkin. I had a Good Witch Azura kintype (still got that one apparently, by the way; I have No Idea how that happened) and a Twilight Sparkle kintype (yeahhh this is probably kind of obvious), the latter of which made me identify as a pony eventually (it only awakened after I saved the Boiling Isles from Belos). It makes perfect sense in hindsight, ESPECIALLY the Good Witch Azura kintype, but it brings me to my Ask Assignment for today!

(Yeah I knowww I’m supposed to do these weekly; I’m working on it, okay.)

My Ask Assignment for the week is… did any of your kintypes/your exomemories (in the case of plural system members) ever have any kintypes of their own? Or did you have any kintypes in that life as yourself? Or does your parallel life have any kintypes? Or… you catch my drift.

Your local purple pony princess (and also witch!),

Twilight Sparkle.

#fictionkinfessions #fictionkin #ask games #luzkin #owlhousekin #kinmemception #mod party cat #magic-at-twilight

[whoknowsyourfuture]

Finally got around to watching Episode 11 of The Sandman and it was good! Liked Dream of a Thousand Cats, but liked Calliope much better. Interesting parallels where Calliope asked for help where Dream wouldn't and so on but there's one thing that kind of enraged me in an episode with a lot of very upsetting subtext.

This.

Bitch.

Didn't.

Even.

Try.

Not Calliope, I'm talking about 'Ric'. Pretentious mother fucker couldn't even be bothered to type a word without just waiting for inspiration from the heavens. 'Haven't written a word that I haven't thrown away' yeah kinda hard when you can't be bothered to write so much as 'The...' Thought you could just tap tap tap away and have a novel in a night? That's not how writing works! It's hard! It takes time! Just-

That he couldn't so much as come up with an idea. Doesn't matter if it's a good idea, start throwing words on paper. Write! Outline! World build! Something! Go 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' and ask why the fox is jumping over the dog, why isn't the dog chasing the fox; anything at all! This useless lump is so caught up in his own mythos 'ooh seven publishers turned me down but I kept trying' yeah you're not special publishers turn a lot of people down. Ooooooooh it's just enraging. He doesn't even attempt to put the actual work in, he hits a stumbling block and goes running for the magic cure, and when the magic cure has a mind of her own he takes by force what exists in the world already! If he put in the work!

Like, he's not supposed to be a good person, even with all his grandstanding and 'look at the good I'm doing' and urgh, ugh. Just. It's gross.

I'll probably have more words on a rewatch, have a whole thing on The Sandman and kindness, but. Just really pissed me off to see this guy stare at a blank page for a minute, not bother to try and write anything, then go to all his self-aggrandizing media dopamine feeds. Which, was the point of it.

#The Samdman #Episode 11 #Calliope #there was definitely one point where my eyes rolled to the back of my head #put in the work to get results #monkeys and typewriters etc etc

[technicalknockout]

PIGEON OC LORE DUMP PIGEON OC LORE DUMP ❗️❗️❗️❗️

*flaps excitedly* PIGEON OC LORE DUMP

warning long and incoherent with way too many elizabeths than required

Oh my god i realized there is no fricking way im explaining everything today theres so MUCH HDKKSJDKS i'll just explain the basic mythology and some of my favorite guys

Ok we need to start with the gods

Once upon a time there was nothing. One day Nothing decided it wanted to be something. It split itself into multiple parts and those parts became the first three gods. The part of Nothing that wanted to be something became Creator (cre) and the part that liked being Nothing became Red (ree. This is a placeholder name i really cant decide on a fitting name for red hdjsdkskd). Also there was this indecisive middle guy and their name is Astral (starry. Starry is important because they're the responsible sibling. They mostly do everything)

These are the Incompetent God Siblings. There are smaller gods who split from the siblings but theyre mostly irrelevant. Also the gods look like birds (actually it's the other way around, birds look like gods because the gods wanted to put something that looks like themselves in the mortal realm. Kind of like self insert ocs dhjskfkd) so i also call them Birbs

Anyway the thousands of new gods just hung around for some time in their newfound existance until cre decided this was boring. So the gods all decided to make some universes with stuff in it. Except ree who was against the whole 'existing' thing in the first place and was a grump about it, so the gods conpromised with ree and put a expiration date on the universe. Spoilers: this leads to some politic problems later on

So tada theres a universe now. Multiple universes. Parallel worlds are relevant later but that would make this post longer than an entire novel series so dropping that topic

Now onto the actual ocs dhjdkskfks

Domino aka Elizabeth the 3rd. (Some quick background lore, the elizabeths are guys who are trapped in an unending loop of reincarnation (courtesy of ree). They all have their own memories and personalities but share some core traits such as god obsession) Domino is part of the "villain squad" in the plot and a (pseudo)scientist who works at the shadow government. She's very cold and NOT interested in anything except for her (ethically questionable) experiments concerning angels and, unfortunately, the main characters. She was relatively fine until she got involved in some plot relevant scheme as a kid and almost died now shes Not Fine.. has two lab assistants Apel Pine (pineapple) and Stein Mango (mangosteen. Theyre 9 years old, twins and orphans, domino named them and yes she is canonically bad at names). Pineapple is traumatized and deprieved of affection, desperately seeking love from domino who is the only thing close to a parent figure he's ever had. Domino does not notice nor does she care.. which makes pineapple :(. He's aggressive to others and needs therapy. Unlike him though, mangosteen is very okay! Mostly because pineapple tried his very best to protect mango from the bad things in life. It worked and pineapple now has twice the trauma he was supposed to have, while mango has none. He turned out as a silly little guy who is oblivious to the horrors and he tries really really hard to make everyone get along. And he likes snow :D theres a short backstory behind pineapple and mango from before they were domino's assistants which explains why theyre Like That, which i will maybe perhaps talk about later

Also in a different universe theres a 12 year old menace called damo who wears a poncho thingie and claims to be the most evil villain in the whole universe (she isnt she has no idea what a villain is, she thinks theyre cool people who explode stuff). She likes bombs and doing disney villain laughs. She is the silly ever and nothing bad happens to her and i love her very very much

#challenge: talk about your special interests coherently and concisely (impossible) #theres sooooo much i havent covered but midterm's tomorrow i need to srudy. arrrgh i have never been so MAD *claws my textbook to shreds* #oh no i needed that textbook. i have to piece those back #anyway. ask me about my ocs any time i will gleefully launch into a 4 hour ted talk about literally ANYONE #if theres a part thats unelaborated on but sounds interesting please PLEASE ask me about it i need an excuse to talk about this hsjdkksjdks #i can answer literally anything i even made an ENTIRE BRANCH OF SCIENCE TO EXPLAIN HOW MAGIC WORKS IN THIS UNIVERSE #incoherent ramblings #oc tag

[wench-and-jezebel]

Dark Angel Reaction: Out

Jezebel (@typicalopposite) reacts [with occasional asides by Wench (@scripted-downfall)], as excerpts of a transcript from a video call

Tony looks like Logan in season 1 only, and then age hits and his whole look changes.  Like, he’s still handsome, but he’s so different

Oop, now Logan’s getting moody

KENDRA.  [KENDRA!]  Speak of the devil (aff)!

So, like, is this episode, like, them but flopped?  Is this just, “okay, I got an idea for this episode: let’s have Max act like Logan and Logan act like Max?:  [I think I might have an idea for why this is happening…] ‘Cause he’s got some of her blood?  [YES]. She’s got less of her blood, so she’s less bitchy; he’s got more of her blood, and he’s more bitchy?  [EXACTLY]

This scene makes me think of the whole Ten-Donna “Oi, watch it Space Man” “Oi, watch it, Earth Girl” thing [Yes!!  And that’s remarkably pertinent given the context of the Doctor Who scenes, actually, though you haven't seen them, so I can't say why]

Buddy, you weren’t even close to catching sight of her on time.  I swear, these break-ins aren’t due to her skill; the security just… sucks.

[This went so badly, and for why?  Because she wanted to chew gum and blow the bubble until it popped]

She gonna jump on the plane?

She gonna jump on the plane.

I feel like, genetically engineered or not, this is a bad idea

Well, at least she got off before it took off

[Why tf are they breaking up without having been together in the first place?]

“Well, at least I care about other people.”  That’s true

[“I’m swearing off the whole gender” Come on, Max, go check out OC then???  I’m sure she’d be happy to oblige]

Well, this is a parallel with the other one

Max has a lot to do with it, actually

Well, now, that is… That is abuse on a disabled person, sir.  He won’t be able to feel it, but it is

Which is another funny thing; if he can’t feel his legs, why are they hurting?

[Normal looks so adorably enthusiastic]  Right?

Well, aww

[NORMAL WENT TO HARVARD??? AND GOT A phD???]  Show-off

Well, aww x2

[IS HE WEARING EYELINER] Is he???  I THINK HE IS (picture to be included)

Normal’s too excited by this, and the filming is too weird.  This isn’t gonna work out; watch her not have been afab

Is he calling her Mack?

[Logan’s beard is getting haggard]

Not a “thug”

Original Cindy’s like, say what?

[Yeah, Max doesn’t care.  at.  all.]

MEN

[I don’t think anyone in this show actually knows how to ride a bike.  And I’m not sure if it’s intentional; Alec has a bike incident that was clearly played-for-laughs, but idk for sure about the others]

That poor guy; just give it to them!

Poor Sketchy’s just like, please just get me out of here!

I wonder who Logan thinks that is  [Not Max, of course, because he doesn’t care.  At.  All.]

Oh, no, cop’s gonna get killed.  Or trainer’s gonna get killed.  This is like a “someone’s gonna get killed” scene, I know it

I thought that was Lintlicker [Me too!]

Y’all really gonna pull the crippled kid out of his wheelchair?  That’s dirty

Oh, no, guess we gotta call Max; your boyfriend’s been kidnapped

They’re taking children  [Now, who’s gonna be obsessed!?]

Is this supposed to be sex trafficking or something?  [I guess so… I confess I didn’t quite follow the second flashback because I was typing our convo]

He’s been Logan-napped!  Again!  

– – –

Midpoint reaction: 

Jezebel: This one’s actually had stuff happen!  But it’s frustrating, because I hate it when shows do this.  Last episode had them reveal their feelings for each other and have this really sweet moment, and then I was wondering that was gonna be the whole episode: her being sweet and him being moody.  But then that changed, real quick.  It’s like Mickey and Ian in Shameless.  Mickey was like Cas in that he kept coming back because they kept trying to write him off and the fans didn’t like it.  They tried to get rid of him permanently by putting him in prison; they get together and are happy, but then Ian’s sister calls the cops.  And then the fans throw a fit and bring him back, but only so that he runs to Mexico.  They get married eventually, and it’s one of my few ships that are endgame, but they had this will-they-won’t-they thing in a good way, but not a bitchy way.  Whereas Dark Angel is doing this whole let’s erase last episode and go back to the first episode thing.  Adding tension like they think it keeps it good.  “They’re almost together but they’re not together but maybe they’ll get together”, ish.  They went 50 steps forward last episode, but now it’s too far, so they have to walk it back from the blood dream.  But… Yeah, I figured something was going to happen to force them together, so I should’ve called that he’d get kidnapped.

Wench: At least no one died! Yet!

Jezebel: And I love how she was all “don’t call me, I won’t call you,” right up until the kids get taken and he gets kidnapped, and then she’s all, I’ll be right there.  Lydecker doesn’t seem to be this one. Seems to just be a Logan and Normal episode and SPEAKING OF.

Wench: This was indeed inevitable.

Jezebel: Poor Normal.  However this shakes out, just… poor Normal.  I hope he’ll be okay with it, though I confess that I don’t know for sure whether he will be.  I guess we’ll find out.

Wench: I’m rewatching this time knowing what was gonna happen, and I was picking up on how… surreal?  The filming was?  Like, it was just… handled differently.  And, obviously, I know how it shakes out, so I won’t say more.  Ready?

Jezebel: Ready!

— — — 

“We’re gonna beat you up really good so your girlfriend will be upset when she gets here.”  [Not that she cares.]

[I feel like I know this guy.] He favors Rhys. [He does!]

Just say it’s you!!!  “I’ll tell you, but I’m gonna wait a bit first; go ahead and torture him ‘til then.”

Well, shit.  [Poor Normal.]  Time to become Normal-a

[Not that she (Max) cares, of course]

Man, they paid Apple a lot of money 

He needs to be like, “sir, I can’t say anything if you keep slapping me”

That was racist.  That was… really racist.

Couldn’t you just tell that Logan is Eyes Only from him talking?  [Like, you recognized him within two seconds in the pilot]

He looked so confused; like, I don’t understand

“Shut these guys up”  One guy hasn’t been speaking, what do you mean?

How’d she figure this techie stuff?  If she’s this good, why does she need Logan?  [I DON’T KNOW]

Techie guy looked so happy: “I got an address!  I did it, boss!”

She goes, “I’ve just been pushing buttons and it’s been working, idk?!” 

Logan looks like, I’m as pissed off as you.

I thought that was Zach at first [It really does look like him!]. I was like, he’s back!  He’s coming to rescue his boyfriend too, I guess

She reacted very well to having a gun in her face

See, I could never be a detective or a profiler because I’d never notice that kinda thing

[She keeps Tarzan-swinging every episode???  And WHY ARE THEY ALL JUST STANDING AROUND?]  Such a man thing to do.  “Oh, she’s just a girl, she’ll never beat u- oh, wait, she’s beating us; we were wrong!”

Well, damn

[Maybe you’ll get your “she rides a plane up into the atmosphere” after all]

You know what?  Respect.  Because usually, she’d give a whole “any last words” big speech and give him time to not fall out of the plane, but this time she just kicked him out of the plane!

That one was just like, can I go home now?

Well, damn [Nooooo]  Poor Normalllll

But, you know what, OC is cool and Normal might be an ass but I feel like she’d not do that to him. [Oof, so much for that… she’s not doing it, but not because she’s got moral issues for Normal’s sake, simply because she can’t accept Louise as anything but Louis… which is kinda saying she’s less accepting than Normal but anyway]

[Whoa, actual communication????]  Next episode’s gonna be crazy then!

That interaction was so cute  [I KNOW]

Awwww [PROGRESS]

[Not that she cares, though]

– – – 

Jezebel: I do feel like I can give Normal a fair character bingo now, for Normal Anon.  And, to address the Normal storyline first, since that was smaller/more background, is so sad!  He was so accepting, and you don’t find people who can get a bombshell like that dropped on them and is gonna say “oh, that’s okay, we’ll make it work”, and then she was just like “nah, I want a woman.”  It’s like, you couldn’t figure it out before this date?

Wench: We also get to see Normal’s… nobility, for lack of a better word?  Like, he has a sense of right and wrong.  And he strongly believes in those halves.  He doesn’t always have the information to make that decision well — and he makes some very bad decisions predicated on bad information, especially in season 2 — but he still has this code of honor he abides by, and he definitely puts his money where his mouth is.  (e.g. as I told you, he buys into the fearmongering/sensationalism/propaganda Manticore spreads in s2 and thinks the transgenics are bad and veryyyy dangerous… and yet, when it looks like Alec has been taken hostage by some, he nonetheless risks himself to try and help.  It goes badly because, obviously, the transgenics aren’t bad, but he still tries to do what he thinks is right, regardless of his personal wellbeing.)  And, of course, the example in this episode is bringing Louise’s number to OC after she dumped him, even though it sucks that she put him in the position of having to pass it to Cindy.

Jezebel: True!  And, like, even once she broke up with him, he could have lashed out, but he didn’t.

Wench: Right.

Jezebel: And, on to Max and Logan…

Wench: The opposite end of the relationship spectrum: no longer could-have-been-healthy-but-isn’t-happening and now not-that-healthy-usually-but-is-kinda-happening

Jezebel: Right!  She comes running whenever he’s in danger, but why can’t she be there for him normally???  Though the beginning was kinda Logan’s fault, because he was all moody, to be fair.  But, again, he started communicating at the end.

Wench: This is true.  And that is, in itself, weird.  Like, 90% of the couples we’ve  talked about have not been communicative at all.  Destiel, definitely not.  Deckerstar, not really.  I guess Our Flag Means Death is the closest we come?  With the bathtub scene for Gentlebeard?

Jezebel: Oh, by the way, just to say this before I forget; it’s not directly connected to the reaction, so I’ll keep it short, but I saw this idea that their problems like in the fact that Ed talks about his feelings, and is like, this is what I feel and what I need and what’s bothering me, while Stede doesn’t talk… He doesn’t say, “Hey, Jack is bothering me the way everyone has acted all my life, and it’s hurting me”; he just says “Jack’s awful and you’re acting like him.”

Wench: Oh, that does make sense!

Jezebel: Yeah 😂 Anyway, back to Max and Logan… That last interaction was really good/cute.

Wench: Yeah, I do agree!  You know I don’t like Max much, or their relationship, but this is in good territory for once.  They had really good… I don’t wanna say chemistry, actually, given the events of season 2, but it was a good exchange.  Their banter is actually cute and wholesome instead of problematic.  s2 is different, of course, but this was a good two-line exchange.

Jezebel: How many episodes to Ben now?

Wench: “Pollo Loco” is in about… 8 eps, at this point.

Jezebel: Okay

Wench: I honestly can’t tell if you’re looking forward to it or dreading it alksdjf

Jezebel: Yes?  😂  I’m more than ready to see Ackles, but he dies.  And I’ve already seen that happen once, so I’m not really sure I’m ready to see it happen again.

Wench: For what it’s worth… I’ve said this before, I think, but at least it’s quick.  He gets his neck snapped, so it’s not prolonged at all.  The tragedy is in what he says beforehand.  He and Alec are both very Dean-coded — though, again, they’re clearly very different characters — but you know how tragic that kind of character can be.  And then he dies.  But the death itself really isn’t that bad.

Jezebel: Mmmhmmm.  We’ll see.

Wench: Aye, that we will :)  But we’ve got eight episodes to go, so… ‘til the next one!

#dark angel #dark angel reactions #reactions #episode reactions #s01e09 #out #max guevara #logan cale #kendra maibaum #original cindy #sketchy #herbal thought #jezebel (pr)

[essence-of-ass-thrashing]

On 2011 March 6, Pokémon Black and White were released in North America. The in-game history of these games features the Twin Heroes who founded the Unova region and once controlled the cover legendaries - one who held Reshiram and treasured Truth and the other who held Zekrom and idolized Ideals. They conflicted over whether Truth or Ideals was superior, clashing their dragons against each other, but neither could defeat the other. This balance between Ideals and Truth is an example of the Taoist principles of Yin and Yang, emphasized by details such as Zekrom and Reshiram's black and white coloring, which has led to the two dragons (along with Kyurem, representing wuji, the absence of yin and yang) to be referred to as the Tao trio.

A similar yin-yang balance seems to be present in the setting of Deltarune, where Ralsei claims that light and darkness must be balanced or the world will be destroyed. Neither darkness nor light is necessarily evil nor good - both Lightners and Darkners show friendliness and hostility to each other in varying measures. The similarity goes deeper, however, with the philosophical nature of light and darkness in Deltarune.

The Dark Worlds are full of fun, fantasy, and adventure. Many of the Darkners are literally personified toys and game pieces, and the Lightners enjoy many escapist power fantasies of magic, freedom, and quick, easy friendship. Meanwhile, the Light World is the mundane reality where the Lightner heroes go to school, stress out about projects, and endure their family situations. There are plenty of zany characters to enjoy, but everyone has something to worry about between work, finances, self-esteem, relationships, sickness, and loss of loved ones.

During the climax of chapter 2, Susie, Noelle, and Berdly come to the conclusion that the Dark World is "just better" and begin executing Queen's plan to expand the darkness. To stop them, Ralsei then elaborates on the Roaring, in which the overwhelming darkness leads to chaos and destruction. We've yet to learn the nature of this destruction, but it's easy to imagine consequences from excessive revelry while ignoring reality - missed bills, hurt feelings, things falling apart that one was supposed to maintain, etc. And yet, the last point of Ralsei's Chapter 2 Roaring monologue is how the surviving Lightners will suffer without the Darkners. Darkness and light, fantasy and reality, ideal and truth, yin and yang - they all must be balanced.

But why am I drawing parallels between Deltarune and the backstory of a mainline Pokémon game that I didn't remember before seeing mention of the "Tao trio," especially when it could all be explained with classic yin and yang? Well, Toby Fox mentioned in an interview that he came up with the Deltarune's ending during a fever dream in 2011, the year of Pokémon Black and White's release.

I don't have any particular evidence that he played one of these games on release and got invested in the lore, but he has been working on music tracks for recent Pokémon games. Furthermore, he's exclaimed the honor of working with Hitomi Satō and specifically mentioned her work on Black and White, even though she's worked on Pokémon music since Emerald and has been a main contributor to the soundtracks since Diamond and Pearl.

I also don't have very good ideas on what a connection with Pokémon Black and White could possibly mean for Deltarune and its ending beyond the yin-yang stuff. Maybe the "Darkners exist to serve Lightners" thing could have something to do with Team Plasma's philosophy of Pokémon liberation? Maybe a future chapter will feature someone's castle erupting from the ground to hijack the climax? Maybe Toby just had too many thoughts on yin and yang and too much time sick in his dorm? I just want to get the word out about this. Also, maybe the D in W. D. Gaster stands for Dennis.

#deltarune #deltarune spoilers #deltarune theory #pokemon #pokemon black and white #pokemon gen five

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 13x21 Beat the Devil

“Are they in a dream world at the moment?” “oh yeah I guess so” “Is this the bunker?” “I mean wouldn’t they be worried about having less time on the clock?” “first day of school” “Did they really need the penis joke?” Yeah I guess so

“They really needed that” “oh my god” “we don’t *need* him” “dont we have the archangel blade? Steal his grace then kill him?” Laying Pipe

“Is this another penis joke?” “how many more other ingredients do they have?” “what the fuck is happening?” “what/“ “is this the other room or something?” “I don’t understand. They don’t make those kinds of jokes” “never told the bartender his name” “what?” “might want to work quick while you’ve got the chance” “He’s just going to get out of it” “once he breaks out, can’t Lucifer close the door?” “seems like a terrible idea but ok” “really?” “wait it’s like a parallel universe? I thought it was different” “Lucifer is insufferable” “Isn’t Lucifer running the show in Heaven?” I don’t remember. I think he got bored “the fuck is that thing?” “convenient that they thought the guys were from not around there and not another world and explained everything like that” “I don’t think all that nodding is very convincing” laughter “I was about to say” “you can say it once and it’s funny” “solid plan” “a little too predictable. Not to mention all this fkn noise” “boo” “who got taken?” “Is the girl gone now?” “no” “what’s with the pointy ears?” “I feel like flashlights are one thing, but it’d ruin your night vision. But I think it’d blind you and you’d miss shadows and stuff. I know it’s for dramatic effect” “They’re not giong to wave their hands at it. Come on now” “pretty extreme” “what the fuck” “he was what?” She was going to say something and then didn’t

“What the fuck” “he’s awake maybe? Yay of course” “did he get possessed or something? Or did Sam turn into a vampire I suppose” “oh” “What’s with the Drag Race joke?” “I feel like I know what choice he makes, which is very uncharacteristic of Sam, but whatever” “what’s with the fkn chimes?” “they’re fucked now”

#beautifulspouserewatchesspn #supernatural rewatch #supernatural #supernatural s13

[glassmarcus]

Sonic Frontiers is an errand running power fantasy

*Played in November 2022, Written in December 2022

If you know anything about the development details of Sonic Riders, you know that its prototype was supposed to be more of a Tony Hawk like game instead of a standard racing game. That may be disappointing to hear considering this sounds like a pretty rad idea. Well I have good news. Sonic Frontiers is pretty much a Tony Hawk game. I’ve heard a lot of comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and other open world/zone games and while those parallels are somewhat valid, they don't really get to the heart of what this game is. Sonic Frontiers is simply a game where you go around and perform sick tricks to get collectibles, and it's always fun because you just happen to be doing it as Sonic the Hedgehog.

Once you got really good at them, the beauty of the old Tony Hawk Pro Skater games was seeing how many task you could complete in a run. It was usually feasible to get 1 or 2 task out of the way within the 2 minute limit, but when you could knock out half of the objectives, you felt like a well oiled board sliding machine. Sonic Frontiers replicates the soul of this. It doesn't have a time limit, but it does have a ton of task to complete. Task which flow into each other seamlessly within it's giant skate parks masquerading as overworlds. It might seem weird for these environments to have grind rails and ramps plastered over the landscape, but it's only weird if you view this as a real place and not the skate park editor level that it is. I mean that more literally than you might think, as you actively build rails and springs as you progress through the island and these act as a sort of fast travel. It taps into the integral joy of seeing how fast you can get from point A to point B and how cool you can look while doing it.

None of the activities you do in Sonic Frontiers are all that interesting individually. Killing enemies is fun, but it's not the peak of stylish action by any means. Grabbing memory tokens are usually enjoyable obstacles, but they lack meaningful challenge usually. The puzzles are baby tier and don't take much thought. Cyber Space Stages are a good change of pace, but lack personality. None of these are anything special and I do wish there was more variety in each category, but doing so many of them, so fast makes it feel like you are getting a lot of shit done. The game can easily flow from puzzle to token to token to mini boss to stage within a few moments if you know what you're doing. And if you don't, then it takes longer, but it's still pretty quick. Sonic Frontiers is bursting with activities that feel like chores, but gives you the speed and tools to knock out those task in moments. It's what it feels like to truly speed run the mundanity of life. I don't know if I'm making this sound appealing by comparing it to doing chores, but I assure you I enjoyed pretty much the entire game. Even the rough parts.

And there are a lot of rough parts. Rough Parts such as: The animations being bare bones; The cutscene budget likely not existing; The physics not quite making sense; The UI feeling like a place holder that accidentally got fully produced; The Hellish pop-in diminishing the routes you can plan for on the fly; The dearth of new enemies pretty early in the game; The combat not knowing the meaning of the word ‘balanced’; Experience capping mid way through the game; The offensive amount of unskippable prompts and repeating cutscenes; The entire 3rd Island thinking it’s Sonic Colors; The 5th Island pretending it isn’t the other half of the 1st Island; Big the Cat trivializing the entire gameloop; The exiguous amount of Cyber Space level motifs; The final boss being hidden and optional; The resurrection of Pin-ball, the most egregious sin of them all. This game is not finished cooking and makes some pretty weird decisions.

I could probably keep going. But the point is, none of this shit matters too much because I get to be Sonic going fast on a big map. And that's all anyone really wants. Since Sonic Adventure, people have tricked themselves into thinking hub worlds were good because they gave you a little playground to run in. Heck, that's basically why Sonic Jam is still cooler than every other Sonic Game Compilation. Sonic is about freedom, and giving a nonlinear open level is about as free as it gets. Sure, physics are wonky, but they are fun to tame and use to your advantage. Upgrading speed takes forever, upgrading ring capacity is stupid, and collectibles could have more meat to them, but simply having a goal that requires Sonic to use his unique mechanics is enough. Cyber Space levels are soulless and I don't remember any of them. But getting an S rank on a few was exhilarating and they actually allow you to skip sections and platform yourself. Combat lacks depth and challenge. But it's still fun to make quick work out of enemies once you learn their behavior. There are flaws that stunt its potential, but never invalidate its value. Frontiers is fundamentally good. What I got out of playing it is about equal to what I got out of Mario Odyssey, but in a 1/3rd of the time. The game is at worst, fine. But it does plenty to elevate itself above that.

Sure going fast and homing attacking stuff is fun, but there are little flourishes that give it that extra oomfp. They did not need to include the Drop Dash in this game, but they did and I love it. Instead of being a way to maintain momentum, it sort of acts as a Spin Dash replacement. It’s not really much better than the boost overall when on a flat surface, but if you are on a hill you can really rack up speed. Using the Drop Dash in optimal locales feels like you are playing the opening cutscene of Sonic CD at times. And I did not expect the game to achieve this in any capacity. There's also the trick system which acts as sort of a small reward for taking big jumps and using certain springs and ramps. Because it's not something you can do whenever you want, it feels nice to just hit as many tricks as possible while it last and gain as much XP as you can. The game is perfectly fine without it, but the occasional bell and whistle to movement is appreciated and makes every bit of over world exploration more enjoyable.

I want to separate the Cyloop from the other new mechanics because I think it's more than just a bell or whistle. It's surprisingly integral to how this game works. It has its uses in combat as sort of a guard break, launcher, and heal. But its main importance comes in the islands themselves. The Cyloop is an alternate interact button. There are so many boring things you could theoretically do with the actual interact button. Blow out torches? just press X. Activate this switch? Just press X. Reset this puzzle piece? Just press X. Frontiers could have done all of these things, but uses its actual interact button as little as possible. Most miscellaneous actions that aren't talking, are performed by cylooping. And it sounds kinda brain dead, but quickly running in a circle is far more interesting then just pressing a context sensitive button. It creates its own intuitive design dialect that applies to many situations. And while all this dialect amounts to is: ‘If all else fails, Cyloop’, That's a much more interesting action than ‘press X when prompted’. It's a very sonicy way to go about making a generic action. Because you aren't required to stop moving in order to do it. Running around in a circle is simple fun that doesn't really get boring. Nights into Dream knew exactly what was up 25 years ago and I'm glad Sonic Team returned to the concept.

I liked combat far more than I thought I would. Enemies in the beginning could take a bit to defeat and really slowed down the flow of the game. The special attacks make quick work out of some, but those have some pretty lengthy animations. Luckily they provided the one thing flashy, substance light combat needs to be good: Animation cancels. Because you can cancel all but 2 animations, you are: A) not forced to wait at all during combat and not have to deal with ending lag, and B) a walking combo video. Outside of the horrid mini bosses you are forced to deal with or the actually good mini bosses you are forced to deal with, enemies are practically soft combo labs. Whenever you see a standard enemy and have the thought "oh lemme see if I can get 3 hits off, do a saw blade, cancel out and finish with a loop kick" you have full reign to execute on that or just run past them. Like I said, the mini bosses are hit and miss and mostly act as platforming challenges rather than combat exercises. The true test of your combat abilities come in the boss fights. Not that they are harder or anything. They are the same as a regular enemy once you get up close. They are all trivialized by the parry, and specials melt the health bar. But you look and feel cooler than ever before doing what you normally do to basic enemies to these walking angelic nightmares. These fights have all the spectacle and hype you’d expect from a Sonic Final Boss, but it's for every boss. They are the least polarizing thing in the game. Most people love them as far as I can tell and have the least amount of caveats attached to them

These bosses act as the perfect punctuation to the individual stories of each island. The story by the way, is adequate this time around. I say adequate as a positive, as the last decade of Sonic stories have been gutter trash. I don't think Sonic Frontiers has a better story than say Sonic Adventure 2 or Sonic and the Black Knight just due to how passive and routine it ends up being. It also does help that the plot is a reskin of Shadow of the Collossus. So it's still good, but kind of played at this point. What really drives it though, are the character interactions courtesy of the king himself, Ian Flynn.

This is where I have to release my Sonic fan limiters and go off a bit. When I picked up that issue of Archie Sonic in the middle of 3rd Eye Comics when I was 11 years old and saw how fucking rad those stories were, I never would have dreamed that the same guy working on them would be a writer on a Sonic game. Sure, he's only really in charge of dialogue, but this is only the first step. Ian Flynn cannot be stopped and will soon hold all the stones. He has proven himself many times over in the past 16 years and even more so in this game. The characters finally act like themselves. Sonic only cracks jokes when appropriate and they are actually funny when he does. He's cool for the first time in 13 years. A character built to be cool is finally cool. That's so cathartic, and honestly that's the easiest thing this game achieves writing wise. Amy is not annoying and veers into positive female role model territory; Knuckles is not a joke and his life situation is treated with respect; Tails' decade long character assassination is addressed and is rolled back in a fitting way; Eggman is no longer a cartoon, but a true villain with actual depth and is effortlessly humorous. They all have their own character arcs that, and while are bit undercooked due to the game being undercooked, are delivered in a believable way. It makes me excited to see what's in store for them. I'm excited for the future of Sonic stories in general.

I'm used to only getting my fix through the comics, but now I'm pretty certain that Flynn is going to have a bigger role in story structure next time. All the ingredients are here. The comics are canonized in this game pretty much. Comic characters already appear in Sonic Runners. We're so close to having NEW cast members in a Sonic game. I know Sage is a new character, and she's great and all, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about anthropomorphic [insert name here] the [insert animal species here] who is a major facet of the roster and a main stay of the franchise. Ever since Sonic 06, Sonic Team has been scared shit-less of these types of characters. The last one that stuck was Silver. Since then, the total cast has been underrepresented and the returning cast is just in the background while Sonic does all the work. It seems like they aren't confident introducing new characters. That's where the comics come in. We already know people love Tangle; We already know people love Whisper; We already know people love Surge. The data is there and has been since 2018. Testing is complete. They just need to be put in a game. This is such easy money that I don’t even think Sega will mess it up.

I know I have no right having optimism after the past 2 decades of Sonic Team shitting the bed, but fuck it. Keeping your expectations in check is not what this franchise is about. Since Sonic Colors we've been playing it safe. And that was when I truly started getting bored with these games. Now I want them to try new and old things. And I want to be excited about it. So I will be. It really feels like they're going for it this time around. They're putting more trust in the community than critics, making sure they're catering to people who actually like the games rather than trying to win over those who don't. It’s what Sonic Forces felt like it might have done if it wasn't based on surface perceptions of what people want. Frontiers is the genuine article. It's rough, and had more issues than I can list, but I'd be lying if I said it's not basically what I've been asking for.

Also the music is good. Undefeatable is a top 5 Sonic vocal track easily and Vandalize isn’t far behind. The Cyber Space music saves them from vanishing in my mind. Fishing Vibes makes me want to go back and get my masters so I can listen to it while I study. It lies on the side of Sonic soundtracks labeled “Not Sonic Chronicles” so it’s extremely good, go figure. This last paragraph is a formality.

#sonic frontiers

[p5x-theories]

(Sorry for sending so many asks dhdjd)

While we dont know yet if they will be plot relevant, something tells me that either Leo or Kii are gonna be the "Akechi" of the game, since it seems to mirror a lot the original game

Leo, well, his costume and persona looks so much like a power ranger/super hero, just like Princekechi. Maybe instead of a detective he is more of an actor working in some fetherman-like show.

Kii, we dont know a lot about him, but from his nickname (im pretty sure it means gold) and from the sticker he is dressed like some rich boy i feel like he will be a pain in the ass. Plus his persona has a lot of tree immaginery going on, thing that is usually connected with viking myths.

Also if someone can correct me: from what i know in asia, expecially China, freckles are a symbol of bad luck

(No worries!! I love getting asks, it's fun to have other people to talk to about this game and get ideas going!)

I think I might've pointed out something similar about Leo's superhero vibe reminding me of Crow back when we first saw him? That was months ago, so I might never actually have gotten it into a post, haha. But I absolutely agree! One of his datamined voice lines from the first beta mentions it being like a tokusatsu drama, so that's absolutely the vibe he's trying to go for, too. Admittedly, I do think he's more likely another Phantom Idol than a story character- I think he would've gotten as much focus as Soy in the trailer and promo info released, otherwise- but I suppose there's still hope for at least another few hours, haha!

If he is a Phantom Idol, I suspect he's not intended to parallel a P5 character, but he may still end up having similarities even if he isn't. I kind of got the vibe (again, from the teeny handful of voice lines we got in the first beta's data) that he might be a bit more outwardly nerdy/excitable than Akechi? Maybe "earnest" is the word I'm looking for? I'd totally believe that out of the mask/the real Leo at least has dreams of being an actor or something along those lines, especially in that kind of production.

For Kii, I think you're thinking of 金 (kin) for gold? Which doesn't necessarily mean it couldn't be tied to that, but as I'm sorta suspecting he'll also be a Phantom Idol (just with a story counterpart, like Tomoko), I'm similarly suspecting his Merope-given codename'll just be a shortening of, or joke on, his real name, much like all the confirmed Phantom Idols have been.

(For the record, my Japanese dictionary returns the following definitions for Kii (different words based on different kanji that "kii" could be written with): "odd; strange; queer; peculiar", "displeasure; offense; offence; disliking", "your will; your wishes; your request", "position of aircraft", and "Kii (former province located in present-day Wakayama and southern Mie prefectures)".)

I had originally only really noticed the top of his Persona was kinda like fire (kind of like Yosuke's Takehaya Susano-o in P4), but looking at it again, you are so right about the tree imagery going on! Maybe you're right about the viking thing, too (admittedly I've never gone too deep into Norse mythology, haha).

From his glasses + expression in the sticker (and disappearance of glasses in his All Out Attack cut-in), and how he seems more serious/cold as a Phantom Thief, my take on him had sort of been, up to this point, that he'd be more of a nerd that's perhaps trying very hard as a Thief/trying to look cool/trying to be taken seriously, or something along that line, and his real-world counterpart is the Mishima parallel (going by a guess from there that maybe Kii's a Phantom Idol, so it's like Kotomo). But I do agree that what we can see of his sock and shoe in the image does sort of have a "rich kid" vibe to it, haha. It could just be related to whatever his thief theme is?

I did a really quick search about freckles in China, and while I'm not sure if they're bad luck (again, quick search, maybe I missed something/didn't go deep enough) it seems like they do tend to be considered unattractive/ugly, which I believe was also the case even here in the US in the past. But that's a good angle to come at this from- personally I think the freckles are cute, but the developers probably had a different intention...

#seriously thanks for sending in asks! it's more fun for me this way #tbh the only time I probably *wouldn't* want a billion asks is if I have a billion things I'm trying to post already hehe #theories #leon #key #hoshihime98