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perhaps-in-anotherdream · 9 months

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[CN] Victor’s Enthrallment Date (Eng Translation)

⌚Warning⌚ This post contains detailed spoilers for a date, 着迷之约, that is yet to be released on the global server! ♡

[Additional warning]: y'know the entire date is not spice-themed, but the steamy part is borderline explicit and highly not recommended if you don’t qualify for the 17+ age rating (CN server). so, the call is yours~ :>

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【Subbed Video】

[Heads-up]: Read the transcript for reading, of course! But for the life of me, PLEASE DO WATCH THE VIDEO!! YOU DO NOT WANNA MISS WU LEI’S GODLY VOICE ACTING AKSJSJSDGFG!! (also, again excuse my real-time reactions 🤪)

youtube

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【Transcript Version】

【Chapter 1】

MC: AHHHHH, it’s collapsing, it’s collapsing!

Before my eyes is a landslide. I find myself teetering on the edge of a cliff and can only exert all my strength to flail my hands, seeking something to “hold onto.”

Just as I’m about to reach for the vine dangling at the cliff's edge, the form of a mountain beneath my feet unexpectedly crumbles. The swaying vine slips through my fingers in an instant…

MC: HELP ME!!

System Voice: “Attempt to advance failed. Game over.”

MC: Aw…

A red prompt appears before my eyes as the moving seat beneath me slowly returns to its original position. The game sequence I just experienced vividly replays in my mind.

In order to design a puzzle-themed variety show, I’ve dragged Victor to the amusement park to find inspiration together.

After checking in at several attractions in a row, I noticed a VR game experience not far away while he went to buy drinks. Intrigued, I decided to give it a try.

Much to my surprise, the game turned out to be extremely thrilling. Combined with the hyper-realistic graphics and the seamless integration of the seat’s motion, I had completely forgotten that I was playing a game…

Before I can snap back to my senses, my head suddenly feels a sensation of weightlessness, and in an instant, the lively and joyful atmosphere of the amusement park returns to my vision.

Victor looks at me with a complex expression while holding the VR goggles. Behind him, a crowd of children has gathered, their gazes fixed upon me as well.

MC: Huh? What’s going on?

Victor: Even from a distance, I could hear a certain someone screaming wildly. You scared the kids.

Victor: In the time it took for me to buy the drinks, where did you venture off to?

MC: Don’t even ask. The sequence of events unfolded so rapidly that there wasn’t even a moment to pause...

Unable to contain my eagerness, I leap off the seat and hug his arm, launching into an episode of ��complaint.”

Victor silently listens for a while and arches an eyebrow.

Victor: Was it that brilliant?

Victor: But what I saw just now was a certain dummy baring her fangs and brandishing her claws on the chair.

MC: …

Only when I visualize the scene from the perspective of the onlookers do I realize why I had been mobbed, and I feel embarrassed with a sense of belated awareness.

Victor hands me my drink and pinches my flushed face, an amused smile cresting on his own.

Victor: Only a dummy can be so engrossed when playing games.

Victor: Why not just close your eyes if you were so scared?

MC: But then you’d lose the purpose of playing VR games!

MC: Playing games is about confronting your fears head-on!

Victor: If that’s how it is, why don’t you let go and stop clinging onto someone like this?

Reluctantly, I slightly loosen my grip around his arm and lift my head to look around. My eyes land on an area we haven’t explored yet.

MC: Victor, let’s go and take a look over there later!

Victor: You’re up for playing more?

MC: Absolutely! With the infusion of your love-filled drink, I’m now fully revived!

I beam at him, but Victor doesn’t seem to be moved by my “sugar-coated bullets.”

Victor: We’ve been playing all day, but did it actually help with your show?

MC: Hmm… it’s still too early to ask that question!

MC: Inspiration always needs some time to manifest. Let’s focus on experiencing more things for now.

Victor: I see that you’re just using a pretext to play and satisfy your personal desires.

MC: It’s not purely about satisfying my “personal desires.” I mean, I brought CEO Victor along to play together, didn’t I?

Victor: Submit the first draft of the proposal to me next week, and let me assess the outcomes of your creative process.

MC: But…

Victor: If not, I won’t accompany you on your next trip to collect materials.

Despite saying so, Victor’s footsteps don’t pause, and he is already holding my hand to walk toward the game attractions.

MC: I’ll definitely hand it in next week!

Even though time is tight, considering the relatively higher price at stake here, I still clench my fists to express my resolve to him.

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

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【Chapter 2】

In the blink of an eye, the agreed-upon day has arrived. I rap on the door of Victor’s office, carrying the first draft of the puzzle-themed variety show.

He takes the documents from me. But instead of immediately diving into reading them, he lifts his gaze and studies me intently for a moment.

Victor: The dark circles under your eyes are nearly matching those of a panda, and your face is also drooping.

Victor: What? All the playing over the weekend was of no good?

MC: There’s definitely some value in gathering inspiration, but I can’t help but feel that there’s still something missing…

MC: Maybe CEO Victor can help me by reviewing and providing suggestions?

Victor skims through it briefly and suddenly breaks into a smile.

Victor: It surpasses my expectations, to some extent.

Victor: “Hiding key information within the visuals of a VR game” and “using secret cues during an indoor roller coaster journey” - it seems like you’ve still come up with some useful ideas from it.

MC: I’m just wondering whether these little tricks can be employed repeatedly.

MC: After all, it’s a puzzle game. I want each guest to have a sense of participation and enable them to play a role.

Taking a brief pause, Victor closes my documents.

Victor: I remember you saying before that this is a sort of simple variety show, and you just need to follow the script for arrangement.

Victor: Are you reconsidering your decision now?

MC: Hehe, I’ve seen how others have been able to build a brand with their variety shows, so I wanted to experiment with it too.

MC: I want to create the kind of game that is so addictive that people find themselves unable to break away, ensuring a permanently lasting impact!

–

[Tidbits]: The phrase MC uses here is “欲罢不能” (yù bà bù néng). It conveys the idea of being addicted to something, a sense of strong desire or compelling fascination; you’re so deeply engrossed or captivated by something (/or rather someone) that you find yourself unable to break away. Remember this phrase because it is the key theme of this date and mentioned several times + one of the core themes for Victor x MC~ ❣️

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Victor: How would you define something as “addictive to the point of being unable to break away from”?

MC: It should be something fascinating, challenging, and you won’t get tired of it no matter how many times you’ve turned it over.

MC: Just like… the attitude you have toward your work and cooking!

A smile forms on my face as I lift my head, and sure enough, I meet his speechless expression.

Victor: Don’t you already have a clear concept? Just benchmark it against something you find “addictive to the point of being unable to break away from.”

MC: Something that I find…

I cock my head and ruminate for a while.

I like plenty of things, but there are also quite a few that instantly fade away after a “three-minute passion.”

But when the standard is set for something “addictive to the point of being unable to break away from,” most things would probably not make the cut.

And the first thing that comes to mind for that standard is the man right in front of me.

Smiling, I take a few steps forward and grab his hand, swaying it.

MC: For that, I still need CEO Victor’s cooperation.

MC: You’re right. I must thoroughly study the thing I find “addictive to the point of being unable to break away from.”

Victor stares at me, and after a moment, he sets the documents down and stands up.

Victor: Sure, but this is your task. You can’t disrupt someone else’s work and rest.

MC: No worries!

Victor: Great. I’m clocking out now.

MC: Hm?

I subconsciously turn my head and glance at the wall clock, then look at him while puffing out my cheeks.

MC: There are still two minutes until the work hours end!

Victor: Are you this precise when it comes to arriving late for work?

MC: …T-this is a completely different matter!

MC: What happened to being “addicted to work to the point of being unable to break away”?

Victor: I never said that. And if you think so, then it seems like you still don’t know me well enough.

Seeing Victor really going to fetch his coat, I pout my lips and follow along.

MC: You’re leaving so early today. Do you have something planned for after getting home?

Victor: The ingredients I ordered for you will arrive shortly, so I need to head back early to get them prepared.

Victor: If you want to work overtime on my behalf, I don’t have any objections.

The moment I hear it’s about me, I immediately set aside my earlier dissatisfaction and hastily latch onto his arm.

MC: No need for overtime, no need!

MC: What’s a chef without his diner cheering him on! Come on, come on, let’s go home!

—

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【Chapter 3】

Back at home, Victor tidies up briefly and carries the delivery box into the kitchen. Curiosity piqued, I tag along to find out what he’s up to.

He takes out the ice bags from the box, revealing a row of fresh sea urchins.

The memories of the last experience of eating sea urchins surface in my mind, and I can’t help but break into a knowing smile––

–

──── [Flashback Begins] ────

Victor had asked me to help taste a new dish, which turned out to be an extraordinarily pretty sea urchin salad.

I took a big mouthful with anticipation, but something didn’t feel quite right. So, I took another taste.

Victor: How is it?

MC: Hmm… it’s not quite how I imagined it to be?

As I pondered the source of bitterness, I shifted my gaze to Victor. His demeanor remained composed, except for the unwavering stare locked onto my face.

I swiftly adjusted my expression and decided to give it another try.

MC: It must be that my eating technique wasn’t right. I’ll have another taste!

Victor: Hold on.

Victor took my fork and tasted a bit himself, knitting his brows into a frown. Then, he picked up the plate and stood up.

Victor: Don’t eat this. Let me prepare something else for you.

──── [Flashback Ends] ────

–

Since then, we haven’t brought up this rare “Waterloo defeat” again. But little did I realize that he was still carrying hard feelings about it.

Victor notices my teasing grin that I’m unable to suppress and lets out an imperceptible sigh.

Victor: Just say whatever you want to say.

MC: It looks like Chef Victor is becoming more and more resilient after each setback.

Victor: I just don’t accept bad reviews.

MC: That’s not an attitude you used to have before, despite all the negative reviews Souvenir had?!

Victor: When a certain someone who usually goes around controlling other people’s reviews gives negative feedback, it’s genuinely a bad review.

After Victor finishes speaking, he puts on his apron and prepares to clean the sea urchins. I naturally take the apron strings from behind him and tie them up.

MC: It wasn’t that bad. I guess maybe the ingredients weren’t fresh enough that time? Or maybe… there was some kind of clash with how it paired with the caviar.

Victor: You don’t need to make excuses for me. I’ve already found the reason.

Victor: Help me with sampling the dish again today.

MC: Sure! Let me help as your Sous Chef too!

Victor assigns the task of selecting and washing the vegetables to me, while he focuses on processing the sea urchins.

Since there isn’t much for me to do, I covertly watch him as he works and notice some differences when preparing the sauce.

MC: Did you change the recipe for the sauce?

Victor: Hmm, it will enhance the freshness this way.

Victor: Try it and see.

He scoops up some sea urchin with a small spoon, dips it in the sauce, and feeds it to me.

The silky texture, complemented by the refreshing sweetness of the seasoning, instantly makes my eyes widen.

MC: It’s so yummy!

MC: Sure enough, Mr. Victor’s culinary skills are beyond question!

Craving for more, I lick my lips to savor the lingering taste and catch a glimpse of Victor’s lips curling up as well. He seems to be in a good mood.

I can’t help but snicker inwardly. This man has quite a competitive spirit in this particular matter.

MC: See, I was right, wasn’t I? You really are “into” cooking.

MC: You always have a knack for finding ways to eliminate imperfections, just like collecting materials and leveling up in a game.

Victor: Indeed, and it’s all because we have a gluttonous “Big Boss” at home.

Victor: You eat when you’re in a good mood, and you eat when you’re in a bad mood–– bringing me new challenges every day.

I can’t help but laugh mischievously as I watch his relaxed side profile. Then, taking a piece of seaweed from beside him, I begin chewing on it.

MC: Hearing you put it that way, I suddenly feel like incorporating a cooking segment would be a good idea.

Victor: Will you be able to have secret cues while cooking too?

MC: Absolutely! Cooking can bring you so much insight!

Victor: Like what?

MC: For instance, right now, I believe I know what truly is the thing that you’re addicted to the point of being unable to break away from.

I raise my head and make eyes at him. Victor glances at me briefly before diverting his gaze and letting out a soft chuckle.

Victor: Turns out that a certain dummy isn’t always a dummy; she becomes smarter after eating something.

MC: Hehe, looks like I guessed it correctly.

I brazenly lift myself on my toes and ruffle his hair. Then, I swiftly dart inside the house like a wisp of smoke before he can charge me with his stare.

Victor: Where are you off to?

MC: I’ll tidy up the dining table first and roll out the red carpet for today’s feast~

Victor: …childish.

I pull a face at him and elatedly set the table with the cutlery.

I’ll let him off for his teasing today. After all, I’m not the only one who is “childish.”

—

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【Chapter 4】

After having our fill of eating and drinking, with the spirit of “studying,” I launch a two-player game.

The game requires two players to cooperate in searching for the treasure. The character I’ve chosen is blindfolded, so the screen appears pitch-black for me.

On the other hand, Victor’s screen displays textual instructions, and he needs to guide my actions at the right times.

MC: But if it stays pitch-black like this, even if we manage to locate the treasure, I won’t know, will I?

Victor: There ought to be some special hints; let’s keep moving forward for now.

MC: Hang on, my gamepad just vibrated! Oops, it seems like I bumped into a wall again…

Victor: …try moving a bit to the right.

After fumbling around in the darkness again for who knows how long, a glimmer of light suddenly appears on the screen. I try to control the character to crouch, and sure enough, it shows that the treasure has been obtained.

MC: We’ve found it!

MC: Although it took quite some time… we still have a great tacit understanding, don’t we!

Victor: Not too bad, we were quicker than when I usually have to accompany a certain dummy to find directions.

I grunt several times, shift to the side, and lean into his arms while holding the game console.

MC: I think this gameplay could be quite fitting for the show, you know.

MC: It challenges the players’ tacit understanding and has a decent level of complexity. Plus, watching people getting confused and disoriented and bumping into walls would be quite hilarious.

MC: CEO Victor, what do you think?

Victor: If you’re not concerned about the recording duration, it can be given a try.

MC: If players are blindfolded during the game, we need to take safety issues into account too…

MC: I wonder if it might be better with a slightly smaller space?

As I speak, I observe the room before me, and suddenly, an idea strikes me.

Due to a last-minute notice about a meeting, Victor casually placed the tie he had taken off on a chair nearby before leaving the house early in the morning, without having time to put it away.

I run over to pick up the tie and randomly grab a toy of Pudding’s from the coffee table. Then, I stuff it into Victor’s hands and promptly position myself in the corner of the room.

Victor: What are you up to now?

MC: I want to try it myself.

MC: Let’s treat this toy as the “treasure.” Blindfold me first, and then you can guide me to find it.

MC: We’ll keep the range within this room. How’s that?

Victor sighs and walks over, taking the tie from me. He then helps me tie it around the back of my head.

Victor: You certainly know how to make the most of what you have.

MC: Hehe, this extent is just perfect.

MC: You can hide the treasure now.

I hear Victor’s footsteps gradually move farther away, and then, a soft “click” sound follows. The light on the other end of the fabric vanishes entirely.

MC: D-Did you just turn off the lights?

Victor: Scared?

MC: No, not at all. I’m just feeling a bit out of sorts, is all.

Victor: That’s good, then.

Victor: I remember a certain someone saying that playing games is about confronting your fears head-on. Looks like you haven’t debunked your claim yet.

I try my best to identify the direction his voice is coming from and defiantly crane my neck towards it.

MC: I’m very familiar with this “map.” So, maybe I won’t need your help anytime soon.

Victor: Is that so? In that case, I shall wait and see.

I initially thought it wouldn’t be difficult in a room I’m so familiar with. But once my vision is blocked, things turn out to be not as simple as I assumed.

I walk to the left for a bit. According to my memory, I should be somewhere near the sofa. However, when I reach out to feel it, it’s not the soft texture I expected.

MC: Huh? What is this… the bookshelf?

Victor: Walk five more steps to the left, and you’ll reach the sofa.

MC: Is it this way?

Skeptically, I walk a few more steps and feel a hard object obstructing my feet. I slowly crouch down to touch it and realize it’s actually a cold glass surface.

MC: This is the coffee table! How could you trick me!

MC: I suspect you’re a mole sent by the opposing team, deliberately leading me to go around in circles.

Pouting, I complain as I keep spinning around, trying to locate where Victor is–– until I hear a soft chuckle drifting from behind me.

As soon as I turn around, without a chance to say a word, I find myself being pulled into someone’s arms.

Victor: Alright, the game is over.

MC: Hold on, where’s my treasure?

Victor: Right there by your feet.

MC: Are you serious? Then let me pick it up.

Just as I’m about to crouch down, he pulls me back, locking me firmly in the confines of his arms.

Victor: Still don’t believe me?

Victor: In any case, every time you win something, you just always have to pounce on me to show off.

Victor: I’m just helping you skip an unnecessary step.

I prod him gently as a form of protest, but my lips can’t resist curling up into a smile.

MC: You know everything about me to a T. How is this even fair?

Victor: No matter how thrilling a game is, if played for long enough, it’s only expected that you will figure out the patterns–– let alone a certain dummy.

MC: Then, would you still find it fascinating?

Victor: Don’t you know that answer already?

A warm breath teases my ear, and I can feel someone gently tracing his fingertips across my neck.

The mild itch and tingling sensation remind me that he has already proven his answer to me a long time ago.

It’s the prolonged kisses, the embraces to hold the other with all our might, and the marks born out of uncontrollable emotions that we leave behind on each other…

It’s a feeling of immersion and dependence, just like an addiction.

The temperature on my cheeks ascends rapidly from the passionate memories. I want to shake my head to regain clarity, but someone holds it in place, preventing me from moving.

Victor: Your face is so flushed. Looks like you’ve remembered something.

MC: You’re so cheeky…

MC: I just want to hear it from you directly.

A peal of soft laughter glides from my ear down to my jaw, finally settling at the corner of my lips, in sync with my breathing.

Victor: You know how to make demands; that’s good.

Victor: Well, I’ll only say it just this once.

Victor: It’s just like you said. What I’m addicted to the point of being unable to break away from will forever be fascinating to me and will always be worth the challenge.

Victor: No matter how much time passes, I’ll never grow weary.

A stream of satisfaction surges from the depths of my heart, and I subconsciously nuzzle my cheek against the palm of his hand.

Victor: Satisfied?

MC: Not yet.

MC: Words alone won’t suffice; you must prove it with action.

I reach out my fingers to touch him, exploring his soft muscles and tracing my way to the solid collarbones. Skillfully, I find the gap between his tie knot and hook my finger into it.

It’s akin to a signal; with just a gentle pull, I can get hold of my “treasure.”

Fervent kisses instantly catch my breath, leaving me with no choice but to swallow the provocation I have yet to put into action.

The layer of darkness, which is deeper than usual, overwhelms all my senses and draws them to rush toward the area that is being plundered. I can no longer maintain my original posture, my knees give away, and I lunge directly at the person who has started it all.

My impact seems to have knocked him over, causing him to tumble and end up sitting down somewhere, which grants me a momentary interval.

Lowering my head, I breathe desperately, my breaths coming in gasps. He gently pats the back of my head, his deep voice melding into my ragged breaths.

Victor: Do you want me to give you some time?

MC: What…?

Victor: To make the changes in the first draft of your show.

MC: …I’m off work now!

I haphazardly reach out my hand, intending to give him a punch. But I find my wrist swiftly being caught in mid-air, foiling my attempt.

Victor: Good. So, starting from this moment on, forget about your show for the time being.

Victor: Be more focused.

—

Without waiting for my explanation, the hand at the back of my head gently exerts force, sending me back into his arms again.

The soft touch of his lips makes my heart itch. I can’t help myself from lifting my head and craving more.

The pain I expect doesn’t arrive, and I don’t know whether it will or not. Subconsciously, I tighten my grip on the tie in my hand, taking the initiative to deepen the kiss.

Wet and sultry; just like the rain outside the window which has started pouring who knows when.

An array of grotesque light spots dance before my eyes, and a slight sensation of dizziness causes everything around me to appear as if it’s melting away.

His fingers thread themselves into my hair. Unable to withstand any longer, the velvety tie succumbs to the intimate caressing against my ears and temples, eventually sliding down loosely.

–

[Tidbits]: the phrase used here is so fascinating– “耳鬓厮磨” (ěrbìn sīmó). the phrase itself literally means “(one’s) ear rubbing (the other’s) hair at the temple),” which generally dictates a very personal and intimate moment shared between lovers, BUT, it specifically refers to the lovers being childhood playmates. yeah, way to shove in knives oh-so-delicately 🤡

–

The sudden intrusion of light makes me uncomfortably close my eyes, but the person in front of me doesn’t give me the slightest opportunity to evade his presence.

His warm breaths caress my eyelids, and I’m overcome with a sensation as if my entire body is being kissed.

The delicate and closely woven incessant licks and kisses have long shattered my willpower, and at this moment, the person in front of me consumes all of my senses.

Each time I respond to his teasing advances, I’m answered with even heavier and deeper breaths from him.

My eyes slowly open, and I gaze into the moist and profound depths of his gaze. Even amidst the darkness of the night, I know that, from beginning to end, those eyes have always held me.

I have received his proof and also garnered deeper insights into my own heart.

He is the “treasure” I’ve yearned to find countless times throughout my journey of exploration and moving forward.

Even if everything remains unchanged forever, I’m willing to continue this pursuit relentlessly.

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[Anika’s Ramblings]

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#🫠👁️👄👁️😵‍💫🔥❤️#i love them so much akdjdjdhd they’re just so ajdjdkhbkhdgh #even though they keep calling me out as single in every existent and nonexistent languages lmao but #THEY ARE JUST SO OLD MARRIED COUPLE 😩😩 I'LL TAKE THE VICTOR x MC DOSAGE THREE TIMES A DAY EVERY DAY THANK YOU.#mlqc victor #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc #mr love victor #mr love queen's choice #恋与制作人 #李泽言 #love and producer #mlqc cn #mlqc spoilers #mlqc translations

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reesiereads · 6 months

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James and the Dupes (Goosebumps 2023 Analysis 3/5)

If you haven’t read the previous two parts of this analysis I highly recommend you do, however the jist is that I am attempting to show how each Biddle item is purposely symbolic of the kid it’s tied to.

I’ve already discussed Isaiah and Isabella so let’s talk about James.

(Spoilers below the cut, I seriously recommend watching the show first before reading, it’s definitely worth it)

James is the point of view for Goosebumps’ third episode The Cuckoo Clock of Doom, however James’ object is not the clock for which the episode is named. When listing the objects in Go Eat Worms Margot specifically says James’ object is the “dupes” aka the duplications of James that the clock created. I’ll be discussing the significance of this in a moment but keep this in mind.

The Cuckoo Clock of Doom starts once again the night of the Halloween party at the Biddle house and with James hitting his head for the first time on the cuckoo clock. James is disoriented and it’s implied he hit his head fairly hard but he decides to go through with the party anyway and it’s through his actions at the party this first go around that we see the most vital aspects of James’ character.

James goes throughout the party talking to just about everybody. He knows all their names, he’s personable and friendly, he’s a complete social butterfly. It’s very obvious though that he isn’t actually saying anything of substance; it’s all small talk. He knows everybody and everybody knows him but none of them are his actual friends. James’ demeanor through this scene is also very (for a lack of a better word) safe, it’s the sort of polite but casual tone you take when trying to make friendly small talk and it’s the sort of tone that while very forced very few people could take issue with.

When James stops to talk to Isaiah this very palatable tone fades but not completely, there’s still a very obvious amount of effort and energy being pushed into what James is saying. His words are casual but his body language and tone are practiced.

Essentially, James is a performer. His given description prior to the shows release labeled him as a “class clown” and this trope is a perfect encompassment of everything James embodies. He’s funny, he’s charming, just about everyone likes him but nobody actually knows him. He’s got a sort of casual confidence about him that is a complete act, but he’s so at arms-length with everyone around him that most don’t recognize his facade.

There are two relationships that perfectly show James’s true character: Sam and Isaiah.

Sam is the boy James likes but we aren’t given much of an indication why James like him other then that Sam is hot: this is deliberate.

See, Sam is the perfect vehicle to showing how James conducts most of his relationships. He approaches a person, he makes some small talk, he finds a topic the person likes and (whether he has any knowledge or interest in the subject) tries make himself palatable by discussing it. As a people-pleaser myself I can say with full confidence that this behavior is done with two goals in mind: to make the other person like him and to keep the conversation on the other person so he doesn’t have to talk about himself. This is the main reason Isaiah tells him he needs to stop trying so hard to be liked, because this people-pleasing behavior hinders James’ ability to form actual deep connections.

The reason James doesn’t take this advice is because that’s exactly what he wants. What the time loops reveal is that even when given the opportunity James will not be himself. He’s presented with the perfectly opportunity to try and be himself with Sam, being completely able to just reset the night once again if it goes wrong, and instead James abuses the time loop so that his lie about sharing interests with Sam will be more convincing.

This is further emphasized by the clones words to Sam. While yes, the clones are being purposely cruel to try and ruin James’ life, a majority of their words are rooted in some kind of truth. They are James and they are using the exact information and feelings James has to manipulate the people around them. When ruining James’ relationship with Sam the clone specifically states that Sam is “too clingy” and I believe this is the exact reason James was interested in Sam in the first place.

James went after Sam, a person he seemingly shared no interests with and only found attractive, because James assumed he could have a very (for a lack of a better word) shallow relationship with him. James was never looking for anything serious and his comment about “I don’t know anything about soccer but I don’t care because Sam is hot” emphasizes that. Why would James want a deep emotional connection with someone when he doesn’t even have a relationship like that with his best friend?

Isaiah is James’ best friend however his actual relationship with Isaiah seems to go roughly the same as his relationship with just about everyone else. Sure, they hang out a lot but most of their interactions seem to be James hearing Isaiah out about his issues and them talking about their crushes. Isaiah does question about James about how he’s doing but James either deflects or avoids the seriousness of the situation.

In The Cuckoo Clock of Doom Isaiah and James have a discussion after James’ botched attempt at talking with Sam. In this discussion Isaiah immediately knows James was not being himself when talking to Sam and encourages him just be himself rather then trying so hard to be liked. This, on it’s own, seems like reasonable advice however what’s interesting is James’ response: “that’s easy for you to say.”

Isaiah questions what he means by this and James, clearly uncomfortable, says nevermind and essentially forces the conversation to be dropped. Despite Isaiah being his best friend it’s very clear James is not comfortable being honest about his emotions with him.

The questions comes up again once James is found however and this time James is upset enough by the discovery that Isaiah, his best friend, doesn’t know him well enough to know if he’s a clone or not, that he elaborates. He states: “It is really hard to be 1 of 6 gay people in a town.”

The crux of James’ behavior, the reason he people-pleases and dances around serious topics is because he feels othered. He feels different from the people around him and he’s scared of the judgement that could come from that. A lot of his behavior reads as a sort of compensation, as if he’s trying to be as palatable as possible so people will like him despite the fact that he’s queer.

I imagine James also feels isolated the same way Isabella does, at least in an emotional sense. He keeps everyone at school at an arms-length and his relationship with his Mother is implied to be rather distant. She treats him more like a best friend then anything and paired with her alcoholism there is a very clear emotional wall between the two of them. There is no one James feels safe to confide in and I imagine it’s only worsened his feelings of otherness.

Now, finally, let’s discuss the Dupes:

The Biddle Clock and Dupes (roughly) work like this: When making contact with the clock a person is trapped into a time loop from the time of hitting the clock. The loop is restarted if the person attempts to leave the Biddle property. Every loop creates a duplicate of the person from an alternate timeline which Biddle is able to communicate with and who act as Biddle’s minions. The duplicates have all the information the original person had during the loop and, as their forms are goo of some kind, can likely change their appearance at will.

The duplicates take James’ place for roughly a week and during this time they set out to ruin James’ life as throughly as possible by destroying all his relationships. Sam is broken up with on ground of being “too clingy,” Isaiah’s relationship with Allison is worsened and his feelings for Margot are revealed which are things James likely knew a lot about as Isaiah’s friend not to mention the clone picking on Isaiah’s insecurities, and based on the comments about James’ mother James feels some resentment for his Mom’s behavior which the clone is more open about then James would be.

No one recognizes that the clones have taken James’ place despite them not acting very in-character. The people the clones strive to ruin James’ relationships with also all react very volatile to the clones’ behavior, showing how despite James’ efforts to be very likable his efforts haven’t fostered very strong relationships.

The message of the episode is fairly clear: If you keep everyone around you at arms-length and try too hard to be likable then you are inevitably going to be isolated as none of your relationships will have any kind of stable foundation.

#goosebumps #goosebumps 2023 #goosebumps analysis #character analysis #reesie rambles #(I really wasn’t expecting this one to get so long lol)#James Etten

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tater-tot-jr · 3 months

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I think I should put in my two cents considering the Hazbin hotel leaked Angel Dust clip. I’ll say that this post should be one absolutely massive trigger warning. If you’re sensitive please don’t read this, I’m pretty blunt. Also I’m only talking about a small leak but SPOILERS!!!

So before I make any points I’ll start by saying that I’m not an inherent fan of vivziepop, this isn’t meat riding, it’s a genuine attempt at open conversation and discussion. I’ll also say I’m a survivor myself and while I don’t claim to speak for anyone else I have some ground to stand on here. I completely understand that people can be triggered by this type of imagery and will at least skip this particular scene or episode, I promise I’m not talking about you guys.

You wanna know who I am talking about though? The weird ass moral police I’ve been watching mobilize. It’s crazy how people are making a big deal out of this. I’ve seen three arguments and all of them are terrible in themselves and being used to justify terrible behavior.

I’ve only seen people claim three major things, this is a bad depiction of a s/a survivor and situation, this is something that’s too graphic and immoral to put in a TV show, the fact that the singing and dancing lightens the tone in a way people find distasteful. I’m going to be trying to prove why I find these arguments mostly ridiculous and unfounded.

As for argument one, s/a survivors come in all shapes and sizes and hyper sexuality happens to be an incredibly common reaction to sexual trauma. I haven’t watched episode one and two but even if I had I’d still have too small of a sample size to determine the entire tone of an incredibly messed up complex dynamic between too incredibly interesting and layered characters. It’s ridiculous to have so many assumptions and expectations of an *11 second leaked clip.*

Secondly. Creative freedom is possible the most important thing in art. If we didn’t have the freedom to put what we wanted on paper or on screen then we wouldn’t have had so much societal change recently. Just because you might find something distasteful and immoral doesn’t mean it absolutely has to be hated on and removed. It’s okay to not like things because you find them gross, it’s okay to not enjoy graphic depictions of serious subjects, it’s not okay to start internet wars over moral bullshit. It’s okay to be mad in silence sometimes, guys.

Thirdly. I kinda get this one, I don’t agree with it but I do understand the point. The idea you don’t want a serious subject framed with a sexy pop song is not inherently bad, it’s just something that makes me think you wouldn’t have liked Hazbin Hotel anyway. I actually appreciate the fact they are using the creative medium to make bold and shocking decisions but I get some people are sensitive to new things, that’s fine. Where this argument gets ridiculous is when people act like this is very out of line for a show like this. This isn’t a Saturday morning kids cartoon it’s and adult animated show about people in hell. It’s highly likely that this won’t be the worst thing we see, you either need to heed the trigger warnings at the beginning of each episode or get over it.

You’ll notice that I didn’t bring up anything about the merchandise pins or the storyboard artist, I did this because they aren’t arguments but barely related attempts at character assassinations. When you spend five minutes thinking about them critically you come to realize that there is nothing substantial to those arguments.

I’d like to finish up talking about how I think this scene is doing more good than harm. It’s important to make people uncomfortable when you’re talking about things so horrible like s/a and rape. It shouldn’t be meek and palatable for a general audience, it should upset you. I remember hearing something in a video game once that stuck with me. There was a character who said that when you’re sick you need strong medicine and that the strongest medication is very bitter.

I think episode four will be some very bitter medicine.

#hazbin hotel #angel dust #feel free to leave a comment if you disagree #it’s important to engage in discussions and I’d love to hear some other perspectives #if you leave a comment with arguments against any points I made I’ll do my best to respond to you with a potential counter argument #and it should go without saying that if I watch the episode and realize I’m completely wrong I’ll post a public apology

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nonsensicalramblings79 · 7 months

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Dead Seagull: Do Not Eat – Albatrosses, Seagulls, and Guilt in Our Flag Means Death

(for future reference: written 10/6/2023, ~36-48 hours after the first 3 episodes of S2 were released)

Hi, all! I, like many of you scrolling the #ofmd meta tag, have a head filled with nothing but the Gay Pirates. This has been the case since 12am PST on 10/5/2023 and will remain the case for several months to come. On my 3rd watch-through of the first 3 episodes of season 2 of OFMD, I started paying closer attention to potential symbolism so that I could maybe predict how the rest of the series is going to play out and get a better idea of what’s going on in these little guys’ brains. This post is the introduction to a short series of long posts wherein I rant about symbolism that may or may not be in the show. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I haven’t written anything even close to a literary analysis since high school, and I generally don’t know wtf I’m talking about. I’m just having a lot of very normal thoughts about The Pirate Show and I need to put them somewhere; if anyone has more ideas relating to this please add to it!! And to the best of my knowledge, the thoughts I express here are my own – please let me know if there are other analyses that say similar things that I should link to.

TWs: animal death, blood, eating animals, starvation, emotional abuse, physical abuse, gunshot injuries, suicidal ideation, canon-typical mental health problems

MAJOR OFMD SPOILERS THROUGH S2E03!!!

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What originally prompted this whole rabbit-hole exploration was the conversation that Ed has with Frenchie at the end of s2e01.

…

You know there's a bird that never touches ground?

It's born in the air. Never once lands. Spends its entire existence in the sky. …

As Frenchie astutely notes, this seems…kind of impossible. How could a bird be born in the air? I could see potentially never landing, but surely every bird has to come down at some point to lay eggs (or to hatch from them), right? So I did a quick Google search for birds that spend their whole lives in the air, and the first result that came up was the common swift, which apparently spends up to 10 months out of the year in the air, never once landing (or only landing very occasionally) during that time. They catch food in the air, sleep while drifting on air currents, mate in the sky, and only land to nest and lay their eggs.

So that seemed…promising? I guess? But not exactly what Ed was talking about. After all, these birds aren’t “born in the air,” and they certainly don’t spend their entire life without landing. And this still could be what Ed was talking about; it matches fairly closely, and it’s possible that whatever Ed heard was either mis-told, misheard, or intentionally exaggerated. But I think there’s a more elegant answer to what bird Ed is referencing here, and it has much more potential for analysis than the common swift: the albatross.

This is the second thing that I found while searching, and this piqued my interest much more than the last result, since - as many of you probably know, spending time reading tumblr metas – the albatross is an extremely pervasive metaphor in literature. It usually represents a psychological burden that one has taken on, most often as a result of having made a mistake that resulted in others getting hurt. I’ll go into more detail about the source of this symbol in a little bit, but the basic gist is that a dead albatross gets hung around one’s neck until whatever guilt they have is resolved – albatrosses are huge birds, so this represents an enormous weight.

Before I go on, I’ll add that, at first glance, the albatross actually seems to fit Ed’s description less well than the common swift does – albatrosses are known for being able to glide for a long, long time, but they do land…on the water. One of the first things that comes up when you search for “birds that never land” is that albatrosses spend years and years never landing on shore. There’s a similar problem here to the common swift in that no bird actually hatches from an egg while in the air like Ed is implying here. But I would argue that the albatross is indeed what Ed is talking about. Whether he misheard, someone misspoke, or a tale got distorted from it being verbally passed down, Ed is referencing the image of an albatross that spends its entire life above (or on) the sea, never once going to land.

And this fits. In the context of the conversation that Ed is having with Frenchie, Ed is lamenting the fact that he can only exist in one place, fulfilling one role – on the sea, performing the role of Blackbeard. He imagines the life of this fictional albatross as quite lonely, I think, never once leaving the place it has spent its entire life (again, this isn’t exactly how the birds behave, but I believe Ed views them this way based on how he’s interpreted whatever he heard about albatrosses). He’s resigning himself to never leaving his habitat, and quite literally never going back to shore.

“…We’re gonna sail…rob…raise hell forever…and ever…without end.”

Right. So, if I am to be believed, we’ve established that Ed is actually diegetically referencing albatrosses. So what?

Well, as another disclaimer, I’m not 100% sold on these ideas myself. Especially only having the first 3 episodes of S2 to go off of, there’s plenty of time for these ideas to be proven wrong in as few as – checks watch – 6 days. There are lots of different, potentially overlapping, potentially conflicting ways to interpret this information. I’m probably going to split this up into parts, for ease of access and reading. Because all this so far has just been the introduction :))

In one part, I’m going to talk about what is probably the most intentional reference: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the original poem that the albatross metaphor is pulled from. Beyond just the link to the “Impossible Birds” conversation, there are some other elements in OFMD that seem like pretty clear references to this poem. Based on references to this poem in popular culture, I suspect that parallels here would be non-diegetic – meant to be apparent to the audience, not to the in-universe characters. Link Here!

Next, I’m going to talk about another poem, simply titled “The Albatross” (French: L’albatros). This particular poem is maybe less likely to have inspired references in OFMD, but if there is an intentional link, this poem reflects a lot of how Ed sees himself and his life thus far. I’ll admit that I’m a bit biased toward this poem since I had to memorize it in French class in high school and it’s stuck with me – but it was also one of the first things on Wikipedia that was linked on the page of the metaphor of the Albatross. Parallels in this poem are what I would suspect to be diegetic – despite it being an anachronism, I think Ed has at some point read this poem, and he relates to the albatross/poet. [Link Here!]

Lastly, there are some loose ends that I’d like to pick up that may not tie into anything, but I feel like they’re worth mentioning, especially as they relate to the albatross metaphors and parallels. This section is going to talk more generally about birds and bird imagery in OFMD, and how these instances can support or refute my albatross theories. [Link will go here: haven't written yet :)]

#our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd meta #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd s2 meta #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season 2 meta #ofmd blackbeard #stede bonnet #albatross #the rime of the ancient mariner #literary analysis #media analysis #frenchie ofmd #izzy hands #lucius spriggs

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know-the-way · 1 year

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The stages so far of me binging the entirety of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (spoilers if you haven’t watched it before):

1. “Yeah, the 1920s hasn’t ever really been your preferred vibe, but so many of your friends like this show, and you love ‘Clue’ which seems similar, so just bite the bullet and go.”

2. “Wait, they’re Australian? What? Did I know this before and forgot?”

3. “Ohhhh right, Miranda Otto was in this! I did know that. And she’s a cocaine lord?! Nice. Don’t get to see her in many villain roles.”

4. *first scene with Phryne & Jack* “Oh, he has a very nice deep voice, okay I see I see mmmhm okay. … Why is so he so sulky, though? Big ‘who hurt you’ vibes. Intriiiiigue… “

5. “OH dEaR oh mY, there is banter and cheeky looks, this is bad, coDE RED, pretty sure this is your LAST chance to exit before this becomes a #problem.”

6. *does not exit* *becomes a #problem*

7. “Oh, so she’s gonna be banging lots of men with no emotional attachment (when there is clearly some tragic past hiding under the surface as to why that might be)? So an emotionally damaged woman who copes with her traumas by deflecting said emotions through sex and other various reckless behaviors? Babe… *cups face gently* babe, babe, babe. You’ve made this beyond a problem now. Because every little glimpse of vulnerability among your extremely out-of-hand savior complex is gonna make me fall in love with you more and more… just like the tall, broody inspector man over there (who still has a very nice voice and sad, kind eyes and who you seem to be afraid of being smitten with for ~*some reason*~). Anyway, Jack and I, we’re both fucked.”

8. Wdym they both have traumas from the war & from past relationships, that they both witnessed an unimaginable amount of loss, and that both are broken so deeply that they built fortresses of ice around their hearts to protect themselves AND YET BOTH OF THEM THAW JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE WITH THEIR EVERY INTERACTION? Fuck OFF! This is not FAIR!

9. “Miss Fisher was actually on her way home.” He said that with a fully clenched jaw and a step forward. Fuuuuccckk, there’s gonna be smoldering jealousy, too? Just slap me in the face, the amount of longing I’m about to witness… Jack, it’s okay buddy, we’re in this together. There’s something special about you and she’s gonna figure it out… after what appears to be several seasons and perhaps a feature film. But she’ll figure it out! Stay strong, soldier! I’m rooting for you!

10. “Oh God, her little sister was murdered. As someone who loves my own sister dearly, that’s fucking awful, this is hurting me deeply, and I really do not like it. 🥺 … AND THE MURDERER IS DUE TO BE RELEASED? AbSoLUTELY not! … WDYM THERE’S ALSO AN ABUSIVE EX?! And he’s come back to MURDER HER over a naked painting of her younger self like a fucking CREEP?!*”

(*not a correct summarization of what happened, but not not correct)

Anyway, I found the tragic past!

11. “Abusive ex is played by Peter O’Brien? With a ‘French’ accent? *snort* I mean, okay, it’s a choice. Anyway… what a douche… moving on… “

12. Aw, they kissed! *claps* And so soon! I mean, it was under horrible circumstances, but it happened… and with lingering looks to boot? You know what, I’ll take it. ‘Cause, I mean, look at them… and like let’s not talk about the juxtaposition of Phryne’s panic over seeing someone who once hurt her being redirected by a kiss from someone who would never hurt her… and Jack subsequently lunging for an armed René to stop him from taking Phryne… we’ll just ignore that for now

13. Felt the “I am not afraid of you” in my bones. Good shit.

14. “You kissed me. … You kissed me back!” Children, please. This is a Wendy’s.

This is as far as I’ve gotten, but omg what a fun ride so far. Friends who tried to recommend this to me for YEARS, I am SO sorry I slept on it. I understand now and your taste is impeccable. *muah*

#mfmm #it’s 5am idk

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best-underrated-anime · 6 months

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Best Underrated Anime Group D Round 1: #D2 vs #D7

#D2: Prophecy girlie, hyper cellphone, and gamer cat get silly

Su Moting, the daughter of a god and a monster, is the supposed Chosen One set to fix the balance of the universe, but unfortunately, she’s just barely living as it is. Only just told of her great fate, Su Moting couldn’t care less as she juggles her social life, work, and her new duties (which she doesn’t take seriously). Alongside Moting are Star Tianji and Star Dikui, a god and a monster out to help our protagonist with her grand mission. They, too, are also struggling to figure out life on Earth, as Tianji is an immortal who doubles as the god of Su Moting’s personal cellphone and Dikui is a cat monster immortal more concerned with lazing about. Somehow, they make things work as the best worst roommates of all time.

#D7: Girl who can play the biwa and see the future. 1180 CE Japan

The main character can play the biwa and also see the future with one of her eyes. After her father is killed at the start by the Taira clan, she is taken in by Shigemori of the Taira clan, who has the ability to see the ghosts of the dead. He wishes for her to help prevent the downfall of the Taira clan, which she has witnessed, but she refuses to since they are the ones that killed her father. Instead, she chronicles the events of their rise and fall, playing the biwa.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#D2: God Troubles Me (Hanhua Riji)

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[Admin: Submitter had linked the ending song, but it doesn’t really show us what the animation is like, so I went to find an actual trailer. Above is a teaser for season 3, but there are no spoilers.]

Alt Title: Man’s Diary

Propaganda:

Four-season donghua (Chinese anime) that’s so recent and seeped in American pop-culture that I needed to do a double take when a literal cockroach said “Run, Forrest, run,” in English with a heavy Chinese accent. There’s a cat who plays video games (he’s very good at it), a phone who’s the worst kind of hype man, a sentient air conditioner, a guy who can shapeshift into any vehicle, off-brand Super-Man but jerky, a high-ranking god that collects anime figures, and the mega ultra cool protagonist who is a normal human girl fresh out of college and always low on money. It’s great

Trigger Warnings: Animal Cruelty or Death, Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Flashing Lights, Racism, Self-Harm, Suicide.

All the TW’s above are done for comedic effect, but they come in fast and hard with the humor. Better safe than sorry! The biggest things I remember are one or two “blink and you’ll miss it” racist jokes, characters joking about killing themselves out of embarrassment (no one goes through with it), and there’s a LOT of self-harm via stupid decisions. Stupid things like tying a loose tooth to the back end of a sports car sort of stupid. The protagonists have 3 brain cells collectively.

#D7: The Heike Story (Heike Monogatari)

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Propaganda:

It’s based on historical events, so one can already know the ending before watching it, sort of like the main character Biwa. But seeing those events, getting attached to the characters as they have both fun, simple moments and difficult, painful moments and seeing the humanity in the characters and watching them grow up with the underlying promise that things won’t go well for them, and accepting that… themes of impermanence and grief… but also the art style is unique and bright and the music is great and fits the scenes, and I highly recommend watching this if you haven’t already !! It’s only 11 episodes!

Trigger Warnings: Suicide

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

#anime #donghua #best underrated anime #polls #poll tournament #tournament #anime tournament #animation #animated show #group stage #group stage round 1 #tournament polls #chinese anime #god troubles me #hanhua riji #the heike story #heike monogatari #han hua ri ji #group d

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nerdy-stilinski · 1 year

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A Comprehensive Bitch-Fest of the Teen Wolf Movie

Alright guys, as promised, here is the comprehensive text post of the Teen Wolf Movie.

Under this cut will contain a pretty extensive plot (for those of us who don’t want to watch the movie). I’m gonna do another post under this one with my personal thoughts, and some fun little bones to pick with Mr. Davis surrounding canon (or lack thereof, as it were) and uh. Plot decisions all around.

Most importantly, though, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! If you haven’t seen the movie, and you don’t want spoilers, PLEASE DO NOT LOOK UNDER THE CUT!

I’m sure there won’t be much anyone hasn’t seen, yet, but I digress.

⚠️HERE BE SPOILERS!⚠️

PLOT

We open with Liam and Hikari (the new kitsune) at some sort of restaurant in what appears to be rural Japan.

Somebody, who we later learn is Harris (and tbh, you would pick up on it if you paid any attention at ALL in seasons 1-3. I literally wrote IS THAT HARRIS????? WHAT THE FUCK the moment i saw him.), comes in looking for the triskelion container that the nogitsune is trapped in. He puts an Argent round on the counter, which I still cannot fathom why, because it’s never addressed.

Naturally, a scuffle occurs, Harris shoots Liam and Hikari, and he says something about how he wants revenge on Beacon Hills before he opens the box. A firefly flies out, you get the gist.

The movie cuts to LA, and shows a building in the process of collapsing. Deaton is out front, talking to a firefighter about how he’s called someone they call “the Alpha” to rescue a girl and her dog from the building.

Yep, you guessed it, folks. Scott McCall runs an animal shelter in LA next to Deaton’s new veterinary practice.

Scott obviously goes in the building, which partially collapses on him, but flashes his eyes at the dog, and saves the girl and the dog when the building collapses around them.

The main credits roll, opening the movie. It is evident upon opening credits that Scott, Allison, Lydia, and Malia are going to be the main characters. Kudos, though. The credits were cool.

We cut to Scott’s animal shelter (or Deaton’s vet hospital? unclear). Scott and Deaton have a discussion where Deaton has to explain the word “wistful” to a 30-year-old Scott and Scott repeats it like he’s studying for the SATs. I’m all for nostalgia but uh. That one icked me out. Anyways, Scott goes to lock up, and then sees a vision of Allison, reenacting the first night he met her when she hit the dog and took it to the vet. He shakes it off, but hears the dogs barking in the back , and he goes to investigate.

Surprise, it’s Argent pointing a gun at Scott. It freaks Scott out, but they bro hug it out, like men. He’s come back to see Scott because he’s been seeing Allison too, in these weird dreams and visions.

Argent has the katana the oni used to kill Allison, and is convinced they need to take it to Beacon Hills to put her to rest or something?

Scott, obviously not noticing that the vibes are Rancid, agrees, and they decide to head back to BH, which they both haven’t been back to in a while, it seems like.

Cut scene to Lydia, giving some sort of presentation and walking around a very high-end company of some sort. We find out that Lydia, instead of actually putting information in the booklets she handed out to the tour, has written Allison over and over again. (it’s also implied that the person they use as a plot device to introduce this was or is, in some way, romantically involved with Lydia).

Lydia runs to her office, where she has one of her banshee visions, and writes a ton of stuff on various pieces of paper in a pattern we can’t yet discern. She’s getting flashbacks of Allison the entire time.

Cut scene. Eli Hale (i squealed. im not above that. that’s derek’s boy, guys) is breaking into what appears to be some kind of impound lot. He hotwires what is apparent to us is Stiles’s Jeep.

Eli busts out of the chain link fencing, and is hauling ass and driving down a very recognizable Beacon Hills road. He flies by a parked Sheriff’s Department patrol vehicle, and we see it’s driven by Parrish.

Cut to what appears to be the Preserve. Mason, a deputy (more on that later. i hate it) walks over to the Sheriff, and asks if Parrish should deal with their consultant’s issue. It is clear they are talking about Eli, and the Sheriff says he’ll handle it.

Derek walks out of the forest (notes: DERKE. COMING OUT OF THE WOODS. SDJHFKDHSGKJHDSGH. DEREK. DEREK.) which has clearly been burned, and informs the Sheriff that the arsonist used chemical accelerant. He then tells the Sheriff that “we should be calling your son” to which the Sheriff replies “he has his own fires to put out.” This is one of MAYBE 5 Stiles mentions in the movie.

The Sheriff asks Derek why he keeps stealing the Jeep, to which Derek replies, “because he knows I hate it.” (your honor. that’s gay.)

Cut to Eli still driving, and the Jeep’s tires go flat. He’s ambushed by the Sheriff, Parrish, and his father. Derek tells him they’ll talk about it later.

Cut to the cemetery Allison was buried at. Scott’s there, and he goes to her grave. The cemetery is overgrown, uncared for. Lydia pulls up, and Scott thanks her for getting there so fast, but she just gives him a big hug.

They decide that they need to do something about this Allison thing, too. Scott repeatedly punches Allison’s marker, until it cracks.

Cut to the McCall’s. Scott, Lydia, and Argent are around the island, where the katana in its’ case is sitting. Argent asks Lydia what her drawings mean, and she says she has no idea. She hasn’t used her banshee powers in a while and is out of practice. When someone asks why, and she’s silent, Jackson walks in, saying “Stiles. It obviously has something to do with Stiles”

Lydia called Jackson in from London to help, and Jackson states that Ethan doesn’t know he’s there, because he doesn’t want anything to do with BH.

Jackson promptly starts putting Lydia’s papers together like a puzzle, which, surprise surprise, is in the shape of the nemeton, with the word “BARDO” written boldly in the middle (a refresher: bardo is the space between death and rebirth, as believed by Tibetan Buddhism)

Cut to Derek’s house, where he’s pulling up to (in the ugliest tan vehicle, a Nissan Xterra if my eyes don’t deceive me. bring back the FJ. this is cursed). He and Eli go into the house, and when Derek goes to hang up the keys, he promptly rips the hook off the wall.

He scolds Eli for breaking the law, yet again, to which Eli responds, “oh, because you never broke the law?” (good comeback, kiddo.) Derek then asks Eli if this is about “the other thing” and we learn that Eli still can’t shift, despite being 15. Derek insists that he can teach Eli, and Eli asks, “what if I’m the first hale to not turn into a werewolf?”

Derek tells Eli that it might make life easier, and when Eli asks “my life, or yours?”, Derek doesn’t respond. Eli runs to his room, and Derek mutters, in the way a tired parent would, “definitely mine.”

We cut to where Parrish is driving the Jeep back to the lot, and he drives by the building where the lot is housed, emblazoned, “Hale Auto.” (notes: ITS HALE AUTO. DEREK RUNS AN AUTO SHOP. SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP ETC. OHHHHH MY GOD)

Parrish walks into the shop, into the office, and Malia enters, butt-ass naked, and ambushes Parrish with a kiss. (again. more on this later. because absolutely not). they have sex (off screen obvi this is still teen wolf) and they have a conversation that makes it evident that Malia wants them to remain friends with benefits, and Parrish wants a relationship.

Cut back to Derek’s house. He knocks on Eli’s door, and asks him if he wants to practice lacrosse before his game (it was established earlier that Eli is pretty bad at lacrosse. it’s giving Stiles but more on that later)

Eli doesn’t answer, so Derek opens the door, and it cuts to the open window, obvious Eli has run away. (why didn’t he hear that? not sure. whatever.)

Cut back to the Preserve. Scott and Lydia pull up in Scott’s red truck to one of the gates, Malia standing there waiting for them. It’s obvious Scott hasn’t seen Malia since they broke up off-screen, because he’s weird about it. Lydia tells Malia she missed her while hugging her, and Malia says the same thing. Lydia replies “no you didnt” and Malia says “I wanted to.” that one kinda. it kinda got me idk.

Scott and Lydia have asked Malia to help them find the nemeton. They have the katana with them.

Cut back to... somewhere? An enclosed space, of some kind. Might be the weird Argent batcave. Anyways. Deaton and Argent are there, and Deaton is grilling Argent with riddles, which Argent answers easily, but with increasing agitation. Eventually, Argent snaps, and snarls at Deaton, face mutating to look similar to the oni. Deaton sends mountain ash into Argent’s throat, and a firelfy is forced out. It becomes evident to everyone at this point that the nogitsune is back, at least to everyone but Scott, Malia, and Lydia. ffs.

Cut back to Scott, Malia, and Lydia. Malia is sending them in circles looking for the nemeton, and it’s obvious she has no idea where it is. Scott yanks Eli Hale from behind a tree (very reminiscent of Scott in s1e1), and Eli’s been following them. He divests that sometimes he sleepwalks to the nemeton. Super normal. normal kid stuff.

Eli leads them to the nemeton, and they immediately try to get rid of him. Eli tells them they’ll tell his dad they’re here, to which they IMMEDIATELY (ie Scott) say “it’s kind of personal” which, from Derek Hale, is really fucking rich. but again. later. it’s pretty clear they’re excluding him because he might actually have, i dunno, an objective opinion. god. sorry. fuck this.

Lydia gets the sword in the nemeton and the nemeton absorbs it. not to be that guy but this is obviously a bad idea and we all knew it. (note: i wanna know why we didn’t instantly think that this is a bad idea this is so obviously a bad idea)

They all turn to leave, and at their backs, the nemeton begins to emit a light blue glow. they turn, and find Allison naked on the stump. Scott stares, and they’re all like “how is she alive??” like god guys

They drive Allison to the hospital, where Melissa is the first person to go “why are you holding a girl that looks exactly like Allison” like a normal person. Melissa gets her set up in a bed, yknow the drill.

Cut back to the nemeton, which is glowing and spewing fireflies like it’s going out of style. The nogitsune appears on top of it, manifesting out of smoke, and says “chaos! pain! strife” in his campy little way.

Cut to Beacon Hills High, where the lacrosse team is filing in and coach is giving one of his goofy ass speeches. he was probably the only genuine nostalgia in this movie that I enjoyed.

Eli drops his crosse as he walks in and runs smack into the Sheriff, who’s standing right in front of the stairwell. Derek is actually in the stairwell, lurking in what I would describe as classic Derek fashion. Derek tells him he’s there to watch him play, and when Eli tells him he’ll probably sit on the bench, Derek tells him he’s gonna talk to coach about that. Eli protests, but Derek calls out to coach, and the Sheriff blocks Eli from running after him.

Sheriff tells Eli that he’s not really here to watch him play -- he’s here to provide support for Derek and his delinquent son. He then threatens to arrest Eli, have him tried as an adult, and put him in a state penitentiary for 90 days if he steals the Jeep again. Eli, looking nervous, asks if his dad put him up to this. The Sheriff says maybe, but asserts that he’d do it.

Cut to Derek in Coach’s office, and asking for more playing time for Eli. Coach negotiates four minutes, and only if they’re winning. Which is very Coach of him.

Cut back to the hospital, where Melissa, Scott, Malia, and Lydia are contemplating if Allison is going to wake up, or if she��s “normal.” Melissa is the one who asserts that we don’t know if this is the real Allison.

When they look back, Allison is gone from her bed. She’s obviously going through it when we see her -- getting flashbacks from when she was actively trying to kill the werewolves, hearing Kate, Victoria, etc in her ears, and this is obviously the nogitsune.

Allison, once they find her, is immediately combative, and trying to escape. She kicks everyone’s ass, including Scott’s, who she cuts across the cheek, and he heals, exposing himself as a werewolf. She only remembers Derek as the alpha, though, and wants to kill him -- she’s after the alpha. So she bolts, leaving them all behind. She runs into Deaton and Argent, who enter the hospital, and she runs from him, which is devastating for me even as somebody who is not an Argent girlie.

Cut to the Sheriff’s Department, where Mason tells the Sheriff that they have another problem. They’ve caught pictures of the guy in a dark, heavy coat with a hood (it’s Harris. We know it’s Harris) and he’s the one who’s been lighting the forest on fire. The Sheriff orders Mason with Parrish, and a new deputy with him, to the forest to investigate. This leaves one deputy alone in the department. I’m sure we see where this is going.

The deputy hears a noise in the cells, grabs his gun, and moves that way. The nogitsune is in the cell, and he tells the deputy he’s a kitsune who never knew he was a kitsune. He steals the deputy’s tails “to summon other bodies” which is about as frightening as it sounds.

Cut to the Argent’s batcave, where Allison is currently arming herself with a crossbow, arrows, daggers, and a longbow. The nogitsune is whispering her name, and she goes, armed, into one of the weird side pipes, where the nogitsune is standing. The nogitsune tells Allison it’s her friend, she doesn’t believe him right away, so it starts impersonating Victoria. The nogitsune is convincing her to get revenge on the people that stopped it, and its plan is to have the betas killed before the alpha. Allison just doesn’t know who the alpha is, obviously. There’s mention of the divine move, again, yknow.

Back to the BHHS locker rooms, where Derek is carrying Eli into the locker room because he twisted his ankle. Eli isn’t healing because he can’t shift, or whatever. Derek tries to encourage him to shift, and this is when Allison sneaks into the locker room, crossbow and all, and immediately starts trying to kill Derek.

Derek reacts on autopilot, and starts fighting Allison, telling Eli to run. He slams Alison against the lockers, wolfed out, and Allison notices that his eyes are blue. Derek obviously recognizes Allison and falters, but manages to run out of the locker room door. While he runs out, he gets shot in the neck, and he is immediately gushing blood, lying on the ground and crawling away from Allison, who moves towards him purposefully.

Liam shows up right on time to try and save Derek, along with Hikari, Scott, and Malia. Allison has left BHHS. The whole time Derek is bleeding he’s begging them to find Eli, make sure he’s safe, he’s gone to the shop. Scott tells Derek to hang in there, but Derek passes out. We’re unsure if he’s alive or dead (read: i thought he was dead. i was sobbing)

Cut to the scene of the arson with the Sheriff, Parrish, and Mason. The Sheriff recognizes the noise that precedes the oni, and immediately draws his gun. The oni appear, and immediately start fighting the Sheriff and deputies.

Cut to Scott’s truck -- Derek is still very much alive. But they can’t find Eli, and they’re afraid because he can’t run.

Back to the Preserve with the deputies. Mason is immediately cut down by an oni, vanishing into smoke. It looks like the Sheriff is going to get cut, but Parrish catches his blade with a flaming hand.

They’re carrying Derek into Melissa’s; he’s still bleeding from his neck, but keeps repeating “you have to find Eli.” At this point, Peter appears from god knows where holding a blowtorch? Because they mentioned they needed to cauterize Derek’s wound and people just. Have those. love you pete. Derek cries out “no!” repeatedly as Peter blowtorches his wound (spoiler alert: i cried like a little bitch again.)

Scott goes looking for Lydia to fix this little clusterfuck we have ourselves in, and before he leaves, Melissa asks Scott if there’s any chance that this is really Allison (essentially encouraging him to give her a chance)

Cut back to Eli at Hale auto. He’s driving Derek’s horrible car to fill it up, and the gas isn’t pumping well. It’s pouring rain, he’s nervous, and naturally Allison comes in hauling ass. She hits his car with hers, sending it into the pump, gasoline still pumping onto the ground. Eli manages to get into Hale Auto with his key.

Cut to the Sheriff’s Department, where Lydia, Jackson, Hikari, and Liam are in the Sheriff’s office. They’re all looking for clues. like. scooby doo.

And we’re back to Melissa’s! Where everyone (Melissa, Argent, Deaton, and Peter) has agreed that Allison is a replica meant to trick everyone.

And back to Hale’s Auto! So much happening sorry guys. Eli is limping through the shop and the cars in repair, eventually sliding down against one. Allison is also lurking through the shop, weapons at the ready. Eli slips around, and grabs a wrench. (note: okay eli be smart about this you dumbass 15 year old) And instead of being smart, he lunges at her with a wrench and promptly gets his ass beat.

Fortunately enough for everyone, because Derek Hale is down like Jeff Davis is so fond of, Scott shows up to save the day. They run out of the shop, and back by the impounded cars. Scott gives Eli the werewolf pep talk, naturally, because Eli doesn’t have a father already (sorry guys im so bitter), and he roars at Eli. Eli’s eyes flash gold, and he heals. Now they can run. They run through the forest, like they do in teen wolf, and Scott stops and tells Eli he’s gonna have to run. His hand is all gross where Allison cut him because wolfsbane, and he thinks he’s gonna try and talk Allison down.

Eli says “my dad told me he almost had to have his arm cut off once because of wolfsbane.” Scott replies with, “Eli, go find your dad. I think I might need his help.” (note: oh NOW you need his help scott) Eli runs off, Scott’s facing off Allison.

Back at the Sheriff’s board, and they’ve figured out that the arsonist is the same guy who was at Hikari and Liam’s place. Cool.

Okay we’re back to Eli, who is running in the road and almost gets hit by somebody. That somebody is the Sheriff. Nice, Noah.

Melissa, Argent, and Peter are at the crime scene (ie Hale Auto). Peter and Argent are going through the crime scene, deducing what’s going on. Peter states that Allison is basically in homicidal rage, which Argent states proves that’s not his daughter. Peter says they went into the woods, so they all go looking for Allison and Scott.

We’re at Derek’s house now -- Derek and Eli get a reunion hug, the Sheriff comes in, and Liam and Hikari are there, too. The oni are now also in the hall of Derek’s house. Great. Hikari fights them first, doing a great job - and she’s been run through and has evaporated. The same thing happens to Liam, leaving Deaton, the Sheriff, Eli, and Derek fighting the Oni. The Sheriff goes first, followed by Deaton. Eli watches Derek get run through, and right before he evaporates, Derek says “remember who you are” (it’s giving mufasa but tell that to my tears).

Cut back to the Preserve, where Scott is arguing with Allison to not try to kill everyone? I’m not gonna lie this was a broken record.

And we’re back to the Hale’s, where Malia and Eli are running. Malia tells Eli to run, but Eli decides that now is a good time to growl and attack the Oni. He gets evaporated into smoke the same way as the others, and Malia manages to get rid of the oni by pulling tarp off the window and bathing them in sunlight.

Scott tells Allison that she can get him if that’s what they need to talk, and STABS HIMSELF BY GRABBING ALLISON’S ARM AND SENDING WOLFSBANE RIGHT INTO HIS GUT.

Jackson and Lydia have decided to go to the site of the arson, where they’re trying to figure out what the purpose was, etc. (notes i made: jackson and lydia cannot make up for stiles stilinski)

Peter, Melissa, and Argent have made it to where Allison stabbed Scott (that overlook over BH), and Peter sniffs the ground, declaring it’s a ton of blood there, and that they need to find Scott within 6-8 hours so he doesn’t die.

Alright, Malia and Parrish are looking for silver weapons to defeat the oni and decidedly not talking about the fact that they’re friends with benefits. this was unnecessary.

Jackson and Lydia are back at the arson site, and they’ve figured out that the arsonist (harris) is trying to create mountain ash. the trees he’s burning are rowan, which turn into mountain ash when burnt.

Meanwhile, Scott is trying to convince Allison that she wants him alive. He reminds Allison that her family’s motto was changed by her -- we protect those who cannot protect themselves, instead of “we hunt those who hunt us.” She promptly like, kicks Scott over. Scott, cmon, man.

The nogitsune comes back, to try and convince Allison to kill Scott.

We flash to some sort of shadow dimension illusion, where everyone who was “killed” by the oni is all tied up and decidedly not dead, fortunately. However, the Oni are back and they’re getting all menacingly close. This, however, does not stop Derek from being so excited to hear Eli changed. I may have cried about it. Again.

Flash to Peter, Argent, and Melissa, who are standing in the woods over the college lacrosse field, where a tournament is being played. We learn this is a trap from the nogitsune, and spoilers, this is where Allison has Scott. In like a storage room or something. This is, also, where we officially learn that the hooded man is Harris. Not that all of us called it or anything. But he’s the one who came up with the accelerant (like the hale fire. cmon guys. can we stop with the metaphorical dead horse.)

The nogitsune is threateningly moving towards Eli and sinking his claws into him. I’m sorry I don’t remember what he said I was too busy thinking about the parallels between Eli and Stiles and how I was already too hurt to be considering that.

Alright, back to Allison and Scott. Allison decides to save Scott by... burning the wolfsbane out with a flare? Despite having no wolfsbane? love the new canon, Jeff. Fuck you.

Scott has flashbacks to Motel California when she approaches him with the flare, but she does actually save him, Scott’s better, and Allison is remembering. hooray for love.

The nogitsune has spat Eli right out on the lacrosse field from the shadow dimension, and Scott and Allison come out from underneath it. Scott tells Allison to be safe, because she wants to find her dad, who doesn’t know it’s actually her and not some evil doppelganger. She asks him why he would be so kind after she tried to kill him, and then Scott says “because I’m still in love with you” (notes from the time of watching: you are not still in love with allison im fucking OVER IT)

Lydia and Jackson are under the stadium with Harris, who calls Jackson “you fucking imbecile!” nice use of the fuck word, Jeff. Die. He also keeps shooting Jackson which is less than cash money of him.

Eli and Scott learn that they’re stuck in the college stadium, because it’s a giant illusion. Scott tries to convince coach to get the people out of the stadium safely and calmly, and Coach informs him the only way to do that is to finish the game. So naturally, Eli has Scott’s old number (literally fucking kill me) and Scott is dressed? To score? and have BHHS win the tournament? whatever Jeff’s losing all of us at this point.

Back in the shadow illusion, Derek explains that Eli hasn’t seen his transformation since he was like, 3, because coyotes got into the house, and he transformed and got them out by roaring, and Eli was so terrified he was shaking (notes: that’s so fucked I hate it here)

And the lacrosse field again. Scott misses a goal so bad it hits the scoreboard and breaks it. Naturally. We learn, in a cut to Lydia and Jackson and Harris, that he’s been “pulling the strings and giving the nogitsune his pain” which he has in abundance or whatever. Lydia tells us that she had a recurring dream where she and Stiles get in a wreck, and he gets thrown from the car and dies. so she breaks up with him for that. i. okay.

Peter gets the quick on Allison, bashes her head into fencing, and she knocks out. Meanwhile, Scott tells Eli it’s his goal, and he scores the game winning goal.

We’re back to Argent, Melissa, and Peter. And a semi-conscious Allison. Argent decides that really is his kid, and he throws a wolfsbane knife at Peter. Which might be a bit dramatic but Peter would do the same so. whatever I guess.

Black smoke begins to roll, and everyone has been swallowed by the illusion.

We’ve now got Allison killing the Oni, which is feeling very reminiscent of s3. Meanwhile, Lydia and Jackson are back with Harris watching this happen, and Jackson is telling her that as a banshee, she can cut through the illusion with her scream. When Lydia yells Allison’s name, she knocks back the Oni, and apparently the sense into Allison, because we have an incredibly long flashback sequence that is Allison regaining her memories. Nostalgic, sure, but entirely too long because we all watched the show asshole.

Scott cuts a deal with the nogitsune that if he dies in Allison’s arms, the nogitsune will let the others go. Derek yells at him to not, and Scott manages to convince Allison to kill him. She shoots him with arrows 3? times? I think? Anyways, he’s in her arms and it looks really glum.

But then! The arrows are burning out of him, because Hikari is burning them? Don’t know the logistics but it happened. Scott’s wreathed in foxfire, nobody knows what’s going on, and Allison shoots the nogitsune in the forehead with a silver arrow. Sorry, this is where it gets very chaotic and i got very emotional so it’s jumbled as hell.

The nogitsune asks “what is that?” and Argent says “Silver, you motherfucker.”

Back with Harris, Jackson stabs him with a knife in his boot, and Lydia got his gun.

The nogitsune has evaporated, I wrote down that Derek said fuck at some point. Everything is looking good right now. Eli and Derek are going to shift together. There was a lot.

But now! The nogitsune is back. Saying that when Scott bit him, it changed him -- made him something more. His wrappings fall off, his eyes are glowing green, he looks vaguely werewolfish. (what happened to not being a wolf and a fox you fucking coward jeff. give me your address)

The nogitsune sends everyone into their own room of illusion, which all the werewolves (ie: derek, scott, and eli) break by roaring. Now, they’re all on the nematon with the nogitsune, holding him back. I can’t remember how Eli gets from the nemeton to the ground, but he does, so it’s just Derek and Scott holding him back.

Parrish comes up like, glowing pre-flame and is intending to burn him, and Scott tells Parrish to burn the nogitsune. Parrish refuses because Scott and Derek are holding onto him, and will die if he does so. Derek looks at Eli and rest assured you know exactly what’s gonna happen. It’s Derek.

He says something to Eli along the lines of like “remember who you are” and then tells Scott “you’re the alpha, Scott. It’s always been you” or something like that, then physically throws Scott off the nogitsune and the nemeton. Derek wraps onto the nogitsune while Parrish is holding on (why the nogitsune didn’t break free while Derek was throwing Scott off is beyond me it defeats the whole purpose of having Derek die) and tells Parrish, verbatim, “Light this fucker up.”

Parrish lights him on fire and it spreads to Derek (this is when I stopped being able to see very well because Derek burned in fire just like his family oh god sorry I’m really unwell about it)

right before Derek is engulfed in flames, he’s wolfed out, he’s looking at Eli, and his eyes turn from blue to red (true alpha. Right before he dies. I’m going to burn Jeff at the stake) And he goes up in flames, all of them do, including Parrish. When the flames clear, Parrish is laying on the nemeton, curled up, and it’s obvious that Derek died. The nemeton/illusion fades back to the lacrosse stadium where Eli is kneeling alone and Scott immediately gives him a hug obviously becoming Eli’s interim father and. I hate it.

We flash to Derek’s memorial. I can’t see the tv through the tears, but that’s okay. Scott tries to make it about himself by saying “he saved my life. then he said we were brothers.” and says something about how family isn’t the one you’re born with but the one you find, which is easy for the guy who still has a fucking father to say, huh?

Noah gives Eli the Jeep, explaining Derek hated that Jeep, but when it came to him in total disrepair, he fixed it right up. Even when it shouldn’t have kept going, it did. Then he says “your dad was a lot like that. we never understood why he wouldn’t break down and stay down. I’ve never seen anyone take the kind of punishment Derek Hale took and kept taking in order to protect the people he loved.”

We get Derek flashbacks. I still can’t breathe. Sorry guys, I’m crying again. Apologies.

“He kept going. He kept standing up, until the day he couldn’t. He had complicated feelings about that Jeep, but you don’t need to. All you need to do is keep it running. That’s all you need to do.”

We get a bit about Harris being put in a worse place than Eichen but I truly don’t give a fuck. I’m actively crying again as I type this.

The movie ends with “remember who you are” in Derek’s voice with Eli standing over Beacon Hills in the Preserve.

Fuck. Jeff. Davis

#teen wolf movie #teen wolf movie spoilers #teen wolf movie plot #god this is a lot of slander sorry yall #it is also SO long #long post #if y'all want this shit IN DEPTH but don't wanna watch it... here it is guys.#im here for all you fix-it ficcers who dont want to suffer through the movie #grace speaks #sorry this took so long i cried making it #im never watching this again #but if any fic authors have any questions or need clarification #please reach out #I'll post my thoughts tomorrow my computer is about to die

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anawrites3 · 9 days

Note

shsjjdjdjd can i ask about all of them? 😂 no, i won’t do that to you :P

can i ask about “spoiled brat” and “still a good boy”?

soooo many intriguing titles tho 👀

You could actually lmao I certainly wouldn't mind!! 😂💕 I love talking about my wips haha so if you have any following questions or just wanna know about some other wips please feel free to ask!

Alright so "Spoiled brat" it a story where Slade is Dick’s bodyguard! Dick is being targeted a lot because he’s the first son of billionaire Bruce Wayne and people keep wanting to get ransom for him so Bruce hired Deathstroke to protect him.

Slade doesn’t often take on bodyguard contracts because he rarely feels like babysitting some brat but Wayne is paying him a lot (and/or maybe he’s a mafia boss that runs whole Gotham from underground so Slade can’t really tell him no because Bruce is his returning customer – I haven’t decided yet lmao) And the thing is, Slade just wants to do his job. But Dick finds him very attractive and he’s not used to people telling him no so he does everything to get into pants.

(Spoiler: Slade wants to fuck him so badly and to finally put him in his place but he doesn't think Wayne would appreciate it.)

(Spoiler spoiler: He does it anyway ;)

Snippet!

The kid was an image of debauchery. With his shirt opened like this, Slade was able to see his rosy nipples, perked up against the cold wind of the night. His neck was littered with marks and hickeys, pink lips slightly swollen from biting down on it and glistening with saliva. Slade watched the way Grayson reached up to ran his fingers through his hair, as if it would somehow help with how messy they already were – as if someone was tugging at it with no care how the kid would look afterwards. Slade kept his face carefully blank as Grayson pushed himself away from the stone wall of the building and walked over to him, not stopping until their faces were inches apart. His breath smelled like whiskey. “Like what you see?” He purred out. His hand rested against Slade’s chest and Slade eyed it shortly before looking at the brat again. Grayson smirked. “I could show you something you would never forget, sweetheart. You don’t need to keep pretending you don’t want to fuck me.” Slade didn’t react in any way. “Your father won’t be happy about your behavior today.” He stated dryly. Grayson’s smile sharpened into something wild. “Oh?” He slid his hand down Slade’s chest, towards the knife sheathed by his hip. Slade grabbed at his wrist before Grayson could touch it. “You gonna punish me then?” “I meant Wayne.” He sighed. “Get your ass in the limo, you’re going back home.” Grayson hummed, batting his eyelashes. “Can I suck you off on the way?” “No.” “You’re no fun.” The brat pursed his lips before smirking again. “I’ll get you to fuck me one day. You’ll see.” Slade shoved him towards the parked limousine.

And “Still a good boy” is apprentice Dick story :3 where Dick manages to escape after almost a year as Deathstroke’s apprentice. But no matter how much Dick hates it, all that time of being Renegade changed him and shaped him in the way Slade wanted. So even when Dick is back to working with good guys, the sight alone of Slade makes him feel things and he can’t resist himself when his masters gives him an order :3

Have a lil snippet for this one as well <3

“Robin!” Bruce hissed at him but Dick wasn’t able to move, wasn’t even able to look away. Slade smirked at him and there was something so pleased in the curve of his lips that warmth spread around Dick’s stomach because he was the one making Slade happy, he was- No. No, he wasn’t Slade’s apprentice anymore, he was no longer Renegade. He was Robin, he reminded himself, and he didn’t have to listen to any of Slade’s orders. Most of all, he didn’t want Slade to be pleased because of him. He didn’t want the man to be pleased at all, he wanted him behind bars where he belonged, he wanted- Dick’s breath stuttered as Slade reached out towards him, to gently tuck a strands of his hair behind his ear. “You’re still a good boy, aren’t you, kid?” He murmured, satisfaction almost dripping from his voice like honey. “Still eager to obey my every word, as if you never left, hm?” The words were already on Dick’s tongue, his body wanting to answer the question without his thought because Master always expected an answer when he asked a question when a body slammed into Slade’s side, pushing the man off his feet. Dick stayed on his knees, too shocked to do anything else as he watched Red Hood fight Deathstroke with all he got. Jason didn’t have his helmet on as if he got here in a rush and Dick was able to see the furious snarl on his face, as he slammed his fist into Slade’s jaw. Another second and Bruce was back at Dick’s side, helping him to his feet. “Let’s go.” Dick clenched his fingers on Bruce’s forearm and let him lead himself away but then- “Renegade!” Slade barked and Dick didn’t remember moving but suddenly he was covering his master’s blind spot and blocking a punch Jason tried to aim at Slade’s throat. Dick’s eyes met Jason’s, both frozen with shock at what just happened. “I’m-” he started, lips trembling. He didn’t mean to do that. He didn’t mean to move at all. “Jason, I didn’t-”

Post for the wip ask game here!

#my ideas #my wip #wip ask game #Tauria #my reply #sladick #my writing

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cookii-moon · 11 months

Text

FULL Dragons Rising thoughts and opinions!

PLEASE BE AWARE SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 1-10 OF DRAGONS RISING LIES AHEAD!!! If you have not watched it PLEASE be aware that the following contains both massive and minor spoilers for the entire plot of part 1, if you haven’t seen the full thing and wish to go in without spoilers I HEAVILY recommend you save this for later. I put this message here for those who do not have the spoiler tags filtered.

so… new ninjago show! So far? Absolutely love it. It’s shaping up to be interesting and… …well written??! I really enjoyed It, especially the characterization. Sooo good. No concrete opinions on the overarching plot yet, since.. it isn’t out… BUT I do think it’s shaping up to be pretty great.

Now without further ado-

1: Characters

1.1: Arin

I’d say I enjoy him! I do like how he’s portrayed as giddy and all ready to learn, his dream basically just came true and it’s great. Man hyper fixated so much that he taught himself an ancient art style and like yeah that tracks.

I like his design - you can tell he’s had a rough life by the dirt on his shirt and the scratch marks on his face, but he tries not to give up hope or let it get to him too much. I also like how he has a haircut commonly associated with black people and they kept the theme by also having that one line about a haircut he tried to get reference Zane’s, since Zane also has a haircut commonly used by black people. Nice lil way of alluding to a potentially POC character while still using the Lego skin tones.

His little moments where he lets his struggles get the best of him and showcases how his life these past few years have also impacted him for not just the better but also worse - they’re great. Nice way of balancing his character and personality with his experiences while not losing the charm. Things like him being all self deprecating sometimes, or how he felt seen when people looked up to him - they’re great. Not as much as I’d like, but i get the feeling that while this part was more focused on Sora and her backstory, the next might be more centered around Arin.

On a more personal note - while I think he’s great and has potential, I dunno if he’s really my thing. I don’t hate him, I actually like him, just not as much as some other characters right now. I think he needs some time to grow on me, or it’s just not my thing. Either way, he’s cool. Also I love how he just slaps his medallion on his face when he gets second place… it’s so dramatic-

1.2: Sora

aaaa trans kitty cat girl my beloveddd she’s just ugghhhh I love her so much. Probably one of my favorite new characters. I liked her but was scared they’d go too far with the generic big sister trope and she’d never get any deeper than that but boy I’m glad I was wrong.

I love her design. The whites and blues a pinks? Really glad they didn’t just go for a full color again, it makes her more distinct! I also love the prosthetic arm SO MUCH. Rare to see any sort of disability rep in media. Even rarer to see prosthetics. (Also yes ik it’s possible it’s just like armor or smthn but given the way it moves I’m like 99% sure it’s a prosthetic, plus I could be wrong but It looks a lot like she has it off during the scene where Lloyd wakes them up, since you can’t see her gold/prosthetic arm where it would usually be. Only going based off of pictures and memory here tho so.) < — haaaahaaaa yeah so uh future Cookie here, wrote that part before the statement came out..yeah that aged poorly. Look maybe they said it’s armor but I REFUSE to accept it that is a prosthetic to me. My mind has engrained it as a prosthetic meaning I couldn't change my mind even if I tried. Leaving that part in tho for histories sake. - Also, the Japanese cat girl is such a vibe. I love how I was right with the blue scrunchie in my art of her.,The power of character design.

I loved her story so much. She was just a kid with a love for technology and making the world a better place, she got offered what she thought was her dream job only to realize the cruel truth she’d likely been ignoring, in such a traumatizing way by the person she looked up to. She got shunned not only socially but by her own parents, being told she was a horrible person for prioritizing the dragons life over her cities energy and questioning the dictatorship. She grew to hate her home and fled and made a life for herself. I love her lil deadname tease, I love how she feels towards her powers and how she feels like she isn’t all that Lloyd thinks she is, how she clearly has issues and also her personality. Her siblings energy with Arin is so good. I love when Lloyd and Arin doubt who’s side they’re on too. I like how she doesn’t learn to control her powers like some ex machina when it’s needed on her own. She tries her hardest but fails and instead of constantly letting that get her down she still tries to fight without them, even if it doesn’t always go well. Dhdhfjdjs I could rant all day.

So uhh yeah i love her. Kitty cat girl. I really like the duality between her and Arin but also the stuff they have in common like sndhdhsben. I mean it should be obvious I like her. She’s in my title thingymajig and I made art for her. But still. Hdjdjdhdh I LOVB HER.

Also this isn’t part of my analysis but when she gets fake IDs if you translate the ninjagan on her card it reads “Sora Surname” as a placeholder and I think it’d be hilarious if we just started using that as her last name tag since this community is obsessed with them. Sora Surname. It’d be so funny. Please tag your posts Sora Surname.

1.3: Euphrasia

So like when dragons rising first released I saw quite a few peoples hating on this girl and imo I actually really like her. I feel like the hate is sort of unfounded but I’ll get into that later.

I like her!! I like the idea of her being a cloud kingdom monk, i like the new cloud kingdom designs, I like that FINALLY girls seem to exist there, and her wanting to ignore and hide her powers because she’s happy where she is and she doesn’t want to lose it. Side note, I do prefer this cloud kingdom, I feel like it leaves more room. Like if someone doesn’t like the idea that they write destiny at all they can just.. chose to see them as a sort of religious group who doesn’t actually write fate, and then if you like the idea that they can control some amount of destiny you can say that they do have control over some parts of it, but that they simply can’t control everything and in the end it’s not only up to them but also the people of the world if the prophecies come true or not (personally I like to think that’s how it is/is implied) or that they COULD control destiny but can’t anymore after the merge. Idk you can stretch it more and I like that. So much better than the old cloud kingdom imo.

Back to Euphrasia, I do like her story and the little we see of her. I’m not actually bothered by the fact that she only appears in one episode. I’ve seen people complaining about it but come on guys, we literally only have ten episodes, would you have preferred that she randomly pops into imperium when she has no logical way of getting there and that’s where like every single other episode takes place?? There physically wasn’t anywhere else she would have appeared after episode 5 unless you made her join Sora and Arin, which not only would you need to lengthen the plot to develop her as a character with interactions since they JUST met, but also it’s refreshing to have a new EM who isn’t one of the new MCs.

the OTHER reason I see people hate her is because of Morro. Obviously, she’s the new master of wind, meaning Morro is dead, and his element went back to the cycle and found a new host. So people are upset.

guys. Guys we literally knew this. We’ve known he was dead since like 2015. We’ve known he moved on to the departed realm since 2016. We’ve known that the wind element has gone back to the cycle and found a new host for YEARS. That doesn’t mean Morro suddenly doesn’t exist. He just doesn’t have his element anymore. He could still appear in the new series, and even if he doesn’t I’m honestly ok with that. His arc is done and i get the feeling he’d go out of his way to avoid the ninja after the merge anyway. It isn’t Euphrasia fault, stop hating on her D:

I don’t have much else to say about her yet. I loved her story and moments and design and vibe and everything but there isn’t much else to talk about bc of the smol screen time amount, so yeah.

1.4: Wyldfyre

Silly wolf-raised-girl-trope-with-a-dragon-twist. I love her so much. Not sure I’d call her one of my favs yet (uuugh they’re all my favs… sobs..) only bc we didn’t see much of her character interactions n stuff.

Her design is so pretty. The colors make her look like a Qilin to me which I love so much.

I do like how she’s knowledgeable enough with humans to be able to interact with the rest of the cast while still keeping her draconic behaviors or knowledge that she gained by being raised around them. I think it’s a nice little limbo and I feel like we’re gonna see at least one identity crisis from her now that she’s in the group.

I’m usually not much of a fan of these types of characters but I actually really like her and I’m excited to see where they go with her. Plus, her powers and the lighting they give off are so pretty.

1.5: Lobbo

I had to include him. Look at him. I CALLED IT. I TOLD YOU ALL, ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE TRAILER DAYS I POINTED OUT LOBBOS MECH. I SAID I LOVED HIM ALREADY AND I WAS RIGHT. TAKE THAT INTERNET!! I unironically love him he’s so funny nobody understands him he’s just THERE with parental and relationship struggles and it’s just so funny to me. Little silly orb man. Now onto the villains!

1.6: Empress Beatrix

So I like… love her design, it’s so menacing and I think she’s so awesome looking. Super gender too. I find her weird rules funny but also sometimes I want to punch her in the face. Like.. why did she get so mad about Rapton being incompetent, but then.. fire Ras… who didn’t really do anything wrong except for fail that ONE time.. instead of Rapton.. who physically isn’t competent whatsoever?? Like I don’t get it?? It felt so random. Maybe it’s some form of her wanting to feel superior and in control so she got rid of Ras as a statement. But then… why not also fire Rapton, who thinks highly of himself bc of the position you gave him?.. I dunno I don’t get it maybe they’ll tell us in part 2.

1.7: Lord Ras

Ah yes, the guy people seem to really like. I’ll be honest, I don’t get the appeal?? Like his design feels out of place, which I guess is intentional but I just.. don’t really like the look of the awkward head mold. It’s a personal thing ig. His personality is just kind of boring to me and we don’t know anything else about him because he’s that scary bad guy general except oh wait he screwed up once and got thrown in prison!! Like I don’t get it?? Look guys he’s not even that attractive. I might be aroace but even I can tell that much. It’s the voice isn’t it. Y’all are simping for the voice smh /lh

I guess his whole “plan” thing is a bit interesting but even that isn’t something I’m too interested. I kinda just found him pretty boring and I felt disinterested whenever he showed up.

like in the last few episodes it felt like they were trying to make us feel bad for him with the way the empress treated him but like, they don’t give us anything to feel bad for?? I dunno the whole thing felt awkward and clunky.

Maybe my opinions will change in part 2 where we’re probably gonna find out more about him, but until then, meh.

also I want to punch him in the face sometimes. I dunno he’s just being all th e r e and boring and so I want to punch him and get him off of the screen because it’s like an annoying type of boring. Yk like an annoying torturous silence. But boring. Yeah that. No offense I don’t hate him I just want to punch him off of my screen.

1.8: Rapton

Silly goofy guy. I’ll be honest I found his incompetence a bit.. annoying? Like I get he’s supposed to be comic relief but like it doesn’t feel right sometimes?? It’s just a personal thing ig. I feel like having some comic relief villains is ok but imperium just has too much comic relief in their villain roster?? Like Ras and Beatrix are pretty much the only capable ones in a fight. Ras got chucked in prison and barely shows up or does much, and Beatrix still has comic relief elements in her ridiculous laws and such. LaRow could count but shes not really a competent fighter since she cowers and nopes out the second Arin tries to fight her. I feel like it just.doesn’t work with imperiums vibe having rapton as a general, and honestly i didn’t find his jokes funny (but ofc humor is subjective). I don’t dislike him, I just don’t really care about him. I want to punch him in the face whenever he shows up but out of annoyance.

1.9: Dr. LaRow

She shows up and I want to punch her but this time out of malice and hatred. She’s a good villain and I like how they handled her but I physically can not feel anything but spite for this woman and I love that. Great villain. Hate her with every fiber of my being which is how it should be.

1.10: Dorama

I don’t have much to say about him asides from that the magician vibes are fun and that I want to punch him in the face for his attitude towards living beings.

… apparently I really feel like punching all of them. Huh. I swear I’m not like this usually I dunno something about all these villains is just punchable.

2: Interactions

Honestly? I’d say the interactions in this show were great. Sora and Arin are great foils to each other and best buds. My only thing is I hope the show doesn’t try to push a ship (I’ve seen people complain about shipping them and while I see their dynamic in a platonic familial sense I have nothing against people shipping them romantically atm since we don’t know of anything that’d make it problematic, I just don’t think it should be forced in canon) but I choose to be hopeful and say it probably won’t. Lloyds interactions with his new students are amazing and so funny srfvjrtfjer Lloyds really gone from the guy who didn’t know what a VCR was to the guy who probably still doesn’t know what a VCR is (somehow) but has now adopted two strays and needs to pretend to know what a VCR is. It’s so funny. The sibling bicker between Lloyd, Kai and Nya was ok, I guess? Never cared much for the RGB sibling idea… Iknowww shame on me but uh was it just me or did the interactions feel a bit… forced? I dunno, something about it just felt off. Was it just me or did anyone else feel like that?? Also Soras interactions with Dr. LaRow and Rapton… so good… Overall I like the interactions even if the ones between the ninja felt a bit forced.

3: Writing & plot

So I enjoyed the writing.. specifically the characters dialogue and such. I think this season has some really good balance between dialogue and characters. I liked the pacing a lot up until the imperium episodes. I don’t have a problem with them on their own - I liked the conflict it sparked and the stakes and seeing Sora’s backstory, but I also felt like it dragged on too much?? Like Sora kept escaping and then getting captured and then escaping and then going back like it felt really backtracky and it kind of messed with the consistency and the pacing, yk?? Also the battle with the protacs definitely felt like the writers were trying to stall or smthn. Idk.

Also, did Zane popping up feel.. unnecessary and rushed to anybody else?? Like the IDEA was awesome and cool, things were great up until they opened the pod.. then Zane pops up and he doesn't really do anything except for immediately become a generic background exposition tool, he barely even interacts with Kai and Nya. Having him there felt so… unnecessary? He doesn’t DO anything. You could get rid of him and just give them another way of activating the monastery and it’d change nothing. Plus it’s NOT explained and he’s just so… unemotional and “whatever” about it that it just… feels so unnatural?? Idk I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s just me not liking how they seem to be reverting to making Zane more of a robotic exposition tool like after s4. I don’t like it. You could’ve just left him to part 2 though.

I’ve seen ppl complain about the “retcons” with Lloyd saying he trained under Master Wu for years and being shown as a child, but like, they’re not really retcons…? From what I remember they never give us any sort of specifics towards the timeframe in which S1-S2 takes place outside of S2 taking place only a few weeks after the S1 finale, but that doesn’t really apply to the ENTIRE season. It’s not Impossible that the events we see all take place over the course of a few years, since most of the episodes aren’t connected to each other beyond the overarching plot. And nothing ever said that Wu didn’t train Lloyd. What we see isn’t the only training that took place. Maybe I forgot something important that says otherwise, but the idea that S1-2 took place in only a few weeks/months is completely fan made, meaning it wasn’t a retcon. Sure, maybe it seems weird, but it’s never been stated otherwise. Now, if it IS a retcon, I’m not complaining for one. Why, you might ask? Because them using child Lloyd and saying he trained under Master Wu for years might mean we can FINALLY be rid of the Tomorrows tea confusion!! We could have him grow up naturally, or age him up and clarify and elaborate on how it works, we could FIX the entire stupid argument that has been going on for YEARS. I for one am ecstatic at that possibility. Also, it means we might get additional context and stuff for S1-S2, which sounds fun ,so honestly I have no problem with it. There have been worse plot holes/retcons *glares at Nyad from across the room*

I can’t say much about the overarching plot yet, since obviously it isn’t out, but it’s shaping up to be pretty exciting!

4: Worldbuilding

I feel like I can’t judge this TOO much considering the nature of part 1. I absolutely loved the crossroads and the mix of different cultures, real splatsville vibes, but I do feel like we should get to see more of how the other realms are doing. Imperium felt a bit.. strange? Like it’s just a massive city of humans right?? I don’t really get why it had to be an entire separate realm, I think it should’ve been more unique on like a larger scale. I dunno though. Honestly there wasn’t much worldbuilding in this part, so I hope we get more soon.

5: Visual design & animation

Okay so this new series is BEAUTIFUL. The colors and the backgrounds are so much more vibrant, the lighting is so pretty, the environments are amazing, they kept the wild brain clothing textures and just uuuugh I love it so muchychxhazjchcjdiwhthfs the animation felt very expressive and ueuahahehfhdsj I have no words props to wildbrain and the animators/artists. It’s so pretty.

Overall this part was great and I’m really excited to see what comes next!!

also uh on a side note this post took me *checks date* uhh 2… 2 weeks.. y e a h. So uh. Enjoy.

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owwi · 9 months

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The youtube shorts arg got me so now here’s just a bit of theorizing and a timeline because. well bored + the fixation is strong with this one

The following contains spoilers for the recent uploads, so I recommend only going if you know the basics, don’t care about it or just wanna see it.

So. If you haven’t been keeping up, here’s a rough idea.

Starting on around July 16th, 5 shorts YouTubers began to post shorts with weird glitch things, randomly popping into each other’s. QR codes also started to show up, with someone wearing a purge mask whoabsolutely fucking hates the YouTube shorts (and maybe also normal shorts). And naturally they wanna get rid of them. We also get introduced to a company called CLONEVPN, which seems to be connected to the one just mentioned and is sending these youtubers clones after they agree to a sponsorship.

The most common crossover involved Riggy from Danno Cal, who notably seems to be one of the two who actually knew that hey maybe he shouldn’t be in other videos! The other being RoyalPear. However, RaZer makes a short saying that he needs help to build a new computer, since his is causing these problems (spoiler alert: ITS NOT IT BRO-)

A new video was released for the QR codes as well, known as Rebirth. This shows the cloning process and it works for a bit, with only two unsuccessful clones, being of Joe Caine, who presumably is just too cool for it, and Riggy, who’s cloning process struggles and ends up making a more blue version of him that notably seems to just be a rabbit. Below are the two. Note how Clone Riggy (Picture 1) has a more vibrant color pallet, no eye color, a crumpled up paper border, and, most notably, lacks the tail that indicates him to me a Runkey. This indicates the cloning process just made him a rabbit. Meanwhile, Riggy (photo 2) is a less turned up shade of blue and red, has the green eyes, a grid paper outline, and of course, the tail.

We didn’t know what this would do until yesterday or the day before, when Jonny RaZer began a stream, ending with his presumed death by clone (also everyone tried to get the clone to eat the thermal paste but it failed). Other videos soon followed from almost all channels listed in the tags, the two exceptions being RoyalPear, who was marked as replaced by a new pfp and avatar they use to represent themself (became a more crudely drawn Tropius). The other is Joe Caine, who is the only one that I know of who never accepted. If not please let me know-

We also got a website! Clonevpn.com, which has a few pages and a spot to enter your email. As of now, I cannot find any hidden pages, but we have been getting codes, so it’s a matter of time.

Okay. That’s the rough timeline. I reccomend watching because I did NOT watch the streams in full. Seriously, go watch if you haven’t.

Now to some theory stuff!

So, Jonny is gonna do a r/place stream, and I bet they might make a QR code. Maybe to the website! Or we might find new links. It’s not much, but it’s gonna be a domino? And… hey! Mayhe thay’ll give us a new hint. Point is, that r/place stuff is something to watch, since we’ll maybe get an idea as to what the hell the clone has been doing.

In addition, it seems implied that both Riggy AND RoyalPear are currently alive, but not well. RoyalPear in particular is not having a good time and it seems the clone replacing him only has a few days to live and prove itself. So, expect something there in a few days! Probably a secret video, likely of the clone getting taken out. Or we might see something to do with Joe, since he’s the only one who is currently known to own his channel.

I gotta be honest, of all of these guys, I don’t watch much bundun. But he does seem to be similar to Riggy, as he IS implied to currently be alive! As of today, he has appeared in the channel’s respective clonevpn sponsorship, and thus, I expect to see him again. He hasn’t showed up nearly as much as the others, but the fact he is ALIVE is a good sign for him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if him and Riggy might team up or something.

Finally, the main theory one. JOE CAINE. Yes that name is a bit… y’know, certain thing sounds, but Joe is actually an interesting case to me. He is one of the few who hasn’t released a clonevpn sponsor, and also has not shown any sign of being replaced. However, his computer IS mentioned to be glitching out and being slow (sound familiar?) and also his… voice being weird? There’s heavy implications that if another creator is present in the short, he is voicing them?? So, that’s a thing.

Also, he can’t be cloned, and I have a small theory. Joe is already a clone. Think like this: Clones are likely harder to clone than things that aren’t clones. In addition, his appearance is based off of Harold, the grandpa meme dude. So, he could theoretically be a clone of that meme, though not Harold since I don’t think we should bring people who aren’t participating into this without them knowing. Plus, the whole voicing thing. If your a clone, maybe you can imitate other voices. It’s a bit far fetched, but this was fun to right. However, there’s one problem. As of soeeddunning shorts 113, we see he has received a sponsorship offer, and I don’t think they’d be after him if he was a clone. However, if he’s not doing what he should… there’s a chance? Either way I expect

tldr: Jonny is dead, Riggy and bundun teamup, Phaluer was not included because I have no clue where he fits in yet, Joe MIGHT be a clone we’re still figuring it out, and RoyalPear is double doomed. also thanks for reading this mess of thought soup, and make sure to take a look for yourself.

EDIT: This was made before we got confirmation Jonny was alive, sorry bout that. most of the above seems to apply still. Might make a new post tommorow okay thanks again!

#youtube shorts arg #clone vpn #Jonny RaZer #Joe Caine #RoyalPear #and of course #Riggy the Runkey #also #Bundun #forgot at first #YouTube shorts theory #idk what else to say #this was fun #I made this because the joe Caine stuff made me think #okay anyways

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razorblade180 · 8 months

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Summer vs Nick

[spoilers for Twin Snowflakes]

Twin Snowflakes full story <-

The end of year was near! After some time out of school for the building to be restored, Almanac was up and running again. Its students were as eager as the construction workers. Not wanting their summer vacation ruined, they had been sprinting towards success for the past couple months. Their work ethic had been so diligent that even Harriet, a former Ace Ops member, found the drive of her students pretty intimidating. Although school must’ve felt like a relief after the months of enduring a freak blizzard that displaced the entire kingdom. Former slackers were now raising hands left and right. Then there was Summer; Harriet’s flakiest student was now on time. Not only that, but an air of confidence and ease had accompanied the singer. Harriet was glad to know all the hidden truths behind the Blizzard and the school’s destruction. It made seeing Summer’s new demeanor all the more special.

Harriet sat in a chair behind a small desk in the gymnasium that faced all her students that sat in the bleachers in front of her. “Alright everyone, I’d take attendance but you all have clearly proven you all want to pass this year.”

“Ma’am!” They all said in unison. You would’ve thought they were actually enlisted with how perfect it was.

Their teacher smiled with pride. “Okay~ extra enthusiastic today. As much as I love it, there’s a reason none of you are dressed out currently, which I’m positive you all know why; being sophomores and all. Final Exams have officially been prepared! Your final hurdle after months of hardships is here.”

She watched the excitement and anxiety spread as chatter amongst the group before settling them down. “Easy now. I haven’t even explained it yet for you all to worry. Thankfully not too much has changed with all the complications. Being a huntsman is about brain and body; as well as flexibility. Last year was a simulation in Atlas Academy’s combat facility, but now that you have more experience under your belt we get to be a bit more practical.”

“Please tell us it’s not survival wilderness. I’ve learned enough about the cold.” Valerie quipped, earning a few chuckles of shared pain and gratitude for normal life again.”

“Ha! If I was the General, then maybe. Don’t worry. I’m not sticking you out in the cold, willingly.” She smirked as she saw the worry on the students. “Relax. I promise it’s simple. You have two options available which you’ve probably heard of from your upperclassman and are somewhat familiar with previous tests this year. One option is you must find any student outside of this class to partner up with you for a bounty hunt. The Grimm have already been placed in their appropriate area and you will be accompanied by a professional huntsman there to not only ensure your safety, but grade you on your performance.”

Val’s hand shoots up like a rocket. “What kind of Grimm are we talkin about?” Her interest peaked.

“Manticore, Sphinx, pack of Beowulves, even a Goliath; we got an assortment for you all to pick from.”

“Ah, I see.” She put her hand down and looked to her right to see Summer unbothered by the info, unlike some of her classmates.

This is where brains came into play. Summer, as well as a couple others in her class, have already started weighing the options and understanding what was being asked. “We would pass by killing the bounty, like an actual mission?” She asked.

“That’s correct. You and your partner pick like a standard huntsman mission and complete the job.”

That confirmed everything Summer needed to hear. This exam doubled as an ego check. Yes, picking a partner was important, but what’s more important is picking a bounty clearly within your means of killing as well as showing your capabilities. After all, the partner wasn’t being graded. In all likelihood, picking a person that’s clearly better than you would come off as you riding on the success of others if they do the heavy lifting. An automatic fail for sure.

“Option two!” Harriet said loudly. “You will find a student outside of this class to do combat via tournament style. Meaning knocking them down below 15% of their aura. I have to approve of the opponent so I suggest asking me before you go running off to them. While they are allowed to reject, I promise you those in your year and above know the struggle and will gladly meet you head on. Also, winning is not a requirement for passing. This serves more as an extensive look of your combat prowess that will be graded thoroughly, given its a much more controlled environment.

This new option brought more to ponder and made a female student raise her hand. “Why such a dichotomy between the two options, if I might ask?”

“Good question. One reason is because when you’re an actual huntsman, you get to pick your kind of assignments. Some spend their time exclusively killing and tracking Grimm. Others prefer putting a stop to bandits or working with local law enforcement where more human annoyances occur. Not to mention even though many of you show much promise, you’re still only sophomores in combat school. Forcing you to go grimm hunting is a bit deranged don’t you think? So the second option exists for those who clearly aren’t ready for that kind of situation.”

Despite the rough curriculum and Harriet’s aggressive nature, her students had become well aware of her fondness towards all her students and people in general. They wouldn’t be surprised if she overlooked each Grimm mission just in case.

“I’m giving you this entire class time to think about your options. See me when you’re ready. Exams last a full two weeks so no need to rush. Also, for the sake of fairness, if you’re choosing a person to fight then your fight happens no sooner than the following day.”

That made sense to Valerie. Challenging someone out of the blue doesn’t give them much time to come up with a plan, while the challenger had ample time. Not that any of that information was useful to her.

“I’m totally doing the bounty.” She said, leaning back casually with her eyes closed.”

“I figured.” Summer hummed. Val was the winner of many tournaments. Even if she won, she’d probably be graded roughly. “Don’t pick haphazardly.”

“Unlike most of the people here, we’ve had a taste of real combat. I’ll probably end up choosing the Sphinx.”

“I bet Aunt Ruby signed up to be a huntsman guiding students. Coach Bree felt pretty confident about the student’s safety.”

“ I can see that. My dad most likely is on the roster too. As well as yours.”

“I can see that.” Healing and hiding were useful in bad situations. “Got a partner in mind?”

“Max.”

Now that through Summer for a loop. “Seriously!?”

“Yeah. He’s not such a bad guy. Plus he had my back once in a dicey situation. Guess he inspires confidence. Anyways, how lucky is it that Nick isn’t in this class. You two get the clean up shop like always. I’m kinda jealous. It’ll be like the entrance exam all over again.”

“You say that as if you didn’t use him for a previous exam.” Summer retorted.

“Hey, he requested me. I only said yes. Plus I’m not picking him now aren’t I? Out of curiosity for you of course.”

“Oh how generous.” The sarcasm was heavy yet playful in nature. “I have to see if picking a sibling is even allowed first of all.” Summer stood up and made her way to Harriet to find out.

“Hey Coach?”

“You asking about Nick?”

Summer smirked and said, “I’m not that predictable, but sure.” As she shrugged.

“Normally I would advise against it.”

“Buuuut you find me endearing?”

“No, your record speaks for itself. I know you won’t slack off. Also I have to grade him anyway so this makes paperwork faster. Although, not everyone might be pleased.”

Summer could already detect the glances and mutterings of her less friendly peers. This was nothing new. Many claim having a sibling, let alone a twin, leads to some pretty rigged behavior. Whatever. As Harriet said, her skills spoke for themselves.

“I’m gonna go find him.”

Valerie watched the private conversation from a distance. Eventually Summer walked away from Coach Bree and towards the door. Summer looked at her and motioned to Valerie to come along. Guess there was no reason to stay. Val got up and followed.

“She approved?”

Summer nodded. “Yep. I can use Nick in my exam. I’m going to discuss it with him. He should be in his study block.

“Cool beans. Maybe I can find Max along the way.”

xxxxx

Inside of an English class, the kids do their own independent studies as a constructive use of their study block. All except for Nick, who leans back in his chair with hands in his pockets as Eliza crunches numbers in the desk opposite to his.

“You know you could try to make yourself useful.” She badgered.

“Lighten up. Aren’t you the one who always wants to take the reins? I kinda like using the study block to relax. It’s easier than I thought.”

“Not that you shouldn’t enjoy your newfound freedom, but we are dealing with the school sales. All the money has to be here and triple checked.”

“If what’s in the safe doesn’t match the receipts then I’ll personally make up the difference.”

Eliza squinted at her class president. “How are you even allowed to make financial decisions with that attitude?”

“Charisma~”

The classroom door opened and prevented further nagging. Nick, Eliza, as well as several other peers looked to see Summer and Val walk in.

“Hey you two.” Nick waved,sitting up straight in the process. “Isn’t it P.E. time for you?”

Val yawned as she spoke. “Yeah, but no activities today. It’s final exam time.”

“Ah. Now that you mention it, I did hear mutterings about that in the lunchroom.” Nick recalled.

Eliza let out a sigh. Yet another thing on the to-do list. Oh well; at the very least she felt confident in her skills. “Can you give us the summary?”

“Find a partner to go on a bounty mission with; graded and accompanied by a huntsman. Oooorrr find a student to fight in a tournament style match. It’s graded much harsher.”

Summer nodded. “That’s more or less the situation. Can’t pick a person in the same gym class and Coach Bree has to approve your opponent. They also get a day of prep time at least.”

Eliza relaxed her shoulders. “That’s not so bad. Cake walk for us either way.”

“You’re not wrong.” Summer locked eyes with her brother and stood over him. “Nicholas Schnee, I challenge you to a duel for my final exam.”

Valerie nodded. “Yea- what!?”

The entire classroom heard that declaration and stared in a silent disbelief. Even Nick’s eyes briefly widened before mirroring Summer’s stern gaze of resolution.

“Okay.” He said without a care in the world. “Tomorrow then? I’ll be there.”

“Cool.” Was all Summer said before walking out. “Let’s go, Val.”

Their best friend was still flabbergasted by this sudden action. Her jaw might as well have been on the floor as she slowly found the mental processing to leave.

The rest of the students were just as stunned. A fight between the twins? That was new to hear about! Oh if only they knew the truth. Still, Eliza herself was shocked by this proclamation. Despite participating in the push to free Atlas from the blizzard, this turn of events was sudden. After all, this would be a proper battle between relatives; unlike the do or die experience of facing Shiva. Eliza looked at Nick. Although his words carried no urgency in his acceptance, Nick looked wide awake. His right hand removed his ponytail and began ruffling his hair as he started looking lost in thought.

“You okay? That was sorta…sudden.”

“Hmm?” He glanced at his vice president to see a look of worry on her face. A chuckle left is lips. “Heh, thanks for your concern. I’m alright. Although it’s gonna be hard focusing on schoolwork for the rest of the day, haha.”

“You can borrow my notes. They’re better anyways.”

“Oh? Sweet, thank ya.” He kept messing with his hair as he mentally ran through scenarios. “Tomorrow will be interesting.”

“I bet half the school is gonna want to watch.”

“Fine by me. She probably challenged me publicly like this so she has no excuse to back down.”

“Yeah, it’s a little unlike her…”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Nick smiled. He felt a little proud of his sister. “Guess she’s ready to face the truth; whatever that may be. Only fair that I meet her head on as well.”

“I can’t tell if you’re excited or worried. But I guess that’s nothing new.” She smiled. Never a dull moment with the twins.”

xxxxx

The rest of the school day was pretty uneventful. Well…for Summer anyways. Her stunt was pretty popular and spread immediately after Harriet approved the match. At least that hurdle was done; mostly.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Valerie yelled as they walked home from school. “What happened to the iconic duo!? Are you two fighting at home?”

“What!? No, Nick and I have never been closer. This was just something on my mind is all.” Her voice trailed off.

“Hmm, explain. Don’t say it’s nothing major. You’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m above average, thank you!” Summer looked around the freshly salted city; its lush potted plants in full bloom on every corner storefront to add color to this porcelain shaded kingdom. “Hard to believe a few months ago this place almost froze over for good.”

“Well…not for good.” Val said hesitantly. “Shiva still liked this place. I’m positive she would’ve left it after getting what she wanted.”

“Heh, what a nice way of framing it.”

“Is that what’s bothering you? Do you sense something?”

Summer shook her head. “Nope. Not in the slightest. All me, all the time. Been a few months but still odd to say aloud. I feel good though.”

“So what is the problem? Not that you need one to face your brother. Heh, I fight him all the time for practice, but that’s never been your style.”

It’s true. In all their years it was rare for them to face each other in earnest for multiple reasons. “I guess…I’d like to change that. I do really know my limits these days and before that, I never wanted to know exactly where I stood with Nick. If I won it felt like cheating, and if I lost…”

��Then it would’ve been another thing for Shiva to use against you.”

“Not like she- I needed any more insecurities to screw myself over with. Whatever, that’s all in the past now!” She pumped her fist to the sky to pump herself up. “ It's about time I cut loose and give it all I got!”

“Yeah! That’s the spirit! I like that attitude! I’ll be rooting for ya.” Val pumped her fist as well. “As a pro at fighting your brother, want any tips?”

“Nah. It’s not like I haven’t seen him struggle against our parents and aunt countless times. As well as Shiva’s final bount; though that was kinda a special case. I doubt our fight will be half as chaotic.”

“I hope so.” Val laughed nervously. The school can’t take another pounding like that. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Hmm? What do you mean? I’m staying at your place.”

Valerie’s eyes went wide. “What!?”

“You don’t expect Nick or myself to sleep comfortably in the same house the day before a fight, do you? Treat it like a sleepover! I know where the spare room is, or were you hoping we’d share a bed like old times?” Summer grinned.

The gears in Valerie’s head were malfunctioning for a moment before the girl gave Summer a pout and squint. “So now it’s okay to act all flirty?”

“Of course! After all, neither of us are in love with each other.” Summer rubbed her chin. “Though maybe we should pretend to throw Nick off his game?” Summer teased again. “We know that method works.”

“OH HA! HA!” Valerie pouted harder, her face turning red. “How many times am I going to have to say I’m sorry for that?”

“Zero. It was just too convenient to not joke about it. Nick would’ve laughed.

Val signed. “Get better material, both of you.”

xxxxxx

“I’m hooooome!” Nick echoed through the main corridor of the manor. It took a couple minutes before Jaune and Weiss came running in from the west wing; before she could speak, Nick watched his father fling her over his shoulder. “Was I…interrupting something?” Nick said, hoping for an appropriate answer.

“Your sister texted us about school. I’m here struggling to stop your mother from creating an obstacle course as last minute training.”

“I just want it to be a fair fight!” She defended.

Nick didn’t know if he should laugh or feel slightly wounded. “Think I can’t take her now that I’m back to normal?”

“I don’t mean it like that sweetie. Instead of watching you over analyze every little thing I thought practical training would be healthier.”

“And I think we should remain neutral.” Jaune said assertively. “Your sister won’t admit it but she’ll be upset otherwise.”

“That’s fine. I actually wanted to go to sleep early anyways.” Nick began walking upstairs. “Don’t worry about dinner. I already ate.”

Jaune slowly put his wife down as they looked at each other in befuddlement, then towards Nick. “Are you okay?” They asked.

Weiss’s mother senses tinged. “You’re definitely tense.”

“Pre fight jitters. It’s nothing, I promise.” Nick did not linger any further and went to his room.

“Well that was convincing.” Weiss said, crossing her arms and looking at Jaune. “Should we show up for the match?”

“I think that would only add pressure for both of them. It’s not like it won’t get recorded. Let’s give our kids some space.”

The Ice Queen deflated like a balloon. Not the answer she wanted to hear, but definitely the reasonable choice. Jaune put his arm around her waist and let her lean on him like he always did.

“Looks like Nick isn’t the only one tense and over analyzing.” Jaune smiled.

“Pfft, you say that as if you didn’t know before you married me. I blame Ruby.”

“Pretty sure it’s your big heart.” Jaune kissed the top of her head.

Nick sauntered into his room, dropping his belongings and falling backwards onto his bed. He pulled out his scroll in one fluid motion, his thumb hitting all the correct places before dropping it beside his head.

“Hello?” Veronica said after two rings. “Nick? You there?”

“Hey Vee. Hope I got you at a good time.”

“I answered, didn't I? What’s going on?”

“Final exams. It’s basically a fight. Summer challenged me and I said yes.”

“…Ah”

He could hear ruffling over the speaker, like if she was sitting up from a couch. “Yep, a good old brawl between siblings. I’m pretty proud of her for asking.”

“You don’t sound like a proud brother. Conflicted is more like it.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. It’s kinda dumb honestly.” Nick stared at his callous hands. “Remember how I looked fighting Shiva? The anger, it’s relief?”

Veronica got the picture. “I see, You feel bad for looking forward to fighting your dear sister? That about right?”

“Holding back wouldn’t do any of us any favors yet coming out swinging to vent frustration feels gross. Not to mention I don’t feel like taking a dive in any competition!”

“That’s good. You should never do that. It’s an insult to everyone involved.”

“But-”

“Nick, your sister is a smart girl and everyone who truly knows you is aware of how much care you have for her. Nobody is going to think less of you or that you don’t care anymore if you decide to fight like a pissed off stranger.”

“That’s a…colorful description.”

“Your dynamic is shifting. Let it shift. Didn’t you two used to fight all the time as kids? Maybe both of you are repressed. I don’t have a sibling but I can’t imagine being nice to them all the time. Especially if they’re anything like me. Give yourself some grace.”

“……Therapy has been paying off for you. That was some awesome advice.”

“Dummy! I’ve always given good advice. I just don’t buy my own product. Anyways, stop stressing. It’s a grade isn’t it? Worry that pretty little head about passing. If you hold back, you could fail.”

Nick sat up. “Shit, you’re right.”

“Did you actually not consider that? Ha, why am I not surprised?”

“Think you can wish me luck?”

“Do you really need it?”

“I don’t know, but I have no choice but to do my best whenever you’re in my corner.”

“….I bet you’d say that to Valerie too.”

“Vee! I thought we were having a moment!” He said, flustered.

“Hahaha! There, you sound like yourself again. Do your best Nick. I’m always rooting for you.”

Before he could say thank you, Veronica hung up. Nick smiled as he felt a weight lift off of his chest. “Alright, let’s do this thing!”

Little did he know that the person who just comforted him was now screaming into a pillow, embarrassed by her own words.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!” She raised her head, hearing a text alert.

“Thank you❄️💙”

“What the- don’t add a heart~” she put her head back into the pillow.

xxxxxxx

Tomorrow came in the blink of an eye. Word of the fight had fully made the rounds between the students of all grades and those who were lucky enough to have the proper free period found themselves sitting on the bleachers for track/football field. Normally a match would take place in the combat room, but Harriet had the foresight to give a bigger, more open space. Not only for the class, or the students that were clearly skipping their block, but for the fighters themselves. Last thing the school needed was a stray fireball hitting a wall.

Eliza and Valerie sat on the bench warming seats thanks to the convenient excuse of “council work” and “the obligation to support their fellow staff.” They just wanted to be as close as possible and ground level. Harriet stood in the middle of the field waiting for the twins to change. It wasn’t long at all before doors from each side of the field opened.

Now by every right, the students who chose to do this exam have the ability to dress out into their fighting gear. They were essentially fighting under tournament rules after all. However, to everyone’s surprise, the twins opted for a more casual approach; dawning their gym attire. Nick walked onto the grass wearing black compression pants and shirt with his dusty blue gym shorts and gray shirt over it. His hair was tied back into a short wolf tail and his only accessories were fingerless white gloves and a belt that held his sword, Mort Froide, on his left hip. On his right hip was a small pouch made for holding vials of dust. His white tennis shoes were laced up and ready to go.

“That’s interesting.” Eliza said, pleasantly surprised. “He’s fully treating this like an activity.”

Valerie nodded. “Yeah. That’s way lighter than his normal clothes. I doubt he’d be wearing the compression suit if it was a bit warmer.”

Though neither one of them were completely caught off guard by the twins' attire, the rest of the students chattered among themselves as they witnessed Summer in a new light they’ve never seen. The girl known for always layering up has decided to only wear the gym shorts and shirt, exposing many of her old scars that graced her limbs. Summer didn’t even bother to cover the faded scar on her cheek like she adamantly did each day. A similar belt held her sword, Shiva, on her left hip while the girl tied her up into a high ponytail and let the ends fall down the back of her shirt. Unlike her brother, all her dust could be held inside the chambers of her blade. The loose shirt fabric was tied up with a scrunchy and he began stretching her arms as she continued her walk towards the center.

“Does she seem…different to you?” An upperclassman boy said.

“I never knew she had so many scars. Was she in an accident or something?” Said a female fan of the idol.

“It’s like she woke up for a fight. It’s kinda cool.” Said a shy freshman.

“Those scars are gross.” A peer said, holding back fake gagging.

Another shrugged. “I’d say this is the cutest she’s looked.” A female band mate said with pride.

Many had varying opinions on who they were looking at, but none of that was relevant, least of all to Summer. She gave her brother a wave. “Sleep well?”

“I should be asking you. I’m the one who slept in my bed.”

“It was cozy. Starting to think my bed is too soft.”

“It was made to keep you nice and toasty.” Nick smiled. “Not like you need it to anymore.”

“Hehe, true enough. Since we’re well rested, I don’t want to hear any excuses later.”

“Likewise.”

Harriet could feel the tension and she loved it! Nothing like a good brawl to get the blood flowing. “You both clearly look ready.”

“Ma’am!” They said in unison

Nick drew his sword and grabbed it with both hands as he put his right foot forward. Summer unsheathed her blade and held in her right, its tip pointed down beside her right foot as she placed it back a step.

The Jumbotron displayed their auras and lenses set their sights on the twins, eyes and cameras.

“I don’t have to tell either of you to ignore the spectators. Just focus on what you do best. You know the rules and so do I.” She pulled out a single coin and flipped it sky high before speeding off to the Press box where the other examiners watched behind a tinted window.

Vibrant eyes stared unblinkingly into each other. Time felt like an eternity as gravity pulled the coin back from the heavens. The first move has already been decided. The second the currency hit the ground, Nick jumped backwards with immense power; he quickly made a glyph hover over his head while Summer had already reached out with her left hand, summoning a giant Nevermore out of a small yet powerful glyph. The humongous bird screeched its battle cry, beak wide open to eat its prey; it would never get the chance however. A huge Gigas arm jutted out from Nick’s glyph, flattening itself palm downwards as it slammed its armored hand against the back of Nevermore’s body and neck like a pesky insect. The ground shook from the impact and both Grimm faded from the blow.

All it took was a tick of a gear and blink of an eye before Summer was right behind Nick, poised to slice him at the neck; his intuition was sharper than her blade however. He ducked down without even confirming her location, rolling along the ground and twisting himself around as he sprang up. Morte Froide defended against three rapid thrusts then a quick vertical slash. Nick had known from Summer’s starting position she was going for a summon, but it was clear it was only used as a means to an end.

“Time dilation.” He gritted his teeth and remained defensive as he was swarmed with vicious attacks.

Summer knew she couldn’t let her brother do as he pleased, which is why he mustn’t be allowed to set up his attacks. Thankfully he was a novice in comparison to her glyph making. She was certain lightning dust was held in his blade to pull off what she managed to accomplish. She darted forward, then leaped over head to strike his back again, but instead of pivoting, Nick took the chance to lunge forward. Summer chased after, preparing to parry a horizontal slash as he pivoted. As the blade came into view, a hue of red lit the battle field as flames danced on Morte Froide.

Summer hissed, “It wasn’t lightning!?”

Nick smirked as he doubled handed his blade and flung the flames in a whirlwind around him. It didn’t matter how fast Summer was if she risked getting burned from all angles. He saw his sister end her assault by prioritizing her safety with a step back. Not one to miss an opportunity, Nicholas gladly took his turn on the offensive. He closed the gap in a single lunge with his blade held high and guided downward in a blazing arch that clashed with the enemy blade. He used his strength to swing back up for another clash, then went for a diagonal cut to the left that was also blocked wonderfully. Nick brought his right foot forward and kicked straight out against Shiva, pushing Summer away. The rest of the flame’s drained towards the tip as he pointed Mort Froide right in her direction and launched a high speed fireball.

Formless winds twirled around Summer’s blade and shot like a blow dart with a single thrust. The intensity punctured the fireball, destroying it completely. Nick wasn’t about to show her up with a move like that! Summer horizontally slashed the space between them, did five more thrusts; the air vibrated violently before sending out delayed wind attacks that force the boy to backstep. Summer waited at the last possible moment right before his feet could land to make a wind glyph that blasts Nick sky high.

As far as the attack goes, Nick was unharmed. Unfortunately, he was certain it wasn’t supposed to hurt. A bright white glyph shined from below and gave him another Nevermore that wanted to play. Summer’s plans seemed to be more flexible than usual, while remaining practical. She had put him in a situation where he now had to fight a bird in midair. Nick twirled his blade then reeled it back like a javelin. It glee purple with the gravity dust he swapped in, then was thrown at the beast. Even bone armor couldn’t withstand such force and was split in two as the blade pierced the body completely and crashed into the ground. Upon the disintegration of another bird, Nick got a clear view of rock walls and pillars erupting from the ground in almost a segmented maze fashion.

Nick questioned how his sister’s brain worked. “How is anyone that fast?”

“Practice!” She fired shards of rock at him.

If it was as simple as that, he’d be at her level. Nick summoned a Gigas sword to his hand and deflected the rocks by spinning it like a windmill in front of his body, then kicked off a quick glyph to roll safely onto the field, his body remaining crouched as he took off running towards Summer and grabbing Morte Froide along the way.

He watched his sister retreat behind a pillar. Seconds later, rock and wind was sent flying at him while she darted off quickly to another location. Nick cut through the attacks easily, but now he had to play an elemental guessing game.

Eliza was thoroughly invested. “Not a bad strategy. He can’t immediately counter her attacks if he can’t see what glyph she’s casting.”

“Doesn’t stop his reflexes.” Valerie pointed out. Summer may be quicker semblance wise, but Valerie knew better than most that Nick was physically quicker. If Summer hadn’t used time dilation earlier, then that head to head swordplay could’ve gone poorly for her.

A jet stream of water blasted through a rock pillar and headed towards Nick. As he was about to slash it, he quickly made the decision to dodge right. Sure enough, a rush of electricity ran across the water not even a second later. Relying on his eyes right now wasn’t the best right now. Nick stayed calm and listened. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t see the attack. The kindling flicker sounds that came from behind him was all he needed to know. He pulled the used water from her previous attack into a glyph and blasted it to collide with an incoming fire attack. Not only did it conserve his own plans, but stopped Summer from freezing the floor at his feet. Nick chose a random rock wall to run up and stand on.

“Gotta hand it to ya Summer. I was a little worried at first that this was going to be a little embarrassing for one of us. But you seem to be taking this very seriously.”

The rock he stood on began to rumble and glow red, making Nick flee to another one as it became molten hot to the point of eruption. “Damn. Can you teach me that?”

“Can you take this seriously!?” Her voice echoed from multiple angles.

“I am taking this seriously. I just didn’t see the need to rush. Besides, making something this elaborate is a bit ridiculous. At this rate I just have to conserve more aura than you if you’re going to pull these stunts. If you want to beat me so badly then you better get bold, or else….” He trailed off.

Summer spotted his position from behind more cover. She made a gravity glyph where she stood then expanded it until she heard a sizable clunk. Summer looked over her shoulder to find the Gigas Nick tried to hide hopelessly trapped to the floor.

The girl smirked as she turned back around. “Nice tr-” Nick was gone. A shadow beneath her gradually grew, causing her to look straight up to see the body falling with his sword pointed down. His descent only increased the moment he entered the space of the gravity glyph. “Shit.” Summer dispelled the technique and fled. Unfortunately Nick had already gained tremendous speed.

He teleported the Gigas armor onto himself and struck the ground like a falling star, but he was only getting started! Not only did the shockwave hit Summer, but she saw a flash of brown glyph; a rock glyph. He must’ve swapped again in midair! A powerful tremor spread in every direction, obliterating her constructs and sending rock flying in every direction; including fragments that grazed her skin like shrapnel.

Before she could even hit the ground she knew Nick had to be advancing. Summer landed on her back then tumbled backwards onto her feet with another gravity glyph at the ready, putting it out like a wall. Sure enough Nick was precious moments away from a clean cut. The extra force in his direction was enough for his swing to slow just enough for Summer to lean left, while countering. Each of their blades found themselves connecting along each other’s ribs, causing strained grunts.

Armored up, Nick managed to brute force his movements despite the gravity while Summer remained off balance. She quickly clashed with Mort Froide to her left, then swung right to face the summoned blade. This wasn’t good at all. Nick was way too close for comfort! Thankfully the added weight made keeping up with him easier.

Back and forth, the audience watched her fight the dual wielder! What was once a long range battle quickly turned to an exchange of blows where each twin found room to inflict damage where they could. It was hard to tell who the crowd was rooting for. Some chanted for Nick, while others squealed for Summer. Then there were those who were simply happy to see a good fight.

Eliza and Valerie’s eyes were fixated on every subtle moment, and quick decision as they watched the pair move across the field. It was good Summer remembered to work the ring instead of staying in place, but Nick refused to lit up! He was definitely burning stamina with the way his attacks became relentless in the face of gravity. However, that extra weight was only gonna last for so long and they could tell by the look on Summer’s face that it was soon. She scrambled to parry faster; going as far as to put a glyph beneath them and rotate their position as a way to throw him off his rhythm. It kinda worked, but the pro-figure skating was used to recovering from a stumble; adapting his practiced moves into a twirling slash.

Nick opened up Summer’s defenses with another hit that moved her blade out of the way of her body. As he aimed to cross slash her stomach. He heard the click of her revolver chamber. Summer had opened it and out fell a vial of unused ice dust. Nick wasn’t able to stop his attack and struck it, causing an explosion that blew him away while Summer managed to throw up another glyph to shield her from the brunt of it. She merely stumbled backwards while Nick was forced to stab his sword into the ground to stop himself from sliding any further than halfway across the field. Both of them stared at each other as they caught their breath.

“How reckless of her.” Eliza said. “That might cost her points.”

“I don’t know. She made preparations to block against it and is still standing while her opponent kneels.” Valerie smiled as she watched both of her friends in action. 65% aura on Nick and 60% on Summer. “This is still anyone’s match and I think they’re finally all warmed up.”

Eliza chuckled. “Heh, another thing they should be deducted on.” Even when they weren’t being showy, a spectacle followed their every move.

As Nick composed himself, he watched Summer’s movements. Her eyes took everything in while remaining resolute; she didn’t even seem particularly tired. Their last exchange had simply left them breathless. Nick couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy fighting a person who knew his behaviors as well as he knew theirs. He could sense the determination coming from her as she readied herself. Nick stood up properly and pointed his blade at his closest rival.

“Are you done pretending like you’ve worked every scenario? We both know there’s a path you want to walk, so walk it.” He could see her stern gaze start to falter. Honestly, they truly were alike. “I won’t hold anything against you, so bring it on! Don’t you wanna give me your best!?”

His words cut deep. She did tell him to take things seriously. If she couldn’t hold true to that herself, then what was the point. The difference between pushing your limits and doing your best is a matter of perspective in her eyes. It was time to start being the best. Summer took a breath.

“Like I said before, I don’t wanna hear any excuses from you. I’ll play my ace, so you better play yours.”

Summer let her sword fall right out of her hand and into the ground at her feet, confusing the audience. She reached out with her right hand then made a small white glyph that fit into her palm. At first it looked normal, then quickly glowed brighter until it became a flash of light. As the glow faded, Summer held an ice cold cutlass in her hand. The air temperature around her grew colder and a faint shimmering in her hair was noticeable to those looking for it.

A grin spread across Nick’s face that matched his sister’s. He manifested the helmet of the Gigas and advanced, fully free from the earlier gravity glyph. As graceful as freshly fallen snow, Summer all but glided gracefully over to meet both his blade with both of hers.

Her eyes danced with renewed vigor. “Let’s dance,”she said cockily.

“Gladly.”

They pushed each other away briefly before letting their blades reunite in a flurry of clashes that brought about bursts of cold air which each hit. The can the power behind the attacks tense his forearms. He goes in for a thrust to the chest but Summer pivots around him like clockwork. She’s faster than before. Nick wastes no time dropping low and sweeping her leg but she cleverly chooses to jump. No matter. He puts a glyph under Summer’s feet and pushes it up higher into the sky to reevaluate his situation.

Summer wasn’t about to make that easy for him. The idol backflips off the platform and sends two waves of ice at him that carve into the ground, forming two walls of ice that put Nick into a corner. As she landed, frost and snow coalesced into her lungs as Summer took a deep breath before blowing out a frigid wind that sent jagged ice crawling in his direction that Nick began to hack through. Summer blew harder but she could only keep it going a few seconds more before she was forced to stop by a sharp pain in her chest.

“Agh!” Summer let out a rough cough. “Too cold…” Her brief moment of pain was enough for Nick to close the gap again. Her brother brought his swords across his body. As she prepared to block another cross slash, Nick brought up his right leg again and snap kicked her block to push her away, then followed up with the slash that broke her guard. It was clear picking to dual wield like him was a foolish decision on her part. He was too practiced in it, but it was definitely an eye opener for her. Nick may have been amazed by her glyph speed, but the fluidity of his swordplay left Summer rather jealous.

Summer threw the cutlass into the ground at his feet. The blade slowly began to crumble away into a whirlwind of frost that surrounded them both. Nick can feel the wind try to chip away at his armor while Summer rushed to face him with her trusted blade, creating a captivating display of sparks and ice.

Eliza didn’t know what she was seeing. “Summer can still use Diamond Dust?” She looked over at Valerie, whose face was just as shocked.

“News to me. I’m unsure if Nick even knew about it.” Though his face was covered, he could tell the amount of focus he had right now. He wasn’t on the back foot, but neither was Summer. “Looks like she’s in control, and it’s nowhere near as imposing as before.”

“I would hope not!” Eliza wasn’t about to deal with a second winter break. She glanced at the aura screen to see both of them slowly ticking down. “I doubt that form is sustainable. Still, what a bothersome ace to have. Tournaments are about to be even more annoying.”

Valerie couldn’t help but sigh in agreement. At this rate she was going to need a new training regiment, again.

Nick refused to back down despite the situation. Where there’s a will, there’s a way; and right now he felt like his sister’s was rather lacking. Her thought process was grand but would only stall then inevitable. If Nick was going to do something then no matter how long it took, it was going to happen! He moved her sword out of the way of her body with his. Nick reeled his summoned sword back, prompting Summer to raise her left. Most likely to raise a glyph barrier, but that’s exactly what Nick wanted.

Before Summer could make one, Nick abandoned the Gigas sword and took hand into his. “Huh!?”

“Hold this for me will ya?” Nick said cheekily as he put his armor over her. It began forcing Summer to kneel as Nick took both his swords and fled the whirlwind.

The possessed armor fought against Summer’s body as she tried to break free. “Aagh! Aaaah! Get ooooffff!” Every muscle in her felt strained. If she couldn’t force herself from inside then she’d cut herself out!

She made the whirlwind turn back into a cutlass and sliced right along the breastplate and helmet, killing the Grimm that trapped her. Summed rose to her feet in pain and saw a faint golden light shining across the field. It was her brother standing perfectly still as the sound of a clock ticked. Her eyes began to widen; he hadn’t used lightning dust yet. He could still use time dilation!

Summer raised her sword to aim a projectile, but as quickly as she was able to channel one, she didn’t. What would be the point? It wouldn’t reach him in time to interrupt, or make a difference. The dozens of ideas and strategies in her head were abandoned almost immediately. Instead, Summer let Shiva fall to the ground, arming herself with the cutlass. Her stance shifted to one that was wide and low to ground. Summer brought the blade to the opposite side as if she were to sheath it; her gaze narrowed in on souly Nicholas while she began creating multiple normal white glyphs all over the sports field and below her feet.

Nick couldn’t smile wider even if he wanted to. “Finally…” he uttered, revving himself up. If Winter were here, he was sure she would be so excited for Summer. Up until now, his sister’s performance was amazing. Hell, they were brilliant choices to make. However they all served to keep himself within reason. “You wanted no excuses, so overcome me or fail!”

Nick became a blur with his enhanced speed, going as far as to use the glyphs she made for extra momentum. Summer blasted off towards her opponent and swung full force to meet his attack, causing the biggest clash yet! No more strategies to prevent Nick’s skills. The plan was now simple and direct. Be better. She would either triumph over this hurdle or lose trying to!

The speed of Nick’s attacks weren’t for the faint of heart and some watchers even failed to catch the number of consecutive hits. Valerie watched Morte Froide attack in a “Z” pattern before five rapid thrust met a metal blade. Nick then leaned with his left to swing the summoned blade to greet Summer’s defiant side slash. He held his blade flat and swung it out, right at Summer’s neck. The girl only moved back just enough to clear it, then clashed with metal again. Nick pivoted around to Summer’s back as feint, returning to his previous position just as quickly when she tried to follow him. Her back was left wide open and suffered a heavy cross slash before Summer could turn back around to cut along Nick’s left shoulder. She tried striking the right but his body leaned out of the way. Nick threw Gigas blade up into the air then held Mort Froide with both hands. Summer gasped, quickly holding the cutlass with both hands and swinging up as hard as possible to meet the thunderous pressure of Nick’s attack. The clash lasted only a second before the swords separated from each other and met again as the the twins began hacking at each other left and right. Valerie could no longer tell who it was that was pressuring who!

Nick didn’t blink once as the violent slashes made more sparks than a forge. “Hahahaha! Look at you~” he goaded.

“Quiet!” She growled through her teeth, her concentration maintained.

“What!? You wanted to fight me. Fight. Me!”

He fully swung right and Summer stepped back in time before vaulting forward to hit him center mass from underneath his arms. Nick reached up with his left hand, perfectly catching his summoned sword and swinging it down to block her stab. Zero hesitation was made as he angled Mort Froide at her face. Summer tilted her head which made the blade sting her left cheek. The minimalistic dodge caught everyone off guard including Nick. Summer followed up with fully planting her feet and using all her strength to cut right through the Gigas blade, destroying it.

“I’m not done yet!” She yelled as she swung left near Nick’s hand. She got her blade right under the hilt of Mort Froide and hit right out of his hand! With her cutlass still raised, she angled downward for the true target. Nick leaped backwards but she jumped forward right with him. “No you don’t!”

Caught up in the fighting fever, Valerie yelled, “She’s got him!”

Summer swung down to finish the match with a decisive blow, but what should’ve hit aura instead clashed with rock! Her eyes widened as two chunks of dust from the destroyed constructs not only blocked her attack, but did so with Nick’s glyphs behind each one as he shaped them into the image of his blade. With Summer still airborne, she was easily pushed back as Nick looked so happy with himself. Damnit! He truly earned every last letter of his nickname!

“Woooo!” Eliza cheered wholeheartedly, “Fight on, Gilgamesh!!!”

Summer slid back and was immediately surrounded by more glyph covered rock Dust that flew her way as blades while Nick himself rushed behind them. The entire field had become his ammo. Summer took a page right out of his playbook and flung icy wind in form mimicking Nick’s flame attack; the feeble stone was torn to shreds while keeping the boy at bay long enough for Summer to deal with him properly as they continued their duel! Their feet carried them around the entire space like rushing rapids thanks to glyphs she had made and his time dilation still in effect. Summer disarmed him again but one after another, new blades replaced her hard work but she just had to keep going!

Just how long have they been keeping this up? Neither could say. Summer only knew her arms felt heavier than lead with every swing. Occasionally she’d feel pain from a good hit, but ignored it as she dished out her own damage. It was a strange feeling she wasn’t completely aware of. She was focused, yet zoned out. Energized and calm. Her body knew what moves it wanted to make without too much thinking yet obviously they each weren’t attacking recklessly. Summer had been in many fights but this rare trance she found herself similar to her final push against her uglier side. There was no simpler way to put it; right now, she wasn’t just in a fight. Summer was fighting. If she could remember, she’d have to ask Nick if this is how he always felt?

If she had paid attention, then she’d definitely believe so because their next attack synched up. His blades pressed against hers before they both pushed away hard enough to send them tumbling away, Nick’s blades breaking again. As they rolled, Nick managed to grab his true weapon. The twins stopped themselves by making one more glyph each that acted as a backboard their feet hit, blades ready for an outward horizontal slash. They flew towards each other in a single, powerful lunge that sent them past each other as the crowd heard the final loud clash of weapons. The two stood utterly motionless, maintaining their striking pose.

The crowd went silent, unsure of who connected. Summer’s faint radiance finally diminished. Her eyes glanced down at the cutlass she held and watched it fade away into nothing more than dwindling snow. The strength to turn around was all she had left, her eyes landing on Nicholas as he finally turned around as well. He was saying…something. His words fell on ringing ears. All she saw was moving lips turn into a satisfied grin, before a flash of blue flickered on him. Nicholas Schnee fell to the ground. It was only then that her brain registered what had just taken place and the sound of a buzzer reached her. The strength Summer thought she lost came flooding back and unleashed itself as her fists punched straight into the air.

“I DID IT!!!!”

Her voice erupted through the silence and invoked cheers from the amazed crowd. Everyone celebrated loudly. Valerie finally stood up and ran over to the winner, giving her a tackle hug that sent them to the ground.

“You were awesome!!!!”

“Everything hurts!” Summer said, happily laughing.

Eliza walked over to her defeated president who laid on his back. She looked down at his peaceful smile to see he was still conscious. “You okay?”

“The soreness is already kicking in.”

“Not surprising. You’re only working with 9% in the tank because of that final hit. Meanwhile, Summer is coasting on 17% left.” Eliza smiled. “Not a bad performance at all.”

“Coming from you, that means a lot. Hehe…”

Harriet’s voice came from the speakers to finally say a few words. “Everyone give another round of applause to both of your peers for an exceptional performance. Nicholas, Summer, well done.”

That sounded like a passing grade to them. They’d still have to wait for an official number but frankly, they were never concerned about failing to begin with.

xxxxxx

After such an explosive match, other exam participants gave their best and more during their turns. Although many would agree no match would top the twins. At least not today.

Summer was excused from further classes for the day. Not like there was much to do at the end of the year. She essentially just passed and technically wouldn’t be missing anything if she didn’t show up for the remaining days as a sophomore. Though that probably wouldn’t be the best look, sadly. After a little rest in the locker room, the real struggle of putting on her uniform was over and walked out a winner, but also a tired woman. Even opening the door made her sigh.

“Shouldn’t I be the one sighing?” Nick said, catching her by surprise by sitting up against the wall with two energy drinks. “Hey, winner.” He tossed her one drink and then worked his way up to standing.

“H-Hi.” Summer took him by the forearm and helped him to his feet. “You didn’t have to wait for me.”

“I got no better place to be. Besides, we do share a house.”

“We can go home early too?”

“Yep. We’ve been cleared.”

Nick started walking while Summer followed behind him. Their walk was quieter than Nick imagined. The only constant noise was their feet on concrete as they made their way off school grounds. He eventually looked over his shoulder to see his sister looking down at her feet and only occasionally looking up to check her surroundings.

“You seem a little reserved considering your grand solo debut.” He teases lightly. “I’m not mad y’know?”

“Really?” Summer was genuinely surprised. “I did challenge you out of the blue, and so many people know you for your fighting ability with and without me. I wouldn’t hold it against you if this was frustrating. It would frustrate me.”

And they call him a worry sort? Nick stopped walking, letting Summer catch up to him until he was right beside her. “The last thing I am is frustrated. I actually couldn’t be prouder. Besides, you’ve always been the talented one.” We continued to walk at her pace.

“What!?”

“Ha, like you don’t know. You’ve always been smarter and had a knack for this. It just took a little time for your confidence to catch up with your skill. I mean your glyph mastery is incredible and your form is way more refined. By comparison-”

“Oh shut up.” Summer said defiantly, pointing at Nick’s face. “I’ve mastered nothing and don’t give me that comparison crap! You’re fucking incredible!”

He blinked twice. Angry compliments weren't what he expected. “O…kay?”

“I’m serious! You make it sound like beating you was a full blown conclusion, but I had no certainty at all! My form is refined!? Your swordplay is immaculate and unique. Don’t even get me started on your glyphs. My knowledge may be vast but what you can do, you do with brilliance. I can’t begin to understand how you make so many swords so quickly!”

“It’s just practice. It’s a literal copy of mine.”

“And that maze was a blueprint I drew, but you couldn’t believe your eyes. What would be the point in feeling good about my victory if you claim you’re nothing special? And you say I need confidence.” Summer crossed her arms and turned her head away like a pouty child. “Hmph!”

One minute there was praise, the next he was being chewed out for his actions. “And here I thought you took more after dad.”

Summer whipped her back around. “I do!”

“Pfft, okay.” He smiled. “So are you switching to cutlass from now on. That was pretty nifty swordplay.”

“Hell no. I don’t understand how you can fight so aggressively and up close so much. Although…you gotta teach me that trick where you threw your sword and caught it perfectly without looking!” Her eyes twinkled. “That was pretty cool. I would’ve clapped if I wasn’t the one fighting!”

“Hahaha! Only if you help me with my glyphs.”

“Deal!” The awkwardness she felt between them melted away. Looks like she was worried over nothing. “By the way…don’t you think you were cutting it a bit close with aiming for my face? I’m an idol! You could’ve hurt my revenue.”

“Uhh…I may have gotten a little caught up in the thrill. You had aura though, as well as annoying Dust shenanigans. My bad.”

“As long as you’re aware then I guess I’ll let it slide. Wasn’t exactly pulling my punches either.”

“You threw a Nevermore at me, twice. Not even mom does that! Speaking of which, how much you wanna bet her and dad were in the Press Box?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me, but no way they were allowed to grade us. It was probably Ironwood doing that, or maybe even Neon or Robyn. I’ve heard they can be pretty critical.”

“Guess we’ll just have to wait to see.”

They continued their conversation all the way home. One painfully sore step at a time.

xxxxxx

As they arrived at the manor, Nick made a quick trip to their parked car in front and put his hand on the hood.

“Is the engine warm?” Summer asked.

“Yep.” He walked to the front door and pushed one side open while Summer got the other.

“We’re home!” They called out, watching their parents run into view from the living room.

“Wow, you two are home early!” They said, smiling warmly.

No under normal circumstances, a child might take those words of shock to mean their parents were doing something scarring and rather gross. However, not only did they show up from the living room, but were fully dressed to go outside.

The twins returned the smile. “They were totally in the Press Box.”

At least it saved them the trouble of describing the day that would surely be talked about all summer long.

-The End

xxx Bonus xxx

“Hey Nick!” Summer yelled as she slid into his room with an opened letter. “Read it and weep!” She flashed her exam score that held a magnificent 94% on it.

“Oh hey. Good job.” Nick casually lifted his score of 98% in her face as he continued his virtual Uno with Adrian.

“What!? How’d you get a higher score!? I won the fight!”

“Yeah, but who had to spend the first half overcoming the plans made against them? I mean I literally pulled off trapping you in a suit of armor.”

“…I made you look too good.”

“And that’s why I’ll never regret having you as a twin.” He clicked his mouse. “Uno out. I win!”

“FUCK!”

Nick snickered like a gremlin. Two wins against two family members. Today was a good day.

#rwby #rwby au #jaune arc #weiss schnee #nicholas schnee #summer schnee #eliza marigold #rwbabies #val valkyrie #harriet bree #veronica belladonna #rwby whiteknight #rwby twin snowflakes

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