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eaterofman · 8 months

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Yandere Coworker Harem x New Hire Reader: A Meeting with the CEO

Follow up to this post

Finally fed up with it all, you decide to leave... but you learn it may not be that easy.

Content Warnings: General creepiness, yanderes, financial manipulation, manipulation, power difference, gaslighting

AN: Holy shit the first part blew up, more so than any post I've ever made on tumblr... ever. Thank y'all, and I hope this lives up to everyone's expectations? Had to ignore a few asks since they were essentially the plot to this part, haha.

As nice as Jake is... it starts to wear on you. The seclusion from your other coworkers, Warren and Jax's constant attention, it all becomes too much. This was the easiest money you've ever made, but it almost felt... condescending in a way. Seriously, you feel like you haven't actually worked in months, just given simple tasks to complete so that Jax could praise you. Otherwise, you felt like you were just eye candy set in a pretty office. No more, you figure. You make up your mind to go back to HR, it's been a long time coming. They either fix it, or you're gone.

With your mind made up, you return to Leon. He'd been so kind before, surely he'd help, right? As you explain your problems to him, he nods and gently smiles. In your distress, you don't notice his hand moving to cover yours, massaging yours comfortingly. You welcome the comforting sensation, overwhelmed to the point of not really considering the implications. You look into his dark eyes as you finish, silently pleading with him for help.

"That really is something. I'm sorry to hear your experience with the company has been so distressing. Tell me, do you have any proof?"

His demeanor seems to shift instantly back to the colder man you remember from your first sight of him. His fingers rubbing gentle circles into your palm shift into a harsher grip.

"Proof? I-I mean, the cameras have probably caught something?"

You'd say there were eyewitnesses, but all of your other coworkers had been avoiding you. You barely even knew their names...

"Unfortunately, our cameras have been malfunctioning lately, I doubt they'd catch anything. Without any actual witnesses, I'm afraid I can't do anything for you."

"How can you say that without even looking? This place is insane- you know what? I'm just quitting. I can't take this anymore."

You try to remove your hand but he keeps it there. His gaze is suddenly ice cold. He lets your hand go after a few moments of tension, fingers lingering before you yank your hand to your chest.

"Ah, you could quit... but I'd really recommend against it. You'd of course have to pay the dues you signed in your contract, as well as any additional fees. I'm not in charge of finances, but my estimate would be somewhere around... 200 thousand or so?"

You gasp, blood running cold. 200 thousand?! You don't remember signing that, but you also don't recall really reading over the contract in your excitement. You try to think of a way out, surely there had to be some sort of loophole-

"Of course, there's always the option of asking the CEO to change your contract, but..."

You'd tuned anything after that out, insisting to meet with the CEO as soon as possible. Which, to your surprise, was almost immediately. Almost like he'd been... waiting for you? Leon himself lead you to the CEO's room, at the very top of the skyscraper your office resided in. As you're let in, you're met with the biggest office you'd ever seen. It composed of the entire top floor of the skyscraper, massive windows encircling the entire ornate office.

You really try to ignore the feeling that you're walking into a trap.

The CEO was patiently waiting for you. Like a king on a throne, he sat in the middle of the room in front of a surprisingly simple desk. You'd heard of the CEO, Kennedy Grey, but you'd never met him in person before. He had an air of sophistication around him, an older gentlemen with salt and pepper hair and a well trimmed beard. His suit was pristine and looked expensive, probably costing more than your entire yearly salary. He smiled, urging the two of you to sit. His eyes glanced over to Leon's, a slight smirk on his face as if the two were in on a joke you weren't.

"So, what brings you two here? I've heard very good things about you from Jax. Things are going well, I presume?"

You fidget, despite his welcoming tone, he felt oddly... menacing. Like you weren't supposed to disagree with him, even if he asked you a question. You begin to explain your issues, but are quickly stopped with a firm look of disapproval when you bring up the idea of leaving the company.

"Now now, we can't have that, can we? With your contract, that wouldn't be a very smart idea, would it?"

Before you can even respond, he simply continues to talk over you.

"No, no it wouldn't. And you've just been such a good worker, we'd just hate to lose you."

"Well, I was actually hoping we could talk about the contract, I just don't think it's fair-" you can barely get your thoughts out as he cuts you off again.

"Unfair? But my dear, you signed it. I'd just hate to get my lawyers involved... they're top of the line, y'know? Besides, you don't actually want to leave, you're just... stressed. What do you need, a paid week off? A bonus for your hard work?"

"No-"

"Well, now that that's done, let's get back to work, shall we? You'll have a bonus on your next pay-"

You've had enough of his condescension and interruptions, it's time for you to interrupt him.

"You know what, I'll take the lawsuit. You people are insane. You can have the money if you want, but I'm out of here."

As you get up, you find you can't. Leon has moved behind you, surprisingly strong arms holding your chair in, preventing you from moving. You look up at him in angered confusion, but he's sharing a look with Kennedy. You once again feel like you're missing an important part of an inside joke again. You try to struggle, but you're stopped as Kennedy interrupts.

"Apartment 101, Evergreen Apartments, right?"

"W-wha-"

"You know, I've been venturing into the rental market recently. Very profitable at the moment. I actually just bought a few buildings in your area, including your little apartment. Such a shame, you know you could do better, right? All you have to do is ask..."

He smiles at you as if this was a normal conversation to him, like he was doing you a favor.

"I guess that makes me your landlord now, if you think about it!" his smile turns colder, eyes crinkling like he's laughing at you, "That being said, I just don't see how you're going to pay for the rent increase without this job. I hate to do it, but it's a necessity, y'know? Cost of living and such."

He waves his hand like it's no big deal, like he isn't playing with your livelihood and threatening you.

"You could move out, of course, but well, word gets around, and I just don't know how the other investors in the area would react to your... history."

You feel dread well up in the pit of your stomach and tears in your eyes. He... has you. What could you even do? Moving out of the city would mean starting over, and that's if you could even find a place and a job to pay for said place, and paying for the lawsuit-

In your panic, you can only whimper, "I just... why? Why me? i don't understand-"

"That's the beauty of it all, you don't have to. All you have to worry about is coming in and doing your job. We'll handle all the rest."

You jump, having almost forgotten Leon was behind you in your panic. You go to open your mouth-

"Wonderful insight, Leon. Now that we're all on the same foot, let's get back to work, shall we?"

You can only numbly nod your head, too overwhelmed to continue fighting.

You're finally allowed to sit up and begin walking towards the door, trying to speed walk out of the huge room that somehow managed to feel claustrophobic. You just wanted out at this point, you needed somewhere to think.

As you step into the elevator, Leon staying behind in the office-thank god-you're interrupted one final time.

"Oh, and I meant what I said. If you ever need any assistance, anything at all, just come to me. All you have to do is ask."

#yandere x reader #yandere harem #yandere boss #yandere coworkers #reader insert #reader #yandere scenarios #yandere imagines

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runningfrom2am · 6 months

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leveling the playing field XIV

summary: with nowhere else to go after getting caught cheating to help lucy gray, you both make some desperately stupid decisions.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 2.2k

tags/warnings: capitol brat!reader, maybe slightly ooc coryo, idk i tried my best. do they love each other or hate each other? who knows (we do, kind of). implications and mentions of abuse, so read with caution!! also a little bit of swearing but that's neither here nor there. oh, and manipulation (both of them lowkey)

masterlists // nav // requests

a/n: omg so the next part has over 5k words and its not even close to being done?? should i post it all at once or break it up?? lmk your thoughts! also!! i think there's only two parts left omg... BUT do not fear bc i'm also writing another little thing for this and i feel like i'll keep doing that :)

series masterlist

You run back out to the stage, just as the Covey band's song is about to end. It was the last one, you thought, if their at home rehearsals were any indicator. You climb back up the side with an exaggerated stumble in your step, drawing the attention of Lucy Gray. She gave you a confused look, having expected that you and Coriolanus would be quite busy, especially after your song. She didn't expect you back on stage at all that night.

You smile and take the mic before she can say goodnight to the audience. "How about one more? I've had a second wind!" You say, looking to the band for their approval. Everyone besides Lucy Gray just giggles at you and nods.

"Alrighty, well, we'd really love to but our Sage here has clearly had a bit to drink and needs to get home." Lucy Gray tries to save it with a joke.

"Oh, come on, Lucy Gray. Live a little!" You laugh, playfully nudging her shoulder. "Who wants one more!" You call out which is returned with whistles and claps of encouragement.

"Alright, alright. Just one more, though." She agrees, smile returning to her face as he shakes her head.

The song ends and the band is packing up, and you can only hope that Coryo is long gone. The floor empties out, and you watch as Maude Ivory hops off the stage.

"Hey, Maude Ivory!" You call after her, hiding the sense of urgency in your voice. "Hey, can you help me clean up the floor before you grab a drink? I'll grab you your water." You offer, hurrying behind her to keep her from going to the back room. You didn't want her to see the bodies you assumed were still back there.

"Yes ma'am." She nods, giving you a quick salute.

"It's not a lot today, just a few bottles we can reuse." You smile at her as she skips out to start at the opposite edge of the room. "Lucy Gray, c'mere." You call to her as she closes up her old guitar case.

"You okay?" She asks, confused by your sudden sobriety.

"Come with me." You whisper, leading her into the back hallway in front of the door.

She follows, worry creased into her brow. Suddenly, she notes the red spots across the front of your dress which were almost invisible under the stage lights and among the red accents of the fabric.

"Something happened, okay? You can't let them come back here." You insist, referring to her family. "And you can't tell anyone."

"What?" She asks in a hushed tone, glancing past you toward the door. "Is it Coriolanus?"

Before you can explain, she's pushing past you and shoving the door open. You follow her quickly, reaching your arms around her to cover her mouth to keep any kind of reaction from being heard. You effectively muffle a cry of shock, and she's shoving you away and turning to face you. "That's- that's Billy Taupe, and, and Mayfair-"

"Shh-" You hush her quickly. "It was self-defense, okay? She was going to get us all killed. You included."

"I- no, I don't-" She tries to articulate her thoughts as her eyes fill with tears.

"I know, okay? It's less than ideal. Coryo is handling it. We just have to stay quiet." You promise. "Let's just grab everything and bring it all out, pretend you saw nothing. Maude Ivory and CC can't see this, do you understand?"

She nods, sniffling and looking between the bodies. "Hey, don't look at them." You remind her, gently turning her chin toward you. "They hurt you. Now you can move on, okay?"

"Okay." She whispers shakily, nodding again as you gather all the Covey's backstage supplies to bring out.

The next morning, you're awoken to a pounding on the front door of the small home, the four of you who shared a room all shooting up at once.

You scramble to get a peek out the window, spotting the grey shade of peacekeeper uniforms and cursing.

"Who- who is it?" Maude Ivory asks, scared as she looks between you and Lucy Gray.

"Peacekeepers. Lucy Gray, we have to go." You say quickly, closing the shade and grabbing your dress and Lucy Gray's arm.

"What? What's happening?" Barb Azure asks, rubbing her eyes.

"They're going to bust in if you don't open the door. Just tell them Lucy Gray isn't home. Don't mention me and if they ask, you don't know who I am. Do you understand?" You ask frantically and the girl nods fearfully.

As quickly as possible, you and Lucy Gray are flying out the back door and making a sprint for the trees behind the house.

"Any sign of the guns, or the girl? Mayor Lipp is sure she did it, or at least knows who did." A gruff voice of one of the peacekeepers has you and Lucy Gray both looking at each other, hands clutched over your mouths to keep quiet.

"None." His comrade replies, standing almost directly beneath you after they searched the yard. Clearly not very thoroughly, if they didn't see you and Lucy Gray sitting only about ten feet above their heads.

You cringe as he walks right over your garden, crushing the blooming raspberry bushes. "They arrested Plinth. Just got word, apparently, he was involved with rebels." The first man speaks again, and your eyes widen.

"Plinth? He's two beds down from me. Didn't expect that from him. He's a nice guy."

"No, I know. Anyway, he'll be executed this afternoon." You have to bite your lip to keep it from shaking under your hand, as if somehow that could give you away.

"Whatever, we'll come back later to get her." One of them says, making their way back through the house.

You hide in the branches and leaves until you're sure they're gone before carefully unsticking yourself from the ridged bark you were sitting on for far too long. You carefully climb down after Lucy Gray, making a quick effort to pull any stray sticks of leaves from your hair.

"What are we gonna do? They think I did it, I didn't do it, they'll kill me!" Lucy Gray panics, and you think about it while you quickly change into your dress.

"I think you have we have to run. Like you planned to do. We just have to follow through." You tell her, nodding to yourself.

Lucy Gray sighs, tipping her head back to look up at the sky. "I didn't even really want to go, I just wanted to get Billy Taupe off my ass."

"Well, he won't be there now." You say, looking her over. "How were they going to break that girl out?"

"Lil?" Lucy Gray asks, confused as she looks back at you. "I... I don't know, but it doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Did they have a plan? Did they write it down anywhere?" You ask again.

"Well, yes, but they didn't write it down. It was too risky."

"Tell it to me. Every detail you can remember." You urge her, trying to settle the panic rising behind your ribs.

Coriolanus had been out all morning with his team, looking for the weapon that killed the mayor's daughter and praying every moment that they wouldn't find it. After breaking down the doors of countless homes, he thought he would start to feel better. There was no way they would be caught, but he was regretting not taking the initiative to hide them himself. That way, he would at least know.

With his issued weapon in his hand, they were pacing down a desolate street. By now the whole district knew to lock themselves away, except for whoever he just saw in his peripheral vision through a narrow sidestreet. He turns his head fully, just catching the ends of their hair and the red in their short dress before they disappeared. He stops, quickly taking the turn into the side street and looking back to make sure no one had seen him depart from the group.

With the bag of tools thrown over your shoulder, you tried your very best to be quiet while walking through the city. Walking down a sidestreet, you found it was a challenge to be both fast and silent. At the sound of footsteps behind you, you hold the bag in your arms to prevent the tools from knocking together and step into a narrow doorway, back pressed to the wall.

You're breathing heavily, but keep it steady as the footsteps on the gravel of the road come to a stop. You hear them turn, presumably looking in both directions. You're in the middle of cursing yourself for being spotted when you hear a whistle. A calling one, baiting you to peek out from your hiding spot, but you don't budge. Another whistle. "Hey, Y/N? Is that you?" The whistle is followed by Coryo's voice whispering your name, and you're infinitely relieved.

You stepped out quietly, and you couldn't help but smile when you saw his familiar face. He meets you halfway, and you're quickly wrapping your arms around him. "Coryo..." You sigh, not ready to let go of him just yet.

"Hey, Y/N/N..." He whispers back, kissing your head. "Are you okay? What are you doing out? You need to get home."

"I can't." You shake your head, finally dropping your arms from around him. "Did you hear Sejanus got arrested this morning? He's going to be executed."

Coryo is in shock, jaw going slack as he tries to decide what to say. It must have been his recording, because there was nothing linking him to the murders.

"I'm going to break him out. Like they planned to do for that other girl."

Instantly at your statement, he shakes his head. "Absolutely not. You'll be caught and you'll be next. There's a poster of you in the head peacekeeper's office. I've seen it. They're looking for you here, it's too risky."

"I'm not going to let Sejanus die over something he didn't even do." You whisper, voice picking up in anger as you glare up at him.

"You can't, Y/N. I get why you'd want to, but it's not worth it." He insists.

"They won't catch us. I'm getting him out and we're running, just like they planned to do anyway."

Coryo scans your face for any sign at all that you may be kidding, but he finds none. "Don't. Don't go. I wanted to tell you this last night, but they're relocating me to Two. You can come with me. I'll get us both out of here."

"Closer to home?" You ask, a hint of hopefulness flitting in your eyes before it's quickly replaced with sadness. "Wait, no. No, they'll ship me back home, and then what? I'll be killed anyway, or worse." You sigh, shaking your head as you look down. This is probably about to turn into a goodbye you never wanted to say.

The idea of leaving him behind was breaking your heart, but would you really be leaving him? You knew what would happen to him. He'd go to Two, rise quickly in the ranks, and be elected president by the time he turned twenty-five. He would be okay, but would you be without him? You couldn't stomach the idea of taking such a bright future from him just because you had nothing left. "I have to go with them, Coryo. It's my only choice."

He can already see that there is no shot you'll be happy out there. You probably wouldn't last the week, either. He nods a little bit, taking your hand. "I'll come with you." He nods again, deciding it for himself. Coriolanus Snow is not about to say goodbye to the love of his life for the last time as someone she was pretending to be but never truly was, nothing more than a rebel from District Twelve.

"No, your relocation, it's your ticket home. You have to take it." You reply.

"It doesn't matter. If they find the gun, I'll be killed either way. Here, in Two, or back home. I can't escape it, same as you." He promises. "There's nothing for me there anyway. Not without you." Coryo says, rubbing his thumb gently over the side of your neck, warming the chilled skin there.

How could you say no? "Okay." You whisper, nodding slightly as your cheeks flush pink. "Can you leave tonight?"

"Uh, I, no." He shakes his head. "Earliest I can get away is sunrise."

"Shit... okay." You hum, looking around as if that will help you think. Undistracted from his all-consuming blue eyes looking into yours. "We can try and wait, then meet us at the hanging tree at dawn. If we're not there, hike to the cabin. We'll wait there if we can't hide here overnight."

He nods in confirmation, looking quickly over his shoulder as you both hear cheers and whoops of excitement making their way down the street toward you. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." He agrees.

"See you tomorrow." You give him a small smile, turning to continue on your way when he grabs your wrist. He's quick to pull you back to him, colliding his lips with yours. He always kisses like he's starving. God, you wouldn't be able to live without that.

"Be careful, Y/N/N." He warns as he pulls away. "Stay safe."

"Yes sir, mister president." You grin, kissing him again quickly before walking away. You turn as you walk backward to face him, giving him a salute.

Coryo smiles to himself smugly, nodding at you before rushing to rejoin the other peacekeepers in his squad as they drag Spruce back toward the compound.

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#tbosas #tbosas x reader #thg series #tbosas fic #the hunger games #coryo x reader #coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus x reader #coriolanus x you #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus fanfiction

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foiledbyvoile · 4 months

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HEAD EMPTY, ONLY SILLY DEMENTED DEER MAN.

The last two episodes really got me over here pondering and shit. Didn't think my 2019 Alastor phase would make a comeback, but here we fuckin' are. Seriously though, what is his deal? I love that you can't quite make sense of him, but also I NEED to make sense of him.

SPOILERS AHOY.

Clearly he's somewhat emotionally invested in all this, that little (cute as fuck) scene with nifty the night before the battle showed us a sentimental softness in him, but he's also definitely cozying up to Charlie to use her powers for something big.

Something like breaking a deal he'd made, and I've got money on Lilith. That bad bitch seaside moment was too iconic, she's pulling strings and catching rays, living her best life.

But I need DETAILS, man. I wanna know what the stipulations of the contract are, I wanna know why it was made, what was gained and what was lost, if this deal gave him the power he wields in the first place. What does Alastor need to do to fulfill his end of the deal? I want the nitty gritty of it, man.

Speaking of deals, Alastor and Charlie??? I know we're probably meant to sweep it under the rug, Alastor says not to worry about it, it's not for Charlie's soul, the whole scene was just brushed aside...but what about the desperation he fucking reeked of?? He was beyond eager to make that deal.

Alastor held onto that information for months, waited for the perfect moment, when Charlie was backed into a corner and desperate, and he used that groundbreaking leverage for a favor. That could be anything! Like breaking a deal only someone with her power could, or, since he clearly likes playing the long game, it could be something far less definitive, easier for Charlie to get behind. Something like helping him make his next move.

(Then the next, and the next, and the manipulation continues--ideally, I'm sure. Narrative folly and character development will almost definitely nip that evil scheme in the bud.)

You gotta love that classic Alastor guile when he tells her it's not for her soul. What it really is is a foot in the door for him, and a show of good faith for Charlie. It's a chess move, and if Alastor is as conniving and methodical as I hope he is, it's the equivalence of moving a pawn.

But then he backs up that dubious display of altruism by introducing Charlie to Rosie and the cannibals. Would Alastor really implicate a close friend and her community for something he wasn't truly invested in? That's a genuine question at this point. It's pretty much confirmed in the song that Alastor is choosing to help Charlie, that he sees the potential in her, but again, for his own benefit.

Which brings us to the radio tower, post fight. The vibes I picked up were immaculate. He's incredulous, desperate, shaken and very clearly trapped in circumstances that drive him absolutely insane.

Alastor's all about control. I think back on his spiel to Charlie about maintaining that control with a smile, but even now, when Alastor is cracking under the realization that he doesn't have that, he continues to smile.

I'm really under the impression that Alastor literally cannot stop smiling. (I'm not counting the single-frame-debacle.) It's either that, or he's forcing himself to smile, desperately vying for some semblance of control in a moment where he well and truly has none.

Then there's the line, "Great Alastor Altruist died for his friends". It feels sardonic. Bitter, like he regrets putting himself in that position, but was it really a choice to begin with? Because he let himself get too involved, too comfortable, and realized that that sentimentality he'd developed has become a weakness?

I think he really was forced to protect Charlie and the hotel (it would explain the seven year coincidence, and Alastor appearing at Charlie's doorstep so serendipitously). This is almost cemented by the following line, "I'm hungry for freedom like never before, the constraints of my deal, surely you have a back door."

He almost died (again), for the sake of Charlie and her hotel. That's a helluva fucking thing for a being who's toppled overlords and held power like he has. No amount of entertainment is worth his own life, there's just no way he willingly pits himself against Adam for anyone's sake.

Assuming that the source of his power is also the source of his subjugation, and considering how Alastor openly strives for control--yeah, he's having a bit of a moment™.

I do hope that there's some genuine conflict in him in regards to his relationship with Charlie and the gang. That everything he's doing isn't inherently selfish anymore, but he veils that 'weakness' under his perpetual guise of deviant mirth. Bonus points if he's tormented by the good Charlie brings out in him. He deserves the angst, the fuzzy-fucker (/affectionate).

Couple of side notes here:

Thoughts on the way Alastor's mouth is sewn up when he strikes the deal with Charlie? Was he made to smile all the time, is it just a design choice? Personally, I'm hoping there's some angsty lore there, like maybe it's part of his contract as some twisted joke, idk.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Alastor vs Adam smackdown extravaganza. Yes, it was rad as fuck. Yes, of course Alastor was going to lose. But the way it was handled felt like a bit of a disservice, Alastor's reaction felt ooc. But then again that could just be me projecting my perspective of Alastor unto the character.

ALSO, having a character who is well known for not swearing dropping some casual, outta pocket f-bombs was a bit trite. it's supposed to feel like a reward, y'know?

ANWAYS. Yeah. Good shit. I'm losing my goddamn mind.

#alastor #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel spoilers #hazbin hotel episode 7 #hazbin hotel episode 8 #don't mind me just casually spiraling into obsession #alastor analysis #i just think he's neat

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tonythr · 10 months

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Floating platforms in Hollow Knight are weird, lore-wise

Soooo I haven't seen anyone actually talk about this, but those things just keep *bugging* me.

These things.

Why did Team Cherry put these particular platforms in the background?

Ok, there are numerous floating platforms in this game, of course, because the player needs them to traverse big spacey rooms vertically. They're not even an issue lore-wise, because their existence can be explained by them being attached to the fourth wall, which is what the player looks at the Knight through. It's basically a game construct that we are not supposed to think about as a part of the suspension of disbelief.

BUT THOSE THINGS are not attached to any wall! They're just. Floating. There. In the air. Without any support. And THEIR existence can't be explained by the game wanting to provide the player some convenience. The Knight can't interact with them, we never see anyone else use them or even acknowledge them, so they MUST be something that TC put there for lore reasons, as a part of that beautiful thing that we call environmental storytelling... Right?

That or they just put them there without really thinking about the implications that this anomaly creates. But that's a boring and very unlikely explanation, so I'm just going to discuss what that might mean for the game's lore, assuming they're put there intentionally.

So, I have several thoughts on why those platforms might exist as a part of the in-game universe.

First theory. Hallownest is literally frozen in time

Ok, so this is probably the most obvious one. Throughout the game we see some evidence of the Kingdom being literally put on hold with the intention to keep it alive indefinitely.

This is pretty much what is implied in the tablet in the Pale King's workshop - that PK was trying to literally pause Time itself, so that the inevitable Dawn would never Break.

(Quite an interesting theme, actually - the idea of avoiding the inevitable not by trying to actually avoid letting it happen, but by delaying it by an infinite amount of time. It deserves its own post, really)

So, with Time itself being literally frozen, it's pretty safe to assume that this is exactly the reason as to why some parts of the Kingdom are literally stuck in one place, right? I mean, it's pretty much a trope to have floating rocks and buildings in a place that is stuck in some kind of time stasis. I'd say this is a pretty solid assumption, but when we actually look at some of the other parts of Hallownest we see that it's pretty lively for a place that is frozen in time. The rain is pouring, the stalactites are falling, all those machines in the Crystal Peak are still working...

Some of that stuff can actually be explained by either the Radiance's influence or the Knight's movement. The Infection is presented as the inevitable force of change that resurrects everything and moves it towards Light. The air thickens, the bugs arise from the dead, the Infection takes over the Crossroads, the Moss cultists get turned into mush, and so on. Meanwhile, other creatures possessing a Will are also capable of bringing change to this land. The Knight constantly breaks things, forces the ground to crumble beneath its feet, and overall just brings destruction to Hallownest, bringing the world closer to its natural end. It's no wonder that the stalactites start falling conveniently right as the Knight passes underneath them.

BUT there are still many things that can't be explained so easily. Like, if the Kingdom is supposed to be frozen in time, then why is the rain still pouring? Why is the Wyrm's ash still falling at the Kingdom's Edge? Why is the sand still falling from the ceiling? Why do larger things seem to be fixed in place, while smaller things are seemingly unaffected by the Kingdom's stasis?

That and the fact that at no point we see these floating platforms being acknowledged by the game's lore in any way other than those two places makes me think that this theory is probably incorrect, unlike the next one.

Second theory. Those two particular places are just that special.

The only two places where we actually see floating platforms being a part of the background (if I'm not missing any) are located near some of the most mysterious places in the whole game.

First, we have the ones that are located near the Colosseum of Fools. To be honest, even the interactable platforms there just seem useless, as some of them don't even protect us from the Bellflies. They all look like some kind of decoration (alongside with those strange thin pillars with circles on top of each) leading us along the road towards the corpse of a huge beast which the Colosseum is located inside. What even is this creature? Is it a higher being? Is it a Wyrm (don't mossbag me, he's wrong about those things being its claws because we see a third one in the foreground lying aside from the main structure, detached from the body)? Is the Lord Fool its reincarnation? Is it connected to the Ancient Civilization? How are there so many warriors there? Why does it still thrive after everything that happened to Hallownest? There are so many questions about that place left unanswered that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the magic of the Colosseum actually affects time and/or space around it, making it possible for the floating platforms to exist.

Second (and this is the most important one), we have the platforms that are located inside and outside the Hive. As far as I know, this is the only place in the whole game that has this many floating platforms located in the background.

This basically confirms that this is absolutely NOT a coincidence and is a part of the intentional in-game lore. The whole place is floating!

The Hive seems to be in its own kind of stasis, probably due to its isolation. Vespa says that going against nature is a folly, so this anomaly is probably something... natural.

And you know where else floating things are a natural occurrence?

The Dream Realm.

So, the Hive and the Dream Realm are both places that are tied to the Light, which is a kind of force or energy that can alter reality and even create new realities, which are not necessarily bound by the usual laws of space and time. The Hive is not located in the Dream Realm, and it's safe to say that it's not some kind of in-between-the-worlds situation like with the Lifeblood Core, so the stuff that's going on there is less crazy than what we see in the Dream Realm, but it is also the only material place that is connected so heavily to the Light, so it is safe to assume that the anomaly that lets the platforms float is directly connected to that mysterious force.

The only thing that I can't understand is how the Light in those places connects to the Colosseum of Fools. It's not a well-lit area, and even inside the arena the only source of light is just regular fire. Could it be that this mysterious force is not defined by the Light itself, but by something more... incomprehensible?

I wonder what that force even is. The Radiance is definitely not the only source of it, and we know we're gonna see some really shiny stuff in Silksong. I personally hope for more platform lore.

#hollow knight #hollow knight lore #hollow knight theory #Hallownest #the hive #the dream realm #colosseum of fools #the radiance #silksong

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yardsards · 2 years

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thinking of the Implications of the blight parents signing their 14 year old daughter up for emperor's coven tryouts

because

1: the emperor's coven takes their recruits away from their friends and family

2: they do not wait until you are an adult to do this

(like, even assuming the process from getting accepted into the coven to actually joining it and moving to the castle aren't as fast as hunter makes it sound here it's like.

we do see lilith having dinner at home after eda's been cursed. so it wasn't immediate (at least back then it wasn't)

but they weren't waiting til she was an adult either. cuz eda was 2 years younger than lilith (thus at least 2 years younger than whatever the boiling isles considers an adult, cuz we know lilith was still a student then too) and she and lilith planned on joining at the same time. there wasn't a "well, eda can't actually *join* join for two more years, so she might as well wait for next tryout anyway"

which, tryouts might not be *yearly*, perhaps it's more efficient to not have to run the training camp every year, but i don't imagine they'd be less often than every couple of years)

so this?

the blight parents are 100% willing to send their FOURTEEN YEAR OLD CHILD away *forever*

14 years old. not even done with puberty yet. half a head shorter than her siblings and a whole head shorter than her parents. face still covered in baby fat.

this is a child who is called *mittens* by not only her siblings but by the very parents who were willing to send her away

and they weren't just sending her off to live far-ish away and rarely see them again; they were sending her off to have a Real Grownup Job. even if exactly how bad working for the emperor is isn't a well-known fact, it's still obviously a full-time job.

odalia has wanted amity to join the emperor's coven for a long time. after all, having a daughter in the emperor's coven would bring a lot of prestige to the family, and she could maybe try to leverage amity's position to gain more power

and odalia can be an impatient woman, so it makes sense that she'd want this to happen as soon as possible. not to mention, she's canonically not averse to child labour

(i briefly considered that maybe odalia wanted amity out of her life but i don't think that's the case. odalia doesn't outright hate amity; odalia's cruelty comes from seeing her family as tools (and seeing amity as very useful but flawed) rather than malice)

meanwhile, alador explains his choice by saying he thought it was what amity wanted

and it's addressed that that's not really her dream (at least, it DEFINITELY isn't anymore. they way she used to "want" to join the emperor's coven is worthy of its own post tbh). and that if he paid attention to her, talked to her, listened to her, and made himself a person that she could comfortably admit these kinds of things to, then he'd know that.

but he also ignores her when she says she doesn't want to go to tryouts that night (even if she didn't admit that she never wants to join the emperor's coven at all) and wants to go to the bonesborough brawl instead.

doesn't stop to question why his daughter -who has previously shown herself to be rather studious, responsible, and goal-oriented- would suddenly want to "goof off". he just... assumes she's being irresponsible and thoughtlessly not pursuing "her dream" or "a bright future" for no reason, and just needs to be pushed into doing the supposedly responsible thing

but that doesn't quite explain why he's convinced that she needs to do this at *age fourteen*, why her future can't wait a few more years, why her dream needs to happen as soon as possible before her childhood's even over. (and i'm not gonna take "because odalia said so" as an answer here; he's clearly convinced that what he's doing is right and is not just mindlessly following orders)

well, first possibility: i think maybe, while he's not as bad or blatant about it as his wife, he might also think material success is the key to happiness (and the emperor's coven is considered one of the most successful positions in the world, next to being a covenhead)

and with that kind of mindset, a lot of the things that would bring the children actual happiness just get forgotten. their needs for attention and affection, for friendship and leisure, for the freedom to express themselves, for the chance to just be kids, all get thrown by the wayside -sacrificed in the name of "success"

by that line of thinking: joining the emperor's coven = material success and material success = happiness. and if joining the emperor's coven = happiness, then joining sooner = being happy sooner. and why wouldn't a parent want their child to find happiness as soon as possible? unfortunately her age and specific needs are not in that equation at all, even though they're obviously actually very important factors

(you could also honestly apply this reasoning to odalia herself as well, if you want to be charitable. cuz i've seen good arguments that she does actually care about her family's wellbeing, but in a twisted sort of way, wherein her priorities are extremely skewed AND it gets obscured by her own selfishness. idk, the show's characterization of her is weird, even compared to her husband (i blame the s3 shortening rushing their development, tbh). so i waited to bring this up til after i started talking about alador.)

there's also a second possibility: maybe he realizes that their home environment is bad for amity (which, it is), and thinks getting her out of there early by any means would be good for her (which, not quite the case)

maybe not even by noticing her actual misery, but by projecting his own misery onto her. like, he's in an abusive marriage and severely overworked. when he says amity has a bright future, he's kind of contrasting her with himself, and -consciously or not- implying that his life is not what a bright future looks like (which kind of goes against the first possibility, because he is rather financially successful). and he's very afraid of his children having to take his place: probably especially amity, because she's the abomination witch and would be more likely to have to take on his exact job

(ironically, though he doesn't know it, emperor's coven members are just as overworked and controlled as he is)

except, y'know, leaving a toxic home environment to become fully self sufficient is not the kind of upgrade for a kid that it would be for an adult. it'd just be throwing her from one bad situation to another

and also it's your responsibility as a parent to provide an environment for your child that they don't need to escape from. and while some concessions can be made due to the whole abusive wife situation, that doesn't absolve him of all responsibility.

like, the whole point of his role in reaching out was that the WERE things that he COULD do better. like, he became a better father at the end of that episode than he was at the beginning. and none of that change was due to "my wife changed, so i now have the ability to be a better father"; odalia wasn't involved in that growth at all

#eliot posts #toh #the owl house #toh meta #amity blight #odalia blight #alador blight #i love analyzing this family's deeply messed up dynamics if that fact weren't obvious already #*lifts up the blight family* every last one of yinz need therapy #sidenote most of these screenshots are basically useless in making my point #the adhd just likes pictures to break up text blocks #long post #anyway. *puts the blight parents into a blender*

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queerxqueen · 2 years

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unpacking the 4x08 van scene script

[The Full Van Scene]

Alrighty, let's break down all the bits and pieces we've got!

First we get this bit about Will wanting to play D and D and Nintendo for the rest of their lives. We then see him immediately catch himself with Uh... and when Mike is unexcited, it's described as "awkward, like embarrassingly so."

Then we get Will's internal, self-deprecating "What are you, like 12-years-old still dude?"

This is 1000% from Will's POV still, not Mike - I don't know why people think otherwise, but this is Will, being hard on himself for being childish, thinking that that is why Mike is not engaging when clearly his head is somewhere else.

This is probably the most interesting bit to me: Will senses the change in vibe; although oblivious to the actual motive behind the change.

Once again we get confirmation that we are only seeing from Will's perspective and that Mike's actions are meant to be a mystery to us. The vibe changes, not because Mike is judging him for wanting to play D&D, not even because Mike is worried about El as Will suspects next--but for some other reason unknown to Will and, at this point, the audience.

Then Mike tentatively goes into his talk about El not needing him. I think it's interesting they used the word "contemplatively" when he first talks about it. It makes it seem like this has been on his mind for a while, like there's in fact a lot on his mind regarding El not needing him.

This is really interesting too--"We've been over this before." Because... have they really? They've talked a bit about El previously, on the car after burying Hero Secret Agent Man, and in Will's room when they talk in 4x04, and Will offered comfort in regards to El. But they certainly haven't quite been over this before. If anything, it's interesting that Will feels that they have. Does Will feel like their conversations are going in circles when it comes to talking about Eleven?

Then Mike launches into his little tangent and Will--doesn't quite get it. He tries to understand but doesn't, not at first, with this awkward encounter, Mike apologizing, before Will shows that he does "get it" with the line: You're scared of losing her.

They lock eyes. A BEAT. I love when scripts specify they lock eyes, because it's so rarely necessary to do so that when they do, I can't help but think of the implications. The writers at this moment are trying to show the understanding passing between them.

I don't need to break down Mike's response: It's stunning. "His face can light up a room." Y'all, consider how down Mike was not two seconds ago, thinking he's worthless, talking down on himself. One look at Will's art, and his face can light up a room.

Will patiently waiting for approval and then being overwhelmed with relief--this is superbly acted by Noah, because that's exactly what we read his facial expressions as to begin with.

Then, of course, the moment he realizes or decides to lie: Act cool. No! Don't look at him. Focus on your words.

I love the line, no! Don't look at him! Like looking Mike in the eye right then, seeing his face--lighting up the van with his happiness over the painting--would make Will want to tell the truth instead of his lie.

This is also the only moment that Jonathan's POV is written into the script where he watches through the rearview mirror--and it happens right as Will tells his first lie, as if to signify that he's lying, to show us once again that Will is our unreliable narrator.

Will "nudges closer" just as he begins to explain the painting, showing how he is taking that first step, being brave, inching closer to the truth.

Then--

I think it's so interesting that it draws emphasis on "Mike turns his attention to Will" just after the first mention of "heart." As if somehow this word draws his attention in a way that's notable. I talked about this particular line having an impact on Mike in my microexpression analysis where again, the word heart seems to take Mike aback, and I think we're seeing that here as well, subtly, with the way it draws our eyes to Mike's attention.

We also get "Will retreats. His body follows." Which neatly contrasts the earlier "Will angles to Mike and nudges closer." Just as before he was being brave, taking a step, now--in turning the conversation back to El--he is doing the opposite. Taking a step back. Retreating, body and soul.

Skipping over the "being different" and "I hate who I am" because it's already been analyzed to death since yesterday and also it's too immensely painful...

Will launches into his El monologue and we get---now it's Mike who doesn't get it. And jesus christ, someone please help these poor boys communicate. Will is saying all these things that don't quite match up to El's actions, and he's clearly getting emotional, but Mike just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand what Will is really saying, doesn't understand that he's talking in code.

Last, I want to mention something that could be significant - the version of the script sent out to donors is missing the line "Thanks, I needed that," which was the only line from Mike's perspective in the preview of the script that 8flix posted on Twitter. Why was this line cut from the donor scripts? What other lines might have been cut, and why?

I actually asked 8flix Nick about this and will let you know if/when he updates, because it's a pretty big inconsistency in my opinion.

That's all for now. More analysis incoming, I'm sure. <3

#byler script #st4 scripts #byler #byler analysis #mine #1k+

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wsdanon · 1 month

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i feel like this will be quite niche, mostly because i'm not sure how many ordem fans are in my sphere but also because it's not about the main cast lol

but below the cut is an osnf fic \o/! many spoilers for that season. it's based on a canon divergent au me and @factorialsotherfandoms came up with and this one in particular involves the helper and the gatekeeper!

also below the cut for anyone who hasn't seen ordem but is curious about the fic is a brief summary of some world-building elements that will help with understanding the fic \o/ but not the plot because that will take too long lol

reblogs appreciated \o/!! hope you guys enjoy

brief worldbuilding stuff: the helper and the gatekeeper are from a town called santo berço which was a seemingly perfect town apart from the fact that the people are brainwashed to some degree into wanting to stay there and there's a parasite (the saint/a god) feeding on some of them. everyone in the town uses their work titles as their names, and they have an alien-ish appearance (Luzidio) but can switch into a human appearance (Ignaro) at will. the crystals mentioned are healing crystals that have the ability to knock people out if ingested. i can't explain buttery butter. blame felps for this creation

The Helper stands in front of the mirror, his Ignaro form staring back. Technically he doesn’t need to be in it right now, but he’ll need to get used to it eventually, so… he’s practicing.

The eyes are maybe the strangest bit about it. They feel smaller. The familiar blackness now shrunk down and encased by other colours—brown and white.

He leans closer to the mirror and pokes at his cheek where his markings would be. Maybe if he looks close enough he’ll still be able to see the faint shadow of them—

“Why are you acting like it’s new?” The Gatekeeper says. “You’ve seen this form before.”

The Helper jumps at the sudden appearance of his voice, and spins around to face him. He doesn’t like having people behind him anymore—an alien distrust crawling through his body at even the thought of it.

“I know, I’m just… getting used to it. You know?” He shrugs, and tries to force himself to relax. “I never used to use it much before, but now it’s going to be pretty much constant, right?”

“That’s true.”

Cautiously, the Gatekeeper drifts closer. They don’t have the crystals anymore, and he’s not holding a weapon so it should be fine.

Really, he wishes his brain would stop thinking so hard about it. He’s one of the few people who actually managed to survive and that was because of the Gatekeeper.

It’s just…

It’s hard to put the memory out of his mind of the Gatekeeper approaching him with a knife and wrestling crystals into his mouth.

“It is strange.” The Gatekeeper admits with a small smile as he stops close in front of him. “I only ever saw you like this when we were messing around.”

“And you went on lots of Pilgrimages, right?” The Helper says, knocking their shoulders together gently with a smile that doesn’t quite feel real crossing his face. He doesn’t like it, but no attempts at widening the smile make it feel realer. “So you’re probably dealing fine, huh?”

“Eh…” The Gatekeeper shrugs. “With this, yeah.”

He’s in his Luzidio form now. It’s nice. A tiny bit of familiarity to cling onto.

“What if we lose it?” The Gatekeeper continues, something nervous seeping into his tone.

“What?” The Helper tilts his head, eyebrows furrowing. “What do you mean?”

“This form.” He points to himself. “We only had this because of the Saint’s influence. What if we lose it now?”

“Well, we—“ He cuts himself off as the full implications hit him, a hollow feeling settling into his chest. It’s uncomfortable. He never used to feel this way in Santo Berço, but now it’s almost all he can feel. “We—We get used to it, I guess.”

The Gatekeeper reaches a hand up—slowly, but the Helper can’t help but flinch away a little. All he does, though, is settle it onto his cheek. Doesn’t try to pry his mouth open. Doesn’t try to force the anaesthesia down his throat.

“You should, uh…” The Gatekeeper shifts his thumb to line up with where the Helper’s markings would be. Presses down firmly, but not enough to hurt. “You should get them tattooed.”

“Okay.” This smile feels a little more real. “Would you?”

“Ah, maybe.” He shrugs. “I’m still not… sure how I feel about, uh, all of it.”

“I like them.” The Helper brings a finger up to trace down one before letting it drop to his side again. “I’d miss them.”

“O-Okay.” The Gatekeeper looks away, his cheeks darkening. “Maybe for you, then.”

The Helper frowns. He misses Santo Berço. Misses the simplicity of it. Everything out here just feels like a mess—the selfish desire to keep at least one thing the same, versus the guilt of forcing the Gatekeeper to do something he doesn’t particularly want to do.

“Only if it’s for you, too.” He tries another smile. “From what you’ve said, it sounds like it’s about time you do things for yourself, hm?”

The Gatekeeper is still cupping his cheek, so he can feel the moment his hands start shaking. He wonders if they shook when he spilled his blood to fake his death.

“I…” His voice cracks. He drops his hand from the Helper’s face so he can wrap him in a tight hug instead. “I’m so glad you’re here. My god, I’m so glad you’re here, Helper, I… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

The Helper hugs him back.

“It’s okay. Everything’s okay now.”

For a while they stand there. The Gatekeeper isn’t quite crying, but he is trembling in the Helper’s arms—murmuring things that he can’t make out, but are probably apologies.

When he pulls away he doesn’t go far. And he’s still trembling a little—his eyes shiny with unshed tears—but he seems more put together than he was a moment ago.

“I’ll—I’ll figure out how to make buttery butter, okay?” The Gatekeeper promises.

“Oh, how cool!” For the first time since they got here, a spark of excitement ignites in him. “We can all experiment together! I’m sure we’ll get it right eventually, you know?”

“Hopefully.” The Gatekeeper sends him a watery smile. “I just—I know how much you like it. You did always say it was the best part of Santo Berço.”

That was when he still had Santo Berço. When he didn’t have to miss it. But the sentiment is sweet, and he is clawing for any scrap of familiarity.

For the Collector and the Nurse it isn’t so bad, he thinks. As much as they might miss it, they know what it’s like to live without it. All they’ll need is a readjustment period.

The Gatekeeper is in his boat, but it’s different. He’s always hated Santo Berço—apparently. And he’s probably been on enough Pilgrimages to understand how the world outside is.

“Thank you.” It’s worth being optimistic, though. “I think between the four of us we’ll get close!”

“We will.” The Gatekeeper declares—an intensity to him that the situation doesn’t really require. “I promise.”

They should maybe talk about that. The devotion he feels for them.

The Helper knows the Nurse doesn’t like it. He’s aware of her wariness every time the Gatekeeper is around. But they all saw the fates of the people still connected to the Saint, and the Helper finds it difficult to hate his friend for his original plan.

He doesn’t want to open up the discussion and find out she has a reason to still be worried, though. It’s a strange enough thing to know your friend would kill you to prevent your suffering. To not be able to shake the fear that came with the certainty you were about to die by his hands.

He doesn’t want it to be made worse. He’s lost too much to lose the Gatekeeper now.

“Come on.” The Helper says, nudging the Gatekeeper into action. “The Nurse said you should be resting, and you know she knows what she’s talking about.”

“If you could say that with less infatuation in your voice I’d be more inclined to believe you, you know?” The Gatekeeper says teasingly. “But you’re right—she’s right—I am tired. Maybe you could carry me?”

The Gatekeeper had collapsed when the Saint was killed. Dropped like a stone before any of them could catch him. It wasn’t as worrying as bursting into flames, but it was still terrifying.

The Helper had carried him to safety. Held on tightly to him—almost afraid he’d disappear in front of him, just like his dad had.

“Yeah, okay.”

And then he scoops him up.

It’s as easy to carry him as last time, but this time feels nicer. Less terrifying. Instead of being limp and unconscious in his arms, the Gatekeeper clings back to him immediately—his eyes widening in shock.

The Helper laughs. The Gatekeeper clearly wasn’t expecting the request to be taken seriously, but he doesn’t complain or ask to be put down and it’s—it’s nice.

It’s a short walk to the spare room, but the Gatekeeper is already dozing off. He lays him down in bed gently, but the Gatekeeper grabs his arm before he can leave.

“Wait, can you—can you stay?” He asks, his voice shaky with something the Helper would label as fear. “Please? Just until I fall asleep.”

“Okay.”

He was going to wait up until the Nurse got back from her shift, but that won’t be for a few more hours.

So, he gets into bed, but doesn’t lay down—unwilling to tempt sleep. Just sits there and lets the Gatekeeper curl up against him. It’s a bit of a tight fit, but he doesn’t mind. The closeness is nice, actually.

“Goodnight.” He cards a hand through the Gatekeeper’s hair. Like this, it’s hard to imagine he could be capable of murder. “Sleep well.”

“Thank you. Goodnight.”

The Gatekeeper falls asleep quickly, but the Helper doesn’t leave yet. It’s peaceful. And it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye on the Gatekeeper’s health.

The Nurse had said he’ll probably need more time to recover than them, but she had also asked the Helper to tell her if he seemed to be getting worse.

He was his dad’s assistant before the Blacksmith’s, after all. And while he definitely doesn’t have the knack for it that the Nurse does, he thinks he could at least figure out if she needs to reassess his condition.

But the Gatekeeper seems fine for now, and he has a couple of hours to kill. So, he grabs the book on the bedside table that the Gatekeeper’s been reading through and starts reading it himself.

hope you guys enjoyed \o/!! i'm happy to talk more about the au's details if anyone's curious

#wsd/f.ics

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fromperdition4 · 1 month

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Kinn the Star

There is so much to say about this scene in the woods - where Kinn and Porsche are finally on equal footing, and they both take turns encouraging the other to open up.

One line from Kinn here sticks with me the most -

He explains how he'd wanted to be a singer as a kid, entered a competition but quit. Not because he didn't do well, but because he thinks his father bribed the judges to let him win.

And my mind's just whirring with all the implications here:

First, there's what this shows of Kinn's character - he has all the makings of a nepo baby, and definitely uses his money and privileges to get things that he (or rather his father) wants (see: expensive diamond necklace that no one's ever going to wear). But, he also has pride and integrity - he can recognize when other people are more deserving than he is, and he doesn't want undue recognition. Not when it's something that would be personally meaningful to him otherwise.

Then I'm also struck by Korn's side of this (because I can't stop thinking about Korn's relationship with his sons) - was bribing the judges an act of fatherly care, one of those intrusive things that controlling parents do because they think it would be better for their kid (even when it's something their kid would hate)? Or did he see an opportunity to improve the family's reputation, and couldn't stand to see a Theerapanyakul lose? How did Korn take Kinn quitting, if that was the case?

Of course there's always the possibility that Korn didn't bribe the judges, and Kinn won on his own merit...

never mind

That Kinn's long-forgotten dream was to be a singer of course reminds us of Kim, who's now following that same dream and seems to have carved out some freedom from the family in doing so. Did Kim's interest in singing come from Kinn, from bonding with his big brother/wanting to be like him? Did Korn meddle with Kim's career too, when he was young? Does he still try to?

And finally, it occurred to me on this rewatch that there's a bit of ambiguity here in just want kind of competition Kinn entered.

I'd always assumed it was a local competition - maybe one meant for kids, where they would compete first in their region/school and then the winners would move on to a larger, national competition. That would make sense for how Kinn could both win but also quit - he just didn't move on to the next competition.

But the phrasing here could also imply that Kinn went on an actual televised singing show! His family would certainly have the connections to get him on (and hey, they may or may not have a modelling agency now that would totally have hired Jom to star in a new series)...

Can you imagine baby Kinn singing his little heart out under the bright studio lights? How much he would have been adored and hated in equal measures by the viewers at home?

(There may be some who still talk about that weird kid on Thai Idol, who crooned out a bunch of oldies and stole the heart of the judges, but then dramatically bowed out in the very last episode...)

#kinnporsche #kpanniversary2024 #ep 6 #kinn #porshe #kim #korn #this got very silly at the end #but I really can't stop thinking about this #like - they didn't have to make this kinn's dream #or give him a tragic story about competing #but they did #and here I am

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littlestfallenangel · 1 year

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I saw your post about how it's implied Yang has never been in love before during the confession scene. You mentioned how there's a lot of subtext in that scene. Could you make a post explaining all the subtext in it? Or if there already is a post, could you give me the link, please?

Sure, though I suppose upon reflection I meant subtext more in the conversational sense than literary. There's just a lot you can read into what Blake and Yang say and do, most of which calls back to their respective character arcs.

Blake's "you do what you say" is a big one. It's not hard to connect that to Adam, who talked about liberation but his actions were all about lionizing himself.

Blake is also the first one to advance, which has big implications for a character whose main flaw was running away from her problems.

Then there's Yang. Her being more flustered than Blake implies a couple different things. For one, as I said before, it implies that she's probably less experienced with this sort of thing. Could be the first time she fell in love, could be the first time she felt this way about a girl.

Her abandonment issues are almost definitely a factor, but we've never really seen Yang express those issues this way. First, when she was a little girl, it manifested as an obsession. Then, as she got older, she got angrier. One of the first things we ever see her do was grab a guy by the balls for calling her "Blondie" of all things - which don't get me wrong, was kinda awesome, but clearly showed that she had a short temper and started a fight that she really didn't need to get into.

But in this scene, when she's talking about feeling like she's on a cliff, that's the closest we've seen her come out and say "these emotions make me feel vulnerable and that scares the shit out of me." Yang doesn't talk about her feelings a lot. Hell, when she found out her own mother might be a goddamned Grimm, she only let herself break down for a second because she had to be the strong big sister for Ruby. The one who birthed her left, her mother died, her father shut down, and her uncle was a shitty drunk. Yang isn't allowed to break, because who the fuck will take care of Ruby if she does?

But with Blake, Yang is finally allowed to say "my heart is fragile, pieced back together after every adult in my life broke it, and I'm scared it will slip through your fingers and fall." Even if she can't quite bring herself to be that explicit. And Blake's answer is "I'll fall with you."

Yang and Blake becoming lovers is the culmination of their respective arcs. Their unhealthy coping mechanisms triggered each other; Blake setting off Yang's abandonment issues, while Yang's anger posed a threat of potentially pushing Blake away. Blake and Yang had to confront their respective traumas and unhealthy coping mechanisms (Yang being unable to physically fight Raven and thus having to use her words, Blake being forced to finally stand her ground against Adam) to reach this point. So this scene, and the Bumbleby relationship in general, carries so much weight.

Not 100% sure if "subtext" was quite the right word for all that, but it's subtle storytelling bolstered by "the sky is a lesbian flag and there are lilies sprouting around them, in case it wasn't clear how gay this is."

#rwby #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #answers #thank you for the ask

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mixelation · 7 days

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oh yeah, i binged Buddy Daddies over the weekend! some thoughts (spoilers ahead)

If you haven't heard of it, Buddy Daddies is about two professional hitmen, Kazuki and Rei, who happen to be roommates (and they were roommates......). During one of their hits, they accidentally acquire a four year old girl named Miri and end up raising her. The set up for this is, and the escalation to them taking her in until they can find her mom to genuinely wanting to be her family, is zany but feels organic within the universe.

Now, the initial set up for this show is completely unhinged in a way that deeply entertained me. Kazuki, who is the "brains of the operation," is attempting to sneak himself and Rei (local pathetic wet man and "human weapon") into their mark's Christmas party by delivering a cake. Prior to this we see Kazuki cooking for Rei and feeling unappreciated for his efforts, with the implication that Rei never compliments his cooking, a hobby Kazuki greatly enjoys. Throughout this set up, we also see shots of a little girl walking around and asking strangers for directions.

The Christmas party is at a hotel. Kazuki pushes a cake cart into an elevator and Miri simply follows them in, a second before the doors close. She's amazed by the cake and Kazuki, who we are already having hints at having lost a previous family, and who is the more social of the two roommates, offers to let her try. Miri loves the cake, and Kazuki finally feels appreciated. Then they get off the elevator, and the entire assassination attempt goes to shit. There's a shoot out. The mark takes Miri hostage and aims a gun at her head. Shenanigans happen such that Kazuki ends up with Miri in his ams, and we don't feel bad at all when the mark is killed.

Not seeing anything else to do about her in the moment, especially since he can't go to the police, Kazuki takes Miri home with him. She doesn't know any information to help him get her home. She tells him she came to this city to find her papa, and she has a note from her mom explaining that.... her papa is actually the mark they killed, OOPS.

Oh, and Kazuki told her he's her papa as part of his rescue attempt.

The rest of the series is largely about Kazuki and Rei struggling with their personal demons and flaws, and learning to open up to each other and Miri and curb their negative qualities for both Miri's sake and their roommate's sake. Rei, for example, is a "shut in" who doesn't even try any household chores like cooking or cleaning. Kazuki has a gambling problem. They both have their own family dramas they have to face.

I've read a few complaints of queerbaiting in this show, but I don't think that's what's going on here. There's a couple jokes about Kazuki being a "mom," but they don't turn Kazuki and Rei into a "husband/wife, but they're both men!" style dynamic. They don't really tease the audience with forced semi-sexual or semi-romantic situations. It's made pretty clear by the end of the series that Kazuki and Rei love each other deeply, but they stay pretty non-romantic and non-sexual. The series just isn't concerned with this.

Miri is sort of a morality pet and doesn't really get her own character arc, but she still has her own personality. She also doesn't quite fall into "personalityless child is perfect cute prop"-- Miri gets obnoxious in fairly normal kid ways. The story is a little too afraid of letting her get hurt IMHO-- like, I get it's a zany fun comfort series, and certainly I don't want to see her in real peril and I definitely don't want her to be traumatized-- but she never has to overcome or deal with her own little four year old struggles. There's an episode where she has a hard time making friends, but this turns out to be because Kazuki insisted on dressing her in designer clothes, and the other kids don't want her to get them dirty. The problem is solved immediately by simply dressing her in cheaper clothes. Or, there's another episode where she "gets into a fight," but then it turns out it was an accident, and the other "mean" kid is won over simply by Miri liking the same video game as him.

I do appreciate that Miri witnesses two shoot-outs and also occasionally wakes up in strange new places and is not phased by any of these events. This series is a comedy, after all-- it's meant to be fun, and leaving the cute kid untraumatized is an important part of the tone staying fun. I'm not criticizing this choice with her. But I think she'd have been a stronger character and the family dynamic would have been deeper if, for example, she'd actually hit someone and her hitman co-dads had to deal with that.

My other big complaint is that the hitmen stuff is largely dropped after the first few episodes, but then comes up again in the climax, when Rei's mafia boss dad decides Miri and her mom need to die. Miri comes away unharmed in the resulting conflict, but her mom is killed. Kazuki then lies to Miri about where her mom is (although the last scene is post time-skip and it's implied Miri knows her mom is gone). Not showing Miri processing this loss at all takes away from her character. Also, the finale is that Kazuki and Rei quit being hitmen so they can raise Miri together.

My issue with this ending is one part I signed on for hitmen shenanigans, and one part that I think by leaning away from this premise, the ending feels..... kind of weird? Like it's heart warming that the papas want to change and be better for Miri, but also they are responsible for both her parents' deaths. How am I supposed to feel good about that? If they'd continued with the unhinged hitman premise, this stark contrast between "three unrelated people are a happy family" and "child living with her parents' killers" would have been easier to process thematically. Okay, that last characterization is a little harsh-- Miri's bio dad left her mom while she was pregnant and threatened to kill Miri, meanwhile her mom was killed by a different hitman, albeit explicitly for her involvement with Rei. But those technicalities are easy to embrace when I'm already leaning into a whacky show about morally loose hitmen, and harder to ignore when I'm supposed to take "no longer being a murderer for hire" as an important bit of character growth.

All that being said, I don't think the ending was a bad one. It was emotionally satisfying. The found family triumphed over Rei's shitty blood family. Rei and Miri finally made French toast. I was happy.

I found this show because it gets compared to Spy x Family a lot, probably largely because they aired concurrently. There are some similarities-- enough that I'd recommend Buddy Daddies to any Spy x Family fans without many qualifiers-- but Buddy Daddies is pretty firmly its own thing. While I think Anya is a better written kid character than Miri (see my paragraph about Miri not having to deal with her own conflict), I have been frustrated recently with Yor and Loid's lack of character development. Buddy Daddies largely delivers on its two "parent" characters' arcs. and yes, i realize part of this is that BD is a 12 episode complete series and SxF is an ongoing manga. Buddy Daddies is also entirely about family as a theme; Spy x Family goes into this a little, but I think it gets overshadowed by the dual-role and anti-war themes.

Overall, would recommend...... unless you hate kids. Then I think you will hate Miri's constant shrieks of joy LMAO

#mixed bag #buddy daddies

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shlubbyart · 2 months

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May I see the disabled rep lore?

Absolutely!

I'll keep this to disability rep in Suit-Nami specifically, but if you want my thoughts on canon Splatoon characters and disabled representation I'd be happy to delve into my headcanons in a separate post.

This is gonna be a long one so check under the cut if you wanna read my ramblings:

As someone who is disabled/neurodivergent myself, having disabled representation is pretty important to me. It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that Suit-Nami has become a way for me to represent myself, as well as simply exploring the kinds of disabilities I could imagine existing in the Splatooniverse.

I'll start off by going into more detail about Tide's physical disability that I referenced in my previous post.

#1. Developmental Deformities in Inklings/Octolings

In short: Tide has a misshapen ear due to a hiccup in his ability to shapeshift.

I always thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of the squid to kid transformation not always working as intended, and for that to be used in the context of disability.

Here's a little graph to show what I mean:

For Tide, his left ear (or fin, however you want to define it) isn't able to fully morph in his human form, so he's left with a blueish translucent fin/ear malformation.

Being an idol, as well as previous experiences with ableist discrimination, Tide opts to cover his ear by hiding it between his two hair tentacles. He's quite sensitive to having his hair being lifted or his ear being touched without permission, so doing either of those things is a big no-no.

Tide could be partially deaf in his left ear as a result, but that would really depend if you think he'd be partially deaf in squid form too. I think either interpretation is interesting.

#2. Crash and Hereditary Mutations

Similar to exploring the hiccups of shapeshifting, I also found the concept of Inklings/Octolings having disorders that affect their abilities to change colour as something that would be worth diving into. It technically has already been explored in canon too! Yoko from Ink Theory/Gold Bazookas is implied to have some sort of mutation that makes her tentacles split into different colours.

On that note, have you ever noticed that the ends of Crash's tentacles are always red? It isn't just to look cool (even though it does look very cool), Crash can't actually physically change the ends of his tentacles to any colour outside of a red to dark pink pigment.

The reason? Well I'll have to briefly explain how adaptive camoflage in real life squids actually works:

In simple terms, squids and other animals have these special skin molecules called chromophores. They are able to control the pigments of these chromophores through special multicellular organs in their bodies. Think of it as like having a second nervous system for changing the colour of your skin.

So what if the chromophores or multicellular organs were to not function in the way that they should? Like for instance, chromophores not having enough pigments to shift to certain colours. What are the implications of inkfish being unable to change colour in the context of things like Turf War?

Crash's red ends serve as a sort of base-level exploration into the idea of inkfish having some kind of hereditary complication that effects their abilities to change colour. The reason why I chose hereditary specifically is because he has another mutation that is also genetic: his heterochromia.

I think instances of discolouration in the Splatooniverse could be easily explained through how heterochromia and vitiligo occur in the body. I know for certain there are other Splatoon fans who have OCs with vitiligo or other instances of unique colouration, so maybe it would be comforting for them to know that there is theoretically a grounded explanation as to why it would exist. Not that I think representation has to necessarily be grounded in reality to justify existing.

#3. Tide and the Autism Spectrum

While Tide's lucky ear has been a pretty recent addition, what hasn't been a recent addition is the fact that he is also canonically autistic. Just as a handful of examples, he...

Sometimes misunderstands or doesn't pick up on certain social cues (namely sarcasm and flirting)

Is very passionate and knowledgeable about cats (ie: a very common special interest for people on the spectrum; including me)

Did not start speaking until he was in his preschool years (a common sign of autism in young children; also including me :P)

Has a unique speech pattern and uses a lot of uncommon phrases and words.

Stamps his feet or plays with his hair when he is in a good mood (ie: stimming)

Tide being autistic is 100% a self-indulgent decision on my part, even if I don't completely relate to his experiences. I do play up some of his quirks for jokes, but he is nonetheless an earnest representation of the fun and frustrations that come from being on the spectrum.

#4. Tide and far-sightedness

I'll keep this one short. Tide wears glasses when reading, which while it may be pretty innocuous, is still technically a disability.

I also wanted to share Tide wearing his glasses because he looks like a dork (affectionate) when he has them on.

I'd love to keep exploring disability representation in Splatoon, be it through my fan characters or through headcanons. I think with such a weird and wacky world that Splatoon exists in, it serves as a great canvas for portraying disability in a positive light, and even in ways not fully applicable to humans. If nothing else it is a ton of fun to write about. :P

Sidenote, but despite my position as a disabled person, I don't consider myself an expert in disability. So if I got anything wrong or said something misleading or offensive please let me know!

Thank you for reading ☆

#ask shlubby #shlubb’s journal #long post (sorry)#splatoon #disability #Suit-Nami #squid scribbles

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jmdbjk · 9 months

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Bangtan weekly report

Lordt, what a week, what a month, what a year? It's September, we're on the downhill slide.

I've been busy, y'all. You know, life happens and all that crap we say when we have to focus on stuff that's not as fun as staring at the latest naked Bangtan pics... anyway... there is A LOT to process, A LOT to even sit down and catch up on.

Let's break it down shall we?

It was JK's b-day and he first tried to TikTok live us and you know, I hope he can't figure it out to his satisfaction because there's no replay and no translations so fuck TikTok and I mean that in a nice way. Thank god for Armys who record and translate.

And he dropped this tiny but significant TMI:

We know he's building that big whatever it is. It will be a while before he leaves his current residence...or? What? Moving elsewhere until he enlists? He mentioned in one of his more recent past lives that he had to clean up some of his junk in his apartment... soooo.... hmmm....

Also, this:

Acting research? I'm loving the sound of whatever that is.

Thankfully he came to visit us on Weverse live as well, did a few card tricks and cut it short, one of the shortest lives he's done in years and years? Were the aces a hint? Or just part of his magic trick?

Adorable goofball. By the way, the subs are up on this live.

He was out and about before the live, taking pics on the street, he's said he doesn't mind at all, running into fans in public and saying hello.

It's the people who claim to be fans who stalk him and show up uninvited to places where he's trying to live his life in private. Whoever you all are, I'll speak for Kookie. Y'all suck.

In Busan, when he was with his idol friends, they were asked if they were who they were by the restaurant employee and they tried to deny it. That should be a big hint to leave them alone.

Kookie shared a video on his TikTok in solidarity and support of RM speaking out about the uncalled for hate that came RM's way after he posted that song on his Instagram story.

You know... there's been quite a lot of discourse lately about culturally sensitive topics. Tae's "gaffe" and this song that RM shared... I think if you felt offended or uncomfortable when you saw those things happen, those feelings are your own and 100% valid.

Being of Japanese descent, through my life, it has made me cringe when I hear people call stuff "Jap crap" or just yesterday, a canvasser for a political candidate asked me if I was from around here... like... if I was blonde and blue-eyed would they have asked me that? You know? I was speaking to them exactly like I speak here, fully fluent in (Southern U.S. redneck) English because that's my only language (sadly, no thanks to mom and dad because I did not learn Japanese or French). But I don't get obsessed or angry or want to threaten anyone's careers or life. I don't even think about it. And I don't really hold it against people who are not aware of how they come across like that.

People are insensitive all the time without knowing it: asking a woman when they are due but she's not pregnant and maybe can't even have children... mentioning other culturally derogatory terms without realizing it (see "Jap crap" above), saying something looks "gay" like... ok what does that even mean?... you know what I'm saying? I use the term "spirit animal" all the time and someone DM'd me saying it was offensive. So we're all guilty.

I get it, we're all different in how we react. BUT MY FEELINGS ARE VALID TOO, AND MY REACTION IS MY OWN AND DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE SAME AS YOURS TO YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE.

As I said, feelings are valid, and the members aren't perfect and it's okay to call them out on it. But the extra implication that was piled on Namjoon for that song rec crossed the line and he addressed it in his own live.

Exasperated he explained that it was just a song and that he knows exactly what everyone is saying, that he's a 30 year old man and can express himself freely. He said even if there will still be those who will accuse him of lying, he can't and won't lie to us.

I love him: "For ten years I've held things in my heart but nowadays I can't do that, I have to speak my truth. Believe my own words."

Before he got into it though he offended the mathematicians and then tried to back track (omg I'M JOKING ok?... unless someone got offended... omg, can we just chill?)

His 2-day old stubble and fuzzy headed self.

The obsession people have with their weight and their looks is mind-blowing. The way he's drilled in the comments on his face, his hair, about admitting he's tanning, how much he weighs, what he eats, he looks tired... This man has an IQ of 160 or whatever and people are worried about a mosquito bite on his forehead. The vapidness and shallow level of interaction in the comments knows no limit. But we've known that. Please, before commenting can people please make a list of things to speak on other than how they look?

He closed by saying to trust him, he'll always show us what's inside of him whether its his music or him as a human... life is a journey with a lot of obstacles, he's good and focusing on his own things and not on the bad energy. He is in such a good head space nowadays... love to see it.

Next up, Taehyungie-hyung...dis my fave pic out of everything I've seen so far:

I am not a fan of Tae in blonde hair, I've said that before. But this particular shot is stunning to me, the lighting and angle.

As you know, I've not paid as close attention to Tae. Honestly I've been waiting for him to share things during this solo time so I can get to know him better just like I did with the other members.

Up until now, everything he does seems superficial EXCEPT the deliberate soft reveal of his relationship with Jennie, which I hope they are doing well and navigating the shitty waters of having to be idols in a relationship.

But so far, its photo spread after photo spread and I'm just not into it. Yes, Tae is very photogenic. I'm sure V biases are over the moon. I'm happy for them! If it was Jimin you would be sick of me posting every photo, so I get it! But I was looking for something a little deeper from him.

So it was this Dingo show that his personality opened up a little to me somewhat... interacting with this Army who's dream is to become a Military Officer. She is the cutest thing, her reactions so genuine and I could feel her excitement and how she was overwhelmed at the end of their day together when she broke down. Girl was holding it in and living the life that day!!! Sooo happy she got to experience that!

And these pics are the cutest:

This one right above with her hands on his shoulders... such a precious memory. I am looking forward to hearing the rest of Tae's album. I'm sure I'll have things to say about it at that time.

And that brings me to Jimin. The jikook selca not withstanding, we haven't seen or heard from him in ages so after 2 months, 15 days, 23 hours, 8 minutes and some odd seconds (but who was counting? not me)... we finally see him again in person at a Dior event in Seoul.

He looked so good, except that tan leather coat reminded me of something 50s vintage, car coat over a sheath dress women wore in the springtime. He's small. Let's put a giant white garbage bag on him. Don't know what goes through their minds.

Dior creates some extraordinarily crafted pieces, but so far, I sometimes wonder if they've even bothered to look at any of Jimin's previous photo concepts for other various things. It's almost like they don't know how to dress him. That's just my personal opinion.

Anyway..AND THEN HE COMES LIVE!!! FINALLY!!!

Is that a Red Dragon keyboard he has in front of his computer? I don't really know anything about gaming stuff. And goodness...

He gets comfy by tying up those pants that look like four of him (or him and Kookie) could fit in there at the same time...

His eye crinkles... I don't care what people say about his beakie... I'm all about the eye smile and those eye crinkles that are going to get deeper with time.

Y'all, this is my bias...

That mood light of the realistic solar system makes Jungkookie's mood light look like child's play. But I see why his moons down his back look like they do.

I know some of the first translations say he called Jungkook for his birthday and he talked about wanting to live his 30s just as full as his 20s, and he's learning through his solo work that he has things to learn and he will improve and I just don't have enough or the right words to express how much I love and admire his perseverance and dedication to being the best at what he does and the best human he can be. I will do a full blog post when the official subs are ready later this week.

I don't know how this guy from the other side of the world got so completely under my skin:

I know there was a lot of other content that dropped that I didn't touch on but there aren't enough hours in my day to type it all up. I will just continue to watch and absorb as much as I can just like everyone else.

Jin and Hobi are still plugging away at their respective bases, I always pray for their safety and health while they are doing their duty. In a few months, Jin may show us what it will be like to celebrate birthdays while they are enlisted.

And Yoongi. We wait as the days tick by. We know its coming very soon. Holding my Yoongi bias friend's hand very tightly. We'll get through this together.

#can we talk about the total reversal in JK channeling his inner fem and JM having that big dick energy?#jimin #jungkook #namjoon #taehyung #bts chapter 2 #jin #hobi #yoongi #can life and bangtan hiatus slow down a little so a girl can catch up?#bangtan weekly report

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laithraihan · 2 months

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I really don't care about whatever someone ships or doesn't & I do believe you that it's not meant shippy & I think that's fine, because it's fiction so you can make up a bond between whoever you like however you like. But that goes for everyone else alike.

Art will be interpreted as soon as you look at it not after digging for the artist's own opinion, so I can't say I'm surprised that people look at it and think it's shippy first. Sure, some were annoying about it I grant you that, but I think it's because it simply comes of hypocritical to act like a ship interpretation is nuts when the art simply does look like that on first glance.

The average MP100 viewer will not interpret a familial bond between these two characters who canonically barely interacted, but you did. (& more power to you) Maybe your average follower will not interpret a romantic implication in your artworks, but others will. (& more power to them)

I really don't think people lack parental love to see it shippy, I think people simply expect parental love between, well, a parent and their child. Not someone you personally declared to be a "weird uncle" to a girl he barely knows. I didn't even want good night kisses from my actual "weird uncle" as a kid idk man.

Again, I don't see the slightest issue with the platonic relationship you make up for them. I just also get where the romantic interpretations are coming from.

Your uncle/niece interpretation sincerely is farther removed from canon than ship interpretations are from your artworks.

Interesting message so I'll answer this genuinely.

To start off: I Never once implied that it was crazy that other people would interpret this as romantic at first glance. I quite literally said that I understood the confusion because these two barely interacted in canon. Which is why Im always happy to explain my intentions. Experiences vary so what one considers normal may not be normal to someone else: I'm very much aware of this but y'all clearly aren't.

When it gets to the point where people say "this artist drew that AND said it wasn't shipping even though we can obviously tell theyre delusional and in denial", that's where the problem is. I provide an explanation, that explanation gets ignored, people either answer "lmao just admit it" or they treat me as if I'm the worst person alive and they refuse to accept they must've been wrong about their interpretations. They proceed to openly "discuss" this (by just mocking me repeatedly, nothing constructive) in a public space where they think I can't see it almost as if they forget I'm an actual person who can come across these messages at any time.

What others ship or don't ship is none of my concern, I stay away from circles I dislike. But when people constantly attempt to force me into "admitting" I'm into something that I have zero interest in out of malicious intent, then naturally it'll annoy me.

I'm sure you didn't really mean to imply that I was merely outraged at the thought of someone interpreting this as romantic if they didnt know every single thing about my headcanons which is why I'm answering you sincerely. So please forgive me for assuming the ones who compared a peck on the cheek to some nonsense like "platonic breastfeeding" have never experienced any sort of familial love growing up 💜

#asks #and whether or not you think my headcanons are 'so removed from canon' is also not an issue by itself #this is 100% me being self indulgent and i don't hide that fact #i draw whatever i want whenever i feel like it and if others dislike it then i understand #but please don't act like these people were totally oblivious when making these comments: they knew very well what they were doing

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zxaxel · 10 months

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Going on for (too long) about how X isn't a soft crybaby. Sorry.

The way people mischaracterize X as a character is so sad to me. There are a couple instances where he is vulnerable his feelings and suddenly everybody makes him out to be a crybaby who can't fight. I think his portrayal in X7 was really detrimental to many people's perception of his character; I believe it should have instead reinforced his humanity and strength, and I'm going to attempt to explain why.

For clarity, in X7, X chooses to opt out of fighting as he has had enough and needs a mental break from it all. From a gameplay perspective, this was made to make players put more emphasis on Axl, but I'm looking from a story angle here so please bear with me. I should also mention that the endings of some of the other MMX games also tell that X doesn't like to fight and wishes he didn't have to, but yet he always does anyways. That is really important to note since people seem to portray him as if he doesn't fight, but he quite literally always shoves his personal feelings aside in favour of helping others.

It is heavily implied that X feels extremely complex emotions compared to many of his peers, with Dr. Cain in MHX saying his tendency to worry makes him stronger than characters such as Sigma (I know MHX isn't considered canon to the main MMX games but I assume X's personality is remotely the same). MHX also shows that X was affiliated with many characters that went maverick.

Of course, X needing to fight the reploids he once called his own friends must put a lot of emotional turmoil on him. He is seeing those he was recently friends with become corrupt and is required by his job to kill or defeat them. It is likely very hard on X to have to face this. His worry is displayed even more in the ending of X4 where he discusses the possibility of him going maverick to Zero. Seeing his former colleagues change clearly resonates with him. Yet he always pushes his worries aside and destroys the mavericks.

By the time X7 occurs, X has been fighting for many, many years and has needed to destroy a lot of mavericks without much option. Anybody who has dealt with something really stressful understands that feeling of needing a break. A lot of people seen this as some sort of implication that X is weak and not really a fighter, while ignoring every other time X has ignored his feelings in favour of helping others. It is extremely understandable that he would need a break, and I wish it wouldn't dictate his whole character in the way a lot of people interpret him. It is a display of his human emotion, and shows that he isn't invincible. I think that it is good to show that even strong heros have weak moments and times where they need rest.

A lot of people seem to ignore what happens outside of this event. He still got up and fought despite his feelings. X continued to take down mavericks after his break. After the events of MMX, He fought in the elf wars for an entire century alone. He sacrificed his body to seal away the Mother Elf, leaving him to live out his life as a cyber elf. Even as a cyber elf he goes out of his way to help the Resistance in any capacity he can. Becoming a cyber elf was a perfect chance to escape and finally stop fighting, but he still chooses to go and help everyone he can.

Overall, X is not the crybaby, gentle, weak character so many people portray him as. He is a selfless fighter and incredibly strong. He has taken down so many people he once cared about for the sake of others. He continued to fight despite his outlook on the battles he needed to face. He is an extremely caring person who puts others before him at all costs. His emotions only show that he feels like any human would, and should not indicate how strong he is. The fact that he still fights despite what he deals with internally is actually pretty great and displays how much of a leader he is.

#SORRY I NEVER TYPE IN PROPER GRAMMAR THIS FEELS SO WEIRD #also no hate to people who see him differently this is just my take !!#mega man #sorry this is so long and probably so messy #mmx #mega man x #rockman x #x #rockman #mega man zero

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kerubimcrepin · 2 months

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Live-Read: "Dofus Manga" - part 3

+ A big Atcham Analysis

I'll only briefly point out that he has an ear ring, or that Ancestral Z draws him with hair tufts for cuteness' sake. We have to keep moving towards the point where I analyse him.

Atcham seems to be quite famous, — to the point Dodge is chastised for not knowing him, despite being an ecaflip, — and one of his nicknames is "the killer of killers". Very, very interesting...

"You're the one who made a huge mistake, Katar, by stealing the sword I had taken to repair... It belonged to my family for generations."

Obsessed with all the implications this has. You have no idea just how obsessed I am. To Atcham, swords aren't just weapons, — they're objects of sentimental value, a way to protect himself, a tool.

And it turns out that Katar threw his, and I quote Katar, "piece of shit sword" to the moon.

We've discussed Atcham and Kerubim's dead family, lack of support system, and young age when they lost everything plenty here. Same for their irrational hatred for one another.

No need to tell you how awful this must feel for him. Imagine someone throwing your dead father's picture into the river. For fun.

"And the smith was a good friend of mine." Man :(

(He's either not that good at telling that someone is scared of him, which is sad, — or the smith that Katar killed was joking, when he said that he was afraid of Atcham.)

What follows is the most important scene I have for characterizing Atcham:

"The... the six Dofus. You have reunited the six Dofus! And what are you planning to do with them? Do you have an idea already?" "They intend to defeat Cornu Mollu."

If I speak on Cornu Mollu, this post will devolve into a 5-hour lecture on how much I hate the Twelve gods, — how Oropo "Did Nothing Wrong", — and how Sadida, Iop, and Ecaflip in particular need to be [VIOLENT LANGUAGE OMITTED] for the things they have done. Let's just say that he's a demon guy who rules Brakmar at the time of manga, ok?

"You guys are comedians. PHAHAHA! The guy is stronger than a god... And your Dofus can't change that! And his armies have only continued to expand — they're invincible."

Atcham laughs them out of town like clowns for thinking they can defeat Cornu Mollu. Which is more than understandable. But it is interesting, how he speaks of Brakmar here... Not very patriotic, he.

"I wish you courage in your collective suicide. As for me, I'm going to find myself a little island, hoping to escape all this!"

The thing about Atcham, is that mostly, he just cares about himself, and the things he likes.

He doesn't care about the city he's in, — outside the fact that his brother is on the opposing side. He doesn't care about the world, or saving it, — because the world certainly hasn't cared about him!

And he WILL flee, if it saves his skin from any unnecessary pain or danger.

What he cares about is his own damn self, because nobody else is going to.

For this reason, his personal moral compass is entirely dependent on saving his own skin, because he has only ever had himself to rely upon. He tries not to be too cruel, — yet, if the mood strikes him, he becomes hyperviolent just for the sake of fun.

But the thing about him is that he will leave, if things aren't going well. He won't stay.

This includes fleeing Brakmar at the first sight of trouble. And chances are, it also has, multiple times, included Joris and Kerubim after the movie.

While I will go more in detail on this later, sometime after Leorictus's nightmare reign and Joris's huppermage horror beyond our comprehension, Atcham has left Kerubim and Joris to return to Brakmar's side.

As far as I am aware, it is not because of some deep falling out, — they still seem to love one another. Kerubim has an instance of mentioning Atcham, in a pretty teasing manner, — and in the quest that involves catching him for his crimes, Kerubim comes to bail him out with a defense attorney speech at the ready to explain away why the atrocities are both a misunderstanding and completely justified, — but the thing is that Atcham left them, and began doing weird stuff, like crimes. In Kerubim's own Ecaflipus temple.

My personal thought is that Atcham keeps leaving because he's scared.

He cares a lot, — because they're the first people to ever care about him, and it drives him crazy how little they care for themselves. It hurts seeing them in pain.

Leorictus's reign probably was hard, emotionally speaking, — Joris wasn't even legally allowed to live in Bonta, or anywhere else, as a huppermage, — and yet, in Dofus MMO, judging from NPC dialogue about how Kerubim only moved back to Astrub somewhat recently,

— and Joris's presence in the game before the implementation of Huppermages as a class (I.E. their return from Rok Island), all signs point to the fact that this whole time, as Huppermages fled to Rok Island, — The Trio stayed in Bonta despite the danger, for some insane fucking reason. Probably heroism. Probably trying to save people. (people who have read my fic Fragile will uhh. Recognize this premise. Yeah. I think a lot about this all. To the point of writing a fic about this insane era of their lives.)

I think Atcham hates how responsible he feels for them, and the batshit insane things, — heroism? saving the world?! helping other people?!? self-sacrifice!?!? — they make him want to believe in, and how afraid he is of losing them. It is for him, to agree to do things he would never do before, for them, — and it's scary, just as scary as how dependent he is now, despite being ok with loneliness before them.

And sometimes, it's just too much, and too fast. So, he leaves, again, and again.

But on a positive note, I want to believe he is mostly over leaving them whenever he gets too stressed out, by Wakfu times. Maybe it's the maturity that comes with age, — or realizing how much they need him after Ogrest's Chaos, but I want to believe that he now expresses his frustration in other, more productive ways: herding these two idiots away from danger.

Ranging from: subtly insisting that Joris doesn't go on insane suicide missions all alone just to protect them (Just like Atcham, Joris's anxiety for his family makes him very irrational at times.), and trying to get Kerubim to always be ready for battles, while protecting him because he isn't,

To just plain having the willpower to tell the world's most stupidly self-sacrificial man "Did you consider that the floating eyes in the sky aren't any of our business? :)"

Which is pretty funny.

Anyway, yeah, Joris is not surviving the things Kerubim and Atcham will do to him, after he tells them that he went to something called "The Necroworld", almost got trapped there, and then almost died 20 times.

#ro liveblogs dofus #dofus #wakfu #krosmoz #dofusmanga #atcham crepin #atcham crepin the leaver of unfortunate situations....

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