#; i don't think i can call this anything except speculation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lowkey-luxe · 3 days

Text

Brigerton S1 Polin Rewatch

okay so I decided to rewatch Bridgerton bc I literally cannot get enough of polin, but I'm skipping most scenes that don't include pen or colin, this is S1. I'm just pointing out what catches my eye be it romantic or showing character. ❤️ will be something I think is related to polin. p.s. I have not read any of the books and I may put some speculation on meanings.

E1:

Pen calls her mother tasteless and tacless as LW, lmao

❤️when leaving the home, Eloise says hi to Pen across the st. and Colin looks over afterwards

❤️Colin stares at Penelope when she is presented to the Queen

LW says she doesn't like the alphabetical naming, and Portia calls LW out on writing a lot about the bridgertons

❤️Pen stares at Colin as he dances w/ another girl

Pen seems happy when Marina receives callers, I mean listen to LW dialogue about her

Portia tells them^ to bid farewell to "even Penelope" - she thinks of her at the bottom of her daughters

❤️Colin ignores Pen's sisters saying goodbye and goes straight to her to crack a joke, no nodding or curtsy or anything

❤️ Colin walks up to Pen at a ball, this time they do curtsy bc it's in society, she tries to get him to notice her dress but he says nothing (bc of Cressida)

❤️Colin denies Cressida a dance and takes Pen in front of her - Pen's first dance!

E2:

Colin is a jokesterrrr (first about Daphne's dress and then about "sticks")

Pen is the only one to go and check on Marina - she cares

Pen thought pregnancy came from cake, lmaooooo

Pen knows how to twist her words to please her mother

E3:

Pen is such a romanticccc and you can see it w/ Marina's situation

Pen goes to try to help Marina like Eloise tried w/ Daphne when Nigel was calling

E4:

Pen even offers to stay in for Marina

my boy Mr. Finch's first appearance! and later they flirt about cheese MY HEART - Pen seems to find it cute too

❤️again Colin goes to Penelope w/ no curtsy and make innapropriate jokes, I mean he sneaks behind her and says a joke w/ the intention to make her laugh - he looks for her reaction!!!!

❤️Colin looks at Pen, but she looks away!!! - who would look at someone like that, oh Colin you were bewitched before you even knew

❤️ Colin then talks about Marina to keep talking to Pen, he couldv'e walked away but decided to extend the convo!

❤️ poor Pen hearing about Marina hoping to entrap Colin, she tries to hard to softly disuade her

instead of saying anything about her feelings, Pen decides to pretend to try to sleep to kick Marina out of her room

Peneloise's first fight :(

Colin brings in his mother drunk lol - you can see how happy drunk she is w/ her little sensitive boy

Colin ends up helping Daphne - he is caring and sensitive towards her situation

E5:

❤️Pen meddles in Colin and Marina's convo, poor Pen seeing her crush courting someone else :(

❤️Pen keeps trying to disuade Marina from Colin and says it outloud

Peneloise angst

❤️Pen staresss at Marina and Colin

gentleman Colin - no kissing Marina, but proposes, he thinks he is so mature and doing the right/expected thing by society standards

E6:

Colin announces his engagement to Marina

❤️poor Pen being hurtful by said news

Anthony think Colin wants to get it on and thinks of him so young and immature with his actions and decisions

Colin says he is hurt in more ways than one when Anthony does not give him blessing - he cares so much of what others think of him

Violet and Colin have a heart to heart convo, and Colin says he is never taken seriously except by Marina - prob why he went to her bc he longs to be seen as such

Pen feels mocked and pitied by Marina? basically she cannot accept a compliment from her and is also mad w/ her by the whole Colin situation

Pen vs her sisters, never seem to have a moment of getting along or fitting in

Colin tries to sell Marina to his family, cracking a joke too

❤️Pen asks Colin for a word and he says "Pen, of course" - as if there is not even a need for her to ask bc he will always have a word w/ her, no hesitation

❤️unchaperoned and alone Pen tries to talk seriously but Colin cracks a joke and then sees her expression and apoligizes to let her talk

❤️Pen tells Colin that Marina is in love w/ someone else - not to her own benefit but to try to get Colin out of a marriage where he is not/ may not be loved

❤️Colin tells Pen she is good, while holding her hand??? - he sees how Pen tries to help him out but it's no matter to him bc he thinks he and Marina know each other so well, but knows Pen was just looking out for him

Colin aplogizes for his family's actions

Colin is such a romantic toooooooooo, he proposes getting eloped

Portia doesn't even care for Pen when she is supposedly sick, she probably has been disregarded most of her life

Pen proves Marina wasn't denied by George to try to end her engagement to Colin and for Marina's love?

❤️Pen worries about Colin being deceived, she knows Marina would be safe but she worries about Colin in the matter

Marina catches on and tells Pen that Colin does not even see Pen as a woman - which tbh is true at the moment bc Colin only sees her as "Pen" girl next door, sister's bestie, and someone he can joke with from childhood

Pen goes to Eloise and cries - now I read someone saying they thought this wasn't bc Colin was getting married or bc Marina called her out but bc she had used LW to hurt/expose someone she cared for, both Marina and Colin, Pen so thoughtful and knowing how harsh words can be just used LW to bring scandal to them in order to end the engagement, to prevent Colin being tricked into marriage

LW publishes Marina is with child and Colin was conned

E7:

❤️Colin's bedsheets are yellow? hmmm

Daphne checks on Colin, he thought he was in love and puts his heart before his brain, he also catches on something going on w/ Daphne - he is so observant on other's emotions and putting those first

Colin thought he was loved and is hurt that was a lie along w/ Marina's entire scam - Colin is emotional, and I don't mean in the way we think of but he shows emotions and is in tuned with his and with others, he again puts other's first as seen when if told the truth he would've married Marina

❤️even though her family is in scandal Pen asks about Colin

Pen finds Marina unconcious - still caring

E8:

Pen comes and checks on Marina, ready to care for her with water and a rag - still caring about her

❤️"one day he will see it" Marina to Pen about Colin

❤️Colin is singing and quiets when he sees Pen - was he just caught by surprise or shy of Pen seeing him in this state?

lol Philippa "did I lose it" - it being her dowry

❤️ Polin catching each others eye across the dance floor, he was ready and already marching to her and then she put her head down - my poor Pen, again no curtsy

❤️Colin acknowledges Pen was looking out for him in his best interests

❤️Pen was ready to declare her feelings for Colin

❤️Colin tells Pen he is leaving and tells it's bc of her bc she reminded him of who he is and what he wanted

❤️Colin asks her to dance, and she says no - he notices something in her saying no and stared at her leaving, whippppedddd before he knew

❤️Colin leaves but looks at Pen's home maybe???

❤️Pen ofc cries as Eloise comforts her about her father but she looks out the window to Colin - crying for both?

Pen is sad to see Marina leave too - someone who seemed to be closer to her than her sisters

#polin #pen x colin #colin x penelope #penelope x colin #bridgerton #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington #bridgerton season 1 #bridgerton s1

76 notes · View notes

errgodic · 11 months

Text

————— Throwing mental spaghetti at @suresly last night got me thinking about Jyggalag's Great Library. There aren't many indicators as to how far his knowledge went, but we do have this quote from Dyus :

The great library was the height of logic and deduction. Contained within its walls were the logical prediction of every action ever taken by any creature, mortal or Daedric. Every birth. Every death. The rise of Tiber Septim. The Numidium. Everything. All predicted with the formulae found within Jyggalag's library. When Sheogorath discovered the library he had it burned, insisting that it was an abomination and that personal choice defied logical prediction. I am all that remains of the knowledge contained within the great library of Jyggalag.

Based on this, we DO know that Jyggalag's knowledge rides solely on logic, order, and deduction. We DO NOT know what Jyggalag qualifies as 'logic, order, and deduction'. Sure, Jyggalag is ( /was ) the Daedric Prince of Order, but his version of order in and of itself could subjectively be called 'chaotic'. Conquest may have rules, but there is no order in war. How would this affect his calculations? What does he seek when he says, 'order' ?

We DO know that there were predictions based on these subjective criteria and that many of these predictions did come to pass. All that said, we DO NOT know their true accuracy. Yes, he knew every birth, but how far did his predictions go? Did he know the names and faces? Did he know the parents? Did he keep track of the moons for the Khajiit? His demeanor implies that he wouldn't care to. How extensively did he look at death? Did his predictions go all the way back to indirect causes ( ex: prolonged exposure to a specific plant in childhood making someone more susceptible to the illness that ultimately claimed their life ), or was everyone a statistic with no further meaning beyond what they could contribute to his numbers game? Events can be predicted through careful calculation, yes, but the world is filled with prophets who only speak of their successes. Were all of Jyggalag's predictions accurate, or only the ones we know about? With that in mind, what does that mean for his initial transformation into Sheogorath? Could he feel the Madgod taking over the same way that the Madgod can feel him? Does the battle between the two ever really stop?

The Sword of Jyggalag alone kind of implies that the Daedric Prince of Order did have access to all knowledge. However, the purpose of his library isn't really specified. Who would be reading from it? Surely, it wasn't him; he has his own ways of knowing these things. It was by his hand that the library and the sword were created. The only 'BENEFIT' that a place like this would bring to someone else is limited foresight, but there is little order in that. The only other answer could be governmental.

In a lot of ways, Sheo was right to burn the library. Because even if everything that Jyggalag ever predicted came to pass, even if he knew every single event in the history and future of Mundus and Oblivion, even if he were never wrong;

none of it really matters.

Jyggalag did little more than document turbulence, ergodicity, and chaos. All that he has ever been or was ever meant to be was the tether for chaos—destined to stay in one immovable place as his real self flies at whim, spinning around and around and around, just to get wound up and fall back into merciless entropy.

#; there are things i really wanted to go ahead and dig into #; but this is already pretty hefty #; all of this is me trying to wrap my head around jyggli #; sheo i get. it's jyggalag and his connection to sheo that's baffling #; i hate it here but in a fun way #; i don't think i can call this anything except speculation #; but thanks for taking that ride with me

5 notes · View notes

violetasteracademic · 21 days

Text

Power and Possibilities

Elriel Month: Theory Post

This week's @elriel-month theme is the perfect time to put together the evidence I have for a pretty popular theory (and one I definitely share) that Elain and Azriel could potentially have a carranam bond. While I'm unsure if it is carranam exactly, I am most interested in the fact that there is evidence of power sharing amongst all of the major mated couples (including Feysand and Nessian, which no one ever talks about!) so let's break it down.

*Multiverse spoilers ahead*

Of course we know Rowan and Aelin are the OG carranam and power-sharers. I have already made a post on the parallel language between Rowaelin and Elriel and the easter egg of true mates being given to another which you can find here.

We have evidence of Bryce and Hunt being able to share their powers in unique ways. While any raw magic can charge Bryce's "battery", they have a unique experience of being able to blend and give each other their powers through intimacy:

Bryce gives him magical orgasms. Literally. 😂

Now, we all already know Bryce and Hunt share power. And of course we know that Ruhn and Lidia had an incredibly unique experience being able to find each other's minds across oceans and not only be able to communicate without a comm crystal, but physically touch each other in a non corporeal space.

Both the Bryce x Hunt and Ruhn x Lidia scenes are very similar to a Feysand scene that I don't really ever see anyone talking about in terms of power sharing with a mate. But they do it, and this indicates it is a connection that happens on all worlds:

Just like Bryce and Hunt, literal stars began to sweep by them. And just like Ruhn and Lidia, they were able to be together in a space where they shouldn't have bodies. And notice the language: I felt him as his power blended with mine.

Another Feysand power sharing moment is of course when Rhys pours his power into Feyre to restore the Cauldron. In Erilea, that's what we call carranam baby.

The Nessian moment is more subtle, but it is there. And I believe we will see all three couples share or blend power on a larger scale:

When Nesta loses herself to the scrying and begins to literally freeze over, Cassian sends his power and heat into her through his kiss and his siphons. He breaks through the ice by pouring his power into her, and unintentionally warms the entire room. Cassian clearly doesn't have a full understanding of what he did or how he did it yet.

Alright.... now what does this have to do with Elriel?

Well, I think Azriel being the one to discover Elain's powers means more than anyone is giving it credit for (and that's saying something, because it is already being given a LOT of credit in the Elriel community!) I believe that the assessments of scenes reflecting Azriel beginning to understand or notice Elain's powers are deeper than just possibly indication of being mates. I think we'll find he can actually feel her power:

Yes he is seeing her and understanding her. He is listening to her. But these passages are worded in such an interesting way. I believe he can literally feel her. Elain starts having another vision, and that's when he discovers the truth of what is happening to her. @rizzoreads88 , this is my take on what these scenes mean from your most recent tiktok!

Now, is this all just theory and speculation? Absolutely, which is why I labelled it a theory post! But I do think it is interesting that Lucien tried to feel Elain. Tried to reach for her through their bond. And this is what happened:

Elain starts actively having a vision while Lucien is trying to reach her. This is in *direct contrast* to when Azriel is studying her while Elain is having a vision.

Even though Elain is using her powers while Lucien is reaching for her through the bond, he doesn't sense or feel anything except the thread of the bond. And likely, due to his blush, the previous thoughts he had the first time he was around Elain. The mating bond commanding that he touch and taste her. But he does not sense or feel her or her powers which are active in that moment. And he is *unconvinced* trying to reach her again will do any good.

We already know Lucien experiences a call from the mating bond to be physically intimate with Elain, and I actually think he was quite respectful in working through that and trying to see past it. However, even while reaching through their "bridge" he could not sense or feel her power while it was active. He didn't feel anything other than the call to be intimate. Whereas all other endgame couples have both.

Elain has already shown her ability to wield Azriel's shadows when she travelled through them and stepped out of them to stab the King of Hybern in the neck. (I do not believe that is a theory, I think that is quite clear. There is no other explanation for how she got across a freaking battlefield by herself in a dress to save her sister at exactly the right time.) Yes, Nesta uses Truth-Teller to remove the king's head, but Elain uses Truth-Teller's power.

Azriel discovers and understands Elain's power.

And yeah, they wanna bang. Do I even need to reiterate that through text grabs?

I can't wait to see how this all unfolds. I truly hope that with Az and Elain already paralleling Rowan and Aelin in so many ways, (Rowan and Aelin sealed their carranam bonds and began sharing power before the reveal that they were true mates and Maeve interfered with fate) they will be the couple that we really get to see power sharing play out with in a meaningful way.

I need their book so bad. It physically hurts.

#elriel #pro elriel #elriel endgame #elain x azriel #elriel month 2024

97 notes · View notes

livefastdriveyoung · 1 month

Text

Author is writing a think piece, this is an OPINION. Author is not stating facts, merely making some observations, please do not take this as fact. Narrative is in storytelling and sounds confident but it is an opinion. AUTHOR HAS NO INSIDE KNOWLEDGE. THIS IS NOT FACT. If author speculates, it is not on purpose, it is just meant to be a thought piece.

Yeah ok let's talk about Nico Rosberg:

Here's how I view it. One of your best friends from childhood isn't like you. He's black in a sport that doesn't give space to anyone that's not White European, he doesn't come from money, he's in fact struggling to even travel to competitions, and he's good.

He's so good that you and your world champion father are so sure he will be in F1. You get there first but that next season he's in McLaren and he's second.

Then he's first.

You're thrilled for him. He's your best friend. He's talking about how he wants to change the world, and even then you know he doesn't just mean racing, he means the world.

Then in 2013, you're together. Michael Schumacher is gone, and you're first driver and you know Lewis and you could change the world. Sebastian wins, again, but the future feels bright.

In 2014, the car is competitive. No, it's a winner. You know you're capable, it's in your blood. You know Lewis is capable, he's done it before.

Then, Jules crashes. Everyone holds each other a little tighter. Lewis wins, but there is less jealousy and more knowing that it can be done.

Then, Lewis wins again. The team orders are killing you. You know you're capable, but Lewis is better. That's what everyone tells you. He's better, he's faster, and this boy that you have known your whole career, this man who is your closest friend, is also the scale by which you are measured.

And you snap. You have to win. It is in your blood. 2016 is vicious. The world watches as you both throw hats and towels and words in different tongues. Lewis doesn't back down, but in the end, it is not enough.

You win. And then you walk away. You have the title, have lost the friendship, and you have changed.

"we're not friends" is the quote that follows you for years. He runs away when you go for an interview. He doesn't say your name. You don't either.

"Are you a better driver than you were in 2016?" "yes. and teammate." Live and in stereo right in your face.

Something changes after that. You live in the same building, and you sometimes ride the elevator together, but the awkwardness is not there, not like it was. He is kind to your children, the ones who would have called him Uncle Lewis. He sends them Christmas gifts.

You heal your heart and your friendship. You see that even at 40 and seven world championships, the boy you knew still has to prove himself. He still fights every day to change the world. Except now that he's got the platform, people are far harsher than they used to be. Every initiative is met with backlash, every comment taken out of context.

So you resolve to talk about him. You talk about his skill and his talent. You talk about how Ferrari is lucky, how Lewis had always wanted to wear red, who didn't? You talk about how he still drives like he's hungry, hunting, and you don't stop.

Because more than anything, you remember that little kid who no one talked to because he didn't look like everyone else. And the people with the same platform as you still continue to try and isolate him, bring him down, halt change in its footsteps.

Lewis wants to change the world. So do you. You have looked at the environment, the women who want to race, and children like Lewis who had to fight to get anywhere. So you talk and you talk and you talk, because advocacy can be subtle, it can be through talking about how someone is so talented, how they deserve everything they have. It can be about how age doesn't preclude you from talent. It can be about how women in sport are going to be the future. You say it out loud, because you can.

Love is a difficult master, but it is with you always. You love the sport, you love your family, you love your friends and the things you have done together.

Wouldn't you rise to the defense of someone you love and respect?

#nico rosberg #lewis hamilton #f1 #mercedes amg f1 #brocedes #china gp 2024 #chinese gp 2024 #ellethoughts #this is an opinion #please don't sue me #thanks #I am just thinking about things #no facts #not fact focused #obviously the championship years are facts

63 notes · View notes

ghostflowerhotpotch · 9 months

Text

Why I consider Miguel replacing his own self so bad?

Originally this was going to be a response to a post someone else did, but then I feel I was being mean to people just enjoying a character, so I repurposed it. Is funny because before that post I wasn't planning on doing this but that one got the words out of me somehow.

As disclaimer; I don't think there is anything wrong with liking Miguel, or any character of this movie. It doesn't matter what Miguel may or may not had done in this movie, or if your headcanons and ideas align with how he is in canon or not.

I also feel that regardless of what I think it went down in this situation, I can't call Miguel evil; I would have some words about what I think later in this post, but I don't think when he did what he did he was doing it because ~evil~

With all that out of the way, let's start with this:

The way he talks about the ordeal makes me uneasy.

You know why I find this unsettling? That this is about himself.

I understand that Miguel is narrating this story from his perspective, and is about his mistake, so by that, you wouldn't need to bring up anyone else. You can even make the argument it may be too painful for him if you want.

So why I still have a problem?

Because the narration isn't the only problem I have with this, in fact, what I find the most disturbing, is the following part.

Here is my thing...Don't you find odd how quickly he found out about this?

Think about it; it would be weird that he was just looking on the Multiverse, saw a version of himself with a nice, happy family, and just at that moment that person got killed, so he step in.

I had seen someone made the argument that he did what did because he was thinking of Gabby, however, nothing on his demeanour or words makes me think this was about anyone that wasn't himself.

Let's go back to those pics.

Want to know why I posted two that are basically the same? Because what's important is Miguel's face.

He is completely stoic.

We see Miguel seeing the body at the same time the mugger is running away, this makes me believe it was implied he watched at least the guy get away. But when Miguel appears on the screen, it is already watching the image, it doesn't make me think he just popped up the screen and saw it play at the moment he got killed.

Much less because he looks so calm, like he was expecting this to happen.

I don't know how much Miguel can see in future events, I believe there is some capacity because he said to Miles that his dad will die in two days. That may be because is when he becomes a Captain and his words are more speculation than actual confirmation. It could also be that at that moment he didn't have the means to look into it.

But all this footage makes me believe he saw his other self try to do the right thing, get killed, and then came in.

This wasn't about preserving the canon, this is in theory, before he knew how "canon works" (because he affirms the universe collapsed because he try to take the place of someone who was suppose to die. At least that was the impression it gave me.) So is not like there was any reason to not step in and help him.

This is going into speculation territory, so feel free to say this is a reach, but...was there really no way to save the other Miguel?

It gave me the impression the guy used just one bullet, unless is in specific places, normally one bullet wouldn't be enough. More important, Miguel is from the future, his world can make travel to the moon as if it is just going on the highway; are you telling me that if Miguel wanted to help to save this guy's life, was there really nothing he could?

Like sure, he doesn't need to, this isn't this problem and not his story, he shouldn't interfere.

Except that he did, to replace him.

And that's why I consider his initial speech so disturbing.

Let me put all together what Miguel said:

"I found a world where I had a family. Where I was happy. And that version of myself was killed. So I replace him. I thought it was harmless."

This entire discourse is about himself, with no real thought put into how Gabby, or anyone else may feel. Miguel keeps saying "family," which makes me think it was more than just Gabby, since I don't see why he wouldn't just say daughter if it was only her. That being say I am praying that I am wrong.

My heart really breaks for the other Miguel, he just wanted to do the right thing, he didn't have any powers or special abilities but he still try to help this lady that he probably didn't even know.

And what he got?

That his family will not mourn him, that none of his love ones would go to his funeral (I doubt there was one.) That the people who loved him can't even begin to deal with the mourning process.

Because Miguel, wanted a family.

I am sorry, but I can't help to feel this was en egoistic action when literally there is no mention of ever thinking of anyone that wasn't him; you can try to argue that the "harmless" part also included every other person who knew that Miguel, since they now don't need to go through the pain of a funeral.

But Miguel wasn't that Miguel, if there is something the multi-verse has shown us, is that different versions of a character don't need to be the same, in fact is not odd to not be.

I mentioned this in the past, but if I feel my boyfriend was acting odd, and then discover that he got replaced by another version of himself, just because this one wanted to have a partner- It makes my blood boil; I would personally feel outraged.

Because it should be my decision, which is removed completely of the equation because someone decided they knew me better than me, so they could take decisions on my behalf.

And if I heard him talk, and realize all he ever mentioned was about him and what he wanted? Oh that's one easy slap to the face minimum.

I don't think Miguel had nefarious intentions by doing this, the problem is that he does the thing he literally does the rest of the movie: Assume his idea is the right call, no think twice about asking anyone's opinion, and then blame it on something else when things start to go south.

(If you want an easy example: Literally blaming Gwen for the fiasco with Miles, as if the guy didn't literally scared Miles off when Peter was THIS close to making him go with him.)

Hope anyone liked it! If you did, please consider either commissioning me or donating to my ko-fi, and if not please reblog!

Have a good night.

#atsv #across the spiderverse #miguel o' hara #the spider society #gabby o'hara #I am really starting to get close to the wasp nest with a bat #not sure if I should be more afraid or bite the bullet #atsv files

137 notes · View notes

brf-rumortrackinganon · 4 months

Note

Ok so im the same person who’s been asking these endgame/superinjunction questions. I’m sorry if you may have to explain these stuff to me like a dummy, but i figured i’d rather ask than be stupid. So what you’re saying is there’s a possibility there really is some kind of deal between the palace and the murdoch establishment and it’s not simply a good old out of court settlement that involves monetary compensation, it also involves some sort of deal to supress the affair rumors? and this deal might have benefitted harry too if he waited? but also h&m and scobie believe the deal also involves bad press for the sussexes?

No worries, anon! Ask as many questions as you like. (I know I can talk in circles when I start rambling. I've even confused myself.)

I'll take your ask point by point because I think that may be more helpful and less rambly. I've also done a bit more research into what actually happened in court last year and that may be the missing piece to clear everything up.

there’s a possibility there really is some kind of deal between the palace and the murdoch establishment and it’s not simply a good old out of court settlement that involves monetary compensation, it also involves some sort of deal to supress the affair rumors?

Yes and no. What we know about the deal is in 2012ish, an agreement was made, authorized by The Queen, that the royal family wouldn't pursue litigation or claims of litigation against the News Group Newspapers (which is owned by Murdoch) until all of the other cases in the phone hacking scandal had been resolved first in exchange for an apology and a settlement (i.e. cash).

The affair rumors were not part of the original 2012 deal because, well, there were no affair rumors in 2012. Let's leave that aside for a second.

So after The Queen makes the deal with NGN/Murdoch, the BRF basically sits back and waits for all the phone hacking lawsuits and court cases to resolve. This takes about 8 years. In 2019 or 2020, NGN/Murdoch calls up the BRF and says "we're ready. Let's talk." They meet and start negotiations for the settlement. William eventually walks away with X, cash in hand.

We don't know what the terms of that settlement is. There's speculation it was $80-$90 million because someone looked up the NGN/Murdoch financial reports after Harry spilled the tea and found NGN's profits dropped by $80-$90 million. But we don't actually know.

Now going back to the affair rumors. They started in February/March 2019. Soon as it started, all the royal reporters and society reporters immediately began investigating. They were crawling all over Norfolk and talking to everyone/anyone they could but they couldn't find any evidence and kept digging, thinking it was a massive coverup. Eventually they couldn't find anything and they all stopped talking about an affair or rumors of an affair, except for one: Dan Wootton and The Sun, which is owned by NGN/Murdoch. Wootton kept investigating and kept talking about it, until all of a sudden he stopped, in June 2019. Never brought it up again.

My personal theory is as William/KP and NGN began meeting about the settlement, William had some kind of leverage that made them realize 'oh we fucked up with the affair rumors' and it was addressed in the settlement he walked away with. I've no actual idea what the leverage could be - maybe Christian Jones had something on Wootton? Maybe William did the "let's tell people fake stories and see which one gets published" thing (he's done it before) and it fingered people other than Wootton? I've no actual idea if there was any leverage in the first place. I've no actual idea if it contributed to the settlement. All I know is that The Sun stopped talking about it around the time things may have started moving to execute the 2012 deal and the timing seems important.

and this deal might have benefitted harry too if he waited?

Yes, absolutely. When The Queen initially struck the deal, it applied to all members of the royal family - so William, Kate, and Harry were covered by it. What's important to remember is that the deal was contingent on waiting out all the other lawsuits and cases first. So had Harry just waited, he would've been able to split the money William walked away with.

Instead, in 2017, Harry started getting antsy about how long it was taking to close everything out. He started pressuring the BRF to push NGN to move faster - he didn't want NGN/Murdoch's people covering his engagement, his wedding, his future children, etc. He wanted to ban them from certain events as retribution/revenge for violating his privacy and he believed that NGN was dragging out their lawsuits and cases to continue covering the royal family. (Quick aside here: Harry and Meghan did not invite the rota or members of the press to cover their wedding, as is their prerogative, but it's thought the reasoning behind this decision was because of Harry's anger at NGN's phone hacking and what he perceived was a lack of consequences.)

This goes on for a couple years: Harry keeps pressuring the lawyers to force NGN to settle and the lawyers kept saying 'no, we need to wait, remember the deal.' Summer 2019 rolls around and Harry has had enough. It's his money, he wants it now! So then Harry pulls out of the 2012 deal and begins filing two lawsuits.

Lawsuit #1: Against NGN/Murdoch

Lawsuit #2: Against MGN/The Mirror

I don't remember which one gets filed and looking it up sends me down a wormhole I can't afford to go down right now. I think the MGN/Mirror lawsuit is part of the cases that are announced in September 2019 while they're in Africa and the NGN/Murdcoch lawsuit comes some time later.

Now there are three separate cases: a) William's settlement which is still bound to the 2012 deal, b) Harry's lawsuit #1 against NGN that's part of the bundle with Hugh Grant and Elton John and all those other celebs, and c) Harry's lawsuit #2 against MGN/Mirror.

So as Harry's lawsuits begin to working through the court system, William is negotiating the terms of his settlement and at some point in 2020, he finally gets his payout and it's a big one.

Fast-forward 3 years. It's 2023 and Harry's lawsuits are finally getting its day in court. In April 2023, NGN/Murdoch is arguing that Harry's lawsuit is past the statute of limitations* and should be dismissed. Harry says 'no, actually, I couldn't file my lawsuit earlier because of a deal my granny made that I didn't consent to.' As part of that testimony, Harry has to describe the deal and that's how we know what happened in 2012 and that William got his payout in 2020. The judge decides 'Harry's right' and finds in his favor: the NGN lawsuit stays. That was in April 2023, I believe. In June 2023, Harry's back in court to take the stand (the lawsuit goes horribly awry).

*I think they call it something else in the UK though. The actual phrase "statute of limitations" didn't come up in any of my research. I'm using it here as a shorthand because it's easier for us Americans to understand. (Apologies if you're not American, anon!)

In July 2023, Harry is back in court for lawsuit #2 against MGN. MGN makes the same argument: it's past the statute of limitations and should be dismissed. Unfortunately for Harry, this judge agrees with MGN and his case is dismissed. So lawsuit #2 is done.

In December 2023, the judge from lawsuit #1, the NGN/Murdoch case, rules that the phone hacking was "widespread and habitual" awards Harry damages of $175K(ish). That's not enough. Harry wants more money, so lawyers do lawyer things and eventually, last week, Harry finally settles with NGN for damages ($175Kish) and legal fees ($500Kish).

So, long story short is this: If Harry had waited for the 2012 deal to play out, he would've walked away splitting $X million with William in 2020. Instead, because he was too impatient and too greedy, he's walking away with less than $700,000 in 2024.

How do you like them apples.

but also h&m and scobie believe the deal also involves bad press for the sussexes?

No. They do not think the 2012 deal leading to the 2020 settlement involves bad press for the sussexes.

They think William used the bad press for the Sussexes to kill media coverage of the affair rumors in 2019. They think Christian Jones made a deal with Wootton/The Sun back in 2019 involving bad press for the Sussexes to stop writing about Rose and William had approved of it because William didn't immediately fire Christian as Harry wanted when he told William of his suspicions of Christian's relationship with Wootton/The Sun.

-------------

So what actually happens in Endgame is that Scobie speculates that connections between

an abandoned investigation of the affair rumors

bad press for the Sussexes,

an embargoed report on the behavior of British newspapers (which may or may not be a superinjunction), and

William not doing anything to address Harry's concerns about Christian's relationship to Wootton

is the clearest signal that William is using the power of his position as heir to control, suppress, and influence how the media covers him. It's an implication that the power has gone to William's head.

I definitely muddied the waters for you by thinking it may all be connected to the phone hacking deal. There's no evidence that says it is - that was just me thinking "it can't be a coincidence these four things are happening at relatively the same time, and then they all just kinda stop at the same time, the same time that we now know William received a huge cash payout."

I hope this untangles things for you, anon. If it doesn't, please keep asking questions. (If anything, this round of questions led to some research that helped untangle the lawsuits for me so they're as much a chance for me to learn as they are for you!)

#ask #brf

56 notes · View notes

khytal · 11 months

Text

ok gamers I rewatched tristamp one more time in order to write a post about the soundtrack, and some of the stuff I found blew my socks off (even though I've seen every episode like 6 times) so buckle up because oh my god. oh my god

this will cover most of both volumes of the OST (which you can find on spotify), with a focus on wolfwood, and a little bit of vash, meryl, and the eye of michael

...and a very thorough breakdown of "drain arm" :)

notes before I get into it: -I won't be analyzing the plant song because I. already wrote an entire separate thing about that haha (a link to that doc will be in the replies section of the notes if you're interested)

-you won't need to know anything about music theory, because I'm just pointing out where certain themes come up (with the exception of "duet", but I'll explain terminology there). timestamps will be included so you can listen for them as you read

-if you're obsessed with the OST like I am, most of this probably won't be anything new x) but I hope it's enjoyable regardless

-my credentials: I was a pianist for 10 years and an oboist for 7.5 years and I only had 1 semester of intermediate music theory but I got to analyze the 1st mvt of tchaik 5 and I think that permanently altered my brain chemistry

-the tracks I recommend being familiar with to have a better grasp on this post are: -> "whistling/blues harp in the wasteland" (vash's leitmotif) -> "reality" -> "childhood memories" -> "duet" -> "human subject" (eye of michael, or EoM, leitmotif) -> "drain arm" (technically optional)

-please don't take any of my interpretations/speculation as fact! you are absolutely free to come to your own conclusions I just have a lot of thoughts about the soundtrack lol 👍

here we go :]

EP1: -you can hear a variation of the plant song in "immigrant space explorer" (0:36-1:00)

-vash's leitmotif is first heard in "no man's land" (0:41-0:48)

-only about half of "mystery man" plays, and his leitmotif (0:38-0:51) is actually cut from the scene so it's not heard at all

EP2: -"escape" has vash's leitmotif from 0:18-0:31. they also took out the lyrics in the episode's version of the track x)

-it's possible that we'll hear "might is right" or a new arrangement of it if we get to see the rest of the nebraska family in future episodes, since there were posters of marilyn. I think people largely associate the song with EG the Mine but due to the track title and the fact that it first played in this episode, I feel like it's more about the nebraskas

-I'll talk about "childhood memories" in ep12 because it's related to rem's themes

EP3: -the plant song can be heard in "compatriots" (1:01-1:11)

-"reality" is first heard here, right before the episode in which wolfwood is introduced. keep this in mind for later :')

EP4: -"undertaker" has a dissonant sax part (0:48-0:54) that's similar to the one found in "irritation" (1:05-1:11), but it's an ascending passage rather than descending. it doesn't show up anywhere else so it might become a motif we'll hear in the future, but there's no way to know until the next part is released

-"planet zaji", from 0:55-1:04, has that one part from "time left" (1:02-1:09). it's heard while wolfwood's spinning the punisher around but I think it's just something that sounds cool, and you can't really hear it anyway because of the sound effects/dialogue. if zazie gets any additional themes in the future I might have more to say on this

-vash's leitmotif kicks in in "hungry !" (0:21-0:43) when wolfwood introduces himself at the end of the episode. I really like this track I hope we'll get to hear it again x)

EP5: -I don't think there's any meaning behind "shadow" borrowing from "worms network". I'm pretty sure it was just for mood (and to be fair it is a cool track)

-you can hear vash's leitmotif at the beginning of "boy and vash". this is the part where vash is escorting rollo back to the village

-"cyborg" introduces a new 4-note pattern (0:07-0:14) that I'm calling the eye of michael leitmotif. if hearing this reminds you of episode 6 then you already understand what I mean

-"dud" has vash's leitmotif as well (2:20-2:59), which starts playing when vash is begging rollo to wake up after wolfwood kills him

-only a small part of "human subject" (0:25-0:35) is used for the final scene, right when the windmills start turning. using the EoM leitmotif as a sendoff to the empty village is. really haunting

EP6 (this is a long one I'm sorry): -the EoM leitmotif can be heard in "reborn" (0:09-0:14, but it's easier to hear in 0:26-0:30). this is the opening scene where wolfwood guns down the deserter

-they do reuse "worms network" when livio first opens fire on vash but that's more for mood in my opinion. you could say it hints at zazie monitoring the sand steamer though

-we're probably going to hear "the desert rogue" again when the bad lads gang shows up in a future episode, possibly with a new arrangement for brilliant dynamites neon (this is one of my personal favorite tracks actually. it's a shame they didn't get to use the whole thing because 0:45 to the end is really cool)

-"boyhood" contains the EoM leitmotif and it's very in-your-face in this song (1:15-2:19). in the episode itself the track gets cut at around 2:10, but in the OST the piano motif from "orphanage" can be heard one more time right at the end of the song at 2:18-2:20. which is an evil thing to do. anyway

-"nicholas the punisher" is an arrangement of "reality". let that sit for a second, maybe go listen to those two tracks or something.

okay so we can look at this in a few different ways:

-> the end of episode 3 is of course a reality check, supported by the corresponding track being titled "reality" (even though it's fabricated by nai: to suggest and then prove to the people of no man's land that vash is indeed deserving of the $$6mil bounty; and to tell vash that his presence will pose a threat to humans). you know who else is supposed to be* grounded in reality? the pragmatic nicholas d wolfwood, who's introduced at the start of episode 4 *tristamp wolfwood hasn't quite found his resolve yet, as shown by his hesitation when livio appears

-> in the scene where "nicholas the punisher" is heard, vash is insistent on rescuing livio while wolfwood pushes back and says it's too late for him. he's clearly wishing he wouldn't have to eliminate livio though, and with "reality" as the foundation of this song, it presents wolfwood's inner turmoil in a new way for the audience: vash, who is physically right there trying to persuade him that there's still hope for his brother, vs his role as "nicholas the punisher" in sound, in his mind, and the "reality" that developed along with it (death is/can be a mercy, and sometimes it's necessary to sacrifice one life to save many)

(I also want to add that while legato's dialogue shows he intended for the orphanage to be eliminated through livio's death, it seems wolfwood didn't even realize that killing livio would mean more kids would be taken by the EoM for experimentation. he thought he had to choose between livio or the children, but it was a "test" of loyalty; and legato was attempting to obtain said loyalty by force)

-> outside of the episode, if you were to just listen to this track within the OST it's very representative of his character. contrary to "undertaker", which is fairly laid-back and....honestly kind of playful (and equally reflective of wolfwood's personality, when he's relaxed), "nicholas the punisher" is a more somber and contemplative piece. the fact that it's built on "reality" already suggests that he's someone whose beliefs conflict with vash's; and even without knowing that, both of wolfwood's themes contrast with the energy of "vash the stampede" quite clearly (even if I personally don't consider that track to be vash's official theme, it's still associated with him). I think it's really interesting that vash, the quieter one, has more raucous songs while wolfwood, the one with a sharp tongue, has calmer tracks :)

you might be wondering if "orphanage" is in "nicholas the punisher" and the answer is......yes, but actually, no. but kinda if you're delusional like me. this little pattern from 0:29-0:42 in "orphanage" is found in the low brass from 0:57-1:11 in "nicholas the punisher" (although it's in a different key and has a slight variation in the 2nd half). it's not quite the same, but both phrases start by going down a half step, then down a P5 interval (D->C#->F# for "orphanage", F->E->A for "nicholas the punisher"). lastly the sand steamer's leitmotif (I guess) is also present but that's. obviously because this is happening on the sand steamer lol

-"whom to kill, whom to let live" is just a faster/more tense arrangement of "orphanage" with saxophone over it. starting at 1:07 you can hear the worms leitmotif (1:31-1:34 in "worms network")

I can't say whether or not legato is already represented in the OST because he's currently not associated with any unique tracks, but they might tie the dissonant saxophone passage from "irritation" to him. it's first heard when legato stops wolfwood from escaping the facility, and as far as I can remember it's not played anywhere else. if he plays a bigger role in the next season, which I'm sure he will, I'll be keeping an ear out for this x) (I only mention the sax thing because I don't think he's represented by the sax solo that plays in "whom to kill, whom to let live")

EP7: -a little more of "the desert rogue" is heard when the bad lads make their way onto the sand steamer but it's very hard to make out over the gang yelling in the background lmao

-we're treated to the entirety of "human subject", for the scene where livio briefly returns to himself. if you somehow weren't convinced that those repeated 4 notes had anything to do with the eye of michael, this is the last instance where it's heard: the moment livio's overcome by whatever brainwashing was used on him by the EoM

-I think most people associate "time left" with ep12 but it's first played in this episode and I believe that it was primarily composed with the ion cannon sequence in mind (though a majority of the tracks in the OST only play once for specific scenes, with some songs being cut short and getting different parts played across 2+ episodes. "irritation" and "human subject" are examples of this)

EP8: -this one's a little hard to hear because the 1st note is implied in the C drone but vash's leitmotif starts at around 0:09 in "complicity" and runs all the way to 1:06

-it's also in "home" (1:38-1:57), playing at the moment luida hands vash the red coat :)

EP9: -I've talked about this before but I really like that there's 4(?) measures of polyrhythm (2 or more differing rhythmic lines that are played within the same time signature) when vash joins in, before the brothers come together on the same even rhythm. you can see how vash's quarter-note pattern doesn't line up with nai's quarter-note triplets, and in fact, neither of them ever land or start together:

(for the sake of comprehension I wrote it out with a faster tempo to stretch the polyrhythm part over 8 bars instead of the slow tempo/4 bars. I'm not sure what the official tempo is. I think a sane person would write it at a faster tempo so that the part doesn't look stupidly cluttered but a good musician would be able to play it regardless. anyway-)

it sounds even more stilted because vash is playing on the offbeat. polyrhythm's such a great way to represent the brothers' relationship because it seems so chaotic but both lines are still in time together, following the same beats. they're so different but in the end they're still brothers who (are trying to) understand each other. and I love that vash is playing secondo, a more harmonic/supportive part, while knives has primo, where the melody/ornaments are. it says a lot about their personalities :')

since I don't know what the original sheet music looks like I can't say if this is true but you can hear that the plant song at 1:03 is played in octaves (2 notes that're the same pitch with one higher than the other). because of the nature of a duet, and the fact that this was played by the twins when they were little, the octaves were probably split between the parts. so vash was playing the lower octave of the plant song with his right hand, and nai played the upper octave with his left hand (we don't get to see this because it cuts to nai playing the song alone at that point). also: vash favors his right hand while nai favors his left

-now for something far less interesting: "last run" is a medley combining "ethics and morality", "compatriots", and "millions knives"

EP10: -"a cruel sight" seems to be unused. it was probably intended to lead into "bio-power reactor" in the scene where meryl and roberto meet elendira in the tank (given that it ends the same way "bio-power reactor" starts), but they cut it and just played a version of "bio-power reactor" without the melody

-elendira's themes ("elendira the crimsonnail" and "which is the monster?") seem to have some lyrics that're most audible in the beginning of the tracks but they're almost impossible to make out without some kind of editing software, which I don't have lol. they're already very quiet in the background and they echo, on top of sounding like they were put through autotune

also this is entering speculation territory but it makes me wonder if elendira's theme is going to evolve with her. we've seen some concept art with her having a more teenage appearance, so I think it'd be really cool if the vocals also changed accordingly

additionally she doesn't have the EoM leitmotif anywhere but she DOES have a proper 4-note chromatic pattern that descends from D in "which is the monster?" (1:32-1:35), which is the same note that the EoM leitmotif starts on. if we consider EoM's broken chromatic passage to represent the failed experiments, then elendira, with an actual chromatic passage in her theme, is a success

-"meryl's regrets" is ALSO an arrangement of "reality" :') this is the track that plays during roberto's final moment, which was. you know. the consequence of meryl running off in pursuit of the truth. the "reality" roberto had warned her about several times prior to episode 10. interestingly, while "nicholas the punisher" expands on the original track, "meryl's regrets" is a reduction--it's mostly just the baseline with some notes here and there. she doesn't have a theme yet, but 1:23-1:33 might be something we hear again if/when she gets a track associated with her

EP11: -"nicholas and meryl" is an arrangement of "boy and vash", with erhu echoing vash's leitmotif. I think it's a neat way to show through music that both of them are here because of vash :]

-the tracklist goes slightly out of order at this point for some reason. after "memory retrieval", "memory of geranium" is what plays in the final memory, when nai decapitates rem

EP12: -"memory of rem" is a combination of "childhood memories" and "memory of geranium". "childhood memories" is also found in "knives's piano", which is based on "duet". one fun way of interpreting this is that the "childhood memories" part of the duet is actually from rem, if she was the one who taught the twins how to play piano, which would make "duet" a musical representation of vash and nai's roots (pun intended. sorry). this also suggests nai misses rem, with how often he plays the piano, even if he thinks he hates her.

but "childhood memories" can also simply be seen as a theme that's associated with rem, nai, and vash's brief time together x)

-okay this is the part where I get to rant about "drain arm" because THIS SONG was literally the reason I decided I needed to rewatch stampede. I was listening to "drain arm" a couple weeks after the finale aired and I heard vash's leitmotif near the end and I was like "NO WAY!!!! HOW DID I MISS THAT"

as it turns out, it was cut from episode 12.

not to worry though, I still have plenty to say about it. even if I'm a little disappointed. just. a little.

-> from 1:13-1:25, you can hear vash's leitmotif in the cello. this DID make it into the scene, and it plays when vash rises through the clouds

-> 2:44-3:10 is where some of the lyrics from vocal version of "millions knives" play: "remember how / we used to be / no turning back / sky's (skies??) falling down". although you can't actually hear the "remember how" in "drain arm" (at least not without blasting the song into your ears, which I don't recommend), it starts right when the image of vash and nai sitting in the geodome appears

-> we finally get the plant song at 3:36, when the condensed energy starts to leak out/charge. and then after it fires, but before nai dives into the beam, we hear "I still care for you" (3:44-3:52). and while it's originally from the vocal version of "millions knives", in the context of the scene I think it's a sentiment from both brothers: vash, who pleads for nai to let go and releases the energy away from him; and then knives, desperately reaching for the cube because he believes the success of his plan will ensure his family's (and especially his brother's) safety, the only ones he's ever cared about

in other words: plant song in cello = vash -> "I still care for you" -> continuation of plant song in low brass = knives. they're connected by this single sentence

-> knives's leitmotif (I didn't talk about it because it's only found in songs that signal his appearance, so it's really obvious, but yes he's got one of those) plays at 4:03 for the "nai is dead. you killed him" exchange

-> it goes back to a variation of the plant song at 4:29 (I LOVE the piano at 4:40-4:49 btw. it's so good. I could cry about it. probably)

if you've read my plant song analysis you might be wondering how to tell when it's being associated with the name millions knives instead of the plant race. since we know that a good chunk of the songs in the OST were written like a film score, the visual context (and/or the song titles themselves) can clue you in. "drain arm"'s use of the plant song is meant to highlight that vash and nai aren't human, so it's the latter

-> now here's the part that was removed, probably due to the runtime: vash's leitmotif in the cello again, from 5:03-5:09. if you revisit the part right before nai lets go of the cube, you'll hear that it skips these 6 seconds and goes straight to knives's theme ("but that's the plant song!" yes. we'll get to that in a sec). this missing bit right here?? fucks me up EVERY time. it's the most mournful his leitmotif has ever sounded, appropriately so, and it's absolutely criminal that it wasn't included. especially because knives's theme, the plant song melody, follows it up on violin as the cello continues to play a line in harmony.

and it's knives's theme because in this moment it's about him dying, not the plants. they spent a whole season tricking us into thinking that the plant song was knives's theme, and then they used it to send him off.

-> and then july city explodes o7

as much as I'd love to hear "drain arm" again for another chance to let the weight of vash's motif come through, I think it's too intertwined with this scene to be recycled. like. maaaaaaaybe they could use it for fifth moon if that's supposed to be the climax of the next part but they kinda?? already did the "fire a really big laser at the sky" thing? anyway yeah I'm totally normal about "drain arm". so normal

Extras: -the punisher and the double fangs have these cool sound effects when they transform and it kinda makes me think that their guns are built from lost tech, if the punisher's laser cannon wasn't evidence enough of this

-there's no equivalent of "sound life" in stampede, and I don't think there's going to be one. however, I do think that it would make a lot of sense if rem taught the boys how to play piano, because we could get something like:

-> rem asks vash about the plant song (the memory in ep12) -> she gives the boys piano lessons -> she helps them compose "duet"

-they didn't use "stampede out" for this season but I really hope we'll hear it in the next part. I know it's just a longer version of "escape" but it's a fun song :]

-this is. obvious but you can hear "gate" in "millions knives". no idea if they'll put "gate" into more songs, especially for vash now that he seems to have some control over it

-there's also something kinda fun with key signatures too: -> "millions knives" is in b minor -> vash's leitmotif is in d dorian (of course this changes depending on the key signature of whatever track it's used in) -> "undertaker" is also in d dorian -> I think songs associated with no man's land/humanity are usually in some dorian scale or specifically the key of a minor but this is solely based on jeneora rock since july city had its own unique theme so I'm not totally sure yet. "duet" is in a minor by the way -> "nicholas the punisher" is in d minor. if "undertaker" is tied to humanity (which is tied to vash) then "nicholas the punisher" is linked to the other side: knives, through the EoM. it adds another interesting layer to the contrast between wolfwood's two themes, but I don't consider this to hold any meaning lol -> I WILL say that b minor is the relative minor of D Major, so having knives and vash's songs be written in those keys was likely deliberate. and what makes it really interesting is that to get d dorian, you take a D Major scale and lower the 3rd and 7th notes by a half step

-I'm not 100% sure but I think plucked piano strings were used to create the low, scratchy string sound effect in some of the songs (one example is literally at the beginning of "irritation"). I think it's really cool that piano is everywhere in the soundtrack, but not necessarily by hitting the keys

-I am unbelievably excited for livio's/razlo's themes because they have the opportunity to do some REALLY COOL things with the music for them. we might not get them in part 2 (though I think we will) but whenever it happens I'll be so ready for it >:)

and that's all!! o(-< thank you for reading! if you actually took the time to go through all of this with the soundtrack pulled up, I'm. impressed. i think. anyway I'm a big fan of OSTs with strong storytelling and tristamp's OST is no exception :]

if you've got questions, feel free to ask ^^ I definitely didn't cover everything I just picked out whatever I thought was worth mentioning. which was uhhhh quite a bit x)

(also again if you're interested in reading the plant song analysis I did it's in the replies section of the notes 👍 I recommend reading it on a computer though)

#trigun stampede #gods above this is the longest post I've ever written. there's so much text it started lagging #did you know i've listened to drain arm over 100 times in the past 2 days. while I was writing this. anyway #khyt.art #(because i drew the little vash for this sdfLHGSLDJFHGS)#khyt.3gunposting

140 notes · View notes

joelswritingmistress · 7 months

Text

Last Halloween: Chapter 2

Summary: After a tragedy involving Joel happened on Halloween one year prior, the town now shuns him while ignoring the details of the now closed case. You are seemingly the only one to offer empathy to a man the town is making out to be a monster.

Warning: Angst

Pairing: Joel x f!reader

You went back to the house you were renting with your three friends once your shift ended. Honestly, despite them being some of the closest people in your life, you didn't know how they would feel about your interaction with Joel. Rather than speculate and guess, you simply put it out in the open.

"I talked to Joel Miller today," you blurted out while the four of you mindlessly toyed on your phones with the television playing in the background. The mindlessness paused at the mention of his name and suddenly all eyes were on you.

"You talked to him?" Your friend Chrissy asked.

"Where?" Winnie asked a second later.

Shit. You knew by making it sound ominous that you weren't doing him any justice. You had unintentionally added to the local folklore, or worse, the slander of this man's name.

"He stops in at the coffee shop," you said with a shrug. "I feel bad for him."

"Bad?" Chrissy asked, her eyes bugging wide. "He's a killer."

"He's not a killer," you countered.

"Ooo, I don't know," your third roommate, Jessie, chimed in. "I heard-"

"Everyone has heard something different," you cut them all off. "At a trial he was found innocent. I heard he was the one who was attacked and he defended himself."

"Who the hell knows," Winnie said. "Whether he's a killer or not, I'd stay away. You just can never be too careful."

She isn't totally wrong, you knew. What if the people in town had it right and Joel had skated by on a loophole? Or what if he was attacked and it was all just a tragic mess that ended badly? From Joel's body language that you saw almost daily, you could almost see the guilt steaming out of him. Monsters didn't feel guilt.

"I just don't think he ever got a chance to tell his side of the story," you explained with a shrug. "I don't know."

"What did you talk to him about?" Jessie asked.

"I just sat down," you explained and then reluctantly admitted, "I asked him to go out-"

"You asked him out!?" Chrissy shouted. "He killed someone!"

"It was an accident," you assured her. "And I didn't ask him out like that. I just.. asked him to do something. He just looks so lonely."

Chrissy looked to Winnie. "Girl, can you talk some sense into her before she ends up on Dateline."

You all laughed and you shook your head. "I don't know. I l figured you guys would react like this." You stood up and went to retrieve a bottle of pumpkin ale from the fridge.

As good of friends as Chrissy, Winnie and Jessie were, you knew they wouldn't understand your empathy toward Joel, the man your town had branded as some kind of boogeyman. And so you decided to drop it and watch the scary movie one of your friends had put on. Deep down, however, you were silently thinking about Joel.

A deep dive into Google had lead you on a bit of a wild goose chase that night and the next morning. You had Googled Joel Miller, and after finally getting past the plethora of articles revolving around the accident, you finally discovered a link with some valuable information - like his employer.

Stalker! You called yourself in your mind. If anything it made you smile and roll your eyes at yourself. Everyone Googled everyone. Right? Joel Miller would be no exception to that. When you found the address of where he worked, you grabbed your keys and began your drive across town to a notorious junk yard and car repair center.

The gates to the grounds were wide open when you arrived. Despite living in town your whole life you had never been down here. It was stereotypical, with rows and rows of cars that seemed to stretch on for miles. With your window rolled down you could hear a loud humming or buzzing sound coming from somewhere in one of the big, open garage bays.

A hefty man with a bushy mustache approached your vehicle as you eased inside the gates.

"Can I help ya?" He asked, slightly out of breath as he placed a meaty hand on the car.

"Um, yeah, I have an appointment with Joel. He's supposed to take a look at this ratting noise in my car."

The man scratched his head and looked down toward one of the open bays. "You can pull it down in front of the last one there. He'll take care of ya."

"Thank you." You smiled and slowly cruised down between two rows of cars, a cloud of dirt trailed your vehicle as it bounced over the uneven landscape.

When you got to the last bay you glanced inside, seeing Joel working up a sweat and he whipped around the workspace. A Jeep was perched up on a lift inside.

For a moment you drank him in. Rolled up sleeves of a black thermal over jeans and beat up work boots. Grease was smudged in random places on his face and he carried a silver tool as he walked.

As you clicked the door open, he turned in your direction, only to do a double take when he saw it was you. Butterflies emerged in your stomach and you took a breath as you met him by the door's entrance.

"Hi." You greeted him.

"Hi." Skepticism continued to hang in the tone of his voice.

"She's got a rattling noise in her car." The man with the bushy mustache seemed to come out of nowhere, patting Joel on the shoulder as he quickly passed by to enter the garage.

For whatever reason, the interact left you at peace, at least to a small degree. Someone was friendly with Joel, at least.

"Yeah, um." You motioned to your car and you could tell Joel knew it was more bullshit.

"A rattling noise?" He asked.

"Yeah, look, I didn't come here about my car," you confessed, though you knew Joel already knew that.

"You can take off after that one!" The other man shouted to Joel. "I'll finish up the oil change on the Jeep and then lock it up for the night."

"Thanks," Joel called back and then returned his attention to you. "Why'd you come here?"

You eyed a motorcycle off to the side and before you could answer his question or ask him one of you own, Joel said simply. "It's mine."

A smirk formed on your face and you walked over toward the bike, placing a careful hand on the handlebars. "Teach me to ride it?" You said, half-kidding.

Joel finally cracked a barely-there smile and joined you by the motorcycle. "Fine. Hope on."

Your eyebrows raised and you smiled wider at him before doing your best to straddle the bike. When you placed your hands on the handlebars you looked back at him. "Now what?"

Joel crept in behind you and the butterflies in your stomach escalated again. You feel a twinge of pleasure when his hands came down over yours. "Believe it or not this is the break. And this is the throttle. If you bring your hand this way toward you, you accelerate." He moved your hand backwards a bit and you continued to grin to yourself.

Joel immediately backed off once he was done showing you some of the basics and you turned to him, still positioned on the bike.

"Do I look cool?" You asked, making him actually chuckle this time.

Progress, you thought.

"Cooler than I do," Joel answered.

"Well, let's judge." You got off the bike and waited as he hesitated before getting on. "All you need is a leather jacket."

"He's got one hanging in here," Joel's coworker called out, making you laugh at the fact that he was obviously eavesdropping.

"Thanks Ron." He shook his head and looked back to you, attempting not to smile but one finally broke through again.

"I've never been on one before," you admitted, creeping closer to him. Your eyes were sparkling with excitement and you could wholeheartedly sense Joel's hesitation again.

On the same note, you saw a flash of something change in his expression and could tell when his guard was let down just enough. "Get on."

You flashed a wide smile and straddled the back of the bike, wrapping your arms securely around his midsection. When Joel started up the bike you felt a rush of adrenaline that you hadn't ever felt in your life.

"Hold on," he instructed before taking off back up through the rows of cars.

Your hair whipped in all directions as you flew out of the gates and onto a wooded back road. What a rush!

A part of you wanted to look down but you knew it could ruin the experience and so you squinted ahead into the incoming darkness and smiled wider.

The chill of October air kissed your cheeks, leaving a little sting as you whipped through the town. Joel half-looked back at you when you cruised past your coffee shop and you held onto him a little tighter.

Everything whipped by in little flashes - couples walking the town green, ghosts hanging from trees, lights from the little businesses about town that were close to shutting down for the night.

As darkness fully submerged the two of you, you almost felt like there was no one else on earth; that you and Joel existed in this exclusive world build for the two of you without hurt, pain or prejudice. You didn't want the ride to end. You didn't want that feeling to end. It was a feeling you knew you would chase again.

When the motorcycle finally came to a halt in front of the now-locked gates of the junkyard, you could hear your chorus of heavy breathing for the first time. It matched Joel's, and when he got off the bike a second after you, you could see he was equally basking in the afterglow of the ride.

You ran your hands through your hair and you could almost feel the energy that radiated out of your wind tossed hair. "Wow." It was all you could say.

Joel smiled at you more genuinely now. "Hope I didn't scare you."

"You don't scare me." You shook your head. "Quite the opposite actually."

There was a silence that lingered as you stood there at the desolate entrance to the junkyard at the edge of town. Leaves from the surrounding trees swirled down in elegant, twirling patterns. One stuck in your hair and you didn't notice until Joel leaned a hand in your direction.

For a second you were prepared for a kiss - a smoldering, adrenaline-ridden kiss. But as your eyes began to close in anticipation you quickly realized Joel was reaching for the bright yellow leaf that had clung to your still-wild strands of hair.

"Oh." You felt the tiniest flush of embarrassment but it was fleeting and certainly didn't ruin the moment. "Thanks." You gave a quiet chuckle and Joel smiled.

"Let me get you to your car." He unlocked the gate and walked the motorcycle down into the junkyard with you by his side.

If Joel hadn't been beside you, you would have been freaked out. The place was eerie at night with no one around; but somehow that added to the thrill right then and there in the moment.

You weren't ready to call it a night. It felt as dark as midnight but it was only seven o'clock.

"So," you turned to him as you used your key fab to unlock your car. "Do you want to go down to the East Bend Tavern with me tonight? There's a costume party."

Joel seemed to cringe. "I don't know."

"Come." You knew you were sounding a little desperate, but it didn't matter. The motorcycle ride and the intensity you felt being in Joel's company was a bit addicting. Even if it ended up being just one night, you wanted to really live it.

"Costume party.." He toyed with the idea in his head.

"I picked up a couple of cheap masks." You gave a laugh and popped open the trunk of your car. You reached in and pulled out a plastic scarecrow mask and a plastic black cat that covered down past the nose. "I have dibs on the black cat but uh.." You extended your arm toward Joel with the scarecrow mask.

He looked down, slowly taking the mask in both of his hands. Joel stared at it for a moment and then looked back up. "Maybe no one will recognize me." He immediately added, "What time?"

"Meet you there at nine?"

"Nine." Joel looked back down at the mask and he let out a deep breath. Anxiety oozed out of him but he nodded. "Nine it is."

CLICK HERE FOR CHAPTER 3

@untamedheart81 @amy172

134 notes · View notes

gabessquishytum · 7 months

Note

Hob works in a rich bitch cafe; it's not called that of course, but most of the restaurant clientele are women who don't have "jobs" and who can eat (and drink) lunch for 3 hours a day. Hob's not complaining - the tips are good and his ass only get pinched a few times a month.

The most interesting group of ladies who come in seem to be some kind of exs club; they all dated or were married(?) to this guy Morpheus. They have a litany of complaints as their monthly lunches get more lubricated -- he's so intense and smothering, except when he's busy and disinterested; the sex is good, when he wants it, but who can tell went that is; he's so moody; he looks better in couture that (we) ever did. The best they can agree on is he's pretty and the moneys good.

Hob kind of feels bad for this guy - these ladies don't seem to ever had respected this Morpheus guy. It's too bad, but it is a bitch club so maybe they are just venting. If Hob wasn't dating this absolutely fantastic guy, Dream (the sex is great, he's intense in a way Hob loves, and Hob enjoys just cuddling him when they both need some quiet time), he might have tried to look this Morpheus guy up -- just to see if he swung Hob way; Hob would have offered to blow the guys back out, at the very least.

Oh well.

It's the monthly Mimosas & Morpheus club 😭😭 and I fucking love it.

Hob watches on in amusement. He's got to the point where he recognises the ladies and even knows some of their Morpheus-related backstory: Nada, the college girlfriend who he proposed to after just one month and then refused to even look at her again after she declined. Titania, who is at least enthusiastic about the guy's skills in bed. Calliope, the ex wife who is perhaps the kindest but also the most savage. There are others who come and go. Hob almost looks forward to hearing their stories.

One day one of the women (Bast? Hob thinks her name is?) is like "I hear he's trying men now. For goodness sake, was it not enough to traumatise the entire female population?" And the girls all laugh, and some speculate that maybe Morpheus was gay all along (Hob takes mild offense at the blatant bi erasure but it's not his place to say anything).

And then he's distracted anyway, because Dream just swanned through the cafe doors! Hob is thrilled to see his boyfriend and greets him, giving him a big ole smooch when the manager's back is turned. Dream looks pleased, but then he looks over Hob’s shoulder and all the colour (not there was much) drains from his face.

Hob follows his gaze and sees that all the ladies from the mimosas & morpheus club are staring back, jaws on the floor. Calliope stands up and quietly calls out - "Morpheus? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

But the moment she speaks, Dream - Morpheus? Slips out of Hob’s arms and flees through the door. There are angry tears in his eyes, and Hob is halfway through following him before someone tugs him back.

"Let him have a moment." One of the women - Jo, Hob remembers. She doesn't come often, counts herself as a hookup rather than an ex, and never pays for her own booze - "He looks good. Better than he used to. Obviously he just needed to find the right bloke."

Hob smiles slightly. He'll go after Dream, anyway. There's no way he'd leave his beautiful boyfriend to deal with this alone. Hob tries to imagine what it would be like to walk into a room full of his own exes and nearly gags.

When he comes back with a reluctant Dream in tow, Hob finds that he still has his job, thanks to the mimosas and morpheus club. They've also bought an entire basket of pastries to apologise and made themselves scarce.

Dream buries his head in his hands. "No doubt you have heard every sin I have ever committed, in vivid detail."

"And I still love you. Even though you do leave your knickers on the bedroom floor for days." Hob grins. "You were just looking for the right bloke, love. I think you found him."

#the sandman #dreamling

136 notes · View notes

blind-alchemists · 19 days

Text

sorry, Zagreus, I've had your sister for five hours and I already like her more than you.

anyway! I did treat myself and bought the game early and. it's just very good!

in somewhat chronological order, my thoughts after yesterday's session

the music! the music is even more amazing than in the first game and if I'm done, I need to listen to the whole OST on loop

the art!! also even better than in the first game!!

Melinoë is a great protagonist

it's incredibly funny the first god we encounter is Apollo, because Apollo is the guy people modded into the first game years ago

... boy, I wonder what the speedrunning meta will look like for this game (I have very obscure knowledge about Hades I speedrunning meta)

I love the little backgrounds that pop out with the art

oh, right, I jumped into the Hades I EA late, so I never saw the place holder graphics in-game before

the environments!! beautiful.

I shouldn't have played the first game last week. It's fucking with me. where's my second dash??? Why do we start with 30 HP??? where are my death defiances??? weapon mechanics???

of course there's a fishing mechanic again.

I like Hecate's design.

saluting??? what's the lore behind that?

OH. this tone of the story isn't ... quite what I expected. A lot more serious. a lot more severe.

Melinoë doesn't remember her family??? Hello??? what the fuck???

and she keeps talking about her task with such a dutiful determination ... no, I'm not crying. But. That's such an interesting conflict.

NEMESIS!! She's holding her sword aspect!! her design!! her resentment!! her vengeance!! her rivalry with Mel. how Mel calls her Nem. please. tell me she's a romance option. PLEASE.

oh, hi odysseus.

hey, there's hypnos! ... why's he sleeping??? (funny thing is, I got the Charon dialogue that implies he's more useful this way lol)

I cannot. Take. Skelly serious. It's worse because Mel does.

I like Moros' design. The long hair going over the horns? Yeah, that's good.

Mel gets an AXE??? a heavy, double-bladed axe??? (I love women wielding heavy weapons, and as long as the rail doesn't make a return, I'm good with anything after enough time)

I like the new art sprites for reoccurring characters!

ahhh, the good old "we don't trust Olympus so we're not telling them everything" line. understandable, but I figure that's going to blow up sooner or later.

I love Mel's bond with Artemis and Selene and the implication that both helped raise her.

... and I like the predominantly female cast so far

Nemesis can show up in Erebus???

BABY MELINOË omg

why does every chthonic goddess / titaness sound like they have a thing for Persephone. Nyx already had a few lines like that in the first game. Why does Hecate also have these kinds of lines.

the Hecate fight frustrates me to no end, because I'm very used to more dashes, more health, and more death defiances, and very different weapons :( (I have bet her twice in total so far)

unrelated, but I didn't know I needed a sheep in the Hades art style but it's so damn cute and I want a large art print of it

Archane!! I love how her silks change Mel's avatar

Oceanus is beautiful

... except for the traps. Really not digging the traps. or the maps.

CHAOS??? why are you holding your old form's head??? and why is there an embryo coming out of it??? why do you have wings??? why do you wear a suit??? the new design unfortunately checks all the boxes but upon reflection that is because it fits into that very niche character design trope I've seen in manwha recently and I couldn't put a name on it if I tried

on that note, I also adore Aphrodite's new design!!

not quite sure what I think of the gathering / farming mechanic yet

I do like the incantations, magic, hexes, and arcana though!

HERMES! I also adore his design.

wait, what? Mel's going to Olympus? You're telling me one part of the game is descending into the House of Hades and the other is climbing to Mount Olympus?? (that's my speculation, at least.)

god, I hope the cast of the first game is alright/alive. :(

I hope we also get to see Athena, Ares, and Dionysus at some point :(

on that note, I can't wait for Mel to meet her brother and realize he's the opposite of her lol. I love siblings and mirrors.

#hades 2 #hades 2 spoilers #rambling #i love this game and I'm not sure if I'm crying because it's so good or because I love Mel or because I keep dying to Hecate #btw all questions are rhetorical. I do not want them answered.#i want to experience this game as blind as i can.

21 notes · View notes

nordictwin · 2 years

Text

So I've been playing I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, letting it eat up my every waking thought, as one does. And while I've got a fic with some love for mama Flulu in the works, I've got a fun little AU in the back of my head as well, but I don't think I'll ever get to writing it. But it needs to be written out, so here you go.

Basically: what if ALL the Stratos kids, while Sol is still asleep from hitting their head during the crash, wake up and realize that they've got memories of (some of) the past timelines. BUT - they all think Sol is the only one who doesn't?

Marz is the first one to awaken to it - memories of the colony falling and, most importantly to her, Lum ruining them all. And she's not about to let that happen. But she also very quickly realizes that if she goes around telling people, bad things are probably going to happen. So she stays quiet and observant.

Which is how she notices that some of the other kids aren't quite acting like themselves. Tang and Dys suddenly spend time together again, both reaching out in their own awkward ways. Anemone clings to Kom even more than usual, Tammy worries and frets, but starts working harder to study and learn basic medicine, and Cal throws himself into biology and food production with an unprecedented vengeance. All trying to act like everything is normal.

In short, they're being very obvious that there's something up, but trying to hide it.

All except Sol. Nothing out of the ordinary seems to be happening with them - they're just an ordinary kid, doing ordinary kid things.

So Marz calls for a meeting between all the "in the know" kids, and outright tells them: "I have memories of past lives... and I think you all have, too".

Cue the lot of them starting to pool their memories and plan ahead for the future. The famine, the Shimmer, the Heliopause, and everything else. There must be a way for them to avoid all that pain and suffering, they just need to work together.

Most importantly: they need to protect Sol, because in all their memories, Sol is their ray of sunshine in human form. Too good for this world, too pure. And since they're the only one who doesn't know about what's coming (or so they think), they've got to make sure they stay safe.

It's a quest to save the colony and protect Sol's happiness, no matter what may happen. They've got 10 years to fix everything, they can do this.

Meanwhile, Sol absolutely has all of their memories of the past timelines. All of them. So why aren't the other kids noticing anything off about Sol? That would be because Sol learned real fast to not talk about past lives and not acting normal - because the one time they did, in what would be their "second playthrough", they got institutionalized. And they're not going to chance anything like that again.

This is essentially a Sol who's lived a lot of lives and is starting to get very tired of it all, to the point where they're just... going with the flow. Letting things happen. They go to school, help out where they can, try to enjoy life as it comes. Not seeking a specific goal or outcome. And if their friends are suddenly acting a little stranger, seeking them out more, being more active in a way? Well, maybe that's just this life's way of putting a spin on things.

And if, when the Heliopause arrives, Rex and Nomi-Nomi are even more friendly towards them and Vace is... still an asshole, but almost tempered by something (and steers clear of Nem outside of unavoidable interactions)? Well, that's just less to worry about and more hugs for them!

(Marz is quick to catch on, once again, and all three are accepted into the Save the Future Council soon after).

How will this new timeline end? With everyone working together, will the Colony rise or fall? When fate no longer rests upon one child's shoulders, how will everything change? I'll leave that up for you guys to speculate about.

#i was a teenage exocolonist #exocolonist #everyone knows AU #they get Sym and Congruence in on the plotting #Sym is delighted and fascinated by the new developments and adores all his little humans #Sol gets a well-earned break from everything

598 notes · View notes

fabricated-misslieness · 5 months

Text

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: (imsoniac) miles morales x gn reader (platonic)

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: in which miles finds out why he shouldn't shout his last name in the suit, even when it seems like he's alone.

ʀᴇ𝐐: no ~ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 825

"The Spiders win! They got the series, the championship, the cup, the trophy, the whole enchilada with guac on the side! And Morales with the 102 homeruns in a single game! Put that man on a cereal box, because New York...what's uppppppp?!"

☾⋆☆⋆☽

Ever since you saw THE Spider-Man (or the newer one, anyway) at the local baseball field on a random visit to Brooklyn last weekend, you've been noticing strange things, mainly about your best friend, Miles Morales.

For one, Spider-Man sounded mighty familiar. It was your best friend's voice that brought you to peak over at the empty stadium in the first place.

Two, now that you really thought about it and have seen Spider-Man out of action, you'd realized their statures were fairly similar; either that, or you were just being delusional.

To top it all off: Spider-Man had said your best friend's last name and, supposedly by implication, his own, Morales.

But that was all speculation—the scrawny, geeky, nerdy high school student in front of you couldn't be Spider-Man!

Except he wasn't all that scrawny, though you had never seen him outside of hoodies and sweaters; and he was totally into superheroes; and being super intelligent didn't mean you couldn't have physical advantage as well.

Hm. Maybe he was Spider-Man. Or was Spider-Man Miles Morales?

Same thing.

"Hello? Earth to the International Space Station!" Miles snapped his fingers in front of your face, equally snapping you out of your train of thought.

You clear your throat, "Sorry."

"You were being real creepy there." Miles remarked, rolling on his chair back to his desk, "zonin' out while staring at me."

Right now should be the perfect time to test your theory, right? "I was just thinking about what I might have for lunch," You excuse yourself, "I'm thinking...enchiladas and guac."

"Sounds delish." Miles doesn't clue in just yet. In fact, he seems to take it as a passing statement, turning around to face his laptop.

"Might wanna watch something while I'm at it...hm, how about a replay of that baseball game over in Brooklyn from last weekend?" You hum to yourself, as though deep in thought.

"There wasn't a baseball game in Brooklyn last weekend." Miles tells you, his voice laced with confusion.

"There wasn't?" You mirror his confusion, "But I heard some shouting from the stadium when I visited!"

"...you did?" He's caught on now. He spoke simply, in order not to spill his own secret and also to find out what you knew. It basically confirmed what you'd been suspecting all week.

"Yeah. By the way, do you know if there's a player called Morales on the Brooklyn roster?" It's getting harder to contain your laughter.

"No..no, I don't." Miles swings around on his chair. Meeting your eyes, he realizes that you're not as confused as you sound; instead, amused. "Oh."

You were right. Ahh, you're a genius.

Your face lights up with a wider smile, but before you can say anything, Miles rolls his chair to the bed where you lay and waves his hands with a panic. "It's not what it seems like!"

"You're Spider-Man." You say finally.

"No! Yes, no...maybe!" When Miles sees that your grin only widens, he sighs, then points a finger at you. "Don't tell anyone."

"I won't," You raise your hands in fake surrender. "Spider-Man..."

"Shut up!" Miles was truly stressed.

"Alright, alright." You scoot forward to ease him, placing your hands on his shoulders and squeezing. "I won't tell."

"Phew.." Miles let out a sigh of relief, clutching his heart as though you'd given him a heart attack.

"I'm your best friend, Miles! You don't have to worry." You let go of his shoulders and smile.

Miles crosses his legs, looking up as he begins to list off things, "Oh, come on. You can be a bit of a chatterbox at times."

"What?"

"You're not one for keeping secrets, I mean, actually I don't know that, but you're a proactive gossip machine."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yuh-huh."

Miles chuckled, his mood had lightened, "There's a reason you're not the first to learn–"

"WHAT?"

"Yeah." He said it like it was nothing; like it wasn't betrayal in its purest, most bitter form. "Ganke knows! So does my mom, and even Teo from the Bodega!"

"Teo? The old man with the ginger cat?" You stare at him, jaw slack and all. Flabbergasted, is the word, if you could think of it at the moment.

"Yeah." Miles confirms, again, like it's nothing.

It's not anger that rises, but extreme disappointment. "Miles! I'm your best friend, what the f–?"

He cuts you off, "I mean..." You give him a pointed look, and he waves it off, "Pfft, no..what was I even saying?"

"You have a lot to make up for. Show me!"

It's Miles's turn to be shocked. He expected to be asked for an explanation, not a demonstration; then again, it was you he was talking to. "Sure."

☾⋆☆⋆☽

Lesson learned: Never ask your best friend to show you his cool, electric spider-powers. He might throw himself off the building with you in his arms.

#🌸 // success!#miles morales x reader #miles morales x gn reader #miles x reader #miles x gn reader #spiderman miles Morales x reader #🎟️ // spider-man miles morales #🎟️ // spider-man 2 #🎫 // miles morales

42 notes · View notes

findafight · 11 months

Note

STOBIN AS DRIFT COMPATIBLE BESTIES FIGHTING KAIJU!!!

OKAY OKAY BUT. post canon au where the Breach opens in the early nineties instead of 2013, and eventually when the Jaeger Program is just in the fledgling stages, right at the start when they figure out the drift and sharing the load, some American government goon looks at another, and they're both thinking the same thing. They know a couple chucklefucks who are scarily in tune with each other that already have monster fighting experience. The problem is of course the chucklefuckery and also they. Hate the government.

But they figure yknow. May as well try to get the actually very good at killing monsters the military can't clowns. They need people willing to go into deathtraps and fight giant monsters, and those two have done that a few times before. They need people that can connect to each other while also fighting without dying, and figure those two are a prime example. So after a lot of government groveling and Robin and Steve slamming the door in multiple suits' faces, they eventually agree to at least...see what it's all about. Because they heard about the attack in San Francisco on K-day, about Manila and Cabo San Lucas and Syndney, and it was all bad, and as much as they dislike and distrust the government and military...they do want to help (and the pay is...good). It was probably only a matter of time before their luck in avoiding monsters ran out anyway. At least this way they had some control of how.

So Steve and Robin are in the Jaeger Academy almost as soon as it opens. It's...an adjustment. They're obviously not the regular type to join, mostly its a bunch of men who were maybe ex military or something, and they stick out. Training is a pain in the ass, they've spent the years between the upside down closing lounging and working and starting to relax, and so there's the expected heckling.

(I want them to meet Newt and Herman so bad like. they'd be around the same age as them (because we are bumping everything in PR canon back for this) and I think the combo punch of Newt and Robin being themselves would be hilarious. They're all kinda outsiders in the macho militarism of the Academy and i think the chaos would just be. unimaginable. )

But anyways. I think during the testing to see drift compatibility, Steve is called up and looks the scientist/military guy (because it's early days there aren't really "instructors" yet) and says "If you even think about putting me in one of those fucking things with anyone other than Robin, you've lost your mind and forgotten we're only here because you asked us to be together." Everyone is like ooooooh but then he squints at them and they shut up like oh damn okay sorry yeah.

And that's the end of that discussion.

There's something about being in the drift with each other that makes all that complaining and speculating and wishing to combine when they were teenagers seem half-assed. It's...not like anything either of them can describe. It feels right, like they were always meant to be that way. If they lived in each other's pockets before the Drift, they're in each other's skin now. Silent communication is expected for long-term drift partners. Residuals of the bond, dream sharing, but Robin and Steve, even among other pilots are exceptional. There's entire discussions happening in brief eye contact. They move in sync outside the Jaeger just as well as if they were still in the Drift. They've only had one RABBIT incident, and they pulled out of it fine. It's...eerie for some people to watch them, even other Pilots. (also the fact they'll casually mention shit like "well at least the air isn't toxic" or "hey. don't call this torture, that's offensive. I've been tortured!" or even "can't believe i survived evil bats for this shit." which is mildly offputting)

They end up on the Pacific northwest and into southern B.C. with a Mach 1 called... something like Midwest Deluge or something idk. They're media darlings the first Kaiju they kill two fifty kilometres off the coast of Washington. Robin is quirky, and Steve has all his midwestern boyish charm, and together they entrance people with the Drift. There's interviews and talkshows and then at some point action figures? (Dustin does not let this go. By this time he's also working in K-sci. [obviously??] but he's still annoying little brother shaped.)

Steve is usually one of the first quoted to describe the Drift, in his first interview having said "When I first met Robin --became friends with her--it felt like we'd known each other our whole lives. Now we have." Robin is also sometimes quoted with "There's probably nowhere I'd rather be, than in Steve's head."

Of course, with them being in the media, being kickass, and also being part of a program that emphasizes compatibility, there's questions on whether or not they're dating. Because while the Drift isn't romantic by nature, my god people would romanticize it. And when two hot people of opposite genders that are not related to each other in any way are piloting the Jaeger, and are just *gestures to all of stobinisms* assumptions abound.

They're in an interview after their third kill when it happens. It's a few years into their tenure as Pilots, maybe '96? (if the Breach opened in '91 and they were recruited in 93?) The host asks "So. romantically. You two have always denied that attraction, but working so close together, literally in each other's heads, isn't there a chance that has blossomed into something else? Something more?"

They roll their eyes. Steve says "there's nothing more than what Robin and I have. Romance isn't more it's just something else."

Robin goes "Plus..." Before Steve looks at her, eyebrows raised. "I think so" she says, obviously to a question Steve asked that only she heard. "What are they going to do? Fire me?" they both laugh.

He shrugs. "if you're sure..."

Robin hums. "Yes, well. I agree with everything Steve said. The Drift isn't romantic, it's connection. It's knowing. All sorts of relationships can be Drift compatible. Steve's and mine is Platonic. Capital P."

"You gonna actually say it anytime soon?"

"Shut up."

"I dunno it seems like you're stalling."

"Christ, Steve. I'm getting to it. Let me tell the world I'm a lesbian without nagging, goddamn." She turns to the interviewer. "anyways yeah I'm a lesbian so it was never going to be romantic between me and Steve. I'm just obsessed with him."

There's a pause, before they lean into each other and giggle. Steve whispers "good job" that's barely picked up by his mic.

They get a stern talking to by their Marshal but Robin was right. They can't get fired for it. They're too good and pilots are too valuable for plain ol' homophobia to get in the way. (It's seen as a cornerstone moment in queer history, a Jaeger Pilot, someone the world can do nothing but respect, came out! casually. with an already supportive loved one sitting beside her, ready to laugh with her.) And while some people act weird or distant about it, most move past it pretty quick, considering the Midwest team is well respected and there's obviously the bigger problem of underwater aliens trying to kill everyone. You either get over it and work with them or you leave or get people killed.

By the time of the events of the movie, they're old-timers. They've upgraded once to a Mach 3 after a brutal fight with a high category than expected made Midwest Deluge inoperable. They're in Hong-Kong because where else would they be? They need to end this. Just like they needed to see the Upside Down to the end. Their whole lives have been dominated by fighting for their lives and to protect their home and the world. One last push. They aren't even forty yet.

and then the breach is closed and the world is saved and they can retire with their massive pensions from being the best monster killers ever <3

#stobin #platonic stobin #stranger things #steve harrington #robin buckley #platonic with a capital p #stranger things au #stobin pacific rim au #Anonymous #finda writes stuff #findaanswers #pacific rim au

103 notes · View notes

carelessflower · 1 year

Text

lucifer helped alec survive the svefnthorn - a theory

story time! i was ranting to @dustandducks about how i can't believe alec survive being stabbed by the svefnthorn (he stabbed himself but same sentiment) which was attuned to sammael at the time. sammael who, you know, is a literal prince of hell, with power only second to lucifer himself. and to add more onto this.

it is stated that only a warlock can survive being stabbed by the svefnthorn and nothing can reverse its effects. no other magical creatures in the shadoworld stand a chance against the svefnthron, except the warlock. pretty terrifying right? but this happened

alec survived being stabbed by the svefnthorn. not only did he survive, not only did there was no blood or injury or visible scar from the stabbing, but he was also able to call the thorn's power to him and used that power to help magnus. but why? how could that happen? we already established the power of the svefnthorn, and it was clear alec was not meant to survive it. i love alec, i would absolutely do something that ends me up on national news if it would make him happy, but i know his ability. he doesn't have extra angel blood or any blessing from the angels, or any secret gift that makes him exceptionally powerful, he's just your normal level shadowhunter

even alec himself was surprised when he realized he was not burnt to a crisp due to his 300 IQ decision-making skills. and i know we have the explanation about the alliance rune smoothing the thorn's demonic magic and alec's angelic magic to work together, but once again, how? we don't have a clear exposition for this, even from characters in the story

alec didn't know it would work, magnus didn't know why it worked. everybody's best guess were fate taking it easy on them. and for sammael-

he just...left, like how corporate taking down their pride flags the second pride month is over. no rage, no murder, nada, just disappeared into space. he also seemingly non fazed by the fact that alec survive a thorn with clearly anti non-warlock embedded to its manual.

@dustandducks raised a really good point, what if someone else, some higher power meant for alec to survive. the usual, and maybe logical answer would be angel looking out for their descendants, cause alec need to fulfill a greater destiny in the future. im going to play the devil’s advocate here and suggest that lucifer popped up and gave alec a little demonic magical assistance. this conspiracy somewhat tied up the loose ends in the lost book of the white and built some interesting story beat for the wicked power and the black volume of the dead

the twist fitting to what we already known from tlbotw

maybe the reason why sammael didn’t snatch alec up and put him in some demonic science lab in his realm is because he sensed lucifer’s presence and decided not to mess with anything lucifer was cooking up. (as lucifer is more powerful than him, which is also stated before the stabbing scene in tlbotw) it can also tied in sammael’s motive of gathering other princes of hell to talk about lucifer in the epilogue. tlbotw was setting up the grounds for tbvotd, magnus escaped becoming a greater demon’s minion leading to alec becoming the minion of a greater greater demon

how the twist affect the future events in the tsc universe

one might be thinking, why would lucifer saved alec, he just a normal shadowhunter, why would the literal mega ultimate OG devil care about him? as much as i would like to say it’s because everything revolve around alec and everyone love him (as they should), i know it’s not the case.

many have speculated that in the final series, there will be a showdown between demons and the shadoworld. and what if lucifer wanted to infiltrate the enemy’s side, wreck them slowly from the inside and make them suffer at the hands of their kind. his spy should held high position, a major voice among the children of the angels and has a connection to the downworlders, and someone who wouldn’t pose as potential suspect easily.

enter alec who fit all these criteria and more. who would think their consul is under the control of lucifer and is working against them? if alec under the influence of lucifer wreaked havoc from the shadow, it could create more base for the cohort to claim that they were right and the clave in exile would suffer under an incompetent lead, causing animosity and conflicts in the already tense political situation. and when the truth comes out? chaos everywhere. lucifer didn’t even have to lift a finger to see the shadowhunters crash and burn

tag list (tell me if you wanna be removed or added): @magnus-the-maqnificent @literallytypogod @ukisteria @wildegremlin @steven--with-a-v @sociallyineptbibliophile @queenlilith43 @khaleesiofalicante @wandererbyheart @raziyekroos @onetimetwotimesthreetimess @alexandergideonslightwood @awecwightwood @noah-herondale-lightwood @elettralightwood @dustandducks @deliciousdetectivestranger @delightfullyterrible @letsgofortacos @kita-no @xxsunset-seasonxx @thelightofthebane @secrettryst @pocketoffeels @cityofdownwardspirals @coriia @i-have-not-slept @rinadragomir

#alec lightwood #magnus bane #malec #the black volume of the dead #the wicked powers #the lost book of the white #the eldest curses #twp #tec #the way this theory make no and some sense #feel free to add more #call me delusional but pls dont call me dumb #im sensitive

169 notes · View notes

kennyomegasweave · 9 months

Text

I LOVE this show. Absolutely every single man is dickmatized in various degrees. Completely and utterly dickmatized. Bewitched body and soul by penis.

Nick's a whole ass mess. Dressing like Top and still staying with Boston after that, quite frankly, pathetic display where Boston was throwing a lot of stones at Ray that were clearly not just about Ray. 💅

Boston's most certainly going to ruin his entire life. I don't think he's gonna break up the friend group. He might break up Top & Mew and possibly Sand & Ray, but not the other three's friendship. But he's still not some evil sociopath, he's just a 22 year old asshole. And I still don't think Boston's lied to Nick about anything except his feelings for Top. 💁‍♀️

I really REALLY want to know why he said Mew and Ray boned to Ray's face. I believed Mew last week, because why would he lie in just a scene with Ray (unless he's Thai!Dan from Gossip Girl) but thinking back, I don't think he ever said they didn't have sex to anyone but Top. He just told Ray he wasn't interested and never was.

I still don't trust Top. At all. Sorry I'm not sorry. But since I now have suspicions about Mew lying to him about Ray, they just became interesting as a couple to me. They might both just be playing each other. I also don't think either of them are in love. Sorry I'm not sorry, Part Deux. Also, it's weird as hell that every single place he goes with Mew has some random dude coming up and trying it. I get he's the hot fuckboy, but why is he running into people EVERYWHERE who he smashed, knows, or want to smash him. 🤔

I only yelled STAND UP GIRL at Sand once. I still think he needs to play New Rules on repeat until he internalizes and lives it. Having said that, I think Ray is catching real feelings. I just don't think he even knows what those are because I'm Team He Never Actually Loved Mew He Just Latched Onto The One Persom That Made Him Feel Alive After He Tried To Die. Been there, done that, took a decade to get over it. 😬

I cannot believe Sand just took Ray to his room after the fight. Like. At least make him sleep on the couch so you can cry alone in your room? I think Ray was genuine when he told Sand to just ask. Also, just straight up doing shots after the fight is something my alcoholic ass cannot even talk about, so I won't. But this is gonna get A LOT worse for Ray before it gets better.

Also, let that fight be a lesson as to why you don't get crossfaded around the wrong people. At no point should Ray and Boston ever be on two or more drugs around each other. I don't care if Boston was like NO LET'S PARTY. Ray & Sand both should have said nah and went to get that dick.

Anyway. I have no speculation cause that's not really my thing. But I love this show. I would die for this show. I would ride into battle for this show. This is a show I could follow. This is a show I could call king.

#only friends #only friends the series #Sand is still firmly in the least shady category #Mew has joined Top in the most shady category for me #Ray has moved closer to the least shady side #Nick and Boston remain firmly not even on the scale cause #Boston is an unrepentant asshole #Nick is batshit insane #and thus I don't rank them as shady or not #regular clyde

51 notes · View notes

milllies · 8 months

Text

Good afternoon or evening everyone, today I want to ult the Wriollets and speculate a little (actually bomb some people and a ship). And so, Fontaine came out not so long ago, but many of us have already fallen in love with the ship of Risley and Nevi, I want to tell you that it is very justified, then I want to try to express my thought correctly. And so, let's start with the fact that Risley is an exception for Nevillet in terms of intimacy. Canonically (it is said to the developers) that Nevi does not have close relationships with people, but as the judge himself tells us (literally from the beginning of plot 4.1) “I have close relationships with Risley" (Not exactly, but that’s the gist of it; those who have gone through the story will understand), this should already make us understand that the relationship between them is completely different, not the same as others. Next, Risley begins to talk about Nevi before introducing himself and helping us ONLY because we are friends of Nevillet, out of trust and respect for him.Only for this reason. I think that if we had come from someone else, they would have persecuted us with sled rags. The Duke himself says the following: “I am ready to do anything extra, just to prove my respect and trust in Nevillet.” This is 100% canon, let's move on.

We can see how the relationship between the Duke and the judge is again different, since Risley, one might say, was the only one who believed that he would cope with the task, again, the level of trust is extremely high. Next, the same scene with the word “wow”. Risley was really joking, BUT he did it because he is essentially such a person, and also did you see his face while he was looking at Hydro Dragon? We all saw his smile too. Admiration, that’s how I would describe it. He trusts Nevi and knows that he will do everything as needed (by the way, in the original voice acting he still breathes when he looks at Nevi).

Next, we will look at a romantic trope that is very popular in France: Two people under one umbrella in the rain. This always means something romantic. You can see this technique in the animated series “Lady Bug and the Super Cat”. In one of the episodes, Marinette did not want to leave the school building because of the rain, but then Adrian appears with an umbrella and a scene occurs between them long staring contests. As a result, Adrian gives up his umbrella and leaves, and Marinette falls in love. As we know, they are a canon couple, so one umbrella for two is a very popular romantic trope. This happened with Risley and Nevi. The Duke does not like to rise from under the water, but at the first call from the judge, he goes to talk to him in the rain and finds him standing alone on the side of the road. Risley holds an umbrella over him, two under one umbrella. (you can find this out from his voiceline about Nevillet). Can I not talk about the fact that they constantly talk about each other and tell the traveler how much they trust each other. What did I want to say? This ship has a canonical basis. More than.

But the same Risley and Clorinda do not. We know nothing at all about their relationship at all. Outside the plot, nothing is known about their relationship (and in the plot too), the creators did not bother to leave at least something. People who ship really like to take phrases out of context, “Miss Clorinda. My door,” for example. These people have to cut or glue something to make their pairing work, while Risley and Nevi shippers don't have to do anything, we've already been given everything on a platter. The only argument of Risley and Clorinda shippers is “They look good; Risley flirts with Clorinda (I didn’t see a single moment like that, maybe you can show me?). Oh, he invited her to have tea (he asked Nevi and us to stay for tea. Man obsessed with tea, leave him, he offers it to everyone)." I never heard anything intelligible, to be honest.

Just because it’s hetero, that’s all. There are no more arguments. People like to invent things that don’t exist. And why doesn't anyone talk about Clorinda and Navia? In terms of, my women deserve more attention. They make sense and their relationship is revealed to us. Clorinda is so worried about Navya and makes sure that nothing happens to her at all, my moms were finally able to go to a cafe together in a long time! They were also together in an animation about the beach. Together all the time, and more recently in the plot. I want to say one thing, you can certainly ship whatever you want, but don't tell people who ship more reasonable pairings that yours is canon simply because the characters interacted in the plot and that's it, without having any additional canon information, and everything is yours" the arguments "are made up from thin air.

Them🥰 (there should be another photo there, but alas, I didn’t download it)

#wriothesley #wriolette #neuvillette #genshin navia #clorinde #clorivia #genshin impact

36 notes · View notes