Does it seem familiar?
Waking up in a world with 13 other players, thinking nothing of them, at first. Running around alone, untied, unfettered, until a single choice binds you to a single person. but you now run around knowing how it ends, knowing of the inevitable red that will spread and then spill, knowing that now and more because of the ticking clock within your chest. but you now wake knowing that one of the players, the very one you would think of, is missing; and now you bind yourself because of an offer, rather than a debt.
Taking up the role of protector. Bodyguard. Hand. Different words acting as shells around an essence of the same meaning; a meaning you never thought you’d apply to yourself, now worn with pride twice. but now you’re the one with less time on the the clock. but now the person you protect is in danger because of how much life he has, not how little.
Does it seem familiar?
In just a few hours, chaos unfolding. Lives being lost; friends being hunted; and, when everything reaches its lowest point, the person you pledged your life to protect asking you to do the impossible. but this time it’s a resort, not a request. but this time it’s to give to you, not than to take from others. but this time it’s to bring peace rather than wage war.
...Does it seem familiar?
(And it’s the sea, not the land. A resort rather than a fortress, a duo rather than an army, a show from the 90s rather than a medieval war. But these are just different guises acting as shells around an essence of the same meaning; of the same actions, repeating over and over again.
And yet-
To offer, not to pay. To protect purely from compassion, not with necessity. To give, not take. For peace.
...These events, you think, are like a shard of glass tossed into the sea. The essence is there and will always be, but the sharp edges are dulled by time and saltwater. They become softer. Smoother. Their core remains, and yet the harshness is lost to days the gone by.)
(Except there’s something else. Time may dull rough edges, but time is not the only force acting here. Just as sharp shards can be smoothed, smooth stones can be sharpened.
After every winter, there comes a spring.
The thrill to kill the fleeting gill.
Always remember: the world is not kind. And if it is, it’s not very interesting to Watch.)
--
Or, in other words:
A single day/And then it’s gone
Doomed to repeat/Our will be done.
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it's like. louis attempted to tell this story to daniel the first time, broke down, and attacked him before he could finish it.
and then decades later he's convinced himself that it was leaving the story unresolved that's holding him back from living his life fully now. so he invites daniel back again. and louis is sitting poised and put together, confident in his ability to recite his history in a pretty, poignant, neat little narrative that will resolve all the guilt and yearning and emptiness inside of him. that if he can just tell a compelling, satisfying story, maybe it will actually be that, and not the life he lived through, with all the pitfalls of his own failures lurking inside.
and then season 1 ends with him once again being forced to confront that the story he wants to imagine and the life he actually lived aren't the same thing. the boundaries around his narrative are shredded and he's left exposed, and subsequently able to face his past for the first time since that original interview. and you think, you think, "well this is it. they've crossed the event horizon. there's no use hiding the truth anymore, not after it's come flooding out into the open like this"
and then season 2 opens. not only is it back to the original, practiced distance, we now have armand literally enforcing that distance. a man sitting at the table who's interjections must be disregarded, an intentional interruption to the flow of the story. he doesn't exist to aid or add detail, he exists to distract louis when he gets too deep in the story. the only time we do get louis allowing any deep truth to come out is when armand leaves the room.
it's like. louis wants a story that's true, and the truth is what he's convinced will leave him satisfied. armand wants a story that will satisfy louis, to the extent louis will accept it's true.
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does anyone want to join me on the aventurine/argenti train. it's got all the perks of being as funny as any other argenti ship - especially given the random absurdity of their first meeting. what the hell was argenti doing in the depths of the nihility? who even knows anymore man. but like also i think it has the potential to be really sweet?
aventurine hasn't let anyone In since his sister died. he's long since forgotten how to Trust, and Love, and how to BE Loved. and this, combined with enormous amounts of survivor's guilt and trauma and being treated as an object, has really done a number on his self-esteem. he doesn't act like it (because he's learned that it's dangerous to be vulnerable; it's the one gamble he's not willing to take), but 2.1 gave us that glimpse into his inner dialogue and it is Bad in there
between his conversation with acheron, the note veritas left for him, and finding a sense of closure in the apparition of his younger self, he's on track to becoming better. we can see it in the way he pretty much immediately reaches out to the trailblazer to get some things off his chest once he gets his phone working again. and the way he's accepting what is basically a form of therapy from the doctors of chaos. but his self-hatred has been building up for years, and it's going to take a long time to unpack and unlearn all of that
so like, in comes argenti, right? he's a loud show-off, but he is SO earnest. he sees the beauty in everything and everyone. he's kind, and gentle, and so full of love. he also comes off as a bit... lonely to me? he's spent so much of his life chasing after idrila's shadow, and only catching a glimpse of them in his many near-death experiences (and isn't that something to think about...........). he's not like, secretly miserable or faking or anything - i think his exuberance is 1000% genuine. but humans are social creatures; everyone wants and requires at least some form of closeness and intimacy. to have a love to pursue in This realm... someone he can see and hold without needing to have one foot in an early grave . i think that would be good for him. that's all
anyway, it's clear that argenti was pretty enchanted by aventurine
like yeah that's kind of just how he talks normally but !?@,%&#& that's a lot of awfully romantic things to say about one specific person out of the several you apparently rescued (??????? god i love this guy he makes no sense. literally why are you even here bud). it seems that aventurine's more subdued state left an impression on him too, and well wouldn't it be pretty in character for him to start popping in randomly... as he does, because he can apparently just go wherever the fuck he wants. to check on this sad yet oh so beautiful peacock.. to try to bring a true smile to his face... to show him how kind and beautiful the universe can be......
i think aventurine might have a hard time laughing off offers of comfort and company and the beginnings of a courtship if it comes from someone like argenti. this man couldn't be disingenuous if he tried. he doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve as much as he rips it out of his chest to show you. it'll be a learning curve regardless - aventurine is too used to needing to constantly prove his worth to keep anyone around and to keep them from hurting him
but do you see it. do you see the vision. do you see how Sweet this could be. aventurine is about to receive more roses than he'll know what to do with
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something i think nimona did really well was that they didn’t make nimonas oppression like,,,,, “her fault” i guess is a way to put it. i feel like far too often, whether the plot is an allegory for race, gender, or disability, it goes something like “x person is oppressed and treated like shit” and then you find out it’s because they turn into an uncontrollable monster that kills or hurts people and it’s like, why is that the metaphor we’re going with here. like with jk rowling and werewolf’s representing AIDS somehow. like, what the fuck do you mean by that?
but what nimona does well is they make nimona a shape shifter (trans person approved, i would love that) and then it’s not her problem that she’s different. just because she technically might fit the definition of monster doesn’t make her one and then we find out that the things that made her “bad” in the first place weren’t even real. it was a lie made to demonize nimona. she’s never the bad guy, she doesn’t want to hurt people, she’s just nimona and happens to be a shape shifter. and that’s how you do it in my opinion. you can’t make the oppressed the aggressor in these situations, because they literally never are. or at least should never be the original cause of it all, because in real life they really aren’t. they are the original victims of bigotry and their stories get rewritten so they look like the aggressors.
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I apologize in advance-
Okay so, image your boys (Noot boots kids, ur AU, etc!) Wake up one day, and, everything is normal
...expect a more Canon evil NM and their NM body switched (for some reason) freaky Friday style.
And so like the Canon Bad guys suddenly have a much more fatherly NM and it's like- "wtf"
Don't apologise you're all good I love imagines!!!
Oh the canon murder time trio would be so weirded out, canon Nightmare is cold and cruel and sadistic and my softened dadmare style take would be immediately hit with the "who the fuck are you??" and could probably not keep the canon versions of these boys in line
I'd be more worried about my truce au versions of the boys who now have a canon Nightmare to deal with, because that's going to end badly, and probably quickly
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the more i learn about downpour/more slugcats' history, the more conflicted my feelings on it get. i will always be grateful for some things it has brought about, most of all that it brought me back to this game and its community, but most other things just make me sad and angry. in a lot of ways, i think it would have been better if MSC had stayed as a mod.
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also I think martha and yaz should team up and start a support group for "got heartbroken by a time traveling alien who was too hung up on their past to fully return my feelings even though we had incredible chemistry and had we met at any other time I could have been one of the loves of their life"
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