#EDIT: I want to make it clear I take no stance on this at all
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(Usually I have a no reposts policy. This is an exception. Feel free to post wherever with or without credit.)
#free palestine#palestine#from the river to see the sea#all eyes on palestine#palestine ceasefire#artists on tumblr#my art#I’ve been fairly quiet about this on this tumblr but I want to make my stance clear#take what action you can.#edit: did not expect this to get this much traction but if it was going to be anything I’m glad it was this
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pls we need more father-daughter moments with bruce because almost all of the yandere batfam fics i’ve read in tumblr always focuses on the bros 😭😭
Platonic Yandere!Bruce Wayne
Summary: Your father protects you from your brothers.
CW: mention of bugs
(not edited or proofread)
Rapid footsteps echoed through the manor. The quiet treading belonged to you and the more audible stomps were from your brother, Dick. Your panting was not missed by the individual chasing you. It was clear that you were getting worn out.
Currently, you were attempting to avoid getting hugged by Dick, who, being as touchy as he is, did not appreciate you steering clear of his squeeze. He had hugged all of his siblings and none of them were as resilient as you, so why did you have to avoid him like this?
You darted past all possible hiding places, since you were sure it would only be a matter of time until he found you, instead opting to run. Your knees bent slightly as you were rounding the corner, in order to be able to push yourself forward with a little more power.
What you couldn't have expected, was that you would run directly into your father's chest. The sudden blockage caused you to stop and look up at him, before remembering that you were on the run. Your head turned and you saw Dick getting closer to you. Out of panic, you hid behind Bruce, who raised a brow at your eldest brother.
Dick came to a halt directly in front of Bruce, who had crossed his arms by now.
"Richard, would you explain the situation to me? I don't quite understand why your sibling is running from you", he said, not mentioning the fact that your nails were digging into his back.
"They've been running from me every time I try to even touch them. I don't want them to distance themselves, they need to be involved more", said Richard, distressed by your sidestepping.
Bruce hummed in thought. "I'll talk to them", his tone signaling that Richard should leave.
Dick huffed before stomping away.
Your father finally turned to you and waited for your explanation.
A sigh escaped your lips and you dropped your head, "Sorry, I just...felt overwhelmed. I'm not really fond of physical contact, but I'll work on it, I promise." You did slightly cringe at your own words, but by now you had learned that complying with their wishes was much more rewarding than disobeying them.
You kept your head low, waiting for his acknowledgement, when a hand landed on your head. You looked up at him, eyebrow raised in confusion, but he just looked at you. He gave your head two light pats before smiling and walking away.
Looking around, you remembered that you had escaped Richard without giving in to his affection.
A radiant smile lit up your face as you scurried off to your room.
~~~~~
"Oh come on! It won't hurt you, will it?", shouted your brother, Jason, as he chased you through the manor, cockroach in hand, ready to be shoved in your face.
He had found it in his helmet and you immediately expressed your repulsion and highlighted the fact that he must be very filthy.
Jason, offended by this comment, decided to make you filthy too, by rubbing a bug on your nose, or at least attempting to. You bolted out of his room at a speed that would put The Flash to shame, but he caught up with you and promised that he wouldn't leave you alone as long as you were clean.
You barely paid attention to your surroundings as you ran through the halls and turned every nearing corner, yet you somehow ended up in the kitchen, where your father was currently conversing with Alfred.
"DAD HELP!", was all you needed to say to have Bruce step between you and Jason, taking on a protective stance.
Jason saw this and stopped, not even having entered the kitchen yet.
Both of them stared at each other silently before Jason turned around and left, presumably deciding that he had better things to do than getting scolded by Bruce.
He muttered a few curse words under his breath and for a moment you feared that you would wake up to him at the foot of your bed, holding a handful of bugs.
"Why was he chasing you?", your father's question brought you back to the situation at hand. "Uh..", you weren't sure how to phrase this without making Jason seem nefarious, "He wanted to show me a bug, but I didn't want to see it, so I ran!"
Bruce inhaled, as if he was about to talk, but you beat him to it, "But! You saved me, thank you!" You hugged him and smiled innocently, praying he stops asking questions.
It seems that he noticed your reluctance to elaborate, so he left it at that and you disappeared within seconds.
This wasn't the first time your father had saved you from your brothers and it most certainly won't be the last.
It was kind of funny how you always seemed to run into him when you were in trouble.
Perhaps it was fate guiding you to your saviour.
It matters not.
All that mattered was that you were thankful for your father's help and understanding, even if his timing was suspiciously accurate.
#bruce wayne#yandere bruce wayne#dick grayson#yandere dick grayson#jason todd#yandere jason todd#dc comics#platonic yandere#platonic batfam#yandere batfam#batfam#x reader
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One Piece x Introverted!Reader (pt. 1?)
Thank you anon for this request! This is my first time writing headcanons, so I hope you enjoy!
Summary: Headcanons and drabbles for Zoro, Sanji, and Robin with an introverted partner.
Word Count: 1327
Rating/Warnings: SFW, Just Fluff, maybe a smidgen of Angst, Alcohol
A/N: I've had to start splitting my posts from the ask, tumblr was flipping out every time I was editing. I hope you don't mind I've started linking them instead!
Zoro
Zoro enjoys this part of you, and you find an easy rhythm with each other.
You can spend hours near each other without speaking, and it feels comfy and safe. Reading a book, or working on your own tasks while he works out is an almost daily ritual (taking plenty of breaks to watch him, of course).
During the many feasts and celebrations that seem to occur, Zoro tends to loosen up more with booze, and he’ll wrap his arm around you during conversations. He’s gotten to know your body language well, and even drunk, he’d notice if you were uncomfortable or worn out. He wouldn’t even make an excuse or say goodbye to the group, he’d just drag you (or pick you up) and find a quiet spot to relax together. Preferably with a bottle of sake.
If Zoro notices you having trouble speaking to people in public, he might try to find ways to help you feel stronger without bringing it up directly, like teaching you breathing exercises, or power stances, etc.
“Why are you teaching me this?” “So you can feel, uh… Well, you’re a pirate. Pirates need to breathe… good.”
Drabble
“You okay?”
You pulled your hands away from your temples, the dull headache still creeping on you. Zoro sat beside you, spreading his legs out on the dirt, his back against the large tree.
The rest of the crew was laughing around the fire, another triumph to celebrate with the locals.
“It’s just been a long day. I’ll be good in a minute.”
He hummed, setting his hand out between you in case you wanted to hold it. You did.
“You don’t have to. They’re too loud anyway.”
Your lips pulled into a small, but grateful smile as you leaned onto his warm shoulder. His fingers squeezed yours gently, before his other hand brought a bottle to his lips.
He gestured it toward you, and you hummed your ‘no’ before letting your eyes close.
Zoro’s quiet warmth beside you filled you up. You never felt like a burden with him. He would just join you, as if it was normal.
“Thank you.”
He huffed a laugh, voice low.
“Like I said, those idiots are too loud. I’d rather be here with you.”
Sanji
Sanji prides himself on meeting your every need, but it would take some practice for him to figure it out, unless you’re clear with him.
He wants to spoil you, to show you off, to bring you out on dates at every island.
If you’re not open with him about your needs to recharge, and he sees you getting drained with him, he might get worried. He'd wonder what he’s doing wrong, and would overcompensate.
Eventually he’d connect the dots, but if you just tell him then he’ll cater to you. He wants you to feel cherished, and he won’t mind making changes for you, as long as he knows what you need.
But he will have a hard time not showering you with compliments all day, often in front of strangers and even enemies.
“My sunshine, my darling. You look so gorgeous under the stars like this. Don’t mind them, I’ll kick their asses so I can get back to worshiping you.”
Sanji would take note of all the things that comfort you. Whatever items like books, sweaters, fidgets, etc, and he would make sure to have them in reach for you if he saw your tells.
He’d also love whisking you away from any situation. If he noticed your demeanor shift, or if you leaned against him and whispered that you needed to leave, he would make up any excuse to get you out of there.
“My sweetheart needs some tea, we’ll catch up with you later. No Usopp, you don’t get any tea, go away.”
Drabble
“My love, is this dinner not to your liking? We can go back to the ship, I’ll make you whatever you like.”
“No Sanji, it’s delicious,” you said with a weak smile, guilt riding you for your drop in mood in the middle of the date he’d set up in the local town.
The look of concern on his face made you sigh.
Why do I always have to bring people down?
“Please, mon coeur, tell me if there’s something bothering you. Is it something I’ve done?”
“No, Sanji, I’m so sorry. I just have a hard time around a lot of people for too long. I love our date, I just get drained sometimes. I’m sor–”
“Don’t be sorry, dear. How about we take this to go? We can eat at the park on the way, or back at the ship? Whatever you need.”
The hurt and concern was gone from his face, replaced by a soft smile that made you lift your eyes to the ceiling to stop the hint of tears from welling up.
“I’m sorry I ruined–”
“Mon amour, I won’t listen to another word of that.”
His tone was firm as he pressed a kiss to your knuckles, almost a fierceness in his eyes now.
“And I will boil anyone that’s made you feel this way before. I’m happy with you anywhere. As long as you’re happy.”
You bit your quivering lip, trying not to think of partners in the past that had gotten angry at you when you’d need a break, when you didn’t want to go out.
Sanji was different. Now that he knew, he checks in, he makes changes, and that pressure you used to feel is fading.
“Anything you need, my love.”
Robin
You’d never have to worry, Robin is always your safe haven.
Even around the rest of the crew, Robin seems to have a quiet little corner, and you can sit with her, recharging as she reads, sending you a gentle smile now and then.
At parties, Robin will catch your gaze, often pulling you away from the group to go explore the area on your own. Always hunting for books, pets, and cozy spots.
If Robin notices you’re uncomfortable with people near you, she’d literally spawn arms on you to push them back a bit. Usually would only do this within the crew, and everyone would laugh while she pulled you away from the more rambunctious crew members. (i.e. Luffy hanging on you, and yelling directly in your ear, lol)
Robin is an introvert, and she’s found a great balance for herself. She helps you figure out what you need, and what your limits are, and it feels wonderful to have someone understand and support you so well
She’s the best girl 🥰
Drabble
“Mmhm,” you nodded, sipping your drink as Nami and Usopp chatted with the group’s new friends.
You hadn’t been able to chat for awhile now, brain slowly slinking back in your skull with guilt as you tried to keep a friendly look on your face.
You coughed to cover a gasp, the group turning to focus on you.
“Uh, excuse me. I’m going to grab another drink.”
The arm that had spawned on your back to tap gently on your shoulder tapped again until you turned to that side. There was Robin, smiling at you as she sat at the bottom of a staircase.
Letting out a strained breath, you made your way to her, already feeling lighter.
“Care to take a break with me, darling?”
“Yes, please,” you breathed, kissing her cheek as you sat beside her.
Robin leaned against you, people watching as you closed your eyes for a while. Now and then she would let out a soft hum or a low chuckle, and you grinned. Robin saw so much, and you loved to hear what she learned from people just by watching them.
There was no pressure to return to the group. You could stay and watch with Robin, you could head back to the ship. You could do whatever felt best, and Robin would still be Robin. She’d still smile at you, just like this.
Likes and reblogs bring me much ✨dopamine✨ thank you so much!
a/n: Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think, normally I just write a whole ass thing, lol
| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 | ko-fi |
#one piece x reader#one piece headcanons#turtletaub hcs and drabbles#sanji headcanons#zoro headcanons#x reader#nico robin headcanons#fic requests#mine
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this hope is treacherous [roman roy x fem!reader]
word count: 600 - 700
warnings: ooc roman, perhaps, idk but i wanted (needed) something fluffy after studying for so long. cursing? not edited. english is my first language. i cannot get over this look !!!!!! also not my picture.
masterlist
“Would you ever want a big wedding like this?”
Such an intimate question coming from him surprises her. She peers at him through her black sunglasses. He has his hands on his pockets, a relaxed stance at first glance; his shoulders moved forwards, curving his back, his head faces the landscape opposite her, as if he was ashamed of the words escaping his mouth. It’s a nervous stance, she deduces after a second, sharper look. Her heart cannot help but to jump faster every time she looks at his pink shirt.
“I - I mean if you even want to get married,” he continues. “Or are you one of those women who shit on marriage just for the fun of it?”
(Y/N) takes a couple of seconds to respond, wanting to see if he’ll turn his head and face her. He does, then moves his head again to look at the people his mother invited to her wedding with some prick he’s sure is only after the remnants of the money she got from the divorce with his father. He moves his head to, finally, settle his eyes on her. He’d preferred the sunglasses off her face. He’s afraid to dig deeper on the why. He can see she’s getting tired of holding the umbrella one of the organisers gave her — so she could block the Tuscan sun from her head and most of her back — from the way she keeps changing it from one hand to the other.
“Why are you staring, you weirdo? I asked you a question, it’s only right for you to answer me, you know.” Roman says before taking his hands out of his pockets. He’s about to grab the handle of the umbrella, but changes his mind at the last second; instead, he crosses his arms over his chest to try to cover up the raising of his arms. He realises her dress is the same tone of deep blue that the pants he’s wearing. Roman clears his throat, he feels like he’s about to choke.
“No way, I mean with all this fucking people? And their ridiculous hats and these ridiculous umbrellas?” (Y/N) gives an answer to the question that’s been pondering over Roman’s mind since that day he got told about his mother’s wedding. Roman found himself thinking — or dreaming, he’s not quite sure — of her later that night. His heart had jumped as the image of seeing (Y/N) in a white dress (was she walking towards him?) and a flower arrangement held by both of her hands appeared vividly on his mind. Roman blamed it on the stress of choosing the future president of the country.
“So you don’t want to get married.” Why was he asking so much about this? He guessed that by getting his answer, he could finally forget about the vision of her in a white, wedding dress. Now it was even worse. He felt somewhat disappointed.
“Oh no, I do, but just with not this many people. I'd like something small, in a place where it's sunny but not this fucking sunny. I don't know, I probably wouldn't invite anyone really. just, just yo.. just the lucky guy and I, I guess,” she shrugged her shoulders, averting her eyes from his after almost saying ‘you’. God, she was an idiot.
“Lucky guy indeed,” Roman whistled before grabbing a glass from one of the waiters’ trays.
They stood in silence watching the guests around them, looking at the other from the corner of their eyes. Roman grabbed the handle of the umbrella from her, making sure it still covered her from the sun, after he heard her mumbling about how it was numbing her arm. She smiled, a contained smile that threatened to become a full grin if she didn’t press her lips tightly. He saw it, but decided not to say anything. A small smirk took control of his face, one that was not mocking, neither sarcastic, but almost adolescent. She saw it when he was looking at his shiny shoes. She didn’t say anything.
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We've made it to 2x3! everyone breathe! This one is gonna be fun, i promise.
We see the emerald clearly for the first time. We get a few shots in the beginning of the episode, more then the last 2 combined. But It's when Ed is leaning on the staff and telling Hornigold the reasons he wants to live that we get a good long shot of it.
Warmth, good food, intercourse, orgasms. All things Ed wants from Stede. This scene is from far away, we aren't being let in yet, but Ed is opening up a little and being pretty freakin clear about who and what he needs.
Ed isn't hiding the ring anymore. Even before he knows he's in the gravy basket he's suddenly being a lot more open with his left hand.
Look at that stance. We haven't seen Ed stand this open all season.
To me this is the most interesting scene. Ed's hands are clear for a very long time.
But look at these 2 shots closely. The emerald ring is completely backwards. The band alone makes the ring look like a traditional wedding ring.
At first I wasn't sure if it was just a fluke that wasn't caught in editing, but there is a scene cut between these 2 images, and the ring is STILL backwards.
That makes me feel like it was intentional. The show wants us to see this ring as a wedding ring, why else would they not have had Taika Waititi fix it between the two takes?
I'm not a film student so I could be totally off, but it struck me as interesting. I'd love to hear from someone who knows more about this stuff.
This is such a long scene and we see the emerald for all of it. Suddenly we have gone from Ed hiding it from everyone, including us, to him wanting us to see it, all be it from a distance. This is the first time you can actually see the ring if you're not pausing everytime Ed's left hand appears
And then we have the other amazing scene from this episode
Ed sees the light when Stede removes the cloth from his face and the rope that was previously tied tight around his waist just falls away, like magic. Merman Stede appears and we HEAR THE RING BANGING THE FUCK AROUND BECAUSE OMG ED HAS HIS STEDE BACK.
We hear Kate Bush's This Woman's Work
"I know you have a little life in you yet
I know you have a lot of strength left
I know you have a little life in you yet
I know you have a lot of strength left
I should be crying but I just can't let it show
I should be hoping but I can't stop thinking
Of all the things I should've said
That I never said
All the things we should've done
Though we never did
All the things I should've given
But I didn't
Oh, darling, make it go
Make it go away
Give me these moments back
Give them back to me
Give me that little kiss"
And with that loud banging of an emerald ring all our moments are back.
also interesting parallel between the Kate Bush lyrics and Ed's song from 1/10 "Just let go, Make yourself let go, Make it go away"
#OFMD#our flag means death#taika waititi#Blackbeard#stede bonnet#ed x stede#lgbtpeople#lgbtq positivity#lgbt pride#lgbtqia#ofmd stede#blackbeard x stede#edward x stede#izzy#edward teach#gentlebeard#david jenkins#Gypsy Taylor#rhys darby#ofmd s2 spoilers#rings#pretty
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There are thankfully only a handful of people who swear this is a conservative, Christian show but it's interesting to me considering how negatively the show depicts religion.
S1 - There aren't any direct references to religion but subtle hints. It's implied Hawkins is a typical middle class suburban neighborhood. It's 1983, Reagan was president, and there are hints of the towns Christianity through the bullies. When Will goes missing there are several comments that make it clear that the people in this town aren't surprised. The middle school bully makes a comment that he got "killed by some other queer" and says his father was talking about it. Parents in the town talk about Will being gay. We see Steve's friends - the high school bullies - also making homophobic comments about Jonathan and his brother. The bad guys are homophobic. They also all lose fights this season. The show takes an anti-bullying stance and you are supposed to feel for Will and his friends here. He's a child that's gone missing and the people in the town don't seem to care much or act surprised by it.
There are a few exceptions to this - Joyce mentions to Hopper that Lonnie called Will gay slurs because she is also worried he got killed because he's gay. Hopper takes this seriously during a time when absolutely no one would have criticized him for ignoring this situation. Plenty of people were ignoring gay people dying during this time. No one would have batted an eye at a cop acting like this didn't matter. But Hopper pays attention and puts together a search team. So there are a few people in town who do care - Scott Clarke being one of them. And obviously the rest of our main cast doesn't care what people say about Will because they help to look for him all season. The good guys aren't homophobic. The good guys care about Will. And this includes all of our main characters - the people the audience are supposed to root for go against homophobia and bullying.
(Edit: I forgot to include a conversation between Joyce and Lonnie. When Will's fake body is found Lonnie wants Joyce to see a pastor and Joyce says no. Lonnie is trying to convince her she is crazy. He's the bad guy, and the first thing he wants to do to "fix" the situation is to get Joyce to talk to a pastor. It's another negative association with religion. Joyce is right here. She isn't crazy. And Lonnie isn't being comforting when he says this. He's being controlling and dismissing her feelings. It's clear from what we see of Lonnie that he's an asshole. He abused Will and Jonathan (and likely Joyce as well), he tried to turn Jonathan against his mother when Will went missing, he exploited an opportunity for money. He's not a person we are supposed to be rooting for.)
S2 - This season has a more direct reference to Christianity and it's the Reagan signs on some of the front lawns in Hawkins. This isn't surprising considering again, it's a middle class suburb. Reagan was a popular president at the time and got elected by popular vote twice despite his mishandling of the AIDS crisis and a number of other issues. His name is synonymous with the Christian right. During his time in office, the pro-life movement started to take hold, and he cut back on welfare reform and disability rights to name a few of the problematic things he did. Basically, anyone who wasn't an able-bodied, straight, white, middle class Christian male was struggling and yet he won twice. These days, his name is often compared to Trumps - they openly hated the same groups of people.
This sets the stage in a subtle way for what's going on with the main characters. Because our characters are all outcasts - gay, black, disabled, poor, etc - they are struggling to fit in to mainstream society (which makes it so ironic this show is mainstream). Even Hopper who is your typical straight, white, leading man struggles to fit in - his daughter died and he is coping with depression and substance abuse issues. Things no one discussed openly at the time and were viewed as shameful.
So we have the Reagan sign on the Wheelers front lawn. This tells me that at least Ted is a Reagan supporter which makes sense given this is an upper middle class white family. I am skeptical of Karen (or anyone else in this family) being conservative but I will get to that in S3. Dustins house has a Mondale sign so they are democrats which makes sense - Dustin has a disability and his mother is a single parent. Reagans policies would have hurt them. We don't see the politics of the other boys families but I think it's a safe bet to assume they are democrats. Will's family is poor and his mother is also a single mother. Not to mention that there are hints both Joyce and Jonathan suspect he is gay and they love Will so much, there is no way they would have ever voted for someone like Reagan. And even though the Sinclair's are also an upper middle class family they are black and while no group of people votes in the exact same way, Reagans policies were incredibly racist. Lucas mentions struggles to fit into Hawkins because he's black in the book Lucas on the Line. His family wouldn't have fit into this town even though they are financially well off. It's a mostly white town and that would have absolutely resulted in them being on the receiving end of racism on a regular basis. So even though their family technically conforms, people would not have accepted them.
So we know that our main characters don't fit in and we know Reagan represents all things Christianity and conformity. One of the main themes of the show is "forced conformity is killing the kids" a line directly stated by Eddie in S3 so more on this in a bit.
Something else happens this season that isn't a direct reference to religion but an adjacent theme and it's the conversation Nancy and Jonathan have with Murray. They are trying to figure out how to take down Hawkins lab and get people to believe them. Nancy doesn't understand at first why presenting the evidence they have won't work. And Murray says - people don't want to see whats behind the curtain. It's comforting. They like the curtain. - So they water down the story so the town will understand it in a way that they won't resist. This, I believe, is essentially what the writers are doing with this show. They are watering down that this has been a show that is anti-conformity from the beginning and there are signs of it in S1. But they know if they come right out and say that a main storyline is a queer coming-of-age story, a lot of their mainstream audience isn't going to watch. So up until now anyway, they have been subtle about it. But the audience is starting to notice something is off, especially with Mike in S4 because things aren't adding up.
S3 - It is now the summer of '85 and while there aren't direct references to Christianity, we still get some hints of conservatism. The only reference to religion is a passing comment that Dustin's new girlfriend Suzie is a Mormon. There is also a passing comment made by Max in S2 that there were Mormons at the door when Billy questions her. It was Lucas and she is trying to hide him from her racist brother, so she lies and says she was talking to Mormons. These comments are pretty neutral even though Dustin mentions Suzie's father wouldn't approve of him because he isn't Mormon himself. At the time we are seeing this moment, it's hard to tell if Dustin is telling the truth (everyone thinks he's making up his girlfriend this season.) But we see more of this in S4.
And then there is the comment by Karen Wheeler about Margaret Thatcher. She's on the phone with someone and says "I don't know Cath, maybe if I was Margaret Thatcher that'd be an another story." (this is in episode 5 by the way). A lot of people take this comment to mean Karen is conservative but I feel like it's so vague. We have absolutely no idea what the context of this conversation is or even who she is talking to (presumably one of the mothers from the pool). It's unclear if she was saying something positive or negative. We don't know what she is talking about, all we hear is her say Thatcher's name. So I feel like it's a leap to assume it was a conservative statement she was making.
I have a hard time believing that Karen is conservative (or at least not ultra conservative like a lot of Reagan supporters) for a few reasons. One of which is the contempt she has for Ted. She is frequently rolling her eyes at him or annoyed in some way and we know in canon he is the guy who represents conformity. However, Karen doesn't. This season especially she is shown to not be happy with her life. She is supposed to be a conservative housewife, but she almost has an affair and makes a few interesting comments. One of which was during her conversation with Nancy about her job. Nancy is discussing her misogynistic bosses and Karen gives her helpful and supportive advice about not fitting in. It seems personal, and from what we know about her, this sticks out. Because she seems like she is a typical housewife. I always felt like there was more to her backstory, but she seems to relate personally to Nancy's story of being an outcast at her job.
There is also her relationship with Mike. In S1, we see her trying to connect with him emotionally and get him to talk about his feelings about Will going missing. Karen is clearly someone who her kids can talk to, even if they resist sometimes. And her kids don't exactly fit in or represent conformity. She has been shown to be worried about her their safety repeatedly, Mike in particular, and we never see her trying to force them to conform in any way. And this is a thing that someone in her position would have absolutely been teaching her kids - conservative, Christian values. But we don't see anything like this or any hint of this. So I don't buy the 'she's conservative' theory. I don't think we've seen enough evidence of that. And while the Wheelers are probably a family that goes to church on Sundays, I don't get the impression this is a major influence in their lives. There is no religious paraphernalia around the house and this would have been a very common thing for a family that was pro-Reagan to do. I feel like they are passively conservative. It's the popular, normal choice and Karen and Ted are the epitome of doing things because they think they are supposed to. But this hardly makes them die hard believers.
S4 - This is where religion becomes more direct. Eddie is reading a Newsweek article about the dangers of D&D. During this time Satanic Panic was spreading. People feared for the moral values of the US during a time of extreme conservatism. Eddie clearly thinks this article is a joke. He's mocking anyone who conforms and it's clear Dustin and Mike agree. They are outcasts and they know D&D isn't dangerous. Eddie makes them feel like being different is ok.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Jason. He's your typical straight, white, christian male and fits in perfectly. He's the star of the basketball team and has the perfect cheerleader girlfriend (at least on the surface). He's the opposite of Eddie. And he is the villain in this story. THE GUY WHO CONFORMS PERFECTLY IS THE VILLAIN. He gets progressively more insane as the season progresses. He's charismatic and he quotes the Bible to rile the town up to hunt Eddie and Hellfire club down. They are all in a panic about the murders that are happening and the cops aren't doing a great job containing things (they also don't have all the information to be fair). But by the end of the season, Jason is completely unhinged and holds Lucas up at gunpoint. He's also part of the reason why Max ended up dying. It's Satanic Panic that drives this attitude forward. People are panicking over the loss of morals and blaming that for the reason why bad things are happening. Which I think will make for an interesting lead-in next season with regard to a more openly gay storyline.
On top of this display of religious fundamentalism, we see Suzie and her family. They are Mormons and we know her father is strict with regard to religion. However the family we see is chaotic. Suzie's sister Eden mocks Suzie for basically being a goody two shoes. Eden also has no hesitation about getting high and clearly is not abiding by Mormon values. Suzie doesn't always either. If there is a cause she believes in - like helping Dustin - she only has a little bit of guilt about going against her father and her religion. Her father is pretty much a joke. He's a fumbling idiot the kids need to outsmart in order to get the information they need. It's not exactly a positive representation of religion. Suzie shows that even though her religion is important to her, she is capable of thinking for herself. She hacks Dustins school computer and a government computer (although she doesn't know all the info about what she is doing here) with little hesitation. Her religious morals aren't exactly stopping her from doing something illegal or unethical. She's a hacker above all else.
At the end of the season we see Ted - the dude who represents all things common - reacting negatively to the news about what's going on in Hawkins. The guy who represents conformity is questioning the "propaganda" the news is coming out with to describe the situation in Hawkins. He is questioning the status quo. This is meant to show how even Ted is noticing something isn't adding up about the "normal" explanation of things. Something, at this point, that the audience should be questioning especially with regard to Mike. Because if even Ted can see something is going on here, then surely the audience can too.
The series has gotten progressively more direct about its anti-conformity theme which is why it makes no sense for them to suddenly forget this in S5. This show has always been about and for outcasts. The Wheeler family is a cautionary tale that Nancy said in season 1 was so depressing. She wants the opposite of this, which is why her and Steve and their 6 kids is never going to work (there are a lot of reasons why this is never going to work). And it's also why Mike and El aren't going to be endgame. Those relationships are there to represent conformity and none of the characters in those relationships are happy. They are the expected, normal relationships. If they wanted the audience to like these relationships they would have been written more positively.
So it's funny to me when people say the show is never going to go against the status quo because they have literally been doing this from the start. It's what the entire show is about. All of the characters are outcasts. All of them. So if people are claiming to like and support them, then they need to get behind the anti-conformity theme. And if they can't do that - this show is simply not for those people and it never was.
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Nerdy “Aziraphale and Crowley are super in love” Analysis time! (Filmmaking and acting edition)
(Very late but I promise it’s worth it)
Imo the moment Aziraphale realizes he’s in love with Crowley is Ep 3 when the Apocalypse is looming and Crowley flippantly says, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you”
Aziraphale gives the look
And it all changes
From an acting perspective, Crowley takes a confident and almost defiant stance. Despite walking away, his arms are wide open. He constantly shrouds himself in being aloof and bad, so this exaggerated gesture is the way he shows his true feelings. This is the world I can provide you. Please take it.
From a filmmaking perspective, this is a wide shot, showing Crowley and Aziraphale's physical and emotional distance. Crowley is in focus, pointing out to the right. In Western filmmaking, characters moving left to right indicate progress
This doesn't apply to countries where they write right to left or up and down. Anime flows up and down for this reason, but that's another story
Crowley has his back to the camera because his reaction doesn't matter here. He knows what he wants; his needs are clear to himself and the audience
Aziraphale's reaction here is massive. As a new viewer (still 3 eps to go,) I first interpreted their relationship as an unusual companionship. The montage at the beginning of this episode shows their progress from having a mutual agreement to an alliance to a friendship
But this look
That’s the change
The camera pushes in as Aziraphale realizes what Crowley is implying, and he's overwhelmed to the point of burgeoning tears. It's not quite a Hitchcock/Jaws zoom, but it similarly presses the subject closer and tighter into the camera claustrophobically.
Subconsciously, as the audience, we now feel his feelings pressed into him
Part of Aziraphale's reaction is his high moral standard of being an angel. While here he calls Crowley a demon, he has previously insisted, because he is a fallen angel, there is hope for goodness still.
He sees his future as a possibility in Crowley, which would destroy his known world. His moral code however is much more malleable than he would like to think, but to admit that would be failure of doing his duty as an angel
But just this acting choice, his quivering palpable fear, this reaction is much more than, “I don’t want to kill a child/not be an angel.” If he agrees to go with Crowley, the ‘side’ he’s picking isn’t good or evil, it’s love
As the characters are asexual/nonbinary (I think?,) I don’t think canonically the fact that it’s a homosexual relationship is necessarily the issue. However, the metaphor of choosing to walk away from everything you know and believe and the rigid standards of goodness, and instead choosing to be with someone who will inevitably lead you to be cast out from your world, is (unfortunately) a universal gay experience, especially considering the source material is from the late 1980’s
Crowley’s reaction to this rejection is straight up anger played off as a totally reasonable, “C’mon man, we’re best buds,” but his eyes are covered by glasses. Eyes are the windows of the soul and he certainly doesn’t want to break right now in the face of rejection. His eyes are blocked in a very emotional tight shot of him which mirrors Aziraphale's.
Now his reaction matters and we don't really get to see it
I don't know where this goes from here (well uhhhhh I did see The Spoilers ™ but I ain't gonna talk about that lol,) but this just feels like a massive turning point, and the acting and filmmaking really enhance it. From an outsider's perspective, I didn't 'get' this ship at all, but now in context, it completely makes sense. This scene is utterly devastating
This has probably been talked about to death for 4+ years now lol, but just wanted to point out some acting/filmmaking choices that really brought the oh shit moment to light <3
#good omens#good omens season 1#good omens season 2#crowley#aziraphale#ineffable husbands#ineffable partners#ineffable dumbasses#crowly x aziraphale#good omens analysis
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So, I haven't posted anything regarding the Noah Schnapp situation on my blog before. I speak up for Palestine and I speak against Zionism on a daily on my socials and in my community. However, as a mostly anonymous Stranger Things blog, I always felt a little off about suddenly posting about the genocide of an entire group of people amongst fanart and fan posts (personally for me it'd feel incredibly performative).
However, coming online today to find out about Noah Schnapp's most recent stunt–for lack of a better term–has been incredibly upsetting. So, I'd like to take the time to state outwardly on my blog that I do not support Noah Schnapp, at all. Every word he's said, every post he's interacted with, regarding the genocide makes me physically ill. Anyone who still supports him despite the words he's said and the harm he's done, please do not interact with my blog.
Do I still ship Byler? Yes. Stranger Things has been my special interest for nearly 7 years and I love the show and its characters with my entire being. I will continue to post and write about the show and Byler. However, I do not condone anything Noah Schnapp says or does and I never, ever will. Will Byers as a character is not Noah Schnapp; I will only ever post of Will, never anything supportive regarding Noah himself. Additionally, I definitely understand all the people I see on here declaring they're taking breaks (indefinite or otherwise) from the fandom/Byler. I wish all of y'all who make that choice the absolute best. I know many fans want Will to be recast, but due to the fact multiple others involved with Stranger Things are Zionists, I doubt it will happen. Pirate season 5, if you can. It's better to not support Netflix with your money anyway.
Free Palestine, antizionism is NOT antisemitism. Continue to learn, continue to research, continue to offer help and support in any way you possibly can. Check in with your Palestinian, Arab, and Jewish friends and neighbors. Do not stand complicit when faced with genocide. Do not be the type of person people 70 years from now will look back on and wonder why you didn't take a stand against genocide.
Edit just to say: I'm not posting this for any brownie points nor do I feel the need to prove my activism. If you feel the need to prove your activism, then maybe your activism isn't as genuine as you like to think it is. I just wanted to make my stance clear so that it cannot be misinterpreted. Please make sure to listen to Palestinian voices.
#i hope someday he learns#but he'll never be able to undo the damage he has caused#i'm honestly thinking of incorporating the other fandoms I enjoy into my blog tbh#palestine#free palestine#free gaza#noah schnapp#fuck noah schnapp#anti zionisim#will byers is not noah schnapp#byler#< target audience#dziban's rambles
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Umineko Liveblog: Thoughts/Theories [Episode 1 Chapter 13 Edition]
In Umineko chapter 13, it happened again. Barely three chapters after the previous slaughter, the second twilight unfolds. The two who are close were torn apart, in a gruesome and inevitable moment that shocked everybody and nobody. It is a compact chapter that almost entirely hinges around Eva and Hideyoshi’s demise.
However, that’s not all that’s going on here. Beyond the shock and the horrors, some of the more salient elements of the story are slowly simmering to the surface. Eva and Hideyoshi’s involvement in the first twilight, the nature of the witch narrative, Genji’s role in these grim events, and Kinzo’s potential bizarre and horrifying motive.
And also try to figure out just what went down in that locked room.
Our first stop on the chapter 13 writeup brings us to the titular two who are close. I’m not yet talking about their corpses or the seemingly impossible closed room they were killed in just yet. First, I want to think about the very loaded conversation between Eva and Hideyoshi in the opening half of the chapter.
At first glance, it feels like nothing more than an endless parade of death flags. They comment on how proud they are of George, they affirm their love for one another, and then they talk about their plans to travel somewhere beautiful once this is all over. There was never any subtlety about what was going to happen to these two in this chapter. The surface level reading is incredibly apparent.
What’s less apparent is what else can be gleaned from this conversation. Yes, Eva and Hideyoshi are having their “when we leave this place” doomed by the narrative conversation, but there is one specific death flag that doesn’t get tripped. Not once do either of them talk about the murders, or Beatrice, or any fear they may have for their own safety.
Eva and Hideyoshi not necessarily caring about their murdered siblings doesn’t come as a surprise. What does come as a surprise is that Eva, who spent the last two chapters mercilessly interrogating the mystery of Kinzo’s disappearance, has very little to say on the matter of these bizarre murders. They briefly comment on how Natsuhi is letting the power go to her head now that Krauss is dead and that it’s a relief that Shannon was killed so George now cannot marry her. That is the extent of it.
It is almost out of character how far removed from the situation Eva and Hideyoshi appear to be in this conversation. After all, the killer is still at large and there are still twelve hours until the boat gets there. So why are they so completely unbothered? It’s almost as if to them, this murder business does not concern them.
And why would that be? Why would Eva and Hideyoshi be acting without fear despite having no outward reason to do so?
If they are unafraid, that indicates that they believe, for whatever reason, that Beatrice and the killings pose no threat to them. This is something that was evident even in the previous chapter when the two of them broke off from the group despite the clear risks associated with that. It’s also reinforced by the fact that they make plans to escape to the Maldives in a few weeks’ time – there is not a shred of doubt that they will be leaving the island alive. Everybody else on Rokkenjima is panicked and terrified, but not Eva and Hideyoshi. In short, in private, they are acting as if there is no threat to their lives at all.
This is of course a wildly bizarre stance to take given the situation they find themselves in. What’s important here is trying to find a reason as to why these two would act like this and say the things they do. What they talk about is reaffirming their future and going away on a luxury trip. No mention of the murders, the epitaph, the gold, or the inheritance.
Almost as if these problems are no longer a concern for Eva and Hideyoshi, despite half their family being killed and them still in the red financially. Those things might as well not exist behind closed doors. Why is that?
I think figuring out a compelling reason for this relies on a prior assumption almost certainly being true: Eva and Hideyoshi were involved in the first twilight. More specifically, they were helped along in whatever they did by the originator of the Beatrice narrative enough that their culpability has been taken care of for them. If “Beatrice” is making their problems disappear with “magic”, then of course it would be no issue for the two of them to play along with the witch narrative as long as it continues to benefit them. Hideyoshi leaning in on the “demonic” nature of the magic circles despite his prior skepticism towards Beatrice makes complete sense under this light.
This would also be why Hideyoshi chastises Eva for her receipt ploy with Natsuhi. The witch narrative works on ambiguity and uncertainty, of not looking too deeply or closely at the mysteries. If the Kinzo death embezzlement theory is true, then the coverup is operating on the same logic as the narrative that is protecting Eva and Hideyoshi. If Kinzo’s death is unmasked by the family, then so too can Beatrice be unmasked. And if Beatrice is unmasked, then Eva and Hideyoshi’s role is exposed.
Further, this can also be used to explain away their Maldives plans. We are presented with a very Romantic vision of Eva and Hideyoshi making peace with their lot in life and renewing their love for each other in the wake of tragedy, the facts of which can only be contradicted via attacks on their character and not via logic. However, if we use the Detective’s approach and separate the actions from the emotions, what are we left with?
Eva and Hideyoshi, who are no longer concerned about the inheritance and Kinzo’s fortune, are making plans to be out of the country in a remote location about twelve weeks from the present moment. This would leave them totally unreachable and untouchable at what would likely be the height of the police investigation into the Rokkenjima murders. They would be in a foreign nation under foreign jurisdiction right around when they would be scrutinised either as witnesses or suspects. They will be out of the country, and thus uninvolved with the immediate management of the Rokkenjima estate in the absence of pretty much every other viable next-of-kin.
Why would they be out of the country at such a crucial time, and why would they not be concerned with taking control of the family’s affairs? I think two points can be extrapolated here.
The first is that they need to be out of the picture so as not to be a suspect. On its own this would not make sense because them being unreachable would only serve to make them more suspicious, so it stands that there is some kind of contingency they feel is protecting them. The second is that they don’t challenge the succession/inheritance because they either already have everything they need, or they know that it is a matter of time before they get it anyway. Eva is ambitious and desperate for the top slice of the Ushiromiya pie. She would not back off without a guarantee.
What this tells us, I think, is that there is an individual who exists to take the heat off Eva and Hideyoshi in some way. Some person who would be infinitely more suspicious than even the only surviving beneficiaries who have fled the country. Some person who, in some way, will guarantee that Eva and Hideyoshi will still have access to the Ushiromiya fortune when all is said and done.
A perfect candidate for this sort of person would be a hypothetical individual who has already seized ownership of the headship and the fortune who otherwise should not have it, and who will very quickly get caught out by the police for having wealth and power above their status. Someone who is, say, a servant who solved the epitaph and gained control of Rokkenjima and its gold. A servant who will most likely be swiftly arrested, not believed, and their stolen wealth immediately returned to the highest-ranked Ushiromiya still alive. This is everything Eva wanted and more, and all she has to do is sit quietly and let events fall as they will. Like Kinzo before her, she will be bestowed untold riches through Beatrice’s magic, so long as she keeps her mouth shut.
Ultimately, when Eva tells Battler to think more deeply on what she said before leaving the parlor, she is obviously imploring him to consider Natsuhi as a duplicitous hypocrite. However, if your thinking extends beyond the “who” and into the “how” and “why”, then Eva’s trick with the receipt provides a solid blueprint for breaking down the witch narrative. This is, of course, almost certainly not something the person behind Beatrice expected to happen when they stepped in to clean up Eva and Hideyoshi’s mess. If the witch narrative is destroyed too early, then not only does whatever Beatrice’s plan is get thoroughly ruined, but also Eva and Hideyoshi get suspected as culprits and lose everything.
Each one has the power to destroy the other. However, while Eva and Hideyoshi cannot survive without the witch narrative, the witch narrative can certainly survive without Eva and Hideyoshi. So Beatrice cuts her losses and disposes of the two of them before they can become a liability in order to keep the narrative going.
And of course, the witch narrative itself plays a central role in this chapter as an unseen yet glaringly visible force. We’ve already gone over how and why Eva and Hideyoshi would play into the witch narrative, so now let’s examine the broader narrative that exists beyond the two of them.
Until now, it was fairly easy to read the witch narrative as a mere metaphor coverup for the killing of the Ushiromiya siblings. It cloaks the murders in obscurity and makes it hard to understand anything other than the hard fact of death. The first twilight is a masterclass in a mystery that gives nothing away easily. Not so much with the second twilight.
A lot of this comes from the fact that the interim chapters between the two twilights have been peppered with glimpses into how this narrative is being constructed, and who is telling this story. The scenes between the servants talking about Beatrice reveal that whatever is going on is much more than a little bit of occult obfuscation. Beatrice is made into a consistent character with concrete personality traits that are completely superfluous to the “a witch is murdering everybody” scenario. Why does it matter that Beatrice is respectful to those who respect her in kind? Why would Beatrice have a propensity for pranking? Why does the story of Beatrice, in Battler’s words, have to bring everyone on Rokkenjima into another world?
This still mostly touches on elements of the witch narrative that are hard to figure out at this point, related to things like the paradox of an unsolvable mystery begging to be solved. I don’t think this chapter does much to advance my understanding of these issues. Instead, I want to examine the way the witch narrative is working around the second twilight, and what these features can tell us.
The first thing I noticed on this front is a soft culmination of the recurring image of the TV. Since the first twilight, there has been a narrative emphasis on Maria being totally absorbed in watching TV, except for the moments where the narrative flares up and she gets the chance to be witch-Maria. The TV here is used as a symbol for the unreality of the situation – the programs Maria watches are fictional, a fantasy to keep her absorbed in. The witch narrative is similarly an all-absorbing fantasy, and during the scenes in the parlor when everybody is discussing Beatrice and the occult, Maria is able to turn her attention away from the TV. When they are not talking about the witch narrative, Maria returns to the TV.
If you view Maria as totally fantasy-absorbed within the story, then the only times she stops watching TV are when the fantasy has spilled out into the material world. The TV, then, is a stand-in for the witch narrative – only those invested in perpetuating the witch narrative watch TV. The TV itself is also a signifier of the fiction contained within the screen leaking out into wider reality.
This is all important because in chapter 13, the TV features heavily in the guest bedroom. Alone in the room, Eva and Hideyoshi turn the TV on, and it becomes the only audible sound aside from the rain. While discovering the murder, Kanon remarks on how the light and noise from the TV grow stronger and stronger until they are the only thing he can focus on. The TV strengthens throughout the chapter, right up until the moment where Eva and Hideyoshi’s bodies are found.
If TV = witch narrative, then chapter 13 is a steady progression of the witch narrative increasing in strength. Despite the seemingly disconnected shock of the murders, there is still that Beatrice-shaped throughline linking it to the first twilight. Whatever happened to Eva and Hideyoshi is part of the same continuity of killings that was responsible for the deaths of the other siblings. This is perhaps the most important takeaway from this observation: we must consider the two sets of murders as a continuous series of events. Whatever caused the first twilight is still happening.
More than that, it also means that so much of this scene is shrouded in that misleading obfuscation inherent to the witch narrative. It’s hard to know for sure what’s going on since the important parts of this chapter were entirely relayed through a third person outside perspective and not through Battler’s eyes, so if there are discrepancies in presentation they are not yet known. All we have to work with is the singular, third person series of events. If there are incongruities to be found, it is too soon to speculate on them. The only thing that is certain is that if the witch narrative is in play as strongly as the story would suggest, then it must not be taken for granted that everything here is as it seems.
The other witch narrative element in this chapter comes in the form of more occult symbols, of which we get two: bizarrely-decorated icepick-esque murder weapons, and a freakishly elaborate magic circle.
The icepicks, or whatever they are, are a little easier to puzzle out. The characters remark on how bizarre and out of place they seem to be, not knowing how or why they got here and were used in the murders. Regardless of how truthful you may assume these observations to be, I think it’s fairly easy to say that the weird ornate weapons came from Kinzo’s collection, same as the gun. If so, then these picks may have either been obtained the previous night when Kinzo’s study was entered to prepare for the first twilight, or at some undisclosed point beforehand depending on how much in advance these murders were set up.
What the picks actually are is a little less straightforward. If you’re going by the rules of occult symbols and weapons, the first thing that naturally comes to mind when thinking of “conical object with a fancy handle” is some kind of stake – I’m thinking more along the lines of blood sacrifice than demon slaying here. It was described as being like an icepick but not an icepick, and similar to a spear but too short to be called a spear, so I think some kind of modified sacrificial stake is the best fit. I said a second ago that I think the intended evocation is of ritual sacrifice rather than the killing of something demonic, but in the prior scene Eva describes her own toxic ambitions as a “devil” in her head. Killing the “devil” inside Eva by running a stake through her has a nice ironic thematic resonance to it that I think further justifies considering this object as some kind of stake.
The other issue, however, is that stakes are almost only useful for piercing soft flesh – the traditional image is of a stake through the heart, and not through the forehead. It is far easier to pierce the chest than it is the skull, so if this is some kind of stake (not that the exact nature of the weapon matters that much), how did it do that?
I think that, both like and unlike the first twilight, it’s worth considering a more mundane tool here. In order to get something thin and piercing through a hard to penetrate surface, you need to apply a lot of force. The gun could not be used since that is still in Natsuhi’s possession, so some kind of shenanigans there is automatically out of the question. Given that, what’s left to us?
What’s worth noting is that we never get a good look at the weapons, beyond seeing their handles and that they are roughly conical in shape. How they are embedded in Eva and Hideyoshi remains unknown. My thinking is, given the size and shape and purpose of these wounds, that a drill was likely used to create the effect seen. A drill could, with enough pressure, pierce into someone’s skull. It would then either be a case of having the weapon attached to some kind of screw as it is drilled into them, or sticking the weapon into the hole after the fact. The drill could be easily sourced from the same tool storage room Kanon acquired the bolt cutters from, and easily returned without suspicion.
One question that arises from this is that it is once again very unlikely that Eva and Hideyoshi died by having their foreheads drilled through. Given the list of suspects and the logistics of the killing, it is most likely that the mutilation happened posthumously like with the first twilight. Which means, again, that Eva and Hideyoshi were actually killed in some other way that left no other visible signs. And once again, I have reason to believe that may be poison.
Before I consider who could have administered some kind of poison to the two of them, let’s also think about the magic circle for a second. According to the narration, Kanon first notices the magic circle when returning to the bedroom with the bolt cutters – a more elaborate magic circle than the first has appeared on the door. Kanon and Kumasawa both react in shock upon seeing it – Kumasawa because it is so ghastly, Kanon because it was not there less than five minutes ago.
On the face of it, this is another impossible-seeming occurrence, even more so than any other occult symbol seen so far. That said, if you keep in mind the overwhelming swell of the witch narrative and the reliability of our narrators, then it becomes less impossible to consider. Going back to the Detective/Romantic narrative viewpoint, we need to remember that these third person scenes are more about being faithful to the emotional truth than the literal truth – the why is accurate, but the how and what may not be.
For the magic circle, what we get is the emergence of this symbol accompanied by Kanon’s shock, fear, and helplessness. Kanon is not in a good place when he looks upon the magic circle – his distress culminates in the appearance of this symbol. This does not necessarily mean the magic circle literally materialised in a handful of minutes, but it does mean that the magic circle’s emotional relevance only became clear upon Kanon’s second known trip to the bedroom.
Now that Kanon has the means of entering the locked bedroom, the witch narrative bleeds out into something concrete and grim. When the bedroom was still a sealed space, there was no occult iconography. The appearance of the circle, narrative-wise, marks a point of no return. As readers, we know what this means: the epitaph murders have continued, and Eva and Hideyoshi are absolutely super dead. There is no avoiding or delaying that inevitability. Likewise, Kanon having the bolt cutters means that he, too, can no longer ignore the writing on the wall.
The bolt cutters break through the material lock on the room. The magic circle breaks through the immaterial lock of obfuscation. We know exactly what is in there, and how to get there. There is no use in pretending. Truth, or some form of it at least, rules the moment. Beatrice shows her hand when she knows we can no longer deny her presence.
So we see the magic circle and understand. So Kanon has the bolt cutters and can step into the room. If the witch narrative is about one thing, it’s the conferring of understanding onto observational parties. Despite the obscurity and mystery surrounding everything, the signs and symbols are remarkably devoid of ambiguity. Magic circles indicate that a completed murder lies behind the door. The imagery of the first twilight goes from a spectacle to a pattern.
Of course, this still means that this is the witch narrative, and this still means that the information we are receiving Is obfuscated. Under the witch narrative, the magic circle inexplicably manifested within a few short minutes as a signpost by the Golden Witch. If you take away the witch narrative and apply more of a Detective’s logic, you then also have to come up with an alternative explanation that conforms to human rules and human logic.
If there is no witch and no magic operating on the physical level, that means that the magic circle was materially constructed by a material entity. With the previous circle on the storehouse door, I reasoned that the six hour timeframe is more than enough for the culprit to draw it. With the second twilight. However, that timeframe has rapidly shrunken. The one that the story offers us, of less than five minutes, is plainly not feasible. Therefore, like other mysteries in this story, we’ll have to extend that window as much as possible.
We know from the chapter breaks that chapter 13 starts at 19:00. We also know that Eva and Hideyoshi are alive at this time. During the discovery of the bodies, Nanjo remarks that they have been dead for roughly an hour. This chapter doesn’t end with a clock transition, but from this we can roughly surmise that the family finds the corpses at 20:00, thereabouts. An hour is still a tight timeframe to produce a magic circle that complex, but infinitely more feasible than five minutes.
Another detail we’re given about the circle is that the paint still appears to “drip”, so assuming that to be true, an hour would still be enough time for the pain to be fresh enough to still run. Really, depending on the type of paint used, this “wet” period could last as long as two to three hours. This was obviously less of a problem for the first twilight, given that the paint was exposed to the rain the whole time and would therefore have difficulty drying. With the second twilight, this is on a door in a sheltered, likely heated, hallway. Even with upper estimates, the amount of time the paint can be visibly wet for is limited.
So what is the earliest that this could have been done? The first major hurdle that needs to be eliminated is Eva and Hideyoshi. If the circle was on the door before they entered the room, the initial assumption is that they would have reacted to this in some way. This, of course, is also predicated on Eva and Hideyoshi having minimal involvement in the witch narrative.
However, the past couple of chapters have proven that Eva and Hideyoshi are, if not producing, at the very least perpetuating the narrative. Like I thought about before, it’s likely that they’re choosing to play along as insurance to protect themselves against being caught out with their involvement in the murders of the first twilight. There’s also the sealed letter found under their door that we never get to see – perhaps these are/were some kind of written instructions on how they were to act for the rest of the weekend? An updated primer on the witch narrative to keep their story straight as the story evolves? Either way, given that, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine that they’d ignore the existence of the magic circle under instruction. After all, whatever keeps the suspicion off them works.
Where we do run into an issue is that prior to this, Natsuhi and the servants performed a full sweep of the mansion in search of Kinzo. Unlike Eva and Hideyoshi, Natsuhi is not embroiled in the witch narrative in the same way, and absolutely would have said and done something had she encountered a magic circle while searching the mansion. This means that either Natsuhi never went near the guest rooms (unlikely) or that the magic circle was painted after her search was complete and she returned to the parlor with the gun (much more likely).
If that’s the case, then that pushes the window of opportunity back by an additional hour or so. This also, ultimately, leaves us with a very small pool of suspects. In an anticlimactic fashion, these are basically the same people who were the only ones in a position to draw the magic circle on the storehouse door: Genji and Kanon.
The servants excuse themselves from the parlor early on even in spite of Natsuhi’s attempt to keep everyone in one place. Ostensibly they are in the kitchen to prepare dinner for the family. Kumasawa is shown to be the one most involved in the cooking process, only calling upon Kanon to help her plate up and serve. This gives Kanon and Genji a lot of leeway to move about the mansion and prepare things for the second twilight.
This also, by extension, puts Nanjo in a less favourable light. He spends time in the kitchen playing chess with Genji during the timeframe when he and Kanon would be coming and going. So either Nanjo was completely oblivious to this happening, or he is complicit on some level in what is going on. As always, the dilemma of Nanjo remains ever present and ever unsolvable. His positioning here only adds to the question, and helps very little in pinning anything down. Nanjo is there. This kind of makes him suspicious. It also kind of might not.
More relevantly. I want to instead examine my new prime suspect of the day. Up until now, my prevailing theory has been that Kanon has been the one behind the witch narrative, with Genji as an accomplice. This was mostly based off considering who could have been responsible for giving the first letter to Maria, and who would have the strongest motive to tear down the Ushiromiya family. However, after this chapter (and percolating on things from the last few) I am reporting that my stance has totally shifted. Genji is the orchestrator, and Kanon is the accomplice. I got it backwards.
Too much falls into place too perfectly if you consider Genji to be the “mastermind” of the operation. The bizarre coincidences with everything on Rokkenjima either being out of service or out for repairs specifically over the weekend of the conference makes a hell of a lot more sense if you consider it to be Genji’s doing. The only people who could have done this are those with any degree of authority with household management, which shrinks the circle to Kinzo, Krauss, Natsuhi, and Genji.
Natsuhi has already been eliminated from the suspect pool a million times over, so I won’t spend time repeating myself. Kinzo is too far removed from reality to care much about the specifics of sealing Rokkenjima off from the outside world (although I do have more to say on Kinzo shortly) and also he may or may not actually be alive as of this October weekend anyway. Krauss is a possibility, but him being killed during the first twilight the way he was seems to indicate that he is not involved in any higher-level machinations. Genji, however? Genji is very much perfectly placed to do this. As the defacto senior member of the household staff and as the one person on Rokkenjima who actually has Kinzo’s favour, Genji has a lot more options open to him than the self-professed humble “furniture” would have us believe.
Of all the servants, Genji is the one who can most easily move about unchallenged. Natsuhi and Krauss distrust him too much, and fear Kinzo too much, to make any serious attempts at obstructing him. Kinzo does not care enough to take that much of an interest in anything Genji does. The other servants are either beneath him or unaffiliated with him (as is the case with Gohda). Genji just is, able to go about his business while assumed to be untouchable.
Even if you were to suspect Genji of ill intent, he very effectively wields his position as a servant to deflect. Genji is one of three servants on Rokkenjima to bear the label of “furniture” – a term that is associated with being in Kinzo’s inner circle, and with being a victim of Kinzo’s abuse. For Shannon and Kanon, to be furniture is to be less than human, it is to be the servant before the person. It is to be so folded into your position of servitude that nothing else can be permitted to exist, save for your function of being at the mercy of your superiors. They are powerless teenagers trapped in a cruel situation. For Genji, though, this narrative does not quite click.
Yes, he is bound to serve Kinzo regardless of his personal will. Yes, he has almost totally given himself over to his role as a servant. Yes, he is seemingly “stuck” on Rokkenjima. But it’s not the same as Kanon and Shannon. Genji was not plucked from birth and forced into this position. He was, by all accounts, a good friend of Kinzo’s in their youth who chose to become his personal servant at some undefined point decades in the past. Genji entered into this arrangement willingly, even if the present circumstances do not necessarily match the starting conditions.
But Genji still calls himself “furniture”. He is deliberately positioning himself as part of the same class of individual as Shannon and Kanon, despite ostensibly having more in common with someone like Kumasawa. She is another elderly servant with enough leeway to get up to antics, but she does not refer to herself, or anyone, as furniture. She lacks Kinzo’s favour, but in all other measures she is equivalent to Genji. Furniture as a term used to browbeat junior servants into complacency checks out, but furniture being used to describe a man who willingly entered into the service of his once good friend does not track in quite the same way.
In an earlier chapter, Genji pulls Kanon to one side and discusses with him how they are in service of both of Rokkenjima’s masters – Kinzo and Beatrice. There is a sense that this private conversation carries with it a degree of sincerity. Genji is autonomous compared to the other servants, and yet he is still bound. This is a glaring contradiction in Genji’s psychology that continues to undermine the notion that the Beatrice narrative is all a farce put on by a cynical and crafty servant. There is a sincere notion of a belief in something underpinning the goings-on here, something that drives Genji to step further into whatever unpleasant role he is assuming.
Genji is furniture in service of his master. This statement alone reveals much of the truth we need to understand what is happening here, or at the very least cobble together a compelling theory.
What we know of Genji is that whatever he and Kinzo have goes far back into the past. There is, or was at one point, a genuine affection between the two men. The scene between the two in the study is proof of this, no matter if you subscribe to the notion of Kinzo being alive or the notion of Kinzo being dead. If Kinzo is alive, then the affection is straightforward and reciprocal if erratic. If Kinzo is dead, then Genji is evoking a mirror to feelings that are deeply true in his own heart if nowhere else. And ultimately, what Genji feels matters more than what Kinzo feels, especially for this theory.
The theory is as follows: Genji is the orchestrator of the witch narrative, and Kanon is his coerced subordinate. Where this differs from my earlier Kanon theory is that rather than try to shoehorn a reason into why Genji would so intimately know all this occult stuff in order to deploy it for the murders, I instead think that while Genji is executing this scheme, he is not the mastermind.
The mastermind of the witch narrative, and the originator of “Beatrice”, is actually Kinzo. Or, to be more technical, the ghost of Kinzo.
In order to explain this, we need to go back to the very start of the story, to the prologue scene between Kinzo, Nanjo, and Genji where all three men discuss the issue of Kinzo’s last will and his declining health. This scene has always been a little structurally weird, owing to the fact that it never really connects neatly to anything else in the story. We have no way of knowing when or why this scene happens. All we know is what, and the “what” of the scene is that Nanjo declares that Kinzo has not got long left, and that he should really get to making a will before it is too late. And Kinzo, in response, says that all he cares about is Beatrice, and he would happily throw all his family and all his possessions in the fire for one last glimpse of the Golden Witch.
One implication of this scene is that Nanjo was subtly pushing Kinzo to seek absolution for some undisclosed sin that hangs in the air. I do not think this is what happened – In Kinzo’s own words, he has no regrets. Instead, I think the shift in conversation conveys a literal truth in reasoning. Kinzo’s final choice is to offer it all up to the Demon’s Roulette for the witch. It is not that Kinzo refuses to make a will, but that he does choose to produce one, albeit on his own spiteful, warped terms.
For this to work, I firmly believe that, regardless of everything else going on, Kinzo was definitely alive in this prologue scene. This may have taken place days, weeks, even months before the 1986 family conference, and while that could be pinned down by examining certain actions taken on Rokkenjima and Krauss’s embezzlement efforts, the exact timing does not matter at this exact moment. What matters is that Kinzo formulates some kind of rotten plan before he dies.
What we know here is that Kinzo longs to see Beatrice again, and that according to Maria and the epitaph, Beatrice is in/from the Golden Land. From the few bits of information we have, we know that Beatrice is an unreal ghost-like entity, and that the Golden Land seems to be some kind of afterlife/world Beyond. Or at least the supernatural definition of Golden Land – I also believe that the gold vault is another kind of Golden Land. Glory in life, glory in death and all that.
From this, we can extrapolate that “reunion with Beatrice” is fuelled by some kind of death drive. To meet the Golden Witch in the Golden Land is to cross the threshold of death. The material world must be departed from in all its forms, otherwise there is no point. And more than this, any deaths offered during the twilights are consigned to be little more than sacrifices for Beatrice’s power.
This poses a conundrum for Kinzo. If he dies as a sacrifice, then he is very unlikely to be graced with Beatrice’s smile. If he survives the whole ordeal, there is every chance he just does not see Beatrice at all. For him to get what he wants based on what we know of how this system operates, he either needs to die before the epitaph murders, or after. We know that Beatrice is a ghost. It stands to reason that “Beatrice” would also be a ghost. In other words, I think Kinzo died at some point between the prologue scene and the family setting foot on Rokkenjima. Or at the very least, gave the total impression of death to everyone that matters. Whatever it took to put him in a position where his last will could be carried out.
A spiteful last will, designed to ruin the family that Kinzo so loathes, and to bring him closer than ever to his deranged fantasies. A scheme twofold in its purposes, one final echo of the Ushiromiya patriarch’s abuse, inflicted from a place that totally shields him against any kind of retaliation. The abusive father “exists” in the shadows, forcing everyone on the island into the role of frightened and helpless children, where adulthood and money offer no defence against the horror. The wry and scheming Eva is, in the end, as powerless as Maria in the rose garden. The witch narrative becomes a grand and cruel equaliser only interested in pain.
And, of course, for Kinzo to be the phantom behind the stage, this means that there must be somebody carrying out this violence in the material world. We are given exactly two people who would be privy to this plan of Kinzo’s, if it exists: Nanjo and Genji. Nanjo may know, but Nanjo lacks the power and influence to do much more than potentially splutter out some regurgitated nonsense about the witch narrative and maybe a lie a little about the state of crime scenes. Genji, however, has intimate knowledge of Rokkenjima and of Kinzo, and command of the household staff, including whatever control and leverage is used to keep the other “furniture” in line. One final request to an old friend, one last blood-washed sin to see it off.
The big question, of course, is why on earth Genji would do something like this. We know that there is some kind of unfathomably deep devotion towards Kinzo in spite of everything the man is. We know that, in Genji’s heart at least, there is a fondness that is one of the major components keeping him going. I don’t think it’s as literal as I’m positing, but I do think there is a sentiment towards Kinzo that Genji harbours which goes beyond servitude and friendship and into something resembling love. Be it romantic love, or some other kind of bond formed by history, companionship and proximity, I am not sure. But Genji feels strongly enough about Kinzo that he is willing to bloody his hands in this dirty business simply to fulfil his dear friend’s final wish. The nature of this bond is less important than the fact of its existence.
Genji is acting as Kinzo’s “furniture”, as a manipulated piece on a board that further manipulates pieces beneath him to adhere to the plan. Kanon, then, is trapped under a new layer of torment and abuse as Genji’s fanaticism takes centre stage. He loses his sister and dirties his hands for the sake of a dead man. He has no other option except to acquiesce, because unlike Genji Kanon does not have the luxury of saying “no”. He has nothing of his own, nowhere to go, nobody in his corner. Kanon is little more than a tool, the ultimate embodiment of the “furniture” concept. Kinzo is gone, but the power and abuse dynamics remain as alive as ever.
This is the stage of the epitaph murders. Genji, acting out a rehearsed script bestowed onto him by the evil master he will follow into the depths of hell. Kanon, forced to play deuteragonist no matter what he would rather want for himself. The other servants, the supporting cast of varying relevance. Everyone forced into carrying out Kinzo’s final wish to see his family destroyed in the name of his fleeting, warped dreams.
Keeping that in mind, let’s now try to sketch out what I think happened during the second twilight.
We already know that Eva and Hideyoshi are involved in the first twilight, be it as culprits or accomplices. As the only surviving siblings of that eventful night, they are absolutely painted in suspicion that has taken the witch narrative firing on all cylinders just to keep at bay. And even then, it was only a matter of time before Eva’s ego and the family’s reasoning would lead them to the conclusion that the two of them had some degree of involvement in the deaths of the six. And from there, that would of course lead to the witch narrative potentially being uncovered and the entire scheme falling apart. The two of them are liabilities if “Beatrice” is to have any longevity.
I do not think Eva and Hideyoshi at any point thought they were in danger. They were so secure in their innocence and survival that, after separating from the rest of the family, were willing to make plans about what would happen after the conference. Disappearing into the Maldives for a few weeks at the height of the criminal investigation into the murders indicates that at the very least, the two expect to have the means to do this. After this weekend, they will no longer be in need of a lot of money right now. All they need to do is keep up the pantomime for a few hours longer.
Even if Eva and Hideyoshi weren’t always intended to die, their performance that morning solidified that keeping them around would jeapordise the witch narrative immensely. So either Genji/Kinzo intended to betray them from the start, or this decision came about after witnessing them flail to keep their cover in the parlour. Whatever the case, their decision to break off from the group and retire to the guestroom was actually them stepping into a trap.
Depending on the timeframe of the magic circle, there can be a case made that at some point during the afternoon Genji and/or Kanon painted the door, and Eva and Hideyoshi were told to head to this room at a certain time. Perhaps they were told that staying in a room with a magic circle would make them look like survivors of an attempt on their life in a scenario akin to the stains on Natsuhi’s door, and take the heat off them in the same way as it did Natsuhi. Perhaps they didn’t think to ask questions, so long as they were confident in both their survival and their financial gain. Either that, or the magic circle was painted after they had already entered the room. Both cases are viable, and neither one detracts too much from the overall shape of events.
While Eva and Hideyoshi are in the room talking and doing all the other stuff they were doing, Genji and Kanon are almost certainly preparing the murder. This would involve taking the picks from Kinzo’s collection and painting the magic circle, depending again on the timeframe we’re working with. Either way, that first hour is spent closing the trap in.
At some point in a nebulous timejump, either Genji or Kanon enters the guestroom. Most likely this is done using the pretence of the second letter, which they may have believed contained further instructions for the rest of the conference. I also think that, going by the pattern of culpability, that the person who greets them at the door is Kanon.
The most likely scenario is that Kanon knocks on the door a short while after Eva and Hideyoshi have finished making love. Eva is found dead fully dressed on the bed, and Hideyoshi is found dead naked in the shower. I think you can extrapolate from this their final actions: Eva cleaned herself up first, and Hideyoshi was about to enter the shower when Kanon arrived.
So it is most likely Eva that let Kanon in. She does this because she believes she is not at risk of further harm, and because Kanon and Genji have the blackmail of her involvement in the first twilight over her head. With no choice but to receive further instruction, Eva opens up the guestroom.
In order to kill them, Kanon likely serves Eva and Hideyoshi something poisoned. This was most likely prepared by Genji using whatever poison Krauss and Gohda used in the first twilight. Ironically, the paranoid Eva would not have thought to detect any poison at this stage, and will die of the exact thing she taunted Shannon and Natsuhi about earlier in the story.
After serving them the poison and having some kind of interaction with them, Kanon most likely leaves the scene. What follows next is that Eva chooses to lie on the bed, while Hideyoshi enters the shower. The poison takes hold and kills them a short time after that, leaving them in the positions the others would later find them in.
At this point, Kanon and Genji would likely return to the scene with a drill and the picks to dress up the murder scene with occult accessories. Their heads are drilled through, the picks inserted, and the letter placed under the door. Then, via whatever method achieved such a thing, they lock the room from the inside with the chain and left the scene.
An amount of time passes here where Kanon and Genji help to prepare dinner and dispose of the leftover evidence. At around eight, as we see in the chapter, they return to the guestroom to complete the charade. Genji knocks on the door, receives no reply, and then he and Kanon “discover” the letter. To keep up the illusion, Genji and Kanon return to the kitchen in a panic. Kanon and Kumasawa seek out bolt cutters, while Genji and Nanjo return to the guestroom.
Once Kanon and Kumasawa return to the guestroom with the bolt cutters, they “discover” the magic circle. Kumasawa acts shocked, but it cannot be discounted that this is also part of the act. Whatever the case, the magic circle has been here for some time, and only now is Kanon permitted to acknowledge it. Kanon then unlocks the door chain with the bolt cutters, making quick work of whatever method allowed the room to be sealed in the first place, and Eva and Hideyoshi’s corpses are “discovered” in their final occult resting positions. This is, I believe, the overall gist of the second twilight.
The major question that lingers is “how was the locked room constructed”, something for which there is no answer at this stage. The major outlier with the second twilight concerns the drilled heads. Unlike the poison, this is not something that could have been passively set in motion before the locked room’s construction. We also know that there was nobody in the room except for Eva and Hideyoshi, so it’s not like somebody could have stayed in there and done the drilling after the room was locked up.
There is also not really enough time for Eva and Hideyoshi’s heads to be drilled after the room was unlocked, either. Even if that was somehow managed, the issue of hiding and disposing of the drill becomes much harder than my earlier theory. Ultimately, while I could tie myself in knots trying to pin down the locked room, I don’t think the “how” is too important. We already know the who and the why, and changing the how doesn’t change either of these factors.
So, to sum up: Eva and Hideyoshi were killed by Kanon and Genji as part of the witch narrative. This was done first via poison, and then via posthumous mutilation. The servants took advantage of the nebulous timeframe to set the scene, and then pretended to discover the crime an hour after the fact. This was done under Genji’s instruction following a plan most likely sketched out by Kinzo in advance, carried through out of some kind of sick and doomed devotion. Case kind of mostly closed.
What now? Eva and Hideyoshi were the loose end of the first twilight. There are no such ends this time. Just the culprit and his accomplices. Kanon and Kumasawa are not liabilities in the way the other two were, so the next twilight will most likely not occur under similar circumstances. There aren’t any hostile actors left in the Ushiromiya family, either. Just Natsuhi and Nanjo and the cousins.
It is very hard to see what circumstances would breed the next murder under the current conditions. With the death of Eva and Hideyoshi, a kind of equilibrium is reached.
However, one thing worth noting is that the third twilight makes no reference to murder. All it asks is for Beatrice’s noble name to be praised. In more plain terms, this may equate to a kind of acknowledgement of the witch’s existence among the survivors. Perhaps the aftermath of this murder starts to genuinely convince people of Beatrice’s existence, and this “praising” leads to a schism between those left standing that breeds new conflict.
Perhaps the praising marks a threshold point where Beatrice can now for real start interacting with the world, growing more and more capable with each sacrifice. Perhaps we will see the witch narrative scheme fall off the rails in favour of the real murderwitch in action. I don’t know. There are a lot of directions the story could go from this point.
But let’s see how the pieces fall first before we start doom forecasting again. There is another lull between twilights to digest, and more non-murder based mysteries to consider. Let’s see what’s next.
#umineko#umineko liveblog#long post#this took some time i know but at least it wasn't as bad as the 6 month wait for the last murder chapter's writeup lmao#umineko writeup
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CEO! AU Where their employee is too naive about innuendo 😅
Too pure and these guys wreck her during a personal "meeting" in their office.
(Separate scenarios please 🙏)
Me dearest moot,
I apologize this took me so long. 😅 I find it hard to write ooc scenes, but then again everything written outside the Narutoverse is considered ooc. So I just rolled with it, didn’t feel it at first. Sat on it, went back edited it — added more and hopefully the outcome is to your standards.
I truly am committed to writing almost any ask that is sent my way.
I do apologize, this got lengthy. I cannot not write anything less than 3k it seems when in the mood. Lmao. I give you smut with minor plot, because I love a bit of backstory and I adore characters that have a familiarity between them or some fluffy shit like that.
(When I wrote this, I was not aware of your preference for Itachi at the time. Shisui CEO was already in the works. Honestly am not entirely convinced this is good. I would be willing to do Itachi in a separate ask, I just didn’t want this to be like 15k of figuring my shit out).
NSFW; airhead-ish intern; smut w/plot; praise kink; oral; vaginal; unprofessional work environment; sex at work; Enjoy!
wc: an exorbitant fucking 3.4k; fuck and I’m not editing it much more right now. Will go back, I just felt like the worlds biggest piece of shit for taking so long lol
As fresh blood in the world of accounting, credentials meant everything. Especially if you want roll with the big boys. Which is why when accepting an internship nearly six months ago from the most prestigious accounting firm, you didn’t hesitate to accept. It would look good on your resume and if lucky enough, you’d be offered a job and avoid the hassle of sending out hundreds of applications.
So far things have been mild and mundane.
Coffee this, tea that. Dry cleaning. You hardly even made an appearance into the conference room except on few occasions.
Today was one of those days your presence was requested. Shisui Uchiha, CEO, owner and founder of Tomoe LLC. An accounting firm for high profiled clients.
Yea, your designated boss was that guy.
The one who made tabloids left and right with his fuck you money and all. The guy who probably had every woman in the office, including yourself, humid and longing. Didn’t even have to try, and there was no lying. How unfortunate you had the hots for him. Regardless of your stance, you retained the upmost professionalism in his presence.
When Shisui walks into the conference room, all eyes are on him. Composed, clean cut and admirable. As an intern your job is to take minute notes, jot ideas he spouts off and anything of importance. At the end of his hour and a half long ramble. Everyone is dismissed.
‘Except you.’ Words you didn’t really expect, but nonetheless did as you were told.
Once the room is cleared, Shisui’s gaze catches yours. Sharp and observant, you felt under the microscope of his heavy dark eyed gaze. ‘I need your help on something.’
Which was great, usually.
This is what you’re here for. If it was coffee, you’d fetch it. If it was picking his dog up from the groomers, that too. You got to use his shiny new car, which was a treat. He made sure you knew nobody before you had that privilege.
‘I’m listening, Uchiha-san.’ Submissive and severely cute as you retained his attention. Even if unintentional, it made his eyes flicker whenever you called him that and he straightened up a bit. A smug grin on his face.
Ever the good girl.
Shisui taps at your laptop, quickly you open its notebook app, ready to record his thoughts. ‘I want you to draft your own document on project of your choosing. Consider it a ‘review.’ How can you make this company grow?’
Oh, it was one of those reviews. The preliminary ‘give me your thoughts and maybe you can have a job’ situation. He continues, ‘on one condition… meet me in my office after work. And we’ll discuss it more personally.’
‘Anything specific I should focus on?’ It wasn’t confusing, but you had the sense there was something particular he was looking for.
He smiles and gazes over you. Shisui always said he appreciated your tenacity and go-getter attitude. ‘Just whatever comes to mind; nothing too serious…..when you write this document, just remember it's for me. It should be tailored to suggestions you think I would….be interested in.’
‘Right, for you…for the company.’ You sheepishly smile back. Why was the room hot, why did your stomach disappear and leave you feeling sick almost. Not in a terrible way, but well….no. He’s your damned boss!!
‘Good girl.’ Something crawled up your spine when he said those words. Your body treasonously gushed, and it was hard not to flush warm in the cheeks. ‘Make sure to send this off before you stop by my office. It would be…beneficial for me to know before we further discuss this in a personal setting.’
A personal setting. After work.
You weren’t stupid by any means, part of you truly believed your boss was hitting on you and the other half was partial to the fact Shisui just knew how to get what he wanted. So, for the last few hours of your day, you focused on real issues within the company. You didn’t want to insult him, but there were things that could improve the numbers and have an impact. Small minute details you picked up the last few months. The document was sent off the last half hour of the day before you walked down to the elevator and took it three floors up to where the higher-ranking individuals in the company were stationed.
Maybe you could be up here. Maybe your ideas would actually mean something. A small smile spreads your face before you knock on his office door.
When Shisui opens the door, he immediately steps aside and motions for you to enter. That’s good sign, right? His gaze lingers as you take in the office that you see maybe three times a month. Your actual duties are handed down to the secretary on your floor directly from him.
A soft click of the door closing has your nerves striking flint at one another.
‘I like how you took this assignment so seriously….’ Taking a seat at his desk, hands folded together. He takes her in.
‘You’re not offended?’ Of course not! The numbers didn’t lie, you had found a hole in his company’s bottomline. Money was being filtered out. If anything, he was grateful you did this so thoroughly.
Shisui’s eyes seem almost piercing, ‘I’m not offended at all. In fact, it’s impressive. Very impressive….now exactly how did you figure this out?’
Oh, that was a toughie. It was by accident, really, you explain. Within the first few weeks of your internship, you were granted access to classified information. Unsure if this was even allowed, you figured that if a potential job was to be had. You needed to know the numbers. Unfortunately for Shisui, undoubtedly, someone was stealing money from him. He had his suspicions prior to your upheaval, but no real way of confirming without causing the perpetrator to become aware. Aside from that it was intricately encrypted, meaning you were incapable of providing further details of who.
Shisui eyes you the whole time, his unwavering gaze felt unkind almost, but sincere. ‘So, you were just casually going through the inflow and outflow. Just so happen to discover…. money missing?’
You exhale heavily, this sounded like it could backfire. ‘Y-yes. I’m sorry if that was a breach of my contract, I figured if I was granted access—’
Shisui’s light chuckle interrupts you, a sort of calm, almost relieved feeling washes down your nerves. ‘You’re fine, I admire your determination and commitment to this company. It seems I can’t trust everyone here…’
‘I suggest, if you’re open to it…. calling tech support, they might be able…’ the words hit your face from the floor. Someone in tech support would be the perfect position to lay low and hide or dispose of backlogs. Shisui quirks an eyebrow at your acute observation. ‘Tech support would be able to see behind all of that.’
At first, he is surprised, then perturbed. Tech support would be capable of seeing behind the encryption or worse. Creating it. Leaning back in his chair, he folds his hands under to his chin. ‘A smart observation….that is….unfortunate. For them, if so.’ A hint of admiration in his voice has you smiling at his praise.
Shisui can’t help but stare at you for a moment. That smile is adorable, even more when you’re not completely flustered by him. When you’re almost comfortable in his presence. ‘You’re a very sharp girl…and you have a good grasp of this business despite being just an intern….’
‘It’s nothing….really. I was just…trying to get on top of the game.’ A soft shrug is all you manage. What else could you say? Now wasn’t the time to toot your own horn.
Shisui leans forward in his chair. He can't help but notice you’re a still bit shy, reserved and overtly quiet in his presence. More times often than not are you loud and boisterous with the friends you’ve made here. Something lurches in the back of his mind; his tone of voice softens.
‘I’d like to commend you for your efforts. You’ve outdone yourself and even figured out someone is potentially funneling money from me.’ He pauses briefly, ‘just out of curiosity though….why did you accept this internship?’
The harsh truth resurfaced with a prejudice. You were bitter the first few weeks, though you were grateful for this opportunity here. Not a word back from a single firm within the five great nations when you sought them out. It was nearly a month later after you had sent out the portfolio did Shisui’s firm respond. ‘You were the only firm to return interest and extend an offer.’
This was not something Shisui expected to hear. It disheartened him and left a foul taste in his mouth. Surely other firms would have been interested. He hadn’t sent a reply as quickly beforehand. Thinking you would take an opportunity in another country. Most people wanted to leave their home cities; he responded solely on the fact he was too eager in his selection for you. The portfolio, while small, was exceptional. Organized and precise. His stubbornness made him hold off but the business side of him does what’s best for itself.
He had to have you, to see the woman behind the mind. Even if you weren’t the spectacular woman before him, he still would have hired you. He wasn’t discriminatory in that matter, only if you would be beneficial to the firm. He knew from the initial interview that you would be, it was just a bonus that you were drop dead gorgeous.
‘No other company reached out?’ The irritation in his voice was severe and brought blasphemy in his eyes.
The hardened look on his face softens once more as you continue, ‘I was shocked to receive your extension to interview.’
Another unexpected answer. Shisui didn’t expect that the other internships went unanswered, but he never once turned down the free labor hours of an internship. There wasn’t a damn thing that made you unworthy of a position here. Intelligent, well calculated….submissive. You did every thing he threw at you from silly errands he couldn’t be fucked with, to listening to him bitch about Genma’s vacation in the Land of Tea being two weeks.
‘So here I am. Almost the six month review. I was hoping that this recent development would…be a retainer for a full time position…’ the words taper off. Hearing how silly you were.
Scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours was not at the forefront of your mind.
But it was his and, well, the funny thing is. Shisui’s back, is on his cock. That’s exactly the kind of back scratching he was referring to earlier when he asked for you to come up with a minor presentation for him. He figured this one wouldn’t fly over the crows nest, but it had. You didn’t quiet catch his intentions.
He would just have to be more…direct.
A small smile spreads his face, the fact that you were just so bashful with your request. Shisui rounds his desk quickly, his hands at your forearms. Sights sharp with intent. Deep baritone grows soft when he addresses you, ‘consider me impressed.’
You quickly dial in at his hands holding you so, so intimately. ‘Why?’ Is that really all you can manage? Though you didn’t understand, ‘why do I impress you? I did something that someone else should have been doing.’ Your brows pinch.
Shisui doesn’t answer right away, he takes the time to consider you. He thumbs small circles on your left arm, as if he is trying to properly convey the words of adoration without scaring you off. ‘You’re right, I should have someone doing this. I am just impressed you were that person when it should have been someone more experienced in this company.’
‘But…?’ Waiting for it. For the let down of not having a position here.
Shisui runs a hand through his hair, the other still on your left arm, ‘this is the first time I’ve ever thought about extending a full-time position to an intern in awhile. But…from now on, you will not be an intern…’ a pregnant pause makes the air thick and stale for a moment. ‘You’ll be my assistant.’
‘Assistant?’ That wasn’t working with numbers, ‘that’s not…numbers or anything close to it…’
Shisui’s laugh fills his chest and reverberates in his throat stopping at a light hum, the grip on your forearm tightens a little to capture your undivided attention wholly. ‘Do not worry. I never said that you would stop working with numbers. That will still be part of your position here. But, moreover, I want your input on other aspects of this company. Marketing, communication, etc. a more….intimate experience at my side.’
You gawk. ‘How can you consider that from a near bare portfolio. I surely haven’t worked my weight in ryo here, not even close.’
In this moment, you look adorable to Shisui. Exasperated and uncertain. Almost undeserving. ‘You’re forgetting exactly why I chose you for the internship. I knew from the moment I interviewed you that you were a very sharp young lady. My trust in your abilities has grown exponentially these past few months, and hence…this new position for you.’
A soft click of your tongue, it was all coming full circle now. ‘This sounds like a curated position that was just made up.’
Shisui’s lips curl into a devious smile, that slips below subtle smirk. He narrows his eyes a bit, those eyes ever intense and drinking you up like the finest whiskey. That calm and composed side of Shisui is replaced by a commanding and dominant presence. Unholy even.
‘Uchiha-san?’ A sharp exhale as Shisui snakes a hand around her waist.
He brings you flush to his chest, running a hand through your hair. Drags his nose along your jaw and up to your cheek before his lips stop at your ear. Hot and raspy, Shisui’s intentions are more than clear. You notice how tall he really is, just towering over you. How much older he is too.
‘What…are you doing?’ A whispered hiss of astonishment at his direct approach.
‘What do you think I am dong?’ Sweet like honey, his voice is deep. Commanding. Possessive.
‘I’m partial to believe this is not in my job description….’ Your soft breath fans the his cheek as he rakes a hand up the nape of your neck.
‘I never suggested it was….’ The words send shivers down your spine, his thumb traces down your cheekbone. His warm breath smells sweet, you know this is not appropriate. Against policy. And as much as you’d hate to admit it.
You enjoyed it. ‘Then what is this for?’
You graze your nose in return over his cheek, the boldness amuses Shisui. How much did you like this? ‘This is part of the perks that come with your new job. If you haven’t noticed by now… I tend to enjoy your company.’
Well no, you didn’t notice. Not until now, ‘no, how could I when I’m hardly doing as an intern should?’ That was cute.
The small moan from your lips is even more adorable as Shisui dragged his lips down your neck. Delirium filled your head space, this was moving too fast. Before you knew it your tight pencil skirt was shucked to above your hips and you were laid on his desk.
Subservient to his desire, fueled by your own deplorable greed within. You could just let Shisui have his way with you, not that you saw it this way. Sex was currency, was also free and felt fucking good. The part of you that may or may not have fantasized this exact scenario unfolding was in charge now.
Spread out, legs over his shoulders holding his head in a vice squeeze. How did it get far this fast? Nose in your heat, lapping and twirling his tongue over your clit. Fingers curling in the confines of your taut muscles. Muscles that ached for it; were drenched for him. If your knocked a few things off his desk, Shisui would forgive you. This was the reason why he’d drawn you in after hours, the sounds you made were no less than a few doors in range: if anyone was still here after hours. They’d hear and pretend they didn’t the next day.
When his cock stretched you, molded you to him. He reamed a hand around your neck and pressed your back into the keyboard. Every time you came close to coming, he squeezed and stopped thrusting. Making you writhe and submit further to him.
‘..please.’ Your desperate whimper.
‘Please..what?’
Those soft eyes of yours caught his attention, ‘..please let me come Uchiha-san.’
He kissed you sweetly, but fucked you like an office whore as you came all over him. ‘Such a good girl…’ rang your ears every so often as he softly panted out between thrusts. Shisui flipped you to your stomach once you succumbed to his relentless pounding. Wrung his hand in your hair and craned your neck back to expose the delicate flesh. Nipping your pulse point, he sheath himself once more. Slower, needier. On the verge of filling your sweet hole with his genetic markup. Gripping your waist to steady your body, he whispered many things of promise if you accepted his job offer.
His bed, car and money. What on earth had gotten into this man? Shisui couldn’t figure out for himself exactly what he was saying either, but it was all forgotten the split second your salacious whimper and saying you were coming again. Had his hips steam rolling and slamming into you harder. Pumping his thinking length as he coated your insides. Holding your back to his chest as you both moaned out loud.
Surely, this was unprofessional. The entire time you fixed your clothes, you expected him to rescind his decision. That didn’t happen. Not when he fixed his tie, adjusted your skirt and covered you with his coat. Not once did his resolve change as you both walked out the dark office and got out of the elevator. He took you to dinner, paid an extraordinary amount of money for too little food and ushered you home. Opened your door and lead you by the small of your back to your front door and gave you a chaste kiss.
‘See you in the morning, ill be here at 6:30am’ It was fully decided by now that you did have a a full time position now, and he handed you a check for the firsts three months salary, and then some that had your head spinning.
‘This is unnecessary..’ It was money that you’d only ever seen on paper, let alone now held in your hands.
‘Consider it a bonus, and a reward.’ Shisui lifted your chin, and kissed your cheek.
You watched as he waited for you to go inside of your apartment, then he left.
#shisui uchiha#shisui headcanons#shisui smut#Shisui x you#shisui#uchiha shisui#sorry this took so long#I really struggled with it#i wasn't ready
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so anyway
obviously some people are using programs that are not chatgpt, or might be referencing the ai but not actually using it to write, but let’s say for a moment that there are about 500 ai-generated fics on the archive. which i think is a lowball, but we’ll see.
my official stance is that if you’re using ai to help you write due to a disability, different native language(s), or what have you, that’s fine. it is a tool. i have also seen artists use ai to generate backgrounds or buildings and draw a comic around that—that sort of thing is neat! as long as you’re building on what the ai gives you and making it your own, cool.
what i take offense to is things like this:
(the final two are from the same fic. i took out identifying info bc i don’t actually want to attack anyone here, just explain my side.)
so the main theme i keep seeing is people complaining about the ai-written fanfiction….that THEY are choosing to upload! you don’t like that it’s inaccurate or poorly written or too short, but you aren’t going to put in any effort to fix it? at all?
i understand wanting to experiment. i understand that writing your own stories is hard and can be daunting at first. but it feels gross, frankly, to fling works that took you very little effort, that you know are subpar, at an audience. you don’t think there’s enough content for your ship/fandom? WHY would you try to feed your fellow fans with something you think is bad?
it’s content for content’s sake and i do not like it.
the way this works is, if you want more content, you make it yourself. even if you’re not a good writer, even if you don’t have the best english or whatever language you’re writing in. how, pray tell, are you supposed to improve if you don’t do that?
who is this content even helping? i sorted the fics by hits to get a sense of popularity; the fic with the most hits that is completely ai-written (not using it as a tool) has 2816 hits. about half of the fics have less than 200 hits. there are real writers who might have similar stats, due to writing unpopular ships/fandoms/tropes (some of my fics do!) but across the board it’s clear ai fic isn’t drawing a lot of interest.
sorry i found this while looking at hit counts and i just. you’re not going to subtly demand content from your fellow fans in the SAME breath as admitting you are also not a content farm, but it’s fine, we’ll just have ai do it??
no. no. fandom is not about content. fandom is about community. and if you’re using ai to post fics without editing or sometimes even reading them, that tells me you’re much more interested in the former. putting aside the ethical dubiousness, putting aside the debates about “real art,” you have no courtesy.
and chatgpt can’t write.
#ai fanfic#chatgpt#ao3#fandom wank#ai discourse#fandom culture#i got progressively more mad as i dug into this lol whoops#wren wrambles#tldr: i dont like it!#a huge chunk of my dislike is purely the attitude too#like you’re gonna come into my space like that??#no#disrespectful#if you want to be a writer you have to fucking WRITE and if you cannot find it in yourself to do that#tough luck bestie!#i would like to be an artist but i do not have the discipline to teach myself or do it consistently and i am not out here#prompting ai about it!
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Let you break my heart again
Tighnari x reader x Albedo
angst, no gender/pronouns are used to describe reader (if there is one I probably missed it during editing!!) reader is described to have medium ish hair along with an earring, Cyno my beloved
summary: Cyno is caught off guard as he sees you block his blade with yours, Collei seems to agree to go back with you to Mondstadt for a few weeks
Without hesitation, you summon your polearm in time to block Cyno's attack as Albedo is pushed away from the shock wave, hitting the back of his head on a pile of stones that were randomly there.
He grunt in pain, vision blur as he blinks slowly and only taking in your blurry form in front of him.
Electro spark in the air from the impact of his electro with your hydro as you two stood in a battle stance as you held your weapon, ready for any of his attacks.
Cyno gives you a stern look as you sweat under the pressure of not knowing his next move.
"Cyno?" You say in confusion and disbelief.
His eyes narrow at you, not saying a word and neither of you say a single thing as Albedo struggles to clear his view.
It's all serious between you and the white haired male until your face visibly brightens up, a big smile on your face as you rush over to him. Arms wrapping around his shoulders.
"You came! I didn't think you would!" You say happily as he pats your back slowly as you look at him.
Now, Albedo is confused before seeing Cyno's gaze on him as you two separated.
"I knew it was you following me, I didn't expect you to make such an entrance!" You say all happily, Cyno was one of your closest friends from your Akademiya days and he would always play TCG with you in his free time.
Neither of you notice Albedo losing consciousness, losing time while talking until you realize that Albedo was quiet. He wanted to get to know Cyno and now he sat unconscious, leaning against a rock as you two rushed over.
"Let's get him inside," Cyno suggests as you pick him up, carefully making your way down the branches.
You two don't encounter any trouble as you get inside and lay down Albedo, checking if his head was alright. Cyno sat in one of the chairs as Albedo's head laid on your lap, "he should be fine, he'll wake up in the morning." You say, Cyno notices a spark in your eyes as you let the blonde's head down to rest on the pillow.
Taking a seat on the spare chair you had, sighing happily as you cross your arms over your chest.
He eyes the Anemo vision that peeks out from underneath the cloak you're wearing. "Assuming that you're finally using your vision in combat, you want to take my offer in sparing?"
Your face immediately lights up at this, Cyno had always encouraged you into picking up a weapon and training yourself but Tighnari would tell him to stop encouraging you from doing anything dangerous.
"Of course! Albedo's training is good but I'm sure I'll learn a lot from you!" You grin at him, Cyno glances at your face as a tiny smile grew on his lips.
"Good, we'll schedule a day to spare in an open field." He says.
—
Tighnari was not happy, he watched as the blonde had taken away all your time as he wanted to explore the forest. He immediately turned down that idea saying no one had time to watch you Incase you two got lost and you object saying you knew the forest and what to avoid.
He used the excuse that you were no longer a ranger, just a regular civilian and it was dangerous.
To his annoyance, Cyno stepped up and offered to watch over you and Albedo.
So now, he watched as you three prepared to leave for the day, Collei was stuck in her room in the mean time.
"Oh! There's this place I want to show you, I found it while on a patrol!" You happily tell Albedo who listens to you as you wait for Cyno to finish talking to Tighnari.
He couldn't even focus on what the white haired male was saying to him as his ear twitched with annoyance at the sight of Albedo being near you. Too close for comfort.
The days go by pretty quick, you don't remember having this much fun being in the forest, as you laugh with Albedo about something he said.
Neither of you really brought up the kiss you shared but the way he would play his hand on yours or place his hand on your back, your heart would do flips.
Tighnari would make you feel those feelings early on when you figured out you liked him but as the years went by, all you had was fear and the heart aches at his harsh words that you knew he didn't mean but nevertheless it stung real bad.
But this, your face flushes red as you were currently laying your head on Albedo's shoulder while listening to him. This felt nice, you think as you close your eyes, allowing yourself to relax. Being back here made you be on your toes but being next Albedo erased those thoughts and feelings.
"...how about I take you out on a date?" He says as you glance up at him, smiling, "okay, I look forward to it."
He smiles back, squeezing your hand gently, "Mondstadt is having the festival soon, I'll take you there."
You think about it, you never really went to events in the city even while being a student, "hm, do you think we should leave already? Collei should be feeling better now, she seems more eager to get out of bed."
The two of you decide to leave early in the morning but when the time comes, you are stopped by Tighnari once again.
You had a feeling he didn't want you to leave again but, "I'm sorry, I know I promised to stay here but I need to go back with Albedo."
He stood there, arms crossed as you narrowed his eyes at you while Albedo stood next to you, both of you were ready to go.
"It's not about me, Collei still needs to rest some more and you can't exactly take her just yet."
Your brows furrow in worry, you didn't want to overwhelm Collei on the way to Mondstadt but the festival was set to start tomorrow and you knew Albedo couldn't stay since he was needed over there.
Puzzled on what to do, Albedo spoke up, "it's alright, I'll head back first while you stay here with the girl. After she recovers, you two can head over, you know the way there."
You ponder before sighing, not wanting to let him go back alone but there was no other way.
"Alright, I'll stay for a couple more days."
Saying your goodbyes to the blonde, you went back to your old room feeling sad that he had to leave first but not without checking up on Collei first.
Sitting down on a stool next to her bed, she smiles at you, the two of you talk for a while until Tighnari walks in to do a check up on her. The conversation between you two shifts to Albedo.
"You said he's also a knight and he's normally that straightforward?" She says, remembering what you wrote in your letter about him.
Resting your face on your hands, you nod, "yup, he also has this adorable little sister, Klee, who is just the sweetest thing." Collei giggles at this, "can you believe she's also a knight?"
She gasps at this, "no way!"
You nod, giggling, you had the same reaction when you found out. "Yes! And she's said to be the strongest knight alongside the dark knight hero but those are just rumors."
"So you really are a knight?" She asks, nodding your head you sigh.
"Yes, I'm Albedo's assistant so I'm under his command you could say." Tighnari's grip on the spoon he was holding tightens at this only for his ear to twitch at your next words.
Whispering to the girl, you feel your face heat up, "um...I have a date with him during the festival, would it be okay if we leave you with Amber for a couple hours?"
Collei's eyes go wide at this, a giant smile on her face as she grabs your hands, holding them in hers, "of course!! Don't worry about me and focus on your date!" She exclaims, your face flush even more at her outburst but you smile at her.
"Thank you."
The next day comes rather fast, fixing your hair that was tangled in your sleep and your hand reaches for the piece of earring on the table next to the bed but you hesitate.
Looking at it, you sigh and retract your hand and stand up, grabbing your coat, walking out of the room. Your ear feels lighter without your earring, it belonged as a matching set you brought Tighnari years ago, he wore the other half.
"No, if I'm going to move on, I need to let things go." You tell yourself, "this is for the best, I gave it my best until the end."
Arriving at Collei's room, you see her packing her things for the trip as you knock, she looks back to see you waving to her.
"Oh! (Y/n)! Come in, I'm ready to go now! I just need Master Tighnari to let me go and we can leave!" She seemed really excited to leave for Mondstadt as she sits down in her bed.
"... actually, I was thinking about it all last night but there's something I want to tell you." Taking a seat beside her, you listen quietly to her words as your lips part slightly.
"...I see..." You say after she was done. "I never would have thought...that he.." covering your face with your hand, you let out a trembling sigh, trying to take in what the girl told you.
a/n; sorry for the long wait on this part
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#genshin impact x reader#genshin x reader#genshin impact#tighnari x y/n#tighnari x reader#tighnari x you#tighnari#albedo x y/n#albedo x you#genshin albedo#albedo imagines#albedo x reader#𒆜let you break my heart again𒆜
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I wrote a short continuation of this amazing prompt by @thepenultimateword, which goes as follows:
“What are you doing?”
Alex jolted violently, nose still buried in the watermelon musk of Ben’s hoodie as they whirled around.
“Uhhh…”
Ben stared dryly between their open locker and Alex’s wide eyes.
Alex held the hoodie out in front of themself, face suddenly twisting in confusion. “Wait, a minute, this isn’t mine. Did I get the wrong locker?”
The scrutinized the numbers a few seconds before clapping their hand dramatically to their forehead. “Will you look at that, I’m in the wrong row! Sorry, Ben, I’ll see you later.”
Alex went to march away but was promptly caught by the collar of their shirt and yanked a couple stumbling steps backward. “You still have my jacket.”
“Oh.” Their cheeks burned with a mixture of embarrassment and displeasure. “So I do.”
They reluctantly let the soft fabric fall back into Ben’s long, scar-nicked fingers and bustled away before their coworker could ask something stupid like: “Why were you sniffing my clothes?”
They should have walked faster.
...
for sake of clarity and my sanity (seeing the word henchman so many times while editing nearly melted my brain), I named those two:
Henchman A = Alex, Henchman B = Ben
... ... ...
Avoiding someone who works for the same person as them was... Manageable.
Alex would know, for they managed to avoid Ben for all of two weeks despite their shared tasks, appointments and whatnot.
Were they caught sniffing Ben's clothes again? Not yet. At some point Alex assumed Ben knew and just rolled with it. Which was odd, since Ben never rolled with anything, spare the orders from their boss.
And yes, they could just say your scent helps my powers calm so uh... thanks but wouldn't that just be the creepier? Openly admitting it wasn't Ben they were fixated on, but their smell? How fucked up was that.
Besides. A rational, well-mannered, unimpressed Ben. Getting their quirks and unexplained tendencies. Not happening.
Alex prepared for all alternatives, avoiding serious conversation and hiding behind excuses to leave the moment work was done. See that spider on the ceiling? Gotta go. Bye. It wasn't their best but it worked despite all the confusion that it caused.
What Alex did not factor with was outside of work.
Much like seeing a teacher at a grocery store was odd, seeing Ben leaning against their apartment door hit them like a mirage. Not quite there. Not quite right. A miracle kind of pleasant surprises, except somehow out of place and chilling in its suspiciousness.
Ben nodded at them in greeting, unimpressed eyes focused with unfair intent. They meant business when they looked like that.
Alex was so screwed.
“Good evening.”
Alex's head reeled at the greeting. Deep and quiet, yet perfectly clear. Politely blank, just there.
Manners, Alex. Your fucking manners.
“Evening,” was all they managed, searching for their keys. They had to find out what Ben was doing there. “Thought you lived downtown?”
“Thought we had things to discuss the boss doesn't need to be involved in.”
Alex's blood ran cold. They swallowed. It helped nothing.
Ben tilted their head to a side. “Don't we?”
“I guess.” Alex was pretty sure their voice did something weird. They gestured inside once they managed to open the door. After you, except they didn't say it, because they would stutter for sure.
Ben slipped inside, waiting for them to pass by only to follow close behind. Maybe they didn’t know which flat Alex lived in exactly. Maybe they did but didn’t want to be obvious about it. Maybe they wanted to make sure Alex wouldn’t bolt.
Alex let them slip into their flat without comments. Their mind chanted a really not helpful chain of I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead.
“So.” Ben looked around curtly. They leaned against the door.
Alex considered inviting them further in. They also considered Ben’s stance and decided maybe Ben would take it as an attempt to avoid the conversation, and so they fiddle with the straps of their bag and waited.
The realisation that Ben was effectively blocking the way out really did nothing to calm them down.
“You’re avoiding me.” Ben tilted their head again, focused look studying every shift in Alex’s expression, no doubt reading them like an open book. “Is it because of the locker accident?”
Accident. Not on purpose. Alex nodded their head perhaps a little too vehemently.
Ben didn’t look like they were quite buying that. “What were you doing there?”
“Uhhh…”
One would think two weeks was a reasonably long time to think of an excuse. One would be wrong.
Alex did not have an excuse ready. There were really not that many plausible, normal-looking excuses for being addicted to someone’s scent.
Ben looked like they wanted to talk again. It startled Alex’s brain back into function. They didn’t think they could handle anything that came out of Ben’s mouth next.
“I have the same hoodie at home,” Alex blurted, “it just… smelled different.” Lies. “Different but good.” Oh gods, shut up.
Ben was staring into their eyes and somewhere behind, presumably scanning their soul and weighting how well they could hide their body from everyone and their absence from their employer.
“It uhhh… caught me off guard.”
“What about all the other times, then?”
Alex felt their soul leave their body. They know about the other times. They needed to sit down. They didn’t think they were getting such chance.
Ben let them suffer in silence. They reached into their bag, searching for something.
Alex closed their eyes, hoping that whatever it was, it would at least kill them quickly. I won’t have to clean the mess if I’m dead. It was a small reassurance.
“Here.”
Alex blinked. Their vision was not blurry and it was not tears. They blinked a few times and finally managed to focus on what Ben was holding out to them.
“Shampoo…” they managed weakly. It was two bottles… Watermelon scented shampoo and shower gel. They were smelling those clothes. Right.
“You could have just asked, you know?”
Alex laughed. It wasn’t an entirely comfortable laugh. Better than bursting into tears, they supposed.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m…” Alex realised, belatedly, that it was a really nice gesture. A solution. Ben was always good at finding solutions, but that didn’t mean they had to go out of their way and get Alex things instead of beating them up and threatening them to stop. It was a gift. Ben was being nice to them. “I’m alright.”
They were so not alright, although admittedly for a different reason than a few seconds ago.
“I’m not mad,” Ben said. “So, stop avoiding me.”
Alex nodded.
Ben looked like they wanted to add something, but then shook their head. They pushed away from the door and turned to leave, hand on the doorknob already when Alex found their voice.
“Surely you could uhhh... Stay back for dinner?”
Ben's lips quirked into the tiniest of smiles. “I have a bus to catch.”
“…maybe you don’t.” You could stay here. With me.
Ben tilted their head in confusion. “And how else would I get home, silly?”
Stay, I’ll lend you a sleeping bag. Stay, there’s a spare blanket here somewhere.
“Right.” Alex nodded, backing off. “Right.”
Ben left through the door, and Alex absolutely did not think about the fact that the way they said silly sounded all too much like silly little thing, and how they would probably fall and never get up if Ben called them their silly little thing. Nuh-uh.
Alex kept thinking about the tiny smile. And the gift. They used it. It did smell like what they were used to. They missed the smell of something indisputably Ben underneath it, that little bit of their presence that stayed behind.
Alex kept thinking about little gestures and everything Ben made. They saw Ben once during a particularly bad magic moment and they did something so unavoidably Ben (like that weird shrug of shoulders) and Alex immediately calmed down and oh.
Shit no. It might be more than just their smell after all.
Not to mention Ben was the villain’s best attack dog. Killing machine. Quite like the rest of them, except, well, much more dangerous. Alex kind of hoped Ben assumed their avoidance was based on some kind of fear of them after fucking up and ending in the wrong locker by accident instead of… whatever it was. However much they were not afraid of Ben. Maybe that was the issue from the beginning. If they were afraid like everyone else, they wouldn’t have bonded so well.
But then Ben went out of their way to fix it. As if that wasn’t the most gesture thing to happen to Alex in forever.
It was the smallest of gestures. It was the most thoughtful of gestures. Attempting to solve the situation instead of pushing in.
Strangely, ironically, it was making Alex's craving worse.
Alex refused to think of all those utterly menacing and dangerously enchanting moments of Ben that they’d witnessed over their shared time together at work. Or outside of it. They thought of them anyway. They were so utterly, profoundly doomed. It wasn’t even funny.
They managed to stay in the clear for all of eight days after that, before they found themselves picking the lock of Ben's locker again. Breaking in. Like a creep.
“Maybe they should just kill me instead of being so fucking endearing.”
Except they couldn’t find the hoodie this time. They ruffled through the bag and patted the notebooks and pens scattered over the upper shelf in the locker. Nothing. Just work stuff.
Alex had exactly two seconds to stare into nowhere and notice the steps stopping next to them.
“What are you doing?”
Alex flinched and slammed the locker closed, facing Ben on instinct. Their mouth opened and closed with no words to form—their brain was refusing to cooperate properly.
Ben was wearing their hoodie. Their hair was wet and they were holding both their bloodied uniform and towel, meaning they probably had been sent home to rest after killing someone.
Wish for death and dead you shall be. Except Ben’s expression was not murderous in particular.
Alex found themselves gravitating towards them. Before they came to themselves, they already stood close enough to Ben to touch. By the time they tried to jerk away, Ben was already holding their upper arm, keeping them steady.
“So,” Ben whispered into the silence between them, “what’s the matter?”
Alex wanted to say something. They really did. Instead, their magic tugged them forward and they buried their face in their shoulder.
Ben went still.
Alex inhaled their scent, calming and there. Their magic settled. They melted.
“Is it my hoodie?” Ben’s voice flowed quietly, almost from afar.
“…just you.”
“Sorry?”
Alex realized what slipped. They wanted to pull away. They wanted to stay close forever. They needed to leave. They needed to cling to Ben.
Their dilemma was solved by those strong fingers curling into the back of their shirt, pulling them closer.
“You might want to elaborate on that,” Ben whispered.
“I’m…” Alex was content with keeping their face hidden.
Ben was drawing circles on their back now. Oh dear. Not even their grandma could help them anymore.
“I might have a little problem, and… it’s you,” they mumbled into Ben’s shoulder eventually. “Except it’s not the appropriate sort of problem at all.”
“Well, lucky you then.”
Lucky you. And of course Alex was lucky, were they not? If it was the villain or one of their higher-ups, there would be far worse consequences, wouldn’t they?
“We might have a similar kind of problem.”
Alex felt their magic settle. Their brain stopped. Their breathing probably stopped, too.
Their heart did the exact opposite, galloping forth.
They tried to look up then, but their head was held in place and pressed back into the shoulder.
“Invite me over, hm?” Ben petted their head. “I won’t catch the evening bus.”
And Alex did.
#i took liberties#i also took forever this was sitting in my drafts for half a year or so. don't tell anyone though it's a secret#Alex (henchman A) at any given situation: uhhhhhh#i imagine they do some sort of lock-picking and trap-setting kinda work for the villain#prompt response#is it?#writing#writing snippet#writeblr#creative writing#villain x villain#minion x minion#henchman x henchman#heroes a#heroes and villains#pen i am sorry if this made a mess of your notifications somehow
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"Well, I don't buy it! What's a little distance between friends? Especially, with all this technology at our finger tips? We'll text and facetime all the time."
Trent just looks at Ted, taking in his stance of indignant outrage, before sighing so deeply.
"Ted, I'm 46 years old. I've had my fair share of friendships come and go over the years, I know how this goes. We'll text at first, individually and in the group chats, facetime if the time zones work out."
Trent's only slightly embarrassed that he's ended up pacing and gesturing wildly to accentuate his points. He stops in front of Ted, unable to keep his eyes from betraying his devastation, and continues.
"But over time you'll get caught up in your life there and we'll get caught up here, with kids, work, friends, family. Time will go on and we'll drift farther apart until our friendship is just liking each other's facebook posts and sending the occasional 'oh hey, how's everything been' texts. Ted, you have to know this. That's just how this goes."
Ted's eyes go sad at him, which might just be worse than the angry eyes he originally stormed up to Trent with.
"You really think that, huh? That I'll, what, just drop you? Drop you all?" His face goes sad and flinty. "Thank you Trent, for explaining so fully. Perhaps if you had spoken to me earlier we could've hashed this out before I was about to leave for the airport!"
Trent pulls back and shakes his head as if clearing it, not believing he heard what he thought he just heard.
"Did you just butcher Pride and Prejudice at me while yelling at me?"
Ted huffs out a breath. "Yeah, yeah I did."
Silence fall between them, while they just look at each other. Neither knowing what to say. Ted's phone dings.
"That's my car to the airport."
"Of course. You have to go," Trent takes a breath and fortifies himself to let him go. "Bye Ted. I'll miss our chats."
"Bye Trent," Ted adjusts his backpack straps and takes the couple steps backwards to the door. "I'll text you."
As Ted left, probably forever, Trent couldn't decide if he wanted Ted to text or for him to do the kind thing and just let this be a clean break.
Trent starts tidying his desk to head out. He needs to pick up Darcy from pre-school, make dinner, get some final edits in before bed, and then get up tomorrow to do it all over again. He'll just go on with his life and put Ted out of his mind.
But oh god, he hoped he texted.
#I really want this to end happily ever after#I'm just not sure how to get there#tedependent#ted lasso#trent crimm#tedtrent#ted x trent#ficlet
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If prompts are open can I have more of the deruned!alec prompt, specifically angry and protective Magnus confronting people (clary, jace, Izzy)
Yeah, I'm a little bored and waiting for edits to finish before I write new chapters for active wips. Thanks @i-cant-think-of-one-meh
So here we go, enjoy!
~
It takes days for the pain to ebb enough for Alexander to sit up and breathe without choking on his own agony.
Alexander’s body is no longer protected by angelic grace and it bears its wounds heavily, adjusting to its new normal.
And it is Magnus who wipes the sweat and tears from his skin. Who pieces Alexander back together with gentle, protective touches and bright magic that makes Alexander smile softly.
It’s a gift. Because at the beginning, it seemed that Alexander might never smile again.
And Magnus shores up his defenses and when, four days after he found Alexander huddling against Magnus’ wards, he’s reached out to, he snaps on his armor and he portals to the institute.
Alec is still unconscious. But he’s given Magnus permission to make choices for him. Because Alexander doesn’t even trust himself, but he trusts Magnus, and Magnus has never betrayed that trust.
So Magnus portals to the Institute and he lets the wards wail as they announce his presence. Magic flickers around him and his heels click and clack loudly in the pristine halls.
Most of the shadowhunters in them look haunted, and they send scowls of distaste and hatred towards the group that demanded Magnus’ presence and aid.
“And what trouble have you three gotten into now, that makes you call an old warlock to meddle in shadowhunter business?” Magnus asks dangerously, his voice dark as he gets closer.
“Ah Magnus.” Clary looks flustered and a little nervous. There is an empty daze to Jace’s eyes and he’s holding onto Isabelle almost desperately.
And Isabelle, Alexander's precious younger sister, she looks devastated.
Something in Magnus’ chest gives a satiated croon at the evidence of their suffering.
“We need help.” Clary admits. “We brought the cup back. But we still don’t know which warlock made the potion. Or how to track them.”
“And you might never know.” Magnus tells her cooly, examining his nails.
“What? Magnus, why aren’t you helping me?” She asks, as if Magnus is required to help her.
“You can’t afford me, Clarissa. I helped you pro-bono because you gave me something I wanted. It’s been made clear that what I want is no longer available, ergo, I am also no longer available.”
That catches all of their attention and Isabelle’s lips wobble and Jace grimaces, putting a hand on his side where his parabatai rune once lay.
Magnus wonders if it’s still there, or if it’s gone like Alec’s is. If it has a scar, or if Jace is like Alec, desperate for the reminder of such a deep betrayal to be erased, forever.
“You mean you only helped me because of Alec?” Clary asks angrily, as though she has any right to be angry.
The Clave may have pardoned her, but Magnus never will.
“Have you seen him? Have you seen Alec?” Izzy asks desperately, at the same time that Clary does.
“Alexander made his stance on seeing me again clear, Isabelle. I do not linger where I am not wanted.”
Izzy chokes, as if she’d held to some quiet and desperate hope that Magnus would solve her problems, one more time.
“Speaking of which, where is your lovely commander? I’ve heard some concerning rumors about him; they are rumors. Aren’t they?”
They stutter out a lackluster attempt to avoid answering and it turns into a lacking explanation that says nothing of substance until Clary finally mutters that Alec was ‘deruned’ and hasn’t been heard from since the process. As he exited through the portals of the Spiral Labyrinth, no one knows where he ended up. Or if he’s still alive.
And Izzy and Jace flinch like the word itself is salt on an open wound.
“The only reason I ever helped you, beyond the original consultation and payment, was because I wanted him.” Magnus says it conversationally, as if it’s as obvious as vampires avoiding the sun.
“And when your choices pulled him away from me. I let it go, because surely Alexander could make his own mistakes. I didn’t realize that he would always bear the consequences of your actions. And I never realized how little any of you would care that he would.”
Jace snarls at him and it’s an angry thing. But Magnus simply sniffs at him.
“Well now that you’ve truly destroyed any hope for me here, I will leave you to your lives. Maybe by the time you’re thirty, you’ll have figured it out.”
Magnus tuts and turns, hears Jace’s angry and upset shouts and Isabelle’s guilty and sad sobs and Clary, confused about it all and trying to make it better, but only making it worse.
—
“It’s not the lack of the runes themselves that are causing him so much harm.”Brother Zacahariah —but always Jem to a precious few— tells Magnus telepathically. “It is the lack of anchor, he is no longer tied to Raziel and his devotion has nowhere to go. His faith in Raziel and his family, his culture; it’s been broken too greatly to ever truly be healed.”
“So what do I do?” Magnus asks desperately. Cat is keeping Alexander in a healing trance, her magic stabilizing him as Magnus finds a way to heal and protect him. To keep him alive, because Magnus wants Alexander alive.
Magnus will do anything to keep Alexander and Alexander is letting him.
“You anchor Alec Lightwood to yourself. It is a heavy burden, to be someone’s reason for living. This will be a more intimate bond than you could ever imagine Magnus, you will become his world. His purpose for living, the reason for his every breath.
“Nephilim are powered by belief and devotion. You have enough divine blood, fallen though it is. And if he truly devotes himself to you, you will be stronger than even your father. Raziel is so powerful and untouchable for a reason, Magnus. It is because of the nephilim, who he created and who worship him in turn.”
Magnus is greedy and while he understands the weight of what Jem is saying, he’s selfish enough to admit that he wants what is being offered like a werewolf yearns for the moon.
If Magnus does this. Alexander will never leave him. Alexander will never want to leave. And Magnus can make sure he never does.
“Anchor him to me Jem, he gave himself to me completely. I want this. I want him.”
Jem looks at him with a solemn gaze before nodding quietly. “Then I will help you steal a nephilim soul from Raziel, and bind it to yourself. He will share your immortality, as he will be your devotee.”
Glee crackles through Magnus’ body, a lust for becoming the most important being to someone, to Alexander specifically, lighting a thrill through his body.
A stele —an old and elegant, almost deceptively delicate looking— is pressed to his palm. As Magnus watches, it lights up, glowing with the same light as the red suns of Edom do. He sears a rune onto Alexander’s skin, just above his heart.
It is Magnus name, the rune his power claimed, the translation of himself, in the defiled and unholy language of fallen angels.
It burns. Magnus can feel Alexander shaking under Magnus' firm grip as he sears a place for himself onto Alexander’s body.
Alexander is claimed, branded with Magnus’ mark.
He can feel him. The desperation. The hope. The depth of his devastation and the strength he clings to Magnus with. Hoarding the fact that Magnus is protecting him, will never betray him, like a dragon hoards its treasures.
“It is up to you what runes he bears. They will integrate better if you do them first.”
Magnus nods at the instructions and lets himself linger in thought. He traces the tender skin of Alexander’s anchor to him, and knows what to use next.
He replaces the deflect rune on Alexander’s neck with a similar one. Because something in him hungers for a rune Magnus has chosen, to be easy for others to see. He wants to be able to see it himself, curling above Alexander's shirt collars. Wants to scratch over it with his nails when they sit together, or leave marks blurring the smooth lines of the rune with his teeth.
And most of all, Magnus will avoid using angelic runes as much as possible. It displeases Magnus to even think about Raziel’s marks claiming even an inch of Alexander’s skin.
Not when he now belongs to Magnus.
#shadowhunters#malec#magnus bane#alec lightwood#my fic#my fanfic#words are a weapon and i do with them what i can#my ficlets#prompt fill#prompt ask#shadowhunters au#deruned alec#all your cracks i'll paint gold
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dw rewatch - takes from "rose"
companion watch:
Rose kinda plays the role of Ian in this episode. Action man. Etc
When Nine exits the frame in the Famous Walking Single Shot and Rose is left befuddled, after a second, she runs back- but it’s too late. The TARDIS is gone. It’s OK though because she’ll get a second chance. This moment is then repeated again at the end, giving us an expectation for Rose’s choices and specially, their timing. And... Rose takes a while to take the plunge… but gets there in the end. This is the emotional arc of the episode. If there’s an "appeal" to this story, beyond aliens, comedy, and its weight.. on its own, the pull of "Rose" is inspiring bravery. As Rose will say later, it’s not about the adventures or the aliens or the wonder... “it’s about taking a stance and doing what’s right, when everyone else just runs away”.
And it’s true: no one wants to solve the issues at hand: Jackie is more concerned with compensation, Mickey says “leave him!” when Nine is about to be slurped in physchic plastic lava, and no one on earth seems to know what is going on. But Rose is there to show that we all have a part to play in history, we all have a call at some point to do what’s right and to act. Even if we’re afraid or widely out of our depths. This is what makes the first adventure click, it's a universal story.
- “I got the bronze” even at "most condecorated" stage, Rose's archivement are very mundane and down-to-earth.
- Jimmy Stone / The Doctor parallels? Perhaps...? She definitely swore off pursuing her A-levels after this adventure.
- With just a few pointed lines, we learn that Rose’s relationship with her mom has some friction. It’s not a day after she almost died and Jackie is already pushing Rose to look for another job. She won’t coddle her and will make that loud and clear. There’s also a bit of… resentment? envy? In how she says it’s good Rose lost her job at the shop because it was giving her “airs and graces” (!!). It seems she wants her succeed but not in a way that makes her leaver her (oh hello, Jackie’s arc, nice to meet you). Also this line: “ Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was her daughter.”
- At the same time, we get from this episode’s climax (with Rose’s moment being intercut with Jackie’s almost dying, almost as if the editing is suggesting she can feel her mom’s in danger) that... at this moment, she’s the most important person for Rose. Which is sweet, it's a complicated, real relationship.
Themes:
- Bodies used and discarded, separation of physical bodies and consciousness. The Doctor inspiring people to do brave actions. Mundanity and the extraordinary. Internet Culture and Fandom. Environmental crisis (blink and you'll miss it). London as a cosmo-politan city. Diplomacy vs violence.
- vigilante justice and underground wars. conspiracies. "Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on." A clear tension between the (relatively) comfy lives the Tylers live and the "world out there" that's burning in flames.
- Nine rumages over Rose’s living room, and this is how he finds her last name. Is this awkwardness? Or is this trying to “figure her out” in advance like Auton mystery? How much of this adventure was The Doctor inadvertly trying to impress her?. The Doctor as the maligned “shoot the messenger” trope.
Timeless Child Retroactive Continuity Bonus:
- Nine answers Rose by saying what he can do, not really who he is… or does he? what is the doctor but a title for someone whose entire identity is built around what they do (and not their memories, personalities or physicalities, as these are in constant flux)? Axiom 2 from this: the doctor's sense of self is only defined in the present moment. their sense of identity holds no permanence.
- The closest we get in the answer is the “I’m in despair” with a “if we let go…” what does it mean? We fall into the vacuum? We fall to existential despair, like Nine is right now after the Time War? Or perhaps that, like in Torchwood… “we’re moths clinging to the flame”, in the cosmic scale, all life is really, really small and really, really fragile.
- Could this space/time sixth-sens be a unique ability of the Doctor’s OG species? The mythology used to be that all time lords developed this sensibility to time, and that’s what allowed them to time travel. However, all other time lord characters dont seem to care very much about the universe around them. We know now that The Doctor has a special relationship to “Time”. Maybe, The Doctor’s gone so long assuming this is something every TL could do, when really is just something they could do.
Blorbos:
- Nine’s little “ok” when Rose’s turns him down TOT. Imagine taking a chance of being attached and vulnerable after being so traumatized and war-scarred and then. REJECTION. headcanon that that little eu gap is mostly him just processing this and getting the urge to ask the girl out again lol
- Nine and Rose hold hands so much here omg
- Nine says he knew Mickey could survive but doesn’t confide this information to Rose. Was he trying to protect her feelings, in case it turned out Mickey was indeed dead? / - “Oh, I didn’t think about that”
Colonialism / Hegemony:
- The doctor shows a lot of prejudice to humans in this. And honestly, this gives me a lot of conflicting feelings. One thing I'm trying to do in this rewatch is keep a firm eye on the "white savior/colonialist fiction aesthetic/neoliberal power fantasy" spectrum of things and see what sort of things pop out. I think Nine's immediate "I'm so much Smarter and Intellectual THEREFORE I know what's best in Every situation" is a very good (bad) fuel to this strand of critique.
- but, it is narrative effective. it’s effective at showing us he’s quite full of himself, and humbling the viewer by telling them that hey, you don’t know everything that will happen in this show! - It also makes sense for Nine in particular to be this cynical, given what we know he's lived. But there’s also something a bit … grossly Victorian Intellectual about it. It feels like the pulpy DNA ethos, the one that comes from white “humanists” and “rationalists”, is very loud in those moments.
- In Dramatic Justice terms, The Doctor’s decision to seek a diplomatic solution comes at the cost Clive his life. Although we’re clearly meant to admire 9’s diplomacy, it is ultimately proven useless materially. But although there's an interest in reading the moment as virtuous, there's an ambiguity by Clive’s meta that in some ways The Doctor is a cause of destruction (which is a beat the series has never quite connected and I'll get to in s2... the timelords, and by extension, the doctor, were the cause of all these messes, but much like irl brittish imperialism and usa neoimperialism, the narrative is blind to their responsibility on the current mess).
- We learn the Nestene consciousness has high tech but not as high as the Time Lord’s (it gets scared by the TARDIS).
You cannot reason with an Invading force. That Nine attempts to do so without offering the Nastene any kind of deal, when he’s aware that they’re doing out of a need for Survival, for basic resources, seems almost like self-sabotage.
- Obviously, the implication is that humanity has caused this by being so damn contaminating. But The Nastene could’ve just eaten all the plastic and toxins honestly, would’ve done us a favor. Possibility for a symbiotic episode one day in the future?
#60threwatch#dw#dw meta#nvmd me just trying to get through my backlog of previous takes that i didnt post skdlfj#idk why the formatting bullet points dont work in most of the thing#sorry tumblr is really weird with bullet points
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