#also i really hope you like all the very deliberate metaphors
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buffy/faith for the ask game
(Reverse unpopular opinions)
Easily my favorite Buffy ship and one of my favorites in any work of fiction. I think the main reasons it works so well for me are:
The way it resonates so strongly with what's going on in the rest of the show the season Faith arrives. I mean, Buffy comes out to her mother (as a Slayer), which is treated by the show as ... well, as Buffy coming out ("it's because you didn't have a strong father figure, isn't it?" / "have you tried ... not being a Slayer?" / "I've tried to march in the Slayer Pride Parade...") and a handful of episodes later Buffy meets another girl who is also a Slayer and who she starts spending a lot of time with (because they have a connection -- "it's kind of a Slayer thing" -- which she doesn't have with her other, non-Slayer friends). And while they're busy patrolling cemeteries and looking for vampires every night, this other Slayer is keen to (1) talk to Buffy about sex and quiz her on her love life; (2) repeatedly tell her that "all men are beasts" and "losers" who can't be trusted; (3) suggest that Buffy should be more open to having sex with the people she spends her nights hunting vampires with (like ... who, Faith?); and (4) is delighted when Buffy breaks up with her boyfriend (and later furious when she gets back together with her previous ex) and immediately suggests that she could replace him ("You're still going to that dance, right? [...] Why don't we go together?"). If this was deliberately laying the ground work for an explicitly romantic arc, it would feel pretty heavy-handed. The fact that it apparently wasn't (at least not on the part of the showrunner or of most of the writers) almost makes it work better, in some ways.
The way that Faith is, from the very beginning, very deliberately written as a foil for Buffy, a person Buffy might have been if things went just a little differently in her life -- because she goes through things very much like things the audience has already seen Buffy go though (living alone in a small place in a strange town with no friends all season the way Buffy did in Anne, panicking and starting to pack to run away in Faith, Hope & Trick in the same way Buffy was accused of doing just the episode before, killing a person the way Buffy thought she had in Season 2's Ted, the way her fear of Kakistos mirrors Buffy's fear of the Master in When She Was Bad) and because she is so aware of the fact that she's always being compared to Buffy and coming up short, either by other people or herself ("you get the Mom, you get the Watcher ... what do I get?") it's very easy to tie Faith's arc across the show back to Buffy and to her feelings about Buffy. Faith wanting Buffy to accept her becomes Faith wanting this idealized version of herself to forgive her failings. And likewise Buffy recriprocating Faith's feelings and admitting to herself that she is attracted to Faith becomes Buffy accepting that Faith (and the things she represents) really are an integral part of Buffy herself; that Faith isn't entirely wrong when she says that Buffy enjoys being a Slayer and that being a Slayer is something she should be proud of (or, again, being "a Slayer").
Apparently this wasn't the original plan for the character (if there ever was anything like an 'original plan'), but the fact Faith's arc in Season 3 so clearly mirrors Angel's in Season 2 -- and the fact she is so very weird about Angel all season (and that Buffy is equally weird about how attracted to Faith she just keeps insisting Angel must be) just naturally suggests that Faith might have a similiar role to Angel in the narrative beyond just the circumstances of her betrayal of (and later not-quite-being-killed by) Buffy. And Angel is -- for the first three seasons of the show at least -- primarily cast in the role of Buffy's doomed tragic love interest who she has to (metaphorically) kill but will later be reunited with. Which makes Faith ... well, something.
Even if not all the writers were on board, the fact that Eliza Dushku was deliberately playing Faith as attracted to Buffy (and that SMG was playing Buffy as alternately frustrated by and protective of and tempted by Faith) gives their scenes together a chemistry that I don't think most of Buffy's (or Buffy's) canon relationships ever managed. Whether that's the Amends porch scene or Buffy kissing Faith in the hospital in Graduation Day or any and all of their various fights across the show. And those fight scenes are all great, which is another thing I love about the ship: is it really a proper enemies-to-lovers arc if one of the people in it hasn't tried to kill the other one and left them in a coma for months?
Faith's return to Buffy in the last five epsiodes of the show is one of the last season's saving graces, and it helps that by this point the writers definitely seemed to be playing up the ship deliberately ("Willow said you needed me: didn't give it a lot of thought" / "Defensiveness and weird mixed signals ... I've got Faith for that" / "Deep down you've always wanted Buffy to accept you. To love you." / "It feels like it's mine ... I guess that means it's yours"). Even without ever being canon and without wandering what happens post-Chosen, it feels like there's a real narrative arc to their relationship, from their initially rocky start through to "just good friends" to bitter enemies through to Faith seeking (and finding) some measure of redemption and Buffy cautiously letting her back into her life. Faith isn't in the show much (or even mentioned in the show in most episodes), but it feels like she has a genuinely meaningful connection to Buffy that most characters who appeaer in less than a season's worth of episodes can't manage.
The thing that made the ship work for me, rewatching the show after several years back in 2020, is the fact that Faith is -- even at her worst -- incredibly sympathetic precisely because she is such a loser and hates herself so much. She boasts about being a great actor despite the fact we see her awkwardly telling the sort of transparent lies that ... well, normally only Buffy manages (compare "There's this big party ..." in Amends to Buffy trying to tell her old crush Ford that "there was a cat ... and then there was another cat, and they were fighting"), she wants people to think she's cool so badly but only manages to fool Xander and Willow, she tries to act as though she's happy without friends but we only ever see her alone sitting watching old tv shows or lying listlessly on her bed, she insists she doesn't need a Watcher and "has a problem with authority figures" but she is so openly desperate for any sort of parental guidance in her life that she sides with first Mrs Post then the Mayor. She ties Buffy's mom up so she can have someone to listen to how sad she is that Buffy's moved on to a new guy in college and "dumped" her. The scene in the church in Who Are You? where Faith-as-Buffy furiously attacks Buffy-as-Faith while screaming through tears that she's "nothing ... disgusting ... murderous bitch" is, I think, a strong contendor for the best scene the show ever produced.
As Doug Petrie said, the reason Faith works as a character -- and the reason that Buffy/Faith works as a ship -- is that Faith is incredibly unhappy. If Faith was the cool loner she tries to pass herself off as -- and which some of the fandom seems to think she is -- the ship wouldn't be nearly as compelling to me. Faith isn't just the part of Buffy who loves Slaying and pushes back when other people give her orders, and she's not just another verison of Angelus. She's the part of Buffy from Becoming who lost everything and ran away from home, only unlike Buffy she never got to go home again. As Angel asked Buffy in that episode: "no friends, no hope ... take that away, what's left?". Well, Faith is what's left. Of course Buffy would see herself in Faith, right from the beginning. Of course Buffy would want to protect her. As Buffy (Sunnydale Class Protector 1999) tells Angel, Faith is in pain ... she's somebody who "some people ... protective-type people" are naturally drawn to. The show is very consistent about the fact that Buffy's type is friendless losers who look good in leather and can fight alongside her in battle (but not quite as well, so she can protect them and look after them when they're hurt). And what bigger loser in the show is there than Faith?
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Why is Evil Morty still next to the Central Finite Curve?
He killed so many people to get out of the CFC and then he stopped running just as he crossed the CFC's metaphorical doorstep...!
Why did he anchor his minecraft base on a CFC universe???
No, they hadn't! The shockwaves had just as much range as they should! And Evil Morty deliberately insulted Rick immediately afterwards, to derail this train of thought and stop him from pondering over the implications or his calculations too much. And it freaking worked. (And might I add that Evil Morty stuttered just a little bit at that point: "l-look at this scan array". Nervous, boy?)
Evil Morty is a lying liar, he lies about everything...! (I still love him with all my heart). I-I-I no longer know how much of what he says or does to take at face value. In season he said he wanted to escape the Central Finite Curve, and it was clear he desperately wanted to do so, but he stopped running immediately after he exited. What is happening?!?! Why?
Theory 1: Home
Assuming he is a clone Morty, there is a universe from which the natural Morty whose memories he got originated. He was therefore created loving this version of his mum, this version of his dad, this version of his sister... Maybe he has not lived there once, he switched 20 Ricks since he was manufactured, and has spent more time in the Citadel than outside it, but in his heart this is were his home is supposed to be, so he anchored his space base on the limits of this one universe, just so he could be close.
Theory 2: Hiding
Since a Rick can hide from other Ricks by being next to a Morty, I'd assume that it also works the other way around: a Morty can also hide by being close to a Rick. And maybe if Evil Morty worries that someone will scour the multiverse searching for him (inside and outside the CFC) then maybe staying close to a CFC universe hides his own brainwaves when someone is doing a really wide (multiverse-wide) scan for him (of course, I doubt it'd work if the scan was more focused).
Maybe this is just a variation of the "Mortys of the Morty Dome thing": he needed a lot of alive Mortys to hide amongst then, he needs CFC universes to hide amongst now.
This could be just a precaution in case e.g. a Rick survivor of the Citadel or something comes after him (which is not so unlikely).
(eh. Would staying near a CFC universe, which might not even have a Rick inside at times, really be enough though?? I just stopped believing my own theory)
Theory 3: Time shenanigans
"Rick and Morty, a hundred years, forever"
...Were you being cute, Rick, or is this literal???
Is there a time loop of some sort? Is this why they say things like "how many thanksgivings have we had" or are they simply breaking the fourth wall?
Is this what the "Rick Experiment" that Evil Morty threatens to blow up if he gets pissed is? Is this why Rick hates to mess with time travel stuff, because it's already an ugly mess?
Does staying close to the time mess allow Evil Morty to stay young for longer or something? (but would he really want that???)
I'm skeptical about Ricks being able to mess with time in that scale because of (a) the existence of a pretty strict time police and (b) Rick apparently had to purchase illegally a small time crystal... whatever time shenanigans are needed for a hundred-year-loop, it'd need a lot more than that.
Theory 4: He likes something in that universe
Like, a friend he made a long time ago, who he plans to visit in the future when he finds the courage to do so (right now he's wiped out).
Or Morty Prime, so he didn't run very far away so that Morty Prime could find him in the future.
Or he's trying to make amends for his past misdeeds and visits CFC universes in secret, batman style, to fix stuff.
(I don't see that theory really playing out. He doesn't seem to be working towards anything, he's just on vacation... And I think he has given up hope of Morty Prime joining him)
Theory 5: THE WORLD IS A BIG, DANGEROUS PLACE
The world outside the CFC is filled with even more dangerous, power-hungry and evil people and governments than those in the CFC. Living in (or near) such a universe is stressful for a lone boy, so he'd rather stay close to the Curve and its brand of familiar, known evil (which he knows how to deal with) rather than face the absolute chaos that reigns beyond. (If there is a specific government or organization Evil Morty is worried about, I can see him considering asking Rick C-137's help... "Maybe I can use that some day"?)
Alternatively, the rest of the multiverse still believes that the CFC is unbreachable, so they keep their distance. Staying close to it is just safer.
(yeah I don't buy my own theory. I think Evil Morty would gladly face whatever crazy evil is beyond the Curve, as long as it wasn't a Rick. Could be he already tried and barely escaped with his life though, so he had no choice)
Theory 6: Not a clue!
I mean, we couldn't have predicted the existence of the Central Finite Curve in a million years...! It might just be a bit of unrevealed lore.
And it's impossible to guess or know what Evil Morty is thinking or feeling almost at any given time. He is always expressionless, always flat-toned, always cautious, always lying, and the way the scenes with him are built, we're not even sure when it's him on the screen half-the time and missing scenes can turn the whole plot on its head. He tricks the other characters, and he tricks us as well.
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brief post about kaeya's potential future arc (or why 5 star kaeya will totally happen ✨️)
so something i noticed is that kaeya always removes or distances himself from the end of any situation he's in. (it's much more noticeable in his hangout).
first is crepus's death. he hangs back and doesn't get involved in his final moments.
kaeya disappears in the final section of the ballads and brews event. you can find and talk to every character except him.
in the venti route of his hangout, kaeya stays back when it's time to sing with everyone. venti then drags him back in. (what's odd is that venti didn't even notice he was gone at first 👀 "now you see them, now you don't")
Kaeya: Slipping away before the final verse is sung, before the poet has uttered the last line, before everything has concluded… I don't know, something about it just resonates with me.
klee says kaeya hasn't read her the end of the book series the fox and the dandelion sea yet, which is about a guy stuck in a loop. in somewhat the same vein, in the secret summer event, he tells her a story about the jinni and a shepard boy but changes the ending from what we know from the in game book…
and then we have the prince qubad play, where he quietly exits after it ends. he explains why himself (through nahida's auge):
(Use Nahida's All Schemes to Know on Kaeya, optional)
Kaeya: (I always like to extricate myself before things start getting tedious.)
he also silently does things for others without wanting to take credit, i.e. being rewarded.
and i think i know why 😏
in his character story, kaeya is referred to as a chess pawn in CN, he then repeats this in his hangout.
Kaeya: But I shall not bow to the will of fate. I am no pawn in heaven's plan.
further emphasizing it's not a random throw away term.
i'm neither chess expert nor chess amateur. but anyone can pull up a wikipedia page 😤
pawns are the only pieces that can't move backward, pawns can get promoted to another piece when they reach the end of the board, and… pawns are expandable, made to be sacrificed for the kingdom.
he even expresses the desire to age backwards….which pawns can't do of course.
A very simple such analogy is the Pawn — the expendable, powerless, nameless foot soldier who may, if his actions are brave and his heart is true, become a Queen (although someone more practised at the game may note that the pawn is really a symbol of why you should never overlook apparently powerless people).
that sounds exactly like kaeya's situation, doesn't it? many people have questioned why kaeya is a 4 star given his importance to the main plot, but i think it could be a deliberate narrative decision. (at least i hope it is 😬)
if kaeya is a pawn he can be promoted to a queen when he reaches the end…. except kaeya doesn't want to, as demonstrated by his unwillingness to see things through till the end.
why would he do this?
simply put, it's foreshadowing 😏
kaeya will have his character arc eventually, where the only sensible path is accepting that he must reach the end because pawns cannot stay pawns forever
Promotion is mandatory when moving to the last rank; the pawn cannot remain as a pawn.
there is some sick sense of irony in him declaring he won't be heaven's pawn, when a pawn can only stop being a pawn by moving forward.
i think kaeya's birthday letter about tcg of all things is also hinting at his arc:
If you think about it, playing cards aren't easy at all — you gotta do the math before throwing the dice, and be extra careful with your every move. One step wrong, and the whole table is turned. When that happens, don't you think it's most amusing to watch your opponent's frustrated face, hmm?
(uh oh, celestia 🤭)
say he does reach this metaphorical last rank, what would that look like for him? gameplay wise it would mean a promotion to 5 star status. story wise? a magical girl transformation into the second coming of fischl.
haha ok but, unfortunately i doubt it's that simple.
something else that has been foreshadowed is kaeya's eventual fate…
Traveler: What did you think of the story?
Kaeya: It was alright. I suppose the hero always has to sacrifice himself to save others, and it does make for some good storytelling. But it leaves you wondering how he really feels about the whole thing. Did he ever have second thoughts? Only he can know, I suppose.
Kaeya: My dear audience, I ask you this: Do you believe in fate? If fate decreed that your life was to end in tragedy, what would you do?
Kaeya: I, Qubad, will spend the rest of my days in a foreign land, till I breathe my last in a place far from home.
Kaeya: And anyway, life is short, so we should make the most of the time we have. Right now is the perfect time to relax and enjoy ourselves, and who knows how many other chances we'll get. So come on, what do you say?
Fallen I
还没尽…兴…
Haven't enjoyed...to the fullest...
When It's Windy
真是和平啊、可又能持续多久呢？
How peaceful, but how long can it last?
Traveler: Good night, Kaeya.
Kaeya: Is it that time already? I'm not sure I'm ready to say goodbye.
let's face it, these are death flags. no, kaeya is not going to perma die, but this might be what he has seen through the Auge der Verurteilung and why he's so reluctant to reach the ending of his story.
but in order to defy fate and become a 5 star you have to throw yourself into the embrace of the immernacht first 😈
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GIVE ME YOUR PLAN FOR RELASPE
GIVE IT TO ME
GIVE IT TO ME
GIVE IT TO ME
GIVEY NOWYYY
evil hands rubbing together emote
SO RELAPSE. THE PHASE DIRECTLY AFTER HOPE.
Remember when I said in the PSA that Heartless gets worse? This is that worse. This is that deepest part of the pit the au gets. So that means TWs for: suicidal ideation, themes of attempted suicide, self harm
Its a little long because of the main event in focus BUT I can still give you the summary (proceeds to write the longest thing possible this arc is MASSIVE and I have SO MANY THOUGHTS to keep it coherent)
Relapse starts with the first argument between Heart and Perseverance since Apathy. Heart has been awake consistently for awhile, but his progress has been stagnating and Perseverance has Suspicions. Especially with how hungry Heart has gotten for affirmation that he is needed and wanted.
And like the Mind that he is he uses a brute force approach. Straight up demanding to know what's going on, because they have tried everything so clearly the problem must be Heart. (metaphorically he relapses into old habits of being too cold and inconsiderate)
While Penitence does smack him over it (overprotective smh), this brashness is more familiar to Heart than them tip toeing around him and he responds in kind (and anger. A Lot Of Anger.) Hilariously, Perseverance is pretty thrown off by the argument because its been MONTHS since he's been in one, while from Heart's perspective its only been a couple of weeks.
During the argument, Heart accidentally lets slip some concerning views he holds about himself, and when he tries to backpedal Perseverance grabs ahold of the words and goes "nope. dealing with our problems right here and now", so Heart lets loose with ALL of the emotions and negativity he felt in Apathy. YOU told me emotions weren't needed. I'm just doing what you told me to do and left the unwanted part of myself in Apathy.
And this admissions HORRIFIES Penitence, who had never asked about what Heart and Mind talked about during Apathy. Perseverance meanwhile is desperately backtracking and trying to take back words said months ago, but Heart just presses down further in his anger. Penitence attempts to break them apart and gets Heart's anger turned on him. YOU abandoned me in the pit and allowed Mind to insult me. You're equally at fault.
It's a rough argument. I also intend for Perseverance to unintentionally be manipulating Heart's emotions and guide him towards giving them a solid answer, and that Heart would notice this and get angrier. Because Perseverance is using the logical "if I can push him into messing up" and deliberately saying the most pointed little things. This is the WRONG THING TO DO because he triggers Heart, and its just like the pit again with Mind insulting and ignoring his emotions again. Although to be fair to Perseverance, Heart finally yells at him about how he doesn't want to be the Emotional Side anymore.
And Penitence jumps in with a YOU ABANDONED YOUR ROLE? It's mostly generalized horror at the very physical side effects on Heart, but to Heart it reads like a rejection of his autonomy and decisions. Because oh, he fucked up, now they know he was weak enough to give up. Part of the stagnation was that he doesn't feel like they've changed at all, and now his stupid emotions are getting him judged again. So, he doubles down. And also restarts the process of rejecting the Emotional Side. WHILE PERSEVERANCE AND PENITENCE ARE IN THE ROOM TALKING TO HIM. Heart is a really good actor when no one is paying attention to him properly.
This argument makes it pretty clear to Perseverance and Penitence that for all the progress they think they made, they forgot to make sure Heart experienced the same progress. Because Heart still doesn't think the Emotional Side is necessary.
Perseverance and Penitence try to argue Heart down from his decision. Perseverance's desperation makes him more blunt and cold, while Penitence keeps asking what rejection of the Emotional Side accomplishes. And boys, that is not what you want to tell a suicidal person. They're all falling into old habits of arguing with Penitence trying to break them up, and none of them notice Heart begin to physically fade as the argument drags on.
The argument only ends when Penitence bodily drags Perseverance out of the room. When he returns he finds Heart having relapsed. Not fully: they did leave a spark of hope in Heart that he is wanted. But enough to slip into random bouts of unconsciousness.
Yall read the chicken plush story yeah? This is a devastating blow to their progress. Penitence blames Perseverance for going with a brute force option. Perseverance blames himself for doing that instead of thinking things through. Heart refuses to meet Penitence's glance or willingly talk to him. It's a massive disaster.
Perseverance wants to apologize. Except. Penitence won't let him. Or talk to him. Or willingly interact with him. Or looking after him.
Penitence is using old tricks: when Heart and Mind argue, separate them and ignore the one at fault for a week (in a metaphorical sense relapsing into old habits). He blocks Perseverance from Heart's room even when he wants to apologize, look he tried with a plush even.
It is very similar to how Penitence physically separated them during ROE and after via Apathy, and how he ignored Heart then. I hope you see where this may be going.
Perseverance inevitably runs out of things to do, having fallen out of habit in the weeks Heart has been awake, and Heart believes that Mind hates him. Because while separation of the halves is a tried and true method, this is not a normal situation. Perseverance feels bad enough already and it fuels his already bad overwork and lack of self-care, and it leaves him alone with his thoughts because he needs to find a solution, this is his fault so its his problem to fix, and he finally has the correct information.
And when he runs out of things to do the only thing left is to sit in his room and think. And as he feared from the start, thoughts turn to emotions turn to tears. And Penitence isn't there to help him through the messy explosion of grief and guilt that has been bottled for months that he feels as physical symptoms. He tries to redirect himself towards logical thinking, but the last thing he was thinking about was Heart rejecting the Emotional Side, and it sends him careening down the entirely wrong spiral of thought, including a lot of questions that a less vulnerable him would have stopped dead in its tracks before he could ponder on them.
You know, questions like, say, "what are the benefits of rejecting something that fundamental to you?", or "is it really such a bad thing? he still fulfills his physical purpose.", or "can I do that too? its not something limited to Heart is it?"
Yeah. The Wrong Path Of Thought. With a disturbingly Logical Conclusion. If he rejects the Logical Side, replicates Heart's decision? He will have peace from his thoughts, it will prevent him from making another mistake with Heart, and he will be less of a burden on Penitence by removing the need to look after him. Three birds, one stone. He mentally frames it as protecting his halves from himself. He ignores that it would probably shatter Penitence the same way Heart already did.
He doesn't make the decision immediately, but the thought plagues him. Penitence doesn't notice his changed behaviour and continues to block him from Heart. There A Thought: Penitence might not notice if he does go through with it. Another Thought: did Heart also consider that when he rejected the Emotional Side?
(Ironically, Perseverance reaches a similar conclusion and reasoning that Heart did in Apathy from a different angle. It would help the other halves if I was only my Physical Function, because my Metaphysical Function is harmful because I am harmful. And no one would notice when I do fade away.)
And he might have done it that night, if not for a misshapen chicken plush sitting on his desk. Perseverance wants Heart to have his apology. It takes another day to figure out the time to sneak into Heart's room, leaving the plush behind with a kiss to its head.
He doesn't lock his door when he returns to his room, Penitence hasn't checked on him in nearly a week now and he's confident they won't come now. He lies down in bed and tries to reject the Logical Side.
Key word being tries. Like Heart he struggles for awhile against the instinct to shy away from internal rejection, and then another while longer struggling to actually commit the rejection because he keeps approaching it logically. It takes time for the emotions of loneliness and sadness and tiredness to actually take hold and begin hollowing his brain.
You read the chicken plush fic right? This is a reminder that you read the chicken plush fic. That Heart, feeling more accepted because of the plush clearly made for him, demands Penitence let Perseverance in. Penitence, sent by Heart to bring Perseverance, walks in on his attempt. He notices that something's different both because Perseverance has become a light sleeper and because Penitence has spent the last few months recording and becoming familiar with the relevant vital signs, and panics. He slaps Perseverance awake (left the trident in Heart's room and didn't want to waste time or worry Heart grabbing it), interrupting his attempt. It is its own shock when Perseverance, scarily slow to realize he's failed and been discovered, only responds to being shaken by rolling over and hiding his face, refusing to speak.
Perseverance remains hollow, flipping violently between blankly staring at a wall and quiet mutterings of his logical justifications for his actions, all seemingly without recognizing Penitence's presence. Penitence has to shake him out of bouts of too long zoning out, much too similar to Heart's unconsciousness and growing closer each time.
Penitence is left to make up excuses for Heart and attempt to prevent BOTH his halves from falling off the edge into rejection. Heart may be getting better, but Perseverance is getting worse at the same time. He starts struggling where before he had Perseverance's help, not quite knowing where some things in the house are kept as the house gets messier and messier. Heart keeps bugging him about Perseverance, and everything is falling apart around him faster than he thought it could. He's going through bandages and gauze faster than before and his arms are starting to tremble from how often he's cutting and tearing open wounds. He's caught himself considering his legs as a new canvas at night. He unlocks his drawer and stares at the bloody noose he buried inside every night before locking it away again. The smile he puts on for Heart grows frailer by the hour.
(and here's the part that I'm a lot more unclear about whoopsie)
Inevitably, Heart grows frustrated at Penitence's lies and dodging around the question and yells at him, starting another argument. Except its less of an argument and more shoving Penitence headfirst over his own edge (again) into a major mental breakdown because everything is falling apart and its all his fault for being neglectful and ignorant and now they both hate him as much as he hates himself and he can't handle the stress of two terminal patients alone and the noose is looking incredibly tempting right now doesnt Perseverance rejecting himself means he's given up and they can finally die?
Heart picks up that something is deathly wrong when Penitence crumples to the floor like a wet rag sobbing and clawing blindly at his throat. Because the Soul he remembers is much more resilient than this and can take being yelled at. The Soul he remembers doesn't break down in front of him in pained screaming and turn violent hands on themself.
Heart shoves himself off the bed to stop and comfort Penitence, and finds out what's been happening in the house over the past few days from their shattered whimpers. With some difficulty, Heart manages to convince Penitence to let him try something, calming him slightly, and Penitence carries Heart (and his chicken! the chicken is important) to Perseverance's room.
A little bit mentally unclear on this sequence, but I want Heart to sit next to Perseverance and hug him, chicken placed in its lap, to apologize for being cruel and ask him to come back so he can properly thank it for the gift. I want Penitence to sit on Perseverance's other side at Heart's insistence and quietly apologize to them both for neglecting them all like that and promising to do better. For Perseverance to slowly, with their encouragement and love, come back to them and start crying, quietly apologizing for starting another argument with Heart and all the insults he threw during Apathy, and for abandoning Penitence. For them to promise to do better by each other and help each other get better, because all of them almost shattered alone.
That this collective trio of support is going to be what breaks them out into the Recovery phase of Heartless. Because they were never going to heal without being a trio. It had to be Heart, Mind and Soul together helping each other.
(and of course, Heart asks Perseverance if it used one of his dang hoodies for the chicken, to its quiet embarrassment. yes it did. it got them all laughing as Heart shoved the chicken plush into its face in revenge.)
Oh and fun fact! This was the original ending of the AU, not inclusive of the healing. Before I decided I wanted the AU to involve healing, this was where the AU deadended. Heart fully relapses, Perseverance entirely gives up, Penitence upon discovering both of these hangs himself. But the healing is SO much more satisfying :D
#reply#Heartless AU#Heartless stuff#cccc au#ooo this one was a long and rough one boys#honestly this is just a summary of Relapse lmao#but yeah you can see where the dead end used to be#but I decided on the HEALING and it is SO MUCH MORE SATISFYING#rand.writ#RIGHT TRIGGERS#suicide#suicidal ideation#self harm#selfharm#the EMOTION the EMOTION#I literally wrote and planned that last sequence right this second tbh#Heartless Story
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Hello, it’s so good to have you back. I earnestly hope your healing journey is easy and straightforward.
I’m seeing you answer questions about Tonks, and I wanted to share how intrigued I am with the way you used Tonks’ Animagus ability to navigate and represent her estranged relationship with the Black family. Given the “mass of black hair” she sports in the Ministry and the “pixie cut shock of electric pink” at Grimmauld Place, we intuit that Tonks clearly plays around with her face to heighten and decrease her resemblance to her aunts on a situational basis. I presume she thought that resembling Bellatrix would be a tactical advantage for her Ministry interview.
In that vein, I’m curious to know what you think Draco would do with his appearance if he had Tonks’ same abilities. If Draco had the Animagus ability that Tonks does, would he also play with his face and how it resembles that of his father? I think he doesn’t mind being a resemblance of his father at Hogwarts, because none of his friends had any relationship with Lucius. But given that during Narcissa’s episodes she perceives Draco as his father, I wonder if you think Draco would change his face to avoid triggering another episode.
In general, I’m very intrigued by the idea of shape shifting and what it represents. I think in terms of his relationships with Theo and Pansy, Draco would sometimes (metaphorically) shift into the image of an ideal Slytherin, playing up his pedigree and knowledge of pureblood tradition.
This is a really cool question, and I took a hot minute to think about it. For one thing, metamorphmagus!Draco would be even more ridiculously vain than he is at present; it seems useful for all sorts of things like haircuts and spots (even fit aristocratic fifteen-year-olds get them, tragically). I don't think Draco would deliberately try to play up the resemblance to his father — in most cases. For one thing, he's very much attached to his mother, and he wears that resemblance proudly; he identifies as a Black as well as a Malfoy, if to a lesser extent, and those echoes are part of his heritage. That said, Narcissa (who's the best and only real authority on the subject) thinks Draco looks a lot like Lucius anyway, and everyone already associates him heavily with his father, so playing up the resemblance wouldn't do much for him. Playing it down, on the other hand, is an intriguing idea... except he'd probably be making himself resemble the Black side of the family more, and we're all familiar with the fates of the two most recent sons of Black.
That being said, there are places it would probably be useful. Tonks definitely played up the family resemblance to lean on Bellatrix's reputation. (Also, Tonks's normal aesthetic is very Manic Pixie Dream Witch, and it would not go over well with the wizard Tories.) It also would have changed major plot points related to the Polyjuice Potion in Book 3 (although to what extent, I'm not sure; we're never really told what a fully realized metamorphmagus's abilities could do, e.g. if Tonks could alter whole body parts, height/weight/build, or even internal organs; is she doing a glamour, or is she actually changing parts of her body, and if the latter, can she heal her own injuries; as always, the first rule of every magic system in Harry Potter is Don't Think About The Magic System).
To wit: if the current version of Draco could change what he looked like, I don't think he would, and that's quite telling in and of itself.
#greenteacup asks#by current i mean start of fifth year to be clear#there's a header on my outline document that's just called 'Lucius Stuff' and that's nowhere near covered yet#anyway! thank you for the comment and the question! blessings as always <3#lionheart spoilers
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hi it’s me again! i finished the kennedy book half an hour ago and i am still reeling.
you weren’t kidding about the last chapters. like the farewell party is a bittersweet anecdote, but then the epilogue is just absolutely crushing. what a brutal note to end on. the true endpoint is the paragraph in the acknowledgements where he thanks his coauthor for freeing him from the emotional prison he was in. phrase practically verbatim. like oh my god.
that thing you said about what’s not said really did nail the sort of very careful sidestepping of….giving his opinions, maybe? there is just a very deliberate sort of distance with which he describes any events, and so you really notice the barest hints of something more. (more than anyone can ever know, mr. hill? care to elaborate??? it’s the implication that they kept many secrets together and also his enduring loyalty to her that keeps us from learning hardly any of them.) i was reminded of the perception of the kennedys as american royalty because he really talks about her like she was a queen. jackie kennedy through his lens is beautiful and gracious and willful and truly given the royal treatment.
speaking of the royalty metaphor, aristotle onassis is two steps from being a mustache-twirling villain hoping that our brave knight clint hill dies a watery death under a yacht??? unprompted??? like, man. come on. honestly there’s a fascinating emotional thread in here about how he can only fully express feelings of protectiveness when they’re expressed by the president first.
anyway. this is a long ask. sorry. i feel like i should have something profound to say about the assassination chapters because of how significant the event is in history but i don’t yet. i probably sound unhinged but man. this was real life and this is how he chose to tell this story. what even was that.
THANK YOU.
re: last chapters: i want to look into what happened between him and his coauthor (they're married now!) but i haven't yet. i'm still feeling my feelings about the whole thing. can you imagine not reading the acknowledgements?? the acknowledgements that provide the only ounce of comfort amid the hurt of the last third of the book??
re: "MORE THAN ANYONE CAN EVER KNOW": i purposefully haven't shared that quote because divorced from its context you don't get the impact. to me that says he either totally had a thing with her but won't talk about it because he's an honorable man, in the same way he won't offer any kind of "no yeah the warren report was bullshit and the shots came from two different directions" confirmation, or he wants us to *think* something happened even if it didn't. i mean it's not like it was a secret that JFK and Jackie had affairs with other people. a great many of those people have written memoirs specifically about boning one or more of the Kennedys. so many in fact that it's basically a subgenre.
also there's some irony in the way he depicts Jackie. she didn't like to be written about. at all. ever. and there's more than one instance where he's, you know, an 80 year old man being a bit patronizing (in an otherwise very sensitively and thoughtfully written book), with all the mentions of mischief and little-girlishness. and so i keep thinking about how Jackie would have felt about this particular depiction, which despite the glossy nostalgia over the whole thing and I Love Lucy-esque antics, is a pretty nuanced depiction, at least compared to others i've read. he manages to revere her, nearly worship her, but still portray her vices, not as faults but as even more reasons he loved her. i don't know, man. it just feels weird to stumble upon a true story of what i thought were fictional feelings.
re: "he can only fully express feelings of protectiveness when they’re expressed by the president first": HOLY SHIT YOU'RE RIGHT. i'm still thinking about that scene where he takes the film out of that photographer's camera and JFK is just like, "ummm we can't make it seem like we're denying the press access to us, so we're gonna have to blame you," which prompted Hill to question his professional loyalty to the president against his personal loyalty to Jackie, and also it made me think, what would happen if he had to shoot someone? would he get blamed for that too? was he really only there as a human shield, able to protect but not truly defend?
re: "what even was that": WHAT EVEN WAS THAT.
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look guys there's something weird as HELL going on with aziraphale. all three minisodes we saw gave us an insight on how his brain works and his beliefs and everything and how it leads to him making the choices he's made. right.
crowley said something weird has been going on before the attack and we know he has a sixth sense for these things but WHAT IS IT.
i think i REALLY REALLY THINK there's going to be flashbacks to season 2 scenes in s3 and we'll get context and ohhh moments. like.
1. at the mystic shop crowley puts his cap on a snake. maybe just a sneaky nod to how he was wearing a cap but maybe something more?
2. i think the way metatron says "how predictable" and when he says "are you going to take it" so deliberately. they're huge huge clues i think. i feel like the metabitch knows something i dont which pisses me off.
3. i dont understand why the job scene was shot a little different to other ones and also why crowley and aziraphale sounded so different from the scene chronologically before and after that we see in s1. except maybe the seaside bit the whole thing was. definitely odd. and its also mentioned again and again and again. biggest question i have and also one of the biggest foreshadowing in the show is the job quote from the matchbox. what is that WHY IS THAT.
will we realise parts of the job scene were fake or left out and see in s3 how the line was relevant.
4. WHAT does metatron want from aziraphale sooo badly that he went to the trouble of going through his entire earth file and carefully construct manipulation plans a through to z to convince aziraphale to come up.
unless he was unnerved that they together blocked gabriel from him and left him in the dark while actively trying not to do something powerful and he wants armageddon 2 so he can destroy earth because he's the bad guy. and he cant even feasibly start on that as long as aziraphale and crowley are together/friends/as long as, metaphorically, the bookshop is theirs.
(the bookshop wasn't 'theirs' by the time crowley left i think. they'd sort of mentally given up on that which is why at the end muriel could enter without permission i think. if the south downs thing ends up being canon then maybe the bookshop will be destroyed for real because otherwise at the end they would end up at the bookshop)
5. look one of the most terrible thing in the whole ep6 was aziraphale not paying any attention to crowley in the beginning of the confession. he's really really flustered and there's a heartwrenching theme of him staring out of the window. he's absolutely terrified of the metatron seeing them and half his mind is on him.
aaaaaghhhh losing my fucking mind. you could almost hear the quote about the straightforward love life when crowley looks at nina and maggie. that feels like a conclusion kind of? like a really happy ending just like beelzebub and gabriel had. they're both good and loved. which is why i dont feel like we'll be seeing them majorly again... maybe we will i hope we will but idk. there's.
season 2 was soft gentle romantic definitely but it was also a sherlock holmes level of mystery. except we're at the start of the story when holmes doesn't get all the facts to solve the mystery.
also random not plot related questions.
why does the sandwich woman blink so much in the seamstress scene and why does aziraphale blink so little during the last lift scene. these probably dont mean anything other than the womans mascara got in her eye or something
how does the bentley play classical music which doesnt change for aziraphale but doesn't do that for crowley? is it love i hope its love
why does aziraphale's face do something odd when he leaves crowley to talk to nina ep5? or am i reading too much into it? he was very forthcoming with the rest but with nina he was sort of quiet (?) and reserved and went away looking uncomfortable.
why did aziraphale want so badly to drive crowleys car? was it meaningful or connecting to him? i know a lot of people say the dont hesitate to ask me any questions about love scene was aziraphale giving crowley horny eyes but i thought he seemed itching and really eager to get the keys? why does he want them sooo desperately. i don't fully understand their relationship which makes me WANT TO. what happens to a person when they spend six thousand years with their only friend and companion being a hereditary enemy, watching every single thing they do?
also why was he willing to give away a book and bribe out a book for the meeting? seems overboard for someone who doesn't really seem to think about heaven checking on nina and maggie. i think tbh it had less to do with heaven's suspicions than aziraphale being the kind of person who would love an excuse to host a night of dancing and food and love (mood) and he even got to participate by dancing with the demon he loves instead of just watching! (though i suspect he really likes that as well). hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
guys the brain rot has set in someone tell me im not imagining things
#i dont expect these questions to be answered before s3 tbh#but in the words of a certain red haired demon#but just to be able to ask the question#anyway#this'll probably be ignored by other people but its nice to keep all my thoughts about the show in one place instead of just my head#gonna add on later if i feel like it#good omens#crowley#aziraphale
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Hello again! Im so sorry to hear you feeling well when i sent in my ask the other day :( hoping that the life series drop tmrw will provide a much needed distraction for whatever you need it to :)
-☀️
"I know the, um, this morning didn't go… very well… but… if I could—""
"Good, he thinks, but it's a rote sentiment, not half so vicious as it had been only hours earlier."
- oh??? 👀 i am looking
- Im assuming this is the meeting they had about taking grian back to hermitcraft (and the revelation that grian feeds on emotions to survive)?? Very curious
- Now that metaphor about the childhood coat being stained is a lot more painful
-☀️
"even stolen energy can't make up for that."
"everything he'd never had the first time he— well, when Grian, the real Grian— had died."
- "stolen energy" omg i am biting ankles over this.
- And the "real Grian" thing. Yeah
- This is one of those moments where grian's whole situation is so much more potent and vivid. Imagining living as myself, but knowing im occupying someone elses body, and having my very lifeforce sustained by others?? Its not hard to understand why grian internalises and hates himself for being "a parasite". Idk thats probably very obvious to everyone else but this is the first time ive really thought about all of what that entails
-☀️
"Starving hands reach out from the depths of his mind to pull him back, stumbling, under that dark waterline."
- Love how the word "starving" implies that G falling asleep is more of a survival mechanism forcing him under so that his body can feed rather than only exhaustion
-☀️
"he's pressed a knife to every promise he's ever made since the day he emerged,"
- shaking you
-☀️
"His existence lies in the shadows of these distorted fractures, jagged hopes and dented dreams, forever fated to cut his hands on the fragments."
- AHHHHJSLDHSJSVSN
- Man 🧍
- Dont have any words. Just tears.
AAAAAAAAAA SUN ANON I ALWAYS LOVE SEEING YOU IN MY INBOX!!!! Gods im so glad these lines resonated with and interested you, they were a ton of fun to write
I have a brain today so i can actually expand on some of the things youve pointed out instead of just aiming heart eyes at you for the compliments fjsndjsjejke so for the first point, yes!!! Scar and Xisuma returned to the others post chap 6 and were like "Well that sucked!! Wow!!!!" I wouldnt say theyve given all the information to everybody, because they themselves aren't exactly ready to discuss that beyond the immediately required basics, but everyone else was given the gist: convo went badly, Grian is being taken back to Hermitcraft on Scar and Xisuma's insistence. Both Scar and Xisuma feel fucking horrible for how that conversation went down-- nobody had a good time there. So while the plan is to eventually get everyone up to speed, they're sorta taking this time to be miserable about what was essentially a fight that ended in stripping Grian of his autonomy
There's also a little cross-communication happening here in the background, btw: Scar and Xisuma have a pretty big picture now, but Tango, Mumbo, and Pearl have been fed that false info abt the potions being potentially useful. So, yknow :) just smth to keep in mind there haha
Your point about how it almost feels like Grian falling asleep is a survival mechanism is spot on the money. It's essentially him falling into a state of low power mode, where everything but his most basic of functions is shut down for a brief time in favour of preserving energy-- i would honestly consider it more equivalent to a coma than actual sleep. Hence Tango's concern, and subsequent relief when Grian woke up; the entire time he was unconscious, he was fully unresponsive. So, yknow. Real nerve-wracking to see, especially after that prior full week of unresponsiveness as his body struggled to maintain itself.
Tango's role here is indeed deliberate, both on a watsonian and doylist level!! The reason however is the exact same for both: Tango is a little more removed, personally, from this situation. Grian was-- and is-- his friend, ofc, but he's not as close to whats happening. Meanwhile, Xisuma is in 24/7 server babysitting mode, Pearl is not fit to be a caretaker, and Scar and Mumbo were tearing themselves apart by trying to sit and look after him. So Tango got assigned caretaker duties 😂😂😂😂 it was an effective way to divvy up tasks and keep everybody busy, and somewhat hilariously, so far Tango is the only person Grian isnt supremely upset with for one reason or another. And thats why he's continued to stay in caretaker mode lol he is truly just. The only guy who can rn
I also just sorta think of him as a surprisingly emotionally savvy fixer-type, in terms of personality. Like. I think he just gets what people set down in front of him, yknow? Although hell if he knows what to do with it once he's got em. He fumbles a lot, sure, and he defaults to fix-it mode, but he is getting the message when Grian essentially says "i dont wanna talk anymore" without actually saying it
As for Grian and his headspace, rn, theres definitely a complexity at work here where he wants to die and is very genuine in that, but he IS also grateful he's seeing his friends. He cant deny that. As painful as it is, he still loves them very much, and ultimately he's trying to do this for their own good as much as for his own sense of punishment and relief. I think like... now that he's really creeping up on what he has planned, and the pieces are suddenly becoming a reality, theres a bit of dissonance he's fighting against to stay on course. He wants his friends happy; he also wants to die. He's so overwhelmingly tired; he is, as much as he feels he doesnt deserve it, glad to have his friends close. That sort of hopelessness mixed with a warped sense of comfort that he got to see and interact with them one last time. If that makes any sense. Its a bit of complexity i wanted to make sure i added in, because people are so rarely fully decided on any course of action they choose to take, without even a single flicker of doubt (and especially one so final as this). Im glad youve picked up on that, and that you appreciate what i was trying to set down with it!!! :D
This was such a lovely message, as always-- you are very sweet, sun anon, and i appreciate you lots :] i hope you're having an excellent day!!!
#shouting speaks#asks#hunger au#compliments#dw i am feeling much better!!! was just a wonky few days :]#❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️#anyway i hope these lil expansions are fun for you to read 👀👀👀#long post#txt
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ok i was kind of purposefully avoiding the details of the gravy basket theory because it's sounded so dumb but holy shit i really didn't know the extent of it. sorry in advance to be rambling in your inbox.
i thought if i wanted to talk about it i should read the post in full but honestly that was a struggle on its own. it just completely misunderstands the way the show uses ed experiencing purgatory as metaphor. like, the innkeeper does not show us this sort of wish fulfilling dream state at all, and ed externalizing his self hatred into the figment of hornigold is a simple, concise idea that the show specifically goes out of its way to make clear. episode 8 just doesn't have this. like, you'd have to make the argument that literally EVERY CHARACTER PRESENT IN THE EPISODE is somehow representative of an aspect of stede's psyche. it's not just a matter of him projecting his desires into a falsely constructed space, it's a matter of internal issues manifesting from the subconscious, which is what the show has established. it's particularly bizarre to me that they don't make any effort to argue what izzy is meant to represent in this theory, or what him dying could mean symbolically (which is. y'know. the point of the gravy basket as it's been explored). also there's just a complete disregard for ed's arc in the finale which is. eugh. come on.
and this is all still being generous in taking the idea of the "gravy basket" at face value. like, it feels a little ridiculous to even entertain the idea enough to try to argue it. i'm just so baffled.
(it did make me think about psychonauts to the point of wanting to replay it, so. i guess there's that.)
PRECISELY!!!!!!!!! don’t apologise for rambling in my inbox when you’re so correct my dear friend <3
i can’t believe that this theory has such a vice grip on some people. when it first appeared on my dash (and it did, not because a mutual reblogged it, but bc i follow the ofmd tag, and tumblr is evil and gave me the post bc it thought it was being helpful) i thought it was. a joke. i thought the op was having a laugh. but the more i read the more i started to worry. it takes a very distinct lack of media comprehension to come up with something like this.
now, i want to make it clear that i do feel for the people who enjoy izzy normally. like the folks who just like him because he’s interesting and fucked up and strange. the people that don’t woobify him, ya know? those guys are all right.
but the kind of devotion that leads to behaviour like this? threatening and belittling the writers of the show? calling ed violent and thinking he’s going to be an abuser to stede, the man he’s in love with? if you genuinely believe that then there is something seriously wrong with you, and i think you ought to look introspectively <3
also, as a side note, a large criticism i’ve seen for season 2 is poor writing (which is just not at all correct) but to make up for said “poor writing” the theories that people are whipping up are genuinely like. worse? imagine if they did the gravy basket thing again. gravy basket 2: electric boogaloo. that would be bad writing. that would be lazy!!
no, what they did instead was deliberate and careful and beautiful and hopeful. open ended and bittersweet. and yet. AND YET!!!! you get folks trying to cope so bad it makes them look stupid.
and this is all that i will say on the matter. tho, ive never played psychonauts and this might be the thing that makes me dive into that :)
#fandom critical#it’s actually been nice to talk about this#bc what the fuck is that theory and why are people convinced it’s real#like. no babe <333#anyway if you jump in my inbox and call me names i’ll start crying#ofmd#ofmd s2
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What do you think is going to happen in the season seven finale?
Firstly, thank you for sending this and sorry it took so long to answer! I’m struggling to find the time to interact in this fandom the way I used to unfortunately. Answer under the cut because I am incapable of being either brief or concise 😅
I think it’s hard for me to distinguish between what I want to happen and what I think will happen so this answer might end up being a bit of both 😅
I think that the ending scene is going to be very hard hitting, since we’ve seen the trend develop over the seasons from the initial ‘haha funny’ drunken Rick rant while Morty suffers, to both Rick and Morty being equally excited, to Rick starting to realise he’s shitty and to heal, and finally back full circle to having Rick drunkenly rant at an unenthusiastic Morty but this time played straight and with Morty realising the horror of Rick’s abuse but still not being able to break free.
I’ve seen people mention the idea of having an equivalent ending scene with Prime and Morty instead of C-137 and Morty which I think would be very interesting, especially if we do get more exploration of Morty’s character and his perspective on his relationship with Rick in the broader sense of Ricks in general, rather than just with C-137. I think the show does a very good job of using sci fi concepts such as clones or different dimensions to explore characters and their relationships and I think it would be very cool to have this with Morty and Prime. However, I don’t know if the Prime stuff will develop that quickly, especially if he’s intended to be the big bad of the latter half of the whole series. Equally, Prime could turn out to be only a small piece of the bigger puzzle and maybe he’ll become relatively insignificant compared to other plot elements. Only time will tell I guess.
I think the most common complaint about S6 (from this corner of the fanbase at least) was the lack of Morty, so I hope this is something that gets addressed in S7 and that his character gets a turn in the limelight. At the same time, I appreciate that the show is trying their best to build off of pre-existing canon but also to complete a big tonal shift so I have faith that Morty will get his time to shine, especially since his dynamic with Rick was explored more in the final two episodes (and at the end of Analyse Piss). I definitely want to see the complexities of Morty’s feelings towards Rick and his family as a whole and I’m excited in particular for the Morty and Summer episode that seems to be about the mindblowers - we haven’t really had an exploration of the way Morty feels about Summer getting all these privileges. After all, he’s always tried to protect Summer from Rick and be a good brother despite being the youngest but now Summer is working with Rick and becoming like him. She also has that sort of power over him when it comes to the mindblowers, which is played for laughs in the episode itself but I’m interested to see them explore the darker side of this - after all, Summer is aiding Rick with editing Morty’s memory, and she clearly has a fair bit of power and control over this, given that Rick trusts her to restore both of their memories and wander down there at her leisure.
Morty’s Mindblowers definitely marks a whole new era of Rick’s manipulation of Morty, where we start to truly see just how much Rick is deliberately and intentionally controlling Morty’s perceptions and memories. I’ve spoken before with @hazelnut-u-out about how mindblowing is very much a metaphor for gaslighting - Rick is influencing what Morty remembers and how he remembers it, not only removing memories he doesn’t want but even editing them so Morty has no hope of ever getting the true memory back even if Rick does allow him to keep any of the memories permanently. It’s not hard to draw the parallel between this and the way that trauma can permanently shape the way you view things, even if you are able to remember them or process them.
However, Summer is clearly aware of this and seemingly makes no effort to stop it or tell Morty. Obviously she is also being manipulated by Rick (‘I don’t get paid enough for this shit’), but she’s still involved and I can imagine that affecting their relationship a lot. I would like to hope that this episode has Summer choosing to tell Morty and trying to heal, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds the room accidentally and is discovered by her instead of Rick, or maybe they’re forced to take shelter from something and Summer takes them into the mindblowers room since it’s the only safe place, leading Morty to question how she knows the room exists and has a key to it.
On a lighter note, we had better see Birdperson again (and hopefully his daughter). I would definitely love Rick having to help look after her and she absolutely hates him.
I’m very excited for S7 and I wonder how much my thoughts on this will change when the trailer drops Monday but these are my thoughts for now!
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ii s3e14 came out so here’s my opinion . heavy spoilers btw
it was actually pretty fucking good. a new favorite episode, in all honesty. I might be a bit biased though because my two faves had decent screen time.
it had its problems, sure! I think the tonal switch of SS was kinda disappointing, and just didn’t feel right? then again he could just be in denial. And the Nickloon dynamic felt confusing and weird and off.
for the whole ‘springy’ thing, it felt out of place. at first. But I had to look past it because it was actually really fun? It was a nice metaphor for so much in the show, and I’m a sucker for that shit. gimme metaphors baby I’ll eat em up
the whole past coming to haunt the characters was disturbing in such a wonderful way. the robot fakes were scary - it was delightful. Watching characters confront their past? Ow.
Now, here’s the main thing I enjoyed - Cabby and Bot. I think they were written fairly well, both in themselves and how they interacted.
Now, I’m a shameless Cabby enjoyer, I admit. I like her a lot for the memory issues, as established in e12. I have them too, and how it was handled in that scene was gorgeous. I had hoped (but didn’t expect) the issues to be elaborated on. But they were!! It was so exciting.
And Bot? They didn’t know. Bot was self conscious, and tried to trick Cabby into writing down false information. They didn’t want to be labeled! They didn’t want to be written down! And that’s totally valid.
So the whole “I’ll only tell you if you don’t write it down” thing. That was gorgeous. Cabby respected Bot in that way. Which was wonderful! and then “what if I forget?” / “I’ll tell you again.” Do you understand what that means? Do you understand the emotion behind that? Do you get it do you hear me?? THATS THE MOST IMPACTFUL THING EVER. AUUH
And then. And then. Bot asked Cabby about her parents. It’s weird cause I don’t think anyone is confirmed to have parents, but that simple question almost does? And then Cabby’s response. “I don’t know if it’s a memory thing, but -“ It shows how you never quite know if you can trust yourself with memory issues. Augh do you HEAR ME!!! GUYS MAKE FAMILY OCS FOR THEM NOW PLS!!!
other than that, though? Kinda mid. Glad that nickloon talked but they didn’t do well and that was kinda,,, ew,,, ss and yinyang also ew,,, but it wasn’t like, awful. Mid but not horrible.
BUT BUT BUT. MePhone. We didn’t see him much but like, he was there. I think it was a great missed opportunity that they didn’t mention C/bs, (the corn guy sorry I can’t say his names it’s a. thing) it felt very deliberately mentioning it. How ‘you enjoy your past’! Like WHAT ARE YOU SAYING YOU JEEBWEZER. did he make himself forget again?? hello?? But the ceo was also mentioned recently in like e10 I think like WHATS THE SITCH THERE…
but. But. Springy very clearly was referencing them being robots. Even if it was mostly about Bot, it was also definitely a jab at MePhone. And we can see how MePhone is effected. When Bot was eliminated, he was genuinely sad, and even asked for them to be his cohost. He cares for them. (He might even think of them as something similar to MePad?) He was very clearly impacted too, because he said something like “our best contestant was eliminated” LIKE. LIKE. THE ROBOTS IN THIS SERIES ARE INSANE!!!
and floory straight up eating springy was hilarious. N/A appearing was also a delight.
all in all: my faves got screen time and were written well so I liked the ep, but the sad part is everything else was kinda bad
thanks for coming to my Ted talk 👍
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Sending this to you bc I know you don't 100% believe in canon buddie. I don't really agree when people say that buddie has to happen any minute now. Is it just me or are they not very romantically coded at all? I struggle to find anything between them that isn't platonic. The guardianship thing? To me it seems normal for close bffs to do that. The extremely sexually charged kitchen scene? That was 3 seasons ago and hasn't happened again. Of course we can speculate based on those moments and say they'd be perfect for setting up buddie. But what do we actually have, without speculation? Maybe one or two looks exchanged between them, like during the couch metaphor convo? Also, atp neither of them is even canonically attracted to men. I say all of this as a buddie shipper, I want them to be together and I enjoy the speculations. But then I actually watch a new episode and I don't really see anything in the text that seems to lead up to it. Of course I'm hoping that'll change in future episodes but yeah. Idk, what do you think? Am I being too sober?
hey anon! i’m going to apologise in advance for how longwinded this answer is going to get but i wanna make sure i address all your points!!
so one thing i went into the fandom believing (and something i still stand by) is that in s2 and 3 there is very little outside of buck and eddie’s dynamic with chris that implies anything romantic between them. i think the same can be argued in part for s4 and 5 (though i do believe something has shifted but i’ll get to that later!). and i know chris is so intrinsically tied to their dynamic it’s like, well what’s the point of removing him from the equation? but the thing is, for me, it’s about needing to see romantic attraction.
like, yes they’re a family, yes buck acts as a co-parent to chris, yes they’re partners and confidants and everything in between and yes they love each other. all of that is canon and none of it is extrapolation on our part. but all of it exists in this murky realm of plausible deniability. it could be romantic but it could also conveniently just be a very strong platonic bond if the show chooses to keep it that way. it’s Schrodinger's love story.
because, as we’ve all discussed before, the show very pointedly doesn’t define their relationship. except for the "you’re badass under pressure, brother” and the “you said it, brother” comments in s2 and buck calling eddie his best friend in 3x03, it’s never said out loud what they are to each other - particularly in these later seasons when their bond has only gotten stronger. and i think that’s absolutely deliberate.
so if i were to describe my own views on everything right now i would say i’m cautiously optimistic.
i believe there are writers and directors on the show who would make buddie canon in a heartbeat if given the green light, i believe the actors would be all for it and i believe the door has been left open for it to happen but i’m also not 100% convinced it will yet
(especially because this is uncharted territory, like when has a network show Ever let two of their male leads fall in love and be together based on what was originally a fan theory????).
because as much as there are these underlying metaphors about hearts and the universe that we’re picking up on (and again, i believe they’re on purpose), i wouldn’t think the general audience is picking up on that. likewise, even though the fandom believes something like the eddieana breakup is queer coded (and i agree!!!) idk to what extent the general audience would make that leap??? like you said, as far as canon is concerned right now nothing has been confirmed to say either of them are attracted to men. my mom watches this show and i Know if buck and eddie suddenly got together in the morning she would be extremely confused.
at this point what it would take to convince me is very simple. all i need is one close up shot on one of their faces while they look at the other person with the right music in the background and the right look on their face and i’m sold. that’s it. that’s all they’d have to do. they’ve already laid the groundwork. just give me one five second scene that would allude to something more as far as their feelings for each other are concerned
because right now, if i take off my shipper goggles and try to be objective my list of buddie scenes that made me sit up and go ‘wait this could be something more’ only consists of:
the kitchen scene in 3x09 (more so for the conversation before the flirting actually lmao)
buck’s reaction to the well collapse in 3x15
carla commenting on eddie’s relationship with ana in 4x13 (simply because the fandom had been predicting it for WEEKS before it happened)
how the shooting scene was filmed
the will reveal (more so for the “because evan. you act like you’re expendable but you’re wrong” part and eddie keeping the whole a secret for reasons unknown)
their dynamic in 5x14
buck’s description of love in 5x18 (actually probably the most explicit reference to buddie i feel they’ve done, especially when combined with ravi’s “a partner should have your back” comment)
the dinner scene in 6x01
those are the scenes i can’t explain. those are the scenes that feel romantically coded for me. those are the scenes that make me think there’s a chance at something. and like i mentioned earlier, i do believe something has shifted since the end of s4. so whether that means the writers have fully committed to bringing their relationship to fruition remains to be seen but they’ve definitely upped the ante.
i guess ultimately, to answer your question, i don’t think there’s anything wrong with reserving judgement right now or not being 100% convinced. i know sometimes there can be assumptions about why people feel like that but i think that can sort of feel a bit dismissive??? like, i don’t think the show is homophobic, i don’t think the show is queerbaiting, i’m absolutely nOT an ex-destiel shipper who believes this is a supernatural do-over (i have blessedly never seen a single ep of that show). i’m just waiting for a very clear and explicit indication that buck and/or eddie like each other and intend to do something about it.
i think what it comes down to is if that negatively impacts your view of the show?? like will i be disappointed if buddie doesn’t happen? of course. but will it ruin the show for me? absolutely not. i love speculating, i love reading theories, i love feeling unhinged about all the metaphors surrounding their relationship, i love every teeny tiny morsel of a scene we get between them and 100% believe they are the kind of person each other deserve at this point. but also that’s enough for me??? hell, it’s more than some canon ships have given me before lmao. and i feel like even if they don’t end up together, i still trust the writers to give them an ending that’s satisfying or, at the very least, is open to interpretation, y’know????
so yeah, i don’t know if any of this is helpful, anon, but i think if you’re still able to enjoy the ride and take their scenes for what they are then you don’t need to worry about what’s coming down the line 💛
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you’re safe with me
Dramione | Completed | 4.7K words
Also available on AO3!
https://archiveofourown.org/works/43323165
As quietly as possibly, Hermione crept inside the library at Malfoy Manor. It was as good a place as any for to catch her metaphorical breath, before she’d need to plaster on a fake smile and rejoin the ball — to keep up appearances. Maybe she could find the book on the origins of arithmancy Draco mentioned the last time they were here? Hermione doubted she’d be back at the Manor any time soon, if ever. Not after this evening has gone exactly as she’d feared, To her great surprise, despite her fraught wartime history, the Manor had somehow become one of her favourite places in the world, with the exception of one permanently sealed drawing room. But alas, Malfoy Manor had once again become ground too dangerous for Hermione Granger to tread, though this time the reasons for it were vastly different.
Hermione idly fiddled with her beaded bag, wondering if the Malfoys would even notice if just one of their many books went missing for a bit. Probably not. She would return it later by owl, of course.
Making her way to her favourite spot in the back corner, Hermione was surprised to find Draco Malfoy collapsed in one of the wing-backed chairs, a hand wearily rubbing his eyes, the other gripped tightly around an empty glass, notes of firewhisky lingering in the air. He hadn’t noticed her.
Recovering as best she could in the circumstance, Hermione deliberately kept her voice light. “Malfoy? Why on Earth are you hiding in the library? This is your Engagement Ball. Shouldn’t you be out there accepting the fawning praise of the Sacred Twenty-Eight for doing your part to keep the Malfoy family tree as devoid of branches as possible?”
Her voice startled him, causing Draco to look momentarily panicked. Though he regained his customary smirk so quickly, perhaps it was only her imagination. Or a trick of the dim light.
“Ha, Granger. Very droll. As a point of clarification, this is my Betrothal Ball, nothing to do with an engagement. And secondly —“ Draco sighed deeply. “Fuck. I just need a break from it all, you know?”
Hermione blinked. She knew. After all, that’s precisely why she was here, but it was conveying to see Draco struggling when he ought to be celebrating the ostensibly happy news. “I do. And you’re safe with me, Auror Malfoy. As always.”
Her partner made a non-committal noise, as he put his empty glass on the side table. The reality of her presence caught up with him and his gaze sharpened. “Why are you here, Granger?”
Hermione laughed softly, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with him, full stop and she especially did not want to have it now. “Well, Ron’s not accepting the end of our relationship as well as I’d hoped. He’s out their hitting the champagne pretty hard, whilst making eyes at me. Seemed like a good idea to hide out for a bit.”
Technically, everything she’d said was true, but only to a point. It was Hermione’s own inability to stop staring at the future bride’s left hand that prompted her to seek refuge somewhere else. If Ron had been her only issue, she could have drawn on a wealth of experience to simply endure it. But being forced to confront the reality of a future where she would never get what — who — she wanted? That proved to be too much.
Draco snorted. “Really, Grange — the library? It’s your natural habitat. If you wanted to hide almost anywhere else in the Manor would be better than — wait. Did you say the end of your relationship?”
Briefly wondering how much firewhisky he’d had, Hermione plastered that bloody fake smile back on, responding in a falsely bright tone. “Um, yes. Ron and I broke up.”
It was Draco’s turn to blink. He sat silently for a moment, his thinking face — the one he adopted when they were working on a case together — firmly in place. Then he rose from his chair, standing before her, his eyes boring into her own. “When?”
Hermione tried — and bloody failed — to sound breezy. “Oh, late last month.”
Malfoy Heir to wed Miss Astoria Greengrass.
The headline in the Daily Prophet, accompanied by a photo of Draco next to a smiling, beautiful, perfect pureblood witch screamed at Hermione from the front page. She felt as though all the air left her flat, leaving her underwater, unable to her breathe as her carefully crafted illusions about her own feelings disappeared into the ether the very instant she realised she was too late. It was only then Hermione registered just how deeply she was in denial over the extent of feelings for the pale wizard who was definitely not just her co-worker, no matter how many times she’d angrily shouted at otherwise at Ron.
Draco’s expression was inscrutable as he studied her face. “Before or after my betrothal was announced?”
The question was so prescient Hermione did not have her features schooled enough to prevent her jaw from dropping a fraction. She made a hasty correction, though Draco’s narrowed eyes told her she wasn’t quick enough, blast him. “What? That’s not — Malfoy. That has nothing to do —”
“Granger.” Her name was an interruption and a plea.
Unable to pretend any longer, Hermione sighed. “After.”
“Why?” Draco asked in a pained whisper.
“Ron and I were never right for each other — okay? Not really. But when my close friend and partner getting engaged sent me into an emotional tailspin, it really didn’t seem fair to Ron to keep pretending otherwise. Not after assuring him for years I only admired you as a colleague, because we got along so well and we had such a good working relationship.” Keeping her gaze on her shoes, Hermione blinked back tears. “To be fair, I didn’t realise I was lying to him until it was too late.”
Draco’s bitter laugh prompted her to look up and she took in the stunned disbelief in his grey eyes, as well as the undercurrent of anger. Her heart broke just a little bit more.
Hermione swallowed. “I don’t find this particularly funny, Draco. And I think I should just go home.”
“Oh no you don’t, Granger. “ Draco grabbed her wrist, pulling her close as he pressed her hand over his heart, his eyes blazing into hers. “I only agreed to this damned betrothal because you were still bafflingly with that unworthy tosser and I couldn’t bear to continually hope you’d eventually see that he wasn’t right for you. That you’d eventually see me.”
Hermione blinked back tears, unsuccessfully trying to pull away from Draco’s grip, overwhelmed by his intensity and nearness. “I always saw you, Draco. But I never thought you’d see me as anything more than what we already were.” Unable to look at him, she used her free hands to point in the direction of the ballroom, where his betrothed was currently holding court and Draco flinched, dropping her hand. Summoning her resolve, Hermione spoke again, the words like ash on her tongue. “Given our inability to effectively communicate,I will be requesting to be transferred out of Magical Law Enforcement. The Unspeakables still try to recruit me a couple of times a year — I’ll see if I can move there.”
“No.” He looked stricken, his voice pa whisper as he shook his head.
Hermione’s voice broke. “Draco, working with you the past three years has been hard enough. I’m sorry, but I can’t keep doing it now.”
“You think it’s been hard for you? I’ve watched the only witch I’ve ever loved be with someone who takes her for granted, does not appreciate her and has the unmitigated gall to incessantly complain about her to me whenever I’ve been forced to speak with him.”
“Ron was likely trying to convince you I wasn’t a very good girlfriend because he was jealous of us — of our working relationship, I mean. We fought about it constantly, Malfoy.”
“And his way of coping was to try to diminish you at every opportunity?”
“Oh lay off of him, Malfoy! He’s not the one who spent the entire time being in love with someone else.”
Draco’s mouth was on hers before the last syllable left her lips, quickly swallowing her startled gasp. One hand cradled her chin as the other pulled her hips flush against his and Hermione whimpered, losing herself in the feel of his tongue gliding against hers as her body pressed into him. Her blood sang as she grabbed fistfuls of his robe, desperate to pull him closer still — the years of unspoken, mutual longing becoming thoroughly unmasked with the worst fucking timing. She stiffened, as she recalled why she was at the Manor in the first place.
As if hit with the same realisation, Draco abruptly let her go. She instantly stepped back — keeping more than an arm’s width away as they stared at each other, panting.
Draco spoke first, his words full of quiet desperation. “I can get out of it, Granger. If you’ll have me.”
Hermione’s heart clenched. “I feel really bad about that for her sake, but not so bad I’m willing for us both to be perpetually miserable over it. I was having a hard enough time when I thought it was just me. How badly will your parents react?”
As far as Hermione was concerned, this was an open question. Over the past few years, she’d become far closer to the Malfoys than she would’ve ever dreamed possible. Narcissa was quite fond of her, frequently insisting they take tea together — just the two of them as Draco was deliberately not invited. She ate dinner with the family once or twice a month. While it took longer for Lucius to come around on her, he had reluctantly admitted she was just as talented and capable as his son, even though it clearly pained him to say the words aloud. Hermione harboured secret affection for the still somewhat vainglorious older man— particularly after l realising he was too much like his son for her to ever truly dislike. But the elder Malfoys acceptance of her was in her role as Draco’s partner at the DMLE — a role where she frequently saved his life. There was an enormous gulf between accepting Muggle-born Hermione Granger as their son’s colleague or even close friend, and accepting Muggle-born Hermione Granger permanently into their family, particularly when such acceptance would ultimately end the Malfoy family’s status as a purebloods.
It had not been lost on Hermione that outwardly both of Draco’s parents appeared delighted at the prospect of Astoria Greengrass becoming the future Lady Malfoy — something that hurt Hermione more than she’d expected, even when she has no right to that pain.
“I do not fucking care.” Draco’s voice was iron. “And for what it’s worth, this is a love match for Astoria either. It’s a business arrangement made by our respective families. I’m not saying she’ll be happy about it. But I won’t be breaking anyone’s heart.”
Oh. That was a relief. Hermione chewed her lip. “How long?”
“Tomorrow — by the end of day. I’d do it tonight, but that seems unnecessarily cruel.”
“Right.” Hermione thought quickly, her mind still reeling from the kiss and the fact she’d just admitted out loud she loved him. Although assuming she hadn’t misheard, Draco technically declared his love first. “I’m going home and I will stay there for the rest of the weekend. My floo will be closed to everyone who isn’t you. If I don’t hear from you by Sunday, I will put in my transfer request at the Ministry on Monday morning.”
“You will hear from me, Granger. You have my word. I intend to tell my parents tonight.”
“Tell her first.” Hermione blurted out the words before she could stop herself, apprehension working its way up her spine.
Draco was nonplussed. “Why? Honestly, Granger, as I said the entire thing was arranged by our parents anyway. They’ll have to be involved.”
“Tell her first and have someone else you trust — like Theo — with you when you tell your parents.”
“Hermione, I don’t —“
Her fears overtook her and she cut him off. “Every time your parents have invited me to dinner over the past six months, Lucius has been unsubtle in telling me he expects you to wed soon. Then at the office, you’ve been telling me about how much they were pressuring you into accepting a betrothal arrangement that you said you didn’t want. I’m not accusing him of anything, truly — but while I can most likely live with you deciding to proceed with your existing betrothal, not without some assurance it was your decision in truth.”
Draco’s eyes went wide as he grasped her meaning. “Point taken. I don’t think Father would do that, Granger. But I also don’t feel certain enough to say he’d never do it. So some precautions wouldn’t hurt. I’ll speak with Theo before he leaves tonight.” Draco tucked a curl behind her ear as he spoke, before leaning forward — clearly intent on kissing her again, stopping when he felt her hand pushing him back.
“Draco, I feel enough guilt over the earlier admittedly bloody amazing kiss, especially seeing how your Betrothal Ball is still on-going as we speak. To say nothing of how bad I feel about the emotional affair I didn’t quite realise I was having while still with Ron.”
Hermione had already been tempted to beg him to shag her against the bookshelves during visits to this part of the library. And that was while she was still trying to convince herself constantly thinking about the wizard before her was merely an idle fantasy that wasn’t hurting anyone. She had no confidence in her ability to resist sharing that desire if he kissed her like that again. “I’m going to leave now, before I do more things I regret. But I expect I to see you soon, Malfoy.”
“You will, Granger. I promise.”
Seized by hope and terror in equal measure, Hermione nodded, managing a small smile before apparating out of the Manor and into her tiny, darkened flat. Only then did she allow the floodgates to open, sliding to the floor as she wept, not even attempting to sort out which of her tangled emotions prompted the tears.
——————————————————————————————
When her floo roared to life the next evening, Hermione’s heart nearly beat out of her chest. Instinctively hiding her chewed nails, she frantically tamped down the blossoming surge of hope inside her before she has unambiguous confirmation from Draco. What if he was only coming over to let her know in person that he’d reconsidered?
So when Draco strode directly towards her from the fireplace and kissed as intensely as he had the night before, her soul cried out in relief. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, frantically pulling him, needing him as close as possible.
After a long moment, he pulled back to look at her, palpable relief etched across Draco’s own features as he stroked her back. Seemed as though he’d also worried she might reconsider.
“It’s done. Everyone knows. The Greengrasses are not happy, but as it turns out, Astoria wasn’t particularly upset. Especially not after I insisted the settlement for breaking the betrothal go to her and not her parents. Seems like she prefers independence over a marriage to me in any event.”
Well there was an unexpected balm for her conscience, but Hermione didn’t really care about Astoria Greengrass, not that she relished the thought of the witch being hurt. But she didn’t know the witch.
Narcissa and Lucius were another story. They’d become dear to her and she was terrified about what their reactions might be. “And your parents?” she asked, unable to hid her nervousness.
So she was taken aback when Draco’s eyes lit up with joy. He coughed, attempting — poorly — to hide a smirk. “About that. I have a letter for you from my father.”
Her nerves were stil on high alert as she opened the sealed parchment with trembling hands, frowning as she took in Draco’s poorly concealed grin.
My dear Miss Granger,
You wound me. After my concerted effort to welcome you into my ancestral home and indeed into our lives, you truly believe me to be capable of acting against my son’s wishes in matters of the heart? For shame, Miss Granger. For shame.
Since my efforts on this front also managed to escape my son’s notice, I will spell it out plainly for you here, just as I had to for Draco in person. I told you I expected my son to wed soon for the very same reason I told him he must either make his own choice or accept a betrothal from his parents. Namely, so you foolish children would realise you are perfect for each other and act accordingly!
Do not misunderstand me. Astoria Greengrass is a fine witch and she has left Malfoy Manor with more galleons than her parents would have ever deigned to give her and my heartfelt felicitations. But Miss Granger had the match proceeded, she would have been a consolation prize to more than just Draco.
My dear, after seeing first-hand the lamentable consequences of attempts to force my choices on Draco, I want nothing more than for you to marry my son and make him happy, as I (ahem) was always aware that you are in fact, his choice. I have loved none but my dearest Narcissia, but that is only because the fates smiled on me when I did not deserve it. Draco, however, deserves the world. Seeing as you are his world, I was compelled to act to see him happily settled with you at his side, permanently.
(As an aside, I think it uncouth for me to point out that no one — such as yourself — worthy of a Malfoy ought to be saddled with a Weasley. Further, I fear it would also be uncouth for me to discuss how often I pondered why a witch happy in her ‘relationship’ would spend so much of her limited free time in the home of her ‘colleague’ dining with his parents — occasionally doing so even when my son was unavailable, and Narcissa and I were blessed to have you all to ourselves. One might forgive me for assuming it meant you enjoyed our company. But I digress and as I do not wish to be uncouth, I will say neither of those things.)
While I must confess that your doubt has caused me some genuine hurt, in truth it is only a small injury to my pride and this letter is perhaps more harsh than the injury itself justifies. Narcissa and I are overjoyed the pair of you have finally, as I understand Muggles say, “gotten your shite together” and I expect (and in truth demand) to see even more of you at the Manor than we have in the past. All of the denizens of Malfoy Manor have missed you terribly over the past month — with Bunny left especially bereft by your absence. (In time, I hope you can forgive yourself for hurting a house elf. If it helps, I do not believe she intends to hold a grudge.)
For the sake of moving forward as a family, I will admit that given my history, your caution to Draco that he ought to involve Theo when telling us of his intentions was wise. One might even go so far as to describe it as a cunning choice on your part. (You know my dear, despite how often you claim your hat-stall was between those abominable do-gooders and Ravenclaw, your evasiveness on questioning has led me to wonder if Slytherin actually had the next best claim on you. If you confess this to me, all will be forgiven and I will forget you ever suspected me capable of treachery when in truth I only had the very best of fatherly intentions towards you both.)
I expect to see you both at the Manor soon. We intend to proceed with wedding planning, far more joyously now the correct bride is in place. (Narcissa tells me it would not be appropriate to have a second betrothal ball and was not swayed in the slightest when I pointed out it would actually be the first ever Malfoy Engagement Ball. I do hope your heart wasn’t set on that my dear, as I have reluctantly acceded my wife’s better judgement in this regard.) I have instructed my son to ask you himself properly, in the Muggle fashion. The ring belonged to my mother, who would have adored you had she lived in a world where meeting you was possible. Do not fret about the heirloom, it suits you — just as you are.
By now, Miss Granger, I hope you realise you have stolen the hearts of all the Malfoys. Please take care with them — for though we have a well-earned reputation for ferocity in most matters, our hearts are unaccustomed to the fray and thus, more fragile than you might expect. If it helps, pretend we are similar to house elves and treat us accordingly. (Of course, except for the time you ignored Bunny for a month. None of us could withstand such cruelty from a loved one.)
Narcissa and I love our son very much, and while he is in no way deficient, I must confess we always longed for a daughter. We are waiting for you, my dear. And please be merciful with Draco — as the cleverest among us, he was the first to recognize your true worth and has therefore been waiting for you the longest.
With great love and affection,
Lucius Abraxas Malfoy
P.S., Turn around.
Feeling dazed, Hermione did as the letter bade. She was at turns bewildered, amused, mildly irritated and deeply touched by the words written by Lucius Malfoy. So utterly engrossed by the parchment in her hands, that Hermione hadn’t noticed Draco getting down on one knee.
He held out a ring — a simple one by Malfoy standards. A reasonably sized emerald, set with smaller diamonds on either side. Lucius was right, it did suit her �� far better than the ridiculously enormous diamond which had graced Astoria’s finger the night before, a ring Hermione simultaneously loathed and deeply coveted.
Over the years, she had witnessed Draco in all manner of precarious situations. Their line of work was dangerous and as partners they had been frequently been in peril together. She was struck by how odd it was — to see fear on his face for first time since she’d acceded to Robards unenthusiastic plea for her to accept Draco as her partner, a request only made after the rest of the department had already refused. Strange to realized she could be the one provoke that fear, especially when she loved him so.
Draco exhaled before speaking, his voice clear as his eyes never left hers. “Hermione. If this feels too sudden, I’ll tell Father he can go hang and I will wait until you are ready. But you should know I’m not asking because he or Mother or anyone else wants me to. I want to, Granger — me. I want to know you are finally mine. In fact, I want the whole world to know you are mine. Because you — Hermione Jean Granger — you and no one else, are my choice. Now and always.”
Hermine bit her lip, nodding at him as tears slid freely down her cheeks — waiting.
Draco’s anxiety disappeared and his eyes filled with tears as well as the most beautiful smile she’d ever witnessed graced his face. “Hermione, will you marry me?”
“Yes. Of course I will, yes.”
She would have said more, but she was back in Draco’s embrace too quickly and her ability to speak was hindered for a long time thereafter — not that she was complaining. When they finally separated, clothing in disarray and ring on her finger, Hermione took a few minutes to respond to her future father-in-law. After she sent off her owl, Hermone dragged her fiancee into her bedroom without a word — not that he had any complaints either.
Once there, Draco set upon her like a man possessed, quickly divesting her of everything that wasn’t her engagement ring as he explained in detail exactly how he intended to fulfil every fantasy he had about her over the past three years. Seeing howthey were more or less the same fantasies Hermione had about him, she was more than happy to oblige.
Happy coincidence, that.
——————————————————————————————
Lucius Malfoy sat in his study at Malfoy Manor, immensely pleased with himself for finally getting his oblivious children on the right path. He was in the midst of his second self-congratulatory glass of firewhisky when an unfamiliar owl interrupted his reverie.Lucius’s curiosity already piqued and it only l grew on further inspection, when he discovered the letter was charmed so it could only be opened and read by himself. Quickly confirming there were no dark spells at play, Lucius opened the envelope and began to read.
My Dearest Lucius,
If you don’t irrevocably and unequivocally forgive me for my unintentional slight to you (as well as promise to never bring the matter up again in the future) I will convince Draco to elope with me within the month. Further, I will — with copious tears in my eyes — tell Narcissa that your letter is what pushed me to do so, thus laying the blame for depriving her of the opportunity to throw us a lavish wedding squarely at your feet.
However, should you graciously accept my terms without fuss (ahem), not only will I enthusiastically allow Narcissa to plan our wedding, I promise on the occasion of our tenth wedding anniversary I will tell you the unabridged version of my initial encounter with the sorting hat. Between us both, I do not think you will be disappointed by the tale.
Choose wisely.
Affectionately,
The Future Mrs. Hermione Granger-Malfoy
P.S.
I look forward to receiving your reply by the end of business on Friday; failing which, I will be forced to put my alternative plans in motion.
P.P.S.
Having said that, please do not feel like you have to rush your decision on my account. For the next few days at least, Draco and I expect to be quite preoccupied.
P.P.P.S.
I love you too.
The very instant Lucius read the last word, Miss Granger’s letter burst into flame, vanishing in a puff of smoke which destroyed all evidence of her affectionate threats. No one was present to witness it, but the brief light from the fire illuminated an actual grin on the face of Lord Malfoy, the likes of which was only rarely seen by his wife.
Lucius chuckled as he brought the firewhisky to his lips and took a hearty sip from the tumbler. Hermione Granger was going to fit in here beautifully.
He fervently hoped any future grandchildren would have curls.
#dramione#hermione granger#draco malfoy#draco x hermione#arranged marriage#past Hermione/Ron#technically present Draco/Astoria#HEA#well HEA for everyone except Ron#there's no Ron bashing he's just not in this one#Narcissa Malfoy#Lucius Malfoy#Lucius Malfoy is actually a good father in this one#epistolary#auror hermione#auror draco#Guess who's been in love with other one for years but was too afraid to admit it?#Trick question it's both of them.#Affection threats.#fanfic#dhr fanfiction#fanfiction#thelashjedi#emotional infidelity
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Maybe you’ve done this before (so feel free to ignore this - actually feel free to ignore it either way if you don’t feel like doing it 😅) , but if you had to pick the wardrobe for Buck, Eddie, and Chris for the buddie canon confirmed episode what would you pick for each of them? Your costume metas are so fun so I think your answer to this would be too. 🖤
DJ my darling!!
this is such a fun ask and I've been pondering on it for a few days!!! What kind of outfit we'll see them in really depends on the location of where we get canon confirmation, as well as when it happens!!
If it happens this season, then I'm kind on hoping we'll get some colour paralleling of the lasagne scene from 6x01 - with yellow and blue being the colours worn - especially as I've been banging on about the use of yellow and blue in queer storytelling for a little while (its in so many other queer stories, especially recently) who is wearing the yellow and who is wearing the blue depends very much on who makes the first move - but I'm kind of leaning towards Buck in yellow and Eddie in blue, because I really feel the blue on Buck has bee na deliberate choice this season and is very much tied into his own healing arc, so I think once he gets to the point of being ready, we'll see him change colours in some way as the blue will have done its narrative job for him! I would quite like to see Buck in either a knit polo of some sort - as he's been wearing a lot of this season, or possibly something simialr to the grey jumper form the kitchen scene. I don't want to see him in a hoodie though - those are for when he's seeking comfort and thats not what he'd be doing in a nbuddie canon scene!
I thinkEddie in blue would be a great choice for him and we've seen it start to creep more into his wardrobe since 5x14 and in brighter tones as well. I also think seeing him in Blue would time in to a couple of interesting touchstones for his own journey - the conversation in Christophers room in 5x17 and the suit he wore to Hen and Karens vow renewal and then in season 6 we've had him in blue sleeping on the couch in 6x09 (as well as a couple of other instances) so I'd really love to see him in blue if for no other reason thang getting to see the couch metaphor play out to its full and natural conclusion!!! I either want Eddie in a traditional henley or in an open shirt and tee combo - which we've seen him wearing more often since mid 5b.
If Chris is involved in Buddie going canon in any way, I'd actually kind of like to see him in grey of some sort - possibly with a nod to whatever colours Buck and Eddie are wearing - and if they happen to be stripes, then so much the better! the reason I want to see him in grey is because its a neutral colour and because as much as Christopher is a central part in them becoming a family unit, I kind of want the buck and Eddie outfits to do all the talking - Buddie should be about buddie and not about buddifer - in much the same way that Chris was there on the fridge in the new kitchen scene - present but not a part of the scene directly, I feel a bit like that should also be the case for them getting together canonically - because they should and will be together because its what they both want for each other and themselves, and not because of Christopher (does that make sense?!!) I'd really love to see Buck wearing maroon at the moment they tell Chris they're together though - really solidifying the maroon and fatherhood aspect and coming full circle with when we've seen Buck in maroon. I'd like to see Eddie in either cream or blue for this as well -
Another reason for wanting blue and yellow is that I'd love the symmetry of their turnouts being blue and yellow and the whole connection to their jobs - it all just ties in so well together and would make me very happy!!!
Of course they could choose to parallel Athena and Bobbys first date and go with brown and blue - which I would also not be mad at, but I feel like the yellow would be a bit more interesting and fitting - especially because of all I've already said 😎
This post is either going to haunt me when I'm a million miles off, or I'm going to drag it out and be really annoying and make it everyones problem if I happen to be right!!!
How did I do?? I hope it was fun to read! thanks for giving me some fun! 💜💜💜
#kym answers things#DJ asks#djdangerlove#buddie canon costume spec!#this was fun#will I be right? or will i be so far of base?#I guess we'll have to wait and see!#911 on fox#buddie#911 costume spec#911onfox#911 fox#eddie diaz#evan buckley#buck
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Native Witch of Breath here, also been a Witch of Might and Witch of Void, though currently a Heir of Hope. I gotta say, I personally put a lot of stock in familiar theory! I just don't think it applies to every Witch in every session, and the was that cherub was doing it was pretty crazy.
It can be part of the progression of a cryptical class, I think. Witches can be hard to understand, so they in turn get something that's usually not even the same species, or thinks very differently to them, that *they* have to deal with not being able to understand. (Not sure if Mages have an equivalent? Maybe they do and it's just not as obvious.)
It also ties into the whole "Witches usually prototype something terrible" thing. Often the sprite actually is the familiar- a familiar doesn't need to stay with you the entire game, just long enough for the game to try and get the point across.
My first session, I prototyped my pet bird that died. It was a very touching reunion, but it was SO eager to leave, and I had to keep convincing it to stay, until I eventually realized that sprites leaving was part of the game, and that as a Breath player I shouldn't be restricting something's freedom anyway, even if it was to much of a birdbrain to really explain itself.
In the session I was a Witch of Might, it was admittedly a little more metaphorical. I was going out of my skull trying to understand the "Might is water" thing, and so I took the glitch FAQ's advice, and went to stare at an ocean.
And then after doing that for an hour I lost it because I was under a lot of stress in general and this was the last straw and blew up the beach (bombkind FTW). But after I was done, I saw all the water, pooling in the craters I left, flowing together to join the whole, and suddenly something clicked. After that point, it was really hard to conceptualize water as NOT being alive, an ever-present being in the vapor around me, that I had to learn how to ask for help. Like how the water could only pool once I made the craters for it, I needed to figure out that same kinda stuff for other situations.
...And than as the Witch of Void, I didn't have one. Which, I guess makes sense, but I HAVE heard of Void Witches that do have a familiar, so whatever.
So yeah, I guess I don't have any solid proof here, I get that any of these things could have happened to any player- but my point is, it's how Witches RELATE to these things, that's different. Every player has a sprite that leaves them, but a Witch may find that it's oddly related to their aspect. Every player has to figure out their aspect and listen to it's whisperings, but as a Witch I practically saw it as another player in it's own right. And then sometimes maybe it just doesn't happen, I dunno.
Finally, I think this is a stretch, but it might even be part of why Witches get that weird crazy boost to gardening? Plants are also living things that are different from you, so a plant could be your familiar, and it would be bad if it died or never got planted before it could fulfill it's role?
Very interesting. Or because you discussed plants, intreesting.
If I'm interpreting this correctly, it seems like Familiar Theory doesn't relate to an actual game construct, so much as it refers to a sort of (para)psychological event, not unlike the Third Man Factor. It's not that Witch players somehow gain access to special pets when that's normally impossible, it's that the cryptical nature of Witches is isolating, being deliberately obtuse and interacting with the game in such a manner that no other player could relate to the Witch even if it wasn't mechanically penalized. So the Witch, in a way, conceptualizes a companion or other meaningful relationship who they can relate to (alleviating the isolation) and who communicates with them or otherwise imparts meaning in an obtuse, nonobvious, or cryptic manner (acting as a Witch to the Witch, as you said, or perhaps being a Class-analogue of the normally Aspect-oriented Whispers).
If anything, this seems somewhat comparable to the various SBURB mental disorders. Not to imply that you're a repeated sufferer of mental delusions, mind, only that it's a special psychological phenomenon that could only really be understood in the context of SBURB. Not to mention that the mental disorders are all deleterious in nature (hence "disorder"), while Familiar Theory seems mostly positive.
Emphasis on mostly, because as we know the Cherub Witch of Hope is off her rocker. With all of this in mind though, I wonder if it's possible to "diagnose" her, in a way. She called her brother "a beast to be tamed", said that "controlling him was [her] only hope", and that he was her "reward" for making it through the session. She's not currently a Witch of Hope, I think, that's her Native Title and I don't know what she is currently (her brother's Native Title is unknown but he's currently a Mage of Rage). A fair amount of this boils down to her believing that her brother is innately evil or destructive (even though he seems pretty pleasant), but how much of this relates to Familiar Theory? "Reward" implies a certain amount of possessiveness, less like she's the student and he's the teacher, more like she's the owner and he's the pet. As far as "Familiar Theory as the Third Man Factor" goes, SBURB is already stressful, and a duo session would be doubly stressful at least. Especially because only one "side" is active at a time, halving the rate at which progress is made, and depriving an already loney Witch of anyone she could possibly talk to. I think I have two theories now.
Theory #1 is that she underwent a sort of stress meltdown in her first session, and underwent "Familiar Theory" towards her brother as a coping mechanism. She ascribes negative intention to him, and felt like she was their only chance at survival, with him as a malicious millstone. As an active harbinger of complexification, wielding rejection, she began putting up a facade of saccharine disposition, and adopted a drive to sublimate her alter ego. A strengthening of willpower that let her fully embody active Hope, pushing against the odds and rejecting any undesired outcomes, including those of an unsuccessful session, and her brother achieving dominance (or equilibrium). Of course, abusers derive power from mistreating others, so she isn't letting her "Familiar" go unless she can be forced to. This theory accounts for everything, of course. His needing to be tamed (malicious intentions ascribed), controlling him is her only hope (internalizing rejection), her reward (someone she has power over), and the material conditions for a Witch to seek a Familiar.
Theory #2, of course, is that she isn't even understanding Familiar Theory correctly, and is instead interpreting it uber-literally. This theory accounts for her being a skeevy weirdo with a loose grip on reality, because she is the Cherub Pet Gal.
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Hey there! I know you're busy but do you have any general thoughts on Kaimeramon as a plot device and "character"? I'm such a sucker for that big slab of nightmare fuel.
I think I can write something real quick!
Firstly, Chimeramon is the Kaiser's last attempt at making a "perfect partner" for himself, on the grounds that he refuses to acknowledge Wormmon as his partner. This last part is interesting because it's completely unnecessary if all Ken wanted was to take over the Digital World with strong Digimon; he's got Evil Spirals, he's got tons of resources, he's got entire armies. He could have created Chimeramon as just a "powerful Digimon", but no, he needs a partner, and not only that, he needs to make it clear that his new partner is "worthy" of him, and he also wants to make sure Wormmon witnesses this. Consider: if Ken really wanted Wormmon to shut up and stop annoying him, he could have put an Evil Ring on Wormmon and called it a day, but no, he's deliberately letting Wormmon cling to him and doing very little to shoo him away. Considering the Adventure universe metaphor that a Digimon partner is equivalent to one's own heart, Ken's insistence on basically "proving" to Wormmon that he's not his partner is Ken trying to insist he's not "weak" like he perceives Wormmon (and himself) to be. He can't bring himself to reject his true self as much as he wants to, so he resorts to this kind of desperation hoping he can deny it and make a statement.
It's already a meme that the Kaiser basically pulled an "original Digimon do not steal", but really, the lack of creativity is the point. He's trying to fill a void, and he does so by stealing someone else's partner (Agumon) before mishmashing all the strongest things he could find into one Digimon that only ends up as a mindless husk he can't control (just as he also loses control of himself the deeper and deeper into self-denial he gets).
The second point is that, well, it's generally very common as a trope to portray something that's a forcible mish-mash of things as an abomination (you can ask your nearest Fullmetal Alchemist fan about this if you like). Generally speaking, things forced together without consent -- basically toying with others' lives and "playing god" -- are distinguished from things that come from mutual understanding. Chimeramon is on the same line as Kurata dissecting Digimon corpses and using them for the Bio-Hybrids or Forced DigiXros, compared to things like Takato creatively making a Digimon because he wanted a friend (instead of trying to play god, and when he does in episode 34 it ends very badly), the more symbiotic relationship between the Frontier kids and their Spirits or Suguru and BanchouLeomon, mutual consent DigiXros, and, most importantly to 02's narrative, Jogress. The Kaiser slapped Chimeramon together because he was trying to fill a void -- he needs to have something he can call a “partner” -- but satisfy his inferiority complex at the same time, resulting in a questionably ethical method (even if not as far as mining data from corpses like Kurata) and an empty husk, but the only way to really embrace that void was to accept himself and to form a healthier relationship with a true friend (Daisuke). Also, compare it to Oikawa's creation of Archnemon and Mummymon by combining his human genes with Digimon data; it's a borderline case in that he had a certain degree of creative spirit like Takato later had, and it's implied that project could have led to something more ethical had it been carried out with more altruistic motives, but it was "tainted" by his fall into despair and his desperation to similarly fill the void, resulting in him stringing Archnemon and Mummymon like his minions and delaying his meeting with his actual partner even further.
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