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thetomorrowshow · 1 year

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mirrors

empires superpowers au

another esh au for ya :) this story takes place about 4 months after the end of ‘poisoned rats’.

cw: poor self-image, scars, past abuse

Jimmy shouldn’t look at the mirror for too long.

He knows this. He knows that he has bad mirror days, and that mirrors are always risky anyways, but this morning he gets out of the shower and just stares at himself.

He’s horrendous.

From the electrical burn down his side and inner thighs to the neat letters across his chest that read Property of Xornoth, every part of his body is horrible. He finds each iteration of the word Pet, each place where skin was grafted, each slash of a knife. If he cranes his neck around, he can see in his peripheral the blurry image of whip marks that criss-cross his back, the last few letters of the curious little bird scars.

And as Jimmy stares at the marks, eyes boring into the place on his stomach where PET is spelled out in big letters, he can’t help but feel the world tilt a little.

He’s a pet. He’s a bad pet. He left his master and tried to live a life like a normal person, but he can never be normal. He’s never been normal. He needs a master, he needs his master.

His master—Xornoth is dead, Jimmy tells himself firmly. He’s not—he’s not a pet. He’s Scott’s boyfriend, and he’s his own person, and. . . .

Pet. Property of Xornoth. It hurts. It hurts Jimmy’s head to look at, feeling wrong and right all at once. He’s a pet. He’s—he’s Jimmy. The Canary. No. Not the Canary. Solidarity. No, just Jimmy. Well, Solidarity in emergencies.

Solidarity happens sometimes. If he’s Solidarity sometimes, that means he’s not Jimmy all of the time. He’s Jimmy sometimes. He’s a pet sometimes. He doesn’t—he needs—

“Jimmy?”

Pet. Curious little bird. Mine. Pet. Property of Xornoth. Pet.

There’s a knock on the bathroom door. Jimmy jolts for a second, takes in his surroundings. He’s—he’s . . . pet. Property of Xornoth. Pet.

“I’m coming in, I need to brush . . . Jimmy?”

Jimmy doesn’t quite manage to tear his eyes away from the mirror, where they’re fixated on his scars. He swallows around the lump in his throat and one hand comes up from where it rests at his side, lightly tracing the three letters on his stomach.

“Okay, we’re not going to do that today,” someone grunts, and then Jimmy’s being gently pivoted until the mirror is totally out of his view and he’s—

He’s in the hallway of his house. His house he has with Scott. Scott’s beside him, has just walked him out here.

His eyes fall down to his stomach, to the skin graft scar just above his knee and the letters above the other one—the burn down his side and the letters down his front—

Then he’s hit in the face with something soft and he automatically puts his hands out to catch it, finding a shirt. Sweatpants hit him a moment later.

“As much as I enjoy the view, you’ll feel better with clothes on,” Scott tells him, and Jimmy knows he’s right. He pulls the shirt (long-sleeved, bless Scott) over his head, then wriggles into the sweatpants, all in the middle of the hall while Scott brushes his teeth behind him.

It’s like a band has been removed from around his chest and he can begin to breathe again. Breathe he does, and the world tilts again and goes blurry for a second and he realizes just what had happened.

He groans, sinks down against the wall until he’s landed on the floor. Scott shoots him a sympathetic look, swishes and spits into the sink. “Doing better?”

“I’m tired now,” Jimmy grumbles. “I just got up. The shower woke me up, and now I’m tired again. This sucks.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” Scott says in between rinsing out his mouth. “This is the fourth time in two weeks, though. Should we pin the towel over the mirror again?”

A towel had been pinned over the mirror during the early days of Jimmy’s recovery. Seeing himself had launched him into a panic attack regularly, so discussions with his therapist had led to this suggestion. They’d removed the towel just a month ago.

“I guess.” Jimmy sighs loudly, scrubs at his eyes. “I thought I was getting better.”

“You know what Nora says. Recovery—”

“—isn’t linear, yeah, I know,” Jimmy finishes. He just wishes it was. “Two steps forward, one step back and all that. We sure that scar treatment isn’t an option?”

Scott hums, looking over at Jimmy from where he’s rubbing lotion into his face. “It might be, but you’d have to let a doctor examine the scars first. And I don’t think we’re there, yet.”

He’s right. Jimmy had had to be doped up to even tolerate a dentist appointment last month (which had led to a bad spiral of feeling like an animal taken to the vet). He hasn’t set foot in a hospital or doctor’s office since that first month after getting out, and that month had been a long blur of distress and additional trauma.

“If it helps, I love the way you look,” offers Scott, exiting the bathroom to sit on the floor beside Jimmy. “Scars or no, you are a snack.”

Jimmy snickers, shoves him playfully. “Thanks, but that wasn’t the problem today. It was just . . .” he gestures helplessly, “just the words. The whole . . . ownership feeling. It sucks.”

Scott’s quiet for a moment before murmuring, “I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Jimmy shrugs him off. “‘S just my brain being stupid. I don’t believe it—” doesn’t he?— “but it sucks. I’ll be okay, really.”

Scott doesn’t look too sure about that, but he gives Jimmy a quick peck on the lips and stands, stretches. “I’ve got to head out on patrol, but give me a call if you need anything, yeah?”

Jimmy nods—believably, he hopes. He stands as well, follows Scott back to the bedroom, sprawls out across the bed and watches Scott get dressed. He wolf-whistles loudly when Scott pulls off his nightshirt, showing off his defined abs, then even louder when he slowly strips his sweatpants off, waggling his eyebrows seductively.

“Woo! Major, you’re so dreamy!” Jimmy cheers in a high-pitched voice. Scott snorts in laughter, takes a few more moments to spin slowly, then gets back to actually getting ready for work.

“Love you!” he calls over his shoulder, securing his cape in place, as he leaves the bedroom.

“Hey!” Scott pokes his head back around the corner, a smirk playing on his lips. “Yes, love?”

Jimmy crosses his arms, sticks out his bottom lip. Scott knows what he’s done. It’s a crime. Jimmy should have him arrested.

He takes pity on Jimmy after a moment, swooping back in for a long kiss before sliding out of the room.

“Love you!” Jimmy shouts after him. He hears a kissing sound, then the front door slamming.

And he’s alone. Alone with the marks on his skin.

If Jimmy was stronger, actually recovering properly, he’d call his therapist, ask for an appointment sooner than Friday. But Jimmy’s not strong. He’s never been strong. He was easy to break, after all.

He traces the letters on his stomach, hidden by one thin layer of clothing. He’s not free yet. He may never be free.

#empires smp #empires smp fanfic #flower husbands #empires superpowers au #esh au #mas writes #011023 #well gosh darn dang if it ain't tuesday #i mean. i hope this queue function works and it posts on a tuesday #be a bit awkward if that didn't work out #i accidentally posted this for a split second actually #i deleted it asap #so if you saw it and then it disappeared and now you think ur going crazy #that's my bad #but anyways lmk what you think #love you guys!

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heynhay · 10 months

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and there's nothing i can do, not much i can change, so i give it up to you. i hope that's okay.

#LAUREL HELL PRESENT AND SPEAKING!!!!#klance #voltron #vld #what do you think the scene lore is here. i have something in my head but im not sure it came across so lmk im curious #sorry the caption is so long but yall really needed it all and SOME of you cant be trusted to listen to the mitski accompaniment... smh....#anyway trying to keep my wall of tags more brief so ciao cya later #art #my art #mitski

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emergingghost · 3 months

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julien baker live lyric changes masterpost

the many ways that julien changes her lyrics over time and seamlessly alters the lyrics and meanings of her songs to maintain a level of personal authenticity has become so fascinating to me and many others so i thought it'd be nice to do some research and compile as many as i can. enjoy! or cry! whichever!

the original lyrics are in parenthesis, changes are bolded, roughly in chronological order and i’ve added timestamped links to performances [x] where i can! i use mostly youtube because it's the most accessible. some of these seem to be permanent changes and others are just occasional, probably depending on how she's vibing with the song at the time (i'm assuming). let me know of any i’ve missed!

Rejoice: [x] [x] [x] pronoun change, does this lots! "i know there's a god and they hear either way" ("i think there's a god and he hears either way") [x] she uses the 'she' pronoun here this time! [x] she sings 'force' here and also in a version she performed pre-release "asking why did you let them leave and then force me to stay?" ("asking why did you let them leave and then make me stay?")

Good News: [x] [x] [x] these are not full lyric changes but rather some gut-wrenching repetition. side note she performs a cover of paul by big thief in the first clip here too! "it's less about you / it's all about how i ruin everything oh everything i do / everything i do / god i ruin everything oh everything / oh everything i think could be good news." ("it's less about you / it's more about how i ruin everything--- i think could be good news")

Distant Solar Systems: [x] pronoun change speaking of god, she also omits the second last verse. "I send postcards from the road and now and then she answers" ("and now and then he answers")

Turn Out the Lights: [x] [x] [x] this one hurts! a few times in late '18 and in '19 "maybe i'd do it but it's not a joke" ("i'd never do it but it's not a joke")

Sour Breath: [x] [x] another one that hurts!! "think all the liquors gonna keep me warm / burn everything down just to prove i could / leave you inside a body made of wood" ("think all the liquors gonna keep you warm / burn everything down just to prove you could / leave me inside a body made of wood") [x] audio only from 1:16 (same changes as above +) "i don't do too well when everyone's worried about me" ("i don't do too well when nobody's worried about me")

Appointments: [x] [x] [x] in lots of performances post-2018. she switches between using 'know' and 'think' occasionally “i know that i ruined this / but i think i can live with it / nothing turned out how pictured it ... i think that i failed again / but i know you’re still listening” ("i think if i ruin this / that i know i can live with it / nothing turns out like I pictured it ... i think if i fail again / then i know you’re still listening") [x] audio only - from 2:45 (same changes as above +) "i hope you're still listening" ("i know you're still listening")

Happy to Be Here: [x] tiny changes. not sure if she's done this more than once "different me would be inhabiting my body / have two cars, a garage, a dog..." ("different me would be inhabiting this body / have two cars, a garage, a job...")

Something: [x] [x] [x] [x] (she adds 'again' a lot, even since 2015) “asking aloud why you’re leaving again” (“asking aloud why you’re leaving--”) [x] (this was prior to release) "asking aloud why you're leaving again / i know you won't answer me" ("asking aloud why you're leaving --- / but the pavement won't answer me")

Red Door: [x] "beneath before you won't follow me down" ("beneath before you wont follow me there")

Shadowboxing: [x] [x audio only - from 3:09] "tell me that you love me / tell me you love me / i wanted so bad to believe you / so tell me you loved me / tell me you loved me / i wanted so bad to believe you" ) ("when you tell me you love me / tell me you loved me / i wanted so bad to believe it / so tell me you love me / tell me you loved me")

Ziptie: [x] [x] [x] [x] (side note the end of the second clip rules!!) “someone’s/somethings got my heart in a ziptie” (“someone’s got my head in a ziptie”)

Tokyo: [x] [x] [x audio only - from 1:30] in a few performances in 2022 “a seven-car pile-up of every disastrous thing that i am" (“a seven-car pile-up of every disastrous thing that i’ve been”) + also sings "accident" instead of "aftermath" in the audio clip

Relative Fiction: [x] [x] [x] [x] does this lots! "honey you're the only thing i'll wait around for" ("--you’re the only thing i’ll wait around for")

Highlight Reel: [x] [x audio only from 1:45 ] original chorus lyrics are 'you feel' but now in one chorus she sings 'to' and the other she sings 'you' "ooh it's a highlight reel / tell me how to feel" ("ooh it's a highlight reel / tell me how you feel")

Ringside: [x] [x] [x audio only from 3:50] two separate lyrics changes in these clips! "like a scratch-off ticket how i dig my nails into your skin" ("like a scratch-off ticket how you dig your nails into my skin")

(from final verse) “nobody deserves a second chance / so why do i keep getting them?” (“nobody deserves a second chance / but i keep giving them”) [x] [x] (from the second last verse) “nobody deserves a second chance / but somehow i keep fucking getting them” (“nobody deserves a second chance / but honey i keep getting them") Anti-Curse: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] she doesn't always change 'foreign characters' "writing the words to the best love song you've ever heard" ...“sounding out familiar characters” ("writing the words to the worst love song you've ever heard"...“sounding out the foreign characters”)

Favor: [x] [x] [x] [x] first change - changing to 'why?' in most live performances “why couldn’t you make me do it?” (“well you couldn’t make me do it”) [x] [x] new change from MSG in 2023! “how did you make me do it?” (“well you couldn’t make me do it”)

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Funeral Pyre: [x] this is just a funny thing i found on my hunt. the audience accidentally corrected her grammar, theyre singing along and sing "needed so badly" instead of the original "needed so bad" and everyone took a lil' moment to laugh. Funeral Pyre: allegedly. i just read about it somewhere so have no proof!! “while i drank gasoline 'cause it's what i needed so bad” (“while you drank gasoline 'cause it's what you needed so bad”) Shadowboxing: [x] she doesn't really change any lyrics significantly but repeats the final verse for emphasis.

Good News: [x] (i think an early/demo version but i cant find any other recordings/videos of this version!) "how i fuck up everything i think could be good news" ("how i ruin everything i think could be good news") Rejoice: [x] house show performance from 2015 before official release. a few different lyrics! "ask you why did you let them leave and then force me to stay?" ("asking why did you let them leave and then make me stay?") (final verse) "i rejoice anyway / i rejoice either way" ("i rejoice i rejoice / i rejoice i rejoice") Sour Breath: [x] she added a new mini verse repeating "the harder i swim" where there are usually just instrumentals or 'oohs.' then she continued with the original final "the harder i swim the faster i sink" verse.

Sour Breath: [x] house show performance from 2015 before official release. there's an entire additional verse where the repeated 'the harder i swim the fast i sink' usually is. proceed with caution. "...too late to talk just go to sleep been up too long and you've been drinkin' all night it's almost a week and you haven't said a word been thinkin' it isn't worth the tryin' it takes to fix everything you hate about me all that you wouldn't wanna see

the harder i swim, the faster i sink and all i ever wanted was to pull you down with me was to pull you down with me don't you wanna sink with me? don't you wanna drown with me? just let me pull you down..."

#julien baker #boygenius #lyrics #there are probably many more but the internet is infinite and this post would never see the light of day if i kept searching #some of these changes are so minor but i thought id add them anyway because i personally found them interesting #lmk what you think if u read this i know its loooong haha <3

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puppyeared · 1 year

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Once upon a time

#I want them to lose focus and have a consensual workplace relationship 🥺🥺#ALSO WHAT?. SEASON 4 DROP OUT OF NOWHERE WHAT? AND WE GET SHADOWPEACH BACKSTORY CRUNBS???#can’t get over macaque’s face in That photo. I know what you are #I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS FOR THEM THOUGH UGHHHGFDO #like I have the model sheet for macaque and it shows him with his six ears and it says only to draw the six ears if extreme closeup but i #can’t find a single screen cap in the show with his six ears #I’d like to think wukong would have been one of the first ppl he’d show them to if he always has his glamor on them. PLS IT WOULD BE SO CUTE #like the glamor comes off his scar and someone pointed out his tail switching between black and white and a theory he’s using glamor on his #fur too. but he never ever takes the glamor off his ears which I want to believe is more than just the crew not drawing ‘em #I’m gonna be honest I’m only gonna watch season 4 when dub comes out but. that’s not gonna stop me from peeping the tags since I don’t under #understand the subs anyway.#first shadowpeach art too let’s gooooo. im so normal about them (lying)#my art #myart #Lego monkie kid #lmk #monkie kid #lmk sun wukong #lmk macaque #six eared macaque #sun wukong #shadowpeach #lmk fanart #lmk wukong #lmk monkey king #lmk six eared macaque #lmk season 4 spoilers #lmk season 4 #lmk spoilers

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thepunkmuppet · 6 months

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I have spent so much time thinking about the miss holloway musical WHICH THEY HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN and I need to spill my thoughts about it

there is no point or end to this it’s just a brain fart of all the thoughts I’ve been having so enjoy I guess lmfao

“backstory”. it will be about her backstory. was she an 80’s music star who sold her mortal life for fame in a deal that backfired on her?? or was she a woman with the gift about to be hanged by the hatchet men who saved herself by making that same deal?? HOW FAR BACK DOES THIS GO IS WHAT IM ASKING WE KNOW FUCK ALL ABOUT THIS WOMAN

if it’s the former, I would love to maybe have mariah as casey (the girl with the gift in the witchwood who asked for her autograph) be an actual character who holloway maybe tries to help. also kim singing 80’s songs fuck yeah

and if it’s the latter then,,, oh wow. some heavy musical numbers, a shitload of hatchetmen / church of the starry children lore, and maybe another form of the lords in black (maybe the creepy hooded figures that we see drawn in the black book???)

also sorry EDIT I just looked at this picture again and the middle one (probably wiggly) is holding a knife. there’s no fucking way that’s not the black blade this is absolutely miss holloway guys omggggg

I would love to see this scene on stage with kim!!!! this would make 5 different forms of the LIB that we’ve seen / heard about (dolls, teens / humans, their true forms, wiggly in made in america, and whatever this is). I’m just imagining you see these black hooded figures, and then in the pro-shot you get a good look inside their hoods… and their faces are NOT human. like just imagine a massive purple eye staring out of one of those hoods, maybe even moving and blinking, a cool animatronic thing. SO CREEPY!! I also love the idea of switching up the actors again - I love jon so much as wiggly and I don’t think they would change him bc of his voice, but with the rest of them I think any actor can play a LIB which opens up so many possibilities…

I also would love to know how miss holloway met duke, and potentially even how many times they have met and then he had to forget her. considering the fact that we now have weird lore about his dad in 2005, did she know duke when he was younger?? did she help him out when he was a teenager, or help his dad?? is it a family thing, like she’s vowed to watch over the keane family or something??

duke’s dad is a big part of this tbh, because what a random insane lore / backstory drop, like WHAT? I genuinely have no idea what douglas keane sr’s murder could be about, except that it ties in to duke and to wilbur. and shows that 2005 is SO DAMN IMPORTANT

2005 was the year hannah was born, the year the portal to the black and white was created, the year wilbur cross went insane and became a disciple of the LIB, the year miss holloway took on the mantle of “miss holloway”, and (very likely) the year miss holloway and wilbur fought. so i think it’s safe to say that the musical itself will be set in 2005, which to me means macnamara and wilbur backstory alongside holloway and duke, which is very very fun

I like the idea that wilbur and macnamara were canonically together, and I really want to see pre-LIB wilbur. I also love the idea of macnamara and holloway working together or even becoming friends - despite being set a decade and a half before nightmare time, it would feel like the culmination of the two hanging plot threads / overarching arcs to me. also the idea that it was holloway who introduced macnamara to the paranormal and therefore essentially set up PEIP and doomed wiley is some juicy stuff that I would LOVE to see, especially if either macnamara or wiley lived in hatchetfield as kids and miss holloway helped them, inspiring whichever one of them to set up PEIP

ok so leading off of that I have a clear vision of a potential final scene that is driving me insane, and that’s the main reason why I patched together this post.

the final scene is the fight between miss holloway and wilbur, the one that happens in every single timeline.

and the basic idea is that we see both fights at once. there’s a song, and the stage is like black friday and spies are forever, with a level above the stage the actors can walk up to and stand on. joey and kim sing, and do their bit on the stage, but above the stage there are either doubles or a projection, mirroring the choreography. only in the pro-shot version, they would splice in joey and kim playing both pairs, which I just think would turn out looking really awesome despite being tricky to pull off live.

and yeah basically at the exact same time, one wilbur stabs holloway, and the other holloway stabs wilbur, creating a gorgeous visual representation of the newly splintered timelines.

either that or they do a trail to oregon and just do a different ending each night, and then splice them together in the pro-shot like I was saying. but I personally prefer the first one, if they’re able to pull it off and make it look good

and duke shows up just after that, having followed miss holloway throughout the story so far. and in the universe where wilbur’s dead, miss holloway makes him forget it all, hence this being the year that she takes on the new name and the fact that we know he has forgotten about her / her true past before. and then in the universe where holloway is dead, he holds her as she dies in his arms. bonus points if we get dying holloway saying “please don’t forget me” and living holloway saying “you have to forget me”. oh and just to be cruel, both dukes saying “I could never forget you” at the same time :) stew on that for a bit. yeah. fuck you I guess lol I woke up and chose violence today apparently

the idea of the two of them finding each other again after that in some timelines is just gorgeous to me, especially given the fact that NMT3 seems to suggest them finding each other AGAIN after she needs to make him forget. truly star crossed lovers they are so insane for this

in summary I guess what I’m trying to say is I think it will include miss holloway’s full backstory and then be mostly set in 2005, and centre around the opening of the black and white portal (macnamara and wilbur), miss holloway meeting duke (wilbur murdering duke’s dad, possibly something with lex and hannah if duke was already a social worker) and eventually the big fight between holloway and wilbur, ending in the audience seeing both potential endings. also obviously a reference to hannah’s birth because that seemed to be some kind of catalyst. thank you for coming to my utterly deranged ted talk goodbye

#anyway yeah that’s my two cents lmk what you think please please please!!!!#the idea of the holloway musical is keeping me up at night it’s literally all I can think about #miss holloway #duke keane #douglas keane #wilbur cross #uncle wiley #general macnamara #general john macnamara #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #hatchetfield universe #lords in black #nightmare time #nmt #starkid #team starkid #starkid productions

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tubbytarchia · 1 month

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I was speedrunning traffic/hermit merch ideas because I really wanna be a vendor this summer so uhh would you guys buy these lol

Edit: BEANS ALSO. THE SQUISHY COTTON BEANS BUT WITH LIKE. Bdubs' or Scar's face (they have the most marketable faces idk what to tell you)

Edit again: made another post about shipping (as in, parcels)

#no pressure to actually respond lmao dw about it but please do lmk if you think theyre not good ideas!!#Not very happy with half of the sketches for the “chained keychains” but whatever its just a concept for now anyway!!#wtf do I even tag this #tubby art #I guess #The Scar is my favorite I really like him #I guess its difficult to fuck up the charm of that smirk lmao #ofc Im only doing whats within the budget also!! Im not gonna do a fuck ton of merch like this. Probably. We'll see

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gomzdrawfr · 8 months

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alrighty....angst Ghoap comic ahead, you've been warned :]

cw: angst, depiction of mental health (spiraling and breaking down)

ଘ(੭ ᐛ )━⁺˚⋆｡°✩ reblogs are appreciated

Enough

:3c notes below (feel free to skip)

#gummmyart #doodle #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghoap #ghost x soap #call of duty fanart #call of duty #soap x ghost #this is gonna be one of the last few major project i can work on #bcuz i gotto prep for uni finals #anyways :D #i hope you enjoy this! *pass tissue paper*#lmk what you think :3

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imminent-danger-came · 9 months

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So, this parallel, right.

That parallel and the 4x11 shadowpeach fight as a whole:

Macaque: "No that's YOU! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power, more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while were were ahead! Not the great sage, he's got to drag EVERYONE else into his mess!" Sun Wukong: "You're not in this mess, you're still free! Everything I did was for us!" Macaque: "You did it for yourself! You've become like this, obsessive demon! I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no, Wukong doesn't listen to anyone! He just does whatever he wants! You put yourself here, not me."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

A large part of Wukong's motivation to keep getting more power was the freedom of it—the more power you have the easier it is to do whatever you want. It's easier to ignore everyone else and focus solely on yourself. It's also easier to ensure yourself and your loved one's are protected and have the ability to do what they want.

So, a punishment where the great Monkey King is imprisoned and trapped for hundreds of years? It's effective and tragic and fitting. Wukong wanted to have the freedom to protect the people he cared about, and in trying to reach for the power to do that, he completely had his freedom removed. He went from the mountain, to then the circlet, and then all of a sudden he had morals and was bound to those.

And then I think about his end of s3 choice to go face the Lady Bone Demon alone. Once again Wukong was trying to protect his loved ones (not to mention the whole reason he went after the Samadhi fire to begin with was to have the power, the freedom to stop LBD (which in itself is another case of SWK believing he needed to be stronger for such freedom)), but he also wanted to make sure MK and himself both had agency. He didn't want MK to have to fight LBD, and he didn't want LBD to end the world.

This is exactly the sentiment he tells Macaque in the 4x11 flashback:

Sun Wukong: "It's so we don't have to worry about anything or anyone ever again! Just living a lazy life, sitting in the sun, eatin' fruit, and doing whatever we want!"

But where does it all lead him?

To possession, imprisonment. Once again Wukong no longer had the freedom to do what he wanted (which is to protect the people he cares about). Once again in his attempts to help his loved one's, he only hurt them.

This can be applied to his relationship with Macaque, to MK in s2, hell, even Wukong trying to get the map in the first place left him powerless, which then led to him and the gang being imprisoned in 3x02. It's a familiar pattern, one we see with antagonist and protagonist alike.

MK in s2 trained to become more powerful, which in the end only strengthened LBD and forced him and his friends on the run. Mei in 3x12 protects MK by letting herself get captured and placed into LBD's crystal. Mei in 4x05 goes to protect MK, breaking her sword and leaving her vulnerable to being captured by Kui Mulang ("How am I supposed to protect everyone without my sword?"). DBK reached for more power and then became possessed by LBD, hurting his wife and son. Azure reached for the Jade Emperor's power and bound himself to that role, jeopardizing Peng and Yellowtusk in the process.

It's a cycle of reaching for power, endangering others, and then being imprisoned.

So anyways, here's why MK is going to lose control (his agency) next season and hurt his friends with his own- *get's shot*

#*cough cough* shut up this isn't similar to Callum and Viren from tdp at all.#Ignore everything I said about the reach for power to have freedom and that leading to consequences. Shhhhhhh #anyways GOSH HMMM THE CHARACTER ARCS YAY #I LOVE WHEN THEMATICALLY RELEVANT THINGS HAPPEN TO CHARACTERS #Like. It's not just ''Wukong got possessed'' it's how Wukong getting possessed plays into his character and the show as a whole #Which is why lmk is so good #A league above the rest #Ignore that this is also the exact same thing that happens to Callum with possession. Shhhhh.#But y'all get my point #So anyways in reaching for power and having the agency to protect those you care about #And continuing Mei and SWK parallels #I think it would be neat if Mei accepted the Samadhi fire again to protect her friends for whatever reason #It'd also be neat if she did it specifically to fight MK/get him back #Like teehee that would be so cool #Am I saying MK next season might very well parallel possessed Wukong? yes that's exactly what I'm saying.#lmk SWK #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk analysis #you know what executive decision tag #hero mei warrior mk

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ninjasmudge · 1 year

Video

started off as a joke bc hes a lion and then concocted a whole narrative in my head so. oops this is no longer a joke.

i think the second half is way better than the first bc im figuring stuff out as i go, and this is platonic i just like all these mfs a lot 🎺

#the second half is better than the first which is typical. anyway i found out actual edits are more difficult than little ho edits #lego monkie kid spoilers #lego monkie kid #monkie kid spoilers #lmk s4 spoilers #monkie kid #lmk azure lion #azure lion #hes my babygirl and i can make all the dumb edits i want #anyway i tried with timings and i think i hit a lot of them but not all dfgfdshdfshgj you get what you get #mk #mk video #my stuff #lmk #i have so many thoughts abt things

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thetomorrowshow · 1 year

Text

hubris killed the god - ch 2

first chapter

sorry this one took so long folks! while i’m on my tumblr break i’m only uploading once a month, and this fic got pushed back farther than i would’ve liked.

cw: talk of death, illness/plague, implied animal death, religious setting

Scott tries to sleep. He really does.

But every time he closes his eyes, all he can see is a darkness more sinister than what he knows lies in Sanctuary.

Every couple of minutes, he can’t stand it—he opens his eyes, sits up, and scans the dark room.

Every time, there’s nothing there. He’s safe.

But it’s terrifying, lying alone, alone the way he was for the past weeks in his house as the plague closed in around him.

Eventually, Scott can’t handle it any longer. He slips out of bed and into his boots, wrapping the soft spare blanket (a fluffy tan thing that he’d found under the bed) around his shoulders like a cloak.

Scott eases his bedroom door open, slowly and carefully to avoid any squeaking that might wake someone. He’d heard several people pass by earlier as he prepared for bed, so he knows he isn’t alone on the floor.

He sneaks out and down the stairs, wincing at every creak his boots make against the wooden steps. There’s nobody in the public section of the inn, all candles blown out and leaving the room eerily silent in its emptiness.

He chooses not to stay. The dim light of the stars, the wind in the trees, the sounds of animals—all a much preferable peace to this. And there’s a cool breeze, a fresh scent on the air, and the distant shadowy figure of someone standing by a campfire at the edge of town past the church.

Scott doesn’t approach them—he’s sure it’s one of his friends, out keeping watch, but he’s afraid that going over there will bring him into sight of the mites, and thereby set him up for a sleepless night.

Instead, he turns to the church.

The foyer is silent, the blankets and pillows in the corner abandoned. There’s still a lamp burning, though, which gives Scott hope that someone might be here, if not awake.

He pushes open the door to the chapel and steps inside.

Sure enough, beyond the rows of simple pews, setting up a candle at the altar at the front is Sausage.

Sausage turns at the noise, his face breaking into a smile as he sees Scott. He abandons what he’s doing, strides down the aisle.

“Scott! You’re here, I’m so happy you’re here!”

Sausage wraps Scott in a big, warm hug, and Scott just melts into it, gripping Sausage as tightly as he can. Sausage smells just as he always does, a bit smokey mixed with some sort of incense, and it’s more comforting than anything else he’s been through today.

“I’m really glad you’re safe,” Sausage says, drawing back to examine him. He frowns. “Te ves consado, Scott. Haven’t you slept?”

“Not really,” Scott admits, drawing his blanket closer around himself. He doesn’t want to talk about his lack of sleep, though, instead gesturing toward the stand. “Are you . . . lighting a candle?”

Sausage perks up. “Oh, yes! I do most of my worship at night lately—Santa Perla is strongest then, you see!” He takes Scott gently by the elbow, leading him up to the front of the chapel. There on the altar is, indeed, a plain unlit candle, flint n’ steel beside it.

“I didn’t know candles were involved in your religion,” Scott says curiously. He’s sat in on a few worship sessions and a sermon or two, more out of support for his friend than any real interest, and in all his recollections he can’t picture a candle anywhere in the service.

“They aren’t,” Sausage says. He kneels there, in the same spot as earlier, and strikes up the flint n’ steel. Carefully, he lights the wick of the candle, coaxing a flame to life. Scott waits in silence, watches as Sausage raises his eyes to the image of Saint Pearl, mouth moving soundlessly in prayer.

“I saw it in a vision,” he says eventually, when his prayer is finished. “A friend, I think. Someone who helped the dead pass on by lighting them a candle. And I figured, well, it can’t hurt to give them a helping hand! That’s what we’re all about here in Sanctuary.”

Sausage reaches under the altar into the compartment there, where he retrieves a second candle. “The first one is for Joel,” he says. “This one is for my people who have passed on.”

Again, Scott waits patiently as Sausage lights it and prays over it, quiet until Sausage begins to stand.

“Do you believe in it?”

Sausage shrugs. “I believe in Santa Perla,” he offers, eyes flicking up. “And I believe if she wishes this to be one of her many ways of helping, then she will accept my offerings. And if it doesn’t actually help them?” he shrugs again. “At least it’s something to remember them by.”

Scott thinks about that for a moment. It’s . . . it’s really a beautiful sentiment. Whether he believes that the flame is genuinely helping to light their path to the afterlife, or whether it just represents their life here on earth, it’s something that he likes. Neither explanation is less spiritual, less meaningful.

“Do you have a third?” he asks quietly, and when Sausage nods, he kneels in Sausage’s place and lights a candle for his llamas. He stares into the flickering flame as Sausage murmurs a prayer over the candle, imploring his saint to ensure the safety of those passed, if she is able.

“Do you mind if I just. . . .” Scott gestures to the pews when the ritual is done, pulling his blanket a little tighter around himself.

Sausage nods. “Oh, go right ahead! There’s a little room off to the side where there’s a bed, if you want, but it’s fine if you stay in here! There’s always blankets and pillows somewhere!” Scott turns to go, but Sausage catches his shoulder. “If you hear little footsteps in the morning, don’t worry about it,” he says, eyes twinkling a little. “That’s just Hermes running in to relight his daddy’s candle. Don’t let it wake you!”

Scott realizes, for a millisecond, the absolute magnitude of being a child in this apocalypse.

And then he moves on.

Scott does wander for a moment, finding the room spoken of, but he decides fairly quickly that he would rather stay in the chapel with Sausage, where the lamps are low but lit and there’s a person awake to make sure all is well.

He grabs the pillow and another blanket from the foyer, drapes them across one of the pews sort of midway between the doors and the stand. He spares a quick prayer of thanks to Saint Pearl (which consists of “Hi Pearl, thanks for Sausage making these pews cushioned, amen.”), then lays down with the blanket from his room draped over him.

With the mutterings of Sausage’s worship and the slight spicy smell of incense and the warm, soft glow, Scott falls asleep easily.

It’s only two days later that they’re gearing up to rescue Katherine.

In those two days, Scott’s learned a lot—fWhip walks him around the invisible perimeter, warning him that if he ever crosses it, he’s no longer protected by Sanctuary’s magic. Which is stressful to hear, especially considering the marking is less of a fence and more of a slat of wood sticking up in the dirt every couple of feet, but fWhip assures him that he won’t be on watch by himself for a while.

Scott has his first watch with Gem, and together they keep an eye out until midnight, when Jimmy relieves them and Scott returns to the church to sleep in the cozy warmth of Sausage’s presence.

He at first wonders why they patrol at all, but Jimmy explains that the noise of their footsteps keeps the mites from attempting to get through the perimeter. There are also various times set apart during the day to patrol, make sure that everything is in order.

Sausage sleeps during the day, so Scott’s careful to be quiet when he finds himself in the church foyer. His companions don’t seem to take the same care, though, particularly fWhip and Gem, and Scott finds himself staring at them frequently, recalling the ominous note he’d found in his room.

The group meets at mealtimes, where they share food either in the foyer of the church, or at the outpost (just a campfire with some logs around it not far from the church), seemingly interchangeably. It’s then that Jimmy will ask someone to get in a patrol before the next meal, or ask about certain capabilities that might help in a rescue. It’s during breakfast in the foyer that Jimmy announces his plans for rescuing Katherine.

“I’m thinking a team of me, False, and Gem,” Jimmy says that morning, just two days after Scott’s arrival. Jimmy nods toward Scott when he looks up.

“Scott, if you want to see how these sorts of things go, you could tag along. fWhip knows how to run the place, I just figured he shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

Which is something that really irks Scott, because why would fWhip be running Sanctuary in the first place? Sure, Sausage sleeps for a good part of the day, but it’s still his land.

Scott opens his mouth to say something about how he wants to go, then reconsiders. It’ll just be him and fWhip and Sausage out of the main group here. Maybe he can do some investigating, sneak into people’s rooms. After all, the note from behind his mirror is still nagging at him.

And maybe it’s selfish, or cowardly, but he really doesn’t want to go out into the world so soon after being saved from it. Seeing the masses of mites that wait just outside Sanctuary’s safety seems like something that he isn’t prepared for. He can only imagine how embarrassing it would be to have a panic attack in front of the rest of the party, when he’s meant to be proving he's worth keeping around.

“I’ll stay back,” he says. “I can do some patrolling, keep learning my way around.”

Jimmy nods, then continues laying out the plan.

The next day, very early in the morning, the three set off on False’s airship for Glimmer Grove. Scott waves to them, even though no one looks back.

And then he gets to work.

It isn’t hard at all to shake fWhip off, seeing as fWhip heads out almost instantly for a patrol. So Scott, claiming he’s tired and going to take a nap (he is tired, the pews are less comfortable the longer one lies on them and it’s taking him longer and longer to fall asleep), heads into the inn, ready to break into his companions’ rooms.

Which isn’t hard. None of them were given keys, apparently, and only lock the doors from the inside. Not that any of them have any valuables, but Scott has taken to carrying his coat and fedora with him everywhere, just in case of a robber.

He checks Gem’s room first, sliding in and easing the door shut behind him near-silently. Gem’s room is decorated in mostly orange hues, a soft orange rug beside the bed, an auburn duvet spread across the bed. It’s nice, home-y almost, but he doesn’t have time to focus on it.

He makes quick work of going through the wardrobe—there isn’t much but a few changes of clothes—and a random boot thrown in at the bottom.

The boot doesn’t match any that he’s ever seen her wear, strangely enough. Scott tugs it out, turns it every which way. It looks like something Katherine made, and sure enough, the sole of it has two imprinted ‘G’s curling around each other in her familiar logo.

None of that is too strange. What’s strange is that it’s not made out of the typical supple leather. This boot is stiff and rubbery, made for walking through mud and puddles without getting the foot wet.

He searches through the rest of the room, ducking down to check under the bed. There’s no match.

Why on earth would Gem have a specially-made boot for traveling through mud and marshes, when she lives in a perfectly dry part of the world and would have no practical use for it? And only one?

And Scott doesn’t know the sizes of his friends’ feet, but this looks a little small. Is it too small for Gem? If it was crafted by Katherine, wouldn’t it be made to fit?

He realizes with a start that he’s been pondering the boot for at least ten minutes. He tosses it back into the bottom of the wardrobe, draws the doors closed, and leaves. There’s nothing else to look at. Time to move on.

Jimmy’s room is the next down, and it’s a decent bit larger than either his or Gem’s. The past few days have made it fairly clear that Jimmy’s the leader of their ragtag group, but Scott would bet that the room size is less Jimmy throwing his weight around and more like first come, first served. Still, he can’t help but feel a bit miffed when he notices that Jimmy’s bed is nearly double the size of his own.

There’s no rug in Jimmy’s room, but his bed has plain white sheets and a grey comforter. Jimmy has a wardrobe and a set of drawers, which Scott finds aren’t empty—there’s several papers in the top drawer, mostly maps and half-baked rescue plans. There’s one big, thin book (an art book, by the looks of it) atop the dresser drawers, a couple of sheets of paper and a pencil atop that. The rest of the drawers are empty.

A couple of shirts and an extra pair of jeans are hanging in the wardrobe. Scott feels around the top shelf (he’s too short to properly see it; Jimmy’s wardrobe is taller than his) and finds two items.

The first is a well-polished badge, ‘Deputy Norman’ inscribed in the middle. Scott puts that back, grabs the second.

This is a huge circlet of dull gold, a laurel crown that Scott recognizes immediately.

Joel.

He hadn’t thought that there must have been a period of time during which Joel had been a part of the surviving rulers group. A time when he joked with them, went on rescue missions, stood guard.

Scott remembers the way Jimmy had looked away, face drawn, when he said that hubris had killed Joel.

He wonders how risky it must’ve been for Jimmy to take his crown after whatever had happened to take him down. He can imagine the god’s giant body, swarmed with mites. And Jimmy had gone for it anyway, just to keep a piece of Joel with them.

Or maybe it hadn’t been like that. Maybe Joel had died slowly, in Sanctuary, succumbing to the plague little by little. Maybe Jimmy keeps hold of the crown as a reminder of what they’ve lost, and how careful they need to be.

Whatever the reason, Scott slides it back into place on the shelf, closing the wardrobe doors on it. He doesn’t need to dwell on death. He doesn’t have time.

fWhip’s room is next, and Scott is considerably more cautious with this one. fWhip usually spends the day in the church, using it as a hub of sorts so that if anyone needs help, there’s someone right there, but there’s every possibility that he might need something from his room.

fWhip has just the one change of clothes (and Scott remembers him mentioning it, talking about how he’s a generally strange size and has been having to take in spare Sanctuary clothing in his spare time) in his wardrobe, but the only really notable thing in his blue-themed room is the rocks.

There are rocks piled up in the wardrobe, so precariously that Scott thinks if he even touches one all the rest will fall down. Most of them are run-of-the-mill pebbles and chunks of brick, a couple bearing the distinctive craggly features of dripstone.

Under the bed is a bit of a different story, because fWhip appears to have stripped his bed of the covers and pillows and built a bed underneath the frame, pillows neat and blankets folded. A couple of geodes and cooler-shaped rocks surround the space (which Scott would normally think of as a nest, but it’s far too organized for that).

He hasn’t really found the move from Chromia to Sanctuary to be too difficult to handle—maybe that’s because he’s a traveler by nature, or maybe that’s just because he’s been putting off processing the traumatizing events of what’s gone on. And sure, he’s been hunkering down every night in the chapel, lulled to sleep by Sausage’s murmured prayers, but overall he doesn’t feel too homesick.

fWhip must be a different story. The guy hides it well, but he must miss the caves of Gobland more than he gives away.

Scott doesn’t disturb the bedding, not wanting to give away that he’d been snooping, but he catches sight of something . . . out of place. A rag, by itself, beside the rocks of the bed. A rag that looks like it’s crusted-over with a reddish-brown.

With blood.

Scott doesn’t touch it, of course. He’s not an idiot.

“Okay. Okay. Blood. That’s fine,” he mutters to himself, more to keep his stomach steady than anything else. He really doesn’t want to investigate further, so he crawls out from underneath the bed and heads to the next room.

Two doors down is the next one that’s occupied, and Scott stands in the doorway for a long moment.

This is Shelby’s room. The oversized witch’s hat on the bed makes that clear.

Scott’s careful in his perusal of her room, some irrational part of him telling him that Shelby’s spirit is haunting the room, ready to attack if he breaks anything. Not that there’s much to break, really.

Instead of a wardrobe, Shelby has a set of drawers, and Scott opens each one. The top drawer has a couple of potion bottles, two full of shimmering liquid and one empty. Beside those is a bundle of dried netherwart, some loose golden powder making a fine silt at the bottom of the drawer.

The middle drawer is clothes. Scott hadn’t been terribly close with any of the rulers, but Shelby had been one of those he considered a friend. Opening the drawer of clothes also unleashes a familiar scent, the smokey smell common of brewing businesses intermingling with a sweet melon that is so very representative of Shelby that Scott almost instantly shuts the drawer again. He can’t handle whatever emotions are tied to that.

The bottom drawer is empty. The bed is made, purple duvet a little wrinkled where the hat lies on it. Beside the bed is a congealed, drying-out bucket of slime.

Scott exits quickly, moving on to the last room in the hallway, which must belong to False.

That door is locked.

Scott twists the doorknob this way and that, jiggling it to make sure it isn’t just stuck. No, it’s well and truly locked, which Scott can’t help but find inordinately strange—nobody else even has a key. Why does False have one, when no one else does?

He bends down, peers through the keyhole—he can’t see anything. He adjusts positions, switches eyes. Even his magical eye sees nothing.

There’s something placed over the keyhole to make it impossible to peek in.

Scott leans back, chews on his lip. There has to be a way into that room, right?

The window.

Scott jogs down the hallway then the stairs, taking them two at a time. He makes a note of which side of the building False’s window will probably be on—the back—and hikes around to it, kicking through grass to gaze up.

There’s his window, he thinks—he remembers leaving the curtains open. Gem’s beside it. He tracks down the line, finds—

Nothing. What should be False’s window has the curtains closed. There’s no way to see in without the woman letting him in herself.

Which shouldn’t be suspicious. It really shouldn’t be suspicious. If anything, Scott’s the suspicious one for snooping around in everyone’s rooms while they’re away.

It’s just . . . the note, that he found behind his mirror. During every moment of free time, his thoughts return to it. Who left it? Is it recent? Is it about one of his companions?

Whoever the notes was about, it said they would kill again. It leaves a bad taste in his mouth to imagine—someone (possibly someone that he knows) has killed a person, and is looking to do it again.

He can’t imagine any of his friends as a murderer.

But it’s the apocalypse. Who knows what they’re capable of?

fWhip. Constantly trying to please, smoothly redirecting conversations when they go places he doesn’t want them to go. Jimmy, the leader and a dead-eye shot, stubborn and quick to anger but quicker to forgiveness. False, stoic and private, her room blocked off and thoughts kept to herself. Gem, careful not to offend, but judgemental and self-important. And Sausage, up all night praying, apparently sleeping during the day—but for some reason, none of the others ever want to see him or talk about him.

Actually, Scott can imagine all of his friends as murderers.

And isn’t that a comforting thought?

“We’ve got another sick one,” fWhip tells him as they walk down the main road of Sanctuary. Scott glances down at him, then back to the street ahead. There are a couple of people milling about, talking with neighbors in hushed tones. Their eyes follow Scott and fWhip as they pass, boring holes into the back of Scott’s head.

“A youngling girl,” fWhip continues. “Refugee with her older sister from Dawn. I wish we could do something.”

Despite himself and his suspicions, Scott’s curiosity is piqued. He’d just thought his llamas had a normal illness when he first noticed it. Are there unique signs? The plague probably presents differently in humans than it does in llamas, right? “How can you tell she’s got it? It’s not just some normal illness?”

fWhip chews on his bottom lip. “I’ve seen . . . five people get infected since being here, I think. Jimmy said he’s seen twelve. If one of those things touches them, they leave a little red mark. A fever spreads from the mark. Usually the first sign, though, is hallucinations.”

“I thought hallucinations were a symptom of a fever already. How can you tell the difference?”

“Well, they don’t get the fever right away,” fWhip explains, stopping as the main street dwindles away. “It starts with hallucinations. The fever comes a day or two later. And then they just . . . go downhill. Slowly, sometimes. It depends on how willing they are to give up, I guess.”

“How long has she been ill?” Scott asks.

“Her sister noticed the red spot on her leg this morning, but apparently she’s been acting weird for a couple of days. It’s. . . .” fWhip draws in a shuddering breath. He doesn’t continue his thought, but after a moment, he says, “Kids are the hardest. They think they’ll be fine if they accidentally play outside the border. They don’t even notice it, sometimes. And every time, one of them dies.”

Scott doesn’t even know what to say.

He woke up in the chapel this morning to see a little boy with curly brown hair kneeling at the altar, shifting his weight back and forth, whispering a prayer that echoed through the hall.

“Santa Perla, por favor bendice a mi papá. Gracias por mi padre, quien es en el paraíso. Por favor ayúdame con mi español lecciones. ¡Te amo, padre!”

Hermes had finished his prayer and bounded out of the church, face shining and calling for his papa.

He can’t imagine that little boy lying in bed, hallucinating and feverish and on death’s door. He can’t imagine how destroyed Sausage would be were that to happen.

“And there’s nothing we can do?” he asks, fighting to keep the hopelessness out of his voice.

fWhip sighs. He doesn’t say anything.

It tells Scott all he needs to know.

The missing members of their little party return that afternoon, accompanied by a familiar face.

Katherine hops down before False has even quite landed the airship in the field beside the church, striding toward Scott, dropping her huge battleaxe beside her. She pulls Scott into a hard hug as soon as she reaches him.

Scott hugs her back, doing his best to ignore her sweat sticking to him. She’s battlestained and gross and looks exhausted, but Scott holds her tight, trying not to let his arms shake, until she pushes away and hugs fWhip.

“It’s good to see you,” Scott says, reaching over for her battleaxe—the least he can do is carry it for her. As soon as he lifts it a couple of inches off the ground, he has to let it fall again with a grunt. He pauses, staring at the massively heavy axe in shock. He’d barely even been able to get it off the ground! How does Katherine even use it?

He heaves, manages to pull it up under both arms, carrying it like a baby rather than a weapon. Who on earth needs an axe this heavy? How much can Katherine lift?

He totters this way and that with the weight of it, following fWhip and Katherine toward the church—Jimmy comes up beside him, takes half the weight of the axe. Together, they carry it inside and lean it against the doorframe. Then, with a jerk of his head, Jimmy exits once again.

That probably means he wants Scott to follow him. Scott bites his lip, glances back at Katherine—she’s already sitting at the table, ravenously attacking a bowl of chicken and rice.

He can talk to her later.

Scott follows Jimmy out of the church, jogs to catch up with him at the edge of town.

“What’s up?” he asks. Jimmy shrugs.

“Just wanted to tell you about the mission. Katherine was pretty much in the same position you were, closed down to just one house.”

“Why’d it take longer to spread to her?”

“Probably something to do with the fact that Katherine’s a known monster hunter, and you were defending yourself with an old iron shovel,” Jimmy laughs, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck. “She had some tricks up her sleeve. That’s actually why we went for you first—we figured Katherine could hold her own longer.”

“Well, now I’m offended,” Scott says, not actually offended. He’s fully confident that Katherine is more capable than he is against these things.

Jimmy kicks a stone absently. Scott’s eyes follow it as it rolls away, just passing out of range of the border. Jimmy goes to kick it again; Scott throws an arm across his chest to stop him.

“That’s the border,” he points out. Jimmy frowns, points beyond it a couple of feet to where a slat of wood sticks out of the ground.

“No, that’s the border,” he contradicts. “We marked it.”

Scott blinks, stares at the wooden slat. Because, yes, when he got shown around the place, fWhip had made a point of referencing the wooden markers, set two or three meters apart, keeping an eye on where the border was. Apparently Sausage had laid them out before they even arrived, just to make sure none of his villagers ever crossed them.

And yet, Scott’s certain that the border does not fall in place properly.

“Jimmy, I don’t know how to explain this, but I’m certain that the border is . . . here,” he says, pointing to where it is. “This marker must be off, or something.”

Jimmy shakes his head doggedly. “No, Sausage placed them himself. And he can sort of sense the border, since it’s his magic.”

Right. Magic.

Scott closes his right eye, surveys the area closer. Sure enough, just looking through the magically-inclined eye allows him to see a slight shimmer in the air, right where he feels the border is.

And if Sausage had been able to see it too, there’s no way he would’ve gone outside of it to place a marker.

“We need to get Sausage,” he says, and ignores Jimmy’s questions as he runs back to the church.

“Yep, it’s moved,” Sausage announces to the gathered crowd—rulers and villagers alike—, straightening up and dusting off his knees. “About three feet here. I’ll check everywhere else—it looks mostly the same, luckily! So you all can go about your day and just know that there’s new boundaries, so stay far away!”

They wait a moment longer, but Sausage turns away and crouches back down, inching his way down the new border, feeling with his hands as to where the line may be. The crowd disperses with a bit of anxious whispering, villagers back to their jobs and homes, rulers back to the church.

Scott kneels down beside Sausage, watching his fingers carefully search out the border. “Can’t you see it?”

Sausage sighs. “A little bit. It’s easier at night. But I can feel the threads that sew into the ground, which is a better way of telling, usually.”

“I can see it,” Scott offers. “My gold eye. It can see magic. Would that help?”

Sausage doesn’t pause in his searching, just nods. “If you wanna go along the border ahead of me and put rocks where you think it is, that would be awesome! I just wanna be totally sure.”

So Scott does that, trailing all the way around Sanctuary in a slow patrol, with an armful of pebbles that he picks up and places down in a line on his way around.

In most places, it’s barely moved. Five or six inches, usually, on rare occasions a foot. But it’s movement, it’s the magical border adjusting against the mites, and more than once as he lays down his line of stones he notices mites right along the border, often piled up against the invisible shield where it bows inward the worst.

The boundaries of Sanctuary are giving, little by little. Scott doesn’t know how long they’ve been up, exactly, but it can’t have been more than a month or so. They’re bending inward, the space stolen little by little and it may be moving slowly right now, but the three feet lost where Scott had first noticed the difference isn’t a small amount. Some points are weaker than others, and those points are a significant blow to their defenses.

If the trends continue, Sanctuary may not be a sanctuary much longer.

He and Sausage finish mapping out the boundary just as the sun completely disappears over the horizon. Sausage turns in, hoping for a few hours of sleep before the moon rises, and Scott stays out, taking first watch and kicking back at the campfire. He’s joined, once again, by Jimmy.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” he asks absently when Jimmy sits across from him. Jimmy shrugs.

“More important things than my sleep.”

“At least tell me you showered. You guys came home all sweaty and gross.”

The way Jimmy’s eyes slide guiltily to the side tells Scott all he needs to know. He rolls his eyes. “Look, Jimmy, you know I love authentic, but you don’t have to be covered in mud to be a cowboy worth my attention. Actually, I think that makes it worse.”

Jimmy groans and buries his face in his hands. “You’d best not be flirting with me,” he threatens. “I get enough of it from fWhip and Sausage already.”

Scott spreads his hands. “I’m just saying, that vibe makes you a pony express that I definitely will not be riding.”

“Scott, stop!” Jimmy sounds very put-out, but when he raises his head, he’s laughing. “You are something else, I’ll tell you that. Go walk the perimeter or something, leave me alone.”

Scott stands obligingly, chuckling, though he’s fairly certain Jimmy doesn’t mean it. As he passes Jimmy, the man catches him by the sleeve.

“I’m really, truly glad you’re here,” he says seriously, smile shadowed a bit by some emotion Scott can’t quite make out. “I know it’s a bad situation, but you’re a good one, Scott. We need you.”

“Thanks,” Scott tells him, touched. Jimmy’s the kind to be open with his feelings, to wear his heart on his sleeves, and it’s been strange to be here with him so closed-off and distant. This is more what he’s used to. “Really, take a night off. I’ll be fine.”

By the way Jimmy nods and dusts off his knees, Scott knows he's just pretending to get up.

And sure enough, when Scott swaps with fWhip for the next watch, there's still the lanky silhouette of a cowboy sitting by the campfire.

Scott actually goes back to his room that night, hanging his coat and fedora in his room and stripping his bed of another blanket before heading to the chapel. This blanket is fully tucked in, and Scott strains for a moment against it before it pops loose.

There's a bounce and a rattle and a little bit of a squeak when he does so, and Scott pauses.

Did that—did the blanket just make noise?

He shakes it out, hears nothing else. He scours the bed, and there's nothing there, peers around the side—

And there, on the floor, dislodged when he moved the blanket, is a little toy mouse.

#empires smp #empires smp s2 #esmp #empires smp fanfic #hubris au #scott smajor #mas writes #hubris au go brrrrrr #this fic will be completed btw! just very slowly #please roast me for my attempts at spanish #i really wasn't sure what the word for heaven was and google translate is chronically unhelpful #and i thought using ser rather than estar was more fitting for talking abt joel being in heaven #the part i'm most embarrassed abt is joel telling scott he looks tired #bc i have no clue if that's anywhere near right #again: google translate #yk what? if i become properly bilingual i'll translate some of my fics as an exercise #but anyways lmk what you think #love you guys

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allur1ngs · 3 months

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hear me out…

bada doing this trend💭

#౨ৎ melody's newsletter #i was stalking the sound and went through a rabbit hole #anyways lmk what you guys think🩷

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askblueandviolet · 3 months

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you kill Your own daughter, You are the worst type of bastard, the bastard's king

MASTER POST

Previous 💙

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#lego monkie kid #lego monkie kid fanart #monkie kid #monkie kid fanart #lmk #lmk fanart #lmk mayor #monkie kid mayor #blue and violet #you could interpret this as the Mayor lying to themselves #but honestly I think they are a little heartless #the dude does not feel ANYTHING for little Baihe/Ling's daughter #they feel just as confused as the moment she was killed #they simply... do not understand what they are even supposed to feel #they know these things and they finally remember experiencing them #but they still do not accept the fact that these are things that actually happened #they do not want to admit that this little girl used to mean something to them #they do not want to admit that they had a life before LBD #why? because LBD is everything #and they are terrified at the idea that they are somehow more than that #they do not like this #they do noy like this at all #and they are scared #anyways Mayor's sense of moraltiy is so fucked lmao #the dude's sense of empathy... is just so... hypocritical and almost nonexistent if it does not concern LBD #of course there are exceptions but its not like Mayor feels any sense of grief/guilt over seeing little Baihe die by Ling's hands

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doctorsiren · 20 days

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This one is more focused on recently disbarred Phoenix and young Trucy, but it has other stuff in it too :3

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amazingdeadfish · 3 months

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Woah what's this? Shadowpuppet Good Omens crumbs?

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avisisisis · 4 months

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The sun and moon symbolism was used so well in LMK

I love how it wasn't used as a way to tell us about their personalities but instead as a way to reflect their beliefs, their places in the world and how their relationship with it can vary

When you think about sun and moon characters, the first things that comes to mind are "extrovert and introvert", "loud and quiet", "optimistic and realistic (or straight up pessimist)", etc. You think of two labels that are used, to put it simply, as a way to tell us that oh, this character is bright and nice and this other character is quiet and follows them anywhere. And depending on what you think about Shadowpeach, this might suit them! But if we're talking about canon, then it's just... not them

Macaque isn't a shy, timid guy who while he's smart and clever, he doesn't stand up for himself. SWK isn't a happy and cheerful but also dumb guy who tends to be the one to defend Mac when he doesn't do it himself

Here, the sun and moon symbolism is used to explain the nature of their relationship, not their personalities. It's used to give us a simple explanation of why they're that way without showing us a 20 minute backstory scene to make us understand what the fuck happened (though that wouldn't be unwelcome)

The sun shines brightly and gives us its warmth, but in the end, he'll always be alone; no one can get close to her without burning. The moon's brightness comes only from the sun, and she's most noticed when it's night, while the shadows cover the earth

The moon needs the sun to shine, but the sun wouldn't change at all if he wasn't there; Macaque needs SWK to be there for his character to be important. but Sun Wukong's story would have remained almost the same if Macaque had never been his friend. If you want a story where they never knew each other, just read JTTW!

However, while the sun doesn't need the moon at all in real life, these two characters are supposed to be actual people, not a rock and a ball of gas in space. Macaque can be his own person without Sun Wukong being there, and Wukong is strong enough to not need someone fighting by his side but still wants it anyway

They're not soulmates, at least not in the way the wind and the sea are. Sun Wukong's love for Liu'er Mihou isn't a thing destiny wrote. It's not heaven's, not space's, not faith's: it's his. And his love for Macaque is what makes him need him by his side

#idk there's smth about the fates not having written two ppl together in their story but them choosing to be together anyway that haunts me #i think that while swk n mac are a lot like the sun and the moon they're still yk #NOT the sun and the moon #mac might've left behind and swk may be too powerful for common mortals to truly reach him but #mac has (almost) the same power as swk even tho the moon isn't anywhere near to being as bright as the sun #and ig you COULD use it to show how ppl care about the moon as much as they do about the sun but this is about THEM #not abt what other ppl think they are. so it's about the actual sun n moon rather than what they mean to ppl #and #there are some ppl who CAN get close to swk without dying even tho the sun will kill anyone who gets close to it #the way macaque views their relationship is flawed n the way swk views it is #also flawed!#miscommunication and unreliable narrators my beloveds #lmk #lego monkie kid #sun wukong #the six eared macaque #the monkey king #liu'er mihou #swk #shadowpeach #i don't know how to put their relationship into words without it sounding weird #ig that what i'm trying to say is #that they are really important to each other #even if they hadn't needed each other they'd still choose each other #even if they hadn't chosen each other they'd still have needed each other #idk if i'm explaining myself well #the sun and the moon. never touching but always seen together even if they're never by each other's side irl #avis' post

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thinkin-bout-milgram · 6 months

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Double: Initial Thoughts

Hello Milgram community! It's time to talk about Mikoto's second MV, Double! This is pretty fun for me, given that Mikoto is actually the first prisoner whose MV I watched when it came out. I have gotten so much better at theorizing. The old theory is... meh. Ignore it, it was wrong and doesn't really matter.

Though, to be honest, and I think people will agree here -- I don't feel like Double actually gave us much to work with. The biggest thing is the confirmation (in my opinion) that there for sure only are two alters, which makes things easier to figure out, not harder. Because of this, these initial thoughts might be a bit less interesting than normal. Still, I'll do my best!

T/W: Murder, toxic work environments, mental health crises, blood

For the sake of this theory, I'll be using @onigiriico's English translation of Mikoto's new audio drama, Neoplasm! Thanks as always for your great work! I'd also like to thank everyone who sent in help with the translations! I'll be using Rochisama's (@barudo's) translation post, which translates all of the Japanese background text in the MV.

Also, as you'll see in the audio drama, Es takes to calling Orekoto John and Bokuto Mikoto. I... will not be doing that. They're called Bokuto and Orekoto to me based on the personal pronouns they use.

Disclaimer: I'm for sure not an expert on DID, so if I say anything wrong/offensive please let me know so I can correct it!

Anyways though, here's what thoughts I do have!

Orekoto's alter developed as a result of stress in Bokuto's life.

This is pretty much straight-up confirmed in the audio drama.

Orekoto: … I think… I might be the person Boku wishes he was. The person who stubbornly stands his ground, who doesn’t cry himself to sleep from stress, who gives people their payback. If I, the “ore” personality, hadn’t been born, I’m sure Boku would have reached his limit and fallen apart.

Based on this, we know that there's some general stressor going on in Bokuto's life, and we know that Orekoto seems like the new alter who developed for the sake of protecting Bokuto. I believe that's what's pictured at the beginning of the MV:

The glass breaking is most likely meant to display the "fracturing" of Mikoto's identity, signifying the creation of the Orekoto alter.

The most obvious stressor in Bokuto's life seems to be work. At the beginning of the MV (0:12-0:18), we see Mikoto's phone with text messages. The text translates as follows:

Chief (7 mins ago) Regarding the first draft you submitted today, I think option B might be the best after all, so can you remake by the morning.

Chief (5 mins ago) Also I forgot to mention, but you also made a lot of mistakes with the one we spoke about earlier, so make sure it’s all fixed too. This one also needs to be ready by morning, so I’ll leave it to you to get everything ready.

It seems like his "Chief," likely the boss of his job, is demanding a lot of work from him, and Bokuto is struggling to keep up with his work. On the whole, it seems like Bokuto is kinda just struggling to cope with living.

You’re overdoing it, you’re already broken

I was having such a hard time, I was trying so hard

That's what Orekoto comes into the picture.

Orekoto killed ??? people.

We don't know how many people he may have killed! The video is... pretty nonspecific about it. There are definitely multiple mannequins that he smashed, which for sure implies multiple.

Based on MeMe, I thought it was only one person, just because it seems like he only hid one body. Based on the new audio drama, I don't think he killed multiple different times, either.

Es: Who did you kill? Orekoto: Just someone who was walking around nearby. Es: … How many did you kill? Orekoto: Can’t remember. I was first born back then, you know. It’s kinda fuzzy.

If the murder happened right around when he was "first born," it would make sense if it's only the one time, right? It's possible that this is meant to refer to a broader time frame and I'm taking "first" too literally here, but I still think it's a definite possibility that he only killed one person.

It's gonna be hard to get a confirmation on that one, since it seems like Bokuto and Orekoto don't know the actual number. Still, we can look at the crime out of context of the body count and try to determine our forgiveness of that.

Neither Bokuto nor Orekoto are coping well with the guilty verdict.

Bokuto is, understandably, distressed. He's aware enough to realize that things have changed and that something must be happening while he's "sleeping," but he still seems to have no idea what's actually happening or who Orekoto is.

Notably, in both MeMe and Double, Bokuto is seen reacting to Orekoto in at least some ways. However, the way it's portrayed, I don't really think that's a lie or feigned innocence in any way. My best guess is that it's just using the visuals of what actually happened while showing Bokuto's distress with not knowing what's happening.

Either way, Bokuto was heading straight for a mental breakdown before accidentally committing ??? murders and getting told he's guilty for it by a weird mystery prison, so it's not surprising at all that he's faring poorly.

As Orekoto hypothesizes in the audio drama, the amount of stress Bokuto is under is actually why we've seen Orekoto fronting so much more now. Orekoto exists to help Bokuto escape from the stress of his day to day life, and given that Milgram has become extremely stressful, Orekoto fronts a lot.

Orekoto isn't doing super well either, though, likely as a result of the toll everything is taking on Bokuto. He exists and did what he did solely to protect Bokuto, so the fact that it's causing Bokuto stress and potentially endangering him definitely isn't something he'd be happy about. The MV focuses on this pretty heavily at the end.

The audio drama tells us that Orekoto is perfectly willing to own up to his guilt and take the blame for what he did. He's very clear about Bokuto not having done anything, though, and insists he has no idea what was going on. He was only dreaming.

I have no idea how the end of MeMe plays into this video.

I interpreted Orekoto handing Bokuto the death card as a moment where Orekoto shows Bokuto his existence and letting him know about the murders, but like I said, I don't really believe Bokuto knows anymore. If that's the case, though, I have NO clue what that scene was supposed to mean. I can't really figure out how to piece Double and MeMe together, and based on how little I feel like I got out of Double, it concerns me to just disregard MeMe-based theories entirely.

That being said...

VERDICT: INNOCENT

Please vote him innocent. For pretty much any reason I can think of, an innocent verdict is better.

Orekoto is right when he says that Milgram clearly instructs us to judge Bokuto specifically; Orekoto isn't a prisoner in regards to restraints or rules, but Bokuto is. If you're judging based on forgiveness, if Bokuto truly didn't know, it's hard not to forgive him, even if he arguably shares guilt.

Mikoto in general is probably more likely to have a further mental breakdown if we keep applying pressure with a guilty verdict, which in turn makes him more likely to lash out in stress again and kill another prisoner. We can't restrain Orekoto, who would likely continue fronting in the face of a guilty verdict, and we already know that his high-stress coping mechanism is killing whoever walks by. It's the safer option to vote innocent.

And then there's the fact that I just, like... want to help him? Genuinely forgive him? I don't want to vote Mikoto guilty. There's no point, and I just disagree with it. I'm pretty firmly in the innocent camp on this one, and based on the votes, it seems like a lot of people agree.

#milgram #ミルグラム #admin venus #mikoto kayano #theory #milgram theory #this is kinda short and doesn't have a lot of insight #my bad but also i got nothing #i'll try to figure out how meme and double connect at some point #saturn and i are also planning on going through a bunch of the hard to read text and making a post about what it says/what we think it says #hopefully soon #lmk what you think #anyways mikoto inno sweep

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