#but especially rewind being replaceable
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More Than Meets the Eye Retrospective: Shadowplay (Issues 9 through 11) (Patreon review for Brotoman.exe)
Hello all you happy autobots and welcome back to my look at more than meets the eye, long delayed due to a lot of scheduling delays, a draining move, and general shenanigans. But it's finally time for us to take a look at Shadowplay.
Shadowplay is easily one of the most important arcs of MTMTE, not only seting up a lot of character backstory, but also fully establishing Roberts vision of Cybertron past that he dabbled with back in Chaos Theory, a place where the senate is corrupt, the Decepticons are slowly planning a coup that will sadly turn from righteous rebellion into nightmarish dictatorship not unlike what they replaced, and functionism lingers in the background.
And at the first time I read this arc..
While I liked it well enough, being a tense story that characterized Optimus well and gave him spotlight at a time when he wasn't in any of the comics on a regular basis, it still felt a bit like a neat side tangent.
I've come around since then for a number of reasons: The first is, especially on re-read this arc is REALLY good and in a continuity where Optimus didn't get to shine that often, it's another character piece that makes me sad he never joined the lost light. He got to lead but this really gets to who he is as a character and shows him at his best. It also has plenty of nice depths for the autobots featured, and seeing who they were pre-war really adds some layers and shows just what the war did to each and every one.
The other is simple: I was reading the story for the first time. And sometimes something extraneous at the time ends up being important. In this case both how cybertron used to be is vital to the future of those who left it behind. So with that's lets do a little shadowplay and see how the past will ultimately nearly destroy the future...
Content Warning: Self Harm and Suicide Is Discussed
We open in pre war cybertron, some time after the last time we saw it in chaos theory. The Decpticon movement in in full swing, and two bots are discussing the recent clampdown, basically a bunch of curfews and othe rnonsense to try and fight back against them. But one of these bots, Nightbeat isn't remotely convinced this will work while his buddy Quark
Sadly not that one, is paranoid about it and assumes they'll force Alt Mode Changes when they get in power. While they'll do much worse, remember this idea. It'll be important next season. As will Nightbeat.
For now though Quark's casually day drinking is interupted by some blood.. from a corpse hung above
Cut to present day at Swerves where Ratchet joins a group consisting of Rewind, Chromedome, Tailgate, Whirl, Skids, Drift and of course the man himself. Swerve. As for why.... well as put in the page image THEIR GONNA FIX RUNGS BRAIN. After everyone gets a chance to react in shock and disgust and this stupid stupid joke , (Minus swerve who isn't shown reacting and likely helped Rewind set him up), we find out it's not AS obnoxious as it sounds: Swerve is still comotose and Rewind brought them all here to try and fix that on Chromedome's advice. See Domey's figured out why our Psychatrist pal's still in his coma: His body is starting to function but he can't fully heal till his mind does.
Hence this exercise: The group gathered here isn't random as it seems: most were involved in a story in cybertron's past, the same one from the cold open, each crossing paths with a certain future robot space jesus. Rewind himself wasn't, but has both archival footage and has talked to some involved, so he can fill in the gaps. As for Tailgate and Swerve.. well Tailgate is just a nice guy and was likely let along so he can learn more autobot history, and Swerve owns the only place they could do this session nice and quiet, only needing a closed sign. (The bar has been reopened it turns out. ). And frankly it's swerve: you think he'd miss anything where he'd have a chance to talk and crack jokes?
So here's where we are: Nominus Prime, one of the senators, was nearly assainated and has vanished since while the corrupt senate we saw last time is only getting more and more strained as the citizens, paticuarlly the aformentioned decipticons, are pushing back more and more.
It's here the first of our familiar faces enters: Chromedome. Dome was working in Mechaforensics, even had a diffrent name but for clarity's sake Rewind is having him use his current one. He's working with Prowl
Who while not as awful as present, still has a rod wedged up someplace uncomfortable, possibly a cybertronian voltzwagon.
The plan has all the hallmarks of a decipticon: i'ts pointed straight at the functionist council building, their graffiti is on the back. It's bad. we then get a nice diversion as Skids wants to know Prowl more, as he's going to be a recurring character and all and we get Swerve naturally hurling a ton of insults at the asshole and as for Rewind..
I love how Roberts not only embraced Prowl's tantrum becoming a meme, but decided to just make it a character trait. I also like how both of them can recognize the exact sound he makes
It's then time for Drift's story.. which is good because Rodimus is getting antsy. At the time Drift was a drug addict, plugging boosters into his head. Ratchet makes sure to emphasis WINNERS DON'T USE DRUGS.. mostly because Tailgate's present. At any rate he gets hassled by two random dipshits... and stopped by Optimus, aka orion pax at the time, who then procedes to badassily take them both out in seconds. With Drift, known as roller then, comotose Optimus takes him to Ratchet... .. and then procedes to play with him by having the known atheist say adaptus be praised. The two wrestle a bit and Chromedome sidesteps this foreplay by pointing out this dosen't make sense: Apparently Ratchet was already cheif physician> Turns out though Ratchet was also unfufilled, so when Optimus, being optimus, suggested a secret center for addicts since the council , like most goverments, cares not one iota off a shit if people with a serious addiction die horribly, he gladly took it up. It also fits well with his character: Ratchet is older so of course he's already even further into his career, he likes helping and he likes a challenge.
Once he saves the future Drift, he encourages him to make something of his life.. while Drift plans to simply go to a refurbishment clinic and donate his body instead. The present day drift then has to go before Hot Rod tries to rebuke his amnesty.. and that's only half a joke as Drift geninely isn't sure if he can do that and isn't keane to find out.
As for what the clinics were, Rewind helpfully explains for Tailgate, who nicely serves as an audience surrogate here. He even has a helpful ad
I also love the repacaging of something most older transformers fans like Roberts would be familiar with and fond of, the g1 manuals, into something fucked up, i.e. an add for cheap and nasty body tourisim. We don't know where it lead but we'll find out later.
For now though once Drift leaves... Ratchet finds out there's bigger worries to deal with. Pax gestures to the news, something Ratchet dosen't like already for being state propoganda.. but likes even less finding out Nominus has offically been declared dead. More disturbingly Ratchet realizes their cause of death.. has to be wrong. It's said to be a rusted fuel pump, and the rust spreading to his spark casing.. but his fuel pump was pristine when Ratchet examined him post attack.. and with Optimus already theorizing to ratchet in a past conversation that the attack was a false flag attack from the senate itself Ratchet concludes not only is the senate behind this.. but they now have the matrix of leadership, all thanks to sentinel prime who no matter the reality is apparently just the biggest dick in existance.
Optimus reassures Ratchet he's not crazy or paranoid: they did clearly do this.. and he has a friend he wants him to meet
On that note we're back to Chromedome and Prowl. And we get another lovely toy based sight gag
Before the results tell prowl their going to Transluctna Heights next, the cybertronian beverley hills. Silciate Palm Trees and energon pools.
We then cut to Ratchet and Optimus who are meeting with the Senator, the same one from the end of Chaos Theory. This still works even if you had'nt read that story, as to me reading this comic the first time I assumed he and optimus had met previously and simply had a history.. and they do as seen with Chaos Theory he's the one who was convinced our hero could one day be a prime.
Ratchet is mostly here to throw off suspiscion, since the senator already used most of his captial saving optimus from certain death at the end of chaos theory. That added context will be important in a bit but for now the Senator confirms that yup they killed Nominus for having a fake matrix. The only reason the senator isn't doing anything is because he's smarter than that and knows having a seat is way more useful than wringing Sentinels scrawny tickish neck. Speaking of which, The Senator is genuinely scared of what's going on. Also if you were curious where Megatron was during all of this he is alive, they simply have him on an asteroid mining as killing him would make him a martyr. His mining assignment is, once again, naturally important for later.. just not this storyline.
For this one we close the main story with Chromedome and Prowl investigating the swanky, richest of the rich only district of cybertron.. only to get a body thrown at them.
While we close the issue starting our b-plot for this three pater as we find out WHY Rodimus was so antsy for drift to get there NOW.
Yup... and honestly... this is the rare case where I genuinely DON'T know what happened here. We'll get an explination shortly and I THINK that's what indeed happened.. but I can't be sure for a number of reasons I don't want to spoil. The point is Red Alert's dead and Hot Rod thinks Cyclonus did it.
We see a lot of blurbs and what not on the news. The most important two are Senator Sherma, whose trying to pass a decipticon regestration act.. and if you've ever read x-men you'll know that's a pretty terrible idea and prejudice to boot, while we also get a hint against ratioisim, which I THINK is supposed to be some form of functionisim. For those wondering , Functionisim is basically determining your worth based on your alt mode and what purpose it serves. And if that idea sounds shady, racist and classist, you can see why the decipticons exist.
I also really like Roberts adding these shades to the decpticons existnace: Their still bad people mostly, but I love the idea they sprouted from a genuinely good place. From an opressed working class lorded over by a corrupt senate. It's an exploration of the idea a movement can easily be corrputed. YOu only have to look at say communisim: It's not a horrible idea on it's surface and modled right it can be done well.. and when molded wrong under someone like stalin it becomes an opressive facist state, just as democracy can be molded into one just the same when , as seen with the cybertronian senate, a few powerful folks wield said power regardless of the people's actions. As we've seen with Optimus , Nightbeat and Ratchet there are PLENTY of autobots who fully agree with their message.. they just won't agree with what that message becomes. It's one thing when the message is "take down the corrupt police state we all hate", it's another when the message becomes "Peace through tyranny"... a message really not that diffrent from the senate. The only diffrence.. is Megatron just comes out and admits he's going to rule over you as a dictator while the senate lies and says things are fair while constantly stacking the deck however they like. It makes me really wish Roberts had gotten to full on write the reboot when it happened, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
Back with the cop plot, Chromedome is chasing around one of the perps on a flying bike. I wonder if you can play card games on it?
For now the chase dosen't take much effort as the idiot he's chasing goes into a narrow garage.. that turns out ot be a no fly zone, complete with the cybertronian equilveant of saftey glass.. and being cybertronian that means anything speeding blows up real good.
Prowl is already doing what he does best: casing the room and being mildly dimissive. Being an authortarian cockballon comes a little later but joining the police is a good start. That said we see how diffrent he was.. as he ACTUALLY APOLOGIZES
Yes when he finds out about the glass he genuinely apologizes and hopes Chromedome is okay. In the apartment they find both red alert and a decepticon manfesto and shrine. The senator was a secret deciptcion.. and given what else we know it's obvious the senate is trying to clean house of anyone that would oppose them.
Back in the present, Rodimus has turned Perciptor's lab into a makeshift inergation room. And it turns out.. he's taken in Cyclonus for no other reason than he's Decipticon adjacent. That's it. This is pure profling.. and it also provides a really intresting role reversal.
Usually when these two talk Magnus is a stick in the mud doomsayer who follows regulations as his one true religion, while Rodimus, hot mess he may be, tends to give people chances and think outside the box. It's essentially a wackier version of Kirk and Spock.
Here though that same adherence to order and regulation that often makes Magnus the butt of the joke.. makes him the reasonable one for a change.
He does.. but only because Drift is unlawfly interogating him. Rodimus is just rashly assuming because decipticon, while Magnus rightly sees he's bungled this whole investigation by unlawfully arresting someone who did nothing wrong, they have no reason to bring in.
Drift isn't much better as we see a nastier side to him. While he's a former decpitcon himself he treats Cyclonus hostile and subtly threatens him.. and gets driven into the table in response. While Magnus DOES hold Cyclonus back... if you look at the panel bellow he's not hurting him or anything. He's only holding him to prevent a fight that would only make this more of a farce. And Cyclonus speech makes it VERY clear how much of a farce this is and is honestly CHILLING with the recknoning in police we've been going through as what Rodders did.. is really what MOST police did and many still do
It's a damming speech and shows what Roberts has masterfully done so far and will continue to do: Show that the Autobots, while the good guys.. aren't flawless. We've seen it in how human they are and how goofy they can be... but we wee here the less endearing sides of their humanity, the judgmental side and tencndy to fly off the handle. Cyclonus also makes a valid point: they think winning the war makes them absolute victors.. but Cyclonus, while not impartial, is a mostly outside observer: he AGREES with the decipticon cause, but really isn't one. He can see the self righteousness and tendency to see themselves as absolute right the autobots are devleoping, something festering even worse back home, and he sees the same system that required the decipticons in the first place slowly reforming. And we've seen this cycle: the senate replaces a corrupt mad man, they become corrupt authorarians. MEgatron replaces them, he becomes a power mad dictator. While the autobots have a leg up on booth..there's no guarantee they can't fall just as hard or fast , and this book will more than prove that.
At anyr ate Cyclonus is absolved as First Aid thinks he has it.
Back at the crime scene, Chromedome and Prowl are backed against the wall. Prowl hasn't fought yet so he's scared shitless, Chromedome is enjoying that but it's not really helping the situation.. but someone arrives who does
If you ever find yourself wondering why optimus is in charge.. well it's mostly on the heart and sense of conviction, but if your wondering how he stayed in charge and stayed alive.. this is why.
Prowl then.. yells at Optimus, not only assuming he's a citzen but just being a dick. Optimus then flashes his badge and is disapointed what he heard about Prowl was exagerated. Yes even OPTIMUS FRIKKIN PRIME, PRE PRIME CANNOT STAND PROWL SOMETIMES. Optimus casualy says that Prowls report on all this will just get lost, and Prowl hopes "i'll never be as cynical as you orion pax"... bud.. your already.. so much worse.
Prime plans to follow up but he's wanted ON THE MOON... and I love a job where I get to say that. He's wanted at prison, as it's time for whirl to enter the story. Whirl also gets defnsive when ratchet rightly points out why he's arrested when he tries to blame optimus: He tried to murder a prisoner in his cell. The fact Megatron is evil later.. dosen't really justify it at all, as we saw. The senate were using him as a pawn to get away with worse stuff.
But the fact is by this point Whirl has realized the senate used him, and took away his hands, with a really crushing panel of him admitting why he's brought optimus here beyond REVENGE
They took everything he was from him and he can't do anything to them, as i'm sure many like him can't either. But he can tell optimus there's a plan for a large bombing, a false flag attack.. and to catch the Senator in the crossfire. We also see IMpactor getting introduced as Whirl's cellmate. Naturally for the wreckers there first meeting.. is impactor beating his head in.
One of my faviorite lines in the comic.
Anyways we get back to Prowl and Chromedome , and we get a really intresting bit: Chromedome can tell SOMETHING'S going to give and wonders if they'll survivie it, and while prowl denies it at first.. it turns out as much as he likes to bury his head in the sand at this point in his life, he hasn't buried it straight up his ass like his present day self.
Yeah I kick myself in hindsight for not only not noticing Chromedome and Rewind were a thing, but that PROWL and chromedome were in the past. I"m still shocked how oblivious I was, especially since I picked this one specifically because LIndsay Ellis had mentioned the idw transformers comics had gotten queer. I've gotten better at picking up on gay subtext, intentional or otherwise, but it's still hilariously tone deaf.
It's also weird to see Prowl.. actually be romantic. Roberts does the legwork the other book simply dosen't seem to care to do in making Prowl a tragic figure: Sure he's absolutely the worst and Roberts makes no real attempts to prove that. If anything he shows the potetial was there.. but this arc really hammers in that Prowl before the war.. was a far better person. He still was entirley by the book, but he opened up to Chromedome, his partner in both senses, didn't want a war, and generally had good in him. I made a cop joke before.. but Dome IS trying to be good police. He belivies way too much in a corrupt system.. but contrast that to the Prowl we saw in issue 1 and will see again when the crossover comes: an authoratian nightmare who sees his boyfriend trying to get a measure of peace.. and sees it as a waste. Who sees the end of a years long war as just a lull in combat. Who in his own book is carrying out black ops bullshit and stoking tensions between autobots and decipticons. Prowl had the potetial to be what he is now always sure, but he wasn't etched in that. Becoming an autobot made somes lives better.. but for Prowl it just caused him to double down on his worse traits and become an outright monster.
The fight is also just.. sad. Instead of talking through their issue.s. rewind just snaps. He just can't face Rewind's history with Prowl or see that there WAS good in the man whose caused his partner such pain.. but also can't healthily cope with it. Then again as we'll learn heathily coping is not something Rewind's really EVER done.
Back with the plot , Prowl finds out to his fury that Flatfoot, his superior officer despite the name, has leaked his report, proving what Optimus said. Things only get more suspcious when they meet Trepan, the head of the clinic.. and after Chromedome sense ssomething shady, the sinister needle hands are a giveaway, Domey incapcitates the guy and our unambgiously gay duo find the insittute: tons of robtos removing brain moduls, rewiring... even before he became a mnemosurgeon, Domey was already intrested in the science and thus can recognize it.
Trepan escapes but our heroes take their valuable intel to Optimus, who had Ratchet and some others round up the good senator from his school for gifted autobots.
Optimus puts all the pieces together while Prowl bitches in the background: Domey and PRowl found a list at the clinic, that turns out to be a list of decipticons regestered as a polictical party. Turns out while Senator Sherma wanted it to LOOK like decipticon attack.. but not blame them right away, getting more cons to register.. then inittating ANOTHER false flag to make it look like the deciptcons betrayed them. As for how.. the how is utterly horrifying: they plan to BLOW UP nominus' corpse with a fake rigged matrix. Optimus' only recourse? They ahve to steal it
We're onto the final issue and naturally Prowl thinks this is madness, wants nothing to do with it and is a right asshole as he flees, telling him not to let DOme go on the mission
Dome went to gather some of the senators pupils. I.. .wasn't remotely joking about the x-men comparison: Since the functionists obviously are baffled and apalled by beings who have extra talents beyond their alt modes, the Senator has been shielding them in his building for gifted autobots and brought a few to help: Skids himself is a super learner, able to learn anything in record time, which seems useless until you realize this means he can pick up any skill as fast as the flash and retain it unlike said flash. The others are windcharger, who has telekensis Kyle and Gltich, whose design I like a lot and who can mess up machinery. So in otherwords, Progidy, Hellion and Shadowcat. Got it.
We then break for a second as Ratchet examines rung and Swerve brings some old fashioned nightmare fuel to the party, which this being the comic that it is, is entirely real and requires gloves. When Chromedome worries about this eating up their insides, Swerve reveals this isn't rewind's FIRST session. It's not even his second. It makes sense though: this is a complex prospect and it's not unlikely every autobot here met Optimus at some point.. nor that unlikely that it'd fall apart, hence attempt 3 here.
We also get an intresting fact about Rung that will be VITALLY important way down the line
We return to the story to find out this is what likely broke the two up for good, as Prowl, being prowl, just left with no explanation. They still need a full plan but skids having a mini matrix on his face, a religious thing back then the comic dosen't go into gives Optimus an idea: He spends Domey to talk to our good buddy ironfist, pre horrible tragic death. Being a massive fanboy even back then, he's more than willing ot help in exchange for getting his life sized model of Delta Magnus
So now our hero have a fake to swap for the fake.
Before they leave on the heist though Ratchet and Optimus' Friend Roller Roller Da
An old friend of Optimus' on the force we just meet here but , say it with me "WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER". This arc could've easily been called "TRUST ME ALL OF THIS HAS A PAYOFF. ALL. OF. THISSSSSSSS. " And it does. One benefit of having to go over these issues with a finer tooth comb than my usual lagomorph lenth attention span allows is I catch just HOW well crafted this story is.
Anyways Roller hacked the system and finds out there's some weird stuff about the guy, a few charges, as you'd expect.. but also the fact Optimus isn't the ONLY person he's been grooming for this roll. Optimus.. dosen't care. He's not naive, he gets the senator likely has backups, and is with the guy not because he's truly buying what the man's selling on "being the next prime" and all that.. but becauase he's a good man in a broken system whose trying his damndest to fix it. A bit creepy sure, but someone he trusts enough to do this. if he didn't they woudln't of gone this far.
We get back to the present.. and it's one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the comic so far. And you KNOW that's already saying something. We find out what happened to Red Alert.. and it was suicide. Granted i'm still not sure it was entirely suicide or if the very least he wasn't pushed further by the knowledge of what was going on and the pressure of his already bad paranoia being kicked into overdrive. I won't know till he comes back. It's handled incredibly well.. including the fact that even now Rodimus makes it about him.. but in a way that just.. punches you in the heart. Rodimus takes it personally, feeling that if one of his crew is suicidal.. he shoudl've noticed. But the sad truth with mental illness is sometimes.. someone is just suffering so bad till they break. As someone who has had suicidal throughts... sometimes you just keep those to yourself till your already on the edge of it. What's worse is while they DID save him... Magnus suggests not putting him back on line just yet. He's understandibly worried given all the trauma it'll just happen again and plans to revivie him whent he misions over or at the very least when they have the time to help him. The results.. are just.. pure pain
Normally when rodimus asks this, it's clear he just wants a second opinon that will likely agree with him.. but here it's very clear from what happens next.. he just DESPERATLEY wants any othe roption, anything but this... and ultimately it's best for red to take a nap till they can help him... rodimus left utterly destroyed. Just the pannleing here is perfect.. it's clear Rodimus feels he failed... and the failures will only add up as the journey goes on.
For now though we're back to the finale of our main story: So naturally for a heist the place their breaking into, the Primal Basicla, is super well guarded: any plane that tries to fly by deactivates, pressure plates along the floor to alert the guards, and said guards are trigger happy monsters with the orders to "take alive """IF POSSIBLE""""" which is code for
Thankfully thanks to said no flyzone the top is unguarded so they simply get to work: Windcharger lowers them down, Glitch shuts off the force beams, at great personal pain, and Swerve uh... uses his grappling hook to lower optimus mission impossible style. Hey at least it's a vital job. Problem is the things rigged.
WOrse problems are back at base. For reasons unknown, Optimus decided to honor Prowl's wishes and Chromedome was left on sercurity with Roller Roller Da. The Senator assumes Optimus was being paranoid.. when who would it be at the door but hired goons
Who just burned down The Senator's institute for gifted autobots.
Back at the heist, Optimus calls on Ratchet, whose roll now becomes clear beyond "Map guy": He was Optimus' backup plan: since he can't disarm the locks he uses reverse psychology on ratchet telling him he coudln't POSSIBLY unlock it in time. Ratchet knows he' splaying him.. but he's wrong and Ratchet does. He almost drops the matrix.. but thankfully Windcharger got bored and uses his telekensisis kyle to lift ratchet back up.
With the heist a success Windcharger starts slowly taking them back.. but Optimus, being twitchy that Roller hasn't contacted him JUMPS OFF THE FREAKING SKY THING AND INTO THE STREETS FAR BELLOW to go after him. Good thing too as he gets there before they can murder the senator. Sadly.. there's no happy ending here. Prequel and all that. The hired goons hold Roller Hostage.. and the Senator being who he is, agrees to go peacefully. The goons TRY to leave a guy for optimus to fight.. but optimus still has the bomb of leadership, hurls it and the senate covers it up the same way they covered up the academy. Gas leak. the silent killer. What's worse is while Optimus and Domey head for the instutitute.. it's already cleaned out.. and Domey also has a horrifying realization about the name: it's called that.. so people THINK there's only one. As he explains in narration, there turned out ot be one under EVERY refurbishment clinic.
So with that... it's all over. For now. There's no real happy ending... in the past. in the present though as the defcon klaxons ring... RUNG SPEAKS. This whole plan worked.
Back in the past though we get one final coda as some creepy assholes plan to do the oepration on the senator, a complete personality swap.. a turn to logic.. and iwth that we find out just who this guy is.. and it's one of the most chilling, brilliant and tearjerking moments in the entire comic
Yup one of the nicest bots in transformers.. becomes a cold murder machine who will soon, or likely sometime next year for our purposes, nearly destroy all of cybertron. Someone who might of created a better future as Cybertron's greatest hero.. has become it's greatest monster. My jaw dropped when I read this and now having read dark cybertorn and knowing how the other side of this story plays out for him overal.. it's just an utter gutpunch. Even when I wasn't a fan of this story, I LOVED this ending.
As for shadowplay itself.. it's excellent. It's still not relaly one of my faviorite arcs, as it's one of the heavier ones, but the heist in the third act is great, there's some nice backstory shading and like I said that final twist is fucking phenominal. I'ts a story that only gets better as you see every piece it sets up for the rest of the comic fall into place, and on reread the red alert subplot fucking broke me. It's a great story
Next Time: .. is in september, as I was SUPPOSED to take the summer off to do Beetlemania, which is now too far ahead to not do, but mtmte returns in september for an annual as Magnus takes the spotlight and a lot of stuff sure does happen. Thanks for reading.
#transformers#transformers more than meets the eye#optimus prime#ratchet#orion pax#prowl#chromedome#rewind#swerve#whirl#red alert#drift
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Vent ask anon: thank you for letting me know you like to hear more of my Vents.
Here's another slightly related to the last. Everytime I think of AM the further this series goes on I can't help but feel more and more sad for All Might.
Hori really doesn't allow him anything does he?
All Mights mentor/mother figure in Nana? Dead.
His second mentor... Ehhh my feelings on Gran Torino are kind of mixed but I think we can agree that he's too harsh in how he treated AM (shaking in fear when someone mentions his old mentor? Not a good sign.)
His defeat of All for One? Didnt stick. Plus AM got previously injured and traumatised because of this. And for what? AFO is now literally rewinding himself so that defeat in the end didnt mean anything to AFO while AM is stuck with no way to use his quirk and grievous injuries (why can't Eri rewind him if she rewound Mirio?)
His friends? All made after receiving OFA it seems. Nighteye was a bad friend yet the narrative made AM out to be in the wrong/ too harsh when he cut him off.
His mentorship with Izuku? Replaced/overshadowed currently with Endeavor (thanks to Hori's focus on the abusive flaming asshole.)
His position as number one? Replaced with Endeavor and treated in a harsher way by the public which feels really unjust "I am not here" sign. Whereas "Endeavor is an abuser"' Public: "Dabi is so annoying. We love Endeav."
Supportive of Izuku? -Is forced by Hori to support Bakugou too and support their toxic "rivalry" .
"Win to save and Save to win" was B.S that Hori put in AM's mouth ! When All Might would never if he were in character stand for Izuku being constantly disrespected and especially not Nana and the other OFA holders. Not only that but Bakubitch shives AM under the bus for Izuku's low self esteem!
As a teacher? Constantly means well for his students but messes up due to inexperience yet the fandom and Hori use Aizawa (a worse teacher who is apparently experienced) to tell him off! And claim he is thick when he isn't - just out of his depth and needing guidance.
Here's another thing- when did we last see him? It seems like Hori stopped caring about him since he's stopped being able to use OFA :(.
Yes AM is flawed and he has messed up. However IMO he deserved so much better than he got given both by the fandom and by Hori.
100%
The fandom gives him so much shit for something that happened in the very beginning of the series and has already made up for, yet gives Bakugou and Aizawa a pass because they're conveniently hot.
Not even in fanfiction he's treated kindly. A majority of them makes him a bumbling idiot, quirkest asshole just so Dadzawa can come to the rescue.
All Might definitely deserves so much better as both a mentor and a character.
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Hi there!
Just wanted to say that I really like your artwork and am a fan of the Missing Numbers stuff. The way the characters are made/portrayed has me in a chokehold ngl. (Fire and Blue are probably my favorite characters, they look really cool-)
But I was curious/had a question about Fire. The scar he has on his chest, the one surrounded by the rings of Arceus: How did he get it? And because it’s been said that Fire is too important to die: does Arceus heal all of Fire’s wounds or just the fatal ones?
That is all though! Have a good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you are!
first of all THANK YOU SO MUCH??? im so glad you like this insane little story of ours!!! hearing ppl really do care about it only motivates us more to work on it!!
As for your questions, these are very fun ones. You're asking all the right things.
(This got long.)
First: The Scar.
The scar over his heart is a very spiritual one. The rings are a part of it, in fact, not just markings.
Fire was made to be the perfect replacement. A flawless player avatar who was only that, and nothing more. A body to be inhabited, controled, and a face to be remembered and idolized. When a player controls this avatar, especially in Pokemon, it doesn't have any free will of its own. Isn't supposed to. Not allowed to think or feel. Just a window into the world through which you experience it.
Extra care was put into making him fit this, as perhaps the most important "avatar" in the Almighty's eyes, and especially after the critical failure that was Glitchy, who's emotions and freedom led him to not only his demise, but mass corruption of the old world that required a total overwrite.
... When a human is made, it is only natural that they've a heart and soul to them. Free will is something that defines humanity. For this man, however, that was not an option.
To get to the point: The scar is where a hand of the Almighty cut his heart from his chest. His mind was also taken from him- did you notice the Golden scar on his neck?
It wasn't always like this. He was made meek on purpose. Quiet. Complacent. Cold. But it was soon proven by another boy's meddling that not a single risk could be taken, leading to his first death at the hands of frostbite. And the subsequent, forced removal of his free will.
So, he was left after with no heart to feel, and no head to think with. ...That was the plan, at least. But time has a funny way of healing all wounds. Reds have always had a funny way of surpassing expectations, for better or for worse.
Second: The Deaths.
Death is a recurring thing in Missing Numbers- the answer to how Fire survives answers how everyone survives, honestly. It all comes down to the fact that the world of Pokemon is a game. And what do you do, when something goes wrong in a game? When you lose? When you die? And, what does the game do when it breaks? How does it handle that? When it's overwhelmed by impossible demands?
Reset. Restart. Try again.
Of course, you, the player, will remember what happened outside of the resets. That's how you learn, and do better, to avoid losing again. You have a different, higher perspective.
The characters within aren't supposed to remember, though. You can rewind, step back, redo things as much as you need- they'll always be the exact same. Unknowing, unaffected. So when Fire dies? When Blue dies? Those two particularly are in a vicious cycle, where things are always put right back to before they went wrong, but...
A big part of the horror aspect of Missing Numbers is breaking this world enough, that the beings inside of the game see past the veil.
The main four we post about within this story have all already had their perspectives shattered to see beyond that. So even if they can't comprehend it or understand why this happens, they remember it. The more it happens, the more powerless you feel. The more desperate you get for your actions to hold meaning. The more drastic the measures you take will become.
Trying over and over and over and over
and over and over and over and over
and over and over and over and over
and over and over and over and over
and over again.
#had a lot of fun answering this!! i love talking abt missing numbers lore :)#trust me when i say there's a LOT to it#and i am ALWAYS. happy to answer any questions about it#im not cagey about it on purpose i just infodump to my friends on discord instead of for everyone to see on tumblr#so pleasseeeee never be afraid to ask things if you're curious i loved answering this !!!!#missing numbers
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pikmin vs pikmin 4- my thoughts on some of the changes
so i've been replaying pikmin this week after playing a lot of pikmin 4 and i had some thoguhts over the differences. i actually meant to make this post yesterday and i've now forgotten a lot of what i had to say whoops but i'll give it a shot.
so first of all. difficulty. it's a lot harder to get pikmin killed in pikmin 4. in some ways i found this a bit disappointing but playing pikmin again really put things in context lol. you can kill them so easily in the original! personally i think for me the ideal level of difficulty would be somewhere in between. the struggle to keep my pikmin alive in the first game was pretty formative for me lol. i think taking out that struggle for survival and risk of huge battle losses does lose something. i've always seen something of a commentary in pikmin that im not sure is in the newer games thanks to it being easier to keep your pikmin alive. HOWEVER i'm actually all about making games more accessible especially for kids. when games are really hard a lot of ppl just cant complete them/cant get in to them. i think what i would like to have seen from pikmin 4 was the option of different difficulty levels tbh. that way as a pikmin veteran you could pick a harder level, upskilling the monsters, while the original difficulty is still an option.
on the other hand, there are some ways that pikmin die in the first one that i'm SO glad they fixed. first of all-drowning. drowning is so annoying in the first game.m it's really really hard to get the pikmin out of the water to start with. and they drown for so long. theres a point where they are beyond saving but they keep on screaming for ages anyway. it makes me sad lol.
second. getting stuck around walls. oh my god. its so easy to lose pikmin as youre walking around. and when you call your whistle you need to show them how to actually get back to you? if you dont they dont make their way back to you. im so glad they fixed this because it was incredibly annoying tbh. theres actually a second part to this that i didnt think i liked until i replayed the original. so with nectar, you have to actually throw your pikmin at the nectar most of the time in pikmin 4. im used to just being able to walk through it with my crowd of pikmin but this didnt work so well in 4. i didnt realise till my replay of pikmin that this is actually a good thing. in pikmin you lose pikmin walking with you because they get distracted by the nectar. if youre not careful they'll fall behind and end up lost at the end of the day.
the pikmins freewill. they really do do what they want in the original. its so hard to keep them alive because they'll just start carrying things mid battle. they attack everything. they are hugely distracted by nectar. they'll wander off and start attacking pellet flowers. while to a degree they still do this in 4, its way way easier to keep a handle on it. i actually like the idea that in game this has happened because the pikmin have more experience of hanging out with olimar and being directed and have passed that knowledge on.
the whistle. ok i love the whistle upgrades. just being able to call all the pikmin back to home at the end of the day is so good. i do think its a little overpowered because pikmin are generally safer in pikmin 4? but if we had this option in the origial it would be so great. im thinking something that gets added in late game. theres still a chance theyll get distracted/attacked/drown on their way back to you but you can at least TRY to call them back. i also love the whistle that calls pikmin back to you.
enemies staying dead- i'm mixed about this. i think that i'd like them to stay dead for a few days but then when you leave the area/after you progress in the game they get replaced with harder enemies?
time rewind- i'm mixed on this. i think its a bit overpowered. it might be good if it only comes in to play during a boss fight?
the dog. look. i didnt want a dog. i was not down with oatchi to begin with. after playing pikmin 4…yeah i do kind of like it. i think i'd prefer him not to be a dog. it added another level to the universe that was never really explained and i felt like it was motivated by a 'dogs are cute' fanservice kinda thing. not really my cup of tea. one of the things i really love about pikmin is it takes cute animals and makes them terrifying. oh a little ladybird? what if it was huge and bloodthirsty. i ended up reallly liking the extra level oatchi added to puzzles. i liked that you had to do some bits with him and the other with your player, i just would have liked something that felt more fitting with the world. a tame dwarf bulborb would be hilarious tbh.
go here- when i was playing pikmin 4 i was mixed about this. i kinda thought it took some of the challenge away and didnt use it at first but then i kinda changed my mind. like the whistle, i think it becomes overpowered because theres no danger involved. you can clear out the monsters first and you know nothing is gonna happen while youre on autopilot. after playing pikmin i think i'd actually really like a go here option, i think it just needs to be balanced out by there being a bit more risk involved in using it. personally ive found myself getting really frustrated playing the original because i get lost a lot. this is in part because i generally struggle with using maps particularly in older games where you cant see what is and isnt passable as well (this is more of a personal thing as i have a condition that affects my ability to orientate/use maps efficiently tbh)
advancements/design changes-
so modern tech has obviously allowed for some major improvements in how things look. going from new camera controls back to gamecube ones was…disappointing to say the least lol. i love that its easier to see what you are doing on these newer games. i love that its easier to target and actually throw the pikmin where you want them to go. its generally easier to move around and things are less clunky. i do think that a bit of the magic gets lost in some of the design changes tbh. i understand why theyve been made. the original developers probably wanted them there to start with but were restricted by the technology of the time (god. it really has been 2 decades. madness. i've been playing with these little guys for over 20 years lol).
i really liked the white hole-ey walls in the original, bring them back! i also actually liked that there were so many walls and a lot of things were more closed off. that typical pikmin feeling of 'i've got the treasure from the boss but now i cant bloody get it back' was missing a bit. i know that this is because modern games go more for that open world approach (even tho pikmin isnt) but i think it just makes sense in the story for things to be more closed off. i think bags and box ramps seem to have replaced the plentyful walls and… i would like more walls.
i also love the woven bridges where it breaks down over time and you need to get the pikmin to make it again. i just think they look cool.
i also like the little piles of bombs you can find and i like that you've got to have the yellow pikmin carry them around for you. what do you mean im just putting bombs in my pocket??! maybe there could be a function where in later game you could earn some kind of upgrade where you CAN store bombs. some kind of bomb proof container. but i still think the yellow pikmin should be in charge of bombs. they are the demolition experts.
i would like more use of climbing sticks too.
i liked that the landing spaces were kind of ringfenced off in the original. every landing space is its own little area, usually set in a depression in the land if not a little raised bit. i like that. tbh i dont really have an opinion on there being multiple homebases in 4. i know some ppl love it. im pretty neutral on it tbh. i would like the homebases to be set in some kind of depression/ have landscaping to set them aside tho. i just like the feel of it better. my pikmin feel safer lol. considering how dangerous the world is im not sure it makes sense for us to all be chill with landing out in the open like that and leaving our ship and the onion to it.
another thing that to me is huge but i do kinda get why they changed it and i think most ppl probably dont agree with me here… i miss there being seperate onions! i get why, i do. ppl probably didnt like that you couldnt get all your pikmin in one go and had to go to seperate onions. personally i loved that. i loved seeing the onions i'd collected in the landing area and i loved seeing them all fly off together at the end of the day. i loved that the landing areas were designed around the number of onions you'd have at the end of the game so that until then you'd be looking at that space like. i wonder whats going to go there. when will i find my last onion. what will it be like. i also love when the onion springs out of the ground all colourful when you find it. maybe they could be buried but when the pikmin uncovers it THEN it springs up?? i want that back. i do get that it would be annoying to have to get pikmin from each onion when there are loads of them and some ppl dont like that. i think this could be solved by you being able to access the all pikmin screen from your ship. then when you select the pikmin the ship alerts the onions and the pikmin come running out of the onions.
the centre spot for the ship and the 3 spots for red yellow and blue would be stylistic like in the original pikmin and would be there from the start even before you find the onions.
then the 6 surrounding spots would be less obvious, to the point that you dont really notice them until you find the first unusual onion. i know youre probably thinking: hold on a second 6? yeah i would give the glow pikmin a onion. maybe it only shows up at night or maybe it is there in the day but its colour is dull showing it's not avaliable.
while we're on the topic of the onions, i also prefer their original design. i'd love to see them looking the same, only more vibrant and in better definition. i particularly like the patterns round the bottom edge, the legs, and also the flowers on these ones.
edit: oh i totally forgot. the other design change im in two minds about is the sun meter. i think it looks better in the original.
also. i love that its easier to switch what colour pikmin you are holding and that charging is way easier.
im pretty neutral on the restricition of pikmin in the field. maybe i'd prefer it if you could upgrade that faster/if it had a higher starting point??? not sure yet i'll have to think. i dont like that there are more farlics avaliable even once youve reached 100 and the number of pikmin cant increase.
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"Since Kaito told me such a wild story yesterday, I want to hear one from you too, Little Koko!" *ichi is as excited as ever as he rests against the side of yuta's bed, a few unread manga scattered around him*
"I'm sure you have lots of amazing adventures, especially since you're a super smart detective! Even if it's something small, I wouldn't mind hearing it! I want to know some of the crazy things you've seen!"
"Hm? A wild story from me?" Yuta looks up from one of the manga books he was reading and towards his uncle in surprise! "E-Ehehe, thank you. Y... Yeah, I guess you could say that. And "crazy" is putting it lightly, frankly. Let's see... oh, I suppose I could tell you some of the amazing abilities I was able to use during cases, thanks to my friends from Chief's Agency assisting me."
"Have I ever told you about Fortes, uncle? They are special abilities that some Master Detectives have. Mine is called Coalescence. Basically, after being given permission by a Forte haver to borrow their ability, I hold their hand to activate that power. For one of my first Kanai Ward cases where we had to solve several locked room mysteries around town, one of my detective partners had an ability where you can literally see the state of a crime scene in the past! It was very helpful in collecting clues and evidence that otherwise would have been gone."
"Then for another case where I was basically like a spy like Uncle Phanty, one of my other partners has an ability where he can disguise himself, and so for us to be able to investigate inside of an all-girl's high school, w-we... disguised ourselves as a high school girl, me, and a teacher; him. It was pretty embarrassing, aha..."
"My third case was probably the craziest of all, with having to defuse bombs in several different areas throughout the city, being chased around by Peacekeepers, and eventually: an entire district literally flooded from the water bank pipes being destroyed! We had to travel through all that with a boat and everything.... and my partner who helped me there, had the ability to rewind time several seconds back, literally!"
"And then when exploring the city's gigantic lab, the one I investigated with has an ability where you can practically turn yourself into a ghost, while your real body sleeps. E-Even for me, it's still so unbelievable when that happened.... but yeah, it really goes to show just how amazing Fortes are, huh? And that I can borrow their abilities if they let me. If using RPG terms, I guess it's like my own special magic power? Ah, and speaking of which... out of all my detective partners and friends, I have one special one who was by my side through it all. She... um...doesn't exactly live where you can easily visit her, but if you two could meet... I know you'd get along wonderfully. She's a big Dragon Quest fan like you are! And while always loves to drive me crazy, I wouldn't replace herself with anything else in the world. She... is the reason I was even able to go on those wild 'adventures' through Kanai Ward like I did. I owe her a lot."
("Aww, Master~!") Blushing, Shinigami brushes up against him, making the Koko chuckle!
Then realizing how long he's been going on, his cheeks turn just the slightest red as he scratches his cheek~ "O-Oh man, sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on so much! I know a lot of this sounds insane, even compared to Kaito's adventures, but it was thanks to everyone helping me, that I was even able to solve such bizarre cases. Nowadays, I do a lot more normal cases ever since leaving that city, which I'm definitely not complaining about. But it'd be nice to see all my friends I met there, again, sometime... Thanks for listening, Uncle Ichiban! I hope I was able to meet your expectations and tell you some exiting things!"
#GOODNESS SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG GFNJF KOKORAMBLING!!!!#HE WANTED TO TELL HIS UNCLE ABOUT ALL THE ~TOTALLY~ NORMAL WAYS HE SOLVED CASES IN KANAI WARD TWAS ALL~#and he just had to mention Shinigami okay~!#WELL: excluding the 'death god that permanently haunts him part' JFNDJDNJ but you know!!! HEHEHEHE.....#Yuta answers;;#Shinigami;;#essenceofjustice
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Five Nights at Freddy's: Salvaged, Night 20: Left Behind
''I was left behind! All this torture will unwind, I was never all that kind! If you were to rewind, then you would find I was left behind! Take your turn to run and hide, I will catch you all the time! This night no longer shines, your tears divine, you'll now be mine! We hope you enjoyed the show within your grave down below!''
– Left Behind by DAGames (Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location)
xXxXxXx
Connor knocked on the door of the manager's office, waiting for the lazy ''Come in!'', and entered it. The manager was an elderly man who looked like he'd rather be at home and drinking beer than at this establishment.
''Ah, Mr. Davis, is there anything you need?'' the manager asked. Connor took a deep breath.
''I wanted to voice my concerns about the recent events. A lazy security guard and a missing employee isn't very good for Ricky's. I was wondering whether I could, aside from doing my regular job, also apply for the night guard job,'' Connor said, with the manager frowning. He then added, ''I would just make sure no one is on the premises after closure in order to prevent more accidents like this.''
''I will have to think about this, but considering how you're a longtime employee, have a clean record, are usually the last one to leave and we still cannot find a replacement night guard, you might get the job. Of course, we will also have to discuss your hours and paycheck for that,'' the manager said.
''I believe we will find a solution that problem,'' Connor replied, with the manager rising an eyebrow. ''It doesn't have to even be official. I'll just be on the closing shift as usual, but leave a while later after making sure no one is here.''
He knew that it wouldn't take much to convince the manager. He knew that he wanted to cut costs while pretending that everything was running smoothly and by the book. Not to mention, putting an employee as reliable as Connor was on the night guard position would spare him the hassle of having to hire a new night guard, especially since the day shift guard refused to take the night shift.
''I guess you're getting a promotion then,'' the manager said.
''Thank you, sir,'' Connor replied, exiting the office and walking towards the main area, grinning.
xXx
Sam yawned, checking her phone. It was late evening, with her and Springtrap being in her room after having finished cleaning the kitchen. Emma was a little upset about the broken dishes, although she didn't mourn the vase, calling it ugly and noting how she wanted to replace it anyways. However, she was glad things didn't escalate and Sam didn't end up scarred or worse.
''You seem to be really satisfied about this,'' Springtrap told Sam.
''Of course I am. After all, I managed to help someone improve their life, or rather, afterlife,'' Sam replied.
''Honestly, I'm just glad that she's gone,'' Springtrap said, with Sam noticing the bitterness in his tone. Before she could question him, they heard shuffling in front of the door and Emma peeked into the room.
''You two are still awake?'' she said, with Springtrap giving her a questioning look. She narrowed her eyes. ''You know what I meant, Afton.''
''Mum, could we borrow the car for tomorrow?'' Sam asked.
''As long as you manage to wake up early to drive me to work,'' Emma replied. ''Where are you even going to?''
Sam and Springtrap briefly exchanged glances, only to see Emma giving them a Don't you dare to lie to me look.
''We planned to visit an abandoned building called Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental,'' Sam said. Emma didn't seem to recognize the name.
''So, what is that place? Are you completely sure that it is abandoned?'' Emma asked.
''It is,'' Springtrap replied, with Emma giving him a confused look. ''At least it was the last time I was there, more than a year ago.''
''Should I even ask why you were there?'' Emma said, crossing her arms.
''I used to own it, and rest assured, it is completely empty,'' Springtrap replied. ''There are no people and no animatronics, just robotic parts and empty rooms.''
''I see,'' Emma muttered, looking a little skeptical. ''Anyways, don't stay up too late, else someone is going to sleep outside. I'm not that picky about who this person will be.''
She added the last part when she noticed Sam grinning, looking satisfied when Sam's eyes widened and her smile instantly vanished. Emma left, with Sam and Springtrap exchanging glances.
''To be honest, I'm not sure whether she was messing with us again or was completely serious about this,'' Sam said.
''I don't think we should take any chances,'' Springtrap replied. ''In any case, we have a plan for tomorrow and we can discuss the details in the morning.''
He was about to get up and leave, only for Sam to grab his hand, forcing him to stay. He was a little confused when he saw the annoyed look on her expression.
''Remember how I told you that I'm getting better at picking up on whenever you feel upset about something? I'm quite sure that there's something you didn't want to tell me earlier,'' Sam said as Springtrap sat back, looking a little flustered and anxious.
''I don't think I need to explain whom that little girl reminded me of,'' Springtrap said.
''No, but the children are gone, aren't they?'' Sam said. ''That chapter of your life is supposed to be over, isn't it? Even though it does influence your current situation.''
''True, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that not all of them are gone,'' Springtrap replied.
''You mean that entity?'' Sam asked, with Springtrap nodding.
''If anything, I'm certain that this entity is completely different from the voice that told me that I'd be back, for whatever reason they had,'' he explained.
''Considering how things are, you've been brought back to be tortured. Apparently, the Hell you faced wasn't enough,'' Sam said, noticing that Springtrap looked quite crestfallen. ''There is something else, isn't it?''
''How would you feel if I just left?'' he asked. He noticed the reluctant look on her expression, as she understood what he meant. It was more than obvious that she refused to let him leave, which he actually felt relieved about.
''Well, if you wanted to leave, it is your decision…'' Sam muttered.
''Sam, be honest with your feelings,'' Springtrap said calmly, in the same tone Sam used to talk to him in such situations.
''No, I don't want to you to leave,'' Sam said, now in a more confident tone, only to feel Springtrap patting her on the head.
''I know. I am not going to leave you,'' Springtrap told her. ''At least not unless forced, and even then, I doubt I would just abandon you. Besides, I'm quite satisfied with being back, so that's an additional reason for staying here.''
Sam smiled, with Springtrap feeling a warm sensation in his chest.
Even if I have to leave, it'll be on my own terms.
xXx
''It should be here somewhere,'' Springtrap said as he looked through the window of the car. The two were searching for Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental location. Springtrap felt a little tense about visiting it again, as he wondered whether everything remained the same, or whether the location was still there.
''Is this it?'' Sam asked, parking in next to the building next to an empty lot. There was an old rusty sign on it, saying CIRCUS BABY'S ENTERTAINMENT AND RENTAL, with the image of Circus Baby holding a microphone on the top of the sign. However, the colors were faded and chipped. The lot also had a broken fence around it, but it didn't seem like it was necessary for keeping intruders out. The whole place was decrepit and gave off a creepy vibe. The two exited the car, walking over to the building, with Springtrap being stunned.
''I can't believe this place is still here,'' he said. ''I thought that Henry had torn it down and burned the remains.''
''Well, I have no complaints about this place still being here,'' Sam said, looking quite excited. ''Let's go inside.''
Springtrap nodded, although he still stood on the spot, staring at the building. He did feel a little reluctant about entering it, as he didn't know what he might find there. Everything could've been the same as he left it, but it was also possible that there was nothing there. He sighed.
It's time to see what is lurking underground.
xXx
''Is there a bunny plushie?''
''No…''
''But, I want one!''
Kathy looked at her younger brother, who was just as annoyed as she was that the only plushies were those of Ricky and the Misfits. The two hoped that they could find a plushie that looked similar to that green-golden bunny with the purple bowtie.
Speaking of the bunny, nobody had seen it. Sure, the two hadn't visited Ricky's in a while, but they were sure that the bunny would still be here. They asked a few older kids and even an employee about the strange bunny animatronic, but none of them had even noticed that he was there. The two felt disappointed, as they wanted to play with him.
They knew that the bunny was there, but everyone else acted like he didn't exist. What was going on?
''Maybe he doesn't work today,'' Kathy suggested. She then pouted. ''Or maybe he got fired?''
Kyle tilted his head. He didn't fully understand what ''being fired'' meant, although he knew that it was something about adults losing their job, as he overheard his aunt talking nastily about the people that worked in the grocery store. All he could imagine was the bunny animatronic being fired out of a cannon by Ricky, and got scared.
''I hope he wasn't,'' he said. ''That would hurt.''
The two then got approached by Virgil The Owl, who looked at them expectantly.
''Do you want a prize?'' Virgil asked them.
''We want a bunny plushie!'' Kyle exclaimed, holding his share of prize tickets.
''I am sorry, but there are no bunnies here,'' Virgil replied. ''But, did you know that rabbits are fragile animals and are most active in the morning and evening. They prefer to sleep during the day and through the night. Rabbits are very tame and not demanding. They can be trained to learn commands and play games. Rabbits make very little noise so bothering your neighbors will not be a concern. Rabbits love to be handled, like attention, and tend to be active when most people are home. Because of all these attributes they can make an excellent pet.''
''Really?'' Kyle seemed to be awed, turning to his sister. ''I want a pet bunny!''
''Me too,'' Kathy was just as excited about the idea as her brother was, but then quickly remembered why they were here, then turned to the animatronic. ''Did you see a bunny robot?''
''No, there is no rabbit animatronic here. We have Ricky Wolfrun-'' Before Virgil could continue listing the names of the animatronics, he got interrupted by Kathy.
''But, there was a bunny named Spring here!'' she insisted.
''No, there is no rabbit animatronic here. We have Ricky Wolf-''
Kathy groaned, with her brother copying her. Both of them were frustrated that nobody knew about Spring, not even the animatronics themselves.
''Hello, there!'' The twins turned around, only to see Ricky waving at them. ''Do you need any help?''
As much as the twins were aware of, there were two Rickys. One would sing on the stage and the other would walk around and interact with people. However, they would never be seen together. Of course, when they played with another kid their age and told him about it, he said that they were wrong and that they were stupid for believing that. The twins quickly left him, not taking kindly to the fact that they were insulted by someone who couldn't tell the difference between a robot and a person in a costume.
''Have you seen a bunny?'' Kyle asked hopefully. ''His name is Spring!''
''I'm sorry, but I don't know any bunny named Spring,'' Ricky replied. Kyle looked disappointed. ''However, you can play with me and my friends. Just come along.''
He reached out for Kyle, but Kathy grabbed his arm first.
''No, thanks,'' Kathy suddenly said, feeling uncomfortable in Ricky's presence. Even though he was friendly to them, she had a bad feeling about this and wanted to leave. ''Bye.''
Connor observed silently as the two left, feeling angry. He had realized that he basically got his confirmation that there was indeed a bunny animatronic roaming through this town. However, every time he appeared or was mentioned, he would take people he was interested in away from him.
Well, it's time to hunt this bunny down.
xXx
As Sam and Springtrap entered the building, they noticed a thick layer of dust on the floor and every surface. There were cobwebs, as well as a musty scent in the air. It was dark inside, with shutters covering the windows, although Sam brought along her flashlight, shining it on the surfaces. The hallway they entered led to another room covered in posters of Circus Baby, Funtime Foxy, Funtime Freddy and Bon-Bon, and Ballora. There was also a reception counter.
''We're not even at where the animatronics were and I'm already excited,'' Sam said, contemplating whether she could take the posters with her.
''We might have a little problem, though,'' Springtrap said, pointing at the elevator a bit away from the counter. ''There are other entrances, but the primary one, which is reserved for the technicians, is this elevator and I'm not sure whether this place is still powered-up since nobody is using it. Also, just to make it clear, the last time I came here I used a different entrance.''
''Well, we could try it out,'' Sam said, shrugging. Springtrap was worried about the possibility of them getting trapped inside a faulty elevator, but decided to give it a try. Surprisingly, when he pressed the button for the elevator, it actually worked. He and Sam exchanged glances, then nodded, entering the elevator. Sam felt her heart racing when the door behind her closed. It took a few seconds, but the elevator then went down.
As they waited, Springtrap figured that there was a possibility that Fazbear Entertainment was the one who kept Circus Baby's Rental and Entertainment from being torn down. After all, they had already decided to open another location.
Meanwhile, Sam examined the entirety of the elevator, noticing how it looked exactly like it did in the game. The posters were missing, but the panel on which HandUnit asks you to type was still there. Sam traced with her fingers over the torn sticker that said ''MIKE''. She was smiling widely, feeling as if she was dreaming. However, this was much better than a dream.
''Deep below ground, where memories sleep, anger is restless and secrets don't keep.''
''What do you mean?'' Springtrap asked her.
''That was the description for Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location,'' Sam explained. ''Speaking of which, something's missing. HandUnit is not active.''
''I guess that someone turned HandUnit off,'' Springtrap said.
''I kind of hoped that we would hear him,'' Sam said. ''He might've offered me some Exotic Butters.''
Springtrap snorted, figuring that he should ask her a little more about those Five Nights at Freddy's games. The elevator finally opened, with both of them exiting it, entering a smaller room with a vent they would have to crawl through. Sam glanced at Springtrap.
''I still don't get why people have to use the vents to get into another room,'' she said, noticing Springtrap grinning, his arms crossed on his back and his eyes glowing in a soft purple.
''It's just a precaution, to make sure that people stay where they're supposed to be. Do you really think that, unless directed, someone would use a vent to get into the next room?'' Springtrap asked.
''Well, you have a point,'' Sam replied.
''If you don't want to use the vents, I'll show you the way around,'' Springtrap added.
''Thanks, but I actually wanted to see what Mike had to go through,'' Sam said, pointing at the vent. Springtrap's ears drooped, with him looking a little anxious. He knew that Michael had been at this place, as he personally had sent him here, but the idea of her retracing his steps didn't occur to him. However, if she did attempt to retrace Michael's steps… Springtrap's eyes widened as he realized what kind of situation he put her in.
''Say, Sam, you'll be fine on your own for a few minutes?'' he asked.
''I guess…'' Sam gave him a confused look. ''Why are you asking?''
''There's something I need to do, but I'll be back soon,'' Springtrap replied.
''What is it?'' Sam asked.
''I'll explain you later. It's just something I forgot about,'' Springtrap told her. Sam tilted her head, a little skeptical, but then shrugged and entered the vent. Springtrap sighed as he heard her leaving, rubbing his temple. ''Why didn't I remember this sooner?''
He then turned back to he elevator, walking around it and opening the door that was concealed in the small area behind the elevator. As he had already noted, there were certain aspects of this place only he was supposed to know about.
xXx
Sam felt a little overwhelmed as she stood in the primary control module room. In front of her was the vent that led to the control room for the Circus Gallery. On the sides were the vents that led to the Ballora Gallery and Funtime Auditorium. She also noticed the keypads used for the controlled shocks, approaching the one on her left carefully, her fingers itching to press the buttons. She felt giddy, still a bit in disbelief that she was actually here, at the Sister Location. As she contemplated whether she should actually try the keypads out, she was startled when the light suddenly started flickering and turned on. Even the screens above her were turned on, albeit showing only static.
She figured that Springtrap was probably the one who turned the lights on and looked through the windows. Both the Ballora Gallery and Funtime Auditorium were empty, albeit there were scraps of metal and plastic lying on the floor. Running from one side to the other, she simply couldn't decide which one to check first.
In the end, she decided to visit first the Circus Gallery, wanting to see Circus Baby's stage first. After climbing out of the vent, she found herself in the control room for the Circus Gallery, leaning against the machinery to see the stage. It was dimly lit, with broken stage lights, but much larger than Ballora and Funtime Foxy's stage. She took a step back and crouched, opening the door to the small space below the desk, which once served as a hiding spot for Michael when the Bidybabs went after him.
She shuddered as she closed it, reminding herself that this wasn't a game or a dream. It was real and people had died here. Not only that, but several incredibly dangerous animatronics had managed to escape by using a human as a suit. Calling it an unnerving experience would be an understatement.
After returning back to the main control room, Sam turned towards the Ballora Gallery, roaming freely through the area, as there was no Ballora or Minireenas to stop her. The room didn't have anything of interest, aside from several decorations and posters showing Ballora dancing. Sam turned her attention to the stage, staring at it for a moment, then shivered, going towards the breaker room.
Now, the breaker room was just as she imagined it to be. She saw the panel for the power, the room being covered in wires and pipes, some tools on a desk at the far end of the room, as well as some machinery.
This was where Funtime Freddy and Bon-Bon resided, at least for a while.
She stepped towards the stage where Funtime Freddy once stood, staring at it briefly, before turning back to the Ballora Gallery, with the intent to visit the Funtime Auditorium next. Once there, she glanced at the stage where Funtime Foxy was, then looked at the floor. While dusty, it was clean.
I guess we'll never know what happened to those two technicians after they were killed.
She then walked over to the parts and service room, which, similarly to the breaker room, was covered in wires, but also had closets and a desk, as well as tools and parts that would be used for fixing the animatronics. As she looked down, she noticed a charred piece of plastic. Picking it up and turning it around, she realized that, while it was quite damaged, it was Ennard's mask.
She gasped, covering her mouth in disbelief as she processed the fact that she was holding a piece of a rather infamous animatronic. She assumed that Ennard, after parting ways with Circus Baby, came here to repair himself, only for that to go wrong. Instead, he became Molten Freddy, a bunch of wires with Funtime Freddy's mask and AI, as Ballora and Funtime Foxy's AI probably ceased to exist at that point.
As she exited the parts and service room, she turned her attention to two other rooms, one being the private room and the other being the scooping room. Biting her lip, she went to the private room, wanting to check it out. As she already expected it, it looked almost exactly as she imagined it to be. The monitors had been turned off, so she had no view of the other rooms. Just as she reached for the monitors, she felt a hand on her shoulder and quickly turned around.
''Are you okay? I'm sorry I scared you,'' Springtrap said as he saw her stunned expression.
''Yeah, I'm fine,'' Sam replied. ''I am actually quite enjoying myself, just like at Fazbear's Fright.''
''I see you have already found something,'' Springtrap said, looking at Ennard's mask. Sam nodded.
''Honestly, I don't think I have even explored half of the place properly,'' she replied. ''Anyways, what were you doing?''
''I was simply making sure you won't get yourself hurt,'' Springtrap replied, with Sam giving him a confused look.
''Thanks,'' she muttered, wondering what exactly he meant, only to figure it out a moment later. ''The scooper, right?''
Springtrap didn't say anything, avoiding any eye-contact with her. He was still troubled over what happened, as well as worried about Sam's reaction to everything. Sure, she had already known about the whole deal with the scooper and remnant, but there was still a difference between knowing something and experiencing it first-hand. Not to mention, considering how curious Sam was, he had every right to worry about her getting hurt.
''In any case, I have visited pretty much every room here, except for the one with the scooper,'' she told Springtrap as she exited the room.
''I think you might want to rethink that sentence,'' Springtrap replied, then glanced back at the monitors, a little reluctant. Although, I guess she already knows, right?
He sighed, feeling torn between letting her continue to explore and telling her that they should leave. After all, this was his idea, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that he made the wrong decision. There was a reason why I left everything behind.
He sighed, remembering the time he encountered Circus Baby decades after he had left her and the other animatronics. At the time, she had managed to somehow repair herself, becoming Scrap Baby. She was excited to see him, showing no trace of malice or bitterness towards him. She didn't care anymore about being left behind, seemingly forgotten, and wanted to do anything to make him proud. She wanted to be part of this horror show and he allowed it.
She even told him about what had happened to Michael, which honestly shocked him as, while he did sent him to this location, he didn't expect such outcome. However, the possibility of Michael still being alive despite being carved out like a pumpkin for Halloween sparked his interest, causing him to wonder whether he would encounter his son again. Still, that didn't mean that he wanted a family reunion. At that point, he had lost every sense of sanity, only wanting to continue to murder people.
Hell, even Circus Baby was a victim of his insane ideas. He no longer cared whether he was talking to the Circus Baby AI or Elizabeth when he encountered her, simply accepting idea that this is who she was. While he may have not wanted to harm her before, he had accepted her idea of her becoming his successor, while at the same time making it clear that he would also act on his own, without her help.
Springtrap sighed, closing his eyes with a look of anguish on his expression. Now that he thought about everything, he felt sick. He was furious at himself for even taking such dark path, even though he knew that he couldn't change anything about his past. He refused to understand the pain and agony he brought upon everyone, believing that there would be some kind of benefit from his actions. Sure, had had discovered what could be called essentially immortality, but at what price?
Even if put myself into a similar situation, I still would have no idea what they have been through.
Time and time again, he had to wonder why he was still here, why he was allowed to come back. Was he supposed to repeat the horror show? Sure, he tried that, but Sam convinced him that there might have been another reason for his return. Or, maybe there wasn't any other reason for his return and this was just another form of torture? If it was, then they did a good job, as he now felt even worse than he did in Hell.
Still, there was a bit of hope left for him, as he had found someone who was willing to listen to him and help him out. It wasn't a bad deal, despite the constant anxiety and fear about her getting hurt somehow. After all, he had managed to hurt and scar every person he actually felt some connection with, and she might suffer the same fate.
I should've stayed away from her.
He shook his head, his eyes flaring purple. Only because he knew that he shouldn't be around her didn't mean he was supposed to leave her. He had shown that he could change, that he could become a better person. Hell, he even showed regret for his past actions! He wanted to keep Sam safe and happy, and that required his presence, no matter how absurd that idea was.
If this is not why I'm here, what else am I supposed to do?!
In the end, the decision lied within him. Even if he had made a different choice, he would still suffer the consequences, which could've been even worse than what he was experiencing now. Springtrap sighed, exiting the private room and closing the door, then leaned against it, staring across the room.
What should I do?
Suddenly, there was a scream, with something falling on the ground, the sounds echoing through the empty room.
''Sam!''
Springtrap ran over to the scooping room, finding Sam sitting on the ground, clutching her stomach. He quickly crouched next to her, noticing the blood on her arm.
''Sam, what happened?!''
Sam looked at the dismantled scooper, with Springtrap noticing that the remnant injector had sprung open. While had had dismantled it, he forgot that there was a possibility that traces of remnant were still inside the injector and that it might activate if not handled carefully. He assumed that she picked up some of the pieces of the scooper to examine them and got stabbed by the injector after accidentally activating it.
''Sam, let me see the wound,'' he said anxiously, slowly feeling the dread rising in the back of his mind. Sam extended her arm, her eyes tearing. Feeling sorry for her, Springtrap examined her arm, seeing the tears on the bandages and blood dripping out of the tears. He took a look at her, realizing that it was just her arm that got stabbed by the injector. Still, that didn't make him feel less horrified. He looked at her, his eyes flaring purple. ''We're going home this instant.''
Sam was surprised by his stern and serious tone. It was less of a suggestion and more of an order, with her realizing that the situation was grave. She let him help her get up, feeling her arm throbbing and a little dizzy.
''Sam, can you stand on your own?'' Springtrap asked her, with Sam waiting for the dizziness to fade.
''Yeah, I think so,'' she said, even though Springtrap still held her non-injured arm. ''There's a first aid kit in the car.''
''I don't think that it will help much,'' Springtrap said as he looked at her injured arm. The bleeding had stopped, but there were still red stains on the bandages. However, he wasn't worried about her injury, but more about what the injector did to her.
As they walked past the remains of Ballora, Funtime Foxy and Funtime Freddy and entered the Funtime Auditorium, Springtrap directed her towards a concealed door Sam hadn't noticed earlier. It led to a corridor that had a fork. Sam assumed that one path led to the observatory she saw through the panel at the scooping room. Springtrap then gestured to take the other path, which led back to the elevator room. As the elevator went up, the dizziness Sam felt had faded away and she was capable of standing on her own. However, her arm still hurt.
''How do you feel?'' Springtrap asked her worriedly. Sam noticed that there was a hint of panic in his tone.
''My arm hurts,'' she said, holding her injured arm with her non-injured one. ''I also feel tired.''
Springtrap looked dismayed, fearing the worst. He didn't want to risk anything, but he also had no idea what might happen to Sam. After all, he never found out what might happen when someone who was still alive gets injected with remnant.
xXx
The drive back home was quiet. After having her arm once again bandaged, Sam insisted on driving them back home, despite feeling fatigue. Springtrap let her do that, as he didn't want to upset her further. The situation was already bad enough, even more when Sam expressed the desire to go to sleep once they had arrived.
''Sam, I don't think that this is a good idea,'' Springtrap told her. ''You need to stay awake.''
He was slowly freaking out. As much as he knew, remnant was supposed to bind the soul of a dead or dying person to a body, be it artificial or not. However, he feared that, if injected into someone who was still alive, it could outright kill the person. While Sam wasn't stabbed in any of her vital organs, like the heart, it seemed to be affecting her nonetheless.
''I'm sorry about what happened. This is all my fault,'' he told her.
''No, it's mine,'' Sam replied, her cheeks red. ''I shouldn't have touched that stuff. I should've known better-''
Suddenly, her eyes rolled back and collapsed. Springtrap managed to hold her, preventing her from falling down on the floor.
''Sam, wake up! Sam!''
Horrified, he realized that she couldn't hear him anymore.
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#Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story#Five Nights at Freddy's: Salvaged#fnaf#five nights at freddy's#springtrap#william afton#fnaf sister location#five nights at freddy's sister location
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Three Cary Grant movies in a row!
Script below the break
Hello and welcome back to The Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most rewatched movies. Today I will be discussing number 28 on my list: RKO’s 1948 comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, directed by H.C. Potter, written by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, based on the novel by Eric Hodgins, and starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Melvyn Douglas.
Yes, I’m talking about yet another Cary Grant movie – I warned you there would be a lot of them. In this one, he plays Jim Blandings, an advertising executive who lives in a Manhattan apartment with his wife Muriel (Myrna Loy) and their two children. Tired of feeling crowded, and taken in by an advertisement, they decide to purchase an old house on a large property in Connecticut. They initially resist the idea that the house must be torn down, but ultimately get excited about being able to build one to their own specifications. However, this is not nearly as simple, or as affordable, as they anticipate.
The first time I watched this movie, it was late at night and I was very tired, so I remember almost falling asleep without really getting into it. But I enjoyed it a lot more the second time, and it’s grown on me over the years. I watched it for the first time in 2003, then twice in 2004, and then once each in 2006, 2008 through 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 through 2021, and then twice in 2022. And while I could barely keep my eyes open the first time I watched it, now I find it difficult to tear them from the screen when the movie is on.
As I’ve said several times in previous episodes, Cary Grant was a brilliant comedic actor, and once again, he is very funny in this movie. Just watching his morning routine in the apartment at the beginning is hilarious. Jim Blandings is very sure of himself, even and especially when he shouldn’t be, and Cary plays that very convincingly and humorously. Myrna Loy is probably best known for playing Nora Charles in the comedy-mystery Thin Man movies, so it should come as no surprise that she is also very funny here. Muriel occasionally tries to rein in some of Jim’s recklessness, but also gets caught up in the dream of the house, and Loy portrays that flawlessly. Apparently critics thought these stars were too old for these roles (they were both in their mid-40s at the time), and that it would have made more sense to show a naïve young couple not knowing how to build a house, but personally I think it works better to show a middle aged couple who have every reason to believe they know what they’re doing find out that they have no clue. The movie also makes it clear that it’s only because Jim is older and more established in his career that he’s able to do this. At one point when he’s venting about how everything’s costing way more than they were anticipating, Jim points out that if he can barely afford it, there’s no way a young couple ever could. And looking at this movie from a modern lens is kind of surreal because like, imagine a single-income family of four being able to afford a house! To put things in perspective, Jim Blandings was making $15,000 a year in 1948, which is the equivalent of approximately $190,000 in 2023, and the final cost of his dream house was $38,000, or approximately $480,000 now. It certainly costs a lot more than he initially thinks it will, but it’s still doable for him – although he does nearly lose his job at one point – whereas it would not have been for a young couple just starting out. And again, Cary Grant and Myrna Loy are so delightful to watch that I cannot comprehend wanting to replace them.
The acting and the writing encourage the audience to laugh at both Jim and Muriel while still finding them sympathetic. There’s a rather beautiful poetic justice in the story of an advertising executive, who spends all day figuring out how to convince people to buy things they don’t need and can’t afford, getting convinced by an ad to build a house he doesn’t need and can’t afford. And yet, we still want him to succeed, and share his frustration when things go wrong. Muriel’s extremely specific demands for the house can be ridiculous, but we still want her to get the dream house she desires. Perhaps her greatest moment in the film is when she spends several minutes describing in detail the exact shade she wants each room painted: one should exactly match the color of fresh butter, one needs to be white – not a cold, antiseptic hospital white, but not to suggest any other color but white; another should be practically an apple red, somewhere between a healthy Winesap and an unripened Jonathan, etc. When she finally gets distracted and walks away, one of the painters says to the other, “You got all that?” and the other replies, “Red, green, blue, yellow, white.” It’s very funny, but also maybe a little bit sexist, in a “These silly women and their ridiculous obsession with detail” way, but at least the movie makes fun of Jim too. He’s constantly taking charge of things he doesn’t understand and making them worse – from illegally authorizing the old house to be torn down to inadvertently instructing builders to rip out their work. So rather than making fun of Jim and Muriel specifically, the movie is really making fun of the gender roles they feel obligated to fulfill, and the way society has made basic needs like shelter immensely complicated to obtain. And while some of that is rather painful to face, this movie manages to make the overall experience mostly enjoyable. It’s thought-provoking without becoming too upsetting.
While a lot of what I love about this movie comes from Grant and Loy, I also love Melvyn Douglas’s performance, and his character, Bill Cole, is probably my favorite. Bill narrates portions of the movie, and introduces himself to the audience as “Jim’s lawyer and quote best friend unquote.” He’s kind of the voice of doom regarding the dream house project, pointing out all the ways Jim gets taken advantage of along the way and repeatedly advising him to give up, but far from being a stick in the mud, he has an excellent sense of humor, and goes along for the ride only slightly reluctantly. There’s a trope that’s especially common in movies from this era of a married couple having a male “friend of the family” who is interested in the wife and kind of waiting for her to either leave her husband for him, or at least have an affair with him. The character of Hank Entwistle in Monkey Business is like this, and there’s a character in the movie I’m going to talk about next week like this. Bill Cole is almost like this, and Jim certainly sees him like this for a good chunk of the movie, but the way I see him, he’s not actually interested in Muriel that way, and is, in fact, if not canonically queer, certainly queer-coded. We do know that he dated Muriel in college. At one point when Jim asks Muriel why Bill’s always hanging around them instead of getting married, Muriel says it’s because he could never find another girl like her, but this doesn’t seem like it’s meant to be particularly serious. When Jim objects to the fact that Bill always takes his leave by shaking Jim’s hand and kissing Muriel on the cheek, Muriel dryly inquires if Jim would prefer it the other way around. There is also a running joke about Jim and Bill getting stuck in a closet, so modern audiences might interpret that to mean that they’re secretly gay, although I’m pretty sure the closet metaphor wasn’t commonly used in 1948. Bill doesn’t seem to really show any attraction toward either Jim or Muriel, so of course I’m inclined to headcanon him as aroace. We do find out that Muriel somehow ended up with both Bill’s and Jim’s fraternity pins – which the Blandings daughters find along with her old diary in the process of moving into the new house. When Jim then confronts Muriel about her having been in love with Bill, she laughs and responds with, “Of course I was in love with Bill! In those days I was in love with a new man every week!” She considers her time dating Bill to be relatively meaningless, and currently sees him as a good friend. Most of Jim’s bouts of jealousy in the movie seem to be misplaced frustration with the way things are going with the house and/or his job, rather than in response to any of Muriel or Bill’s behavior, which is part of the film’s effective commentary on how gender roles leave men feeling like they can’t express their emotions honestly.
Anyway, one evening, when Jim is working late because a slogan he’s been struggling to come up with for months is due the following morning, Bill stops by the new house to visit Muriel, and there’s a major rainstorm. A neighbor informs Muriel that her phone isn’t working and a nearby bridge is out, so her children can’t get home from school, but they’re staying with a different neighbor on the other side of the bridge. This also means that Bill can’t get home, so he’ll have to spend the night in the house alone with Muriel. When he half-jokingly gasps, “Think of my reputation!” Muriel responds with, “Don’t worry, Snow White, you’ll be just as pure and unsullied in the morning as you were the night before,” and he says, “That’s the story of my life.” Now, I feel like there are a couple different ways to interpret this. One way – the allo-heteronormative way – is that they would like to sleep together, but she’s happily married, and he respects that, so they resist. I’m not saying that’s an invalid interpretation, but something about the way they deliver those lines, and the way they interact in the rest of the movie, doesn’t quite feel like that to me. Another interpretation is that they don’t want to sleep together, and they just want to make sure they’re on the same page about that. Think about how much better it makes the scene if Bill is asexual, and his “Think of my reputation!” is his way of making a joke out of not feeling comfortable with the situation, and her response is reassuring him that she understands and doesn’t see him that way either, and his “That’s the story of my life” is him trying to pretend to be disappointed because an allonormative world tells him he should be, but he’s actually relieved. This could also be because Bill is gay, or straight or bi and just not attracted to Muriel, but even then, the point about defying social expectations still stands. Since long before I knew the terms “aromantic” or “asexual,” I have been drawn to stories about people who are expected to fall in love and/or sleep together and then don’t. It has always felt so encouraging to see adults maintaining close platonic relationships, even when society tells them they shouldn’t be platonic. So I love that Bill and Muriel are friends who can spend the night in the same house without becoming overwhelmed by passion or whatever seems to usually happen in situations like that.
Of course, in this particular case, due to production codes there was basically no chance that they would commit adultery anyway, and all of this is probably definitely me reading way too much into something that’s barely there. The following morning, when Jim makes it back home – after giving up on the slogan even though he knows he’ll be fired – and finds out that Bill spent the night, there’s a bunch of other stuff going on with the contractor telling them about more expenses they’ve incurred, but Jim is particularly upset about Bill being there. Then one of the workers shows up at the house and declares, “There’s a matter of twelve dollars and 36 cents” and Jim loses it, going off on a whole rant saying things like, “Why stop there? Just take everything I have!” until the worker clarifies, “No, I owe you $12.36.” Suddenly Jim’s anger melts away, and he also loses every trace of jealousy and suspicion. This certainly supports what I said earlier about Jim’s jealousy really being misplaced frustration, which I also think supports the idea that Bill is asexual, and that even if people didn’t use that term at that time, at least on some level both Jim and Muriel understand that Bill is not a threat to their marriage. Jim is only jealous because he feels like he should be, and it’s a convenient and socially acceptable outlet for his real feelings. The last shot of the movie is of the Blandings family enjoying their front yard, with Jim reading the book the movie is based on. He looks up and says to the audience, “Drop in and see us sometime” and then Bill moves into frame and adds, “Yeah, do that, won’t you?” implying that he has been accepted as practically part of the family, and that if he is aroace, he’s certainly not alone, and I absolutely love that.
I’ve mentioned before that part of why there are so many Cary Grant movies in my top 40 is because I have a multi-day marathon around his birthday every year, and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is almost always part of that. I tend to watch this one on his actual birthday because the only specifically Cary Grant-related item of clothing I own is a long-sleeved t-shirt I got for Christmas in 2007 with a quote from this movie on it, which I will probably wear every January 18 for the rest of my life, even though I kind of have mixed feelings about the context of the quote in the movie. The slogan that Jim gives up on during that fateful stormy night is for a product called Wham, which is a brand of ham. He spends all night trying to come up with an acceptable slogan, but they’re all terrible. I would like to point out that he’s working on this with his female secretary, which means he has even less reason to be jealous of Muriel spending all night with Bill, but that’s not really important. I also feel the need to tell you about my favorite bad slogan he comes up with: “This little piggy went to market, as meek and as mild as a lamb. He smiled in his tracks when they slipped him the axe; he KNEW he’d turn out to be Wham!” The extremely concerned look on his secretary (played by Lurene Tuttle)’s face when she hears that is so perfect. But anyway, he finally gives up and goes home, and after all the drama of finding Bill there and owing more money but also getting a refund, the maid Gussie (played by Louise Beavers) is serving breakfast, and when the girls ask if there’s ham, she replies with, “Not just ham; Wham! If you ain’t eatin’ Wham, then you ain’t eatin’ ham!” And Jim does a double take and then exclaims, “Give Gussie a $10 raise!” and then we see a magazine ad featuring Gussie’s face and this slogan, and I have some questions. What exactly did he mean by a $10 raise? Ten dollars per hour? Per week? Per year? Also did he actually give her credit for coming up with the slogan, or did they just use her words and likeness without her really getting anything out of it, apart from this ambiguous raise? Part of me likes to think that she got hired by Jim’s advertising agency after this, but I feel like the more likely explanation is that a white man took credit for a black woman’s work. So again, I have some mixed feelings about my shirt that has a picture of a ham on it with the words “If you ain’t eatin’ Wham, then you ain’t eatin’ ham!” But despite its weirdness and its flaws, I mostly have positive feelings toward this movie. And I will never forget the joy I felt the one and only time someone who hadn’t watched this movie with me recognized the quote from that shirt, so shout out to my 12th grade history teacher.
Thank you for listening to me discuss yet another Cary Grant movie. I do apologize if you’re getting tired of hearing about him, but at least each of the four Cary Grant movies I’ve talked about so far has been from a different decade, so hopefully that has added enough variety to keep things interesting. Next up is another 1940s movie, although Cary Grant was not in it, so you’ll get a break from hearing about him, for now. In previous episodes I’ve ended with a single line from the next movie, but for this one I have to quote a three-line exchange between two people, because it’s my favorite part of the movie and I can’t help myself. “And then I heard a noise, and then I saw-” “What kind of a noise?” “…Like a sound.”
#mr blandings#mr blandings builds his dream house#cary grant#myrna loy#melvyn douglas#aroace headcanons#rewatch rewind
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On TOP OF the furry thing I also just got an idea for an... AU? Kind of?
More just a series of concepts rather than a comprehensive storyline, but basically, it's a role swap AU.
Except. I mean role very specifically. As in, the role of the character in-game (Tank, Damage, Support) is swapped.
Say for instance, Tracer. Instead of a hyper-evasive assassin playstyle who uses her time powers to move faster and get out of risky situations, she'd instead be able to share her rewinding abilities with allies to heal by rewinding the damage they've taken. She'd still have Blinks to get where she needs to be quickly, but Recall now has a slightly different function, instead allowing her to bring back and restore an ally to a safe position along with herself. Pulse Bomb would be replaced with Rewind Charge, flinging a device that fully heals allies in its radius and restores any of their cooldowns.
Her general backstory would be the same, but her powers would be slightly different, thus giving her the means and motivation to take the position of field medic rather than... whatever formal title she has normally. Scout? I guess? That seems a little on the nose but... anyways.
I'm also not sure what visual changes she'd get. Obviously probably a slightly brighter color scheme, a more "combat medic" kind of outfit, and some extra little doodads she keeps on her belt to make it look like she's stocked up on as many medical supplies she can carry without slowing down.
Another idea is for Reaper, instead turning him into a Tank. The backstory here actually changes a little. Now, after the Swiss HQ explosion, Reyes was in a lot worse shape. In order to salvage him, Moira had to up the dosage of Reaper Stuff, which led to... interesting consequences. The chemicals destabilized, and instead of a wispy smoke-like form that he could take before, Reyes seemingly melted along with the liquid chemicals he was injected with, slowly dissolving into an almost tar-like substance. Moira was tempted to finally give up on this experiment, but miraculously (or in another lens, tragically), the fluid slowly but surely rose up and took a form... similar to the man it once was. "A man" would be a generous interpretation of Reyes now, with his form now becoming massive, monstrous, and even more unstable.
Eventually, using her newfound allyship with Talon to fund her research, Moira was able to at the very least make something "useful" out of Reyes, at least in service of her new benefactors. Using a specially bonded containment suit, he could now maintain a stable humanoid form, but could slink back into a semi-liquid form at will. More notably, this suit was accompanied by a pair of shotgun-like weapons, connected by tubes to his body, and capable of using an additional chemical process to convert small amounts of his body's mass into a fluid ammunition that not only ravaged whatever living things it came into contact with, but could drain their vitality and return it to its source, making the creature once known as a man even harder to lay to rest.
Reyes was dissolved into nothing more than primal instincts and a craving for further violence, and The Reaper rose up from the remains.
...so yeah he's like. all big and kinda like Venom now instead of a gassy boy. I don't know why I felt the need to write it out like that but. I mean hey, I did it. I felt it in the moment.
His kit wouldn't even change that much, he's already got lifesteal to keep himself healthy and wraith form to mitigate taking big damage, just some tweaks to make him work less with stealth and more being in the frontline. maybe like a Goop Ball projectile ability to slow down enemies from a distance so he can close in on 'em. nothin' too fancy.
Now to be frank I don't think I could make every character into a new role. With the Tanks especially, it's hard to justify them as anything else when many of them are just naturally big and it'd be weird to shrink them down to fit into a different role. I mean D.va and Hammond can just get different mechs or other means of fighting, and Ramattra can just not go into Nemesis Form... but like, physically shrinking down any of the others feels wrong.
Going the other way around, making non-Tanks into tanks, is a little easier, at least for my brain, but still not exactly easy. For one, there's just so damn many of them, but you still have to find some way to make them big enough to fit the role. I mean... besides Bastion, at least. For others it's probably gonna be either some kind of mech suit or power armor deal, weird sciency stuff like Reaper, or somebody's been hitting the gym and got hit a little harder by puberty in this timeline.
For the Supports thankfully things are a little easier. A number of supports are just one reliable healing ability away from being DPS anyways, and you don't have to scramble their anatomy to make it work physically. I mean I'd make some of them into Tanks, at least two relatively easy ones come to mind, but for most of them just take away their healing abilities and add some more damage-dealing tools to compensate, and you won't be too far off already.
I'm currently got a list of who might go where, but admittedly it's still a little shaky.
Genji and Hanzo somehow swap roles with each other instead of changing to Tank or Support mostly since Damage was shockingly underpopulated, while Rein. stays exactly where he should be.
Also I'm aware a lot of these make next to no sense without context, so uh. Hear me out on these if I ever get to these one day. I mean some of them should be self-explanatory, it's not like Doomfist as a Tank or Symmetra as a Support are new concepts at least.
I might try and sketch out some of these, or at the very least try and sort out the hero kits, but uh. Don't count on any art being great, soon, or existing at all.
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A Winter Vacation In Summer
This is a part of my one-shot book about Raiden called: Ceraunophile. You can find the whole book on these platforms: FanFiction, AO3, Wattpad or Quotev.
Mortal Kombat belongs to its respective owner.
Ceraunophile 🌩 Masterlist
A Winter Vacation In Summer
Everybody had a few things they liked and disliked about each season. Or you knew some who carried a particular kind of hatred only for a certain season.
It mattered not, for it wasn't within their power to change it in any shape or form. If they weren't one of the two Grandmasters of the two rival clans - the Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei - that is. The two of them have mastered their powers to such an extent that they excluded them like an ever-encompassing aura.
Kind of like you always felt the thrumming of lightning and thunder under your lover's skin when he would let your adventurous fingers explore.
Though you haven't met the famed Hanso Hasashi - previously known as Scorpion - during Special Forces missions, or on any other meetings held by the alliance of Earthrealm's allies, Sonya had introduced you to Kuai Liang.
The time after his forced transformation to a Cyborg, only for his soul to be stolen and reborn into a Revenant had left their visible mark on his soul, but from what Raiden had told you about him when you'd asked, he seemed to have retained his disciplined, humane, and honourable ways just the same.
And although you tried your best to not be nervous or too strung-up in the face of one of Earthrealm's greatest defenders, you didn't expect him to be this handsome, not after everything he'd been through.
Granted, you got your eyes and heart set on Raiden and nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, could compare to him in this reality. But being in a romantical relationship didn't automatically devalue the beauty of others.
You merely held deep admiration and respect for him and his values. It wasn't your place to ogle this man, and you had no qualms dropping it, but you were beyond thankful that he had given you permission to rewind at his place.
Sonya might have let it slip that your lover had a hand in the two masters' resurrection. From the time she had recounted the details of their recent raid of Quan Chi's fortress, shortly after Johnny kicked Shinnok's ass back into the confines of his amulet. It also hadn't escaped your notice how your best friend might have developed a thing or two for the actor as they had fought together against the odds not so long ago.
How times have changed, especially after Earthrealm's defeat of Shao Kahn at the Second Mortal Kombat Tournament, with the promise to free Earthrealm from Outworld's claim forever as a means of replacing the old system of ten tournaments. It had been proposed at the Emperor's behest, after having lost the previous one, he had not gained victory in this one as well.
But that had never been his plan to begin with. Shao Kahn, with the aid of Quan Chi, simply followed with an invasion of Earthrealm instead. They had lost many back then... and you were almost one of them. Had you not landed yourself at the infirmary from fighting the foul things spilling from the massive portals, who knew what other contender would have stripped you of your life.
Raiden, so overwhelmed with all that was happening around him - the visions, apprehending Armaggedon, saving Earthrealm - and so much more constantly wearing him down, hadn't known of your hospitalization sooner than it was all over.
Once Shao Kahn had foolishly attempted to merge the two realms together, against the rules of the Tournament, he was left to face the judgement of the Elder Gods Raiden so often sought counsel from. Their penalty came swift and Outworld's forces were bereft of their Emperor.
It should have been a major victory, but it didn't feel like one. The cost had been too grave as too many of Earthrealm's finest warriors, and allies from other realms alike, perished in its defence. Among them being Liu Kang and Kung Lao.
And it was clear as day, that no one on this whole plane felt the pain most acutely than the divine protector of Earthrealm. Raiden was adept at upholding an image of total control, emotions rarely used to win over his face, his walls were indomitable, but...
In the comfort of your company, he was slowly surrendering to the idea of opening up about his woes to you, just as you had initially encouraged. You were slowly chipping away at his last resolve but he remained stubborn in his belief not to burden you with his problems. As if that would deter you from being there for him as he was for you.
You were his lover, and such a position came with ties and responsibilities, ones you would loathe to sunder. You'd not have it another way. You'd not have him any other way.
Even with the limited knowledge you possessed about their history with Raiden, the Thunder God liked to keep his deeper relations personal, or his feelings for others on that matter. It wasn't a testament to his lack of trust in you, rather, he just had never learnt to express such feelings accordingly. But that was a universal 'men thing'.
So the best course of action, you thought, was to give him time and space until he would come to you out of his own volition. On his own terms. When he was ready. It felt like the right thing to do, but doubts concerned you still.
Sonya, being the bestie that she is, had picked up on your spiralling mood and suggested you take a quick break from all of that. And let me tell you there was no place you'd rather take a breather from the scorching summer in America than the Lin Kuei temple.
It was freezing over here and it took you two days to get used to below zero temperatures again!
The only regret you felt was that your Thunder God wasn't with you, a small break would do him good, but this was about you this time. Raiden knew what was best for him, and with snakes like Shang Tsung and Quan Chi always plotting something behind the curtains of peace, constant vigilance was required!
Your man never did anything by halves, he always followed through - with commitment and responsibility - and not an ounce of levity in him. One of the many things you've fallen in love with when it came to him.
Even though the distance between you weighed heavier in your heart than usual, it didn't diminish the refreshing atmosphere of visiting a new place. The peace that you felt here felt divine, to a point where you had no problem meditating under the timid sun, being covered by clouds most of the time. Though the biting winds were a bit irritating during the sessions, nothing a cup of tea wouldn't remedy afterwards.
At times when it got too dull for your youthful spirit, you took a trip to their training grounds to keep you in shape for duty. The inhabitants of the temple, warriors per se, kept to themselves and left you alone for most of the time, but once you grew interested in anything relative to combat, some denizens had taken to watch you with hints of challenge brewing behind their gazes.
Some even acted upon them once they were done evaluating you as a worthy sparring partner, fighting to test and hone their skills against an outsider. That had given you enough edge to your two weeks visit, other than the occasional back-breaking slip on frozen tiles.
But as of right now, you were taking a morning walk after a healthy eight hours of sleep, far away from the flurried lifestyle in the city. You were in your standard-issue Special Forces quilted jacket, with patted cargo pants and winter boots to keep your lower body warm and cosy against the merciless cold.
The weather seemed particularly bad today. A blizzard was closing in.
Your small eyes squinted, but were left to the mercy of yet another gust of sharp wind, unlike your nose, which you burrowed further into the collar of your jacket. The fingers on your fisted hands would sooner fall off by the way you have lost feeling in them a while ago.
It made the option of turning back to your lovely room much more appealable as your mind began to long for warmth again, but the strength of your inner soldier pushed you through with the hope of slowly acclimating to the temperature... or it just may be a petty scurry.
Turns out, after a few minutes of inadvisable persistence, your guess had been right. Within the following minutes, the clouds departed from the heavens, leaving a baby blue sky to lighten up the periphery, and the wind also turned into a gentle breeze.
You looked around yourself and breathed in the untouched beauty of a winter wonderland you would never have gotten a glimpse of in your city. Without the wind to hinder your body to get warmer, you dared an escape with your hands, finding them warmer from having rested in your pouches for the entirety of your morning walk.
The discomfort that had almost convinced you to take a tactical retreat to your quarters was the last thing on your mind as you saw how much snow had gathered during the previous night, your inner child was jumping up from glee while the reigning adult weighed out all the pros and cons of your next actions.
Doesn't the snow look particularly inviting today? Would be a shame not to leave a memento of your stay here, wouldn't it?
You needed no more motivation to indulge your childish impulses and set out to build a snowman. But like a BIG one! You had to go out with a BANG! A bit like the theatric Johnny would, you imagined.
You began with a ball about the size of your hand that you had squeezed into oblivion, and proceeded to roll it carefully on the snow bed to make it larger the further you went. Only when it reached your belly did you let up and positioned it somewhere so that every time somebody would walk the same way you did, the first thing to catch their eyes would be your snowman.
Working on the torso, the desire for the presence of your lover did cross your mind more than once. Smiling fondly, you pictured how he would raise a perfectly sculpted brow, trying to gauge your motives for playing with snow.
Raiden would undoubtedly feel confused about the purpose of the activity, perhaps scold you a bit for unnecessarily taking the risk of catching a cold, but he would feel ultimately intrigued.
Being lost to your mind's mussing, you hadn't even noticed the two additional globes in front of you, ready to be placed onto your foundation. Without further ado, you picked up the fairly big (and ridiculously heavy) sphere and marched in slow measured steps towards your waiting snowman.
You panted slightly as you deposited the second ball onto the first, adjusting its position so it would stick to the middle. So far so good, you thought to yourself as you double-checked your plain creation. It would be too late after all once you put down the last globe, otherwise, you would have to do that passage all over again and that certainly didn't strike your fancy.
You would settle for no less than impeccable.
Meanwhile, there was someone watching you intently from the shadows of a nearby house. To any onlooker, it would raise alarm to be under the silent scrutiny of a stranger, but those eyes that beheld from the shadows did, by no means, belong to a person who held any malicious intentions towards you.
Quite the opposite, it was just Thunder God Raiden, silently observing with the gaze of a man in purely in love. A lovestruck fool.
Or so Johnny Cage commented the moment he had caught the god's straying glances during his frequent visits to the Special Forces base. Raiden had brushed him off without comment for if he hadn't, he imagined the self-centred human would most likely lead the topic towards himself as he always did. And Earthrealm's protector certainly wouldn't make the mistake of falling into THAT rabbit hole after the last time.
Shaking his head, it was better to dispel the man from his mind so he could continue watching your ethereal form reflected in the pearly white snow. You were truly a sight to behold, with your cheeks and nose tinted in pink and your smile curved into the most Duchenne smile at such random moments that Raiden felt anxious that he might miss one if he blinked at the wrong time.
Sometimes it was those smiles that kept him going. That kept his mourning and regretful heart filled with hope and ease.
However, of all the things he was currently taking pleasure in you was that constant glint in your orbs. The exuberance of mortals. They gave off a feeling of unrestrained happiness and carelessness in equal measure. It possessed also very infective qualities as the stoic god couldn't help but follow after your example.
Raiden simply couldn't grasp how you could be so effortlessly beautiful.
Yet you were also, at times, clumsy as hell, or let's say that sometimes, Lady Luck wasn't on your side.
But your Thunder God would always be there for you, even as you slipped on your way to finishing your snowman. Your man, with the speed of lighting only he was master of, came to the rescue, and before you could end up with a broken spine, Raiden was there to cushion your fall for he as well, fell prey to the icy coating under your feet.
It took you a second to realize that you hadn't ended up on the freezing floor, as you expected to, but rather on the alluring warmth of a person's body. The scent of petrichor was enough of a giveaway to who was your knight in shining armour. With a rushed-out laugh did you turn in your lover's arms, "Raiden!"
Well, this was most unexpected! Had the Elder Gods, for once, listened to your prayers?
Prickling eyes watched from below you, seeking out any possible injuries you might have sustained during the fall. You were hoping for a smile but were only met by a thin line. Whatever he showed, deep within him, there was content to be able to reside within your presence once again. It had been a while after all.
Quan Chi and his Revenants were keeping him on his toes enough as of late, so the opportunity to visit you had not presented itself lately even though he had put a distance between the two as of late. Were it not for his brother Fujin convincing him that he would take up Raiden's guarding duty, he might have not found himself basking in the enchanting aura of the one who held his heart.
"I owe it to you brother. I have neglected our duty for too long. I feel it is time for you to take it easier and leave things in my hands."
His brother had said to him after another rendezvous at the Sky Temple. Raiden remembered arguing against him, that it would be foolery to risk weakening their defences for nonessential rest, and while his head was his strongest advocate, his heart was simply not in it.
And of course, the one being closest to him in existence, picked up on it and struck with tenacious insistence uncharacteristic for the God of Wind. Raiden's opinion had been swayed way too easily. It was difficult to put up a fight when it came to you.
Otherwise, how would he have ended up with you here, at the Lin Kuei Temple?
With your pliant body cushioned by his towering statue, although he didn't mind the cold invading his backside, it wasn't that he could be impervious to its effects forever, so he lifted you with himself to a standing position, which wasn't really that awkward since you were thoroughly acquainted with his profane strength as Earthrealm's protector, but he had never properly swiped you off your feet.
It brought a deeper blush to your stiff cheeks as you curiously eyed your lover for this sudden act of intimacy. The Thunder God had explained to you, fairly soon into your relationship, that any public display of affection was not be shown whilst in the presence of others. For safety reasons only, otherwise, Raiden thrived on your attention.
But you understood. It would put a large crosshair on you. A damn big one at that.
Yet it hurt you secretively - the need for discretion. The darker parts of your mind, which seemed to manifest point when your self-worth hit a new low, liked to whisper you things that you knew Raiden would never say to you. Things like: Raiden thinks you too weak to fend for yourself or you're another burden upon his conscience...
You didn't want to be those things to him, so your drive to grow stronger, to grow into someone your lover could depend on, had become your fresh goal in life. If it would lift a bit of the god's worry for your safety and thus, not wear him down as much, it would be totally worth it. That was why you began training like a crazed woman in your spare time.
Sonya made an excellent sparring partner and you were slowly gaining up on her military prowess, you also detached some spare time to train with warriors of the Lin Kuei to measure your progress. You wanted to get better, not for yourself, but for him.
"Will you hear out my apology, my dear?" The god beckoned your drifting thoughts to himself. His arms held you loosely, not because they were tiring, surely not, but to give you space to answer. As per usual, it was difficult to gauge the god's motive by facial expression alone, so you kept it simple.
"Yes, honey, go on."
Your voice was measured and didn't carry anything that might notify him of any scorn Raiden expected to be met with. Even if it were not so, he would consider it justified for how he had treated you the last month; from distancing himself from your relationship, to avoiding you for most time of a week without offering a grain of explanation in return.
"Words cannot express how much it pains me to have caused you a reason to think you were at fault for my negligent behaviour. It was never my intent to cause you any sort of distress, and I humbly beg for your forgiveness..."
You listened to him quieten all of a sudden, a shadow creeping up his expression as the walls around his guard tightened in response. One that spoke of an ill augury about a ravaging storm, ready to destroy anything in its wake at a time closer to the future that you'd like. And that storm seemed to have started brewing inside your lover's heart ever since their victory. Possibly even sooner but you wouldn't know for sure because you'd only got to see it now.
Fearing the dark place his thoughts had wandered off to, you palmed his cheeks in reassurance. Hoping to be like the Sun that was scattering a grimy gathering of irate clouds. And it did, albeit you were certain that they weren't completely chased away, never to return.
His jaw unclenched at your feathery touch, a contact he didn't know how much he missed until being reacquainted with it, yet it was enough to centre his thoughts on you, and not this thing growing inside of him.
"I- I just..." He would never get used to stumbling over his words in your presence.
"Hey," you gave him a goofy smile and caressed the other side of his face, "there's nothing to forgive, Raiden, I will never stand in your way for some alone time."
It was an interesting perk you possessed, in his opinion, to be able to rob him of his words repeatedly. He often thought of how your forgiveness knew no bounds and hated himself for using it for his advantage at times.
If he could only explain this state of mind he was residing in. This indisposition of his orderly mind but every time he tried to get out a word, his voice seemed to get stuck in his throat and the pressure behind his eyelids threateningly intensified the longer he attempted to speak.
Truth was... the mighty Thunder God... he didn't know exactly what... but it wasn't good. Physically, his body was perfectly fine, but on the other hand, why did he feel these intense aches, almost like a gaping hole, consistently thrashing at his chest as if it were a second heart?
You caught him staring off into space once again, maybe finding refuge in it, but there was a sense of devastation around him.
A glazed look in his eyes as he mercilessly overworked himself and all his brainpower. You know by giving him space you were giving him time to think of a reason why he had set distance between the two of you, and would it be any other guy, your insecurities would have pushed you to press for immediate answers.
You halted any actions, you had to remind yourself that the god had always given you space to shed what had been on your mind, so you were returning the favour.
And Raiden wasn't looking for an excuse. No, no man who would appear this agonized looking for a measly excuse.
He bore the look of a man who desperately sought help, someone to quell the demons raging and causing havoc inside him, but didn't know how to ask and you never felt more called than in this instance.
Raiden truly NEEDED you and you would throw yourself into the Sea of Blood and sink for all eternity rather than let him down.
"My love," you began tenderly, full of love and safety, but also with an edge of sternness to it, "I can tell that this is hard for you. Come with me to my quarters and we will speak more of it."
The meekness of his reaction spoke volumes about his emotional state as he got the hint to set you down. You wanted to crush him into a bear hug, another direct peek at him would cement your thought of action, so you swiftly took him by his hand and dragged him with you.
You knew the Temple well enough by now to navigate the route without the most eyes guarding it, and the two of you found yourself in your small room. As soon as the door was closed, you didn't miss a step in encasing your arms around his frame.
It took him a while to reciprocate but you did your best to silence the yelp he drew from you as he crushed you to himself. Dwarfing you in every possible way as his body began to tremble. It would be any moment now that his walls would crumble away and send a flood of unsuppressed emotions your way.
"I was at fault," he spoke quietly, voice muffled by your hair, but he seemed restless to find more comfort in your body.
And you were prepared to wrestle his demons out of his system no matter how many times it took.
All fight seemed to leave his body as he took off his round hat, falling to his knees in the process so he could burrow his head in your stomach, arms snaking around your butt. His mind had turned into a broken record as he repeated the same sentence over and over again, "My fault. My fault. My fault."
Your long-sleeved shirt became slowly drenched in his tears. Your very heart was breaking with each sob so much that you came close to shedding tears yourself, but not this time, if it would only cause him more distress. You continued to hold him tightly, even when your neck had begun to strain from looking down for so long. Even when your feet became number by the second from standing still.
At some point, you had taken down the cowl he wore, as an attempt to distract you and Raiden from your rampant emotions, and ran your fingers through his white mane. This was your next favourite thing in line when it came to aftercare. On the top being cuddling with pillow talk, and you hoped it conveyed the same message it did then.
You weren't keeping tabs on how long it had taken him to calm down to hiccups, but you figured his knees had to be as sore as your soles and slowly stirred him to get into bed with you. The bed itself lacked width to accommodate you both so in his favour, you had given up lying beside him and opted to sit down by his bedside, but your lover had no plans of giving up your closeness.
It was within seconds that he manoeuvred you to lay on top of him, ironically ending up in the same position as when you had slipped on hidden ice. Your thoughts briefly wandered over to your unfinished snowman, wondering if it was still there, but your focus was back on him in no time.
You contemplated if now would be a good time to say anything to him, or would you startle him from his contemplative silence?
"Raiden, my love, talk to me."
First came silence and you grew hopeful at the lack of immediate rebuttal, and then he began talking.
Oh, you were in for a ride.
The holes in Sonya's story were being slowly filled through Raiden's narrative and you could feel the profound emotions that the god had held in for too long. They were so intense that you wondered how he could have held his composure for this long without breaking down, you certainly would have.
The anguish that gushed out of your lover was enough to reduce you to tears and you couldn't help yourself but feel immense sadness at his loss.
God-fucking-hell, he had to watch Kung Lao be underhandedly murdered by Shao Kahn after coming out victorious from his battle against both Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, then Kintaro. He had arrived too late at the headquarters to save his defenders from being slaughtered by the revived and empowered Sindel, losing Liu Kang's trust for sure this time.
His desperation had run so deep that he even went to Netherrealm to sell his and his allies' souls to the demon Quan Chi in exchange for support against Shao Kahn only to be pitted against the very people he had let down, undead and corrupted, his late son Kung Lao among them. That must have felt like a dagger to the heart.
His trip, however, hadn't been without reward and he had finally figured out the message his past self had tried to convey to him to avoid Armaggedon. Shao Kahn had been 'he who must win' all this time. But Liu Kang, having been overtaken by grief and spurred on by hatred, had mistrusted Raiden and went to face the Emperor either way.
Raiden, having known that if Liu Kang won Armageddon would ensue, attempted to stop Liu Kang, fighting and defeating him. Undeterred, Liu Kang had refused to back down from his goal and that was when the Thunder God made possibly the gravest mistake of his eternal life, he accidentally killed his own son. HIS SON!
Then, oh no, we're not yet at the end, he still had to let this fucking prick of an Emperor win so the Elder Gods could finally use their oh-so-powerful magic to kill him off indefinitely. You didn't expect to be on such a roller-coaster of emotions. You were incredibly high on them right now.
Fury. Sadness. Grief. Pity.
And it all came down to this fucking amulet and its fucking message that was the cause of your lover's pain. Raiden didn't have it currently on him but if it were there at its usual spot on his left pectoral, it would have been decimated in your aggression beyond recognition.
It wasn't the only thing you began to hate with a passion.
The Elder Gods and their stupid policies were officially on your shit list and you had every nerve to bash their godly skulls into their thrones for their passivity, regardless of your lover's worship of them. Your belief had always been dwindling in them, but now it was fully null and nullified. They didn't deserve Raiden's servitude nor your faith.
Another part of you also hated your lover's past self for being so imprecise in his warning. Would it have been so difficult to attach a name to the 'He must win'? Raiden would have been spared so much.
You'd do anything to elevate Raiden of these beyond dark and twisted experiences but you couldn't, and that made you feel powerless, but you could shower him with endless amounts of love and support.
No matter where his mental health would regress in the future. You'd be there for him until the end of your time came. In life, as in death and my word you were now more than ever convinced he was the only one for you. You wouldn't be feeling so intensely and preaching wedding vows if it weren't so.
And now he had finally overcome his fear of letting down his guard and opened a hidden path to his heart for you. There were not enough words you could thank him with nor had anyone bared themselves so fully to you.
There wasn't only an incomprehensible amount of pride and gratitude swelling inside of you for the bravery of your lover, but fright also crept up your heart. Fear of the immense power he had bestowed upon you.
You were feeling ironic, this was what you wanted all along, so why were you so scared out of your wits now that you had his heart in your hand? A better question yet, who wouldn't be? Who wouldn't tremble in wake of clutching something as fragile as a heart?
The tables have turned, or maybe his strong emotions influenced your own, for now, you were the one who now cowered in fear and uncertainty into the bulwark of a man that was your lover. It brought a small smile to your face, knowing that even weakened, the god's mere presence gave you enough strength to face whatever malady bothered you.
Now, you had your small moment, however, that didn't give you permission to further avoid what Raiden needed you to be - his haven.
"Raiden," your voice was thick with lingering emotions but that didn't stop you, "this— nothing —was your fault."
Whose fault was it then, if not his? He asked himself.
Wasn't he the one everyone looked for guidance?
Wasn't he the one who encouraged Kung Lao to fight for Earthrealm's future only to have his neck snapped at the hour of victory?
Wasn't he the one who was supposed to figure out the reason his amulet kept breaking?
Wasn't he the one who guided everyone to an early grave by listening to esoteric visions of the future?
As if knowing exactly what went through his mind, you reaffirmed your statement with an undeniable edge, "Raiden, my love, my heart, no fault lies within you and I need you to realize that."
He looked stunned at your assertive yet pleading tone, but you butted in before he could come up with another reason to convince him that he had any hand in the cruel fate that had befallen Earthrealm's best warriors, "You may be a god, but that doesn't mean you don't make mistakes. We all do at some point, Raiden. I can see why you would hold yourself responsible for the death of Liu Kang, but you didn't raise your hand with the intent to kill him..."
The god didn't know why he so stubbornly couldn't accept your words, but they didn't seem right to him. They were too forgiving for someone who wasn't above killing his own son for the sake of preventing Armaggedon, "But I could have-"
"You couldn't have done more, my love, because you have already given it your all. Everything else has been outside of your control."
Your voice shifted constantly on the spectrum of intensity, and it left you sounding as unyielding as a rock and then by the next second, as gentle as a lover's caress. Controlling it felt like an impossible task to you as of right now.
It dismayed you, how your lover, so quick to paint himself the villain of this tragedy, spoke harshly, "How can it not be?! Was it not me who-"
Desperation showed in the way you searched for his eyes and reached for his cheeks, in the need to convey the truth that you believed and your lover denied, "Because you didn't know any better!"
By this point, you were getting rather frustrated. From the way you seem to fail to convince him. To the unfairness of reality that had bitten a good chunk off Raiden's mind. But most importantly, you were angry at yourself for not realizing his plight sooner.
God, he has been in pain for so long and all you've ever worried about was if you had given him enough space. It was madding, really, how blind you've been to his silent suffering.
"I don't know, Raiden! I really don't have a fucking clue!"
You gushed out in anger falsely directed at your lover, this was probably the worst way you could have reacted but you were overwhelmed, and in a failing attempt to calm down you forced your voice to smoothen.
"I am sorry for snapping at you, but you have to understand one thing: Regardless of your mistakes, I will love you no less than I have before. And it hurts me so to see the man I love put himself down when all he did was protect what was precious to him. Misguided as he thinks his actions may have been."
You sighed, "You didn't wish for their deaths."
And with that concluded, you literally burrowed your face back into his robes in embarrassment over your anger issue and partly because you had never asserted such dominance over someone. Holy shit, you thought, this escalated quickly.
The rant effectively shut him up as he had no points to raise left. Or rather, his stubbornness was defeated by your undying love. And for once he was thankful to have raised the white flag. It seemed although, that he may have laid too much of his burdens at once, rather than have confided in you sequentially from the very beginning, as he should have.
"I-," he gulped down the joint that had been stuck in his throat, he imagined you wouldn't react well to another apology, "I understand, my darling."
You huffed into his robes. Well, this was something new, you had expected him to stick to being adamant about his feelings, but alas, the day just kept turning from one direction to another. So mayhaps, a small proposition wouldn't be any stranger than what had already conspired.
"Hey, Raiden," you garnered his attention easily, red-faced and pouty, and Raiden's grief fled at the overwhelming adorableness of your flustered state. The warmth was impossible to ignore as it rose up his spine.
You looked up from having your head slotted under his chin and asked sheepishly, "Do you want to build a snowman?"
It was uncanny how immaculately you predicted the raise of his brow.
You knew him too well, and he wouldn't have you any other way.
#raiden x reader#lord raiden#mk raiden#netherrealm studios#raiden mortal kombat#fluff#grief/mourning#coping with grief#snow aesthetic#winter#clumsy af#ice
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An actual serious Totk post now, here are my impressions of the new runes so far:
(with the caveat that there are still two empty spots and I only have one temple completed so maybe some new ability will address a problem I have)
Ultrahand: a great upgrade to magnesis. Not restricted to metal only AND can stick things together. One drawback is the horrible range. I haven’t played botw in a hot minute so maybe the range is the same in both games but I swear magnesis could grab farther. I’ll be standing on one of those moveable floating zonai platforms with another directly below it and can’t grab it. Hate the limited range so much if it were expanded just slightly this would be a perfect replacement for magnesis
Fuse: It’s good. Being able to make a hammer out of a stick and a rock is very useful. I have no strong opinion about replacing arrow types with fusing materials to arrows. Both methods work to me. Very comical to see rocks attached to the end of swords but as someone who dresses up Link based on aesthetics I also find it very annoying
Rewind: I keep forgetting this one exists tbh. It’s fine but I found stasis to be more versatile. Nintendo doesn’t realize the true appeal of stasis was not stopping time it was SMACKING THINGS SO HARD THEN GRABBING ONTO THEM AND YEETING YOURSELF ACROSS HYRULE
Ascend: Super useful when I remember to use it. I got through the entirety of the hebra sky islands extremely annoyed that I no longer had Revali’s gale and I had to climb/paraglide with only one stamina upgrade but that’s my fault for forgetting about ascend. Seeing Link moving through the glowy space makes me super uncomfortable though I would prefer if the camera pulled back so i did not have to watch that
Altogether, the new abilities are pretty good and most of my issues with them are minor. I just need get into the habit of using rewind and ascend more. Cryonis would be amazing to have back especially for crossing large bodies of water. Link’s swim is still meh in this game and cryonis made up for that. Paragliding across water does work and thankfully Tulin’s ability is a decent replacement for Revali’s gale
I WANT MY BOMB RUNE BACK. I HATE HAVING TO RELY ON BOMBS AS A FINITE RESOURCE. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FISH WITHOUT BOMBS NINTENDO. I HAVE RESORTED TO USING A BOW AND ARROW AND I DO NOT LIKE IT. LET ME FISH AS THE GODDESSES INTENDED
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"Rewind was making his new husband help him look for his old husband" is an odd take to me.
Like, Chromedome met Rewind as he was searching for Dominus. He knew what was going on. Blaming Rewind for Chromedome choosing to latch onto someone who was clearly looking for closure is... Kinda weird, imo.
Both sides of the relationship are pretty screwed up, sure, but to point the blame solely at Rewind for that specific part is choosing to ignore the active part Chromedome played in the relationship.
No, Rewind should not have gone ahead with a relationship while looking for closure on his last one (even if he came to the conclusion that he was looking for a dead body). However, Chromedome should not have gone ahead with a relationship with someone he knew hadn't found closure. Made worse by the fact he chose this not once, but twice when the alternate version of Rewind was found. The insecurity that Rewind would replace him with Dominus should he be found alive... Is his own doing.
Especially as the two apparently never talked about their problems until it hit critical.
(As an aside, I don't think JRo has ever experienced or truly thought of what it's like to be around someone who is being very pushy to move into a romantic relationship when you're trying to lay down boundaries. I have and it makes how lovey-dovey the two look immediately afterwards very weird to me.)
#Transformers#IDW1#personal opinion#I do not care for this ship as I find it overall unpleasant#I think Chromedome is really creepy
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Doing some more TMA listening as I make dinner (and have to keep rewinding both because my attention is constantly slipping and also my Dog Won't Stop Barking) and I am now taking a break to jot down some thoughts while they are Fresh™
MAG003 hit me in the Creepy in a way the vibes in general and episodes I've gone through thus far have not actually managed to do. The trope involved IS one that tends to attack my irrational fears, though; the idea of someone being replaced and only you knowing that, being in turn unable to know who to trust: everyone telling you you're wrong, or your own mind--is objectively terrifying. And. Yeah. I Felt That.
Swinging into almost polar opposite emotions for the next episode: JURGEN MOTHERFUCKING LEITNER.
I was not expecting to recognise many names in TMA, especially not from memes. But when I heard that name I had to double take at my phone because I've heard the rant. I had no idea Jurgen Leitner was from TMA, and I feel like knowing the rant, even without context, may have preemptively coloured my opinion of him. Oops.
Misc. Thoughts:
why is Jon SO mean to Martin in the closing statements ;__; did he kill his dog???
no but For Real
he's like. Here Are My Archival Assistants. Sasha, Who Is Blessedly Competent; Tim, Who Does Good Work But Is Also A Thot; and Martin, Who I Would Sell To Satan For One Cornchip
gertrudes organisation of the archives is like my organisation of my life fr
#lyre does tma#also i know im only like 4 eps deep rn BUT#so far jons vibes have been Mega Skeptic so like his attitude in the Leitner ep being like#aye sounds about right for motherfucker supreme#is both very interesting and very funny to me#jonathan sims wrote the jurgen leitner rant
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Arcane! Let’s Get to Analyzing! First...EKKO!
Alright! So, I want to try and get into every single main character that we get to see and REALLY boil down stuff that, perhaps, gets overlooked. So why don’t we start with...Ekko.
First of all, THAT MASK IS AWESOME. Seriously great design. Just...MWAH. Perfection. Chef’s kiss. Yes, it’s an owl. He’s like a little, mischievous owl, and Jinx is a crow. (After all, crows pop up around her all the time) Ekko from the start is portrayed as a bright young lad, perhaps a bit overeager, and he seems to carry around a very odd, mysterious little watch...time is his tool. See...
He can clearly rewind time. He’s learned how to go back in time by a minute or two. He can thus analyze what he SHOULD do and fix himself and his strategies. It allows him to make careful decisions to defeat his enemies, one after the other, no matter who they are. And, on top of that, if he screws up, say, with a bit of technology or painting or anything like that, voila! Instant RESET button that will take him back a few minutes.
But the big thing that weighs on him is obviously something he and Violet share, and that’s survivor’s guilt. Not just one example, either. See, he worked for the shopkeeper Benzo, who was basically a father figure to him the same way Vander was to his buddies Jinx (who it’s implied he had a crush on), Vi, Mylo and Claggor. Vander and Benzo were the two men he most looked up to. When Vander decides to give himself up to Piltover to take the blame for the recent troubles that the undercity’s caused...that’s when the Enforcers bringing him, Grayson, Marcus, get attacked. Which is a big shame because Grayson had real principles and honor and was a good friend of Vander’s, and she REALLY didn’t want to take him in.
But that’s when Silco, the crime boss and head scumbag of the undercity shows his drug-induced, thanks-to-Shimmer-secret weapon...a mutated young thug named Deckard turned into a BEAST that SLAUGHTERS Grayson, and then, when Benzo tries to fight...he gets torn to shreds too. And Ekko can’t do a thing. He couldn’t stop Vander from being caught and he feels guilty already telling Vander’s kids that he and Enforcers KINDA had a deal of “you keep the peace and we don’t come down to where you are”. Now he feels even worse. He watches as Vander’s taken and his adoptived dad dies.Horribly. Messily. And he can’t do SQUAT to stop it.
Same way he can’t do squat to help Powder. He wasn’t there when Mylo, Claggor and Vi try to break Vander out to freedom. He tells Vi, later, “maybe if I’d been there, I could have helped”. He’s clearly heartbroken over what happened. On top of that, there’s what happened with Powder.
Now...this is the thing the show isn’t quite clear on and is SORT of left ambiguous. We see Jinx attacking the Enforcers when Caitlyn and Violet are together. Marcus, who’s the new sheriff after Grayson died, is corrupt, and is in Silco’s pocket. He wants to get rid of the evidence they have that Caitlyn and Vi and Ekko are bringing to prove Silco is behind everything, to get Piltover to stand down and to treat the undercity of Zaun with more kindness. Jinx decides to poop this party, and to take out Caitlyn especially because despite, at first, being OVERJOYED to see Vi again, and that she’s real, and not some hallucination of hers...seeing her with Caitlyn makes her think Vi’s replaced her. Caitlyn’s trying to take Vi away from her. “EVERYBODY BETRAY ME, I’M FED UP WITH THIS WORLD” and all that.
Ekko is determined to stop her, and they meet on the bridge to fight as Caitlyn and Vi take off. Jinx/Powder calls Ekko the “boy savior” with a smirk and he drops his special little watch, swinging it perfectly back in forth with the rhythm of its ticking. And Jinx gets this look on her face.
There’s a bit of ambiguity here. Because we’re not sure if they’ve met BEFORE this, AFTER Powder turned into Jinx. Could this be the moment when, upon seeing that watch, she realizes “Oh. Of course. It’s YOU.” And she chuckles. She assumes the same posture she did when she and Ekko used to play together.
Does she recognize him only now? Or have they met before? It’s left in the air. But Ekko’s ready for her. He swings his pipe and SHUDDA-POW-POW. He gets her on the ground and begins to POUND her until...
He stops. He looks at her face.
This...is what he’s seeing.
The blood has flowed right on down to form that “gap” on her teeth, the way she used to have. He’s seeing Powder again, and he just can’t bring himself to keep hitting her. For a few brief, sad seconds, they’re kids again, and both look agonized and pained...
And then...Jinx reveals she has a grenade on her. And it goes off. Ekko manages to survive, but his leg’s nearly broken. Luckily, he gets found by the one and only famous builder and mastermind, Heimerdinger, who helps bring him back to his home.
And WHAT a home he’s made. The Firelight home base is beautiful, centered around a gigantic tree. As Ekko said, the minute he found it he KNEW it was going to be their home. And it’s not hard to see why.
Beautiful, isn’t it? It’s like a kind of “Lost Boys” sort of place, with Ekko as their Peter Pan. It’s not just the whole “taking care of a gang of younger people”, he’s got a green color scheme, he flies around, he’s got a playful, mischievous attitude, and he’s a thief, like Peter Pan. Some clear parallels.
Also, damn, if the direction in this cartoon isn’t GODDAMN AMAZING. I mean, just, look at this. The art, the style, the lighting, it’s gorgeous.
Jinx and he are great foils, as you might have picked up on. They’re both artists, wear distinctly “ragtag” style clothing, are both gifted inventors with clearly great, brilliant minds, and they surrounded themselves with their “family”. The difference is that Ekko uses his talents for good, his new family is real and he’s a responsible young man, but Jinx uses her talents for evil and her “family”...are a bunch of dolls and effigies to represent the people she lost.
The people she killed.
Yeah. We’re going there next time. But Ekko’s also a really decent guy because he’s more willing to believe the best in others, to give them a chance, like Caitlyn and Heimerdinger, but Jinx doesn’t, she’s too distrustful. Also, this is the big thing.
EKKO ISN’T SELFISH.
Yeah. Yeah, I went there. Jinx is selfish. Way, way more selfish. I know it’s not nice to call a young lady selfish and to blame Powder for everything that happened, but the problem is that a lot of the problems in her and Vi’s life she did, in fact, cause, by accident or not, and she NEVER takes ANY real responsibility for it. But we’ll get into that next time when we look at Jinx...
Also, yes, I notice his name is kind of a pun, like “echo”, like the “echos of time” and the like.
#Arcane#analysis#critical#Jinx#Vi#Violet#Jayce#Viktor#Silco#Vander#Piltover#Zaun#commentary#cartoon#ekko
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I really really really want to know why c!george dreamed himself killing dxd and taking his place as god. What was the reason. What was the reason!! That dream literally wasnt even DXD’s fault, he literally said he found it stupid and that he wouldn’t let that happen. Why is cgeorge Like That
HONESTLY ? idk exactly because it could just be because he’s Like That, but in my mind, c!george’s dream where he kills c!dream + co., replaces c!XD, and goes to the end, represents his unconscious desire to be powerful enough that nobody can make him feel helpless or vulnerable again.
he’s happiest when he can wrap people around his finger -> c!dream lets him be king, being best friends with c!dream + c!sapnap lets him get away with loads of things others don’t, and in general, before s2, c!george has a decent amount of influence over other server members. he’s well-liked by EVERYONE, even c!quackity, who arguably has the most reason to dislike him after he slept during the elections, and nobody really holds a grudge against him despite him being a bit of an asshole sometimes. his charisma, his nonchalance, and his friends in high places give him advantages other server members don’t have.
the people he kills in his dream — c!dream, c!techno, c!quackity, c!karl, and c!dreamXD — all threaten this control / power c!george has over others + his own life. c!dream threatens it because suddenly, in c!george’s mind, he’s a stranger. he doesn’t understand why his old best friend is doing the things he does, he can’t influence him, he’s excluded from his plans, and he makes c!george weak because he messes with his feelings. c!dream makes c!george feel guilty for not visiting and angry at c!dream’s secrecy and hurt, and so c!george kills him because it kills the part of him that is hurt/confused by c!dream’s actions.
he kills c!techno because techno is a) a threat to kinoko kingdom, c!george’s only ‘safe space’ other than his cat cafe bed, and b) an ally to c!dream, in a way he envies and doesn’t understand. techno, in the dream, is by dream’s side in a way GEORGE once had been, and dream’s desperation to protect him mirrors how he used to treat c!george. c!techno has to die because again, he presents a threat to c!george’s emotional stability + to his understanding of reality. c!sapnap probably told him that c!techno + c!dream are working together, so c!george classified c!techno as a threat to his (semi-) stability.
for c!quackity and c!karl, it’s simple ! they’re both keeping secrets. pretty sure c!george actually asks c!q about the blood on his shirt, but if not, it’s not so hard to believe c!george is smart enough to realise c!q is torturing c!dream (who despite everything he still cares about), OR that george has sensed something wrong with c!karl, too. c!george is very perceptive: in the past he’s used it to get what he wants, and in this dream, that unconscious knowing that what someone is hiding/lying about makes him kill them both. not to mention, c!karl stands in the way of c!george achieving ultimate power — which brings me to my last point.
c!george wants ultimate power and to take c!XD’s place and to beat the end because it’s the only thing that will give him ultimate control. he’s a character who relies on other people for things — c!dream, c!sapnap, and c!XD especially — so to have ultimate power would, first, mean he no longer has to rely on other people who have let him down. it also gives him ultimate control over his life, control that has been ripped from him. put it this way. c!george can’t control his reality (best friend in prison, other best friend struggling to keep their other friends together, lonely, alone) OR his dreams, but in this dream, he seeks the power to HAVE that control. c!george wants power and control because if he has c!XD’s position, he can do whatever he wants with no consequences. he can break c!dream out of prison. he can hurt the people who hurt him. he can rewind time itself if he chooses, and go back to when he and his friends were happy. in this dream, when he replaces c!XD, he can do anything — and in his life, he’s stuck, feeling he can’t do anything at all.
c!george’s unconscious desires for power and control and some sort of violence manifest in a mass killing spree, but it makes sense. think about how he talks to c!dream at first too — he doesn’t want to blow up kinoko, but he does want to grief c!tommy and destroy his stuff. the latter is something he’s used to, a reminder of the “good old days” when countries didn’t exist and everyone griefed one another. c!dream wanting to blow up kinoko represents a shift away from the personal fun conflict and a shift towards something bigger, scarier, less comprehensive to c!george — and him breaking c!dream’s rules and killing him / c!XD symbolises that.
MAYBE. there are lots of different interpretations to dreams obviously !! but new research came out theorising that dream’s are representations of emotional processes that we haven’t tied up properly in our waking hours, so it would DEFINITELY be interesting if that was the case with c!george. in any case !! c!george is saur mentally ill + insane someone get him help sorry for rambling anon this is probably Not what you wanted at all 😭
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Keep Going
(AoUAD Fanfic)
Jang Wujin X OC
"Wujin."
"Yes?"
"I'll save you from the monsters."
← 004. →
Jiwoo wanted to hold her friend. Or rewind the clock a little. Only minutes ago they'd been giggling and giddy, excitement for the game replacing nerves. She'd been teasing her still about Wujin, and Minha was blushing but seemed happy- apparently, she had a cute story to share with her. And then disaster struck, and her stupid, foolish, sweetheart of a best friend had to be a hero. Just like that, everything came to a screeching halt, and Jiwoo wanted to be by Minha's side. But she could only watch on with sadness as Coach Kim laid down the law.
"You'll be lucky to be an alternate next week, Miss Park. There's no place for you on our team with an attitude like that." The middle-aged woman tossed Minha's gym bag onto the ground in front of her.
The rest of the team was silent, holding their breath in fear of being the next exile from the game. It didn't matter that Minha wasn't necessarily in the wrong, only that Coach Kim was not kind to sympathizers. Eyes averted, they could only listen and flinch as their coach sealed Minha's fate.
"You're not joining us for this match, and you're sure as hell not starting next week's game either!"
Minha held her head up in defiance. Tears gathered in her eyes, her fists were clenched behind her back, perfect posture holding in a rebuttal. Her ears were ringing as she watched her future crumble, but her pride stopped her from begging for forgiveness. She refused to back down. At this moment, she hated her coach, the consequences hadn't hit her yet. Her eyes fell onto the meek junior, Suah, standing behind their coach, still cradling her cheek. The slight girl was tearing up too, and she looked so remorseful that Minha wanted to hug her. It wasn't her fault, none of this was. Coach Kim didn't like being wrong, especially when it was the foreigner calling her out. So Minha didn't apologize, she didn't beg, and she wouldn't take back her actions. Even as her coach made a spectacle out of her and painted it as Minha's wrongdoing, the rest of her team watched her fall from grace.
Jiwoo tried to step forward, but a near-imperceptible shake of the head from Minha made her stop. And oh, how her heart was hurting for her friend. She always knew Minha was kindness personified, but this was new; sacrificing herself.
So as the team was ushered onto the bus, Jiwoo broke down into tears, staring out the window at Minha, knowing that the world had just stopped spinning for her.
------
Nobody needs to know. Those three words were her mantra as she walked out of the gym. The boys' team was getting ready for an in-house scrimmage and she'd been kicked out to make space. It was bad enough they were starting to set up the second-line game with Yangdong, but now they wouldn't even let her be in the room. Two hours of spiking practice wasn't making the inner dialogue of "you messed up" any quieter, so she was calling it a day anyways. Normally this would be the point in time when she'd look for Hari, her fellow senior that understood her frustrations- her sister in every sense but literal. But Hari was off at the most important archery competition of the season so far; Minha refused to distract her from her life's ambition. Not even Jiwoo would be comfort, having been sent off to Seoul with the rest of the team, and Minha wanted Jiwoo to be safe from Coach Kim.
She was all alone. Maybe she could just stay here and cheer on her junior teammates, but the burn of embarrassment was too strong. She couldn't look at any of them knowing that they witnessed not only her disrespect for their coach but also the temper tantrum she'd thrown after the bus carrying her future left. That was the part that made her chest ache. She'd stand up for her teammates time and again, that wasn't a problem. But the anguish of being kicked aside, of losing everything she'd worked for, and how that feeling took over, overwhelming and all-consuming in the moment, that feeling clawed at her insides as she gave in. Now she could only feel embarrassment.
Yongha, Jiwoo's successor, had pulled her into the locker room as quickly as she could and begged her to skip the game. "You're too angry to be here today, we understand."
Minha had taken that one straight to the heart. She had a reputation on her team as their Vitamin C, and instead, she cursed at the sky and kicked a volleyball into the forest with angry tears. Crouched on the ground, pulling at her hair to contain her rage... Yongha was right. Even as she was trying to practice, her face felt hot, knowing her fellow teammates were whispering to each other. No looks of understanding could erase the shame she felt. She hadn't even processed her actions fully. How would she explain to her parents that she'd tarnished their hopes just for the satisfaction of calling her coach an asshole? She was right, obviously, but that would mean nothing in the grand scheme. Three years as their ward, down the drain. She should just go home for the day. Nobody had to know that she was a failure today.
Defeated, she trudged through the locker room, not sparing any time to look around at how empty it was. Her teammates were going to Seoul, competing in a game that should include her. She just had to run her mouth off and get suspended from the game. Her coach never liked having a foreigner, not even a talented one. It didn't matter that Minha was one of their aces, or that she was a good communicator on the court- not even her pristine record up to the day of infraction could sway Coach Kim to not make an example out of her. And so here she was, glaring at her empty water bottle. Alone. Fishing her phone out of her duffel, she fiddled with her bangs while checking the time. The team should be reaching the other team's gym by now. Maybe they'll stop for lunch first, it was getting close to that time now. She considered texting Jiwoo, but she didn't want her friend to get caught with a phone.
She just had to get home somehow, without anyone noticing her. It was risky, trying to cut class, and if found out, her family would never trust her again. But hadn't she already betrayed their trust?
Her eyes were filling, threatening to fall into tears. She wiped them away as quickly as possible; tears weren't going to change what she'd done. Still sniffling, she pulled a hoodie over her uniform and slipped out of the gym as unassumingly as she could. She ignored the sounds of service, the tell-tale shouts of teamwork and sneakers squeaking on the floor. She clutched onto her gym bag, slung across her shoulders, acting as an anchor. Campus was bustling as students around her started heading out for their lunch breaks, so she ducked her head and pulled the oversized hoodie even closer. If she could just make it off campus, her shame could stay hidden from the general population, at least until tomorrow, after she figured out how to face her family.
"Noona!"
She cursed under her breath before turning to the boy approaching, a small smile already on her face, anything to keep them from knowing.
Daesu stopped in front of her, grinning widely, "are you skipping school?" He looked at her hands, gripping her bag so tightly her knuckles were white, "are you ok?" His smile flattened into a frown, worry coloring his tone.
Minha loosened her grip on the strap, eyes now wide, "Oh, uh-"
Screaming filled the air.
Minha felt the hairs on her neck rise. Her spine tingled. Daesu tensed up, swiveling to find the source.
In the distance, Minha could see a handful of students running, shrieking in fear, some stumbling and falling. The back of her brain jolted.
"What's going on?" Daesu sounded shaky and he gripped her wrist, already pulling her to stand behind him.
She tugged him to start running towards the school, towards where she hoped Wujin was, "monsters."
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See, now we're hitting the real action! Thanks for hanging in here with me so far.
#jang Wujin#all of us are dead#all of us are dead fanfic#aouad#kdrama fanfic#fanfic#zombie apocalypse fanfic#son sang yeon#oc: park minha#oc: hwang jiwoo#it has killed me to not talk about zombies yet#i literally live for zombie movies and i just want to dive in
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The Prison Arc - a Complete Recap
[ /dsmp /rp - All of the people mentioned in this post are the characters, not the content creators behind them. TWs for mentions of fictional murder, abuse, torture, self-harm, and other canon-typical themes. ]
Watch the cut-down version of this recap here! The video doesn’t have all the details, but is well-edited and easier to watch.
Starting where we left off, after the Disc War finale, Dream reveals the last trick up his sleeve, the revival book. Seeing him as an active danger to the server, the people need a way to get rid of him in order to keep themselves and each other safe, but instead of killing him, they store him away for later use, also making the prison a Vault in a literal sense.
This is where the story of the prison seemingly begins, but - let’s rewind for a moment, because any and all information here is vital. What do we know about the prison? It was commissioned for 64 diamond blocks by Dream to be built by Awesamdude a day after Tommy was exiled. The prison was supposed to be inescapable, and hold a highly capable individual, yet allow visitors.
Getting back to the lore, a day after Dream arrives in the prison, Tommy goes to visit him. During this visit, Dream states that there is nothing to do in the cell besides watching the clock on the wall, and that he is planning on writing something in the books that were given to him. Tommy shows him how to spin the clock really fast, which Dream calls a new game. He says that he is doing well so far, that he gets fed raw potatoes and can write or “swim”. He goes on to jump into the lava that blocks off his cell, killing himself. Tommy teases him, Dream asking him to visit more as he is alone in the cell with no real interaction. He then argues that if he stays for a long while and gets better, he can be freed, however Tommy doesn’t agree. Dream then apologizes, presumably to convince Tommy he can be let go, and talks about feeling bad about things he lost during the Finale. Tommy gives him five books to write, saying it’s so that he can forgive him. After this exchange, Tommy asks who Dream misses the most, and Dream yells for Sam to make him leave.
Around this time, as he reveals later, Dream starts telling Sam about what he did to Tommy in exile, which leads to the Warden becoming increasingly fearful and especially hateful towards the prisoner.
Nine days later, BadBoyHalo decides to pay Dream a visit as well. Dream is slow to respond at first, commenting that BBH is the first visitor in a while. He says he’s doing good, and spins the clock, because apparently he burnt some of his books, and doesn’t write much anymore. Bad tries to be optimistic about his conditions, and Dream agrees in a very… unconvincing, tone of voice. (29:40 - 29:49)
He says that he gets potatoes, but they’re raw, so they’re not good food. Apparently, Sam has told him he couldn’t have any visitors for a few days, because he would try to get out. He concurs to Bad that he did bad things that got him locked up, and asks how Sapnap and George are doing - noting that they haven’t visited him yet. Bad tells him that Tommy has started a hotel, and about the Egg. Dream seems lethargic and preoccupied the entire time, spinning his clock - he says he’s named it, but doesn’t want to elaborate further. He gives Bad a note that says “thank you for visiting me badboyhalo!” and explains that his sentence is forever, which is later also confirmed by Sam, and goes on to talk more about the clock and how he “likes it halfway” it’s because c!Ranboo metaphorically is the clock-
He once again reiterates that there is not a lot for him to do, and that nearly no one has visited him. He reveals to BadBoyHalo that he sometimes does a “prank” where he’ll burn his clock, so that Sam has to come to replace it and he can see and say hi to him. After being asked whether or not he gets in trouble for it, he replies that Sam will sometimes deprive him of food as punishment, essentially starving him for his attempts at interaction, though Dream diminishes it and laughs about Sam reprimanding him. The Warden is planning to make an automated food dispenser so as to not have to come into the cell himself, which means even less interaction in essence. Despite all of this, he says that Sam is “treating him amazing” and that he’s happy. During the visit, he sniffles and coughs as he talks, voice low and void of energy.
BadBoyHalo wants to become a prison guard so that he can make the cell look nicer, perhaps giving Dream a potted plant and flower or two, as well as promising he’ll talk to George and Sapnap who Dream says he wants to visit him the most. He encourages him to look forward to better things, think positively, and - (42:03 - 42:20) As BBH freaks out, he explains that hurting himself this way is how he keeps himself entertained, setting himself on fire again. He says he wants to summon Bad into the cell by breaking a block when he becomes a guard, but goes back on this as it would potentially make Sam mad. Bad promises to visit with his friends, and leaves the cell.
He tells Sam that he needs to replace the clock, who refuses to, seeming frustrated with Dream’s antics. Bad tries to convince him to give it back, Sam saying it doesn’t matter whether Dream has it or not, although it’s basically one of Dream’s only sources of entertainment, and Bad tells him to give him one more clock as a compromise. Sam asks whether he… said anything, suspiciously enough? And Bad says they only talked a bit and that he jumped in the lava. Sam confirms he does that a lot and he thinks it’s for attention.
BadBoyHalo feels conflicted, to say the very least. (53:34-54:02 54:16-54:33 56:34-56:53 1:02:24-1:03:05)
That very same day, Ranboo has a strange hallucination-like nightmare about visiting Dream. However when he tries to visit again, Sam tells him that he visited not too long after Dream was first locked up, also bringing a memory book with him. Later, during the prison podcast with Techno, Dream himself mentions Ranboo and says that he “used to visit a lot” before stopping completely - this lines up with what Ranboo does afterwards, having Sam promise to never let him in again.
On February 7th, Dream dies in lava repeatedly on someone’s stream. This happens a couple of times throughout people’s time on the server, and seems to line up with Sam’s claim that he swims in lava pretty often.
Twenty-one days into Dream’s stay in the cell, Sapnap finally decides to visit. Dream stands mostly still and silent, holding the clock in his hand, and explains through books that he’s not talking because he’s on strike. He places the clock and spins it - Sam seems to have renamed it to “DO NOT BURN”. He tells Sapnap that he took too long, who responds that it took him a while because he felt hurt, but also says that Dream can talk to him if he wants to. Dream’s cell has had some of the obsidian changed out for crying obsidian as a security measure - Dream could’ve, and tried to, light a nether portal in the cell to escape. Sapnap tells him he needs to stay in the prison, because that is where he deserves to be - Dream burns his clock in response, insisting that he will get better and get out eventually. Sapnap threatens to kill him if he does - Dream simply tells him to deliver a message to Ranboo because he stopped visiting, a smiley face, which seems to trigger his enderwalk when received, and promises to stop throwing his clock away in return. Sapnap says he’ll visit more, and that he’ll tell George to visit him as well.
The next visit is nine days later, and is an attempt at getting closure. Tommy notes there’s a little hole on the prison roof when he goes to check up on it beforehand. (1:39-1:44). When Sam asks, Tommy says he thinks Dream is deserving of being locked up, but he highlights he doesn’t think he deserves death. He implies he could or might deserve torture though. (12:13-12:16). He says he’ll only ever visit Dream if he needs anyone revived from now on, calling it the only reason Dream’s still alive. Upon entering the cell, he notices some of the obsidian is now crying obsidian.
The first thing Dream tells Tommy is that he lost his clock since the last time he visited him. Tommy seems nervous, stumbling over his words. Dream eagerly tells Tommy he’s glad he came to visit him, that it’s been a while, and that he wishes he would visit him more. He says he likes having people visit him, that he likes just talking to them (23:46-23:49).
Tommy tells Dream this is his last visit. Dream argues that forever is a long time, asking why it is the last time. Tommy tells him he’s the pinnacle of villainy and that he wants to move on. He says he’s been suffering from success while Dream wasn’t there. Dream replies that he has been too, except without the success part, just suffering - Tommy says he had it coming. Dream nonchalantly replies with “yeah”. He goes on to say that maybe one day he could leave, saying he’s already been changing since he came. They talk about the crying obsidian, Tommy comparing the situation to exile, which devolves into an argument. He finds out that Dream burnt the books he was supposed to write, and that BadBoyHalo visited at some point. Dream asks him to visit again, but Tommy refuses, saying he’s terrible. Dream says that everyone thinks they’re in the right, and that he did bad things for good reasons (31:51-32:13) - Tommy refuses to listen to said reasons, listing Dream’s crimes again, and says he refuses to stress himself out by going to visit Dream any longer. Dream says he’s trying to change, promising to be better if he comes back, and Tommy says goodbye.
In that moment, explosions are heard going off in the distance. The two talk about it for a moment, before Tommy starts yelling for Sam. His name disappears and the Warden doesn’t answer as more TNT goes off, Tommy freaking out and Dream seeming to find it interesting.
Tommy starts begging Dream for a way out, and Dream tells him calmly that Sam is dealing with the security issue. Tommy doesn’t get it, so Dream explains that it means he could be stuck in there for a little bit, maybe even days. Tommy is getting desperate, Dream tells him he knows he signed a book, because he’s the one who wrote it, that said that if there’s a security issue, he can be in there for up to a week.
Tommy rambles about all the things he has to do that week and calls out for Phil. Dream suggests they break out together, but Tommy refuses this offer.
Dream gives Tommy some potatoes, who hits him and yells at him to explain, to which Dream yells back he has no idea what is going on as he’s locked in a room.
Tommy accuses Dream that he’s lying, saying it’s too perfectly timed to be a coincidence, calling him the monster of the server, saying he hasn’t changed, and Dream trying to convince him he did or he’s trying to. The two argue, Dream bringing up exile in the process, until Dream suggests to just deal with each other’s presence, not hit each other, and explains he’s happy to finally have company, Tommy panicking and saying he wants to hurt Dream. He takes the “thank you” books from the chests, as well as empty books and quills, and burns them despite Dream’s protests, telling him if Sam hears him panicking over the items, he’ll come back - Dream begs Tommy to just wait, panicked, and gives him potatoes.
After quite a bit of arguing and Tommy nearly punching Dream into the lava multiple times, Sam says the prison is on lockdown. Tommy is incredulous. Dream says it’s not that bad, that they have tons of time to bond, and after Tommy repeatedly calls him dumb and evil, Dream loses his cool, yelling that Tommy’s the one that’s being dumb. Tommy calms down as the realization sets in, and the stream ends.
The next time we see Dream and Tommy, the scene opens with Tommy running around the cell, making loud noises, and Dream sitting in the cauldron, writing. He’s frustrated and asks Tommy to be quiet - who looks at the cat that seems to have appeared in the cell, calling it annoying. Dream disagrees, saying it’s the best thing that’s happened to them - Tommy tries to repeatedly lead it away from its place on the chest, however the cat always comes back. He keeps asking Dream questions, punching the cat to which Dream stands in front of it, asking him to stop. Sam appears to give them potatoes. He asks Sam to let him out, who refuses as the security issue hasn’t been fixed yet. Tommy complains about not having enough food, to which Dream gives him some as well as Sam dispensing more into the cell. Tommy punches Dream away from the potatoes, also getting the clock. He tells Sam that this feels like exile, but worse, saying he’s claustrophobic - he refuses once again, and leaves the two alone. Dream says it’s not that bad - that he’s gotten used to the cell, that he’s happy to have company and a cat with him. He burns the clock, and after Tommy asks to be let out again, suggests they escape together - Tommy says no, punching the cat as Dream tries to stand in front of it to take the blow. He asks Dream if he loves it, killing it when he says that he does and wants it to stay after Tommy leaves. In response to this, Dream says that the cat was hope he could stay in the prison and be content, however now he’s even more motivated to escape and get his revenge on everybody who’s wronged him. He says he’s grown tired of Tommy’s whining about being in the same box he’s been locked in for a hundred times longer - Tommy tells him he will never get out, and Dream promises to never use the revive book on him or his friends. He says he’ll be freed someday, because the only way he’ll ever revive anyone, is if he’s let out - Tommy reveals he doesn’t think the revive book, the only reason people are keeping Dream alive, is real. They argue, Dream asking if the fact he can’t be killed because of the leverage he holds makes him some kind of god - Tommy disputes that he has said leverage, Dream killing him as a result to prove the point that his life still holds value because he can bring people back to life.
In the aftermath of this event, Sam reacts by saying he didn’t anticipate Dream actually killing Tommy - hence he never reached the cell in time. When Bad mocks him for this, he replies saying that he thought he had “broken the will out of him” to act up that way. He also reveals that Dream laughed when he started screaming at him - he says he can’t think of worse ways to punish him than he already does, not knowing what time it is, without the clock and with only raw potatoes as food.
After this happens, Sam leaves for an island that we see in Quackity’s lore later on. Quackity comes to visit him, only to rile him up and give him the idea to kill Dream in retaliation - however, when they arrive in the prison, Sam realizes that Tommy trusted him to keep Dream locked up and alive, and decides against it because of his duty and the revive book.
Two days after Tommy died, he was revived once again, with Dream asking him questions about death and the limbo, such as how long he’s been there, who he’s talked to, and what it felt like. He says he was scared it wouldn’t work, because he had never tried it before; Tommy details that being dead felt horrible, he’s talked to Wilbur and Mexican Dream although Schlatt, strangely enough, appeared to be asleep. He expresses signs of trauma when Dream punches him after being asked to do so, and has somewhat of a breakdown in the cell. Dream proclaims he is a god as he can revive people, and Tommy says Wilbur said horrible things to him while he was in limbo with him, and tried to get Dream to promise him that he would never bring him back, declaring Wilbur worse and more dangerous than Dream ever was - Dream refuses, saying he is the only one with the power to decide on that, and he thinks Wilbur hasn’t done anything that bad. He also suggests experimenting on Tommy to find out more about the afterlife, and perhaps even become unkillable. Tommy realizes Dream is the revive book, in essence, and there is no other way to get rid of it than to kill him, to make sure Wilbur stays dead forever. Dream invites him to kill him, however Tommy realizes he can’t, because then he’ll be stuck in the cell alone forever - Dream even walks into lava for him, all the while detailing the possible consequences of such an act.
Dream says that when Tommy gets out, he can tell everyone the revive book is real - that he wasn’t lying. He also says since he can kill everyone and bring them back, they’re his puppets - when Tommy asks him why he killed him, Dream says he wouldn’t listen to him, and hence he had to prove the legitimacy of the revive book to him. He says he’ll let Tommy go, and not kill him again, just so that Sam doesn’t cut off his visitors further or starve him again - but also promises to bring back Wilbur, with whose help he will escape.
After eight more days, Dream and Tommy are still stuck together within the room, Dream remarking that he’s starving, confirming Sam hasn’t come back to give either of them food during the time since Tommy’s revival. He lets Tommy keep his when he says he has only one, and the two bicker after Dream hits him. They’re bored, waiting for the Warden, and have no idea how much time has passed - Tommy burns his food in lava as they argue again, before Sam finally arrives, and Tommy is released. Tommy warns him to not allow Dream any visitors, saying he plans to escape, and that Techno owes him a favor. He also calls Sam inadequate to run the prison.
After this experience, both Ranboo and Tommy start plotting to kill Dream, so that he can’t “bring back the villains” of the past, present, and future, allowing them to rid the world of such dangerous individuals for good.
However, another person also ends up becoming interested in the powers of the revive book - and that person, is none other, than Quackity.
He doesn’t intend to destroy its powers for good, though. He persuades Sam into letting him bring weapons into the cell as a means of getting the revive book, taking away the last bit of power Dream has, and allowing them to take his final life. Sam agrees in the end, giving him better tools before he steps into the cell, including netherite weapons and shears. During the first visit, Dream comments he hasn’t had a clock in a while, Quackity saying the cell doesn’t look very comfortable. He goes on to talk about Dream’s loss of control since he got locked up, to which Dream asks if he came to gloat. Quackity brings up Tommy’s death, and Dream is interested in other people’s reactions. The topic goes back to the revive book, Dream asking again whether people knew it was real now, saying it’s good that they do. Quackity begins to ask that he gives it to him, but Dream refuses, saying he burnt it a long time ago and it is preserved only in the form of knowledge. Quackty takes out the weapons, and after the initial shock, Dream begins to frantically yell for Sam, not knowing the two are working together. Quackity promises to come torture him daily until he gets the revive book from him.
Around this time, the prison’s keycards are stolen by Ponk. Sam builds him a room, planning on killing him and then burning him with lava, beating and poisoning him until he gives them back, even though at this point they aren’t even functional. (4:05 - 4:24) Ponk tries to talk him out of it, saying that the prison is controlling him as much as the Egg would, and that he’s changed. (6:26 - 6:38) Sam ends up cutting off one of Ponk’s arms, successfully getting every last one of the defunct keycards back.
Later on, while BadBoyHalo and Antfrost are handing out invites to the Red Banquet on behalf of the Eggpire, Sam greets them holding a clock and gives them empty books & quills he claims to have confiscated from Dream.
In Quackity’s next lore video, we get confirmation that he has in fact been coming in daily to torture Dream, always escorted by Sam, using different tools and staining his shirt’s sleeves red.
Tommy finally decides to come and kill Dream, sneaking in with an invisibility potion while using Ghostbur as an alibi. The lava starts dropping, and Dream seems to run around the cell once, before coming to a stop at the center. Ghostbur yells excitedly when he finally spots Dream on the other side. He looks at Ghostbur, coming closer to the edge to wave at him, but stops waving when he spots Sam. He backs off slightly, breaking eye contact with Sam. Ghostbur and Tommy cross the lava, and Dream has his back turned on Ghostbur.
As soon as Tommy arrives at the cell, and before the netherite bars drop, he reveals the Axe of Peace. Sam yells at them to stop. Dream takes a step towards the entrance, Tommy immediately turns to him, trying to hit him. Dream backs off until he hits the wall, letting out a small “What?”. Tommy crosses the bridge while Ghostbur stays. Tommy and Sam argue, Dream interrupts, but Sam shuts him down, telling Ghostbur to get further away from him.
Dream pleads for Sam to let him out, who tells everyone to shut up, as Tommy is asking Ghostbur if he can reach Dream to kill him. Dream yells that he has a hostage. Sam answers that he’s just a ghost, while Dream stammers that Sam wouldn’t let another person die.
Tommy starts insulting Sam, calling him a horrible warden and telling him to kill Dream, and they start arguing again. (31:00-31:13, 33:50-33:58) Dream shows that he has the revive book in his hands. Ghostbur starts pleading for Tommy to help him. Tommy and Ghostbur count to ten, Sam telling them to shut up. After he shuts down a last request to set Dream free, he kills Ghostbur as the lava starts covering the entrance.
After well over two months of daily visits, a scene opens with Quackity showing Dream which weapon he will use that day, choosing an axe. Dream tries to take it off the item frame, however fails and only gets himself in trouble, with Quackity yelling at him while he cowers. He says it’s getting tiring, but that he needs to come in to remind him every day about everything he’s done or else he’ll forget, to which Dream promises he won’t. Quackity then proceeds to ask him questions about his involvement and relationship with Technoblade, and tells him to write a note, inviting him to visit. He refuses to say why, but promises to give Dream a week-long break if he obeys. Dream doesn’t trust him, continuing to question his motives. He tries to compromise, offering to write a note to Sapnap instead. Quackity goes on to threaten to kill him, saying he doesn’t care about the revival book, and that he likes hurting Dream, because in his eyes, he can never pay back the amount of evil Dream’s done to everyone on the server. He says not even Sam can help him, swinging his axe around and hitting Dream with a sword while he begs him to stop. In the end, Dream agrees to write the note for him.
Outside of the cell’s confines, Foolish proposes to Sam an idea to reform Dream through community service. This idea is shut down immediately.
MichaelMcChill, a new addition to the server, also tries to break him out a couple of times because - because he. Because he thinks he’s hot???
Interestingly enough, Quackity doesn’t have the note to give techno and just tells him to visit Dream verbally - Techno does, getting trapped in the cell in the process. And, well, in the end: (4:24 - 4:40)
That’s it for the recap!
Thank you.
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