RATTLING IN MY CAGE

Okay. Okay. Okay. So. I finished watching the Prison Escape Vod and BY GOD i have thoughts about cubito Pac e Mike

Let's dive in

(@spreens dragging ur ass to read this bc u asked for it)

GOD. FIRST THING. This stream just made it SO CLEAR how their love language is physical touch. How being close and touching each other or even just the reassurance they could leave their cells to be with each other is important to them. Before they were let out, Pac was panicking, emotions being all over the place and pouring out while Mike did the exact opposite, closed himself shut and waited (The exact opposite to what they are. Mike is the emotional bomb, while Pac has better handle of his intensity)

First thing they did when set free was to run and get close, walking pressed together side by side. The first time they sat with Walter Bob, they also sat side by side

And not only to each other they do this, but they extended it to Walter Bob as well. Mike's constant hugs and Pac walking rlly close or choosing to sit by Walter Bob's side even when it was impractical to do so. They know how isolating and scary it is to be in prison, to feel like you're alone and small, so they both made sure to always let Walter Bob know they were there for him

ALSO. Now to Pac and Mike characterization

Pac had his time to shine as the "Innocent" one once again. He loves to pretend he doesn't know what is going on or act way more scared as he truly is. He likes to pretend he's weak and can only lean on his words to get out of trouble. The thing with Pac is that he IS a good fighter, he was one of the front lines of the timer dungeon, he was ready to beat the shit out of the fake chayanne and tallulah in case they had ran after Richas, even if he was unsure if he should. He's quick on his feet and he's good analysing the situation he's in and how he can win. Which also means he knows damn well when he doesn't has the advantage, and in these cases he'd much rather not fight and instead talk his way out, even if it means being beaten up for a while (or lose a leg). His stealth and agility, plus being people smart, helped him to grab the keys from the backpack. The fact he wears his heart on his sleeve and a smile is quick to appear on his face also helped him get an easier time with the guards, getting better food and even being let alone to roam for a bit, which is when Fit found them. When Mike hit the guard, Pac first thing was to analyse the situation and then run to hit the guard as well, as he noticed they had a good chance of winning

Mike, as always, took the place as the "brains" of the whole thing. The thing with Mike is that he likes to pose as the threatening one, the most dangerous and angry. He yelled at guards and swore and talked shit about everything, which is what gave Pac space to be the 'good' inmate, when more often than not Mike is way more bark than he is bite. He isn't sure of his pvp abilities as of normal and much rather lean on his machines or on Pac to do the job. The prison escapade also put a light on how heartfelt Mike is. He hugged Walter Bob every chance he had, he was always outspoken about bringing Walter Bob with them, he yelled to the guards to defend his friends. Mike is the most serious liar and the one to come up with plans as he feels better planning everything ahead of him. Mike is explosive, which is why he was the one attacking the guard instead of Pac, the pvper. He is a man with anger and strength for a single, demolishing attack. He wanted to defend his best friend and Walter Bob, so he fucking jumped into action. In any other kind of fight, Mike wouldn't do that. He couldn't fight against the bull as he was caught out of surprise, he couldn't hold himself in the dungeon as he can't plan middle chaos, he was completely out of his element against the codes due to shock. But, jumping and immediately started attacking on impulse, a surprise attack? That Mike can do, and he did

Their relationship with Walter Bob is special since they already had a bond with him. He's their friend and they were ready to do anything to take Walter Bob with them. He was the missing piece to make all of this work, the outsider out of their bubble that helped them see things they wouldn't as they are linked together and often on the same line of thought. Pac e Mike wanted him to be happy and have a chance to be himself, they wanted him as part of the family

Losing Walter Bob was a hard hit to them. It made the whole escape turn into failure as he was already an extension of the duo, in a way. And Mike has the tendency of blame himself, always. He still blames himself for Richas' death and he blames himself for Walter Bob being taken, to the point of ignoring Pac and refusing his touch as he doesn't deemed himself of worthy of care. And Pac once again is by his side to pick up the pieces that have been broken, as he always does

This whole stream was. Such a MEAL for characterization. I didn't even go deep about the guards or about this new part of the Federation. Im reeling in cubito's feelings and I'M LOVING IT

OK SO IM LATE BUT. MORE SUB3 NEWS!!!

so a few days ago, krafton (their publisher), apparently had this like presentation of their plans over the next like 2 years. and during that they talked a bit about sub 3!

and this obviously creates a LOT of questions. not to worry, though, because unknown worlds added on to this:

im honestly not surprised by this. iirc, when below zero released they said it would be a WHILE before the next game, and they only announced this back in like... january? now, the first game's release was in january, and bz was in may, so it's definitely possible early access with be in spring of 2025. those games did not have multiplayer aspections tho! its possible we'll wait until mid 2025, and full release will likely not be until 2026. but who knows? the first game took like ten to be fully finished!!

and honestly. THANK GOD. i can't imagine any subnautica game having BATTLE PASSES or LOOT BOXES. i would have just straight up ignored this game 😭

i do wonder what these updates will entail! "many years to come" is definitely something interesting to me, because other than bug fixes... i dont remember sub or bz getting many updates post full release. is this referring to bug fixes, or is it implying that it will be in a state of early access for much longer? are they going to just keep adding new things (like the building update for sub1) and taking fandom suggestions? very interested!!

maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but i actually,,,, dont want multiplayer. now i do like bz, and these games arent really intended to be horror games, but also bz is very noticeablely less scary than sub1. and some of it i think definitely has to do with all the extra characters and dialogue. its hard to feel isolated when you know al-an and marg are nearby. so im very happy that it's optional, bc i know i will probably enjoy single player a lot more enjoyable!!

so now... SPECULATION.

so the first thing im curious about that the development team didnt mention:

"uncover the mysteries on an entirely new alien planet"

apprently we are NOT returning to 4546b. which im kind of sad about!! ik the story is very obviously done there, but it feels weird that its going to be some other planet this time around. THERE WONT BE PEEPERS!!!! (well there could be but it would be weird if some other random planet had the exact same lifeforms)

now my next immediate thought is: is this a direct continuation of below zero? my opinion is: no. probably not.

mostly because it mentions up to four players, and robin and alan are, if you look very closely, only two people. now they COULD just create two new characters to go alongside them (my fanfic brain loves the au idea of marg and ryley 🥺) but im just going to assume that with the addition of a new planet, we're going to drop the old storylines. which means no more degasi, sunbeam, aurora, or ayou sisters. we might move away from architects/precursors altogether! (my basis on this is absolutely nothing and i could be wrong, this is 100% just theorizing)

also, i imagine that it would be difficult to keep the plot the exact same with two established characters and then two new ones, depending on how this multiplayer aspect works. if its another crash, it would be a lot easier to just have the extra players die/survive, then try to work in a balancing act of one guy playing al-an.

(also i like keeping the ending of bz vauge. if they show up again, they would have to mention what happened to the rest of the architects, and i think it's much more fun if thats a mystery!)

((also also, im gonna drop a bomb on u all for a second. i actually,,, dont like al-an. i have a deeper connection to probably every single other character in bz. i think they really fumbled al's character and story and he is so incredibly bland to me. it feels like they go nowhere with how he was responsible for the kharra outbreak because the game ends immediately after he confesses! it would be nice to give him another chance, sure, but i personally dread the idea of even more al-an. sorry everyone for this horrible news))

HERE'S A CONCEPT IMAGE

i hope they bring back some cut content creatures for this!! i noticed this new area looks VERY similar to the safe shallows, and several of the fish seem to be variations of ones we've already seen (im already seeing bladderfish and hoopfish color pallettes, and the shark resmbles some early concept art for the shadow leviathan, but with the ice worm's colors...)

will there be more land areas?? is it going to entirely underwater?? more kharra?? NO DISEASE AT ALL?? AAAAAA!!!!

partly happy and very relieved that I don't have to worry about him anymore but also it's just like. i don't understand why he's pushing me away like this but still asking me to be around, i highly highly doubt even he knows tbh

he says he doesn't want to hurt me or make me angry by asking to be alone for a while, and I'm not angry about that, i completely understand it and I'm more than fine giving him that space if he needs it because his whole life is close to being turned upside down for the worse and i get why he's overwhelmed and doesn't have the time to worry about me and not hurting me for being distant

what makes me so fucking angry and truly hurt me is the whole "i don't know if i want to call you my girlfriend" after half a fucking year of exclusive dating and acting like a normal fucking couple and trusting me with things you really wouldn't tell someone who you can't see yourself being around for a long time

it's funny because this is exactly what i was afraid of in the beginning, i remember a conversation we had before we started dating and he was telling me about his love life and how he had never dated anyone for longer than a couple of months, so i asked him "how come?? are you afraid of commitment lol" and he was like noooo i just don't think I've clicked with anyone enough for that

in my mind i was like yeah lmao if we ever start dating he's so gonna be the guy who leads me on for months, just to tell me "actually i can't have a serious relationship now lol sorry hope you're not mad" when i start suggesting that perhaps it's time i meet your mum bc it's the only way we can see each other more often

and if anyone is reading this you're probably wondering so why the fuck did you ignore your intuition and kept going out with him? fair enough very good question idk because im a fucking retard and because we clicked in so well, so easily and so fast that i truly thought it'd be different

i never felt like this with anyone, it always takes me so long to get comfortable around people and not get anxiety when they talk to me or ask me to hang out, and the fact that i never had that feeling around him... that always put any doubts i had about dating him at bay

"yeah you're right everything was perfect between us and we completely understand each other, have a lot fun together and had so much chemistry everyone around us joked about us getting together before we even had a proper conversation but hmmmm yeah idk girlfriend is a scary word tho"

it literally just sounds like you want the liberty to go out and fuck whoever you want without having to worry about that person in the slightest, and that you never cared that much about me even though you really, really didn't act like it

and im saying all of this but another part of me thinks that it'll get better, when things settle down and he doesn't have to worry about what the fuck is gonna happen to him and where he's gonna live after his mother dies, he'll text me and ask to get together again, because things were going so well before his mum got sick again that he's probably just acting like this now bc he can't think clearly and everything is overwhelming him

maybe im an idiot for telling him i can't bring myself to drop him fully, because i really wouldn't be comfortable with myself if i did it knowing what he's going through, I'd feel like a horrible person, i care(d?) too much about him to do that, even if he says he just wants to isolate from everyone and be on his own, that's not healthy, i understand why he wants that, but it's the worst he can do ffs

tldr: don't date manchildren and trust your intuition, you're gonna be right 99,9% of the times

Hello!! I have a scenario and I had to share with someone bc its too good!!! Basically we know Martin is a massive caretaker, classic mother hen! And when he first sees Jon the first thing he is struck by is how skinny he is. The poor thing is absolutely skin and bones. He can't stop staring to which makes Jon even more prickly but the man is so Tiny?? Martin immediately starts fretting but Jon is an adult and he must just be naturally slim. (1/?)

CW: disordered eating, food discussion

(I’m going to put the rest of your GORGEOUS writing under a read-more just to be safe!!

Still Martin can't resist bringing him food, small snacks with his tea, a biscuit one afternoon, a bit of chocolate once. And Jon seems to accept it. This is the pattern for months while the archives buzz away. Only as the stress increases Martin starts to notice that Jons clothes hang more loosely on his frame and that his sharp cheekbones are more prominent than healthy. Subetley he tries to coax more food into him but Jon only gets skinnier. It kills him to see Jon wasting away. (2/5)

Skip forward to the Lonely and Martin barely ever sees Jon but when he does the man is skeletal. He looks as if he could shatter any second. It breaks Martins heart but he is so isolated, so he just pretends like he doesn't notice the weight loss. Its only once they get to the safe house that they finally talk about all of it. Jons anxiety, the statement addiction, everything that is causing him to drop weight. Martin immediately vows to fix this, mother henning completely (3/5)

He immediately jumps into cooking, small meals at first. Coaxing Jon into having just a few bites at a time, small bland foods that are easy on his system. Slowly they work up, until Jon is finally eating regularly. He begins to gain some weight, still thin but there is a healthy glow to his cheeks and he no longer feels as fragile. He has been eating well for a while when one day when finally Martin suprises him with traditional Jordanian food. Jon is so overwhelmed he cries. (4/5)

They eat together, holding hands on top of the table. Jon still sniffling but there's a soft smile on his face. When they finish he immediately wraps himself around Martin in a hug. Martin may or may not cry a tiny bit too when he can feel the healthy layer of weight over Jons ribs and feel as if he can hug him back without shattering him and realizes that Jon has healed even a small bit. (I apologize that this is a bit rough! I just wanted to share!!!) (5/5)

Really really really love all of this. It can be such a challenging and scary and emotional thing to help someone through these kinds of issues-- but Martin of course does his best to be with him through all of it.

Love that he tries his hand at some Jordanian food!! Maybe he tries it out for the first day of Ramadan, though Jon doesn’t fast for it anymore. Just as a small piece of comfort from his home of days gone by.

Thank you for sharing this with me!! I absolutely adore it <3

(1/5) Ugh walburga and orion... can someone send them to azkaban or maybe hex them? Or, i don't know, punch them in the face muggle way? Admittedly, I always imagined that they would be softer towards regulus, bc of the way sirius talk about them in the ootp but I actually liked this interpretation, where things became diffrent for regulus after he became the heir of the family. I like reading about him, we already know he will become a deatheater but I can't wait to see how and why he will go

Whenever I think about Regulus' home life, I 100% believe that Regulus is the golden child. Orion and Walburga love him, but they won't hesitate to do things to keep him 'in line' whenever they feel like he's not listening or 'losing' focus. He's held to an incredibly high standard now that Sirius is gone, I think that perpetuates a lot of wrath from his parents If he ever disagreed with them. But yeah, I think they're soft for him too.

(2/5) down that path? Is it because he belives in blood purity (he is friends with mc but snape was friends with lily and we all know what happend), is it because his family forces him to? His friendship with mc is an interesting one as well and now that mc knows about his family's stance on blood purity, I'm wondering what this will mean for them. I kinda agree with james on his warning. Also james asking regulus to move in with them and refusing to reveal sirius' secrets even though they are

(3/5) no longer friends was great. I think prankster james is great but seeing his more serious side during time of hardships adds a whole new layer to him and you can see how he will go from idiot teenager to great man everybody talks about in the books. Okay moving on, Sirius' situation broke my heart again. I know they have every right to be mad at him but... ugh I can't help it. Part of me wants them to make up immediately since they will die/go to prison/live as a rat/live in isolation in a

James' arch is happening! Ngl, it's been tricky planning and writing how he's going to change but I think so far it’s working out so I’m not worried.

LMFAO I FEEL SO BAD FOR SIRIUS. I'm torturing that poor man.

(4/5) couple of years. I just want them to be happy while they can. Speaking of fighting, lily!!! I know she feels heartbroken but also I feel so sorry for mc, she thinks she lost a friend and even compared their situation to her mother isolating her (in the previous chapter). I know it's hard for her now but I'm pretty sure she will be happy when she is in a loving relationship with james while mc, sirius and remus suffer in an angsty love triangle (evil laughter). Also what's going on with

I've stated this before so don't consider it a spoiler, but yeah. James and Lily will end up together no matter what. I know a lot of my readers are kind of iffy about her feelings towards the MC (because they want Jily) but since I wrote her as a bisexual/unlabelled women, I want to explore that a bit before she's with James. She's just a young teenager with feelings for someone else that isn't returned. Everyone goes through it and in Lily's case, it's hitting harder because the MC is not only one of her best friends, they share the same dorm, always around each other, but she's also a girl! It would be scary as fuck! she may not even feel valid in her sexuality!

And I was trying to write in mind that Lily and MC are still clearly friends but the MC is kinda just done at the moment. She's just confused, angry because well, didn't they just go through something similar a couple months ago? But this time, there's ‘seemingly’ no reason as to why Lily’s acting the way she it.

And omg... you don't understand how exciting I am to write the angst between Remus and Sirius over the MC. PLEASE, I WANT THE ROMANCE TO HAPPEN NOW! ANGST NOW PLEASE!

(5/5) Marlene? Why did she sounded jealous when she was talking about how lily and mc are inseparable. Did she have a crush on lily before? In an earlier chapter she looked hurt after lily moved towards mc when marlene tried to wake her up. Or maybe she feels like mc stole her friend? I don't think she had feelings for mc bc she encouraged her to go after sirius (but lily did a similar thing too). But still, I love her and dorcas together and also how marlene is a sister for younger students -🌸

also, not a spoiler: Marlene does not have feelings for the MC or Lily. her actions will be explained at a later time. Probably sometime soon.

And ugh her and dorcas :D and Marlene having a soft spot for children! like I also imagined Marlene to be like a mixture of James, Sirius and can be 'mean' sometimes but she's a softie around kids.