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stromblessed · 5 months

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Mizu, femininity, and fallen sparrows

In my last post about Mizu and Akemi, I feel like I came across as overly critical of Mizu given that Mizu is a woman who - in her own words - has to live as a man in order to go down the path of revenge.

If she is ever discovered to be female by the wrong person, she will not only be unable to complete her quest, but there's a good chance that she'll be arrested or killed.

So it makes complete sense for Mizu to distance herself as much as possible from any behavior that she feels like would make someone question her sex.

I felt so indignant toward Mizu on my first couple watchthroughs for this moment. Why couldn't Mizu bribe the woman and her child's way into the city too? If Mizu is presenting as a man, couldn't she claim to be the woman's escort?

However, this moment makes things pretty clear. Mizu knows all too well the plight of women in her society. She knows it so well that she cannot risk ever finding herself back in their position again. She helps in what little way she can - without drawing attention to herself.

Mizu is not a hero and she is not one to make of herself a martyr - she will not set herself on fire to keep others warm. There's room to argue that Mizu shouldn't prioritize her quest over people's lives, but given the collateral damage Mizu can live with in almost every episode of season 1, Mizu is simply not operating under that kind of morality at this point. ("You don't know what I've done to reach you," Mizu tells Fowler.)

And while I still feel like Mizu has an obvious and established blind spot when it comes to Akemi because of their differences in station, such that Mizu's judgment of Akemi and actions in episode 5 are the result of prejudice rather than the result of Mizu's caution, I also want to establish that Mizu is just as caged as Akemi is, despite her technically having more freedom while living as a man.

Mizu can hide her mixed race identity some of the time, and she can hide her sex almost all of the time, but being able to operate outside of her society's strict rules for women does not mean she cannot see their plight.

It does not mean she doesn't hurt for them.

Back to Mizu and collateral damage, remember that sparrow?

While Mizu is breaking into Boss Hamata's manse, she gets startled by a bird and kills it on reflex. She then cradles it in her hands - much more tenderly than we've seen Mizu treat almost anything up to this point in the season:

She then puts it in its nest, with its unhatched eggs. Almost like she's trying to make the death look natural. Or like an accident.

You see where I'm going with this.

When Mizu kills Kinuyo, Mizu lingers in the moment, holding the body tenderly:

And btw a lot of stuff about this show hit me hard, but this remains the biggest gut punch of them all for me, Mizu holding that poor girl's body close, GOD

When Mizu arranges the "scene of the crime," Kinuyo's body is delicate, birdlike. And Mizu is so shaken afterward that she gets sloppy. She's horrified at this kill to the point that she can't bring herself to take another innocent life - the boy who rats her out.

MIZU'S ONE MOMENT OF SOFTNESS AND MERCY, COMING ON THE HEELS OF HER NEEDING TO KILL A GIRL TO SPARE HER THE WORST FATE THAT THIS RIGID SOCIETY HAS TO OFFER WOMEN, AND TO SPARE A BROTHEL FULL OF INNOCENT WOMEN WHO ARE THE CASTOFFS OF SOCIETY, NEARLY RESULTS IN ALL OF THEIR DEATHS

No wonder Mizu is as stoic and cold as she is.

And no wonder Mizu has no patience for Akemi whatsoever right before the terrible reveal and the fight breaks out:

Speaking of Akemi - guess who else is compared to a bird!

The plumage is more colorful, a bit flashier. But a bird is a bird.

And, uh

Yeah.

I like to think that Mizu killing the sparrow is not only foreshadowing for what she must do to Kinuyo, but is also a representation of the choice she makes on Akemi's behalf. She decides to cage the bird because she believes the bird is "better off." Better off caged than... dead.

But because Mizu doesn't know Akemi or her situation, she of course doesn't realize that the bird is fated to die if it is caged and sent back home.

Mizu is clearly not happy, or pleased, or satisfied by allowing Akemi to be dragged back to her father:

But softness and mercy haven't gotten Mizu anywhere good, recently.

There is so much tragedy layered into Mizu's character, and it includes the things she has to witness and the choices she makes - or believes she has to make - involving women, when she herself can skirt around a lot of what her society throws at women. Although, I do believe that it comes at the cost of a part of Mizu's soul.

After all, I'm gonna be haunted for the rest of this show by Mizu's very first prayer in episode 1:

"LET" her die. Because as Ringo points out, she doesn't "know how" to die.

Kind of like another bird in this show:

#blue eye samurai #mizu #akemi #kinuyo #bes #women are birds okay they are BIRDS #the let me die line is so SCARY AND SAD like a part of Mizu wants death but she cant? she doesnt know how?? excuse you show???#when all these other delicate birds are dying all around her #akemis character gets more and more gutwrenching upon subsequent rewatches because whenever she says her life is in danger #NO ONE BELIEVES HER - certainly not other women #because shes rich and pampered and that means shes safe and is worrying about nothing right? right?????#and it turns out that all of akemis instincts were right and she was in danger the ENTIRE TIME #also I need to make a post just for kinuyo because I am sad

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undercoveravenger · 7 months

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Intoxication

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Male!Reader

Requested: Yes

Request: “love potion mix-up with Billy Hargrove??”

A/N: Happy Spooky Month everyone! Here's the first post for the 2023 Spooky Month event - the next post will be dropping on Tuesday, October 10th. Hope you enjoy!

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Things had been strange ever since the arrival of Billy Hargrove and his little sister, Max.

Well, things in Hawkins had been weird for a lot longer than that, especially since you and your best friend Steve had befriended the group of misfit kids that called themselves “the Party”. They’d introduced the two of you to a secret side of Hawkins, where magic and curses and strange creatures ran amok. One of the kids, a girl named Eleven, was able to control objects with her mind and see beyond what was there. Another, Will, was psychic and could connect to other planes of existence. Dustin had a way of knowing how things fit together before anyone else could even guess. Steve’s coworker from Scoops Ahoy, Robin, was a witch. And now, Max and her brother. Werewolves, if what Lucas had told you was to be believed.

But you really couldn’t bring yourself to care much about Billy Hargrove. Not when so much of his life seemed to be spent antagonizing your best friend and trying to disrupt your comfortable station within the school’s hierarchy, seemingly dead set on turning your life upside down. Even at stupid parties like this one, you could hear people chanting Billy’s name while he faced off against Steve in a match of beer pong somewhere deeper in the house while you try to coax the sticker-covered flask away from Robin in the kitchen.

“Robs, babe,” you murmur, sidling up beside her and leaning back against the kitchen island, “I think Vickie likes you already. I know it’s scary to risk rejection, but a love potion isn’t the solution here.”

Robin nods slowly to herself, but her fingers don’t loosen around the metal. “But what if I can’t do it?”

You cock your head, smiling as she meets your eyes. “But isn’t asking her and knowing better than using that and not knowing how she really feels?”

It takes a moment of consideration, but your friend nods, setting the flask on the chipped marble countertop.

“It’s more of an enhancer than-” Robin starts and it’s clear that you’re about to get one of Robin’s infamous lectures on the science of magic when she is cut off by someone snatching the flask from its place in front of the two of you.

“Aww, so sweet of you to have my next drink ready for me,” Billy Hargrove leers at you, unscrewing the cap of the flask even as his usual infuriating smirk slips over his lips, pretty blue eyes fixed on yours in with that intense, holier-than-thou look he always had. Just because he was tall and handsome and had pretty eyes and hair that you kind of want to curl your fingers into and use to pull him closer to shut him up with a kiss, doesn’t mean he could do anything but irritate you by looking at you like he knew something he wasn’t willing to share.

Your heart lurches in your chest as he raises the flask, you know you have to at least try to stop him, especially since Robin seems so stunned you’re not entirely sure she could say anything at all.

“Probably don’t wanna drink that, Hargrove,” you say, reaching out just in time to catch his wrist. “Might end up with something worse than a hangover.”

Billy leans forward against the counter, using his other forearm to prop himself up, raising an eyebrow pointedly as he looks at your hand, holding tight around his wrist, before his eyes shift up to meet yours. “You threatenin’ me?”

A derisive snort escapes you, and you gesture subtly for Robin to make her escape. The last thing you’d want is for Billy to figure out she had anything to do with whatever happens if he’s stubborn enough to drink the potion and start targeting her once it wears off. She catches your hint and mumbles an excuse about finding Steve, disappearing quickly into the crowd.

“Of course not,” you say, releasing him and holding your hands up placatingly. Sure, you didn’t really want to spend longer than necessary around Billy Hargrove, but you wanted to spend time with a pissed off Billy Hargrove even less. “Just think it probably wouldn’t be something you would like, so I was just hoping to get it back,” you reached for it as you spoke, leaning across the island yourself to try to make a grab for the flask.

Billy snatches it away, taking a long gulp from the mouth of the flask, grinning at you all the while. He pulls a face, but doesn’t wince the way one might at the burn of alcohol, but you can see the moment the look in his eyes starts to shift and the realization hits you with all the weight of a semi-truck.

Billy Hargrove had just taken a love potion while looking right at you. Billy Hargrove was about to be convinced that you were the love of his life.

“Well,” you say, eyes flickering around to look anywhere but at Billy, “I should really be going.” You push back upright, swiftly turning to make your way out the back door of the house and starting off down the sidewalk in the direction of your own home before Billy could speak. You don’t make it far before you realize you’re being followed, the scuff of Billy’s worn leather boots giving him away as he trails behind you.

“You’re not as stealthy as you think you are,” you call back over your shoulder, pace remaining steady even as Billy speeds up to walk beside you.

“Wasn’t tryin’ to be,” he drawls, lips quirking up into something softer than his usual sneer. “Just walkin’.”

You study him for a long moment. “Didn’t you drive to the party? Surprised you’d leave your precious Camaro behind.”

“I’ve been drinking,” he shrugs, clearly trying to appear nonchalant. “Drunk driving’s dangerous, y’know.” He’s quiet for a minute and you find yourself almost wondering what he’s thinking.

“You don’t have to walk me home if that’s what this is,” you say, shoving your hands in your pockets and focusing your eyes on the way the lights on the stoplight a few blocks down flicker. “Steve already made me promise to call him when I get home.”

Billy huffs and he almost seems to be pouting when you glance over at him. “Don’t see why you’re with that loser in the first place. ‘s not good enough for you anyway.”

His words shock you enough that your steps falter and you have to turn to face him to see if he’s joking or not. Billy looks more serious than you’ve ever seen him, steely blue eyes fixed firmly on you.

You have to fumble for words for a minute, the first thing you’re able to force out being a weak protest. “Steve’s not a loser!” Then the rest of his words catch up to you, “And he’s just my best friend, anyways.”

Billy seems to brighten at that, a more genuine smile crossing his lips than you’d ever seen before. “So,” he says, moving toward you slowly. The dull orange glow of the streetlights makes his hair shine almost copper and his eyes flash that distinct werewolf silver as he stalks toward you, gently herding you backward until your back is pressed to the brick wall of some long-closed business and Billy’s in front of you, arms caging you in on either side. On any other day, you might’ve felt claustrophobic- trapped and threatened by someone determined to fuck up your life. But today- with that love drunk look in Billy's eyes and that fond grin on his face, you were hesitantly pleased with your position. "If you're not with Harrington," Billy starts, leaning just a bit closer, until you can almost feel the breath of his words against your lips, "Does that mean you're available to go out with me on Friday?"

Part of you is tempted to say yes- to give in to this sweet, intoxicating side of Billy and let this go as far as he wants to take it- but the rest of you knows that what's happening is wrong.

You press a hand to Billy’s chest, pushing him back enough to give yourself some breathing room.

"I would, but this isn't real, Billy." You force yourself to say, "You drank a love potion tonight- this- you don't mean any of this."

Billy laughs then, full and unrestrained and the most genuine you've ever heard him be. "That shit doesn't work on werewolves. Metabolism’s too fast for it to really do much of anything," he says, grin unable to be helped even as his laughter subsides. "And even if it did, the stuff that your buddy whipped up just makes feelings that's already there easier to act on."

You blink, the pressure you'd been using to keep Billy at bay slacking as you think through what he'd said. If he hadn't been affected by Robin’s potion then-

Billy nudges closer, slipping his arms around your middle and tucking his face against the side of your neck. "The reason I was always so shitty to Harrington is that I was jealous," he murmurs softly, and you can feel the way he grins just a little wider as you start to relax against him, "I wanted to have people look at me like they look at him. I wanted to have you look at me like I was him."

You can’t help the way your hands come up to curl around him too, the way your fingers curl into his shirt, or the way you press just a bit closer to him. You can’t help the answering grin from carving its way across your cheeks at the thought of how pleased Billy seems to be at being the center of your attention, but you also can’t stop those few little questions from itching away inside your mind.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” The thought escapes you almost unbidden, before you can second-guess yourself, and you can’t help but keep talking. “Why didn’t you ask me out? Or- or just say hi? Something other than-” you gesture vaguely back in the direction of the party.

The tired sigh that escapes him makes it clear he knows you’re talking about his grudge against Steve and all the drama he’s stirred up for the two of you.

“It’s-” he has to pause and think over his words for a moment before he can continue. “My experience with love is… complicated. My mom died when I was little and my dad- he changed after that. Got mean. Angry.” He swallows hard, pulling away far enough to look at you, to really look at you. “He made it clear that he expected pretty specific behavior from me and anything that didn’t meet that wasn’t… good for me. Liking a guy- well, that was pretty far from what he’d expect.” His hands drop from your sides and he steps back a bit, arms crossing over his chest like he’s trying to distance himself from his thoughts. “So I was rude and sarcastic and I was mean to Harrington because at least that kept me in your peripheral.” He meets your eyes again, bright and open and honest in the orange glow of the streetlights, “But I don’t want to just be in your peripheral anymore.”

With all of what he'd said playing through your mind, finding the right words is proving difficult. "If we’re gonna try this, you've gotta leave Steve alone," you start finally, heart squeezing with more fondness than you're ready to admit as you watch the realization of what you mean starts to sink in and a million-watt smile pulls at Billy’s lips. "And Robin and the kids, too.”

A giddy laugh escapes Billy and he takes your hand in his, tugging you back down the street in the direction the two of you had been walking. “That’s a deal I’d make a thousand times over,” he says, grinning brightly as he walked with you, fingers intertwined with yours, hands swinging easily between the two of you.

Conversation flows easily as the two of you walk and you’re more at peace with Billy now than you could ever remember being with any of your exes, he insists on walking you home no matter how many times you tell him he doesn’t need to.

“Go out with me on Friday?” He says as the two of you stop at the foot of your driveway. “We could go for a picnic or to the drive-in if you want?”

When he’s looking at you like that, you can’t help but agree, quickly finding yourself more and more excited about your pending date.

Billy kisses your hand before he lets go, stepping back as you turn away from him and head for your house.

Billy smiles to himself as he watches you make your way up the driveway, keeping watch until you're safely inside, before turning and heading off in the direction of his own home. No, he knew he'd never have needed that love potion- not when it came to you. Billy Hargrove had been intoxicated by you since the first time he met you and he knows that isn't going to change any time soon.

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ultimatemissadhd · 2 months

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You guys want complex characters but you couldn't even understand Kyoko Kirigiri - Kyoko defending post.

So today I'm gonna talk about Kyoko framing Makoto because you guys only foucs on Makoto in here which drives me insane.

Yes, it was unfair that Makoto got framed. But don't forget that Kyoko was getting framed too, it's not like Kyoko framed Makoto for a murder she committed. The dead body belonged to Mukuro who died chapters ago.

Of course, Kyoko could have pulled out an inspirational speech and sacrifice herself for Naegi but there was no place for that bullshit.

Haven't you seen the bad ending? If Kyoko dies, they never get out of the killing game, the tradegy goes on forever and they don't even know.

And Kyoko knows that. Kyoko knows she's the only person who can end the killing game with all the information and evidence she got. As much as, some of these were in her room, that still wouldn't be enough for others. Plus they would probably have no reason to go there after she dies, I also wouldn't be surprised if Junko got rid of the evidence in Kyoko's room after she died.

The whole reason why the trail was in the first place was because Junko wanted to stop Kyoko from destroying her killing game. Kyoko knows that.

Now, Kyoko finds herself in a situation where she's about to get executed and the "if you vote the wrong person then you all die" rule is not going to help her anymore since the whole thing is rigged and she's being framed by the mastermind. She knows that if she dies the killing game will never and go on forever AND SHE'S RIGHT. She's nervous, she's scared, she's in a point of no escape.

She has to choices:

1. Die and lnever defeat the mastermind and have everyone locked in there forever, mastermind wins, all the deaths meant nothing.

2. Frame someone else, live and defeat the mastermind and then avenge the deaths of everyone including the person who got framed.

There's no place for sacrifice bullshit here.

Kyoko choses to save herself, not because she's selfish or arrogant but because she believes in her abilities and the knowledge she has.

Makoto ends up being the person who gets executed instead and that's s pretty much a random thing because it really could have been anyone. Yes, she feels guilty and yes, she knows it's unfair. But it was the only thing to do so she can end the killing game.

Makoto survives and she goes to look for him and saves him and she does it pretty quickly. She goes there, brings him food and water, then helps him get back to the building. If she didn't care about him, she wouldn't think about what happened to him.

The fact that she was the only one to do so, maybe because she detailed map of the school that she got from some secret room, however the fact that she threw herself down the trash to save Makoto shows that she cares. But I think it's safe to say that if she didn't go down there, there's a huge chance that no one would.

In conclusion, chapter 5 is not all about Makoto. I hate when people make it all about him and how it was unfair for him and JUST for him. Because if you think about it, it wasn't fair for anyone and Kyoko had no choice, just like everyone else. They couldn't just not vote, they had to vote for someone.

Kyoko is an interesting character because like I mentioned before, what you'd except from a Danganronpa female support character would be inspirational sacrifice to let the protagonist solve everything by themselves and "I believe in you" and blah blah.

That scenario just doesn't work here because Makoto alone doesn't have enough information and knowledge to defeat the mastermind by himself.

Another thing is that Kyoko apologies and explains everything as soon as she sees Makoto.

Makoto forgives her not because he is a loser people pleaser although he is but not here but because he knows Kyoko and trusts her and he knows that she has those information that could help save the killing game, he knows that without her they wouldn't defeat the mastermind.

Kyoko Kirigiri is a character with her own morals, brain, way of thinking and mind. She is a deep powerful character who was one of the main reasons Junko was defeated. Yet, she gets very little credit. This would bring us to talking about the anime but that's a topic for another day and another rant.

#kyoko kirigiri #danganronpa #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #danganronpa spoilers #Danganronpa chapter 5 #rant

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strwhnn · 6 months

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Have you heard that there are people who live in something called "survival mode"?

As Mitski said "I fell in love with a war, nobody told me it ended".

That's the current Roier, despite being a charismatic and playful person, he literally just came back from a war.

He killed his friends on several occasions, he killed the people he loved the most just to amuse an entity that wanted to see them fight each other, he got so used to blood that he ended up enjoying it.

And now, overnight, he returns "home."

He comes back with the fear that his husband has not shown up, with the fear that he is dead, and as always, he makes jokes about it. But we all know it already, it is obvious that he doesn't want to think about it, he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't want to remember that he stayed on that stupid island.

Roier has always been like that, even with his children.

And this is where Pepito comes in.

The first thing he does when he sees him, when he learns that he will be a father again, is to say that he can't get attached to him, not again, he can't allow another child to be taken away from him.

🌷;; Now, from here on will only come MY opinion, my perspective and how I see things. If you have anything to comment or would like to leave input, feel free to do so. Now, let's get started.

Roier has only raised strong children. Just like that, he has only fathered children who are not afraid of the world, who do not live in fear and who are brave little warriors.

That's the "Mexican way" in his own words, and it has always worked for him.

Bobby and Richarlyson, specifically Bobby (his first son), have always been brave, and have never let anyone on the island scare them, they have known how to keep their heads up even in dangerous situations.

Bobby, during his last ten minutes, never showed sadness, never showed regret, he was an adventurer and knew that bad things could happen, but that was not going to stop him.

Roier loved those children because they were a small reflection of himself.

Roier is brave, he is strong, he is funny, he is friendly and he can always bring a smile to everyone's face.

That Roier who months ago was going on adventures with his children, is now broken and shut down, having to take care of one more little one.

But this time it's not like always, this time it's not so easy. Pepito has shown himself to be slow, clumsy, small, fearful.

And he has to live, unfortunately, under the shadow of the people most loved by his now father.

Pepito arrived at the lowest point of his life, and he arrived when Roier already had a family made, a complete family.

Pepito arrived after Purgatory, after the most intense two weeks of his entire life, and he is a weak little egg, a little one who must be cared for, who cannot afford to be a hero.

For Roier this is something new, a new experience and something that can serve to calm his wild soul. He's even wiped the blood off his suit, he's not quite ready to wear red again but he's ready to at least make an attempt to get close to it.

Pepito, despite knowing that Roier is only waiting for the arrival of his other son, has already accepted him and loves him as his father, after all he never had one, and if he did he no longer remembers him. He lived alone for so long that now having someone else is wonderful.

Both, Pepito and Roier need each other, they have everything they need to help each other heal even for a moment. They both came from the same island and they both know how horrific it was, they can both support each other until one day they can have a normal life again.

So, Pepito will currently continue to live around memories that don't belong to him (Bobby's castle and town) but that doesn't mean he will be their replacement, he can't even come close to that, he will just be a new bond, a new dawn.

A breath after the storm.

This is my first post on Tumblr, English is not my first language so I probably have several mistakes :D anyway, I wanted to post something to test the application and nothing better than talking about one of my favorite QSMP characters ₊˚⊹

#qroier #qsmp #qsmp purgatory #q!roier #qsmp pepito #qsmp bobby

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gwenboucharddidnothingwrong · 1 month

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i think we can all agree that it’s not gonna be as simple as ‘arthur gets his daughter back, john and arthur get to live separately’ right? but what if it was? (well not quite but hear me out)

kayne has shown that he’s able to interact with faroe in other timelines, and also transport people (john and arthur atleast) between those timelines, but would he really be capable of creating a whole new faroe for arthur even if he is telling the truth? or of giving john his own body? i don’t think so.

i reckon that, for kayne to bring back faroe in the ‘middle c’ universe, he’d have to take her out of another timeline, which would cause all sorts of problems elswhere. (although tbh i wouldn’t put it past kayne. he doesn’t seem all that bothered as to what effects his actions have on other timelines). even if arthur got faroe back, would he just be forced to let her go/have her taken away from him because of some interdimentional reasons beyond his control?

also, what’s so special about the arthur in our timeline? i mean, kayne is most likely not even from the ‘middle c’ timeline, and the whole ‘darkthur’ thing shows he’s been following what’s been going on in the other timelines. who’s to say he’s not been making empty promises to every other arthur and john? AND IF HE HAS WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN (does he need the same thing from multiple timelines?? tbh i don’t think this point is particularly likely, but just putting it out there)

and as for john getting his own body - he wouldn’t be getting his own back. unless kayne is planning on reuniting him with the king in yellow, where the hell would he be getting that body from? would it be human? would it not? (OR HE COULD JUST PUT HIM IN PARKERS DEAD BODY SSJSJDJGJKFJGG)

the promises he made them are really vague which makes me think he’s definitely not giving them the full picture of the deal they’re making (i mean considering it’s kayne we’re talking about i guess that was a given but still).

also i get that, considering the threats that kayne has made, they don’t have much of a choice but to do what he’s told them to, but what about the repercussions of giving kayne what he wants? it’s clearly not gonna be anything good, and now i come to think of it we know next to nothing about his actual motives. so far he’s pretty much just showed up, killed people, and caused problems.

i’m gonna be real i wasn’t paying that much attention at this point in the episode so i can’t actually remember exactly what he wanted arthur and john to get, but considering the threats he made to make sure they didn’t have any option but to do what he wanted, it’s gotta be really important to him.

and tbh, i’ve got a feeling kayne is working for someone, or atleast being made to do this. he went to some pretty big lengths to prove to john and arthur not only how much power he had, but to make it clear what he was willing to do with that power. i don’t actually have much evidence to back this point up tbh but IVE GOT A FEELING ABOUT IT OK

and also why does he need arthur to do it? is it arthur specifically that he needs for whatever reason? i mean that would make sense, why else would kayne be forcing him to do it, and why else would he have gotten john to try and make arthur get that stone (was that what it was? again, i’m bad at following for the whole hour) in new york.

but has he made them do whatever it is because he knows something will happen? has he made all those promises to john and arthur knowing it won’t matter either way because they aren’t going to make it back?

tldr, even if kayne were to give john and arthur what he said he would, there’s no way it would be as simple as he says it is

(wow, didn’t expect this post to go on for so long, well done for reading if you got up to here, have an unrelated doodle i drew in my physics book below the cut and go drink some water or something)

(his name is jumbo!)

#malevolent #malevolent podcast #kayne malevolent #john malevolent #arthur lester #faroe lester #long post #malevolent meta #excuse my spelling cba correcting it #malevolent spoilers #like i said i didn’t pay proper attention to the whole episode so do let me know if there’s any incorrect information in there #wrote this whole thing while listening to hamilton soundtrack lol #txt

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enhashoutout · 3 months

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Things I noticed while watching High and Low the Worst X again

I was watching High and Low The Worst X while I was on lunch break and then had more realizations and wanted to write about them lol

These are probably nothing new and someone else probably already noticed these but I wanted to make a post about them sooooo

I’ve watched the movie so many times now idk why I just realized the weight of the three scenes I’m about to talk about. But also I feel like I notice something new every time I watch the movies so I'm gonna cut myself some slack.

Amagai being the only character in the movie who genuinely doesn’t have a sense of friendship/comradery with anyone else.

The first time we see the 3 schools alliance meeting is the opening of the movie, and I remember when I first watched the movie I was like "well damn this looks like a solid ass team" only to find out later that they were in fact not really a team lol 😂 but anywaysss

Watching the movie this time I just realized what Fujin says to Amagai in the first scene in the restaurant where the 3 schools are holding their meetings.

Reiji is first to jump up and say "Let's get this brawl started," and Ghandi jumps in telling Amamgai that their troupes and weapons are ready. Shoji laughs and says that weapons are typical Kamasaka behavior which prompts them to jump at him and Fujin, Raijin, and the other Ebara guys jump straight to his defense while Shoji continues sitting. Amagai tells them to "get us more" while tossing the money bundles in their direction.

Every single fuckin character in this scene's facial expressions have me dying because the disbelief on their faces😂

Shoji looking at Amagai like he's full of shit.

Fujin, Raijin, and Ghandi are looking at him like "wtf?"

The background characters are looking at him in disbelief also like I was WHEEZING when I realized this. Back to the characters who are the main focus of this specific camera frame though, Ghandi and Fujin.

Both characters turn to Amagai with the BIGGEST look of disbelief on their faces and Fujin says "You don't trust we can do it huh?"

To which Amagai says "What's the use in trusting you guys?" and goes on a spiel about how being powerful means you trust no one and not even giving them a slight chance. He also goes on to say that being powerful means bringing everyone else down to their knees and tells the other 3 schools "Just shut up and stick with me. I'll show you what it's like to be at the top." Ryo's face when he says this is a whole other conversation for another day.

I'M SORRY BUT THE LOOKS REIJI AND SHOJI GIVE HIM AFTER HIS LITTLE SPIEL HAD ME ROLLING🤣 Like both characters gave him the most judgmental expression and then you got Shoji over here looking away and rolling his eyes PUH-LEASE I AM DEAD🤣

Aside from all of this being extremely funny to me, this plays into my point from above. Yes, all these looks are super funny but it really shows how as "bad" as the other guys are they still run in the same way that Oya and the other S.W.O.R.D gangs do, through friendship and comradery.

Fujin asked "You don't trust we can do it huh?" because Ebara most likely runs on comradery as well. You don't pay someone to do shit for you, they just know to trust each other to get it done. This is a concept that Amagai does not and can not understand because he's been conditioned to believe that the people around him are not worthy of trust or friendship due to his status, they just work for him. As long as he throws money at their feet, they'll do what he wants.

That's like kind of sad actually, the fact that the other "antagonists" of the film still know friendship and he doesn't... I still hate his guts though. We love Ryoki but we don't love his character Amagai.

The way Shoji vs Tsukasa asks Suzaki why he’s working for Amagai

I think everyone can agree that within that 3 school alliance, Shoji Sameoka was the only character with working brain cells (full offense to all the other characters lol no one else in that room had critical thinking skills I swear). From the first meeting we see, the audience can already tell Shoji is the only character who has doubts about this alliance but also questions it; while everyone else has doubts but proceed to just follow Amagai's orders. This eventually leads to Shoji being the one to suggest that Ebara drop out of the alliance because he thinks it’s stupid which then leads to him agreeing to Todoroki’s terms of dropping out of the alliance if Todoroki wins against Fujin and Raijin. I feel like Shoji as a person judges the other characters based on what he knows/hears about them.

We see this when he confronts Suzaki. Shoji asks Suzaki why he would come to Senomon and work under Amagai when he was the one running Nami High. Suzaki tells him to mind his own business. Shoji is asking Suzaki from a place of strength. Based on the dialogue, it seems like Shoji knew Suzaki and Amagai’s reputations before this alliance. I deduce this down to Shoji knowing that Suzaki was the strongest at Nami High and knowing that Amagai isn’t actually physically strong compared to the other characters, he just likes to cause trouble and make others work for him. People fear Amagai not for his strength or skills as a fighter, but simply because he has the money and status to be at the “top”.

This brings me to believe that Shoji was asking why someone as strong as Suzaki would even work under Amagai who is clearly not a match for him strength wise. It seems like Shoji is asking Suzaki why he would be scared of Amagai’s money and work under him when Suzaki is clearly stronger. I think this is because the Ebara guys ranks are based on their strength/who is the strongest (I make this assumption from the fact that Fujin and Raijin are straight up gym bros lol) so Shoji can’t understand why Suzaki is working under someone clearly weaker than him.

Tsukasa’s question is the same….. but also different.

Tsukasa strikes me as someone who really gets to know someone personally to the best of his abilities before he makes his own judgment on them. We see this with Rao in the movie. Tsukasa could’ve taken everyone’s word for it and been like “oh Rao is a big mean monster” but he takes it upon himself to find out who Rao actually is through Mercy. This is how he finds out Rao isn’t actually all that bad like the stories suggests and that Rao fights for good reason (for his siblings). This trait about Tsukasa is why he asks Suzaki why he fights for Amagai but is also why he’s the only one who is able to understand why Suzaki fights for Amagai without a direct answer.

When Tsukasa asks Suzaki why he works for Amagai, he says “why do you work for a guy like him? Does he has some kind of dirt on you?” and Suzaki just keeps quiet. This brings me to believe that Suzaki probably had a reputation for being the strongest at Nani High but also fought people within reason, he didn’t flaunt his strength just because he felt like it.

Tsukasa asked him based off the kind of person he is and not his strength. I'm assuming Ryo fought people within reason and not so much for fun or to assert his dominance over others with his strength, so him working under someone who has as shitty of a personality as Amagai probably threw Tsukasa off a bit.

He is also however able to tell that there is a friendship there even if it isn't great. At the end when Yuken and Todoroki ask why Ryo would work for someone like Amagai, Tsukasa says it's because he means more to Ryo than that. Alluding to the fact that Ryo is doing stuff for Amagai because he sees him as a friend even if everyone else doesn't.

Okay, I'm done now😂 this wasn't as deep as my other analysis because it's not super deep with comparisons or anything like that it was just stuff I noticed while watching the movie again.

I have fics I'm working on for all the S.W.O.R.D leaders and more for Fujio I'm just swamped with assignments and working a little slow

#high&low #high and low #oya high #high&low story of sword #oya kou #the rampage from exile tribe #makoto hasegawa #yoshino hokuto #senomon tech #high&low x reader

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otomelavenderhaze · 10 months

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I can't stop thinking about the cave dialogue in which Rayan talks about Chloé, his ex wife, therefore I went back to read whole scene back from University Life episode 8, because what Rayan describes in episode 17 of LL is too diferent from that UL episode and from everything I could remember about it.

It's not to say that I caught some sort of insane discrepancy and AHÁ!

It's more because I find it interesting and I thought maybe others would find it interesting as well. So first I wanna show you what Rayan says in episode 8 of UL (which I never translated before until this post):

In my playthrough of it, back in the day, I asked him directly if he have a wife, which he answers yes first and then the proceeds to talk about it...

"And she will forever be my wife. But the last time we saw each other was seven years ago. Already… seven years… My wife, Chloé, died seven years ago. In a terrorist attack. Some savages came in shooting. No fixed target. In shop windows, in people and even in children."

"There were many wounded, and fortunately few dead. But Chloé is one of those who didn't survive… All that happened seven long years ago. It took me time. At first I didn't want to move. I wanted to keep everything, the smallest memory."

Now why I am showing this 4 panells?

This is important to understand how she died, how sad Rayan showed us to be about her death and his attachment towards Chloé.

He even goes as far to say:

"We met in high school and we got married at 23, in a hurry. We didn't tell anyone. But I'm not going to lie to you and say that everything was all roses."

Candy asks him, how so?

"We often quarreled. We stayed together for a long time, we didn't get to know anyone but each other and, sometimes, we even doubted. But when she left… I was torn apart."

Now we will never know why they used to fight, what made them marry so young and so quickly to the point where he implies they didn't even had a wedding ceremony.

Which makes this difficult to understand what compelled both of them to take such actions - maybe they they were just impulsive, but without a reason behind such impulsivity it's hard to tell if it was warrant or not.

But then, the actual panel that made me do this post in the first place eventually comes up in that same conversation with Candy:

"I loved her with all my soul. Before anything else, she was my best friend. But, sorry… I opened up too much…"

And I believe he did, regardless of anything else, because it makes sense for Rayan's character to marry someone for love.

That's the kind of "person" he is, that's why when he falls for Candy, he's ready to assume so many risks and even later talks about leaving his job for her just so they could have a less tense relationship.

This sets up him to be someone that would intensily love another person and do everything for them - they being Chloé or Candy.

I could say this is actually the point of that whole conversation: to show that he isn't someone that takes love lightly or shallowly, which helps us readers to trust his intentions and to believe that, yes, for love he would indeed be honorable, truth and passionate, instead of a player or a man that just wants to have fun with one of his students.

Not mentioning that he presents himself as a tortured soul that lost a wife tragically and never fell in love ever since, but falls in love for you, the reader, because you're special and irreplaceable, is something very flattering and, even, I dare say, romantic.

Meow meow is sad and you're the only one who can fix that for him.

Personally, I don't like how mcl writes grief, I don't think they know how to dose it without losing their hand, so it comes off as shallow for me, but I guess it serves as another thing: Chloe was loved by Rayan, but Candy needs to be special. The player needs to feel special.

Which brings us to this part of the conversation:

"Every women had something of her own. I saw her everywhere. And yet, it's been seven years. Since then, I have been unable to get involved with another woman, in a new relationship. Even in a simple friendship."

"Until… I met you. I don't know… For the first time, I met someone who has none of her. For the first time, I felt entitled not to think about her."

I understand why in an otome game is important to get the romance right and make the player feel compelled to play the character's route, after all, who wouldn't want to feel special, even if it's only on a game - that's why we have so many MCs or main characters in videogames that are heroes, that cares of others or the place they belong to.

However, I will say, maybe they should've worded it differently, maybe it's not so much about feeling entitled to not think about her, but when I realized, I wasn't searching for her traits on you, I wasn't thinking about her anymore, I was ready to move on. But this is just how I would've done it, just so it would come from Rayan the agency of the "healing" - in another words, he had healed himself before he met Candy and falling in love with her was just another evidence of that.

Which brings us back to episode 17 of Love Life, our Honeymoon episode (and pay attention to the parts that I will mark in blue):

"Y'know, I honestly didn't think I would get over losing her. And then after you got in my classroom and into my life. So, yes, I should have a star up there shining for me. Because, with you, I understood the meaning of true love. And it wasn't the same of what I had with Chloé."

"Sometimes, I think, if the story/timeline was another, if I had met you first before I met her... She and I would've been simply friends, without anything else between us. If fate hadn't been so cruel with her, it would've ended like that anyway, actually. I think she would have been happy to see me so happy these days."

"Just like I would have been in seeing her meeting someone else just as important as you're for me. And when I think of her today, is in this way: as a friend that left too soon. And that, of course, I still get a little with my heart tight. She was someone wonderful/beautiful. There's still some of her in me. But, when I met you, I was like a ghost."

Only Rayan to friendzone the dead.

"Thanks to you and our love, she just became a beautiful star, just like my father..."

At first I thought he was saying that he never really loved Chloé and that Candy made him realize that (How? Don't ask me, he doesn't say how), but thinking about this post and re-reading everything made me rethink my first impression of it.

It's not so much that he didn't loved Chloé, but admittedly, and for reasons that Rayan didn't say, he thought love was something else and he thought he loved her because of that notion, and then his notion of love changed because he met Candy and now he thinks that love is truly what he feels for Candy.

I, as someone that played all of his route, can't really say or even figure out how he would've come up with that reasoning.

Was it because for the first time ever, he had put someone else on his top priority, or at least in a more important position than his reputation and career (which he deeply cares for)? But wasn't he a passionate person to begin with? So isn't it natural for him, once he was sure he fell in love for Candy, to put her as his top priority?

Was it Candy presence alone in his life, simply being there, what made him create that notion? How she taught him that?

I don't know, because the way they fell in love was pretty quick and pretty normal I would dare say - normal not in the sense of, he was her teacher, normal in the sense there was nothing remarkable about their dates, the way they sneak around or in their conversations.

I think if he had realize that falling in love with someone new meant that he had "healed" from his past trauma, that he only had feelings for her because he was ready to have feelings for someone again and the sense of normalcy and easiness he felt in being with her was all he ever wanted after going through so much sadness and heartbreak, then, it would make more sense and sound more realistic, maybe?

But again, they wanted to spin that Candy was special, she needed to be the one that changed him, that was like gravity to him and he could not resist the pull of her.

“... It's just that, with you, I never got under the impression of playing any kind of game. Because I had a lot to lose. Before I met you, I had accepted to never love again. I didn’t want to ever risk lose someone ever again... And, above all, you came to enroll in my course. I looked up and knew that my certainties were worthless...” (episode 14 LL)

That's why I talked about his career before.

They set up Rayan to be someone that loves his work, that cares about his reputation and his career, if not, as he only thing he had since he moved away from his family and was living alone.

Risk it all for Candy was to show that he wasn't playing, he wasn't just trying to get a kick out of it.

And knowing how he got after when Marina actually got him fired, how much of a mess it made him, this put things even more in context, it shows that truly, risk it all for her was no joke, even thou, they used to be pretty reckless about it (never gonna forget their first kiss, crazy, both of them).

Which brings me to one of my favorite parts of dialogue in Rayan's route, episode 15 LL, the marriage proposal dialogue:

"It’s funny... for a long time I thought that love was like a burning fire. And I even thought that, in my case, all that was left was ashes of it. Until I met you and I understood that I didn’t know anything. That I have got it wrong in my whole life. With you, I understood that love is like a stream/flow. A wave that breaks again and again without stopping. And that drags everything wherever it goes. You imposed yourself on me like an evidence. In the calm. I knew it right away. But I only understood it this well later on."

Think that love was like a burning fire: it lights up, it shines bright, it consumes itself, then it becomes ashes and there's nothing left of it.

Ouch, Rayan. 😢

Not to mention the destructive nature of fire, but I don't think Rayan or the person who wrote this scene thought it like that necessarily, I think it had more to do with how fragile and how it consume itself, which feels more how like I would expect from how Rayan described his relationship with Chloé before: intense, too quick to think everything through, the fighting, the feeling that it wouldn't last anyway.

Meanwhile Candy is like a strong wave or a strong stream, his love for her dragged everything with it: all his reasoning, his principles and scruples, the risk of losing his reputation, his career, AND breaking again and again, because it didn't matter if he had build any walls to keep her out in the begining, she somehow brought it all down.

Two kinds of love, one feeling less truth and lasting than the other.

While it would've better, in his head, to have remain just a friendship with Chloé, with Candy, there was no way for it to have ended just in friendship, it would always be more.

You can see the contrast between his feelings for Chloé and his feelings for Candy, how it was different and the key word should always be different.

It surprised me to see him talking about their wedding too, Rayan and Chloé married young and in a hurry (we will never know why), meanwhile, Rayan found Candy in a stage of his life when love wasn't even in the table and when it finally came back to the table, Rayan wanted everything, he wanted celebrate it having a proper wedding ceremony and all.

But those are little subtle things that they left out in the air, instead of saying it so clearly like they did so many times before.

Personally, I don't think would've make any sense for Rayan's character to haven't love Chloé, considering they built a life together before he even met Candy, the same way, I don't think we could've ever thought that Rayan loved Chloé more or even the same way he loved Candy.

Cuz, Chloé and Candy not only met him in different moments of his life BUT ALSO, they totally two different women, it would go without saying it.

But I guess, they wanted to make it even more screaming that it was the case, which I can understand why.

I mean, people thought that Rayan had really tried something with Marina, outside of his route: which for those people I always told it would be impossible.

It would go against what they presented to us about him during that first dialogue in episode 8 of UL and it would represent a contradiction in the writing itself. It would bend the rules that they set themselves to follow too grotesquely. Not to mention, MCL never gave other love interests to the Lis that stayed on the side lines.

Unless, of course, they had set things up that we would understand that Marina was such a special existence is moving like Candy - which, okay, I could've accepted it, but they didn't so. That's why I was so sure of it.

Y'know, have to read so much back in his route to make this post made saying goodbye to his route so hurtful but also so fulfilling, I always loved how they wrote him, despite having my criticisms, I am happy that I got to experience Rayan's route from the start to end.

If you haven't played his route like ever, I totally I encourage you to do it now that we got it all. xD

#my candy love #amour sucre #amor doce #corazon de melon #my candy love university life #my candy love love life #mclul #mcl #mclll #Rayan #May #personal #big post #screenshots #screenshot

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aengelren · 4 months

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hi, in the tags of the post about others ignoring eren's depression you said that you feel like in ch 125 he cried out for help a lot--i wonder if you meant a different chapter? 125 is the one with annie's backstory and eren isn't in it.

i'm super curious about this part of aot, to me it seems about equally as likely that someone did try to talk with him, and eren just wasn't honest, and that noone did

talking about this post

hey! you’re right, it’s chapter 123. excuse me for the long reply but here we go

I think Eren’s depression was emphasized in this chapter and how far along the line he was to the point of not being able to enjoy the sights they previously dreamt of

at this point, Eren knew the people he would kill people, innocent people, like he once was. said himself that he’s no be better than Reiner. an absolute hypocrite, which is proven when he saves Ramzi from the bullies, knowing he’d kill him later. he’s a walking contradiction, and hates himself for it. the feeling when you’re doing something wrong, while being aware of your wrongdoings yet you can’t stop, he self destructs and is unable to deal with the guilt that follows

nobody hates Eren more than himself, there’s no reason to love a monster like him, so why does she never leave his side?

he believed he couldn’t be loved, because he doesn’t love himself. The concept of somcone loving him was unfathomable. We see it throughout the series, he's constantly refered to as a monster, hits deep depression in season 3 where he thinks the world would be in a better place if he was dead, felt like a burden because everyone kept blaming the scouts deaths on him. Even in s4 when he's universally referred to as a devil but no longer fights to prove otherwise. so the fact that Mikasa always wants to be close to him isn't something he understands. He needs confirmation, why does she protect him all the time? Is it because she lost her family? Since Eren himself felt undeserving

Eren wasn’t being honest with them, but what depressed person is?

that doesn’t mean anyone else is to blame, Eren is fully responsible for his actions and we don’t know if talking out the mess in his head would help. personally, I don’t think it would. Eren craved an empty world(that’s up for another discussion) but i still feel emphasize with his self hatred, and the fact that he self destructed to the point of (rightfully) losing the life he could’ve lived and even regretting it in his final moments. (i can go into specifics if anyone feels confused)

so, did his friends ignore the visible changes in him after kissing Historias hand? yes. it’s like Hanji said, they were too naive and Eren felt he had to act on his own, (but then again, he chose to start hiding the truth from them even before kissing her hand, in court when he realized Dina was of royal blood.) HOWEVER, i don’t think that’s relevant to the eventual outcome as i believe Eren would do the rumbling regardless, but i do think it made his sendoff a lot more heartbreaking, knowing he spent his last years, trapped in a bundle of past and ‘future’ memories, a load on his shoulders that he never burdened anyone else with and no one bothered to do something about (Mikasa tried) and yes, i am fully aware they all had their own stuff to think about. i’m not trying to blame the rumbling on them

Mikasa reflected on the outcome if she had given him another answer that day, and we saw that they would’ve ran away from it all. in the cabin Eren says he couldn’t bring himself to commit genocide, that’s how we know it’s an impossible future. a desire he has but Eren wasn’t born to live a normal life. “because Eren and death, are inextricably inbound” -lost girls

he’s generally a very tragic character, which makes it hard not to feel for his humanity but there’s no ignoring the destructive part of him. sorry for reeling off but to get back to the point, i think he was very lost and that his friends ignored it until it blew he became someone that couldn’t be saved, but in the end it might’ve not mattered. “you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved”

thanks for reading!

(since i can’t add any more panels i’ll reblog with the ones i want to share)

#asks #i have so much to add to thus but TUMBLR WONT LET ME ADD MORE PANELS #tumblr is such a 4am app for me #excuse the quality of the post i’m in deep slumber gn #analysis #Eren #Aot end #panels

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nofomogirl · 8 months

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Metatron's manipulation step by step

Part 8: The offer (alternative versions)

Part 1 - where I discuss the significance of the coffee.

Part 2 - where I take a look back at season 1

Part 3 - from Metatron's arrival on Earth to sending the Archangels away

Part 4 - inside the bookshop after sending the Archangels away

Part 5 - at the table in the street

Part 6 - Inside the bookshop after the ineffable breakup (mostly)

Part 7 - the very last scenes

The breakdown of Metatron's manipulation I've written so far is based on the assumption that what we see is all that happened. I restrained myself completely from looking for any other reasons for Aziraphale's actions than what we were shown on screen. I hope I managed to prove that those reasons were more than enough.

As a side note/summary, I recommend this post. It covers pretty well how I feel about the ending and various interpretations of the ending.

But of course just because it all makes sense on its own doesn't mean I am 100% convinced there couldn't be anything else. Quite the opposite, I think it's very likely there was. That we haven't seen all the important bits.

So today I want to focus on all the oddities. All the little things that stand out to me as strange writing choices in that final sequence, and in some instances entire season.

The first thing that got me thinking, in that initial frenzy of rewatching bits and pieces right after the original watch, was the shot when Aziraphale walks away from Metatron and goes to the bookshop to talk with Crowley.

I'll just quote my own post from several weeks ago:

The news he got is supposed to be "incredibly good". And sure thing, when he talks to Crowley about the possibility of him being an angel again, he gets very emotional. But before that, does he look to you like someone who believes he has incredibly good news? We know excited and happy Aziraphale. It's really rather impossible to miss it when Aziraphale is excited and happy. You'd notice it even if you were in a different room. Aziraphale who gets up from Metatron's table and crosses the street is most decidedly not an excited and happy Aziraphale. Then he doesn't just blurt his incredibly good news out right on a doorstep, as one might expect. No, he starts babbling, and beating about a bush. It might be interpreted as him simply being overwhelmed. But from what we've seen so far, especially in Season 1, it looks more like anxiety to me.

Something was definitely bothering Aziraphale.

Of course, it's entirely possible he was simply conflicted about leaving Earth.

If Aziraphale had to choose between (A) Crowley becoming an angel and (B) Crowley remaining a demon, he would - obviously, because he did - pick A. (No, we will not dive into all of hispossible reasons now!). If Aziraphale had to choose between (A) staying on Earth and (B) going to Heaven, he would - and again, we know because we saw him face that choice - pick A.

It's possible that this complicated thing that Michael Sheen's face does when Aziraphale crosses the street is simply Aziraphale weighing his options. He knows he can't have AA, so he's trying to quickly decide between AB and BA.

(And of course, In a twist of dramatic irony, he ends up with BB in the end.)

But it's also very likely there was another factor besides angel/demon and Earth/Heaven, another choice to be made.

Technically, it could have been another offer, or it could have been a threat, but I think it's not surprising that the common consensus in the fandom is that IF there was something there, it was a threat. I, personally, cannot think of what offer could there be that wasn't actually a threat phrased differently. That of course doesn't mean that Neil Gaiman couldn't think of one, but for now, let's drop it as a dead end.

The first big question is what exactly might have been threatened.

What immediately comes to mind is Earth but I don't think that's very likely. If that was the case Aziraphale would surely bring it up in his argument with Crowley. Especially since Crowley explicitly talks about Heaven possibly destroying life on Earth. No, I don't think Aziraphale is conscious of any imminent danger to Earth and humanity until the very end when Metatron mentions the Second Coming.

That leaves either Aziraphale or Crowley. I can't think of anything else.

The second question is what could either of them be threatened with.

Theory #1: The Book of Life

It's probably the most popular theory, for the very simple and logical reason that the Book of Life is a danger that was explicitly mentioned this season and seems to be left hanging over our heroes' heads.

I'm not going to go into too many details since I've already written a whole separate post on the Book of Life. I'd also like to recommend another that's in a similar spirit by @the-meta-tron.

The gist of it is that The Book of Life very likely doesn't work the way we were led to believe so far and that it almost certainly cannot be used against demons. But the characters don't necessarily know it.

There's one thing I feel I need to share on the topic - for the life of me, I don't know what to make of the scene where Michael threatens Aziraphale to use the Book. This is Aziraphale's face in the short shot we get of him, and... well.

As far as we are aware, this is the first time Aziraphale has heard about the Book of Life this season. (When Archangels came to investigate the miracle in episode 2, they didn't use the threat on him. Michael only informed Beelzebub, who informed Crowley, who we haven't seen inform Aziraphale and it's probably safe to assume that he didn't.)

What is happening in his head at this moment?

Is it blank because of the shock of having something like this thrown at him? I mean, he's a pro at receiving extremely bad news from Heaven, but they were never about him and so openly hostile. Or are there gears turning at lightspeed behind that painfully neutral expression? Could be either and anything in between.

And then there's Crowley.

He's just... lounging. When Aziraphale is threatened with the thing that made Crowley rush to the bookshop in episode 1 to get himself involved in the whole mess he didn't otherwise care about. In fact, he's just there in the background and barely involved pretty much the entire scene.

At first, I overlooked it because there was so much going on otherwise. Then I dismissed it because okay, Crowley isn't really needed in that scene but it would be jarring for him to leave, so letting him wait for his cue outside of frames is a solution of sorts. But that's not really taking the writing team seriously, is it?

This is a conscious choice and there was a reason behind it.

Just like it's the case for Aziraphale, I find it impossible to tell at this point what is going on there. It's either a pose while in reality, Crowley's on high alert, or perhaps he has his reason to believe that there is no real danger right then.

Enters the theory that Crowley had already figured out something at this point, possibly where the Book of Life is and how to get to it, or perhaps he might have even stolen it already.

It's a theory I'm not particularly married to but I find it interesting and not at all unlikely. It would certainly be an interesting twist for Aziraphale to cave under the threat of the Book of Life, while the Book was no longer in Heaven.

Theory #2: Memory wipe

Another disturbing thing we learned about Heaven this season is that it can play with people's memories.

Of course, even before season 2 was confirmed, memory erasure was part of many popular headcanons. But now we know for sure it's possible and a done thing within the canonic universe. What's more, while we can't be sure of the exact range, we know it can be performed remotely.

Of course, now that the Pandora's box is open, the theories just keep multiplying. After all, the options are pretty much endless. What do Aziraphale and Crowley remember, and what have they been made to forget? Are Aziraphale's memories still edited somehow? Did Muriel use to be someone important? How many angels in Heaven have had their entire identities taken from them? Are there things that no angel was allowed to remember perhaps?

Book of Life remains a mystery to be solved, but I feel it would be hard to just drop it into conversation without being too obvious. I don't think Metatron would put all the effort into his manipulation if, in the end, he was going to just blackmail Aziraphale. Memory wipe would be far easier to use as a threat without breaking the carefully crafted illusion that Metatron is a good guy.

It also would make for an interesting parallel between Aziraphale and Gabriel. Both were terrified of forgetting their loved ones but ran from it in opposite directions - one away from Heaven, the other right into it.

Theory #3: Execution 2.0

Another thing that might make a good threat is some form of repetition of Aziraphale and Crowley's execution in season 1.

It didn't work the first time because they swapped bodies, leading Heaven and Hell to believe they'd somehow become immune to elements that should be their doom. They're kind of left alone by their former sides, but Crowley is not wrong in calling their existence fragile. Beelzebub makes it clear they could go after him any moment. Michael, Uriel, and Saraquel obviously feel that Aziraphale is still obligated to report to them, while at the same time, Shax points out he's an outcast with no protection.

If on top of all that it would somehow get out how they really survived their attempted executions, things could get pretty nasty.

If Metatron somehow hinted, no matter how subtly, that he's aware of what actually happened, that he knows there's no mysterious immunity, but of course secrets of Supreme Archangel would be safe... Well, that surely would be convincing.

And I'm not saying that Crowley's idiotic outburst in front of Gabriel might have been what tipped Metatron off but it definitely could have been.

Theory #4: Unspecified

Let me repeat - if Metatron threatened Aziraphale at all, I don't believe it was open. He put a lot of thought and effort into presenting himself as relatable and trustworthy. Yes, he probably needed an extra incentive for Aziraphale to take his offer but he had to avoid making it look like he himself is a threat.

That's why I think the most likely scenario was that Metatron just hinted at some general danger without being too specific about what it was exactly and let Aziraphale draw his own conclusions.

That brings us to another very big question - was the threat intentional at all? Did Metatron indeed subtly threaten Aziraphale into obedience or did he let something slip accidentally and Aziraphale picked it up?

I've seen quite a few meta suggesting Aziraphale knows exactly what's going on and has some elaborate plan for when he gets to Heaven. Some see Crowley bailing out as an obstacle, and some go as far as to suggest that was also part of the plan.

These theories are super fun to read, make some great points, and even greater fanfic material. But I won't lie, I'm mostly skeptical of them ever being canonized. I just really think it was mostly manipulation and Aziraphale got played.

But that doesn't mean he didn't pick up on anything.

Just like the fact he's simply confused and manipulated in the Final Fifteen doesn't mean he won't make a plan once he's in Heaven and calmed down. I think something already started hatching in the elevator.

Continued and concluded in: Part 9: Metatron's Goal

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #good omens spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #crowley #aziraphale

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ikkleosu · 11 months

Text

What was Daryl doing before he was taken?

Oh look, it feels like 2015 again and I’m combining evidence into one post for a theory. Bring it back for the remix. Okay so let’s go back to the script leak to start this theorising...

So, this tells us many many things about the set up. It tells us that Carol is looking for Daryl, and has thus discovered he is missing. Her finding his bike cannot just be a random “Carol’s out for a walk and finds Daryl’s bike”. It is MOST likely they have an agreed place where they meet or leave stuff for each other. At the end of season 1 filming, there was a location that was made to look American. It appeared to feature a garage and a bathing station.

That seems a reasonable place for Carl and Daryl to meet up - especially the bathing stations SCREAMS Carol. So lets assume that’s what this is. Now, again, having Carol just rock up and Daryl’s not there, or his bike is and he’s not, with no background to it doesn’t really work (but this is TWD so it might happen but... assuming not). They need to establish that they have this meeting place, or exchange post or whatever it is. To do that they can either show Caryl there together in a flashback, or them separately there collecting and leaving letters and goods for one another. Obviously the former is preferable, but whatever. We know Norman filmed at this location in his pre-France clothes, and with his bike:

So at the very least we will see him there and not just proof he’s been there before. And presumably what happens is Carol shows up expecting to find him, and only find his stuff and proof he’s been there. But with this info in mind, let us look at the promo for the season and a theme that is emerging:

On it’s own, Daryl deserving a happy ending, is a bit “so what”. Particularly as it appears he went looking for it someplace not at home, and without the looming presence of Carol, it might be a very sucky thing for us Carylers. BUT it isn’t, and this is where it gets interesting...

I’m sorry, what did you just say??? “He was SO CLOSE to getting what he wanted” BEFORE he was taken. Well that’s interesting.

Obviously when Daryl left, they were very vague about why and what he was looking for. Maybe it was Rick, and maybe he was close to finding Rick - but the “being where he wanted to be”, that doesn’t sound like Rick related. It does - of course - make me think back to Leah (*spit spit*) and “where I belong” . And it must be remembered that Daryl was clear in Find Me he KNEW where he belonged, and it was with his family. So we have a discord here - he knew he belonged with his people but he went out looking for something, and at some point while out looking he gets CLOSE to finding what he wants.

There’s only IMO one way to square that circle, and it comes clear when we go back to the idea of Daryl deserving his “happy ending” and spending the spin-off DESPERATELY trying to get back home. From that we can only assume home is where he wanted to be, getting what he wanted.

Thus, he had changed his mind. He was coming home. He had realised what he wanted was there, and always was. He was going home to CAROL. SHE is what he wanted.

And it is possible that Carol knows that, and THAT is why she is on his tracks so fast. Because maybe at that meeting place I mentioned at the start, Daryl had told her - either in person, or in a letter, that he was coming home and she was what he wanted and where he wanted to be was with her, wherever she was. He just had to go do this thing first.

So, when he didn’t turn up, she knew it wasn’t just that he’d met someone, decided to settle someplace else. She KNEW he was coming home and him NOT meant something bad had gone down, and when she finds his bike - well bad luck anyone who has been involved in Daryl’s absence cos they are about to be dead.

#caryl fanfiction #daryl dixon #what am I going to tag this stuff?#spin off spoiler spec #Raisethedead #pilgrim #I dunno

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wrenreid · 1 year

Text

Off Limits

all chapters in master list

content warning: dead parent talk

Part Fifteen

The events of approximately 7 hours ago play on repeat in my head. I can still taste him, feel the warmth of his soft lips on mine. God it was a great kiss. I felt like I was going to met into his lap and have to stay there forever. Which I would not have minded in the slightest.

I wish I didn’t have to leave, but honestly I’m a little relieved I did. I’m not sure what would’ve happened had I stayed. Would we have done it? Maybe. But then again maybe not. Definitely not. It’s too soon. I’m not that type of person. But then again again he is Spencer, and I think I’d give up my right leg for him if he asked.

Dad, Jack, and I are watching a movie over frozen yogurt right now. But while their eyes are focused on Lilo and Stitch, I am still seeing Spencer’s lips on mine.

Lying to my father about where I went for nearly an hour wasn’t hard, but trying to hide my flushed cheeks and swollen lips was. Luckily, his post-nap drowsiness got in the way of him noticing anything off.

So instead of having to explain my gushing attitude, I got to change the subject to the matter of dinner.

After the movie, Dad helps Jack get ready for bed, and I hang back in the living room and attempt to come up with a reason to text Spencer.

The only reason I can come up with is because I want to, and it seems valid enough.

“Hey”

I text him, no punctuation because a period seems too serious, an explanation mark makes me seem desperate, and everything else wouldn’t make sense. I then text again,

“Are you busy?”

He doesn’t respond, so I take that as a “yes” to my question. A slight frown forms on my lips, but I know I can’t just expect him to answer every time I reach out. He’s a grown man with a life.

I head upstairs to get ready for bed even though I definitely won’t be sleeping for at least another few hours. I turn Friends on in my bedroom and scroll through my phone, silently hoping for a text back.

I don’t get one. Even in the morning when it’s been 12 hours since I sent the message. I debate on asking if he’s alright, but I don’t want to annoy him with my texts.

God, I hate being 21. We’re still like teenagers when it comes to texting, and we’re all terrified of spamming someone and looking desperate.

“I should be back around five,” my father says as he reaches around me to grab his coffee mug off the counter top.

Even though today is just a paper work day, he still makes sure to say “should be” because, of course, there’s still a possibility of a case and him leaving for days again.

“Love you,” I say, my mouth still full of toast.

“Love you too. Aunt Jess should be here to pick Jack up soon,” he tells me, making his way out of the apartment.

My aunt is taking Jack to a birthday party for one of his friends that she often nannied with him. I am personally glad to have the day to myself or to do whatever I want.

“It’s so good to see you, sweetheart,” my aunt says with a smile, pulling me into a hug.

I haven’t seen Jessica since just a few weeks after my mother’s funeral.

“God you look just like your mom right now,” she tells me, her eyes starting to water before she blinks back the tears.

Jack grabs her hand excitedly, eager to go to the party. I’m grateful his eagerness removes me from that interaction.

“Nice to see you, Aunt Jess. Thank you for taking Jack,” I smile softly.

“It’s no problem. I’ll see you soon, sweet girl,” she says and allows my brother to pull her out of the apartment and down the hall.

I can’t be mad at her for mentioning my mom; she is her sister. But I hate that people feel the need to bring up touchy subjects when the emotions could’ve been avoided.

She always says I look like my mom, but I think we just have the same nose. Unfortunately, I am one of the many girls who grew up being an almost carbon copy of her father. Which made me feel extremely awkward because hearing “You look just like your father!” at 15 really shreds a girl’s self esteem.

My mom used to say it didn’t matter who I looked like, but it mattered which traits from each of them I inhabited. I’ve got my father’s stubbornness that’s for sure. I’ve got his determination and hunger for success. I don’t know what I have from my mother. I’ve never been the nurturing, gentle type that she was. Haley Hotchner was the perfect embodiment of grace, a gazelle if you will. And I’m like a bull. Thank you very much, Dad.

I plop down on the couch and kick my slipper-covered feet up on the coffee table. Today is going to be so relaxing without anyone to bug me.

And just as I’m done finishing that thought, my phone chimes with a text from CeCe. She asks for plans because apparently she’s bored out of her mind and her parents are talking to her about settling down and marriage. I tell her she can come over

“Thank you for saving me from that,” she sighs, shutting the door behind her. She crawls onto the couch with me.

I chuckle softly. “No problem.”

“So what’s up? What’s new in the world of Jade?”

“You’re really that bored that you want to hear about what’s been going on with me after almost a week of being home with my little brother?” I laugh softly, shaking my head.

“Yes!” CeCe groans.

“Well,” I say. “Perhaps I had something slightly more interesting than hanging out with a four year old happen.”

CeCe situates herself to where she can rest her chin on her knees. “Spill.”

“I made out with a guy I’m sorta kinda falling for,” I blurt out, twiddling with my hands.

“Oh my god, Jade Hotchner! There is a guy and you haven’t told me?” Cece exclaims, her eyes boring into my soul.

“It’s not a big deal,” I say defensively. “And honestly, it’s a little embarrassing.”

“The guy from your political science class? The kinda ugly one with the glasses and the haircut that makes him a little cuter?”

I roll my eyes. “He was not ugly.”

“A little bit,” she holds her pointer finger and thumb together, almost pinching.

“He was really sweet though, but no,” I chuckle softly, “not him.”

CeCe takes a minute to think, eyeing me. “It’s not Spencer is it?”

I cough, laughing a little. “What?”

“Oh my god, it is. You made out with Dr. Reid?”

“Kind of,” my lips press together in a thin line.

“How does one ‘kind of’ make out with someone?”

“I don’t know.”

“You made out with your dad’s employee,” CeCe laughs, shaking her head. “I’m so proud of you. You’re like a baby slut now.”

“What the fuck is a baby slut?”

“Ya know, like not quite a slut but getting there.”

I let out a chuckle, rolling my eyes. “I’m definitely not getting there.”

My best friend pokes my thigh, teasingly. “I am so proud of you. High school you would be too!”

“Shut up, Ceec,” I blush, shaking my head.

“So what happens now?”

“With me and Spencer? I have no idea. We’ve made out twice, and now I think he’s ignoring me.”

“Hold on,” she holds up a finger. “My mind is blown. Twice?” She pauses dramatically. “Wait why do you think he’s ignoring you?”

“Because my texts have now been left on delivered for 18 hours,” I explain.

CeCe bites her teeth together, tsk-ing at me in thought. “Hey, at least it’s not read.”

“Well, he has read receipts turned off. I did that for him so he could not feel the need to respond to everyone right away.”

“Oh, Jade,” she sighs.

“And thus you see my dilemma.” I gesture my hands outward.

“Mhm, I do,” CeCe nods. “Okay, so are you guys like a thing, just kissing, what?”

“I have no idea,” I groan, slamming my palm on my face.

“These stages are always the worst, but they’re kind of exciting,” she says.

“There’s nothing exciting about this. Spencer… he’s like different than everyone else I’ve had this type of situation with,” I say honestly.

“Because he works for your dad?”

“CeCe, I swear to god…”

“Okay, okay,” she laughs softly, holding her hands of defensively. “How is it different?”

“Because he’s an actually grown up. An actual man,” I tell her. “I’m used to stupid college guys. Even the pre-laws are stupid. And Spencer is… the opposite of those guys. He’s brilliant, kind, and like totally hot, and god, he’s a good kisser.”

Her eyes widen a bit. “Oh girl. You’re falling falling.”

“I mean it’s not that deep,” I say, back-tracking. “We’re friends. We’re whatever we are. And he may be all of those things but he’s also ignoring me, so I don’t know what to do with that.”

“Confront him about it.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” My teeth tug at my bottom lip.

“C’mon, miss lawyer. Just tell him straight up what you’re thinking.”

“And if I don’t know what I’m thinking?”

“Wait until you do.”

I nod, taking in a breath. “Right. Okay.”

“I’m here for you, baby slut.”

My best friend becomes the victim of a punch to the arm.

What am I thinking, what am I thinking? I don’t know. I mean, yeah, I like him, I’m thinking that. But I also know that my dad might kill us both if he found out about anything. And I know Spencer isn’t stupid, he wouldn’t want what I do. And I’m pretty sure I want him.

The sound of a fist hitting my door rings through my apartment three times. I just got home from grocery shopping for the first time in weeks. The refrigerator was severely lacking nutrition, as am I it seems.

I exit the kitchen to answer the door, and the face I’m greeted with is the one I want to see the most and don’t want to see the most at the same time.

Jade.

Before I can get an awkward “hello” out, she says, “You’ve been ignoring me.”

My cheeks flush pink, and I know my face is giving me away. But of course, she had already figured me out anyway. I stand there nervously, my face twitching a little.

“I,” I start, but I don’t know how to finish that sentence. She’s not wrong. I have been ignoring her.

I’m not proud of it, but how do I talk to someone who is the focal point of all my guilt right now? I was in the wrong for last night. What we did was careless and stupid, and I’ve never been careless and stupid. I feel like shit over it.

“Jade,” I say, her name rolling off my lips too easily.

“Spencer,” she says. I shouldn’t have told her to call me Spencer. I like it too much.

This is becoming our routine, huh?

She steps inside my apartment, and I let her. She walks past me and onto my couch. I let her.

“You know what we did is wrong,” I say, joining her on the couch, keeping my distance.

“And yet, we’ve done it twice,” Jade says.

She’s not wrong.

“It doesn’t make it okay. No matter how much you hate it when I say you’re my boss’s daughter, it’s true. And for that, what we did is unethical and careless.”

Jade rolls her eyes. “We kissed, Spencer. It’s not like we fucked.”

Her choice of words cause my eyebrows to raise. I clear my throat. “Well, no.” But I wanted to. I would never admit this out loud, but in that moment… if she wanted to, I would’ve. And that’s a problem. I shouldn’t be flirting with or kissing my boss’s daughter let alone wanting to sleep with her.

She’s off limits.

“Then I don’t see that much of a problem,” Jade says.

“I have a moral code, Jade. And getting involved with you violates it.”

“And what if you move aside that moral code?” She asks. “Then what?”

“What do you…”

“Let’s say my dad isn’t your boss. Then what?”

“Then it wouldn’t be as wrong,” I say carefully.

“You know what I think, Spencer?”

I’m scared to know what she thinks.

“I think fuck this moral shit. I’m a grown ass woman no matter how much you or my dad think otherwise. There’s obviously something here, and you can say we’re just friends all you want, but…”

“We’re not friends,” I cut her off.

“What?”

“We’re not friends,” I say again. “You’re not wrong about that. We can’t be just friends. But it’s not a good idea to be anything else either.”

Jade leans a little closer to me. “Fuck good ideas.”

A small smile creeps onto my face. I can’t help it. “You’re crazy.”

“A little,” she shrugs.

“What am I going to do with you?” I groan, that smile still on my face.

“I really think kissing me again is a start,” Jade grins.

sixteen

tags: @pauline5525mgg @theintimatewriter @lilibet261 @greysviolets @jazzymariexoxoc @one-sweet-gubler @thatsonezesty13 @necromaniackat @awhoreforspencerreid @sebs-oxygen @scarredelirium @bts-sugaplum @awesomeness1679 @preciousbabypeter @yazzyu @cynbx @r3idsp3ncer @1010lizz @tiredbut-here @skulzombiw @lena-1895 @eevee0722 @shakespear-picaso-lovechild @daydreamingqueen1 @regulus-black-223048 @virginmusicloverr36 @jazzerbelle14 @kylakins88 @f-me-reid <3

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aita-blorbos · 2 months

Note

AITA for sacrificing someone to an elder god? [RP character]

This title is… sort of misleading, I realise. I know I’m the asshole. I am not a good person. I would just… like some external input regarding all that has happened.

For clarity’s sake, I will also note that some time ago, I made another post on this forum, asking for your judgement on the morality of my having ran away from home. If you have seen me here before, that is why.

I will not spend much time reestablishing myself. My gender and age are difficult to discuss in the terms you are familiar with, but you may think of me as [30M] for simplicity’s sake.

For quite a large stretch of time, I have been fighting the influence of several entities laying claim upon my psyche. Most notable in this case are two: one which I will call “E”, and one which I will call “A”. For some time, E has been manipulating me, attempting in various ways to control, harm, and kill me. It is only with the assistance of two (former) friends that I have managed to remain largely unharmed.

I will refer to these friends as “R” [≈40M] and “C” [≈20sF]. I have no doubt that they will recognise themselves if they see this post, but I do not wish to reveal their identity to anyone else.

Over time, I managed to establish a life for myself, although the influence of E was still a looming threat. I wish to establish that life was good. Life was wonderful in the most mundane ways. It was fleeting. It was so horribly fleeting.

I’m sorry.

But I digress. I found an arcane text left outside my door one day. If you are familiar with my previous post, you will know I have referred to curiosity as my sharpest weakness, and I am afraid you will not be surprised by the following actions I took.

The book was not written in a script I could understand. I had, at the time, attributed this to its authorship. However, it is now apparent to me that this was A’s work, in an attempt to manipulate me: to lure me to her with something I could not understand.

I spoke to another god [one of the few beings not out for my head, and one whose jurisdiction was meant to contain knowledge and language] about the book, believing they would provide answers. However, they told me the book was truly within the domain of A.

I found a way to contact A, although it was difficult. When she spoke to me, she told me the book held vast power: the power to bring someone back from the dead, and told me she would grant me knowledge of that ensconced within.

The knowledge and power she would grant would, maybe, be enough to help me fight against E, though she refused to directly intervene.

On one condition.

There’s always a catch. Nothing comes for free. Nothing good lasts.

I’m sure, based on the title of this post, you can see where this is going. She asked me to kill a servant of hers: a witch. A girl.

I should stress that I was told the girl would live. That, after her ritualistic death, she would return with greater power. Afterwards, my sole responsibility was to bring her to meet with A.

Nothing else.

I’m sorry. It’s not a justification.

I hunted her down. With the help oEntirely on my own, acting as an independent agent, I came into possession of a substance which would simulate non-existence, blinding, immobilising, and rendering invisible those dosed with it.

I used this substance on her, in an attempt to make it as painless as possible, and to prevent her from seeing my face. To clear my conscience? To make it as quick as possible? I drove my blade into her like a lamb upon the sacrificial altar.

I felt sick. I felt so, so sick.

A familiar pull in my head brought me to where she had re-emerged. I guided her gently to A, where her hands took her into the darkness in-between.

I didn’t know she’d be gone for good. I swear. I swear. I was a fool. I don’t know if it would have changed anything, had I known, but I swear I didn’t know.

I came back.

R knew, of course. C didn’t. She trusted me. She still cared about me. I told her and she still cared. Didn’t mind. Thought I had been misled. I can’t bear to look her in her eyes.

I can’t die now.

If I try, I’ll be brought back in another form: such is the burden of a witch.

I suppose my question isn’t really if I’m in the wrong here. I know I am. I’ve established that well.

I just want to know if I can fix this. I want to know if it’s possible for me to be a good person. I want to know if I can do anything right with my life, or if I should keep hunting for a way to tear this immortality out of my soul and rid the world of me for good.

If any of you- the people I called friends, once- are reading this, I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t mean a thing after what I’ve done, but I am.

I miss you.

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

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ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa · 3 months

Text

Different kind of a killing game

[parts said by others start with their names, also this one is incredibly long and goes into post-game saiou angst]

Hina: Okay so moving from ⁠gore-discussions because this wasn’t exactly gore: Ideas for alternative motives for V3. The one that I’m thinking about very much right now is the idea of a prisoners dilemma type motive The general idea of the prisoners dilemma is: any number of prisoners in a group have an option of giving information to authorities in order to lessen their sentence. If one person gives information, they will be let off with a much shorter sentence, at the consequence of the other prisoners getting a heavier one, but if they all stay quiet, they keep the same regular length sentence. If they all expose each other, they all get the heavier sentence The idea hinges around what humans do in a situation where trust like this is involved. The best outcome for all parties is if everyone stays quiet, but if one person decides to sell them out, they’re at risk of a larger sentence So yeah, that and put it in V3

Oliver: What information would they have that monokuma would want??

Hina: It doesn’t necessarily have to be information It’s mainly the choice of whether to do what the authority figure wants at the cost of selling out the group I’d imagine it like this. Monokuma gives them a period of time to investigate and then tells them theyll be given a vote on who the mastermind is If you correctly vote the mastermind, you get to leave no consequences. If you vote incorrectly, however. The person that you voted for will die and you’re labeled their blackened. If nobody votes, you all get to continue the game without any risks So here’s the dilemma. Even if they all know with 100% certainty who the mastermind is, the mastermind can still vote wrong and kill a person, even if the rest get out And the other option is they have to trust the idea that nobody votes and they all love

Checkers: can they see who votes first?

Hina: No, They don't know who, Unless they're watching each other That's another fun part, Watching their behavior as they vote Cause I'm assuming they're voting at rhe trial podiums So they can all see each other too

[some time was spent talking about which chapter this motive should be introduced in & speculating about what would happen in the suggested scenarios, but that won't be relevant bc of a later decision]

Hina: I just xame to a beautiful discovery This would be the perfect motive for a Mastermind Shuichi AU Like it's right up his alley eith the detective thing

Oliver: IMAGINE IF IT WAS A REPEATING MOTIVE…….. you could actually make a whole death game out of that

Hina: No but did you know that's actually a second part to the prisoners dillema There's a second aspect to the prisoners dillema related to: What would happen the more times the situation was repeated Would they start working together over time realizing it's bad for them Would they use exposing each other as bargaining chips. Like. "If you let me lessen my sentence today I'll let you lessen yours tomorrow"

Oliver: I was thinking if it were a repeating motive, it could practically be the whole gimmick of the killing game. Like imagine two people die from being voted for. One blackened, and one person who gets away scot-free but killed the other person with their vote. The blackened gets caught, because Shuichi, but maybe someone else finds out who the other voter was, and kills them because the other person who died was close to them. Another trial, and then another Prisoner's Dilemma Vote

Hina: You want to know another fun idea If this is a simulation in which Shuichi doesn't care because he knows he's gonna live and is playing observer In a scenario where they've voted out blackened to die They're given the option of thus "If everyone says yes, I'll bring back half the dead participants at random. If any specific people are voted for, they will be brought back and the rest stay dead" So now it's a choice of bringing back the most people, or trying to guarantee that the person you care for most comes vack It's the reverse dilemma And there's probably people you don't want to come back so Do you really want to risk your best friend not coming back, in favor of someone you hate Mastermind can vote someone they don't want back into the ftay Imagine Kokichi gets voted out on pretenses of people suspecting him Nobody wanted to bring him back, so Shuichi used his vote to guarantee he was brought back Now there's dealing with the fact of. Hey, I'm alive again At the cost of someone who goes against mg moral code in every way being the person to do ir

I am imagining them doing the dillema as a bonus after getting the normal trial vote right so right after 4th trial would be good

this also made me think of a killing game on fully different rules, where if they fail to get away as a blackened they're not executed since the only goal is finding the mastermind. they would be doing only the mastermind vote after trials, with the option to skip, but generally, they get two chances to eliminate mastermind per chapter, first by setting up the murder, and then second if the group figured out the murder and get to vote, if somebody gets away with murder, they leave on their own, the group will be allowed to leave if mastermind is eliminated, and that's with keeping in mind that voting for someone means killing them, but they don't have to worry about being executed for getting it wrong, it's just about their morals.

Checkers: what if the mastermind is killed?

the game ends

there should be a hard limit of how many people can be voted out per trial too, so it doesn't end too fast, like "only first three votes will count, so decide quickly" or even less. I think, with the presence of mastermind being known and everyone working against them rules would be way stricter in general, mass murder wasn't allowed to begin with, here it's "you've only got one shot", it only gets reset if everyone still alive has blood on their hands (either by murder or vote) or, my first idea, was it being reset every chapter after vote, aka the killer couldn't vote in the same chapter, but the idea of everybody having blood on their hands come final chapter is spicier,

Checkers: if you vote correctly you leave and if majority votes correctly the mastermind dies?

not in my version, it's enough for one correct vote to kill the mastermind, only the first three who vote register, even if they're all skips, people who voted for someone or killed directly would break a rule and therefore be punished for getting another person killed before it's reset because of a lack of spotless

Checkers: if only the first three register then there might be a lot more panic over voting maybe they rush to vote without thinking as much so. I propose. monokuma changes the voting layout midgame, they were ready to vote and clicked really fast but didn't realize they voted wrong until it was too late

yeah, that panic is what's I was going for, they gotta be locked in and ready to get someone killed the moment voting pulls up Kokichi is a big fan of getting in a "skip" as one of those 3 but not everybody thinks like that the first time, he's just like, "oh, then we can all press skip, nice, easy." and then there's a bang.

they could [reveal who they voted for], but they're not obligated to,

Checkers: I think they would, or others might force them to say it. it prevents a lot of wasted votes/kills

they don't even know if their votes are the ones that registered until the voting is done and acted on, the votes that registered get revealed but without information who put them in, so if somebody voted the same as you just faster you wouldn't know and just think that's probably your vote, some might try to get others to vote the same as them if they're convinced somebody's the mastermind, but if they got other motives for trying to eliminate someone, they'd rather stay quiet,

I think since it's more of a cat & mouse game between mm and others, there would be messages from them included in the rewards they get, one a real hint and one misleading, they just have to decide which is which, those would replace the flashback lights I guess,

mm Shuichi would listen to what others are suggesting to him, making Kaito think that he is relying on him, but actually he's only okay with voting on Kokichi because he's planning to bring him back later, great for the plot, but not mm Shuichi would mostly just skip until he had solid evidence someone is the mastermind

Sini: The thing is, I can see some people not even voting the mastermind here. Like, someone could vote for the killer as revenge or for the safety of the group. Or, someone might vote cause they know they themselves are likely to be voted as the mastermind and they want to take the chance of being the first vote that can take the person who will vote them out as a means of saving their own skin. Like, Himiko could vote Korekiyo off for example. And the last scenario could absolutely fit Kokichi, though the question is, would he actually do that? Given how he is in game, I think he would as it is just one of the sacrifices he'd have to make in order to end the game himself

yes, you get my vision 100% what I meant by "other motives" he could still make Gonta do it, he'd tell him it's to raise their chances, but it'd be actually because he knows he himself would hesitate but also consider: he doesn't make it far enough this time too sus for his own good

Sini: Little guy dies before he can even think to do that or pull it off…

he'd get voted out as soon as the second trial, then mastermind would bring him back after the 4th, the group dynamic would be a lot different, some would probably be more willing to trust him now, knowing he's not the mm, but that too depends on how well he copes with that

somebody voted him out, in fact, most likely multiple people voted for him, and now that he's back… they expect cooperation? he teams up with Shuichi because he's the one that voted him back in, or so he says, can't fully trust that, but hopefully? more than others

I think this one vote would become public because they'd have an argument after seeing Ouma brought back and make each other admit to their votes, there was some suspicion and talking behind backs and asking each other one on one before, but this is the one where it would become a whole ordeal of peer pressure, so the brought back peeps would know who claims them (and why would anyone risk lying about that? they didn't, right? that's the last person who'll want to hurt me, right?)

if saiouma had rights I could say that Shuichi brought him back because he wanted to get to know him better, continued to wonder about the mysterious boy, it would be a second chance for them, but. Mastermind Saihara is the better explanation

I don't know, can they still have something complicated going on post-game if Saihara is the mastermind? What it would take for Kokichi to be conflicted and don't straight up hate him after they leave vr? cause being brought back wouldn't be enough and actually only make the betrayal worse

Sini: I think the only thing that could make Kokichi not fully hate Shuichi is if Shuichi had his personality and memories screwed up Like, he was made to be the mm

I dunno, I don't want it to be that, if he's altered it's a little bit, like, everyone got Enhanced to be Ultimates, but then that means they did sign up, and he volunteered to be the mastermind and he's himself with new cool knowledge and skills, but that's about it. I want Kokichi to be forced to think about his morals, to have to notice good things in Saihara who is the ringleader, made those motives, and unfortunately proven to him that none of them are better than him (remember the counter being reset by the final chapter, that's important, even though that means this one would have more chapters than canon)

he's going to have to think about how Saihara was doing a silly little social experiment knowing it's not real, while the lot of them was killing for real, thinking it'll be permanent, and how Saihara never was the blackened, and kept the game fair with the hints and lead it to the conclusion since his goal never were to keep them trapped in the hell loop, and how he cared & patched him up when he got injured

he wants to believe Saihara was just being manipulative, but it doesn't add up

Sini: I meant more like he was forced to be the mm but I see what you're saying. Maybe Kokichi doesn't hate him as much cause he sees himself to be just as awful as him? Or maybe there are aspects to Shuichi that have him feel bad for him. And yeah! He sees how he was at least fair about everything. But I'm gonna be real, I don't think Kokichi could ever forgive him or even see him in a good light. He might not fully hate him, he could give him some props for certain things, but he is still the one that made everyone do all that horrible shit. Even if it wasn't real, it felt real. It was real to them. It doesn't matter if Shuichi does actually care for him, he still manipulated him and everyone else. He would want to see the good in him, but all the stuff I mentioned could never be enough and what he's done could never just be ignored. Just because Kokichi might see himself in a similar awful light doesn't mean he's going to give Shuichi that much charity. How I see it, it could never work

I love pg Shuichi who's been neglected and clung to the comfort show, so I imagine him going far past interacting enough not to be suspicious, he's thrilled to make friends, loves having a talent and therefore finally being special enough to hold people's attention, have something to connect with them instead of just offputing people with his fannish rambles about executions and from ch5 on to the end he would be the closest to Kokichi, so he would be trying to get that back, he's attached

I am just trying to paint the picture of, memory manipulation is barely still on the table, no flashback lights, no identity changing stuff or big gaps in memory, a lot more defined rules, cards on the table about how things work, the choice being fully theirs: stay or try to leave, I'll even give you a hint. He was mostly an observer in the whole thing

Ves: much harder in on them being his friends than tsumugi is. he's actually MORE like junko in that way, huh

bro's not even giving them motives, he's getting so much blackmail material just from being able to check who voted what and he's not using it, he's just there to hang out with his friends, and maybe study their behaviour under immense stress hahaha

Hina: I like the idea of Mastermind Shuichis game being a character study

Ves: were they friends pregame [my reply] no, he had no friends, this is his idea of an ice-breaker, he's just getting to know them better this is the best way to really get to know who people are at their core, trust him, he learned a lot on the internet

Sini: So they're all the same in that they gave themselves up to DR and while responsible for their own actions, were taken advantage of by Team DR? [my reply] I guess, yeah?

Ves: he made fifteen friendship bracelets in preparation

he thought it's going to be like solving a locked room together, a nice bonding activity, it's basically the same thing if you're as desenitized to death as he was! He was helping through leaving hints! It wouldn't be fun if he made it too easy, but he did a good job adjusting the difficulty level for the group, he's a good game master he gave them a good journey on the way to the victory that was always eventual, he cheered them on

Ves: im gonna cry he's sweet in the worst possible way v3's world rlly fucks up everybody who lives in it huh everyone who 'died' is just backstage with juiceboxes he does not see the problem

Sini: Man, I feel like that would make Kokichi hate him more, if that makes any sense. At least at first, anyway. Cause he's so sad and sweet yet did the most horrible things. He doesn't see anything wrong with what he did.

"I was worried I am going to fumble and get caught early, but I am glad I was able to give everyone a good season despite my anxiousness" gives that small smile

Sini: I feel like when they get mad at him, he cries jwjhhwef He only wanted to have fun : (

Ves: kokichi how could you POSSIBLY be mad at this guy. the murder does not count as a reason

Sini: His heart definitely doesn't hurt when he makes him cry. Definitely not

Ouma lashes out at him (post game, because in game he was in too much shock to bring up personal feelings about how it affects him as an individual, instead of talking about The Whole Thing) and he's like" "but I thought- I thought that we, that you… nevermind" hides the notebook full of ideas for what they might do together now that they're out and runs away, crying

Ves: he deserves it but like that's my son my beloved son who has committed war crimes

He was SO going to ask him out if Kokichi didn't bring him back down to earth

Ves: he's borderline delusional abt all this and when he gets a healthier mindset the self hatred is gonna hit harder than even canon shuuichi

Checkers: he specifically asked the backstage ppl to give Kokichi the nice juicebox brand. That’s rly romantic right

Sini: Knowing this now, I think when Kokichi finally accepts that he made the choice to join danganronpa and that they were all in the worst mindsets when getting into the recent season will he, not forgive Shuichi, but not be so mad at him anymore. He's more angry at DR than anything. He's still uncomfortable around him, his trust issues really keep him still feeling strong about what Shuichi did to him, but he holds no real strong feelings against him. He just feels bad for him

Ves: oh is this official danganronpa? somehow i got the impression that it was a fan project like in a warehouse somewhere

it's official they all audition and get on location, their memory of getting there it's closer to thh, "I came in here, lost consciousness and then suddenly it was Like That" Shuichi didn't do anything illegal, he just hosted a season of a popular tv show and they all got juiceboxes!

Ves: they WANTED to do this fun and normal team building exercise why are they so MAD at him!!! completely unfair i think he'd get really offended if they imply he was like. faking his grief at the deaths. because he DID grieve! his tears were genuine!! just…in a nice, comfortable, cathartic sort of way. he always knew he'd be going home he cried like you cry at a sad tv show the others cried like it was real

Sini: Like that's what really pisses them off. He saw it all as a show when they saw it as reality

the disconnect is more at a level as if they were playing D&D, of course he's invested and he's sad if someone has to leave the game he's going to miss them, but they'll see each other later, it's fine. And, well, he's not happy to see his dear friends fighting or upset, obviously, but those things happen and in the end it'll all be resolved, in the matter of a few weeks at most

Ves: it's just LARPing at the end of the day. them not KNOWING that doesn't count because they asked for it to be that way. he's helping!! he's facilitating what they wanted!! he brought juiceboxes!!!!!!! tsumugi we bonded over being DMs how are you mad at me now

What if. What if they're siblings. What if one of their parents is a Team DR executive/ some higher up. What if they both auditioned for the mastermind. Pitched in their ideas. What if angry pg Tsumugi left a letter for her future self talking about her bitch ass brother stealing her chance to finally get their attention. What if post game Tsumugi lived to see said parent never visit either of them despite working in the same building. What if she saw her old self in Shuichi, nearly mirror like. What if it terrified her

Sini: Not getting the role was the best thing to happen to her…

#danganronpa #ndrv3 #shuichi saihara #kokichi ouma #kokichi oma #saiouma #oumasai #tsumugi shirogane #kaito momota #gonta gokuhara #korekiyo shinguji #himiko yumeno #tenko chabashira #angie yonaga #au #writing inspiration #writing prompt #made by me

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aromanticannibal · 6 months

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Basil is very mentally ill (SPOILERS)

I just came to this realization in the tags of another post but how deeply fucked up mentally must little twelve year old Basil must have been for his first idea to cover up Mari's death to be a suicide.

Mari has a knee injury that stops her from playing softball - so it must be a pretty bad knee injury. And you know what knee injuries do to you? They make you fucking fall. What are the odds of Mari accidentally falling off the stairs and dying from it after tripping because of her injury (and she was probably tired because of her training for the recital on top of that)? Pretty high me thinks. Even without the knee injury, these are some tall stairs man. Maybe I'm just clumsy but I know I'd fall from that.

So what happened is that Basil saw his best friend made his sister fall from the stairs and she died from it. And his first thought was to... Stage it as a suicide. And not any type of suicide, stage it as Mari having hanged herself. @a-rock-nothing-else in who's tags I screamed already pointed out that it's really weird for a twelve year old boy at a time where Internet isn't that easily accessible to know how to tie a noose.

So. Basil is undeniably fucked in the head from a stupidly young age, which makes sense given his parents are canonically "too busy" to take care of him, and he lives with his grandma + he seemingly didn't have any friends before Aubrey befriended him. So the child is probably somewhat depressed in the first place, and may have been suicidal in the past, explaining his knowledge of how to tie a noose (this is from @/a-rock-nothing-else's post).

But on top of that, even when he's seemingly really happy with his friends, his immediate reaction to Mari dying isn't to either freeze up like Sunny or call for help, it's to frame the "murder" and even then, to frame it as a fucked up suicide that's probably hard to put in place (need to know how to make a noose, need to bring the dead weight of a 16 years old girl down the stairs and then up a rope, all that alone because Sunny isn't responsive) instead of a simple "She fell down the stairs!". Even giving most of the truth would probably have been simpler ("Sunny and Mari were arguing and Mari was tired and tripped and fell down the stairs!").

I have a theory/headcanon : Basil probably was traumatized by something in the past (his parents' absence, his lack of friends or potential bullying, even just his depression) and got the good ol' "You're so mature for your age!" symptom. In this state of mind, he felt he had to help Sunny, because Sunny is helpless and doesn't know what to do, and he's his best friend, so Basil has to do something. He's the only one who can do something. (He doesn't think of calling for help.) Then, his first thought is to stage a suicide, perhaps because he's seeing things through his own eyes too much : when you're suicidal, you might view committing suicide as an escape from everything (good) and think that the people around you will forget everything about it in a few days, maybe (very good). Basil doesn't think in terms of "this is going to break everyone's hearts and might traumatize many of my friends" first because when you're twelve you don't think like that, and second because he's seeing himself in Mari supposed suicide.

Of course, he realizes after how terrible of an idea this is, but well. He can't do anything now, and he knows he did something wrong.

I suppose after all this, when the adrenaline went back down, he realizes that Mari didn't kill herself or die out of nowhere, someone pushed her. And when you're a kid you probably struggle to see shades of grey a bit, so he can't possibly believe his best friend is the one who pushed Mari down the stairs and killed her, no - it was something behind him.

Anyway. I'm not blaming Basil for anything, just trying to understand why his brain works so fucking weird and projecting a bit. I also might have missed some canon points but heh. These are just random thoughts, this is the reason why I labeled this as a theory/headcanon.

#tw suicide #tw trauma #omori #omori basil #omori sunny #omori mari #omori meta #omori theory #omori headcanon #omori spoilers

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