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autisticshadowthehedgehog · 1 year

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What was up with Chris Thorndyke, anyway?

I think it’s safe to say that Chris Thorndyke is one of the most hated characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, which is... a bit odd, when you think about it. In a world of Ken Penders’s Daddy Issues Personified and Octopus Who Kills Children For Fun (the latter of which basically being a fandom sexyman), why is a twelve-year-old boy so polarizing?

It would be easy to chalk this up to the bad 4kidz dub, but I don’t quite think that’s it. A lot of the complaints I’ve heard can go to “he got the main character slot in Sonic’s show” or “I just don’t like the human characters,” which are valid, but pale in comparison to basically all I’ve seen being: “He’s just annoying,” “I can’t fucking stand him,” etc. That’s basically all I hear, and when asking why, it usually boils down to two things: 1) his extreme attachment to Sonic and 2) his status as a rich white american only child basically puts any and all of his problems at “first world problems” at best. Those also seem like valid reasons, right?

Thing is, while on the surface it seems like this kid has no issues, as a kid with a, how you say, rough childhood, something stuck with me when I watched the show for the first time. I remember sitting through episode after episode, wondering, When does Chris stop being sympathetic and start being annoying? Since, you know, that’s his reputation.

It didn’t happen.

And it slowly became apparent to me that a lot of the things that made Chris “annoying” and “obsessive”... were just obvious symptoms of a traumatized kid.

Join me for my thesis presentation: Chris’s “annoying” traits are not a writing flaw, but an intentional character flaw brought about by severe neglect, which is resolved through his character arc, and why the fandom reaction to him is so furious.

Note: Throughout this meta, we will only be looking over the Japanese version of Sonic X, as it’s the original script and 4kidz did not translate it accurately. So if you see some lines you don’t remember being said, those are from the English subtitles/direct translation.

Once again, it is possible (also likely, we’ll discuss that a bit) that the kidification and cuts to Sonic X did a number on Chris’s likability, but for most of the meta we’ll be discussing his Japanese characterization with only a few references to cut scenes or lines in the dub.

Part I: First Impressions

On the surface, Chris seems like not just a normal kid, but a very privileged one. He goes to regular school with regular friends, but also goes home to a mansion and millions of dollars. His parents dote on him, his grandfather has fun with him, the two servants treat him like their own kid. He should have no problems, right?

Except, honestly, the issues become apparent in Episode One.

You may be saying here, “What do you mean, episode one? The second episode is when Chris gets all his characterization and exposition.”

Except we get all this visually in the final scene of the episode. (I PROMISE the whole essay won’t be this analytic over small scenes but this is important.)

Before Chris rescues Sonic, kickstarting his part in the plot, we see him hear Sonic fall, peer out the window, and then run out to get him.

Firstly, the shots of his room. His room is huge– and we’ll come back to that detail later, so keep it in mind– but it’s also dark. Which tracks ofc, it’s nighttime and the kid’s asleep, but there’s also a lit desk light, which we see when Chris goes to the window. This together gives the audience the visual impression that Chris is in the dark, with the light only coming when he opens that window and sees Sonic.

Let’s get into the bigness of the house here, as Chris runs out of the room. In every shot we see him running, it’s emphasized how small he is. No, not only how small he is, but how empty the rest of the house is.

First the shot in the hall. There’s minimal lighting from a few wall lamps, the rest of the hallway is incredibly dark. Chris is shorter than the height of the lamps on the wall, his positioning keeps him small in the frame despite him running closer. He’s also centered in the hall, and when you look to the walls you can see several doors, implying several rooms, but only Chris is in the hall.

Then the stairwell– once again incredibly dark, but we see more of the grandiose nature of the house. A painting taller than Chris, a Grandfather Clock maybe twice his height. He also runs down the stairs with the railing up to his shoulder. It’s all finely detailed, which of course reflects the Thorndyke luxury they live in. But it’s still dark, and Chris is still so small.

A shot of him running across the floor. It’s shot from above, and we see that the tiles on the floor are bigger than his whole body. This shot is even darker than the rest, only a few lights reflecting on the ground. The above-shot also shows a ceiling fan in front of us, which makes it look bigger than it is, also dwarfing Chris in the shot.

There’s a shot after that of Chris running to the pool– it is actually near-impossible to see him here, but if you look he runs off the back porch. Once again the world is huge, everything around him is huge, and everything is dark, except the pools. The pools where Sonic is, not that he knows that yet.

The pool still remains brightly lit as Chris dives in and saves Sonic. The first shot we see is him diving in, and then grabbing onto Sonic’s wrist. This is repeated multiple times later in the show as they reach for each other’s hands. It’s not only the first time we see this kid make contact with someone in the show, I��m pretty sure it’s the first time we see Sonic. In the first bit of the episode he’s only hitting robots, in the second bit he’s fleeing from everyone who comes near him. This first contact thus subconsciously establishes itself in the audience’s minds as important for both of them.

We finally see Chris clearly after he pulls Sonic out, where the two of them are lit by the pool’s light. Despite the long shadows coming off of them, they are both fully visible and sitting amongst the lit tiles, meaning Chris is now in the light.

This opening scene also establishes something important about Chris as well, and that’s that he’s... not a rich asshole. This kid woke up in the middle of the night, and for all intents and purposes saw nothing in the pool– he saw the ripples stilling, but that could’ve been anything. Could’ve been a frog. Could’ve been a bird taking off into the air. Could’ve been a bird shitting. But Chris still investigates anyway and immediately dives in, presumably once he sees something still in there. As he dives in, he also reaches for Sonic instantly, meaning it wasn’t just pure curiosity that drove him forward, but a deep desire to help whatever was in there. Likely he saw it moving and leapt in to save it without a second thought.

It’s established in the next episode that Chris knew full well he was not allowed to do this and it probably wouldn’t be safe; he’s not allowed to go outside at night or swim in the adult pool. Not to mention he’s also probably still half-asleep and wearing pajamas. Without hesitation he jumps in anyway because there’s something that needs his help. When he pulls Sonic out, he can clearly see this is a weird fucked-up thing he doesn’t recognize, but without even reacting to that fact he just asks if he’s okay. He only starts showing his surprise when Sonic begins talking. Even then there’s no screaming, he just introduces himself politely and then. Takes Sonic inside.

The next episode opens already in the next morning, and with Sonic still there we can assume Chris just hid him for the rest of the night without telling the other adults in the house. After Sonic mentioned people chasing him, Chris probably figured it wasn’t safe to tell anyone and took it upon his 12yo self to make sure this little guy didn’t get spotted.

Which, if it weren’t for Sonic’s impulsiveness, would’ve been incredibly easy.

The second episode opens with another panning shot of the huge mansion, with a voice overlay from Lindsey. The first thing we hear from Chris’s mother is that she’s sorry, but she won’t come home til “next week.” But she’ll send him a ton of gifts, so it’s okay!

Our next interesting shot is as she continues talking, and we see a ton of family photos tacked onto the wall. This immediately gives the impression of, of course, a family that really loves each other. It then immediately pans to Chris, alone on the balcony, talking minimally into a phone.

Chris then has another character beat of apologizing for diving in the pool. It seems like if he hadn’t mentioned it, nobody would’ve known, but he does anyway because he’s just like. A good little kid. Either that or it’s anything to keep his mom on the line longer.

Another thing to note is that Tanaka briefly enters during this scene, but doesn’t even look at Chris as he drops his food off and leaves.

When she hangs up, we hear a little kissing noise, and then Chris kisses the phone receiver and rubs the back of his head. His expression doesn’t seem embarrassed, though, especially as he didn’t notice Sonic staring at him until the next shot. He looks perhaps relieved, a soft kind of happy, perhaps at the compliment she gave him immediately before her abrupt goodbye.

Sonic then asks why Chris referred to him as a cat; he doesn’t seem upset, just a little curious. Chris’s reaction is interesting here– the first thing he does is ask if Sonic is mad at him, and then immediately launch into an explanation.

After Sonic seems calm, Chris then curiously asks Sonic where he learned to talk. They’re interrupted by the phone ringing, and Chris seems incredibly confused that it rung. He answers almost robotically, and immediately grows excited upon hearing it’s his dad, though his voice still indicates surprise. You can really hear it in the line delivery of his og actress, Sanae Kobayashi.

Chris continues smiling blankly as his Dad talks about how his mom told him that a cat got into the estate and maybe he should update security. Chris swiftly assures him that it’s okay, and then says, “But more importantly, you’re very busy, aren’t you?”

Basically he already knows that this conversation will be less than a minute long, but he’s still smiling until his dad’s already hung up.

The rest of the scene plays out as Chris googles what hedgehogs eat, tries to feed Sonic cat food, and then rightfully freaks out when Sonic leaves to get a chili dog, considering he’s a fugitive. And while his face and mannerisms at the end of the scene does effectively display this worry, they really do hold on that shot for a while as he fades back into a sadder expression.

These scenes both serve as introductory scenes to Chris, and both visually and through dialogue, we have established:

Chris is constantly alone.

His world is dark until he finds Sonic.

He has a kind personality and doesn’t seem to be at all jaded or spoiled by his privileged upbringing.

His parents love him but are so absent that he doesn’t even bat an eye at the fact he won’t see his mom for a week. He is surprised when his Dad calls but immediately puts his work before his own well being.

He’s relatively calm, but only freaks out when he thinks Sonic might be mad at him, and when Sonic leaves.

I’d love to do a fucking scene-for-scene analysis of the entire show, but we’d be here for like twenty years so instead let’s uh. jump ahead a bit.

We slowly unravel Chris’s backstory and mental state throughout the first two seasons, in a slow way that I think is very effective and won’t be effective enough through this essay, but I’m gonna try my best.

Anyway, let’s jump ahead and cover his whole... thing.

Part II: The Backstory Scene that 4kidz Cut

The youngest we ever see Chris is in the season two penultimate episode. There’s a flashback to him as what seems to be a toddler, or just out of toddlerhood. This scene, right here, was cut in the English dub for... no real reason I can think of. In fact, it just makes Chris look less sympathetic.

The first shot we get is of Chris and his parents. Much like the Chris’s first scene, he is tiny, even tinier. But unlike that scene, everything is bright. It’s blinding, actually, as the doors are open and Chris’s parents stand in front of it. This is obviously from baby Chris’s perspective, representing his emotional state. With those doors open and his parents in front of him, he is covered in light. Covered.

His parents are quite formal in their parting words. “We’re leaving now,” his dad says. His mom then says, “I’m sorry, Chris. Make sure you behave until we return.”

Once again, I mentioned that this scene is from baby Chris’s perspective, so maybe they weren’t as formal when this actually happened. But that’s how it came across to Chris.

Sidenote, but honestly? Considering his age, this could very well be one of his earliest memories.

Little Chris says, “If I behave, will you come home right away?” While of course operating on little kid logic, this also reflects on how much he loves his family again, as all he wants is for his parents to be home with him.

His parents look at each other, confused on how to answer. They then give the worst answer– “Of course.” We see how happy this makes him, but it’s only a temporary happiness. They’ve just made a promise they cannot keep and they know it, and at baby Chris’s age, he will NOT understand that.

When they turn to leave, Chris’s face falls. They once again have a formal goodbye, and as they leave, the doors shut, and the light is gone, and he stands there for again a long time. I don’t think I need to explain what this symbolizes.

The next shot, we see Chris is reading a picture book by himself on the couch. Once again a small little guy in a big world; the book also seems to be The Little Matchgirl, which... oof. The story is about how a lonely orphan dreams about having a family as she slowly freezes to death, in case you weren’t aware. The two shots we see from the book are first of her freezing, and then of her looking in a window and imagining a family. As Chris reads this, he repeats that if he behaves, his parents will come home.

He then hears the door about to open and immediately leaps up and smiles widely.

It’s not his parents, it’s Ella, but she has presents from his parents!

Despite being a little kid who would normally be ecstatic at the prospect of new toys, Chris just looks numb as she speaks.

He takes no joy in the toy either, because his parents aren’t there with it.

So. I have worked at a daycare and as a babysitter for about... seven years now. Kids? They have separation anxiety. They will sob and scream and shout and kick and run if their mom is out of their sight. I recently babysat a kid who learned how to unlock the door so he could try and run after his parents which was terrifying for me tbh.

Chris’s reaction of just immediately falling into a numb depression isn’t something I saw in the kids I watched. At this age, they cry at the very least. Chris doesn’t even do that, he’s just staring. We get one voiceover at the end of this scene, as Chris just says, “It never came true.” Obviously referring to the promise– he behaved, and his parents still stayed away.

What impression does this give a kid that age? One of two things, if not both at once:

I am not behaving enough and I need to behave perfectly.

Mom and Dad don’t care enough to come home.

From knowing Lindsey and Nelson, we know this is not true. They’re busy, and they hope to show their love through gifts. But Chris’s love language is very much not gifts, it’s quality time. And he doesn’t. Get that.

From anyone.

Part III: Chris’s Abandonment Issues

As I’ve made it clear, Chris’s parents are never around. He doesn’t bat an eye at his mother saying she’ll be gone another week, and is surprised that his Dad even bothered to call. We saw all those family photos, but looking at them again, how many of them were taken at the same time, one of the few times his parents were home? How many is Chris standing stiffly, properly, instead of relaxing like a kid?

Another line from episode six really drives his home, one I think a lot of people miss.

Upon being told his parents are coming home, Chris remarks that it has been months since he’s seen them. Months.

Later in the episode, Chuck remarks on how it’s a miracle to see them both at the house at the same time. They laugh this off, and spend the rest of the episode anxiously waiting for Chris to get home because, yeah, they do care. When Chris gets home he immediately calls for them and gets tackle-hugged. As they do, he stiffens upon the physical contact, and looks awkward the whole time, like he’s not used to physical affection.

He’s then later surprised to hear his parents were worried he was late.

The next episode, Chris’s dad has already left by the next morning. When he hears his mom has unexpectedly left, he is upset, but not surprised; he immediately resigns himself to this and sighs before leaning back on the couch.

When he brings this up to his uncle, Sam immediately remarks that his sister is never home.

This is where Cream breaks, because she has seen Lindsey herself break down over not being there for Chris. Chris has not seen that. All he knows is that his mother was there and then was gone, despite their elaborate dinner plan, despite knowing he was bringing a guest to meet her.

Once again, he’s not surprised. Neither is Sam.

Similar with his Dad; in the previous episode, when they were worried, Nelson implies that he has a guard service making sure Chris doesn’t get abducted. They’re two seconds away from calling the US Military to find him. But they stop short of going after him, because they don’t want him to think they’re being overbearing.

We’ve firmly established this by now, okay? His parents are never home and haven’t been since he was, what? Three? Four, tops.

Nobody else was really there, either.

Ella and Tanaka seem to have done most of Chris’s raising. And while Ella and Tanaka are amazing, and definitely care a lot about Chris, it doesn’t change the fact that they are paid employees and Chris knows this. They’re paid to hang out with him. If they weren’t getting paid, Chris has no idea if they would even give a shit about him. Even with that, there’s not a ton of evidence they like. hung out with him outside of making sure he was alright. As mentioned, in the second episode Tanaka doesn’t even look at him as he delivers food. Not for lack of care, but probably because they’re busy as only two servants in a huge estate. This isn’t their kid, too, they’re under no obligation to raise him. Ella is the cook and Tanaka is the butler-bodyguard, they’re not childcare experts.

What about his grandpa? Sorry to break this to you but Chuck wasn’t around, either.

In episode 51, which we’re gonna keep coming back to as it’s the culmination of Chris’s arc, Chuck says this while reprimanding Nelson and Lindsey. He says, “I never blamed you for neglecting your household because you were too busy with work. That’s because I also did whatever I wanted and continued my research.”

Back to the second episode, when we first see Chuck, you notice on the second watch that Chris 1) doesn’t trust his grandpa enough to tell him that he’s hiding a fugitive in their house, 2) didn’t seem to expect him (or ANYONE) to walk in on them in the LIVING ROOM, 3) seems to not know a ton about his personality. He’s surprised when his grandpa closes the door on Sonic, and surprised that he’s a bit of an adrenaline junkie. It seems that instead of spending time with his grandson, Chuck spent most of his time in his shed tinkering with machines.

His uncle? Seems to visit on occasion, but has a government job. You know he’s never around, either.

So Chris is growing up in a huge house, which is serving to give him a constant reminder that nobody’s home. There are two servants going around working and sometimes saying hi to him, there’s a grandpa in the shed somewhere who might come in once or twice to watch TV, and there’s photos on the wall of parents who aren’t home. He’s like that for at least eight years.

OH, and let’s talk about the friends argument which I’ve confusingly seen. He’s got two friends at school. His parents seem to recognize Danny’s name, so Danny might have been a longtime friend, or at least friend he talked about before. But Danny and Frances, being barely in any episodes, we can assume they also have their own lives and things going on and thus don’t, like, hang out with Chris after school a lot. He uses Danny as an excuse for being late in ep6, but the fact that nobody seemed to expect him to be late implies this is not a usual thing. And of course it is ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY not on the shoulders of these other 12yos to emotionally support another kid, but it’s not like they’re immediately moving into his house and giving him attention 24/7. They’re friends. Which is all they need to be. But for a neglected child like Chris, they’re just another part of his life that comes and goes. Him having two buddies at school that he shares a table with (thus probably just. friends by proximity) doesn’t negate the neglect.

Looking at the photos on the wall again, there’s one photo of Chris with some kind of sports team, probably baseball. Considering how bad Chris played in the baseball episode, he probably didn’t stay there long, and considering we never see anyone even resembling the kids in that pic, we can assume they didn’t stay long-lasting friends. The other photos, they’re dressed in suits, like they’re taking professional photos. Once again stilted, stiff.

But I hear y’all on twitter now. “Oh, boo-hoo, his parents weren’t around. He was still living fancy, it’s fine.”

So let’s talk about the effects of emotional neglect on the childhood psyche.

Part IV: Connie Read Actual Research Papers and Scholarly Articles For This Instead of Doing Actual Work

So, here’s something that’s been seen recurrently in neglected children: kids are psychologically dependent on parents or caregivers throughout their whole childhood and adolescence.

From New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research by the Committee on Child Maltreatment Research, “Children who have experienced abuse and neglect are therefor at increased risk for a number of problematic developmental, health, and mental health outcomes, including learning problems, problems relating to peers, externalizing symptoms [aggression or conduct disorder], and posttraumatic stress disorder. As adults, these children continue to show increased risk for psychiatric disorders, substance use, serious medical illnesses, and lower economic productivity.”

Let’s talk mainly about the mental health outcomes. Without a present caregiver, neglected children often fall behind on the abilities to regulate behavior or emotions. Several parts of the brain will end up altered due to early childhood neglect, including the stress response system, the emotion processing and regulation system, the learning and memory system, etc.

The stress response system is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortial axis, aka the HPA. The HPA is incredibly sensitive to early childhood experiences and an uncertain childhood can effect a lot of things, such as sleep patterns and hyperactivity. Abused children will often have higher spikes of cortisol, a high enough number of which can cause damage to the brain and premature aging.

The behavioral regulation is also most commonly affected in these victims; neglected children will often show “behavioral and emotional difficulties that are consistent with effects on the amygdala, such as internalizing problems, heightened anxiety, and emotional reactivity, and deficits in emotional processing.”

Other mental health issues are also seen; children with trauma experiences will show similar mental patterns as those with ADHD, and can have serious issues with inhibitory control– aka, controlling your impulses.

Then there’s the corpus callosum. (Insert SnapCube dub joke here.) The corpus callosum manages communication between the two hemispheres of the brain. Several studies have found that abused children have a much smaller corpus callosum than non-abused children, even those who are mentally ill; these effects are also more pronounced in boys than girls, which is relevant to our analysis of a 12yo anime boy from 2003. This means that their brain development will often be behind that of their peers, and it could take a while for them to mature.

That was long and boring Connie. Give us the tldr.

Okay don’t worry, the article got to that right about now. Children dealing with neglect will show several issues related to the interrupted development of these parts of their brain, including:

Extreme Deficits in Executive Functioning

Difficulty in regulating attention: As a note on this, 18.6% of abused and neglected teens are diagnosed with ADHD. Compared to 5% of other children. That’s like three times the amount!

And, most interestingly, the behavioral outcomes:

Difficulty forming trusting attachments to caregivers

Both Disorganized and Insecure Attachment Issues, usually getting severe Attachment Disorders

Reactive Attachment Disorder: Inhibited or emotionally withdrawn behavior, rarely seeking or responding to comfort

Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder: Basically the opposite; it’s marked by a pattern of overly familiar behavior with strangers.

Emotion Regulation: infants learn how to deal with distress via their parents– how their caregivers handle stress, how they take care of problems and slowly introduce the ability to deal with them. Without that, abused and neglected children will often fail to develop effective strategies for regulating emotions. This will probably cause a lot of the following.

This also includes recognizing emotions in others. While abused children will identify anger quickly, neglected children tend to be worse than non-neglected children at identifying any facial expressions.

Their emotional issues can also cause them to feel isolated from their peers, as their peers do not understand them and do not act like them.

Anxiety

Depression– nearly a 3x chance compared to non-neglected kids

Dissociation

Conduct Disorder

PTSD

Physical issues include stunted growth and motor development, and lower health.

Note that these do not appear in all victims of neglect, these are just common symptoms.

Part V: Every “Annoying” Thing Chris Does is a Fucking Symptom

Difficulty forming attachments to Caregivers

In episode 43, Chris deals with a situation that’s obviously alien to him: his parents coming home to care about him.

His parents hear that he’s sick and drop everything to come home. This is clearly something that’s unusual, judging from both Chris’s and his grandpa’s reactions to it. Chris is confused and embarrassed, kinda numb and still, until his grandfather and father start arguing. Even then, he only reacts when they bring up Sonic.

He then yells that he hates his family and orders them to leave him alone. This doesn’t last long as they’re immediately attacked by more badniks, but it’s a beat they definitely put in there intentionally.

Also, he doesn’t seem to trust Chuck as an authority either. He really just sees him as an impulsive adrenaline junkie at best; in the cruise ship episode, Chuck is drunk the whole time and Chris doesn’t seem to care. It also says something that while Ella and Tanaka are present, he doesn’t trust them to tell them they might be finding an alien in the attic until they find out for themselves.

Difficulty Understanding Others’ Emotions

This one’s gonna be easy, as I talked about it earlier in the essay. When Sonic asks, “Was the cat supposed to be me?” Chris immediately assumes he’s upset and tries to placate him with an explanation. This happens throughout the show as well; let’s take Mr. Stewart for example, that man is obviously spying on him and inserting himself into his life and Chris thinks it’s maybe a little weird, not that much though. He also spends most of his time hanging out with Shadow standing there in complete obliviousness as to what Shadow is thinking or feeling. He doesn’t even seem to really register Shadow as a threat, instead throwing himself at him in hopes that he can convince him to help Sonic. In doing so, he also doesn’t think that Tanaka would at all be worried about him, and is surprised at their reunion that Tanaka was upset.

Aggression / Delinquincy

This was very underplayed, but in the Sonic Battle arc, we literally see him start to rebel. He tells Sonic that he’s sick of being the perfect rich kid, that he wants to be a problem on purpose sometimes. Sonic seems to completely understand that, as that’s a point Chris needs to reach. He has to realize he cannot be perfect and that’s okay.

[except that dialogue was all cut in the 4kidz version no im not bitter]

Only Chris explores his imperfection in a really bad way.

And now. Let’s get into the attachment.

And to do that, we need to get into...

Part VI: What Sonic Represents

This is a fascinating part of Chris’s psyche since I think it occurs both subconsciously and consciously, but when I drew attention to Sonic bringing the light back into Chris’s life? Yeah, that’s cause he did.

Everything changed only after Sonic arrived. Suddenly Chris’s parents are... visiting??? For once??? TOGETHER??? His grandfather wants to spend time with him! His friends at school are hanging out with him more and he’s even made new friends! And most importantly, he has the mobians around him constantly. He’s got constant attention from all of them, and while he quickly takes on the figure of the Responsible One, he’s still WITH PEOPLE. He’s gone from being alone all the time to surrounded by a rowdy-ass found family.

Most of all is Sonic. Chris seems to have attached himself mainly to Sonic, likely because in his mind Sonic represents the moment when everything changed. Of course, Sonic would probably have been the worst of the gang to get attached to, seeing as he runs off all the time. The first several episodes, even after they stop hiding from the public, Chris is noticeably upset whenever Sonic leaves. He only calms down after several, several episodes, after assurances from every character that this is just a thing Sonic does, he never sticks around anyway, don’t worry about it.

But still, he definitely attaches himself to this hedgehog for better or for worse.

And it gets worse.

Part VII: Even More Trauma

First we gotta talk about the end of Season One.

At the beginning of the arc, Chris is noticeably... incredibly depressed. He’s also disassociating hardcore. He’s constantly staring into nothing, his face upset, but as soon as someone snaps him back to reality, he forces a smile on his face, acting happy despite going through a ton of negative emotions at once. Almost like he’s trying to behave perfectly.

Chris realizes throughout the episode the attachment he’s gotten to the mobians, and especially Sonic, but even then he still does his best to help them. He steals a chaos emerald and runs off to Eggman in order to get them home, because it will make them happy! Nevermind if it doesn’t make Chris happy. He’s never worried about that anyway.

Of course this backfires and Eggman kidnaps him, and then Chris has to go through the serious trauma of. Well. Being strapped to a wall, forced to watch helplessly as Sonic fucking dies.

And he’s blaming himself for it too.

MAJOR shoutout to Kobayashi’s acting in this scene, holy crap. But he just screams, and then... BREAKS THROUGH METAL?? And GRABS the Chaos Emeralds despite them ELECTRIC SHOCKING HIM???

And then of course we get this incredibly subtle dialogue.

"I will not let you have it. I will not let anyone have it. They’re only mine. Only me. Sonic... Sonic, you’re staying with me forever.”

Immediately after this, Chris almost fucking dies, and is only saved by Super Sonic. When he sees Super Sonic, he reacts by... begging. He drops down, clinging to Sonic and screaming and crying that he is nothing without Sonic.

Chris literally yells that he can’t do anything without Sonic, because that’s how he felt before Sonic. He could not do anything to get anyone to care about him, it only happened when Sonic arrived. So that’s how he sees himself: useless, worthless.

Sonic of course stays, but then dips for six months. When he gets back, a fucking god attacks Chris’s neighborhood, destroying his city. He gets sent away for a month, but that’s interrupted by Sonic being declared a fugitive from the government. Then Chris ends up with Shadow. He gets kidnapped by the goth clone of his emotional support hedgehog. He bonds with the goth clone. He gets the shit beaten out of him begging the goth clone to help save the world. It works, and Shadow runs off to save the planet. And then DIES.

You can tell how traumatized Chris is by this in the next episode. He’s disassociating again, staring at nothing, and eventually asks his uncle if he thinks they can actually live in the same world.

Which is followed by...

Part VIII: The Season Two Finale

We get the rather worrying scene of Chris having to write an essay for his school about his ideal future. Literally all he can think of is that he wants to stay with Sonic forever. He has no other ideals for the future. Just being attached to Sonic.

Only to go downstairs and find out that Sonic HAS to leave. They ALL have to leave. Their dimensions are caving in on themselves and they need to separate.

So he enters the Denial stage of grief.

He seems... dazed. Like he’s in a trance, as he argues that Sonic can’t leave, that all he wants to do is be with Sonic, that he can’t be apart from Sonic because he’s only been able to do things since Sonic got here. This was the first time he’s had agency in his life and he places it all on Sonic.

He decides that it must be Eggman’s fault and literally tracks him down. When he finds out that it’s not Eggman’s fault, he is distraught, and what’s interesting to me is that Eggman seems to get it. He just tells his robots to let him go. Let him be alone. Let him accept it.

Chris then falls back into the depression/disassociation during the entire farewell. He doesn’t emote, he just stares ahead. Something they cut in the English version is that while Chris is politely saying goodbye, throughout the whole scene you can hear his inner monologue screaming. Crying not to let them leave.

So he doesn’t.

The penultimate episode of Season Two is the culmination of Chris’s arc and they do it so beautifully.

Sonic knows Chris is going through a breakdown, and he lets him figure it out for himself. He lets him run off with him, he lets him make the decisions about where they go. Chris starts to realize this but says nothing. They see his tearful parents on TV begging him to come home and he... groans and leaves.

The episode also subtley shows Chris doing things himself. Climbing up the mountain, picking their roads. Sonic is slowly trying to let Chris know he has his own agency. That he is his own person.

They get to the campsite that meant a lot to Chris in his childhood, one of the only times that his parents hung out with him, and he breaks. Asks Sonic why he doesn’t hate him. Why he hangs out with him. If he only hangs out with him out of obligation.

And he comes to the conclusion himself that no, he can’t keep Sonic here. He can’t keep Sonic away from his world just because he has attachment issues. It was what he knew was right in Season One but couldn’t get himself to understand no matter how hard he tried. But now he gets it. And now he can let Sonic go.

The episode is soooo good, sooo fucking good. And then in the season finale, when we see the aftermath of that, when Sonic takes him on one last run and... he sees Sonic crying? Realizes that Sonic does love him and still lets him go? It’s impactful. It’s emotional.

Then when his parents come get him and he just smiles? Because he realizes they did come for him? That if Sonic can love him without obligation, maybe other people do too?

Chris’s severe attachment issues and trauma from being neglected culminated in this episode, and he made a bad choice. And then he made the right one. And that’s so good.

Part IX: Some Season Three Notes

Chris’s inclusion in the third season was... weird. It felt like they didn’t want to animate his adult model so they shoved him into a child body and made an excuse for it. But honestly, after traveling there, you can kinda... tell how much Chris has grown.

He was trying to get back to Sonic, but not because he needed him, but because they were friends. He and his friends wanted to see their friends again. He only went alone because he had a sense Sonic was in danger. And even in the twelve-year-old body, he’s an adult now and he acts like it. His only real emotional issue is that he is upset he can’t fight as well in his kid body, but then he figures out he can be useful with his inventions and finds a place with Tails. He’s basically parenting the rest of them for the rest of the season, telling Cosmo that her impulsiveness reminds him of his younger self. He offers to give up a way to return home because he knows the Metarex problem is bigger than himself.

At the end, when Eggman offers him a way home, you can tell they expected him to freak out about it. They’re shocked when he just says thank you, cries, and leaves immediately. They clearly not only will miss him, but they expected him to freak out like he did at the age of twelve. But he’s not twelve anymore. He’s spent the last six years surrounded by people who love him, healing from his trauma, and becoming his own person. So now he isn’t unhealthily attached to Sonic, and he can say goodbye if he has to. That growth, so subtly in the background of the season, really impressed me.

Part X: Fandom Reaction

On June 24 2022, I posted this meme to both twitter and tumblr.

On tumblr I got no pushback and a few agreements. On twitter I got a tidal wave of discourse, which tells you a lot about the two sites but regardless, this is the first time I get to ratio my commenters cause as of today, it has 23.4k likes and only 161 replies and 156 quote tweets. So that’s barely over 300 people (TOPS, considering several replies were positive) arguing against 23,400. So I may not be the only one thinking this!

But even still, with this being my most viral post atm, I got so many people bitching about Chris still. Even after all these years, he’s despised for being so annoying. And what is it? Is it really the fact that he got main charactered over Sonic? Really, I thought that was a plus of the show, that Sonic was a static figure that influenced what was around him. It doesn’t work for every Sonic property, but it did for this one. Was it just a hatred for humans in the franchise? Probably not, everyone loved Helen and the recent movies.

I really do think a vast majority of it is his realistic reaction to the trauma of neglect. “Ugly” trauma symptoms, like attachment issues, impulsive destructive behavior, aggressiveness, and selfishness, they are not looked upon kindly. Just look at how TikTok picks and chooses cute parts of mental illnesses and calls the rest “toxic.” And yes, sometimes mental illness can cause you to be toxic! And sometimes you’re just mentally ill! Sometimes you just have bad days and bad decisions and horrible mental states, and sometimes, life gets better. Sometimes life gets better and you begin to heal, and that’s what Chris’s arc was about, about him slowly gaining his own agency and starting to heal from his abandonment trauma. And he does this through the help of others. But with him having several moments where he reverts, several moments where his healing is non-linear, viewers see it as an annoying personality trait, not a trauma symptom he is trying to overcome. And one that he does. I cannot emphasize enough that he does overcome this and that the narrative specifically focuses on it. I’ve seen so many people say it was a writing flaw, that they never criticized Chris for his attachment to Sonic... it’s the focus of two season finales, what are you talking about? I think at that point, it’s just you.

Just think about why you find him annoying. You do not have to like Chris as a character but please recognize that his arc is a realistic portrayal of a neglected child and that’s why he is the way he is.

Part XI: Conclusion

I was gonna write a full-ass conclusion here but tumblr’s already trying to kill me over wordcount so uh. tl;dr Chris isn’t annoying he’s a traumatized child and this is something the narrative notices, examines, and resolves. What this means is that it’s not a writing problem, it’s a character flaw brought on by trauma that his character arc makes him heal from.

Leave him alone.

#chris thorndyke #sonic x #sonic meta #chris thorndyke meta #sth #mine #connie writes #connie goes ape

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giorno-plays-piano · 8 months

Text

The Lovers That Went Wrong

Pairing: psycho!Aemond Targaryen x reader

Warnings: soft!yandere, kidnapping, threats, non-consensual confinement, manipulation, allusion to noncon, hurt/comfort.

Words: 2.4k

Summary: You flinch involuntarily as you watch him open the door to your room and take a cautious step inside as if he's keeping a dangerous animal as a pet, not a whole other human being. His eyes light up at the sight of you immediately when he sees you at the very same spot where he left you in the morning, still chained, no signs of misbehaving like throwing things around and destroying the furniture. You're not the type.

P.S. Our reader is safe and sound, no physical harm whatsoever.

P.P.S. It's not me, it's those yandere ASMRs on Youtube!

_________

He's here.

You've heard the key turning in the lock. Then, one more key in one more lock. Finally, the third lock has been opened, and then he goes to unlatch the second door before you hear him step inside, carrying something.

Is he going to kill you today?

Trying not to move, you take a shaky breath, eyes on the door. He's going to come in any second, and you don't know how to act to keep him happy. Is there a way to keep someone like him content at all? He's... not normal, that's for sure. Even if you smile and pretend to be fine, chained to his bed with so little room to move left you can't even reach the door, you think he'll see right through it and become angry at you for lying.

Not that ignoring or, god, getting angry at him gonna work either. If anything, making him mad at you is probably the most stupid option you can choose. So you don't. Albeit you wouldn't have the courage for that even if it did change anything for the better.

"I'm home."

You flinch involuntarily as you watch him open the door to your room and take a cautious step inside as if he's keeping a dangerous animal as a pet, not a whole other human being. His eyes light up at the sight of you immediately when he sees you at the very same spot where he left you in the morning, still chained, no signs of misbehaving like throwing things around and destroying the furniture. You're not the type. You're the type to sit and shake in the corner and cry till you feel like your head will explode.

"Hello," you murmur quietly, showing neither anger nor happiness at his return. Keeping the most neutral expression at times when you feel like a rabbit in front of a snake is torture, but better this than having him turn psychotic again.

He smiles at you, exhaling loudly like he was worried you'd start messing things up in his absence. "I see you've been good. That's nice. Thank you."

Nodding, you make yourself eat your words about all anxiety and fear you've had to endure today just to stay sane and stop crying. Being good, huh? Does he have any idea what it feels like to be locked in an apartment of someone who threatened to kill your classmates if you didn't go with him? What it felt like when he had pulled out a knife out of his backpack with a manic gleam right in front of your face and said he needed you to come with him if you didn't want anyone hurt?

You still don't understand how everything happened out of the blue. Aemond... never seemed unstable. He was quiet, sure, and he didn't hang out with other classmates much, but neither did you. He often sat at the back of the classroom, listening to professors with a blank look on his face, and seemed to slack off, then somehow miraculously pass the exams. You've never seen him doing anything special like playing sports or taking part in any university activity. He was just a quiet loner who didn't seem to enjoy studying. At one point, you thought he would drop out or change his major, but he didn't. After more than 3 years, he was still there, at the back of the classroom, sitting with a blank expression as the professors preached about the importance of the thesis for your successfull graduation and future work life.

Then, one day, he just walked up to you after the last lesson had finished while you were gathering your stuff and asked you to stay behind for a short talk. He said he needed to tell you something important. Considering you had spoken maybe five words to him throughout the whole year, you had no clue what he wanted to say, but maybe he needed help or something? You have always been good at studying, so, perhaps, he just needed your advice on his thesis.

He didn't.

Instead, he confessed he liked you and that he was concerned you were going to date someone else from your class - he gave you names of several students you had never even hanged out with - and then he pulled a huge, sharp knife out of his backpack. When you panicked, he grabbed your hand and whispered with that crazed look on his face that he would go and stab your classmates hanging out in the hallway if you didn't go with him.

So you did. You let him take you away, shaking at the thought that he put a knife in the large sewn-in picket inside his heavy bomber, ready to take it the moment you went back on your promise. He was going to stab someone, wasn't he? Given his height and strength, he might have even murdered someone. All because you refused to go with him.

When you think of it now, you wonder what would have happened if you attracted the attention of someone's on the way. Would Aemond really stab them with a knife, given the psychotic state he was in? Would he put a knife through your stomach? Or was it just bluff, and he'd drop the knife and run away, never to bother you again?

You'll never know now. You were so concerned about someone getting hurt you ended up in the apartment of a psychopath with your leg chained to his bed. It seems surreal, like it's all one big prank that's been going for far too long.

"I'm sorry it took me so long," he says, placing a plastic bag with what smells like pasta or lasagna on a little table next to the door. "Work has been hectic, but I'm cutting down my hours to spend more time with you, so you don't have to worry."

You nod, trying not to tremble like a leaf. Spending more time with you? Great. He will kill you soon once he has enough. Don't this kind of guys always do that? They catch their prey, have fun, and then finish them off only to fixate on somebody else again.

That's what's going to happen to you.

"I'll go take a shower real quick, alright?" He asks as if your opinion actually matters, walking by the bed as you instantly move further away on the floor, your back bumping against the bed.

He pauses, turning to you fully as you bite down on your tongue not to let out a sound.

"What is it, baby?" He coos, getting down to you while you stare at your knees, afraid to lift your head and see him staring you in the face. "What happened?"

You flinch as he stretches his hand to you, and he has to pause for a second again before his palm gently lands on the top of your head. He doesn't beat you. Or, well, not yet. Despite him not hurting you within the two days you've been here, you expect him to get violent at one point. Psychos always are, right?

You mumble, worried you'll make him upset, "I'm sorry. It's nothing."

He sighs, to your horror, sitting down right in front of you. He smells like coffee and French fries, and you bite down on your lower lip, remembering he works at some café. Like other people, he has a life outside of this stuffy and yet nearly empty apartment, and in this moment, it seems so strange. That someone like him smells like another human being.

"Are you scared?" He asks in a hushed voice, careful and calm like some sort of therapist. "Is that it?"

Despite all your attempts, you feel like you will cry if he touches you again. Your throat is tight, and you can't speak, so you just nod again, head bowed so you can't see his face.

He sighs again, and you hear him shifting, crawling closer to you like a spider as you squeeze your eyes shut. Will he hit you? Rape you? Do something worse? It's only logical to suppose that. In the end, that's what they do in the movies, don't they? Since Aemond is clearly insane, that's what he'll do to you.

But then, when he sits next to you with his back pressed against the bed's leg, you feel his hands on your shoulder nudging you tenderly towards him, and you don't fight him when he makes you put your head on his chest. Today he wears a long, soft black hoodie that smells like fries, too. It's nice to the touch.

"It's alright," he whispers, making you lean onto him until you are nearly on top of him while he caresses your head. "I know it's sudden for you. You probably don't even know who I am, and then I just come and confess to you like that. It's unfair, I know. I'm sorry I couldn't wait a bit longer."

Yeah, as if it's the problem.

But you don't say anything, eyes closed, as you freeze against his hoodie.

"But, you know, it got so much better. Today a customer splashed me with coffee and sad some really hurtful things, and I didn't even care," you can nearly sense him greening before he drops a quick kiss to the top of your head. "Because I was thinking of you. Waiting for me home, sleeping in my bed, wearing my clothes. I don't remember when anyone last waited me home, you know? And now there's you."

You feel his breath on your skin before he leaves a chaste kiss on your brow, and you curl into yourself even more.

"Thank you for being here with me. I know it wasn't easy for you to trust me, but you still did." He exhales slowly, probably tired after the day in the university and at work, his other hand resting on your back, caressing you through the thick tissue of his dark green sweatshirt he gave you this morning. "Thank you."

You're glad he can't see your face because you are ready to cry any second now. You are scared, and your legs hurt from staying in this position for too long, but Aemond's touch is still comforting, and you yearn someone's body warmth just to ground yourself in this moment to keep you sane.

You are so, so tired. You don't want to die. You want to believe the things he said, the promises he made to you, but he's mad, and so are you if you really want to trust him.

Minutes fly by. You have no idea how much time you spend in his arms, but Aemond seems content, arms still wrapped around you. What is he thinking now? What does he want to do to you? He didn't force himself on you yesterday, but he can tonight. It's just a matter of time, really. And when he finds it's enough, what's gonna happen then?

"Please, don't kill me," you mutter quietly in his chest, eyes squeezed shut.

Your voice startles him awake. Apparently, he was almost lulled to sleep, and now he bends his head towards you again, taking your face in his palms to make you look at him. "What was that? Baby?"

It's torture to open your eyes when his face is inches away from yours, but you do, and then you cry. "Please, don't kill me."

The next second, he opens his pretty blue eyes wide as if you've just slapped him, discomfort clear on his pretty face. What? Is he unhappy you ruined his idyllic evening? Why does he look at you so distressed?

He puts some distance between you two, hands on your shoulders while he looks at you as you're sniffing, tears running down your face. You can't stand it. How long do you have to play his sweetheart before he cuts you in pieces and puts your remains in black plastic bags to dump somewhere deserted? Will he kill you quickly? Will he taunt you and mock you for not even looking at him at university? Will he try to prolong your suffering with drugs?

He shakes when he starts to speak, "I've never wanted to kill you. Never. Why would you think that?"

You let out a laugh at that, hands grasping his black hoodie you like so much. Why would you think a guy who threatened to kill your classmates wouldn't cut you in pieces, too? You have been chained to his bed for two days. It's nice to still be able to go to the bathroom, but that's about it. You have only a couple of books he brought for you to keep you company when he's gone, and god knows how long it's all going to last.

His grip on you gets tighter. "I swear I've never wanted to hurt you. Why did you think that? It's the knife thing yesterday, right? You got scared because I said I'm gonna cut Josh and Matteo." He gets more frantic, and you feel like you're struggling to breathe. "But I wouldn't do that to you. No! I swear. I've never wanted to make you feel bad. And the chain... I-I'm sorry about the chain and everything, but I wasn't going to keep you like this forever! It's... it's just for a couple of months, you know? So you get to know me better. I'm never going to hurt you! You're not my pet to discipline you or something. You're... "

He realizes the state he's in and makes himself stop, lips pressed tightly as he waits, regaining his composure as he's awkwardly trying to wipe away your tears with his sleeve.

Making some small soft noises, he sighs again, rubbing the back of his neck before he's ready to speak. God, why do you want to believe him so badly? Why would anything he say make any sense at all? Why are you hoping he really won't do anything when you have just been kidnapped and imprisoned in his home?

When he speaks again, his soothing voice makes you want to hide your face in his hoodie despite all the things he's done. "I really, really like you, baby. I know it's not much, but it's true. You never have to worry about getting hurt again as long as you're with me. It's a promise."

He coos at you, craddling you in his lap, and you have no strength left to do anything but lean closer to him and hide your face in his soft hoodie.

__________

Tags: @heavenly1927 @yazzzmints @devils-blackrose @lost-and-founds @kennafild @toodlesxcuddles @shygardengalaxy

#aemond targaryen x reader #aemond #aemond targaryen #aemond x reader #yandere #ewan nation #hotd #house of the dragon #the house of the dragon

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m0ss-head · 18 days

Text

Content Warning: Talks about eating disorders/disordered eating, just mentions, but I figure it's better to be safe! :]

I saw someone say food is freedom in One Piece, and like. Yeah. Even in this world, food is freedom, isn't it? So allow me to ramble about why One Piece's message, or at least how interept it, is so very important to me.

I think the reason One Piece hits and hurts so hard, for me, is because of how it talks about and what it insinuates about food and loneliness and freedom. The way those who love food have such a freedom to them, the way food brings so many together. I've struggled my entire life with loneliness, then I began to struggle with the freedom to be myself, and then I began to struggle with food. I lost my freedom again, just in a new and confusing way. I have found the freedom to be myself, but I still struggle greatly with food. Honestly, I've relapsed rather hard into my eating disorder lately. A bit before my relapse, I began watching One Piece and I think it didn't register with my how important food is in the OPverse but as I go on I begin to realize it more and more. Luffy's love for food, Luffy's kindness and willingness to give help to the ends of the earth when that food is shared. I think at first I found it a bit odd, but really, it makes sense. These people often struggle under an oppressive government or in deep poverty, and despite that, they are kind enough to share with someone who's hungry. It's almost a way to show that, though they aren't free, they have not lost the free will. And then, after the fight, once these people have gained their freedom, a giant feast the size of which they likely have no indulged on in so long is had. They dance and eat and enjoy each others company and bask in their freedom.

Or when Ace joins the Whitebeard pirates, his last conversation with Marco before officially joining, he is offered a meal despite all he's done. He's felt he was was being backed into a corner, so he snarls and shows his teeth, he shows them his worst. He tries to kill their captain for christ sake! But, still, they offer him food. I think food hold a lot of importantance towards Ace as well.

And, dear God, the thesis I could write on Zeff and Sanji's relationship with food. I could make an entire blog full of different eating disorders/disordered eating habits I headcanon Sanji with. But, I'll condense it a bit. Sanji's self-worth and his relationship with food is a symbolism I will never get over. I'm sure there is a part of him that battles with whether he is deserving of food or not, especially pre-WCI. I imagine Sanji is always the last to eat if he eats at all. A lot of what I have to say with Sanji's relationship with food is not canon or how interept it, so I'll just say. I think after WCI, when he truly has his freedom, he seems lighter. I've not made it all the through, but I think there is a sort of new willingness to allow himself food, from what I've seen and imagined.

I could honestly ramble about it all day and night, One Piece and food and freedom, but I'm at work on my break and I think if I were to go back on the floor sobbing, I may get a concerned look or two. So I figure I should conclude this with:

In One Piece, food is freedom, and everyone deserves freedom so therefore every deserves food. Food brings people together in a way that no other thing really can. I resonate with those ideals in a way that I can not begin to express properly. I wish that knowing that made me feel worthy of food and recovery, I wish knowing and seeing all that made me reach out, but it hasn't yet. So, I hope that one day, I will experience something close to what I imagine Sanji did. Realizing I worthy, beyond just hearing or saying it, but truly and wholeheartedly knowing I am worthy of companionship and food and freedom. I could honestly write a whole thesis on food and One Piece, I might, maybe it will help me truly realize these things, but who knows?

I honestly wish I could find the post again, but it's lost in my likes 😭 I would love to read more posts about it, so if anyone who sees this recalls any posts please tag the author post so I can read it!!! Apartently, "One Piece food symbolism" is too specific/niche a topic for Tumblr search bar to find many posts.

#one piece #luffy #sanji #portgas d ace #food symbolism #sybolism #eating disoder trigger warning #food is freedom #kinda a vent #one piece symbolism #hyperfixation #hyperfixation rant

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blueberrypancakesworld · 9 months

Text

Wake Up

Kappa x fem reader

Summary : A happy evening with your family comes to an end and you peacefully fall asleep in your bed. But for the time being you don't notice a break-in by a certain cult leader, nor do you notice how a hand wanders over your body again and again, a body presses itself against you and then you open your eyes...wake up.

warning : +18, minors don't interact or read, smut, p in v, somnophilia, drugging, druges sex, some humping, blood kink, knife play, kissing, biting, non consensual sex, the whole story is non consensual, afab reader

masterlist

Info : So it's finally done and it was a hell lot to write but it's done yeahhh :) So get all you Kappa juices and have fun reading oh and please mind the tags :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a lavish evening. They had all gone on a family outing together. An outing that was much needed during all this. She had missed her parents and siblings and her parents and siblings had missed her. It was a prepared trip during her college holidays.

It seemed too long that she had seen her family. In the evening, they went to the cinema, which had a preview of the latest technological inventions. Which, much to her delight, also showed new things about space.

Space surrounded them at all times and was somehow like an embrace for the earth. The endless vastness of space in which her father was now partly. But it didn't bother her, she knew he had important work to do.

It was at least a working environment in which she wanted to work. Whether as a stronaut, researcher, biologist or with technological things. She had a goal and knew it in the endless beautiful dark space.

But even though her "father" was now somehow with her as a robot, that didn't bother her either. Her siblings sometimes still tried to understand how it worked.

How her father tried to explain it to the two younger ones and it usually ended in a confused fit of laughter. But no matter how funny, confusing or even adored her family was. She loved them with all her heart.

The evening only got better after they left the cinema and went to the restaurant. A small but expensive good restaurant where they got a table and spent a few more hours.

They ate well and drank well, at least she had overdone it a little. But she wanted to celebrate that she was almost finished with her thesis, was back with her family and just wanted to let herself go a little.

Which is why the family were all slightly exhausted and especially tired when they arrived home. ,,So you sleep in the guest room," she heard her mother say, holding the door open for her daughter. ,,Thanks mom" she mumbled and gave her mother a kiss that was slightly shaky but it only made her smile. ,,Night, star!" she heard her father call from her siblings' room, putting them to bed. Laying down in bed and giving her mother a thankful look, the older woman closed the door.

Snuggling into the pillows and blankets, she was glad to sleep here again. Finally to be with her family again. Before she closed her eyes for a few moments and fell asleep.

She didn't notice anything of the horror that was about to hit her. She was too deeply asleep for that and didn't hear how the window broke and things were knocked over. She didn't hear how the cult group broke into the house and helped themselves to alcohol.

Didn't hear how her father woke up indirectly and crept downstairs. The disaster would take its course and soon ruin would befall her family. The student did not hear Kappa ask if anyone else was there and beat her father relentlessly.

Before the leader's eyes fell on the family photo, he tilted his head and laughed. ,,A pretty flower," he muttered, taking the knife with him as he scratched across the walls. He had his target, he had chosen it. His flower.

When Data's hammer struck her father's head again to quell his warning cries. But it was too late, the black-haired man had built himself into a spiral of intoxication.

A mix of drugs, alcohol and lust. And he wanted to satisfy all three things today. Whether with violence or without was up to her.

The doors of the rooms on the upper level opened one after the other. All until he had reached his destination. ,,Are you asleep already?" he purred and knocked on her door before waiting for an answer, which did not come.

His eyes rolling as his flower did not cooperate, he went into her room. It was dark, the light from the streetlamps was shining through the curtains and he could make out the outline of the room.

He found his way around and when his bright eyes landed on the sleeping body in the bed. ,,So you are asleep after all" he thought and smirked as he walked closer to the bed. He tilted his head slightly and looked at the sleeping woman for a moment. She slept soundly as if she had taken something.

Sleeping pills or alcohol? No matter what it was, she didn't notice that someone had joined her next to her. She pulled the loose blanket off her body and the nightgown appeared underneath.

If you could call it a nightgown at all, the fabric was clearly visible even in the low light. ,,What pretty blossoms," he purred and ran his hand over her head.

Stroked the soft hair and played with a strand, twisting it between his fingers, which already had blood and the dark liquid of the robot on them. He leaned down slightly and caught the fruity smell of her shampoo. Heaving a sigh of relief, he moved his nose from her hair to her face.

Nestled against her for a moment, enjoying her warmth, her beauty, letting himself be intoxicated by her self, her worthless state. While his mind was already thinking of all the possibilities he could do to her.

She was like his puppet not like his followers he could connive around if he wanted to. No she was like a puppet to manoeuvre his and use his as he wished. An aroused imagination. An imagination that he felt was slowly making him hard.

A pleasant shudder ran through him as he pressed himself against her. Playing the big spoon while his other hand, still holding the knife, ran over her body.

The tip of the cold knife ran over the thin nub and despite the poor light he saw the red stripes. He ran his fingers over it and felt the heat of the superficial scratch. A slight moan came from his lips as he pushed his hardness lightly against her back.

The brief arousal just a little taste of what was to come. But what he had was what he got from her. ,,Fuck you're going to be so good for me" he murmured and as his hand continued to draw strings with the knife his free hand went to her breasts.

Pushing down the nightgown and sliding it under her breasts so that they were automatically free, he got another piece of his flower.

His hand began to massage her breasts which seemed to fit perfectly in his hands. His pulse increased for a moment as he heard a soft sigh from her lips. ,,I knew you'd like it," he smirked and continued to massage her breasts while his lips left kisses on her neck.

The knife that was still dragging the strands around was directed at the fabric before you heard it rip. She had blossomed, her flower lying completely bare beside him. ,,So beautiful" he purred and pulled the excess clothing from her body and felt her body against him.

Warm and soft, alive and his. His for at least the next few long moments. He heard the goosebumps on her body rise to escape the cold that had easily reached her through the fabric and she pressed herself closer to him.

His cock produced further waves of arousal and he continued to rub against her. He felt his lust for her increasing more and more and finally had her completely to himself.

He could already feel the first drops of pleasure beginning to form a small spot. ,,,Fuck-blossom...you're doing things" he gasped and continued to rub himself against her for a few more moments, hearing her gasp again and again. She felt something happening to her body but in her mind it was just a nice dream. Nothing more, nothing less. But leading him it was like the main prize.

Before he repositioned himself he bit up her leg until he heard her groan and try to pull her leg away. Her body tried to move away but he pulled her back against him. ,,Don't run away sweetie" he murmured over her skin and licked almost apologetically over the bites moving up her leg.

He smirked as he reached her red panties and chuckled that she was already slightly damp from his touch. The smell of her sex in the mix of drugs and alcohol seemed to make him feel even better. Letting his nose brush her middle for a moment, he caught her scent.

He felt how he would have liked to run his tongue over her middle and his cock twitched at the thought. A moan escaped his lips as he let go of her middle and put his lips on her nipples.

Kisses and bites on the sensitive areas left him aware of how her body was bucking up every now and then to reach out to him. But with every further action on his part, more reactions were triggered in her. Actions that drove him to have her for himself.

He felt her rubbing her hips against him and wanting more of the excitement. ,,Can't stand it, huh?" he asked her and kissed his way from her breasts over her body again when he reached her centre.

Listening into the house for the last time, he heard nothing but the voices of his followers. Nothing that could have kept him from her. His fingers hooked under the waistband of her panties and pulled them over her legs.

Carefully but hastily pulling them over her ankles and inhaling her scent. Feeling her body move again and her understanding seem to shift slowly. Shifting into a different state.

Her scent, her sex seemed to make his mouth water again and he licked his lips. Placed himself a little further down and bit his way up her legs again. harder and harder he saw how he left marks and imprints.

Cresting her centre, he ran his fingers through her soft slightly wet lips, slightly trembling with excitement. Watching the slightly translucent slightly white sticky substance stick to his fingers. He heard her moan as she tried to close her legs. Ignoring her for a moment he cleaned his fingers with his tongue.

Sucked her juice from his fingers and it was better than any drug. ,,Fuck...sugar-" he started and was about to finish his sentence when he saw her body move again and her eyes flutter open. ,,Wh-What?" he heard her soft muffled murmur as she slowly opened her eyes and confusion still moved through her mind.

Confusion that didn't yet understand why she was hot and cold at the same time, why she was disgusted. But most of all why there was another person in her bed.

Opening her mouth and taking a breath to scream, he was already pressing his hand over her mouth and the cold knife was against her neck. ,,One sound, one scream or one noise that could alert the police, sweetie, and that's inside you...understand?" he said after a short pause, seeing tears gathering in her eyes and her pulse increasing under the knife.

But she nodded her agreement and he slowly took the knife a few centimetres from her neck. ,,Now kiss me," he ordered and in a look that could not have been more insane, she hesitantly did what he asked. Her hands ran lightly over his body for fear it would get worse.

They held on to him lightly before she put her lips on his. But barely touched, he bit down and made her yelp, which was accompanied by a whimper.

His tongue entered her mouth and he seemed to enjoy it more than she did. Even though she had realised her arousal, the throbbing between her thighs and the slight tingling on her nipples.

She knew that it had been much longer than she had thought, that he had not just broken into her room. How long had he been making love to her? He had exercised his lust on her and feasted on her, and she didn't seem to feel the pain of the bites and red strands.

After a few moments, Kappa broke away from the kiss, a small, shimmering thread of saliva connecting them almost like something super-erotic as he reached into his pocket. ,,Now we'll have some real fun," he murmured and tilted his head slightly as he showed her the small colourful pill. A pill with a Smiely face punched on it and yet she knew what it was.

She had been drinking alcohol for a while and smoking weed when things got too stressful, but never anything stronger. She didn't really want to, her fantasy was enough, the sex she'd had so far was perfect enough. But now?

How different could sex be with a stranger in her bed on drugs and a knife? Reluctantly opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out slightly, the black-haired man smirked in passing, enjoying her reaction, and lowered the knife slightly.

Only to let it slide over her body again in a circular motion as he watched her take the tablet into her mouth. He had placed it on her tongue and waited a few seconds before he suddenly pushed two fingers into her mouth.

Making a choking sound and wanting to protest, she only felt the knife suddenly go deeper over her skin and a small trickle of blood flowed down her stomach. ,,Good girl," he praised, watching as she sucked on his fingers and let her tongue roam over them, making them as wet as possible.

While he bent down slightly, hands still in her mouth, and licked the blood from her body. Taking in as much of it as he could and sucking it lightly.

It only excited him more the mix of alcohol, drugs and her blood coupled with her sex was just too intoxicating. ,,You don't know what you're doing to me," he smirked and wiped away her tears with his hand holding the knife.

Kappa saw the fear in her eyes as the knife came closer to her face and he took his fingers out of her mouth. Her saliva shone lightly on his fingers in the slightly lighter room due to the time that had passed.

But they still had plenty of time before it got light and the sun rose. ,,Relax sugar...it's going to be good" he chuckled and gurgled as he winked and pressed one last kiss to her lips before kissing his way down her body one last time while running his moistened fingers between her thighs.

He felt her tense for a moment and exhaled in surprise as he inserted his fingers inside her. Moving them and preparing her for what was to come because he was sure she needed it. He had his experiences of how it could go but he was not a complete inhuman.

He saw her avoiding his gaze, he liked to watch her, to see how she would react. She as a human being and not a machine that only reproduced emotions. ,,You have pretty eyes," he murmured and saw her blink several times before she nodded almost apathetically. So the drug was beginning to work, a joyful realisation for him and for her.

Before he leaned towards her again, he forced her into another kiss that was clearly more reciprocal than the one before. The fear had left her body and was replaced with complete relaxation.

But the look, that certain something in her gaze, the knowing that he was there, that it wasn't a dream. That was what turned him on. He used his fingers one last time to prepare her for him before he took off his trousers and threw them carelessly into the room.

He saw her gulp when she saw his aroused cock and he smirked again before pressing himself against her. He felt her shudder as their genitals rubbed against each other. ,,Ready sugar" he murmured in her ear and took the knife from her body for a moment.

Giving her even a moment before he positioned himself properly and her laziewes nod was a yes and entered her. A moan of praise came from his lips as he lost himself completely for a moment in the feeling of having her around him.

Her throaty moan reached his ears and she relaxed back into the pillows, easily coping with the situation. ,,Fuck-ah...sweetie you're tighter than I thought...fuck that feels good" he moaned throatily and his drug and alcohol addled brain seemed barely able to think straight. But this was mutual as she had also caught the drugs completely by now.

He began to thrust into her, addicted to the feeling of ecstasy and lust, wanting more and needing it. To move until he found the rhythm that brought him just that.

But her pleasurable noises also increased through the room while her hands searched for hold. His rhythm gave her what she wanted under drugs, what her body needed her mind made her believe that she needed it more and more, It seemed almost like his personal music the mix of her lust and his.

A mix that conducted them both. He felt her fingernails scratching his arms, his shirt shifting with all the movement. Her red strands replaced his own, his knife for a moment, and he enjoyed it.

He enjoyed the pain and engaged her in another more intimate kiss, muffling her noises for a moment. ,,So good" he heard her mumble and saw the unnaturally dilated pupils that must have resembled his. He lost himself in her lust-veiled gaze as he felt her legs wrap around his waist again and again.

Her moans and pleas increased in incomprehensible words and he took her voice away again and again and kissed her. Not seeming to get enough of her, he let his hand wander over her body with the knife.

With every stroke he caused, every little trickle of blood that ran from the small cuts, it excited them both more and more. Causing both of them another intoxication.

A rush in which he continued to lick the blood from her house, incomprehensibly drugged, telling her how good she was. Trying to get more from him more and more to have. While she pulled him more and more and ran her hands over his body. Tangled in his hair and she demanded him stronger and stronger.

He followed this and increased his thrusts, letting her pull his hair lightly while the cold metal ran over her body again and again. He let his lips wander over her body more and more often. Biting until a throaty mix of scream and lust came from her throat.

Her legs closed tighter around his waist and he felt himself coming closer to his climax and she closer to hers. ,,Ah-wanna see you" he moaned and put his free hand to her neck forcing her to look at him. Saw how her half-open eyes, also filled with exhaustion, fixed on him.

He felt her swallow, she pulled him against her one last time and he sealed his and her last screams in a kiss as they both climaxed. Her fingers clung to him convulsively and he sank his teeth into her neck, demanding blood from her one last time.

He felt her completely let go, relax and sink into the pillows, her eyes closing and her body falling into a sleep. ,,Told you...it would be good" he murmured and looked at her sleeping body as he pulled out of her. In the brightening light he saw some cum leak out of her and wiped it away with his fingers. He grabbed his clothes and took the knife to sort himself out.

Before he ran his fingers through her hair one last time and planted a kiss on her head. ,,Thank you flower," he murmured with a giggle and pulled the blanket over her used sleeping body before her door opened and closed again.

The cult had taken their victims that night and it was only a matter of time before she would find the other unnatural robot. Or he would meet his new favourite flower again. Another night, he was sure, would.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@icarus-star , @angelsanarchy , @quicksilversg1rl , @spookyorchid , @milaeth , @jzzminex , @roryculkinsgf , @707otto

#black mirror #black mirror season 6 #kappa black mirror #kappa x reader #rory culkin #afab reader #reader is female #smut #minors dont read #minors do not interact

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encrucijada · 11 days

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PÍA RAMBLES #8

you might have seen this post or this wip intro. i'm here to talk about this book because i think it's really cool @teddywriting and i wrote almost 40k words by simply playing dolls with our ocs.

(yes i will be using screencaps of before sunrise, 1995 for any and all subsequent updates regarding this project thank you very much)

what's weird about this book in particular is that, despite maripaz and theo taking up way too much space in my brain, it's also incredibly hard to talk about them?? i know every single detail about them down to what they might order to eat at a mcdonald's, and yet i feel no one outside from teddy and i really knows these characters. their lore is weird and a bit convoluted and explaining it feels like i'm trying to explain the plot of a television show with like 18 seasons of character development you just had to be there to witness to understand even a fraction of it.

but first some basics about the actual book

title: babylon boy (book 1 of the home habitat duology)

genre: literary fiction

category: i say adult because there will be no censoring of topics but in this first installment our protagonists are around eighteen years old. you might consider that ya but i wouldn't

a small summary: having independently run away from home for their own reasons, theo and maripaz meet while homeless on the streets and form an alliance of convenience to survive. while theo vehemently denies the drug addiction he’s nursing, maripaz tries to deal with the way both want and revulsion seem to exist in her at the same time. falling in love is probably the easiest thing they do.

teddy and i are co-authoring, as in we both write the words. they will be primarily working on theo's chapters and i will be primarily working on maripaz's chapters but we'll both be involved in fully crafting this story.

talking about your book is hard when all that happens in it is character work so even whether someone gets sick at one point feels like a spoiler you want people to be surprised by.

we created mari and theo in 2020 on a whim. i can't even remember what prompted it exactly. we wanted a new pair of characters to play with and we decided to make two assholes to bicker and be mean to each other. this iteration saw three reincarnations before we put the characters on the shelf and almost resigned ourselves to them being a miss... if not for one important detail... i really, really believed they should have kissed. this first version of them would eventually be known as the homeless au.

looking back it's Wild thinking about how different mari and theo used to be. we moved onto new aus to play around with, landing on a superhero-type beat that became their new canon for a while. we had fantasy and sci-fi and musicians and hadestown and the raven cycle (that last one did so much for us it's insane). every new thing we tried shaped them more and more until they were unrecognisable from their original versions. one day i really want to go through their threads from start to finish and look at that change in real time.

there was a new thesis to their characters and it was no longer "what if two awful guys with issues were forced together and tried to bite each other's heads off". instead we were looking at two characters that through every new incarnation became more sincere and gentle. they had meta-narrative character development.

(every new au also gave us more characters to populate the world including but not limited to theo's twin sister, maripaz's seven siblings, alex, philip, a whole lot of parental figures, a quirky cast of friends... but i'll talk about them some other time)

then i did it again. in the 2.0 version of the homeless au there was one scene i loved beyond words where an argument between our two protagonists resulted in maripaz punching theo right on the mouth. when she tried to swing a second time he stopped her hand and warned her that if she wanted to hit him he would hit back. they fought and the scene ended. i said to teddy: they should have kissed. we laughed and imagined how homeless au would go now that their characters had changed so much. we started thinking about it more and more until we were moving the pieces of their cinematic universe around to fit this new idea... and suddenly we had plot for a book that would revamp that original homeless au... and a sequel too! (but more on that second one another time)

teddy started a rp thread of what came right after the opening scene of babylon boy, where theo and maripaz would shoplift and he would steal the angel necklace she wore (<- this is important)... and we just kept going... and going. we'd already had a few keys scenes to work towards, one those being that punching scene that started it all, as well as the ending. teddy added two new scenes we began calling the halo scene and the church scene, and we moved something we called the pool scene into this book from another au. we just had to fill in the blanks... fill in the blanks we did.

these right here are the names i gave each individual thread of the roleplay-ification of babylon boy. their purpose is not so much to be chapter titles but to make specific scenes easy to find for future reference. though obviously i had to be a bit artistic about it.

i don't know if babylon boy will have chapter titles, and if they will have some sort of theme going on (usually i like just putting two words together to create some imagery). "angel face" is probably what i would title chapter 1, but i also hesitate on that decision because i think i would like to save angel for later.

these threads are less of a draft and more the skeleton of a draft, that's why i called it a draft 0. its purpose is to give teddy and i direction and reading through them i already know how i want to shift the timeline and how i'd rewrite some of the scenes to make them a lot better, but it did give us a great cause and effect look of things. the way teddy and i approach our roleplay threads is more loose than what i do with @on-the-river-lethe (with whom i'm currently roleplaying draft 1 of our book lupine trail and also a giant hunger games au). fluffy and i write responses between 1k-4k words, they are basically chapters. teddy and i instead do a quick call and response, mostly focused on dialogue, we build on top of each other and neither of us really knows where a thread will go when we start.

there are no actual non-roleplay words written for babylon boy thus far. teddy is in charge of chapter 1 as we open with theo's pov but we are both busy or focused on other things. right now we're enjoying the playing around stage of the process (which i don't see going away even once we start seriously writing, i know for a fact we'll probably do various roleplay-type passes to babylon boy).

you've probably noticed the christian imagery is rampant here. it happened kind of by accident and the already mentioned halo scene is entirely to blame for it. like i said, teddy and i have this very "yes, and," approach to storytelling together where we kinda build on top of what the other puts down. teddy gave me the description of one (1) scene where theo sees a halo of light around maripaz's head and i decided "well, this is now i thing that is here to stay". church scene really brought it all together and there is a scene in book 2 adeptly nicknamed the angel scene that is kind of the culmination of this.

the imagery is almost exclusive to theo's pov as mari is more the subject of the imagery than the one pushing it forward. teddy and i will be doing our most to fill this book with visuals: characters lined with stained glass windows, lights shaped like hearts, signs and graffiti that say meaningful stuff.

babylon boy, as the title suggests, is more theo's book. both he and maripaz have meaningful arcs but theo's is really at the core of it, mari takes centre stage in book 2 (titled gossamer girl). i think i talked about this somewhere before but the titles just kind of... happened. gossamer was relevant for that superhero au and it's just a word i really adore so i wanted to use it on the title. you can't go wrong with alliteration so gossamer girl it is. and because i love when books in a series match i had to do something with boy. like gossamer i adore babylon for some reason, and so we got babylon boy. i wasn't sure about that one because while gossamer girl made sense with the theme, what did "babylon boy" even mean, exactly? teddy came in clutch and analysed the title for me. they connected it to theo's drug addiction and now i can't think of any two titles that are more perfect for this series.

like i said, there are no actual words written for this book so sadly i cannot share any excerpts. but i will share

Festival was very much the result of teddy and i having just watched before sunrise, 1995

we watched before sunrise, 1995 because the mannerisms of the two leads reek of maripaz and theo

"until a miracle happens" became a recurring thing said in the draft and it wrecked me

Our Fears is probably my favourite thread both thematically and visually. followed closely by Church Angels, though that one is mostly visually

The Pool is the longest thread with about 90 responses and all of it is beautiful. i would probably consider it the companion to Our Fears

"mutual pining they're both just idiots"

the closing image is probably my favourite one of the book

the core themes are very much trust, love, and communal help. we've got such an array of npcs who simply... help. i love the human race.

i'll probably do another update before we start properly writing talking about maripaz and theo as characters specifically. a bit of a crash course on who they are, really.

anyway. i'm giving you a golden star if you read all of that ⭐ do ask me or teddy about this story!! we'd be happy to talk about it. or even just about the characters.

cheers, pía

#pia rambles #( wip ) bb&gg

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tarisilmarwen · 9 months

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Rebels Rewatch: "The Last Battle"

Well TCW fans were happy lol.

It's weird to write these as someone who has very little emotional investment in TCW.

Okay, full disclaimer, I have seen quite a chunk of the show, the husband showed me several of the best arcs, I've seen scattered bits and pieces here and there so I know who a lot of the key players are, a lot of the important events and everything but... I dunno the whole Clone Wars era has just never been a big area of interest for me.

Happy for y'all tho?

Anyway.

[Insert commentary about how this show has really gorgeous environments and y'all sleeping on this work and effort.]

Kanan lampshading the tendency for missions to go sideways ha ha.

Ooof this verbal stumble by Rex is painful, he doesn't know how to act in a scenario where a Jedi is not his commanding officer, ouch.

Oh wow, just like Ezra, Rex shields himself inside his helmet.

Ezra messing with the B1 head awww.

Side note: I LOVE how stocky the model for clones is in Rebels. TCW clones always felt too tall and thin to me, Rebels clones look way more like Temura Morrisan's actual physique.

Ezra accidentally being insensitive about the Clone Wars moment number 1.

Kanan's comment about "scars you can't see". Something the animated shows have always excelled at is showing the genuine aftereffects of PTSD.

Ezra's been playing the Watson role for the past few episodes and it is adorable.

Rex's initial panic when he thinks he's back in the war. :(((

I understand that TCW fandom cried a lot about Rex calling Cody's name unconsciously here.

*sobs* Ezra still looks so TINY compared to everyone else.

Kalani assumed the shutdown order was a Republic trick lol.

Lasats not being part of the Clone Wars is an interesting detail. Obviously, Doylistically speaking, they couldn't have been since they weren't created yet, but also I like the idea that Lasats were adamantly against participating in the conflict and the Separatists took one look at them and decided invading them anyway wasn't worth it.

Ezra maybe naively jumps into things feet first, to Rex and Kanan's consternation. They both already know that War Is Hell. But they also have the best chance of getting out of the situation if they relive their collective war experiences and face their past by fighting one last Clone Wars battle.

Oh hey! It's the shuttle they'd repurpose later as the Phantom II!

Hera and Sabine's small B-plot is very brief, but hilarious.

I think Pryce must have pulled a LOT of political favors in order to be granted occasional command of her own Star Destroyer. She's apparently allowed to lay a trap for the Spectres specifically and has the authority to deploy local Imperial outposts, too.

Not bad for a planetary governor. But then, Pryce was always ambitious beyond her station.

She attached herself to Thrawn primarily for the advancement opportunities, I think.

The sex was probably good too I mean what?

The boys be looking good.

Lol Kanan can hear the cacophony of clanking droid footprints.

Poor Ezra is so lost with all these references.

This is just a fun adventure for him, he doesn't have the frame of reference to know just how harrowing and dangerous this could be for the average Clone Wars Jedi commander and clone unit. So he doesn't know to keep tighter formation and wants to keep charging ahead instead of waiting to assess.

Rex casually calling his training and conditioning and genetic modulation his "programming", directly comparing himself to the droids. Ow. Ow ow ow ow. Hurting in "Central thesis of TCW, that the clones are not just identical mindless meat droids but individual and free-thinking men" feelings.

Kalani and Zeb's exchange here is hilarious.

Chopper jumpscaring Ezra lol.

Just wholecloth grabs his wrist like an excited kid trying to show their parent something.

He's come so far, I'm so proud. All he needs is the slightest gesture.

OH HEY IT'S MY FAVORITE SCENE.

Rex is... I think a little rattled by getting hit. Sure, the armor protected him, but you know it can't have been fun and he probably thought for a moment he had gone down for real. So yeah, Ezra's innocently flippant attitude about things upsets him.

"A good soldier follows orders!" Ouch. Ow ow ow ow that phrase, Rex, please.

You know it's something that's gotta echo inside his head constantly, his programming won't let him forget it.

Eternally a fan of the kicked-puppy flinch Ezra gives here.

Kanan immediately reassuring Ezra that it's not him. <3

The beginnings of a realization.

I slowed this sequence way down to check where Ezra got hit (for... reasons) and from what I can tell, it looks like Ezra didn't quite manage to block a shot and some of it fritzed past his blade and hit his right collar, right where his armor is.

Rex gets dinged in the helmet moments later, but as he said, "Gen 1 armor always holds up." Once again, Rebels showing off the importance of good armor. :)

<333333

The group get up to the command center and Ezra starts to live up to his name as "bridger" between disparate groups, first pointing out that by all rights the droids should have won their skirmish, they were just too old to actually function correctly. Kalani agrees and claims victory, but Ezra also pushes against that, pointing out that none of them actually won the Clone Wars. It just... ended.

The more techie side of Star Wars YouTube have analyzed both sides and concluded that, absent the obvious direction and self-sabotage by Palpatine, the Separatists would have eventually won the Clone Wars. But of course the sabotage and playing both sides was the point. No one was supposed to win the Clone Wars because it wasn't a real war, it wasn't naturally occurring or organic, it was a massive artificial power play by Palpatine, who instigated, incited, prolonged, and manipulated things so that whichever side "won", he would come out on top as the victor standing on the corpses of the Jedi.

Palpatine set both sides up to fail.

This is something Star Wars fandom repeatedly fails to understand, there was no winning in this whole situation. The trap was too carefully set, nothing the Jedi or the Senate or the Separatists did could have prevented the war from happening and nothing they did could have stopped its ultimate endgoal, which was the destruction of the Jedi Order and the consolidation of power under Palpatine as sole ruler of the galaxy. That's the whole tragedy, that they tried so hard, got so close, but ultimately could not prevent that awful fate from happening.

Barring Anakin sitting his ass down for just five more minutes or slashing through the correct party in Palpatine's office, there was no narrative escape. The choices were damned if you do, damned if you don't, and either way you're ending up dead.

Anyway, Ezra's armor-piercing questions absolutely stun Rex and Kalani into silence for a moment before Zeb points out the Empire won. Because they decided to conveniently show up just in time for a good Enemy Mine situation lol.

Kalani resists the logic at first since he's not at war with the Empire but the Stormtroopers casually destroying his scout unit probably helped change his mind lol.

Ezra Persuasion Checks both Kalani and Rex into accepting the team-up, like the budding little diplomat he is. :)

"Well this takes trust to a whole new level." Lol.

Nice to see the B1s retaining their status as hilariously abused butt monkeys.

Rex praising Ezra for "ending the Clone Wars" ahhhhh.

Sabine's eyes lighting up when she sees the shuttle they're bringing awww.

And TCW-inspired credits as a nice little homage.

Predictably this is one of the husband's favorite episodes. It's a fun little romp, pays some love to TCW and develops Ezra's character a bit. It doesn't really affect the larger story outside of that so I guess it could be called filler, but it's a fun filler.

#star wars #star wars rebels #ezra bridger #space dad and his precious pumpkin child #rebels rewatch #liveblog

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thecoolcatstuff · 8 months

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Today I will present my thesis on why I think Juleka and Adrien should have been best friends.

1.They have(platonic) chemistry

Most of times good compatibility isnt about characters having the same traits, but having traits that cumpliment eachother. Complementary traits often result in good dynamics, fun to watch. Now, miraculous have some pretty fun character dynamics like Chat/Ladybug, Marinette/Kagami, Adrien/Plagg but I believe Adrien/Juleka has the potential to be one of the best among them. Hear me out.

Adrien is an extroverted person molded by his father into a polite and pristine façade never being allowed out or having indeoendent thoughts.

Juleka is the daughter of a pirate rockstar(Anarka) who was born with all the freedom she could want, but has a shy and introverted personality despite that.

Besides loving the "extrovert adopts introvert" trope, I belive their interaction would be beneficial for their development, with Adrien helping Juleka to come out of her shell by teatching her his dorkish ways and Juleka showing Adrien what freedom really means( I am 100% certain Juleka would convince Adrien to do a Tattoo, paint his hair, pierce his nose or some shit only to flip out Gabriel). They could really understant eachother, help eachoter overcome their fears and give support.

(it is important to say that when I meant they have good chemistry, i do not mean romantic chemistry. Characters of opposite sex are allowed to interact and have good relations without it necessarily meant to be romantic. That is a taboo on animation and would also be pretty cool to chalenge.)

2.Juleka wants to model

Juleka's dream being revealed as someone who wants to model professionally, her having a best friend who is a literal supermodel would be the ideal setup to give her a "in" into the fashion world, and would also give Adrien someone on his corner in the industry, maybe someone to give him advice and support when dealing with the wheight of his schedule, or when being pushed around left and right by Lila or his dad.

3.It would explain things story wise

It was always weird to me how Adrien always shows up at the boat for Kitty Section practice. I mean I guess he is around since Juleka invites the whole class to show up, but its never actually a reason to why HE should show up. People are always wondering "hey where is adrien?" even when other people like Kim or Nathaniel are also not there. Adrien bring juleka's bff would make this more plausible because "cmon he is my bestie where the fuck is he?".

4.Chat Noir and Purple Tigress

The dynamic of Chat Noir and Purple Tigress was cute. Chat being carefree and flirty and Juleka being kind of stiff and awkward and fumbling against his extroverted approach all while being a lowkey girlboss on the side just gave a whole new fun to the dynamic. I can just picture Juleka awkwardly trying to make a cat pun and Chat being lit on fire by it.

5. Adrien might have gotten a home at the boat

Ive seen hundreds of post-hawkmoth defeat fics, and almost all of them we have something in common: Adrien gets adopted by the dupain-chengs and go live with them. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, Sabine and Tom are great and they would definitly help Adrien in a moment of need but the imolications of this... it really striked me odd. living with your girlfriend's parents? Sneaking into her room every night to cuddle at 15 and they being ok with it? really? Thats just weird bro.

Now, Adrien at the boat makes sense. Methinks Anarka would be more the willing to adopt Adrien on the spot. She is carefree, doesnt seem to be caugh up by details and seems to be fairly ok with a bunch of teens hanging around her deck all day. Adrien is a musician and fairly polite, so he checks out all the boxes to be her son. Besides, imagine how Adrien's chacracter would develop given the chance to live freely like Juleka and Luka does. He could develop more his "wild side" and learn how to be more confortable with himself.

6. Get to see Adrien wingmaning Julerose

Now, we all know Adrien Chat Noir is our resident dork in town. However, I feel we dont get to see it much. I imagine him trying to help Juleka woo Rose or giving tips to flirt would be very funny and amusing to see, and give him much more characterization. Besides, Juleka and Rose's relationship would be way more spicy. I mean they are cute but the whole "lowkey supportive gf" thing they always have going on gets stale pretty fast, and dont five much insight on how their relationship is really like. LET THEM FLIRT FOR GODS SAKE!

#miraculous ladybug #mlb #miraculous #adrien agreste #mlb juleka #chat noir

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roachleakage · 11 months

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I have to snort when people are like "Noooo, you can't put a happy or even bittersweet ending in a Mythos work and still call it 'Lovecraftian', that's defeating the whole point!"

Like. Art is a conversation, ya dweebs. Yes, the running thesis in much of Lovecraft's work is that doom is inevitable and all-encompassing - but there's a lot of room to play with it that hardline traditionalists tend to overlook in their insistence on categorical purity. And one of the ways you can play with it is to disagree outright with his conclusions.

I mean, look. Lovecraft spent most of his life as a privileged dickhead whose trauma over the fate of his parents warred constantly with his view of himself as someone who should be exempt from such horrors. The idea of bad things, even cataclysmically bad, being something that both happened to people on a regular basis and could be lived with didn't come home to roost for him until the Depression. The dude was naive as hell, is what I'm saying - so of course sometimes people are going to look at his Earth-Shattering Tragedies and go "Oh, someone could actually survive that" - without fundamentally disagreeing with the concept that the world is full of terrifying unstoppable forces with the power to make your life worse.

In fact, one of the best Lovecraftian games I've ever seen both plays the doom completely straight, and refuses to submit to Lovecraft's philosophy about it. Sucker for Love: First Date is a fantastically silly dating sim about trying to smooch an Elder God, and while it is partly (and successfully) a horror game about dying because you woke up Femthulhu, it never downplays the significance of the protagonist's comparatively lighthearted quest to smooch that same Elder God. Essentially, the game says, the end might be horrible and inevitable, but you can still have a good time in the interim - and at the end, when everything is falling to pieces, the fact that you spent that time on something happy makes the end sting that much less.

It is a fantastic diversion from Lovecraft's attitude, while still taking his themes head-on. And that, to me, is more valuable than simply parroting everything he put into his work. Yes, there are writers and game developers who don't do this, but I consider that a skill issue rather than a problem of philosophical disagreement - they simply aren't making the effort to bridge the gap between the story they want to tell and the material that they're working with.

There are plenty of ways you can emphasize Lovecraft's themes without directly agreeing with his conclusions. You can rob protagonists of the ability to defend themselves via might - maybe the popular American pastime of "shoot the thing until dead" no longer works, or maybe efforts to call in the military fall on deaf ears. You can emphasize how terrible the cataclysm is by showing how much is still lost even when characters manage to cinch some kind of victory. Hell, you could even depict the inevitability of suffering by showing that after the characters are done dealing with the cosmic threats, the banal evils of everyday life mean the fight will never really be over.

And you can choose not to focus on that, too. You can decide you'd rather show the importance of small victories, managing to survive as everything is falling apart around you. You can send a message that even if you are doomed, survival is still worth fighting for. You can choose, as the creators of a ridiculous dating sim chose, to emphasize that the omnipresence of the end does not negate the possibility of present happiness.

Insisting that Lovecraftian works have to agree 1:1 with his messages effectively gatekeeps the genre from anyone who isn't willing to uncritically parrot his philosophy. And that's incredibly counterproductive to the purpose of making art, which is inherently transformative and communicative.

#horror #lovecraftian horror #lovecraft #h.p. lovecraft #writing

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48787 · 2 months

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I am literally always correct about media

Three episodes into Bravern.

I saw the first episode, not even, the first fucking MOMENT it said "This is a training exercise" I knew, I fucking KNEW, I was in for the Evangelion Rebuild 0.00 You Do (Not) Want To Watch Evangelion experience. And my Brothers in Shinji Ikari's goop, I'm ignoring that parenthetical because thesis never exist in the first place, and parents never exist in the first place, it's all just the complete and constant Holy Trinity of living in the present for the present. And oh boy that Angel sure is Cruel.

If you don't think I'm speaking "Truth" you need to realize two things about me:

1. I've seen footage. They've shown us so much, and broke show-don't-tell DELIBERATELY multiple times to address the immediate concern that the audience should be asking IMMEDIATELY if they've seen the same footage as well (Like how it obviously has a 1 to 1 Evangelion LCL bit but it's green and referenced as "From The Abyss" doing that absolutely devilish charm of manipulating by never telling lies, only different truths, further proven by "Wait how do you know about that?" Or how the outro is clearly on a stage but then it almost tears or blurs into stars. You fuckers remember MyHouse.wad right?? You know this shit means something, right??) Or the invocation of very very very specific tropes followed by another very very very specific trope, or the deliberate subversion of trope followed by a character deliberately trying to force the trope out of subversion into genuinity. Many such cases, too many to list. I've just seen footage and I don't know how people don't see the fucking massive amount of narrative foils-per-minute, both within the show and connecting outside the show. The Evangelion shit is easy, it goes far deeper than that. (A good example is how they were clearly invoking starship troopers-y Earth patriotism and then subverted SST by the mixing of genders in a changing room seeming awkward and like it's not supposed to happen but happening anyway to form an extremely subtle juxtaposition.)

2. I stay noided. Every fucking subtle change of the framing device, of a characters features (Like in the outro alongside choice moments in the show, similar to the effect Cyberpunk Edgerunners that I can first remember coming from Evangelion), the minor moments of nonfalsifiability, the constant IN CHARACTER "Don't think about it just do it my way and it'll be okay" explanations that only rhetoric-obsessed mentally ill person like me would understand (Followed by things that only make sense if you knew what to look for), the fact that the intros and outros are literal propaganda that the audience WANTS to buy into (I believe representing the passion the fucking love hypercube evokes and each member experiences uniquely), the consistency of certain stylistic choices (Like conflating the stars and crosses to focus on Evangelion just a little more), the deliberate choice to use an entirely new stylistic transition or in between just to pretend like it wasn't anything important at all, it all MUST have meaning. The whole POINT is the power of inspiration and the neutrality of power being two coexisting ideas. The clothing metaphors, the masking metaphors, the gay metaphors that form subtle trans metaphors that form certain asexual-aromantic-agender metaphors, the literal fucking AT fields that are broken by vulnerability. Lewis (The current parallel to Bravern) loses but chooses what's cool so he can try it better next. Ishami (The current parallel to Lulu.. not Vi Brittania I swear, absolutely zero connection at all, tooooootally) is more "serious" but far more vulnerable and has his masks broken down.

They're fucking in a love triangle but tricked you it's actually a fucking square that's been folded so the corners are touching. Which corners are touching which? Good question asshole, it's all of them.

Someone thought "the MegOp ship is pretty cool. If they weren't around would it be Hotrod/Rodimus and Soundwave instead? They are kind of thematic opposites to both their normal foils anyway." and then made a whole show about that after everyone who ever heard that either didn't see enough footage or couldn't stay noided long enough to realize what a genius they were. And since no one understood just how much context builds up to even being able to think that in the first place, they just made the perfect show about manufacturing consent. For what? Literally anything and everything, including nothing.

I know exactly how fucked up the polycule formed when a mortal dares to ask "What if the three parts of the Holy Trinity, like, kissed and fucked and made out?" would be because I dare to ask it constantly, I am living it, we all are. It's the Divine Comedy, it is hell, it is chicken it is eggs it is in between your legs (10 points if you've seen enough footage to get this), and above all else it's hot as fuck and makes me want to never give up and live forever, no matter who you are no matter what you love doing.

I love this fucking show, I can't wait to finish it so I can be proven right on all accounts.

Y'all dumb motherfuckers keep refusing to understand Evangelion, your hubris makes you think you're somehow above Shinji, that you'd be different if you were put in his shoes. And that will always mean people like Lulu and Bravern will always exploit you for the love of doing it.

I have so many thoughts about this show and they're all right and if you think a single one of them is wrong you will literally be proven wrong because I will always be right, in time and out of time.

Maybe the next post or two will be more coherent since I'm taking a break, but I should actually finish the show first so I can gloat even harder about being objectively correct about everything in the universe ever.

#yippie peace through tyranny!!#till all are one.#i love that my wife keeps showing me shows that are just us and our poggers perfect mentally ill relationship #you all are just fucking pawns in our Bravern Lulu super swingers adventure #but in saying that we are pawns in their game too! which is fine because i love games #I'm tired but also there's so much to get into

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mdhwrites · 1 year

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Question: How do I make a character analysis?

And how hard would it be to make one for the owls house characters? Can I ask which characters I want to make one for?

*stares into the void for a good, solid minute* I... You... I mean... You have asked me to cover what could easily be an entire college textbook's thesis statement with a second part on top of it. Like how to properly analyze characters and the complexity of character analysis could cover hundreds of thousands of words. Characters are the complex part of any story and analyzing them demands similar complexity because there's so many angles at which to tackle it from. I mean, I can think of three very easy to define schools of thought for how good a character is that have WILDLY different opinions on Amity ranging from being potentially the best character in the series to being the absolute worst. Full stop. Before I get to that though, the easy part of your question: Make your analysis about the topic that makes you most excited. If you want to try to game the fandom to make whatever video you want to make popular, A: you're going to want to make your analysis positive because this fandom is against negativity and B: Luz, Amity, Hunter and Eda in that order. They're the most popular characters and the TOH fandom in general follows the school of thought that character arcs are the end all be all for character analysis and they are the ones that people at least believe have the most interesting and complex arcs even though I've talked about how at least two of them don't and Luz questionably has an arc of becoming a worse person that I don't think the show intended and then the finale double downed on the fact that she doesn't have an arc. And a reminder to part of how complex character analysis is: Luz not having an arc does not make her a bad main character. Also, thank you for all the people who have followed me recently since I never actually expect these blogs to do well. ^^; So, with that out of the way, here are just three schools of thought for character analysis.

Character agency, depth and complexity is king. How much potential for stories does the character themselves have? This is actually a school of thought that is the most divorced from the source material. It's the one most likely to be fucked up because they judge a side character negatively for not having as much emphasis or time spent on them despite, you know... Being a side character.

Character Consistency. This one says that if you cannot track how a character behaves, they the character themselves is against their core without proper reasons for it, that character is bad. This is probably the one that cares the most about arcs because a shift in character needs to be justified to it as otherwise the change can incredibly inconsistent to what we've seen before.

The Character's Place in the Narrative. Do they contribute to the themes of the piece? How about its plot? How easily could they be removed and little to nothing change about the overall story? How much are they a waste of time? This is very utilitarian but also still important because in theory your characters should serve your story.

So, by those three schools of though, here is how, and not even being anywhere close to being comprehensive on each because each angle is incredibly complicated in and of itself and debating which one is the most important in general, how they bleed together, which one is most important to TOH's goals, etc. like that is a whole mess of things in and of itself. After all, place in the narrative doesn't matter as much for an off the wall, wild comedy as it would an adventure series so judging a character by that is questionable. ANYWAYS:

This is easily the one that is kindest to Amity because what S2 and 3 do to her aren't as much of a problem. Her becoming mostly Luz's girlfriend has interesting elements to do with her lack of love from her family, her dependency on approval, her dedication to her goals, etc. like that. Her angst, complicated family and personal goals in S1 make for a compelling character who feels like they could have been the main character of their own story and to this school of thought, that is DEEPLY important. If there's a way that Amity fails for this school, it's that her depth is never explored or made more than just in large statements. Most of her character isn't given more depth or complexity to these personal elements that she has so you have a character with a lot of potential and a lot of interesting ideas but they're shallow. They don't have much depth from the narrative itself.

This one HATES Season 2. It is the one that considers Amity to be mostly functional but not impressive. Even S1 has bumpiness to it because her first appearance kind of matches her second but then never again. The base we're shown at first isn't the one we actually get, even if the character we see in Covention is more consistent with who we'll get for S2. This one cares about Amity's base as a smart character who is extremely driven by personal goals, has little care for those who get in the way of those goals. It cares about her lack of love meaning that finding a crush is going to have a very large impact on her and actually is okay with the shift to focusing more and more on Luz because she obviously wants approval and puts a lot into her goals. The problem this school has with Amity is that the arc is so abrupt with so many core elements of Amity's character. Her parents, who were made out to be a big deal, and even bigger post her breaking off from them, are dealt with too quickly and flatly. Her friends who she's known for so long and was pressured by society to care about are discarded like lumps of trash. Her magic and grades, the FIRST thing about her that we find out she cares about are even discarded for the sake of Luz with Luz not even asking for her to abandon those things. Amity just... does and it's not supported enough even for a side character to justify the entire 180 that is her character's priorities, interests and pressures that is Escaping Expulsion.

This school thinks Amity is the worst character in the series. That's not an exaggeration or hyperbole. The show is, ostensibly, an action comedy that has a focus on found family and Luz's relationship between reality and fantasy. There's also an overarching theme of following your dreams/passions regardless of what anyone tells you. Amity just fails this entirely, especially for how much is dedicated to her. There are gestures towards these themes. Amity is the one that Luz quotes Azura the most about so if the show is about Luz learning that reality and fantasy are different, she should fail in those fantasy tropes with Amity. But she doesn't. Luz copying her books lead directly to the opportunities for her to become Amity's friend and eventually have a cotton candy haired goddess as a girlfriend. Hell, explicitly, Luz in "The First Day" talks about tempting a vulnerable, hot upperclassmen into being with her and if we take Amity's knowledge of magic instead of her grades to make her an upperclassmen of Luz's, then this fantasy explicitly happens. Amity might function for the following your dreams aspect but only in that Luz becomes Amity's dream. Her goals and interests are entirely discarded by her interest in Luz which is at best neutral towards this theme. Found Family doesn't work with her because her plotline with her family is explicitly about choosing which members of her biological family she cares about. It's not about escaping her family entirely. And there was a fandom meme for a long time that nothing bad could happen in an episode with Amity because she is just not allowed to be a part of the plot. When she is, her contribution is minimal and could easily have been done by another character. This is the big reason why this school of thought hates Amity WAY more than Hunter because Hunter at least is explicitly connected with the plot. Worse yet: She takes up seven+ episodes of S1 alone and arguably another 7 in the second season. And in both cases, even if Eda and King have a chance to interact with Luz in those episodes, they're minimal to give more time between Amity and Luz. King NEVER gets to even be partially there for episodes between Amity and Luz and arguably Luz and King's relationship is literally the most important in the series with how things ended. And King only gets 8 episodes, if you're generous, where a plotline revolves around him and Luz versus Amity's fourteen. So from this perspective, Amity wasn't just against the Found Family theme in her own plot but was actively against it as a whole by taking up so much of Luz's time away from Eda and King. And that's part of why she is the worst character by this school of thought.

And again, these aren't even all the angles you can look at a character from. How entertaining are they individually? How much of an impact do they have on other characters? It goes on and on because analyzing a character is much like writing a character: Context, priorities and just EVERYTHING in your story is going to matter in their creation if you want them to serve the function they need to. It's madness. And just real quick: I'm by no means perfect. I've made bad characters. I've made bland as shit characters. My one off characters are usually shells just to serve a purpose because I'm focused on my main characters. Just because I critique doesn't mean my writing is going to be perfect, especially when my critiques aren't perfect. So I hope this was illuminating but I'm sorry that it's also probably not helpful to whatever plans you had. There's a reason why I appreciate the asks giving me focus on what part of a character to talk about and even then, I definitely trend towards specific takes on what's important for a character when I discuss them. I try to be reasonable but personal bias of what draws you to media is going to happen and that's okay. That's honestly part of criticism because nothing can be objective, but it is good to be aware of it. As a note: I definitely towards how likable a character is, how entertaining they are, how well they function in the narrative and how consistent they are. Depth does matter to me but I'll take a fun but well executed, blunt character over a deep one any day. Oh, but, as a bit of positivity to end this with, I do want to shout out one of the best characters I've seen in general recently: Chai from Hi-Fi Rush. Not only is that game the epitomy of doing a simple concept EXTREMELY well (there's very little original about that game and that is 1000% okay because it is so charming with the story it tells) and Chai going from a selfish, more self absorbed, but mostly well meaning, idiot to proper himbo and friend is an incredibly compelling arc that really helps elevate the story to something genuinely sweet. Is he deep? Nah. But I think internet analysis has poisoned what people think is necessary for a good character and that's where we get a show like The Owl House thinking it needs to redeem an antagonist every season because that's good character writing... Right? Wrong. It's so much more complex than that.

#Writing analysis #The Owl House Criticism #TOH Critical #Amity Blight

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