#i think a fair amount of that manipulation or attempts at it come from a fear of loss and being alone

[the-woman-upstairs]

Really fucked up that, when they’re young, Patrick and Art are SO tactile with each other, so comfortable sharing the same space. Art lets Patrick touch him and move him and physically overwhelm him and easily acquiesces to it, if not outright enjoys it.

Then in the present, they’ve been so far out of each other’s orbit for so long, held such animosity that when they have their moment alone in the sauna, Art physically recoils from Patrick’s close proximity! It’s so painful to watch because even as Patrick’s goading him, it’s so obvious he wants to be able to get back into Art’s space. But Art has erected all these walls around himself, he refuses to give Patrick an inch or even admit to missing how close they used to be!

AND THEN we see Art and Tashi later and he wants her to hold him, to be gentle with him, and just TOUCH him. Like, he does miss that kind of close physical contact! He either doesn’t know how to ask for it or is uncomfortable being that openly vulnerable. Worth noting that he pretty much always defers to Tashi in regard to initiating physical intimacy (with their first kiss, though he does state his desire, SHE has to be the one to make the first move). And it seems pretty obvious that Tashi herself isn’t comfortable providing that intimacy, whereas Patrick actively seeks to provide it (the hug/forehead kiss after their win together in the early years, dragging the stool closer to him).

Art has tried very hard to act like he doesn’t need physical affection and even though his discipline and devotion to Tashi has made him a stronger tennis player, it’s made him a hollow person, which, in turn, has kept him from becoming a GREAT tennis player.

All of this, of course, is why the ending hits so damn hard.

[kradogsrats]

Allhaven and Evrkynd: An Aanya (and Ezran) Meta

So back before s7, I predicted that Aanya would play a significant role in returning Ezran to his chosen path of radical love after he's shaken from it by being unexpectedly confronted with an alive Runaan. Obviously, that wound up being hilariously incorrect... but I still think the analysis was, at the time, sound.

In arc 1, Aanya is set up as the model for Ezran in... basically every respect. Like, the number of ways Ezran in early s3 directly parallels Aanya at the Pentarchy Summit in s2 is anything but subtle:

They also both leave s3 in a very similar place, as young monarchs who refused to take their people to war, but stepped up to defend peace. Knowing that Ezran would struggle with Runaan's role in his father's death, it made perfect sense that Aanya could relate—Avizandum orphaned her, and while she wasn't interested in taking aggressive action for the sake of revenge (as opposed to Kasef), she probably still felt some kind of way about riding to the defense of Xadia and Zym. It made sense that she would continue in her narrative role as a sort of preview for Ezran's behavior, as far as putting aside personal grudges for the common good.

In fact, the Book Two: Sky novelization makes it explicit. The Pentarchy Summit sequence ends with a segment from Aanya's point of view, in which she privately displays a fair amount of contempt for the other human monarchs and (somewhat hilariously) labels Viren as "aging," but it ends with this:

As a young ruler, she had the opportunity to correct the course of violence that her parents had been a part of. And she hoped to do just that.

As in the series, the Pentarchy Summit in the novelization is intercut with Callum opening and reading Harrow's final letter, in which he urges Callum and Ezran to do the same: turn the story of the world from one of strength and violence to one of peace and love. (Well, less intercut than the series, because different media. But it comes between Callum sitting down to read the letter, and them him actually reading it.) Again, we are meant to see Aanya as strongly aligned with the main trio in the sense of being

We then didn't really get anything to contradict any of that in s6, where her appearance mostly just indicated that she was going to play a bigger role in s7. However, when s7 arrived? Well, she's still very much meant to be compared with and contextualize Ezran's decisions and actions, but as this series is so fond of doing, she herself is massively recontextualized as a character, in turn.

The Orphaned Queen

In s7, we see an Aanya that is different from—but not inconsistent with—what we saw in the first arc. The key is this:

Aanya has had a much different experience from Ezran's—she has had the people around her betray and attempt to manipulate her. Has Aanya ever been able to feel truly safe, outside of the measures she herself is able to take in her own defense?

Contrast this with Ezran, who is generally surrounded by people he can trust implicitly. He does get briefly conspiracy-ed off the throne, but his loyal allies immediately start working to restore him. In arc 2, we see that he is still close with those allies, and the untrustworthy actors have been removed from his immediate orbit. We don't know a ton about Harrow's High Council beyond Viren and Opeli—there was Saleer (untrustworthy), but there were also others, none of whom are present for Ezran's rule. Ezran's council is made up of Opeli, Barius, and Corvus—three people who supported him without reservation through Viren's coup—plus Soren, who displayed his loyalty to Ezran at the end of s3 by "killing" his father (and losing his sister), and then Callum, Ezran's own brother and staunchest protector until Corvus and Soren entered the scene. Unlike Aanya, who is both younger than Rayla and has a higher body count, Ezran appears to have never picked up a weapon for anything but play-fighting with Callum. Aanya simply does not have the luxury of safety and trust that he does.

(We have a single mention in a single interview indicating that Aanya has an adoptive older brother, which makes for another point of close comparison with Ezran in that they are both in the unusual situation of being young monarchs with living older siblings. Presumably, if Aanya truly trusts anyone, it would be him. While she comforts Ezran about his falling out with Callum without even mentioning that she has her own older brother, she does speaks in a way that could suggest personal experience—which would indicate that she and Grark may have had their own struggles. In a medium where time is so valuable that every shot and line of dialogue needs to be scrutinized for storytelling efficiency, exposition about Aanya's family situation may just not be a priority. Personally, I'm not really committed to believing that he actually exists and isn't some kind of large and protective pet, but I feel obligated to mention him in the context of "does Aanya trust anyone?")

So while Ezran, having grown up in relative security, is inherently very trusting (something also driven by the faith of his True Heart that people are good), and Aanya, despite being ostensibly aligned with him in nature and goals, is very much not.

Trust Me to Carry It

Reaching s7, Ezran and Aanya actually have an interesting pair of exchanges about trust, and specifically about trust between the two of them. During Ezran's first council meeting at the Banther Lodge, when Callum (their relationship already visibly fracturing) fails to support him at even the bare minimum level of paying attention, he turns to Aanya, instead. She initially demurs, citing that she is not a member of the council, but Ezran insists:

Aanya appears to not really know how to respond to that, though she takes it seriously and wants to recognize the gesture. She settles for reaffirming the debt owed to Katolis by Duren, and pledging to honor it:

We'll address the rest of this scene in a bit, but first I want to look at a later one—a very subtle moment, but one I think is important.

After the confrontation between Callum and Ezran (in which Aanya has a role, and believe me, I'll touch on that later), Ezran's emotions are running high—he's angry, he's distraught, and Aanya steps in to move him to a more private setting where he can feel his feelings. On the Banther Lodge bridge, there is this exchange:

Ezran cites a time he and Callum had (much lower-stakes) discord, specifically a time when Callum dismissed Ezran's (admittedly far-fetched) claims about his own experience and knowledge of the world, and in response, Aanya makes a gesture of the exact opposite. Callum didn't believe Ezran that the ducks preferred berries, but Aanya offers him berries to feed to the ducks.

We also don't really have a strong picture of how open Ezran is in arc 2 about his ability to understand animals—he seems to be more open about it than he was in arc 1, when he kept it concealed in large part because Callum didn't believe him. It makes sense that he would have grown in confidence after Callum's turnaround, along with both Rayla and Claudia believing him without reservation, but I still get the impression it's something he rarely talks about. He doesn't hide it, in that he will listen to animals and respond directly to them in front of even relative strangers, like Terry, but... maybe it's just the disconnect in how even Ezran treats animals vs. humans/elves, but there's really no evidence that anyone other than Callum and Rayla know, and everyone else just treats things like Bait's "seat" on the council as a child's adorable quirks. So while him indicating openly to Aanya that he can communicate with animals doesn't necessarily mean anything, it's still kind of surprising.

I'll circle back to Aanya display of trust in Ezran (eventually), but first: a quick(ish) look at what Ezran's trust in Aanya winds up meaning in s7 regarding her influence on him.

Your Angel or Your Devil

Aanya enters Ezran's circle of advisors at a time when he is in great turmoil, and vulnerable because of that. He's also struggling with traumatic growth of a kind his other advisors would prefer to shield him from, but that leaves him straining against their expectations. That he will need and want new voices among his advisors has always been an eventual reality, and Aanya is a very appropriate candidate. However, where things get interesting is that, despite her uniformly positive role in arc 1 and in s6, in s7 her influence on Ezran is frequently not framed as necessarily a positive.

In the first Banther Lodge council scene, as described above, Ezran explicitly places Aanya in a position of trust, and she returns with a pledge of support. In context, Ezran has just been encouraged by Opeli and Barius to focus on rebuilding Katolis and reassuring its people. He is conflicted, being deeply affected by Sol Regem's attack—in a way, a breach of his trust in Xadia and the world at large—and questions whether it's worth rebuilding without ensuring that everything will not be so easily destroyed again. To emphasize his point, he knocks over his goblet—the goblet that Aanya then picks up and offers back to him as part of her affirmation that Duren will aid Katolis in any way needed.

She then goes on to agree with his concerns about Katolis's vulnerability, something that visibly disturbs what was previously Ezran's core council:

This is a moment where Ezran takes a distinct step away from his childhood, even before his critical confrontation with Callum, in that he looks to and takes the advice of a peer, rather than a guardian. Previously, the closest thing Ezran had to a peer within his council was Callum, and Callum just demonstrated how unsuited he has always been for that role.

Opeli (and Barius, and Corvus, and Soren) has, from the very beginning, had an interest in protecting Ezran not just physically, but mentally and morally, as well. On Ezran's first full day as king, the adults in the room all suddenly act like they're under tiktok censorship and have to say "unalived" when learning and discussing the news that the four other human monarchs have been attacked, and three of them are dead or sufficiently incapacitated that they may as well be dead (Kasef is acting independently as Ahling's heir, not under Ahling's direction or advice). Ultimately, that might be a kind thing to do! Ezran's father was assassinated, and a coordinated attack on human kings and queens suggests that he may be in mortal danger—something potentially traumatic for a *checks watch* ten-year-old already under significant pressure. Aanya, however, never received that grace, so when Ezran's adult advisors are trying to direct him toward peaceful rebuilding and implicitly reassure him that everything will be okay, Aanya is frank in telling him that safety frequently has to be ensured, not assumed.

She's not wrong, particularly within the frame of her own trauma experience, which is a caveat she even makes explicit. (This is the girl who brings her magic explosive arrows to a wedding. Just in case.) However, as with the many, many people in this series who are not technically wrong, she's also not right—she is putting Ezran on a path that we as the audience immediately recognize as dangerous. So while Aanya in a lot of ways appears to be taking over Opeli's role in counseling Ezran both emotionally and practically, she does so in a way that is... interestingly reminiscent of Aaravos.

Project Ruby Fire

Now that I've made that insane claim, let's look briefly at the magical nuclear deterrence plan. Or rather, let's look at how it's proposed.

Aanya makes a pledge of support and service:

Confronts his enemies(?) aggressively in a way that escalates the situation:

and pushes him from a vague "the future of my people/humanity needs to be protected" toward a specific target:

Above all, she gives Ezran a secret, magical resource to be used for the benefit of humanity against those who would attack/oppress them, entirely changes the face of any conflict to a type of warfare never before seen, and that carries a spiraling moral risk—when you've got a bunch of nuclear warheads, every threat becomes something you may need to nuke. Ezran, after all, goes very quickly from "we're only building such powerful weapons so we'll never have to use them" to... well, using them.

Shitposts aside, I don't think Aanya is doing any of this maliciously—she's not love-bombing Ezran to manipulate him later, nor is she using him to push forward the fire ruby weapons development and exploit them for some kind of secret personal reasons. I think she is genuinely trying to help. What I think is actually going on here is that Aanya is representative of the rest of the Pentarchy and/or humanity—a group the principal characters visibly lose touch with more than once:

She's not following a pattern reminiscent of Aaravos because she's like Aaravos, but because that's what Aaravos's influence has made humanity over the centuries. It's an example of the insidious effect that not just dark magic, but the division of the continent and pitting humans and Xadia against each other has had.

Aanya may not hold any particular grudge against Xadia, but she isn't prepared to trust them, either—instead, she prepares for the worst. Her fire ruby arrows don't appear in the arc 1 final battle, a situation where you'd expect them to be used if they had been available, suggesting that they're something she oversaw the creation of during the two years after tentative peace with Xadia was established. She remains ready to defend herself, even against what are ostensibly allies. The soft threats are the worst.

A Bright Future for Humanity

Ultimately, Ezran is able to recover most, if not all, of his pre-s7 convictions regarding radical love and pursuit of peace—notably after taking himself to a place Aanya can/does not follow. Aanya obviously supports him in this, and it's not entirely clear whether Project Ruby Fire continues. Aaravos's return is on the horizon, and it proved effective against him once, already. (Though, as Aaravos himself warns, he does not fall for the same tricks twice.)

Going forward, a strong narrative role for Aanya given how she has already been used would be as a continued counterpart to Ezran—in that, as Ezran represents the reunification of humans and Xadia, she represents a united humanity within that. Throughout arc 2, we don't see anyone from any of the other human kingdoms—even though after two years, they ought to have worked out new rulers—only Katolis and Duren. There are models for Neolandian, Del Barian, and Evenerean soldiers from s3, but none appear in the Evrkynd scene—though there also aren't even any Durenian soldiers there, despite Aanya's presence, only Katolian soldiers and civilians. (To be fair, it's presumably still Katolian soil, since it's where Viren crossed with his armies and they were headed for the Breach before hearing it had been destroyed. But that just makes the need for a future united humanity more obvious.)

They could also, of course, be setting up an eventual romantic relationship between Aanya and Ezran. At twelve and thirteen years old, we can't exactly expect sparks to be flying, but there are a couple significant times when Aanya appears to be paralleling Sarai, not to mention their scene on what might as well be declared "Callum and Rayla Affirmations of Devotion" bridge.

Sarai is also presented as a warrior-queen, with a desire to improve the future world. I've written a bit about what Sarai might have seen in Harrow, and... even noted at the time (also prior to the s7 release) that she was likely similar to Aanya. Aanya and Ezran could have that same kind of dynamic—the pragmatist who grounds the idealist in reality, and the idealist who inspires the pragmatist to greater dreams.

Finally, I made the comparison up there between Aanya's pledge of service and Aaravos's, but there are others that could be made:

It's not a ship I have any investment in, but the foundations are admittedly sound.

FINALLY: A Shot in the Dark

I managed to write all of this without actually addressing the question that made me think about any of it in the first place, which is: would Aanya have shot Callum, if Ezran had given the order?

Short version: no, I don't think she would have.

To elaborate, the confrontation with Callum (and Rayla, and Runaan) comes right after Aanya has pledged Duren's (and her) support to Katolis (and Ezran)—whatever they need. Here, despite having no real personal stake in the conflict (though she probably has some strong feelings about assassins, in general), she lends Ezran her martial support, much in the way she did in s3 for the final battle. Aanya shoots two arrows, one of which is close enough to hitting Runaan that Rayla feels she has to deflect it, and the other of which grazes him—what she calls a warning shot.

What Aanya is actually giving Ezran in this scene is the appearance of strength and ruthlessness. As someone who grew up surrounded by people seeking to exploit what they saw as weaknesses—such as her young age—she's highly aware that a major factor in defensive strength is deterrence through intimidation. Ezran also knows this, on some level:

Ideally, she won't have to shoot Callum to get him to back down, only look like she will. As I noted earlier, her actions do escalate the conflict—but also may very well have worked to resolve it, had it been anyone other than Callum.

Ezran backing down is also crucial in setting up their next scene, which includes the ducks-berries sequence and Aanya declaring that she will extend her support to entrusting Ezran with the secret of the fire rubies. I think, because Ezran didn't give the order, she has seen that he's not going to foolishly escalate conflicts out of anger or pride. She placed herself in his hands as an indiscriminate weapon, and he chose not to use it.

If Ezran had ordered her to shoot Callum, I think she would have lost basically all respect for him. If she shot at all, she would be deliberately shooting to miss.

And that's what I think about Aanya.

[sha-brytols]

i'd love to hear if your opinion on mythal's depiction in datv changes after reading masked empire. while i do agree that it is disgustingly misogynistic in some respects ("benevolence", the way they took her from chess-master into woman in refrigerator, where is the reckoning??), i don't agree at all that her portrayal as solas' toxic ex is a direct attempt to stoke fandom misogyny in order to appease solavellans or whatever. it was pretty clear after trespasser, and even moreso now that vg is out, that the masked empire is, in broad strokes, meant to be solas' backstory - with Briala as a direct stand-in for solas and Celene as a direct stand in for Mythal. and imho Celene and Briala's delightfully twisted ass relationship is the highlight of the whole book. TME was written before solas was romancable or even decided to be a companion in dai rather than just an npc, so solas/mythal's dynamic was established (by proxy) verrry early into the creation of solas' character, and it comes through in a fair amount in his dialogue in inquisition too. bearing that in mind i don't believe that her role as an antagonistic figure in his story was written in conversation with any sort of fandom response to either character. though i do think that the weird softening of solas' actions(even though they are loudly condemned they are softened) places more culpability upon her as a result, and i do think the refusal to outright state that the relationship is romantic is an attempt to pander to weird fandom amatonormativity.

i feel like i probably didn't explain myself super well LOL it doesnt surprise me it comes across like my issue is necessarily with the toxicity of the relationship, i couldn't really find a way to articulate the nuance. i do agree there were breadcrumbs throughout the games! flemeth as a chronically abusive mother, mythal in the legends as a ruthless judge jury and executioner, mythal's general role in inquisition along with, as you said, the parallels with celene in regards to her relationship with briala. i was always under the assumption that solas' relationship with mythal would be imbalanced At Best so that isn't actually my problem.

my problem is more like. you know using the masked empire comparison — celene, despite literally all of her faults, is still a very sympathetic character in her relationship. like yes as an outsider looking in with an objective viewpoint it is incredibly clear that her actions towards briala are often guided by a deep-seated selfishness and lack of true respect and/or empathy for briala. it is also incredibly clear that the relationship itself is horribly unhealthy and celene uses briala's feelings and love for her to her own advantage repeatedly. however it is ALSO incredibly clear celene is deeply in love with briala. she is just as dependent on briala as briala is on her. she has no sense of self without briala and is genuinely unable to conceive of a life in which they are apart to such a point where she literally can't sleep without briala by her side. and the book does go out of its way to make you understand that this is because and Only because celene genuinely loves and cares for her. it doesn't excuse literally anything she does, it just contextualizes her behavior as being more complicated than just being a pure power-hungry manipulator. her problem lies in the fact that she cares about her goals more than she loves briala.

this got long. sorry.

veilguard doesn't. necessarily Deny this as a factor with solythal. like i dont think they made mythal a complete one dimensional abuser. but i think it does Really Really Really rely on the narrative that mythal was always the antagonist in every aspect of their dynamic. like solas only does ANYTHING EVER because mythal forced him to. every single bad choice he made is mythals fault. tranquilizing the titans? mythal's fault. creating the veil? mythal's fault. destroying the veil? mythal's fault. the only thing he does of his own agency is killing varric and even then i would argue that just by virtue of it being caused by him desperately trying to tear down the veil there is still a narrative that it's ultimately mythal's fault. there's even a really hilarious implication that solas MURDERING MYTHAL is also indirectly her fault because he needed her power to tear down the veil. which he's doing for mythal. it's all mythal. he has absolutely noooooo culpability whatsoever in anything. everytime he does something bad we're shown in his regrets that actually oh he didn't want to do it. he begged mythal not to. she just made him.

going back to brialene, briala does a lot of horrible things in service of celene that she does of her own free will. trying to quietly stifle the elven rebellion by telling the rebels to just quietly look the other way and be good boys while the nobles retaliate against them was all briala's idea. she did it out of concern for celene, but it was still a decision she made of her own volition and was in fact directly in opposition to what celene would have done. like it doesn't change the fact that celene is ultimately the architect of this, but it gives a brutally realistic layer to their dynamic. they are BOTH responsible for the terrible things they do. briala isn't an aggressor or a bad guy or anything, but the reality of crazy codependent relationships like this is that it consumes both people to the point of no return. and we see this sooo many times in the games.

and i get that the masked empire has the privilege of celene's pov to give her more depth, and veilguard is only through solas' eyes so that would color everything, but i still don't think that really explains or excuses why it's taken to the extent it is. leliana and justinia for example have a very similar relationship as the one described here. justinia was a powerful figurehead that leliana adored and whom shaped leliana into her own personal weapon that ultimately destroyed leliana's life. we even have a very similar conclusion to solas' story with mythal where justinia eventually "releases" leliana from her services and leliana can finally Breathe. but the big difference between these two is that leliana still ultimately makes every choice of her own volition. she does what justinia tells her because she *believes* in justinia and justinia's cause. justinia never has to strongarm her. justinia never has to beg, coerce, or even order leliana to do anything, because leliana believes in the same thing as her and would do anything she says because of that belief. even leliana's "freedom" is ultimately her own decision: she can choose to just NOT stop following the path she's been set on, even when the one pulling her strings lets her go, because there are certain runs where her belief in her mission is so strong that even without a master, she'll still continue the fight on her own.

solas doesn't have any of that. solas begs mythal not to make him do anything bad and only does it because she told him to and then he hates himself for it. there is absolutely zero room for interpretation that this could possibly be his choice, that he is even remotely willing, even just for his own goals, to go through with any of the terrible decisions he makes. he is always the victim in every single perspective of the narrative and mythal is always the perpetrator. this is only strengthened when veilguard outright tells you that the only way to ever make solas give up is by having mythal tell him to. no nuance. there was never any way to stop him because he was never truly capable of making that choice himself, it was only because mythal LETS him that he was able to.

and at the end of the day i do think this is partially motivated by a desire to have an easy explanation for solavellan shippers as to why the romance was doomed. "he always loved you! he would have stopped for you! he just literally physically couldn't! mythal's the one you have to be angry at, not solas! it was all her!" i also just fundamentally believe that if the devs truly didn't see solas and mythal's relationship as romantic then that specific topic literally would have never been brought up because it's literally useless for the story. "were solas and mythal fucking? haha. maybe. no they weren't lol." like ok. thank you. net zero information gained. why was this even mentioned if they didnt want people to at the very least entertain the possibility? 😭 like it comes up BECAUSE mythal calls him "love" like it's such an awkwardly forced line that literally only exists so that the characters can be like woah... solas and mythal.... love? she doesn't even call him that again its sofjsotnsotnnsifmzktkxmg

but yeah 💔 solythal codependent relationship would have been hotsexy if it played out more like the way it was set up to be, i don't want to give the impression that i hate the concept. it was the execution that felt very weird and disingenuous

[yanderes-galore]

I'd like to o so formally request a Monkie kid Redson alphabet! (If I already sent this request feel free to delete my brain is being weird rn XD)

Sure! Just a fair warning, I'm only on Season 2 still so if something's off... you know why.

Yandere Alphabet - Red Son

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Clingy behavior, Manipulation, Stalking, Threats, Violence, Kidnapping, Validation issues (?), Trackers, Burning/Branding, Delusional behavior, Attempted murder, Forced relationship.

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Red Son, from what I've seen, seems like a character who would often want attention and approval from his obsession. When it comes to affection, he isn't big on physical affection. However, I feel when he finds the right person, he just can't get enough of them.

Once he deems you as the person he loves and trusts most, Red Son comes off as clingy intense, and smothering.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

He's short tempered and I feel he'd threaten... but I'm not sure if he'd really enjoy killing someone. His parents are both villains, yes, but I think he'd hesitate on following through unless someone pushed him.

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

Honestly, I can see Red Son kidnapping you and trying to play it off as some big villainous scheme... But in reality he just really likes you.

At first he has you tied to a chair in his room, acting like he's going to interrogate you. Then all of a sudden he's confessing... trying to hold your hand... and showing you around with a smile.

He would not mock you, he treats you with a surprising amount of care.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

He may seem like he will... but he actually tries not to as you're the only one he feels he can open up to.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

At first it doesn't seem like a lot. However, eventually you become the main person he can open up to. With his obsession, he's vulnerable and open with his heart as he really wants you to accept and validate him and his feelings.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Disappointed, in denial, and upset. He confides in you... and you fight him???

He is completely ignoring the fact he has most likely kidnapped you.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

No and he wouldn't like it at all.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Well, he's a Fire Demon... son of the infamous Bull King. As an inventor, he may create things to keep you in check or have an eye on you.

I imagine two worst things could either be him kidnapping you and forcing you to wear a tracker... or seeing him lose his temper on someone and nearly killing them.

He hates to scare you.

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

He probably wants something like his parents as it's the only relationship he knows. He wants to love you, get married, and have you as his spouse.

It would help if his parents approve of you.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

Yes he does. He will most likely lash out due to his temper. Usually he lashes at other people, although sometimes he accidentally yells at you.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

Obsessive, Clingy, Manipulative, Controlling, Caring, Possessive, and probably also Protective.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

He probably met you through MK, as much as he hates to admit it. Ever since then he's found himself thinking about you, growing fond of you to the point of following you around or stalking your socials.

Eventually he drops his ego enough to try and be your friend. You're one of his only friends and you listen to him. He's never had such a connection with someone like this....

Then, he thinks this must be love! Clearly he can't stop thinking about you, so he must be in love! Which gets him plotting on how to go about this.

He gives gifts, attempts to be close to you, and it's safe to say... he has no idea what he's doing... and his emotions certainly aren't normal or healthy. Not like he knows that though.

Is this not how villains love?

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

Not really... although he is softer with you.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

I want to say burning but I'm not sure if he's that cruel? Branding does seem like something he could do... if not restraints and isolation.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Originally he tries not to take any, but he'll take what he feels his "necessary."

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

Red Son falls under impatient more than patient. He has a temper issue so he has his limits.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

He probably wouldn't and would be desperate to find a way to bring you back to him.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

Not really, but he might. Also, he probably would not let you go without knowing exactly where you are.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

Probably a combination of curiosity and childhood.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

He feels upset and confused. He isn't the best at comfort, but since he loves you he should try, right? He does his best... for better or for worse.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

SKIPPED

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

Reciprocate his affections, or at least play along... and you'll have some freedoms to work with.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Not unless he has to punish you.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

I feel there's times he can be a worship yandere when he looks past his own ego. He'd do anything to have you... he's the Demon Bull King's son. He should have you if he wants!

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

I'd say months to a year and a half, maybe?

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

Not intentionally.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

I've seen quite a bit of talk about Dadmare and found family bad Sanses this past week and, you know, as someone who has been writing a fic that has a lot of elements of that for a while now, I do have some pretty strong opinions on the matter.

I honestly think I would be way more into regular fanon Dadmare if Killer was treated with the same compassion and nuance the others are afforded in it.

Because oftentimes what throws me off more than anything is that, like, Dust and Cross especially are allowed to have bad days and emotional outbursts (which is fair enough, they have some serious traumas to work through), but God forbid Killer gets a bit annoying! That clearly could never have an explanation rooted into his own trauma and his struggles.

I also despise the association that often happens with Killer having some very obvious ADHD symptoms and everybody considering him an idiot, fic included. Because that's literally just ableism 101.

Oh, you mean to tell me that the disorder that is most often used to denigrate people's intelligence is yet again being used like that? Oh, how innovative! /s

Also, I didn't mention Horror because, while Horror usually does get treated with more compassion and understanding than Killer, he also rarely is given any nuance. No thought is put into his trauma. Heck, often times he also leaves his home with no mentions of him ever going back when, like, this Nightmare isn't kidnapping people. Horror would never do that! He wouldn't just voluntarily leave his brother and his community! Not permanently at the very least.

I don't know. I generally like an exploration of role-reversals or what-if scenarios so one would think that "What if Nightmare was actually a nice guy?" would be right up my alley. But so many of the tropes that come with it just rub me the wrong way...

BASED BASED BASED BASED!!

I despise when people write killer with stereotypical adhd symptoms then use it to portray him as an idiot or just loud hyperactive and annoying? Or have the gang treat him as if he’s nothing more than a nuisance or an annoying child or a chore to deal with.

ADHD is an actual disorder that heavily impacts people’s lives, compacted on top of killers other disorders and trauma history. You mean to tell me that the gang is long suffering because killer was a little annoying that one time and not the one with the actual disorders?

The one who is usually portrayed as undiagnosed and unmedicated as well? The one who is literally getting no help or support from his so called “family” who is only just glaring at him and calling him an idiot? No one would be struggling more than killer, it’s not all just “lmao so silly im so loud.”

ADHD is more than that, and people should actually focus on how killer experiences it if you’re going to write him like that or directly have characters questioning if he has it.

Not to mention his entire ass dissociative disorder, cptsd, conditioned beliefs and behaviors and how the environment with the Bad Sanses will not “cure” his identity confusion and disturbances, very likely chronic pain and fatigue.

If Dust or Cross attack him like it’s so commonly portrayed, he’s not going to like or trust them in Stages 1 or 3, even if he provoked the fight or didn’t really care about it in Stage 2.

When he’s in Stage 1 he’d be terrified of them, and hed probably start thinking he did something to have deserved it, and he wouldn’t want to make them mad again so he’d go along with it even if it hurts. He’d attempt to kill them in Stage 3.

The man’s entire body is literally slowly melting due to his huge amounts of DT, he’s been shown to cough and choke on it. You can argue that his body is slowly dying and failing. You can even make the argument that he experiences degrees of blindness.

He can’t tell if anything around him is real or not either, imagine how often he has to convince himself that he’s not being tricked or played with or manipulated again. Imagine any potential denial and dissociative confusion he may face whenever his “family” treats him like shit. All this does is show him yet again that no one will look after him but him unless they gain something from it—and he can barely even do that because his ability to do so was taken from him.

Imagine if he thinks this is all just what’s supposed to happened, because They want it to happen, so he has no choice but to play the game.

And another thing I never see around is how Horror’s head wound would affect him. From what I’ve seen people treat it as if it’s just an aesthetic thing than an actual serious injury with its consequences.

All in all: Bad Sans Family is too focused on Cross, Dust, and sometimes even Nightmare. Killer and Horror need more attention and nuance. They can be more than just the “big soft giant” and the “hyperactive annoying child.”

{ @stellocchia }

[haine-kleine]

i see your '707 is god (real) and created Mystic messenger to get Zen a girlfriend' theory and i raise you a '707 is a god and created Mystic messenger to reunite with his brother, then saw how fucked up Saeran was in the after ending and traveled back in time and gave up his relationship with mc for the sake of Saeran, then meddled some more, which ended with Saeran and mc's romantic relationship becoming the final endgame' theory.

Proof: two things are constant throughout the main story routes. Seven being extremely self-aware (and Zen becoming self-aware was a super bad ending for him in the April fools dlc, for comparison) and Saeran trying to meddle with the RFA. if we try to analyze the chronological context of the story, counting Another story as well, then Saeran (or Rika) holding the distance from RFA for so long doesn't make much sense.

the common denominators are 1) the twins 2) V. in the main story, V consistently does his own Thing, trying to off himself in most of them with varying levels of success or sometimes running away to Rika. he has more context than anyone else including Seven does. Mc's appearance in the prologue kickstarts the plot but V is the only one aware of Rika being alive (due to being the one responsible for faking her death, with no small amount of help from Jumin's side) and thus knowing that Rika had somehow sent mc to her own apartment. 707 and V are the only ones who know about the location of her apartment. this can offer an explanation to why the hell haven't they been able to organize the parties anymore and need mc for that: all the relevant and important information about the guests is in Rika's apartment. V is traveling a lot, taking photos while he still can before he fully goes blind and 707 is basically chained to his basement doing the hacker work.

whatever it is that motivates V to do whatever it is that he is doing, he has given up on both himself and Rika in all of the routes of the main story. it's pretty easy to imagine Rika developing a god complex that goes through the roof after several years of being a cult's leader, so this is the exact element that makes Another story different. shortly after Rika faking her death, V is yeeted straight into her cult. to be fair, it's pretty safe to assume he had attempted that in the past of the main story to no success, which may explain his extreme passivity and guilt complex. what makes this time different is the element of wildcard, presented by none other than mc.

here's a quick interlude. Mystic messenger is known as and has been advertised from the start as a dating simulator chat game. we all knew what we were signing up for when we downloaded it, right? in the prologue, there's two opportunities to allude to this fact. first, when you are talking to Unknown, one of the options says 'I thought this was an app for chatting with pretty boys?', and if you choose it he will go 'oh i guess it's something that you've downloaded and then connected to this app'. during introduction to the rfa, there's another opportunity to mention your desire to chat with pretty boys, and to no one's surprise Zen doesn't miss the opportunity to advertise himself, but otherwise this dialogue option goes ignored by everyone else.

why am i mentioning this now? because the setup of Another story is Ray contacting us for what he explains is a testing job for an app which? once again allows us to chat with fictional pretty boys!

if you actually think about it, the setups for both of the stories are incredibly similar, playing off being self-aware of the genre, and the in-universe difference of the context mainly comes down to the time of mc's introduction to the plot. in both stories she is being deceived and manipulated by Saeran on Rika's orders, staying in her place (be it her actual apartment or the cult) against her will and interacting with the RFA. in-universe, both times mc's involvement is a part of Rika's scheme, but looking at it from Rika's perspective, she doesn't actually want anything to do with mc as a person, she is always a means to an end, an unsuspicious bystander that will help her stay updated on RFA.

here's where the crack part of this theory kicks in: let's look at the story development from the grand scale of things. what is it that mc successfully does in almost every single route? make Saeran come close to her. in Another story it's even more obvious, because she is quite literally the only reason V's infiltration isn't discovered, because she is so good at keeping Saeran distracted.

let's go back to Seven. in the main story his two consistent character traits are 1) being very friendly with mc 2) his knack for being self-aware AND not shy of breaking the 4th wall. a more lowkey but pretty consistent character trait of 707 is that... he is good at manipulating people. this is most easily seen by how easily he makes Yoosung do the most random shit, mostly to his own entertainment. but he is also a pretty potent pusher of the others' character development. he is the one who makes Jaehee actually see her own potential and stop comparing herself to the other RFA members. he is the one who on two separate occasions makes Yoosung quit his LOLOL addiction and remember why college was important to him.

it used to be a popular theory that 707 is in love with mc in all of the routes and aware of her going through the different character routes (the second part is actually canon).

but in Another story, both his friendliness AND his 4th wall breaking streak are noticeably toned down. in-universe, this change is a bit confusing, because he knows mc for the exact same amount of time in both main and another stories and has valid reasons to be suspicious also in both of them.

there is however a possible meta explanation for this change in behaviour.

707's route is commonly accepted as the true route. the main focus of the after ending of his route isn't dedicated to his romantic relationship with mc, but to Saeran. this is the only ending out of all main story endings where the twins reunite.

Saeran tries to kill himself in this ending.

Saeyoung continues working for his intelligence agency in this ending. his boss works for his father, as later revealed in Ray's AE. the twins are reunited, and their father is still determined to get rid of them as soon as he learns of them being alive.

i'll leave the rest to your imagination.

not unlike the player, Saeyoung is determined to reach his happy ending. choosing the mc endgame option didn't work, neither did any of the other RFA member combinations.

thus, time travel, and a similar but different enough to be intriguing setup. Saeran, all his roughness polished off, designed almost obnoxiously to be the new love interest. god Seven is basically taking us by the hand and tugging straight to his brother. he is no longer joking with mc every chance he gets, now 707 is locked as a romantic option, and so are the RFA. aside from Saeran, there's another untried option left. which path leads to the happiest ending?

11 days and one explosion later, it definitely seems like V was not the answer either.

choosing Ray results in the twins' father kidnapping Saeran.

V's AE delivers Saeran straight into Saeyoung's waiting arms.

Ray's AE has Saeran become close with all RFA members who like him as his own person and not Rika's former mad dog, and they all work together to get Saeyoung back and get rid of every obstacle than can stand in the way of their future.

turns out Saeyoung's true ending was Ray's route all along.

[risingsouls]

( I've only been a follower for like, the span of like a day, but I've read up on this situation with this samurai "OC" [and I, a fellow OC writer, use that term loosely here because there really isn't much here to call them an original character since it's just bits and bobs tied together in an attempt to make a character] and I have to say that I take risingsoul's side here. They've explained more than once why your character wouldn't be able to instantly godmode their way into a fight, regardless of the amount of training they've done beforehand. Dragonball is a series with ridiculous power levels, which the mun of this blog has explained multiple times to you, especially in regards to Vegeta who is a main character and has become stronger the longer the series has gone on. A human female samurai realistically wouldn't have much of a chance against an alien warrior like Vegeta, who has fought multiple other extraterrestrial species before and has won those fights before.

That, and I feel like the samurai writer is confusing the word immortal for omnipotent. Just because your character drank a potion that rendered them immortal doesn't also mean it granted them omnipotent abilities, too, since that would be too much at once and wouldn't make for an interesting character, no matter how you spin it. And even if that mighty elixir, which I think you pulled from Touhou of all places, did grant someone omnipotency, it doesn't mean that they'd be a master of it straight off the bat. Do you know of the saying "jack of all trades, master of none"? That would apply to your character if that's what the elixir bestowed upon your character, but all it did was grant them immortality, not omnipotency.

All in all, I think you need to know when to stop and know that your character isn't going to be able to win in a fight, especially on anon, against a powerful character like Vegeta. Hell, using my own OC as an example, I think that he would be a decent challenge, if not be able to defeat Hikaru in a fair fight, even though she can manipulate the cosmos themselves for her spells. Does that mean that she'd be able to trump someone who can fight with ki like Vegeta like it's nothing? No, but that's the fun of writing out fights and realizing where your muse compares in a series full of other similarly powerful beings and deities.

Know where your losses are, return to the drawing board, and refine your character. Come off of anon and maybe you can return for the fight you want, though I sincerely doubt your character would be able to do anything significant. )

[Well said. Definitely seems to be confusing immortal with omnipotent like you said or at least all powerful. Either way, I need more clarity to work with it.]

[catnherthoughts]

ptsd in romantic relationships 12/18/23

this is not fair to you and i apologize. there is nothing you have done to me as far as i've known. this weight coming onto you is not what you deserve. i should be sorry that i am the one you love*. you don't even know it! you have no clue and as much as i'd love for it to stay that way i don't know if i can keep hiding these panic attacks. but how am i meant to tell you. it's not a good thing and i'm meant to be good. i am as good as i can be because you picked me an made me yours. you gave me something i've been searching for for years and i have to nerve to feel any sort of way? it's been a very long time since i've been in therapy. i think that you can infer from some things. you aren't dumb, in fact you're a capricorn. with a cancer moon. god you are great.

i remember when we were in the car and you said you've never really had any sort of real emotional turmoil. you've never thought of suicide. never been abused to a degree that was severe. that is so nice. i was so grateful that you never had to experience something like that. you don't have any sort of weight on you. then immediately after i thought to myself. i have thought of it. there were days, weeks, months, years where it's all i thought of. more times than i'd like to admit that i've tried and for some reason unbeknownst to me all failed. all of them failed for me to come to you like a battered puppy inside.

you don't know what happened to me. how they hit me and what i was forced to take and how i was manipulated. i was meant to feel like i wasn't a person. that is what love is to me. i am scared everyday that you are going to do the same and that is not fair to you. you are nice to me. such a great partner. how could i ever think that way. i feel so horrible about myself when you say something stupid and i think about how you could be trying to manipulate me or trying to do something to me. when we got high over the phone and u joked about gaslighting i laughed it off but i almost went into a panicked frenzy.

i don't deserve you. i can't pretend like i am not who i am. you don't know me at heart and i don't even know if i can tell you. how is this gonna work. you don't get it and i don't want you to. no one has ever really loved me without repercussions to my psyche. i have scars on my body from everyone i've ever loved, whether self inflicted, inflicted by them, or mental. im so tired. i dont deserve you i should kill myself. you don't deserve a girlfriend like me. you deserve a girl that is okay mentally, no attempts under her belt, a normal girl. so you guys can love each other and you don't have to deal with this. i don't even want to deal with it. i don't want to tell you but i think after we break up i may do it. i got the love i've been longing for and i've been so tired of keeping going. you don't deserve a dead girlfriend. maybe i'll do it a few years after we break up so u don't think its your fault. if anything its the opposite. you're delaying the ineviatable by being such a good person.

i haven't been good at all. i'm a bad person. i can say that the world molded me this way but that is an excuse i chose not to take. there is something wrong with me in the soul after being thrown around the way i have. you don't deserve someone like me. if i had a gun i'd do it right now and leave you a long letter about how you were such a great boyfriend and how you helped me through what i'd never tell you about and all the things of that sort. i think that i was meant to perpetually be abused so that i can take all i can possibly take and then reach a breaking point where my method of choice actually goes through. i'm sorry that i am me.

gray text: ohh, guessing u don’t wanna talk about it

blue text: i don't want it to seem like i don't tell you why i feel some ways sometimes because of anything against you. there is just a good amount of things you don't know ab yet and eventually you'll know ab it all but i just get anxious that you won't look at me the same plus i don't wanna like burden u with this stuff i can deal w myself. i trust you a lot and rlly do appreciate you very much.

im so sorry that we met and you liked me.

[forthefictionallesbians]

I think that this is a fair critique, and so here's my attempt at answering it. Obviously, the most important thing to note here is that not everything is for everyone, but as someone who had a bad experience with feeling like my thoughts on the setting were being invalidated about a month back, I'll try my best to approach this seriously.

For me, the fantasy largely comes down to two aspects, and how they combine.

First, as someone who is just really into hypno, it is a setting that makes heavy use of that. Themes of mind control, manipulation, loss of agency, gaslighting, and submission really work for me, and I have pursued all of them for a long time outside of HDG.

In the context of that, the subjugation of the human race becomes a strengthener of those themes in the fantasy--the entirety of humanity, with all of our willpower and martial prowess, folded like a wet plastic bag. So what hope do I have to resist? The inevitability, the overwhelming power of the affini is a major draw, and humanity (and many other species) getting conquered is just a diegetic example.

The second can best be summed up by one line from an affini character in a friend's fic.

"Everything is going to be okay. It's out of your hands now. I've got you."

As someone who has struggled with self care, depression, anxiety, getting tasks done, and managing my neurodivergence, to say nothing of constant fear over economic and political prospects as a queer person who struggles with employment, HDG promises that it will all be okay. That every issue I have, that the world has, from rising fascism to climate change to getting up in the morning and making sure I socialize, will be dealt with by infinitely benevolent aliens. Yes, you could do as one of the comments said and compare it to the white man's burden. But as someone who has a fair number of care needs that I have spent the last half decade blaming myself for having, and trying unsuccessfully to deal with myself, the fantasy of having someone with far more knowledge, power, and ability take perfect care of me without me ever being a burden or a drag or a hassle to them sounds almost like heaven.

This is also where some of the draw comes from for the large amount of trans folks in the HDG community--all of the pressures of masculinity and the pains of pushing through gender incongruence are taken away and entirely and perfectly dealt with.

When those two aspects are combined, the kinky manipulation/hypnosis side and the "infinitely benevolent aliens take care of every need you have perfectly, and will do so even if you have shame or self doubt or anything else blocking you from accepting it willingly," you have a setting that works incredibly well for me and a number of other people. And there are other aspects too, from the prominence of drugplay to body modification to tentacle (vine) sex, that can be played with and roped into the setting as people please. It's an incredibly versatile space for exploring kinky fantasies of all varieties.

If you're not into any of those things, that is totally fine, and the setting probably isn't for you! There are plenty of kinks that aren't for me, and that's perfectly fine and acceptable. But hopefully this helps to illuminate why "the appeal of having the free will of your whole species extinguished" is there for some folks. It's smut about having you, and all of your issues, conquered. Everything else can be as peripheral or explored as individual authors see fit.

I will genuinely never get why people find hdg hot

like

i really do not get the appeal of having the free will of your entire species extinguished/basically nerve stapled

it's like if someone wrote a porn parody of all tomorrows

[thedcvilherself]

Keeping his glee contained was difficult, but he had years to perfect the good man persona, to embody the man of faith garb that everyone ate up with ease. Ángel had been manipulating everyone around him since he was young, after all, and fuck if church-loving girls weren't gullible little fools.

Not that the rest of the parish was much better. "You are witnesses of the sins of this young woman, and you will also witness the absolution of them." A shared look between the siblings, Ione easily raising the skirt and baring her ass to them. He continued as his sister pulled Genevieve's panties down her legs "My sister will assist me in making sure that all the sin leaks out of her."

Ione hid her chuckle with a nod of her head, lips tilted in a beatific version of a smile that shouldn't have put anyone at ease, but they were easy to fool into thinking she was as gullible and innocent as the others. "It will be my pleasure."

Two fingers spread the red-haired woman's lower lips, thumb trailing over her opening before the blonde hummed pleased. "I don't think God has heard you yet, you have to plead for His forgiveness louder."

Despite the image cast onto the screen behind her, the fact that a fair amount of her body had been placed on shameless display for not the entirety of the church to see, there's something far more intimate in the moment that she feels her skirt lifted. Granted hardly a second to process the reveal when her underwear are eased downwards as well, granting the siblings an even more full view of her. If her body hadn't been flush with embarrassment already, it certainly was in that instant, skin feeling as if it would all but scald Ione when she touched her.

Her body tenses, shuddering as the blonde's fingers come into contact with her most sensitive of spots, her most private of spots, thumb teasing against the opening that she herself had hardly found the courage to explore. It's hard to focus on words when she feels so exposed, so vulnerable, but she's far from prepared to ignore the siblings direction, to resist the salvation they're attempting to offer her.

"Father-..." Hands clasp, head bowing as tears finally spill over and stain her cheeks. "I beg you to please forgive me. I- I know my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and I...I showed it off in a way that is not pleasing to you. I was wrong. I knew- I knew I was wrong and I...I did it anyway. I’m sorry that I broke our trust. I’m sorry for sinning against you. Please...please forgive me for my weakness."

[yanderes-galore]

yay, I can request funger!! Can you write a yandere concept for D’arce? :D

I'll try, sure! I've done Cahara, time to do another Funger 1 character!

Yandere! D'arce Cataliss Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Fear of loss, Death, Murder, Violence, Grief, Jealousy, Blood, Manipulation, Clingy behavior, Unhealthy behavior, Forced companionship/relationship.

D'arce has been described to be a loyal knight.

Her one true love has been Le'garde, in fact he's the reason she ventured into the dungeons.

She has been depicted as meek and hesitant at times, but her soul type makes her a natural leader capable of bravery.

There's times she looks down on people too, seeing those lesser than her as "commoners" due to her noble background.

D'arce probably met you in the dungeons.

At first she's hesitant to group with someone else.

That is until you end up saving her in the dungeons.

To repay you, she vows to help you on your journey through the dungeons, so long as you help her find Le'garde.

D'arce's more yandere behavior doesn't develop until after you find Le'garde.

You end up arriving too late, seeing the man dead before you.

You don't feel much towards this death, only really doing it for D'arce.

D'arce, however, is devastated.

You catch her trying to hold back tears, the darkness of these dungeons finally setting in.

Without thinking too much you pull D'arce into a tight embrace.

The ever loyal knight pauses for a moment, going rigid in your hold.

Yet with a hiccup, she returns the gesture.

You try not to spend too much time comforting her due to the amount of guards and other creatures shambling about.

You do reassure D'arce you're here for her.

You'll both survive this dungeons, no matter what you come across.

You standing beside the knight is what stirs something within her.

Her team and captain may be dead...

But she feels she can have a new start with you.

D'arce, as a yandere, is protective and devoted.

She is willing to slay anything for you.

She feels she becomes second to you.

D'arce seems like she'd use you, her newest obsession, as a replacement for Le'garde.

She refuses to lose you to these dungeons like she did Le'garde.

You can see her desperation in the way she fights enemies.

Her hits are harder and she cares little for the blood on her armor and face.

When it comes to you she ends up acting like she's your knight.

She's civil and polite with you, even after she decapitated a creature from these depths.

You end up scolding her at times for getting herself hurt on your journey.

She apologizes yet continues what she was doing before.

D'arce attempts to remain civil when you recruit others into your party.

In all honesty she hates them but goes along with what you say because she cares about you... to an obsessive degree.

D'arce does prepare to use violence against any fellow party members if they fall out of line though.

I personally feel the biggest and main part of her obsession is her motives.

She was so attached to Le'garde that seeing him dead broke her.

Which made her latch onto the second closest person, you.

Her obsession is a coping mechanism.

She has a feeling her obsession is bad, especially when she manipulates you...

But she feels she's nothing without you.

If she loses you, what else does she have?

To be fair, despite her jealousy, D'arce is not too much of a possessive yandere.

She has her moments and maybe with low sanity she'll get worse... but she's primarily a devote worship yandere with protective behavior.

She'd give you anything, just ask.

She'll kill for you, care for you, even be hurt for you.

She wants to be a tool you can use.

She's disposable to you, just like she was with Le'garde.

It's all unhealthy... but it's how she was once treated.

She's a mostly well behaved yandere.

An obedient knight willing to sacrifice it all for her obsession.

But when she snaps... when she realizes anything can take you away from her in this place...

She may turn violent against your own party... all to keep you safe and to herself.

[ramblingguy54]

     There’s a lot to be said, regarding how Thanks To Them handled what it managed to do in under almost an hour quite well, but what I specifically want to focus on is the colossal amount of emotional weight it gave in-depth for Luz & Camila’s relationship because holy shit it was great, overall. In the past, I’ve seen posts here and there attempt to slam Camila as a parent calling her irresponsible or outright manipulative in the way she wanted to balance Luz’s creativity or that knee jerk reaction at Yesterday’s Lie concluding on a somber conversation between these two. Some were quick to peg Camila as being dismissing of her daughter choosing to stay on the Boiling Isles, when in reality she was merely concerned for Luz’s safety and not to mention questioning her abilities to be a competent parent in all of this, as well.

    Thanks To Them fully puts into perspective just how rough Camila has had it as a single parent. It wasn’t just losing her husband that was painful, but also the consistent berating Luz would get from onlookers passive aggressively judging her antics, which were heavily implied to have been inspired by Manny. He seems to have been apparently a very silly father figure that wanted to inspire his daughter about vibrant imagination, hence that Azura book being the last thing he gave her before passed away, due to unfortunate health issues of some kind. Honestly, I know I sound like a broken record here, but I can’t further reinforce my point enough on these impressive ways the Owl House crew managed to salvage all this insightful characterization around the Noceda family tree. It masterfully makes any moment from Luz’s creativity throughout this series run have such deeper meaning. She was trying to keep her father’s faith alive and that can be said for a lot what Luz has done through compassion.

     Went from simply loving Camila’s character to absolutely seeing myself in the way she struggles to stand up for Luz’s nature as a human being. Manny may be gone, but she doesn’t let that grief stop her from allowing Luz to live life the way her kid wants. The notion of parenthood comes in and out of my head often about how I would fair in the department of being a father. Would I make the right choices for my child? Could I prevent the same unfortunate stuff I went through not repeat for their new life? Camila was dealt an unfair hand by life and desires to give Luz a place she can call home. It’s why she sent Luz off in the first place to that camp at this story’s beginning. She never wanted Luz to do a 180 in personality, or stop having an imagination that makes her a vibrant child. Camilia’s main goal in all of this was to prevent Luz’s bullying at school from potentially increasing, the more she took her antics further.

     This in of itself portrays the issues of our education system with how it views other peoples’ learning capabilities. Attempting to put a label it all as grief for Luz’s acting out in their assignments, given Manny’s passing, is only a half truth severely exaggerated. Sure, losing her Dad had a huge profound change in Luz, but even when Manny was alive she has always done things differently. If anything, Manny’s sudden passing made Luz double down on the way she views things in general determined to stand up proudly for it, regardless of what anyone said. Luz was paying her respects to Manny, by living her life without regret. In this regard, it makes sense why Luz goes to such great lengths in trying to fix any mistake she feels accountability for whether it’s unintentionally helping Belos’ plans through time travel, regret for not coming home to Camila sooner, or Amity, Gus, and Willow being stranded from their respective reality.

    Luz’s compassionate nature is her strongest endearing trait and weakness all at once because while she is caring to others, it comes at the expense of her self-esteem. She blows any mistake big or small out of massive proportions. Part of me can’t help but think Manny’s passing plays a role in this, too. Luz is devoted to the memory her father so much that she weighs these mistakes on the grounds of, “What would my father think, if he knew about my own actions?”, and it is leading her down self-destructive tendencies. This was likely going through her mind, besides Camila’s advice about learning from mistakes.

     Luz wasn’t using fiction as a way to escape her father’s passing. It was all about keeping the memory of his own unique personality alive. To show others applying your different touch to learning about anything can pay off. It makes Luz Noceda such a compelling and endearing protagonist, in spite of how rough she has had everything in childhood to the Boiling Isles conflict currently. Luz wishes to do right by Camila & Manny’s beliefs that it consumes her with overwhelming grief. You could feel so much of it in her reluctant resolve to stay behind forever. At this point, Luz has felt like everything she has wanted ended in failure. Wanted do well in school with grades at the top of her class.

Didn’t want Camila to worry about her well being all the time.

Wanted so desperately to become of apart of the Boiling Isles and share this world with her mother acknowledging it.

Wants to live a life with no regrets, like her father wanted.

     All of this resolve has come crashing down on Luz’s determination. She can’t live a life without regret because Luz is consumed by so much of it. The only way Luz believed she could atone is by robbing herself of any true happiness. This way the karmic value of what she had blamed herself for would even out. It’s absolutely heartbreaking seeing such an optimistic kid become utterly broken by these circumstances. Luz may hate Belos, but she in turn despises herself because of being fooled by his scummy tactics to achieve his goal. Throwing everything into chaotic terror when the Collector was freed finally by King.

     Luz & Camila’s development was easily one of my favorite parts from the whole special. Thanks To Them is an all around great start to this three part series finale in general, but their emotional development was a serious stand out. This was the kind of stuff I wanted to see more of in DuckTales 2017 between Della & Louie with their chemistry and am so happy to see the concept thoroughly explored here. Loved what was shown off and can’t wait to see the last two specials in 2023. Welcome back Owl House. It’s good to see you again.

[swanimagines]

Hi Jenni, it's me again, I love the oneshot you made from my request, it was amazing, so I'm here to request Kaz Brekker + Can I Be Him? by James Arthur, as always, don't pressure yourself dear! Have a good day, thanks!

THE FREDDY EVENT HAS ENDED! Thank you everyone who requested during it! Freddy's characters preferences and requests for Jason, Tom and Ellis will stay open as I promised, they weren't exclusive to the event.

The Kaz taglist will apply for the remainder of content which came during the event, but after that it won't be used anymore and Kaz pieces will have the general Netflix show Shadow and Bone taglist, which contains the rest of the Crows, Alina, Mal, Genya, Darkling etc. You can apply to that if you want to catch the post-event requested Kaz pieces too!

A/N: The song sounds like it's about unrequited love, so I again manipulated the meanings a lot since I don't write full angst anymore. Sorry.

Warnings: mentions of death and torture, reader kills a guy

Word count: 987

He remembered the day he first met you.

He had been caught off guard during a small job he was doing for Haskell, as one of the Dime Lions grabbed a hold of him, another smirking as he strode in front of him. Kaz was fighting against the water, keeping his head above the surface by force as the sweaty hands of a goon was holding his wrists in place and tried to stare the skinny guy standing in front of him down with little success.

"Well, look who do we have here." The man looked over at his partner with an amused expression and shrugged, "Even Dirtyhands is detainable."

Kaz didn't answer, trying to take in steady breaths but it proved itself to be an impossible task.

Rot, bodies, smell of death, water, have to swim away.

"What do you think, Nocks? What will Haskell do to get his dog back?" the skinny man asked with a smirk and Kaz heard the guy behind him chuckle.

"He could pay a fair amount of money, I'd imagine."

The first man smiled again, baring his teeth. Then a shadow had flicked through the corner, and someone in a cloak came from the shadows.

"Let him go, gentlemen," the newcomer said calmly, no hint of fear in their tone as they walked towards them. The skinny man in front of Kaz frowned and turned around, and was met with a person who was approximately Kaz's age, standing there with a bow and a quiver on their back. The goons both laughed at the youngster, who stood there unfazed.

"Coming to save Dirtyhands? What are you, his sweetheart?" the skinny man laughed, taking a few quick steps towards the stranger, but they were quick with taking their bow and an arrow, aiming it straight at his head.

"One step closer, and you won't be thinking anything but 'I should've listened' when you hit the ground and rats come to eat your face off." They cocked an eyebrow and nodding towards Kaz. "I said let him go, or you won't see another day."

The two men still laughed, the skinny one turning his back on that person who was attempting to either save Kaz or take him as a prisoner to another gang. "Can you believe this kid?"

"Last chance before I make my move," the stranger spoke, but the skinny one just laughed some more, flicked his knife up and charged.

But the stranger was quicker as they pulled the string back all in one motion and shot the man right in the chest. He gasped and staggered backward, dropping the knife and started gurgling blood as he fell backwards into the ground, quickly bleeding out. The goon behind Kaz shook slightly as the stranger pulled the string back again.

"Do you want to join him?" they asked and the man immediately let go of Kaz, and he heard him running to the back alley and finally the stranger lowered their bow with a smirk, and then looked down at the whimpering Dime Lion, sighing as they took the arrow out from his chest and stuck it straight back into his heart, killing him instantly.

The stranger had then walked up to Kaz, offering him their hand, but of course he hadn't grabbed it and forced himself to get up with his buckling leg. The stranger had smiled at Kaz, nodded and left the scene, leaving Kaz alone with a strange feeling in his chest.

It hadn't taken long before they met again. That's when Kaz had learned your name and learned you were not a gang member nor you wanted to take an advantage of him, which was an act worthy of Saints in the Barrel. You had just seen a kid in trouble and decided to save him, even when you knew that he was Kaz Brekker, one of the most feared gang member around. But in your opinion, no one deserved to be executed or imprisoned without a fair fight.

Somehow, you woke up that little boy in Kaz who hadn't gone through all the pain he had. The boy who believed there was good in this world. Your smile made his whole day, even if he denied it.

You were there before any of his Crows appeared the picture, and they instantly saw that there's something going on between you two, the way Kaz looked at you and the way you smiled at him, how Kaz sometimes gently nudged you with his cane if you weren't paying attention.

One time at a dining table, you told your friends about your past. When your boyfriend had joined the Dime Lions to gain "honor" and betrayed your trust in order to do so, you had dedicated your life to help people who were about to be tortured or executed by them, unless you knew as a fact that they deserved what was coming for them. You were fully aware who Kaz was, what he had done in just the past two years when you had saved him, but somehow your gut told you that he deserved to be saved.

Kaz found himself wishing he could be your boyfriend instead of you meeting someone else who's just like that filthy Dime Lion traitor, but forced himself to push the thought aside. He didn't have time for that, and he knew he didn't have any chances for you anyway. He felt like from that very moment he first saw you coming out from that dark alleyway three years ago, when he was still just a boy who had just broken his leg and was learning to use his cane, his heart had already been stolen. He hated the feeling, but at the same time... every time he saw you, he forgot everything he hated in this situation.

Maybe even the Bastard learned to love someday, and show you his feelings.

---

Tags: @scandalous-chaos @brekkers-desigirl @bb-skyrunner @ellora-brekker @hanabihwa @animalistic0 @story-scribbler @lovemenotplz @writingmysanity @directioner5life @thevipers-world @imaginesfire // send in an ask to be added, and specify which of Freddy's characters do you want to be tagged on! (This taglist is for Freddy event only, I won't take character taglists for anyone else than Freddy's characters. And note: after the event, Kaz pieces will get the full SaB taglist again, this taglist applies only during this event) ALSO IF YOU WON’T INTERACT BEYOND LIKING, I’LL EVENTUALLY TAKE YOU OFF THE LIST!!

[inkykeiji]

My bf bought me gummy bears this morning (I'm on my period he's so sweet) and now I can't stop thinking about tomura sharing gummy bears with you. When he kisses you it's so sickeningly sugary

omg okay first of all i am also on my period rn!!!!! it is killing me!!! my uterus has yet again sprouted claws but anyway~ that’s so cute!!! tomu 100% forces you to eat the ones he doesn’t like (orange) and hoards his favourites from you (clear), only allowing you one if you promise you’ll give him something back. everything comes with a price, baby, don’t be so naive. (he’s so mean n selfish >.< and he doesn’t even consider it the half-assed attempt at manipulation it is; he genuinely thinks it’s only fair that you trade him for something he wants, too)

ehehehe i headcanon canon tomura to always taste like sugar tbh because i staunchly believe he is an absolute sugar fiend, solely surviving on candies and sodas (and somehow still staying rail thin) much to the dismay of kurogiri (and tomu’s dentist;;; omg how many cavities do u think he’s had????? a startling amount, i’m sure. kurogiri is def the only reason why his teeth haven’t entirely rotted out of his skull yet). the sugar doesn’t even affect him anymore, he’s just a ravenous fucking addict.

[drewmwalker]

I have some things to say about Grooves:D

we never get straight proof of him being manipulative, it’s a very good theory but it’s still doubtful considering some things do not add up, if we’re thinking logically

Firstly, why would Grooves want us to get hurt during big parade? It would ruin his reputation if someone found out, which is very likely at a literal parade with countless amounts of birds. I still thinks he was unaware of the dangers of the big parade, thinking we will be fine, he even throws us some goods to help with the job, which he would unlikely do if he genuinely wanted us to hurt ourselves. secondly, it’s kinda meaningless for him to put us in danger before finishing all his films, his idea of getting rid of us in the basement makes much more sense, if we consider him thinking about using and then getting rid of us after we help him win the award… yet. If we DO help him win the award, wouldn’t he want to keep us for future films? I feel like he fights us when we come back for the time piece out of desperation, he finally gets a chance to overthrow his rival and win all the awards he thinks Conductor got by cheating, (which I don’t deny, he’s obsessed with winning and makes up anything to prove himself this is not fair, there’s no doubting that) that he decided to cut off his other advantages over Conductor?

Third there’s this one thing that got removed from the game not that long ago..

There’s a dialogue used for a pile of mail in Grooves’ dressing room

It wasn’t removed that long ago and I’m not sure if by accident or not. But hate mail could be a huge pressure and tease from the Conductor, getting into Grooves’ head on the daily basis. I would honestly snap myself if I couldn’t take revenge on the guy that chooses to hate mail me out of everyone else on this planet. It’s not a lot, But I think it’s a great detail that could show more about how the directors treat each other , it surely doesn’t show Grooves from the better side, but considering we never see him doing something like that, we could assume that all those cutouts from the newspaper he collected are an attempt to talk back to Conductor for all that Grooves gets from him. Grooves is much better at acting all sassy and making himself look better in the eyes of the others, his slight teasing in comparison to what he gets from the owl behind everyone’s back doesn’t look that bad after all, even if Grooves is obsessed with winning and is putting..worrying amount of efforts into finding Conductor’s imperfections, he still has some standards he stands by.

God knows what is in those letters, after all..knowing Conductor, nothing good.

I still think Grooves is sometimes acting selfish and his snap shows that there is in fact much darker and sadistic side to him, even more terrifying then the Conductor, but

That’s all! I could be wrong or misinterpreting some of the thing you said, sorry for that:’D

All in all I really liked your analysis. good attention to details and perspective on unpopular characteristics of the birds!

Character Analysis: Conductor and DJ Grooves

Before I start this analysis made out of reading too much into dialogue and overall being way too obsessed with chapter two of A Hat in Time, I want to clarify that I like both of the directors. Conductor is my favorite character in the whole game and DJ Grooves is another character that I enjoy (I agree with all of you DJ Grooves fans, that funky penguin isn't getting enough content).

I also want to try to make people think about those two more and make them less one dimensional in their fan works. I understand that it is very easy to see DJ Grooves as just the charming underdog with absolutely no bad bone in his body, and Conductor as nothing more than a deranged lunatic. I hope I can inspire with this and draw some attention to these two lovingly crafted characters.

I'll split this analysis into 4 parts:

First impressions of the directors

Conductor, the deranged psycho...or not?

DJ Grooves, charming or cunning?

Final Thoughts

1. First impressions of the directors

We first meet the two quarreling directors in Chapter two act 1. As soon as we enter the lobby of the huge building that we'll later know as Dead Bird Studio, we bare witness to an argument between the Sci-fi and musical making penguin, DJ Grooves, and Conductor, a strange-looking owl thing that makes Westerns. The first thing every player will notice is that both characters seem to act very differently to the whole argument. While the yellow owl stomps his foot in anger and seems very aggressive, his rival seems to not be too fazed by the whole argument, simply dancing and more or less ignoring the allegations and insults the other throws his way.

In the very first scene we learn that the DJ appears to be rather calm and collected, while his counterpart comes of as rather aggressive and downright vindictive, given that he locks the penguins into their side of the studio.

Those first impressions get strengthened even more if the player talks to the actors of the studio. The Express Owls appear very scared of their boss, the Conductor, informing the player that they're mere passengers on the train that the Western director operates, they also state that he makes unexpected stops and caused them to be late for their work and that they get randomly dragged into filming movies. The Moon Penguins on the other hand seem to idolize their boss, DJ Grooves, they even have a fan club in his honor. Those flipper-snapping birds also seem to be very hostile toward new people seeing the player as a threat for their idol and are rather rude to Hat Kid.

When the player makes their way through the vent to enter the studio itself, the interactions that the DJ has with his penguins are all pretty friendly, he encourages them and is pretty calm when his actors make mistakes during recording, even when the player disrupts the recording by jumping in front of the cameras, the former DJ seems to only act confused and just continues on with his filming.

The Conductor on the other hand yells at his actors nonstop, voicing his frustrations clearly, calling his actors lousy and terrible when they make mistakes. Unlike his rival, the yellow owl doesn't take kindly to his recording being disrupted and he yells and gets even angrier whenever the player decides to jump in front of his cameras.

All of this just reaffirms the impressions we had of the characters so far, and even the finale of the chapter only underlines this, as the penguin asks for our help with desperation, and even hands us a bird passport, while the owl wants to take us to jail for messing with the Annual Bird Movie Awards.

The player will come out of this drawing the conclusion that DJ Grooves is the underdog that needs help in beating his despicable rival, who seems to be a terrible person all around. As it is the nature of us humans, we want to see the lovable underdog win against the overconfident and cruel rival, as it is seen in most media.

The second act of chapter two, “Murder on the Owl Express”, takes us onto the beloved train of the Western director where we are greeted by said director on the small balcony at the back of the caboose. Nothing much will change for our perception of the character here. He seems to not care that he scared the owls and Hat Kid with a fake murder that the player will obviously notice as just a set up. He will once again remind us that he hates his rival's movies before we're given a time piece and go on our merry way back to the spaceship.

“Picture Perfect”, the third act of the chapter, brings us to a big set on the moon where the DJ greets us enthusiastically. He takes on a mentor role for Hat Kid as she tries to build her own fan base as she goes from endorsement to endorsement. We get once again remind that the DJ is the “good guy” of this story as the Moon Penguins around him are happy and upbeat as opposed to the tense Express Owls. This pleasant and colorful act also clashed hard with the more dreary and serious “Murder on the Owl Express” act that we went through earlier.

Things take a more drastic and extreme turn in the last two stages. In “Train Rush” the player will get told that there is a bomb on the train and they'll have to go and defuse it. It shows the lengths and extremes the Western director will go to just to get a few nice shots for his movies. His attitude toward Hat Kid is once again rather harsh and demeaning, as he blatantly states that he doesn't care for her or the owls, only his train seems of any concern to him. When the chapter is completed, he will brush aside the concerns of the young space traveler, telling her that all of this was done in the name of cinematography.

“The big Parade” also takes things to the extreme with electric floors and homing missiles. The DJ seems as pleasant as ever, informing the player that it will be easy and that all they have to do is walk around the place a bit which does little to prepare the player for the rather hazardous minutes ahead of them.

The final Chapter will be determined by whom the player chooses as the winner at the end of the four split chapters. If the player chooses the Conductor, things will remain like they were before, the Conductor will remain condescending toward Hat Kid and will even attempt to murder her, while the DJ will come to her rescue when he's needed the most. If the player chooses Grooves, however, things will take a twist, the DJ will betray the young girl and will fight her instead, and Conductor, very surprisingly, intervenes and saves the poor girl from certain doom.

If taken at first glance, it is pretty straight forward who the bad guy is supposed to be it's obviously the Conductor, right? He's a terrible person that treats everyone around him horribly, while DJ Grooves did absolutely nothing wrong and only tried his best to win all this time.

But is it really, dear reader? Is it really as clear-cut and black and white as that, I'll ask you? Is Conductor really an all around bad guy, as Mustache Girl would say, and is DJ Grooves really the uwu penguin that can't do any wrong like his Moon Penguins seem to view him as? Let's find out together.

2. Conductor, the deranged psycho...or not?

One of the crucial arguments people make when they talk about the narrative of story is that the Conductor is obviously a crazy, derange old man who cares about nothing and nobody aside from his movies and his train. It's easy therefore to shove him into the villain role, like the story portraits him, however, his character is a bit deeper than what people give him credit for.

The easiest way for me to explain this point is debunking or at least theorizing on a couple of questions to which the answers may be not as cut and dry as you may think. Those questions are:

Is the Conductor a cheater? Is he endangering his actors? Does he care about Hat Kid at all?

To answer the questions, we're going to look at it from the very beginning of the chapter again, starting with the first question, is the Conductor a cheater? In act one the Conductor accuses Hat Kid of rigging the awards in the favor of his rival, considering what his rival did as fraud and roping the young girl into helping him as well. He seems to have contempt for her as she disrupts the status quo, and the best course of action is to make sure that the odds are evened out again. Given that the owl is rather direct, straight forward, and quite honest, we can potentially see him as despising cheating. This can be further backed up as In chapter 6 he will mention that the DJ will mock him for cheating if word gets out that he cheated, this could imply that he never cheated before that, and thus the accusation that his rival based a lot of his argument on (Saying that he manipulated everything to make sure that he never wins, cheating, and fraud) could all just be illusions that the penguin made to justify that the yellow owl won every award except for one, and that the Western director never actually cheated and won his awards legitimately.

The second and bigger problem, and what is a lot harder to ignore is the question of whether or not he actually puts his actors into danger? I can already hear you facepalm and go “Duh! Have you actually PLAYED 'Train Rush'! That owl...thing is a psycho!” To which I will say “Method Acting” Regularly a technique used by actors to get into their roles by putting themselves into situations that the characters they're playing is in, in order to give a more convincing and expressive performance. The Conductor purposefully exposes the owls, and Hat Kid to the stressful situations and without telling them that they're recording to get better acting out of them.

This is confirmed when he tells Hat Kid that his script isn't ready in act 2, there he also says that he's not recording. We as the players know this whole scene is a set up, which is of course confirmed by the owl himself at the end of the act.

The owls seem just as clueless about it as the young space traveler, as they show fear and panic. (The only one clued in is the owl that plays dead, but none of the others know that he's pretending) This can of course be slightly debunked depending on the person or group you chose as the culprit. If you pick Hat Kid we don't know if she only picked herself just because, due to the owl simply saying that she put a rubber knife on him, but we were with Hat Kid the whole time...I mean we're controlling her so we would have seen if she had done that to the owl. It makes it probable that she simply lied, Conductor's dramatic retelling of the events also makes that more unbelievable, making it likely that she had no idea that it was a set up and just picked herself on a whim to see what would happen

To summarize, no owls were harmed during “Murder on the Owl Express”

I know you've been waiting, tapping your foot at me impatiently considering that “Train Rush” is the bigger issue. I can already hear you typing. “THE CONDUCTOR LITERALLY TELLS US THAT THERE IS A BOMB!”

Yes, that bomb existed, and yes, I know about that, but the important question is yet again, was anyone harmed? Where those risks calculated? What if I told you...that they were.

The owls do mention that they have more explosives on the train, which is true, but those are all on carts where we don't see any owls being in. The owls are all in areas that are more or less safe and none of them appear to be harmed. Even the band plays as if nothing is wrong, further confirming that they knew that they'd be safe.

As you know, the Conductor is at the front of the train the ENTIRE time we see him after the announcement. (I have no idea how he got to the front all the way from the caboose without us noticing, game logic, I guess) He could have switched that bomb off at any time. We never actually see the bomb blow up even if the time runs out, we simply die as if killed by an enemy, so it neither confirms nor debunks that the bomb blew up. Not even in chapter 6 do we see the bomb ACTUALLY exploding.

So is he endangering his actors? Physically no, mentally and emotionally, yes. His actions here still make it clear that he only see the owls as a means to and end, which is winning the award. The amount of stress and trauma he forces the Express Owls through is just collateral to him.

The last point on this list is does he show care toward Hat Kid aside from the finale?

Too many people say the switch in personality that Conductor shows when he saves Hat Kid from the demented DJ comes out of nowhere, and they do not see the build up that happened across the two chapters that lead up to chapter 6. I understand that wholeheartedly, because that build up is extremely subtle. It is very easy to go through both, chapter 2 and chapter 4, thinking that the yellow bird show no affection toward Hat Kid, especially when you consider that the DJ shows more affection for her in his chapters. The Conductor's shift in demeanor is very easy to miss. In act 1 the owl seems to dislike Hat Kid quite a lot for interfering, but there's two easily overlooked lines that show some growth.

I want you to look at those two pictures, the first is at the end of “Murder on the Owl Express”, while the second is taken at the end of “Train Rush”.

Do you see the slight switch in demeanor? The first one tells us that we should leave, but the line delivery even shows that he doesn't yell this time even if it has an exclamation mark. He speaks a bit more fondly of her in the second picture, saying that Hat Kid deserved the time piece instead of telling us to grab the supposed prop and scram.

I'm also going to briefly mention here that he still helps Hat Kid in chapter 5, and even apologizes for attempting to kill her (He tries at least, he's not very good at it) if he was chosen as the winner for the award. If he's the loser, he will express a bit of empathy for her for what his rival had put her through.

So, is the Conductor the good guy now? No...not by any means. He's still a very aggressive and competitive bird thing that doesn't value his actors too much and prioritizes his movies over everything. Some theories explain his behavior, but this analysis is based on what we actually see in game and theories and conclusions we can potentially draw from those facts. As it stands, he's very much still a bad person, but he has far more nuance when what people give him credit for, if you know where to look. I hope that my small analysis on him here has shown you that there is a potential for him to actually care about Hat Kid, and that the owl is just a tad bit kinder when he lets on.

3. DJ Grooves, charming or cunning?

Another thing that I and a few others hate to see is that people tend to view the charming and stylish former DJ as just the good guy that can't harm a fly, thus they think that Conductor winning, and the subsequent fight in which the DJ rescues us, makes more sense than if he back stabs the young girl he so affectionately calls his diva. Just like with his counterpart, there are a few things I have gripes with, but the ways in which the DJ is more twisted when he lets on are about as subtle as the ways in which the Conductor is kind.

Once again, we can ask a few questions to make it easier to understand where I'm coming from with this, those being: To what extend does DJ Grooves hate his rival? Is the DJ a manipulator?

I once again hear you guys typing a defense for the underrated costar of the second chapter of the game, telling me that the DJ never did anything wrong, that all he wanted to do was make good movies and defeat his angry and hostile rival once again. You may even say that the penguin doesn't really hate his rival all too much, seeing as he tries to stay mostly calm when talking to him...what you don't see is that he has a lot of contempt for the yellow bird, far more than he lets on.

When we first see him interact with his rival, he comes off as calm and collected, appearing to not take the argument too seriously. He takes a jab at the owl's struggles to come up with new ideas which leaves the yellow bird stunned for a moment. The fact that he know that his rival struggles with ideas and the fact he mentions it here is important, keep it in the back of your mind. The penguin seems to know exactly how to get under the other's skin and riles up the Conductor even more while he himself stays calm, he even dances during this whole exchange, showing how little it affects him.

The spite for his rival and his obsession with winning the award is a lot harder to see, and we only get a glimpse of it during act 6 itself if he's the winner were he makes it clear that he despises the owl, slandering his name even without the prove for it, and, if my own theory that I made earlier is true, that accusation has no leg to stand on.

The amount of vitriol in the voice of DJ Grooves (which is amazing by the way, kudos to the voice actor) shows just how frustrated and spiteful he really is, an amount of anger and hatred we've not heard from the penguin in any of his levels yet, is present. There is a few more instances other than this though that show his hatred for his rival and his obsession with winning the award.

These little newspaper clippings can be found in the basement of Dead Bird Studio and are placed on the wall outside of the trophy room. This room is situated right above the DJ's dressing room.

Conductor's is in a completely different area of the basement and not even adjacent to it, kind of making it questionable that the room belongs to Conductor like many people claim. There is a hallway, a room, and another hallway between his side of the studio and Grooves' side.

Also, why would he have a room above his rival's dressing room? But back to the posters. These poster show the Conductor in a bad light, the one on the top left seems to be an article on the Western director's first loss, while the one below that shows that something went wrong in his movies, saying that a “Calculated risk went horribly wrong”. It likely refers to the movie that cost the yellow owl award 42. It also isn't favorable for the yellow owl to be laughing at the misfortune of another bird, as the right clipping shows. All in all, those clips show embarrassing and more humbling moments of the owl, further proving that the room is Grooves', and that he hates his rival enough to remind himself that the strange yellow bird is far from perfect and in fact not untouchable. If that room really is Grooves, it shows an eerie obsession with winning, having over 200 plastic replica of the golden trophy, it shows just how far gone the penguin really is.

But it gets better, yes, dear reader, there's more, and this one can be completely missed if you pick the wrong character in a completely different act...and that act is “Murder on the Owl Express”!

You may be asking yourself “Huh? What does one of Conductor's acts have to do with DJ Grooves?” Well, the penguin mocks his rival not only in front of his whole crew...BUT IN FRONT OF HIS OWN AUDIENCE! I know pics or it didn't happen, so...here you go.

THIS is why I told you to listen when I said that he hated Conductor a lot more than he lets on, it may appear as him being friendly, but look at the context, he's helping his poor, idea-less, incompetent rival create a story line. Is that friendly or detrimental? I'll ask you! Keep this screenshot in mind, it will be relevant again.

Have I convinced you that the penguin, REALLY hates his rival now? That the amount of anger he feels might even justify him snapping if he hadn't already? That he hides insanity and hatred behind his fashionable shades. If not, stay tuned, there's more.

Now, let me shatter your view of the 'uwu, I'm incapable of doing anything wrong' penguin even more. Let's focus on another important factor in this whole story, the main character, Hat Kid. We get roped into helping the DJ after he pleads for Hat Kid's help, telling us that is penguins are terrible actors. No, I'm not saying that he hates the Moon Penguins, given that the story book “Groovy Underdog” exists. It makes it clear that he's frustrated with their acting, but still tries hard to make it work even with them being bad at their jobs.

What I have an issue with is that he manipulates Hat Kid into helping him, which is the very thing that prompts Conductor to accuse her of fraud. DJ Grooves simply spotted an opportunity to beat his rival and win the award, the goal was not to help Hat Kid become famous, he simply more or less cheated by dragging an outsider into their quarrel.

The second instance that shows that the DJ is amazing at manipulating those around him is in the first act we see him again, act 3 “Picture Perfect”. He demonstrates an uncanny ability to wrap the viewers at home around his flipper. Everyone on the moon seems to know him as he himself says that everyone knows his name, and it is backed up by the amount of followers Hat Kid gains after every endorsement.

The best example of this is when Hat Kid takes a page out of Conductor's colorful dictionary and uses the word “Peck” ,a swear word in the bird world. Here the DJ shows that he knows his audience rather well, explaining that swearing on TV would get him into trouble, he knows that his image could take a blow if Hat Kid says the wrong thing. He quickly sweeps the occurrence under the rug and tells the space traveler to scram.

The entirety of act 3 shows perfectly how amazing the DJ is at manipulating people to his advantage, even Hat Kid doesn't catch on to what he's actually doing. He's using Hat Kid's cute, childlike charm and likability to his advantage, this is backed up in act 1 where he refers to Hat Kid as an innocent soul with a heart of gold before dismissing her right BEFORE he gets the idea to use her for his own gain.

He continues to manipulate the public and even the player's impression of him by presenting himself as a charming mentor character to Hat Kid, and an overall likable funky fellow. It's all a facade, a charade put on by him to hide his desperation for the victory, show the player, Hat Kid and the public what they want, a charming director who can't do anything wrong at all.

The cracks show in “The Big Parade”, act 5 of the chapter. He explains to us and to Hat Kid, that the parade will be easy, that all she has to do was jump and run around the rooftops...with not a single line does he mention the dangers we're actually facing. Electric floors, homing missiles and carnage, all presented as a happy-go-lucky movie with nice effects and pleasant music.

The audience of the movie doesn't see the danger, the difficulty and the hazardous chaos that Hat Kid navigates through. They only see the pretty colors, the nice effects and the cheery music so out of place in this nightmare. The DJ either doesn't know that Hat Kid is in danger, which is unlikely, or he doesn't care. In “Train Rush” The Conductor blatantly tells us that there's a bomb and that were in danger of the whole train blowing up, here, the disco-loving director shows that he cares as little for Hat Kid's safety as the Conductor does, he just doesn't blatantly tell us.

To summarize, the DJ feigns to care for Hat Kid and only sees her as a means to an end, just like his, apparently seen as more evil, counterpart. Speaking of his counterpart, I told you to keep that screenshot in mind where Grooves “helps” the Conductor with his movie.

I mentioned that he ruins the reputation of his rival, but he also BOOSTS HIS! He even makes clear who is speaking! In the line before the screenshot I took, he announces to everyone in the room and the audience that will watch this movie that HE is here to help his poor rival. It not ONLY mocks the Conductor for his lack of ideas, but it might boost his own movies as he's seen as a generous and helpful guy by the audience of Conductor's movies.

Once again I'll ask, just how innocent is that penguin really? Can you STILL claim that his shift in demeanor is out of character, when everything he does can point to him being just as deranged as his rival if not more so. I think that I have at least given you some food for thought...Maybe you will look at this flashy disco penguin in a different way the next time you play his levels...and you'll see the cold and calculated show he puts on for the viewers.

4. Final Thoughts

I hope that I managed to convey that both the Conductor and DJ Grooves are far more nuanced and interesting when we give them credit for, that chapter 2 can be far more interesting and less black and white when what people say. I personally love both characters a lot. Don't go chasing me with pitchforks for ruining the character for you, it's okay if you want to see DJ Grooves as nice and a cinnamon roll, and Conductor as a cold-hearted bastard. Everything is up to interpretation which varies from person to person. All I tried to accomplish was give food for thought and maybe explain a little why DJ Grooves as the winner makes more sense when people realize.

I'm always up for discussing chapter 2, as it's my favorite. Thank you for reading and have a nice day or night! You're awesome!

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@majormeilani Here it is, you wanted me to tag you for this. I hope you liked it. Chapter 2 ftw!

[sepublic]

Not to be controversial but I’m seeing people criticize the Plantars for being too ‘harsh’ towards Sasha during The Dinner, and I love Sasha but like...

...Their treatment is perfectly fair, considering she tried to murder two of them??? Knowingly, and with plenty of agency in the matter??? Like she straight up wanted Hop Pop dead, and then tried to kill Sprig, a freaking child, just for standing up to Anne and being an actual friend to her.

YES Sasha said sorry but that’s really about it; And I don’t think survivors of an attempted murder owe their attacker forgiveness. I think the Plantars were fully in their right to act obnoxiously, and probably not even that intentionally; A real apology comes with preparation for no forgiveness, and as it turns out, Sasha had never even meant her apology to begin with.

Plus, Sprig is a kid; He was ten, nearing eleven at the time. Sasha is officially thirteen but we all know she’s sixteen, Matt and the crew openly admitted to writing the girls as such; So she’s even older than Sprig, he’s two-thirds her age. Obviously to us older fans, they’re ALL kids, but from the perspective of Sprig, Sasha is this much bigger, much older person who tried to kill him. It doesn’t help that Sasha justified it with some pretty racist rhetoric, dismissing them as ‘just frogs’, and need I remind you that frogs are already at the bottom of a caste system as-is.

Point is, Sprig is a tiny kid, he’s allowed to be immature, especially towards an older teenager that tried to kill him. Most of Sasha’s reparations by that point were mostly towards Anne, with the Plantars as kind of a side-bit to earning Anne’s forgiveness, and it shows. Likewise if I was Hop Pop... Again, being set up for a public execution warrants any amount of salt imo. And as a parent who’s already lost ONE child, you can imagine he’s not very happy about someone who tried to kill his grandkid.

In all honesty, the Plantars are showing a HUGE amount of grace towards Sasha, just by virtue of their love and respect for Anne’s wishes. That’s very mature of them in and of itself, so I think Sasha wouldn’t really have any right to hold any ‘pettiness’ against them when they’re nevertheless letting her into their home. Especially since, again, it really was all a ploy to manipulate everyone. And I don’t think Anne needs to be called out on that, letting the Plantars rib Sasha because again; She can’t tell them how to feel. She can try to acclimate Sasha and vouch for her, but the Plantars are fully entitled to their feelings on someone who tried to kill all but one of them.

I’m just saying, from an apologizer’s standpoint, Sasha is in no place to really demand anything. And again, at least some of Sprig’s immaturity can be boiled down to him just being a little kid in general. Plus if Turning Point is any indication, Sasha still had yet to fully acknowledge and respect the frogs as people, or at least people worthy of respect. And in all honesty, I feel the Plantars were more insensitive and unthinking than anything else; But if they were malicious, honestly I wouldn’t hold that against them considering what Sasha did and actually didn’t regret.

I love Sasha, she’s a problematic fave, but she’s also exactly that; Problematic. Trying to murder two people and dismissing them in a very racist way all the while is NOT great, especially since Sasha tried to kill Sprig for a fairly harmless, if defiant, gesture. And she honestly still hasn’t made up for it; Though defending their community of Wartwood in the Plantars’ absence might help redeem her for real in their eyes. That and real reparations and apologies with Anne, who they’re mostly giving Sasha a second chance for, and I’d say that’s rather gracious of them for both girls.

Like; When Sasha retorts that she only tried to kill them one time, the joke is that this is still a very unreasonable amount at all. I don’t think we’re supposed to agree and sympathize with Sasha in this regard, especially since the episode involves Sasha realizing her need for total control is really getting in the way of her social interactions. Part of releasing that control is letting people actually get to say how they justifiably feel and taking it into account, instead of getting pissed and literally flipping a table over it; And it also means taking responsibility for one’s actions and controlling them as well.