#manipulation duo

[hungergameshyperfixation]

I’m actually so here for Katniss and Haymitch parallels but I also am here for the Peeta and Haymitch parallels.

Underutilized imo.

[aureumms]

average day on the dsmp

[introspectivememories]

all sunrise on the reaping has taught me is that the same way katniss is haymitch's not-daughter, peeta is effie's not-son

[pigeonstab]

Target audience: me

most threatening blob this side of the smp

[bxnnie-bxwl]

so ive talked about previously of an alt version of evil!bonnie au, of gregory ending up with bonnie first and cause chaos dismantling the other animatronics...

[peace-hunter]

This might not happen but...

In your Haunted Prime AU

Would the Primes try to encourage Optimus to adopt Bee and start encouraging him even more more they found out about that Bee was Sub level 50 for who knows how long?

as a little brother certainly! i think Optimus and Bee are closer in age in TF:One than they are in other continuities so their relationship is more fraternal than anything!

but the Primes absolutely encourage anything that involves Optimus having more friends. they're incredibly glad to be able to help and support OP but they definitely think his support network should have some actual living bots and not just ghosts.

most of them are immediately endeared to Bee and the novelty of being able to communicate with someone other than Optimus, even if it has to be through Micronus, makes him a instant favorite.

finding out how isolated Bee had been and for how long only makes them more resolved to have OP spend more time with him. two birds one stone kinda deal.

haunted au

[bedrockkbros]

ctubbo does wood working, cranboo knits and gardens and ctommy does crochet. (They all make gifts for each other constantly)

[stellocchia]

Nightmare would absolutely be the kind of guy to go: "I don't know what Color told you, but-" any time Killer expresses a negative opinion about him. Both because he's incapable of seeing Killer as his own person capable of forming his own opinions and because, while he knows he's a bad guy, I would be willing to bet that there's some level of denial for him on that front. (Corrupted Nightmare gives me major victim complex vibes, I dunno what to say).

And every time Killer starts doubting himself because he struggles to see himself as his own person too even on good days. But then he remembers that that bastard abused him for years (likely to think about it more as 'had undeserved control over him and now won't leave him alone after he won the game'), so actually fuck that! He's allowed to dislike him, Color or not.

Nightmare would also try to pull the "I don't know what those souls told you, but-" at the start of meeting Color and it goes back again to him knowing he's a bad guy but also not fully. And also it goes back to him being a manipulative bastard, but I don't think it needs to be said.

And it probably works too to some extent because that is something Color struggles with. Thankfully, he's got Integrity there to help him keep his head straight, and Justice there to call that slimy octopus out on his bullshit.

[itg1rl-xx]

were just girls 🎀

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Wonder if killer would be terrified of the idea that color could ever love or care about him when he’s in stage 2, when he’s ’like that,’ and doesn’t want color to ever love him when he’s like that. let alone trust him

he can’t trust that anything he said or did or thought in stage 2 was real, or true, or him—and he knows how he can pretend and fake feeling things he doesn’t or didn’t when he’s like that. It’s how he got swap to trust him enough to let down his guard, by fake crying and pretending to be willing to hear swap out.

then he stabbed him in the eye as soon as he saw an opening, and even now he hears the cracking of ribs crumbling under his touch, can swear he still feels the blood soaking and running down between his phalanges. Can remember scrubbing the bones raw, trying to get the dried blood out.

and I think the way he disregards his own boundaries and wants when he’s like that must be pretty disturbing if not downright terrifying.

he doesn’t want this (whatever ‘this’ is referring to exactly), and he may know that still somewhere very deep down in an unreachable place, and yet it doesn’t seem to matter as much as it did moments earlier—as he’s nodding and agreeing or just being strangely, eerily docile on the surface—yet when he’s back to himself, he vaguely recalls thoughts of only what colors wants and needs, colors reactions, colors likes and dislikes, how to give that to him, how to be useful enough to be kept. what to do or say to get what he needs from color.

it’s like no matter how many times color keeps trying to tell him that what he wants matters, what he wants almost always seems to take a backseat when he’s like that, whenever it comes to those he views as stronger than him.

[teapot-of-tyrahn]

“i think when we’re red … we can have fun again!”

gem doesn’t love pearl. she loves red pearl.

she loves pearl when she’s not herself. when her mind is clouded by a red fog and a desperation for blood. when she’s at her lowest. she loves what they are when they both have nothing to lose.

she can only love her when neither of them are them.

“as much as she would love to, it’s too early for red pearl. okay? she can stay where she is.”

pearl has never considered red pearl to be her. red pearl is another person - red pearl is who she doesn't want to be. red pearl is what she has to become to survive.

gem loves pearl. she does!

just not the one who's healed. not the one who's happy. she loves the one that's hurt. the one that hurts. the one she can hurt people with.

[agaricus-bitorquis]

I think apart of why Sunkissed ended up the way that it did was because of their Poor Communication, and it isn't just "Not Saying Things" with them, its that they have such different communication styles that they struggle to understand eachother.

A really strong example is actually Post-Confrontation where Derapchu messages Princezam "I Forgive You.", it wasn't manipulation like people say it is or even Derapchu saying that Zam should apologise. If you watch the scene back, Zam keeps repeating "I just can't be wrong, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I just can't be wrong."

What Derapchu was saying to him is that he didn't hold that interaction against Zam, and it was meant to come across as Derapchu still being in Zams corner because he understands that Zam couldn't be wrong. But I know how it came across and, instead of either of them communicating what they really meant, Derap sent a message which is very easy to interpret as Manipulative or as Sarcastic or Derapchu not considering Zams feelings and Zam just didn't say anything.

Part of the problem will always be what they didn't say to eachother however I think we also need to be looking at how different they communicate and literally Use Words for looking what went Wrong in Sunkissed too.

[bi-ta]

I’m kinda like the design of their 'necklace things'. Like they somehow contrast and match at the same time and it just hits different👏🏻😭

[zuzuelectricbugaloo]

Not feeling too great and the reason for it made me think of CookieCutter Duo, Epic and Killer. Specifically, how they both had their Souls manipulated and tortured by others’ own amusement and or gain without their consent.

Content Warnings: Discussion of sexual assault, assault, physical abuse, child abuse, dehumanization, child experimentation, Soul experimentation and penetration below

Epic was created in the lab and from the very day he was created, it’s been shown and implied in Epictale’s No Pain No Gain prequel comic that he’d been experimented on his entire life. Others like Color and Delta have also been implied to be experiments, but whether or not their Souls were manipulated during their development has not been canonically shown nor implied as far as I can recall.

Ever since he was a child, Epic!Gaster experimented on him. Attempting to create a perfect vessel to eventually store the Eyes and be an interesting subplot to the Readers should the Eyes not be needed for his future master plan. Those experiments included his Soul. How many times had Epic, through his entire childhood and well into his adult life, been forcibly strapped down to a table/machine so Epic!Gaster could experiment on his Soul? Trying to increase his HP and once he succeeded after the Eye’s implantation into Epic, proceeded to physically destroy Epic’s Soul over and over again, killing Epic repeatedly to increase his stats and therefore the Eye’s power. Killing Epic in ways each varying in method but never wavering in their cruelty.

A monster’s Soul is the culmination of their very being. Monsters interact with each others’ Souls in Encounters, to have children, and to be intimate. Touching or manipulating another monster’s Soul is serious. Touching and forcing magic into another Soul feels like a violation, like their body and Soul (mind) is being violated and they’re losing a part of themself.

Epic was only a child when this all started. It doesn’t matter that Epic!Gaster or his Followers never meant it sexually. The act committed against Epic was STILL a physical violation of his body and mind. Epic had no choice but to be experimented on, Gaster and his Followers excusing this because Epic wasn’t “a real monster”, that because Epic was Gaster’s creation he had the right to experiment on and treat Epic however he wanted. Because Epic wasn’t a monster, he was Gaster’s tool and experiment to use however he deemed fit.

With Killer, this violation is done by Nightmare. Nightmare has been shown to force his powers on Killer’s Soul against Killer’s wishes to make him be Nightmare’s servant. Either stabbing Killer’s Soul with his tentacles to reshape it into Stage 2’s circular target or destroying his Soul completely and replacing him with another Killer. It’s still forcing himself on an unwilling Killer. A cruel, brutal act done only for the sake of appeasing Nightmare’s sense of superiority and power and satisfying his desires. Once more, it may not be done with sexual intent, but it doesn’t change what the action represents.

Killer has had his Code altered by the Player. His very sense of self had been changed against his will. Over and over again, Killer had been coded to be a mere toy and tool for others’ to use. Taught and trained to kill and obey until he went from Sans to irreversibly becoming the Killer we all know. His body and Soul is no longer his own. He is no longer the same person he used to be. He is a hybrid, an affront to the laws of nature and a blight to the happiness of the few he still cared about.

Epic’s Soul manipulations was done as experimentation to be a tool and safety storage for a weapon. Killer’s Soul manipulations was done to create a toy and weapon that would obey its superiors. Both irrevocably had their senses of self changed and ingrained into them that they are sub-human(monster) and therefore don’t deserve the same basic rights and decency like other “normal” monsters do. That what was done to them was their fault. That they are flawed, corrupted, not seeing how they are victims for what happened and instead blaming themselves.

I think if they both opened up to each other about it, it’d be something they’d both connect over. Epic may not be Killer’s best and dearest friend and vice versa, but he can relate to what happened to Killer’s Soul. Epic can see Code, and to some extent can have control over it (though whether or not it stops at his AU’s Code only and or on himself, or how far it can go with others, is unclear and not stated in canon or answered by Yugo). They both could talk about ways to help Killer’s Soul heal, or at the very least find a way to manage the corroded Determination eating Killer from the inside out (Killer canonly studies Souls and monster dust, having an interest in Code, and a reason is likely to help his Soul).

They both know what it’s like to have the most intimate parts of themselves violated without their consent. And they both know what it’s like to live with that forever.

[randommle]

BRO ANYONE WATCHED THIS YET?

ACTUALLY SO GOOD ESPECIALLY THE VERY ENDING

SPOILERS WHILE I RANT ABOUT HOW COOL THIS IS:

Welcome to Jumper sacrifices her friend's trust to prove a point. Today we're here to showcase "The Power of Manipulation Suggestion~"

The ending was very sad, Jumper only wanted to conduct an experiment (I mean, tbf, experimenting on friends isn't that nice-) and now she's broken all trust she had with her friend. The fact that Rek now doesn't trust Jumper anymore and Jumper's only response is basically "You can think what you believe, I'm okay with that. Just know that I really would never."

I'm really trying to figure out Jumper's mindset throughout this, I feel like Jumper would act more sad if she felt more remorse for what she did to Rek. Did she expect Rek to not be able to trust her anymore? Did she not really care about their relationship? Is she an evil psychologist in this universe?

I love this new series of Jumper experimenting on her friends <3

"And thank you, Rek, for proving how much strength this experiment holds. And I hope to see you again soon, in the future." It's basically Jumper saying "Thanks for showing me how much I affected you. See you on Lifesteal where we're friends."

ALSO DID ANYONE NOTICE THE STICKLERS IN THE CORNER WHEN JUMPER SAYS THAT? PLEASE YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME I'M GONNA START THINKING OF MORE JUMPER AND REK ANGST...

Edit: This also mildly reminds me of that one scripted Ro video where he killed Zam's dog and eventually managed to warp his whole perspective into thinking it was Mapic (actually I'm gonna rewatch that vid it was rlly good). I guess the Sticklers are really into manipulation or smth lmao

[shannonsketches]

There's a meme going around to draw your comfort characters as the Steven meme.

Bowser's never been a comfort character for me, but thinking about how great an Illumination Smash Bros movie would be with these two having the dumbest greatest villain team dynamic has brought me SO much joy this year.