#redux!bleh

[bfdiredux]

do you have any ideas for the teams in the redux? if so can you do Just Not the gamers ever :>

There are. A lot of teams to go over!! Why not?

If you're looking for proposals on specific characters, I recommend searching the #character proposal or the #redux!(Character name) tags!!

Forewarning: this post is LONG!!

SEASON 1!

Team names start off randomized by Announcer himself. Teams also have designated leaders based on challenges-- until Another Name, where Golf Ball volunteers herself with support from Tennis Ball.

Squishy Cherries

Founded and led by Pin after she and Leafy were the last two on the balance beam in episode 1 of BFDI. Bubble, Eraser, Blocky, Match, Pencil, Firey, Pen, Woody, and Spongy join.

Later on, Firey switches to Squashy Grapes and Blocky rejoins onto that team.

The classic alliance between Pencil, Match, and Bubble stays strong, even as they are eliminated.

Pen, Blocky, and Eraser are suuuper close. There's also Snowball but they aren't on the same team so they don't get to spend as much time with him. They probably have their own group nickname.

Not.. quite the best team out there. Sometimes they argue. It's natural but it's also part of why they lose so many challenges. Individuals who do have talents that can help may be overlooked on sheer accident.

Squashy Grapes

Founded and led by Leafy after she and Pin were the last two on the balance beam in episode 1 of BFDI. Needle, Ice Cube, Coiny, Snowball, Tennis Ball, Golf Ball, Coiny, Flower, Rocky, and Teardrop join.

Some highlights!!

Firey is picked to go from Squishy Cherries to Squashy Grapes. This is a great tool to further establish Firey's (rocky) friendship with Leafy and rivalry with Coiny.

Blocky rejoins on Squashy Grapes too. Ice Cube now has direct access to him and his shenanigans. She WILL start a legal battle over his deadly pranks, don't test her. (Blocky will do just that)

I want to give Teardrop some highlight in BFDI. She is HIGHLY COMPETITIVE and still perfecting her craft at this time-- and may fumble in the process, costing her team a challenge and getting her eliminated.

The team in general is dedicated to winning-- they have aligning skill sets that allow them to take the W for several challenges.

This forces the team to split, with members joining...

Another Name

Talk about a mixup!

When Firey is convinced that this team should actually be Squashy Grapes. Golf Ball says that they need to be another name and Announcer "accidentally" solidifies them as Another Name. Golf Ball does NOT hesitate to make herself team captain when Announcer asks who Another Name wants it to be. That sets of a trend for every team Golf Ball is in until TPOT.

Rocky, Firey, Golf Ball, Tennis Ball, and Coiny are split up from Squashy Grapes for the final 15.

Firey is argumentative and this does not bode well with Golf Ball. Coiny and Firey are constantly fighting.

When the team is locked in, they are a force to be reckoned. Golf Ball and Tennis Ball are the strategics, Firey is good at executing plans, Coiny is charismatic, and Rocky is... Well. Rocky can spit anything out of his mouth.

SEASON 2!

There are so many teams this season. This is because of season 2's gimmick: team swapping. Every episode, before the challenge wheel is spun, contestants are welcome to change teams as they wish.

The hierarchy in teams is demolished. Teams do not need a captain-- but it doesn't stop some from having leaders and it won't in future seasons.

Do note that I prioritize elimination order over who's on what team!! With all of the swapping that happens, some teams are bound to be removed or put up for elimination over others-- as long as the designated contestant is eliminated.

Team No-Name

The Golf Ball curse strikes again!!

Golf Ball also finds a way to make herself the team leader early on. You go girl!

No-Name starts off as organized chaos. They've got. Golly bear with me again: Bomby, Book, Dora, Firey, Fries, Gelatin, Golf Ball, Ice Cube, Match, Needle, Nickel, Pencil, Puffball, Rocky, Ruby, Spongy, Teardrop, Tennis Ball, and Yellow Face.

Golf Ball has a hard time assigning everyone to jobs. There's SO MANY PEOPLE. They don't need that many to win a cake baking challenge but people want the immunity. So Golf Ball just. Assigns everyone to groups.

As the team gets smaller, it's easier for Golf Ball to manage.

WOAH Bunch and No-Name form in the first episode. FreeSmart forms in the second episode.

This team. I have the least on I think. There's a LOT of dynamics and. I think it having so many people to start off with may be its biggest focus. Understanding balance!!

Beautiful Face Devotion Institute: Gone. Turned to dust. Reduced to atoms. What matters is Spongy getting eliminated in the episode following it's creation, so goodbye to this team!! Team No-Name just loses the challenge.

WOAH Bunch

This team starts off with just Donut. He thinks everyone being on one team defeats the purpose of there being teams at all!! Pin and Coiny get that reasoning and join him.

Teardrop joins WOAH Bunch. Needle joins WOAH Bunch. Yellow Face joins WOAH Bunch. Bomby joins WOAH Bunch. Nickel and Spongy join WOAH Bunch. Rocky joins WOAH Bunch.

Pin acts as the team leader and encourages supporting one another until BFDIA 11. From that point onwards, the team acts more as one entity. Without a head. Much to Pin's frustration.

The team falls apart as time goes on, allowing the merge to happen in BFDIA 18.

FreeSmart

Where bridges burn.

Formed by Pencil's alliance due to how large and chaotic No-Name was, FreeSmart starts off with Pencil, Match, Ice Cube, Ruby, and Book. Bubble is a spectator and host in BFDIA but she helps FreeSmart!!

The goal is, as the name implies, being free. Which makes for great irony with how controlling the team leader is 😋

Pencil acts as FreeSmart's leader for as long as she's in the game and works with the ideal of everything having a use and everyone having a part to play. Be resourceful.

Needle is an off and on member. Gelatin and Firey join FreeSmart with Gelatin leaving a couple of episodes after.

Going into IDFB, where there's no seasons, FreeSmart is still called FreeSmart, although it becomes more of a friend group.

Fries

Can. Can I even call this a team? This is just one guy trying his damnedest to make it through a challenge. Fries'll be getting his own character proposal eventually.

FriesMart

A duo with the parody name suggested by Fries to poke fun at FreeSmart. FriesMart didn't last long, but while it did, Needle and Fries get to have a fun dynamic!!

Fried likes working by himself and Needles likes working with a team. While Fries is a lone wolf, he won't hesitate to help a teammate out, and is ready to do just that in BFDIA 17.

Nickel

LITERALLY just the same case as Fries.

SEASON 4!

Section one: pre-split

To those not in the know: season 3, in canon and in the redux, is not a competition season and will not have teams! So we we are going directly to season 4. BFB is managed...? Kind of? By Four and X. Neither of them did background checks and Four was ambitious enough to host for 64 people.

Season 2's system of having no leaders and letting teams name themselves is kept. However, characters can no longer swap teams whenever they want.

(Note: I may change it to where X shuffles the teams together instead of contestant picking, X tries their hardest to note who's friends and who's not in order to keep teams compatible! It is not a perfect route)

A Better Name Than That

This just in! The Golf Ball curse is BACK.

A Better Name Than That includes 8-Ball, Basketball, Blocky, Golf Ball, Grassy, Robot Flower, Tennis Ball, and TV.

Golf Ball tries to be the team's leader but is thwarted. 8-Ball is elected and does not want the job. 8-Ball is not prepared or mature enough for it-- but hey. He has it now.

Golf Ball STILL tries to assert herself as leader with support from Tennis Ball when 8-Ball is eliminated. The team opts to work as a whole instead-- they want compromise.

They have a strong setup when they know what to do with it. Two strategists in GB and TB, a problem solver in BB, Blocky who's willing to do any dirty work, an organizer in RF, a sense of reasoning in TV, and-

A child. Grassy is five. The best A Better Name Than That can do with Grassy is protect him from Four. I did say Four didn't do background checks!!

Team Competitors!

Renamed from Team Icecube!, as Bracelety is now a huge BFDI hyperfan, not just fixating Ice Cube.

Team Competitors! includes Barf Bag, Bomby, Bracelety, Donut, Firey Jr., Gelatin, Naily, and Spongy.

Donut serves as Team Competitors!'s leader. They are a solid team even with their flaws. The entire team will have a strong bond in pre-split and the main focus will be how ignoring/dismissing someone can hurt their feelings.

Free Food

Free Food includes Bell, Eraser, Foldy, Fries, Marker, Puffball, Stapy, and Yellow Face.

The team has no captain, everyone chips in with ideas and strategies!

It's a random mashup but I think that's why it works so well! Almost everyone is a wild card and they're all unique personalities. They only lose once, costing them Stapy.

This team sparks the friendship between Fries and Puffball, as well as Foldy and Stapy!

Bleh

Bleh is the simple term for it. This team is actually every member's name at once and only algebraliens can pronounce it. Wonderful.

Bleh includes Book, Dora, Gaty, Ice Cube, Lollipop, Saw, Taco, and Teardrop.

Gaty acts as the team leader with backing from Ice Cube and Saw. There's a lot of conflict in Bleh during early BFB so they need a strong mediator at hand. Dora works really hard to carry the team to victory and Teardrop helps too.

The Losers!

The Losers! includes Cake, Clock, Coiny, Eggy, Firey, Loser, Needle, and Pin. Leafy joins The Losers! after being eliminated and returning, being declined by Beep.

Loser acts as the team leader until BFB 6. Needle takes over after. Coiny volunteers Pin without Pin's approval, saying that she is was a great leader in BFDIA!

Loser initially soaks in a lot of attention as a celebrity. High chance what got him out when his team was up for elimination was a targeted attack by his haters.

They do well enough to pass challenges. Unfortunately, there is a lot of problems with them anyways. Needle tries to manage Firey's sudden attitude when Leafy rejoins, Eggy tries to help but ultimately fails to, Pin is acting mildly uncomfortable every time BFDIA is brought up and it's leaving Coiny concerned, and Cake is growing stressed and uncertain with every coming episode.

Iance

"We aren't all in your alliance." -Fanny, probably

Iance includes Bubble, Fanny, Flower, Lightning, Match, Pencil, Ruby, and Snowball.

The healthiest friendships on this team are probably Ruby and Bubble and Ruby and Flower.

Pencil leads the team in the first two episodes. She isn't on the team for long but while she is, she pushes her ideals of everyone having a use-- and mistreating the team. Match takes over after, pushing the same ideals before Bubble confronts her and she's eliminated. Bubble encourages Ruby to lead once Match is gone.

Fanny is dumbed down by her own teammates as "Really Fucking Hopeless". Lightning gets his insecurities and powers exploited. Snowball is ableist. Match overworks everyone. Ruby isn't quite done enabling bad behavior, that happens a bit too late. Bubble is about to burst.

Death PACT

Death Prevention and Creating Trust.

Death PACT includes Black Hole, Bottle, Liy, Pen, Pie, Pillow, Remote, and Tree.

Black Hole and Tree take turns leading the team or work together-- it entirely depends on the situation. While the duo focuses on both parts of the pact, they do lean into different areas; Tree with the trust and Black Hole with the prevention.

For team conflict: Liy, during her short time on the team, feels ignored by everyone but Pie. Death PACT also spends a lot of time wrangling Pillow. Black Hole, while it doesn't let this be known, is actively stressing over Four and Pillow's violence.

On the bright side, Death PACT gets along really well! Remote is determined to learn from everyone, Bottle and Pie are great emotional support, Pillow(although destructive) is skilled enough at challenges to help Death PACT avoid elimination, as is Pen, and Black Hole and Tree are great leaders!

Beep

Beep includes Balloony, Cloudy, David, Leafy, Nickel, Roboty, Rocky, and Woody.

Leafy acted as Beep's leader until her elimination. Balloony would take over after.

Balloony is the team dad, no doubt. Cloudy and Nickel act as moral support. David tries his hardest. Rocky is good at challenges and close with Balloon. Woody quit shows after BFDI and declined Four's invitation but. Four would NOT let that slide. Roboty sits out most challenges.

Part 2: post-split

Teams have been split depending on if they're closer to yellow or blue in hue. Except for Ruby because why not. Put her on the blue team.

I've got 14 episodes to work with and nowhere near as many characters to worry about!!

Have Cots

Have Cots includes Balloony, Bubble, Gelatin, Leafy, Lollipop, Ruby, and Teardrop.

A solid lineup!! Everyone gets along fine. The Have Cots have no leader, everyone pitches in equally.

Balloony continues to be team dad until his elimination. Lollipop and Teardrop definitely have romantic tension and involve Gelatin into their fun alliance. Ruby and Bubble are getting to the end of their FreeSmart arc: Ruby is finally being herself and Bubble is moving on.

Have Nots

They end up living in the redux equivalent of the BRB! A shelter Four and X made for eliminated contestants to stay at. Spinning people around at mach 10 24/7 is going to kill them constantly and I don't think Four is going to want to do all of that recovering.

Have Nots includes Blocky, Firey, Flower, Loser, Spongy, Taco, and Woody.

This team also has no leader!!

Blocky is getting into pranks again. Woody's been spending the whole season coming out of his shell-- and now his new team is treating him like a child. Taco has her rivalry with Blocky and, following her elimination, will be investigating strange occurrences. Loser is moral support. Firey is getting along with everyone, his main focus is Leafy. Flower is also getting along with everyone, especially Firey! The pair of them are growing close. Spongy doesn't,, really have long on the show. His arc is pretty much complete by post-split, so he'll be a tool to help further others' arcs-- particularly with Woody.

SEASON 5

TPOT follows pre-split's format of letting contestants choose and name their teams-- though there is a mixup thanks to One during the first(only?) team swap.

Just Not

Just Not includes Bomby, Book, Cake, Naily, Nickel, Pillow, and Price Tag.

Naily initially leads the team but after her elimination Just Not has no leader! They are a giant friend group.

Price Tag is learning how to balance their skills to avoid overstressing, they are also DMing a Goiky's Dragons campaign involving the whole team. Book is. Very much so acting as a shoulder for Cake while Cake's still in the game. They all get to deal with Pillow and her shenanigans during challenges and Goiky's Dragons sessions. Bomby and Nickel are going to have their own mini arc together. I think. Before One kidnaps Bomby.

Death PACT Again

Death PACT Again includes Black Hole, Fanny, Lightning, Marker, Pie, Remote, and Tree.

Black Hole acts as the team's sole leader going into TPOT. He tries his hardest to keep his cool and drills his focus into preventing death that he's becoming paranoid about it.

Death PACT Again's story is about finding the right balance. Fanny pushes hard for that balance, especially after Lightning is eliminated-- this being the turning point for the team. They lose Pie and Remote as well. The way they handle death also causes Tree to be stuck in the canal for several episodes and he HATES it.

The Best

Renamed from The Strongest Team On Earth.

The Best includes Basketball, Bell, Eggy, Foldy, Grassy, Robot Flower, and Snowball.

Basketball leads The Best. Snowball intrudes and shares the responsibility a few episodes in as Basketball busies herself with a thousand things.

Grassy is still a child-- being in BFB and TPOT is going to effect him in the long run. As Basketball becomes busier, he latches onto Snowball as a parental figure. Bell is working on establishing her boundaries. Robot Flower and Basketball are growing closer-- RF's kill maim tear arc starts on The Best.

Are You Okay

The Golf Ball curse has been broken!! If Tennis Ball hadn't interrupted Golf Ball, it would've been A Good Name.

Are You Okay includes Eraser, Fries, Golf Ball, Pen, Puffball, Tennis Ball, and TV.

Golf Ball acts as leader with Tennis Ball by her side.

Puffball is growing tired of being underutilized. Fries tries to be there for her!! Pen and Eraser chill together a lot-- Eraser's focus is a rivalry not on the team. TV's arc will transition into his next team but he's starting to be tired of being used. Like. There's a whole team to go for, Golf Ball!! Puffball actively wants to help more!!

Team8s

Team8s include Barf Bag, Coiny, Donut, Gaty, Needle, Pin, and Saw.

This team has a constant power struggle. Barf Bag, Donut, Needle, and Gaty are all fighting to lead, with Gaty eventually sitting it out as her focus changes.

The characters here share traits and it causes a LOT of arguments. Gaty initially tries to mediate, it doesn't go as planned. Saw acts as a listening ear to anyone who needs it. Unfortunately, Saw gets out before Barf Bag could really use someone to talk to.

The S!

The S! includes Bottle, Clock, Cloudy, Ice Cube, Rocky, Winner, and Yellow Face.

Winner is pushed to be team leader by Clock. They aren't against it but. Don't appreciate how Clock went about it.

The S! is very chill. A good group to be yourself in. Clock is actively pushing Winner's boundaries. Yellow Face is team dad. Bottle, Cloudy, Yellow Face, and Rocky are all very whimsical-- it helps Ice Cube let loose too.

Teardrop

Girl just. Switched from BFB after it ended. She has to try extra hard in order to avoid being eliminated-- as long as she's not in the bottom two teams, she should be fine.

-

The teams are shuffled by One.

Team 2

Team 2 includes Book, Eraser, Grassy, Ice Cube, Price Tag, and Snowball.

Snowball leads Team 2 to the best of his ability.

Ice Cube and Book are basically forced to interact after years apart-- they become friends again and Price Tag gets involved after keeping Pencil from them. Grassy and Snowball are still a son and father duo and Eraser is like. A fun uncle.

Death PACT Yet Again

Death PACT Yet Again includes Black Hole, Fanny, Gaty, Marker, Pin, Robot Flower, and Tree.

Black Hole and Tree balance leadership again-- with Tree handling the main responsibility of the team as Black Hole prioritizes maintaining the RIP IN REALITY right outside of the hotel.

Pin and Tree already had good standing, as Pin empathized with Tree being stuck in the lake; now they're good friends. They had to wrangle Robot Flower for an episode-- then she was magically fixed? Somehow??? Fanny busies herself with research outside of challenges but during then she can be a voice of reason-- albeit on the more negative side versus Gaty's positivity. Marker is here to lighten the mood.

Bagged

Bagged includes Basketball, Bottle, Liy, Needle, Pen, Tennis Ball, and TV.

Tennis Ball leads Bagged. He needs a lot of moral support to do this.. she's used to working WITH someone and Bagged saw that and went "Yeah. She'll do." BUT HE WON'T. Without a second leader he is STREEEEEEEEEEEEESSED.

Needle was initially willing to lead with Tennis Ball but she was eliminated and disappeared. Gone with no explanation.

Pen is greatly upset after TPOT 15. He has a lot of unrevealed anger as his friends keep getting out-- and because of Two's bedrotting, it may be a long time before he gets to see them again. Liy strategizes with him to help him manifest and use that anger. TV is at his wits' end with being used. Basketball is having focused outside of Bagged-- Robot Flower, specifically. Bottle is still here to lighten the mood!! But the stress of others is starting to get to her. Empathy GO!!!

CloudYAY

I am debating changing the team name 💔 but I don't know what to

CloudYAY includes Barf Bag, Donut, Golf Ball, Pencil, Pillow, Winner, and Yellow Face.

There is a leadership struggle between Golf Ball, and Pencil. Most of the team would rather work as a whole, or have Donut take charge as he actually considers everyone. When Golf Ball or Pencil take the wheel, they can be controlling. While Golf Ball is learning to stop this behavior, Pencil isn't.

Pillow is having her turning point-- she's getting consequences for her murder spree(aka not a lot of trust from her team) and therapy !! Yellow Face is still trying to be goofy team dad but it's getting hard. Winner is there by Yellow Face's side so... It's not all bad.

-

I THINK I SPENT A WEEK ON THIS. AAAHHHHH

[autistic-crypt1d]

The Night Agent Live Blogging:

Season 1

Ok so I watched this season already but it was like 2 years ago and I never watched the second season so we're watching it again!

Updates:

- The Call

- ah shit I forgot how this started

- DAMN

- I don't remember really, but I'm pretty sure that that boss lady either turns out to be a bad guy or dies by the end of this season

- they seem so nice I'm sad they die :(

- STRESSSS

- STOP PEEKING WHILE THE LIGHT IS SHINING

- "I'm proud of you" HE'S SUCH A SWEETIE HELP

- I forgot how nice of a place he has

- GET EM PETE

- PFFFFFT THE WAY SHE WAS JUST GONNA GO ALONG WITH ROBBING THEM

- Peter is so cool

- poor lady :(

- Redial

- Peter is so awkward I love it

- the drive-by tazering XD

- they're so stupid and I love them

- bro got slammed into the ground twice and got up running

- it stresses me out that she's not taking the time that they're on the phone to get changed!!!!

- HELL YEAH PETE

- I CAN'T REMEMBER IF SHE'S EVIL AND IT'S STRESSING ME OUT

- The Zookeeper

- I can't stop seeing the new secret agent guy as his role as Lucifer's brother

- Cisco!! I remember him very vaguely

- hate the teacher dude

- poor Maddie :(

- girl is so bad at not looking suspicious oml

- hate teacher dude

- god knowing what's gonna happen is stressing me out

- Eyes Only

- BLEH

- I FORGOT ABOUT THE TROLL DOLL

- Lorne dying makes me so sad :(

"Killed my cat" 😂

- I hate this teacher dude so fucking much

- aaaaand hate the vp

- The Marionette

- her mom's speech 😭

- god this shit with Maddie is horrifying 😭

- Fathoms

- YEESH

- poor Cisco XD

- :(

- they couldn't have gone to a real pool to take a picture? The green screen is so bad XD

- SHE IS EVIL

- LET'S GO PETER

- love Cisco

- I forgot he dies 😭

- GET HIM PETER

- HELL YEAH ROSE

- poor Peter 😭

- Best Served Cold

- god Redfield sucks so fucking bad. Maddie was a child, she can't be in charge of another child's safety, putting that on her is monstrous

- omfg I was trying to figure out where I know the CEO dude was from and it's fucking Kavanaugh from Stargate!!!!

- bro ROLL UP YOUR WINDOW

- Redux

- I don't like snake tattoo guy, but his brother's death is so sad :(

- I love Chelsea and Monks for having the brains to not blindly follow their orders

- "that ever get annoying?" "Yes." XD

- oh shit is this the sniper episode???

- IT IS THE SNIPER EPISODE

- HELL YEAH MADDIE

- FUCK YEAH ROSE!!!!

- Monks death is so sad stop 😭

- Maddie crying 😭

- The Devil We Know

- poor Chelsea :(

- Fathers

- Season finale here we go!

- ah, evil and dead

- HELL YEAH CHELSEA

- bro Peter is a beast

- I'M SO STRESSED

- oh damn Dianne is still alive

- poor Peter 😭

- and that's the end of season 1! From here on out it's all new to me

Season 2

[stillebesat]

Lemon Drops

Sanders Sides: Patton, Remus  Blurb: Patton just wanted to go somewhere where he wouldn’t be judged, wouldn’t disappoint...wouldn’t...screw up another relationship. (Takes place after SvS Redux) Fic Type: Hurt/Comfort, Frog!Patton  Overall Fic Warnings: Remus being Remus, Death Talk, Mentions of Nudity, Various Innuendos, Blood mentions, Negative Self Talk, Trapped/Captivity talk, Fight talk, Panic Attack Taglist in Reblog. 

There was no answer.

Patton exhaled, biting his lip as he dropped his hand, staring with only slightly blurry vision at the crown emblem on Roman’s door.

There had never been no answer before. 

Out of all the others, Roman’s room had always been open to him. No matter the time of day or night. No matter the reason. Roman...Roman would always let his door swing open and Patton could come in to spend however long he needed to inside.

Now….now….he swallowed, fighting to keep his vision from blurring further. Now...it obviously wasn’t. 

Maybe because of today this door would be closed to him forever. 

We love you. 

He hugged himself, chest aching as he turned away for the stairs, keeping his head down as he moved past both Logan and Virgil’s doors. 

Both firmly locked. 

Both silent.

Both...unhappy with him too.

Do you think there’s a limit... on how many times someone can say sorry? 

He wished there wasn’t. He wished that it would just be one more apology and things could get back to...being...better. Back to the...okay not great...but better times when his fellow Sides actually kinda wanted to be around him.

If they had ever wanted to be around him in the first place. 

Had they? 

Had they ever...liked him?

His breath hitched as he entered the kitchen, his fingers digging into his arms as he came to a stop in front of the stove.

Cooking had always made him feel better.

But what was the point of cooking for one? 

Patton closed his eyes, fighting to keep the tears pooling behind his lids from seeping out. 

He’d been so overbearing for so long. Been so set in his ways. In trying to make sure that Thomas was a good person...that...that all those icky feelings were locked up tight and pushed away that he--that he--Patton reached out blindly as his legs buckled, grabbing onto the handle of the oven, hanging onto it like a drowning man clutching to a tree root as his knees made contact with the tiles. 

Do you think there’s a limit on how many times someone can someone say sorry...before you have to admit...that they’re just bad for you?

Thomas wasn’t always a good perfect person. Despite how much Patton wanted him to be. He was...he was...Human. And humans made mistakes. His fellow Sides made mistakes. Patton...Patton himself could make mistakes.

He just wished it didn’t hurt so darn badly. 

Patton dropped one hand to his shirt, clutching at the fabric over his heart as he pressed his head against the cool side of the oven door, his throat aching with suppressed sobs as the tears he’d been fighting so hard to keep at bay flowed down his cheeks. 

Repressing depression can also be bad. 

Well...he’d--he’d never been particularly good at facing his own icky feelings either, not when returning to his room could bring such a quick jolt of happiness that he could forget for a time...all the...all the...and not let the others see...his...this...see him---

Unhappy.

Not that anyone was likely to see him unhappy here right now.

Not when they were locked in their rooms.

Avoiding him.

Because he...it felt like he’d been wrong more often than right these days. Hurting the ones he loved. 

And nothing he did seemed to fix--fix--

Patton shuddered, curling in on himself, trying to find a way to steadily breathe, to keep silent so no one would come to investigate. To--to...calm down. He didn’t--he didn’t need to become--that mutant frog again...to let his icky feelings change him like that--but it...he…

I just have a lot of feelings. 

And none of them were the right ones to help the others. 

They never seemed to be any--any--

A zing of electricity rushed through him and Patton let out a small cry as he felt his body abruptly shift.

NO. NO. NO.

He jerked his head up, gasping for breath as he caught sight of a bright green arm before it shifted back to his normal human appearance. 

NO! Patton fought to shove all the ick--sadness he was feeling away. To keep his regular appearance. He couldn’t trigg--

But the grief was welling up. Swelling like the tidal wave he’d felt before growing into that monstrous frog into a--bad guy. 

Patton shoved to his feet, heart racing his tears as he leapt for the doorway, shooting for the stairs. For his room where he could get that jolt of happiness that had to stop this--

He gasped as another electric zing zapped through him. He stumbled, falling against the door under the stairs that lead down to The Others. 

“Please.” He begged, sticky green fingers slipping off the handle as he curled back into a ball on the floor. Fighting to stay small, to not grow into that...that thing as electric pulses danced along his skin. 

Small.

SMALL.

He had to stay---

He cried out, closing his eyes as it felt like all the air was suddenly being squeezed out of his lungs and he felt himself shift further with a soft POP. He shook his head, missing the weight of the glasses on his nose and his cat hoodie around his shoulders as they fell with a muted thud to the carpet. NO FROG NO FROG NO FROG. He internally shouted, mashing himself into an even tighter ball, his voice choking off in a deep Croak. 

NO! Patton had to--he’d break something if he--he desperately synced himself out of the living room, falling down and away before anyone could come investigate the noise. 

The others couldn’t know. 

He landed with a soft plop onto a semi-bouncy surface that could only be his bed. 

Safe.

Patton drew in a shuddering breath, burying his head into the blanket, breathing in its fresh lemon scent, waiting for the familiar zing of happiness to hit him, to help him shift back to his normal human look.

He had to stay--stay---happy. Pre--pretend that things were---that it would all be okay. 

And that meant going somewhere else where he wouldn’t be judged, wouldn’t disappoint...wouldn’t...screw up another relationship further because he couldn’t control himself and became a terrible giant monster--

“FROG!”

DANGER.

Patton’s eyes flashed open barely taking in the surroundings of the softly lit room that definitely wasn’t his bedroom as he instinctively leapt before the oily voice over his head could finish pronouncing the G, terror rushing through him and coming out of his mouth in a series of frantic ribbits as he sprang off the enormous unmade bed.

SPLAT.

“Hey!” 

Patton gasped as neon red liquid flew past his face as he landed in something cold and slimy and--he didn’t want to think about just what he may be sitting in right now. No. NO. He had to get away from Remus before he...before he!

“Whoa! Wartface! Hold it!”

Patton flinched as Remus’s shadowy form towered over him and jumped--hopped? His limbs definitely were more froglike than anything human--freeing himself from the red icky liquid, to land on the cold black floor, leaving bloody red frogprints behind as he hopped yet again.

Only to have a puke yellow slime meet him in a squelchy embrace as he landed in a different container. 

What was this stuff?! 

“Froggysoggypants stop!” 

No. No way. Patton croaked as he freed himself from the second container, landing with another plop onto the blackened floor, marring its surface with red, orange, and yellow streaks as he frantically tried to run--hop away from Remus towering over him like--like--

Earlier. When Patton had towered over the others as a giant frog. But now that Remus--did that mean...had he shrunk instead?!

“GOTCHA!” Clammy hands grabbed him around the middle midleap, squeezing him tight enough that Patton was certain his eyes were bulging as he was lifted upwards. 

Remus’s crooked grin filled his vision, showing him just how small he’d become. 

He squeaked, an awkward sound coming from his frog mouth as he struggled helplessly in the Duke’s grip. 

“Look at you!” Remus breathed, easily holding him in one hand as he used the other to pull Patton’s arm out. “You’re blue!” He exclaimed, eyes sparking as he played with Patton’spaint covered pale blue froggy toes. “I wonder--”

Patton flinched, trembling as Remus ran his tongue over his back, the hairs of his moustache brushing against his skin. 

This was it. This was how he died. 

“Bleh.” The Duke gagged, pulling away wiping his mouth against his shoulder. “You’re not one of mine.” He complained, running his tongue over the fabric in a manner that had Patton cringing. 

How could Remus stand the texture of cloth against his tongue? Didn’t it--no wait. This was the Duke who ate pickled poo log deodorant. He probably loved the sensation.

“You taste far too sweet like--like--” He poked Patton between the eyes with a frown. “Like a saccharine sugar cookie under all that paint! Peh! At least taste bitter like arsenic or mucus! Frogs are covered in mucus! You should taste like that at least.” 

Patton closed his eyes, shuddering, still feeling Remus’s tongue on his bare back. It wasn’t like he could control what he tasted like! And if he tasted like cookies then that was much better than than--

Than all the ugly and gross things that would be right up the Duke’s dark, grimey, and probably blood covered alley.

But if Remus didn’t like sweet things. And if he realized who he was holding in his hands--

His heart dropped. 

It definitely wouldn’t be pretty. At all. Not when he was sure the Duke blamed Patton for being kept from Thomas’s conscious mind for so long.  

He could easily take revenge.

Remus could skewer him with a sharp stick, throw him in a boiling pot of oil or even peel him open like some sort of crazy science experiment---

Patton whimpered, the sound shifting to soft frantic ribbits as he wiggled in the Duke’s grip.

“Nah! Ah! Sticky Feet! No. Stop squirming!” Remus tightened his grip on him as Patton did his best with his odd toe finger things to find purchase to pull himself free so he could hop the heck out of there and shift back to normal away from the Side that had always given him the heebie jeebies. 

After all…it wasn’t like any of the others would come to his rescue.

Not when none of them...liked him currently. 

Not when their resident Prince and Hero who loved to save people in distress...had locked his room and refused to come out.

Patton stopped struggling, feeling a cold heavy weight settle in his stomach as he stared hopelessly up at Remus. 

Roman wouldn’t come save him. Not this time.

Perhaps it was only right that his brother, the Duke, Master of the Dark Side of Creativity, held him now. Captive. Trapped. He probably deserved it after all he put everyone through today with his…..monstrous self. 

“There there.” Remus whispered, stroking Patton’s back with a finger instead of his tongue this time. He plopped down cross-legged on the paint splattered floor, head tilting at an unnatural angle as he studied him. “You’re not mine.” He repeated softly, an eerie light shining in his eyes as he played with Patton’s toes. “Too sweet. Too sweet. Not Ro’s either. The salt on him is thick these days. Sooooooooooo~” He tilted his head the other way, a small smile playing on his lips. “What brings you here to me in my dark dismal tower and not to him in his gleaming marble castle, little sugar wartface?” 

Patton gulped, trembling as Remus brought him up to eye level, unable to do anything more in his grip. He’d already tried to go to Roman. B-b-but--

That door was shut to him now.   

“Blue...a blue frog….” The Duke mused, humming under his breath as he rocked in place. “Call me Mr. Blue...but with the downright stodgy rainbow theme all of us have going on...being blue means you can only be--” He paused, eyes growing sharp as he grinned like a feral cat about to catch its prey. 

Today really wasn’t his day. 

Patton slumped, a soft ribbit escaping him as he fought back the urge to sob. He just wanted to get away where he wouldn’t hurt the others. Where he wouldn’t be judged or hated. Where he couldn’t...couldn’t mess things up for anyone any more.

But all his icky feelings had only screwed him over more. Changed him into a tiny slimy frog. Landed him in Remus’s room where he was now trapped in the Duke’s grip. 

And now Remus knew exactly who he was. 

“Potty.” 

He flinched at the nickname, closing his eyes as his heart sunk even lower. Sure, he felt like a pile of crap right now. A tiny smelly useless pile of nothing. But he didn’t...didn’t want to be compared to a...toilet. 

“This is no place for you and your awfully tender heart.” Remus said, booping him on the nose. “Why did you come to me? Like this?”

Patton cautiously opened his eyes, confused. Why was the Duke not boiling him alive right now? Hating him too? Why was he--he---being gentle?! 

‘I don’t know.’ He whispered, his words changing to a soft croak as he spoke, rendering his words incomprehensible. 

Out of all the Sides...Remus would have never have crossed his mind as someone to come to for any reason. In a--in a perfect world he would never have to deal with the Duke at all.

“Ooooohh~ Lemme guess.” Remus flopped backwards, head landing in a pan filled with pink paint, sending neon droplets flying across the room as he held Patton high over his head. “You waiting for a kiss?” He asked, puckering his lips, drawing him close.

True love’s kiss can break any curse. 

Even if this had been a curse and not his own fault that he was now a useless tiny slimy frog, Patton knew that no-no one woul--would….no one--not even Remus--He recoiled as the moustache filled his vision, breath hitching as the gaping hole in his chest where his heart should be only seemed to grow wider. 

A kiss wouldn’t work. Not--not when...no one loved him. 

How many times? How many times can you say sorry?  

Not enough. Never enough. He couldn’t--

A fresh lemon breeze washed over him as Remus paused a hair's breadth away from pressing his lips against his face. He tilted his head, going cross-eyed as he hummed staring down at Patton.

He snorted. “No kisses? Figures. You don’t want to see us as lovers?” Remus wiggled his eyebrows, smirking as he rolled to his stomach, the room spinning like a kaleidoscope around them. 

L-lovers?! Patton squeaked, feeling his body go all warm. If he’d been his normal human self, he was sure his face would have gone bright red at that. 

Remus cackled, dark eyes glittering. “Surely as Thomas’s Heart, wittle Pittle has a teeny weenie spot of love for smelly old me if he loves all of Thomas.” 

And Patton thought his heart couldn’t break further. If he was any good at his job...then that should have been True.

But it wasn’t. 

The knowledge that he didn’t want to have any love for the Duke only made him feel worse.

What good was he as Thomas’s Heart if he couldn’t love every Side of him? 

Remus huffed, eyes growing sharp. “Oooh~” He sing-songed jabbing a finger into Patton’s chest. “Did Sappy Pappy forget he’s the center of all of Thomas’s feelings?” 

Patton kicked back smearing paint across the Duke’s arm as he wiggled in his grip. No!...Yes…maybe? He...he was...the center...but….Patton pushed pointlessly against Remus’s fingers, his throat contracting with suppressed croaks. 

What did it matter what he was to Thomas? Feelings. Morality. He wasn’t doing a very good job of being either one right now. 

The Duke wiggled his eyebrows as he made a fart noise with his tongue. “Are you trying to only be happy again? Hide all your juicy twisty feelings? How booooring, Poppyseed. You gotta let it out!” 

NO! He shook his head. Letting out his...twisty feelings had only resulted in BAD Things. He’d become a giant frog! That wasn’t good. 

Now you’re a small frog. Is that any better?

“Guess what, Potthead.” Remus dipped one hand into a pan of green paint, flicking his fingers at Patton’s face. “Hate is a feeling.” 

He flinched, raising a shaking toe finger hand thingy to rub the paint off his face, giving a loud ribbit of disagreement. Hate was such a...a strong word.  

Remus rolled his eyes, plopping Patton down in a pan of orange paint, speaking over his croak of disgust at suddenly being surrounded by more cold slimy ickiness. 

“That’s not bad, Pottycake.” The Duke said, easily catching Patton as he jumped out of the paint and plopped him into a different can of pink slime before he could blink. “You don’t have to like everything you encounter or everyone you meet.” 

Of course not, but that didn’t mean he--Thomas couldn’t pretend! Patton wiped the paint from his eyes before he doggy--froggy paddled over to the edge.

Things worked a lot more smoothly when Thomas was nice and happy.

Only it hadn’t worked out doing that this time had it?

Patton pressed his lips together, chest aching as he heaved himself out of the can. 

It didn’t matter. It would work out eventually. He just had to keep up the positive attitu--

Remus scooped him up, careless of how Patton struggled in his grip, getting slime and goo all over himself. “You know…” he clicked his tongue, dribbling purple paint all over Patton’s back. “I don’t need you to like me, or tell me exactly how you feel, but that feeling is a part of you.”

‘NO!’ He didn’t want it to be. 

The Duke’s eyes grew sharp as he lowered his hand, chuckling as Patton sprang from his grip, narrowly avoiding landing in any other pans, his feet leaving multi-colored prints over the dark floors. “It’s a part of good old Tomalongadingdong that won’t go away, Potty, no matter how much you try and shove it into a dark dusty corner and forget about it.” 

Repression can be bad.

It was--he knew that. Patton forced himself to keep hopping, crying out in frustration as he was easily grabbed around the middle and plopped back into the Duke’s lap. 

Remus had proved that as Thomas’s Intrusive Thoughts despite Patton’s best efforts to keep Thomas from ever knowing that his Dark Creativity even existed. That the bad thoughts could be--be--okay. That just because they were there didn’t mean Thomas himself was...bad. But knowing was not the same as...as...accepting. 

And he wasn’t about to accept being stuck here with Remus any longer than he had to. Patton scrunched up his face, concentrating on gathering his limbs together for a more coordinated hop. Even if he wanted to express his icky feelings--which he didn’t!--there was...wasn’t anyone left he could...could go to.  Who would ever need you? When all you do is more harm than good? 

Remus tsked, scooping Patton up and dropping him in a large can of blue paint before he could spring away.  

GAH! That. WAS. IT. ‘Would you QUIT it!’ He yelled as he surfaced, splashing paint back up at Remus’s face. 

It was bad enough already being stuck here without any hope of the others coming to get him without continuously getting tossed into paint along with it! 

He froze as the Duke threw his head back with a loud laugh.

Oh no. 

“Oooh.” Remus’s eyes glittered as he lowered his head, teeth flashing as he grinned, blue paint dripping from his moustache into his mouth. “Patteywattey has some fight to him!”

‘NO!’ Patton recoiled with a strangled croak. He’d fought far too much earlier today as that--as--tha--as the Monstrous Frog! He’d--he’d attacked Leslie, Lee and Mary-Lee. He’d even attacked Thomas without realizing--He’d--No. NO NO NO. NO FIGHTING. EVER.

He ducked down, letting the paint cover him completely, a hollow ache in his chest. He had made another stupid stupid mistake splashing back. Fighting back. That wasn’t supposed to be him! If he wanted Remus to leave him alone he shouldn’t have encouraged him by action! It should have been through words---

What words? You’re a frog. All you can do is Croak. 

It wasn’t like words had helped earlier either. Not when he didn’t...when he hadn’t known the right things to say. 

Patton felt rather than heard the splash of something else entering the paint can with him before reaching fingers grabbed him, pulling him free of the paint, if not of Remus’s grip. 

“Hiding from a fight isn’t very fun.” The Duke said as warm liquid splashed over Patton’s body, washing away the heavy weight of the paint covering him. “But then again.” His blue moustache came into view, tongue stuck out between his teeth as he carefully wiped around Patton’s eyes with a green stained towel. “You fighting against me would be really weird, Pops, despite how often you’ve threatened violence against our dear old Virgin.” He smirked.

I will physically fight you. 

Patton shuddered, gripping onto Remus’s fingers as another wave of icky feelings rushed through him, choking him to the point he could barely breathe. 

Again and again. He was reminded that he could do nothing right no matter how hard he tried. 

Virgil.

Logan.

Roman. 

Despite his efforts...he’d let them all down one after the other.

Just like the deadbeat fathers in all those tv shows.

He was a failure through and throu--

“The thing is….”  Patton looked up as Remus ran the towel down his back before setting him on the half-made bed. 

“It’s just goo and paint, Pattycake.” Remus gestured around his room to the various multi-colored splotches before resting his arms on the bed. “Using it to create--” He placed a sheet of paper on the bed along with a tube of paint, squirting a glob of red into the center of the page. “It’s just a way to express your feelings. All your feelings” He said dipping a finger into the paint, trailing it over the black sheet creating a--. 

Patton winced, looking away from the crude image. 

“There’s nothing bad about getting those feelings out. It’s what Creativity is for.” He wiggled his shoulders suggestively as he flicked his fingers at Patton splattering him with red droplets. “Didn’t you once say that you liked playing with the stuff?” 

My channel would have videos of me playing with goo and mixing paint. 

Patton frowned down at his hands, squeezing his toe finger things into fists before relaxing them on the page. It felt like a lifetime ago though. Back when he’d been trying to include Anxiety in their group. Back before everything---He hadn’t even thought about sticking his fingers into a tub of goo in ages. Not when he’d been trying so hard to keep Thomas happy. 

And failing.

“Now’s your chance, Patcasso.” With a wave of his hand the image on the paper vanished, leaving the single glob of red paint once more untouched. Remus winked as he scooped up Patton, depositing him on the large sheet right next to the glob of paint. “Stop repressing. Paint.” 

Repressing Depression can also be bad. 

But...But….painting? How could that hel--

Remus hummed, dipping his finger into the paint, idly drawing a heart right next to him. “The Heart becomes a Frog.” He murmured. “Just like one of those prudishly dull fairytale quests my dear old brother enjoys huh? With the kissing and the happily ever afters.” 

Had enjoyed...it wasn’t like Roman would want to---Patton drew in a shuddering breath before shakily dipping his hand into the paint, drawing a jagged line down the middle of the heart. 

No one loved him. 

The Duke’s eyebrows rose, eyes gleaming as he leaned forward. “A broken heart? Oooo~I do love an unhappy story.” With a wave of his hand, the rest of the rainbow appeared as globs of paint on the page. “Go on.” He encouraged, resting his arms on the bed. “What fly got into your soup?” 

Go on? But he had no idea where to start. It was just--too much. He’d been wrong--so strict and set in his ways for so long, he didn’t even know where the problems had begun between him and the others! Today was just the latest addition to a very very long list of--and--he shoved both hands into the red paint, smearing it across the heart with a muted croak. Red for his failure with Roman.

We love you. 

….Right. 

The hurt. He’d tried so hard to--but--red streaked fingers dug into the yellow paint, as he drew a lopsided crown on top of the heart, the yellow marred by lines of red. Roman refused to answer the door. To let him do what he did best. Comfort others.

Hence why everyone has shut their doors to you huh. You’re sooo good at comforting. 

Another lie. Another falsehood. What good was Morality? What good were Feelings if he couldn’t--

He shoved his hands into the dark blue paint, drawing another wobbly heart with a line through it followed by a large smear and then a ragged tie. Logan. 

Another broken heart. This one purple. Followed by the cloud and a lightning bolt. Virgil.

All streaked through with yellow. With Janus. With Deceit. 

How many times can you say sorry? 

Not enough. Never enough. He--he--Patton slammed his fists into the paint sending it flying all over the bed, chest aching as he closed his eyes.

“....Patton?” 

He shook his head, ignoring Remus. It didn’t help. Painting didn’t help. The icky feelings were still there. If he was feeling icky how could he ever hope to--

Patton gasped, jerking as splotchy green arms suddenly wrapped around him in a warm hug, squeezing him far more tightly than he was comfortable with. 

He looked up, meeting the dark eyes of another frog, one with blue tipped black spikes sticking out from his upper lip. 

Remus? Why had he--why was he hold--why was he a FROG?!

The frog gave a watery croak, holding Patton close in an embrace that was so warm it sent a wave of soothing heat through him. 

Oh Crofters...He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been hugged.

It felt--it felt---He melted into the other’s arms, burying his head against the Duke’s chest as the dam he’d tried so hard to build to hold back his tears crumbled like so much dust, leaving him sobbing in a series of squeaky croaks against the Dark Side. 

Remus made a buzzing noise, nearly like a hum as he rocked Patton back and forth, keeping up the steady too tight pressure around him. 

It shouldn’t make him cry harder. Yet Patton found himself doing just that, hot tears trailing down his cheeks. It had been so long. So long since anyone had done this with him. He’d never expected Remus of all Sides to instigate a hug with him, not when he’d spent so many years trying to keep the Duke from influencing Thomas’s everyday life. By all rights, Remus should hate him for being so strict. Should want nothing to do with him.

And here he was.

Hugging Patton.

Comforting him.

Trying to help in his own odd Remusey way.

It left him feeling all tingly inside, like butterflies dancing inside an inflating balloon as electric pulses danced across his skin. 

Fresh tears leaked through his closed eyelids. It should end soon. All hugs had to end. Remus had to pull away at some point to leave Patton feeling all cold and icky again.

And yet…

Remus didn’t move. 

The Dark Side wasn’t known for his long attention span, always fidgeting or spouting out a new topic of conversation.

But here he was...holding tight unto Patton without showing any signs of releasing his grip, his warmth as constant and steady as the Duke’s heartbeat. 

Patton drew in a shuddering breath, eyelids fluttering. He didn’t deserve this. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, voice hoarse, barely registering that actual words left his mouth instead of croaks.

Remus huffed, adjusting his grip for the first time to run his fingers through Patton’s hair, sending a shiver down his spine. “Apology accepted, Padre.”

Accepted? Just like that? No questions? Patton trembled, breath hitching, not quite believing he’d heard correctly. “Y-you--why?” 

“Mmm?” 

Patton steeled himself before looking up, registering Remus’s very human face inches from his own. His regular sized face. Not a giant one. Which meant...he’d somehow shifted back to his normal self while bawling his eyes out. “Y-you di-didn’t ask why I-I-I was sor-sorry.” 

Remus made a clicking sound with his tongue, as he trailed his fingers down the back of Patton’s neck, eyes glittering. “Do you know why you were saying sorry?” 

Patton blinked, mouth half open with no idea what to say, his mind racing as he raised a shaking hand to scrub at his wet cheeks. There was...it was hard to explain! “I…” 

Remus chuckled. “Then it’s sewage under the bridge, Patters. I don’t need to know why. You just needed to know I accept. Right? Make you feel better?”  

He...he did feel a little better. “I--but--that--” Patton growled, shaking his head. “Tha-that’s not how apologies work!” 

“Says who? Cus they’re wrong.” Remus winked. “Besides I got to see your rosy cheeks and it was well worth the wait.” He met Patton’s eyes before deliberately looking down. 

Patton looked down as well and squeaked, practically throwing himself off of the Duke’s lap, knocking the paint covered paper to the ground in his desperation to grab a blanket to wrap around his waist, ears burning as Remus collapsed in a fit of giggles, his own--his own...rosy cheeks just as exposed as Patton’s had been. “WHY ARE WE NAKED?!” He demanded, voice cracking.

Sure he’d felt his glasses and hoodie fall from him when he’d changed into the tiny frog, but he hadn’t realized the rest of his--He shuddered again feeling Remus’s tongue against his bare back. No wonder it had been so--but he was human again! He should be wearing clothes! He’d had his outfit unmarred after he’d changed back from being that monster frog! 

Remus rolled to his side and Patton flushed harder, looking away, pulling the blanket up to his neck, getting a wift of lemons as he did so. 

“Never changed into an animal before have you?” He remarked, a wicked grin crossing his face. “Clothes can’t shift with you when you do that. You just leave them behind.” He pointed to his own pile of clothes on the paint covered floor.  

Patton gulped, twisting the blanket in his hands. “But Deceit!”

“Shifts between people.” Remus waved a hand dismissively. “That’s different. People wear clothes. You’ve never seen him change into a snake in front of you have you?”  No….but! ”But that-- my clothes! Earlier! I kept--”

Remus raised an eyebrow as he rolled off the bed, heading leisurely to his closet. “Were you a real frog earlier?”

Patton paused, mouth half opened. He--he--well they had been in a video game formant at the time he’d--he’d changed. Did...did that not count?

“Thought not.” Remus reemerged, thankfully wearing a tank top and very very short shorts as he tossed a wad of fabric at Patton’s head, the clothes vanishing just before hitting him only to reappear on his body. 

If he hadn’t done cloth swaps before with the...with everyone else before, that would have been---Patton shoved the thought from his mind, drawing in a shaky breath, reluctantly lowering the blanket to see just exactly what Remus had dressed him in. 

His fingers brushed over the black tank top with a picture of a kraken wrapped around a broken ship, to land on a pair of pajama bottoms that made it look like he had a multitude of tentacles instead of two legs.  

Remus gave him a critical once over before flopping back onto the bed. “Satisfied Mr. Monk? I’m sure that outfit won’t upset your delicate tastes too much.” He winked. “Though I can always dress you in something more--” he popped his lips.

It wasn’t his favorite get up... but it was much better than--than a lot of things he could imagine Remus wearing. Imagine Remus trying to get him to wear to get a reaction from him. Patton bit his lip, looking back up. “Why are you being so….nice? To me?” He whispered.

 Remus tilted his head at an unnatural angle to look at him, his eyebrows raised. 

There is no rhyme or reason to what I do, I just do.

Right. Patton flushed, looking away. Remus just...did things. Not just bad things apparently. Good things too. “Sorry. I just---no one…” He cut off as his voice cracked, blinking as his eyes began to burn again. “I...I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Recently. I--I thought you’d--” 

“Kick you while you were down?”

Patton bit his lip, pulling his knees up to his chest, grateful his tentacle patterned pj bottoms were pants instead of a pair of short shorts. “...Yah.” The Dark Side of Creativity liked doing things like that...didn’t he?

Remus twisted, shimming up to flop between Patton and the wall. “It was tempting.” He admitted, tapping a random pattern on Patton’s arm as he smoothed down his moustache with his other hand, “but considering you just cried hard enough to fill like twenty toilets--” He shrugged. “There’s only so many times you can kick a dead horse before it’s no longer fun. Seemed like you needed a breather from being hit.”

Patton swallowed over the lump in his throat as he relaxed his grip on his knees, turning his head to Remus. “Yah...I-I did.” 

Remus smirked. “As a frog though? You know there is this delectably bitter frog leg soup I’ve been itching to make and your legs--” He smacked his lips, eyes dancing with laughter as he stared at Patton. “Are quite shapely.”

And he thought his face couldn’t grow any hotter. At this rate he would give himself a sunburn from blushing so hard. “I--I-” 

Why did Remus have to go and say THAT. Despite his legs already being covered with his pants, Patton pulled the blanket back over them, hiding them from view. 

“Soo sensitive.” Remus teased, his feet prodding at Patton’s covered ones.

He was Feelings. He just--he pushed his feet against Remus’s, shoving them back. “I’m not used to--” 

“Ah yes.” Remus propped himself up on one elbow, rolling his eyes as his knee knocked against Patton’s calf. “Roman’s compliments are a bit more tame aren’t they? Something more boring about how you’re super sweet and like unto fields of flowers and being like the Sun and other trite drivel?” 

Patton bit his lip, a hollow pang echoing through his chest at the sound of Roman’s name. “...I don’t think he’ll be saying anything like that...to me….for a while.” Probably never again.

Remus froze for half a breath before he twisted, forcing his head between Patton’s chest and his legs so that he could use his stomach as a pillow. 

Roman used to do that. 

Patton swallowed over the lump in his throat, staring down at the Duke as he made himself comfortable. 

He should push him away. 

But at the same time...he--he missed...moments like this. Where it--it felt like someone wanted to be in his bubble. Wanted to stay near him. 

“I do love an unhappy story.” Remus remarked, bracing his feet against the wall as he gave Patton a feral grin that quickly softened as he stared up into his eyes. “But,” He raised a hand to brush at Patton’s wet cheeks, fingers coming away with flecks of paint on them as he dropped his hand to his lips, tongue flicking out to lick his fingers. “...I don’t think you should tell it tonight. A scab isn’t fun to pick at if it’s still fresh you know.” 

Patton bit his lip, blinking to keep his vision from blurring. “Right.” He managed to choke out. 

He didn’t know when this..this would not be fresh though. Would it ever...ever scab over if Roman--if Virg--Lo...if he was constantly left alone on the Light Side--

A warm hand again pressed against his cheek. “You’re welcome to stay, you know.” 

Patton drew in a shuddering breath, leaning into the Duke’s palm. “Huh?” He was...welcome? Here? 

“The night. For a breather. Be away from everyone. Seems like you need it. Though--” Remus’s eyes lit up with laughter as he gestured with his other hand around the low lit room. “I do only have the one bed.” 

Patton jerked, face burning as hot as the sun as he shoved Remus off him. “REMUS!” His voice shouldn’t sound that strangled. But. AH!

The Duke’s infectious laughter rang through the room as Remus rolled back to his spot between the wall and the bed, giving Patton as much space as he could on the twin sized bed. 

He may be more naive than the others in some aspects, but after finding some of the stuff that the Fanders had written about them...he--he--knew what that particular phrase could imply. “You could create another.” He said, once Remus’s laughter had died down to faint giggles, hating how high his voice still was. “You’re Creativity too!” 

“I could.” He easily agreed, shoulders still shaking with silent laughter. “but that’s not Fun. I wouldn’t be able to hear your breathing if you weren’t right here,” Remus dropped his voice seductively, smoothing down his moustache. “Next to me.”

If he got out of this room without getting third-degree burns from blushing Patton would be amazed. “I--I--stop it!” 

Remus tilted his head at that unnatural angle, his foot darting out to tap his toes again. “Stop what? You’re the one still here, Patters. On my bed. I haven’t tied you to it with fluffy handcuffs or anything though I could give you some. In your favorite shade of blue even.” He snickered. “Ooooooh, I’m sure I could make you squea--” He cut off as Patton shoved a pillow into his face.

He! He! Patton fell on top of the pillow, muffling his voice as he--he wasn’t sure if he was screaming or not, but AGH. Remus was--was so! So!!

An arm snaked around the pillow tapping Patton’s head before trailing down his neck. “Why haven’t you left?” Remus asked, his voice barely understandable through the pillow. He wiggled, the tip of his nose peeking out. “You can any time you know. I know you don’t like me, Pats. Don’t stay on my account.”  He--yah...he---he could leave. Should have left as soon as he realized he was again. Synced back to his room. To the light sides...to--to the loneliness. “If you know I--I don’t---lik--I haven’t been that--that good to you Remus. Why are you being nice to me?” Patton whispered reaching up to grab The Duke’s hand before it could trail further down his back. 

“Thomas is nice.” Remus said simply, going lax under him, his fingers twisting to squeeze Patton’s. “I’m just nice...differently.” 

He didn’t understand. Had never fully understood Remus nor his purpose. But this-- Patton tightened his grip. “Well it’s...I...I need nice right now. To feel--” Loved. Wanted. He trailed off, trying to keep his voice from wobbling. Was that pathetic of him? Wanting to stay when Remus was talking to him when no one else would? When he was instigating touch without Patton having to ask? “And..and you’re...you’re being nice...you hugged me and I just--” He cut off with a squeak as the pillow suddenly vanished, sending him right into Remus’s chest, the Duke’s arms wrapping around him in that too tight grip, fingers trailing through his hair.

“Let me hold you then.” Remus whispered. “If that’s what you need.” 

It was. He--he needed--Patton trembled, fingers gripping the Duke’s shirt as he pressed his face into his chest, breathing in the scent of lemons. “I’m sorry...it’s---”

Remus huffed a laugh into his ear, squeezing him tighter. “Apology accepted.” 

[amayaswatchtower]

a redux of Callie’s love triangle...................bleh. 

like to me? the choice for Callie is clear.........it’s Jamie. 

but obviously imma be treated to her dating them both at the same time being unable to choose and being all like “Jamie is sweet and dependable but Gael is passionate and unpredictable” and unless this shit ends in a polyam...

 i can’t be arsed to care. 

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Deeper Still Redux: ‘The Lying Detective’ Clustermeta Update

Alrighty, so now that we are rapidly approaching The Lying Detective (the episode I have been looking forward to the most), I’ve decided I would “BRIEFLY” (HA!) update what I think is going to happen in the next episode now that we have one episode under our belt.

I’m going to be writing this meta assuming you have read Deeper Still and the tiny addition Pocketed Drugs. Please read those first, and then come back to this one. 

I wrote Deeper Still on a whim one hot afternoon during setlock and it ended up being a 7 hour crack clustermeta based solely on what I was seeing on my dash for 2 weeks straight relating to S4E2.

I may have been a TEENY BIT buzzed when I wrote it.

This is the episode I have been looking most forward to, because I think it will be one of the most powerful episodes in canon. Already it’s looking to be dark and whumpy, and HOPEFULLY a bit of relationship building in there as well, since episode two of every season is the one that focuses on John and Sherlock’s changes in their relationship (and early keywords for this episode hinted at this one being a romance episode), and I just LOVE having my heart ripped out and stomped on several times and then put back into my chest.

ANYWAY, this is just a “small” addition to that meta, updating some of my original theories with new info plus adding on some new theories based on evidence presented in T6T. I’ll separate it similarly, so you can follow along on the old post if you need to reference back. First though, I’m going to address T6T.

PART 1: What the Heck is Going On in T6T?

See Also:  Post-T6T: My Theories and Speculations || Things Bothering Me in T6T

Okay, so I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about this because other people have already taken this whole episode apart and analysed it to death – rather I will link to other meta that support my own readings, so I encourage you to check them out as well. 

That said, why bring it up at all in a meta about TLD? Because I think that the “hidden plot” will actually be uncovered either at the beginning or end of TLD (the “surprise” mentioned in reviews), OR will be the opener in TFP, as there is an excellent speculation that TFP will be the “reliable narrator” or “author god” version of events. There is a reason that Ben has said that all three episodes must be watched before coming to a conclusion about them (here and here): I think that all three stories are all one long narrative that ALL tie together in a beautiful bow at the end of TFP while also resolving the major plot holes of the series (not ALL of them; they need some left for the fifth season). I think that the next two episodes will directly link back into T6T, ergo my discussion about T6T here.

Here is what I am believing happened in T6T:

The end of the episode, where Sherlock is talking to Ella, is actually the beginning of the episode. This entire episode is an “Unreliable Narrator” story told by Sherlock as he comes up with a way to provide a believable story for Mary’s death. 

That said, I don’t think that this is “real Ella”. I believe that she is a mind-palace projection created by Sherlock as “Sherlock’s intuition” [SHERLOCK: Intuitions are not to be ignored, John. They represent data processed too fast for the conscious mind to comprehend. (x)], as Ella is someone who knows John and would be able to help understand John, while Sherlock’s MP self represents his “logic” and I think, in a way, his own heart. Bleh, I know it conflicts with the John = heart and Mycroft = logic totems of the MP characters, but I think in this case, I believe Sherlock thinks John is ‘too close’ to the situation, and he’s replacing Mycroft with himself because Big Brother can’t help him this time.

Also another idea: Sherlock represents his mind, and Ella represents his heart, ‘lo: Sherlock is allowing sentiment to rule his head, and let it guide him into doing what he intuits is right (again with the intuition)

The first scene of the episode, where they are doctoring the footage of Magnussen’s death, is foreshadowing the events of the episode, and proves that the entire episode is “doctored” to fit a narrative that is “okay for the public”.

Sherlock is telling a story that makes John sympathetic to Mary so that it takes all blame away from John and so he would have no reason to kill Mary. This is why Mary is disturbingly sweet to John, writes a letter like it was composed in Victorian era, and why Sherlock keeps reiterating that they were friends (so that her jumping in front of a bullet to save him was logical for her to do). I still think Mary is an unrepentant villain and that it will be proven by the end of TFP. Both upcoming episodes will feature snippets of info and show Mary as the psychopath she is.

The more lies you tell (only lies have detail), the harder it is to keep track of your story.  I think this is why there are a lot of inconsistencies, like the disappearing police officers at the end, the details of John’s flat being wrong, and the suddenly appearing police officers when confronting Ajay.

Unreliable Narrator “Proof” Meta:

Frame Story

Billy the Skull Has Lenses On

It’s a Fish Story

Fragmented Perceptions and The Stream of Consciousness of an Unreliable Narrator

one possible narrative

There are only four (or five) people who know what happened

Did they really…?

None of it is Real

The Physics of Mary jumping in front of Sherlock

The “Unreliable Narrator” Theory works in conjunction with “John’s Alibi” Theory. This is the belief that John actually killed Mary and Sherlock is creating a believable alibi to protect him, which was foreshadowed in ASiP.

I think the general fandom consensus is that John was oddly out of character in this episode.

Mark and Steven mentioned their headcanon for the ACD story The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton: Moffat: If you read [The Adventure Of] Charles Augustus Milverton, Dr. Watson in the opening paragraph tells you that he’s about to tell you a porkie. He says, ‘I even now must be very reticent.’ I think what Doyle is hinting at is that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson sat in Baker Street and said, ‘Right, we’re going to have to go and kill him, aren’t we? That’s the only way we can do this.’ So they break in, kill him, and then Dr. Watson writes up a version of the story that puts the murder [on someone else].  Gatiss: They’re hiding in their burglar masks behind the curtain, and this random woman comes and shoots Milverton in the face and then grinds her heel into his face. It’s odd, isn’t it? So I mean really, it’s just an extrapolation of saying, ‘Well, he probably did it, I think.’(x) This leads us to speculate, given that this is a tail-end to HLV, that they are using this headcanon for Season 4 – that John was actually the perpetrator in Mary’s death.

Norbury agreed to take the fall for the murder and was paid a nice sum of money to just “disappear”.

Norbury is a John Mirror

I think Lestrade is in on the Alibi, just like he knew / suspected about John in the pilot being the shooter.

Some Alibi Theories that I have latched onto.

John’s Rejected Alibis - All the cases listed in the episode are alibis that Sherlock was running concurrent simulations for to find the alibi that would work for John. This is how they came up with the Jellyfish Alibi. Note that I do NOT believe the death of Mary was premeditation – the simulations, I believe, run AFTER the death of Mary – Sherlock is coming up with these ON HIS OWN, and chooses the jellyfish one because it is the one that takes away the most blame from John.

The jellyfish though - John shot Mary from behind, in the shadows, foreshadowed both in ASiP (only firing when Sherlock was in direct danger) and by the jellyfish joke: You can’t arrest a Jellyfish.

Surprise! - More about the Jellyfish Assassin, and further proof that it could have been John.

Mary is acting out ‘a post- Reichenbach’ Sherlock - Mary is the one who actually took the shot. Sherlock is giving Mary the words he wanted to always say.

People do not change how they respond in crisis – John’s uncharacteristic way of dealing with Mary’s gunshot. He let her die.

John Didn’t Go Into Action – Further discussion about John’s inability to help Mary.

Did John kill Mary? (Yes. Yes, he probably did.)

John is actually working for MI5/6 to capture Mary / Moriarty and to protect Sherlock.

And Bus Stop Lady is his contact. John WAS going to throw out the paper, but SOMETHING ON IT made him second guess. 

But she’s also the same actress as in TLD, so this has me questioning if she is an agent or a twin.

But I also think that Sherlock and John have their own plan in the works, and Sherlock is the mystery texter.

Night Owl or Vampire? Confirming the Plan

John’s “cheating texts” ARE from Sherlock, but because they are part of Sherlock’s story

Cheating

John & Sherlock’s Plan: A Brief Meta

The Room in Morocco

AGRA is still one person. They are two aliases of Mary. I don’t doubt that Mary DID have a team of assassins that she betrayed. But I don’t think they were called AGRA.

The Six Thatchers busts are used as a ploy for Sherlock’s story, taking a story from John’s blog and changes details in it to fit his narrative. 

I think John’s reaction to Ajay’s torture is both "relatable” and he is suddenly realizing what Sherlock had gone through in his time away.

“Amo” will be used to prompt the “I love you” seen in the trailer. I do not believe that the trailer “I love you is genuine, but a deduction, and the keyword “Amo” is the answer.

Something went wrong, and now Sherlock is in danger.

Rewatch the aquarium scene!!

John is angry at Sherlock for going into danger without him

OR John is going on the mission alone, either per Sherlock or Mycroft’s instructions

Mary dead or alive? Right now, I think she’s dead, since I subscribe to the Jellyfish alibi. I think I’m torn because I love the jellyfish theory, but I REALLY want Mary to go down in a blaze of glory. HOWEVER, Amanda is cast for all three episodes, though that could mean anything from a major role to a flashbacks role. There is proof for both theories, though more for her having faked her death:

ALIVE:

Mary’s Death & The Last Act: A Brief Meta

We Haven’t Seen this Yet

Mary’s Trial Run (Meta)

Mary’s Death & Molly the Record Keeper: A Brief Meta

Mary at the Window

Mary isn’t dead.

Mary is paralysing Mycroft

Mary is Birdy Edwards

DEAD:

The Day, Mary Sent Sherlock to Hell

“Go To Hell, Sherlock” is both a clue and a threat. I’m wondering if this is where John goes while Sherlock takes care of business at home.

If she is dead, I think we will see her act out the missing chunks, such as what was really said in her miss me video AND what really happened at the aquarium.

Mary is the Other One?

“LONG BURIED SECRETS”

Amnesia

Baby Watson –  Possibly stillborn, though if she was, then why is Sherlock weaving her into his story? To make a softer narrative, perhaps. What has me thinking that she is no longer existent is the fact that the baby, as far as I know, was only cast for episode one. HOWEVER... given the nature of the kind of character that Smith is, I fear that he perhaps kills the baby.

The Letter – A coded message to Sherlock. Molly was the go between. Possibly reveals John’s plans with Mycroft? Sherlock read the letter in the car, so we can speculate that we will eventually find out what’s on it.

Bleh, I ain’t got no more. Don’t ask me to interconnect them into a story narrative. These are simply the theories I think are probable.

Either way, my big theory is the JOHN is the game master this season. He’s controlling the course of events, and Sherlock is doing what John has planned.

PART 2: Revisiting Deeper Still

Alright, here’s where I get into my updated theory on TLD. I’m just going to make this as brief as possible, following along with my original meta. Apologies for my free-thought meta, I’m too tired to edit it.

The Dying Detective: It Takes John Watson to Save a Life

I still believe that John Watson is the main character this episode. He will play a huge role in solving this episode’s case. However, I believe that we will see about 10 minutes of repeating events from T6T to see what really happened from John’s POV. Perhaps, if he has killed Mary, we will see that play out at the END of the episode (the shocking twist). Since we know John is away early in the episode, I think he was the one who “went to Hell” to track down Mary’s operatives and to keep up appearances of the estrangement between he and Sherlock. Honestly, I’m not really even sure where I’m going with this, just that I believe that John is on his own mission for Mycroft but may be double-bluffing and working with Sherlock without Myc’s knowledge.

We saw some MI6 filming, did we not for this episode? John and Sherlock were both seen at that setlock iirc, and I think that it has to do with John’s mission to save Sherlock.

I still think that Sherlock will be a damsel in distress for John, given how ill Sherlock actually looks. Perhaps this is why he returns at the request of Mycroft. Sherlock is becoming delusional and hallucinating, and John is the only doctor that Sherlock will allow to see him. 

NEW STUFF from the trailer, we know that Sherlock shoots at something or someone and that John and Sherlock are in a morgue and John punches Sherlock. 

Could Sherlock be shooting at John? What if this whole episode, as Sherlock gets more ill, he starts hallucinating John as Culverton and vice versa? Either way, it will be John who brings Sherlock out of it. I think and believe that Sherlock’s aimless wandering around London may tie into the Alibi Theory (there’s setlock photos of Sherlock throwing a gun into the river... is this John’s gun that was used to kill Mary?), discarding the gun in the Thames (calling back to the pilot) and trying to find John.

As for John in the morgue, I actually think it’s Sherlock hallucinating Culverton as John. There’s a reason they made them look similar this season.

There was filming for this episode at a children’s ward in the hospital. What if this is where Rosie dies? Also: I think that Culverton “runs” this hospital, and has done very unsavoury things here.

I really REALLY like Blind Theory, and I think it COULD explain Sherlock’s disorientation in the episode. Some of the hospital setlock supports the theory, plus there’s that REALLY trippy-but-beautiful looking clip of Sherlock in the trailer where his eyes are almost pinpricks. THAT ALL SAID, what if this is why John returns?

WILD SPECULATION: A “Virus in the Data”. Perhaps Sherlock knew subconsciously long ago something was wrong with him? An incubating virus? I previously speculated that Mary could have poisoned / drugged him in the hospital, and perhaps the chemical-laced paper is what activated it in T6T.

WILD SPECULATION: Sherlock has Melideliosis (highly contagious, so probably not. The meta I wrote was interesting, thought I would posit it here)

WILD SPECULATION: A callback to THoB with the drug Vancomycin Hydrochloride

Culverton is Connected to Every Season Somehow

A lot of my ongoing theories about Culverton still stand, mostly the ones listed below plus a few new additions:

We know that Culverton may possibly be based on Jimmy Savile and loosely modelled after Trump. We also know he is the most “disgusting villain they’ve ever had” (paraphrasing). With that info, I believe that Culverton has a public façade as a TV personality / philanthropist which is a front for his illicit drugging of patients, his support of conversion therapy (homophobia) and possible unspeakable acts against children.

Apparently “Business Killer” is like “Kitchen Nightmares”, so I don’t even know where to begin. I still think that Business Killer exposes the problems of businesses / business owners. Where CAM had info and used it for blackmail, I think Culverton just fucking does it – he just exposes the shit out of people and essentially kills a business. BUT they seem to be promoting him as a philanthropist, so what if on the surface he exposes bad businesses, and it looks good to the public? But he’s SO SO much worse in private.

While I do think the military theories I posited in my original post are off the plate, I do still think Culverton is interconnected with the Mary / CAM / Moriarty triangle, possibly a a Dear Jim, possibly still is developing his own “treatment” for his patients. I think he still has ties to Baskerville and the HOUND drug. CAM obviously had blackmail material on him, which got him into trouble in the past. And Mary was one of his nurses, which is how they met.

I think that Culverton’s nasty arse is part of a scandal at the hospital he runs. 

I still think John knows of Culverton Smith and what he does. The person Sherlock is talking to in the trailer (the “this monster” line) will be either Lestrade or his brother, not John. THOUGH I am wondering if the “enlighten me” bit directly follows that, so perhaps John knows OF Smith but not the extent of his evil.

Mary is Why Sherlock is Infected in the First Place

Alive or dead, Mary wants Sherlock DEAD, but not before burning his heart. I think somehow Sherlock felt John was going to be hurt, and ended up being poisoned.

BLEH, Mary ‘dying’ really put a kink in my original theory, so most of it is void now. I don’t think any of it is really valid anymore.

Meh, I’ll just throw a theory out there so I can check it off if it does happen, though I know it won’t: Sherlock was already drugged, when Mary made him sniff the paper. What if that’s what started his illness? Long acting-agent, remains dormant? Or he’s suffering side-effects from that? OR, if she is alive, what if the paper that Sherlock is carrying around was laced with ricin?

I do still think, though, that Mary was the one who gave Sherlock drugs on the tarmac, and that they were probably laced with something if they gave him a gay Victorian fever dream.

The Lady in Red Conundrum

Alright, so I’m going to concede and say that all my previous guestimations on her have been debunked with the leak that the LiR is actually Faith Smith, Culverton’s daughter. Who also is played by the same actress who was ‘E’ in T6T.  Which is interesting. Twins maybe? (one works for Myc and the other is the woman we see in this ep)? I’m guessing, if this is the case, that she and John have not met (we never have seen John with the Lady in Red, have we?) But I don’t think her intentions are wholly good, either; some speculate that it is her in the background when John is punching Sherlock.  

Why is she seen hanging around Sherlock? Apparently she comes to Sherlock with a case early in the episode, but why does she then follow him around the whole time? I still really believe that she is a projection / hallucination Sherlock is having trying to cope with the foulness of what Culverton’s actions are this episode.

And we can all laugh at how silly my Sixth Sense theory was. Wow. :/ Okay, well, the WHOLE thing isn’t completely stupid...

[...] it’s the hallucinations aspect of it all that interests me. She is a physical manifestation of the LiR that Sherlock hallucinates, and they’re so real that his mind fills in the logical gaps (the rain), kind of like it did in TAB; there’s theories going around that this woman is the same as the one in Miskin (but not confirmed), so Sherlock does have a basis to establish a voice and a mannerism set for her to create a “ghost” to help him solve the case. The Baskerville drug dealt with hallucinations, and I think it’s coming back in this episode.

As I said above, I don’t much think there’s going to be a callback to Baskerville, but whatever Sherlock is poisoned with, I think they cause hallucinations and fuck up his mind palace.

Additional Thoughts on TLD

I mentioned the paper above, but I noticed on my old meta that I also suggest that this is a “list”, one that he either received from John (the letter) or one he acquired and needs to get to John so John can save him (possibly foreshadowed in TAB when Sherlock made lists for Myc, but now he gives them to John. John is a medical man, and a very good doctor, and would know how to save Sherlock.

For some reason I mentioned the bus stop and fish and chips on my old post. Now that we ALMOST know for sure that ‘E’ / Bus Stop Lady is also the Lady in Red, perhaps it’s Sherlock piecing together the clues of John’s mission? The bus stop is so significant in T6T that I think something important happens here in TLD as well. And he’s eating, which seems to be a pretty common theme this season already... (food = sex metaphor... Sherlock’s allowing the indulgences). Anyway.

I really truly believe that the love confession will happen this episode. Sherlock’s guards are down, and he’s terrified he won’t survive this time. I think, when they’re alone and Sherlock is scared, this will be when Sherlock confesses. He can’t die this time without John knowing. To what capacity it progresses, I think it will be at least a hug and forehead kiss from John. AHH I just read my original description, and I love it: 

The extremely suggestive lighting from the bridge and London Eye shots makes me more certain than ever about this. Throw in the medical aspect of it, where John’s time to shine bright for Sherlock finally comes into full swing and we may get full confessions yet. Sherlock may feel like he might actually want to confess his feelings if he is does believe he is dying. Plus, gems from canon like “Quick man, if you love me…!” would be something Mofftiss would not miss their chance at pulling into the modern era.

I think, given that we know the description now for TFP the episode will end in Sherlock and John “going away” for a bit to heal mentally after the torment of this episode. I suspect Sherlock will be a wreck the whole time and I feel like their rift will be fully healed by the time the episode ends, especially now that we know it will pretty much be the two of them against the world for TFP.

Molly’s Role, forgot to mention, is one of two possibilities:

John’s go-between. She is his trusted go between just as Sherlock trusted her in TRF. Her “Anyone” speech was actually a coded message.

If Mary is alive, Molly is being coerced to make Sherlock believe John is mad at him. The letter is NOT from John but from Mary pretending to be John.

PART 3: Receipts for TLD

Here is a list of my own TLD-related meta, taken from my S4 Receipts Masterpost.

So What if in S4…

Sherlock in TLD 

A Theory About Culverton and Sherlock’s Drug Use

Aren’t Sherlock and John Both Technically Detectives?

John Punching Sherlock: Why Does he Do it?

What’s Going on in the Russian TLD Trailer?

Is That John?

John or Culverton?

H.O.U.N.D. and the Unrelated Drug

Melideliosis

UMQRA and the Vignère Cipher

The Stubble and the Swoop

Sherlock Faking?

Will Sherlock Tell John He’s Faking?

Will Sherlock Lie to John Again?

Sick Sherlock? 

Mentally Ill, Or Back on Drugs?

Dying Detective Headcanon #1

Why is he Faking Being Poisoned?

Sherlock Drugged With a Hallucinogen 

What if Dying Detective and Garridebs are in the Same Ep? 

The Nurses

Are the Nurses John’s Girlfriends?

There’s a Male Nurse, Plus Culverton

The Scene With The Nurses: Pointing to Sherrinford?

UNCONFIRMED for TLD:

Sherlock’s Deerstalker in the Czech Trailer?

What is Garridebs?

What is Three Garridebs (Part 2)

Didn’t We Already Have Garridebs?

Why Is Garridebs so Important?

Wait, Has it Been Confirmed?

Johnlock, Garridebs and S4

Why Will Garridebs Happen in S4?

They Won’t Permanently Kill John…

What’s the Worst Case for 3G?

‘Vatican Cameos’ and ‘East Wind’

Reverse Garridebs?

John Will Die

Billy Wiggins’ Role in Sherlock S4

OTHER PEOPLE’S TLD META

The Lying Detective: What You Need to Know

Drugs and Tea Culverton and AGRA

The Lying Detective Speculation

Isn’t Lestrade a Detective?

Sherlock Filming By the Thames

Who is Culverton Smith

Just how Evil is Culverton Smith?

Culverton Will Kill Sherlock’s Business (Blind Sherlock Theory)

“Quick Man, If You Love Me!”

Why “Estranged”?

“Estranged”

Possible Plot of TLD Pieced Together with Setlock

Culverton Smith and Trump

The Dying Detective 

It’s All Gone Dark 

The Blind Illustrator

More About Blind Sherlock Theory

Blind Sherlock / Rapunzul Parallel

First Impressions

Circles in the Czech Trailer

Manchurian Candidate?

Czech Trailer Setlock Breakdown

Conversion Disorder?

Hallucinations

The Scopolamine Theory

The 7% Solution and TLD

Mind Palace Gone Awry

PART 4: FINAL WORD & THANK YOU 

Oy, that turned out a lot longer than anticipated. I wasn’t even going to cover T6T. It was just supposed to be a quick recap of my old TLD Setlock meta, and I got this monster instead, as is my M.O., apparently. I sat down at 6:30 PM on Friday and it is now 2:30 in the morning on Saturday and I just ran with it. 

I know a lot of theories contradict each other in this post, and quite frankly, that’s because I can’t set my heart on just one theory, because as of right now I can honestly see the narrative going in any direction.

Also, I’m not discrediting everything I mentioned in my first meta; this one is just a more refined one based one info we already have and all neatly packaged up here.

Anyway. Thank you all very much for taking the time out to read through this whole thing! This is the episode I was most looking forward to, probably BECAUSE I spent so much time writing the original one. And Episode 2 of each season is usually my fave. I’m wary because of the apparent dark theme for this one, but we’ll see. The early keyword of “Romance” for this episode gives me hope, and the “Amo = Love” keyword from T6T will surely carry over into this one.

Cheers, everyone!

TAGS:

@marcespot @beejohnlocked @shawleyleres @yorkiepug​ @coloringthegreyscale​ @shervival21st​ @shylockgnomes​ @twocandles​ @benaddictmindpalace​ @mollydobby​

Because y’all talk meta with me. :)

[comicteaparty]

December 7th-December 13th, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from December 7th, 2019 to December 13th, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

If you could redo one part of your story, which part would it be and why?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I can and do redo parts of my story. I’m working on a redux of the first two chapters of my comic, Dark Wings: Eryl (https://www.flowerlarkstudios.com/art-archive/eryl-redux-archives/ - rated M) right now. I’m doing so for quite a few reasons, some of which are very personal and have to do with my own growth as a person, not just as a creator. It was also to update the writing, partly to update the art, and because I took a three year hiatus a long time ago which created a huge, jarring gap in not the just art and writing, but also the tone and direction of the comic. I also sometimes go back and adjust speech bubbles in old pages to close plot-holes or fix some badly-written dialogue. I feel that if there is any part of my story where redoing sections can improve the entire course of the comic and readers’ enjoyment of it, I will. And if I don’t, I run the risk of losing inspiration for the entire comic because I can’t figure out how to work with an older part of it. Rather than twist my plot into pretzels trying to explain something carelessly written a decade ago in current scenes or allowing plot-holes to open, I go back and fix the bad parts. Reduxes are often seen as taboo by a lot of comic creators. But if looking back genuinely helps me to keep going forward, then I will.(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

For Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/), it'd be less about rewriting existing things, and more about... adding back in the extra pages/detail/fun-stuff that I originally wrote, but had to cut out to meet a reasonable page count per chapter. With the number of hours a single page takes to paint, I really REALLY have to streamline things, or I'll never finish this damn project Good news is, I think it's helped the pacing in its own way. And I have lots of fluff and fun stuff coming down the line that I think are better suited to the story anyway. So... I guess... in a different world, I'd simplify the art style, so I could just write more? Yeah, that. Let's go with that.(edited)

AntiBunny

We all have things we'd like to redo, but if we kept rebooting we'd never make progress. That said in AntiBunny: The Gritty City Stories http://antibunny.net/ I'd probably have set it in the 1980's instead of present day. It's hard to write mysteries around google and cell phones, or to keep the superscience impressive. Grounding it in a known time period would have been easier.

Eightfish

@LadyLazuli (Phantomarine) I just read through your archive and ohmygod, wow! Your art is so beautiful. The colors! The backgrounds! Every page is like a painting the panels are so well put together. And I love the way you draw the seaghosts all together. I can't imaging how much time that took. And the worldbuilding is fantastic and creative, and the dialogue flows so well, and I'm so invested in your characters (when are we getting back to Phaedra??), and your villains are so fun. Cheth is so fun to see, and such a unique idea, I am so into it.

twothirty

i actually did redo the first half of chapter 1 (http://versecomic.com/) when i came back to it after 2-ish years. I opted for a much slower start to introduce readers to this world where things aren't perfect but people are getting by. Originally i had it start off in the midst of a catastrophe and i just wasn't feeling it. I always ruminate on the pacing of my story, i think the first book moves very fast, and there's some scenes i'd make a few pages longer to just get in some more dialogue...

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

@Eightfish Oh my goodness!! That’s so wonderful and so kind of you to say. It’s my only current story idea, so I’m putting all the effort in that I can muster. Thank you for checking it out! This is the last of the chapters that help flesh out the outside world - we’ll be seeing a lot more of Cheth and Phaedra very soon... for better or for worse. I can’t wait to get back to them and FINALLY tie all the threads together Thank you again!

seetherabbit

The only one that I would do a redo would the first story in Vulperra https://vulperra.com/comic/flash-gauntlet-1/ Apart from giving it a George Lucas (redrawing it with improved graphics aka art skill), I would also add in pages before and after the 10 pages thats out. What I would add is Flash Gauntlet (the main character) tell the tale of him fighting the demon in the story. There's one story that I did a redo on before it got published, which is this one. https://vulperra.com/comic/guardian-of-castle-bogo-1/ What I changed was the climax and the ending. The story is about a bunch of people in a castle that has only one guardian who protects the rest of the citizen from monsters and such. No one else wants to use weapons and the guardian is tired of his work and tries to throw it on Flash Gauntlet. The climax is that Flash Gauntlet convices the others to help the guardian out by making better defences around the castle. In the old version, the citizens learns to wield weapons instead. I didn't like the old version because I felt it was too preachy, and the ending gave me a bleh feeling. There's a couple of things in the story that's being published now, and one future one that I could change, but that's more minor things that I think I don't need to go back to. I'm more of a "let the mistakes be and leave them as a reminder to get gudd" kind of guy. Unless I hate it the story, like the Castle short

Capitania do Azar

Oh I have done so many edits over at https://www.sarilho.net/en/. They're mostly to text (for clarity) and minor edits here and there for continuity or correcting mistakes. Tho more recently I found out than I have the time I shouldn't let it reflect anything less than my best work, so in the latest chapter I've moved pages and panels around to make for a better story flow (even adding pages when I realized I would go over the initial number of pages I planned)

Phin (Heirs of the Veil)

Sometimes I think I should have started the story with Victoria's situation at home and her relationship to her mother, since that is pretty important for the plot. But to be fair...not showing this at the beginning created a little bit more intrigue and I guess I'm not far enough into the plot yet to really want to change anything of substance.

sssfrs

I would redo chapter 2 https://tapas.io/episode/1486719 to improve the art and change around some of the dialogue

Ooh there were also some details I forgot to include in the most recent chapter

Deo101

I think I would want to add some pages to slow my pacing down, and also spend a bit longer on backgrounds. I suppose in theory I could add pages in now, but I think I'd rather put that effort into moving forward!

snuffysam

In terms of art - a lot lol, the early art of Super Galaxy Knights http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/ is pretty bad. But I'm almost finished redoing all the chapters that were drawn on paper & didn't have shading, so that won't be a problem for much longer. In terms of the writing and pacing and stuff, I'm mostly still good with my earlier work? The one thing I regret is the end of Book 1 Chapter 7 - the part where Cahe straight-up murders three guys. I feel like it doesn't make that much sense for his character, and doesn't even resolve the "we need a rounded out team" thing very well. An ideal redo would change Cahe's ability to make more sense for his character - say, he can put a shield on Pejiba that reflects all damage to her back at her attackers. But making a change like that would make it impossible for Mizuki to use that ability while fighting Zebugu, which would take away one of the major aspects of that fight. At the very least, I'd probably cut out the page where Cahe kills the tank driver :p

[hainekko-blog]

Bleh, plague (dies) Pt. 4

http://www.jstor.org.manowar.tamucc.edu/stable/27644875

Reviewed Work: The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity and Islam by David Goldenberg

http://www.jstor.org.manowar.tamucc.edu/stable/10.5406/amerlitereal.49.1.0001

Reversing the Curse: Slavery, Child Abuse, and Huckleberry Finn

http://www.jstor.org.manowar.tamucc.edu/stable/20078978

Pestis Redux: The Initial Years of the Third Bubonic Plague Pandemic, 1894-1901

http://www.jstor.org.manowar.tamucc.edu/stable/24238362

Human Plague — United States, 1983

These are the most relevant topics i could find for my words from Pt. 1

[stompsite]

indie bundle cruft deathmatch issue 4: it takes twenty to tango

you know the drill: I play a few dozen million games I’m not sure if I want to keep around, mostly free stuff or stuff I got in bundles, and then I write a little mini-review of the game; it either stays or goes on the backlog. Right now, out of 50 games, only 10 have survived, while 40 were sent to purgatory. 80% of ‘em, banished.

What’s next?

An ex-friend (our friendship ended abruptly when I was asked if I liked Half-Life 2 and said ‘no.’ He blocked me on all messengers and disappeared from my life forever. I never understood that) recommended BROKEN SWORD to me. He said I’d like it. I don’t think he understood me very well. Maybe the game is great, but I really struggle to enjoy the pixel hunting of point and click games. I don’t see how that’s enjoyable, and I think it kills narrative pacing. HASTA LA VISTA.

FACE NOIR suffers from the same problem, except, as a noir story, you’d really think I’d like it. But I don’t, because I really struggle with enjoying that kind of gameplay. SAYONARA.

CAESAR 3 should be something I love, as a city builder, but it’s one of those really old ones that’s super zoomed in with a kind of unflexible UI. Age of Empires which released a year prior, looks and plays better. Sure, the genres are a bit different--city builder vs RTS--but Ensemble’s just dramatically better at conveying necessary information to the players. THUMBS DOWN.

CAESAR 4 is clearly a sequel to the third, but it has a much better UI/UX thing going on, and I’m down with this. It refused to run without me running a .bat file as an administrator, but once I ran it, wow, what a game! THUMBS UP.

It is possible that THE CAMPAIGN SERIES: FALL WEISS is a great game, but the launcher said it would boot into 1080p and fullscreen, yet in the game, it booted into a 1366x768, and I had to restart the game to make it work. I have no idea what I’m doing. Maybe there’s a manual? I don’t know. I started a game, I picked Poland, and then the game played itself for like... five minutes? I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing and there was no tutorial. I SURRENDER.

CANABALT is an endless runner, a fun genre to mess with occasionally, but remember what I said last time? I like games about planning. You don’t plan in Canabalt, you just run. I think it’s exemplary of its genre, so if you’re into it, you’re into it. Me? Well, I need to keep coming up with clever phrases to say I rejected the game. So. RUN AWAY.

CAPSIZED appears to have nothing to do with actually being capsized, as far as I can tell. It’s a platformer, so I don’t really care about playing it that much. Also, I couldn’t get my controller to work with it, which is kind of strange. STRANDED.

CAPSULE, is an example of that kind of game where you deal with a fictional interface to play the game. You may be surprised to know how many of these games there are. It’s a lot. Anyways, with Capsule, you appear to be underwater. You move around and hope your oxygen doesn’t die out while moving from place to place. It was okay, but I think I got all I could out of it. ACTUALLY FINISHED.

CAR MECHANIC SIMULATOR 2014 shouldn’t have been enjoyable. It is, after all, supposedly a simulator. But you know what? I had fun. That was neat. I’m glad I played it. Still, I can’t see myself spending a lot of time with it. In first person, you explore a shop, take cars apart, buy the needed parts, and repair cars. It’s cool, but not quite for me. WRECKED.

CARAVAN is so good that I played it for two or three hours after I booted it up the first time.

Yeah.

It’s that good. I can’t think of a game quite like it. Maybe FTL? Kinda? But more about trading and less about combat? The combat itself is hard to explain, but really fun once you get to know it. Personally, I think the best combat is easy to understand, but it’s hard to hold anything against Caravan, which is too dang fun not to keep. WE JOURNEY ONWARD.

EVENT[0] was short enough that I beat it. It’s a walking sim. You solve puzzles. The puzzles are not well designed and the story is simple. Oh yeah, and the textures are low res, which is bad when you’re trying to solve puzzles. I found out later that you could hover over them with the mouse to see the text, but still, weird. A RESOUNDING BLEH.

CITIES XXL takes place on a world not like our own but also completely like our own. It is a city builder, but one of the “you just kind of build a city” varieties, and not one of the “build specific buildings and then do missions and stuff” kinds that I like, like Aven Colony and Tropico. MOVING ON.

Well, E.T. ARMIES seems pretty bad so far--the gun models are huge, the level design is uninspiring, there’s only one enemy type I’ve encountered, and the only guns I’ve located are two seemingly-identical assault rifles and my starting pistol, but I find it somewhat charming. The dev’s web page has expired; the translation seems a little iffy. But I’m having fun. A Steam review called it “surprisingly okay.” Yeah, that’s about right. FINISH THE FIGHT.

CARGO: THE QUEST FOR GRAVITY cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. It must be experienced. Wow. I can’t even begin to put into words what a horrible and remarkable and wonderful experience it is. I love this. Of course it’s by Ice Pick Lodge. Of course it is. GREAT FUN.

CROOKZ: THE BIG HEIST is a sorta-but-not-entirely turn-based heist game set in the 60s. I like what I’m seeing so far, well enough to keep it around. Game has an 87% positive rating on Steam, so it seems like people like it enough. IT STOLE MY HEART.

CLANDESTINITY OF ELSIE is an RPGMaker game with a weird name. I’m not wild about these games. If you’re into horror games that are delivered in a perspective not conducive to horror, by all means, check it out. I uninstalled it. BYE. 

THE CLUB has nothing to do with 50 Cent, but that doesn’t stop it from being pretty dang neato. It’s a third person shooter by Bizarre Creations. Some underground murder fight club sorta thing. Seems fun. Took a bit to get GFWL going, but I prevailed in the end. IT SURVIVES.

CARMAGEDDON is alright, but I was struggling to get the controls where I wanted them to be, so I’ve decied to PASS.

CARMAGEDDON 2 SUFFERS THE SAME FATE.

Look at this screenshot. Does it look like a screenshot of a game you would enjoy? If so, then by all means, play CAST OF THE SEVEN GODSENDS: REDUX. As for me, someone who must’ve gotten this in a bundle and only redeemed it on the off chance it had trading cards to sell, this is the END OF THE LINE.

CASTLE is a game where you take blocks and drop them into place and build the eponymous castle. I did not particularly enjoy it, though I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. BESIEGED.

So, there you have it. 14 games passed on, 6 games kept. The real standouts here were CARGO and CARAVAN. I ultimately passed on a game that was kinda fun, CAR MECHANIC SIMULATOR, and I kept a weird, crappy shooter, E.T. ARMIES.

The total now is 54 to 16, meaning I’ve passed on 77% of games so far.

[bfdiredux]

you should do a proper character proposal for book!! she's my favorite character <3

hi, same anon as the one who requested book!!! i was thinking about a way to do a little rewrite of the team bleh arc in bfb:

-book's the first one to spot taco being out of the jawbreaker. the other members of team bleh don't notice at all at first. -her face sours. she doesn't accept taco trying to explain her absence after she herself has been abandoned for no good reason. -afterwards, she vents to her teammates about taco. her wording paints taco as a bad person putting the team against her.

basically, team bleh doesn't immediately go straight to shittalking taco in her face once they first see her, but instead hears abt her from book, who is, at the time of late idfb-bfb, like a mentally unstable unreliable narrator. and then they distance themselves from taco. also book doesn't straight up harrass taco bc i personally think that's a bit ooc

taco doesn't know why she's being ignored by everyone ....until she hears book venting to icy. events happen, taco's hurt, then we get to that heart-to-heart scene you mentioned in an earlier post!

hopefully i did this right im not a writer ^^;

ANON.

ANON, YOU GENIUS!! I LOVE THAT.

I LOVE BOOK!!

SO!!! DRRRUMMMROOLLLLL!!!!

Cw; verbal, emotional, and mental abuse.

Redux!Book is the epitome of hurt people hurt people.

Going into BFDIA, Book is cooperative, friendly, passive, gullible, and insecure. She just wants friends man!

Book applies for BFDIA with support of friends and family.

Book approaches Pencil to be in an alliance because she watched BFDI and she saw Pencil with a strong team! They lasted so long!! Pencil seems glad to have Book on.

Pencil has strong leadership skills and her right hand, Match, is a great manager. Bubble, a season spectator, seems less than content to have Book and a second newbie on the team.

This second newbie is Ruby!! Book can tell Bubble's hesitation makes Ruby upset. Book doesn't have much of an opinion on it.

Ice Cube!! Book naturally gravitated towards her when they first met, even if Ice Cube's expression was off-putting. She's often quiet so Book finds it easy to hang around her. She's also strong-willed and supportive!!

While Pencil is in the game, she puts herself in control and isn't afraid to set boundaries. Apparently that includes snapping at Ruby. (And Book if Book tries to echo Ruby's hype)

Book is genuinely disturbed when Pencil uses prizes from her alliance members to disable Pin and remove her autonomy. Ice Cube tries speaking to Pencil about this and Pencil shoots her down HARD.

Pin is a threat. Pin is an opponent. If she can't win challenges, she'll surely get out and FreeSmart has a higher chance of winning. This isn't personal. This isn't personal. Book keeps telling herself that Pencil doing this is NOT personal.

Pencil also keeps Book distanced from others. Pencil expects total dedication from everyone to FreeSmart. This includes hanging out between challenges, supporting those in the game even if you're eliminated, and GETTING THE JOB DONE.

This social isolation is why Book develops DPD. She NEEDS direction and to be controlled by others or else she won't know what to do.

But Pencil has to be justified. She just HAS to! Nobody says anything about it and Ruby and Match hardcore enable Pencil.

Pencil lights a fuse whenever Book fails at challenges. Book isn't.. exactly the best at them. But she tries!! She does!! And the audience loves this!

Book doesn't always like what FreeSmart does-- but they have to. She can't bring herself to speak up-- she sees what happens when Ice Cube tries. So, Book can only look at Pencil and wish her thoughts and feelings would magically project to her.

When everyone in FreeSmart BUT Book is eliminated, Book searches for anything that will bring that dynamic back. She tries Baseball, Fries, Needle...

Even PIN! Who brutally killed her. Just to announce the alliance as over after she got safety and kill Book again. She and Book will eventually talk about this

If Book wins BFDIA Pencil will definitely hold that over her head. She'd say that someone who struggles as much as Book did should be thankful for those who boosted her. Well Pencil will probably hold how far Book got over her head either way,,, fun.

IDFB

Same old, same old. FreeSmart is more of a dysfunctional friend group now than ever before.

IDFB Book will get more focus towards the middle-end of the season. She spends almost all of her time with FreeSmart until then.

Same behavior from Pencil. Match is like her but softened. Ruby is an apologist. Bubble is there and has long since warmed up to Book.

Book still sticks by Ice Cube.

One day, Pencil is in a bad mood. It feels like whatever they do, Pencil finds a reason to snap at them.

And Ice Cube snaps.

The confrontation between them is harsh. Ice Cube calls Pencil's behavior out, then Match for enabling it, and stomps off, saying she's DONE with this friend group.

...leaving has been an option? It's that easy? Has it always been that easy? This whole time, the way out was just to walk away? Book can do that too, yeah?

Book goes to follow Ice Cube. Pencil shoves stops her.

Quoting directly from an older post here-- ...Book needs them. She's loyal to them-- that's her alliance. They got her to the final 5 of BFDIA. She owes them to be loyal. She owes Pencil to be loyal and if she can't be loyal, what use is she to FreeSmart? If she can't be loyal, she's abandoning her team and she's no better than...

And Pencil reinforces this mindset. She GOES OFF. She berates Book for even thinking of leaving. She tells Book that Book is abandoning everyone if she goes. You can find the direct quotes here.

Pencil then tells Book to leave.

It's no victory. Book follows Ice Cube in tears, feeling so guilty and horrible.

For the rest of IDFB, Book's mental health is shit. She breaks down multiple times. She's self-loathing.

Ice Cube defends Book when Pencil is there to bully her. And when Ice Cube isn't there, Book has to sit through ridicule. She barely fights back.

Ice Cube is there for Book. Book is there for Ice Cube. With Ice Cube's influence, Book starts to become braver.

Book decides she has to return the favor the best she can. She becomes more assertive, less quiet, and open.

BFB

Book's bravery skyrockets in BFB.

When Taco disappears for a challenge or two and then reappears out of nowhere, Book is the first to see her. Book feels bile in her throat. Taco tries to explain herself and Book refuses to listen.

She does indeed vent to her teammates, painting Taco in a bad light. The team distances themself-- except for Lollipop, who does go to Taco.

Taco decides to try to talk to Book. She finds Book venting to Ice Cube and Ice Cube being very quiet.

We eventually get Taco confronting Book. Bad at communicating #1(Book) and Bad at communicating #2(Taco) do not have a fun time.

Book does not relentlessly bully Taco, no. She instead lets her feelings accumulate until she can't keep them in and finally lets it all out. HURTFUL THINGS ARE SAID!!

"You abandoned us when we needed you! An alliance is supposed to work together! We all have a job we're supposed to do!! You're- you're useless if you can't pull your own weight. We valued you and you LEFT US! We-- you- you're useless if you can't be there. By- by abandoning us, you... You hurt this team. You suck, Taco. You... Suck.."

Yeah Book is definitely in tears by the end of that! And walking away. It's a rage-induced and impulsive state-- it's also Book pushing all of her own self-loathing onto Taco. Yah.

Book and Taco are no longer on speaking terms.

Near the end of BFB pre-split, Book's controlling behavior towards Ice Cube grows worse as she searches for anything to stabilize and distract herself. Ice Cube HATES it.

Ice Cube also won't sit there and tolerate it.

She confronts Book. The two start arguing and, in the heat of the moment, Ice Cube compares Book to Pencil. Whatever Book was going to say, she stops.

A nerve is struck.

Ice Cube tells Book how she feels-- how Book's behavior hurts herself and her team, how she's acting like someone Ice Cube knows she's not, and how Ice Cube is done with it.

Ice Cube stomps off. Book is speechless and sits in silence for a long time before completely breaking down.

It took losing her best friend but Book is finally able to acknowledge how her actions have hurt others-- and how Pencil hurt her.

She vows to make an effort to be better.

Whether or not she talks to Taco by the time Two comes down,, I've been thinking about it but maybe yes!! This is how Taco also gets better at communicating.

With that being said, they won't become friends. But they will be on neutral terms.

When Two pulls up, Book really wants to switch shows. As she's going to switch, she spots a shy Cake looking lost and uncertain. Book goes up to him and offers a listening ear.

TPOT

Book is happier than she's ever been. She's on a fresh new team with fresh new faces and they get along GREAT!! Most everyone on the team is supportive and friendly. Hi Just Not.

Book is the closest with Price Tag and Cake. Book lets Cake vent to her and enjoys his Goiky's Dragon campaign. He's a strong DM!

After Cake is eliminated, Book finds herself a best friend in Price Tag. Best. Friends!!!

When the team swap happens, Book is shocked to find herself on the same team as Ice Cube-- Team 2.

Book tries talking to Ice Cube. Ice Cube isn't interested. Okay!! Book'll just chill with Price Tag then. Price Tag asks about Ice Cube and Book's history and Book gives them the rundown.

Book is stunned when Pencil joins TPOT and takes Book and Ice Cube aside for a cross-team alliance.

It's Price Tag who comes in and pulls them apart. Book expects Pencil to have some strong words for Price Tag but she stares instead.

Book tries talking to Ice Cube about this too. It seems Icy is starting to open up to her again!!

Pencil tries with Book and Icy off and on-- until TPOT 15 when her own actions causes the world to almost end. Ice Cube, Book, and Price Tag all huddle together.

And the next episode, Ice Cube is eliminated. Not before confirming her friendship with Book is back. This is a good step.

Price Tag and Yellow Face are becoming close friends. Book talks to Winner about this and they're starting to become friends too.

As for Pencil? She pulls Book into a very makeshift version of TCOA and tries asking her to team again.

Book tells Pencil to shove off and walks away. She is genuinely scared of Pencil. 😁

THE FOURSE SCENE. PENCIL TRIES AGAIN. HEre's the redux version of their talk!! It's very similar :P

"I am not going to risk going up again!"

"There it is again, Pencil." Book deadpans.

"What?? What is that supposed to mean!?"

"You're still selfish! I thought that, by some miracle, maybe you'd have changed or gotten better, but you're worse than before! It's always 'me, me, me!' with you!"

"Then let me be a WE and JOIN MY ALLIANCE ALREADY!" Pencil takes Book by the arms and they both grapple to stay balanced on the fourse.

"No! I will never be on an alliance with you ever again!" Book grits her teeth.

"Why!? Why not!?"

"Because-" Book yelps as Pencil pushes her hand into Book's face "-because I HATE YOU!!"

"You hate me?"

"YES! You're controlling and selfish and obsessive and MEAN! You never let my achievements be my achievements. You made me scared of you!! Scared to go against you!! You bullied me for MONTHS and you NEVER LISTEN! I gave Ice Cube the space she needed! Why can't you give me the space I need!?"

"Because you're all I have here!! Book, Match is who knows where, Ice Cube is eliminated, and Bubble and Ruby are missing! I just want things to go back to the way they were. I was trapped in the EXIT- in Four- for years! YEARS! And this is how I'm welcomed back!?"

"You nearly destroyed the universe for your own selfish needs! You didn't come back asking to be friends or with an apology-- you wanted an alliance! To get you further in the game! That's all you want! That's all you've EVER wanted! And I will NEVER be used like that again!"

"Then what use are you?" Pencil throws Book off.

Book is left shaking. Yea,, she's scared of Pencil but that felt GOOD. She got her feelings out and now Pencil will finally leave her alone.

That's it! Thats the end!!!

[fairylightwriter]

Bleh. I'm trying to get a start on Endgame Redux's chapter...

[bfdiredux]

o ya, may i ask about Dora?

Canon Dora is underrated. I love her.

Dedicated and loyal, skilled, sentimental, and collected.

Dora cares immensely about positive relationships. It breaks her heart when she loses them.

Receptively bilingual. She speaks her home country's language(Insulăvoric) and understands English while her cousin speaks both languages.

Dora has pica and has been managing it since she was a child. She had medication and therapy to help her handle it when she was young and continued medication into adulthood but was forced to stop when she entered the EXIT.

Who's her cousin? David. It's David.

David and Dora come from the redux's equivalent of Davidland. Currently calling it Clayland, this may change. Just know that everyone there is made of clay.

One thing you'll see with Claylanders is that they are a closed off community. They don't take well to change or new faces and expect you to stay where you grew up. However, there are some ambitious individuals who don't want that and they're treated poorly.

This is the case with Dora and David. David was willing to conform but Dora wasn't. She wanted to see the world outside of her hometown and got David involved.

Sharing this news got them scorn and scolding. It also lead to them being outcasted after David came home from BFDI. Dora said fuck it and they both left for BFDIA, with only Dora getting in and David growing bitter.

Dora wishes David didn't blame her for the way they were treated. Their close bond was broken. They go on low contact with conversations being uncomfortable at the least.

Dora REFUSES to go back to Clayland. She leaves BFDIA after her elimination and takes a job elsewhere in Goiky. Dora doesn't come back until she's invited to co-host an episode.

Dora may have part of an early episode dedicated to her in IDFB.. I think she'd be one of the characters who leaves after BFDIA.

When she's invited back for BFB, Dora doesn't turn the offer down or ignore it!!

Dora helps a lot during challenges while she's on Bleh. They're a mess in early BFB.

Dora is shocked when she's eliminated. She helped with so many challenges for her team while they were focused on bickering and mending and even flirting. She sat there through it all, a listener with Teardrop, a good competitor, and the one time they lose, she's the one out.

It's not fair.

But Dora can't bring herself to be angry.

Disappointed, sure.

But angry? No. At the end of the day, BFB is a competition show-- this is just the way things are.

When Four casts her to his domain, she expects to be out eventually. It.. may be a minute because there's so many contestants-- and a rejoin may happen. It happened with Leafy.

So Dora waits. And waits. And waits.

A month, maybe two passes. In that time the EXIT fills, Loser and Spongy escape after the whole group tries to, BFB splits, and then nobody ever comes back.

Four years of this.

In this time, Dora grows close to 8-Ball and Firey Jr.

Firey Jr is a kid. A teenage boy. Dora knows he went through something before joining BFB but he never opens up about what. And Dora doesn't ask.

She's just there. By his side. Trying her best to keep Four away from him. 8-Ball helps with this too. They aren't perfect.

Dora and 8-Ball pretty much act as Firey Jr's guardians.

She has to stay strong.

Especially with the group growing braver, leaving the classroom when Four isn't there to check on them. Stress is high during these periods and Dora won't let it control her. She can't get distracted.

The one time she did, Firey Jr and 8-Ball nearly got caught and died.

Never again.

David is also at the EXIT. He and Dora are forced to work together sometimes and it. May become an argument in Insulăvoric. They eventually get along well again.

The EXITors are all kind of? Tense? For the most part. They're all one another have but they don't. All quite get along outside of the classroom. But they all care for one another.

Escaping the EXIT is terrifying and relieving.

What's not okay is Two taking all of the EXITors and putting them to work at the hotel. Without their agreement.

The door out. Is locked! That's. WOW!!!

Dora breaks a window to escape. Two comes over to check out the damage as some EXITors ask to join the game. Dora thought about it and eventually decided that yeah. Sure, why not? What would happen if they weren't let in anyways?

The votes are cast and revealed during a storm. Two lets Four host the cake and stake and decides that the winning prize is staying at the hotel.

8-Ball and David are sent into orbit. Dora is. Actually horrified. They could both be dead or injured or lost and she can't know.

The same thing happens to Firey Jr.

Dora lost everything again. Just like that.

She's sent into the storm too, pulled by powerful wind. Where she ends up? I want to know what TPOT does with her first.

I do know I want her to be dedicating her time to finding her lost friends and family.

[bfdiredux]

https://www.tumblr.com/bfdiredux/783534894927216640/looking-for-input?source=share

ok, uh, well, book's arc in bfb needs a LOT of fixing up imo. the idea of her getting abandonment issues because of freesmart and getting attached to taco dissapearing is interesting and definetly makes sense but it wasn't handled very well in canon,,,,,

I wholeheartedly agree!

It felt kind of? What's the right word for this,? Petty? Jarring? Seeing Book react the way she did-- and for how long she held on to that grudge for.

I think I'd push back her split-off from Pencil's alliance to IDFB and give her and Taco time to get closer, as well as have her chill on the bullying-- it felt so out of character for her.

Perhaps Taco gets forgotten about and left in the jawbreaker during Redux!BFB 2 & 3. Instead of being put on the swing during the challenge in episode 2, the jawbreaker is with other unopened ones(albeit empty)

When Book realizes Taco isn't there to help, we rehash the scene where she thinks Taco's abandoned them all. Some shenanigans happen near the end of the episode that get Taco's jawbreaker closer to the swing that her team(Bleh?) is on.

I want a scene in the following episodes where Book does say something harmful-- something that sours things between her and Taco more. She won't relentlessly harass Taco, but she will have that flare of anger.

A few episodes down the line, she and Taco may have a heart to heart. They may not be friends anymore, but they can be on better terms. This'll make way for her story in TPOT!

With the rewrite in it's early early phase, this is all subject to change :]