moonlight-and-mischief

[moonlight-and-mischief]

me once a week when I remember I can give The Character all my issues. yippee!

[moonlight-and-mischief]

Ultima Lore Bitching (feat @mysticlael)

Mystic and I were yapping and we just came to the most frustrating realization. Lemme set the stage:

Up until the events of Emerald Secret, we know nothing about the Ultima lore. Nothing, until LUCINDA of all people gives us a random out-of-nowhere lore dump about the Ultima. Lucinda, who is literally only relevant to any of this because she is friends with Aphmau and Aaron and just happened to come on this trip, is the one who gets to do the big lore reveal. And it happens at such a random moment.

So Mystic and I were agonizing over this and now I'm screaming because THERE WAS A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THE LORE DUMP THAT WOULD HAVE WORKED MUCH BETTER.

Ein should have given Aphmau the Ultima lore dump in PDH s2.

Why?

Because they literally made a deal in episode 8 that he would teach her about werewolves if she taught him about humans.

They straight up gave themselves the perfect setup for him to tell her the legend. He's just following through on his end of the deal. Maybe he makes fun of her a little for not knowing it despite being the Alpha female for almost two years.

And then BOOM, we have context!

It literally makes no sense that Aphmau would have never heard of the Ultima lore. She was the Alpha female of the werewolves for 4 years! She was in werewolf class and werewolf club. No way she wouldn't have heard about it. Maybe she dismissed it as just legend and not real, but she still could have known. She literally forgot werewolves can't have chocolate in Aphmau's Year, so I wouldn't be surprised if she just discarded it from her brain, especially if it was associated with Ein after the end of PDH s2.

[moonlight-and-mischief]

Only Human (Ein as a Human Headcanons)

Thinking a lot about Ein literally getting turned into a different species lately and I really wish it was explored more. Like, just think about the kind of impact that would have on someone.

Tagging @ein-asahina for REASONS.

Content warning for dark content, self-harm, delusions, body horror, diet issues, body image issues, and dysphoria.

Already mentioned this one in another post, but his senses are all over the place. Hearing and scent are dampened, struggles to see properly in the dark. Everything tastes bland because his sense of smell is suddenly so much weaker.

Another one I have said before, but without his tail for balance, it took Ein a full week to be able to walk in a straight line without crashing into anything.

Also the ears are crucial for balance and not only are Ein's not where they usually are, but they have a different structure, so even basic balance and movement is a challenge.

He's also used to accounting for his ears being on top of his head and not on the sides, so that is strange on its own. He'll go to brush his hair back and snag his ear and it'll hurt. Sleeping on them is also uncomfortable. He doesn't like that laying on his side totally muffles one ear.

His diet is messed up too. Werewolves eat so much, but humans don't need nearly as much food, so trying to eat as he normally does just makes him feel sick to his stomach. Beyond that, what he would normally eat isn't working. Humans need more than just meat. He feels like a child, trying to figure out what fruits and vegetables he can stomach enough so he's functional. Most of the time he just tries to swallow it down without tasting it as much as he can.

His body is so much weaker than it used to be so he gets hurt a lot. His human body just can't handle what his werewolf body could have. It's part of why he wasn't able to escape from Tatiana and her pack, despite having taken them on singlehandedly before.

And to make matters worse, he heals slower. His werewolf body was so much more durable and healed so much faster, but now it breaks so easily and recovers so slowly. How can humans live like this? It's maddening.

The constant hurting of his body also includes what used to be his claws. Fingernails are not quite as equipped for fighting.

Dysphoria is off the charts. It doesn't feel like his body. His skin feels too tight, not right. Sometimes he feels like he's suffocating. He's hyperaware of this new body and everything it does and how fragile it is and it makes him feel sick.

Ein avoids looking at his reflection, looking at his own body. He doesn't like taking his clothes off. Bathing is a challenge because he doesn't want to touch this body, doesn't want to be reminded that this is where he's trapped now. He leaves his clothes on.

Building up muscle is so much harder as a human, especially when he can't even get his diet right and keeps hurting himself. He already lost a lot of muscle during his recovery and now it's just a constant reminder that this body is not his.

Every now and then he has an episode where he starts clawing at his own skin, convinced that if he just digs deep enough he can peel away the layer and he'll be him again. He'll be free from this horrible human body. He just...needs to dig...deep enough...

Werewolves are not built for magic. Most cannot use magic at all and for those who can their magic isn't very strong. It's simply a matter of their biology (this may or may not be supported by lore, I am uncertain). However, while human, this block was removed for Ein so his magic was able to grow much more powerful. This is actually inspired by how Lucinda pointed out that Ein's magic was weak in ES, but he's doing much more powerful magic in WAF.

Ein doesn't know how to feel about this. On one hand, it's more power. More power is good. On the other hand, it's a visceral reminder that he is no longer a werewolf. Still, he clings to it, because he needs some way to hold power while trapped in this body. He needs to hold onto something or he will lose his mind completely.

Finding out that the entire time he has been going through Hell, Aaron has been embracing his werewolf side and thriving is the final straw for him. Aaron did this to him, took away his identity and his body, and now he just gets to run around in the sun, enjoying the very thing he took from Ein?

He'll just have to take what matters to him then, won't he?

[moonlight-and-mischief]

@mysticlael and I were left unattended talking about Ein...

(posted with permission)

[moonlight-and-mischief]

"You know, you could have stopped all of this if you'd just killed me in those woods."

So the thoughts have been a-rolling around in my noggin and I suddenly remembered this line from Ein while he's holding Aphmau hostage in WAF.

Cause honestly I'm wondering...what if Ein turned up the creepy evilness to 100 on purpose? Like he knowswhat Michael was planning. He knows he can't stop him. So he thinks maybe if he gets Aaron to kill him, it will throw enough of a wrench in Michael's plan to buy more time. He kills Aaron or Aaron kills him. Either way, Michael's plan is disrupted.

Note that initially when he kidnaps Lucinda, he is trying to get her to recreate the potion Michael wanted him to use, but the minute she says she can't and brings up the love potion, all of a sudden his entire attitude switches up. Up until now, he has shown zero interest in Aphmau outside of Michael's plan and then all of a sudden, he is being super creepy? He wasn't even in high school he wasn't creepy towards her like this. She was always just a tool.

And I think Emerald Secret is no different. She is a tool. A tool to make Aaron furious. Furious enough to kill. What better way to infuriate him than to hurt the woman he loves? It worked in high school after all.

But Aaron refuses to kill him and despite everything, Ein somehow survives Tatiana's attack. And all he can do is plead with Michael to not throw him away. Maybe he can still do something. Except Michael isn't stupid and so this time he takes away what little free will Ein still has left. And when finally faced with the Ultima himself, knife to Aphmau's throat, all Ein can do is laugh because there's no hope now.

[moonlight-and-mischief]

I fuckin' hate this guy, kill him

[moonlight-and-mischief]

real sadists understand that you can torture The Character simply by forcing them to live with themself

[moonlight-and-mischief]

Revising: how long do were think it has been between Sylvanna moving into the neighborhood and Emerald Secret?

(there's an actual reason I need this info I promise)

Lore Question: Does anyone know how much time passes between the end of Lover's Lane and start of Emerald Secret?

I need to know for reasons and finding a solid timeline is a pain in the booty😭

tagging because HEP @ein-asahina @xerith-42

[moonlight-and-mischief]

so confusing. I wish I could find a concrete timeline, would make my life so much easier. I'm trying to pinpoint where in the timeline I need for a specific event to happen for a story idea, but not know anything about the timeline make it annoying.

(ty ty!)

Lore Question: Does anyone know how much time passes between the end of Lover's Lane and start of Emerald Secret?

I need to know for reasons and finding a solid timeline is a pain in the booty😭

tagging because HEP @ein-asahina @xerith-42

[moonlight-and-mischief]

Lore Question: Does anyone know how much time passes between the end of Lover's Lane and start of Emerald Secret?

I need to know for reasons and finding a solid timeline is a pain in the booty😭

tagging because HEP @ein-asahina @xerith-42

[moonlight-and-mischief]

honestly a PDH s3 would have been interesting. like ending s2 on the reveal that Ein is up to something, but not quite fully revealing what's up, just an implication that all is not as it seems with him.

i personally didn't mind the half-sibling concept (though i do think it only happened because not everything was planned and they wrote themselves into a corner), but i kinda like it better that they aren't related. the reason for me is because that means that Zack made a choice. it wasn't that he cheated and just happened to end up with a kid, it means he cheated knowing there was a kid around and now that kid just so happens to be deeply involved in Michael's scheme? i'm calling massive sus. idk if you've seen my delulu concept about Ein being the descendant of the Wolf God and that's why Zack was romancing his mom, but yeah, that's my thought there. Michael wanted access to Ein. though i did find it quite strange when that "red herring" dropped and like everyone immediately assumed that Ein clearly knew about Aphmau being his half-sister. like i saw everyone acting like he knew when we have no evidence of that at all.

i honestly wouldn't have put it past Michael to have potioned Ein into being obsessed with Aphmau. if Ein was able to do it to her, why couldn't Michael have done it to Ein? Aphmau was clearly important to his plan. What better way to make sure Ein targets her than to make him obsessed?

*picks up blorbo*

Shh, it's okay, precious, no one can hurt you.

*proceeds to torture them*

[moonlight-and-mischief]

I watched the scene recently and honestly here's how I think it could go down legally. Disclaimer that I am not a lawyer, I just read way too much into this stuff.

In the very beginning of the fight, I think Aaron wouldn't have been given any fault because he steps in mid-fight between Daniel and Ein. This is technically defense of a third party, which would mean Aaron is still in the okay zone. When he leaves the okay zone, however, is when Daniel flees the active fight. Ein gets annoyed with him for letting Daniel get away and basically tells Aaron to stay out of their business, but doesn't actually go in for an attack right away.

At this point in time, the waters become muddy. Ein does attack Aaron for not getting out of his way, but the fact that he wasn't preventing Aaron from leaving is what starts to tip this encounter in not-okay territory. In fact, he specifically wanted Aaron to leave. As far as Ein and Aaron knew in this moment, Daniel was no longer around and therefore no longer in immediate danger. Aaron had the option to end the violence and walk away. It is from this point on that Aaron is actively choosing to engage in violence against a minor purely because of his own anger. Self-defense and defense of a third-party only apply when there is a clear and active danger. Once that danger isn't there, the violence cannot be justified under those terms.

It's also important to note that Aaron has a history of getting into fights. We don't know Ein's record, but that at least would not look good for Aaron.

*picks up blorbo*

Shh, it's okay, precious, no one can hurt you.

*proceeds to torture them*

[moonlight-and-mischief]

honestly one of the main issues for me with PDH s2 in general is how the narrative frames everything Aphmau and Aaron do as being objectively right. Aphmau is the brave crusader trying to make everyone happy together. Aaron is the hero coming in to defend her from the villain. there's no room for the situation to be nuanced and complicated. Ein's extremist views are most definitely wrong, but Aphmau is also wrong for trying to change an entire culture to fit her ideal and Aaron is absolutely wrong for blindly rushing in and using violence against others just because they've hurt the people he cares about (regardless of whether his loved ones' actions were right or wrong).

*picks up blorbo*

Shh, it's okay, precious, no one can hurt you.

*proceeds to torture them*

[moonlight-and-mischief]

It may be due to the fact that they are an integrated school whereas Ein's old school was an all-werewolf school. It may have been taught to the other students early on that humans don't like it when people sniff them and so they just know not to interact with humans that way. Ein didn't know that because his social environment didn't teach him that. There's also the element that Ein thought she was a werewolf for a while and the other students knew she was a human.

also yeah definitely harsh words to throw at a 15 year old. i get why Aaron is grumpy cause like this shit fucks with his life, but still that's a rude thing to say to a literal child.

*picks up blorbo*

Shh, it's okay, precious, no one can hurt you.

*proceeds to torture them*

[moonlight-and-mischief]

Yeah that would have been a much better way for her to have handled it, definitely. Really anything that involves not acting like he's a villain for doing something that is totally normal in his culture.

Omg the feral thing hits the nail on the head. Literally when Aaron is fighting him, he even says that being the Ultima isn't the curse, it's werewolves like Ein. Which like...I understand what they were trying to set up there, because Ein is definitely an extremist and gives werewolves a bad reputation, but considering up until that point the entire season was "the human is totally in the right for trying to reform a completely different culture to meet the standards of her culture," it doesn't quite land.

*picks up blorbo*

Shh, it's okay, precious, no one can hurt you.

*proceeds to torture them*

[moonlight-and-mischief]

YES! And when he does try to ask Aphmau, she shuts him down. Like during the whole sniffing incident. He tries to ask why he shouldn't do it (which would have also allowed her to understand why he did it in the first place), but she cuts him off and basically hits him with a "because I said so" which is not helpful.

I really wish they had elaborated on where Ein came from. Like we know he came from an all-werewolf school, so like yeah, he doesn't really know how to interact with so many humans on such a regular basis. Plus he's apparently part of the western wolf tribe but we never get any further information on that at all.

*picks up blorbo*

Shh, it's okay, precious, no one can hurt you.

*proceeds to torture them*

[moonlight-and-mischief]

oh yeah that whole part of the plot in PDH s2 made me mad.

like I get how she became Alpha in s1. that makes sense to me cause technically it was Aaron who did it and he would have known what was going on while she didn't know what was going on.

but then she basically spent all of s2 trying to make werewolves act like humans and telling them that their werewolf culture is wrong and bad. ngl I'm with your oc I wouldn't trust a pack like that either.

and yet Ein is the one made out to be awful and bad while poor Aphmau is just trying to be good and righteous. yes, he is an extremist which is definitely bad, but that doesn't make it right for Aphmau to try and erase their culture.

that entire thing makes me so mad and i will die on this hill.

*picks up blorbo*

Shh, it's okay, precious, no one can hurt you.

*proceeds to torture them*