#And probably would've almost actually killed him in the process

[bunnimy]

If I ever made an mcd rewrite id make azura a paladin / holy knight of one of the divine warriors bc I think that'd be Cool

[numberonetrashwitch]

Some observations about Baldurs Gate 3 that hit too close to home.

After another few runs i will probably just make an in-Depth Character Analysis for every character simply because they are good reflections of actual trauma-manifestations and how abuse can manifest in people. They are also so well written that it serves a narrative purpose to explore all the material that is out there about them. I am also personally cursed with actual medically-relevant levels of Empathy and Hyperfixation; so writing this helps me put a pin in it and move on.

But so far here are my highlights

(SPOILERS and obviously content warning bc these are deep)

before you ask; i have almost 300h in this game.

You have to convince Shadowheart to eat the Noblestalk. She actually stells you she rather get her memories back from Shar but when you hit the persuasion or intimidation (what the fuck) check to get her to eat it she'll tell you about her childhood friend. Not her name, not her parents but her best firend. Possibly because she has had a closer bond to that person after being abducted and indoctrinated. With her believing herself to be an orphan, she would've looked elsewhere for comfort and sought out her own family, this is why she falls hard and heavy for Shar and builds the backbone of her indoctrination. She is literally ripped out of her home & given a new identity to server her from all she has known. Religious indoctrination, Gaslighting, Abduction, being forced to let go of your personality are her main themes.

There is a scene out there floating around in which you see Astarions pespective of the night when he bites Tav for the first time, in his meditations he is confronted with the rules Cazador put on him, including that he can't eat intelligent creatures, can't be away from Cazador unless allowed to, has to obey every command and that they are should know that they are property. Which in turn means that Astarion literally didn't just have any autonomy, he was objectified (and not just through seductive/sexual measures) and that is really the crux to understanding why he doesn't believe in kindness, but rather shows self-serving behavior in most cases. Since we know that Astarion was extremely young for an elf before he died and became immortal (literally stopping the aging /maturing process) it is also very telling that Cazador constantly calls him brat, boy or other very juvanile names, refering to them as a family... well it is also the story of a very controlling parent. Themes of (Bodily) autonomy, infantilization ( & puer aeternus, forever-child), slavery, depersonalisation, corruption of life and torture to break someone.

Gale isn't just a guy hung up on his Ex, but also a victim of abuse. In this case a power imbalance none of us can fathom; She is described as being a jealous goddess and rules over the domain of mysteries and magic. So with Gale being a Wizard, she is literally his boss. He admits that he was foolish enough to aspire to be an equal to her, but she is so jealous that she tells him he can't really be worthy as long as he takes breath. She could just take his powers away and be done with it, that would be more than enough punishment for a guy who literally made Mystra and her domain his life's purpose, but she rather makes him do it himself. Add to that, that she literally only tells him this after years of self-isolation (after he put down so many wards that he could've blown up a whole army as he says if you click the right dialogue) to really fuck him up well. He also talks about death pretty much constantly, not surprising giving your situation, but he will tell you that he will kill himself at several points in the game, for instance after he comes clear about his nethrese orb. Themes of romantic abuse, power-imbalance, toxic work enviorment, self-isolating behavior, suicidal ideation

Wyll ... well from the looks of it he is the most well adjusted of all the companions (my opinion) but he has something that i'd describe as the "eldest daughter"-syndrome, more commonly known as parentification. This pattern usually occurs within single-household parents and is commonly described as a parent looking to their child for emotional or practical support, rather than providing it to their kid. We meet Ulder and see that he talks over Wyll a lot, not listening but expecting him to follow the standard he sets for him. That is also why Wyll repeats his fathers words like gospel (because this is what, in his mind, fullfills the expectations bestowed upon him) and why he loves fairytales / bard tales so much (because they are an ecapist view of the job he set out to do) Ulder literally exiled his teenage son because Wyll did the only thing he could to save an entire city, by sacrificing himself. Thats a lot to expect from a 17 year old - even more so, he doesn't stop with the heroics. He expects himself, as a human who hasn't even reached the age of 30 to hold up to mystical creatures such as Astarion or Karlach, or even Gale who is a accomplished Wizard. Themes of parentification, escapism, self-harming through putting himself in danger, chronic-self-sacrifice

In plain words; Gortash, Karlach's Idol sold her to a Devil. But add to that that she must have been pretty young when she was sold (late teens to early twenties possibly) and being that if you play as a Tiefling, you face a lot of predjudice she was likely forced into that position as well. Starstruck she was, with a juvenile naitivy that Gortash used. Appropriately, as he is the chosen of Bane the god of "tyrannical oppression, terror, and hate, known across Faerûn as the face of pure evil through malevolent despotism" (Source: Forgotten-Realms Wiki / Bane) So she pretty much was raised in a toxic enviorment, which forced her to become a killing-machine, first figuretively, then with the extraction of her heart, literally. Themes of slavery, oppression, misuse of trust, being taken advantage by a more powerful/older(?) person, being drafted.

Jaheira - to be honest, you need to know the lore of the previous baldurs gate games or just listen to her dialouge, ask her all the questions. She is a war-veteran against Bhaal, the good of ritual murder, and has a long history of fighting to achieve some sort of balance of power. She lost her husband and several close people all to this, or any other war, but due to her wisdom and strength people look to her for guidance. Themes of: Survivors Guilt.

Halsin - he is really closed off at first but then just casually hits you with "i was captured in the underdark and spent 3 years chained to a bedroom wall by a pair of drows who used me as they pleased". He is reprimanded by some of his druids for leaving the grove as soon as opportunity struck, just to get back and leave the next day, and if you talk to him about his position in the grove he is actually very forthcomming. He actively holds himself back; indulging in simple hobbies because he knows what lies within his heart. He is afraid of himself and his potential (canonnically he can't control his wildshape, which is very weird for an ARCH-druid) Themes of: impostor syndrome, avoidant-based self-harm, sexual opression, loss of control, emotional regulation.

Lae'zel is a very tragic case, and one that closely resembles the stories of Shadowheart and Karlach. Her entire existence is based upon a matriachial war society allowing her to live if she proves she can be of use and that in a culture which only values brutality, dominance & service. All of that culimating in her finding out that her oh-so-beloved Queen is actually just an imposter, and that everything she has lived for up to that point is merely political propaganda created to make her, and the rest of her entire species, willing pawns in a war that has no longer bearing on their survival alone, but is fought to justify Vlaakith's (the reigning monarchs) personal ambitions. Not only is she forced to reconcile that she is turned into the thing that controlled her kind for hundreds of years, that the only cure she knows of would kill her and then on top of that, that her hopes and dreams were lies and that she is now the Nr 1 enemy of the person she has served with all her being. themes of: oppression, propaganda, casual violence, objectification, child-warfare, eternal warfare

Minthara in short, her story is about being shamed for growing up in the same scenario that Lae'zel grew up in. Lolth, the god of the Lolth-sworn drows is a crazy queen who values scheming & backstabbing so much and is so volatile that you can't know what to expect of your deeds (and i mean it; there were people who were appraised by her for scheming against her, but also those who were killed. It's almost random.) She considers Lolth to be cruel and abandoned her for the Absolute, only to then be used and abused the same way Lae'zel has. Not with promises, but erasing her memory and exposing her perceived weakness. Themes of: casual violence, violent culture, her own ambition colliding with her desire to be safe, being a pawn in a larger game.

[anonymous-dentist]

A Very Long qRoier Theory

Okay so here's what I actually think, and TRUST THE PROCESS OKAY:

I think that Roier really was kidnapped by the Federation, but I don't think that he was taken because he was looking for Cellbit strictly because the Feds themselves are actually more or less actively searching for the missing islanders and hoping for their return so they can continue the murder investigation. Despite the terrible things going on, the Feds legitimately want all their islanders/lab rats back on the island so they can continue with whatever experiment they're holding. Every time Cucurucho has held a meeting recently, it's asked about the status of the missing islanders, so it really wouldn't make sense for it or the Feds as a whole to punish their one single lead in the case when every actual Federation agent assigned to the case has either come up with nothing or disappeared entirely.

Nah, I think Roier was taken because he was vulnerable and because the Feds figured nobody would've missed him. They know that he isn't really super close with anybody on the island but Cellbit, and they know that he's been actively pushing people away for a while now- basically since Bobby's death, and moreso since his return from Purgatory.

Looking at the QSMP channel's streams, particularly Elena's, we know that the Feds seem to be a pharmaceutical company. They, simply speaking, make drugs. Look at the "happy pills" that Elena helped create, this is what the Feds do.

Roier mentioned that he was drugged. He never said that they stopped drugging him. I think he's still being drugged and that he isn't a rat- not a literal one, anyway.

I think that Roier is still under the effects of the drugs he's being given because he is currently a test subject. He's a lab rat.... at the moment, anyway.

More on that later.

Do I have any evidence for this? Not really, but also some things just didn't add up cinematically. Like, okay, go back and watch everything from after when Roier 'wakes up' in the dungeon:

Everything's got this weird otherworldly fuzziness and glow to it. It's almost dreamlike in a way. Only the focus of the world is, well, in focus. The rest is blurred like a bad 3D movie:

There are all these weird cuts and jumps, too, like 11:16 when we suddenly cut to black for a few moments as Roier goes down the hallway, or 12:13 when we smash cut to the rat and 12:16 when we cut to Cucurucho. It's super sudden and jarring and it sets up a real nice feeling of unease (shoutout to ccRoier, this is SPECTACULAR)

And the music, okay, the background music is exactly the kind of shit you'd hear in a 'Dreamcore Music Video' on YouTube. It's super Backrooms, super weird esoteric vibes, and that's very on purpose.

None of this is real, and "Doied" is the final proof because like. He isn't real lol, if he's real then so is Roger, and the only times either of them front are when Roier's goofing around or when he's extremely homicidal (we saw Roger pretty recently, actually, back in October when he said that Cellbit killing everyone might be a good thing, actually.) Doied isn't like Abueloier or Melissa, he's one of Roier's 'alters', and he's a bit of a freak lol

I think about everyone can agree that this whole 'Ratoier' thing is a hallucination, but then we have to think, huh, what the hell does any of this mean?

First, we gotta follow the whole 'Roier is Currently Super Drugged' thing, because he is. He literally is. If he's not, well, laugh at me when the next tape comes out.

Roier is drugged by the Feds right now probably to test a new drug, possibly a drug meant to- just like the Happy Pills- make people happy again. In this case, however, I think that the pills may actually have something to do with memories, particularly the same memory retrieval stuff the Resistance did to Bagi. Because, well.

I want to go back to the rat, and I want to go back to Doied, because this stream actually implied a LOT about qRoier's character.

The thing about Doied is that he's the manifestation of Roier's "Um, actually!" Nerd Emoji self. He's a nerd. He's a loser with glasses and a nasty attitude.

Doied, in the dream, is a scientist. Doied, in the dream, performed horrible, inhumane experiments for the Federation. He put Roier's brain into a rat's, a lab rat's.

Once a long, long time ago in August, Roier quietly came to the realization that maybe he has a past history with the Federation and that's why Osito Bimbo has always been so weird about him- it basically had a crush on him for the first week or so of the island, and it still seems to, and he is still the only one outside of Foolish the Federation Employee to be addressed directly by his train ticket number: 0037. He brought up the possibility of being a Federation worker in the past to Cellbit, who brushed it off and said that he wouldn't care because he's a worker, too, technically, but what if it isn't a possibility?

We've always wondered how Federation workers end up the way they do. Why are they all the exact same type of bear? Why does only Cucurucho get to have a face and a voice? Why do they all have human minds and emotions? Why are they all dedicated to the Federation?

Easy. Because maybe they were people before, just like how Bagi and several other islanders think they are. But maybe someone put their brains inside of an animal's body- or, at least, inside of a worker's body, God only knows if they were actual polar bears at some point. Somebody had to help come up with that technology, and maybe it's the guy who managed to build an entire computer and radio-satellite setup over the span of about a week in his goddamn backyard without anybody knowing about it.

Roier has always had some weird connection with the Federation. He's the only civilian islander to ever be addressed by his ticket number, and later we find out that Foolish's ticket number- 0039- is his Federation Employee ID Number- W0039. He was Osito Bimbo's favorite for the first week on the island to the point of Osito just giving him whatever he wanted. He and Jaiden were paired up for the Egg Event (something that was intentional, btw, admin confirmed), and it's later revealed that Jaiden has a past with the Federation regarding the SMILE Units (aka Osito Bimbo and Cucurucho and the new guys.) The "Gods" (aka the admins) will happily follow him around and revive him when he's alone and strike him with lightning when asked and give him dirt and whatever. He managed to get someone onto the island from off of the island, Abueloier, and Abueloier was saved from the brink of death by the Federation in the Federation's hospital. His literal pet dog is a Federation employee. He got to name Jorgito the IV Drip.

Doied put someone's brain into the body of a rat, and Doied is Roier's nerd self.

I think that Roier may, in fact, have a past history with the Federation, and that it isn't because his grandfather worked/works for them. Maybe Roier did, just like he suspected months ago, and maybe he did some really bad things. But they were excused at the time because the people being converted into workers were bad people who made mistakes. Roier made the mistake of breaking the rules trying to connect with Cellbit, and so he got turned into a rat. There's been a functional prison on the island for long enough for it to be partially abandoned (see: Tazercraft Prison Stream.) Walter Bob was held there, possibly because he was part of the Resistance, or possibly because he wasn't done cooking yet.

Roier has always been a man of justice. When people do bad things, they get punished, and then things can go back to normal. He ruined Quackity's life. He wanted Slime to be properly punished for killing Tilin and he threatened to murder him when he tried threatening the kids. He built an entire torture dungeon in his basement for the explicit purpose of torturing Spreen to the point of death repeatedly and possibly for the rest of Spreen's miserable life. Cucurucho took Bobby away, and Roier said that the Federation would regret putting and keeping him on the island. Pozolito the Capybara blew Cellbit up, and Roier has literally tried killing every Capybara he's seen since. The Federation screwed with his family and with himself, and Roier is more than happy to join Cellbit in massacring the entire Federation.

He's a man of justice, but not of morals. He's a ruthless killer when it comes down to it, and he only shows regret when it comes to his husband's deaths during Purgatory. He doesn't fight unless he has to, but he's been thinking about killing everyone on the island since the first week of the server when he was betrayed. But, when it comes down to it, he doesn't actually want to hurt anyone he cares about. It's why Purgatory fucked him up so much.

His moral alignment actually matches up pretty well with several other Federation workers'- particularly workers like Elena and Fred who are nice but are willing to do terrible things in the name of their cause. The difference here is that Roier has had the same privilege that workers like Walter Bob and Ron got: he got a chance to socialize.

He doesn't have memories from before the island, but he remembers enough about his childhood to be a little suspicious.

But what if these drug-induced hallucinations are actually hints to Roier's backstory? What if it wasn't Doied running all these terrible experiments for the Federation, but it was Roier? Just a guy acting under the belief that he was making the world a better place, punishing criminals (aka rule breakers) while helping the Federation's cause: finding true happiness and spreading it to the world.

The Eye said that everybody in Purgatory was a sinner, and maybe Roier's sin was some mad scientist bullshit.

The dream today, Tape 1, had Roier being punished. Maybe it's because that's what he did as a scientist to new employees, or maybe it's because of his own guilt over everything he's done; remember, the reason he stopped smiling in Purgatory wasn't because he was killing his friends (because he's thought about killing his friends for a VERY long time), but it was because he killed Cellbit, and then it was because he left Cellbit behind to die. That's why the dream specified Cellbit's lost signal and not, say, Jaiden's, and it's why all the cool cinematic landscape shots focused on either Roier himself or Cellbit.

If my prediction is correct, Tape 2 would have Roger instead of Doied. So we'll see what happens then, I guess. Roger, who represents Roier's anger and his various homicidal tendencies.

Fit said that everybody was on the island for a reason, and Roier has been cooking for a long time now. Maybe qRoier is just like qJaiden: a former Federation associate.

TLDR; qRoier is currently hallucinating due to him being a Federation lab rat. His drug-induced dreams may be implying that Roier has a past within the Federation as a scientist completing the same experiments that "Doied" did in the dream to Roier.

But that's just a theory, a Game Theory. Thank you for reading.

[amaiaqt]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤミㅤyou're my heart shaker, shakerㅤ⋆ ｡˚ㅤ♡ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤwhat if you think he's weird ? oh, just go for it ! ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤmodern sethos !

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤin celebration of sethos, he gets a solo fic ! ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤsethos fans enjoy, xoxo ♡

just talk to her, she seems nice enough !

— is what sethos repeated to himself repeatedly in his head as he watched you pass by without even sparing him a glance, far too engrossed in what you were chatting with your friend about. he wants to approach you, and he swears he finally has the guts to . . but alas, you've already turned the corner before he even managed a word out. it's always like this; he sees you passing by, plans out in his head what he's going to say, takes too long to say it, then he's left watching as you turn the corner or go up the stairs. he's not a coward, he swears—

"you are a coward." tighnari huffs out after snapping his fingers in front of sethos' face to snap him out of his daze. sethos blinks at him. "what, what do you—" "that was the third time they passed by today." sethos heaves a long sigh, his shoulders drooping at his dejection.

"who am i kidding ? they're so pretty that even if i do manage to approach them by some miracle, i'd lose all my words." he huffs.

"yeah, it's pathetic." "would it kill you to have some sympathy ?!"

cyno awkwardly pats sethos' back as tighnari shakes his head. "do you want us to push you towards them the next time they pass by ?" "let's not—" "please !" "no !"

"tighnari, our friend here just needs a little push." "i will push you off a—!"

while the two bickered, sethos sunk back into his own thoughts. ideas . . ideas . . ideas . . he was all out of them. think, sethos, think ! how should he approach you ? 'hi, my name is sethos, here's my number. call me sometime—' no, that's pretty demanding. he wants you to want to take his number, not accept it just because he gives it to you !

'hey hey gorgeous/handsome ! mind if i—' no, eugh. way too forward, you'd no doubt be weirded out by that. but, some people like forward people right ? but, he doesn't know if you do . . he'd rather play it safe.

should he just say hi ? should he just give you a note and run away ? he'd probably look silly, but, what if you like silly guys ?

"hi, you're sethos, right ?"

sethos near jumps out of his seat when he realizes that from how busy he was repeating his 'lines' in his head, he almost didn't notice you approaching his table. ok, this is real. this is happening. archons help him.

"uh—yeah ! yeah, that's me !" sethos stands up from his seat, nearly knocking over the napkin holder in the process.

he definitely owes tighnari and cyno for this one, if it weren't for them talking to nilou and planning out this whole 'operation: sethos finally asks for [name]'s number', he has no idea how he would've gotten here with you. sitting together in puspa café.

"i'm [name]—"

"[name] ! such a—such a pretty name !" sethos grins, mentally cursing himself from how he was stumbling over his words so much. he swears this is it. you're about to get weirded out. you're about to excuse yourself—

you laughed, "thank you. nilou told me a bit about you from cyno and tighnari."

archons, that laugh ! ok, sethos, focus. remember your lines !

'so, i've been seeing you around, and i think you seem like a really cool person, and i'd be honored if we could get to know each other better.' yeah, just as practiced. now he just has to actually say it right.

"so so, you're really pretty and i've sort of had a crush on you since i saw you after enrolling !"

sethos. where did that come from !? as soon as he finished that statement, he swears his entire ancestry's disappointment rained down on him. all that practicing in front of the mirror . . for nothing !?

he braced himself for the grimace on your features, for your accusatory statements calling him a 'stalker' or whatnot. his heart already stopped the second he said the word 'crush'. there's no way he can go back from this—

"wow," you blinked at him.

he has to be hallucinating. he has to be imagining the pink on your cheeks. he has to—

"they didn't tell me about that part, i'm shocked." you laughed, before realizing and waving a hand reassuringly. "oh, but not in the bad way, i assure you !"

no, it's okay, you can say you're weirded out. you can—

"i think you're cute too. we can . . exchange numbers, if you'd like ?"

. . . was he hearing that right ? were you saying you thought he was cute ? no way. no way !

"i mean it." it was as if you read his mind when you smiled at him.

now, his heart was beating, shaking, ready to leap out of his chest and—

"sorry sorry, i'm a total mess right now . . but, do you mean it ?" please say yes.

you grinned, nodding. "i mean it. i hope we can become close, sethos. you seem like a really cool person too."

and there it was. okay it technically went the opposite way with you asking him for his number. but . . that was a total success in his book !

"oh, oh ! uhm . ." sethos cleared his throat. "ok uh, cool cool ! then, do you want to order anything ? my treat !"

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ© amaiqt, 2023 ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤdo not plagiarize !

[elvenbeard]

Old and Happy

😭 my feels have been all over the place since I finally finished this! Don't even remember when I started, as I kept working on and off on it over a couple of months. But I think it was after writing something particularly angsty and going "you know what, they will get their happy ending though, so it's all good".

Some details and thoughts below the read more cause it got long hhhh ;A;

This is in about 2087 maybe, roughly "ten years later". Vince changed his hair, ditched the rattail for good (or again xD) for something still colorful but a bit more easy to style. But he might change it up again, he's done so repeatedly and still likes to experiment with his hair.

Not visible, he probably would've added some elements to his back tattoo after surviving all of 2077. Johnny's tattoo he covered up as well, he would've done that first probably before the back piece. Adding some things here and there over time, with colors and patterns and wings, some cherry blossoms ('cause a thing of beauty will never truly fade away - hence just not getting laser removal but covering it with something that suits him more, but keeping some elements like the J and V visible). It started with three roses below the "V" as a little homage to Jackie, and 2077 as the year that finally put him on the right track in his life, even if it almost killed him in the process.

Overall he is a healthier weight than he was for most of his life, and finally got some therapy he desperately needed to deal with all the crap he went through pre-2077 already. He's not dyeing his first grey hairs because hell, that he's even still around to get some is amazing with his line of work and life story. And he realized that there's no need to be super well put togeher 24/7, clean shaven and whatnot, when you know you're just gonna be hanging out with your man and cat all weekend (and actually allowing yourself to something like that - leisure time and pizza in bed, unheard of to 2077!Vince). He's doing good and feels good and comfortable, physically and mentally.

Kerry also changed, also embracing the dad bod over abs, probably still experimenting with his looks a lot now and then whenever the label feels like they need to draw attention to him for whatever reason. But to the brown eyes he returned in 2078 already in my headcanon for the Sun ending timeline, and he stuck with them.

Overall I think he might finally care a little less about other people's opinions too, the buzz and the drama, cause he knows that at the end of the day there's always gonna be someone waiting for him at home who loves him unconditionally. He's a bit calmer and at ease, but of course still up to no good whenever he gets the chance to stir shit up xD Vince and him remain to be a dangerous duo you don't wanna mess with. At that point Vince is a well-respected, even if somewhat elusive, fixer, so he's probably even more dangerous now than he used to be as a mere merc with an arsenal of connections and resources at his disposal that can almost rival Kerry's.

I also gave Kerry a lil new cyberware piece on his hand - he is an old man and I think, using his hands as a musician on the daily, at some point there's just gonna be some wear and tear to your bones and joints only tech can fix anymore... Especially if you're stubborn and refuse to retire cause no, you're not done yet, you still have so much to yell into the world and music to make, stuff to add to your legacy and all.

Last but not least: Nibbles is an old lady already as well here, but living her best life with her dads spoiling her rotten, of course!

And then öalkshjdfagsdföasgdfaösfh ;___;

Y'know, "to bad decisions" and all, and two very different pieces still fitting together perfectly somehow, and light and shadows, and the sun and moon and yeah. ;___; Brb crying, the feels are back xD

Thanks so much for reading if you made it this far!! They mean so much to me and aösdjhfajsfhasfk could go on forever about every little detail xD On to the next drawing!

[ash5monster01]

Learning to Love Epilogue

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x FemReader!PlusSize

Warnings: 18+, langauge, angst, fluff, mentions of bullying, body image issues, fat shaming, fake relationship, eventual smut, minor enemies to lovers trope.

Summary: It's not uncommon for you to be shamed for your size, it is however uncommon to be told that no one would ever date you because of it. Rafe on the other hand is used to being called a jerk, that is until he is accused of seeing people for only what's on the surface. It's purely coicidental you two meet right after these accusations are thrown your way. So even though you two don't know each other, and probably never would've looked the others way before this, now you're both going to prove a point. It's simple really, prove others wrong and don't fall in love. Easier said than done.

word count: 3k

Part 10 ←

Masterlist

Rafe wasn’t sure what to do. Now knowing you had overheard some of his conversation he knew how bad it looked. He was prepared to fix it, thing was he needed to come up with a plan. He was tired of dancing around you, never truly saying what he actually meant. This time he was going to prove to you that he wanted you and no one else. He wanted you exactly the way you were. The only problem was how do you convince a girl she’s worth it when she’s spent her whole life thinking she’s not? So Rafe was going to take his time because he was prepared to spend the rest of his time with you. That was until Mila sent him a new text.

Mila

A wave a sickness quickly washed over him at his desk, hand tightly gripping his phone as panic slowly replaced that sickness. The idea of you on a date made him want to kill whoever the hell the guy was and he had a feeling he knew exactly who it was. Slamming his phone down he dialed the pager on his desk phone to his assistant Kaitlyn.

“Yes Mr. Cameron” she answered almost instantaneously. After all of this he needed to remember to give her a raise.

“Get me AJ, now” and Kaitlyn scrambled out an okay while Rafe tried his best not to seethe at the thought of you trying to erase him completely. It’s only ten minutes later when AJ walks through his office door.

“Kaitlyn said you needed me” the smile on her face suggests she’s assuming some kind of hookup but when she spots his angry face she realizes fairly quickly this is not the case.

“You have a Tanner that works for you down there” Rafe nods his chin down to where AJ’s marketing floor lies.

“Yeah, Tanner Mason. He’s one of my best” she says fondly of her workers and Rafe nods as he processes his thoughts.

“Yeah, well today he’s just too good. I need you to up his work load, enough paperwork he won’t be getting home until midnight tonight. I don’t even care if you have to send someone home to do it” AJ quickly furrows her eyebrows, confused at what was going on.

“I don’t understand” she says, confused why Rafe who should have no clue who this worker is, is suddenly targeting him.

“Tanner has decided to ask my girl on a date, one he thinks he’s attending tonight, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen” AJ wears a surprised look, realizing how serious he is right now.

“Why would she even be going out with him if she’s dating you?” AJ instantly questions, looking to place blame on her but Rafe just sighs.

“She dumped me and didn’t even say why. So I’m going to get her back. Whatever means necessary” the shocked face that crossed AJ’s features doesn’t surprise Rafe, yet he doesn’t back down.

“I guess I can send Emmet home, tell Tanner he’s sick and I need a completed ad by the end of the day” AJ finally says after a beat and Rafe smiles a sly grin.

“You’re the best AJ” he says and AJ rolls her eyes as she begins to stand up.

“You’re lucky we’ve been friends so long and I’m partial to you actually being in love. Believe it or not but there was a point in time I didn’t think you were capable. It’s nice to see you care so deeply about someone” and Rafe knows she’s referring to him never reciprocating her feelings during their time together. He would feel guilty but after all of this he knows now you can’t help who you fall in love with, you’re just along for the ride.

“It feels nice” he tells her and she lets out a chuckle before heading towards the door.

“You owe me, and I want to be front row at the wedding” she tells him and the blush that crosses his cheeks surprises her.

“Anything you want” and she accepts this answer before leaving the office and towards Emmet’s. She would’ve sent him home even if Rafe gave her no reason. Everything Rafe did had a purpose.

Rafe now content with the start of his plan being set in motion glances at the picture of you on his desk. The selfie you had taken in his lap that day you were here. He knows now he’s never going to move it, loving having your smiling face looking back at him. He was determined to have you smile at him like that again so he finally responds to Mila’s text.

Mila

Rafe didn’t care that she called him out on his behavior. He used to be a very different type of insane and she should be glad that this was the only crazy thing he was willing to do these days. You had changed him for the better and he wasn’t going to lose you now. He needed it to at least be real. To know that sleeping with you made it official and not some way of using you. He wanted you the way you were forever and he was willing to go back to his old ways to make it happen.

“He’s not answering me” you groan to Mila on the couch. You had been dressed for your date for the last hour, waiting for Tanner to pick you up but so far it hadn’t been done.

“Maybe he got caught up at work, I mean you know the boss” Mila snorts out and she’s glad her acting is good enough that you can’t tell she’s internally panicking. Rafe had her delete Tanners message, one where he informed you he got stuck at work and would have his phone off the rest of the day. You’re oblivious and Mila is praying this plan doesn’t blow up in her face.

“That’s not funny” you tell her with a pout but before Mila could say anything the doorbell rang. You nervously scrambled to answer it only to be met with an older gentleman and a limo in the street behind him.

“Hello Miss, Tanner is running a bit late so he’s asked me to escort you to the restaurant. Are you all set to go?” the formality shocks you and Mila realizes fairly quickly Tanner wasn’t the one who sent this limo at all. In defense of her best friend she should stop her but even Mila knew Rafe wouldn’t have planned all of this without purpose.

“Damn, a limo! Can I tag along just to ride?” Mila asks and the chauffeur just smiles at her, told to comply with any requests.

“Could she please?” you ask the man and he nods quickly.

“Of course, what fun is a limo without guests” he says before stepping out the way and gesturing in the direction of it.

“Thank you!” you say before grabbing Mila’s hand and rushing her to the limo. You had been full blown panicking now, not having gone on a real date in ages. Now it was even more intimidating riding in a limo there.

“God, drink some champagne and chill” Mila says when she spots your nervous behavior in the back of the limo. She was already on her second glass.

“I am chill” you defend as she hands you a glass that you have down in two full gulps.

“Yeah right” she mutters as you hold out the glass, awaiting her to pour more. She obeys and doesn’t say anything more as she lets you drink in peace and sits beside you in support.

It’s not long until the limousine pulls up in front of one of the most beautiful restaurants you had ever seen. Never would you have guessed a marketing job would provide such big bucks like this, yet you don’t complain. All you do is glance at Mila who has now ditched the glass to drink champagne straight from the bottle. She smiles and gives you a thumbs up which is all the confidence you need to leave the car when the chauffeur opens the door.

“Thank you…” you trail off, realizing you don’t know his name as he releases your hand from helping you out the vehicle.

“Harold” he tells you and you smile softly.

“Thank you Harold, sorry you have to deal with her alone” you gesture back to the car with a chuckle.

“I heard that!” Mila calls from inside and Harold lightly laughs with you.

“Tanner should be here soon, just tell the hostess you have a reservation under Tanner Mason” he informs you and you nod, filled with nerves because you didn’t even know his last name was Mason until now. You suppose that’s the whole point of going on this date though, getting to know each other. So you walk into the restaurant anyways and do as told where a hostess leads you to a private booth, jazz music playing over the chatter of people, and candles lighting up the dim table.

“Sorry I’m late” a smile crosses your face before you even register that it wasn’t Tanner’s voice. Rafe notices how quickly the smile vanishes as he slides into the spot where Tanner is supposed to be.

“Why are you here?” you glare, not in any mood for a stunt of his tonight. You were moving on, trying things you never had before. You didn’t need him here and messing it up.

“Tanner got caught up at work, something about a coworker being sick and a deadline to meet by tonight” Rafe says this sentence so naturally but you know he has something to do with it. Tanner would have never planned a date let alone not contacted you about it, yet you suppose Rafe had something to do with that too.

“So what? you thought you’d just come and fill in. Take his place for the night?” you scoff, arms crossing over your chest and immediately thinking of ways to get out of this restaurant.

“Try forever. You shouldn’t be with him Y/N! You should be with me” he groans out, hands fisting the table cloth in front of you both.

“That’s never going to happen” you say with the shake of your head, trying to look anywhere but him.

“Why? We spent that night together, I thought it was finally real. That you would finally let me love you and instead you blocked me on everything!” he countered and as much as hearing that he wanted you that didn’t change fact.

“Really Rafe, me too! Which is why I came by your office as soon as I could just to hear you talking with AJ about your current sex life. How shocked she was to hear you’d sleep with me at the same time as her. Luckily I left just as I heard you start talking about not being attracted to big girls” Rafe instantly goes back to that conversation in his head, realizing AJ had used present tense when talking with him.

“I haven’t slept with AJ in over two years. I cross my heart, I haven’t even been with anyone the entirety of the time we spent together. You have to believe me” he begs, needing you to know it wasn’t true. He was desperate for you to know it was true.

“Even if that’s true Rafe, I can’t be with someone who isn’t attracted to me. I get that I’m no beauty standard and I understand my body isn’t the healthiest but I deserve to be loved for all the things that make me, me. That includes being overweight” you say, fighting the tears that burn at the back of your eyes. You didn’t want to cry over him anymore. It wasn’t worth it.

“You don’t understand Y/N, you walked away before I could finish that day. I was saying I had never been attracted to big girls before and up until now I didn’t know why. You’re so beautiful, I love everything about you. I love the way your hair always falls in your face and how when you laugh to loudly you cover your mouth with your hands. Beauty isn’t a standard, it’s just in the eye of the beholder. Anyone is beautiful when you love them and baby I love you more than you know. I love you so much that you’re the most beautiful girl in the world to me. As long as I have you, no other girl in the world matters” and the tears break free in full force, shock painting your features as Rafe’s words resonate with you. You want to believe he’s lying but what reasoning would he have? Based on his own tears in his eyes you realize that Rafe is telling you the whole truth for maybe the first time in the entirety of your relationship with him.

“You love me, exactly the way I am?” you can’t help but ask and Rafe chuckles, reaching long arms across the table to brush away your tears.

“I do, I love you more than anything and no matter what happens I always will” he says, sincerity cracking his voice and finally a smile appears on your face, chuckling through the tears.

“Well how in the hell did that happen?” you ask, the backs of your hands wiping the tears from your face while Rafe laughs at your words.

“I don’t know, guess it’s got something to do with this really cool girl I met in a bar” Rafe says and finally you stand from your side of the booth, rushing over to his own where he happily accepts you into his arms.

“You promise it’s real, everything?” you ask and Rafe smiles, a hand reaching and tucking a piece of hair behind your ear.

“It always was” he tells you and that’s enough for you to lock your lips against his own. He kisses you like he can’t possible get enough, tongue sliding past your lips as your hands toy with his hair at the nape of his neck. He is everything you ever wanted and for the first time you deserved.

“I can’t believe you hijacked my date to get me to talk to you” you say when you finally break apart, heavy breaths falling past your lips from how deeply he was kissing you.

“I had to do something, you blocked me on everything with no explanation” he says with a bewildered look and you can’t help but laugh before pulling his lips to your own and kissing him again.

“I needed something effective to get you out of my system” you tell him and he grins, squeezing you tightly against him and in no hurry to let you go.

“You remember when we first hung out and I asked you if you had ever been in love before?” he asks you gently after a moment and you nod, softly leaning against him.

“Yeah and I told you I’d like to think I was but I wasn’t sure” you respond, remembering that day in his apartment so clearly. How much fun you had ended up having while hanging out with him.

“I only asked because I had realized I’d never been in love before, but now if someone asks me I can confidently say yes” he says with a grin and you can only giggle at the handsome boy in front of you.

“When did Rafe Cameron become such a sap?” you asked, knowing you’d seen every side of Rafe other than this.

“I’m only a sap for you so don’t go telling anyone” he tells you and for a single moment you’re the happiest you’ve ever been in the arms of the man you love. Rafe was your first and hopefully only love and you couldn’t wait to spend the rest of your life getting to know him even more.

“Who would’ve thought a fake date would teach me how to love someone” you say to him and Rafe grins.

“Is that you finally saying you love me back, because I definitely have you beat on confessions tonight” he teases and you laugh loudly, hand covering your mouth which Rafe removes as he grins back at you.

“I love you Rafe Cameron, bad boy persona and all” you say and he pecks a sweet kiss to your lips.

“Learning to love, who would’ve thought it’d be me” he says referring to the journey you both had been on, going from loners to two people in love with each other.

“I sure as hell didn’t” you say and Rafe smiles just as the wine he had called ahead and ordered arrived to the table.

“This wasn’t Tanners date at all was it?” you ask and Rafe only grins, not embarrassed by his actions at all.

“Nope, this is all me. He texted and cancelled while you were in the shower and I had Mila delete it” he admits and you gasp, lightly smacking his arm as he goes to set a wine glass in front of you.

“You two are devious” you say and he shrugs, arm wrapping around your shoulders as he pulls you close and sips from his glass of wine.

“Devious but successful” he tells you and you shake your head before laying it on his shoulder.

“You’re lucky I love you both” you tell him and he smiles, lips pressing a soft kiss against your forehead.

“Yeah, we definitely are”

Taglist: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @fishingirl12 @houseofperfecttaste @abbybarnesstuff @carma-fanficaddict @jjmaybankisbae @exhaustedbutelated @diagnosedpsychosis @daivny @drewstarkeygf @vinniehackersbaee @emsgoodthinkin @apollo3475 @https-urwife @willowalexissss @kisstaya @hcneyedsstuff @lexiereblogs @drewsuncrustables @mveggieburger @marvel4life3000 @bibliophilewednesday @humungouspatrolwolf @ijustwanttoreadlols @jaijustreads @sleepjam @dilvcv @aaronhotchswife @sunshine1218 @lavenderhazeq @theultimatefrenchfangirl @kravitzwhore @chalahyung01 @jenniferpendragon @kitty-marie725 @dlwritings @writevanna @alenerz @h34rtsformilli @just-cuz22 @superbreadsoul

a/n: and that’s a wrap. thank you so much everyone for coming with me on this journey and I hope you fell in love with their story as much as I did. clearly Rafe and the reader have a beautiful future ahead of them, no longer lost in the world. as for you my dear and loyal readers I wish this for all of you, not only find love but learning how to 🤍

[adaptacy]

Johnny Slaughter Pregnancy H/Cs Pt.1

Cw: Mentions of trauma, angst, but also fluff and him being pretty cute for an (ex)cannibal, older Johnny, post-Sawyers

Important Notes:

He'd left the Sawyers a long time ago. Almost three years now. Things had gotten shady- shadier than ever. Police got involved. He had to split. And he'd moved to Georgia of all places. Close enough that he was still in familiar climates, far enough that he was removed from the interference.

He didn't know what happened to the rest of 'em. Probably for the best. He'd gotten a job as a butcher, of course. It was what he was good at- carving, skinning, etc. And it paid the bills. And introduced him to you.

About a year after he'd moved, the two of you met in the shop. Johnny had been assigned to cover the register for the day since the usual coworker was gone, and you'd happened to show up that day as it was the shop you frequented when you went on grocery trips.

The interaction went as you'd expect. You asked for what you needed, and he gave it to you. You also asked if he was new, and what happened to George, the usual man behind the counter. Johnny explained that he was out sick, so he was covering for him. You found his accent amusing, since it was different than what you were used to. You asked where he was from. He said Georgia. You didn't believe him.

And you left with a kind goodbye. Didn't see him again for another two months. Didn't really think about him. Until you found him in a bar, and recognized him. The two of you chatted, and he ended up asking you on a date. Things only went uphill from there. You got along really well with him.

Well enough that, now, a little over two years later, the two of you lived together, and you were almost 6 months pregnant with his child. You didn't know a lot about his past. You knew he'd been born in Texas and didn't really know his parents. He said he'd been in a foster house, but wasn't ever adopted. He never said anything more. It seemed to be a sensitive subject for him, so you didn't really bother prying.

Overall, he was really sweet. Intimidating as hell, and had a sinister smirk, but you'd never seen him be aggressive or violent in any way. He was like a really cuddly teddy bear. A great example as to why you shouldn't judge a book by its muscular cover.

While the two of you weren't engaged, he definitely was planning on proposing. But he didn't want to stress you out- he wanted to wait until after the baby was born. He was actually quite looking forward to having a kid, but he was also very anxious about it.

Pregnancy Head-canons (SFW):

He was unsure at first. When you told him, he had no idea how to react. He put on a smile, but you could see through it. However, you didn't want to upset him, and decided it was best to give him time to process it before you overwhelmed him.

Truth was, he was scared of having a kid. He was scared for you- His own biological mom had been killed, and while he knew that it was a freak situation, he couldn't not worry about the same happening to you. In some twisted way, he worried that somehow his past would come back to bite him in the ass. And that you'd get involved.

He had occasional thoughts of running before you were pregnant. He felt that, even if something terrible happened, if he somehow was found by the cops, he could just leave you. That he could run, and protect you. But now that you were pregnant with his baby, there was no more running. And that scared him. He never would've wanted to leave you, but it was comforting to know that it was an option. It didn't feel like an option anymore.

He also wasn't sure he could be a good father. His 'family' was batshit crazy, and they'd raised him the same. What if he passed on bad traits to your kid? What if he was an awful dad and turned his kid into a psycho like him?

He'd been doing better, of course- Johnny stopped killing people, he had to. At first, he'd told himself that he'd just lay low and go back to it once the cops were less a problem, but after the first couple months, he got used to it. Got used to normal meat, to normal diets, and he found he had a lot more free time when he wasn't chasing victims around all the time.

Even so, he still worried that he'd somehow manage to make a psychotic cannibal even when he was far from it. Or that his kid would have his anger issues, or his anxiety, or somehow have his trauma- he didn't want to put that weight on anyone else. And he didn't want you to have to see that.

But eventually, Johnny warmed up to the idea. especially when you started showing a tiny baby bump. He loved how certain shirts wouldn't quite come all the way down your stomach anymore, and even if you complained about it, it gave him some... really sweet, sickeningly domestic feeling. A feeling he'd never even dreamed of.

Despite everything, he was a family man. His family was the only thing he knew growing up. And while his was a mess, and left him worse for wear in the end, he still suffered from a constantly feeling of loneliness. He was so used to constantly being surrounded by, irritated, and cared about by family, and when he was living on his own, he lacked that completely. Moving in with you certainly helped, and now that there was going to be a third in the house, it actually reassured him a bit. He'd still be able to build family bonds, and with biological family this time. Plus, you weren't a psycho, so that definitely helped.

Because of this, he grew very attached to the baby once he got over his initial worries. He'd still have the occasional intrusive thoughts, but they were rare and he was able to push them out of his mind. He wanted a family with you, and he was going to have one.

But, Jesus fucking Christ, you were so goddamn careless. You acted the exact same, did the exact same activities, you lived life precisely how you did before you were pregnant, and Johnny was surprisingly overprotective of you and the baby. He refused to let you go to the bar or have even the slightest drop of anything alcoholic, and you'd expressed your frustrations that he was still allowed to drink but you weren't.

So? He stopped drinking. And then you came out one day to share a cig with him, and he'd practically carried you back inside because he didn't want you anywhere around cigarette smoke. You didn't really believe that cigarettes and drinking could have that bad of an effect, and you didn't do them all that often anyways. But Johnny refused to take any risks. He wanted to give your kid everything that Johnny didn't receive growing up, and that started with making sure you were as healthy as possible.

It wasn't long before he gave up smoking, too. It was tough, for both of you- really tough, actually, but you managed to make it through. If he could give up slaughtering and being a cannibal, he could give up cigs, and he knew you could too.

When the morning sickness started, he swore that you were dying. You had to reassure him constantly that it was fine, but only when your doctor also reassured him of this did he finally let it go. Still, he made sure to get whatever anti-nausea remedies possible, since you 'needed to keep the food inside of you' for the baby.

Oh, that too. He made meals. on meals. on meals. on meals. He was still a butcher, so he got first pick of the meats, and he loved bragging that he cut it himself. It was actually really cute to see someone so muscular and manly in the kitchen seasoning chicken and making salads. He was a really good cook. Wonder where he learned that...

Pregnancy cravings he would do his best to fuel, and while you joked about how he should try them with you, he refused. Listen- he could stomach a lot, but pickles in ice cream? Absolutely the fuck not. He could hardly watch you eat it, and he was a fucking cannibal for most of his life. But, he still provided them nonetheless.

Listen, the baby bump was one thing, but when you really started showing and started complaining about the baby kicking, he was at a loss for words. He didn't even know that was something that the baby could do at this stage. Well, to be fair, he didn't really know anything about pregnancy since he was the youngest in his family, but he could've assumed most of it. Other than the baby kicking. He'd ask over and over again if you were sure it wasn't just a stomach ache, or if you'd eaten something wrong.

In order to reassure him, you'd grab his wrists and put his palms against your belly. "What are you doin'?" "Just wait..." "Sweetpea, I'm serious, maybe we should go to the doct-" A pause. He looked between you and your belly. "Feel it?" "That... that was it?" "Mhm. That's our baby."

Rest assured, the first thing he did any time you mentioned the kicks in the future was reach to feel it himself. There was something about feeling the kicks that just... made him happy. Pleased him. Maybe it was knowing that your kid was healthy, or the fact that feeling it meant it was really happening- it just made the entire thing feel more real to him.

Around the 7 and a half month mark, he refused to let you do anything by yourself.

Getting food? "Nah, darlin' I can get it. Just stay here, I'll be right back."

Dropped something? "Don't- Don't go bendin' over, yer gonna fall, or hurt yerself. Where'd ya drop it? I'll get it."

Showering? "Hold onto my arm- I gotcha, sweetpea. How bout I run a bath fer ya? Make ya more comfortable."

Changing clothes? Well, he kind of already was there for that since he liked seeing you naked, especially with a baby bump, but you get the point. No matter what you were doing, he was there, doing his best to help you, even if it was pretty unnecessary sometimes.

Part 2 coming soon! Tumblr just has a word limit. Domestic fluff Johnny makes me so happy <333

[merp-blerp]

Just thinking out loud about The Thunder Saga and everything connected to it.

I get why people are mad at Eurylochus for opening the windbag, but I don't understand blaming him for the crew getting caught by Poseidon. Sure he definitely sped up the event, but even if they were inches away from Ithaca right before that moment like they were in the original Odyssey (which seems to be hinted at with Ody saying "And I'm getting closer to you"), Poseidon would've gotten to them eventually anyway because he's a god, a major one at that. And gods get their will no matter what consistently, even if mortals try to twist it like how Ody does when opening the bag a second time. I can only assess what sagas we have currently, so I could be really wrong as future sagas come out, but I think Aeolus must've known that fact and that was the game he was playing. As if he's saying, "I'll help you, but I can't stop Poseidon with a bag. The Winions will even make it extra hard with a treasure rumor." The bag was supposed to aid the crew home, not stop Poseidon, so they would've had to deal with Poseidon anyway in Ithaca, which probably would've made more casualties because they would've brought their trouble to the whole kingdom. Remember Ithaca is on an island. Poseidon is the god of the sea, so Ithaca would be a perfect target for him to destroy because of that. But it's not his will to do that; he wants to play games with Ody to avenge his son. The only reason why mortals feel like they have a choice and can manipulate fate is because the gods like to play games; it's still their will if Ody wins a game like he does in "Ruthlessness" because it was their will to play in the first place, and they can win if/when they want to. Just 'cause Poseidon "lost" in "Ruthlessness" doesn't mean he actually did, he just let Odysseus go. For now. If his will changes and Ody gets no consequence from him it's on his terms, not Ody's. Just like with Circe, as I've talked about.

But back to Eurylochus, I adore the parallels between The Thunder Saga and The Ocean Saga. During The Ocean Saga, Eurylochus only opens the bag, not for treasure, but to give the crew closure, as we know thanks to Aeolus's "Now they wanna get the bag open so they can have closure". Especially if they were close to home, I imagine his thought process might've been that opening the bag was wrong but morally okay since the journey was almost done and Odysseus was sleeping so it seemed like it wasn't a big deal anymore in his eyes. But that's more my hypothesis. In terms of canon, his trust in Ody, which wasn't high to begin with, was dwindling, as Ody bragged about how no men died in war and then several died with the Cyclops. "Everything's changed since Polites, so". In The Thunder Saga, it's similar, as Eurylochus knows killing the cow is wrong, but they've all lost hope on getting home with their captain going to extremes to get there himself, killing them slowly like with Scylla. They know that deep down the whole time Odysseus wanted to get home himself mainly, only bringing the crew because he cared out of the kindness of his heart, and now that his heart has changed they know they won't get to Ithaca if the gods keep messing around (and they do). This post pointed out that Eurylochus was likely just trying to provide for the crew and himself in their final moments before another trap emerges and Odysseus decides to continue to sacrifice his men if he feels it has to be done again. Eurylochus isn't dumb, he knows their goose is cooked if they kill the cow, especially with Ody in his ear telling him, but they'll die either way, in the hand of the gods or Ody. They will die and not see home, but at least they can die not starving, and go on for a bit longer. They had nothing to lose. Eurylochus had doubted Odysseus this whole time and he does so till the end. When Eurylochus says, "But we'll die", it's not a plea to stay alive, it's him confirming out loud that Odysseus will not choose his men over Penelope and Telemachus. He's reaffirming to Ody that they'll die; almost like he's finishing Ody's sentence "I have to see her". Odysseus couldn't say it, but Eurylochus could since he'd known they'd died for so long already. In the live stream animatic, the crew attempting to kill Odysseus near the end of "Thunder Bringer" isn't them trying to escape their fate, but trying to bring Ody down with them so Ody won't get his choice. They've long accepted the fact that Ody isn't to be trusted and they all are going to die, but Ody is, for lack of a better word I can think of, cheating in the crew's eyes by having an out thanks to Zeus. In their view of fairness, they all have to die if they aren't getting home. It's a last attempt at a mutiny. It fails because that's not how Zeus wants his game to work, and he gets his will.

They are all puppets of the fate the gods have chosen, whether that fate benefits them or not.

(The only "exception" to the "Will of the gods" rule so far is Ody and the baby, since Jay has said it's "ambiguous" whether or not the baby is spared. If not exactly by being dropped, I'm sure he'd die some other way honestly because the gods want that. It'll probably come up again in a later saga—"ambiguous" is too cryptic of a word to use when everyone assumed he died in the first saga)

This is all just my take, by the way, no one has to agree with me.

[demonslayerunhinged]

Do you think Sanemi kept tabs on Genya while he was in the Corps? Like before Genya even joined? Sanemi tells Genya he’d ensure no demon would head his way in Infinity Castle, and the light novel I remember it saying along the lines of “he’d short commit murder if Genya said he’d join the Corps.” I know they never spoke upon the years separated from each other from Sanemi distancing himself, but I’d imagine he’d keep an eye on him to ensure that, right (although it obviously didn’t work since Genya joined anyway lol)? With how Genya thought he despised him, Sanemi probably didn’t send money or anything to Genya either (which I guess wouldn’t make sense in the long run.) Anyway, I just wanted your thoughts on this if it’s alright to ask! Sorry if this is long 😅

Additional thought - Do you think Masachika knew about Genya (since in the light novel we do know Sanemi told him about his mom and other siblings)?

Hiiiii! Thanks so much for your questions!

One of my criticisms about Demon Slayer are the information gaps we have regarding some characters. I think because Gotogue-sensei was in a rush to finish the novel because she had to go back to her hometown, she skipped a few things.

Yea, Genya and Sanemi's backstory is one of those gaps. Just like you said, we're never told if Sanemi was keeping tabs on Genya while he was in the Corps. In fact, we're never even told how the brothers survived after the death of their family.

Sanemi mentions going on a demon-killing rampage, but he never said anything about Genya. Where was Genya? How did he keep tabs on him? Where did they live? Did Sanemi just abandon Genya? Did he stay with a relative? What about the bodies of their siblings? How did their neighbors react?

I have a theory. Long post incominggggg!

I think Sanemi was driven out of the town and Genya was taken in by someone. Think about it, the people in the neighborhood would've heard the commotion, just to come out and see a boy brandishing a cleaver, the children in the house dead and the only surviving child yelling 'monster!'. Of course, they would think that this boy massacred his family and probably his mom too and Genya might have not been able to say anything coherent due to the trauma.

So Genya would have been taken in by a neighbor and Sanemi would be driven out. Sanemi would spend the next few years homeless, killing demons and keeping tabs on Genya to make sure he was ok. Then he encountered Masachika who got to know Sanemi's story and by extension about Genya (It's actually in the light novels, so this is canon).

During this time, I think Genya encountered a demon that was killed by a Demon Slayer and this encounter introduced him to the concept of demons, made him revisit the memories of that night and realize that his mom was a demon, and it was she that attacked his siblings and Sanemi was only trying to save him.

With this realization, he becomes tearful, breaks down and tells the slayer his story. The slayer asks for his name.

"Shinazugawa?" said the slayer, "Is your brother by any chance named Sanemi?"

Genya looks up at the slayer, his eyes filling with tears. "Yes! Yes he is!" he stands up and grabs the slayer's uniform in desperation. "Do you know him?! Where is he?!"

The slayer carefully unwraps Genya's fists from his uniform, he isn't annoyed. He knows that the poor boy is just desperate.

"Yes, he's a demon slayer just like me?"

"Where can I meet him?"

"I don't think you would be able to" said the slayer, "Because of our job we tend to move around a lot."

Genya drops to the ground and adopts a dogeza pose. "Please." he said through tears, "Please help me, I need to find him....how can I find him....please"

The slayer took pity on him, almost driven to tears by the pitiful sight. He coaxes Genya off the ground and wipes off the poor boy's tears.

"Okay" said the slayer, "If you want to see your brother, this is what you'll have to do."

The slayer then told him about the Demon Slayer Corps, the process of becoming a proper slayer and the final selection.

"In fact" said the slayer with a sad smile, "There's a selection happening soon. I'll tell you where to go."

Genya leaves the family he's staying with, telling them about his plans to find Sanemi. The family's like, "Aiit, see ya."

Sanemi comes over to check up on Genya as usual, but he sees that he's nowhere to be found. He panics and asks one of the family members, who tells him.

"The boy left, saying he's going to go join some Corps or something."

Sanemi eyes widened in horror. He goes to the Master, who informs him that Genya is indeed part of the selection. Sanemi panics, but he knows can't go interrupt the Selection and pull Genya out, so he waits and hopes his little brother makes it out okay.

During his wait, he then went on that mission where Masachika died, and after he finds out from his crow that Genya passed the selection. On one hand, he's relieved and glad that his little brother survived, but on the other now that Genya is part of the corps he can't guarantee his safety unlike when he was with his adoptive family.

He can't fathom losing Genya like he lost his other siblings. He can't explain this to Genya because 'men' but even if he does, there's no guarantee that Genya would listen, after all they made a pact to stick together. So, he decides the best way would be to be as horrible to Genya as possible, to basically become the monster his brother accused him of being all those years ago.

Then Genya meets Gyomei, promptly receiving the slap that changed his life.

Hope this sort of answers your question :)

[galvanizedfriend]

hii Yokan! i miss you!😭

how are you? how is work?? I hope everything is going well<3

rn there's a little Comic Con in my city, and it really did help my mood!! (even tho I throwed up 6 times and fainted during the morning of the first day due to the heat and lack of iron🥲) 2 days down, 2 more to go 🙏

ANYWAYS! I know you've been going through a writer's block lately, and I read a post that said something about asking/commenting about the fictions to help the "stucked" autor, SO!

I've been re-reading TW III (shocking, I know) and those little hints about married!kc are just 😭😭 my heart melts, really, although... I was never really sure you'd get them married, mostly due to Care's speech to Cami about how Klaus supposedly sees weddings, and because I remember you saying that you weren't planning on giving them an actual marriage, but rather the closest thing next to it. I checked to comments to see other thoughts, and I saw one of you reply saying that you were completely against married!kc at the start, but then you were slowing changing your mind about it...

so, what was it that made you say "fuck it, I'm gonna ring the bells"?? is it because many people asked you to do it, so you are throwing us a bone, or is it something else?? I'm really interest on hearing the process of your change of heart <3

have a good one, friend <3 love you xoxo

I don't know if I am eloquent enough or if my train of thought makes much sense, but I will try 😂

Also grab a chair because this will be a long one. Be careful what you ask me, I do not know how to shut the fuck up 🙃

Objectively, I still think Klaus is not the marrying kind (in canon context, at least). That man has been alive for a thousand years. He's the vampire of vampires, one who sees humans as a lower species. He's used to getting what he wants by conquering and subjugating because he can. Why would he ever submit himself to an inherently human institution that, throughout history, has served as a tool for various types of social, political and religious control? The ceremony itself doesn't mean anything to him. He probably thinks it's ridiculous and performative, not to mention extremely frail. You can just change your mind and get a divorce, or the good old spouse murder, and then what? What's even the point?

(Just to be clear: I'm not personally preaching against weddings and marriages here btw, it's just how I think Klaus might have seen it.)

If you look at it from the sentimental side, Klaus spent almost a thousand years saying that love is a sign of weakness, a character flaw. He carried his siblings, the only people he genuinely cared about, inside coffins because he didn't trust them enough not to leave him, betray him or end up captured and killed by one of his enemies. Now, why would he want to marry someone, thus exposing yet another vulnerability to be exploited?

Having said that 😂

When we first see Klaus in TVD he's trying to surround himself with a whole new OP supernatural species that will have no choice but to stand with him. They will protect him, they will go to war for him, do whatever he asks them to and they will never leave (or that's what he thought, anyway) because they don't have a choice. That is the only way Klaus knows how to trust people: by completely removing their capacity to challenge him. That's how paranoid he is.

But as the story progresses, and especially with The Wolf in particular because it takes their relationship much further than the show, Klaus realizes there is more than one way to earn people's trust. I feel like that's one of the pillars of his relationship with Caroline. He could've just compelled her (in TVD, not TW because she's a witch), but he never did because he wanted more from her than obedience. All of the things he liked about her - her personality, her honesty, her fire, her loyalty - would've been essentially erased or made meaningless if he'd compelled her. Which puts her in direct opposition to how he related to his hybrids, right? He pretends to be fine with people who have no choice but to follow him, but what he really craves is more real than that. He surrounds himself with people who will worship the ground he walks on after some forged "gratitude" for releasing them of their curse, but he is fascinated by how gutsy Caroline is to look him in the eye and tell him the things that no one else will dare to. What he really seeks but doesn't have the courage to admit is that he wants someone who will choose to be with him. And that's the difficult part, because it can't be conquered or taken, it has to be earned.

Klaus comes from a place of paranoia and extreme distrust of everything and everyone around him, especially after Mikael in New Orleans, and he feels very isolated and alone. He tells Stefan about that, right? The loneliness of immortality. When The Wolf starts, in spite of how he and Caroline were having a bit of a thing before it, he's not sure she would want to stay with him. Actually, he thinks the first chance she gets, she's gonna bail. It's why he's mad when he thinks she wants to terminate the pregnancy. It's not about the baby (it's never about the baby), he couldn't care less about the damn baby at that point, it's the fact that he thinks she's trying to get rid of him, as if that pregnancy is the one thing that is holding them together at that point and so if she's no longer pregnant, she doesn't have to be with him. What I'm very inarticulately trying to say is that his initial approach to Caroline being pregnant is the same he had with his hybrids, as if the baby is a version of a sire bond. It's crazy and dysfunctional, yes, but it's how Klaus rationalizes it, how he thinks he gets to keep people around him - either through daggering them or giving them no choice.

Slowly, Klaus internalizes the fact that Caroline is choosing him. She tells him that a few times throughout the story, and even when he's hallucinating her at the beginning of TW4, because that's something that she has said before and that has stuck with him for reason. She could've left him at any point, but she didn't because she wants to be with him. It's a choice that she has made not because he forced her to, but because she's in love with him. She protects him, she fights for him, she walks through hellfire for him because she wants to, not because she must. He has earned her trust and her love and her loyalty. And that is something that is new for Klaus in his one thousand years of life, at least at this magnitude and with this much clarity and certitude.

So I think when I started writing TW3, which was them in their domestic era, it started to feel like something Klaus might actually do. Not just because it obviously does mean something to Caroline and he would basically do anything for her (even though she never asks for it, which in itself is something, because Caroline comes from relationships that made her feel so insecure and unsafe that she would've held on to a ring like a lifeline, but with Klaus she simply does not need hard evidence to feel safe and reassured, she knows how Klaus feels about her, she's very comfortable in their relationship, she knows that what offers her means a lot more than a thousand weddings to other people ever would - even though she does still love a good wedding lol), but because it suddenly makes sense to him. Not the big party, or the tradition of it, or making it official or anything of the sort, but as a way to externalize what he feels. There is a symbolism to it that while not ideal, it might be the closest to thing to expressing just how devoted he is to her and how she is, pure and simple, eternity for him. When that comes from someone who has lived for as long he has, and who has been as cynical as he was for as long as he was, it does mean something, even if nothing else does.

There is a territorial factor to it as well, of course. 😌 He's a very possessive man and so he wants everyone to know Caroline is his, and it's why it first came to him during the thing with Jackson, but it's more than just that. If it was just about that, he wouldn't do it. He is at a point where he no longer has any doubts about how Caroline feels for him (although there will be a little something something on that front at the beginning of TW4, just because they've been apart for so long, but it will be quickly dispelled).

The most sacred thing for Klaus was the vow he took with his siblings when they fled Viking Falls. They stuck together through everything because of that. He knows the value of a vow and a promise. And he wants a version of that with Caroline. It's the first time in his life when he contemplates genuinely offering that to someone other than his family. There are a million ways he could go about it, probably, but he knows asking her to marry him is the one that will be most representative to her, because of the age where she was born and how she grew up, etc.

And so that is why I decided that Klaus was going to buy a ring even though I crossed my heart and hoped to die a million times for years when people asked me about that. 😂 I just think it's the natural course this story has taken. It's long enough that it eventually made sense to me that he might do it.

Does any of that make sense???? I don't know! I just typed my stream of thought and hoped for the best and now I'm afraid to read it again, so apologies if it's just crazy words.

Now if only I can get back to writing and actually get to that part. 🥲 Pray for me 🙏

THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK! 🙃 Here have a pretty married Klaroline gif.

[little-cereal-draws]

Details I noticed on my second and third rewatches of Werewolf By Night

Jack reached out to touch the bloodstone as soon as he got to the funeral. If he hadn't been interrupted, he would've blown his cover immediately and been killed, let alone doing anything to save Ted. He's such an idiot (affectionate)

When he's talking with that Scottish hunter in the beginning, he says, “I can almost smell the blood on your hands.” Foreshadowing much?

What happened to Elsa’s mom? They imply it's something 'terrible'/dishonorable but they never say

When they're all being introduced in the circle and listing how many kills they have, when it comes to Jack the line is “And over 100 deaths. Give it take.” I thought it was interesting how they suddenly used deaths vs kills (especially because Jack probably told them that. Let the angst begin lol)

It says "This end up on coffin" lol

Jack chews on his lip during Ulysses’ speech about the strongest hunters gathering and the crusade against monsters. It's so very subtle but you can see he's nervous

Jack looks scared and concerned when they get told the stone would be put on the monster. It's a split second but his eyes get wide and he goes :o

The set is actually amazing, especially the garden maze

In the tomb Jack gets the most brilliant smile when he says he's "not that kind of hunter" and Elsa says she’s not either. He probably thought she was secretly some kind of monster too for a second because his face literally looks like when a dog sees another dog or when a queer person sees another queer person in public. Like "Hello!! You're like me?? Like me??? Hello! Hi!!"

When talking with Elsa about families, Jack says, “My family was very different.” Why does he say "was???" What happened to his family??? (Another opportunity for angst lol)

In that same conversation, Jack also says, “We think that by doing something specific we cannot be like them.” Why does he want to be different than his family? What specific thing did he do? I need more backstory!!

All the bugs and spiders crawling out of Aunt Frances' tomb was a very nice touch lol

Laura Donnelly's (Elsa’s) acting. She's trembling. She genuinely looks terrified but like she’s making herself be brave anyway. The single tear that rolls down her cheek right before he turns and how she just nods at his apology because she can't trust herself to speak? The way she's made herself as small as possible and is partly covering her head in fear but can't look away as they shoot him? The way her breath keeps hitching because she has no idea if she's going to die or not as she reaches out to touch his face at the end? It's so much more genuine and realistic than other MCU acting I feel. Like ofc the other actors in other projects are talented but I don't feel like they get scared often or get scared in a realistic way. Like if I was trapped in a cage with an angry werewolf, I also would be curled up on the floor crying. 10000/10

Before he turns, Jack says he has “systems” in place to stop himself from turning or at least calm it down. Besides locking himself inside, what are his systems?? I want to know!!!

When Elsa asks if remembering people's scents have ever worked before, Jack immediately shakes his head. Almost as an afterthought, he says “Once.” Who was it??? Why is he still so sad if it worked?? Did they die immediately anyway for some other reason??? Did he not recognize their scent until it was too late??? I NEED BACKSTORY! (and more angst)

When Jack asks to be killed as he is "or there will be no mercy," the old lady, who's name I can't remember, says, “Our system is built on mercy for you.” She genuinely seems to believe it for a second before bursting out laughing and going back to being evil. The story is told from the perspective of those against the hunters, but I want to know what the thought process/justification of the hunters is! Ofc they're doing it to protect innocent people from dying (like they mention) and there is certainly an element of personal gain/ego in it but how do they believe they're having mercy on the monsters themselves? What's the ideology behind it all?

In werewolf form, Jack's eyes glow in the dark but when you get up close, they look like human eyes

The blood on the camera. Such a cool touch

A list of things Ted had at their camp: Two suitcases (one with clothes in it), a sunflower mug, a deck of cards, a cowbell (why is there a cowbell??? lol), a gramophone, a guitar, just the phone part of a phone booth (again, what???), a blanket, and a fire extinguisher

Jack uses both hands to hold the sunflower mug because he's so shaky and tired, he would drop it otherwise

The groans Jack makes as he stands up lol That is also how I sound when I stand up

Jack and Ted's banter on the log. It doesn't matter if you don't know what they're saying, you can instantly tell they're best friends. The way they're laughing and pushing each other and how quickly it switches into annoyance. ...Which only lasts a couple seconds before they're chummy again. True friend conversation

Ted's eyes are really cute in color. His pupils are little star/flower shapes

[toaarcan]

(please excuse my English I actually speak German) hello, huge Fiona fox fan here I have been reading lots of your rants about fiona, on how her character had lots more potential and that her relationship with scourge is heavily abusive (on which I really agree btw) and since their not many fiona fans here I just wanted to ask you since I literally have no one to talk to. In sonic the hedgehog issue 179 on page 14 sonic says a specific line dialogue that's been driving me crazy. He explains to tails that he hooked up with Fiona hoping that he would move on, but ALSO because he was still getting over Sally stating that "Fiona was there*. Which kind of feels like that even if Fiona had genuine feelings for sonic he would have been still thinking about her. Now I am really wondering could this be a reason Fiona cheated on him, since she felt again like getting burned? We never saw the process of Fiona meeting secretly with scourge, but I heavily theory that A. He could have lied to her at a lot of points and B. That just maybe he could have told her about sonic maybe not truly loving her. Either all of that is true or I'm just going crazy but what's your opinion?

Your English is better than my German, to need to apologise.

You're right about that, while Sonic says his primary motivation for getting together with Fiona was his terrible plan to help Tails, it's also pretty apparent that Fiona is a rebound girl for him. The timing of when the relationship started is much too obvious for that: He and Fiona start their relationship in Issue 155, the same one where Sally's forced marriage to Patch is announced. I have no doubt that this information stirred up all of Sonic's hurt feelings from Issue 134 and drove him toward the course of action he took.

Now, that doesn't justify what he did, what he did is still an awful thing to do to someone, but it does explain it a little better.

I don't think Fiona knew what was going on in Sonic's head during their relationship. If she did, she almost certainly would've brought that up as a point against him, instead of only referring to her traumatic backstory.

(Sidenote: I think her betrayal makes a lot more sense if you reorder some of the stories in the 170s so that Eggman's attack on Knothole comes first, and reopens all of her old wounds. Then it makes total sense for her to snap and accuse Sonic of being too weak- instead of a dumb "I think being good is weak and being evil is strong!" logic that so many shallow villains have, she actually has a point, and an obvious example, that after everything Eggman did to them, a repeat of what Robotnik did to her, the FF still let him go when they easily could've captured or killed him)

That said, I think it's likely that Fiona realised she was a rebound and this pushed her closer to accepting Scourge's advances.

I think Scourge lying to her should be taken as given. Probably about Sonic, definitely about himself. However, I don't think he knew for sure how Sonic felt, simply because Scourge doesn't understand Sonic at all, ironically enough. We can see as much from his attempt at a "One bad day" speech, he fully believes that Sonic is only a bad day away from turning out like Scourge himself did, but Sonic has arguably had a rougher life than Scourge ever did. We've seen him have plenty of bad days and never once has he turned into Scourge.

Scourge thinks everyone is worse than they actually are, in essence. I have no doubt that he presents his flawed perception of everyone to Fiona, why else would she, a character who owes her whole life to the support she's received from other people (first Nic, then the FF) suddenly turn around and declare that "You can't count on anybody?"

It's an idea that fits so little with what we know of her character and history that it more than likely came from someone else, like the known liar and manipulator she's suddenly 'romantically' entangled with.

That said, him not knowing about how Sonic felt doesn't mean he can't tell Fiona that Sonic doesn't love her. He is, after all, a liar, and likely playing to Fiona's fears and anxieties. If he realises that Fiona believes Sonic is using her as a rebound, he would absolutely have agreed with the notion despite not knowing whether it was true or not.

This is part of what frustrates me with Fiona's character: There's the pieces here to make something absolutely fantastic with her, and Archie just... didn't do that. Her existence pre-155 is largely an afterthought, from 155-171 she's "Sonic's shady girlfriend" and then post-172 she's "Scourge's girlfriend", and that's all she's allowed to be. Even her one outing as an independent villain (with her own team, because of course the character who believes you can't trust anyone has immediately gone and gotten herself another team) turns out to be setup for her getting Scourge back.

Whether you prefer her as a hero, villain, or somewhere in the middle, Fiona has enormous potential as a character, and Archie never used it.

[karniss-bg3]

Now this is just a pure theory but I'm wondering what you think of it. It was actually what you wrote that helped me think about this. There is a book in General Thorm's room called Attractive Drow Exiles. And it talks about the plan used to drag in unwilling Drow members by using a man (presumably a Drow) called Xilvre (sounds like Silver) to go down and stir up some trouble. He was described as very loyal but annoyingly enthusiastic. If this was Kar'niss before he was changed, it does answer a lot of questions. The book says he was probably killed, but the book was written before the event took place. It would make more sense that the Drow would punish Xilvre by changing him into a Drider for going against his kind and Lolth. And it shattered his mind in the process. And when he came back, they gave him the task with the lantern.

This is an interesting point you bring up. I was first alerted to the existence of that book by an anonymous ask and @novarex who made a post about it here. After I read it I asked myself "Who was Xilvre?". I didn't delve into it deeper than that at the time but this could be a lead.

The first thing to note is this book lists Xilvre as "True Soul 113". The definition of a True Soul according to the wiki is as follows:

True Souls are Followers of the Absolute who have been infected with an Illithid tadpole that grants them psionic powers similar to the player. They serve as commanding members of the Absolute's army. True Souls almost always have a Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen that can be looted from their bodies if killed.

When Kar'niss dies he doesn't have a parasite on his body that can be looted, nor is there evidence that he is in charge of any army within Moonrise. He acts as a guide but beyond that he follows commands more than I'd say he gives them. On the list of True Souls in Act 2, Kar'niss isn't listed as being one. When he first meets the player he does acknowledge that they are a True Soul, but he never suggests that he is one also, or that they have common ground in that regard.

The counter argument I'd make is the definition of True Soul says "almost always" when it comes to mind flayer parasites that can be looted. This leaves room for doubt that even though he doesn't have a parasite the player can take, it doesn't mean he is without one as a whole. Furthermore, certain dialogue trees and failed DC checks insinuate that Kar'niss can tap into and read the players mind, suggesting some sort of psionic link; Thus, a tadpole being present.

This leaves his status a bit open ended. If Kar'niss is Xilvre, perhaps he was titled as a True Soul to start. The drow captured him for being a heretic and turned him into a drider. When he slinked back to Moonrise he was demoted as a True Soul and given the job as a guide as his transformation made his mind too broken to be useful. He or someone else changed his name and he started life anew.

The one glaring issue I see is that if the drow, or Lolth, discovered that one of their own was planning to not only turn against the spider queen but also sabotage their very way of life, I don't think he would've gotten off as easy as he did. Betrayal of that magnitude would be a death sentence and it's likely why Ketheric foresaw Xilvre's demise. I can't imagine if Lolth saw a threat to her domain she wouldn't lash out to the fullest against any who supported the notion. Driders are made as a result of failure, weakness or displeasure. What Xilvre was tasked to do dwarfs all three. Xilvre would make an excellent example to those who turned against Lolth and no doubt his end would've been a messy one. There is a chance he could've been spared but it'd be an unusual mercy.

What I think could be more likely is that Kar'niss was part of the warband lured out by Xilvre's antics. Driders are known to work with and fight alongside other drow despite how thin the trust can be. He was ambushed alongside the others and dragged in to become part of the Absolute's forces. Either that or he overheard what Xilvre had done or said and curiosity led him out of the Underdark in search of a new Goddess to follow, perhaps a cure for his affliction.

It's all good theorycrafting fun. There is some overlap between Kar'niss and Xilvre. Even the name sounds like something that could fit Kar'niss with the pronunciation of "silver". That and the description of being a "tedious enthusiast" does describe Kar'niss fairly well, at least how we know him now. It'd be quite the plot twist if true!

Thanks for the ask!

[jinxedshapeshifter]

Is there any discussion in the Warriors fandom of how badly Brightheart would've had to be mauled to lose half of her face and an eye?

Like I know there's art that implies it (usually in AMVs/PMVs and MAPs) but is there much actual discussion of it? Her face would've had to been bitten enough to not kill her but also tear off her fur and tear out her eye. It almost makes me wonder if the only reason Brightpaw didn't die is because Swiftpaw attacked the dog that was attacking her and forced it to drop her, because Brightpaw should've probably been dead if the dogs were given a chance to maul her so severely, because it's implied they didn't bite down. What probably happened is that one of the dogs grabbed her with intention of killing her, Swiftpaw attacked the dog that was attacking Brightpaw, and the dog attacking Brightpaw dropped her, potentially snagging a tooth on her eye in the process, then directed the dogs' attention onto him and away from Brightpaw.

This turn of events doesn't contradict Secrets of the Clans either; Brightpaw says the last thing she remembered was being slammed against a rock. This is the specific bit that describes 1, Brightheart not remembering when Swiftpaw was killed, and 2, the last thing she remembered before waking up in the medicine cat den:

"I don’t know when the end came for Swiftpaw. I only remember him fighting like all of LionClan. That’s how I will always remember him.

Then I was shaken loose. I felt light as air. I slammed against rock, and everything went dark."

It doesn't contradict Swiftpaw attacking the dog that was holding Brightpaw and that being what she felt and why she survived the initial attack, and honestly it makes me really sad.

[gartenofbanny]

Moxxie’s Moral Compass isn’t consistent with his actions.

Moxxie is the nicer and morally better character in Helluva Boss. Millie just kills because she's a maniac like that, Loona kills whenever she's told to, and Blitzo kills for his clients, but doesn't really care about the collateral damage or aftermath. Moxxie is the only character in Helluva Boss who at least tries to minimize the destruction, while still completing his job in the process.

Well, that's what I'm shown and pieced together in the first episode of Helluva Boss, but it doesn't follow through like many other things in this show. The actions Moxxie takes in later episodes contradict his morals established in the first one and today I'm going to list those actions.

 The Actions

In Spring Broken, after Blitzo gave the rest of the main cast a plan in order to get a lot of kills to win their competition, Moxxie says that they can't go up there to mindlessly kill or massacre, but later on in the episode Moxxie and Millie proceed to kill humans on the random. This raised a question within the episode that is, Moxxie and Millie shouldn't be entirely sure that the people they're killing are their targets and if they were then how did he know? They needed Loona to identify the targets for them so that they can kill the targets in a less populated area, and yet this scene either shows that they didn't need her at all or they're just killing aimlessly which negates what Moxxie said. Either Moxxie's morals are inconsistent or the entire plan featuring Loona was pretty much pointless, but either option shows that the writing for this scene was not consistent with the rest of the episode. 

 He attempts to give cannibalistic children who worship Satan and their father a second chance at life but doesn't do so with young adults that seemingly didn’t even do anything wrong. Literally, all the humans in Spring Broken did was drink alcohol, take drugs, and party. So Moxxie’s morals for this scene specifically was out the window. 

In the next episode, C.H.E.R.U.B: Moxxie and Millie are shooting and killing people in a rotation while making out. Even though Millie was doing the shooting, Moxxie didn't do anything about it and just continued to make out with his wife.

Compare this to the scene all the way back in episode 1 where Blitzo was about to kill Martha, but Moxxie prevents him from doing so because he doesn't want Blitzo to ruin a seemingly wholesome family. So, again, when it came down to killing cannibalistic children and their father, Moxxie couldn't do it and gave them a second chance.

But when it came to people that were just watching an opera that happened to be in an unexpected battleground and were killed as a result, it's fine? Like he literally does not care or even thought about what he did, he just makes fun of the Cherubs because they caused Lipton's death unintentionally. This is giving me a damn headache.

I almost forgot to mention that Moxxie pretty much encouraged Lipton to off himself throughout the episode, regardless if it was for the mission or not, Moxxie from episode one likely wouldn't have been acting like that at all. He probably would've just killed Lipton straight up in order to speed up their job, not watch some guy off himself, and not waste time trying to be in competition with the Cherubs.

And lastly, this problem with Moxxie’s morality not being consistent with his actions can actually stem all the way back to the pilot, but people mainly dismiss this because it's the pilot. I'm still adding it anyway despite it being the pilot it still doesn’t make sense. So in the pilot, Moxxie accidentally shoots and fatally wounds Eddie and is pretty much traumatized after they rushed him to the hospital. It was likely Moxxie's idea to do so.

Though once Loona gets a call that Eddie was the right target, he helps Blitzo and Millie by making sure Eddie was dead, by cutting apart his fucking body, placing it in a trash bag, and dropping it in front of Eddie's mother. So what was the point in making Moxxie feel bad for killing a kid when he doesn't feel bad for the kid after Blitzo kills him?

Conclusion

I would pretty much forgive all of this if Moxxie was established to be as cruel as Millie and Blitzo, but he wasn't and I still don't believe that he's depicted that way, especially with EXES and OOHS out. Honestly, I don't know what to expect at this point because if this problem stemmed all the way back to the pilot then I am positive that something is wrong. Anyway, that's all I have for today, thank you all for reading and I hope you all have a nice day! ❤️

[yuukei-yikes]

kenjirou tateyama surviving my beloved because god im so curious JUST HOW CONSCIOUS WAS HEEE like. i've always ALWAYS been a Kenjirou Is Entirely Possessed And Unaware Of What's Going On truther, ever since i was a kid. but god. ouuuughhhh his dubious awareness is so damn interesting i've changed my mind so much in the last year

like it's a fine interpretation but it's not as fun. because IF kenjirou is ENTIRELY clearing eyes after the aug15 takane/haruka/ayano die, then every other time he appears afterwards it's just clearing doing the best impression of kenjirou it can. and that's so funny. but idk. in that case, kenjirou's character is kinda flat. like he is just the funny fail man who misses his wife and keeps being moved around like a puppet, barely his own character at all. like this, he becomes entirely a plot device to me?

there is something so much more fun and interesting to consider kenjirou as slightly more involved. not behind it or on BOARD!! but still involved. *points at the dead and seek lyrics* like it's all in there. kenjirou knows, sooner or later

because, sure, clearing could've taken over completely but there is NEVER an indication it can do this. it can do it to konoha, because konoha isn't technically a person so haruka's body was HOSTLESS. but kenjirou's is not hostless, and the condition has always been that clearing gets to work when kenjirou is asleep. kenjirou appears post haruka/takane/ayano's deaths (gotta come up with a name for this aug15) without red eyes or anything too so... he knows!!

i truly do think kenjirou is completely unaware during the haruka and takane set up, like during the "preparation" year he really didn't know anything. to me, it's mostly him being tired off his mind not knowing why bc saeru keeps him awake all night BUT ALSO since kenjirou lived with clearing for so long, he starts mistaking its thoughts/ideas for his own and he's like ?!?!?!? bc i think saeru would do that on purpose. not to mention saeru totally uses kenjirou's science knowledge to do whatever it does to haruka and takane. like kenjirou is mourning ayaka and he's running on 0 sleep so he's almost entirely dysfunctional anyway, but on top of it he's getting all these intrusive thoughts about killing his students for reasons he doesn't understand like he's SOOO unwell during this year. and that's assuming he didn't know he had clearing (i don't believe he knew at this point, but he could've!! that's also a valid interpretation but if he did know kenjirou would come off as even more inactive and pathetic/neg and despite everything i choose to interpret kenjirou as a good person)

basically kenjirou is not in on the plan but some parts of it keep leaking to the part of the awareness he still has access to and he's very freaked out. after the plan actually goes through, to me it's impossible for kenjirou to just not know unless we decide saeru completely takes over which i already said why i don't think is the case.

ayano's suicide? haruka and takane dying? mekatrio moving out? already a lot together for kenjirou to process but we can still assume he's going through all this as himself. but... a conscious kenjirou would've tried to stop mekatrio from moving out i believe, the only way he could've just let them Go was if he knew they weren't safe with him. which he DID because KONOHA IS HERE. that is something we can't deny. like unless kenjirou is completely saeru, there is no way he doesn't know what "he" did by now. haruka's reanimated corpse is walking around his house man.

he knew about the red eyes thing. like come on it was his beautiful wife's special interest he's been probably falling asleep to that lore for years until ayaka passed. he also knows he died on aug15 with ayaka. he knows ayano and his students died on an aug15 too. he WOULD put those puzzle pieces together.

since kenjirou isn't evil, to me at least, i do think it's a mix of both things. kenjirou is himself but saeru has a lot more control now, even when he's not asleep, mostly because of all the grief kenjirou's going through. his wife and daughter are dead, his remaining living children moved out and he can't convince them they're not a burden and apparently without their sister and mom he isn't enough to keep them around. his students who he also loved and actively sought to act as a parent figure to, are dead. one is missing, and the other... is walking around his house like the living dead

all of that is causing kenjirou's already delicate mind to abandon all will to live, allowing saeru to take control more and more. but all its thoughts and plans blurr together with kenjirou's human mind, and he doesn't know what he has done or not. he doesn't know who he is or when he stopped being him, and if he's really not him anymore, then where even is he?

this is why kenjirou surviving post str is sooooo good. he's completely himself again for the first time in years, but he still feels responsible and guilty for everything and he has no idea how to navigate this. everyone's so happy he's here and they're so relieved because despite everything they're still kids. their youth was stolen from all of them but they're still young enough and they're so relieved there is an ADULT here. but the adult is kenjirou and he's not sure how participant he was and no, he didn't KILL haruka and takane with his own hands, not aware at least, and no he didn't personally FORCE kano to pretend to be ayano's corpse. but he remembers as if he did and this second hand guilt for something else's doings is eating him alive. why does he get to live??? if anyone ayaka should get to. not him. this makes no sense to him!!! anyways.