#He's canonically called Hide

[eremeldanin]

Please meet my son

This is my character from Nioh 2. I adore him and you cannot stop me

[daily-hanamura]

[jonathanbyersphd]

Anyways, Lonnie very much abused Will and Jonathan just you know in case you forgot

[ninjagirlstar5]

So, uh, I might've gone a little crazy last week and came up with a Kanade Concept rewrite. (And made some redesigns of IRL!Kanade and IRL!Hibiki to reflect that.)

SO, for context, if you've been following me for awhile (or just came across some of my posts in the past), you'd know that my friend and I have been playing through SDRA2 for fun and it's around the end of Chapter 3 that I started making posts mentioning certain segments of our reactions, feelings, and some jokes. And to say we hated it would be an understatement. But I've had asks where I went on a rant about Chapter 3 more than once, so I won't repeat myself here. If anyone hasn't seen that, you can find it here, and here.

At this point, we're at Chapter 6 and during one of our after stream chats in VC, my friend, @bittersweetbeet, suddenly brought up an idea that could've tied Kanade (and thus Chapter 3) into the main plot and that was this:

"What if Kanade was blessed with Divine Luck from Utsuro like Void? Like, she wasn't in on the plan, but the reason why everything went south for her is because her luck was running out and got screwed over in the trial because of that, and was more than willing to die because she'd prefer that over losing her Fortune. It wouldn't fix Chapter 3, but at least it'd explain how she got away with all those damn murders for so long!"

I'm kinda paraphrasing here since I don't remember the exact wording due to this idea being brought up in the voice channel. But that was essentially what they said and it drove me NUTS at the time. After all, it's been brought up that Utsuro tended to bless a bunch of kids that were the same/similar age as him during his travels out of boredom, and while we don't know a lot about Kanade and Hibiki's parents to know for certain if they were bad and good (personally, I interpret them as decent people but tended to play favorites with Hibiki and accidentally neglecting Kanade, which only worsens their issues even when they try to bring them together), we DO know that Hibiki tends to bully Kanade a lot and that alone can make for a difficult childhood even when you have parents that care about you. So, with a bit of timeline adjusting, Kanade coming across Utsuro when she was, ahem, down on her luck, and getting blessed by him after she vents about her problems can make sense as this is something he's done for awhile now. And it should be noted that not every kid he blessed with Fortune had the same level of dire straits, as many had different levels of Fortune which faded away at different paces. It's why Void lasted for as long as they did since their situation was the worst of the worst so their Fortunes faded away much slower while others either succumbed to fates sooner or lost their fortunes and survived but couldn't handle being back in the same state they tried so desperately to escape from that they just...well, you know. Not every person that was blessed with Divine Luck was going to be a good person or, hell, some people can end up getting worse with the Fortunes they were blessed with instead of becoming better (like Mikado). And so, we started chatting ourselves up about this idea and I really wanted to share it here on Tumblr that I asked if it was alright if I shared it on my blog and they gave me the go ahead. I didn't share it right away, but I was thinking over how to word the post while I was at work. Which is when I realize there were...a few problems with this idea, unfortunately. Mainly this since I brought it up in our rambles channel in the Discord server to get my buddy's thoughts on it, so I'm just gonna copy and paste that:

"...I've been trying to figure out how to word the idea of Kanade being blessed by Divine Luck and I kinda realized something: how would Kanade realize her luck is fading…when she's not a part of Void? Like, she's not in on the plan from the very start so she's been reverted to a [place] where she believes that she's fine and her luck is still running strong. And how that would be conveyed to the audience…

Like, I can believe Kanade could figure it out, even if I think how the writer LINUJ showed off her intelligence to be stupid, but I'm struggling [on] how to explain how she'd figure out that she ran out of luck? She'd be surprised that things have turned on her suddenly due to her state of being reverted back to a time where her luck is strong, but would she fully understand the context to the point that she'd rather die with her sister than lose what she already have?"

Like, I could've been overthinking on that. I could've had it so that a character comments that she was just hit with a wave of bad luck and Kanade goes, "Me? The most luckiest person ever? Never! (...unless-)" But I was really struggling to come up with an answer I was satisfied with at the time and even Bertie was like, "it's stuff like this that makes it so that the only option that would fix Chapter 3 is by rewriting the whole thing." Which is something I do agree with. This idea wasn't a complete fix to everything that's wrong with Chapter 3 anyways, especially when it comes to Kanade and how the writing on her character just sank it into the depths of hell. It was simply an explanation we both really liked.

And then Bertie went on to say, and I quote, "Tbh I think it would be more interesting if Kanade hated Hibiki deeply rather than love her. It’d be cliche probably but it’s better than the weird incest-like shit we have going on here" end quote.

And I started off with a normal response agreeing and elaborating on the idea, like so:

"HONESTLY, yeah. It's better to just scrap the whole chapter and rewrite it from the ground up.

And yeah, I do agree that anything that's different than what we got in Canon is probably much much better. Although I would still want to keep the nuances of Kanade and Hibiki's status as victims of each other's toxicity. Hibiki is constantly bullying Kanade due to seeing how good Kanade is at a lot of things and is jealous of that but still cares and loves her as a sister even though she sucks at appreciating Kanade for who she is. Meanwhile, Kanade still loves her sister and willingly goes along with her bullying, going as far as to try and be meek and shy to appeal to her sister's dominant but cowardly ways but deep down she resents her for keeping her from doing things she likes even though she does genuinely enjoy spending time with her and gets jealous whenever other people get close cause it means that Hibiki won't bother to spend time with her. She often drives them away one way or another so she can have Hibiki to herself, even when nothing changes because Hibiki is her sister and she just wants her to love her and spend time with her (but not in the gross incest way and we're taking away the whole crazy serial killer thing, she's just her own level of toxic)."

And that's when I started spiraling into an gigantic ramble that lasted nearly an hour and thirty minutes (minus a dinner break) because my brain was in a creative mood that night. Enjoy my copy and pasted ramble (I won't italicize all of this to make it easier on the eyes cause if you know me by now, my writing gets very long + a bit of editing to make it a little more coherent):

"I still like the idea of Kanade being blessed by Divine Luck and being good at many skills because of it, and she's smart enough to realize that the boy she met long ago somehow changed her when she had openly vented to him about her problems the day they met (after giving him her umbrella to protect himself from the pouring rain, as she had ran away on a whim due to being fed up with her parents and her sister [at the time]). She's very grateful for what he's done for her, believing that the skills she now has can bring herself closer to Hibiki by being useful to her."

"But here's the catcher: her blessing doesn't work in the way she had hoped. Because surprise! Divine Luck has it's own set of rules despite being able to break reality as long as the chances aren't zero. Basically, Divine Luck can make you better at anything, get you anything, without having to go through the process of improving or skipping the steps that are needed to get the result, simply jumping to the result itself. However, out of everything it can change, from skills to getting someone shelter to just winning any kind of luck-based event, it cannot change a person's heart. And Kanade, despite having the skills that are "supposed" to bring her closer to her sister, only makes Hibiki even more jealous and she continues to bully her, going as far as to push her workload onto her now that she's so "good" at everything and proclaiming that she's just as good, if not better. Her blessing got her what she wanted but not what she needed in her case, unlike with the rest of Void, and she ends up paralleling Mikado as despite being blessed with Divine Luck, it did not make them better or improve their situation due to their own choices/how they used their blessing (Mikado because he constantly pursued Utsuro to the point committing crime after crime, Kanade because instead of standing up for herself and establishing her boundaries, she continued to support her sister no matter what, something that only ends up building the resentment in her heart). That's not to say that Hibiki isn't instigating most of the abuse, she is. But Kanade isn't making things better as she uses her skills to make herself seem like the better option in comparison to the people Hibiki wants to hang out with and get to know, even going as far as to scare them away to isolate Hibiki so she doesn't even have any options to choose from."

"And then, Chapter 3 rolls around and Hibiki starts to change, trying to be supportive of the group and take charge to help everyone get through the killing game. It…surprises Kanade, but she watches her sister change and grow, becoming more confident, cheerful, kinder…

…And she realizes that she hates it.

She hates the thought of her sister changing. She hates the thought of her being kinder after everything she's done to her. She hates the thought of Hibiki growing closer to these people, becoming attached and happy without her, Kanade, her own sister.

She hates the thought of being left alone again. She hates the thought that Hibiki is going to leave her again.

She hates it, she hates it, she hates it.

She hates her.

But she loves her.

She wants her to be with her, forever.

So why won't she ever look her way?

Why, why, why?

Kanade is spiraling in her head, trying to keep up her shy, sweet side up but gritting her teeth the whole time as she watches. Even when Hibiki is being kinder to her, still making her usual jokes about her but is actually trying to prop her sister up a bit more, it's only because Sora and Setsuka had suggested her to be kinder, not because she wants to. At least, that's what Kanade thinks. She doesn't want to believe her sister is changing for the better, that she's able to change at all, that she's going to leave her behind for other people again.

And when Setsuka tries to reach out to her on the third day…Kanade finally snaps.

She tears into Setsuka, accusing her of stealing her sister away from her, for giving her ideas to be better when she can't, she should never be better than she already is because if she is, she'll just abandon her and leave her all alone. Her stupid, cowardly sister can't ever hope to be on her own, she always has to rely on her, HER, not anyone else…and definitely not SETSUKA!

And before Kanade knew it, she lunges at Setsuka.

The scuffle was short…but the result was predictable."

"To elaborate a little bit more on Setsuka, she's was still pretty distant from the group as she was focused on doing what she needs for Nikei and stuff. But after Hibiki starts to break down a little and reaches out to Setsuka for help, she commits herself to stabilizing the group once more, supporting Hibiki and telling her and everyone else that she has something to tell them. But Kanade, watching this entire scene, only starts to become even more on edge as Hibiki, once again, reaches out to someone else instead of her. Despite trying to "change," Hibiki had so easily broken down once more, crying and begging for help, relying on another person for support and to "fix" everything for her. And that convinces Kanade that Hibiki can't change, she won't EVER change, and she bitterly goes to bed. But Setsuka notices Kanade's displeasure and, not knowing why she's unhappy, decides to take matters into her own hands and have a one-on-one talk with her to see if she [can] help. Unfortunately, this decision backfires on her hard, resulting in her own death.

Now, unlike in canon, Kanade panics as this was the first time she's EVER committed a murder before. Sure, she's harassed, blackmailed, and even threatened people that tried to get close to Hibiki before with violence, people that would only take her away from her. But she didn't…she never…she didn't mean to do this! But, no, Setsuka…No, no. Why should she regret this? Why should she apologize?

Setsuka was getting in the way. Setsuka was going steal her sister away.

And Hibki was still the same as she ever was. Not being "better," not ever "changing." She was still Hibiki, the bully, the sister, the bratty, snappy, fussy older sister that demands respect despite her cowardly, weak self. A sister that Kanade deeply loves…and hates."

"But she won't let her die her. She'll escape with her, a certain "ritual" should allow her to escape with her as it's an option for the blackened on the third island according to Monocrow. If she goes through with that, she can escape with her sister…and make sure she'll never change again.

But if she loses…then she'll die. She'll die…

…and she'll take Hibiki with her. For she doesn't deserve to live without her.

Kanade goes through with the ritual as fast as she could, relying on her skills (and thus her luck) to succeed in framing Hibiki and nearly gets away with it.

But, unbeknownst to her due to her current memories, Kanade's luck has been dwindling and since her situation wasn't as dire as Void's, hers has been fading away far faster than them. And ends up making a few mistakes that seem innocent enough until it all starts to pile up, with one last conclusive evidence fucking her over and revealing her to be the true culprit.

Kanade is seething when she's caught, her ego bruised and lamenting how the hell she lost, with Syobai dryly stating that her luck has run out. Kanade laughs, saying that can't be true. She's always been lucky! She's always been able to get things her way, even when she has no friends outside of Hibiki. This tips both Mikado and Nikei off that, hey, wait a minute, is she…? Of course, neither of them speak up on it due to keeping their own plans close to their chest. Everyone asks her why, why did she do it, with Hibiki grabbing her sister, begging her why she would do something like this, why would Kanade frame her of her best friend's death? A death that she caused?

And Kanade, after years of bottling up her own resentment…finally blows up at Hibiki."

"She tells her off for her bullying, of her neglecting to pay attention or spend any time with her unless she wanted something from her, and pushing all the things she doesn't want to do onto her. She proclaims that she had ALWAYS hated everything she's done to Kanade, wishing she could've done anything else, wishing that, for once in their goddamn lives, that they did something she wanted to do, not because Hibiki had chosen it. All Kanade had ever wanted was her love and affection, but she never appreciated her or all the things she's done for her. [She even went] as far to change herself to try and appeal to her sister and her wants and needs. And yet…despite everything, she still loves her. She loves the times when they would dress up together. She loves the times when they would perform together. She loves it when Hibiki actually cares for her. She loves her, because she's her sister…

And because Setsuka was getting in the way of that, she had to get rid of her. Just like everyone else…!

Everyone freezes when Kanade admits that out loud. She pauses when she realized what she said, but instead of apologizing [or even denying it], she doubles down. She admits that she drove away their childhood friend, she admits to spreading false rumors about their teacher and getting him fired, she admits to falsifying a hurtful rejection to a guy Hibiki was getting close to and pretended to be her so that she can ruin their chances of getting together when he finally confessed, she harrassed, blackmailed, threatened people that got close…and Setsuka was just another person on a long list of those that got in the way. She just…didn't mean to kill her. It just…happened. But Kanade…doesn't care about that. She doesn't care about anything anymore. It's apparent that her luck ran out…and now she's going to die.

But she's not dying alone. She refuses to die alone.

[After all, they're] sisters, right…? It's only right that they stay together till the bitter end, right?"

"Hibiki tries to back away, but Kanade grabs her just as Monocrow drags her into her execution, bringing her with them."

"The execution goes almost exactly the same but Kanade is doing her damndest to make sure Hibiki dies with her, with Hibiki trying to escape. And it seems like it was going to happen…until Hibiki beats the hell out of her with a microphone, crying and wailing for all the people Kanade had hurt in her name, demanding why, why, why. Kanade can only answer this:

"It was ALL for you. You and you alone."'

"Hibiki drops the microphone, backing away from the sister that was so possessive of her, in her hatred and love.

And then she runs away, leaving Kanade all alone.

Monocrow doesn't stop her, for this execution was only made for Kanade…and seeing her despair as she finally loses the one thing she had tried so hard to grasp onto slip away from her was enough for him to pull the lever, the platform underneath Kanade falling and killing her.

By the time Hibiki has made it back to the trial grounds, her gait is slow and unsteady, hugging herself as she stares down at her feet, processing what had just happened. What her sister had done. What she had done to everyone she knew. What she had done to Setsuka and Hibiki herself.

Why she had done it.

She had done it for her.

She had done it to keep Hibiki to herself.

She had done it because she both loved and hated Hibiki.

And the people that had been hurt because of Kanade…was because of her. Because of Hibiki. Because of all her bullying and her selfish wants, and because she didn't treat her like she should've treated her as a sister…! Because she's a horrible, awful person that hurt her own family until it was too late, her best friend dead, her sister, dead! All because of her…!!

Hibiki falls to her knees, going into dissociation as everything that she ever thought she knew and was normal shattered like glass."

"Hibiki, for the rest of the killing game, blames herself for what Kanade has done, but with Sora and co.'s help, she's able to rationalize that yes, what she did to Kanade was horrible and none of this may have happened if Hibiki had just bonded with her sister instead of bullying her…but Kanade had also made her own decisions, alienating Hibiki's friends and support from her to try and isolate her so she can try and force her to rely on her and her alone. Hibiki had done a lot of wrong that she probably can't ever make up now that Kanade is dead, but that doesn't excuse the awful actions Kanade has done either as many people were hurt from her own actions, one even losing his job and others probably traumatized from what she did to them. They were both toxic to each other and so long as neither of them were changing, that cycle was only going to continue until something broke between them…and this just so happened to be it. It's just horrible that it also ended in Setsuka's death alongside Kanade's, who was just as much a victim as she was a perpetrator."

"As for the reveal in Chapter 6, I was thinking of two options for Hibiki and Kanade's relationship:

The two of them, despite years [of] staying together as sisters and as a part of Melody Rhythm, only ended up falling apart as their toxicity turned their head as one of Kanade's past victims, their childhood friend, decides to finally come out and reveal everything Kanade has done to her and other people, even providing evidence of what she did. And the moment Hibiki found out about it, a public argument breaks out between them and Kanade finally spills out everything about her feelings on Hibiki, which only hurts both of them as Kanade had tried so hard to isolate Hibiki from other people while Hibiki had only hurt and bully her sister out of jealousy for years. But this? This was enough for Hibiki to stand up and go, "We're done here." And she leaves, cutting ties with Kanade for the shit she's done to others but also left reeling at the revelation of what her bullying and abuse had done to her sister. Was this…her fault? She wasn't sure. But she knew [she] had to make things right somehow, even if it's only for herself, reflecting on her behavior and reaching out to those that were hurt by Kanade, apologizing for everything that had happened even though it wasn't her fault that she chose to do the things she did and tried to make it up to them…if they want her, at least. [Meanwhile,] Kanade is PISSED that her sister left her, who went as far as to block her from her phone and even ending their contract as Melody Rhythm as she's left to deal with the fallout of the media bashing her for what she's done…but as time went on, Kanade is able to pick up the pieces and strikes out on her own, telling herself that she doesn't need Hibiki or the people that criticizes her for what she's done. She can do this by herself! She never openly apologizes, but she never says outright that she's happy with how things had turned out either, despite getting her career back on track…eventually."

"And then the Tragedy happens, they lose their parents, and one of two things happen.

Either 1.) the Tragedy brings them back together, with them starting off very reluctantly working together to do charities to help those in need, only to slowly and carefully rebuild their relationship while trying very hard not to fall back into bad habits as Hibiki admits that yeah, she's done a lot of horrible things to Kanade and she IS sorry for that…but she won't let Kanade hurt anyone anymore. She's trying very hard to be patient with her sister, as they know the Tragedy is a horrible thing to go through, they even lost their parents from it…but if they want to make things work, then something has to change between them, even if Hibiki is the only one taking the initiative FOR the change. Kanade is very reluctant to admit that she was EVER in the wrong for what she did…but as they continue work and bicker over the concerts they put together, their different ideas colliding but somehow coming together with the help of their coordinator, they start to…actually bond again. They start to talk things out, Hibiki is actually trying to show interest in her hobbies and the things she likes, and while she can never bring herself to like the same things she does, she's trying to be respectful and give her the time of day this time. She's trying to make things right for her, so long as Kanade never does the things she did again. And while Kanade doesn't like the same things Hibiki does, it's still a bond Hibiki is trying to nurture…and it makes Kanade question if what she did was ever necessary, that if she had just stood her ground, let Hibiki form her own relationships while searching for her own friends that she can rely [on] like the ones she had now…then maybe none of this would have happen. Maybe they could've remain as sisters, forever, if she just accepted their differences and tried to break away and do her own thing, while letting Hibiki grow as a person [as I think if Hibiki was allowed to bond with other people, she would've grew out of her bullying and become a better person, but because she never had the chance or had people that would stand up to her and let her experience the consequences of her own actions, she never grew out of that mindset as she was never put in her place before]…

[And then the killing game happens, reverts them back to their teenage selves, and they start their toxic cycle all over again until one of them literally kills and gets executed for it.]"

"Or 2.), Kanade and Hibiki remain separate, as not even the Tragedy and the death of their own parents can bring them together. Their parents funeral, one they tried to arrange anyways, only escalates into another argument, with Hibiki changing as a person…but Kanade did not. She still feels entitled to be Hibiki's one and only sister, her one and only support, and Hibiki recognizes that, deciding that it was safer that they stay separated as she NEVER wants to risk anyone else she loves coming to harm thanks to Kanade. The two part ways, with the both of them doing their own separate charity events, with Hibiki proclaiming that Kanade Otonokoji is not her sister, [not anymore], while Kanade proclaims that Hibiki Otonokoji will always be her sister, and refuses to acknowledge the fact that she had been disowned and will continue to be disowned for the rest of their lives."

"Either way, Hibiki is depressed to realize that their future together was never forever, and Hibiki had lost her sister…one way or another."

And that's it! That's the concept rewrite, plus the sprite edits since Kanade and Hibiki are no longer together as sisters and as a band outside of the Neo World Program, so their appearances reflect on that as they pursue their own solo careers. They're no longer trying to match each other, and Kanade pursues her own rock and metal music.

Oh, and while I was copying and pasting this, I had an idea that Kanade's relationship with Sora could be interesting as she's the only one that Kanade is actually okay with getting close to Hibiki...because Sora shows interests in both of them in their FTEs. She talks to Hibiki in private about her treatment of Kanade and even asked Kanade herself if she was okay as she genuinely cares about her just as much as she cares about Hibiki. This surprises Kanade as no one has ever bothered to look her way before, they always pay more attention to Hibiki than herself. And Sora makes it clear that she's genuine about this, asking her if there's anything she can do to make things better for Kanade when Hibiki is defensive about her actions. It makes Kanade feel...seen, for once in her life, and she actually likes that. So she allows Sora to get close, so long as she promises to continue being her friend, too. It's why Sora succeeds in befriending both twins while Setsuka ended up getting rejected by Kanade in the worse possible way: Setsuka unintentionally added to Kanade's insecurities by focusing mostly on Hibiki and overlooked Kanade's needs as well. She's not doing this out of ill-will, far from it. It's just that she recognized that Hibiki is a little weaker in her mental strength and her breakdowns were far easier to notice while Kanade was able to keep a cool head most of the time. So Setsuka prioritizes on supporting Hibiki first and foremost, thinking that Kanade can handle herself fine on her own. She's not completely wrong...but she's not right, either. By the time she finally notices that Kanade is hurting and reaches out to support her, it's already too late as she's finally reached her breaking point and snapped, which resulted in her own death. Just a little something to tie this whole thing off.

[kindaasrikal]

Love deeply platonic relationships where two individuals are practically platonic soulmates who care for each other deeply and have changed each other’s life significantly.

Hate it when the fandom sees is as romantic tho.

[residentfurry]

not well I'm afraid @wisecrackingeric-2

bonus:

[avnasace]

buddie would be the most domestic, adorable, seems-like-theyre -already-married, couple ever.

we know this.

but i also want buck being treated well by people he hasnt known for a long time and hasnt had time to build a relationship with yknow?

he'd expect to be treated well by eddie because theyve been best friends (and coparents) for years

but hes always made himself smaller in every other relationship, and waited for them to leave him, never felt secure or even particularly cared for, because he never feels good enough.

what im saying is, is that i need tommy to sweep this man off his feet, cuddle him, take him on nice dates, make him laugh and show him what its like to be cared for and cherished because he deserves it, and because he is Enough, and just show him what a relationship should be because i dont think he knows dlrhsirjfieidi

[henrysglock]

S4 Victims: Story by Proxy?

Okay so. In spitballing with Em...something stuck in my head.

So we all know how serial killers leave crumbs because deep down they want to be caught/want the truth to be revealed? Well what if the Duffers, or even current Henry, are doing the same thing. That is, leaving breadcrumbs.

This mainly has to do with the S4 victims, their stories, and the order in which they're chosen.

So, it goes like this:

Chrissy: Abusive mother who resembles Virginia

Fred: Eaten alive by the guilt of being responsible for the accidental death of an innocent.

Max: Suicidal over guilt about Billy's death and her response to it. Billy, who died saving her/while she was saving herself from the Fleshflayer, a regenerated form of the Mindflayer.

Patrick: Abusive father, not much else told.

Max (again): Suicidal Ideation, dies, soul taken, but was revived by El. She's now in some limbo-state, where her body lives but her identity/mind is elsewhere. She will likely be brought back entirely by El in S5.

It almost feels like a story by proxy if we piece it together.

So, let's piece it together:

Person with an abusive mother...feels responsible for the death of an innocent...a sibling who was killed while this person was trying to save themselves from a monster which came from Hawkins lab, which leaves them suicidal...and this person lives in a situation with an abusive father figure. This person becomes suicidal, and their suicide attempt was not entirely successful. They were revived by El, and end up in a limbo state. They may or may not be brought back by El later.

Now, let's collect details about our serial killer:

Abusive mother? Check. (No matter how we frame it, Virginia was not a good mother.)

Innocent died? Check. (Henry has nothing bad to say about Alice, which we know he would if she were not innocent, since he does this with every other victim.)

Sibling died as a result of saving oneself? Check. (The Creel massacre was a situation where Henry was, with whatever intentions we may assign for the other family members' deaths, trying to save himself from Virginia and by extension the lab.)

Ended up with an abusive father figure? Check. (Well...an abusive Papa, one might say.)

Brought back by El multiple times? Check. (El was the one who took Soteria out and brought Henry back from being powerless. El was the one who put Henry in the UD/limbo state. El was the one who opened the gate for his return to the RSU.)

IT ALL ALIGNS. So let's put it together with all the feelings involved:

Citations (I guess? Explanations?) are in the tags listed by number!

Henry had an abusive mother who was at least trying to have him shipped off to the lab, if not actually trying to kill him outright. This situation builds and builds, him wanting to be left alone (1), putting out subconscious and conscious cries for help (2), and her targeting him about it, until March 25th, 1959.

Virginia starts it, attacks, and this time she's out for blood (3). Henry defends himself (4). Virginia, being the parent with powers (5), doesn't actually die (6). Victor, Alice, and Henry go for the door (7). Virginia's on the stairs (8). She's got to finish what she started, since her original plan was botched (9). Henry puts his energy into trancing Victor (10), protecting him from Virginia, since logically two people can't occupy one person's mind.

This leaves good, innocent Alice to fend for herself, standing directly in front of the staircase. She's a loose end (11). Virginia kills her, but can't kill Henry or Victor while the trance is occurring. She figures Henry's going to run himself into the ground (12). She figures she can call Brenner in to collect Henry, like they planned (13). If she disappears, she figures it'll go into the news something like this:

"World War II veteran kills entire family in deranged fit of insanity. Wife missing, presumed dead. Son dies in hospital."

And on both counts, she's essentially right. It does basically go into the papers that way. Victor is taken in for murder, and Henry is taken by Brenner, but not before he sees that Alice was caught in the crossfire (14).

Henry ends up with Brenner, the abusive Papa. He's got the guilt about Alice's death, something that makes him sad and angry. Brenner, maybe, decides to push this in order to increase Henry's powers, but it backfires. Henry's powers increase, but he does...something. He lashes out, he snaps, maybe he even tries to kill himself. He's Brenner's prized pet, though, so Brenner can't let that happen. He seals Henry's powers away with Soteria. It's a death for Henry's entire identity, so far as to have him under the name Peter Ballard. Then comes along 011. She removes Soteria from Peter Ballard...and revives Henry Creel. She then exiles him to the Upside Down in 1979, only to eventually bring him back in 1983 when she opens the Mothergate.

All this to say: It could be his own story, told through the stories of his victims.

Breadcrumbs, or maybe...obvious things, which nobody by any chance ever observes.

Below the cut is where I speculate into motivations for his actions after Soteria's removal, so...not required reading for this particular analysis.

Years of MKUltra torture warp Henry's guilt about the situation into a bastardized, violent, brutal, unethical savior complex based in the notion that he's a predator by nature, but a predator for good. He "saves" the lab kids from a future like his own, filled with nothing but torture. He "saves" El from her ignorance about the lab and intended to have her join him, thereby attempting to "save" her, technically his little sister, from the lab entirely.

He "saves" his s4 victims from their guilt and suffering, which so closely mirror his own, which no one saved him from. I could even go so far as to say he was "saving" Will, who is set up to be so much like him, from a world of horrible people who (from Henry's viewpoint based on his lived experiences) would only serve to abuse and betray him.

This of course isn't to say any of it is right. None of it is right or good...but it makes sense. It follows a pattern. It coheres. The math...maths.

[winterdeath81]

Harrymort AU Memory loss

Voldemort spent years looking for Harry Potter.

After the war was over and he won, crushing everyone in his way that didn't bow to his power and their Lord, he still didn't manage to find his sworn enemy. Since the boy end of fifth year, when say boy presented as a omega and he had scented his fresh smell of unbonded and pure virgin smell of omega, nothing could take it away from his head that maybe he could take advantage of that. Maybe sway him to his side or maybe just kill him after taking everything from him, which he could or not include making the omega give him a heir.

But Potter disappeared.

After Dumbledore's death, he expect something from him. A call for revenge, foolish attempts on his life, anything. But he just disappear and Voldemort could say he was a bit disappointed. And even after his victory, he still didn't showed his face and he became restless and decided to search for his Chosen One that decided to hide from him, just when things were starting to getting fun.

And then five years later, he found him.

Not a boy anymore, but a young adult. Still unbonded, still with the same fresh smell announcing how he was still untouched. He had grow in his looks and worked as a nurse.

He followed him, almost giddy. He couldn't believe that he was just there, like there was no one looking for him. No one had found him before Voldemort himself and when finds him he is oblivious to the danger clinging to him.

He was observing him, when he suddenly looked up and he was face to face to him. And then he smiled, friendly, with no a single sign of recognition.

Well that's just turned things even more interesting.

[rarestdoge]

He thinks he soo fuckin pretty, smh (he is)

[unnerving-presence]

actually so tired of people saying wesker is a creep holy shit

[flowerflamestars]

Timeloop au snippet

Lucien had always been quick, but in his own territory, rattled to the point of a constant knives edge since Feyre’s kidnapping, Tamlin was quicker. Snapping the door shut, wards of the house slamming down, containing them all in one place.   “Lucien.”   Nesta’s hand slid beneath his shirt, gesture hidden, aligned to the scarred skin of his back in silent apology.   “Tam,” Lucien swallowed. “I can explain.”   Flowers blooming in his eyes- a lord of becoming, a lord of mad folly, Lucien’s friend of centuries, torn apart trying to rescue the woman he loved from what he knew to be only one of the most feared creatures in Prythian.   Slowly, Tamlin sank back against the door, furious expression muddling into a muted horror.   Both palms pressed over his eyes, he said, in a gentle sort of voice Lucien had frankly forgotten he was even capable of. “You’re her sister. The one she wrote to.”   “Yes.” Steel in the word, but also- Nesta slid out from behind him in exaggerated human slowness, coming back onto her feet to raise her chin in what read, to faery eyes, as warning. “And I wrote back. Lucien answered.”   Unreadable, Tamlin dropped his hands to stare at her. “Did he?” “Tam”- “My sister loves you,” Nesta said, right over Lucien. “So much so we let her go again, because she could not bare a world where she had not tried to save you. I couldn’t reach out, not to you, not after all that happened to her. But I couldn’t stand not knowing if she was alright.”   With his real guilt, Lucien fell into his role.   “They deserved to know,” Lucien told him, quiet, unable to stop himself from smiling, just a little, at her unwavering expression.   Tamlin caught it. Of course he did- Lucien was an excellent liar, but he wasn’t even trying.   “And now,” he said, tipping his head between them, “You”-   “Yes.” Nesta said.   The High Lord of Spring heaved a sigh, scent of roses rising through the air. Tired, stricken- but then he smiled. “You cannot be blamed for that.”

[rudnitskaia]

Invincible

A few days ago my dear @lansayn asked me about how and when Rocky and Mau (my Lackadaisy OC, here is the character sheet) would have showed their devotion to each other for the first time and as an answer I wrote a short fic for him (860 words in total). Its concept mainly relies on the Lackadaisy comic pages Whirlwind and Doggerel.

You can find it under the cut. ✨

“Good evening, Miss Maura,” sounded the familiar voice at the entrance. “The weather's a little rough, isn't it?”

Rocky hadn't shown up at the Venza’s eatery in a week, and frankly, for Mau it had been one of the most unpleasantly silent weeks in St. Louis. She wasn't expecting him to show up today, either; it was only a dozen minutes before the eatery was about to close. Mau had even thought about taking a break in the next few days and going to look for Rocky herself, considering that in one of their recent conversations he had finally accidentally mentioned the name of the café where he worked. Luckily, now it was possible to properly question him without doing so.

“Had the wayfaring Mister Rickaby decided to…?”

But when Mau, who had been tucking the cups under the counter, looked up, the smile on her face faded as quickly as it had appeared.

The eyes of the sickly pale Rocky seemed bottomless glassy because of the dark circles under them. And his smile... that formerly cheerful smile had turned into eerie one. The way he tensely leaned on the counter and glared at Mau made everything inside her shatter. Beneath the fedora that he hadn't bothered, or rather hadn't wanted to take off at all, a fresh wound was visible on Rocky's forehead.

No matter what exactly had happened, it was clear that it was no good.

Mau silently grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. He didn't pull away his own, but shook his head and murmured with a grin:

“What if the formidable Mister Venza sees us?”

“It would be an occasion to introduce you then.”

So many worries, so many questions swirled in her head, but they all melted away from the fact that Rocky was alive. Mau stared at his face for a while longer, and he was looking into her eyes, too, with a strained, crooked smile. It was as if he was trying to brush the unspoken questions off with that look; it's no big deal, just a trivial case. But it was plain as day that it was just an empty bravado. Rocky lowered his gaze to their hands and began to drum his fingers as if playing a tune on the back of Mau's hand.

“I'm afraid I'm in a time crunch. I would like to pick up one ginger biscuit before it rains, so he doesn't soak too much. His dear mother will put me through the wringer if he even sneezes. But it seems your coffee is the only thing that can relieve me of my deathly drowsiness. Spare just a lil?”

With a frown, Mau pulled her hand away.

“What do you think of yourself, coming in here like this and pretending that nothing has happened?” she whispered frustratedly, almost not caring if her father heard them from the kitchen. “You expected that I won't notice your condition? That I’d probably start to jokingly rant that your forehead is like an overripe pumpkin?”

Rocky shrugged and hummed, looking away.

“An eggplant. Given the way you've phrased the sentence, it is better to say 'like an overripe eggplant'.”

Mau’s lips formed into a thin line. As Rocky avoided her question, she gave him a long intense stare, unable to put into words the storm of emotions that raged inside her. She was angry. No, she was furious from helplessness. What she could say to him? Don't go? He won't listen. Press his conscience that he was dragging his cousin into dangerous ventures? As if he wasn't aware of it himself. Tell him that some paltry booze isn't worth a ruined life? But from the shards that Mau gathered from their talks it was clear that this was exactly the thing he was currently breathing with. You can't take away a man's air, even if that air was much more alike to a stifling smoke.

This time words were useless. Words won’t convince, won’t give any significant reasons.

But maybe the actions could.

Gathering all her courage, Mau stepped out from behind the counter and stopped in front of Rocky. He looked at her curiously at first, and then with surprise as she took his fedora off him and dropped it on the counter. Carefully, without touching the stitches, Mau adjusted his slightly messy hair to keep it from falling over the wound, and then gently pressed her lips to his forehead. Before Rocky could say anything, she calmly stated:

“Here's the thing, Roark. We're closing up. I promise to make you some coffee tomorrow. But I hate to break my promises, so whatever reckless thing you’re going to do tonight, do your best to save me the trouble of selling my soul to the devil to fulfill it.”

Rocky took a step back. Silently grabbed his fedora from the counter and slowly moved toward the exit. Even though he still was visibly unwell, now his whole figure was filled with some kind of impulse. It was as if something subtly lit up in his eyes. A confidence.

“Miss Venza, count it as a vow. I know I’m invincible now.”

[soccerpunching]

Desperately need the og ie cast in widely different "this could have been an email" scenario (im projecting)

[padfootastic]

Hey, do you think Sirius was good at hiding his through and emotions, or do you think he was more someone who wore his heart on his sleeve?

oooooh definitely good at hiding his thoughts!!

i actually think he had bitchy poker face most of the time, to the point people got surprised when they see him break character and emote. (and why his/james relationship is such a !!! thing)

and i see it as a control thing for him; u decide how much of urself u wanna show the people around u. developed as a survival/coping mechanism during his childhood where he could rile his parents up by pretending to not care.

i also think the most visible emotion for him was anger, and that’s also mostly bc he’s so terrifying when he’s in a rage lol.

[tmae3114]

[singsong] I’ve got another AU to tell you guys about~

I’ve been alternating between calling this one the No Mist AU and the Kids From Krieger AU (based on my headcanon that “von Krieger” is a toponymic surname) and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it!

Basically, somewhere out there in the multiverse, there’s a timeline where a young Artix didn’t forget all basic advice about helping people who have fallen into rivers and he grabbed a tree branch to help pull Vayle out of the water. They both got home safely that afternoon and, without the misadventure of getting swept downriver and subsequently encountering the Darkness Orb, proceeded to not obtain the extremely tragic backstory of their entire village being destroyed in the night. They still live there, in fact!

However. Neither of these kids were ever going to grow up to be Perfectly Average Doomwood Citizens. It just wasn’t going to happen. So instead Doomwood have a couple of childhood friends running around being home-grown heroes!

Vayle found her way to necromancy on her own terms and is entirely self-taught. In a similar vein to post-Darkness Orb Saga canon Vayle, her focus is on helping the various undead roaming Doomwood, not enforcing her will on them. This has lead to more than a few clashes with inhabitants of the Necropolis when they run across each other. She is very tempted to try and track down the front door to that place so she can go yell at the Necro U faculty about what they’re teaching

And Artix... well, he found his way to that power that the Darkness Orb would have sensed in him, had things gone differently. He’s a very powerful darkness mage (Vayle has been trying and failing to get “nyctomancer” to stick for years) and his main focus with that power is keeping it under control. He is interested in the ideas Vayle’s suggested for ways to use darkness magic that aren’t necromantic and they experiment with things every so often but mostly he wants to just be able to not do things he didn’t mean to (there may or may not be a chest of accidentally created doom weapons buried somewhere in Doomwood. if there is, Vayle’s been sworn to secrecy on the matter for years)

Design notes:

Artix doesn’t have armour in this AU for the simple reason of He Can’t Afford It Yet. He’s saving up!

Vayle can indulge her much more dramatic fashion sense because [gestures at Kid Artix & Kid Vayle’s canon outfits] these two are obviously from different financial backgrounds

That said they both very much did scavenge those weapons from undead in the woods. Vayle’s using a Shake Spear’s spear. I have no idea what Artix got the sword from

Vayle has neither wings nor pointy ears because she never encountered the Darkness Orb. She does have those fancy red tattoos because as far as I can tell those are neither a Darkness Orb thing or a Noxus-trained-Necromancer thing, so I figure they’re just An Aesthetic Choice and thus this Vayle could go for them as well

I spent ages going back and forth on whether I wanted to give Artix fingerless gloves or bracers and then went “wait I can just do both and go asymmetrical”

I gave Artix thigh-high boots. You’re welcome.