#Why does Collector want to go to the archives?

[curseofhyperfixation]

You always have that sibling who gets you in trouble and sometimes not get caught and leaving you with the mess

Without Blur

[kindestegg]

Putting together a timeline for the Collector's backstory

Hi!! For the Future just happened!! It was insane!! Anyway as a Collector superfan, fantasy worldbuilding fanatic, and also Collector's actual chosen dad (real, not fake, he revealed this to me in a dream /j), I decided to try and interpret the crumbs we got both from direct and indirect clues in the new episode, as well as tying back to earlier episodes.

I want to start first with the paintings on the Archive halls, which seem to tell a story. I chose to interpret them, from the first shot we see them in, as chronological from left to right, as that usually tends to be how one would read things (at least in the west, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about manga and all that, but I don't think the crew was following manga rules).

Here is a picture of the hallway I am using for reference. This specific shot seems to only have unique paintings aligning (there is an animation quirk that happens later on that makes it not so but I will get to this later), which is why I have elected to extract the timeline from this. Another reason is that, as we will see, the first three pictures definitely seem to fit in a neat chronological order, which would make it hard to doubt the placement of these paintings as being chronological here.

The first seems to depict our Collector, as the smaller one of his species, and three, bigger collectors. For convenience's sake I am in fact choosing to interpret these paintings as being things that happened to him and part of his memories. It makes sense: there is an emphasis on this smaller figure several times throughout the paintings and I cannot think why Collector would put random pictures of some other child collector's life, as well as we have to imagine the crew wanted to tell a story with these, otherwise they would be as random as the sun and moon paintings on the other side of the hall.

So it seems in this first picture, the bigger collectors, perhaps his family, are observing a planet, maybe even the planet the world of the Demon Realm is on.

Here is where I take a detour to add excerpts from the book Collector had King read to him (I should eventually make an analysis post on why Collector wanted this read to him, but all in its due time):

As the book states, collectors, by nature, observe things and then collect them by keeping them in stasis.

Going back to the painting, all indicates that this would show these particular collectors, likely the family of our younger Collector, were interested in the planet the Boiling Isles is on, and this painting depicts the first stage of their plan, observing this planet.

As a quick aside, I would like to say it is likely collectors do know what families are, and they may even form familial bonds and hierarchies. One such nod to this is of course Collector calling Odalia "Mamadalia", but also, this:

It is barely visible, but in a few quick shots you can see the next page of the book. Not only does it seem to use the words "interdimensional" and "dimension(s)", likely referring to the nature of collectors themselves or their residence, but it also uses the word "Family".

So, to recap, three adult collectors, likely our Collector's family, had their sights set on the planet the Boiling Isles is on.

And one of their first contacts was the Titan Trappers.

We now know that despite the resemblance to titans at first glance, titan trappers only wear their skulls and pelts to look like them, making the hunt easier, as well as to, I imagine, indicate pride in their spoils. The indication we have this is not a titan is primarily the spear utilized here, the fact the fur does not match the rest of the body, and the yellow glowing eyes.

I will discuss this further down through showing evidence with the other paintings, but there seems to be a recurring theme in the paintings that depicts the trappers and collectors as always having yellow eyes, whereas the titans are depicted with red eyes.

As Lilith explains further on, books found in the archive detail that a titan's power can actually cancel out the collectors' powers.

She also goes on to say that this why Collector's predecessors (her words not mine) wiped out all the titans.

If such is the case, then that explains why they chose to ally themselves with the trappers. It's likely they needed an intermediator, otherwise they would have not been able to fight the titans full on. In exchange, they likely shared whatever arcane knowledge they could to help in the fights, powering up the trappers.

This would line up perfectly with the trappers' worship of their Grand Huntsman, who as we all know, derives from the Collector and his entire species in aesthetic and looks.

As for why they did not want to risk peaceful contact with the titans besides the reason of their powers being able to be canceled out by titans, there is also the crossed out passage in the book:

Though our Collector declares he tried to "fix" it, we can still clearly see what was originally written, implying that any creature who attempts to stop their work shall meet a deadly end, and maybe even the entire planet will have all of its life wiped out.

So it is likely the titans were not fond of the collectors attempting to collect things in their planet, and fought back, causing the collectors to learn firsthand of their weakness to a titan's power, and to then ally themselves with the trappers.

Which, leads again, to the second painting, depicting two collectors in front of a trapper. The taller one, which I assume is part of our Collector's family, is trying on a skull.

By their side, I will assume is our Collector, due to the smaller stature, and something curious about the body language placed here for him seems to indicate he is examining the skull before putting it on. This could indicate he had an interest on the titans from early on. This will be important later.

As a quick addendum before we move on, I have come to conclude it's highly likely collectors have the ability to change size. In the first painting, the three adults are larger than the entire planet, with our Collector being only a bit smaller than the planet itself. However, in this second painting, the adult is not even as tall as the trapper depicted here, which, if we assume trappers are common witches and demons simply adorned with pelts and skulls just like the modern ones, were not as giant. Similarly, Collector is also way smaller, hence the theory that they change size.

We have seen our Collector possibly changing sizes in canon as well, both in the Owl Beast dream as their hooded figure form seemed massive, and then when they have just broken out of their prison. It's possible collectors scale down their massive size to fit whatever planet they are on.

Next is the third painting, which depicts a familiar scene...

Indeed, this seems to be an almost one to one recreation of the mural we see in Echoes of the Past inside King's castle. We even receive some extra content to it: We now know the titan depicted here had wing like structures on their arms, as well as was protecting an egg, and was accompanied by a smaller, likely juvenile titan.

Notice also how they both have red eyes, but the trapper has yellow eyes.

This all but confirms that the mural is depicting a trapper smithing a titan (whether it is our Titan we do not know for sure), and that the collectors had a hand in this.

Moving on, we have this painting:

Again, going out of the assumption the smaller figure is our Collector, he seems to be approached by four other adult collectors. These collectors however, are slightly different than three he was earlier with: first of all there are four of them, they have no split faces, and their hats are adorned with celestial bodies on their tips. For the sake of convenience I will refer to these as "The Elders", as their difference from our Collector's supposed family, as well as possible authority denoted by their hats, makes me think they are older and more powerful than our Collector's family.

Anyway, The Elders appear to be satisfied with our Collector, one even extending an open palm to them in a friendly gesture. I confess my interpretation of this is more speculative than the other paintings, simply because of the vagueness of it and how it does not seem to tie well into any other pictures or current lore we have.

But my current understanding is that, since one of The Elders is making such a gesture at Collector, they are maybe giving something to them, offering an opportunity. Their authority would certainly denote power above even Collector and his family, so they would likely be able to call the shots in their hierarchy.

Due to this, and considering the next paintings, I have elected to interpret this as The Elders entrusting Collector full control of watching over and collecting things from the planet he and his family had their eyes on. If this happens chronologically after the deal with the trappers as well, this could indicate the Elders have deemed it safe for our Collector to take over.

It also would explain why he calls himself The Collector, he's the designated collector for that planet, the caretaker of this planet and the one meant to observe and collect from it.

Which makes this next painting all the more interesting.

Collector, is surrounded by what seems to be four baby titans. They have their arms up, reaching for him, running to him. Playing. His expression also indicates happiness, eyes wide, hands on his chin, a little smile.

Recall for a moment that in the painting depicting the first contact with the trappers, our Collector had stopped to examine the titan skull. He was interested in them, he wanted to play.

This would align with Collector's "fixing" of the book, going to the lengths of desecrating what is likely an ancient book that dictates/documents the entire culture of his species to ensure his message of playing and friendship is more important.

If we take this painting and the book addition in conjunction, we can come to the conclusion Collector, once left alone, went out of his way to befriend and play with whatever titan babies were left out there. He was likely happy with this, as nothing about this picture indicates a struggle. And once again, these are definitely titan babies due to their eyes being red.

One may be concerned considering the fact the stars here could indicate they are in space, but there are a few counter arguments to this: Collector does not seem to imagine someone could suffocate in space as he suggests people on the moon could just hold their breaths, so this contradicts the idea he would have had experience with this.

The baby titans also seem to have playful body language rather than showing any anguish. And furthermore, when discussing the painting with my boyfriend he pointed out the blue waves could be an abstraction of the shoreline, indicating they were playing on the beach. In short, it is just the simplest explanation this depicts a peaceful scene rather than one with the babies suffocating, as it would not align with the rest of the story here.

There is also the matter of Collector straight up denouncing "the others", which we can only assume refers to the other collectors. It's no wonder he would feel that way, since they were the reason for his new friends' families being all but wiped out, and were less interested in playing with the creatures they observed and rather only preserving them.

Which only makes the present of the Isles and the state of titans and collectors all the more worrying, as well as concerns us with a last, pretty elusive painting...

This is what I meant by animation quirk: Getting a picture of this painting was so hard because it's the very last one in the timeline line up I showed you in that first screenshot, but when the camera zooms in on King and he runs up to get Hooty and we SHOULD get a proper look at it...

... It's pushed back again and the last two paintings get repeated. Which makes me think this is either an animation error, or they REALLY want to make it hard for us to get it.

BUT! After a bunch of rewatches and looking at some slowed down clips again, I was finally able to find the ONE place it repeated, on the scene where Belos!Raine is walking down the halls ominously.

And it is quite the revelation.

This depicts three adult collectors, likely our Collector's parents, staring down menacingly at a titan... perhaps THE Titan this time? It's worth noting this is not the same titan depicted in the painting with the trapper hunting down one that was protecting their egg, as that one had smaller wings and a skull that covered their entire jaw, whereas this one's skull only goes to the muzzle, just like King's does.

Something interesting is that this titan is accompanied either by other very weird looking titans, or these are other creatures that inhabited the Boiling Isles at the time and were also casualties in the collectors' path.

There is also fire surrounding this picture, which makes me think again of the "clear the earth, scorch the air" verse. It's also odd these collectors are approaching the titan(s) despite the fact titan magic could easily push them back, so it could be that they are betting it all on this and going on to cause massive destruction. But the titan seems to be holding up a hand as if gesturing for them to stop, or wait... they're not fighting back like with the trappers. Why?

Well, if this takes place after the painting with Collector playing the baby titans, it's possible these titans had become accustomed to our Collector and did not expect such an attack. It's likely they may have at first understood that this Collector was a child, one that was more interested in playing and befriending them rather than hurting anyone, and cautiously took them in.

Now, whether it was a misunderstanding with Collector's family thinking they were in danger or they were angered by their refusal to hurt titans... we know how the story ends. The titans were all wiped out, safe for King's egg, and Collector was sealed away by King's dad, likely one of the last things he'd ever do.

Overall I think our Collector's backstory is both horrifying and sad. Horrifying because of what his species is capable of, but also sad because despite his efforts to make peace with the titans, it couldn't save them and cost him his freedom. It's no wonder he was so happy to see a titan again, and latched onto King: this is like his second chance.

[jils-things]

I would never fall in love again until I found her

I said, "I would never fall unless it's you I fall into"

I was lost within the darkness, but then I found her

I found you

[3.25.23]

ouueeehh we're back to my corny love letters like last time 💜 again absolutely NO pressure reading these, because it WILL get lengthy 💜 this also serves as a personal love letter that i can archive!

ahh, steven st.one. a wild card in my f/o list. i never thought i'd find myself to like him... i've always tried my best to avoid the pretty boy design after i've gotten older which is why i was oddly in denial during my early steven days hehe... the earliest memory i have of him is just me battling him in my ruby emulator back in the 4th grade - but i don't think i actually remembered him too well, i only thought he looked like a silly anime version of the classical composer be.ethoven and tbh, i still like to think he does look like him in the rse style lolll 💜

for the whole, actual story - it was just last year - i was reading the r/s arc, of course. it was one of those days in school where i had nothing much to do and snuck my phone to read manga to pass some time. at some point, my classmate joined to read with me - it was at this moment where steven debuts properly and it caught my classmate by Surprise. she thought he looked very handsome! to which i teased her... strangely enough, this exchange impacted me? maybe it's because someone acknowledged what i was doing and even bothered to briefly read along with me - so in a way steven kinda bookmarked that memory.

so after that exchange, i just kept on reading. everytime he had something to say, i couldn't help but just stare at his face? he looked nice, i guess? he's also very gentle and polite... i kept this thought of mine for quite sometime until i was discussing the manga arc with my p.okespe mutual and he mentioned him. i somewhat confessed he looked nice and that was the biggest mistake i've ever done because what my friend did after was absolutely blow me with art after art of the pretty rock collector and i was STRUGGLING. it ultimately came down to this one cute panel in the o.ras chapter where he was blushing and I wasn't the same person since then 🚶🚶🚶and funnily enough, i told myself I wasn't going to fall for anyone because of the manga and whoopedoo p.okespe!steven my beloved the greatest man ever. i mean i love the game counterpart as well, they're nearly identical - it's just the manga that totally swept me... sighhhh

steven is such a nice character to begin with, he's honestly a very humble and nice champion. he's not showy about his identity and would rather be alone by himself to indulge in what he wants. he is willing to give up a very respectable position in the po.kemon league just to pursue his interests and with that i see a man not after power and fame but a man who just wants to find joy in what he does even if it demotes him. on top of that, he's just a sweet gentleman. he was raised well of course, and you can see it clearly in his acts in the story. i love him very much for that and who wouldn't want those traits?

i was really absolutely embarrassed to be all over this guy at first - it took a whole month for me to actually share to my blog about how i liked steven and took awhile to adjust to that fact that i opened up about it 😭 but the community was very kind and supportive about the pairing and if i'm being honest, i think stevaide made a super lasting impact on my blog recently and it's really so comforting to picture them as a young loving married couple with ruby. it made me feel unashamed with what i can do with my silly ships. i'm still very glad for the endless support for steven and jaide.

soo, yes. happy memoryshipping 💜💚 thank you for making my times of struggle more bearable if not perfect and thank you to everyone who enjoys this ship even if it was just a little bit :]

credits to @/cafekitsune <3

[britcision]

Eeeeh it was WIP Wednesday… and I���m thirsty for attention, so have a snippet from chapter two of Danny Fenton, Dead and Loving it!

(And I had to check I could paste obscene amounts of words from my notes into tumblr, since I’m not writing this in drafts for now - I lost too many sections to not hitting ‘save’ before putting my phone down)

Prompt and First chapter! (I guess I cannot make neat links on mobile, woe is me)

And the fic on AO3

@welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith

@someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones

@starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost

@akikoyuii @rainbowbunny0159

@littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife

@serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf

————————

“Hang on a second, does that mean your ghost writer friend is also an actual ghost?” Because yeah, he had googled book collectors around Gotham and came up blank.

Danny took a moment to work out what he meant, then perked up and nodded.

“Oh, yeah! That’s his actual name too, I’m not sure he was ever a living person, and I wasn’t kidding when I said he had every book ever written. A lotta first editions too. I think he’s a spirit of literature?”

Jason took a quick peek around to see if any giant and possibly book shaped palaces had appeared.

Place was covered in floating islands and purple doors, there was a chance.

“Could we… could you introduce me?” Cuz he wasn’t gonna actually ask if Jane Austen was a ghost, not on his first day.

He had some damn self control. Even if the pit was fucking purring in the back of his head and this whole weird place felt more like home than anywhere he’d been before.

Flying beside him, Danny nodded cheerfully and shot him a thumbs up.

“Oh hell yeah, he needs more friends. Probably not today though, he’s not really around this part of the Zone, and we wanna make it to the Far Frozen and back before New Years. Next time,” he added before Jason could even begin to feel disappointed.

He’d known the odds of heading right there weren’t great. Fuck, he wouldn’t have wanted to; it was just hard to remember they were here to get the pit out when it was filling him with a buzzing, humming contentment down to his toes.

Part of him wanted to be a whole lot more suspicious. Did not like how easy it was to trust Danny, to relax into this undead realm.

But it was usually the pit that nagged at him not to trust anyone. And the pit was in heaven, and Jason had spent so long fighting that constant suspicion.

If things went as well as he hoped… well, he wasn’t gonna be going easy on any of the assholes fucking with his turf.

But being able to talk to the bats without the pit’s constant paranoia… yeah, he did a little hope he’d be a bit tighter lipped.

Feelings just kept spilling out of him around Danny, apparently literally if what the kid told him about his core was to be believed.

Jason could feel enough of Danny’s emotions in return to know the kid wasn’t lying. Hopefully that was what made him trust him.

Today, he nodded and looked around.

“So, the Far Frozen. Called that because it’s far?” He asked casually, definitely not letting on any concerns.

Flying hadn’t been hard so far, but he had no idea how long this was going to work. He couldn’t even tell if it was using a muscle, but it was sure as shit one he hadn’t used before.

Danny snickered and shrugged, clearly not even a little concerned.

“Well, I opened the portal pretty close in this case, but yeah, it’s far from the more populated areas of the zone. The yetis like it, it means they can keep to themselves.”

This was kind of the problem with Danny, Jason was coming to realise.

He’d told Jason where in the zone they were going, and why. They needed to see a guy called Frostbite, because he knew the most about ghost biology.

He’d probably know what to do about Jason’s pit problem, and what Danny and Jason could do to deal with the pits themselves. Fun, exciting, Jason was 1000% up for that.

Fucking yetis had not come up.

“The what?” He asked, striving for nonchalance and wondering again if he shouldn’t have shot someone a text before leaving.

And potentially never being seen again.

Danny hesitated for a moment, brows furrowing.

There was definitely more snow ahead than there had been behind.

“I totally mentioned the yetis?” Danny said carefully, like that would somehow make it true.

Jason stifled a snicker.

“You did not mention yetis. You mentioned ghosts.”

“Yeah, they’re ghost yetis.”

“That doesn’t actually make it any better, y’know? The yeti part is still kinda important.”

Not that Jason would be hugely surprised to find an alive yeti at some point. The world had a habit of saving up its weirdest bullshit to dish out onto him.

At least he wasn’t Constantine.

Danny pulled a face and shrugged, turning so he was flying backwards.

“Well, I mentioned it now? They’re yetis. So is Frostbite, but he’s like, bigger. And their leader. I mentioned that part, right?” Danny asked hopefully.

It was pretty clearly a fair question.

Jason nodded, scanning through what he’d been told so far.

“Yeah, and that they had the ghost hospital? I guess it’s a good thing as ghosts we’re not gonna feel the cold,” Jason added idly, glancing at their increasingly frosty surroundings.

He could feel the temperature dipping, sure, but nothing serious. They hadn’t even grabbed coats.

Danny stopped flying so quickly that Jason actually overshot him and had to turn, coming back to rejoin his guide. Who looked guilty.

Jason pulled on his best deadpan face.

“Let me guess. You definitely mentioned it?” He asked dryly.

Danny groaned and slapped himself in the face, then dragged his hand slowly free.

“Okay this one’s totally not my fault? I mean. I don’t need a coat there? And usually if anyone else comes with me, we have the Spectre Speeder, and it always has coats, so it’s not like we pack?”

He gave Jason a sheepish smile, half wincing like he expected a punch.

Jason did consider it, but not seriously.

“Okay, focus up Danny. What do we need to do? How cold am I gonna get?” Cuz the longer they were sitting still, the more the chill was creeping in.

Danny let out another lingering groan then closed his eyes, calculating.

“Okay… so I can call Frostbite when we get a bit closer, and he can come meet us, and he’ll have some spare coats? And I don’t think you can technically freeze to death anymore, but you don’t have a core? So I dunno.”

Jason took a deep breath of his own, fighting a half smile. Good to know he wasn’t the only one with a bad habit of rushing in.

But even he tried to be ready for everything.

“Great. Love this plan. Especially the part where I probably can’t freeze to death,” Jason snarked.

Danny squinted at him.

“Look, it’s better than my other plan, which is I freeze you solid in my ghost ice and tow you the rest of the way. You wanna show up walking and talking or in an iceberg?”

The fact that he seemed to be serious probably should have concerned Jason more, but he was having fun.

Just imagine, Jason Todd as the responsible one in a superhero team up. Dickie would be so proud.

It’d be just like his old Robin days, except that suit was thermally regulated out the ass.

“Ooh, frozen wastes or frozen in iceberg, I’m definitely seeing the difference. Let’s just get moving so you can call your buddy before I turn into a popsicle.”

Danny stuck his tongue out at Jason, but did indeed get moving again.

“Hey, both of those are still better than our last option,” he snarked back, and maybe Jason was imagining it but they were kinda going faster.

Lucky for Jason, apparently it was willpower that made you fly in the Ghost Zone, and being a stubborn bitch had always been his stock in trade.

“Oh gee, what’s the last option? Shoot ourselves from a catapult? Build a snowman and have it carry us? Or do we close our eyes real tight and wish ourselves there?” Jason asked as sweetly as he could.

Made Danny laugh anyway, before his expression became deadly serious.

“You’re literally wishing your way there right now, smartass, but no. The last option is we call my regent and he stops time and you spend the next eighty relative years of your life listening to lectures about why I need to be fully crowned.”

Which did sound pretty last-resort-y, in Jason’s opinion. And raised an important question.

“Why are you so against being fully crowned? You seem pretty in touch with all the king shit.” Certainly willing enough to talk about it, although now that Jason thought about it, mostly to complain.

Danny pulled another reluctant face.

“Just cuz I know I can’t get out of it doesn’t mean I gotta give myself up right away. The last king was a bloodthirsty tyrant, in an enchanted sleep for thousands of years. Do you have any idea how much paperwork that stacked up?”

Danny let out a shudder that had nothing to do with the increasing cold. Thinking to the amount of report forms he’d be facing if B found out about this particular jaunt, Jason joined him.

“Yeah, okay, that sounds like it sucks,” he agreed, and Danny shot him a relieved grin.

“Right? Like, I want to live my actual life first. Do something more than struggle through college and fight ghosts. Everything worked just fine while the other guy was in prison, so what’s the rush?”

They flew in silence for a moment, Jason struggling with an entirely unexpected lump in his throat.

Danny broke it, drifting closer until their shoulders bumped.

“Sorry man. Didn’t think.”

There was a perfect snappy comeback in there about it not being the first time, but Jason didn’t have it in him. He managed a nod and gentle bump back.

It was getting cold enough now that the moisture on his cheeks stung.

From condensation. Or air resistance or something.

The Ghost Zone had high humidity, explained all of the snow.

They continued in silence for a while, then Danny sighed and slowed to a stop once more. Jason copied a little more reluctantly, brushing trails of ice from his face.

“Okay so this is gonna be just, stupid loud?” Danny said with a slightly strained cheerfulness, like they’d never stopped bantering. “You’ll probably wanna put your hands over your ears.”

Jason complied, wondering just how literal the “call” part of Danny calling ahead was gonna be. Stupid loud implied it wouldn’t be on a cellphone.

He’d not had any messages since leaving Gotham actually, and it had been a couple of hours. He should probably check…

He clapped his hands back over his ears just in time as Danny sucked in a huge breath and bellowed like a thunderstorm.

“HEY FROSTY! PHANTOM INCOMING, BROUGHT A FRIEND. HE NEEDS A COAT!”

And then Danny gave Jason a cheery grin and nodded in the direction they’d been travelling as he cautiously removed his hands.

“He can’t get quite that loud, so we’ll have to get closer before we can hear him. Might as well keep going, right?”

Jason took another moment just to stare at the ghost. It was beginning to actually kick in that… yeah. Danny wasn’t human.

And Jason knew plenty of metahumans, people with powers. He knew Black Canary, so what the line should be is a bit fuzzy.

But.

Danny’s not fully human, not anymore. So what the hell was Jason?

The exact same asshole he was yesterday, obviously. Just with… well, his baggage compartment had already been overstuffed.

Even the thought of getting to dump the pit baggage meant that even if he was now a zombie or a ghost or whatever that was still a net loss unless he had to eat people.

Which, again, what the fuck was his life?

He almost laughed, but didn’t want to try explaining that thought process to anyone else, even if the odds were pretty good Danny’s life… existence was at least a little fucked.

He gave a smile instead, nodding and following Danny’s lead off into the frost.

Doing absolutely nothing to reassure him, Jason was no longer sure it was reflections off the ice now catching the corner of his eye.

The longer they were in the Ghost Zone, the more he kept thinking he saw stars passing across the black of Danny’s suit.

***

Frostbite did in fact come to meet them, and did in fact bring Jason a coat. The fact that said coat REALLY looked like it came from a yeti…

Well, Danny had long decided never to ask, and Jason was following his lead today. His new friend was all wrapped up again, and wasn’t even shivering anymore!

Yeah. Danny fucked up.

And he also felt a little bad even after Jason told him it was fine, a damnably cocky smirk on his lips. It felt like he’d been holding onto that “Not the first thing you’ve conveniently forgotten” line for a while.

Which, to be fair, they’d met twice ever, so how the fuck would Jason know?

Just because it was accurate didn’t mean he had to say it.

They’d had to make quite a trek back to the depths of the Far Frozen along with Frostbite since the yeti had come to meet them, but they’d made good use of the time.

Frostbite still understood more about ghost biology and even specifically halfa biology than Danny himself did, and he’d immediately seen something was up with Jason.

Reassuring him that Jason wasn’t actually fading and that his core just hadn’t formed yet hadn’t taken long; apparently, yetis could smell core formation.

Delightful fucked up information Danny wished he’d never learned, but at least he’d been right.

Surrounded by the ambient ectoplasm of the Ghost Zone, Jason’s core was already coming along in fits and bounds. Something which had alarmed Jason to hear too, but hey.

About half of his ghost problems were probably related to that slow forming core, and the other half…

Yeah. Frostbite had a Lot of questions about the Lazarus Pits. And Jason had basically nothing by way of answers beyond what he’d already told Danny.

Which, aww, he’d really been putting everything he had on the table, which was nice. The longer they spent together, the more Danny figured Jason hadn’t been honest with anyone in a while.

He kept getting this surprised look on his face, these moments where he stopped like he couldn’t believe what he was saying. Like he thought he should be more careful.

Danny could relate. Frostbite was weirdly easy to share things with, even if Danny couldn’t get him to stop calling him Great One.

The second Danny had protested, Jason got a real sneaky grin on his face that Danny wasn’t sure he liked. He knew a Bastard Little Brother face from his mirror.

Jason being older than him? Meant nothing.

For now though, they’d made it to the medical center and Jason was looking at the scanning pods with a sceptical but weirdly unsurprised eye.

Danny still hadn’t stopped making Star Trek jokes when he saw them, but. Robin. What the fuck did Batman have access to?

Frostbite gave them both a very proud smile, patting the tube fondly.

“With this, we shall determine how much corrupted ectoplasm is within you, and how best to separate your mind from its affects. Already some of it is being purged by contact with our Saviour, but for it not to be gone already shows there is a deeper problem,” the yeti explained happily.

Jason shot Danny another shit eating grin at “saviour” and Danny bit back a groan, making himself smile at Frostbite instead.

Insistent and slightly patronising hero worship aside, he really did like the guy. He always wanted to help, and usually could, which was a nice change.

“Yeah, about that? Do we know what I’m doing that’d change his corruption?” Because it’s not that he didn’t want to help too, but it might be easier if he knew how.

Frostbite gave Danny a cheerful pat next, sending the smaller ghost stumbling a little.

“Oh, some of it will happen merely from your presence, Great One. As the King of the realm, you have far more ectoplasm and it is far stronger, which will help Jason’s ectoplasm to heal on its own. But we must find the root for the problem to be solved.”

Jason chuckled and shook his head, stripping back out of the thick yeti coat.

“There’s always a catch, right? Is this gonna hurt?” It sounded like he expected the answer to be yes, and even Frostbite looked suddenly concerned.

“You should not feel anything at all, young Jason. Perhaps the feelings from your contaminated source will become stronger, but they are not negative at present?” It came out as a question, mostly tied to that concern.

And Danny could kinda see why; from everything Jason told them, he was usually only swamped by rage. Neither of his auras felt angry now, but the pit’s had jumped to betrayal pretty consistently every time it spiked.

Needing to be told that something wasn’t going to hurt him sort of pointed where those feelings might have come from.

Danny nudged closer on impulse, letting his own trust-reassurance-done this before wash gently over Jason’s aura.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Luz: ”Do… you not understand what death means to mortals?” Collector: ”Noooo… no, I don’t think so. I think one of my cousin’s friends decided to check out what being dead was like… haven’t heard from them for a long time. I wonder what they found there?”

(okay, last at4w reference, I swear)

Going back to the idea of The Collector as a kid: Their ignorance of death doesn’t stem only from the fact that they’re an immortal god, but also the fact that they’re a child. And all children start out as ignorant.

But it might not be just that.

The implications in the last episode were that the little space cherub that we call The Collector was part of a group of Collectors that came to this world long ago. They waged war against the mighty Titans, the only beings that could contend with them and created the Titan Trappers for that purpose. And they might even be the reason why this planet looks the way it does.

The little Lord of the Fireflies, perhaps being the annoying young kid of the group, or maybe the cosmic equivalent of a runt was tossed aside and made friends with some Titans… until he was sealed away by King’s dad.

The point is that The Collector’s already got some baggage. And that baggage might be holding him back from processing why certain things are wrong.

Collectors: ”We have rid the world of the only beings that stood in the way of us creating a perfect collection of all the universe’s specimen.” Me: ”You ruined a perfectly good child is what you did. Look at it. It’s got trauma.”

Collector: ”So let me show you some of my favorite games…” Luz: ”Oh no! Not Knife Monopoly!” Collector: ”I was actually going to hunt you for sport, but now I’m really interested in what Knife Monopoly is.”

Pictured: you’re a really supportive person, but your neutral expression is perpetually annoyed.

More importantly, Raine’s fighting back against Belos! And they’re… doing alright. For some reason, the little crescent moon sticker peeled off and Raine turned back into a flesh and blood witch instead of a puppet, which seemed to help a little. Not sure if the sticker falling off was due to the distance from The Collector, or Raine fighting back, or if the possession by Philip caused it to decay and that’s why it fell off?

I’m kinda worried about Raine, because, well… Hunter had Philip cling to him for a few minutes and look what happened to him. Philip’s been leeching off Raine for who knows how long. Maybe Raine being a puppet helped a little, like maybe they were sturdier because of that? Still, that can’t be good for their health.

After RayRay flies off on one of Kirby’s warp stars that’s been painted blue to make it legally distinct, we get to see the inside the archive part of the Archive House, where The Collector keeps all their puppets. We see here Amity, Hunter, Willow and Gus, unceremoniously dumped on the floor.

A close-up of Amity’s hand reveals it’s beginning to twitch.

Hmm… Hooty was very briefly able to communicate last episode despite being turned into a puppet, but Lord Hooty is built different AND was using the Power of Friendship. Amity could be using the Power of Love here to break free of The Collector’s spell; maybe being briefly aware of what was going on inside the nightmare lessened the effects of the puppet spell.

It could also that my theory above about how putting some distance between The Collector and a puppet will cause the spell to lose power. The Collector’s off to some pocket dimension or something. Though I’m gonna say it’s because of the Power of Love and Friendship. After all, as we’ve established before, The Owl House is an anime and thus the power of Love and the Power of Friendship are real forces within this world.

AH YES THIS IS SURE TO MAKE THEM WANT TO BE YOUR FRIENDS COLLECTOR

So The Collector’s favorite game is Pac Man???

[gh0--st]

Mom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summary: When feeling scared about Luz, King sneaks away to see Eda in the night. She helps make him feel a little better.

Characters: Eda(ler) King(lee)

This is a tickle fic. If you aren't into those, I won't recommend reading this.

Havent written in a while so this'll might just be a short comfort fic

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

King couldn't sleep. He trembled in his bed, the Collector fast asleep beside him, muttering words with a happy smile. His thoughts whirled with Luz. He remembered that look on her face when he shot them through the portal.

He had started regretting that decision a while ago. What if he blasted them too hard, and they got hurt? What if something had gone wrong, like the portal collapsing?

King sat up, giving a glance at the sleeping Collector before quietly sneaking out the room. He walked through The Archives, his paws taking him to where all the coven heads were.

He stared at them before slipping through the broken part of the gate. He walked and found the little camp Eda and Lilith had been staying. Lilith was fast asleep, clinging to a pillow with Hooty's face on it. He knew she missed the weird house demon. Maybe he could convince the Collector to do something with him.

Eda was awake, sitting by the fire and staring into it with an empty gaze. But as she looked up, her face softened, and she gave a smile, "Hey kiddo, why are you awake?"

King was quiet, walking up and climbing into her lap. Eda frowned a bit. If King had snuck here in the night, she knew something had to be wrong.

Eda sighed and kissed his horns, "You could get in trouble for being here, King." The Collector didn't like when King wandered off without him.

King shook his head, "I don't care." He spoke quietly. He gave his mom a teary glance, clinging to her shirt. Eda seemed to instantly know what was wrong now, "You thinking about Luz?"

King gave a nod, and Eda sighed, "Yeah, me too. It's hard not to miss her.. silly face." King looked into the fire, "What if she doesn't come back? Or- what if she does and she gets turned into a puppet?" He didn't know which sounded worse. Never seeing his sister again or only seeing her as a lifeless doll.

Eda sighed and began to scratch Kings belly gently, earning a few tiny giggles out of him. It was nice to hear his laugh, so she continued. Her touch was gentle, not wanting to overdo it in his current emotional state.

He squirmed around happily in her lap, still giving giggles as she tickled his belly softly. She kissed his skull, chuckling as he grabbed onto her wrist but didn't stop her. After a while, she could see he was getting exhausted.

She stopped her movements and hugged him, kissing his skull once more before setting him down, "Go back to bed, kiddo." King nodded and began to walk away before stopping,

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Eda stared, trying not to be overwhelmed by tears of fear and love for her kid.

"I love you, too."

And with that, King went back to his bed, feeling a little lighter than before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haha sillys

[ammonitetheseaserpent]

PENULTIMATE CHAPTER TIME! PENU-

Ahem

*whispers into mic* Penultimate chapter time. Also second TOTM Wednesday.

This one is a doozy. Easily the longest - and most emotionally intense/possibly darkest - chapter in this fic! No, seriously, this is gonna be heavy. There’s a moment in here you probably shouldn’t read if you’re squeamish.

It’s pretty much the climax of this fic, I’d say, and I am ecstatic to share it w/ you all!

Tide of Tide Minds

Chapter 5: Cosmically Opposed

Summary: The Titan Trappers finally make their way to what they call the carcass kingdom. Chaos ensues.

Chapter Word Count: 2,350

Trigger Warnings: Kidnapping (seriously there’s one scene that’s. kinda creepy when I reread it), character injury, character death, graphic (a bit)

-

The army drifts steadily across the Boiling Sea. An army with a single destination, a single goal, in mind.

They’re going to the carcass kingdom, to finish what they started.

A roiling breeze strokes the brine around them in the opposite direction - almost as if some force is trying to deter them, get them to turn back. But the army paddles forward, driven by solemn determination, a flame burning within each of them.

Before long, a series of barely audible thuds punctuate the night as each boat is gently jostled to a stop. A small, scruffy figure clambers out of one of the vessels, briefly scanning his surroundings, before motioning to the others to step out onto land. As the army gathers their weapons and makes their way onto the shoreline, the small figure gives a toothy grin.

Soon, their prey will be within reach.

-

“…aaaand that’s everything!”

The Collector waves their hands with a gleeful flourish, stepping away from the large mat, pot, and colorful winks they’d created per King’s instructions.

“Now we just need to set it all up!” the cosmic being declares.

King nods, rolling some stray winks back onto the mat. “Got someplace in mind?”

“Hmmm…” the Collector muses. His eyes shift over to a gulf a little ways from their current spot near the lower knee. “How abooouuut… there?”

King blinks, baffled. “The- you wanna play tiddlywinks- down there? I mean… do you want the shock rays to give us their complaints?”

“Maybe I do; you don’t know everything about me,” the Collector retorts light-heartedly.

King stifles a laugh. “Hey, just an idea - maybe we could… both look for a spot? Together?” King suggests, hoping to delay the notion of gulf-tiddlywinks as long as possible.

The Collector gives a drawn-out shrug. “Mm’kay.” They scoop up King and rise into the evening air, far enough so that they both have a full view of the Isles.

As King’s eyes drift across his father’s landmass form, he spots something that makes his heart skip a beat.

After a moment, he shakes his head irritably. Great - the sunlight’s playing tricks on me.

But he could swear he’d seen…

He looks in that direction again, more tentatively.

And there they are.

No.

No, not them.

How? How are they here??

The Collector seems to notice King’s stunned silence and frowns in a bit of concern, waving a hand in front of his face. “King? You there?”

King doesn’t respond. After a long moment, they follow his gaze, eyes glowing as he uses his powers to zoom in their vision. As soon as he does, the Collector gives a start, eyes widening. “Whoa- I know those guys!” Then their eyes narrow as he adds, “They’re weird.”

A shudder runs down King’s spine, making his fur stand on end. “We have to go back. Back to the Archives.”

“What? Why?” The Collector asks, baffled. “We haven’t even started the game yet!”

“If they find me…” King chooses his words carefully, trying to find some way to phrase them in a way that’ll help the Collector understand the urgency of the situation.

“They’ll take me away from you. Permanently.”

-

During the afternoon, Bill had sent out three search parties of four Trappers each. Their orders: search the kingdom for their quarry, making sure to lie low. As soon as the Titan child was reported found, they would all return, taking it to their rudimentary base in order to complete the ritual sacrifice.

Bill himself had taken three Trappers along for a fourth group, and they’re trudging along the ribcage toward the head. The youngest one of the group holds the task of clambering up each rib they come across and using that vantage point to scout for any sign of the Titan’s son.

Navigating the Isles has proven more difficult than they bargained for, as the entire place is glitter-ized with a cosmic pastel aesthetic, part of which being massive, floating blue star structures with menacing red eyes that turn anyone they zap into dolled-up, vacant-eyed versions of themselves. To top it all off, there’s some sort of structure balancing on the tip of the Isles’s horn, one shaped like a massive crown.

It’s well into the night before they finally spot what they’re looking for.

The young Trapper is peering through his sin-oculars when he lets out a shout from his perch. When the others approach, he says, “I saw something - some sort of… flat star? But the Titan child was definitely on there.”

Bill gives a start of surprise. “Wha-? Let me see!” he orders, snatching up the sin-oculars and using them himself. Zooming in, he sees the star the young Trapper described, and following it, he realizes it’s heading for the crown-like structure on the tip of the Titan’s horn. He grins.

That’s where we’re going.

Through some trial and error, the group is able to enter the structure. Bill commands them to split up and search every nook and cranny of this place until their prey is found.

Soon enough, he reaches a hole leading to a floating bedroom in the shape of a small moon.

From the bed on the right comes the unmistakable glint of horns.

There he is.

Bill feels almost lightheaded with delight.

Ducking his head out of the hole, he scrambles several paces back, then pulls out a contact crow. “Get everyone back to the base,” he whispers gruffly. “I found it.”

He returns to the bedroom almost at a run, aiming for the moon - overshooting and promptly crashing into it. Shaking his head, Bill clambers up the right side until the bed is in view.

Slowly, carefully, he creeps up to the bed to peer at his soundly sleeping quarry. After a moment, King flinches in his sleep, as if sensing something looming over him - then sits bolt upright in bed, leveling a startled look at Bill.

He opens his mouth, presumably either to call for help or blast the Titan Trapper away with one of his raucous shrieks.

Oh, no you don’t.

Quick as lightning, Bill lashes a hand forward to clamp the young Titan’s mouth shut. His now-muffled cries won’t be heard by anyone. Bill scoops him up.

“No one’ll be around to help you this time,” he growls, narrowing his eyes.

-

The Collector had been sleeping nice and cozy, until shadows had come and poisoned his dreams, turning them sour.

Pictures that they instinctively knew came from King - the small Titan being dragged off by a short, scruffy guy wearing a Titan-like skull thing, looking terrified. A whole room of what looked like Titan skulls that came with a vague but intense feeling of horror and finality. The whole thing was punctuated by King’s throat-gripping fear and despair.

It’s these that jerk the Collector rudely awake, panic prickling along their spine. Part of them hopes it had been a dream, though he knows that’s not likely.

That hope goes out the window when they glance over at King’s bed and find it empty.

Their core leaps into their throat.

He doesn’t completely understand everything he’d seen, or what they’re supposed to imply, or the feelings around them - he just knows it’s bad, and that King is in more danger than even they could know.

He suddenly remembers, too, that King had warned them something like this would happen. What had his friend said…?

“If they find me, they’ll take me away from you. Permanently.”

The line is punctuated in the Collector’s mind with another flash of the room full of Titan skulls - ones that are all close to the same size as King’s - and the overwhelming sense of foreboding that had come with it.

No. No.

They vault off their bed and through the hole to the rest of the Archives.

I have to find King right now.

The Collector searches the building, his panic growing by the second, but finds nothing. When they finally blast out of the building, they decide they need to narrow down the search and tap into his powers.

As he looks around with zoomed-in sight, it isn’t long before something catches their eye.

A group of people.

When the Collector looks at the Titan skulls - ones that are close to the size of King’s - the group are wearing, that sends many unwelcome thoughts his way.

They’ve been acting weird lately, talking about something bigger and better they could do against Titans.

They took King away.

They might have done something awful (permanent) to him.

They may have done something awful (permanent) to a lot of the little Titans I used to know.

Something finally snaps.

The Collector screeches, a pained cry of rage, and falls upon the Titan Trappers like a storm.

They barely notice the roar of the earth quaking and splitting around them, barely make out the words in the Trappers’ cries to one another. All he can process is a chaotic din of overlapping noise and a mass of swirling figures wearing (King-sized) Titan skulls.

He’s consumed and driven by a single, primal need, a need that burns in every fiber of their being, to blast, tear, hurt something, hurt anything, take all the pain they felt from King and all the pain they themselves feel and let it all out on something, make them feel it all tenfold. He needs to shake the figures around him to their core, cause them all such fear as to make sure they get and stay as far away from everyone he holds dear as possible.

He’s able to focus through the haze around his mind just enough to pin down a Titan Trapper at random, just enough to form his agonized screams into three words.

“WHERE IS HE?”

-

King doesn’t know how long it takes Bill to reach the Titan Trappers’ base on the Isles - not that he wants to know. Every second that ticks by is torture when he knows it’s a second closer to his own execution. He’s beyond the point of panic; his most overpowering emotion right now is sickening despair.

Suddenly, they both hear something - something faint but unmistakably chaotic. Bill hears it too; he stops and raises a clawed hand to where his ear is underneath the skull he wears. “What the …?” he mutters, starting forward again with more measured steps.

It doesn’t take them much longer to reach a close view of the base. Bill stops again, and King tilts his head forward to have a clear view himself.

The sounds almost aren’t enough to prepare King for the sight.

The base is in complete shambles, the earth cracked and jutting all around it as if a massive fist had collided with it. The Titan Trappers themselves are sprawled and scattered all over, some running away. At the center of it all, floating in the sky, is a familiar figure, intense and moving wildly.

Bill buckles forward upon seeing them. “He’s… free.” His voice is hushed with awe.

King feels the grip on him suddenly jerk tight as Bill rushes down to his camp, the Titan Trapper leader practically radiating manic jubilation. A few of the Trappers see Bill on his way down and their eyes light up, but he pays them no mind as he dashes to the top of the tallest piece of jutting land.

“At last!” He cries out, exulting. “Fortunate smiles upon me, for the day of reckoning has finally come!”

King sees the Collector turn in the air at Bill’s shout, their face blank for a brief second - before it twists into all-consuming rage, his teeth bared and gritted, his eyes blazing. With a shrill, wordless shout, they rocket down toward the Titan Trapper.

Bill looks up at the star child arrowing in his direction; he must be too wrapped up in his euphoria to notice their anger, because he tosses King roughly to the ground and raises his arms to the sky in glee, as if waiting for some sort of reward.

He gets one, but not the one he expects.

The moment the Collector collides with Bill, a sickening crack blasts King’s eardrums.

…

Several moments pass. If there’s not much noise, or if he just can’t hear it over the fading ringing in his ears, King can’t tell.

When he finally opens his eyes, the Titan Trappers are retreating - hurrying back to get their boats together and leave, making sure their wounded are set securely onto the vessels. Tarak in particular carefully takes Bill with him. King only flicks one glance at him and immediately wishes he hadn’t, as the scruffy Trapper’s head is at an angle it definitely shouldn’t be. They seem to be in some sort of daze, not completely knowing what to do with themselves without their leader, but clearly intent on getting out of the Isles as fast as they can - which is just fine with King.

He glances over at the Collector. There are stains of red on their right hand, as well as a few flecks on their face. They’re curled into themselves, shaking - King can’t say if it’s more from shock or their dissipating rage.

Upon realizing that he’d instinctively sent the cosmic child a mental cry for help, King didn’t know what to expect. He certainly didn’t expect to hear them rain calamity down on the Trappers the moment he got close to the base. He’d had a sense that the Collector may genuinely care about him, and what happened to him, but it would appear he’d underestimated just how much.

Tentatively, King approaches his friend and sits by him, wrapping his tail around his hind limbs and resting his chin on his knees. He feels a slight weight as the Collector leans onto him a bit, and looking up, sees their face crinkled with an internal knot of emotion.

Two godlike children sit silently over a shore. One looks at nothing, the other carefully observes everything.

[sp-ud]

So back when "Edge of the World" aired, I made a post noting the main variations of titans we saw Here, so I thought I'd take a look at the new (likely) titan we see in "For the Future".

This guy, BTW. If you don't know what I'm talking about. From when Luz was briefly in the "In Between Realm". They were also upside down this is just a flipped screenshot. They're giving Luz a little wave.

While my 1st instinct is to go "This is the Boiling Isles Titan aka King's Dad's spirit or something!", let's see how that holds up.

So the 1st thing that instantly clocks as "off" to me is the hands. The BI titan is shown to have 5 fingers, while our new guy seems to have the same 3 that King has (and the trapper's disguises also have).

There's also the lack of obvious spikes jutting out from the shoulders or legs, but that could just be due to the low quality and odd lighting. And the lack of wings the BI has could just be due to them being in the water. Plus the obvious lack of a size difference could just be chalked up to "It's his spirit, not the actual guy."

But then, there's this.

In the halls of the Archive House, there are paintings that line the walls that seem to tell the Collectors (both our Collector and the general species) story

And while the closer one seems to be of a titan trapper wearing a skull and an adult collector with our Collector also trying on some titan skulls, I want to focus on the one further back.

Look familiar? It should.

Because it is the exact same, but now complete, mural from King's original home.

Now, at first I didn't notice this until I was literally making this post, but there's something very important in the complete one that was eroded away in the other mural. Down by what we now know to actually be a depiction of King's dad on the right's feet. (Unlike the original assumption that the titan trapper on the left was King's dad)

An egg and another, much smaller titan. Which explains why this mural of what originally appeared to likely be the moment a titan trapper struck down King's dad, appears in the place he was supposed to grow up in.

Because it's supposed to be a mural showing how much King's dad cared for him, how he died protecting his egg. That was (quite literally) the missing piece from the original mural.

But what about the other smaller titan we see here? And I'm assuming it's an actual titan due to the fact it has a drawn lower jaw, unlike the disguises the TT use which always have large scruffs to disguise the fact they're only wearing the top half of a skull.

I think this is the titan we see stuck in the Inbetween Realm, who waves to Luz. This is who might have drawn the mural after King's dad was struck down.

As for why they're in the In Between Realm? Well, what's the (literal) key component that both Luz and Belos were initially missing? Titan Blood. And I think they've been stuck there a while, which would explain why no one was seemingly ever coming for King after he hatched, despite the fact Jean Luc and the other stone guards only were there to stop intruders, not raise him.

But then I remembered that oh yeah, the Collector has a line where he says it was King's dad, aka the BI Titan, who locked him in the In Between Realm.

Unless... unless we have something else wrong, or more accurately, assumed something wrong. Now, while we do have confirmation from crew members the BI titan is King's dad...

But... who's to say the King's dad who died and became the Boiling Isles and King's dad who sealed away the Collector (and seemingly got trapped in the same realm) are the same King's dad?

Yup, I'm saying King has two dads, one who fought off the titan trappers and perished with one last cry to his unhatched son, and one who sacrificed himself to seal away the Collector to hopefully help guarantee his son would grow up safe.

But that does leave one more question. Why is this proposed 2nd dad drawn as barely taller than King's egg? Well aside from "it's an artistic recreation, so maybe they either drew themselves smaller to emphasize how BI Dad was protecting them, or King's egg bigger so it was obviously present", which I believe is partially the case, but I think there might be more explanation for this.

And for why all the drawings of conquered titans show them not wearing clothes, even though the TT wear clothes as a part of their disguises (Which are clearly implied to be believable), and this In Between Titan also seems to have at least some kind of jacket or coat on.

Along with already being noticeably even boney before death, having extra things like more fingers and well-defined claws, and the spikes some of them seem to have grown from their body.

Or how exactly King's parents expected to take care of him in that small place, as once again, the stone guardians clearly had no idea how to actually raise him. The little dude was literally eating bugs.

Getting back to my actual point, I think titans aren't naturally... well. Titan-sized. I think it's something they transform into, likely when threatened by something that they can't take on at their normal size. They grow into these larger, more monstrous forms, which obviously their clothes aren't meant to handle.

This also has the added benefit of making the TT a little less horrible. Because it means that just because the skulls are small enough for them to wear, doesn't mean they're from not fully grown titans, they could be from adult titans who just didn't transform before death.

Alright, I have no idea how to properly end this post so I'm just gonna...

TL:DR; I think the Titan seen in FtF isn't the Boiling Isles Titan (AKA King's Dad), but is the Titan who trapped the Collector (AKA, also King's Dad). Because we have crew confirmation BI is King's dad, and the Collector said King is the kid of the guy who trapped him there, but there's nothing saying these are the same King's Dad.

Oh and I theorize that maybe titans can size-shift.

[lotusthewriter]

And they were all yellow

Fandom: The Owl House

Rating: G

Relationships: Romantic Hunter/Luz

Characters: Hunter, Luz Noceda; MENTIONED - Flapjack

Summary: “What is this?”

They’re like a spectacle, a celebration. Multiple light spells illuminate the somber archives, brighter than any light glyphs they could ever make. Brighter than the actual stars in the sky above. Beautiful in every way.

His chest sinks.

That can only mean one thing.

Word count: 984

AO3

A/N: I had this idea early this morning, so here you go!

SPOILERS FOR "WATCHING AND DREAMING".

TRIGGER WARNINGS - canonical (and temporary) character death, past animal death, and grief/mourning

Luz and Hunter are not canonically siblings. Hate will be deleted and blocked.

P/ROSHIPS DNI.

--

“What is this?”

They’re like a spectacle, a celebration. Multiple light spells illuminate the somber archives, brighter than any light glyphs they could ever make. Brighter than the actual stars in the sky above. Beautiful in every way.

His chest sinks.

That can only mean one thing.

He doesn’t want it to be true.

“Hunter?” Someone calls him. “What’s wrong?”

The boy’s trembling hand fists his wolf t-shirt, right where his heart beats, where Flapjack lives on, grieving.

Hunter only has one name in his head.

“... Luz.”

He can tell everyone grows tense and that they probably don’t need any more details to understand what happened.

Because they all saw it before.

Hunter is half aware Gus is trying to comfort him, rubbing his back, while Amity and Willow rely on each other, the two of them openly crying. Only then does Hunter realize that tears also roll down his scarred face, albeit quietly.

But the worst part of all of this is that Luz is not even here.

She’s not here like Flapjack is.

Luz is gone.

Gone.

He lost someone important again.

He couldn’t tell her…

…

One of the many bright spells flies close to him, so much that Hunter is able to take it in his hands. He can feel the warm magic within it, such a reassuring approach that it’s almost like someone is calming him down after a nightmare.

“What do you do when you’re having a bad dream?”

Like she’s telling him the same thing.

The light fades all too quickly.

Hunter only cries more, of course.

They take quite some time mourning, as they should, until the light spells are gone for good. Hunter breathes in deeply, comforted by Flapjack’s love, which is also fed by Luz’s love.

And there’s only one thing Hunter can do to retribute.

“There’s no more time. We have to fight back,” he reminds everyone. “For Flapjack… and for Luz.”

His friends are certainly not recovered from the harsh blow, and Hunter even less, but they all regain composure to complete their duty of freeing everyone else. They need to save as many people as they can.

No, nothing is hopeless just yet.

Because Luz would never give up.

And none of them will.

So, they do their best.

She believes in them, and she believes in him.

And he trusts her more than anything.

That’s the least he can do.

--

The Owl House is a mess, but it’s home.

Eda and Raine - and King - share the former’s old nest, somehow more comforting than all the beds Luz has ever slept on. She smiles in absolute relief, sighing deeply in exhaustion. She can’t help wondering how her mother and her friends are doing now…

Right on time, The Collector arrives with Lilith, followed by Mom, Gus, Willow, Amity, and Hunter. They all rush to hug her in said order, until it becomes a tearful and laughing group hug. Besides Eda and King, they also helped her realize her worth.

That is, when Luz notices someone is missing.

Someone still stands in the door, brown eyes growing deep, like they bear the knowledge of the Titan.

Luz’s smile fades, and the others seem to catch on since they let her go.

“Hunter, are you okay?” She asks, approaching tentatively.

He’s clutching his t-shirt, a place where Luz already knows. She doesn’t understand why he’s looking at her like that. When Hunter frowns, she shivers because she remembers that bad dream, when the older teen was angry at her for losing everything in order to help her. No, it wasn’t real, but it’s certainly not a pleasant memory.

When Hunter stumbles forward, Luz doesn’t know what to expect.

Thus, she freezes as thicker arms wrap around her the tightest anyone has ever hugged her, her face buried in his shoulder. She’s nearly on tiptoe given their height difference, and it’s so odd.

To make her even more speechless, Hunter sniffs.

“I thought I’d lost you too,” he whispers, voice breaking just like when Flapjack was gone.

Luz’s eyes refill with tears, finally realizing why Hunter is so distraught. She remembers her body transforming into magic, her fading away into the dark, doomed Boiling Isles. That was how she got to meet the Titan, after all.

Of course Hunter would know. Of course he would be terrified and sad to find out she was dead. Still, some part of her can’t help fearing that he would be angry with her, even after everything they’ve been through together.

Luz clings to him in return, feeling… protected. Yes, she defeated a god-like Belos - with her family’s help, of course -, but in the end she’s only a teenage girl who has been haunted by her mistakes for months, years even. And Hunter was one of the few people that she knew for sure that wouldn’t abandon her.

She wasn’t… scared when she died. However, Luz still can’t believe it really happened, and that’s why she’s crying and why they hold each other as if the world outside doesn’t exist, and it’s only Luz, Hunter, and Flapjack’s own little home.

“I’m sorry,” Luz mumbles, not specifying.

“No, no…” Hunter sniffs again, louder, and pulls back a little. “I just… I gotta make sure you’re safe too, you know?” He blushes and smiles. “You’re family.”

Luz laughs wetly. “Y-Yeah. Yeah…”

Even though everyone is watching them with knowing looks - especially Eda and her teasing smirk -, Luz and Hunter share messy tears, like when they did in their abandoned house. As she cleans his tears, she also feels his scars in her fingertips, which causes his cheeks and pointy ears to flush red. Luz smirks, only for Hunter to return the gesture by acknowledging the very small scar above her left eye, one that’s barely perceived.

Besides the opposite experiences, they feel… complete, together.

“Yeah…” Luz repeats, sighing. “We’re family.

[lightandfriendship]

I wrote a Huntlow one- shot!

It takes place after ‘Thanks to Them’, and follows Huntlow as they have the Grimwalker talk. Full one- shot under the cut!

“Hunter. Can I… talk to you?”

The words from behind stopped Hunter in his tracks. He knew that voice all too well.

Hunter turned around to see her standing there— eyes cast him gently. She looked tired, her expression weary and her braids messy. Yet still beautiful.

Then again, Willow always looked beautiful to Hunter. But that was something which was never leaving the safety of his own thoughts. There were times, like when she had winked at him, or cut his hair, that he considered, but he quickly shut that down. Like she… like anyone… would ever want to be with, well, a—

“Yes, Captain?” Hunter replied finally, when he realized he was staring. 

Without realizing, he had stopped walking, and Willow caught up to him before continuing. She seemed unable to look him in the eye, and suddenly Hunter became very nervous.

“While you were unconscious,” Willow went on, “Luz… said something. Something that was news to the rest of us. Belos had just told us she helped him meet the Collector, and I don’t think she meant to tell us. But—“

Hunter sighed. So the news was out.

“She told you all I’m a Grimwalker, didn’t she?”

Willow’s eyes widened, and she nodded.

Hunter turned away, and couldn’t stop the tear which rolled down his cheek.

Willow knew what he was. This was a nightmare. 

Then, Willow did something unexpected. She grabbed his hand, which Hunter hadn’t noticed had been shaking.

“Hunter, are you crying?”

“Umm.. no?” said Hunter through tears, now streamed down his face.

Willow laughed, “Hunter, look at me.”

Well, the last of his dignity was already done. So Hunter mustered up the courage and turned his head to look at Willow. 

She was giving him a bittersweet smile of such warmth, such sincerity, that his heart melted on the spot.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Hunter gulped, as the question lingered in the air like a whisper.

“Because I was embarrassed,” he admitted, as he put his face in his free hand, “because I was ashamed. I’m a clone, Willow. A clone of the brother of a witch hunter. One in a long line that Belos murdered again and again. And I fell for it, for so many years. I believed him. I helped him build the portal, and cause the Day of Unity. You all should hate me.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“What?”

Willow grasped his hand tighter, “We don’t hate you, Hunter. You’re our friend. Does Amity hate Luz because she helped Belos find The Collector? No.”

Hunter kept his face, which turned bright red, in his hand. Had Willow just compared them to Luz and Amity? Who were, you know?

She couldn’t possibly—

He was overthinking it. Clearly. After all, she had very obviously just called him a friend. 

Suddenly Willow’s hand loosened, and she tightened her arms around herself as if for comfort. Now, she was the one who couldn’t look Hunter in the eye. 

“Hunter, did you honestly think you being a Grimwalker would change anything?” He3r voice started to choke, “You died in my lap, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. Did you really think we don’t care care about you? That I don’t care about you?”

“But I’m just a clone of..”

Willow put her hand up, “I’m going to stop you right there. You are Hunter. Master sewist, amazing flyer derby player, and one of my best friends. After Gus, of course,” she added with a wink.

Hunter let out a laugh.

“And by the way? I dig the new hairdo. I know it came from something terrible, so if you want me to cut it again I will, but I think it suits you.”

Hunter blushed.

“I don’t even know what it looks like,” he admitted, “I just can feel that it’s longer. And these scars—“ he looked at his arms, “They’re on my face too, aren’t they?”

Willow nodded her head. She began to lift her arm, as if she wanted to reach up and touch one of them, but pulled back.

“I’m so sorry, Hunter. What Belos did to you was… are you sure you want to face him?”

“For Flapjack?” Hunter answered, as he placed his hand over his heart, “Definitely.”

“Yeah,” Willow agreed, “For Flapjack. I did swear to get some revenge before crossing back into the Demon Realm.”

“In that case, I fear for Belos, if he’s facing the Captain’s wrath.”

Willow stopped in her tracks. They had been walking so slowly while they talked that the rest of the group was far ahead of them, leaving them alone.

“What?” Hunter asked.

“It’s just, you act like I’m so strong.” Willow said.

“Well, you are. One of the strongest witches I know,” Hunter said before he could stop himself.

“It’s strange to be thought of that way,” Willow admitted, “Up until Luz came, a few months ago, I was just the bullied girl failing her Abominations class.”

Hunter scrunched his nose, “You were on the Abominations track? Why”

“My dads made me sign up for it for “better opportunities”, but then Belos saw what a natural I was at Plant magic and switched me.”

“That’s amazing!”

“Yeah, now I leave the Abominations to Amity.”

“I still think she hates me after the Eclipse Lake incident.”

“Amity will get over it, if she hasn’t already. Just look what she has with Luz, and they started off as rivals. She almost had her dissected.”

“They’ve come a long way from that.”

Willow looked away. “Yeah, they have.”

Hunter couldn’t help but think of where he and Willow had started— literally being pulled out of the sky, and then locking her and her friends in a cell. Titan, what an idiot. 

“For the record, nobody else cares either. That you’re a Grimwalker.”

“Really?”

“Really. I can’t believe you hid it from us this entire time. Were you and Luz keeping these secrets for months?

Hunter nodded, “Ever since we got trapped in Belos’ mind.”

 “I wish you’d told me, and the rest of the Emerald Entrails. We could have helped. Learned some more about Grimwalkers.”

“I guess I wish I had now, too. I still wish I was a witch, but I knew when I was in the Human Realm, and well, those were some of the happiest months of my life. Gus noticed and pointed it out one night. Luz even said I was family. And then I found Belos and almost hurt you guys. Again.”

“That was Belos, using you.”

“Yeah, I know. It cost me… everything.”

Willow smiled sadly at him, “But Flapjack’s still here,” she gestured to her heart, “inside of you. And you have me. All of us.”

Hunter could only cry and smile at the same time, suddenly overwhelmed with the weight of this conversation.

Willow didn’t hate him. His friends didn’t hate him. His new family didn’t hate him.

He had lost Flapjack, and yet gained so much these past few months.

Before he knew it, he was crying again.

“Hunter?” Willow asked.

“Yes?”

“Is it okay if I… hug you?”

Hunter laughed, and was taken aback. In a good way.

The Captain… wanted to hug him? She really didn’t care that he was a Grimwalker?

It felt like an Illusion, too good to be true. Still, he forced himself to nod, and in a split second Willow threw her arms around him.

She smelt like spring— of fresh mulch and flowers, and it felt like home. Immediately, Hunter wrapped his arms around her too.

They both cried, for all that they had been through. For all of the memories they had made. And there, hugging his best friend, Hunter let the full weight of all that had happened to him. The full weight of the loss. 

It was their first real hug, and it was awkward. For one, Willow was far shorter than Hunter— adorably short, he thought. Still, Hunter hoped it wouldn’t be their last.

After all, Flapjack wasn’t the only one in his heart. 

[nella16]

His Partner In Eternity | Collector x OC

Ch14: Feely

As she was flying, Collector was silent the whole time, his arms tightly wrapped around her

" I .... " she said softly " ... I'm really sorry, Collector, I know you didn't want this to happen, but we had to get away "

" It's not your fault ... " his voice barely above a whisper " I just ... don't understand why he has to do this ... " he looked away upset " it feels like ... sometimes he's really kind, and sometimes .. I hated it when he acted as is .. "

" I know .. " her grip on him tightened, she knew excatly what it felt, trust someone he looked up to, felt safe with, followed their lead, the only different is that someone of hers wasn't a person she chose to follow willingly

" Is that ... how you felt? " He looked at her, concern in his eyes, her expression softened as she looked at him

" It doesn't really matter, Starry .. "

" Yes, it does! " Collector exclaimed, as he pulled away from her arms, floating in the air, as he put his hands on her shoulders " don't think that I did forget! you always were upset when you were alone, y-you ... were always the tough one ... they always said you never felt– "

Suddenly, he got cut off by Chalent hugging him tightly, " I'm not proud of such a past ... " her voice was barely above a whisper, despite the calmness, he could sense the slight, but on going trembling " ... To be honest, I just .. " a tear fell from her eye, as she weakly smiled " ... I felt I would be a ... nuisance .. if I told anyone, especially you ... "

" Chalent, I would never think so ... " he gently grabbed her face between his hands, those calm, red eyes, and that ... reassuring, caring smile, it felt like a bright light in front of her

That comfortableness made her tear up even more, exposing all her sadness and pain

" You are a star, Collector ... " She smiled lovingly despite her shaky voice " without even trying .. you've made my wish came true even when I didn't say it "

" What wish? " He asked, despite his confusion, his voice still soft and calm

" Have someone, anyone ... to bring me back at that time " she looked down, a slight appeared anger in her eye " the time that I wasted it for following his directions, his wishes ... everything he wanted "

Collector hugged her tightly, " that jerk is dead for sure now ... " his voice had hostility in it, as he gently rubbed her back " what matters is that you're free now "

" ... Can we talk about it later? " she said as she yawned, " hehehe, nope~! " Collector chuckled as he carried her, flying to the Archive House " you'll be stuck with me 'til I hear everything you're upset about! this is an order, my little dame "

" Yeah sure, your starry majesty " she smiled, resting her head on his shoulder

.

.

.

.

As King walked in the hallways, he couldn't shake from what happened with Chalent ...

" Oh dear, oh my! " Chalent chuckled at the horrified look on King's face, both of Eda & Lilith stood in front of him, putting their guard on

" So ... " her black eye narrowed down to him " what's that all about? "

" And why should we tell you? " Eda asked, suspecting " gonna rant us out to The Collector? "

" Honestly, I would " Chalent confessed, and before they could say anything, she raised her hands " but in case, only like this ... after all, it's completely normal to protect your partner, is it? "

" Only if your partner's not causing chaos through the isles, endangering everyone " Lilith pointed out

" Uh-huh ... " She murmured, looking aside then down " good that I came back in this time ... " she thought to herself

" So King, you really want to get rid of Collector? "

" I-I ... " He stuttered, didn't dare to look at her, despite the situation they're in, that image he got when he met her still pressed at his head " we .. still thinking of a way ... "

" I .. see ... " She said, her voice low, noticing how uncomfortable he is right now

..........

He looked at the ground, remembering that before leaving them, she gave them a " warning "

" You better make the right decision, King, or else, you won't like what would happen if you didn't "

.

.

.

.

[arbitrarygreay]

"Why Jpop?" archive links

Ray Mescallado was the foundational influence on how I view fandom, and I have linked and reread this particular series of posts countless times over the years. Given that all of his blogs are now offline, one can only find these posts with direct urls to put into the Wayback Machine. So here's the compilation of what may be the best ode to "Cute Japanese Girl" sub-cultures on the internet. Part One: An Introduction

And sometimes the question creeps on me unbidden: Why does my taste in music suck so much? Are all those cute, unattainable Japanese teenage girls worth such a price? So what is it about Jpop exactly? Do I really think the music sucks? (No.) Do I think it's inferior to the music I used to listen to? (That's a case-by-case basis, isn't it?) Is it really just because I like to watch cute teenage girls? (Um...) Am I becoming a Japanophile and just refuse to admit it? (Well...) There's a bunch of different reasons - as well as some "natural" conclusions which aren't as natural as people may think.

Part Two: It Ain't Because of Anime

In my head, anime and Jpop inhabit different imaginative spaces, different kinds of pleasure, from one another.

Part Three: The Rules of Attraction

Like hip hop's more commercial side, it seems more honest - more bracingly refreshing - to consider music as part of a larger system of commerce and art. Taken in that perspective, refusing to take advantage of all the performance and marketing possibilities is both stupid and self-destructive.

Part Four: Kawaii Sexy Kakoi

Popular culture becomes a way to express and contain individual wishes that would run against community wishes. However, it isn't a fulfillment of those individual wishes - rather, it inhabits an imaginative space that's very distinct from reality and reality-based aspirations.

Part Five: The Cult of Authenticity

The pose of authenticity doesn't fit into something as brazenly artificial, as something aggressively commercial, as Jpop. And in a culture where so many people strut to seem "real", when the word real has to be placed in goddamn quotation marks to denote the pose and not the actuality - well, the warm smile of Jpop's open capitalist ambitions is a welcome relief. (And perhaps it's even more compelling for non-Japanese, who are able to isolate the Jpop experience from the larger commercial matrix.)

Part Six: Shiny Happy People

Strangely, then, Jpop is a great way to keep me grounded about the world around me. Or at least not be such a self-righteous prick about the people and situations around me.

Part Seven: The Collector

Because the best part about Jpop collecting is that we're talking about idols here - performers who want that kind of attention lavished upon them. It's difficult to imagine someone becoming an idol singer and claiming, "This is too commercial. Maybe we shouldn't do a commercial for Pocky or Chupa Chups - it'd ruin the music, the integrity of our sound."

Part Eight: That Whole Japanophile Thing

A strong interest in another culture is often considered suspect, a sign of some intense dissatisfaction. We live in an increasingly global world, but there are some people who want to narrow that global view out of one kind of myopia or another: the myopia that claims one's native country is the best and nobody can say otherwise, and the myopia that claims some other country is the best and so I'll make up for having such a shitty native country by acting like a jackass in worshipping that other, idealized country.

Part Nine: Concluding Remarks

If there's anything to be achieved from prolonged examinations of pop cultural preference, it's a widened awareness - a heightened sensitivity - to the fine points that make popular culture so powerful... and ultimately, so contentious. I don't expect that explaining why I like Jpop means other people will go, "Aha! Now I have the key to enjoying something I'd previously thought was caterwauling commercialized crap. Thank you for this invaluable service, Ray."

[kindestegg]

Collector really loves titans, doesn't he?

No... this isn't meant to be ironic. I genuinely believe Collector adores titans. And there's plenty of evidence to back this as well.

We know from their backstory that they went out of their way to defy what the other collectors wanted and approached titans to play with them. This went on to the point they scribbled over a likely centuries old book on their own species just to solidify that they think playing and making friends is better.

This is solidified by the fact he instantly took a liking to King and is always trying to keep him close, protect him and play with him.

In fact, I would go as far to say it brings a new light to his first reaction to seeing King all the way back in King's Tide. He was genuinely happy to see a baby titan again!! Finally, something he can relate to and is familiar with.

He doesn't even try to ask to be set free immediately! It's like seeing King made him immediately forget about everything, all that mattered was playing with this new baby titan, right then and there.

This continues onto some promotional art as well. In Matthieu Cousin's art here, Collector is drawn leaning into a titan skull, embracing it as he sulks, as if it's a comfort pillow or something.

And in this art by Tristan Yuvlenco, he is happily gliding across the water leaning into a different skull, tongue sticking out, legs in the air, putting little stars to adorn it. It doesn't seem like he is desecrating it, more like he's complementing it, adding his own touch. Playing with it.

And the shape of The Archive House itself forms a crown above the Titan Skull, which... does everyone get the symbolism with that? He crowned it. He crowned the Titan. Sure, he had to use part of the skull itself to do it, which, fair enough, this particular Titan wasn't well liked by him, but he still left it mostly intact, only using what was necessary, and the crowning symbolism is still there.

I would like to later on actually lead off off this post into another bigger analysis further into how Collector's magic and aesthetic interact with the isles, and how he doesn't change it out of malice, but rather just out of his desire to gift the isles what he thinks is best. Of course, that is still a violence done upon it, but we will get to that post when we get there.

To close this off though, I think it's only fair we examine the other times Collector has used the symbol of titans previously through this new light.

First of all, in Hollow Mind, Collector utilizes the imagery of the Titan roaring as the Draining Spell kills off all the witches and demons tied to it. While at first this may have been considered cruel mockery of the Titan killing off his "children", on a second examination, I think Collector was excited for a different reason.

Revenge.

We know Collector was raised alongside his family to be in cahoots with the trappers. It's probably how the whole Grand Huntsman thing started in the first place. And what are the trappers? That's right, witches and demons, trying to take down titans.

I've already discussed this in depth here, but Collector's mindset within the prison by the time Philip found him and then continued to lead him on for centuries was already pretty terrible. Add that up to the fact titans were the thing he most loved about the planet the isles is on, and that they're all gone now thanks in great part to the trappers, and if Collector needs to convince himself killing off all those witches and demons is justified, why not the fact that witches and demons getting cocky is what killed all the titans?

(Trying to reiterate this here, this is not a justification. This is an exploration of an extremely messed up unbalanced revenge mindset. You're SUPPOSED to disagree with Collector's ideas here.)

Similarly, the way he changes back and holds the skull between his fingers also gains a new light.

He's not laughing at the Titan over this, making the skull small in mockery, but WITH the Titan, as an equal, delighting over the fact he can show his departed friends this plan of revenge.

To close this off neatly, I want to say that I think his relationship in general with the titans is reflective of his relationship with King and even the Isles itself. Collector wants to show his appreciation to them for being inviting to him and allowing him to play and make friends, but he ends up overwhelming them with all the sparkles and general alienness of his magic. This is true of how he and King interact as well. This will be something I go in depth about his general relationship with the Isles in a following post. But the good news is he is still young, and willing to learn, and exactly because he loves the titans so much, he can change his approach in the future, so I believe.

[forlornmelody]

Shepard as a Companion

I was tagged by the amazing @alyssalenko

I will tag: @bardofheartdive and @swaps55, if you want to play.

Gonna go a bit AWOL here and do my Clone Shep instead. Cause I can. :P

THE BASICS:

Shepard’s full name: She has many names, including: Ana Fields, Jane Shepard, Jane Doe, and Alison Gunn.

Class: Vanguard

Pre-service history: Uh, she didn’t exist yet. :P

Psychological profile: Initially a blank slate, The Shepard Clone was conditioned by Cerberus defector Hope Lilium. 

MASS EFFECT 1:  Clone Shep isn’t available as a companion until ME2 :P

When/how are they recruited: 

Where are they on the Normandy: 

Are they romanceable: 

Personal quest: 

Who are their friends: 

MASS EFFECT 2:

Trained with remedial Asari in New Serrice, co-lead the Cat6 merc squad on Pragia.

What does their dossier say: “The CLONE. 

Project Gemini

Genetic Duplicate of Shepard. Programmed with Shepard’s memories and likely trained to match Shepard’s abilities. Inexperienced and volatile.

Highly dangerous. Recruit or destroy. Marked for potential sale to the Collectors. Do not allow asset to fall into the Shadowbroker’s hands. Known associate: rogue agent Hope Lilium. Current status unknown. 

When/how are they recruited: “Ana” is first spotted in Eternity, near the Nos Astra exchange. Matriarch Atheyta remarks “that one isn’t all that she seems. Mark my words.” Ms. Fields provides intel that helps locate Miranda’s sister, and then Shepard invites her to join the crew, seeing her as a potential ally against the Illusive Man.

Where are they on the Normandy: Shuttle bay. Probably looking for weak points. And yes, you can get the shutle bay via the elevator once the Clone is recruited.

Are they romanceable: Absolutely, by either Shepard, but you gotta unlock the romance with a hard to reach dialogue tree. 

How do they react to the PC returning: Oh, she’s real upset about it, for obvious reasons. But Hope Lilium tells her to join the Normandy crew at all costs. And to kill Shepard before she goes on the Suicide Mission (to stop it from happening.)

Personal quest: One of her old classmates in biotic training, Dreya T’Vasi, has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom. Travel to Hyetiana and free the hostage.

The tricky bit is Dreya is being held by a Justicar. Cause Dreya is an ardaht yakshi. So Shepard has to choose between saving Dreya for the clone’s loyalty or siding with the justicar for Samara’s. 

Do they fight with any other companions: Just Shepard. She corners them in the Normandy cabin on the eve of the suicide mission. Pulls off her wig and demands Shepard argue why she should be allowed to live. 

What files does the Shadow Broker have on them: Training footage on Hyetiana. The Illusive Man’s plans for the Clone should Shepard fail. Her journal entries about Shepard and Dreya.

Can they die in the suicide mission, and how: You absolutely do not want to select the Clone as team leader. She does not command loyalty and the B team will end up being taken out by the Collectors.

MASS EFFECT 3:

When/how are they recruited: Being a ME2 character, The Clone only shows up in the Citadel DLC. The DLC runs as normal, but you can choose to save her from falling. As you should. (But you only get to save her if you earned her loyalty in ME2)

Where are they on the Normandy: Right in front of the galaxy map. Oh you mean after her and Shep make up. She doesn’t tend to stay in one spot. But she’s most often found in the lounge, staring out the window as if the stars have the answer to her questions.

Are they romanceable: Yup, but only if you started the romance in ME2.

Citadel meetup (during the game, where do you meet them on the Citadel and what do you talk about): The Clone is naturally cleaning the mess in the Archives. She’s surprised that Shep accepted her invitation, but definitely doesn’t begrudge the help. It quickly devolves into a contest of who can clean the fastest, with a few dialogue options that turn flirty if you romanced her in ME2.  

How does the PC relax with them in the Citadel DLC (ie, buying gifts with EDI, watching the game with James and Vega, etc.): The Clone will suggest a Paint Your Own Pottery place, where they can get to know each other better. It quickly devolves into a rivalry of who can paint better/faster. The finished plate ware will show up in the kitchen of Shepard’s apartment upon their return. If romanced, the cut scene ends with a kiss that lands clay on Shepard’s face.

What do they say to the PC before the final battle: “If you’re expecting me to take your place, you’re full of shit, Shepard. But thank you, for everything. I owe you my life three times over. Crazy, huh? But don’t you dare get yourself KO’d, alright? Or I’m gonna come Lazarus your ass just so I can kill you myself. So don’t get any crazy ideas.”

[whim-prone-pirate]

WATCHING AND DREAMING LIVEBLOG ??????? UPDATING AS I WATCH☹️☹️☹️☹️

8:23 who up watching the end of phineas and ferb the mvoie rn

8:25 WHY ARE WE WATCHING AN EDIT OF THE SHOW BEFOFE THE EPISODE WHATS HAPPENING😭😭

8:26 ........archives WOAH SCARY FACE

8:27 oh my god color pallets i'm gonna be sick

8:28 LUMITY ANGST ???? IN HER DREAM ?????? WHAT THE FUCK ?1??1???1?

8:29 oh em gee not lilith's died hair again

8:29 FATHER CLAWTHORNE NO

8:29 EWWWEWEWEWEW☹️☹️☹️

8:30 please do not the luz

8:31 luz blames herself for flapjack💔💔💔💔

8:32 hehe face hold

8:34 REUNION !!!!!!!!

8:34 ray ray im going to kill myself

8:37 GET IT RAINE

8:39 not precariously stacked jenga!!! no !!!!!

8:40 I SAID THEY WOULD NEVER USE THEY/THEM FOR THE COLLECTOR IN CANON AND THEY DID IM SORRH I DOUBTED YOU DANA AND CREW IM SOREY

8:44 ok i got distracted with a different fandom thing where are they

8:46 collector playing grudgby is real

8:46 NOW THATS A SPIN-OFF I'D WATCH

8:47 oh no!!!!!!!!!!

8:48 bros participating in eugenics

8:48 "how'd he get here without a body" most normal toh problem

8:49 oh collector my bug😭😭😭

8:49 FUCKING HELL OH MY FUCKING GOD OH MY GOD HER HAT LUZ STOP IT !!!!!!!!!

8:50 kmskmskmskmskmskms

8:50 jaw on the floor she's dissipating

8:51 he csnt fix her😭😭😭😭😭😭

8:52 NO SHE ISNT !!!!! SHE IS NOT !!!!!!!!!!

8:52 oh😭😭😭😭😭 my😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 god😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

8:52 I SHOULD HAVE THANKED THEM

8:53 TITAN ????? HAII

8:53 I AM BOTH KING AND QUEEN BEST OF BOTH THINGS :o)

8:54 watching. and dreaming. watching ..

8:54 where did he get a bad girl coven shirt

8:54 this is what modern leftist political conversations sound like

8:55 it's giving lich

8:56 big fan !!!

8:56 what'd he say what's he SAY WE ONLY HAVE SO MUCH TIME HERE

8:56 CAMILAAAA !!!!

8:58 "please stop run away" * i am feeling burdened and i taste milk i mumble please please run away but it lives where i live

8:59 WHAAAAAAAT

8:59 SHE HAS FANGS SHE'S TOO COOL

9:00 did i miss something why are they mossydiseased like luz

9:01 i'm too tired for fight scenes rn

9:03 oh my god the titan's hand looks so cool

9:03 RAINE NOT BEINT ABLE TO SEE LMFAOOO

9:04 oh my god she put their glasses on for them

9:04 their hair looks so good🤭🤭

9:05 that fight was not as drawn out as it deserved to be but that is not dana + co's fault💔💔💔💔

9:06 collector💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

9:06 here's how gustholomule can still win

9:07 we have thirteen minutes for canon raeda and huntlow and gustholomule AND another lumity kiss. no pressure tho

9:07 oh god her look is so dark she's. wow

9:07 she doesn't have to be naive to the people who want to hurt her anymore. a win.

9:08 BYE TITAN ILYY

9:09 I LOAF YOU :)))))))))

9:09 so the next eleven minutes are domestic bliss????? yeah??????

9:10 steve moment!!

9:10 GUS AND DAD REUNITE !!!!

9:10 WILLOW AND DADS REUNITE !!!!!!!!!!

9:10 DARIUS ASKING ABOUT HIS SHIRT OH MY GOD😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

9:11 bump cut your hair ..🙁

9:11 cute boscha moment sobs

9:11 darius protects the isles from absolute bitches and whores (real)

9:12 the guards!!

9:12 RAEDA CUDDLES

9:12 LUMITY KISS I TOLD YOU

9:12 NOCEDACLAWTHORNE HUG😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

9:13 see you in the stars bug😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

9:13 sorry i'm ruining my own like

9:13 SHE CANT USE HER GLYPHS ??????????????????????

9:14 oh my god what's happening

9:15 I KNEW HER NARRATION SOUNDED OLDER HER FIT IS SO GOOD

9:15 oh my god THEY LIVE IN THE HOUSE

9:15 willow short hair<3

9:16 flapjack.

9:16 lilith looks so good and matt's stache hasn't grown at all

9:16 AMITY ????????????? LOSES MY MIND

9:17 bump gardener era

9:17 coven removal so real

9:17 ok what was THAT little moment with aladarius

9:18 raeda is def married right like for sure i need to make sure i didn't miss a ring or anything

9:18 GUS LOOKS SO GOOOOOD

9:18 HEADMASTER EDALYN CLAWTHORNE

9:19 oh my god does she have a tattoo

9:19 SHE GETS A QUINCE OH MY FUCKING GODBOH MY FOD OH KY FOD

9:20 LIGHT. LIGHT GLYPH !!!!

9:20 SHE TOKD THEM THANK YOU☹️☹️☹️☹️

9:21 by.3😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

9:21 do you think she's gonna play one more song. she's. she's gonna come back— NO SHES GONNA COME BACK😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅 /ref

[serafiel-jacobs]

No Girls Toy (Fanfic)

New chapter from my main series 🩷

When Pinocchio woke up that morning, he found it odd that Gemini wasn’t in the room with him, he got out of his room, and in the living room, his father was waiting for him, Gemini’s cage was on the table.

“Good morning son, just time time to see the surprise” His father was smiling.

With that said the cage was opened and Gemini came out from inside.

“Hey buddy”

Pinocchio had stars in his eyes, he kneeled to get a closer look, Gemini was finally out of his cage, he extended his hand and Gemini jumped into it.

“Gemini we can finally do so many things together!” Pinocchio was so excited. When they did stuff together he was the one who had to do things on Gemini’s behalf, and that didn’t bother him at all, it’s more so the fun part that Gemini is finally able to do them.

“He is still going to have to be inside his cage while outside, so it can protect him” Gemini is made out of the best materials so he is very resilient himself, but the best is for him to be inside his cage for protection, and little crickets aren’t exactly safe walking outside by themselves.

Pinocchio and Gemini were so excited about all the fun stuff they could do together, but they decided that first, the best idea was to make Gemini’s life at home more comfortable.

—-

Pinocchio knows Krat extremely well, so he remembers passing by many times the place they are currently in, it’s a doll store that sells different types of small houses and other accessories and of course the dolls themselves. All in different sizes.

Gemini was in his hands looking at everything, Both could overhear the store staff talking.

“Isn’t that Pinocchio, Geppetto’s son?”

“Yeah, go there and show him the most expensive house”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? Geppetto is loaded, he probably gives him a huge allowance”

“Pinocchio tell them that you don’t need any help” Gemini spoke up, geez, if they were going to say stuff like that they should at least lower their voices more.

Pinocchio followed Gemini’s advice and they were left alone, “Gemini what does that mean?”

“Don’t think too much about it, just that your father has a lot of money and they want to take advantage of that” Not the first time something like this has happened, Gemini always helps Pinocchio not to get stuck buying things that are way too expensive or falling for scams.

Well, most of the time, the boy certainly didn't listen to him when he was dealing with the fox and cat stalkers, but Gemini has come to just accept that Pinocchio sees them as friends, more than that he sees them as family, and that at least they care about him.

“Mmm, there are so many options” Gemini wasn’t sure what to pick, there were so many, all in different sizes.

He doesn’t need a big one, it’s not like he is actually going to use the things inside of them, it’s more so for comfort and to have a space for himself, so he doesn’t need that 5-floor deluxe edition with a balcony one that they were about to offer them. He already has that small bed that Lady Antonia gifted him and it looks like it can fit in any of these houses.

They decided that would be a good idea to buy a simple 4-room one that was empty and let Gemini choose what sort of things he would like to have inside the home.

While Pinocchio was paying for everything another person came inside the store, who as soon as they saw Gemini rushed to their side.

“I’ve never seen this toy before, where did you buy it?” A man said, “And why did you take him out of his box?“

“Not this guy again,” Said one of the store clerks under his breath, He took a deep breath, he is a collector too so he understands but this guy tends to take it too far. Still, that’s their best customer so…

“I’m not…” Gemini then realizes that he is at a toy store, buying a toy house, and even buying toy clothes, this guy isn’t going to take him seriously if he says that.

“Gemini is my friend” Pinocchio felt uncomfortable, this guy was staring way too intensely at Gemini.

“Okay yeah he is your friend but where did you get it, I know every single toy line that has ever been released to the public in Krat and I KNOW that this toy, isn’t one of them” The man had a know-it-all voice.

“My father made him for me” Pinocchio doesn’t want to try and explain everything and maybe mentioning that Gemini is unique would leave him alone.

But it had the exact opposite effect.

“Who built him for you?” Then the man stopped staring at Gemini and stared at Pinocchio, “Wait, you are that son Geppetto built for himself right? So he can also build toys? Why does he waste his time and talent building puppets when he could be making beautiful toys like this one” He was pointing at Gemini now.

“Here is your change come back soon have a nice day” The store clerk wanted to avoid dragging this conversation.

Gemini went back inside his cage but before he and Pinocchio could leave, the man stepped in front of Pinocchio.

“Man don’t start” The store clerk was done, and the other one had gone to the back, not wanting to deal with the situation.

“Can you take him out of his cage so I can have a closer look? I want to know how he can change colors like that?”

“It’s because he is angry” Now Pinocchio was angry too.

“It changes colors with its emotions?! That’s unheard of, I need to see him again”

Pinocchio took a few steps back, this guy was capable of trying to steal Gemini.

“Look man, I’m done with your shit, you are banned from the store”

The man refused to leave and refused to stop questioning Pinocchio, so the store clerk grabbed a broom and chased them out as if they were a cat.

Pinocchio and Gemini couldn’t help but laugh, it was amusing.

“We also make custom clothes, in case you and your friend need something special”

Pinocchio was smiling, despite the strange experience, maybe this was a place he could come to later if Gemini needed more things.

As both left the other clerk came out from the back.

“Well we lost our best customer but we got Geppetto’s puppet son, that’s probably going to be even better business!”

“Am I the only person that works in this store that actually likes toys?!”

—-

Back home, Pinocchio was helping Gemini set up his new house. He even made him a tiny painting so that he could hang it in his new home.

“Buddy, what’s wrong?” Gemini could tell something was wrong.

“Um well…” It was something Pinocchio noticed that had been happening more and more.

“That son Geppetto built for himself”

At least that one store clerk was nice, he even knew his name, but the experience with that other man made Pinocchio remember other words like that.

“Geppetto’s puppet”

“Geppetto’s pretend son”

“Carlo’s replacement”

If he can take a guess the comments have increased because more people recognize who he is. Not to say that every time he goes outside he hears those things but it always makes him upset.

“It’s okay to feel upset, if you pretend it doesn’t bother you then it’s going to hurt you in the long run” Gemini chirped.

Pinocchio wiped a few tears from his face, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down”

“It’s okay buddy, don’t apologize for how you feel”

Pinocchio feels really lucky to have Gemini as his friend.

—-

Gemini really enjoys his new house and everything about being able to walk around, what surprises him is how high he can jump, just as high as a normal cricket, if not a little more. Geppetto truly is a genius inventor.

Pinocchio wanted to do something nice for his father, and so did Gemini but it seems like they were disagreeing on how to show their gratitude.

“Pinocchio you are still banned from using the kitchen” Gemini knows that he has good intentions but rules are rules.

“Come on Gemini, now that you can walk, you can help me more!” Pinocchio was excited, too excited it looked like he wasn’t going to back down.

Gemini took a deep breath, he told Pinocchio that maybe he should make his father a painting or buy him something but that brat couldn’t stop insisting, he said that he wanted to make something for his father so that when he came home he would have something to eat so there was no other choice.

Pinocchio decided to bake his father a cake, everything was going surprisingly well, Gemini was standing up on top of the recipe book, and Pinocchio was following the instructions, he used the correct amount for everything and the texture was just as described, the only thing left was to put it inside the oven.

—-

“WHAT DID I SAY? WHAT RULE DID I GIVE YOU? YOU ARE GROUNDED!”

Geppetto was shouting, all the firefighters could hear him loud and clear, thankfully Pinocchio was taught the emergency services number, even better is that the kitchen was only partially burned, only the oven and stove were truly damaged but they would have to be completely replaced.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” Pinocchio was crying, Gemini was standing on his shoulder, he wanted to say, “I told you so” but his father was scolding him like never before.

”You aren’t allowed to go outside for 3 weeks!”

“3 weeks?!” Pinocchio had never been grounded for so long.

“It’s going to last more if you try to question me” Geppetto wasn’t playing around. “No hanging out with Eugéne or Venigni and no lessons with your Mother”

“But-“

“I already called her and told her what happened, and she agreed with this” Unfortunately as much good intentions Pinocchio had, he screw up badly, bad enough that his mother that spoils him all the time agreed with this punishment.

“You can’t see your pony either”

Pinocchio started crying louder. “I’m sorry Father please, I’m sorry!”

Geppetto knows that his son didn’t mean any harm, but this could have ended so much worse.

Pinocchio stomped his feet on the ground, this was so frustrating! He only wanted to do something nice and he is a fast learner, why doesn’t that work when he starts baking?!

“Buddy don’t throw a tantrum in front of the firefighters,” Gemini said.

But that had the opposite effect and Pinocchio began to throw an even bigger tantrum, saying how it wasn’t fair that he couldn’t understand how to bake, how he could do all these other things but he still didn’t know what to bake. He stomped his feet multiple times, to the amusement of everyone watching. Pinocchio doesn’t tend to act this much like a brat, so Gemini is assuming that he is still upset about the things he heard about him before, maybe it’s best he talks with his father about this.

Eventually, Pinocchio calmed down and his father hugged him. Gemini took that opportunity to jump to Geppetto’s shoulder and while Pinocchio went to his room after all was done, he explained the situation to his father.

“I see, I’m going to talk with him about this, thank you Gemini”

Gemini only wants what’s best for Pinocchio. He jumps to the floor and makes his way to Pinocchio’s room, he slides down from the small space of the door and enters, he sees that Pinocchio is writing in his diary, best not to interrupt him; Gemini makes his way to his house, that’s just in Pinocchio’s nightstand so they can sleep close to each other.

He opened the door and turned on the lights, he was quite impressed with the fact that it came with working lights for each room. He made his way to his new bedroom. Soon after, Pinocchio stopped writing and changed clothes, ready to go to bed as well.

“I’m sorry” Pinocchio mumbled under his breath.

“It’s okay, I’m here for you if you need anything”

Pinocchio turned off the lights in his room, and Gemini turned off the lights of his home.

“Goodnight”

“Goodnight Buddy”