#and I really need to be able to find these posts again

[weena-mercator]

I had to choose “both unsure” because my answer is - they both believe he is dead when they hear the news, but then over time what they believe changes. I was gonna put my nuance in the tags but that’s annoying to do on mobile so here we go with me being more wordy instead lol

I think they both took the news at face value - following the events of RFTA, that’s not hard to believe (even if the note says Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death).

But I think their immediate reactions were different - I’m guessing Gumshoe was the one who told both of them (or that’s how I think it should have gone) right after finding the note (I also think that Gumshoe finds out Miles is alive a few months before it’s revealed he knows that at the end of Big Top, but obeys Miles’ request to not share anything about his return yet).

Phoenix I think would have had a very emotional reaction, just barely holding it together long enough to not break down in front of Gumshoe, and then doing so as soon as he’s alone. I feel like he has a tiny moment of denial before he jumps straight to the depression stage of grief, and after a little bit, once it’s revealed there’s still no details (no body, no signs of foul play, etc.) he goes back to bouncing around between denial, anger and bargaining. There’s no way to get closure and so he thinks what if… and he wonders what is worse - Miles actually being dead, or Miles hating him so much that he never wants to see him again. Obviously Phoenix was just a catalyst for everything that happened in the past few months, not the real reason for any of Miles’ trauma, but what if Miles still resents him for everything? And what if Miles, the Miles he knew, really is gone, that the only thing left is someone who looks like him but isn’t him at all, not the childhood best friend who set his trajectory for becoming a defense attorney (even if Phoenix probably didn’t decide that until college).

By the time JFA games kick off, Phoenix is mostly angry - it’s easier to let himself believe Miles is dead even if there’s yet to be any proof of that. If he thinks about how he might be alive, he’s even angrier. It’s better to just tell himself that Miles is dead, he’s got to figure out how to keep living himself, and it’s easier if he believes that and stop thinking in hypotheticals.

So I think Franziska also first takes it at face value, starting off in denial stage of grief. Probably bouncing between denial and anger. Similarly though, weeks pass and there is no proof of his death, and that leads her to question it. I do think she eventually starts to try to find him herself before determining she needs to go LA and take down this man who tarnished her brother’s reputation (it’s something to be able to focus on, as I don’t think she’s ready to deal with her father’s part in it all yet). I can’t remember if it’s acknowledged that she knows he’s alive after Big Top but before he shows up in Farewell, but I like the idea of her following Gumshoe one day, discovering him going over to see Miles to give him case notes or something and she bursts in like “You fool, you are alive! I knew it, of course.”

As for if any of my thoughts contradict canon, well, my opinion is this - canon contradicts itself at times.

I think it’s fun for us to all have various interpretations of things - there are definitely ideas or hcs I don’t agree with but are interesting to consider nonetheless. There aren’t too many things that I feel are “not up for debate,” mostly it’s just “I personally don’t see it that way.” That would be a whole other post to go into though lol

Fandom opinion poll: In JFA, did Phoenix and Franziska, deep down, think Miles was dead or alive after leaving the Note?

Aka not when they first found the note and not what they were trying to convince themselves of.

Still, there can obviously be fluctuations in someone's beliefs, go with what you think each character predominantly believed. (I also left "unsure" options if you think it truly doesn't lean one way or the other).

I'm curious about the fandom's opinion on this. Feel free to leave the nuance behind your choice in the tags! (I will reveal my thoughts on this after the poll closes).

[roseyrenegade]

Spring Showers - Bucky Barnes x Reader

A park date with Bucky gets ruined by rain, so he comes over to your apartment to watch a movie instead.

warnings : Post!Thunderbolts!(no spoilers), established newer relationship, mentions of a horror movie, cursing, Bucky being a softie, nervousness, oral sex (f rec), squirting, metal arm usage, fluff, aftercare (lmk if I’m missing anything)

words: 2.4k

author notes: I’m getting such a kick out of writing scenarios from my life, but replacing my exes with Bucky and making it way better. This is basically therapy wow (I also have a therapist dw)

It was Bucky’s day off, and it was storming out. You’d made plans for what was your 9th or 10th date, to go to a park for a walk, but ended up staying in at your place. The flowers he brought you sat in a vase on the counter, not far from the ones he got you last week.

You’d apologized for not checking the weather forecast, and he comforted you, told you he was just happy to be spending time with you. He had a rough week, there was a bruise around his eye that was still healing despite the serum. Being in your home and with you brought him more comfort than he was able to express. Vocally, at least.

He sunk into your couch, fondly watching you tidy up having not expected a visitor. You buzzed around, putting shoes back on a shelf and filling a glass with water for him. The rain had started before you put on the sundress you’d picked out, so you were still in pajama shorts and a tank top you’d slept in. The sudden change of plans left you prioritizing the cleanliness of your bathroom and the pile of dishes in the sink over putting on mascara and a bra.

“Doll, come sit down, the place doesn’t need cleaning,” Bucky lightly calls to you across the room, wanting you to not be worried about it. You could live in a pig pen and he wouldn’t care.

You sigh, giving him a slight pout. The situation, and your preparedness, obviously not to your liking. “Fine,” you reply, walking over to slump down next to him. Your bare shoulder brushes his arm, which is draped across the back of your couch, but you leave a small distance between you.

The two of you had been going out for a couple of months, you’d been intimate for the majority of that time, yet you still felt shy whenever you saw him again. Especially after almost a week without seeing him. The man had held you in wildly compromising positions, but you still felt nervous about sitting too close too soon.

Bucky, all the gentleman, wanted to let you set the pace. He’d have had you against the door right after walking in if he could throw caution to the wind. He noticed the gap you left between you on the couch, but decided against closing it immediately. Attempting restraint even though his body wanted otherwise.

You turned your attention to the tv, scrolling through channels and shows trying to find something that seemed worthy or appropriate. You could feel Bucky’s eyes on you, he could tell you were nervous. Your hair being up in a bun, he could see the flushed tips of your ears, sure they’d be warm to the touch.

Your eyes flicked across the screen, not totally focused and hoping something perfect would jump out and save you. “You alright?” Bucky asked, still watching you expectedly. Half teasing, half actually concerned. He’d like to think it was his presence that got you this flustered, but he didn’t want to assume and considered something might be wrong. He hadn’t had a gal go on more than one date with him in decades, he found it hard to believe he really had such an effect on you.

“What?” you glanced over when he spoke, quickly catching his eye before looking away again when it made you blush more, “I’m fine, just so many things to pick from, ya know?” you say, trying to make it seem like that’s the obvious and only reason you’d be taking so long.

Bucky laughs beside you, taking a sip of water before reaching for the remote in your hand “Let me give it a try,” he offers, his metal palm open. You resign, placing the remote in his hand, the cool vibranium refreshing on your hot skin. You sit back, pulling your knees up to cross your legs on the couch, your right knee brushing against Bucky’s. You pretend not to notice as you try to relax, listening to the rain on the windows and the random clicks as he browses movies. He lands on The Shining, looking over at you for approval.

“How about this?” he asks. Not the most romantic pick, but you notice the small brown notebook in his other hand. The same one he’d pulled out to write down the name of an album you recommended once. You smile at him, “sure, it’s a classic. I haven’t seen it in a while.” He grins back at you, satisfied that he’d solved the problem.

Over the first half hour of the movie, you and Bucky had fallen back into the comfort of physical touch. The initial tension and nerves faded, replaced by his hands softly massaging your calves which now rest in his lap. You’d settled your back against the opposite end of the couch from him, ankles crossed over his jean-clad thighs.

He thought you didn’t notice at first, how often he glanced over at you. He’d asked a few questions about the plot of the movie, making an effort to show he really was paying attention. You had your attention on the screen, finding comfort in forgetting how flushed the man next to you was making you feel.

However, when he took a deep breath during a scene that didn’t really warrant it, you let your eyes move to him. Your eyes met just as his flicked up from your thighs. The blush on his cheeks deepened when he realized you’ve caught him. You knew the shorts left little to the imagination, but had truly ran out of time to change while tidying up.

You smirk up at him, feeling your body already reacting to him. Even the implication of his attraction to you was enough to make you hotter.

Every time you’d spent time with Bucky, you left feeling the most desired and sexy you’d ever felt in your life. Your anxiety made you almost forget that until you’d see him again. The memories of intense closeness and skin against skin seemed like a fantasy you’d imagined, just until he was touching you again.

Bucky was breathing a little deeper now, eyes searching your face, considering saying something. After a beat, you ask, “You alright?” letting your hand move up his metal forearm. He felt himself throb, having been half-hard from the moment you opened your door for him

Your soft, caring tone and the light crease between your eyebrows only did him in further. He’d been distracted by the sleep shorts you had on, the bow tied loose in the front having slowly come undone since he arrived, pushing his thoughts in the dirtiest direction. The shifting of your tank top as you reached for his arm crumbled all his resolve, the fabric threatening to expose your raised nipple from the side.

Bucky looked totally away from you for a second, before meeting your gaze again, this time with much more sureness.

“Doll, can I please go down on you?” He asks like he’s been holding it in this whole time. His eyebrows are cinched, the pleading expression deepening on “please”.

You’re slightly taken aback by his bluntness, but the arousal quickly drowns that out. His hands have moved up to hold the outside of your thighs, his whole body now turned towards you on the couch. You can see that he’s already hard, denim struggling against him.

Not used to such a sudden change in demeanor, you reply with a small laugh “Uh, yeah of fucking course you can.” you say matter of factly, trying to hide a bit of how affected you are by him.

Bucky smiles down at you, hands moving to grab your shorts and panties and pull them down together. He kneels in front of your couch, placing your thighs on each of his broad shoulders. The cool vibranium, wrapped around your skin, is a nice reprieve from the warmth taking over your body.

He lets out a small groan as his face meets your heat, your pussy already soaked from just being near him. “God, Doll. Here I was trying to be patient and polite, and you’ve been all bothered this whole time.” his voice is slightly muffled by your thighs.

A gasp leaves you when he licks into your folds, the tip of his tongue ending on your clit. “I just really missed you this week,” you sighed out, voice pitching toward the end as he buries his mouth further into you. His flesh hand kneads at your hip, grabbing you firmer as he hears your sweet sentiment.

Bucky’s mind reels at the implication, at the thought of you having you take care of yourself while he was busy with a mission. His cock pulses in his jeans. The image of you filling yourself with your fingers, his name on your lips, serves to add even more passion to his actions.

His tongue presses into your clit, flicking up lightly then pushing down harder in the way that makes you get louder for him every time. He smiles slightly into your pussy, proud of himself for becoming more familiar with your body. You reach a hand to his face, running your fingers across his scalp as he works at you.

Moans fall helplessly from you, Bucky’s soft hair just long enough to make a fist in. Your eyes move just enough to see the movie still playing, you don’t want Bucky to miss anything, so you reach slightly to grab the remote. He notices your attention shift, and halts his motions. You look back down to him, his beard shiny with you and his breathing labored (the most gorgeous a man could possibly be) and sheepishly smile back at his playful glare.

“I was pausing it so you don’t have to rewind” you innocently offer as an explanation, movie now paused. He smiled back at you, shifting back on his heels and moving his metal hand to your center. You bite your lip at the contrast of his sweet smile between your legs and the aging bruise by his eye.

Bucky lets out a light chuckle while leaning back into you, “thank you sweetheart, you’re so good to me,” he says lowly, “so thoughtful. “ the hum of his voice trails off, traveling to your nerves as he mouths your clit again.

A strangled cry leaves your body as he pushes a thick metal finger into your entrance. Dropping the remote and your mouth falling slack at the penetration. He looks up at you best he can, loving the quick rise and fall of your chest caused by his actions, the way your face screws up against your will. As your body gets used to the intrusion, he slowly adds a second finger to you.

You gently rock your body down into his hand, craving the fullness and stretch you’ve come to know with Bucky. The deep pleasure, like an itch being scratched, blooming low in your belly. Bliss is all you feel, with rain pouring against the windows, the lingering smell of incense, and wavy hair between your fingers.

Your noises get higher pitched, turning to whimpers. The super soldier’s stamina is not breaking in the slightest, if anything he’s given more energy by the neediness of the moans coming from you. He could hear you almost whispering his name and curses, more so to yourself, while he kept his rhythm.

Bucky hums and curls his fingers, stroking into your walls as he continues pushing against your swollen clit with his tongue. He feels the fingers in his hair grasp again, your body contracting around his hand, and the sweet noises cease for a moment. You twitch, and he feels you gush onto his hand, you gasp as doesn’t stop his motions within you. Drawing out your orgasm until your legs begin trembling around him.

“Bucky,” you get out with shallow breaths, “oh my god,” he slows his hand, mouth now idle above your sensitive heat. He eases you down from your peak, catching his breath still buried between your thighs, like he’s trying to breathe you in as much as he can.

He pulls his fingers from your warmth, feeling you involuntarily clench again at the movement. A small noise is drawn from your chest, senses heightened in your post-orgasmic haze. Your eyes have fluttered shut, trying to ground yourself after the intensity in the rest of your body, so you don’t notice him licking his fingers clean of you. You just feel the small kisses he leaves on your pelvis and inner thighs.

After letting himself stare at you in your fucked-out state for a couple minutes, ”be right back, Doll,” Bucky stands and leaves the room for a moment. You hear the bathroom sink running, and open your eyes to see him coming back with a damp washcloth for you.

You’ve both caught your breath, and he’s gently wiping your thighs clean. You can’t help but smile at him, this big strong ex-assassin with battle wounds still healing, kneeled in front of you, cleaning you off like you’re made of porcelain. His blue eyes meet yours, crinkling at the sides when he reflects your loving grin. He stands again and gives you a once-over, checking if he can do anything more for you before leaning down to kiss you.

His lips are soft and swollen from his efforts, you can lightly smell yourself on his mustache over the woody cologne you’ve grown to love. Once you pull away, you feel a shiver run through your body. The sheen of sweat from moments before now cools on your skin. Bucky instantly notices the raised bumps along your arms, grabbing the blanket off the back of your couch and spreading it across you. You’re both quiet as he settles back down into the cushions, lifting your legs up and back into his lap like before, making sure to tuck the blanket around your feet.

You give each other a grin again, playfully you pick the tv remote up off the floor and hit power. The tv had gone dark since you last acknowledged it, and he watched you fondly as you found your way back to the movie that was only 35 minutes in.

He gave your calf a squeeze as you hit play again, and kept quiet when you gave him a look of pay attention to the movie while smiling. He knew it was both of you being horny before, but he’d take the blame any day for you. He’d do anything for you.

[halfadiamond]

You Think It’s Love- Ending A

Not Taking Them Back

Masterlist

Both Endings are being posted consecutively so here is Ending B (taking them back).

You think it’s love when you realize that you’re better off as friends than as lovers.

You still remember the men’s reaction to when you told them that you didn’t think you’d be able to take them back.

Johnny looked like he wanted to cry.

Kyle and John looked a bit caught off guard.

Simon was definitely surprised at your decision but he chose to push it aside to comfort Johnny.

But you were right. John had spoken up, shortly after that, and accepted your opinion and while he didn’t fully agree to it, he’d told you that they will respect your decision but if you’d at least be open to remaining friends.

You’re not sure why but you agreed very quickly. You think it was because you really did enjoy the men’s company even if it didn’t work out between you guys, you didn’t see as to why you guys could not be friends. It may be awkward in the beginning but you were positive that you guys would be able to work it out.

—

It took a bit of work and some space for you guys to once again find what works for your friendship. You’re still happy that you got to keep the guys as friends even if it didn’t work out romantically. To you, love could be platonic, love didn’t need to be kisses and saying I love you, it could be just sitting together talking about anything on your mind and laughing together.

You and Kyle still hung out often going out to eat. You two loved just sitting there and talking (gossiping) about whatever was on your mind.

Johnny started to teach you how to draw, he’d even found a painting class and you two would often attend. You enjoyed the teasing between you two for the works of art you guys had made.

You and John formed your own little movie club where you’d often come over to your former home and watch all sorts of movies. At the end, you two would act as movie critics and discuss what you thought.

While for you and Simon, you two found a system that works for the two of you. You still would join him for his walks or you two would send each other little messages throughout the day. You think out of all of the men, you and Simon had gotten the closest.

—

You knew there was the possibility of the men finding someone else as much as there was a possibility for you. While in your case, you knew that you’d rather work on yourself and enjoy the single life, you couldn’t exactly figure out what the men’s next plans were.

It’s during your walk with Simon that you decided to ask him.

“Hey Simon?”

You heard the little grunt that you knew meant he was listening.

“I know we broke up about three months ago so maybe you guys aren’t even thinking about it. But I was curious do you think you guys would find someone new?”

Actually now that you think about it… you sound like the type of girl that wants to keep an eye on her ex boyfriends because she doesn’t want them dating anyone else.

“A-actually forget what I said! You guys don’t need to tell me about that stuff! I’ll respect whatever you guys want to!”

You stammered slightly, trying to make sure that Simon didn’t think of you as a possessive ex-girlfriend. But to Simon? He never thought of you as one.

“We did talk about it.”

He eyes you from his side, seeing your interest in his statement as you guys continued walking.

“We decided that we probably are better off, not adding anyone else into our dynamic. We have something that works for us, we don’t want a repeat of before.”

You nodded along to what he said. You suppose he’s right. As much as you’d think there’s someone out there who’d fit right in with the men, maybe it’s better sticking with what works for them and them only. But you still wanted to in a way make sure they knew that you weren’t going to stop them from finding someone new.

“You know I won’t stop you guys from finding someone else. I want you guys to be happy, so whatever works for you guys then it’s fine by me.”

“We know.”

And you guys walked quietly together, enjoying the night sky.

—

Sometimes you wonder what would’ve happened if you had taken them back. Would you guys be back at the same situation? Or would you guys found a way to communicate more better? You’re always stuck questioning every probability.

But sometimes? You don’t regret your decision. For you, it wasn’t worth the constant worrying that they’ll ignore you again, it wasn’t worth you not communicating again and leading you guys back to that day.

You think it’s love because in the end all of you guys are happier together as friends than as lovers.

Taglist: @reni502 , @darkangel4121 , @rafaelacallinybbay

To those who are being tagged, I only tagged you on this ending since both endings are posted at the same time, didn’t make much sense to double tag you 😁 unless you specifically asked to be tagged for only a certain ending.

It’s finally done 🥹 lowkey I’m gonna miss it. I didn’t feel right making it a sad ending because I think reader and the men are happy in their own way even if they didn’t get their happily ever after with each other that doesn’t mean they can’t be friends.

Anyways… now it’s time for me to find a new story to start 😭 lowkey I’m using this opportunity of both endings to chit chat a bit with you guys. I hope you guys enjoyed this story and I’ll continue working hard! 🤗

I was thinking for my next story maybe writing this? Like an eventual relationship either poly TF141 or just one of the men? Or maybe instead of Soap being dead it’s another soldier?? Maybe 🤔??

[sage0ftruth]

Hello! I just saw your post abt making an essay on rebutting the “Devsisters ruined ES’s character!” argument in the Hollysugar community,, and I was typing this in those comments but I hit the character limit like a third of the way through XD

I just wanted to share my agreement with your stance alongside why I personally don’t agree with the idea that Eternal Sugar Cookie’s character was ruined,, since I’m new to the fandom space here and thus haven’t seen that argument yet. My blood is BOILING that people don’t understand ES sis let me tell you about it in the form of a long essay

(Spoilers for Beast Yeast episodes 3-10 below)

First of all do not get me wrong, I really like Mystic Flour and Burning Spice (Mystic Flour’s my favourite tbh). The two of them, if you solely compare them, were very different in the way they went about retrieving their Soul Jam. However it would’ve felt extremely repetitive if all the episodes in Beast-Yeast played out the same way. Eps. 6 and 7 held interest, as Pure Vanilla already knew about Shadow Milk and took initiative to find him, and Shadow Milk handled Pure Vanilla differently than the previous two Beasts. It started out as brute force, but developed when Shadow Milk believed he could play mind games on PV to turn him to the dark side, so to speak.

I really like Eternal Sugar’s character and episodes because of this. Hollyberry again takes initiative and goes to find Eternal Sugar to bite the bullet before she comes to her. Since ES is the Beast of Sloth, it makes sense that she didn’t contact Hollyberry first. And even if you don’t like Hollysugar or simply don’t see the two of them that way in canon, all of her actions still make sense.

Think about it: Mystic Flour is a tough cookie (no pun intended). She wants everyone to return to flour, which means having few allies whom she may promise to spare, or who share her ideals and don’t mind working toward that cause. For her, trying to ally with Dark Cacao doesn’t work. Firstly, getting the goddamn ANCIENT OF RESOLUTION to GIVE UP FOREVER is very difficult and not worth the effort if she can just physically and mentally overpower him. Also, her power of just Thanos-snapping people seems to be exclusive to her, so ultimately Dark Cacao would be useless to convert to the cause, unless he also became a Cookie of Apathy and gained powers like hers, which she probably didn’t even know could happen(since if we take the order of Beast-Yeast eps to be chronological, the whole thing with SM and PV happened later), and would also be even MORE difficult than recruiting him as an ally, since he would have to become JUST like her in mindset.

It’s a similar story for Burning Spice. He is a Beast of Destruction, he does not WANT allies (Nutmeg Tiger is an exception). He wants to fight everyone because he finds it fun. Making allies is boring because that means sparing them, and there is nothing from anyone that he thinks he possibly needs. He saw taking back his Soul Jam by force from Golden Cheese Cookie as a welcome challenge after years of not being able to have any fun, and he figured that the Cookie strong enough to deserve his Soul Jam would make great entertainment. He doesn’t do breaking people mentally, unless you count the people in the Spice Desert who do his bidding in fear of being killed, so him working to turn Golden Cheese into an ally doesn’t make sense.

Shadow Milk and Eternal Sugar are both a bit different in that respect. Their specialties are far more mental than physical (Mystic Flour’s could be considered mental, but ultimately the apathy of others is a stepping stone for eventually turning them to dust, so her specialty is more physical than mental imo). Shadow Milk likes spreading lies and rumours until the world is thrown into confusion and torment, and Eternal Sugar likes keeping everyone in her garden where they’ll never get up and do anything again, because everything they could ever want is right at their fingertips.

Eternal Sugar from didn’t ever seem to want to take Hollyberry’s Soul Jam from her, something I and I’m sure lots of others noted from the beginning. As you said in what I could read of your essay, ES could’ve taken it easily at MANY points in eps 9 and 10, most notably at the beginning of ep 10 where Hollyberry was unconscious for an unknown amount of time. Eternal Sugar’s motives for wanting Hollyberry to stay are many, even if you don’t like/don’t see Hollysugar.

Firstly and most importantly, she is the Beast of Sloth, which I feel people who make the argument that “Devsis ruined her character” must have forgotten. When you take the fact that she is slothful into consideration, her wanting to keep Hollyberry around makes a LOT of sense. The most she seems to be willing to do is manipulate her magic to conjure new mental traps in her Garden, otherwise she puts minimal effort into anything (peep her working sprites, she ALWAYS be sleeping on the job). Converting Hollyberry with her spell means doing less work (having Hollyberry run the errands) while also achieving her goal of having everyone remain in her Garden of Eternal Happiness. Work smart, not hard. Not to mention Hollyberry and all of her friends that she brought with her are warriors. Eternal Sugar does NOT want to fight these people, that would be too much work, and mental magic is her specialty anyway so it makes no sense to take her Soul Jam by force.

Secondly, her intentions in general are good, as far as we know. You also mentioned this in your essay. Even HOLLYBERRY at the end of ep 10 after seeing through the haze and being two secs from leaving forever, mentions this to Eternal Sugar. She isn’t like the other Beasts in the sense that she was the Beast of One Thing, then suddenly pivoted to the complete Opposite Thing out of boredom or some twisted kind of enlightenment. Her primary goal in her head still very much appears to be making all Cookies happy, she is just being extremely misguided about it, and the byproduct of her methods of bringing happiness also brings Sloth.

Lastly, you could argue that she’s very lonely (see her yelling “don’t leave” maniacally at the end of ep 10), and sees nothing but pros by letting Hollyberry keep her Soul Jam in exchange for being her closely kept other half. She’s kind of like Shadow Milk in that respect, except she is not afraid to admit that she’s lonely and wants a friend who understands her at her side. She sees Hollyberry for who she is, and sees a piece of herself in her (“you care too much for other Cookies,” “you won’t be able to handle all of the pain out there,” etc.) You could say these were just manipulation tactics which they definitely partially were, but if you accept the previous reason that I mentioned that her intentions are mostly good, then she may also be projecting herself and her past struggles on Hollyberry, and trying to drive her away from the pain that she herself endured and ultimately ran away from.

If people really believe she had ‘character’ besides what we got and that aforementioned (not real) character was RUINED for fanservice purposes, they must have had their eyes closed the entire time they played Beast-Yeast istg 😭

tysm for saying all this bc i totally agree! this was a joy to read, especially from someone who genuinely understood the story. and yes, it is extremely frustrating to see people say these types of things about eternal sugar, especially when shes like, one of my fav characters.

if ur interested, i finished writing the essay and posted it in the hollysugar community if u want to go read it! much love <3

[superfroak]

You make some good arguments in your post, but I have to disagree, because the ending you say you wish happened is already thematically how I interpreted episode 8’s actual ending. Ange does learn to keep the good memories alive and that’s what allows her to move on. And I don’t think the fact that they were horrible people contradicts that because the whole point is that there isn’t a single truth to who they are, Kinzo can be both the horrible rapist and evil father he is, and still have also been the caring grandpa seen in episode 8. This is true of everyone, and to understand this is why you need to look at the characters with love and not just write them off as monsters. Ange did not look at them with love, she spent her whole life hating her family. In fact, I’m pretty sure your point about Eva not giving Ange the truth in order to let herself be a scapegoat is already blatantly true in the text.

I also disagree that the truth she learns in episode 8 wasn’t the worst thing she could have learned. Ange may have said she wanted the truth, and wanted someone to pin the blame on, but in actuality, she would have wanted nothing more than for the answer to be that it was all a freak accident, because that absolves everyone! She’s already spent her life blaming Eva, her only parental figure, along with basically everyone else in her family, and it’s done her absolutely no good in her life, all it’s done is torture her. She looks for the truth in the hope that she will find some truth that will absolve at least some of her family, she won’t have to doubt all of them any more, and in episode 7, she’s presented with what would be the absolute worst possible truth, that her whole family WAS greedy, sociopathic scumbags, and the only one who maybe had some merit and some care to give her, she rejected her whole life and is now dead. This is the truth in which her entire life of hating her family for being horrible, doubting every single one of them, is validated, and that’s why when she finally does see the real truth in ep 8, it’s the worst thing she could have seen, because not only is it something she’s literally already seen and reinforces what she already believed her whole life, but now there’s nothing else to see! There is no truth that will save her, there is no possibility of a truth where her family is absolved, the possibility which the catbox protected. The truth she learns is the worst she could have seen because it gives her absolutely nothing, she literally already knew it! And it means she has no escape.

And this is why her only salvation is to believe in a reality where there WERE kind and genuine moments between her family, even if she was too young to ever see it herself on the island, even if she has no proof. Because the “real” truth she is shown is too impossibly cruel for her to bear, she would never be able to trust anyone ever again, as shown in the trick ending. And she takes those “memories” of her family that saved her and allowed her to move on, and passes them on through her books and the orphanage.

And I think this is what’s truly great about this that I think a lot of people missed. At the end of the magic ending, when Touya visits the orphanage, which is decorated with Halloween decorations, Battler (through him) says that it looks “just like it did that day on Rokkenjima”. This line shows that yes, despite how it was portrayed in all the gameboards before it, Kinzo really DID throw halloween parties for the kids on the island, and it finally validates Ange’s magical belief that a caring version of her family did exist, even alongside all of their attrocities.

Also, side note, I never interpreted Umineko as actually claiming it would never explain its mystery, all it was saying was begging the audience to at least try to engage with the mystery, because the meta story literally doesn’t work otherwise. Any of the goats who provided actual arguments and theories are shown respect even if their theories are cut down, the only ones that are disrespected are the ones who only give arguments that serve as an excuse to not think about it and undermine the whole narrative. I especially think this was poking at people who just wanted to wait for it all to get released and learn the answer as it was coming out, and I think it survives a little bit in the fact that the gameboard murders are never really explicitly laid out, even in Willard’s breakdown it’s only given in cryptic terms that give the major hints but still leave you to go back to the chapter and piece together exactly how it happened yourself, it forces you to at least engage a LITTLE bit to get the answers, which is all it was ever asking of the reader. Even if the ultimate solutions to most of them is just wordplay and lies, I’ll admit that’s kinda lame, I was hoping for overly complicated phoenix wright/danganronpa style solutions considering how convoluted everything else about Umineko’s narrative is, but ultimately not too big a deal for me.

Is it ACTUALLY possible to solve Umineko on your own? Like, realistically?

This article contains no spoilers beyond chapter 2, which is the bare minimum you need to read to even understand what Umineko is about.

As I was reading the answers arc of the Umineko no Naku Koro ni visual novel, also known as Umineko When They Cry, also known as Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru, I wondered:

Can this mystery actually be solved before the story explains the solution? And by “actually” I mean “being an average reader that spends a couple hours thinking really hard about it”, since I assume that it is solvable if you are a die hard fan with 4.000 free hours that is willing to re-read each chapter 10 times and write a book full of notes.

Also, by “possible” I mean that the solution makes perfect sense and can be reached by following logic steps.

I feared that looking up the answer on the internet might produce an accidental spoiler that ruins the whole experience. Still, I took a peek, since I needed some guarantee before committing the time to try and solve it.

I found some threads on reddit where everyone agreed that it was in fact solvable. Some people going as far as claiming they solved it all by episode 4.

So I tried to solve it. I spent some hours on it, rereading some chapter and competitions of red truths. I had some theories, but nothing that neatly explained all the murders. It didn’t look like I could get any further, so I kept reading.

After having finished the whole visual novel, reading over the manga, watching 8 hours of video on youtube, and reading old forums for even more hours, this is my red truth:

It is impossible to properly solve Umineko.

But then, how come that all those people claimed to have solved it themselves?

The truth about those people is that they did not solve Umineko, not by a long shot.

What those people did:

- Figure out a certain twist in the story that heavily implies who the culprit is and assume that’s the solution.

What those people didn’t do:

- Actually go through every murder and provide a proper explanation of how that character could have done it, supported by clues in the game and without contradictions.

Why is it impossible to properly solve Umineko?

- Most of the actions that the culprit must have taken are not hinted at all. - There is no limit on how many culprits/accomplices there are. - There is no guarantee that the accomplices or even the culprit are the same in all the games. - There is no guarantee that the culprit is not killed. - Anything that is not a red truth can be disregarded as “lies of the narration”. - Red truths are valid as long as they are technically true in any possible context or interpretation, which makes them worse than useless (more on this later). - It’s never explicitly stated that the Umineko mystery follows any of the “rules of a good mystery” explained in the story.

So, basically, there isn’t nearly enough information and rules to find the truth. Even if you reached a solution, you could never be sure it is the solution, and coming up with a solution given the listed conditions is unsatisfactory and trivially easy.

Before proving that, let me quickly address the riddle of the epitaph.

Is it possible to solve the riddle of the epitaph?

No.

Why is it impossible to solve the riddle of the epitaph?

Because the solution requires:

- The map of a certain country during a certain time period (none of which are mentioned in the first 4 chapters, I think, and I doubt you could even find it on the internet). - Expert knowledge of Japanese kanjis and a some Chinese. - Solving metaphoric riddles of questionable logic. - To be actually present in Umineko’s world so you can examine and interact with “the door to the golden land”.

However, the riddle of the epitaph is possible to guess.

This is what anyone who claims to have solved the epitaph actually did. They guessed the answer using these 3 steps:

1- Ignore the most convoluted parts of the epitaph and assume the location of the door to the golden land based on what would make sense for the narrative of the story. 2- Solve a play on words by interpreting it in the only way that would fit the description of that place. 3- Roughly guess how opening the door to the golden land could work.

—-

Now, let’s go back to the solution to the murders. I claimed that coming up with a solution given the listed conditions is unsatisfactory and trivially easy.

Let me demonstrate. Here is the solution for all the murders in Umineko assuming the culprit is whatever character you want:

- All the servants, Nanjo, and all the members of the family required to make it work are accomplices. They are either bribed, threatened, convinced or tricked. - Every death is being faked unless stated in red. - Every scene not directly witnessed and described in a literal fashion by Battler is a “lie of the narration”, so it never happened. - If it is stated in red that your chosen character is not the culprit, it is because the word “culprit” is not being used to mean “the mastermind behind the murders” but “the responsible for some particular action” that your chosen culprit is not directly responsible for. - If it is stated in red that your chosen character is not a murderer or did not kill a particular person, it is because while carrying out the murders they were roleplaying Beatrice, so the red truth is considering that the actual murderer is their Beatrice impersonation, not their actual self.

Easy, right? Completely unsatisfactory too.

You would assume that the actual solution is elegant, doesn’t require twisting the red truth so much, and is completely supported by hints, but you would be wrong.

The VN doesn’t even explicitly confirm who the culprit is and it doesn’t go into detail about how each murder was carried out either. However, the manga does. I will refer to this as the “official solution”.

The official solution is so bad and full of holes and contradictions that a lot of people think it’s actually a trap set by the author for “people who stop thinking”.

So there’s 2 possibilities here:

- Umineko is a disappointment and is not solvable. The author did a poor job shoehorning explanations that were not hinted and forgetting details that contradict them. - Umineko is a hidden masterpiece. The author committed to a master trolling and pretended, even during interviews, that the flawed official solution is the truth, all just to hide the proper solution for those who don’t stop thinking. Let’s call this the “hidden solution”.

Why is the official solution so bad? Short edition.

I’ll go into more detail later, but in brief:

- The solution requires fairly ridiculous “anime logic”. - The solution doesn’t follow the rules of a proper mystery that Umineko itself explains. There are no clues to figure out how most of the murders where carried out or by whom. - The are as many clues pointing to the culprit as there are red truths contradicting it. - The solution is willing to disregard basically everything that is not a red truth as “lies of the narration”. - The red truth directly contradicts this solution, unless we interpret it in arbitrary and twisted ways in order for it to mean something else. - The logistics and details of the murders are ignored. Corpses are moved around like pillows. The culprit is never stained by blood. Shots are not heard unless the plot requires so. Etc.

Is it possible to reach the official solution?

It’s possible to figure out who is the official culprit. There are heavy hints for it, hard to see initially, but sorta obvious in retrospect. Since it’s a big twist, you should be fairly certain that you found it when you do.

However, for the reasons listed before, finding the culprit doesn’t allow you to find the solution to the murders, since anyone can be an accomplice, any narration can be a lie and any red truth can be interpreted as something else.

So, what about the hidden solution?

Is it possible to reach the hidden solution?

I’m not saying a hidden, elegant solution doesn’t exist, but for the reasons listed under “Why is it impossible to properly solve Umineko?”, you would never know if it is elegant enough to be the actual truth. It would also certainly require 4.000 hours if not more. Such a hidden truth would require you to disseminate and analyze almost every single word of this 120 hours novel.

However, I don’t see how you can make sense of all the red truths without twisting their logic and meaning so they don’t contradict real facts or one another, which makes me think that the actual solution being bad is more likely than a hidden, perfectly logical solution.

Up until chapter 6, I would have totally bought that the whole story was perfectly thought off up to the last detail, but chapters 7 and 8 are so bad I don’t believe that anymore.

Why is the official solution so bad? Extended edition.

Since I don’t want to spoil it, let me give you a fictional example of a solution that is roughly as bad as the official one, with the same kind of justifications.

The following are not spoilers, just a completely fake theory I just made up that not only appears to fit perfectly as a solution, but also appears to be heavily hinted through the game:

The culprit is Maria. She is actually not 8 but 20 years old. This is the big twist that makes people think they have solved Umineko upon realizing it, regardless of whether it completely fits or not. Then they reinterpret everything as needed to make it look like it’s supporting this truth, as I’m about to do.

This truth is right in your face the whole time, as Rosa is constantly scolding her for not acting her age. It makes no sense that she would be that bothered by it if Maria was actually 8 years old.

This is also heavily hinted by the way Rosa abuses Maria in front of other people while they all allow it. Hitting a 20 years old is not nearly as abusive as hitting an 8 years old.

All the characters agree to treat Maria as an 8 years old since that’s the way she acts and they don’t want to be mean to her, unlike her mother. This is also the reason why she is visually depicted as a little kid; as far as anyone is concerned, she is a little kid. “Without love it cannot be seen”; because they love Maria and respect her personality, they can see her as a kid.

This is all a facade maintained by Maria to trick everyone. She’s such a fanatic of the occult that her mask slips when talking about the topic and she starts acting like the creepy adult she actually is. Another massive hint that’s in your face the whole time.

She’s also shown to know Hebrew and have the whole Bible memorized. There’s no way she could be a little girl.

Even her appearance reveals the truth: She’s the only one who wears a crown, signaling that she’s the queen of the chess game.

If you have read up to chapter 5, you should recall a scene in which a certain character seriously confronts her about the existence of magic as if she was an adult, to the surprise of everyone else, who think this character is being rude. This is another massive hint that she’s actually an adult and everyone is pretending for her sake.

The reason she carries out the murders is because she truly believes Beatrice exists and will be resurrected with the ritual depicted in the epitaph. She is always saying so openly and being unaffected by the murders no matter how grueling they are or if the victim is her own mother.

The kind of person who claims to have solved Umineko would have stopped here and decided the mystery is solved. The twist is obvious in retrospect and it seems like Maria could actually have carried out the murders if she was an adult. It’s obvious that this is the solution, so there’s no need to think it further or go through every murder to check if it actually fits and is supported by clues. This story is a masterpiece!

But now we are on the internet and there are idiots who claim this solution is bad or contradictory, so let’s prove them wrong:

First chapter, first twilight:

Maria enters the parlor with a gun and kills everyone.

Yes, she kills 6 people by herself without missing a shot, even though in later chapters it’s said that the guns in the mansion don’t shoot straight and are very hard to reload for an amateur

She then carries 6 corpses to the storeroom at the other side of the garden all by herself, without getting blood stains on her clothes or on the path to the storeroom, and without anyone hearing a thing.

Later on, Natsuhi also has a gun. This confirms that there are guns in the mansion, so Maria could also get a gun, making this crime hinted and solvable.

First chapter, second twilight:

Maria goes to Eva’s room. Eva has no reason to suspect her, so she lets her in, then Maria kills her and Hideyoshi with the gun she carried hidden on her purse (another big hint; she’s the only one who can carry weapons around without being noticed).

The chain on the door was never set, that was a lie of the narration. This makes sense since Battler himself didn’t witness the scene. Genji and Kanon find the bodies and go tell other people.

While they are out, Maria somehow draws a giant magic circle in blood on the door, without moving the bodies or staining herself, the floor, or the bed where the corpse of Eva is laying. She had drawings of the same circle on her notebook, making this crime hinted and solvable.

You get the point, so let’s skip the rest of the murders and assume they can be explained by Maria somehow.

Let’s assume that in later chapters it is said in red that Maria is dead and her death was a homicide. This might seem to contradict our theory that Maria is the culprit, but it actually doesn’t. The sentence is referring to “Maria the kid”, which is treated here as a different entity from “Maria the adult”, in a similar way as how Maria treats her mother as either her real mother or “the evil witch” depending on whether she’s angry or kind. “Maria the kid” being dead means that she has discarded that facade and won’t use it anymore*. This can be considered a homicide since “Maria the adult” is the one who decides to “kill” her facade.

*She will actually use it one more time when it’s convenient for the plot, but this is treated as a resurrection and doesn’t contradict the truth that “Maria the kid” was dead at that point in time.

All of this makes sense and is solvable.

This is what the official solution apologists believe.

Umineko completely betrays the player.

Umineko is constantly asking the player to solve its mystery, going as far as to insult readers who don’t try hard enough, and seemingly assuring you that the game is perfectly solvable and follows the rules of a good mystery.

All of this is a lie.

I take particular issue with the red truth.

The red truth is introduced in a way that requires trust and cooperation from the player. It is not realistic to think that Battler (or you, the player) would be convinced that a lying witch that is trying to trick you would be trustworthy when explaining the rules of the game or the nature of the red truth.

However, you do the concession because you are, in fact, playing a game. You understand that the game is challenging you to solve it, so some rules must be laid out.

The red truth is accepted as a shortcut to avoid having to read through 2 hours of explanations for every minute detail. You accept that when “character X is dead” is said in red, the purpose is to tell Battler (and you, the player), that you should not waste your time trying to find ways in which the death of character X could have been faked, and for the story to not waste time either trying to deny every possible way to fake that death (which would be futile anyway since you can’t believe anything the witch says).

Red truths are sometimes used for misdirection, but that’s all good and part of the fun as long as they can still be taken at face value and interpreted literally. “Character X didn’t exit the room” tricks you into assuming that character X was inside the room to begin with, but the solution here is to take the red truth literally and don’t make any extra assumptions, not to change the meaning or the context of the red.

Eventually, however, the game provides consecutive red truths that directly contradict each other. The official explanation is that a red truth is valid as long as there is a way in which it could technically be interpreted as true. For example, if you and I are in the same room, I can claim in red that “there’s only one person in the room”, because I’m speaking out of context and by “the room” I’m not referring to this room, but any other room with a single person in it, or because you did cruel things in the past, so I consider you to be a “monster”, not a “person”. Therefore, the red truth “there’s only one person in the room” is no truth at all.

You might think it’s a cool twist that the red is not reliable and the witch was tricking you all along, and I agree that from a narrative standpoint it is.

However, from the point of view of a player being encouraged to try and solve the mystery, it is a complete betrayal of the truth you placed in the game.

The ending of Umineko is awful and the whole “solvable mystery” is a hurtful lie.

[kalied0skull]

sighhh, she's on everyone's brains again, so of course she's on mine too

i had this thought rotating for WEEKS in my head of drawing cowgirl braiding her hair or having braids, something with braids (plaits, if that's your vocab /silly)

and i had finally brought myself around to finding a reference to get it down, so...

now playing: January — Loving ♪

★ ramble under the cut !

( obligatory @broareweabouttoviberightnow & @trevination tags ... it's your girl ! )

wow it's been a while since I've been able to ramble under a cut — haven't had much to say though, so 💀 i guess I can't be that surprised

a bit of a soft instrumental song pick for today because i NEEDED something soft and delicate to play in the background of this scene and looked around for a good song for an HOUR... to find that one. I'm content with it.

it was actually kinda coincidental that she had started showing up again on the dash when i was wrapping up this wip, for some reason it took me literal ages to get finished up BUT i am HAPPY WITH IT! she is GORGEOUS and i love her so so much !!!

every cowgirl drawing of mine so far has been one I'm very proud of, and i think that is such a transgirl W in my books /silly — i really admire drawing her features though honestly ; you can zoom in and see that she has a bit of freckles and a bit of fuzz and a bit of a smile and she is just so AHHHh i love adding the tiny details man ... .

speaking of details, peep the background that i drew out quite a bit of their room ?!! i loved drawing that in there, idk why — something about the drawing at first just looked really blank, she needed a bit of environment. and like, finding reference photos for the room is actually kinda hard ??? 😭 at least for me it is, idk, maybe I'm just looking in the wrong spots /nm+silly

i like to imagine that cowgirl had to kind of learn both by herself & with her brothers how to braid, learning from whatever rare interaction she had with Mama when she tried braiding soda's hair when they were babies, and then here and there from angela too i think ... it's an interesting concept ; angela & cowgirl sharing their femininty, i mean (in a good way, i like their dynamic a lot in that aspect)

but look at how proud and content she is in this moment doing it all by herself! :D

i like to think she becomes quite the pro of doing twin braids, not even having to stress to use a mirror to get it centered, she's got it on LOCK (there are curls flying out EVERYWHERE. she is looking a MESS. but it's okay, it's only for sleep anyways) and she does them eeeevery night before bed

i know it doesn't look much like it, but she is in fact wearing sleep fabrics 💀 the skirt looks kind of jean-y with the color, but i have this vision of girly reaaaally liking blues to wear, so .. .. blah. AND ALSO LIKE? it's a good contrast with the background, so who cares, you shouldn't 🤨 /silly

anyways, when finishing up this draft i went down a RABBIT HOLE of the cowgirl tag & pinterest just trying to find a good outfit inspiration for her, she was originally gonna have PANTS actually (like sleeping pajama pants ykyk) but i changed my mind when i remembered this doodle gif i had of her being in this exact outfit and shaking her around in a jar (for context, it was for an ask that read "shaking cowgirl curtis up in a jar" to which i replied: "real." and made this)

in the outfit she originally IS sleeveless, but... it's my outfit, who gives a fuck /silly

anyways, i worried a bit she looked too much like cherry here BUT ALSO... my cherry design honestly does not look much like cowgirl so 💀 i think it's just a lighting concern is all i had in the moment, i think she looks fine though

either way, it's always such a delight to doodle a headcanon design ; cowgirl is so so dear to me ... i love her very dearly :'3

speaking of headcanon — i feel as though it's mandatory to say " happy pride month everynyan " in this post as i have been with all my other pride related posts, so happy pride month !

(if you follow the Pride Calendar (do people still do that?) we're in our acespec section of the month, BUT... hey we can still celebrate mtf a few days in advance :3)

alright I'm all out of ramble juice, it's past my usual sleeping time SO !!! i hope this drawing is enjoyed and loved ... i put all of my enjoyment and love into it /silly+gen ... and good morning, good evening and goodnight to anyone reading !!!

[katieaki]

My ✨ post-apocalyptic Lesbian Cowgirl Mailman choose-your-own adventure✨ has just updated! Read it here for free on my Patreon and vote in the poll! Here is a guide to get you started, the summaries of each part of the story thus far, the complete collected text, and FAQ, all in one place. They have everything you need to know about Lou, her requited-but-complicated love, the religious assassin who just beat the tar out of her, the worst person she's ever met, and the ill-advised journey she is on! There is also a discord where Pony Express readers from all across god's green internet can gather, here!

✨Read the update for free on my patreon & vote on what happens next!

✨ Excerpt below the cut.

“If I stay not-dead, it’s gonna be awkward for me, going back and telling my mama that actually, I ain’t as dead as all that, after all,” Lou said. She passed Artie the end of the blanket and Artie pulled it over herself. It was good to have her thighs covered back up. Lou had a hard time not looking at them.

“You don’t have to tell her,” Artie said. “It’s not like she’d know.”

“She’s my mama, Artie,” Lou said. “I can’t just let her go all around, thinking I’m dead.”

“It sounds like she wasn’t much of a mother to you,” Artie said. “You said she’d be happy if you were dead. So let her be happy.”

“I ain’t gonna lie to my mama,” Lou said. 

It was true that, except for the weekly income, her mother’s life wouldn’t change a lick if Lou was dead. She hadn’t seen her in a decade. They didn’t write each other letters. Her mother had never seen her compete, or even practice. Her mother probably hadn’t seen her in the saddle since her father was still leading her around on Partner, except to see her leaving down the dirt road on the two occasions that Lou had visited home. The only way that she knew Lou was moving around was that her return address changed. Not that she used it. When she’d dreamed about her mother– or visited her, she still wasn’t sure– her mother had said that she’d planned to send Lou a birthday card. It would have been the first thing she’d ever sent her. She didn’t know who Lou’s friends were– or, more accurately, that she didn’t have almost any– or if she had any love in her life. She didn’t even have any sad, lingering possessions of Lou’s to deal with. Lou was as good as dead to her, anyway. 

It was strange. None of this was news to her. She’d been bitter and torn up and guilty about it for years. Decades, at that point. But she’d never once considered just stopping. She’d shorted her mother’s money before, which was how she thought of it if she made any purchase that was anything less than absolutely necessary outside of her meager self-appointed allowance. She’d wished nearly constantly that she had been able to save up a little money to make her feel a little safer, but it hadn’t been possible because it had to go to her mother. She’d had weeks where she couldn’t even afford more than a couple of dances with Venus, which was really what she’d been living for before she left Hereafter. Still, throughout all of that, she’d never just thought that she could stop. Her mother would have no way of finding her if she stopped writing between moves, even if she felt compelled to try, which she wouldn’t. Even if she wrote Lou a letter and it got forwarded on, Lou would perfectly honestly be able to say she didn’t know what it said. 

“You wouldn’t even have to lie. Just don’t go out of your way to correct her misconception,” Artie said. She kept jiggling her foot, then forcing herself to stop, before jiggling it again. 

“She’s still my mama,” Lou said. “She brung me into the world. I owe her.”

Artie opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then pressed her lips together again.

[pinksilvace]

Fern guides their mutuals and followers through Cats 1998 as if we're all sitting on the same couch watching it and I'm shouting out stuff (1/?)

MASTERPOST

Character Wiki Pages

Warning: there's going to be a LOT of bias in these posts

Okay, before we get started, there are a couple of characters in here that are given their US names with UK designs. Accordingly, these characters will be referred to with their US names, though their descriptions on the wiki will correspond with UK names. For navigation:

US -> UK Plato -> Admetus Pouncival -> Carbucketty Tumblebrutus -> Bill Bailey

I've seen folks use "Plato" and "Admetus" interchangeably, but interestingly, I tend to see "Pouncival" and "Tumblebrutus" associated with the 1998 designs when used in fan works - perhaps because these are incredible names, or perhaps because that's just the sort of influence that Cats 1998 has had on the fandom.

(not to mention, "Bill Bailey" in particular has been used to refer to several designs, including Tugger's chorus outfit in recent US-based productions)

Alrighty, onto the show!

1: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats

Okay, first things first, this cat ^^^ is Demeter. She's the first cat seen onstage because she's Really Freaking Important. I'd argue that she's the second most important character, after Grizabells, and that's because Cats deals with two sources of conflict: Macavity's interference and Grizabella's anguish. Demeter is the character that connects these two conflicts. We'll talk about it more later.

Where was she in Cats (2019)? Well, you see, she doesn't have a song about her and her design isn't one of the most instantly recognizable, so I guess she wasn't deemed important enough to keep. This decision sent out ripple effects that completely overturned the characterizations of other characters, but that's a rant I need not get into now.

I have Feelings about Demeter's exclusion

The cat on the left here is Munkustrap; his role is to be the Jellicle tribe's protector. You'll see him a lot and never learn his name, but this context is important, since he acts as the narrator. I'm putting Alonzo (right) here too because he's the #2 protector/Munkustrap's second in command but he's a little worse at the job, has almost no lines, and has way less charisma (affectionate), so you might not know that if I don't tell you.

(another side tangent: one of Alonzo's character adjectives is "uncertain", and sometimes actors play this up until the idea he's a protector is practically comedic. Depending on how you interpret his character, he's either new to the job or prefers to keep to himself... or both. There's some additional backstory there I might get into later that's not 1998-specific.)

Also, I can't watch this part anymore without thinking about this video from Sean McManus.

^ Tumblebrutus tumble moment #1

This is Cassandra. She's very recognizable. The camera loves her. You will see her a lot and wonder what her deal is, but the truth is that she has no plot relevance and barely interacts with the other characters. In the 2015 Tecklenberg production, she pretty much just stood and danced in a very specific corner of the stage the whole time, and... it's not not accurate to her usual role. I guess those are just side effects of having the adjectives "haughty, disdainful, aloof."

Oh yeah, you'll probably want to know what the deal is with these two as well. These are Coricopat and Tantomile. They're psychic and (probably) twins. I think that's the important information but it's good to know because it makes a lot of stuff later on make sense.

Victoria has a number of lifts throughout the show - maybe more than any other character, though I've never gone through and counted. In the US revival choreography, at least one of these is in an attempt to reference her connection to the Jellicle Moon, but it could also refer to her arc of maturity (more on that in the white cat section) and how she's "ascending" out of kittenhood.

The placement of this row makes me SO HAPPY whenever I see it. Cassandra's on the far side because she doesn't like hanging out next to anybody. Plato is next to Alonzo because Alonzo is the #2 protector and Plato might someday be the #3. Alonzo is with Munkustrap because of the aforementioned protector stuff and also (headcanon) because Alonzo has anxiety and Munkustrap is his ESA. Munkustrap and Tugger are brothers (more on that in the Old Deuteronomy section). Tugger and Mistoffelees are together in more ways than one (more in that in the Mr. Mistoffelees section). Mistoffelees and Skimbleshanks are beside one another because they're buddies in this production. Coricopat is at the other far end because he's tall.

Beautiful.

^ Live footage of Pouncival clutching his ears because Jenny only usually only raises her voice while repremanding him, ft. Tumblebrutus pog

Girl help your cats are gnc as hell

(this will not be the first time I mention it, but the London Alonzo and Admetus makeup designs >>>>>)

AGH these actors are so expressive it drives me wild... cats musical actor improvisation and creative expression my BELOVED

^ Whenever I see this shot, I always think of what a good reference it is for seeing the back of Alonzo's wig lol. I actually relly like that this design has the dots going all the way to the sides rather than just being spots.

It's a running gag in the fandom that you have to shake your head when they say "statistical cats", and it's true. I do it every time. I can't even hum this song without shaking my head anymore.

2: The Naming of Cats

You will hear a lot of the cats' names in this part. The camera will not zoom in on those cats in correspondence. I wish it did.

This is a good time to bring up levels when it comes to character age and how it relates to general choreography. With the exception of Demeter (and, arguably, Rumpleteazer - more on that in the M&J section), all of the characters in the front row here (specifically, on the ground) are supposed to be kittens. There are a few missing (Tumblebrutus, arguably Plato and Mungojerrie - more on Plato in the Grizabella segment), but in general, if the cats are moving as a crowd as they do here (and, more notably, in Old Deuteronomy), with some standing and some crawling, the ones crawling are likely the kittens.

In theory, this visual distinction makes sense, as being closer to the ground makes the actors look smaller, but this never got across to me until I started learning more about the show outside of watching this production.

I simply cannot imagine how many people have paused at this section for referencing the makeup designs

(also teehee plato makeup my beloved!!!!!!!!!)

Omg hiiiii Plato - Alonzo - Munkustrap order again <3

Speaking of order: beside Munkustrap is Chorus Deuteronomy, and on Deut's other side is Tugger. When the formation splits into chunks, those three are the only ones in the row. This is because they're implied (very loosely) to be family. Once again, more on that in the Old Deuteronomy section.

I've always loved how the color saturation gets weird here. Grayscale Mungojerrie ily

3: The White Cat Solo

I think this section gives the audience a false impression of Victoria's importance; it's probably the very reason she was chosen to be the protagonist in Cats (2019), even though throughout most of the show, she serves a lesser function than around half of the other characters.

This is where we start toppling into the Cats iceberg. Remember how I mentioned two main sources of conflict earlier? Think of those as Plot #1 (Grizabella re-joining the Jellicles/The Jellicle Choice) and Plot #2 (Stop Macavity from wreaking havoc). Because this show is about a collection of characters (rather than just one) with each having their own stuff going on, it gets a lot deeper than that, and that's why it's so difficult to hear folks say that Cats has no plot or very little plot. I would argue that Cats has so many plots - and, subsequently, themes - that it can't spend a huge amount of time on any of them, but that's a thought for another post.

Victoria's story deals with one of Cats' other prominent themes: female sexuality. Sexuality in general, sure, but I'd say that the representation of female sexuality in here is so much more diverse than that of male sexuality that it's become its own topic, and I'll be referencing it in a few other numbers.

On this particular night, Victoria is coming into her own. She's maturing. She'll have her first mating experience, and by the next ball, she might not be considered one of the kittens anymore. This is especially important because she is the white cat, and white, for better or worse, is the color associated with purity. I love that the white cat is the one who has a romantic/sexual experience taking place within the runtime of the show itself, and I love that it's portrayed as a wonderful thing. We'll cover that more during the Jellicle Ball portion of these posts.

Not to be weird about it, but this is a great section for seeing the construction of the unitards, which consist of six seams: one down the back, one around the inside of the legs, one down each arm, and one connecting each sleeve to the torso. The closures are typically snaps or hooks in the shoulders, which are concealed by the fluffy bits of the costumes, with the exception of Cassandra, who I've seen a few different closure designs for. I also hear that some of the unitards have darts around the waist to help them fit better.

This is a good spot to mention a common headcanon for Victoria: that she is deaf. This headcanon is rooted in a few different things.

First, she is the only cat to have a moment about herself in which there are no sung words; everything is communicated through body language. The closest another cat comes to this is Mr. Mistoffelees, whose role is written such that the actor may or may not have singing parts, but typically, he'll still have lines outside of his own number.

Second, relating to that: I think there's only one part in the show where Victoria's voice is distinct, and that's when she shares two lines about the Jellicle Moon with Jemima during the Song of the Jellicles. They both maybe-sort-of get messages from the Jellicle moon, so whether she actually hears what she's saying is unknown.

Third, as a friend of mine likes to point out: there's a moment during the Jellicle Ball number in which she dances out of sync with everybody else, which can be taken as her not hearing the music.

Fourth: white cats are deaf in much higher rates than any other. Up to 20-ish% of white cats without blue eyes, up to 40% of white cats with one blue eye, and up to 80-85% of white cats with two blue eyes are born deaf. Coincidentally, I've seen a lot of fanart depicting Victoria with blue eyes, both in conjunction with this headcanon and not.

4: The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball

"This is the part where they explain the plot!" I always hear people say. Yes, this is where they explain Plot #1. To paraphrase:

Old Deuteronomy, leader of the tribe, will come and choose a cat to be reborn into another of their nine lives later in the night. This is seen as an honor and isn't weird or culty like a lot of people passingly familiar with Cats like to say. They're not competing to die; they're celebrating somebody's life and wishing them the best for what comes after.

No, Macavity doesn't want to be chosen. He just wants to wreak havoc. Cats (2019) made that part up because it got rid of Demeter.

^ This bit of choreo is probably where Cats (2019) got the idea of shipping these two, which is a bit odd, considering they literally both have pairs presented. rip Plato I guess

Pouncival pouncing moment #1

You'll notice that Munkustrap constantly has his legs wide apart. It's widely speculated that this is because the kitten characters love to dive through them, and he doesn't want their skulls bashing against his kneecaps all the time.

^ Victoria Jellicle moon moment (+ another being out of sync with the choreo moment)

I've officially run out of images but I really like this part where Munkustrap greets all of the cats. He has some really cool relationships in this show and it's worth going through in slow motion once you're more familiar with the characters. Anyway, this is Electra, and she's one of the kittens. Whenever fans decide that one of the kittens is Munkustrap's, it tends to be her, since she's always SUPER excited to interact with him and he's very warm with her.

In this section, I also really like how cordial he is with Jellylorum, how gentle he is with Demeter, and whatever he's got going on with Alonzo.

Bonus: Monochromatic siblings staging placements (yes I will probably do this every time because it's fun for me)

Bonus #2: Alonzo actors always raising their chins, my beloved

[northern-passage]

i thought there was a call to boycott the entirety of black friday and cyber monday?

i think there are people on tumblr & twitter that are advocating for a full boycott (which is good), but specifically with BDS & according to their website they're just calling for a targeted boycott against puma, HP, and marvel for black friday and cyber monday (along with the other targeted companies)

personally, i'm also boycotting starbucks (for their treatment of unionized workers) as well as a few of the other companies not listed in the immediate full boycott list.

as of 11/22 on their twitter, this is what they shared:

1. Consumer boycott targets - The BDS movement calls for a complete boycott of these brands carefully selected due to the company's proven record of complicity in Israeli apartheid.

2. Divestment targets - The BDS movement is pressuring governments, institutions and investment funds to exclude and divest from as many complicit companies as practical, especially weapons manufacturers, banks, and companies listed in the UN database of business involved in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, as well as the WhoProfits and AFSC Investigate databases of companies enabling the occupation. Below we give some of the targets we are campaigning against.

3. Pressure (non-boycott) targets - The BDS movement actively calls for pressure campaigns against these brands and services due to their complicity in Israeli apartheid. We have not, on strategic grounds, called for a boycott of these brands and services, instead we strategically call on supporters and institutions to mount other forms of pressure on them until they end their complicity in Israeli apartheid.

4. Organic boycott targets - The BDS movement did not initiate these grassroots boycott campaigns but is in support of them due to these brands openly supporting Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

ultimately the companies listed under the first category you absolutely should be boycotting 100%.

and i'm not going to tell you to not also boycott black friday, especially since it coincides with the temporary 4-day "truce." like i said, i know there are groups that have been advocating for a full boycott this weekend along with protests; there were hundreds today, from Washington, DC, to Massachusetts, to California, to Florida... i shared the creator's day because they do that every other month or so on itch.io anyways & i wanted to link the BDS information alongside it. they may update in the future as well and call for more targeted boycotts as the holidays ramp up so i suggest bookmarking the website or following them on twitter, and look for a campaign near you to get involved directly.

BDS has also called for a global day of action on November 29th, which includes intensifying all targeted boycotting campaigns.

[youling-the-ghost]

hey, random person on the internet, maybe don't do this?

[atopvisenyashill]

do love how this is an asoiaf blog but i did not put either show in my top 10 this is the world we live in

[shantechni]

Self sabotage is saving a post to your drafts and promising yourself to reblog it when you get the chance to add what you want to the op's point, only to completely forget about the post because you like to save things to your drafts like you're on Pinterest.

[curiouselleth]

I don’t usually swear but FUCK DRM on blu ray discs. Rant under the cut.

spent $50 on a disc drive that I could plug into my laptop that could play dvd and blu ray discs. (because my normal player doesn’t want to communicate with my laptop.)

DVD works perfectly. I move on to testing it with a blu ray disc to see if I need to download a software that can handle blu ray. Doesn’t work.

I try two new, rather sus, softwares the user guide recommended. Nope. Doesn’t work.

At this point I ask my friend who’s training to be an IT person.

I show them the issue and what pops up. They find something that’s supposed to fic VLC media player so it can play blu ray discs.

I give them remote access to my laptop so they can do that, because it was too much to walk me though.

They spend at least a half hour doing that.

NOPE. Still doesn’t work. We try a few more things and download 3 or 4 new softwares to try. We try a different blu ray disc. Even the most recommended shady software they found.

NOPE.

NOTHING. WORKED.

Nothing could get around the DRM. (Digital rights management, I just learned a tiny bit about it. It’s so stupid.)

I’m screaming. My friend who tried to help is too.

I just wanted to be able to watch the hobbit extended edition when I’m not home and to be able to privately stream it to friends. I wasn’t actually even going to violate the copyright.

I am a disappointed puddle and going to try to get ready for bed and maybe sleep now. 😔😭

[hoshanti]

lady got passive aggressive with me bc she missed her opportunity to apply

[wraenata]

And with that, I have answered all the birthday wishes I received! I was so blown away by all the love I received from you guys! I'm just so sad it took me a whole week to answer them all :(

My week has just kinda been like charmander up here, just so increasingly exhausted every day. My doctors appointment is in 2 weeks and I hope we can find a solution to this ever growing fatigue!

Did you know that fatigue is a common symptom for hypothyroid issues, and that 17% of women will have thyroid issues before they turn 60? Not gonna lie I really hope its that, because that sounds easy to fix.

I'm sorry for the lack of reblogs and tags, I hope to get back to them soon.

[cloneboywonder]

im so CWCcoded