#and from what i can tell she has not lost those traits. if anything she is leaning harder into them than ever

[areyouwho-ithinkyouare]

saw my old school bestpal’s mum today and i haven’t spoken to said friend in YEARS but now i’m like. do i message her like “sold joanne a blouse today lol”

[koimethehorizon]

Amazing Digital Circus Theory: Gangle is an NPC

Sooo, I wasn’t expecting to talk about this show. I was perfectly content to just enjoy Digital Circus as is.

It’s a show that invites theories as to what exactly’s going on with the setting and characters, but I didn’t have much room to think too hard about it. Who’s Abel? Is Pomni really a human? Why is this VR game emulating an N64 game at the start? I like the show plenty, but it just wasn’t as interesting to go hard on any of those questions at the time.

But with this recent episode… a single, perhaps throwaway line got the brain nagging. And it’s kind of a bizarre one to waste hours analyzing.

Okay, so yeah, it’s a joke on submissive and breedable. (Don’t give them ideas) But try taking it at face value.

What does he mean by this? Sure, Jax is an asshole, and being a bullied kid is Gangle’s whole archetype… but what if it means a little more than that?

Gangle’s trapped for all eternity this asshole and she’s just letting him boss her around. Zooble can choose not to participate, so no one has to. Why does Gangle listen to Jax at all?

Let's entertain a thought: Is Gangle an NPC?

With Episode 2 bringing so much attention to the autonomy of NPCs, it seemed natural to start pointing fingers at characters being this or that. But this isn't just a random crackshot, I feel that there is a story to tell here.

Look back at Pomni’s “orientation” with the other humans. Ragatha, Zooble, and Jax ease her by saying that they’ve been trapped in this world for years and then bring attention to Kinger being the oldest.

But Gangle… she’s isolated from the peanut gallery, busy moping about the broken comedy mask instead.

Every character has been given some hints as to how they’ve been coping with the situation. Jax no longer empathizes with anything, Ragatha once had trouble adjusting but now tries to stay happy, Zooble picks and chooses her involvement, Kinger is the eldest and just exists for the hell of it, and Pomni is new to everything.

With Gangle, it’s a blank. No opinion, no hints of her human side, how long she’s been here, no thoughts on the games, nothing. She’s just Jax’s punching bag.

Even Kinger gets a potshot on Gangle in a rock-paper-scissors game…. and he likely forgot that she doesn’t have hands!

And that brings me to another detail. Doesn't Gangle look different from the others?

Unlike everyone else, Gangle's just a mask and a ribbon. No hands or legs, or just any limbs in general. She stands out as looking a bit simpler than the others.

Gangle's most interesting design trait is that she's based on comedy and tragedy masks. The ones used old Greek theater to dictate the emotions of their characters.

The first episode seems to imply that with a broken comedy mask, Gangle literally can’t stay happy. Hence why we see her sad most of the time. That's a strange limitation if Gangle's human mind is supposed to be completely intact, especially with how expressive the other characters can be.

It's not delved into too much but does Gangle actually rely on these masks to "feel" emotions?

The obvious hole is that Caine would’ve just killed her a while ago if she was an NPC, but he's not exactly omniscient.

He even admits that he has to kill them off because it’s possible for him to lose track.

Now normally I could just stop here, but I’m all about the grand statements. You know, the retroactive readings of an episode once you get a theory going. Why does Gangle being an NPC matter at all? How does Ep 2 change?

While deep diving, I realized that the thematic core of Episode 2 is Pomni and Jax’s approaches to surviving the Digital Circus.

In Pomni’s A plot, we see her connecting with Gummigoo, the NPC that Caine pitted their group against. After discovering him lamenting his new reality, she finds a strange comfort in being existentially lost together. Because in the end the NPCs and the humans are just as displaced and frightened in this meaningless world.

In Jax’s B plot, he forces Gangle to follow some insane orders. Sabotage the game to let the big chocolate turd monster destroy the Candy Kingdom. To Jax, he is the main character. Helping or displeasing this giant population of fake people doesn’t have any consequence for him, so why humor anyone but yourself?

A bit of a stretch, but what if Jax already knows Gangle is an NPC and is keeping it quiet as long as Gangle follows orders, hence the “submissive” comment? He’d be a way more unpleasant character with this reading, but it doesn’t seem off the cards with how he treats everyone anyway.

This dichotomy already plays out well within the episode, but when reframing it as Pomni and Gummigoo vs Jax and Gangle, the parallel is a lot more interesting.

Make an NPC an equal, they die. But keep an NPC under wraps as long as they continue to obey you… they live.

The episode ends with a grim conundrum that NPCs can’t be together with the humans, not because of their differences but because they're just... not allowed to be. But what if one already in the group, proving that they’re just as capable as the humans to play the games and grieve loved ones together?

PS. Despite knowing everyone else's name, I actually forgot Gangle's until I started finding evidence for this intrusive thought. Sorry Gangle.

PSS. I couldn't fit this anywhere, but Gangle's door frame doesn't work as evidence against the NPC theory, because even the mannequins have their own rooms in that hallway.

[fidothefinch]

the sun will come out (tomorrow)

Jason was quiet as he climbed into the back seat of the Lexus.

Alfred gave him a thorough but subtle check over before he shut the door for his young charge. Nothing in his school uniform was amiss. His backpack looked lighter than usual, but then, he wouldn’t have as much homework today, due to the field trip. His pallor was acceptable, though his expression was that of a child who had seen too much of the world, much too early.

As he returned to his own seat, Jason’s forehead knocked gently against the glass of the window.

“How was your school trip, Master Jason?”

Jason inhaled shakily. “It was okay.” At Alfred’s silence, he continued, voice fractured, “I’m just ready to go home.”

Alfred hummed. “Of course.” He mentally scrapped his conversation starters as he pulled the car back into traffic. Jason had been buzzing with excitement all week, all month, leading up to the day. One of the theaters on Grand Avenue had arranged a special showing for the school children of Gotham. Alfred had expected no less than several hours’ worth of excited conversation, analyzing the musical motifs, dialogue, and themes of the show.

Despondence radiated from the back seat.

They had reached the outskirts of the city center when Jason’s small voice asked, “Am I a bad person?”

“Of course not!” Alfred was quick to reply. “Whatever would give you that idea?”

“But I’m not. . . plucky.”

“I overhear your conversations with Master Bruce, and I beg to differ.”

“No, really.” Jason scooted forward until his elbows could rest across the shoulders of either seat in the front, no doubt disregarding the parameters for effectively wearing a seat belt. “I don’t think I am. I don’t—I didn’t . . . .” he trailed off, clearly struggling to voice his thoughts.

“Does this have something to do with your field trip?”

Jason’s frame sagged, and he slipped back into his own seat again. “Annie never gave up hope,” he muttered.

Alfred’s heart stuttered at the name. If he and Bruce had realized which musical was showing this year—

“Camille and Ashton kept staring at me, and then on the bus ride back to school they kept whispering, and I was going to let it roll off my back, just like you always said. But then we were discussing it in class after, and Mrs. Mayhew was talking about ‘optimism’ and how it’s a good character trait. A-and,” Jason stuttered, breath hitching. “Ashton asked me if I could relate to Annie because I’m an orphan.”

Alfred sucked in a sharp breath, anger sparking in his chest. Before he could say anything, Jason barreled on.

“And then him and Camille started asking me a bunch of stuff about—about living on the street, and my mom? And I don’t know who, but someone else said—” and Jason’s breath hitched into a sob. “Said I wasn’t even a good orphan unless I was plucky like Annie.”

“Oh, Master Jason,” Alfred breathed. “Your classmates had no right to make demands like that. And they certainly have no right to tell you how you should feel or behave.”

Jason needed several seconds to collect himself, and still his voice was watery. “I know, but aren’t they right? I stole, and-and I did what I had to to survive. But I—there were times—I thought I was going to die. I lost hope, and-and what good can I be if I don’t have hope?”

Alfred waited a moment to reply, collecting his thoughts and wrestling his emotional reaction down. Jason’s quiet hitched breaths and sniffs filled the silence.

“Hope can be found again,” Alfred finally said, choosing his words carefully. “And I have much more respect for those that find hope than those who never faced losing it. Master Jason, you were a child in an impossible situation, and your resilience and capacity for kindness is a testament of your hope.”

A long sniff from the back seat.

“You give me hope,” Alfred admitted. He pictured the change he had witnessed in Bruce, the lightness Jason had brought to the Manor in Dick’s absence. That one of Gotham’s children could be exposed to the worst she had to offer, and yet still yearn to work toward her betterment, changed his outlook for the city.

“Thanks, Alfred.”

Later, there would be phone calls to make, poetry to slip under Jason’s door, hot chocolate to make. Right now, Alfred let his composure slip just a moment, and found Jason’s red-rimmed eyes in the rear-view mirror.

“Of course, Jason.”

[lover-of-mine]

Okay, I said I was gonna make a post about the way I believe Ryan is playing Eddie as in love with Buck because of the way he makes certain choices about Eddie regarding Buck that are similar to the ones he made about Eddie regarding Shannon, and this is it.

The whole thing started with the way Eddie looks away from things that make him experience intense feelings, but mostly when he doesn't like what he's feeling in a sense. He looks away from Shannon all of the time, when they're fighting, before she goes to the school, and in the firehouse, when she says she wants a divorce.

He's avoiding his parents eyes when they are trying to take Christopher, he looks away from Frank all the time.

He can't look Buck in the eye when Buck is trying to tell him that Chris got lost in the tsunami, he looks away from Ana because he knows he's hurting her (he does force himself to watch Shannon as she dies but I feel like that's a lot more about his loyalty/instinct to protect because that moment is fully about her because she's dying).

That's a consistent trait Ryan gave Eddie, he looks away, I think it even makes sense with the way Eddie runs away from stuff. And that makes moments when he's avoiding eye contact with Buck that much more interesting.

Because take 3a for example, buddie has quite a few emotional conversations, but during those, Eddie is mostly always staring Buck down or actively trying to force Buck to look at him (except when it comes to the fight club but the fight club is a lot more about shame in my opinion).

But when you look at the will reveal for instance, Eddie is consistently forcing himself to look back at Buck. His instinct seems to be to keep looking forward, and he needs to remember to look at Buck from time to time. (I'm not gonna put the whole scene here, but go rewatch and pay attention to where Eddie is looking)

And sure, the way Eddie simply refuses to look at anything relating to Buck's death can be seen as just "my best friend died" because any reasonable person would have an extreme reaction to watching their best friend die.

But, I don't see how that applies in the cemetery. Because Buck says "she sees me" and Eddie gives him that disbelief look and then just, stops looking. Honestly, there's no reason for that conversation not to involve them looking at each other, the point that's made that they are looking straight ahead is very interesting on its own but, like, when you add the fact that Eddie looks away from shit he doesn't want to feel/wants to run away from, that conversation has a whole other fun layer.

Even more with the way that Buck is lowkey looking like a kid tugging on your sleeve to get your attention and Eddie just refuses to look at him.

But my point really comes to the fact that these are all the same reaction.

And how do you explain the decision to make Eddie react the same way he does when Shannon is asking him to make a decision about them and then when she makes the decision herself by asking for a divorce when he thinks Buck has made a decision about them so he needs to back off?

That's his breakup face, plain and simple.

And it's not a reaction Eddie has to Shannon once, is something that is consistent with the way we see Eddie reacting to Shannon, and I personally think its a lot of the way it makes us never feel sure about the relationship, because Eddie is consistently presented to us when it comes to this as "I love her but I'm not sure about having her around". And these are his reactions to moments where Shannon makes him question where they stand. Moments where he's questioning if he actually understands where their relationship is.

You can't have Eddie question the nature of his relationship with Buck just because Buck has a crush and tell me that Eddie is experiencing purely platonic feelings.

And these are acting choices, and Ryan is very consistent about the way Eddie reacts to stuff, so the fact that he is wearing his "Shannon is making me feel thing" face says something.

I also said earlier today that Eddie is aware of his feelings because he stops saying emotional things while looking at Buck. Like, after the tsunami he is literally chasing Buck's gaze to force him to look at him, he doesn't look away from him at the grocery store or when they make up after the lawsuit or even after Buck fights with his parents, but starting with the will reveal, he looks away when saying things, and it makes me wonder if there's a level of that that is about making sure Buck can't read his reaction to what he's saying, because he doesn't want Buck to look too closely.

Anyway, that's all for today, as always, if you read this I love you <3

[darks-ink]

Welcome back! I saw you are taking story ideas so I wanted to submit two of the prompts I wrote for Phic Phight.

1) Danny's excuse when someone notices the resemblance between Fenton and Phantom and comes too close to his secret: The ghost is his dead twin who he ate in the womb. This might have more truth to it than he originally thought.

2) Long ago Clockwork had and lost a child, the young Ancient of Space. Even with his Sight of time, he could never see what became of them, only that they disappeared. Now another being that evades his Sight has crashed into his existence. Another child, and this one a boy with the stars in his eyes and the cold of space in his veins.

I hope you like either of these!

Thank you! I went with #1, but admittedly it turned out a little short.

Duplicity

Rating: Gen Warnings: focuses on vanishing twins & the formation of ghosts, especially in connection to each other Words: 770 Additional Tags: Post-reveal, Good Fenton parents

[AO3]

---

“You know, one thing still confuses me about ghost cores.” Danny resisted the temptation to fidget when three pairs of eyes turned to him. “Or, uh, the cores of half-ghosts, at least?”

“Do tell, Great One, and perhaps I can answer.” Frostbite turned further to face him.

“Well, um.” Danny’s eyes darted over to his parents, briefly, before returning to Frostbite. “Isn’t it kinda weird that my core is more stable than Dani and Vlad? Like, I thought Dani was just because she was a clone, so she was destabilizing, but apparently Vlad got really sick as he was developing his powers? But I was, well, fine?” He shrugged, unsure of how to put his thoughts into words.

His mother hummed thoughtfully, but didn’t say anything. Neither did his dad, though he did frown.

“Of course not. Both other half-ghosts you refer to had to develop their own cores, growing them from scratch. You, on the other hand, absorbed yours from another ghost, thus stepping past the initial growing pains.”

Danny felt his heart stop. His core freeze. Thoughts grinding to a halt.

“Excuse me?” he blurted out, automatically, incredulously. “Are you telling me I killed another ghost?”

“No, no.” Frostbite lifted his hands, voice dropping into a soothing tone. “Although it is not unheard of for proper ghosts to fuse together into one, this sort of core-binding is only possible with blob ghosts.”

“And blob ghosts aren’t truly sentient, right?” Maddie hummed in thought, saving Danny the effort of trying to figure out what, exactly, Frostbite meant. “They’re barely more than free-floating ectoplasm, which is common here in the Ghost Zone.”

Frostbite nodded. “Indeed. A more developed ghost couldn’t have been absorbed in such a manner, so there is no need to worry, Great One.”

“That’s a relief.” Danny heaved a sigh. It still felt weird to imagine that his core wasn’t originally his, that it had developed separately, but, well. At least he hadn’t killed someone in the process.

“Although,” Frostbite suddenly started, interrupting Danny’s thoughts. “It is very unusual.”

“Oh?” Danny felt like slapping himself. Why did he ask for more information? He regretted asking in the first place. Knowing more wasn’t going to make himself feel better, was it?

But his parents would probably have asked if he hadn’t. Right? Yeah, definitely.

“Typically, ghosts require some form of connection to be present to bind together. Two fully-formed ghosts can fuse over shared goals or other such traits, but such a thing isn’t possible with a blob ghost. To absorb one of those, a more tangible connection is required.”

Frostbite eyed Danny, but he couldn’t quite read the emotion in his eyes. “Obviously the power of the Ghost Portal let you bypass the part where you weren’t a ghost yourself—” or perhaps he was dying and turning into a ghost anyway, “—but that connection would’ve still been necessary.”

But how. What? Who? The blob ghost must’ve come from somewhere, something, someone, but Danny couldn’t imagine, couldn’t think—

“Oh, that makes sense,” Maddie said, voice casual. “Danny absorbed his twin in the womb, so it makes sense for him to do the same thing with his twin’s ghost.”

“What?” Danny blurted out, turning to her in shock. “I had a twin? A twin I absorbed?!”

“Well, yes.” Maddie nodded, looking at him in confusion. “Of course, it happened fairly early on, so he wouldn’t have become a real ghost. But the impression of it, the potential of a twin gained and lost, that would’ve been enough form a blob ghost.” She turned to Frostbite. “Right?”

“Right.” Frostbite nodded back. “And yes, a connection like that would have worked quite well. A connection of blood and spirit, an action repeated. An echo between life and death.”

Danny shook his head. Well. Jerked his head side to side. “Are you serious? Why are you all acting like this is—this is normal, totally expected?”

“I thought you knew, honey.” Maddie was frowning at him now, confusion deepening. “Weren’t you the one who started using it as a cover?”

“What?” He blinked at her, then realized. Yes. Yes, he had been using that as an excuse for the resemblance between Danny Fenton and Phantom. A dead twin, a ghost which looked just like the living Danny. “I didn’t—I didn’t think it was real.”

“Oh.” She shot an uncertain look at Jack, then Frostbite, then turned to him. “Well. You know now?”

Danny stared at her, incredulous. Then shook his head. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do now.”

But what the hell was he supposed to think of all this?

[tatertato]

Can we have a small little list of everyone’s roles/parts in the circus? (My peanut brain is getting a little lost)

cirque de la vie AU powers/roles list!

i did a poll on the gem and pearl post on whether or not i should release a full list, and guess which option won!

the results came out really close, so if you want to wait for the comics to drop, i advise you to simply ✨look away✨

this list is going to be formatted as: Name - Circus Act/Role - Power

some will be on this list without their powers, or with ambiguous descriptions of their powers until i finish their backstory comics because i really do want those ones to be a surprise, so look out for the update!

some of them i am still on the fence about as well, so the comic may not always line up with this list in the future, but i'll do my best to keep it up to date.

with all that out of the way, let's get into it!

Management

martyn - manager/organizer - enhanced hearing

ren - $the funding$ - none he's just rich (some form of smaller nobility)

The Performers

cleo - knife thrower - doesn't have magic, but alive somehow??? (hint: it has something to do with bdubs...)

etho - magician - has magic but hates using it (rumor has it that only bdubs knows what he's hiding)

bdubs - doubles as knife thrower and magician's assistant - something to do with time. no one knows exactly what, but sometimes he disappears for weeks on end. scar usually steps in as the replacement.

jimmy - aerial acrobat - wings/flight

grian - aerial acrobat - same as jimmy, but sometimes scar says his vision is uncanny

scar - ringmaster - jedi mind trick (he can convince anyone of anything depending on how strong their mind is)

lizzie - underwater escape artist - don't tell anyone, but she can definitely breathe underwater. the escapes are still pretty impressive tho

joel - stilts (11 foot joel is canon) - no power, he's just lizzie's supportive husband (more kenergy than jimmy)

gem - happy clown - deer traits, mostly enhanced agility

pearl - sad clown - doesn't like elaborating, but she disappears during full moons...

scott - tightrope walker - read the comic when it comes out lmao

impulse - juggler - power still very much in development, but he can talk to/see/control ghosts to a degree (inspired by the phasmo streams)

skizz - strongman - enhanced healing

tango - fire breather - literally breathes fire. very high internal temperature, good for winters.

The Production Team

mumbo - lighting (it's still the late 1800s-ish so the lighting is very rudimentary- that said, mumbo is a bit of a genius, so the shows still look pretty amazing) - is almost an unlimited source of electricity (he's a little eccentric, makes a big deal about how much of a human he is, which has sparked curiosity, but never enough for anyone to pry into. grian seems to know something.)

bigb- concessions (he sells cookies!) - everything he bakes tastes amazing! (he swears that's his only power, but he has a habit of leaving rooms through doors that weren't there before...)

pearl (again) - sets and props, she decorates the stage!

joel (again) - makes the boxes and tanks for lizzie to escape from

and that is all! i might have some hermits or empires folks make cameos every so often, but this is the main cast!

[miasudare]

THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT!

This is one of my delusional cotl theories, I worked about a few days for it so don't wait too much. It's very long, just so you know

Today, our subject is the bishops. Though in cult of the lamb wiki's story segment states a few events, no evidence and connection is shown. And considering that wiki pages are written by people, it's not a %100 correct.

Death of bishops

Ever wondered why Narinder is the only bishop you can make a follower before Mystic Sellers appearance? Or why don't the bishops end up with Narinder when they die? Let me tell you.

When we kill a bishop, they don't end in the death realm but end up with Mystic. That's why we can only get them back after being introduced to the seller. They own them.

And Narinder? He already lives in the death realm and if you notice, you don't entirely defeat him until the option segment, his life bar still having a bit of hp. You only hurt with him until he can't fight. When you choose to kill him, he then gets sent to Mystic for us to claim him later on.

Mystic's thoughts

"I recall Leshy. Prior to yourself, he was the last to bargain with me. Adept as he was, he rose quickly to the challenges of Godhood, aided by his siblings. Many were drawn to his chaotic ways."

Mystic Seller seems to observe and know everything that had gone through Leshy's godhood even moments of help from his siblings. Tho, not the first godhood.

"I am not inclined to emotion, the way your kind are. Though if I were, Heket would certainly inspire amusement. She was perhaps the most vicious of them. Wicked beast."

No matter how badly the Mystic Seller spoke of Heket's actions, they seem to find sadistic inspiration in her actions. They do not have characteristics such as emotion, but observation expands their world. Which is weird, because that's probably a look you'd wait for Leshy.

"It did not matter to Kallamar that his ears were lost, for he was never inclined to listen. Foolish though he may have seemed, he wielded the power of his Crown without discrimination."

We all know Kallamar's cowardice. But Mystic does not see this as cowardice and even interprets this fear, which has become a self-protection mechanism, as a strategy. Cause Mystic has no emotions and can't understand fear.

"Shamura and I did not barter much. In truth, they need little from me. Truly, 'twas shame what became of them."

Mystic and Shamura seem to actually talk and have a conversation unlike the other siblings Mystic talks about. And Shamura is the only bishop that Mystic sees higher, thinking that Shamura didn't need them at all.

"A toy for you. Benefactor, comrade, malignant foe... redemption or punishment, 'tis yours to confer as you see fit." Gifts you Narinder as a Follower in his exclusive Follower Form. (Without the immortal trait)

This section is important because Mystic doesn't say anything about Narinder's past. While they normally talk about an event that happened in his siblings' own lives, Narinder doesn't seem to mean much to them. They neither belittle him nor exalt him. Narinder is very unimportant to them.

Now, I'd like to think that Mystic were there. Before the whole argument, it wasn't only the 5 bishops. Mystic saw it, Mystic heard it. Maybe even lived with them. Raised them, even. Mystic Seller, is the creator of them. Yeah. I said it. God of gods. How else can you explain him just replace the very gods you killed and put them back in their purged realms? Or idk, carry the ex god of death by their little tiny winy legs? Literally posses the body of the new god??? Tho, it seems like they are not the same realms anymore as if those places were... Altered.

Shamura. Wanna talk?

Shamura is both refered to as the god of war and god of might, which are quite the opposite of each other.

War, is something that grows from misunderstandings, greed and not thinking straight, which isn't very fit for god of might. And well, that made me think... I think... The bishops didn't/was supposed to have these roles before their fight with Narinder.

"I am not what I once was. Though no longer wise, I am no fool."

Shamura is aware that they are no longer the god of might, yet something another.

So this might mean, before the betrayal, the bishops had opposite godhoods. Or were supposed to have these godhoods.

Kallamar = God of health

Heket = Goddess of abundance

Leshy = God of peace

This makes sense when you consider the people that follow them. Why would someone follow a god who just means nothing but trouble? Even in our cult, we teach people about death and after life, reassure them or teach them. We make sense.

"I introduced him to ideas of change; for my domain is knowledge, and it is ever evolving. An organic state of being for myself, but for him… most unnatural. Death cannot flow backward." -Shamura

This. That green? Yeah that one. That's when Narinder's betrayal happened. Shamura, showed Narinder that there was a way to change things, which Narinder ended up doing so. And what did he do? Death cannot flow backward, he tried to give life. Narinder, the only member in the family that probably ended up with such negative thing as being the god of death, tried to make life.

"Bonds of familial duty, turned instead to chains. Most voracious of appetites, curbed and contained. Most infectious of ideas cut off and cauterised before given chance to rot and spread. Cruel, verily. Alas, what other recourse was given? How does one kill Death? ... Alas. One cannot." -Haro

Haro also seems to confirm this. The infectious ideas said there are, or rather is, Narinder's wish to change. Narinder's idea to change his own godhood. Tho, why would the bishops be so against it?

Notice how Haro has a "fallen" crown? Haro, probably back in the day, was the owner/god of Darkwood at some point. His unused animation also looks a lot like Leshy's transformation animation.

Haro, is possibly the first god that tried to change their godhood. In return, he got punished by loosing his crown and getting expelled from his godhood. This would explain why Leshy is the youngest, because he was a replacement.

"But as millennia wore on, he grew discontent with his role. He began to question. He was gluttonous in his ambition. And in my imprudence I loved him. For it, I lost my mind. For it, he lost his freedom. Can you fathom such betrayal, Lamb?"

Shamura knew what happened to Haro. After showing Narinder that there was a way to change things, they regretted it. Shamura genuinely loved their brother, no matter if it was by blood or by creator. The idea of Narinder might end up like Haro was what made Shamura loose their mind. Killing Narinder wasn't a punishment, it was a way to protect him and the remaining ones. The betrayal Shamura say is not Narinder's hostile acts but rather the way he thinks even tho Shamura had warned him.

Now, i know. I said that Mystic knew it and saw it and blah blah. But Mystic were there after Leshy lost his eye, Heket lost her throat and until Narinder's imprisonment. We can understand this from their dialog of witnessing Leshy and Heket's godhood and them saying "It's a shame what become of them" for Shamura is their disappointment of knowing someone like Shamura have ended up like this (Explained at timeline section)

Haro what do you have to say?

"Eons agone, these lands were rife with gods and their adherents. What befell this pantheon? Alas. 'Tis the nature of beasts to forget, and of Gods to be forgotten. Mayhap they left. Mayhap they slept. Mayhap they devoured and were devoured in turn. Those few who remained spread roots, spun webs, molded this world to meet them and theirs. 'Twere a land of many Gods once. Hundreds. Now..."

(the ones below are theories I can't really prove)

1-Haro, was probably the oldest, along with Shamura, god. He might be one of Mystic's first creation.

2-Haro seems to be talking about fox. Or kinda refers to him. The fox is known for taking Ratau, eating him. So this also makes the fox, or people like the fox known and been around.

3-Hundreds of gods, he says. Currently, we only have 10 (At the bottom) So, there was a class fight.

A little thing about Narinder and the twins. Heaven and hell, does in fact exist in the cotl universe. You can see it in the ascension and sacrifice rituals. Going above and going below. Fly to heaven and dragged to hell.

Which means dead souls are being sorted. Considering the fact that Narinder is restricted to move anywhere, that job ends up with the twins. Baal, obviously with his kind and respectful attitude, works in heaven. Aym, on the other hand, is very aggressive and intimidating so works in hell.

Timeline

A hundred gods, roamed on realms. For various reasons, they died of or how I like to refer, ended up in Mystic's hands.

Mystic created Shamura, Haro, Kallamar and Narinder. Understood them, talked with them.

Allocer and Astaroth were given to Shamura then to Kallamar, to encourage them into godhood and cult culture.

Heket was created, tho wasn't crowned.

Haro lost his godhood by disobeying, altering. This lead to the creation of Leshy.

After creation of Leshy, Mystic was not there to attend and see Leshy and Heket stepping into godhood.

Shamura took care of his siblings and helped them into godhood. Tho it's questionable on how good they managed that.

Agares and Bathin was given by Shamura to Heket and Leshy, to teach them about the same culture.

Shamura introduced Narinder to idea of change. Narinder refused his role as god of death and tried to be god of life.

Shamura knew what would happen to Narinder if the crown giver, Mystic Seller, learned about this. This caused an argument, most likely because Narinder believed that Haro was judged unfairly. So, there it came "see no evil, say no evil, hear no evil, think no evil"

The siblings lost their original godhoods. "If that's my destiny, you're coming down with me" kind of stuff.

Leshy and Heket stepped into godhood by the help of Shamura and Kallamar to be able to protect themselves. (Their rapid transition to godhood explains why they were defeated more easily than Kallamar and Shamura. They are inexperienced gods. If you notice, after the battle of Heket, Kallamar's battle is actually surprisingly difficult and fast.)

Witnesses hid in respective realms.

Mystic Seller came back. Narinder was not present yet what he left behind was. He saw the other bishops. Mystic Seller knew Heket and Leshy as the gods they were know. Not as what they were supposed to be. 

"Five points to a pentagram, five portents of doom, five siblings stood abreast, five gods and one tomb..." Shamura's summarizing of the whole story. Their family and how it doomed. How the remaining bishops and Mystic had to kill Narinder and trap him in after life, the gateway being his tomb.

Shamura learned about the prophecy after a few centuries or more. That lead to the geno¢ide of sheep.

The gateway/tomb of Narinder before defeating bishops. 5 chains, gray ones belonging to bishops and golden one belonging to Mystic Seller.

A basic classification of the types of deities that we have in cotl:

Mystic Seller: Creator, above gods

Mystic Seller's guards: Deities that exist out time and space and work along Mystic Seller, above gods

Narinder: God of death

Shamura: God of war (formerly god of might)

Kallamar: God of pestilence (formerly health)

Heket: Goddess of famine (formerly abundance)

Leshy: God of chaos (formerly peace)

Aym: Disciple of Narinder, demigod (guider of sinners)

Baal: Disciple of Narinder, demigod (guider of winners)

Haro: Ex god, currently a messenger

Chemach: Eldritch Goddess, One of the oldest remaining Goddess. [She (yes Chemach is a girl) has an Eldritch crown and the crown has eyes. Just like the bishops'. This makes her a god considering her ability to turn living into power, essence and remnant to be used for something else afterwards. (relics)]

Clauneck and Kudaii: Gifted with immortality possibly by their sister, or are gods.

Midas: Golden touch asshole king

The fox: Most likely a demon/god from underworld, considering his soul deals and Haro's dialog.

Ratoo: I can't class him but considering he is living without a whole ass organ and still stays alive, he isn't mortal

Nah, it's just what I think of course also, please check my witness theory and Possession too!

If you want to add to this theory, you can by doing a reblog. I'm preparing a crown theory too, so this is kind of a part one! If this gets popular, I might make a video for it, who knows ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[sukimas]

On Shrine Maidens, Gods, and the History of Gensoukyou

My personal opinion is that shrine maiden #13 (from the PCB prologue) is Reimu's predecessor; the attitude that she holds is similar to PC-98 Reimu's, in that both seem to be aware of youkai as a problem but neither act especially threatened by them. The "kind of an airhead" trait seems to be common among shrine maidens.

Now, why do I think that she's the thirteenth shrine maiden since Gensoukyou was founded, specifically? That's primarily because the Hakurei Shrine has... well... a lot wrong with it in the modern day. A god of youkai extermination is working alongside youkai.

Explicitly not for the purposes of youkai extermination, at that:

You could see them as a collaborator in the Gensoukyou project, except for this:

If they were aware and a willing architect of Reimu's job being just "to balance between humans and youkai" rather than "to tend the shrine", it would be hard for them to be angry because she's always off doing her job. I think it's quite likely that they're angry about the fact that A.) They've been forgotten entirely and B.) Their shrine maiden is working with youkai instead of exterminating them.

There's another piece of the puzzle in terms of their role in Gensoukyou:

A youkai calling the Hakurei Shrine her shrine. Not "our" shrine, like you'd expect if the Hakurei God was a collaborator on this project- Yukari's shrine specifically. (Of course, we can conclude from the "god of youkai extermination" and "the god of this shrine is angry" comments that Yukari isn't a god playing at being a youkai, either.) The Hakurei Shrine, as it currently stands, is something that you can consider an "artificial creation of youkai."

Rinnosuke comes to a similar conclusion.

So, the Hakurei Shrine is a defiled mockery of a shrine, that much is true. But what does that have to do with shrine maiden lifespans? Well, if the shrine was created in its current form alongside Gensoukyou, that implies about 140 years of history. (138, to be specific, but let's not bother with the details. This will still be on my blog by 2025, hopefully.) We get the 13th Hakurei shrine maiden's inscription (presumably before the year 1996, since she's not Reimu.) describing the current conditions of Gensoukyou as similar to those of the PC-98 games.

However, how do we know that she's the 13th shrine maiden since Gensoukyou was created, rather than simply since the Hakurei Shrine was founded? Well, it's a simple process of inference. The Hakurei Shrine prior to Gensoukyou as it is today was likely a proper youkai-exterminating shrine.

That it has become what it is now is a surprising discontinuity.

There aren't any records that remain to tell what the Hakurei God's name is, which is somewhat odd; you'd think that in a land which has been known as a place where youkai extermination is necessary for hundreds of years, people would remember that there was a god of it.

That is to say, the records probably didn't just stop being kept; they were probably deliberately lost, or destroyed. But we have the 13th Hakurei Shrine Maiden's inscription of Gensoukyou's current state- so it isn't like all records of what happen with the shrine disappear.

It's easy to infer, under these conditions, what happened. The god of youkai extermination, losing influence as youkai also lost influence, had a shrine that nobody visited any more. Youkai viewed that shrine as a good keystone for the barrier surrounding Gensoukyou, due to its location, and revived it, beginning a new series of shrine maidens entirely; the first Hakurei shrine maiden was, of course, the first since that revival. The god in there didn't gain anything from this, of course; there's no reason for the youkai to allow it to, and in fact it would be quite inconvenient if people knew the shrine's blessing was really youkai extermination.

But 14 shrine maidens is quite a lot in 140 years. That's an average tenure of a little more than 9 years per shrine maiden! (Excluding Reimu, it's around 8.5). It was, of course, a fairly dangerous job prior to the spell card rules; we don't know how dangerous, though. Or do we?

Thank you very much, Komachi, for solving the mystery of the shrine.

[raainberry]

Moonflower - II

« In literature, the moonflower has been used as a symbol of love, mystery, and enchantment. »

Sana x gn!reader

Not fluff, not angst, but a secret third thing

synopsis - your job is still flowers. she's still not sure how she got into this mess. but maybe you could get her out of it.

- part.I - part.III -

wordcount - 1.8K

TW - like one (1) soft cuss word

A/N - i had to divide and rearrange what i’d written in the drafts for pt.2 bc it was so long so now its a three parter. you can expect it shortly🤭

Truth was, Sana had been looking for a way to break off this engagement.

A quick, effective and good reason.

She wasn’t necessarily proud of it, but cheating was at the top of her list. It had all gone too far anyway, leaving as the bad guy didn’t seem so bad to her anymore.

If anything it was the best way to go.

If she wanted to leave it all behind for good, this was the way to do it. No one would want a cheater back, right?

In the past couple of weeks, she’d thought of a few ways to do it. Kissing a stranger at a bar, sleeping with a cute encounter at the club, blaming either on the alcohol or even the other person… all classics that appealed to her, but not enough to make her act on the thoughts.

No, those were too easy. Too nice.

She needed more.

She’d lost too much in this wedding embush. She felt trapped in a relationship that should have ended weeks before that damn proposal. If only she hadn’t been such a coward…

She was done with that act, though. Something in her snapped as soon as she realised just how deep into this mess she was.

It was the day she had been monopolized to taste-test tens of different cake flavours. She couldn’t tell you if it was due to the amount of sugar she ingested, or because of having to witness her fiancé and mother-in-law act more couply than she ever did with him… but she had never felt so nauseous in her life.

That night, her bathroom mirror bore witness to her tears as she cried for a good hour.

She hadn’t even meant to. Seeing her own reflection so worn out and unfamiliar was enough to push her over the edge. The tears kept dragging themselves out through her labored breathing as she desperately tried to stay quiet.

The last thing she needed was for anyone, much less her so called fiancé, to see her so miserable. Even she didn’t want to see it, which didn’t help her case at all as part of the many reasons she was crying.

It was a weird, twisted vicious cycle. All of it. Something she could only escape through sleep.

The next day she woke up feeling revengeful. Like the self-pity had drained down the sink along with her tears. She was set on walking away from it all, she just had to figure out how.

Her escape needed a perfect plan. A grandiose one that would cause utter chaos and misery, matching that mix her life had turned into because of it all.

That morning, her bathroom mirror bore witness to her most vile promise to date.

She wanted to ruin it all.

She was going to ruin it all.

And she needed to enjoy the fall.

-

Simply sleeping with someone wasn’t the way to do it.

But she did need someone else’s help.

She saw potential in you. In other words, she noticed the way you looked at her. You were cute, seemed reliable—easily charmed, sure— but just as charming, which she looked at as a redeeming trait.

Should you accept it, she figured you’d make a great partner in crime.

“What are you doing this weekend?” She had asked before leaving your flower shop empty handed.

She wasn’t surprised when you actually did accept, and met her at a coffee shop she’d suggested in order to think up a plan.

You never thought you’d ever have to brainstorm ways to effectively ruin a wedding. It’s not a common expectation in one’s life, but that’s what made it exciting.

Weirdly exciting.

You knew this was wrong to some extent, but it was for the greater good. That’s what you kept repeating to yourself every now and then. It was reassuring.

“So the best thing we have is basically running away.”

You stared at the sheet of paper in front of you, all scribbled with options, some circled, some wiped out, some straight up barred… There barely was a blank space left, and the most visible part were two underlined words written in a corner.

“Run away.”

Sana felt her chest tightening as she read the words over and over.

Run away, her mind echoed.

They sounded too familiar. It was loud, overwhelming with each resonance, she was suffocating at the mere sight of the idea.

She didn’t like it. It sounded weak and cowardly, like everything she didn’t want to be anymore.

Surely, there was another way. There had to be.

“Sana?” You called out, noticing her trance.

Placing your fingers in between the subject and her eyes, you snapped them.

Her eyes felt dry, letting her know she hadn’t blinked in a while. That caused her eyelids to flutter as she turned to look at you.

“Are you alright?” You raised an eyebrow.

This was new. Granted you’d only met her a few days prior, but still. She’d showcased such a range of emotions already…

“Yeah. Just…” She looked back at the paper on top of the table. “Do you really have no other idea?”

You glanced back at the words too, hoping to see something that would enlighten you about her behavior. However you only saw the most obvious staring back at you.

This was the only way. The only sane one at least.

You looked back at her, and the silent pleas of her gaze caught you off guard. The sight made you want to lie again. Maybe her eyes would return to the vibrant brown they sported when she asked to meet you here.

“I don’t… have anything else in mind.” The truth came out your lips, hesitant but victorious.

False hope was probably the last thing she needed at the moment. It was the right thing to say. So why did her reaction feel so wrong to see?

You watched, uneasy as she let out a defeated sigh. You swore you’d seen her pout before she stood up and left the booth you’d been sitting in for the last couple of hours.

Startled, you jumped to your feet and left an amount of cash on the table that hopefully surpassed the actual bill before hurrying after her.

“Wait! Where are you going?” You called out as you pushed the exit door open.

She was way ahead of you already. Enough to make you think she was running away from you

Ironic.

You were convinced she was, and you only put that thought on hold because she actually turned back to you.

The world around you seemed to have stopped. Or maybe you just were in a slow part of town. The point was, you could only see her.

Yet again, you found yourself unable to do anything else other than respond to the way she pulled you in. Your feet took a few hesitant steps towards her, and you only followed. When they came to a halt, you could see her better.

The first thing you noticed were her strained features. Her furrowed eyebrows were a little blurry, but they looked awfully familiar. You’d seen that same expression up close just days ago, at the flower shop.

The sight had you racking your brain again, trying to remember the way you’d managed to see her smile. Had it been as hard as you found it now? You nearly gave yourself a headache, but the sound of her voice spared you.

“Thank you for trying, Y/N. But I think I’m just gonna go home.”

You felt your heart drop in your chest. You couldn’t help but scoff at what you’d heard, staring at her in as if she’d said the most sense-deprived words ever—which in a way she kind of had.

That was it? She was giving up already?

“Why?”

You didn’t mean to question her decision. All you did was as simple as the question itself. You only wondered, and externalised it.

She didn’t answer for a long while. Long enough to let you think she hadn’t heard you. And while you wondered whether or not the question had actually left your mind; she thought.

She thought about her answer, but nothing came up.

That in itself was an answer, no?

She took a deep breath, refueling her confidence enough to walk up to you. You could feel it surrounding her again, the bold and rebellious. It was shy, though. As if this time she did try to put on a façade.

Her steps slowed down as she reached you, leaving a couple feet in between the two of you. Now that she was even closer, you could tell she’s been holding herself back. You just didn’t know whether it was from crying or from actually running away.

“If I say I don’t know…” She started, and you looked at her expectantly. “I should go through with this, right?”

You blinked, your eyes not leaving hers as you lost yourself in them the longer you stared. You knew she wanted you to agree. She expected you to. And if you didn’t, she made sure you’d reconsider.

All with a single look.

That’s exactly how she got you here in the first place.

“Do you really need my input?” You asked, taking her aback. “You’re the one that put the idea on the table. It seems to me you’ve made your mind up.”

“Maybe I did.” She said, stepping close enough to grab the collar of your jacket. She feigned to fix it for you, barely throwing it a glance before meeting your eyes again.

They hadn’t left her, and a smile almost gave away her thoughts. Thankfully, you were too focused on trying to see those through the supposed windows of the soul.

What a load of crap. You couldn’t see a thing.

“Why would you write it down if you weren’t willing to actually consider it?” You asked, opting for the more straightforward way. No professional boundary could stop you now.

“I can consider it.” She said, tightening her grip on your collar. “I just don’t have the guts to do it alone.”

That didn’t sound too good. Or did it?

In all honesty, you felt a little excited at the idea of helping her. Almost as much as you felt nervous.

She was unpredictable, borderline manipulative. Your heart raced just hearing her speak, and knowing her words were directed at you… it was thrilling.

The good or bad kind of thrill; you couldn’t care less now that she stood this close to you. As dangerous as she could possibly be, you found yourself willing to risk it all to find out.

And if she wanted you to help her run away from her own wedding, then you would. A few questions asked, but you would.

So you let her climb into the passenger seat of your car, sighing as you held the door for her.

This might be your worst decision yet, but alas.

It was for the greater good.

[epickiya722]

Do you think that when Gojo first heard that Itadori ate a cursed object he was instantly reminded of Geto? Do you think that somewhere in his heart he knew what was going to happen because nothing good came to the person, his Suguru, who ate curses. Do you think that's why Gojo was so insistent on helping out Itadori, because in some cruel way every time he looked at the teen he was reminded of Geto? Of Geto and how he didn't notice his best friend lover spiralling until it was too late already? Do you think--?

I mention a few spoilers later in this answer!

I don't doubt that he did! Satoru did become a teacher to help guide the new generation and to make sure their youth isn't stolen from them.

I'm sure Satoru was reminded of Suguru because Yuji ate a cursed object, but even more so later down the line when he starts interacting with him more.

I do feel like Satoru may have always wondered how Suguru was feeling about swallowing curses, but given how he was at a teenager (a little less sympathetic), he didn't bother to ask. But probably didn't want to trouble Suguru with questions because he wasn't sure how he would react, but at the same time kept close to at least shine some of his silliness into Suguru's life to at least get some smiles out of him. It works given all those scenes we see of Suguru smiling at him.

It's like "I can't do this, but I can at least do this for him".

So, yeah, Satoru probably doesn't intend to repeat the past. With Yuji, he's taking that second chance.

Personally, I don't think Satoru was completely at fault with what happened with Suguru, but Satoru probably feels he is.

When I think about it right at this moment, it's interesting to me how kind of similar Satoru and Suguru interact comparing to how Satoru and Yuji do.

As I said before in other posts, Suguru and Yuji share common traits. Other than the obvious one of swallowing curses, they both cater to helping (weaker) people.

Satoru probably caught that when Yuji says he'll consume Sukuna's fingers if it means less lives are lost. Suguru also consumed curses, doing so to save lives.

Peep also how Suguru and Yuji act towards Satoru compared to everyone else.

They match his energy. While everyone else tends to come back at Satoru in a more annoyed manner, they tend to play along with his antics. Suguru is just more on the line of banter and sass, but still retaining that familiarity of being his best friend. With Yuji, they really are two peas in a pod. Yuji also tends to make remarks towards Satoru that even he sometimes is like "oh". Like when Yuji recalls to how Satoru said he was the strongest. There's that brief silence before Satoru continues on about cursed energy. (Episode 6)

I think back to the Juppon audio dramas (you can find them on YouTube). Yuji is quick to participate in the game whenever Satoru brings it up while everyone else is like "ugh".

What makes this even funnier is that when Yaga was a teacher, he would propose the Juppon game. Satoru actually wasn't for it. Meanwhile, it's Suguru who doesn't mind playing the game. (That audio drama I can't find anymore. I think the poster has to re-upload it.)

There's also Satoru's reactions to anything involving Suguru and Yuji.

When Suguru deflected and Satoru heard about it, Satoru was yelling, getting aggressive, clenching his fists. Man was downright distraught.

The only other time I can recall him having a reaction similar to that is when Yuji first dies by Sukuna's hand.

While he wasn't screaming and just a bit more calmer, he indeed was clenching his fists and visibly just as angry as he was about Suguru the time before. It's telling that as Shoko walks into the room, she comments how Satoru isn't that emotional usually.

Even later in the manga when Satoru returns, Satoru is composed when he faces Sukuna possessing Megumi. Of course, he's still upset, but the way he reacts kinda throws me off whenever I reread that part.

I say that because I would have thought he would have a screaming episode like he did before because it is Megumi, the kid he took care of for years. But I suppose he didn't want to act that way in front of Sukuna, someone I guess he wouldn't want to show a "weakness" in front of anyways.

Although, it still just a little odd to me that when he does meet Sukuna again for their fight, Satoru taunts Sukuna about how did the other expect for him to hold back because he has Megumi's face and notes how he can go all out because it's Megumi, so he'll worry about him after he has killed Sukuna.

It even gotten to the point others questioned if Satoru remembered saving Megumi.

There's even a point during that fight Satoru has a thought of Yuji, vowing he'll bring Sukuna closer to death more than Yuji was back when Sukuna ripped his heart out. Satoru really wanted to not just crush Sukuna's heart. He wanted his liver and lungs, too.

Makes me wonder if Sukuna was still possessing Yuji, would have it been the same? (As in his behavior and words. Of course, the fight would be different.)

Now, I don't think Satoru has a favorite student and I do think he does care about Megumi. With every one of them, he has a different relationship, but equally he cares about them, sees their potential.

When it comes to Yuji, it's like having Suguru around again because who else treats Satoru the way Suguru did? Again, everyone else sees Satoru as "the strongest", an annoyance or even if they're on more friendly terms with him, they don't give back the same vibes.

Yuji does. He treats Satoru as a friend who just also happens to be his teacher. Think of that scene when just before Satoru fights Sukuna, everyone was unsure how to approach, but Yuji comes out and tells him to move his Infinity out the way so he can pat him on the back and Satoru obliges.

Think of it this way! If SatoSugu would have raised a child, Yuji would have been the result. A child that thinks like Suguru but acts like Satoru.

[serial-serializednovelreader]

What do you think about Mina so far?

Well, anon, hehe, I have already read Dracula before (and I will say Mina is in my top three favorite characters — I LOVE HER), *but* let’s pretend I haven’t read it and I‘ll catalogue the traits I’ve noticed about her from the entries we have so far…

From the first letter, I picked up on the fact that she’s hardworking, cares about her fiancé and friend, and has a bit of a silly streak.

“I have been working very hard lately, because I want to keep up with Jonathan's studies, and I have been practising shorthand very assiduously. When we are married I shall be able to be useful to Jonathan, and if I can stenograph well enough I can take down what he wants to say in this way and write it out for him on the typewriter, at which also I am practising very hard.”

“When I am with you I shall keep a diary in the same way. I don't mean one of those two-pages-to-the-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner diaries, but a sort of journal which I can write in whenever I feel inclined.”

“Tell me all the news when you write. You have not told me anything for a long time. I hear rumours, and especially of a tall, handsome, curly-haired man???”

I can also see her care for Jonathan from his own perspective on the May 5th entry. This passage shows how she is making him more confident in himself.

“Solicitor's clerk! Mina would not like that. Solicitor—for just before leaving London I got word that my examination was successful; and I am now a full-blown solicitor!”

The next passage from Mina shows me her more carefree and extroverted side. I get to see how she is as a journalist, describing the world around her and how she sees it. From what I can see, she sees the world through an unconventional lens — what others see as creepy, she sees as beautiful.

“The valley is beautifully green, and it is so steep that when you are on the high land on either side you look right across it, unless you are near enough to see down. The houses of the old town—the side away from us—are all red-roofed, and seem piled up one over the other anyhow, like the pictures we see of Nuremberg. Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby Abbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the scene of part of "Marmion," where the girl was built up in the wall. It is a most noble ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits; there is a legend that a white lady is seen in one of the windows.”

“Between it and the town there is another church, the parish one, round which is a big graveyard, all full of tombstones. This is to my mind the nicest spot in Whitby, for it lies right over the town, and has a full view of the harbour and all up the bay to where the headland called Kettleness stretches out into the sea.”

“They have a legend here that when a ship is lost bells are heard out at sea. I must ask the old man about this; he is coming this way....”

“I thought he would be a good person to learn interesting things from, so I asked him if he would mind telling me something about the whale-fishing in the old days.”

Then, July 26 happens and Mina opens up in a new way. She is anxious, yes, but everyone gets that way from time to time. What I really get from this is how good of a friend she is to Lucy, sympathizing with her worries about Arthur and planning for a marriage, not to mention the sleepwalking. She also has some kind words about Mr. Hawkins.

“I had not heard from Jonathan for some time, and was very concerned; but yesterday dear Mr. Hawkins, who is always so kind, sent me a letter from him.”

“Then, too, Lucy, although she is so well, has lately taken to her old habit of walking in her sleep. Her mother has spoken to me about it, and we have decided that I am to lock the door of our room every night.”

“Lucy is to be married in the autumn, and she is already planning out her dresses and how her house is to be arranged. I sympathise with her, for I do the same, only Jonathan and I will start in life in a very simple way, and shall have to try to make both ends meet.”

“Mr. Holmwood—he is the Hon. Arthur Holmwood, only son of Lord Godalming—is coming up here very shortly—as soon as he can leave town, for his father is not very well, and I think dear Lucy is counting the moments till he comes.”

There’s even more evidence of this in the next entry! She’s selfless in her concerns about Lucy’s health

“Lucy walks more than ever, and each night I am awakened by her moving about the room. Fortunately, the weather is so hot that she cannot get cold; but still the anxiety and the perpetually being wakened is beginning to tell on me, and I am getting nervous and wakeful myself. Thank God, Lucy's health keeps up.”

“Lucy frets at the postponement of seeing him, but it does not touch her looks; she is a trifle stouter, and her cheeks are a lovely rose-pink. She has lost that anæmic look which she had. I pray it will all last.”

So, if I’m judging all of this from the perspective of a first-time reader, so far she is a multi-faceted character. I have gotten to see her carefree and fun side, as well as her compassionate and anxious side. She’s well-rounded and hardworking. She’s selfless and bold.

There are more entries I could reference, but I believe they all come to the same conclusions I’ve made.

In conclusion…I love her!!! <3333 thanks for asking, anon :))))

[stardusthuntress]

Triggered

TBB x female!reader (pronouns only) 

Word Count: ~3.5k 

Summary: Tech accidentally triggers your body dysmorphia. The Bad Batch team up to prove to you that they all love you dearly. Angsty comfort fic. 

TW: This actively talks about body dysmorphia. Tried not to be too specific so it would be more generic and just comforting, but it does start with a kinda mean comment from Tech, he means well tho. No smut or nothing, but since it is potentially triggering for those with body dysmorphia, I am gonna label this as 18+. 

A/N: Just felt like this needed to be written. Based on my own personal struggles, but also inspired by a conversation with someone on here who might also struggle with this. Hope this helps at least one person out there. 

hyperspace dividers my own, tbb dividers by @/djarrex

Sitting in the cockpit, working on a project, Tech continues what is, to him, a normal conversation with the woman sitting next to him. 

“I have noticed you are shaped differently than most women.” 

He turns towards the copilot seat where she was sitting to find the seat spinning and vacant. He turns towards the door, only to see her exiting the ship. 

Echo appears in the doorway, a flash of anger on his face. “What did you do? Why was she so unhappy?” 

“I did not do anything,” Tech blinks at him in confusion. 

Hunter appears next to Echo. “He told her she’s ‘shaped differently than other women’.” Of course he heard the whole thing from the other end of the ship, but Tech notices his tone implies that he, Tech, should not have said that. 

“To us, ‘different’ is a positive character trait. Why did she leave the ship?” Tech asks, perplexed. 

Echo sighs searching for words, but it’s Crosshair who answers, “to nat borns, being too different is bad,” is all he says. 

Echo scratches the back of his neck and explains, “Most of them don’t like that ‘different’ is negative, but it takes a lot more work than you think to get rid of an idea that is so deeply ingrained in a culture.” He looks at Hunter and glances towards the open ship door. 

Hunter returns the look and nods towards the door, “Go talk to her, we got him,” He gestures at Tech. 

Tech blinks at them confused as Echo jogs out of the ship after her. Tech looks at Hunter then Wrecker, awaiting the usual explanation that followed his lack of emotional intellect. But they both seemed hesitant to start. 

Over the comms they could hear Crosshair’s voice telling Echo where to find her. Cross was in his favorite quiet place, sitting atop the ship watching their comings and goings like a vulture. 

Echo finds her hugging one knee and staring off into the distance atop a rock, overlooking the ocean. 

“He didn’t mean—“ 

“—I know” she cuts him off. “But that doesn't mean I can always control how I react to it. I don’t want to feel this way, but my experience has taught my subconscious to react like this. I wish I could make it stop too, but that takes a lot of practice and a ridiculous amount of time. I’ll get there eventually,” she sighs. 

He scoots next to her on the rock and just watches her. She glances at him, wishing he wouldn’t, starting to feel nervous about the way he’s looking at her, turning away to hide her face. That is, until he starts to talk again. 

“Has anyone ever told you how beautiful your eyes look when you’re lost in thought?” 

She huffs out a small laugh. “Even when they’re starting to get puffy and red?” 

“Yes,” the confidence in his voice is unmistakable. “Has anyone ever told you that?” 

“Not that meant it,” she mumbles into her knee. 

He pulls her into a tight hug, and they sit there in silence for a while. 

Echo’s not sure what to say exactly, all he knows is that there’s a lot more that has to be said before either of them are willing to return to the ship. 

Echo pauses briefly as he passes her sleeping form curled in a chair. 

Tech watches as Echo’s expression softens, and he just looks at her for a moment. Tech tilts his head to one side, like a tooka trying to see if the world makes more sense from a different angle (Tech finds it amusing to take these things literally and figuratively). As he watches, Echo leans down and presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head, and whispers something in her ear. She stirs slightly but doesn't wake. Echo stays put, brushing a hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear and petting her head until he’s sure she’s back out. 

Tech feels a pang as he watches. Then his vitals monitor beeps at him. He looks down at his datapad, eyes scanning quickly, looking for the results from the algorithm he wrote to help him connect the way his body reacts to the emotions he struggles with. Sure enough, at the bottom of the screen, his “most likely emotion” algorithm flashes a single word at him: Jealousy. 

When she’s settled back down, Echo continues walking to the cockpit doorway where Tech stands. 

Echo, “I think we got lucky she was willing to come back onto the ship.” 

“She’s not really back,” Crosshair’s voice snakes it ways into their minds, voicing the one thing they’re all worried about and prompting them all to look at her, curled into a tight ball, her head slipping onto her knees. 

“She is sad,” Tech analyses. “I did not realize what I said would affect her this much, nor this negatively.” 

“I think it brought up old stuff for her. She’s kinda like you, Tech. She needs evidence in order to believe something is true,” Echo notes. 

“You are suggesting that I have to prove to her that being different is a good thing?” Tech asks. “I have ample evidence that she already knows that, but I do not understand why she did not take my statement in that way.”  

Again, Echo sighs, “When I went after her, she told me… she’s spent most of her life just wanting to be as normal, as pretty, as the other girls, and all she ever got was a lifetime of evidence proving that she wasn’t.” Echo’s voice was quiet. He didn’t like saying it any more than they liked hearing it. 

There’s silence as they all take this in. Crosshair had joined them, leaning in the doorway, still watching her sleeping form as they talked. 

“But,” Tech is confused, he has a datapad full of evidence to the contrary, “we all react to her in ways that show how we feel about her. Do you mean to say she is incapable of seeing that?” 

Echo chuckles darkly, gaze drifting to the floor as he scratches the back of his neck. He wouldn’t have put it quite so bluntly. He searches for a nicer way to explain it to Tech’s analytical mind. 

“Yes,” Crosshair got tired of waiting for someone else to answer, “Nat born women are conditioned to doubt.” 

Tech opens his mouth to protest, he wants to know what she is doubting, specifically. 

But Echo starts talking first, “Nat borns don’t get a choice in the cultural conditioning that plagues them any more than we get a say in how the Kaminoans’ conditioned us. It’s up to us to prove to her that she just isn’t seeing the full picture.” 

Tech blinks at the two of them, hoping someone will explain exactly how to do so and what exactly she is conditioned to think, but they don’t. To their surprise, Wrecker, who had been napping in the cockpit, is the one who answers. 

“Don’t hide anythin’.” His voice is surprisingly quiet, his expression soft. They don’t often get a chance to see Wrecker this gentle. 

They all look to Echo, he has more experience with women than any of them (except maybe Cross, but it’s not like he’s going to explain it to them unless he is forced to), not to mention more experience with the emotions of their brothers and the trauma of his own. Echo nods in agreement, “every glance, every time you want to brush her hair out of her face, or pull her into a hug just to feel her close to you. Don’t hold back. She needs to see it. But for now let’s let her sleep. Hopefully that will help a little.” 

Tech finally gets a chance to talk to her the next morning. He had been hoping a fresh day would wash it all away, but it looks like today might be harder than he anticipated. She’s just laying in her bunk, curled into a tight ball on her side, hugging a pillow to her chest, staring off into the distance, a lost expression on her face. As he sits down on the bed by her feet she hides her face behind the pillow. 

“I only meant……….” He sighs “To us, being different is good. I didn’t know nat borns don’t see it that way. I apologize.”

It’s quiet for a few minutes. 

“I have never experienced sexual attraction to a being until I met you.” 

She is still quiet. 

He’s racking his brain for some way to comfort her. He’s no good at this part, usually emotional reactions were Wrecker’s department. So what would Wrecker do? His mind travels back to when they were cadets and he had yet to get his emotions under control. There were more than a few nights when he cried himself to sleep on Wrecker’s shoulder. Wrecker used to rub his back and tell him he’d never let the Kaminoan’s hurt Tech. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, so telling her he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her wasn’t an option. He felt like he already had. 

Touch! That was it! She usually responded well to the everyday touches from Wrecker, Hunter, and Echo. So he reaches out and gently places a hand on her knee. She’s wearing sleep shorts, and had tossed the covers off, so Tech’s hand sits directly on her skin. He didn’t usually go for touches like this, because he didn’t understand them, but this one felt like the right thing to do, so he went with it, starting to rub, slowly, up and down on her calf. She didn’t react, but she also didn’t push his hand away. 

“Is this okay?” He asks, tentatively. 

“Yeah,” she mumbles into the pillow. 

He sighs and slumps a bit as he relaxes a little. 

They sit there in silence for a few moments, just his hand running up and down her leg. 

Tech sits up a little straighter, a look of eureka on his face. 

“I can prove it,” he offers. 

Finally, she begins to peek out from behind the pillow, and he knows this crease on her brow is curiosity. 

“I can prove that I find you sexually attractive.” He clarifies. She just looks at him, curiosity piqued, though not like he’s used to seeing when she’s found something she’s excited to learn more about. Those are his favorite moments with her. When she’s excited to learn something new, and they can talk about the possibilities and implications that has on their day to day life, rapid fire. Learning more about the universe together. He vows to find a way to bring those moments back as soon as possible. They both need it. 

He pulls his datapad out and brings up some data. “This data shows my vitals from the moment we met, overlaid on the footage I was recording so you can see the implications of visual stimulation on my vitals.” He sends it to her. 

Her datapad lights up, it sits next to her head beneath the pillow that still hides him from view. Tech can see the light from under the pillow and watches as the pillow shifts a bit as she picks it up and looks at it. 

After a while the pillow shifts again and the light goes away as she puts the datapad back down. She peers at him over the top of the pillow. She doesn’t have words to say anything. He takes that as a sign that he’s the only one who needs to keep talking right now. 

“It took me a while to figure out what I was feeling. You know that I do feel emotions, but I struggle to understand them. But I compared it to the data I have of how my brother’s reacted to you and asked them about what they were feeling and how they could tell. I discovered that we have all become rather smitten with you, myself included.” 

“That’s bound to happen considering I’m the only woman you’ve been around for months, and probably the only one you’ve been around for an extended period as grown men,” she mumbles. 

“But that would take several months to begin to show an effect, yes?” 

“Yeah…?” 

“I can prove that our feelings began during our first mission with you. I can pinpoint the exact moment for most of us. I am always monitoring our vitals, so any spike in heart rate, or hormone levels I have recorded.” 

He sends her his documentation, where he was attempting to understand what they were feeling. Complete with notes about ‘Echo explained that this is common during human attraction’ and ‘Hunter tells me this is a normal reaction to seeing a beautiful woman’ and even ‘Crosshair has indicated that I should talk to her about this’. 

“You now have access to the file so whenever it is updated, you will be notified. I tend to update that one quite often. I hope this is a sufficient way to apologize. I am not sure how else to do so.” 

“I’m sorry, Tech,” her voice is timid and quiet. 

“Why are you apologizing?” Tech asks, nose scrunched, he does not understand. 

“I’m sorry I walked out on you without saying anything.” 

“I have come to the realization that when topics may be triggering, it is often easier to simply leave the room. I surmise that is why you left?” 

“Yes.” 

He didn’t want to force her to tell him more, so he just stayed quiet, hoping she might volunteer more information if she felt comfortable doing so. 

“I never wanted to be this different,” is all she says. 

“I like your ‘different’,” Tech volunteers. 

“Is that you talking, or your brothers? What did they tell you to say to me? How much pity did they recommend you bring to the table?” Her tone of voice suggests she is getting mad again. 

Tech’s eyes widen and he shakes his head rapidly. “No! Echo said to never pity someone. He said pity only hurts people. He made us all swear never to pity you for anything. I did not mean to imply that. I like your different, I mean that.” 

“Sorry,” she whispers, sinking into the pillows again. 

Again his mind reaches for something to help comfort her. He doesn’t like how she seems to be conditioned to apologize so often for things that are his mistake and not hers. Again, touch finds its way to the forefront of his mind. So he reaches out physically this time, for the hand resting on top of the pillow she still clutches. 

His hand gently slides underneath her own, threading his fingers through hers. He’s struck with the urge to kiss her hand. He’s not sure why. He’s never felt this before. He tries to hold back. 

Until Echo and Wrecker’s words surface amidst the confusion in his mind again, ‘don’t hold back’… ‘don’t hold back’… ‘don’t hold back’… 

So he stops trying to hold back and lets go, and leaning forward, lifting her hand slightly, to press a soft kiss to the back of her hand. He doesn’t mean to let it linger, but he’s never felt this way before and he wants to remember it forever. 

She looks at him with surprise. And then smiles a little. His heart skips a beat. Again, his vitals chart blinks at him, drawing his attention from her eyes. He laughs softly when he sees the new “most likely emotion” blinking at the bottom of the screen, so he shows it to her. 

‘Adoration’, the blinking word reads. This time the smile doesn’t leave her face. It still hasn’t quite reached her eyes, but it’s starting to get there. As she stares in disbelief at the word on his screen, a new message from Echo pops up at the top of the screen. 

Tech feels it buzz, but doesn’t take the datapad back, knowing now how important that one word is to her. 

Her brow scrunches when her gaze drifts to the message from Echo. 

She raises a finger to tap on it, but stops, realizing it’s not her datapad. 

“You may open it, if you wish,” Tech offers. “I wish to show you I trust you.” 

She smiles, the turbulence inside her beginning to settle again as she taps on the message from Echo. 

As the message opens, she begins to shift. Moving the pillow around so she can sit up. As she settles, her hip presses into his own. He does not protest. He likes this touch. He moves to hold the datapad between them so they can both see it. It’s a photo of a beautiful waterfall sent to the group chat with the caption, “you guys would love this place”. He and Hunter were out scouting the camp site while they await their next set of orders. 

From the increase in noise just outside the ship it seems that Wrecker is excited to go exploring. 

“Would you like to go on a walk?” Tech asks. 

She nods, squeezing his arm to her side briefly, whispering a quick “thank you” into his ear. He looks up at her happily as she stands up, letting his gaze linger on her as she bounces to find some civilian clothes to change into. She spots his look and pauses for a moment, confusion on her face. 

“I like your happy, too,” he tells her. “You know we pride ourselves on being different. It was meant to be a compliment. I did not understand how sentient beings could be considered attractive until you joined us.” 

She smiles at the floor, tucking her hair behind her ear. 

“I like your shy, as well,” he adds. 

She giggles. 

…‘Don’t hold back’… he’s learning what that means. And this time he wants to hug her. So he stands up and opens his arms to her, a question on his brow. 

She beams and throws herself into his arms. He wasn’t quite prepared for her enthusiasm. It sends them both back a few steps, until his legs hit the bunk and his hand reaches for the one above to stabilize them. 

Today might be okay after all. 

When the two of them arrive outside they find the commotion was Wrecker putting together a picnic. Crosshair pretends he didn’t help. They all know he did, but they let him think they believe him. Donning the packs Wrecker holds out, the four of them hike their way out to the coordinates Hunter sent them. 

After they’ve eaten, as they are enjoying the sunlight and time off, Crosshair stops her for a moment, tilting her chin up to look deep into her eyes. Where confusion paints hers, his show only confidence and lustful smirk. In a split second the moment is over, he places a kiss on her forehead and walks away like nothing happened. His brothers pretend they didn’t see. Moments later, her datapad lights up with an update from a document of Tech’s. It’s the document he sent her earlier, the one filled with all his evidence that they all adore her. The newest entry is a snippet of a video of her and Crosshair from just a moment ago. She glances at Tech and nods a shy ‘thank you’. 

That evening, Tech exits the cockpit to find her laying with her head in Echo’s lap as he pets her hair and they both study their datapads. Again, Tech feels a pang of jealousy, and it is once again confirmed by the flashing word at the bottom of his screen. 

He sits down by her feet, pretending to be enraptured by something on his datapad too. She looks over at him and smiles, he returns his signature half smile, with half lidded eyes. 

Hesitantly, she stretches out a foot and places it in his lap, biting her lip as she looks at him to ask if this is okay. 

Tech holds her gaze and places his hand on her leg, stroking it just like he did before in answer to her question, and letting the hand holding his datapad rest on her ankle. Tech has never been so intimately close to a woman’s ankle before. He’s seen her’s plenty of times, she likes wearing shorter things that let her ankles breathe from time to time, but he’s never had a chance to really memorize every curve of them before, no matter how archaic a fascination with ankles may seem, it’s new to him, and he enjoys it. 

Echo glances over, to exchange ‘told you so’ looks with Tech, but Tech is still looking at her, fascinated by the studious look on her face as she goes back to reading something on her datapad, still biting her lip as her mind returns to her work. 

Instead Echo exchanges one with Hunter, who has just entered the ship, brushing rain from his ruggishly handsome locks. 

Hunter stands in the doorway for a moment, before stepping forward and placing a kiss to her shoulder, then heading to the fresher to find a towel for his hair. 

In Echo’s lap, he can feel her cheeks warming as she tries to suppress a small smile. This is new to her too, but who would say no to 5 sweet, handsome men doting on them? 

Please don’t steal my work! I pour my heart into these so if you like it please reblog to share instead of reposting it!

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

Write something about Marceline meeting up with Simon after the finale?

"You know I love you, right?" Marceline flat out asks him, because this girl has never gone around or over anything that she could plunge straight through. Simon always admired that about her even when this trait of hers caused him a fair few heart attacks.

Simon adjusts his glasses, clearing his suddenly dry throat. "Yes, I am aware."

They're at his house, with boxes of his things piled up around him. Bonnie, Finn, and Marcy all came over to help Simon move out of his old house into a new, more private arrangement. But Finn and Bonnie cleared out some time ago, when Marcy sat him down with a mug of his favorite tea. It was an ambush in everything bit name.

Simon supposes that he deserves it. He hasn't exactly... made time to speak with Marceline and happily allowed her to divert her focus away from him. Someone snitched on him, clearly.

"Hmmm..." Marcy squints at him, absently spinning the mug in front of her. The now dull grey drink sloshes lazily within. "When... When you had your big revelation about Betty, that musta messed you up pretty bad."

Simon stares at the woman that was essentially his daughter. Even as a little girl, she had always been prodigiously insightful and observant.

"This... This was different. Betty was my partner. I was supposed to check in with her, make sure we were on the same page. You, on the other hand-"

"Are you about to explain my feelings to me, Simon?" Marcy cuts in. "Or make an assumption about me based entirely on your perception of me?"

Oooh. Even if she didn't have fangs, Marceline could cut with the sharp edge of her tongue. A conflicting sense of pride and shame tightens his chest. He looks down at his mug of tea, taking a very long drink.

Marceline sighs. "I'm not five years old. I'm fully capable of making decisions - healthy decisions even."

"I know that!" Simon snaps back, thumping a fist on the table. "It's precisely because you're all grown up that I didn't want to say anything. Look at you, you're so happy! You don't need to bother with a sad old man like me."

Marceline gently grabs hold of his fist. "If you did tell me, what was the worst case scenario?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm doing better now. I'm going through therapy. I'm fine -"

"Please answer the question."

Simon stays stubbornly silent for a few second. Marceline squeezes his hand until her grip begins to hurt. He shoots her a petulant glare and she offers an innocent smile.

"I could make you sad. There. I said it."

"Well... I've been sad before. I got better."

Simon stares at this woman who he used to carry with only one arm. She's near his height, possibly taller. If he tried to carry her, she'd float to spare his ego. She grew up and he was there but not really and it's just another one of the Crown's costs.

"Simon." Marceline is hovering over the table now. "I lost you for a second there. What's that big brain of yours overly complicating now?"

Simon frowns at her. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Uhuh, listen. My partner is a certified genius, so I know for a fact that you geniuses tend to lack a lotta common sense."

"Have you told Bonnie this?"

"Verbatim. But this isn't about her, or me. This is about you."

Simon grits his teeth. "It's been 'about me' for long enough, hasn't it?" He shoves away from the table, gets onto his feet, and picks a random box to start piling stuff in. This will absolutely ruin Bonnie's meticulous organization, but that's just...

He sighs, steps back, looks at the label on the box before picking up Bonnie's abandoned clipboard to figure out the correct items for the box. In that whole time, Marceline doesn't speak. But he can feel her eyes on him like the sun through a magnifying glass. He sorts his stuff. She lets him.

Simon takes a deep breath. "I thought... It's bad enough that you spent all those thousand years watching over me. Then it turns out that even before I had the Crown, Betty was doing all of that. I just... I'm so useless."

"You're not-"

"Yes, yes, yes. But I... I need some time to work on myself, you know? I'm tired of being so..."

A hand settles on Simon's shoulders. He turns and jolts as he sees Marceline with a thin film of tears over her eyes. He immediately reaches over, pressing his palms against her face, thumbing the space beneath her eyes.

"Oh see, now I've made you cry."

Marceline shrugs. "It won't kill me."

"But that's the thing! You don't have to-"

"It's not that!" Marceline pulls away from him. "I don't have to do anything, you're right! But I want to stay with you!"

She blows out a short, ragged breath, running a hand through her hair. Simon slowly lowers his hands, crossing his arms and hunching over as if to protect his soft underbelly.

"I'd be rotten company."

Marceline fiercely shakes her head. "Not to me. Not if it's you."

Simon bites his lip. There's a tightness in his chest as if his heart was bloated from too much blood. He can't look away from her and yet he can't stand to stay seen.

"You don't want my help, fine. You've got professionals looking after you. And that's great. But please don't shut me out. I can't. Not again."

Marceline looks away for him. And this looks familiar even a thousand years later. The way she holds her head high, the way she clenches her jaw, the way she stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the tears trailing down her face - it's all the same.

Simon wraps both arms around her. She struggles for a second, trying to squirm away before she gives up, leaning into his hold.

"Okay," he murmurs into her shoulder.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Marceline coughs out a tiny giggle. "Are we just gonna keep saying okay to each other until the world ends or what?"

Simon readies a joke but swallows it at the last second. He lets her question hang in the air until it becomes heavy and leaden. She stiffens up, limbs locking and spine straightening.

"I think... I can do that."

"Yeah?" Marceline's voice is sooo small, half disbelief, half hope, and all pure, raw heart.

"Until the world ends... You and me. We're survivors. Remember?"

Marceline laughs, a frail, watery sound from the hollow of her throat. "Yeah. I remember."

[crooked-wasteland]

Hazbin Hotel LiveBlog: Scrambled Eggs

So I’m watching Hazbin with my partner who has already seen the entire series. It took us 5 minutes just to get this episode to play from the beginning because it would just skip to episode 4 while the credits where playing before i could pause or rewind. That has nothing to do with the show, it just made me unbelievably enraged, so we ain’t going into this episode happy.

What is with the cat?

It’s been a week since the last episode and every ounce of progress Sir Pentious made last episode is just thrown out as an excuse to introduce yet another character in Carmella. Was there not another way to do this? Like I get Sir Pentious wouldn’t be reformed, but just having him be suddenly paranoid with no reason isn’t founded. Even just a background detail of Angel Dust watching him from a doorway would have been enough to found that suspicion. Especially when Pentious wasn’t shown to be paranoid as a trait. I get this is narrative utilitarianism, but it’s just weak and changing one character’s personality to establish a new one is poor writing.

Sir Pentious to his eggs just feels like fandom

“That’s a lot less hot” That feels out of character

So Trust exercises to tone down the sudden change in Sir Pentious’ character and also to give Vaggie a leading role. Got it. Very utilitarian, very disjointed from the previous episode.

Sidebar, I googled who wrote this episode and it wasn’t Vivienne, however I never would have known because the last episode was equally full of contradictions that it also felt like someone else wrote it. Now maybe that was because Adam had a hand in thing, but The fact I have to google this stuff to know for sure is a joke kin its own right.

I am so conflicted about Niffty. She feels less childlike here and I like find her demented fun, but last episode she was literally written as being child-like so the pain fetish going on is repulsive, despite it not being this writer’s fault. If I want to enjoy anything about this show, I really have to just see every episode as one singular complete entity without calling back on previous ones, however this is a series and thus needs to expand itself through subsequent episodes. To not do so is a failure of concept because this series is very serialized. So in a bubble I really enjoy Niffty. In the series she is a very uncomfortable character to give violent fetishes to and make them so overt. Vivienne ruined that for you all, don’t blame me. Someone should have said how this should have been scrapped before we got this far.

Zestial is suggesting that Alastor may have died at Heaven’s hand. Alastor looks away while laughing. So there is a connection between Heaven and Alastor.

Egg Bois are cute.

Carmella has a bad case of Character Design does not match vocal performance.

Velvette, please never speak again.

Velvette is now 5 inches tall

The yellow blood looks like piss

Can someone tell Lilli Cooper that a lot of British singers don’t have such strong accents when singing. Just please, it’s a great time top drop that bad accent.

James, hi, your singing voice lost the character

The kink shaming be real.

Even Charlie infantalizes Niffty. Geez

This scene in the Turf war was peak Angel Dust. I laughed.

I have to ask, was the music written before or after the singing, because for one, Carmella sounds like she is trying to be heard over it, and second the beat of the music is either lacking or there was an issue with the audio mixing because it just sounds wrong. Like there are melodies and harmonies to a score and one of those is missing. OR, the music is just out of sync entirely with the performer.

Again, just don’t have Vaggie sing. You directed the actor to perform out of her vocal range for her modal voice. Don’t do this to her.

They are not at all harmonized, this is the worst duet I ever heard. Don’t you usually have singers record duets together so they can harmonize their voices? Why didn’t that happen here.

So this big conflict for Vaggie was never a conflict. Best resolution ever.

I like Carmella’s concept. Her character design is kinda trash and the songs were terrible. There was a good idea somewhere in this episode, but from beginning to end every aspect was contrived to just make the story work for the greater plot, the dynamics between the characters be damned. There is a sense of someone wanting to have fun with it while Medrano’s stood behind them with a chokehold on the narrative. It’s disappointing and I feel the writing suffers from Medrano’s obsessive and frantic need for control. This writing feels so insecure and I can only imagine that comes from having a very narrow box to fill.

2/10

I’m taking a break.

[witch-hazels-musings]

absolutely certain

Genre: sfw, fluff/angst (some difficult personality traits are mentioned)

 -- a few head-canons that I think are 100000% true and you cannot convince me otherwise - hazel is *checks title*  (not edited) 

Includes: Albedo, Childe, Diluc, Thoma, Xiao, Zhongli 

Character x GN Reader | Anthology 

Albedo 

he loves seeing you accomplish your goals - big or small, if you set your mind to something he is transfixed in watching you figure it out until the solution drops in your capable lap. he will aid you, of course, but only when you’ve exhausted all your options - its not that he wants to see you struggle, it’s that he knows you are capable, even when you feel l like you’re not (he’s your biggest cheerleader) 

he enjoys cooking for you - it’s become something of a slight hobby for him (though it’s not often). when the moment is just right, or he finds himself preparing food for later in the day, he will make something extra and bring it your way just so he can see the smile on your face 

he’s not touchy-feely - he will hold your hand, and offer respectful touch, but he doesn’t think much on intimacy, especially in public. albedo’s affection comes out in many ways, but physical affection is low on the list - it’ll take time for him to be that close. sit beside him while you both work, trail your fingers over his arm while you’re lost in thought, play with his hair - he will welcome all of them in due time; if there is more, a discussion will need to be had about what comes next. all he needs is to know what you want, all he needs is your clear consent - wherever your boundary is, he wants it defined to know how not to cross it

he has notebooks filled with drawing of you - its not a secret that albedo likes to draw things he thinks ‘capture the meaning of life.’ you’ve seen him sketch a quick portrait while at dinner and give it to the subject he examined, but what you don’t know is that some of his most treasured possessions are the sketchbooks he has where every page is filled with you. engaged in the mundane, he captures your likeness. you’re lost in your work, he traces those expressions. you gift him your smile, he’s captured it on parchment. but his most favorite drawing of all is framed on his desk, protected by shimmering glass reflecting the warm sunlight. looking at reminds him of the wholesome nature of this world because it captures purity in all forms. it represents laughter and joy, of love and family - this drawing is simple but to him its everything: his most cherished person lifting his sister into the air so she can reach the stars

Childe

he adores lifting you into the air - for fun, for love - hugging your back or wrapping his arms around you from the front, the sound of your laughter and the feeling of you in his arms, relying completely on his strength gets him going more than anything else 

he wants a family with you - he doesn’t care what it looks like, 1 child, 10 children, no children - he could care less what that family looks like as long as it’s you. make him your family, allow him to expand his own - till death do you part he will never let you go 

he will talk your ear off - when he’s comfortable with someone, completely trusts them, he shares his whole world - and perhaps a bit too much - he will tell you stories of his childhood, of the ups and downs, he’ll gush about his family and share pictures he has of them in his wallet. childe wants you to know him -- not harbinger him, not fighter him -- please, will you give him the time to get to know Ajax? 

he thinks about things head on - because most of his problems can be solved by direct action, he will tend to offer a lot of problem solving options when you are struggling. sometimes they work and others they make you more overwhelmed; he might not notice his tactics are failing until you snap but when that happens he retreats, relents, waits for you to tell him what to do. -- ‘just hold me, okay?’ --  ‘you got it’ 

Diluc 

he looks at you far too often - even before the two of you started dating, he found himself drawn to you. his eyes, his heart, his want to be at your side - it was practically suffocating. for a while that’s all he’d allow himself, a quick glance, a perk of the ear when he heard your voice - but you reached through the tiny crack he left open for love until he was finally brave enough to take it 

he stands so close - close enough for you to feel the warmth he gives off, near enough that every once in a while you’ll feel something familiar press against your lower back - it’s his hand that yearns to touch you but tries so hard to hold itself back. he isn’t affectionate in public, but his proximity speaks every drop of love he feels for you 

he’s focused - sometimes too much that it can feel like you don’t exist around him. you can be talking to him, try to ask him a question, or stand in the room waiting for him to notice you but he never does. the boy’s thoughts are consumed completely with what’s in front of him - it hurt at first but you soon learned its not because he doesn’t love you. if you really want his attention, all you need do it walk near to him and run your fingers over his ear - trust me, the eyes that find yours hold nothing but unconditional love 

the master of the ‘lifting your chin’ technique - there is something about the feeling of pushing your chin up to look at him that drives him wild. the first time he did it he was nervous, worried he was being too controlling but the way you reacted told him otherwise - now, whether its to ensure you hear him, to see your face before he leaves for the day, or to hold you tenderly as he kisses you hello, he can’t get enough - and neither can you 

Kaeya

physical touch is his way of life - kaeya has to be touching you in one way or another. his hand to your back, his arm on resting on your shoulder or head, his back flush against yours, chest to chest as he looks in your eyes. you’ve found yourself swarmed by his desire for touch, smothered in it at times but he just can’t stop himself. it’s his love language -- touching or being touched. the surest way to ease his stress is to place with his hair, run your fingers over his eyebrows as he rests in your lap, gently caress the angles of his face, the corner of his raised lips - let him be close to you, it’s all he needs 

seriousness is not a natural reaction - the vast majority of what comes out of his mouth is a joke, a tease, a ‘this isnt very serious’ response which, at times, can be rather fun but at others it’s infuriating. he hates being serious, it reminds him of all the terrible moments in his life, reminds him of the strict world he was raised in - he never did flourish in serious land. he has a hard time shifting gears - more like those gears are coated in high-proof liquor - but if there is something he hates worse than having a serious conversation its seeing you cry ... to freeze those tears he’d do the unthinkable 

he’s capable - capable in accomplishing his goals, capable in getting what he wants, capable of twisting what’s around him until it spells out his desires, his wishes - Kaeya is far more capable than he lets on and that is his best weapon. it can be quiet jarring to see him switch from the lazy, ‘go with the flow’ attitude he’s so often employs into a serious, almost terrifying focus. every time you see it it sends a shiver down your spine; not because you know what he’s going to do, but because he so easily made you forget in the first place 

he feels everything - he tries not to let it show but every slight against him, every whisper spoken in the shadows he hears like another stab in the back. Kaeya might appear to be aloof, indifferent, out of reach from all the goings on around him but he’s not - in fact he’s so sensitive that he’s learned to build barrier after barrier to keep him in tact. it’s why he’s so much better at working in the shadows -- it’s easier to deal in back-alley agreements than face a world flooded with light. micro expressions, shifts in tone, these are not lost on him -- you wonder why he stares at you so much, it’s because he’s waiting for the truth to come out and hoping without hope you’ll be the one person who never lies to him 

Thoma

he gives all of himself - and while this makes him a wonderful person, it also makes him vulnerable to exhaustion. the boy puts everyone, everything before his own needs that there are times you’ve found him passed out in the most random places. once he was doing laundry and you found him face first in a pile of clean clothes. he’ll try to play it off or tell you its fine - good luck trying to convince him to slow down - its like arguing with radiant sunshine (and you often lose) 

best house-husband, a tad strict - Thoma doesn’t mind keeping the house clean, making food for the two of you, ensuring things are running smoothly. he will willingly let you do your own part in maintaining the household, especially after a quick lesson on proper cleaning -- just know that he isn’t shy of crossing his arms and giving you ‘that look’ when you try to out-do your limits -- ‘don’t climb so high, its dangerous.’ / ‘slow down when you’re cutting, you could get hurt’ / ‘when you need something come find me’ -- Thoma would do it all if it meant you stayed safe ... just ... let him grab the hot pan for archons sake 

he holds your hand - like all the time. wherever you’re going, whenever you drift away, he will scoop your hand in his so he can keep you close, keep you safe. a kiss on the hand is a way for him to share his feelings when words aren’t enough, a gentle squeeze is a reminder he’s here with you, interlaced fingers ensure others know you are his and he is yours -- even in his sleep, your hand is in his, just the way he likes it 

he’s SO encouraging - Thoma is the most positive best cheerleader you could ever ask for. he will root for you in all ways, in all cases, and celebrate with you when you succeed. he knows you are capable and can do it on your own - you’ve accomplished so much already that this thing wont hold you down for long (though he will help if you need it; after all, he can’t take seeing you sad) 

Xiao 

he self-isolates a lot - it’s not because he hates you - in fact, you’ve grown to be a comfortable place for him. strangely enough, his mind wanders to you so often that he has gone to the bubu pharmacy in search of diagnosis to his obsessive imaginations - but there are moments when he needs to be on his own; to protect you or his heart he won’t say. Xiao will come back, no matter how what, he can’t imagine a life without seeing your face 

he tries his absolute best - he knows nothing about relationships. the closest ones he had were taken from him long ago, and the only other companions he knows are formal, respectful, and set at a proper distance - this is so new to him that he will fail a lot but he tries again, and again, and again, because he knows what it looks like to see you smile and that is something he desperately wants to see again 

he’s dangerously protective - if danger ever reached you, he would show no mercy in eradicating it. in these moments he can become terrifying, almost foreign to you but there is no mistaking the hand that keeps you behind him, the arm that glows as a warning to those wanting to cause you harm, the back that separates you from all danger -- you mean the world to him and he will dive into the deepest darkness to protect your light 

boy is touch starved - at first he doesn’t know what to do with himself - you put your hand on his arm and he tenses up, you hold his hand and he pulls away, you lean in to kiss his cheek and he balls his hands into fists. tender touch has never been given to him so he’s unsure how to react, uncertain if this is something he deserves -- but once he knows your hands will never hurt him, that your arms will never cage him, that your heart is as pure as the crystalflies he longs to reach, he melts. he leans into you like you are purifying water; his back relaxes against your chest as you hold him, his expression softens when you caress his cheek, he almost hums  when you play with his hair - you’ve taught him so much - but he never imagined he’d learn that someone's hands could be so safe 

Zhongli 

he buys you the most extravagant gifts - its obvious he wants to spoil you - zhongli see’s gifts as a representation of his admiration for you, the more personalized, special, perfect the gift the more it reflects the honor you hold in his heart - don’t be surprised to see lavish clothes, ornate dishes, rare books, or other random items appear in your house - he saw them while he was out and thought of you 

he listens to everything - and i mean everything. there is nothing that gets said around this man that he doesn’t hear (don’t whisper secrets, it’s why his hair is so long). something you’ve learned? he will be attentive in your recollection. something you love? he will sip his tea quietly while you explain every tiny detail - there is something beautiful in the way you shine in these moments; how can you blame him for wanting to watch 

he’s a slight hoarder - he doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘getting rid of things’ and though he is very particular about the way his home looks, his office, his environment, he can build up quiet a bad habit of keeping too many trinkets (or bringing home to many for you when he knows full well you don’t know where to put it). luckily, you’ve found some ways to compromise - now there is a rotating schedule of fanciful items resting on your bookshelf 

he lets you sit on his lap - like, this is the biggest win. if he’s reading, he simply chuckles at the way you crawl on his lap, the way you nestle against him, hand on his chest as you rest your back against his shoulder. it’ll make him pause until you’re comfortable but whether you stay up to listen to him as he reads aloud, or fall asleep against him, he doesn’t mind - in fact, it brings him comfort that he can’t completely articulate 

[harryrryrry]

Before I go

Tommy Shelby x daughter reader

Gif by Joekeerygif

Summary : Tommy decided to send his daughter to a private school in the country before she brings to much trouble. Y/N is doing everything in her power to change her fathers mind

AN : you can also find my works on AO3 here !

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1913 was a beautiful year. They’ll tell you that. The following year was the worst. Tears, screams that pained them, and promises to come back that never felt true, until they were back.

Y/N was almost a year old when she was separated from her father. At that time, the man was her only parent, having never known the love of a mother. Then Polly came in the picture, replacing her father she didn’t remember, and her mother she never met.

And then he came back. Polly had told her multiple times that the man in front of her was her father but seeing as she was only four years old, remembering things were the last thing Y/N cared for. Speaking properly, putting her shoes on and even reading was already a challenge for her.

So “Tommy” it was. It took her almost a year to call him dad. A year of repetitive questions. “Who are you ?” “Where were you ?” “ why are you here now ?”

Some would have lost patience, but never did he. And god knows Thomas Shelby’s patience was thin.

To Thomas, learning the trust of daughter was his main goal. Her first, business after. Arthur always says that his brother has gone soft for the little girl. And never Tommy would deny it. She was the apple of his life. His anchor to earth when the shovels would be back at night.

Having missed most of her toddler years messed him up. Thinking was he wasn’t able to carry her around in his arms, feed her or even cradle her at night pained him more than anything. And every day, under the dirt and the sound of bombs with not light at the end of the tunnel, Tommy prayed that she was safe, loved and that her innocence would remain intact.

And all of these efforts, all these years of gaining her trust and love, went threw the window. Years of work that took a minute to crumble.

" What ?"

During those said years, Tommy had learned a lot of things about his daughter. For starters, they did not only share the same physical traits, but also his character. As Polly would say, y/n learnt from the best. The second mastermind of the Shelby family. But all these skills had to come with a bit of negativity ; being a trouble maker, always getting herself in a though situation were Tommy always had to get her out. Her father had warned her multiple times that one day, she would get herself in trouble - something big and the Tommy wouldn't always be there to get her out. She had brushed it off, saying that she was smart enough to find a solution herself.

" You heard me. I warned you multiple times already. So, you are to leave for Liverpool Monday, first thing in the morning. I won't be there, but Polly will accompany you to the station. Once there, you'll be taking care of. And please, do't bring the trouble with you on your way, eh ?"

Her father, the person she trusted and loved most, was betraying her? Betrayal never felt so hard.

He was sending her away to Liverpool to attend a private Catholic school for girls only. He decided alone he didn't even talked about it with her.

" But you can't !"

Tommy sighed, as much as it pained him, he had to. He had warned her, again and again that this was bound to happen. Sending her away, where she would have the obligation to obey.

Polly and Arthur were right, Tommy was to sit with his little girl. The man never brought a hand upon her and the worst grounding she was no riding for a week.

But this ? For y/n it was the worst punition. No father, no Finn, no riding, no pictures, no friends, no liberty and far away from her family. But the worst of it all ? He wasn't even coming and she knew why. He would crack, take her in his arms, give her a lecture, hug her again and would bring her back home.

And y/n has the attention to play on that.

" You're sending me away, telling me this as if you are reading the paper. And you're not coming ?"

Tommy sighed, heavier than before. " I know, and trust me I would love to come but I can't. I have some important business to take of."

What a lame excuse, y/n thought.

"Bullshit." Thomas head shot up. His glare piercing holes in her head.

" I'm sorry, what ?" Y/n huffed. " see ? This is why im sending you there. So that fucking behavior of yours stop. I'm tired of always having to get you out of trouble."

The more he raised his voice, the more chances were slim for her to find an alternative with him. She had to think of something, and fast. Seeing at it was already Wednesday, she would have a few days to plan something.

" Okay, I'll leave. Can I be dismissed ?" Tommy looked at her as if she had become a ghost. He was expecting her to put up a fight, to scream, cry and whatsoever. For fuck sake's, he was ready to call Polly in case things got to Wilde for him to handle.

"You- huh yes, if you want."

Perfect. The first part of her plan was in action.

She nodded and took off toward her room. There, she packed a suitcase and hide it - but not too much, so it was still visible, under her bed. Until dinner time, she will stay in her room, letting her father alone with his doubts.

At the table, the tension was palpable, you could even cut it with a knife. No one was talking, Charlie was playing with his food, as per usual, Ruby kicking her legs under the table, happy to have sweet potatoes in her plate, Lizzie was eating slowly and silently, and while Tommy was smocking, his plate untouched, y/n was counting the green peas in her plate. She could feel his eyes on her, trying to know what she was thinking or more like what was she planning.

Little did he knew, she wasn't going to let him find out. No matter what it takes.

" Sweetheart, you should eat a bit more than a spoon." Lizzie, who's sat next to her, whispered.

" Im not that hungry. Dad ? Can I leave the table early please ? I would like to go to bed, im not feeling well."

The sound of silverware against the china plates abruptly stopped. What was it with the sudden politeness ? It was too formal - and so not normal - to come out of her mouth. Even her father was uncomfortable to be talked to this way by his daughter.

" Why so formal, eh ?" Y/n put down her silverware on the table and turned to her father with grace.

" Oh, just practicing my well behavior in order to be ready for Liverpool, sir. I do not want to cause any problems to anyone else." For a hot minute, Tommy and y/n looked at each other as id it was the competition. The first one to break the stare would show weakness and even though she knew that his death glare will never look away, she still thought she had a chance.

And to her biggest surprise, her father was the first to break the eye contact. She felt proud, knowing that she would be the first person to defeat him.

"What's in Liverpool ?" Ruby's little voice broke the silence.

"Our dear dad, my little Ruby, want me to leave the house for a few years because he is too afraid to admit the fact that he doesn't want me in his way. Too afraid that I’m "a wild horse that cannot be calmed down for the big day". Am I right, daddy ?" Tommy pinched his eyes shut. Next to her, she felt Lizzie getting up, as if she was sensing the trouble from a mile away.

" C'mon kids, let's go upstairs."

The room now empty, y/n decided to put her plan into action. She forced her eyes to water. "Tell me, really. Why do you want me so bad to leave ?"

Tommy looked at her with uncertainty. The first time he truly felt helpless. He knew that if he opened his mouth only to say one word, he will crack and tell her to stay. But this would mean that he would have to accept the fact that he can be defeated - by his own daughter.

"I already told you. You are getting out of hand. Too much trouble comes your way and I can’t handle it every time. I won’t be here all the time. You need to learn that.”

So it seems that Tommy won’t change his mind. But that’s alright, she’ll find another way.

“Dad-“

“No. Go to your room Y/N, please.”