#because finally someone sees his brother is more than just a mass murderer

[iamironmanlol]

Ngl I think I’ll always feel robbed of the Peter and Loki interaction we deserved

Peter: oh man, you’re the one that tried to invade earth and take over back in like 2012

Loki: yes.

Peter: …you’re not like, still into that, are you?

Loki: on a good day.

Peter:

Peter: what do you- what do you do on bad days?

Just imagine. The potential I believe these two had. (Add a little sprinkle of irondad Tony freaking out bc his kid is talking to the god that killed 80 people in 2 days)

[freya-fallen]

Little Dove 3/?

Part 1 Part 4

TWs for this part: smoking, manipulation, grooming

Dabi knows what he's doing is wrong. He's not blind to his own backwards morality. In fact, he revels in it. He's murdered without a second thought, for no more than a flash of annoyance. He's a consummate monster. 

But this… the plans shaping up for Hawks’ sweet little sister are truly demented. They're sick, twisted, the sort of evil that leaves a stain and never washes out. He can't wait to share what the hero will do. No doubt, Hawks will try to defend himself. Endeavor will find out what his lost son made the hero do, and he will be filled with disgust for both his son and his second. 

It's all due to an accident of fate. Hawks losing his phone was the best thing to happen to Dabi. Thanks to the idiot’s affectionate contact name for his sister, Dabi was going to trap the two birds in a cage of his own twisted design. 

You and Dabi text every day after that. He’s funny in a dark, sardonic sort of way, but you suppose that’s normal for someone in his line of work. He convinces you to meet up the following weekend. You’re nervous to meet him again. 

You’re also worried about Keigo finding out, but your brother is absent in the few days leading up to your “date.” You don’t think it can properly be called that because it’s not as if he likes you, right? He’s just being nice to his peer’s little sister who never gets out.

Either way, you’re super excited. You spend entirely too much time picking an outfit, lamenting your lack of girlfriends to ask for advice. Last time he saw you, you looked like a kid. You were in your school uniform. This time, you want him to see you looking more adult.

Eventually you settle on a black t-shirt and jeans, both of which hug you flatteringly. You wear black shoes good for walking just in case, and even put on what you consider an artful application of makeup. You think you look much more mature like this, though the butterflies in your stomach belie your cool facade.

Soon enough, you trek to the cafe where you agreed to meet. Dabi is already sitting back in one of the outdoor seats. He nods in acknowledgement and his eyes flick over you; you flush at his clear appraisal, and wish you could figure out what he’s thinking. 

“C’mon,” he says, rising to throw an arm around your shoulders.

He’s so warm and the scents of smoke and tobacco waft from him, as well as something that else that reminds you of fiery nights, but you can’t quite pick out why. It doesn’t matter; the smell isn’t necessarily bad.

“Where are we going?” 

He steers you toward an alley and a writhing mass of darkness appears. “This is a friend’s quirk. It’s safe,” he assures you as you step through. You cling to him through the darkness and he squeezes you close.

When you come out the other side, you’re in a small apartment. It must be his place. There’s a futon, a mini fridge, a sink, what you guess is the lavatory, but the focus is a decent sized flat screen hooked up to a few different consoles. A cardboard box is filled with folded clothes, but that’s the extent of the furniture. It’s like he just moved in.

“I figured we should hang and get to know each other,” Dabi says by way of explanation. He sprawls on the futon and gestures for you to join him, turns on the television, and begins scrolling through apps via one of the consoles. “Do you game?”

You shift from foot to foot before finally taking a seat on the edge of the futon. “A little.” Most of the games in the apartment were chosen by Keigo and you’re not big on those.

He nods. “What d’ya like to watch? I’ll put something on.”

“I don’t know, I watch pretty much anything.”

His head rolls toward you and he deadpans, “I’ll put on some porn.” Your expression must be comical because he bursts out laughing. “Relax, I’m not trying to break you.” He settles on Netflix and sticks on some Korean show about zombies. “This one’s pretty good.”

You nod, actually familiar with the show. “Oh yeah, I like this show. It gets pretty dark though.”

You watch and slowly become more comfortable, leaning back on a pillow propped against the wall. You’ve almost forgotten to be awkward by the time you see fumbling out of the corner of your eye and you glance toward its source.

Dabi has taken down his mark and sports a cigarette between his lips. The bottom one is charred, scarred all the way down into his t-shirt. He lifts a brow at you, then flicks up a finger. A blue flame dances atop it. He uses that to light the cigarette. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“You have a fire quirk?” It’s about the dumbest thing you can say, but he nods. 

“Yep. And you can thank that for all these fuckin’ scars. Pretty, huh?”

The thing is, if it weren’t for the scars, you’d think Dabi is pretty. Even with them, he has a rough, edgy look to him that probably pulls women anyway. 

You shrug. “I like all your piercings.”

“Yeah?” He tugs your ear lobe with the hand not holding the cigarette and you giggle. “You should get some yourself. I bet you’d look pretty hot.”

“Keigo would flip.” The words are out before you can think twice. Your hand slaps over your mouth, eyes wide.

Dabi watches you keenly with those sharp blue eyes of his. “Keigo, huh? Don’t worry, Dove, I won’t tell his secret identity.”

“Thanks.”

“As far as what he likes… well, I bet he wouldn’t like me flirting with his little sister either, but here we are.”

You fall still, unsure you heard him correctly. “You’re flirting with me?”

Dabi laughs again. “Sure am. You’re too damn cute. Why, did you think I asked you to hang just to be nice?”

“I don’t know.” Your voice is hardly above a whisper, suddenly shy under his gaze.

Dabi’s tongue skirts his lips and he leans in close. You can smell the cigarette on his breath, but it doesn’t both you. “Sweetheart, you have been running through my mind like a goddamn train since the second I saw you.” He pulls you against him and kisses the top of your head. “You okay with that?”

You smile and speak through the fluttering pulse in your throat. “Yeah.”

“Good.”

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@im-just-a-simp-le-whore

[fruitsofhell]

I'm actually lowkey embarrassed that dissidia post got the attention that it did cause it's easily like, the lowest intellectual effort post I've ever made dbjdjf, so here's the follow up unhinged rant going over what I love about Kuja in Dissidia Duodecim.

Like I was saying, his writing in Duodecim is AMAZING, like everytime I think about it it blows my socks off. It would be so easy if just the whole game he was the Kuja he was during the plot of FF9, shallow, flamboyant, and callous, but they decided to pick up with his arc from the ending! Which is what I like to see in a spinoff like this, not just a rehash of old stuff but a continuation, a reiteration. And doing that also shows great grasp of what his character's about. Dissidia pulls from every mainline Final Fantasy game and isn't shy of the fact that not every game has the most complex villain. I often see Kuja too considered to be just a fun purely evil villain instead of someone with more meat on his narrative bones, which is insulting to me. Kuja isn't motivated by some deep darkness in his soul or a craving for violence and suffering like some other villains, all his actions were motivated by one thing, which was wanting to prove to his creator that he could create his own purpose and worth. It just happens that because he's insane, his methods to this is mass-murder and regicide. He loved life, and Gaian culture, and having a purpose, which is why he has those two massive changes of heart by the end, and is left feeling empty. The life he loved is ending, he scarred the planet that he loved, and the entire narrative he built for himself was null, its just over for him.

And that's where Dissidia picks up, because it understands that Kuja is not a being of darkness nor much of a sadist, he's just a guy who loved theatrics but had that beaten out of him by existential dread and now doesn't want to live anymore. And the only thing that would've given him any reason to live after his defeat, his brother - who was with him till the end and likely the only person from his world who doesn't want to kill him anymore - HAD HIS FUCKING MEMORIES ERASED. So what does Kuja do? He follows Zidane around and tries to help him, because like, literally he's just that grateful to him. Like??? That part's really important to me, cause it would be really easy to assume Kuja was bitter during his defeat, given his actions and apparent shallowness. But this game is SMARTER than that, and it understands that Kuja wasn't angry anymore, he was just empty and still deeply nihilistic. But actually given an opportunity to try again, he sticks to Zidane. Despite there no longer being an external incentive, AND ACTUALLY DESPITE FORCES WORKING AGAINST HIM. Like Kuja was placed on the Chaos side, surrounded by a sea of fellow villains who could produce all the bravado and destruction he used to enjoy, but he was so genuinely disillusioned with that afterwards, he goes out of his way to do right. Despite threat of annihilation by his peers and heroes he was trying to help! LIKE THE GAME GETS THAT HE ISNT JUST EVIL????? IT GETS THAT HE ISN'T JUST A SHALLOW SADIST????? It's fucking heaven-sent.

OH MAN AND THEN HIS INTERACTIONS BEYOND JUST ZIDANE! That interaction he has with Cloud is one of my favorite things ever, it's just fucking rich with characterization for him. And then you have him freeing Terra from her spell because, can you believe it guys, he felt honest to god sympathy and compassion!! Insanity!! And then that leads to his relationship with Kefka which is immaculate! Everything about their relationship helps reiterate Kuja's helplessness as a character and villain, and just makes me fucking DESPISE Kefka. But in the fun intentional way. He's such an abusive, manipulative asshole to him, and it stings like hell to see Kuja once again end up as someone else's pawn BECAUSE HE WAS WILLING TO SPARE ANOTHER FROM THAT FATE. Like it's horrible for him, but it deepens his redemption.

Ok, and last thing is his VOICE!!!!! JD CULLUM!!! JD Cullum, I owe you my life, your Kuja is so delightful! It's just perfect. It has this androgynous softness to it, he switches between the theatrical and honest lines perfectly, and he sounds annoying!! That part is so important to me, if Kuja had a generic sexy villain man voice I'd be so disappointed, but like have you heard him in NT? I don't know why he sounds so happy in that game (I think Zidane has his memories in that one...) but you can hear his stupid little smile behind some of those passive-aggressive one-liners, it's the best! I have Dissidia Duodecim emulated on my PC just for Kuja's lines.

Final Fantasy 9 is criminally underloved by Square, and Kuja as beloved as he is is so often misunderstood and mischaracterized by fans. Dissidia being the only other piece of official media he has a role in and getting it THIS RIGHT brings a tear to my eye. The game in general is just really above average for a silly crossover fighting game, I can't speak for the writing of every character, but I know my Sephiroth friend has moments from that game that give them psychic damage (/positive). And for me, the Kuja Guy, it gives me plenty as well. But also some negative psychic damage cause why tf does he look like that.

[mdhwrites]

Can a Wittebane special ever air on Disney Channel? I wonder how they will tackle the religious themes and murder of Caleb while keeping it Child friendly.

HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Oh, wait, you actually think it'd focus on Philip?

Sorry for the mocking statements but that is the long and short of it. To keep it child friendly, for what is most compelling, and for what would be most in line with TOH, the way a Wittebane special would go is actually pretty easy to map out, at least with the moments that we know about:

You start with a teenage boy looking gaunt and exhausted as he prepares for a day in the woods to forage for things that he can get and wood to chop. He needs to make money for him and his little brother, Philip, after all. He hasn't really gotten to eat much more than scraps for the past couple days but hey, that's okay. Philip gets to eat and that's all the nourishment Caleb needs. He wants his little brother to have a proper childhood and he'll give up anything for that.

While out in the woods that day though, he catches a smell. An absolutely divine smell. He follows it to its source and finds a woman in a cloak feeding the animals of the area. The bread she has smells like heaven but how she speaks to the animals reeks of the devil. His stomach gives him away though and she turns with a wry grin. She isn't afraid of him but intrigued because he didn't immediately attack, something she calls out when he won't eat her bread because of his suspicions. They strike a deal that Evelyn will tell him a truth in return for the bread. That way he knows his soul isn't the price of it. "Are you a witch?" "Yes." And that moment of pure honesty makes Caleb pause. Then he runs. He runs fast and hard, racing back to town to be sure that he can tell everyone and potentially get his brother away. To keep him safe from that which threatens them all. However, he is stopped by the fact that his little brother is sobbing and soaked. One of the other kids tricked him into the river and said they shouldn't have bother to be washed up onto the shore. They should have just drowned in the ocean because if God wanted them, they would still have... have... Caleb holds him tight before looking at the sole remaining photo he has of all four of them. The next day he is in mass, his leg shaking as he listens to the fire and brimstone the preacher speaks of. He can't focus on the words though. Not as he looks at how the kids that hurt Philip are at the front of the pews while they sit in the back because no one wants them near them. There's anger and hate in this room and it gnaws at his gut just as badly as his hunger does.

And so now we get some time of Philip and Evelyn bonding, romancing and we see the seasons pass in a sweet, effective montage to speedrun their romance, especially if this is just a 44 minute special or the like, let alone if it's 22. This montage could easily also show how the two growing older and contrast Caleb's joys of embracing the other with Philip's growing anger as he spends time in town and is indoctrinated, all without having to say what he is being indoctrinated for besides imagery of burning fires.

Then finally, we have Evelyn asking when Caleb plans to tell his brother. Caleb doesn't know. At first it was to make sure Evelyn was actually safe. Then never finding the right time because of fear of someone in town hearing. Now... Now Philip is so converted to witch hunting that he doesn't know what to do. They're even considering making his little brother witch hunter general because of just how committed he is. Caleb feels defeated and tired and all he really feels like he has left is Evelyn.

"Well... Maybe it's time to find your own path then. Your brother will be fine at your home and... And maybe you'll be fine at mine. With the rest of the witches."

It then cuts to Philip, furious, slamming open the door to the house. He has a ritual dagger in his hand... Because he has been named a lead hunter while one of those brats from when they were younger is Witch Hunter General. Just another time where the town decided to choose the people over parents than him. Over the one with the purest soul in town. At least, he thinks as he picks up the family photo and tries to calm himself, one of them. He needs his brother. He's gone again. He wishes Caleb would let him take care of him now. He makes enough money through the church to support them after all. He doesn't have to keep risking his life in the woods anymore.

"With the rest of the witches."

Philip's heart sinks. What? Who is this woman? He's never seen her? Wait, if she's with the witches, his brother is in danger! But the rest of them? If he waits for them to go he can find all of them and they'll HAVE to make him witch hunter general! But that means risking Caleb's life. He can't allow that, even for his own-

"You're right. Philip will just be happier here and... And maybe just best that I vanish. He'll just blame a witch for it anyways and trying to say goodbye would only put as all in danger." Tears come down Philip's face and his knuckles turn white as rain begins. A familiar door opens up next to Evelyn and she turns the key we all know in it. The shine of the portal illuminates Philip's face before a bolt of lightning has it change to Belos' mask and the special ends.

And that's it. It isn't a fun version of it but there's literally no version of the Wittebanes, without major retcons, that can be told in a fun way. They are orphans from a super conservative colony who majored in witch hunting before then having a schism between them be formed due to that witch hunting. This potentially, because it's up to interpretation, led to Philip killing Caleb. Bare minimum, something happens to Caleb that leads to him being dead and haunting his brother while Philip is left stranded on the Isles with no way of going back without finding his own way. The only part of that story that could be fun or comedic is the romance plotline with Evelyn and Caleb. It's also the one that allows the most to be left in obscurity about Belos, thus enabling the show not to contradict its own lore that way. Worse yet, it's also just the best story to tell there besides the rise of witch hunter Belos but those themes are indeed incredibly dark and SUPER not fun to tackle directly so it's better that it happens mostly off screen. Also, you know, it makes sure that the show doesn't glorify bigotry and hate by having us see the rise of Philip into bigoted witch hunter from his perspective. Instead, the story focuses on being critical of such things and accepting the other, which is theoretically in line with TOH in general.

It could be an effective special but I don't think it'd end up being what Belos fans want and for people who don't like Belos, the most they'll get out of it is ANOTHER quirky romance from TOH that mirrors Huntlow too much to feel unique or special. In other words, it's mostly a lose lose situation, especially since none of these elements will make the base story any deeper. It'll just add to the confusion some feel for the fact that they believe Belos is a victim and a product of his society who has a sympathetic reason for his anger but then is just a one note, pure evil villain in the main show.

This is honestly the problem with almost anything that addresses anything we saw in the show. The contradictory nature of the base product's writing, and how it slaughtered concepts at the root, means that expanding on these concepts can only make the contradictions worse. It can only make the base work worse or have MORE people screaming "WHY WASN'T THIS INCLUDED!?"

It's like how me and my Discord finally settled on one option for a lore book that could actually work for TOH if they wanted to release one for the show: One that tells us all about the Isles we didn't see. We see so little of it after all that just telling us about all these neat towns, the ways they operate, or expanding on the forms of magic that never got to do anything, could be neat. It doesn't fix the base show's lack of creativity or consistency but it doesn't inherently conflict with it either. It would just be there as harmless lore that also would have a bad hook for any readers because unlike the journals for Gravity Falls or Amphibia, they wouldn't expand on a character or the like.

The best route for TOH to go is to pull a Harry Potter, again (I hate how often this show forces me to bring up that stupid series) and make Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them. Either the movie or the book as either are at best tangentially related to the series but mostly just have the name of the series on them for brand recognition because the authors of both works didn't make a good enough world to actually tell anything more compelling within it after the story was done. Not without making the base product look worse.

And that includes the story of the Wittebanes.

======+++++======

What sucks is that I actually do like the plot I wrote up for the Wittebanes. Like this could genuinely be a really interesting story to make. However A: I wouldn't do fanfiction for it because of the requirement of one killing the other eventually that effectively demands no nuance between Caleb and Philip, forcing their dynamic to be very basic and B: it still suffers from having to be basic because Belos is a basic bitch evil guy while all signs from the show point to Caleb having been an absolute paragon. I made him about as gray as I could in my write up and it's still not much.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[postguiltypleasures]

My Peak TV Journey *Better Call Saul*

This is an entry that took a while to write. I watched the first two seasons of Better Call Saul as they aired, not too long after I binged Breaking Bad, from which it spun off. I don’t remember why I didn’t watch the third season as it aired. I was busy with something. But I finally got around to the final four seasons around the one year anniversary of the final episodes. I never re-watched the first two seasons, nor BB. This probably did come at the expense of some appreciation for the series. I know there were some characters and sub plots that I forgot in my hiatus. But I never felt I had the time, and frankly, I didn’t like either series enough to rewatch. 

Which isn’t to say that I don’t think it is good. I think it’s good, but it fills me with dread, and not all of it seems intentional. I think As someone who watched and presumably liked BB, the various references to things that would happen there should have excited me more than they did. I found myself resenting that I promised myself to finish it before starting some shows that I also want to see, (the list is endless).

I like the characters of Jimmy and Kim. I like them better than most of the characters from BB, which is why I think the feeling I of dread I got from BB character was unintentional. (I completely forgot about some of the characters from the earlier series between viewings. This includes the Salamanca twins who I think should have left more of an impression on me.)

As I went on I started thinking about how many things that make television television, as opposed to a series of movies. TV runs off the tension between something familiar that the viewer wants more of and the desire to know what is next, and sometimes it felt like BCS was actively going against these things. For example, I often find that I amorally attached to certain sets. BCS ran through various great office and apartment sets, only to make the familiar Saul’s office from BB seem extra unpleasant. Then there were subplots, especially with Gus, where knowing how it wraps up in BB, just made it feel slack. Knowing Gus and Hector die in a murder-suicide made the scenes where Gus was tormenting Hector after his stroke seem pointless. 

There were other times when I wondered about how much I could hate most of the main characters. In particular, I found myself hating Mike more and more as the series as it went on. Or maybe I always hated him, and just got over the sense that I was supposed to like him, or at least see him as somewhat sensible. After all the things between Mike and Werner I think the former deserved to be murdered by Walter White and have to listen to Walter yammer on while he died. Mike’s essential to the plots of both shows, but I hate everything he stands for. He’s smug, cynical know it all. I can’t tell if I was supposed to dislike him, but the fact that I did makes it seem like I should have given up on this earlier.

My fixation on “what does it mean that I hate Mike this much?” is because I am under the impression that he is a well liked character amongst fans. I am also under the impression that Jimmy’s brother Chuck is generally a hated character. I can understand it. Depending on your point of view he either doomed Jimmy to become Saul, or at least refused anything helpful. But I liked Chuck and was less engaged by the show after he died.  His dynamics with Jimmy, Kim and Howard were interesting to me in ways that none of cartel stuff was. I was also amused that Chuck apparently wanted to write a book about the Commerce Clause. The Commerce Clause has fascinating history with American Civil Rights Movements and seems pretty controversial with the current Supreme Court of the USA. But I doubt Chuck would write a book that is engaging for most readers, because he tend to be in his own, intellectual world and doesn’t engage with the masses. And that’s the kind of tragedy that fascinates me.

Jimmy’s potential to be something other that Saul is traced with the class action suit he starts after some discovers at The Sandpiper Senior Residence. I was kind of shocked by how long this plot lasted, especially as it seemed to be dropped for episodes at a time. I made a note for myself about how the beginning and the beginning-of-the-end of the Sandpiper storyline involves Jimmy in a toilet stall making unconventional use of toilet paper. The first is desperate but optimistic. The second is cynical and much more destructive. It ends tragically, which shouldn’t be a surprise as the set up reminded me of Anthony Trollope’s The Warden, and that was a rough read. But how it ended, with the two worlds of the show colliding and making the lead to BB inevitable was exciting and dreadful. It also involved lots of name dropping and heavy foreshadowing with the assumption that we remember it from however long ago we watched BB. It’s really well done. It’s connected aspects of today’s media, where every series in an intellectual property that can go on forever. And I really don’t like that. 

I want to talk about about the show’s other corporate plot in the series, the Mesa Verde plot, the one that Kim is involved in. It’s her big get, and something of a boring prison. It started half way through the second season and ends near the end of the fifth, so it was easy to dismiss as not that important to the general direction, but it does have some interesting things about how most lawyering is tiring paperwork not what we want from a TV show. It shows that Kim gets risky in her games with Jimmy because of how unengaged she is with work that is otherwise going well. Because of the amount of time between the debut BB and now, I found myself wondering if the housing market bubble will affect the Mesa Verde plot? Which I guess made me more engaged than Kim? 

The main idea in this is that after finishing the series, I don’t think I liked it enough to justify the amount of time I spent watching it. But I need say, I do think it’s well made. It was always great to look at, especially with some of their more metaphoric shots, like the ants on the abandoned ice cream cone signaling JImmy’s future as Saul. All the performances were well done. I can tell there was some hard work in this. It wasn’t for me. I need to be better at giving things up that aren’t for me. 

[leviathans-watching]

mfil - 19

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*NOT CLICKBAIT!!!* when asmo learns that you, the newest exchange student has a youtube account and following somewhat comparable to his own, he decided right then and there not to like you. however, after an unfortunate (and misleading) exchange goes viral, he has no choice but to fake date you in order to save face. will asmo crush you and put you into place like you deserve? or are those funny feelings in his stomach not hate, like he had thought? like, subscribe, and maybe fall in love (with this smau) to find out!!

asmo is going to murder satan. first, he’d been annoying in the car, and now was even insistent upon following them into the shops?

“but i can hold the camera for you,” satan offers. “wouldn’t it be better if you were both in the video? isn’t appearing on one another’s social media kind of the goal here?”

you hesitate, clearly unsure. great, that leaves asmo to decide. and he knows satan, knows he won’t leave well enough alone, so…

“fine,” he spits, “just don’t talk, and don’t shake the camera.”

satan’s grin is cold, and seriously, asmo should have known better than to bring him along. he’d forgotten what an asshole satan could be.

but thankfully, satan does as he’s told and isn’t too much of a bother, letting you do your thing. you had come surprisingly prepared with a list of things that you were looking for and even a sketch of your setup idea, and asmo has to (reluctantly) give it to you, you do seem to know what you’re doing.

“thankfully, lord diavolo is letting me borrow a worktable, so that’s one less thing to buy,” you tell the camera, “but i still need storage and shelving and other small things like that. asmo, honey, if you see anything like that will you let me know?”

“absolutely!” he says cutely, inwardly grimacing. “but you’re the expert, darling.”

behind the camera, satan makes a puking motion.

“you flatter me.” you suddenly look to the side, perking up. “oh my god, these apple crates are just perfect. and there are so many!”

“perfect for what exactly?” asmo asks, and you turn towards him.

“for making storage, of course! if i stack them together and reinforce them, i have a perfect little cubby system. especially if i can find some baskets to put inside of them.”

“you can’t just make the baskets?” asmo asks, then hopes his snideness isn’t audible. whatever, you can always cut it out if it is.

“that’s another option,” you reply, “but let’s see what i can find first.”

you spend a few more hours looking around, hours that drag, and though asmo’s never been one to get tired of shopping, he’s about ready to kill someone by the time you’re finally, finally done. much to his surprise, you had managed to find a good selection of items, and keep it pretty cheap, even going as far as to haggle with the shopkeepers over prices when you thought the listing was unfair.

though asmo had to wonder if their agreement was because of your skills or because of his and satan’s presence. they do hold sway over the masses, you know.

“is it finally time for dinner?” satan asks as you load all of the bags into his trunk, and you look over apologetically.

“yes, sorry that took so long. since it was my first time in all of these shops it took me a while to get oriented and find the things i needed. thanks for being so patient.”

“you’re so much more polite than asmo, mc!” satan gives asmo a shit-eating grin. “honestly, why don’t you come live with us instead of him? i’m sure everyone will like you much more.”

“thanks, but no thanks,” you say with a laugh. “i’m living in a castle right now. how cool is that?”

“ugh, of course you’re excited by something as dumb as that,” asmo snarks.

“oops, someone’s hangry,” satan cracks, and asmo has to breath in deeply, as his other option is strangling his dearest older brother. “let’s find something to eat.”

leviathans-watching's work - please do not copy, repost, or claim as your own

[shimmerbeasts]

Familicide & Silco's bad reputation

Zaun has a strange relationship with death and murder. Due to the fact that death is so ever-present in their town and killings happen often, the Undercity doesn't even have a Zaunite term for the word "mass murder" or "serial killer". Of course, they know the concepts exist and that Piltover has words for them, but for Zaunites seeing multiple corpses due to factory accidents, gang violence or even just sudden flash floods, is so common that they genuinely do not bother with labelling this. In general, Zaun has a rather lax approach to the concept of murder. With one exception.

Familicide is the worst crime, you can commit in Zaun. It is treated as a massive cultural taboo and deeply frowned upon. The reason for that is the fact that in Zaun, your family is your first community and safety net. Your family is an intrinsically necessary part of your early survival in Zaun. Family in Zaunite terms is very broad. It does not just cover your bloodline. It covers anybody who has a foundling or raises someone. Family is the first gang, you are tying yourself to. Thus killing your own family members is like you deliberately cutting that safety net into pieces. It betrays everything the community stands for. It can easily lead to ostracisation.

Silco has a very bad reputation as the Undercity accuses him of being a familicide murderer. This even happened before Vander's death as Silco killed his own mother when he was just ten years old. It didn't matter that this had been an accident. The Undercity had decided that Silco was the worst kind of murderer and treated him accordingly. Nobody ever considered taking him in as a foundling. Most viewed him with suspicion, mistrust and contempt. Things only got better when he finally met Vander and helped establish the Lanes, but even then, Silco let Vander become the leader because he knew nobody would really trust him. For many people, he still was and always would be the boy who butchered his own mother.

For a lot of the older generation, this reputation was only reinforced after Silco killed Vander. The two had made it very clear that they were like brothers and thus family. Silco seemed unable to escape the label of the familicide killer. Furthermore, it didn't help that after the betrayal, Vander used Silco's already negative reputation and amplified it to further distance himself from him. It is why even his children regard Silco as a monster because that is the story, they were told. This is one of the reasons, Vi has it so easy to see Silco as a monster that brainwashed her sister Powder.

His own experiences are another reason why Silco took in Powder. Whether she meant to or not, her killing her family has burdened her with that same label. It is also another reason why Vi subconsciously lashed out. Familicide killers or murderers are ostracised in Zaun's community. Silco could not let Powder experience that same struggle he went through. Even now, some people still use Silco's reputation to scare Jinx, claiming that she was only taken in so that she could grow big enough for Silco to enjoy killing her.

Jinx is shielded from her own ostrication until she kills Silco. The Undercity already labelled her as the same as they labelled Silco. However, because he was in charge of the Undercity, that ostracization happened more covertly and concealed. Part of the reason, Sevika was less than kind to Jinx, was because she committed familicide, though that was more an excuse on her part.

It was the general population, who really unleashed all their ire upon Jinx. Specifically, they distinctly tie her to Silco. Not even because she killed him, but because they see him in her. Some people do not just call her a loose canon anymore because of this. Instead, they call her a murderer's kin and have monsterfied her as much as they monsterfied Silco. It is a bloody miracle that Jinx can even count on the meagre help of the old gang nowadays.

[sapphicblight]

Idk if you have seen haunting of the hill house but I can't stop thinking of vegaspete in that universe. Like all of the cousins and brothers and like the conflict would be so delicious before finally arriving to love romantic or familial what have you. I just...there is really no horror au or spooky au when it comes to VP.

Like anything mike flanagan would suit them. I can literally see them playing out midnight mass. Vegas in the role of the priest bringing in a entity so that he may get the chance to live a life with Pete!

HI I LOVE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE SO MUCH MORE THAN I HAVE WORDS TO EXPRESS 👁️👄👁️

it’s a masterpiece. so much love was put into every single aspect of it, and it fucking SHOWS in the final product. i could write a novel length essay, but i won’t, because i’m trying to be normal about this. somehow. 

the possibilities for the theerapanyakuls’ various traumas manifesting as hauntings are endless and delicious, and imo could really work within canon as well. you mentioned midnight mass too for vegaspete and you’re definitely onto something there, because vegas has his weird religious culty vibe going on already with his naked firehazard mirror sessions. a lot of devil/demon metaphors have made the rounds for him (as well as a highly entertaining demon vegas au by @blackwatervial) and i’m a big sucker for anything that fits the ‘religious & horny’ aesthetic. 

i imagine vegas doing what his father demands him to do, and with each killing and round of torture and bad bdsm etiquette scene, his sins and inhumane acts begin to turn him into something inhuman. into a demon of his own making. it’s what he believes he was always meant to be, always was inside. a monster. maybe he also pushes himself to become like this to please his father. maybe his father is always calling him too soft, too human, so vegas strips away his humanity and flays his own soul into scraps to lay at his father’s feet — but it’s still not good enough. 

he starts getting delusions (or in his mind he finally sees the truth) about the reason for his failure being the main family, where korn is god and the guards are his angels keeping vegas from the glory he deserves because they’re punishing him for his sins. 

i’m remembering the bloodstain pattern on pete’s back during the coup, across his shoulderblades as if seeping from wounds left behind by angel wings having been ripped off. so yeah, maybe to vegas, pete is an angel, and in when he captures pete he strips him of his status, cuts into his halo, burns and then rips off his wings, and finally makes him join vegas in sin. he falls for pete, obviously, finds beauty in the extremely fucked up thing he’s remade pete into, worships pete in his own flawed way — and once he loves pete, the beautiful haze of it drops away. all that’s left is a man, broken beyond repair, all by vegas’ hands. angel or not, vegas destroyed the one good thing he had, the one thing that could have saved him. 

(on a non vegaspete sidenote, kim’s whole thing is protecting his family. the way kim’s fear could manifest, is that the moment he starts caring about someone, he can no longer see them as they are but rather as a brutally murdered version of themselves. it’s horrifying to look at, scares him to death, and it makes him push them away,even though the reason they look like this to him is because he loves and cares for them. he sees his brothers like that and one day he starts seeing chay like that too. maybe with chay the blood even drips down onto the floor, audible even when every other sound around them should be loud enough to drown it out. and it’s all part of his motivation to go to the extremes he does to both protect the people he loves and push them away; he’s terrified of them actually becoming the corpses he sees them as.)

🧍‍♂️ y’know how i said i wasn’t going to write an essay. i guess my final note is that the minor family compound was made for haunting, it’s practically asking for it, especially with its mazelike structure and all of vegas’ trauma weighing down the very air inside.

thank you so much anon for sending me this ask and making my brain go zoom, i had a lot of fun imagining vegas (and kim) getting haunted. 😊💖

(also, anyone who hasnt seen haunting of hill house go watch even if you don't like horror, trust me)

[arrowverse-next-gen]

Wes is (currently) winning my poll, so here’s so stuff about my boy.

He used to get brought home by the cops like all the time in high school. And I don’t just mean from like breaking curfew. He, Sage, and Miles had a habit of breaking into the school after hours, stealing school property, vandalism. Was a good 40% of it to impress his girlfriend, yes. Was the other 60% pretty much him acting out because by middle school everyone knew his bio dad was a mass murderer, who killed his mom, yeah...

But Wes was tryna find his place. 

He and Sage dated off and on all through high school. Considering most people were either afraid of him or hated him, it was nice to have one person who seemed to like him no matter what the state of their relationship was. It sort of helped that they had a lot in common. 

Her mom is a supervillain too, so they used their relationship to escape from that reality. It wasn’t healthy, but they were both kids. 

Towards the end of senior year they’re relationship started to fizzle out. Wes didn’t want to admit it, but he had started to develop feelings for someone else. (But it would be a few years before he acted on that.) Plus by some miracle he managed to get accepted to CCU, and he was looking forward to going. His parents hook him up with Cisco’s foster son, Roman. They have a lot in common. Father’s who liked crime more than they liked taking care of their kids. They decide to get an apartment off campus.

So that July, right before he’s set to leave, he and Sage spend one last night together. They go to the drive in, but he doesn’t know what movie they see. He just remembers her in the back of his jeep, and he knows it’s the last time. But he also knows he doesn’t want to say it.

He goes to school, and for the first time in forever he’s not looked at as Adrian Chase’s son, or Oliver and Felicity’s Queen’s foster kid. He gets to fade into groups, he gets to make friends. Roman introduces him to a few of his CC friends. They’re a couple years younger, but they’re nice. A little more cheerful than Wes is used to, but he doesn’t mind too much. 

He comes home for winter break and looks for Sage everywhere, even goes to a few old haunts they used to meet up with Miles at. But Miles hasn’t seen her since around September. Plus his friend has now fallen into a stride with the Grey Starlings, and while he would never turn on Miles, he knows his parents track all their kids. And he doesn’t need Oliver and Felicity to start worrying about him again. 

He tries again over spring break, looks for her everywhere but he’s sure she’s moved out of Star City, leaving it and him in the past. So he decides it’s time to start doing the same.

He spends the summer with his family, his older brother is finally back in town and it seems like a good time to catch up. They avoid talking about they way they’re connected, they both get it. They’re nothing like their father. Apollo had stopped referring to Adrian as such years ago. He’s always seen Eo as more of a father anyway. But that summer was the first time Wes ever calls Felicity and Oliver mom and dad. 

He’s back at school in the fall. It’s early September and Will and Apollo come down for the weekend with Owen and Emmett, something about bonding with their little brothers. Wes thinks neither of the pre-teens want to be there, but he’s happy to see his brothers regardless.

Roman went to go pick up the pizzas when there’s a knock at the door. Wes is sure his roommate forgot his wallet, and goes to answer it, nearly tripping over the piles of stuff that somehow exploded from Owen and Emmett’s bags. 

When he opens the door it’s not Roman on the other side, it’s Sage. She’s crying, she says she’s sorry but she can’t do it anymore. Then she hands him a carseat and takes off. 

[risingshards]

I beat Final Fantasy XVI yesterday and am still processing it. My thoughts on the ending if you're curious are past the break! (ENDING SPOILERS FR FR)

That ending was such a fucking gut punch. But also was kinda weirdly Mass Effect 3-y (though I'm sure there are lots of endings where you go to an otherworldly place to defeat the evil and fire beams and leave your protag in an ambiguous space) and I was confused at how I felt as the credits rolled and the because of that. That starlight song HUUURRRTSSS OH MY GOD. I can't remember the last anything that like churned me inside like this with its ending.

Then I was reading interpretations and like I do with a lot of ambiguous endings I tend to lean to the happier interpretations. There are too many clues for me pointing to Clive's survival, and with him casting Raise on Joshua I'm ready to headcanon the full sappy "they all made it" ending including Dion cuz if we didn't see a body fully turn to stone or get super murderized, something they had no issue showing prior, then they can all make it (copium yes I know but it's a headcanon!). I'm a sucker for soft endings in stories and softness in general and I feel like after all the suffering and healing they went through, ending with more suffering doesn't sit right with me.

But at the very least I think Clive made it. The side quest with Harpocrates hoping Clive writes the story of this all one day, Clive narrating the intro and outro (the intro narration makes little sense otherwise to me), the book in the epilogue point to him having written the thing. Though Joshua as the author throws a wrench into things, maybe Clive dictated it to him so Joshua could lend his brother a hand eh?

Also everything with Jill's last quest and the symbolism of the ending.

ALSO IT'D BE DUMB AS FUCK FOR EVERYONE TO TELL CLIVE HE HAS TO LIVE AND SAVE HIMSELF AND STOP SELF SACRIFICING ONLY TO IMMEDIATELY DIE. The Clive dies interpretations feel just dull to me, not just from me favoring happy and bittersweet endings, it just feels at odds with everything if it's all just "and then they die." I know there's more to it than that but that's the vibe I get thinking about the ending that way.

"Before we broke camp, the morning after the storm, do you know what I did? I slipped away from my governess to climb the tor. And from there I saw a sea of petals, all reaching for the sun. And I realized that no matter how terrible the night…dawn would always come. That you…that you would always come for me. And you have. Again and again."

Dawn comes at the end of the game after a terrible night, symbolic of Clive coming home and fulfilling his promise. Jill praying to Metia the whole game and her prayer is finally answered at the end is a lot more beautiful to me than just. "The star Jill was praying to the whole game was really pointless oops star go out." Her relief feels less like "The big struggles are over and the sky is clear again" but tying back to the side quest from an hour or so earlier.

The idea that not engaging with the side quests prevents you from building the community as well is really interesting, almost doing two endings that way, a bitter one and a bittersweet but maybe hopeful one. I can't imagine how beat down I'd feel if I skipped all the big side quests before getting to that ending. It's also interesting how ambiguous they left it, I don't know if it makes the ending better but it hits me harder in a different way if that makes sense. The things the other way are the state Clive's in at the end, Gav crying (I'm so glad characters like Gav and Byron didn't die but oh my god it hurt so bad seeing Gav cry there), Jill feeling it and crying, Torgal howling...

I really like this interpretation of the ending:

https://filmcolossus.com/final-fantasy-16-clive-alive

BUT! I read wolves whimper and cry when they lose someone, like Torgal did when Cid died, but they howl when they're trying to bring members of their pack home. I just feel like there's more to hopeful if you look into the text around the ambiguity than not, like a reverse Sopranos ending.

Maybe TMI too but this was my like "dive deep into this during a depressive episode" game and I was kinda going iwth the interpretation like. All the characters telling Clive to stop sacrificing himself and save himself. That hit really hard with the depression for me. So for it to end like "well then he dies immediately after" feels so against that in a way that hurts. But fighting on and defying fate could be a really beautiful thing about facing ones own struggles, at least that's how I'm feeling. I pictured my depression/anxiety cycle as Kupka and me going against it like Clive in that scene like "I will show you no pity. No pity and no mercy. Now DIE!" like that was motivational for me for my current struggles. and the ending kinda muddies that and I don't know how to feel really.

All in all its up there with my favorite FF's, with the highlights being the huge battles like Titan and Bahamut, along with the smaller character moments like Clive and Uncle Byron's reunion. Also oh my god Ben Starr was amazing, one of my favorite performances in a game ever. My big downsides were I really would've been fine with a simpler happy ending after how much everyone suffered in this game, and that the women really got shafted in this one, it felt like a Shonen Jump manga in that regard lol. Jill getting benched to wife waiting for husband to come home as one of the big offenders. She didn't get shafted as bad as Luna did in FFXV at least, yeesh. I hope the next FF has lots more ladies!

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Title Here so I can talk about Shouto: 351-353, Part Two

Oh hey! The manga's good again!!! But anyway-

SHOOOOOOUTOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Now listen, for a while I know a lot of people were really concerned about how Hori would set up the final conflict between these two, but - listen! No, listen - it's actually really good. Or at least I'm going to argue why it's good from a storytelling perspective.

The character drama portion of this fight is phenomenal because the characters are all aligned exactly where they should be. I don't know if I could more reasonably balance everything. We have power set/limits, motivation to see the fight through, and individual motivation for being in the fight to begin with to consider when it comes to approaching it.

Dabi has the max fire power limit known of all three at the time. He also has no care or consideration for his life and so personal preservation limits are not a concern for him. Whoever goes up against him will have to have the power set, durability, and drive to put Dabi down for good or he'll just keep coming back.

Endeavor can't match Dabi's firepower, nor does he have the strength of heart to put down the twisted phantom his son has become. If Endeavor were to face Dabi, he would lose. While he would be personally deserving of it, Japan needs him alive so he can face threats facing all of them. Someone else has to do it.

Enter Shouto: Willing, able, and determined to see this difficult task through. The entire conflict with Dabi is different from his perspective. He's not detached from it - far from it, but even with the talk of sharing hot noodles with his brother he seems to be able to separate the different facets of this conflict. Yes, this is his brother, and his family, and Toya was born directly into the torment they all endured of which Dabi was a direct result. As someone who went through that and could see himself becoming another Dabi in another life, Shouto genuinely feels sympathy for Toya.

However, he also recognizes that Dabi - who by Dabi's own admission is not the same person as Toya - is a mass murderer and existential threat to humanity as a whole at this point by virtue of being such a powerful opponent directly aiding AFO and Shigaraki in their wanton destruction of society. Shouto understands that his first priority is the safety of everyone else, and he won't be emotionally compromised about it. Nevertheless, he'll try to understand Dabi and get closure as much as he reasonably can, if at all possible.

Understandably, Dabi doesn't want any of it. He wants to taunt and get a rise out of Shouto to see him suffer while he kills him out of spite, and he tries everything he can think of to do it. He attacks Shouto's character, calling him his father's ideal puppet. He attacks his ideals as being one of those kids who admire All Might but nonetheless runs to the safety of those stronger than him to protect him in UA. He attacks Shouto for being gifted with all the things one could think of to be powerful and successful, and yet he struggled to find himself and get his feet under him for a very long time; and in the meantime he had to lean on a lot of people, even to their own detriment. Dabi, every single time, attempts to make Shouto feel weak, inferior, and despair.

Yet every single time, Shouto has an answer for it because he's already had to face all of these accusations from having lobbed them against himself, first. He's already asked himself the hard questions about where he is, where he's been, where he's going, what he wants, what he's going to do, how he's gong to do it, and why he's going to do it that way - so he can counter Dabi's attempts to get under his skin; and that gave him the advantage he needed to be able to simply face the ghost of his brother head on.

He didn't show up to fight Dabi because he's his father's perfect mini-me; he's there because he wanted to stop Dabi from continuing his rampage because he truly aspires to the ideals of altruistic heroism that All Might embodied for him as a child. He also needed and does need the help of others, especially in the beginning when he was so lost in his pain that he forgot something as fundamental as the fact that he was his own person. But because his friends cared about him, and were patient with him, and gave him encouragement and room to grow and make mistakes, he got better and he got stronger; and with that in mind and the love and gratitude he has for his friends and support network he determined to put that new strength to use with a move of his own creation, specially designed to save everyone he loved from Dabi...

And how does he do it?

He embraced both halves of his abilities, using them in tandem with everything he's learned about his own power, and insulates his internal organs while stoking a charge of cold to expel instead of heat - starting by focusing on his heart. Don't mind me cryin' in the club.

This battle was equal parts a deeply personal turmoil for both brothers, but they both understood that the conflict had already grown far beyond just the two of them and their family history. This was a heated battle of ideals for the literal fate of the world with these brothers representing each side. That conflict was always personal, and it was always deeply painful and emotional for both of them; but it needed to end, and the die had been cast, and someone was going to lose in the process, and it was Shouto who was stronger and won in the end because he was the one who overcame himself and his pain.

AND THAT IS HOW YOU DO EPIC SHONEN FIGHTS WRAPPED IN OODLES OF CHARACTER DRAMA!!!!!!!!!

The Todoroki family drama has a lot of ups and downs in this series, but this is easily my top 3 moments of their interpersonal conflicts without a doubt! 😩👌

[southeastasiadiary]

Day Nine: A Day at My Lai

By some strange twist of fate or karma, I woke up today to find this article in my Facebook news feed:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-case-against-travel

Well, as I’ve said before, people travel for all kinds of reasons. I once knew someone who traveled simply to “collect” countries. In fact, he was a member of a club for people who’ve been to more than a hundred different countries. (It’s a real thing: The Travelers’ Century Club. Look it up.) He couldn’t understand my approach to travel, and I couldn’t understand his. Suum cuique.

Some travel for the sheer fun of it. Others travel to shop. Still others travel for adventure. I travel for understanding.

Today was a day all about travel for understanding.

I spent the day in My Lai (one of the villages of the Son My settlement) where personnel from the U.S. army murdered 504 unarmed citizens on March 16, 1968.

A man who had been seven at the time, told me about his recollection of the event. His mother (who is still living, at the age of 91) was up making breakfast when helicopters landed in the rice paddy just outside their house. Not knowing what was happening, she told the boy to hide under his bed. Their house, being so near the helicopters, was the first to be approached. They were all ordered out and taken to the rice paddy. Then the shooting began, first one by one, then with automatic fire. Military intelligence had erroneously reported that the village was a haven for Viet Cong, but there were, in fact, no Viet Cong in My Lai at the time, not even any men of military age, merely civilians.

A machine gun was then placed on a guard tower, and almost all those in the paddy were killed.

In all, 102 people were killed in the rice paddy alone.

It remains actively used as a rice paddy today.

The few survivors (including the boy, his mother, and his brother) lived only because other bodies fell on top of them, and they remained still until the soldiers moved on.

Fifteen more people, some as young as 2, were shot next to a silk cotton tree not far from their house.

Houses in My Lai at that time were traditional L-shaped huts with thatched roofs. So, the soldiers began setting the thatching on fire and shot the people as they fled their homes.

After the soldiers had left, the survivors crept out from where they were hiding and went to a nearby village. Several days later, they returned with several of the people from that village to bury the bodies. But there were too many bodies to bury one by one, so they dug mass graves. Today, memorials mark those graves

and, in a few cases, unnamed “tombs” have been placed at the spot.

At a small museum, a large plaque lists the names and ages of all who died. The dead ranged from 82 to less than a year old.

After telling me his story, the man and his wife invited me to lunch in their home (a gesture of generosity I’m not sure I could have extended if the situation had been reversed).

Finally, before I left, I asked the man if he would do me the kindness of having his photo taken with me.

In the photo you see, the man’s wife, the man, me, and the director of the small museum at My Lai. Today was her day off, but she came in special because she was told that "an American who had a serious interest in understanding what really happened at My Lai" would be paying a visit.

So, no, I don’t think there’s a case to be made against travel.

[semi-imaginary-place]

guess I'm on weekly release now. ep 40 that must have been the most confusing battle for megumi. getting his ass kicking planning to get hit just so he can get another hit in and then his opponent stabs himself through the head. i was not expecting this much characterization from jogo. like usually you can tell which characters are going to be important based on how "cool" the mangaka makes their visual design and jogo looks like a normal flunky but he has a fully fleshed out character. sukuna and jogo are having a naruto style heart to heart wtf.

ah i wanna watching gojo go feral again what ep was that... ep 33 huh was it that far back? guess this whole arc is more about the fallout of gojo being sealed. damn yeah who animated that cut with the arm. the animation for this series really is top notch all around but especially the fights, i think jjk has cemented it's place as best animated fights i in any anime i have ever seen. satoru-chan is so manically happy to be fighting. wow this episode feels so much longer than it actually is.

41: well at least sukuna is having fun. and he took an interest in megumi, this can't end well for megumi.

I wonder why the author made jujutsu high be 4 years. for even 1st years its essentially on job training with them already being put to work. I do wonder how much schooling they're actually getting. and then narratively at this point there aren't even 3rd years and when i checked the wiki 4th year characters dont exist. and then with nanami leaving, originally i thought he then went to college but he's a lot younger than i initially though and most office jobs want more than highschool. so does jjk give you a university degree at the end? i know japan has 4 year universities but do they do 2 year associate degrees? just an all round weird decision.

i started out curious why people were mad about the sukuna fight and now im reading the manga i guess

yuuji: I don't need purpose i'm going to be a cog in the machine

huh itadori is actually choso's brother. huh. but the whole thing with the cursed womb fetuses was that they were never born. i dont know what is going on here. and why didn't choso recognize the stitches earlier. if brain dude is swapping bodies then the genetic material like gametes should be changing or is the implication that yuuji is also made from cursed energy/weird human experimentation. ... panda's right yuji really is attracting older brothers.

*squints* is that kazakstan????? when did kazakstan become a world superpower???? idk if its the translation but im having trouble understanding. kenjaku changed people into being more suitable vessals and to give non sorcerers cursed techniques? because that's not what the text says. then was does the remote activation do? and why did he need mahito's technique? it wasn't garunteed he'd be able to absorb mahito. i cant make sense of this.

poor megumi just got dragged headfirst into clan politics.

does the culling game apply to all cursed technique users or just ones brain dude implanted?

145: instrumentality??????? instrumentality. -_-

maki's new design is goated, love the sleeves. i like her more i hope she pisses off more men. i also finally noticed that meimei isn't wearing a dress, it's a tricked out onsie. i love that design

152. suguru was too pure hearted. see you can totally get away with mass murder you just need to play the politics game.

alright my curiosity is sated. not like i was watching jjk for the plot anyways.

powered by children lol. madoka level harvest negative emotion energy as a renewable fuel source.

i think i get why people were saying the zenin clan is kinda incest-y

huh is gege trying to say gojo taught sukuna about love.

so sukuna just ate his own mumified corpse's head, im getting that right?

Saw someone compare gojo to achilles (so geto would be patroclus?) And im mad i didnt think of that first

[eyrieofsynapses]

Redemption Panel Highlights and Reactions

GATORS

i.e., Beth Riesgraf and Christian Kane (mostly Beth) talking about filming the scenes in (what I presume is) The Rollin’ on the River Job, where they’re pulling some stuff out of the water, and finding out the next day that there was an absolutely massive alligator pulled out of the same place just a little while after they filmed it

Beth’s impression of the wildlife folks warning them about the alligators

Beth scaring the hell out of Noah Wyle by yelling “GATOR” at him just after he finished his scene

seriously that was an absolutely WILD part of the panel

Everyone showering Aleyse Shannon with literally all the love!

Aldis Hodge in particular big-brothering her, and also the older actors calling her out for not giving herself enough credit, and Dean Devlin talking about how she blew him away at the auditions with her ability to turn on a dime

Seeing Kane with his glasses off wiping at his eyes, momentarily thinking “you okay dude?” and then realizing that he was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes

(same)

The The Bucket Job clip! I’ve been a bit meh on a lot of Redemption, just in how it didn’t feel quite right, but that is possibly the absolute closest I’ve seen it get to the original in the best way. Brilliant

Which comes as no surprise since BETH RIESGRAF directed the episode!!! And apparently put an insane amount of effort in!

Beth’s utter delight and joy at both directing the episode and having the crew behind her

THE CHAIR

So apparently she and Christian went to town on the fight scene and he winds up tied up in a chair somewhere along the line and there’s a whole wild scene, which I am really looking forward to

Beth knowing how insanely particular he’d be about things like zip ties vs rope and what kind of rope e.t.c. e.t.c.

Apparently this is also tied into a VERY DEEP scene with Eliot? It sounds like they’re going to go super hard on his backstory, which is terrifyingly exciting

Just. Beth and Christian going very hard on that episode together

Speaking of: the panel’s going amazingly, I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts, things are relatively light, and then, of fucking course—

Kane hitting us over the head about Eliot being a mass murderer who can’t be redeemed, is trying to stay static so that he can maintain the place he’s in, and is thus LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH HARRY

What the FUCK. This is of course incredibly insightful and perfectly on point (because it’s Kane) but also, EXCUSE ME, OUCH, why would you DO THAT to us?

Everyone talking about having their families on set and their kids!

Beth’s son growing up on the original Leverage set and now going into being a director himself!

Gina’s daughter also growing up on set!

Noah Wyle’s daughter is playing Harry’s daughter I REPEAT NOAH WYLE’S ACTUAL DAUGHTER IS PLAYING AS HARRY’S DAUGHTER

Gina Bellman remaining relatively stoic throughout much of the panel (seriously, this woman, how the heck does she do it) and then losing it when they’re asked about running/inside jokes

A lot of them are, of course, apparently not appropriate to be spoken on-panel

(A lot of the others are the little inside ones that are special enough not to be ones they want to share, which is sweet!)

Everyone collectively losing it over having LeVar Burton on for The Bucket Job

Devlin and everyone laughing about collecting the various Star Trek people on Leverage

Beth talking about Burton coming over while she’s getting ready and asking her if she’s living on coffee and water, her laughing because he was absolutely right, and then him gently reminding her to remember to eat, which is the sweetest thing in the world oh my gods

Kane apparently choreographing an intense scene with Burton and being scared out of his mind, because Burton really wanted to go for it, but to Kane it was like he’s a figurine that’s not to be messed with because he was so worried about hurting him

Kane choreographing a massive amount of the show, which I knew already, but seriously, this guy blows me away

Gina and the crew talking about how he’d be away for a day of shooting a fight and all of them would be missing him and thinking about him

Family Vibes

Everyone talking about how they’re very noisy and loud together on set and it’s a bit like walking into a group of people having Christmas dinner (or something to that effect) because they’re just Like That together

Aleyse being the most surprised by Beth when she met her because she was like a little angel of light during the auditions but turned out to be an absolute ball of wild energy on set

Gina going “wait you were a MODEL” at Beth

Aldis talking about how much he loved how Parker and Hardison’s relationship had developed and grown!

Also, Aldis apologizing when the New York (iirc) background noise got loud and everyone going “no no we get you”

His outfit is ON POINT today

Gina saying that Christian is the goofiest and wildest out of them in terms of humor

(she goes “some of you may not know this,” which, fair, but also, if you’ve seen more than ten minutes of this guy outside of character you know he’s an absolute ball of sunshine)

Gina, Beth, and Christian talking about how they’d challenge each other to stay off sweets back on the original set, because they knew they needed to stay in shape and also just because they’re competitive (apparently all of them are major sweet tooths) and hide brownies and things from each other, while Aldis is just. doing pushups. eating all the healthy stuff. and then wanders into the room with a literal cupful of chocolates

(and Aldis going “well yeah I have to work off the sweets SOMEHOW”)

Beth explaining that sometimes they’d order a “Kane burrito” from Christian and he’d alter it slightly

Like, you know, chopping up hot jalapenos super fine and mixing them in, and Beth practically not being able to talk after the first bite

Apparently Aldis still went back a lot even after that

(Christian just seems very pleased with himself over it)

(THESE PEOPLE)

Gina goes “hey we should have an episode where we all swap roles,” Devlin going “WAIT FOR SEASON ONE TO BE DONE,” and then somebody (maybe the moderator?? I don’t remember exactly) going “uh actually. We did that”

Cue immediate scramble of “WAIT WHICH JOB WAS THAT”

(paraphrasing) “Yeah you remember the bit where you put on Parker’s harness and went off a building?”

Turns out half the cast had actually forgotten that that existed and only remember when reminded

The original cast all think of the episodes as “jobs”!!!!

Everyone talking over each other, Devlin going “it was with Sterling when we blew up the offices,” deciding that it was the season one finale, and then trying to figure out what episode title it was (eventually they figure out it’s the David jobs)

Moderator and Devlin accurately commenting that the fans know the show much better than they do

Noah Wyle very correctly explaining how Electric Entertainment is like a family and Devlin just. Keeps people

Aleyse and Aldis talking about typing when they’re hacking and going “WHAT THE HECK DO WE TYPE”

Aldis goes “yeah I just type all the bad words that we’re not allowed to say”

Aleyse saying that she’s always a little worried they’re hiding a Word document behind the blue screen and they’re going to pull up what she’s typing at the end of the day and print it out and put it in her trailer going “what the HECK is this”

Noah talking about filming The Golf Job and just getting to direct Jason Marsters and Christian together

Apparently their dynamic in that episode accurately mirrors the one with their characters in Angel!

Which promptly goes straight to the comment that it was very hard to make Marsters look like a golfer (pfft)

(Also apparently Christian plays golf for fun with his friends? Not necessarily something I would’ve thought of!)

Aleyse happily talking about how she loved the dynamic on set and it was very different from what she was used to

Also Aleyse talking about doing stunts and everyone else praising her for going whole hog

Beth especially praising her for the bit where she’s hit with the paralysis injection (I don’t remember which ep it’s from) and her acting for it, because it was incredibly hard to drop off screen in the particular way she did

Aleyse promptly answers that she was terrified with some of those, especially one where she had to keep a clock from falling and breaking

Everyone discussing how they see a new aspect of Breanna’s character in The Train Job

Also, to get serious for a moment, Kate Rorick in particular talks about how Breanna’s part of Gen Z and how we didn’t get the “days of yore” where everything was chill. We’ve basically been living in a world of hostility the whole time. It’s something I deeply appreciate, as someone who’s part of that group, and I love how they emphasize that for us.

This panel was pure chaos and I loved every moment of it! My stomach was actually hurting from laughing so hard, I swear. They had me cackling well over half the time. I would happily take panels double or triple the length of this, this was amazing. I also adore how the second you drop these six people in a room together, they immediately take off and literally just run and give you everything you wanted and more. (It is also evidently very hard to get them to STOP talking.)

I’m also just going to stop and take a second to fawn over the effects for the 3D room. It’s gorgeous—I love how they replicated the headquarters, especially with the stained glass ceilings! Super impressive, especially with all the photos, and I just love the whole thing. Kudos to whoever put that together.

Anyway, I’m definitely missing some stuff too; seriously, there wasn’t a second wasted in this thing, they were cracking some kind of joke or dropping some really interesting piece of information practically every thirty seconds. (And I haven’t even gotten into the clips OR the bloopers. I miiiight do a separate reaction purely for those.) It’s still up right now if you missed it and you want to watch it! I’ll probably watch it again, honestly.

[leviachaan]

Howdy how about a headcanon with the bros and maybe undatebles where mc has the best I'm not mad I'm disappointed face

//This is honestly a mood- thank you for the request!

Lucifer 🎲

He is incredibly amused.

It appears that your mere expression of utter disappointment is more effective on Mammon than his punishments have ever been so far.

+50 respect from Lucifer

He is curious about how much potential this talent of yours could bring into finally getting his brothers to act decently for once.

He would 10000% call for you every time he's too exhausted to nag at his brothers.

Lucifer: "Hello, MC, could you come to the living room? There's something you need to see"

He would attempt to mimic your face, only to look like he was one (1) step away from commiting mass murder.

He would low-key want to ask you to teach him how to achieve such expression, yet his pride would never let him.

He puts you on speed dial now and you are his third most commonly used contact after Diavolo and Mammon (both for obvious reasons).

Mammon💴

"O-Oi, what are ya lookin' at me like that for??"

He would H A T E it.

Scream at him, yell at him all you want, but please not the disappointment.

Poor baby would feel like you lost all hope in him. You are the only person who values him and realises his worth, he can't disappoint you :(

He swears he won't steal grimm from Levi again. We all know he won't stop, but he's trying!

He would even allow you near Goldie, just please don't give him that stare.

The good thing is that you don't even have to ask him what happened when he's in trouble.

Just look at him and he will be spilling the beans and the stolen money all over the place.

Leviathan 🐍

He would find it hilarious.

The whole house could be burning to shreds by all seven of them fighting and you would just stand in the corner with the most deadpan expression ever. He loves it.

You would 1000% end up viral by him posting a video of two of his brothers fighting to death behind you with you just eating cereal in front of them.

He would make sure to make you sit through a 2 hour long presentation of what anime and game characters you remind him of.

You would be able to make Mammon give him his money back so guess what you two are best friends now.

Satan📖

Much like Lucifer, he's amused.

You always managed to look so disappointed yet not mad when Beel chugged down all the food you spent all night making before the others could even as much see their breakfast.

At first, he thought that's how you reacted in order to alleviate your rage, but once you told him that's just how you react, he was impressed.

If only he could control his anger like that.

Seeing how effective it is on his brothers, he would attempt to pull off that look.

Only to have him chopping tables and doors in half a few seconds later.

Unlike you, he's very mad and very disappointed at the same time.

Asmodeus 👛

He would struggle to stifle a giggle every time your face shifted into pure disappointment towards his brothers.

He would find your expression so endearing that he would risk breaking his face mask in order to smile when you do it.

He loves it as long as it's not aimed towards him.

He's supposed to be the one charming people in here, yet your face makes him feel the need to write down a whole list to apologise for whatever he did.

It will be a loooong list, let me tell ya.

"Sweetie, please don't frown at me like that, your face will get wrinkles!"

He will think it's hot, let's be honest.

Beelzebub 🍔

He was yet again busy emptying out the whole fridge.

You were so excited to find the perfect cheeseburger here in the Devildom that wasn't capable of murdering your stomach and saved it for later.

You seemed to have forgotten about Beel's void of a stomach, however.

You would step in the kitchen late at night for some water, when you noticed a familiar red floof in front of the fridge.

Oh no

Upon hearing your snap, his head snapped towards you, the remains of your once precious cheeseburger around his lips.

Your face seemed so sad to him. You weren't mad so you must be sad, right?

He would immediately apologise, he didn't know it was yours. Poor bub would offer to buy you one himself as an apology.

He doesn't like that face at all, he thinks you are sad. Please don't be sad.

Belphegor💤

You are a mood, honestly. He's the same.

Why bother being mad when you can just stare at them?

He would be perfectly capable of killing someone if they got on his nerves too much, unlike you, but still.

When you two are annoyed at each other, it would be like a staring contest.

More like asserting dominance kind of battle

There can only be one dead inside person in here.

He would eventually get tired and end up falling asleep on top of you to stop you from looking at him like that.

More excuses for him to make you his pillow.

Diavolo👑

Are all humans like this??

He will be a bit confused as to why you reacted like this when he announced to you that he wants to make your birthday a national holiday.

Is that sadness? Happiness? E x p l a i n, M c

He would ask Barbatos for help, but he soon got used to you reacting this way and now he adores it.

He finds it hilarious when you look so done every time the brothers fight that he would chuckle every time.

Lucifer would want to obliterate you

You are his precious exchange student and everything you do stirs so much fascination within him.

Simeon👼

He would also let out a sweet chuckle every time you pulled out one of those expressions.

He would find your face so adorable, he can't help staring at you when you are at it.

Can we date Simeon? Pls

He would ask you whether you are okay either way, because he's an actual angel and cares about you.

He would kind of softly ruffle your hair to calm you down or to tease you, your choice.

He is an angel, but it doesn't mean he isn't playful.

Solomon 🔮

He would love it to the moon and back.

He absolutely a d o r e s it.

1000% uses it against the brothers at any given time.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that, Mammon. MC won't be happy about it "

Unlike the others, not only would he not mind when you do it to him, he will even tease you about it.

"Is everything alright, MC?" he would ask with a huge grin on his face.

If you showed him the slightest hint that his reaction annoyed you, he will do it again.

He will listen to you, if something happened though.

Doesn't mean he won't tease you during it.

[fleursdemeduse]

Remembrance AU: Fighting For the Right Side

Warnings: Nightmare [Depiction of child death] ; Mention of death ; Allusion to mass murder and bombs

Words: 3.3k

You were quick to settle into your position in Pogtopia. Every day was primarily spent with Techno, but it was relaxing. You farmed, took trips to the bastion you two had met at, he protected you in fortresses, you two even went mining together. He was a comfortable constant in your world. Even when the voices got to be too much, you were with him. But that might have been what caused it all in the first place.

Settling into the small alcove Tommy said you could use, you decided that you could take this brief moment of quiet to read. You felt safe in the ravine, so much so that you had shed your armor back in Techno’s hidden stronghold.

Once sat in front of the fire, you tossed another small log in the flames. You'd have to go find more wood tomorrow but this was enough; The fire burning was bright enough you didn't need to light a torch and waste extra materials they might need, and the air warm enough you only needed a small throw blanket for added comfort to cuddle during the parts of your book the suspense physically got to you.

And so you got comfortable. You relaxed against the wall and you opened your book. Page 47.

Suddenly, sounds bombarded the child - a mad rustling, and then, twit twit, echoing over and over. They were familiar sounds, not particularly frightening, but unplaceable. A heartbeat was louder than anything else and the small nine year old could only wish that the sound were quieter. That everything was quieter.

The maze was an overgrown thing. Something so large that anyone who encountered it knew they could never escape. The shadows kept moving though; rushing faster than legs could ever hope to outrun. Faster and faster they crawled like vines all around. And soon the child was engulfed. Darkness spread to every limb, smothering wails that spilled from parted lips. There were no cries for help or alerts to any who would listen. Soon, nothing remained.

The crash had startled you awake. Your nightmare releasing it’s hold from you at the sudden sound. You relaxed quickly, however, seeing Wilbur in a heap next to the stairs. He must have fallen again. You pressed your lips together, remembering Techno’s words. “We used to have railin’s but Wilbur, he just really enjoyed fallin’ to his death.”

The brunet slowly got up and pat himself off before looking up at you and smiling. A smile like that could have made sunflowers turn to revel in its glow.

“Oh, hey. Sorry for waking you.” His voice was soft, probably to not wake anyone else if they hadn’t already been awoken already.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn’t a very good dream.” He nodded at you in understanding. “What were you doing out? On a secret mission?”

The teasing smile on your lips grew bigger when his smile soured and he scoffed, grumbling to himself about how every mission was technically a secret one.

Yours fell away when he started walking off, his softness darkened with the thought of what happened during his outing. You hesitated. You didn’t want to wake Techno. You two were only just growing closer and you didn’t know how the hybrid reacted to missing out on the little sleep he was actually getting. But you didn’t want to be with your thoughts. Despite not being even remotely close to the man now leaving you behind, you reached out for him. “Hey Wilbur?” He turned to look at you. "Can you stay? Just for tonight, please. I don't want to be alone after that."

You watched his brown eyes brighten and a boyish grin overtake his lips. It reminded you of Tommy’s. You briefly wondered if his mood always swung this dramatically. “I'll stay for as long as you need." He made his way to sit with you and you added another log to the fire, sitting up so the rock digging into your spine shifted away. Wilbur sat across from you, his presence immediately making you relax.

"So, Mr. Leader," You taunted once more, "What was the secret mission?"

In the coming days, you and Wilbur spent more time together. He’d tell you the most random facts about himself whilst you two worked, but you couldn’t bring yourself to pay it any mind.

-

"Hey [y/n], guess what?"

"Hm?"

"I was born on September 14th. That makes me a Virgo."

-

"Did you know I can play guitar?"

"I think everyone knows that about you, Wilbur. Why do you ask?"

"I just thought you might wanna hear me play you something sometime..."

-

"You know, I was once married to this wonderful salmon named Sally. You remind me of her sometimes."

-

“With you on our side, [y/n], I know that we’re going to win L’manburg back. And I promise you’ll have a spot in my cabinet.”

It was decided. Techno and yourself would attend the festival while Wilbur and Tommy hung back and watched from a safe distance. You were nervous. A bad feeling grew like a stone in your stomach as they all prepared.

"Hey [y/n], come here a moment, will you?" Sighing as you stood from the chest you were going through, you felt your back pop in a few different places and you hissed before walking to where Wilbur stood. It was silent in the ravine, everyone just as anxious about the festival as you.

"Yeah?" You asked, resting a hand on his arm as you peeked around him at the paper on the table. It was a map of Manburg with “x”s scattered across it.

"Are you prepared?" He glanced down at you, watching the crease in your eyebrows deepen as you examined the plans.

"Mhm." You hummed, finally looking up at him. His eyes were so warm when they looked at you, just like Techno’s. Even if he didn’t have a smile, they were always filled with that same warmth that made you feel important. The two were more like brothers than either cared to admit. "Why?"

"Can I tell you something and you keep it a secret from Tommy and Techno?" Everything around you felt like it had stilled. Everything waiting for the other shoe to drop. The stone suddenly felt heavier.

"What is it?” He continued looking at you and you found it almost hard to breathe. "Wilbur?"

His hand reached to cup your cheek gently. They weren’t calloused like Technoblade’s. They were the hands of a poet, of a musician, of someone whose hand reached for the quill not the sword. They smelled of gunpowder. Your heart felt like it was in your throat when you realized what all of those “x”s were.

“You would risk letting all those people die just so you could have L’manburg back? Why?”

His voice came out hoarse when he finally brought himself to speak. "Because if I can’t have it, no one can, [y/n]. I'm so sorry."

Your lips trembled. You thought of all of the innocent people who would never see it coming. You thought of Tommy and Techno, getting ready in another part of the ravine who wouldn’t know until it was too late. You thought of the man before you who probably felt like he was doomed to keep repeating this action again and again. When had blowing something up ever worked in his past lifetimes? He had to know that this was crazy, right?

Wilbur continued to stare at your frightened face for a moment. He looked so serious. His dark eyebrows drawn together and lips turned just the slightest bit downward. But his eyes? The warmth that filled them seemed to be slowly draining and being replaced with dark melancholy. You hated that look on him and drew your hand up to hold the one cradling your face. “You don’t have to do this, y’know. There is always another way.”

Wilbur stepped forward, pulling you into an embrace that smelled of cedar and leather. His hand left your cheek to instead hold your head to his chest. You didn’t like this hug. This hug felt like he knew things were going to go horribly wrong and he didn’t want you to see the aftermath of it. “If there were one, we would have found it by now.”

Your hands gripped the soft material of his trench coat and you pressed your face into his sweater. You didn’t want this. You were happy to help where you could, but you didn’t want to be a part of the destruction of a nation. You just wanted to help your friends overthrow a tyrant. “I wish I were as brave as you, Wil.”

The soft huff of a chuckle reverberated through his chest as he squeezed you tighter. “Did you know that that’s the first time you’ve called me something other than my name?” His voice was uplifted at the end. He almost sounded happy by the thought. It was squashed when he sighed, pressing his face into your hair. “I wouldn’t call it bravery, though. Still, I promise that we’ll all end up on the other side of this together.”

You tilted your head up a bit to look at him. “Where else would we be?”

He didn’t answer you, just held you tighter.

If there was one thing Wilbur couldn’t describe himself as, it was good.

In previous lives, he had been a cruel, sadistic god. He forced hundreds of people to compete for his entertainment. They were rats, moles, ants, sometimes even just humans while he played the part of omnipotent creator. He had been a king sometimes, or a hero. And time and time again, he was just an older brother. But no matter what, he couldn’t seem to save the people who loved him the most. He couldn’t protect the ones who looked up to him; be it because he found sick joy in their deaths, or because he wasn’t strong enough.

He never felt strong enough.

When Technoblade had told him of the strange person whom he had met in the nether, he almost brushed it off. There was no way he had met someone whom he hadn’t shared at least one lifetime with. There was no such thing as new players who weren’t just NPCs.

However, when you stepped into the ravine, inventory absolutely filled with different items that you just willingly handed over to the pink haired hybrid with a smile, he was utterly floored. The curve of your lips, the tone of your voice, even the look in your eyes were all new to him. He had never once met you.

He approached the two of you with hurried steps, wondering what kind of trick you were playing, only to freeze when you turned your gaze to him. He could hear his own blood rushing through his ears and, for a moment, he wondered if you could hear it too. The expression you wore unnerved him. It was as if you had seen every lifetime, every possibility. Yet you still had the nerve to smile shyly at him. When you waved at him in silent greeting, he knew Technoblade had been completely correct in his assumption. Your lives were missing from your wrist.

You were an investment.

But no one made him feel as powerless as you did.

You were able to try things over and over and over again. You weren’t held back by memories of mistakes or fears. The tiny flits of trauma they all seemed to feel were just… absent in your being. You were unapologetic about running errands in Manburg and doing reconnaissance whilst you were out, seemingly unafraid during the recounts you had given him of meeting Schlatt and Tubbo for the first time.

And this seemed to hold true in your interactions with Tubbo. He didn’t treat you with the same feral energy he shared with Tommy or the attitude he put forth for his leaders. When you weren’t spending almost every waking moment with Technoblade, the soft murmur of your soft voices being heard through the stone walls that led to the farm, you were interacting with one or both of the teenagers that helped fuel the rebellion. Tubbo told you about new ideas he had, or described to you his day, or even just explained to you things that even he himself knew he would have trouble understanding, despite Tubbo being the one to explain them. Wilbur noticed that you just did that. You listened patiently while someone talked, despite the knowing look in your eye that made him feel like you already knew exactly what they were about to say. And this seemed to carry over into your relationship with Tommy.

You paid rapt attention to the blond, reminding him that even if he was still technically a child, that doesn’t mean he didn’t deserve to be listened to. The oddest part he found, though? Tommy actually returned the favor in kind. It wasn’t so much that you would go on long-winded tangents and he’d be forced to sit there and listen. It was that when you asked or told the sixteen year old to do something, he did it without too much of a fight. That’s not to say he wouldn’t talk back to you, he did almost every time, but it was the point that he would still do what you said without much hesitation. And every single time, Wilbur felt the sharpest stab of envy.

He had questioned Tommy after the first couple instances of it happening before him. He had cornered the very person who had been his younger brother in many previous lives against the cold stone wall on one of the walk ways while you and Techno were out gathering things from the nether and demanded to know why. However, the young soldier just shrugged in response. “They just usually have very fun ideas.” He had stared long and hard at the blonde, the other fiddling with the hem of his dirty shirt. He made a mental note to ask if you’d be willing to do laundry for them when you next went to Manburg. “That and…”

“And?” Wilbur had immediately prompted, knowing the time he had to question the younger was running short.

“They just have that tone of voice. And something makes me feel like I should listen when they tell me to do something.” Wilbur rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to berate him. “Sometimes it feels like they know way more than they should. Like they already know what’s going to happen.”

The brunet’s words died on his tongue.

They all felt like that.

But if you knew so much, why did you never talk about any of your past lives like the rest of them did? If you knew what was going to happen, why were you so patient and let them make mistake after mistake?

The thought sat bitterly at the forefront of his mind as he pat himself off, having fallen off the side of the walkway yet again. He almost regretted removing the child-proofing, but he was an adult, and he didn’t need them, and he certainly wasn’t going to recant his insistence that they didn’t need them. He turned when he heard shifting and saw you slumped against the side of the ravine.

In the dim lighting, you looked different. You were cuddled under a thin blanket, eyebrows furrowed and mouth pressed into a pout that reminded him of a child. He must have awoken you. You looked rather cute like this, though.

He smiled at you despite himself. He was still a little hesitant about being around you. He didn’t need help in his daily activities like Technoblade, he didn’t need a guiding hand like Tommy, and he felt plenty listened to daily, unlike Tubbo.

But somehow, he didn’t feel as loved as you were.

“Oh hey, sorry for waking you.” The words had slipped from his mouth before he had had a chance to stop them. Now he’d be forced to converse with you. He watched your eyes look away from him, even in the dim light.

"It wasn’t a very good dream.” You didn’t have good dreams? What was there to have a nightmare of? He tucked that piece of information away for later, your eyes were back on him. “What were you doing out? On a secret mission?”

His mood immediately dropped, especially when he saw the mocking grin that planted itself on your face. It was as if this were a game to you. “Every mission we pursue is a secret one, you of all people should know that.”

The grin just grew and he felt his chest tighten. How could you act so lax when you seemed to know exactly what happened when he was out there? He turned to walk back to his desk to write about the events that had transpired and quell his anger. He wasn’t truly upset with you, he knew that, and he didn’t want to take that out on the one person that seemed to be holding together his fellow usurpers, but you almost irritated him. His soft steps reverberated through their base.

“Hey Wilbur?”

His steps faltered. Despite your previous mood, you suddenly sounded so small. Afraid. He looked at you from over his shoulder and was surprised to see your extended hand.

“Can you stay for tonight? I don’t want to be alone after that.”

A new feeling sparked in him.

You wanted him? The one who had been so helpful for everyone else, to the cause, even to him on occasion, needed his help? How bad had your dream been? You looked so distraught, so powerless. He didn’t feel so weak when you looked at him like that.

“I’ll stay for as long as you need.” Your eyes held a warmth that could rival the fire in front of them. You moved to feed it and he sat across from you. You two weren’t close in either sense of emotionally or physically.

When had that changed?

He felt compelled to check up on you more after that night, use you as the investment that he believed you to be. No one in Manburg knew of your status, and he was planning on using it to their advantage.

Or, he had been.

But you made him feel safe about sharing things about himself. You were easy to talk to, easy to work around, easy to listen to. You would have been so easy to use.

Maybe that’s why he told you of the plan he and Tubbo had come up with.

You had found your way into much more than his good graces, just like the rest of them, and he didn’t want you to get caught in the crossfire. You were so susceptible to influence, he feared you’d start to see him as a villain. He knew what people would say about him. He wanted you to know his thoughts and feelings before you could be tainted by their remarks.

He had shared memories with you before. They all had. Words seemed to fall unencumbered whenever you were around and they were all victim to it. But you hadn’t judged any of them on the actions they had taken in their previous lives. You didn’t even judge them on the actions they had taken in this one. Despite this, he was still scared you’d be turned against him if he wasn’t the one to tell you.

“I think everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves.”

It was his turn to prove that they were fighting for the right side.