#because if they were isolated they'd probably just kill each other

[shadfinite]

ok but the thing is shadow and infinite isnt a "healthy" or "good" relationship at first. it takes them years to be good for each other. they shouldn't have been together! they should have broken up years ago! but they didn't and they are working through it and eventually things work out. EVENTUALLY Infinite stops enabling Shadow's self destructive behavior and EVENTUALLY Shadow stops tolerating the admittedly unacceptible way Infinite treats him.

See, Infinite doesn't know what it's like to be with someone who doesn't want to hurt him even a little. Every relationship he's ever been in has been a really unhealthy and dangerous power dynamic (he's been the weak one and the strong one before). It takes him YEARS DECADES maybe even CENTURIES to realize Shadow is NOT LIKE THAT. Shadow didn't even really want to specifically hurt Infinite when they first encountered each other in the Mystic Ruins. He was just doing a job. It takes Infinite such a long time to understand that. He's so obsessed with Shadow but he has this one conflicting core understanding with Shadow that he simply cannot wrap his head around. He needs to stay in control so that "when Shadow tries to fuck him over he has a way to regain the upper hand."

Shadow thinks he's lesser than everyone, even Infinite. Even though Infinite literally started a war and wanted to destroy everything just because he was bored. If Infinite wants all the power over him, Shadow is okay with that because surely he deserves it for being such a miserable creature. When Infinite calls him names and treats him poorly he just lets it happen because Infinite is the first person he's met in a long time who will treat him in a way he understands. To Shadow, this is unfortunately what true love looks like. Being attacked is familiar, and Shadow knows that when people are kind to him he doesn't know how to deal with it. He thinks Infinite is giving him a form of stability that he can't live without.

What's confusing for both of them is that they do have moments of tenderness, and they do have inexplicable boundaries that they never cross with each other. They've never discussed their limits, but there are things they would never do to each other because it'd be too much.

They have moments of vulnerability, where they are just sitting beside each other and Infinite is telling Shadow how beautiful he is. And Shadow believes it because he's pretty sure that Infinite wouldn't waste his time being nice if he didn't mean it. Shadow introduced Infinite to a part of himself he didn't know existed, a part of himself that doesn't want to have to try to hard to reach for the top. But that vulnerability is terrifying at first and neither of them want to acknowledge it. It just happens and then its back to business as usual again. They don't talk about it.

They will do things to each other that cause conflict or anger, enable each other's worst habits, but they won't try to change each other's identities. That's the hard limit. They might have an argument where they harp on each other's bad behavior, but it's just talk. They'd never do anything to each other that would actively contribute to a crisis because one thing they both understand on a fundamental level is that changing the answers to core questions like "What is my purpose?" or "What do I believe is right?" is mind breaking. They never force each other to do things that challenge the status quo or threaten to shake their already deteriorating stability.

But this boundary is also part of the problem. They, for a long time, don't let each other grow and absolutely get worse! They break each other down, but they keep making excuses for why they should stay together. People who constantly fight with each other should not be together!

And when I say "together" I don't really mean together. Their relationship is a situationship at best, but Infinite still refers to Shadow as his boyfriend. Shadow insists they aren't even friends, but doesn't really passionately refute when Infinite says they are together. He just deflects. Of course he wants to be Infinite's partner, but that commitment is terrifying and he doesn't get how Infinite can be ready to commit like that even though it's been YEARS. It feels so impermanent because Shadow's perception of time is based on his immortality. That's one thing Infinite doesn't have (doesn't really think he has).

Two things jade them: time and people.

Shadow and Infinite won't challenge each other's core values, but time and people will. For Shadow, this comes in the form of his admittedly slightly larger support system: people like Rouge Amy and Big especially, but also Sonic to some degree. Infinite stagnates. His only support system is Shadow, really. He also has, like, Big and Sonic and Wave, but he isn't ever vulnerable with them in the way Shadow is with his. Shadow starts to grow, Infinite doesn't.

Infinite is definitely the worse off in this relationship. Shadow always knew that. They both knew it when they got together. Shadow has a savior complex. He thought he could fix it.

It in fact gets worse. Infinite is just bound to break that unspoken boundary they set, and Shadow has to put his foot down. Only then do they break all of their walls down and talk about those unacknowledgable moments. Only then do they get better. They can't work out unless they start to see each other as equals, but it's a really slow process for them to explore what that looks like or how its possible.

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, round 2.5 of the major bracket

Propaganda:

For Eddie Brock and Venom:

I'm pretty sure its Canon in the comics and like, Canon adjacent in the 2nd movie??? Idk I just watched the first one sooo, anyways, this isn't propaganda i just couldn't remember if you said they needed to be Canon so I put what I rembered about that here, idk I'm proboboly just gonna send the propaganda in the ask box at a later date 

They eat people:) venom is an alien symbiote and Eddie is the host and they have melded together into one being. They care for and protect each other and are so intimately intwined they are only ever separated by force. Also they’re both absolute disasters and they periodically bite and eat the heads off their enemies. 

They eat people <3 

For Will and Hannibal:

Ive previously only heard the term "murder husbands" refer to hannigram so it feels flitting. The whole series culminated with a murder they did together bathing in blood. 

The show and ship that coined murder husbands. It’s in the text in s3 from a journalist side character. They do Many murders either together or as a message to each other. Usually this involves turning the dead body into an art piece. The show ends with them killing a guy together in a slo mo scene backed by porno music.

They're both batshit and manipulative.

ALRIGHT so they're not canonically together but it is HEAVILY implied and they have some sort of fucked up psychosexual obsession with each other. in the later parts of the show they start committing murder and cannibalism together and they're soooo unhinged but it's awesome

kill people for each other. maim each other. kill people together. most batshit insane metaphors. send each other to jail. ruin everyone’s lives. someone can probably say this better than me but these gay people are insane

Literally THE murder husbands. They kill for each other. They've tried to kill each other. They're canon in all but name, like the homoeroticism between these two is the driving force of the show.

one time hannibal folded a guy into an origami human heart

They are in love and they kill and eat people. They are called Murder Husbands in canon.

The original murder husbands (literally, that's not just their ship name, they get called that in canon)

The show begins with Will working for the FBI and trying to catch Hannibal, but because Hannibal is so intrigued by the way Will is able to see the world and the motives behind the killings so easily, it becomes a game of Hannibal isolating Will even more from the people around and seducing him to try and kill. By the time Will starts embracing the side of him that Hannibal sees, he starts oulling back and trying to distance himself so that when the time comes for Will to fully embrace himself and Hannibal, no one really suspects what they have planned. 

hannibal literally does murder as courtship and it works bc will is also a fucked up little guy

I'm actually quite offended they aren't included by default (joke). They are THE murder husbands!!!!!! (mod note: they should have been, but I wanted to see how many submissions they'd get. They got 19, making them a little more than 6% of total submission count).

do i have to say it. they literally get called murder husbands IN THE SHOW

There are 3201 works for Hannibal on ao3 tagged Murder Husbands. They are the ogs, they are the pioneers we owe it all to them.

THEE murder couple. You know it. I know it. They commit crimes at each other as courting and then commit crimes together and then fall off a cliff to wash up somewhere and live on to serve cunt. Get referred to as 'murder husbands' in canon. What more do you need

Hannigram were literally called Murder Husbands in canon, they are the og, they are THE blueprint. They were gay as hell and comitted so much murder so many crimes. THEY RAN OFF TO EUROPE TOGETHER.

[mzminola]

In-universe if Jason never died, Tim is just off somewhere in Gotham doing Tim things (until his parents are murdered). But out-universe Tim only existed because of Jason dying, so like...what would the comics look like if either Robin Lives won the poll, or if just didn't do a poll in the first place?

I've seen sketches of Jason-in-the-hospital (in a coma?) storyboarding, so he's out of the picture for a bit. Since he got killed via poll because they were already leaning grimdark/edgier, we'd probably still have Bruce going off the rails, chasing loved ones away, etc.

But we wouldn't get a brand new character when they decided to back away from that. They'd just have Jason recover. Return to being Robin undeterred by the bad experience (it's not like he hasn't gone through shit before). Maybe a little harsher himself, the shift in comics tone already set. Or maybe not! Maybe determinedly optimistic, because he has to make it worth it.

I've seen it pointed out that Jason was pretty isolated as Robin. So I think my main question is: would we still get the extended Batfam of the 1990's/early 2000's that Tim gave us? What's the chicken-egg situation for Tim's characterization, his team-up enjoyment, leading to those connections? I can imagine Jason being down for team-ups, but is Bruce open to letting him fly solo the way Tim was allowed to?

I could actually see Jason working with Oracle a lot more than Tim did at first, since she actually knows who he is. Do Jason and Helena get along? Would he get Tim's first Paris arc, with even more emphasis on being sent to learn healing arts? Does he travel to Bludhaven to badger Nightwing as much, or is there more distance there?

I think Robin!Jason still joins Young Justice, but does he actually get his own solo title? One of the ways Tim had enough plot to carry that was because he wasn't Bruce's kid. Living with Jack and having to hide Robin meant that Tim had both the dedicated cast & shenanigans to fill up the page-time outside the mission, that whomever was writing Bruce's books didn't need to pay much attention to.

If Robin!Jason has his own title to fill up with solo patrols, missions, disasters, that means you either need to coordinate with Batman, Detective Comics, etc for what Jason & Bruce tell each other at the dinner table, or just...have Bruce weirdly uninvolved in his son's life.

Huh. Okay. Jason lives, Young Justice 1998 happens but Robin 1993 doesn't, and I'm still not sure about the extended Batfam.

[gorillawithautism]

saw someone say "he's not some uneducated, brainwashed..." (i don't know the rest of the sentence because that is where i stopped reading 🫶)

this was said in regards to a celebrity being zionist, implying that he should know better and that he's not innocent. i agree that he should know better but

as someone who has been through thought reform abuse (ie brainwashing) in the troubled teen industry i would like to clarify a few things

first and foremost, zionism is brainwashing. it is brainwashing to a political end which is something that happens all the time. there should be no argument about the fact that many if not all zionists are brainwashed. unfortunately, brainwashed people can also cause very real harm.

being brainwashed does not mean that you are innocent. i am still hurt by many of the things my peers did to me even though they too were brainwashed. and i still regret many of the things i did to my peers due to my own brainwashing. and i mean, zionists are actively killing people. i never did anything like that. we just like,, emotionally damaged each other under the pretense of our collective abuse. the genocide we are witnessing are even more reason that zionists are not innocent and never, ever fucking will be.

third, i resent the original post pairing "brainwashed" with "uneducated." that isn't really a fair connection to draw. we all know that by "uneducated" they mean "stupid" (which already isn't really fair because a lack of education does not mean a lack of intelligence but that's a whole other conversation). they mean "you won't get brainwashed if you know enough." and i mean first of all as someone who has been brainwashed i find that kind of hurtful to me specifically but you are still liable to be brainwashed even if you know things. with zionist brainwashing it's a little easier to break through it with Facts and Knowledge because their propaganda is so easily disproven HOWEVER the "facts" they push aren't their only tactic.

brainwashing is a lot about reteaching. it's like taking a baby and teaching them about the world except the world you're teaching them about is the one you want them to see, not the one that's actually there. i was thirteen and incredibly emotionally vulnerable when i was put into my tti facility and i stayed there for two and a half years (2y 5mo 1day to be exact). i then stayed brainwashed probably for another two? hard to pinpoint because breaking out of it is a process. they relied on the fact that new "students" didn't know the rules of the new environment they'd just been plopped into. they got to make up all the rules and say "that's just how it is here." and as you stay in the environment, the logic of the environment becomes your new MO. the rules that didn't make sense on your first day start to have rational explanations behind them in your head. not because you're stupid or crazy but because you've been taught to follow the logic of the environment.

with zionism, they play on fear and racism. they amplify the fear of going through another holocaust to convince people that jews need a "homeland" (and by "homeland" they mean jewish supremacist ethnostate). they use the racism to "justify" pushing the indigenous palestinians out of palestine. it follows a logic. it's an immoral and twisted logic, but it's important to recognize that for zionists it is a logic nonetheless. "we need a homeland -> this is our homeland -> it can't be our homeland if the palestinians have rightful claim -> palestinians must be exterminated" (for some, you can replace "palestinians must be exterminated" with "palestinians don't exist." doesn't matter, it's the same goal slightly different thought process).

brainwashing is also reinforced by punishment. by being punished when you dissent as well as seeing others be punished for dissenting. at my tti facility this came in the form of manual labor or "therapeutic" assignments or isolation. the manual labor was probably the most common as you could be assigned half an hour of work for the most minor infractions and you could also rack up a fuck ton of those before the scheduled opportunity to work one off. so they built up. doing that work as well as witnessing others do that work in return for the smallest mistake was a daily occurrence. the consequences for being a "problem" and the goal of "graduating" the program were the two biggest incentives for being "successful." the zionist entity enforces their brainwashing with two threats: that of punishment and that of fear. "if you leave israel you will be hunted down and killed for being a jew." this is fear. a reason to stay and continue being brainwashed and aiding the occupation. "if you don't join the idf you get jailed." or when israeli police went into an antizionist jewish neighborhood and attacked people? yeah that's punishment for dissenting. clear as day.

i wrote this post because ngl it offended me to have brainwashing paired with inherent stupidity, but also because the post i saw was implying that a zionist wasn't brainwashed. an implication which is almost certainly not factual and definitely portrays the reality of brainwashing incorrectly. brainwashing isn't someone snaps their fingers and now you think different. it's not being tricked. it's not mind control (at least not like you see in tv shows and movies). it's a manipulation tactic. it's reteaching. it's convincing. and it will suck you in if it can.

finally, i would like to reiterate that being brainwashed does not make a zionist innocent. the death should be more than enough to make them question themselves, and questioning it is the first step to breaking away from it completely. they are actively participating in a genocide, and nothing will make them innocent of that. that said, it's important not to dismiss the brainwashing. understand it. know it inside and out. knowing what it looks like and how it operates is what will keep you from being brainwashed and what will break down the brainwashing of others. knowing it will dismantle it.

[kreideprinz69]

Something that really grates on me about a lot of anti-Koma people is the complete lack of empathy for Nagito in regards to his actions from the Dead Room to the Chapter 5 Trial. Treating it as if it's the single most reprehensible thing any culprit has done over the course of the entire series. When it is pretty much the exact same shit that Asahina was pulling in the first game's fourth trial. But with a far less petty motive. We see how the remaining five survivors react when they discover the truth of the NWP in Chapter 6. They are all on the verge of a breakdown as it all starts to become too much for them, and they only narrowly pull themselves back together to initiate the shutdown. Now imagine how they would react if: 1. All those survivors were isolated from each other when they learned the truth. 2. They were not made aware of the fact that their apparent turn to evil wasn't actually voluntary, and that they too are victims. 3. They did not have the three DR1 survivors and AI Chiaki to offer moral support during these revelations. 4. They were not made aware that any person who dies in the simulation will actually be possessed by Junko's AI in the real world. Because those were the circumstances of Nagito learning the "truth" in Chapter 4! His antis get so worked up over his bitchiness towards Hajime and the others, that they refuse to see just how tragic and pitiable the situation really is. What at first seems like a bizarre and vicious betrayal is actually a young man finally having his spirit broken after a life of endless traumas. Becoming so ashamed and disgusted with himself that the only thing he can think of as a small act of penance is to torture himself to death and get his classmates executed for their crimes. While not realizing that he's inadvertently aiding the same Ultimate Despair he's trying to stop. And it pisses me off when it bleeds over into fanfics too, with most of the cast ostracizing him for it. Because come the fuck on. Characters like Teruteru, Fuyuhiko, and Peko really don't much have a leg to stand on with that, considering their actions would have had essentially the same result if the class trials went their way. Me personally I like to think they'd keep a careful watch on him. But also make clear to him that while they don't condone his actions and think he made a terrible mistake, they're not going to condemn him either. Acknowledging that if they'd been in his position, they don't know what they might have been capable of. Considering how his character grew, I like to think Fuyuhiko would be one of the first people to admit that he'd probably have reacted just the way Monokuma wanted him to if he'd been given that special "prize".

YESS this! this right here omg, i love talking about this.

i think it's really easy for people to treat nagito with a total lack of empathy because of just how far removed nagito is from his own humanity. so a lot of people just put the insane label on him and don't take much of a further look at his actions. but the reality is that every action he's taking holds so much meaning and has never not had a well thought out reason. doesn't make them justifiable, but does offer so much more depth into his character than just being "crazy."

also i agree on the aoi part, i really don't get how people hate nagito for chapter 5 but don't say anything about aoi trying to get her classmates killed in the trial. dont get me wrong, thats not me ragging on her, because i adore aoi. its just the inconsistencies in how people treat characters for their actions that bother me. i think people forget just how much of a stressful situation the cast is in. suddenly waking up where you're not supposed to be, missing memories, knowing your friend or you might die at any moment, not to mention the investigations and trials; thats all pretty fucked up.

and like you said, nagito was ENTIRELY on his own when he learned the truth about everything happening. he was already in a lot of mental distress when the killings started, so the whole "truth" would have just completely broken him. he's been so violently traumatized his entire life, literally everything has been taken for him and supposedly he's going to die from his illness soon since there's nothing left for his luck to take. the only thing he's been able to do is cope through his obsession with hope, (and if we remove the obsession with hope and just focus on the fact that they're inside a simulation and caused the world to end, that's already stressful enough. the main cast BARELY coped even with all the help) so when you take that into account AND that he was actively working against the one thing that could never leave him (hope)- that's pretty fucking destroying! the only way for him to not lose the last thing he had, was to commit suicide in the way he did. which he full heartedly believed was for the greater good.

the sheer mental distress you would have to be under to be totally okay with torturing yourself before committing suicide is, KIND OF A LOT lol. also, props to him for coming up with such an elaborate plan despite the stress he was under. i honestly feel like his death was heavily foreshadowed. the entire game he talks about wanting to be a stepping stone for hope and that he's okay with being killed for it. his entire life has all just been one big tragedy too. the way he died, his motives behind it, and goal to become the ultimate hope; it was honestly a great ending for him. but im not gonna go into depth on that because im already probably getting off topic here whoops

but lets talk about his bitch arc for a second (chapter 4.) people blow it SO out of proportion. nagito was an asshole for one afternoon and was bullying hajime because he's angry he's in love with some loser. its just funny to me how some people make it a huge deal and use it to say nagito hates hajime. in chapter 5 before he dies, he literally shows remorse for his actions and barely anyone talks about it!. i can talk about that a bit more on a different post if someone is curious but im trying not to let this get ungodly long lmao

also yes, the way characters in fanon will be overly critical with nagito. while i do believe they were a littleee bit harsh with him in the game (another thing i could rant about but i'll spare you) i really don't think they would hate him after the simulation. on the final trial with junko, they almost let her win. and when they learn about being remnants and they all wake up, i think they would have come to understand nagito at least a LITTLE bit better. literally none of them are inoccent, so they probably came to realize they weren't all that much better than nagito. while we don't really see nagito interact with the other characters much in the danganronpa 3 hope arc; he looks to be on good terms with the rest of the cast. and just judging by how they all agreed to just live for the future and put the past behind them, i do think they would try their best to give nagito a chance, even if they're a bit weirded out by him. also i totally agree with the fuyuhiko bit! i think he's a very reasonable person that understand morally grey areas, so i like to think he was one of the first to start giving nagito a chance.

okay sorry that this was SO long oh my god. i cannot make myself stop talking sometimes, especially if it's nagito related sdhjfbsdfkhjb. but thanks for the ask because i find discussing this stuff super interesting!!! <3

[cloudninetonine]

Reuniting with the ACTUAL og chain is gonna be so traumatic for Player. Like she's been running from versions of them that have actively killed for Player and tried to kill Player. There was likely a lot of emotional manipulation with the yans and the villain chain likely isolated Player up in that castle for a fucking age. Not only that but their morals are all skewed because they've been assisted by Ganons, who are good in two worlds and horrifically bad in the original. Player probs has some pretty extreme trust and paranoia issues coz the fact they come from a different universe where the Links were nice and good would have been used to their counterparts to lure Player back to them if they ever found out.

They wouldn't be able to tell if the real chain is the real chain because their paranoia is constantly poking at them that they'll be taken back to that castle again at any moment. Player wouldn't sleep thinking they'd get kidnapped, wouldn't eat thinking their food was poisoned, and would be on a very obvious high alert, so much so that they wouldn't want any of the boys to touch them even for help with tasks or fighting, healing an injury, or even just on accident, much to Wild and Hyrule's dismay. They're constantly in survival mode and has probably pulled a blade on one of them before.

And the Chain would be super concerned because Player used to be so bubbly when they found their spark and would be very openly affectionate to the people that allowed it. Probably worsening it is the fact they just suddenly left for months.

Imagine if Legend starts to become actively upset and it worsens his hatred for the Player coz he's had to witness how his brothers have begun to crumble under the worry and pressure of losing their guide for the god knows how many'th time. But Player learned to take this as disguised worry and their anxieties reject the notion that this is their chain because Legend shouldn't like them. But in reality, he despises them for leaving so suddenly and for no reason and letting his family fall because of it, not knowing the actual story behind Player being sent to a different world because they're so tight-lipped from their lack of trust. But it's just a horrible cycle that makes their distrust in each other worse and worse and worse. Lots of damaged relationships and mediation and compromise before Player either finally gives up or they decide that they don't want to live like this and learn to accept their situation and thr horridness of the nagging feeling in their brain that doesn't ever go away.

Doesn't matter either way because the men whose faces they'd come to love and cherish had suddenly become a sight of terrors from being so heavily traumatized. The road to recovery is paved with first learning to kick back off of survival mode, but thats pretty hard to know when there's very few of the chain who were ever able to. So many troubled for our poor Player.

Russ you're completely right.

It will be shown later in the au of course but despite how Player is relaxed now they're still not well mentally and seeing even a glimpse of one of the boys is gonna send them tumbling.

Trust me, once I settled all the Dadons I will try my hand at the angst train.

Also, Russ, this analysis is beautiful, thank you.

[jklovesfandoms]

Ik it's been a bit, but I swear on the Bachelor Man Bible, I have good reason. I am sick.

Anyways Uranium Suite/Tragic Fact choreo analysis! (Ps, I am slightly biased, I used this choreo for a movement project in my Advanced Actor's Studio class.)

First of all, Constance with that speed talking off a note card? Literally amazing and hilarious, and very realistic. I love it!

The choir snapping! Very funny, very cool. Especially bc people don't start at the same time, so it's even more realistic! Also, the realistic choir movements! Just the snapping and more rhythmic movements in the 2013 production is (imo) even more realistic than the more show choir movement of Fall Fair Suite.

Mischa sounds literally so uninterested, and I love him for that. Also A MARCHING BAND? I'm in marching band, and oh Jesus Christ on a bike, what are they doing with their hands? /lh

It's not actually a big deal, I'm just a huge marching band nerd, only a little less than I am a theater nerd, so I'm very picky. But also, there's no way that marching band sounds good. Uranium City is literally tiny, literally nothing, and they go on to complain about it! Like NO! That marching band would be microscopic. Nothing, nada. They could possibly sound good, but they'd be running on the bare minimum there.

I love the reaching out towards the side of the choir! Probably implying that Jane has a solo, and is performing with them, despite not being on stage atm. Which makes you question even more, how was she not identified? But yk, theory for another day.

I love the choir snapping out of their reach-out, bc it looks like this intense moment of realization. Like, they look so confused! It's really cool, how much emotion every single member is expressing. Also it should be noted, I love Karnak in this show, he's a funky little man with a long ass beard, and I adore him.

I love them looking at each other at the synchronized beat! Even if Noel is being left out :(

Then, every member of the choir (even if you can only see Ocean clearly) just staring out into the audience as they sing about their town going down the drain, essentially. The stillness of the actors works so well for this. You feel like it's a single moment in time that you're observing in slow motion! (Ps, this is basically where I started my movement piece, and my class literally rambled to me afterwards about how amazing the stillness hit at the beginning)

"We will never leave this town at ALL" and then the group head turn to the slow, intercrossing walk, and the hit of suddenly being stuck in that position! Literally amazing, and I love it. Mischa fr just be standing there like "yep, am stronk"

"Our folks, it seems, were too entwined, stubborn, wouldn't change their mind. Hoping bust might turn right back to boom" I love how Ocean, Mischa, and Ricky, the three people possibly most isolated from the town, due to extremely different circumstances, are the three facing the audience. Noel and Constance are staring directly at Ocean, and that's just so cool, bc they're the two who are on opposite sides of each other. Constance, Ocean's bff, and Noel, Ocean's enemy, are the two looking at her, in at least some display of concern. I think it's neat, lol.

"Crossed their fingers, prayed for luck, bowed down to this mighty buck, waiting in this godforsaken tomb" just the pure anxiety on every single members face! Really shows how they must've felt in their final moments. Constance shows the least amount of worry, but that makes a lot of sense, because of Sugar Cloud. I also love how the entire choir stops their movement at tomb. You can also hear a slight clicking in the background, which almost sounds like the track of a rollercoaster, bringing the train up to the top of a drop! I think that's also very neat.

LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE MEMBER'S MOVEMENT DURING "empty people, empty mind. Living like they're killing time, a dead-end town against a dead-end wall" IT'S SO AWESOME!!! I LOVE ALL OF THEIR MOVEMENTS, AND HOW IT REPRESENTS THEIR CHARACTERS.

Also, combining that with the very mechanical movement of "There's nothing cute and nothing sweet, this town has only one main street, let me face my boredom at the mall" which, unlike a lot of things in this musical, where I compare their mechanic movements to the rollercoaster, this is one where I don't. The choir walking here, imo, shows how repetitive life was in Uranium City. How everything felt meshed together, and that you were living the same day over and over and over again. Their next move of reaching out, and then going around in a circle continues to represent that! As well as the loop in the coaster, but that's just a constant theme in this show, lol.

Also, then Ocean leading the choir for "so what do we do to fill our day" "make plans for the getaway!" Is so important. Because literally at least 2 other people (Noel and Mischa, unless their characters changed very very drastically, since I haven't been able to find a full show of this production yet) are longing to get out of Uranium! Also Ricky, reaching for the stars as a getaway? I love that character bit.

Then the choir just complaining and lamenting about how boring, and repeating Uranium City is! How the most fun thing is the choir, and then dying (represented by "build yourself a funeral pyre, so many stimulating things to do") LIKE THAT'S IT and the movement represents that with the precision, and the quickness between movements. That's it. You're born, you sing (and maybe play bingo), you work, and then you die. That's life in Uranium City Saskatchewan Canada, so everyone wants to get out. They don't want that, even if that's exactly what they got in the end.

EVERYONE WORKS AT THE MALL! Literally everyone moves back to the coaster position using a movement that represents a job at the mall. Like, omfg. THAT'S IT. There's nothing else to do. And they continue to represent that unpassing of time with the movement. I adore it. (Off topic, I'm so tempted to make my senior quote "How can I describe my hate? It's one year till I graduate" but I probably won't)

THEM GETTING FLUNG OFF THE ROLLERCOASTER AS IT CRASHES? OMG I LOVE IT SO SO SO MUCH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA

Anyways, that's all! Hope you enjoyed :)

[inun4ki]

i was thinking a bit about the shikabane massacre.

the shikabane clan was isolated from jujutsu society for a very long time ( we're talking a couple centuries ), so even after they were reintroduced in the 1800s, they'd have been extremely secretive about how they operate. trust issues are a feature, not a bug, literally bred into their bloodline so as to maintain a certain degree of separation from other sorcerers, especially when it comes to any who would try to exert authority over their clan. they avoided external influence clear until the 1990s, really only cooperating with other clans and sorcerers in ways that made sense to them. because of this inherent reluctance and lack of trust, they're sort of an 'island' - on their own, with too few sorcerers to provide to the pool and keep hold of their position as a once 'great' clan.

hence why it was so easy for them to collapse. and when they collapsed, i'd say the news was less of a shock and more of a depressing but fitting end to them as a whole. even after reintroducing themselves to jujutsu society, they couldn't get over certain aspects of their character and so were left to figure their shit out on their own - to literally everyone's detriment. they had no allies, only tentative acquaintances too put off by their overbearing attitudes and unreachable expectations to go any further than that ( each clan head was sort of impossible; the good ones just wanted the absolute best and nothing else for their loved ones, and the bad ones always had ulterior motives (as we can see with taisho), so arranged marriages never happened, the clan did not expand unless it went outside where they could sort of bully whoever into doing what they wanted ).

but how much would jujutsu society even know? enough. i think certain people would know everything about it - namely the higher-ups, maybe people who have a knack for knowing things they probably shouldn't. but most would probably only know that there was a massacre at the shikabane estate resulting in the almost complete annihilation of the clan. they did everything in their power to obfuscate the truth, clinging to what dignity they still had - going so far as to omit taisho's role entirely from any explanations. they were too prideful to admit one of their own chose to succumb to the influence of a curse, and that they were entirely ignorant to the curse overall. kurai went especially hard on this, since kaede is as strong as he is ( reputation and all that; they let other sorcerers believe something truly tragic befell the shikabane clan, lying by omission to save face ). i imagine when the news broke, it was surprising so many of them were killed when there'd been plenty of sorcerers in the family to fend off the curse, so they called it a 'handful of 1st grades' and left it at that.

anyway, this secretive and distrusting behavior inevitably extended to kaede, though this has less to do with general clan attitudes and everything to do with how he was treated following the massacre in 1998. everyone set the blame on his shoulders, forced him to accept the responsibility of fixing it, so he's never spoken about it and probably never will, not even to set the record straight when he's got nothing left to lose. external blame became internal and personal, and why would he want anyone to know he 'allowed' his clan to be destroyed? why would he tell anyone that what happened was his fault, that he could've done something but simply chose not to? he really couldn't have done anything, he was goddamn 6, but that's not the point; he believes it's his fault. he believes he could've done something. he believes it's his responsibility. and in doing so, this inadvertantly protected the clan's pride, allowing yet more to fester within it.

anyway, all i'm trying to say is that it would be extremely difficult to get this information out of kaede, and that most people just wouldn't know any of the specifics about what happened. just that there was a curse that massacred most of their clan on account of how tight-lipped, prideful, and secretive they are. i think, though, it would be reasonable to assume some details would leak, like, say, taisho was involved and was also very mentally unstable. 1 + 1 = 2 type shit. it wouldn't be especially difficult to connect the dots, but no one is gonna say 'you're getting hotter' when whoever's drawing the lines figures it out. s'all i'm saying.

[bisexualhobi]

people love to be miserable but I think exo will be fine, so many things have happened but they're still one of the top kpop groups I just think people need to have a bit more faith and believe in the members more, like they're all successful in their individual fields and yixing is literally one of the top artists in china and has his own company like not alot of idols are around for ten years so like you said they obviously have atleast some business understanding and are intelligent so we shouldn't underestimate them and believe they'll do whats best for themselves

Also when you were talking about how they're well connected just made me think about how isolated it feels like bts are to the korean entertainment industry in comparison to alot of idols in their gen, I feel like hybe did it on purpose so they wouldn't be able to survive without them same with how they probably won't let any of the members shine properly for a solo

Like this might be a stupid example but even like the comedians and mcs like yu jaesok/lee soogeun and stuff like having connections like that means they'd bring you on their shows and you'd be seen on tv alot which I think is important for the general public to remember you exist and to promote whatever you're doing like alot of 2nd gen idols are apart of the main cast for all these variety shows for a reason but bts rlly feel isolated compared to like so many exo members or someone like seungkwan from svt

This is really messy and might not make sense but what I'm saying is I just feel like they don't have connections like the way it seems alot of other groups their age or 3nd gen groups do which is a shame because it would help them out in the long run(hobi is not included in this beacuse i think hes a bit smarter with the party and whatnot)😭😭😭😭

lmao omg yeah i mean bts have isolated themselves in a creative and commercial silo like no one wants to be near them bc of their deranged fans and the company doesn't want to share them with anyone so the profit stays in the family.... but i think now that they'll start enlisting and each doing their own thing they'll start making their own connections. which they are in dire need of

as for exo they are literally the industry's darlings like everyone wants to work with them and everybody talks about how nice and humble people they are.... they have so many opportunities and collabs offered to them not bc of clout or their company getting them for them. they thrive in spite of sm doing everything in their power to kill them off. it's so funny bts and exo are literally opposite sides of the spectrum

[urlocallesbiab]

I posted 2,320 times in 2022

That's 2,320 more posts than 2021!

50 posts created (2%)

2,270 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@clockworkcheetah

@trainwreckgenerator

@generalized-incompetence

@geeneelee

I tagged 2,291 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#dghda - 1,158 posts

#dirk gently's holistic detective agency (tv 2016) - 1,146 posts

#miscellaneous reblogs - 907 posts

#image not described - 820 posts

#dirk gently - 752 posts

#art - 704 posts

#todd brotzman - 592 posts

#dghda fanart - 521 posts

#brotzly - 347 posts

#this post was queued; i may not be actually online - 343 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#people will literally say ''dirk is a sunshine soft boy，todd is a normal borderline-boring everyman，and farah is perfect and invincible''

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

late-night todd&farah thoughts/headcanon

having lydia and then dirk kidnapped from right under farah's nose probably was extremely traumatic to her, and combined with her canonical bad mental health and anxiety (which i headcanon to be linked to ocd), it probably made her extremely afraid for todd; i hc that she developed a compulsion to never ever let him out of her sight (because What If something bad happens the second she looks away!). todd wasn't perfectly fine with that, obviously, but neither of them was perfectly fine with just about anything at the moment, and both were nearly equally deranged

they didn't spend a day, an hour apart for weeks straight. this sort of total 24/7 intimacy & isolation was partially why/how she'd tricked herself into thinking that she was attracted to todd — and post-"breakup"/after figuring out they'd be better as friends she got better at recognizing this behaviour as unhealthy for her, though she still had trouble abstaining from it. and she and todd often joked that when dirk would be found and this mess was over and things were calm, the two would happily take the opportunity to ignore each other for a full week or so. and when this mess was actually over, they joked that "by spending some time away from each other i didn't mean that you should go fuck off into a parallel world!" and "by spending some time away from each other i didn't mean that you should go get shot and then stuck in a hospital for a month!"

60 notes - Posted October 18, 2022

#4

a dghda s2/s3 theory: the universe meant for amanda to become an omniscient master of backstage knowledge, and friedkin took that place instead of her through a series of mistakes

(this post gets Very Long, but you can scroll right to the end for a TL;DR)

now, allow me to provide some context before i delve into an explanation

first, a precursory theory: if suzie boreton died like she was meant to, then lord triangle badevil would have became the mage's apprentice

in s2ep1 bart makes a choice not to kill suzie, even though she feels like she should; and then throughout the season the fact that suzie isn't meant to be a part of things is alluded to:

1) in the end of s2ep8 dirk gives his usual Case Solved speech where he explains how everything is connected, but he doesn't know how suzie boreton figures into things; she's not, technically, a part of his case

2) in s2ep10 todd asks her who is she and why is she there, and accuses her of being "some mom from montana", which further drives the point home

3) king francis has no knowledge of her either, even though he seems to be able to know relevant things that he could neither witness nor hear about (like farah and tina defeating the mage)

so, suzie's boreton entire character arc exists by mistake; and yet the prophecy (as foretold by wakti wapnasi, and as spoken by panto trost in s2ep3) makes a point about the great dark wizard finding his apprentice — that means that role was meant for someone.

lord triangle badevil is a mysterious figure who plays a significant role in the plot (his men kidnap farson and later amanda in s2ep4, he kills farson and thus causes a massive shoot-out in s2ep7, and he kills some people in his attempts to stop the prophecy in eps 9 and 10), and yet we know infuriatingly little about him, his goals and his views, like he was meant to be explored but got forgotten about.

he has markings on his face (pitch-black with negative-space geometrical figures) which are never discussed, but seem to be the same sort of marks that appear on arms of both the mage and suzie boreton from magic overuse, and that seems to suggest that he is, in some way, a magic user, or at least was exposed to magic somehow.

all things considered, i propose that lord triangle badevil, a mysterious actor of evil and supposedly a magic user, was meant to be the prophecied apprentice & the big bad, but got displaced by suzie, who wound up in the narrative by mistake.

next, an observation: wendimoor's magic, pararibulitis and backstage are closely linked

it's not much of a novel revelation, but i'm trying to be thorough, so here

— both amanda&todd and later friedkin could access backstage through the magical portals between earth and wendimoor

— most powerful beings of wendimoor (wakti wapnasi, the great witch; king francis) seem to be omniscient or close to, and omniscience is a backstage characterestic

(they both know things about earth they shouldn't be able to know, like wakti about amanda's name, or francis about farah&tina's win over the mage; and metaphysical things that are nigh impossible to be logically derived from facts, like holistics being the tools to fix the broken universe)

— pararibulitis expresses itself as tangible magic within wendimoor, and is tied to wielding the water/portals and to the visions

— visions are also a form of mystical knowledge, and thus could be sourced from backstage

(the exact reasons of how/why the connection between wendimoor and backstage could've happened have no bearing on this post, but so far my working theory is that the explosive creation of a whole new layer of reality pushed at the borders of the universe and stretched them/thinned them out, and that's why it's easier to slip from the material world of the universe to the immaterial not-world of the backstage when in wendimoor)

now, a couple of tidbits about amanda and the mandelbrot set:

— her name, amanda brotzman, is a pun on "mandelbrot set" (the showrunner talked about this somewhere; i don't know the source, i've learned about this somewhere in the ao3 comment section)

— mandelbrot set's visualisation is the shape that appears in people's eyes when they're backstage

— it's the same shape as on amanda's s2 jacket

— it's a recurring shape in her visions

(a tangent: now, i don't know much about mathematics so forgive me if i get the words wrong, but mandelbrot set's boundary is a fractal curve, meaning that if you zoom into the mandelbrot set's visualisation's border, you'll find more of the same shape, ad infinitum. this fun quality of the set has no bearing on this specific post and theories within it, but i think such a plot-important shape having this "as above, so below" flair to it could have meaning for the pontetial s3 plot)

— the prophecy mentions she-who-sees-all who was supposed to open a door into a dream, allowing through it dirk gently and the boy; that most probably references amanda, her visions and her ability to create portals through water

finally, the theory:

— amanda brotzman, mandelbrot set, visions, pararibulitis, wendimoor magic and backstage are all interconnected

— amanda was supposed to be she who sees all; backstage seems to have granted hugo friedkin omniscience

See the full post

84 notes - Posted October 25, 2022

#3

dghda is a tv show about young women having older brothers. and dirk gently is also there ig

97 notes - Posted October 3, 2022

#2

you ever think about season 2 brotzly....

every time todd is asked why is he here, why is he doing any of this, he diverts back to amanda — his love, his life, his reason to exist, his, to be frank, emotional contingency plan

"todd, why are you so hell-bent on-"

"no, farah, no! we won't give up! we'll find dirk, and with dirk we'll find amanda, and when i find amanda everything will be alright!"

"todd, why are you even here? why are you with me when it's so dangerous and horrible and i can't even promise you anything?"

"dirk, listen, i really wanna find amanda, and i have reasons to believe she is being kept in the parallel fairytale world to which you are the key"

but in the end? he chooses dirk.

and it's not like in s1, when amanda firmly pushed him away and had the kindness of her heart to say "cmon, that dude makes you a happier and better person, don't avoid him"

no, this time around she invited him to live with her — something he had seemingly been chasing all that time

but he just. shrugged. declined. nah, sis, but thanks. his place is by dirk. he knows that. dirk, on some level, knows that too. it's not spoken about, and i'm not even sure that todd has the guts to admit it, but it's something he knows. he no longer has the space to pretend that his beloved baby sister is the centerpiece of all this bullshit. in the end, he verbally, directly, openly chose dirk.

and it's not something that either of them will forget about.

117 notes - Posted September 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

amanda brotzman is a girl who's a she/her dude and dirk gently is a boy who's a he/him girlie. hope this helps <3

261 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, quarterfinals of the major bracket

Propaganda:

For House and Wilson:

Literally the most insane couple of all time from medical malpractice the show. They’re best friends, they live together, they’ve drugged eachother, they make stupid bets together, they manipulate each other, they ride off into the sunset together. They’re Sherlock and Watson, they’re the best doctors in their fields and you’d never want them anywhere near your medical care.

Medical malpractice <3

For Will and Hannibal:

Ive previously only heard the term "murder husbands" refer to hannigram so it feels flitting. The whole series culminated with a murder they did together bathing in blood. 

The show and ship that coined murder husbands. It’s in the text in s3 from a journalist side character. They do Many murders either together or as a message to each other. Usually this involves turning the dead body into an art piece. The show ends with them killing a guy together in a slo mo scene backed by porno music.

They're both batshit and manipulative.

ALRIGHT so they're not canonically together but it is HEAVILY implied and they have some sort of fucked up psychosexual obsession with each other. in the later parts of the show they start committing murder and cannibalism together and they're soooo unhinged but it's awesome

kill people for each other. maim each other. kill people together. most batshit insane metaphors. send each other to jail. ruin everyone’s lives. someone can probably say this better than me but these gay people are insane

Literally THE murder husbands. They kill for each other. They've tried to kill each other. They're canon in all but name, like the homoeroticism between these two is the driving force of the show.

one time hannibal folded a guy into an origami human heart

They are in love and they kill and eat people. They are called Murder Husbands in canon.

The original murder husbands (literally, that's not just their ship name, they get called that in canon)

The show begins with Will working for the FBI and trying to catch Hannibal, but because Hannibal is so intrigued by the way Will is able to see the world and the motives behind the killings so easily, it becomes a game of Hannibal isolating Will even more from the people around and seducing him to try and kill. By the time Will starts embracing the side of him that Hannibal sees, he starts oulling back and trying to distance himself so that when the time comes for Will to fully embrace himself and Hannibal, no one really suspects what they have planned. 

hannibal literally does murder as courtship and it works bc will is also a fucked up little guy

I'm actually quite offended they aren't included by default (joke). They are THE murder husbands!!!!!! (mod note: they should have been, but I wanted to see how many submissions they'd get. They got 19, making them a little more than 6% of total submission count).

do i have to say it. they literally get called murder husbands IN THE SHOW

There are 3201 works for Hannibal on ao3 tagged Murder Husbands. They are the ogs, they are the pioneers we owe it all to them.

THEE murder couple. You know it. I know it. They commit crimes at each other as courting and then commit crimes together and then fall off a cliff to wash up somewhere and live on to serve cunt. Get referred to as 'murder husbands' in canon. What more do you need

Hannigram were literally called Murder Husbands in canon, they are the og, they are THE blueprint. They were gay as hell and comitted so much murder so many crimes. THEY RAN OFF TO EUROPE TOGETHER.

[emmamountebanks]

HI i've been compiling a document of my own personal headcanons for the quarry characters because i used to lovee reading other peoples' ud headcanons when those were like. being posted frequently.

anyway. i feel like they'd make an effort to keep in touch after everything, considering that they were (for the most part) friends over the summer, with some of them knowing each other for longer, and because there's likely some sort of 'these are the only other people who could possibly understand' mindset that i loveee in the aftermath of stories like this.

however. it's probably super easy to fall out of touch for a time, since they're mostly gonna be really far away from each other, and some of them, when left to their own devices, may be prone to isolation, depending on the events of the night, whether they felt any sort of guilt or regret, or saw something super gruesome, stuff like that. ryan i could see isolating from the others if he's left alone with his feelings after killing chris, and losing kaylee and possibly caleb as well. i do think the others would probably make an effort to reach out to him, but he still might withdraw for a bit.

emma i can see outwardly seeming like she's handling things really well (she probably only takes a short break from streaming and putting out videos and stuff but goes right back to it), and if the group makes a groupchat i think she'd talk in it a decent amount? but never about the events of the night, i don't think. especially in a timeline where she was a werewolf at any point, and DOUBLY especially in a timeline where she killed someone as a werewolf. i think it would eventually boil over though into some sort of heartfelt conversation where she's finally vulnerable with someone (abi comes to mind, but in a universe where abi's dead... idk who she'd open up to? maybe she and max become close friends after the game or something and bond over the werewolf guilt of harming/nearly harming someone they really care about. actually hold on that's such a good concept for werewolf!emma and max friendship)

i also think that keeping up her social media presence gets. tough. she used to pride herself on being candid with her fans, regardless of whether that was true, but what used to be sort of fun acting just turns into an increasingly uncomfortable feeling of fakeness, as the things she's not talking about have shifted to something extremely traumatizing that's pretty much made it so she'll never be the same. and that's just not fun! streaming was already a little draining for her, and she resented her audience to a degree, but it gets worse and worse until she has to take at least a serious break to get her shit together. on some level she still loves it and might get back to it, but it's just not healthy or sustainable for a while.

jacob i think probably doesn't talk to anyone a ton, kaitlyn wouldn't let him completely isolate. they are besties <3 she sometimes just comes over to his place unannounced and forces him to spend time with her. like... idk they play ping pong together or something. i can see them playing ping pong in my minds eye. jacob eventually talks through his guilt over kickstarting the night with her, and she's like. 'hello. you had no idea what was going to happen, and you wouldn't have been able to mess with the car in the first place if i hadn't told you exactly how to do it. and nobody would've wandered off into the woods and gotten separated if i hadn't given that dare to emma. i never would've given that dare in the first place if dylan hadn't suggested having a party. if we play the blame game we'll be here all day, but really, there was no way to know what was going to happen.' and he probably cries a bit and she hugs him. (also i picture this scene happening on like. someone's front or back steps during golden hour)

max and laura obviously stay together. they get like. a tiny bit codependent but like it works for them. and honestly who wouldn't be a little codependent after that. they figure out some way to stay near each other, whether that's max maybe going to a nearby community college and trying to transfer into laura's school the next year or something else. but they are so absolutely in love it's great.

dylan and kaitlyn absolutely keep in contact. i think they text all the time and facetime a ton. one of them will text or call the other late at night after having nightmares or thinking too hard about that night (it's usually dylan, but kaitlyn sometimes initiates too) and they'll talk until they pass out. they also find out that they don't live that far away from each other, and sometimes they take like. day trips to hang out. once kaitlyn and jacob have their heart to heart he sometimes tags along.

i think dylan and kaitlyn also periodically reach out to ryan and invite him, but at first he gives like. noncommittal answers or very obviously fake 'im busy' answers because he's just like. not ready to Deal with all that. laura is the only other one who really reaches out to him after a bit (with most people either also not really wanting to talk about things, or just thinking it's a good idea to give him some space) and she usually sends pretty basic 'you okay?' texts which he answers with a basic 'yes'. she knows he's totally lying, and he knows she knows, but it's more a way for her to check that he hasn't completely checked out. since he was pretty much the only one of the counselors she met, she knew how much chris meant to him, and she was also someone who had to set aside her morals to do what she had to to save herself and the others (whereas pretty much everyone else only hurt people by accident, whether in werewolf form or by not understanding the severity of their actions), so she kind of gets it.

it takes a conversation with ryan's sister a couple months after that night at hackett's quarry for him to finally take dylan and kaitlyn up on their offer to hang out. i think she's pretty young, looks up to ryan a lot, and can see that something's wrong and he's not happy. and she brings it up to him in that super blunt, but really innocent way that only kids can really do, and he sort of realizes that isolating and not talking about everything that happened isn't sustainable, and no matter how shitty it makes him feel to confront things, he has to. and the best way to do that is with people who get it and care about him. after that first hangout with kaitlyn and dylan (jacob opts to stay home this time), he slowly starts responding to peoples' texts and talking in the groupchat a bit. he might even meet up with laura at some point (and fully meet max for the first time as well).

nick... idk if nick is staying in america for college, or if he's going back to australia, or if he already lived in america for a while, or what. i think he probably responded to people pretty normally and regularly at first, but he absolutely did not talk about that night. mostly because he doesn't remember a ton of it, and what he does remember he feels extremely weird about. i also think he doesn't talk to abi much at first, but she makes the first contact, wanting to build their friendship back. i don't think they ever get together, but they become friends again over time.

jacob and nick still talk a decent amount, especially after jacob and kaitlyn's conversation, and nick and abi's conversation respectively. but not a ton about hackett's quarry stuff, mostly about their regular lives.

abi is one of the people most willing to talk about the events of the night at first, but the people she's closest to aren't really in that space at first. i think she talks to kaitlyn about it the most, but at one point, kaitlyn's not available for whatever reason, and she can see laura's online, so she reaches out to laura instead. they end up having a really long conversation, and the two of them start doing that pretty regularly. i think laura is who abi goes to to talk through her complicated feelings surrounding nick, since she's sort of a neutral party who wasn't privy to their flirting all summer. and eventually, she's who abi goes to to talk through her feelings for emma. (this is culminating in abi laura besties emma max besties lauramax blygbank double date)

i think that emma and jacob have a conversation pretty shortly after everything (maybe even the morning after everything goes down) that's basically them fully talking about their relationship. i think similar to what happens if you reunite them? but i haven't seen that ending so i'm not sure. anyway, after that, they don't talk for a bit, but one day emma sends him some stupid joke tweet or something and is like 'this sounds like something you would say' and they build a friendship from there.

emma and abi keep in contact but since emma's not really talking about hackett's quarry and everything that happened at first, it's more casual. but like, there's an obvious elephant in the room that's kind of hanging over all their conversations. and then there's the second elephant of them both having feelings for each other (feelings that i personally believe emma didn't fully come to terms with until the storm cellar, but that abi had 100% been aware of for a while). i think it takes a while of emma finally talking to someone (max) about what happened, abi's conversations with laura, kaitlyn and nick, emma's conversations with jacob (she comes out to him as a lesbian at some point also i think), and abi and emma slowly broaching the topic of that night before they Finally can put their feelings on the table. and then they go on double dates with laura and max.

i think they all make an effort to meet up periodically. the first time is awkward for a bit, but pretty quickly they slip into something familiar and fun, if not a little morbid at times. i don't think they ever fully fall out of contact, since they all appreciate that comfort of other people 'getting it' on some level, and they also just enjoy each others' company.

sorry this got so long i just have a TON of thoughts about these guys and i didn't want to leave anyone or any of my favorite dynamics out. i could probably go on but i figure this is long enough for now LMAO.

OH MY GOD UR RIGHT THIS IS SO LONG BUT I LOVE EVERY BIT OF IT.

i dont even know if i can add a response to all these so ill just post it as is cuz they're perfect beautiful amazing and realistic and i LOVE YOUR MIND i am kissing ur brain. im in love with every piece of this, especially the jacob/kaitlyn moment and emmabi + double dating w laura/max. that is up my ALLEY

i especially just love the idea of them slowly coming all together after a bit of time. i think the same with the until dawn kids. sure, maybe they don't want to talk about what happened, but they all know no one gets it like they all do. cuz they all went through it. trauma bond baby!

[miriael-the-cozy-witch]

Fear the Reaper, Part 2

This is part 2 of how my WoL made their pact with their voidsent, and became a reaper! I hope you enjoy it! Click here for part 1! Click here for part 3! Click here for Part 4!

I didn't like Ul'dah much.

I mean... It was fine... As someone who grew up in a bloody cave, you'd think I'd love it's stonework and crowded streets. But no, for numerous reasons Ul'dah sat like an unpleasant taste in the back of my throat.

Firstly, it was hot. Stupid hot.

I flapped out the folds of my overcoat, trying to get some breathable air into it, leaning further into the shade. Even in this isolated street corner, the very air simmered in temperatures above what I could tolerate, feeling moist and sticky all over my skin.

How people lived here I had no idea.

Secondly, was the wealth.

Not that there was wealth, no, that wasn't surprising. This was the golden jewel of the desert after all. Getting rich here was something of a national pastime.

It was the division of it that didn't sit well with me.

Much like the city's walls, there was a very clear divide among people who had wealth, and those that did not.

It was a difference I recognized. Gridania wasn't always accepting to Duskwights. Once their walls were meant to keep people exactly like me out.

Thirdly, it was the site of one of my greatest failings.

The Coup in Blue, the Parting Glass, the dinner of the poisoned chalice.

That infamous night had many names, and Ul'dah was never the same after it. There were still wild conspiracy theorists in the streets to this very day, declaring that Nanamo had really died, replaced by someone in illusion magic or a long lost sister. That I really had killed the Sultana that day. That the Syndicate was really in charge of the city, using 'Nanamo' as a puppet queen.

If they'd met Nanamo since, I'd imagine they'd quickly revise their theories.

I wanted to laugh, but the memory of that night still tasted sour. Because of the scheming of this city, I'd lost one of my first friends in this life.

Papalymo.

I breathed out a heavy sigh, full of grief and longing for my mentor from so long ago, wondering what he'd think of my predicament.

Because here I was, slinking through the alleys for someone I wasn't even sure existed. 'Ul'dah' and 'Drusilla' wasn't exactly a lot to go on.

Pearl Lane was a bit quieter than Ruby Road, but not by much. Here men and women of all races eyed each other up like prize fighters. Who was a threat, who wasn't? I could almost see the silent considerations at each guardsman and mobster considered the other. Who was a rival, who was a ally, who was part of a competing crew for that contract? Who was a new arrival?

And as much as I tried to stay in the shadows, when one of their practised eyes spotted me silently evaluating them in the darkness of my shade covered corner, they very quickly looked away. All it ever took was one glance.

The ears marking me as an Elezen. The eyepatch over my left eye. The odd looking sword at my hip.

Not once did they approach me, instead usually moving to put a malm or two between me and them.

But I still didn't know what I was looking for. I writhed in the heat, cursing my luck. What was I doing here?

At least the weather made it all but impossible to consider the memory of Zenos and Fandaniel. It was hard to even think about being cold in this heat.

"Well. Fancy meeting you here."

Gods damn it, I hated when people walked in my blind side.

I turned my head up and left, and was surprised to Thancred, kneeling on the roof just above my head. I didn't even know he'd left Broken Glass. The fact that he was here beside me, of all places in the world to be, spoke of my friend's wanton to meddle.

He'd probably heard about my outburst at Estinien.

I said nothing, hoping my pained expression was doing enough of the talking.

Thancred nodded, as if I'd said something poignant, or graced him with a hello.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" he said, raising his hand to his brow to squint down the alley.

I let out a small hushed laugh, hoping he was joking, wishing I had a bucket of water to dump over my head.

"What are you doing here Thancred?" I asked, a bit more ice in my voice than he really deserved.

"Well, since your... interesting reunion with Zenos, Urianger and I have been trying to track down an ancient Garlean order."

I felt my one eyebrow rise, since the other one was just dead muscle. That was... not the response I expected.

"Oh?"

Thancred jumped off the roof, not enough of a fall to really bother him, landing neatly just a few feet from me. The surprise of his sudden appearence still startled a few passerby, but disappeared when he leaned against the wall beside me, his eyes beginning to scan the crowd. "In helping some of the refugees at Broken Glass, a few of them made passing mention of 'the reapers in the hills.'"

My arms stiffened, my hand almost on instinct reaching for my blade, the image of a scythe cutting through the air... Reaching for Alisae and G'raha...

I shook my head free of the memory, still feeling that horrid sword leaving my rotting hands to dispel the creature that had erupted from my body.

"What's so special about these 'reapers'?" I asked, more out of the desire to get myself back in the present moment, and not remember the cold snow and dead fingers.

Thancred shrugged. "The locals said they made pacts with Voidsent for starters."

If I was tense before, I was a chain pulled taut now.

"I'm thinking that Zenos picked up a few old habits from his forebears." Thancred said it with a smile, but upon seeing my face, turned his gaze to the people passing us by, the smile slowly disappearing like a plant starved for water.

Silence stretched between us for some time. Thancred never questioned why I spoke so little. I would speak when I was good and ready, yet another artifact from growing up in the caves of Gelmorra. You only spoke when absolutely sure nothing would hear you down there. Sound bounced malms when trapped underground, so whatever you had to say had to pretty damn important.

And Thancred enjoyed the quiet, or seemed to, just as much as I did. It was one of the things I appreciated about him.

I chose my next words with care. "So... You think remains of this ancient order are... here. In Ul'dah? And that they could tell us about Zenos and his new abilities?"

He nodded, crossing his arms as his eyes continued to dart between passerby.

"Word is there's a jump in Voidsent activity outside the walls, and a new mercenary group making waves called the 'Lemures'. Doesn't sound like much, until you convert that odd word to the Garlean tongue."

His eyes finally shifted to mine, as he said his next words with gravitas.

"It means 'Spirits of the dead' in Old Garlean."

As dread pooled in my stomach, I was beginning to think I was in the right place.

"You there! You two! Yes you!"

Both me and Thancred turned in alarm to see a flustered Hyur making a beeline towards us. He looked to be an a merchant, or attendant to a greater merchant, his coat made of some heavy green fabrics of high quality.

"I'm so sorry to bother you sirs, but the pair of you look like quite a cut above the rest of these ruffians on the street, and I'm wondering if you'd be interested in making quite a bit of coin..."

I could almost feel the exasperated sigh echoing from Thancred.

I wasn't too thrilled about this either, but it was exactly the kind of request I thrived in doing. I elbowed Thancred gently.

"Don't we only have a few more days before the assault? Why don't you go back to Broken Glass, I'll take care of this and keep an eye out for your missing cult."

Thancred mouthed a silent 'thank you' before beginning to step away, but the attendant wasn't having it.

"Really? Just you? Don't get me wrong you look fearsome, but the pair-"

Thancred's laugh was boisterous and humorous as he clapped me on the shoulder.

"Oh good sir, I quite assure you, she will be all you need and more. Trust me."

The merchant looked confused, about to say something, but Thancred turned on his boot to walked down the lane. He waved over his head, his voice already distant as he said goodbye.

"See you at Broken glass Miri."

I wanted to curse him as he retreated in the direction of the aetheryte. Turning back to the merchant in annoyance, I waited for the moment of recognition. The moment where he put the pieces together what 'Miri' could possibly be short for and recognized who I was, who exactly he was about to hire.

But it didn't happen. Some people just didn't listen to the news, too willfully ignorant.

"Oh, your name is Miri? Wonderful! Please, follow me while I tell you about my employers troubles..."

It was so normal, it was nearly bland. At least normal for Ul'dah. A merchant being accosted by some thugs, some extra muscle was needed. A 'threat' of violence to offset more violence.

Tale as old as time. Not that it ever worked.

Most likely, this would turn into a small skirmish that I could handle easily. I'd done it a hundred times, and I'd do it a hundred more. Even if my opponents recognized me, they ended up assuming that despite my fame and glory, knowing I'd thrown gods into the dirt, that just because I was one woman and they were two dozen, that numbers would overcome quality.

And it never did.

I felt... better. It was good to be strong. That despite everything that had happened, everyday people would need strong protectors. That I was still me. Still undoubtedly the strongest woman in this city, if not the entire damn continent. I felt that comfort settle about my shoulders like armour.

I meet his employer, a Lalafell high merchant named Jijilyo, who for a moment wondered if I'm part of the very crew that's after him. It's only once his attendant tells him that I'm the hired help that he warms to me.

Walking behind the merchant and his retainer, I do my best to ignore both, keeping my weathered eye on the lookout for both the gang I've been hired to counteract, and the Garlean cultists.

"... unsavoury group known as the Lemures." I near stumbled half a step, suddenly latched onto Jijilyo and his attendant with my full attention.

"Their leader demands my master part with some of his considerable wealth, or... Well, I'll just tell you they call her the 'Reaper,' and leave the rest to your imagination." The attendant's speech was touched with the bite of fear, a mix of respect and terror.

It seemed Nymeia had set me on an interesting path today.

"Rumors abound of their origins. Some say they are the detritus of some barbaric nation. They flout our laws and threaten their betters with impunity." Jijilyo said with barely held disdain.

I was beginning to like these Lemure's already. I nodded along, saying nothing as we walked down the crowded Ruby Road. Locals who knew better gave us the right of way. The others who didn't got one glance from my eye before moving. Jijilyo kept talking as if he wasn't in a crowded market.

"They're led by a dead-eyed killer who draws her scythe at the smallest slight. Refuse their payments of coin, and she takes her share of your lifeblood instead. Rubbish, I say 'the Reaper' is naught but a toothless bandit."

"... Interestin' theory you have there. Care to test it?"

Where?

I dashed around in a half circle, my eye finally spotting the speaker, leaning up against the corner of a wall. I hadn't noticed her with my attention so focused on Jijilyo and his attendant. Her moment was picked perfectly, reminding me of a Scorpion in ambush, sitting in it's dark burrow waiting for it's unsuspecting prey to walk past.

For it was exactly what she'd done.

I felt the handle of my blade in my hand while Jijilyo cursed some spitting remark, but I didn't care. I'd found what I was looking for.

Thancred's cultists. Jijilyo's bandits. The name spoken in the depths of Amdapor.

Drusilla. I'm sure of it.

"Hirin' more help while our ledgers remain unbalanced? You wouldn't be tryin' to wriggle your way out of payin' us for a job well done, would you?"

That little rotten bastard. Gods, do I hate Ul'dah.

I wanted to see if I could kick Jijilyo over the city wall, but I didn't take my eyes off the woman, the unknown threat that she was.

She looked to be an older Hyur, but if she was Garlean... The circlet on her head would perfectly hide the gem that marked her people. Her clothes were purposed for long treks, but could've just as easily been tailored for the smoothness of motion required for combat.

But most terrifyingly, the scythe on her back, it's black metal a promise of carnage.

Unable to take my eye off of it, for suddenly, it felt like I was back at that damn dinner table in the tower of Babil, breathing cursed breaths with half useless lungs that wern't mine... Looking at Zenos and that cursed looking weapon on his back.

That wasn't me. I'm here. Feel the stifling heat, the familiar grasp of your sword. I'm alive. I'm alive damn it.

The oversized gardening tool on her back suggested multiple things.

It was a complicated weapon to use. I'd known it's grip ever since Fufucha had put one in my hand to learn the Forest's bounty. I'd tried using it as a weapon for a lark, and found it serviceable, but difficult to master.

But the one on this woman's back, was for one thing, and one thing only.

It's harvest was blood.

Paying attention to the conversation once again, I realized that the conversation had moved form Jijilyo's interesting take on debts payable to mercenaries to...

Me.

"Hmm. One does wonder how you found yourself with a bodyguard of such uncommon mettle."

The woman was staring at me. Her weathered gaze examining every tension of my body, and I knew she was gauging my prowess.

"Aye, not an onze of fear in that gaze, and not a mote of puffed-up arrogance, either. This lass, my dear Jijilyo, is the genuine article. What we in the mercenary trade call the 'killer instinct.'"

My good eye squinted at that word.

Oh she wanted to talk about death? I'd killed. I'd killed plenty. The bodies of dragons, the tempered, corrupted, Ascians and gods both. My blade knew the blood of many.

The woman seemed to almost smile at the expression on my face, turning one final time to Jijilyo beside me.

"How's this? For the sake of our long-standin' friendship, I'll make it simple. Allow me to take this adventurer off your hands, and the debt is forgiven."

I raised my eyebrow as Jijilyo stated some surprise at this offer. It was a good offer.

But I was beginning to think it meant I'd be paying some price in his stead.

In an instant, Jijilyo wasn't a complete idiot, the offer was taken. the merchant and his attendant put big steaps between them and the scythe weilding woman, Leaving me alone with he despite the crowds still shuffling around us.

Her smile was filled with a promise of malice. "As for you, adventurer, it seems you've been made a free agent. But if you're still inclined to put those instincts of yours to use, come and visit our headquarters in Pearl Lane." She winked, somehow threateningly.

"The door's open."

I said nothing, staring at her with my hand still ready to draw my blade as she slunk down the street, and around the corner.

Suddenly alone, both none the richer and none the wiser for my troubles, I set off to follow her.

Pearl lane was not small, nor did I have Thancred's tracking skills. I thought for a moment that I'd lost her, never to see the old woman with the scythe ever again, before a swordsman standing guard over a sturdy door caught my eye and motioned me urgently towards him.

"You're the adventurer? The one who just had a dealing with that Jijilyo character?" He looked better armed than most, a sturdy shield on his back, a sword at his hip, a cap hiding his forehead.

A Garlean.

Thancred's cultists indeed, it seemed.

I nodded.

He motioned me to the heavy door, knocking in a series of rapid fire starts, a code of some sort to whoever was inside. A moment later, and I found myself inside a small office, where the woman sat at an oversized desk, the giant scythe leaning against the high backed chair she sat on.

"Boss, the guest of honour's arrived." The guardsman beside me intoned.

I locked my gaze with the woman once again, wondering how this was going to go. I didn't even know what I was here for. All I could hope was that she had answers.

Her sly grin made me want to beat those very answers from her. Something about her... just reeked of violence and evil. As if she was a blasted voidsent herself. "Ah, I knew you wouldn't pass up my offer. Got a hunger for somethin' more tasty than a pile of coin."

The words almost seemed perfectly poised to slide like a dagger under my defences, my heart lurching in my chest with hope.

"The Champion of Eorzea herself, appearing before me. Never thought I'd see the day."

Ah.

The guardsman did a double take beside me, his hand reaching for his blade, but the woman held a hand to stop him, her gaze not leaving mine.

"Aye, I've heard all about you. It's hard not to in this line of work. The stories paint you as ferocity incarnate, a force of nature few have survived."

It sounded for a moment like a challenge. My hand griped my blade in readiness. I'd had too many tests of my skills over the years, would-be mentors assured of themselves to be my betters. But her eyes glistened with mirth.

"Peace, friend. I've no desire to put the killer to the proof personally. I don't have a death wish. You can call me-"

"Drusilla." I said quietly, the first word I'd spoken in her presence.

Silence stretched between us for a moment, but if anything, her smile got wider.

"You... know of me?" She asked, leaning forward on the table to rest her chin on her hands.

I nodded, taking a single step forward, my hand still on my blade.

"I've heard your name." I said quietly, my voice a knife through the silence. "Once." I recalled the voice in the darkness perfectly, as if it's breath was still on my skin.

She was silent, staring at me for something I didn't recognize. "Leave us." Drusilla intoned a breath later, her eyes not moving from mine, but the command obvious to who it was to.

"Boss." The guardsman nodded, before stepping out the door we'd come, leaving me alone with Drusilla.

Once the door was closed, she picked out a small black stone out of her pocket, sliding it over the desk to a rest in front of me.

A soul crystal.

It sat there ominously, with all the subtly of Dalamud falling from the sky.

"I did have a job for you in mind. But you have... somethin' you need to sort out before you do anything for me."

I didn't know what she was saying, what she was insinuating, but I took another step closer.

"What are you?" I asked, the feeling of threat still not leaving my body. The aura of her very person felt... wrong.

"A Reaper." She stated, as if this answered anything. The look of my face must've showed my confusion, because after a sigh, she explained.

"Years ago, I made a pact with a voidsent... For power. For revenge. For... all the stupid reasons someone does. All of them noble, but yet it still put me on the path of blood."

She pointed to the soulstone.

"That, is mine. It allows us to make the pact. It belonged to the grandmaster of the Lemure before me, and the grandmaster before him and so on. To pick it up, to attune with it, is to become a Reaper like me. To know the call of the void. To meld with a hunger that you can't ever separate from."

She flicked her gaze back to me, as her words settled into my bones.

"And that's just if you're made of the stuff I think you are. That's not even talking about the pact."

I took another quiet and tentative step forward. Unsure if I was stepping towards my doom.

"What is the pact?" I asked, my voice somehow not shaking despite the terror I felt in my gut.

Drusilla shrugged. "That's between you and the particular voidsent you make your pact with. Some just want to be fed the souls of your enemies. Some want to experience life here on the source. The pact gives them the gift of gab, as it were. Well, that and then some." Drusilla smiled as if I was in on some joke.

I was increasingly feeling like I was being the butt end of that joke.

"And what do you gain from a pact?" I asked, taking one more step. The stone was within reach now, I could just take it.

Drusilla's eyes clouded over, as she looked far away to something long ago.

"Power." She whispered.

I breathed in, tensing as my fingers finally left the hilt of my sword, reaching for the stone. The desire to save my world, my friends, my family... All from the madness of Zenos and the inevitability of the Final Days.

It was here for the taking.

I paused in mid-air, wondering.

Fury, is this what you want of me? Hydaelyn? Nymeia?

I asked all of my protectors, my gods, if this was what was fated for me.

The Fury, the patron I'd had since birth. I invoked her with my spear, yet she'd failed me. I'd lost an eye screaming her name bleeding in the dirt of Rhalgar's Reach.

Hydaelyn, who claimed me as her champion, despite never having made the choice to enter her service. Sometimes I felt more her tool than her child, and her silence ever since the ship entering sharlayan harbour... The secrets she still kept... It tested my patience.

Nymeia, the goddess of fate. She guided us all, did she not? What would stop her from fating me to this path, or from it? Did I really have a choice? Did it even matter?

All of this to take up my enemies bargain once more, to spite him. To adopt his weapon, take up the same bargain that he'd made, so that maybe this time, I would be strong enough to end him once and for all. And then, have be strong enough to save the gods damned world from the Final Days.

"And gods, what power you could wield, with everything you have on offer I wonder." Drusilla intoned, a hand rubbing at her chin. Seeming to speak to my exact hope as if she'd read my mind. "You could be the best of us."

My fingers were just an ilm from the stone.

My gods had no answers for me.

I brushed the face of the stone with the tip of my finger, suddenly filled with a yearning I could not deny.

I picked up the stone.

Drusilla watched me as I held it in my hand, It's metal cool in my palm, a balm against the stifling heat, my eye taking in it's black onyx, the carved symbol of yellow in it's face.

And slowly, that breath of fresh coolness settled into my skin as not my memories, but the muscle memories of a dozen or more masters of void and scythe settled into my muscles. Suddenly I could feel how my grip in holding a scythe when I'd tried using as a weapon so long ago was just wrong.

That I knew that spinning it just so would throw weight into a cut. That a wide arc was some of it's most powerful attacks. That a sudden stop and pull was violent and messy, but brutal and effective.

And that once paired with a voidsent in a pact... That sycthes were perfect for combat.

All that aether and blood spilled, was perfect food for pactmates.

Pactmates.

I shuddered as the word became familiar in my consciousness.

The coolness settled into my skin, sending a wave of goosebumps up my back, and I could've swore the cursed temperature dropped a few degrees. The heat suddenly not so stifling...

And there, just barely audible... Was a quiet whisper in my ear, the trace of teeth on my earlobe.

Good... Come back.

I looked around, trying to find the source of the whisper, a sudden lurch in the pit of my stomach pulling me towards the door. I needed to follow that feeling. It was like a slow tug across space and time. I eyed the door greedily, as if it were my next meal and I a starving pauper.

That was how needy this... this tug felt.

"That's it. I knew you had what it takes."

I turned my gaze in alarm towards Drusilla, who no longer reeked of threat. Now... She felt like a kindred spirit. A friend. I knew the movements of her body in combat as if I'd practised beside her my whole life.

Standing in a sudden rush, she did not reach for her weapon, but instead walked over to to a tall cabinet, opening it to reveal an aged and pockmarked scythe, it's age not betraying it's deadliness.

"This was my grandfathers. And now, it is yours." She plucked it from it's hanger, the weight while looking stupidly heavy, looked light as my own blade in her grip. She held it out to me, as if a present on my name day.

The soul crystal was still in my hand, and much like the others in my collection, now felt... a part of me. Separating from it felt like throwing away a limb. I pocketed it for now, determined to find a spot for it in a necklace or bracelet, now looking towards my new weapon with excitement and dread.

"Go. Find your avatar, make your pact, and then come back to me." Drusilla said quietly, placing the scythe into my waiting hands with all the grace of a mother placing a untenable burden onto her child.

Little did I know how true that metaphor would come to be.

[random-thought-depository]

I've finished Echopraxia. Validating to see Peter Watts noticed the same fridge logic issues with Blindsight vampires that I did:

"Pretty good hack right?" Admiration mingled with fear in Sengupta's voice. "Can you imagine what those fuckers could do if they actually could stand to be in the same room together?"

He shook his head, amazed, trying to take it in. "That's why we made sure they couldn't."

"Made? I thought they were just you know. Really territorial."

"Nobody's that territorial. Someone must've amped their responses to keep them from ganging up on us." Bruks shrugged. "Like the Crucifix Glitch, only - deliberate."

"How do you know that I haven't seen that anywhere."

"Like you said, Rak: it's the only model that fits. How do you think the line could even breed if their default response was to eviscerate each other on sight? Call it the, the Divide and Conquer Glitch." He smiled bitterly. "Oh, we were good." - Echopraxia.

Yeah, not just how they'd even breed if they were like that, but as I kind of touched on previously, "how did any vampires survive their childhoods?" is a huge fridge logic issue with the "vampires kill each other on sight" thing. It makes no sense for a highly intelligent hominid species to kill each other on sight because humans are possibly the most intensely K-strategist animals on the planet and we're like that because we're smart; human babies are extremely vulnerable and dependent because of the big infant head problem and human children need a long period of learning and lots of attention for that extended phenotype of culture to be passed on. Vampires would need a huge exception to the "totally selfish and super-aggressive toward each other" rule just to explain how any vampire survived their childhood, let alone to explain how they managed to develop and maintain any culture (like that click language they supposedly had), and having culture is one of the primary advantages of being smart. And if vampire children were at all like human children I can't even really see it working with just a mother-child bond, for the first years at least there's probably going to need to be at least one other "parent" (father, grandmother, aunt, whatever) to hunt while the mother is stuck with the extremely dependent young child, so that implies that cooperative relationships between adult vampires were possible and common.

Really, the implication is right there even in Blindsight itself, in the part where it speculates that ancient vampires had a language and specifically a language designed to imitate natural sounds so they could talk to each other while sneaking up on prey and you can hear traces of this in modern vampire vocal tics. That implies ancient vampires hunted cooperatively, talked to each other substantially, and had their own culture!

The book suggests this was a genetic tweak (the index mentions alterations to facial recognition mechanisms), but I think it would make a lot of sense if a lot has to do with differences in upbringing. This is the way Echopraxia describes the social environment modern vampires are kept in:

Every vampire ever brought back from the junkyard: scrupulously isolated from their own kind, every aspect of their environment regulated and monitored. Hemmed in by crosses and right angles, mortally dependent on precisely rationed drugs to keep them from seizing at the sight of a windowpane. Creatures that, for all their terrifying strength and intelligence, couldn't even open their eyes on a city street without keeling over.

...

He shook his head. "They'd never have met. Vampires are hardly ever allowed in the same wing of a building at the same time, let alone the same room. And if they did meet they'd be more likely to tear out each other's throats than draw up escape plans."

So, modern vampires have been raised entirely by people with a radically different neurotype (humans) who have no idea what parenting styles a vampire child would respond well to, in total isolation from any members of their own species. This sounds to me like a recipe for profound social and psychological maladjustment.

Imagine you're a member of a species with low-trust social intuitions and you've been raised by weak, slow, stupid, timid people you intuitively recognize as prey and who are very obviously afraid of you, and then you meet a member of your own kind; a stranger as fast and strong and smart and fierce as you who can credibly look at you and think "I can take them." I bet you'd feel really threatened!

So, yeah, I think plausibly the primary reason ancient vampires weren't so psychotically aggressive toward each other is they had their entire childhoods to get acclimatized to dealing with people with about the same capabilities and mindset as themselves and develop emotional and psychological resources for that.

I like the idea that, like, ancient vampires were profoundly not nice people (for one thing they literally ate people, for another thing given Siri's emotional reaction to Jukka's mannerisms I really doubt most of the ancient vampire DNA in humans got there consensually), but modern vampires are like a Flanderized parody of them with a lot of their worst traits amped up to eleven, because they're kind of like feral children. Like, if an ancient vampire met Jukka or Valerie they'd be like "oh my God, you poor messed-up feral child, what happened to you?"

[pynkhues]

This may have been brought up before but I find it interesting how in s2 Kendall and Roman aren't even for a second fooled by Rhea's flattery, even though that's the exact kind of praise they eat up when it comes from their father. this is is mostly to emphasize how much Logan has his claws in them, but it also indicates some things I think are important to the s3 finale and s4. firstly, even though they make fun of her, the Roy sibs did listen to Shiv when she warns them about Rhea. there are lots of factors at play there that encourage this response but they still pretty much turned on her on shiv's word. the one thing that can unite them is a common enemy, when a bigger threat comes to town they can suddenly trust each other, at least until they kill it. I think this is something they developed as a survival skill as children, but I also think that their dad has never seen them unite like this against him until the finale. I wonder if he maybe recognized they had strength in numbers and employed divide and conquer tactics early on to make sure they don't unionize against him ("which side are you on" being a union song anyone? I'm joking but am I?)

anyway the other thing is that they make a hilariously good team when it comes to psychological warfare. can't wait for more of that in s4.

I totally agree on all counts, anon! The siblings have always had a sort of solidarity to them underneath all the bickering and in-fighting which, like you said, feels like a form of survivalism. It makes for this really fascinating contrast to me given Logan and Caroline both seem, at the heart's of them, loners, while each of the Roy kids drowns in isolation. They need companionship and support, and they're at their best when they find it with each other.

I love that you brought up Kendall and Roman never really buying into Rhea's flattery too, because you're right - it does feel like the sort of thing they'd usually be susceptible too. I do think a part of it is probably the fact that she was an outsider, and Kendall and Roman were feeling particularly connected to their father in the second half of s2 and that connection bred a feeling of security they don't have when they're on the outs with him. I also think Kendall was telling Rhea the truth in 2.08 when he told her he was offended on behalf of his sister, just as I think that, as much as they hate to admit it, they would rather one of them gets the company than an outsider.

After all, as 3.09 reminded them, if one of them's in charge, all four of them are still in the game, and all four of them still have social and professional power.

But yes! I also think you're right in that they do listen to Shiv, even if they hate to admit that too, haha. Connor might be a dick one minute and tell Shiv she's effectively being placated at the company by bringing up the post office story, but he was also serious when he wanted her to run his presidential campaign which shows a real respect for what she was doing when she was working in politics. Kendall might say he only wanted her on his side because girls count double now when he's lashing out at her and undermined her town hall meeting by playing Rape Me, but the show makes it very clear that she's really the only sibling he's ever viewed as competition, and she was the one he was closest to telling about the waiter before he actually did. And Roman might have gone out of his way to diminish her in front of their father at the political event, but it's pretty clear her opinion matters to him as it did when he and her presented a united front to their dad in 1.01, when she called him a super talented superstar in 2.01, and when he had her and Tom over for dinner in s2.

They weaponise her gender like they weaponise Kendall's addiction and Roman's issues with sex and Connor being delusional, but that doesn't actually mean they don't take each other's opinions seriously or - - well - - sometimes it does, haha, but it's rare that they don't actually listen to each other regardless. In a lot of ways, they've always been a team - often a really bad one, but there's this beat up little spark of trust and love and respect between them that might sometimes dim but has yet to go out, and I think in those moments where they have a common enemy it's really burning at its brightest.

[cryptid-jack]

I am so in love with Elijah and his backstory, it’s incredible. I definitely got a little excited when I read the “older student killed Vyrnnus” part. Have you got stories about how they met? When Elijah realized who Kaiden was?

@sassyresacon1990 Thanks so much, I'm glad you like my mess of a Shepard! XD

So, despite attending BAaT together, they didn't really know each other at all. For one thing, Kaidan was three years older than Elijah, for another Elijah and his twin, Victor, were fairly isolated from the rest of the kids. Not only because they were so used to relying on one another but because, outside of their training, they were being studied by Conatix scientists as some of the only twin human biotics in existence at the time (still pretty rare I'd imagine considering how rare human biotics are in the first place). Elijah and Vic were uncommonly good at synchronizing their biotics for significantly more powerful unified attacks than even most adult, fully trained biotics, and the scientists were trying to determine if this was due to their being twins or if it was something that could be more effectively taught to others.

So Lije and Kaidan never officially met while at BAaT, though of course Lije knew of him after what he did to get the program shut down. It's also never quite left him that if the BAaT program hadn't been shut down, he and Victor probably would have still been there rather than back on Mindoir when the Batarians attacked...

So Elijah knew exactly who Kaidan was the moment he read the lieutenant's personnel file in preparation for taking the XO position on the Normandy. Kaidan, on the other hand, had no idea. BAaT was over a decade past by that time and Elijah was only 14 when it ended, not to mention they'd never really been introduced, so Kaidan doesn't recognize him in the least. He doesn't figure it out until he opens up about his history and the fact that he'd killed Vyrnnus years before and Elijah is just "Yeah, I know" despite the legal records of the incident being sealed since Kaidan was a minor at the time X'D

Well before that, not long after they first officially met on the Normandy and before they get to Eden Prime, Elijah gives Kaidan the nickname 'killer' as a private little joke to himself, much to everyone else's confusion. It irritates Kaidan at first because that's not what he is, he's spent years exercising intense self control to prevent just that after what he did as a boy, but here's the Butcher of Torfan implying he sees something in Kaidan no one else but Kaidan himself does...

At the same time, the commander is just so damn sexy when he says it...

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