#does this need context... nay.

[datastate]

[realtalk127]

alright fuck it. i can't sleep and i need to talk about this scene from the last episode of critical role.

because holy shit if this ain't some of the best rp – nay, storytelling in general – that i've ever seen. (buckle up, it ain't gonna be short.)

laudna: i made you a doll. because dolls are for children. and you're a child.

the way she says this is not nice! it's biting, it's snarky. she definitely seems to mean it as an insult – and she probably does! – at first. but laudna's idea of a child is much more expansive than just a cheep insult, as she makes clear shortly.

then ashton's response: i've never had a doll before. this is the nicest thing anyone's ever given me.

i don't know if this reaction melts laudna a little (if it does, she doesn't show it visibly), or maybe she was already coming to the conversation with a more nuanced definition of 'child', but either way, the conversation shifts immediately – and the next two sentences clarify where they're both coming from here.

laudna: i like children. // ashton: i don't.

she likes children! and we knew this, of course. marisha, the god of intentional rp showed us this within the first few moments of laudna's screen-time way back in episode 1. but still! it's worth repeating. despite the bite of her initial comment to ashton, she doesn't necessarily mean it as an insult. i don't know that we could entirely call it a compliment, given the context, but at the very least, i think she intended it as a point of connection.

after all, our data re: Laudna And Kids is not limited to that one scene from episode 1. there's also the parallel scene that mirrors it (with a happier ending) back in episode 38, when laudna first visits the sun tree after her resurrection. we also know (via a 4sd episode that i don't care to dig up right now) that laudna had another friend before imogen, who was a little girl.

and i think it's that little girl that's the most important piece here. we don't know anything about that story except that she exists, but i'm willing to read between the lines and make an assumption that laudna – on average – has better luck getting children to be kind to her (when they've not yet been taught to be cruel) than with adults. there is an innocence there that laudna needs! she needs people who haven't been hardened by assumptions and pre-judgements and all that bullshit. for laudna there is safety – both emotional and literal physical safety – in a childlike perspective.

ALL THAT TO SAY: laudna's associations with childhood are, generally, positive. for a variety of reasons.

but!

ashton's are NOT.

ashton's childhood sucked. from the jump. he was a part of a shitty cult that he barely remembers, and after that they were in an ophanage. their associations with childhood are overwhelmingly negative, and likely associated with feelings of helplessness and loneliness.

whether or not laudna intended that original comment ('you're a child') as an insult, we can pretty safely assume ashton took it as one.

they continue:

ashton: they're awful. // laudna: they're not.

NOW, we're getting into the meat of it. where before they were dancing around a metaphor, it becomes immediately clear what's really being talked about here. ashton is saying 'i'm awful', and laudna is emphatically saying 'no you're not.'

which! first of all, is so insanely generous of her. after what ashton just put her through less than 24 hours ago, laudna has every reason to affirm ashton's assertion that they are, in fact, awful. but she doesn't. ashton knows this, which is why he amends his original statement:

ashton: they can be.

they're saying: perhaps i can concede that i am not always awful, but let's at least agree that sometimes (like specificaly, oh, i don't know, LAST NIGHT) i can be.

laudna: you should remember what it's like to be one.

ashton: i do. it wasn't great.

the LAYERS, y'all. the LAYERS. the important thing here is that it's all in the context of that first comment: you're a child. which is, critically, a statement made in the context of ashton's decisions the previous night. they're talking in generalities here, but they're mostly talking about last night.

so!

when laudna says they should remember what it's like to be one [a child], she also means: you were a child last night, but not in a cool, whimsical way, just in a shitty, immature way. AND! when ashton says they remember, and that it wasn't great, they're saying they know they fucked up last night, but all they know of childhood is an overwhelming helplessness, how can that possibly be spun to a positive?

and this, really, is the crux of their two differing worldviews. these two have a lot in common – much has been said about that in game and out – but this point is where they split. laudna has survived, by embracing her childlike nature (admittedly, to a fault, at times). how to keep from being hurt? just keep everything fun and whimsical! nothing to worry about here, it's all just a silly little game! and she has also needed people who share that perspective. people who are willing to take her at face value and without any of the negative assumptions and prejudices they may have picked up along the way.

ashton, on the other hand survived by growing up immediately. they got through their own shitty childhood by becoming an adult (or acting like one anyway) as quickly as possible and STAYING that way. ashton needs to have a tough exterior (there's the made-of-stone thing again) to feel safe. (admittedly, from an audience perspective, this veneer is basically see-through. but ashton doesn't necessarily know this. they're trying their best. so from their perspective, the tough guy thing is Working.)

laudna: you should find more joy in your inner child.

she's saying two things here:

(1) you can be soft and be safe. those can co-exist, aND!

(2) i need you to be soft for me to be safe. when you have this false tough exterior, it hurts people. it hurts (hurt) me.

which is certainly a resonant metaphor to play with for the literal ROCK GUY who just got literally MELTED into LAVA 12 hours prior.

ANYWAY- that's what i've got for now on this scene. i'll probably never stop thinking about it, and there's even more good shit from later on in the scene when they talk about the doll, but that's it for now.

[versaphile]

I’ll never kill. Ever again.

OK, so I didn't catch the significance at first, but after having absorbed the other Trigun canons, it really stands out to me. From "Millions Knives":

In the English dub, Vash's words are similar: "I’ll never kill. Ever again."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the manga and 1998 canons, Legato is in fact the first person that Vash ever actually kills.

Though arguably he does hurt people very badly in the manga, his pacifism is generally about doing the least possible amount of harm to resolve a situation.

So when Stampede Vash says he HAS killed in the past, what is he referring to? Is it his guilt over The Big Fall? Nai did a number on him by retroactively making Vash feel as though the blood of that is on his hands, by showing Nai the access code to the SEEDS05 computer. Or is there something else that happened that we haven't seen yet, something where Vash ended up actually killing someone himself?

I think either way there's a difference between the Vashes here. 98 Vash is the most pure in his pacifism. He even goes out of his way to avoid harming anyone at all, if he can. He seems almost paralyzed by it at times, it even makes him freeze up in situations where he is faced with the choice to kill. 98 ends with him rejecting his obsession with Rem in order to stop Knives.

Manga Vash is frankly not afraid to draw blood, though he avoids it if he can. He has a lot more anger and escalates his willingness to harm with the danger of the situation. His refusal to kill is very tied up to his refusal of his own suicide and Rem's blank ticket speech. After Tesla, he chose to live because of Rem's love. Rem's love also saved the humans of NML. There's a whole transference here with him, where he needs to save the humans as part of him continuing to save himself from that suicidal urge that hasn't really gone away in all that time. And when he does finally give in to that suicidal urge at the end of Trimax, he does it with the mental context of giving his tomorrows to humanity just like Rem did. He embraces Rem’s path even more.

Stampede Vash though-- There's still a lot we don't know about what happened after Tesla. We know Rem gave the blank ticket speech. In the more limited examples we have, Vash absolutely minimizes harm to others, largely by drawing fire and running from it, and minimizes harm to himself. He is extremely controlled and precise in his use of force, again escalating only as much as absolutely necessary. He is actively trying to defuse situations and bring people together. The only times we really see Vash threaten anyone are his confrontations with Knives, and there's no sense that his heart is in actually harming Knives at all.

So is his pacifism a mixture of guilt over the Big Fall, and a need to carry on Rem's work and keep the humans and plants of NML alive just a little longer? Is that really about pacifism at all? If he did try to kill himself after Tesla, which is likely, how much is that driving him here? He is carrying a lot of pain, guilt, and shame, given his regular self-punishment.

And then there's this, in the same scene:

Brad tells Wolfwood that Vash's desire to save everyone on NML including Knives, is actually right.

This is absolutely fascinating to me. In 98, Brad is deeply antagonistic to Vash, partly out of jealousy over Jessica, but also because Vash goes out into NML and fights while Brad and the others in the Flying City hide in fear of "outsiders." Brad is a narrative critique of Vash's violence, and in the end he switches over and defends Vash, dying to save him.

In the manga, Brad is deeply antagonistic to Vash again out of jealousy over Jessica, but also he explicitly calls Vash a monster for his part in July and the Fifth Moon. Again, Brad serves as a critique of Vash, this time about the extreme destruction he's capable of. This is similar to Wolfwood's post-Dragon's Nest moment of doubt, where he seriously considered killing Vash to prevent Knives from using Vash's power ever again.

Stampede Brad is a narrative voice again, first antagonistic as his other counterparts, suspicious of Vash's very nature. But quickly enough he comes around and ends up as one of Vash's parental figures. And when Wolfwood doubts Vash for wanting to save everyone, Brad defends Vash. He says Vash is strong enough to find a way to make his dream happen. In contrast to so many others, instead of telling Vash to take a side, Brad says everything isn't black and white. And in fact SEEDS03 is actively working on a solution that will help Vash's dream happen, by trying to terraform NML with flora.

I think more than anything, Stampede Vash is defined by hope. He has people already trying to make a better NML. He goes out into the world and helps people and stops violence in order to keep plants and humans alive long enough for Luida's terraforming plan to succeed.

Roberto is another narrative voice. In "Humans", when Conrad shows off his work, all in the name of remaking the human race for survival without plants, Roberto calls him out, saying that his dream is not worth the cost of his monstrous abuse of innocents. Knives and Conrad's "dream" is one of humans and plants living completely separately, without depending on each other.

All of which is to say, in 98 the core inner conflict was Vash's fixation with Rem, and his refusal to kill reflected that. In the manga, the core inner conflict was the transference of Vash's denial of suicide, and his refusal to kill reflected that.

Stampede's core inner conflict so far appears to be abuse and isolation vs love and connection. The struggle of finding a way to survive while minimizing harm to others. This changes Vash's refusal to kill yet again. And all the more fascinating if Vash has already broken that ideal, if it's not a psychological block or obsession like 98 and the manga, but the choice he makes from lived experience and regret. Vash as a kind person having suffered greatly to learn his kindness.

All of which has massive ramifications for story elements that are entirely focused on Vash's refusal to kill. Such as Wolfwood. Perhaps that's part of why Wolfwood's story arc from the manga has already been largely completely by "High Noon at July". Wolfwood might still have no obvious compunction against killing, but Vash has already started to open up his heart. Wolfwood killed Rollo because he had no hope for Rollo or himself. And then Vash gave him hope for Livio, which is far more important to Stampede Wolfwood than what level of violence he should use. Even Livio shooting himself didn't take that away. Despite the destruction of JuLai, Wolfwood ends Stampede S1 with hope, for Livio and maybe even himself.

And also such as Legato. Perhaps that's why Legato's 98/manga obsession with Vash has been refocused towards Wolfwood in "Once Upon A Time In Hopeland/WOLFWOOD". Though I could certainly see Legato plotting a Death Game in revenge for "High Noon at July". Wolfwood is a safe target for Legato to transfer his anger at Knives. The big brother who needs to have his little brother taken away from him for his own good, to purify him.

Fascinating that Legato actually feels anger at Knives here, vs manga Legato who seems to be willing to accept any denigration with the eternal hope that Knives will show him a tiny speck of approval one day. Manga Legato wanted to destroy Vash as a gift for Knives, as proof of Legato's faith. Stampede Legato wants to punish Wolfwood because he can't punish Knives.

[spenjelly]

Burning questions that have haunted me since watching Trigun Stampede:

-Does no one notice the difference between the pale stabby squid man and the fluorescent red golden retriever man?

-Is….. is the body suit attached? Is it not?

-what happened to Tesla after the crash?

-why does vash not know nai’s murderous employees by the time he’s like 150

-is no one going to acknowledge the incredibly invasive nature of what occurred in the last episode????

-what did nai do to vash’s gate at jeneora rock and why did he need diff tech in the last episode?

If anyone with more context or luck with research knows, or wants to theorize, feel free lol

[tired-reader-writer]

Arslan Senki Reread

Arslan is such a good bean. If he did have the raw power backing him to railroad the conflict into a mediation, I wonder what the result would've been.

I think it's more than just Arslan lacking the power, I don't see Andragoras and Hilmes accepting to lay their hands away from each other. Worst case scenario, Arslan dies in the middle anyways bc Assassination™. Both Narsus and Daryun are right here, Arslan himself lacks power, but also at this point neither Hilmes nor Andragoras are capable of backing off.

Farangis' dialogue here is making me feel things, dammit. Do what you can. Do what's in your power. (It's very relevant to my Wolfpack AU.)

Farangis comforting/gently advising Arslan, and then steps up to keep the project on track. She makes for a good sister-mentor figure. I love Narsus and Farangis' dynamic, her atrocious love advice aside.

I see Alfarīd as someone who ultimately values life, who fights for life even as she is a bandit. Perhaps even because she is a bandit. Rather than having your life be snuffed out for/by an ungrateful liege or king (the Zott laugh at both country and king, they answer to no one but their own, as Merlaine said) so Estelle's stubborn loyalty must baffle her a lot. It's alien to her. (Arslan is different, he's a friend, as she says.) Rather than dying for the convenience of the ruling class who would never appreciate them, perhaps to her, staying alive in spite of their best efforts to snuff them out is a form of resistance. So she doesn't understand why, why Estelle is so willing to lay their life down for a tyrannical, genocidal maniac.

The head jars.

Why yes, I cropped out the Bastard's face because I'm petty if nothing else.

The sorcerers evading death from a blow that would've, should've, killed a human being.

Saam is shaken. This is the first he's hearing of it, and he fears what this implies. What this implies for Hilmes. What's going on? What does he mean by benefactor? How is his prince tied to these unnatural beings? This can mean nothing good.

Saam's speech bubble trembles with fear for Hilmes. And Hilmes, oh Hilmes, the red flags are so vivid they're a sea of blaring neon signs now. Nay, they're neon billboards. You say so yourself, the sorcerer here is doing something morally repugnant. Open your fucking eyes, this ain't good!

Also, does Hilmes' hair seem quite long here?

Ohhh fuck you. Fuck you fuck you all the way to hell and never back. Saam was trying to protect Hilmes. And there's just something that hits so hard about that last panel. “Please believe me.” We know it wasn't Saam who said it out loud, of course, but the backdrop being a pitch black with no speaker, taken out of context it sounds like a plea and y'know, I'll bet Saam was pleading for Hilmes' faith in the deeps of his mind even if he doesn't speak it aloud. A tug-o-war, each needing Hilmes to believe in him.

I want to punt Hilmes in the sun for which side he chooses here.

[shantalangel]

I have long wondered if Legato is human, and why he slightly does not fit into the universe logically (in terms of strength, superior to Plants). Analyzed manga again, and here are some interesting things I found:

Legato can use his power only if he has a device with wires, which later looks like this pretentious skull, but before that… he had the same device in slavery! The translation in that chapter is incorrect in some versions, so it's hard to figure it out, but the small bracelet with a metal box on his arm is not for to prevent him from escape (as I initially thought, something like explosive collars from films).

Legato says how he used it on the inhabitants of the fortress where he was kept. In the next scene, his slave owner, before “punishing” Legato, removes the device - that is, he is well aware of what it is and what it can (and is not afraid that he will be killed with this device at another time, which is strange). As Nai's slaughter begins, Legato can be seen rushing and grabbing the device. Why give a slave such a powerful thing? The only answer that seemed logical to me was that they were going to resell Legato to someone else and arrange a “small” sabotage there according to the principle of the Trojan horse. Would hardly occur to anyone that a pretty teenager is dangerous, and the device itself cannot do anything, therefore it is impossible to found out what is it. I still don’t understand how it works, because the device itself is not an implant - in the version from slavery it was simply worn on the arm.

Shortly before Vash is taken prisoner for six months, Nai attempts to merge with him like with sisters, at which point Legato, who was far enough away, has a panicked expression on his face, and while Wolfwood and Elendira do not understand why, rushes there to stop Nai saying "I felt the level of his power. If you try to do that, you will die (from energy overload, because Vash is so much stronger than Nai that it surprised even Conrad)." It's easy to see from the manga that humans don't feel Plants' angel weapons in any way, otherwise all those tragedies due to the power of the twins would have been easily avoided. Wolfwood and Hornfrick literally stood next to transformed and littered by debris Vash, and did not feel anything.

The most curious thing is that Nai himself was not at all embarrassed by the statement described above, just like the manifestation of strength on the first day of his meeting with Legato, which occurred because, judging by Nai’s words, Legato controlled him at that moment and either forced him to attack the place of his imprisonment, or from all inhabitants to leave only him alive; not exactly clear from the context (and, however, raises several questions: Why didn’t Legato kill everyone himself? How did he connected Nai if the device had already been removed?). In itself, the fact of the possibility of this is very curious in the story, where we are convinced that humans have absolutely nothing to oppose Nai - if we consider Legato a human. But it's not only that.

Firstly, since when did Nai learn to sense human's abilities?

Secondly, how could he even feel it, if it was solely the merit of a device or some kind of cybernetic modification like a microchip?

Thirdly, I will never believe that if Nai had stumbled upon someone who is stronger than him among many completely helpless humans, he would not have been, to put it mildly, very surprised.

Fourthly, the ability of an ordinary person to become stronger than a creature with the characteristics of Plants (which will need a separate post to list) due to just some kind of modification, is something, to put it mildly, absolutely fantastic in sense "impossible".

Fifthly, if such technology against Independents from the time before the Great Fall was still preserved, why was it in a single copy which turned out to be in the hands of some pervert slave owner who apparently decided to do something evil to someone? And Luida's team didn't new anything like that; seriously? And, finally, how did Legato, sitting in a cage, understand that Nai was somewhere nearby, if he did not fall into his field of vision?

An interesting picture is already emerging, don't you think?

Even against the backdrop of all the strange mutants and cyborgs, including very infernal creatures without a normal human face, with sharp needle-like fangs and tusks, like Gray 9 Lives, Legato's minion golem and another minor character from later volumes, Legato stands out with his abilities. In principle, mutants on Gunsmoke are clearly a common occurrence - they do not surprise or frighten anyone, even when they are multi-meter guys with piano-sized fists. But among them there is no one even with approximately similar abilities. If this is a random mutation, why does only one person on the entire planet have it? Also I doubt that at least one of all these cyborgs would have survived the connection to their brain and body of hundreds more people. Not to mention controlling an extraterrestrial organism for half a year. No wonder then, that Legato eats so much and in this way; he must be on a terrible number of drugs in order not to die after such overloads. I'm actually surprised he lived that long. The scene with food, by the way, comes just after the hellish-gore scene with the massacre of law enforcement officers.

This system with wires of connection is very similar to the artificial analogue of Plants' merging, which also has a leading individual, merging other creatures around itself into a single organism with a common system of internal processes and organs. The only difference that Plants also merge their psyche. In general, to have some kind of device or ability to interrupt the signals of someone else's brain with your own in order to prevent it from accessing the body of the brain owner, is already a very impressive scientific development on a planet whose inhabitants always moan about how they have no technology and they are in one step away from the apocalypse. :) Though I have a big question why this ability does not work without a device.

When Legato meets Vash for the first time, they communicate mentally and neither of them surprised. This I don't know how to explain. Apparently, telepathy itself, without controlling bodies, also exists then?

Of course, Legato is not the most creepy mutant of all that is found on Gunsmoke, but he has an eerily impressive completely inhuman tongue and, in one color illustration, long black claws; and the rest of the time they are not shown, which means that they also grow at will.

Also just a note: Vash has black "flesh" of angelic form in the new anime, which uses manga as main canon.

That Legato had transplanted Vash's hand - that is, the very fact that Plant cells can grow together with humans and transfer the abilities of alien superbeings to them, - was canon even in the old anime. Just like we now have a hybrid Elendira, who is part human, but at the same time materializes nails from the matter of her body, and she may have had Tessla's eye transplanted.

[morallygay]

🟩⬜️⬛️ Animes for aro/ace people - Part 2 ⬛️⬜️🟪

The list was getting a bit too long so I decided to make a different post.

~if you see this post as a reblog, make sure to go to the original post, chances are I edited and updated it! ;)

part 1 here

“Yofukashi No Uta” / “Call Of The Night” (13 episodes)🔻

The protagonist wants to become a vampire, but for that to happen you need to be bitten by a vampire you are in love with, and he’s aro (can be both seen as aroallo or acespec). It’s not canon canon in-universe, but like, it’s canon, that’s literally what the plot is about. It has awkward wording/takes coming from the characters sometimes but it got the spirit. I haven’t finished the manga but I’ve been told that the character’s aromance is not invalidated to the end, and the story is precisely about how he doesn’t need to be “fixed”. The show tackles amatonormativity and the value of platonic relationships :). If you can’t handle or don’t like sensual/sexual stuff though, know that it’s omnipresent.

“Shimanami Tasogare” / “Our Dreams At Dusk” (4 volumes)🔻

An LGBTQ+ manga with multiple kinds of representation, including an AAA battery (character who is agender/nonbinary and aroace). Canon and they said the word! Although they didn’t differentiate between aromantic and asexual; in my translation they used ‘asexual’ and meant it as aromantic as well I assume.

“Death Note” (37 episodes)🔻🔹

Another big one but I’ll assume you don’t know about it so, basically: So misogynistic it’s gay. But also so homophobic it’s aroace. And since it’s a psychological thriller, romance is virtually nonexistent, except for a side character annoying girl who is in LOVE with the protagonist. Protagonist who does not show any interest whatsoever in romance/sex. He’s a serial killer but #diversity win I guess. I have admittedly only read the manga once when I was 12 so I may not remember these things accurately.

“Jormungand” (12 episodes)🔻🔹

A personal fav for its eccentric and amoral vibes and characters. I see the protagonist (woman with white hair) as aroace. Problematic points: she has a weird groomer thing going on with the kid character; it’s implied that she’s teasing and she kind of does this with everyone and it’s part of her personality but it’s still uncomfortable. Also a secondary woman character has romantic feelings for her. This is a cool point but it’s also eh because it’s done in a pretty fetishistic way.

Also heads up: our main cast are arms dealer and there’s violence and war and child soldiers and it’s morally ambiguous

“Mob Psycho 100” (37 episodes + 2 OVAs)🔹

A must watch regardless. But in this context, a show about life wisdom and connection in the most fundamental human way, which makes it a very platonic show. Because of the nature of the relationships between the protagonist and the other main cast (master/‘parental’ figure, brother, intergenerational friendship), there is literally not even the place for shipping, apart from the 1 friend his age. And these platonic relationships, oh boy, are they explored and developed and heartwarming. The protagonist has an idealized crush on a girl and that’s the only romantic element there is, and it’s handled maturely and to carry the same main themes I mentioned earlier; it’s absolutely not there for the sake of being romanticized.

! Mp100 is a phenomenal show in many ways, queer representation is not one of them. it is very much incredibly cishet. warning for transmisogynistic humor.

“Kimi No Sekai Ni Koi Wa Nai” / “Is Love The Answer?” (1 volume)🔻

Another manga. It is a queer manga specifically about aromance and asexuality, following an aroace character (touch repulsed) and their experience of comphet and general compallo, feeling alienated, and then learning about this identity, finding queer community and accepting herself. It delves into the topics of labels and identity, acknowledging and embracing fluidity, vagueness, and spectrums. It actually presents specific aspec microidentities I’ve never seen acknowledged anywhere else in fiction, much less explored. It made me feel like crying and kicking my legs with glee. I won’t go say everything it talks about but I truly recommend it for anyone, not just aspec people; in general but especially if you want to learn more about the world of aspec identities. (Also not that any are reading this but I recommend it to exclusionists. Like idk how you can read this and not feel it evident that aspec people are queer)

The same author also did a manga called “Mine-kun Is Asexual” prior to this one, and wrote other things on the topics of romance, sexuality and gender identity :)

“Koisenu Futari” (="two people who can't fall in love" idk the official engish translation if there is one) (8 episodes)🔻

This is a japanese drama. I have broadened the original topic of these posts a bit but I realized that with the microscopic amount of representation we have, why would I intentionally deprive people from knowing about the existence of this show? It is specifically about aromance and asexuality, and follows 2 aroace people who decide to live together and form a queerplatonic relationship. There are many other elements to the story and it touches upon multiple aspects of the aspec experience (lol aspects aspec), starting obviously with allonormativity and amatonormativity. Also our 2 main characters are both fully aroace but the show does make the distinction between aromantic and asexual, and shows a alloromantic asexual character at one point just for that clarification.

“Last Gender” (2 volumes + 3rd and last one to be released in English in June)🔻

Similar to Shimanami Tasogare; it’s an LGBTQ+ manga. This one is centered around a sex bar which 'accepts anyone of any gender or sexuality'. It has an aroallo character, a lithromantic character, and a character who, to my understanding, would be the closest labelled as greyromantic and greysexual. That’s just for the aspec characters but there are other, particularily underrepresented, identities and kinds of people in this manga, like a pansexual person, a bigender person, polyamorous people, or ‘simply’ a gnc woman.

content warning: it’s sexually explicit. I mean the setting is literally a sex bar.

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 27/May/2022

*pterodactyl screaming* Aahhhh! I wrote a scene this week that I was SO proud of and got me SO pumped like you wouldn't believe!

It wasn't even the original plan for the scene, hehe! :D

I realised that the scene I had just didn't have enough emotional punch to it for the LI split scenes afterwards (where there's a lot of aftermath emotion happening) to make sense. 

It was all right, but it just wasn't...enough. And you know me and my angst, hehe!

But at about 3am one morning (which is when a lot of my best ideas form. Who needs sleep, right? :D) I thought of the most AMAZINGLY painful scene that would work.

And it did!

I was so excited by it that I had to share it with someone, so I made Nai read it even though it was completely out of context for her, and she had no idea what was happening, lol!

Not only does it have the weight to it that I needed, but it also shows a character off in a slightly different light—especially because that light can change again depending on your relationship and reactions with them!

Phew! So yeah, I was very pumped this week! 

Chapter 13 is coming together sooooo smoothly. Not only am I already at the split scenes, but I've finished one and am almost finished with another! I'll definitely get that scene done by tomorrow, and possibly another started, which means it's possible I might be able to finish Chapter 13 next week!!!!

Next week, I do have to take some time for sorting more of Chapter 8 for SpunkyCat, as well as starting on the Character Q&A questions for Patreon!

I had SO many awesome asks for the Character Q&A that I will definitely be doing one a day throughout the whole of June! Thank you so much to everyone who sent those in! I won't be able to answer them all, but I will put any I don't get to in a file ready for next time!

It's the long Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend at the end of next week in the UK, so it's a three-day week. But I'm really determined to get so much done in those days! It would be amazing to go into that break knowing I could come back to writing Chapter 14!!!

Hope you all have the most fantastic weekend! We'll be offline as usual, so I'll update you all again at the earlier day of Wednesday! <3

[toast-of-eden]

I've got beef: I wanted more nuance in Trigun Stampede.

Obligatory: I loved this first season of Trigun Stampede. This is constructive criticism around the storytelling, not the incredible work that was done and published. Frankly, I think it was a work of art, and my beef could be resolved next season.

Remember this line from the finale?

I don't know about you, but scene bothered me. So. Much.

It seemed like there was something that was supposed to click for us right here, but nothing new really happened — it was a battle where Nai and Vash realize they can never see eye to eye.

What that supposed to be the aha moment?

I couldn't put my finger on why it felt so shallow. It was like there was a missing piece.

But I think I figured it out.

Do you remember this scene with the spider and the butterfly from the first run of Trigun?

[if the video widget breaks click here]

In Summary:

Vash, Knives, and Rem are in Ship 5's greenhouse thing.

Vash sees a butterfly caught in a spider's web, and the spider is closing in on it. He's incredibly anxious at the prospect and holds out his hands, seemingly unsure of which one to rescue.

Knives, observing this, grabs the spider and crushes it.

Vash: What the fuck? Knives: Either the butterfly goes free or the spider starves, dipshit. You wanted the butterfly to live, right? Rem: Yeah but you can't just make that choice for them. Knives: So like... we sit back and just let the spider kill all the butterflies while you fuck around and think about it? Vash: [punch punch punch] I wanted them both to live!

It's the brother vs. brother, life vs. death thing we just watched happen in the finale of the first season of Trigun Stampede, right?

Kind of.

This scene, along with the original run, is a little campy by our standards today. I don't know if I'd want the same scene beat for beat in the new run of the show.

But what it manages to do in a minute and a half does what the first season didn't manage to do.

This scene gave us nuance.

The butterfly/spider conundrum is a direct, clear metaphor for "the human problem."

There's a villain and a victim, right?

Knives sees that the butterfly is about to be eaten and that the spider needs to eat. Indecision will only mean that the spiders will eat all of the butterflies — so if there's one to save, it should be the one that you want to save.

Vash sees that the spider needs to eat, but the butterfly needs to survive, and is unsure of who to take out — the whole situation is horrible. He raises both of his hands but can't decide what to do.

Rem raises the question of what holds the nuance: what gives you the right to decide which lives and which one dies?

Neither Knives nor Vash understand this concept at the time. Knives just wants to save one, and Vash wants to save both.

As of this scene, the twins are 1 year old, and actually likely even younger. So in theory, this is the simplest form of their points of view.

By the time they meet again, they're 100-150 or whatever the thus-far mushy timeline in Stampede is telling us. (If y'all know, please tell me.)

So it's been 100 years and Knives has been working with mad scientists that literally use plants as slaves, working them to death while Vash has been playing plant doctor and getting pats on the head.

Knives has seen first hand that humans are working the plants to death in spite of their sentience. They mutilated the twins' sister, who, reminder, was also an independent and was kept (possibly still alive) in a bunch of jars right under their feet.

Vash may have been ignorant at first, but humans had locked in a tiny room for months, perhaps even years, and then let him out and acted all "oh we're home" with him after he proved that he was "safe," (aka "useful") by keeping the plants alive and happy. And then, he saw where Nai was living, and how his species was being enslaved and slaughtered. So Vash also knew humans had enslaved his species.

Put this in the context of the spider and the butterfly again, mirrored in the season finale.

Both twins are watching a spider close in on a butterfly, but have reached different conclusions. Knives sees good and evil, and Vash thinks everyone can live.

When you look at how humans have enslaved the plants, Knives' premise that the plants should be liberated is right, and Vash is being incredibly naive.

Knives tries to explain this to Vash to the point that he'd even destroy his own identity and his own brother to save his species.

But in response to this, Vash says: I'M VASH THE STAMPEDE.

...Yeah, Toast. We know that Knives is right, but evil, and Vash is naive, but good.

DO YOU? From the way this prequel season has gone, I don't.

There's an implication that Vash is going to "wise up" in the next season and be less naive. Cool.

But for "good vs. evil" vs. "shades of grey" to be the main moral problem is just... not doing it for me. After all the representation of trauma, class struggle, and the terror of living on a lawless frontier, that feels cheap.

The nuance was left out.

What I think this season was missing was the third response to the spider/butterfly moral problem from Rem: why do you get to decide who lives and who dies?

In the finale, Knives made a choice, and Vash also made a choice. But it wasn't about who's good vs. who's evil — it's about whether they get to choose who lives and who dies.

Knives says yes, and Vash says no.

Doesn't that mean Vash took on Rem's point of view?

Wouldn't it have been cool if we got that foreshadowing in the prequel, to imply that when Vash moves forward, it's not with Rem as a concept that represents humanity, but a concept that represents the strength it takes to let things be?

Vash and Knives wouldn't just be the God and Satan of this new world, which is the premise that this season of Stampede is currently working with.

Instead, Vash might be a Jesus Christ figure, who believes that everyone deserves a chance — even at the cost of his own suffering.

[Also, so fascinating that they had Knives reading the bible before he explained to Vash that humans are a blight. But I digress.]

Again — this could be solved in the next season or the season after that. But as it stands, like I said before, "I'M VASH THE STAMPEDE" just... felt shallow.

Rem has been reduced from a fleshed out character to a concept that lives in Vash's mind from when he was a relative baby plant, and right now she's a foil. Humans = bad, but Rem = good, and if Rem = Human, then Human = good.

So we might not get the nuance she gave us from her character or from somewhere else (unless we're rewarded with more flashbacks).

But it's something I'd love to see, and if it's going to be woven into the writing later, I wish we'd gotten the foreshadowing earlier.

ANYWAY, that's my rant of the day.

[deepdreamnights]

Look.

There comes a time in any mad scientist's life when his experiments create something he was not intending, but that needs to be shared with, nay, unleashed upon an undeserving world.

Go, be free my child. Romp in the public domain where you belong.

Prompt and Context (for what its worth), under the cut.

Okay, so, apparently character prompting just with a head expression sheet and with a totally contrary text prompt does weird things.

Prompt: kaiju street fighter alpha rose, on white background, ready pose, fullbody:: Venusaur rule 63 form, fullbody, white background , prehistoric version, cambrian lifeform features

(text prompt made via a random prompt table I built in a spreadsheet).

I used a model control art sheet of Eric from the D&D cartoon as the character prompt. This was one of my test-runs to get a feel for how --cref worked, and how it can be used against its normal intended parameters to make weird things.

The image(s) above in this post were made using an autogenerated prompt and/or have not been modified/iterated extensively. As such, they do not meet the minimum expression threshold, and are in the public domain.

[wander-wren]

i’m on my third rewatch of tristamp and HUNGRY! (ep4) as an episode is so so special to me. i love it so much.

first of all if you know me in any capacity you’ll understand that i am so. ack. about the inclusion of vash’s food issues as a part of the episode’s arc and not just a one-off line. we see it again in ep8. both times he refuses to eat after a disaster that nai caused (but he blames himself for). but! in episode 8 he only eats again after saving lives/proving himself useful, whereas in episode 4 he eats because wolfwood said he deserves to. indirectly. he doesn’t save anyone. he tries! he’s doing his best! but in the end it’s wolfwood who does all the work. and vash still eats. ack

but yeah i fully believe that comment to zazie, “no matter how heavy the cross is you carry, you deserve to eat. and to laugh!” is why vash later said wolfwood has “the eyes of a good guy.”

(and hey, i do think there’s some significance to him defending wolfwood specifically in the context of wolfwood offering vash food and roberto accusing him of poisoning it. just saying.)

first, the way wolfwood phrases that (especially since right before, he said to zazie “i’m like you”) makes it seem like he knows what it is to carry a (metaphorical) cross, and to feel like you don’t deserve things. so vash feels a kinship with him and admires that he’s apparently overcome that and is trying to help zazie do the same.

(now, we find out later that wolfwood already knows zazie, but i’m working with the assumption that he didn’t realize it was her yet. correct me if im wrong on that. if i am wrong i’ll be sad bc i’ll have to reevaluate a lot :(()

second, it definitely matches up with things rem and luida said about food, which boils down to “whether you choose to eat it or not it still matters that you get it, that you have that choice.” which, uh. we’re gonna unpack my own feelings on that at a later time, possibly never. but that definitely would help vash to see wolfwood as trustworthy/good.

to be clear, vash isn’t naive. from their limited interactions he can see wolfwood has some darkness to him, and he can see that he’s used to being disliked, distrusted. he doesn’t bat an eye at meryl and roberto questioning him, but he does react to vash calling him good. vash has had 150+ years to get good at reading people. wolfwood even calls him out about turning his back multiple times, calling him stupid, but rhen he proves vash right by not hurting him.

of course, there’s another layer to the whole eating thing, which is that vash might not need to eat? it’s implied that he likes food/eating in flashbacks, and we learn later that he isn’t a defective plant, he can generate things (in a way), so it would follow that he doesn’t need food??

which might seem, initially, like it lessens the impact of his disordered eating. but it doesn’t. first of all, it’s still a thing vash takes pleasure in, which he has very little of, so denying himself food as punishment is still Very Bad. but also…it’s kind of the only effective form of self-harm he has. he heals quickly and has an insane pain tolerance, and he has literally nothing to lose because he doesn’t have anything/anyone to start with. maybe he won’t starve, but that’s not the point.

[vickyvicarious]

Thinking about that post contrasting Mina and Van Helsing's management styles by @animate-mush in context of today's entry.

Mina:

[Jonathan] came back full of life and hope and determination; we have got everything in order for to-night. I feel myself quite wild with excitement. I suppose one ought to pity any thing so hunted as is the Count. That is just it: this Thing is not human—not even beast.

.

I thought the matter over, and came to the conclusion that the best thing I could do would be to post them in affairs right up to date. I knew from Dr. Seward's diary that they had been at Lucy's death—her real death—and that I need not fear to betray any secret before the time. So I told them, as well as I could, that I had read all the papers and diaries, and that my husband and I, having typewritten them, had just finished putting them in order. I gave them each a copy to read in the library.

.

We continued to talk for some time; and, seeing that he was seemingly quite reasonable, she ventured, looking at me questioningly as she began, to lead him to his favourite topic.

.

When I went to the station to meet Van Helsing I left the boys behind me. Poor Art seemed more cheerful than he has been since Lucy first took ill, and Quincey is more like his own bright self than he has been for many a long day.

.

Mina expresses eagerness and readiness to be involved in hunting Dracula down tonight. She meets individually with each person and establishes a connection with a basis of communication and compassion. She makes sure everyone is brought up to date on all the information.

She also follows the Renfield lead, getting a really good interview from him. I bolded a line which showed her not only seeking out relevant information but checking with Seward as she does so. Mina has consistently sought to work with others, and respects their expertise. She and Jonathan have been doing an excellent job these past couple days of dividing up tasks between themselves as best suited (Jonathan followingnup on lawyer connections, and conducting interviews with people that as a woman Mina may have had more difficulty meeting respectably/getting to talk to her in the same way). In speaking to Renfield, she asks Seward first and explains her reasoning, and then supports him and is willing to defer to him if necessary during the actual interview.

The result of Mina's approach is a clear boost in morale, with everyone feeling better than they have in a while.

Now, let's contrast Van Helsing.

As I drove to the house I told him of what had passed, and of how my own diary had come to be of some use through Mrs. Harker's suggestion; at which the Professor interrupted me:—

"Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man's brain—a brain that a man should have were he much gifted—and a woman's heart. The good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when He made that so good combination. Friend John, up to now fortune has made that woman of help to us; after to-night she must not have to do with this so terrible affair. It is not good that she run a risk so great. We men are determined—nay, are we not pledged?—to destroy this monster; but it is no part for a woman.

.

When we met in Dr. Seward's study two hours after dinner, which had been at six o'clock, we unconsciously formed a sort of board or committee. Professor Van Helsing took the head of the table, to which Dr. Seward motioned him as he came into the room. He made me sit next to him on his right, and asked me to act as secretary; Jonathan sat next to me. Opposite us were Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, and Mr. Morris—Lord Godalming being next the Professor, and Dr. Seward in the centre.

.

"Then it were, I think good that I tell you something of the kind of enemy with which we have to deal. I shall then make known to you something of the history of this man, which has been ascertained for me. So we then can discuss how we shall act, and can take our measure according.

.

The Professor stood up and, after laying his golden crucifix on the table, held out his hand on either side. I took his right hand, and Lord Godalming his left; Jonathan held my right with his left and stretched across to Mr. Morris. So as we all took hands our solemn compact was made. I felt my heart icy cold, but it did not even occur to me to draw back. We resumed our places, and Dr. Van Helsing went on with a sort of cheerfulness which showed that the serious work had begun. It was to be taken as gravely, and in as businesslike a way, as any other transaction of life:—

.

"And now we must settle what we do. We have here much data, and we must proceed to lay out our campaign. We know from the inquiry of Jonathan that from the castle to Whitby came fifty boxes of earth, all of which were delivered at Carfax; we also know that at least some of these boxes have been removed. It seems to me, that our first step should be to ascertain whether all the rest remain in the house beyond that wall where we look to-day; or whether any more have been removed. If the latter, we must trace——"

.

...the Professor began to resume his statement:—

"We must trace each of these boxes; and when we are ready, we must either capture or kill this monster in his lair; or we must, so to speak, sterilise the earth, so that no more he can seek safety in it. Thus in the end we may find him in his form of man between the hours of noon and sunset, and so engage with him when he is at his most weak.

"And now for you, Madam Mina, this night is the end until all be well. You are too precious to us to have such risk. When we part to-night, you no more must question. We shall tell you all in good time.

One of the first things Van Helsing does is interrupt Seward to tell him that Mina needs to be left out of this matter in the future. Seward immediately agrees. Where Mina asked to work with Seward and looked for his acceptance/approval, Van Helsing cuts him off to tell him how things should go. It's not a one-sided thing, as Seward backs everything Van Helsing says, but it's a noticeable difference.

When they all join together, it is supposedly for a discussion. However, the language used several times relates this matter to a business. Van Helsing takes the position of board chairman or CEO, with Mina set up as his secretary. This puts new power dynamics into play - he is in charge and the rest of the group are his employees. Mina is put in a role where she handles documentation, but nothing else (also, a typically 'feminine' job, notable given Van Helsing's repeated emphasis on manliness). Furthermore, the so-called discussion consists almost entirely of Van Helsing lecturing to the group, like a professor in front of his class or possible a businessman leading a meeting.

He says "we" when speaking of planning a campaign, but then lays out a full plan himself and it is later referred to as a "statement." He's the only one giving much input. Now, that's not to say he isn't respecting anyone else's opinion or only ordering them about. He does ask for all of their cooperation and they all volunteer. He lets them all choose the amount of risk they are willing to take - except Mina, for whom he makes the decision.

When emotions are spoken of in Van Helsing's meeting, they are solemn, dutiful, businesslike. Again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing or out of place considering what they are gearing up to do, but it stands in contrast to Mina comforting each person individually and boosting their spirits that way. Van Helsing speaks of them being "men and are able to bear", but Mina acknowledges their emotions and supports Arthur as he literally cries onto her shoulder.

Van Helsing's final words (or nearly) mimic some of his first: he excludes Mina. Not only from the hunt itself, which she initially was clearly expecting to participate in in some way, but also from any further information they may learn.

.

Both approaches have their merits in this situation. For example, Van Helsing's lecture on vampiric weaknesses was necessary since no one else had that information, and the way he reviewed what they know so far was helpful too in case anyone had missed a relevant detail. It's good for the group to be determined and to solemnly understand the risks of this venture.

Likewise, it's important for them to have time to let their emotions out and to seek and receive comfort from one another. Sharing the written information to get them all on the same page was a vital prerequisite to Van Helsing's speech.

While both approaches have their merits, I can't help but notice how Van Helsing's is on the whole significantly more controlling, thus limiting the input from others. Mina works with everyone to bring out they best they all have to offer; Van Helsing directs them to what he believes to be their best use. Mina also uses fewer specifically gendered roles (though she does a fair bit more today than usual, it's mostly internal thoughts or in reaction to Van Helsing), while Van Helsing begins to assert some stricter gender-based roles. He also takes charge - where Mina's "we" statements are things like "we're all ready," his are instructions: "we must do this."

Overall, I definitely prefer Mina's approach.

[writernopal]

Characters Out of Context Tag

Tagged by @sunset-a-story here, thank you so much!

~Rules: Include one character quote of your choosing ⁠from each chapter of your WIP (or as many chapters as you'd like). Give absolutely no context, save for what's between two parts of an interrupted sentence, should that occur. You may mention who said it. Have fun! No pressure!~

Tagging (gently): @talesofsorrowandofruin @callahanscorner @violets-in-her-arms-writes and @noblebs

Buckle in because we're up 31 chapters now! I will of course be skipping the ones that don't have any dialogue in them. And this time there are some characters aside from the main cast that made the cut 👀

[REDACTED] - "He has been freed."

[REDACTED] - "The Consumption continues to rot her body-"

Fay - "He was everything, you bastard!"

Mariel - “I suppose I was afraid too. I felt as though I’d heard something I shouldn’t have.”

Mariel - “Why can’t he come with me?”

Wilkes - “I think it’s best if you stop talking.”

[REDACTED] - “I see a camp. Riders. Knights. And I count three souls.”

Axtapor - “I nay be goin’ anyplace, wee thin’.”

Fay - “I want it all.”

Axtapor - “Then it nay matters to me how they be lookin’. Long as ye see me with love in the eyes, nary else matters, ey?”

Thelma-Louise - “Who are you?”

Mariel - “No, it’s just…I’ve always had to bear things like this on my own. I’m glad I don’t have to anymore.”

Axtapor - “Will right the sails. Catch the wind right strong.”

Fay - “Have you considered that I don’t want to come back to you?!”

Satoyev - “Speak the names and we shall feast in the way only the sea can.”

Axtapor - “Need to tie off the schooner proper seein’ as we will no sail soon. Settle in, ey?”

Mariel - “Brave. Just like the knights from my youth.”

Satoyev - “And all you did was slink away like a bitch with her tail between her legs while you let that unworthy coward protect you.”

[REDACTED] - “One must steal in. A trick of the light…”

Axtapor - “Ye be my treasure, ye know that?”

Thelma-Louise - "You are as dimwitted as the Captain always said you were."

Mariel - “Things will be okay. You’ll see.”

Anise - “I didn’t know they were hiring girls like you now. I suppose everyone has their own taste, though. How much does he pay you?”

Fay - “Stop hiding and show me who you are. Show me what I paid for with my memories.”

Axtapor - “Then why be it feelin’ as we had a row?”

Fay - “Leave. I’m tired of looking at you.”

Mariel - “I have been wondering what the sky would look like without it.”

Mariel - “I no longer wish to run.”

Fay - “It’ll go like this…”

Rapheus - “Swift winds guide ye, sea carry ye, well and true.”

AASOAF 3 Taglist: @outpost51 @thelivingdeceased @faelanvance @captain-kraken @illjustpretend @elshells

Ask to +/- in the tags, replies, inbox, or DMs!

[gofancyninjaworld]

as much as genos has proven himself to be a character damn near incapable of lying, i find it hard to believe the "becoming a cyborg" part of his backstory is recounted correctly. the human brain is weird and memory is fickle, especially surrounding traumatic events. kuseno just... doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would listen to a misguided childs plea for full-body cyborg modification and actually cave to it. it's entirely possible that ive gravely misunderstood his character, but im not buying the idea of a level-headed genius scientist having That Big of a lapse in judgement. i think it's more likely that genos's ability to recall events surrounding his villages destruction and cyborgification is lacking thanks to a whole lot of repressed trauma and his recollection of events isn't 100% accurate. hence, the whole "begging my doctor/adoptive grandfather to mechanize me almost entirely and quite possibly fuck me up mentally for life and having him actually go through with it" isn't an accurate retelling of what happened. kuseno still fucked up, but im inclined to believe he didn't fuck up quite that monumentally. ill leave off there, because if i continue this will quickly go from "short ask" to "full length college thesis" with how many hypotheticals are available to pick at when considering a situation like this, but id like to know what you personally make of it.

Oh, I believe Genos. Genos has stories to tell that sound totally unhinged and utterly unbelievable but are 100% true. However, we're missing something.

To get to that, let's go to Saitama and his incredible strength. If you ask Saitama how he got so strong, he says it's because he did 100 push ups, 100 squats, 100 sit ups, and ran 10 kilometers every day. Also, he didn't skip any meals, even if it was only a banana for breakfast, and he never used the heat or AC. That's all true, but that's not the whole story.

Flashy Flash is the only character to date who has grasped how utterly vital Saitama's environment was in enabling him to become who he is. Without living in a deprived part of town that slowly got beset by more and more powerful monsters, and dealing with the increasing loneliness of watching the people who once encouraged him pack up and leave, Saitama would never have had the graded challenges to break his limiter. He couldn't have done it anywhere else on the planet. But he has no idea.

Anyway, back to Genos. We are missing the context. As we've seen more of the pair, and we've learned more about cyborgs, it's become very clear that we're missing something important. Kuseno knows how to build powerful drones -- there's no need to endanger oneself personally. If one insists on being up close and personal, Kuseno has powerful body suits. And finally, extensive cyborg enhancements shorten one's life -- they don't save it or replace lost physical functionality. Brainwashing? No, ONE's writing of the Ninja Village shows that he understands coercive control very well and what its uses and limitations are. When it comes to Kuseno and Genos, most of the spokes in the wheel of control are missing: the doctor being happy to see Genos make his own money, associate with people he doesn't know, have conversations he's not privy to, and be overall more independent is the opposite of what a control freak does.

So, there's got to be a reason that the boy who would become Genos decided that only being a cyborg -- nay, only being an extreme cyborg -- would do. There's got to be a reason an old engineer took him up on it. We don't have this context. And we need it to understand. We don't need to agree, we don't need to approve. But ONE, at least let us understand.

Oh, the cyborg destroying towns thing? It's true. The only thing special about Genos's home town is that it's the LAST known massacre.

[lilbittymonster]

WIP Tag Game

Tagged by @crackinglamb tysm

Tagging: it's open bc I don't know which mutuals write anymore. If you write and have a wip to share from consider yourself tagged :)

Ye olde rules: If you’re tagged, make a new post and share 1-2 (a few) sentences from your most recent unposted WIP(s) with zero context -- Let your followers guess!

A crumb from the HW fic

A smile stole over her expression at that.  “I like her, she’s nice,” Kitali said. “She doesn’t take herself too seriously.” That got a hearty laugh from Alberic. “Nay, she does not. A well-needed cheer in such dour times.” 

[jojo0303]

Some things to expect for Gilbert's route in no particular order and for no particular reason.

Eyepatch=Heterochromia=Yandere? Unless he doesn't have heterochromia and they consider Keith's "eye color change" between softKeith and darkKeith to be the yandere aspect of this game and Gilberts eye is normal, he just uses it for the villain baddie aesthetic. Yeah. I could see him do that.

Kidnapping attempts. Lot's of them.

Emotional damage.

CaneBert = GunBert confirmed?

Unconventional uses of a cane…? (take that as you will)

Lots of murder😊

Biting. Lots of biting. And hickeys probably too. Establishing dominance through marking. He's a wannabe vampire. (Is the concept of vampires even a thing in this time?🤔)

Tragic backstory. Hit me hard Cybrid.

Confused Mc. Like is this dude lying or does he hate lies? Does he really like me or just wants to get close to me to f me up (in both ways).

By chapter 15 things are gonna start to get real. Like, I know that this is Gil that we're talking about so shits gonna be real from the first chapter but at 15 it's gonna hit the messed up mark. I expecte this route to be darker than this mans color palette.

Stressed Mc.

Choking scene. Yay or nay. Really depends on the context for some. But it's always gonna be yay for me, cuz I love me some messed up shit.

Sariel complaining about headaches. Do I need to explain why?

Concerned baby boy Rio. Rightfully so, I would say.

Complicated diplomatic stuff.

Going to Obsidian, probably via kidnapping but still. Cybrid you better make those Obsidian backgrounds. I wanna see what's up. I wanna see the room of this Emo/Goth Twilight lover boy.

Going to Obsidian, at the end. And actually staying there.

Yves involvement in something? I dunno, maybe some kinda blackmail stuff like they did in his route but different obviously. I hope my boy gets his time to shine even if just slightly. He's not one of my favs but I think he is very unappreciated and seeing him play a bigger role in Gils route of all them would be awesome.

Tea party with the three new princes. darkKeith, not the soft one cuz he wouldn't be near Gilbert unless it was mandatory. Or maybe he would just to be polite. I dunno.

Many trips to the kitchen to make food cuz he is an hungry boy. Really sticking to the tiger aspect on that one given that a pet tiger needs to eat at least, 6 kilos of meat per day. (Don't quote me on this very quick research I did)

Angry Gilby go brrrrrr

People avoiding Mc like the plague. Mc knowing that it's his fault but not wanting to blame him and Gilbert knowing it's his fault but it's convenient for him cause more time with his girl.

A d*ck measurement contest between Gil and Cheva. Rivalry to the max. Alpha males in action. A whole ass national geographic documentary on these fighting tigers. I wanna see blood.

They usually do one ending with Leon as king and another one with Chev when the route in question involves someone that either refuses to be prince or just can't. Gilbert ain't gonna forgive us in the Cheva ending.

Sexy CG.

It has been mentioned several times that Gilbert hates Mcs type of woman. Why? Is it because they're more difficult to break? Has he had someone like this screw with him? Is this "hate" disguising a "like" and Chev has just been reading him wrong? Because if so then Gilbert is even more mysterious than we thought.

Baby boy just wants to be loved🥺. And he knows that in his position only someone with an unbreakable and strong spirit like Emma would be able to do this, so he is toying and testing her.

Maybe it's just me, but I wanna see him cry. Because Angst. Even tho Emma will be the one that cries.

They've mentioned poison far too many times for me to not think that one of us is going to get poisoned. It would also paralel that one Chev ending.

Trampling. Get those killer boots working king.

Mansplain, Manipulate, Manslaughter 💅

Some crazy stuff with the emperor or whatever I can't remember but Gil says he's not as ruthless as him(the emperor) so aparently he his the big daddy of evilness.

Some Luke involvement? Since they share a background, it would be interesting.

The Bloodstained Day from Gils perspective.

Sexy CG. Please.

Figuring out how he gets undressed with all that stuff on. Sir, is that for protection? A bulletproof vest in the making?

Undressing Gilbert.

G string gloves. I want them to be relevant somehow.

Gil eating Clavis deserts. He likes them. He is crazy.

Murder spree stopped bcs Emma does some hope speech or surprises him in some way.

Is this the route where Mc is gonna have to fight? I want this Mc to be such a baddie. Like she's scared but she still has the backbone to talk to him like she would to Silvio. Hopefully she slowly grows to be less and less scared of him until she reaches that point. But of course there's gonna be some big thing happening that will break her down. Cause angst.

Maybe war? I think it will probably happen but the time that's spent in that could be time spent with Gilbert so maybe not?

We're gonna need a lot of interactions to understand and be simping for this man (the MC will, we players already are), so expect every chapter packed with Gilbert interactions. Especially bcs he is needy af.

Jealousy. Towards Chev. Maybe they'll play it off like in that one event where Mc and Chev are already close so gil has one more reason to steal her away. Remember this act starts in the middle of our time as Belle.

Because of that I feel like a good amount of stuff will happen after she chooses the king. But the bigger ones will come before. They're either going to have a lot of stuff happening in one day that spreads out through multiple chapters or they're gonna do this. Maybe a little bit of both.

They danced in the prologue didn't they? I want that to happen again.

This man is gonna force you to go everywhere and mixing that with your studies as Belle and always having to pull a facade, she's gonna be tired. So maybe a repeat of Gilpillow. Pillowbert? Maybe some cuddles.

Sexy CG. I want it.

Are we going to see Gils guest room? Or maybe they'll just recolor it like they did with Emma's room in Bentoite.

Gilbert scolding Silvio for his lack of manners but he is also kinda gay for him. The man said it himself, gender doesn't matter to me.

Don't know what happened in that event where the g string gloves come off and Gilbert is a stray cat out in the rain, but if there is something that is relevant to the story pls tell me ( and tell me what happened in that event while you're at it👀)

Suprised pikabert. Gilbachu? This sounds coursed when said out loud.

He wears red eyeliner. Will we get to put it on for him?

Feeding Gilbert.

This route better make me cry.

MC and Gil reading together. Imagine him just giving her some random obscure Obsidian book and just staring at her as she gets excited.

You know he is gonna use it to blackmail her but who cares really?

MC librarian in Obsidian.

If MC is the one that convinces Gil or the emperor or whoever, to form ties with rhodolite so that they can benefited from the land than she's gonna be the nations sweetheart. She saved them all so they'll have no problem having her as queen ☺️

Gilbert and kids interactions.

Maybe he has siblings or something.

I just wanna see him do a magic trick for the kids. And they all go wahh!

Thank God he is a man cuz if he was a woman performing a magic trick in the streets in this time, the kids would go wahh for another reason...

Gilbert pulling a sausage out of his clothes. Context is needed for this one but without the context it is also appreciated.

Please dont let him be the ninth lost brother of rhodolite.

Sariel should have given this man (king) a condom if he didn't want so many headaches.

He's gonna be the only child. He's deemed to be alone. It's why he likes kids. They're the little bros and sisters he never had.

A random kid just ask if they're in a relationship and Gilbert says yes. Of course he does.

And the they ask them to kiss.

Ah that's right, pecks on the cheeks. Apparently Gilbert likes to ask for those so...

Give me a sexy CG for god's sake.

And last but not least: Gifbert.

This was way longer than expected.

Feel free to add anything.