#edit: now with part 2!

[matchingbatbites]

Love Grows - Part 1

This is my take on teen dad Steve! It was just supposed to be a ficlet, but the word count is currently hovering at 4k and I'm not done, so this will be going up in parts. <3

Ao3 | Part 2

February '85

The rumors have been flying for weeks. It only took one cheerleader to see Steve Harrington out and about with a baby and soon enough the news was all over the school. Nevermind that no one else has even seen said baby, but just the one accusation is enough to send the rumor mill into production.

It's something that had piqued Eddie's interest, but he quickly attributed it to teenagers spreading drama, a fiction created for their own entertainment. That is, until the day Harrington shows up to school with the baby.

The halls are buzzing, more so than usual, and it only takes until second period for Eddie to realize why. The entire class breaks into whispers when Steve walks in with a baby carrier in one hand, a piece of paper in the other, and a diaper bag slung over his shoulder. The paper goes to the teacher, who reads it before saying something to Steve, and Eddie is so curious but unable to hear anything over the chatter in the room.

Eddie can’t take his eyes off Steve for the rest of the class. He watches as the carrier finds a home on the floor, right by Steve’s desk, and Eddie has a perfect view of the little, rosy-cheeked baby girl from his seat two rows behind Steve (at least, Eddie’s assuming it’s a girl. The blanket tucked around her is a soft pink, so-). He sees every time Steve leans over to check on her, sees how her big eyes flick up to look at him, how she smiles around the pacifier in her mouth. 

It makes Eddie go all gooey inside; he's always loved kids, always hoped to find a guy who is good with them, and seeing Harrington being so attentive only increases the low-key crush he has on the other guy (he knows it’s a little pathetic, but Steve is very attractive, and Eddie is very gay, sue him). When the class ends, Eddie gathers his stuff slowly so he has an excuse to hang back a little and watch Steve interact with the baby some more, but soon enough the younger is also packed up and out the door.

Eddie doesn't see Steve again until later that day, when he's skipping out on 5th period and hears a baby crying as he passes by a closed classroom door. He peeks in through the window and sees Harrington pacing slowly while holding the baby against his shoulder, one arm supporting her from the bottom as his free hand rubs circles into her back. 

For a moment Eddie thinks about walking on, about just leaving Steve alone as he comforts his wailing child, but the cries pull hard on Eddie's heartstrings and he finds himself opening the door and slipping inside.

"Everything okay?" he asks, and Steve looks up in surprise before his expression shifts into something unreadable. 

"Yeah, we're fine. She's just extra fussy because she's teething. I came in here because I don't want to disturb anyone else." 

Eddie hums and goes to the nearby diaper bag, starts digging through it and is surprised when Steve doesn't tell him to stop. He finds a little bottle of numbing gel and smears some onto his pinky before sliding it into the baby's still wailing mouth, and carefully rubs it over her gums as he coos at her. 

"I know, honey, it hurts so bad. It's gonna be okay, though, just you wait." 

He glances up to see Steve staring at him, his expression curious, and Eddie suddenly feels overexposed. 

"My last neighbor had two jobs and three small kids, so I have a little experience with babies," Eddie explains, needing to fill the sudden silence that falls as the baby calms. His finger is still in her mouth, and he feels no desire to remove it, especially once she starts gnawing on it gently. Steve glances down at his girl before giving Eddie a soft smile, and Eddie's heart flips in his chest. 

"That's more than I have, at least. Thanks." 

"No worries, man. What, uh- what's her name?"

"Rosemary," Steve says, humming when the baby makes a soft noise. "At least, that's what I'm changing it to, as soon as I'm able." 

The warmth that had settled in Eddie's stomach sours a little at Steve's declaration, and as he pulls his finger from the baby's mouth he can't help biting out "And her mom is okay with you changing her name?" 

The atmosphere in the room changes as Steve's face crumbles, and Eddie knows he's said something wrong. 

"Her mom didn't want anything to do with her," Steve replies softly, and oh no, Eddie instantly feels like a piece of shit. He'd heard the rumors that some girl had just dumped the baby on him, but he didn't think they were true. 

"Shit, I'm so sorry, man. I didn't mean to assume anything." 

"It's okay. No one really knows about the whole… situation." 

There's an awkward pause before Eddie asks "So, Rosemary. Your choice wouldn't happen to be inspired by a certain Edison Lighthouse song, would it?" He smiles when Steve blushes, the pink dusting his face so sweetly as he shrugs. 

"It was my grandma's favorite song, and a lot of my happy memories are with her, so... I've already started calling her Rosie, so she'll be used to it." 

"It’s a good name," Eddie hums, rubbing his thumb over Rosie's tiny eyebrow. "She's a cute kid, Harrington."

Steve mutters a soft “Thanks,” and then there’s a brief pause before he asks "Do you- do you want to hold her?" and Eddie doesn't even hesitate before nodding and giving a quick “Yes!”

He takes off his jacket and vest in one go, knowing the fabric is a little rough, and takes the baby when Steve offers her to him. He holds her close, one hand supporting her and the other resting on her back, and starts to sway a little. "I haven't held a baby in like, two years. I forgot how calming it is." Steve hums and smiles as he sits on a nearby desk. “Yeah, it is.”

They spend the rest of the time just talking about whatever comes to mind, and it's really fucking nice. Eddie learns about the gaggle of kids Steve babysits ("They're all shitheads, but I love them, even when they're using me as a chauffeur.") and Eddie talks a little about his own friends, his band ("I mean being famous is the end goal, but it's also just fun to get together and be creative just for the sake of it, you know?") and before they know it, the bell is ringing to signal the end of the period. 

Steve frowns, a cute pout that tugs on the corners of his mouth, and Eddie has to bite back a smile at the expression. He sets a now sleeping Rosie back into her carrier before shrugging on his jacket and vest, and hesitates for a moment. 

"Listen, Harrington. I know that we don't really know each other, but I've seen firsthand how tough this single parent shit can be, so. If you ever need a hand, or need someone to watch her so you can get shit done, you can ask me, yeah? No worry, no judgment."

Steve blinks at him, big hazel eyes flicking between Eddie's like he's making an insight check against Eddie's words. He must like what he finds, because he smiles softly and says "Thanks, Munson."

And Eddie shrugs, and smiles in return. "Call me Eddie, man."

[moonkhao]

EST SUPHA as PO and WILLIAM JAKRAPATR as THAMEin Thame - Po ・HEART THAT SKIPS A BEAT (2024ISH)

[dutchwinter]

what the fuck is their problem... [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

[britishchick09]

a sneaky list of full poto movies! ;)

youtube

1925

1937 song at midnight

1983

1987 animated

1989 mall

1990

1991 staller

1993 y/k

1995 wishbone

1996 ivan jacobs

2000 ken hill audio

2013 ken hill

2021 korean y/k

leroux audiobook

(these last two are privated every so often, so they're not always available)

musical

lnd

ok.ru

musical

lnd

1943

1962

1974 paradise

1989 freddy

1998 rat phantom

2004

dailymotion

1925 in hd

1995 phantom lover

2011 y/k takarazuka

night gallery

internet archive

musical

1925 original

1974 paradise

1974 hollywood

1983

2004

2004 takarazuka

[the-deadlock-south]

it took me six years to finally ‘finish’ this

original 'sketch’ under the cut (oct. 2, 2016)

[thesherrinfordfacility]

[queenofinys]

@pscentral​ event 26: minimalism

The hair was still like polished bronze. The wide-set green eyes, though, hid beneath their overcasting of spice-imbued blue.

[oifaaa]

The irony is not lost on me that i complain about how oftern Tim takes over Jason centric stories only to then go out and buy the deluxe version of death in the family which is the version of the book that is half dedicated to tim becoming Robin

[tacit-semantics]

Love how silly in progress gloves look like baby you are so nonfunctional. Anyways, pattern is andrea rangel knits’ char. Very ignored homework in the background is mine :)

[a-mint-bear]

Your Secret Admirer

Female Yandere x Reader

Part 1

The story of your secret admirer and how she fell in love with you.

[tw: suicidal ideation] - it's vague but it's there.

Part 2

She'd been alone for some time.

===========

Her father traveled for work, she could count the number of times he'd been home and seen her in the last ten years on one hand. Her mother had been more attentive when she was younger, from what she could remember, but that stopped pretty abruptly when her younger brother had been born. He had a lot of health problems and spent a lot of his childhood in and out of hospitals, their mother stayed by his side. She didn't really know him, and he didn't know her.

Between her father's job and her brother's health, she had attended a new school every couple of years. When she finally felt settled, every time, they would pick up and move again. She stopped trying to make friends fairly early on.

She made sure to never cause trouble and worry her family. She was always the perfect daughter. Never underfoot or in the way, even when she wanted her family's attention more than anything.

No one to cry with when things got hard. No one to nurse her back to health when she was sick. No one to celebrate her birthdays with her. No one to say good morning or good night to.

No matter how good her grades were or what she achieved, they never looked her way. They didn't need to check in on her; she was their healthy child, the one who never caused any trouble, who could take care of herself. She knew they loved her, but she couldn't remember the last time they had actually told her so, or even showed her. Her mother had her brother and her parents had each other, there was no one who was only hers.

She had always been on her own.

Even when she'd started college, every day was still so meaningless... nothing really mattered. She never found anything she wanted to be or do... She found herself just going to her classes day after day, never speaking to anyone, just because she was... supposed to, to stay out of the way.

Then, that day, she was walking to her classes when everything just... stopped.

She couldn't take it anymore. Why should she keep going? There wasn't anything for her to look forward to anyway... She couldn't bring herself to take another step. What was the point? In any of it?

If she were to disappear, how long would it take her family to notice? There wasn't anywhere meant for her... no one to look to... and a future that was getting harder and harder to picture herself in.

If she walked off and kept on walking... would anyone even notice? She wanted the world to stop so she could just... breathe.

She was so empty, it physically hurt.

The world slammed back into motion when she was suddenly knocked to the ground. There was a stinging, throbbing pain on the side of her wrist.

And there you were.

You were apologizing over and over, saying you weren't watching where you were going. You hovered with a worried look as she got up, she was still kind of out of it.

When you saw that she had scraped her hand on the concrete in the collision, you reached out without thinking. When you took her hand in yours, she couldn't breathe. You led her to a nearby bench and sat with her, getting into your bag. You got out a surprisingly cute bandage and stuck it on, still apologizing and fussing, but all she could focus on was your touch.

It jolted everything awake inside her. She was hyperaware of everything. The way the sun hit your eyes, the smell of your shampoo, the nervous lilt in your voice as you kept on apologizing.

And your warmth. She was in awe at it; it had been so long since she'd felt another person's warmth. A kind voice, a comforting look in their eyes.

Everything about you filled that empty space.

You asked her if she was okay, and those words finally broke through.

"Yes." she nodded, suddenly aware of how rude she might've seemed. "Thank you... for helping me... um?"

You just smiled and told her your name. It sounded so... right.

She told you hers back, and to you it was something so inconsequential. An accidental meeting between two strangers not likely to ever meet again.

But to her, it was everything.

You flashed one more warm smile and gave one last sincere apology before standing, and it took everything in her to not ask you not to go. But that would be strange, right? She was just a stranger to you, you didn't owe her that. But she wanted so badly for you to stay.

And when you were gone, all she wanted was to see you again.

===========

The next day, you were on the same route. She watched from a ways away, trying to figure out what your day looked like, when would be the best time to come and see you again... But the longer she watched, the more she found herself... nervous? She'd never felt this way before.

If she said the wrong thing, or made a bad impression on you, she was afraid you would look right through her, like everyone else did.

Look at me.

It became her mantra. It repeated over and over in her head as she watched you, she uttered it again and again like a prayer as she fell asleep to thoughts of you. She poured the words like a blessing into everything she made for you. It became her fondest wish.

She had daydreams of you. Always of you seeing her again. In some, you smiled and called to her. When you said her name again it would fill her with such warmth. In others you looked at her with disgust and fear at discovering how she'd been following you. She was surprised to find that he latter option gave her such a strange thrill.

As long as you were looking at her, it didn't matter to her with what intention.

She left you gifts. Little things to guide you back to her, when the time was right. She wrote her thoughts in love notes she would slip into your bag or leave where only you would find them. She left a bookmark with pressed baby's breath flowers in the book you checked out from the library. They were small and didn't stand out among other, brighter flowers, but staring at their tiny, delicate blossoms made her feel... something. She wasn't quite sure what. She'd taken flowers from the same branching stem, set them in resin, and made them into a necklace as something like a matching set. It made her feel close to you, in her own way.

You used to spend what felt like forever looking over the things she left you, sometimes with a smile, sometimes with surprise or confusion, but always something behind your eyes that made her heart skip a beat.

But after a while, you started to ignore the things she left you. No surprise or raised eyebrows, or funny little smiles at her clumsy poetry. Not even annoyance or disgust at finding yet another trinket she'd made you or the all-too-personal fantasies she'd left in a note. Just...

Nothing.

You just left them where you found them and kept going about your life, like it didn't matter. Like she didn't matter.

You couldn't see her anymore.

It left her feeling sick.

She cried and screamed in that empty house, where no one heard her. Just another place where she wasn't really... there. You'd become such a comfort to her, but now all she could do was sit alone with her thoughts. She skipped her classes, she couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep, but there was no one to notice. No one to care. She was spiraling down into something awful. She started thinking of all the ways she could get your attention again, none of them as pleasant as the gifts and notes like before.

Love her or hate her, anything was better than the cold indifference that stabbed through her heart, ripping out every piece of you and making her empty again.

She couldn't go back to that. She refused to feel that horrible ache again. She made a plan. It was time for you two to reunite, no matter the consequences.

"Just you wait..." she smiled, holding her necklace tight, gently caressing the smooth surface under her thumb. She held it to her lips as her mantra ran through her mind over and over again.

"You'll finally see me..."

===========

an anon asked for a longer story for The Secret Admirer yandere girl

Original Yandere Girl Types post

[moonkhao]

#dunkjoong let's gooooo

[sunshades]

grief in the city, or "how many days off will i get when my lover dies of consumption next march"

Expanding from this post (@puffles HI) or mostly just trying to write it out in a readable fashion. (lor spoilers ahead yeehaw 📚)

Just been thinking. Death in the pmverse city. It's not something you're really allowed to get personal with. But some people just can't help it.

In lobocorp we get a look at what it's like from the inside of a corporation, and like yeah the entire story is about it, but to me Yesod's parts more than anyone else's showcase this feeling.

(Yesod core suppression dialogue)

The question of detachment comes up pretty often, and he points out Malkuth's as the ideal behavior to cope with it- forgetting you're dealing with humans as much as you can. Through his arc in lobocorp he struggles with it, this idea that it can all be fine if he stops thinking of the others as having a face, a name, and most importantly (for him) a body. Of course a strategy like that stops working as soon as one remembers, as one gets closer. That is one of the main themes of lor.

We're introduced to Xiao midway through the game, and her story unfolds as we start to learn about Roland's. The way she describes herself is similar to how A talks about Yesod, though Xiao doesn't feel special for it. The softness of her (at the time) coworker Lowell confounds her.

(Xiao's key page)

Then the invitation reaches her, and therefore the news of Lowell's death, and this changes. Her reaction is intense, she describes it vividly. And it feels... kind of natural considering the martial culture of her workplace? Specifically for an Association whose mechanics literally run off emotion levels.

(Liu S1 reception)

But we immediately see that no, to everyone else this seems like an overreaction to losing a partner. We see it from Chun's reaction, then Angela's, who suggests she simply finds a substitute for Lowell, and Roland himself is surprised by it: he muses about the Light influencing the people of the City: this is such a strange thing it gets compared to the goddamn Distortion! When we take a look at Lowell's own book it seems to confirm that out of the two he's always been the one with the more unconventional mindset.

(Lowell's key page)

It's not groundbreaking to say one should care about their partner, but it feels like in the City this isn't really the case? It feels like having someone you cherish becomes something of a nuisance as it can interfere with a Fixer's ability to... well, work. Roland, though affected for obvious reasons, tells Angela about it briefly enough, and it seems it's not particularly noteworthy, having romantic entanglements but also losing them pretty quickly. It's something that happens, that you're supposed to deal with easily enough, and go back to work.

(Liu S2 second reception)

Instead Xiao's feelings lead her to do the direct opposite; it's noteworthy that before her reception she resigns from the Association, and immediately justifies herself to her subordinates by letting them know this shouldn't affect their careers. It's worth noting that Roland's story is marked by a similar situation, once he's exposed in his revenge quest, he loses his Color title as well as his Fixer grade. In both situations we find that the question of how to deal with Survival (being a survivor to the person you love) can't escape from the problem of Survival (how to make a living). The death of another puts you in actual danger if you actually care about them.

In light of this, Lowell's hopes and promises for Xiao read differently. His apparent softness and sensitivity reveals itself as something he can handle very rationally; aware of how deeply their feelings run, he asks her to vow to always watch over herself.

(Liu S1 reception)

Instead Xiao, and we later learn about Roland, embrace the horror of what's happened to them, and show us what it's like to go into the deep end of this grief; it's a deviation from what we might consider normal or #HEALTHY, but it's also a display of feeling that usually people of the City just... don't allow themselves to have. I don't wanna ramble about this too long, but since limbus vaguely uses the Divine Comedy as a source, in Dante terms I would say: while Xiao and Roland commit sins of excess of love, letting their anger over their loved ones take them over, the people of the City in general commit the sin of sloth, "laziness of the heart", it's people who refuse to let any kind of attachment in their heart, because it's simply easier not to deal with them. Roland's arc touches on it quite often.

(Natural Sciences realization)

Though Roland does eventually turn out to be, well. A big deal, a lot of his behavior in the library is supposed to show him as a kind of everyman of the City. In moments where he talks like this, he's expressing what it actually feels like for most people to live in there. This heavily contrasts with Xiao's own beliefs, the ones she develops through her love, and that leads to her EGO manifestation.

(Liu S1 reception)

By the end we also know that the truth is Roland's own mindset isn't quite the one he tries to preach ("that's that and this is this"), but the grief over the loss of Angelica, and more generally the pain for the life he's always had, still weighs so heavy on him he isn't able to just start again- he doesn't want to! As the stories goes on and he faces the horrors of the City together with Angela, even this facade of "sloth" fades away, and his actual feelings start to show, the love and the anger and all of the grief- he starts to resonate with the abnos as Angela did, a similar experience to distorting.

While Roland has a lot of interesting dialogue, it'd take a whole other post to talk about it (I'm sure someone smarter has done it already) so for the purposes of this and to keep on topic I only wanna talk about a little bit that Xiao doesn't touch on, and that feels relevant with the perspective of canto VI.

(Black Silence "soulmates" reception)

In one of the darkest moments, we get a (can I say it now?) ⛈ HEARTBREAKING ⛈ confession straight from the inside of Roland's mind, the fear that in choosing to move on he'll have abandoned Angelica and all they meant for each other. The "pair of linked souls" is tied on a mechanical level, to beat them you need to disrupt their soul link, a buff they give each other that makes them basically unbeatable- they keep each other alive. Roland's fear, after years of Fixer work, after seeing how little value a person's life has in the eyes of the City, is this: that the second he looks away from Angelica's death and his attempt to avenge it, he'll have forsaken her forever, that their love and life together will lose its meaning.

Only with the help of the librarians and particularly Angela he's able to accept that's not the case, and in the final reception he once again wields her name and her gloves, carrying on her legacy and memory for the sake of the future and the new people he wants to protect.

Finally, I wanna show an incredibly interesting piece of dialogue from Leviathan, between Vergilius and Carmen.

(Leviathan chapter 18, translation by @/SnakeskinFS on twitter)

Now, Carmen's take on love is... something. Love as she means it is what we know to bring to Distortion, but it is interesting that the actual implication in the world she draws up is what the people of the City need back is contact with one another, understanding. It's also interesting Vergilius calls it a word he's unaccustomed to. Obviously here it doesn't apply strictly to romantic love, but this does check out with how little we get to see City residents... well, loving each other.

Xiao for Lowell, Roland for Angelica, as well as honestly Carmen for herself, her vision for the future, stand out in crowds of cordial coworkers and friends of circumstances, for the strength of their feelings, love in its danger and beauty. The paths they end up following are messy, some very bloody, and done in remembrance of the people they valued above all else. It's the theme of love that entwines so closely with that of death, the question of what you do when you're the one surviving and left behind.

So here's where I think of canto VI- WH is so heavily defined by grief. This is partially tied to its literary influences, partially to the author's own experience, but the story is scarred by the various funerals, each of which changes someone's life, mostly for the worse.

Is this malicious? A little. A little... not? Like in the City, the feeling is that the dead, the memory of them, follow because they love the living. When we get to Cathy's death, she and Heathcliff curse each other back and forth before making peace again, but in the end more than their harshness, what hits the most is the connection, the yearning to be reunited- "I care nothing of your sufferings" is soon followed by "I'm not wishing you greater torment than I have", which leads into the Heartbreaking speech, that we already know will be very relevant in the canto, in which Heathcliff takes her pain as his.

NOW I see readings/speculation around that this will be portrayed as lcb Cathy trying to tie Heathcliff to his past forever/them needing to Kill Her, and metaphorically his affection for her in order for him to move on and become his own person, to which I say: meh? I think that misses part of the point, makes her out to be a plot device instead of a character that, like him, has grown in an awful abusive household, and laments in her deathbed that she wishes things had been different, and that the person she loves could stay with her longer, after circumstances beyond their control have forced them apart.

By the end of it, though we know that in the book it doesn't really turn out like she'd like, Cathy claims she'd rather him remember her words, and her, as harsh and cruel than nurse anger while he lives on, she hates the thought that he should suffer more when she's gone, because she, too, feels his suffering as hers.

To me this last wish she expresses is most reminiscent of what we see of Lowell's request to Xiao, the way it's not fulfilled until the last minute. Xiao doesn't listen and she goes on, fully aware she's betraying the trust he put in her, and that she might be the next to die. Because of this betrayal, her feelings, this excess of love threatens to have the best of her, to make her forget about Lowell and focus only on herself and her anger- the "love of the self" that is the Distortion. Her final reception has her talking back to Carmen's proposal and worldview, detailing the way her bond with Lowell, but also Miris, Chun and all of her men, have been keeping her strong to this point.

(Xiao reception)

With the awareness her lover is dead and gone, she manages to work through her feelings and gain strength from them, deciding that these bonds, and her memory will keep all of them alive through each other.

SO am I saying this is totally happening to Heathcliff in canto VI. I mean, nah, not necessarily. But considering the similarities he shares with these other stories, and how we've already seen these examples of the theme of grief over a loved one being handled before in the previous games and resulting in these genuinely amazing characters, it's something I think about.

As we're talking about a game adaptation that obviously can't adapt 20 more years of story (and let's be real, shouldn't either. If you want to read WH you can just read WH,) I think that would be a reasonable way for the canto to play out: getting to see one of the sinners genuinely lose it over someone's death in a way none of the others really did, explicitly showing the uniqueness of such intense affection in a place like the City, and then slowly beginning the road to recovery. Much like for Xiao and Roland, this being done not as a result of leaving the past behind, but as a direct result of their love for another, and that of their lover as well as everyone else who cherishes them (Miris, Angela and the librarians- I think we'll soon add the sinners to the list).

(post core suppression dialogue)

To quote another bit from our bestie Yesod, the hope that grows out of the rot, as the death of another, but as your own wounded self as well.

So to conclude. I think in general, in the context of how we've seen major characters work around their grief in previous games it'd make sense for canto VI to reach a similar conclusion, the death being something that weighs heavily, but doesn't obscure the possibility of a future. Still. Love as something dangerous that has extreme power over us, but as something that lives in us and can't be taken away.

[leonsliga]

Out-of-context Leon Goretzka

[clericofshadows]

CLERIC'S MODEL SWAPS + (IN?)CORRECT QUOTES REGIS SHEPARD/ZAEED MASSANI WHAT IF: Zaeed had a romance scene...? PART 1

[icewindandboringhorror]

................ he 

[thrilling-oneway]

Tsukasa Tenma

3.5k

I've mentioned it before but WxS is the group I would consider to be the least close on a personal level. It's complicated to put into words. They clearly love and treasure each other dearly and Our Happy Ending really works to show us just how much their friendship means to them and how broken they would be without it. But despite that there's still barriers. I come back to what Rui said in KAITO's initial card about how he and Tsukasa aren't the kind of close friends who talk about their childhood memories. Like... how to put this. WonderlandsxShowtime is an incredibly tight-knit and valued circle of friendship, but Tsukasa in particular very rarely divulges information about his past. Mainly in regards as to how he came to be like this, like Tsukasa. They know about the shows and that he wanted to make Saki smile but there's those small personal details that are only known because of Toya telling Rui about them.

WxS is incredibly important to Tsukasa, Our Happy Ending is evidence enough of that in that he actually broke down crying for the 3 whole seconds they were disbanded. I think it's more obvious that they're important on a professional level (thanking Emu for hiring him in OHE, thanking Rui for being their director in the connect live), but he does care about them on a personal level he's just less vocal about that part. It's still very obviously there but just not explicitly in the words "I love my friends thank you for being with me", and by no means does it need to be. Maybe the audience interpretation is not helped by the fact that Tsukasa is somewhat single-minded about theatre. He throws himself all into that - theatre comes first, evidenced by Phoenix where he neglects his health for the sake of a role and his development. As well as this there's the fact he tries to tackle most of his challenges alone, rather than asking for help. He goes into tunnel vision when theatre is concerned, although it has been stated a few times that his childhood experiences very much did shape who he is, and I do wonder if having to take care of himself so often from such a young age plays into his mindset of having to do things on his own, even when he encourages his friends to do the opposite. However, over time he is gradually learning to, well, learn from other people. He's got WxS and he's got other actors around him to help him, and he is learning that he can rely on them when he hits roadblocks. A star shines brighter because of those around him, a lesson he learnt well in the main story.

And while there isn't really anything to confirm this, I get the feeling that part of the reason he never got an event covering his feelings over the disbandment and overall seemed to be far more ok with the idea is maybe because he's a realist in some ways. As I said, nothing to actually suggest this, mainly just thinking what would make sense given his childhood where he was constantly exposed to the harsher things in life through Saki being in hospital for a lot of it. That said, he kinda just doesn't like to think about negative things. We see him faced with the possibility of the group disbanding a few times, but his reaction is always to worry about it later, and enjoy it now. Or something along those lines. Like think about in Dazzling Light where it takes him a while to realise that actually he used the piano when he was lonely the same way Torpe used the stars. Or in Phoenix at the Sky's Edge where he has to force himself to break down in defeat and accept that he isn't as good as his peers.

As I said, WxS are important friends to him, even if he usually only vocalises this on a professional level. Like even if it isn't said it's obvious by his actions that they mean something personally. He respects Emu's wishes to make people smile over everything because they align with his own. Both of their dreams were sparked by a loved one that they treasure dearly and with their whole heart. He wants Emu to be happy as well, and wants her to be more open with the troupe (Smile of Dreamer), and in Wonder Magical Showtime, he put the competition that could get him a head start in his career aside for Emu's dreams to uphold her grandfather's legacy, knowing full well that he was giving up an opportunity for himself. It was a completely selfless act for her benefit.

He respects Nene's talent and aspirations, and again they align with his own, to be able to be good enough to see stages worldwide. Even if they bicker, he does care about her, checking in on her at school to see how she's doing in her new class (Hello Good Day), and encouraging her as she improves her singing and works towards her dreams. He gets genuinely worried for her and not just the show in Holy Night when she hits a roadblock with her singing. Admittedly I think their relationship is a little less defined that Tsukasa's relationships with Emu and Rui, but also I am going off memory on this one so it might just be that I remember Nene events less. Nonetheless, they have a lot of respect for each other, despite their bickering and Nene usually acting annoyed at him, they are still close friends who are important to each other both personally and professionally. Due to them being the main actors of the group as well, they naturally fall into that respectful and friendly rivalry. Both of them are incredibly talented and can see each other's abilities as a goal to work towards, though this is more defined from Nene's side, given she's slightly more focused on the singing side of things over acting.

Skipping over the relationships that don’t involve Tsukasa and going straight to Rui because, well, this is an analysis of Tsukasa. But, how to put it, it feels like Tsukasa and Rui’s relationship might be one of the most misunderstood within WxS? Like maybe it’s because they’re the designated comedy duo as Oddball 1-2, but also there’s like 2 and a bit events dedicated to it so I dunno. Anyway.

Tsukasa dislikes the Oddball 1-2 bit because he doesn’t like getting in trouble at school. In 2nd year he was the class president and in 3rd year he joined the disciplinary committee because he didn’t like the fact he had a bad reputation and was supposedly (definitely) considered a problem child. He adamantly refuses that he is a problem child and wants to be a responsible model student. That's the issue he has with it. He actually doesn't actually mind doing all of Rui's stunts even if he does complain sometimes, because he knows even if they sound dangerous Rui wouldn't do something that would get him hurt (Wonder Halloween).

Tsukasa's relationship with Rui is built on a mutual trust, because obviously as an actor and director they have to be able to understand and work with each other (Curtain Call). Tsukasa trusts that Rui will help him to shine, Rui trusts that Tsukasa will perform under his direction to 12000%, and they trust each other to put on the greatest show together. And again respect comes into play because of their aligned goals. That said their relationship isn't strictly limited to the professional side and Pandemonium is definitely the biggest game changer in that aspect. Actually while everyone talks about the end there's actually a couple earlier scenes that are needed to add the full context of it, even if the event is mostly from Rui's POV. Actually the most important scene is probably the part where Shizuku tells an anecdote about her and Tsukasa as kids and then mentions that Tsukasa is the kind of person who really loves his friends, and then Rui realises that Tsukasa had been looking out for him the entire trip and making sure he was getting along with his classmates. So even if it's not from the POV of Tsukasa himself, it's very clear that Tsukasa does care about Rui a lot and values him as both a good friend and a director. They actually become significantly closer after this event if recent interactions are anything to go by (Tsukasa's new 2* has them going shopping together, something Emu and Nene do often who were always closer friends than the boys were).

I don't think the scene at the end was one-sided either. Even though Rui says that he was able to change because of Tsukasa, what Tsukasa said in response isn't wrong. He accepted Rui's thanks, but he still turns it back on him because it's true that even if Tsukasa gave him the chance to stand on stage, Rui never would've actually changed if he didn't take his hand. Tsukasa's pretty selfless when it comes to the people in his life. While yes, he can be selfish sometimes about his dreams, but that's just what you have to do when you're passionate about something. With people it's different. He does the same thing with Saki, and a few other characters. Tsukasa has positively impacted the lives of multiple characters but when it's pointed out to him he will find a way to turn the situation on its head and find how those people took what he gave them and helped themself with it because that's just who he is. He's happy to see his friends happy and will point out their good points that they fail to notice. Tsukasa didn't need to talk about his own experiences then either. That would be very out-of-character for him. It wasn't his moment to share, not to mention he doesn't talk about that sort of stuff to anyone but his family. It was Rui's moment to express his gratitude and Tsukasa's moment to accept it, not unload his trauma (also, it was a Rui event).

I think part of the reason Tsukasa's events are heavily focused on him and only him when the others get events that are more tied to their relationships with the unit is simply because his arc is more closely linked to his personal growth in regards to acting. While Emu had plenty of friends, she didn't have anyone at Wonder Stage with her, she needed people to take her dream seriously. Rui had been outcast by everyone around him and just needed friends to accept him for who he was. Nene was shy and needed an outlet to rediscover her passion for theatre and people to encourage her to push through the past trauma holding her back. WxS obviously was what set off Tsukasa becoming a better person, but he always has dealt with everything personal alone. Even in the main story after WxS split, he went to the SEKAI and had to unpack his childhood memories by himself (I guess a plushie did help him out actually), and he had to get Emu back by himself.

Rui and Emu's events are especially slightly more focused on their relationships with the unit, because they're the ones who have always been pretty satisfied with where they are. They have their dreams, and they're working towards them. But what has always been the most important for them has always been having friends who truly accept them and take them seriously. That's why they were the ones who got the events focused on the possibility of the unit disbanding. Because WxS is especially dear to them.

On the other hand, Nene and Tsukasa are the ones with huge dreams of a worldwide stage. It's clear Nene wants to go to Broadway (fes card), and Tsukasa mentions wanting to go abroad multiple times. Their events are always focused on them honing their talents and skills to get closer to that dream. However there is a stark difference in how they do it. While Nene still often works on her own, she's always been pushed forwards by the others, she knows she can rely on them, and she even got to meet her idol and be mentored by her. She's got a stable (professional) support system and knows that there's people to help her out even if the work is something only she can do.

Tsukasa is the opposite - he tries to deal with problems alone. He doesn't take help until he's pushed himself as far as he can alone, he lies to Saki when she's worried about him. As I said earlier, it genuinely does seem like he feels he cannot accept help, that he has to work alone. Because the game makes it very clear that Saki is massively important to him, she is literally what sparked his dream in the first place, him lying to her is a big out of character moment for him. Phoenix makes it very clear that his craft comes first, but he also has a very unhealthy mindset when it comes to some of the roadblocks he faces in said craft.

The thing you have to remember is that all of this comes from Saki. Specifically, the situation she and her family were in way back when. Saki was chronically ill, and she had to be away all the time. It was all completely out of her control. However, in one instance of her being home, Tsukasa saw how happy she was at a play, and he built his entire life around that. And obviously as Saki's illness worsened, he started to develop a persona to make himself more confident and mature. He had to take care of himself even when he was a kid because of how often he was left in the house alone. Not to stray too far into speculation, but the thing is when these sorts of things happen at such a young age they will start to mesh with who you are. Because you are growing and if you're having to be completely independent and put on a persona to act in an ideal way, that is going to grow into you. And it very clearly did, just read the main story and it's clear that persona and idea of being independent got to his head. It's also clear that he pushed a lot of what actually caused those things to happen to the back of his mind, the SEKAI existing is proof he never really forgot, but he pushed it away for some reason, presumably because it isn't a nice thing to think about. It's never outright confirmed, but to me it seems pretty clear that the things that happened in his childhood shaped how he acts now.

Actually, a lot of his arc outside of him improving as an actor is about learning the lesson that he cannot do everything alone, and that there are people here to support him. It's what Rui teaches him in the main story when he leaves: Tsukasa cannot become a star on his own. When Tsukasa runs into roadblocks he usually will try to deal with them on his own at first, which is what most people would do, of course. However he tends to really push his limits before he accepts help, because he's stubborn, and it's frustrating that he can't work out how to get into character for certain roles. But there's a very clear development in how he accepts help. Compare the main story, where he only cared about himself and couldn't work well with other people, to Phoenix, where he's surrounded by people to support him and is able to openly show his insecurity to them. However, there's a certain disconnect between his personal and professional sides; even as he learns to open up about his problems, they're specifically his professional ones.

I think the reason his relationship with WxS is less obviously important, with you instead having to read a bit between the lines to see it does go deeper than just coworkers, is simply because Tsukasa isn't good at dealing with his emotions, mainly regarding his past (also, as I've said, he just never really vocalises it). He was worried for Saki but he had to be brave for her, he had to be happy so she could be happy, he couldn't be vulnerable because a good big brother isn't vulnerable, so he created a persona for himself. He had to take care of himself and was lonely so often, but Saki had it worse, so he would play the piano and then he pushed the experience aside when it was all over. Even if Saki had it worse, Tsukasa didn't have it good. And as I said, he pushes it aside. He rarely talks about his childhood. Saki and Toya obviously know, and Rui knows what Toya told him, but Tsukasa just never brings it up to anyone outside of his family. He's not great at processing his emotions. I think all of that sort of builds up an emotional wall between him and WxS that just makes him seem less close in a way. It's there, the closeness is there but it's limited by the fact he holds so much back compared to everyone else. There's a lot of things they don't know about him that so far has had to come from a third person (that being Toya in a couple area conversations and Never Give Up Cooking).

And, of course, it does make sense that he was able to grow closer to WxS through theatre, considering just how much of his life it takes up. Theatre is so so much to him, so it's no wonder that as he learns to open up about how he feels, the feelings that he opens up about connect to his craft. But it's that, the fact that it's all theatre. It takes up so much of who he is, which is by no means whatsoever a bad thing, but there's still a lack of his life beyond that. The phrasing there is a bit misleading, so let's put it this way: obviously WxS and we as the audience know he's an excellent older brother, he's incredibly kind and loves and cares for his friends so much, he gets pretty good grades in school but he does cram, he's loud and bombastic and loves being in the limelight, and most importantly he loves theatre, and wants to make people smile just like his sister did way back when. But then only his family and we as the audience know about the other things from his past, like how much of a toll Saki being in hospital took on him, how he was lonely, the extent to what the piano means to him. Pretty much all of what WxS knows about him is about him now. They don't know much about his past outside what they've been told by other people. You don't have to know about someone's past to be their friend, but knowing about their past can help you to understand them better, their inner workings and how their past shaped them into who they are now. It can help you to develop a deeper personal connection. Even if they don't get a whole event and it's only mentioned in passing, like Kohane for example (though it's plot relevant for her), every other character has discussed their past with their unit, be it their childhood or only a year before the game is set. Tsukasa is the only character who has his past shown and talked about who doesn't ever talk about it with his unit (outside the basics of Saki and shows). We're shown more than quite a few characters get but these scenes are only for the audience and his family to know about, not his friends.

Come Our Happy Ending, Tsukasa's relationships with the others is clearly an important one. There's a reason he's broken up by the very real possibility of the group splitting up. As I said, he tends not to dwell on the negatives, he always pushes those aside unless he has no choice but to face them, and this was one of those times he had no choice. WxS has given him so many opportunities as both a craftsman and as a person. He's a better person because of them, he's changed because of them, he's closer to his dream than ever before because of them. Even if he doesn't always vocalise this, even if he still puts up walls and limits how close their relationships can be, those relationships are still nonetheless valuable to him. As said by Shizuku, Tsukasa is someone who really loves and treasures his friends, his friends and family are the most important people to him. Despite how bombastic of a character he is, he's extremely nuanced and there's a lot of subtlety when it comes to how his experiences and the people in his life affect him. He just needs to be a bit more open to talk.