#fuzzy tries to be meta

[idontcaboose]

Haunted car au, pt 6

The next part is fighting me a bit, so I will just post this one for now.

Previous

Duke reeeaalllyyy does not get paid enough for this.

Good news, he was able to get the names of the dealers and suppliers and also narrowed down the places of interest to three warehouses. All he had to do was drop that info onto the server for the night crew, and that was that, not his problem anymore.

Bad news, the car is becoming his problem.

When Duke entered the cave, he could see the wheels turning, and not in a sick burnout way Jason does anytime he gets behind the wheel, they were just turning left and right. Then to add more insult to Duke's attempt at ignoring it, the car opened its driver door in what may have been a mockery of a greeting. Honestly, Duke could have also ignored that but then it seemed to fucking Panic and set off its own alarms and proceed to flail all the doors open and reverse to the point that the back wheels made it off the platform and into the gutter that runs though the cave. If Duke was a betting man, and he was, he would bet that whatever possessed or replaced the Batmobile was so incompetent that he had to worry more about Its safety from the Batfam. Whether that was protection from arrest or adoption is still up in the air.

Either way, this is becoming Duke's problem. He is really not paid enough for this. Time to calm down a sentient car.

“Hey, car buddy? You ok?”

Duke wasn't sure what he was expecting when he was talking to a car of all things, but absolute silence wasn’t it. Was this thing going to try to play car now? After everything that just happened? Duke slowly walked up to the driver's side door and looked in for the green blob person, only to see them in the back seat sprawled out. Duke tried to not think too hard while putting the car back in its spot, but the list of facts he has so far kept ticking.

1. The Batmobile has a new passenger or has been replaced

2. The thing/person is not good at hiding, so probably not a villain plot

2a. If it is a villain plot, they got the absolutely wrong person to do it

2aa. Possible meta forced to spy?

3. The person just freaked out so hard they fainted after setting off the Batmobile alarms.

4. Alfred will know what to do right?

5. Try to communicate again with the person in the car.

It didn't take long for the blur on the backseat to shift again. Luckily they didn't immediately jump into the driver's seat, where Duke still sat. Duke turned to look in the backseat, time to start this interrogation.

“Hey, you ok?” Duke was happy that he was able to see the head nod that the fuzzy blur gave.

“That's good. Now, I can't see you too well, but we can work out some basic questions, alright?” Another head nod answered him.

"Are you in danger? Like, did someone force you to do this?” The head shake that was produced shook the car. Duke internally sighed in relief, not a villain plot or meta trafficking gone wrong.

“So this was just an accident, and I am guessing you are now stuck?” Duke knew he was not as good at body language reading as the others, but the wave of embarrassment and resignation this blob was giving off confirmed that whoever/whatever this is, was not a total threat.

Next?

As usual tag list!

@kizzer55555 @sebas-nights @candeartist422 @trappednyourheart @fandom-life-corrupted-me @tkiesai @2lbballpeenhammer @admiralwidow @rewrittenwrongs @whotfevenknowsanymore @symmetricalastigmatism @atinygracie

[inbarfink]

Any analysis of how Undertale deals with Pacifism and how it tries to guide the Player towards it has to take a deep look at Papyrus. Because Papyrus is the one character in the game who will never kill, the one actual ‘True Pacifist’ in the game’s main cast. 

I mean, the Player can be an even bigger Pacifist. Papyrus does still FIGHT, and the Player can get through an entire run without draining a single sliver of HP. But… they can also be the world’s biggest murderbastard and literally stab reality to death. 

Toriel would very much like to not kill, but she is also fully capable of doing so.

Same with Asgore, but he has a lot more actual blood on his hands. Undyne and Mettaton are both fully 100% willing to kill to accomplish their goals. Sans is non-violent in most runs because he’s too lazy and depressed to do anything, and when he is motivated into actions - it is in the form of a FIGHT to the death. Alphys… the timeline is a bit fuzzy cause both she and Mettaton love lying so much, but it seems like she did sincerely add deadly weapons to Mettaton cause killing humans would make him more 'useful' and then had second thoughts once she developed a parasocial relationship with the Human Child and THEN she and Mettaton started hatching their little play-acting plan. I think??

With Papyrus there is NONE of this ambiguity, we know for sure - no matter what timeline or what may come - The Great Papyrus will always choose MERCY.

And the interesting thing about that is on a Meta-Sense, Papyrus is a very rare example of the game giving MERCY towards the Player. 

Because the game starts out being really obtuse with the Sparing mechanic and how it works. If you want to be a Pacifist in Undertale from the get-go, you’re gonna have to work for it. You're gonna have to figure it out on your own and commit to it and believe that it's possible. It's basically a test of your own belief in non-violence and your moral integrity. Then, the RUINS end with the Toriel boss battle - in a way, that’s probably the hardest Sparing puzzle in the whole game. And it’s very very easy to accidentally kill her. (I’d almost say that’s the intention of the battle, to try to goad the Player into Resetting so they can see how the game remembers across RESETs)

And then we have Papyrus, and it’s not just that his ‘Sparing Puzzle’ is something as simple as outlasting him and letting him run out of dialogue - and it’s not just that he’s the only boss that will just give up and let you continue if you lose to him enough times. it’s also that, just as Papyrus is the only boss incapable of accidentally killing the Player - he’s also the only boss that the player is incapable of accidentally killing.

(Okay, fine, to be pedantic, there’s also Asgore)

I mean, the Player can certainly kill him if they want to - but draining Papyrus’s HP just makes him skip through his battle dialogue right to the end of it. It’s designed in such a way that, no matter what Route you're on and no matter what approach you take with Papyrus - you will always end up on this screen.

Unlike basically any other Monster in this game, including the major boss battle just before him - you can’t kill Papyrus accidently. You can't kill him without also having Sparing him as an option. The game kinda treats killing Papyrus as one of the Worst Things You Can Do because killing Papyrus will always be a deliberate, considered action done to a person who will not kill you and who has stopped wanting to FIGHT and has extended a hand of Mercy. With the game clearly communicating what you need to do to Spare him at that moment.

And that means that - even if you killed before, even if you don’t have the patience of a True Pacifist, even if you spent all this time in the game without even trying to engage with the Sparing mechanic… as long as you don’t want to be a Huge Rat Bastard, the game is basically gifting you with the very very easy option to not be. Being a Pacifist in Undertale is usually a challenge - a puzzle to be solved, a test to pass. But as long as you aren’t intentionally trying to be the Worst Person - the game is basically giving you Papyrus. 

If you accept his Mercy, you are accepting the game’s Mercy. That sort of benefit-of-the-doubt assumption that maybe all of the LOVE you might have accumulated so far was all due to honest mistakes or panic or an attempt in self-defense. That you still deserve this one chance to prove that you are not intentionally, maliciously cruel - or at least not like the Worst Person in the World. Even if you did kill before, you still deserve at least one friend.

And Sparing Papyrus leads you to his wonderful Hangout/Dating Sequence and to his Phone Calls and they all add so much wholesome charm to the Undertale experience and no matter what happens Papyrus will always think the best of the Player and he will always trust them and it also makes Sans also kinda your buddy by default. And more than just adding a little bit of wholesome charm into even the more LOVE-filled Playthroughs, I think this is meant to try and incentivize these players into trying out the Mercy mechanic a bit more.

Whatever it’s, like, for future playthroughs or Resetting the game right there to try a True Pacifist Run right there and then or just trying to be a little kinder for the rest of this current playthrough - especially since there’s an emphasis about the close friendship Papyrus has with the upcoming boss Undyne, and to a lesser extent with his idol and next-next boss battle Mettaton. It’s like “well, if you didn’t figure out how to spare before, this is how you do it? And isn’t it nice to have a friend? Isn’t it nice to not have to kill this lovable skeleton man? You should do this more often wink wink nudge nudge!”

And it’s like… all of Papyrus’ loved ones care about him so much but they also look down on his pacifism. They see his inability to kill and desire to make friends as simple naivete and that’s why all tend to hide the truth from him all the time. About what will happen to the Human he will capture, about what his new Human friend might’ve done, about the fact that they view him as so naïve. 

They admire it on some level, that’s why they want to protect it, but they also see it as a weakness which is why they want to protect it by lying to him all the time. But, you know, Undyne says that if Papyrus goes into battle he’ll be ‘ripped into little smiling shreds’ and that is certainly what happens every time a Player chooses to refuse Papyrus’ Mercy and the game’s Mercy and press that FIGHT button…

But have you thought about all the times that doesn’t happen? All the careless or violent players who were offered that skeletal hand of friendship, accepted it and then carried that offered kindness forward for the rest of the game? All the players motivated to do good for the sake of their buddy Papyrus? All the Murder Routes stopped because the player just didn’t have it in them to kill someone who believes in them so earnestly?

Like, no, it’s not a surefire thing - especially since Papyrus has so much less narrative power than the Actual Unkillable Time God that is the Player. But it happened, and it happened many many times to many players. Papyrus offered Mercy, the game offered Mercy. And much like Frisk’s Pacifism, it comes from a place of seeing the honest goodness in your ‘enemy’ and can inspire them to become a better person - this little sparkle of goodness being passed forwards. 

And I think that’s beautiful, even if it didn’t happen in every timeline. Any potential future where Papyrus’ kindness can have such an effect on the Player and thus the entire trajectory of the Underground validates his kindness and pacifism on some level - even if there are also always the potential worlds that it backfires completely. 

And there’s also one other way in which the Great Papyrus Proves Pacifism Pays. One that is a bit more practical, perhaps. And one that Papyrus himself is not even aware of. 

Papyrus’ boss battle can be a surprisingly challenging one specifically because he is the only one who doesn’t kill the Player.

Like there is a reason why Papyrus will just offer you to skip his Fight after you lose to him three times, because if he didn’t do that - there’s an honest risk that the Player can get stuck in a much stuckier way than anywhere else in the game. 

Because, like, for basically any other character in the game, being killed is the Worst Thing that could ever happen to them. For everyone except the actual Player Character because we are an Actual Unkillable Time God and dying is nothing more than a minor annoyance that sets you back to your last SAVE Point. So, leaving aside Papyrus’ admirably kind intentions - there is not much material difference from the Player’s perspective between getting Captured and getting a more traditional GAME OVER. Except…

Except getting Captured does not undo everything that happened in your inventory during the battle. In every other Undertale battle, if you use all of your items but still lose - the GAME OVER at least means you get your stuff back. But because Papyrus doesn’t kill you, any healing item you’ve used during the battle is still used. I have watched so many Undertale Let’s Players waste all of their valuable items on their first Papyrus battle and then have to face him again without them and thus do even worse in their second go… and then their third go... and thankfully then Papyrus offers them to skip the fight.

And while that technically can be circumvented by just manually closing the game and opening it back again on their pre-battle SAVE Point, a lot of players are gonna reflexively Save over it if they pop over to the Shop or the Snowed Inn before their second attempt at the battle. If Papyrus didn’t offer that chance to skip his battle, it could’ve easily become a softlock situation for a huge chunk of players - because he doesn’t kill the Player.

Most of Undertale deals with the value of non-violence from a standpoint of morality and kindness and personal connections. Since most people do die when they get killed. But when dealing with an Unkillable Time God like the Player, Papyrus proves that not-killing might actually be the most practical solution.

Of course, it doesn’t seem like Papyrus is aware of any of this. From his perspective, he is just offering genuine mercy to a being just as ephemeral as he is. But it accidentally turned into one of the most effective methods of blocking the Player’s way… at least he didn’t offer us an opt out so soon after that. 

And it’s interesting when comparing him to how his brother Sans - one of the few people actually aware of the existence of SAVEs and RESETs - deals with the Player. Because the Sans boss battle at the end of the Murder Route is entirely based on the concept that death is nothing but an annoyance to the Player. Sans is less trying to kill the Player (the way Undyne the Undying did), he is simply trying to annoy the Player into a ragequit. But he is still killing the Player.

Now imagine a Sans battle where he has all of his usual annoying tricks, but also instead of killing you - he captures you just like his brother would’ve in a happier timeline. And while it’s not a fool-proof plan to stop the Player in their tracks - he could very easily stick them in that sort of softlock situation where they have to battle him again and again without any Healing Items. Forcing them to either abandon the game or RESET the whole world back the way it was - just like Sans wants them too. 

But instead, by killing the Player, he is just allowing that perfect second-third-fourth-fifth-sixth-try where they get all of their Stuff back. And he does actually knows that. And why doesn’t he do that? (Speaking here from an in-universe character study perspective. Obviously the Doylist answer is that the game doesn’t want to Softlock you even in the most deliberately-frustrating part of the game).

Maybe, even though he intellectually knows that killing the Player will be of no help - he still does it because he wants to. Because he just wants to get back at the evil murderous monster that took his brother from him and destroyed his entire world even if he knows it’s actually ineffective. And this thirst for bloodshed is, ironically, blinding him from a new exciting way to actually practically stop that murderous bastard who is themself motivated entirely by bloodshed. 

Maybe he just can’t do something like that. Reducing an enemy to exactly one HP and then stopping is not a feat anyone else in the game is capable of pulling off - even the ones who would obviously use such a thing (like Toriel or a Player with a Pacifist intentions). Maybe it’s something that requires a lot of hard practice and discipline and carefulness, that Sans never thought to put in because he didn’t see it as a useful skill the way Papyrus did. 

Maybe that wouldn’t have worked anyways. After all, and that’s something I kinda touched on in a previous Overly Long Rambly Hot Take - Sans’ War of Attrition against the Player is greatly helped by the fact he can’t remember every single previous try and so he can’t get exhausted the way the Player can get. Obviously, without a GAME OVER induced RESET that will not apply. Which is especially notable because… Sans’ laziness is literally what brings him down at the end of that Boss Battle. 

So maybe, while Papyrus, as long as you decline his offer to skip the battle, is capable of offering just the same Battle as before over and over and over again.... It’s possible that Sans just won’t be able to pull off two or three or more battles of the same intensity and difficulty in a row without a RESET to undo his own exhaustion. 

But I think it’s at least worth considering the option, y’know? That after all this time of viewing Papyrus’ kindness as sweet-and-yet-kinda-foolish-naïveté - that exact viewpoint made Sans overlook the perfect solution to dealing with his little Murderous Time God problem. Cause he just never considered that while killing might be fully morally justifiable in this situation and very very satisfying, that does not necessarily mean it is actually the most practical solution. And that maybe, in a weirdly twisted way, Pacifism WAS the answer.  

[cookinguptales]

The power is still out so I guess I’ll get started on that meta now.

One thing that I think is really fascinating about this season as a whole is that it’s really, really emphasizing the power Nandor and Guillermo have to accidentally hurt each other. It’s kind of fascinating, tbh, because this whole show it’s been Nandor purposefully but also accidentally hurting Guillermo — but this season, it’s been very much the other way around.

Let me start with Nandor’s history of this. It happens in almost every episode, being honest with you, but two of the clearest instances were in 1.01 and 4.09.

In the very first episode, we’re introduced to the relationship that Nandor and Guillermo have by how they behave on their 10th anniversary as a master-familiar partnership. Guillermo is practically giddy at the idea that his beloved master is finally going to make him a vampire, and he’s hurt deeply when he not only does not do so, he appears to have forgotten altogether how long Guillermo has been there.

We feel bad for Guillermo here, but… well, let’s look at it from Nandor’s perspective. Yes, he forgot how long Guillermo’s been there, but… being real with you, the vampires seem to have a very shaky grasp on time at the best of times. They don’t understand human lifespans at all, they have very fuzzy memories for when things happen, and almost every time they make time estimates they’re off by a hilarious amount. I don’t know that we can fully blame Nandor for not realizing that an entire decade has gone by — he, like the other vampires, tends to live simultaneously in the Long Time Ago and the Right Now and any time in between those periods is ?????

So to him, he’s remembered when their anniversary is (already a success) and has put hours into making a handmade art project for his very endearing familiar. He is sure that Guillermo is gonna love this. He thinks he is absolutely acing this being-a-vampiric-master thing.

But we know that his gift depicting the two of them as vampires together is really just rubbing salt in the wound, because we’re approaching this thing as humans — like Guillermo.

Then again in 4.09, Nandor straight-up steals Guillermo’s boyfriend and inadvertently puts the events in motion that will lead to Guillermo’s boyfriend leaving him for his own clone. Terrible behavior! This hurts Guillermo deeply! His very first boyfriend cheating on him (sort of) with the man he’s been in love with for over a decade and then leaving him altogether for another man he is cheating with (definitely) who also happens to be his own clone.

That’s traumatizing!

But… again, let’s look at it from Nandor’s (very stupid) POV. He knows that Guillermo losing his boyfriend will hurt him, but he also wants to have said boyfriend. So he comes up with a solution that, to his mind, will make everyone happy: let Guillermo keep his boyfriend but also make a clone of him so he can have him, too.

I think it’s very important to note here that, catty as it was to say, Nandor was right. He definitely could have stolen Guillermo’s Freddie without too much work. The guy’s a philanderer. But instead of doing that, he used up one of his last three wishes to make his own Freddie specifically to avoid hurting Guillermo. And then he seemed genuinely confused when Guillermo was hurt anyway. He then tried to do whatever he could to make Guillermo stop hurting, including offering him his own Freddie, until he ultimately gave up a toy that he truly loved so Guillermo would hurt less.

Again, from Nandor's POV he has made a significant sacrifice for Guillermo’s well-being. He has given up a man that he really, really liked so Guillermo would stop being so heartbroken. Moreover, this is a man that, to his mind, he got the hard way instead of the easy way that would have hurt Guillermo more.

So he still thinks he’s doing great at this relationship, even if we know he is ultimately breaking Guillermo’s heart.

(And as an aside here, I think it’s fascinating that Guillermo really did seem to understand exactly what was going on, too. He knew that Nandor’s decision to clone Freddie wasn’t about Nandor wanting Freddie, it was about Nandor wanting all of Guillermo’s attention on him at all times, and that’s why he was angry.)

Anyway… that’s all a really long way to get to my point, which is this. We’ve seen Nandor play this out a hundred times, doing something he thought was fine only for it to devastate Guillermo. We understand human lifetimes, relationships, and emotions, so we understand why Guillermo is upset. But, and this is key, Nandor doesn’t.

So season five finally shows this happening in reverse. I’m not going to say that Guillermo hasn’t hurt Nandor before, purposefully or otherwise, because he has. But boy did he really fuck things up this time.

Like Nandor, Guillermo didn’t do any of it on purpose. He was never trying to hurt Nandor or upset social norms when he paid Derek to bite him. But vampiric priorities are as foreign to Guillermo as human priorities are to Nandor. He did something he thought was totally fine and value-free only to find that he didn’t just transgress a social norm, he transgressed the big one. He didn’t just do something that would hurt Nandor, he did something that will destroy him.

He didn’t mean to. His misunderstanding was understandable to us, fellow humans. But that doesn’t make it okay. Just like it wasn’t okay when Nandor stole his fucking boyfriend.

It's almost like this was tailor-made to force the audience to think about how the vampires have been interacting with Guillermo for years. This time Guillermo didn't know something about their culture, and obviously we didn't either. So we felt that same dawning horror when we understood how big the accidental fuck-up was — and we had to come to terms with the fact that this is how Nandor feels about Guillermo all the time.

Anyway... Guillermo’s big angst trigger seems to be being undervalued by the people he loves. It’s when someone who he loves with everything he has does not love him back. We see that devastation hit him both of the times that Nandor accidentally hurt him in this post, along with a thousand other times. I think, in fact, it is his main drive as a character: doing everything he can to be valued. It’s why he wants to be a vampire. It’s why he serves the vampires. It’s why he lies to his family. It’s depressing and it’s codependent and it’s unhealthy, but that’s Guillermo.

Nandor’s big angst trigger, on the other hand, seems to be abandonment. He is so fucking terrified of the people that he loves leaving him, and that seems to be rooted pretty firmly in his experiences when he was still alive. (Jehan, his wives running away, etc.) He’s so scared of Gail leaving him that he just tries harder to win her back when he discovers she’s cheating on him. He’s so scared of Laszlo leaving him that he gets angry when Laszlo makes new friends. He’s so scared of Guillermo leaving him in 2.08 that he’s willing to humiliate himself to bring him home. His primary drive really seems to be hoarding the people he loves close — too close for comfort sometimes. He tries so hard to force a connection that he ironically tends to sever it. Just look at his poor descendent Madeleine. :’)

And just as Nandor constantly sets off Guillermo’s devaluation trigger, Guillermo constantly sets off Nandor’s abandonment trigger. Every time he leaves or even just threatens to do so, Nandor goes ballistic. But it seems like the only thing that sets him off more than Guillermo leaving is Guillermo staying where he is but being emotionally absent. He doesn’t know how to handle a Guillermo who has replaced him while they’re still living in the same home. Right now he thinks that Guillermo has replaced him with Laszlo as a hang-out buddy, and that’s bad enough — how will he respond when he finds out that Guillermo has replaced him with Derek in a much more intimate way?

Guillermo’s doing everything he can to spare Nandor’s feelings in this season, but it seems like every decision he makes just upsets Nandor more. Nandor feels replaced, abandoned, and neglected, and he’s going to feel that way a hell of a lot more when he sees the truth.

Guillermo has always been shown to be capable of hurting Nandor in intimate ways that no one else can. From the very first episode, we’re made abundantly aware that Guillermo chooses to take Nandor’s shit. He twitches that curtain to the side and we realize that no matter how strong Nandor is, Guillermo has the ultimate power in this relationship. Guillermo can hurt Nandor like no one else can because Nandor trusts him to protect him while he’s asleep.

Then Guillermo becomes this legendary slayer and he can actually physically hurt Nandor like no one else can just because he’s stronger than even the most powerful and respected vampires in the Tri-State Area.

But we’re seeing now that Guillermo can also hurt Nandor emotionally like no one else can. Nandor gave him that power, too, didn’t he? This whole series, Nandor has been the one hurting Guillermo over and over, but this season is making it so fucking clear that Guillermo has the power to do it right back. Even if he doesn’t mean to.

Especially if he doesn’t mean to, maybe.

The two of them are so terrible at communicating with one another. Just. So fucking terrible. And that’s a lot of how Nandor accidentally hurt Guillermo over and over throughout the years. And it’s how Guillermo has just straight-up gutted him now.

[gaylordscooter]

how bad is Blues memory, exactly? Like, obviously stuff from his AU is iffy from what he's said but- is it progressive? Did he originally have a significant amount of memories from his AU but they slowly fade? I didn't look too hard for the quote, but I think(?) he said something about probably finishing (school? College? Degree?) And that things were blurry. Is the loss in part to the memories being, er how do i phrases? Uhhh, like, not fake but incomplete??? Like- his AU went south because it was poorly made (i think specifically said it has alot contradictions/plotholes) so are the events that actually happened remembered as contradictory and incomplete, too? Also, does he have current memory issues? Originally when the concept came up in the story i assumed not but that one line from ink peeked my interest

“When he's found, you and I probably won't even remember this conversation!”

Does that mean he has something similar to Ink with short-term related memory loss or is it a memory retention issue where long-term memories have a low retention rate or 'things get fuzzy' (ofc thats assume i was reading this right)

[Pleassseeee tell me if I'm too long/too many asks!]

[[Also the last ask i sent bout blazar didn't give me the ask sent msg so im not sure if it went thru or not]]

so fun fact about my version of the star sanses

they all have bad memory (to differing degrees but still).

so yeah blue has a bad memory in general, even before his universe shattered. it's nothing as serious as ink not having a soul, he just has the monster equivalent of adhd, lmao. Ink said that because they forget stuff all the time

as for stuff from his au, he doesn't feel like he's forgotten stuff from it and can recall events from time to time during normal conversation, it's when he actively tries thinking about it when he begins forgetting about it. and the stuff he does remember is contradictory/incomplete because it changes all the time due to his universe's canon simply NOT existing. the things he remembers technically didn't happen, but it feels like it did to him. and it's not exactly progressive it just feels like it is to him because he's realizing all this stuff he's forgotten but he's also remembering all these things that happened as the story goes on

the way his memories work regarding his au is pretty weird because it's on a meta level where the more i write about it the more blue remembers

and another fun fact, if i were to theoretically flesh out botchedswap enough to be a finished au, it would be in the multiverse again. except it won't be blue's specific universe and there would already be a sans there since blue's already written to be an outcode

[shih-coulda-had-it]

snippet from the starter pokemon ofa au, ft. duo holders & their dragon-turned-fat hedgehog mole thing (Cyndaquil!). wc: ~550

a/n: Cyndaquil Community Day 2024, I will never forget you being timed for a literal 108 F heat wave. THREE SHINY CYNDAQUIL, AND NOT A ONE OF THEM 3-STARRED.

//

The first thing Kudou realized was that Yoichi’s big fucking dragon was gone. The second thing Kudou realized was the tiny, stubby-limbed thing squirmed between him and Yoichi, whose snores were being unusually muffled. And the last thing Kudou realized before he would bolt upright was the spattering of open flames that flickered on and off in quick succession.

“Fuck--! Yoichi--!” he yelled, and instinctively shoved Yoichi away. His alarm woke up the creature, who let out a tiny screech and wobbled up on all fours, whose back ignited into a steady flame this time.

“Charizard!” Yoichi gasped, and then froze. One of his long-fingered hands clutched for his belly. Quick calculations went on behind those green eyes, and he nearly was too late to prevent Kudou from yanking his gauntlet on and training its sights onto the creature. “No, wait! Kudou, wait!”

They wrestled for the gauntlet’s straps.

“Get your meta ability to eat it!”

“That is my meta ability!” Yoichi exclaimed, and Kudou was so stunned, he accidentally let Yoichi clip his jaw with a pointy elbow. “Oh, no, I’m so sorry--”

“It changed forms again?”

“Well, I…” Yoichi hesitated. He was sprawled over Kudou, limbs comically attempting to wrap him up, and from this angle, Kudou could hardly read the man’s expression. They heaved for breath; Kudou thought his head was ringing, just a little. “Um… Leader… do you feel alright?”

“No?” Incredulity colored his response. “There’s some kind of rat in our bed, and it’s on fire, like your… meta ability…”

“My brother’s meta ability--”

“No. No. Don’t tell me.”

The creature stumbled in the sheets, attempting to approach. Its squat stature did not permit it to overcome one particular crease, and it tripped with a piteous little wail. Seeing it sprawled out on its belly, frustratedly squeaking, stirred some measure of sympathy in Kudou’s heart.

“It’s so cute,” Yoichi cooed, apparently enthralled.

“Why is your meta ability now mine, that’s the bigger issue!” Kudou cringed away from Yoichi as his now-lover scooped up the creature with zero fear, and plopped it on Kudou’s chest. It felt like a fuzzy hot water bottle. It squeaked again.

“What’s its name?”

“How’d you know Charizard’s? Bruce and I could guess how you got Charmeleon out of the lizard’s sounds, but Charizard’s were way more incoherent.”

“Mm,” Yoichi hummed, and carefully rubbed the creature’s fine-haired scalp with a finger. “I suppose it came from the bond. Do you feel it? Between you and… whatever One for All is now?”

Kudou frowned. He closed his eyes, and tried to isolate his immediate feelings of shock and worry from… aha. It had been so difficult to explain to Yoichi what meta abilities, naturally-appearing ones at least, felt like to their users’ innate senses. Gearshift was something like a gust of air, exhaled with deliberate attention, paired with a twinge in Kudou’s temple as he focused on a specific object.

One for All, apparently, felt like a crackling warmth in his core, and instantly, Kudou knew that he could replicate that otherworldly red bolt that Yoichi used to recall his meta ability to a different dimension. And then, he knew the creature’s name.

“Cyndaquil,” Kudou said aloud, and the fat little thing squeaked in acknowledgment. It nestled firmly by his collarbone. Never before had Kudou felt so gratified that Yoichi’s monster--Yoichi’s evidently transferable meta ability--wasn’t subject to mortal indignities.

“So cute,” Yoichi said again.

[zmediaoutlet]

was scrolling through your tags and saw "i wonder if he and dean argue abt gas money" and i feel like dean is in charge of their finances. like maybe there's more to be said about that topic like winchester money or lack there of, that maybe you have opinions about? i'd love to hear them.

love your writing, btw ❤️

Dean is definitely in charge of their finances, altho what "finances" means in the era of "we know how to hack credit agencies" is a little fuzzy. (Someone pointed out a laptop screenshot where Dean emails Sam and says that Sam "owes him gas money", which is both a) endearingly dumb and in character, and also b) YOU SHARE MONEY, DORK. THERE IS NO MONEY. [Dean: "It's the principle!" me: I repeat, dork.])

Winchester money is an interesting one! In the way-way back there was this big sprawly meta conversation about their interaction with class that really went all over the place, but what's interesting about it to me is that they are no-collar while coding blue-collar middle class. Like the old middle class, of limited debt and home ownership but still being on a modest salary and with modest tastes. Maybe a vacation once a year, etc. Not that that was their exact situation, but it's the social bracket they occupy. Note that Sam was desperate to get into the white-collar strata and really tried hard to play at that, especially in s1, but like a lot of the jumped-up masses he was more bougie nouveau riche than actually part of that set -- note how he couldn't order a glass of wine in Provenance (which happens to be one of my most hated scenes in the whole series, but that's not Sam's fault, lol). He makes fun of Dean's blue-to-no-collar tendencies but he's irrevocably part of them, and luckily he grows up mentally enough over the first few years that we don't get as much of that college kid crap, just home from school and making fun of Mom's casserole for not being what the kids in the city think is cool. You like the casserole, kid. Stop fronting.

But Winchesters-and-money really takes on a whole other valence because they're free of it. Like obviously in latter years once the credit cards get perfect (I guess that's as of the introduction of Frank and/or Charlie) it means nothing, and I'm glad of that bc we actually don't need to think about it, it's a solved problem. But when they're younger, there's the literal in-the-moment needs of food/gas money/clothes/where are we gonna sleep tonight, and they're very hand-to-mouth. But the way they're hand to mouth is like... fine. They don't have to worry about a mortgage. The Impala certainly does not have insurance, and neither do they have health insurance. There is no retirement account and there are no debt collectors knocking. They're free of the credit/financial system in a way almost no one else is, because they're also completely free to steal and pirate their way through life. Not least because it's the moral choice inside the textual universe -- they have to be free to save the day, so who cares if they're fucking over some random person's credit history.

It does a really interesting thing to their characterization. They're not stuck in the backbreaking poverty of e.g. the characters in Shameless. They aren't struggling to pay bills because they don't have bills. There's in-the-moment urgency but once that moment has passed and there's food in their bellies and gas in the car and Sam's got a new pair of shoes without a hole -- they don't really have to think about it the way most would. It's almost more of an aesthetic than it is a foundational shaping. That said, you do have to solve those moments as they come because there's no savings cushion, either, so either you get the new cards from the PO box or you figure out how to scam someone or you, you know. Do whatever else Dean might've done, to make sure there was food on the table.

[tophat-69]

I want you to know that my personal life is quite literally falling the fuck apart and trapped by a singular fate is the glue holding me together. I think of this fic DAILY, it is my much needed escape from reality. Thank you for continuing to write, and share, and put all of the cool meta on tumblr.

Chapter 9 is AMAZING!!! They're all such a mess, I love them. The scene of the enforcers targeting Vander and Felicia is really, really well done. It's heartbreaking, and very visceral to read.

How long have silco and vander been together by ch9? Vander's confession of love to silco is beautiful, and their sex is super hot. Is the gag the gag we see when jinx kidnaps silco in canon?? I always wondered where it came from/was it silco's/why did he have it.

I’m so sorry to hear things aren’t going well! I’m glad that I’ve been able to in some way help distract you, but more than that I hope you catch a break soon and things start to improve for you.

But I am glad you enjoyed the chapter. Felicia’s been fun to puzzle out because I’m trying to show characteristics each of her girls might have picked up from her, while knowing their memories of her grow very fuzzy over time. But Vander and Silco will carry all of these memories of Felicia in technicolor on repeat in their heads for the rest of their lives, and those memories influence how Vander and Silco will eventually raise her daughters.

In Chapter 9, they have been together just under a year—Vander is still moving fast because he has zero chill (he would say that he just knows what he wants). We know from him being our POV character how ridiculously quickly he went from “ah, yes, I am collecting my neglected coworker with the pretty eyes” to “this is my soulmate, I am never giving him back, I will destroy anything that tries to take him from me.” Because he’s young, and that’s just how things go.

Meanwhile Silco’s still trying to trust that nice things can happen to him sometimes, and that just maybe the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an oncoming train. He’s been on his own for the majority of his life, and things weren’t a picnic even before that. He wants what they have to be real, to mean something, but he’s still afraid of the ground falling out from beneath him the second he gets too comfortable in accepting what he knows is too good to be true. People like him don’t luck into a family and a home and a happily ever after and a co-conspirator and partner in his ideologies.

But he genuinely is working what is likely the most dangerous job in the entire world, and he knows that he could die the next day, or the next week, or the next month. So it’s the dilemma between carefully feeling out whether he can have this, and potentially losing the one chance he’ll get to claim what he wants in whatever little time they have left.

And meanwhile—yes, the gag is the one Jinx finds. It is a gag of great sentimental value, after all! But more seriously, we see that as Silco gets older he has a tendency to cling to every painful memento he can. It’s as if he keeps them close so that if he starts to falter he can rip open old wounds and remember what he’s lost and why he’s still angry and still fighting. The record of ‘their’ song and the photo of the three of them in his safe, the glass from the bar, the paintings facing the walls scattered across his office, the statue of Vander.

Like the photo and the record, it would have been stashed away somewhere. But like the glass, it would seem innocuous if found. For all it was a fun romp, it was also the first time that Vander said he loved Silco, and that he wasn’t going anywhere, and that Silco wouldn’t be abandoned again, and that no matter what happened if Silco just came home they’d get through it.

…

So yeah, that one landed in the collection of very, very painful mementos that Silco wouldn’t let go of. Because that was a foundational night for their relationship, but a lot of promises that would eventually end up broken.

[valeriefauxnom]

The Only Tierlist that Matters(tm)

'Best in Element' this, 'Best character that'...

Here's the only thing that you need to know about Dragalia and its lore: who's the best at Alberian Chess.

A fair portion of this is both evidenced and guesswork. Evidenced guesswork? I'll just walk through my analysis for anyone going ??.

In short, I think Leonidas is the best chess player shown. Leif outright states him to be a 'particularly cunning opponent' in comparison to Chelle and Phares, whom he both considers very skilled. Leonidas is the only one to have beaten Leif.

So if 1st and 2nd are locked, I'd say it's a more blurry picture between Phares and Chelle. Chelle I put lower just for the fact she explicitly finds Alberian chess a bit 'too restrictive' in rules and thus might not be quite as studious or caring of its games, and with Phares seemingly capable of getting Leonidas heated while appearing calm himself in "A Royal Tea Party", I think he might be better by at least a little bit. We know the current Chelle vs. Leif meta is a Leif win (though starting to tax/surprise him), but alas, we've no Phares-Chelle or Phares-Leif matchup to settle the big dog league for good.

A tier brings in Regina, who is only A just because I don't have any evidence to suggest how she might stack up against our formidable S-tiers. She's also native in a different variety of Alberian Chess, which further complicates how she could adapt against the southern rules most other players use here. In her own league, who knows? She could be S.

Discount Deku-looking-creature- er, Eugene, is shown to be a very skilled player, and yet his record is 0-2 vs. Leif, Leif not feeling incredibly threatened both times, and so A he goes.

Valyx here is mostly from a lack of evidence, as we never really see him play chess to my knowledge, but Leif at least will endorse him to be a skilled player. For Leif, no.2, that counts for something, and so into A he goes. We would need more sibling match-ups to see how he stacks up against his elders.

Ilia is similarly fuzzy in exact placement but we do know that Leonidas does not feel threatened by her, implying at least some tangible gulf in talent that I think bumps her down at least one tier. That being said, he also compliments her as skilled in reading his intent in chess, which, since Leo is no.1, having good reads on him is likely a very strong point to succeeding in Alberian chess. Besides, if it's 'Alberian' chess to begin with, she very well might have only recently learned the game, as Alberia as a state only started to exist 700 years after her time. That she's this good already is impressive!

Aurien provides some distinguishment between himself and Eugene by losing against him. He's still high up because Euden is very surprised he lost, and had made it in the chess tournament far. He seems to be pretty keen on the strategic understanding of the game, as well.

Falling all the way to D, we've Pinon, who understands some of the principles of strategy, etc, but still is inclined to making big mistakes for players like Regina to exploit. Even when she tries to bring back and challenge Regina with the southern rules she's learned from her travels there, Regina can still beat her comfortably.

Euden just wanted to be in 'E' tier because of his name No, it's mostly because he only just started learning at Gala Leif time in canon. And Euden... doesn't exactly seem to have a natural gift, as, per him when learning:

Or, more eloquently,

In short, he's not quite 'moving pieces at random' F tier for a complete novice, but we just have no evidence he's grown since. He's simply too busy fighting a war and having identity crises and stopping the Halidom from being blown up for the 3rd time today to have much time to practice, either. That being said, since Leif was the one to first start instructing him, he might very well have an edge when it comes to getting better over time!

[put-me-on-a-hitlist]

My Hero Academia DR Storytime

I just randomly found one of my old volumes of the manga I didn’t realize I had and this whole thing happens in the volume so now I want to talk about it.

During one of the fights (the meta liberation army vs league of villains fight for anyone who has read/watched the series), towards the beginning, I go into a hallucination/psychotic episode (I’m not exactly sure if it would be labeled that so if it isn’t, feel free to correct me I’ve tried to figure out if what I’m picturing for them even counts as any already existing disorders/whatever). And before anyone tells me “why would you script that??? That’s terrible” suck my dick. I don’t care what you have to say about my script it isn’t your business what I choose to do in my dr. Anyways, this is arguably the most important and significant episode I ever experience in my DR because for once it isn’t entirely bad and actually helps me shake some of the chains that were holding me back. But during the episode I was still fighting I just was picturing that I was fighting someone else and wasn’t very aware of what was actually going on and what was hallucinations and what was real life. When the episode finally ends, it’s at the very tail end of the fight and I literally come back to normal to see some random ass dude bowing before me and Tomura saying we are now the commanders of a 115,000 person strong army. Everything for the hour or two before the episode is already also fuzzy because I’m still just kind of coming back so I am crazy confused. So as this guy is bowing, I have to fucking ask Tomura what’s even going on because I don’t know. I think that’s funny as fuck. Just picture waking back up after having seventeen crisis’s and forty two epiphanies and be standing in a city turned to rubble and some random dude saying your in charge of an army having no idea what you did and how you got there. Anyways, there’s that story time.

[thewertsearch]

Upon becoming Future Vriska, her entire fortune has been spent.

Maybe she wired it all to John, so he could buy Fraymotifs?

Heh.

Me and the hus8ando ;;;;)

Humanity is really doing a number on these trolls.

I think I saw a prompt for Future Kanaya earlier. Let's see what she's up to!

Oh, god, is Rose going to try and weaponize the thing?

...actually, there's a decent chance that it provides access to First Guardian abilities, so that's not a bad idea. Jack might be stronger than a Black King, but he's just as vulnerable to a black-hole telefrag as anyone else. Feels like overkill, if anything.

Once Jack finally falls, all we'll have left to deal with is a First Guardian-empowered, Horrorterror-amped Seer of Light. It's a good thing Aradia used a male pronoun for the Demon, because Rose would otherwise be rapidly climbing my list of suspects.

I saw a Future Eridan prompt, too, but it's not showing up as Terezi. I guess I have to check everyone with everyone else to unlock all the branches.

You presumably tried to flirt with her, and you got off pretty easy. Many of the other Players, in her situation, wouldn't have stopped at your computer.

Anyway, Rose can apparently destroy technology from a distance, so we have a new prime suspect in the case of the exploding Maid.

Aradia certainly wouldn't want Rose going off the rails - but since her rampage is observable to the trolls, it's still an Alpha timeline event. Curiouser and curiouser.

She's probably just chatting to her aunts. Let's not even worry about why she won't wake up. It's probably fine.

We warned you, Tavros. We all warned you. We told you bro :(

I think that's everything, apart from the Trickster Code...

Loving your style, John Jane!

"FUZZY P1CKL3S! >8D"

Gamzee continues to be so high that he's meta-aware.

On NiGhTs LiKe ThEsE tRoLLs LiKe yOu ShOuLd Be BuRnInG iN HeLL >:o(

Alright, I think we're done for real!

[stoopid-turtle]

Overall BTS in Order Summary + Takeaways

Okay, this project was a) impromptu and b) fun and c) biiiggg.

There are some observations and thoughts that didn't quite fit in any one month that I wanted to add on. I also wanted to think through what I take away from this timeline as far as ggdd's relationship. So here's super-duper long post.

Shenanigans on set - professionalism

It's commonly observed that ggdd are a chaotic duo, and the impression you get from watching bts highlights is that they must have been a nightmare on set. If you watch through the bts clips on the daily, though, it's easy to see why gg and dd are well-regarded by people they work with.

Most of their day is endless takes of doing the same scene over and over. They spend a lot of time talking through a scene and their characters. Sometimes making small modifications but usually just giving a scene another go. They're usually doing this in harsh physical and emotional conditions, whether hanging on wires, immersing themselves in cold water, doing fight scenes in thick robes and sweltering heat, or working into the wee hours of the morning. Both gg and dd worked while injured and/or sick.

The moments of chaos are pretty rare and typically not disruptive. They're during moments where they're waiting for the crew to set something up. Sometimes they're egged on by the crew and the director. Overall, they're dedicated professionals who took advantage of slow moments for some fun but were otherwise focused on the show.

Kudos also to the rest of the cast and crew who were similarly dedicated. (Also, how do I get a job as dd's umbrella holder? Where should I send a resume?)

If you go into the bilibili playlist expecting non-stop ggdd shenanigans, you're gonna be disappointed. If, you're, like me, a nerd who finds the meta of filming interesting and doesn't mind sitting through people doing the same thing over and over again, then you're in luck because there's literal hours of that.

The fuzziness of the timeline.

I want to provide some cautions with the timeline. I rely heavily on a cfan-made bilibili playlist whose method I honestly can't understand bc it doesn't translate well through Google. What's more, I made some judgment calls when comparing against other timelines I've found, a cfan-made Weibo timeline, and vic's timeline here on Tumblr. Any of these could be wrong, so don't take this timeline as super-duper solid.

There are times I identify a clip as a widely-known translated clip, and there were also clips that were NOT in the bb playlist but that I tried to place based on some assumptions. I want to break these down.

Type 1

This is simple. These are when there's a clip on the playlist that is identical to a translated clip I've seen, just without the subtitles. This makes up most of them. The chocolate bar hug, the bondage conversation, the jealousy in English clip. As long as the bb playlist date is correct, then the date for these clips should be correct.

Type 2

Much less common. This is when I've seen a longer, translated version of a clip on the bb playlist so I'll include in the timeline what else goes in that clip.

As an example, the bb playlist has the clip of dd pretending to choke gg. I've seen elsewhere that this clip continues past where the bb playlist cuts off to also show gg singing Sam Smith to dd. So I place those both on the same day. These should be as reliable as Type 1

Type 3

These are the most open to error. There are clips that are not in the bb playlist but that have gg and dd in the same costumes, shooting the same scene as playlist clips. In those cases, I make a (big) assumption that they took place on the same day.

As an example, the bb playlist has Cloud Recess era gg and dd in the Cold Springs (not the secret cave but the place where gg makes his sword pee). The playlist does not include the clips of gg injuring his foot, but I've seen those clips and they're shooting the same scenes so the costumes and such are the same. I assume they're all on the same day.

But I could be wrong. Oftentimes, the same scene is reshot weeks later for technical reasons. Some scenes take multiple days to shoot. The script was also changing as they shifted away from het-washing wwx, and they had to reshoot some scenes as a result. The clip of gg injuring his foot could be from some other day when they had to shoot those scenes again for whatever reason.

Likewise with the cloud recess library pretzeling clip. I'm guessing it goes on 8/20, because that's the only day the playlist has clips from those scenes. But that does not mean that 8/20 was the only day cloud recess library scenes were filmed.

The other scene that falls into this type is from June, when gg and dd complain to each other about how few scenes they have together. The clip I've seen (elsewhere) was clearly taken while shooting the scene where LSX and WN run off together, so I've placed it there.

This brings us back to what I explained in April but I really just want to pound on it: we know SOOOO little. Most days, we don't even have an hour's worth of bts footage. There are so many scenes shot that we don't have any insight on. And we don't know what we don't know (and probably never will).

There are some clips that weren't included on the bb playlist that I can't even begin to guess the date for. I've seen the clip of gg saying "delete it" to a wwx/wq scene, but even though I know the costume that gg and dd were wearing, I don't have anything more specific to place it to a date.

I also really wanted to know what the date is on the clip of dd questioning a costume-jiejie about what gg said about him in an interview. No such luck. The most I can do is guess it may be related to the interview in July. The Aug interviews seem way too late for that clip, but who knows? (Honestly, the July interview seems a bit late for that type of clip)

Another clip that I wish I could date: the clip where dd casually mentions how handsome Xue Yang is to prompt gg to give rainbow farts to lwj.

I was also just curious about the WQ scenes in general, so I was disappointed they weren't on the playlist. I've seen some of the original WQ scenes elsewhere (I guess from gg solo playlists on YouTube), and I'm just generally interested in the shift the production team made in response to fan complaints (and maybe to complaints from their stars?).

All this to say, take the timeline as fuzzy. If someone wants to take on the herculean task of tracking down and correcting my errors (and making that super-awesome comprehensive Google sheet), then you have my highest respect (and my sword).

Is the devil's timeline possible? Looking at you, may.

I've been approaching my takeaways from the assumption that they met first on DDU, didn't interact for a year, then properly met again when they ended up on the Untamed. I don't have strong feelings about the Devil's Timeline, honestly, and I wouldn't be too surprised if it's true. But I tend to stick to the documented first meeting timepoint when speculating, just to not compound speculation atop speculation.

But putting that aside, if there anything in the timeline that rejects the Devil's Timeline out of hand? Not really. Some of the harder to explain dates are also hard to explain with the standard timeline (I'll get to those), so the devil's timeline is as likely as anything.

Is there anything that supports the Devil's Timeline?

Well, there are some clips that indicate a committed relationship much earlier than the standard timeline assumes. This may not necessarily mean we're in devil land. It could just mean their relationship moved faster than most people think. But they are notable.

Let's look at 2 clips in May that stand out as odd.

On 5.22, there's a clip attached to a rumor that gg and dd had a fight. The rumor goes that dd left the set early for some reason. In the morning, when gg asked where dd was going, dd said it was none of his business. When he returned, gg gave him the silent treatment. Dd grew increasingly upset about it while gg got snippy about how dd clearly didn't want him to care about him.

The clip this goes with is shot from a distance. There's no real sound, so I'm assuming that somebody did some lip-reading to come up with a transcript (that was then translated to English for the version I've seen). In it, an upset dd tells gg that he never told him (gg) not to care about him (dd).

There's obvious issues when relying on lip-reading for a conversation. Especially in this case, because their mouths are blocked at several points by people bustling around. The most I can reliably say about this clip is that gg does look a little frosty and dd is most definitely upset (like, startlingly upset).

If the rumor and the lip-read are accurate, this type of exchange only really makes sense in the context of some type of serious relationship. This was about a month before the dragon boat festival date.

I don't know enough about the original rumor to even have a guess as to how reliable it is. It's interesting to me, though, and I'm not inclined to dismiss it out of hand. If it's not true, then I wonder what, exactly, dd was so upset over if they're not yet in a relationship.

The other odd clip is the 5.17 clip of gg being jealous of the camera guy.

It's clear that gg felt threatened by the camera guy, but it's ambiguous as to what that implies about their relationship. Jealousy can rear its head within a romantic relationship, of course. But it could also manifest if they're still just friends but gg feels a special claim on dd somehow. Maybe they're in early flirting stages. Maybe gg knows dd has a crush on him, likes it, and feels threatened when dd's attention (which is usually pretty focused on him) is taken by another guy.

Any of these could be the case here. So gg's jealousy doesn't necessarily indicate that gg and dd are an item at that time. But it could.

These 2 clips are definitely interesting in how early they happen, and the earlier we see signs that gg and dd are an item, the more likely the devil's timeline is real.

So yeah. If you're on the devil's side, you got just as much support as anybody else based on this timeline.

Confusing dates

@bzhitstruth and I brought up a couple clips on the timeline that surprised us with their dates. Specifically, the jealousy in English conversation and the "I'm not talking about wwx, I'm talking about xz" moment. Both of these take place in July, while it seemed to me that mid-June would be the latest that gg and dd could get together based on the walk of shame after the dragonboat festival date.

Why is it weird to have these 2 clips a month later?

Well, the jealousy conversation involves them each accusing the other of chatting up other people. DD is specific about having heard gg talking to a girl some days ago whereas gg just accuses dd of having talked to men on WeChat. (I'm putting aside whether dd and gg were chatting up other people bc I'm not incredibly interested in going there. I'm more interested in what it says that they had this discussion). This is a conversation that I would expect to see if they were either not yet in a relationship or if their relationship was brand new and they were bringing up old habits the other had that they feel threatened by.

It reads oddly if they're a month into their relationship.

The other clip is more subjective, but my general impression before doing the timeline was that dd's smooth pickup line there is some early-stage flirtation. Both dd's line and gg's reaction come across as fresh and new, not an interaction one has with a person they've been dating for a month.

These are both Type 1 clips, so as long as the bb playlist is correct, then I'm 100% sure that they're dated correctly.

As to what to make of all this...uh...

"It's complicated" relationship status

Here's a best guess? I'm not committed to this. Just spitballing ideas that may fit the timeline.

I'm also basing this on my experience dating before I got married (I got married when I was 28, so I was still dating when I was gg's age). Of course, I got married around 2010, so the tech and dating landscape was different then. And obviously, I'm an American bisexual woman, not a gay/bi Chinese man. So my experience is probably gonna be a poor fit for gg and dd's experience, is what I'm saying. Take everything with a big ol' grain of salt.

One thing I'm pretty firm on, they had a sexual relationship on or before 6/18. Dd's walk of shame is hard to otherwise explain. There is the possibility that dd did that lazy smell test thing where he didn't have any clean clothes so just wore what he wore yesterday without thinking about it. I knew a looottttt of guys his age that did that (in fairness, I did that sometimes). Course, they were poor college students or burnouts who did not have PAs and staff to do their laundry so...

I'm sticking to it my certainty here. It's not realistic that they started a sexual relationship later than 6/18.

I noted in the May summary post that when dd realized that gg was physically affectionate, he hopped to take advantage of that (not in a predatory way). On 5.4, dd was constantly draping himself all over gg. What if they started having casual sex around this date?

Bear with me, y'all.

Plenty of decent relationships start with casual sex. My marriage began with me intending it to just be FWB (my wife had other intentions and, well, obviously it moved beyond FWB). So let's not do any shaming on this (in other words, I will take it personally). It's a part of modern life. In addition, my understanding is that actors' sex life is oftentimes connected to what they're filming at any given time.

Being friends w/ benefits (FWB) means gg and dd have an intimate connection that we see on set sometimes. On 5.7, dd helps gg practice his dance, for instance. But it also means that they're not on firm romantic footing, even if feelings are creeping in (which they definitely were).

How might this play out? Check out my fanfic outline:

On 5.17, we have gg getting jealous of the camera man. He feels some exclusive claim to dd given their FWB relationship and given dd is clearly nursing a crush on him, and he doesn't like having competition for dd's attention.

On 5.22, they have that fight. I wonder if gg took dd by surprise by pushing the bounds of their relationship to that point. GG, like dd, is feeling more invested in their relationship than a simple FWB requires, and he's getting annoyed when dd doesn't act the same (by going off to lunch without telling him where he's going). DD looks stressed bc while he does want something more with gg, he didn't realize they were at that point, and he's worried he screwed things up before they could develop.

After that point, romance might have started to play more of a role in their interactions as both of them pick up on the fact that the other might want something more as well. On 6.1, gg pulls out the heavy flirting with a kabedon and whispering in dd's ear. DD is clearly into it.

On 6.7, we get the clip where dd seems to ask for a kiss from gg. If they've been having sex since May, this isn't a huge surprise. Their relationship must also be common knowledge on set (they had that 5.22 argument in front of a bunch of crew and XL, all of whom didn't even seem to be paying attention).

On 6.14, they have the frankly obscene Cold Spring Adventures with each other.

Then on 6.18, they go on a date (with director and producer for plausible deniability). Maybe it's the first actual date they have and marks when they officially move from FWB to explicit romance.

On 6.30, there's the scene where jgy monologues while gg wants dd to romantically give up his life for gg (and dd's like, "nah, I'll just use my sword").

Moving a FWB to a romance can be weird and can take some work. Old habits creep in a lot and the fact that things started as FWB can lead to some early relationship insecurity.

On 7.17, dd's a little insensitive when he calls gg stupid after gg injures his foot in the water. GG honestly doesn't seem to notice (he's focused on getting to the shore and looking at his foot), but dd is clearly beating himself up throughout the clip and apologizes multiple times.

On 7.18, we have dd doing his "I'm not talking about wwx, I'm talking about xz" line. Maybe he's going hard, trying to make up for his misstep from yesterday? Given gg's reaction, this is clearly the type of romance he's looking for, so dd pretty much nailed it.

On 7.23 we have the English jealousy conversation. As they started as FWBs, they were probably aware that the other had similar arrangements in the past. That was probably a source of insecurity for both of them at the beginning as they moved onto a romance. This may be what's behind this particular conversation.

On 8.4, the night before dd's birthday, we get some big romance with rooftop stargazing and a birthday countdown. Then on 8.5, the cake and prezzies. On the morning of 8.6, dd posts his Weibo message about continuing things he started at 21 when he's 81.

DD's Weibo post always read as a response to something specific. Maybe gg was starting to have reservations about where their relationship would go after filming. The end was in sight, and gg may have been wanting to pull away, citing dd's age as a concern.

At the same time, they haven't put the kibosh on things yet. Maybe they're just trying not to think about it. They're busy enough, after all, they can put it out of their minds. That's how we get gg singing sam smith to dd on 8.18.

But then something happens. Maybe gg gets some big reminder that filming is wrapping up soon. Whatever it is, he deletes dd as a contact on WeChat. This leads to the 8.20 fight where dd asks gg to add him back and gg says they'll go their separate ways.

Maybe gg does add him back that day after the fight. Maybe he decides to wait until the very end to disconnect rather than hash it out while they still have filming to do. Maybe there are crucial events happening that were never caught on camera (Okay, this is definitely the case).

Whatever it is, they return to some form of normal for the next couple days. Then on the day they wrap, maybe that's the day gg breaks it off again. This is why dd was late to the photoshoot and why they fought on the steps after.

Whew. Okay, so I think that kinda accounts for all the ups and downs of the timeline.

Again, I'm not committed to this take. I'm just spitballing something that might make sense of some of these dates on the timeline. I'd love to see what other folks come up with!

We're all probably wrong anyway, and there's no way we'll ever know! 🤡🤡🤡🐢🐢🐢🐢

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Epsiode 112

Ah, the Halloween episode. This is gonna be fun ... and ... OH MY FUCKING GODS ... so they're ALL Nic Cage ... oh yeah, OF COURSE Liam's the Mandy Cage ... and Ashley's got some poison VX gas from The Rock ... meanwhile Sam ... of dear fuck Sam ... that's just too much ... and of course I've ALREADY worked out which one Marisha is ... perhaps THE WORST Nic Cage of them all ... and I love Con Air, so thanks for that one, Travis. Not to mention Matt's is awesome too ... Raising Arizona for the win ...

Seriously Sam, that costume is just TOO DISTURBING ... O.O ... this is some genuine nightmare fuel ... please don't wear THAT throughout the whole game ... fuck ... I'm starting to think that genuinely might be the case ...

I love how Liam DOES NOT ASK any of them to start mirroring his actions, Taliesin just starts it on his own and then Laura and Ashley start doing it all on THEIR own and it's adorable ... XD

Thank you all for addressing the problem with Sam's make-up ... that is gonna be SO HARD to ignore over thh course of the game, Samuel ...

Yup ... here we go ... the gameplay is ALREADY derailing and we're still on Matt's recap ... XD ... also I wonder how bad it's gonna be for Marisha once she has to start READING DICE ...

Nice crack at the Schumacher batsuits ...

Aha ... oh, so Ashton and Fearne have actually truly for real done the nasty? It's about fucking time, you two ...

Pancakes and waffles? Yay! The perfect start to any day ... oh, and cookies too? Nice one, Jester!

Travis INSTANTLY forgetting to use the newer Fjord accent instead of the older ... meanwhile Jester is TOTALLY already onto Ashton and Fearne ... and Liam's busy having a conversation with himself ... LOL

Chetney lives! Okay, then ...

Some confusion about what the plan is now, then ... clearly there's some fuzzy heads among the group after the night before ...

Imogen quickly draws a map ... Sam (as Veth): "How is it?" Ah hell ... first performance check of the night ... serviceable ... okay, then ...

Sending a message to Rashinna, then ... oh dear, are we having trouble with the count? And npw Jester's invading Imogen's mind with her intrusive thoughts ... oh boy ... watch Laura Bailey learning JUST what it's like being on the receiving end of another Laura Bailey character ... XD

Oh shit ... Rashinna hasn't gotten back to them yet ... Matthew, what's happened? Oh Matt Mercer ... you GIT!!! That was not funny ...

"Look for Gaz"? Hmmmmm ... the Villums? Okay, then ...

Dorian making a meta crack about their costumes when discussing the disguise idea ... LOL

Oh dear ... and now the disguise conversation becomes more serious as we're now uncovering the inherent problems of what available choices there actually ARE ... hmmmmmm ...

Laudna gives Sprinkle back to Jester ... who then tries to cover for the fact that Fjord accidentally DESTROYED PATE the night before ... O.O ... yeah ... here we go for Deception checks on BOTH OF THEM ... oh boy ...

Sprinkle is PLEADING FOR DEATH right now and I can't blame him ...

Pate returns! And it turns out he doesn't bear a grudge, clearly. Far as he's concerned it was just a macabre game ...

Turning into guards, then? Might be smart ... and some Bormodos for the smaller folk? Yes, that's smart ...

Good point ... IS THERE anybody upstairs in the store?

Yes, time enough for ONE Suck ... decisions, decisions ... something tells me Dusk Hunger might be worth holding onto, if I'm honest ... rollies, then? Hmmm ... Ashton, then ... okay ... goinf for Fire, then ... so he straps into the Harness and starts sucking up Dusk Hunger ... nuts ...

Some nice new effects for Ashton, then ... meanwhile Jester's now jealous about THEM not having a Harness too and immediately demands Caleb makes one ...

Caleb and Veth having a serious conversation while Sam is wearing THAT FACE ... ye gods ...

So ... try another one? 20% chance of the Harness breaking, but they ARE rolling towards the endgame ... hmmmm ... that;'s a yes, then ... and so ORYM is going to suck up Ishta, the very blade that killed his husdand AND father-in-law ... O.O

A permanent +2 to Wee Man's Dexterity? Holy shit ...

Does the Harness survive? Hmmmm ... it doesn't go bang YET ... but it was close ... hmmmmm ...

One more? Up to a 40% chance now ... maybe not, then ...

Yasha punches Braius in the face ... of course she does ... and he elbows her back ... hmmmm ... so ... that's just, like, a little pep-up, then?

Leaving the Tower, then ... so they're now all crammed in the cellar again ...

So they're going to teleport again, then ... hmmmm ... meanwhile Caleb activiates the disguises ... ruining Dorian's attempt at creating his own ... LOL

And Jester casts Pass Without a Trace ...

Zhesh! Hello there ... nice to see a familiar face ...

"Transference"? Hmmm ... I mean it sounds like an opportunity, really ...

Trickling out in groups, then ... and there's a storm out? THAT could be helpful, too ... the Dust Pit Delta, then? Sounds like a plan ...

Imogen and Orym leading the way through, then ...

Interesting ... a shrine to Exandria? Strange things to find here, all round ...

Planerider Ryn! She's here! Can they rescue her? Is this going to go down REALLY BAD?!!! O.O

So, planning a distraction while they try a Greater Restoration ... hmmmm ... this all sounds like apretty tall order ... I have a bad feeling this is gonna be a MAJOR distaster ...

Fjord creates a phantom red tornado while activating his Marine Layer ... oh boy ... here we go, then ... and they're creating general widespread PANIC ... meanwhile Imogen casts a blanket Telepathic Bond across the group ...

Ah ... so two of them are staying put ... great ... and now Dorian's getting in on the act ... oh, so it's actually WORKING? Hmmmmm ... okay, now what?

Caduceus tries out his Greater Restoration while it's all going off ... and now she's back ... missing a fucking arm! Calm Emotions? Hmmmmmm ... now what? Cure Wounds at Level 4? Let's see if THAT works ... O.O ... 25 points of healing ... and now he's trying to calm her down ... oh boy, this is all getting really chaotic all at once ... wait ... did she just TELEPORT AWAY?!!! Fuck ...

Imogen tries to Message Ryn ... oh boy ... she's in a random dark spot ... hmmmm ... so it was a Dimension Door? Meaning she's still close by ...

Oh crap ... something;s coming? Might be a good idea to get the fuck out of here ...

A full grown vidulch? SHIT!!! Oh, that's not good at all ... O.O

Okay, so ... looks like they dodged THAT bullet ... but there's more? Hmmmmmm ... so it's just CHAOS out here right now ... maybe they can continue to just sneak through, then ...

Jester messages Ryn ... oh my fucking gods ... this woman will go INSANE from this one ... oh ... so Ryn's just rolling with it? Okay ... guess she really IS a cool customer, that one ...

And now the storm's getting WORSE ... great ... time to move, then ...

Watcher Amido? Hey! Yeah, another familiar face ... this is their way in, then ...

So they just have to find a way to tunnel through into the tunnels, then? Hmmmm ... Jester turns herself into ... a diremole? Really? Intriguing ... Veth is not convinced this is actually gonna work ... I dunno, it looks all kinds of intimidating ... okay, this seems to be working out after all ...

So ... that worked, then ... the way is open. Braius is impressed.

Great ... this doesn't look all that promising any more ... can they still get through here ... oh ... okay, maybe they still can, then ... yeah, that's it ... the city itself ... so there's just the window? Which is WAY UP IN THE AIR ... crap ... maybe not, then ...

Okay, so NOW what are they gonna do?

Imogen sends a Message to Gaz ... oh boy ... I forgot what he sounded like, Matt that is BONKERS ... LOL

Thankfully Orym's RIDICULOUS Perception saves the day again ... so THAT'S the way, then ... and now a return of Taste of Tal'dorei ... XD

Damn ... Dorian has a point here ... DO THEY have a viable escape plan if the Moon ... EXPLODES?!!! O.O

I love how Caduceus' abject terror is everybody else's perfectly chilled ... LOL

So ... they're REALLY going to just DROP DOWN from here? Seriously?

Oh ... Arcane Gate? Smart ... go Fjord! That's the ticket ... and Jester just INSTANTLY SWOONS over how awesome her future husband is right now ... :3

Group Deception check ... hmmmmm ... and EVERYBODY except Robbie has to roll TWICE ... oof ...

Okay ... trying to make their way as inconspicuously as possible through the streets ...

Oh hello ... GAZ!!! Nice to finally see you again ... phew!

So ... CAN WE trust him? Is he on the level or IS HE a traitor like some suspect? O.O

Sounds like Liliana gave him a hell of a going-over ... and he's actually SPEAKING to them verbally rather than through telepathy ... wow ...

Accelerating plans, then ... but they do still need SOME flexibility ... hmmmmmm ...

Fearne goes to listen in on Gaz making contact with Rashinna ... 17? Nice roll, Ash ... oh, this sounds like quite the journey ... watch out, Fearne ...

Wow ... Gaz wasn't very bright BEFORE, but now he really is kind of DUMB, isn't he? But yeah, seems he really is on the level, at least ...

Jester offers Gaz a cookie ... awwwwwwwww ... and he's NEVER had sugar before ... wow ... :3

Dorian gets Gaz to explain the WHY the Volitiona are doing what they're doing ... oh boy ... his extremely simplistic explanation is kind of adorable ...

Meanwhile Jeter's created a sugar junkie ...

"The Hallowed Cage"? Try not to jump ahead in the narrative, guys! O.O

Short rest? Short rest. Yeah ...

Meanwhile they do NEED TO contact Vox Machina NOW ... yeah ... might be best. MAKE CONTACT guys!

Imogen Messages Allura ... so they're ALL READY ALREADY?!!! Okay, so ... best to make a start ASAP?

So ... whatever they're doing, start in one hour? Hmmmm ...

JESTER makes the reply ... oh boy ... yeah, Allura reacts VERY MUCH as anyone would with one of HER Messages ...

Going to break, then ... and when they're back it's going to be from the perspective of VOX MACHINA!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Oh my gods ... the pantyhose and the diapers ... Matt, you cheeky bugger ... XD

Only FOUR at the table? Right now it's just Laura, Ashley, Travis and Marisha ... in their ORIGINAL seats? Cool ...

So it's just KEYLETH right now ... hmmmm ...

She goes looking for Vex ... oh boy ... this should be fun ...

Okay, so ... we're a little back in time, then? Interesting ...

Yeah, I think BOTH OF THEM want to get Vax back ... well, at least as much back as they CAN get him, at least ...

Man ... too much FEELS right now, guys ...

So Grog and PIke'll likely both be in the pub? Yeah, sounds about right ...

They haven't HEARD from Scanlan yet? Hmmmmmm ...

Keyleth is covered in sticky bees ... O.O

Yeah, the titles were SO COOL, KIki. You did SO FUCKING GREAT there ... XD

A CLERICAL pub? Fascinating ...

As expected, Grog and Pike are already pretty far in their cups ... XD ... drunk Pike is always fun ... and they're up to old tricks, again ...

Grog thinks "piety" means he has pies ... yeah, that's about right ... LOL

Keyleth conjures a goodberry pie for Grog! Awwww ... :3

So ... Pike and Scanlan are going through another fivorce? And she can't even remember WHICH NUMBER it is? Blimey ... and so they CAN'T get hold of him because of it? Great ...

Jeanine? Awwww ... she sounds very sweet ...

Oh ... the Earrings? Neat ... yeah, try that, then ...

Yeah, Percy's a really good dad ...

Holy shit ... Marisha's having a hard time remembering how to actually PLAY a druid now ... it's been a while, of course ... so she just tries to SCRY on Scanlan instead ... which is resisted? Nuts ...

Pike x Scanlan = "it's complicated" ... like, the very DEFINITION ...

Matt's just having so much fun just WATCHING Travis getting to be Grog again ... XD

Tary? REALLY?!!! That'd be pretty sweet ...

Wow ... even VEX can't remember who Tary got married to ... XD

Flamespeaker Cerkonos? The leader of the Fire Ashari? Hmmmmm ... might be worth a go ...

Oh shit ... ROBBIE'S playing as Cerkonos? Oh, that's so cool! And yeah, Robbie Daymond really is INCAPABLE of playing a character who isn't, like, A TOTAL SNACK, and I love it ... XD

"Sir Grogory Strongjaw" ... Keyleth: "He added a few syllables." Yes. Yes he did ...

Nice going of Vex to just cut to the chase while Keyleth's fumbling talking him into doing something he was ALREADY planning on doing anyway ... XD

Pike's like me, thoroughly enraged by the idea of not finishing a book ... O.O

WHITESTONE!!! Welcome home!

And the Sun Tree! D'awwwwwwww ... :3

The Slayer's Cake! Yay!

A half-elven girl? Is this who I think it is? Oh my gods IT IS!!! Vesper! Hiiiiiiii!!! Oh my gods ... and she's ALREADY swooning over Cerkonos ... XD

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Gwen! Hi sweety! :3

Percival! Yay! Taliesin returns to the table ... meanwhile is the old grouch mellowing a little? Or is it just when he's around Vex?

SCANLAN was Cerkonos' favourite? XD I like that ...and he's VERY BAD at the sexual jokes ... which in his case come across as slightly more risque dad jokes, clearly ... LOL

Oh ... so Scanlan WAS travelling with Dr Dranzel's troupe? At least until Percy stopped caring to keep track of him, anyway.

So Keyleth tries to Scry on Kaylie instead ... not a whole LOT of luck there ... apparently she's asleep ...

Crisis Orbs? Hmmmmmm ...

"The Triple" ... oh, I like that. That's very effective ...

Pike tries to Message Scanlan ... and the others try to convince her to say she's HORNY for only him ... I mean yeah, that might work ...

Matt calls Sam backl to the table ... okay, so that means Scanlan's answering her, then ... okay ... is he having sex right now? At least he said he was in Wildemount ...

Oh boy ... she really is SO BAD AT THIS and I love it ... LOL

Ttat's a pretty non-specific location still ... but at least he's clearly NOT having intercourse, then ...

Pike: "He asxked if it was a booty call. I don't want to respond to that." Grog: "Well we are actively trying to contact him." Pike: "You're so smart, Grog."

Homing in on Scanlan and the troupe ... looks like they MIGHT be able to make it, then ...

Wow, Percy and Vex' kids really are all just COLLECTIVELY adorable, aren't they? :3

The Mask? Percy's mask? Is No Mercy Percy coming along for this ride?

Grog reverts to type and immediately gives himself a massive psychic shock ... Percy you clever and very evil bugger ... you have such a dark sense of humour, I love it ... XD

Awwwww ... I love Percy and Keyleth's friendship vibe SO MUCH ... XD

Setting out through the Sun Tree, then ... and Keyleth of course HAS TO still give a big of ceremony for their departure. And a fond farewell to the De Rolo kids ... awwwww ... but it's also giving me feels ... O.O

I really do hope this isn't the last time one or both of them will see their children ...

Stepping through, then ... and Grog tosses little Vax his petrified poop ... oh boy ...

Stopping the troupe before they get too far away ... and now Vox Machina are finally back together again ... plus one ...

Oooooooooh ... a bit of a glow-up for Scanlan, then ... wait ... oh my fucking gods ... HE'S A FUCKING CENTAUR?!!! Oh ... THEY'RE ALL CENTAURS?!!! What the fuck, guys? O.O

It's TRUE POLYMORPH? Oh shit ... isn't that, like, REALLY HARD to remove?

Cerkonos loves the idea that Scanlan now has a genuine horse cock ... wow ...

Trying to explain what's happening and what's at stake ... oh, yeah ... actually that might work. Vax IS Scanlan's best friend, telling him about him being trapped in the orb would probably do the trick ...

Come on you two, just MAKE UP already ...

I can't believe it's actually GROG who convinces him to come ... but yeah, that worked ...

And THAT'S it for the night? Cool. Does that mean we're starting wit them next time? I could get behind that, definitely ... this has been SO MUCH FUN ...

[corishadowfang]

Do you have any notes or extra details about the most recent chapter of Fallen Stars that you’d like to share? (If not, any clues for what’s to come?)

YES LOTS ACTUALLY but the big chunk of that is going to be shared after the next chapter, haha. Basically I like...had A LOT of foreshadowing and setup for the whole "Brain becomes a Darkling, dies, and is resurrected" thing, and I wanted to create a post kind of going over everything that I can remember (there's...a lot, and my memory is sometimes fuzzy, aha, so there might be things I miss). Buuuut some of that stuff ALSO relates to next chapter, so I can't talk about everything yet. (Though if you want a hint...I kind of jokingly nicknamed chapter 8 "Foreshadowing: The Chapter," and some of that is more for stuff next chapter...)

THAT SAID--I CAN still give some little tidbits about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff for this chapter:

Brain's death scene has actually been written for...a couple of months, I think? Which is weird to say, because I wrote it during one of the other climax chapters, so story-wise it hasn't been that long since it was written...

(You know that post where it like...has this picture of a writer crying and then grinning evilly as they inflict a scene on their readers that also made them cry? That's me with this. I've been sitting with this in my head for over a year and with it in a document for a few months, and now I finally get to make it everyone else's problem, haha.)

There are three lines that hit pretty hard when writing them. The first two are from Brain's death: the almost "Love you" and Skuld's "Please don't die" after he's already dead. The third was "What am I supposed to do if it's not my fault?" which is the third time I've written something for this story, felt like something slammed me in the chest, and just had to sit with it and go, "Alright, we're unpacking that later."

For this chapter, I specifically left out end notes/opening notes (beyond the content warnings and summary) because I was trying to make everything feel very...quiet. I wanted to let the impact of the moment kind of sit with people, so I tried to pull myself out of the chapter as much as possible.

I decided to get a little meta with this chapter, haha. So stories are kind of a Big Thing in Fallen Stars--how people become legends, and how those legends affect and control people (including those they were based on), and how Brain's and Skuld's stories have kind of already been written. Except, of course, Skuld changed hers. Brain's death was planned from the beginning, so both in and out of universe he was doomed by the narrative. And then Luxu comes in--who is both the narrator, and a character in the story, and kind of like...a bridge between the two. So when he asks Skuld if she wants to change fate as the narrator, he's basically giving her the ability to affect the narrative like...in general. I kind of wanted to show that through additional "Content Warning" at the end; it changes from "Major Character Death" to "Temporary Character Death" to kind of signify that Skuld is actively taking back control of her own narrative.

Kind of less a note on the chapter itself and more a kind of funny post-canon thing, but I like the idea that eventually Brain and Skuld get to the point where they're able to like...make jokes about the situation, i.e. stuff like:

Skuld, frustrated because Brain stole the last cookie or something: "I'm going to kill you."

Brain: "You did that already."

Onlookers don't know if they're joking or not.

[adventurefried]

On the Lam

if i had a nickle strange that it happened twice etc

>martin episode

2/10

Hot Diggity Doom

Marceline and PB are both "teenagers" but I firmly believe its a matter of Marceline being actually mentally a teen forever because that's when she became undead and PB being an actual full adult but just choosing to keep an 18 year old appearance out of preference (but she probably also ages really slowly... if at all...)

On rewatch I've really enjoyed PB a lot more than I have in the past. I've always liked her but I was definitely more invested in Marceline and sort of just saw her as an object of Marceline's affection. On rewatch though I really appreciate her pure... autism sociopathic inhuman-ness and how she probably feels compelled to create and rule a kingdom because ultimately it's like what else can she do with this great power she has... that she's come into Ooo as this superintelligent semi-immortal creature. But because that's the way she has come to see herself in the world, the role she's come to occupy, she's so detached from what a normal person can be... I've before described her as "What Rick thinks he is/wishes he was". imo she's always pretending, whenever she tries to do normal sorts of things haha. I don't think "normal" socializing, habits, inclinations, etc. come naturally to her, she has learned to imitate humanoids through mimicry. I'm a little fuzzy on some of the specifics of her origin... maybe I'll write a meta about her when my memory is refreshed though.

ominous

The Comet

9/10

Bonnie & Neddy

remembering more clearly this era where it was lore heavy and not the old adventure time but the show had sort of found its footing again and its sense of humor. It would, however, continue to stumble up until its conclusion.

Interesting motivation for PB... the desire to recreate the conditions of the womb... but then its an odd comparison since she is in a sense the mother of her people. Maybe PB was the motherly part of the mother gum's consciousness, who experienced both motherhood and the womb simultaneously.

[faunastanza]

i found a short comic glip didnt upload to the website for some reason, that i think is the prequel to a moment in a VN where we see krypto in undertown?

https://postimg.cc/gallery/TPW55C3

(you have to check the file names to follow the right reading order, the upload messed it up)

my memory is fuzzy and i cant remember exactly where this comic would be placed in krpto's timeline, i cant remember which VN this could relate to, but i do remember krypto being incapable of leaving undertown (why is he/she there to begin with?)

i also cant understand what krypto did (in-universe, not as a meta stand-in for the victims glip didnt believe) to deserve this, besides being a nuisance by trying to enter adult spaces without permission or something, and i guess he/she was also mean to that fat pink rabbit thing?

i know glip tried portraying krypto as a jerk (at least until that VN where neon and xenon harass him/her), but i cant help feeling sorry for him/her

Thanks for this! This definitely does seem connected to where Q+E Change Storgo started. I'm not sure why Glip didn't include it. From a quick skim through my archives, as far as I can tell Krypto went from hacking into TAL to read about Lunekos straight to being in Undertown with no explanation. If she WAS up to stuff none of us comic-readers got to see it, it was probably all in Glip's discord. I know a lot of stuff about Krypto being molested was in there. That or it was in Cherry Kisses which I personally didn't play, but a friend of mine did. He said Krypto was just a pest and the way to get rid of her was just to give her something more interesting than pestering adults in a sex shop.

She was a brat in the comic and presumably a brat in the game but that's not a crime. Then again she annoyed Papaya/Glip so it's HELL FOR HER

Anyway this comic is interesting so I'm just going to mirror it here in the right order for future reference. Gonna make notes on things that could be relevant.

Similar title to the other VN ERROR: [i don't care] REJECTED, although this one appears to have gone through. The quotation marks around Krypto are also a bit odd. Also why is Krypto naked?

If this is Glip trying to process their childhood trauma, then that could explain trying to reconnect to her. If it's Glip angry about their husband's victims they ignored, then the quotation marks could be mocking. Hard to say. Could also read "with" as MALwire using Krypto as a tool to connect with someone.

lol krypto's face in that first panel

Storgo sort of looks like Story Go with the scribbles like that. Kada I assume is Kadath cut off, the city that got magically dessicated back in the MS Paint VNs when Srinivasa had that argument with that starcat. Also an HP Lovecraft reference.

dr. curse's connection to Dr. Nurse strong here, with the c just a rotated n. I'm not sure what dr. curse's deal is still. I thought maybe they were an RPer but maybe Glip plays them? idk.

Not sure if the implication is that dr. curse molested Krypto or if they're just talking about molestation in a vague way.

Glip loved Purrl dearly, not sure if we're supposed to be sympathize with Purrl here or what, or why Purrl is feeling so aggro towards Krypto.

The mention here of only liking animal dolls reminds me of something Glip said in one of their venting VNs on their porn site about their childhood, they said they drew a lot of Pokemon porn as a minor because they felt safer than real people. Just gives me that vibe.

Krypto being naked through this whole thing is really strange.

Those five things could all easily be related to being abused. It's interesting that Krypto is being manipulated/threatened into trying to talk to someone about her abuse by dr. curse. She really doesn't want to do it. dr. curse wants her to talk about it with someone for their own ulterior motives. Could be related to the idea of Glip's husband's victims being manipulated into talking about their experiences with him publically just to cause Glip pain, because everything is always about Glip at all times.

On the other hand, if Krypto is a stand-in for Glip in this scenario, I'm not sure who dr. curse would be.

We saw some weird symbols like this in the Q+E Change Storgo VN redacting some things Beleth said. It looks like the "haha!" part also came from here.

I think /jointest was how you would start a Scene in the discord.

So here's where it ties into the VN on the site.

No idea who MX. Fingerprick is. Some other version of Hothead I assume. Of note though is that that bag looks like Min's bag of seeds! I'd be excited but Glip is never going to follow-through on those seeds, it's just not going to happen. I'm not falling for it.

And then it just stops! Strange. Not sure what to make of it.

I'm probably in the minority in that I don't mind the music too much, but I have garbage taste in music to begin with. When I'm summarizing one of the VNs though I do turn it off, I can't deal with it for that long lol. The songs with Glip's crying were definitely weird and uncomfortable though.

[onlyplatonicirl]

i have so many error hcs because he is the silliest billiest guy to ever exist

this is more so just a hc i have about like every glitched skeledude and that is they function a lot similar to like computers/robots if you get what i mean? like they are very strict about their logic and any deviation can cause them to break down, i.e. crash and reboot

since they can peer into the code they can also use it to their advantage, whip out a command terminal and ask it all the questions youve ever wanted too such as why is my ex wifeboy such an annoying bitch?

error is a glitch he lives outside the code, code is often translated in binary, if he lives outside that he is then nonbinary, although i like to think he throws the idea of gender completely out the window, agender error real and true

he can speak both english, spanish and french, spanish because he felt he needed to watch his novellas in the og language (subs not dubs) to properly understand them, and french because he was paranoid ink was insulting him to his fave whenever he spoke in french in front of him

my guy has no senses, his eyesight, more like eyeshite, taste? nope, bro eats tin cans for breakfast, hearing? also poor, try having a million people screaming in your head day in day out, common sense? certainly not

he does however have a heightened tactile sense, all errors/glitches do, in a meta sense i suppose you could say his hurtbox is slightly too big because he'll flinch and pull away if you get a bit too close to him

on that note, autism, all skeletons originate from sans and that man is autistic

he will burn anything containing he doesnt like so if you wanna get him some nice clothes for his birthday, which he does not at all recall the day it was (he choose 4/04 because it was funny), you better make sure it isnt crush velvet or sherpa

he gets very easily overstumulated because hes spent years in the antivoid which is a blank white void that is always silent and nothing ever changes, i swear to god cq this man is so autistic was this intentional??

needs glasses, refuses to wear them

cant really feel temperature differences, he'll rock his stylish socks and sandals in -10°C (im sorry im british)

a lot of his old memories from his life before he became a glitch are gone, or are incredibly fuzzy, it also doesnt help that he's lived for so long since that there are plenty of more memories he can pull from, so for error a lot of things are new to him, the first time ink showed him a bath bro was flabbergasted, stayed in there for 6 hours didnt even care the water was cold

he had a cat but yknow the anitvoid is uhhh a big open, endlessly infinite void of white nothingness so he kinda lost it, he cried for 7 weeks straight and still does everytime hes reminded

error starts with negative friendship points with everyone, doesnt matter if youve done nothing untoward him, he hates your guts

as much as he hates to admit it, hes picked up a lot of inks traits, and he tries desperately to do the opposite of everything ink does because god no he cant be like him hes annoying and weird and silly and kinda funny and cute?

i like error 😐👍

ALL OF THESE ARE SO REAL AND TRUE AND A LOT OF THESE ALIGN WITH MY OWN HEADCANONS!!!!

BUT THE CAT ONE...... OUGH...... AUGH........... THATS SO SAD................ waAAAAAAAAAA