#like really long post

[illusive-delusions]

let's speculate wildly about langdon's marriage, shall we!

a needlessly thorough breakdown of a single scene from 1x02 and what i think it might say about langdon, his addiction, and the state of his marriage

under the cut bc i get rambly!!

so a lot has been said about frank and abby's marriage based on the hints we get here and there in the first half of the season. i've even gone as far as saying they have a canonically bad marriage, which may be a little harsh, but i don't think anyone watching with a keen eye can say in good faith that the langdon marriage has been presented to us as particularly healthy or uncomplicated.

he works a physically and emotionally demanding job for long hours and mediocre pay, and we can infer that she either works from home or is a stay-at-home mom to their two young children. he clearly feels some measure of guilt about the way he preforms the roles of husband and father, trying to make up for his shortcomings with gifts and grand gestures, while ultimately being shown to be ignorant, almost to the point of contempt, of his wife's needs.

and this is all before we (and abby!) find out that he's been putting his life, liberty and livelihood in jeopardy with his substance abuse.

so, i think it's fair to say that we can expect langdon's marriage to be a significant point of contention when we pick back up for season 2.

of course, almost everything that we can say about abby langdon at this point is pure speculation. we haven't met her! we don't even get to hear her voice on the phone! we're only getting bits and pieces of this woman, mainly filtered through langdon's unreliable flawed perspective. so if we want something based in canon to say about the way langdon thinks about abby, his kids and his marriage, we'll have to look at some characters we actually get to see on screen.

we may not get to see abby and tanner, but we do have amanda and tyler:

(and also drew, but he's kinda whatever to my points here.)

tyler is the four-year-old boy from episodes 1 & 2 who comes in lethargic and unresponsive—mel asks for langdon's assistance on the case, and they find out that tyler is sick because he ingested some of his dad's pot gummies. this causes a lot of tension between tyler's parents, amanda and drew, who get defensive when they find out they've been reported to the department of children youth and families (pittsburgh's version of CPS/DCFS). the parents argue, robby breaks it up as the Voice of Reason, mel frets about potentially tearing apart a family, and langdon with his "fellowship in cynicism" argues (correctly) that they're white and therefore won't face drug charges or have their kid taken away. we find out later from kiara that tyler is going to be fine, but that his parents "might need counseling."

and the shift from hell continues!

(side note: i'd actually forgotten, but the STEMI with me, mel moment comes right on the heels of kiara updating mel about tyler!!)

so it's a relatively 'easy' case, and it comes very early in the season, the first time we see mel and langdon working together one-on-one. it's almost forgettable compared to everything that happens later, and it's only after what we learn about langdon's addiction that the last scene with tyler and his parents starts to feel thematically important.

basically, langdon's reactions in this scene are really interesting.

it all starts normally enough with mel and langdon updating the parents on tyler's status, and answering amanda's questions about the potential long-term affects of THC on her son's brain. on my first watch, i was mostly attuned to mel, and her reaction (that langdon totally clocks!!) to amanda's derogatory worries about her son getting autism. but on rewatch, it's what comes next that really stuck out to me.

langdon starts the interaction very polite and professional with both parents, but when amanda gets upset about the mandatory reporting, he immediately gets very defensive, taking on almost the kind of tone we later see him use on santos. he starts talking to her like she's crazy, escalating the situation and making amanda even more upset. he even reaches out in a kind of placating move and she tells him to keep his fucking hands off her, leading to this shot:

which. yes. is the basis of this whole post. but come on. this isn't zoomed in by me, this is the shot as it appears in the show. a mom justifiably angry about her husband's drug use and the way it's endangered her child, juxtaposed against a defensive langdon's wedding ring and the bracelet from his own four-year-old son. you could write a fucking thesis on this shot alone. i mean, i basically am. but never mind.

and langdon's reactions to amanda only get more tense when she starts going off on drew, telling him to stop speaking for her child and that he needs to "get a fucking hotel."

look at the way this is blocked! poor mel is running off to get help, but the guys in the background are framed together in opposition to amanda, and they're both looking at her like she's crazy. in fairness, she is very much freaking out here, but she's also scared for her son, she no longer trusts her husband, and she's just been told that the police may be getting involved. langdon doesn't know it yet, but he's getting a little sneak preview of what his night with abby is gonna turn into!

and when robby comes in to play moderator and calm everyone down, langdon is again alone in the shot with amanda, making a series of increasingly freaked out/guilty expressions as she tells robby that she wants to stay with her son instead of her husband because she doesn't want him around:

patrick ball's acting in this whole scene is so subtle and nuanced as langdon low-key wigs the fuck out in this situation. he is visibly shaken after everything goes down and has to physically psych himself up to get back in the game as robby leaves.

so much about the way this is shot, acted, and edited feels vitally important to langdon's characterization in retrospect. and the defensive way he reacts specifically to the woman in this situation leads me to believe that, at least in the immediate aftermath of abby finding out about everything, langdon is gonna be a fucking nightmare. and while i don't think it would be fair to assume that abby is gonna react exactly like amanda does in this situation, i do think the similarity of the names (abby/amanda & tanner/tyler) and the fact that the boy is the exact same age as langdon's son does invite us to draw a comparison.

long story long, i love that while we get to see first hand how langdon's addiction makes him react defensively and lash out at santos and robby, the show also gives us this glimpse into how langdon and his wife will react to his addiction becoming public in his domestic sphere.

[teru-mobbu]

Living with Shige (Teru special!!!)

Teru has a complicated relationship with his mom, as one does, confusing feelings, he wants to be protected but he doesn't want to leave with her, he wants someone to take care of him but he doesn't remember what its like to be taken care by other people

He is trying his best to not let Mrs Kageyama know anything, he is saying as much information as to explain but as little as to not say anything that would get him in trouble

Things that didn't make the cut: Teru has a step dad, he has no idea abt his dad's whereabouts

Fics that inspired this one!!!

Shots by Phia: this one made me CRY its so well written and it has permanently changed how i see teruki hanazawa, the way I cried in the middle of the night when I had work the next day is not something im proud of, but also not something im ashamed about

A Pair of Parents (or lackthereof) by @toastytoaster22 (BECAUSE WHEN DO I NOT sorry toasty i keep tagging you on things): WHEN I TELL YOU omg holy sheet this and many of toasty's works are the reasons why i am obsessed with Mrs Kageyama, she is an intriguing character for me and the way Toasty gives her depht makes me just *throws myself to the floor* oh lord

MOM by @tsukish11ma : I dont have enough words to describe the appreciation and respect I have for this series, do you ever see someone you know in a fanfiction the way i see people i know in the way Teru's mom is depicted on the MOM series, for better or for worse, this fic made me empathize with a lot of people in my life and sometimes i lay awake at night thinking abt how Mother will end lmao

If you like my work with Living with Shige I HIGHLY encourage reading through all these wonderfully written works, show them all your love!!!

Sorry for tagging everyone aaaa

[cherrytastiq]

Time Squad Character Analysis #2: Lawrence "Larry" 3000

Hi again! I'm finally continuing this series of analyzing the TS main trio. This time it's the Larry 3000, Cartoon Network's sassiest robot and the only character that's made me believe the network execs didn't bother watching Time Squad after the first episode. More on that later.

Backstory

Much like Tuddrussel, Larry's full backstory isn't really discussed in the show and is only referred to in throwaway lines, though we can get a rough sense of his life before the show.

The only mention of Larry's early life and childhood is in Monty Zuma, where he explains the first 9 years of his life were spent in a pitch black warehouse. No other information is known about Larry, like his model manufacturers or if he was even built on Earth.

Larry mentions his past diplomatic affairs multiple times in the show, like escorting Queen Jezebel III to a costume Halloween gala or being an assistant to presidents, a part of his past that he's very proud of. From the way he recalls the memories it's almost like part of him wants to go back to the "good old days" back when he was surrounded by etiquette and class, instead of being stuck as a janitor slash cook, basically working for a manchild. Look no further than in Tea Time, where he calls the fancy tea party "a refreshing change of pace".

One specific figure resurfaces multiple times in Larry's memories, that person being a Senator Fiskmeyer, whom we never get to actually see in the show.

He and Larry were presumably very close, to the point Larry felt comfortable enough to play pranks on him, and Fiskmeyer gifting the robot a golden set of golf clubs for helping out with negotiations.

It's basically impossible to pinpoint Larry's exact age, but there's a few hints that suggest he is a very old model, since his job as a diplomatic assistant / ambassador could only exist prior to Earth's political unification which made his services obsolete (see Larry Antique Theory).

Before Otto joined Time Squad, Larry describes his experience working solely with Tuddrussel as a "nightmare", since he's not programmed in the subject of history and Buck is the less than ideal time cop. It's always struck me as odd that Larry wasn't taught anything about history considering he's meant to be a diplomatic assistant. I figured knowing about world history could help a lot in negotiations between countries so you can at least know the context behind wars and sociopolitical states, but I guess whoever designed Larry thought it wasn't a big deal. Speaking of his coding, he's known to be programmed in a couple things, including etiquette, culture, all known languages, and apparel composition and design. Why they made him knowledgeable in fashion but not history is beyond me.

Freud's psychoanalysis

Freud describes Larry as suffering from "acute self doubt, which makes him passive aggressive, manipulative in nature[.]", all traits that Larry actually displays in the show. Another analysis has already touched on this, but Otto and Larry are both verbal manipulators, with the robot (kind of ironically) relying on emotions to get his way. As for him being passive aggressive, just watch any episode where he complains about something.

Larry and Otto

I've talked about this before but Otto and Larry is my favorite character dynamic in the entire series due to how much it grows throughout the show. In the first couple episodes, Larry sees Otto as little more of a nuisance, some kid from the 21st century they shouldn't have picked up, just another mouth to feed and another mess to clean up after. He finds his general presence and curiosity annoying and dismisses him, especially while he's working.

Although, even in these early episodes Larry isn't completely irritable. He shows Otto the Milky Way galaxy in Blackbeard and they go shopping together in ancient China in Confucius, both activities sans Tuddrussel. I wonder if Larry's more affable when he's not around the big oaf?

It's only a few episodes later when something really shifts. Maybe Larry realized how polite Otto is, or maybe he saw how many missions they've succesfully completed ever since the kid's been part of the team, but by Tea Time he's happily making scrambled eggs for Otto (this cements him as the cook of the trio, something that we'll go further in depth later).

From here on out the two only get closer and closer, to the point of replicating a parent-son relationship. It's damn cute. Larry takes care of Otto when he's sick in Floundering Fathers, they go shopping in Ancient China again in Kubla Khan't, and he joins forces with Tuddrussel to get some gifts for the little guy's birthday.

Also, this exchange from Kubla Khan't. I love this show.

Somewhere along the road both Larry and Buck recognize Otto as a kid they have to take care of rather than a coworker. Larry is no patron saint, though. He ignores Otto in Father Figure, abandons him in Hate and Let Hate, and his retelling of the mission in Thrilla' reveals he finds his infodumping annoying.

Other things to note: In Ivan the Untrainable, Larry mentions he had to 'fail Otto in nuclear physics', implying he home-schools him, and even goes as far as to teach him subjects fit for his intelligence rather than the standard 3rd grade academic curriculum. Otto also loves mirroring Larry's movements and general mannerisms from time to time, and is eager to learn about Larry's interests, like learning how to sew or curtseying.

THE MACARONI ARTTTTT

I could go on about Larry and Otto forever, so let's move on to the next relationship dynamic.

Larry and Food

Yet again, another wonderful analysis already discussed this at full length, but I feel that it's important I mention it here. I heavily recommend you check it out! Seriously, read Larry and Food: A Love Story.

One of Larry's main interests that becomes an integral part of his personality is his love of food and cooking. Despite this, he has no functioning mouth and no real way to enjoy food. He's programmed to be deeply involved with human culture yet he can't fully experience it due to his physical limitations. Therefore, the dissection argues, Larry's cooking is his way of communicating his own needs and emotions onto others and to manipulate how others feel.

Larry and Buck

Where do I even begin with these two. Okay.

Larry and Tuddrussel's relationship flip flops between work buddies and married couple, that is, one that's about to file for divorce. Larry detests Buck. He hates how filthy and unkempt he is, his immaturity, his bad manners, how brutish he is and how he never appreciates Larry's efforts to keep the Satellite running. He loves insulting him through passive aggressive remarks and, unlike Tuddrussel, Larry rarely shows fear towards him, aside from the times he gets physically hurt (or threatened to be hurt) by the big oaf.

Yet, despite this, despite all the hatred he holds for him... Larry finds himself desperately in need of him. Though he'll never properly admit it, Buck's presence in the Satellite gives Larry something to do, a change in routine from the computers and mission logs.

Larry is stuck in a constant battle with himself, sometimes wanting to apply for a transfer so he never sees Buck again, and other times getting so jealous he concocts an evil plan to sabotage a meal between the man and his ex-wife just because they were getting along again.

Speaking of Ex, it's a fan favorite for a reason. It's so late into the show that Mark Hamill's influence on the character had transfomed him from an annoyed ex-diplomat to an effeminate housewife suffering from one-sided love/hatred. How these lines got past the network censors still baffles me along with everyone else in the fandom.

God that turkey is still disgusting no matter how many times I watch this scene why did he do that

His jealousy gets cranked up to 100 in Ex, proclaiming Tuddrussel as "his" and accuses Sheila of trying to "take him away". Even at the end of the episode when the misunderstanding is clear, he is still mad at Tuddrussel despite him doing nothing particularly wrong, and tells him he's "sleeping on the sofa" that night.

More things to note... Remember how Tuddrussel has Texan heritage and likes to act and sometimes dress like a cowboy? Larry has a semi-confirmed cowboy fetish. He's presumably the one who dressed Cleopatra like a cowgirl in Shop like an Egyptian, one of his clones flirts with Tuddrussel in what is basically a gay robot nightclub in Day of the Larrys and he finds being a cowboy fun in Billy the Baby. Either Tuddrussel awakened something within him, or the big guy simply reinforced what was already there.

Sidenote, in Billy the Baby Larry takes the role of the comic relief, becoming uncharacteristically stupid. Something about that cowboy outfit turns him into a bimbo.

The show loves treating the two like a married couple, from Buck referring to Larry as "the old ball and chain" in Larry Upgrade to Freud becoming their couples counselor in Horse of Horrors. While Buck has hearts around him when seeing Cleopatra, Larry has hearts around him when seeing Buck in Thrilla', albeit this only being Buck's vision.

Other relationships

The only notable relationships Larry has with secondary characters are XJ5 and Lance 9 Trillion, the two other robots shown in Time Squad. Lance is Larry's celebrity crush; he asks for his autograph and generally looks up to him. That's about all there is to say about the two.

As for XJ5 and Larry, I've always struggled to define what their relationship is like. They act like petty rivals, and XJ5 loves critiquing Larry's lack of technological gadgets and antiquity. Even still, they find middle ground in Ex since neither of them want to see Sheila and Tuddrussel back together (possibly for different reasons).

Yes Larry is gay and camp

The more you rewatch Time Squad, the more you realize just how much the writers (and Hamill) flanderized Larry as it went on.

Series co-writer Carlos Ramos describes Larry as "nothing but fetishes", and he's absolutely right! Larry might be a robot programmed in etiquette, but deep within him lie some more... risqué interests.

He loves dressing up in feminine clothes and doing effeminate activities like foo-foo cooking, putting on makeup (something Buck recalls in Monty Zuma), manicures, books meant for young adult women featuring glamorous women and provocative romances (Danielle Steel and Jackie Collins are his favorite authors) and sewing. He's apparently been called a sissy "his whole life" so take that as you will.

Larry's buttons

Okay this is a bit of a jokey section but hear me out. Larry's chest panel and buttons are sort of like his... cleavage? Nipples? He's embarrassed when Otto opens up his chest in Daddio DaVinci (how did he know he could do that?) and exclaims "Excuse me!" when the kid tries picking up a radio signal.

Genuinely what is his problem

Final Thoughts

Did you know Larry calls Buck quequi in the Mexican dub, a nickname so convoluted I made a chart for it?

Larry sends me into a blind rage. I can't write any more about this robot it's killing me. Bad Girls by Donna Summers is ruined. Because of woke.

[theglamorousferal]

So if you’re new to the Danny Phantom fandom whether that be because you have joined us via a crossover, the new graphic novel coming out or just somehow got hooked into this fandom there are a few things you should know.

90% of content you will see is purely fanon lore.

I’m gonna divide this into two different sections, going over what is canon and then the most common things from fanon.

So if you go by the show, we have at least three different kinds of ghosts. We have ones like the Fright Knight who is a spirit formed from the feelings and beliefs of people surrounding the thoughts of Halloween and we have ones who were once humans like Sidney Poindexter and Desiree. There are also some who are the product of two different ghosts like Box Lunch. We technically also have the Ancients, but we don’t know anything about them except that they existed many years ago and then they enclosed Pariah Dark in the Sarcophagus of Forever sleep.

We know that a high concentration of ectoplasm introduced very quickly can causes human to turn into a half ghost. This happened with Danny at least 3 times, and the accident Vlad had (as well as Jack in an alternate timeline). Danny was changed twice by the portal and then once by being blasted by a bunch of ectoplasm.

In canon, the Fenton parents are very loving parents with just a bit of absent mindedness to them that leads to them missing the obvious signs that something is up with Danny. Every time in the show that he is exposed to them, he is accepted by them entirely. Even when in an alternate timeline where his parents never got together, he is accepted by them.

In canon, Jazz started out not knowing how to help Danny, Tucker and Sam, but it is shown in the show that she trains to be better later on. She still calls the ghosts by things she designated them as though, not how they would like to be called.

In canon, Vlad is awful. He regularly tries to Hamlet the main character. He tried to ruin/kill Jack to get with Maddie and make their kids his kids many, many times. He cloned a child, gaslit the clones into thinking he cared for them and then planned to melt them down to have his “perfect son”. In canon of the show, Vlad is not redeemable. (This sorta changes a bit in the graphic novel, but it’s a toss up whether that is actually considered active canon or if it’s its own canon now.)

In canon, Tucker is a genius after he was forced to sit through 12 hours of study programming. In canon, he is the reincarnation of a Pharaoh. He can speak a made-up language, Esperanto, and can hack into nearly every piece of tech he comes across.

In canon, Sam is obsessed with all things goth and so has tomes about magical beings and artifacts. She is athletic and is always ready to throw down. She only has plant powers in the episode “Urban Jungle”.

Now onto the Fanon, at least the most popular headcanons that I have come across.

The most common thing among the fandom is that Danny is half-dead. Some have him a ghost possessing his own corpse. Some have him be Schrodinger’s boy. Some have him have lower vitals or just no vital signs altogether. He is said to have died and not come back all the way or right. Common things have him be cold to the touch, a lower heart rate, and him forgetting to breathe entirely.

Probably the second most common headcanon is that Danny is the Ghost King after having fought and defeated Pariah Dark in single combat. Ways he takes the throne are varied, everything from him being forcibly put onto the throne and unable to go to the human world, to having to name Jazz or Maddie as regent until he reaches either human or ghostly majority, to him taking the throne but it being more of a figurehead thing. Most stories will have him have a plethora of titles and names he goes by. Along with this he now has a lair inside the Zone, most have him taking over Pariah’s Keep and some do have him have his own new lair.

Another popular headcanon is Ancient of Space or the Balance Danny (going with AGIT, the balance actually is now canon). These lead to things like Danny having an eldritch form. Something that is obviously “other” and hurts to perceive.

Both of these result in an OP Danny and probably around half of them will have him stuck at 14 and/or functionally immortal.

Another very common DP headcanon is Bad Fenton Parents and that their research caused the GIW’s formation. Alongside that come the most common type of fic you will come across which is where Danny has been captured by either the GIW or his parents and then is vivisected. Majority of them will have him vivisected by his own parents. Many of them will have them be varying levels of neglectful, from just not noticing things about their kids to straight up forgetting they were there and Jazz having to take care of them both.

In most fanon, the GIW are actively trying to genocide an entire species. This is closest to a canon thing considering that they did try to nuke the GZ, which would have resulted in their universe also collapsing. The things that some people write/draw for the atrocities the GIW and Bad!Fentons are things that I bring up to my therapist frequently. Be prepared for descriptive gore.

There are a few characters that have spawned in fanon that are widely accepted as canon characters now. The main one is Wes Weston along with his brother Kyle. Wes Weston was a background character that we see for about 3 frames in one episode, but he looked similar to Danny and had green eyes and the fandom latched onto that. It started out with someone claiming the A-listers would think that Wes is Phantom because he’s athletic, had the same build and green eyes. From there, the fandom has decided that he also is the only person to figure out that Danny was Phantom and tries frequently to expose him. Kyle Weston is Wes’ older brother, in the same class as Jazz and he doesn’t believe that ghosts are real and is played for gags a lot.

Another major piece of fanon lore is ghost cores. This stems from a remark Frostbite said talking about Danny’s core temperature and the fans took it and ran with it. In fanon there’s all kinds of different types of ghost cores, usually an element or an aspect of existence. Many have Danny possess an ice core, in some he has a space core. Others take his “death” into consideration and believe him to have an electric core. Commonly people have Vlad have a fire core. Usually cores are an orb that a ghost can retreat into to heal. If the core is shattered, the ghost is ended and no longer exists in any capacity.

Similar to cores is obsessions. These are essentially the purpose of the ghost, their drive and purpose. Skulker’s is hunting, Ember’s is recognition etc. Most give Danny a protection obsession, but will sometimes give him a space obsession.

Something that has gained traction in the last few years (to my knowledge mostly since the pandemic) is liminality. Liminality is where people are contaminated with ectoplasm due to overexposure or ingestion of it and it gives them ghostly abilities. Different people have liminality give people different abilities. Some have glowing eyes, lengthened canines and pointed ears. Some have enhanced senses, strength and speed as well as extra durability. Some have eyes that reflect like a cats and night vision. Some even go so far as give them at least one of the major ghostly abilities.

How someone becomes liminal differ depending on if the writer wishes to have it just be main characters or if it’s the entire town. If it’s just main characters then usually their frequent exposure to ghostly things as well as close proximity to it makes them liminal. For the whole town people will usually have the portal give off essentially radiation or when the town was pulled into the GZ be the cause.

Frequently Sam, Tucker and to a lesser extent Jazz are given extra abilities. Sam usually has residual powers from her time possessed by Undergrowth, Tucker usually has some form of techno Nancy and Jazz usually has some sort of empathetic ability, if not that she get’s the basic extra strength, speed, durability and senses.

There are some lesser known ones that should at least be mentioned in case you come across them. One of those being ghost hunger. This is where ghosts or liminals thirst for ectoplasm similar to how vampires thirst for blood. Another common thing is that ghosts socialize by fighting. That most of the fights are ghosts greeting the baby ghost. The last thing is that the main characters are known as Team Phantom.

I’m probably going to think of more later and I’ll post when I do, but this is the basics that I could remember on the fly. I hope this helps people!!

[greyvear]

How Zillion Zeutron Works

Or, as @ilovefreedelahoya put it "CENTRIFUGAL FORCE".

Buckle up, because this is a long one.

Disclaimer: I am just a random lady on the internet who just so happens to want to get a doctorate one day- take my amateur physics knowledge with a grain of salt.

Anyway, without further ado, let's begin.

First, what do we know?

When Zac The Masked Blader introduce he says this "As soon as the metal balls in Zillion Zeutron move, its centrifugal force builds up and intensifies!" (Beyblade Burst English Dub S01 E25)

This brings us to the question - what is actually centrifugal force, and what exactly does it do?

Well, it's...not real. Kind of.

Centrifugal force is actually a bit of a math trick, and to first understand it I have to introduction inertia.

Inertia is the thing that you feel when making a sharp turn in a car and your body kind of wants to keep going in the direction you were moving before. Things with mass move the way they were going before (in, say, a straight line) until an outside force acts on it (like a car seat and seat belt making your body turn).

Centrifugal force is, more or less, the name for inertia in the specific case where something is moving in a circle. It is a force that can be inserted into the math when things are changing direction to explain that push you feel in the car. Or, near as I can tell, what's pushing Zillion Zeutron's metal spheres towards the outside of the energy disk.

The centripetal force (in case you were wondering) is an actual and real force direction towards the center of the circle for things moving in a circle, and what actually makes them move in a circle instead of a straight line.

Was that just a bunch of word salad? Yes.

But, near as I can tell understanding centripetal force isn't necessary for understanding Zillion Zeutron (at least not this part of it. It's helpful for understanding beyblade as a whole) so we're going to move on for now.

But what does all this mean? Do we have a classic example of TV getting physics wrong on our hands and Zillion Zeutron being a nothing burger in terms of CENTRIFUGAL FORCE? To be honest, I'm not quite sure. At the very least, I'm pretty sure the centrifugal force is what's making the balls move, so that's at least something. And it's possible that the centrifugal force is doing something (or appearing to do something) fancy that I'm not able to see/understand. I won't write that out.

But, Zeutron is actually doing something much, much more interesting with those silver metal spheres.

It's changing it's rotational inertia

But, this is already obnoxiously long, so I'm gonna get back to you in a part two.

Works Cited:

Byju's. “Centripetal and Centrifugal Force - Definition, Examples, Differences.” BYJUS, 2019, byjus.com/physics/centripetal-and-centrifugal-force/. Accessed 8 May 2025.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "centrifugal force". Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/science/centrifugal-force. Accessed 8 May 2025.

[jevilowo]

I have an idea for an Omari Au

Instead of being a roleswap where Mari kills Sunny, it's like. Canon divergence.

So canon happens, Mari gets mad at Sunny for screwing up the song and throwing his violin down the stairs and Sunny accidentally pushes her. BUT! She doesn't land on the violin.

Basil still took photos and is still like "omg you killed Mari quick let's do an overcomplicated plan where we pretend she hung herself" and Sunny still goes along with it. But while they're setting up the noose, Mari wakes up.

She still got a massive bang on the head, but she didn't land on the violin so it wasn't fatal. She sees Sunny and Basil carrying her but she doesn't really know whats going on so she just mumbles their names. The two boys fucking PANIC and drop her and lowkey have breakdowns over how she isn't dead and oh my god we nearly actually killed her.

They drop Mari and Sunny tells Basil to go back inside and call an ambulance while he watches Mari, who in the meantime went unconcious again. Sunny sees the noose, still swinging there and he feels nothing but guilt over what happened.

On the spur of the moment, he decides he should punish himself. After all, he nearly killed his perfect older sister who did nothing but love him unconditionally. He hates himself.

He wonders what it would have felt like for her, and before he's processed what he's doing he's stepped up on a box and put his head through the noose.

He doesn't actualy mean to kill himself, but he slips off the box and the noose does its job. Mari comes to again, and what she sees of Sunny's hanging body from her angle on the ground becomes her Something.

When Basil sees what happened, he fucking skedaddles in panic. He has no idea what to do. So he does nothing.

Eventually the ambulance arrives and takes Mari and Sunny away.

Mari spends the three years Sunny spend hiding in canon in a coma. She had dreamspace explained to her enough by Sunny, and as the last things she saw were her brother, dreamspace kind of takes over her mind.

She still plays the role she did in canon: supporting from her picnic rug while the others go on adventures. In canon, Mari tries to make Sunny forgive himself, and in this Sunny is trying to make sure Mari stays oblivious to what happened as she doesn't remember and hate him.

However, Mari wakes up in the real world after the three years and that's where things start Occuring.

I haven't actually beaten the game yet myself (my puted deleted my progress when I was in Sweethearts Castle and I haven't felt like putting in another 6 hours since) but when I do (or watch a playthrough) I can develop further.

The dream before she wakes up is the same as canon, except as it's from Mari's picnicy POV the player doesn't see much. It's kind of similar to White Space in canon, Mari just roams between a toy piano, a computer and Mewo and there's a few cutscenes where she wonders why she's confined to the Picnic. Basil disappears (she sees this in like a vision sort of thing) and then she wakes up! Gasp!

She wanders her room in the hospital for a while, picks up an oversized syringe and even heads out into the corridor, but she's stopped by a nurse and she falls unconscious again.

Mari is still stuck at the Picnic back in the dream, saying nothing and smiling while her friends and Sunny talk (yeah he gets to talk here lol) about how they're going to help Sunny surpass his fear of heights, and then she's left alone again.

In this, whenever the party aproach a canon save point, the Picnic blanket crumples up with Mari and her things inside it, and it's dragged through a tunnel of sorts before popping out at the save point.

So on her second night, she decides to use her syringe to cut through the blanket and she does. She holds onto Mewo and the basket so while the blanket rolls off, she still has the cat and the ability to save her progress.

I'm not entirely sure what goes on from this point, but it likely involves Mari going on her oen adventures in these mysterious areas below the Headspace, maybe even having Stranger join her party at some point so they help each other figure out what's going on.

At the end of every night, Mari emerges from the tunnels and is found by her worried friends who take her back to the playground and she wakes up

The secon time Mari wakes up, Hero visits her in hospital where Kel did in canon, and he offers to sneak her out so she can see everyone. Really he's just desperate to talk to her again, and she isn't saying anything now and he thinks going outside may help. I'm thinking maybe he started interning at the hospital over the summer if he still was forced to go to medical school, and so knows how to sneak her in and out.

Like I said, not sure what happens from here but Basil feels even more guilty from contributing both to a death and a serious accident, Aubrey hasn't dyed her hair yet (she's waiting for Mari to wake up first) and Mari still doesn't say anything. She's amnesiac to be fair, and only remembers who Hero is from her dreams.

This whole au thing was inspired by me thinking about Mari as a character. We barely know anything about her other than that she was the perfect sister/girlfriend/mother figure to everyone. Maybe that's why she was a perfectionist. She was seen to be so perfect all the time and felt pressured to act that way.

Sunny's entire life revolved around her, they always spent time together and she's the reason he had friends in the first place. But what if Mari wasn't 100% fine with this? She loved her brother, sure, but maybe she just wanted something that was just hers. Not her boyfriend's, not Aubrey, Basil or Kel's and not even Sunny's.

Thus, the piano, and subsequently the recital. She got to be on her own for five minutes every day doing something she enjoyed (...to an extent, she got very frustrated when she fucked up) while her parents were forced to actually pay attention to Sunny for a while.

It's implied they were quite neglectful (didn't see Sunny drowning that one time, was away from the house long enough that the stairs and hanging incident went off without a hitch) and I'm sure this only added to Sunny's clingyness to Mari.

Which was why he got so upset that he couldn't spend time with her every second of every day when she started up with the piano. I'm not villainising him, obviously he was just a kid with neglectful parents, but I am saying that maybe he overreacted a little. Mari couldn't have been spending hours and hours at the piano everyday and even if she was he still had his other friends like right there, and he'd have more time with her after the recital.

So of course when he got upset and their friends started pointing it out Mari was all but obliged to include him somehow. Thus, the violin. And, perhaps, just a little resentment on Mari's end.

The violin that Sunny kept missing notes on. Mari was better at the song because she had practiced for longer, but it was easy to forget this when it kept happening. Over. And over. And over. And...

Eventually the resentment built up. Sunny was going to ruin her performance, the one she had put so much effort into practicing. Was he even trying?!

And so they argued, the violin was thrown, Mari shoved Sunny and he shoved back and–

We all know what happened.

So yeah the au idea came from my long long train of thought. Hope this ramble makes sense lol.

Oh yeah I'm thinking I might call this au like Kyojakuna (infirm), Konsui jōtai (comatose) Yowai (fragile, frail) or some variant bc Mari isn't a Hikikomori she's literally just stuck in hospital lol.

[lestatslestits]

i would love to hear about your 24 copies of the wind in the willows if you feel like talking about it

Anon, I don't think you understand how much I want to talk about this.

I'll start by saying, this order may or may not be a bit confusing, mostly because I'm attempting to group editions together in a way that makes some sort of sense.

Roughly, I'll group them as follows:

Annotated Editions

Vintage Editions

Mass Market Paperbacks

Other Paperbacks*

Small Hardcover Editions*

Other Hardcover Editions*

*Not including editions shown previously

Finally, this will not include abridged editions, retellings, or books that adapt small segments of the text

This is going to be a long post. There will be photos. I'm putting the rest under a cut!

Annotated Editions

I own three separate annotated editions

The Annotated Wind in the Willows, annotated by Annie Gauger

The Wind in the Willows: An Annotated Edition, annotated by Seth Lerer

The Annotated Wind in the Willows: For Adults and Sensible Children (Or Possibly, for Children and Sensible Adults), annotated by GMW Wemyss and Markham Shaw Pyle

These account for a total of six copies, because I have doubles of each of these editions so that I have a "clean" copy and one where I can write my own notes. Currently, I've only managed to add my notes to the Gauger edition. Here's an example of my personal notes (forgive my handwriting, I was having issues with my pen)

The Gauger edition uses illustrations from multiple illustrators, as well as historic photographs. Additionally, this edition has segments on Grahame's life, including copies of the Dearest Mouse letters (the letters that Grahame wrote to his son, Alastair, which eventually formed the basis for Wind in the Willows). The Lerer edition used Ernest Shepard's illustrations, and the GMW Wemyss/Markham Shaw Pyle edition is un-illustrated.

As an aside, I purchased the other two online, but the Gauger edition (well, one of them) was a gift from a dear friend.

Vintage Editions

These copies were all printed prior to the mid 1960s.

This is my most fragile copy. It was printed in 1926, by Metheun (the original British publishers of The Wind in the Willows). I got this edition online from someone who didn't quite seem to know what it was (the listing mentioned J.M. Barrie as the author). I know very little about this edition, but there is an inscription inside that reads "To Jacky, from Elspeth - 1926." This gets a little interesting because Elspeth was the name of Kenneth Grahame's wife, and she was very much alive in 1926. Will I ever know if this edition was given to someone by the Elspeth? Probably not. Examples of her handwriting that I've been able to track down have been very minimal. But it's certainly an interesting thing to daydream about!

I own two (non-annotated) copies with Ernest Shepard's illustrations. Both of these were published in the early 1960s. The first one you see is an ex-library copy that I bought at a Friends of the Library book sale. It was described as being from the first edition with color illustrations, which is hilarious because 1) the illustrations are not colored in this edition and 2) there were at least two other illustrators prior to Ernest Shepard whose illustrations were in color. I nearly ended up in an argument with an elderly lady over this, but I bought it anyways.

The other does have several colored illustrations, which are lovely (originally, Shepard's illustrations were black and white, but later some full color illustrations were added. In my experience, you see the full color illustrations much less regularly). I got this edition online because, at the time, I did not have a Shepard edition.

Ernest Shepard is better known as the illustrator for the Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A. Milne.

The copyright date on this Thrushwood edition is listed as the being from the 1910s, but the inscription is from 1948. I love to purchase copies with inscriptions (or even just the scribbles of kids) inside. This is another edition that I purchased online.

As a note, this edition is illustrated, but I did forget to take a picture of the illustrations. My apologies!

This is another edition from the 1960s. This is my newest (to me) edition, which I purchased online. It was illustrated by Arthur Rackham. This edition has by far the loveliest inscription I've seen (and is the primary reason I bought the book).

My dear Susie, If you like this story one half as much as I do, it will still be your favorite book. Merry Christmas kid. Love, Karen

Mass Market Paperbacks

These are some mass market editions I've acquired over the years. Most of these were purchased from used bookstores, although the Dell Yearling Classic edition was a gift from a friend. The Tor edition has by far one of my favorite blurbs ever.

They're just strange little guys!

Other Paperbacks

This is an edition that I bought online. This particular edition is illustrated by Patrick Benson, who also illustrated the series The Willows and Beyond by William Horwood. This edition has an introduction by Horwood as well, so they definitely feel like a set.

This is a fun one! It's an Illustrate Your Own edition. I bought this one new for obvious reasons. I have doodled in it a bit, but I'll spare you my own drawings.

I got this edition last year from the Strand Bookstore in New York City. This was my first trip to NYC and I looked for The Wind in the Willows in every book store I visited! This cover is one of my favorites: it appears embroidered on the front, and on the inside of the cover you get the messy "back side" of the embroidery. This is such a fun edition and one I had wanted for a while before I found it in a store!

Small Hardcover Editions

I got the top two editions from used bookstores, and they don't have any major illustrations in them. The edition on the bottom came from Barnes and Noble, and it features Nancy Bernhardt's illustrations. Bernhardt was an early illustrator (pre-Shepard!), and her illustrations were very unique (and often a little strange). I prefer her smaller black and white drawings throughout the book, but the full color illustrations are fascinating!

Other Hardcover Editions

And finally, here are some of my very favorites. These are all hardcover editions that I find particularly beautiful.

This edition was illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith. I love the classic feeling of the cover. There are smaller sepia-toned illustrations, as well as some absolutely unique full color illustrations like the one pictured above. It's one of my favorite illustrations in the book, and one of my favorite illustrations of the chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn." I would kill for a print of this particular illustration. I got this edition at a local bookstore that is no longer in business.

This edition was illustrated by Robert Ingpen, and it's the first edition I really fell in love with. I'm actually not always a fan of illustrators who draw Rat as very mouse-like (more on that below), but Ingpen's illustrations are so beautiful and feel so rich and warm. In particular, Ingpen probably has my favorite illustrations of Badger. I believe this was the first edition that I purchased! (I don't have an exciting story for how I purchased this one, it honestly came from Amazon because I had been given a gift card).

And finally, this edition is illustrated by Chris Dunn. I got this one through a Kickstarter that I funded. I had been dreaming of an English language edition with Dunn's illustrations for years, you have no idea how excited I was when this Kickstarter was launched. Dunn's illustrations are so unique because he is one of the only illustrators who very clearly and distinctly illustrates Rat as a water vole. Although Ratty is called The Water Rat throughout the text, he's actually a water vole, and that often gets lost in modern contexts. Dunn's illustrations are absolute favorites of mine, and this edition is so extremely special to me. It's massive and absolutely gorgeous.

And that's it! I own a LOT of books related to The Wind in the Willows (including a first edition of First Whisper of The Wind in the Willows, a book created by Elspeth Grahame after her husband's death). But going over ALL of my Wind in the Willows collection would make this post even more impossibly long than it already is.

Thanks so much for the ask! I hope you enjoyed this tour and that it's not completely overwhelming or boring.

[p1dge]

What if...

He always had more than one curse.

Sure, the canary curse was bad, Jimmy was tired of always dying first and getting mocked for it. Of getting called a Canary. That curse affected him, and him alone, in ways that other people could never understand.

But maybe that's why he never realized They really liked picking on him. His other curse never affected him, so why would he care?

Why would he even know?

He never sticked around enough as a ghost to see the effect his death would have on his allies.

He never sticked around enough to see them loose their minds.

Let me explain...

It all started back in 3rdLife when Scott lost his mind and became extremely vengeful after the death of his husband. He wanted one thing and one thing only: make the people that killed Jimmy pay for it. He wanted Skizz dead; and Skizz dead he got. He wanted Ren and Martyn dead; and dead he tried to get them. But he failed.

He himself said that Joel would have most likely failed when trying to take on the two alone, even with his army of dogs, so he decided to help him.

But when Joel died he didn't give up. He still gave chase to Martyn.

And he died.

And he gave it another try. Alone.

He knew that was a foolish idea, and yet he went to try and retrive his stuff, ready to fight them if needed.

Then was Martyn's and the Southeners' turn.

The group didn't stick together after he and Mumbo died one right after the other.

Impulse and Grian rarely passed by the Southlands, but Martyn didn't leave.

Martyn never found the strength to leave.

He still voiced Mumbo's intros and kept the joke going even if no one was there to see it.

He stayed there, acting as if the only ones to not be there were the two other people still alive.

He talked to the ghosts of his friends.

Then came Tango.

He was somehow lucky enough to be spared from loosing his mind.

After all the Canary dragged him down with him.

But that didn't stop him from waiting for Jimmy in the after life, knowing he wouldn't come.

When it came to Joel in LimitedLife it was evident that something was severely wrong.

He was already inclined to losing his mind when reaching his red life, everyone knew it. But that time he was way more reckless than he usually would have been.

Recklessness is one thing. Stupidity is another.

And exposing himself to the rest of the server during a fight, in a desperate attempt to get more time was definitely stupid.

And now it's Martyn's turn all over again.

Which is funny if you think about it.

None of his previous allies were foolish enough to closely ally with Jimmy again. But he was.

He allied with Jimmy again and he's loosing his mind again.

He already lost his mind.

He can't stand hearing the other players laughing about his allies' death. And you could think: but who could?

No one, of course. But doesn't his reaction seem a little too... extreme? Even for the one who decided to turn on his own ally back in Limited Life to win?

Back there he had a reason to act the way he did. He wanted to win. But now? Now there's no actual reason other than wanting to avenge his ally.

And at that comes the question again: wasn't his reaction a little too extreme?

[kheprriverse]

Yes, please. We all desire to hear more! More yappy equals more happy c: I crave more knowledge.

In an older comic you have, you noted eclipses did stuff as well (I think it was a Lunar?). Do those still apply?

I thought it was pretty cool kdnrkskjf

Fhekdbdkdnens tyyyyy I’m very glad! I love yapping so much but force myself to shut up because I can just Go and Go. My friend and partner can both attest to this, they’re usually my ground zero for my brain vomit.

Below the cut will be the answer! I will do my best to organize since this’ll be a two-part answer. One being the continued yapping from the last ask, and the other will be the eclipse stuff.

-> In an older comic you have, you noted eclipses did stuff as well (I think it was a Lunar?). Do those still apply?

Here's the comic in question, which referenced an oldish idea I had where Ko'jin's hair would change based on the phases of the moon, this one being during a lunar eclipse. It was when his hair used to be darker and greyer, so the changes would be a little more drastic. But I'd love to keep the idea anyways. (also a cool little fact, Moon's tears does the same thing, so you'll see his and Ballad's earrings change based on whatever his hair is doing.)

The glow in his hair is more rainbowy now and the color shifts involuntarily, which was originally for a super moon I just ended up liking the vibe so much that I made it his default.

So I'm gonna use this ask as an excuse to mess with the idea more and do some sketches! Mostly because I'm not sure if I ever shared the og sheet when I first made it before that comic was posted.

(These aren't really accurate ko'jin-length hair but that's okay)

Originally, in some of his older art (including his ref that i STILL use), his hair is darker by default because the brightness would reflect the moon itself. So new moons his hair was a much darker grey and full moons it was a near-white to blue. But I like the default white and rainbow he has now :>

Also the lunar eclipse one almost looks like his hair when he was younger which is my favorite thing, but it ALMOST resembles this idea I was playing with where he's attuned to a different element, just... orange-er. I'll figure smth out, I have a lot of cool ideas regarding moon phases and element attunement and... ough. He makes my brain spin (in a good way).

The only way moon phases would have an actual affect on him would maybe be when he's stronger during full moons and super moons and weaker during waning and new moons. I can see weather maybe getting in the way as well and maybe the colorful glow goes away during those sorta moments.

Anyways I need to shut up about this so I'm going to go on about the other topic from my previous ask, since y'all wanna hear me yap like an insane person.

-> The Garden.

In the previous ask, I talked about Ko'jin's role as a deity falling closer into "protection and guiding of spirits". I explained there that many people seek his protection in the afterlife. Or kind of explained it. But I also mentioned that its not actually seen what happens and that I wanna go further into what the serpent does and how it ties into the au overall.

Ko'jin has access to a realm known as "The Garden", or that's what he calls it. It's not his realm, nor is it his domain (his domain is the moon), but it's a realm introduced to him by Hylia who did have much easier access to it and often used it to see the future, past, and present at all times.

The Garden is a vast, seemingly endless realm dotted with gigantic trees that also just seem to endlessly grow above the clouds. His knowledge on its purpose originally came from stories other deities gave him. Like Demise's reminders to him that all of history is stored in these massive trees, that everything dies and is recorded and reused -- a constant cycle fueled by the earth's energy.

Hylia never really shared much with him vocally but was the one who gifted him access to experience it himself and he learned very quickly that it felt similar to the woods he grew up in and for good reason. Much like the garden itself being connected to the earth, so is the enormous tree near where he grew up, using it to access glimpses of the past in the region.

So he decides to bring his findings to Demise (his mentor-like figure at the time) and compare notes. He comes up with: -> There are more giant trees and its likely they all connect to the same network, like a brain. -> All energy, magic, and events of the world in the reach of these trees are stored and moved into The Garden. -> The Garden archives everything as "memories" and returns filtered energy back to the giant trees. -> The giant trees return the filtered energy back through the earth.

This includes spirits! Ko'jin acts as a ferrymen to lost spirits unable to pass through and into the garden where their memories can be stored and then their energy ultimately reused.

Anyways I spoke enough I think. So here's a couple screenshots of a test sketch regarding a crossover scenario that featured both the moon serpent and my monhun Link, Nayim, that also showed off The Garden. (some of these will be edited or cropped funny since their out of context)

I kept asking myself how Nayim or the main group would react to either world, so I had a whole 15-page comic sketch of a "nayim finding himself in loz hyrule"

Also happens to have sketches showing a good size comparison for how big the serpent is supposed to be so have these for fun.

[decibelcoatl]

Healing Scarred Hearts - Part 2

Read on AO3

At last, the long-awaited Part 2 of this little fic. Be warned, this is a suuuuper long one, much longer than what I'm used to!

--

The past few hours had been a blur for Vanilla. Her mind replayed those images over and over, even as she stomped down the alleyway with little to no direction, recalling everything that had happened up to that point.

After the first battle against the Belenos, everyone took it upon themselves to assess the damage. According to Hax, the Exo-Taranis did sustain some damage, but not enough to be completely destroyed. This was all in part due to the former Supreme Commander-turned-AI converting all of the tank’s energy to its near-impenetrable shields.

As for the children themselves, they were all still alive for the most part, with only a few suffering some minor headaches that went away with time. But the worst of it came in the form of Vanilla’s injury, which was a nasty burn wound on her right shoulder. Kyle had taken it upon himself to dress the wound as best as he could, albeit the process was painfully slow.

Once the Exo-Taranis had finished its self-reparation, it made its way to the port town. The next airship to Mau wasn’t scheduled to arrive until tomorrow morning, so the children had the whole day to kick back and relax, and just be themselves – just be the kids they were.

Well, except for Vanilla.

The experience had left her in physical pain, and with her injury the way it was, she was practically confined to the dormitory until her injury healed completely. Mentally, she wasn’t much better off, either. Every time she fell asleep, she found herself surrounded by fire and wrecked cars, with many dead bodies littered everywhere around her. Some of the fire had left her with older scars that burned both body and soul…scars that would remain with her for the rest of her days.

It was a nightmare that always ended with her waking up in the middle of the night, screaming loud enough to alarm the rest of the kids. But the night before, it had gotten exponentially worse to the point where she barely got a single wink of sleep, hence why she ended up looking the way she did today.

It was Sheena who had volunteered to keep a close watch over her, checking up on her every now and again to see how the older Felineko was doing. But the instant Sheena was out of sight, Vanilla had quietly and quickly slipped out of her bunk and made her way out of the Exo-Taranis.

She hadn’t expected to run into Kyle, Jin and Britz on her way out, which was why she had stomped off in anger. But when she recalled their brief conversation, she took notice of the pained expression in Kyle’s eyes, like he knew what it was like to lose someone close to you.

What did he know, anyway? They barely knew each other anyway.

Tears pricked at her eyes, and she wiped them off. She would have plenty of time to mourn later. Right now, she needed to collect her thoughts so that would finally avenge her father’s death.

“Vanilla! There you are!”

At the sound of her name being called, Vanilla spun around to find Kyle catching up to her. The cream-coloured Felineko bent over to catch his breath for a moment. Then he straightened up and took a deep breath of air. Had he run all the way over here? No wonder he had quite the low stamina.

Not that it matter to Vanilla anyway, especially as she turned her back to him.

“I thought I told you to leave me alone,” she grumbled.

Kyle crossed his arms in a huff. “Well, I’m not,” he retorted. “After what happened, there’s no way I’m losing anyone else. Plus, we all agreed on the buddy system for when we’re in a port town. So, until we get back on the Taranis, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me for the time being – whether you like it or not.”

That much was true. About a year ago, during the war between Gasco and the Berman Imperial Army, the children (including Hanna) had arrived at a village close to the outskirts of Shetland. Mei had accidentally wandered off by herself in the markets and wound up lost. She was so frightened that she ended up bawling her eyes out; it took the combined efforts of Malt and Hanna to find her and get her back to the Taranis. From then on, everyone had agreed that they all be paired up with at least one other child so no one else would have to go through that horrifying experience again.

Vanilla threw back her head in a groan. “You are so stubborn sometimes,” she hissed. “I can handle myself, so stop following me and just leave me be, alright?” She then turned on her heel to march further down the alley.

“Vanilla, please wait!” Kyle reached over to grab her shoulder in an effort to stop her. He was immediately greeted by a pained yowl.

Too late, he realized that he’d accidentally grabbed her injured shoulder, and he quickly withdrew his arm just mere seconds before she lashed out to smack it away, claws unsheathed. After inspecting his wrist to make sure it wasn’t badly scratched, he looked at Vanilla. There was a wild look in her eyes as she clutched her burned shoulder again, huffing.

“Shit! Vanilla, I’m so sorry,” he said. “It won’t happen again, I promise. But you still need to rest so your injury is better.”

“No, I don’t!” Vanilla shot back. “Just…stay out of it, will you? I’ll do what I want, no matter what you say or do!”

“Maybe so, but you still need to—”

“NO!” Her tail lashed back and forth. “I’m not going back just to sit there while more people get killed! Gasco is my responsibility, my duty, and if I fail…” She shook her head to compose herself. “I really thought I finally had some kindred spirits – those who actually acknowledged how I felt!”

“Of course we acknowledge how you feel,” Kyle said. “We all do. But—”

“Well, apparently you don’t!” she interrupted.

“Vanilla…” Normally, Kyle would consider himself fairly patient with girls. But this tornado of a girl was really starting to get on his nerves, and his patience with her was growing thin.

“I thought you would understand,” she continued to rant. “I thought Malt did, too! He knew what it was like to lose someone close to you! I thought he would click with me…”

She choked out a bitter laugh. “Guess I was wrong, after all.”

Kyle’s paws balled up into fists, and his tail lashed from side to side as he felt his anger bubble up in his chest, threatening to erupt. Yes, Malt was hellbent on avenging Hanna, but in his defense he was in the wrong state of mind at the time. Vanilla, on the other hand…she was simply blinded by her desire to avenge her father’s death.

All this talk of revenge and senseless killing…it was wrong, absolutely wrong. Vanilla might not have realized it, but she was destroying herself mentally…and maybe physically, too, if she kept going down that dark path.

“Besides, I don’t care how wounded I get,” Vanilla spat. Tears of frustration burned her eyes, with small droplets crawling down her cheeks. “Jihl took away my father…the one person I loved…and no matter what you say or do, I won’t rest until he’s—”

“You’re not the only one who’s lost a loved one, you know!”

Vanilla jumped back, startled by Kyle’s sudden outburst. She obviously wasn’t expecting him to snap at her, never mind cut her off!

“…What?”

“You think you and Malt are the only ones who lost someone they were close to? Well, guess what – you’re not,” Kyle berated her, tail now rapidly lashing from side to side. He glared at her with eyes like twin gold fireballs, even as they began to grow wet with tears. “I also lost someone I loved for three years! And yeah, I know that’s not a lot of time to get to know someone, but dammit that person was the one reason – the ONLY reason – why I kept fighting, and will continue to keep fighting until my last breath gives out! Don’t get me wrong, I’ll never forgive Jihl for taking that person away from me, but as much as I want to punch the bastard’s face in, I’m not going to just straight up kill him out of some petty revenge bullshit! No, I’m going to honour the memory of my loved one and fight to create a better future for all of Gasco – one where no one else has to suffer – because I know that’s what they would have wanted!”

He gasped and panted as soon as he’d finished his rant, allowing the tears he’d held back to flow freely down his cheeks as shuddering sobs wracked his body. After so long, all the pressure that had been building up inside of him – his heartbreak, his grief, and all his other emotions he’d kept bottled up for who knew how long – was finally released.

Vanilla remained silent as she watched him cry. In the short time since they’d been acquainted, she might have seen him down in the dumps after Hanna’s passing, barely speaking a word. To see him completely break down like this, crying and sniffling, huffing and hiccupping…was completely new, to be honest.

“S-so don’t…” Kyle choked out, wiping his face with the palm of one paw. “Don’t assume…I don’t know…w-what it’s like…to lose someone y-you loved…okay?”

He continued to weep a little more as he let more of the tears fall down. Then, taking a deep breath, he wiped away what little was left of his sadness before looking back at Vanilla. His eyes were still red, but the tears from before were gone, leaving behind slight tear tracks that would eventually fade with time.

“Besides,” he said with a shaky breath. “We just learned that Hanna’s still alive, and that means that it’s likely she’s in the Belenos with Jihl. And if that’s the case, then there’s still a chance of getting her back!”

Vanilla remained rooted to the spot, speechless. If this was any of the other kids talking to her like that, she would have yelled and complained. But for some odd reason, she found herself falling silent around Kyle. Could it be because he had a way with speaking to girls that none of the other guys had? Or was it…?

Finally, she shook herself out of her daze and spoke up. “Do you really think Hanna is somewhere in the Belenos?” she questioned. “What if it’s just your mind playing tricks on you?”

Kyle shook his head. “I don’t think she’s in the Belenos,” he answered. “I know.” He clasped his paws over his chest, feeling the beating of his heart as it thrummed gentle tune. “I can feel it in my heart – she has to be in there. I don’t know why, but…something tells me that if we can find a way to convince Jihl…”

“Find a way to convince who now, pretty boy?”

Both Felineko felt chills race along their spines at the sound of a menacing male voice. They turned around to find three thugs – two Caninu and one Felineko – approaching them, all sporting malicious grins on their faces. They weren’t all much older than them – Kyle guessed that they were likely in their mid to late teens.

“Sorry to break up your sweet little moment,” continued the Caninu thug in front, the source of the menacing voice. “But if you’re gonna convince anyone, then maybe you should convince your girlfriend to hand over all the change she’s got in her pockets.”

“S-she’s not my girlfriend,” Kyle stammered, his face bright red, though it did nothing to mitigate the dangerous situation at hand.

“Uh-huh,” the Felineko thug scoffed. “With the way you were actin’ all mushy n’ shit, she’s definitely gotta be your girlfriend. Now, how ‘bout you tell her to pay up, and then you. Unless you both wanna suffer the consequences.”

Vanilla felt the blood in her veins turn to ice. There was no way she was going to fight all three thugs at once, especially not in her current condition, and she wasn’t sure if Kyle was up to the task either.

It was at this moment that Kyle stepped in between her and the thugs, holding one arm out to try and shield her. Though he did his best to give a defiant glare to the thugs, his body language betrayed the fear he was really feeling.

“Vanilla, go,” he whispered hoarsely. “Run!”

“No,” she hissed back. “I’m not leaving you here!”

Even with the surge of panic tearing at his heart, Kyle was more concerned about Vanilla’s safety than he was of his own. No matter what happened, he had to protect her! “Please, just go,” he told her again. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

Despite his pleas, Vanilla still remained rooted to the spot. Yes, it was brave of Kyle to try and ensure her safety, but it was also foolish of him to try and take on all three teens at once. After all, he was one of the best machine gunners behind only Britz, and part of her knew that the crew needed his skills if they were going to get back at Jihl…and possibly rescue Hanna, if Kyle was right about her being in the Belenos.

There was only one thing to do.

Without even thinking, Vanilla reached out to grab Kyle’s wrist before turning to flee. She ignored his surprised yelps as she half-dragged and half-ran with him down the alleyway.

“Oh no you don’t,” snarled the lead thug. “Let’s get ‘em, boys!” At his call, all three thugs roared as they charged after the two Felineko children, hellbent on tearing them to shreds.

With Kyle hot on her heels, Vanilla weaved around the alleyway as her mind raced with limited options. She knew they couldn’t lead these thugs to the Exo-Taranis; there was a chance that they could take the entire crew as hostages if she did. And who knew what would happen if they learned about that accursed Soul Cannon that slumbered within its base, its aura intensifying every time they approached the Belenos?

A sharp bolt of pain struck her shoulder, cutting through the fur, muscle and sinew that connected the joints. She let out a yowl of pain as she collapsed to the ground, accidentally taking Kyle with her.

“Vanilla!” As if on instinct, Kyle wrapped his arms around Vanilla before twisting his own body, ensuring that he’d take the fall instead. He grunted as he landed with a hard thud, his spine meeting the concrete floor, while Vanilla’s weight crushed the remaining air out of his lungs.

“Kyle?!” Vanilla immediately rolled off of Kyle, landing safely next to him, before kneeling over him. Much to her relief, he was still alive, albeit winded from the impact. He continued to lay on the floor, wheezing and sometimes coughing as he tried to get his breathing back to normal.

A series of low chuckles drew her attention behind her, and she saw the thugs closing in on her. The thug in the center drew a metal bat from the belt around his waist and rapped it against his open paw.

“Well, well,” he sneered. “Looks like your pretty-looking boyfriend ain’t gonna get up anytime soon. But since neither of you are willing to cooperate, I’m afraid we’re gonna have to take a few drastic measures. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it goes by quick and painless.”

No…please…

Tears flared up in Vanilla’s eyes, constricting her throat to the point where she found herself unable to speak at all. Her legs and arms felt like jelly, rendering her unable to move.

All she could do was curl up into a fetal position, bracing herself for the inevitable. She didn’t notice a shift in movement to her right as someone slowly and shakily rose to their feet.

Father… Mother… I’m so sorry…

 The lead thug raised his bat and brought it down, ready to bludgeon the girl…only for a pair of cream-coloured paws to block the attack. The Caninu’s eyes widened as his cockiness was replaced with shock. “What the—?”

Vanilla’s ear twitched and she opened her eyes to find a new scene unfold before her. Standing right in front of her was Kyle, still winded from the earlier impact, but still able to stand up for her. There was a fiery spark in his eyes as he glared up at his opponent.

“First off…” Kyle huffed. “It’s not nice to hit a lady… And second…it’s going to take…a lot more than some fall…to knock me out…”

Vanilla’s heart fluttered in her chest. Even despite taking blow after blow, whether fighting thugs or shooting down Berman Geists harassing villages, Kyle was still willing to lay down his life to protect the very crew who was like family to him.

“Oh really?” the lead thug scoffed. “We’ll see about that.” He then pushed his bat further, pressing it hard against the Felineko’s paws.

Kyle clenched his teeth and winced as he felt the weight of the metal bat against his paws, trying to bring him down to his buckling knees. He knew he didn’t have enough muscle to ward off their assailant compared to Jin, Malt, or even Boron (heck, right now, he was wishing that one of them were here).

But what these thugs didn’t know was that Kyle’s petite frame didn’t mean they got a free pass in underestimating his inner strength. Which is exactly what they did.

Feeling a sudden burst of adrenaline enter his veins, Kyle gripped the bat and wrenched it away from him before yanking it forward. The lead thug yelped in surprise as he was dragged towards the Felineko. Right as his opponent was within arm’s length, Kyle whipped around and thrust his leg back, kicking the lead thug square in the gut. The teenage Caninu doubled over, wheezing, before collapsing in a heap.

While the other two thugs were distracted by their leader, Kyle took the opportunity to drop the metal bat with a clatter. He then scooped up Vanilla in his arms and dashed down the alleyway. Vanilla was much too stunned to protest this action, still trying to process what had just happened. But once she regained her composure, she looked up at him with wide blue eyes.

“Get back here, you little runts!”

Kyle’s ears swiveled at the voice of the other Caninu thug as he and his buddy tore their way down the alley after them. He knew he physically couldn’t take them both on, and he was already expending his energy from that swift kick he’d delivered to their leader as well as running away with a girl in his arms.

Another alleyway cut into his path, leading him to more options. Turning on a dime, he picked the left corner, wincing as he nearly twisted his ankle. Luckily, he didn’t need to run any further; the path he’d chosen was littered with discarded cardboard boxes – the perfect hiding places for two petite Felineko children.

Thinking quickly, he set Vanilla down on the floor, making sure she was lying down. Then, he went and rummaged through the stockpile of boxes, trying to find one that would fit them both.

“What are you doing?” Vanilla demanded, more confused than upset.

“Hiding us both,” came the cream Felineko’s answer as he pulled out a cardboard box that was big enough to hide them both. “Lie flat on your belly, and don’t move a muscle.”

Vanilla opened her mouth to protest, but closed it shut again, knowing it was better to trust his judgement than to protest. Besides, she was only wearing a temporary outfit, and it wouldn’t be long before she was back in her usual attire again. Doing as she was instructed, she crouched down, keeping herself flattened as best as she could. She watched as the box slowly came down on her, with Kyle lowering it until it covered them both.

The box turned out to be a perfect fit, if not for the…awkward position they were in. Kyle had one arm draped across Vanilla’s backside, with his other paw covering her mouth to try and keep her quiet. One of his legs was seated right between both of her own, and his tail brushed against hers ever so lightly. He willed his own body, flattened belly-down on the floor, to keep deathly still as his breathing slowed to a crawl.

They kept their ears pricked upward as the sound of footsteps came closer, shrinking against the floor even further as the other two thugs arrived.

“The hell…?” growled the Felineko thug. “I was sure those runts took off over here. It’s gonna take forever just to lift all these damn boxes.”

“Then you’re obviously not checking hard enough,” the Caninu thug shot back.

The sound of someone sniffing filled the air, and Kyle internally cursed himself for letting his fear show itself despite keeping calm. He was pretty sure Vanilla was thinking the exact same, too.

“They were definitely here,” the Caninu thug continued. “I can smell it. And when I get my paws on them, I’m gonna flay them alive – starting with that red-haired prince!”

Kyle bared his teeth in a soundless growl, ears pressed flat against his skull. I’d like to see you try, asshole, he thought.

Vanilla, on the other hand, was clearly in a state of panic, even despite her efforts to lie still. Sensing her fear, Kyle gently moved his free paw onto her back, making small circles between her shoulder blades. It was a technique that he’d watched Hanna perform whenever one of the kids – usually the littlest ones – woke up from terrible nightmares and needed to be calmed down. She would have also sung a lullaby, but in this situation, Kyle knew he couldn’t do such a thing. Not when there were two teens that could potentially be armed to the teeth and ready to assault him and Vanilla.

Still, the circles on her back alone did the trick to soothe Vanilla, calming her nerves as she relaxed her body.

“What if they ran to get some backup,” Kyle heard the Felineko thug ask his companion. “Or worse…someone from the Gasco army?”

A momentary pause.

Then…

“Shit!” the Caninu thug exclaimed. “If those brats really were looking for one of those Gasco soldiers, we’re screwed!”

Another pregnant pause followed.

“Screw this,” the Caninu thug continued. “Those two small fry weren’t worth our time anyway. Let’s regroup and find someone else’s ass to mug.”

Kyle and Vanilla remained silent, their ears still pricked as they listened to the footsteps starting to get fainter – a clear sign that the teenage thugs were already starting to finally leave the alleyway. But neither of them had the chance to breathe a sigh of relief when the footsteps stopped, followed by what sounded like someone turning on their heel.

“Hey, Princey,” came the Caninu thug’s voice (Kyle winced; he hated being called “Princey”, or anything related to his former nickname “Prince of Paresia”, really). “I know you’re still here! I can smell you and your precious girlfriend’s fear, after all! But I just want you to know that we’re sparing you both for today!”

“We’re also gonna let you know that if we ever see either of you again, it’ll be lights out for ya – permanently,” added the Felineko thug.

Vanilla’s face blanched at that remark, but kept herself still, remembering that this was a life-or-death situation at this critical moment. If she made any sudden movements, their position would be given away, and it would be all over.

Kyle, on the other hand, was still laser-focused on any more of the thugs’ activities. He held his breath as his ears swiveled for any more noises. He heard the thugs’ footsteps getting quieter and quieter, their voices barely audible.

Eventually, however, he couldn’t hear anything anymore. Still, Kyle knew he couldn’t relax just yet, in case the teens decided to double back.

Seconds stretched into minutes. Minutes stretched into hours.

Only the collective sound of his and Vanilla’s heartbeats filled their hiding spot.

Finally allowed to breathe for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Kyle let his body relax. He leaned over to bury his face into the back of Vanilla’s neck as he removed his paw from her mouth, allowing her to breathe as well.

Vanilla immediately turned to face him, eyes blazing with annoyance as she prepared to give him quite the tongue-lashing…only to pause as she realized two things.

One, he seemed to be quite tuckered out, especially with the sudden burst of adrenaline from earlier.

Two, he was practically (and partly) on top of her, putting them both in a very awkward position. To make it even more complicated, as tempting as it was to shove him off, there was a very small part of her that wanted them to stay that way, if only for a little while longer…

“Hhhhhholy…fuck!”

Vanilla’s ears shot up with surprise. Sure, in the short time they’d gotten to know each other, she had learned about how much of a sailor mouth Kyle had – probably the most out of everyone else. Even Jin was a very distant second.

But to hear him drop the F-Bomb, regardless of how hushed it sounded…that was completely new, altogether!

“Sorry,” he followed up, his voice sounding rather meek in tone. “Picked that one up from a couple of adults a long time ago.”

Ah. That made sense.

Vanilla glanced down at Kyle’s free paw, noticing the way it laid on the ground. Without even realizing what she was doing, she slowly reached over to take it in one of her own, ignoring how clammy it felt. A slight blush formed on her cheeks as she felt him return the gesture, intertwining each other’s fingers in a way that neither of them wanted to let go.

They stayed that way for a while, just the two of them in the presence of one another. Neither of them were willing to get out of the box, nor move a muscle, nor even speak.

Finally, however, Vanilla decided to break the silence.

“Um…I appreciate what you did back there, but…” She blushed as she glanced down. “Do you think you could get off of me?”

Kyle’s ears perked up and followed her gaze. The instant he realized the situation they were in, he immediately scrambled off of her, face red-hot with embarrassment. Unfortunately, this only resulted in him unceremoniously landing on his side. Vanilla giggled as she rolled over on her side, where she ended up facing him.

For a moment, not a single word was exchanged between the two Felineko underneath the box. Once again, it fell upon Vanilla to speak up.

“How did you do it?”

Kyle blinked. “Do what?”

“What you did back there. You didn’t look like someone who could pack quite the kick.”

Kyle averted his gaze. “Ah, that. Jin taught me some self-defense moves about a year ago. He told me that they’d be useful in case I ever needed to protect a very special someone in my life.”

A slight blush formed on Vanilla’s cheeks. Well, that certainly made sense.

Without even realizing it, she reached out to take one of Kyle’s paws with her own, ignoring how clammy it felt. She felt him stiffen a little, thought he didn’t dare budge. Feeling a bit bolder, she slowly laced their fingers together.

When she looked up, she found herself staring down at two golden orbs – like twin suns that warmed her to her very soul. Their noses were close to the point of rubbing together, so close that if Vanilla actually leaned in, she might as well have kissed the breath out of him.

Except Kyle seemed to have other plans. Reaching out with his other paw, he wrapped his free arm around her back, pulling her close to his chest and cause the blush on both their faces to intensify.

Nary a word was spoken between the two of them; instead, they opted to let their intertwining heartbeats do the talking. Kyle continued rubbing small circles between Vanilla’s shoulder blades, while his tail wrapped securely around hers.

“It’s too dangerous to be alone,” he murmured half to himself. “I learned that firsthand when the Berman first attacked Petit Mona. I was really scared back then…and I’m still scared now. But I’m not going to let my fears take control of me, no matter what. And I won’t let Hanna cloud my judgement. If you want to fight for Gasco’s future, I’d suggest you do the same. For everyone’s sake, please…don’t let your vengeance for your dad go to your head.”

Kyle…

Vanilla buried her face in Kyle’s chest even further as she squeezed his paw, letting his words sink in. For the first time ever, reality hit her like the Belenos’s Sun Cannon blast: for all her bravado as the daughter of the president, she was also an 11-year-old girl all alone in an unfamiliar port town. Far away from the safety and comfort of her second home, and that of her family…or, at least what was left of it after the Taranis’s initial rampage.

Her only form of solace was that she was tucked away in an alley with someone she could trust…and who was willing to lay down his life for her. Just the thought of it was enough to warm her heart, if only a little. She nestled herself in Kyle’s arms and relaxed, feeling safe in his embrace. She hoped that they would have more moments like this for a long time to come.

Kyle, on the other hand, was beginning to have clashing thoughts and feelings – not just in his mind, but also in his heart. One part of him thought Vanilla was cute…no, more than that, she was just downright beautiful! He hoped that she’d be just as beautiful once she reached adulthood.

Yet, another part of him still pined for Hanna. More than ever, he wanted to be the one to save her…to hug her without it being weird, to hold her paw every day, to hear that sweet singsong voice that made his heart flutter, to kiss her gently and softly, and just tell her—

But first, he had to save her.

And he would do it with the help of Malt, Vanilla, and the rest of their friends.

He didn’t realize how long they’d been lying there until a feeling of discomfort entered him. Releasing his hold on Vanilla, Kyle rolled back onto his stomach and reached out to tilt the box upward just a crack.

The alleyway was practically empty, with nary a soul in sight. Kyle tilted the box further upward, noticing that the sun was already on its way to the horizon. How much time had passed by?

After doing a double-check, and then a triple-check, he finally removed the box and placed it on its side. “All clear,” he whispered, turning to Vanilla. As he did, however, he noticed that the girl wasn’t moving. His visage was riddled with worry at first, until he noticed the way her chest rose and fell.

Relief washed over him. It looked like Vanilla had fallen asleep some time ago.

Well, being the gentleman he was, Kyle certainly wasn’t going to just leave a lady like Vanilla to sleep on the cold, hard pavement.

Dusting off his waistcoat and pants, Kyle slowly moved to scoop up Vanilla and hold her like a princess. In the process of doing so, he felt her head snuggle up to his shoulder, while her arms snaked themselves around his neck, holding on tight. His cheeks flared up, but he was able to compose himself as he began walking back to the Exo-Taranis.

It was a relatively short walk, but it felt like an eternity, especially with Kyle constantly having to look behind his shoulder in case any of the thugs sprang out to jump him and Vanilla again. Luckily, however, he couldn’t detect anyone else, and he made it back to the Exo-Taranis in one piece.

As if to accentuate that luck, Sheena was standing guard outside, cradling her doll Bleuette in her arms. As soon as Kyle was within sight, she smiled and ran over to greet him, the pads of her bare paws barely making any noise.

“Thank goodness,” she said. “I was really worried when Vanilla left on her own.” She frowned. “Are you two alright?”

Kyle let out a sigh. “Yeah, we’re fine,” he answered. “Vanilla got herself all tuckered out, so I’m going to take her back to the dormitory, where she can finally get some proper rest.”

Sheena’s frown deepened further. “She’s not the only one who needs rest,” the younger Felineko commented, reaching out to gently take one of Kyle’s paws and examine it. Kyle didn’t realize it until now, but his palms had some big bruises on them – red and slightly swollen from him blocking the lead thug’s metal bat earlier, but nothing that a little bit of gauze couldn’t fix.

Kyle didn’t retract his paw, opting to avert his gaze instead. Finally, he let out a sigh, knowing it would be foolish to argue with Sheena. “Alright, alright, I’ll go and rest up myself, then.”

He grinned. “But promise me you’ll wake me up as soon as you’re ready for me. I can’t wait to see what new outfits you’ll come up with once Britz returns with the fabrics.”

Sheena smiled shyly and blushed at the mention of Britz, opting to bury half her face in Bleuette’s hair. She led Kyle back on board the Exo-Taranis, where the latter Felineko immediately headed for the dormitory.

The dormitory was practically empty, and the others wouldn’t be back yet. Kyle took this opportunity to put Vanilla in one of the lower bunks, underneath where Chick and Hack usually slept (as evidenced by their discarded helmets), and rolled her over to her side before tucking her in. Afterwards, he took out the first-aid kit and took out a roll of gauze, carefully wrapping it around his swollen paws the way Hanna had taught him.

Once he was done with his paws, he then took off his shoe and sock and examined his ankle. Thankfully, it was only a little bit sore, with no sign of a sprain. Relief washed over Kyle as he proceeded to rub the sore spot, massaging the tender muscle until it was better.

Yet, despite his basic knowledge of first-aid from the books he’d read with Hanna, there was not a single medical advice that he could receive on how to heal a broken heart.

He rested his forehead against his knee as tears blurred his vision, with a few drops landing on the floor. He missed Hanna so much, and cared for her as more than a friend. He had wanted so badly to confess his feelings for her, and had nearly wasted everything.

But now, there was still a chance to get her back, to save her. Like he’d told Vanilla earlier before, if he could find a way to talk to Jihl, then maybe…just maybe…Jihl might have a change of heart, and return Hanna to the crew. And maybe then, Kyle might finally get his opportunity to actually tell her how he truly felt inside.

A series of soft grunts broke into his thoughts. His ears perked up as he turned around to find Vanilla still sleeping. Upon closer inspection, however, he noticed that her face was scrunched up as a frown creased it. Her paws gripped the bedsheets as her breathing became shallow.

“No…please…” she whimpered, her voice quiet.

Remembering what Hanna had done to soothe him and the other kids of their nightmares, Kyle immediately crammed the first-aid kit back in its place before rushing over to Vanilla’s bedside. He then turned her over so that her back was facing him, and began gently rubbing small circles between her shoulder blades, just like he’d done before.

This time, however, he decided to sing that lullaby Hanna used to soothe the other kids. Admittedly, he was always anxious about singing in front of other people, but if it meant calming Vanilla down, then he had to do it – for Hanna’s sake.

You stare towards the endless sky

Now you have just cried

What you hold in your clasped hand

Is the single petal of a flower

He felt Vanilla gradually start to relax. The lullaby was working its magic, as it had done a year before, but Kyle knew he couldn’t stop until she was fully asleep. No matter how much his chest tightened with his ever-growing anxiety. He continued on, the melody filling the dormitory like a soft spring breeze.

The gentle wind that blows

Wipes away your tears

In this endless scenery that you have seen

I’ll live on forever and ever

And if the world should come to an end

I’ll become a flower and snuggle up to you

He felt Vanilla slump back against his chest, having finally calmed down and gone quiet. His cheeks began to turn as red as his shirt while his heart hammered in his ribcage. That was certainly unexpected…but also not unwelcoming.

Still, as tempting as it was to lay Vanilla back down, something in the back of his mind told him that he couldn’t just leave her all alone in case she had another nightmare. Besides, Sheena did advise him to get some rest as well, did she not?

Without much else to do (and without a lot of other options), he gently laid Vanilla back on her good side before proceeding to take off the rest of his footwear. He then crawled into the bunk so that he was facing the blue-grey Felineko. As he had done before, he took one of her paws into his own, lacing their fingers together, while his other paw rested upon the small of her back, bringing her closer to him. As he did, he felt his heart beat in double-time, his feelings for Hanna clashing with his newfound feelings for Vanilla once again. He mentally pushed them all down, knowing that his heart belonged to Hanna…at least, that’s what he thought.

Still, it didn’t stop a nagging feeling in his mind, telling him that there was still something he could do – something that wouldn’t make him feel unfaithful to Hanna.

Composing himself, he wriggled closer to Vanilla until his chin brushed against the crown of her head. He bit his lower lip, knowing that there would be no turning back, before leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead.

The act seemed to have the desired effect, because the next thing Kyle knew, he was suddenly pulled into an embrace as Vanilla’s free arm wrapped itself around his neck. The cream Felineko’s face and even his ear-tips became a brighter shade of red, his body turning stiff like he’d been turned to stone as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. After a while, he felt her melt into his arms, and he relaxed shortly after before resting his chin atop her head. He gently rubbed circles onto her back, soothing the girl even more as she drifted off to sleep, a deep purr rumbling in her throat.

As he drifted off to sleep, Kyle found himself wishing that he’d be cuddling like this with Hanna. Just hold her in his arms, give her featherweight pecks on the forehead or cheek (or even on the lips, if he was bold enough), and listen to her purrs as the two of them slept. But for now, this would have to suffice. Until Hanna returned, Vanilla would be here to keep him company. It would take a while for the scars in their hearts to fully heal. But as long as Kyle and Vanilla had each other, that alone was more than enough for them.

[mizziix]

Yknow what I can use this blog for whatever I want so I'm gonna ramble about my WoD oc's

So I got two big ones rn. That's a lie I actually have like half a dozen owod mages and equal that number awakening mages with a smattering of others but yknow these two are new.

Both of these characters were made in a free form server that allows for high power characters, so that's how I got away with any of this if you're wondering. DM me if you want an invite, it's public

The first one I got is Andrei Nichols, a 7th gen Lasombra. His backstory is that he was embraced some time around the last turn of the millennium in Scandinavia. He did a bunch of shit in the following 600 years like secure the Sabbat's hold on Scandinavia and become an Abyss Mystic but none of that really matters because in the 1600's he was captured and sealed inside a pillar of jet black granite and obsidian glass. It had a habit of bleeding.

This pillar of bleeding obsidian was passed around various Tremere chantries in Western Europe for a couple of centuries, until a mishap in the 1800's sent the thing sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Andrei Nichols, for his part, is aware of precisely none of that. As far as he is aware, the seawater rotted away the stake in his heart granting him consciousness again, he drifted onto the shore of Jewel city in 1982, and that's where his life began. With no memory, no connections, limited ability to speak english (read: none), and no resources for himself, Andrei's introduction to Jewel City unlife was rather uneventful. Andrei spent a good number of years just fucking hiding, feeding from people in back alleys and picking up scraps of language from stalking people. Sticking to back alleys and shadowy underbellies, he learned the language fairly quickly and made limited contact with some of the kindred of the area. Knowing what he was but not where he came from, he was introduced to the culture of the area and allowed to fend for himself. So, he took a job as a waiter to get by, renting an apartment next to an abandoned construction site. In recent time, he's taken a liking to the place, wandering its abandoned halls in his off time and exploring the basement. The fact that things have gotten ever darker there so far hasn't set off any alarm bells.

He's so fun to play because he's just A Guy. He's uninvolved with politics, works odd jobs as a night shift waiter, and is by most accounts normal, but at the same time is a supremely powerful abyss mystic Lasombra on the fucking Road of Kings, but still none of that registers to him, he is only himself. If you pointed out all the eldritch horror that surrounds him, like the fact that nobody else lives in the empty burnt out apartment building he lives in, or the fact that the shadows near him constantly writhe and his eyes foretell doom and decay... he'd be confused. Like, all of it just doesn't register to him because That's Just Normal. He *could* go for a power play and get power, but... he's got rent to pay. So, who cares?

The other fun angle is, being an entirely self indulgent character, he's friends with a number of mages. The main place he works at is essentially a magical femboy hooters run by a Euthanatos Archmaster. This leads to a lot of fun philosophical talks and some very interesting developments in his own Abyss Mystic practice. Namely, I wanted to have some fun approaching the idea of Mage from another splat's perspective. Mages deal with the idea of consensus fairly regularly, the idea that the world isn't actually what it seems to be is part and parcel. But for a *vampire,* the idea that the world doesn't actually exist as people think it does, and that the forces of the universe are just chaotic figments of imagination that can and do change.... is terrifying! It's a slow, creeping existential dread that he doesn't know how to deal with! It rocks.

My other guy in really excited about is Vincent Heikkilä, Void Engineer, Pan Dimensional Corps, Archmaster.

Vincent is actually native to the void, not earth. Vincent was born on a colony orbiting the Orion Nebula deep in the heart of space. Growing up in this environment gave him from a young age an instinct for space travel and navigation, when your first spacewalk was at seven learning to pilot shuttlecraft is kinda like getting a drivers license. He started his career as a teenager, starting as an unenlightened tech/data analyst in a work study position. However he enlightened (aka awakened) abs started making unprecedentedly fast progress, earning a position as a junior officer by 19.

Befitting a Void Engineer, he saw a lot of strange things and wolf action throughout the long years spent in the depths of space; dragons, alternate timelines, black holes, spatial anomalies, eldritch horrors that would make a vampire (read: Andrei) cry, actual literal Gods, he saw and dealt with it all. Eventually his career, published works on Dimensional Science, and experience with logistics and command earned him the position of rear admiral of one of the admittedly smaller fleets of VE battleships, working with the ETD on a number of expeditions against various threats to the Union. It was in these years that he saw and did some heinous things. There's really no good way to justify glassing a planet's surface to yourself, even if you knew it had to be done. After a long career, he made one hell of a persuasive argument in favor of shore leave and petitioned to go somewhere that he had never managed to travel to before, something stranger than he had ever seen, full of sights that even an Archmaster like himself had never experienced.

He took a vacation to earth.

Vincent is fun to play because he's this hyper competent space cowboy gunslinger with enough knowledge to justify my unhinged ramblings about the nature of the universe, but he also just doesn't know what a Gamecube is. He's a hardened soldier but... that's behind him. He's possessed by a joie de vivre and this deep enjoyment of the mundane that was strong enough to give him Fae Affinity (note, that's typically impossible for Technocrats but idc). He's not interested in participating in the Ascension war, even if he could beat nearly anyone in a quick draw duel he's too busy discovering what a crepe tastes like when it hasn't been 3d printed. He's piloted fighter craft and warships, but this is the first time he's been on a roller coaster. He's just such this fun, troublemaking rogue, it's great.

His current plans are very simple right now, just make friends. Experience the city not like a reality shifting demigod of technology but just as a dude. He might show off a bit, he might take one or two of his friends up into space for a joyride, but really I'm keeping all the incredibly powerful magic (or, ahem, enlightened science) just for prop comedy and shits and giggles. Also to drive off some of the annoying vampire elders in town, but that's neither here nor there.

Please feel free to ask more questions about either of them, or for stuff about other characters. Thank you for reading this long lmao

[phantomoftheorpheum]

PLL: OS (Summer School) 2x04 thoughts

*Spoilers for 2x01-2x04 of Summer School

okay y'all, I've done my nails, washed my hair, I've got my under eye masks on, and a box of old fashioned butter fudge, let's watch 2x04.

EDIT: just a fair warning, I'm absolutely overthinking (I like overthinking) and if you aren't interested in someone overanalyzing a tv show down to the tiniest detail, this post is not for you.

We're officially halfway through the season!

In the "previously on" recap, they play that clip of Mrs. Beasley saying, "we must all do our part to save those who are worthy," (<< or something very close to that), which certainly plays into my "sinners" being punished Mrs. Beasley/Pastor Malachi "Bloody Rose" theories, but I also worry about the show specifically bringing our attention to it this early on.

One thing that I've been thinking about more and more, which makes this season a little difficult to predict, is that we don't really know what "Rose" wants. We have really 0 concrete motivation at this point. In season 1, while we didn't know how all the pieces fit together, we knew the A storyline was centered around Angela, her death, and the role the moms played in it. Since "Bloody Rose" isn't actually Rose Waters (or certainly doesn't seem to be), we don't really know why she's tormenting the Liars, or why she's killing other people. While I've been working on my "sinners" theory, and this episode definitely has some elements that play into that, the lack of a defined "goal" keeps us guessing a lot more this season.

Rose Waters - Are we convinced that the "actual" Rose Water IS Rose Waters? While I've never really thought "Bloody Rose" is Rose, it does put my guard up that the girls immediately buy in to her being the real Rose. I'm not sure rn.

I’ve taken note of the SpookySpaghetti Waters Family films, and I haven’t talked about them at all before, because they’re pretty much just going over stuff (in an incredibly dramatized way) we already know, and I could honestly go the rest of my life never hearing Mouse say “SpookySpaghetti” again, like we GET it, but considering how much screentime they’re giving the plot line, I do have to consider the fact that the films & website may be more important than just a convenient place to dump info & have "Rose" contact people. One thought that comes to mind (despite the character being largely absent so far this season), is that Wes told Tabby in 2X01 that the film festival she was rejected from had rejected him 3 times. We know he’s obsessed with horror, and he’s the one who talked Tabby into posting her film online in order to get it out there. Could the films we’re seeing be Wes’ rejected festival films? Does it matter? This is what I mean when I say I overthink things.

The fact that ROSE is using the “final girl” terminology does immediately make me think of Wes & Christian. It’s kind of hard to imagine Mrs. Beasley (who has been my top suspect since 2x01) knowing/using the “final girl” label, and Wes did quite literally call Tabby a final girl at the beginning of the season, but I don’t feel I can draw any strong conclusions on this one, just taking note. 

In that vein of thought... Chip/Christian - I know I was not initially sold on the “Christian is connected to Chip” theories, because it feels like a retread of old ground, BUT I’m a little suspicious that they haven’t really brought Chip and his mom up since the first episode, other than Tabby having flashbacks of him & seeing similarities in Christian. I also noticed Christian referred to Tabby as a final girl (though he does so in relation to her potentially starring in the film), which is terminology I am keeping my eyes open for from anyone other than the main girls. I’m still not completely sold on the suspicions of Christian, but the fact they AREN’T pointing at him right now (which I expected them to do as soon as they realized the Bloody Rose situation was an actual threat since he literally has A and Rose masks in his basement) has me re-evaluating his threat level.

Dr. Sullivan - This character has been a tough one for me. I know she’s from the original show, and a lot of people think that rules her out. I’m not so sure about that (if they’re willing to take jabs at Ezra, a main character from a very popular [but also despised] ship, then I wouldn’t be surprised if they took other characters from the original show and changed the perception of them), and honestly I don’t remember her. It’s been a LONG time since I watched the original show, so I’m missing some of the context with this character. It’s also difficult to know what her motivation would be- yes, it seems Rose was one of her patients, there is a connection, but if she IS behind things, I think we’re missing some really vital information, presumably about the “loss” that is hinted at when Imogen is talking to her this episode. Surely that’s coming back around at some point (is this info we have about her from the main show and I just don’t know it? Someone help me out here). It feels like Dr. Sullivan's past has a part to play, but is she a bad guy? IDK. That being said, we have no proof that Dr. Sullivan was actually pushed down the stairs. She could have just as easily injured herself escaping the fire during Mouse’s test. 

Mothers and daughters, mothers and daughters, mothers and daughters, this is haunting me. Everything is about mothers and daughters- basically all of season 1, Rose’s lore, Imogen’s plot, Kelly’s plot, etc. Mothers betraying daughters (Rose’s abuse of Angela, Noa’s mom letting her take the fall for her drugs, Faran’s mom causing her permanent injury/pain with unnecessary surgery, infantilizing/stunting Mouse, failing Karen & isolating/abusing Kelly, etc. etc.), Mothers protecting daughters (Davie’s support of Imogen, Imogen’s fears for Estelle, Tabby’s mom threatening Wes, etc.). This feels so central and so important to the identity of this show, but I feel like I’m missing an important puzzle piece here.

Not important, but like, y’all where can I get one of these jobs where you can just leave because things are “slow” or take a nap in the office because you’re tired and still get paid? 

Henry - The Henry/Faran relationship still feels very tenuous/on the rocks. We know so little about Henry, and sometimes he does feel just flat out obsessed with Faran (which, like, I get it, but you’re in a slasher/murder mystery, so…) like, “I just wanna be close to you,” sounds nice, but feels weird. IDK. I have the same problem with being suspicious of Henry that I do with Ash, which is that we’ve never been given any indication of what their connection could be to the larger events at play and we’ve also never been given a particularly good motive for why they might do terrible things to terrorize their girlfriends (Ash more than Henry because I GUESS Henry could be super mad at Faran for the dance stuff, but that feels like it’s pushing it quite a bit) and most, if not all of their scenes, revolve around their girlfriends. Speaking of-

Ash - I don’t have a lot to say here because we get very little new info to work with here. He’s done nothing particularly suspicious (other than being by himself during the Rose search scene, meaning he could have called Faran as "Rose") and I have no idea what his motive could be, so I don’t have a valid reason to put him on my suspect list. He currently has no known connection to Rose, Archie, Angela, and the Millwood past. He currently has no known connection to the church (and considering some of the other topics we see the church condemn, it seems unlikely they are accepting of trans identities). Also, I like him, so until he says or does something that triggers suspicion, I’m gonna allow myself to think the best of him. BUT-

Um. Are we gonna talk about Red Right Hand playing over Mouse & Ash’s search scene or…? Like I said, I have no solid reason to suspect Ash, but you cannot play that song without invoking Scream and NEVER TRUST THE LOVE INTEREST. Are they fucking with us? Is that what this is? Also, from a production standpoint, why was Jordan Gonzalez upgraded to a main cast member this season when this is all the screen time he’s had so far? It doesn’t feel like more than season 1 yet, so does that mean he’ll have a heftier role in the back half of the season? I am spiraling, y’all. 

Idk that calling the somewhat obsessed mom (not that I blame Imogen for her overprotective feelings) of your infant daughter to come babysit when you’ve been trying to get her to leave you alone makes ANY sense, particularly since Imogen implied earlier that they don’t even know about the Millwood stuff that could make Estelle a target, but okay?

Johnny - We really don't learn anything about him this episode. Imogen has been through so much, and last season Shawn, Henry, and Ash all turned out good (within the context of that season, who knows this season), so I'm just going to hope this is a good thing for Imogen. That's really all I have to say about this right now. My judgement of him is pending.

Okaaayyy, let's talk about Shawn/Noa/Jen - I've said my piece before about my dislike of infidelity plots and love triangles, there's no need to go further into that here. If there's one saving grace of this plot, it's that I think it could have very important ties to the overall plot of the season ("could" being the operative word here). As I've mentioned before, if Shawn actually learned about Noa & Jen's relationship at some point in the past, he absolutely could be plotting longterm revenge. It almost seems like he almost has to be bad to somewhat soften the blow of Noa's actions, but... maybe they just are working up towards him dumping her. If he's done nothing wrong, then holy hell this is awful for him. I mean, not only did your girlfriend cheat on you (presumably more than once, since Shawn & Noa were a couple when she was in juvie, too), but she also convinced you to give her $2,000 dollars to bail out her "friend" (which, by the way, she also lied to you about why that friend was arrested) who she immediately cheats on you with. Regardless of Shawn's role in the story, that is seriously messed up of Noa. If Shawn is bad, she doesn't know it, so wtf. I'm also really curious about Jen as an individual. She brings up her mom a lot (and uses that connection she has with Noa with her mom being an addict) and the need for money for her mom's rehab (is that even why she needs money?) and with the themes of this show, that doesn't feel like a throwaway thing. We never see her father (also she never mentions a stepmother or a relationship for her father, but there's loads of women's clothes in that house, so are those Jen's clothes? Her mom's old clothes? A partner her father has that just wasn't mentioned?) so we can only take her word for who he is and what he's like, and that's kind of hard to do, considering everything. And was that even her Dad's house? I can't help but wonder if Jen has deeper ties to the main plot than we realize. If not, I think it's certainly a good bet that Noa's "test" will involve her love triangle. She's definitely the most "mysterious" of the new love interests so far this season. While I don't love infidelity plot lines, I'm interested to see where all this goes.

“Rose” - I’m going to make an assumption here (maybe I shouldn’t), that much like Ghostface, Rose’s strength/agility is not necessarily realistic to the character under the mask. And because I think this, I’m not going to waste time comparing her size/strength/agility to Faran. 

Quick Note: Of course I was screaming at Faran not to go and play along with "Rose," but regardless I love her and she's strong as hell.

Alright. It's time for the Kelly/Mrs. Beasley/Pastor Malachi/Church plot discussion.

First of all, obviously everything about Kelly's plot/scenes in this episode are massive red flags, and I'm not sure whether to feel validated or like that's massive distraction technique. We are halfway through the season, maybe it's not too early for this. Or maybe the church being involved in the Rose plot (if they are) isn't meant to be a twist, but some of the characters involved are? It does bother me that the show is leaning so hard into the cult-like aspects of the church, because obviously that makes them incredibly suspicious. And what the hell is happening to Kelly?? Like what did we not see?

Kairos - Okay, this was something I had to look up, because wtf. They just dropped this so casually in with Kelly mentioning group therapy and trauma bonding, but this is a really specific bit of terminology. So, it’s safe to say that I waded through some religious stuff I was not familiar with in order to try to get a better understanding of this. Kairos (Caerus) is, in Greek mythology, the personification of opportunity. He is associated with the “fleeting moment” where the scales may tip in one direction or another. “Kairos moments” refers to the right moment for decision/action. In Christianity, Kairos is “the appointed time in the purpose of God.” So anyway, I ended up reading a bunch of Bible verses picked out by various “Kairos” groups, and basically it seems like the Christian interpretation and usage of “Kairos” is often related to the concept of conversion. Kairos is a dangerous time, a moment where you have an opportunity that you will not have again, but one that can lead to positive transformation and, if you miss it, immeasurable loss. There was also a section about submitting to the judgement of authority and how rebelling against this authority is an affront to God (and if that doesn’t feel related to Kelly’s storyline idk what does) and how you can bring ruin and judgement on yourself through things like “adultery” “murdering” “stealing” “coveting”. All of this fits in very much into the concept I’ve had of “Rose” punishing “sinners” and viewing herself as God’s Judgement. BUT is it too early for us to have all this stuff just pointing straight at the church?? It seems too early. Oh, and don’t think I didn’t notice how many of these “sins” Noa has committed in this episode alone. 

The constant bombardment of religious iconography, the church plot line being so present, Rose's backstory being directly linked to religious abuse, "sins" and "tests" being central to the plot of the story, the entire concept of the redemption house, the mention of kairos... At this point if the church stuff is a side plot and not directly related to Rose, I'm going to be disappointed, because I'd rather have coherent, well supported motive than a shocking "gotcha" moment. But we'll see.

OKAY, I think that's it from me tonight, y'all. Also I'm sorry for how many times I've written "y'all" in this post (I grew up in the south, I come by it naturally, I promise). Send me an ask or something if you want to spiral & overthink with me. 💜

[one-country-of-gay-amphibians]

You know what LAWN FLAMINGO BRAIN ALLEGORY! LONG TEXT POST-

Imagine you're going to the store, (this is your attention span) and you have so much money (time). And you want food (this is your studying and work etc) you decide, hey wait this lawn flamingo (hobby / interest) is nice! I want it.

Then you get to checkout and suddenly everything in your cart is Lawn flamingos. You go on, one week without new food is fine, I mean you get free lunches at work, soon though... the food from work isn't enough, or you some how start bringing lawn flamingos to work / school.

You are now hungry (falling behind) and so now, you HAVE to buy food, but due to the amount of food you have to eat, it's cheap and kinda crappy, it gets you by though.

Now, when other people see your house, they see an empty fridge, and therefore someone who is lazy and not buying things but they don't see your lawn flamingos, the things your passionate about. And even if they do, they may call you weird for liking them

But when someone needs a tacky lawn decoration (your hyperfocus) they finally accept you for a moment, but the moment you can't give food, they go back to calling you lazy

Eventually you may say screw it. I'm putting these lawn flamingos in the garage (masking) and you know what it may work for a bit but every time you see your house or reflect on it... it doesn't spark joy, if you keep them in the garage for long enough, it may be difficult to get them out, it may feel weird or they could be dusty, or covered.

But when you find someone else with lawn flamingos they can be your best friend, because of the shared interest in lawn flamingos

[artsymeeshee]

Here's the mini comic of Dipper's nightmare! I know the idea of Mabel being the one to have the nightmare about pushing the button has been played with before, but I wanted to explore that with Dipper. (Also sort of a way to include some bonding time with Stan). Plus I think they both benefit having a more serious talk like this.

[ryuuna]

season 2 S O O N

[pot-black]

So I think its time for me to provide some insight into a very controversial subject.

I am speaking of course, about wearing shoes inside the house in the United States: Yea or Nay?

Now, this has been discussed before. You may have seen posts saying it is unequivocally a Thing we Americans do. Your first reaction may have been, "Since when! I don't know anybody who does!"

You may also have seen claims saying it is just a thing that happens in some states. Places without wet climates that get snow regularly. Only to then see rebuttals claiming to be from Arizona (a dry, warm state) that say the shoes come off at the door or New York (a cold, wet state) that say everybody they know wears shoes inside.

So what gives? Are people lying? Does one particular side just have a disproportional representation on the interweb? No, no those aren't the answers. I think you'll find, this is one of those norms that is not decided by geographical location, and with your indulgence, I would like to explore the factors that may better lead to this behavior. That is to clarify,

The practice of wearing outside shoes inside, and around the home.

But before I jump into the reasons, I would like to clarify the terms. Most people hear "outside shoes worn inside the house" and immediately jump to horror at tracking, mud, snow, wet or dirt all over one's home.

Let me reassure you. Nowhere have I personally seen that or read that to be a normal behavior. Except for very specific circumstances, like carrying a heavy load inside that can't be put down or running inside to grab or deliver an object, where one will be returning outside in less than a minute, American's are very conscious about tracking visible dirt inside one's home. It's the dirt one doesn't see that is the subject of debate.

So the first reason is Culture. (logically) There are some nations that have a particularly ingrained culture of which shoes inside the home are a big no-no. Certain Asian nations like Japan make up the top of the list, but the particular nations aren't important here. Immigrants from those nation's brought the practice with them when they came to the United States, and now, generations down the line, those families still follow this cultural norm.

Second reason is Dog Ownership. There's no way around it, Dogs are dirty animals. Think about the dirt they roll in or the smell they get when they are wet. There are some dog owners who clean them every time they bring them in, or put shoes or rain coats on the dog to prevent them from getting dirty, but most dog owners I know don't have the time for that. In my experience, a home with an active dog going in and out, is also a home that wears shoes inside.

Third is Family Size. I don't know how relevant it is, but this is an observation from a Catholic Family (I'm non-practicing). The chances of a family wearing shoes in the house increases with the number of children. My dad has seven siblings, I have three, and one of my Uncle's has five children. In all of our home's, shoe's are worn inside. This is perhaps because with so many children constantly running in and out of the house, it's very easy for parent's attitude to nonvisible dirt to lax. I can't count the number of socks I ruined growing up from leaving without shoes. And at my uncle's house, it is not uncommon to have shoes be left in the yard. Sacrifice's have to be made somewhere, or else parents have to be a strong disciplinarian.

Fourth is Flooring Type and Age. Most people who have carpeted floors or carpets on the floor will be families that say shoes off at the door. Whereas most people with a hard floor like vinyl, stone, tile or wood, won't mind having shoes be worn in. The age of the floor also plays a roll. The older a carpet is, the more likely it is to be dirty, and also the more likely a homeowner will be open to wearing shoes on it. Age also can decide a homeowner's views for a hard floor.

Residence Location. "Oh but didn't you say this was not decided by geography?" I did and this isn't geography, rather Population Density: Rural, Suburban, and Urban. Each have their unique qualifiers. People who live In a rural location, which I am defining to be one needs bottled water for the walk to the closest neighbors, are more likely to be shoes off at the door. That far out it is more likely their shoes will be dirty, and they might take pride from keeping a clean home. Urban residents, people whose closest neighbors are a wall away, are also most likely to be shoes off at the door, for the same reasons as the rural people. The dirt may be different, but urban areas are undeniable filthy, you can feel it on your skin after a day in the city. Plus, when you may have neighbors who live beneath and above you, the polite thing to do is to take one's shoes off, so as to not make noise. Suburban residents are people whose neighbors are a five minute walk at most. Suburbs aren't particularly wild or dirty places, and the people who live in them aren't typically traveling in places where one's shoes would be getting particularly dirty (rural is self-explainable, but though the dirt on public transportation may be invisible, who wants it in the house?). For this reason, most suburbanites may wear shoes into the home.

Occupation also phrased as Farmer? or Collar Color. The job one work's can decide whether an American takes off their shoe's. It is safe to say that Americans who have a job that requires manual labor, blue collar workers, take their shoes off at the end of the workday before entering the home. I do. Like farmers. Every farming family I know takes their shoes off at the door. Every farmhouse usually has a mudroom for the express purpose of removing one's shoes, which is also usually the customary way to enter the home. Now simply living on a farm doesn't fall under my umbrella, I'm talking about those who make their living that way. Historically other occupations in American history also uniformly fall under this norm. Anyone who lives in places with a large mining or industrial background may be aware of the room known as the Pittsburgh Potty, named so after the Pennsylvania city which has a rich history of both occupations. The Potty would be a toilet and sink or shower in the basement of the home. Although the reason it was there was often due to it being an easy addition to homes built without indoor plumbing, the practical usage was so that workers could take off their shoes and wash up at the end of the workday before going upstairs to the home proper. Some continue to be used for that purpose to this day.

Wealth. The wealth of a resident is definitely a factor, but I don't think one can draw uniform divisions from it. A family with money will most likely have a nice house, and may say shoes off at the door to keep it nice. But they may also not care, as they have the money to pay someone to keep the floor clean or to replace the floor is it becomes damaged or worn. A family without money may not have new floors or have floors in the best condition due to age or wear. They may say shoes off at the door to lessen the work to keep it clean or prevent further wear on the floor, but they also may not care because the floor is already worn or old.

An active wood burning stove or fireplace*. Yes this is a factor, though not a very big one. It also may technically be related to geography, as it would only really be found among rural people in states that have cold winters. In places like that, houses that are designed to be heated by wood will have a central chimney. As the fire burns, the stone or metal flue will radiate the heat from the exhaust. This means that the wood has to be carried though the house and stockpiled inside, typically from a stockpile which is against the house outside, but can also be located in the yard. These treks are typically done without taking one's shoes off, even for snow or wet. It's not unusually to track leaves or to drop wood dust and dirt on the floor. These also tend to spread across the floor near inside stockpiles. With the level of constant clutter and dirt that is ever present in these houses in the cold months, it is also not unusually for the norm to be shoes on.

The last reason I have is probably the biggest. While all above are reasons one can point to to justify wearing shoes in or taking them off, if you ask the average American who wears them in why they do so, you are most likely to get this response. Convenience/Does Not Care. These people don't really have a justifiable reason. They wear shoes in because they don't want to be bothered with taking them off every time they enter the house. Point out that it is cleaner or healthier all you want, chances are they have heard it before or are aware. They just don't care. They aren't militant about it. They understand and respect that some homes have shoe's off policies, and will take their shoes off when asked while visiting. But in their own home they leave them on, and they will assume the same at other homes unless informed different. Chances are high this just how these people are raised.

To end though, this is no worry. Most Americans will tell visitors whether the household is shoes on or off. But a word of warning, just as it it a faux pas to wear one's shoes into a no-shoes home, it is also one to take one's shoes off without being asked in a shoes-on home. Host hospitality will typically excuse it, but it is seen in the light of making oneself too at home, like putting one's feet up when sitting down.