#of course stabbing doesn't necessarily hurt him

[something-about-sunflowers]

ALRIGHT, *cracks knuckles* let's get into that teaser, shall we?

Should I itemize this? I think I'm going to itemize it lmao.

So:

Starting here because this is a baseline for Stede, he's got no neckerchief here. This is likely early in the season, probably the very start.

Man's got a fuckin' ARM.

This is Ed. You can see the bare right arm in both shots.

Red neckerchief. Ed's scrap of silk? Beat to shit if it is, which, he did toss it out to sea so, it would be.

Ed's not wearing the knee brace. Or gloves for that matter. I know the knee brace being an actual mobility aid is unconfirmed canon/fanon but it does make me :(c to see him without it. Either it wasn't actually considered as a mobility aid or he's lost it like he's lost his gloves OR he's going without it because he doesn't care if it hurts.

Closer shot of the neckerchief.

I just wanted to point out all the knives stabbed into the table. Also, those look like bits of paper on the windows, did they keep some of the books to repurpose for window blocking purposes?

THERE HE IS!!!!!!!! Other people have already pointed out the makeup and his ring still on his tie, along with the whip on his hip cjizzy real. He's got a new baldric but I also think his clothes look. Darker? Than in season 1? This is a darker/heavier contrast setting but it carries into other shots of him too I think? Like they're less sun/saltwater faded or something?

Other thing to note: If I have my orientation right, this is to the right of Stede's bed nook and to the left of the library, which means this shelf is the one with the auxiliary wardrobe opening mechanism. Which I bring up because:

This little guy seems to be in the place of the mannequin. Ed kept the auxiliary wardrobe and gothed up the mannequin to justify it still being there.

SO much here. This is, I'm fairly certain, Benjamin Hornigold. This camp he's set up (along with what he's wearing) looks like it was made out of a shipwreck. Ed's barefoot and missing his jacket and gloves, and his shirt's torn up at the sleeves. Definitely where he washed up from his dip in the ocean.

Note the trees and the lighting, that comes up later. Ed shoots here and Ben moves with the shot but it doesn't look like he was actually HIT by it to my eyes.

'Wanted. |Blackbeard| Villainous Pirate. Murderer, thrice over. $400 Reward for the criminal responsible for: theft - brigandry - larceny - arson - tax evasion ➡' Presumably there are more crimes/info on the back, though we see the reverse side in the next cut and it's either blank or all in very small text, I couldn't quite tell.

The poster to the right says 'Port' something which has me wondering Port Royal but that's just the only 'Port' something I know, could def be somewhere else.

(Also, just for fun:

Here's how much abouts Ed's capture would be worth now.)

Wider pic than it needs to be but I didn't wanna cut out Olu lol. ANYWAY. Neckerchief again. Also the back of the poster, see what I mean about it either being blank or very tiny?

Babygirl. . . But also that Bride Ed figure kinda slays. Little bralette with the midriff showing, I see you Babygirl. When will he be allowed to just rest and do silly little crafts WITHOUT heartbreak looming over him?

Well. Four is not nine. So. There's that. The other five could be used or out of frame though, of course.

OH. He's back to his fingerless gloves! They might actually be different from his original ones though, they look different at the wrist to me, not quite sure though.

The BOYS!!!! Frenchie looks like he's having a GREAT time. Considering he suggested they turn the hostage into a table and complained about the Republic of Pirates being a bit gentrified I'd say this is more in line with what he's used to in piracy. I 100% buy he was going along with Stede's way because he knew it was an easy ride compared to real piracy. This wouldn't necessarily be a return to form for him but definitely something he's more used to? And he gets to be kitty :3c

And FANG!!! Look at him showing a bit more skin!! Good for him!!

Everybody say 'Thank You David Jenkins'. Right now. Look at this Mad Max shit. Fuckin' Imperator Jimenez right there. LOVE that tye added the 'beard' after the 'fuck's wrong with your face?' bit in 1x10. Full 'it looked weird on you but I slay' energy.

Jim

Izzy

Fang

Near as I can tell at least. I can't make out if Frenchie is in the shot and I'm pretty positive Ed isn't cause he stayed by the cake when they charged in.

Man, yknow I know we were all kinda clowning on it a bit at the end of 1x10 but this look really is so JARRING. Like, in the dark it's menacing but in the light? It's unhinged and that reads as more dangerous imo.

Also just for comparison's sake the pre-Ed-ified version of the bride figure. He really did full on customize that thing lol.

I DON'T THINK ANNE KISSED STEDE HERE. It feels out of character of the show to pull the 'It's fine if a woman does it to a man' kind of thing with regard to unwanted kissing. This is the frame the scene starts on in the trailer. She's leaning back from him and isn't nearly close enough to his mouth to say for certain that's where she was coming from. My money is on her leaning in to whisper something into his ear, maybe under the guise of it being an advance/intended kiss, which would also explain the annoyed look when she's interrupted. She either got ACTUALLY interrupted or it's part of the act. Stede doesn't look nearly as uncomfortable as he would be if she'd kissed him or tried to, he looks confused.

Izzy going for his sword when this guy tries to get the drop on Stede. He either is starting to care or he knows how much Ed needs him alive.

Also, this is the other potential source of Stede's neckerchief. Mr, Knife right here has a red one and Stede doesn't have it in this scene. I do think this one is a little less distressed than the one Stede has though so it could just be coincidence.

See? No neckerchief. He DOES have a sword at his hip tho! So this, I think, is after Izzy's started training him.

Also, he actually looks really good in red lol.

Baby. He's definitely missing the ring in this shot. It sits higher than the baldric is covering. I want to give him a little kissie on his ouchie and then let him have a nap, he needs that.

The pants match the coat. Also, black shirt. Stede is kinda slaying ngl.

Still missing her head :(c. Isn't that bad luck?

Maybe yall didn't hear me properly with the Jim pic. I'll repeat:

EVERYBODY SAY 'THANK YOU DAVID JENKINS'.

I can't get over how Stede's just standing there politely with his arms behind his back lmfao.

Also, Izzy's got his right leg up, he's putting his weight on his left. . . 'foot'.

I SAID EVERYBODY SAY-

I know tits and all but also. The belly. I would like to. Bite.

*ahem*

ANYWAY. On the left (our left) side of the barrel you can see the tip of his right boot so he's def got that leg off the ground. Perhaps someone is trying to relearn their footwork? Now that they've got a different balance than they're used to? And perhaps a difference in sensory input in the leg he's standing on? Possibly?

This is the same beach Ed was on when he did the fuckin' RAD takedown of the other officer but it definitely looks like different times of day. Having both in the teaser is def meant to be a red herring. He doesn't have the neckerchief in this shot either.

Bra för honom. (Is how google translate tells me you say 'Good for him' in Swedish.)

Is Jackie's hair the same here as it is in the VF pic with Ed? Or like, similar enough to be a 'later in the day after some Fun™ messing it up a bit'?

Roach!!! Fully sleeveless now, added a belt, got some flowers tied to the strings/straps of his apron. Looks like he's having fun lighting that cannon lol. Pretty sure this is the same scene as that one leaked photo of him dancing with Fang and Izzy's green screen sock. He had the flowers in that, right?

[Ran out of allowed images, please hold]

[theveryconfusedartistsart-blog]

1. I think it's like...if they make 99 good memories. If they “fill up” their memory store and then leave or die...then yeah#They can't make any more good memories anymore. But at least they won't be able to make bad ones anymore?#Chara was all too happy with erasing the good in their life as long that meant the bad was erased too#And maybe it's the same with everyone else too... no-one can hurt each other if they're dead right?...they also can't do anything else#either...their lives can't get worse but can't get better either but again Chara doesn't care they'll destroy the good in the world if it#also destroys the bad. The humans were “the bad” the monsters were “the good” and Chara was all too willing to kill the monsters if that#meant humans would die. Yes they never hated monsters even at the end of geno Yes I believe Chara loved them once. But for Chara hatred and#fear has always came before love. And this letter...it leads me maybe to think that harming humanity starting a war destroying things was #always their main plan. Not just for revenge. But because they heard level of violence would make them invulnerable to pain. Because humans#can't hurt them or the monsters if they're all dead. They didn't want all the monsters to die too. But they're still... weirdly fine with it#They'd rather a world with both humans and monsters dead. Than a world with both humans and monsters alive.#I don't think I'm saying...“Mind changed! I am now a Chara offender” but after everything we've learnt...can we really blame me for being i#a bit of a Chara offence phase. Maybe what I'm saying is “Damn! Chara offence got legs” ...I still don't necessarily think nochoco was righ#but they were almost definitely a bit righter than me and most the fandom thought. That make sense?

2.#Oh...#he really did reach a cap of good memories didn't he?#not because his brain got too full#but because eventually they stopped meaning anything to him anymore#just like a word losing its meaning once you've said it over and over and over#It's the same with level of violence... Noelle and Frisk and Chara didn't exactly want to kill to start with (I mean Frisk and Chara#hey look! I did a thing#accepted it (unlike Noelle) but they weren't exactly having fun) but once you've made enough bad memories they stop mattering anymore. They#being “bad”. they stop hurting you. But the thing is. It's not only violence you commit that does this right?... suffering repeated violence#also makes it matter less right? It still desensitizes you? It still counts towards your “bad memory” cap it still makes it easier to make#sorry I hijacked your post#and to commit violence. Maybe that's why Chara starts off quite a bit more okay with violence than Asriel and Noelle is? In Utdr the#violence you commit against others is a form of self harm too (you know though it also hurts others of course) explicitly meant to#desensitize you to the pain it causes. Chara (and maybe Frisk) consider that worth it. Noelle doesn't but you can still force her into it.#But either way once you've experienced way way more than anyone really should you'll reach a “cap” you'll stop feeling both good and bad#memories. Empty like Flowey keeps saying. Numb like Noelle's coldness stat. Free of sentimentality like Chara always wanted.#Noelle's friend is “another enemy” (though not when she realises it's him she still has a long way to go). Asriel's dad is “that stupid#king“ Chara's royal subjects are all ”the enemy“ Angel I wanna hug all three of them already. I'm willing to get stabbed or shot or frozen#for them. We don't hear anything directly from Frisk but the poor kid ended up killing almost all their (potential) friends too. They can#join the very dangerous hug too.#(Okay Noelle would only freeze me if she was told to but...yeah)

3. #“no-one can hurt anyone if they're all dead” destroys the world#but after all...Chara already considered being “erased from existence” better than living an unhappy life so maybe it makes sense#“the only place humans and monsters can get along is in heaven”/ref#once everyone is dead they'll all be free angel of death style

4. #Is it just me...or is there a thing of like ...if I was going to make sure nothing could hurt me...I wouldn't be able to be  friends with#Chara anymore?#If I didn't let the bad memories go I wouldn't be able to make good memories anymore?#so I can't count how many times they rope me into stupid plans or laugh off my suffering or scare me#No matter what they do I still hope we're friends because I don't want to be alone#I dunno man ...I know I'm contradicting myself a little here but like... I'm thinking#And I'm trying to think about what could actually be canon rather than just what I'd prefer for once#Chara lived with Asriel for multiple years we can guess that pretty easily...I want to trust Asriel when he says those years were happy ones #Do I though? I... don't know. Angel I don't Know! Why can't I just ask Toby Fox? I know HE has all the answers!

#5. Also...I started to make a post about this a while back... Level of violence is just emotional invulnerability not magical power#and they are right that no-one can hurt each other if the world no longer exists#But the truth is...when a child is hurt enough. Hurt over and over. They'll look for any way to make it stop.#And so then when this child learns that committing violence can quantifiably make them nigh invulnerable to any kind of pain...well...oops?#hope you're not too attached to the people around you... Because Chara certainly wasn't too attached to consider it (mass murder) an option

6. #dreemurr siblings#Again that's what happened... Asriel experienced so much that he can't feel anything anymore#he's invulnerable now or whatever#but he needs to let his walls down again. He needs to let himself feel again. This is the only way forward.#(Plus unlike Chara he's not happy that he can't feel anymore)#little prince#Also his stats both say infinity rather than 99999999 because he doesn't like the idea of a number cap no matter how big it is#it almost feels like a sign of respect for Chara to mark his stats down like that#hey look! I did a thing#brotp: angels or demons?#though I guess they might just be humouring him while secretly thinking infinite stats is completely stupid and goes against everything the#stand for. If you look in the code it's not actually true... he has very high but not infinite stats. He still has to deal with his#beloathed number caps. So Chara's... just saying that but it's not anything special for Asriel himself. Almost all the stats they give are#sorry I hijacked your post#fake (just not Sans's). The one person they give something special for (with regards to stats) is Undyne. 99 atk. 99 def. Because they#really admire her. Because they consider her the strongest monster in existence (She reached the cap!) Chara shows more care for Undyne tha#any of their family. They mourn Undyne's death but not really Asriel's (neutral route). Chara stalls on killing her in the murder run.#brotp: the true hero#Their killing intent goes up for Toriel (their mum!) but down for Undyne

7. #what a strange child...#Chara's favourite number is literally related to their trauma lol#I mean the kid really just said#hey look! I did a thing#9 is my favourite number because the idea of a number cap reassures me that one day i'll have suffered so#much that nothing can hurt me anymore#my favourite number is 9 because I need to believe there is a limit to what I can suffer and I want to deliberately acheive that limit#quicker than humanly possible#my favourite number is 9 so every time I hurt I can make myself better by pretending I'm one step closer to that imaginary limit.#to the moment that everything breaks down and I no longer have to exist#yeah...#and the funny thing is that Asriel (who has had a relatively good life) hears this and gets almost scared that there's a number cap on his#good memories maybe he's picked up on how much they still want to die still want to “erase themselves from existence” (it's not like Chara#kept it a secret) and that's why Asriel KNOWS how little time he has to spend with Chara and how little memories he can make before they#dissapear again “.#maybe if I just don't count the days the time won't pass anymore maybe we can stay in the garden forever. Maybe we never#have to leave. Oh angel please don't let them leave me. DON'T LET THEM LEAVE ME”  but hey...maybe i'm just projecting! Who knows?” #(Also this whole thing reads like an eulogy even as he hopes they'll still be there years and years later like he's already mourning them.#Like he expects them to be gone any minute. Like he lives his life fearing that one day he'll wake up and they'll just be a rotting corpse#in the bed next to him. And everything he does is to please them and make them happy so that that won't happen)#Fun fact! If it ever comes out that Chara was lying about being suicidal I am gonna reach through the screen and murder them

8. #relevant to Asriel's letter#This is why Chara wants LOVE#to numb their pain both physical and mental#once you've seen the light fade from your mother's eyes broken bones don't hurt much anymore compared#nothing hurts anymore because there's nothing worse than that#the crazy thing is that because of that...Chara wants to see their loved ones die. They actively want to put themselves through that pain#until everything numbs. They want to hurt themselves and the world so badly that it reaches a quantity overload and just breaks.

(There you have it, many slightly contradictary slightly repetitive tag rambles, mostly made in one day)

You were right, these are vaguely insane ramblings and I respect all of it.

Here's to BFF and sibling bonds so strong that you end up literally dying with them and sharing each other's trauma.

[violetnerves]

Part 2 sort of thing for my Bully/Canis Canem Edit x Battle Royale crossover: Assigned Weapons/Objects.

In the novel, Battle Royale, each student is assigned a duffel bag with a weapon/object in it along with a map, compass, a watch to track time, bottled water, and food. Most of the weapons are what you'd expect, like guns and knives, (Though guns aren't as common as bladed weapons.) but occasionally a student might get unlucky and end up with a joke item that might be utterly useless or have really only one use. Then there are the helpful items that aren't weapons, like a student who is given a tracking device that's wired to the explosive collars worn by everyone in the program and another who is given a bulletproof vest.

With that blurb out of the way, here's some of the weapons/objects that I'd think the students of Bullworth Academy (plus the Townies) would end up with.

Gonna just put a content warning for the mention of Guns, Murder, and Attempted suicide, so be aware of all that before reading any further. If I missed any other content warnings, let me know, and I'll update the post.

The Main Trio:

Jimmy Hopkins - A Toy Slingshot. (I'd thought it be funny and it's at least a little useful.)

Gary Smith - A Tracking device that pinpoints the locations of the collars the others wear.

Pete Kowalski - A Pink stuffed rabbit plushie. (Gary got a laugh out of that one.)

Prefects (They're technically students too, so):

Seth Kolbe - An Inflatable Toy Baton.

Karl Branting - A Police Baton.

Edward Seymour II - A Beretta U22 Neos pistol. (I figure Edward might be a former Preppie, and thus, he comes from one of the rich families of Bullworth. So, just like some of the other Preppies, he got a gun as well.)

Max McTavish - A Megaphone.

Non-Clique students:

Angie Ng - A Tazer.

Christy Martin - A MAC-11 Machine pistol chambered for 9x19mm Parabellum. (She was given Justin's bag by mistake.)

Constantinos Brakus - An 8ft length of Rope. (Contantinos considered using it on himself before spotting Algie trying to hurt Gloria. Instead, he ends up stealing Algie's weapon after saving Gloria.)

Eunice Pound - A Cleaver.

Gloria Jackson - A multi-tool.

Gordon Wakefield - A college text book.

Ivan Alexander - An antique camera with film.

Karen Johnson - A metal baseball bat.

Lance Jackson - A bag of nails.

Melody Adams - A butcher's knife.

Pedro De La Hoya - A fork.

Ray Hughes - A spoon.

Sheldon Thompson - A whistle.

Trevor Moore - A pair of safety scissors.

The Bullies:

Russell Northrop - None. (He dies before the program starts due to his attempt to remove the explosive collar around his neck by force.)

Davis White - A Pistol Crossbow.

Ethan Robinson - Throwing stars.

Tom Gurney - A bottle of Potassium Cyanide. (Tom gives the bottle to Trent when they finally meet up so he isn't tempted to injest it's contents.)

Trent Northwick - A Hunting knife.

Troy Miller - A standard Kitchen knife. (Taken by Wade.)

Wade Martin - A bullet-proof vest. (He tossed it away out of anger since he got mad it wasn't an actual weapon. Gary finds and picks it up, secretly wearing it under his button-up shirt and vest. Wade ends up taking Troy's kitchen knife since Russell's death caused Troy to go into shock, so he wasn't in the state of mind to use it anyway.)

Preps:

Darby Harrington - A scoped Browning BLR Rifle chambered for .243 Winchester cartridges. (Some of the Preppie's parents provided bribe money to get their kids better weapons than the rest of the students. Mr. Harrington was exceptionally generous. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean the Preps would know how to use them weapons they were given...)

Bif Taylor - A Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun.

Tad Spencer - A stainless steel gardening fork. (It's resemblance to the pitchfork his father once stabbed him with, along with the implication that his father didn't care enough about him to bribe the government to get his own son a better weapon that would guarantee his survival, and combined with the stress of his situation causes Tad's mental state to deteriorate during the events of The Program.)

Pinky Gauthier - None. (Pinkie threw the duffel bag she was given away since she refused to participate in the Program.)

Gord Vendome - A semi-automatic AMT Backup chambered for .380 ACP cartridges.

Chad Morris - A Series ALFA Steel Revolver chambered for .22 LR. (Chad trades his revolver for Bryce's ice pick, claiming that he's not a very good shot, though it might've been done out of pity for Bryce's situation.)

Bryce Montrose - An ice pick. (Bryce's parents couldn't afford the bribe money to get him a better weapon. He ends up trading the pick for Chad's revolver, albiet reluctantly.)

Justin Vandervelde - A box of matches. (He was given Christy's bag by mistake. Ironically, he's one of the few Preppies who actually know how to fire a gun due to past experience, along with Parker.)

Parker Ogilvie - A .44 Auto Mag Pistol.

Greasers:

Johnny Vincent - A Bowie machete.

Lola Lombardi - An OTF (Out-The-Front) Switchblade.

Larry "Peanut" Romano - A Push dagger.

Hal Esposito - An antique Soufflé dish.

Lefty Mancini - A Side-folding Switchblade.

Lucky De Luca - A Boot knife.

Norton Williams - 4 lb Hand Sledgehammer.

Ricky Pucino - A Gerber Mark II Survival knife.

Vance Medici - A Straight Razor.

Nerds:

Earnest Jones - A Nail gun.

Algie Papadopoulos - A BC-41 Knuckle knife. (It gets stolen by Constantinos.)

Beatrice Trudeau - A scalpel.

Bucky Pasteur - A plastic toy dinosaur.

Cornelius Johnson - A walking cane.

Donald Anderson - A notebook.

Francois "Fatty" Johnson - A pair of brass knuckledusters.

Melvin O'Connor - A wooden club.

Thad Carlson - A yardstick.

Jocks:

Ted Thompson - A Football helmet.

Damon West - A Butter knife. (He tosses it away.)

Mandy Wiles - A small canister of Pepper spray.

Bo Jackson - A wooden baseball bat.

Casey Harris - A Maglite flashlight.

Dan Wilson - A bright red plastic toy baseball bat.

Juri Karamazov - A sickle.

Kirby Olsen - A Whip. (Needless to say, when Kirby pulled it out of his duffel, he was mortified.)

Luis Luna - A Fire axe.

Bob - A metal garbage can lid.

Townies (The gov just wanted them to get rid of them for being high school dropouts and figured putting them in the Program with the students of Bullworth would be killing two birds with one stone.):

Edgar Munsen - A 9mm Beretta M9 handgun. (He smuggled it in. How? Who knows?)

Zoe Taylor - Bear repellent spray.

Omar Romero - A Crowbar.

Clint "Henry" - A Handheld Mini electric Chainsaw.

Duncan - A pocket calculator.

Gurney - A bottle of lighter fluid.

Jerry - A lighter.

Leon - A wood saw.

Otto Tyler - An empty glass bottle.

Some of these I got stumped on and I may have put too many joke weapons, but eh.

[doomednarrative]

hey leon! since re4make has come out and you’ve finally checked it out, what kind of adjustments are y’all making to your plaga!leon au?

Okay okay, I've had some time to chat with Claire and Ethan about it and can actually answer this now~

So as far as the "canon" compliant version of this au (that being the one where Luis stays dead) nothing Huge actually changes much.

There's specifically Two things that have changed tho and it's thanks to the Timing of the events in the remake and some of the character rewrites for Luis specifically. Those things would be:

When exactly Leon actually takes on the Dominant Plaga that Luis gives him, and

How much context and truth Leon has going into this about how permanent it will be for him.

In the original version of our au, (linked here for anyone who hasn't read it yet) Leon takes the Dominant for himself sometime before Luis's death at the castle under the assumption that it can be removed along with the other plaga that's already inside him. Luis lies to him about this directly, not because he necessarily wants to hurt Leon or leave him with permanent consequences, but because he knows this experimental Dominant he's worked on could cause massive chaos if it falls into the wrong hands. He trusts, and thus convinces Leon, to be the one to take it himself, both under the guise of helping to get Ashley and himself to safety, but also because he trusts that if this thing has to be in Anyone's hands, Leon is the one who is the least likely to misuse it for evil purposes. That's ultimately why Luis gets Leon to take it.

With the remake though, this context has changed entirely.

It's no longer Luis lying to Leon about the permanence of this plaga or about trying to get this Dominant out of anyone else's hands. It's about the fact that they have Very little options and time left to them to get Ashley and themselves to safety. When Luis meets with Leon in the mines after getting off the elevator, he makes the offer to Leon about giving him this Dominant sample as a last ditch effort to save Ashley and himself, a way to give Leon the upper hand when he doesn't have one. They barely have any suppressants, and Ashley is already further along in the development of the plaga attaching itself to her system than Leon is thanks to an earlier injection, so they really are in a race against the clock to save her.

Leon of course refuses this offer at first, because he's not about to turn into an even worse version of the very people he's fighting against, especially when Luis is upfront with him that this is one that he can't even remove in the end. There's too much at stake in his mind for him to even consider that it might help him because of the risks involved with it.

But then of course, Krauser shows up and stabs Luis, and Leon is left facing the reality that not only is he out of allies besides Ada in this sitaution, but he really is running out of options, especially with Krauser aligning himself with the cult as well. Ultimately in the canon compliant version of events, he asks Luis for the Dominant right before his death, and takes it with the promise that he'll use it to save Ashley, even if it means the worst for him in the aftermath.

Then of course there's the self indulgent "Luis Lives" Serennedy version of this au (which I am writing a fic for :3 ) where part of Leon takes on the Dominant is because while Luis's stab wound isn't fatal this time, it's still enough to cause a lot of problems, and Leon's not about to let anyone else die on his watch. So he takes the Dominant with the intent of Both saving Luis and Ashley and getting the three of them the fuck out of this hellhole, cost of permanence be damned. And that time around Luis is actually there in the aftermath to help Leon cope with all the changes, so it's a bit less traumatizing for him overall in this version of events.

But yeah! Overall there's not actually that much that's changed, more just the timing and context of how it all goes down. It has been fun to rework it though, I think it hits a bit harder in this version because of how much harder they went on the horror aspect in the remake which I've had a fun time fucking around with~

[lavenoon]

Ahhh, I keep thinking of Double rejection Hatchling Robin and while I was doing the dishes my brain made a scenario in which after a while Dawn and Dusk have been visiting the lab where they now work way more often (which isn't necessarily often, excuses to do so would probably be pretty sparse, but for the top agents it's unusually often enough), so Sun is waiting in the outer room (or maybe even just outside) and overhears one of the technicians asking Robin how in the world they managed to befriend the grumpiest agents, and at first Robin wants to make a joke about being able to engineer situations to their liking, but then they pause, remembering the words that affected them so much in Dawn's initial snap, and with a sigh Robin responds they aren't friends really. Just understanding how to work better with each other is all.

The post in question, because it's been a couple days!

Below this are 2251 words. Enjoy <3

"which isn't necessarily often" - true, but I've decided Eclipse gets to indirectly save the day once again. Dawn already mentioned him, and saw that Robin recognizes the name, so the boys just. Start showing up at the lab, sneakily hidden away blueprints and flimsy excuses as they ask "Hey, Horizon sent us this, but it's uhhh not making sense to us and we wondered if you maybe knew?" or simple little repairs that they used to do at home they now specifically request Robin to do because "they're the only one we trust to put in the effort we expect"

This all of course after Dusk had his moment of apology, too - he stays on lookout, checking the lab for a day or two before he catches Robin on shift, asking them to talk. They're much more apprehensive, even after Dawn's apology, due to him being the "final nail" in their little coffin for their joy, and being asked by the star agent you know as grouchy at best to go somewhere more private to talk?

But they do take their break then, wary as they are, and Dusk ushers them not to a completely secluded place, but rather... The lobby, with just a few chairs and worn couches serving as a communal space, vending machines for drinks and snacks not too far away either. It's empty around this time of night though, so perfect, actually. There's multiple break areas like this on the different floors, and Robin wonders if he chose the one with the most escape routes on purpose. For whose comfort they aren't quite sure, because Dusk doesn't look particularly happy about the situation either

There's one or two agents passing through the entrance doors and startling at the sight of lab tech who looks supremely uncomfortable and star agent with a metaphorical storm cloud over his head, seated on a small couch together, and Robin almost considers fleeing the awkwardness. But then...

"Did it heal alright?"

"... I'm not an invalid. I stopped field work because I'm obviously not suited for it."

It's quite unfair that he looks so pained, so genuine when they're the one who had their excitement crushed.

"You are, though. I - I was scared, I let you get hurt, and instead of just being angry at myself I took that out on you. Dawn told me, about the lights. I'm sorry I didn't notice, I'm sorry you got hurt because of me, and I'm sorry I said things that aren't even true in the heat of the moment."

It's a lot. A lot he feels sorry for, but Robin is stuck on one thing.

"You're not taking the credit for my stab wound."

"What?"

"You're not taking credit for my stab wound. You were half the room away, and busy with your own fight."

Dusk is kind of - almost offended, really? He's trying to apologize, and they tell him he shouldn't?

"I told myself I'd watch out for you -"

"Which one is it, then?"

Still angry, Robin interrupts him. He falls silent, because he sees there's more to the superficial anger. They expect an answer he doesn't know how to give, because he doesn't understand the question. Robin elaborates without prompting, after waiting in vain for a few heavy moments.

"Which one is it. Am I actually a decent field agent, or am I the idiot who needs a babysitter?"

Oh. Oh.

That's an easy one, then.

"You're a good field agent who I didn't want to see hurt."

Robin looks away then, ducking their head, and it's also then that Dusk realizes that like this, he can actually see their whole face. He decides he likes that, even if the reason isn't ideal.

But one step at a time - and this was the first. After that the boys start showing up under the pretense of above mentioned scenarios, and Robin does humor them. They don't ask why the boys seem so insistent on making amends, their confidence still just barely existent.

It's after leaving from one of those impromptu visits that another lab tech asks Robin in a hushed voice about their peculiar friendships with the grumpy star agents - most field agents don't even wanna work with them, so how did they get so close?

Robin first cracks a smile, a spark of their old enthusiasm breaking through, but then it falls.

"We're, uh, not friends. I don't think - I mean, I'm barely - I don't know. They did make the 'not friends' part clear though."

However, dear Dawn was still on his way out - and it seems that both that lab tech and Robin either forgot or weren't aware that they're equipped with sensors for auditory input more sensitive than human ears. He clicks the door shut softly, hopefully not alerting the two inside, and leaves for his office.

Not that he gets any paperwork done. Instead, he keeps thinking about what Robin said, and wonders just why it bothers him so much. Objectively, he wasn't wrong back then, even if it was harsher than necessary and irrelevant to the conversation. They're secret agents, they shouldn't be friends, even the continued visits are already toeing the line of what is appropriate and what isn't. It makes him think just why they stick to the rules so much.

"That's lonely."

It is.

He goes home, and shoots Eclipse a text, too - something harmless, but brotherly snarky, like "Hope you didn't set the lab on fire today. Wait, amendment. Hope you didn't set the lab on fire too often today." (Eclipse, far away, is certainly surprised, and maybe confused - but he jumps on the chance to make fun of his brother right back. Not too much though, just in case. It's rare enough that one of them is the one to initiate a conversation.)

With the next switch, Sun asks Moon point blank - are they trying to befriend Robin? Moon, confused, forever soft, replies with "Aren't we already friends?"

Leads to a very awkward moment when Sun has to explain that welllll, he might have made things even harder for the two of them. He only escapes Moon's throttling on account of sharing a body.

But they hatch a plan, and promptly set it into motion.

The next time Dusk catches Robin, he asks them, obviously enough to earn him a curious look but innocent enough to get an honest reply, "Would you like to work in the field again?"

"I don't know. I guess? Maybe some day again? Pretty sure the higher ups are already getting annoyed by me, anyway - shouldn't draw even more negative attention by asking to switch again."

Dusk just hums, eyes narrowing just slightly at their back at the rather unfortunate discrepancy between reality and their perception. If their plan didn't cover it, he would address it right then and there.

Like this, he redirects back towards their current work with a smooth "Testing these out in the field is quite fun, I think you should try it some time." He gets a full happy infodump on the newest gadget they're working on, and he's glad that their spark is growing again. Both Sun and him will do their best to keep it that way.

Following that, they both start namedropping Robin in reports, slyly suggesting their ideas are inspired by first hand field experience, and the "perhaps they should earn more" is strongly implied.

Dawn in particular, still the more talkative of the two, lets their name slip a few times when directly talking to a supervisor, often in the same "breath" as complaining about there not being anyone who gets his method ("well, except Robin. They at least could keep up - too bad they switched to the labs.")

All the while the two continue their visits, subtly building up their confidence again and laying the groundwork for an actual friendship. They'll need to ask, but they want to have the "gift" ready for that.

The supervisors do catch on. Robin gets a private summon (and shakes like a leaf the entire way to their specific supervisor's office, only to freeze at there being two supervisors - hello again, Agent River). They don't suffer for long - the offer is direct. There's been interest in switching them back over to field work, back under River's supervision and specifically to work in partner missions with Dusk and Dawn. They could work solo missions or stay in the lab during the time between those, a dual domain focus isn't unheard of.

Robin, overwhelmed, asks for some time to think - and gets a night to sleep on it. They return to their shift, and have a couple hours to collect themself before Dawn stops by, later in the afternoon. He doesn't know about the offer rattling in their brain, and is thoroughly confused (and worried about) the contemplative look they regard him with while obviously zoning out. When he snaps them out of it, they turn their back to him, and he's just a tad jittery at the thought that they purposefully hide their expression from him. They do sound awfully neutral.

"Got the offer to switch back to field work again earlier."

"Oh?"

"Yup."

"Do you... want to take it?"

"Specifically. To work with Dusk and you. You wouldn't happen to have something to do with that?"

Ah, so the supervisors already snitched. He stops fidgeting then, shoulders dropping to a more comfortable level as he grins.

"We only did what we consider 'giving credit where credit is due'. Whatever the supervisors happened to do with that information is out of our hands."

They glare at him then, but there's not as much fire in it as when he first saw them again, far from it.

"Why?"

"Because you're a good agent, and we want to be friends."

Hello, number one thing Robin did not expect to hear today!

They start spluttering, very close to a cartoonish double take.

"But - you said -"

Dawn is still a peacock, and can fake confidence like a pro.

"Well, I think I should be allowed to change my mind. Are you seriously going to hold me to something I said months ago, when I was an idiot?"

That gets them. They blink, and then just start laughing, clinging to the lab counter just a little to steady themself.

"You're still an idiot. Did you seriously set this up just to ask me to be friends?"

Dawn's reply is sober, matter of factly.

"Well, no. We also genuinely miss working with you, because friends or not, you are the only one capable of understanding our method and keeping up with us."

That sobers them up, too. They study him for a moment, but there's nothing in his expression hinting towards any doubt. This confidence isn't faked.

Robin does choose a dual focus. They love seeing room for improvement right in the field, and then getting to work on said improvement themself.

The three grow pretty comfortable with each other, the boys even willing to talk about bits and pieces of their personal life. Mostly Eclipse, really, still addressing him as Horizon though. They did (and do) make an effort to initiate conversations more with their brother, so they have a lot of shenanigans to share. Eclipse knows about Robin, too, and often enough teases his brothers for their thinly veiled crush. Sun and Moon do deny it, but well...

One day, after one complaint over the boys' current landlord too many, Robin jokingly offers that they just move in with them, but gets a genuine "yes" back. Do shrug the surprise off though to confirm, because why not, actually? ... Though wouldn't the higher ups mind?

So they stage an accidental reveal for Sun and Y/N at a specific store's ~special~ sale they both were interested in. They're very apologetic when immediately admitting that to Agent River, and she isn't paid enough to care that much so she lets it slide.

She definitely isn't paid enough to call them out on the change of address just a few short weeks later, and so she looks away. They're already a well-oiled team by then, Robin despite their limited exposure in the field soon joining Dusk and Dawn in reputation.

They all feel very clever when they enjoy their new domestic life together, seamlessly slotting into something more than just neighbors, because they're already friends. They're in each other's places constantly, and none of them would ever think of complaining. The boys worked very hard to get where they are, and know very well to cherish that after their rocky starts.

(They're the timeline that at some point has one of them just look at the other, somehow entangled in the most natural cuddle, doing something entirely normal for them, and ask "Hey, are we a couple? Is this a couple thing? Because I wouldn't mind if it's a couple thing. Would love that, actually. But also no hard feelings if not." and get a very blunt "Oh no yea I'd love that too." back. Third party gets updated during the next switch, and is also horribly blasé about it. Not much changes, except maybe a few more kisses. They were definitely already besties who nuzzle <3

[rubiesintherough]

SEND ME ‘ 😏 ’ AND MY MUSE WILL HONESTLY ANSWER THE FOLLOWING Q’S:

for wraith

@fiirstnephalem

1. How physically attracted they are to your muse

Gonna go with very. He thinks she's gorgeous

2. How romantically attracted they are to your muse

Harder for him to answer, just because he doesn't really have a basis to answer it from... romance isn't really in his vocabulary. But, he wants to spend a lot of time with her. Likes it when she laughs. Wants to hold her hand, and make sure she's okay, and safe, and will shoot anyone who tries to hurt her, so... while he doesn't understand romance necessarily, as the word... he feels it.

3. How often they would like to have sex with yours. 

His drive tends to be on the lower, so maybe once or twice a week? And he doesn't view sex as a necessity ( just bc it's a very new part of his life ) so he wouldn't initiate very often... mostly bc he's kinda awkward about it and doesn't really know how.

4. Where they would most likely have sex with yours 

His room. Her room. Rooftops. The middle of nowhere. He doesn't have an issue with anywhere, really. So long as it's far enough from where other people would be, for more for security and letting his guard down reasons than anything else.

5. Whether they think yours would be  “good”  in bed 

As far as his understanding of the concept goes, yes.

6. What titles / nicknames my muse would like to call yours during sex

He doesn't have an idea for that ready to go. If she asked him to call her something, he would, but otherwise...

7. Up to 3 kinks they would like to explore with yours  ( with consent of course )

......... okay, so hear me out... hair pulling is top of the list for him, whether it's doing the pulling or having his pulled. Could also see him having a mild knife kink. those are the only two right off the top of his head, but he's not opposed to suggestions. The world of sex and kink has just recently opened up to him, and he's interesting in learning and trying stuff out.

8. What sort of sex they’d prefer to have with yours  ( slow & sensual, quickie, etc. )

Slower, exploration and figuring out each other's bodies, and finding out what they both like and what she feels like under his hands, and... really just enjoying and savoring what it feels like to be so close to another person. a person he knows won't take the opportunity to stab him in the back. And that's rare and precious to him, and he'd want to take his time

9. What type of relationship my muse would like to form with yours. ( typical couple, friends with benefits, etc. )

Someone he can kiss and also kick ass with. That's ideal for him...

[bonesandthebees]

The last of Tommy's pillar is now washed away. He's just another part of the ice that stabs Wilbur now. For what could it be but another person who sees him as nothing more than a bastard? How could he ever think that Tommy would have been any different, even if he had been for so long. It doesn't matter anymore.

(Because now, Tommy is just another person that hates him and sees him as the dirt beneath his shoe.)

It lands. But Wilbur's response lands just as hard on Theseus.

Slipping into the same formality Tommy was so keen on disposing of. He asked them to call him by his personal name, Tommy, but it would hit particularly hard if it came from someone who had called him Tommy his entire life. They both hit exactly where they knew it would hurt the most. Nobody knows them better than they know each other. And they did it. They used that knowledge to hurt in the worst way.

I don't know they'll progress from here. They've destroyed everything that they had ever built. The only way now, I guess, is back up. Time to start from square one. Because clearly, that's what they were aiming for, with those last hits. They didn't mean for it to get as bad as it did, but they definitely went for the kill. It's a really, really sad but understandable way to go about things, with the amount of trauma and hurt they're harbouring with no real outlet. Because the only understandable outlet used to be each other.

{ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.}

Obligatory mention of the exact phrase from a very meaningful poem that popped in my head as soon as I finished that chapter. Can you tell I'm a literature nerd

- ❄️

tommy had always been different from the others on eldingvegr. tommy was his little brother, the only other person he was close with besides niki. he wasn't like everyone else because he didn't see wilbur as a bastard, he just saw him as his brother.

until now. at least, that's what wilbur thinks.

and wilbur also knew exactly what he was doing calling tommy theseus. because the thing is, when you get really really angry at someone you love so deeply, you want to hurt them. and sometimes, you want to be petty about it. it's so much more difficult to pull yourself together and be cold to someone you love instead of just screaming at them. just screaming and shouting is letting your emotions boil over in that moment. but actually pulling yourself together to speak calmly and say the thing that you know will hurt them the most? that's true anger right there. that's not a heat of the moment thing, that's a desire to hurt. and that's what wilbur does.

the thing is, at this point, wilbur was too far gone in his own head to turn things around with tommy. he knew full well that his behavior was hurting their relationship, and refused to change. of course that's not necessarily his fault. he's dealing with some severe trauma both from the invasion but also resurfacing from his childhood. he's not in a good mental space and can't bring himself to fix things. but it's still a choice he made. wilbur acknowledged multiple times that he was hurting tommy but he made up excuses and justified it to himself. so the only way to go forward was for him to be forced to deal with the consequences of his actions.

aw man those lines fit perfectly...

[fox-daddies]

Reading a certian smutty blog I've been thinking about my Mc's and A/B/O. Without any more banter;

Kyle; (mostly shipped with Nadia and Asra)

Omega, O-MEG-A

Has irregular and far spread heats but don't let that fool you when he goes into heat he GOES into heat.

The first sign is nesting as his uege to nest always comes a few hours before his scent spikes in intensity. It's his only warning to get somewhere private and to lock up shop.

Kyle nests either in the overstuffed bed or on the floor. Will not nest in Nadia's bed but will nest on the floor next to it, won't nest in the Nopal bed but will nest on the floor next to it, will not nest in Portia's bed but will nest next to it. The overstuffed bed is the exception not the rule.

Uses the cool floor to help with his rising heat as he moves between floor and nest and floor and nest and floor an-.

Plushies, blankets, pillows, give him anything with the right texture and he'll love them even more in that moment (Best texture is slightly rough and scratchy but not only scratchy. The worst texture he'll throw out immediately is silk. Too smooth too slippery.)

Give them a good item with their scent on it and he's burying his face into it. Or better yet sit on the floor and let him bury himself into them. (Especially if Asra or Nadia are wearing a scarf or something lose he will bury his face into with a loud purr.)

Closes the shop when in heat purely because they cannot function at all. Will spend the day rolling around on the floor making soft noises and lots of scenting. Cannot control his scent even when out of heat as the right amount of nuzzling and nipping from Nadia and Asra will force him to release a comforting scent. Forced scenting doesn't hurt at all and he doesn't mind it as it's just a subconscious reaction he hasn't learned to control.

Absolutely weak to mating bites and neck bites in general.

Lastly purring. Kyle purrs a lot. Gentle head rub? Purring. Picked up? Purring. Cuddling? You guessed it purring. Not even necessarily while in heat. However in heat purring is the most common noise out of his lips.

Hunter; (mostly shipped Muriel, Julian and Portia)

They are an alpha.

Has such a high control of their pheromones it's hard to tell what part of their cycle their in.

Unless their in rut but that's more due to how they act not their pheromones.

Will actually try and decrease pheromone production during their rut but will eventually lead to them releasing a bunch of it at once. As they give into their rut.

Has routine and short ruts but gets super agressive during this time.

Not physically of course but will growl and hiss at everyone even Muriel. Has to explain it's because of hormones and not because they'll actually attack or actually feels angry at them.

Because of their background has just learned to react to the feeling of rut with anger and aggression, hating the feeling more than being stabbed. (They have experienced both.)

Suprisingly needs to be talked into having sex. Not because they don't want it but because they'll bite and bite and BITE. The last thing they want is to accidentally hurt their Li.

Then again one of their Li is Julian though so biting might not be as bad as Hunter fears it is.

Needs lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement. Even if they deny it.

Bluebell; (mostly shipped with Lucio)

Beta.

Enjoys not having to deal with ruts or heats but will do whatever they can to help their Li through if they have heats or ruts.

Is suprisingly boring with their sex life and likes that.

Enjoys being able to provide for their partner and help them through heats and ruts.

Will happily play the role of the helpless omega or the dominating alpha. Or even a helpess alpha and powerful omega.

The second most Mc to enjoy rping only losing to Kyle.

Has suprisingly low libido but enjoys watching their partner growing more and more needy.

[royalberryriku]

// vent (includes some very heavy topics)

//TW: trauma, panic, fight or flight, C-PTSD, abuse apologia, warped concept of reality, hypervigilance, paranoia, violence, thoughts of violence, anger issues? Maybe? Idk.

So, for the last few days my grandfather has been over, and he's been far away from me and everything, so it's fine and all. *But* lately my mental health has been at a low and everything he's said, every little tiny raise of his voice (not even at me or necessarily aggressive), or little gesture or wave or joke sends me into a state of defensiveness. I'm always readying myself for him to be a jerk and going through what to do. I'm always on edge.

Today in particular, I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and the heat sapped my energy even more (it was 38C and humid today) so I was irritable. I'm angry at everything and still very on edge. So when I had to deal with the inevitability of being home alone while my mum had to go work while I had to wait for my aunt to pick up my grandfather, I was left with very frayed nerves. Sure, we weren't even around each other and were at opposite sides of the house and I had my door closed, but even then, with the one or twice we spoke about the logistics of him leaving and me locking the dogs out because I was also leaving afterwards? I was very on edge and felt angry at him, my mum, everyone really. I know she has to go to work and this situation where he had to suddenly stay over for a while came unexpectedly, but I still feel resentful over the fact we ended up alone despite everything. It still *feels* as if she doesn't believe he every actually hurt me and that I'm fine. Which hey, maybe is true, but also maybe it isn't; he's a frail old man who gets confused and is only even here because he's sick and just had a heart operation. But even so? I was already irritable and this entire thing didn't help.

From there, I went from anxious to angry to imagining punching him to remembering every little or big thing he and others have done to make me feel so afraid, not in control of myself and so damn angry. I started feeling stuck in those feelings until I eventually became numb, calmed myself down, then saw him again and felt all that calmness disappear instantly. Now, home and wanting to just go tf to sleep, I'm stuck here in my thoughts, feelings and memories, and this seething anger that almost delves into violance and bloodlust for everyone who's ever hurt me.

I feel a mixture of that, disorientation, rejection, pleasure (from sensations born of memories of the kind of abuse, which leads into:) disgust (from thoughts and memories), fear, anger (at others and also myself), relief (from feeling validated and believing myself when I feel stuff, as if I assume everything's a lie because every time I've told my family any of this they've assumed that much), and of course paranoia of every potential future situation and how I could handle it. Considering my mental state right now, a lot of those "handling it" is with violance. Which isn't helpful for my mental state either especially with my desire to NOT let that rage control me and make me violent.

Which also brings me to another thing. So I tend to always numb my emotions and try to be constantly calm, but I'm starting to realise that's due to suppressing that exact type of anger and I'm constantly terrified of it which means I push my feelings down deeper out of fear. So. There's that as well.

Right now, I'm really just trying to calm my breathing and try not to fall into that anger. And trying not to imagine me stabbing him, or me shoving my head through a wall in frustration, or breaking anything. Sometimes, rage makes me fantasise about releasing said rage, but then I remember that breaking things and people to release it isn't a good idea and I push that away. Maybe I should invest in another stress ball. Or paint. Instead of breaking anything. So now I'm here, writing this out (which is helping quite a lot).

I'm in pain, but at least I can use it to write so I guess there's that. I'm trying to look at the positives, and I'm at least in the mood to fixate on that.

For future context for people who come across this vent and read all of this (thanks for caring and legit I'm sorry you all had to stumble upon this mess of a situation to read, it will happen again) the situations I've referred to with my grandfather and others are as noted below:

**// TW: CSA, incest, manipulation, grooming, lying, abuse apologia and, of course, abuse.**

So my grandfather touched my inappropriately as a child, touched my inner thigh when he was drunk, and he's consistently sexually harassed me/ been a creep all throughout my childhood as well. I'm very suspicious my uncle also tried to groom me as well considering he was extra "close" and followed me around constantly, offered me alcohol as a child (my grandfather did the same thing too) and persisted even when I refused. I also very distinctly remember that I was always afraid to be left alone with him, which is...very damn telling. Actually I felt that way with both so uh. Yeah.

Adding to this, there is also suspicion around a possible situation with either uncle or someone else (memory is hazy) who may have also assaulted me in a park, who also always poked me when I told him not to because it made me very uncomfortable and scared at the time, as well as several other instances of similar types of abuse. Adding, my grandfather is also a pisshead to my mother and has yelled at her for minor shit out of her control, berated her, kicked her out of his house when she was visiting her dying mother back when she was alive then went back to allowing her back (all after neglecting said mother as she was dying), and did many other shitty things.

My mother also defended him and tried to make out I imagined the fact he touched me as a child. And also had always trusted him around me when I was a child. She's now more aware of it and trying a bit more at least and somewhat trying to be understanding, but I'm pretty sure she thinks it's impossible he willingly hurt anyone and doubts me still. At least she acknowledges I feel like shit whenever he's around though and doesn't blame me like before. So that's part of why my anger can easily end up directed at her when I feel this way. Aaaand given that she's lied to me about things before regarding things that have happened so that they seem more innocent and people look better than how I remember them actually acting...yeah, I'm gonna say it's not fully undeserved, at least the irritation and wish she had been more honest and didn't try to hide shit. That just made me less safe while making her feel like I was. It wasn't for me but her, I think.

Anyway. That's the basic context behind this so I'm here trying not to lose my shit before he eventually leaves and seeing if I can actually function because...it's gonna be damn hard if I can't when we literally don't have a choice but to eventually live together in two seperate dwellings (locked from each other) on the same property/ land.

[stellocchia]

dsmp AU where everything is the same, except that Double Life mechanics apply.

So everyone has a soulmate, of course. But also golden apples are a thing and they send soulmates out of sync. They can't break the bond, but if one consumes enough golden apples their lives might not be linked anymore. So basically one of the soulmates can die without the other one dying.

But there's no way to properly cut the bond.

So, my idea for who the soulmates would be is this:

Tommy and Wilbur are soulmates. Tommy lost them their first two lives. First by being the first down in the Final Control Room and then with the duel. Later, when Wilbur is planning his death, he steals all the golden apples Dream had left for Tommy in Pogtopia in an attempt to break their bond. Of course, you can't break the bond, but it sends them enough out of sync that when Phil stabs him Tommy's hurt, but he doesn't die.

Later during the Bedrock Bros arc Tommy also gets a golden apple addiction. He doesn't think it'll have any repercussions since his soulmate is dead, but, of course, Wilbur does eventually come back to life and they're so incredibly out of sync by then that it's a real struggle for them to find a way to fit together again.

Then there's Tubbo and Ranboo. By the time Ranboo found the right server his soulmate is in he was already down to one life. Which is why after the prison he died without necessarily losing any lives previously. ('Cause I still don't know how ho16 fits in the main narrative, so I'm ignoring it).

Tubbo up until now still thought he simply didn't have a soulmate because Ranboo is a rather careful individual. So he never felt it quite so strongly. But when Ranboo shows up with his 30+ totems he kinda gets why.

Still, Tubbo lived his whole life thinking he was alone and he kinda relied heavily on Tommy as his chosen soulmate so at the very beginning, he has a hard time bonding with Ranboo. Between the stress of everything going on with exile and then Doomsday it takes time. Time and a lot of late-night talks and not talking about their respective abandonment issues.

That said, as I mentioned, Ranboo had to be very very careful with a soulmate like Tubbo, which is why by the time he ends up dying Tubbo... doesn't. Because he ate plenty of golden apples just to keep the both of them alive.

And the last ones I've actually thought about are Dream and Sapnap. So, basically, they were really close early on. And Sapnap is nothing but loyal. He followed his soulmate into every single battle. And, at the start, Dream was the same. Just as loyal right back.

But, well, we all know that Dream kinda went off the deep end at one point. He started consuming enormous amounts of golden apples as a way of cutting his bond. And Sapnap suffered a whole lot because of it of course. Because, again, the bond is still there. He still got hurt when Dream was killed. He was on the brink of death himself. But on top of that he also got the confirmation that Dream voluntarily did that to them. And that probably hurts more.

And now Sapnap is out to kill Dream. And to do so he made a deal with God. He'll die too if he kills Dream because they're synced up again. And it'll be impossible for them to be knocked out of sync this time. But, hey, to keep the server safe it's worth it.

[dannyboyzone]

Why these Lookism Bad Guys are liked, a rant by me

Alright, so I have came across a post talking about how Johan is hated on despite being a "bad person", and trashing other characters for absolutely no reason other than guilt tripping people. I personally think the post is immature, but due to my own personality and mental state, it has still got me kind of pressed, because it all sounds ridiculous. This post will be about some people in Lookism that are viewed as a bad people and or are hated on, and why I think they are liked. I won't speak for everybody liking these characters, and it will include some characters that I hate. This post is just to give a general idea for people who are really ignorant about why some characters might receive love. You might have come across that post, and if not, I am talking about this one below. - Well, only a small part of it, that threw me off. -

I didn't include the person's username out of respect and also so they don't feel attacked or anything of the sort.

Before starting this off, there are a few things I would like to say. If I sound petty, I truly don't care. I never saw anybody hating on Johan, at max maybe give criticism, I also don't hate Johan or try to disvalidate anyone's feelings, just get some things straight. Liking someone's looks does not immediately mean you are attracted to them, neither does liking the person's look you are attracted to mean you are toxic. It means you are loving. If you like someone's personality, you will find them beautiful consciously or subconsciously. If someone finds a character handsome, it is not a crime, people have types and preferences, and if they do it's none of your business. Hating good looking people doesn't make you woke, neither hating on people who are attracted to good looking people. What are you, Crystal Choi? And yes, people will be attracted to looks, it's a normal human act. People will notice if they find someone more attractive or unattractive which is not a bad thing. What is a bad thing when they start treating people different because of it. I assure you, most of the lookism fandom that I have came across doesn't do that.

This post will not include Seong Yohan because I never saw him get hated and I don't think nobody knows where he is coming from.

Samuel Seo

Yeah, so what seemed to be a surprise for me is that not a lot of people like Samuel, or at least understand why the people liking him would. Now, I personally feel no romantic attachment towards him. - Which is yes, normal, even if he is fictional. It's called fictophilia and I better see no judgement about it. - However, I do love Samuel a lot, and would love to care for him and grow a strong bond. To me, Samuel is not a monster. At all, believe me, Samuel isn't liked only for his looks. For me, personally, I love him so much because I can relate to him. I absolutely hated him at first, but grew to love him because he is human. He is complex, has a hard life and isn't perfect. That's exactly why I love him, and someone else I really adore does too. Yes sure, as you grow to like someone's personality, you find them handsome and or pretty. It's so much easier to say someone is pretty than to say, 'Hey, I love this person because they helped me go through so much.' Not everyone has the same love language, not everyone is comfortable with blunt affection. Besides, Samuel can and will achieve anything he wants. He has SO much sides to himself, not just 'good looking violent guy with big tits'. That's not Samuel at all. Besides, if PTJ oversexualises him, it's hard to not notice his body.

Yes sure, Samuel hits women, but I personally, don't f%cking care. Your vagina doesn't define if you deserve violence or not, your behaviour and the person's you face personality does. I am personally someone that doesn't mind violence as long as the person deserved it, because some scumbags in this world do. If they happen to be a woman, that's not on me, they shouldn't have done whatever they did. If you are not a violent person, I am not even sorry to tell you this, but you are probably sexist. It's not like all women are fragile and unable to get hit. Besides, if his violence is the problem, why is it fine that he hits men? Because men can handle it? According to statistics women have a higher pain tolerance. By your logic, you should call him out for hitting anyone in his way. Stop acting like hitting women is a necessarily bad thing, start saying that hitting innocent people is a bad thing.

If you must hate on him, maybe use the fact that he killed his abusive and neglective parents. Don't give a hard time to others for liking him though.

Ahn JongGun

Does Gun seem like a bad guy? Absolutely, he has done some horrible things. Then why do we like him? Because he seems to have a smaller character development coming, he has so many things to him and he is an absolutely incredible and complex character. I am very curious of his background and what caused him to be so violent and yet so calm. I like him because he allows himself to be human. From his religion, to his knowledge of material arts, to his adoration towards Vasco's material arts teacher - I forgot his name, so excuse me for that -, to his attention to details, to his fashion sense, it all makes him human. It's nice to see someone be a human, instead of just 'hot guy' or 'villain'. He is a nice character that brings many depth to the story. I could list a hundred of reasons why I love him, and no, none of it is his "weird" fashion sense. I do find him incredibly stylish, I just think some people in this fandom don't understand fashion. - Oops, I guess. - My main reason to liking him is that he is most likely either bisexual or pansexual. That he has a crush on Daniel. I might seem like I have a weird fetish or something, or that I am a crazy "fangirl". That's not the case though. I am a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and while not huge, I adore the hell out of the representation. It's nice to see such a smart, elegant and powerful guy be the representation. Because he is a character that's not there simply to be gay and full of stereotypes. Like, no hard feelings if you fit into stereotypes, but as a person who doesn't fit into them, it's a refreshing thing to see someone that's allowed to have many sides to himself other than just 'the gay friend'. Of course I am sure there are a lot of people who have many other reasons to love him, like his endless knowledge of material arts. There is so many reasons to be interested in his character, and just because you can't see it that doesn't mean others are blind to it too.

Yeah, he might have slept with countless women, but the main reason you can't count it is because he never stated the amount of women he slept with, neither did anyone else. Sure, he did say that Daniel is better than any women he ever slept with, but for all you know that could have been 3. Even if, it doesn't matter. He could have slept with 3, or 70 women. It doesn't matter, because not everyone's sexual life will reflect your own. And other people's sexual life is none of your business. Sure, you can say it's only fiction, and that I am overreacting, but when it comes to such small or personal details, people tend to put their own personal view into it. It's really not fine to shame others for their sexual life. As long as he uses protection, and didn't make anyone pregnant and doesn't play with the feelings of anyone, who gives a f%ck.

Some people tend to lash out sexually if they experience trauma or stress, and no, I don't mean they go and r%pe people, I mean that they go and have sex with different people who give consent. Even if he doesn't do it because of that, why does it bother you so much? Sex isn't a disgusting act. Some people like it, some people don't. Whatever their decision is, as long as no one is hurt, you should respect their decision.

Kim JoonGoo

Alright, this got me f%cked up. Goo is such a good character, and no way he would ever cheat on his S/O. He has morals and a lot of good sense in himself. Sure, he might have said that Samuel will be his secret friend, which led OP to believing Goo would cheat, but that's... a terrible reason, in my opinion. Gun knows that Samuel works for Goo, and Goo owns up it too. Besides that, nothing, absolutely nothing would lead to the fact that Goo would cheat. Because he wouldn't.

Now, why do I like Goo, and why some other's might like him too. He is such a well put together character, unpredictable yet so simple. He damages people to a point they have to retire, doesn't get scared of murderer, is a money maniac and hates his boss. You would think, he is dirty and fits the "gangster" stereotypes. That's not the case at all. He is more hygienic than most of the characters of lookism, if not the most hygienic one. He hates drinking and smoking, doesn't have tattoos - not that there is anything wrong with that - and is incredibly patient.

He might be a money maniac sure, but his ability to control money so well the way he does just shows how high his IQ is. I find that amusing, since it's something hard to do. What I completely love to the moon and back about Goo is his creativity.

When he gets into fights, he is patient and maybe let's himself get hit a few times. That's a good thing because he has time to learn about what he is facing. I think that's neat, because not a lot of people think about that during fights, and he taught me to do that. Also, the way he harms people is very creative too, no matter how harsh that sounds. He stabs people with chopsticks, kicks people with a glass piece stuck in his shoe and harms people with a katana. It's all so unpredictable yet fits him so well. I really love the way he fights and handles situations because it tells so much about him. Also, he is so fun, who would do karaoke after beating a bunch of guys unconscious? Only your one and only Kim JoonGoo. He is such a fun person to study and to read about.

So, no, I will not put up with the bullsh%t that he would cheat on his s/o, because he is a very respectful and none judgemental person. Just because his fights look violent to you, and his friendship with Gun unstable, that doesn't mean he is a bad person. It just means he is different from you, and yeah, he does f%cked up things, I won't deny that. That's exactly what makes him an interesting character.

Xiaolong

Now, I personally don't like Xiaolong that much, so this will not come from heart, but a place of logic. For a disclaimer, I am not caught up on the latest chapters, because I want to binge read it.

Now, even though I do not like Xiaolung, I can see why other people would.

He is a responsible person, who takes good care of himself even though he has to look after Vivi 24/7. He is not only good in his job, but takes it very seriously too. He isn't afraid to take action to make sure his job is going smoothly, and that everything is on it's place. He would do anything to protect Vivi, which can be appealing to some.

And from what I saw from spoilers, he is very strong. No, admiring his strength does not make the person toxic or fragile. It means they find the place in their heart to appreciate the type of struggle and hard work he puts into it. He has an unique way of fighting, which I could only see a small portion of. However it's clear that he must be impressive. I completely understand if people find that neat.

Also, Xiaolong seems like such a f%cking loyal person. That's so incredibly important. A lot of people can find that appealing, for various reasons. I am aware there are poly people, or anything similar to that, but loyalty is so important for some people and can form a very deep sense of love.

Yeah, he might take care of Vivi when she is drugged and let her get away with drugs but consider this that's his job. He is payed to do that and swore to do his best in it, as it's very important to him.

Outro;

Yeah, I don't care, like who ever you want to and defend them, but if you drag down other characters and guilt trip people because of liking specific characters, you are not going to be "woke" or special. And I will find you, and e a t you. - For legal reasons, that's a joke. -

That is not the only post that I saw shame those characters and people who like them, but is the one that made me messed up.

This fandom absolutely loves shaming people if they love the character design and looks of their favourite character. Let me tell you something though; You are missing the point of the whole manhwa you are reading.

Finding people attractive and beautiful is completely normal. Treating them differently because of that is not. As far as I am concerned, I never saw any lookism fans hate on characters they find less attractive. - Rather on the attractive ones. -

People have a type and that applies to looks and personality. Literally everyone does, even if it's unconsciously.

If you want your favorite character to get more love, don't make other people's comfort characters look bad on purpose, because in their eyes they aren't simply the bad qualities you see in them. And if you highlight them at least make sure they are true or at least reasonable bad qualities.

Well yeah, that was my little rant. And I didn't even mention the psychological aspects of why each character is like, or in other words what people they might attract. Or, the difference kind of personal life experiences people had to go through to appreciate each kind of little detail about the characters.

Yeah, this is the end of my little rant. If this post will get actual mature answers and discussions, I will make a similar one for Vinjin, Logan, Olly and Jiho. Yeah, I hate all of them, but other people might not.

END

[aquamoonchaii]

•• genre - fluff

•• warnings - none

•• wc - 4,3k

•• pairing - shotaro x reader

•• collab - 90′S LOVE by @quokkacore

•• author’s note - cheesy shotaro for your souls! i’m sorry for the delay lovies, hopefully you’ll enjoy this oldsoul!shotaro

•• summary - shotaro is too romantic for this world and an old soul that believes in true love. sungchan wants to choke him but he is stubborn so he’ll learn box.

He is ready to show that antique store to her, he studied classical music hard and the french terms of ballet to sound like he had plenty of knowledge as he claimed. Maybe the stuttering already betrayed him but he still tries hard.

She is a ballerina so Shotaro is spending time in getting into her world so he could be able to share moments with her and what she loves. Hopefully, he can be part of what she likes, at least.

He knows this is the second date and come on, he shouldn't be so excited but- "I'm sorry, we are perfect as friends."

Wow.

He won't be able to explain what he felt at watching the whole Swan Lake.

He wasn't going to lie, it still hurts.

At least she was gentler than the other girls that rejected him. It's ok though, he would go to Sungchan and he would give him a logical explanation while he drowns in chocolate ice cream as he questions why he wasn't born earlier. Oh, how to be a young man in the 90's.

Everything more personal and romantic, less digital and dry.

Or maybe he wouldn't get a girlfriend in that moment of history either.

Romance is dead.

But he is stubborn.

His willingness to find love is still alive. Except today, today he will drown in ice cream as SungChan already texted him to come to his apartment. Does he see the future? Or does he know Shotaro just fails at life in general like… always?

"People that are involved in art are not necessarily old souls. She was probably not ready for a serious relationship either."

"But how is a relationship so scary? Like you can just talk and end things if it doesn't work which is highly improbable because love is also friendship and true friendship doesn't end, right?"

"... that means we are in a relationship too?" 

"I still can stab you with this spoon." Shotaro shows the plastic spoon he is having ice cream with and his tall friends raised his hands in defeat. "SungChan, am I going to die alone?"

"Probably."

"Great."

And it happens thirteen months later.

His mouth hangs open and SungChan elbows him, he can't even turn around to ask what was his problem at the hit. It's like a spell was thrown at him and it caught him unexpectedly so he has to surrender. He will do it gladly.

The spell of the beautiful human there laughing loudly at the sight of whatever it is on your phone, a pair of jeans and a beautiful blouse he would remember forever. Your smile is really amazing.

"Taro, are you serious?"

"What? I didn't say anything."

"You don't have to, you are already drooling over her." At this Shotaro indeed closes his mouth, okay maybe he was too spelled to his brain to react well. "I don't blame you though, she's awesome."

"That means you are a rival?"

"Should I choke you in front of your too sudden crush?"

"It's called love at first sight, you dry asshat."

"Your insults are cute, have I told you that?" Sungchan laughs and he scoffs and decides to go talk to you but first he is going to the bathroom -to check if he smells good and looks decent enough to introduce himself- , this time he would do things like he thinks instead of just daydreaming. Everything seems perfect so he goes out ready after a small peep talk. He would be a man of action, ready to say hi, you are really pretty and i would love to go have an ice cream with you so- "SungChan!"

As Shotaro leaves the laughing asshat he has as a friend and gets ready to talk to you in the bathroom, something happened when he went back to Sungchan. But that's not what surprises him, a man almost as tall as him goes to his friend… with the beautiful girl by his side.

So you have a boyfriend.

Of course you would, because in this world, such a beautiful woman would never be an alone potato like him and it's so frustrating but there's still hope as you two are not holding hands but- wait- SungChan...knows you?

"This is Jungwoo, I think you already met him though? From-" "The soccer team, yeah! Of course, nice to see you again and your friend!" Shotaro said clearly too fast and loud, he still smiles sheepishly though.

Okay, he sounded too excited. Does it always have to be like that? Maybe being embarrassed is his trademark, so he actually answers the question and nods awkwardly after replying with a soft hi to Jungwoo, SungChan turns his head to the left to bite his lips because he is dying of laughter and second hand embarrassment.

Yeah, the bestest friend ever.

Suddenly the taller man grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look at you, he started to pray he won't pass out or turn red because it would be a sad first impression. "This is Y/N. Remember Lucas from gymnastics? No? Well, SungChan does know him and she is his neighbor! So she-" Ok, it's not like he finds the explanation boring, he just needs to befriend Lucas whoever he is. He looks at you, you are gorgeous and he bets you are so funny because of those playful eyes.

"Jungwoo, you explain horrible." You literally just waved at him, Shotaro is infatuated already. "In conclusion, I'm a friend of theirs. So hi!"

"Hi!" 

“Your phone case is awesome, are you into old cartoons? See, Jungwoo? There’s still people with good taste in this world!“

Ok, he likes you.

Sungchan is the worst way to meet you and have normal conversations without him throwing glances and making awkward remarks about him being a old romantic.

After literally starting an activity he doesn't enjoy too much to befriend Lucas, he can't even count all the times he got his whole body sore for starting training and boxing.

This tall man is the funniest person alive, he understands why SungChan enjoys hanging out with him. 

"It's okay man, I'll help you! You should've just asked!" Shotaro is out of breath as the barbell is crushing his chest. Of course, Lucas is stronger and lifts it like it's a bag of chips.

"Thanks, you are basically the one who keeps me alive. I almost died!"

"I was talking about Y/N! Come on man, SungChan told me everything!"

He wants to drop the barbell in his chest again and die crushed. Since then, a cupid was born though. Lucas can be really stubborn when he wants to achieve something.

Actually, he thought he would be scandalously helpful like SungChan. But thanks to all the skies, Lucas literally just invites him to his house so Shotaro would have the opportunity to see you.

That's it, he would know your neighborhood.

He is so excited.

…….............................................................................................

It's been a year since he knew you and you are all friends by now. He realized things about you that make him head over heels by now.

You were beautiful with your face full of crumbs of cookies and with messy hair when you had a nap, baggy clothes looked adorable on you too as you waved at Lucas, your neighbor and him, the friend of the neighbor that also became your friend.

Sungchan was wrong at love at first sight, this one didn’t vanish after a week but increased with each detail of you he get to know and that makes him feel ready to risk it all.

You are a homebody. Like him! Cozy dates would be a must here~ He makes himself blush when he daydreams about lazy dates and listening to music while cuddling. Well, lazy is just a word as he would do everything to make you feel comfortable and happy.

Also, you are a melomaniac~ Like him! You enjoy hearing different genres and you feel the song, he appreciates how you stay quiet. He heard you humming one day and he wanted to hug you.

“Shotaro, did you really have to come the day I look the worst in my entire life? I literally have a flu and look like a plane crashed on my face.“ Your runny and red nose mized with your crazy hair and too big cozy coat makes Sungchan laugh and Lucas scream.

“I came because Lucas said you were sick. We made hot tea for you to fell better.“

“We?“ 

“Shut up.“ His face burned but you smiled and he felt better, you being sick was awful because you didn’t want them to come to your house and he just wanted to baby you a bit. That's the moment he knew he had to confess to the queen in front of him. You.

At that moment, it starts the most important mission in the history of missions.

How.

How the freak is he going to confess?

He already knows the flowers you like, he knows your favorite ice cream flavor and he literally already practiced in his dining room how to take out the chair for you and hold the door for you to treat you like you deserve. But those details are not enough, he still isn't sure if you are going to notice that.

Yes, he has been rejected a considerable amount of times but he believes you are perfect. He will work hard to be perfect for you by being himself.

His past experiences made him wonder if he should hide the fact he is an old uncle in the body of a 20 year old man but no. He wouldn't lie to you, not when you have that strong personality that hates lies.

He is going to do it.

As he was squishing his brain out to think what to do, he finds playlists he randomly does, adding songs when he feels like it and has an idea.

This list is the key!

He has a playlist that has songs that involve you!

A song for you - Ray Charles

That song. That’s your song, he wrote it down randomly when you pointed out you loved that song, when Shotaro heard it he made squealing awkward noises because it was beautiful. A list started after that needs to be created.

La Macarena - Los del Río

This song would make you dance without doubt! He finds you cheerful and sweet so he would never want to see you upset. He would dance this song for you to make you laugh.

The Power of Love - Celine Dion

Cause' I'm your lady and you are my man, whenever you reach for me

I'll do all that I can  ♫

Queen Dion makes him think about how infatuated he is. Is he, Osaki Shotaro really up to do anything for you?

…Yes.

That makes him more vulnerable and it’s most likely he is going to end up hurt. But he doesn't care, he would find a cassette to put all the songs he has there and give it next to his heart to you.

Maybe this is going to hurt more if it's another rejection because he felt a special connection with you. He can talk to you about everything and you will reply excitedly, or if you didn't know, instead of smiling awkwardly, you would insist him to talk and no matter how long and boring it may be, you would listen and ask questions about his love for old Long Plays and antique stuff.

You could talk forever and neither of you would get bored.

…................................................................................................................

He almost wears a tuxedo if it wasn't because of Sungchan and Lucas hold him back in his room until he changes into normal clothes.

He messaged you last night to hang out to have a lovely ice cream. There's no way he would ask you out through texts like Lucas suggested, because yes, he is peeing himself but he has to see your beautiful face to say it.

When he sees you entering, he blocks his mind as SungChan told him to: repeat yourself a neutral word that would keep you calm or you are going to end up at ER. He repeats your name over and over again as a mantra to calm himself.

"Y/N!"

Ugh. The fact he can't never hide his excitement to see you is amazing. He stands up abruptly and lets his chair fall, lots of people are staring at him.

Great start.

After a small talk that calms him down and an ice cream that cools his body, he puts his cassette player on the table. He prays the cassette has all the songs he recorded in and maintains the order he put them on.

Yes, he checked out the songs a hundred times.

You look at him confused but smiled nonetheless, that's a good sign. You didn't roll your eyes or scoff at it.

He gives it to you and asks you softly to put the headphones on and press play.

Make you feel my love - Bob Dylan

He already searched how many minutes this song is. Three minutes and a half that seemed like a life, the song is clearly a confession of love and also a beautiful speech about what love is capable of. It's perfect.

You press pause as the song ends and smiled widely at him.

"Can I listen to the other songs?"

"Yeah, of course! The whole cassette is inspired by you." He freezes. "I mean, it's for you!" Shotaro gulps as he waits for your answer, you don't say anything and he gets anxious.

"Before you say anything-" Shotaro looks down, he even closes his eyes, maybe Sungchan is right and he is going to have a heart attack this afternoon and a broken one too. "- I have something for you!"

Huh? Is this a new way of rejecting someone?

"I kind of guessed why you invited me here and knowing you love to give details, I wanted to do one for you too!"

He raised his head and a little box in front of him was right there, he looked at you confused. "You aren't that discreet, Taro. You basically interviewed me about what I liked and had a list with my favorite restaurants."

So he is indeed lame and boring.

The worst at making surprises too, maybe- "And that was the sweetest thing ever! I didn't expect this though so I am more than glad I did prepare this for you! This is so incredible and thoughtful. Thank you so much! Open your gift!"

Or not.

He is sweet and thoughtful? His smile is so big, he can't talk and just lets out an embarrassed giggle while opening his gift.

It looks like a coupon, but it’s not. It’s a gift card?

A GIFT CARD, HOLY CRAP. Not a common one.

It's a gift card for the most incredible store of LP's ever! He is hyperventilating, he may pass out.

"I didn't want to mess up so I decided to give you this so we can go together and you would choose your favorite LPs ! I heard a lot of your favorites so i have a list too and I called, they have them all so it will be fun!"

He pinches himself and you laugh at his speechless face.

Is this even real?

"Shotaro, do I need to ask for a glass of water for you? I still need to ask you out-"

"What?" His red cheeks already hurt and he is going to die right now. "That means I can be your boyfriend?"

"Of course! You are probably the most thoughtful and the sweetest guy I have ever met!" He lets out a loud squeal gaining looks from the other tables. You laugh. "I would be crazy if I reject you!"

Maybe romance is not dead.

®aquamoonchaii all rights reserved

tags: @purplepsycho03​ @himitsu-luna​ @halliney​ @najatheangel​

[haleigh-sloth]

Hello,

I just found your page and after reading some of your mha posts had a couple things I wanted to ask if that's ok.

1. Since you feel Hawks is not justified because he could have chosen options other than killing Twice, do you think he would have been had he genuinely been made to choose between killing him and saving others? I.e. do you think it's just this killing in particular that was not justified and thus murder, or do you think heroes killing can never be justified, even if in self-defense or defense of others? If we take the "Heroes save people" maxim to its limits, it might be reasonable to argue for a deontological approach to ethics rather than a utilitarian one, so that killing one to save others is not justified because you actively break your code (as opposed to risking not being able to save others, which would be considered a lesser moral wrong under this mindset).

2. This might very well be a stupid question, but if we consider that heroes shouldn't treat others as an it and put them down for the "sake of society", do you feel this ought to extend to AFO too? I really don't mean to use this as a gotcha moment or anything like it, but I feel like if MHA is trying to move away from a punitive justice system in favour of a rehabilitative/restorative one, we ought to consider where people like AFO fall into this system as well. AFO is seemingly entirely unlike any of the other villains in the show, but if we judge that he deserves a different fate for this it also feels like playing into the "Some people just can't be saved" notion that's been perpetuated by hero society. It is of course entirely possible, if not likely, that he'll fall in battle, or that Shigaraki himself will kill him eventually, but I feel like that skirts the issue rather than answer it. As someone who does not seem to show any remorse, desire or even ability to be saved, and in fact feels rather inhuman, what should a reformed society even do with him? Even if we could convincingly argue him to be fundamentally different and thus deserving of punishment, it is much easier for us readers who have more information to make this call, rather than in-universe characters whose judgement will inevitably be based on something less than the full truth. So even if AFO's case in particular was easily answered, it would set a precedent for cases that may appear similar, but in truth be less clear cut. Basically, I believe you feel the villain league deserves another chance because they were victims of their circumstances, and thus not necessarily beyond salvation, because they never knew normality to begin with, but what about those who were not victims, those who by their nature have insurmountable trouble fitting into a peaceful society? Perhaps it's just my mistaken assumption that such people exist and I'm reading AFO wrong, or perhaps it's the opposite and I'm giving people like AFO undue consideration, or perhaps my assumption that AFO ought to be treated as a person rather than a carocature, a symbol, is flawed to begin with, but I just really don't think a manga that wants to argue that villains are people too should go "but here's THIS vile piece of shit, let's kill him!". Am I making sense here?

3. On another note, what do you think of Endeavor's recent speech and general recent development? I've seen some people who were upset by his "Would it fix everything if we showed you our tears" line, but rather than him being dismissive or callous I just see it as him awkwardly saying that he doesn't think anything other than actions can help him atone for what he did. He's still got a lot to work through, but him recognizing that he's got something to atone for and freely talking about what he did to his family is, as I find, certainly a huge step in the right direction.

WHOO hey! Sorry for taking a while to respond. You gave me some really well thought-out questions and I wanted to return the favor with well thought-out answers. Also I was heckin busy yesterday when you sent this. So, here we go:

To answer this question about Hawks, I first need to clarify what it means to be a hero in the eyes of the story that is BNHA:

This honestly doesn’t even make a dent in the amount of panels in BNHA that reiterate time and time again that heroes SAVE people, but I don’t feel like I should have to spend too much time looking for them, these I used above should suffice. The one with baby Midoriya and baby Tenko doesn’t even have any words in the panel, and it’s still powerful enough to get the message across. And make me cry.

Almost every story has its own “heroes” in it. And every story’s definition of a hero is different. In Marvel and DC superhero comics and movies, the heroes usually end up killing the villains, yes? I can’t say I’m familiar with these stories because they aren’t interesting to me in the slightest, but from the ones I HAVE seen, the final boss at the end dies. But all of the heroes get to keep their title of “hero”. That’s not really the standard we have in BNHA.

“Do you think it's just this killing in particular that was not justified and thus murder, or do you think heroes killing can never be justified, even if in self-defense or defense of others?”

So this is a fair point and I feel that the best way to answer this is by asking what you consider self defense? Say Hawks is at home mad chillin and not prepared for a fight in the slightest, and somebody breaks into his house and starts trying to hurt/kill him. He’s unprepared and at this point just trying to keep himself alive. If he ends up killing the guy, is he wrong? In my opinion, no. In real life this happens to people, and they aren’t considered murderers, as they shouldn’t be. To me, self defense is a situation where:

It’s either you or me. It’s one or the other.

I think it’s fair to say what happened with Hawks and Twice was absolutely NOT self defense. I’m not going to go into detail about how deciding to kill Twice was absolutely 100% premeditated, because there’s a wonderful post by someone else that already explains that in great detail here. But I’ll end this thought by saying that Hawks was not committing an act of self defense.

Nothing about this says “self-defense” to me.

“If we take the "Heroes save people" maxim to its limits, it might be reasonable to argue for a deontological approach to ethics rather than a utilitarian one, so that killing one to save others is not justified because you actively break your code (as opposed to risking not being able to save others, which would be considered a lesser moral wrong under this mindset).”

To make it simple for some people to understand these terms:

“Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on OUTCOMES.“ In a nutshell, utilitarian ethics means you make a decision based on how it will affect everything else.

“In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action.” In a nutshell, deontological ethics means you make a decision based on whether it follows rules or not.

So this is a complicated question, and my answer to this is....both? Throughout BNHA we’ve had this dilemma over and over again:

Break the rules and save the day? Or follow the rules and possibly suffer the consequences? Well, BNHA just says “Yes” lol. Do both. Break the rules and save the day. Make a decision based on the consequences of said decision, but also try to follow the rules as best as you can. Even in reality, people do this to get through life. You really can’t live life under a strict utilitarian approach or a strict deontological approach. If Midoriya hadn’t persisted against his classmates and the law to go save Bakugo, he WOULD have gotten kidnapped AGAIN. They were actively trying to take him with them. If Midoriya didn’t break the rules to save Kota, Kota would have straight up DIED. Muscular was actively trying to kill Kota, not to mention Kota had zero ways of defending himself. But here’s where I don’t think this is a fair comparison:

Hawks claims his killing of Twice was to save others. I don’t completely disagree with this logic, if the situation was more dire and dangerous for Hawks. The league was taking peoples’ lives. Somebody had to do something. The problem is that Twice was RUNNING AWAY when Hawks killed him. Twice wasn’t fighting Hawks back, he wasn’t endangering Hawks himself. Hawks stabbed him in the back. AND Hawks had Dabi to worry about, who was actively trying to attack Hawks. But Hawks chose to murder Twice instead of fending off Dabi. And if you refer back to the post I linked above about how it was a premeditated decision to kill Twice, you’ll see that Hawks had the capability of knocking Twice unconscious. He should have done this from the get go. And honestly? There are other heroes who could have captured Twice. There SHOULD have been other heroes to capture Twice. If Hawks was the only hope for the heroes in that war then jeez, the heroes suck at their jobs.

So TLDR for this question: Hawks’s circumstances were not drastic enough for him to be justified in killing Twice. As I said above, self-defense is one thing, where yes I could understand how if a life is lost while defending oneself is probably inevitable in some cases. But this wasn’t self defense. Twice was running away. Hawks should also be able to rely on his hero comrades to help him out.

Instead Hawks chose to be law-enforcement, judge, and executioner all in one moment.

I hope this answers your question? I tried my best. If I misunderstood or missed a talking point, feel free to shoot me a message or another ask.

Next question:

Believe me. I have thought about this! What about AFO? He’s human too isn’t he? You have a point. Should the restorative justice system extend to AFO? I would say yes. If I’m going to stick to my guns that the villains deserve restorative justice and not punitive justice, I should be fair and say it should extend to all villains.

The problem is not in the idea of exploring saving AFO, it’s just that there simply isn’t enough time to explore this in the story. If Horikoshi had said “I’m not going anywhere guys! We’re in this for the long haul!” I’d say it’s possible to explore that route. We don’t know anything about AFO except from what we’ve seen on screen, and what we’ve been told by All Might and the other OFA holders. Which still isn’t much to go on. You’re not giving AFO undue consideration. It’s definitely a deserved consideration. There are people in the story (and the real world) who may not be victimized in any way and end up being villains. Do they deserve a chance? I’d say yes. It’s in my nature as a social worker irl to give people the benefit of the doubt and give them a chance to learn. You’re right that in the end, the league being saved and the characters not considering what could have led AFO to villainy is just “skirting around the problem.” And honestly, that’s probably what we’re going to get. I wouldn’t be surprised for the thought to pass in Midoriya’s head. After saving somebody like Shigaraki, who everybody in the story (and many readers) considered to be “too far gone”, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Midoriya entertained the thought for a brief moment. “What could have saved AFO from himself?” So honestly I don’t have an answer to this question that qualifies both sides. I can’t say that AFO is “too far gone” without undermining that fact that I never believed Shigaraki was “too far gone”, simply because we don’t get to decide what “too far gone” is.  All I can say is that in the eyes of the story, there are far too many differences between AFO’s circumstances and Shigaraki’s circumstances to compare the two, and say they deserve the same type of sympathy from us readers.

Truly I have no sympathy for AFO, because the story doesn’t ask for it. The story wants sympathy for Shigaraki, Toga, Touya, Spinner, and even a tiiiiiny bit for Overhaul. It asks for NONE for AFO.

Another post I’ll link here that isn’t by me but by another awesome meta blogger (@hamliet​) is this.

In a nutshell it says:

It’s not that AFO can’t be saved, it’s that he won’t. That’s the best answer I can give to that question honestly.

As for the third question:

That press conference was just...eh. I mean yeah, Endeavor not denying the allegations was good. Not that he really could anyway. It sucks for the rest of his family though. But at the same time Touya deserved his revenge, even though it was at the expense of his siblings and mother. It sucks, it’s a double edged sword because somebody is hurting no matter what was gonna happen. Endeavor was an asshole to that lady but I don’t really care too much. I’m really torn on what I think is going on inside Enji’s head because the Todofam is either extremely dense, or Horikoshi is writing their dialogue extremely vague on purpose to keep reader’s on the edge of their seats regarding what they want to do about Touya. I really don’t know. I’m not thrilled with the way the Todofam plot is being written right now, even though I’m 100% sure Touya is going to get his happy ending. But right now anything to do with the Todofam that isn’t Shoto and Touya just bothers me. I don’t think Enji really understands yet what he has to do for Touya. Yes he recognizes that he has to atone, but he’s not recognizing HOW he has to atone. Right now he’s still stuck in that “I have to be a hero to absolve my crimes against my family” headspace and I don’t think he’s going to get out of that headspace until he comes face to face with his son and realizes that he can’t just fight villains and go home to a happy family that he terrorized for 20 years. He’s going to have to let his family go, let them decide when to let him back in, if they ever do (I think they will just because of the way the story is being written.) As a reader, Enji is just a character that I cannot vibe with, no matter what happens. I definitely appreciate his role in the story. His role is vital to Touya’s saving and redemption. Touya is in my top 3 favorite characters from this series and I’m emotionally invested. So while I appreciated Enji’s role in the story, I don’t like his character or anything to do with him, at least until it comes time to help save his son. Also the trio of Hawks, Best Jeanist, and Enji just gives me major back the blue vibes and I just can’t read their chapters and be in a good mood lol.

Thank you for the ask! I hope I answered everything! This was fun to answer!

[dangermousie]

Ughhh I know Mo Xi is hurt but it’s so sad seeing Gu Mang treated as a slave by everyone, even him. Also Jiang Fuli just showed up and ew. I don’t like him at all. Not necessarily in a “he’s totally evil” way I just don’t dig his vibes. I wanna know what Madam Jiang said to Li Qianqian! That and many other things!!! 😱😱

Re: Jiang Fuli (who is the founder of the sect Jiang Xi is from btw, hi Easter Egg!) turns out to be pretty interesting ultimately, but not until close to the end. There are some small shades of CFC/Hexie in this novelin more than one storyline and more than a couple of characters and he's a little involved (tho to say what/more will be spoilery.)

Re: Mo Xi. True but the thing is, even until the narrative turns (and it's glorious), he's unique in being a Meatbun gong who never does anything unjustified (well, not sure if you got to flashback of their first night but I am not talking about that but in a broader sense :P) Because regardless of information they had at the time, and even if what they believed was every word the truth, when you look at what Taxian Jun did to CWN or He Yu did to XQC, you just don't do that in response! What they believed happened does not justify their reaction (in 2ha, it's complicated by the flower, of course, but I am using the word "unjustified" deliberately. Flower is an explanation and excuse and even a negater of sorts, but it still doesn't make the actions justified.)

But Mo Xi - the man he knew for years, the man who was his best friend and brother in arms for years, the man who was his lover for years, didn't just betray the country. He stabbed Mo Xi literally through the heart and Mo Xi was begging to sacrifice his life in exchange for Gu Mang to turn back. Begging - no pride or shields, not even any personal hope for himself. Mo Xi took his own heart of his own chest and offered it to Gu Mang as sacrifice and payment and Gu Mang stabbed through it and still didn't turn back. And Mo Xi rails and lashes out and yes sticks a collar on (and sometimes says things to uncomprehending) Gu Mang but he never genuinely abuses him. There is one scene in the novel that made me genuinely angry at Mo Xi enough to want to stab him myself but that was because I loved Gu Mang so, objectively it wasn't in the same universe as anything in 2ha or CFC.

Anyway, I am so glad you are enjoying!

[danieyells]

Messy mutterings about Chapter 55 spoilers with a small angst warning, copypasted from discord with little cleaning and edits lol

I'm imagining Raphael sent Luke away so he wouldn't interfere with him killing/fighting Michael and Simeon went along with the idea and is in the human world too so Luke's not, y'know, on his own in a strange new world and to reduce Luke's suspicion and all. But as Michael and Raphael are fighting or whatever Luke somehow learns what's going on/realizes why things are off and rushes home to try and stop it.

He tries to get between Raphael and Michael(perhaps his back, Raph perhaps striking while Michael is lost in thought missing the brothers, spaced out, staring at the wall where their portraits were) and is struck violently by Raphael's spear instead. Simeon, ofc, followed him home to try and protect him but is too late because of Luke's own determination to protect Michael bonus if he grows a little in this scene--just magically, because his current smol form is too weak to help surely but if he were a little bigger, a little stronger, maybe he could make it in time--!! and Luke is impaled.

He doesn't die but none of the three wanted Luke hurt in this confrontation--Michael is angry at Raph for attacking/being violent in the first place, Raph is mad at Simeon for failing to restrain Luke, and Simeon is like is now really the time for this because hello Luke is hurt.

Angels are made of strong stuff, he's not gonna die but he'll be in a bad spot if they don't get him to an angel who specializes in healing. I've elected this to be Uriel for now although I've been told that Raphael is generally percieved as the angel of healing--but with OM canon his reputation sonfar is so hostile I'm gonna say that may not be the case. Michael (or Raph) can stave things off for a bit but he's not healing specialized either--they're all Archangels and Seraphs but their fields are elsewhere, mostly combat.

(Luke tries to assure that he's fine and attempts to remove the spear. They don't allow this because the spear is, of course, keeping most of his blood in at the moment.)

They can't fly him to someone because it'd be bumpier so they have to carry him or call/run/send for help--so other angels do learn what's going on and speculation begins. Luke is hospitalized and Raph and Michael and Simeon stay with him while he sleeps, kinda tensely, not really ready to talk out whatever happened. But before he passed out Luke tried to tell Raphael not to fight/kill Michael, to talk to him instead. He wanted to tell him to talk to the demons/humans too, they're not as bad as they think(he and Raph are very likeminded so he thinks 'maybe Raphael will listen to me since I'm starting to see that I was a little wrong maybe') but he couldn't get it out.

Simeon messages the demons, Solomon, and MC and says he won't be returning to the human world/devildom for a bit because Luke was hurt in the CR. Mammon, having had recently gotten attached to Luke, is stunned and angry and anxious and wants to know what happened. Simeon isn't ready to tell them yet, and Mammon demands Barb make a portal to the CR for him to check on Luke--surely Barb is also worried because he cares for Luke too!

Diavolo says they're not allowed to go and Barb agrees(he felt as much before Diavolo said anything too.) Simeon agrees because there's some unrest now and speculation and with an exchange student angel having had been injured by a notoriously demon-skeptical Archangel some angels are worried the demons may be involved in this somehow and if demons suddenly showed up it'd make things worse. Mammon curses his helplessness because his new little brother minion is hurt and he can't even check on him. Simeon feels helpless too--he's an archangel, a Seraph, but he can't help Luke either.

I imagine MC then offers to visit instead--they may be a powerful sorcerer now but they're still just a sheep human with an inhuman aura right? They wouldn't be as concerning for the general populace. After some consideration the demons and Solomon agree this would be okay, as does Michael and Simeon [and Raph maybe] but they say to wait a few hours/a day or two before doing so, just to allow some cooldown/recovery in the CR.

(In the meantime Mammon reviews one of Luke's recent text chains to him where he's baking something. He tries to copy all the steps and instructions and clumsily makes some cupcakes. They're ugly and Mammon isn't known for his stellar cooking, but they kinda relieve him a bit and Beel says they taste alright, so Mammon asks MC to bring them to the CR for Luke for him--there's enough for Michael too since he's probably going through a hard time. It's not like he cares or anything!! He's just building up credit! They'll owe him with interest when this is all said and done!!!)

Idk what'd happen afterwards--it's probably the first time MC meets Raph so it's not under the best circumstances and he definitely wouldn't trust sweets from a demon. And even if he was gonna fight/kill Michael he doesn't trust that Mammon would give him anything safe and instinctively would tell Michael not to touch them, let alone Luke if he's awake to do so. So it's not like he hates Michael, he just. Things need to change and he tried to incite it the only way he knows how--or, rather, the most effective way, given how quickly things changed after the Rebellion. A spear to the throat makes anyone listen. A rebellion is what made Michael change, so maybe it will help him go back to normal too.

(Maybe Luke is awake enough to hear them talking about these things and weakly asks if Raph is going to be exciled over this--the first thing he says since passing out. They're surprised because. He got injured trying to protect Michael but he's still trying to protect Raphael, Michael's assailant? But Luke understands how Raphael feels because he feels the exact same way--or he used to. He didn't trust demons or humans or sorcerers or the exchange program, he didn't think they should get along at all. And he saw how sad Michael was without the brothers and hated them for that too--and Raph feels the same way, right?

Angels are all family. Raphael, Michael, Luke, Simeon, even when they disagree, when their views don't align due to time and perspectives and experiences and ages and positions, they're all brothers. And Lucifer and them were their family too. Even if they disliked them or how they behaved, even if they resent their rebellion and its effects they were still family and they loved and cared about them.

And Raphael doesn't want to see Michael hurting anymore either--certainly not over people who don't care anymore, certainly not over people who turned on them and Father, who must hate them as well. . .but he's been with the brothers for over a year now. Maybe two or three at this point. And he may have only learned it recently but. . .they haven't forgotten. They probably don't hate them. And the demons, the humans, even those unfaithful and the practitioners of dark magic, the fallen, they're not as bad as they thought. They're not necessarily their enemies. Raphael doesn't know it like Luke does because he's never left the CR aside for war and maybe visiting the human world briefly too, right? But if he'd consider things differently, if he's allowed a chance to learn, Luke himself promises Michael, promises Father who's surely watching as he always is, that he'll understand. Raph made a rash decision albeit after many many years of consideration-- but it was out of ignorance, so please forgive him and give him another chance and don't excile him? On top of that he needs a chance to learn and do better--imagine how he'd feel, being turned into something he hates or fears? It will help him learn, sure, but it also may only make him feel worse or make him do something more rash or result in another Fall if he has supporters.

Raphael doesn't hate Michael--he just wants things to be different. Perhaps to go back to normal. And he doesn't want Michael to mope over the loss of the seven brothers and Lilith anymore either.

And maybe in this time, since they'd have to decide what to do about Raph, Michael requested Diavolo come over too--y'know, in case Raph is exciled, they'd want Diavolo's approval and reassurance to keep an eye on him too. So maybe he or Barb, as they arrive in the room, would approve of Luke's appeal--ask what Michael and Simeon And Raph and MC think. They could always bring him in as an exchange student too! 😘 That worked for Luke!

Ultimately Raph probably wouldn't be exciled/become a Fallen but be given another chance. Maybe he's stripped of his title temporarily, until he's sufficiently deemed to learn about demons, angels, their history together, culture, whether or not they can get along, etc--so he's bitter, but thankful. And Michael understands that perhaps he's been allowing how much he misses the brothers and Lilith to cloud him and maybe it's time to move on and make changes to the Celestial Realm again after all this time. Bonus points if the bros came along and he was too distracted to sense them--someone's like "oh you're moving on? So we came here for no reason after all?" and ofc he's happy to see them again and gets to hang out with them again for a while before getting to say a goodbye with more closure. And he hangs off of Lucifer's neck the whole time they're there lol he and Dia bond over being Lucifer fanboys too.

Luke's okay in the end--a little worse for wear because being stabbed by Raphael is Not A Small Ordeal but he's okay and he shows a little more maturity. But he's also still same old Luke who will happily point out how awful demons are and use it as an excuse for distrust/fear--but he's more mindful of it now because he feels like he needs to set a good example for Raph lmao.)

[noteofnaught]

Dante's memory of his mother

Fiddled with what I had written earlier.

The translation was done for me by deepl (translator).

Please let me know if you think it's strange or if there are any mistakes.

The above is purely a personal opinion

Feel free to discuss and exchange.

Dante's memory of his mother

Dante's memory of his mother, or rather that night, seems to have been formally depicted once in DMC5 since DMC1.

So let's start with the DMC1.

In the DMC1 novel, there is a scene depicting Dante recalling the events of his mother's death.

「母さん、母さん……ねぇ、母さん！」

���子が、地に倒れ伏した母親の身体を揺さぶり続けている。母親の息がすでに絶えていることは、誰の目にも明らかだ。

だが幼子は──すでに自分でもそうとわかっているのだろうが──無

駄な努力を止める気配はない。

「兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ！ 母さん！ ねぇ、母さん！」

亡骸からは未だ、温かな血が地面へと広がり続けている。

幼子は半狂乱だった。

We can see in the description that Dante tries to wake his mother up next to her dead body, even though he realises that she is dead but he is still trying to wake her up. This is a reluctance to accept his mother's death, a normal emotion and attitude for a small child to have.

And the second half of his sentence [兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ!] It is as if he had searched for his brother, but his tone is one of powerlessness, of helplessness, of feeling negative about the outcome. So here I want to convey not so much that he has searched for his brother to no avail, but a sense of powerlessness about the situation. He tries to wake up his mother in this way.

It's close to one: Mom, wake up. My brother is not here/is gone and I don't know what to do/I'm scared, please get up Come on.

And then in the scene of Neal's death, Dante recalls this as Neal's sacrifice to protect him, just as his mother did that day.

After that he heard the voice of his father's sword, and out of fear and insecurity he was completely drawn to it, thus obeying its words and changing his name until he gained the power to fight against it.

Then, in the battle with Gilvi, when Gilvi stabbed Dante and was covered by the necklace, Dante's internal activity was as follows.

He credits his mother with protecting him (again) as a child.

Where the mother sacrifices herself to save/protect Dante this is consistent with the DMC1 in-game scene. In DMC1 Dante has a similar line after Trish sacrifices herself to save him. This is the diagram from Precious Tears, with Japanese and English, but both Japanese and English convey that Trish sacrificed herself to save him, as did her own (Dante's) mother.

This is in line with the content of the DMC3 comic.

In the DMC3 comic, Dante has a nightmare at the office after his encounter with Vergil, a dream that is not in fully recreated form but like a fragmentary form.

Here the mother has more dialogue than in DMC1, and it is obvious from the comic's footage that there are huge hands behind her that are about to crush her, and Dante reaches towards her as if to retain his mother, who is feeling very scared, while her mother shouts for him to hurry up and hide/hide and not come out no matter what happens. She is then crushed by the huge hand. In the next panel we can see that the demon looks like a bird and says the terrible words "all die". like it is glowing, and on the next page you can also see the huge three foot shadow on the ground, which also looks like the claws of a bird, and the door behind it is the image of burning, while a long shadow is drawn under his feet.

Of course, we know from the comic that Arkham says there was a fire that day, and Vergil's fearful recollection of the house being on fire makes DMC5 even more certain that it was indeed on fire. The glowing eyes, the long, thin shadows and the subsequent bloodstained house in the comic give the impression that something ominous, unsettling and alien is about to happen.

The cartoon after that also shows us Dante waking up with a jolt, his face covered in water, looking at his hand but with only a drop on his end finger, giving the illusion that he has pulled a hook with someone. There is no sweat on his body, however, and of course there are problems of expression in the painting, so it is not painted.

But it is also true that these same fragmentary memories and dreams give Dante unease and fear.

Well, the memory, the feeling of his mother in Dante's vision so far is the following: his mother told himself to hide and not come out, and sacrificed himself to save himself. It is the great selfless motherly love that belongs to Dante.

Although it was a great mother's love, the memory of that day still makes Dante feel uneasy and afraid. The last memory his mother leaves Dante with is the one that tells Dante to hide, and implicitly the will to let him live. If we add the DMC1 novel to the mix here, it is at this very moment that he is drawn to his father's sword.

Again within these memories and fragments, the mother is rendered unknowable to Vergil, meaning that we do not or cannot see in Dante's recollections that the mother ever went looking for Vergil, if not for the presence of the phrase [兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ!] we would not even know in this recollection of Dante that he knew that he had a brother. What we can see or what Dante perceives in his vision is that his mother loved him so much that she died in the process of protecting/saving him.

However, it is also a writing device that can be lifted off as suspense.

But again, this doesn't do any damage to the image of Eva as a great mother, because based on what happened that day, the great mother had to choose to save/protect (potentially the closest to her or that she could find) one child and had to give up the other in the face of force majeure. Dante also never said before DMC5 whether his mother loved Vergil or not, whether she ever sought him out or whether she cared for his brother as well.

What we see in Dante's vision is basically what Dante can know, but it doesn't mean all of it. After all, comics or game scenes have an obligation to show us the scenes, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the characters actually see all the textures. We, as players/readers, are a kind of God's eye and we can notice things that are not right or different (also a storytelling technique) but as protagonists we are not necessarily fully aware or in the same position as us.

I think if you have seen suspense films, you will also often see that kind of bridge, we all know that this bomb is going to explode this person to kill that person, although there is that kind of explicitly shown in the footage, but the protagonist is still unaware of the appearance, many viewers are in order to pinch a cold sweat, for this reason anxious hope that the protagonist quickly realize.

And DMC5 gives us a formal depiction of that day, not through snippets like a nightmare, you can see in the game's overstory description that it says Dante dreamed of what happened before, which means this time you are shown real memories.

After all, a nightmare is not necessarily a real memory, it is a condensation of a certain memory. Sometimes we have a nightmare like dreaming of a giant cockroach because we are afraid, so we reproduce and amplify this fear in our nightmares, so that a small cockroach we see in the house becomes enormous in our nightmares, the giant cockroach is not necessarily real but the fear is real. Of course, we are not talking about the formation of nightmares here, but only about the fact that nightmares and some fragments of our memories with fear and anxiety may be a recreation of what we felt and what existed at the time, but not necessarily a completely real recreation.

In the DMC5 Eva process screen.

There is a slight difference between Japanese subtitles and English subtitles, or even Japanese dubbing.

The overall meaning is actually similar to the DMC3 manga, Eva is all over Dante not moving and telling him to hide/hide, the only difference is that she says more words to make Dante forget his past and forget his name and start a new life from scratch/not being Dante but another person to start over. All also contain the mother's wish for him to live well.

The difference is that in the Japanese subtitles, Eva clearly expresses the possibility that she may not return and so tells Dante to listen well to what she says next, whereas in English it is expressed as I promise you will return.

In the English context, although the mother says she will come back, she immediately reverses the 'come back' in the next sentence, saying that she knows it will be difficult, but you're old enough so you'll have to do this if I don't come back. They both mean the same thing, a mother who knows she might not come back and tells her child what she will do if she doesn't come back, as if making a pact with her child: we agreed that if I don't come back, you will remember to do this, I know you can do it.

If you look closely at the animation of the process, you can even see Dante's hand trembling on the cupboard door, he is very scared.

And the BGM here also happens to be called: More Fear

And of course it is here that we first see Eva looking for Vergil, and it turns out that Eva has looked for Vergil! This doesn't exactly match the information we got on Dante's side earlier.

But are you saying that the DMC1 message contradicts the current message? The DMC1 novel only mentions that he cried next to his mother's body, not that she said anything to him before she died, after which he became obsessed with his father's sword out of fear and terror. And his father's sword statement is the same as his mother's deathbed statement but in a very different series.

The meaning of the mother's words is very clear, the words are all about the desire for her child to live well and to stay away from these things that will hurt him, a good expectation and blessing for her child and the expectation and belief that her child will be able to do so.

「今はその名を隠し、目を眩ませ、逃げ延びよ」

“Now go incognito, confuse the enemy and flee far away!”

The overall meaning of the phrase is that it is dangerous to hide the name, confuse the enemy and run away, and the phrase even takes the form of a command that the child must do what he says.

It's a phrase you'd put in the context of a superior to a subordinate, a captain to his teammates, and in the context of a tense battlefield man telling you to run fast is perfectly fine and appropriate. But Eva's words could only be said by a mother to her child.

When all the memories are linked together, our facts about Eva become a little more complete, and at the same time what effect does it have on Dante?

If his mother only died saving him and he hated his father for her revenge which is quite reasonable, this has to be a blowback from his father's enemies. What is necessary to mention here is what Dante's mindset was regarding DMC1 killing the Black Angel.

In the official publication of the 3124 collection, Dante is said to have killed the Black Angel with "no thought", a word synonymous with "remnant", which is generally translated into Chinese as: regret.

And the DMC1 how-to book has a direct description of his ideas.

Dante is talking here about Mundus killing his mother and brother.

This is not the same as what we generally think of as objective perception. In the game we see over the course of the game, the Black Angel looks as if he still has a heart, so naturally we think there is still salvation, after all, he is still alive.

But here Dante does not think that it was his own hand that killed the Black Angel, but that Mundus killed Vergil.

Of course we can parse this to mean that killing the man who was Vergil means, but even so within this passage of Dante he is not one of the reasons for Vergil's death, he has no responsibility in Vergil's death and is not responsible for any act occurring in the process, but rather Mundus should need to take full responsibility.

In other words, it means that even if it was he who killed the Black Angel in the course of the battle, then he is not responsible for it, but Mundus is responsible for it, because it was Mundus who arranged it, and how could he have killed it if he had not arranged it there, it was not his problem, it was Mundus' problem.

than what we generally think of as objective factual rational logic going into the judgement: although Mundus turned Vergil into a black angel like that, he himself didn't recognise the killing, more or less he was responsible for it or felt particularly guilty that he didn't recognise it.

Dante's logic leans more towards total emotional logic: It's all Mundus' fault!

And in DMC5 just as Vergil used to think it was a matter of not having enough power, now it's a matter of having too much power, and now that Mundus is gone, not recognizing Vergil (V) for killing Vergil can only be his active choice, not a passive one, and it can only be that his responsibility has nothing to do with Mundus.

Returning to the mother, what arises is in fact the same question. If before it was his mother's great love for him, which was selfless and exclusive to him, now, at this moment, her love is equal, not just his but also his brother's. The "he" whose mother sacrificed herself to save him in the flashback (DMC5) is not really a "he". His mother's did not hesitate to rush out to save her brother, knowing the danger.

Of course we must also mention nell, arguably the designer of Dante's double shot.

In the novel, Thor wants Neal to commission and pay a deposit for a double gun for himself, one of which is a secret-made gun he stole from a robbery, and the other is the same type of medieval gun that Neal himself received.

nell is so good to Tony, as is clearly described in the DMC1 novel, because Tony looks so much like her child, and her love for her child is projected onto Tony, and she holds on to her job before she eventually dies, not only because of her love for Tony but also her love for her own child, and more so for the work ethic she has taken on this job and should complete.

But all the same, the person she missed most on her deathbed was her own child, something Tony could never replace, nor could he if he wanted to, which of course didn't mean that nell's love for Tony was false, nell's love for Tony was also real, indeed it was love, it was precisely because of the person of her own child that nell loved so deeply that Tony was loved by her.

Whether it is nell or the mother Eva, their love for their child is not solely Dante's alone and only his, or why they love Dante/Tony, it is because they both love their child, and if they were not such, then Dante would naturally not be loved by them.

His mother's protection and sacrifice is something he feels and desires, something that is personal and emotional for him. It also explains Dante's statement to Trish in DMC1 that "his mother died to protect herself", because Trish, like his mother in his feelings and understanding, has what he calls a "heart".

Of course, because DMC1 is entirely Dante's vision of storytelling (DMC1 is Dante's story), his mother is human in Dante's eyes, and Trish acts like his mother to protect him, or even Dante's ideal mother, so Trish is also a person with a "heart", as to how Trish feels or if that is the case. We will not discuss this issue here.

Surely the mother did not save Dante? This is necessarily a negative, but was it to save him that his mother died, or to hold back the demon who tried to kill him so that he could escape? Again, that is a negative. Wouldn't his mother have done that in that situation? That too is a negative. Wouldn't Dante have wanted his mother? No. Must Dante have never been afraid of not wanting his mother to stay by his side to give him security and protection? Did Dante only want to protect his mother and never wanted her to stay by his side to protect him? All the information above seems to be in the negative.

DMC5 is simply a reinterpretation and addition of information from the past, the only thing overturned is Dante's belief that his mother died to save himself.

This message provides us with an explanation of the origin of Dante's hatred for his brother, as is often the case in many films and novels, in which he blames the child for the death of his beloved wife, even though it was not the child's fault, and believes that if it had not been for him, his wife would not have died. He stubbornly believes that his mother died to save him, not to save his brother, and not because of this he is unable to love his brother; he acts as if he wishes he could have the mother's love all to himself.

For if we are to acknowledge the fact that his mother died to save his brother, we also have to acknowledge something else, and that is that he equally did not want to be left/abandoned by his mother.

Of course, this is not a contradiction or a conflict; it is only natural that a child should be afraid and want to protect his mother, and it is equally natural that he should want to protect her.

The above is purely a personal opinion