#or at least a backstory in a translation

[fuckyeahogonbat]

I'm going to scream?

[diseaseriddencube]

Chapter 41

nothing too special in this chapter-

but it seems they're gonna release 42 later this month

two chapters in a month? at this rate we could be looking at doctor's translated backstory by March 😍

[minionwater]

enjoy my first costume sketches for my black parade stage adaptation that’s in the works >:3

[pompompurin1028]

intimacy plus dazai is one of my favourite things

[foxghost]

I'm hearing so much about THE chatbot everywhere, so I thought I'd give it a try by asking it to generate names.

Here are a few options for full names that might have been common in London during the 1890s:

George Edward Elizabeth Mary William John Emily Sophia Charles Henry

Uh. Did I just break it

I mean I'm not getting stuff like Wazy Hemisphere or Wald Wales but it's not much of an improvement.

[stellas-and-tonitruses]

Everything we know about Project Apple (and, by extension, Anya's past) thus far

thought i'd compile all of that now while endo's on break Just In Case the next chapter happens to start anya's backstory (i don't Think it will but endo likes surprising us LSDFKLFS)

important disclaimer that project apple and the organization in charge of anya's experiments have not been confirmed to be related! there's evidence that they have things in common, in particular employees, but that's our only real connection between the two thus far. still! worth looking into

more under the cut!

so, starting very strongly with the very first mention of anything related to the project: anya's introduction in chapter 1

despite her being a main character, we know very little about her past at the moment, and this little blurb at the beginning makes up a very big portion of what we know.

things to note here:

as an experiment, her name was "Test Subject 007". important to note that the notation differs between her and bond: she was Test Subject 007, bond was Subject 8, no zeroes in there;

she had been made thus by accident, the phrasing itself implying quite heavily that she was just a normal child before said accident (but this is the translation! i don't know japanese so i can't cross-reference with the raws to clarify if the phrasing changes anything, but the fanbook uses the word "gained" to describe her powers too);

because her mind-reading is an unintended consequence, that means the scientists were presumably not, at least initially, trying to achieve cognitive enhancements in humans, and were instead trying to achieve something else, whatever that might've been;

she escaped from the facility and then moved from institution to institution, looking for a family.

so, crucially, through this little introduction we learn that there is an organization, government-funded or otherwise, that is or was conducting human experiments for unknown purposes. we also learn that whatever family anya had prior to being involved in the experiments is more than likely unreachable, at least as far as she knows, and so she has settled for finding a new family to take care of her instead.

in terms of the facility itself, here we see they clearly drilled it into her that she can't ever reveal her secret (and the darn plush is there too -- in the anime it's even more emphasized, as you can see in the gif i made)

through her reminiscing though, we get our very first look at the scientists that were in charge of her! they're in the gif above but here they are in the manga too. it's so interesting that the anime actually shows their eyes behind the glasses though, fascinating choice.

the insistence on world peace is important, as it explains her own personal obsession with it and shows that it's not just because of twilight's own focus on preserving the peace. i also don't think twilight ever really talks about "world peace," only about "preserving the current peace between westalis and ostania" -- anya seems to be the only one talking about WORLD peace (even in the very first scene where either of them mention it in proximity to each other in ch 1, loid says "understanding the other party is the first step towards peace" and anya's interpretation is "understanding me makes world peace?") but take this with a grain of salt because i might be wrong! going through every single mention of peace in the story just to fact check this one little trivia fact is a bit much i think so i'm not doing it JSDFKLSD

but yes

remember mr hair strand and baldy, we'll see them again. not her though, ig she wasn't in charge of bond

now, fast-forwarding to chapter 19, we finally get a name and a premise for the experiments:

"but oana," you might say, "this is talking about animals only! how do we know it's the same project as anya's, which involved human experimentation?"

i don't think it is, is the thing! i think it's related to the experiments anya was a part of, which is evidenced by the same scientists being featured in project apple too, but there's more going on that we don't know about. there wouldn't be such adamancy on keeping the two separate in every official mention of them if they were just the same thing, imo!

back to the evidence, we learn that the project, conducted and funded by the previous ostanian regime (meaning donovan's related to it one way or another, since he was prime minister), was marked by franticness and desperation -- a prime place for accidents like anya's telepathy and bond's future vision.

we also learn that the project was sacked by the new administration and that the former test subjects ended up on the black market.

(this makes it very important, imo, to learn when anya escaped the facility vs. when the project was sacked. it's clearly no longer in function, but while we've heard nothing from them thus far, i'm willing to bet the shady dealings around the desmond group are NOT related to the war, as W.I.S.E. has been led to believe, but rather to reignite project apple. that is speculation however so i'm going to refrain from theorising much on why the desmond group is focused on acquiring pharmaceutical companies!!)

ok speculation tangent over, back on track

so, that's already a decent amount of info! but moving to chapter 22, when bond is finally home, and we finally see some familiar faces

behold! baldy and mr hair strand!

and 2 other guys we don't know but will see again in another bond flashback!

that's 2 out of the 3 scientists we've seen thus far from anya's own time as subject 007, confirming that there IS a connection between anya and bond's experiments, regardless of whatever the project anya was a part of might've been named.

this is also the chapter in which we learn that bond himself was subject 8 (or, if we take it from the fanbook, subject #8. still, diff notation from anya!)

in chapter 31, we learn an interesting tiny piece of trivia. we don't get any further info on it, but it IS mentioned as something that is known by W.I.S.E.:

ostania is rumoured to have done human experimentation! and W.I.S.E., and by extension loid, are aware of that.

do i know how them knowing may be important later? not really!

the next droplet of info we get is in chapter 40. we see that project apple had collaborators that are still functioning unhindered.

of course, born industries is only rumoured to have been involved with project apple, but regardless of whether or not they actually were, the rumour itself implies that the project likely pulled scientists from various other companies' R&D departments.

(this makes the desmond group's acquisition of glooman pharmaceuticals shadier, but anyway)

as a side note, twilight is emoting so much at just his wrong assumption that bond is seeking revenge against the scientists. imagine how he's going to react when he finds out about anya JKSDFKLFSD

and now aaaaall the way in chapter 58, we see the bald guy who anya also knows, the two scientists from bond's previous flashback, and one whole new guy!

and thus ends our current knowledge of it all!

the only other thing worth discussing is anya's knowledge of classical language

but plenty people have already discussed these scenes, especially recently, so here are some links: 1 | 2 | 3

the only thing i can add is that i'm fairly certain that classical language is a lot more likely to be latin than old english, because it's a very common language to learn in school (in europe at least, and ostania is based on east germany so it makes sense to me. i learned mandatory latin in school for a few good years too, even if i wasn't that good at it lol) and because one of the most common modern usages of latin are in medicine and science, it would make sense that she'd be better at it due to exposure.

a possibility is also that the scientists would think in latin to conceal their thoughts from her, and that's how she ended up learning so much. she's not fluent in latin, she's just well acquainted and that cicumstance would explain the how.

BUT THAT'S SPECULATIONNN

also i don't think "ANIA" is an acronym, nor do i think anya's been misspelling her own name out of lack of knowledge. "ania" is a polish diminutive of anna and an alternate transcription of Аня, so i think it's far more likely that anya isn't ostanian or westalian than it is that her name comes from an acronym.

now,

TL;DR!

what we know about project apple (and the "mysterious organization"):

project apple was funded and conducted by what appears to have been donovan's regime and, from what W.I.S.E. knows, aimed to create highly intelligent animals for military purposes;

W.I.S.E. is aware that ostania is at the very least rumoured to have dabbled in human experimentation;

the project is presumably no longer on-going, though it is likely there are efforts behind the scenes to revive it;

it is rumoured but not confirmed that project apple had collaborating companies that are still functioning perfectly fine;

the same scientists who were in charge of bond were also in charge of anya, signalling that there is a very significant connection between project apple and the "mysterious organization;"

based on what they were telling anya, they were/are very focused on "world peace";

their experimentation methods include but likely aren't limited to electrocution.

and what we (vaguely) know about anya that relates to this:

she is at the youngest, 4 years old, and at the oldest, 5 nearing 6. we don't know her real age, all we know is she definitely lied about being 6;

she is very fixated on specifically world peace while twilight is focused on peace between ostania and westalis. the scientists are the very first we see talking about this, so it's likely their fault;

she is unreasonably well acquainted with classical language;

she has escaped the facility at LEAST 1 year ago;

and, one tidbit from the fanbook (page 29): "Anya has been reading minds for as long as she can remember," implying that her memory of a life before the lab is muddy at best and absent at worst.

that's all we know that i know of!!

if you got this far, thank you for reading :D hope any of this was interesting or sparked any theories >:] have a good day!

[dible-png]

Some more splat!riptide cause you guys like it :) these are my rough early campaign designs I also have a few hcs for this hehe

Gill

basically the same as normal riptide, except he’s from some sort of advanced salmonid society under the green seas where inklings/octolings dissolve

weird ass creature that crawled to the surface from the deep who gawks at inkling society (so same as 8s backstory as well as his og backstory)

probably still the chosen one- maybe an elite soldier? Or boss salmonid at least

Pretzel is either just a normal talking pet critter like moe or order OR a child octoling gill just,,, found??

Instead of the lux pearl he’s got a mythical golden egg

Jay

she’s an ex elite Octarian soldier :) I think she’s best suited as an octoling since her backstory is almost one for one w marinas lol

she abandons the signature seaweed hairpieces later on when she’s more integrated and confident

Chip

he’s a street rat inkling prolly akin to your average joe

he’s got burnt tentacles because of the whole sorcerer shtick

109(?) spoilers!! His uh undying translates to sanitization and he becomes a sentient sanitized zombie

I don’t think they would outright be only pirates in this au, as gillion and the tidestriders/riptide pirates can def be seen as an idol group and they kinda function like chaotic agents!

Anyways I enjoy these two things dearly if you can’t tell 🫶

[scatteredskittless]

Alastor with an extroverted singer reader(headcanons preferred!)? I just.. can't stop imagining reader featuring on his radio show to sing or something when they grow closer, it plagues my mind ;_; (also love your layout!!)

Alastor x Extroverted! Singer! Reader

A/n: OMG I LOVE THIS WHAT ?! also thank you so much !! (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡

Warnings: None

Fluff✔️ Comfort❌ Angst❌ Smut❌

⋆ ˚｡⋆ Little backstory ⋆ ˚｡⋆

🎤✮ You’re a famous singer inside and outside of hell !! When you were alive you were a singer in the 2010’s and that legacy carried on into your afterlife :3

🎤✮ Once you heard of the “Hazbin Hotel” and all it had to offer (granted, it didn’t seem like much else other than a free room and some false hope..) you decided to go check it out, quickly piquing the curiosity of a certain Radio Demon…

📻𖤐 Alastor noticed your little habit of singing to yourself or humming a tune he didn’t quite recognize as you pranced around the hotel. He enjoyed observing people, after all.

📻𖤐 You seemed to never lack energy which was amusing to him to say the least; Always so exuberant and talkative to the people here, including him. It was like you had no clue who he was…

📻𖤐 He was here a while in hell before you showed up so of course you weren’t familiar with the Radio Demons legacy but still, it’s not like he knew that.

📻𖤐 Speaking of not knowing things, Alastor doesn’t own a phone or watch any TV so he also has no clue who you are either !! Guess that makes it even ( ⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝)

📻𖤐 It was only once you two started actually hanging out that he realized that you were a singer. Not exactly a huge revelation with all the singing you do and how you often disappeared at night all dolled up (to do concerts). Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose.

📻𖤐 Oh and not only were you a singer, you were a famous one. Though he’s not exactly surprised he’s never heard of you before, he’s not up to date with that kind of stuff unless Rosie’s told him about it.

📻𖤐 As you got closer with Alastor, he had decided to invite you as a special guest on his radio broadcast to sing !

📻𖤐 You happily excepted his offer, of course.

📻𖤐 it’s safe to say you became a special broadcast guest more often after the first time you appeared on his show. He’s started to take a liking to you ♡

Please do not repost, translate, or plagarize any of my fanfictions/writing/headcanons without permission ◟( ˃̶͈◡ ˂̶͈ )◞

ᯓ★ Scatteredskittles

[primofate]

Off Topic from Genshin for a moment,

Can I just rant about an Otome game I recently rediscovered.

If any of you know Prince of Tennis, this is a Prince of Tennis otome game for the DS called: Prince of Tennis Motto Gakuensai no Oujisama

You have a potential of 37. YES 37 guys to date, all characters from Prince of Tennis.

It's a very simple game, but whoever the writers were, they knew what we ladies wanted lol.

Spoilers about the game and gameplay below the cut

First off, you can choose which school you go to. Prince of Tennis is kind of like Haikyuu, but with tennis. So if you're interested in a certain character, you would have to choose to go to their school.

Second, the story is totally something a fan author would write lol. It's totally a Y/N moment. You're part of the school festival committee and you're helping the tennis team build and manage their booth for the school festival. The story only spans I think, 2 weeks in game and if you really speed run it, in real time it would take around 30 minutes to an hour to finish one guy.

The way to romance a guy is pretty simple, and also very slice of life type. There's no complicated backstory, since you're just an average high school girl. Basically you just try to keep talking to the guy you're interested in and you get to know each other in the span of those 2 weeks. Sounds boring right?

But the dialogue in some of the routes is extremely fluffy.

Example: There's at least ONE scene where the guy worries about you.

One of them is when it's a particularly hot day during the school festival and you pass out. Cue the guy panicking and taking you to the infirmary, worried sick.

One of the other scenes involved the guy getting into a fist fight with another student and your character sort of tries to stop them and gets in between but instead you get hit (yes, really) So your guy is obviously panicking and angry. (The dialogue for the guy went something a bit like "...I can't believe you got in between us and got hit! I don't know what I would do if you--" and then he cuts off there cause guy hasn't confessed to you yet)

AND THEN there's another one where you go into the storage room with the guy and you're trying to find something in one of the boxes, but the box is too high and it ends up almost falling on you but you somehow evade it, except that you now have a sprained ankle. And then, of course, the guy is again extremely worried.

I'm not even kidding about how angsty/fluffy some of these scenes are. Like, I'm rambling! and remember there are 37 DIFFERENT GUYS WITH DIFFERENT SCENARIOS! (Actually I could probably get some writing ideas off of these lollll)

I am SO glad I found this game again (Playing it on a DS Emulator and I patched the game so that it was translated to English)

[ishaslife]

Astarion has been breaking my poor heart.

This post will contain spoilers for the game and Astarion's romance/backstory. Before anyone comes at me, I want to say that you are the main character, you are supposed to change the fates and behaviours of your characters, especially if you are romancing them. It's a video game, that's kind of the point.

This post is extremely long and I apologise.

This analysis is based off my playthrough.

(*) means check notes at the bottom of the post.

I wasn't expecting to like him as much as I do. Don't get me wrong, I really liked him during EA and I thought he was funny, charming, flirty with a dark past and all that was just a means to cover his trauma but since the full game has come out and we've gotten to know more of him, it truly breaks my heart to see and know what he has been through. My sister and I were watching his reactions to be being rejected, being told that Tav only wants sex and forcing him to do things he doesn't want to do, it is truly heart-wrenching.

Many people expected Astarion to be this "I am so sexual and my romance will mostly be sex, also I will betray you the first chance I get." and it couldn't be further from the truth. Astarion is extremely loyal, and yes he has that air of flambouncy to him, will often make japes and say evil things but most of the time, it is just a facade. It's his shield in a way, he has been treated with utter cruelty for two hundred years of his life and now that he finally has some control over himself, he doesn't wish to be hurt again.

I don't think Astarion is ever completely evil, even in the beginning. He just wants to have fun and enjoy life after so many years of slavery. He likes it when you are snarky, say mean shit to people for fun but, he doesn't like to see innocents get hurt, and he doesn't support fighting for people who don't fight for themselves. Yes, he will support some of your evil decisions but they will lead to a bad ending, for you and your characters. It'll make Astarion wallow more in his greed and he'll lose the little humanity he has left. He doesn't really have a clear sense of direction in the beginning of the game as he's just found freedom and obviously wants to live life to the fullest, being evil comes naturally to him, it's instinct as its what he's been doing for two centuries.

This is my assumption since we don't know his actual age but since he's an elf who was well-respected in society, had a pretty prestigious job and was rich enough to be corrupt. I'd assume he was at least 70-100 years old before he was turned into a spawn. (EDIT - in a recent post by @deluxetrashqueen I saw the translation of the dates of birth and death on his tombstone:

"Astarion Ancunin

229-268 DR" to which he adds, "458DR - "

which shows that he was only 39 at the time of his death, which explains his emotional immaturity for an elf.) My point being, I believe he has been a spawn for longer than he's ever been a regular person. He has spent the longer part of his life doing evil things for an evil man, that was what his life was on a daily basis with Cazador. And his former work experience probably helped, he likely learnt pretty quick how much he took for granted as a living person and the harshness of his master, peers and people he seduced made him harsh and unforgiving in return.

Once you start getting close to him, you start to learn that he is only mean to people because of how life has treated him. In his romance, he says "no one ever looked out for me, no one ever said a kind word to me. You're the only one, no one is like that." Astarion starts to see, because of you that there is kindness in the world, and he finds kindness in you. Especially after his quest, as much as he'd hate to admit it, he also sees friends in your other companions as they do in him. By the end of Act 2, he starts to get more soft towards you and the decisions you make, often even disapproving of evil decisions. People often tend to forget that a lot of Astarion's evil personality is a front, it is not who he truly is.

These points will be better explained individually so I will talk about some themes.

Power: power plays a big part in his entire storyline. In the beginning, he wants to harness the powers of the tadpole to become powerful and at first, you think that it's simply because he's an evil character and he wants power for the sake of having it. Then later, he wishes to take over the power of the ascendant but mostly only to spite Cazador and take something important from him, not fully realising the true power of the rite.

As he slowly starts opening up to you, he tells you "the mind flayers tore me from that place" and you realise that its the tadpole that let's him walk in the sun, do things a vampire or spawn would never be able to, you learn that he hates being a vampire because he can't even remember what he looks like. He seeks power outside because he has had no power over himself for about two centuries, he thinks that having this power will fulfill his needs but it won't, we know it won't because in truth he only needs to reclaim his autonomy, physical and mental. Of course Astarion would never truly admit to this for a long while, even when he's romanced. I personally really love his good romance arc where he doesn't have sex with you, not because he dislikes you or doesn't want you but because, as he says "any kind of intimacy was something I performed to lure people back for him. While I know things between us are different... being with someone still feels tainted. It brings up all those feelings of disgust and loathing." He has spent 200 years or so bowing to Cazador's whims, done things to people he didn't want to do and I assume since it's heavily hinted at, were very sexual in nature. In a relationship, he simply wants to be seen as a person and I think that's really sad because that's how low the bar is for him.

In the ending of his quest, you can persuade him and tell him that going forth with the ritual won't set him free even if he thinks it will and I agree. If he's a slave to Cazador now, later he'd be a slave to power and greed. Just look at Cazador, despite being one of the most powerful beings in existence, he still wanted more power. That kind of greed and hunger never ends and Astarion would lose himself and who he has become while he was with us. Yes, it makes him walk in the sun again and do things a regular vampire can't but at what cost? 7,000 lives and his humanity. He would never be able to enjoy this "freedom" because he'll only strive to seek more power. In his ascendant ending, he becomes everything he's ever hated about Cazador, the cycle repeats itself, from Vellioth to Cazador and from Cazador to Astarion. And it will never end. Astarion even refuses to turn you into a vampire and wishes to keep you only as a spawn. With an insight check, you can learn that he thinks you're degrading yourself and he doesn't care. He now sees you as something to own, something to possess, not love. All his good qualities, wants and needs get twisted. Astarion truly only needs to feel like a person again but he doesn't fully realise this until you show it to him, through good deeds and actions, through simple acts of kindness. As he says in his "good" ending "I've been dead in the ground enough. It's time to try living again. With all that life has to offer."

Safety: Astarion wants to feel safe. He is so scared of being found by Cazador, he knows he's looking for him and the only thing giving him some form of safety from Cazador is the tadpole so of course he wants to harness its powers that is until he finds out it'll turn him into another kind of monster, a mind flayer. He doesn't wish to lose himself and his freedom again hence is vehemently against taking on the tadpole's powers but he doesn't stop you because that is of course, your decision to make. He says "if such power would please you, darling, I won't stop you. But do be careful, I want you to remain you." Now the only thing left that can properly give him his freedom is Cazador's death and he wants to kill him himself which I think is perfectly acceptable, Cazador deserves to die and if it is by Astarion's hands, all the better. But, in his romance, he makes it clear that he's doing it for safety, and he tells himself that he wants to take the power of the rite for safety as well because in truth, he is terrified of being powerless again. He does want revenge yes, but he also wants to keep you and himself safe from Cazador, even in the dungeon, if you run an insight check, the narrator tells you that he is losing his mind because of the power that's on offer and the smell of blood in the air. It's almost as if to say "he's losing his mind, please stop him before he forgets who he is." Astarion NEEDS your guidance*, eventually he even thanks you for 'saving him from himself.' In his good ending, he sees that in taking the power, he would be no better than Cazador and would become everything he's ever hated about him, and inflict on others what his former master inflicted on him, starting with you. His ascendant ending is honestly a very sad ending for his character, all that growth, change and development you bring to him throughout your journey just gone down the drain as he becomes an unfeeling, evil, narcissistic arsehole who only craves for more power. In his good ending, he will be safe, with you and with the friends he has made along the way. He is proud of himself and so is everyone else, it offers him a kind of friendship that's afforded to very few in the D&D world, especially a vampire/spawn whose very existence is hated. It is a bond based on trust, loyalty and to a degree, even love instead of fear like in the ascendant ending.

Abandonment and Fear: Astarion is driven by fear but he also knows facing Cazador is inevitable and something he needs to face rather than avoid. Even if he isn't outright seeking it (but he does seek it) I think he is braver than he likes to think and he definitely has some anti-hero traits. He likes the tadpole because it helped him get away from Cazador's authority and he enjoys bending others to his will since it makes him feel more powerful compared to how he's felt the past two centuries. But if you choose to not do the same, he doesn't really care. He doesn't except it of you nor is he disappointed (since he neither approves or disapproves. He only disapproves helping people who didn't ask or didn't want to be helped) he only gives a snarky comment or two about what he would've done instead and follows you anyway. He realises you're a good person. If you indulge too much however, I would argue that he agrees simply because he doesn't want you to turn against him. Perhaps he believes that you can turn on him and kill him as easily as you killed the tieflings or other innocents. He probably thinks it's easier to turn a good person evil than an evil person, good (tbh he wouldn't be entirely wrong.) And making bad choices does negatively affect his character of course but I just thought I'd put that out there as I think it's very likely for him to do so. He is definitely extremely paranoid, he hardly ever says how he truly feels out loud but when you break up with him (it's so heartbreaking omg) he says "I was beginning to think someone truly wanted me. I shouldn't have deluded myself." and "From the start, I was rather counting the hours until it was going to end. Midnight chimes, eh?" As heartbreaking as it is, the latter line shows how terrified he was of being abandoned or only be used for his body, he kept obessesively worrying that Tav would leave him after he bore his heart out to them. There's another bit of dialogue in Act 1 where he is trying his lines with you to get you to sleep with him a second time and you can say no which he is fine with but if you outright reject him there, meaning "I never want to see you like that again" he gets extremely sad: "Well, excuse me while I die of a broken heart. [slight chuckle] In all honesty, it's a shame. That time was special to me. I've gotten on my back 10,000 times or more and forgotten half of them. But you, I'll remember. [long pause] Have a fine evening... dear." Mind you, this is after you've only slept with him once. His dialogue makes it seem like he was already catching feelings for you, and not realising that himself until this happens. Seeing this made me realise that you're the first person he's slept with of his own volition, even if it was to seduce you. For the longest time, I think Astarion doesn't even want to believe you'll like him as something more than someone to sleep with, he hopes you might as his rejection line says so but astarion is nothing if not careful and well, paranoid.

That's why he's so shocked when you choose to not let him bite Araj at Moonrise even if it gave you something powerful in return. He sees that you chose his comfort over a genuinely useful commodity. Biting people or using his vampire, well, anything makes him extremely uncomfortable since it reminds him of things he needed to do for Cazador. If he bites her, it makes him feel like being a slave again, but bending to your will and wishes instead of his former master's. He realises he doesn't know how to say no. Which is another thing he says if you wish to pursue only a sexual relationship with him. He feels played.

Freedom: this is probably the main theme to his character arc. He wants to be free, not only from his master but also free to make right decisions and make decisions for himself, something he hasn't been able to do for years. This is why respecting his decision to not sleep with you is important to him, he doesn't feel comfortable being physically close to someone in a sexual way as it makes him doubt the person's true intentions and feelings and of course, makes him feel loathsome and disgusted with himself. He needs that time where you just connect as people to really see that you are in fact genuine and he wouldn't be hurt if he trusted you or gave you his heart. Towards the end of the game, he is still quite ruthless, but mostly only towards people who do wrong and are criminals. Astarion has a very strong set of ideals, he believes that people who do wrong deserve to die no matter the crime. I don't think this is entirely true, every crime deserves a different punishment but most criminals, those who do severe wrong and still get away with it, do deserve to die but this is just my opinion of course. He is ruthless towards bad people because that's how people have been to him, at least Cazador and I wouldn't be surprised if he was treated badly during his sexual encounters with strangers while working for him.

Why I think the Ascendant ending is a tragic ending for Astarion's character and for you.

I won't lie, there are some aspects of ascended Astarion that are pretty hot and I'm a sucker for (pun absolutely intended) powerful, gothic vampires but this ending comes at the cost of way too much. One simply being: Astarion isn't Astarion anymore. All his snarkiness, playful nature and strange innocence is gone. In his ascendant ending, that is, when he takes the power of the Rite of Ascension for himself by carving the same rune on Cazador's back that's on his own, Astarion loses himself. In D&D lore, full vampires are unfeeling, ruthless and have all their good traits twisted into something more malignant and evil. If Astarion loved you, that love turns into possession, if he cared for you, it turns into obsession. He doesn't truly care anymore... as a vampire, he is manipulating you and telling you things you want to hear instead of what he's actually feeling. He never truly got that moment of catharsis by killing Cazador as he does in his spawn ending. That simple bliss of killing the man that enslaved him and worse all these years; he never gets to experience that because he ends up using Cazador for the same power Cazador killed Vellioth for in the past, albeit worse. It's a never-ending cycle. And if he turns you into his spawn, you will go through the same fate Astarion went through and probably turn on him the same way he turned on Cazador. He has absolutely no sympathy for you or for anyone that is not him, in fact he feels almost disgusted by you because he thinks you're degrading yourself in front of him. There is a conversation between him and if you refuse to become his spawn, and I think it sums up his character perfectly as a vampire, it goes like this:

(choosing different options will have different dialogues but they more or less lead to him saying the same thing.)

ASTARION: Just so you know, I have everything I've ever wanted. Everything lies ahead. I can see my path to a waking dream. From the Crimson Palace, I will govern day and night. Create a city of spawn who bow before me, cast a fog over the world for my children.

TAV: But the Palace halls will be lonely.

ASTARION: You'll be lonelier than I. Very soon I will discover how to call my legions of wolves, become a sea of mist, run wrongside-up on roofs. [laughs] Everything vampires do best.

You could have, too. [sniggers] What a waste.

TAV: You don't really have anything at all.

ASTARION: I can take anything I want. I should've made you a spawn just to teach you that.

And there we have it, that last bit of dialogue shows how Astarion is now everything he hated about his own master. He is Cazador's literal and spiritual successor, he thinks you need to be punished for rejecting him. He doesn't feel for you anymore, at least not in a human way. He has become someone else entirely, for the worst. His drive for taking the power of the rite was to be able to walk in the sun again but as a full vampire, he wants to "dominate it (the world) until the sun melts and give ourselves over to the night."

Astarion NEEDS change, he needs to see that the world can be a kinder place than the one he's lived in this whole time. Just a bit of care and love with him goes a long way. In his spawn ending, he comes to realise that you gave him his life back even if it was as a spawn because that is true freedom. He is free from his master, and greed & power which was in the disguise of safety. He may never be able to walk in the sun, but he is free to make his own decisions that are driven by his choices. One of them being; wanting and loving you, living a full life with you, whatever that may entail.

If you went into the game thinking that Astarion will betray you no matter what then giving him the ascendant ending brings your fears to life. Astarion doesn't learn anything, by making him a full vampire, you basically tell him that he can only be powerful and worth something if he has super vampire powers, and in turn, you lose everything too. Astarion may have gained unparralled strength but now he has no need of you, you gave him everything he wanted and nothing he needed so now he can do whatever he wants with you because you are lesser than him, literally, he is much stronger than you are and his power will only grow as he discovers more of it. He tries to manipulate you into turning you into a spawn. A dialogue being:

TAV: After everything you went through with Cazador, you're going to make me a spawn?

ASTARION: Oh that was completely different, I'd never hurt you. I love you. That's what you've been waiting to hear, isn't it? That's what you want?

Which just shows you how he's only saying "I love you" because that's what you want to hear, so you agree to becoming his spawn. He doesn't mean it, it doesn't really have any feeling behind it whatsoever. And if he turns you into a spawn, you have basically lost everything. Because he is obsessive over you, he'll never let you go and since now he is properly evil, he likely won't turn you into a vampire either, even if he says he will.

This is just my take on the ending though, I think we can all agree the ascendant ending is the evil ending for his character, even if it is an ending you prefer. I'm not trying to hate on anyone who does like this ending, only stating that I think it is meant to be evil and I personally don't like it.

CONCLUSION

Once you get to truly know Astarion, he's a pretty decent guy. I can't speak much for people who didn't romance him, I'm not entirely sure how his non-romance route plays out. The good conclusion of his quest is so wholesome, where he says he feels "truly, honestly free" and tells you "you saved me from myself. This is a gift, you know, thank you. I won't forget it." getting full circle to the first time you let him bite you (the only time in my case.) It shows so much character development and pure joy in the way he thanks you (it doesn't need to be said but props to Neil Newbon for bringing the character to life.) He will always be a spawn and yet, he feels like "anything and everything is possible" because of you and the choices you made with him, you believed in him when he didn't believe in himself, you showed him that he is enough just the way he is and he doesn't need to become a full vampire to be strong and powerful. Astarion comes out of his finale, a much more positive person, who actually cares even if he won't show it and the best part is, he always keeps that tiny streak of evil and mischief within him. He hasn't lost sight of himself, he's just less spiteful now and feels free to actually enjoy life rather than constantly being scared of what might happen to him. He finds trust and happiness in you and it makes him happy that you find the same within him. You are his home and he hopes he is yours.

I understand that my analysis may not be perfect and my interpretation of the character may be different from someone else's but that's fine, he is a video game character that can be played so many ways and people can go around it however they like, interpret his character however they wish. This is just what I think.

NOTES

'Astarion needs your guidance.' - no, this is not gaslight-y. Astarion is a deeply troubled character and clearly finds it hard to differentiate between right and wrong. He often asks for your input and what you think by Act 2 which isn't a bad thing, he's asking for help and I think that shows how far he's come. In the final scene of his quest, he is overcome by the promise of power and the safety it would've provided which would've consumed him as it did Cazador, Astarion admits to this himself too later on once he can think clearly and is in a more positive mindset. There is nothing wrong with guiding your partner towards something that will eventually be better for their growth as a person in the long run.

[yumeka-sxf]

Today's new chapter was so intriguing 👀

First off, nice to see the Authens again. Guess we're sure now that Endo will make them reoccurring characters! Yor's embarrassment about being called "Mom" ("okaa-san" in the JP version) was really cute.

They managed to translate this joke very well; in the JP version, the word "ebento"(event) makes Sigmund think of "obento"(lunchbox). Using the word "function" for "luncheon" was clever!

But the main highlight of this chapter for me was seeing the ever enigmatic Melinda again after so long!

She's a really a tough one to figure out, and this chapter only brought up more questions than answers. She seems extremely nice here, being very forgiving of Millie despite her harsh accusations against her husband. She also mentions that she'd be very resentful if anything were to happen to her family...which is kind of contrasting to her thoughts about Damian from the end of the bus hijacking arc.

I also loved the scene of Yor sticking up for Millie. Her expression was so blank yet so deep at the same time. It actually reminded me of Anya's expression when she punched Damian - in both cases, their blank expression doesn't match their action, but it makes sense because they're still unsure of how to act and what emotion to portray in many seemingly "normal" situations. Anger and annoyance aren't feelings that come naturally to them.

In Yor's case here, having to defend someone against such accusations isn't something she's had much experience doing (at least not for someone who isn't family), and at the same time she can't just outright kill the hostile party like she would on an assassination mission. So despite being in such an awkward situation, especially for someone like her who struggles with social interactions, she managed to remain remarkably calm. As usual, Yor gets easily flustered when it comes to her own feelings, but if she sees someone else being threatened, her capabilities shoot up to maximum! That unpredictable expression should be feared from both her and Twilight!

We also learn that Yor lost her parents in the war, which is something I always suspected. Her words in the below panel reminded me a lot of the thoughts she had during the end of the cruise arc. As I've mentioned before, despite her naivety about many things, she understands the tragedies that go on in the world, especially in terms of war - that it's not just soldiers who suffer, but the children and everyone else left behind. It makes sense that someone who understands that kind of loss and hardship has such outpouring empathy to others the way Yor does...

...which is actually contrasting to the way Millie deals with her loss, by lashing out at others. It's said that those who have suffered can become either very sympathetic or very resentful. It was interesting to see that subtle contrast between Yor and Millie here.

Speaking of Millie, it was nice to see her get some redemption and backstory. Like Camilla, I still don't think this makes up for all the mean things she's said to Yor before, but it's something!

Good to see McMahon again after so long. Don't think he's made an appearance since the cruise arc 👀

As usual, it's hard to say if this chapter is leading to a new arc or not. I'm sure things mentioned here, especially about Melinda, will come back later, but who knows if it will be right away or several chapters from now. I know we were all expecting something relating to Anya's backstory based on the previous short mission, but I still think there's a chance that what happened here could tie into that. We'll see! We're close to chapter 100 so I wonder if Endo is planning something special for that 🤔

[sweetbluebanisters]

Ultraviolent

I can hear sirens, sirens

He hit me and it felt like a kiss

Who Controlling!Miguel O’Hara x Sweet!Reader

Warnings Contains!Smut, Violence, Abuse

Backstory A sweet bartender from the coast of California clashes with a mean man, who never doesn’t get his way. Two different personalities, don’t always work out in ways you’d wish.

This is my first time writing on Tumblr so please be kind and feel free to give advice + corrections in the comments! Also, Miguel speaks Spanish so I'm trying to incorporate that as well. Please tell me if any part of the Spanish lines do not make sense! I’m very limited and I don't think the google translator helps. at all. 

Ch. l sweet as sugar

Ch. II Deadly Nightshade

                                                             .୨୧˚.

Futuristic Cars, High tech machines that you could not work even if you tried. Marble white everywhere, buildings where robots work the magic. They were all completely brand new to you. Nueva York is something you’ll probably never get used to. 

You came from a rather big city in California, High crime, robberies left and right, litter everywhere, sweet beaches you can see from miles and miles away, and palm trees that are so big you could never miss them even if you tried. Also just known as Los Angeles!

Your name was __________ Monroe, you often went by Monnie in L.A, though. You are 22, fresh out of college where you majored in Cognitive science. You were always the one people could count on if they wanted to have fun, the one that no matter how bad they messed up, you made light out of that darkness. Least to say, you are a respected and honored person in the Spider Society.

You joined along Miguel and Jessica, a little trio if you'd say. About 2 years ago, You were exposed to a radioactive spider during a walk home from the club, all tipsy and alone. You didn't register what happened until the following day. You begin to feel soreness and itchiness on your wrist. You were easily agitated which was extremely uncommon for a girl like yourself. 

You noticed your indurance and speed increased in a matter of days. You began to notice yourself being able to call tons, light weight. Throughout your first year of being exposed, you then found out about your identity. Even you hid from yourself. You didn't know how to approach it at all, if you even had to. Until you met Miguel, spider-man 2099. From a completely opposite detention as yours. 

You were alone at home, per usual. Your only job as of now was a bartender for a night club, you got good tips though. It was around eight- o’clock, you begin to get all dolled up for her night shift at the club. Fixing your long _____ hair, dressing in very, exposed outfit to put into simpler terms. You put on makeup to your smooth skin, and strapped your heels to your feet. Grabbing your coach bag, ready to head out, standing 2ft near your exit just to quickly grab your keys out of quiet literally nowhere you are struck to the ground, it was so quick its like you glitched from standing to groaning on your hard wood floors. Feeling as if Zeus himself punished you for whatever sinful thing you had done and struct you down with lighting. 

“Wha- What the hell!” You blink in shock, turning your head behind you as a very, broad man look down at you, looking at you in confusion, you give the same exact look back. Its a 10 second staring contest before you realize the predicament you're in and speak up “Where the hell did you come from!” You shout, the man realizes that this complete stranger he's on top of is about to hit him with her coach bag, that looks to weigh tons. 

“No! No- my bad!” His hands go up as he quickly crawls off of you, standing up and extending his hand for you to grab. Instead of excepting the help, you gets up on your own before groaning “Jesus Christ how much do you weigh?”

“Im not in the mood for remarks like that.” The stranger scolded, looking at you as you stare at him in in unremarkable disbelief. “You’re in my house telling me you're not in the mood for remarks like that? Why are you in my house and where did you enter!” She snapped, looking at the man up in down, studying his features.

“And why are you in that Spiderman suit.” She mumbles under her breath, her eyes study the mans suit, seeing that he actually looks very.. built. the man rolled his eyes before speaking “You need to stop waisting your time and except that you're a Spider-Human.” He deadpans, looking at you, you had to extend your head up just to look into his scarlet eyes, you’d be lying if you said the man wasn't attractive.

“Are you cosplaying right now? Like are you actually insane?” You provoked the big man, he looks down, grabbing the bridge of his nose while shaking his head entirely. “You were bitten by a radioactive spider, you do realize, right? Didn't you notice the symptoms?” He question looking at you, but you couldn't help shake the feeling that you felt like you were in the clouds

“I was convinced it was just a regular bite, I was like getting stronger but I thought it was because I was working out?” You wondered, looking down and realizing that even though this shouldn't be happening to her, it does make sense to why she suddenly started feeling stronger, and quicker. 

“Able to lift heavy objects like they weigh 5 pounds?”

“Yep.”

“Running faster and running and for longer?”

“Sure.”

“Hearing increased?”

“Oh, yeah! sometimes I can hear my neighbors moaning through 2 stor-” “I didn't need all that, at all. You do realize you are the Spiderwomen of this dimension? Haven't you seen anything on the news?” He hesitated, looking at the girl who pondered her next choice of words “Oh, I mean I never really noticed I was bit but something like that. But, yeah there's a weird man with holes in his body that is like causing havoc or whatever, I thought he was cosplaying too though.” She began, looking at the man who seemed fed up. 

“No! No one is ‘cosplaying’! This is real, and you put your dimension in tremendous danger—“

“What am I supposed to do, just tell him to stop?”

“As I was saying, you’re just sitting on your ass and doing nothing, do you need to be taught?” The man stressed, she looks confused before speaking up

“Taught?”

“Por dios! Taught how to work through the Spider women thing! Like how to shoot webs, or how to y’know how to do your job!”

“Oh.. I don't even know if I want all that responsibly..” You truthfully tell, the man bites his tongue back before continuing “You put on the responsibility of spider by getting bit by this spider, you--” He urged out, before getting cut off my you “Excuse me? I was drunk and I didn't know! I promise you if I was sober and I saw that spider I would've ran, trust.” She corrected, the man began to think that you might have been missing just a few screws, not even loose screws. They're just gone.

“Please, this dimension needs a Spider-human they know they can rely on, at least come with me.” He pleaded, looking at you as you kept your eyes locked with his, you bit her lip as you began 

“But we already have a Spiderman?”

“Yeah, it’s you. What do you not get?”

“No, no. We have a Spiderman, I’m pretty sure he lives in Brooklyn.”

You can tell by the way that he’s looking at you, that information was definitely unexpected. But to avoid the loud silence, you speak up “Where am I going?” You mumbled, the man smiled back his pride before continuing 

“It's a dimension where all the Spidermen and Women work along each other, some live there and some go back to their homes. There's a training center, I can help you.” The man explained, he seemed to be dedicated to his job, you nodded with curiosity before speaking up “Do I need to stay there or-”

“No, you can go back home whenever, but if you want it is easier if you'd say.” He advised, you looked at him with a sweet smile before joking “It sounds like you want me there more than I do myself.” he scoffed before shaking head head, denying the accusation. 

“I just don't want another dimension going down in flames, that I have to save again.” He projected as you nodded, not listening at all. He tapped his watch with ease, as a spiraled portal projected out of what you thought to be thin air. “What's your favorite colors?” He asked, you look at him weirdly before telling him “Pink and.. uh.. black, why?”

“You'll find out.”

“Oh my god its so pretty!” Your smile lights up, cheering as you grab the custom made suit just for you, Miguel finds himself admiring the way you get excited for something so little “The little gems on the spider, Miguel!” You laugh as you look in the dressing mirror, putting the body suit up to you, trying to imagine how it would look on. The way you said his name has his stomach turning in ways classified as enjoyable. “Does everyone get costume suits too?” You question, looking at Miguel for the key to your answer 

“Yes, but some people stick to the blue and red combo for the cliche.” He answers, looking towards you as you still admires yourself in the full body mirror, she looks at Miguel before asking her wanted question

“Can I try it on, please?” You pleaded, looking at the rather tall man as he nods in approval, you speed walk into the changing room, making sure to close the door behind you before striping yourself of your heels, and your dress. being left in just her undergarments “Excuse me?” You pardon herself, the man looks at the changing room door, that hides your face. “Hm?”

“Do I wear a bra with this?” You ask, no implied innocence being stripped from that sentence, Miguel purposely coughs, he didn't know himself either. “Uhm, for now, yes. Let's just see how it looks.” He answers, you hum in approval as Miguel taps his foot, waiting for you to come out of the wardrobe with your rather tight body suit. “Its on!” You reveal, you steps out of the dressing room and looks at Miguel with your arms down to your side 

“Does it look alright?” You ask for his opinion, turning around so he can get a full view, Miguel looks at you, he couldn't help but notice the way it hugged your curves, but instead of voicing that, he just nods. He approaches behind you as you now admiring yourself in the mirror, again.

“It makes my butt look bigger than it is.” You comment, Miguel doesn't know how respond to that so he chooses to stay quiet. “How come it took such little time to make?” You ask, turning your body around to look at the man, he looks down at her. His stare is almost intimidating, but attractive. “With the tech we have provided, all we need is your exact body measurements and preferred colors. The machine makes it to your exact size, it even comes with special accommodations.” He informs, his words sounded so professional it could be mistaken for a advertisement. Your ears perk up as a way to show that you're listening, he continues.

“The fabric makes it easier to move your body, and helps when you're moving is restricted. The wrist of the sleeves come with built in webs, if you look at the black bracelets, you press that button and-- NO!” He begins to explain, but being cut off by the your curious thoughts as they press the button. The thick webbed material stick to the wall before you, You gasps before you let go of the buttons causing your webs to extend back in. Pulling you against the wall as you bang your head. 

“Damn.” You groan as you slides down the wall, Miguel shakes his head in disappointment as he helps you up before cutting the webs still stuck to the wall, off. “My head hurts.” You reply as you stand back up, with stability “I would think so.” 

“When does-” All of the sudden, your whole body feels like its being pinched at every inch and your body begins to twitch violently. “The hell!” You scream as you fall to your knees, Miguel sighs as he pulls a wristband out of his suit pocket “My bad, here's your 24 hour watch. Remind me tomorrow to give you another one.” His apology is rather weak as you snatch it from his rough hand before putting it on 

“You're not in your respected dimension, without protection your body is going to try to glitch its self back home. This just temporarily ignores that response.” Miguel explains, you leap up before looking at the wrist band, “Is there a way to permanently stop that reaction?” You question as he nods his head, looking down at his wrist watch, which attracts your attention.

“This watch permanently stops that reaction, unless you take it off. it also comes with built in controls like-” He begins to rant as you cut him off, again. “Can I have one?” He groans at the girls constant questions before answering, once again. “What makes you think I'll give a trainee a watch?” He sighs looking at you, your doe eyes wonder. You notices Miguel walking out of the dressing room, most likely annoyed. So you quickly grab her dress and put on your heels as she walks out too. Though you are wearing heals, you still stood rather short against Miguel.

“Well how am I going to get back home? I cant do it without a watch.” You provided a rather reasonable answer, the man smiles to himself which brings the girl into a state of confusion, she continues walking along him. Not knowing where she's going, but trusting the man enough to lead you “Yeah, about that.. as a trainee you'll probably stay her for one week, at max two weeks if you absolutely suck.” He explains, your eyebrows burrow in furry, being lied to isn't something you take lightly. Bystanders watch as they see a new spider women, whisper and gossip spread as you two did walk out of the wardrobe room together.

 “What the hell do you mean! You told me I could go back home whenever.” You argue, the man shushes you, telling you to keep quiet as you are causing quite a scene aready. “A week won't hurt, muñeca. Two weeks might though.” He dismisses, you abides to his orders as there is quite a few people looking at you both right now. 

“Go get some rest in the sleephub, I’ll give you an official tour tomorrow.”

“I don't even know where it is!” “You can find it, I believe in you.” Miguel gives you a fake flashy smile, before patting your shoulder and walking off without you.

You ended up needed the two weeks of training, and Miguel often makes fun of you about it to this day. You weren’t the most flexible when it came to web swinging but you definitely did know how to dodge people and objects that went flying your way.

Even since you appeared in the Spider society people could not ever end the talk about you. You were known as a sweetheart there, everyone and I mean everyone liked you. Though, there were always some people who thought your kindness was projected as annoying, but you never let it get to you.

People everywhere addressed you as sugar, which you thought was really corny. You don’t cringe at it though, because that’s how people perceived you as, and it’s definitely better than being called worse.

Even though you were known as Sugar among the spider society Miguel had his own nickname for a girl like yourself. ‘Muñeca’ which means doll in Spanish, you never understood it at first until Jess told you it’s because he thinks your prissy and spoiled, and a typical girl who thinks ‘’my way or no way’ is the standard.

And maybe you do! But that should be excepted widely among people.

The longer you stayed though, the more people began to tease you about Miguel. Sometimes they’d call you ‘Mrs. O’Hara’ and if you were being honest, you definitely didn’t mind it. Through the months you developed a small, tiny tiny crush on what you would call your boss. How could you not! He was most definitely bigger than you in size, he was controlling, and he was hot. Just how you liked your men.

As much as you thought about him, you knew he definitely didn’t feel the same. He only saw your presence as a burden in your eyes. He’d seem agitated or annoyed when he was around you.

A few months into you being part of the Spider society you fucked up a expedition he went on one day, different types of species were glitching into different parts of the spider verse and you were on duty with them to bring them back home. But, you ended letting one severely injuring you, hauling the expedition, It wasn’t your fault though! That thing caught you off guard.

Instead of Miguel assisting to your needs once you guys got back to the office, he yelled at you. Calling you careless, and voicing his annoyance. You threw that sweetness your perceived out the window. You snapped at Miguel for his lack of care, and told him it wasn’t even your fault. Basically, it was a screaming match that echoed off his office walls. Everything went blurry to you after he lost it, more or less snapped. He lifted you by your suits collar before tossing you off the console platform, injuring you worse than you already were.

A ‘ get away from me.’ would’ve been way more deserving.

He never apologized for that day, he just went along the following days like it never a happened. He noticed though that you were definitely trying to distance yourself. Your were still his assistant, though. So it was rather hard to just avoid him, or respect his privacy if you always had to cater to his needs.

Even after that though, you notice that the crush you denied having on that man only grew stronger. You definitely did not like the verbal and almost physical abusive side of him, but apart of yourself choose to avoid that thought of him. Only perceiving him the way you wanted to.

You don’t know why you excepted the job as his assistant, if it was because you were blinded by your crush on the man, or because you were bored and Miguel said you’d be able to go on missions along him with this job. But with a smile on your face you proudly excepted that job, and that day forward you were never spotted without him.

[lilybug-02]

Deltarune ??? Theory???

Why do Darkners have memories and backstories before their Darkfountain was made? Would it make more sense if they were just fake memories?

Most Darkners are portrayed as older than our protagonists, but their lightworld counterparts are likely younger?? (Ex. computers last max ~8 years, Queen is portrayed as at least 20+).

Jack Lancer is a child, but he has a Kind Dad (even though the playing cards are the same age. Also if lancer was born, how tf would that even translate into the lightworld)

Seam is old??? Bro is likely at max a 20 to 50+ year old stuffed animal. But how was he friends with Jevil when he was young? Jevil's lightner equivalent is as old as Lancer.

Also I have beef with how Darkners just LOOSE their home/kingdom after the Darkfountain is gone. That implies that the Darkfountain is creating the home. And THAT implies the Darkners didn't exist until the Darkfountain was created.

And that implies that Darkners backstories are fake as hell?!?!?

BRO.

thank you @krissyboy14 for making me rant and think about this again.

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

Who is White?

If it is not I, your friendly neighbourhood non-binary deranged literature major, once again to tell you about stuff that the voices™︎ have prompted me.

This time, let's talk about the elephant in the room, the odd one out: Mr. White, a.k.a the fandom's babyboy.

(me as Fluke in this GIF, walking in ready to dissect this bitch)

So, what do we factually know about this man?

From what we're directly told in the show:

He's Tee's boyfriend, at least, since 12th grade, meaning they have been together for about 3 years, maybe 4 (depending on when exactly we are in terms of time in the present and when exactly during 12th grade they started dating).

He's younger than the rest of them, according to Por and Top in episode 1.

He studied at a different school from the main gang AND from Phee (yes, despite the embroidery having a similar colour, the writings where the institution's name should be are nothing alike, thus, not from the same place)

He cares a lot about his appearance (he does skincare when Por is literally dying downstairs and he sees a rash on his body while under the effect of New's absynthe - idk if it's absynthe or not but my friends and I have been calling it that since we saw them drink the green drinks so it's absynthe for me and there's that).

He's generally a very respectful person (he always speaks formally and nicely to everyone, even when people are hostile to him, like Tee or Fluke).

His fear doesn't seem to paralyze him in high-pressure situations (he strikes people with a tripod twice to save himself and others when he thinks they're in danger).

Another source could be the Yearbook, which, now, we have to be a bit more skeptical about because, as seen in New's case, it's not 100% accurate. One can argue that it is accurate because the yearbook would have Tan's info, since that's who he's living as and no one knows any better than that, including the institutions and, sure, yeah, fair. But while we don't know that White is hiding anything from us as well, we can't be sure of it. So, take the following with a grain of salt:

(translated with Google Translate)

His legal name is Watcharin Siriphan

He was born on the 25th of February 2005 (which confirms what Por and Top say)

His blood type is A (which according to the Blood Type Personality Theory means he is shy, stubborn, a perfectionist, polite and hard-working, apparently. tbh this thing is super shifty, no source seems to agree on the meaning of each type and, of course, it's a pseudoscience and all, so... yeah. take it as you will)

He's studying Software Engineering

He likes cakes

He dislikes cockroaches

He plays games and programs in his free time

So... We don't know much. He's the most generic person ever. Like... I too, and half the world's population, like cake, dislike cockroaches and like to play games. It's not exactly very special. Which is exactly why he is so intriguing. After all, we had 5 whole episodes so far, which were just the backstory of the people we see together in the mansion in the present. We've seen their personalities, their qualities and flaws, what they did and what they didn't do. We've been given a reason as to why they're here. Not just in the more direct sense of "they agreed to come here for Jin's goodbye party" but of why exactly they needed to be put all together in these conditions for this story. All except White. White is just... Barely an afterthought. We're shown when he comes into this story for the group (when he becomes Tee's boyfriend), but we're not given a reason so far as to why the narrative wants him there.

Because, sure, IRL people sometimes end up in random places and things can be pretty meaningless but this is a work of fiction. One that, evidently, has been greatly focused on details (Non's framed apple picture and Phee eating an apple alone, for example, or the correlation between the group and the colour blue). So why would it just throw us a character that is, seemingly, irrelevant to the story?

And to this, there are 2 possibilities my friends: either White is a narrative tool to get to the audience or White is not who we think he is. So let's explore it, shall we?

White = Narrative Tool

Let's start by assuming, possibly the most likely outcome, that White is exactly just a guy who ended up there due to his connection to Tee. Why would this narrative need that character?

Glad you asked. Because he's the only person who's 100% innocent. If he's just some guy who, as we've seen, keeps being respectful and nice and trying to always do the right thing, then he's got nothing to do with the others who, in different degrees are all guilty of something. He's the odd one out.

Because, yes, this is not a show of villains (at least, not in which concerns the main characters). They're all morally grey. But they have some drop of black that makes them grey.

Por is arrogant and a liar and selfish.

Tee is aggressive and manipulative and a control freak.

Top is an overall asshole and a coward.

These 3 actively bully Non. Por steals his work. Tee and Top blame him for shit he didn't do which puts in the situation where he owns Por and they spy on him. Tee manipulates him into mafia money laundry and threatens him.

Fluke is selfish and refuses to take action even when he knows it's the right thing to do.

Jin's doesn't have the capability to realize that the peaceful passive way with which he normally carries himself with won't solve the issue. Plus he's overly emotional. And a bit selfish too.

They didn't help Non when it was their moral obligation to do so. And Jin records him being abused by their teacher and possibly posts it online (though that's still up for debate).

Phee is too stubborn and also overly emotional and even overly empathic.

New is obsessive and vengeful.

Phee never really helps Non because all the ways he offers Non help are the wrong ones. He almost tries to control him. And he fails. And then he tells him awful things and breaks up with him in a terribly vulnerable moment for Non. And even when he regrets it and tries to bring justice to him, he fucks Jin because he wanted to and tries to cover it up as if it was part of the plan. Sure, they were broken up, technically, but Phee himself seems to have had "take-backies" over that breaking up. So, in his mind, at least, it's fair to say he cheats on him, which is very hypocritical after how he reacts to Non being abused. And New... He tries to help sincerely because he feels guilty but he only makes things worse. Nothing is solved and their father curses them both before committing public suicide at their mom's funeral.

Non (which may be even more relevant if he's still alive) is overly independent and uncommunicative.

He doesn't tell Jin he has a boyfriend when it's clear Jin's trying to make a move on him, event though Non's not interested. He hides very important things from Phee. He commits fraud (understandably, but yeah). And yeah, he's justified in his rage and attack but... Does he ever think of how his actions affect other such as Jin, for example, who, in his eyes, is innocent? Not really.

"Oh but White won't die!", I hear you say. "The innocent people never die in slashers!! Only the people who did the killer wrong do!" And that's exactly where I have to disagree.

So, amidst a sea of grey characters, White is, funnily enough: white. He's just good. He's done nothing wrong. And the narrative needs him because, when the others die, we'll feel (to different degrees, sure, but still, we will) that there's a reason. Even if we like the characters, those deaths will make sense. But what happens when an innocent man dies? What happens when you kill the man who wasn't even supposed to be there (he joined the trip at the last minute)?

As @syrena-del-mar says in this post: "DFF is more than just a 90s slasher film imitation". It "sits at a novel intersection of genre: horror slasher on the one hand and BL on the other hand" as @brifrischu puts it here and, for that, it bends expectations and rules and subverts what are natural tropes and events of the slasher archetype. White dying is the sort of thing this narrative, and our inventive genius Sammon, would do. Because... Do you really think they're giving us grey characters instead of black ones because we're supposed not to question this revenge? Because we're supposed to be happy about this? No. Of course not. That would be dumb. If we're meant to 100% side with the killer, then why give us likeable characters as the targets? Because, and this is as much speculation as it is reading the room, we're not.

This story, I don't know how it will end, but regardless I'm pretty confident it's supposed to tell us something important about cycles of violence: that they're neverending until someone chooses peace instead. That aggression and bloodshed and revenge... They won't bring time back, they won't undo the mistakes we make, they won't restore that which is lost, they won't make the grief go away... That they won't make us feel better. More even: that they will only hurt more people, create more injustice and prompt more revenge. And, thus, perpetuate the cycle.

So what's White's role? Being the final drop into our collective cup of realization (and perhaps the characters' as well) that this revenge mission is pointless and won't solve anything. White's role is to die.

"Oh, but uncle Dang was also innocent! Is his death not enough??", I hear you ask. And well... Maybe, maybe not. I think, honestly, his death is too impersonal for us to feel too deeply about it. Like, sure, yes, it is the death of an innocent, but it's a distant innocent. It doesn't make our blood boil because we don't know shit about that man. But, for all we don't know of White's past, we've seen him cry, we've seen him scared, we've seen him fight for his life, we've seen him be a good boyfriend and a good friend. He might just be some dude but we like him. He's the fandom's babyboy, as I said. It is more impactful and it tells the story better.

But this is just a hypothesis. And it might not convince you. And that's fair. So, because I'm a persistent obnoxious fucker with a little too much free time, I'm bringing you a second theory. For this one, though... You might need a little tinfoil hat... Be prepared.

White ≠ Who He Says He Is

So, if you think just having a character be hollow and pure good in a show of very fleshed-out and grey characters is weird, even if he might be narratively relevant, then we can only assume there's something important to White's character we don't know about yet. (I'm adding this in retrospective because I forgot but this idea came to me partially from @yellingaboutkp and their great analysis of horns in the show that you can find here)

But what could that be? We've seemingly seen all the flashbacks we needed from everyone, White doesn't seem very relevant to anyone's storyline but Tee's but... We'd assume if there was something directly connected to Tee's actions and White that we needed to see, we would've. Admittedly, the next episode seems to be on its way to tell us what Tee knows about what happened to Non and Keng while they were captured by the mafia and he could be there but I think, honestly, that it goes deeper than that. And here's why: because there's a person who's even more of an odd one out then White: whoever Perth's character is.

Now, he would've been completely unsuspicious if it wasn't for one thing: Perth's presence in the promotion of this series. He's just... Always there, somehow? Like, his character has only really appeared last episode massaging Tee's uncle but he's constantly talking about this series. Plus, his name is very well credited. AND, the absolute cherry on top, his character appears in THIS poster:

Now, yeah, I understand Marketing and Publicity (it's part of my Master's, you don't have to explain it to me). So, I know this could very well just be a strategy to sell the series. After all, Perth did get a lot of attention after The Hidden Character, I know, I know. It's also a way to put his name out there for other future roles, kinda like a soft launch. Plus, this is the show that killed Us's character first when he was one of the most popular actors in the cast. HOWEVER, I'd argue that, considering the previously mentioned attention to detail, they would not have given one of their rising stars a role in this series if it wasn't important. Like... No other background character without lines (so far) was given an important actor to play it. So pardon me, but I don't buy it. Perth's character's gotta matter somehow. And, back to what I was saying, I think the next episode will be exactly where.

See, I made a poll here on the hellsite asking what y'all think happened to Non. It's this one. And it shows that, overwhelmingly, we all think Non is alive BECAUSE he was helped by the man himself:

"Okay, Dante, but, even if that's true, where does White fit in all this?" Glad. You. Asked.

Now, if we're assuming Perth's character's the one that's gonna help Non (and possibly Keng or maybe not, idk and it really doesn't matter for now), we've gotta assume he's a possible suspect for the murderer. And even more so under this optic that Non is alive. Who more than a person whose whole reality seemed to be the mafia and who might've escaped it would be okay with murdering people? Right? Or, on the contrary, that he took a liking to Non and is trying to prevent him from further digging himself a hole in life and is trying to save him from himself.

You see, I didn't watch The Hidden Character (and those who did apparently recommend it stays that way). I didn't know any of these people before except those who were in Kinnporsche. And you know what that led me to? Curiously enough, dear reader: confusing Fuaiz with Perth. So, yeah, you know where this is going... White and Perth's character might be related. Brothers, probably.

"All because you think they look alike?" Well, if you ignore the way I just explained how it would tie some very loose ends... Yeah, kinda. BUT, in my defence, it makes a lot of genetic sense.

See, no other characters in the show really look this much alike. Believe me, I tested it.

For this purpose, I tried many different sites but the one that seemed to give me the most reliable results was FaceShape. Most characters got no more than 10%, some even got 0% (e.g. New and Perth's Character). And you wanna know how much White and Perth's character got? Nearly 50%.

For comparison reasons, New and Non who are CANONICALLY brothers, got about 30%.

BUT, if this is not convincing enough, my sister and I (who share EXACTLY the same 2 parents) got lower than them.

(pls ignore the picture, I was trynna make it as accurate as possible so I took a front pic with a neutral expression. also, my sister is censored for privacy reasons)

Now... Will I claim this is irrefutable proof? No. Not at all, but think about it: if White and Perth are related that might maybe explain how Tee and White met. It might also explain that really weird scene in the pre-release trailer (albeit all scenes in that are rather odd) where White-

Yes, thank you, Obi-Wan. And Anakin Tee is looking up at him, as if White has more power than Tee does. Because then, it could probably mean that White knows something and is probably there to do something. What exactly? Idk, man. He could be there to ensure the group remains clueless/confused or that they remain where they need to be for things to work... Or he could be there to try and prevent stuff from happening much to the likeness of what I stated for Perth's character's case.

"Oh, but if he knows something, wouldn't he know what happened to Non? Why would he be curious to watch the recording??"

Well, not necessarily. We know Non is not communicative and that he doesn't typically share his problems with anyone (the exception being Keng, obviously, but then again, the exception confirms the rule). And sure, Keng might be more talkative but idk if he would say something if Non asked him not to. I have a feeling he probably wouldn't (since he has that weird thing JJ mentioned about how he "loves Non" and, therefore, even if he's an abuser, he doesn't perceive himself that way and wouldn't do something he actively thinks would hurt Non). So, while Perth's character would know what happened to Non while he was being held by Tee's uncle and even some things about why he is there, he probably wouldn't know the rest.

But then why would he date Tee? Well, this is a narrative so... Foils are something that can happen. Having White and his relationship with Tee be a parallel to that of Phee and Jin is not weird and, in fact, has happened in the very first episode when both couples arrive at the room where the singles are, in pairs. Therefore, it wouldn't be weird to think of White as someone who maybe also fell in love with the guy that was supposed to be a means to an end or, alternatively, and perhaps more interestingly, have White NOT be in love with him and actually succeed, unlike Phee. Thus, drawing the comparison that, while Tee and White are in a relationship, White didn't fall in love and, inversely, while Phee and Jin aren't in a relationship, Phee did fall in love.

And this would mean that all we've seen of White's fear might, in fact, be an act to throw suspicion off of him. Or even more justified because he knows exactly what's lurking in the woods... After all, why would he suddenly join Jin's goodbye party if he's not a friend of Jin's? What reason better than to tag along your boyfriend's getaway with his friends if not to protect him from the terrible consequences of his actions?

But I get it. It's an extremely convoluted theory and, in all honesty, maybe makes the show more dull and boring if it's true because... Why would they repeat this "secret brother" twist? Or the dating with second intentions trope? It could be a narrative parallel, yes, but I can also definitely see how people could point that out as uncreative or lazy writing.

Either way: these thoughts were circling around my head and, before the next episode confirms or destroys them, I wanted to get them out into the world for y'all to, maybe, hopefully, join in on the hype for it, as it's less than 24h 'till it airs. Hope in that I was successful, at the very least.

Anyway... As usual feel free to (politely) argue with me, tell me I'm wrong, tell me I missed this and that, add to it, etc... Because if there's one thing I currently love more than DFF itself, it's definitely the fandom and I want us to make the most of it!!

I'll see y'all tomorrow when we're freaking out about episode 10!!!

All the love! 💜💜💜

[svsss-fanon-exposed]

Exposing SVSSS Fanon: 11/∞

QIU HAITANG HAS MORE THAN ONE OLDER BROTHER

Rating: FANON - CONFLICTING

On the SVSSS wiki, it states that Qiu Haitang has more older brothers than just Qiu Jianluo. This likely originated from a confusing bit in the CNoveluv fan translation:

The original Shen Qingqiu's family was well-off and he could at least be considered a small wealthy second generation offspring. He had two older brothers that would inherit the family business in the future and a younger sister that he loved. (CNoveluv, Ch. 2)

While this statement obviously is referring to Shen Yuan's family before transmigration, and is translated the following way in the official TL:

In his previous life, Shen Yuan had been well-off growing up, and he’d basically qualified as a modest example of a second-generation rich kid. His two older brothers had been set to inherit the family business, and he’d doted on his little sister. (7 Seas, Ch. 1)

it is still easy to see how the wording of this statement could be interpreted as referring to Shen Jiu.

Later on, in the BCnovels translation, when Qiu Haitang is revealing Shen Jiu's backstory, it is translated the following way:

"My parents took [Shen Jiu] back home, taught him to recognize words and study, gave him the means for food and clothing until he was full and warm without any concerns. My brothers looked after him like he was part of the family." (BCNovels, Ch. 36)

while in the official TL, it is:

...[My parents] brought [Shen Jiu] home, taught him how to read, and paid for his food and clothing—kept him warm, fed, and free of worries. My brother also looked after him, and they were exceptionally close.  (7 Seas, Ch. 6)

(thanks to @furbygoblinxiv for fan tl details!)

There is some ambiguity in the original text, so the mistranslation is not entirely without reason. The phrase used there is:

我兄弟也带他极为亲厚

This is the sentence translated as "My brother also looked after him, and they were exceptionally close." 兄弟 usually refers to brothers (older and younger, plural), however, it can refer to a single brother (rarely), or to cousins and siblings together within a household, or to a friend or friends. There are certain context clues, however, which lead me to believe that there was only one older brother. For example, see the following sentence (which is in the same sentence in the CN text):

长到十五岁，父母去世，我哥哥当家作主

This section is translated: "When [Shen Jiu] was fifteen, my parents passed away, and my brother became head of the household." Notable here is that Qiu Jianluo is referred to as 哥哥 （gege). This is the general term for older brother-- however, if there were other older brothers in the family, Qiu Haitang would have most likely referred to him as 大哥 （da-ge, eldest brother) instead, to denote his position in the lineup. However, she never uses any kind of numbering in regards to him, which makes me think that there is only one 哥 in the family.

Also notable is that there are never any other brothers directly mentioned anywhere in the text. Qiu Haitang's mourning is all for Qiu Jianluo-- if she had older brothers who had survived, she would not have ended up on her own and destitute after the massacre. If she had other older brothers who had died, she would have almost certainly mentioned them when listing her grievances, instead of only mentioning Qiu Jianluo. She only says the following when making her accusation:

He lost his mind and killed my brother and many of our servants all at once, leaving bodies scattered all over the estate—then disappeared from the city with that cultivator the same night! (7 Seas, Ch. 6)

Therefore, since there is never a single mention of an older brother aside from Qiu Jianluo (or any brother at all), it doesn't seem that there were any others.

[gravity-falls-fanatic89]

I genuinely feel there is something to color scheme between the older Pines' men in terms of wardrobe at the very least.

Very much through the episodes where backstory is provided for Ford, yellow, blue, or gold hues of shirts are worn. Gold, or yellow are typically variations that are associated with royalty, and I feel it shows he was "the golden child"...Which also correlated later when Bill made him the only statue that was gold. He was considered special at certain points.

The blue, from what I gathered, symbolized peace, and innocence, which he did wear in college, and while working with Bill in the mind scape. And, you see, after the betrayal, he stops wearing blue. His innocence was lost, and his peace was taken.

Stan, on the other hand, had a touch of gold to his wardrobe, but I always associate him with maroon, which is associated with being steadfast. And quite frequently in the show, that maroon does show up for both men(Ford's signature sweater and Stan's fez). They both at the end of the show wear maroon as sea grunks, showing they both are steadfast, and parallel.

He also does wear the blue Hawaiian shirt, and tries to pose like he's a frail old man when he wanted on Cash Shower(innocence once again), then the gold and maroon suit in The Stanchurian Candidate (I see as power and determined).

I could be reading into this far too much, but either man's wardrobes fascinate me in the different eras of their lives. I'm sure I could keep digging, but I probably as sound loony 😂

EDIT: I also thought about Stan wearing white at points, where it's a color of purity and clean. When he's younger, he wears a white shirt through high school. Then, as he becomes a drop out, at various points, and up to the portal fight with Ford, it's dirty and worn, so tainted and weathered.

He returns to the white with his suit, and then, is typically portrayed as a sea grunk in cream, to me, personally translates to a "grey" area: he isn't pure like he was as a high school kid, but he's not a criminal anymore; the color is mixed now, a blend of old and new.

And Ford's return from the portal clothes, total black, is absolutely a reflection of his travels and where his mind probably sat for 30 years: In the dismal and hopeless hellscape, both literally and mentally.