#sorry i don’t usually post theories so i know this isn’t like

[caramsels]

tell me more about this "mono isnt a human" theory thats really interesting

Thanks for asking! A few people have asked for my thoughts on Mono’s identity, and because I will take any opportunity to ramble about Little Nightmares, I wrote up my (hopefully intelligible) interpretation of Mono, and why I think he was always a Resident of The Nowhere, instead of a kidnapped human child like most of the LN kids. This theory is super connected to a few other ones I have, so I’ll rattle descriptions of them at the start for context. Also this post is insanely long I’m sorry

The Nowhere

The Nowhere is its own world that real children get kidnapped to, it feeds off of humanity and kinda functions like your local mall. A weird amount of emphasis is put on jobs in The Nowhere, Residents are often referred to solely by their job titles (The Janitor, The Doctor, The Teacher, etc. etc.)

Besides having a job in The Nowhere, a Resident's proximity to humanity seems to give them a higher status as well. In a LN1 interview, it was said that ALL residents wear masks (as opposed to just the Twin Chefs); we even see in LN2 that The Doctor makes and presumably sells these masks. A humanoid appearance is something that most Residents want. The more humanoid a Resident looks, the more powerful they are perceived to be (not always, because of The Ferryman, but he’s just chill like that.)

Kids and valuable teens/adults (like the circus performers and Otto from the podcast) feed The Nowhere kinda like how animals feed humans. Some Residents are given jobs to maintain this system. Some jobs require more power than others however, typically these are the jobs that require a Resident to keep control over an entire area, which leads me to…

The Cycle

The head honcho Residents like The Thin Man and The Lady are more humanoid and more powerful than the others, this is because they are handpicked and raised from birth to inherit these forms that are passed down over time. This one is super important to most of my points about Mono, so I’m going to spend some time defending it.

The Lady (prior to the Six stuff) had 4 predecessors, each represented by a different mask/hat that you can collect in VLN; This means that The Nowhere (at the time of the first loop in LN2) is on its 5th cycle. The Thin Man is also a mantle that is passed down, we see the previous one interact with Mono before Mono has even entered a time loop in the LN2 comics. This Thin Man, when datamined, notably wears a different hat than Mono’s iteration.

Furthermore, when asked if Thinny Lad is a mantle that is passed on or Mono in a timeloop in an interview, the devs had this to say:

The Pretender (VLN) is a good example of what I think Mono is supposed to be, and what the child forms of the 5th cycle Residents were. The Pretender is a humanoid child with supernatural powers and a strong sense of loneliness. She has her own mansion and Resident servants. The Pretender is the heir to a currently unknown position. She has a portrait of her and five past iterations on her wall, followed by another one of her and her two Resident parents. The Pretender is native to The Nowhere.

But… who is the boss of all the Residents? Who assigns these jobs? Who creates the natural Residents and brings others into The Nowhere?

The Eye

(you could argue its the ferryman but i think he works under the eye too. employee of the year)

I think most fans agree on this one so I won't spend too long on it, but basically I think the Eye is the unseen overall antagonist of Little Nightmares, overseeing everything and everyone in The Nowhere all the time. The Eye feeds off of misery and has a fate planned for everyone, it is not happy when anything throws a wrench into these plans. I don’t think we are meant to know The Eye’s motives, not yet at least, but if I had to guess; they have something to do with an extremely misguided and angry feeling of loneliness, as that is a prevalent theme in an insane amount of Residents. This finally brings me to Mono.

Mono’s Familiarity with The Nowhere

Mono is very familiar with Pale City, he is much more aware of his own fate, abilities, and world than he’s given credit for.

In the door/boat cutscene, Mono watches every TV in the water until it exits the frame. This early in the game, Mono already has an inherent connection to TVs.

Before Pale City comes into frame for both Six and the player, Mono is already standing, he is familiar enough with the route to Pale City that he knows they arrived without even having a clear view of their destination. This is because Mono has been to Pale City before, in the sixth episode of the LN2 comics:

In this comic, Mono met (and wasn't killed by) The Thin Man shown earlier. So to list off the amount of things Mono was already familiar with at the start of LN2: His connection to TVs, his connection to The Thin Man, and how to navigate Pale City. Mono having a lot of experience living in The Nowhere is demonstrated somewhere even more prominent too:

Kickass Character Design

Six’s character design intentionally makes her not fit in with her environment. While the color scheme of The Nowhere and its residents is mostly bland, monochrome, and washed out (sans the lighting), her jacket is highlighter yellow. This represents that Six does not belong in The Nowhere, she’s from the human world.

With this information to ride off of, Mono’s design becomes interesting. Mono’s design is a beige button up, tan trench-coat, and tan pants: A monochrome, muted outfit that fits in perfectly with the aesthetic of The Nowhere. Mono’s outfit including a key ring and a useful color scheme for camouflage further implies familiarity and experience with the way The Nowhere works. If Six’s simple, bright design represents her not belonging there, Mono’s muted, practical design represents the fact that he does.

His Mask

We actually know why Mono wears his mask, we have a direct answer:

You can interpret this as a representation of Mono being shy or insecure or a combination of multiple things, but I think it’s mainly meant to represent, as the description states: Mono hiding from The Nowhere, Mono running away from his fate. The Eye wants Mono to grow up and be the next Thin Man, but he doesn’t want to. Mono’s mask represents his fear, his refusal to use his Thin Man powers, his refusal to do anything that connects him to the world that hates him and wants him to fail; he wants to hide from that world, his future, and the reality of what he is. But ….

(straight up a post of Mono running from his fate)

Unexplained Powers

Mono’s OP reveal was the moment that shook me the most when I first watched my sister play the game; I’ve honestly always been shocked at how little it’s talked about in the community. To me, it was a reveal that told us we Did Not REALLY know much about the character we had been playing the entire time, and that was exciting.

When Mono fights the Thin Man and contorts the structure of Pale City, it is with ease. This is not his first time doing any of this, his body language does not match that of someone who just discovered/unlocked a new ability, him busting out the moves is framed more like a choice that he decided on just before removing his mask. The Thin Man boss battle is easy on purpose; because it's not too hard for Mono in universe, all he does after is wipe off his head nonchalantly and then he proceeds to warp reality. The ominous boss theme that plays during this fight isn’t even for the Thin Man, its MONO’S boss music. The Thin Man is the one who helps control The Signal Tower’s influence, Mono is the one interfering with it, he is the “Signal Interference.” The theme continues even after he’s defeated The Thin Man, further hammering in that it is his.

Mono has his own ominously powerful boss theme and the abilities of one of the most powerful Residents at his disposal; he is not a normal kid.

Mono even shares a power with the established Resident heir that we already know; The Pretender.

When The Pretender sees RCG eavesdropping on her crying, she yells so loud that it physically hurts RCG, causing the screen to glitch. I don’t think this is just a visual effect to show how loud it is to the player; I think this is an in universe ability. You know where else we see a powerful child amplify their voice on purpose to harm an enemy with a screen glitch/distortion effect? Mono in Chapter 5.

Mono and the fifth Thin Man

I think that Mono ran away from wherever it is he’s supposed to be, (probably the Signal Tower) and The Eye/ Thin Man want him back; this is why Mono is not killed by The Thin Man in the comic, just pursued by him

Loneliness

I don’t think I even really need to dissect how loneliness relates to Mono’s character, but he’s not the only character who deals with it. A huge recurrent theme with Residents is loneliness; the sense that they need something, they are missing something. The Lady has a bunch of dolls, The Janitor has.. a bunch of dolls in his own way. The Hunter too. The Pretender runs off to cry when her human doll friend gets messed up at her dinner party. The Resident we meet in Chapter 3 of the podcast is the most direct example so far of intense loneliness in a Resident, and not so coincidentally, it has a ton of parallels to Mono.

Narrative

For the rest of this post, I’m going to focus on how I think this theory fits into the story; because I think factoring in the cutscenes and storytelling beats is important when putting together something’s lore.

A little chatter about Mono

Mono is often characterized as a shy little boy who plays the straight man to Six’s feral goblin who loves eating rats, which is a whole other can of worms, but with this characterization I feel like some fun and interesting parts of his character are neglected, such as: The fact that Mono is an ominous little weirdo. His attempt at trying to save and comfort someone is to hack down her door with an ax with no warning, then proceed to chase her through the house she’s been trapped in; Mono is not too familiar with human interaction. Mono isn’t really a dashing hero who tries to save every kid he comes across either. In the comics, Mono finds an area that is away from the monster killing all the kids, but it’s not like he tells the other kids or tries to bring them with him or anything. I don’t think that this means he is a toxic manipulative character or anything because he is. 9 or 10 years old. I think if anything, this is a trait that experienced characters in The Nowhere have: RCG and Mono both know that indifference is the way to survive in The Nowhere, good deeds usually get you killed. It’s the way things are. I think overall Mono is a well meaning boy who just talks and acts ominously, because that’s what he is used to; he’s an eldritch overpowered being who lives in hell if it had a 1940s aesthetic.

I think that Mono doesn’t start the game a sweet perfect little boy whose ending is sad because he gets betrayed, that’s not a character arc. I think Mono starts off relatively morally gray out of necessity, mostly helping Six out because it was kinda his fault she got captured. He develops into someone who is willing to fight his fate, fight the Nowhere and stop resorting to the escapism his mask provides, only to get crushed to rock bottom in spite of his growth. After all, the villain of Little Nightmares is The Nowhere itself.

How this creates character conflict in the plot

Anytime Mono goes into a weird TV trance, Six is horrified. Her body language tenses and she moves away from him. Six has seen first hand that even the kids like her in The Nowhere cannot always be trusted or relied on (RCG shutting the door on her). Some kids like the Pretender aren't even normal kids, they have powers they use to kill people. The one person Six is starting to trust, and he’s showing signs of possessing supernatural powers? Terrifying. Mono notices these reactions, they give him more cause to hide what he truly is from her. Residents scare and disgust Six, he doesn’t want to lose the only person he has.

This conflict leads me to another point; you know those moments of Six being sadistic and angry towards Residents? How an ominous music cue plays when she kills the bully and breaks the mannequin’s fingers? Earlier in the game, when Six first catches Mono, his part of Togetherness II plays briefly to show his feelings in that moment, which implies that the music cues we hear when a story beat happens are Mono’s reactions. I don’t think these scary music cues are because Mono is scared of Six being creepy, Mono himself likes to beat up Residents. I think that Mono is scared in these moments when he sees the extent of Six’s hatred towards Residents, because even though he doesn’t like them either… Imagine how she’d react if she knew about him.

It is only the Thin Man fight when Mono is finally pushed to the point of using his powers, because in the plan to get Mono to the Signal Tower: The Thin Man took Six as bait. Six was constantly pulling Mono out of his TV trances, Six was supposed to die back at The Nest, Six has been a problem for the Eye since the start and now it’s time to kill two birds with one stone, to sentence Six to her new fate and to crush Mono’s spirit so hard that he finally resigns to his.

The drop is its whole own debate, but whatever you think about it, I think at least one factor in Six’s decision is that from her perspective: Mono has revealed himself to be an entity she cannot trust, he didn't tell her either; he's been hiding it this entire time. Why didn’t he use this power to help them all the previous times they were in danger? What are his motives? What IS he? This, mixed with other factors, causes the drop. (a lot of manipulation on the part of The Nowhere is involved too imo but this isn't a Drop analysis)

Mono is crushed, he loses Six and any true feeling of empowerment that he had before. Rather than The Eye trapping him in the Signal Tower and forcibly transforming him into a resident, I think Mono actually accepts his fate because hes just. That depressed. He actually ages pretty normally for most of the sequence (except for being straight up like 12 feet tall, the podcast confirmed that Residents are just super super big as opposed to the kids being really small, bros got Resident genes) This sequence from the art book leads me to think that Mono knows what the hat entails, Mono chooses to run the Signal Tower like The Lady runs The Maw. The chair sequence is not actually him sitting in a chair for that long, I think it just represents his resignation more than anything.

BUT! Mono is an “uncommonly single minded boy,” who also has control over time, i.e. Mono Thin Man slowing down time in his chase just to fuck with you or the clock sounds in The End of The Hall. Whether you think he goes back for revenge or to stop the downfall of everything, he goes back in time. I think it's on purpose, I think every TV in the background of the first scene implies that Mono has gone back to this point in time over and over again, failing repeatedly, leaving a new TV behind and forgetting the past attempt each time.

This could all be wrong, maybe Mono is just a really badass 4th grader from the human realm who got his abilities like Six, just off screen. But one thing I love about LN is all of the different, creative and interesting interpretations of the fans. So here’s mine regarding Mono lore. Sorry this was so long and I write posts weirdly it is 4 AM. I hope you enjoyed

[accirax]

What is your opinion on the DRDT time loop theory? If you do have any thoughts on it, what do you think Mai, the Teacher & the past kg/(assumption) the altdrdt kg have to do with it? (Mai and Teacher often exist in proxy to evidence for this theory & the 'past killing game' & the teacher are clearly closely connected.)

Alright, so this one is going to be a bit more of a challenge than usual because, as I confirmed, the “DRDT Time Loop Theory” doesn’t exactly… exist. I mean, it definitely does, because you know what it means, and I know what it means, and I’m willing to bet that many other people who will encounter this post also know what it means. But, everyone’s understanding of it is pretty vague and scattered because no one has ever written it out before. Other than kind of this 3 minute segment of a video by Ocean Unknown (which never even says the words “time loop” directly, it just discusses a major piece of evidence for the theory), as well as this work-around by @/1moreff-creator, there isn’t any document I can read or video I can watch to base my opinion off of.

Therefore, this leaves me in the position of having to establish the original scripture for what the DRDT Time Loop Theory is, and then give my thoughts on how plausible it might be. Naturally, this may result in my answers having some obvious bias to them in one way or another– either that I will misrepresent some evidence because I don’t think the idea is plausible, or that I will become convinced of the theory because it’s tailored to exactly what I think makes the most sense– but, no matter! Somebody had to establish this someday, and I’m honored that you regard my opinion highly enough to task me as the one to do it. Here we go!

I usually like to establish a sort of premise to each of my theories near the beginning, because I think it provides a good structure through which people can pace themselves and know what to expect. For this theory, I think it will make the most sense to create sections based on the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Although, not necessarily in that order. Or rather, definitely not in that order, because I know where I’m going to start.

What?

‘Cause, like, what? What is the time loop theory? That’s where we should start.

As far as I’m aware, the time loop theory is mainly based on the combination of two different pieces of evidence. The first hails from DRDT’s About Page. In the same fashion that people found each character’s hidden quotes on their profiles, you can find a long monologue in the code of the text. I’ll copy it here for convenience:

“You don’t understand, do you? I used to be like you. I barely remember, but I used to be like you. I cared so much about people, I cried everytime someone was hurt. I suffered for a long time stuck in here caring about people. I know what you’re going through. You’re going to hold on as long as you have, with hope that you can make it out of here with everyone. Then you’re going to despair. That lasts a while, too. Then you’ll get bored. Like me. And you’ll wish you were still suffering. Anything else is better than boredom. I wish I could feel something, anything else, other than being bored. I’m stuck in here for eternity, and I know everything that could possibly happen. I know how everyone reacts to a murder, what makes people turn to despair, what fills people with hope and make them survive until we all run out of food and starve to death. I wish I could feel terrified, or afraid, or angry. But I can’t anymore. I don’t feel anything at all except boredom. Do you understand, Teacher? This is why I’m letting you suffer as long as possible. Because it’s better than the alternative. I’m sorry. I don’t envy you. You’ll understand eventually.”

Because this quote is found on the About page, we can’t tie it to any one character in particular like we can for the secret quotes. Many people suspect this quote may have come from DRDT’s mastermind, but we obviously don’t know who that is, either. To help us establish the speaker’s character, let’s see what we can infer about them from what they’ve said.

Firstly, we know that this character has been through a lot. They started off caring, then turned to cruelty, yet wound up feeling nothing but boredom in the end. Notably, however, this is only the way that this character sees themself– how kind or how cruel they were is subject to their own perspective. Personally, I don’t think that the speaker is as dead inside as they claim to be. The fact that they wind up relating themselves to “Teacher” and taking actions to minimize Teacher’s suffering proves that they haven’t fully given up on humanity or caring for others.

The speaker also seems to think pretty highly of themself. They begin the passage by assuming that Teacher couldn’t possibly understand what they’ve gone through, and see themself as a tortured Atlas bearing the weight of all knowledge on their shoulder (“I know everything that could possibly happen”). The whole “this is for your own good” mentality also shows them as somewhat patronizing and commandeering.

As for some of the more physical details, while it’s not 100% confirmed, it seems pretty clear that the speaker is or was in a killing game. A murder can occur pretty much anywhere that there are two people, but “how everyone reacts to a murder” really makes it seem like the speaker is in a place where murder is expected. And then, there are the obvious references to hope and despair, which we all know are super killing-game-coded words.

The phrase that I find most interesting in the About Page quote (APQ) is “until we all run out of food and starve to death.” The speaker including themselves in a “we” means that they do identify as part of the group that is stuck in a killing game. Therefore, we can learn that 1) the speaker does not have a secret way to exit the killing game facility and/or time loop, and 2) the speaker is in a physical space, not a metaphysical one. They’re just as vulnerable to starvation (and possibly being killed?) as anyone else. This could be important when it comes to establishing how the time loop came to be and what kind of time loop it is.

And then, of course, there’s Teacher.

Due to the “wants to become the perfect teacher” tagline, many people have come to assume that the Teacher that the APQ refers to is a member of the unnamed fangan (which I call altDRDT) cast. Specifically, that brown-and-red-haired gentleman in the middle. This theory was basically confirmed by the second of the three Christmas 2023 comics DRDTdev posted.

Furthermore, one of the few images we have of him is with a piece of chalk and chalkboard.

We know from the altDRDT FAQ page that Teacher uses he/him pronouns (along with “Soundwave,” “XF,” “Dandelion,” “Scale,” “Bullet,” and “Ice”), which is important in potentially connecting him to the scholarly “him” that Min mentioned in A History of Hope’s Peak.

Therefore, the “Teacher” that the speaker is talking to is very likely to be altDRDT’s Teacher. However, I do want to take a moment to provide a bit of a counterargument. I don’t doubt that our close-eyed compatriot is the Ultimate Teacher. However, I also don’t want to assume that the person who’s trying to become the perfect teacher has to be the same as the Ultimate Teacher, despite the obvious throughline. For example, couldn’t the speaker of the APQ be trying to teach their beliefs to Teacher, searching for the perfect way to get him to understand what needs to be done? I still think that the Teacher that the speaker refers to is probably the altDRDT character, but I wanted us all to reach that conclusion while considering what’s outside the box.

Regardless, there’s clearly a lot to consider here. The people who first discovered this quote thought so as well, and started looking for answers by connecting it to things we’ve already seen in DRDT. The most popular connection comes from the prologue, Veronika’s introduction in particular. Remember when she rants to Teruko and Xander about the (fictional) book Forever Dead? It goes by pretty quick, but her summary is quite interesting:

And thus, the exact phrasing of the “time loop” began. Forever Dead touches upon a lot of the same plot points that the speaker brings up in the APQ. People die, the main character transforms from invested to bored, and straddles the border between relatable and sinister.

We also learn a bit more about the speaker and what happened/will happen to him. He identifies as a boy (who uses he/him pronouns), he’s impaled by metal spikes and left to die at some point, and he manages to apologize for “everything he did,” though apparently only through some level of force. “Everything he did” is interestingly vague– is that implying that the boy was the cause of the time loop, or just that he was apologizing for the terrible things he did as a result of his bored insanity? What forced him into the apology if he was “left alone?” These characteristics may apply to the APQ speaker as well, under the assumption that the boy and the speaker are allegories for the same character.

So, those are the two main pieces of information that I’m aware of that lead people to devise the time loop theory. In case it’s important, I’ve also compiled some of the instances I could remember offhand of DRDT characters bringing up the cyclical nature of humanity and how things never change.

Any of these characters’ ideas about what “always has to happen” could be supported and/or challenged in the future by a time loop.

I also know that some people like to bring up the comments section portion of Literature Girl Insane (conveniently written over the words “the world won’t change!”) as evidence of DRDT being stuck in a time loop. I could explain why I don’t think that’s the case, but FF already did that as part of their giant LGI analysis video (which I will continue to recommend). I don’t think I can really put it any better than they did, so I encourage you to watch that section of the video at least if you’re curious as to why I won’t be including this as evidence.

And now, for a summary of what we’ve learned so far, the basics of the Time Loop Theory. Due to the About Page Quote, the summary of Forever Dead, and references to cyclical behavior, some believe that the characters in the DRDT killing game are experiencing a time loop. The speaker of the APQ, who is possibly the mastermind, is likely the only one of the sixteen students who is aware of this. When the loop began, they put their all into trying to achieve the best ending. However, over time, they became more bitter, first turning to wreaking havoc before succumbing to apathy. They have somehow captured “Teacher,” the protagonist of altDRDT, in an inescapable state of suffering, in order to teach him a lesson about how foolish it is to continue to care about others. They’re a bit of a cynical know-it-all, but their dedication to correcting Teacher’s behavior proves that they haven’t fully given up on humanity.

Basic facts, established! However, this is still pretty vague, and there are plenty more details to sort through. How about we start with…

How?

Because even among people who believe there is a time loop, there are many definitions of what a time loop can mean. In this section, I’ll aim to figure out which I think is the most likely in two broad categorization systems.

Is the time loop meta or non-meta?

A meta time loop would be one that is directly caused by the player/viewer interacting with the property, breaking the fourth wall. For DRDT, this would mean something along the lines of “every time you rewatch an episode of Despair Time, the characters are forced to relive the events of the day in an eternal loop, and they’ve started to wise up about it.” Conversely, a non-meta time loop would exist in the plot regardless of what its audience is doing, and be caused by a force that exists within the story. “After Teruko accidentally broke Eden’s favorite grandfather clock, Teruko was cursed to repeat her worst day over and over again.”

DRDT has made some fourth wall-breaking jokes before, such as when MonoTV directly references YouTube or the narrator tells the viewer to like the video and subscribe to give Teruko power. Because of this, it’s really tempting to think that DRDT is going for a meta time loop. However, given the actual text we have to work with, I think it’s more likely that we’re looking at a non-meta time loop. Remember how we learned that the APQ speaker exists in a physical space and not a metaphysical one? Focusing on the physical space of their environment and living conditions is drawing attention to how the world is real to them, not just a collection of pixels flattened into a video file. The Forever Dead boy also had to “apologize for what he did,” which might imply that the character was responsible for the time loop, not the audience.

Most of all, though, it’s the concept of “surviv[ing] until we all run out of food and starve to death” that makes me think that the time loop is not meta. Why? Because it makes it sound like there are different possible endings out there. If the time loop was caused by me going back and repeatedly rewatching the CharWhit FTE, there’s only one way that that FTE can start, and one way it can end. No matter how many times I make the characters loop that interaction, there’s only one version of that episode posted to YouTube. The APQ speaker makes it clear that they, as a character, attempted multiple things and achieved different results with them until they exhausted all viable possibilities and grew bored. I can only make the characters do one thing, but the characters within the story can, in theory, do whatever they want.

Really, a lot of it boils down to the medium in which DRDT is told. A lot of what I “know” about time loops comes from watching theory videos about Undertale and Deltarune. I won’t spoil either of those games for those who haven’t played them, but in Undertale, the player’s input is directly related to the time travel elements that the characters experience. This connection works really well because Undertale is a video game. Video games are a fantastic medium for meta commentary because player input is required for the game to function. The player can make choices of where to go or who to trust that have an impact on the story, which then makes it easy for the story to turn back towards the player and question the choices they made. DRDT, however, is a video series, not a game like the original Danganronpa. Its formatting would make calling the viewer’s impact into question, because we’ve hardly done anything other than want to watch the show. We have no impact on the direction of the plot.

Of course, I’m not trying to say that it’s impossible for anything other than a video game to tackle meta subjects. DRDTdev should be allowed to tell a meta fangan story without being forced into the life of a programmer. However, with all these elements combined, I think it’s more likely that DRDT’s time loop would be a canonical, non-meta one. Because of this, our follow up questions will be based around how the time loop could have formed in canon.

Is the time loop magical or scientific in origin?

A magical time loop could be something that appears as some sort of spell, legend, or artifact, such as the example with Teruko and the grandfather clock that I provided above. I would also count time loops that just appear out of nowhere in the “magical” category. One of the most famous time loop stories in modern Western cinema, Groundhog Day, could be thought of as a magical time loop, because the main character entered a time loop as a repercussion for his rotten personality seemingly out of nowhere. A scientific time loop would be the consequence of pushing the boundaries of science, whether purposefully (“Veronika, after researching the fourth dimension, put the killing game in a time loop so that she could experience its thrills forever”) or accidentally (“Trying to bring Ellie back to life, Charles’ time machine malfunctioned and trapped him in a time loop”).

Honestly, I’m really torn on this one. That may come as a surprise to some of you– how on earth could DRDT’s time loop be magical? The answer is our lovely protagonist herself, Teruko Tawaki. If Teruko’s luck, a supernatural force, created the time loop, then it’s magical in origin. It’s already been hinted that this could be the case through Teruko’s “you all have the misfortune of being ‘characters’” speech. Does Teruko know how stories like this work out because she’s looped through them before? If Mai is a lucky student, the time loop being a result of her luck or the combination of her and Teruko’s luck would also be magical. Assuming that luck was something that they were born with, that is.

However, it would also be very easy for DRDT’s time loop to be scientific in origin. The mysterious company XF-Ture Tech is clearly being set up for some kind of relevance down the road, which could be a science experiment gone wrong that resulted in a time loop. This could even be the thing that “Unnamed Student” (Mai) asked Xander to dig into.

That might seem like a bit of a leap, given that Mai is asking Xander to look into Hope’s Peak, not XF-Ture Tech. However, we already know that XF Tech had a vested interest in Hope’s Peak through their sponsorship of Min.

Personally, I don’t think that the XF Tech CEO would have had much personal interest in Min outside of her skill/potential, based on how Min describes him as a stranger. That means that the CEO’s goals must have been to sponsor the future Ultimate Student. The entire Ultimate Contest may have existed just because XF Tech wanted to get an insider within the Hope’s Peak system. There’s evidence to show that Hope’s Peak and XF Tech may have been collaborating– Mai asks why Hope’s Peak would even announce an Ultimate Contest, and Min answers from the perspective of the prospective student. But, why would Hope’s Peak want an Ultimate Student obtained through that method/at that time? If Min really did poison the competition to win, the entire Contest may have been rigged from the beginning to get an XF representative into the East Class.

Because of all this, I’m inclined to say that DRDT’s time loop is both magical and scientific in origin. Here’s what I’m thinking: 13-27 years ago, XF-Ture Tech signed some sort of deal with the new Hope’s Peak Academy that would allow them to look into students and their talents, much like how the original Hope’s Peak Academy was studying the origins of luck. HPA agreed for the money, while XF Tech believed that the partnership would help them sell better products/services, either through getting the first scoop on up-and-comers in the field or by scientifically developing talent rather than allowing it to occur naturally. That might sound really similar to what already happened in DRDT’s canon universe with the Kamukura project, but, hey, maybe part of the whole “time loop” motif would be history repeating and man not being able to shake the desire to play God.

Anyways, when they made this deal (or potentially a little while after it), they also decided that it would be good if XF Tech could be directly represented by one of the students in a future class. I can’t say exactly why they wanted this to be the case, but maybe HPA and XF Tech were either looking for a good excuse to go public with their relationship, or they knew that something or someone relevant would come to pass through the school in ~13 years, and wanted a man on the inside. Therefore, HPA put out a pre-rigged Contest searching for the Ultimate Student, which was destined to be won by whoever the XF Tech CEO determined was the best candidate. The CEO chose Min, and spent 13 years coaxing her into the perfect grateful, insecure, and study-focused representative out there.

Whether it was their goal from the start or a new development that caught their eye, XF Tech took particular note of Teruko and her strange luck, and wanted to research it. Teruko, who was desperate for support, let them study her, and eventually came to trust that they had her best interests at heart. But, over time, they pushed it too far. As some sort of reaction to their scientific prodding, Teruko’s luck magically created a time loop in an attempt to prevent XF Tech from bothering her any further.

Cool fanfic, right? While I’m aware that there are a lot of holes and leaps in logic– and we’ll get to those– I do think there’s reason to believe that Teruko is at the epicenter of the time loop for one reason or another. As we were all made aware of at the very beginning of the series…

… ending the killing game is correlated to killing Teruko Tawaki. Therefore, this person at least believes that the end of the killing game is related to the end of Teruko’s life. So, if the time loop is also related to the killing game– which it is, as established by the APQ– then the end of Teruko’s life would also possibly cause the end of the time loop. To quote a wise wizard, it’s maaaagic. The theory that Teruko’s secret is “the killing game is all your fault” also fits here perfectly.

So, it’s not as big of a leap in logic as it might seem like on the surface, even if it’s still basically my audition for being the Ultimate Jumper. However, now that the basics of the theory were mostly established in the “What?” section, I think I have a bit more room to inject my own thoughts and theories in here. I can’t draw any conclusions without making some guesses, and I can’t assess what the hell is going on without any conclusions. Call what follows specifically “Accirax’s Time Loop Theory” if you think I’m starting to veer too far off track from what’s plausible. I promise I’m still going to try to use actual, textual evidence whenever I can, though.

At any rate, there are still a lot of holes. Most notably, why would a time loop that Teruko’s luck created contain a killing game in it? Was she already in a killing game when the time loop began, or did her luck create the killing game? We’ll talk about that a bit more in the next section, along with some other stuff.

When?

Before getting back to the question of why a killing game would happen in this time loop, I think it’s important to establish some of the basic facts that the “When?” section might imply. Such as, “what events occurred before the time loop started?,” and, “what events occurred after the time loop started?” That’s a funny question to ask with regards to time loops specifically, but there are still things we can piece together.

Firstly, we can be pretty confident that the canonical properties Trigger Happy Havoc, Goodbye Despair, Ultra Despair Girls, and End of Hope’s Peak happened before DRDT. (V3 is, as usual, so weird that I have no clue if DRDT will attempt to explain it as part of the canonical timeline or not.) The Tragedy was confirmed as canon to the DRDT universe by Veronika in Chapter 2 Episode 2, and Min/Mai in A History of Hope’s Peak.

If the Tragedy and Hope’s Peak Academy are canon, then I see no reason why those four games, which all relate to the Tragedy, wouldn’t be as well. There’s also the mysterious “Ms. Naegi” that’s listed in the credits of Literature Girl Insane, and Teruko’s reference to “a past killing game.”

Although the event Teruko mentions could be any killing game with Monokuma as its mascot, I would suspect that she is specifically mentioning the Hope’s Peak Academy Killing Game of THH here, as it was the first and the one that was widely broadcast. Notably, although Veronika knows a lot about the Tragedy and by all accounts should be super into the killing games, she doesn’t remember another killing game happening before. That leaves us with two basic options. 1) Teruko had access to secret knowledge about the killing games that the general public didn’t, or, 2) something about the creation of this killing game caused Veronika (and likely the other non-Terukos as well) to forget about the HPA killing game. I would lean towards the second, given that the broadcast of the HPA killing game and Junko’s involvement in it were such major historical events that I would really expect that society wouldn’t forget about them so easily.

Another huge piece of information comes from the Chapter 2 Part 1 Q&A.

From this question, we know that a person who is 80-ish years old was old enough to be alive during the Tragedy itself. In THH, Makoto’s orientation letter is dated to the release year of the game, 2010 (2014 for the English release), which means that the Tragedy probably started in 2011. We can approximate, then, that DRDT takes place sometime around 2090, give or take a few decades depending on how long the Tragedy lasted and at what point with regards to it Duke was born. Not super important to this theory, but it is interesting.

So, the Tragedy probably happened around 80 years before the time loop began. We also know that the school that Min, Mai, and Xander attend, which hosts the East Class, was probably founded ~27 years before the time loop began, because that trio is part of East Class 27. Interestingly, this means that the new American Hope’s Peak was founded ~50 years after the Tragedy. That’s a fairly long amount of time.

As for events that more directly preceded the time loop, I think that both Bonus Episodes would have happened before the killing game, as well as Teruko’s flashback about Mai in Chapter 1. Xander, Min, and Mai attended HPA before encountering the killing game/time loop, despite no one in DRDT remembering ever going to HPA. Rose says in the prologue that it’s been a year or two since the HPA entrance ceremony should have happened, which means that the students probably attended HPA for at least a year before the killing game started. The chalkboard in the classroom that Min and Mai sit in also advertises Spring Break, which, in American schools, is pretty close to the end of the typical school year. That’s more evidence that they spent a considerable amount of time attending HPA.

Now, for events that happened after the inception of the time loop. The only thing I think we know of for sure is the events of the DRDT killing game. That would be part of the time loop, infinitely recurring after the point at which the loop began. I’m also hesitantly going to call altDRDT a sequel instead of a prequel… but, uh, we’ll get more into my overall theories on that later.

Okay, now back to why a loop Teruko’s luck created would have had a killing game in it. I’ve come up with three theories, all of which are… dubious, at best.

Theory #1: The killing game came from Teruko’s subconscious. Teruko’s luck is a part of who she is, and therefore, any effects it may have are based on what Teruko knows and how she feels. Perhaps, just before the time loop began, Teruko learned about the Hope’s Peak Academy Killing Game, whether in class or through shadier sources. When her “magic” snapped and the time loop began, because the killing game was on her mind, it manifested before her. Basically, the time loop would operate much like a dream, where the things you learn in real life come back in surreal ways. I don’t like this one because it leans in really hard to the magic aspect. Although Danganronpa has always been science fiction, letting Teruko’s emotions create an entirely new magical realm seems like jumping the shark.

Theory #2: XF-Ture Tech wanted to test Teruko with a killing game. Their research into her and her luck is quite similar to that of Nagito or the Kamukura project, so why not test their findings in the same ways that Nagito and Hajime were tested? Things amidst this theory that make sense are XF-Ture Tech, a tech company, possibly creating MonoTV, and the prospect of Teruko’s friends dying in a killing game adding an extra kick to why her luck would step in and create a time loop out of desperation. Things that don’t make sense include how the hell XF-Ture Tech would manage to pull this off (especially if constrained by legality/friendship with HPA) and where the hell they would be now. That second question could be answered by, “it was Min,” I suppose, but the first is still off.

Theory #3: The killing game was introduced to contain Teruko. I’m not entirely sure how this would work, but, basically, something else would have triggered Teruko’s luck to start the loop, and then someone (Hope’s Peak, Mai, the Spurlings, who knows) would have introduced a killing game in there in hopes of having something happen. This idea was sort of spurred on by the note that Xander had to kill Teruko Tawaki. Let’s say that Teruko is a huge, powerful problem, much like Junko or Izuru. If you can find a way to breach the time loop she’s created to introduce a killing game, she has to die eventually, right? Victim after victim, blackened after blackened– if Teruko is trapped in an eternal killing game, it seems like at least one of them would have to randomly stumble into her dying. However, I then have to ask how and why the other DRDT characters wound up in this killing game. Them all agreeing to volunteer for this potentially kamikaze plan seems unrealistic given their personalities. So, were they just collateral damage of the original time loop, roped into this last-ditch effort plan? How would a seemingly closed off loop be “breached” to such a drastic extent, anyways?

I once again feel like I’m missing something here, but I also don’t think any of my previous assumptions were wrong. I just can’t understand why the killing game would have come to exist within this time loop. Maybe it has to do with the person who started the killing game?

Who?

Oh yeah, it’s time to talk about the mastermind again, baby. But, obviously, filtering it through the assumption that there is a time loop will change my overall assessments. Now, we have to look for someone with the means, motives, and thematic… fittingness(?) to be involved with Looping the class.

Let’s start with some options that seem so obviously incorrect that I don’t have anything to say. Why would Ace, Hu, Levi, or Nico be the one to have started a killing game within this time loop? Ace’s cowardice already made him seem unlikely, and making the danger zone neverending makes the premise all the more bizarre. You would have to reach pretty far to characterize Hu as the APQ speaker who claims to be incredibly bored and apathetic. Levi wants to change as a person, so inflicting a stagnant time loop seems counter to his goals. Nico… just doesn’t seem to have any aspect of their character line up with the premise of a time loop? Like, if Nico were the character you created to be the mastermind of a time loop killing game, what aspects of how they turned out would reflect that? In my opinion, there are no connections, which makes Nico not it.

Some more less likely options… Arei has some dialogue about people’s behaviors not changing, but especially given her (likely) death, I don’t think it’s enough to call her the mastermind. Given that David is alive, he fares better than Arei under the same scrutiny, but I still feel like the mastermind’s power in this context is more than the desperate, run-ragged David we’ve seen in the second Class Trial. He cares too much, in his own David way. I feel like Rose should be doing better given how highly I ranked her in my main mastermind post, but I’ve been trying to fit the Spurlings into this time loop thing, and I haven’t been able to manage anything. J is much the same, although the whole “TV show” argument still gives her some traction. Although Arturo is generally a smart, scientific kind of guy, being a plastic surgeon doesn’t seem to mesh with whatever science would be needed to make a scientific time loop.

And then there’s Whit. Look. I’m as tired of airing my grievances with Whit mastermind theory as you probably are of reading me air them. However, Whit definitely merits his own section due to one of the main pieces of Whit mastermind scripture (to my knowledge) directly tying the APQ to his candidacy. While I definitely respect and appreciate that aspect of this theory, I don’t buy it myself. By demodraws’ word, this theory is more of a “list of evidence.” The only items on that list that I see directly relate to the APQ are that 1) the Forever Dead character, who may be linked to the speaker, identifies as a boy, and that 2) the speaker expresses grief. Although, that second point is also linked to the belief that the mysterious quote at the beginning of Chapter 1 is said by the same person who said the APQ, which isn’t necessarily the case.

I certainly agree that Whit’s character is the most tied to the concepts of grief and idolizing the dead. However, there are many other characters who do the same. Charles mourns Elliot after remembering his existence, Arturo mourns Felicity whenever he’s confronted with the truth, Xander mourns his family and how he couldn’t do more. (Why do so many DRDT characters have dead family members?) Eden has mourned Min and Arei since their deaths. You can also make the argument that the APQ speaker is more so mourning who they became and how things used to be more than mourning or idolizing any dead compatriots. Rose mourns being shackled to the Spurlings, David mourns the loss of his career once his secret is out, Levi mourns never knowing the right thing to say around Ace. With so many griefheads running around, I don’t find Whit’s connection to the subject compelling enough to label him mastermind.

Then there’s the “boy” aspect. Obviously, Whit isn’t the only boy in DRDT either– as far as we know, Xander, Charles, Ace, Levi, Arturo, and David also identify as boys. However, I also don’t think that the Forever Dead character being a boy is a majorly important piece of evidence. Assuming that Forever Dead is autobiography-flavored fiction as opposed to a genuine biography, the gender of the character it’s describing feels like a detail that DRDTdev could have easily changed to make the parallel less obvious. Although, then you might ask, “why bother including the character’s gender at all, then?” In my opinion, Veronika talks for long enough that it would have been really hard to get through the entire monologue without ever establishing a set of pronouns for the protagonist.  “It’s about a _____'' is also a pretty natural way to introduce a story to someone for the first time. Choosing the fairly inconsequential “boy” is a lot less revealing than if Veronika said something more targeted; such as, “it’s about a marriage counselor.” I can’t deny that Veronika talking about a boy could be an important clue, but hopefully I’ve explained why I’m not hinging my entire theory off of it.

Alright, now we’re on to people who I think could genuinely make sense as a time loop mastermind. I think it’s probably most fitting to start with Eden. Because, you know… clocks… time… making time… you can’t go back no matter how hard you try… it’s not a hard conclusion to draw. DRDT has many underlying mysteries, but as compared to something as mysterious as, say, Mai, the concept of a time loop is even further obscured. Making your mastermind the Ultimate Clockmaker is something that would seem totally harmless on the surface, but be a great twist when the truth of the time loop is revealed. The issue is… other than her talent, I don’t think Eden has much going for her here. I guess you could argue that, if the killing game time loop is meant to help Teruko in some way, Eden has been very dedicated to her goal of supporting others. However, whether that’s the case or not, it’s hard to make an argument that Eden doesn’t care about anything anymore.

Maybe if the APQ quote is said in the future, and this is evidence of Eden undergoing the change that the APQ speaker described…? Eden is a definite possibility, but given all this in addition to my other theories as to where her character is headed, I think it’s an unlikely one.

Next, Veronika. As the one who introduced us to Forever Dead, she definitely has some connection to this time loop nonsense. The question is, how strong can that connection get? The main thing that I like about Veronika being the time loop mastermind is how well her character seems to fit with the APQ speaker’s personality. Both of them face boredom as their greatest enemy, and the APQ listing terror and fear as the top two emotions they wish they could still feel would match really well with a Horror Fanatic. My biggest problem is my main issue with Veronika being the mastermind in general: it just feels too obvious. Having Veronika directly state, “I can’t stand boring things,” and having the APQ speaker directly state, “anything else is better than boredom” is a really, really clear connection between the two. Would DRDTdev really want to drop such a decisive clue so early into the story? I can’t be sure. But my gut leans “no.”

It’s kind of impossible to talk about the possibility of Xander or Min being the time loop mastermind separately, because they share so many of the same points. Under the assumption that XF-Ture Tech is behind the time loop somehow, both of them may have connections to it. Min’s is undeniable– she’s clearly told us that they’ve sponsored her, and she wears their paraphernalia– while Xander may have been interrogating their actions as part of Mai’s scheme and/or in the first scene with the bloody hands over the documents. Both of them would serve similar narrative roles as someone who Teruko once wanted to trust who then betrayed her. And, obviously, both of them would be characters who appeared to die in Chapter 1 who would then return to serve as the mastermind, which could be an out-of-universe parallel or an in-universe reference to how Junko portrayed herself in the Hope’s Peak Academy killing game. Using a time loop to bring your thought-to-be-dead mastermind back for Chapter 6 would be pretty sick, I have to say.

Similarly, both of their greatest flaws lie within the realm of characterization. Neither of them strike me as the particularly apathetic type– Xander still seems to care ferociously about doing what’s right, and Min sounded genuinely desperate as she pleaded for her life. It’s possible that they could have been acting, or some time-loop induced amnesia made them forget their true feelings, but either case would still be a major shift in character. If I had to pick one of them to be more likely, I’d probably go with Min? The speaker’s insistence that they know what’s up could match with Min’s scholarly attitude, and I like her increased connection to XF Tech as well as Teacher. However, I still feel that Xander would have the greater impact upon being brought back– Teruko grew closer to him than she did to Min, and other characters, such as David (if he’s still alive) would also likely have a greater reaction to Xander’s return– so for that reason, I kind of prefer him as well.

Despite the pros and cons of all fifteen other options, this theory is clearly the most straightforward if Teruko is the mastermind. You remove all elements of how someone would have to spring either the killing game or the time loop on Teruko, and allow her to make all of the plans herself. Whether it was fully intentional or not, “the killing game is all your fault” (italicization mine) would make the most sense in this scenario. Furthermore, Teruko definitely fits the attitude of the APQ. I don’t know when she would have said it– between loops, possibly?-- but I can totally imagine her outlining how she used to care, but constant suffering and betrayal caused her to corrode.

The real question here is just why she would have put herself in the killing game to begin with. My first thought was “go through a killing game an infinite number of times and somehow something will finally result in getting Teruko to die,” if Teruko wants to die. But, that sort of contradicts what probably-Xander had to say about “end the killing game or at least kill Teruko.” Because, if the killing game is intended to kill Teruko, then ending the killing game could mean Teruko doesn't die, not satisfying what's framed as the more important of the two goals. Maybe if he was just mistaken as to what the purpose of the game was…? Or, if the time loop leaned more on the magical side, maybe the loop itself is keeping Teruko in the killing game until she can learn to trust others, no matter how dire the consequences. These other Ultimates were looped in for… accuracy to Junko’s original, I suppose? Or, maybe Teruko threw them in as a form of punishment for their misdeeds.

Anyone who isn’t a part of a killing game, such as Elliot or Ryan, raises some questions about how the speaker could be “stuck in here” and communicating with those who are part of the time loop. The most obvious option in this category is Mai, simply due to being the most relevant to the plot. She’s heavily involved with the secrets hidden in the website’s code, just like the APQ, and we know from Teruko’s own quote that “some years ago, [Mai] was searching for someone named ‘Teruko Tawaki.’” We also don’t technically know what her Ultimate talent is (although I think it’s very likely to be Lucky Student), which leaves the door open for her talent to be something useful with regards to setting the time loop up. Even a second Lucky Student could create some sort of weird clash of the titans that resulted in a time loop.

A common argument against Mai being the mastermind is that she is, in all likelihood, dead. However, with a time loop in play, there’s the possibility of resurrection. It could even be the reason why Teruko (or whoever) created the time loop in the first place. However, even if it’s pretty likely that Mai could be involved in the conception of the time loop, I’m not sure if it would be in a way that made her the APQ speaker and/or the mastermind. For the former, it’s that same issue of not being in the killing game, and for the latter, I more so see someone else creating the killing game for her than her making it herself. Probably. I dunno, Mai is a mystery.

Given the criteria of “in a killing game,” it’s also possible that the APQ speaker could be one of the characters in the altDRDT cast, though presumably not Teacher. They would have the easiest path to talk to Teacher, as opposed to the regular DRDT cast, who may have more trouble accessing him. However, there’s basically no shot at anyone in the altDRDT cast being DRDT’s mastermind, other than maybe Teacher. None of those characters have appeared on DRDT’s main hub, its YouTube channel, at all. Suddenly unveiling one of those characters– who even the hardcore fans know very little about– as the mastermind would be pretty out of nowhere. So, to the extent that the mastermind was the one who set up the time loop, I don’t think that any of the altDRDT characters created the time loop.

I think that’s pretty much every viable time loop mastermind option. I don’t know if we really determined anything all too specific, but it’s nice to sort out where all our pieces lie. As I said, I think that Teruko is by far the most logical option under the assumption that the killing game and the time loop are connected in a way where they must have been created by the same person. However, there are definitely other possibilities if you allow yourself to think outside that box.

Why?

On to arguably the most important of the categories: why? It doesn’t matter how much logical sense a time loop would make in DRDT’s world if there’s no narrative reason for it to exist in the first place. How would adding a time loop to DRDT’s story improve its themes and messages?

Well, as I already discussed in the What? and Who? sections, many characters grapple with themes of an unchanging world. What better device to reflect that mentality than one that literally shows the same sequence repeating over and over again? The fantastical concept of a time loop could emphasize and heighten the mistrust that Teruko feels. Using the time loop in that way would assign a concrete obstacle to an internal struggle, much like how the killing game itself is a physical manifestation of the helplessness of despair. Writers often enjoy employing devices like these to have a more tangible end goal for the protagonist to notably vanquish. Knowing exactly what’s going on in Teruko’s mind at any given moment might be difficult, especially given DRDT’s format. But, if Teruko sends the time loop created by her own tragic expectations shattering to pieces, we’ll know she made progress.

Additionally, Danganronpa itself posed the question of why we as fans continue to be interested in the killing game formula after seeing it play out so many times. In v3, they framed the killing game as the 53rd in a series to further emphasize the repetitive nature of this ritual sacrifice. Putting DRDT in a time loop could accomplish a very similar goal. As Veronika theorized in Chapter 2 Episode 7, the killing game will only continue for as long as audiences are entertained by it. In a never ending time loop killing game, will fans always be able to find entertainment? What does that say about them…?

Having a killing game within a time loop is a unique premise, as far as I’m aware. I’ve never before seen a fangan that decided to incorporate that into its plot. (Although, that may be a symptom of fangans tending to fizzle out before the finish line.) Making a fangan stand out can be tricky, and although DRDT already has the advantage of being fully illustrated, partially voice acted, and shown in a video format, having a unique gimmick can be a point of inspiration and a sales pitch. Similarly, Ultimate Lucky Student is a talent often tackled, both by the canon games (twice) and by other fangans. If the time loop is related to Teruko’s luck, that would also be a memorable and creative interpretation of a commonplace talent.

As for how a time loop would actually impact the story as it is, the obstacle it creates would definitely raise the stakes high for a Chapter 6 Trial. Like, how the hell are they supposed to beat that? Reiterating what I said earlier, a time loop could also be a clever way to revive a character (or characters) who previously died. If one of the starting premises of DRDT was “what if I had a mastermind that appeared to die in ch1, only to strikingly return in the finale?”, a time loop could have been the method invented to make that happen.

So, in summary, yes, I think there is sufficient narrative support to justify the inclusion of a time loop in DRDT. Maybe I should’ve cleared this section out of the way earlier in the theory. Oh well, too late now. But, if I had the chance to start it all over again, maybe I could do things differently next time…! Or, maybe I’d wind up writing the same thing every time regardless…

Where?

It’s a little silly of me to co-opt the “Where?” section as basically a summary of how I think the time loop theory would best play out, but I have my reasons. “Where?” seeks to answer where the time loop originated, and who was in it when it started. Thus, with so much focus on how the time loop began, talking about the cause and result alongside that made sense to me. The full Accirax Time Loop Theory will be in blue below, with more discussion afterward to answer whether I believe in it or not. Closing Argument starts… now!

The Tragedy ended nearly 80 years ago, and the new American Hope’s Peak Academy was founded about 50 years after that. Some time between HPA’s founding and 13 years ago, an up-and-coming tech company– XF-Ture Tech– partnered with Hope’s Peak Academy to take a more scientific look at the origins of talent in young students, much like what happened in pre-Tragedy days. XF-Ture Tech already had their eyes on one promising youth, “XF,” who they prepared to send to the West Academy. To place a representative into the East Class, XF Tech encouraged Hope’s Peak Academy to host the Ultimate Contest, with the intention of rigging the exam to get their applicant of choice into the school. This wound up being Min Jeung, who was placed in East Class 27.

Whether because of XF Tech’s request or simply due to respect for the history of the Academy, Hope’s Peak also once again began admitting Ultimate Lucky Students into their program. Their two candidates for Class 27 were Teruko Tawaki, who was sent to the West Academy, and Mai Akasaki, who was sent to the East Academy. XF Tech was quite interested in both of the students, but particularly Teruko. The way that her bad luck affected not only herself, but others as well, was very reminiscent of Nagito Komaeda, a major historical figure in both the start and the end of the Tragedy. XF Tech told both Min and “XF” to look out for Teruko as best they could, making sure nothing would come to harm their new test subject, and prepared to begin experimenting on Teruko’s luck.

Meanwhile, in the East Class, Mai fit in swimmingly. She grew really close with all of her classmates, but particularly with Min and Xander. Mai had already begun searching for Teruko several years before they wound up being recruited at opposite Hope’s Peaks– possibly because of their shared connection to good and/or bad luck– so when she heard a bit more about Teruko from Min, her interest was piqued. Recruiting her favorite Rebel to the cause, Mai asked Xander to sneak around in Hope’s Peak Academy to learn more about what the connection between the Academy, XF-Ture Tech, and Teruko was.

What they learned in the documents was the reality of what was happening in the West Class: XF-Tech was intermittently running physical and mental tests on Teruko to determine exactly what the range and power of her curse-like abilities was. Could her raw Ultimate power rival that of someone like Nagito, or perhaps even Junko Enoshima? Throwing a few mediocre lives at that question would be well worth the answer, wouldn’t it…?

Using their social connections and financial power, XF-Ture Tech arranged for West Class 27 to be taken to a self-contained abandoned mall to begin their most dramatic test yet: seeing if Teruko’s luck would carry her through a killing game against other Ultimates, just as it could have for Nagito or Junko or as it did for Izuru Kamukura. The killing game commenced, and while Teruko might not have been a target from Day 1, at some point in the story, someone attempted to kill her. And… It worked.

What a disappointment. Was Teruko’s luck really so weak when push came to shove?

But then, something truly unexpected happened: the killing game began again. Unable to accept her death, Teruko’s luck engulfed the entire mall into a time loop, running the killing game over and over again until the results were satisfactory. The rest of the world moved forward in linear time as usual, but the mall was stuck in an infinite killing game. XF Tech, amazed and delighted, diverged all of their resources into the study of this phenomenon, protecting it closely.

Mai and Xander were horrified upon learning this, and knew that they had to do something to save West Class 27. Mai, Xander, and potentially some others ran over to the site of the test to see if they could break in, get further intel, change someone’s mind, or anything to get the killing game to stop. However, as they did, they were attacked by XF Tech’s security, resulting in Xander losing an eye… and Mai losing her life. At that moment, Xander vowed that, no matter what it took, he would end the killing game and save the rest of West 27… or, at the very least, kill Teruko to avenge Mai’s life.

Meanwhile, within the time loop, the deja vu (and possibly some comments from the XF Tech-controlled mascot?) began to make Teruko wise up to what was happening. While her original plan was to get along with everyone in the killing game, trusting them and being their hero, she found that every one of those routes led to death and personal tragedy/betrayal. Teruko learned that, if she stopped caring about others, she could at least cut down on the personal tragedy aspect.

Teacher, as a perceptive and intelligent soul, was the next to piece together that something about the killing game was unnatural based on Teruko’s behavior. In one loop, Teruko winds up saying the APQ to him, revealing her new attitude. Either Teruko or Teacher could fit the description of the Forever Dead boy with how their minds began to fracture.

Outside of the time loop, Xander formulated his new plan. When his village was eradicated, it was a case of the rich and powerful obliterating the little guy with their unmatched resources. To fight back, you have to become as big as your attackers. You can only defeat a time loop with a time loop. You can only save Ultimates by putting more Ultimates’ lives at risk.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard to motivate the rest of East Class 27 to join Xander in his crusade. Although he himself may have been a love-or-hate figure amidst his classmates, everyone loved Mai, and wanted to help fulfill her dying wish. Plus, in theory, the plan shouldn’t risk any of their lives. Weaponizing the time loop killing game’s unending nature against it, the goal was to repeat the killing game as many times as it takes until Teruko dies as the first victim. Her luck has to fail her at some point– it’s a corrupt system; it can be broken, argues Xander– and at that point, they’ll simply end the killing game with no other casualties. To make it easier on everyone else, Xander even promised to be the one to make the first move against Teruko, every time. He left a note on him when the time loop started to always remind him.

Anyways, using some combination of Xander’s determination, Charles’ science, J and/or David’s money, Whit and/or David’s connections, and remaining vestiges of Mai’s luck (LGI “original” Color Theory pulling through???), East Class 27 managed to break the abandoned mall time loop. They pulled Teruko into their own killing game, “masterminded” by Xander, in which her luck would hopefully be less of an obstacle. The DRDT killing game we’ve seen thus far could be their first attempt or their thousandth, but whatever the case, the plan to get Teruko to die as the first victim hasn’t succeeded thus far. It’s especially hard to get it to work when Teruko has the lingering thought in the back of her mind that she can’t be killed… and when Min still has a vague memory that she’s supposed to keep Teruko out of danger.

Even though the altDRDT cast, West Class 27, escaped the time loop, they aren’t out of the killing game woods just yet. The East Class managed to catch them mid-killing game, after two Trials passed. But, due to the confusion of the time loop, none of them can remember what happened in that particular iteration of the game, or Teruko’s disappearance, which leaves them at only 11 participants. Quite the mysterious circumstance, indeed…

That’s the best I could come up with. Got some points of concern? Me too! Here are the ones I’m thinking of right now:

Would HPA (presumably headed by “Ms. Naegi”) really allow XF-Tech to do anything remotely close to what I described to Teruko?

How would XF-Ture Tech have known enough about Teruko’s luck when Teruko was 5 to recruit Min (and “XF”) to be in the correct classes at the correct time?

Is XF-Ture Tech really that important to the story?

Is Mai actually that close to Min and Xander specifically, or are we just biased because those are the two Bonus Episodes we’ve seen thus far?

Didn't Mai and Teruko have a more extensive connection than what was described? (Matching tattoos, phone charms)

Why would Teruko’s luck create a time loop specifically? Why wouldn't it come up with some other way to save her?

Why would the time loop only be constrained to the mall?

Would Xander ever be willing to come that close to sacrificing innocents’ lives for the plan?

Would the entire DRDT cast really be willing to risk their time, if nothing else, to enter a killing game just to "avenge" Mai?

What could they have actually done against Teruko’s luck to break the mall time loop?

How could they have guaranteed that another time loop would begin if they managed to steal Teruko?

Where did MonoTV come from?

Why would the students have themed the killing game around TV?

Why would they throw the embarrassing secrets motive into their killing game if it was only meant to kill Teruko/that “round” theoretically shouldn’t even happen?

Why would Xander not have written the kill Teruko Tawaki note to himself? (He probably didn’t based on the handwriting)

If not Teruko’s death, what marker would signal the loop point of the DRDT killing game? Whenever the killing game seems to end?

What motive would XF-Ture Tech have to (presumably) continue the altDRDT killing game after the time loop is broken and Teruko is gone?

Why does altDRDT have NG code bracelets?

I could probably come up with more, but these are all the major questions I could think of at the moment. While not a “question,” per se, another point of contention for some would be that this would make Xander the mastermind of DRDT. It’s not a huge point of contention for me, both because 1) an off-the-wall situation like this is exactly what I think Xander would need to properly capitalize off of any narrative setup he may have for being the mastermind, and 2) @/sentinel-kinjo made a really good point in the replies of my DRDT mastermind post that definitely had me questioning whether I should’ve put Xander (and Charles) higher.

Anyways, despite all this effort– or maybe because of it– I think I personally don’t really believe in the theory that DRDT is part of a time loop. Somewhat like the Arei dress-up theory, I feel like there are too many oddities currently left unanswered for the theory to be actually viable. Unlike the Arei dress-up theory, though, I think that this one has far more potential to become correct via us receiving more information that either fills in some of our plot holes or reroutes the plot to avoid some of the biggest grievances.

The only thing I really like from this theory is that the altDRDT cast is West Class 27, AKA Teruko’s class. That’s gonna be my new personal headcanon until proven otherwise.

I’m not the only one who’s noticed that the DRDT fandom has been feeling a little sleepy (Min reference) lately, so thank you, anon, for helping to keep me cooking on the series during this semi-down period. …Even if it took me, like, two months to actually finish. Thank you for your patience, as well.

And thank you to everyone for reading this far! I think my mastermind theory still wound up being longer than this (although it’s hard to tell with the pictures), but this one is still a doozy. Also, if you have anything to add on or argue against, please share your thoughts in the comments or a reblog! I’d love to hear others’ thoughts, especially given how loosely defined the time loop theory was. Whether you do or don’t, I hope you enjoyed. See you at the next inexplicably long analysis!

[lovingdabeessss]

I just don’t think I’m on the same page as everyone else in regards to Blake’s driving lol, maybe she used to be a hardcore criminal and rebel before she joined beacon but unless it’s stopping her from fighting Salem Blake is usually on the side of the law

Idk I just don’t get the “badass tevrl” vibes from Blake everyone whose does

It’s Robyn we we actually see robbing the rich to give to the poor anyways

🚨THIS WILL BE A RAMBLE I GOT CARRIED AWAY SORRY🚨

Haha yeah I get that but my “blake can’t drive” take isn’t like a “badass criminal” thing

She was just in a situation where she probably didn’t and couldn’t learn to drive even if she wanted to

Not that I think legally driving was high on her priority list

She was a criminal and still is a criminal and she was there sense like?? 12 I think?

Blake, if she did drive anything, it would’ve been because of pretty fast paced reasons of just needing to get out of somewhere, otherwise they probably could’ve gotten a different person to drive

I personally don’t think Blake is on the side of the law

considering for a considerable amount of her life she, again, was a criminal and also is in a demographic that is harmed by the government

however I do think Blake has a very solid sense of authority and respect for it because of being in an organization that required it, PLUS her parents were such a solid example this is why she’s so quick to accept Ruby as her team leader despite ruby being two years younger

ALSO yeah she of COURSE follows the rules she was actively breaking the law like a month at most pre beacon if she gets caught she’s GETTING ARRESTED for being a TERRORIST she was like a pretty high up person in the white fang her parents used to be in charge of it Adam’s like?? Second in command and if she never killed anyone (she’d never ever ever kill anyone innocent but who knows about someone like Weiss’s dad I would forgive her personally) she’s still an accessory to a lot of murder Adam’s terrible (I just figured this out as I was writing this and thought it was a fun detail)

Also I don’t know how Robyn came up?? I’m talking about early beacon Blake which means right out of the white fang

Love Robyn tho💖❤️💖 love her a lot

Like if you see her different that’s cool sorry about the ramble I just don’t talk about Blake as often as I could and I was given the opportunity

My favorite thing about Blake being a criminal is how chill she gets about it once they’re all criminals

Like jaunes like “lets steal an airship” and she’s like bet and openly starts talking about stealing atlas tech and breaking in and it’s so funny

Plus she probably has diplomatic immunity or something from her parents after being un-run away/ un-missing/ un-disowned with her parents but who knows how global politics works in the world of Rwby during the disconnect post the fall of beacon

But yeah again this is mostly just my brains personal cannon

Would LOVE to hear everyone’s different perspectives on Blake and the different ways people think being a criminal affected her as well as the theories on how the white fang affected the world and if you think diplomatic immunity is something she could have

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

HOPPING ON HERE AGAIN FOR ANOTHER SUPER LONG THEORY POST BOYSSSSS

Hello THOAM people! How are you all doing today? Good? Great? Did you just have one of the best days in your entire life and you are certain that nothing could possibly ruin it for you now??

WELL YOU ARE WRONG. /j I AM HERE TO RUIN IT ALL.

that is very much a joke I’m sorry I’m very high on adrenaline right now becAUSE THE NEW COVERS FOR ISSUE 9 JUST DROPPED AS I’M WRITING THIS OUT AND I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AND I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS. So why don’t I just cut the dilly-dallying and get right on with it?

———

So, first thing I wanna mention is Sonic’s current state and his relationship status. (You may take that as out of context as you want lol) Sonic is currently in an internal state of panic mixed in with exhaustion. MAJOR exhaustion! Bro had to rush to Omega’s aid right after fighting Shadow in a cave full of ice. If that’s not draining as heck then I have no idea what isn’t. And on top of all that, he not only almost killed Omega, but he also knows now that his friends have known what was going on with him for a while! Probably ever since the scene where him, Tails, and Knuckles went out for breakfast and he passed out at the table. (I can’t remember which issue that was atm. I think issue 3…?) In short, Sonic is experiencing a whole rollercoaster of emotions right now, and he isn’t even awake yet! As soon as he wakes up I theorize he’s gonna be asking everyone a lot of questions, and will then ask for elaborations on top of all the answers he receives! I also don’t think he will be as trusting of others anymore, since his friends all knew of his biggest kept secret for a long while now and nobody said or did anything about it!

Now combine that with the guilt he must feel for Omega… The last thing Sonic witnessed before passing out was him going on a rampage and almost killing the robot. He must not feel great about that…! 🫢 And his relationship with Team Dark will be relatively strained as well. I mean, aside from Rouge probably. She loves Omega, but knows the context behind the situation and doesn’t blame Sonic much for what happened, so I think she won’t change much around the Blue Blur. Though his relationship with Shadow was already strained before all that, so… Yeah.

ALRIGHT TIME TO TALK ABOUT CHIP WOOHOOOOOOOO

We all know now that Chip has finally experienced what I’m calling, “✨God Puberty✨”

(Imagine there are pretty pink sparkles floating around the name. Kinda like the classic “You’re watching Disney Channel” thing)

This ✨God Puberty✨ has essentially opened Chip’s eyes, and changes the game completely! Now we not only have a god on our side but also a god who has context! I believe Chip will try and guide Dark Gaia back to its sleeping state to restore balance like they usually do, as explained in the comic, but the attempt will backfire seeing as Dark Gaia was awoken prematurely by Dr. Eggman. (More on him in a second) Chip will keep trying, because they’re a big floofy funny god that just wants food and just went through ✨God Puberty✨ so they’ll naturally wanna keep this going at a peaceful rate. Because despite all of his power, Chip is still Chip. Just a smol bitty guy who wants ice cream. With the addition of being a god. Sonic will then of course have to step in, leading to him getting his Gaia energy taken away and him being free of this curse, and then the events of the game finale play out as normal. Probably. It’s getting late now and I’m getting tired so my brain energy is wavering so idk exactly if that’s what will happen but it’s some food for thought I suppose.

NOW WE CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT EGGMAN OH MY GOSH YES LET’S TALK ABOUT THE PATHETIC EGG-SHAPED SCIENTIST THAT WE CALL A MAN MADE OUT OF EGGS

To keep this short and simple, I’ll discuss Eggman within the context we have based solely on the new covers alone. Meaning the only speculation I’ll be doing is based off of those and the last few times we’ve seen the guy in the comic. Which actually was… A long time ago, actually. If I’m remembering correctly, that is. I could be wrong. ANYWHIZZLE LEMME STOP JABBERING AND LET’S GET ON WITH THE THEORIZING-

So the first cover shows a new, most likely final form of Sonic’s, encasing Eggman in a cracked eggshell while using his claws. Or more specifically, there is Eggman, acting as an egg yolk, sitting in a puddle of egg whites with the shell on each side of him, while Sonic’s Gaia claws slowly close in on him in the back. Sonic is staring at him menacingly, his anger and frustration reaching a boiling point due to all the stress he’s most likely experiencing combined with the Dark Gaia energy within him. This cover makes me assume that this issue is gonna act as the final battle against Eggman, a final “Screw you!” To the fat man in red. Obviously, Eggy ain’t going down without a fight, as shown in the next cover, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

The first cover suggests that Eggman is gonna be the main role of the issue, and that he’s gonna get his ass kicked. Sonic is gonna confront him, fully transform into his final Werehog form due to anger and stress, and we’ll then move onto the next issue probably. Again, I’m getting tired so this theory is getting pretty sloppy.

Now onto cover numero dos! I love this cover honestly, and it’s literally only because Knuckles and Tails are seen defending a transforming Sonic from Eggman. They are literally using themselves as like. A meat shield. Normally I’d be like “Oh no what happened????” But right now all I can think is “Omg ✨Brothers✨ 🤩”

———

AGAIN IM GETTING VERY TIRED NOW SO I WILL UNFORTUNATELY END THIS HERE AND WILL NOW GO BRUSH MY TEETH BUT HOPEFULLY I WILL REMEMBER TO COME BACK AND ELABORATE TOMORROW IF I HAVE THE TIME. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, IT MEANS A TON THAT YOU TOOK THE TIME OUT OF THE DAY TO DO THAT.

oki ima go sleeb now thank you bai

The art for the covers was great btw I just wanted to let you know it’s absolutely wonderful I could look at it all day

you're gonna love what's gonna happent his issue, i can tell!!!!!!

only um. i think you were wayyy too tired so you confused sonic with metal sonic. either that ur ur just very polite to metals insistance that he is the real sonic.

[constantineshots]

as someone wit cancer (posting this anonymously because some ppl on the internet hear this and go fucking crazy) I’ve always found John Constantine is actually a really interesting rep In theory. I do think Delano like most things fumbles the bag when it comes to that topic but… it’s Delano what do you expect. I really like timelines where John gets treatment before it’s terminal (though usually that very idea seems out of character) or something it’s such a comfort hc. sorry for rambling. I was wondering how YOU interpreted johns cancer storylines as the John Constantine guy.

hey, you’re safe here, do what’s best for you! and I wish you the best. and never apologize for rambling! i love rambling. please keep rambling.

i’ll put this under a read more because i realized how long this is, but i hope it helps answer your question!

but as the john constantine girlie, it’s always been such an incredibly interesting plotline to me. he does take drastic measures to cure himself in the main vertigo timeline, and his interactions with other cancer patients and then realizing that this thing is terminal… it was intriguing. because it’s john. how he handles things is so much different than how others will. you’re never going to get the logical answer- “maybe he’ll get treatment.” “maybe he’ll go find healing magics that could help him.” “maybe he’ll go spend more time with his loved ones.” this is how most people would think to act. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have cancer, but if it were me, i feel like i’d be angry to be living on a timer, so i’d probably check a few things off my bucket list out of spite. not john constantine, though. instead he threatens a war in hell over his soul so everyone has to cure him.

john smokes cigarettes. we all know this to be a fact. however, he ends up getting terminal lung cancer as a result. it shows a very possible risk that most people aren’t willing to acknowledge until it’s too late.

i haven’t spoken to my mother in forever because our relationship was never good ( can’t you see why i like john constantine now? ), but in a way, it reminded me of her. she was a heavy smoker, and i, as a child who sometimes went over to her house begrudgingly, would be caught up in second hand smoke. as a result, these sorts of things were big worries of mine, and yet every time i told her she can’t do things like smoke inside the house and such, she’d just do it anyway. which put everyone at risk.

while, of course, cancer isn’t always caused by smoking, it can be, and she never took it seriously, not even when she was coughing badly and it was clearly dangerous for her health anyway. I don’t think she ever will.

within john’s character, though, we know he clearly didn’t care much. of course, he didn’t want to die because he knew he was going straight to hell at the time. so he concocted his little plan and ended up curing himself of cancer and not dying as a result… and then continuing with the bad habit. he’s a comic book character, so i guess it’s different, but i think it kind of sent the wrong message.

after a tale of john being distressed about having cancer and having to say goodbye to the people he cared about, or john meeting others who had cancer and being affected by the loss of someone who had died as a result of it, i think some expected him to put down the cigarettes. but alas, john has never been the kind of person to make good decisions.

so when i see him doing the smart thing in some storylines or aus that people write and so forth, i’m always stunned. like good on him, of course, handling his shit before it gets worse, but john has always liked to be a pain in the ass and wait until the worst possible moment. like the exact day he’s supposed to die for example. though i do enjoy these more, because it sends the right message…. john isn’t the kind of character you look to to give you the right message in most aspects. his political beliefs are good, but everything else is a dumpster fire.

but in my opinion, john constantine is a character- one of a rare few- who has cancer. there’s a described time of his struggles with it, some depression from it, the loss of someone he’d met who had it, and that was a journey. but then, in true john constantine fashion, the cornered rat idea he has, he cures himself of it- or, well, more forces some other beings to cure him of it, but hey.

that’s all i got, but feel free to explain further on anything you want to!

[ell-vellan]

WIP Wednesday

I haven't done one of these in a long time because it feels like everything I write lately is dull and boring, but I'm trying to break out of the little box I've put myself in.

Tagging a few people who I thought might have a bit of work to share, but no pressure: @thebookworm0001 @the-grandest-plan @thegoblinwitchqueen

And please take this as an excuse to post your WIP even if I didn't tag you!

Content warning: this is a "should we have a baby? and how?" conversation between El/Bull with...unconventional options, lol. so it's under the cut!

They'd talked about it, just the once. When El had gotten her courage up and tentatively asked what he’d meant that time, way back in the beginning, that they didn’t have to worry about pregnancy. 

Bull had explained the way tamassrans perform a reversible sterilization procedure on every Qunari when they got their assignments around age 12 as though it were a normal mark of growing up. Something like her vallaslin. The tamassrans, of course, would not allow any unauthorized reproduction under the Qun. Everything was strategically, meticulously planned, even the bloodlines of their people. Children were not simply born, but created with a purpose already in mind. Breeding stock. Like her people did with halla.

Unless they were specifically chosen later in life to be part of the breeding program and the procedure undone, there would never be any accidents or surprises, he'd told her. 

She hadn't expected the strange mix of emotions that welled up in her throat, choking her. Couldn’t control the strong reaction from showing on her face that arose before she could hide it.

“Hey, hey, come here,” Bull said with surprise as he pulled her into his arms. “I'm sorry, El, I should've explained a long time ago. This conversation usually comes up earlier. Or not at all.”

“No, I’m fine.” She shook her head and tried to step out of his arms, but he wouldn't let her leave. “It’s not like it was a surprise. It's just..."

“There was a reason you asked."

El sighed. “It's foolish. Go ahead, you can say it. I know. Obviously I should ever have expected…Of course we can’t have children. What a ridiculous notion. I mean, at the very least, our jobs--”

“It’s okay,” Bull murmured. “You’re allowed to want stuff for yourself, El.”

“I want you. That's enough. I shouldn’t still be holding onto silly dreams from childhood. Yet somehow...until just now, I hadn't yet confronted the fact that my life will never be as I once thought it would."

She was irrevocably on a different path. Even if she could have a family with Bull, it wouldn't be a Dalish one.

“Your future looks a little different than you imagined,” Bull finished quietly. “I know. Same here.”

“Nothing about my life now is how I imagined it. Not just this. It's not the first time my plans have had to change.”

Bull made an unhappy sound. “You want kids, though? Even if it’s a ways down the line?”

Ellawyn hesitated. “I want children in the same way I want most other impossible things. I want to be rid of this anchor in my hand. I want to not be Inquisitor. I want my normal life back. It's just yet another reminder that my life isn’t my own…But it doesn't quite matter what I want. I’ve learned better than to make plans.”

He made another sound of dismay. “Yeah, but this is one thing that’s not impossible for you. And I don't like you giving up shit you wanted from life. You already got dealt a crappy hand with everything else. The war's over, the Inquisition doesn't need you anymore. You can do whatever."

She turned in his lap to face him, her expression grave. “You’re acting as though this is still possible. When you just told me that it isn't.”

Bull hesitated. “I...could get it reversed." Slowly, deliberately neutral. A statement of fact, not necessarily an offer. "It's possible, in theory. Tamassrans leave that option open on purpose."

She stared at him. “But you don’t want to.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“But it's what you think.”

Bull looked at her, lips pressed tight, and exhaled a sigh through his nose. “I’m wary, is all. It’d be dangerous for you. And there’s no guarantee it would even work.”

And then he told her there was another option. 

She balked, immediately. “You want me to sleep with someone else?”

Bull held up his hands placatingly. “Only way to have an elven baby is for that baby to have two elven parents,” Bull said evenly, watching her carefully. “You told me how precious elven children are in your culture. And I’m not the jealous type. You know that.”

“But…” 

Everything felt weak and watery inside her. He was right. She couldn't have an elven baby and Bull’s. It wasn't possible. 

She would have to choose.

Bull was entirely too calm. “I'm saying it's an option I'm okay with, that's all. Not something you have to do. And nobody's saying you have to decide anything right now, either."

[devildomwriter]

Obey Me As Tumblr #13

Leviathan: Secondhand embarrassment is pure agony and I wish a lot of comedy didn’t rely on it

I cannot deal with it, I have to literally leave the room

Solomon: It’s a sign of being extremely empathetic

Leviathan: Thanks! I hate it. How do I uninstall?

•

Solomon:

Depression tips

• kill the gods and eat their flesh to rise above human chemicals into horrifying immortality

Raphael: We need to talk

•

Simeon: Still don’t really understand how some people have trouble just being nice

Mephistopheles: Oh my gosh you’re such a nice person. Hey everybody come look at how much of a good person this is.

Simeon: I literally cannot comprehend how you got offended by this but thanks for proving my point anyway

•

Belphegor: When I get comfortable with people I start using them as pillows and foot rests

Beelzebub: When I get used as a pillow or foot rest I feel loved

Simeon: I am both of these people

•

Satan:

You know how there’s a theory that no two people see color the same way.

Does that mean color is like

A pigment of your imagination

Mephistopheles: YOU FUCKING DIDNT

Simeon: Huehuehue

Leviathan: #even that fucking laugh is a pun #i hate you all

•

Asmodeus: I’M HOME ALONE AND MY FAMILY FORGOT TO TELL ME THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE PAINTING OUR HOUSE SO I’VE BEEN REENACTING LES MIS AND I JUST VIOLENTLY THREW OPEN THE WINDOW TO YELL ‘CANNONS’ AND THE POOR GUY NEARLY FELL OFF HIS STEPLADDER

Asmodeus: DONT YOU DARE REBLOG THIS I MIGHT GET SUED

•

Leviathan: Sometimes I wake up with a very urgent thought on my mind and it’s usually pretty dumb like ‘je suis un pomme’ or ‘root beer fairytales’ but this morning I woke up and sat there for a second and all I could think was

Tis I,

The frenchiest fry

•

Belphegor: I am decayed. My lungs are full of thorns and mildew, my bones are held together by vines. I am fragile, be gentle with my corpse.

Lucifer: Get out of bed you’re going to school whether you like it our not.

Belphegor: I refuse.

•

Mammon: OMG so I just figured out the word “hurt” is past, present, and future. You will be hurt. You are hurt. You were hurt.

BECAUSE IF SOMETHING TRULY HURT, IT NEVER REALLY STOPS

Belphegor: you poetic little shit

Satan: It’s because…. It’s an adjective….

Lucifer: You will be stupid.

You are stupid.

You were stupid.

•

Mammon: Therapy got a drive-thru or summ?

MC: Welcome to shrink in a box can I take your disorder?

•

Leviathan: Why the fuck does English have a word for the act of throwing someone out a window, defenestration, but not for the day after tomorrow

Satan: Because you’re not looking hard enough

Overmorrow = the day after tomorrow

Ereyesterday = the day before yesterday

Example: I defenestrated my younger brother yesterday. I shall defenestrate my older brother overmorrow! Because I hate my family and also windows!

•

Satan: Synonyms are weird because if you invite someone to your cottage in the forest that just sounds nice and cozy, but if I invite you to my cabin in the woods you’re going to die.

Asmodeus: My favorite explaining the difference between a butt dial and a booty call

Lucifer: It’s called connotations

Asmodeus: Try this one on for size:

“Forgive me, father, for I have sinned.”

“Sorry, daddy, I’ve been naughty.”

Raphael: Great news! Language is now banned

•

Leviathan: Helpful grammar tip! Farther is for physical distance, further is for metaphorical distance, and father is for emotional distance!

Simeon: Who hurt you?

Leviathan: My father did you not read the post

•

Beelzebub: Isn’t it weird how you can actually feel pain in your chest and stomach when something really hurts your feelings

Solomon: This is actually because it activates your vagus nerve! Basically your body goes “we are so upset! We must be injured! Where???? On the inside guts! Those are confusing and hard to differentiate!!! Confusing guts are hurt!”

Leviathan: Great! How do I uninstall it?

•

Satan: Part of new internet grammar. Using question marks not to denote questions but upturns in voice, so that a tentative statement gets a question mark but a flatly delivered question doesn’t.

Mammon: Why would you do this

Leviathan: It just seems right?

•

Mammon: In a constant state of ‘how dare you assume I know what I’m doing’ but also ‘don’t you dare question me or what I’m doing’

Leviathan: “I have no idea what I’m doing and you can’t stop me.”

Simeon: Artists and writers have a lot to say about this post

•

Mammon: Why my hand shaky?

Barbatos: Your Skelton is ready to hatch

Mammon: This is so fucking ominous thank you

•

Asmodeus: Life is a highway

Asmodeus: Explain

Asmodeus: Wanna ride it all night long

Lucifer: Why did you reply to yourself?

Asmodeus: I refuse to share the spotlight but I like the meme format

•

Beelzebub: I haven’t ate anything since 11 bruh I’m starving

Thirteen: Damn an u how old now?

[kattythingz]

YJ x FMA Pt. 4

Yeah. Another one.

I am so sorry Solaris 😔 You'll have my love again when Jinx is done betaing your shitty first draft. No, I swear!! Really!!!

Anyway some of y'all might've missed it in the tags of pt.1, so I'm putting it here again just in case, but edling are about 20 (turning 21) in this au! Three years post-canon of my magnum opus, Ed keeps his alchemy, blah blah usual crossover indulgences.

🧡 Pt. 1 💛 Pt. 2 🤍 Pt. 3 🩵

They’d admittedly lost track of time following that previous conversational note.

Robin had been bursting with questions since Ed confirmed Kaldur’s theory about his powers—alchemy, Ed stressed, a science, though Robin called bogus—and Ed was really no help with how receptive he was to each follow-up. Ling was a pretty chatty guy too by nature, but he’d gone comparably silent listening to his fiance talk, watching his face the entire time and laughing when his hands flailed like the sight would disappear from him if he strayed.

If Robin were immature, he would’ve feigned gagging at that. As it was, though, everyone understood Ling’s feelings. And they were all pretty curious too.

So, you know… It was kind of too late when Robin finally remembered.

“OH, CRAP!”

Mt. Justice was clear in sight now, so his abrupt exclamation startled the team and Ed. Superboy, who’d been suspiciously silent and brooding in his corner, turned to raise an eyebrow at him.

“What?” he said, which still sounded a little like a demand, but that was okay. He’d gotten much better as of late at measuring his tone. This was improvement. 

That unfortunately did nothing for their current dilemma.

“What do you mean ‘what?’” Robin said, totally calmly, thank you very much. “Aren’t we forgetting something major here, guys? Something giant and looming, maybe?!”

It took them all a second.

“Oh,” Ling said, then, way too cheerily, Robin was punching him, “oh! That’s right! Your—”

Megan gasped. “Oh my gosh. I completely forgot—!”

“BATMAN!” Wally cried like it was already his funeral—which it admittedly was. “Ohhhh, crap. Crap! We are so dead, guys—”

“What? Why are you dead?” Ed interrupted. His brow had been steadily furrowing since Robin’s initial panic, and he looked properly annoyed now. He directed the look at Ling, scowling. “Ling, what are they on about?”

“Batman, dude!” Wally reiterated. “He’s only our fricking boss and the scariest Leaguer to have glaring you down!” Ed raised an eyebrow, not getting it, and Wally groaned. “This was supposed to be a recon mission. Only a recon mission. And we completely ditched that to rescue you instead!”

Wally hadn’t meant it like that, but Ling still frowned. “This isn’t Ed’s fault. It was my purpose to begin with. If it’ll spare you the grief—”

“No,” Kaldur interrupted, dragging the focus to him. He sat up straighter. “I am the leader, and I approved this diversion myself. I could’ve controlled Ling, but I made the active decision not to. If this is anyone’s fault, it is mine. I will explain to Batman.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

It was Ed’s sharp interjection that shot first, taking them all aback.

“You couldn’t have stopped this idiot if you’d knocked him out and tossed him in a ditch without his sword,” he continued, and Ling nodded vehemently. “I couldn’t stop him on a good day, forget one of you guys.”

“That’s great and all,” Artemis said darkly, “but Batman won’t take that excuse so easily. Especially after our last mission…”

Robin grimaced at the reminder of Doctor Fate. He hadn’t been part of that mission himself, but, from what he’d heard, things hadn’t gone so smoothly. Wally had taken an unnecessary risk putting on the helmet, and Bruce—Batman was furious. For good reason, considering what that helmet did, and it had nearly gotten his best friend…

But, still.

Today hadn’t just been an unnecessary risk. It was a loud one. Those scientists were sure to bolster their efforts now, knowing the Young Justice were on their tails. This might’ve painted a greater target on Ed and Ling’s backs too.

Batman had every right to scold them for this.

Robin’s stomach twisted, and he swallowed.

The group was silent as Ship brought them inside. Ed didn’t voice his reactions like before as the path lights sparked in tandem to frame the hangar ahead.

Kaldur led them out with his back straight after landing.

Ed couldn’t quite muffle his noise that time as he disembarked last with Ling. He tossed a quick “thank you” to Ship, who beeped in affirmative delight, and ogled around the vast space with an echoing awe.

“This place is huge,” Ed gasped from the edge of the landing dock. His eyes drew high and low but ultimately lingered on the underwater entrance of the place. “What is this, exactly? There’s a generator and a pool…”

“This is the hangar,” Megan said, livening up a little at the opportunity to brag about her current home. Then, remembering last-second, “Oh, that’s a space where we park aircrafts and stuff. I guess you really don’t have that back in your world, huh?”

“Nope. What’s with the pool, then?”

“That’s for submarines. Those are—”

“Oh, you’ve got those here?” Ed’s eyes lit with understanding when he turned to her floating next to him. Catching her “manners” at that, Megan made a small noise and lowered to her feet. She was still laughably taller than Ed like this, and, oh, wow, now that Robin noticed it—

“Holy crap, wait,” Wally suddenly snickered next to Robin too, much worse at masking his amusement. “Dude, now that I’m looking at you—”

He cut off on a high yelp before Ed’s glare even reached him.

Ling pulled back his slanted hand from where he’d subtly jabbed Wally, striding over to Ed with a grin. “It is a fascinating space, isn’t it?”

Ed narrowed his eyes between the two of them before letting it go with a huff. “Yeah. I thought for a second that they might’ve developed air travel instead of ocean, like a parallel balance kind of thing… but I guess not.”

Ling started him down the stairs, and it didn’t escape Robin’s notice that Ed was leaning slightly into Ling’s side as he descended. Ling, for his part, didn’t say a word on that and kept a hand hovered low over Ed’s back. 

So it wasn’t an injury, Robin mused as the rest of the team followed downward. Ling had made a pretty big deal earlier of checking Ed’s neck under his turtleneck, and he’d completely ignored the team was watching when he wiped his fiance’s scratches tenderly before Ed had seen fit to remind him with a violent blush.

A bad leg, maybe? Or…

Megan took over leading them around the place again, slipping easily into the comfort of playing tour guide. When they reached the mission room, she quieted some, anxious as the rest of them.

The room was thankfully empty for now. Though, Robin would’ve preferred if they’d just rip off the Bandaid now. He hated the slithering feel of trepidation under his skin.

“And this… is the mission room,” Megan said with less pizzazz. “This is where Batman gives us our missions, and where we do our training with Black Canary! Although, I don’t see any of them here yet…”

“Yeah, thank god,” Wally muttered. “Give us a second to brace ourselves.”

Robin snorted. “You mean the thought of having your soul judged live doesn’t fill you with excitement? Fake, dude.”

“Says you, you little jerk. If anything, won’t you be scolded the wor—?”

“So, what was that about a training room?” Ed’s loud voice cut him off, though Robin couldn’t figure why he cared to keep things light. Batman was going to be disappointed one way or another. There was no avoiding that. “Seems a little barren for one, don’t you think?”

“Do you really have room to speak, darling?” Ling chuckled. “You were trained in a backyard, weren’t you?”

“A backyard?” Artemis said, and someone—Superboy, probably—snorted loudly in the back. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am!” Ling said. “Though, I’m leaving out the part where it was sometimes a butcher shop too.”

“Yeah, and you’re too scared to step foot in either of those places,” Ed shot back, crossing his arms. “Which reminds me. I contacted Teacher while you were gone—”

“Pardon?”

Several eyebrows shot up at Ling’s honest-to-god squeak.

Ed’s grin stretched slow and vicious. “Well, I needed help understanding the unknown transmutation circle that you touched. You know, considering it was an instantaneous reaction. And I had to be careful.”

Three strikes in one. Ouch.

Ling winced, recoiling slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “R-Right. Of course. And… what did she say, by any chance?”

“Oh, nothing! She just asked me to give you a little something.”

Nobody saw it coming when, in a split second, Ed shot out to grab Ling’s arm.

Ling didn’t even cry out before he was tossed completely over Ed’s shoulder. He met the ground with a belated yelp, then another when Ed stuck a boot on his chest and tightened his hold ruthlessly.

Robin cringed along with everyone else at the brutal angle.

“OW! Okay, okay, okay, I plead! Ed, I’m sorry—!”

“YOU BETTER FUCKING BE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SCARED SHITLESS I WAS BECAUSE OF YOUR STUNT?! I spent an entire week figuring out that damn circle! And then I had to come after your stupid ass myself, because of course you didn’t even have Mei around to supervise! Just what the hell were you thinking? Were you thinking at all?!”

“I already told you I wasn’t! Have mercy on me for once, you know I won’t do it again—!”

“DAMN RIGHT YOU WON’T! If you ever—!”

“What is the meaning of all this ruckus?”

A reverberating metallic voice from above interrupted the team’s badly muffled amusement, and Ling’s misery.

Ed looked up with them scowling, an irritated question on his tongue, “Who—?”

Megan exclaimed over him, darting forward, “AHHH, that’s Red Tornado! He’s our supervisor around here. Hi, Red Tornado!”

Red Tornado lowered from the center of the ceiling, and if androids could raise an eyebrow, then Robin was pretty sure his had disappeared far past his hairline. He paused on Ed to obviously scan him, and Ed didn’t even twitch under the scrutiny, holding steady on poor Ling.

“You are not a resident of this mountain,” Red Tornado said. 

“Yeah, no shi—”

“But you carry the same energy as Ling Yao, and you are here with the team.” Ed’s mouth snapped shut, annoyed and put off by the very-much-an-android stopping before him. “Am I to assume you arrived with them the same way from their mission?”

“You are exactly right, Red Tornado,” Kaldur spoke up hastily, deflecting the attention to himself for now. “In fact, we were hoping to report our findings to Batman as soon as possible, so we may swap information. Do you know where he—?”

“I’m right here, Aqualad.”

Robin tensed at his mentor’s voice. He wasn’t shocked enough to spin to him like the rest of the team, but he did take a quick breath before facing him.

“I guess I don’t need to ask how it went,” Batman rumbled, emerging from the shadows of the next hallway over. “Considering what I’m looking at right now.”

Ed squared his shoulders in the corner of Robin’s vision, releasing Ling notably gently and—in a feat of audacity Robin had never witnessed in anyone before—scrutinized Batman right back.

He stopped dead at Batman’s eye, neither speaking first.

The atmosphere stretched distinctly like ozone, discomforting everyone as they stood still in place of anxious shuffling.

Finally, something breached the surface.

“Well, I don’t need to ask who you are,” Ed said blandly.

Batman’s frown didn’t twitch, but Robin had a feeling that wasn’t the best first impression Ed could’ve made on him. “I can’t say the same for you, unfortunately. Are you from Ling’s world?”

“Obviously. Are you the boss around here?”

“Obviously,” Batman returned, and stood taller, then. “How did you get here with the team? Who are you?”

“I came through a satanic circle.” Wally didn’t quite muffle his choked noise at the deadpan tone. Ed continued, “Shouldn’t you check on your troublemakers first before interrogating me like this? Seems like the greater priority right now.”

The words struck something in all of them, Robin thought—but himself most. He couldn’t stop his gaze from darting to meet Batman’s—no, Bruce’s, in time.

His heart skipped a beat long after the glance-over passed.

“The team knows how to handle themselves,” Batman’s voice returned to douse the mood. “It’s not surprising that they came back okay. It’s what they’ve been trained for. You’re the only hanging question currently.”

It was so messed up that Robin’s chest warmed at the indirect praise. A quick glance at his friends told him they shared his mixed feelings.

“You’ll really be disappointed, then,” Ed snorted. “Not much to me that I can answer. I got here through a circle, I broke myself out of the jail your team just so happened to be scouting, and I found my idiot fiance with them. I basically forced them to bring me along at that point.”

“That is so not what happened,” Wally whispered low in Robin’s ear, echoing the thought he hadn’t voiced. “What the hell is he—?”

“The team discovered you were being held captive and, due to your connection to Ling, deviated from the mission to rescue you.” Batman’s accurate conclusion overrode the conversation again. 

He didn’t… sound overly disappointed, Robin didn’t think. Not moreso than usual. He wasn’t surprised, at least. 

That was usually a good thing, in Robin’s experience. But still, this entire atmosphere was weirding him out. What was Ed doing?

He got his answer when Ed’s voice went steely, saying, “Actually, I was already planning on breaking out myself. It was lucky timing that they decided to help me, otherwise that fancy lab would’ve been rubble after I was done giving those scientists a piece of my mind. You should thank them, really.”

Robin’s eyes widened, understanding dawning on him at last.

He turned to Ling, who’d manifested as silently as ever at his and Wally’s side, and he’d already been looking at Robin.

Ling’s lips curled at a corner and he shrugged. Smiling: That’s how it is.

Bafflement struck everyone’s faces that’d peeked over.

This was actually happening, then. Ed was actually protecting them from Batman’s ire. Lifting the brunt of the judgment from their shoulders onto his own.

Forget audacious. This guy was outright crazy!

Robin’s startled grin at the realization threatened to break his mask before he put it away swiftly.

It nearly surfaced anyway when it looked like Batman was considering the defense.

He must’ve had a million demands in his mind; paranoia, however cruel at times, had served him, and Robin, and several other superheroes, extremely well. Paranoia was the reason Gotham was still deemed safe enough to live in. It was Bruce’s best kindness to their city, sometimes, and to the team whenever survival was up in the air. It meant he cared about the outcome and the consequences, especially on their team.

As it was, though, the only question he repeated was, “Who are you?”

There was no doubt he was an emperor’s partner when Ed lifted his chin with an imperial hum and said, “Edward Elric. I hope you don’t mind I’ll be staying here a while.”

Batman gave a vague affirmative that might’ve been amused elsewhere in a manor. “You’ll have to be thoroughly interrogated.”

“I’d be insulted if you didn’t plan on doing that.”

The spell broke seamlessly with those snorted words, somehow, and Ling pulled a face as he stepped forward first. “Your idea of a compliment is still so skewed,” he said exasperatedly. “Would it kill you to accept passivity for once?”

“Maybe when I’m dead,” Ed humphed. He turned back to Batman. “So, we interrogating or what?”

Bruce’s lips quirked.

[thewayofthemandalorian]

all’s faire - chapter four

Pairing: Modern Pero Tovar x F!Reader

Series rating: M

Chapter rating: M

Word count: 4,861

Notes: Things are starting to really get into motion! We’ve got the beginnings of feeling more than just dislike and contempt between these two and I’m so excited for you all to see what these feelings are. This chapter was read over as always by @ezrasbirdie​​ my beloved –thanks so much for being the best beta-reader a girl could ask for! And thank you to @lowlights​​ for being a great hype-woman💖

This fic is cross-posted to AO3 under the same name and my taglist can be found linked in my bio as well as my masterlist which is linked below.

Comments/reblogs appreciated.

Chapter warnings: Alcohol mention, food mention, swearing, kissing, enemies to lovers, fake dating/marriage, feelings.

previous chapter || next chapter || masterlist (main) || masterlist (pero tovar)

The tavern is hopping by the time you rush back in; an event must have just let out. “Sorry! So sorry!” you gasp, slipping into your Faire accent as you maneuver your way in between customers to behind the bar. 

Sarah lifts a brow at you. “Where did you run off to?”

You’re about to open your mouth to answer, but a rush of people comes in at that moment. “I shall inform you later, Matilda dear,” you reply, hoping that she’ll forget. You don’t know how to explain what just happened. Not to her or to yourself. 

You don’t have enough time in between customers to have a proper discussion, too busy talking and doing light flirting with the customers. The best you can do is hope that Sarah forgets it. She doesn’t mention it for the rest of the day. 

“Oh, I meant to tell you,” she says as you’re tidying up at the end of the day. “Not this week, since most people are getting re-acclimatized to things, but most Saturday nights during Faire, a bunch of us go to Nick’s for a post-Faire social.” 

Nick’s has been a staple of the town for as long as you could remember. You’re not entirely surprised that the pizza place on the edge of town is still going. “Cool,” you reply, giving the bar a final wipe down with your damp rag. Day one, done. Just another eleven to go. 

“How did you find the first day?” asks Sarah as your volunteers, Candace, Evan and Marie wave their goodbyes. She begins to unlace your dress so you can begin to get ready. You exhale deeply in appreciation. 

“That’s better,” you say. “It was interesting!” Your voice is bright. You think about the events at midday where you had been in a mock handfasting ceremony with Pero Tovar. Was it just for today or would it be a storyline that you’d be expected to maintain and play into? You had just started to understand him. It would only throw a wrench into that development if you did the wrong thing. Again. 

But the way he had looked at you today. The way he had held your hand in his. The way he had kissed you. 

Agh. 

Sarah calls your name. “Hello?” She waves a hand in front of your face. You blink.

“Sorry. Zoned out there for a second. What were you saying?” 

Your new friend chuckles. “I was saying that it isn’t always this busy at the tavern. It’s usually only this busy on the first weekend because that’s when all the folks who are most keen come.” 

That makes sense, you suppose. “So we’ll be able to move around more next weekend?” you ask. 

“In theory. That’s how it’s been every year so far. I don’t mind it. It’s certainly different from my day job.” 

“Which is what?” You’re curious to know more about your new friend. 

“File clerk. It’s nice, being able to file things in peace. I get to listen to podcasts or music and just sort and organize.” 

You nod, your laces completely undone, looking like you’re wearing a tent. Your muscles are screaming and you’re covered in grime, dirt and sweat. Who knew that being in a medieval faire would be such dirty work? You see a long hot shower in your near future.“Any good podcasts?” you ask. “I need to get better at my podcast game.” 

“Welcome to Night Vale,” she says. 

You know that one. “All hail the glow cloud,” you quote.

“All hail,” she echoes and the two of you giggle as you help her unwind her own dress fastenings. “Oooh. That’s better,” she groans. “That’s the one thing about Faire. The costumes never really get fully broken in. Sure, we look cute while wearing them, but I like to breathe properly while also looking cute.” That you can agree with.

Cassie meanders her way into the tavern, Lin-Mae close behind. “Hey kid,” you say. “Good first day?” 

Her nod is enthusiastic but you can tell she looks tired from all the festivities of the first day. “Great! Especially the handfasting,” she says. 

Sarah smiles. “Yeah, that always is so sweet. Was there a good turnout today? Probably not because it’s the first day.” 

Cassie shakes her head. “There were four pairs.” 

“That’s not so bad, then. Just wait, come next week there will probably be double that. Today was just a warmup.” 

Cassie fights a yawn, dead on her feet. Her stomach grumbles. “On that note,” you cut in. “I think it’s time the two of us head home, have long showers and find something to eat.” 

Lin-Mae looks like she’s gearing to go, too. Sarah probably wants to get home as well. “I’ll see you ladies tomorrow,” you say, herding Cassie beside you. Your friends both say goodbye. 

Crisis averted. You have a solid fourteen hours to come up with a way to explain your adventures in handfasting. That is, if Sarah remembers. 

- - - - 

“Where did you run off to yesterday?” 

Dammit. 

It’s an hour into day two. You and Sarah are in a lull, only a few customers here and there and they’ve all been taken care of.

You play coy. “When?” 

“At midday.” The two of you still have to speak in character even when there’s only a handful of people around. “I returned from the privy and you were not here.” 

“Ah, right,” you say. “I was only married off, of course.”

Whatever Sarah had  been expecting you to say, it wasn’t this. “Come again?” her accent drops a little. 

You can hear the duel between Pero and Dan finishing across the way. “There is not much to tell. The young Lady Clara was sent to fetch me to the handfasting where I was promptly wed to a pirate.” You grimace a little as you stretch your back. 

“You exaggerate, mi florecita,” a voice from behind you says. Pero. No. Not Pero. Captain Bastian. With his swagger and his easy grin that is apparently too difficult to offer you as Pero Tovar. He takes your hand in his and kisses it. You guess he’s sticking with the story of being handfasted.

Out of the corner of your eye you see Sarah trying to contain a grin. She’s clearly enjoying this. You play along. “And how do I exaggerate, Captain?” 

He keeps your hand in his. “Well, for starters, we are not married. Yet. Only promised to each other for a year and a day.” Pero’s fingers stroke the twine that you had wound around your wrist in a makeshift bracelet. You hadn’t been sure this morning if this was going to continue or not but you thought it better to bring it anyway. 

“Of course.” It is easy, this banter with him. If only it could be this easy out of character. Hell, you were even enjoying yourself. “But what is the difference?” 

Pero smirks. “Well, florecita, since you ask. The difference is —” he comes into your personal space, flooding your senses again, a heady sensation that you can’t even begin to make heads or tails of. “If we were wed, we would not leave the captains quarters of my ship for a night and a day at least. I’d make sure you know the extent of my appreciation and my love for you.” 

Your breath catches, looking at his eyes, his face. Like yesterday, you get lost in him, nothing else mattering. If patrons come in, Sarah and the volunteers must see to them. You surprise yourself with how even your voice is. “And since we are not yet wed?”

His eyes glint at the word yet. 

In character, you’re both in character, you remind yourself for the millionth time in ninety seconds. 

Pero ponders. “Since we are not yet wed, I shall simply show you my appreciation like so.” His eyes ask permission before he encroaches further onto your personal space. You give a nod, your own expression questioning before his lips press against yours.

It’s chaste, but somehow even the simplest touch of Pero’s lips against yours has your skin burning, your nerve endings on fire. Pulling back, he takes a long drink of the ale that Sarah must have left on the bar counter for him, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

“I must take my leave, for I fear Gideon draws near. A kiss to take with me for good spirits?” he asks. 

You hide your frown. Pirates don’t usually ask. They just take. All the same, you lean up on your toes and meet his lips in yet another staged kiss. You’d have to be careful; you could get used to this. “Godspeed, my captain.” 

He kisses your hand one last time and bids you a good day, downing the rest of his ale before heading out for the next match against Gideon. 

Shakily, you turn to face Sarah, who’s just facing you with a look of amused confusion. “I thought you didn’t like him?” she asks. It’s just the two of you now, the lull dying down to nothing as another event starts up across the field. 

“I didn’t. I don’t!” you affirm, but even you have trouble believing that. 

Sarah raises a brow. “Right. Sure looks that way to me.” 

“It’s just play-acting. A last minute story added to the Faire,” you explain, hoping it doesn’t sound as hollow to Sarah as it does to you. “They needed one last couple and Cassie was sent to get me. And I guess… we’re continuing in the narrative?” 

Absently you rub the twine from the handfasting. Sarah’s quick to notice. “So, let me get this straight. You’re asked to be in a handfasting ceremony, promised to Pero — the man you seemingly can’t stand — and instead of saying, ‘hey let’s not carry on with this because we can’t stand each other,’ you continue to wear the string and look at him with doe eyes?”

You’re about to say that it’s a good story, but her knowing smile tells you she sees right through you. “I don’t know. It’s something. I don’t know what. Plus, I’m not even sure he likes me out of character.” 

Sarah’s face twitches and you don’t have the time to ask what’s so funny because a group of patrons comes in. 

At the end of the day, you wipe your hands on your now-grimy dress. There’s five days to do laundry. Five days free of Pero Tovar. 

- - - - 

You’re grateful to Lin-Mae for keeping the store closed on Mondays. While you don’t sleep until ten-thirty like Cassie does, you still take your time getting up. Once you do get up, you have coffee on the terrace with Tess. The whole story spills out. The handfasting ceremony, the way Pero behaves as Captain Bastian, the kissing, everything. “And it’s not like I even like him that much. Not when he’s not in character. Like he’s not even nice to me. It’s all in character.” 

She listens to the whole thing. Once you’re finished, she speaks. “This is so dramatic. Is it bad that I love it?” 

You swat her arm lightly. “Big help you are,” you grumble. 

Tess takes a sip of her coffee. “Look. He’s a complex guy. And you’re a complex girl. No one’s telling you to marry the dude for real. It is just for show, right? It wasn’t a legit handfasting ceremony?”

You shake your head. “Nope. Just a fun thing for tourists to do. Something for Lin-Mae to do while Will Ballard holds court.” 

Tess frowns. “Wouldn’t she be holding court, too? Since she’s queen?” 

“Traditionally, yes. And sometimes she is there. But it depends on the day. Artistic license and all that.” 

“We’re getting off-topic,” Tess chides. “I’m not saying you have to get with him for real. No one is. Unless you want to.” She gives you a chance to say yes or no. You don’t take it. “And if it’s just a story for the faire, that could be a new angle that hasn’t been considered before.” 

She’s right. If the only time you see Pero is in character at the faire, that wouldn’t be so bad. And it’s an interesting story to be a part of, even if it’s fake. 

You’re willing to keep the story up as long as he is. 

It’s a slow morning at the bookstore the next day. Lin-Mae has you in charge of creating social media accounts for the store while she orders new bookmarks with the store hours and social media handles. 

“I’m going to go get some lunch,” she says at twelve-fifteen. “Do you want anything?” 

You look up from your order form for the book club meeting. “I’m good. I’ll go when you get back.” 

It’s a quiet, lazy day. There’s a heatwave in Lockwood Falls, so not many people are wanting to leave their houses if they don’t have to. 

The jingle of the bell sounds and you don’t look up from the order form on the screen in front of you. “Back so soon?” you ask, thinking it’s Lin-Mae. 

A clearing of a throat tells you that it is not Lin-Mae. You look up and see Pero Tovar standing in front of you. His hair is even more curled and matted than it usually is — from the humidity, you suppose. You wonder, fleetingly, if his hair is soft. 

And then you wonder where in the fuck that thought had come from. 

“Good afternoon,” he greets. 

You return the greeting. “How can I help you?” you ask. 

Pero pulls a sheet of folded up paper from his pocket. “I need to order the textbooks for my classes,” he says. 

You frown. It’s only the very beginning of July. “So soon?” 

“Yes. So that I am prepared,” Pero explains. He’s not outright hostile with you anymore, so you suppose that you can claim that as a small victory. 

You switch tabs, pulling up another order form. “Of course. I can do that for you.” Tapping a few keys, you input all the information. 

“How are you?” Pero surprises you by asking. 

You hide your surprise. “Uh, good. I’m good. Yeah. And how about you?” 

“I’m well.” Is he turning over a new leaf? Is he just being nice to you because of the whole pretend-handfast thing? You’re not sure. But you’re not about to complain. “And how is your sister? I heard her cast came off.” 

Now you’re really confused. “Yeah, she’s relieved about it. She just got the clearance to drive yesterday afternoon. So I think that’s a big relief, too.” 

Pero furrows his brow. “What does that mean for you? Are you returning to… Wherever you moved here from?” 

You shake your head, inputting more information into the form with a few clicks of the mouse and clacks of the keyboard. “Baltimore. And most likely not. I’m not sure. I like it here and I like working here. My family is here.” You shrug, resting your hand on the counter, clicking the confirm order button. The printer whirs to life as it prints the order confirmation. 

Pero swallows. “Good. I’m — That’s good.” He rubs the back of his neck, almost nervously, before he rests it on the counter.

There’s a moment’s pause. “Um. Can I make you a coffee?” you ask, wanting to be polite, to do something nice. Wanting to stay in his good books. It’s so much nicer in his good books.

“Yes, please. That would be nice.” His hand is only inches away from yours on the desk. 

You get up from your chair, grab the sheet that has the order confirmation and details for him from the printer tray (for which he thanks you) and lead him to the cafe. The silence between you isn’t tense or awkward. It’s just this side of comfortable. 

It’s progress. 

- - - - 

On Friday, Lin-Mae’s given you the day off to prepare for the second weekend of Faire. You’re grateful. It gives you a chance to do your laundry and make sure both your and Cassie’s dresses are ready for tomorrow. 

Tess has also decided that today is the first day that she’s going to attempt driving again since the accident. Her car’s been sitting idle in the driveway since it was returned from the mechanic. 

“Will you come with me to the grocery store?” Tess asks you at breakfast. “Just so I have someone with me in case anything … happens?” 

She tries to hide her nerves behind nonchalance but you know your sister. “Of course. When did you wanna go?”

As it turns out, Tess needs to make a list first; you use the time to take a quick shower. The heat wave’s still going strong, so you get into shorts and a tank top. Minimal effort, minimal heat.

Tess is ready when you come out of the bathroom. “You good to go?” she asks.

“Yep. Let’s go.” 

If Tess is nervous to be behind the wheel again, she makes no outward display of it. 

It’s quiet at the store. Most people are at work or are still getting up for the day. Or have decided to stay in. It’s sunny now, but in a few hours a thunderstorm is supposed to hit, and hopefully take away some of the heat in its wake.

You chat about this and that, making your way through the aisles. “Oh, shoot,” Tess mutters. 

“What’s up?” you ask, thinking something drastic has happened.

“We forgot to get strawberries when we were in the produce section.” Tess sounds annoyed.

“I’ll get them,” you offer.

After telling Tess that you’ll catch up with her, you make your way back to the produce department at the front of the store. A new batch of strawberries have just been put out and they’re on sale this week, so you get two containers. 

Turning on your heels, you intend to cut through the store to get back to your sister. But you promptly crash right into someone. Someone tall and broad.

“Oof,” you mutter, apologizing before you see who it is. 

“No harm done. But perhaps look where you are going next time? You might miss something that’s right in front of you.” There’s no bite to Pero’s words.

Immediately flustered, you nod. “Right. Of course. I should have been paying attention.”

It’s then that you notice what Pero is wearing. Shorts and an army green t-shirt that looks like it was made specifically for him. The fabric looks soft and worn in, like it’s been worn many times before today. You can’t stop looking at him; it must be about twenty or thirty seconds that you’re staring. Is something in your brain short-circuiting?

Pero clears his throat. “Doing some shopping?” 

“Mmm-hmm. With my sister. She, um, forgot to get strawberries.” Stupidly, you gesture to one of the containers. “It’s her first time driving today since her accident and she wanted someone to come along with her just in case.”

Pero nods. “That is kind of you to do.” 

You don’t know what possesses you to say, “I am kind.” It’s in a teasing, almost faux-modest way. Flirtatious maybe? No. It can’t be.

But then Pero, continuing to be a man full of surprises, counters with, “Si. You are.” It leaves you flustered and feeling things that you can’t pin down. 

Thanking him, your brain begins scrambling for a topic of conversation that isn’t embarrassing. Your eyes land on his grocery cart. More specifically, the bag of cat food. “Oh, you have a cat?”

Pero grumbles, “A menace is what she is.” But behind the bluster is clear affection. 

“What’s her name?” you ask. You love cats, having always wanted one; sadly it hasn’t seemed to be in the cards for you yet. 

“Cat.” It’s a serious, almost deadpan answer. 

You blink. “Your cat’s name… is Cat?” You’re not one to judge when it comes to names, but what the hell kind of person names their cat that? At least have some imagination. You’d think Pero Tovar of all people would have some imagination, especially given that he gave you shit for choosing a Faire name that’s basically your own name — 

Pero’s grin breaks through your mental diatribe. It’s the first time that he’s grinned at you like that out of character and it gives you pause. He’s joking, you realize. Teasing you. “Very funny,” you say dryly. “You had me for a second there.”

He chuckles. “I call her that sometimes. Among other things. But the name on her collar and adoption certificate is Clementine.” 

“Is she orange?” you ask.

Pero shakes his head. “You would think so. But no. She’s white with grey patches.” 

She sounds really sweet. You’d ask to see pictures, but Pero’s probably the type to tell you that you should remember what your loved ones look like without a picture. Suddenly, you’re aware of yourself. Inexplicably self-conscious. 

“I should… probably get going. My sister’s probably wondering where I am,” you say. Reluctantly? You can count on one hand the number of pleasant conversations you’ve had with him, this being one of them. It’s nice. “I’m sure you have things that need doing. And I shouldn’t keep you from Clementine.” 

“You mean Cat.” 

You roll your eyes at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“You shall… florecita.” The name sends a chill down your spine. Giving him a little curtsy, you head back to your sister, who’s probably wondering where you went and what’s taking you so long.

- - - - 

The rain comes and goes in less than two hours. While it takes some of the humidity with it, it’s still quite hot and sticky on Saturday. 

Sure enough, as Sarah said last weekend, it’s less hectic. It’s still busy, but much more manageable than it had been. Between you, her, and your three volunteers, you’re able to stay on top of things, able to meander around more, while still keeping close to the tavern. You have ideas about how to make the tavern even better. But you’re in a — well, you’d hesitate to use the word good — better place with Pero these days and you know how much this means to him. You’d hate to have him cross with you again after finally getting out of his bad books. 

You’ve just finished serving a husband and wife in their mid-forties some white wine and beer when Pero enters the tavern. Your heart picks up in pace at the sight of him. It’s an annoying new habit. Trying to calm your nerves, you pour him a glass of beer. He must be on break in between duels with Dan. 

“Good day, Captain,” you greet, coming out from behind the bar. Sarah makes herself scarce by going to check on the husband and wife as well as the group of college girls in the corner, making sure they have everything they need. 

“Gracias, mi florecita,” Pero says, accepting the glass of beer. He looks hot. Warm, you correct yourself. But that doesn’t stop you from appreciating the view. 

You’re in trouble, a voice in your head whispers. You ignore it for the time being. 

Gulping down half of his drink in one go, he sets it down on a nearby table. “Mi florecita, I needed to see you,” says Pero, slipping into character with ease. 

“What is thy will?” you ask. 

In what is becoming a habit – not one that you’re complaining about – he comes into your personal space, his mouth coming to rest next to your ear to whisper something. His exaggerated accent is dropped when he says, “You don’t have to keep doing this if you want to. I won’t hold you to it if it’s not something you are enjoying. I know it isn’t what you signed up for.” 

He’s giving you an out, you realize. It’s something that you hadn’t been anticipating. Neither were you anticipating his voice in your ear causing the hair on your arms and the back of your neck to stand on edge. He stands close to make it look like you’re in a lover’s embrace, so that people won’t question it. 

Still, it doesn’t stop you from questioning it. Why would he be giving you this opportunity? When things are going so well? Does he not want to do it anymore? That doesn’t make sense, given how he’s the one who first continued this storyline, leaning into it as he has. Hell, he even called you florecita yesterday out of character. Has he changed his mind since then? Is he remembering your initial dislike for him and giving you this option? Or does he assume that you’re uncomfortable or just don’t want to do this part of it? Sure, it hadn’t been part of the original plan but you think you’ve pivoted into it well. 

There are so many options and you don’t know what one to land on. You sigh and consider it for a long moment; it’s not like you to drop from a commitment, and like your sister said, it’s an interesting story and angle that hasn’t been explored to your knowledge before.

Leaning up on your toes, you whisper, still in your own Faire accent, “Now, why would I want to do that, Captain? We are bound to each other, correct?” You feel rather than see Pero’s nod and you drop your own accent. “Plus, it’s a good story, don’t you think?” 

Pero pulls away. “Yes, mi florecita.” Your eyes roam his face. It isn’t hard set. If anything, it’s vulnerable. But you can’t tell if that’s disappointment or relief in his eyes for a fleeting moment. In character (or so you tell yourself), you reach up and touch his cheek. “Now, my captain, what brings you to my humble tavern?”  

Pero stands to his full height. “I was wondering if mi florecita might come with me to my duel with Gideon. Knowing you are nearby would give me something to fight for.” And you nearly fucking swoon. 

Sarah pipes in. “Oh, aye, she would be thrilled to be near you in support, isn’t that right, my dear?” She directs this last bit to you. The tavern is dead. There doesn’t need to be five people there right now. 

With a coy grin you nod and allow him to take your hand and lead you to the dueling grounds where Dan-as-Gideon waits alongside a crowd of people. “A kiss to bring with me, mi amor? For luck?” he asks, still seeking your permission. You answer by pressing your mouth to his. 

Even if it’s mostly chaste, you find yourself leaning into this kiss. And you find Pero leaning into it, too. Is he kissing you as Pero, or as Captain Bastian? And are you kissing him in character or as yourself? 

Before you can answer that question, he’s pulled back, prepared for the duel, one that he always wins. This time is no different; it’s breathtaking to behold in full context, having only seen it in short bursts here and there during rehearsals. Pero is something else in “duel mode,” and you’re not afraid to admit that you like what you see. When he’s got Dan on his back in defeat he comes to you, takes you by the hand and shouts to the watching audience that it is the love of a good woman that allowed him to win the duel before kissing you again. You can’t deny it to yourself anymore; you enjoy kissing him. Even if it is just pretend. 

Later that night after a long shower and a change of clothes, you make your way to Nick’s. It’s been a while since you’ve gone out in this sort of capacity so you’re looking forward to it. 

It hasn’t changed much since the last time you were there. A group of people you recognize is sitting in a large booth, some overflowed into the next booth over.

Sarah spots you and waves you over. You wave back and make your way over to the table she’s sitting at with Lin-Mae and a few other people you vaguely recognize, a few large pizzas on the table among drinks; you pass Dan at the bar, who’s chatting with Will Ballard and some of the other male cast members. 

Scooting into the booth, you sit next to Sarah, your eyes still unintentionally scanning the restaurant for someone that you haven’t yet spotted. Sarah, not missing a thing, asks, “Who are you looking for?” 

“Hmm?” You take a mozzarella stick from a basket that’s in front of you. “Oh, no one. Just seeing who’s all here.” 

Sarah grins. “All the cool, fun people. Or at least almost all of them. Em wanted to be here but she had to cater a wedding tonight.” 

You give up trying to look and focus on your two friends in front of you; you can’t find who you’re looking for. He must not be here yet. You try not to be too disappointed — or at least try not to let the disappointment show — when Pero never shows up.

--- taglist in reblog

[theseventhoffrostfall]

I saw your post where you said your pet theory about Judge Holden is that he’s the narrator of Blood Meridian, which I found both very intriguing and fun.

But the more I thought about it, I eventually realized there seems to be two things possibly hindering the legitimacy of the theory, and I wanted to discuss, if you don’t mind. I know you made your post months ago, so I don’t know if you still stand by your theory, but I don’t really have anybody to discuss BM with.

The first potential snag is a simple question: If we want to assume Holden is the narrator, how would he know about where the Kid came from, why he ran away, what he did before they met, etc. when it seems like the Kid never told anyone about those things, and Holden - for all his incredible knowledge - isn’t omniscient. Do we have to assume he DID tell someone like Toadvine or Tobin off-page during their long travels and the judge overheard him? With how guarded emotionally the Kid is, I didn’t think that would happen.

How I came to an answer for it was by considering that maybe at some point the Judge decided to do research on this boy to understand him, to find out WHY he showed “clemency to the heathen”, in the hopes of one day dominating him, and used reasoning to retrace the Kid’s steps, like perhaps starting off with remembering the Kid would have a Tennessean accent and going to TN as a starting point. It’s a stretch, but that’s what I came up with.

The second hiccup regards the narration’s physical descriptions of the Judge throughout the novel, which come off like we’re supposed to view Holden as strange, off-putting, and kind of disgusting-looking. The example that sticks out in my mind is when the gang is at the bathhouse in Chihuahua City and he’s directly compared to a manatee, which has pretty much never been used as a flattering comparison. In contrast, the way Holden acts shows he’s very comfortable in his own skin to the point where he frequently goes naked, with nothing to suggest he deals with any sort of insecurity, or even a self-deprecating nature.

The only justification I can come up with is that he’s like SpongeBob in that one episode where he goes “I’M UGLY AND I’M PROUD!!!”

All in all, I still find your “Holden is the narrator theory” to be fun on a surface level, but for now I wouldn’t personally believe it. Heck, maybe this whole time you never took the theory seriously either and I’ve just been babbling inanely, but even three months after reading BM I still got it lodged in my brain and I gotta let some of my thoughts out.

Yo, sorry for the late answer.

I wouldn't say the theory is something I dwelt a very long time on, so I don't think it's foolproof by any means, but I might be able to address those two points you mentioned.

One, it's possible Holden out of curiosity did walk up the kid's backtrail--he's shown to be obsessive about knowing everything, especially something like a young kid who manages to defy his influence. He's not omniscient, but he also routinely shows that he has knowledge that no one else has and he has no way of knowing, such as the ancient stone-builders he goes on his infamous rant about. Some thirty years pass between the kid escaping him and their reunion, so he'd have plenty of time to follow up through means mundane or (if you buy into the common theories) supernatural. He's a convincing enough authority figure/intellectual that him showing up at the kid's family farm and ascertaining that the current owners' uncle or whatever ran away at fourteen is well within the realm of possibility.

Two, he clearly delights in making people squirm. Usually this takes the form of tearing down their philosophical and theological views, but it occasionally delves into more blunt methods (like his treatment of the native kid he 'rescues'). I don't think it's wholly coincidental that he resembles the Baron Harkonnen of Dune fame, who's stated to have cultivated a disgusting appearance out of perverse glee for being so loathsome. Being an ugly, unnerving figure galivanting around in 'polite' company seems to me to be completely up his alley.

Ultimately, though, my theory's based more on the voice it takes matching his voice more than any other, along with certain quirks of his--he's obsessive about the natural world while holding (or at least espousing) horrifically racist views, and the narration gets extremely purple regarding the landscape and natural world around them (recall a sunrise being described like the arrival of an eldritch god) while unflinchingly referring to Native peoples as 'savages' and dwelling on the squalor of Mexican and some American settlements.

But yeah, it's not something I'm 100% convinced on myself, and certainly not something I'd bicker over defending.

[louisisalarrie]

Hey lovely. So, I’m kinda embarrassed to ask this but I’ve seen a few posts about it. Do you think Louis is in a relationship with another guy (not Harry)? I’ve seen a few things now about Fin from Stone and the fact that he and Louis look quite comfy together. I don’t see it myself. They look like mates who support each other and for Louis is seems like business to me - when he meets him he seems to have his team with him - but just wondered what your take on it was. I feel like L has gone a long time now projecting his ‘single’ image which for someone as lovely as him seems kind of strange. I’d have thought someone would be snapping him up!

Sorry for the weird ask!!

Hiiiii don’t be embarrassed at all!!! It’s a topic floating around the solo Louies, solo harries, and larry fandom at the moment, so it’s natural to be curious about it. It’s a pretty annoying little theory though, and some larries have even been considering it to be true. So, anon, let’s have a look at this together, and as always, welcome to the show.

I’m gonna break this down a little bit so I’m not rambling and jumping all over the place.

1. No, i do not believe that Louis and Finn are together, nor have any romantic/sexual tendencies towards each other. I don’t believe that Louis is with anyone other than Harry. I am an unshakeable larry who will die on this hill hahhaa, but i will try and look at this as diplomatically as possible because it is actually causing a few waves and I’ve seen a fair bit about it from multiple parts of the fandom.

2. I don’t believe this is a stunt or seeding a solo coming out for Louis, which I’ve seen floating around. I don’t think he’d agree to that happening if it was with anyone other than Harry. And the Finn stuff doesn’t follow the same stunt timelines and PR ops that usually happen. So unless the V*nes team has had a massive shift in how they coordinate stunts and have agreed to even let Louis be a little fruity, would be a wild time. But as an industry standard, it’s not a stunt at all.

3. Louis’ body language has always been open, touchy, and basically doesn’t have many physical boundaries with the people he cares about. We’ve seen it with Liam, Niall, Zayn, Oli, other members of his band… and they’re all just his friends, right? He’s just naturally comfortable with that, always has been (except for the clear rigidness he has around stunts/women being touchy with him). His body language is different with Harry though, as we know. So I don’t think body language is a good argument for why people would think they’re together. There’s masterpost comparisons around that show his body language towards others and towards Harry explaining this all. But I’m sure you already know what I’m talking about!

4. On the topic of Oli… I think if there was a more general consensus of people finding him attractive (I’m not saying he’s not attractive, but there isn’t much hype from a majority of fans around his looks like there is Finn and Louis etc.), then these anti larry people would probably assume he’s actually dating Oli, you know what I mean? It’s like… solo Louies, who have been so against Harry and the concept of Larry… I’m seeing them be like “oh maybe Louis is queer, he’s probably dating Finn” and I’m like ????? So you have no problem accepting Louis May not be straight, but god forbid it’s with Harry. It’s such a contradiction, and they don’t even realise it.

5. So… on the topic previously on stunts and Louis’ singleness… we have to remember that BBG is still ongoing. That’s not ended, and it’s not shoved in our face as much anymore (apart from the feature in AOTV and the Christmas photos) and I think his deal is he’s not gonna have a stunt on top of that. Sure, he’s had some short lived gfs who he’s had a pap walk with, but I believe that was for him specifically to push away as far as possible from B and BBG so when it ended, he wasn’t still tied up to her and in the thick of it. I don’t imagine they’d do a long term stunt gf while that’s ongoing, because it’s overkill. His straight, party boy image is still there, but I think it’s settled a bit from what it was, and I think we’ll continue to see it settle a bit for when the coming out happens. So, yeah. That’s my take on why I don’t think he’s gonna have another long term stunt happening (I’ve made a longer post on this previously, but happy to expand more in an industry POV if you need). And someone had already snapped him up because he’s lovely, and that’s Harry!

Thanks for the chats anon. Youre always welcome in my inbox xx

[dakotahwinters]

Guys guys guys I just finished watching Fit’s lore stream from the first and oh my god??? I have so many theories??? My thoughts below the break so no one gets spoilers if they haven’t seen it. (He/him pronouns for Madagio because I don’t know if there’s confirmed pronouns and he/him is what came to mind first)

That cloak Madagio was wearing…it’s very similar to Fit’s 2b2t cloak/what he is usually depicted in in fanarts. He mentioned that his island was destroyed/devastated/the Federation did something to it that wasn’t good. Now hear me out. What if Madagio is Fit from the future?

I know it seems far-fetched, but listen. In addition to what I mentioned before, Madagio seems to know A LOT about Fit. And maybe that’s from the amount of spying he’s done, but it doesn’t seem that way to me. That would also, I think, explain why he wants/needs the player data so much, although I cannot come up with the words to explain why I think that(squirrel brain, I’m sorry). Further more, there was a bit about how Madagio hoped that Fit seeing the truth wouldn’t kill him. Now, we could take that in a literal sense, that the island is dangerous, or maybe it’s like the Greek Gods, where seeing their true form would incinerate/kill mortals. However, what if it isn’t in a literal sense? What if Fit is taken to the island, and he sees the future, what’s about to become of the island, sees what is about to happen to his beloved family and friends, and it destroys his mind to the point of dying/essentially dying. That would be cool, wouldn’t it?(I would cry)

Anyway sorry that’s the post, just needed to rant somewhere

[chonnysinferno]

tumblr deleted my ask :( anyway first n most importantly, could you listen to bopgil https://youtu.be/rORI1sZM-9I?si=wwaYyY82DnO9VLHk

anyway can i send you odd asks more often

anyway anyway i thought that was a completely one sided thing like. yeah. sometimes i just rotate people in my mind for a bit n then stop . pokes you with stick

juke’s towers of hell is a tower styled obby game. while you may be cascading down the social spiral, perhaps you will be able to ascend one of these trauma inducing towers

my head hurts so much but i got fries i think it’s because of malnutrition i don’t eat enough

fuckin like. i made a vaguepost about you. just two star crossed tumblr users. i guess that’s probably weird whatever

at first i saw cjshippers on your dni and i was like ok. goodbye then. and then it’s just like that one time you horribly interpreted my post about aro mind which i definitely said in a way liable to misinterpretation when i maintagged it aka i should’ve known better and then someone i admired at time took your misinterpretation n that was so fear and then i avoided you and now you are just like. oh it’s that person again. in my notes. on occasion. youre a cryptid tawa mi… i spin my pencil sometimes. badly. so sometimes when i am thinking now i get the urge to spin my pencil and i am thinking abt it right now. spinning fry gets fry seasoning in my hands so. i wrote loveless aro heart but it’s in a fic i definitely didn’t intend platinically. it’s this thing right. shipping is so weird because i’m aromantic and when it comes down to it, the difference between romance ala romance just seems like wording. a label. cause friends can do everything that partners can and there’s no depth difference so like wh huh? i call it a shipfic but it could be considered as just thing different than how i usually write thing like. i make them kiss. whatever. i focus on how close an intimate they feel. but i could also do that when romance li lon ala. so. allos are so weird to me. still figuring out what i think of the word love but still. allos……. ? ? ? anyway writing relationships where it not being love ISN’T A FLAW is so so enrichment i should do it more

pokes you with a stick pokes you with a stick pokes you with a stick hiiiii hi hi hi hiii

it’s like the mutual i would usually send writing asks has established it likes ‘weird violence’ and complicated dynamics n such so i can send stuff w/o fear i know it a little bit however i don’t know. what is up. with you. i literally saved something i sent to it so i could just put that here however that feels like cheating and or betrayal. you turn the corner to your kitchen and i’m standing there. consuming ice very loudly and aggressively. recklessly even. ‘so do you think about the transient nature of any positive hms relationship’, i ask. what do you do (also i have plugged my own ice maker in btw)

also i’ve already convinced three (3) mutuals to watch centricide so if you do i will feel even more powerful like ohhhh wawa mi li kama suli…. surprisingly they didn’t eviscerate me very cool

it’s like showing up to the function like oh so you rbed that post you like those types of relationships. writes something down. ok so can i write about [paragraph redacted cause i realized maybe there’s a reason you shouldn’t put gore and cannibalism in someone’s inbox without permission. so can i put gore n cannibalism in your inbox :3]

NEW CENTRICIDE THEORY: radcen is called the ringleader of the centrists cause he

i forgot the joke fuck

i am so sorry im like. drawing funny objects (when im not supposed to0 be but SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH shhshshshshhb) and watching centricide rn sodfsdfkjkljddmklslmk im like. really scatterbrained im sorry HGAHAHGHAS yea im already watching it btw feel more poiwerful in return you should watch hfjone if you havent tho. like a trade of interests i get into yours you get into mine >:-)c sorry for like. misinteruptting that one post that one time. hides away i n shame i think that was like. the time i actually knew you existed. for a negative reason ^_^''''''''''' i try not to think about it cause i dont think ur still mad at me for that. hopefully this is goign to be like not arranged in the order of the ask (aka im not reading this in the way this is written. things are being answered in a way that makes no sense) PLEASE SEND ME ASKS even if they are odd. actually the odder the better im going to be honest with you i do not get much interaction askwise so. it brings me joy it wasnt a one sided thing LMFAO i guess i can see why ud see that. no its weird idk whats going on anymore. hi tho!!! is continously poked with a stick. youch. twitches like a bug uhjhmmhmhmhmh ill try jtoh i rememebr you ranting about it sometime but i dont rmemeber any of it i am so sorry also dont vaguepost about me. coward /JOKE that is funny thjo HAHAHAH also eat more. or i will find you. dont malnourish yourslef /silly idk about the shipping thing. i dont get shipping either im going to be honest with you romance is like. just not understandable to me??????????? i cant comprehend why this happens. what is romance continues to be poked more. stares at you i dotn know whats up with me either maybe someone else knows. i dont know much about myself so ^_^ being called a cryptid is probably the best way to describe me i feel. yeag put anything you want aslong as its not. nsfw or smth. ill smite you also can i have some ice pls ice is great wdym by relationship do you mean like. platonic??? romantic????? what do you mena byt his i think ive answered everything i keep having 2 scroll up LOL also edit (once again i know) i did enjoy the video link u sent thank u

[quibbs126]

Okay, I just wanted to do this for posterity’s sake, but basically this post is: Things About Dark Cacao Cookie That (At Least to Me) Point to Him Having Odd Origins (But I’m Probably Overthinking It)

No I will not shorten that name

So I really only have three points (at least that I can currently remember) that apply here, but let’s just mention them regardless

So first up: his abnormal strength

As shown below, his story specifically states that his sword takes 3 average Cookies to even budge, yet we see in game that he’s able to wield it with seemingly little struggle. There is no explanation ever given for this. I mean I suppose you could say that it’s the Soul Jam that gives him the strength, but given that none of the other Ancient descriptions mention their Soul Jam bestowing upon them enchanted physical attributes, it’s little more than conjecture, and it seems more likely to assume that this is just natural for him. But then the question remains: how and why?

Next up: the slit eye thing

In these two sprites, we see Dark Cacao have these slit eyes that he never has in any other sprite. The Wiki names them his “rage sprites”, and while yes, the Wiki is unofficial, the only times we really see these sprites in game seem to be when he’s incredibly angry, or in other words, enraged

Again, no explanation is given for these. I have seen some people say that it’s because cacao and chocolate have small amounts of caffeine in them, and the coffee Cookies are noted to have dilated pupils due to their amounts of caffeine, and thus this is a reference to him having small amounts of caffeine. And yeah, I can accept that as an answer. But also at the same time, these eyes don’t exactly operate like the other coffee eyes, given that they only show up at certain emotionally driven points for Dark Cacao, as opposed to them where it’s just natural and doesn’t seem to ever go away. Also again, this is just a fan theory, and in canon there is no official explanation for this

Now let’s get into my third point: his younger self’s clothes

I know that sounds a weird one but hear me out

Now there’s two parts of this that I want to take note of

First, let’s compare this to the other young Ancients’ outfits

I’d say that by comparison, Dark Cacao’s outfit looks much nicer than theirs

Now yes, you can have explanations for why theirs aren’t the nicest looking. From what I’ve gathered, Pure Vanilla was a pilgrim, and if the art book is to be believed, was once a shepherd, and let’s just say that kind of lifestyle probably isn’t leading you to be wearing particularly nice clothes. As for Hollyberry, while she know she came from a noble house, you can just say this is her adventuring attire, made for battle and roughing it out in the wild rather than looking nice

But that in itself isn’t the weird thing. The weird thing is that Dark Cacao’s clothes look a lot nicer than theirs, which is odd considering the Dark Cacao Kingdom doesn’t seem to be known for having clothes that look particularly high quality. I’m not saying their clothes aren’t of nice quality, it’s just that clothes like this look a bit too nice for just a presumably normal villager, no?

I mean, both the cape and top have those trims you usually put on clothes to make them look nicer (at least I think that’s what it’s called, sorry I’m not good with how clothes work), as well as his nice looking brooch that has a small gem in it. Not to mention the sword he’s carrying, which looks like it has engravings and has what looks more like a dark gem at the pommel. Compare that to the swords we see the Watchers at the Citadel use, and it looks much higher quality. Again, odd for a normal person of a kingdom that isn’t known for its wealth or high quality of clothes or swords (again not to say they can’t have it, it’s just odd in this scenario. Those people who do have high quality stuff are cookies of high ranking in the kingdom, not normal cookies. I don’t think I’m wording this well)

There’s also the fact that it’s purple, which back in the day, was hard to come by and rather expensive. Yes in the current day kingdom, we see people wearing purple, but first off nowadays purple isn’t as hard to obtain, and second those cookies are all those who are at the Citadel, the place of highest ranking in the kingdom. They’re probably allowed higher quality clothing. But also keep note that these are Cookies, not humans, and how clothing colors work could easily be different, so take this point with a grain of salt, it’s probably not all that strong. And I know he’s associated with purple, so it makes sense for him to wear it, but it doesn’t look a particularly dull shade of purple (I mean it does somewhat, but it’s nice enough that it doesn’t just look like grey fabric with a purple tint), and that’s why I call it out

Secondly, there’s the fact that aesthetically, it doesn’t really match the Dark Cacao Kingdom

Now sure, fashion isn’t constant, and it’s not ludicrous to imagine that outfits 1000+ years ago would look radically different, but let’s compare this to the only other cookie we see of the soon to be kingdom from this time period

Just compare the two and they look nothing alike, which is odd considering they’re supposed to both be from the same place. (also it again affirms my point about his clothes looking pretty high quality; Reluctant Cookie here looks like they’re wearing torn and ragged clothing unlike Dark Cacao)

Like Dark Cacao has said himself that he is native to this land, and his features compared to other members do support this idea, so why doesn’t he dress like them?

I mean sure, at this point the land was a bunch of different tribes, and you can assume they probably each have their own style and don’t all look the same, but still, the radical difference

Now okay, those last two points are more speculation on my part, while the other two are objective facts, but you see what I mean? Him being a normal Cookie from the (future) Dark Cacao Kingdom just doesn’t seem to add up

I mean yeah, I know he’s an Ancient, he’s not a “normal Cookie”, but like, everyone else only became “different” later in life, they seem to have started out relatively normal. Dark Cacao stands out as the odd one of the bunch (I mean other than Golden Cheese, but that’s probably because we don’t know anything about her yet)

Originally, back when I was first getting into Cookie Run, I speculated his oddities could be because he’s related to the dragons or was raised by them, hence his unusual traits and clothes. However, Might of the Ancients seems to disprove this, as there, he seems to not be familiar with the dragons at all, not even knowing they were the ones causing the odd storms and snow, simply trying to find the sources of these “anomalies”. And when he does know, nothing tells us that he has any familiarity with them. So I think it’s safe to say he’s not connected to the North and South Dragons

Alright, I so I should mention here that I don’t actually have an answer for all these oddities. I just made this to point them out and say they were weird, at least to me. Hopefully at some point these things get answered. Or again, I’m just overthinking it all

[miniscule-meow]

Charlie and Felix: Bad Decisions

The long awaited follow-up to Bad Times

Writing Masterpost is Here

Extra long chapter (about 4.5k) I thought about splitting it into two but decided to go ahead and post the whole thing because I felt bad about how long it took me to write this

Warnings: Blood Mention, Alcohol, Some Language

~*~*~*~

For the first time since the beginning of the semester, they don’t sit next to each other in class. The room isn’t a huge lecture hall, but there are still plenty of open seats. Charlie sits off to the side, a little closer to the front than her normal spot next to Felix. She doesn’t turn around to check if he’s there, as far as she knows, he might have skipped the class today. The minutes drag along, the lecture seems extra boring without her friend sitting next to her. She knows that they probably just need to talk it out, and everything could be fine again. But honestly, she doesn’t really feel like doing that right now. He took all of her trust and threw it right back in her face. She’s allowed to be upset about that. Not that he even cares. If he didn’t want to be friends with her anymore, he could have just said that. But whatever, no time to think about dumb boys, she tries to focus on the boring lecture instead.

It goes on like this all week, they just mutually pretend that the other one doesn’t exist. Today, once class is over Charlie takes her sweet time packing up her stuff at the end of class. Usually, she would go get lunch with Felix after this class, but that’s obviously not going to happen right now.

“Hey Charlotte!” She turns and finds a girl standing next to her. They have… never really spoken, it takes her a moment to place a name with the face before her. She thinks it’s Madison. She was in her group at the first day orientation for transfer students, but aside from that they haven’t really spoken much. “Not to be, like, nosey or anything, but did you and Felix break up?”

“Um. We weren’t dating.” Charlie says, uncomfortably shifting her backpack onto her shoulders.

“What? Totally thought you were. Huh. But, so like, you’re fighting then, right? You haven’t sat next to each other all week”

“Why do you care?” Charlie raises an eyebrow.

“You totally are. ‘OMG’ Did he go total werewolf on you?” Charlie is briefly taken aback by her saying ‘oh em gee’ out loud in real life, it takes everything in her to not make a face at that. “It was a full moon recently you know and I-”

“No. no, no,” Charlie cuts her off, definitely making faces now, “I’m not going to listen to your stupid conspiracy theories. He’s not a werewolf, okay? He’s just a dumb boy. That’s it. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sorry. I mean, you two have been inseparable like… the whole year and now...” She shrugs. “Nikki totally thought you were being mind controlled to hang out with him.”

“Yeah. Okay, I’m walking away now.” Charlie turns to leave.

“I told her that was stupid!” Madison calls after her.

“Okay, bye.” Charlie waves as she walks off, thankful to escape that conversation before she was asked if Felix has scales or something. Great. Apparently, some people still have time to be curious about her stupid personal life drama. She doesn’t get why everyone is so curious about Felix. He tries to keep to himself, but everyone seems to want to insert themselves in his business. There is that picture of him floating around, but it’s super blurry and you can’t really tell that it's him, or that he’s gigantic. But ever since then everyone just seems to have their own version of who -or what- Felix really is. She guesses it makes sense that people would try to get information out of her, because Madison was right, her and Felix had been inseparable until recently.

“Charlotte, wait wait wait!” Madison runs after her. “I’m really sorry about your breakup and stuff. If you want, next weekend there’s going to be a huge party at Troy’s place. You should totally come. Meet some new people and stuff.” She hands Charlie a scrap of paper with an address on it. Then Madison stands there just long enough to make Charlie feel awkward, “Okay bye.” And with that, she flits off. Charlie looks at the note in her hands.

She’s never been invited to a party before. But thinking logically, there’s no way that would be any fun. Just a bunch of people shouting at her over music, asking her about Felix the whole time, drinking cheap beer, not studying for the finals that are right around the corner. She balls up the note and shoves it into her pocket.

Nothing changes the next week. Felix still hasn’t reached out to her, and she has stubbornly refused to reach out to him first. People mostly leave her alone, everything is relatively normal, if this is what normal has become. No friends, no fun, super normal. By the time the next weekend approaches, she finds herself seriously considering the party thing. She finds the crumpled note and smooths it out on her desk.

The night of the party rolls around, and she actually finds herself driving to the address, and parking a block down from the house. There are a LOT of cars on this street. Once she steps out of her truck she can already hear the dull thump of music and sound emanating from the house. She takes a deep breath before heading inside, determined to make some friends. She’s wearing her hair down, and she took care to pick an outfit that was both cute and comfortable. It’s a pair of overall shorts with a light long sleeve shirt underneath. That, paired with her black combat boots and some tall socks pushed down around the top of the boots. She wore her cutest bralette underneath for herself to help boost her confidence. She felt so cute she even took a selfie before she left. Here’s to new beginnings. It’s a little too cold outside for her outfit, so she grabbed a jacket before she left, but once she entered the house, she quickly ditched her jacket and pushed her sleeves up to her elbows.

It's loud and crowded. The people are packed into every room. Music is playing everywhere, and people are holding drinks, shouting over the music. She looks around. Some people glance her way, but she’s mostly ignored. She finds her way to the drinks.

“What is this?” She asks someone near a big container of a red liquid.

“Jungle Juice.” They shout back.

“What’s in it?”

“I don’t know. Everything?” They laugh and wander off. She’s sure there was something warning her about stuff like this in orientation. She pulls a mug out of an open cabinet and pours herself a glassful. It’s weird that they don’t have plastic cups? She always saw the stereotype of the red solo cups, but I guess they really like to play by their own rules here. Who is going to do all the dishes? What if something breaks? She shakes her head, this is why she doesn't get invited to parties. She just tries the drink already. Bleh. It’s strong to say the least, but... it’s relatively drinkable.

Several cups of jungle juice later she has flitted through several groups. Introductions, small talk, wander, repeat. There hasn’t been anyone she’s immediately clicked with like she had hoped. She joined a group playing a drinking game for a bit, which was fun, and got more fun the more drunk she became. Eventually, she finds herself sitting on the couch in the living room, the room twisting around her. Everything is just sounds and shapes. It's awesome, it's horrifying. Part of her thinks she’s had too much, and part of her is trying to reason why she should have just one more.

She pulls out her phone, it’s late. No notifications. No that's not true, she got a spam email for hot singles in the area, great. No real notifications at least, that is to say, nothing from Felix. She’s not surprised but she’s bummed. She can’t help but wonder what he's is doing right now. He would hate this party, she’s not sure if she hates this party or not. She should call him. She should absolutely not call him. Her phone is already ringing.

“Hello?” His voice answers. Oh my gosh he actually answered. She didn’t think he would answer. Why did she call him right now?

“...Hey.” She is immediately conscious of how she sounds so drunk. He must think she is so drunk. She is so drunk.

As she’s thinking that things couldn’t get any worse, fates twisted smile shines on her. Todd, resident bully, guy she’s pretty sure was in the fight with Felix the first day he actually talked to her Todd takes her phone, holding it away from her.

“Don’t drunk call boys that aren’t here sweetheart, pay attention to the ones that showed up.” He looks at the phone, laughing “Felix.” He reads quietly, looking at her once more, recognition sparking in his eyes. She stands, protesting and goes to grab for the phone. This would be easier if the room didn’t warble as she stood. To make matters more complicated Todd’s buddy, Drew comes from out of nowhere and slings an arm around her, holding her back. “Oh. Well, this is interesting.” He exchanges a glance with Drew. “You wouldn’t mind If I invited your boyfriend to the party, would you?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” is all she can think to say. He just laughs and holds the phone up to his ear. “He probably already hung up he-”

“Hey Lizard boy." What a stupid nickname, he isn't even a lizard or a werewolf or anything like that. "You still there? Yeah. No, no this is your buddy, Todd. Remember me?” Her stomach drops, he didn't hang up. Maybe he did but Todd is just bluffing. There’s a pause. She tries to interject, but Todd just holds out a finger her direction, and turns away. “What? Aw that’s cute she’s got a nickname. No, Charlie can’t come to the phone right now.” He speaks mockingly and shares a sly look with Drew. Him saying her nickname makes her feel wrong. “She’s a little preoccupied with my pal Drew. Hey, you two, keep it PG over there.” He winks at her; her cheeks burn and Drew just laughs.

“Hang up! That’s not funny!” She tries to get away from Drew to snag her phone back, but she has no luck.  

“Anyway, we’re at Troy’s place. I believe you and I have some unfinished business, if you want to come pick up your girl. Two birds, one stone, you know?”

“I’m not anybody’s ‘girl’ can you grow up?” She thinks that this would have been a cooler thing to say if she hadn’t slurred through half of her words.

“Yeah, yeah, that was her. I don’t know how she’s getting home, man. If you don’t pick her up, she could always stay with me. Plenty of room for two in my bed.” Him and Drew share another crude laugh at her embarrassment.

“No. No. Felix don’t come here. I’ll just uber or sober up soon I-” She’s certain that most of this is coherent. “He wouldn’t come pick me up guys, we’re not… He doesn’t even-” She’s being solidly ignored.

“What’s that? 20 minutes. Yeah. See you soon.” He tosses her phone back to her. She fumbles with it and ends up having to pick it up off the floor. Thankfully the screen is still intact, unlike her social life, and her sense of pride.

Todd and Drew finally get out of her space, but they stay in the living room, it has the best view of the door. The groups around the immediate area sneak glances they think she can’t see, and they’re all huddling talking and giggling. She sits back down on the couch and waits.

The door opens several times as people come and go, she holds her breath each time. Eventually, Felix steps in. She looks at him, wide eyed. He actually came. Why did he actually come here? He scans the party before his eyes lock on her. He looks pissed, and it makes her heart freeze. He stalks across the room with such intensity, shouldering through everyone in his way with ease. He stops in front of her, saying nothing but holding a hand out to her. He's inviting her to take his hand, but his irritated expression makes her faulter, and freeze in place.

“Hey lizard boy, looks like you made it after all.” Todd pipes up. The room is absolutely buzzing with electric energy.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Felix says down to her, breaking her from her frozen state. She realizes she doesn't want to piss him off any more than he already is. So she takes his hand. He helps her up, completely ignoring Todd.

“What? Leaving so soon? Stay awhile. Have some fun. I believe you and I need to finish up an old conversation we were having anyway.” Someone slings an arm around her shoulders, pulling her away from Felix. It’s probably Drew, Todd’s sidekick.

What happens next all moves so fast. One moment Felix and Todd are having a tense conversation, the kind you just know will end in a fight. The next moment, she’s tossed backwards. She stumbles back, catching herself on an end table and toppling the whole thing over. She manages to crash down with the table, a decorative lamp and several cups with varying amounts of liquids all smashing down on top of her. Shit. Her cute outfit is soaked in alcohol and whatever else it was mixed with. That’ll probably stain. She pushes herself up onto her hands and knees. This would all be so much easier if the room wasn’t spinning. She looks down at her stained outfit and briefly registers the cuts on her arms. Why did they think that using actual glass would be better than red solo cups?? Now they have to do a bunch of dishes AND they have to clean up a bunch of glass. Clearly this was not well thought out on their end.

By now, the music has stopped, and a circle has formed around the boys. There is a lot of shouting, everyone has their phone out. She pushes her way through the crowd to find Felix on top of Todd, just absolutely wailing on him. He’s landing blow after blow, before Drew comes up from behind him, his nose already bleeding, and he rips him back. The two of them struggle on the ground while Todd writhes in agony, trying to get back up.

“Felix! Stop! Stop!” She shouts, rushing forward. The two boys make their way to their feet, and Felix, having sustained several hits himself, shoves Drew back before she can get there. The crowd scrambles to part to avoid him. He slams against the wall, leaving a nice big dent in the drywall. Felix looks around the circle, and everything is still for a moment. He nods once before his gaze lands on her once more. He's not even gigantic, but just by looking at her it makes her feel no bigger that a gnat. He’s bleeding from his knuckles and a lot from his face, but he’s the only one standing so she supposes that’s a win? He steps forward, not offering a hand to her this time. Instead he pulls her tightly into him and promptly leads her out of the house. Everyone is staring. She quickly grabs her things as they leave.

She glances up at him once they get outside. It’s much quieter out here. Wait. He’s not normally taller than her, They’re roughly the same height, but now he’s at least a head taller than her.

“You’re taller.” He scowls at that, not responding otherwise. “Like… like holding a rubber band stretched open all day?” She recalls one conversation they had, where he compared it to that. He said if he were to try to maintain a height taller than his ‘normal’ height, it would be like trying to keep a rubber band stretched at the same distance all day long. She could imagine him trying to appear more intimidating in there by making himself larger. It also probably would make him stronger she guesses? Charlie doesn’t know how that works. Felix shakes his head slightly.

“Like trying to shove myself in a little box.” He whispers to her. Oh. He’s fighting it off. He’s trying to stay a normal height, but he can’t hold it back completely. That also makes sense. It seems to be triggered by intense emotions sometimes? Charlie also doesn’t know how that works. She knows very little about how his abilities work, she just knows that they exist.

“Oh,” is all she can think to say. “Um. Felix, I wanted to say. Um-”

“Keys.” Felix cuts off her thanks or apology or both, she honestly hadn’t decided yet. She realizes they’ve made it to her truck.

“But, wait. How did you get here if… How will you get your car-”

“Just give me your keys, Charlie.” He holds out his hand to her.

“Right. Sorry. Okay.” She digs through her bag, and after drunkenly fumbling through her belongings, she fishes out her keys and hands them over. He helps her into the passenger side of the truck. “Don’t um, don’t grow and break my truck, please.” It’s not really funny, but she laughs anyway. He just gives her some irritated side eye. They start down the road in silence. It's uncomfortably quiet, so she tries to fill the silence with some chatter. “So, uh I just wanted to tell you I-” He cuts her off again, this time reaching forward and turning up the radio. Message received, shut up Charlie. She sighs, and quietly leans against the window. She doesn’t try talking to him again, instead she focuses on a more important task, not throwing up.

They get back to his house, a decent looking barndominium- that is to say, basically a remodeled barn. It's in a secluded area, and it's got high ceilings, what more could a size shifter need. Felix steps out of the truck, immediately significantly taller than he should be. He fumbles with opening the door for her, his hands are an awkward size for the handle. He finally gets it open, and catches her as she half stumbles, half straight up falls, out of the truck.

“I’m gonna throw up.” She mumbles.

“For real?” He asks.

“For serious.” She nods. He sighs and forces himself to be a few inches shorter. He’s shaking with the exertion of keeping himself human sized, but he helps her inside, and leads her to the bathroom. “Oh jeez. I don’t want to puke in front of you. This is so embarrassing.” She’s sprawled on the floor, hovering over the toilet. He silently ties her hair back before just leaving the room as she revisits all the drinks and bad decisions that she made that night.

He leaves her be, going outside to finally stretch out. He grows to full height, sighing in relief. It gets easier to get this big every time he does it. It feels like he's unlocked something, and there's no going back now. He figures he has a few minutes alone while she’s in there throwing up. He can just sit like this for a moment and get it out of his system. He focuses on steadying his breathing. He should really clean up after Charlie is done in the bathroom. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror when he was in there and he is a bloody mess. All too soon, Charlie’s small voice reaches his ears.

“Felix.”

“Go back inside.” He huffs, not wanting her to see him gigantic and bloody and stressed.

“Yeah. I get it, you hate me, and you don’t want to talk to me, but-”

“Charlie. Just go back inside.” Not feeling up to unpacking that right now, he brings his hand down, gently ushering her back inside and blocking the door with his fingers.

“Can you just listen to me?!” She shouts, kicking at his fingertips, “I just need like, a first aid kit. Or maybe, I dunno, some bandages?” This gets his attention. He pulls his hand back, grimacing as she stumbles forwards.

“You’re hurt?”

“No, I just wanted to play Doctor!” She throws her arms up exasperated. He just looks down at her, brow furrowed. He looks annoyed or maybe concerned. He’s probably both, she’s both too drunk to discern the difference and too drunk care. “Not that you really care either way," she huffs. "It isn’t a huge deal I just, I fell back at the party, you were there but you might have been a little… distracted, and … yeah.” She gestures to her arms, having carefully rolled up the sleeves once more.

“Let me-” He whispers, already seeing the red staining her arms. He pauses for a moment like he’s trying to focus, but then he huffs, looking frustrated. She supposes he can’t shift back to normal just yet, another thing she doesn’t quite understand how it works. He moves over from his seated position to laying on his stomach. It’s kind of dizzying watching him move when he's that big. Just simple movements send vibrations through the earth around her. She swallows thickly, and can’t stop from taking a step back away from him as he settles before her. “Just let me see," he says gently. He props himself up on one arm, and reaches his other hand towards her slowly. She hesitates, but eventually she reaches out one of her arms and his gigantic fingertip comes to meet her.

Delicately, he pinches her wrist between his finger and thumb and pulls her arm out so he can get a better look. He leans forward, taking the scene in with wide eyes. He’s close enough for his breathing to ruffle her hair. Her heart pounds in her chest as he silently scans over her. His eyes rake over the cuts on her forearm, flicking over to see the same situation decorating her other arm. He only holds her there for a moment, but he is completely focused on her. She’s never felt more seen than right now. His eyes find their way to her face, she looks from his massive fingers holding her hand to finally bringing herself to meet his all-encompassing gaze. She thinks this is the first time he’s actually looked at her since he picked her up from the party. Or since their fight. It almost feels like it’s the first time anyone has ever really looked at her. Maybe it’s just because she’s drunk, hurt and relatively tiny. Like a bird with a broken wing, a mouse stuck in a glue trap. But, the way he looks at her, she doesn’t feel like a wounded animal he’s taking pity on. She feels like his whole world, at least for that one fleeting moment. He seems so captivated with her. She’s so insignificantly small, she could fit into the palm of his hand. And yet, he looks her over with such care and intense attention to detail it makes her feel like he can see each of her individual eyelashes.

“I'm sorry. you wouldn't have gotten hurt if I would have just-" he clenches his jaw, his expression turning dark and unreadable. Her pulse picks up, this is what he looked like before he decided to make it his mission to make her fear for her life. She pulls her arm back, it's still clamped solidly between his thumb and forefinger. That seems to get his attention. "Okay. Yeah.” He lets her go, withdrawing his hand. Part of her misses his warmth immediately, but another part of her is just relieved. He pushes his palms into the ground and returns to sitting, towering above her. “Just give me ten minutes and I’ll come in and help. Okay?”

“Alright,” she answers breathlessly before turning and going back inside. She sits on the floor in the bathroom, just trying not to bleed on anything important. She feels both better and worse since throwing up, mostly better though she thinks. The room still spins lazily around her as she waits. She is very aware of how cold and wet her clothes are. With sore arms she peels her shirt off, leaving her still wet overalls on, now with just a lace bralette underneath. At least her shirt isn’t sticking to her anymore. She’s still drunk and cold though. One step at a time she supposes.

Eventually, Felix comes back in, his normal height once more. He lays eyes on her for a beat before quickly averting his eyes with a quiet, "Oh Jeez." He digs through the bathroom drawers, setting out first aid supplies on the counter. “You, um. Why did you feel the need to take your shirt off?” He doesn’t look at her, but she can see in the mirror, he's blushing.

“Everything is wet and sticky, and cold. I spilled a lot of drinks on myself when I fell.” She says very matter-of-factly.

“Alright. Um. Okay.”

“I think I broke their lamp too. What kind of person has a house party but doesn’t invest in red solo cups. All the cups were glass. I broke so much glass. Why didn’t they think about that as a possibility. And besides, who is going to be stuck doing all those dishes? Cups aren't even expensive.” She shakes her head, looking up at Felix, his hands are braced on the counter, he’s focusing on the medical supplies, taking stock of what he has and definitely avoiding looking at her. “You can look at me, dude. I would probably wear this in public in like… the summertime. Maybe I’d put like a flannel on top of it. Different shoes. You don’t need to be so… scandalized.” She shrugs.

“Okay.” He nervously taps the counter a few times, she’s pretty sure he only spoke up so she would stop rambling. He takes a deep breath before continuing, “I just, you are very drunk and now you're removing... layers. I just don't want to make you... uncomfortable" he clears his throat. "Okay. Okay. Come here, let’s make sure you don’t still have glass in your arms.”

He bandages her up, taking care to rinse and disinfect the wounds. Her arms took the brunt of the damage, but she has some scrapes on her knees as well. She rambles as he works, and when he doesn’t respond she rambles some more, her words slurring into one another. As he bandages her first arm, she mostly just does a lot of apologizing. ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘This is embarrassing, I’m sorry.’ Just looping. Felix responds once or twice with something resembling ‘it’s fine’ or ‘you’re okay.’ But once it’s clear that she’s still going, he just lets her talk. It’s when he switches to work on the second arm that she takes a big breath and starts really getting into it.

“I guess I kind of ruined your night, huh? You probably had better things to do with your Friday. I’m sorry. I know you wanted me to just leave you alone. I'm... I'm still mad at you by the way. So, I promise, I will leave as soon as I'm sober, and we can go back to pretending that we’ve never met. I know that you don’t want to be my friend anymore and stuff. So, that’s why I went to the party in the first place. I thought that I could meet someone cool and make new friends and stuff. That obviously didn’t happen.  Lesson learned though, and I probably won’t be making that mistake again. I know it sounds super lame, but you were my only friend. I don’t mean to say that to be like ‘oh feel bad for me and be my friend again.’ I don’t mean it like that, it’s just… how it is. I just, I don’t know. I guess I just wish I knew what I did to make you not like me anymore. I just- Gah, I’m such a loser.” She is just noticing the tears streaming down her face. She uses her free hand to attempt to wipe them away. “This is so embarrassing. I’m sorry. Forget I said any of that. I'm mad at you." He lets go of her other arm. She finds her way to the floor, leaning against the cabinets and she buries her face in her hands.

“Charlie. I don’t hate you.” He sits on the floor beside her. “I never hated you. I have just been a really, really bad friend to you. I'm sorry."

“Yeah.” She sniffles. Dropping her hands into her lap. “Why did you want to do that?”

“It’s dumb.” He sighs, “I just. I'm not used to getting that big. My classmates always said I had a useless power and... Anyway I have to go back to the academy for the summer and I just. It's kind of really complicated, but I took some shit out on you and... You don't deserve that. I'm sorry. I understand if you want to pretend like you never met me."

Charlie looks at him for a long while before she leans into him, wrapping her freshly bandaged arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder.

“I missed you.” She mumbles into him.

He sets her up to sleep on the couch, but first he gives her some clean, dry clothes to wear. He sets a glass of water and some aspirin on the coffee table in front of her for the inevitable hangover she will have in the morning.

“I missed you too.” He says resting his cheek against her head.

[jellymish-art]

New fanfic! It's a short one, so this post contains the full text. But if you'd like to leave a comment or kudos on my Ao3, just follow the link above! I'd love to hear from you!

Errare Humanum Est

Me and Nightingale both looked down at the sad remains of his experiment.

“Would you look at that,” Nightingale said, “I failed.”

He took a few steps forward and carefully prodded at the smouldering pile of melted metal and plastic with his boot. I was about to say some encouraging words to cheer him up, but when Nightingale turned back to me, I was surprised to find that, instead of looking disappointed, he was grinning from ear to ear. 

“Is something the matter?” he asked me when I didn’t respond. 

“Sorry,” I said, “I didn’t expect you to be this enthusiastic about messing up.”

“Ah. I suppose it isn’t the usual reaction.” Nightingale’s grin returned at that. “You see, I’ve recently decided to let go of the notion that I must always set a good example. It may not be what is expected of me, but then again, I’m nobody’s automaton, am I?”

His eyes met mine and there was a sense of pride in Nightingale’s expression that I’d never seen there before. And was there a hint of rebellion too? 

That made me think. I don’t pretend to know what it was like for him, but I’d always had a feeling that Nightingale resented his title as The Nightingale, because if you’re being put on a pedestal by your friends and by your enemies alike, that has to feel somewhat alienating. And you know, with him still being (as of writing this) the last formally trained British wizard and having to look after the Folly and the black library and basically having been a one-man-army for falcon related police matters for ages… That much pressure is bound to have an impact on your self-image, especially if you’re someone as conscientious as Nightingale.

And maybe that was why this moment felt so huge all of a sudden. Maybe this was Nigthingale’s personal little rebellion; A rebellion to take back his humanity. 

To test my theory, I mirrored his grin and said: “Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum.”

“Et tertia non datur,” he finished. “You’ve read up on Seneca the Younger, I see.”

I wasn’t about to tell him that I’d recently looked it up on the internet for a totally unrelated reason and instead asked: “Was he right?”

“For the first part, yes. As for the second and third… I claim my right as a hairless ape with ideas of grandeur to not have an answer.”

I nodded solemnly. “Nice one.”

“Thank you,” said Nightingale and started rolling up his sleeves. “Now, let’s see if we can’t get my little experiment to work on round two.”

Long story short, we didn’t. Although we did get a proper safety protocol out of it, on how to deal with noxious fumes and magical pollution.