#there's way too much theorizing - and acting on those theories - happening on way too little information

[throwing-roses-into-the-abyss]

the way in which this team of apparently highly trained police officers goes about researching their cases is so frustrating. like what do you mean you're only checking whether kao used his phone after he left art's place after you found out he left at all. why did you just. assume. kao died there at the studio. and why has it taken you literal days of thinking of 'hey maybe we should find out if kao has anyone he trusts he can stay with while hiding'. all of these things should be at the top of the list. full phone records, lists of family and friends. you've got a missing person who may or may not be dead and you're just kind of winging the case as you go???

[beanghostprincess]

Heeeeeyyyyyyy boooooooooo~

Have you read anything by Stereden? I am OBSESSED and INSPIRED okay it is AMAZING I love

So yeah.

Those works I spired me into making my own lil AU - Haki is a matter of will. It's an innate thing in all living beings, everyone has Haki, but you have to train to be able to control or sharpen it, and some are born with a special ability to IMPOSE IT ON OTHERS. Roger was among those.

Haki could be boiled down to soul energy.

((Shamelessly dropping another special interest with my one piece ideas mwahahah so evil))

Some of the theories regarding ghosts or repetitive cycles of hauntings is due to the amount of emotional energy affixed to a person or place, OR by the will of the person remaining. If one who died had a strong enough Will to Continue Existing, then it's theorized that they could either remain or pass between the veil.

Roger had v strong Conquerors Haki. He had the Voice of All Things, too.

He was sick and dying and so he chose what he thought was best to act as the end of his time. But I do NOT doubt for a single second that when he was up there on that platform that he could tell Shanks and Buggy were exhausted, scared, hurt, grief stricken and alone.

Where was the rest of his crew? Why wasn't Rayleigh with them? Why hadn't Crocus treated those wounds on theirs? Why was Buggy so worn thin, like a live wire, and why did his little Red feel so hollow and empty? What in the seven Seas happened to his kids?!

He's too weak to break out. The best he can do with misdirect attention from them as best he can. The best he can do is send his haki out to wrap around them, a blanket, armor, whatever they needed bc he'd do it, he'd do it all for them, thise are his kids and he loves them and he pours ever single bit of that love into it.

Roger dies on that platform, but he's still there.

He bears witness to the way the crew meets back up not even an hour after his head hit the cobblestone ground, and he is seething as he watches Rayleigh officially disband the crew. He is frothing when Buggy, voice shaking and thin and pale and everything Roger refused to let the child be ever again, asks through tears, "what do we do now?"

And Rayleigh, face blank, just responds with, "go back to what you were doing, kid. You survived this long."

And Roger is furious, is livid, is terrified and angry and hurt and-

One of the nearby lanterns explodes.

The crew shoots looks that direction, and Roger thinks they might just see him, but nobody reacts beyond his kids blinking hard a few times before looking away. And Oh. Oh, That Is Odd.

Roger is a pirate, a Captain, is deadDeadDeadDeadOhFuckHeIsDead- but he's a selfish man at his core. He has made peace with that.

He watches over Shanks and Buggy, sometimes goes to check on Rouge and her growing little bump. He winds up baring witness to the events of Baterilla, and he is furious beyond reason by the Marines. But he is there to see Rouge's last breath and Ace's first, and hebwatches Garp take his child, just as requested, and he holds his wife in his arms as she joins him in this odd limbo.

They both bare witness, hand in hand, as Shanks and Buggy fight tears, panic attacks, and unfiltered rage as they help dig graves and mourn the losses of innocent lives, and Roger aches when they keep a meticulous count. Rouge cries with every friend and family member she sees lowered into the earth, but she is still trying, futile as it is, to wipe away Buggy's and Shanks' tears, hands gently on their backs and heads and cheeks. She has never met them, not personally, but Roger had told her so much, and these boys are hers as well, hers to love and protect and adore.

The pirate king and his wife, his queen, keep watch over their children, trying to give comfort where they could, protection in any way they can manage.

Roger aches with Ace's hatred. He understands, he'd never blame him for it, but it hurts and he may hate Garp's choices a little more with each glimpse into the situation.

For a long while, things are fine, are normal, make a routine. Three years in, there is a change.

A pulse ripples along the world, jarring and sudden, like a cacophonous drum beat. As quickly as it comes, it goes. Roger and Rouge exchange glances. None of the living have reacted.

They meet Luffy not long after.

His tiny body thrums with energy, heart an odd but not harmful pace and Roger Knows.

He never thought he'd get to see this.

Luffy is still so small, so tiny, but he is loved, so much so.

And, the couple learns, he is the epicenter of so much by way of Fate.

He goes on to become so much to so many, a friend/son to Shanks, a person of interest to Buggy, a brother to Ace, and Roger is cackling over having five whole sons as soon as the cups clink together, much to Rouge's amusement.

Just. Roger ((and Rouge)) watching over their children.

Occasionally even being VISIBLE to others in times of high energy.

Alvida seeing Roger sitting on the edge of Buggy's bed when he spikes dangerous fevers.

Benn seeing Rouge brush Shanks' hair back when he gets blackout drunk after a particularly hard time.

Dadan seeing both parents soothe a sobbing little baby when she was still so new to this parenting thing, and never breathing a word of it.

Chopper occassionally getting glimpses of a giant of a man and a powerful looking woman whe Luffy is badly injured, both gently offering him comfort or standing guard.

Koala occasionally sees strangers in the base when Sabo is sick or hurt or has nightmares.

Whitebeard nearly chokes when he sees Roger sitting next to his son on his deck, smiling fondly at the newly snoring young man and patting his head gently.

Nobody breathes a word of any of this, not for a good long while because stranger things have happened. And besides...

It's good to know the kids are being looked out for.

Oh damn. Okay. I've never really been into ghost stuff and things like this, but this is so cool??? Honestly, turning it into soul energy makes it so interesting. They're there to look out for them and keep an eye on them and it's such a beautiful concept!!! <3

[alarrytale]

stuff like this whole emr*ta thing and O tattoo stuff is why i find it hard to continue being a larrie. so much of larrieism (is that even a word?) is just larries trying to come up with a reason for everything and then trying to convince the rest of us that this is what makes the most sense when it really doesn’t. no amount of excuses and theories about why those things happened will convince me that he was forced to do that stuff or that it was good for his image in anyway so he felt like he needed to. same with Louis and all of this documentary bs, the whole 22 year old fake gf thing was just dumb. no matter if you believe larries real or not, they just don’t seem like great people. then on top of that theyre friends with terrible people too like

Hi, anon!

Larrism isn't a word because larries are not a hive mind. I think everything h or l does publically is for a reason and is carefully planned. It's not random. It's careful image curation to maintain and grow their fanbase. One wrong step and they'll be cancelled. What they do to curate their images also has little to do with larry being real. Don't conflate the two.

I believe what i believe because it makes sense to me due to the information available to me, following them daily since 2012 and my knowledge of how the business works. I share what i think is happening and why, but i never ever try to convince anyone of anything. Most of what we do here is speculating, theorizing, interpreting and trying to put a puzzle together in a way that makes sense.

If things don't make sense to you, then they don't. If you think h made out with emrata for attention and for headlines, or got the O tattoo to show his fake devotion to her, then go for it. But then i question who you think they are as people, their morals and integrity? If you think so low of them, why are you a fan? Neither H or L are perfect people, but there is a marked difference between hating that H is hanging out with JC and L faking being a dad. If they don't seem like great people to you, i'd think i'd find someone else to look up to and be a fan of. Someone who acts more in accordance with your own morals and makes you happy. Give them your time and attention.

[blockgamepirate]

So we were talking on Discord about a DSMP superpowers AU, specifically Syndicate as an anarchist superhero team who are perceived as villains by pretty much everybody. (There were a bunch of people involved in the brainstorming but I wanna particularly credit @macachee for the idea for Techno’s superpowers, even though I ended up using a slightly different version than theirs.)

Anyway I know I don't really write fanfic anymore and I'm extremely rusty but uh... my hand slipped?

(CW: nothing major but there are repeated mentions of fire and some pretty tame violence)

×××

"Professor Underscore, I presume?"

The distinctive deep voice of an infamous supervillain was really not something anyone wanted to hear after 14 hours of last minute bug-fixing on a prototype superweapon in a secret laboratory. Especially when all your assistants had already called it a day and gone home.

Without even looking around, Tubbo reached for the gun in his desk drawer but before he could pull it out, a blade smashed into the wood right next to his hand.

"Nope", said the voice, "you don't get to have weapons, I get to have weapons. And speaking of weapons..."

Tubbo carefully turned around on his chair to face his attacker. As expected, it was a huge, hulking pigman dressed in flashy red and a golden mask.

"You are Protesilaus, aren't you? From the Syndicate?"

Protesilaus blinked at him. "You're a LOT younger than I expected, professor."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"I mean it's very impressive though, good for you."

"Thanks."

"So anyway, I'm here for the weapons."

"The weapons are kinda reserved already. You know, for the military."

"Don't give a shit", said a voice from the door. "Gib."

Protesilaus sighed. "Zephyrus, you're supposed to be the secret back-up."

The man hiding by the door frame laughed. "We already took care of the guards. There's nobody here but him, it's fiiine."

"But what if HE has his own secret back-up? What then? Well, it's too late now so just keep a look-out, alright?"

Zephyrus laughed again. "Sure."

"Alright." Protesilaus pointed his sword at Tubbo. "Show us to the weapons."

×××

There wasn't much he could think of doing to stall except try and tap in the pin codes on the doors as slowly as humanly possible. To be fair he didn't even really know what he was stalling for exactly. Secret back-up would have been nice but if they’d really taken out all the guards then none was likely to come.

Protesilaus was following him, sword in hand, making random small talk on the way as if he didn't know how to deal with the silence. Tubbo had only caught a few glimpses of Zephyrus, the winged man, in the background or in reflections. He seemed to be tampering with the security systems on the way, meaning that Tubbo really might be completely alone on this if the sabotage was successful. Zephyrus was also pulling along a big wheeled container of some sort that was probably intended for the weapons.

The two of them were the known members of the Syndicate, a team of anarchist terrorists who gave nightmares to the local police forces, the national guard and occasionally the military, but it was also widely theorized to have a secret third member with fire powers. Nobody had ever managed to catch them in the act, the only evidence of the secret member's existence was the trail of smoking ruins following the pair, their targets always burned down in a blaze of extremely memorable pink flames.

Tubbo had a theory that there were actually two secret members in the Syndicate, because if you're going to have one secret member you might as well have two, right? Maybe even three! It just made sense.

His assistants hadn't seemed convinced by this logic.

They arrived at the large hall leading up to the main vault where the prototypes were hidden and Tubbo finally had a plan. Somebody (probably him, honestly) had left the remote control of his battle bots lying around on a sidetable. He took advantage of his captors checking the space for surprise guards and inched slowly towards the remote.

"Everything good up there?" Protesilaus called out to Zephyrus who had flown up to the rafters.

"All good."

"Alright, seems safe enough", said Protesilaus. "Now, open the vault."

Tubbo just needed to stall a little bit longer until he could grab the remote undetected. "Actually, maybe I just won't be able to live with the fact that I let you guys get your hands on superweapons? What if I'd rather die than let you have them?"

Protesilaus sighed. "Look, don't worry, it's for a good cause, I promise."

"I mean, you guys are supervillains."

"Oh yeah sure, you're literally making weapons for an imperialist government but we're the villains?"

"What about that orphanage you burned down?" Tubbo kept moving towards the sidetable, trying to make it look like he was just pacing nervously.

"I have NEVER burned down any orphanages, I do NOT have an irrational hatred of small children, in fact I LOVE orphans in particular, you can ask anyone."

"You did, though! That was like two years ago, back when you were part of the Sleepy Bois Inc!"

Tubbo actually knew quite a lot about the Sleepy Bois, the infamous villain team who were particularly known for conning people into taking part in some sort of strange experiments, like that time they somehow transported a hundred people to the moon and told them to terraform a random area. The group had broken up a while back and two of the four had since reformed. Well, more or less reformed anyway. Actually not really reformed, but they were at least sticking to smaller crimes these days.

Anyway Mr. Business was now one of Tubbo's best friends, although nobody was supposed to know that. And Dirty Crime Boy seemed like a surprisingly nice guy. He was out there running what seemed to be some kind of a drug van but Tubbo had chosen not to worry about it too much.

The other two members, however...

"Sleepy Boys? Doesn't ring a bell." Protesilaus' face was suspiciously blank.

"You know, back when you called yourself the Blood God."

"Nah nah nah, I'm Protesilaus, not the Blood God."

"Come on, you're OBVIOUSLY the Blood God."

"I've never even heard of that guy."

"You're LITERALLY a pigman with superhealing powers and a shiny magical sword, you wear a crown AND you're hanging out with a blond guy with wings who looks just like the Angel of Death."

"Wow, wild coincidence", said Protesilaus

“Not gonna lie, the Angel of Death is a really cool name“, said Zephyrus.

Tubbo ignored them. "And you sound exactly like the Blood God."

"I don't hear it", said Protesilaus.

"You said you don't even know who he is!"

"Exactly."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'EXACTLY'??? THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!!!"

"Well I can't hear it if I've never even heard him speak. That's just logic."

Up in the rafters Zephyrus was cackling like a madman.

"You annoy me so much", said Tubbo.

"Aaaanyways, just give us a little peek into the vault, alright? Just out of curiosity, you know."

Tubbo had made it to the remote, he just needed one more distraction to cover for him grabbing it. "Uh..." Then he had an idea: he just took a quick sudden glance at the exit, as if he'd seen something over there and sure enough both of the criminals immediately turned to check. It was just long enough. He got the remote. "Okay fine, you can see the vault."

"Nice, nice." Protesilaus was still glancing around suspiciously but he had no idea what he should have been suspicious of.

Tubbo was more than happy to open the vault now. It might be holding the prototypes but it was also filled with a small army of robots.

All of which came to life with the press of a button.

"Ah", said Protesilaus. "There's his secret back-up."

"Oh Jesus", said Zephyrus. "I think we fucked up."

"You could say that", said Tubbo. "If you just leave peacefully I might let you go", he added in a sudden fit of uncharacteristic levels of confidence.

Protesilaus raised his sword. "Well you see, I really want those weapons, though."

"I guess you'll just have to fight the robots for it then", said Tubbo, configuring the targetting system.

"Mate, they've got guns on them", Zephyrus called out from above.

"Take cover then", said Protesilaus, very much not taking any cover at all himself.

Tubbo, pretty sure the bots knew which people to fight, released them on the criminals.

Protesilaus immediately managed to dodge the first few lazer bolts from the bots, but the third hit him on the arm. He flinched a bit but didn't seem too bothered. "Ouch. Okay so they can actually aim."

Still dancing around the shots, he held his hand to the wound and once he took it off, only the singed hole on his sleeve remained. The Blood God had been known for some kind of healing powers and coincidentally Protesilaus of the Syndicate, who apparently definitely wasn't the Blood God, just happened to also have healing powers. This fight was going to be hard even for thirty robots.

The pigman finally took some cover, hiding behind a pillar. The robots would have to move closer and Tubbo could already tell that if he'd manage to single them out, Protesilaus would easily take them down one by one.

Even worse, Zephyrus had hidden behind a different pillar up near the ceiling and was sniping the bots from above. They were supposed to be bulletproof but the man was absolutely cracked and managed to keep hitting them in the joints and in the eyes.

But at least the bots had given Tubbo some room to work with. He bolted into the vault and headed straight for a very specific section.

"So I just wanna know, professor", Protesilaus called out from the hall, "how are you NOT the evil mastermind here? You have a LITERAL horde of robots in your control that you can just let loose on people!"

"What do you MEAN? They're for fighting people like you! In this exact kind of situation!" Tubbo found what he was looking for and quickly unbuckled the huge harnesses holding it in place. He had to get a stool to reach the highest ones and nearly tripped on it in his hurry.

"Oh and how many of these have you sold to the government? And what if they just decide that they'd be very convenient for taking care of dissenters?"

"Well if the dissenters are literal supervillains, that sounds great." He climbed the ladder on the wall up to the platform by the mech suit and jumped inside.

He couldn't hear what Protesilaus responded after he pulled down the dome of the suit over his body. The sounds of fighting and the bulletproof glass drowned it all out from this distance, and the sound system wasn’t turned on yet. Now the odds should be a lot more even, though. Let’s see how they deal with this, he thought. He settled in and launched the mech--

... and then maneuvered awkwardly through the mess of secret weapons and machines inside his vault. He was pretty sure he didn't break too many things on the way, it was fine. In the corner of his eye he thought he saw a flash of pink and for a second he worried that the pigman had followed him into the vault where it would be almost impossible for him to fight in the suit but luckily he could still hear the sound of sword clanging into metal from outside.

He moved over to the vault door as sneakily as he could while piloting a 12-foot-tall machine in a tight space and looked out into the hall. The floor was littered with broken robots, and there were several blinded ones aimlessly wandering around and getting in the way of the ones that still functioned properly. Protesilaus was towards the back of the hall, stabbing a bot in the armpit and tearing off its arm, Zephyrus on the other hand, still perching on the rafters, had moved around the pillar he had hidden behind, now aiming away from the vault. Neither of them were looking at Tubbo. He took aim and shot at one of the huge grey wings.

"Ah! Fuck!" Zephyrus spun around. "You little shit!"

"Zephyrus, are you okay??" Protesilaus immediately looked over to his ally and took another hit himself.

"I'm FINE, dude!" Zephyrus sounded exasperated but fond. "Look out yourself! Also the kid has a fucking mech."

"A what?"

Tubbo slammed the vault door shut. Good luck getting in there now, Syndicate. Then he tossed aside some robot carcasses to clear out the floor and threw one at Protesilaus who dodged it easily but in the process took another hit from a different robot. He was starting to look tired and he was obviously distracted by Zephyrus getting hurt. That was promising.

Tubbo started climbing the pillar up to the ceiling. Zephyrus cursed again and tried to hop around the pillar to run across to the other side but his hurt wing didn't open properly so he lost his balance, slipped up and fell. "Shit!"

"ZEPHYRUS!"

The man managed to open his wings and soften the fall but the injury made him veer dangerously to the left and crash into a pile of broken robots. Protesilaus leaped over to him, dropping his sword and laying his hands on his friend's wing and back. A faint red glow emitted from the touch points.

Tubbo jumped back down to the ground and stormed at them. He punched the pigman right in the chin, sending him flying across the room. He then tried to grab Zephyrus but the man had already slipped away and had apparently managed to pick up his friend's sword. "You motherfucker", the man said, "I'm going to take that fucking suit apart and then it's your turn."

"Zeph!" Protesilaus called from the side and Zephyrus tossed the sword to him without taking his eyes of off Tubbo. Then the man pulled up his sniper rifle again and Tubbo quickly covered his weak points with his armoured arms and jumped behind a pillar. He needed to disarm Zephyrus ASAP.

Behind them, Protesilaus was taking care of the last few robots. Tubbo didn't have much time, but he couldn't do anything until Zephyrus would have to reload, the guy was just too accurate...

"Oh fuck", said Zephyrus suddenly. "Prot, the door!"

They all turned to look at the exit.

There, at the door, was Ranboo, widened eyes flicking between Tubbo, the broken robots and the Syndicade. He was holding a bowl of biscuits and a cup of tea. "Uh... hello? Hi?"

Ranboo was actually NOT allowed in the vaults but how do you stop someone who can literally teleport anyway? Tubbo was glad to see him sneaking in, though.

"Ranboo! Help! They're trying to steal the weapons!"

"I..." Ranboo seemed frozen in place.

"Ranboo!" Tubbo was starting to get worried. His husband wasn't even taking any shelter. He drove the mech over to him to at least give him some protection.

"I just came to bring you cookies? Coz I thought maybe you were staying late to make the deadline and I thought--"

"Ranboo, I'm being attacked by supervillains right now!"

"Look, what if we just talked this through? I'm sure everybody here would rather not kill each other, right?" Ranboo was tall enough to lay a hand on Tubbo's shoulder even when he was wearing the mech suit which kind of pissed Tubbo off to be quite honest.

"Sure", said Protesilaus, "I love negotiating. Give us the weapons and their blueprints and we're more than happy to go."

"See? That's good, right? Tubbo, we can just let them have the weapons."

"Ranboo, sometimes you're a bit too quirky for my liking. Stop being quirky, help me fight them. You can use your... T-E-L-I-P-O-R-T-A-T-I-O-N powers."

Everybody just stared at him for a second.

"Shouldn't it be T-E-L-E?" said Protesilaus.

"Tubbo, you realise they can spell words too, you know, like most people who graduated elementary school?" said Ranboo.

"I'M SORRY! I'M TIRED, OKAY?"

“You could have just said ‘use your powers’, I mean, I know what my powers are.”

“IT'S BEEN A REALLY LONG DAY!“

"Zephyrus, I think this guy might be too much for us, I've never met such intimidating intellect", said Protesilaus. Zephyrus seemed to already be dying of laughter and his ally's words did not help.

"Now that's just rude," said Tubbo.

He'd barely finished his sentence when a horrible whistling sound hit them all like an invisible cargo train. After a second Tubbo managed to reassemble his braincells long enough to figure it out: "The fire alarm!"

Then he noticed the grin on his enemy's face. "Well, good job, everyone! Let's go home, Zephyrus", said Protesilaus cheerfully.

"Sure, mate."

The secret third member of the Syndicate, Tubbo suddenly remembered. The container they'd brought with them was gone too. Well, fuck. "This whole thing was a diversion??"

"Yep." The Protesilaus was already at the exit and Zephyrus was following right behind him. "See ya, losers!"

Something inside the vault exploded, making a muffled bang through the door, as if just to prove where exactly the fire had been lit.

"Oh man..." Tubbo flopped down on his seat. "I spent SO LONG building all those things!"

"Tubbo, we need to get out." Ranboo took him by the hand of his mech suit and pulled him along.

"No, we could still go in and save the--"

"No, Tubbo. Let's NOT run into the vault full of dangerous chemicals that's literally on fire, actually."

×××

By the time the fire department showed up, pink flames had enveloped the entire lab complex. The terrorists presumably had at least one of the prototypes now and all the remaining ones were a lost cause.

It's not like all the work was gone to waste, they'd made some backups at least, but it would be a pain to find a new lab and order all the extremely volatile chemicals again. So much paperwork. Tubbo was really not good at paperwork.

"Well, there goes my summer holidays I guess", he said.

"Yeah", said Ranboo. "There they go."

×××

"So... Lethe", said Techno at the next Syndicate meeting, "you never happened to mention you were friends with Professor Underscore."

Ranboo shifted nervously in his chair. "I mean... in my defence, you never said you were going to raid his lab?"

"True, true. It didn't seem like relevant information at the time I suppose. You know, because you're kinda more in the group just for the book club and Bake Off Fridays and not so much for the vigilante thing."

"How do you know Professor Underscore, Lethe?" asked Niki gently.

Ranboo looked around the table. He was fairly certain that the others wouldn't kill him for fraternizing with the enemy. He was pretty sure anyway. At least 70% sure.

Also they were all staring at him now.

"Uh... he's my... husband?"

The staring continued.

"Oh!" said Niki.

"Well", said Techno. "This is awkward."

"Uh huh?" Ranboo responded, his entire body tense and slightly wobbly.

"Techno", Phil said softly. Techno brushed him off.

"So uh, are you attached to him, Lethe?"

"Y-yes?" Ranboo straightened his back. "Yes." he said again, more firmly.

"Alright. I guess in the future we should try not to kill him then."

[wisehq]

Mission Debrief: Chapter Forty-two

...It's all coming together.

I'm just going to come outright and say it; I had no idea what to write for this review- not because there wasn't anything to discuss, but rather this chapter gave us so much that I didn't know what to focus on first. Chapter forty-two has single-handedly thrown open the doors to a hundred different theories, and believe me when I say that after a whole night of redbull and theorizing I couldn't come up with any clear answers (the folks over at the Strix discord group can attest to that).

So here's what we're gonna do; I'm not going to focus on the chapter itself.

It was cute. Cardshark Anya is hilariously awesome. Damian is a little shit (whom I adore), and the chapters where the kids can just be kids are- in my opinion- the best.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter. For the rest of this review, I want to go over all the facts we know so far about the story and setting. All of the things Endo has been slowly building up in the background and the pieces that we can stitch together from them, starting with this chapter. Two key things stuck out to me.

In the entirety of the story up till this point, this is the first time we have heard mention of a royal anything- and not only that, but this chef is a former royal chef. This of course implies that a) said chef was fired (not likely given that Eden wouldn't likely associate with someone who was disgraced like that) or retired, or b) that there is no royalty anymore. Ostania is a totalitarian state and the main power of the government- from what we've seen- lies with the ruling political party, i.e the National Unity Party, a.k.a Desmond's party. Such a political structure would have no room for royalty in a governing capacity, and therein begs the question; is there still a royal/noble class- albeit in a non-governing sense- or was it abolished sometime in the recent past?

Classical language is not proper speaking and diction like I had originally thought. Classical language is a specific term typically used to describe a dead language or dialect (think Latin, or Hebrew before it was revived). I find this particularly interesting because under no circumstance would a child as young as Anya know anything about a dead language unless- as Loid points out- she was exposed to it as a toddler. It would have had to have been when she was very young, as she herself doesn't realize she knows this information. This would mean she likely learned it from her birth family; Anya was old enough to remember the lab and scientists, meaning she became Subject 007 later on in life- otherwise she would have remembered knowing classical language.

These two concepts are incredibly important to keep in mind, both now and later on as the story progresses. We now know that a royal class plays a factor in the political game that Twilight and everyone else is playing, and we know that Anya knows information that she shouldn't know otherwise (even with her mind-reading powers). So where does that leave us?

Honestly, for the first time...I'm kind of stumped?

Let's look back at the story and see what else we can piece together- maybe there's something in there we can extrapolate for our purposes. Another clue to point us in the direction that Endo is seemingly funneling us towards.

From chapter forty-one

Franklin Perkins was a man who believed in making his country a better place to live. In his eyes and from what he saw, Ostania wasn't going in the right direction- but why? He blames his lack of money for his mother's death, and we see him hold resentment towards the government over socialistic policies. Wealth is something to be shared with others, not hoarded for ones self. That seems to be where Ostania's moral compass is pointing towards, but is that really the case?

From chapter 39

Mr. Green mentions that people have been fleeing to Westalis; from the way he says this it sounds like this is happening currently- not in the past- and people are going so far as to travel through a third country just to get to Westalis. Such a journey isn't without its perils, so anyone attempting to crossover from Ostania would likely be taking a huge risk in doing so. Not only that, but most of what we've seen in the story is Ostanians loathing Westalins...so what would compel people to do this in the first place?

From chapter three As Anya reads the minds of people gathered at a politcal rally near the start of the manga, we see their disgruntled thoughts behind her. There's multiple mentions of losing jobs and not having enough money- some people are even hungry. Most of these people blame Westalis for their troubles, though not the leader of the rally, ironically.

Also from chapter 3

We find out (and often forget) early on that there are multiple political parties in Ostania. Donovan leads the National Unity Party, whereas the political rally we see here is hosted by the Nationalist Party. The latter preaches peace with the west, but many of the people gathered reject this outright. This is important; the N.U.P is the most successful political party in Ostania, which means a majority of the country's citizens approve of their platform. If we're to assume the Nationalist Party's platform is to advocate for peace with Westalis, then we must also assume that the N.U.P stands for the opposite; direct aggression with the west.

From chapter 31 The Zacharis Dossier, though ultimately a bust, hinted at rumors that have permeated East and West since the start of the cold war. We know for a fact that human experiments did indeed take place in Ostania, so it also stands to reason that there is at least a kernel of truth to the claims of P.O.W (prisoner of war) massacres conducted by the west. It's a heinous crime, and also one that leads to another question; why would any country go through with it in the first place? In addition, piggy-backing off the former point;

From chapter 19 While Loid details Project Apple, he uses the word 'regime' to describe the former Ostanian government. The literal definition of a regime is a government, especially an authoritarian one (Oxfrod Dictionary). I won't highlight all the specifics of what is and isn't authoritarianism, but essentially the point I'm trying to make here is that the current Ostanian administration is still very much a regime. Donovan acts as the authoritarian ruler (or would-be ruler; we don't know if he's actively in charge or is looking to usurp power for himself) and continues on the legacy of the former government. We know for a fact that this is the case because Anya is only at most 6 years old, likely even younger. That would mean the experiments being run on her had to have been recent, which fits with the time frame that we established at the beginning of this rabbit hole- it also aligns with what we know about what Donovan has been doing on the back end of things. Those who have kept up with my reviews know what I'm talking about; gloom pharmaceuticals, the truth serum, OSO-R, etc. All of that, which then leads us to...

...right back where we started. So...what then? What can we conclude from all this? At least a few things;

Anya is tied to Desmond- either directly or indirectly.

Anya's past is also Ostania's past; she's familiar with a dead language that's no longer spoken, and there's definitely a reason why no one speaks it anymore.

Ostania is in a period of political and economic turmoil. This also comes on the heels of a (possible) former monarchy, and the struggle of a country willing to embrace authoritarianism so long as it means staying alive.

WISE and Westalis are not innocent in this game of chess with Ostania and the SSS, and more than likely have committed atrocities that may or may not be directly tied to Ostania and- possibly- Anya's past.

And...this is as far as I can go. I've hit a wall, as have other people I've talked to. We're still missing pieces to the puzzle. Endo will of course provide us with more clues and theory fodder as the weeks and months progress, but for now this is as far as I can go on my own. On the one hand I feel defeated because I can't come up with a meaningful explanation for everything and present it in a neat little bundle for you all to read, but on the other hand I'm thoroughly enjoying this. I'm more engaged with this manga and story than any other I've read before; I'm at the edge of my seat every week, and I'm sure most of you are, too. For now, I'll leave the review here. I find it fitting to leave it open ended, just as Endo did with Loid's self-imposed question. Hopefully, like him, we can find answers in the near future.

Also, BONUS...

...No fun panel with a snappy comment this time. Instead, I’m going to humbly ask for your help.

If you have any ideas about where you think the story is going, theories as to how everything fits together, or just really want to discuss the manga with other fans- please check out our forum and share with us. We’d love to hear what you all think; not only that, but a lot more heads makes theorizing both more productive and a whole lot more fun. Check it out if you have the time, or- if you don’t feel like clicking on any links- you can always leave a comment either on this post or send us an ask or message. Anytime, any reason, we’d love to talk SxF.

Again, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you all next chapter!

[bulkhummus]

ok so. basically i think both abby and cecil were born before 1983 and their mom was an encarnation of huntokar (their dad might be an encarnation of the smiling god or just some dude that worships him, eitger way) but in 1983 huntokar accidentally harmed her conection to night vale, and from this point on the childrens mom started acting distant/not acknowledging either bc her mind was "on another plane" or mourning cecil that died on at least 1 version of 1983

so its taken me forever to respond to this, a. Bc ive written so much abt it before and i think it was better than i wrote here, and b. bc i was searching for posts neck deep in my archives to help explain but only found some

post 1 — comparing 171 and 192 quotes

post 2 — about episode 183– more general theories

(i had a post somewhere where i verbally vomited into the tags abt night vale being a post war landscape trapped in time but i can find it)

okay now that those r out of the way im gonna ramble a lot and its not gonna make sense probably bc im a little drunk on topo chicos

cecil exsists (i think as a radio host too) in every timeline/reality. i remember this being said but i cant give an episode number bc i dont remember where. he is always reporting and he is referred to as the voice of night vale.

we know that night vale was split off from reality in 1983 when the world had a nuclear war by huntokar. huntokar “ existed in the mudwomb” she wanted to “protect and nurture humans” and ”became attatched to her version of night vale so she saved it causing all version of it to collapse inward on itself“ — quotes from the fan wiki (i mention the mudwomb bc in 192 cecil sees either himself or his dad climbing out of the mud at the base of a tree)

my theory is that night vale was saved and chosen as a favorite by huntokar bc she became more human by loving cecil as her child. There is a whole monologue in that episode (stone spire arc or huntokar episode i think) about how the humans of night vale forgot why they worshipped and wore meat crowns and what it meant to worship gods, but huntokar also mentions she loses sight of what she is (i think it was implied if not said) and she became too attached to the humans and the town (Thus why she saves Night vale)

i think cecil is a god who has forgotten what he is— he knows events before they happen or as they happen, he is intertwined in Every Major Event, he knew when the other gods were coming, and he is immortal. he knew old woman josie as a young adult and i assume he looks 40-50 bc thats what carlos’ age is around. he is an oracle. he says his mother was an oracle (figurative or literal) he doesnt know his father (a common theme in myths abt gods and demi gods) etc. AND the knly way the town gets to hear Huntokar and her story is through the radio. Cecil was around before the invention of it (mentioned during his europe trip i think)

i think his love of science and night vales affinity for science is a replacement for religion to explain why things are the way they are. science is essentially night vales belief system. (This post explains this more)

cecil cant look at himself in a mirror bc of a monster he sees— but i also think its bc he is a literal god he cannot look upon himself in a mirror (there is a lot of judaism themes in wtnv, one of the writers is jewish after all, and i believe that that is done purposefully. cecil’s v existence, to me, feels like hes caught in in a never ending shiva)

(From this wiki article abt shiva)

do u get the connections im making? Especially with the paragraph on mirrors and judaism?

i think it makes sense that she is his mom if u pick up what im puttin down idk ! Idk idk its just fun to theorize and analyze haha

[senjuushi]

I am bit confused, so 89 and Hachikyu are separate, right?

OKAY SO

We know from canon that Hachikyu is WE gun who has connections to Mikhael and Belga. But. There are a few reasons why I disagree with him being the same person as 89. 

First of all, they don’t act the same. They’re pretty close, but there are noticeable differences imo. And obviously, I pick and choose what I want from canon and tell the rest to fuck off. We know this. However, in this case, I actually have a theory that covers a lot of the funky stuff going on in R with the moderns, especially those “returned” from the first game. 

What I’m thinking rn is that R is a kind of parallel timeline/universe. Not just a sequel, but a separate thing from the first game.

So while, yes, Hachikyu has the same background as 89, he’s an alternate version of 89 who’s not quite the same. This also explains why the other moderns who have been brought back, most notably Mikhael and Ghost... don’t quite act like themselves. Because seriously, there’s something off about them. It also explains the Like2/Like Two situation, although with them, I’m a little more convinced that they’re not the same person at all. 

And then, the matter of Fal and Belga. They’re the ones who make me think that the parallel timeline thing might have been some kind of divergence. This is getting more into “wild theory” territory, but I’m currently entertaining the idea that the timeline might have split, with Belga retaining some/most of his memories... but being too dumb/confused/traumatized to quite realize what happened. And really, who’d listen to him if he tried to explain it, anyway? One thing that really makes me think this is his line about Hachi: 

“That guy, Hachikyu, didn’t change much.” 

This... just gives me a weird feeling. If we go with the idea of the timeline having split, with Belga and Fal being the two moderns directly brought over, it makes sense that Belga would be aware of certain differences— such as the somewhat subtle change between 89 and Hachikyu. 

And in Fal’s case, perhaps the timeline thing was part of what screwed up his memories? As much as I like the whole brainwashing deal, it’d also be kind of fucked up if his head got shaken up by literally switching universes, huh? 

A lot of this is just theorizing/explaining canon in a way that makes sense to me, buttt it’s pretty much what I’m going with now. XD TLDR; 89 and Hachikyu are the same person at the same time that they’re not, but on this blog, they’ll be treated like separate characters. 

[alwaysananxiousmess]

lighting tommyinnit au

okay so i made this a while ago, like, pretty recently after the final disc war.

So, after Doomsday, Tommy get’s struck by lightning in a world where spontaneously generating powers is normal. Techno has a stupid strong healing factor he got from fighting in the Hypixel arenas when he was a kid. Dream is a speedster and has enhanced reflexes, something he got from the manhunts.

There are other examples, but those two are the most relevant, so there you go. I bet you can see where this whole thing is going.

Tommy get’s struck by lightning, and understandably passes out, because that is thousands of volts going into your body in the span of a second or less. I bet it hurts a fuckton.

Ghostbur is the one that finds him, having been talking to him when it happens. He goes to get Tubbo, who brings him to Sam’s place because he was the only one walking around who actually had a place for Tommy to stay.

Tommy slowly heals and recovers, and has some major side effects from the strike. He’s blind and deaf on his left side, lost his sense of taste, and has frequent muscle spasms that make fine motor control extremely difficult. He has scarring on the left side of his face, neck, shoulder, chest, and back as well as down his left arm, ending about mid-forearm. (If you want to know what it looks like, google “lightning flowers”)

He also has... other side effects, ones that aren’t as explainable. There’s a constant energy building underneath his skin that he can’t explain, like a humming only he can hear. It itches sometimes, and eventually becomes painful with how much of it there was, but more on that in a bit. Time also seems to slow down at random moments, but only to him.

Anyway, the energy builds so much that it gets to the point that he’s curled in a ball in the middle of the night, sobbing in his bed at Sam’s base. It hurting him and he doesn’t know why it’s happening.

Sam is the one who finds him, immediately going to comfort him, but Tommy accidentally electrocutes him.

Now Sam is a creeper hybrid. He can’t be hurt by lightning, but he can’t become charged like a normal creeper does. He’s more shocked than anything else, but Tommy is freaking out because he thinks he’s hurt Sam and he doesn’t know what’s happening. This inevitably causes him to release more electricity, which still isn’t hurting Sam, but it only makes Tommy panic more. Sam’s trying to calm him down and reassure him that he’s fine but Tommy just doesn’t believe him.

Eventually, the electricity stops because Tommy just... ran out of it. He’s still crying and freaking out but there isn’t any more lightning flying everywhere. Sam manages to calm him down, promising him that he’s okay and that Tommy didn’t hurt him.

Tommy shakily asks what the hell just happened, and Sam theorizes that the lightning must have made him generate a power, and that’s what the energy and the time slowing down things were about.

So, they test it out once Tommy’s come to terms with it a bit more in an attempt to help him control it. Tommy is super paranoid about hurting someone accidentally, and he pushes himself into learning how to control it.

They figure out that time isn’t slowing down, Tommy is speeding up. The lightning strike allowed him to become a speedster, like Dream. Their final theory is that Tommy generates electricity, which is what the energy that he feels is. Using his superspeed generates it faster. Occasionally, he needs to release the energy, which is why he can produce lightning and electrocute things. If he doesn’t release it, it will release for him in one huge blast, which causes extreme pain for him and is very lethal to anything around him. It also makes him pass out for a few days.

The incident regarding him accidentally electrocuting Sam was because he releases electricity when he’s distressed or in pain. Tubbo makes a rubber chest plate and gloves he can wear to ensure he doesn’t get shocked when Tommy needs his help.

One of the more funny side effects of his power is that he’s a walking static cloud. Touching people gives them light shocks, not painful, just annoying. If he waves a hand over someone’s head their hair will stand up.

He’s also a walking redstone signal. He can act as a redstone torch, and will often help Tubbo and Sam out on their projects when they need him. If he steps in the wrong place though, he can mess the whole thing up. Tommy is not allowed near TNT, because touching it ignites it like a redstone torch would.

He can carry around a little mini redstone lamp in his pocket and it acts like a flashlight when he takes it out. It’s very useful.

Onto more plot.

So.... Final Disc War.

Tommy and Tubbo are in the weird Hall of Attachments thing, and Dream says he’s going to kill Tubbo, and “there’s nothing you can do to stop me, tommy”

Tommy just steps in front of Tubbo, cracks his knuckles, and replies “that’s what you think, bitch”

speedster fight speedster fight speedster fight speedster fight

Every time Dream tries to grab Tubbo, Tommy slams into him and forces him to change course. They’re chasing each other around the room and they’re fucking running on the walls and ceiling what the fuck.

Eventually Punz and everyone else shows up, and they’re kind of just staring into a mostly empty room with Tubbo standing in the corner and one green blur and one white blur moving sporadically around. Literally only Sam and Tubbo understand what’s happening.

Dream eventually gets the upper hand, injuring Tommy in some way that forces him to stop running. Dream’s crouching over Tommy, gloating about his win, while Tommy’s bleeding everywhere and spitting in his face angrily.

Everyone else is at a standstill. They can’t fire at Dream, because he could just finish Tommy off and run before their arrows even get there, and they can’t rush him, because he can just run off. Tubbo is begging for Dream to spare Tommy and to kill him like they agreed, but Dream refuses, saying that Tommy’s been to much of a pain in the ass to let him live.

Dream raises his sword and prepares to kill Tommy with it, when Tommy grabs onto the blade of the sword and just grins.

You remember how him using his superspeed generated more electricity?

:)

Tommy inhales, and sends literally every single volt of electricity into Dream with one giant light show. You can fucking smell Dream burning, and really only one bolt was needed to kill him, but Tommy keeps going. He sends bolt after bolt into Dream until he’s completely drained dry of electricity and Dream is crumbling away into respawn, the sword falling harmlessly onto the ground.

Tommy just lays there for a few moments as the smoke clears, and then turns his head to Tubbo with a grin and says: “that was pog” before passing the fuck out from the amount of pain that amount of electricity erupting from him caused.

Sam and Tubbo run over to go save Tommy right as Dream respawns. But Sam is too concerned about saving Tommy’s life than putting Dream in prison, because Tommy’s bleeding out and his body is working overdrive just to generate more lightning.

So Dream gets away while Sam and Tubbo bring Tommy back to Sam’s base to heal. Dream only has two lives left, and he goes to Techno, using the favor for shelter and protection until he can get his revenge.

Some cool tidbits me and Belle came up with when we talked about it a few weeks back:

Smoke starts coming off of Tommy’s skin and hair when he’s pissed, and his hair will stand up straight. He can char things too, so imagine a pissed Tommy stalking off and leaving black footprints on the sidewalk behind him.

His eyes glow white sometimes, typically when he’s using his power/when he’s mad or scared. I’m talking full white, glowing Eret eyes. It’s cool to look at.

His hair after the lightning strike turns very very pale blonde instead of the golden blonde it was before.

His lightning flower scars light up when he’s using his superspeed. It looks pretty cool tbh.

When he needs to release electricity, he’ll go out into the woods alone and let it off in slow bursts so it doesn’t hurt as much. The walks are incredibly lonely and he hates having to do it every time. He’s terrified that he’ll accidentally hurt or kill someone if he doesn’t, though, so he does it anyway.

(The way Dream attacks him after the Final Disc War for the first time is when Tommy is on one of these walks and he depletes all his lightning before Dream showed up)

If he completely depletes his electricity, such as like in the Final Disc War, he can’t use his superspeed. There needs to be existing energy for it to kick on. If there isn’t any starter energy, bad news, you aren’t gonna go fast like you want to.

Anyway, yeah, that’s the lightning Tommy au. This is more brainrot than anything else tbh I just like it.

Shoutout to @bellfort3 and @ecinue-unicorn for listening to me ramble about this au in dms <3 multiple times

[beauty-and-passion]

Hey! How are you? Just came across your blog recently, and I gotta say I absolutely love your theories!! I’m still catching up, but they’re so well thought out and deeply analyzed. It’s an absolute joy to read through, so thank you for all your interesting ideas!

I love theorizing myself too, and I’ve been wondering a bit about what the upcoming season finale of Sanders Sides will look like. Do you have any thoughts/theories on that?

I believe Joan mentioned we will have another 1/2 Asides before the finale of the current 2nd season. After FWSA (which apparently is playing an important part in the overall storyline according to the team), I feel like we might get an intense 2-vs-2 situation that could revolve around Thomas and Nico. Virgil and Roman on one side arguing Thomas is ready to start a relationship with Nico, and Patton and Janus on the other side arguing against it. Don’t know whether Nico would make a return so soon though, as it also feels Roman’s arc might become a vocal point in upcoming episodes (then again, the two could intertwine).

Anyway, do you have any ideas on how the finale would play out? Could we potentially get some Orange hints? (I am freaking out about him lately so would LOVE some more hints in next episodes lol.) Sorry if this is too long for an Ask Me Anything, still figuring out how to Tumblr. Would love to hear your thoughts!

First of all: thank you, I’m glad you like my theories! And I hope you will keep hanging around, because more will come in the future ;)

Second: don’t worry, this wasn’t a long ask :) it was nice to read your thoughts on the matter, because that’s not an easy one!

Third: o-oooh, what a question! I really love it! But I will also need some time to properly answer it, so I apologize in advance for my late reply.

Before starting, a premise. As you said, there will be two Asides, then a two-parts episode that will end season two. During every two-parts episode we visited the room of a new Core Side and considering we’re into Roman’s arc now, it’s pretty clear Roman’s room will be the next one. That also means this two-parts episode will be focused on Roman.

But Roman’s plot isn’t the only one we have now. There’s also:

The whole “Dark Sides relationship” (yes, I’m talking about you, Virgil and Janus)

Remus (his relationship with Roman, his functions, his future role in the creative process)

Logan and his issues

Considering that those are pretty big themes, I would develop them all in season three and just give some hints for now. There will be time to properly address them all later.

The only other plot I would keep is the one about Nico. During the first livesteam after FWSA, Thomas said he wanted to show how character!Thomas deals with a relationship. So yes, Nico IS a big deal, he will come back and the next big theme will probably be about him.

Having said that, here we are:

My Theories On The Next Two Asides And The Possible Ending Of Season Two.

_______________________________________

THE ASIDES

So we have three Asides and six Sides. Two of them were in the first Aside, so I would take them out for the other two.

We have now four Sides to see. Leaving one or two behind would have no sense, so I think we should see them all, two at a time.

Second Aside: Remus and Logan

Why the next Aside should be about them? Because we need to start talking about the creative process and how it isn’t just a purely “Roman” process, but something that requires Remus’ constant stream of ideas on one side and Logan’s realistic approach on the other.

However, it’s still a bit too early to talk about that: Thomas needs to grow, Roman needs to grow. For now, I would start by showing little by little how Remus’ suggestions can potentially be useful, if properly developed and tamed.

And we can do it thanks to Nico.

Some time passes between the first and the second Aside. Thomas and Nico starts to date, everything is good.

But Thomas is still insecure, because of what Virgil said to him in FWSA: “Will deceit continue to be the answer to all of your problems? Is that fair to (Nico)?”. So he tries to be as much honest as possible with Nico, to the point of ending up being brutally honest sometimes. Nico would be a bit weirded out by this behaviour, but accept it with a shrug.

So, since things are going so well, Thomas wants to make it official. To finally be boyfriends and not just two-people-who-see-each-other-and-kinda-like-each-other.

And that’s where Logan and Remus would come into play. Thomas’ thoughts about Nico would get Remus’ attention and the sudden brainstorming session would get Logan’s. The first would poke Thomas for his less chaste thoughts, all while suggesting weird, inappropriate ways Thomas can ask Nico to be boyfriends. The second wouldn’t tear down Remus’ suggestions, but work around them, show their flaws and how they cannot work.

This back and forth will lead to Thomas realizing what he can do and how. And this solution wil be the good one: Thomas would ask Nico to be boyfriends and Nico would accept.

Third Aside: Janus and Patton

Until now, we saw two kind of cooperations: Roman and Virgil’s is based on feelings and “pushing” each other through their emotions. Logan and Remus’ is a cooperation “in power”: they work well together and we just got a glimpse of how fruitful this cooperation will be in the future.

In this Aside we will see a third kind of cooperation: the most stable and balanced one. We would see how well Janus and Patton would steer Thomas together, how they’re able to talk and compromise, how they’re gradually smoothing their most extreme points of view for Thomas’ sake. And we would see them getting along well, despite their differences.

But why showing it now? Because this would be the perfect moment in time to show it. Because now Thomas is in an official relationship: things are getting real and there are A LOT of decisions that should be taken every day. Janus and Patton’s guidance would shine and prove how a cooperation between Sides isn’t just possible, but it leads to big, better results.

And it would also prove that Roman and Virgil’s fear in FWSA (that Thomas was using deceit to solve all his problems) was without merit. Janus’ power isn’t as uncontrollable as they thought. On the contrary, with Patton’s morals balancing it and when properly used, lying help Thomas achieve more. His relationship with Nico grows stronger.

Things are going well.

_______________________________________

SANDERS SIDES - ENDING OF SEASON 2 PART 1

I’ve got an idea in the back of my mind for a while about how things can get worse and it’s something like this:

As we saw in the Asides, Thomas and Nico’s relationship is going well. Things moved very fast, yes, but they really like each other, so it’s okay.

One day, Nico says he wants to introduce Thomas to his family. Despite an initial peak in anxiety (a subtle way to show us that Virgil has problems with change in general), Thomas accepts to meet them.

Thomas is getting ready with Roman and Virgil. Virgil is - guess what - anxious about this meeting, but he’s also all butterflies in the stomach. Roman is absolutely delighted and keeps circling around Thomas, suggesting him what to wear, what to say, how to move: in other words, the whole “Himbo hopelessly in love” starter pack.

For a while, the meeting is going smoothly. Then Roman and Virgil notice how, once in a while, Thomas drops a lie. Something like “The food is delicious” when it’s not or “what a beautiful dress” even if it’s hideous. And the two Sides get worried. Once again, they try to force Thomas to stop lying, because Lying Is Always Bad and there can’t be true love with lies.

Still insecure and pushed by them, Thomas stops lying. He inevitably ends up saying something offensive/extremely mean and/or he ends up acting so badly the meeting has to end. Nico finds an excuse to justify Thomas’ behaviour with his parents (something on the line of “Thomas is very tired”) and Thomas is forced to leave.

When he comes back home, the discussion is inevitable. Roman and Virgil straight up blame Thomas for lying in the first place, because he wouldn’t have messed up so much, if he was honest from start.

But when Janus appears to defend Thomas and tells them lying IS useful in some circumstances, the situation escalates quickly. The two Sides attack Janus, blaming him for everything and making heavy statements on how deeply he corrupted Thomas/Patton or something similar. On the other hand, Janus attacks them back. They throw words at each other, things are starting to get pretty serious...

And just when the situation reaches its climax, Patton appears. He takes Janus’ side, he explains why lying is useful - especially during formal circumstances like meeting your boyfriend’s family because you want to be accepted, not to be seen as a complete jerk - and he bluntly tells Morality is HIS job, not Virgil’s nor Roman’s.

In this standstill, Thomas’ phone rings. It’s Nico. He wants to talk with Thomas about the evening. Janus suggests a simple lie (I was tired/long day at work), but Nico tells Thomas this isn’t the first time something similar happened - thus reminding us about all of Thomas’ “bursts of honesty” we saw in the second Aside. Honesty that wasn’t seen as such by Nico, but as weird, mean behaviours from the guy he likes.

So when Thomas tries to justify himself with some lie, Nico stops him. He tells Thomas he thought about a lot of stuff, after the meeting ended. He thought about their relationship. He thought about Thomas’ behaviour. Maybe they should’ve dated more, before becoming boyfriends. Maybe they moved too fast. Maybe introducing Thomas to his parents was the wrong choice. Maybe they should think a bit more. And maybe they should take some time for themselves to think about what they want to do, before going further with this relationship.

Nico hangs up. Janus is speechless. Thomas is on the verge of crying. Patton is heartbroken. Virgil is shocked.

And Roman is absolutely devastated. The love he wanted so badly, this happiness he desperately needed, is now in danger. Instead of strengthening the relationship, everything he did only managed to worsen it.

Roman sinks down and locks himself in his room.

_______________________________________

SANDERS SIDES - ENDING OF SEASON 2 PART 2

We already had a Side ducking out and a Side welcoming the others in his room so, for this third time, we should try something different. And what’s better than Thomas & his Sides trying to break into Roman’s room?

Remus might appear for a while, just to help them get inside and leave. There are already a lot of issues Roman has to face now: his relationship with Remus can wait season 3.

So we have Thomas, Virgil, Patton and Janus all in Roman’s room. And the confrontation can finally take place.

Roman will talk about his issues, his low self-esteem and how he feels constrained by Patton’s morals. He will finally admit how he desperately wanted to go to the callback and how confused he was by morals, when he first sided with Janus, only to be blamed for not siding with him in the following episode. He would start seeing the problem with his black/white mentality and we would have a nice, mature moment with Patton apologizing for giving Roman this mentality - while promising he will grow to be a better Morality. We would also have Roman and Janus properly apologize to each other for everything they said and finally work things out.

And we can end it like this. It could be a nice ending, with some conflicts solved, others still to solve and a lot of hope for the future. Patton would feel even more motivated to keep up with his growth, because he’s not doing it just for himself but for Roman too. Roman would feel better, because now he knows no one will blame or mock him for his insecurities - on the contrary, they would still be by his side no matter what. Janus would learn that cooperation is necessary and that he should keep doing it, because this is the right choice.

And Virgil... well, Virgil would drop hints everywhere about his upcoming “second arc”.

In the first livestream after FWSA, Thomas hinted at a possible “second arc” for Virgil. So, since we have a whole season to fill, I would move Virgil’s arc, his confrontation with Janus and all the dark sides’ dynamics into the beginning of the third season. For now, Virgil may hint at a future confrontation with Janus that should happen in the first episode of season 3.

And what about Thomas?

Thomas would accept Nico’s decision and write him that he will take this time to become a better man. We may even close the episode with Nico smiling for this message, proving that he’s not mad at Thomas, he still loves him and that their relationship isn’t ended at all.

Then, we would have the end card.

And the end card would feature the Side I purposely took away from the whole season two finale. Logan.

After starring in the second Aside, Logan should completely disappear for the following two episodes and for the finale. No one should mention him or even think about him. He wouldn’t appear at all. Until now.

We would see him in a room, looking at the last episode of season 2 on Youtube. His face would be completely expressionless and he wouldn’t say a word, because the only voices would be the ones coming from the pc. The camera would slightly move to show a figure behind him. A small refocus of the camera on a little orange accent on this figure’s clothes.

And bam, the end. No explanations, no voices, nothing else. Just this. Because this would drive the fandom insane. Did Logan know Orange was behind him? Were they watching the episode together? Was Orange trying to kill him or what? What would happen? All questions that would accompany us while waiting for season three.

_______________________________________

And this is how I think the next Asides and the ending of season two will play out. Of course this is pure speculation and the next Aside might be about something completely new that makes my whole plot useless - but hey, that would mean a whole new theory to elaborate :D

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed my thoughts! And for all the readers, well, feel free to add your own thoughts here about how the events will play out! Maybe one of us will get them right, who knows?

[rosescries]

How would the Bois in da house react to MC actually being a mage?? Like, due to the influx of magic, their soul was like influenced?? And then 💥 their a mage!

Well, due to Mc being a Kindness SOUL (and the fact that she kind of does have a passive-dormant kind of magic) she's likely have a shield (like Undyne's fight) or a proficiency in healing! I'd go with the latter of the two, as if fits with Mc well. And since it's healing magic, the skeleton aren't too worried about it. It's not exact an offensive or harmful magic type, could be something worse.

She wouldn't know how to use it though and may be more than a little confused and/or a bit panicked, so Mutt would have to calm her down first things first.

More in depth answers below:

Sans would be a little panicked, since this human has magic now and she's not suppose to, but also the scientist in him would be really curious. He'd mostly want to make sure she gets this all under control and would likely enlist the help of G and Aster, since her magic is manifesting as healing magic and Aster is the best healer of the group. And is also a scientist, so those two would be able to handle both things.

Papyrus would be really amazed and confused, though possibly a bit wary of the consequences. As far as he knows, this has never happened before and he doesn't know what the general public would think about it or what would happen if more humans suddenly became mages again. He'd talk it over with G and Aster as they studied and helped Mc with her new abilities.

Blue would mainly be curious, surprised that it even happened and wanting to know how. He'd be helping whatever way he could, looking over the things and theories G and Aster have. He'd also give pointers to Mc on how to control it, though wouldn't get too involved on that front as Aster would have it pretty well covered.

Stretch would be surprised and slightly wary. He's not too worried though, as the magic is healing magic. So he'd likely be right beside G in theorizing and looking into old books about the subject for Aster, looking for anything they can find about non-mages suddenly becoming mages again.

Red would mainly be wary and confused, though again he isn't too worried with the way the magic is manifesting at that point. He'd be more worried about more mages popping up or her magic being able to manifest in other ways later. He'd definitely suggest tests on it, but that'd still depend on Mc and her comfort level with it.

Edge is surprised, but he's more curious on what caused it and if there'd be a way to prevent it. He's not all too fond of mages for obvious reasons and based on the way some humans act, he doesn't think they need magic. They're dangerous enough without it. It's mainly for back in his universe, if he gets back there. Preempted measures.

Black is suspicious and very nervous. His feelings are kind of similar to Edge in some ways, he wants to know if there's ways to prevent further incidents like that happening and how it did. But he's also worried about Mc's magic developing further and possibly into other magics. He doesn't like the thought of that.

Mutt is amazed, truly astounded. He's not really surprised that her magic manifested as healing magic, he wouldn't have guessed anything else, but he is surprised that she had any to begin with. He's really curious about how and would be right there along side G, Aster, and Stretch in trying to find answers, along with encouraging Mc with her learning.

Grey would be really surprised and a bit wary, but he'd relax soon enough. Especially as Mc talks to him about it. He's curious about how it happened and just how strong her magic can be with her Human SOUL, but he's not going to do much. He would let her use him as a bit of a guinea pig as she becomes more confident in using her magic. See if she can heal any of the cracks in his bones, it'll definitely show how strong her magic is.

Lunar would be the same as Grey, if a little less wary. He'd definitely encourage her more, really curious about the same things Grey is. He'd let her use him as a guinea pig too, it's not like the magic would really hurt them since that isn't Mc intent or what the magic is for. Plus, he's really curious to see if she can heal the more minor things on them or even affect their HP. Specifically, Grey's.

The bonus since they'd be really involved with this:

G is really curious. This really triggers his scientist side, since as far as anyone knows this has never happened before. Mc is an anomaly and he's really interesting in finding out how it happened. He will take a backseat and just help out, as this is in every way Aster's field. But he'll still be a big part and help cheer Mc on and make her comfortable.

Aster is practically in the same spot G is. He's really curious and eager to figure out what happened. His mind is already racing with theories and tests he'd like to try, but the later really depends on Mc's comfort level as he's not looking to turn her into a lab rat. But he'd happily help her figure out how to control her magic a bit easier and find out what exactly happened to make this possible.

[clichesadmusic]

Ranboo Lore Recap May 22nd

This was so good man, I was on the literal edge of my seat the entire time, I could barley keep up with my notes lmao. (For the record most of the quotes, especially the long ones are not exact, I took out some of the stuff Ranboo repeated just for ease of typing it out as he said it)

Ranboo opens the stream with new music (chat said that it was from Night in the Woods)

Ranboo decides that today he is going to be moving all of his “lab equipment” to the “table”. (but that he is not going to lick the table). He says that with it moved he will be able to do so much more with it.

Ranboo says that he went back and explored the library a little bit, saying that he looked at it a bit but that he can’t read some of it.

Ranboo mines a block behind one of his chests revealing another chest that contains a book and quill named “experiment log” in ender.

Ranboo says that the particles don’t have to worry about what is in the experiment log.

There is also a chest beside Ranboos door that says “Mail For Ranboo From Foolish”. Inside the chest is a signed book (by FoolishG) named “HELP RANBOO”. The book contains a complaint from Foolish about the enderment “littering” around his summer home (probably placing blocks in places) and a request for Ranboo to ask them to stop.

Ranboo says “I have no control over those guys Foolish”.

Ranboo brings a bunch of iron blocks, coal, a dispenser, arrows, glass, the experiment log, his trident and brewing stands.

Ranboo looks for the coordinates of the “table” and checks his memory book to see what he wrote yesterday. (He then almost left without the brewing stands and had to go back to get those as well as glass bottles, saying that he didn't need to get anything to put in them because “we don’t use potions”.)

Ranboo says that he will maybe show the particles the book later saying he doubts they could even understand what is in the book. (potentially written in ender in which case, check-mate Mr Boo, I know how to read that :P)

Ranboo decides to disclose parts about the experiments that he want to do saying that “this table is different from the other table, so I’m not gonna try to touch the table that much but the area around it I’m going to kinda move and transform”. He then mentions that he knows there are “different things” about him being an enderman (“that’s what it’s called here right?” implying that there is a different name for them that Ranboo remembers).

Ranboo goes to describe what the experiments are going to be but quickly backtracks, instead explaining what he is going to be making for the experiments.

A water tank. The ‘potions’. And something else that involves the dispenser.

Based on his theories he believes that doing these experiments could be ‘different’. (either make a difference or have different results than they did before because of him being near the ‘table’).

Ranboo explains that he has to mine the room, re-build it and that he wants to make sure that he doesn’t want to change the ‘table’ that much.

The particles talk quite a bit about how the water is bad/how they don’t like the idea of the water tank but Ranboo continuously explains that they don’t know what it’s for, that it’s not what they think it is.

Ranboo says that he has hit a wall with the experiments but that it could be different by the table. He theorizes this partially because of his axe acting differently.

“I know exactly what experiments I’m going to do. It’s gonna be perfect.”

Ranboo reassures the particles that none of the experiments actually hurt, saying that the only way water could really hurt him would be if he was fully submerged with no armor on (“when am I ever in a situation like that” 0_0) but besides that it just makes him a little scared.

A particle asks (via dono) if they can stay during the experiments this time and Ranboo reluctantly agrees but says that he is still not showing them the inside of the book.

A different particle says (via dono) that they don’t really like the enderwalk that much, that it scares them, and Ranboo respons that he has kind of changed his attitude towards the enderwalk after the experiments and his findings, saying that it doesn’t seem that bad, once again stating that it is because of the enderwalk and the experiments that he is able to understand and talk to the particles.

Ranboo explains that he started the experiments in an effort to stop the enderwalk but then he realised what it could do, that it is “incredible”. “The stuff that it can actually do...it's good. It could help me out a ton”.

(Ranboo cuts the music here) “I honestly think that if this goes well it could get rid of my memory problems. Cause I've been able to remember a little bit more. I was able to remember an entire language after it (the ender language), so honestly, I think it will be good. I think it can help with that. And that means I won’t have to worry about remembering all the time. I still don’t know what exactly I do...but I mean I dont think it’s as bad as we initially thought at all, I think that it can be a good thing. I think it’s changed. I’ve been able to figure out a bit of what it was and it's really interesting. I think it’ll be fine because even if what I remember is bad at least I’ll know. I’d prefer to know and feel guilty about it than not know and feel guilty about something I don’t know if it happened. I don't think anything too bad could happen. I think understanding what I do and how I work is the good part. I want to understand everything that I do”

Ranboo finally reaches the hole he dug to get out of the ‘table room’ the day before. He proceeds to mine out the walls and floor (leaving the staircase up to the portal and the blocks surrounding the pools of lava in the corners and the pool of lava under the portal alone) and replaces them with iron blocks “because it’s a strong material”. He also leaves the iron bars in the wall as well as the ceiling but cites this as being more for conservation of time and materials rather than for the same reason he is leaving the other sections alone.

“I think that after today I might be able to remember everything.”

He creates a 3 tall, 1 wide water tank out of glass in the corner with stairs leading up to it. He places the brewing stands beside one of the smaller lava pools and places water bottles in them though he doesn’t have any gunpowder to make splash water.

Ranboo says that while the room looks bad now he plans to make it look better as time goes on, talking about how the room is so interesting, specifically looking at the endstone underneath the portal blocks.

He goes to grab redstone, saying that he has a theory and that if this works it will be “really really cool”.

Ranboo begins to set up a dispenser saything that “what they call enderman here cannot be damaged by arrows.” He sets up a lever a couple blocks away that will trigger the dispenser to shoot an arrow while he is standing in front of it. Ranboo theorizes that he might be able to “get out of the way of them in time” citing that fact that he became able to pick up grass blocks and talk to the particles.

Ranboo examines the eye of ender for a moment, questioning why it is inside the block and why it is only in that one and none of the others.

Ranboo reassures the chat that all of these experiments are 100% harmless and that he is doing this because he believes that the enderwalk has unseen pros. Once again mentioning that he got some enderman powers like picking up grass.

Ranboo says that he was reaching a barrier with his other experiments but believes the ‘table’ to be the key to breaking through that wall.

Ranboo grabs a chest and places a bunch of random things in it (iron blocks, glass, etc.) as well as the experimentation log.

Ranboo hesitates….”is this the right decision though? I do want to be able to remember,,,but at the same time I’m also very tired about just like… Is this a good idea? On one hand it can help me remember, it can help me do other things…You know what I realised, something very scary is that the enderwalk isn’t a different version of me, it’s still me, but from what I gathered it’s me with all of my memories, every single one. So who knows what could have happened, there could have been an entire other story that I’m not aware of *thunder crash*.”

Ranboo thinks that there is the potential to get rid of the enderwalk completely but isn’t sure. He explains that it pains him to think about, that he can either live the way he is now (not knowing anything about his past etc.) or he can live knowing everything. “Do I want to keep living this way, in a way that’s blissful ignorance, or do I want to know everything that’s happened?” Ultimately, he doesn’t know what to do.

“I don’t have to, I could just stop doing the experiments and just live normally.”

Ranboo grans the experiment log and holds it in his hand for a moment before opening it to the first page of forty-three, it reads (in ender) (timestamp 57:18):

Purpose of Experimentation:

-To understand

-To learn

-To remember

For a moment he contemplates signing it but ultimately closes the book, unsigned and places it back in the chest.

“In those 43 pages one of the pages does have, has had, the solution. *thunder*. But the thing is...I don’t know what it could do. On one hand it could get rid of it [the enderwalk] completely, that means I would lose all of what I didn’t know before but the other ending would be that the enderwalk is the only thing. I don't know which one it will be. I’ve had the solution for a while now, but it could either be good or unknown and that’s the thing…”

Ranboo then reveals that he has tricked the particles. That these were not just random experiments. Today Ranboo was planning on solving it, he thought that he needed the particles there to do it. He didn’t need gunpowder to create splash potions because he didn’t need to splash it. He was going to use the arrow then walk into the water tank and doing that would be the solution. But he doesn’t know what the outcome will be.

Ranboo knows what he has to do. He leaves the room, blocking it up with stone saying that he will only use this as a last resort if something happens. He begins to walk up the tunnel to the surface but pauses, reiterating that if something happens he will “use the solution. But only if something happens”.

He makes his way up to the surface, staring out over the horizon. “Only if something happens”.

Ranboo says “welp”, claps, and the stream ends. (He did not do an outro saying goodbye, on his twitter he explained that this is canonical what actual happens to the particles, they are just suddenly sent away)

(Ranboo never turned the music back on).

[champagne-bucky]

Debt to Be Paid: I

Summary: Earth fears intergalactic war with another planet. The Avengers are called to work out negotiations on Zevitar, the planet of peace. What happens when they are reunited with their long lost team member?

Warnings: dark!Bucky x reader, mentions of non/dub-con, age gap (reader is of age) 

Notes: SHE’S HEREEEEEEE!!! Welcome to the first chapter of DTBP, the sequel to IOU!! If you’re new to this story make sure you check out IOU before you read this!! To all those who have read IOU... buckle up... Anyways enjoy!! Let me know what ya think! Please make sure to like, comment, reblog, inbox, and follow me for more! Enjoy :) 

Throughout his lifetime Steve Rogers was exposed to many types of pain. Whether it was physical, mental, or emotional, Steve could handle just about anything life could throw at him. That was until he lost you. In all his years of fighting alongside the Avengers, having been responsible for the demise of half the world’s population, and the tons of toxic chemicals pumped into his body could never prepare him for the pain of losing a child. While there is no biological relation, Steve couldn’t help but mourn for the loss of his daughter.

When Sam and Tony had come to the island to end his vacation they were trying to keep quiet about the situation that occurred back home. It wasn’t until three hours into the flight back home that Tony finally cracked and told Steve what was up. Steve was in shock, his daughter fought and nearly killed his best friend? Impossible.

Needless to say, Steve Rogers was an emotional wreck once he got back to the compound. He saw the state of Bucky’s room, he saw where they kept you locked up, he saw the damage that had been done to Stephen and Wanda when you escaped. He saw parts of you that he never knew you held. How dark had you become since he left, he wondered on those late sleepless nights.

Steve didn’t speak for days. Instead, he spent them walking around the taped off ruins of his beloved compound. What was once a home for him and his family felt more like a cold, steel, jail cell. He was truly in hell without you.

The nights were filled with him lying awake in bed, eyes opened wide and darting to every corner of the room, praying that you would somehow walk out of the shadows and back to him. Instead of taking sleeping pills that Tony suggested to him, he would get up out of bed and start researching, questioning, and theorizing where it is that you could be.

After a few weeks and two overworked coffee machines later, Steve had created three possible theories about what could have happened to you:

Being an Avenger came with a handful of enemies.  

Almost everyone on the team had their own enemies. From empty threats to stalker incidences, no one on the team was really safe. Any form of social media was constantly monitored, every time they were in a car there was security two cars behind, the second an Avenger leaves the tower they have surveillance on them 99.9% of the time.

Still, that .1% haunts Steve. He knows that people have their ways when it comes to the innovation of technology. Perhaps there was someone out there that was too good with computers. They hacked you, stalked you, and threatened you not to tell anyone. Maybe it got so out of hand to the point where you ran away for the protection of yourself and for the others. Maybe you attacked Bucky to keep the secret hidden or you got so scared that attacking him was an accident.

    2.   Everyone has their demons… maybe you had kept yours hidden too well.

As days grew longer, so did Steve’s suspicions. He never thought bad things about you. In fact, Steve knew there wasn’t a bad bone in your body. So why did he keep thinking you were secretly an evil person?

He theorized that there could’ve been another side to who you were. The nice and sweet you was all an act and you were waiting for an opportunity to show your true self. Between him not being around anymore and you now having full access to technology and weapons only Avengers have access to, you took advantage of your new found status and got carried away. Bucky found out and tried to put a stop to you and that’s how he ended up getting attacked. You broke out before you could face any consequences.

Steve shook his head at this theory. He knew you like he knew the layout of his old 40’s apartment. You’re not a bad person and never once have you said you hated someone. You never said you even hated Bucky, just upset that he didn’t seem to like you as much as the others did.

  3.  Being apart from Steve sent you towards a downwards spiral… basically it was all Steve’s fault that you’re gone.

This theory made a whole lot of sense, and none of it at the same time. Yes, everyone could confirm that you really missed Steve. You missed training with him and hanging out with him. You missed his presence around the compound as well. Something about Steve just made your days way better than when he wasn’t at the compound at all.

What didn’t make sense to anybody was why would you attack someone over this? Sure, you missed Steve, but nobody thought you missed him so much to the point of nearly killing someone. Bucky did give you a hard time, but as far as the Avengers knew it was just some name calling you didn’t appreciate.

Everyone recounted their last few days with you at the compound. You seemed okay, nothing out of the usual for you. However, Peter did speak up saying you seemed a bit jumpier and a little bit down and out than usual. Again, it chalked up to you missing Steve really bad. Then there was the matter of Stephen and Wanda.

They were your last victims before you escaped. The pair had gone through extensive questioning. However, they both had the same story. Wanda and Strange had tried to calm you down, but things got out of hand and you ended up lashing out at them.

Steve hit a brick wall at this point. How could no one know what happened to you? He tried hacking into security cameras from that day, but he was met with a disappointing glare from Tony and a handful of security to escort him out of the room meant for their investigation.

What was there even to investigate? You were gone and as far as anybody knew, there was no trace of you in New York, the United States, and pretty much any other country that agents were sent out to look for you. Steve guessed they only continued because Bucky needed to get some sort of justice or closure, but he swears that he was attacked for no reason. Everyone knew about their slight tension, but thought it wouldn’t go as far as leaving Bucky hospitalized.

Bucky kept quiet after Steve came back. Truth be told, he feared what his friend might do to him if the truth got out. He made sure to delete any evidence he could off his computer of you. When he visited you those last days, he managed to fuck up something in the control room that cut off the audio of him talking. No one had called him in to question his meeting with you, and Bucky was relieved because he needed more time to come up with the perfect excuse.

Now all he had to do was get rid of Wanda and Stephen, or get them off his back. He knows that they must know something. Tensions around the compound have been high around the three of them. The pair had been cold towards him after the attack, only going so far as signing a ‘Get Well Soon’ card and pitching in a few dollars for a thing of flowers, but that was all.

Wanda and Strange wasted no time after their questioning was over. They got right to work trying to compile all the evidence they could to expose Bucky. Unfortunately, it was proving to be more difficult than expected.

Bucky’s room had been blocked off by agents. He had to change rooms until the investigation was cleared. Everything in the room remained untouched, but no Avengers, besides Tony, had access to the room.

Strange and Wanda even went in from another angle and enlisted Peter to help find that security footage, but so far everything was blocked off to them. It seemed like there was one dead end after another. If the pair weren’t fast in their findings, they might never get justice for you. Even if you were long gone, Bucky shouldn’t get away with what he did.

No matter what, the pair of Avengers new they needed to finish the job you attempted to start… and Stephen Strange and Wanda Maximoff will be damned if justice wasn’t served.

~Meanwhile~

You emptied your stomach of breakfast later in the day. Same as yesterday, the day before that, and the day before that… something’s got to be up?

Maybe it was nerves? That could explain a lot seeing as the nightmares weren’t letting up anytime soon.

Seeing images of Bucky Barnes every time you close your eyes led to a lot of sleepless nights. It led to much more than sleepless nights, but you tried your best to listen to Carol’s advice and put the past behind you. Sadly, it would take a lot more than blocking that vile man from your thoughts.

Carol saw how you were feeling sick everyday. She also tried to put the worst out of her head, but curiosity piqued. It was important for her to tell you, but it was also important that you found out now before you were back on your home planet alone and scared.

When she first suggested that you may be pregnant, you laughed in her face, then you cried, then were angry, then depressed. There was no possible way, right? You remembered to take your birth control every night, right?

Okay, now you were freaking out. There was one night you might’ve forgot to take it, and that time spent in your jail cell, and maybe one or twice while on a mission.

Now you were panicking.

You forgot some days to take birth control, you were off it for a couple of days too. Bucky was relentless. The possibilities were leading towards confirmation. Every sign of pregnancy pointed to yes.

You tried to deny it for a week, but as you looked at the remnants of today’s breakfast being flushed down the toilet again you collected yourself and came towards acceptance. Coming out of the bathroom, Carol was right there with a quirked brow. She was about to say something, but you opened your mouth first.

“FUCK!”

[bookworm-dork-fish]

Wesley Wisp

On ao3 and ffn (sorry, idk how to add the links) under user FireBreathingKoiFish

As much as he hated to admit it, Wes had begun to have a healthy fear of the times when his captor’s voice would take on a sickeningly parental tone. It was twisted and wrong, made to sound all the more so because he was caged and being subjected to tests for what must have been weeks at the hands of none other than his father’s boss.

“Wesley Weston! Rise and shine!” Vlad’s sickeningly chipper voice called from the lab stairway. Wes raised his head halfway, wrists and back aching from being chained to the wall of the cage all night. He shrunk back farther against the bars.

“What’s the occasion?” he asked tiredly, voice tinted with resignation. No doubt it would have something to do with ectoplasm. The first week, Vlad had periodically flooded his cage with the neon green liquid. He still had half-healed burns on his legs and abdomen from the chemical. The second and third weeks had been hell by comparison. Small injections of ectoplasm from the first week had gradually grown in amount and potency until the itch under his skin had become nothing short of burning. By week four, he had given up on hoping for rescue. Eyeing the half-open tanks across the lab, Wes had begun to fear the worst. Nobody was coming. Not Phantom, not Red Huntress, not even the GIW would be likely to find him.

Danny Phantom. Wow. Wes wondered what Danny’s reaction to his disappearance had been. A small, cynical part of him wondered if he had been relieved after so many months of Wes carelessly trying to expose his secret to the world.

Maybe, JUST MAYBE, this was some kind of twisted karma. Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten so annoyed when half of the school had started theorizing that Wes himself was Phantom. Maybe he shouldn’t have obsessively searched for the truth until he found it. Shouldn’t have tried to expose him. Danny’s pranks and taunting hadn’t been enough to even the odds, and now Wes was paying the price.

“The occasion, my dear boy?” Vlad’s smile grew near-maniacal, fangs and red eyes showing just for a second even in human form. “Today is the day you become a halfa.”

Wes stills, his blood taking on an unnatural chill. Halfa. He’d heard that word. He’d USED that word… to describe Danny. Half a human, half a ghost. ...no… No…! He thrashed, rattling the chains that bound his arms and legs. “You’re NOT going to kill me! You won’t turn me into a halfa! LET ME GO! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!” Wes screamed.

Vlad only smirked, walking over to a control panel next to Wes’ cage. He pulled a lever and something behind Wes slid open with a hiss. Wes risked a glance over his shoulder. Panels had opened up in the floor, revealing tracks that led from his cage to the dark empty arch of… a portal. “What do I want from you?” Vlad’s grin stretched to freakishly inhuman proportions. The cage jolted and creaked along the tracks toward the mouth of the portal. “What I couldn’t get from Daniel. A half-ghost son.”

“WHAT?!” Wes pulled against the chains, ignoring the way the metal bit into his wrists. “YOU’RE INSANE! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU EXPECT THIS TO WORK?!” He flinched when Vlad suddenly phased through the bars to appear right in front of Wes’ face.

“You think I don’t have my ways?” Vlad hissed in a tauntingly joyous tone that had Wes pressing even harder against the cage bars at his back. He raised a hand to tap Wes nonchalantly on the forehead and Wes grimaced at the touch. “Just wait. In no time, you will be a halfa with no memories of the time spent in this lab. Perhaps no memories of the past few years of your life if I so choose.”

“NEVER.” Wes lunged forward, smacking his forehead squarely into Vlad’s nose. The halfa flew back out of the cage with a growl and Wes felt a brief moment of satisfaction at the neon pinkish red liquid spilling down his face.

Another jolt. Wes’ heart leapt into his throat. The cage had stopped and was now just inside the mouth of the portal. Vlad smirked, stalking over to the control panel once again. He slammed his fist down on the keyboard. The mouth of the portal lit up with vibrant green light. Electricity and the familiar acidic sting of ectoplasm burned his skin, his flesh, his bones like a flood of fire. His throat was raw from screaming within seconds. Green flashed and swirled around him, choking him and completely obscuring his vision. Was this what Fenton had gone through to become Phantom? Distantly, Wes felt himself crumple to the floor as the burning started to give way to an unnatural chill that flared in his chest and spread with a wave of indigo light. His hands, still twitching, clenched against the floor as the sound of Vlad’s laughter rang through the open portal. He should have tried to expose Vlad, not Danny. The pain dimmed, replaced by another wave of numbing chill. That was all Wes remembered before everything went black.

--------------------------------------------------

When Wes came to, he was six feet under. Literally. He woke completely encased in the earth and stone underneath Vlad’s lab, just barely able to hear the footsteps and praise of the man who believed that he was still caged inside the portal. A clattering sound jarred Wes out of his stupor. He must have phased through the floor. The cage was being drawn out of the portal. The EMPTY cage was being drawn out of the portal. He had to get away. Desperately hoping that the intangibility would hold, Wes flipped onto his stomach, trying to claw his way through the dirt.

He shot forward through the dark for what he hoped was just long enough to get past the walls of the mansion, diving upward and bursting into the midday light. He collapsed onto the grass, looking over his shoulder. The mansion’s rooftop was visible above the treeline. Shaky legs carried him a couple more meters before giving out. It was then that he realized with a start that he wasn’t breathing. BREATHE YOU IDIOT! Wes thought, struggling to his hands and knees. He gasped for breath, the action doing little to nothing to calm his nerves. He knelt there, staring in horror at the pasty white-blue skin of his hands. No… no no no no... One hand trampled, fingers digging into the dirt and grass as if it were the only thing keeping him in that world, the other reaching up to pull at his hair when it fell in front of his eyes. It was an iridescent indigo. He pulled at his shirt, feeling his face pale further. The green and black basketball jersey glared up at him, glowing with a pale blue aura that solidified all of Wes’ fears.

I’m a ghost.

Something caught his eye above the treeline. A white and magenta shape that he had long since been able to identify as Vlad’s ghost half rose above the mansion roof, split into four copies, and flew in all different directions. One was heading straight for him. Wes leapt to his feet, half stumbling half running through the trees. Vlad (the copy of Vlad?) was gaining fast. Wes’ unnecessary breath came short and fast, hitching every time a branch whipped past his face. The cold spot in his chest was his core, the source of his new powers; he knew that much at least. He focused on it, trying to will his feet to come off the ground. All at once, the ground fell a full meter from his feet and he was left scrambling for purchase on empty air. A tree branch to his right caught his eye. On a whim, he grabbed it and launched himself forward from branch to branch, the act of flying gradually coming to him. His vision blurred, breath catching in a sob. One arm against his face to dry the glowing blue tears, Wes flew as fast as he could to the only person he could think to go to. Danny Phantom.

--------------------------------------------------

It had been days and the town was speculating about Wes’ disappearance with just as much zeal as Wes had about Danny’s secret. Danny sighed, phasing through the wall of his bedroom to fall face first into his bed. He had scoured the town, the city, and the surrounding woods for any sign of his classmate for days. Nothing had turned up. Even the ghosts who he had asked to keep an eye out for the boy had reported nothing. It was as if Wes had just disappeared into thin air. Danny would never admit it, but he had started to miss Wes’ annoying theories. He was just about to trigger his transformation when something rapped on his second story bedroom window. His breath frosted on the sheets.

An unfamiliar ghost floated just outside the window, eyes puffy and ringed in blue as if he had been crying. The ghost’s glow was stark against the night sky. Something about this new ghost’s appearance unnerved him. He approached the window and, one hand lit with a half-charged ectoblast, opened it.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Danny asked, too exhausted to greet the ghost with one of his usual snarky quips.

“I… I need your help, Danny,” the ghost’s voice wavered.

Danny’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know-?”

“It’s me! Wes. Wes Weston.” The ghost trailed off, staring uncertainly at something just under the windowsill as he floated there.

“W-?!” Danny dove out the window to hover in front of the ghost. “WES?! What happened to you?” The words left his mouth before he could really think about it. This new ghost was, now that he was looking for a resemblance, obviously Wes. But Wes… a ghost… that would mean-

“It was Vlad,” Wes said, wavering in midair as if he wasn’t entirely sure how flying worked yet. “He… he put me through a ghost portal.” Danny’s eyes widened as Wes continued, voice increasingly weakening until it was barely discernible from the underlying static echo. “I don’t know… if I’m a half ghost or…” Danny waved a hand to cut him off, leading him through the open window. He knew firsthand that it wasn’t good to dwell on those thoughts.

“I know this isn’t easy, but I need you to tell me what happened.”

“He -Plasmius- showed up after my basketball game a few weeks ago. I woke up in the lab under his mansion. The first few weeks… I think he might have been conditioning me to ectoplasm. He would give me injections of it and flood my cage with it. And then… today… he wheeled my cage into the portal.”

Danny growled, spectral tail lashing. “That FROOTLOOP.”

Wes laughed weakly. “You can curse y’know, Fenton.”

“F-ING CRAZED UP FROOTLOOP!” he yelled. Then, softer, “He gave up on cloning me, didn’t he? He decided to try to create another halfa?” Wes nodded. Danny growled again, pulling at his white hair. He took a deep breath, letting his hands fall to his sides. “Okay, okay. You said he tried to condition you to ectoplasm. That means it’s likely that you successfully turned into a halfa.”

Wes made a strangled noise.

“I know, believe me, it takes some getting used to.”

“H-help me turn human. Please.”

“Oh. That’s easy enough once you know how to access your core. I don’t really know how to explain it, but there should be a small warm spark at the center of your core. Focus on that and try to draw it out. Like this.” Danny triggered his transformation, letting the rings hover for a second before reverting back to human form. Wes’ brows scrunched up in concentration and, for a minute, nothing happened. Indigo rings flashed into existence around his waist, returning him to human form as well.

“YES! I’m human again!” Wes pumped his fists into the air, yelping out a curse as his entire lower half whent translucent blue and phased through the floor.

Danny chuckled, extending a hand. “Need some help with that?”

Wes paused mid reach, eyeing the hand skeptically. “What’s the catch?”

“Nothing! But you do need a ghost name…” Danny paused thoughtfully.

“I suppose I can live with that,” Wes grumbled, taking Danny’s hand and letting the other halfa pull him out of the floor. Wes’ feet returned to tangibility. “How am I going to hide from Vlad though?”

“You shouldn’t need to. I can give you a Specter Deflector and some other tech,” he frowned. “For both of our safety through, please don’t go posting any more halfa theories on your blog.”

“Don’t worry,” Wes snickered. “That blog is going to be used for good from now on.”

“Oh?”

“Have any ideas for how to get back at Vlad?”

Danny’s face lit up with a devilish smirk. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Wes smiled, extending his hand. “Team?”

Danny took it immediately. “Welcome to Team Phantom, Wes!” Not even a second had passed before Danny gasped, grinning widely. “I’ve got it!”

Wes groaned. By that point, he knew that face all too well. “I should have just stayed in the floor, huh?”

“WESLEY WISP!”

Wes paled, whipping his hand out of Danny’s grasp. “No. Noooo!” Danny doubled over from laughter, clutching his stomach.

“C’mon, Wes! It’s genius!”

“I… suppose I’ll have to live with it,” Wes groaned, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

Though tentative, Danny’s voice took on the typical little-shit tone it always had when he was about to make a really bad joke. “If you wanna be technical-”

“Shut the fuck up, Fenton!”

[bookwyrminspiration]

So. Chapter 11. I have many thoughts.

First things first, absolutely amazing, every interaction the characters had felt so natural and fit together so well, and gosh I just...do not have the words to describe how much I adore your writing.

Now time for what I'm here for: you've got me all fired up again! It's been quite a hell of a while since I've done any real theory or predictions, so I might be slightly out of practice, forgive me if I get any details wrong!

And I don’t really know what all of it means yet, but let’s try to get the simple facts laid out first:

Bronte and Oralie send cryptic messages.

Sophie finds a dragon scale in a random desk.

Linh has a connection to the dragons, like Marella.

Dragons are connected with thunderstorms.

So, are we getting dragon!Linh? Because I am so here for dragon!Linh. At the very least, there’s some connection between them. But there’s…something else.

So, the messages from Oralie and Bronte are absurdly cryptic, and that’s so fucking cool and I love it, but I really really want to dig into what they’re saying now. So that’s what I’m gonna do!

Bronte’s message: Secrecy and redundancy compose the toolkit of those trying to hide. It takes a special someone to see the darkness in the world and not participate. Your infectious light is spreading.

Oralie’s message: Secrecy and redundancy compose the toolkit of those trying to hide. Play a melody for me, and tell me what it says. History will have something sweet to say about you.

And you (via Sophie) put a special focus on the words “infectious light” and “history”.

And I will eat my boots if that is not connected to some grand underlying secret underneath the entire story. Now, given that these two are Councillors and have access to confidential files, and Bronte as old as dirt, and the focus on the word history, I’m willing to bet there’s some dark secret within elven history (shocker, I know) that somehow relates to all this monster business. Cause like…it’s hard to make monsters! It’s crazy that the Neverseen and whatever the new group is called have managed to make so many!

(And I haven't figure out the Secrecy and Redundancy part yet, but I will tell you when I think I may have understood it.)

And what’s even weirder is how easy it was for Sophie and the rest of the kids to develop specific monster traits instead of just. Literally dying. And from weird potion mist, too.

Is there something about elves that allows them to turn into monsters? We know the monsters are unnatural, and when I’ve brought up the idea that elves are being turned into monsters you haven’t really denied or confirmed it, just kind of skirted around the topic. And this could also be the reason the humans haven’t been attacked by the monsters- the monsters are made of elves because elves are…somehow compatible with whatever the Neverseen are doing, and they attack other mythical creatures because I’m assuming they share traits similar enough to elves that the monsters have an interest in them.

But it’s also weird how Bronte’s letter (while actually being kind of a compliment, which I find so funny because it absolutely does not read like it, 100/10 characterization points) implies Sophie is spreading something, something infectious, and I’m sure the usage of the word “light” isn’t coincidence either.

Light is really important to elves, like really important, and it doesn’t seem like something Bronte would say, either, what with his…seeming respect for it (from how he acted when at the Point of Purity and journey back). He’d more likely say something like “bravery” or “strength”, given that (iirc) he’s even used those words to describe Sophie before. So there’s something about the word light specifically that was important, and something about the light being infectous.

And now, elves are living underground. And the monsters were said to appear out of nowhere, too, just…out of the blue. Are the Neverseen using the light to create more monsters? What are the monsters for? Can they turn whatever they’re doing off? Are the Council somehow aware of what the Neverseen is doing because they have access to lots of knowledge the main crew don’t, and that’s part of why they fled underground?

And what’s the connection with the dragons?

(I nearly forgot about the dragons.)

From what you’ve posted, you seem to really enjoy the part of dragons that is unknowable and out-of-reach, so much greater than pretty much every other creature in the world. And that also sounds like a way you could describe the void!

And if dragons could access the void, then that would explain how they appear and disappear so fast, and if they control weather that would be how the thunderstorms don’t come in over the horizon, and simply just happen.

But what does it mean? Why did Marella go to them in…what chapter was it again? I can’t remember. Why did Linh react to strongly to the dragon scales?

And Marella may have the wings, but Linh has the scales on her face (although iirc they’re a different color to the one Sophie picked up, so I don’t think it’s hers and I don’t see why she’d attack if it was), so is she a dragon as well? And if they are, are they different kinds of dragons? And since dragons are extremely territorial (from what we’ve seen and can infer so far) is that going to create problems? Linh already reacted terribly to another scale, so if her and Marella’s dragon instincts get worse, I can see how that would go terribly. Or is Linh a different kind of creature?

There’s just…so many thoughts. I barely got into any actual theories here, oops. But that’s…most of my thoughts for now. Hope you enjoyed? I know I personally enjoyed Chapter 11 immensely, thank you for this wonderful AU!

- pyro

woa this is a lot!! pyro!! i am speechless!! I am. I am ahhh!!! I'm glad the interactions felt natural, I was a little worried they'd feel too out of character but sometimes my need to let them mess around with each other takes over

those first four facts you've laid out do seem to be what I'm hinting at--whether you're correct though, I'll let you find out in later chapters. I have more to say about Bronte and Oralie's messages but I'll get to that later. also, I do have more planned for the dragons, which will be fun!!

will be entirely honest i forgot you all don't know what wings Linh has--but!! her connection to the dragons may be related to her wings! everyone has a pair of wings unique to them, so how that translates to her remains to be seen. Marella with the dragon wings and the interests may seem more obvious, but I think Linh is gonna have a lot more mysterious, confusing connection to the way everything works.

Now! onto Bronte and Oralie's messages!! these stumped me for a while because I needed them to be cryptic, but also riddle-like with some kind of meaning that sophie could figure out if she gave it enough thought. of course, as of chapter 11 she hasn't even tried to figure it out, but it's planted that seed in her mind

a cool thing that I just want to point out: there are a few lines throughout the au that i have taken the structure of directly of from the books and altered their wording. One of those was in a previous chapter where I took the "but her mind was stronger than her body" from book one and changed it. I don't remember exactly what i changed it into as it's been a while, but I know that's one of them. and i did it again in this chapter! if you remember the message Bronte had Mr. Forkle give Sophie, "It takes a special someone to see darkness inside of someone and not condemn them," that's the quote I based his unique portion of the message off of. Oralie's also has a meaning tied to an interaction with her, but it's not tied to a specific quote.

for the "infectious light," you are right, that does have a meaning, and it was important it was those exact words. what it turns out to be, however, may not be entirely what you're expecting. and then there's the "history will have something sweet to say about you" which is a little hint to Sophie, whenever she figures that one out. they are trying to send her a message but she needs to figure out what they're trying to say first!! also, the secrecy and redundancy part does have something more to it, but I'll let you continue theorizing about that one.

my apologies if i'm focusing on this part for too long, but I legit spent like half an hour trying to figure out how to word this to set up future scenes and reveals, so I want to share some of that process!

and it is curious how the elven world is the only one affected...

there's a lot of theories for why it was so easy for them to develop those features, maybe their minds adapt to abilities so suddenly that they're predisposed to other changes as well, or they go quicker. maybe it's fragile, guilty minds that enable them to be taken over by horrors like these, whereas humans are exposed to violence and guilt and grief on a daily basis. I might touch on this later in the chapters, so I don't want to spoil anything, but there so many possibilities!!

moving on to the dragons!! you're right, i do think very highly of dragons and like the inachievability of them in this context. they're not just mindless creatures, they're a lot more complex, as we saw with them having abilities like elves. Sophie doesn't know exactly what it was, but she thinks it was tied to the explosive sounds she heard and the change in the weather. and I could tie them to the void! if we going with intelligent creatures having access to the void (like silveny, though her intelligence is very different) then it would make sense to continue that pattern. and it could explain a few of the mysteries left behind after chapter 7 (6? i forget which one)

like i mentioned before, I do have more planned for the dragons, and that does involve both Linh and Marella specifically. so!! I think some of your questions will be answered in the upcoming chapters, but for now I can't exactly answer without spoiling. but! you are asking the right questions!! you are on the right track!!

and it wasn’t exactly scales on linhs face, more they had they same pattern (the iridescent one) but I might've worded it weird so I can see where that came from. as for whether or not she's a dragon, the only thing I can tell you right now is that she doesn't have the exactly same wings as Marella, and i told you in chapter 9 (i think?) that she could easily hide them like Sophie, Wylie, and Biana. The whole mystery with the scale, however, is one of the things that i can't answer without spoiling, so I guess that tells you there's a lot more to that too.

i also have so many thoughts about the au and !! I loved reading all of yours!! I enjoyed it thoroughly!! chapter 11 may seem slower than some of the more action packed chapters, but it sets up a lot of the lore and background we'll need for future endeavors, so i'm glad you liked it!! I think i introduced a lot of questions in this one too...

I might've missed some of your points (there were a lot, which is excellent!!), so if there was something important I glossed over feel free to send another ask so I can go back over it!!

but thank you for reading this au!! talking about it motivates me to write more and make it more complex!! I mean, we're about 84,000 words in and I'm still going, so. there's a lot more to come!!

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

I just want to say, before I say anything, I'm not accusing you of saying this and I understand that you feel how you feel. I'm just asking this in a very general way and was wondering your thoughts. Why is it so verboten to think Zuko might have had a slight crush on Katara? There seems to be a rush to not just deny it but to treat it like it's some sort of horrible thing to even suggest it and I'm not sure why that is?

Katara is presented as a beautiful, lively girl who is a powerful bender. Why wouldn’t Zuko be a little starry eyed over that? It doesn’t mean she likes him back. Idk, I’m not exactly sure where my point is, except that being shouted down for just advancing the idea that maybe Zuko had the hots for Katara is a little frustrating? I’m not saying he was wacking off in his bunk thinking about her or expected to get some while they were hunting Yon Rha.

Also, unrequited crushes happen in ATLA-verse? Toph/Sokka anyone? Why does that never get screeched on but saying “Hey, Zuko loved Mai but he was probably looking at Katara and thinking ‘noice!’ a couple of times” the worst thing in the world? Is it the Water Tribe/Fire Nation thing? I mean, if it’s that, I wish people would just say that and stop screaming at people for their headcanons and whatnot. [theend]

Lol do not worry anon I know this isn’t an accusation!! Not only have I myself never perpetuated this rhetoric, but I don’t think I’ve really heard it before! Maybe once or twice?? I might just keep to chill parts of fandom, lmao, and that’s why I’m not very familiar with it. But I’ll do my best to theorize what may spark conflict based on the info you provided me!

(I’ve talked very briefly here about Zuko having/not having a crush on Katara before, if you were wondering.)

My main guess is that it’s not the headcanon itself that makes people frustrated, but how some shippers probably treat the HEADcanon as canon-canon (not an issue exclusive to Zvtara, btw; all big fanon ships have this problem - Zvkka, anyone? lmao). I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with headcanoning that Zuko had a crush on Katara! But in that same vein, there’s nothing inherently wrong with others acknowledging that the headcanon has no basis in canon either, if that makes sense. And headcanons don’t need canon basis! Headcanons are fanon! That’s why they’re so much fun! I ship Kuzaang like there’s no tomorrow, but I can also acknowledge that there wasn’t anything in canon that demonstrated Aang having a crush on Kuzon. Kuzaang is strictly fanon, and I love that about the pairing! It means I have incredible free reign, hehe.

But yeah. I don’t think it has anything to do with their different nations! Like I said - it’s probably solely an issue of some shippers (and undoubtedly just a loud minority) treating the headcanon as canon.

I don’t think saying “Hey, Zuko loved Mai but he was probably looking at Katara and thinking ‘noice!’ a couple of times” is the worst thing in the world, lmao. I do want to make a distinction here, though; this example you provide is actually an example of aesthetic attraction, which is not the same as a crush (crushes are indicative of romantic attraction)! So saying/headcanoning that Zuko thought Katara was pretty (as anyone with a brain would say, let’s be real) does not actually equate to him having a crush on her.

But back to the crush headcanon. I mentioned that I (personally!) don’t think it has canon basis. I will admit that I am not alloromantic, so crushes in themselves are a little confusing to me (I mean,, people just randomly like someone?? based on their appearance?? without even knowing them?? hell nah), but even disregarding that, I don’t think it would make much sense within canon for Zuko to have had a crush on Katara.

Again, disclaimer: there’s nothing wrong with the headcanon! Fanon is meant to contradict canon! To expand canon! To rewrite canon! Fanon is transformative. That’s the entire purpose of fanon. Go wild with that headcanon!! Make art!! Produce fics!! Support content creators!! Hell yeah!!

So what do I mean when I say that I personally feel there’s no canon basis for Zuko having a crush on Katara? Well, for one, he joined the Gaang in episode 12 of Book 3. That’s episode 52 of 61 overall. So in everything prior to that, Zuko not only has no idea who Katara is but he is also neck-deep in imperialistic rhetoric (you know, racism, superiority complexes, all that jazz. not fun for anyone non-FN). No possible crush there. In “The Western Air Temple” episode itself, Katara (understandably) threatens Zuko. She means what she says, and I think Zuko recognizes that. A crush there wouldn’t make sense - they’ve only properly met this second time and Katara (understandably) hates Zuko’s guts for what he’s done to the Gaang and to her personally.

Episode 53 is “The Firebending Masters” - Zuko’s too hung up on his firebending not working to think about anything else (Katara obviously still does not trust him yet, either, meaning Zuko is pretty much on edge around her. again, she threatened him, and Zuko no doubt took her threat seriously).

54 and 55 are “The Boiling Rock” episodes; not only are these Maiko-heavy but also in general… I mean, Katara’s not really in them. At least not from Zuko’s POV. So nothing implies a crush there. And then after those episodes, it’s worth considering that Zuko probably thinks Mai is dead. That he left her, the girl he loves, to die at Azula’s hands. We know Zuko tends to hold guilt to his chest, so concluding he blamed himself for Mai’s “death” is not illogical. Why would he all of sudden switch his sights to Katara, even if it was just a simple crush? While he’s grieving? That doesn’t track to me.

And then, of course, “The Southern Raiders.” This episode has been talked about to death, so I’ll keep it brief, lmao. I will draw attention to only one line, spoken by Zuko:

This isn’t fair! Everyone else seems to trust me now! What is it with you?

As we all know, TSR was not a flattering episode for Zuko. He was a racist asshole to Aang and - as aforementioned - acted as if he was entitled to Katara’s trust. Obviously, Zuko grows through the episode, and we see by the end that he respects Aang’s wisdom and respects Katara’s decision to walk away from Yon Rha (which is awesome!! I adore this brief but incredibly crucial arc of his!!). But my point is that nothing demonstrates romantic interest from Zuko to Katara. If anything, his initial motives are pretty damn selfish (i.e. demanding her to trust him because he feels like he “deserves” it already).

Emphasis on “initial” motives, of course. Obviously he grows more sincere!! (Tis the point of the episode for Zuko.)

So they end TSR on new, peaceful terms. Personally, I don’t think their relationship would be magically sunshine and roses after that (Zuko did some fucked up shit to the Gaang, lmao), but I do think things are getting better between them! Still, there is nothing indicative of a canon crush.

Next episode, in EIP, they scoot away from each other at the possibility of being together, yk? That doesn’t mean they hate each other’s guts, lmfao, but EIP is meant to depict imperialist Fire Nation propaganda - who wouldn’t be uncomfortable with that? Like, the entire Gaang is demeaned in that play. There’s nothing romantic about it. It’s a similar situation later with June - this is a lady that doesn’t know anything remotely personal about Zuko or Katara. Of course they’d react in a horrified and flustered manner when this - for all intents and purposes - total stranger suggests that they’re together! That’s creepy as hell! Definitely not indicative of a crush, lmao. And considering that the Gaang never teases Zuko about having a crush on Katara (compared to how I think Toph teases Katara about Haru?), i.e. the people who know them the best, there’s no reason for the audience to think anything is going on between them.

For other references, here are a few addressing EIP, June, etc.

And after all that… Well, now we’re in the finale. What time is there for romance? There’s a reason the canon couples don’t reunite until after the war is won! (Minus Sukka, I guess, but they’re not professing their love on the battlefield, per se, lmao.) Zuko chooses Katara to go with him because she’s a powerful waterbender and the only person who’s been able to handle Azula in the past (besides Aang, arguably, who’s obviously occupied with Ozai), not because he “likes” her in a romantic sense.

All of this is to say that to me, Zuko having a crush on Katara is strictly fanon. Which is awesome! Fanon is fantastic, and I actually really like these types of headcanons (like, Teo having a crush on Aang? GOOD SHIT). Some people are just jerks about it. That said, I can still understand why people might get frustrated by those who preach this headcanon as if it’s pulled straight from the text itself. I absolutely think it’s ridiculous to harass others over a headcanon (which unfortunately you see on both sides of the ship war), but in that same vein - of course it’s frustrating when those loud few act like their fanon is canon and proceed to shove it down others’ throats, lmao. It’s an imperfect situation, basically.

TL;DR - The headcanon in itself is great, and no one should be getting freaking harassed over it. But it is strictly fanon, so when some shippers treat it like canon, that’s understandably going to frustrate the rest of the fandom. Headcanons are a double-edged sword, lmao.

So that’s my personal theory as to why people get pressed over this headcanon. If anyone else has a different idea, please feel free to rb/comment with it!

[nightswithkookmin]

Imo there is enough to support the possibility of a romantic relationship, but you are writing full on narratives with impossible specificity. You know what confirmation bias is but some young impressionable people dont yet . Forgive me but misleading with ' alt facts' can hurt someone even if you dont mean it. I think you are a good person not looking to hurt anyone. But the way you postulate without any evidence makes your actions a little but like those of a charlatan. Peace and kindness

All these kind words you spew...

It feels more like an advice than a question so I'm not sure how to respond to it...

Let me just say thank you? I never quite understood what the brouhaha was about with my posts but after talking to a few people, 'on the other side' lol and reading your Ask, I think I'm starting to get a better sense of what the problem is.

Something about young impressionable minds or people?

Let the council of elders know, those are not my audience please. I cater to a much more mature audience- at least so far. The people that I interact with and engage with on my posts on and off Tumblr are very mature and not impressionable at all.

They are People with brains who can tell an opinion from fact and can engage in deep complex controversial conversations without throwing up, shedding tears or cussing through to the heavens.

If there are 'impressionable people' reading my blogs- they do so at their own risk. If you know any such people or they run to you with my theories kindly point out to them it's just theory because that's what my opinions are.

I think the best thing you can do is to advice such people to grow up if they are going to sit at the adult table or not read my posts at all. I think you need to learn to hold the right people accountable for their actions.

The best I can do in this case- to hold myself accountable, is to put up a disclaimer on my posts to let people know what it is that they are reading- something I do quite often. But I will make conscious efforts to put up those disclaimers each time henceforth. Thank you.

That I write full on narratives with impossible specificity:

Is this Latin for, 'you write fiction get the fuck outta here?' Chilee.

I don't even know what you mean by this exactly so I may not be able to respond to it to your satisfaction. Bare with me.

So what if I write fiction? What is wrong with writing fiction? Do you hate fiction writers? I don't get what the hate is with these complaints honestly. Do you want me to put up a disclaimer stating my blogs are fiction? Would that help? I would glady do it.

If it helps you sleep at night think of my blogs as fiction- a rose by any other name. I've been keeping up with Shakespeare. Lol.

I don't think it's that deep. Listen, you gotta understand that just because we both 'ship' Jikook don't mean we are on the same team...

Most alt shippers I know and who read my posts and engage with it are not even Army to begin with, for your information. They could care less about these shipping politics of yours. Have you thought about that?

Some simply ship JK and JM and support them because they believe they are members of the LGBTQ plus community not because they are part of BTS.

There are different communities out there who are also into Jikook- for very different reasons. You gotta respect that.

To you, Jikook is just a ship within BTS that may or may not be real, but to some of us they have very much outgrown that description...

They are a brand of their own, a power couple and members of the LGBTQ plus community- Gay Icons extraordinaire. I think we take very different stock in Jikook. So stop trying to fit us all into one box.

It's disrespectful to try and control the way that people perceive their OTP and support them. Jikook don't just belong to Army Jokers, they belong to different communities outside Army. Are you aware of that?

And please don't confuse the intersect. I am an alt-shipper yes but I just so happen to be an Army too. But if I wasn't an Army, I'd still pretty much 'ship' and support Jikook- make no mistake. There are quite a few of us running around these streets, you know?

So you have every right to want to gatekeep your Army Jikook- but you have to do that without infringing on other rights of other 'Jikook communities.'

Throughout my blogs I have tried to shed light on what altshipping is because I thought it would help bridge the gap but clearly that hasn't worked. Sigh.

Misleading alt facts

Do you not know what it means or you are just being ironic?👀

Why is it ok for you to believe and proclaim that JK and BigHit lied about JK dating the Tattoo artist but it's not ok for me to believe JK is telling the truth when he says he didn't date her and that BigHit saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone- hence why they didn't press charges against the shop for breach of privacy like they had said they were going to do. Instead, they had asked the shop to keep calm till the scandal died down on it's own?

You start your piece off with the whole, 'there is enough evidence to support a romantic relationship' between JK and the tattoo shop lady- I assume.

For context, this Ask by this anon is in response to my recent post/ answer on the tattoo girl scandal where the topic of discussion was on BigHit, JK and the tattoo artist and not Jikook perse.

A statement that is in direct conflict with JK's statement, BigHit's and the lady in questions, all denying that there was a romantic relationship between her and Jungkook- and somehow I am misleading who- who now with my theory??? Chileee.

Do you see the problem here? Double standards- the hallmark of bigotry. Lmho. You are literally doing the very thing you are accusing me of. Making confident assertions and claiming you know more about JK and the Lady's relationship and even have 'enough evidence' contrary to BigHit, JK and the Tattoo artist's statements denying the rumors- at least when I theorize I admit I'm being delusional. What's your excuse? When you say charlatan are you referring to yourself? You must be. Lmho.

Now I'm confident in my comprehension skills and intelligent enough to know when you make an assertion like this- it is your opinion and you are just stating your opinion. If you are not then honey you'd be opening yourself up to some serious litigation... goodluck I guess. Lol.

You are allowed to form an opinion about a topic. There is nothing wrong with that. If to you, JK and this person dated that is fine. I am not going to cyber bully you, stalk you, throw slurs at you, harrass you, dox you, slid into people's Dms to spread hate and lies about you just because I don't agree with your opinion. And for the record, I don't agree with your opinion. Hehehehe.

I have stated my opinion on the matter. I said I think JK and this person did hang out, go on dates but that there was no romantic sexual relationship between them because I believe that would have had much serious consequences and effects on Jikooks dynamics no matter how much they tried to keep a cool facade. Whoever felt cheated on would have acted more insecure than usual post the incident- how does this make me a charlatan? Are you saying it's wrong it have an opinion? Chileee.

Now if you can produce 'evidence' of them having sex or even kissing, then I will gladly change my mind on the topic and not sweat it.

Jikook have done way worse questionable things in 7 good years and people still don't believe they are dating. Jk hangs out with a female friend a few times in less than a month and suddenly he is dating her? Lmho.

You don't need me to tell you people are more eager to accept a heterosexual relationship than wrap their heads around the fact that two male idols are gay and in a gay relationship with eachother. Don't you just love it when homophobia meets heteronormativity and stinks? I do. Lol.

I mean this is a fandom that thinks JK is 'too touchy' and doesn't respect his boundaries- they practically swear JK is cheating on Jimin with every member any time he hugs, kisses, wings at within the group. You think they will be 'objective' about JK hanging out with a girl? Even if it happened once?

You said something about confirmation bias.... I will not touch it. Lmho.

This is not the first time JK has gone on a date with a girl. This is not the first time he has 'dated a girl', he has hand girls on his laps or whatever- what is a back hug? I think people need to stop defining Jikook's lives by their own standards. If a backhug is intimate to you. Thats you. If you think a grown ass man cannot hang out with a female friend, that's equally you.

You think if he thought it was inappropriate and risky he would do it 'in public?' Get with Kpop Idol dating culture. Lmho.

Do you know the lengths they go through to keep their relationships a secret? Especially non celebrity girlfriends? Chen from EXO got married and where is his wife? They keep their flings tighter than Trump keeps his toupee on his head. Lol.

They hide them not out of shame but out of love and the need to protect their loved ones. These idols have family members who have their restaurants and businesses shut down because they want to keep their privacy.

You think JungKook's girlfriend would- on her own, issue a statement regarding a scandal that Jungkook's agency had specifically directed her and her shop to keep quiet about and lay low till it blew away on its own? And later, started liking couple posts about her and JK? If they were dating, certainly JK would have dumped her after that move. In my opinion.

You think JK would let his fandom drag the person he is in a relationship with to the extent she loses her Job- when in his Itaewon gay pub scandal BigHit referred to the issue as his private affair immediately it happened? They could have kept the same energy with her, no?

They handled his gay pub scandal much better, with much respect and consideration for his privacy- if he dated her sorry but she mustn't have meant much to him at all. And if I were her I would have dumped him for that shit and not stay liking couple posts about us. Damn- But do you.

Taehyung was in a scandal with a girl too- did you see her liking posts and shit and going out of her way to do the most? Did you see how BigHit handled that scandal?

Nothing wrong if JK is 'dating' her or had 'dated' her and whatever person he decides he wants to be in a relationship with I will support him- that's why I support Jikook.

But your opinion is equally valid my guy. Just don't call me a charlatan for mine. You believe they dated, I believe they didn't- and to your impressionable young minds, I hope you are not selling them anything contrary to BigHit and JK's statement. That would be very irresponsible of you. Lol.

What else did you say?

Oh postulating without evidence...

Next time I write a theory based on my observations about Jikook, remind me to break off a piece of my brain and attach it to it- I guess that way people would finally understand when I say things like 'I think' 'in my opinion' 'I feel' 'I believe' that these are just my thoughts and opinions and not facts.

Let me leave you with this:

Peace and kindness. Namaste.

Signed,

GOLDY.