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dollypopup · 1 year

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Marina, Polin, and the False Narrative of Good Intentions

or: Fanon has Failed You

we're taking a real deep dive, babes.

bring a snorkel

Episode 1:

We are introduced to Bridgerton, Lady Whistledown first. She has the very first lines, talking about the new debutantes coming before the queen. Penelope expresses immense nervousness about this, even after Prudence faints and she writes of the blunder in her sheet, likely grateful she doesn't have to spend too much time on herself when she can highlight Prudence's fainting. In the very first mention of Marina, it's a conversation between Portia and Lady Cowper, about how Portia is taking Marina, a 'distant cousin of my husband's' in as an act of 'charity'. LC replies that she has always been quite charitable, which Portia exclaims is what Lady Whistledown should have written about, instead of 'erroneously writing that she shall only have three ladies under her care.'

That's when Penelope comes to Portia with a plea, using Marina's upcoming arrival as an excuse for her to defer.

"Unless you should like to have only 3 young ladies under your care, I should gladly sit this season out." "Penelope is nervous" "I am not nervous, Mama-" "What she is is two stone heavier than she aught to be." Phillipa: "Mmm, those blemishes on her face are quite difficult to conceal. Perhaps some lead and arsenic would help" "Should you allow me to defer but a year, just as Lady Bridgerton has done for Eloise, I may remain dedicated to my studies"

she is denied. Portia dismisses Marina to Lady Cowper, talking about how she couldn't be competition with her daughters. Marina walks in and Penelope, as though in relief, says "Oh, she's beautiful."

Because Penelope, as of this moment, only sees Marina as a tool with which to get what she wants: invisibility. We know that's what she wants based on her and Eloise's conversation in the daffodils, in which she tells her

Penelope: "No one truly notices me. I suppose that is what I like. When you are invisible, you can have all the amusement you want without any of the expectations popularity brings. It. . .frees you.” Eloise: “Do you think that is why Whistledown remains anonymous?” Penelope: “Perhaps.”

Lady Whistledown and Marina, in this moment in time, have the exact same purpose: they serve as shields. Shields that keep Penelope from being seen, from being noticed, and hopefully to give her more time. Penelope is grateful for this, LW starts taking shots at the Queen by taking shots at Daphne, saying she was falling from the grace of being named the diamond. Instead, she thrusts Marina to the forefront of the ton, declares her the true diamond, and sits relatively gratefully through Marina's flurry of attention.

Until it comes to Colin. The scene in the Featherington drawing room in which Colin comes to Penelope after calling on Marina and says it's a 'most dreadful sonnet indeed', to which she quips her famous 'Lord Byron he is not', thus making Colin laugh before he bids her good day, and she looks at him on his way out. This has often been discussed as a scene in which Penelope is starstruck that she made him laugh, but I propose something else.

This?

This is a look of concern and sadness.

What Lady Cowper had said had been foreshadowing, now Marina is literal competition for the center of Penelope's affections.

Which, let's give him some POV here

Let's talk Colin

Even in episode one, Penelope at the ball was watching Colin, a look which is mirrored later on by how Colin looks at Marina for the first time, asking who she is. He quickly joins the dance floor right next to her, clearly curious. Curiosity is a huge part of Colin's character that often gets overlooked, in fact. His wanting to travel is rooted in it. His room is FULL of Greek mythology, the first place he visits is Greece. Colin is drawn to Marina's newness, and also how pretty she is. He likes her pretty naturally. And she also clearly likes him. Even after the other suitors slough off, Colin stays.

Marina isn't pretending, here. Look at her. She finds him funny, he's turned toward her. We find out later that she's been there for about a month, at this point. As far as Marina knows, she was sent there against her will, because she doesn't WANT to be with Portia and her snooty high society attitude. Even still, Colin acts as reprieve. He comes to visit her and cheers her, she likes a lot about him, in fact, as we learn later, but let's go back to episode 1, the now.

And then we see Marina accept (and mourn) the fact that she's pregnant.

This is why she didn't come to the Vauxhall Ball, claiming illness, and Varley brings Portia the clean sheets. Portia goes to confront Marina, she'd been there for over a month and hadn't bled, accuses her of 'revolting recklessness', says she'll keep it under wraps only so her own daughters won't suffer, and when Marina informs that she doesn't want any of this, in particular her hoity superiority, Portia slaps her.

Slaps her.

As horrible as Portia and the Featheringtons are to Penelope, they have never once laid a hand on her.

Marina is made Other from the first moment she walks on screen. She is unwelcome in the Featherinton house. Even Penelope really only cares about her insofaras she's useful. In fact, episode 1 is Penelope's first taste of what her debut would be like without Marina, and in it, Colin comes to her rescue when Cressida is being mean. Penelope didn't dance at the first ball Marina was at, but she *does* when Marina's gone.

For Marina, this is a horrible night. For Penelope, it's fantastic. Simon and Daphne even became a thing, and Penelope is seen observing them. Not only did she get to dance with Colin, but she also got her gossip. This proves she doesn't necessarily need or can utilize Marina as a shield.

From Episode 1, we see the start of the divide, even before anything else, the show pits them against one another.

Which takes us to Episode 2

We open with Penelope remarking that it is 'disturbing' and Phillipa and Prudence telling on her to Portia by informing that she has questions about Marina's condition. And then

"How did it happen, Mama? Is there to be a baby?"

"Why is Miss Thompson to be kept away?" "Because her condition is catching!" [to which Penelope responds with silent astonishment]

We then have her with Eloise, walking arm in arm as Eloise complains about Daphne and Simon, talking about how being pretty and having nice hair isn't an accomplishment, and that going to university is, essentially: a lament of societal misogyny. Penelope is not only clearly disengaged with her, but even exasperated. Eloise remarks that Penelope did not listen to a word she says, which is true, and Penelope ignores that, too, except to grab her by the elbow, and tell her that she knows someone with child, and that they're not married.

This conversation is comedic, yes, but it's also interesting considering we know Colin and Marina are involved, and that Penelope's curiosity for how Marina came to be with child (outside of the obvious practical reasons for wanting to know for her own sake) doesn't stem from friendship with Marina, but rather desire and curiosity for how it affects Colin.

"She is not married" "How did she become with child if she's not married?" "I do not know. But I will find out." "You must! Otherwise, how can we make sure it never happens to us? We have accomplishments to acquire."

Penelope, even here, knows that they don't want the same accomplishments. There's a rift forming here, too. Penelope is a year ahead of Eloise, already out in society, and she's writing Lady Whistledown. As far as she's concerned, her accomplishments are to get married. Her opinion of being out in society has changed: she still wants to be invisible, but not to stay with Eloise, but instead to continue Lady Whistledown, and perhaps get married. She says so later in the series, in which she tells Eloise that people have mature problems, problems more important than some silly writer, problems like getting married.

But to who?

Three guesses.

Colin's next scene is when Eloise asks how babies are made, to which he gives his classic 'Have you ever visited a farm?' response, and cheekily teases that he and Benedict are off to take their sticks out, 'for a round of fencing!' and once again, though comedic, it's also meant to serve a second function: he becomes a suspect. That's a very dramatic way to put it, I know, but as of now, it's not revealed who the other half of Marina's bun in the oven is, and it very well *could* be Colin.

A fact Penelope likely suspects. So, she MUST know how babies are made, because she agrees with Eloise on this: she does have accomplishments to acquire. I propose to us that instead of the 'Penelope was so selfless! She would have let Colin marry Marina so long as Marina wasn't lying to him and trying to trap him' narrative, something a bit more complicated is afoot

Penelope wants Colin. She knows she can't get involved in his current romance with Marina, but she wants him all the same. The dance they shared solidifies that for her. They're friends, she's been in love with him since she met him, and now she's *able* to get married. And she wants it to be to him.

And all her actions from there are stained with that information, including the final reveal.

It's in the middle of Episode 2, well over a month that Marina's been in Mayfair, that we have our first scene of Penelope and Marina together. We open with Marina reading letters, tearstained in her hands.

She hides them immediately under the blankets and Penelope comes in saying she found some sweets and that Marina might be able to eat them when everyone else was off at the Ball. Marina, gratefully, invites her into the room so that they may share, to which Penelope is clearly pleased.

"I hear they have decided not to send you home to your papa." "I dare say he is relieved. I can only imagine how he will react to- "Your condition? Marina, may I ask- how did it happen?"

Penelope didn't come to Marina out of the goodness of her heart at all. She came to get information. Because curiosity is also an inherit part of Penelope's character, just as it is for Colin. Penelope's reasons for wanting to know are three fold: for the sake of knowing (it's good information to have, knowing how babies are made), for Whistledown if it's a good story, and for Colin.

Marina goes on a beautiful story about George, and we, at the same time as Penelope, realize Marina is still in love with her soldier boy, who she believes is in Spain, and in a moment of immense trust, passes the letters to Penelope for her to read.

But Penelope is only relieved. It settles two of the three, clears Colin from being the father and provides her good information for Whistledown, which she doesn't get publish, likely realizing that all the secrecy means it's a big deal, but she still doesn't know how one comes to be with child.

She laments this with Eloise immediately after. Snarks that Marina said it was 'Love' and Elosie informing that made no sense, to which Penelope agrees, saying her mama had 3 children and love had nothing to do with it. Eloise then asks, in a moment of empathy no one else has granted Marina,

"Well, what else did she say? Was she not frightened?" "More. . .sad, than frightened. But there may be a chance for her to have a happy ending yet, I suppose. She wants to escape to the country where she and her love may marry."

At this, Penelope is happy. She's glad that Marina will be out of the way and also that Marina will get to be with someone else. She isn't cruel, she wishes Marina well.

She just doesn't wish Marina well with Colin.

Episode 3 has Penelope running mail errands for Marina since Marina's in confinement. With no letter in hand, she delivers her the bad news, to which Marina clearly is despondent, wondering when a letter from Spain would arrive. Penelope soothes her by informing that he's on the front lines and it's difficult for letters. "If your love is as great as your previous letters state, surely he will write back to you soon. Or perhaps even better, he is already on his way back to you here, to come and take you home."

Penelope takes on her mother after she's caught with Marina and scolded, saying that Marina's been there for ages, and it isn't fair. She leaves, and Portia insists that Marina find a husband. There is no choice for denial, here, Portia makes that clear, and Penelope takes the news unhappily from the door.

Looks like she isn't out of the woods, yet.

Because even underlying Penelope's compassion, there's a second motive. Penelope is just like Portia: she wants Marina gone, too. She just has a different, very contrasting way of accomplishing that goal, but she's making strides toward it.

She writes of Marina rejoining society, that she will be at the new exhibit. When Portia tries introducing Marina to an older man, she silently pleads for Penelope to help her and she tries to come to her rescue. In the end, Marina tells him off herself, and Penelope and Marina are united against Portia. As of now, there is nothing that really contests them. Even still, Marina acts as something of a shield for Penelope, something she is sure to notice. With Marina in the house, Penelope receives less of Portia's cruelty, and even when she's scolded, Marina gets worse of it.

As of now, Marina and Colin were a brief flirtation that took place at the beginning of her coming to Mayfair. She enjoyed his company, but she's also not suffering without it, clearly uninterested in rejoining society or getting a husband who isn't George. Being pregnant has given Marina a new dream: one in which a man she loves will return from war to help her raise their family. Even if she was open to a new love at the start of the season, she clearly doesn't care or wants to find a husband who isn't George. She tells Portia as much, that she will not bow down to Portia's schemes. She has a man who loves her, and she intends to marry him.

Portia is the instigator here, even though fandom has made Marina the villain. PORTIA insists Marina go out in society. PORTIA writes the fake letter. PORTIA is who twists Marina's arm, verbally and physically abuses her, and locks her up until she can foist her onto some decrepit man and be done with her. PORTIA is who speaks aloud Marina's doubts of George not loving her back because he hasn't sent a letter to her.

Even though Penelope and Portia's goals are the same, their methods are MILES apart. Penelope *does* have compassion for Marina, wants her to have her love story with George, and she tries to help her because she recognizes it as the path of least resistance. Portia meddles far too much, which is her downfall every time.

When a 'letter from Spain' arrives, Penelope brings it to Marina and nervously asks what it says. She's excited for the confirmation that George loves Marina back and that he'll come to take her away or marry her. When Marina falls heavily to the bed, crying, Penelope asks if he'd been wounded. Marina tells her that he pretends there was nothing between them, that he desires nothing to do with "our- my situation."

Look at the expression on Penelope's face, here.

As Marina sobs, wails, Penelope picks up the letters to read them for herself and Portia congratulates her and Varley for their efforts, justifying that Marina had to learn the truth of men, eventually.

And then we're halfway through the season

Marina starts this halfway point as a new woman. When she mourned the idea of George, she mourned a failed love story, and she also mourned herself. When she said 'My situation' she accepted that the only person who would truly help her out of this is herself. She's inspected by Lord Rutledge terribly, he asks to see her teeth as Portia gives an elevator pitch, essentially making it seem that Marina was defective but, look, she has some good parts, too! Marina informs that she's had suitors calling all week (so we return to the romance situation at the beginning with a wide net) and Portia informs they'll take too long, considering so much time has passed. That she needs someone who won't ask questions when a baby comes out 3 months early, even if they married her the next day.

Obviously, Marina's in a horrible situation. This is nightmare levels of awful. She's been abused in so many ways, treated terribly. I don't think anyone could blame her for being upset. Penelope asks her if she'd like her to stay in, but Marina refuses, and Penelope doesn't push it. [Sidenote, this is also when Albion Finch comes to call on Phillipa, and we see Portia 'rewarded' (in her mind) for her efforts in keeping Marina out. She tells Mr. Finch that Marina isn't taking visitors, but he informs he's here to see Phillipa, to which Portia expresses wonder. To her, where her entire motivation is getting her daughters married, having seen Marina as an obstacle in such, she is vindicated through this]

Penelope and Eloise have another conversation, in which Penelope listens to Eloise talking about the house being abuzz w/ Daphne's prospects, to which Penelope says 'well, she *has* to marry eventually' after Eloise says she wishes Daphne would stay on the shelf forever so that Eloise doesn't have to be next in line [Eloise seeing Daphne very similarly to how Penelope saw Marina, in that way]. Eloise laments that she wants to fly, then praises Lady Whistledown as a brilliant woman of business, praise Penelope soaks up.

Penelope guides Eloise away from her attempts to rope her into schemes unmasking LW (who we now know is Penelope herself) and Eloise says she can tell her Mama she's sick and that she's caught what Marina has. Penelope informs that Marina is recovering, and that "It would be cruel of me not to be by her side when she comes back out. I shall cheer you on your endeavors, however."

The question is: has Penelope truly formed a friendship with Marina, or does she have a second reason, once again, for being beside Marina and keeping an eye on her when she re-enters once more?

Well, it surely means nothing that the next scene is Penelope and Colin having yet another moment. Surely.

Marina, being dangled about and clearly unhappy on the floor. Penelope, looking out to the ballroom. Colin comes behind her, to her delight, and talks about the host being fussy. "Do you think if he goes to bed, we all have to leave?" he asks, making Penelope laugh and clearly glad that he did so. To Colin, he likely imagines this to be the end of the correspondence, but Penelope surprises him. Like the first time, she opens up to him, shows him her wit, and they have a moment of snark, looking at each other for a beat too long after he compliments her with 'What a barb!'

Who breaks the moment? Penelope does. She doesn't continue. She doesn't take the compliment and run with it, she doesn't prolong the conversation. She looks down, and Colin changes the subject, sensing she's perhaps uncomfortable, or at least done with the moment, and says he's been trying to get in front of Marina all night, and Penelope says all Marina's interested in is a swift rescue, which inspires Colin to go after her.

This is their first moment together since her confinement, we know since he asks how she is, and from jump he gives her an out from a man who treats her like a piece of meat, and he makes a joke right away to ease her. Colin here is exactly to Marina as Colin was to Penelope when Cressida threw her drink on her: he's the knight in shining armor, and he likes it that way. Charm dialed up to ten, he and Marina re-hit it off immediately, and she's grateful to him. Tells him to spin her off and maybe she'll recover.

And Colin does. He spins her over and over again, in circles around the entire dancefloor, and Marina smiles, and Marina grins, and Marina laughs, something we haven't seen her do since she's thrown in confinement.

Can we blame her for wanting Colin? For falling for him? Very often we talk about how he was her only option, but the truth is that Marina liked Colin from the start, and she likes him here, too. She just found out that a man she'd been in love with is forsaking her, wants nothing to do with her. She's been inspected and slapped and degraded. And Colin is kind. Colin is genuine and earnest and fun. Colin brings her to life, again. She gushes about him to Penelope as soon as they're home.

And Penelope hates it.

Her problems are not that Marina is trapping Colin. She doesn't care about the logistics of the ruse. She tells Marina anyone but Colin. It isn't that Marina's pregnant, and it isn't that Marina lies.

It's that it's Colin. Penelope wants Colin and Marina wants him, too.

And that brings them back to where they started. It didn't matter what empathy and compassion they'd cultivated: Penelope is not Marina's friend. Penelope had *never* been Marina's friend. She was her ally insofar as Marina was going to live a story that left Penelope free for her own happily ever after with Colin, and as cruel as it is, it gives Penelope DEPTH. She is not just an altruistic darling willing to watch a man she loves marry her cousin. She does literally EVERYTHING she can to keep it from happening. That's her motive. He's her motive. It's Penelope's love for Colin and her hopes that they can be together that leads her to expose Marina.

In this conversation, she tries anew. Her hopes on George now dashed, and the confinement period over, Penelope tries to sway Marina by making Colin seem like a bad match. She can't think of negative qualities to counter Marina's compliment-fest (kind, funny, excellent with children), but informs that Colin is too young to marry. That she needs someone to propose soon. And Marina says he's not like other young men, that he's eager, that he saved her, that she thinks he will propose soon.

What Penelope never says is that everything Marina thinks of Colin, Penelope already knows. She knows Colin is funny, and kind, and an accomplished dancer, and excellent with children, and that he saved her, too, at Vauxhall, and that Marina opened up to her so she'll open up the same but she doesn't: she never once tells Marina that she loves him.

Because Penelope is not Marina's friend. But Marina *is* Penelope's. She says she'll be able to stay in town, gleeful that since Penelope is close to Eloise, so they will remain friends, as sisters. Marina doesn't see the secondary motives in Penelope's actions, trying to steer her away from Colin, nor does she assume anything of Penelope. How could she? Penelope has been nothing but nice to her in a house of cruelty. Penelope doesn't deride her, Penelope doesn't hit her, and Penelope helped her with George.

But Penelope doesn't want her there, same as everyone else in Featherington House. And she doesn't necessarily want Marina to be happy. She wants Marina to be out of the picture. She'd prefer if that was with her happy, but she doesn't need Marina's wellbeing. Just her absence. Or, at the very least, she's going move bitch, get out the way.

She begins thinking of how that will happen immediately after Marina leaves. She paces her room until Eloise throws rocks at her window, and this is when we get their fight.

Eloise comes with a theory about Lady Whistledown , going on and on about what she believes, and Pen cuts her off.

"Eloise I do not care! People have real problems, mature problems, problems that have nothing to do with the secret identity of some silly writer." "And you are so mature now?" "Well I am of age, I am out in society, therefore I have more important, mature things to worry about." "Like what?" "Like marriage," "You should not care about marriage.: "What if I do? I cannot expect you to understand, not everyone can be a pretty Bridgerton!"

Eloise runs off and Penelope immediately regrets it, because her fury isn't at Eloise, but rather projecting her frustrations at Marina and Colin's blossoming relationship at Eloise. When Penelope says she cares about marriage, that is only a half truth. She cares about marriage to Colin. Very specifically to Colin.

Episode 5 sees more of the same. When Colin comes to visit Marina, Penelope is displeased. She looks on as Colin brings Marina flowers, and Marina finds them beautiful. This is not a woman who would humbly have allowed Colin to marry whoever would make him happy, a selfless woman who had nothing but the best intentions toward Colin and Marina's love story.

She doesn't care if Colin would be happy with Marina. She wants him to be happy with her.

And listen to me very clearly: I like her more for it. Yeah, I said it. Oh, it would be easy if Penelope was a sweet darling, an innocent doll who tragically falls on the sword, wanting nothing more than for her dear friend to live a beautiful love story with someone who would appreciate him. No. She believes, knows Colin would be happier with her (and, ultimately, she ends up being right in that regard) and she wants him to be with her, not with Marina. This is not an excuse for Penelope. She doesn't do good things. Her intentions are not noble. What she wants is self-serving and how she goes about it is underhanded and secretive and manipulative. And I. Like. Her. For. It. Enough of the narrative that Marina was a villain, an antagonist in Penelope's love story.

Penelope was the antagonist in Marina's.

But she is also the hero in her own. From the very beginning, the narrative made it a one or the other situation. Even when they were friends, they weren't really friends. But through it all, Marina had no idea.

Because Penelope never told her.

She spoke in circles, said Colin loved to travel, encouraged him to do so in front of Marina, said Marina didn't like tomatoes when Colin joked that he'd bring her some as a surprise to break up the monotony of bouquets. Both Colin and Marina are surprised that she's saying anything in this scene, Marina moreso than him, because she thinks Penelope is her friend and would encourage this. Penelope knows how much Marina likes Colin, and how important time is with her situation. Marina gives her the 'girl, what are you doing????' face when Penelope clearly encourages Colin to travel. Colin informs that some things in London he'd want to see more than the world, and looks at Marina. They share a moment and Penelope rushes off after her mother for Plan. . .is it D, at this point? Plan D.

Penelope recognizes Marina and Colin like each other, so she goes to her mum. asks if it's a smart decision. She feigns caring for Marina. That she is ONLY worried because Colin is young and he's years off from marriage (which she doesn't really believe, or she wouldn't be saying anything) and that Marina simply doesn't have that kind of time.

It does what she wants. Portia comes to Marina, doubling down on Lord Rutledge, saying she has until Saturday to accept his proposal. Marina refuses, clearly disliking him, and Portia admonishes her.

"Is this about Mr. Bridgerton?" "He likes me! He will propose to me, I'm sure of it." "That boy is barely out of leading strings, he has two older brothers and they're still running from the yoke. You are to cut Colin Bridgerton immediately, or I will lock you in this very room until Lord Rutledge makes you his wife."

Marina's smart, she makes a deal. She recognizes how a marriage to Colin could do a world of good for Portia's daughters, and she pleads for just a few days. Before Saturday. That he would propose. And it's only now, in this moment, that Marina makes a plan that has anything to do with Colin. Only after already liking him and envisioning a second chance romance with him, and having a good life with him.

It isn't that Colin's her only other choice. Marina had several unhappy choices. But Colin is the choice she *wants* to make. She has a time limit now, hence the deception, but it's rooted in her attraction to him. "You will seduce him." is what Portia says, but for Marina, it's not as dramatic as all that. She already likes Colin. and Colin already likes her. So maybe they speed it all along, but it's not made through falsification.

But for Penelope, who listens at the door, this is now the proof that it's becoming serious, and that this plan, too, won't work.

Plan E, it is. Chuck her off to anyone new. See what sticks. She points out multiple men at the next ball they're at as prospects. This is Marina's face when Penelope described him as pleasant.

and then that another has kind eyes. To which Marina replies, honestly, rather relatably. That she doesn't know them or care about any of them, and that she's looking for Colin.

Only now. In the middle of Episode 6, just about at the 11th hour, does Penelope ask Marina not to pick him. This is the first time. That she can do this to anyone else. She attempts Plan H: a plea for morality. That she doesn't want him to be tricked and deceived. That she's known him forever. That Marina shouldn't do this to a good man, but Marina asks if Penelope would rather she marry a bad man, then.

And the truth is, Penelope would. Penelope would rather that Marina marry a bad man than marry Colin, Penelope would rather Marina do anything rather than marry Colin. Because this entire situation is all born because Penelope loves him.

This is her way of fighting for him. It's not her way of being altruistic, it's not her way of wanting to help him, it's her way of ensuring her own happily ever after. And no, that's not a 'Penelope is such a darling angel baby' take, but it IS a human one.

And the worst of it is that Marina would have backed off of Colin if Penelope just said something earlier. Think about how their friendship was. Penelope could have informed Marina that she liked Colin when Marina was gushing about George. She could have opened up. Or when Marina was getting suitors again after her re-debut in society. Marina was rife with suitors. She liked Penelope. But Penelope never spoke up. There was an entire month and a half Penelope could have talked to Marina, and then another in her confinement.

But Marina only realizes Penelope doesn't actually support her after Penelope says not to do this to a good man. That Penelope isn't happy for her in the least. She assures Penelope that she'll be a good wife to him, that he'll be good to her in return, and that, really, it isn't Penelope's business. Which it isn't except for the fact that she makes it her business. Lord Rutledge gets engaged, and Colin becomes Marina's last way out. But, let's be real: he was was also the only one she wanted to entertain.

Oh, my sweet, darling baby boy. Earnest describes him to a T. He doesn't know he's the rope in Marina and Penelope's tug of war (hell, Marina doesn't even know someone else is pulling for him), and he gets denied a narrative in so much of this. When Marina says she's feeling faint and to find someplace more private, Colin doesn't even THINK she has alternative motives. He's concerned, takes her to a different room.

Watching this scene, you see how utterly endearing he is. He leaves the door open until she encourages him to close it, which he does post haste. He smiles at her and keeps a respectable distance. He's truly been raised to be a gentleman, and he clearly respects her. When she says they shouldn't be alone together, he finally realizes what she wants from him. When she takes a step toward him, it's subtle, but he leans back. Gets nervous. Steels his face, drops his expression. When she goes in for the kiss, he makes a few minute jerks forward, for a grand total of 2 and a half seconds, and then cuts it all off.

"You are a Lady. I must maintain your honor. And mine. No matter how. . .tempting, otherwise."

Marina, after hearing this, is stupefied. Tells him he's right. That she's a lady. She's unmarried. And he is. . .a gentleman.

And she knows Penelope is right. That he's good. She just didn't know how good Colin actually is. And in this moment, she accepts her lot. She walks away. Her last chance, her last option, and upon realizing that Colin is kind and earnest and a good, honorable person, she agrees with Penelope. She doesn't want to lie to him, to trick him, she's about to let him go. But Colin offers her to marry him, and she accepts.

Because wouldn't you? Wouldn't anybody?

Hell, her exact words are "I would be delighted to marry you." and she means it. Not as a last resort, but genuinely. We don't do Colin enough justice in this romance.

He goes on about how their long engagement is romantic, that she deserves a grand celebration, and you can tell she enjoys that, but also that she knows she'll never have it. This is where she realizes how different they are, that he's a dreamer and she's a pragmatist. And that she'll have to change his mind but can't ask for it outright.

Marina has affection for Colin. Even in season 2 we can see that, when she rightfully tells him they're in the past and that he should focus on those in his life who already make him happy. How could she not have affection for him when he's genuinely so fucking good?

And speaking of, the way he defends her to Anthony still remains one of the hottest scenes Colin takes part in. When he says he's marrying Marina for love, and not because he compromised her, he means that. When he calls Anthony an ass for insisting he go to brothels and that his interest in Marina is just lust, he's genuinely offended. Anthony says that Violet is distraught and that he won't give Colin his blessing,

"Sorry to disappoint you." "You have. In so many ways."

Colin goes to see his mum immediately after. He takes her hand and, without saying it, he all but screams 'why don't you see me?' Reminds he was courting Marina all season after Violet says she was glad she knew before Whistledown. That she was too wrapped up in Daphne to notice.

Colin wants to be seen, to be taken seriously, and it really is, as of that moment, that the only people who do so outwardly are Marina and Pen. The difference between them isn't down to looks or attitude or anything like that at all: Marina pursues Colin, she makes it clear she's interested, and Penelope doesn't. It's her greatest character flaw and the crux of her story, that she never says what she wants, that she doesn't speak up for herself. Eloise even points it out about her (and you know in friend fights they cut deep). only when she learns to speak aloud what she wants does she get her love story and happiness in society.

Penelope is near in tears when Colin announces his engagement to Marina. But the thing about Penelope is that she's persistent.

As she walks in to Marina, Prudence, and Phillipa talking about how all their fortunes are about to change with the new engagement, Penelope snarks 'Especially Colin's' to which Marina replies by complimenting her, saying she looks lovely. Penelope replies not to mock her, and Marina says

"Do not mock me." "It pains me you should think every compliment a mockery." "Do not pity me either." "I do not pity you, Penelope. I respect you. You have been a true friend since I arrived here, and I rely on your continued friendship and sympathy." "My continued silence, you mean? You think so little of me I cannot bear it. I never would have made my way through this awful tangle without your kindness. Please, do not tell me you regret it." "I would never bring scandal to you or our family if that is what you ask. But I cannot condone your actions." "I want you as my friend, Pen. Can you not try to understand and be a little pleased for me?"

Marina leaves for her modiste appointment and Phillipa talks about how they'd make beautiful babies together, to which Prudence laughs and reminds that he's not the father. Penelope snaps at them, saying Marina makes a fool of Colin already, but

but

does she not do the same to him when she outs the information later on? I like Penelope, and I ship Polin. In fact, I ship Polin exclusively, in the sense that I don't actually ship Colin or Penelope with anyone else, but this entire season is proof of Penelope's fuck ups with Marina and with Colin, both, and her justification for her actions, a thing Portia also does. She goes deeper and deeper into her disregard for Marina. Marina wants Penelope as a friend but Penelope doesn't care about Marina to that extent, even from the beginning. As Portia and Marina become more entwined in their joined ruse, Penelope sets her hopes on Violet noticing that Marina is pregnant, but Violet does her best to welcome Marina to the family, wanting to do right by Colin.

So, there goes plan G. Dire straits, then. Penelope finally has a moment alone with Colin. I've talked about the scene in which she tries to 'tell him' in a different meta, and this is already so impossibly long, but long story is that Penelope still doesn't say what she really means here. There's a narrative that Colin doesn't listen to her, but all season he listens to her. And all season, she never says what she actually wants to. When she tells him that Marina loves someone else, Colin assures he would be a hypocrite if it mattered to him that she had a romance before him. (good for you, bb boi) She doesn't tell him Marina's pregnant, which she writes in LW later on, but skirts around the subject until those precious few moments are gone.

And she lies. She says Marina loves George, still, but Marina has accepted that George wants nothing to do with her. Whether she loves him or not is outside of Penelope's knowledge. She just wants to throw whatever she can at the wall and see if it sticks, see if it breaks the engagement, and still have Colin look at her with fond eyes after the fact.

When Marina discovers them in the hallway, it's hard not to sympathize with her. She's soft when she tells Penelope Portia is looking for her, and she looks so tired. Colin apologizes for Anthony being so rude at dinner, and Marina confides in him. That her own father doesn't want her. That the Featheringtons cannot wait to be rid of her. That she thought she'd find acceptance with his family, but that was a foolish thought.

And she's right. Marina is, for all intents and purposes, fully alone. She has no one in her corner save herself. And save for Colin.

"Even your mother is just being polite." "I shall be your family, now. We shall make our own family, you and me."

And Marina wants that. So deeply, she wants that. With Colin, there's acceptance. She isn't trying to manipulate him, here, she's just hurt. Penelope has her own reasons, she loves Colin, he's a dear friend, and she doesn't want to see him hurt, and she wants him to be with her, but Marina's reasons are also poignant. Colin is the only person who made her welcome in the ton and continues to do so. Once Penelope turns her back on Marina, she just has him. And in his desire to do right by her, offers to elope.

When she says "I love you" to Colin, she's not lying. She's not trying to trick him, as is so often discussed. Is it an everlasting love? No. Is it a nonproblematic love? No. But she certainly loves what he's done for her, how he makes her feel, and she has admiration for who he is as a person. That's love, too.

This is the face of a relieved woman. Not a woman who just lied and schemed reveling in her success. This is a woman looking up to heaven, thanking God for this second chance. Just LOOK at her

We come back to Penelope, then, the day after, who feigns being sick and then runs to ransack Marina's room, looking for George's letters. (so to all the people mad at Eloise for rummaging through Penelope's room, well. . .I hope that same 'it's an invasion of privacy!' applies here, as well) Instead, she finds her duffel packed and knows they're going to elope. She searches more for George's letters and finds them, realizing one is forged.

So, Penelope waits for Marina, in her room, with the falsified letters (Plan I?), to inform her that the letter that broke Marina's heart was a forgery. She has proof that her mama faked the signature. Marina informs that it doesn't matter. George never replied to her letters.

"He has abandoned me. While Colin has embraced me." "I thought you loved him. George." "I was a fool. This changes nothing."

To which Penelope is aghast, watching Marina burn the letters, and when she asks what she'll do when Colin discovers, Marina is truthful. That she will live safe in the knowledge that Colin is a good and kind man, as he has proven to be, and that he'll take care of her and her baby. Which brings us to:

"What of him? What of Colin?"

And do I think some part of this truly is Penelope caring about Colin and his ultimate happiness? Yes. She does want what's best for him, and she does care deeply for him, but the truth of the matter is that in this, she's not doing it for him. Penelope is doing it for her. And that makes it more interesting. At every turn, every single one, Colin shows that he's infatuated w/ Marina. That he loves her, even. Nothing about his actions signify any different. And maybe it's not true love, and maybe it's a bid for him to feel useful, to feel listened to, to be taken seriously, but it's still how he feels.

The only person suffering, here, is Penelope. And Marina recognizes it for what it is. When she tells Penelope that her love is an unrequited fantasy, she has no reason to think otherwise. Penelope never opened up to her, all her criticisms are now revealed as her wanting Colin from jump, and Penelope all but said aloud she and Marina aren't friends. Marina told her to get out of her relationship, and none of us can pretend that we wouldn't do the same. Penelope is acting as though Marina is a scourge on Colin, but all Colin has done is make Marina feel cared for and wanted. We don't give him enough credit, I swear, because the reality is that how Colin is with Marina is a glimpse into how he loves. If he can forgive Marina lying to him for a good reason, he can forgive Penelope lying to him for a good reason. Marina was never Colin's endgame. Not once. It was always going to be Penelope.

And it's to show that Colin is a good man who fights for his partner, who listens, who has empathy, who wants to bring cheer, who jokes, who is wide-hearted and romantic, who puts his feelings in his hands and reaches out palms first. Give him his flowers. He was a real one with Marina. Through and through and he's gonna be a real one with Penelope. A real one to the max. This is Colin's baseline and it'll only dial up with Pen when we reunite in Season 3 but for now-

Marina says she'll be the executioner of Penelope's childish fantasy of loving Colin, but it's Penelope who's the executioner. Because even though she comes running to Eloise, even though she sobs and cries and did so much to ensure what she didn't want to happen wouldn't happen, in the end, ultimately, Penelope chooses herself. She doesn't choose Colin, she doesn't choose Marina.

Penelope chooses Penelope.

And she exposes Marina's secret. And she breaks up the engagement. By force. "Perhaps she thought she had no other option. Or perhaps she knows no shame." which is what Penelope wrote of Marina, also applies to herself in this case. When she sobs with Eloise, she's hurt by what Marina says to her, yes, but she's not weeping to mourn Colin and her one day maybe love story with him. Because she doesn't believe Marina, she doesn't think it's an unrequited fantasy. Why else expose Marina?

No, she's mourning herself. Mourning the person she one thought herself to be, and how that isn't the person that she is, that she would and can use Whistledown to get what she wants, that she has power, and how she would throw her own family and even herself under the bus for just the HOPE of her love story, and that all her intentions of fairness fly out the window because Penelope is human, and she was jealous, and she was mad.

And she continues to be. Further salt in the wound in Episode 7

"Miss Marina Thompson's recent fall from grace continues to echo through every drawing room in town days after it was revealed her engagement to Colin Bridgerton was nothing more than a sham. Of course, a Lady's disgrace does not merely tarnish her own name, like the tars on the Thames, it also leaves a smear on everyone nearby. While there is no parasol in the world strong enough to shelter a ruined woman, the fallen Miss Thompson can only hope she shall find a refuge somewhere."

Y'all

This is mean. This is twisting the knife. Portia knows it's game over. Marina is even refused from a charity room without a considerable donation. She's out of options. And it narrows and narrows around her.

And for Colin, denial isn't just a river in Egypt. He claims Lady Whistledown to publish lies and says Marina must be in agony, that he doesn't understand why he can't just visit her. Anthony informs that BECAUSE of Lady Whistledown, Colin is absolved from being the father, but if he comes near her, they will presume and he'll ruin the rest of the family for it. Even still, Colin goes to refuse, but Daphne interrupts. No one listens to him in this scene, and he's left to listen to how his family will fix what they perceive as his fuck up. He says he's sooo happy it's been settled, and storms off.

Once again, no one takes Colin seriously. He's right to point it out. Not even Penelope, as she took his decision from him just as everyone else did. In a way, Colin is also alone. I think that's what really tugged his heartstrings when Marina lamented no one wanting her around.

Colin's a hopeless romantic. In a way, he fabricated his own love story around what he wanted to hear and know. He says Leander swam each night in total darkness to see his love, and Daphne, now jaded, tells him Leander also drowned. She'll arrange a rendezvous, but she doesn't believe it'll be a love story, not really, not anymore. And Colin even though Colin seemed to be hopeful that it was a lie, when Daphne says that Marina's a stranger and that Whistledown knew Marina better than Colin did, Colin clarifies that Whistledown knew Marina's secrets.

Maybe he already knows it's true, believes it to be, but he doesn't want to see it.

"You must tell me that this Whistledown woman is mistaken, what she wrote, it cannot be true." "But it is." "You are. . .with child? I do not understand. We were to be wed. You- you said you loved me." "Colin, I hold you in the greatest esteem." "Esteem? You are a cruel woman indeed to stand here and talk of friendly affection as if you have not just committed a grave sin against me." "Speak not of sin, Mr. Bridgerton. I did not come here to be shamed by you, nor anyone else. I did not know better. You may think me a villain but I did what I thought I must. No one ever truly helped me or guided me in a different direction. I had no choice. I needed to wed. And you- you were the only man who offered me even a glimpse of happiness." "So I should feel flattered, then? Consider myself lucky that you chose me, lied to me, tried to trick me into a fraud of a marriage? I shall take my leave of you for the last time, Miss Thompson. . .You wish to know the cruelest part of your deception? If you had simply come to me and told me of your situation, I would have married you without a second thought. That is how in love I believed myself to be. But I see now that was all a lie."

This is such a fascinating conversation. It reveals more of Colin than a lot of other scenes he has does. For Colin, it's not Marina being pregnant or having come to the Ton already with child that bothers him, it's that she lied to him. He calls it a fraud of a marriage, says that she told him she loved him, and that he doesn't believe it now. One lie toppled the entire house of cards for him.

Which makes it all the more paramount that Penelope tells Colin that she's Whistledown. He shouldn't have to find out on his own, and in fact, finding out on his own would cause an IMMENSE rift between them. It would shatter his trust in her worse than learning about Marina lying to him. If Penelope instead, however, comes clean, comes to him with honesty, Colin would see that in of itself as an act of love and trust. For Colin, love is being honest. Love is being earnest. Love is being upfront. And even though Marina had every reason not to do so, to hide, to reveal to him after the fact, having lied to him is what really breaks his heart.

This is an opportunity for Bton to get some payoff in a reflection of a scene like this with Colin and Penelope. Because what so many of us Polin fans don't want to face is the fact that Penelope is ALSO keeping a life ruining secret from him. And what Marina says? Can we not also hear that in Penelope's voice? If the question is how they overcome it, the first part of that answer is by Penelope taking accountability. Coming clean.

And even though Marina has more that happens to her, this is the end of her and Colin's love story. From here, they don't really intersect. Marina does say to Daphne that Colin is a sweet boy, and for what it is worth, she is sorry, but they have very little beyond this. Until Season 2 when he visits her [we'll unpack that can of worms at a different time] Eloise comes to Penelope and asks how she's faring, Penelope says their mum swears they're ruined. But Penelope then asks about Colin, if he's in pieces, and Eloise assures that Colin will be fine as most men are, but that Whistledown has gone too far with the slander the sheet did to her family. The Featheringtons are asked to leave the luncheon, and Penelope walks off with them, realizing the true impact of Whistledown and what she's done for the first time.

One of which is Marina's brush with death. Disgraced, abandoned, and rejected, Marina drinks what she hopes is an abortive tea, and Penelope finds her on the floor after she comes to talk to her, perhaps to come clean, perhaps to make amends. Now that Colin is no longer a point of contention between them, Penelope can open her heart once more, and likely feels immensely guilty. In our final episode, Penelope is clearly feeling the weight of her actions, even when Marina apologizes to her after drinking the tea and recovering, is glad she can finally go home, and says Penelope was right. That Colin is a good man with a good heart. That Penelope was good to him, and one day, Colin will see it. It's the end of the season, now. Marina is more than ready to move on.

Enter Phillip Crane. The entire Phillip situation is tragic, how he has to tell Marina that George is dead, and how Marina has his letter as proof that George loved her, and that she thought him a villain. (Marina has a moment that I think will be reflected by Penelope in Season 3: 'I was wrong.' )

The next scene Penelope and Colin share is when he's singing for his family, his voice catching when he looks at her. Likely in gratitude or appreciation, but also this is another moment in which he looks at Penelope differently, their relationship subtly shifting. He realizes she was trying to tell him. He admires how good she is. He's touched by how she cares about him, how she tried to keep him from heartache. And she did. She really, really did.

She just also tried to keep herself from it, too.

But she couldn't. Because at the end of all of this, all these twists, these turns, and all the choices she makes 'for Colin'- he has to choose himself, too. And he chooses to leave, to escape, to heal, and to embrace his passions in travel. and this hurts Penelope, too, because it wasn't that she was trying to keep him from heartache, but rather to keep him for herself. Because she was trying to tell him she loved him.

Immediately following the end of his engagement that she orchestrated, she wanted to confess. In a way, Penelope underestimated Colin, didn't see him all season, the depth of his feelings or his gentle heart. Though she tried to keep him from heartache, heartache found him regardless. She denies his request for a dance, swallows her confession, and leaves. It hurts her that he doesn't want her, but she doesn't think of his perspective in it. To Penelope, Colin is not yet a person, but an idea. This is the first fragment in that image. Which is good. It has to shatter eventually, and it does so at the end of Season 2.

Daphne, the same woman Penelope tried to pit against Marina in the diamond wars at the start of the season becomes the only real ally Marina has. Her only true friend. And the reason Phillip comes and offers Marina marriage, thus keeping her from destitution. Penelope wasn't going to, even though she was sorry at the end. She cries after Marina walks past her without so much as a glance when she walks her way, stone faced, into a carriage with a complete stranger, her dead love's brother, to live the rest of her days in a completely new place.

And Penelope? Penelope engrosses herself into Lady Whistledown, and she continues correspondence with Colin from afar, as she is more comfortable doing, and she dreams of a someday, and she feels invincible, because at the end of the day, even though what she did was objectively not good, she got away with it. She leaves us with a smirk at the end of Season 1.

Which makes her even more bold in Season 2. Which will lead us up to her having to face actual consequences for her actions in S3, because in this entire season, not once does Penelope apologize, and in fact, the two people whom she causes the most harm to, both end up apologizing to her, completely unaware that the entire time, she'd been plotting to break them up from the very beginning

I don't think Penelope is evil, but Marina certainly isn't, either. To assume that Penelope felt betrayed by Marina, to pin the blame onto her, is to twist the narrative, and it has festered so long and so deeply into Polin, that we've seemingly completely forgotten.

Like it or not, the story with Marina serves important roles: it reveals the extent and sacrifices Penelope will go to and make for Colin, for herself, for her own happy ending, and for romance, it shows what a hopeless romantic Colin is, and how dearly he cares for others, how deeply he feels, and how desperately he wants to be heard. And, more than anything, it's the story of a woman who was thrust into circumstances that were bigger than her, that left her scrambling for answers, that revealed everyone else's cruelty in their interactions with her.

And that revealed ours, as well.

sometimes fanon festers for so long that it becomes what we swear is real, even if it isn't. it becomes a rot, in fact, manifesting in so many bad takes, particularly about Marina, in the Polin tag. we've all seen them. Penelope exposed Marina because she did it for Colin. Marina didn't care for Colin and only wanted to trap him. Colin was blind to what was in front of him all along. some of them are more cruel, people stating that Colin was an absolute idiot or that Marina was a heartless bitch.

It's enough of Marina being the Big Bad in Polin's love story. She isn't. Marina got dealt a horrible hand, and she navigated it with so much more grace than I ever could have. She endured physical abuse, verbal degradation, gaslighting, manipulation, derision, fake friends, and the death of her own love story to come out the other end a pragmatic woman with a kind heart, moving forward. Her experiences in Season 1 made her believe she had no Love Story to live. She loved, she lost, she tried again and it blew up in her face.

And she deserves our fucking sympathy

Her story is over in Bridgerton, but as Polin's love story continues, it's important to get a clean look at Penelope's intentions and how morally gray she truly is, which makes her all the more interesting and complex. It makes Polin's love story and their dynamics rich and nuanced and layered. Both Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington said "I'll do anything for love"

we get to see just far that stretches

#marina thompson #marina crane #polin #bridgerton #penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #this is the longest post i have ever made #and i STILL have more to say #whoops

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fiepige · 10 months

Text

My concept for Venom!Hobie

Okay here goes

DISCLAIMER: I CANNOT DRAW

I've made another post where I mentioned it as well but I'll reiterate it here:

I don't think Hobie would ever canonically accept a symbiote due to his history with them and how they're used in his universe.

Now with that out of the way let's speculate!

This is my concept sketch for Venom!Hobie

Before I go into details about the design and the possible way he would work in universe:

I wanna give the world's BIGGEST shoutout to @levionok for being the coolest person ever and actually make some AMAZING drawings of Venom!Hobie:

(Like how cool is this!?!?!!! I love these so much!! aaaaahhhhhhhhh<3 <3<3)

Okay so, first I wanna talk about his design and then I wanna speculate about the most "realistic" ways I think Venom!Hobie could come into existence/what his personality would be like.

Design:

I wanted the symbiote to exaggerate some of Hobie's physical features so I kinda went with the idea of Venom!Hobie being even lankier and spikier than regular Hobie/Spider-Punk (since the symbiotes seem to take more after the actual suit when it comes to their design I based most of their looks around how Hobie looks as Spider-Punk)

Since Hobie is already tall I of course imagine Venom!Hobie as being even taller/lankier.

Though due to his longer limbs he has a bigger tendency to walk crouched down on all fours (sixs technically?) as beautifully illustrated by @levionok above. (and less beautifully illustrated by me in the top right corner of my drawing lol)

Since Hobie also incorporates spikes into his looks I did the same for Venom!Hobie and added even more! He now has more rows of "mohawk" spikes, his choker spikes become longer and the same goes for the spikes from his jacket + he gets extra spikes along his back. He also gets spikes along his wrists! - He's a spikey boy!

Also all the spikes are made from symbiote "teeth" and could in theory be moved around on his body if he wanted to (though they mostly stay in place).

The "running mascara"-look (Idk what to call it lol) also carries over from Spider-Punk's mask and is once again even more pronounced in Venom!Hobie.

Now one of the more noticeable traits are the arms! I haven't figured every detail out yet, but so far the idea is that his arms split into two at the elbows but he's able to "fuse" them back into one arm if he wishes to (which he rarely does).

Also to get the idea across that it's his arm being split up I tried to add some symbiote goop between the two parts of the arms!

I kinda like the idea of him being able to change his "design" (changing his spikes and arms as he pleases) so to say, kinda referencing to him not believing in consistency and how he changes "filters" in his animation style! Though I picture him as looking like in the concept drawings above most of the time.

I'm also kinda toying with the idea of giving him barbed wire like webbing since I remember reading somewhere that Hobie apparently has used barbed wire instead of webs in the comics from time to time.

But I also headcanon Venom!Hobie as being more animalistic and more likely to just use brute force instead of webs.

He is fast when he's down on all fours (again sixs? idk lol)

Of course he also gets most of the classic Venom abilities and weaknesses (I haven't read the comics so I'm going off memory of the Venom movie which I've seen once like 5 years ago so please bear with me ^^')

The most noticable weakness being sound! I'll take a closer look at how this affects Hobie when I get to his personality/origin.

Okay that's all about his design for now, I might come back and add more stuff later if I come up with anything as this is still a new concept I'm workshopping (and inputs are greatly appreciated!)

Now we're moving on to his personality/origin as I feel like these two are very intertwined. Cause I feel like the way Venom!Hobie originates will affect his personality too! Let me explain:

So far I've come up with two possible ideas/reasons for Hobie to even bond with a symbiote in the first place and depending on which version you choose I feel like it would end up having different effects on his personality/how he handles the situation:

Scenario 1:

The symbiote is passed onto Hobie without him knowing!

Possibly from an encounter with the cops where a symbiote manages to latch onto Hobie as he kills its former host.

(Or maybe a villain manages to plant one on him somehow).

This would lead to a slow gradual "fusion" between Hobie and the symbiote as it would be very aware that Hobie is NOT exactly a fan of it and would do whatever he could to get rid of it/kill it if he found out about it.

If I recall correctly Eddie also wasn't aware of his symbiote in the beginning and only found out about it when it decided to make itself known. -(referencing the movie)

So I'd imagine a similar scenario here but instead of making itself known, the symbiote hides its presence from Hobie as much as possible while making small gradual changes to Hobie to prepare for an eventual fusion/take over.

Like slowly Hobie starts getting migraines whenever he plays his guitar or listens to loud music so he does so less and less without being even consciously aware of it.

At some point he even stops bringing his guitar with him on missions since he never uses it anyways and hey why did he even bring it in the first place? - I like to think that the symbiote is somewhat able to manipulate Hobie's thoughts over time to make him more susceptible to it.

Going to concerts also becomes a no no.

Hobie also changes his diet; the thought of going to the community garden just not appealing to him as much anymore for some reason. So he visits it less frequently until he also just completely stops going (affecting both his diet and his social life- the symbiote would want Hobie to be as isolated as possible to make him easier to manipulate).

Hobie doesn't realise it at first but he starts craving meat more and more and as time passes he also prepares his meals less and less until he basically eats meat raw. (I'm once again thinking about the movie and that lobster scene, though his symbiote would have to be a lot more sublte for him to not notice what's going on).

At this point Hobie would have to be almost completely isolated and under the influence of the symbiote for so long that it would finally feel "safe" making itself known, preying on his hunger (having been homeless Hobie has known hunger before but I imagine that the hunger that comes with a symbiote is its own unique thing and that it's rather extreme) and his declining mental health.

While a part of him would still very much hate it, Hobie would begrudgingly accept the symbiote and chaos would ensue.

And then of course the Spider-Gang would try and stop/save him cause they know that Hobie would never want this. Wether they're gonna be successful or not is up to interpretation.

Now personality vise I imagine this version of Venom!Hobie is gonna be mostly taken over by the symbiote and thus being more feral and animalistic. It most likely wouldn't talk a lot and mostly be focused on feeding (and like in the movie, its favourite food is gonna be humans. Hobie would try to make sure they only target cops but sometimes the hunger would win over reason).

I know this is pretty dark but I really can't imagine a positive scenario where Hobie would willingly accept a symbiote so this is my first "solution". (Though I also feel like his friends would intervene before he reached this point but still, I kinda like the idea of the slow corruption and the person not realising it until it's too late)

You still with me? Good, cause it's time for:

Scenario 2:

I'd wish that this one would be more positive but I guess that sadly isn't the case

In this scenario Hobie would have reached his breaking point.

He would have been through an experience so traumatic that he feels like a symbiote is his ONLY option.

(If I recall correctly he's reffered to himself as a "suicide machine" in the comics and this would really come into play here).

He'd become way more reckless and not really caring what happens to him in battle. He views this as his last resort.

Like maybe there's a new kind of symbiote that isn't weak to sound or fire and Hobie has no other way to defeat them than to get one himself.

The only positive is that Hobie would be more mentally in control as he's fully aware of the symbiote and how it can influence his mind.

He'd still have cravings for raw meat but he wouldn't have been as mentally unstable and only target cops/other symbiotes becomming kind of a double cannibal.

Once again his friends would try to stop him and he'd definitely be more resonable in this scenario than in the first one.

But he'd still push them away both to protect them and out of shame over his situation.

This time more of Hobie's personality would shine through but it still wouldn't be a very positive version of Hobie as I imagine any scenario with him having a symbiote would really have a negative impact on his mental health.

But still there's room for a happy ending if the Spider-Gang manage to get to him in time!

So yeah, both of these scenarios are kind of a bummer for Hobie (to put it mildly lol) but I honestly can't imagine a positive situation where Hobie would willingly accept a symbiote! (I'm more than happy to hear any takes you guys might have that prove me wrong though!)

Okay, I think that's everything for now!

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions of Venom!Hobie!

Also let me know if there's anything you want me to elaborate on! Or of you just wanna talk Hobie or Venom!Hobie in general <3

If you made it this far you are honestly a champ and deserve all the gold stars in the world. As I sadly can't give you that have a GIF of Hobie smiling to cheer you up!

Also I wanna give another huge shout out to @levionok! Both for the amazing drawings of Venom!Hobie and for giving me the courage and motivation to share my concept of him! <3<3<3

also have another Venom!Hobie cause I can't get over how cool she made them look! If you haven't already you should really check out their tumblr! They have made some AWESOME ATSV art there!!!

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greatcurve · 8 months

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I'm at the point in my talking heads special interest where i dont listen to them nearly as much as i did, but David Byrne has affected my life in such an immensely positive way just by Being Him that i dont think this is one that is ever really gonna go away. and that is very special.

like i finally, after so many years of wondering what was wrong with me and why i felt so different, understood! all because he was (and is) so open about who he is and the things he makes.

reading about him describing his emotions as being "crossed wires" really deeply made sense and i'm sorry i'm kind of infodumping now but i am just so grateful for him and his music existing. genuinely. thank you david byrne for your autism and your self

#david byrne #saying much #2 1/2 years on i feel more myself than i ever have #all bc i was like ima give this band a try #i think this is genuinely the longest text post i have ever made

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mii-cherry · 7 months

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The Curse of Ramshackle

I try my best to hold on to the vision to try and find it again in the dark of my dreams but nothing is coming back, Frustration fills my head.

Why? Why do these visions come by with meaning to this world , only for most of them to be so useless!

Why?. . .

Why?. .

Why!

WHY

"WHY SHOW ME SOMETHING I CAN'T UNDERSTAND!?"

"MMMRRAAA WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED!?"

I'm shot up from my sleep, breathing heavily with sweat on my forehead my chest is tight with frustration I come back to seeing my room again and how bright it was through the curtains.

"What was that all about Kuro!? Did something eat our food!?" Grim asked confused from my earlier outburst.

Calming down a bit I answered Grim's question "It's nothing, I just had another one of those dreams again."

"Eh you mean the ones you had about the seven? But didn't you already go through all of em?" Grim asked confused.

"Yeah, I thought so too but this one was about a. . . Sack man and . . . Santa Clause?" I still try to wrap my head around the dream this time around.

" Uhhh what's a Santa Clause?"

Oh, right twst doesn't seem to have a Santa Clause at least that I know of.

"He's a guy that gives presents to behaving kids around winter from my world he's a holiday figure" I try to explain but I'm not gonna bet on Grim getting it right away.

"Well any important info about the dream?" Grim inquiries

"Nothing that is relevant at this moment maybe it will be useful later?." I'm not very confident with this dream it doesn't seem to have any relevancy with the seven and any of the dorms.

"Well, if It's not useful to us I will be getting my morning tuna!" Grim said excitedly hopping off the bed to head downstairs

I sigh letting my last bits of anger go, taking my phone from the night stand I look at the time.

10:34 am

Oh right Ace and Duece are coming over today, I should probably get up too.

I get up to start the morning but the last moment my dream nags at the back of my head it seems more significant more. . . Present? The hole in the wall felt real it felt like I could reach it right there.

_________________________________________

The rest of the morning goes normally and before I knew it there was a knock at the door already.

"I'm gonna get the door."

Opening the front door revealed the two Heartslabyul trouble makers Ace already waiting impatiently.

"Sup, Kuro! Didn't get bored without us did you?" Ace said in his snarky way as always.

"We brought some dessert from Trey-san!" Duece holds up a basket of pastries.

"It was only a day believe me I was fine." I replied back.

I stepped aside with Ace making himself at home right away on the couch, Duece placed the basket on the coffee table taking a seat next to Ace.

"Mra, you guys brought dessert!" Grim appeared already taking a pastry from the basket.

"Oi, don't eat everything I still want some too!" Ace scolded Grim taking one for himself as well.

The rest of the time was spent talking about everyone's week and also mostly Ace complaining about random things

_________________________________________

an hour has passed by now with Ace still going on about Riddles punishment from yesterday.

"I think it's unreasonable to have to do all these dumb rules while I have way more important tasks to do!" Ace complaint

*crack*

"Yeah, busy doing nothing you were just playing games on your phone!" Duece retorts back.

*Crack*

"You guys can't go on an hour without bickering eh" Grim said pasty in his hands

*Crack!*

There is a cracking sound echoing in the distance

Do they not hear it or am I being crazy?

I look at the hallway and the sound seems to be somewhere where the cracking of wood is blurred, I have long tunned out Ace, Duece and Grim my sight is only on the faraway noise.

*CRACK*

Whatever conversation that happened was put to a halt all four of us staring in the hallways direction.

"Uhh, what was that?" Duece asked

"Maybe It was the rats!"

"Rats? No way that was rats, that was super loud!" Ace looked at Grim confused

Getting up from my seat I start to head to the source of the noise

"Wait, Kuro you don't know what made that noise! It could be a super rat for all we know!" Grim came after me scared with Aduece duo coming fast after.

"Really? Super rat is the best you can think of?"

I follow where I think the noise came from, It seems to come from the complete back of Ramshackle the way is blocked by a door at end of the hall walls and floor is allot more dirtier and broken than in front because nobody comes here.

"Wait, wait, wait we're not going to actually go through the door, right?" Duece asked concerned about what could be found.

"What? You scared?" Ace teased

"A-Am not! If anything you'll be scared!"

I open the door, for some reason I feel drawn to the noise.

I need to know

I need to know what that is. . .

Holes and wild spider webs hang along the walls of the room the decay is all over this room, It seems to have been a study of some kind broken book shelf with withering books laying about.

"I don't think we've been here before." I say moving more inside the room to get a better look.

"Be careful guys we don't know what could be hier." Duece said to all of us.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Ace and Grim said I unison.

Duece just rolled his eyes at their antics

I come to the middle of the room at the end of a wall is a giant decorative mirror with a green glowing gem at the top embedded in the mirror there are also big cracks in it, it seems to ooze a black goo.

"Oi, What's that gross looking stuff?" Ace looked curiously from afar at the mirror.

"Eh, it smells pretty tasty!" Grim sniffed the air for more of the scent

"Grim, please don't eat that!" Duece pleaded with him.

Approaching the mirror I watch the goo I take a good look at it and recognize it

"It's. . . Blot." I said worriedly

"You sure Kur-

*SLAM*

The door where we came from slammed itself shut we all immediately rushed toward the door

Ace tries hard to open the door again but to no avail it stays firmly shut

" Ugh! Fuck it won't open!" Frustration comes from Ace.

" Let me try!"Duece yelled determined, he placed this foot against the wall hands tightly to the door knob and pulled as hard as he could but nothing budget.

"C'mon try harder!!!" Grim started to panic

"I'M TRYING!"

*CRACK*

We look back to the mirror and it gained more cracks suddenly the blot oozing out of them more vigorously than before

"Break down the door if you have to!" I yelled toward the others.

"AhahhahAHAHAHA!!!"

A deranged laughter is heard beyond the mirror I look back to see the blot coming together to form something

"FINALY,OUT Of THAT ICKY BLOT HOLE!"

The form is now part of a formed person head and chest out with a single arm reaching out of the mirror.

"I might just split a seam with all this excitement!"

#twisted wonderland #twst #artwork #disney twisted wonderland #artists on tumblr #disney twst #digital illustration #original character #twst oc #Twst The Curse of Ramshackle AU #Twts au #ace trappola #duece spade #twst grim #disney twst yuu #This is the longest Tumblr post I ever made #pretty proud of this one #Not me spelling dueces name wrong and having to go back and fix it all🥲

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angelsdean · 1 year

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ok ok finally watched the last half of the ep and !! many thoughts. another moment where a character is trapped in a room thinking they’re gonna die while someone is banging on the door trying to get in. john figuring out how to loophole his fate !!! like hello hello.

but thennn. there’s another little thread throughout this ep I caught on and haven’t seen many talking about, which ties into last week’s ep where John and Mary decided to “live with the consequences” of their life or death heat of the moment kiss because they do not !! want !! to sweep it under the rug !! they WANT to acknowledge and confront that thing that happened when they thought they were gonna die in that room where there was no way out (literally despair parallels be louder)

So this ep we see them navigating their new relationship after acknowledging that they want to live with the consequences of their life-or-death kiss. And one of the central “issues” (small but there) throughout this ep is them sneaking around, trying to keep their relationship a secret, one of the main reasons for this being Mary (Dean’s mirror) is concerned that having the others know will change the group dynamics. so, lets just look at this with some destiel goggles on for a second.

Say, Dean gets Cas back and they decide to acknowledge Cas’s love confession. Because Dean wants to live with the consequences of it. And say, Dean, like Mary, ends up reciprocating (Mary kisses John at the end of last week’s ep and tells him she wants to be with him and ‘live in the moment’). And okay! Now they’re together. But it’s still secret! Because maybe Dean’s scared or anxious abt telling other people. Maybe he’s worried them knowing will change things. especially thinking abt team free will and their group dynamics. Like, how will Sam and Jack react ? will they care? will it be an issue? like, even if Dean’s pretty sure they’ll be accepting, this is still new! He’s never done this before, not really. And not talking about a relationship with a man, but a steady long-term relationship that he can really see lasting. Like this is IT for him.

Anyways, so we see Mary and John sneak around the whole episode until finally the cat’s out of the bag. Carlos and Lata find out and they are incredibly supportive and excited for their friends. And then this is Mary and John’s closing conversation. Destiel goggles back on, Mary is Dean, John is Cas (sorry Cas):

John: So now that everyone knows? No more hiding, right? Mary: Yeah, the cat is definitely out of the bag. John: Do you think the group dynamic's gonna change? Mary: I don't know. But we're stronger together, with no secrets. And, I don't mind getting out of the moment thinking about the future as long as I know you're in the picture. John: Hope looks good on you, Campbell.

SO. No more secrets. Dean’s ready to think about the future, as long as Cas is with him. Hope looks good on Dean. HI. HELLO.

And thennn they go out on a proper date. A very Dean-style date, if you ask me:

Mary: Okay, so, how 'bout dinner and a movie. But it's your treat since you scared the hell outta me.

(like. dean is LITERALLY narrating this story. he is telling it to us, do not think for a minute his narration is not being influenced by his own experiences and feelings!) anyways. I feel normal.

#thee longest post i've ever made abt the prequel but ! i have Thoughts ! i must say them #spn prequel #spnwin #parallels #deancas #destiel #spn meta #spnwin meta #long post

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emotrait-arc · 2 years

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to be continued...

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aldcaldos · 11 months

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐄 𝐕𝐑𝐘𝐄𝐒 + family tree

one of the most notable and powerful families in the city of baldur’s gate, the house of de vryes, an unbroken line of warlocks, has ascended over nearly four hundred years like no other in the city’s history thanks to a long-held and generationally renewed infernal pact with a demonic being of immense power.

ayana. the pact maker. having found herself carrying a child, ayana went to the father to tell him, only to be accused of dark magic and manipulated seduction so that the man might save face in the eyes of his family and his young wife. more than that, he accused her of cavorting with demons, claiming that in laying with him she had used him as a proxy so she might carry a demon spawn. the village in which ayana had lived was overly superstitious, and took little convincing to spark their hysteria into violence. they beat her, before dragging her to the town center and tying her to a post to be burned, never listening to the way the girl protested her innocence. as the torch was brought forth, suddenly the flames sparked, billowing backwards and alighting both people and buildings alike. out of the flames there came a man, or the likeness of a man. the flames that had begun to creep up around ayana were extinguished, and with a wave of his hand her wounds were healed. the man, taltos as he called himself, charmed the girl and offered her a new life amidst the ashes of her old one. “i have nothing to give you,” she confessed. “not yet. but i have everything to give you. in this we are a perfect match.” ayana asked taltos for power. for wealth and beauty and security for her children and her children’s children. three drops of blood from either party were placed in a locket, which taltos clasped about her neck, and the first pact was sealed.

belesa. the cunning courtesan. ayana never got to see the true fruits of her deal with the devil, but her daughter did. her mother having died when she was still quite young, belesa was raised in a brothel, taking on the profession of the house once she was of age, and what a career she made. with taltos ever in her ear, training her in all arts of seduction and manipulation, belesa became a premiere courtesan. when the young woman reached twenty three, taltos explained to her the deal her mother had made, and the reason he’d always been so adamant that she never part with the locket she wore. he gave her the choice to make the same deal, and she agreed. her talents as a courtesan eventually led her to seduce a retired general by the name of dagan mormont. so in love was he that upon a day he fell to one knee and begged the woman to leave her life behind and marry him, professing he cared not for her past if she would only pledge to him her future. and she did. the two eventually had a child, a girl named phoibe. but when their daughter was hardly a year old, dagan fell ill. before she was two, he died. belesa wasted no time, however. when her husband’s health began to fail, she very quickly noticed the way one of his acquaintances, a noble, cadmus de vryes, was suddenly ever at her side, offering condolences and comfort. mere weeks after dagan’s death, the two were engaged, and upon the condition that her daughter be provided for and her future secured, they were married. cadmus legally adopted phoibe, giving her his name and bringing her into his house. within a year, the two had a son of their own, janus. sadly, cadmus perished on a business trip twelve years into their marriage, leaving belesa the independent lady of the house, the first de vryes matriarch.

phoibe. the girl in the garden. adopted by cadmus de vryes when she was no more than an infant, phoibe became the second heir to bear the de vryes name, though she could claim no de vryes blood. despite this, life was easy for phoibe. her steps were light and her laughter gentle. with a mother who doted upon her and a demon at her beck and call, rarely did she want for anything. this trend continued when she met a man, the second son of another noble family named leander amnell, whilst he wandered the garden of her family home where she’d been reading. he was to her the prince in her story books, perfect and pretty and shining. as struck by her as she had been of him, the two were fascinated by each other, but when leander made to speak with the pretty girl he’d discovered, she fled from him, hoping he’d give chase. chase he did, but phoibe knew well the secrets of the garden, and she escaped him. the pair met again that night at dinner, and finally were formally introduced. within days, and following a request to her mother, they were betrothed. meanwhile her younger brother, janus, also found himself engaged to a young woman named chadara elfarren, the daughter of a family well-known for their wine trading, marking two political victories for the de vryes family which would further their ascent amongst the higher society of baldur’s gate. the marriage between phoibe and leander was a happy one, practically a fairytale. like her brother and his wife, phoibe had two children, and like her own mother, she first had a daughter, oriana, and little more than a year later a son, ambrose.

oriana. the delight of baldur’s gate. even more than her mother before her, oriana was adored by all those who looked upon her from a young age. no one would ever speak an ill word against her. talented in poetry, music, dancing, riding, and the arcane arts, and never putting neither foot nor finger out of place or out of order, she was a compliment and a treasure to her family. by the time she was sixteen she had been socially dubbed ‘the delight of baldur’s gate’, with nobles, knights, scholars and artisans alike all eventually coming to vie for her hand. the only person seeming to hold against her any ill will was her own brother, ambrose, though the source of his contention and resentment was always a point of whispered rumour. perhaps it was because the man always thought himself cleverer and more ambitious by half than his sister, and believed he would have made a more competent and effective heir to both the family’s fortune, and to taltos, sentiments that were only spurred on by his later wife, calpernia exeltis, who herself resented that she was not the official lady of the house. when oriana did finally choose a husband and marry, it was to a knight named gideon de nogaret. the two would, as with the previous two generations, go on to have two children, this time twins, numerius and aurelia.

numerius and aurelia. the twins. the only time taltos has ever chosen two heirs. always bound together, rarely seen apart, it came as hardly a surprise when both of the twins claimed to see taltos just after their seventh birthday. after, it was common occurrence to find them huddled together in some quiet room, listening to their infernal tutor, or whispering to each other as though they had a secret language. as they grew older, whispers in quiet corners became secret touches in darkened rooms. in an effort to stem the tide of their debauchery, oriana and gideon married their only daughter to daguenet grimaud, the son of a wealthy merchant family known for their penchant for falconry. still, the pair would not be separated. when aurelia gave birth to her first child, a son named castus, no one dared question who had fathered the boy, though everyone, including aurelia’s own husband, suspected they did not need to. for a time it seemed as though the twins would distance themselves as aurelia focused on motherhood, though this did not last long before the two began to sneak away together again. “find the boy a pretty wife and perhaps he will finally put an end to this degeneracy.” numerius was quickly wed to cornelia eomane, the daughter of a family which owned successful oil and perfume factories in the city. still yet, the twins continued. they could not be stopped and what could be done? they were the heirs to the powers that held the family together. to lose them would be to lose him. worse still, they knew it. in time aurelia had two more children, antha, and deirdre. with his own wife, numerius had a single child, a daughter called isadora, whom, while it was ever clear that he loved her dearly, was hardly his favorite.

antha and deirdre. the deserter and the second choice. antha was a quiet girl all her life. studious, clever, precocious and talented. growing up, awareness of her parentage weighed on her more heavily than it did her siblings, but she never gave any signs of vitriol or disloyalty to her family. not until that night. three days before her binding ceremony, antha disappeared from the de vryes family home, the locket of her birthright left laying on her bed. it was a little over a week before she was found, in a temple to pelor, where she had pledged herself and vowed to remain for the rest of her days. “i want to live in the light, away from the darkness and temptation of our family,” she said to her cousin and half-sister isadora, recently married to a minor noble named tristan hedare, when she came to visit. her abandonment was unprecedented, and taltos was hardly pleased with the development. still, in the loss of one heir, he chose another, the youngest of aurelia’s children, deirdre. as she was a spare heir, she was the spare again in her betrothal to the man who had once been promised to her sister, pelleas de lauzon, the son of a family also known for their arcane abilities. it was clear she was not who either had wanted, as pelleas had long obsessed over her sister, whilst deirdre had done the same over him. together she and her husband bore a single child, a daughter they called nimueh. having moved away from the city, isadora eventually had a child of her own, another girl, linnea.

nimueh. his favorite. it is said that taltos did not wait until nimueh had passed seven years before he came to her. instead, yet reeling and still furious from the loss of his previous intended heir and more than determined not to repeat the same unfortunate mishap, he was ever at nimueh’s side from birth, speaking to her, guiding her, molding her into a warlock of formidable power, especially at such a young age. perhaps that is why the girl grew into a woman who, though more clever and cunning than any who had come before her, had a certain touch of madness, always whispering of her dreams and of destiny, visions in her eyes as much as was the waking world. perhaps it was that madness that led her to her own uncle’s bedchambers one night. “my dreams demand it,” she would say. though, it cannot be truthfully said that castus protested overmuch. together the two had five children, their eldest, agravaine, then twins of their own, cyprien and melitta who died young and furthered her mother’s unstable mind (”i was promised a daughter. i am meant to have a daughter. how could she be taken from me?”). then came bastian, and finally their youngest, the little girl nimueh had so longed for, ovidia. nimueh never married, which did nothing but fan the flames of widespread rumor as to the identity of her children’s father.

cyprien. the seducer. as shrewd as his mother, cyprien recognized early that her never marrying put their family in a precarious position, with potential to lose some of the footing they had gained amongst the nobility of baldur’s gate. so, after a good few years of honing his talents, so to speak, and with taltos as his guide, the young man set out to capture the heart of the beautiful daughter of one of the most powerful families in the city, isla caldwell, and capture her he did. he would charm the girl until she lay with him, and then continued to do so until he could be certain that she carried his child. upon such discovery, he wasted no time before presenting himself to isla’s parents and demanding that they be wed. the only options then were to either grant the imperious boy her hand, or risk the destruction of her reputation once she began to show. the pair were married quickly, though with as much ceremony as befitted the station of cyprien’s bride. despite the schemed nature of its origins, the marriage was not without affection as cyprien did seem to truly love his young wife, and once wed quickly put away much of his more rakish ways. however there were some who resented the match, cyprien’s elder brother among them, as agravaine himself had oft desired his brother’s wife, though to no avail. less than five months into their marriage, the couple welcomed their first child, a son named atlas, and after three and a half more years, a daughter was born, whom they called amara.

amara. she who loved two. while both she and her elder brother were outwardly the perfect picture of dignified nobility, amara had a streak of wild and unbridled curiosity in her that her brother atlas lacked. prone to sneaking away from her family’s guard whenever the urge struck her, the young woman at times found herself wandering the lower city. it is there she developed a certain fascination for the organized fighting matches that were held in secret in abandoned warehouses near the brampton docks. it was at one of these matches that she discovered a fighter by the name of conall merrilin, a man who seemed fully at home in the violence, even appearing to find joy in it. as he’d caught her eye, she’d caught his, but it was between them a sort of game of cat and mouse. during matches, his eyes would find hers, which were often already glued to him, and she would give him a knowing smile and a tilt of her head, but after the match, she’d disappear before he could reach her. one night he finally caught her, and despite knowing practically nothing about each other, passion burned bright between them following a very brief introduction. after, amara revealed why she’d finally allowed him to catch her. she was engaged, but she’d not been able to help herself. her betrothed was magnus artemel, the son of a noble family from waterdeep who’d made their fortune through moneylending, and he was to arrive to meet his new bride in two days time. this news however, did nothing to deter conall, who found amara again in the upper city after days of searching. it was good fortune that her new husband had a deep love of hunting and would be away from home for days on end at times, as amara could not seem to refuse the figher who’d captured her eye and a piece of her heart. still, she came to love magnus as well. “he is my husband. it is not as though i don’t hold some affection for him.” “then why meet with me?” “because i hold affection for you too.” through the years, magnus never learned of his wife’s lover, or if he did, he said nothing, and the two (three technically) remained happy, even when their children were born. while amara assumes that conall fathered both her son, rylen, and later her daughter, ursula, she could never be quite sure, and magnus treated both as his rightful children, whether he believed them to be or not.

ursula. the melancholy heir. the early years of ursula de vryes were happy ones. though she was quiet, she was untroubled and joyful. well beloved by her parents and thick as thieves with her brother and his good friend fabian vadim, it seemed nought could go wrong. such a statement would sadly not stand the test of time. it began with a letter from a distant relation of the family, and the revelation that the current heads of the de vryes family, the most powerful of their line, were not true descendants of cadmus de vryes, and held none of his blood, making their claim both of the family name and its fortunes and holdings illegitimate. this distant branch of the family had fallen on difficult times due to the gambling debts and poor financial decisions of a previous generation, and having discovered the truth of their lineage, demanded recompense as price for their silence, this coming in the form of a betrothal between ursula and their son, oberon de vryes. ursula was crushed initially, as she’d hoped to live her life with her first love fabian, but to refuse the match would be to ruin her family, so she acquiesced. her new husband however, seemed to care little for her, as his own heart belonged to his mistress, finola donati, and would always be hers. things may have worked out had ursula been then free to be with her own love, but a year into their marriage, fabian was killed after being robbed in an alley one night. the news broke ursula’s heart, and from then on she focused purely on her family and worked to be a good wife to her husband, which despite oberon’s lack of the tender fondness she so desired from him, grew as they welcomed multiple children in the coming years, beginning with their eldest, malachy. their next son, dorian, fell ill when was eleven years of age and did not survive, taking with him another piece of his mother’s heart. after that came two daughters, first yseult, and then their youngest, laeta. her brother rylen fell madly in love with a seamstress named cerys rivers, whom he married little more than a year after meeting.

yseult. the runaway bride. despite her mother’s pensive and at times downcast nature, yseult was a happy girl and did what she could to lift her mother’s spirits. incredibly stubborn and hard-headed, there was rarely a rule she wouldn’t be willing to break, much to the chagrin of any charged with looking after her, and it was near impossible to get the girl to hold her tongue under any circumstances unless of the utmost importance. her relationship with her father was always tempestuous, as she largely blamed him for her mother’s dejection, but matters were made worse when he arranged a marriage for her and announced it one night at dinner. while her brother and sister were more or less free to marry as they chose, she, as the heir, had a ‘duty’, so he said, and thus such a choice could not be left only in her hands. even after meeting her intended she did not care for him, as her heart had secretly already been stolen away. the night before her wedding, while both her own family and that of her betrothed slept under the roof of the de vryes manor, yseult slipped on her wedding dress, packed her things, and crept down to the front door. on her way, she came upon her mother, who immediately noticed, even beyond the way she was dressed, the bag she carried over her shoulder. ursula said nothing, just embraced her daughter and gave a silent nod. she understood. having said the only goodbye she cared to beyond the note she’d hidden for her sister, yseult ran beyond the gates of her home and into the arms of her barbarian lover, ulric wolfspeer, whom she had originally met when the man had done mercenary work on behalf of her family. in the years that followed, yseult would live happily with her new husband in his home beyond the city, and would in time bear two sons, hilarus and lindon.

hilarus. the outlander turned nobleman. when hilarus was thirteen years old, his father died in battle whilst away from home on a job. after, though his mother gave it her best attempt, yseult found that without her husband she had no place in his world, and with taltos having already chosen hilarus as the next heir, she knew it was time she returned home to baldur’s gate. it was not what most would call a happy reunion especially where the boy's grandfather was concerned. harsh words were traded back and forth as a mother held both her sons behind her and defended her return. “you may bear the name but you married into this family, father. try not to pretend you understand it.” despite the tension they could not turn away the next generation, could not cast out the new source of their power. still, adjusting to such a new and different life was difficult for hilarus and though he was only ten at the time, it appeared harder on his younger brother lindon. the burden was greatly lifted when hilarus found a friend in a local boy his own age, auctus lyle, and from then on the two were nearly inseparable. what was the kinship between boys eventually turned to love between men. nevertheless, as heir to his family, hilarus had a certain duty, and that duty came in the form of thessela jannath, the daughter of a mine-owning family related to a former grand duchess. the marriage was at the start a cold one, but in time the walls between the two were pulled down stone by stone, surprisingly at auctus’s own behest. as the years passed, affection blossomed not only between a husband and his wife, but between thessela and auctus as well, and together the three found true happiness. thessela only ever had one child, a daughter named alais. lindon was ever a barbarian in the city, remaining by his brother’s side as the sword that guarded his family.

alais. the harshest of all the heirs. alais’s birth was not a gentle one. her entrance into this world was bloody and difficult and violent, and left her mother unable to bear any more children. while her father had left the life of a barbarian behind as a young boy, there was a level of barbarity in his daughter that few could deny. even as a young girl, alais was steely and unyielding, preferring to keep to herself rather than pass her time with other children her own age, as she found them too silly to bother with. as she grew older, she came to hold a marked dislike of weakness, such that when it came time for her to marry, she was adamant that she would not wed a weak man, no matter his riches or his title. at her suggestion, her father hilarus arranged to host a tournament, wherein the prize for the victor would be the opportunity to wed his daughter, should she accept their hand, and if not, a more monetary reward would be offered. however on the day, alais quickly grew bored of watching contender after contender prance about the field, seeming to care more for putting on a show for onlookers rather than making any true show of strength, and thus her interest quickly dwindled. it was well past mid-day, the sun high in the sky, when a tall, scarred man in heavy armor walked silently onto the field. when the fights began, he threw himself into the fray, seeming hardly to even notice the audience, and where others had pulled their swings, he carried them through, never outright killing his opponents, but coming close more than once. suddenly alais was on the edge of her seat, practically leaning over the railing to watch. when the sun set, they had their victor, and alais was married to owain gallus within a week. despite theirs not initially being a romantic match, the two shared a passion for violence that soon became a violent passion for each other. alais often claimed her husband was the other half of herself, and the love the two held for each other was obvious to all, and frightening to many in its intensity. there was no line one would not cross for the other. over the years alais had three sons, riordan, quintus, and galen.

quintus. the social climber. of alais’s three sons, quintus was the least outwardly similar to either his mother or his father. where his brothers, riordan and galen, favored swords and battle and physical strength like their father, quintus’s might was his intellect. his mind was his weapon, shrewd and calculating, no less sharp than his brothers’ blades and perhaps even more ruthless. of all the generations of the family, both past and present, quintus was the most responsible for not only increasing the power of the de vryes family, but of bringing it all under almost singular control. in addition to arranging a marriage between himself and the daughter of one of the oldest baldurian noble families, calliope tillerturn, quintus, over the years, brought together all relatives bearing the family name, no matter how distant, and installed a de vryes at every level in every sector of management or governance in the city. a de vryes hand in every cookie jar. quintus also furthered the family’s involvement with the city’s merchants, the guilds, the artisans, the moneylenders, became a patron to the arts and even kept regular contracts with mercenary groups, one of which was eventually headed by his own younger brother. whilst the family had, before him, already been powerful and a known name both in and beyond the city, quintus made the de vryes family one of the most powerful and near untouchable in baldur’s gate. with his wife, he would come to have three children, attius, despoina, and caecilia.

caecilia. she who wished to be beautiful all her days. caecilia was the youngest of her parent’s children, and the perfect daughter to a noble house, straight-backed and proper in everything she did. her one main flaw perhaps was a touch of vanity, as upon her fifteenth birthday, when taltos asked what she wished for, she stared into the mirror in her bedroom and told him “i wish always to be beautiful, to be perfect.” despite most thinking she was, caecilia’s image of perfection was always her elder sister, for whom she held a level of affection she never dared speak of aloud. it wouldn’t have been proper, and there were few things more important to caecilia than propriety. less than a year after her binding ceremony, she’d secretly wish she’d said more, said something, when despoina came to her one night, and told her she was leaving. she could no longer remain in the family home and pretend she agreed with what they were all doing with taltos, as she believed the family had outgrown any need of him and their pact, or indeed of any pact, especially one with a demonic being none of them had ever truly understood. in one night, she disappeared and never returned, taking a part of caecilia’s heart with her that she’d never get back. eventually she would wed a somewhat distant cousin in decimus de vryes, a man who favored propriety and perfection nearly to the extent that she did. while they may never have found true passion with each other, they did have respect, which both would argue was far more important. they would have one child, a daughter they named helaena. the same was true of caecilia’s older and only brother, attius, who married the daughter of a waterdhavian family famed for their jewelry, nynaeve massalan, and together they had a child of their own, iphigenia.

helaena. the one who died young. much like her ancestor phoibe de vryes, helaena was a sweet girl, quieter than some, perhaps even shy, but never unhappy. as her parent’s only child, no expense was spared in her upbringing. every dress, every doll, every book she desired was hers as quickly as she could voice her desire for it, but it did not leave her spoiled. still, it did leave her unprepared for the first time she was firmly told no. when she was newly twenty, helaena fell in love with the son of a family heavily invested in seafaring and maritime trade, corvus vieri, after meeting him at a grand carnival held yearly by her family. it was love at first sight for both, but corvus was not her father’s choice of match, and her hand had already been promised to another. rather than live a life of unhappiness with a husband she did not love, helaena snuck away one night to meet with corvus, and the two were married in secret, which she revealed to her family the following morning when there was nothing they could do to stop or change it. decimus was furious, and while caecilia disapproved of her daughter’s secrecy and subversion, she did admire her determination. her cousin iphigenia thought the whole affair was “spectacularly scandalous.” in the following weeks there was a held a full and grand public wedding, so that the match might seem more legitimate in the eyes of the aristocracy. their first child was a girl, whom they called licinia, as was their second, but it was in giving birth to ilithiya that helaena would lose her life, passing away shortly after she first held her second daughter to blood loss. corvus himself would die when his youngest was only three years old, off on an expedition, his ship sinking somewhere beyond the trackless sea.

ilithiya. the one whose destiny has been interrupted. after her mother helaena died in childbirth, there was a period of years that the entire de vryes family, immediate and extended, existed in a state of panic. taltos had been bound to helaena, and seemed to have diseappeared with her death. no one saw him, no one heard from him, no one felt him, and all wondered what would become of the family without him. licinia was four at the time, and remembered well the ever-present tension that existed in the family for those years, worsening as she grew older and never saw any sign of him, as much as she’d hoped to. it was only after ilithiya had turned four herself that her grandmother noticed her laughing at nothing and making childish responses to what appeared a one sided conversation with a presence caecilia could not see, that hope was born again in the family. from that moment on, everyone doted on the younger girl, who was officially regarded as taltos’s new chosen upon her seventh birthday, as was tradition. whilst her older sister was, in personality, the spitting image of her grandmother, ilithiya was seemingly an amalgamation of nearly all of the heirs that had come before her, and was the first since nimueh to have had taltos attached to her since her birth. like phoibe and oriana, she was beloved by most all who knew her. like amara she was beautiful and wild with curiosity and a thirst for life and for understanding. she wanted to see and do and feel and experience all she could. when she wondered about love and lust and why people were so moved by it, taltos taught her as he had taught belesa and cyprien before her, and she eventually seduced her tutor and later a guard who worked for her family. like yseult, she never did care for rules or for doing what she was told, and would often sneak away for a ride on her favorite horse, a black cormyrean destrier she called nemetes. unlike those who came before, her relationship with taltos was not only one of a warlock and their patron. all her life he had been there with her, watching her, whispering in her ear of the great destiny which lay ahead of her, a destiny she never understood but accepted wholeheartedly. he was her first and greatest friend, and she'd do anything for him. despite never speaking the words aloud, ilithiya was in love with him, desiring him above all others, desiring to know him and to feel him. whether taltos truly returned her feelings was a question that remained unanswered, though he would always play into and encourage her affections. in this, more than all her ancestors, the evening of her binding ceremony felt to her a sort of wedding, as did the night that followed. still, she knew she would eventually be required to make a real marriage match, and it was whilst travelling to meet a potential husband that disaster struck and the mindflayers attacked. since her abduction, she has not heard from taltos or felt his presence, circumstances that have already begun to fray at the threads of her sanity, only worsened by the sudden weakness of her magic. at present, her only goal is to return to baldur’s gate, to return to him, and hope he does not believe her to have abandoned him. it would also be good to get that damned tadpole removed along the way.

#oc: ilithiya #bg3 oc #bg3 tav #baldurs gate 3 oc #baldurs gate 3 #long post #this is the biggest and obviously longest edit i've ever made #i'm just so happy it's done #i didn't add all the various cousins because space but i added a couple for the flair #i have a second edit like this already started for the secondary branch of the family #and some subsidiary little branches that didn't get included here #but i am so proud of this #genuinely started to wonder if i'd get this out before full release #heavily inspired by a lot of the historical family tree edit's i've seen and been obsessed with for god knows how long #i stole a bunch of names from waterdeep and baldurs gate nobility lists for the lore connection #but also because deciding on 20+ surnames was a god awful experience #can't wait to do it again for part 2 #if you could see the reference family tree i made to keep up with casting???? put me in a padded room #only annie fully knows how much has gone into this #i was in her dms every time i so much as breathed on it #incest tw #death tw

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piromina · 6 months

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Starting off the new year with some miraculous speculations!

I'm wondering what emotion Kagami was created out of, because I do think that she is one of the sentikids. Of course, we don't know if she was created by her mother (with that being how she went blind) or if she had a father once.

We know Felix and Adrien were created by jealousy and love. But what about Kagami? And Chloe and Zoe if they're also sentis?

I have a theory.

I think the emotions that the sentikids were created out of might have something to do with their eye colors (I say sentikids instead of sentimonsters because I'm referring to Adrien Felix and Kagami, and possibly Chloe and Zoe, and I dont know if the theory applies to all sentimonsters yet.)

Well, let's see here. Adrien was created out of love.

His eyes are green.

And a quick google search will tell you that green DOES REPRESENT LOVE!

And if youre wondering about Felix, because his eyes are also green, well, I dont think we even need to look it up to know that green represents jealousy.

So that leaves me wondering, what about Kagami? Her eyes are brown.

I dont know what brown represents off the top of my head, so I went to google it, and the results were things like loneliness and sadness. Maybe Kagami was created out of sadness? Maybe there was a Kagami Tsurugi before her? Who died? And she's the replacement? What if the Kagami before her was a SENTIMONSTER who got snapped away (or her amok got broken) at a young age? What if her father died creating the first Kagami, and her mother went blind creating the second? There are so many possibilities!

And loneliness would actually be a good fit. We see how Kagami is desperate for friends, and gets so heartbroken when they abandon her. Her mother could have created her out of sadness, while she was mourning the loss of her husband and daughter.

I think if Kagami did have a father, he died when she was very young. And if you're wondering why Kagami's father would die within just a few months, when Emelie and Colt lasted YEARS, well. By the time the peacock brooch got handed over to the Tsurugis, it had been used multiple times, possibly causing it to get more and more damaged along the way. First the Agrestes, then the Fathoms, and maybe even the Bourgeois and Lee families.

Speaking of which, it's time to get into Chloé and Zoé's backstories.

Both their eyes are blue, Zoe's a bit lighter of a shade.

Of course we know blue means sadness, but I don't think that fits either of these girls very well. Maybe the same situation I described with Kagami happened?

Or MAYBE, we can find some other meanings. Chloe's eyes are a bit darker of a shade of blue, and you know what that means? POWER! I can really see Audrey wanting a child for the power. But that does make me wonder who created Chloe, as both her parents are alive and well. I want to say Audrey hired someone to do it.

And Zoe? It must have been her father that created her. Possibly also for power, but light blue represents trust.

Maybe Audrey had some sort of affair going on with Andre, and Mr. Lee was mad when he found out about it. When he found out about all those LIES she fed him.

He used the peacock miraculous to create a daughter, one who was TRUTHFUL. He never lied to his daughter about anything, except the true way she was born. Eventually he gave up, not wanting to be a controlling figure, with this sickness overwhelming him, and sent her to boarding school, and maybe snuck the amok in her suitcase.

And now that Zoe had free will, you know what she did at her new school? That's right, LIED. As soon as she had free will, she faked a personality and kept the truth deep within, down in the very soles of those rainbow shoes.

Hey, maybe that's where the amok is. Maybe Zoe's amok is in one of those rainbow shoes she always wears, and it just so happens that it's not the shoe the akuma went in that one time with Sole Crusher.

Maybe, the shoes were some gift Audrey gave Mr. Lee when they were younger and a couple in high school or something. Maybe he saw it as one of the many lies she fed him, and, well, he really did love those shoes, so we wanted there to be at least SOME truth in them.

Also, maybe Nino and Chris are sentimonsters and that's why Nino's parents are missing.

#I think this is the longest speculation post I've ever made #sentimonster theory #sentikids #sentiadrien #sentimonster kagami #sentimonster felix #sentimonster adrien #chloe bourgeois #adrien agreste #kagami tsurugi #felix fathom #felix graham de vanily #zoe lee #ml theory #ml speculation #miraculous ladybug #a bit of a ramble #why the FUCK does felix have two last names

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martyarchive · 2 years

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goncharov doc - @/connanro // mikey and nicky - dir. elaine may

#gotta do everything by myself around here #long post #< lit rally the longest post i have ever made. my bad #goncharov and mikey when they lose their watches in the second act. wow so crazy

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mari-lair · 1 year

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This isn’t really a question. I just want to THANK YOU for the incredible break down of Mistuba and Kou’s relationship through everything. It was amazing! 👏👏

Thank you! This is a sweet message to wake up to, I am very happy you appreciate their analysis

#their analysis were the longest ones I ever wrote (oh to be main characters with A LOT of content)#and not to get sappy but #all the nices comments in the tags and the kindness i got from the 'Kou's perception of Mitsuba' post made me feel proud and giggly #so thank you mitsukou nation i usually would have just done one post on them and go back to only focus on my trio #but i'll probably talk more about anything I notice when they get another arc

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reikurusu · 1 year

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The Buddy Daddies x Taylor Swift Playlist No One Asked For

I feel like there are a lot of Taylor Swift songs that fit Buddy Daddies! Be it the show in general, KazuRei’s relationship (most songs can be interpreted as both platonic and romantic imo), their relationship with Miri,…

So I decided to make a list!

And since there were more songs than I had initially anticipated, I put the list under a cut. You can find the songs (with link) below, as well as why I think they fit Buddy Daddies! Seriously, this got pretty long… You’ve been warned!

PS: Feel free to add more songs that you think fit! :) Or if you agree with songs I picked but have a more insightful explanation as to why certain songs fit, go ahead!

PPS: You know Kazuki has T-Swift on while cooking. He says it’s because Miri listens to her, but we all know Miri (and Rei, by extension and reluctantly) started listening because of Kazu!

FEARLESS (TAYLOR’S VERSION)

Change: “Because these things will change Can you feel it now? These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down” I feel like this one is fairly obvious! The concept of change is very present in Buddy Daddies, especially in the second half of the season. And listening to the lyrics of this song, it just really fits Kazuki and Rei’s outlook on things in my opinion! Also: “You can walk away, say we don’t need this But there’s something in your eyes Says we can beat this” Is this not literally Rei and Kazuki’s conversation in ep11, when Kazuki wants to give up Miri to keep her safe, while Rei wants to take care of her and protect her like that? This song is such a KazuRei song, guys, like damn!

The Best Day “I don’t know why all the trees change in the fall But I know you’re not scared of anything at all Don’t know if Snow White’s house is near or far away But I know I had the best day with you today” Literally Miri to her Papas and her Mama! Obviously not everything fits, but if we’d gotten a version of the show in which Misaki survived and took care of Miri along with Kazuki and Rei, this would’ve been so perfect!! I guess it’s the perfect song for a fix it fic?

SPEAK NOW

Long Live "Long live the walls we crashed through How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you” I feel like this one has a similar vibe as Change. How Rei and Kazuki overcame so many obstacles on their way to a happy family with Miri. It’s once again a song that carries a lot of hope in my opinion, hope that no matter what you go through, it’ll be all right in the end. Which obviously is very fitting to Buddy Daddies.

Innocent "It’s alright, just wait and see Your string of lights is still bright to me Oh, who you are is not where you’ve been” This could be about either Kazuki or Rei, or one of them towards the other. How the dark part of the world they belong to shouldn’t define who they are as a person (kind of like, just because you do bad things, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, if that makes sense). And how their younger selves (child, teenager, doesn’t really matter) probably had a completely different idea of how their life would turn out (maybe Rei less than Kazuki considering how he grew up…) EITHER WAY, it fits and it’s giving me feels!

RED (TAYLOR’S VERSION)

Forever Winter “Too young to know it gets better I’ll be summer sun for you forever” I feel like this fits Kazuki when he first met Rei. How Rei was a shell of a person and Kazuki did everything he could to gradually bring the real Rei out (or part of the real Rei because we all know Miri helped a lot with that as well). “He says he doesn’t believe anything much he hears these days I say, “Believe in one thing, I won’t go away"” Just… Is this not Kazuki taking care of Rei? T_T

Run "There’s been this hole in my heart This thing was a shot in the dark Say you’ll never let ‘em tear us apart And I’ll hold onto you while we run” I think this one definitely fits more when you view KazuRei as romantic. But I think the sentiment of the song just really fits them wanting to live their own life instead of having to continue to do what the organization wants them to do.

1989

Bad Blood “Now we got problems And I don’t think we can solve ’em” Aka the song that should’ve played during KazuRei’s raid in ep 12!! I think this is just their overall view of the organization by the end of the series. It’s just an epic song and imagining Kazuki and Rei killing Ogino and all the others with this song blasting… Good shit.

I Know Places “They are the hunters, we are the foxes And we run” It’s kinda hard to explain this one, because it’s more as if the vibe of the song fits the show? If that makes sense? There are lyrics that do fit, of course, mainly the feeling Rei and Kazuki must’ve had knowing the organization was after them, but the feeling of tension and being chased, hunted,… Idk, it fits to me.

This Love “These hands had to let it go free, and This love came back to me” At first I figured this could be seen as a KazuRei song, but while listening to it to see if it could really fit, I realised it could definitely be seen as the love Kazuki and Rei have for Miri? How they had to give her up, how they got her back, how she was the reason they managed to change, how they would never have guessed how much taking care of her would mean to them when they first met Miri,… Just listen to it with all of that in mind and tell me it doesn’t fit!

Wonderland “We found Wonderland You and I got lost in it And we pretended it could last forever” Aka the song that started this all. I was just randomly listening to this one and my brainrotted mind went “hey, Buddy Daddies” and it works so well!! If you think of “Wonderland” as Rei and Kazuki’s life with Miri, how they were completely enthralled by her and how they lost what they had,… "But there were strangers watching And whispers turned to talking And talking turned to screams” This is literally when they found out that the organization was after them and Miri. Aaahhh!! I’m normal about this song in combination with BD! It fits so well!! This song also inspired one of my earlier BD gifsets, which you can find here!

REPUTATION

Dancing With Our Hands Tied “My, my love had been frozen Deep blue, but you painted me golden” This is again a more romantic KazuRei song (the lyric above really feels like Kazuki after Yuzuko’s death). It’s about two people trying to stay together even though others want to tear them apart. This again really fits with the story of Buddy Daddies, with Shigeki wanting to separate Rei from Kazuki (and Miri obviously, but let’s just look at it from a romantic pov this time). Like “I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted” Does this not sum them up?

Delicate “Dark jeans and your Nikes, look at you Oh, damn, never seen that color blue” Again a more romatic song for Rei and Kazuki, maybe a bit more from Kazu’s POV? (Especially the lyrics I quoted because is that not Kazuki seeing Rei for the first time in Yadorigi). I think this really fits the relationship between Kazuki and Rei before they know what’s going on between them. They’re partners in their jobs, sure, but sometimes, there are these moments... And it’s confusing and what’s going on and all that. Also, there’s this amazing male cover of this song, so if you want to picture it even more, be sure to listen to it! (He has more covers of songs listed here, so I’d really recommend listening to them!)

Look What You Made Me Do “But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time I got a list of names, and yours is in red, underlined” Obviously this song has strong Bad Blood vibes so it would be also be perfect during Kazuki and Rei’s raid on the Suwa mansion! Okay, now I’m imagining Unhinged Kazuki having his phone on full volume blasting this song while killing a bunch of guys. Rei is so tired of him... Okay, nevermind that tangent, but the song is a vibe and it also fits because if Shigeki would’ve just let Rei be happy with Kazuki and Miri, none of it would’ve happened. Look what you made them do, Shigeki. Look at it!!

LOVER

Daylight "I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you I don’t wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night And now I see daylight” I think this one can be interpreted in many ways! A combination of Rei and Kazuki towards each other, in both a romantic as well as a platonic way. But I can definitely see it as Rei and Kazuki towards Miri as well. How she was the reason for the changes they made and how happy they are that they managed to change because of her! How they finally managed to get a soft life after everything they went through! Also special shout-out to @toripar who’s pointed out how well this song fits them!

FOLKLORE

Seven “And I’ve been meaning to tell you I think your house is haunted Your dad is always mad and that must be why And I think you should come live with Me and we can be pirates” Okay, so to be honest, most of this song doesn’t really fit I guess, but holy crap, the lyrics I quoted above?? Is that not Kazuki at Rei? Jfc!! I literally just added this song for those lyrics!

This Is Me Trying “Pulled the car off the road to the lookout Could've followed my fears all the way down” The sentiment in this one really fits both Kazuki and Rei. I know not all the lyrics make sense, but the feeling of trying your best despite all the crap you’ve gone through/are going through really fits both our boys. They both went through crap, but try to be better every day. For Miri, for themselves, for each other.

EVERMORE

Tolerate it “You assume I’m fine, but what would you do if I I break free and leave us in ruins? Took this dagger in me and removed it? Gain the weight of you then lose it Believe me, I could do it” THIS IS LITERALLY A REI SONG?? Just picture Rei and his father’s relationship while listening to it! I feel like it especially fits younger Rei, from before he left his father to live on his own. How even back then, Rei knew that this wasn’t how a father should act towards their son. I know some things don’t add up, like the idolisation of the other person in the song, which is something Rei didn’t do obviously. The way Shigeki only saw Rei as a cog in the machine that is the organization, how Rei had to accept everything his father said and did… But on the other hand, maybe he once did idiolize his father, when he was younger and didn’t know better yet? Because that’s how it goes in the Suwa family? Either way, it’s a Rei song!

Cowboy Like Me “And the skeletons in both our closets Plotted hard to fuck this up” Two people doing their sketchy jobs, meeting one another through said jobs and falling in love? Do I need to say more? Obviously a more romantic song, but I guess in some way it can be interpreted as platonic as well.

Right Where You Left Me “Everybody moved on I, I stayed there Dust collected on my pinned-up hair They expected me to find somewhere Some perspective, but I sat and stared Right where you left me” This one doesn’t really fit, to be honest, but the part above just really feels like Kazuki after Yuzuko’s death. That’s the only reason I added this song.

It’s Time To Go “15 years, 15 million tears Begging 'til my knees bled I gave it my all, he gave me nothing at all Then wondered why I left Now he sits on his throne in his palace of bones Praying to his greed He's got my past frozen behind glass But I've got me” Again, a song that for the most part doesn’t fit the show, but I just wanted to point out these lyrics because this is literally the relationship between Rei and his father.

MIDNIGHTS

You’re On Your Own, Kid “I looked around in a blood-soaked gown And I saw something they can’t take away 'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned Everything you lose is a step you take" So for this song it’s mainly the bridge and the ending that fits Buddy Daddies. I feel like there are so many references to Rei and Kazuki, how they did everything they could to protect Miri and their little family, how Rei cut ties with his father, how they let go of their pasts and their traumas to live happily with Miri and each other! I know this may sound like an exaggeration, but I sometimes tear up during this part just thinking of Buddy Daddies (this being one of my favourite TS songs is probably a reason as well). I might even try to edit a video with this last part of the song…

The Great War “My hand was the one you reached for All throughout the Great War” This is a bit 50/50, but it still fits in a way. I know that the original meaning of the song doesn’t really make sense in the situation, but if you regard "The Great War” (which in the song means an argument) as Kazuki and Rei’s battle to leave the organization and live their life with Miri, it works. Also just the symbolisms of fighting and war and blood and everything that’s mentioned fit with Rei and Kazuki’s jobs.

Bigger Than The Whole Sky “Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye You were bigger than the whole sky You were more than just a short time" I feel like this song really fits how Kazuki and Rei must’ve felt after giving Miri back to Misaki. But besides that, I like to picture that there is a deeper meaning to the song as well: The song often repeats the lyrics “I’m never gonna meet what could’ve been, would’ve been, what should’ve been you”. And like I said before, this really fits Kazuki and Rei giving Miri up, but I think it also fits Rei and Kazuki giving up the versions of themselves they’d hoped they could’ve become when they started to take care of Miri, bringing back the whole plotline of change. A while ago, I decided to make a fanvid with this song and the show. If you want to watch it, you can find it here. Feel free to let me know what you think! I’m really happy with how it turned out, even if it is kinda angsty and sad.

If you managed to get to this point and read everything, HOLY CRAP! Thanks for the dedication and for reading my ramblings!! I hope you enjoyed them! <3

~ Charlotte