#though i can see some questionable whoopsies here and there

[luna-loveboop]

Ok ok so Time and Winds relationship

If you look at their progression of interactions through the comic, their relationship has a very distinct storyline/character arc and it's really really cool ok

So starting at the beginning (their first and early interactions).

Time likes Wind (I mean who doesn't) they have the hero connection, and there's a lot for Time to see himself in him.

Time doesn't underestimate Wind like some of the others, he knows perfectly well what's it's like to be a young hero (way too young like geez) and still be perfectly capable.

And then everyone splits up. They enter their new timeline/era thing through the portal and they separate into groups to try and find information, and Time and Wind go together. (why is that? Maybe Wind went with who he knew wouldn't underestimate him, and maybe Time wanted to get to know him a little more. Many possibilities.)

With the group split they end up fighting a bunch of monsters (of course). And the scene after the battle is just... Time takes Wind’s sword and compliments it, the art is so soft, it's just... it's the start of them have a really caring connection

ALSO- TIME QUOTING SHADE TO WIND TIME QUOTING SHADE TO WIND

Look of a hero, discipline with the blade... those were phrases used in twilight princess by Hero's Shade (Time's skeleton ghost thingy?) when he’s teaching Twilight how to fight and become the hero he needs to be. And the fact that Time is quoting that to be Wind's mentor and guide him as a young hero is so cool. (So. Cool.)

And at the end, after the battle, Wind asks him that question, “I was wondering... about your original journey” And Time actually answers Wind's question. He tells him about his journey, and this starts a whole new chapter in their relationship. Because guess who went into detective mode? Wind.

He starts theorizing, and actually tries to get a chance to bring it up at first (“speaking of history-”), but eventually finds (makes) a moment to explain his findings.

And Time's skeptical, of course he is.

There's a few reasons why, but here's the main one: Twilight. In this scene where Wind is explaining why he believes he is the hero after Time, his descendant, Twilight, makes two appearances.

But Twilight is not part of the conversation. He's sitting a distance away, and we have no indication that he even knows they’re talking. Yet Time still looks over to him, because Twilight is his descendant. He KNOWS Twilight is his successor, but in this conversation they puzzle out a bit more of the timeline split.

And Time realizes... he has two hero's that came after him. Twilight in the main path, the one that Time previously believed was the only timeline, but there's actually more...

And at the end of that section, Time’s a little overwhelmed (who wouldn't be when you're figuring out you broke the flow of time...)

But, this is the start of Time and Wind’s relationship with Time knowing Wind's one of his successors

Yet even though he's overwhelmed, he touches Wind and acknowledges the facts he's puzzled out (and it's so so sweet)

Buuuuuut this starts a whole new chapter in their relationship. For the section where they’re puzzling out the timeline, and the next, look at their faces. You can see it in those conversations, they're uncertain. Time is trying to reshape his understanding of the world (he’s shaken and looks pretty tired, probably because he found out he left a whole timeline without a hero whoopsies)- but he also cares about Wind and wants to be there for him as well. And Wind looks very nervous around Time. He's excited that he knows he's the hero he heard about before him, but he's nervous about getting closer to him like he wants to.

Then Time goes into detective mode.

And there’s one thing Time really starts wondering: how the hell did Wind’s hyrule get flooded? It was not, in fact, a giant ocean when he left that timeline. So he asks, and Wind answers, but they don’t really start timeline talk with the rest of the group yet.

And I would like to point out that apparently Time and Wind have like. Half the brain cells of the entire group. Because we see literally no one else (at this point) has had whole sections where they’re puzzling out the timeline, but these two are over here obsessing over it lol.

After they have those talks about timelines and kingdoms, they don’t have all the answers yet, but what they have established is this: in Wind’s timeline, he is Time’s successor, and they both want to be close because of that.

And then Time just like!! Adopts Wind :)

With all this build up and conversations, we now see Time and Wind spending so much more time together.

In the group they start ending up walking near each other more often, and they start fighting closer together in battles a bit more

But it’s not one sided- we see Time keeping an eye on and watching out for Wind during battle, as well as Wind defending Time when a skeleton was like. Falling on them. And they’re just working and fighting for each other and it’s awesome.

And it’s cool because through the storyline we see the progression: Time’s the hero dad for everybody, but then he and Wind fight together, and start talking about their journeys to each other, then puzzling out the timeline, then acknowledging that Wind is a successor to Time, and asking questions, and then we see them get so much closer throughout the storyline.

(And Time is still so close to Twilight obviously, he’s his descendant and they have such a special bond but then he’s also developed this unique relationship with Wind too and it’s great)

And so it’s just evolved into a really sweet relationship because Wind looks up to Time, and Time is kind of his mentor, but at the same time he respects Wind’s strength.

And the fact that in the first place Time was willing to tell Wind about his journey simply because he asked, leading to all these discussions and getting closer… well. They care for each other, and it shows.

:)

[readypanda]

Indigo Park Spoilers (and very long post) ahead

Since Indigo Park is the newest fandom I've been dipping into, I figured I might as well make my own analysis for the game. The question I'll be discussing today is,

WHAT EVEN ARE THESE THINGS?

(sry for bad picture quality lol)

The thing I find interesting about these mascots (Molly, Lloyd, and what we've seen of Finley) that kind of sets them apart from other monsters in the mascot horror genre is...they almost seem like they're just animals. (I'll go over evidence for this in this post)

Think about it. In other mascot horror games, we've gotten:

animatronics possessed by dead children

employees/kids surgically(?) turned into toys

people mutated by a giant ink machine

animals/people who have had their DNA spliced with a mutagenic chemical

A little girl somehow turned into a monster (I think??)(really sorry Amanda I don't know what you are)

etc.

(I'm not up to date on all these properties and I know there's many more, so forgive me if my lore understanding is less than adequate. you know how it is with indie horror)

The important note about all these is that for the most part, these mascots are intelligent, or at least have the capability of intelligence. Almost everything on this list was at one point human, in fact.

So why do I think Indigo Park is any different? What leads me to believe they aren't intelligent? (at least, the animal versions of the characters that we run from in the game. Whether they are separate from the versions of the characters Rambley interacts with is something I'll touch on later)

I think the most obvious piece of evidence in regards to Molly and Lloyd (again, not much info on Finley yet) is how Lloyd acts. He doesn't talk at all, he just stalks the main character and attacks like an animal might (with the exception of a couple times he stands on two legs or props himself up here and there).

As for Molly, I hear you saying, "But she talks! We hear her speak!" And yes, dear reader, you are right. Molly does speak. This would disprove my argument of the mascots being purely animalistic, if it weren't for this kill screen.

Now, do we ever actually hear Molly say something that isn't a repetition or couldn't reasonably be a repetition? Has she said anything to prove her intelligence at all? (genuine question here because I haven't examined every one of her voice lines lol. If I'm wrong about this then whoopsie!)

Despite the past 250 words of speculation, though, whether they act just like animals isn't actually that important. We'll see more of them in later chapters anyway (or Lloyd and Finley at least) so that will likely prove or disprove this point with time.

The more interesting question is, what are they? Like, physically?

When Molly dies, we clearly see blood around her decapitated head. At the very least that rules out animatronics or something mechanical. In addition, in the audio of the hidden tape you get when you show Rambley one of the collectables, you can hear two staff members complaining about being replaced by "new mascots" right after they "got a new raccoon costume." This could mean a few different things, but it seems to imply that the mascots we see in this chapter are meant to be replacements for actors in suits (for meet and greets, promotion, shows, etc) and/or replacements for limited, expensive, and cumbersome animatronics. If this is true, we can also probably rule out them being human. Unless Indigo Park also had a secret human experimentation lab, which I wouldn't put past them.

I think it's too early to definitively state what these mascots are, but based on the evidence of above, I have a theory.

My personal theory is that these mascots are just animals who have been changed or mutated in some way to allow the park to have more "realistic" representations of the characters (also probably to cut down on the costs of paying a human employee). That would explain why they act the way they do and why they are so violent. They literally are just wild animals who have been warped to represent these cartoon characters.

Another important caveat to this theory is that, if this is true, then the mascots who attack us in the game are most likely NOT Rambley's "friends" as he knows them. That would explain why he doesn't call attention to Molly chasing us or Molly's dead body (with the exception of one very small reaction when he talks about the mascots). You would expect him to seem a little more upset if he thought that was his friend, but maybe on some level he knows it's not really her, just a representation of her.

That brings up another question, which is a can of worms I won't fully open here: Do Molly, Lloyd, and Finley have sentient "AI" equivalents like Rambley? If not, does Rambley know his friends aren't real? I'll let you decide.

Anyway, that just about closes my thoughts on this silly raccoon game. Thanks for letting me ramble on about it, and thanks for making it to the end of the post!

Lemme know about your own theories in regards to what these things are, or if there's any key evidence I missed. Kinda threw this together lol. Most of it will likely get disproven by future chapters but hey, thus is the price of theorizing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[festivalsofmargot]

You Are a Memory {Sebastian Sallow x GN!Reader}

Introduction: END GAME SPOILERS!!! AGE 18+ SCENARIOS

Starts after Sebastian’s questline and goes until the two of you are in your 7th year, aged up to 18+. Sebastian has just killed his uncle, and it finally dawns on the two of you how far down the dark path you’ve gone. You aren’t good for one another, and it’s time you let each other go. 

Could be a standalone, but if you’d like some extra background on yours and Sebastian’s relationship, feel free to read these first: Pining in Potions Class, Pretty Thoughts, and Selfless. (I like to write a non house specific reader, but Gall of a Gryffindor can work too if any of you Gryffindors out there want that little extra).

Word Count: ~ 5,400 😬 whoopsies

Warnings: Kissing, Angst, Sex (first time making love, gender neutral so not crazy explicit smut level, characters are aged 18+)

Author’s Note:  Listen listen listen listen… it’s not that I don’t like you guys. I just wanna make you pretty cry a bit, okay? You and Seb have been too happy together in my short stories and I’m ready to be the drama and add a little spice. This is my first attempt at a sex scene and a gender neutral one at that. I’m happy with how it turned out, but I’ll keep pushing myself to write better. Enjoy everybody, hope you’re having a good day 😊

Songs (if interested, bonus songs because it’s a long one today, pop them on and join my sad vibes):

You Are a Memory - Message to Bears

In This Shirt - The Irrepressibles

Exit Music (For A Film) - Radiohead

September 15, 2017: Cassini - The Grand Finale - Sleeping At Last

Light - Sleeping At Last

Falling Colour - Vanbur

You finally left the room of requirement after having spent a good amount of your Saturday there. The magical beasts you saved were always excellent company, even in a time as dark as this. When Deek had excused himself for the night, it was then you realized you should probably get to bed yourself.

You silently cursed when you saw how dark and empty the halls were. It was difficult to keep track of time with the vivariums and Deek’s room ambience enchantments. No question you were well passed curfew. Though, a detention was the least of your worries at the moment.

You heard your name called from somewhere in the darkness. You gasped and turned quickly to see Sebastian pushing himself off the wall he was leaning against.

“Sebastian? What are you doing here?” The two of you hadn’t spoken since he ran from the cave. You hadn’t sought him out when you returned to the castle. You let him have his space, and heaven knows you needed it too.

“I needed to see you.” He said, not meeting your eyes.

“How long have you been waiting? I’m so sorry, if I had known -”

“It’s alright. I... needed the time to think about what I was going to say to you.”

Noticing the room of requirement’s door was still there, you pulled him back in with you. “Let’s talk in here.”

Sebastian’s eyes roamed the room. He would have been in awe at the beauty of it all. But the image of his dead uncle and the heartbroken look on Anne’s face took away any levity the room could have given him.

With Sebastian’s hand still in yours, you guided him to a nearby couch which had been your favorite spot aside from the beast vivariums, though you had a feeling it wouldn’t be any longer after your conversation that night. You sat and gently tugged at his hand for him to sit down with you.

Releasing your hand, he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He looked down at the floor, and you waited for him to speak first. You didn’t want to rush him.

“How did things go so wrong?” He buried his face in his hands, his voice faltering. “I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to -” 

Hearing his distress, you placed your hand on his back, rubbing up and down.

He took a shaky breath to right himself. He then grabbed your hand that was rubbing his back and held it in his lap. He rubbed a thumb across your skin and stared at the lines that graced your palm. “We need to end this.”

Your breath hitched in your throat and tears stung at your eyes. You also knew the two of you were heading this direction, but to hear one of you actually say it out loud still broke something in you. “I know.” You whispered.

Sebastian shot a hand up to cover his eyes, desperately trying to stop tears of his own from falling. His shoulders began to shake with silent sobs.

You leaned forward, wrapping your arms around his waist, resting your cheek against his back. “I know.” You said again, still with no conviction. “I’m just as tempted by the dark arts as you are, Sebastian. If we stay together, I'm afraid we’ll cause even more damage.”

“I don’t want this.” He choked through his tears.

You held him tighter, the tears finally falling down your cheeks. You breathed in his scent once more, taking in everything you could of him before he would leave that night. “Neither do I.”

He gently tugged at your arms to get you to release him. He stood to his feet and made his way to leave. You knew you should let him go, but you jumped up from the couch and called for him just as he was going to open the door. “Sebastian!”

His fingers hovered over the handle, he turned slightly to look at you. He waited for you to continue, but you could only stare at him, eyes sparkling with tears. 

Digging his heels into the ground, he closed the distance between the two of you in only a few steps. He took your face in his hands and crashed his lips onto yours. You met him with just as much need and grabbed at the fabric covering his chest to keep him close. The both of you whimpered at the despair in your kiss, cheeks wet with tears. This was the end of it and there was no running from the pain.

Before you knew it, Sebastian left your embrace, speeding out of the room. Once the door shut behind him, you collapsed to the floor and allowed your sobs to consume you.

-

The remaining days of your fifth year went by the slowest. Each day you weren’t working with Professor Fig on your ancient magic and going through the keepers’ trials, you struggled to fill your time. Poppy was finally taking it easy after you had helped her with the centaurs. And Natty was still recovering from your fight with Harlow. Her mother had a closer eye on her than ever before, so spending time with her away from the castle wasn’t happening.

Every time you saw Sebastian, you did everything you could to keep your distance and avoid looking his way. At first you tried to sneak glances, but you found it hurt too much, and it only tempted you to run back into his arms. 

“Maybe we were too rash. Maybe we can be better together.” You envisioned yourself saying to him, but you knew it wouldn’t be true. It was made clear every time you left the castle and ran into poachers. They made it difficult to stray from your dark path. Seeing what they had done to so many animals, you were nowhere near done with the cruciatus curse. You weren’t good for Sebastian, you needed to accept that and let him heal. He could be better, and he would be.

-

You don’t know how you made it out alive against Rookwood and Ranrok, yet there you were. You shifted uncomfortably in your bed in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Aside from some deep gashes that needed stitching, a ton of bruising, and a sprained ankle, you had managed to make it out all right. But Professor Fig hadn’t, and it weighed on you heavily.

Word spread fast about how you fought alongside the professors to defend the school.  All your friends had come to see you - well - almost all of them. Even some people you didn’t know very well came to check in. 

When Ominis came in to the hospital wing, you felt yourself go stiff. Along with leaving Sebastian behind, you left Ominis as well. You panicked at the thought of facing him. If you had never entered their lives, Sebastian might not have been able to dive so deep into the dark arts. He might have listened to his closest friend and the whole mess wouldn’t have happened.

“How are you?” Ominis asked as he pulled up a chair by your bedside.

“A little roughed up, I suppose. And you?” You were afraid to ask, because the conversation could so easily move towards Sebastian.

“I’m well thank you. And a little roughed up? From what I hear you sound like you belong in this hospital bed for the remainder of the year.”

You began to laugh but then hissed in pain, grabbing at your side. “Well, I can’t really disagree with you there, can I?”

He gave a soft chuckle, and then he fell quiet. The look on his face made it seem like he was debating his next words. “Look, I heard what happened between you and Sebastian.”

“Ominis, please -”

“Let me finish. I heard what happened between the two of you but I’m still here for you. That day you took on the cruciatus curse for him, I knew you’d proven yourself to be a true friend. I understand why the two of you are no longer speaking, and as much as I’m sure it hurts, I agree it’s what’s best for the both of you. Please know, you don’t have to be a stranger when it comes to me.”

It hit you how much you had missed Ominis as well. “Thank you.”

“I'm afraid I have to get going now, I snuck away from Sebastian to check in on you. I feel I’ve constantly had to talk him out of coming to visit the second he heard what happened.”

You nodded your head, “It’s best he doesn’t come. I think I’d fall out of this bed and crawl right into his arms if he had.”

“I thought the same.” He stood up from his chair. “Now get some rest. I can grab something for you from Honeydukes later.”

“Chocolate Frogs, I’m begging you.” Just as you were starting to cheer up, the thought of Hogsmeade reminded you of Rookwood, and what he had told you before he tried to kill you. “Ominis, wait. There’s something you and Sebastian need to know about Anne.”

-

Sebastian couldn’t stand it. Though he knew full well Ominis was right about how he shouldn’t go to visit you, it had gotten to a point where he wasn’t able to sleep without having seen how you were doing with his own eyes. 

Sneaking out of his dorm, he made his way to the hospital wing. He crept in, cloaked with the disillusionment spell and stood at the entrance. Eyes searching, it didn’t take long to spot you. You seemed to be the only student admitted.

He tiptoed over as not to wake you. When he reached you, his heart crumpled at the sight. A majority of your body was covered by the blanket, but from the skin he could see on your neck and face, you were riddled with bruising and stitches. Without thinking, he brushed his fingers along your cheek. 

You let out a soft moan and Sebastian yanked back his hand, panicked he had woken you. But you went quiet again, the only sound escaping you was your breathing. He should have listened to Ominis, seeing you again like that had pulled him right back in. He needed to get out of there.

Just as he as he turned to leave, you mumbled, “Sebastian?”

He looked back fearfully, thinking he was caught. But you were still sound asleep as you murmured his name. He ached to kneel before your bedside and grab your hand. He wanted to kiss it over and over, reassuring you saying, “I’m here. I’m here. Everything’s alright now.” But he couldn’t, and before he could fight himself on it any longer, he forced his feet to move one in front of the other until he was back in his dorm.

-

It was the beginning of your seventh year at Hogwarts when the Triwizard Tournament was announced to take place. It sounded like just the thing you needed to get through your last year.

You don’t know how you made it through your sixth year, it wasn’t nearly as eventful as your fifth had been. Though you were thankful everything seemed to be going a lot smoother in the world and your friends were safe, you were still uneasy with all the free time you had. You busied yourself up in the room of requirement if you weren’t with Poppy or Natty, and would stay just late enough to make it back right before curfew.

Though it was impossible to not see Sebastian, you did everything you could to minimize the chances. By the end of the year, you had found a good routine to get you through the rest of your time at Hogwarts. And adding this tournament on top of it could really help you thrive.

You fiddled with the folded up parchment that had your name written on it as you stood in the crowd around the Goblet of Fire. You were standing side by side with Natty who was also going to put her name in, the two of you waited for your turn to walk up. It was interesting watching all the Beauxbaton Academy and Durmstrang Institute students put their name in. They all looked so confident, and with such athletic builds, you couldn’t believe some of them were only 18 years old like you were.

After Natty placed her name in, you clapped along with everyone else and threw in a special holler just for her. Then it was your turn. As you were about to let the parchment fall in and be swallowed up by the flames, you looked out to the cheering crowd and locked eyes with Sebastian. Out of everyone around you, how did you manage to spot him? Dropping your name in, the crowd erupted in applause. You bowed your head and smiled as you left the circle.

When you returned to your position amongst the crowd, you tried to shake the image of his face from your mind. The way he was looking at you when you entered your name into the fire, it was almost as if he was crushed to see you do so. But you immediately dismissed the thought. It was dark in there and the only light source came from the Goblet, you couldn’t have possibly gotten a good read on his reaction. You two were no longer in each other’s lives and it’s been that way for a while. Get over yourself. He wouldn’t care what you did any more.

-

“You? But... why?” Was all Sebastian could ask his best friend. Ominis had just informed him he was the one taking you to The Yule Ball. Sebastian had known you were going with someone after overhearing you turn down a Durmstrang student, apologizing and explaining you already had a date. He had been in a dreadful mood ever since. But his sour mood turned perplexed at Ominis’ announcement.

“Honestly? Because I’m afraid of what you’d do to anyone else who did. Also, it looks good for a Gaunt to be going to the ball with the Hogwarts champion, if I’m not going to be the champion myself. Got my family off my back somewhat.”

Sebastian sighed. “Ominis, you didn’t need to trouble yourself. I’m fine now. We’re fine. We haven’t spoken in who knows how long. The two of you should go with people you -” have an interest in. He finished in his head, unable to say the words aloud without feeling sick.

Though he’d hate to admit it, Sebastian was filled with immense relief Ominis was the one taking you to the ball. He had seen the rather large amount of people who had approached you, and he wanted to shoo off each one of them. But he had no right, he needed to let you live your life. After all, it would have been highly hypocritical of him considering he had said yes to going with Amelie Dupont, the champion for Beauxbatons Academy.

-

Sebastian and Ominis waited side by side at the bottom of the stairs for their dates. He was hoping with every fiber in his body that you would walk down those stairs before Amelie did, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist watching you come down with undivided attention. And that would be horribly rude of him with his date at his arm already.

But of course, Amelie arrived first. He shouldn’t have expected any different knowing how you were. Always off doing something until the last minute.

With Amelie’s arm linked in his, all champions and their dates stood, lined in formation to enter the ballroom, except one.

“Ah Mr. Gaunt, here is your date now.”

Sebastian shot his gaze to the stairs at Professor Weasley’s words and went stiff. In that moment, he could have sworn his heart stopped. You were breathtaking. He had never seen you in such formal attire. For some reason, feeling foolish about it then, he had expected you to be dressed in some variation of the Hogwarts uniform. It had been all he’d seen you in for the passed year and a half.

“So sorry I’m late.” You called down as you descended the steps, watching your step as you did so as not to trip in your new fancy shoes. You were still breaking them in and weren’t the most confident. When you looked up your eyes met Sebastian’s, and the way he was looking at you had your insides twisting.

Sebastian swallowed thickly when you looked his way, and for a brief moment he let himself live in the fantasy that you were walking down the stairs to meet him. Time slowed down and memories began popping up all at once in his brain: the first time you met, the both of you trying to hide your laughter at Garreth’s nonsense in potions class, your first kiss in the library, all your sneaky pecks to his cheek, and even the times he’d rest his head on your lap as the two of you laid in the grass under the sun.

“Alright you two, join the line here.” His thoughts were interrupted at Professor’s Weasley’s voice. You took Ominis’ arm and got in the back of the line. Sebastian made himself face forward, awaiting further instruction.

“You look very handsome, Ominis.” He heard you whisper to his best friend.

“Thank you, I’m sure you look wonderful yourself.” You and Ominis cackled.

Walking out in front of everyone and doing the traditional first dance was all a blur. Sebastian hadn’t been able to compose himself after he saw you coming down the stairs.

Once the dance was over, he excused himself from Amelie and went to the washroom. He leaned against the sink, trying to steady his breathing. How could he have ever thought he was over you? You still meant as much to him then as you had when you parted ways in the room of requirement. He was extra thankful Ominis had been your date, if anyone else had been and he had to watch you link arms with them he didn’t think his heart could take it.

Once he returned to the ball, his eyes landed on you and Ominis on the dance floor. You were talking and laughing with him easily, seeming to not have a care in the world.

Do I have even the slightest effect on you anymore? Sebastian wondered as he watched from afar. He thought back to when you put your name in the Goblet of Fire. Your eyes had met his and he silently pleaded with you not to go through with it, people died in this tournament. Though he knew you were capable, having to watch you be put in harm’s way and he wouldn’t be able to help had him petrified. But you dropped it in and turned away, proud to have your name in the running. When your name was chosen from the Goblet, because of course it was, the terror and misery that went through him was paralyzing. Ominis had to help keep him steady the rest of that day.

He had a sick hope he made you hurt at least a little having come with Amelie. But you were the one on the dance floor, happy as can be, not the one trying to keep it together in the washroom like he had just been.

Sebastian went and found Amelie. He apologized and asked her for another dance.

The night went by decently enough for Sebastian. Amelie was beautiful and talkative, so when the two of them weren’t dancing, they were surrounded by a group of people asking her an abundance of questions. He was thankful she took the reins in conversation because he wasn’t in a socializing mood. Every now and then he took glances your way, not once did he catch your eye.

It was nearing the end of the night and Amelie had asked if he wanted to go back to the dance floor. He looked out and saw you and Ominis were back out there already.

“I - I apologize, I promised a friend a dance and it’s slipped my mind ‘til now.”

Amelie nodded with a smile and went back to speaking with a few Durmstrang students who were eager for her attention.

Before he knew it, he was making his way over to you and Ominis. When he reached the two of you on the dance floor, he held out a hand towards you.

Your laughing and dancing ceased.

“May I cut in?” Sebastian asked, gaze on you unflinching.

Your insides began buzzing with nerves. The thought of your first time interacting with Sebastian again through a dance was nearly too much to handle.

“Go ahead.” Ominis said with a smile as he released you, his approval taking you by surprise. “I need a rest anyhow.” Before you could protest, he was gone, leaving you and Sebastian alone.

You tentatively grabbed his hand and he pulled you into a dance. This being your first time speaking and touching after nearly two years, you didn’t think you would be able to look him in the eyes. But that was the only place you could look.

The two of you didn’t speak, it seemed you didn’t need to. Over the course of your dance, the two of you moved in closer, dismissing the official waltz stance you were supposed to be in. Your arms found their way around his shoulders and his around your waist. He leaned his head against yours as you slowly swayed from side to side.

You had fought so hard to distance yourself from him, and all it took was one dance to pull you back in. You never wanted to let go. Because as soon as you let go, he would be gone from your life again. The way he was holding onto you made you believe he had the same worry. You breathed in his scent like you used to do when you were this close. You hummed and pulled him closer, he still used the same cologne you loved.

Sebastian closed his eyes, imagining it was just the two of you in your own little world. He relished every second of this dance with you. Having you back in his arms felt right, like this was where you were always supposed to be.

“Excusez-moi? Sebastian, I’m getting tired. Would you like to walk me back to the dorms?” Amelie hiccupped, seeming to have had some drinks other students snuck in.

His eyes shot open and you tried to pull away quickly, but he grabbed your hand with a strong hold so you wouldn’t get too far. As the two of you looked at Amelie, you shook your hand from his grasp and cleared your throat. “Of course he would! Appreciate you letting me steal him away for a quick dance. Always great to catch up with an old friend. Goodnight, you two.”

Sebastian watched as you escaped to Ominis’ side, your vanishing warmth making him feel empty. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t leave things there and not speak to you for another year and a half. Dancing with you and holding you close would never have been enough to hold him over.

“You’ll have to guide me.” Amelie giggled, linking her arm in his. “This castle is a maze.”

“It can be. Would you excuse me one moment?” He slipped from Amelie’s grasp and ran to your side. He touched your elbow and your attention was back on him.

Your eyes widened at the gall Sebastian had to leave Amelie’s side. You already felt terrible she had to witness the two of you dancing the way you were, but truth be told she was probably too sozzled to notice. “Sebastian, you can’t just -”

“Meet me in the undercroft, I’ll be there shortly.”

“I can’t, I -” You gestured weakly to Ominis who was aware of everything that was happening.

“Please.” The rigor in his voice made it clear he wasn’t asking, then he returned to Amelie’s side.

You looked to Ominis, dumbstruck at Sebastian’s actions. “Ominis, you need to speak with him. Get him back to his senses.”

But Ominis only shook his head, “Meet with him.”

-

After all this time, you found yourself in the undercroft again. While you waited for Sebastian, you looked around, nostalgia washing over you. You found your way next to a wooden table covered in markings you hadn’t remembered seeing. Sebastian’s, Ominis’, and Anne’s names were all over, along with some carvings of stick figures. One of the carvings was a heart with yours and Sebastian’s initials. You rubbed your hand over your chest in hopes to slow down your rapid pulse. Then you ran your fingers over it.

His heart ached as he watched you. “I did that when you were recovering in the hospital wing. I was a mess.”

You startled slightly at his voice.

“A few weeks after we... well...” He looked down, kicking the dirt at his feet, wanting to change the subject. “We haven’t bumped into each other down here since fifth year, have we? How often do you come these days?” He asked, looking back up to you.

“Oh, I... I haven’t been in here since fifth year.”

“You haven’t?” A large part of him hurt at the thought of you leaving the undercroft behind.

You shook your head, eyes continuing to roam around the room. “No. This place was always yours, Ominis’, and Anne’s. Never mine.”

“I tried to make it yours too.”

You met his dispirited gaze, and you didn’t know how to respond. You turned away and began meandering around. “What is this about, Sebastian?” You hoped he would get on with it, this whole night had been torture. Watching him dance with Amelie and barely leave her side, you were thankful you had Ominis to lean on.

He took a step towards you. “I want to be in your life again.” He blurted.

Your heart picked up its pace again and you froze. It was exactly what you wanted to hear, but as much as you wanted to run and jump into his arms, you kept yourself in place. It wasn’t what was best for him.

“I want us again.” He said, taking another step towards you.

“Sebastian.” You sighed.

“Believe me when I say I’ve changed.” He began desperately. “I have no more temptations with the dark arts. Just ask Ominis! He’ll tell you how far I’ve come. I’m better now.”

You swallowed thickly in your throat. “But I’m not.” You confessed, barely above a whisper. You released a shaky breath and met his stare. “I am so proud to hear you’ve come far. Truly, I am. But I am still no good for you.” You glanced away from him then, unable to say it to his face. “I still use the unforgiveable curses... all the time.” You went tense at the admission, “These poachers Poppy and I come across, they conjure up something so monstrous in me, I -” You stopped yourself, not eager to explain further.

“I can help you.” He was by your side then. “I brought you into the dark arts. I can help get you out. My hatred for Ranrok’s loyalists? I was able to overcome that too.” He took your hand and pressed it to his chest. “You don’t know how far I’d go for this. I’m so in love with you it hurts. I can’t stand to see you and act like I don’t know you anymore.”

You shook your head at the overwhelming nature of it all, an unsteady exhale left your lips. The look on your face told him you were considering his words, and he couldn’t help but hold his breath. “Sebastian, if I pull you back to the dark arts, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“You won’t.” He brought the back of your hand to his lips. “I mean it when I say I’ve changed. Have a little confidence in me, will you?”

You bit your lip, and thought through everything that could go wrong if you went back to him. But him telling you he was in love with you had taken away all your resolve. All the warnings you usually chided yourself with were falling flat, not being at all effective like they used to be even just a moment ago. You nodded your head. “Okay.”

“Okay?” His eyes went wide, unable to believe it.

“Okay. And I love you too. So much, Sebastian.”

Sebastian picked you up and swung you in his arms, causing a boisterous laugh to spring out from inside you. He set you down and brought one hand up to cup your cheek, smashing his lips against yours. Being able to be with you like this again had him bursting at the seams with joy.

You kissed him back with just as much fervor. Your hands shot up to his hair and you gripped his locks between your fingers. He backed you up until you hit the wooden table you were looking at earlier. Without taking his lips off of yours he hoisted you up and positioned himself between your legs. He licked at your bottom lip and you opened your mouth partly for him to taste more of you. You let out a whimper, then you felt him press his front against yours. You gasped at the sudden feel of it and he made himself stop kissing you.

“I’m sorry.” He said breathlessly, forehead pressed to yours. “We don’t have to. I just couldn’t help myself. You just -” He buried his face into your neck and sighed, “Every time I see you, I go mad. I’ve missed you all this time and to finally have you here in my arms -”

You began to unbutton his shirt with delicate fingers. He pulled back and looked you into your eyes. 

“A - Are you sure?”

You smiled at him and nodded your head, continuing to undo his buttons. He helped you shakily yet eagerly. Then he began to help you undress, covering you in comforting kisses as he did so. It was nerve-racking, undressing in front of each other for the first time. But you weren’t with just anyone in that moment, you were with Sebastian, and he was with you. The two of you were hopeful for the future, but in that moment neither of you cared what happened from then on. The two of you were ready, and you wanted be each other’s first. 

You moved to the floor together, laying on your clothes, he covered your body with his. He leaned down to kiss you, his chest pressing against yours, and the feel of his skin was electrifying. You could feel his hardness pressed against you as you continued to hold each other, taking your time exploring one another in a way no one else had.

He shivered as you touched him, sighing your name against your lips. He dragged his fingers from your neck, lightly touching down your body, passed your waist, until he placed his hand between your thighs.

And right then, with the urgent need about to burst from both your cores, you knew there was no other place in the world you'd rather be. This ache you felt for each other left no room for doubt, this couldn’t have happened with anyone else, you were made for one another. You both were on the brink with each other’s touches, clueless how it could possibly feel better than it already had. 

“I’m ready.” You whimpered.

Sebastian, eyes clouded with desire, nodded his head. You both adjusted until you fit each other perfectly, starting slow to get the hang of it, and eventually losing yourselves in one another in a tangle of limbs. You covered each other with kisses, licks, and even some bites as the need to melt into each other grew more and more. In those moments together, as your breaths and moans echoed throughout the undercroft, the only temptation presenting itself was each other, and it was pure bliss.

[tortoise-bearing-cups]

Ministry rambles goooo (because someone reblogged an old comment of mine I never explained and why not, let's speculate a bit on the Ministry)

One of the things I find interesting is that Fudge gets himself in this position of power yet he is so influencable. But I don't think he's just some idiot. I think he has reasons for his decisions, and those reasons are: don't get in trouble.

Take Umbridge. I assume his relationship with her is like keeping a mean dog on a long leash. The leash is short enough that the dog isn't going to bite your kids. But it might bite the people you don't like, because it knows you don't like them, and you can just go, whoopsie! Dogs bite, y'know, it's in their nature, nothing for it. Best case scenario, the dog bites lots of people you don't like and there are no consequences. Worst case scenario, you can just shoot the dog.

So. Percy.

Percy is a very competent, overworking person with no idea what he's worth. I have a few guesses as to why he was allowed to run a department in the first place. His coworkers have their own jobs and may not want to take on extra work, especially if it's so much work Percy barely goes home. (Though he might also have been overworking himself to prove himself, or he may just not have wanted to go home.) It seems kind of strange that none of them are ambitious and want to take advantage--if Crouch was against hiring ambitious people, he wouldn't have hired Percy. Possibly they're all burnt out from failed ambitions already, say if Crouch takes on ambitious people, works them for everything they have, then promotes the next eager young person. (I have worked places like this.)

From outside the department, it may appear that Crouch has the new guy doing everything precisely because no one is going to promote Percy straight to Department Head. If someone more experienced replaced Crouch for months, they might get his job!

(As a side note, I am so, so curious about what Barty Jr.'s instructions were here. How much does he understand about his father's job? Was Percy getting good instructions or getting vague direction and having to figure things out himself? He didn't know about the Second task despite how involved he was with the Tournament, or he wouldn't have been surprised by Ron being there. There's also a lot of room for like, Dumbledore telling Percy that things are handled, and then when Percy shows up no one can see the task and it makes the Ministry look bad, because Dumbledore is not happy about the Ministry interfering at Hogwarts.)

But anyway, Percy and Fudge. Percy's job seems to be following Fudge around attending to him, writing things down, maybe keeping his schedule. (As others have said, he is perfectly positioned to spy on Fudge, oh my god, why would you accuse Percy of being hired to spy on Dumbledore and break with him.)

Fudge is very easily influenced, but again, I don't think this is just because he's stupid. It's blame-passing. His direct influences, Dumbledore and Malfoy, are directly opposed. He can listen to both of them, make what ever decision he wants, then claim that one of them convinced him.

It's not his fault!

Which is how, with Dumbledore gone, you can have Percy fill Dumbledore's role. It's not Fudge's fault that he made that decision, his assistant's information said it was what the people wanted.

(An interesting question is if Percy knows he's being used like this. I don't think knowing would stop him. He is GOING to oppose Malfoy's bullshit and get the result he wants, consequences be damned. And I can only see Percy getting more and more cynical as he sees how the Ministry actually works.

Though ...

What Percy sees is what people are willing to bring to Fudge, a guy who's made his opinions on Voldemort's revival clear. I can see Percy thinking that if there were any proof, it would cross Fudge's desk. But no one is going to bring Fudge information he will just ignore except to get mad at them, and it might take Percy a while to pick that up.)

... which is how we get to the scenario I was talking about, where Malfoy gets in trouble in 5th year and is no longer influencing Fudge. Fudge needs people to give him opinions. Fudge can try to replace Malfoy with another assistant, but unless he's willing to bring Umbridge back from Hogwarts, no one in that office is out-stubborning Percy. He has so many opinions, so many statistics, and he had to explain what statistics even are because the Wizarding World doesn't have them and--

So Percy ends up deciding a lot of things. Why stop him? Fudge has bigger problems, and if it goes bad, he can just get rid of him!

(Also, when Fudge gets punted the rest of the Ministers are like, "You want to do all the inglorious work of running the Ministry while I focus on the war? Sounds good to me!" Which puts Percy in a position to be vital to the Ministry but not seen as a threat, and to fuck with the DEs when they take over.)

[amethystfairy1]

Hi Amethyst! It's been a hot minute since I sent an ask in, but I have been reading both fics every day (still obsessed lmao) (also I name changed btw, used to be ElenaLoo)

Anyways, I had written a whole ask waxing eloquent on all the wonderful things going on in ttsbc, but I accidentally shut off my computer partway through and frankly I can't be bothered to write it all out again lmao. Just. It's beautiful (wow isnt that so meaningful and deep? im sure you're feeling very complimented rn)

The REAL thing I wanted to talk about was Traveling thieves (which is by far my favorite fanfic of ALL TIME), and all the amazingness in ttsbc made me forget it even existed for the past few weeks. But the other day I was just like "oh yeah. Traveling thieves." and then i reread the whole thing. whoopsies.

Ummm anywyas there's so many thoughts in my head about all the little guys, but recently I've been on an Imp and Skizz obsession (just scroll on my page for .2 seconds and you'll see) and YOU. You left them on a CLIFFHANGER. >:((( (not actually mad btw). I just. so excited for them. They're out alone in the woods right now and Skizz is going to have the perfect opportunity to kill Impulse and get away and I just am falling apart thinking about them. (I drew them to cope lol, posted on my blog but also later here so that I can talk about it more). I can see this playing out a few ways. Obviously Skizz isn't actually going to kill Impulse, so he's either going to 1) make up some excuse as to why he can't do it right then, but still plans to do it eventually, or 2) he does it. but he doesn't. Skizz attacks Impulse when he's not expecting it, there's a scuffle, and Skizz comes out on top---BUT THEN HE CAN"T FINISH IT!!! and it's a whole thing where even tho skizz tried to kill him, imp is still so understanding and skizz cries and impulse just freaking gives him a hug and

sigh

Whatever you do will be beautiful, I'm sure. I think you mentioned you're switching to tt after this fic, so crossing my fingers it's imp and skizz. (Though, would also be very happy with Martyn and Ren :P) (or anything really i just love tt)

Anyways, I had the art on my blog but I'm also putting it here so i can say things about it to you

Mostly I'm just very proud of their expressions, with Impulse being all concerned glancing over at Skizz, meanwhile Skizz is completely deadpan staring forwards, also looking very tired bc he needs a break from this universe. Also I switched up my Impulse design a lil bit from last time (if u even remember that lol it was months ago now). you would think, just looking at them, that Impulse took way longer to design, but nope, I was messing around with Skizz for at least double the time, trying to figure out how to have him facing forward whilst still showing some of the scars on his back. I gave up eventually xD (all that means is that im gonna have to draw him again later, from different angles)

actually that made me remember a question I had: are you planning to ship Imp and Skizz? Ik you said Zed and Tango are going to be a thing far in the future, but... skizzpulse? plzzzz plz pretty please haha im not obsessed

aaaaaand that reminds me of another question, is skizz going to be in ttsbc? (pretty please also same question as tt, if he was in ttsbc, are him and impulse together? Im addicted to them all i care about these days is some good imp and skizz shipfics, and you're such a fantastic writer, both with plot and the vibes of the words themselves. u could write such good imp and skizz. just imagine the possibilites! (am i selling it?))

aaaaaanyways. im gonna go reread the old tt skizz fics because theyre delicious and painful, like eating knives. u have a good day :))

HIIIIIII

I ADORE THIS ART SO MUCH! I gave you all my rambles on the reblog but it's SOOOOO COOL!

I'm sad the waxing eloquent about TTSBC is gone 😭 but that's ok!

I'm so glad you're enjoying TT and all the drama going on in there! Imp and Skizz are definitely having a time and a half with all of this nonsense going on...I love all your theories! I won't confirm or deny anything of course, but I'm so happy you're excited for them!

I will not be shipping Imp and Skizz, sorry! I just personally don't ship them, so they're gonna remain platonic...I mean, in TT who knows what the hell they're doing to be fair 😆 but yeah, Zedango is going to be a thing in the distant future, but no Skizzpulse! Sorry!

Skizz is not in TTSBC at the moment, that doesn't mean he never will be! Just haven't found a spot for him yet...and no, he also would not be with Impulse, I'm so sorry I just don't ship them personally! I think it's a very cute ship tho!

Enjoy rereading the TT Skizz fics!!! Thank you again for the gorgeous art!!!! I love it!!! 💖

[lavendernlilac]

So do we... do we ever get to know what other Big Event caused more Big Trauma for Grian a d Pearl in the Strawberry Lemonade AU? Or do you have plans to unravel that thread in fic form?

it’s something I’d like to unravel in fic but I have no idea how I want to do it yet ;-; I can talk about it here though !!! anyone who follows this blog will have super secret insider knowledge <3 I’m gonna put it under a read more because it is a bit dark and leans kinda heavy in some light horror vibes???

so uh. content warning for religious trauma (the vibes of it are there), horror elements, and child endangerment. whoopsies

mkay so! big traumatic event. one that really threw grian’s life off course….

so it’s no secret that grian, pearl, and jim grew up in a very religious household. their father was a pastor and a follower of the watcher religion. pearl is the oldest of the three, and as a child she was probably the one that took to following the watchers faith the most?? they all went to events and what not and were involved thanks to their father, but pearl was involved with it the most

grian didn’t really care? I think he did what a lot of young, curious kid do and he asked questions. and he asked too many questions. he def got in trouble with his father a lot. add in the piece of him seeing the dead and… hoo boy

he had very weak abilities when he was young. most of the time he’d see a shadow of movement, and it was extremely rare. and then his mother passed and he could see her. she tucked him into bed. and grian did what many eight years old do, and he talked about it. he told his father and siblings that he saw mom, that she tucked him in and kissed his forehead, he asked where she was. it wasn’t the first time that he had said something like that, having mentioned a strange shadow or humanoid figure before. it was all brushed off at first

but then it just kept happening. grian would constantly tell pearl that he saw their mother, or that she did something. pearl pretended to play along, as if she truly believed him. privately, she turned to her father and other members of the church and expressed concerns and well. it wasn’t taken well

I think in watcher belief, ghosts and the like are viewed as generally something not good?? bad omens, harbingers of death and negativity, that sort of thing. so hearing that grian was saying all this stuff was extremely concerning to them. they thought that maybe grian had an attachment, or worse

at ten years old, grian’s father and a few other church heads try an exorcism on him in the study and it goes So well (it goes horribly, horribly wrong). the only thing they manage to accomplish is getting grian stuck with an attachment, and ripping the lid off of his abilities. his abilities would’ve remained weak and non-obtrusive had they been left alone. however… that did not remain the case

pearl (12) and jimmy (8) were instructed to stay in their father’s room while this was happening, but pearl was very concerned about her brother. she told jimmy to stay put, and she snuck off to check in on grian. she saw nearly everything through a crack in the door, and it was horrible. grian looked like he was in so much pain and he was scared. it was enough to shake pearl’s belief in everything of the watchers and things going forward were very bad

grian was stuck with an attachment for a short amount of time, only being saved because his mother used her own self to get rid of it. in doing so, her soul fizzled out, leaving grian truly alone with nothing but his fear of the things he constantly saw. there was no off switch

it put a very large strain on his and pearl’s relationship for long time. he stopped trusting her with his secrets, and stopped talking to anyone about what he could see. all of this is the reason he studies the paranormal now, as a researcher. because he wants to understand that world and everything about it

and well… it’s partly why scar was so scared to tell grian the truth. I don’t think grian has told scar about the attempted exorcism, but he has mentioned the attachment and different paranormal interactions he’s had that have haunted him

so yeah. big trauma for grian and pearl :’)

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x42 - Silence on the Ocean Floor! Whamon / Under Pressure

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Piximon's sacrifice got the kids away from the Dark Masters, but only for like five minutes. Chomping at the bit for some action, MetalSeadramon bolted straight out there set Anomalocarimon on fire. Whamon snuck away the kids. That's a whoopsy-doodle.

As with last episode, before we can begin this one, the dub needs to finish the previous episode.

We open back up in the ocean, with the kids floating in the water and MetalSeadramon towering over them. His River of Power finishes off Zudomon, launching Gomamon straight into Joe's face. Sadly, this goes unremarked upon.

Gomamon: AUUUUGH!!! (sploosh) MetalSeadramon: You're finished, you upstart DigiDestined! In a word, you're sunk! (Whamon's silhouette passes under them) MetalSeadramon: Huh? Who is that? Tai: IT'S WHAMON!!!

Whamon headbutts MetalSeadramon into the water, then scoops up the kids in his mouth.

Tai: Come on, everybody! I never thought I'd want to be fish food but we'll be safe in here! Izzy: Technically, it's a mammal!

Okay, Tai's quip was cute but Izzy Um Actually-ing him in the middle of this crisis sells it. XD

MetalSeadramon: Grahh! You've escaped this time, but you've escaped for the last time!

Once MetalSeadramon's finished shaking his proverbial fist at the kids and threatening revenge next episode, we begin next episode.

MetalSeadramon: Curse those Chosen Children....

Four little Digimon with sea jets turn up, reporting in to MetalSeadramon.

MetalSeadramon: Hangyomon? Hangyomon: We're sorry to be late, sir.

Hangyomon is a Perfect-stage Data-type Aquatic Beast Man Digimon. Lot going on with that classification. The name comes from the word 半魚人 hangyojin which means "Half Fish Person". It's a mermaid. Hangyojin are Japanese mermaids.

Hangyojin aren't as consistently designed as mermaids, though. The uniformity that dominates mermaid designs isn't present in traditional hangyojin lore. Basically any combination of Fish Stuff and Primate Stuff can be a hangyojin.

So we get Hangyomon whose name is "Half-Fish mon". It would be super easy to call them Mermon in English, it's right there, but I guess they aren't mermaid enough so they end up being Divermon. That's fair, probably less confusing that way.

In any case, Hangyomon is a Deep Saver from the .5 updated release of the V-Pet. Super fittingly in a "I see what you did there" way, they replace Anomalocarimon on the roster for the updated version.

Narrator: Hangyomon. An Aquatic Beast Man Digimon who swims deep in the oceans while wearing a wetsuit. His special attack is Strike Fishing. MetalSeadramon: Forget it. I control these waters. The Chosen Children can't escape me no matter where they try to run; Not even with Whamon helping them. Now go! Capture the Chosen Children! All Hangyomon: (English) Aye-Aye, Sir!

The Hangyomon dive beneath the water. MetalSeadramon lets out a furious roar that honestly sounds more like a death rattle and then plunges into the water as well.

In the dub, MetalSeadramon has questions.

MetalSeadramon: Why did Whamon stick his spout in my business and save the DigiDestined? (The Divermon pop up) MetalSeadramon: What are you doing here, Divermon? Divermon: We just came up for a little air! MetalSeadramon: (rundown) Those Divermon! If it wasn't for their Striking Fish attack, they'd be useless to me. MetalSeadramon: No matter. Wherever those kids try to hide, I'll find them. I rule this ocean with an iron hand, an iron tail, and an iron everything for that matter! I'll catch them even with Whamon on their side! ...well, don't just sit there treading water; I told you to GO FIND THOSE KIDS!!! All Divermon: Aye-Aye, Sir!

That "iron everything" bit is nicely punned. MetalSeadramon is proud of his near-completely Chrome Digizoid body and frankly he should be. He worked hard for it.

Striking Fish. Oh my god. XD Like. Conceptually, it's not that different from what Strike Fishing implies but it somehow sounds way lamer. That's not a mistranslation; Like most proper nouns, the attack name was in English. They made a choice to move the -ing and make it Striking Fish.

Weird choice to imply that the Divermon came by purely out of coincidence. The dub's still downplaying that his "minions" are a formal military.

Whamon ferries the children back up into breathable air once they're far enough away from MetalSeadramon.

Taichi: You saved us back there, Whamon! Koushiro: Really! I thought we were done for. Whamon: I'm glad you're safe. Yamato: Hey, Whamon? Do you have any ideas for how we can defeat the Dark Masters? Sora: Why did they do this to the Digimon World? Whamon: Unfortunately, I don't know all the details. I just felt the world shaking all of a sudden, and then the world became like this. That was when MetalSeadramon took control of the oceans.

Taichi angrily punches Whamon.

Taichi: Damn that MetalSeadramon! Hikari: (hug) Onii-chan, cheer up. Taichi: (sheepish) ...yeah. You're right. Let's all stay positive! Group: Yeah! Whamon: Yes, let's all keep our spirits up. I don't know if there's anywhere safe left in the world, but we should try to find somewhere that MetalSeadramon can't reach.

Also, if we can, try not to punch our friends anymore, Taichi. :P

In the dub:

Tai: Thanks for saving us, Whamon! Whamon: Aww, don't mention it! No, seriously, don't mention it. I don't want it to get around.

...not sure what that's supposed to mean. Is Dub Whamon embarrassed to be associated with the DigiDestined? This feels like they slapped in one of those jokes where the punchline is just the characters being mean to each other, without any regard to context.

I could get it if it were someone like Ogremon delivering that line, but it seems weird here.

Matt: Hey, guys? We still have a problem. How are we gonna be able to defeat the Dark Masters? Sora: I wonder how they took over the Digital World in the first place? Do you remember, Whamon? Whamon: Of course I remember Whamon! Big fella. Snappy dresser. Oh, you mean the Dark Masters? I don't know all the details, but soon after the Digital World began to warp, MetalSeadramon began to take over the ocean. Tai: (punches Whamon) DARN!!! Whamon: Ow! Tai: Oh, uh, sorry, Whamon! Kari: (hug) Tai, don't get upset. We'll fix things. Tai: You're right. We'll do it. We've done it before, haven't we? Group: YEAH!!! Whamon: That's the attitude! I'll find a safe place for you outside of MetalSeadramon's reach even if I have to swim to the far corners of the ocean! By the way, did I mention I charge by the mile?

Yeah, they're definitely having Whamon reach for whatever punchlines he can get his flippers around to try and ease back the tension.

"Of course I remember Whamon!" got me though. XD That's the best of the lot. I also appreciate that they have Whamon react to Tai punching him.

If you look closely in the image, you can see others around him looking with wide eyes down at Whamon as if to imply a "Uh, Taichi, maybe don't?" reaction but nobody says anything and the scene moves on, more focused on addressing Taichi's frustration than the fact that he punched Whamon.

I do like the "Let's stay positive and keep our spirits up" conversation better than the "Yeah, we'll figure out how to solve this" conversation, but it's nice for someone to remark on the punch before segueing into that.

From here, we briefly see the Hangyomon searching an undersea ruin for the Chosen Children, as well as hassling some of Gomamon's Marching Fishes. Then we rejoin the kids at a crescent-shaped island, stopping for lunch.

Yamato plays his harmonica while Taichi and Jou fish with traditional poles. Meanwhile, the Digimon strut their stuff and demonstrate their own techniques.

With flying fish jumping overhead, Tailmon steps up to the plate. She finds her moment and leaps into the air, slicing two of the fish into neatly cut segments which fall nicely onto the plate. Then she does a little bow to complete he maneuver.

After that, it's Palmon's turn. Utilizing her Poison Ivy, she manages to rip a huge fish right out of the ocean! So huge, in fact, that it crushes her on landing. Whoops.

This error also un-catches the fish Tailmon caught. It happens so fast that it can be difficult to make out, but when the giant fish lands, you can barely make out the plate getting knocked offscreen and scattering its contents. Goodbye, nicely cut flying fish.

None of this has any dialogue, but you know how the dub feels about that. They kick us off with Gatomon singing a little blues ditty to go with Matt's harmonica.

Gatomon: Cats land on their feet / But we still need to eat! / It's Gatomon's wish / For some fresh flying fish! / 'Cause I'm a kitty! / A Digi-kitty!

As if summoned by her singing, the fish appear and she goes to work. She remains silent for as long as her mouth is onscreen, before wrapping up.

Gatomon: Ohhh yeeeeeah MROWR! Palmon: That's great, Gatomon, but the rest of us have to eat too! Stand aside and watch how a pro does it. (Palmon attempts to fish and has violent regrets) Palmon: ...dinner is served....

This is all really cute. Both Gatomon's song and Palmon's use of the stock "Yeah well WATCH ME TRY (immediately fails hard)" gag. Though to be fair to her, she did catch an impressive fish. It's still caught, if she KO'd herself in the process!

Suddenly, Yamato stops playing, prompting a conversation.

Taichi: What's wrong, Yamato? Yamato: Can we really win against the Dark Masters? Taichi: (sigh)

The harmonica music starts back up again here, despite the fact that Yamato isn't playing.

Yamato: They're not like the other Digimon we've fought before. Can we really beat them with our usual methods? Koushiro: (approaches with his laptop) There may be a possibility with WarGreymon. Taichi & Yamato: Eh? Koushiro: The Dramon Killer.

The word "Killer" here is in English, like most proper nouns. In a sense, so is Dramon, since it's the Digimon equivalent of "dragon".

Yamato: Dramon Killer? Taichi: What is that? Koushiro: (pulls up the Digimon Analyzer) It's the weapon that's on WarGreymon's arms. According to the Digimon Analyzer, this weapon is highly effective against Dramon type Digimon. Dramon Killer. If he uses this, we may have a chance. Taichi: That's a great idea, Koushiro! The Dramon Killer? HEY!!! AGUMON!!! IT'S YOUR TIME TO SHINE!!!

Taichi whips around in time to see Agumon, jaw unhinged like a snake, swallowing the entire giant fish Palmon caught whole. And alive, as it flops its tail desperately in protest. He can't even get it all down, ending up staring helplessly at Taichi with a distended stomach and an unswallowable fin sticking out of his mouth.

Taichi: ... Yamato: .... Koushiro: .... Taichi: G-ganbare... Agumon: (reluctant) ....nnnngh okay....

We're all familiar with ganbaru by now; The Japanese cultural idea of perseverance in harsh situations through hard work and dedication.

Taichi, stuck for anything he can possibly say about the mostly-swallowed fish stuck in Agumon's throat, weakly offers it up as a punchline to encourage Agumon to finish this stupid ordeal he's begun. The moment of inspiration and hope has been utterly vanquished. XD

With regard to Koushiro's exposition, you may have noticed that WarGreymon's Digimon Analyzer rundown said absolutely nothing of the sort about him having some sort of super-powerful anti-dramon weapon. So this has all the energy of something the writers pulled straight out of their assholes.

I'm not 100% but I don't think it is, however. So far as I can tell, Koushiro is reading this right out of the Metal Empire V-Pet's bios, which includes the statement, "The 'Dramon Killer' claws on both of its arms can easily defeat dragon-type Digimon."

It also tells us that WarGreymon's armor is made from Chrome Digizoid, which the rundown also did not see fit to mention.

However, that archived web page is from 2010, a decade after this episode aired, so I can't say with certainty whether this information was included in the original V-Pet or not.

The dub can't use ganbaru so they're going to have to write their own punchline here.

Tai: Why'd you stop playing, Matt? Matt: Aww, that song is just too depressing. It always gives me the blues. Tai: (sigh)

The dub does not inexplicably start Matt's harmonica music up without him here. It does play music, but different music.

Matt: Besides, I can't stop thinking about the Dark Masters. They're different from any Digimon we've ever faced before. Izzy: (approaches with his laptop) Well, I've analyzed the situation and I believe we can defeat them with WarGreymon. Tai & Matt: Huh!? Izzy: He's a Dramon Destroyer. Matt: Dramon Destroyer? Tai: Try speaking English. Izzy: (pulls up the Digimon Analyzer) Well, you see, the weapons on WarGreymon's arms are the key. They're especially effective against Dramon type Digimon. Hence the phrase Dramon Destroyer! With these devices, we might be able to defeat the Dark Masters. Tai: Izzy, you're a genius! Dramon Destroyer, huh!? Agumon, you're going to eat those Dramon alive! (Agumon is making bad choices) Tai: ... Matt: ... Izzy: ... Tai: That's not what I had in mind!

Izzy's exposition is a little off. He says WarGreymon is a Dramon Destroyer, as opposed to WarGreymon having Dramon Destroyers. But I think that's fairly minor mistake. Also, it's Destroyer, not Killer, because obviously that was gonna get changed.

While Agumon is busily erasing everyone's appetites, Gomamon swims with his Marching Fishes, who report in what they saw.

Fish: We saw Hangyomon. Gomamon: WAUGH!!!

Gomamon panics so hard that Jou ends up yanked into the ocean by his fishing pole.

Gomamon: GUYS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!! Jou: (sopping wet and unenthused) What is it, Gomamon? Gomamon: THE ENEMY IS ON THEIR WAY!!! Jou: WHAT!?!? Piyomon: Where!? Where!? Sora: I don't see any sign of them. Whamon: The fishes say they've spotted MetalSeadramon's forces two hundred units of distance away. Kids: EHHH!?!? Takeru: What do we do? Patamon: Takeru.... Whamon: They'll be here soon. Everyone, get inside. I'll try to shake them by widening the distance between us.

Not sure how Gomamon knows that the Hangyomon are aligned with MetalSeadramon. Did Whamon brief them on the Deep Savers Ankoku Gundan membership roster?

I am very shaky on this one but I have gone over Whamon's line over and over for like twenty straight minutes and I swear they never give a unit of measurement.

The dub and sub both have them say "200 miles" which doesn't seem like an "Everybody panic" situation. Also, Japan uses the metric system, so a measurement given in "miles" is usually suspect. I've seen other sources offer "200 meters".

However, as best I can tell, what they say is that MetalSeadramon's forces are "ni-hyaku no kyori de". Ni-hyaku is 200, but kyori is the word "distance" rather than any specific measurement.

So unless there's some nuance here that I am not understanding (that's a possibility), MetalSeadramon's forces are 200 distance away.

In the dub:

Gomamon: Hey, fishes! Learn anything new in school? Fish: We learned Divermon are in the area. Hahaha! Gomamon: HUH!?!? (Gomamon yanks Joe into the water) Gomamon: HEY GUUUUYS!!! WE GOT TROUBLE!!! Joe: (sopping wet and unenthused) I caught a whopper. Look. Gomamon: DIVERMON ARE HEADED THIS WAY!!! Joe: WAAAAAAUGH!!! Mimi: Not Divermon! Anything but Divermon! ...by the way, what are Divermon? Whamon: Oh, those are MetalSeadramon's henchmen. It seems the fish have seen them about 200 miles behind us. Kids: HUUUUH!?!? T.K.: What are we gonna do? Whamon: Well, we can't stay here! They'll find us too easily! I'm gonna dive. Quick, everyone get inside me! And don't mind the smell; I had fish for lunch. Kids: EWWWWW!!!

As noted, the dub presents the ambiguous measurement as 200 miles which. Like. That's pretty fucking far. I feel like we have time to finish lunch before we get going if they're that far out.

While the kids and Whamon vacate their little island, we cut to the Hangyomon scouring the ocean.

They seem to be communicating with each other through some kind of radio communication, though no device is ever shown.

Hangyomon 1: Areas 13 through 18 are all clear. Hangyomon 2: Areas 23 and 24 are clear. Hangyomon 3: (with MetalSeadramon) How long will this delay last!? Why can't we find that huge lump of a whale!? MetalSeadramon: There's no need to rush. Hangyomon 3: Huh? MetalSeadramon: I control the ocean. No matter where they run to, I'll have them sooner or later. Hangyomon 3: Sir. MetalSeadramon: Just relax and enjoy the hunt. Hangyomon 3: Sir! MetalSeadramon: Hehehe... Chosen Children, the hunt has only just begun.

MetalSeadramon's pretty chill. His dub counterpart, on the other hand, remains a hot-headed firecracker.

Divermon 1: Red Leader to Blue Leader, Areas 13 through 18 are clear. Divermon 2: Gold Leader to Blue Leader, Areas 23 and 24 are clear too! Divermon 3: Listen Phil, Sid, how many times do I have to tell you guys, there are just three of us! You can call me Jim! MetalSeadramon: Will you guys KNOCK IT OFF!?!? Divermon 3: Sorry! MetalSeadramon: Do you smell something? It's the scent of DigiDestined in the current. Either that or there's a bad patch of seaweed around here. Divermon 3: Ew. MetalSeadramon: THIS IS MY MOMENT TO SHINE!!! Does my hair look alright? Divermon 3: Yeah.... MetalSeadramon: YOU DIGIDESTINED FOOLS!!! YOU CAN SWIM BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!!! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

The "Stop using shitty code words and use our names" stock gag doesn't work so well when every member of a species has the same name. They try to differentiate by naming them Phil, Sid, and Jim, but that's not how Digimon names have ever worked so the joke's a little confusing.

Titles like Red Leader, Blue Leader, and Gold Leader make a lot of sense for multiple members of the same Digimon species.

"Does my hair look alright?" got me, though. XD

Bit of a plot difference here, though. The dub suggests that MetalSeadramon and Divermon have caught Whamon's trail and are closing in on them, while the original conversation is that they haven't found anything but MetalSeadramon's content to take his time.

Also, they say that there's three Divermon, but there are actually four. Only three are involved in this conversation, but there's four in total. We saw them when they first reported in to MetalSeadramon.

Back to Whamon, the children are chilling out inside that big chamber in his stomach that they once destroyed a Black Gear in. Koushiro is hard at work on his laptop. Wires coming down from the center of Whamon's chamber are plugged into the back.

Tailmon: Koushiro, what are you doing? Koushiro: Give me a minute. Taichi: Come on, stop stalling and just tell us. Koushiro: (more forceful) You'll see in a moment.... (Laptop beeps) Koushiro: There, it's connected!

Everybody gathers around Koushiro to see for themselves. On his laptop screen, they can see the ocean terrain moving around them.

Group: Ahh? Tentomon: Koushiro-han, what is this? Koushiro: I've linked my laptop up to Whamon's sensory information so that it can be transmitted to the screen. Patamon: Transmitted? Koushiro: In other words, what you're seeing here is exactly what Whamon is seeing right now.

Koushiro has gotten so good at this in the time he's been here.

In the dub:

Gatomon: What's that noise? I was taking a catnap and it woke me up. Izzy: (annoyed) I'll explain later! Tai: Oh, come on! You think I'm too brainless to understand!? Izzy: Yes, but I'll tell you anyway. Check it out. (The group gathers around Izzy) Sora: What is it? Mimi: What did you do, Izzy? (Sea floor visible through laptop screen) Sora: What a cool screensaver. Izzy: It's not a screensaver. Mimi: What is it, then? Izzy: I connected to Whamon's hard drive and rerouted all of his sensory information to my computer. Patamon: Rerouted? Izzy: In other words, what you're seeing on the screen is exactly what Whamon is looking at right now.

I cannot get over how much of a smug asshole the dub made Izzy, a character so polite that it weirded out his mom and became a plot point.

Also, I feel like rerouting Whamon's sensory information would have blinded him. That seems like a bad explanation.

The children celebrate Koushiro's accomplishment. Mimi gets up and starts swinging Palmon around and twirling from excitement.

Yamato: That's amazing. Mimi: WOW!!! IT'S LIKE WE'RE IN A SUBMARINE!!! Koushiro: Of course, this can only be done in the Digital World.

Suddenly, Hikari grabs her ears in pain.

Tailmon: Hikari, are you okay? Taichi: What is it, Hikari? Hikari: I'm okay. It's just mimi. Group: MIMI!?!?

Everybody jerks up and yells at Mimi at once, who abruptly stops spinning - in the process, losing her grip and throwing poor Palmon down on her face.

This is a comical misunderstanding pun. Mimi is the japanese word for ears. Hikari is complaining that her ears hurt, but everyone thought she said that Mimi was causing her pain.

Mimi: Eh? Now that you mention it, my ears hurt too.... (Everyone grabs their ears, now feeling it too) Whamon: Ohohoho, I'm sorry. I must have been in a hurry and dived too deep. I'll adjust the air pressure.

True to his word, Whamon releases air through their blowhole and the kids feel better.

Takeru: Ah, much better! Koushiro: So the pressure changed because you swam to the ocean floor. Hikari: Thank you, Whamon!

Meanwhile, the dub... Oh, fuck me, we handed them a scene based on an untranslatable pun in which everyone yells at Mimi, didn't we? Okay, here we go. Let's see what they do with it.

Matt: Cool! Like a submarine! Mimi: Oh boy! (starts spinning) I've always wanted to go on a submarine! Joe: I think she's been out to sea a little too long. (Kari grabs her ears in pain) Gatomon: Yeah, I hate square dances. Tai: What's wrong, Kari? Kari: It's my ears. They're starting to hurt. Tai: Mimi! Stop! Be quiet! (Mimi stops abruptly, flinging Palmon) Mimi: Oh! Hey, y'know, my ears hurt a little too. (The kids all grab their ears) Whamon: Ohoho, sorry! I dove a little too fast. I'll fix the pressure now. Hold on. (Whamon releases air through his blowhole, making a burp sound) T.K.: Aw, that's better! Izzy: Well, I guess that's one way to equalize the gas pressure. Kari: By the way, you're excused!

You know what, that was astonishingly well-restrained of them. Tai yells at her to be quiet but in a reasonable way. Joe and Gatomon do make quips at her expense; Joe's is funny, but Gatomon should probably have more concern for Kari's sudden agony.

Still nowhere near what I was dreading.

Suddenly, a loud rotor noise starts echoing through the chamber.

Piyomon: What's that sound? Mimi: Eh? Palmon: (delirious) Agh... what's wrong...? Koushiro: Be quiet, everyone!

The children wait in silence, trying to keep even their breathing down to avoid giving themselves away. We briefly see outside to identify the source of the noise; It's the spinning turbine of a Hangyomon.

Once the sound fades into the distance, the kids breathe again.

Gomamon: Sounds like they've passed us. Whamon: We're not out of danger yet. We need to stay quiet for a little longer.

In the dub, instead of the turbine noise, the sound is a sonar ping bouncing around. That's a good choice, because having to stay quiet makes more sense if they're actively pinging us with sonar.

I'm not sure how we were hearing the turbine through Whamon's hide, or why we thought the Hangyomon would hear us in turn.

Biyomon: What's that sound!? Mimi: Huh? Palmon: It's getting louder! Izzy: Everyone, be quiet! Tentomon: Sounds like Divermon! (Everyone quietly waits for the Divermon to pass) Gomamon: Sounds like they passed us. Whamon: We're not out of danger yet. You'll have to be quiet a little longer.

Pretty strong scene. My one criticism is that Tentomon shouts "Sounds like Divermon!" right after Izzy tells everyone to be quiet. A visual later in the scene will tell us that, Tentomon. You don't need to risk blowing our cover to exclaim it.

Unfortunately, there's no hiding from the Hangyomon. A critical error has already been made, and it's too late to take it back.

The scouting Hangyomon notices the bubbles from Whamon's attempt to equalize the pressure. Following the bubbles' course down to their point of origin, they see Whamon on the ocean floor.

Hangyomon: FOUND HIM!!! IT'S WHAMON!!!

Hangyomon changes course and goes straight for Whamon. Are they planning to try and take Whamon by themselves? Eh, probably; They are a Perfect Digimon after all.

Inside, the kids hear the turbine sound returning with a vengeance and freak out.

Kids: AHHHH!!! Taichi: Crap! They found us!

Surprisingly tame expletive for Taichi in this situation.

In the dub:

Divermon: OVER THERE!!! HEY, IT'S WHAMON!!! (Divermon goes for Whamon) Kids: AHHHH!!! Tai: Oh no! They found us!

Pretty much exactly the same.

After a commercial break, the Hangyomon who spotted the bubbles reports in.

Hangyomon 1: I've found Whamon! He's lurking on the ocean floor in Area 51! Hangyomon 2: Understood. I'll report this to MetalSeadramon-sama right away! Hangyomon 3: (With MetalSeadramon) They've found Whamon!

MetalSeadramon is so happy about this news, he erupts out of the ocean and does a little twirl in the air.

Hangyomon 3: WE'VE FOUND THE CHOSEN CHILDREN!!!

Music to MetalSeadramon's ears. With a big doofy smile, he flops around in the air. It's weirdly adorable.

The dub keeps up the odd name joke.

Divermon 1: Red Leader, this is-- Ah, uh, I mean, this is Phil. I found Whamon! He's in Area 51 on the ocean floor! Divermon 2: Great! Keep an eye on him! I'll tell the boss and he can tell MetalSeadramon! Divermon 3: (With MetalSeadramon) Good news! We found Whamon! MetalSeadramon: (explodes out of the water) YYYYYEAH YAY!!! Divermon 3: What do we do now, oh master of the ocean? MetalSeadramon: (flopping with joy) AAAAAAAAATTACK!!!

Having MetalSeadramon give orders while flailing around in the air is so ridiculous, I do not know if it makes this bit better or worse. XD Any way you slice it, MetalSeadramon's gleeful sky twisting is such an unexpected thing to put into the show.

Deep beneath the ocean, the Hangyomon that spotted Whamon moves in to attack.

Hangyomon: STRIKE FISHING!!! Koushiro: (inside) They're coming! Whamon: The Hangyomon are attacking! Everyone, stay calm!

Whamon creates a smokescreen out of bubbles to conceal himself. Hangyomon's Strike Fishing harpoons pass through the bubbles, missing their mark.

Hangyomon: Tch. He dodged them using bubbles for cover. (The other three Hangyomon arrive) Hangyomon: You're late!

In the dub:

Divermon: STRIKING FISH!!! Izzy: (inside) WATCH OUT!!! Whamon: The Divermon are attacking! Hang on, everyone! I've got an idea! (Bubble smokescreen) Divermon: Where did all those bubbles come from? Geeze, I couldn't see where I was aiming! (The other three Divermon arrive) Divermon: Hmm? UH-OH!!!

Tonal change. In the original, this Hangyomon is like, "Shit, they got away. Oh, and FINALLY the rest of the squad shows up; Come on, guys."

His corresponding Divermon is a hapless doof who has no idea what he saw, and also reacts like he's the one about to be in trouble. Presumably for letting Whamon slip away.

I always thought it was surprisingly bold, as a kid, for this one Divermon to try and attack Whamon on his own. Not being able to read the Japanese writing in their Digimon Analyzer screen leaves it extremely ambiguous as to what level they're supposed to be at. I thought they were Rookies because of their small size and numbers.

Nope. Perfect. This one Hangyomon is more than enough to utterly ruin Whamon's day in a fist-fight.

Inside Whamon, we find Yamato and Takeru with their Partners. Takeru's holding Patamon in his hands, while Yamato has his arm around Takeru with a firm grip on his shoulder.

Patamon: What should we do, Takeru? Takeru: If this keeps up, we won't make it.... Yamato: I hate to say it, but so long as we're stuck inside Whamon-- (Taichi pounds his fist) Taichi: Can't we do something!?

The kids are starting to come around to the realization that MetalSeadramon was right. The ocean is MetalSeadramon's domain, and they're at a tremendous disadvantage down here.

Koushiro: There are three more pursuers behind us! Sora: What!? Whamon: The enemy has brought reinforcements! Kids: (collective gasp)

Brief shot of three Hangyomon now in pursuit of Whamon, with the fourth lagging behind and coming up to join them.

Hangyomon 4: Sorry to keep you waiting. Tentomon: (inside, watching the laptop) THEY'RE GAINING ON US!!! Taichi: Whamon! You need to surface! Then we'll be able to fight back! Yamato: Please! Taichi: WHAMON!!! Whamon: ...I have a different idea. If this works, we should be able to lose them. Palmon: If it works...? Mimi: And what if it doesn't work!?

We're at an impasse here and there are no good options. Even one Hangyomon would be enough to make mincemeat out of Whamon and there's four of them. The children can't fight them this far down.

(However, MetalSeadramon is unaccounted for, which is a significant peril of trying to surface and fight. I can understand Whamon's reluctance to let this become a brawl.)

The dub kicks us off with some brotherly banter.

Patamon: You're squeezing me too hard! T.K.: Matt, you're squeezing me too hard. Matt: Sorry, I guess we're all a little scared. (Tai pounds his fist) Tai: I HATE THIS!!! WE'RE STUCK IN HERE AND CAN'T FIGHT!!! Izzy: According to the audio sensors, there are three more behind us! Sora: What is it, Whamon? Whamon: IT'S THE ENEMY!!! Kids: (collective gasp)

I like that the dub specifies "according to the audio sensors" because this fills in a bit of a plot hole. Koushiro is supposed to be reading Whamon's sensory data, so it's unclear how he was able to see something behind Whamon on the laptop feed from Whamon's eyes.

...well, Whamon doesn't have eyes, but the feed from Whamon's... wherever their visual senses come from.

The dub steps in and has Izzy clearly state that he's picking it up from Whamon's ears. Whamon heard the arrival of three more.

Divermon 4: DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!!! Tentomon: (inside, watching the laptop) OOOOGH, THEY'RE GAINING ON US!!! Tai: THAT'S IT!!! I'M TIRED OF RUNNING!!! COME ON, WHAMON, LET'S GO UP TO THE SURFACE AND FIGHT!!! Matt: RIGHT!!! Tai: Well!? Whamon: Let me try one more thing. Hopefully, it'll work. Palmon: What do you mean, hopefully it will work!? Mimi: That's what the Captain of the Titanic said! And what if it doesn't work!? What's Plan B!? Tai: I still think we should turn and fight! I hope you know what you're doing, Whamon.

Mimi's dialogue is expanded and Tai gets an extra line to close us out, but this exchange is mostly the same.

Acting on their plan, Whamon speeds ahead until they reach the edge of a massive underwater trench, then swims down deep.

Hangyomon 1: What is he trying to do? Hangyomon 2: That moron! They're trying to escape through this narrow passage? Hangyomon 3: Yes! This is our chance to pen them in!

The Hangyomon pursue Whamon down into the trench.

Hangyomon 1: There's no use trying to resist! Hangyomon 2: This is the end for you! Give up! Jou: (inside) WE'RE DONE FOR!!!

Triumphant, one of the Hangyomon jams their harpoon down into Whamon's hide.

Mimi: NOOOOOOO!!!

In the dub:

Divermon 1: What's he trying to do!? Divermon 2: Whamon must be crazy, trying to escape into such a narrow space! Divermon 3: Stay with him! No matter what! (The Divermon pursue Whamon into the trench) Divermon 1: You, in the big whale: PULL OVER!!! Divermon 2: It's no use! We've got you trapped! Joe: (inside) OH NO!!! THEY'LL CATCH US!!! (Divermon jams his harpoon into Whamon's hide) Mimi: NOOOOOOO!!!

The traffic cop bit from the Divermon made me laugh. XD Even Digimon Adventure knew that ACAB.

Suddenly, when it seems like the Hangyomon are having their moment of triumph, the most unexpected happens. Well, unexpected for anyone not familiar with nautical physics.

The crushing depth of the ocean pulverizes the oxygen tank for the Hangyomon hanging from the harpoon, sending them floundering and flailing back up to the surface. The other three back off, watching their drowning companion with stunned confusion.

Hangyomon: DAMN IT!!! Koushiro: (inside) Water pressure! So that was Whamon's plan! (Kids cheer and celebrate) Gomamon: Whamon's a deep sea Digimon, so water pressure is nothing to them! Jou: YOU DID IT, WHAMON!!!

Obviously, the Divermon do not yell curse words in the dub.

Divermon 1: Huh? Divermon 2: Tough break. Divermon 3: That's gotta hurt! Izzy: (inside) Prodigious! They can't take the water pressure; That was Whamon's plan all along! (Kids cheer and celebrate) Gomamon: Whamon's built to handle pressure! Unlike some of us.... Joe: Well, forgive me for not being a whale!

If that crack is meant to be at Joe's expense for screaming "WE'RE DOOMED" seconds before Whamon's plan thwarted the Divermon, then it's hilarious. XD

And fair. That is an actual thing he did in the original too.

So we're safe from the Hangyomon for now, but the kids need to figure out next steps.

Taichi: That was close! Tailmon: What a clever trick! Hikari: (afraid) Onii-chan, what do we do now? Sora: We can't stay at the bottom of the ocean forever. Koushiro: I've got it. Hikari-san, can you come over here?

Koushiro whispers his plan into Hikari's ear.

Koushiro: If you take your whistle and.... (beat while Koushiro silently explains the rest) Hikari: (face slowly turns to a smile) Okay!

Hikari moves to the center of the "room" and gives everybody a bow. Then she picks up her whistle.

Hikari: Here I go.... Koushiro: If you would, please.

Taking a deep breath, Hikari blows into the whistle with all her might. She blows so hard that the cartoon physics of her effort lift her off the ground. The high-pitched whistle tone bounces off the walls not just inside Whamon's stomach, but also in the trench beyond.

Following the bouncing signal, Koushiro locates a nearby opening in the trench wall.

Koushiro: It worked! Thank you, Hikari-san. Hikari: (breathing heavily, but excited) ...yeah! Koushiro: I used the reverberations from the sound to find a tunnel up ahead. We might be able to escape through it. Whamon: Yes, I felt it too. That tunnel is connected to an area of land above the surface!

Just like that, we have a plan of escape. Whamon makes his way towards the tunnel.

In the dub:

Tai: Boy, that was close! Gatomon: I didn't know you had this kind of hidden attack! Kari: This is great, but what are we going to do now? Sora: Yeah, we can't stay at the bottom of the ocean forever! Izzy: I've got it! Kari, come over here for a moment. (Kari goes over to Izzy) Izzy: (whispers unintelligibly) Kari: (face slowly turns into a smile) Ahh...! Right! (Kari goes to the center and bows) Kari: (bowing) Ta-da! (finishes her bow) Ready? Izzy: You can do it! (Kari echolocates for the team) Izzy: Yeah! We did it, Kari! Thanks for the help! Kari: (breathing heavily, but excited) ...sure! Izzy: The whistle was sort of like sonar. We used the reverberations from the sound to find a tunnel. And there's one up ahead that should lead us to land! Matt/Joe/Mimi: Cool! / Nice job! / Far out! Tai: Isn't that great, Whamon? Whamon: What? Tai: I said, ISN'T THAT GREAT!?!? Whamon: I can't hear you. Someone was whistling in my ear. But there's a tunnel up ahead! It should lead us to land!

The dub has Izzy explain that the tunnel will take us to the surface so that it can set up the "Someone was whistling in my ear" joke. Which is a great bit; I was sitting here wondering how Whamon is coping with the sudden high-pitched noise assailing their eardrums while watching the original.

Though this gag does render the whole scene pointless, as Dub Whamon finds the tunnel himself despite missing out on Izzy's explanation of the plan. Ultimately, the dub kids deafened Whamon while accomplishing nothing.

Unfortunately, the children are about to learn about the one glaring vulnerability that active sonar has during naval warfare: Enemy ships can hear your pings.

We cut to MetalSeadramon listening to the sound of Hikari's whistle cutting through the water.

MetalSeadramon: I can see through your plan. Enjoy playing submarine while you still can!

Making a ninety degree turn from his original course and angling down deeper, MetalSeadramon takes off in pursuit.

Down in the trench, Whamon enters an area glowing with bright green.. kelp? Honestly not sure what those are supposed to be, but it's a gorgeous enough sight that the girls are all gathered around Koushiro's laptop.

Mimi, Sora, & Hikari: AHHHHH, PRETTY!!! Koushiro: Ah! Yamato: There's the tunnel! Mimi: (silently vibrates with excitement) Palmon: WE'RE SAVED!!! Mimi: HOORAY!!!

Mimi stands up, ecstatic, and a chill runs down what passes for Palmon's spine. Sweat beads form instantly on her head and she whips around to see Mimi holding out her hands, as if inviting Palmon to another twirl.

Palmon stares at Mimi for a second, then jerks away out of fear.

The dub frequently misses story pieces that are buried in sound effects, and this is no exception. Since MetalSeadramon did not verbally acknowledge that he could hear Hikari's whistle, the dub team seems unaware that he's meant to be reacting to it. The waters around him in their version are silent.

MetalSeadramon: Those fools think I don't know where they're headed? They're easier to figure out than a two-piece jigsaw puzzle! Enjoy playing submarine while you can! RRRRYARGH!!!

The submarine crack does make it, and "easier to figure out than a two-piece jigsaw puzzle" is a creative burn. Still, I'm not sure why he suddenly whips around and shoots off a different direction if he already knew what their plan was. Really needs that whistle to react to.

Mimi, Sora, and Kari: WOW!!! PRETTY!!! Izzy: Aha! Matt: A tunnel!? Mimi: YAAAAY!!! Palmon: WE'RE SAVED!!! Mimi: I've got to get changed! Palmon: (sweatdrops and chill; whips ar ound) Huh!? Mimi: (holds out hands) HUUUUUUG!!! (beat) Palmon: (flinches and steps back)

...nothing happens in this scene; How did you manage to butcher it?

First off, Matt reacts to the tunnel with surprise, so I guess he wasn't listening when Izzy explained that they found a tunnel a minute ago.

Mimi stands up and declares, "I've got to get changed!" as we approach the tunnel. Um. Why? Did she pack a specific tunnel-exploring outfit? Also, we're in a huge empty room; Is she planning to start changing right there in front of everyone? What a weird-ass line.

Palmon's panic is then reframed to be a reaction to Mimi wanting to change. For some reason. Then when she whips around, Mimi has completely changed her intentions and now wants a hug.

With Mimi's original intent to twirl Palmon around the room again like last time gone, Palmon flinches away from hugging Mimi for what is now no reason at all.

Suddenly, a heavy impact shakes Whamon. We're under attack once more.

Taichi: Did they come back!? Tailmon: We weren't able to shake them off? Whamon: Be careful, everyone. It's MetalSeadramon! Kids: EHHHH!?!?

MetalSeadramon chases Whamon into the tunnel, which narrows to the point of being too tight for either to pass comfortably. Whamon pushes through, breaking through to the surface and momentarily leaving MetalSeadramon behind.

In the dub:

Tai: NOT AGAIN!!! Gatomon: How can those fishheads be back? Whamon: They're not! Be careful, everyone! It's MetalSeadramon! Kids: (fearful wailing)

Surprisingly, Whamon and MetalSeadramon make it through their chase scene with no silence-breakers. The dub team sits back and lets the tension simmer and boil.

Whamon finally escapes to the surface, letting the children out into the fresh air.

Taichi: It's so bright! Mimi: The air's so fresh! Yamato: Who'd have ever thought the sun could make you feel so good?

The kids enjoy a relieved laugh, happy to be out from undersea.

The dub gives us some silence-breaking dialogue while we're slowly zooming in on Whamon and setting the stage.

Tai: Is everybody okay? Izzy: Where... Where are we!? (Zoom in on Tai and the others) Tai: The sun's so bright! Mimi: Smell that? Fresh air! Matt: I feel I've been underwater so long, I might never take a bath again!

Izzy asks a very good question that goes completely ignored once the original script picks up.

Also, Matt, that's gross. You weren't even in the water. That's not how that works and I hope Hiroaki does some parenting when you get home.

The kids all share a jovial moment of mirth, which is swiftly undercut by an inquisitive voice from the sea.

MetalSeadramon: What's so funny?

MetalSeadramon bursts up from the water, startling everyone.

Yamato: METALSEADRAMON!!! Sora: HOW!?!? MetalSeadramon: This is as far as you go, Chosen Children! Taichi: Ugh!

I don't know why they're surprised. Frankly, if Whamon could squeeze through there, the serpentine MetalSeadramon should have had no problem. Snakes are practically made for squishing through crevasses. Plus his invulnerable metal plating means he'd have a trivial time forcing his way through jagged rocks and shit.

(Ironically, this means Whamon's plan did not work, and only ended up postponing the kids' plan of surfacing and drawing battle lines. Though Whamon did provide us with a change of scenery more conducive to land mammals, so it wasn't for nothing.)

In the dub, fitting his more fiery personality, MetalSeadramon sounds offended by their laughter.

MetalSeadramon: Mind telling me what's so FUNNY!?!? (MetalSeadramon bursts out of the water)

The dub puts a commercial break here on this cliffhanger, and then we come back to him bursting out of the water again to remind us where we are.

(MetalSeadramon bursts out of the water) Matt: IT'S METALSEADRAMON!!! Sora: How can it be!? MetalSeadramon: It was only a matter of time before you came up for air. NOW YOU'RE GOING DOWN WITH THE SHIP!!!

MetalSeadramon tries to explain how he got here. His explanation syncs up well with the earlier moment, when the dub missed him picking up the whistle sound. He's explaining his plan.

However, this explanation ignores the fact that he did not meet them at the surface; He chased them through the underwater tunnel. Sora's bad question does not warrant an answer.

Cornered now, Whamon has one last trick up their sleeve.

Whamon: Everyone, hang on! TIDAL WAVE!!!

Whamon leads us off with Tidal Wave, swimming in a tight circle and sending out powerful waves through the water. One of the Hangyomon gets washed away by the force of Whamon's current.

...there have not yet been any Hangyomon in this scene. The first we see of them is being washed away.

In any case, Whamon's Tidal Wave buys the kids time to figure out how to put their plan of attack into action.

Hangyomon: WAUGH!!! Agumon: Taichi! Taichi: (nods approvingly) It's up to you now. (to the others) Let's head to shore and take up battle positions while Agumon is distracting them. Yamato: Understood! Jou: Gomamon and I will provide cover! Taichi: Great! Sora: The waves are subsiding. Taichi: (holds out Digivice) Agumon! Agumon: HERE I GO!!!

Agumon Warp-Evolves into WarGreymon, setting the plan into motion.

In the dub:

Whamon: Everyone, hold on! TIDAL WAVE!!! (Tidal Wave washes away a Divermon) Divermon: BLAAARGH! Agumon: Should I? Tai: (nods approvingly) Sure, go for it! (to the others) While Agumon gets their attention, let's cross over to the shore and prepare ourselves for battle! Matt: Aye-aye. Joe: Uh, Gomamon and I will stay here and bring up the rear. Sora: Joe, don't be such a coward! Tai: (holds out Digivice) AGUMON!!! Agumon: Here I go!

(heavy sigh)

Jou's offering to lay down covering fire for their escape. You know. Because Ikkakumon is an artillery cannon and that's one of the things that artillery does.

The dub changes this to Joe trying to chicken out and stay with Whamon. Then replaces the somewhat important information that the Tidal Wave is ending and we need to act now with Sora yelling at him for his cowardice.

Thanks, I hate it.

WarGreymon gets his complete Warp-Evolution sequence while Garurumon, Ikkakumon, Kabuterimon, and Birdramon evolve offscreen.

Finally it's time for Ultimate vs. Ultimate. Rematch with the first Dark Master, and with the Dramon Killer, we can't possibly--

WarGreymon goes straight for the throat with Dramon Killer, but his claws glance harmlessly off of MetalSeadramon's invulnerable armored body.

WarGreymon: Tch! MetalSeadramon: Hyegh... I have the same Chrome Digizoid as you. You can't hurt me so easily!

Well, that plan went to shit quicker than expected.

As planned, the children withdraw to the shore while MetalSeadramon's focus is on WarGreymon. Yamato takes Takeru and Patamon on Garurumon. Koushiro ferries Taichi, Hikari, and Tailmon on Kabuterimon. Jou and Sora ride their Partners alone.

Taichi: WHAMON!!! THANK YOU!!! LEAVE THE REST TO US!!! Whamon: But-- Yamato: At your size, you'd be an easy target! You need to get out of here as fast as you can! Sora: Hurry! Whamon: I understand!

Reluctantly, Whamon dives beneath the surface once more.

Dub WarGreymon seems a little more pleased with his total lack of damage dealt.

WarGreymon: RAAAAHH!!! (slash, clink) AHAHA!!! MetalSeadramon: What was that, a love tap? I'm made of Chrome Digizoid too, y'know! You can't hurt me that easily! (Meanwhile, the DigiDestined withdraw to the shore) Tai: Whamon, thanks for everything but you can leave the rest to us! Whamon: What, no tip? Matt: Hurry and get out of here! You're an easy target! You're just too big! Whamon: Are you calling me fat? I'm just big-boned.

We lose a bit of characterization for Whamon here. In the original, Whamon is committed to this whole ordeal and is reluctant to leave now that the fight has begun in earnest. It takes Yamato and Sora joining Taichi in telling them to go to convince them to back off.

Dub Whamon shows no reluctance but makes a couple parting quips before he goes.

The Hangyomon cut in but, true to his word, Jou lays down artillery cover fire to get Whamon out of there.

Hangyomon: YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!!! (Hangyomon throws their Strike Fishing harpoon) Ikkakumon: HARPOON TORPEDO!!!

It's not super clear if the Hangyomon is trying to stop Whamon's retreat or the kids' tactical withdrawal.

Ikkakumon fires a Harpoon Vulcan into the air, which explodes into a shower of missiles and pepper the water. This brings all of their attention on Jou and provokes a counterattack; They shower Jou in retaliatory Strike Fishing harpoons.

Jou: IKAKKUMON, GANBARU!!! Ikkakumon: GOT IT!!!

With the Hangyomon now focusing on them, Ikkakumon Super-Evolves into Zudomon.

In the dub, Divermon uses his line to just call his attack.

Divermon: STRIKING FISH!!! Ikkakumon: HARPOON TORPEDO!!! (Missiles spray the water; Divermon retaliate) Joe: Ikkakumon, quick! Digivolve!

Once again, ganbaru has no easy translation, so they have to improvise. It's not too hard to do so.

Freshly evolved, Zudomon towers over the water, casting his silhouette down on those he intends to destroy.

Zudomon: HAMMER SPARK!!!

A single Hammer Spark sends a jolt of electricity through the surrounding sea and creates an upward explosion of water.

The attack is a little too effective, as it pulls MetalSeadramon's attention momentarily.

MetalSeadramon: ULTIMATE STREAM!!!

MetalSeadramon's nose cannon carves an arc across the landscape.

Hurrying to try and shut that down, WarGreymon rushes in with Brave Shield; A defensive technique using his invulnerable Chrome Digizoid shield to block any attack.

It does not go well.

Blocking the Ultimate Stream, WarGreymon pushes in until he gets too close.

WarGreymon: BRAVE SHIIIIIIIIIEL-- MetalSeadramon: MORON!!! WarGreymon: Oh, crap!

As he nearly did with Tailmon before, MetalSeadramon suddenly stops firing and chomps, snatching WarGreymon up in his jaws. Immediately, MetalSeadramon dives underwater, taking his prey with him.

Taichi: WarGreymon! Koushiro: That's bad. He's at an overwhelming disadvantage in the water.

Super effective trap by MetalSeadramon. We're again seeing what Piemon was talking about with that whole, "I can fight circles around you because you became Ultimate yesterday and have no experience."

In the dub, WarGreymon calls Terra Force for some reason.

WarGreymon: TERRA FORCE!!! MetalSeadramon: GOT YOU!!! WarGreymon: NOOOOOOO!!! (MetalSeadramon takes WarGreymon down into the water) Tai: WarGreymon! Izzy: Big trouble! WarGreymon's at a huge disadvantage in the water!

Calling the wrong attack confuses the action, making it less clear that this was a trap. Terra Force is supposed to be WarGreymon's big offensive blast, so it comes across like he was going on the offense and then got countered.

Cut over to Zudomon, who drops another Hammer Spark into the water. We hear the Hangyomon cry out again. So I guess Jou and Zudomon have been pretty busy doing that.

Jou: Where are the others!?

Brief shot of Birdramon and Garurumon offloading their passengers.

Jou: That's great--HUH!?!?

Jou suddenly notices MetalSeadramon. For no clear reason, despite it explicitly being said like ten seconds ago that WarGreymon's at a disadvantage underwater, MetalSeadramon has resurfaced. He has WarGreymon up in the air, still between his teeth.

WarGreymon is struggling at this point. His muscles are weakening and he's losing his grip. He can't keep this up.

Hikari: WarGreymon! Taichi: DAMN IT!!! MetalSeadramon: What a fool you are, WarGreymon! THIS IS THE END!!!

Suddenly, in a super blurry moment of truth, Whamon erupts from the sea and slams into MetalSeadramon. (Yes, it's a still image that just looks like that.) The impact knocks WarGreymon out of MetalSeadramon's mouth, saving the day.

MetalSeadramon: IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A JOKE!?!?

Roaring with outrage that Whamon would dare even try, MetalSeadramon cuts loose with one shot from his Ultimate Stream. And... at their size, Whamon is an easy target. The beam rips through Whamon's head for a kill shot.

Taichi: WHAMON!!!

In the dub:

Joe: Oh, boy. Is everybody okay?

Jou's follow-up lines are cut. The camera shows us everyone getting off and then pans over to MetalSeadramon, but Joe offers no indication that he's seeing any of that.

Kari: WARGREYMON!!! Tai: I can't watch! MetalSeadramon: I'm tired of playing around with you, WarGreymon! SAY GOODBYE!!! Narrator: Is this really the end for WarGreymon? Will the DigiDestined ever defeat the Dark Masters? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

Yeah, the dub cut and ran early again. They pick WarGreymon in MetalSeadramon's mouth as a good cliffhanger and skedaddle, despite there still being a full two minutes left in the episode. I have no idea how they're going to make up all this time they keep losing.

...actually, no, I have a hunch.

Well, I can tolerate one scene but I'm not waiting for two minutes of plot so we're skipping ahead. NEXT DUB EPISODE STARTS NOW.

MetalSeadramon: I'm tired of playing around with you, WarGreymon! SAY GOODBYE!!! (Whamon strikes!) MetalSeadramon: RIVER OF POWER!!! (Whamon struck)

You know, if I had to wait a week between "You need to leave; You're too big of a target!" and Whamon getting shot dead immediately upon returning, I don't feel like it would hit as strongly. Whamon's sacrificial death is paying off both a warning they were given earlier in the episode and their demonstrated reluctance to do what they were told and save themselves.

We also lose MetalSeadramon's immeasurable fury at being interrupted, as he opts to simply call his attack in the dub.

Whamon's choice to get involved saves WarGreymon's life, but at the cost of their own. They pay for their heroism by receiving the full force of MetalSeadramon's power. But, by letting Whamon momentarily pull his attention and giving WarGreymon a second to breathe, MetalSeadramon has made a mistake just as fatal.

WarGreymon: BRAVE TORNADO!!! MetalSeadramon: ULTIMATE STREAM!!!

Hoisting his Dramon Killers above his head to form a spear with his body, WarGreymon spins up his Brave Tornado and fires straight down the barrel of MetalSeadramon's Ultimate Stream. This is basically a much better conceived version of what he was trying to do with his Brave Shield.

MetalSeadramon unloads into WarGreymon, but Wargreymon's own invulnerable Chrome Digizoid armor and spinning attack deflects the beam and allows him to travel all the way down its length. He enters MetalSeadramon's body through the Ultimate Stream emitter itself, carving his Dramon Killer straight through and setting off small explosions of Ultimate Stream energy throughout the serpentine shell.

Finally, WarGreymon bursts through MetalSeadramon's back, triumphant.

With one last dying roar, MetalSeadramon collapses into the water. We hang on a shot of WarGreymon and Kabuterimon looking triumphantly down at the slain Dark Master for fifteen straight seconds while Show Me Your Brave Heart plays in the background. Then finally cut to Taichi, Hikari, and Koushiro on Kabuterimon.

Taichi: We did it....

Stunningly, none of this tremendous violence gets cut from the dub. Both Whamon's headshot and MetalSeadramon's gruesome death make it in uncut.

Fifteen seconds of a still image and no dialogue is a lot more than the dub is willing to tolerate. Fortunately, WarGreymon is facing away from the camera and Kabuterimon doesn't have lip flaps so they can teabag the corpse to their hearts' content.

WarGreymon: So much for your impenetrable Chrome Digizoid armor! Looks to me like it got a little rusty! Kabuterimon: Next time you decide you want to rule the waters, do everybody a favor and take a bubble bath instead! Tai: We won!

Sick burn from WarGreymon. Kabuterimon should probably workshop his smack talk a bit more.

With the fight over, WarGreymon reverts to Koromon and the remaining kids head to shore. Everyone gathers around the dying Whamon.

Whamon: Chosen Children... Please... Save our world.... Kids: WHAMON!!! Jou: (a little late) WHAMON!!!

Whamon disintegrates into pixels; Their data flying up into the sky. The children watch Whamon die with tears in their eyes.

Takeru: Whamon... is dead? (quiet moment as the kids grieve) Koushiro: Look at that!

Koushiro draws the group's attention to MetalSeadramon, who is also disintegrating into pixels.

Yamato: It's happening to MetalSeadramon too. Sora: (watches the data pixels rise into the sky; solemn) They're floating in the air. Gomamon: Where do you think they're going? Tentomon: (frantic) TO THE TOP OF SPIRAL MOUNTAIN!!!

I mean. It is a sort of heaven. Throne of the Four Heavenly Kings, anyway.

But no, that's definitely not where the data of the dead is supposed to be going, which is why Tentomon's flipping the fuck out about it. We know what's supposed to happen to deceased Digimon. More on that in later episodes.

The dub sort of tries to talk around Whamon's death.

Whamon: ...the DigiDestined... Please... Save this world.... T.K.: Whamon... Where did he go...? (Whamon's pixels rise into the sky) Izzy: LOOK THERE, EVERYONE!!! Matt: It's happening to MetalSeadramon too! Sora: (watches the data pixels rise into the sky; cheerful) They're floating in the sky! Gomamon: I know where they're going! Tentomon: Spiral Mountain's Peak!

They avoid saying the 'D' word and everyone's kind of chipper about this like they're watching a mysterious and wondrous phenomenon. Even Tentomon's line is delivered in this sort of triumphant and hopeful tone when. Um. No, that's bad. It's bad that their data is going up to Spiral Mountain's peak.

Still, it's pretty obvious that they're dead, all the same.

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake terribly.

Gomamon: AN EARTHQUAKE!?!? Taichi: No! (points at Spiral Mountain) THAT'S why the ground is shaking!

MetalSeadramon's death unravels the part of Spiral Mountain that was made from stolen ocean.

Sora: The ocean! Jou: It's disappearing!

The children watch from the Digital World as the ocean ribbon of Spiral Mountain is steadily unmade, returning its terrain to the world. From Earth, they too can see this section of Spiral Mountain become undone.

However, the humans aren't the only ones who can see the ocean withdrawing from Spiral Mountain. The Dark Masters, reclining up in their palace can see the same.

Piemon: Look. The ocean is disappearing. Pinochimon: (gets down off the sofa) I guess this means it's my turn. Heh.

We close this episode on Pinochimon's devilish smirk, preparing to face what he brings to the table next episode.

In the dub, Tai's line is a little awkward.

Kids: (miscellaneous yelping) Tai: No! (points at Spiral Mountain) That's the real reason for all the shaking! Over there! (Ocean ribbon is becoming unmade) Sora: The ocean! Joe: It's, uh... Disappearing!

Tai corrects them about the earthquake, but no one ever said there was an earthquake so there's no segue into his line.

Piedmon: Well, you don't... sea that every day! Puppetmon: Tag, I'm it! MetalSeadramon out, Puppetmon IN!!! Hehehehehehehe!

The dub puts a commercial break at the end of Puppetmon's line, so as to preserve the cliffhanger that was originally the end of the preceding episode.

Assessment: So ends the reign of the first Dark Master. A bit awkward that they're consciously and purposefully setting themselves up as a sequential set of minibosses, when tag-teaming the Chosen Children worked out so well last time.

And that is also our fourth character death of the arc. Returning cast are dropping like flies now that we're officially in the war arc.

I wonder what happened to the Hangyomon? If Gomamon didn't have lines during Whamon's death scene, I could make a crack about Zudomon still being offscreen shocking them through the whole thing.

I was really surprised at how not-entirely-accurately I remembered the final MetalSeadramon fight. I remembered WarGreymon attacking MetalSeadramon internally but I thought he went down MetalSeadramon's gullet, not the Ultimate Stream emitter. Huh.

Guess he took a chance that the gun part of MetalSeadramon had to be made from gun parts and shit instead of the indestructible alloy that the rest of him was made of.

The dub... They keep staggering their endings further and further away from where the original ended. I have a hunch they're buying space for the many cuts that will need to be made to the Pinochimon fight, but that's just a guess.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Okay, so… lot’s of information right here, lots to go over. I watched through the entire story, up to Eda saying ”We know what it’s like to feel alone,” but I’m gonna go through this piece by piece.

Starting off, The Collectors siblings told them to go play with the Titans down on this unnamed planet. Most likely, the Archivists had come here to collect some samples and brought along their little brother. Annoyed by him constantly badgering them about playing some game or what have you, they sent him away, hoping he’d stay busy and stop bothering them so they could get their work done.

Now, The Collector calls the archivists their siblings, but we know nothing about how their families work. Are the Archivists born like humans, or do they come from some other source? Seeing as this is the final episode of the series, I don’t think we’re gonna get answers to all questions, and if this story The Collector tells us here is the last pieces of information we get on the Archivists we get, then I wouldn’t be surprised.

Though to be honest, I’d trade information on the Archivists for Bat-Queen’s backstory in a heartbeat.

My point is, information is scarce, so I’m gonna have to make a lot if inferences and theorizing. But taking the words at face value here. The Collector was the younger sibling who annoyed their older siblings, so they made up a game for him to play… and things got way out of hands.

As has been hinted at before, The Collector made friends with some of the younger Titans. And, again, taking their words at face value, they were real friends; the little Titans were welcoming and liked to play. And with that in mind, The Collector forcing King to become their best friend and to play all these games is pretty clearly an attempt to replace those lost friends… but now with the added trauma of being abandoned by his family and having his friends ”disappear.” Plus the whole being locked up and sealed away thing.

Speaking of which, I found the specific wording used here a little interesting. The Collector specifically says that ”one by one, they disappeared,” while it’s pretty clear that what they actually meant is that the Archivists killed them. This could be one (or multiple) of several things. Maybe, seeing as this is a kids’ show, they had be careful with the kind of language they used. Maybe The Collector really does not understand the meaning of death, like Luz suggested before. Maybe The Collector just didn’t want to use the word ”killed” or ”died.”

I dunno, it might not mean anything.

As it turns out, King’s Dad mistakingly thought The Collector was the evil force that had wiped out his species and that’s why he hid away King’s egg and trapped The Collector… which may or may not have also have required him sacrificing his own life to do. Bit of a whoopsie there. I can understand why he’s hiding out in the In-Between, I’d be embarrassed to show my face to after a mistake like that. And Belos using his name to lure people into a cult just added a whole other layer to the bad PR cake.

Also, the reason I chose this particular moment to screen shot is because we can see there, in King’s Dad’s hand the magical symbol that was used to hide King away from The Collector (and all other Archivists).

You okay there Collector? Your eyes look a bit… grey? Not sure what’s going on there, when they blink their eyes go back to normal. Odd.

Oh well, let’s not dwell on The Collector’s eyes, let’s dwell on their words instead!

”Even when those Trapper jerks started acting weird,” they say. Which means that at some point, the Titan Trappers, regardless of whether they were jerks or not at this point, used to act normal. Or at least what The Collector would consider normal. Slight difference there.

I think it’s safe to say that the Titan Trappers were either inspired by the Archivists, or even created by them directly in order to combat the Titans. The modern Titan Trappers worshipped The Collector as a god, and we can assume the Titan Trappers of the past worshipped the Archivists as their gods as well.

All of that I think is safe to say, but where it gets a bit more muddled is in the time between then and now. It would seem that at some point after wiping out at least most of the Titans, the Archivists left the planet. It’s possible they feared King’s Dad was simply too strong for them to take down, so decided to just leave; perhaps they believed there were no eggs left and that King’s Dad might die from old age or that he simply wasn’t a problem. It is also possible they knew King’s Dad sacrificed his life to trap The Collector and with King’s egg hidden away, they thought ”Job well done,” and left, not really caring about one of their own being sealed away forever; that is, if they even knew The Collector was sealed away.

What we do know is that the Titan Trappers remained. At some point they started worshipping The Collector and sought after a way to free him. This most likely happened because they found one of those mirror things The Collector could use to communicate with the outside world… except we saw theirs was broken, so maybe it didn’t fully work anymore. The important part is that they knew about there being one Titan remaining, probably because The Collector told them King’s Dad hid away one last egg.

So here we have what I consider a possible reconstruction of the timeline. But that still doesn’t answer the question about what changed with the Titan Trappers to make them ”weird” to The Collector. I’m gonna guess that Bill spun The Collector’s words in such a way so that rather than trying to find the last Titan so he could help free The Collector, they instead had to find and kill the last Titan to free The Collector.

Which is kinda funny, because using the words of a powerful being worshipped as a god in order to gain control over a large mass of people… that’s what Belos did. Though Bill implies he’s been around for much longer and even calls Belos an upstart. I guess he wasn’t too pleased by Belos copying his schtick.

Luz: ”How about we tell you the story of how we all became friends? Collector: ”Hmm… okay. King, how did you and Eda first meet?” King: ”Well, it all started when Eda took me away from my home and guardian-” Collector: ”Oh, I see! So when she does it, you become family, but when I-!” Eda: ”Uhhh… maybe let’s start somewhere else. Luz, how about you…?” Luz: ”R-right. so, um… I guess it all started when I stumbled through the portal into the Demon Realm and Eda, uh… kidnapped me… and forced me to play along in one of King’s childish games…” Collector: ”OH I SEE! SO WHEN SHE DOES IT, YOU BECOME FAMILY, BUT WHEN I-!”

I kid, I kid. The idea here is that they’re dropping all the lies and false narratives to finally tell the truth. Because as we were shown here, one of The Collector’s big hangups is people lying to them, constantly lying and pretending to be their friend. The Collector, being mentally a child, is of course very susceptible to this. And having spent so much time being isolated and manipulated has left The Collector unable to form real friendships with people. It’s all part of a big game of pretend, and like all games, it has to come to and end.

What the Owl House trio are trying to do here is show The Collector how to create genuine bonds with people; no lying, no manipulation, no turning people into puppets and forcing them to play along in dollhouse tea parties.

Basically, they’re trying to adopt him into their found family. Then Eda will have three kids, two of whom are living gods. Let’s hope Raine’s up for the challenge.

Hmmmmmm……. sure is awfully convenient that Luz was carrying around that big stack of photographs of all her adventures with the gang. How did she even… the Owl House was ransacked… Eda and Lilith might’ve been able to save a photo album, and Luz then kept them with her as a good luck charm or whatever. Another possibility is that she found them while infiltrating the storage where the Emperor’s Coven kept all the confiscated material from the Owl House and Luz found them there. Either way, feels a bit contrived.

…

Oh wait, last episode, they extracted a bunch of Luz’ memories. As I recall, we saw mostly negative ones, but maybe they got a bunch of good ones as well, and Luz kept them on her. That’s probably it, yeah.

(Future Lampman here: I took a break and rewound the episode a bit and I remembered something I thought off but forgot to mention. The Collector mentions that King already told them about their adventures, and Luz responds that it’s different when you can see them. The Collector’s all about playing games and pretend, and from their perspective, King’s stories might very well be just that: stories. When one is so used to lies and half-truths and obfuscations, how does one tell fact from fiction? One good way is to show a photograph, objective proof of reality. In other words: pics or it didn’t happen.)

[evilwriter37]

Ao3 Wrapped Writer Edition

Questions from this post.

I wanted to answer these questions to take a look back at what I've accomplished this year. And you know? Very glad I did it. This made me feel pretty good. (And yes, there is shameless self promotion coming up.) Here we go!

How many words have you written this year?

307,418

How many works did you publish this year?

I think 176? My counting could be off.

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

Honestly, any of my stories to do with Heather this year. I wrote about her quite a lot and really got to explore her trauma and characterization. I love her so much, and those fics really stand out to me.

What work of yours has the most hits?

An Heir and a Throne with 8,976 hits. I don’t know if I’d count it though, because I didn’t start it this year. 

If we’re going with stories I wrote this year, that would be Reliant with 2,224 hits.

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

“I Don’t Know What You Mean”. It was a one-shot at first that I started last year for a whump event. Then I added more chapters, and I was stunned by how many people liked it.

Favorite title you used

Freedom Comes on Violet Wings

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?

N/A

Pairing you wrote the most for this year?

Don’t even have to look to know that it’s Viggo/Hiccup.

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

Sorry, I can’t pick just one! I’ll do my top 3!

Viggo/Hiccup, Dagur/Hiccup, Viggo/Astrid

What work was the quickest to write?

I have so many to comb through that it would be hard to say. I wrote Lovers’ Eve in a one hour sitting, but there are shorter fics that definitely took less time.

What work took you the longest to write?

As far as one-shots go, I remember Power Sick taking me a while. It’s 6,547 words.

How many WIPs do you have in your docs for next year?

Let’s see. There’s Getting a Scar Out of It (HTTYD Dagcup Soulmate AU), An Heir and a Throne (HTTYD), Our Time Together (HTTYD), Adapt (Thrawn, not posted), Kintsugi (Teen Wolf), and What Question Can You Never Say Yes To? (Teen Wolf)

So that’s 6 multichapter fics. Whoopsie.

What’s your longest work of the year?

An Heir and a Throne with 48,981 words. Almost novel length!

What’s your shortest work of the year?

For HTTYD: Heather Lost with 253 words

But I think Good Omens takes the cake for my shortest fic. That would be He Tasted Like Coffee with only 137 words.

What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

See above.

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

Whump. Are we even surprised?

Your favorite character to write this year?

I write a lot of Hiccup and Viggo, but you know, I’m really enjoying the writing I’ve been doing with Dagur and Heather that I started later this year. Also really been enjoying Astrid. 

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?

Aziraphale. Writing from his perspective is kind of difficult. I find Crowley much easier to write. His dialogue flows better for me.

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

Get the pitchforks, but probably more Dagur/Heather. They’re a fucked up pair and I want more of it.

Also, maybe more Viggo/Astrid.

Very tentatively thinking of Jack Frost/Hiccup.

Which works of yours have you reread the most?

Vigcup Week, probably. I think those were fantastic.

How many kudos in total did you get this year?

6,889

Which work has the most comments?

An Heir and a Throne followed by Our Time Together.

Did you do any collaborative works this year?

No, sadly, but I maybe want to try next year.

Did you write any gifts this year?

Not really, but I did do a lot of requests and some commissions!

Did you receive any gifts this year?

Yes! I’ve received 7 of them! I am guilty of not having read them all though. 

What’s your most common category?

Gen fic, followed by m/m

What do you listen to while writing?

Cinematic alternative, modern orchestra, rock, metal

Favorite work you wrote this year?

No idea. There are just too many!

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

*stares at everything I wrote* Yeah, um, I’ll pass on this one.

Biggest surprise while writing this year?

I’m starting to get the hang of m/f and f/f couples!!! This is huge for me, because as an AFAB nonbinary trans guy with debilitating endometriosis, I can have a lot of trouble writing those types of pairings. I associate those body parts with pain, not pleasure, but I’m learning. I’m figuring out how to take my association out and just write the characters, or write the characters in new ways where I can still work around my pain. It's been so cool and incredible to me, as well as therapeutic. Writing is great, you guys.

[nami-moittli]

Have you ever wondered how Digimon Frontier might have gone if the Spirits of Steel, Wood, and Earth had been bequeathed to Ophanimon, the Spirits of Water and Darkness had been bequeathed to Seraphimon, the Spirits of Flame, Light, Ice, Wind, and Thunder had been bequeathed to Cherubimon, and the protagonists had been Katsuharu, Teppei, Chiaki, Teruo, and Koichi (with Koji joining later)? Mind if I send each episode to your inbox so you can say how you think they'd go in that scenario?

Hmm, so basically a swap AU? I can’t say that I’ve ever found myself thinking about that idea before but it could be fun!

First off, who will be who? Kouichi and Kouji obviously stay the same, and it’s pretty obvious that Chiaki would have the water spirits, but after that it gets a bit tricky, so I’ll just say Katsuharu=Steel spirits, Teppei=ground spirits and Teruo=wood spirits. For simplicity’s sake I’ll say that they have the same spirits as shown in the show, even though they’d probably have purified versions of them in an actual AU, just like Kouichi in canon. This does mean that Kouji has evil versions of his Spirits, though I don’t really feel like creating new digimon for this AU.

Now, another question, would their backstories be the same as in canon (with some modifications to make them more protagonist-y, ofc)? As in, Katsuharu and Teppei being bullies to Tommy (I don’t believe the other two have much going for them, really, tho I’d probably have to rewatch the episode these four appear in to get their characters better) Ofc, since this is a swap AU, the twins would obviously swap understandings of one another.

Because the Kou twins have the most going for them, here’s what I’m thinking: very similar to canon, only Kouichi’s grandmother isn’t able to tell Kouichi about Kouji. She probably starts, but before she can finish she gets into a coughing fit, and Kouichi is whisked out of her hospital room, unable to know what his grandmother wanted to tell him. He shuts into himself even more. He’s not going to be as sharp as Kouji is, though I can imagine he has his moments, but he’s more passive about the whole thing.

Kouji on the other hand, would still be caught up in his “dead” mother that he didn’t get to meet and still dislikes his stepmother as a result. Though, just because of those grievances it’s not like he hates his family or anything, just kinda keeps them at arms distance emotion wise. That is, until one particularly bad fight with his dad that leaves his stepmom crying. Kouji decides he finally wants to do something and snoops through everything he can to find some more evidence of his biological mom. That’s when he finds… something. Divorce papers, pictures of him and Kouichi as newborns, anything really, it just has to be proof that his mom is alive. And do he goes out to find her. I imagine that Kouji is a bit more upfront about the whole thing, so when he finds his mom’s address he plans to actually knock on the door, but before he can, he sees Kouichi and his mom through a window. This can also be a moment where he finds out about Kouichi if he didn’t know before. But he sees them huddled together, crying (as this probably takes place right after their grandma dies) and decides that he can’t open the door right now.

Both brothers are still very closed off, it’s just that Kouichi quietly retreated inside his room, and Kouji slammed the door shut.

Kouichi gets Ophanimon’s message, and something deep within him tells him that he’ll find the answer to what his grandma wanted to tell him if he followed it. Kouji didn’t get the message and followed his brother close behind. Then he broke his neck on a flight of stairs. Whoopsies?

Compared to divorce victims Kou1 and Kou2, we know much, much, much less about the other four. So this probably won’t be as long as those two’s sections.

Katsuharu and Teppei, like I mentioned before used to bully Tommy. That could be a good starting off point for these two to get some character development!

Since they already know each other, they’d be really close and probably look down on Chiaki and Teruo a bit, trying to ditch them or something. But with safety in numbers and the fact that they aren’t evil and don’t want the others to die, they’d stay grouped up, with some friction of course. By the time everyone got their spirits they’d just gotten used to having each other around, and again, safety in numbers.

For Chiaki, I like to think of her as a trans girl, because yay representation, and also it makes for a fun dynamic (and parallel to Zoe, who’s ostracized for being a foreigner and not really understanding Japanese social cues, from what I remember, and Chiaki would be ostracized for being trans, but that’s for a different thing lol)

She’d probably LOVE being Ranamon/possibly a purified water spirit because of that, though she also likes that the others don’t know that she was born a boy. Again, it’s been AWHILE since I’ve watched the episode these guys appear in, so they’re basically just OCs atp, so I probably have whatever canon personality traits they have wrong. But I think it could be fun if she feels as though she’s “hiding” something from the others for not telling them, but she also doesn’t want them to know in fear of them treating her differently, so it ends up with her being really quiet most of the time.

When she’s Ranamon though, she comes out of her shell more and is way more confident. She likes that people treat her better based on her looks, like canon Ranamon, and will sometimes use that to her advantage. Her character arc would be about opening up and being herself as “Chiaki” and not letting her newfound vanity, for lack of a better term, get the better of her and learning to be more humble as “Ranamon”

Now for Teruo… I’ve got nothing. The main episode I remember for Arbormon/Petaldramon was the burger one, and I think that Arbormon had like… a weird sense of humor or something? It’s been awhile since I watched the show, so I don’t remember it all.

So basing Teruo off what little I can remember, maybe he’s like JP? Or maybe he’ll be a little like Percy from Epithet Erased, where he does insane shit in his actions but will do them completely straight.

Idk where his character arc goes or even what it should be, but I do think it would be funny if Kouichi HATED him. Because in canon, it’s Duskmon who ends up taking out Arbormon, so it’d be funny to me if Kouichi would outwardly laugh at Teruo’s antics only to be cringing on the inside like, what the fuck ic wrong with this bitch?

Okay, okay, in canon, Kouichi is traumatized by being corrupted and almost killing his brother. Add that with Kouichi just being kinda soft spoken in general, if you will, he’s not going to be that mean. But in this AU, everyone’s characters are somewhat based off antagonists, therefore Kouichi’s arc is not only about finding his brother and what his grandma wanted to tell him, but also gaining enough confidence to call Teruo a bitch on screen 👆

(They would eventually become friends, but as I like to think of it, the OG cast would help you hide a body, these kids would help you MAKE one, okay?)

That’s, about it I think? Sorry that this took so long to get to, I started working on it, then I forgot about it and only finally remembered to finish it today 😭 so, sorry again on that. This was fun though, thanks!

Also, about the episode thing, probably not, sorry. Since I have no clue on how to do Teruo and I fear I’d just leave it to rot in my inbox and/or drafts, I’m good.

[stevie-petey]

hi queen. read at arm's length. wow. like wow. like whoahhh. like whoopsy that sure was a doozy!! This was, not a tough read exactly, but certainly a sad one. i thought about it on a walk with my sister, i think she's around the age of steve and reader, like, late high school, and, idk, it's weird to think that people her age experience heartbreak. she's a baby to me. made worse by the fact that i don't remember my own high school very much. so this was sort of weird to read too, in that sense, knowing how contradictorily young and old they are at 16/17.

i liked all the repeated phrases, "nobody knows/you know/steve doesn't know how __" "we shouldn't be doing this" "i know", it was reminiscent of the sort of cycle that these relationships beget, how much you tell yourself you won't let this person in your house again, won't talk to them again, won't let them butter you up again, but you usually do, again and again until something disturbs the pattern you've fallen into, or you yourself are finally able to escape it.

I don't wan tto quote your whole story back at you, but i think this line really exemplified the horrible ickyness between them, "He had always somehow done this, holding you at arm’s length with a possessiveness to it. You would come to learn that the possessiveness never really goes away". I think val said it in her reblog, but there's a real unfairness/unequality in their situation, with steve never fully acknowledging her, nor letting anyone else get close to her. I always hate that in fiction, when the person who isn't with the girl, outright refuses to be with the girl, has problems about who she does and doesn't hang out with, and just is overall very annoying about what he perceives as his right to the girl, entitlement, whatever you want to call it. It's always to a discredit of the girl, always some form of objectification, and omg, even the scene in the beginning where steve wants to form her expression into one of anger to soothe his own guilty conscious.....idk of its his conscious talking, but it also feels like an extension of him not being able to see her as a full person, or at least, disturbed by the notion that she is a full person.

This part saddened me a lot, "Your name hadn’t left his lips in months; it felt like exhaling after breaking an oath.". A lot of it felt very weighted, which it was, but ot also felt like the first time steve considered that she was capable of having other people around her. I think the worst part in these situations is that the other person DOES have people who care for them, who see the, who care for them probably a lot more/better than the one they're "with" (Jamie seemed nice), it's just that their attention doesn't feel as good as this person's, or at least, that person's attention is becoming a bit addicting (?) idk if that's the right word, but very all consuming, to the extent that when you have it it feels like you have the world and when you don't it's like nothing's really right, even if you know, which r does, the extent of unhealthiness this dynamic causes, and even if you don't you might have a feeling of how temporary this dynamic is, even if you stay wanting and a little naive at the end of it, just to keep it going a little longer. I hope I'm not projecting myself too much here, though i don't think death of the author is totally discounted in fanfiction reading experience, so i could be wrong ( i jest!) !

The ending question got to me, "“You’re always here....Why?'". I think it succintly put together the problem, that r shouldn't be here for him after the way he has ignored her, yet not allowed her to fully thrive without him either. Steve making this discovery so late in the game makes sense, to me at least, that he would delay acknowledging feelings, delay seeing what exactly is happening, when it means he can keep r to himself a bit longer, at least subconciously. It seemed to really rattle him when r's admiration and wonderment of him post nancy had dimmed. One of them was going to quit this cycle, and i am sort of curious to see what you'd want to write if you do a part 2, partly since it's ended in an emotional build instead of a release, and partly because the end for them seems spelled out in the near future.

On a final note, i think r's knowledge, or foresight, makes this all a little more tragic. I've read and have been the person who is a little too eager to delude themselves into thinking something could work out, that they haven't been left in the lurch, that they weren't a means to an end to something else, whether that be friendship, sex, affection, an ego boost, whatever the goal is, and it's always a little humiliating, certainly horrifying, to realise it fully after the fact. I think to now all of this at the forefront, is somehow both worse and better?? There's a certain tendency to want to scream "GET UP SISTER!!!", but i also get why you would commit yourself to this knowing what the consequences are, knowing you're getting dealt a really shitty hand and still playing the game, just to sort of see what happens, because it's better than not playing it at all. Idk, i think its interesting that this was not all poor impulse control (perhaps a little bit), but a real decision r and steve made. i think it gives r an agency of her life and circumstances that i sometimes find lacking, both in fiction and reality, a sense of control that is small and fleeting and not being used well, but a control over a situation that is otherwise, very unstable. I am afraid that at this point i am ranting and raving like a mad man, and perhaps repeating myself, but this was a great fic, apologies for the length, i feel like i need to re read old text messages, and i also apologise if i projected too much and perhaps strayed from your vision too far, but you wrote a very compelling short fiction that contains a lot of unresolved emotion which was very interesting to think about and interpret, both on a literary and personal level. i'm sorry to val as well, this was definitely over 5 sentences babe, though i appreciate your confidence in me.

sanjana you always know what to pick apart in my writing and i adore you for it <3333 i love hearing what you think about what i write and i eat it up EVERY. TIME.

you basically got it all tbh. i will however add a small tidbit of steve (in my head at least) being this sickly toxic person because hes always just kinda had the reader, ya know ? since they were 11 they were best friends (to the capacity steve could have a friend) and she was always so devoted to him. when he finally breaks what was between them by getting with nancy, he truly is jarred to see that reader no longer holds this love within her eyes for him :( he never, ever considered her ever leaving him

if i do somehow make a part 2 i think i know how to bring em together again, but i also just really enjoy the idea of reader having her own agency making these decisions to let steve back in, to be used by him and give him whatever, its just what shes choosing. the line "youre always here" hits that perfectly. shes always there for steve even though she knows, and HE knows, she shouldnt be

its awful and twisted and i plan on doing future fics like this after come home (for a frat!steve au and also a normal people au for peter parker)

again i love u sm <3333

[yallemagne]

the reincarnation plot from every bad dracula movie but make it queer

Preface:

Every time I go out for a walk I think about the goddamn reincarnation plot that movies use and I ask to myself “but what if it was Jonathan--” and then twenty years get taken off of my life as retribution. Basically most story ideas I have are “what if the bad thing happened to Jonathan”, and I refuse to reflect on what that entails. 

How most reincarnation plots go is that Dracula rifles through Jonathan’s bag and finds a picture of Mina and suddenly goes batshit as if he’s not seen a women in a thousand years (he totally has, he has three roommates). This happened in Nosferatu (don’t recall if it was bc she looked like his dead wife or he’s just an incel) and way too many other adaptations while having never actually happened in the book. 

But I can make the reincarnation plot gay AND stick more faithfully to the book. 

Okay lessgo--

When Jonathan finds the study:

Here I am, sitting at a little oak table where in old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen, with much thought and many blushes, her ill-spelt love letter, and writing in my diary in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last. 

and

I determined not to return tonight to the gloom-haunted rooms, but to sleep here, where, of old, ladies had sat and sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars. 

Besides just screaming femme Jonathan, that’s perfect reincarnation fodder. You can play this as if he’s recalling his own memories of being Dracula’s forlorn wife worrying about him as he goes off to war. 

And then he meets the Weird Sisters, and he recognizes one of them:

The other was fair, as fair as can be, with great wavy masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphires. I seemed somehow to know her face, and to know it in connection with some dreamy fear, but I could not recollect at the moment how or where. 

Most people interpret the blonde vampire as being Dracula’s original wife and the two dark-haired vampires his daughters. Totally see that. Now, why does Jonathan recognize her? Blah, blah, she’s him, he’s her. 

The thing about most reincarnation plots though is that they always have the Sisters but they have no bearing on the plot. Hey Mina, your “hubby” has three women he keeps as pets, why don’t you ask WHO THEY ARE AND WHY HE DOES THAT TO THEM. But those would be rational questions. 

So anyway, how do dead vampire wife and living Jonathan wife exist at the same time? I mean, it could be that Dracula’s original wife wasn’t turned when she was alive. Perhaps the same deal with Satan he did to become immortal reanimated his wife’s corpse. But of course, her soul was gone. 

Whoopsies Dracula, you fucked up. 

"How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you'll have to deal with me." The fair girl, with a laugh of ribald coquetry, turned to answer him:—

"You yourself never loved; you never love!" On this the other women joined, and such a mirthless, hard, soulless laughter rang through the room that it almost made me faint to hear; it seemed like the pleasure of fiends. Then the Count turned, after looking at my face attentively, and said in a soft whisper:—

"Yes, I too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past. Is it not so?"

I’m just gonna say, the blonde vampire’s response to Dracula staking his claim in Jonathan being “you’ve never loved”... foreshadowing. Even the corpse bride over here is like “bitch, I know you’re not gonna treat my soul right this time”. And I’m not the only one who has said Dracula looking at Jonathan and saying softly “Yes, I too can love” is pretty homosexual. 

Now you may think I’m veering towards Dracula/Jonathan, but Dracula is still an abuser, so no. 

With that said-- MINA!

She fetches Jonathan from the convent and they travel back to England, and Jonathan can’t help feeling severely out of place now. He spent so much time as a damsel in that castle, having past memories come to him in the form of nightmares, and then he spent his recovery surrounded by women who were sympathetic towards him and promise to keep the weird memory dreams secret. 

But now he’s in England, and he can hardly walk down the street without being a little genderqueer about it. 

And what is he supposed to think about his relationship with his gender when he’s not even sure these are his own feelings? Is he experiencing actual gender dysphoria towards being a man or are these just the thoughts of a long-dead woman? Doesn’t help if this is still set in Victorian England where if he were to confide these feelings in anyone, he could be institutionalized. 

Not to mention his relationship with Mina. Is he being deceptive towards her? He doesn’t know. He feels guilty for these newfound feelings. Does having a woman’s soul invalidate their relationship somehow? Does his previous relationship with Dracula invalidate it? Should he let her go so she can seek out a more worthy partner? The answer to all the questions are no of course, but this is a drama. 

I could go on and try to plot out an actual story on the spot, but the original intent of this was just to make a point that the reincarnation plot has more backing it if Jonathan is the reincarnated bride of Dracula instead. Which plenty of people have already said, but I'm giving my own talking points because I’ve been dying to okay.

[thegamingcatmom]

helloo again! it’s the same asker as last time (the pee ask!)

i just wrote/sent a follow up ask but i don’t think it actually sent!😭 ‘cause tumblr is dumb! grrr! so im writing it out again! but if it magically did send then you can just ignore this ask haha!

so i was messaging to say i’m sorry if my ask came across as really blunt to you because i really didn’t mean for it to sound that way. but when i just read it back again along with your nice reply, i realized my ask sounded kinda super blunt and could maybe read as sorta… judgey?? like maybe it came across like i was gonna kinkshame or something?

but i promise that wasn’t the case at all!! i definitely would never kinkshame anyone ever!! and i didn’t mean to sound blunt. it’s just that i’m autistic and sometimes when i communicate over written message i sound blunt in a negative way even though i don’t mean to. i struggle with sometimes coming across as rude in messages when i am asking questions, even though i don’t mean to, when in reality i’m getting straight to the point in my message because i’m excited to be asking a question about something.😅

i actually sent that ask about the piss kink because im into omorashi (or omo for short) which is like getting turned on by the feeling of needing to pee/having a full bladder and also wetting (or getting turned on by seeing someone else needing to pee/making someone else hold their full bladder and seeing someone else wetting it making someone else wet themselves etc).

so seeing it show up in most of your ellie posts just made me wonder if that sorta thing was something you yourself were personally into (‘cause obviously lots of writers put their own sexual interests in their writing) or if it was something you thought maggot momma herself would be into.😊

Hey again, pee-anon!

I actually didn´t receive any other ask from you (cause Tumblr is, indeed, pretty stoopid sometimes) so it´s a good thing you´ve sent it again. 😜

No need to apologize at all, really. I didn´t think it was rude or judgey or anything like that. I simply took it for what it was - an ask about a piss kink lol. Also, it´s only natural to be curious about certain things, especially if you feel like you can identify with it in some way. It also shows me that my posts evoke some sort of reaction at least, so I´m happy to answer any question someone might have, really. 😊

(Unless you decide to be nasty af about it because in that case - you can just f right off and Imma send Maggot Momma after your sorry ass.)

As I´ve stated before, I myself don´t see it as a kink. More as a bit of a lighter moment in between all the madness and blood and guts and gore galore that´s going on in this (cursed) building.

Now, would Maggot Momma be into it? Considering I see her as a rather animalistic being with primal instincts in general (such as dry humping you into oblivion) I think she could be into it. But not in an overly sexual way, more like

I´m in the middle of something here (that something being you) and I cba about your worries rn (or ever) because your smell and if you gotta be like that - all dramatic as per usual- then she´s just gonna make herself a bit heavier on purpose and squish you a bit more all while never taking her eyes off you and basically daring you to do it because it would also show her the absolute power she has over you and-

...Okay yeah, I can see why Maggot Momma might be into it after all lmao.

Now I might have to write a little something about it because now I wanna see it play out, whoopsie.

I´m in the middle of writing yet another mommy kink post (you can thank mommy-kink-anon for that) but Imma keep your ask in mind for sure, so stay tuned!

[catgirl-catboy]

Well as a person who is into psychology in a degree, I can see Tenko as a abuse victim.

Her masters teachings is commonly used technic by abusers, isolating and giving false informations to the person who they groom and it is very tragic..

And I love how she actually... caring despite the misguided logic she had, I love her and feel very bad for her you know?

And according to me love hotels are despite being dubious, actually really shows some characters needs or.. some darker aspects in their psychology.

P.s: Ryoma one, Korekiyo one and Tenko one specifically.

And the brother line is really suspicious.. All of the characters have some freudian aspect in their relationships and this is deeply fucked up (My mind went for ishimondo for minute)

And yes, lesbian Tenko is a valid headcanon but I hate how they treat bisexual Tenko headcanon like this is being a lesbophobe, lots of my life experiences were related to me being into girls and I still can say it is not being a lesbophobia it is deciphering or analysing the freudian slip she had.

Anyways for the bi tenko hc sake, do you ship her with any men and one question again do you have any controversial sexuality or gender hc? They are quite fun ngl

I'm studying to be a comp-sci major, but its a lot harder than I thought it would be. ;-;

For the ships, that depends on who you ask. I ship her with Gonta, but I also hc Gonta as NB or Genderqueer like myself. (his relation to gender norms is interesting to me, and I feel like letting go of the ideal of masculinity he holds dear would be healthy for him.)

Of course, people just see the canon Gonta and think me lesbophobic because they don't understand my vision.

Like, if someone headcanons Bi Tenko and is lebophobic, that's on the person and not the headcanon. (though like, wouldn't that hypothetical lesbophobe not want her to be queer at all? Damn strawmen)

The Gay Kokichi headcanon purists are honestly even more annoying though. Yes, he confessed to Shuichi. That makes him into men. But he also did quite a lot of flirting with Himiko and Miu. Honestly, if you want to stick as close to canon as possible (and be boring) Bi Kokichi makes the most sense.

Speaking of Kokichi, how do some people pretend that Saiouma love hotel is canon and the rest are bullshit. I'm sorry, at that point just call it a headcanon.

For controversial headcanons... uh how about the big mommy of headcanons discoursed about through the end of time. I am a fan of the trans Chihiro hc. That being said, I really dislike how most fans that share the hc with me act, and how ignorant they are about Japanese gender norms. It isn't problematic to analyze the text on a surface level.

Also I forgot to mention in my last post, but I also hc almost everyone as autistic, mainly as projection but also because the current system seems geared to people with special interests. Everyone, but Taka and Tenko especially.

Tell me about your problematic hcs! Honestly, this fandom hasn't seen an actually problematic hc in years, it needs it.

(Honestly, I prefer the Sapphic label to the Lesbian label simply because of how my genderqueer ass doesn't neatly fit into the box vaguely defined as female. I am exclusively attracted to ladies, which makes this whole erasure thing an extra layer of stupid.)

As for freud, I don't want to accuse anyone of anything here, but it is very possible Kodaka has an incest kink. You do not include it to such a degree on accident. That isn't a whoopsie! Of course, he could be writing to work out his trauma, so its none of my business.

[toonycatuwu]

WordGirl Love Live AU: More Info Updates!

Okay, frick it... I'm doing more UTAU covers. They're gonna take a while though, because 2 out of 9 voicebanks in the whole group are finished, those being Becky and Tobey. I'm currently working on Victoria's right now.

So... while we wait and the polls keep getting created, here's some other info:

- Duet and Solo covers will be made.

- Songs that have questionable themes and lyrics will either have their lyrics partially skipped or be completely avoided as a whole (now don't get me wrong, I still vibe with these songs, I'm just skipping them because the characters I'm making the voicebanks for are aged up to high schoolers, which are still minors). These songs include, but not limited to:

Firebird (Karin Asaka)

Diamond Princess no Yuutsu (BiBi)

PHOENIX DANCE (AZALEA)

Love Novels (BiBi) (?)

- Songs that have other languages besides Japanese (English, Chinese, etc.) that will be difficult to have covers of in UTAU will most likely not be done (I still vibe with these songs too, and all of them are bangers). However, short amounts of English mixed into the song are easy to do (y'know, like how the Japanese language sometimes borrows words from the English language). Some of the following songs in these categories that will most likely not be done are:

stars we chase (Mia Taylor)

Toy Doll (Mia Taylor)

Queendom (Lanzhu Zhong)

Ye Mingzhu (Lanzhu Zhong)

(damn, it's sad I can't do the ones that make me vibe the most. I wish I could tho. F in the chat for Mia Taylor and Lanzhu Zhong's music fr)

- Oh, by the way, the original members' voices OR aesthetics will indeed correspond to the new WordGirl universe. The characters do NOT correspond to the original story, ships, and character development.

Becky -> Honoka, Chika, Ayumu, Kanon (protagonists go brrr)

Violet -> Kotori, You, Emma, Keke

Scoops -> Umi, Riko, Ai, Sumire

TJ -> Rin, Kanan, Shizuku, Kinako

Johnson -> Hanayo, Hanamaru, Kanata, Chisato

Tobey -> Maki, Yohane/Yoshiko, Rina, Shiki [+bonus: Wien Margarete] (man you can see the absolute BIAS I have for this man istg 💀)

Victoria -> Eli, Dia, Setsuna, Ren

Eileen -> Nico, Ruby, Kasumi, Natsumi

Chazz -> Nozomi, Mari, Karin, Mei

I haven't decided anything for the rival groups (A-RISE, Saint Snow, R3BIRTH, Sunny Passion)... yet?

Here are the subunits this AU will correspond to:

Comet Cats!! (Becky, Violet, Scoops) -> Printemps, CYaRon!, A•ZU•NA

POWERFLOW (TJ, Johnson, Chazz) -> NicoRinPana, YYY

S3CRET (Tobey, Victoria, Eileen) -> BiBi, Guilty Kiss, lily white, AZALEA (yes, I have a bias for this group too. Guilty Kiss and BiBi supremacy fr ✨)

Before you guys get confused if the lines or songs I give these characters don't match with their corresponding character sometimes, I just do that because 1. bias and 2. just the overall vibe of the song and/or the lyrics. (lol)

- The musical and Link! Like! Love Live! will not be included... I haven't gotten up to date with them X_X

That's it for now, I hope you guys will have fun thinking about this AU, and stay tuned for more updates and possible UTAU covers ^_^✨✨✨

Edit: whoopsie daisy i forgor to tell you that if you have any questions feel free to reply or DM me 😭

[wordcharming]

The Descent

Welp, the unthinkable just happened—I slipped on a banana peel and fell into well. It's not as terrifying as it sounds down here though.

On the slow-motion descent, my body felt light as a feather and was thrust into the well casing which was covered in Willy Wonka's lickable wallpaper. Did I sample some? You better believe it—tart orange gave my tongue a tingle, sour lime had my cherry-red lips puckering and sweet corn filled me with intoxication. After what felt like 10 minutes, a most delicate landing left me on the padded ground.

As I took in my surroundings I noticed seven tunnels, each illuminated by its own hue of ROYGBIV. To my surprise an invisible New Orleans jazz band started to play (from the Y tunnel I think) and an obese man in a periwinkle tutu, sequined cyan leotard, opaque tights and pointe shoes floated down from the path I'd just traveled—left then right, hovering here and there to sample the delectable wallpaper. My eyes followed like those of a Kit-Cat clock.

The man wore the longest rainbow false eyelashes I'd ever seen, and they complemented his bulging emerald eyes and shimmering fuchsia shadow beneath pencil-thin black eyebrows. Twinkling with copious amounts of body glitter, he began to pass wind to the tune of "Rhythm is a Dancer." I kept on staring, mouth agape, until the tooting faded into more of a soon-to-be-deflated balloon sound.

Upon catching my eye, he was red-faced. "Heavens! ...Whoopsie... Excusez moi. ...hello, darling, I'm Roy G Biv. You didn't tell me you were coming! I'm so embarrassed. I didn't even have time to clean."

"Um, uh, do we know each other?" I replied.

"Well, yes and no. No in the sense that you haven't met me in real life but yes because you dreamt me up last night. You don't remember your dream?!"

"Nope, sure don't."

"Well that's neither here nor there. But since you decided to come we might as well celebrate. Follow me!"

He flitted through the Y tunnel, as "When the Saints Go Marching In" crescendoed, and I followed. With each uncertain step I took, chunks of Roy's costume glitter snowed upon my head so that by the time we reached the party room I too resembled someone who belonged onstage.

I shook my head as if I were a dog fresh out the bathtub and stepped inside when the room came into full view.

It was brightly lit in shades of yellow and felt like a fantasy land complete with a multicolored checkered floor, rotating disco ball and clowns on roller skates doing tricks on the adjacent wooden dance floor. I couldn't believe my eyes. To the left of the room was a DJ booth where a mime was spinning vinyl, and to the rear a long empty table that appeared to seat at least 50.

Roy fluttered over to the table, and with the snap of his fingers he summoned a cornucopia of decorations. There was a balloon-printed tablecloth, confetti strewn about, a party hat and golden goblet at each place setting, scattered noiseblowers, heaping bowls of ice cream, platters of donuts and in the middle a large three-tier cake with sparklers on top.

"How in the—" but before the question left my mouth, Roy had shouted, "Attention, attention!" which caused a rollerskating clown collision. With the scratch of a record, Mr. DJing mime made an exaggerated O face and then cradled his cheeks in his hands. All eyes were on Roy as he continued.

"Thank you my precious clownies," and with a nod toward the DJ booth, "Mixmaster Mime." "Tonight we're going to party because it just happens to be everyone's unbirthday! Come now, gather 'round the table so we can celebrate."

By the time everyone sat down the jazz band seemed to emerge from the hall into our room.

I stared at my reflection in the golden goblet which spoke to me in an ominous tone, "Should've worn your hiking shoes." Shifting my gaze from left to right I realized no one else could see what I was seeing. They were all too busy gorging themselves on desserts.

Without even thinking I bee-lined for the DJ booth where I'm standing right now tapping the microphone and telling this story. "Is this thing on?"