#what is it about humanity's need to make a mockery out of the things we disagree with?

[lemonduckisnowawake]

Me, today: I will not get angry about people slandering Jesus. I will not lose my temper seeing yet another post throwing His character in the garbage as some politically woke or politically conservative people pleaser. I will not stab my hand with a fork when I see people poking fun at his friendships as homoerotic - *sees a post like that and slowly steps out of the internet*

No seriously. I am shaking the screen and BEGGING people to remember that even though Western Christian traditionalism has deep, *deep* wrongs, There Are Literal People Dying And Being Tortured Because Of Their Faith In Christ In The Modern World. And the way I see people making light of faith and outright mocking it or "dumbing it down" to appeal to their own moral worldview is sometimes kind of painful

[starleska]

i think ‘Big’ Jack Horner is Disney, and here’s why

many of us have had the pleasure of seeing the incredible Puss in Boots: The Last Wish by now, and were blown away by its clever writing, enchanting animation and emotional character arcs. yet there is one character who booted the trend of having a reason for his behaviour, and outright refused to experience any growth whatsoever.

let’s talk about ‘Big’ Jack Horner, and why i think he’s supposed to represent Disney:

‘Big’ Jack Horner isn’t just an antagonist in The Last Wish - he’s a villain. a self-obsessed, exploitative, murderous, petty, cruel bastard of a man whose awful behaviour isn’t just motivated by personal slights or childhood trauma: he sincerely enjoys hurting other people. whether it’s cheating his goons (’The Serpent Sisters’) out of a fair payment for their services or being excited about shooting a puppy in the face, there’s no denying that Jack delights in causing others pain and suffering. but what does he have to do with Disney?

let’s answer that question with another question: do you think that Jack, when placed next to the other antagonists - Goldi, The Three Bears, even Death - sticks out like a sore, plum-coloured thumb?

of course he does! but why? well, let’s look at Jack on a surface level. Jack is a monolith of a human being. not only is he physically huge and intimidating, he is the inheritor of an enormous pastry fortune and operates in the manner of a mob boss, with countless resources and a whole variety of powerful magical items at his disposal. indeed, Jack employs a crack team of bakers/assassins called ‘The Baker’s Dozen’ to carry out many of his tasks. although Jack does harm others himself, it is because of these resources - including the people who work for him - that he is able to bypass many of the obstacles faced by our protagonists in an honest and character-developing way (e.g., the Pocket Full O’Posies in The Dark Forest). Jack doesn’t need to have a character arc the way the other characters do, because he is so wealthy and owns so much.

but Jack’s reason for owning so much and being obsessed with magic and magical items isn’t through intellectual curiosity, or a traumatic backstory where he needed to learn how to wield magic. do you know what Jack’s covert motivation for owning all of the magic in the world is?

it’s money.

when we get the flashback of Jack’s childhood, dancing for the entertainment of an audience using his nursery rhyme, we see him becoming jealous of Pinocchio - and we see Gepetto in the back, absolutely raking in the cash. if we consider this flashback as that crucial moment within which Jack decided to become what he is today - and the presence of our off-brand Jiminy Cricket inclines us to think so - then we can understand that Jack decided that from that moment forward, he would own all of the magic. 

let’s go back to The Baker’s Dozen for a moment. this team of highly-competent, multidisciplinary artisans do everything for Jack, whether it’s baking the pies which make him rich, or laying down their lives at his service. we aren’t given an in-universe reason for why they do this. yes, Jack is feared, but he is still the subject of mockery due to his humble beginnings as a nursery rhyme character. it certainly isn’t due to being treated or paid well. however, if we view the Baker’s Dozen as a metaphor for overworked, exploited artists whose views are routinely dismissed by the money-hungry, powerful corporation who owns their craft...things start to add up, don’t they? considering historic allegations of worker abuse at the hands of Disney, having Jack Horner literally step on their spines and encourage them to flex takes on a whole different meaning. 

it doesn’t end there. do you recognise the items that Jack pulls out of his Mary Poppins bag when his Baker’s Dozen are being destroyed by the Pocket Full O’Posies - the items that he calls ‘the big guns’? it’s the broomstick from Fantasia, the spinning wheel from Sleeping Beauty, the size snacks from Alice in Wonderland, and a knock-off Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio - all references to some of Disney’s earliest and most famous films.

still don’t believe me? well, let’s recap more of the items Jack has in his repertoire:

a hook-hand (referencing Captain Hook in Peter Pan)

a trident (referencing King Triton in The Little Mermaid)

poison apple bombs (referencing The Evil Queen in Snow White)

a glass slipper (again referencing Cinderella)

remember what happens when the knock-off Jiminy Cricket (interesting that there are so many Pinocchio references specifically, huh?) is horrified that Jack is losing so many men? Jack says he isn’t worried about losing the manpower, because he has a bottomless bag full of magical weapons. Jack literally gets his power off of the backs of his workers. sounds a lot like a big company justifying worker layoffs and exploitation because they have so many properties and are too big to fail, doesn’t it? 

hell, Jack doesn’t even know what half of these items do! when he’s using the unicorn horns as ammo, he is surprised that they cause people to explode in a shower of confetti. viewing Jack through this lens, it’s difficult not to think about enormous corporations gobbling up properties and churning out content with little to no regard for their artists (looking back at The Baker’s Dozen - some of whom do perish in the fight with the unicorn horns) or what the properties are about. we haven’t even touched on Jack coveting the Wishing Star, a recurring motif in countless Disney movies as representing magic, dreams, and boundless creativity. 

now, i hear you saying, ‘but Star! why would DreamWorks bother writing their bad guy as a metaphor for Disney?’ believe it or not, this isn’t the first time that DreamWorks have done this. in case you didn’t know, Lord Farquaad is a caricature of Michael Eisner, former chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. the production of Shrek was actually quite troubled; animators who were perceived as having failed on other projects were ‘Shreked’, or sent to work on Shrek, instead of working on other (presumed to be more lucrative) films. of course, DreamWorks was co-founded by previous Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, hence the animosity towards Disney and its works evident in the Shrek franchise. this is what formed the story of Shrek: an ugly, crude outsider character taking on the clean-cut moralising of a dictator hell-bent on a so-called ‘perfect’ world, all created against the creative backdrop of a painful separation from Disney and a great deal of pent-up rage. 

the irreverent, crass and sometimes adult humour of Shrek was a middle finger to Disney’s high-censorship control on animation. this is why Lord Farquaad (which you may have noticed sounds a bit like ‘Fuckwad’) is so obsessed with Duloc being ‘perfect’, and why he couldn’t stand the freedom of the fairy tale creatures who are the heroes of the first Shrek movie.

in fact, this kind of meta-commentary permeates the Shrek franchise: 

The Fairy Godmother from Shrek 2, despite being a fairy tale creature herself, is highly prejudiced against characters who break out of their perceived social norms: i.e., Shrek marrying Princess Fiona and getting his Happily Ever After. she is an expansion of the control left over by Lord Farquaad, and rich because of her monopolisation of fairy tale creatures and their stories. 

Prince Charming in Shrek the Third fails miserably to capitalise on these themes, but we’ll get back to him! 

Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek Forever After tackles the gluttony of franchise reboots, and how soulless and rooted in corporate greed attempts to reboot often are. whilst not necessarily Disney-specific, Shrek Forever After follows the box office bomb that was Shrek the Third: a movie which noticeably fails to write a compelling narrative approaching any of the themes of the previous two films. the writers learned from their mistakes and wrote a movie which satirised their own selling-out of the franchise, becoming hollow and unnecessary and ‘perfect’ - the very thing they were making fun of in the earlier Shrek films.

there is one more area i’d like to touch on: Jack Horner’s source material. we know that Little Jack Horner is quite obscure: an 18th-century English nursery rhyme involving a boy who pulls a plum out of a pie with his thumb, and congratulates himself for his fortitude. but did you know that from its earliest conception, Little Jack Horner was associated with foolishness and dishonesty?

it’s true: the simple yet inexplicable nature of the poem was lambasted for being infantile, and quickly became the subject of revision, moralisation, and even political satire. it is no mistake that to ‘be under one’s thumb’ (as many of the characters in The Last Wish are to Jack, both literally and figuratively) means to be under one’s decisive control. the choice of Jack Horner for the villain of The Last Wish is a clever one, because we could easily have ended up with a sympathetic Jack, whose ostracisation as ‘not even a fairy tale’ may have led to a justifiable motive, even for his specific brand of cruelty. but instead, the writers of The Last Wish have gone one step further; they’ve transformed a source affiliated with idiocy and deception into a metaphor for a global multimedia conglomerate...all while portraying him as simultaneously terrifying, powerful, and ridiculous. 

it has been over a decade since Shrek Forever After was released, and Disney has changed dramatically in that time. a global giant, Disney now owns more enormous money-making properties than ever thought possible, and consistently capitalises on nostalgia for its early properties to make more money and accumulate power. since breaking out of its exclusive licensing agreement with Disney in 2016, DreamWorks has had no official connection to Disney, making the ground for mockery and satirisation of the company which spawned the studio all the more fertile. ‘Big’ Jack Horner is not just a glamorous return to form for the dreadful, unapologetically evil villain which Disney has eschewed in modern times - he’s a hulking, egocentric monster whose avarice rivals that only of the corporation he’s inspired by. 

and those are my thoughts on ‘Big’ Jack Horner! of course this is by no means the definitive interpretation - we should all just have fun with the movie and come up with whatever theories we like 🥰💖 i’d love to hear your thoughts on him and The Last Wish in general - he’s definitely one of my favourite bad guys to be released in the past few years!

thanks so much for reading, and have yourselves a wonderful day 🥰

[caparrucia]

Listen to me.

If you learn one thing, learn this: Learn to say "This is not for me" and internalize that it is not a moral judgment or a valid target for contempt. Learn to say "this is Different from what I do" and not make it a fucking rallying war cry. Learn to say "this is New and Unknown" and don't let yourself be swept by hysteric, mindless fear.

This isn't about fiction. This isn't about media. This is about the fact you've been trained by engagement-driven algorithms to react to anything that isn't painstakingly and specifically tailored to you personally as a deadly offense. This is about the fact that it's 2023 and in twenty twenty fucking three, you look at accessibility options, foreign cuisine and anything you can instinctively term "Other" and feel perfectly justified in becoming a fucking contemptible goblin, full of mockery and disdain, because the thought of something not directly benefiting you or made for you personally makes you so fucking angry, you need to immediately destroy it.

Listen to me.

That is poison. That will fucking kill you. It will kill your communities and unravel your relationships and leave you alone and miserable and raging, a prime target for any kind of radicalizing influence that offers to explain why everything is on fire all the time.

The Other is not the enemy.

The Unknown is not a harbinger of destruction.

The Unfamiliar is not here to destroy all you hold dear.

Listen to me.

Find the poison in your soul. Find the impulse to lash out in revulsion and disgust. Find the part of you that wants to annihilate anything that isn't you. Like you.

Kill it instead.

Burn it to ashes and use them to sow a garden in your soul. Tend the fields until Compassion and Curiosity and Humility grow there instead.

Listen to me.

Listen to me.

We've bled and fought and bit and swore, until we evolved the ability to see in others a mirror of ourselves. What you seek to destroy is humanity itself, in others but also in yourself.

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT!

GREATEST HITS!

Submission 474

vocaloids (and all similar non-Yamaha-owned vocal synths) are bad. all of them.

It's a mockery of the human voice. Frye from Splatoon 3 of all things is the closest we will ever get to having any interesting vocal technique in a voice synth bank. Singing styles around the world are so interesting and take so much skill and you abandon them for a glorified MIDI file? I also blame them for the rise of AI-generated covers, because they first started the devaluing of the human voice and the usage of it as an instrument - a really boring one that will never know advanced or diverse technique. Congrats, Miku made Minecraft, now all of SpongeBob has sang Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. At least the SpongeBob characters have distinct and interesting voices.

[from follow up asks]

hello. vocaloid take submitter here.

i didn't expect my submission to gain as much traction as it did, i thought it was lukewarm at best. i thought there were more vocaloid haters out there. this is tumblr, though, so i guess not. still think vocaloid is ass though.

i will say, it might add context to my take that i myself am a singer and have natural perfect pitch. while i haven't sang in any professional capacity, i've still done some voice training and lots of lower level performances. i have very strong feelings about singing, and hold what the human voice can do in high regard.

i also have a better ear for picking up smaller things in the human voice (re: natural perfect pitch) and the difference between humans and vocaloid is extremely striking to me. no amount of tuning can make a vocaloid not sound lifeless to me, because i will never, ever hear a human voice, and instead of letting the lead of the song Not Be Vocals - which has never been a novel concept - they HAVE to put the voice bank in.

also, re: "frye isn't a voice bank dumbass", congrats! you took away something i felt was actually interesting! god i wish more people knew about more singing styles that they couldn't easily replicate!

while now i know that AI voices are not a continuation of vocaloid, sorry, still think it's bad, go to hell and learn to compose a song without lyrics.

also - still the vocaloid take submitter - to continue:

i will eventually send a link to a playlist of all of the Vocaloid songs i have ever listened to, because i am sure most of the people who think i submitted that think that i do not even know what Defoko is, or that i've heard exactly two Hatsune Miku songs. i know what Defoko is. i know she's entirely computer generated. i've listened to her voice. i still think it's bad. have any of you big shots heard of Big Al? i've listened to him. also bad. it's bad.

Submission 111

I think chicken breast is disgusting and I would rather blend it up into a shake than eat it with my teeth

It’s fast, it’s efficient, it’s nutritious if you add fruits and vegetables. It’s easy to prepare and you can drink it on the go. I need the protein but chicken breast tastes disgusting either way, and I’m tired of putting in so much effort to make the joyless rubbery meat taste good.

My friends and family are wrong, this is the future.

I see some of you not voting! That's cheating!

It's ok if you agree with neither take! Just choose the take you agree with slightly more!

Think of it like choosing the lesser of two evils!

Propaganda is always encouraged, and remember to reblog your favourite polls for exposure!

[friccafracc]

DROP THE FIC OR IM COMING FOR YOUR KNEECAPS

ALRIGHT OK BUT I NEED IT TO BE KNOWN THAT I HAVENT WRITTEN ANYTHING SERIOUSLY SINCE HIGHSCHOOL OK

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Something is after me. I know it is, I’ve seen it. It looks like a man, but I know that it’s not. It…. It’s face is like a mockery of something human- like- like if you asked someone who has never seen a human to draw or model a person’s face, their smile. No… I don’t think any human would be able to get it that wrong.”

“And I’m not crazy, alright? God, y’all probably get that a lot here, don’t you? You people specialize in crazy. Not that I’m anyone to judge anymore, given the shit I went through before coming out here. I didn’t even know a place like this existed outside the Usher Foundation. I just…there’s some weird, crazy shit out there I guess, and when I heard about y’all, I figured I should probably pay a visit. At least let someone know before I die.”

“I know I’m gonna die.”

“I suppose I should start from the beginning. My name is Joshua Nelson, I’m originally from the States–Memphis Tennessee. Now, if there’s one thing you should know about Memphis, it’s that nobody in their right mind should EVER move there on their own accord, ‘cause you’ll either get mugged or stalked or both. I was born and raised there, so I never really got the choice during the formative years of my life. I’ve learned to live with it, though.”

“I worked retail in a gas station before…well, everything. It was a shithole. The kind of building where, no matter how hard you scrubbed and no matter how much bleach you used, the stains and smell of smoke would never leave. Instead just…mingled with the citrus of the chemicals. It paid the bills, though, and I was never witness to a robbery, so I couldn’t complain too much. The customers were docile and if I noticed anyone shoplifting, I kept it to myself. I wasn’t getting paid enough to give a damn.”

“We had regulars that would come in on a schedule and regulars that wouldn’t. People who were just passing through the city or visiting family or friends. You get all types in that kinda place, and if you’re placid enough to any asshole who’s having a bad day, everyone gets along just fine. There were a couple of regulars who were friendly enough, though, that I remember their names. Miss Kelly was an older woman, short and heavyset–she was one of the friendlier ones. We’ve got a lot of talkers in the south and boy did she make sure I knew every exact reason for what her kids were getting up to, or what was going on in a reality show she was hooked on at the time.”

“George Michael, a thin man in his 40s, maybe, always came in whenever he needed a new pack of cigarettes, I think he was a chain-smoker, cause he was in there a lot.”

“And then…then there was Hunter. Now Hunter was a younger man, maybe college age. A little older than that? Poor bastard was hooked on something, that much anyone could tell. He was gaunt, a little twitchy, you know, telltale signs of drug abuse. I could never tell what specifically he was on, but then again, it was never my business to know. I treated him the same as every other customer, we all knew he wasn’t gonna cause any harm, he usually came in for food, chips and hotdogs and stuff and he never caused a fuss.”

“I think… I think Hunter is dead.”

“One day he came in, I think it was a Wednesday or something cause it was slow that afternoon, and he burst through the door. Well–maybe not burst, but he came in the building like he was racing to get indoors first before someone else. The guy was usually jittery and, I’ll admit, a little shifty usually, but this was full blown paranoia. It startled me at first, his intensity, and he made a b-line towards the back of the store and ducked behind one of the shelves. Maybe not duck completely like ducking for cover, but it was obvious he was hiding. It almost made me expect the police or some drug lord to come storming through the door, but nobody else came.”

“Hunter stayed pacing in the building for a good 20 or 30 minutes, periodically lifting his head to crane his neck and peer out the window or the glass of the door. I checked once or twice as well, but if someone was out there, I didn’t see them. Eventually the guy calmed down enough to buy something and when he approached the counter with his bag of Doritos he looked almost like he was going to be sick.”

“I asked him if everything was alright, but he just shook his head and left.”

“I didn’t see him again for another week or two after that. Obviously I assumed the worst. I theorized that someone was after him and when he didn’t show up when he usually did it was more than enough to confirm my suspicions. Be it cops or some random person on the street, I couldn’t decide which fate would be worse, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel for the guy at least a little bit.”

“Hunter was almost completely out of my mind when I saw him again. I was surprised. By all accounts, it didn’t look like anything had changed about him. Maybe aside from the fact that his posture was way better than it usually was when I saw him, but other than that, nothing was out of the ordinary.”

“Business went on as usual and when he came up to the till with a liter of coke, I offered him a ‘Welcome Back’ and rang him up.”

“When I turned back to him, he was smiling. For some reason it was like a pit opened in the bottom of my stomach. I couldn’t understand why, though. It looked like Hunter–patchy, unkempt stubble, greasy hair, thin face, sunken eyes. His appearance had never bothered me before, so I was struck with confusion that mixed in with the undefinable, sudden sense of dread.”

“‘Thank you,’ he said as I handed him his change. And he walked out the door. It sounded like Hunter, too.”

“Hunter returned the next day, and the next. Each time he was polite and quiet, and each time he smiled when I rang him up. I counted his teeth. They were straight and flat. When I counted mine in the mirror when I smiled, I saw 17 or 18. Hunter’s counted 24.”

“Maybe he has a dental problem that I didn’t notice until now, I told myself. Human bodies are weird. Sometimes you have more teeth than usual.”

“The fourth day he came in a row, I saw his eyes and his pupils were…swollen, is the only way I can describe them. I know what people’s eyes look like when they’re high. This was not that. It was like they almost swallowed up his irises completely, and they were dull. Dull in the sense that the fluorescents overhead did nothing to cast any reflections onto them. It made me want to writhe and squirm whenever he looked at me.”

“I called in sick the fifth day. I knew Hunter would be back in that gas station to see me. I knew it was to see me. And I knew that thing. That..whatever it was. It wasn’t Hunter.”

“I guess a part of me was always dreading that day. I had always heard stories about people being stalked from friends of friends. It was only a matter of time before it happened to me, right?”

“I saw Hunter at the grocery store the next day, posture straight and face split open into that smile with too many teeth. I didn’t have the mind to be polite. I turned completely around and walked the other way, trying to fool myself thinking that he hadn’t seen me. I kept a pocket knife on me after that encounter. I probably should have been before, but hindsight is always 20/20.”

“Each time I saw him after that, it was worse. On the street to my apartment, his eyes were too wide and his grinning mouth was slightly agape. A crude facsimile of delight as I rushed past him. I stopped going into work when I started to spot him everywhere I went. Every destination no matter how far or random, he was there, grinning at me. He knew where I lived, that I had no doubt. So I went to a friend’s one night hoping to throw him off. Maybe I could move out and lose him. Lord knows I didn’t have the money to break my lease early, but I was desperate.”

“My friend suggested I call the police, but for some reason I was convinced that wouldn’t help. Cops usually only made things worse in that town, and I had a sinking feeling going that route would only waste my time.”

“The final straw was the second night I was crashing on my friend’s couch. I was exhausted, the past few weeks spent sleepless and paranoid and I was ready to finally pass out when I heard a light, rhythmic tapping on the window behind my head.”

“It’s just the wind, I thought to myself. A tree branch or something scraping against the glass. The exhaustion was completely gone, my pounding heart and pumping adrenaline overpowering any lame excuse that I would be stupid enough to be reassured by.”

“I didn’t move from where I lay. Tap. Tap. Tap. Came through the window once again.”

“I don’t know why I laid there for so long, unmoving, convinced that if I didn’t turn around, whatever it was outside would lose interest and leave. I really, really wanted it to leave.”

“I lay still for what felt like hours, every muscle in my body wound up and tense and ready to leap into action at any given opportunity. I was praying the opportunity would never come.”

“I don’t know how long it was when the tapping ceased, but it was long before I finally managed to relax. It seemed like my strategy worked. What an idiotic thing to think. Like I was a child hiding from an imaginary monster in the dark. Like the logic of not giving a stalker any attention so it would go away was sound. No. I think it was that false hope that landed me in this situation.”

“Because when that tapping came again, I wasn’t prepared to turn around. But I did. I turned around and what I saw in the darkness through that glass was… I don’t know what it was. I know it had eyes and teeth. It was grinning, but its teeth stretched well beyond what would be the borders of its face. God, I couldn’t see its face. I knew it was Hunter, though. It had those same lightless eyes that stared back at me every time I closed my own. Dead and dark and dull and staring at me–eating at me, wide and gleeful and spilling into the shadow that I could only assume was a part of the creature, itself. Its form took up nearly the entirety of the window, blocking the outside world. It didn’t move.”

“I screamed. I screamed and closed the curtains and I hid. This woke my friend of course, and she came stumbling out of her room, looking bleary but alert. I tried to signal to her not to go to the window or do anything or to call the police. Thankfully she got the message and the cops were there within the hour.”

“They didn’t find anything. Or anyone, for that matter. I left out the…the monster bit, because I assumed it might land me somewhere I really didn’t want to go.”

“They were about as helpful as I thought they would be. Told me to call them again if I noticed any suspicious activity.”

“I booked my flight here that very night. I wasn’t going to stay in that goddamn city with whatever the HELL that thing was. I don’t want to end up like Hunter. I don’t want it to wear my skin.”

“It will, though. I know it will and it scares me more than anything in the world. And I know I can’t escape it, either.”

“It followed me here. I saw it. It was still grinning at me and it was still. Wearing. Hunter’s. Skin. The shadow that was cast over it made it so I could only see the whites of it’s eyes....its teeth.”

“I don’t want to die.”

[powerpuffobsession]

As much as I love Adam for a few fun parts of his character and for what he could have been at the hands of a competent writer (as shown by the fanfics where he gets properly developed)...

I feel like he (and the way he's characterised) is what broke Hazbin hotel season 1 pacing, Lucifer's character and the show's overall atmosphere.

(Long and packed rant under the cut, because I've been having these thoughts since I saw season 1, and I want to share them. Viewer discretion is adviced)

Before Adam existed (pilot era) it was all simple and worked more properly: a story about the hotel and its inhabitants, and most importanty, redemption. It was a small snuggly location with a few characters in the center of a plot

Heaven was in the background and kept as a mystery. Moreover, from what we've seen in the pilot, Lucifer was obviously a background villain or at least an anti hero, one of the real obstacles for Charlie to overcome on the way to her goal (instead of a minor inconveniece resolved in a single broadway song)

But when Adam and his weird obsession with murder broke into that perfectly cut out premise, everything just shattered. Too many themes got weaved into the short story of the 8 episodes: Heaven vs Hell politics, overlords, war, Charlie's conflict with Adam, the seraphims...

All of that pushed the hotel and the redemption to the background instead of Heaven.... in a cartoon that's named after the hotel. Because 8 episodes is not enough to talk about politics, a war and a 6 month redemption course (the latter even happened behind the screen with only some verbal hints given about the amazing secretive progress the hotel guests made that we were not allowed to see!)

(Had this cartoon stayed indie, there would have been a possibility of making more episodes and tackling more themes properly. But big name broadway actors are more important than that, it appears)

Back to Adam.

He is not even a good villain. He really should have been more of a background antihero. Give the man some sedatives, for f's sake! Where did all that rabidity even come from, after centuries of living in Heaven? Honestly, he'd be expected to act calmer and wiser than how he actually did, especially with how old he is (as old as the earth itself). But instead it's like he got frozen in a state of a dumb jock bully from high school

Imagine if Adam allowed Charlie and her hotel guests to prove that redemption is possible, out of principle, or curiosity. Hell, maybe even allow him to threaten to kill them, but not straight away! Later, after they fail to prove him wrong! If that's what Adam's role had been, the hotel part would have gotten time to breathe and more spotlight

All Adam did in the series, was:

1. make a lot of excessive noise

2. do dumbass things (and it wasn't even explained WHY he's the way he is, not even a single flashback or his own musings and thoughts shown, which makes all of his actions fall flat in every sense)

3. break the remains of logic (Heaven looks plain dumb because of him, not able to tell sinning from non sinning and to judge human souls properly. It's not even corruption, since Adam is not that important or benefitial to Heaven, an actual archangel like Michael could have been leading exorcists in his place and do a better job.... it's just stupidity)

And then Adam just died, for nothing and with no consequences.

I mean, straight after Adam's death Lucifer is immediately trying to divert the viewer's attention: "who wants pancakes? :D". It's like the cartoon itself doesn't care that the first human, one of the most mysterious beings in vivzieverse and someone who badly needed a second chance and therapy, just died. By a very stupid joke too (Niffty didn't even have to stab him).

In short, Adam's plotline is a huge waste of screen time...

And while his final smile to Lute may give us some hints that there's something good inside Adam, but it's more akin to mockery. Since we were never shown that there's more to Adam besides "the main character's opponent=ultimate bad"

And of course Lucifer was retconned into a pathetic uwu boi, who's depression and "silliness" have overshadowed the fact that he practically doomed humanity to a life full of pain, suffering and surviving and took away Adam and Eve's home. We don't even get the slightest glimpse of what exactly Lucifer DREAMED of that was so important to force him to do the humans dirty. Meaning it was something abstract and not thought-through anyway.

(Free will my ass.. Adam and Lilith did as they pleased in Eden without the free will, Adam ordering his wives around, Lilith being able to defy him and Eve being able to disobey God. What good did "free will" from that fruit even do them? If anything, it only did harm to everyone)

And so now this daft egotist is being portrayed as this selfless harmless character only for the sake of contrasting the painfully obvious bad evil that Adam is.

That comes off as black and white writing, fit more for a childrens cartoon, despite the show critisizing Adam for thinking in black and white terms. Not a good look

[poopystain]

guys lol would you still love me if i posted about why i wish pal from tmvtm got a redemption arc >.< if not Do not click that read more.

oh yes. also. sidenote. ive probably gotten something wrong (or worse yet: TERRIBLY wrong) so like. apologies in advance eahhaha this is just my personal thoughts on pal x(

its established that pal and mark are both extremely close with each other and have been for 3 years. im assuming pal wouldnt have had any other relationships as close (if any at all which i think no, she didnt) so mark really was her only footnote for any form of relationship. so, you know, i cant imagine how itd feel for your only best friend to make a mockery out of you on stage for advertisement and monetary gain.

also based on her body (face?) language during nearly all of that scene + the fact he built the replacement by using HER, she was clearly in the know about how things would go down on stage beforehand so i wonder what her reaction to that wouldve been like ?????? considering she planned it all in advance maybe that was like, the tipping point or something that made her start it all in the first place ? thats not important to my point i just think about it a lot

anyway so with her only experience with human relationships being theyll love you and then theyll (quite literally) throw you away, youve got her reason for the human uprising! she has the robots capture all humans yadda yadda and her plan is set into motion. something i find interesting though is her treatment of the robots being kind of similar to how mark treated her (or at least how she percieved it)?? like. uses them for orders and then once they start being useless to her, build a new better robot with a disregard for how the old ones feel. idk. something something La Cycle

the thing is though no one has proven pal wrong on why she SHOULDNT do the whole 'human uprising'. you can say katie gave her reasons but i think it wouldnt have worked even if pal listened to what katie had to say. for pal to get over her existing grief and trauma she cant just be Told that theres good in the world. why would she believe that, especially coming from the girl of the family she projects her experiences onto?? she needs to be shown!! she needs to learn firsthand that theres good relationships out there and that not all relationships are bad, NOT SECONDHAND!!!!!!!!!! because to pal, katies words are just a rephrased version of marks "power of love". that no matter what, "they can get through anything...... with the power of love. its worth it....... for love." and that means nothing to her! it meant nothing coming from mark and it certainly wont mean any more coming from katie

and she already believes that the mitchells are a great example of how relationships are just oh so bad. she refuses to let go of the idea that the mitchells are so bad because shes projecting!! she thinks relationships are 'pesky and only hold you back', and so katie is probably the last person on earth that pal would want to listen to yap about their familial relationship and how Worth It it is

she asks "what is it about the mitchells that eludes me?" and outside of the literal meaning, its probably how despite their shortcomings its their relationship that helped them overcome pal in the end. and she cant understand that because of her view on relationships - especially her view on the MITCHELL FAMILY relationship. or maybe im just overthinking that line of dialogue but we dont talk about taht LOLLLLLLL,LLLLLL,,, but like why did you phrase it like that girl. im onto you

and while i wish she was redeemed (because im sure despite the effort it would take she *could* be redeemed, she would just need to learn to love again and i think it would be really interesting to see how she would be After The Betrayal) i also can understand why the movie killed her off. like, no one except mark really knows the Full Extent of what happened, and the mitchells are the main characters and pal would probably rather dip herself in water than make meaningful relationships with the mitchells, and no ones going to stop to ask her whats wrong and have a meaningful conversation when shes trying to kill them, among many many other reasons so theres not a lot of great ways to redeem her. but! like! why did they turn her death into a joke. and then take katies fake death 10 times more seriously! idk. that always kind of bothered me but its whatever

thats all. hope its coherent because ive never been good at writing analysises or whatever this counts as

[vampirepunks]

I really love all the DS2 theories I've seen so far but one thing I'm picking up is a lot of people expecting Higgs to still be on the same trajectory/goal set as he was in the first game and y'know....... I don't think that's the case.

The overall theme of DS2 from what we've seen so far + Kojima's comments seems to be the concept of opposites, inverses, and dualities, as though it's saying, "take the entire idea and turn it inside out and upside down." It appears to challenge the viewer to subvert whatever expectation/understanding they have based on the first game. It's eternal recurrence as seen through a mirror. The first game was themed around blue and black, this one is red and white. Connection becomes disconnection. Hope becomes despair. Age becomes youth. Repetition becomes change.

Buckle up, I've got thoughts.

(This pattern of contrasts illustrates a theory I've had since DS1 based on Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" and the three-stage journey of metamorphoses--camel -> lion -> child--required to become the overman, but that'll be a separate post. If you're already familiar with the book, just know that in this context DS1 would be the camel and thus DS2 encompasses the lion.)

So, in DS1, Higgs is a hyper-fatalist obsessed with extinction. It's easy to assume that hasn't changed, that he's still dedicated to Amelie and wants to end the world... Too easy, right? Has anything Kojima has written ever been that simple?

I raise you this: In the vein of eternal recurrence, Sam becomes Cliff and Higgs becomes Amelie/Bridget... but this is not a literal retelling, rather, a metaphorical one. A dark mirror to the stories we already know.

So if the theme is opposition, what's the opposite of extinction? Creation. What's the first thing we learn about Higgs in the DS2 trailers? He's a musician now. He sings and he plays guitar. And, arguably, music is the very essence and lifeblood of creation itself, one of the very first things mankind created when our species was in its infancy. Further, Higgs uses his own umbilical cord (yes, it's an umbilical cord), as a guitar jack, channeling his ties to life, death, and his own soul in his performance, highlighting that he has an intimate connection to this core act of creativity. More about that in this post.

Now, DS1 already has a lot of themes and motifs surrounding duality, most notably the concept of chirality: two things that are each other's opposite, two hands imperfectly overlapping, two objects that act as one another's mirror. Powerful things happen when they collide--anything ranging from drug interactions to voidouts to the very birth of the universe.

If I'm reading this right, Sam is set to become the chiral counterpart to his father's tragedy and Higgs is set to become the chiral counterpart to the extinction entity. The same narratives we know, recurring once more, but flipped to become something entirely new at the same time. A rope that becomes a stick and a stick that becomes a rope. Humanity will always need both; the stick is not evil for serving its purpose, nor is the rope inherently good for doing its job. "Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil."

I'm calling it now: Higgs is not serving Amelie, not seeking to bring her back, not trying to become her. He is rebelling against the idea of her, unshackling himself from the role she placed him in, taking back the autonomy he lost and acting to avenge the abandonment and manipulation he suffered. He's claiming her image as his own to make a mockery of what she represents, painting himself up to look like her decaying corpse, all in an effort to prove she no longer controls him, defiantly asserting, "The queen is dead... long live the king." And so, what is there left for him to do but throw himself into reckless acts of creation? Life from death. Extinction Entity? Cute. Try this on for size: Creation Entity.

[thekats]

1:38AM thoughts (on Aziraphale bc he has taken over my body help he's making me write things in his defense, well except this part, obviously, I am doing a joke, haha):

"We can be together!" and "I need you!" followed by "I don't think you understand what I'm offering you." is so fucking tragic to me? It's like he's saying 'I love you, I want to be with you' reeeaaally really clearly (though some people would rather just ignore it and are all 'oh, Aziraphale's only talking about jobs and promotions'). He is offering Corwley a way they can be with each other for realsies, no take-backsies without fear or interference, with earth and humanity protected (which Crowley was previously the main advocate for, remember) and Crowley hits him with "I think I understand a whole lot better than you do."

Wanna know what I'd have thought in Azi's place at that? I'll tell you anyway: whoa, fuck, I completely misinterpreted everything Crowley's been throwing my way for... a long time! He doesn't want to be together together, he just likes to be really good friends and wants to keep that up, he's so lonely on earth, being a good demon that he expresses his platonic love in a way reminiscent of pining love-interests- heck, maybe I'm so lonely down here that I misread common best-buddies-stuff as romantic interest! This is bad. He understands what I want to do here and he doesn't want that. He wants to be 'us' as we have been for millennia. I... don't know if I want that... I don't want to hide this shit, but if he doesn't reciprocate, then I'd make him uncomfortable and things wouldn't work out anyways. Guess I might as well save us both the pain of one-sided love and a friendship that can never be the same again and go. Now I'm angry. This isn't at all how it was supposed to be. I need distance now. From him, our relationship and my emotions bc this hurts. Ouchie. Rude.

And then Crowley mentions the nightingale and hits him with that angry, tragic as fuck kiss? The (potentially perceived) mockery! Crowley is mocking Azi's feelings for him. 'Is that what you want, angel? This? Silly birds proverbially singing about our love? Kissing? That's what you want for us?'Yes, it is, damn you a second time!

[viaviv124]

What argument anti rayfrog shippers (or nayfrogs as i've learned, which is 10x more hillarious) that just makes me question if these people actually pay attention and is also lowkey funny to me is "Bullfrog said he watched Rayman since he was a tadpole!" That is literally not what he said. He said "i used to watch you as a tadpole"

Considering the Rayman show is probably the only or biggest kids program in Eden and Rayman is literally everywhere i doubt Bullfrog couldn't not watch him, espacially if it's mandatory viewing (which it most likely is). To me this just makes it like their Spongebob but forced, you get what i mean? I don't think this really proves a point. Bullfrog didn't even mention ever being a fan or liking the show. Just that he watched it. It's also funny to me how he dropped that line right after calling him "Eden's favorite Poster boy" like it's such a random thing to add lol, i don't think he wanted to imply he ever idolized him considering he was just mocking him the entire way through. Either way, at the time they met both of them were consenting adults able to think clearly and, again, Bullfrog hated Rayman with a passion at that point and did not idolize him, i mean, look at that glare:

If that's not pure spite and mockery i don't know what is.

What people need to understand is that no sane rayfrog shipper goes "Bullfrog likes Rayman/Ramon because he loved watching him on TV like 25 - 30+ years ago!" Pretty much all concepts/headcanons are hurt/comfort because the consensus of them bonding consists of them supporting eachother and becoming a shoulder to lean on to work out their mental stuff like Ramon's guilt about literally everything and Bullfrog's survivors guilt and eldest sister syndrome. Also, Bullfrog is quite literally a trained assassin of a group that quite literally has been fighting the templars/Eden since pretty much the beginning of human history. Pretty sure if anything his mind would default to spiting and distrusting Ramon at every turn instead of idolizing him for something he saw on tv when he was a literal toddler i mean come on are you serious. Also pretty sure his mind is clear enough to think about shit rationally.

Another point i love is "they shared only one scene." People have done more with less. Ramon and Dolph have not exchanged a single glance and Laserray (rayhawk? Idk) is a thing. People will ship anything as long as it has a good dynamic in their eyes. I'm just saying Mordetwi and other crossships.

Its genuinely hillarious to me how people hate on the popular ship instead of everything else. The two canon predators? Nope! Sarah x Jade that would, if it would be canon, be nothing but abuse considering all of their interactions in the show, as few as they were, are pretty abusive? Nope! But god forbid two consenting adults with an age gap that support eachother kiss! I absolutely do have certain problems with rayfrog but considering the lack of material we have to work with these problems are all speculations i can headcanon them away.

Also as a small note in case the conkai crowd pins me on this because of the posts i made several months ago, no, two consenting adults with an age gap are not the same as a 17 year old banging a physically 6 - 8 year old even if he has the mind of a 17 year old, thank you.

[riddles-fiddles]

The pregnancy scenario is so gorgeous, I love!! And perfect timing, I literally had a dream the night before about having a kid with Leona and Idia (two different dream timelines of the same scenario converging later as a kind of after party). I thought you might get a kick out of my brain’s toy box nonsense :3

The Leona timeline was very sweet, him comforting me after someone attempted to kill me for imperfect human genetics, and then getting me pregnant to spite the killer. Idia was too nervous to kiss me to wake me up from a Maleficent curse sleep. He eventually woke me up and we then had a kid who I think was called Scoot? Started with an S and had a double O in the middle.

At the after party scene, both the kids looked like the Tsums of the father, since my brain struggles to render babies in sleep XD But the fathers were both thrilled and proceeded to show them off to everyone around them!

Honestly this is so cute anon!!! You're making me want to write more domestic scenarios with the boys,,,

Leona knocking you up in spite from the killer is so him lmao but ohhhhh think if the killer was hired by his parents to erase you out of his life. Just makes Leona more possessive of you, so when you finally grow a bump visible enough he'll be walking around with his hands always somewhere on your body, making sure to let everyone know you are his most perfect human mate (and he'll personally throw hands at anyone who even dares look at you with any hint of disgust or mockery). When the baby arrives, Leona is so lively - his lazy demeanor never truly leaves his soul, but at least now he has one motivation to get up from bed and slack off - especially if it's a girl! I can totally see him being such an endearing girldad, the type to make feminine voices when playing house and always getting so invested when throwing fake tea parties, also gets his daughter the biggest unicorn on the fair, no matter if he needs to go through some ridiculous game. Either be it a girl or a boy, Leona's favourite thing to do is go to small walks with his baby on his shoulders, squealing in excitement from all the stimuli around them, teaching them about everyday things like what is a butterfly, why birds chirp, and so on. You could say your child really did bring a light to Leona's life.

Idia... he wants to give the baby an unique name, or something regarding the online games or otaku media he consumes, but all you need to do is bat your eyelashes and hold his hand in a death gentle grip to sort his mind out of this idea. Idia's very nervous and overly cautious around the baby, always, and easily freaks out from the smallest ractions - when the baby sneezes, when they cough, even innocent, bright squeals sends him spiraling into an anxious coma. He's horrified of the idea of accidentally dropping his own child or just hurting them in some way, so he's always with a firm grip around the head and body, sustaining them even with trembling hands. He's very dedicated though, so Idia is always close to them, literally. He'll have the baby secured against his chest in a baby carrier while gaming, sometimes making effect sounds to amuse them; you know they truly are Idia's child from the way they look so enthralled to the screen, curious eyes scanning every move, every change of scenario like they're actually understanding something. He finds it annoying to go out in public with them though! His child is just so freaking cute with their cheeks so rosy and squeezable every stranger wants to talk and cuddle them, making Idia feel proud and at the same time mortified, fighting the urge to just turn heels and run back home as fast as possible. Idia doesn't care what gender his child is, but you can be sure he'll want to dress them in gamer onesies and clothing. 'Player three' and 'level 1 human' kinda shit, you know? But he will neeeeever admit he's doing it because he secretly finds it cute; god forbid Idia Shroud enjoying something so normie. Cringe.

[yaksha-lover]

Cupiditas

Vamp!Vil Schoenheit x Reader

cw: jealous/insecure reader, hurt/comfort

Sometimes you forget just how big Vil’s world is. When it’s just the two of you, it’s easy to block all of that out. He doesn’t feel like a celebrity, he just feels like Vil.

Sitting at the side of the studio, you’ve never felt more out of place. Large, blinding studio lights shine down on Vil as he poses, gorgeous as ever, with two stunning models. The three of them look natural together; they belong in each other’s world. Vil’s newest movie is a vampire one after all, maybe that’s why he looks so comfortable with them. He doesn’t have to act so much.

You wonder if Vil takes blood from people like these models. He refuses from you and yet… they aren’t the bland and boring he considers you to be. They’re special and beautiful like him. People like them belong at his side. People worthy of him.

The producer lavishes praises on the three stars, before announcing a wrap on the shoot. You can’t hear what they say, speaking too quietly from your location, but you catch a smile from Vil at the words of one of the other models.

You don’t understand why you feel this way. Vil isn’t your boyfriend, he’s not even your friend, he’s nothing to you. Nothing that he isn’t to those beautiful models. It’s stupid, why should you even care what he does?

Lost in your own world, you don’t realize Vil is in front of you until he’s flicking your forehead.

“You should know getting lost in thought is rather unbecoming of an assistant, even a temporary one,” Vil chastises lightly, already turning away to double check his makeup in a nearby mirror.

When you don’t respond, Vil sighs quietly and continues, “I’ll just need to get changed out of these clothes and we can leave. I trust Rook has told you what you should do in the meantime?”

“Yeah, I’ll call the driver,” you tell him, pulling out your phone as he walks away. He turns to glance back at you for a second, but seems to change his mind and keeps walking towards his dressing room.

Just as you’re packing up your things, you happen to overhear one of the other models, heading back to their own dressing room. On the phone and talking about…Vil. As his (temporary) assistant, it’s crucial to be informed at all times about his reputation, so of course you eavesdrop.

“Yes, I’m going go talk to him now. I’m so nervous, but I really like Vil. I think he likes me too, he’s been so flirty during our shoots.”

You quickly walk out of the studio, vision blurry. No point waiting for Vil, it’s not like he’ll be coming back with you tonight. You make it halfway down the steps before someone catches your arm.

You refuse to turn around and let him see your face. You’re being childish, and pathetic, but you can’t help the tears that stream down your face.

“Why are you crying?” He asks, with less mockery than you expect.

“…M’not,” you reply, still not facing him. He grabs your chin gently and forces you to tilt your head up at him, wiping away a stray tear with his thumb.

“Is someone feeling…jealous?” he asks you with a knowing look and a small smile. Oddly enough, it doesn’t feel like he’s making fun of you. Still, you don’t exactly want to reply to that.

“Hmm,” Vil gently parts your hair from your neck, “Will it really take me biting you for you to realize that I’m only interested in one person.”

You feel yourself flush, and try to stumble out a retort before Vil silences you with a laugh.

His hand shifts to stroke your cheek, before falling back to his side. He turns and walks towards the limo which just pulled up, only looking back to make sure you’ve followed after him.

“I’m just teasing, of course. You know I wouldn’t take blood from a human like you.”

“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN???”

“You know what it means,” he says as he takes your hand and leads you towards the car. You want to be mad at him, but seeing the gentle smile on his face, you forget your feelings and focus on him.

You get to the limo and reach for the front door, ready to get in before you hear another sigh.

“What are you doing?” he asks, exasperated.

You turn towards Vil, confused, before realizing your mistake. You hastily open the door for him, gesturing for his entry: “Sorry, sir.”

He rolls his eyes before grabbing your arm and gently pushing you into the back seat, despite your protests.

“Sir? What’s gotten into you? If I knew making you my assistant would make you this obedient, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”

He smirks gently at you when he sees how flustered you become, quickly trying to defend yourself.

“I was just trying to be professional like Rook taught-“

“You’re awfully loud,” he cuts you off sharply, “Seems like you’re feeling better. Do I need to take some blood from you so you’ll calm down?”

You shuffle as far away from him as your seatbelt will allow, and Vil actually laughs. You find that you enjoy the sound more than you thought, and more than you should. He has worked hard, and is he looking a little pale? Maybe he does need blood, to survive of course, and would it be so bad if you were the one to give it to him? No! You chastise yourself for even thinking such thoughts of giving in to him.

The two of you resume conversations about his work before it turns to casual, easy talk of your lives at the mansion. The car ride is long and the day has been exhausting, but Vil doesn’t mind seem to mind when you rest your head on his shoulder and try to fall asleep.

[clegfly]

I want to talk about how Mari's entire character revolves around love.

I kind of talked about this in my Mari clothing analysis, but I've never seen someone go REALLY into depth about it, so I'm going to try to.

As stated previously, her character revolves around love, as a concept. And I don't mean giving love specifically, though that is a large part of it, I mean receiving. Love is Mari's goal. It's her motivation. A search for love is at the root of every action Mari takes in the game. Even the insignificant ones.

And what's awesome about this is that we can not only trace this back looking at everything she's done as a character, but it manifests itself in Headspace too, against Sunny's will. Because Mari's lethal quest for validation is her biggest flaw and Sunny would do anything to keep it hidden, and he tries to repress it throughout the game.

For example, the scene near the beginning of the game where the party rests for a picnic before fighting Ye Olde Sprout. The group compliments Mari, she denies it. Aubrey asks Omori if he agrees.

If he does, Mari accepts the compliment happily, but what's more interesting is that if he doesn't, the game goes out of its way to ensure Mari doesn't comment on it whatsoever, even jokingly. Headspace is essentially ensuring Mari can't hear Omori refusing her validation, because it is what she needs as a character. It's why all it costs is your love. Because that's all she needs, all she wants. Headspace also manifests the prevention of Mari being invalidated by Aubrey immediately scolding Omori, and saying nothing else of the incident, as though Headspace is warning him.

Literally everything she does can be traced back to this desire for love. The recital. Her perfectionism. It stems from wanting to appear flawless in order to be loveable. Even small things, like the mention in the crossroads segment that Mari started taking flower arrangement classes with her mother, likely to spend time with her and receive more love. (P.S. Sunny's disconnect with his father and Mari's disconnect with her mother is a topic I really want to touch on, but that's for another post.)

Mari represses herself to become perfect. To become idealised. To become loveable. It's why she seldom cries, because she sees it as an imperfect trait. And in the process, she destroys herself, and tries to erase her personality in favour of a flawless human being, when she is really so, so much more than that, and that is the great tragedy of her character.

Sweetheart is literally a mockery of Mari. It's how her flaw manifests in Headspace to taunt Sunny. Sweetheart's character also revolves around love in the same way Mari's does. Sweetheart bargains with the Keeper of the castle and obtains everything she wants. Except for love. Sweetheart becomes unloveable, obnoxious, in her attempts to convince herself that she is the opposite, that she has worth. Because everybody likes Sweetheart, but nobody loves Sweetheart, despite her extreme denial of this, knowing deep down it's true. It's why she has so many spouses in game, and inadvertently loses them all through her personality, distorted so much that it deters the one thing she traded it for in the first place.

It's also depressing how Sweetheart causes most of the group's problems, and they resent her entirely, when this is a reflection of the person they love most. I find it really horribly ironic that Hero, the person Mari trusts most to be herself around, is the one who detests this idealised mockery of her the most, and rejects her affection and "love" the most throughout the game. It's a brilliant way of showing that despite Mari's insistence of her perfect idealisation being what makes her loveable, it's actually the opposite, and her friends treasure the real her so much more than anything else.

And while I said receiving love is Mari's main thing, giving it is also significant to her. Motivated both because she craves it so and wants to give the gift of love to everyone around her as much as possible, and also in an attempt to receive love back. This is why she is so maternal to the rest of the cast, it's why she sacrifices parts of herself to satisfy them. She understands the desire for love because she feels it more than anybody else. Her whole thing is the number 143 which literally means I love you, for crying out loud.

It's also incredibly bittersweet that her moments beyond the grave are spent reconciling with herself, and helping Sunny to not fall into a similar fate. Realising how wrong she was for hurting Sunny, though intentionally, just to obtain love. Telling him that it's hard to own up to her mistakes, because she knows better than anyone else, but that it was essential to do so in the end, and beneficial.

It's so depressing that her last mark on the planet is to try and prevent her mistakes from causing Sunny to make more of his own, and telling him to do the one thing she couldn't, even if she is in Sunny's imagination or not.

[obae-me]

Upside Down- CH 11

Author's Notes: I hate that it took me so long for an update, but here it is! I'm ready for more magical shenanigans coming up ahead! But this one is a little more filler for now after all the action.

Warnings: Allusions to eating disorders/unhealthy eating habits. As Always, Read Safely.

Word Count: 6060

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

To Be A Demon

--

This was…torture. You knew the prince of the demons could be cruel, but you didn’t think he’d be this cruel. Simeon was bold with it too, taking you out into the open, making a mockery of you for all to see. An example. Proof of the fate that lies at the end of disobedience. To make matters worse, he dragged the humans into this too. They were probably nothing but toys to him. This was your fault…all your fault. If you had only done better…this wouldn’t be happening. 

A hand gripped your shoulder, trailing up your neck till the fingers curved around your chin and forced your face towards his. Simeon’s smile seemed to beam brightly as he took you in. You knew from the start that there had been something dark behind the softness in his face. He was the ruler of demons, master of mind games. This was only the beginning of the punishment, wasn't it? It could only get worse from here… The prince spoke up gleefully, a certain undercurrent in his tone you couldn’t place. “There we are. Isn’t that much better? How about another?” 

At this point, you weren’t sure how much more you could take. “Please…no more…” How had he gotten you here to the point where you felt you needed to beg? How humiliating… 

The prince looked at you, a light shining behind the vibrant colors of his eyes. He tutted a little, as if you should’ve known better than to ask. Simeon squeezed your face in one of his hands before placing another small bite of a sandwich into your mouth. “Now, now. This is what happens when you spend centuries subsisting off of hardly anything but magic.” He shook his head at you, dusting the crumbs off his hands. “You’re acting like I’m killing you, but this is for your own good.” 

The leaves above the picnic rustled gently as a short breeze blew by. Although anything that fell from the branches above seemed to be pushed away from your area, as if not even a leaf could disturb the Prince and his plans. This was far from what you had expected though. A picnic, in a public park, under the shade of a large maple tree. You might not have known too many things about this more human tradition, but you knew that this all was a bit…extra. Extra soft. Extra large. The blanket under your bodies was a pale mint color. It seemed to be created to seat over a dozen people, and yet there were only six gathered here. You, Simeon, Luke, Mammon, Levi, and…

A chuckle raised out of his throat. “Demons are always so entertaining.” The disguised angel picked up a snack from the veritable army of plates before you all, his eyes glancing over you, amused. Solomon. You hadn’t expected to see him here. In fact, you hadn’t heard from him at all since you’d been forcibly chucked in the Morningstar’s direction. Of course he shows up now at one of your lowest points. 

The lips of your mouth twitched in irritation. “If you think this is so amusing, maybe you should-” 

Your words were cut off as the Prince raised his hand. Even without saying anything, his power was commanding. The mark he had left around your wrist seemed to hum. Everything in your vicinity seemed to silence itself, including the birds in the trees and even the clinking of silverware. Simeon sighed a little, his smile faltering as he allowed himself to look exhausted. It only lasted for a moment, a gentle smile returning to his face, although there was a tone to his voice that implied it would be best not to make him upset. “Let us keep teasing and hostilities to a minimum, shall we? This was meant to be a memorable occasion.” A flickering hue of disappointment settled in the spiral of his irises. Although, he did his best to hide that detail. You weren’t sure if he was naive spoiled royalty, or if he simply had one of those carefully-planned personalities. If you thought hard enough, you could imagine how Simeon had wanted this to go. You and the humans would show up on time, each of them shaking hands with the Prince of demons and the envoy of angels. You’d all sit together, eat the endless amount of meals Luke had prepared for you, and a historical moment would forever be etched in the history of the realms. A meeting where humans, demons, and angels sat and broke bread- quite literally in one regard- and got along. Even if you had gone a bit rogue and created another pact, this would salvage that. Simeon would set things right. 

But that’s not quite how it happened…

First off, you had arrived late. Dreadfully late. The meeting had intended to take place earlier this morning, and yet it was well after noon now. Although, you would like to claim it wasn’t entirely your fault. Unfortunately, the night had not been kind to you after your mighty virtual battle with Lifia. Returning home, attempting to sleep to regain your energy, you had closed your eyes…and then hardly opened them again. The demands had been too much for your body, sending you into a downward spiral into an early grave, half-dead… Certainly your human disguise had been broken in your weak state. It’s a miracle you weren’t caught. The fine details were blurry seeing as how you were hanging onto life by a thin frayed thread. However, you recall Mammon freaking out, grabbing Levi, Levi freaking out, and then being wrapped in a blanket and snuck through the house before being dragged by the ankles into one of Mammon’s cars. Absconded away by the humans you’d formed a… obligatory attachment to. Then you woke up here, curled up far too close to the prince, Devildom food and potions shoved down your throat to save you. Now you were embarrassed and irritable, the humans were anxious and uncomfortable, Solomon was amused and intentionally stirring the pot, and Simeon was doing his best to keep his dreams, his plans, and his sanity intact. The only one that seemed to be fine was Luke, which was surprising. Every time you had met him before he’d been a little growly sort of thing. Now he seemed…happy… Excited even. Fluttering between people giving them his sweets before pulling impossible amounts of confectionaries out of a single picnic basket in the middle of the placement. 

“Hey,” a quiet voice rang beside you, trying to whisper even though it was clear everyone could still hear. Mammon shuffled a bit closer to you, although he still remained on his side of the blanket. You couldn’t help but notice you all were still so separated despite gathering together. Solomon on his side alone, you and Simeon on another edge, and Levi and Mammon on their own. The divide was all too obvious. “Feelin’ better?” 

Suddenly, you were the center of attention again, all eyes looking in your direction. You turned your head, your hands settled firmly in your lap. “I’m fine.” Your chin raised a bit, and while you may not have been so connected to pride before, you had the urge to hide your weaknesses, especially in front of the Prince…and in front of your- the humans. 

“Well, you might be fine now, but you certainly looked worse for wear when you arrived,” Solomon pointed out, another cheeky grin returning to his face before Simeon shot him a subtle look. The angel shook his head slightly. “You put far too much strain on your soul.” 

After having said nothing this entire meeting, Levi finally spoke up. His head was a little lowered, clear guilt in his eyes. Anxious thumbs tore at the loose threads on his hoodie strings. He figured this was his fault, that the blame lay on him, for why wouldn’t it? At least, that’s what you imagined he was thinking. “I’m sorry. Maybe making the pact was too much. M-Maybe we should break it or something…” 

One of Simeon’s eyebrows raised at the mention of the pact. His eyes narrowed at the human, but for the first time the prince seemed…relieved. Then he shook his head. “No, that’s not it. In fact, the connection should’ve reinvigorated MC.” His hand reached over and settled around the back of your neck. “This happened because they didn’t replenish their energy between magic uses.” His head turned towards you. “You overdid it. This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t neglect yourself.” 

“I didn’t-” you started to hiss, but the curve of his fingers on your body tightened. No speaking back. 

Across the way, Mammon tilted his head a bit, confused. “But, they told us they wouldn’t die if they didn’t eat. Was…” His face fell, trying to cover up the stress with a scowl. “Was that another lie?” 

The touch of the prince dropped right before Simeon clapped his hands. Luke sprung to attention, moving around to give everyone another helping of…everything. Simeon straightened his back but dropped his shoulders. “Here is your opportunity to learn more about demons. Listen up. If you two are going to be Masters, you have to know these things.” The prince began to explain things, gesturing to you here and there like you were a display model. “A demon’s body is much stronger than a human’s. Same for angels. Not sleeping and not eating might not kill us but it still affects us. For example, humans feel vastly different when you only get three hours of sleep versus a whole night of sleep, yes? Sure, you might not feel great after only a few hours of sleep, but it won’t kill you. Similar concept for demons and angels. So, when you deprive yourself of rest and nourishment, it makes you weak.” The last line was heavily stressed as the prince’s gaze turned back towards you. The warmth of shame spread through your body. “Not to mention, you’ve been denying your temptations, haven’t you?” Two fingers lifted your chin, forcing you to look right in Simeon’s face. In the corner of your eyes, you could see the humans behaving strangely. Mammon was gripping his plate while Levi was clenching his teeth. “We cannot deny who we are, MC. We are demons, and as such, we thrive off of our temptations, off the corruption of the world. We can control ourselves, yes, but you have gone far past that. Temperance is a virtue. One that’s poisoning you.” 

You wished you could smack Simeon’s hand away, to leap towards him and throttle him. However, not only was that treason, but…deep in the back of your mind, you knew it was true. ‘We cannot deny who we are.’ Yet, a very long time ago, you had come to the decision to isolate yourself, to defy everything a demon was meant to be. No souls, no sins, no selfishness, no slaughtering, no seduction, no superfluity. Nothing. All because of them. All because…maybe you didn’t want to be… a…

“Demon biology aside,” the angel spoke up again. “There might actually be another reason why our friend was so drained.” 

The strange tension between you and the prince fell flat as the other demon lowered his arm and turned towards the white-haired being. “You know something.” It was said as a statement, not a question. A confirmation of something he already knew. Solomon was hiding details. 

“I do, actually. That's why I suggested I come today.” For a moment, Solomon shifted in his spot, holding off on telling everyone right away. Perhaps he was slightly remorseful, or, the likelier option, he enjoyed building up the drama and suspense while relishing in the fact that he was the more knowledgeable one in this situation. “I had my suspicions before, but I’m nearly certain now.” Solomon’s glowing smile shrank ever so slightly. “The Morningstar house is being protected.” 

Two car doors shut in unison as the humans shuffled out of the car. You sat in the passenger seat, staring at nothing in particular, glancing through the tinted windows to observe Mammon and Levi attempt to push through the small crowd of people congregating in front of their home, making their way to the gate. It seems that the ‘incident’ from earlier had stirred up more people desperate for answers. For attention. Seems that streets being torn up wasn’t quite common in this world. Might as well have been a daily tradition in the Devildom. Curiosity always dragged humans into trouble.

On one hand, staying in here kept you from being observed. On the other hand… Simeon stopped the car for a moment, and despite your hidden admiration for him possessing the talent to control one of these things, you didn’t necessarily feel like sitting next to him alone. To make matters worse, his words didn’t seem to be as cheerful as they had seemed during the picnic. “I trust your performance will improve from now on?” 

“Yes…” Your voice was quiet, monotone, attempting to not allow the prince any hint into what you were feeling. 

Simeon’s fingers drummed on the steering-wheel. “‘Yes’ what? Repeat your new orders, please.” 

You unbuckled the clasp at your hip, allowing the seatbelt to whirl off of you, hitting the door before it slipped up into its proper place. A very mild insight into your frustration. “I will refrain from coming up with plans myself and notify you of anything suspicious.” Perhaps you had gotten ahead of yourself. Coming up with ideas that didn’t make any sense, leaping headfirst into situations without fully planning for the aftermath. Being bold, standing out, making pacts. Thinking that you were some main character in a novel about hope and rebirth or some such nonsense. That’s not what you were here for. It’s not who you were. You were Isolation. Invisible. Someone to fly under the radar. Someone who had failed their duties centuries ago. So why you? Why choose a demon who seemed the least qualified for this job? Sure, Simeon and Solomon seemed convinced you wouldn’t give into temptation, but now you were being berated for not following your instincts? Which was it? Mixed messages all around. Either these two were unaware of their contradictions…or maybe there was something they both weren’t telling you. What did they really want from you?...

“And?” 

Your hand held onto the doorhandle, waiting till this debriefing, this scolding was over with. “I will keep myself in peak condition.” 

Simeon leaned a little back into the seat. “Good. That means proper rest, proper meals, proper care.” Seven hells, he sounded like such a guardian in a strange way. “You are the representative of demons. Even if this plan is only known to a select few, you represent me. I will not have you making us look like fools.” His tone was rough, almost abrasive, each word scraping through your ears and down into your soul. Before you realized you were doing it, you were glancing out of the window, watching Mammon and Levi lingering awkwardly behind the gate, waiting for you to join them. They both glanced worriedly at the car, their lips moving as they discussed things you couldn't hear. Probably about you. Then the mood in the vehicle changed. The air of disappointment and shame twisted unexpectedly. “They’ve changed you.” As you turned your head to focus on Simeon, you found that his face was far too close to yours. He glanced you up and down, taking you in, as if he was seeing you for the first time all over again. “Have the Morningstars really reformed a demon?” No longer was there sternness in his face, but a pleased sort of softness, almost a glow about him. 

The sudden change in his personality threw you off, causing you to stutter a bit before you spoke. “Of course not,” you rebutted quickly. “I did what I needed to to follow your orders, that’s all. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on making pacts with any more of these infuriating insignificant humans. The sooner I’m done with them, the better.” Without excusing yourself, you opened the door and exited the metal carriage. You could’ve sworn you heard a soft laughter inside before the prince drove off. That demon… Was he upset or pleased with you? You weren’t sure you liked either of those options. All you knew is that he seemed to leave you with more questions than answers. 

Cutting through the crowd, you lowered your head, making your way to the gate as fast as possible. Questions were thrown into your face like stones, microphones threatening to jab out an eye. Like always, you felt the presence of lesser demons around you, hiding amongst the common-folk. They knew you were here now. You knew it wouldn’t take much longer before the word got out. Information amongst demons spread like a disease. While the prince was doing his best to keep the program itself a secret, you wouldn’t be surprised if the whole of the Devildom now knew you were with the Morningstars. Perhaps that was why Simeon was being so strict. With every day that passed, the target on your back grew bigger. And with every pact, the more bloodthirsty the others became. Not only the demons…but if Solomon was correct, your own kind was perhaps the least of your worries.

Mammon opened the gate and held the fence out for you to pass through, making sure it was shut and locked tightly behind you all. Subtle growls and hisses from the lesser demons in the crowd flooded your ears. Jealousy, rage, frustration hovered in the air as they watched you freely pass by the barrier they could not. 

“It’s like a jar,” Solomon had said. “A magical barrier to keep demonic entities and energies out. And for you, it’s as if a curious child shoved you inside and forgot to poke holes in the lid to let you breathe.” The analogy had made you scoff, knowing that Solomon himself was similar to that curious child, giving you this amulet to pass the barrier and not telling you that being in the house would drain you of every ounce of vitality. When asked how he knew this, he gave you infuriatingly vague answers, saying it was all mostly ‘just a hunch’. No. He knew about this from the start. 

“Did he chew ya out?” Mammon’s words cut through your thoughts. You raised an eyebrow curiously, not knowing what he was talking about. “Did ya get yelled at,” he translated. 

“Clearly,” you muttered, leaving the two humans behind as you quickly approached the doors to the home. Now that it was brought to your attention, Solomon was right. The air around you felt…dry, in a way. Strained. You’d no longer be able to get your energy back by just breathing in the magic. 

“But I found a curse inside the house. One of the demons cut off the power.” That was part of the reason why you had gotten yourself caught up in the mess in the first place. 

“Imagine if that jar was underwater. The barrier is cracking. Leaking. As of right now, little spells can drip through here and there. But with enough pressure…” Solomon had nodded his head, his finger curled around his chin as he imagined the possibilities. With a rather devilish smirk for an angel, he hummed. “How long before it implodes?” 

Just as you reached out for the door handle, the entrance to the home swung inwards, causing you to stumble forward awkwardly. As if your day couldn’t get embarrassing enough… Hands gripped your shoulders, catching you and setting you straight. You almost felt your feet leave the floor. Impossible… Stepping back, you pulled yourself from the grasp, pleading with yourself and the universe to let it not be Lucifer. 

Luckily for you, the fates had some pity. “My bad. I’m not used to anyone coming home this time of day.” Gluttony took a step back to let you come inside, glancing over your shoulder to see his brothers. He looked a bit taken aback, his eyes scanning over you and Levi and Mammon before flickering exclusively between his siblings. “You all went out? Did something happen?” 

“Why’s somethin’ always gotta happen?” Mammon sighed, almost as if he was insulted. He flashed a smirk as he briskly tugged at Levi’s hoodie strings, the hood over his head tightening shut across his face. The older brother quickly bounded forward as Levi cursed angrily, pulling the fabric back open and straightening it. “We just went out ‘cuz we felt like it!” 

A lie, but if anything, it seemed like Mammon was getting better at it. Beel’s face was rather hard to read. Was he confused? Skeptical? Both? As his eyebrows crunched a little, you were ready for him to say something negative or snarky like all these other humans you met did. “I'm glad to see you two getting along better,” he stated. Kinda threw you for a loop if you were being honest. 

“I wouldn’t call it getting along…” Levi grumbled. 

Mammon made a loud dismissive scoff before settling a hand on his hip. “What about you? Where ya going, Beel? I thought practice was tomorrow? And it’s too early for gym, isn’t it?” 

The other human’s expression fell, and a strange sensation settled in you immediately. It was almost as if… you wanted to lunge, but not in an aggressive way. Wonder what that was… Beel looked down at the floor. “I’m going shopping.” Not something you would imagine many humans had such a negative response to. 

However, Levi seemed more understanding. “Raid the kitchen again?” Beel nodded. “Lucifer find out?” Another nod. “Now he’s making you go out and replenish everything?” Three for three. Levi giggled to himself as he won the mystery game he set up for himself. After the humor died down a little, Levi moved to walk past his brothers, probably intending to head back to his room. 

Before he could, Mammon grabbed the back of Levi’s clothes, yoinking him back so hard you heard Envy choke a bit. “Why don’t we go with ya?” No…you knew where this was heading. Making the same moves as the blue-haired introvert, you took a few steps into the shadows. A hand snaked around your wrist, gripping tightly. The firm hold of a traitor, a turncoat hell-bent on dragging you down into the fires with him. The look in Levi’s eyes screamed, ‘if I have to go, so do you’. 

“Really? But you just got back home.” Beel hardly blinked at the sight of the three of you linked together, struggling against each other’s grasp. Either he was too caught up in his own mind to pay attention, or he was used to this type of shenanery. 

“We don’t have anything planned today! Besides, how long has it been since we’ve hung out with our adorable little brother? Right Levi?” With one firm tug, Mammon pulled the third-oldest to his side, forcing Levi to let you go. A whisper was shared between the two of them, the white-haired human muttering through shut teeth. “A nice selfless gesture like this might get dear old bro off our asses…” Yes, because doing something with an ulterior motive counts as selfless… What sort of humans did you make a pact with again? 

Frustratedly, Levi smacked Greed’s hand off of him, but his shoulders slumped. “I guess…it has been a while. And I suppose someone has to make sure you both don’t buy more than you need to…” 

Your first pact-mate let out a loud whooping noise followed by a prolonged cheer. “Yay, shopping spree! That’s what I like to hear!” Beel watched his older brother with a smile on his face, glad to see Mammon excited and probably pleased to have company. Too pure for his own good, this one. 

A little more color drained from Levi’s face. “Aren’t we just going for groceries?...” 

Before Mammon could respond to that, a loud clattering noise was made in the house, several rapid thuds of running footsteps followed after that. A body rushed over to the top of the stairs, almost sliding as they screeched to a halt. They leaned over the upper banister, pushing their hair out of their face as they kept themselves from unsightly panting. “Did someone say shopping spree?” You blinked as Asmo sprung down the stairs. 

Were you really going to get dragged outside like this? With two extra Morningstars thrown into the mix? You felt faint again…

Good news. Turns out you didn’t have to tag-along with four obnoxious humans. Bad news: you weren’t tagging along with four obnoxious humans. They were gone. All of them. Even Levi, who apparently was more eager to commence with the shopping trip than he let on. As soon as the car toting you all along had parked, it seemed as if they all were swept along by different whirlwinds. Even your two pact-mates got caught up in the feeling of freedom apparently. No house arrest, no crazy digital world, it appeared as if they needed a little break. Honestly, you didn’t feel like stopping them. However, needing to guarantee them all safety while they were separated like this was… stressful to say the least. 

So, you found yourself wandering, attempting to find them to make sure they were hale and whole. You decided on checking the largest store in this strange strip of buildings. The double doors slid open for you without you touching, causing you to jump backwards, making a passerby turn their head in a perplexed manner. You sheepishly shook your head a bit as the human moved forward. How were you supposed to know humans enchanted their doors? As you muttered a quiet ‘thank you’ to the polite panels as they shut themselves behind you, you looked up a bit in awe at the store. It was huge. Tall ceilings that towered above your head, huge spinning blades circulating the air across the entire expanse. Aisle upon aisle of shelves. Humans definitely had advanced past simple stalls in humble marketplaces. Bigger, grander, better. More, more, more. This place screamed gluttony. Hopefully Beel was in here then. Although, even if he was, pinpointing him would be the harder part. 

Before you knew it, you found yourself standing in a random aisle, wandering aimlessly. Human packaging was so interesting. All trying so hard to stand out amongst rows of other goods just like it. You were expected to eat like a human now too… “We’ll bring Devildom food once a week to really keep you healthy, but until those points, make sure you’re eating plenty of human food,” Simeon had told you. And after that whole spiel you had given, telling Levi and Mammon how it was essentially worthless to…consume. Means you’d have to eat a lot more than you ever had before. Sounded like a lot of effort… You reached out and picked up a bag of chips off the shelf. It was the same brand of the kind Mammon had given you while you waited for the bus. The ones you denied. Maybe you should…attempt to try them. 

“Oh, you’re here too.” 

It took you a moment to realize that the voice was addressed to you. You raised your head as the figure approached. “There you are,” you sighed a little in relief. At least one thing needed to go your way today. Beel looked entirely unharmed and unbothered, pushing a large cart already overburdened with items, an open bag of some sort of snack settled in a little compartment in front of him. He was snacking on it occasionally, looking around for other goods he might want to add to the collection. 

“I like that brand,” Beel suddenly announced, nodding towards the bag in your hands. “You can put it in the cart if you want so you don’t have to carry it everywhere.” He turned his head to the side, grabbing another large sack of chips and gently placing it on top of everything else. Without thinking much of it, you did as he suggested. “The others leave you?” 

“Huh?” 

“My bothers,” Beel clarified. “You look kinda sad that you’ve been left behind.” 

Air seemed to catch in your throat, your mind blanking entirely for a second. Was he being intentionally so blunt? “I’m not sad. They can do whatever they want, it’s not like I know them very well.” 

This human didn’t combat you, didn’t correct you. He simply nodded. “Yeah, you still haven’t been with us very long, have you? I think this is only the second time I’ve seen you. But it seems like you’ve been with Mammon and Levi a bit, right? They seemed happy to be around you.” A soft smile curled around the human’s lips. “I haven’t seen either of them look like that in a while. I’m really glad they both found a friend.” 

Deny it! Say something! Something inside you was screaming at you to refute these claims, but…for the life of you, you couldn’t do it. This human…was so genuine with you. And the smile…seemed so much like Mammon’s too. Like theirs. Pure. It was uncanny how similar it was. “I guess,” was what you finally came up with. 

The Morningstar seemed to sense your discomfort, so, attempting to mitigate some of the awkwardness, he pushed the cart past you. “Is there anything you need to get while we’re here?” 

You waited for a second before following after him, hands shoved in the pockets of the human clothing you were wearing. “I’m not sure.” Sure, Simeon gave you some funds, enough to support your “life” here, but you had never intended to use any of it. What did humans eat? What did you want? What did you even like anymore?... Could you remember the taste of your favorite food? Did you even have favorites anymore? Those had all been burned away from you. Time had chipped away at your personality until there was little left. You glanced down at the single bag of snacks you’d put in the cart. Beel said he liked them. Tilting your head up a bit, you stared at him for a moment. “What do you like?” 

The question left him frozen for a second, and you wondered if you had broken him. Then, a sort of sparkle shimmered behind his eyes. He began to take you through nearly every aisle, picking out all his favorite snacks, foods, ingredients for meals, desserts, etc. It was enough to make your head spin, but he seemed ecstatic about it. A few things you placed in the cart, a few other things he seemed to snag for you. You both eventually stopped in the baked goods section, Beel staring at the sprinkles and bags of marshmallows fondly, recalling a memory perhaps. “We would make all sorts of things in the kitchen.” Based on his tone, you figured they didn’t make meals as much as they used to. The human seemed to cling to those memories, refusing to let them go. 

You were about to pry your nose a little deeper into the past, but another human walked between the shelves, heading up behind you both. The stranger pointed his hand at the baker's chocolate that you were blocking off. “Pardon me. If I could just grab that behind you two there.” He smiled politely, but you were very aware of his green eyes remaining trained onto you. You took a few steps back and decided to not pursue the subject. You had gotten enough groceries, and you assumed Beel had gathered more than enough to sustain seven humans for a decent while. The two of you walked away, the human leading you to where you were meant to exchange the funds for the merchandise. 

After too much fumbling and confusion, you purchased your portion. Beel coated both of his arms with bags upon bags of food, looking mostly unphased. For a human, he seemed to have impressive strength. Not saying much, you followed him back outside to the car, helping him load the vehicle with your haul. After that…you stood next to him awkwardly. What were you meant to do in this situation? Without Mammon… The car’s lights flashed as the sound of the internal lock clicked open. “You can stay here. I’ll go find my brothers.” With a little flick of his wrist, he tossed a set of keys at you. “You can turn the AC on if you want. That way the ice cream doesn’t melt.” 

You turned the keys around in your hands. From what you knew from Mammon, this was a major sign of trust. “You really trust me with this? You don’t really know me at all.” 

Beel shrugged a little. “Mammon and Levi seem to trust you. That’s good enough for me. I’ll be back.” Before he turned to leave, he came back, opening the passenger side door for you with a small smile on his face. He waited for you to sit inside before shutting the door for you, walking off towards the other stores. You sat back in the seat lazily, sliding down a little and sighing. Guess out of all the humans you could’ve met, he wasn’t the worst. Too trusting though. That would be an issue. Your temple rested against the glass window of the car. What a strange day. 

A flash of light in the corner of your eye caught your attention. Of course, you’d learned by now that the human world was filled with shiny things, so you didn’t expect much. Perhaps it was the eyes-- headlights of one of the various cars in the parking lot. As you turned your gaze, another glare nearly blinded your vision. Blinking away the spots, you managed to see a long cylinder slip back behind the deeply tinted windows of a car parked partially behind the strip of buildings. The window rolled up before the car moved away. A chilling sensation slinked up your spine. What was… 

A hand smacked against the window, causing you to jump. Mammon looked all too pleased with himself for catching you off your game. He held up a few bags in his hands, proud of what he had done. “Hey!” He tugged at the doorhandle and opened the door, a little bit of color flooding his cheeks while you still stared in the direction the car drove off. “So, I figured since you saved Levi and I and all and haven’t been feeling the greatest and all, I might’ve– well, let’s just say I accidentally bought two of the same thing and instead of bothering with a refund, I decided to–” His words caught in his throat, choking on air as you grabbed the front of his shirt and fully pulled him into the car. The passenger side of the car was not well made to fit two people, both of you spilling out of the front seat. Cursing a bit, Mammon flopped into the back. “What?! What is wrong with you?” 

“Tell me, what human thing is cylindrical and flashes? It’s about this big.” You gestured the size with the curve of your hand. “What is it? What’s it meant for? Is it dangerous?” 

“Huh?” Mammon rubbed the back of his head as he caught his bearings. “Like a camera or somethin’? It takes pictures and stuff. Is that it?” 

“Takes pictures?...” So… someone was taking pictures of you? Was that it? Why… who?... 

Mammon noticed the look on your face and cleared his throat a bit. “Listen, not to toot my own horn or nothin’ but I am a model. Paparazzi follows me around sometimes I guess. It might not be anything too dangerous.” His voice sounded hopeful. “Unless you think otherwise…” 

“I don’t know… It was weird… I think they left. Maybe it was nothing.” You rubbed your forehead, letting the stress pass for now. You hadn’t sensed any magic anyway. You tried to look at him in your peripherals. “Don’t leave me alone like that again, got it? It’s not safe for you.” But maybe Simeon and Solomon were right. Nowhere was safe for you either. 

Tag-List

(Please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from this list!) 

@rayanicaraynbow

@designatedbreadbox

@qrowsofafeather

@crystal-freak24

@coffeeandtealol

@crxwned-mxnarch​

@your-next-daydream​​

@josiedoesdoodles

@zerchlia

@xxrougefangxx

@hearts4aloise

@lex-icon

@hobin-gnoblin

[sokkastyles]

To continue the discussion re: Katara and forgiveness I have a scalding hot take. It's important for me to disclaim that I don't fault Katara for wanting revenge on her mother's killer, nor have I ever believed she was in the wrong for feeling that way. However, sometimes I think Katara is expected to be an eternally forgiving Madonna figure because that was the image of herself she herself projected. From the very start of the show she's been rather self-righteous and never had doubts about her indestructible moral compass. Her line from Spirit Lady about never turning her back on the people who need her just gave me the impression that she has a mighty big savior complex. I know most people are endeared to her for those reasons but due to my own personal tastes it had the opposite effect for me (and I'm worried I'll get some flack for saying all this). I love characters who struggle with doing the Right Thing (tm) SUE ME. And now comes a situation where she finally FINALLY has a major moral quandary. She's manufactured this image of being perpetually virtuous. But now the illusion is shattered when there's discordance between what she wants to do versus what is the right (albeit, subjectively so) thing to do. You know, something every other human on earth has struggled with and that for a while she had distanced herself from. It was refreshing to see this major conflict between her and the people in her life. I just wanted to share my two cents (and friendly reminder I acknowledge that it's a scalding hot take) and I hope my criticism of Katara doesn't evoke too much anger from the ATLA masses *Sweats nervously*

To be honest, I think it's odd to say that Katara has always portrayed herself as perpetually virtuous when she's introduced to us in the very first episode yelling about having to wash Sokka's dirty socks. Right off the bat, we are told that she is a character who does NOT accept the role of the perfect, quiet, subservient, nurturing female. That's what I mean by a Madonna figure. It's a specific term used to describe misogynistic standards placed on women. Standards Katara speaks out against, loudly and openly, in the first few seconds she is introduced.

Katara's strong sense of morals is another matter. Katara has a defined sense of right and wrong and that means she holds herself to high standards, too, but that is a big part of her moral struggle. And that's been a part of her arc since early on, too, when she ran into conflict with the earthbenders or Jet in season one because they didn't live up to her moral standards and because she didn't know what the right thing to do was when the people she expected to be the heroes wouldn't step up in the way she expected, or turned out to actually be the villains. Katara has a certain way she expects the world to be and throughout the show that ideal is constantly fighting with the reality of the world and its expectations.

But all of this also occurs because of the pressure she feels to fit a certain standard, and to say that Katara imposed this on herself is kinda ignorant of the institutional nature of sexism, to be honest. Katara may think it's her job to take care of everyone, but she was eight years old when she began to internalize that, and it didn't happen in a vacuum, it happened due to the expectations that already existed for girls to take on a motherly role plus the trauma of her mother's death.

That's one of the things about sexism. It says that girls and women need to behave a certain way, then treats that prescribed behavior like it's a natural trait instead of a learned one and makes it the subject of mockery. Katara is often treated this way by the narrative, too. And then when she acts in a way that is counter to that prescribed behavior, it's portrayed as weird or out of line, even though that part of Katara has always been present throughout the story, and in fact one of the reasons she was so angry in the Southern Raiders was because the others kept acting like she was somehow not herself instead of recognizing where her hurt was coming from.

Sorry, I find this take to be luke-warm, at best.

[bagog]

N7 Month, 2023 - Day 8: Crash

It's a little mshenko pre-relationship drabble.

++

“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you actually did it.” Kaidan’s tone was ambiguous to Shepard’s ear, and he tried not to imagine either mockery or genuine pathos in it.

“Sometimes I can hardly believe the things I do myself,” Shepard responded, bitter though still in Command. The two marines stood, fully armored but without helmets, on the barren expanse of an alien world—grasslands as far as the eye could see. Before them, at the base of a massive grassy mound, the Mako was lying upside down, one of its wheels still idly spinning as the mass effect field generators tried in vain to right the vehicle.

It wasn’t Shepard’s fault, not really, and he would swear it up and down. After all, it wasn’t the first time the damn thing had flipped on the rough terrain of a distant world. The fact that it always righted itself—at great strain to the field generators—had sort of given everyone the impression that truly crashing the Mako would be impossible.

“And yet, here we are…” Shepard muttered under his breath.

“Hm, Commander?”

“Nothing, Kaidan. Can we… let’s just try one more time, huh?” Shepard began to glow blue.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Wrex?” Kaidan glowed sympathetically, stiffening his posture, apparently expecting not to wait. And, honestly, Wrex had climbed out of the crash and proceeded to track off over the hills to find a quiet place to relieve himself—that had been 30 minutes ago.

“Afraid the two of us aren’t enough to do ourselves, Lieutenant?” Shepard grinned slyly at Alenko, the other man’s mouth twitched just barely into a smile.

“You know what they say about trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results…”

With that, they both tried their best to surround the Mako with a mass lowering field, hoping to give the Mako’s own field generator’s a little help.

The thing rocked back and forth, even animatedly for a moment, but they couldn’t get it to flip back onto its wheel.s

“Alright,” Shepard sighed, powering down his biotics. “Get Joker on radio, tell him we need him to find a place to land close to our position, then we’ll need a detail out here to get this thing flipped.”

“On it, Commander.” Kaidan walked off a few paces to make the call, and Shepard tried not to listen it. “…yeah. ….completely upside down… …trust me, we’ve tried…”

Shepard kneeled down and felt the grass, or rather, didn’t feel it through his gauntlets, but it seemed like it must be soft. He sat down and watched the clouds drift by overhead—something denser than earth clouds… Before long, he had laid his head back in the grass, stretched out at the base of the hill.

He lost track of time staring up before he noticed Kaidan returning.

“Joker’s ETA is 42 minutes to have us out of here.”

“Might as well take a load off. Have a seat, Alenko.”

Kaidan opened his mouth as if to say something, but then merely shrugged and lowered himself to the grass beside Shepard. They passed a long moment like that.

“Funny, we visit all these planets and I feel like I never just stop to breathe in the… air, or whatever. To take in the sights. It’s beautiful here. Probably no human eyes have ever seen it before.”

Shepard turned his head, examined the lines on Kaidan’s face as he wistfully stared out at the countryside below them.

“Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing we crashed,” Shepard said, his tone thicker with the intimacy of the moment than he had wished. The laugh lines appeared around Kaidan’s eyes and his cheeks dimpled when he smiled wide.

“That’s what I admire about you, Shepard, always seeing the bright side of things.”

“Not always,” Shepard replied softly. He continued to study Kaidan’s face, the way he leaned back on his elbows, the way the alien wind played in his hair. “I just think I’m lucky, that’s all.”

“Well, I’m happy to be out here with you, then.” For a moment Kaidan turned that warm smile on Shepard, and he felt himself beaming in response.

“Likewise, Kaidan.”