#yeah it's messy and all but hey

[manchasama]

Okay so this is completely raw train of thought that I refuse to be embarrassed over.  It also may jump around because it was written on two different days, since I had more Ideas(tm) about it.

Also, Emmet in the distortion world is absolutely influenced by @that1nkyone‘s Distortion Guide AU, tho not lifting anything from where they are taking that story.  Just that their idea of Emmet being in the distortion world definitely inspired my brain to go this way.

This is in my (god damnit I need a title) anti-mob AU

--

How Ingo Disappears

Ingo and Emmet get overwhelmed by some group.  Possibly make it Team Plasma, set during B&W 2 or something.  Or just some splinter group trying to rekindle things.  (Actually maybe when I think this AU out I could figure out how to make team Plasma the mob group.  Hmmmm....)  Either way, and for whatever reason, Ingo and Emmet are tied up while the group tries to do their thing. 

(I imagine it's a desperate fight, so the grunts don't have a lot of time to restrain the bros once they got the upper hand.  Just tied their arms behind them (tight, so tight, but not stripping the coats bc again no time).  Normally this would be to their detriment because the twins would get free and wreck shit again.  This time, there wasn't enough time to get free.  Also possibly they were overwhelmed bc they let their guard down/were out of practice, having lived relatively peaceful lives since they became subway masters.  I'll have to see where the story is at the time.)

Whatever the group is doing, Ingo gets his feet under him to try and stop them, and is walloped upside the head in retaliation, concussing and stunning him.  (Emmet is Furious.  Retribution will be had, once he can find out if Ingo is okay.)  So Ingo isn't able to respond to things around them.  And it's tragic that, because all the group wanted was to keep the subway masters out of the way.  They weren't the goal or target of this, just collateral damage.  No, they were summoning (Giratina probably) and just needed enough time to finish that.

And they do.  But Giratina is not subservient to them.  It does not care or agree with their goals.  (What happens with Giratina will be for Emmet to witness.  Whether Giratina harms or kills, or does something else.)  Still, even that isn't the focus.

No, the focus is that as the hole in reality widens, as Giratina forces its way through, Ingo is lying too close to the center.  The hole widens, and Ingo tips, and falls.  (The last thing he sees with his blurry vision is Emmet and Chandelure (figure out a way).  That is why later, all he remembers is the figure in white and the purple flames.)

-

I think in addition to that, Emmet goes after Ingo.  Rather than be left behind, I mean.  He's tied up a ways away, hands bound behind his back, pokemon trapped in their balls in the hands of their captors.  Help won't make it in time ofc.  Emmet sees Ingo fall, helpless to save him, but he can in his anger free himself from whoever is pinning him, and throw himself into the void after Ingo.  

(As Ingo vanishes, disappears from this world, as Emmet's soul follows suit, one of the trapped pokeballs /explodes/, destroyed as the pokemon inside frees itself the only way it can.  Chandelure follows Emmet, catching and guiding him in the buffeting void.  Neither see where Ingo went.)

So, I'm thinking the twins were cuffed, just for the idea that Chandelure can help Emmet break the chain between them, but they can't get the metal cuffs off his wrists without hurting him (would hurt his skin trying to melt it off, not strong or precise enough to smash them off, etc).  So Emmet is in the distortion world, searching desperately for Ingo.  Chandelure can barely sense Emmet in the twisting world who is right next to her, let alone find Ingo.

Since there is no day, no night, Emmet searches until he passes out, wakes up and repeats it.  Time is basically meaningless and blends together.  Chandelure guides him to food and makes him eat, but is also searching for Ingo with that desperation of shared souls.  

Eventually, Emmet's strength is giving out, despite chandelure trying her best, and his despair is too great.  He lies there, unwilling to move, and begs her to eat his soul, replenish herself and escape.  He's done.  (As when they were kids, pushed so far that death was welcome).

Chandelure not only refuses, but instead tries to feed emmet's soul instead (as when they were kids and they'd rescued her, so did she want them to live).  Emmet knows that if she continues in her weakened state she will die keeping him alive, and he knows if he stays here she will keep trying.  So he does the hardest thing; he gets back up and continues on (without Ingo at his side).

Later when he recounting some of this to Ingo, he does admit that it was the hardest thing in his life.  To get up and move on without Ingo.  (Not giving up on him, just having to go through that without Ingo.  They've been through the toughest times together, and that time they were not).

Not sure on the timing of this, might redo some of arceus so that red sky and volo happen at the same time.  Because like, imagining ingo's troubles…  So the idea is that he's realized Volo is dangerous and going to attack akari, and he's desperate to get to her.  Perhaps he knows they will not be match for him with a god pokemon on his side, perhaps he just can't see victory in a head on confrontation, perhaps he is torn between his duties to his wardenship and his love of akari.  For whatever reason, he's heading to a battle he doesn't know how to win.  If akari will even believe him.  If volo hasn't already attacked her.  Etc etc.

The reason I want the red sky, is it makes a good time for emmet to escape the distortion world.  The veil is weakest, can come through a rift, chandelure senses his soul or emmet catches a glimpse and just throws himself at it, whatever.  But also the red sky would make it so he hasn't even realized he's left the distortion world, at least not entirely.  Because there is still no day, no night, and everything is odd.  (Just has more gravity lol).  

Maybe Volo attacked Ingo, leaving him trapped where a distortion was to appear, expecting him to perish there.  Might work.

Regardless, when Emmet and chandelure find Ingo, it's not the tearful reunion either were hoping for.  However Emmet was filled with so much relief, so much joy at finding his brother, that he can put some of his wants on hold because he can tell that Ingo Needs To Do Something.  It's the look they have when they are focused on saving or improving people's lives, as their shadow selves.  They've always put the world in front of their own needs, and this is no exception.

Additionally, emmet is temp mute at this point.  No point in talking, plus going mute due to high emotions.  It take a while for him to start talking again.  (After everything settles, when it's just the two of them, Ingo's memories still muddled but he /knows/ that emmet isn't fine.  Emmet doesn't have to hide from ingo.  They talk through a lot of things, etc.)

Ingo doesn't know what to say either, how to articulate what he's feeling, what he needs.  This was obviously the man in white, and he wanted nothing more than to cling to him, to cry and laugh until all his emotions are drained and peace is left behind.  But…akari.  He /needs/ to help her, to save her from volo's plans.  All he can do is ask for help.

Emmet can sign even if he can't speak, and despite the lack of memories between them, their instincts guide them true.  Thus, Ingo goes to confront Volo head on, and Emmet hides in the shadows ready to take advantage.

-

(Oh man did I never write this down?  Okay, let's see what I remember.)

So I've had the idea that Emmet makes it to Hisui for a while, even if I didn't know how why or when.  I thought I wrote more about it so if this IS duplicate, suffer lol.  Because I wanted to lean into their past of being the "ghost" or whatever I end up calling it, that haunted the mob into destruction.  I don't know for sure if they ever found out there were two people behind the persona.  Either way, Ingo and Emmet have always been able to play that part.

So the confrontation with Volo (Yes he is a true villain this fic), the idea is that Ingo is keeping Volo's attention, while Emmet hides waiting for a chance to strike.  Because that was the mistake so many had made, that Volo made; thinking Ingo was alone.  Sort of line. 

...Nope, I don’t remember specifics right now.  Dang.  If I do, I’ll write them down this time.

-

(Ingo has some scars from hisui.  Emmet has scars on his wrists from where the manacles rubbed endlessly.  Chandelure I think has crackled glass now, after pushing so hard trying to save emmet and find ingo.  It's not always obvious, but sometimes.)

(Part of why Ingo is so messed up in hisui is the lack of memory and running on instincts means he keeps crossing his subway master persona with his ghost persona, but he doesn't realize they are two different sides he usually didn't let cross over.  So when his reactions mix, he instinctually know something is very wrong with it.  Sometimes it distracts him, sometimes he disassociates trying to remember, sometimes it frustrates him trying to remember.)

-

Oh idea.  Ingo gets stabbed.  :p  No but seriously, let's say the collection of the plates happens at the same time.  Ingo plays a more active role in assisting akari, always there (frustrating volo who wanted to be the support model, but ingo is there /more/).  Volo needs to get his hands on the plates.  Perhaps Ingo is keeping them safe, but that doesn't jive with Volo getting the drop on him.  Because lets say Volo manages to convince akari he will keep the plates safe.  Maybe she leaves Ingo to "guard" volo or something, or maybe volo goes after ingo to make sure he is out of the way when volo goes to confront akari (weakened after she subdues the second god pokemon).

Either way, volo has command of all the plates, which gives him influence over all pokemon.  He can force wild pokemon to fight for him, can prevent ingo's pokemon from fighting properly (they can only resist so much), and basically volo takes down ingo via cheating.  Ingo is a good enough trainer, and friends with enough wild pokemon that it is close tho.  So close that volo gets close enough to ingo to stab him and take him out that way (somehow just go with it.  Maybe uses a pokemon to do it).

Volo goes off to get akari, who is trying to clear the red sky.  He thinks if he takes her out, arceus will have to listen to his call.  Because he'd have all the plates, have taken out arceus' chosen, would be able to have command over the other two god pokemon to have all three, etc.

Then Emmet and Chandelure come to ingo's rescue.  Chandelure pulling what she can from emmet to give to ingo to heal him, etc.  

By giving Volo command over other pokemon via the plates as well as influence over partner pokemon, that makes his threat and the fight way more difficult, rather than a wash it would normally be.  Gives a reason why emmet has to get to volo, to separate him from the plates, in secret.

(A thought, have to see if it fits.  Chandelure and emmet have to get close enough that she can drain volo, while remaining unnoticed.  Emmet strikes when volo goes down on a knee, wondering why his energy is so low.  Slow process, and Ingo (and akari) need to keep volo distracted to not notice.  Volo's partner pokemon still have free will, so they need to keep those engaged to not let him know either.)

[milf-harrington]

29. putting ear over their heart, for steddie 💕

please enjoy some domestic fluff w the barest sprinkling of angst (like a tiny smidgen, barely a paragraph)

---

The apartment was quiet when Steve got in, back from lunch with Robin down at the cafe by her university.

It wasn't the kind of quiet Steve was used to, the kind that lurked in empty hallways. A dreadful, empty sort of quiet that sunk into your bones like water in the lungs of someone drowning.

This was a new sort of quiet: radio playing on the kitchen windowsill, the window by the couch left open with Eddie's ashtray tucked next to the cord for the blinds. Music and voices and engines from the street wafted in on the breeze, immediately dampened when Steve reached up and pulled the window back down with a thud.

It was a lived in sort of quiet. An Eddie's-either-not-home-or-he's-asleep-somewhere quiet.

Considering the window had been left open, Steve was betting on the asleep somewhere option.

Trying to stay quiet, Steve headed down the short hallway and pushed open their bedroom door. The blinds were open, and the bed was half made, the pillows left piled to one side with their cases folded on top like Eddie'd gotten distracted halfway through.

Steve snorted, fond, and stepped back into the hallway.

Their apartment wasn't big- two small bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen/living room combination with enough space for a dining table in between - so it wouldn't be hard to track his boyfriend down.

And it wasn't, Steve found him in the second-bedroom-turned-"office", stretched out in a sunbeam, like one of the stray cats he insisted on feeding.

He had one arm sorta stretched above his head, the other resting on his tummy as he snored into his armpit, guitar and notebook discarded to the side. The vacuum was in there too, and Steve had to step over it to get inside the room.

Apparently, Eddie had made a valiant attempt at cleaning while he'd been gone.

The thing is, when Eddie cleaned, he had to make a whole thing of it- turn it into one of his roleplaying games, with outfits and silly voices, or else he'd never actually get it done.

His usual version of a cleaning costume was to just keep his hair out of his face with a headband made out of a bandanna, folded into the cliched little triangle and all, and a long sleeved shirt so he could dramatically roll up his sleeves.

Today, he'd gone as far as to put on an old apron he'd accidentally stolen from a past job working at a deli. The duster he'd shoved in the front pocket was dangerously close to slipping out, only kept in place by the angle of Eddie's hip.

The thing is- Eddie was, like, a really deep sleeper. And he didn't tend to move much. And he was sort of just lying there, bandanna wrapped around the top of his head, hair splayed out under him, head tilted just enough to show off the long-healed scars in his cheek. And Steve was, much to his own dismay, a worrier.

And it had been a good 3 years since the spring of '86, and he could literally see Eddie's stomach rising and falling with each breath but-

But.

Feeling ridiculous, but knowing he'd just get more and more anxious until it became an actual problem, Steve sighed and carefully lowered himself into a crouch. He reached out, intending to shake Eddie awake, just to make sure he would, but paused as his fingers brushed fabric.

If he'd fallen asleep in the middle of the day, on the floor no less, then he probably needed it.

So, sticking his tongue out in a habit he'd definitely gotten from the man sleeping on the floor right now, Steve carefully moved the duster and the arm laying over Eddie's tummy and threw a leg over his hips.

He knee-walked backwards until he was hovering over his thighs instead, and then carefully laid down on top of him, turning his head so his ear was pressed against Eddie's sternum.

It took a second to settle, for the sound of shifting fabric to stop and then-

thu-thump. thu-thump. thu-thump.

He laid there for a little longer, just listening, just checking, until sun-warmed arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders. Steve didn't know if Eddie was fully awake, but he didn't say anything about waking up to Steve on top of him.

Instead he let out a long, pleased sigh. Dug his fingers into Steve's hair and gently scratched his scalp, movements slow and sleepy.

In a few minutes, Steve would sit up and ask Eddie what he was doing napping on the floor and Eddie will explain that he'd been cleaning, and then he'd gotten an idea for a song and he didn't want to forget it.

Then they'd get up, Steve hauling his boyfriend off the floor with dramatic grunts and groans like men twice their age, and finish cleaning the apartment together.

But for now, Steve just settled in a little more comfortably, listening to Eddie's heart beat.

[hood-ex]

I will say that the whole amnesia Court crystal thing did give us a plausible reason for Dick to be a Talon. Cuz like obviously it was an issue before since we realized Talons aren't mindless slaves, and Dick wouldn't be killing even if the Court dragged him into their clutches, he'd rather die.

But with the memory crystal, false memories can be implanted in someone's head, which could (and did) happen to Dick. So him following the Court's orders because of the false memories actually works. On the other hand, trying to kill someone as Talon cracked the wall between his real and fake memories. But technically you could ignore that in a fic.

[calsvoid]

have a sebastian line of a scene i might never write because i never write in general

“I don’t think you’d like younger me very much.”

[eggwishing]

little peek at somethjing i am cooking up ...

[thedrotter]

not-yet-dead-person

silly comic of a conversation in-game i thought was too funny not to make something proper for instead of a doodle ww

(timelapse + wip images (thus silly process commentary in read more if you like artist commentary :3)

i think the sketch looks silly and goofy and funny so i find it important to share with you the mere presence of the faces i drew on it. i drew it on top of the boxes without staying inside its borders because i find my proportions can get wonky if i draw them cropped in a restricted space. and I feel trapped otherwise and i will draw BAD!!! give me spaceeeee to go wild!!!!

the head circles are there for emotional support

very low res speedpaint because truth is the canvas was much bigger than the space where my comic was placed. i didnt account when exporting my timelapse in 720px that that tiny space would look so pixelated ... but it's able to be percieved, so its okay.

(i will now comment on my process and it is not brief sorry)

usually i would try to clean up my sketches and figure out what goes on top before jumping into linework, but since there are multiple panels and drawings i chose to jump into inking right away for the sake of brevity. i just went in with a brush that uses pen pressure and drew what was needed. i added extra line thickness and contrast in areas around the face because it helps direct your eyes there more easily that way.

according to her equipment rei has a chain belt but i only remembered it existed once I was going to color, and i did not like that discovery... I chose to ignore it to maintain my peace. i already have the color palettes for these characters figured out, and i didnt really want to think about a new element at the moment www I tend to overthink those things a lot so i skipped it

the rest is rather straightforward! not that anything else wasn't, but in here i could turn my brain off and sing. linework and sketching require mumbling so i cannot turn my brain off. just block in the characters with a solid color so i can have a mask (something along those lines,) where the color can stay inside. then just color in !!!

Base colors just had slight cell shading on the skin, and for the hair i airbrush a bit of the skincolor in low opacity near the forehead... I'm not sure what it means, but i can look at the faces easier with it somehow. i like the gentle subtlety it adds even if you cant really tell. it makes things look nice.

background was just me blocking in the color of the wall and floor, shade the wall a bit, then slap a noise and free use wood texture on top. work smarter not harder ! yet it took a bit to make it look stylistically fitting with my characters, and even now i think bottom middle panel looks odd. whatever!!!

for the middle panel i thought itd be funny if the background was a solid silly and colorful one to contrast the next panel's sketchy black one. a contrast to how the word widow is seen. on that note my handwritting is not pointy. i gaslighted my hand into thinking that it was indeed pointy in that moment so i could write "not-yet dead person" in letters that didn't seem cute. my hand did not fall for it but it complied anyway

that's basically it! I'm not sure what else i could say that doesn't feel barebones because it really is that straightforward. if you're curious I used clip studio paint for this. only special brush used was for linework (a brush named Lemon Brush), the rest used were just the default. my computer gets the least credit. it was trying to convince me a 20mb file was going to nuke it all the time and hardly let me save multiple times so i do not appreciate it

[jackleopard]

found a friendship bracelet from my trip that i left in my backpack and now im thinking of the two little boys on the airport who got so excited when I told them I had messi-themed friendship bracelets, I hope they still have them <3

[meowmeowmessi]

messi's anger feels manufactured almost.. do you reckon they told him to act extra for apple tv?

[jemmo]

so i’ve been doing some thinking on the thua situation, and have reached a point where i feel like i can explain his actions but am still angered by the inconsistency of it. whenever i rewatch the scenes, I keep thinking why didn’t he just go to akk and ayan, or even just their small group to discuss this?? i get that he wanted to kick up a fuss but it also doesn’t sit well with me that you have to hurt and shame people in the process of igniting change, even if you feel you deserve it, which I don’t think akk does. I’d feel better about him doing so if he didn’t know that chadok was really behind it, but when he explains himself he says that he realised that and moved target to chadok. yes, he doesn’t know the full extent of how akk is suffering bc of what chadok is, but as someone he is friends with, i just feel like the better thing to do would’ve been to deal with him privately and deal with chadok in public, explain that he’s wrong bc of the things he made akk do. but then you get to the fact that chadok was suffering too, which gets to an important point i think the show is trying to make. what is the human cost of change like this, what is at the core of it?? at the end of the day, so much of this harm stems from individual people that are themselves hurting, so how do we deal with that?? do we expose them and punish them?? or do we take them to one side and sort things out privately?? how do we weigh up the hurt they’ve done to other people vs the hurt they’re feeling themselves?? it’s a really hard question, and here you see the two different ends of the spectrum. aye finding out what akk did and treating him with gentleness and kindness nonetheless, making him feel like he can change in a comforting way that is both kind to him but also makes things better for everyone in the long run. and then thua, who doesn’t care about akk in the way aye does, and who makes a valid point that he should have to be held responsible for what he’s done, no matter how bad he feels about it. I think for this reason, im glad thua did what he did, to make this point. but in that, thua isn’t right, nor is aye, it just gives us reason to think about these things which is good.

and as for why thua did this, alongside what is stated, that he wants truth and wants this over, I think what he says when he explains himself both gives that explanation but also makes his actions contradictory. bc he keeps saying he wants the truth, for it to be out in the open so the lies and the curse can be over. which makes me think, who does that help that’s connected directly to thua?? who is so hung up on the curse that it makes him paranoid and angsty, makes him suppress himself and feel bad?? it’s kan. kan has always been fixated on the curse, and thua has seen how that’s affected him, literally seen how that’s changed him since he was younger. so yes, I think maybe that contributed to making thua do this, the fact he wants everyone to stop being so obsessed and hurt by this, no one more than kan. but at the same time, if i was kan listening fo what he says, things like “so that everyone would tell the truth” and “do you think it could be fixed by letting it go away quietly”, I’d find it hard not to relate that to the way kan has acted, keeping his feelings quiet, keeping up his bruce wayne lie, which is where the inconsistency comes in. he has the time and patience for kan to come to terms with his feelings and figure out what to do slowly and quietly, but for this he’s sick of lies, needs truth now, needs it out in the open and sorted?? yes these are two different things and yes thua would of course give kan a lot more time and space bc he cares much more, but then you get to the point that again this is an issue centred around humans, who thua is not giving the time and space he granted to kan. it hurts akk and aye and in a way hurts kan when thua says he needed answers and truth, something kan couldn’t give him for so long. at the end of the day, it’s hard to reconcile what thua did bc we feel and care for akk so much, bc he’s our character, we’ve seen his journey and struggles. if it was told from thua’s perspective, and akk was just part of this bad system doing bad things, you wouldn’t feel as upset or angry about his public exposure. but then again, i didn’t feel upset or angry about chadok’s public exposure, bc he wasn’t our character, he was our villain. but then you get underneath that all and find out what happened and realise he too was a man caught up in doing bad things for what he thought was right, to look after someone he loved. and the theme of akk being the new chadok is made even clearer, it’s just that akk has the people around him and the momentum of a different and progressed society to break him out of the cycle. it just begs the questions where is the line drawn when it comes to granting sympathy to those that have done wrong vs granting punishment, and what is the cost of making a change. everyone has their own ideas about how to bring about progress and what has to be done to achieve it, and for a show that is so reflective of our society and trying to be an allegory of systems that are in place for us, I think I’m ok with the fact that what I’m getting out of it is a nuanced discussion of how to dismantle these systems while not forgetting the humans involved in them, bc at the end of the day we are all just flawed humans, hurting, and making mistakes, and we all need to figure out how to reconcile with those actions before we think about moving forward

[4lph4kidz]

Epilogues Dave IS pretty annoying. Like... the election sub-plot...........

God

If the epilogues gave me one thing it was validating dirkjake with a vengeance even if the way it did so was cursed beyond human measure. A finger on the monkeys paw curls etc etc etc

newsflash, asshole! they've been gay the entire time!

[elytrafemme]

the vast majority of the reason why i’ve abstained from getting a professional diagnosis is practical-- i already have a therapist (she just doesn’t like to diagnose, it’s not part of her practice but within her qualifications). it would fuck up my insurance in the long-term and complicate other systemic processes. i don’t need medication nor do i need accommodations so having a diagnosis wouldn’t really help me. it opens the floor to traumatic experiences, will likely cost a lot of money, and would again be trapped on my record for years upon years. 

but jesus christ, i wish i had half the confidence that other people can have with self-diagnosis. because even if i have my therapist basically stating that she thinks bpd explains several of my symptoms, and having said that the best way to explain my experiences to other people is by using bpd as a reference, i still cannot wholly convince myself that this is the issue. and i have researched for years and years so it isn’t that, i just. i need someone to look me in the eyes and tell me but if i get that, i get the rest of this too.

[solsdraws]

Character of @abeterger !

Little funky dude i saw on minecraft haha

[silverselfshippingchaos]

is it nap time? i think it's nap time. is it m.axi time? i think it's m.axi time.

[chisatowo]

Thinking abt band swap Kasumi again. Girlie with Issues <3

[marklikely]

people in 70s horror movies are always just letting anyone stay in their house

[carnageacorn]

.