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#at least that was the case in the og timeline
meganechan05 · 1 month
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They retired due to poor mental health and became a top star in singing and dancing
...I made these before the magazine scans/leaks came out... I'm not okay...
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inhuman-obey-me · 11 months
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Diavolo & The Loyalty Thing
Alrighty everyone, we're going to be blunt here -- if there is one character misunderstanding in this fandom that has always pissed us off (jk there are many actually), it is how people interpret Diavolo's deal with Lucifer after the war.
We know a lot of y'all don't like him because of that agreement. We know a lot of you think that Lucifer is magically bound to Diavolo's will because of it, as with a pact, and is unable to defy him. We know that many of you dislike Diavolo because you think he was taking advantage of Lucifer in that scene.
Well, the devs have made it plain time and time again and even more so in Nightbringer: that is not the case.
You are wrong, and here's why. (Or, to put it more nicely, please let us convince you otherwise.)
(spoilers including Nightbringer Lesson 17 below the cut)
Let's start by reviewing the situation from Lucifer's side:
Lucifer, a guest to the Devildom many times before in a diplomatic coordination context, has just led, and subsequently lost, a civil war in the Celestial Realm. The catalyst that pushed him to start this war was the impending punishment declared against his sister, Lilith. Seeing that sister get fatally wounded in said war, he flies down after her falling body, where both of them land in the Devildom.
Diavolo then shows up with Barbatos, presumably because they, you know, saw two war-wounded angels falling from the sky into his domain. Lucifer turns to Diavolo and starts shouting that he knows the prince has the power to save his sister -- and pleads with him to do exactly that.
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Diavolo makes a point of telling Lucifer that it may not be in the way he expects or wants, but he agrees to do it on the condition that Lucifer swears loyalty to him. Barbatos attempts to interject against the idea, to which Diavolo responds that he's aware already that this is a big risk for him. Lucifer, upon realizing that he is becoming a demon himself as a consequence of the war, agrees to Diavolo's terms.
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(OG Scene on left, Nightbringer scene on right)
Diavolo then takes Lilith before she dies and reincarnates her as a human. This then remains a secret between the three of them from that moment all the way until the events of OG Lesson 15, when Lucifer finally confesses the whole thing to his brothers in the first timeline, and then OG Lesson 16, when MC reveals it (in the second timeline).
So to recap: Lucifer started a war with Lilith's punishment as the catalyst, lost, showed up in the Devildom, and then demanded the prince of that realm save his sister from essentially the same punishment he was fighting against in the first place.
To be clear about Diavolo and Lucifer's relationship at this point, they had been communicating about diplomatic affairs, as a governmental head and a top representative respectively. They are friendly, but not close friends yet. They are not allies in this war. Diavolo is not involved at all in the Great Celestial War or the situation with Lilith. And with this rebellion, Lucifer no longer holds that diplomatic status -- in fact, as mentioned in Nightbringer Lesson 8, the brothers were essentially war criminals in the eyes of the Celestial Realm, with Lucifer as the leader.
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Moreover, Diavolo's goal as prince is that he wants to establish peace and cooperation between the Devildom and the Celestial Realm. These two realms were enemies for the vast majority of history, and although there is a nonaggression agreement between them currently, it's a tense sort of truce, not true peace.
Helping Lucifer defy the Celestial Realm is in direct opposition to that goal. Taking in the brothers at all is pretty risky in terms of that goal, as Barbatos makes clear above, but there's at least a sort of implication that it is the Demon Prince's business what to do with new demons. Interfering in the Celestial Realm's punishment of one of its angels though? Well, Asmodeus and Leviathan understand right away when they learned the truth from Lucifer back in OG Lesson 15.
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There was a very real risk of pissing off the Celestial Realm that he had to calculate against here, and it's a risk that threatens not only him but everything that matters to him most -- his realm, which is a responsibility he takes very seriously, and his goals, for peace between the realms.
And then there's Diavolo's own precarious political situation.
Though Nightbringer retcons this a bit with Diavolo's father falling into a slumber and leaving the realm to Diavolo more suddenly, the original OM actually established that Diavolo was in charge before the fall, with the Demon King going off to sleep shortly after giving the brothers' their titles. And Nightbringer has shown that his position as the de facto leader of the realm is very much in question.
The nobles of the House of Lords are very blatantly unhappy about Diavolo and his goals, especially in regards to the now-fallen angels. Really, the whole realm doesn't really approve of angels -- they've made a clear point of it in NB, and even well into OG's main story, approval ratings for the exchange program are mentioned as being better but still pretty low, with various references to demons threatening to eat the angels.
But more to the point, the House of Lords has power over Diavolo. Though he is the rightful heir to the throne in terms of birth, they are able to challenge that right, and they even choose when he will be allowed to ascend to the throne -- something which, even in the distant future of OG, they still have apparently never allowed him to do, seeing as he's still not the king even after all this time. And just between his goals for peace and his taking in the fallen angels, they already maneuvered to punish him with suddenly demanding he go through the Kingsblood Crucible to potentially prevent him from ever becoming king. And as Diavolo says, even if he passes, they could still decide against appointing him king.
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Now imagine if they found out that he risked the safety of the entire realm to help save a dying angel. If they knew that, they probably wouldn't stop at just challenging his fitness to rule.
So, to be clear, when Lucifer showed up with Lilith, yelling at Diavolo to save her? Diavolo was NOT free to just do whatever he pleases. When he said he's taking a big risk by helping Lilith, he really was. There were so many reasons why he shouldn't, and no real reason why he should -- but Lucifer was begging him to do it anyway. So, he needed something in return. Some kind of reassurance, some kind of protection in the potential consequences.
And there certainly are consequences for helping Lucifer. Even with the Lilith deal being a secret, there are consequences. We saw that already with the House of Lords' increased animosity -- as said above, he was nearly removed from power over it. And as for the Celestial Realm?
Well, that brings us to the end of Nightbringer Lesson 17, where Raphael comes bearing a message from the Celestial Realm -- or, more aptly, a threat.
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(We could go into a whole thing about why the Celestial Realm is threatening this but that's for another time)
So, here we are, at the very dangerous crossroads that Diavolo finds himself at now in Nightbringer -- the Celestial Realm coming into his domain with blatant threats of war, while the nobles of his own realm just tried to remove him from power. Threats that are being made against him over helping Lucifer and the brothers. And that's without any of them knowing about Lilith, which would only make all sides even angrier.
You know what he could really use, amidst all those threats? An ally. Someone he could depend on to have his back. Someone he could rely on to be unequivocally on his side, in that very precarious balance of powers.
So that's what he asked for -- loyalty. For all that he was putting on the line for Lucifer's request, he asked for Lucifer to stand by him in turn. What he asked was simply this: "Don't stab me in the back. Don't leave me to deal with the consequences alone. If I'm going to help you, promise me you will be there for me too."
P.S. Lucifer himself has said he agrees with Diavolo's goals. Talking with Diavolo about the peace and cooperation plan was a huge part of why he started having doubts about the Celestial Realm! He was not being asked to do anything he disagreed with; Diavolo knew Lucifer feels the same about his goals as he does. Lucifer takes the loyalty thing too far in OG Season 1, but it was never the only reason for him supporting Diavolo!
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getvalentined · 1 month
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Differentiating the "Black Robes"
For folks who didn't catch it on their own playthrough or (or watch-through) of FF7 Rebirth, here's a quick breakdown of the apparent nature of the people in black robes seen throughout both this game, and previously in Remake.
This differs from OG canon, where everyone in a black robe was a Sephiroth Copy, but in the FF7R timeline they appear to be broken into three "types."
SPOILERS BELOW ��� READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
NO NUMBER TATTOO means this is a G-type SOLDIER suffering from degradation. These people are terminally ill. Degradation sets in within five years of enhancement [see Note 1 below], and accelerates very quickly without aggressive treatment.
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Known G-type SOLDIERs: Roche, Azul, Rosso, and Shelke Rui. Population: over 100.
A ONE- OR TWO-DIGIT NUMBER TATTOO indicates S-type SOLDIERs in the throes of Reunion. These people are not terminally ill, based on dev comments confirming that S-type SOLDIERs don't degrade, but they have a cellular leash that is being constantly yanked on by Sephiroth/Jenova. Without Reunion taking place, most of them would presumably live long, fairly healthy lives. [See Note 2 below.]
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Known S-type SOLDIERs: Zack Fair, Kunsel, Luxiere, and Broden. Population: presumed fewer than 100.
A TATTOO STARTING WITH "SC" confirms these people are successful Sephiroth Copies. Failures do not receive a tattoo. They may or may not be terminally ill, contingent upon which type of SOLDIER they were prior to the procedure to make them into a Copy, and the leash on their own cellular makeup is much stricter, much more direct, and gives them a clearer concept of where to go and what to do.
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Known Sephiroth Copies: Roche (successful), Zack Fair (declared failure), and Cloud Strife (declared failure). Population: 4 subjects in total, plus 2 known failures.
Tattoos don't seem to be applied at the time of enhancement, since none of the SOLDIERs in Crisis Core have them, but it's possible that early inductees like Broden were marked when they survived the treatments; this seems likely, as Broden's tattoo is in a slightly different typeface than the tattoos of others in his "type."
I didn't include Sephiroth, Genesis or Angeal under known members of their given types, as they were never normal humans and were not enhanced using one method or the other as teens or young adults. Those who are Jenova babies from birth don't count. I also didn't include two members of DeepGround due to the fact that they canonically cannot actually be G-type SOLDIERs based on the lore of how the two of them were made and how they function in general; they may be G-type on paper, but they are not G-type for the purposes of this analysis.
Lastly, I'll admit that this breakdown may appear to be slightly inconsistent during gameplay, but this seems to be due only to the reuse of models between black robed individuals, presumably to take stress off the dev team. I'm fine with this, obviously, no crunch is good crunch. As far as I can tell it's pretty consistent in full cutscenes, though, so I'm sticking with it until the third game proves me wrong.
NOTE 1: The timeframe for degradation is based on Roche suffering from the condition prior to his becoming a Sephiroth Copy, which is visible in the fact that he has a handful of incongruously pale streaks through his hair prior to the procedure; an attempt to cure this is presumably the reason he volunteered to work with Hojo in the first place.
According to the Remake Ultimania, Roche joined SOLDIER after the Nibelheim Incident, so he's only been in the program for five years at the most; this timeframe also allows us to recognize S-type SOLDIERs, as they've been in the program for significantly longer with no known ill effects (e.g.: Kunsel has been in the program since at least 2000, but is mentioned by name and indicated to be at headquarters in Remake, showing that he's still on active duty in 0007; this wouldn't be the case if he were suffering from degradation, so he can't be a G-type.)
NOTE 2: The capacity of S-type SOLDIERs to live fairly normal lives with minimal major health issues is proven by the existence of Broden, who identifies himself as a SOLDIER but was certainly part of Project 0; he and Mildred left home as teenagers and wound up with Shinra, but Mildred doesn't know the name of the project into which he was conscripted, only that it was "top secret."
Combined with the apparent age of both characters in-game, this indicates that Broden took part in the project before SOLDIER was even SOLDIER, putting him as one of its earliest successful operatives, probably enhanced sometime between 1983 and 1985 based on the timeline provided in the First SOLDIER Battle Royale opening cutscene—hence why his number is the lowest shown on a person in a black robe in the entire game. This puts him in his forties at the youngest during the Crisis, and he functions just fine (albeit with some other issues we can assume were caused by the enhancement procedure being imperfect at the time of his enlistment) until Reunion starts to call him toward the end of 0007.
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alexxncl · 1 month
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‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 40 SPOILERS‼️
masterlist | all lessons | lesson 39
the end of an era (season 2)
normal and hard spoilers
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oh baby :(
see every time i remember how sheltered diavolo is it makes me hate his father that much more. he grew up with everything in the world, but practically nobody to share it with.
diavolo had to have been smart enough to have caught onto the reason behind mephisto's attachment to him at an early age. he might be dense, but he's not stupid. even if he and mephisto did end up becoming really good friends, diavolo knew early on that their proximity was for business and royalty purposes only, and that friendship and a genuine relationship was second to their professional relationship
i feel like this is why he initially thought of the brothers as treasures in regard to status rather than as people, and the mindset shifted to seeing them as treasures in regards to the relationship he formed with them. he wanted genuine connection, but forming a professional connection before a genuine relationship was so deeply ingrained in him that he defaulted to it without even realizing it
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...he can't be fucking serious
GET HIM OUT I BEG
he would've done this regardless of the option we picked during the angel's trial i hate it here...can't he take a class or smth instead of experimenting on us
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i'm gonna kill him /j
i'm a whore in the game so i technically date everyone at once. but why does he NEVER say i love you back ????? not even in the first game ????????
like ok you're a time demon who shouldn't get attached to anyone and you choose to stay unattached bc you'll lose everyone anyways blah blah blah but at least indulge me a little bit 💔
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SOBS UNCONTROLLABLY I LOVE THEM
i feel like they know this is their last goodbye yk? obviously barbatos does, but this feels very, very final on their part. maybe it's a different version the feeling they have when they go into mc's room, like they can feel mc being pulled away from them physically
what if the end of the lesson or the story in the hard part of the lesson is them portalling back to their timeline and the brothers getting a glimpse of their alternate selves? and then everything clicking into place after mc leaves?
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the fact that simeon has as many doubts about his father's intentions as lucifer and his brothers did really solidifies my belief that he wanted to, in the worst case, fall with the brothers. and if he didn't fall, he'd at least have begged for answers as much as lucifer did before the war. he was demoted after the war for helping the brothers in canon, and i feel like he still beats himself up about it because of the side he chose. him and raphael both, but raphael is better at hiding it
(i have a whole post about simeon and michael before the war here)
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i've said this about a million times but...
the brothers ever 🫶🏽
they're such shitheads but also extremely concerned i love their dynamic sm
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SEE I TOLD YOU ‼️ HE MASKS HIS FEAR WITH ANGER (even though i'm pretty sure this was confirmed in canon in the og game and in nb s1)
him admitting that he was scared though? putting his pride aside and actually talking about his feelings for once? this is proof of how much he trusts mc, how much he loves and cares for them, even if he can't explain why the feelings he holds for them are so strong
it also shows that he's thankful to have someone who will care about and protect his brothers as much as he does, and some of the weight of the "oldest brother" mantle has been lifted. it allows him to be vulnerable and at least a little more carefree, which is why he's seen joking and laughing with his brothers so much more often in the later lessons in comparison to season 1 and early season 2
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i feel like i'm SUPOOSED to reach bc why would he phrase it like that ??? i don't think he knows...but he's really intuitive
or maybe this was a way of the devs using him to unofficially-officially send us off and into our original timeline. idk. i'm reaching but they made me
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THEY DID NOT
oh i'm really gonna cry...they took what we wrote in season 1 and showed it to the boys
i COMPLETELY forgot we even did this 😭 god i'm gonna cry i love this game sm
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I KNEW NO TIME PASSED THANK GODDDDDD
i don't think i'd be able to handle it if the same amount of time passed across realms
i also think this is why they emphasized "time soup" so heavily, you can be put anywhere at any time as if nothing had changed
...i can't believe it's over
...for now at least
well time to read the HDD story and catch up on devilgram
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atticsandwich · 7 days
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Hey I like the idea of your fic where mephisto made a pact with mc before mc got yeeted to the past in NB. I know it was a while back but did you make a continuation for that? If not would you consider doing one? I really want to know what happens when mc gets back to og timeline and reunites with meph
hey!! sorry it took me this long to respond, i only recently got around to getting an idea for a continuation. i initially wanted to leave it open ended but i kinda wanted to indulge myself a bit haha :>
time, curious time
mephistopheles / gn!mc
a sequel to this fic, in which you come back
(to preface: ignore the hard mode reunion for this one 💀 i still choose to think that "reunion" is a red herring set up by nightbringer bc it does not align at all to how they set up mc's dissappearance in the first place. but more on that theory some other time or maybe im just being delusional idk)
It was a day like any other.
R.A.D was bustling with students rushing to go home or hang out after a long day of class, echoes of afterschool plans reverberating through its halls. On one hand, everything seemed as it was— nothing was amiss; there were no violent bouts or random screams of terror, no demon stampedes or curses being thrown at each other.
But, it was still different.
At least, that's how it was for Mephistopheles, who, as usual, was holed up in his office at the newspaper club room. Ever since your disappearance, he's been spotted less and less, only ever coming out when summoned by Diavolo or if he deemed it necessary to go home— he still has a brother awaiting his return to tend to, of course. He never really got used to how quiet the office became, especially during the times he'd typically expect you to barge in like you owned the place. He also never got used to his phone being so... stagnant, missing your daily texts and calls whenever you couldn't visit him. Your name is still pinned at the top of his D-Com list, just in case, he says to himself everyday.
Just in case they come back.
It's been a year since then, yet the memory of the first night of your disappearance is still vivid in his mind. He remembered exhausting all his resources and connections, from the grandest duke to the tiniest noble— he didn't care about the judgemental gruffs and stares he'd get when he asked them if they had any info about a particular human sorcerer, which, considering demon nobility, there was a lot of, to the point where he almost started accussing any noble who responded to him with even the slightest off-tone. Diavolo had to intervene at some point, as the usual snarky, egotistical demon completely stopped sleeping then. His worried brother's face was one he would forever remember, and he made a mental note to never let him see his big, dependable brother in that state ever again.
Things have calmed down now, he supposes, but they never slowed down searching— he never did. Sure, they eventually pieced together that you were sent back somewhere in time and that Solomon was tasked to bring you back, much to his dismay, but there was still a culrpit on the loose, someone bold enough to snatch up a human under the protection of the Demon Prince hinself. Whoever that was— demon, human, whatever— no matter their reason or agenda, still had to answer.
The echoes of the crowd of students outside started getting softer, and Mephisto deems it might be nigh time for a little break. Just in time too, as he starts feeling his eyelids drop and mind fog, a stale cup of tea now cold on the side of his desk. Before drifting to sleep, the last of its scents wafts over to him, reminding him that he did your favorite blend today.
This must be a dream, he thinks.
When he opens his eyes he's met with the darkness of his office, the halls outside now dead quiet. Someone must have turned off the lights, as he slowly sits up from his position on the sofa.
Wait, when did he get here?
He surmises it must have been the club president or Diavolo, as they often come to his office to check in on him from time to time. Still, there's a weird feeling bubbling in his stomach, something that he hadn't felt in a while.
Why was his hand so warm?
It's then that he finally notices it— the soft, steady breathing of someone laid next to him. He stops himself from jumping in alarm, and just before his mouth opens in condemnation that some random demon went and slept with him while he was taking a nap—
"Mephisto? Are you awake now?"
A voice lulls him back to his senses.
He knows that voice. He knows it all too well.
He notices the hand clutching his; tightly, like they weren't going to let go anytime soon. He feels the lone pact on his wrist suddenly burst to life, like it never faded in the first place, and he finally realizes what was happening.
If this is a dream, please don't let it end, he pleads.
The figure sits up, still not letting go of his hand. He feels another hand carress his face in a warmth that he never thought he would feel again, before he finally locks eyes with the figure.
"It's not a dream. I'm home."
"You..." the words get caught in his throat, unable to say anything. He resorts to taking his free hand, the one shaking uncontrollably, as he returns the gesture of carressing your face. You lean into his touch, chasing the warmth it radiates.
He doesn't notice his tears starting to flow, nor does he notice you lean towards him in time to react as you kiss away the salted dew from his eyes. In true Mephisto fashion, he retaliates, like he always does, smashing his lips all over your face until it reaches yours, and you laugh as you finally feel his smile while taking in his fervent attempt of making up for lost time— hands still bound together, bodies falling back to the comfort of the couch, your name spilling out of his mouth everytime he catches his breath. In his arms, here,
you're home.
tags: @insomniachox @whatever-fanfics
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ginsengkitten · 3 months
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༺ Beautiful Dangerous༻
A slashxreader fanfiction
༺☆༻
Chapter One:
Tower Records
word count: approx.: 2900
☆ Authors Notes ☆
ty for reading. This is mostly a world building intro but I hope y’all like it :) - also I will be including photos and music that inspires or I felt matches each chapter, just for fun. This story takes place in some sort of fictional timeframe of 1984-86 ish when GNR had just started developing/finalizing their OG line up. I know not all the pics and timelines necessarily add up but this literally isn’t real so whatever!
Track list:
You really got me - The Kinks
Green Onions - Booker T. & the M.G.s
Foxey Lady - Jimi Hendrix
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Your parents had shipped you out to your cousins home in the Hollywood Hills every summer since you were 10. The sprawling green hills sprinkled with Tuscan topped mansions upheld to excite you. Simply because there was so much more to be discovered outside of the ritz. This summer was going to be perhaps the best one yet, because now that you were turning 18, Uncle Rob would finally allow you to go down into the city for the first time.
Uncle Rob and Aunt Shena were the most uptight, stick up the ass, pair of individuals to bethrall the hills. You would think with the unceasing access to every pill, herb, and juice in Hollywood from Robs fancy job would have eased them up over the years; their long time neighbor, Dave, was one of the most sought out coke suppliers in the area - or at least that's what your cousin Daisy has told you- and Daisy liked to dramatize occasionally.... Daisy also says that her parents think too much ibuprofen could spell a trip to the confessional at church. This statement however was proven to be true because of the time Aunt Shena almost refused to give you a 50 mg Tylenol the time you had started your period in their guest bedroom.
Needless to say, it was in agreement with your own parents that you'd not be permitted to go down to the city until you were 18. "The city is where the devil preys on gods most vulnerable and precious spirits" Aunt Shena would recite this at least ten times throughout each summer visit, sure to remind you of the evil that lurked in the streets below. Most summer weeks were spent at the house, but it sure beat Indiana summers back home. Mondays were family nights at home, Tuesdays were beach days, Wednesdays were usually home days too but occasionally sailing on the family boat was allotted. You didn't have a boat back home in Indiana. Daddy's money was steady but not BOAT money steady. Plus it was Indiana- where would the sailing even take place? Lake Michigan?
Thursdays, the cinema would have discount movie matinees. If the film had been pre approved through the other moms in Aunt Shenas crochet circle, then she would take you and Daisy to go see it as a treat. Occasionally, Daisy would ask to use the restroom and you both would sneak into another screen room to peek at the other movies you weren't allowed to see, up until you accidentally snuck into a showing of 'The Evil Dead'. Both you and Daisy had nightmares for weeks and her parents couldn't figure out why, and no shot in hell would either of you admit what happened.
Daisy was fun and secretive like that. You appreciated her ability to lie straight to her parents face. Daisy liked to adventure a little bit more than what her parents would allow. Naturally she became versed in the art of bullshitting her parents.
Daisy was almost like a stranger to her parents. It was sad in a way but mostly just impressive. Daisy would steal cigarettes from her dad and stash them in her pencil case and sell them to the other girls in her church group. She also snuck out regularly, mostly to the local park to meet up with boys from school. She was brave. Real brave. She was cool. Real fucking cool. In fact, she was so cool and so brave, that she got the mastermind plan to steal her fathers Pontiac Firebird while he was away on business and Aunt Shena was knocked unconscious from her qualludes. (But god forbid ibuprofen right?).
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"I don't know why I hadn't done this sooner!" Daisy bounced in the drivers seat like a mental patient. The engine cried out aggressively and the whole vehicle roared awake. There’s no way the entire street didn’t hear that. "And you're SURE your mother isn't going to find out? What about your daddy?" You pegged for final assurance from Daisy before becoming an accessory to theft. "Daddy won't ever know. You know why? Cuz' you remember Jeff from my church? He showed me how to roll back the odometer on a car in exchange for...well for never-mind but you don't gotta sweat about a thing Y/N. Now cut the square talk we gotta get to Tower Records before it closes!".
That's another thing Daisy kept secret. Her music. Daisy had a whole stack of vinyl records along with a record player, stashed under her bed. She would purchase raunchy records like Tina Turner and Cheap Trick, and slide them in the back of the more inconspicuous records like Chuck Girard and Bob Dylan. One of Daisy's boyfriends last summer had gifted her an Aerosmith record. Daisy played it for you once and that's how you first learned what rock music was. Some kind of bug bit you then. You itched to hear more, but between the uber cult of Daisy's parents and your own sheltered family back in indiana, who were perpetually trapped in the era of disco music, rock music was hard to come by. Rock music was foreign to you but felt familiar. You'd never felt a craving for sound before hearing it. So when Daisy devised to steal her dads car to go visit Tower Records in the city, you shoved all notion of "evils that lurk below" and the two of you ripped down to the sunset strip.
-
It wasn't that you weren't adventurous too. You could be if you wanted to. You were just too busy to be bothered with mischief like Daisy. While you believed yourself to be an open minded individual, it was clear Aunt Shenas repeated affirmations of danger sat in the back of your mind, welling up further and further to the forefront while the lights of the city glittered closer and closer into view.
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"Wow wow wow Y/N...look at it all right? You seein this?" Daisy's eyes glazed over as the neon lights poured over the Pontiac. It was like nothing you had ever seen before. Or her. Daisy had only made it down to the city a handful of times but never at night. Each building had its own neon get up signage. Loads of people strolled the night street. It was busy! Your heart pounded in your chest a little bit. Fear and excitement all in one. You couldn't take your eyes off the passing sceneries. You tried to take it all in. Burger joints you had seen a million commercials for bustled with crews of hot rods parked in the parking lots, engines proudly displayed. Beautiful women leaning into the windows of old rusty cars, hung out on the darker corners in big groups for some reason. Was everyone down here revolting against wearing clothes?
"Tower Records baby!" Daisy sang as she pulled into the parking lot. Huh. It wasn't really a tower like the name had suggested. Rather a dingy stand alone strip mall off the corner of the strip. The disappointing reality shocked you back to your more cautious senses. If anyone finds out we're here we're totally busted.
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You stepped out of the car and a wall of hollywoods finest scents burned your nose. The air down here wasn't like the air in the hills. Air can't be so different like that can it? "God I hope they have the new Cyndi Lauper release." Daisy said, pushing into the store door with her back.
The door chirped out a small out of tune "ding!" To notify the staff of the new and completely out of element customers entering. Two scrawny flower fresh girls in inconspicuous uniform-like attire, looking plain and straight as an arrow. The saying "bull in a China shop" but as if curiously reversed "China in a bull shop". Daisy somewhat fit the bill better but you-you did not look hip enough to be in a record store, or the state of California. Even if it was a dingy strip mall. Which made you all the more nervous.
A few other customers sleuthed the aisles, clearly regulars. You tried to stay out of everyone's way while you tried to keep track of Daisy darting into the vinyl labyrinth. You scanned the sea of music. Tracing your fingers along the spines of sleeves. So much rock music! You glanced around to see Daisy already chatting up one of the grungy male employees. Your eyes caught a gorgeous vibrant yellow sleeve and you plucked it out. 'Are you experienced' by Jimi Hendrix.
You'd heard of him you think. Maybe on the news somewhere? He seems like a big rocker name.
You made your way over to the front corner  of the store by the check out where they had open record players where customers could play records and listen to new samples. You held the album in your hands and stared at its dazzling colors. Almost spellbound until;
"Foxey Lady."
The sudden voice snapped you out of your trance and you looked around. Suddenly catching the cashier at the empty register. Did HE say that? To ME? You hesitated to question if he spoke to you. He seemed like the type to cause trouble. Was this a cat call? Is this what cat calling is? One time mother had been cat called in front of a sears and daddy found the man who did it and really gave him a reaming. She warned you about dirty and dangerous men in the streets who call women obscenities for fun. What jerk cat calls a young woman shopping at their own store?
"Excuse me…?" You questioned.
"The record." He pointed to your hands gripping the yellow vinyl.
"Foxey lady. It's the best song on that album." He connected. Your eyes glance back down at the track list and sure enough 'Foxey Lady' was spelled out. Your face suddenly blooms pink in embarrassment as you look back up to him. That's not what you were expecting from this guy.
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He leaned his back against the wall behind the counter. It was impossible to tell if he was looking at you because his eyes were protected from a curtain of thick, pretty dark curls and sunglasses….indoors….at night. His arms crossed coolly. He had an aura of mischief about him. He was almost like a ghost. Dressed in all black leather. You'd never seen someone dressed in only black clothes before. Maybe he was a rocker type too.
"Oh..uh….I'll need to give it a listen then." You replied politely and cordially with a nervous smile, averting his face to hide your obvious embarrassment. You became slightly flustered. He didn't drop his attention towards you. You start to fiddle with the record, somehow losing your sense of coordination because you were being watched. Suddenly the record isn't lining up correctly. The lid almost clamps on your hand but something catches it and spares your fingers. You look up again and he's now in front of you, acting like some sort of hero. An intense mixture of tobacco, rubbing alcohol and an almost sweet musk surrounds you. You now see that he is in fact looking at you. You stare at him like a deer in headlights. Stunned, embarrassed and confused at how he managed to sneak his way over to you so quickly. "Here, I'll play it for you." His lips curl up slightly into an almost sickeningly lovely smirk. He places his hand upon yours and kindly removes it out of the way. You step aside and allow him to continue, still stunned and nervous.
Not only had your heart already been on high alert from the firebird thievery, a guy was now in your direct personal space. A potentially dangerous guy. Well no- he wasn't cat calling you after all right? And he just helped you and? He is sort of nicer than you expected. He just seems so...cool?
All up in your personal space. It wasn't like you were a prude! You'd kissed a boy before! Even held hands too. Granted the kiss was on the cheek. But this guy just kind of....took over. His presence was so laid back and yet demanded the attention of the room. It was hard not to want to stare back at him. You wanted to better analyze this predator/prey situation here. If he's so dangerous, why is he being so kind? It took one glance at him up close and you were starting to call bullshit on Aunt Shena's precautions altogether. You'd been in the city for almost an hour and remained entirely unscathed.
Your hand still felt electric from his touch. His eyes only briefly detaching from you to put the record on.
A funky rock ensemble flowed out of the record. The same type of musical pleasure you had heard from the Aerosmith record, revisited your body. A rougher, harder groove than what's on the radio. It was melodic and fierce. The guy redirected himself to you once more. Watching you for your reaction to the song. You nervously nod your head to the beat, meeting his gaze. Once you connect sights, your stomach jumps in a swirl. Butterflies soar in circles inside you. This oddly intimate interaction but you couldn't seem to pull away. Almost spellbound yet again but for an entirely different feeling.
He began mouthing the lyrics, still staring back at you over a sea of tension thick air.
'You know you're a cute little heartbreaker'
Your face is rushing hot. It was almost like he was intentionally singing these words to you.
'And you know you're a sweet little love maker'
He smirked at this one. You turned now what you must have assumed was red with embarrassment. You break your gaze and look down at your shoes and then glance around the shop to locate Daisy. The shop was mainly now empty as the night had grown in. Daisy could still be found giggling away with another boy in the far end of the store. Your heart fluttered rapidly. You suddenly feel the air in front of you grow warmer. Looking back he had stepped closer to you and space between you had shrunk. He continues.
'I wanna take you home-
I won't do you no harm'
He held a smug look on his face as his lips mouthed these totally obscene lyrics to you. Like he knew it was not something you'd ever heard before. Your naïve shock seemed to entertain him.
'You got to be all mine, all mine'
Ooh Foxey Lady.'
"You dig it?" He asked still holding a smirk. "Definitely" You admit all too quickly. He give a slight breathy chuckle. Your sure answer when you had seemed so unsure about everything else til then was cute to him. A gal who was on board for rock n roll was nothing but perfection to him. But you didn't look the part, and that amused him. Your light floral scent drifted sweetly around him, he was unable to ignore you as soon as you had walked in and he had watched your every move. A nervous animal. Timid and clearly not someone he had seen in before. The girls that normally perused Tower Records were hot but they were rough around the edges. You- you were something sweet…something different altogether he thought. You were like a breath of fresh air to him. What's that saying...opposites attract?
"You like it so much you can have it." He said, his voice a lower octave.
"Oh well I was thinking of buying something el-" you started to politely object.
"No. " he laughs at your oblivion. "Just take it. It's yours." He pushes it into your hands. You're a little in shock once more just at the thought of stealing? Twice in one night? You really like the record and you would love to own it...but. You look around nervously.
"Here Foxey, All you." He firmly asserts it into your grasp, lets go and begins to walk back behind his counter.
"Y-you could get into trouble for this you know." You point out with concern for this kind stranger. He waves you off with his hand. "we're closing miss, you'll have to get." busying himself in false cashiering practices he had probably never paid attention to until now. Daisy meets you mid store. She hardly notices the record in your hands or the insane cashier who just let you steal from his store. "I've just met the cutest boy, Y/N! And he’s in his own band! I'll tell you on the way back. “ She giggled. “Let's get sodas maybe too if some where's open." Daisy ushered you to the door, blind in her own personal thrills to notice you looking back over your shoulder to meet the gaze of the cashier once more, who to your delight had removed his sunglasses, already staring back at you, watching you leave. He gave you another sly smile and you returned one of your own, forming some sort of mutual pact of this secret.
Why did he think you would keep this a secret? Why did he trust you like that? You were going to after all, but how did he know?
Doesn’t he care about getting in to trouble?
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idsfantasy · 1 month
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I'm sorry if you've gotten this kind of info already, but one of the points you used in that video about Burntrap/Glitchtrap being Afton was him saying "I always come back," which you claim is something the Mimic wouldn't know, but it did know that. Fnaf 6 is shown to be a game in universe just like the rest of them.
Glitchtrap is likely a different branch of the Mimic1 code specifically designated for copying William long term.
There's also a line in Special Delivery. Luis says that Vanessa searched up "How to induce compliance in human subjects" which not only implies that what's possessing her isn't human in any way, but it's something that William would never need to do given that he's a master manipulator.
As for the memory plushies, those likely either come from the Mimic giving you the data it got about them from the VR game, or it's Glitchtrap giving you your own memories that you lost to place you in a vulnerable position given that those memories are likely traumatic ones.
We saw how Afton died anyway, his Agony and Remnant was cleansed by the Puppet in Fazbear's Fright's. There would be nothing left to bring him back. The Princess is going after the monster copying the murderer, not the murderer himself.
Also I'm like 90% sure that the devs of Security Breach thought that Burntrap was supposed to be Afton. I recall Baz saying once when he met Scott at the fnaf movie set that there was a miscommunication involving one of the games endings.
Sorry if this is a mess. Just thought all this was worth pointing out. Have a good one.
The video for those interested:
youtube
I don't think that Mimic was plugged into Pizzeria Simulator like it theoretically would have been into Help Wanted. It's possible I guess, but I still think it doesn't make sense for it to latch onto that line, or know what William heard in UCN.
When would that designation have been made and by whom? It wouldn't have been for Help Wanted based on Tape Girl's descriptions nor Mr. Burrows's.
Technically there are other things you can try to induce compliance in. A dog or other pet for example. "Human subjects" just specifies the search. Not to mention, it wouldn't necessarily be literally Glitchtrap doing the searching. Vanessa was talking to computers in AR, and we hear her talking to Glitchtrap in the og HW. He manipulated her mind to make her listen to him, but I think that was more Vanessa looking something up in order to do what Glitchtrap asked her to.
The unused lines specifically refer to the memories as belonging to "it", not the player, so I doubt that would be the case, and where in the VR game would it have specifically gotten the data for all 5 MCI kids and Charlie? Why would they be called its memories if they weren't actually Glitchtrap's memories. Who's code remains if the "his code" isn't William's?
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If you're referring to William getting dumped in the lake at the end of the Frights epilogues, there are quite a few reasons I think Frights and Stitchline are a separate continuity from the game timeline. Why would the Princess be around to find out about a copycat and care? He's not the one who she's mad at in that case.
I personally recall a misquote/misattribution of some sort that spread around on that topic. I'll need the timestamped video to confirm that preferably, but in any case, I highly doubt Scott didn't even glance at Burntrap's design before release to notice that something was wrong, and as I mentioned in my video, if Steel Wool was trying to correct things and connect the Mimic to Burntrap, they would have at least made the two have more visual connection than a hand that isn't even actually identical and was already reused from a nightmare animatronic.
While I see where you're coming from, I don't think any of those points negate the evidence I have in the video that you didn't address, though the video was long so I understand why you wouldn't bring it all up. Either way though, I personally think it makes a lot more sense from both an evidence, narrative, and storytelling perspective for Burntrap to be William. Totally cool if you believe differently though! I hope you have a good day as well :D
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laylawatermelon · 1 month
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My Offering To You The 911 fandom to tide us over the break and beyond
My proposal: Two hastags for fan engagement
#911ThrowbackTuesday
And the most important one
#911ThursdayTakeover
I noticed we tend to dominate the trending sections every Thursday across social platforms (as we should) but it's usually after the episode comes out.
Which understandable.
I've had this idea rattling around since I started watching live on Twitter and have seen that we're taking over the trending tags🤣.
I want to start a fan hashtag/space.
So here's my proposal.
#911 ThrowbackTuesday (and what it entails.
I thought it'd be fun to have the og/older fans telling stories about the fandom, information we won't know, the best personal episode and other info for the influx of new fans. (And who doesn't love to reminisce about the good old days?)
For rewatches and comments
The popular theories of the past (and how wrong or right they were and how funny it was when it was our wasn't proven)
Older blog posts that relates to older episodes
Older Twitter accounts that were popular/were can see what it was like when it started airing.
Old cast photos (please we need them for pfps and other reasons...)
#911ThursdayTakeover
Legendary fan photos (aka tweets etc)
During rewatches acting like it's new info can be really funny too
Interacting with new fans about stuff that happened during the original airing.
I find it fun personally to hear stuff from the older fans and they get to share their excitement and new fans can get it because most of us didn't get the fun of the past seasons.
It's a way to bridge the gap (not that there's one really) and have all fans come together and be unhinged together.
It's a yap fest. 🤗 And what a beautiful one it will be...
And then there's,
ThursdayTakeover is the biggest one.
I have ideas for the drought we're having and we can keep it on trending at least, as it brings good attention and new fans (and subsequently more seasons yes it's all coming together).
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There's two protocols I've cooked up.
The drought version (aka now)
This version is dedicated to the present and future of 911. The hastag can be used to post on any day but it's like a little notebook for all things unhinged before new episodes come out.
For when the shows not airing it'll be this:
Theories about future episodes
Meta (all the juicy meta your heart desires)
Current fan works based in the present or future episodes (this includes fanfics, fan art etc)
Spec fics/sneak peek of current work
Regular media sharing
I think this would be easy as I noticed it's a bit hard to navigate specific fan works and information during airing/older posts when using Tumblr due to it not having a specific date system.
This way it kind of lets you put it all in one beautiful hastag that you can scroll for hours and know what exactly is going to be going on.
I'd just like an archive or sorts as it is a bit hard to put together information as a new fan.
(is my audhd showing yet?)
For when it's airing it's a bit different.
It'll be from before the show starts business as at usual there's no need to really worry about trending as it'll do it regardless, but I'm the case is the hashtag if it's a takeover then we have to really takeover. Like all day.
This applies to the hours before we watch on airing days:
Theories/discussions about airing episodes (then after discussing whether or was right or wrong and clowning your theories/the unhingedness of it all)
Sneak peeks /media
Using the hastag to let everyone know what's up and the timeline WILL be flooded with our fruity family that we love and adore🥰
Then as it airs I suggest (it already happens but still)
Live blogging
Live Tweeting
Photos/reactions as it's airing so we can share it collective mind melting
Then afterwards it's business as usual.
Meltdowns
Unhinged posts
Disbelief
Tears
Joy
Recollection of what just happened?!
I only thought of this idea because I'm interested in promoting/helping out with the visibility and stuff (free marketing am i right?)
I haven't been able to fan girl about stuff in a while and feel really welcome and happy because of this show.
It really gives me something to look forward every week to see what the show creates and after the joy the fans share with each other.
You guys are the best! 🤗
Still this is my offering back because this show really changed my life as it gives me something to look forward to every week like an anchor.
So now that the gooey stuff is all done I'll ask once more...
Who's with me?!
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genouxcasses · 3 months
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!!MAJOR REBIRTH SPOILERS!!
Okay, so I finally managed to calm down and spared some time thinking over the ending, I've come to make some conclusions (totally mo!):
1) There are definitely Aerith 0 and Sephiroth 0, probably from OG/AC timeline which know the whole story, and Sephiroth 0 is on the hunt for Aerith 0 who hides from him between worlds. Well, did hide since we saw in the Church scene that Sephiroth found her ("So that's where you've been hiding"). Sephiroth 0 knows that killing Aerith will only bring her to Lifestfeam and give her opportunity to interfere his plans again (same goes for alive Aerith), so his best option is probably to just keep her locked between worlds. Aerith 0 knows she can't hide from him forever so with last attempt before being caught she puts her last hopes into Cloud 1 (the Cloud from Remake timeline). Both Aerith 0 and Sephiroth 0 can obviously travel between worlds and in Aerith case (I suppose with help of Lifestteam) she can also move others between them (she dragged Zack into Cloud 1 reality and Biggs to Zack's and so on).
2) Cloud 1 isn't hallucinating or goes crazy in the end. He's the one present in two (at least) worlds at the same time, and as in one of them (my guess what we saw was OG timeline because we see but not hear Cloud says something and it's probably his famous lines "Aerith won't laugh again"). but then he sees Aerith calming him down with "Cloud, it's okay" which could be pointing at that Aerith 0 not only gave him her mageria but also told him what to do, so Cloud remembers that and calms down, because he now does really know what to do and how to save her. Remember last scene before he gets on Highwind and leaves Aerith? NO WAY Cloud would do that to any of his friends and especially to Aerith since we saw dozens scenes when he's worried for her in even light situations, not speaking of leaving the girl alone in the field lol. It's not even OOC for Cloud, it's just not him completely. which I believe also points that Cloud knows exactly what he sees and what he has to do (or maybe feels it, since Cloud 1 is not fully awaken yet). anyway this leads us to Marlene's words "only Cloud can save her". because only Cloud recieved those insights from Aerith and he is indeed the one who can save her;
3) As for the future which was left to us to guess for now... Well, along with all said above and taking in the fact that AC timeline is totally fckd up (where Sephiroth will just keep coming back again and again until there's no one left to stop him), and whole Remake point was to "Make things right", and with main themes of Remake - Hollow with its "I will never let you go again", and of Rebirth - NPTK with "We can be together forever evermore", my bet is on they're gonna mix all the realities including OG (as ai said, I think it's already happening in Aerith d-h scene), and come up with one whole new one where things settled in "right" way and no place left for any other timelines or else;
4) Aerith's fate... It's up to decide, I suppose. I believe Zack had high chance of survival since there's only one Zack for all timelines, but I'm afraid there's a high possibility that the only Aerith to live will be the original one, or rather her consciousness kept by Sephiroth between worlds. Also I see a possibility (of fanservice, additionally...) of leaving two Clouds: one in coma from Zack world, who might be left to live with those who he knows: Zack and Tifa, and Cloud 1 from Remake main timeline, who might leave with Aerith for their Promised Land he was searching so hard for in OG and AC. Or maybe I'm just scared to believe in NORMAL happy end with Aerith alive and happy in normal world. But I guess we'll see in 3 or 4 years on the last part of our journey...
What about you, guys? Which conclusions have you reached? I was so depressed these last days I'd be happy to discuss.
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misc-obeyme · 8 months
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Okay this is a follow up to this post because I’ve had more time to think about it and I have more to say after all.
Lesson 25 round two here we go! Sorry Asmo, you’re still not in this one, just know that you’re beautiful and I love you.
Okay.
The truth is that I was just trying to find a way for what happened to be some kind of trick. And I like to hold out hope that it still is somehow, but I’m not going to speculate about it or try to prove that is somehow the case.
Instead, I want to talk about why I feel this way.
More than anything else, it feels extremely out of character for Barbatos to have such a minor reason for acting the way he has been this whole time.
If they were only setting up that whole thing in order for it to be a joke, they should have made his insults less intense or revealed it far earlier.
Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely think that Barbatos would be upset about finding he’s eighth on the list, especially after everything he’s done for Solomon. I am not at all saying that I think he didn’t have a reason to be upset or that it doesn’t make sense for his feelings to be hurt.
What doesn’t make sense is his reaction.
Barbatos has always been reserved. He never really shows strong emotions at all and in fact I think I’ve mentioned several times that this particular situation is the one exception. It stands out because it’s so unlike him. Which led me to believe that whatever his reason for being so angry was, it had to be something big.
In fact, I was so convinced that Solomon did something really terrible to Barbatos that I didn’t believe Sol when he said he couldn’t remember what it was. I was like there’s no way you don’t remember doing something so bad that it makes Barbatos act like this. That just can’t be true.
But if it really was just the list thing, then yeah. Of course Solomon doesn’t remember. He was like ??? Did I make a list?
Barbatos’s reaction is way too over the top for something so small.
I would have expected him to call Solomon out on it immediately, the moment he found the list. Because it also doesn’t seem like Barbatos to keep it a secret this whole time. Which is another reason I thought it was going to be something more dramatic.
Barbatos says some really mean things to Solomon and while it can be entertaining for a normally reserved character to do that, it also needs to have a legit reason. And this just didn’t cut it in my mind.
This reason makes Barbatos seem childish and petty which is not something he’s ever been before. (At least not that I can remember.)
So. Here’s where I get into the speculation about why this is the way they went.
Either we’re dealing with what I would consider bad writing and they legit just had the whole thing set up to make this joke OR something else is going on.
The something else could be anything at this point. I could get into theories about this being Barb from a different timeline for whom this isn’t out of character for some reason, Barb having a totally different reason but didn’t feel he could say it in front of MC, maybe I’ve been wrong all along and there aren’t two Sols but actually two Barbs (or at the very least someone masquerading as Barb).
But really, I could speculate all day and I don’t think I’ve ever been right about anything because this game is constantly throwing me for a loop.
So for now I will just say that I didn’t particularly like the big reveal here. It just felt wrong to me, for the reasons listed above. But I’m gonna roll with it now because it might not be anything more than what they’ve shown us. Which means I just gotta come to terms with it.
Personally, I much prefer when my girls aren’t fighting. Barbatos has some epic insults, but can’t he fling them at someone else? I like when Barbatos and Solomon are getting along and have their close friendship where they trust each other like in the OG. Bring it back to that!
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Text
I HAVE MOVED TO MY MAIN. PLEASE FOLLOW GINSENGKITTEN FOR UPDATES. STORY WILL CONTINUE THERE. <3
༺ Beautiful Dangerous༻
A slashxreader fanfiction
༺☆༻
Chapter One:
Tower Records
word count: approx.: 2900
☆ Authors Notes ☆
ty for reading. This is mostly a world building intro but I hope y’all like it :) - also I will be including photos and music that inspires or I felt matches each chapter, just for fun. This story takes place in some sort of fictional timeframe of 1984-85 ish when GNR had just started developing/finalizing their OG line up. I know not all the pics and timelines necessarily add up but this literally isn’t real so whatever!
Track list:
You really got me - The Kinks
Green Onions - Booker T. & the M.G.s
Foxey Lady - Jimi Hendrix
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Your parents had shipped you out to your cousins home in the Hollywood Hills every summer since you were 10. The sprawling green hills sprinkled with Tuscan topped mansions upheld to excite you. Simply because there was so much more to be discovered outside of the ritz. This summer was going to be perhaps the best one yet, because now that you were turning 18, Uncle Rob would finally allow you to go down into the city for the first time.
Uncle Rob and Aunt Shena were the most uptight, stick up the ass, pair of individuals to bethrall the hills. You would think with the unceasing access to every pill, herb, and juice in Hollywood from Robs fancy job would have eased them up over the years; their long time neighbor, Dave, was one of the most sought out coke suppliers in the area - or at least that's what your cousin Daisy has told you- and Daisy liked to dramatize occasionally.... Daisy also says that her parents think too much ibuprofen could spell a trip to the confessional at church. This statement however was proven to be true because of the time Aunt Shena almost refused to give you a 50 mg Tylenol the time you had started your period in their guest bedroom.
Needless to say, it was in agreement with your own parents that you'd not be permitted to go down to the city until you were 18. "The city is where the devil preys on gods most vulnerable and precious spirits" Aunt Shena would recite this at least ten times throughout each summer visit, sure to remind you of the evil that lurked in the streets below. Most summer weeks were spent at the house, but it sure beat Indiana summers back home. Mondays were family nights at home, Tuesdays were beach days, Wednesdays were usually home days too but occasionally sailing on the family boat was allotted. You didn't have a boat back home in Indiana. Daddy's money was steady but not BOAT money steady. Plus it was Indiana- where would the sailing even take place? Lake Michigan?
Thursdays, the cinema would have discount movie matinees. If the film had been pre approved through the other moms in Aunt Shenas crochet circle, then she would take you and Daisy to go see it as a treat. Occasionally, Daisy would ask to use the restroom and you both would sneak into another screen room to peek at the other movies you weren't allowed to see, up until you accidentally snuck into a showing of 'The Evil Dead'. Both you and Daisy had nightmares for weeks and her parents couldn't figure out why, and no shot in hell would either of you admit what happened.
Daisy was fun and secretive like that. You appreciated her ability to lie straight to her parents face. Daisy liked to adventure a little bit more than what her parents would allow. Naturally she became versed in the art of bullshitting her parents.
Daisy was almost like a stranger to her parents. It was sad in a way but mostly just impressive. Daisy would steal cigarettes from her dad and stash them in her pencil case and sell them to the other girls in her church group. She also snuck out regularly, mostly to the local park to meet up with boys from school. She was brave. Real brave. She was cool. Real fucking cool. In fact, she was so cool and so brave, that she got the mastermind plan to steal her fathers Pontiac Firebird while he was away on business and Aunt Shena was knocked unconscious from her qualludes. (But god forbid ibuprofen right?).
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"I don't know why I hadn't done this sooner!" Daisy bounced in the drivers seat like a mental patient. The engine cried out aggressively and the whole vehicle roared awake. There’s no way the entire street didn’t hear that. "And you're SURE your mother isn't going to find out? What about your daddy?" You pegged for final assurance from Daisy before becoming an accessory to theft. "Daddy won't ever know. You know why? Cuz' you remember Jeff from my church? He showed me how to roll back the odometer on a car in exchange for...well for never-mind but you don't gotta sweat about a thing Y/N. Now cut the square talk we gotta get to Tower Records before it closes!".
That's another thing Daisy kept secret. Her music. Daisy had a whole stack of vinyl records along with a record player, stashed under her bed. She would purchase raunchy records like Tina Turner and Cheap Trick, and slide them in the back of the more inconspicuous records like Chuck Girard and Bob Dylan. One of Daisy's boyfriends last summer had gifted her an Aerosmith record. Daisy played it for you once and that's how you first learned what rock music was. Some kind of bug bit you then. You itched to hear more, but between the uber cult of Daisy's parents and your own sheltered family back in indiana, who were perpetually trapped in the era of disco music, rock music was hard to come by. Rock music was foreign to you but felt familiar. You'd never felt a craving for sound before hearing it. So when Daisy devised to steal her dads car to go visit Tower Records in the city, you shoved all notion of "evils that lurk below" and the two of you ripped down to the sunset strip.
-
It wasn't that you weren't adventurous too. You could be if you wanted to. You were just too busy to be bothered with mischief like Daisy. While you believed yourself to be an open minded individual, it was clear Aunt Shenas repeated affirmations of danger sat in the back of your mind, welling up further and further to the forefront while the lights of the city glittered closer and closer into view.
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"Wow wow wow Y/N...look at it all right? You seein this?" Daisy's eyes glazed over as the neon lights poured over the Pontiac. It was like nothing you had ever seen before. Or her. Daisy had only made it down to the city a handful of times but never at night. Each building had its own neon get up signage. Loads of people strolled the night street. It was busy! Your heart pounded in your chest a little bit. Fear and excitement all in one. You couldn't take your eyes off the passing sceneries. You tried to take it all in. Burger joints you had seen a million commercials for bustled with crews of hot rods parked in the parking lots, engines proudly displayed. Beautiful women leaning into the windows of old rusty cars, hung out on the darker corners in big groups for some reason. Was everyone down here revolting against wearing clothes?
"Tower Records baby!" Daisy sang as she pulled into the parking lot. Huh. It wasn't really a tower like the name had suggested. Rather a dingy stand alone strip mall off the corner of the strip. The disappointing reality shocked you back to your more cautious senses. If anyone finds out we're here we're totally busted.
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You stepped out of the car and a wall of hollywoods finest scents burned your nose. The air down here wasn't like the air in the hills. Air can't be so different like that can it? "God I hope they have the new Cyndi Lauper release." Daisy said, pushing into the store door with her back.
The door chirped out a small out of tune "ding!" To notify the staff of the new and completely out of element customers entering. Two scrawny flower fresh girls in inconspicuous uniform-like attire, looking plain and straight as an arrow. The saying "bull in a China shop" but as if curiously reversed "China in a bull shop". Daisy somewhat fit the bill better but you-you did not look hip enough to be in a record store, or the state of California. Even if it was a dingy strip mall. Which made you all the more nervous.
A few other customers sleuthed the aisles, clearly regulars. You tried to stay out of everyone's way while you tried to keep track of Daisy darting into the vinyl labyrinth. You scanned the sea of music. Tracing your fingers along the spines of sleeves. So much rock music! You glanced around to see Daisy already chatting up one of the grungy male employees. Your eyes caught a gorgeous vibrant yellow sleeve and you plucked it out. 'Are you experienced' by Jimi Hendrix.
You'd heard of him you think. Maybe on the news somewhere? He seems like a big rocker name.
You made your way over to the front corner  of the store by the check out where they had open record players where customers could play records and listen to new samples. You held the album in your hands and stared at its dazzling colors. Almost spellbound until;
"Foxey Lady."
The sudden voice snapped you out of your trance and you looked around. Suddenly catching the cashier at the empty register. Did HE say that? To ME? You hesitated to question if he spoke to you. He seemed like the type to cause trouble. Was this a cat call? Is this what cat calling is? One time mother had been cat called in front of a sears and daddy found the man who did it and really gave him a reaming. She warned you about dirty and dangerous men in the streets who call women obscenities for fun. What jerk cat calls a young woman shopping at their own store?
"Excuse me…?" You questioned.
"The record." He pointed to your hands gripping the yellow vinyl.
"Foxey lady. It's the best song on that album." He connected. Your eyes glance back down at the track list and sure enough 'Foxey Lady' was spelled out. Your face suddenly blooms pink in embarrassment as you look back up to him. That's not what you were expecting from this guy.
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He leaned his back against the wall behind the counter. It was impossible to tell if he was looking at you because his eyes were protected from a curtain of thick, pretty dark curls and sunglasses….indoors….at night. His arms crossed coolly. He had an aura of mischief about him. He was almost like a ghost. Dressed in all black leather. You'd never seen someone dressed in only black clothes before. Maybe he was a rocker type too.
"Oh..uh….I'll need to give it a listen then." You replied politely and cordially with a nervous smile, averting his face to hide your obvious embarrassment. You became slightly flustered. He didn't drop his attention towards you. You start to fiddle with the record, somehow losing your sense of coordination because you were being watched. Suddenly the record isn't lining up correctly. The lid almost clamps on your hand but something catches it and spares your fingers. You look up again and he's now in front of you, acting like some sort of hero. An intense mixture of tobacco, rubbing alcohol and an almost sweet musk surrounds you. You now see that he is in fact looking at you. You stare at him like a deer in headlights. Stunned, embarrassed and confused at how he managed to sneak his way over to you so quickly. "Here, I'll play it for you." His lips curl up slightly into an almost sickeningly lovely smirk. He places his hand upon yours and kindly removes it out of the way. You step aside and allow him to continue, still stunned and nervous.
Not only had your heart already been on high alert from the firebird thievery, a guy was now in your direct personal space. A potentially dangerous guy. Well no- he wasn't cat calling you after all right? And he just helped you and? He is sort of nicer than you expected. He just seems so...cool?
All up in your personal space. It wasn't like you were a prude! You'd kissed a boy before! Even held hands too. Granted the kiss was on the cheek. But this guy just kind of....took over. His presence was so laid back and yet demanded the attention of the room. It was hard not to want to stare back at him. You wanted to better analyze this predator/prey situation here. If he's so dangerous, why is he being so kind? It took one glance at him up close and you were starting to call bullshit on Aunt Shena's precautions altogether. You'd been in the city for almost an hour and remained entirely unscathed.
Your hand still felt electric from his touch. His eyes only briefly detaching from you to put the record on.
A funky rock ensemble flowed out of the record. The same type of musical pleasure you had heard from the Aerosmith record, revisited your body. A rougher, harder groove than what's on the radio. It was melodic and fierce. The guy redirected himself to you once more. Watching you for your reaction to the song. You nervously nod your head to the beat, meeting his gaze. Once you connect sights, your stomach jumps in a swirl. Butterflies soar in circles inside you. This oddly intimate interaction but you couldn't seem to pull away. Almost spellbound yet again but for an entirely different feeling.
He began mouthing the lyrics, still staring back at you over a sea of tension thick air.
'You know you're a cute little heartbreaker'
Your face is rushing hot. It was almost like he was intentionally singing these words to you.
'And you know you're a sweet little love maker'
He smirked at this one. You turned now what you must have assumed was red with embarrassment. You break your gaze and look down at your shoes and then glance around the shop to locate Daisy. The shop was mainly now empty as the night had grown in. Daisy could still be found giggling away with another boy in the far end of the store. Your heart fluttered rapidly. You suddenly feel the air in front of you grow warmer. Looking back he had stepped closer to you and space between you had shrunk. He continues.
'I wanna take you home-
I won't do you no harm'
He held a smug look on his face as his lips mouthed these totally obscene lyrics to you. Like he knew it was not something you'd ever heard before. Your naïve shock seemed to entertain him.
'You got to be all mine, all mine'
Ooh Foxey Lady.'
"You dig it?" He asked still holding a smirk. "Definitely" You admit all too quickly. He give a slight breathy chuckle. Your sure answer when you had seemed so unsure about everything else til then was cute to him. A gal who was on board for rock n roll was nothing but perfection to him. But you didn't look the part, and that amused him. Your light floral scent drifted sweetly around him, he was unable to ignore you as soon as you had walked in and he had watched your every move. A nervous animal. Timid and clearly not someone he had seen in before. The girls that normally perused Tower Records were hot but they were rough around the edges. You- you were something sweet…something different altogether he thought. You were like a breath of fresh air to him. What's that saying...opposites attract?
"You like it so much you can have it." He said, his voice a lower octave.
"Oh well I was thinking of buying something el-" you started to politely object.
"No. " he laughs at your oblivion. "Just take it. It's yours." He pushes it into your hands. You're a little in shock once more just at the thought of stealing? Twice in one night? You really like the record and you would love to own it...but. You look around nervously.
"Here Foxey, All you." He firmly asserts it into your grasp, lets go and begins to walk back behind his counter.
"Y-you could get into trouble for this you know." You point out with concern for this kind stranger. He waves you off with his hand. "we're closing miss, you'll have to get." busying himself in false cashiering practices he had probably never paid attention to until now. Daisy meets you mid store. She hardly notices the record in your hands or the insane cashier who just let you steal from his store. "I've just met the cutest boy, Y/N! And he’s in his own band! I'll tell you on the way back. “ She giggled. “Let's get sodas maybe too if some where's open." Daisy ushered you to the door, blind in her own personal thrills to notice you looking back over your shoulder to meet the gaze of the cashier once more, who to your delight had removed his sunglasses, already staring back at you, watching you leave. He gave you another sly smile and you returned one of your own, forming some sort of mutual pact of this secret.
Why did he think you would keep this a secret? Why did he trust you like that? You were going to after all, but how did he know?
Doesn’t he care about getting in to trouble?
I HAVE MOVED TO MY MAIN. PLEASE FOLLOW GINSENGKITTEN FOR UPDATES. STORY WILL CONTINUE THERE. <3
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Another go at,
"This was originally a reply to something someone said on one of my posts but I liked it so much it spawned into it's own thing, so I deleted the original reply and here we are"
og post, reply to @emmys-grimoire :
Oh, I absolutely don't think there's going to be a war arc and I've said so in a previous post - that's (at the end of the day) NOT the kind of game OM! is
When I say the War is "inevitable" I mean it in the context of the characters who are "living through" this situation, not in the context of us, the readers, from our outside perspective.
Characters like Solomon, Michael and even MC have expressed that they think this will all crash down into another war.
In other words, while characters in the game may see it as an inevitability, the people reading it who have outside knowledge about everything going on, knows that's complete bullshit
and both the original post and this are definitely NOT meant to be a bad faith reading of Michael either
I think he's a morally grey character, in that he's done equally good and bad things, but ultimately, even the bad things are done for the greater good
Furthermore:
• Luke obviously cares about him
• Mammon says that he probably sent Luke to the human world in the og timeline, so that Luke can move past his narrow minded view of demons
• He clearly still cares for Lucifer and even the others
• Even after he turns Simeon human, Simeon still has faith in him and says that even when others can't understand why he does something he usually does it because he has a plan/for the greater good
• Despite initially thinking MC was "wicked" and also complaining about MC the last time, he still helps them even when he doesn't need to
• I also see Michael as being a pretty obvious counterpart to Diavolo, from the jovial almost childish excitement/personality to the ulterior motives to the long-suffering attendant trying to reign him in
1.) That being said, you can't deny that the racism between The Celestial Realm and The Devildom is a pretty big thing (literally one of the biggest parts of the plot is about trying to move past that).
We've seen it from both sides, and it's definitely something they all have to unlearn
We saw what Lucifer was like as an angel, how he treated the Devildom and Diavolo, and how even over the course of the glory days devilgram, by interacting with Diavolo he started unlearning some of those prejudices
Og timeline Michael has clearly already gone through this process, as he is actively encouraging Luke to go through it as well
Nightbringer timeline Michael has not. We see it in how desperately he tries to get Luke & Simeon back home and obviously because this is his first time in the Devildom and, presumably, his first time interacting with demons in a friendly/neutral context
When you have prejudices like this you never know it's something that's bad or untrue (and om shows this as well) until they start getting challenged. RAD is the perfect opportunity for this to happen to Michael
And he really isn't going to see it coming until he's already started to change
2.) When Michael says "balance" he's saying that he wants the brothers back in the Celestial Realm to restore balance. Because with them acting as leaders in the Devildom, it makes the Devildom stronger than the Celestial Realm.
I'm not saying he wants to start a war, or to subjugate anyone, he very much wants there to be peace/or at least no fighting.
But he also wants that to be by the Celestial Realm and Devildom being at an equal power level again aka the brothers going back
He also straight up says he wants MC to tell them to come back because without balance the war could start up again (specially because he said the celestial realm would then consider the devildom as a hostile party again) and the human world would get destroyed.
Like you said, he's most probably right that the human world will get destroyed in the case of a war but what he said to MC is still very much a threat.
He says, "do this for me because if not the actions my realm has promised to take will lead to your world being destroyed"
You could say that he does not truly mean it when he says he'll consider the Celestial Realm a hostile party again should the brothers not return BUT even if that were true
that is not a statement you can just lightly say, specially not to the people you have just come out of a war with, specially not to the leader of those people when you're acting as a political representative of your people
That is also very much a threat
3.) About how angels vs demons see humans,
Solomon said they both saw humans as something to be protected, while angels still kept away from humans and demons still ate them, but that they also didn't see humans as their equals
And I basically made a long post about how,
Angels probably saw humans; the way we see endangered animals, that must be loved and protected but not interacted with
While demons saw humans; the way we see domenstic, farm animals that can be loved and protected but also taken for food
Since humans are obviously sentient and intelligent beings (eh...) neither of these two views are good
4.) Personally the way I see it:
Michael, like Solomon and Lucifer, is a complex character, who has done bad/shady things for what they believe is the greater good
To get the full effect of him (and others like him...and really any of them) as a character:
You can't colour them only in shades of black and white
The same way you can't say that Michael is a character who has done only ""evil"" things you also can't turn a blind eye to the implications and consequences of what he has said and done
5.) He's done good things, he's done shitty things - the thing he did lately, about demanding the brothers come home and leveraging the continuned peace between the two realms, only a year after they left, after their sister was killed by the angels, after their sister was threatened with being banished for loving/helping a human was a shitty thing (in my perspective)
And, unlike og timeline Michael, nightbringer timeline Michael probably still has a lot of growing to do
And so the original post came frome a place of:
"Haha he's going to be hit by the same fucking train that got Lucifer and Luke and he's going to be just as bamboozled by it"
Overall, Michael's a character I'm very excited to meet (let him have long hair pls solmare you have no idea how much this means to me), I don't dislike him and (like with all my posts) every point I bring up as evidence and every point I use to build up a theory is picked up straight from canon (because I'm too lazy to come up with my own shit🫠), I genuinely like every character in om (yes even Mephisto despite clowning on him at any given opportunity) and so try to be objective when forming theories about them or trying to discern their thought processes and actions (and I'm not always successful because mammon exists and I'm an idiot🤡)
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incorrectsibunaquotes · 10 months
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Honestly, I think I’ve discovered the actual reason Amber and Alfie don’t work in HOA like they work in the original HHA or DHA. And it’s not entirely due to the actual canon events that are written for this version of the pairing (the dating handbook, Amber’s “no” to Alfie’s attempt at breaking up, forcing Amber into the trial relationship in the first place, etc., etc.), though it certainly doesn’t help. It actually comes down to how their characters were adapted for the English version of the show, and how they are fundamentally different than the OGs.
I’ll start with Alfie first. Alfie in HOA is a goober. He’s doofy, well-meaning, and most importantly childlike. Not even just childish, but childlike. He’s boyish and bubbly, and he certainly makes some weird, sorta sexual comments (especially in S1), but on the whole he’s quite an innocent character. Essentially, he reads as very young. Which he is, especially at the start of the show where he’s probably supposed to be about 15/16, but could even be as young as 14.
Appie, on the other hand, is also a goober. But a different type. He’s honestly way more like Jeroen than Alfie is like Jerome, meaning he’s a something of a womanizer, a bit douchier, and on the whole reads a lot older than Alfie, which I’m almost certain is canonical across all characters (with HHA characters supposedly ending the show at the age of 19, with the timeline across the 4 seasons being only two years— three at most).
The few things character-wise both Appie and Alfie share intrinsically are that they’re besties with Jeroen/Jerome who doesn’t always treat him well, his love for a good practical joke, and (in earlier seasons) his pining for Amber. Of course, Appie also goes through phases of being a bit of a ladies man (see his random interest in Mara), but on the whole these things are constant. But already, the English version of the character is a lot more twinkly eyed and is like “Amber’s really pretty, I hope she notices me” as opposed to the Dutch “Damn she’s hot, lemme tap that”. It’s very subtle, because he’s obviously not a sleazy, bad guy, but it’s though being friend zoned by Amber (for the whole series) that Appie begins to loosen up and be less of a sleaze and more of the silly and whimsical guy we know him as; that’s because of Dutch Amber’s characterization.
I’ll come back to why all that matters, after I discuss the Ambers. (For the sake of keeping track, I’ll refer to them by their last names). Rosenbergh is a rich, pretty, ditzy party girl, but she’s incredibly perceptive. She sniffs out bullshit in an instant, especially with the Mick and Mara situation, but overall she has wicked foot-in-mouth syndrome and just sorta blurts out the first thing that pops into her head even if it’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever heart in your life. She’s extravagant, over-the-top, full of whimsy, and is downright silly. Rosenbergh is simultaneously a ditz and very smart. Simultaneously is the key word here.
Millington is not. She is a much more toned down version of her OG counterpart, and I think that is mostly due to the different actresses takes on the character. This isn’t to say, Millington isn’t any of the those of adjectives I used earlier, but the difference between the English and the Dutch versions of the character is that while Rosenbergh is both smart and ditzy, Millington is simply smart and plays at being ditzy. At least that’s how it reads, and how it reads is incredibly important in this case. Millington would never be caught dead in some of the situations Rosenbergh found herself in, because she’s a fundamentally more uptight version of the character.
So why does all this matter? Because the version of Alfie that we get from the very start is far more like Appie after a good hunk of his subtle character development— far more like Amber Rosenbergh. Amber Millington, on the other hand, is not the type of girl to ever mesh that well with a wild, goofy personality like Alfie’s. She’s just not. Alfie would work super well with Rosenbergh, however, because she’s this whimsical girl with a lot of heart. It’s why Appie works so well with her, too.
This isn’t a diss of HOA!Amber, by the way, because her English characterization is a masterful adaptation of the OG, but there’s a reason why even in S3 of HOA, at the supposed established point of Amfie’s relationship, they still feel so estranged from each other. At the end of the day, Millington has a different outlook on life and an entirely different mindset than Alfie. This isn’t to say they couldn’t work ever, but they’re just not the same pairing that Amber/Appie are.
It also didn’t help that Amfie had no best friends era. Like, sometimes I think we forget that Amber and Appie didn’t get together until the reunion movie. Like they weren’t a canon couple in the series. He liked her, but she didn’t like him back and they were besties. Their chemistry was chaotic and silly, and they had to grow into each other for them to work. Which is why they work. Amber and Alfie never did that, and part of me wonders if that wasn’t entirely because of the plot the English writers put down for them, but rather because the was Ana and Alex played the characters off each other just didn’t allow for it.
Which brings me to my last point: Willow. Arguably, Willow is more like HHA!Amber than HOA!Amber is, and that’s all because of the magic word I’ve been using this whole, poorly-written essay: whimsy. Willow is the glitterbomb to Alfie’s fuse. Their dynamic feels exactly the same as Appie and Amber because Willow is the writers’ second attempt at having Amber Rosenbergh in the picture, and that’s why Walfie works so much more naturally.
Anyway, this got long and I’m sure I missed stuff but yeah. TL;DR: Amfie was unable to replicate Ampie bc they’re just different
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getvalentined · 1 month
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Getting back on my Zack Is Canonically Polyamorous soapbox because the people need to know and also the number of people accusing Aerith of being unfaithful in Rebirth is absolutely fucking ridiculous when taking Zack's romantic escapades into account.
There are spoilers here, and I'm tagging accordingly, but I'm not putting it under a cut.
We know for a fact that Zack is in a relationship with Aerith. We've known this since the OG, although we didn't know most of the details back then, just that they were together. In Remake, Aerith describes Zack as her "first love." In Chapter 11 of Rebirth, the first memories of Zack that Cloud reclaims are of him talking about how great Aerith is, and Cloud describes him as being "head over heels" for her. In Chapter 8, we found out that Zack's parents were able to recognize her based entirely on Zack gushing about her when he wrote home—and this is one of the most important parts, honestly.
Zack has a thing with Cissnei. We don't know how deep it is, but throughout Crisis Core (and even in the summer event in Ever Crisis) we can see very clearly that there is something between them, and it's never treated like a big deal. She's never completely honest about her feelings, so we can assume he didn't know that she saw him as anything more than a casual thing, but they have a relationship. It's made explicitly clear that this is the case when Zack returns to Gongaga and she lets him know that she's spoken to his parents, and he warns her that they're basically going to suggest that she marry him.
Zack's parents know about his relationship with Aerith and they also apparently know enough about his relationship with Cissnei to suggest that she make that relationship "official." They want her to join the family. They asked, she apparently reciprocated, and she lives in Gongaga after Veld is "killed."
Cissnei is also aware that Zack is in a relationship with Aerith, but that doesn't stop her from pursuing him anyway. She gets it and she's okay with it. She never, at any point, tries to push him away from Aerith—she's the one that tells him how special Aerith is, how important, how lonely. She's supportive of his relationship, and doesn't seem to feel that it makes her own feelings or their relationship any less valid.
Okay, so that's proof that the people around him are, at the very least, okay with him having multiple partners. That doesn't necessarily mean he's poly, though, maybe he's just a womanizer and everyone accepts it. Weird, but possible. He's really endearing so maybe they all give him a pass.
But no! No this isn't it at all! And we know it because of how Zack responds to Aerith being in love with someone else in Rebirth. When he finds out that Aerith is has feelings for Cloud, there's not a hint of jealousy in a single thing he does or says. He's disappointed when Marlene says it's because he wasn't there, but it's not disappointment in Aerith or in Cloud—it's disappointment in himself, because Marlene is right. He wasn't there. He couldn't protect her. There's also no spite there, he never responds like her feelings are wrong because he's here now and that means Aerith can rely on him again, and we know that because of how he responds to this information.
Zack finds out that Aerith has feelings for Cloud, and his immediate mission is to make sure that Cloud recovers as quickly as possible. Now it's not just for him, it's not just because that's his friend, it's because Aerith loves him (too) and that means he has to save Cloud for both of them.
He's fully supportive of Aerith and Cloud having a relationship, to the point that the last thing he says to Cloud when he gets thrown into a dying timeline is a request that he take care of Aerith. He's not exactly passing the torch here, because he's still alive—but he doesn't know if he'll be able to meet back up with a version of Cloud that is awake again, and he needs Cloud to know that he supports them in this.
And then, in the dying timeline where Zack is banished after fighting Sephiroth, he has the ability to synergize with Cloud from across the multiverse. The DMW limit break connected to Aerith is active in the space. All three of them are together here, just not physically; Cloud and Aerith are protecting Zack as much as Zack has been struggling to protect them.
Zack loves that Aerith loves someone other than him because that's how he is too. Zack has multiple relationships at the same time, he loves multiple people at the same time, he has emotionally intimate connections with multiple people at the same time. Why would he take issue with the love of his life feeling the same way?
Cloud isn't his replacement any more than Cissnei and Aerith are interchangeable, and Zack understands that, because Zack is polyamorous—and he's really happy that Aerith may be, too.
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muninnhuginn · 10 months
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So, going to link a couple of things before I start with this.
Firstly, the new MV for the Vortex/Overthink/Tides medley which is going to form the basis of my observations.
Secondly, this post, which makes a strong argument that Link Click is deliberately drawing from other time travel media. In this case, the 2002 version of The Time Machine. Also, a fun fact not mentioned in the linked post, but that I recently discovered is that the name of the girlfriend the time traveller is constantly trying to save is *Emma*.
Now that I've linked these two, I just want to say that this rest of this post is me having fun and I would love for these to be deliberate references, but let's be real, a lot of time travel media understandably shares a lot of visual language. Hourglasses, butterflies, and clocks are all fairly recurrent themes.
Click the read more for a mix of potential references to other time travel media and screenshots of specific details of the new MV I found interesting:
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Left: Link Click (note the photo reel design). Right: Doctor Who (specifically one of the intros for the Twelfth Doctor)
And to add to the photography aesthetic present throughout, the photo reel clock resolves itself into a camera lens:
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Next, we have a main character centred within a clock. In both cases, the character casts multiple shadows that resemble clock hands.
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Left: Link Click. Right: Steins;Gate
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The shot where Qiao Ling is stood still amongst a moving crowd is neat for two reasons. First, the people she's surrounded by seem to be those related to the cases CXS/LG have taken on. You can see Emma just behind in the above screenshot. And the other thing is that the first time this sequence plays the moving characters are too blurry to easily make out. When the sequence reverses however, and the lyrics speak of "pausing" the scene actually freezes with all the characters clear for a tiny bit. (I didn't screenshot purely because it was a pain to get the exact moment but you can check this if you want)
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Upper left: Link Click. Upper right: Higurashi Gou/Sotsu. Bottom: Steins;Gate 0.
Next up: fragments! This one is honestly a real stretch, but hey, there are at least two other time travel adjacent shows that use them as visuals in their openings. I would really like the use to be similar to in Higurashi (the example screenshot is from the anime sequel Gou/Sotsu but the sea of fragments is present in the og too). In Higurashi, each time "loop" is actually an alternate timeline (wherein events would differ slightly even without intervention) and so each fragment represents another timeline. For Steins;Gate, it's more a visual that exists purely in the opening sequence to play into the whole shattered clocks aesthetic.
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Left: Link Click. Right: Steins;Gate.
This one is inspired by me watching the opening only to go "Okabe Rintaro????" when Qian Jin showed up. But also. We can clearly see some of Qian Jin's scars in this shot. There appears to be one on the back of his neck and two over his left shoulder. These have to be relevant and obviously his eye colour has me side-eyeing but I don't think we have all the pieces for this character yet. (Him being a former cop with a connection to both of our focus cop characters though makes me think)
And a final one with generic anime trope no 58382929:
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Left: Link Click. Right: Steins;Gate
I know, I know. This is typical anime/donghua. But! It's deliberately a shot in Steins;Gate that returns again and again throughout the series. It's also very associated with the character of Mayuri so take that as you will.
Bonus whatever this is:
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Multiple Cheng Xiaoshis in different states of doing badly. I wonder if the centremost one is the one Lu Guang appeared to be thinking of in episode 1? Possibly another "fragments" situation or if not then it may be various things Cheng Xiaoshi will go through in this season
Anyway, the Steins;Gate opening visually has a lot of similarities and of course a lot of it is natural overlap because they're both time travel series. And they both draw inspiration from The Time Machine (especially Steins;Gate's sequel, Steins;Gate 0). But I find it pretty neat how all these series from different times and places do have these recurring themes.
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mmriesoftvat · 1 month
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coming here to talk about arlecchino, my queen.
may contain spoilers or leaks or something but i have thoughts.
my first thoughts are about her animation. I KNOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE THE OG TIMELINE because of scaramouche being there. but i saw a theory on twitter the other day that had me thinking about potential theories, and i thought they'd be fun to discuss. namely, if this was her remembering the past and scaramouche is there, then she potentially remembers who he is. i like this theory, i may adapt this to my own portrayal. and perhaps for her own reasons, i can see her keeping this shit to herself for her own reasons. which means she can and would just pretend like she has no idea who he is overall. it makes it feel more fun.
AND HER VOICELINES.
saint showed me the video last night and specifically pointed out the one about dottore. and BOY did i get excited. because that's exactly EXACTLY what i thought would be the case! she works with him and basically trades children that give her zero potential to him for experimentation. i HAD A FEELING that was the case. she is the kind of person that prides herself on her own work, and the perfectionism of it, and she loves that she can whip these orphans into shape and have them be loyal as fuck toward her and the fatui. she's also the kind of person shady enough to be like "here dottore, this one won't listen. perhaps you can whip them into shape."
SHE IS ALSO NOT HEARTLESS. god the amount of shitty/garbage takes i've seen over the course of months about how she doesn't give a shit about anyone because she's a harbinger, she's a villain. GROSS.
arlecchino isn't a good guy, no. she has her own agenda, obviously, but her voice line about childe PROVES she has a heart. she DOES care about people in her own way, she doesn't see everyone as disposable. people in this fandom are way too fucking quick to put someone in a black and white box and refuse to see nuance and anything in between and it's just tiresome at this point.
arlecchino is not a soft person, she definitely does morally bankrupt things without thinking twice over it. but she's not completely heartless either. she has a beating heart still and she does know how to use it. it's not a complete act either. we know she cares about her children. at least, about freminet, lynette and lyney. and we know she does care somewhat about childe. i knew she cared about him when she was the one who initially went to investigate his disappearance in fontaine.
she is a complex person and i am LIVING for it. i love this woman and i am so excited for her release. i have saved up for months and burnt myself out in the process, but WORTH IT cause she's literally right around the corner and HHHHHH.
anyway. i want to write her.
i want a thread of a younger arle meeting the other harbingers for the first time. i crave anything arl. just YES.
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