#but certainly not all of them at once and also if you don't do them all I will make you feel physical pain about it

[xiao-come-home]

Giggling, kicking my feet, spinning in circles over Boothill...

Just imagine, S/O in a creative field, and they've been preparing for an event where they get to show off their work..

Except, they've been doing it in secret because they don't feel confident and they're unsure if people would stop by for them..

So cue S/O's surprise when they suddenly bump into Boothill at said event—maybe even burst into (happy) tears if he praises their work.. I just know this man's the sweetest for his S/O ;;;-;;;

YUEESS anyway this got kinda long but take it 🫡

You knew the day was coming - the day so, so important in your career that could possibly shift everyone's opinion about you and your hard work. Day after day, more preparations were made, and people who assisted you kept patting your shoulder as you walked by, already congratulating you.

Yet, amongst all of the joy - your hesitation was certainly present. No one close to you knew about the event - not even the closest people, not even Boothill himself, who was your significant other. Even though so many already praised you - just what meaning does it hold if no one actually shows up to the event itself?

The lack of confidence and worrying were the only ones that bothered you to no end - which, Boothill noticed immediately as it was not your usual behavior. Not only were you constantly busy and away from home when he finally got back, but you were constantly stressed out. He tried not to pressure the matter as you were unwilling to talk, but that's Boothill we're talking about - which means - time for Boothill to snoop around and find out himself.

Today is the day. The day you anticipated so much, but also dreaded to finally have it happen. You hop onto the stage, and gasp at the amount of people below. You can't count the amount of eyes that gaze at you, and people seem to be genuinely impressed at your work - applauding loudly, causing you to tear up on stage.

That's a shame you haven't noticed the familiar cyborg who's been watching you the whole time, smiling widely to himself.

Once the official part is over and the festivities begin, people swarm around you to ask you more about your work or actual interviews, but you gently excuse yourself for now under the excuse of being tired. Surprisingly, the crowd goes away, but they'll surely be back...

You breathe in and out, shaking your head from all the attention, but suddenly, you bump hard against something and your hands automatically cover your poor nose; the pain makes you cry under your nose a tiny "oww," just what the hell is that pole here? Was there one before?!

"Ouch! 'm sorry sweetheart! Thought ya would finally notice me, but not that kinda way..." Boothill's voice reaches your ears and you open your eyes in the span of seconds, "I can't believe ya didn't tell me about all of this! A god dang event just for you, and those little motherfudgers that barely let me in, let alone get closer to ya—"

Boothill takes your hands off your face in his, pressing a soft kiss on your nose, "I didn't know my sweet pea was so smart," his voice gets softer and quieter, eyes gazing into yours, "I'm so proud of ya. I really wish you've told me about this, so we could be properly celebratin' this together."

You no longer could fight your tears and let them run down your cheeks, "I'm sorry, I didn't— I didn't think anyone would even show up," you sobbed, "I didn't even know if I could get through this if—" your sentence gets cut off by Boothill's fingers pushing your chin up and staring at you with ungodly amounts of love in his eyes.

"Silly you," he wiped off the tears with his hand, "of course they'd come. They did. So many people are here just for you, admirin' yer work and almost fightin' to say a word to ya. I know ya often doubt yourself, but, as you can see," Boothill looks behind you and see people fawning over your projects, "there's no need for it. You deserve all of this, sweetheart, even if I can't understand a single fudgin' word. You put yer entire heart into this - I see it, love."

Boothill's words only make you cry harder, wrapping your arms around his neck and hugging him tightly - but this time, your tears are those of joy.

After calming down, you sit nearby with Boothill next to you. Sparing him a glance, you confusingly mention the new hat he's wearing, "Ha! Took ya long enough to see! It worked as intended - ya didn't know it was me back there, in the crowd!" He exclaimed proudly, sending you a smug grin.

#honkai star rail #hsr x reader #honkai star rail x reader #boothill #boothill hsr #boothill x reader #.anon thirst

[feroluce]

For some weird reason, I've always been fascinated by how wildly different Sampo operates in the Underground vs the Overworld.

Sampo is present in both places and even in official sources, he's not really counted as one side or the other- now that the theory has been confirmed in-game, he's generally just lumped in with the Masked Fools.

But there really is a big difference!

Probably the most obvious and well known instance of Sampo's...business practices *cough burglary and fraud COUGH* in the Overworld is from the Belobog Museum event. In it, you don't find out Sampo is the main culprit until near the end, because Pela has to set up a sting just to catch him in the act. And that sting is necessary all because the initial suspect they arrested, Norbert, had pretty much no idea of his partner's identity. Sampo wouldn't even speak to him face-to-face.

And whereas Sampo is normally very pleasant and friendly with the trailblazer...when he thinks he's talking to Norbert here, he straight up says that they are NOT friends. Like he really shuts that shit DOWN.

There's also an Overworld NPC, Chavez, who heads the "Dark Blue Scam Support Group." And he. Really really really does not like Sampo fjkdasjklfdj

Chavez clearly wants Sampo caught, and has literally no positive feelings about him. So. Why call it the Dark Blue Scam? Why not just out him by name? Chavez obviously doesn't give a single shit about Sampo's dignity or privacy. But he never once refers to him as "Sampo," and even the pamphlets he passes out make no mention of it. No one in the entire support group seems to know how to identify him or how to refer to him except by his hair color. If the trailblazer says his name, Chavez reacts as though he's never heard it before.

(I've seen people say this means Sampo Koski is an alias and not his real name? But Ray pointed this out, and honestly I agree; even the Fools call him Sampo, after all. I think it's just that Chavez never knew Sampo's name in the first place, and given his immense distrust, immediately assumes it's an alias.)

And then there's his characters stories, where he proceeds to pull off a heist in the Overworld while in disguise as Brughel Poisson the entire time. Literally his own stories don't mention Sampo's name even once.

So anyway, all this shows that when he's up in the Overworld working cons, Sampo is incredibly slippery and secretive about his identity. The only people who seem to know him are Pela, Serval, and Gepard. He doesn't get close to anyone else, and is even surprisingly unfriendly. Nobody knows his name. No one knows his face. He has zero qualms about backstabbing or double-crossing, and even plans for it in some cases.

Meanwhile, down in the Underground, I'm pretty sure literally the worst thing we hear of him doing is scalping tickets in front of the Fight Club. Which isn't even illegal in a lot of places (although it's certainly a dick move).

In Hook's companion quest, a vagrant miner steals Fersman's equipment and tries to sell it to Sampo. Even before the trailblazer and Hook jump in and out the vagrant as a thief, Sampo hesitates to buy it because it sounds like stolen goods, which he doesn't want any part of.

Even knowing that a geomarrow detector is rare and incredibly valuable in the mines, Sampo makes no attempt to double-cross Hook or profit off of her loss, and even tells her who to go to to get it fixed.

And my favorite example of Sampo in the Underground is the Survival Wisdom adventure mission. In it, Sampo starts up a business with Peak, another miner. And like. In wild contrast to all the cons he pulls above ground, Sampo is actually super nice and helpful here.

Just the same as with Hook's quest, Sampo talks to Peak face-to-face, with no disguises or barriers. When the trailblazer finds them, they're just in the Great Mine, no secretive meeting places. Peak knows Sampo, is familiar with him, and calls him by name. It's not even a con! There's nothing illegal going on; it really is just a business partnership. Peak is more than happy with their deal, he's even pretty enthusiastic about it, because thanks to Sampo he can now make enough money to get by while also accommodating his chronic fatigue.

The only person Sampo lies to in this whole ordeal is the trailblazer, who he manipulates into getting Peak's mining equipment back from the vagrants that stole it in the first place. And when it's done, he rewards them with a legit treasure map.

So when he's working in the Underground, Sampo is MUCH more upright and lawful. Part of this is probably to do with his "business" model- Sampo only takes advantage of the wealthy, and poverty runs rampant in the Underground. When he charges Peak an extra 30% (the same percentage he charges Norbert as a consultation fee in the museum heists- Sampo seems to go by percentage instead of a flat rate, which means his prices are more fair for lower incomes) for carelessly losing their supply, Peak literally starts counting out pocket change.

Dude's working for pennies and good will down there dknsmdmd

And you can twist this into a Robin Hood thing if you want- Sampo IS technically working to feed orphans and heal the sick. He says himself he's more than happy to make up the shortfall between the greedy and the marginalized- I mean he says it in the shadiest way possible, but I doubt the people benefiting from his work really care that he's a slimeball if it means they can survive another day. Even the two heists he pulls in his character stories are literally just him stealing absurd amounts of food.

Personally though I think it is solely because of Natasha, and Sampo is hilariously well-behaved specifically for her, because she keeps him on a short leash JSKZJMSMSKS

#honkai star rail #sampotasha #hsr natasha #sampo koski #hsr sampo #hsr #today's post is brought to you by the letter Y. for the Yaps fdklsajfkd #'for some weird reason' I say only to realize through writing this post that the reason I like it so much is because I think- #-Natasha having Sampo by the short hairs is funny dkxjmskskdmdm #so sampotasha if you want or Sampo & Natasha if you want either or #I love Sampo behaving just for her because she holds a LOT of power in the Underground and he knows she could destroy him if she wanted #she could blacklist his business and run him out of Boulder Town if she really thought she needed to #Natasha exiled her own brother who eventually died in the cold because he was running unethical medical experiments on unknowing civilians #and granted what Sampo does is nowhere NEAR as bad as that but she also probably does not have nearly as much mercy for him dkdjdmkskd #I'd like to think they hold a decent amount of camaraderie for each other though. and maybe even some affection. #they work together like all the time after all. sampo is in the clinic with natasha so much that hook thought he was really sick. #and for as much as he relies on her for business she also relies on him for resources. #it's not really an exaggeration to say a LOT more people would be dead without Sampo constantly smuggling goods across the border. #maybe I should just make a post about their relationship sometime because I do very much love it skzjkskdk

[katakaluptastrophy]

What do Captain Deuteros, the Princesses of Ida, the Baron of Tisis, the Lady of Koniortos Court, the Duchess of Rhodes, the Master Templar, and the Reverend Daughter all have in common? They almost certainly own slaves.

Ok, not "slaves". As I'm sure Housers would be the first to tell you, they do not have slaves. Gideon herself explicitly establishes this in chapter one:

I’m indentured, not a slave.

But functionally, what does that mean?

We don't get a definition of what Gideon means by a slave, or how this word is used in House (do the Houses also have slaves? Are slaves something other, uncivilised people have in the benighted darkness beyond the light of Dominicus and the empire?). Gideon is an unfree person who is subject to violence and exploited for the financial gain of her masters, but it means something to her that she is not, in some economic or legal sense, a slave. So what is an indentured servant?

Gideon's status is referred to using several other terms over the course of GTN, primarily by Silas Octakiseron. While Silas is not an unbiased commentator, it's interesting that his objection to Gideon is not just because she's Ninth, but because she has usurped her social position:

“Thrall,” said Silas. “Serf. Servant... Villein,” continued the necromancer of the house of the Eighth, warming to his thesaurus. Colum was staring at Gideon, almost cross-eyed with disbelief. “Foundling. I am not insulting you, I am naming you for what you are. The replacement for Ortus Nigenad, himself a poor representative of a foetid House of betrayers and mystics.”

We don't know the exact connotations of these words in House. But a "serf" historically was a sort of feudal peasant tied to the land of a manor. Unlike a slave, a serf usually couldn't be bought or sold as an individual, but could be transferred wholesale with the land. Generically speaking, serfdom involves a tie to the land, an obligation to generate income/goods for the feudal lord of the land through labour and/or rents, and a lack of freedom of movement. It could be from birth or a voluntary indenture.

The contextual information that we get about Gideon's status backs up this very feudal image:

Gideon is, as Crux repeatedly reminds her, in some way the property of the Ninth. She wears a security cuff, and her attempt to run away is described as theft and misuse of House goods. In a typically House way, it is not just that she owes them her labour - she owes them her body once she dies. (What's interesting is that this part isn't specifically tied to her status as an indentured servant, but it fundamentally colours how it is understood in world.)

"You talk so loudly for chattle, Nav... You chatter so much for a debt. I hate you, and yet you are my wares and inventory."

Crux is Harrow's seneschal. And it would seem that at least on the Ninth, this role is very much the same as its medieval feudal equivalent: the official in charge of the management of the estate's goods and labourers.

Gideon is a legitimate subject of violence in House law: Harrow talks about how it would be "master's sin" if she "employed unwarranted violence" against her. Which means that some degree of violent punishment of indentured servants is legally permissable.

She is meant to be a financially useful asset: regulations exist governing indentured people joining the military, where they can generate revenue for their House. However, Harrow warns Gideon that "the Cohort won’t enlist an unreleased serf" - because the movement of a serf is at the discretion of her Lady, not something over which she has free choice.

The description of how Gideon came to be of the Ninth is particularly interesting in shedding some light on the institution of indenture in the Houses:

The Ninth had historically filled its halls with penitents from other houses, mystics and pilgrims who found the call of this dreary order more attractive than their own birthrights. In the antiquated rules of those supplicants who moved between the eight great households, she was taken as a very small bondswoman, not of the Ninth but beholden to it: What greater debt could be accrued than that of being brought up?

Medieval serfs too had no freedom of movement; they required a license from their lord to spend extended time away from the manor.

It's easy to forget, when the Houses themselves likely range in scale from the size of Los Angeles to Aotearoa New Zealand, that legally they seem to understand themselves to constitute feudal households. Those born in each House are part of - or in some cases it would seem, property of - the House. We see discussion in the Sermon on Necromancers and Cavaliers of the heirs of cavalier lines being traded between Houses for political capital. Necromancers, meanwhile, are apparently such a political or reproductive asset that they are usually not allowed to marry outside their House. Obviously, these are examples of people at the top of House society, whose movement brings with it political power, or financial assets, or reproductive capacity. Where does that leave a more ordinary person who lacks those desirable assets? It would seem that they can be their own asset, granted access to another House on a debtor's bond - it's not clear in the House context whether this is typically an exchange of people already debt bonded to their House, free people entering into such bondage to secure a right of passage to another House, a combination, or something else entirely.

But it speaks to a much more ancient understanding of how people are tied to lands and lords, alongside the Houses' very different attitude to the value of human lives:

“You’re no slave, but you’ll serve the House of the Ninth until the day you die and then thereafter"

One could infer, since we've encountered nobles and serfs, that the Houses have something akin to a three-tier system like many historical European feudal systems, with nobles, freedmen, and serfs.

The medieval European feudal system was primarily a function of the management of land - serfs and freedmen's statuses were a result of their relationship to obligations to the land - requirements of work, or rents to their lord, who ultimately controlled and profited from that land. This is where the tricky difference between serfdom and slavery tends to arise.

But the Houses are not a European medieval feudal kingdom. They are not, presumably, a primarily agrarian economy. So what use might such bondspeople be? What does that society look like, outside of its highest nobles investigating each others' murders and its strangely incestuous demigods?

There must be some agriculture and industry. Given the trying conditions of living in inhospitable space environments, that there might be some class of labourers fundamentally tied to their Houses, perhaps initially stemming from the order or situation of their ancestors' resurrection, isn't impossible to imagine (after all, ruling families and cavalier lines also trace their status from the Resurrection). From the information about the rules governing movement between Houses, perhaps there are also people living in dire conditions on remote moons willing to sell their freedom for a chance at slightly better conditions, or a new start in a different House. Most Houses do not have the necromantic capacity to create skeleton constructs on a scale to manage most of their labour - in The Mysterious Study of Dr Sex, it's clear that the Sixth has a finite supply of skeleton constructs that they would require Ninth input to overhaul. We have to assume most labour on most Houses in human, and some portion of it at least in some way unfree.

But the Houses are a spacefaring society with a large, centralised military and an economically complex empire. It does not function entirely like a medieval kingdom, however much it may sometimes look like one. Much of its imperial structure seems to be on a much more 19th or 20th century model.

And the Cohort is one area where we can see some non-medieval, but awful implications to the Houses' practice of serfdom. Consider the commission that Harrow offers Gideon:

It purchased Gideon Nav’s commission to second lieutenant, not privy to resale, but relinquishing capital if she honourably retired. It would grant her full officer training. The usual huge percentage of prizes and territory would be tithed to her House if they were won, but her inflated Ninth serfdom would be paid for in five years on good conditions, rather than thirty.

Gideon is not being promised as canon fodder - this is a promise of officer training. And yet, Gideon is a serf - and that officer training would be an investment in financial returns from her involvement in the bloody machinery of empire.

How many people in the Cohort are not free? Are serfs released from their usual obligations in the House to which they are debt bonded to instead generate income for their House on the battlefield or die trying? What proportion of the Cohort are functionality enslaved children, sold a dream of glory by smutty comics and released by their Houses because their eventual deaths will be more profitable to their Houses than their labouring lives?

And fundamentally, if the Houses are in some way substantially reproducing aspects of medieval feudalism, there's only one person who can be responsible for that...

#the locked tomb #tlt meta #The interesting question is whether this applies in the same way to the Sixth #Who from things like the mention of the duty rota in Dr Sex seem to possibly have a slightly more democratised aspect to labour #But this is the Nine Houses so never fear #I'm sure the allocation and outworking of labour in the Sixth House is full of horrors even if it is technically slave-free

[thegoldencontracts]

(Overlooked Aspects Of) Cater Diamond

Okay, so to start off, this post is not intended to judge anyone. All headcannons of Cater are completely valid, and I would not only not mind - but also actively appreciate - if someone wanted to make corrections or arguments in reblogs or comments. This is just an analysis of parts of Cater that I believe are not given much focus, and would therefore like to highlight. With that being said:

Cater Diamond is a very complex character beneath the surface of a friendly, Magicam-obsessed senior. Definitely more to him than meets the eye. There's obviously the fact that he's certainly not as happy as he claims to be, but less frequently mentioned is the reason why.

Cater's Lab Vignette introduces this aspect of Cater's character, with the storyline of him making mandrakes with Lilia and Vil. The mandrakes are said to reflect the traits of the person infusing magic into it, and Cater's-

Vil: Oh, dear... This mandrake's hugging its knees and huddling in place.

Cater's also mentioned to make a bunch of mandrakes and hide the ones that don't fit the happy 'Cay-Cay' image. In a way, this is also an analogy for himself, hiding the parts of himself that don't seem perfectly upbeat from others.

Now, why exactly does he behave this way? The most common answer is usually that his sisters forced him to conform to their standards of cuteness, and that in pleasing them, he developed his current facades of a perfectly cute and happy senior. And although his sisters likely did play a part in it, there's also another reason for the distance he puts between himself and others.

In Cater's Halloween Vignette, he mentions the following:

Cater: I guess I have a wide circle of contacts, sure. My dad works at a bank that has branches all around the world, so every time he was transferred to a new office, the whole family went with him. We moved about once every two years. I'm a real pro at packing by now, lemme tell you. ... Cater: But for all the people I met, one thing never changed( ...) I would always leave, and they would always stay. That's why I always tried to be on good terms with everyone, rather than forge strong bonds with a chosen few. Like a circus performer who has a grand old time with people from around the world, and then packs up and moves on. In that sense, Magicam's been seriously great because I can get messages from people I knew at school three years ago. I can have all the casual connections I can handle. And that's just my speed, right?

Essentially: Cater's moved so often that he's adapted to forming shallow connections with everyone he can rather than actually trying to bond with him. He wants casual connections, because that's what he can handle. He views people rather impersonally, because he knows that he'll have to leave them eventually.

And that's likely a major reason for the facade he puts up. He's afraid of being vulnerable. Of forming a bond with someone and getting attached, only to have to leave them behind eventually. "Cay-Cay" the agreeable senior is a tool to form these casual little connections and play nice without getting attached, so that, when he inevitably has to leave, he doesn't get his heart broken.

This also leads to and explains another aspect of Cater's character: His occasionally questionable morality.

Cater had frequently displayed a willingness to trick people into doing his bidding. Not evil, by any means, but still questionable. There's obviously his introduction in Book 1, where he straight-up tricks Ace and Deuce into doing his work for him, and there's also scenes like Jade mentioning he'd like to have Cater as an older brother, one of the reasons being-

Jade: ...His ability to collect and disseminate information on Magicam is mind-boggling.

Basically, Cater is willing to use other people to do his bidding, and part of this stems from the fact that he's always keeping them at an arms' distance. You know, nothing personal, bud, just how the world works.

Anyways, in short, a large part of Cater's facade is caused by a fear of vulnerability stemming from the lack of permanence in his life, and that also affects his willingness to use other people.

With that being said, one final thing. The fic that inspired me to put all these thoughts about Cater together into one post. Its take on Cater's family is super refreshing!

The Company's Quite Nice (On Crimson Nights Like These)

#twst analysis #cater diamond #twst cater #twisted wonderland

[cookies-over-yonder]

the ballad of an (un)diagnosed private investigator

In junior year, Riz is finally forced to face one of his worst enemies yet—an undiagnosed anxiety disorder threatening to compromise his grades, his relationships, and, most of all, his sanity.

ao3

chapter 1 | 2 | ?

Sklonda listens to the sound of Riz chopping fruit and veggies and not uttering a word.

It's eerie, but it's also not surprising considering his workload this year.

She's searching the fridge for something to add to the lunch when the sound of chopping stops.

She turns around and sees Riz standing at the chopping board, hands trembling.

"You okay, hon?" Sklonda asks, walking closer.

"I'm fine," he breathes out shakily, shutting his eyes.

She takes the knife out of his hand and puts it on the cutting board.

Riz's breathing is slightly shallow, and just as he's about to bring his hands up to wipe away his tears, Sklonda grabs them and guides him to the sink. "Wash your hands before you touch your face or your eyes are gonna start burning."

Riz nods and washes his hands with his eyes still shut and shakes his hands out rather than drying them with the towel.

He brings his palms to his eyes, letting his glasses drop to the counter, and his breathing gets louder and shallower.

"Sweetie, hey, what's going on?" Sklonda asks, squeezing his shoulders, despite having an inkling of an idea.

"Feel like 'm gonna pass out," he says breathlessly.

"Okay, it's okay, let's go sit down," Sklonda says softly, guiding him to the couch.

They sit down, and Riz brings his hands away from his face and presses them against his thighs, eyes still shut. "Sorry, I don't know why I'm—why I'm—I—"

Riz cuts himself off, hyperventilating now. "Mom—" he whines, bringing an arm up to wipe his eyes, and reaching out another arm for her.

Sklonda wraps him in a hug, carding her fingers through his hair with one hand and rubbing his back with the other. "It's okay, baby, it's okay."

"Can't breathe," he says with a whine, gasping for air and trembling violently in her embrace. "I can't breathe."

"Riz, honey," she pulls him away from her chest and tilts his head down—god, he's gotten tall—to face her. "Can you look at me, sweetie?"

He opens his eyes, wide, and yellow, and teary, and frightened.

Sklonda cups his cheeks in her hands. Hot, clammy palms cover the backs of her hands in an instant.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," she says, brushing hair out from his face. He crinkles his nose, shuts his eyes once more and lets out a sob, gasping for air even faster.  "Hon, can you take a deep breath for me?" Sklonda asks, fighting back tears of her own.

Riz shakes his head. "I—I—I don'—don't know wha's happening," he forces out between gasps and sobs, digging his claws into her hands.

Sklonda can understand that sentiment, certainly. It's exactly how she felt during Riz's spring break of sophomore year, watching that livestream...

"You're having a panic attack, honey," she says. "It happens when the anxiety gets to be too much, you're not in danger, you're okay, my baby."

She leans forward and kisses him on the forehead, and he nods.

"Like—like Adaine," he says.

Sklonda knows about Adaine's anxiety. She's talked to Jawbone about it briefly, and expressed her own concerns about Riz, though Riz seems just as averse to talking to Jawbone about it as he is with her.

"Yeah, like you're friend Adaine. And she's okay, remember?"

Riz has never had an attack like this. Not to her memory. Sklonda has only known him to spiral in the same way as her, no chance of putting away the clues and going to bed, too wired up to think of anything else, constantly doing everything all at once until he crashes.

Junior year is putting a fucking toll on him.

She had already noticed the dark circles under his eyes getting more and more pronounced with each passing night, and the constant tremours, and the jumpiness, and now panic attacks...

Maybe it's her fault.

She told him he'd have to work harder this year.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

After a brief mental cursing, she steels herself and returns her mind to the situation at hand.

"'M gonna—'m gonna pass out," Riz stutters between gasps, burying his head in his hands again.

Sklonda lets a few tears fall, knowing he won't see them.

"Honey, I need you to breathe," she says, wrapping him in a hug again with his head rested on her shoulder. "I'm gonna do it with you, okay? You just have to try and follow along with me."

Riz continues to hyperventilate and sob, not acknowledging her.

"Riz?"

"Oka—okay, okay."

Sklonda runs a hand up his back as she breathes in, and runs a hand down his back as she breathes out.

She keeps doing that with him for what feels like might be an hour, and at the end of it, Riz is breathing slowly again.

"Riz, honey?" Sklonda says, rubbing his back.

He doesn't respond.

And so she pulls him off her shoulder adjusts him into a laying position on the couch, shoving a pillow under his head and draping a blanket over him.

She kisses him on the forehead once more, grabs her crystal off the coffee table and heads to the bedroom to make a call.

-

When Riz wakes up, it's dark outside. It's dark outside and his mom is sitting on the other side of the couch, texting somebody.

He checks the time, and then he sits up so fast the blood rushes to his head and almost knocks him out.

"Shit, I missed like, three club meetings today," he says, "how long was I out for?"

"As long as you needed, hon," she says, putting a hand on his leg.

Riz frowns, grabbing his glasses off the coffee table so he can read her expression better.

She's frowning too.

But it's a concerned frown.

"Did you sleep okay?"

"I—uh—guess. But my meetings—"

"Jawbone cleared up your absence with all the club leaders. No one's gonna make a fuss about you missing a meeting due to a medical emergency. Well, if they do then they're dicks. Are you hungry?"

Riz stares blankly at her.

"I... no—wait—" he stammers. 

She said that so nonchalantly.

"What?" Riz blurts out.

"Are you hungry?"

"No—the... what medical emergency?"

She sighs, rubbing his leg through the blanket in a soothing motion. "You had a panic attack, remember?"

Riz cringes. "Yeah, but that's—that's not, like, so serious—wait, did you turn off my alarms?" he asks, pulling out his crystal and checking the clock app.

She did.

Wow.

"An anxiety disorder is a medical condition, Riz," she says, as if it answers anything. "It's serious."

Riz's blood runs cold.

"I don't have anxiety," he says, the words feeling dry and unfamiliar on his tongue. "I mean—I—I get anxious but I don't—I don't have a disorder, Mom. This was a one-off thing, okay?"

She sighs again, that sigh she always does when he tries to assuage her concerns. "I'm really worried about you, kid."

"Mom, I'm fine—"

"Why can't we have one conversation about this that doesn't end with you saying that?"

"Because it's true—"

"I don't like seeing my kid shaking and sobbing and telling me he can't breathe, and then acting like it didn't happen, Riz!" she snaps.

"I'm sorry, okay!?" he yells back, standing up. "But if you don't believe me that I'm fine, then I don't know what else to do. I'm going to my office."

Riz storms out the door and slams it behind him before she can respond, and if he hears sobs on the other side, he pretends he doesn't notice.

#riz gukgak #sklonda gukgak #fantasy high #fhjy #d20 #fanfic #cookies writes and cookies wrongs

[poppystheories]

An Eye Theory

There's been a lot of debate, over the years, about whether Mana ever loved "Allen".

In the flashback, we clearly see Mana is a compassionate man who wanted to help a kid in a bad situation; in his final moments as himself, he wanted to take Red away from the circus with him. He wanted them to leave together. But that was compassion, not love.

And then Apocryphos used Red's Innocence to shatter his mind. After that, it's very much a question of if Mana was even capable of loving "Allen", as mentally unstable as he was. From what we've seen, he was very affectionate, and though he got Allen the dog and Red the kid mixed up, he eventually went on to introduce "Allen" to the symbols. You don't try to teach a dog to read your secret code. He understood "Allen" was a person, but more than that, we don't really know.

But the soul the Earl excised out of himself and had Allen put into an Akuma did some stuff that doesn't line up with it being the soul of a completely clueless man.

If we go on the assumption that the Earl was trying to rid Mana of any inconvenient memories through this process, we can assume Akuma!Mana is a conglomerate of just more than "Mana Walker". My best guess is that when the Earl excised Akuma!Mana, the memories he was trying to get rid of included stuff that re-stabilized Mana Walker, including knowledge of what actually happened when he met Red. If we consider that as a possibility, a lot of other things become more explicable.

First: If he remembered their first meeting, Akuma!Mana could know that "Allen" was an accomodator with an already activated Innocence capable of combat, perfectly able to destroy a level 0. He also would know “Allen” was fated to be an exorcist, and the threat that Akuma therefore pose.

Second: Akuma!Mana could have gained access to some of the original Mana's knowledge, including stuff about the Earl, Akuma, and souls.

Akuma!Mana said the usual Akuma stuff, and did the usual Akuma stuff, which Akuma cannot seem to help. But Akuma!Mana also did more than that: the "I'll curse you!" wasn't just bluster. He actually did manage to "curse" Allen, which the Earl clearly didn't know about. The Earl must not have thought the Akuma even capable of it, so he certainly wasn't making the Akuma do that specifically.

Mana couldn't control all the instincts of the Akuma, but he could use them to his own advantage.

As evidence, we gotta go on a bit of a tangent:

In the second volume, Hoshino mentions a play that inspired Lala and Gozul. The play goes like this: Old servant falls in love with high-class young lady. She plays with his feelings and he dies. As a vengeful spirit, he decides to curse her. But in the end, he changes his mind, and decides that as a spirit, he'd rather protect her instead, so long as she promises to remember him.

I've seen people dismiss this play in the analysis of DGM before, because let's be real, the premise here is kinda creepy. And it doesn't seem to actually have much to do with Lala and Gozul besides the aesthetic of "old man" and "beautiful maiden".

But the concept of a vengeful spirit saying they'll curse someone they once loved, only to overcome their negative feelings and decide to protect that person instead is present in the story, in a pair of characters the deliberately parallel Lala and Gozul.

Or maybe even more than one pair of characters that parallel Lala and Gozul.

We'll be focusing on Mana and Allen for now though.

I pointed out before that Akuma!Mana didn't need prompting by the Earl to attack, unlike Claire. I think Mana was using the programming of the Akuma to his advantage; if he attacked, he could place the anchor (the star) he'll need on Allen's face without the Earl finding his actions suspicious, and Allen's Innocence would activate to protect Allen, destroying the Akuma shell and freeing his soul to latch on to that anchor.

This gave Allen the ability to see souls, probably because it was Mana's power originally, ensuring Allen would be protected in the future. Thanks to this ability, most of the risk of being ambushed as an exorcist is minimized, so Allen’s career as an exorcist would be relatively safer.

Mana was the "vengeful spirit" (aka Akuma) that decided to become a guardian spirit of someone he loved instead, just like in the play. Allen is "younger loved one" that, in exchange for that protection, must carry Mana's memory.

But it's not just Mana's memory Allen carries, but Nea's too. Nea's also a spirit haunting a loved one, but he hasn't decided whether he wants to destroy or protect yet.

Of course, there’s no guarantee any of this is true. I might be completely off base here. But it’s my current theory, and I’m gonna roll with it, because it does explain a lot of things.

And, most importantly, means Akuma!Mana did mean it when he said he loved “Allen”.

#d gray man #allen walker #mana d. campbell #mana walker #dgm #Allen #mana #the earl

[averlym]

@remylong :

#newest broken telephone installment #the remy renaissance #or rather standard avvycc dms. broken telephone elements include ccsims designs of my old designs plus prev hp art plus the general sepia #of everything on fire. bonus to the chromatic aberration on hp it feels quite fitting (yknow bc the chorus behind his lines..) idk vibes #this colouring style is actl terribly fun i'm quite !!! about it. i'm also glad that I made reference sheets for them all long ago bc #otherwise i would have gone insane rrying to rmb them from scratch. lately despite the rainbow hp seems to overall be turquoise blue? which #is so fun compared to the more purple/ neutral blues and greys i have in mind for mark... #anyways doing well! getting back slowly into Making things again! having fun etc etc #have been in OC-land late​ly but nothing i'm ready to share yet haha #so occassional bit of fanart it is. i inexplicably want to draw hands now though i was walking back home #pondering my adamandi era (mad the most insane fanart i've ever made; no recollection of it now) and after enough mulling it over #it would be nice to return to it. don't think i'm as obsessed anymore but it's certainly not lacking in inspiration #ideas are there just havent reached the sweet spot where you get so taken by an idea you're compelled to turn it to reality #and i think itwould be fun. perhaps even gratifying to set wips to rest #so maybe. in the meantime px11 brokentelephone is sustaining my urge to make miscellaneous fanart haha #melliotverse so true. wonder why despite watching taopp i haven't been compelled to draw it but i get the inkling it's just that specific #aesthetic that doesn't do it for me. <blinks> it was very good and i enjoyed it immensely! i think i just surprised myself by being normal #about a musical for once. i think also bc irl i've been more Good Busy the drive to engage in fandom has dissipated somewhat.. #so overall i think it's a good thing. just different. but then again this stretch of time is a transitory period for me so changing ought to #to be expected. ah well tldr don't overthink just do what sparks joy be happy? literally so lucky to be spoiled for choice wrt things #i want to do. so much to do and see and learn and time still to get to figure it all out!

[chiropteracupola]

the amount of time I spend on tumblr dot com has given me quite the set of standards when it comes to artworks on the theme of 'Trans Angel', and actual museums are failing to meet those standards quite spectacularly.

#news from the cupola #if you don't want to hear a lot of inane whining stop reading this post Here. #today once again I saw this particular sculpture entitled exactly that. it is the most unpleasant thing I have ever beheld. #it is relevant that it is a sculpture about the transamerica pyramid and not about Transgender things. but I do keep forgetting that. #so many errors were made in the construction of this fucking thing. I have seen it maybe thrice at this point and it has not grown on me #in the slightest. and I know that the conversation about Good Art and what makes Good Art is certainly fraught. #but by my lights whatever this is this isn't good art #maybe it's partially that this thing is displayed among some really wild examples of Just What Can Be Done With Clay #it's surrounded by hundreds of years' worth of technical mastery and it fails to be anything of note except bad to see! #clunky sculpting! ugly glazing! forms that are difficult to parse but also not very interesting once you do see them! #and why in the goddamn does it have the twitter logo sculpted all over it. what is Happening. #everything else by this artist in this exhibit is also not great in similar ways? #it's not even bad in a way that's interesting! it's just. not good! #it all feels like they're trying far too hard to make Art That Means Something and missing by a mile #also. no one calls the transamerica pyramid that. You Say The Whole Name. or you just point at it and say 'that one'

[camellcat]

girl in the fireplace is so funny to me. just seeing different people's reactions (and mine) to it. like, here's how I break it down:

if you love rose tyler and timepetals but maybe not as crazy for the doctor himself, this is the worst episode ever EVA!!!!! like hell on EARTH WHYYYY OH MY GOD ROSEEE MY GIRL I'M SO SORRY YOU'RE BEING TREATED LIKE THIS!!!!! DOCTOR go save ur girl goddamn don't just leave her so uncertain and feeling betrayed like that!!!! and don't PROUDLY KISS OTHER WOMEN 😰😰😰!!!!!

if you're a bigger doctor lover but still enjoy rose and maybe timepetals but eh it's whatever, this episode is very interesting and a fun exploration of the doctor, if a bit sad to see rose almost sidelined like that. ultimately one you quite enjoy

if you just care about the doctor and not rose or timepetals, this episode is the SHIT OH it's so good it's SO good oh my god yes please dive more into the doctor's fucked up psyche and life grahhHH!!!! ough. this man is FUCKED UP!! YEAHHHH!!!

#first one if my opinion if you couldn't tell lol #I watched it once. hated it. never went back even on rewatches #can't stand the whole “lonely god/angel” narrative #you can imagine I'm not having the best time with the moffat era rn fvnjfdndf #(tho I did enjoy the doctor seeing he's got people on his side during the s6 finale. nice once moffat that was sweet) #also ik she kissed him it just. rose was already struggling with ep3 this was NOT helping #girl was going through the wringer with this one #also not a fan of the maybe maybe not ?? romance that was going on between reinette and the doctor?? #you could argue either side tbh and that I don't like either #just sayin btw it was very uncomfortable to watch reinette go into his brain like that uninvited. did not like that at alll ohh not at all #ALSO I know he HAD to do something bc saving her was vital but that still doesn't mean I have to like how he left rose like that #this is NOT to hate on anyone's opinions mind you #this is probably most certainly not true for everyone I just thought it was funny how I most often see them #doctor who

[lesbian-thespian-paladin]

anyone else so so afraid all the time for no reason? Just me?

#sitting here trying to do homework but body has decided that we are actually fighting for our life #not helpful! #just feeling like a fuckup for not being able to handle the basic elements of adult life #brain is like you can a.) socialize b.) do schoolwork c.) eat or d.) have a clean house #but certainly not all of them at once and also if you don't do them all I will make you feel physical pain about it #personal #just venting #ugh ok back to white knuckling my way through the rules of civil procedure

[sysig]

The Sleepy Parable (Patreon)

#Doodles #The Stanley Parable #TSP #Inspired by a play session I had while I was Very sleepy haha #I forget if it was late or early but it was definitely Tired out while I was doing some replaying so I was a little lethargic #Lots of crouching and looking at the floor and not much looking around just waiting as the Narrator talked over elevator rides haha #And that got me thinking about - what if Stanley was Actually the sleepy one? How much of the player's intention carries over into Stanley? #Obviously Stanley can't Literally get tired - he can slow down or speed up depending on where he is and you can make him crawl around #But a lot of Stanley is also left up to interpretation ♪ So why not a Sleepy Stanley <3 #And sleepy means pajamas! Haha #Was this all just my master plan to draw Stanley in a nightcap? Maybe :3c #I really was sleepy while playing but you know how it is with thoughts lol #I do like the idea of the Narrator being extremely callous and uncaring for certain things - like Sinister's arm for example #But is Stanley hydrated? Need to use the restroom? Well rested? #Oddly I don't think he'd care that much about food?? Lol I can just see Sin's blood sugar bottoming out and the Narrator like ''Ah'' #The way the Narrator plays the Sims: Keeps all motives except Comfort and Fun maxed out at all time and gets annoyed with the sims complain #Also! Let Stanley into his bed in the apartment! Either of them! With no buckets pls just let him rest For Once #The last one is of him enjoying(?) a cup of coffee since there's just so many options of mug around the office lol #That's certainly one way to stay awake

[aro-culture-is]

mod post

fyi if you ever see a comment on one of these posts that's clearly an arophobe trying to start shit, please DM that post and a quick note about what's up to us @just-aro .

we just saw an individual having responded to a post in a way that, in our experience, is strictly an attempt to harm folks while parading as an attempt for information. given that some quick checking of their blog indicated that they have a history of doing so, we deleted their response and will block them shortly. this is standard procedure - notice, investigate the comment and the context of the blogger, remove the comment if possible, and block access.

this blog is radically inclusive 💚

#mod axel #not aro #not aro culture #blog maintenance #also 2 things that were important in our thought process about this but which didnt feel right in the body of this post: #1) questions are welcome and bad faith is not assumed. most bad faith comments have some identifiable words and rhetoric for us #and we strive to confirm that when possible by background checking their blog #which is often VERY telling. #2) on that note: we base this off of direct comments. our blog has enough followers that we have to assume that people we would hate irl #follow us. we dont comb through followers. we honestly think that's a bad idea #as long as we don't see commentary from an individual we probably won't do anything specific about them #we have witnessed enough people being further radicalized by being barred from information counter to their current beliefs #and enough people who - upon gaining access to that information - start to question those beliefs #to feel comfortable with blocking silent interaction #to the best of our knowledge we have uh. blocked a solid chunk of all transphobic 'feminists' on this site already anyways #because let me tell you: you almost certainly don't see their attempts at interaction. they really really hated some old posts #like years old #and every once in a rare while they rediscover it

[anghraine]

Damn, I was already very unsure about continuing to use Twitter now, but God Emperor Elon's tweets immediately convinced me to nope out. I am generally opposed to deleting my history, so I haven't deleted my accounts, but y i k e s.

#it took about ten minutes before i told my grad school friends whom i've mostly communicated with via twitter #'yeah so i can't stomach the age of elon but you can find me on tumblr' #(didn't send them to this account of course but i'm cleaning up my writing one) #(they mostly have tumblr accounts already and use them so it should work #though i'll miss the random scholars i'd sometimes interact w/ despite having very few followers #like i was babbling about the fitzwilliams once and an oxford professor was like 'yes i've thought about that too! i agree actually' #which was really cool and obviously can't really happen over here #even though my net tumblr experience is certainly orders of magnitude better than my twitter one #otoh despite my vague melancholy over twitter of all things it is pretty funny to see people lamenting 'having' to go to tumblr #dude if you don't want to be on tumblr i assure you that we also do not want you to be on tumblr #someone else was earnestly explaining that tumblr is way more chill these days #me (someone who has never experienced a moment of chill in my life): yes true #anghraine babbles #general fanwank

[medicinemane]

I want to preface this post by saying I'm not trying to paint the world as bleak and hopeless, this is just something that's been on my mind

With all the horrible things in the world right now, it's struck me just how much the people who've died are dead, and no matter what we do now there's no turning back the clock

That may sound obvious, but what I mean is that nothing we do will ever be able to make these wrongs right

Which ironically just makes it all the more important to fix things as soon as possible, both to prevent more irreversible damage, and also because if we can't do enough then we're obliged to at least do what we can

I know that none of us here are heads of state, or major politicians, or billionaires who bought a social media platform to avoid the FTC beating us into a fine paste for insider trading due to non disclosed shares of said company while driving up the price by saying we were thinking about buying it; so I get that there's a limit to what we can do and out governments are filled with dumb assholes who refuse to do anything to help (some seem to want to, but there's enough people blocking them a lot of the time)

So I don't... I don't have a direction here... I assume you're already doing what you can when you can, and keep it up. I don't know... it's just horrific how many people are suffering and how we'll never be able to take it back

That's what's on my mind with all this and... and it's very frustrating and I'm not even the one in danger with any of it

Keep trying to do better I suppose... and it's not something I have much hope for, but I guess vote in any upcoming elections, given that if there were less awful people in office maybe a few more decent things would get done

Like be a single ticket voter, take what's important to you and say "I only vote for people who support what I want supported"... and then vote for those people

I have no faith in it, but I think you gotta at least try it

(Bonus suggestion, think it's particularly hopeless but vote in the primaries cause that's your one chance to get a trash candidate off the ballot)

#I mean I very much am a single issue voter right now; you can bet I'm gonna be looking at people's history with how they've voted on it #I frankly encourage you to do the same; and I'm not gonna tell you what your issue you should do it with is either #you make your own choices; I just... I'd rather people vote for someone they think is gonna do the most like they'd want #rather than vote for no one #though also I'm American; I get it; they're both assholes; whichever thing you're voting for it's red of blue asshole #but still... some of them seem like they'll do a bit more to support shit I like and some are actively sabotaging it #like I'll straight up say I can't stand mike johnson in specific and if he was in my district I think I'd vote for a cannibal before him #so like... I'm not gonna tell you who to vote for; I'm just gonna say you might as well shoot your shot at it #cause if enough of us hopeless scum shoot our shot then technically the person we want gets elected #and the US is pretty corrupt but they generally put in the person who gets the most votes; electoral stuff aside #not saying it's a good system; just saying might as well use your options #by all means if you've got other stuff you're doing to make the world better keep at it #more to changing things than voting; but it certainly can't hurt #and once again; do it mail in if you can so you don't waste your time in lines

[icykalisartblog]

DDoS Attack Against AO3: Correcting Misinformation

Normally I don't make any posts like this, but I have an interest in cybersecurity and sadly I've seen people are being really ignorant about this recent DDoS attack against the site AO3 (Archive of Our Own), so I thought I'd remind people of a few things:

Anonymous Sudan appears to have no actual link to Sudan at all, or to any previous hacktivist groups that once operated there. This masquerade is probably based in anti-immigration and other racist sentiments, and utilizing those sentiments in other people to scare people and set up Muslims and Sudanese people as a target. This should be obvious from the language used in their note, but this was already known prior to this particular attack.

This so-called Anonymous Sudan has actually been very active recently—remember that they claimed to attack Reddit, Flickr, Riot Games, a huge number of Microsoft web portals like OneDrive and Outlook, etc. before AO3, so AO3 was totally a logical target for them since they've gone after smaller entities before. DDoS attacks like this are easy for any script kiddie to set up, so it's not weird that they'd go for a smaller target like this.

Honestly this group of posers probably just wants money, everybody. They sent AO3 a ransom note asking for Bitcoin (and just in case people don't know, do not pay a ransom if at all possible if this ever happens to you).

My advice to people who've noticed this attack is two-fold: calm down since this is part of a larger pattern that has literally resulted in basically no loss for the end-user of any of the sites, and... I don't really know a better way to put this, but don't believe everything you read. A religiously-motivated hate group wouldn't use terms like "LGBTQ+" and "smuts," and it's so blatantly obvious that the timing of every single one of these attacks is being used to smear Muslims and Sudanese people if you think about current events for like. One second. And if you look up Anonymous Sudan, you'll see their string of attacks and how all experts know that they have nothing to do with Sudan at all. Even AO3 itself told everybody that the group is lying about their motivations... though I think I'd go further than that personally because even their name itself is almost certainly a total sham.

To be clear: this post isn't targeted at anyone in particular. I've just seen a lot of people falling for this overall or not realizing this is part of a pattern, and I also wanted to remind everyone that this isn't anything to be concerned about. What is something to be concerned about is not doing research or thinking critically and then unwittingly spreading racist ideas.

#Ao3 #archive of our own #DDoS attack #cybersecurity #islamophobia

[ambrosiagourmet]

I've been thinking about Laios' succubus lately. Mulling it over a bit.

Because I've seen these pages brought up a fair bit, but almost entirely in the context of shipping (on all sides, really). And I really want to understand what they are doing for the story beyond that.

When I went back to reread the scene and section, a few things caught my interest: the way Laios responds to both forms of his succubus, the themes of the volume the chapter is found in, and the other events of the chapter itself.

So let's dive into those three things, and what I think they say about the succubus scene's purpose.

Laios is never fully frozen by the succubus

So. If you compare Marcille and Chilchuck's reactions...

to Laios':

-

There is a difference. Sure, the basics may look the same once it turns into Scylla Marcille, but even then, it functions differently.

Chilchuck and Marcille are completely frozen once they catch sight of their succubus. Izutsumi, as well, isn't able to look away, and completely freezes up once her 'mom' starts talking to her. As Chilchuck describes, "just looking at them makes you unable to move."

And yet, Scylla Marcille has to actively convince Laios to comply. He even looks away from her at one point!

Laios accepts this succubus, but he is never actually helpless to it in the same way. Taken in? Convinced? Sure, at least enough to let things happen that he probably should question more than he does. But magically compelled? Not really. Not the same way as everyone else is. So that's interesting. But let's move on for now.

2. Volume 9 is all about drive and desire

I don't often look at chapters within the context of the volume they are included in, but I think there's some really fun things to be found with that perspective in mind.

For one, volume 9 starts with an exploration of what desire brought Laios to the dungeon:

And ends with a question of what desire brought Laios to the dungeon:

It's also very concerned in general with questions of why people do what they do. Why they are in the dungeon, why they are with the people they are with, why they stay, what they fight for.

In addition to Laios, we see it with Marcille...

Izutsumi

Kabru

and Mithrun

Hell, we even get it for the demon!

It's certainly not the only volume concerned with desires and motives, but it is particularly focused on these ideas.

The succubus scene fits quite well into the ongoing question about desires, especially Laios' desires. It is even placed at an interesting spot within the volume. The volume is six chapters long, and the scene takes place at the start of the 4th chapter. It's almost smack-dab in the middle.

With all this in mind, it is interesting that, with both versions of the succubus Marcille, it's not totally clear which parts of her Laios is rejecting.

The first version of Marcille looks human, but Laios attacks when he identifies her as a monster. The second Marcille looks like a monster, but he seems to believe that she is the real (human)(ish) person that he knows. So is he rejecting the monster at first, and then accepting the person? Or is he rejecting humanity and only interested in the monstrous?

Something to consider as we look at the next point...

3. the rest of the chapter is a seduction, too

This is one of those things that might not be apparent on a first reading, but is crystal clear on a revisit. We see the succubus try and charm Laios over 7 pages, and then see the Winged Lion do the same thing for the next 19.

Much like the succubus, it offers the mingling of monsters and humans. Much like the succubus, it offers belonging.

(and this is the point where I absolutely must also link this post by fumifooms on the succubus, which has some great ideas on how the scene is informed by Laios' trauma and desire for acceptance!!!)

But, back to the point. The Winged Lion wants to feed on Laios just as much as the succubus did, and it uses similar strategies to try and make that happen. Though this chapter isn't really the turning point for the next Lord of the Dungeon (it is Marcille who will, eventually, become the Lion's next victim), it certainly behaves like it is.

Laios is convinced. The succubus gets its meal. By the end of the volume, the reader begins to understand how concerning his desires are. Together, it is all very good at building up that sense of dread and pending disaster, as we see exactly how and why Laios might just fall into the Lion's open arms and bring about the end of the world.

-

So that's the three things I noticed. But there's still something I want to touch on by looking at the way these observations overlap, and what they reveal, together.

As I said, by the end of the volume, you can feel the tension growing. Just as Kabru and Mithrun do, you look back for an answer to the questions that have been built, chapter by chapter: why is Laios here? Where will his loyalties fall? This chapter, and scene, seem to prove the inevitable truth: he will choose the monster, of course. He will choose the seductive, easy power of the Winged Lion.

But the details of what actually happens tell different story: one in which the Lion is wrong.

First, as a reminder - even in Scylla Marcille mode, the succubus never fully entrances Laios. It convinces him, but it doesn't have him completely under its thrall.

Similarly, in the dream, the Lion does convince Laios to embrace the world he is offering. But even within that dream, Laios continues to ask questions that will be vital to him later. It is because of those questions that Laios comes to a new understanding about Thistle.

And it's this realization that he cites later as part of his reason for refusing the Lion's offer.

He is thinking through things the entire time, just like he continues to question the succubus even after it turns into Scylla Marcille.

Laios also expresses an interesting reason for why he wants to see the future of this world. He's not just invested because it would mean people liking what he likes, or him getting to spend time with monsters. The thought that comes immediately before his acceptance is about what he wants for monsters and people.

I don't think it's a coincidence that this statement - "we're living beings that share the same world, but all we can do is keep killing each other" - can apply to the various humans races just as much as it does to humans and monsters. The thing he is thinking about here isn't just a matter of his personal daydreams. It's an idea that underpins every conflict in the story.

Laios caring about how people as well as monsters in this manner is something that the Lion gets wrong every time. Even at the end, he still frames Laios' desires entirely around hating people and loving monsters.

The Lion has heard him express an opinion about the future of the world! It happened right there in the dream, right in front of him! He just didn't take it seriously, and didn't view it through any lens other than "Laios likes monsters more".

He's convinced that he understands how to get to Laios. Maybe the Lion can't truly see everything, or maybe his vision into everyone's deepest desires has made it hard for him to realize how much choice still matters. That people can, and do, choose which desires to act on, and how to act on them.

Whatever the case, he's wrong about Laios, and the story shows us this over and over again.

After all, look at how the succubus interaction plays out:

A monster uses Marcille to appeal to Laios...

He realizes that something about the situation is wrong, and rejects her.

It changes strategies, and makes new offer: to turn him into a monster.

It also assures him that his friends are, or will be, taken care of.

He accepts. Or rather, allows the monster to have its way with him.

But Laios is not as helpless as he initially appears, and what the Lion thinks is a successful seduction also contains the seed of an idea that will allow Laios to later resist him.

We even get to see Izutsumi playing a similar role in both instances, as the one person fully able to take action in the face to the illusion.

The story lays out what is going happen, and then explicitly tells us that the demon and the succubus are thematically related.

The chapter performs a great sleight of hand here - everything about it seems to indicate that Laios is doomed give in to the option to have his deepest desires realized. But if you look closer, it also contains the evidence that he won't. There's a lot more going on for him.

Yes, he still falls for obvious tricks. He is still extremely into monsters, and he still doesn't feel like he fits in with other people. He may, deep down, crave to surrender to the monstrous - to let it absorb him. But he questions more than he seems to. He considers more than people realize. He cares so much more than anyone gives him credit for.

And I think this is part of why we see the succubus called back to so many times, especially with the wolf head addition to his Monster Form, which he specifically added due to his encounter with the Scylla Marcille.

This all stays with Laios. It doesn't just foreshadow the path of the story, it is fundamental to how and why he walks that path. It's not about him choosing monsters, and it's not about him choosing people. It's about how he considers both, and cares about both.

And it's about the forces that think they already know his answer. Mithrun and Kabru. The Winged Lion. The succubus.

It's about how they are wrong.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dungeon meshi spoilers #laios touden #winged lion #dunmeshi analysis