#i really hate the concept of an ultimate self actually have i mentioned that before

[applestorms]

clawed my way through (some of) the epilogues and hs^2 again for dirkjake crumbs and i think there is a Genuine place for ultimate jake to fit into canon (or at the very least, lord jake english) since meat timeline jake never actually shows up visually in hs^2 and his final appearance in that timeline (minus a phone call or something w/ roxy? or was it kanaya fuck) is giving ult. dirk his spaceship and then proclaiming his undying love while desperately trying to get dirk to let him join him, to which dirk responds that he’ll “never let [jake] break [his] heart again” (ch39). agony.

two interesting things about the end of his arc in meat actually: for one thing, it’s kinda implied that along with giving dirk a spaceship, he also gave dave/karkat/roxy/kanaya/etc a spaceship to chase after him, so he’s at least taken some action to try to stop him. again though, we never see him after that point so like. the idea that he could just hope himself into becoming an ultimate self in the background is actually kind of a possibility?? like while the others try to chase dirk down, jake is figuring out how to brute force himself into ascension as a backup plan. second thing, dirk is very snarky in the narration about the fact that this dramatic goodbye he’s giving jake is the last time he’ll ever get to see him (jake see dirk, i mean) but ult. dirk also seems to lack power against alt. calliope when they fight over the narrative so jake ascending would actually pose a serious threat and might be able to override that, assuming dirk’s power over the narrative extends that far in the first place (thinking about that post talking about how narration is also a reflection of characters’ thoughts…)

candy timeline jake is also pretty interesting since he very notably starts being advised by BGD to be a kind of spy on the inside against jane’s. whole thing in that timeline. i actually completely cannot remember what jane does in the meat timeline, i think also some presidency bullshit, right?? that’s what the davekat thing was about??? but anyway BGD sounds pretty normal in all his dialogue, or normal for BGD at least, and is aware of both the game over timeline and ult. dirk’s bullshit enough to make fun of it so. idk maybe i’m just misunderstanding how ultimate selves work, but the fact that BGD wasn’t really “integrated” into ult. dirk feels significant to me, especially considering the fact that we can see caliborn/LE’s influence on ult. dirk so much (his narration in ch39 gives AR too, frankly, like the epilogues are obvs way more openly horny than hs proper but AR was always kinda like that too, especially about jake). hs^2 also ends super abruptly with some lore shit i skimmed half heartedly between calliope, roxy, and john again talking about his initial decision between candy and meat. that whole conversation pretty deliberately frames the decision between meat and candy as being parallel to terezi’s coin flip about whether or not to kill vriska, and roxycallie even tell john straight up that he needs to get vriska again to fix the story, perhaps assuming that’ll work again since it did when he was retconning the timeline? but imo, though maybe i’m biased cause i didn’t really review what vriska does post-canon again, it seems more fitting to me that jake would be the one to fix the bullshit timelines, considering 1. dirk is the one going bananas out of his fucking mind w/ control of the narrative, 2. thematically, pumpkins are the most logical, healthy alternative to meat and candy, fitting since caliborn explicitly aligns dirk and jake’s color scheme with them in the smut-drawing conversation and since (in the same breath) he establishes that he hates them and prefers meat/candy. but that’s getting into sherlock secret final episode levels of conspiracy, and i’m not sure i’m ready for that one

#hs #astronaut rambles #i really hate the concept of an ultimate self actually have i mentioned that before #it kind of just feels Bad like #ok weird parallel but you know how it kind of sucks major ass that all of those *other* sons of dio are introduced in jojo pt 6? #cause it takes away from giorno’s significant kinda #it’s like that this idea of an “ultimate” self just kinda #implies that the true version we’ve been following isn’t actually the truly authentic one #which idk i just dislike that #like it works for davepeta (ish) but. for dirk? #when his whole thing is that the true dirk is different from his splinters? #how’s that joke go again? #‘oh shit it sucks that we have all this organizations. we need to make one to unite them all!’ total organizations: +1 #how tf did i write actual quotes in the tags earlier jesus #okay 3 am i need to sleep now nobody read this ok promise kisses #dirkjake

[kirbybecomesastarwarrior]

 Kirby becomes a Star Warrior / Sir Uther (OC)

Now I’ve seen Uther used from the Arthurian mythos in other Kirby AU merely defining him as Sir Arthur’s father who he inherited the GSA from. Not many are written as straight up bad guys, that is until today Sir Uther is a villain in the KBASW universe and he’s not Arthur’s dad in this one just mentor in the story (but frankly he shouldn’t be anyone’s dad.) 

I just had to post this before publishing the story cause everyone’s gonna wonder “who’s he when reading?” So yeah this is the face of Uther, when he’s mentioned in the story.

I definitely wrote him as the guy everyone hates and though he maybe gone, his selfishness and pride were what ultimately what brought down the GSA. After his death Arthur vowed to reverse and rewrite the mistakes of Uther’s cruelty; becoming the new leader of the GSA. Arthur was and still afraid of his old mentor, his influenced is what made Arthur hide MK’s wings all the time. Meta thought Arthur was afraid of his demon side when in reality he was afraid of Uther. Uther does and kicks off many of the downfalls and tragedies of the GSA & MK’s crew. Due to his own prejudices towards Meta which come back to haunt him.

This Uther is highly inspired by Merlin (2008) Uther the show’s but if your want to hear more explanation on the character but basically yeah the Uther in that show hates magic and kills many innocent people because of that so just switch that around with Nightmare and his demons and yeah same principals.

Also his character color scheme is actually based off the Queen of Hearts from Alice & Wonderland. A bit of foreshadowing of his temperament as well as his madness. 

And his relationship with Galacta Knight; well let’s just say his ego was knocked down a peg once Galacta was recognized as the strongest warrior in the galaxy by the Ancients. Before Galacta it was Uther and he was the leader of the GSA because of that... with Galacta there he felt his authority was challenged..

He guys I’ve been actually working on this OC for months since I named dropped him in Dec. it’s also my first OC and let me tell you creating an OC is tough, I hope my efforts were worth it and you guys like it.

keep reading the content character explanation below...

Now I’ve seen a lot of people characterize Sir Arthur as a well-meaning person who’s just stuck in their old ways. Sometimes straight-up “good guy” or “leader” who live long enough to see themselves become the villain; similar to the many interpretations depending on which version you see/

Now I don’t mind Uther being interpreted as a good guy or someone in the grey area but I’m just surprised with the lack of villainous Uthers. A constant in Arthurian legend is that Uther has always been a rotten human being. In the original story of Arthur’s conception, Uther wanted to get with the Duke of Cornwall's wife and started a war because of it. (I'm not going to explain any more of the story but yeah you should read the original for the rest of it.) But yeah he straight-kicks up war cause he gets what he wants which ends up being betrayed by his own people.

I wanted to take that type of self-destructive villainy from the original Uther making him as despicable as the original from the story. With a little mix of my own spin on the character with some modern-day villains too. 

When designing his character I knew I wanted to have some foreshadowing and symbolism in his design. I really wanted to make him very intimidating along with the level of regality. I ended up thinking about old-school villains from Disney and I came up with Queen of Hearts which fit his character perfectly. And after I just knew I had to give him a scythe as his weapon no questions asked! He’d definitely say “OFF WITH YOUR HEAD”, before slicing up one of his victims. 

And I got a bit of inspiration from Avatar’s Ozai too similar temperament as well. that’s how I got the idea to have Uther control fire as well as light. Which emerged the idea for his wings. Couldn’t decide whether I wanted to give him dragon wings or bird wings... But when the concept of Phoenix wings came up I knew I could work more story into them than just the dragon wings. 

I also wanted to show the importance of status to him with his armor and cape & mantle; being adored with gold.  His mask has two colors red & black very reminiscent of a checkerboard; conveying his two-facedness. Seeing his soldiers as pawns wanting to be in control of everything. I hope I was able to convey that in his design... He cares so much about his position and hates when his authority is questioned in any way; he makes sure everyone knows who’s in charge. 

When I call Uther an elitist, I mean that he would give very little care to the soldiers who were not as puffballs and would immediately categorize them as lesser beings. During the war when the GSA & the ancients were defining other galaxies' worth: they would prioritize the more advanced civilization and the lesser solar system was the last to be protected. This eventually formed the Star Systems Alliance (or the S.S.A.) which was controlled by the Ancients, the GSA elites, and the upper crusts of the galaxy so yeah corrupt government everybody.

I got this idea in the Wolfwrath episode with Sword & Blade explaining their backstories as he described that the war had turned the galaxy into a wasteland and that they had to become bandits & thieves to survive.

So yeah that’s basically what Uther’s doing... he would use lesser planets as battlegrounds, and make many of the inhabitants helpless. This is how the volunteer army gets started.  The GSA would offer benefits and supplies to those who volunteer to join. However they’d have to live long enough to actually receive these benefits. So yeah he took advantage of lesser planets to get new soldiers and made sure they’d be his battle plan guinea pigs. 

This brings Jecra and Garlude into that mix as well... Jerca who had just lost his partner did not have the means to provide for his baby son (Knuckle Joe). He had his parents but they were too old to work. Heard about the GSA’s offer and signed up; his parents weren’t sure and knew their son would be on the front line. But Jecra brought up the point that it’s either that or they all die by starvation. Sadly they agreed and promised to take care of Joe.

As for Garlude she was noble and had people under her care, the war had been pulling resources away from her people. Her husband (a man she married out of obligation but was friends with) went himself to negotiate for resources with the Ancients & from the S.S Alliance but mysteriously disappeared afterward. So to find out the truth of her husband’s disappearance and to provide for her people (as well as her daughter) joins the volunteer army. 

Eventually, there were so many who volunteered that they needed someone to supervise and train them. Uther didn’t want to waste training these volunteers and use one of his elite soldiers (they were gonna die quickly anyway). Then there was the Meta newly knighted Star Warrior, who he rejected into joining the Holy Knights. The other higher-up knights and ancients didn’t know what to do with him because they didn’t want MK to represent them and they were all looking to Uther for an answer. It was more of a way to stall until he could think of what to properly what to do with him properly. Which was probably the best thing he could have done for MK.

After 4 months of training, Meta Knight wants to join their ranks and become the sole person in charge of the Volunteer Army. Which lowers his status never being able to join the higher-ups. Uther thinks this is a great way to save face and get rid of MK. To him, Meta was finally accepting his fate of dying on the battlefield, but to Meta Knight, he was freeing himself from all of them. 

And with that MK renamed the group Team Halberd... and became the most beloved group of Knights of the GSA. And Uther became pissed he’d give MK and his group the most difficult missions but that made them more famous. Things only started going south for the team after the fall of the Ancients & Yami’s betrayal. Also, Yamikage was not part of Team Halberd he was part of the ninja section of the army which Dragato was in charge of.  (And yes I made the MK ship into angst fuel Halberd the ship being named in honor of his original unit). And Uther starts to go mad and plays a big role in Kirby’s birth... hope you guys stay to find out.

#kirby #Sir Uther #Meta Knight #kirby oc #kirby right back at ya #sir uther #Sir Arthur #Hoshi no Kaabii #kbasw #kirby au #my first oc #fanlore #GSA

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; SIDE A

The Biologist Propaganda:

She tells the reader that her first hand account of events is scientific and impartial before revealing wayyyy after the fact that she has omitted her huge personal bias from her retelling of the events because she is fully aware that she's an unreliable narrator and is using that awareness to retroactively edit the story in her favour. Truly she's unlike any other protagonist I've ever encountered, its insane. Here's a tumblr text post that sums up everything: https://www.tumblr.com/12thbiologist/713885306846347264/annihilation-is-soooo-good-because-the-biologist?source=share

Yukio Okumura Propaganda (note; this is one submission, tumblr just has a word limit for blocks of text):

content warning for self destructive topics, murder, guns, body possession, suicide, mental illness, religion (?) (never directly mentions christianity), self hatred, dysfunctional family(??), self hatred. just a heads up, if you want to skip this you can. nothing in here is described seriously, its generally needed to understand basic plot points for this manga, so i didnt just include it for no reason!!! dont read this if it could harm you mentally!! its also just really long and kind of devolves into a plot summary near the end. his character explores moral greyness and utilizes his subsequent depressive states in a way thats really interesting to me. its pretty relevant that hes an unreliable narrator even in the early chapters of the manga. something interesting to me is that he's *not* the main character of the manga, so its set up in a way where the reader knows he's an unreliable narrator, but because he sets up a lot of the major exposition, the reader doesnt have a reason to believe him. i know it sounds kind of stupid, but its executed a lot better in the manga!!! its less about him actually *being* an unreliable narrator, and more about what it means for such a major character who introduces part of the plot, to be an unreliable narrator! he's the biological son of satan, but isnt a demon— (this is gonna be hard to explain but the demons in ao no exorcist are only called demons, they're easily equated to demons from abrahamic religions, but they mainly exist as a concept, they first have to develop an ego, and choose a body to possess. higher level demons arent able to possess a body because their power corrupts it and it rots away. satan only called himself satan because his college gf was in a christian cult, which is kind of funny to me because his son, lucifer, already did the whole satan motif. in the ao no exorcist universe, there is no 'god', satan is the ultimate being.)— unlike his maternal twin, rin, who has a demonic heart and ego. yukio is visibly similar to his mother, and is generally puts up a front as being more mature than rin. rin is essentially the direct opposite; he's almost identical to satan in looks and personality.

this definitely hurts yukio alot during the early chapters, because satan brutally murdered their adoptive father, but yukio is partially jealous of rin. he wishes he was as 'strong' as him, as rin had never shown any self hatred or suicidal ideation to yukio earlier on in the series. this eventually drives yukio to seek out lucifer. he convinces himself that lucifer isnt working for satan. he's an unreliable narrator even to *himself*. there's generally a pretty obvious parallel to lucifer with yukio: in the series, lucifer is depicted as wanting to be as 'strong' as his brother, mephisto. lucifer corrupts all of his vessels almost instantly. he's essentially stuck in a miserable cycle, not unlike yukio. we, as the reader, gradually see yukio spiral more and more. we see him lie to the reader and the other characters, until there's a surprising moment of clarity. we see yukio talk about how he mainly hates himself. we see him say this in front of *rin*! he essentially asks rin to kill him, beliving its the only way to escape assiah (earth, also has real world religious meaning). yukio cannot, presumably, be killed. he is essentially immortal during the storyline, which is why none of his suicide attempts have ever worked. this directly parallels lucifer not being able to escape gehenna (hell. this is also just hell in judaism). rin doesnt comply for pretty obvious reasons (not wanting to murder yukio), so yukio shoots him (dont worry rin's body heals almost immediately. no demons were harmed during this story) and rin goes on the journey of self discovery and comes back less mentslly ill (he also dyes his hair black) and talks to yukio. and uhhhh rin defeats satan and everyone clapped . then rin smashed in hatsune miku's face with his sword. i fhink thats blasphemy ? im really tired right now goodnight. tldr: yukio has mental illness and lies i lobe jim. i spent over an hour on this 😭

#polls #unreliable narrator battle #unreliable narrators #the biologist #annihilation #yukio okumura #ao no exorcist #side a

[stephpuppet]

binge read your norrington/elizabeth fics and im OBSESSED. you briefly mentioned having an au in your head where james and jack are brothers — do you have any more thoughts about that? i’d never considered it before and now you’ve put the idea into my head i can’t escape it!!

Hi Anon! Thank you for the ask!

I really love the James & Jack dynamic in the film series because it's quite an unusual protagonist/antagonist dynamic (which one's which is up for discussion!). There is actually a fic on fanfiction.net where James and Jack are brothers, though I can't remember the title for the life of me, so it has been done before.

I'm going to spend too much time gushing about what I would do with the concept, so I'll put it below the cut to avoid clogging anyone's feed.

I haven't managed to put it in a fic yet but I really like the idea of James having a really poor relationship with his father. Because then you can play with the idea that James's career ambitions are either 1. a way to prove himself to a father who will never think he's good enough, 2. him trying to succeed to spite a father. If Jack is his older brother this adds in another interesting dynamic of there being a black sheep in the family that James is trying to escape the shadow of but is also somewhat envious of, because Jack has the freedom of not caring what other people think of him and also being very successful in his own right.

Focusing on Jack for a moment. I think that Jack is a character primarily defined by his selfishness and in the films we rarely see him do something that isn't at least a little self-serving and the moments where he does do something unselfish are really nice. I like the idea of Jack having someone that he does actually value above himself, because (as far as I'm aware), we don't ever see that in the films. Jack debates becoming Captain of the Flying Dutchman himself before ultimately giving it to Will, but it wasn't like he had his heart set on the idea. He votes for Elizabeth to be Pirate King, but doing so didn't do anything to his own chances - he wasn't going to get voted in. I want to see him truly sacrifice for someone else.

If I had ever been able to write this idea I think it would have gone something like this.

Curse of the Black Pearl happens as normal just with a touch more "I'm going to arrest my law-breaking brother because I am the GoodSon(TM) and he keeps flirting with my girlfriend" and "hey bro, long-time no-see, whoa what's with the hostility? anywho I have things to do, let's catch up later".

James still goes after Jack in Dead Man's Chest, still on the "I must prove myself to Parental Figure That Sincerely Does Not Give a Fuck" bandwagon. Hurricane happens, only this time Jack and the Pearl go back to fish him out of the water. Cue lots of James being "I hate you, you're the worst brother ever, please leave me to die" and Jack being "Idgaf, I love you and you're going to stay on my ship and I'm going to take care of you while you have your existential crisis/breakdown."

Will and Elizabeth individually turn up for their respective plotlines and Jack deals with them with James just in the background still in his emo-teenager "life is meaningless, woe is me" phase.

From here it gets a bit fuzzy. In this verse, James doesn't steal the heart and betray everyone because, despite all his very dramatic angst, he does actually appreciate that someone gives a shit about him. I think this is one of the tragic aspects of his character in the films - he doesn't have anyone that cares for him. Governor Swann kind of does but I imagine that relationship dissipates when James is no longer a prospective son-in-law. His men respect him but I imagine a lot of that again goes when first he loses the Interceptor and a load of men in the attack on the Isla de Muerta and then again when the Dauntless is sunk in the hurricane. Elizabeth ditches him for Will. He just doesn't have anyone.

That's why I really like the idea of Jack and James being brothers, because it can give James someone that will love him unconditionally and it can give Jack someone he values as more than just a means to an end and also (crucially) something that he can lose. If you think about it, all the consequences Jack faces in the films are temporary - he dies and comes back, he loses the Pearl and gains it again.

I'm not sure when or how it would happen, but I like the idea that James still dies (possibly at the end of Dead Man's Chest) and Jack just loses it. His motivations during At World's End change from the rather impersonal 'Save Piracy and Stop Davy Jones', to 'Find Someway to Get James Back and Fuck Everyone and Everything Else'. There's now a solid motivation for him to try to become Captain of the Flying Dutchman and I feel it would be really interesting to see him sacrifice his principles and screw over people he cares about to achieve his goal. Like all bets are off, the ends will justify the means. And not just his innocent "Yes I betrayed you but it all worked out in the end", but legit life-ruining, "we will never forget or forgive this" betrayals.

I like to think in the end Jack succeeds, potentially without having to become Captain of the Dutchman. Like maybe he's able to make some deal with Davy Jones (and/or the EITC??, prob not though). He gets James back but at some huge cost. Would be super interesting if Elizabeth ends up dying because of Jack's actions and he has to lie about it to James because he knows James wouldn't forgive him if he knew what he had done.

Anyway those are my extensive thoughts on the subject. I like the ideas but I'm not motivated enough to commit them to paper and write the fic.

#pirates of the carribean #james norrington #jack sparrow #potc au #potc fanfiction

[crossdressingdeath]

Potentially unpopular opinion: Percy's fatal flaw, especially as portrayed in PJO, is the most faux flaw shit. "Oh no, he loves his friends too much!" Fuck off. At least in HoO it's followed up with the genuinely interesting "He struggles to let other people do things he knows are dangerous because he hates to see them put themselves in danger even knowing they have to do it themselves" (although I'd still argue that the extremely limited group that falls under "other people" in terms of this is more of a flaw than the flaw itself) but PJO's setup of "Oh you'd sacrifice the world to save a friend" is made the fakest flaw imaginable by the fact that he... doesn't. It makes him sad to leave his mother in Hades or leave Beckendorf to die aboard the Princess Andromeda, he doesn't like doing it (I mean, who would), but he still does it without any real hesitation. When I think "fatal flaw" I think "thing that really, seriously screws them over, but they can't stop doing it even if they know it's a bad thing", especially if it would've been fine or even good in moderation (which is also why I see Nico's fatal flaw as self-sacrifice rather than holding grudges; the former hurts him significantly more than the latter to the point where I can't actually think of a single point where Nico ever holds a grudge that backfires on him, unless you count him still being mad at Percy for failing to save Bianca six months after it happened and not trusting him as a result, which I don't, because that's stupid). I don't think "being sad about having to do something that would make anyone sad, but still doing it because it's necessary". ...Actually even with HoO's addition it's still kind of. no one likes leaving people they love to do things alone when they know it'll hurt them, Percy, you aren't special.

If we'd ever seen him actually put a quest at risk or put himself or others in serious danger because he couldn't make a move that might sacrifice a loved one or let a loved one face danger alone, then I'd buy it and it'd be a good flaw. But he really doesn't? As mentioned he feels sad about leaving Sally in Hades and leaving Beckendorf on the ship to save himself, but he still does it. And while he doesn't like that Annabeth is going to face Arachne alone, the closest he gets to interfering in the search is asking to come with her at the Tiber (but backing down when he's told he can't). Is it a character flaw? It could be. Is it a big enough deal to be his fatal flaw, the thing that will likely ultimately lead to his downfall? Uh... not so much. Like, it could have been really good, we could've seen him actually get screwed over or screw others over because he can't let a loved one get hurt or die even if it's necessary to avoid further harm, but he doesn't! Hell, he gets past his "fatal flaw" before he even learns what it is, he leaves Sally in the Underworld for the sake of the quest in book one and there's no argument on the planet that could successfully claim Percy doesn't love his mom! You can't even argue that knowing about his fatal flaw was necessary for him to overcome it! Which kind of sucks, given that that's part of the reasoning for why it was important for Annabeth to know hers: you can't overcome it if you have no idea what it is, but apparently Percy can do so just fine.

At the end of the day Percy's fatal flaw, the thing most likely to get him killed as a hero, seems to at most make him upset about things anyone would be upset about. Which is a shame, because loyalty as a flaw is a fun concept to play with, but when the person whose fatal flaw it supposedly is is not the one most negatively affected by his loyalty by a mile (everyone wave to Nico, who could learn a thing or two about knowing when to risk a loved one from Mr. Can't Sacrifice People) it just doesn't work. And to be clear, it is not a bad thing that Percy knows when he has to let something bad happen to someone he cares about for the good of the world! Literally the only problem with it is that we're told he can't do it to the point that it's the thing that will inevitably screw him over as a hero... but we're shown that he can do it with no more difficulty than anyone else.

#riordanverse #i HATE all the established fatal flaws except annabeth's #...all two of them #they do not fit! #but with percy especially his ACTIONS suggest he doesn't find sacrificing a loved one or letting them risk themself #any harder than anyone else would in his position #so rick TELLING us his loyalty is his fatal flaw just falls apart the moment you think about it #(not to be obvious about who my favourite is but it bears repeating that it's especially bad in comparison with nico) #(who is the person percy most often DOES leave to take risks USUALLY ON PERCY'S BEHALF without a second thought)

[fluffallamaful]

Company

🦙🦙🦙…

oh? what’s this? fluffallamaful is actually posting that darn prison fic?? my goodness!! and before dream actually gets broken out,??

Continued on from “Ticklish Dreams (and George’s)”

With concepts from “Crying Giggling Obsidian”

Summary: Betrayal is a sickly feeling, as is regret, as is loneliness. Dream is unfortunately feeling the pains of all three in his prison cell, after being abandoned by Technoblade. But what better way to deal with these demons than by having a god appear and tickle them out of you?? :D CRAZILY PLATONIC

Warnings: tickling, XD has 4 arms, prison angst, the 3 ugly feelings mentioned in the summary

he/him pronouns for Dream

he/they pronouns for DreamXD

Word Count: 5060

enjoy ☺️

🦙🦙🦙…

This fic is dedicated to @covenofwives , who has kept me completely sane while i’ve been trying my darnedest to write this. And has ultimately heard me talk about how i want to finish this fic for a months straight 😅

GO FOLLOW THEM IF YOU LOVE XD AND DREAM STUFF!!!!

🦙🦙🦙…

Cool obsidian pressed against Dream’s cheek, his eyes dull and hazed as he aimlessly traced the divots of the blackened magma in front of him - hot liquid frozen in time. He didn’t know how long he had been lying there for - pinned to his prison floor under a weighted blanket of misery - but it had been long enough that the unforgiving surface had begun to weld bruises into his hips, his heart resting well below the blocks of his cell, swaying along with the elder guardian’s mournful calls.

He had been left behind.

And honestly, while his past self might’ve been ablaze with fury and malice right now, the only feeling that his brain could muster up, was one of pure regret. The type that twisted into his chest until his lungs had no space to breathe. That froze his body solid and numbed the muscles in his face, constantly whispering critiquing comments into his ears.

What had he expected? Had he really thought that Technoblade would sacrifice himself over him? That his now ex-cell mate would bring the cure to this nightmare? That his problems would just, magically disappear in the presence of another being? He had been a fool, a moron in fact. And the worst part about it all? He didn’t even blame Technoblade for a second. He only blamed himself.

Not only had he stupidly assumed that his pathetic little friendship with the piglin-hybrid would somehow break them out of prison, but he had also assumed that they’d do it together. And he had been so wrong.

But thankfully he still had the hole in the toilet that he could continue digging through right? He still had a chance to escape on his own… right?? No. He was a fool for that too, carelessly hiding from the blaring sirens in the exact location that he was trying to hide from his warden.

He slammed his fist into the obsidian, frustrated tears gathering in his eyes when the blow did nothing to chase away the anger that should be there, but instead just hurt… really bad. He hated it. He hated it all so much. He hated how the gurgling lava that kept him imprisoned laughed at his shame, he hated how the smell of his own prisonwear taunted him with the memory of the hole that was no longer there. But most of all, he hated how vulnerable he had become. His thoughts were practically eating him away, feeding him a strict diet of his past mistakes on loop, and then plummeting him into a well of self pity.

In fact, he had become so entangled in his own intrusive thoughts, that he had not even registered that he was no longer alone in his cell. It was not until the familiar low voice echoed out from behind him that he realised.

“Dream.” Dream’s eyes widened for a moment, his body flinching at the sudden company.

“E-ex Dee?” He murmured, voice tentative and barely more audible that a whisper. He lifted his head to rest his other cheek onto the hard floor instead, eyes being met with the sea of green fabric that now flooded his cell. DreamXD stood crouched before him, white porcelain mask lifted to reveal a comforting smile, and head dipped to avoid hitting his ceiling.

Dream could not deny the warmth that suddenly bloomed in his chest upon seeing the deity, however it was quickly chased away by the bitterness of betrayal that still laced his body. He was helpfully reminded that the god - just like Technoblade - was not the solution to his problems, nor did they care about his problems, they were simply here to satisfy their own motivates. He turned his head back away again.

“Did George send you again?” He asked, albeit a little more sourly than intended. But honestly if George really cared then he’d just come see him himself, instead of making XD do all the work.

“No.”

Dream blinked. His question had mainly been rhetorical, and yet XD had provided him with an answer that not only caught him off guard, but also managed to threaten the constructs of his miserable narrative. He frowned, flicking at his formidable floor, and watching as tiny fragments of it pinged across his cell.

“But- but I didn’t summon you...” He confirmed, turning back to face the deity again. His mind screamed at him to not let his guard down so easily, but he managed to wrestle the warnings aside, the curiosity that DreamXD always seemed to evoke taking its place instead. He propped himself up on his elbows, grimacing at the extra pressure it put on his hips, but looking up to the god regardless.

“No. I came on my own.” XD explained, his voice even and smooth, cloak shifting with them as they moved.

Dream braced himself, half expecting to be bundled up and whisked out of his cell like in XD’s other visits. However much to his surprise, the deity simply took a step back, seating himself down against the prison’s obsidian wall. He watched as they made themselves comfortable, the sound of familiar shuffling fabric muffling out the taunting gurgles of the lava fall, silencing any of Dream’s leftover tantalising thoughts and allowing for the bloom of warmth to reappear in his chest.

“You seemed sad.” XD elaborated. Dream quickly hung his head, reaching for his previously discarded mask and placing it over his face. Of course the god had witnessed him in such a vulnerable moment… Though he was undoubtably touched by their concern.

“H-how much did you see..?” He asked, tentatively lifting his head to address them again. He was met by two outstretched arms, the gesture - along with the deity’s warm smile - being a clear offering for a seat beside him against the blackened wall. A smile flickered across his lips, gingerly peeling himself off the floor to accept.

“I saw enough.” XD confirmed. Dream huffed at his honesty, but shuffled himself across the floor towards the guiding arms regardless. As soon as he reached them he was pulled into the deity’s side, warm arms wrapping protectively around him as he melted into their deep green cloak. It was a substantially different feeling to the cold obsidian floor.

“Sam will be back you know.” He warned, fiddling with his mask to allow for him to nuzzle further into the comforting fabric. XD hummed his understanding.

“Mm, I’ve dealt with him.” Dream frowned at his response.

“You’ve dealt with him?”

“He’s alive.” They shrugged, arms tightening reassuringly around him. “Not for you to worry about. You’ve got more important matters.”

Dream followed their pointed gesture, surprised to find a purplish blemish forming across the edge of his palm, a sudden reminder of his previous frustrations.

“Oh.” He muttered sheepishly, pulling the bruised hand to his chest, however XD gently guided it out again, examining it with down turned lips.

“You need to be more careful.”

“What are you my mother?”

XD let out an unimpressed hum, but his lips turned up from his frown, flattening out Dream’s hand with his own. “I can fix it if you’d like.”

Dream looked up at him in surprise, a small head nod following his interest. He was not aware that the god possessed healing abilities, but he supposed that if they could give literal dreams, then a little healing spell would be nothing.

He watched as they began to rub a thumb gently over the bruised area, wincing a little initially, but quickly discovering that the gesture did not hurt in the slightest. In fact he melted to the touch, a smile pulling at his lips when a tingly sensation - that oddly resembled that of the fizzes and flickers from his crying obsidian walls - began to trail each swipe, assuming it to be the healing aspect.

“Does it feel nice?” XD’s gentle voice rumbled. Dream felt his cheeks warm, realising that he had practically disappeared into the deity’s soft green garments. He reshuffled himself, clearing his throat and muttering out a small ‘yes’ to the question. DreamXD chuckled, running a reassuring clawed hand through the blonde’s tangled hair.

“Good.” He crooned. Dream’s sheepish smile melted into a fond one at the deity’s usual pride. He allowed for his eyes to flutter shut, a content sigh leaving his mouth as he was lulled into relaxation by the god’s simple affection. However with his mind now free of trouble, it opened up space for curiosity, the tingling over his palm prompting a burning question to swell in the back of his mind.

Would DreamXD be sensitive to the crying obsidian like he was? Could a god like him be ticklish?

He lifted his head, eyes flickering over to his cell walls. Royal purple sparks danced over its surface, other flakes spiralling down from his ceiling, and the gentle hum that the blocks emitted adding to the ambiance of the prison. He knew all too well how it felt to touch the wall, and a shudder travelling up his spine would remind him of how it felt to have one of its occasion bolts coursing through him, but would the sensation be the same for XD?

“Do you have any other bruises?” Said deity’s voice brought him back to reality.

“Uh… y-yeah, on my hips...” Dream answered, his voice wavering and distant as he attempted to form the best possible phrasing for his question. “W-when- when was the last time you touched crying obsidian?”

The god’s tracing stopped, their lips remaining still and emotionless, and his head titling up in apparent thought. Dream found himself holding his breath as he watched their reactions play out.

“Why..?” XD finally spoke, mask meeting that of the smaller’s, but only before Dream quickly averted his gaze. He readjusted his mask, a blush creeping up his cheeks as his mind fumbled to come up with a coherent excuse for wanting to know the specific information.

“I j-just wanted to know what it felt like for you..?” He managed, though his tone tilted up at the end. He winced as XD’s lips slowly formed into a cheeky grin.

“You want to know if I’m ticklish.”

Dream felt his stomach drop, his eyes widening and voice disappearing in his throat for a moment at the deity’s unbelievable accuracy.

“N-nO! No! No, it’s not that I-”

“You were going to make me touch one of the walls.”

“n-nO!! No I wasn’t! I wahasn’t!!” He assured, although his thumping heart pointed out that that was in fact exactly what he was going to do. He felt XD’s arms shuffle around him, gasping when he was lifted from his obsidian flooring, and grasping at the shifting sleeves for support.

“You’re a liar~” The god sang, his sudden playfulness causing a nervous smile to twitch over Dream’s lips. It was easy to forget how cheeky the deity could be, a giddiness forming in his gut as he was pulled in close to their chest bridal style.

“Stahp!! I’m n-not!!” He argued, pushing at them lightly while simultaneously pressing his mask firmly to his face. “What are you doing??”

DreamXD only hummed, however Dream’s question was graciously answered in the form of deja vu once he was gently lowered into their lap, the position sparking a wave of familiarity to twist inside him.

“Waihiit nOHo!!!” He yelped, the sudden protest being peppered with eidetic giggles, curtesy to XD’s last visits. His hands instinctively grasped at XD’s as clawed fingers began to pinch at the hem of his prison shirt, wide, mirthful eyes shooting up to the deity’s mask. “Whahat are youhu dohoing?!”

“You said you had bruises on your hips yes?” XD’s tone was now innocent, but a contradicting, mischievous smirk was curling beneath his mask. Dream gasped as they gently lifted up the worn fabric of his prison wear, revealing his bruised skin to the dense air of his cell. “Ah yes! Here they are.”

“NOho!! Ehehex dehehe dohon’t!!” Dream pleaded, squirming in the deity’s lap as large fingers fluttered over his hip bones. His smile was quick to widen, seeping out either side of his cracked mask as the giddiness in his gut expanded to intertwine with the warmth still lining his chest.

“Relax Dreamie I’m only healing them.” XD smiled, their warm tone matching that of the lava fall perfectly. Dream whined, flushing at the nickname and squirming more when the deity’s thumbs began to slowly graze over his bruised skin, their touch light and feather-like. He immediately puffed out his cheeks when the healing aspect from before began to trail the their fingers again, finding the feeling comparatively more maddening to how it felt over his palm.

“Did you think that I was going to tickle you?” Dream gasped, spluttered giggles erupting into the back of his mask at the deity’s teasy question.

“s-stahap!!” He squeaked. XD smiled proudly at the response, the mortal’s sensitivity to the word never growing old.

“You thought that I’d tickle you for trying to tickle me?”

“E-ehex Dehehe!!”

“Mmm, well I suppose that it would serve you right… You did lie to me after all… Perhaps I’ll have to follow through once these are done.” The deity hummed, smirking down as Dream kicked out in his lap, admiring the red hue that dusted his cheeks. Both of the mortal’s hands were wrapped around his own, the smaller fingers coiling uselessly around them in attempt to gain some sort of control.

“Although it already seems to tickle quite a lot. Is this another bad spot of yours?”

“nOHoho!!” Dream denied, squeezing the fingers harder, and shaking his head in attempt to chase away his ever-growing fluster. However instead of easing the colouring in his cheeks, he merely dislodged that of his own protective mask, letting out a gasp as it toppled down to the prison floor behind him. “Wahahihit Ehehex-”

“Was that another lie~?”

“No!! Nohoho mihihy-”

“Oh it was! Look at that smile! You have ticklish hips!”

“STAHAP!! Ehex dehehe mihihy mask!!” Dream desperately explained, his now visible cheeks darkening to a cherry red, and the corners of his lips wobbling as he attempted to fight away his wide smile. While he would be unable to deny that he had looked forward to these moments with XD nearly daily, the idea of it showing so clearly on his face was not something that the mask-wearer was so thrilled about.

“And you’ve been so kind to allow me to see it!”

“nOHo!! Ehex Dehe cahan yOHuhu get ihit baHAck plehehease?!” Dream whined, briefly gesturing towards his runaway mask, before planting his head firmly into XD’s green garments. The god chuckled.

“Mmm, no I think I’m enjoying seeing your pretty smile.” They crooned, scratching either side of Dream’s hips with one set of arms, while spidering another set gently over the back and sides of the boy’s neck in attempt to coax him out of hiding. “It suits you much better than the frown you were wearing earlier.”

Dream squawked, sweet bubbly giggles following closely behind as he buried himself further into the deity’s cloak, scrunching his neck up to block out the skittering fingers. If possible his smile grew even wider, driven by the giddy warmth that now surfaced from his chest from the the deity’s words, its overflow wrapping him in a cocoon of pure bliss.

“Nahahaha ihit- Cahahan- Ehehex Dehehe wahahihit- cahahan ihihi- mihihihy mahahask…”

“You can get your mask back by yourself! I’m not stopping you.” XD pointed out gently, smiling fondly at the blonde’s disjointed, slurred speech.

Dream groaned, lifting his head from his burrow to assess his situation. XD’s large hands were crowded around his seemingly small frame, each finger tip still leaving behind tiny sparks of healing, and his own coiled fingers doing very little to dampen their effects. The sight alone was already flustering enough, and the idea of abandoning his albeit, poor defences just seemed undoubtedly far-fetched.

“I cahahan’t!!” He pouted, dropping his head back with a defeated whine, and curling his fingers tighter around XD’s. His giddy smile was quick to return as the god’s other set of fingers fluttered under his chin, squeezing his eyes shut to avoid the doting smile that rested below the larger’s pushed up mask.

“Ohh yes you can~ It will only take a few seconds Dreamie, what are you worried about?” XD teased softly, smiling when Dream nuzzled back into his cloak with another whine.

“sTAHAhap!! Stohohop cAhAHalling mehehe thAHAht!!”

“What, Dreamie?? But that’s what Georgie calls you!” He defended, unable to hide his slow-curling smirk as the boy’s blush bled out to his ears, flustered cackles pouring into his fabric burrow.

“STAHAP nohoho he dohoesn’t!!” Dream detested, uncoiling a set of fingers from XD’s to help soothe the uncovered side of his burning face. Only his arm almost immediately came crashing back down once long nails were felt skittering up his bare side, the god apparently making the most of his freedom.

“NOHO DOHON’T!!” Dream yelped, his hand flying down to wrangle up the rogue fingers. XD allowed him the satisfaction of his defence, slowing his skittering down to light scratching, and chuckling at the soft bubbly giggles that spluttered out of the boy.

“That was too easy~” They cooed, smiling as the muscles on Dream’s sides twitched under each scritch. “All I had to do was mention George and you let go! Might as well just grab your mask Dreamie~”

“nOHOhoho!!” Dream giggled, kicking his legs out to counter the heat in his cheeks, a fleet of butterflies carving out a pit in his gut at the deity’s accusation. He hated that they could read him so easily. “Juhuhust gehehet ihit fOHOhor mehehe!!”

“Because you’re just sooo easy to fluster so it’s bound to happen again!”

“sTAhAhap!!”

“Just look at those blushy cheeks!!”

“nOHO!! XD STAHAP THEY’RE NOHOHOT!!” Dream argued, his hands twitching as he fought down the urge to cover his cheeks again, rolling himself towards the concealing safety of his burrow. Although despite his valiant efforts in hiding his flushed cheeks, XD still managed to find a way to trace over the blotchy red skin, evoking muffled sniggers from beneath the fabric.

“All on display for DreamXD to see.”

“s-StaHAhap gehet ahahawahehey!!” Dream demanded, instinctively batting at the hands that now tapped over his cheeks, settling the hand over his face as a makeshift mask. However just as before, as soon as XD’s remaining, healing fingers were left unattended, they too scuttled up his side, producing a surprised squeal from the mortal.

“NAHAHA EHEX DEHE!!” Dream screeched, immediately latching onto the scuttling hand, but squealing again when instead of slowing down like before, the hand sped up, squeezing sporadically up and down his side. “NOHO STAHAHAP!!”

“Should’ve got your mask Dreamie~ What was stopping you?!” The deity critiqued playfully, allowing for the healing affect to fade away. He watched in delight as the mortal boy revealed himself from his garment den, admiring his deep blush in its entirety.

“Y-YOUHU!! YoUhuHu’rE StOhohoPping MeHE!!” Dream accused, cackling when XD’s thumbs kneading into a particularly sensitive spot just above his hips.

“How am I stopping you? All you have to do is let go of my hands and reach up there!” Dream shook his head, the god’s nonchalance evoking a frustrated growl from him, although it came out as more of a whine.

“Youhu’re gohonna mohove!!”

“Ohh I see...” DreamXD hummed, bringing a finger up to his chin to ponder over the boy’s proclaiming statement. “Yes with your arms above your head I would be able to get to your ticklish ribs and armpits.”

Dream gasped, squeezing his eyes shut and tugging vainly at the deity’s fingers. He could feel the warmth in his cheeks returning again at their purposeful choice of words. “dOHOn’T SAY ThAHAt!!”

“Oh! But I could also go to your ticklish tummy!! The decisions!!”

“sTAhAHap!! EHEX DEHE DoHon’t dOHo EiHiThER!!” Dream cried, slamming his face back into XD’s cloak. He let out another squeal when the hands on his sides slowed to tracing, soft giggles being engulfed by green fabric.

“Just be quick and I won’t be able to~” XD’s sing song voice chorused from above, matching the volume of the blonde’s softer laughter. Dream only giggled more, weighing up his options from the safety of the cloak.

He attempted to tame his giggles, managing to reduce them to only the occasional wheezy huff - once it became clear that the deity’s hands weren’t going to move from his sides so long as he kept his hands on them. Then with a final deep breath, he craned his neck up to eyeball the mask. It was most definitely in reach, all he had to do was reach up and grab it before the deity’s hands could move. That was all.

And so, in one swift motion, his hold on the XD’s fingers was released, outstretched hands shooting towards the white battered mask, before abruptly being pulled back to his middle with a shriek, as fluttering fingers were felt over his stomach.

“NOHO EHEHX DEHEHE!!” Dream screamed, his face immediately heating to a temperature close the lava fall, and squeaky giggles tumbling out of him as XD traced shapes into his lower belly.

“You were so close!!” The god praised, wrapping an affectionate arm around Dream’s body to pull him in close, migrating his scratches in circles around his belly.

“Nahahah Ehehex DEHEhe miHihiHy mahask!!” Dream whined, desperately clawing at the tracing hands, before throwing his head back in flustered cackles. His legs kicked out briefly, but were quick to go limp once the rest of his body melted back into XD’s, writhing left and right as he attempted to escape the torturous tracing fingers. “Ihihihi cAhAHan’T!!!”

“Would you like my help?” The deity offered, a dangerous smirk flickering over his lips briefly, but him quickly managing to swallow it down. Dream nodded his head gratefully, XD’s ingenuity going unnoticed as a result of his eyes being squeezed shut tight. Though they were immediately pried open by the wave of panic that washed over him once a warm hand wrapped around his wrists, tugging gently at his defences.

“w-wAHAhHihit nOhOho!!”

“We’re going to get your mask together, are you ready Dreamie?” XD crooned, voice dripping with delight at the boy’s giggly panic.

“NAHA!! XD tHaHAt’s nOHot what I meant!!” Dream wailed, a swarm of anticipatory butterflies flooding his gut as the god’s plan became clear, trailing XD’s fingers from his insides as they still traced around the surface of his bare stomach. He gasped again when XD’s began to lift his hands. “NAHA E-EHEX DeHe!!”

“You wanted my help!!” The deity teased, countering the boy’s sudden panicked struggles easily, and tearing away the coiled fingers from their respective hands. “And without these in the way I have your ticklish stomach alll to myself!!” He grinned, upping the pace of his scratching as the boy’s hands were slowly lifted away from his body.

“NAHAhO NOHO!!” Dream screamed, ducking behind his slow moving arms as his blush drained down to his ears, breathy panicked giggles leaping out of him.

“There, look at that! We’re already over a third of the way there!!” XD praised, pushing up the rest of Dream’s rippled prison tshirt to access the top of his stomach. It would never fail to amaze him how adorable humans could be once you found the right spot to tickle them in, and Dream’s belly had proven multiple times to be one of these spots. He was just grateful now that he could enjoy the reactions without the pesky fingers getting in the way.

Dream squawked as the deity laid their nails over the surface of his stomach, sucking it in to the best of his ability, but falling back into flustered cackles once they started scratching again.

“HURRY UHUP!!” He demanded, tugging at his arms once he realised the excruciatingly slow pace that they were approaching his mask. XD’s grin doubled in width.

“Of course Dreamie.” He stated deviously, fulfilling the boy’s request by quickening the pace of his scratching, skittering and pinching along he tensed muscles of his belly.

“NAHAA-!!” Dream yelped, voice disappearing into a wheeze, before returning in panicked cackles. “NOHOHO NO!! I DIHIHIDN’t mEheaN- EHEHex dEhEhe I cAHAhan’t!!!” He cried, desperately attempting to lunge for the mask, but the XD’s strong grip prevented it.

“Yes you can look! You’re so close!!” The god encouraged, running a hand through crazed blonde hair in attempt to calm the boy’s panicked flailing.

“Nohohoho!!” Dream whined, visibly melting to the touch, allowing for his cackles to flow out more freely, and a sense of pride to radiate through XD. Despite his obvious embarrassment, Dream had made no real attempts at escaping from the deity. In fact his smile had never been wider, complimenting the fiery hue over his neck and cheeks.

“You love this.” XD cooed softly, continuing his petting, but slowing down his tracing to give the boy a breather. Dream shook his head, hiding behind his raised arms.

“nOho Ihihi dohohon’t!!”

“Ohh yes you do! You’ve melted in my lap little Dreamie~”

“dohohohon’t!!”

XD hummed fondly, allowing one set of fingers to start subtly circling the blonde’s belly button. Though Dream caught on almost immediately.

“NAHAhOho nOHo!! EhEhex DeHehe nohohot thehehere!!!” Dream pleaded, kicking a leg out and prying weakly at his arms that were still being pulled slowly toward his mask. XD’s devious grin returned, humming again but this time in mocked concern, sending a shiver down Dream’s spine.

“Mm, I wonder if we’re going to reach your mask in time…” He pondered, gesturing to his circling with a few quickened scratches. “Wouldn’t that be a shame if you didn’t..?” Dream gasped as XD presented him with an extremely cheeky grin, craning his neck down to gage how much time he had until the swirling finger reached his middle. However as soon as he caught a glimpse of the finger over his stomach he immediately squeezed his eyes shut, dropping his head back as more flustered giggles tumbled out of him.

“nOHoho I cAhAhn’t!!” His arms were over half way to the mask now, elbows pulled in tightly together to protect his armpits that were slowly being exposed. If he was thinking more clearly he’d be able to determine whether or not the god would be as cruel as he was letting on or not, however his mind was nothing but a foggy flustered heap.

“You can’t what? Reach your mask? Or stand your tummy tickles?” The deity teased, adding to the flustered state of Dream’s mind.

“nAHAHOHO DOHONT!!” He screeched, wriggling as the twirling finger began to close in. His stomach quivered and jumped beneath the touch, each circle unloading another wave of sporadic giggles into his smoke scented cell.

“So flustered!! You blend right in with the lava!!” XD announced gleefully, cooing as Dream’s blush spread down to his neck. “I’m gonna get Dreamie’s ticklish giggle button~!”

“NOHO STAHAHAP!!!” Dream cried, the sudden tease kicking his struggling up a notch, shaking his head as tears of mirth pricked in his eyes “PLEHEHEASE I CAHAHANT!!”

He gasped as something hard was suddenly felt in his palm, only needed to briefly fiddle with it before recognising it completely as his lost mask. He immediately slammed it over his face the minute his hands were released, gratefully allowing the cool porcelain to soothe his burning cheeks, but wheezing hard when XD suddenly began kneading into his belly.

“EHEHEHEX DEHEHE!!!!!” He wailed once his voice returned, thrashing and kicking as another finger wiggled into his belly button.

“You did it!!” XD praised, wrapping a set of supportive arms around the flailing mortal, lifting him up while his other set of arms focused on kneading and wiggling.

Dream wheezed again, arching is back out of his previous melted state, but quickly falling back into the deity’s arms as loud cackles boomed out of him. XD watched over him carefully, monitoring the boys enjoyment and safety, and pulling him in close whenever his flailing became too wild.

He stopped once his laughter disappeared altogether, admiring the loopy smilie and pink cheeks that peaked out from beneath the retrieved mask. Dream breathed deep, residual giggles still tumbling out of him, but another gentle head pat from XD served as a silent lullaby, easily pulling him into a giddy sleep.

His cold obsidian flooring felt much more forgiving once he woke. In fact Dream barely felt the usual pains of pressured bones once he turned onto his side, the flooring’s usual cool bite feeling oddly cozy. He had a moments thought that he had been left, suspended in his lava fall, it’s oddly soothing gurgles seeming so close that he was sure that he was surrounded by it.

Only once he woke further, and managed to pry open his sleep filled eyes, he realised that he wasn’t on the ground at all. He was still in the arms of DreamXD, their gentle purrs now being clearly distinguishable from the distant gurgles from the lava fall. He gasped lightly, it was unlike the deity to stay this long, he was usually lulled into sleep and then abandoned. He could say that he hated it though.

He didn’t even bother fighting away his crawling smile, automatically timing his breathing along with the deity’s slow breaths. The gurgles from the lava intertwined with XD’s purrs, now building on the glowing warmth in his chest instead of competing with it.

“You’re awake.” The deity’s voice was rough and low, Dream wondered if they had slept too. He couldn’t help the pang of sadness that struck him, knowing that now that he was awake that they would be leaving soon.

“Y-yeah.” He murmured, unable to hide the wobble of misery in his voice. XD laid a hand over his head, smoothening through his hair with his thumb. Dream leant into the touch.

“I’ll stay.”

Dream felt his chest lift, his lips gliding over his teeth as his smile widened.

“For a bit.” They elaborated. The blonde’s grip tightened happily around their sleeves, noticing the absence of the coloured skin in his palm.

Perhaps the company of another being could solve a few of his problems after all.

🦙🦙🦙…

i cannot actually believe this is out before dream was broken out 😵

hope you enjoyed!!! another long one sorry 😅

#ler!dreamXD #lee!dream #ticklish!dream #mcyt tickle #dsmp tickle #ler!XD #fluffallamaful fics

[masterjedilenawrites]

hey, could you do a fic on how would the bad batch react to Omega's first period? idk if you've done it already, but i love your writing and you describe the characters really well!

I haven't actually written for Omega yet so I'm excited to dive into this one! Definitely love the single dad energy (x5... because in this house we pretend Crosshair was never left behind and it's the big happy family we all deserve)

Omega & The Bad Batch | 1.3k words

Omega closed her eyes in an effort to stop the wave of anxiety that rose in her chest. But when she reopened them, she was met with that scary red stain again.

She was so confused. She didn't remember getting hurt. She wasn't in any pain. Where was this blood coming from? And how was she going to get it to stop? She really didn't want to have to tell the team about this. They already worried about her over every little thing. If she could just figure out what was wrong first....

A sudden knock at the refresher door startled her. Her heart raced as she heard Hunter on the other side.

"Omega? You alright in there?"

She could hear the concern in his voice and it made her panic. She quickly flushed the toilet and fumbled with her clothes.

"Uh, yeah... yeah, I'm okay, Hunter... Everything's fine. Almost done!"

Hunter wasn't fooled. He rarely was, much to her annoyance.

"Omega," he said evenly, "if there's something wrong, you need to let me help you."

"Nothing's wrong!" she said quickly, starting to turn in circles, unsure what else to do. She should probably put something down there to stop the bleeding, right? Until she could figure out what else to do about it.

"You're hurt, I can tell..."

She was unrolling a wad of toilet paper and paused as she remembered the Sergeant's heightened senses. There would be no hiding this. But she would have to try anyway.

She unlatched the refresher door, letting it swoosh open to reveal Hunter's hardened gaze looking down at her. She quickly stepped out and started making her way around him toward her bunk, careful to keep the toilet paper out of his eyesight.

"I'm not hurt. See? Everything's fine. Just using the fresher like everyone does. No big deal."

Her scene with Hunter was starting to attract the attention of the others. Tech and Echo peered down the hall from their seats in the cockpit while Crosshair and Wrecker paused their daily weapons cleaning to watch.

"You're hiding... toilet paper," said Crosshair, perceptive as ever.

"And I know you're bleeding," said Hunter. "What did you do?"

Omega paused just below the ladder up to her little room. His comment made her snap. Why was he always assuming she was getting into trouble? It didn't matter that she'd been with them a few years now and had more than proven herself as an equal member of the squad. He was still suspicious and way too over-protective.

"I said I'm fine, Hunter!" she shouted. "Why can't you leave me alone?"

She climbed the ladder as forcefully as she could and threw the little curtain closed. She wasn't sure why she felt so angry, so emotional. It'd been like this for a few days now, where even the smallest things frustrated her, and she hated she couldn't control it. She didn't want any of them to think of her as a child anymore and these emotional outbursts certainly weren't helping. She clutched the toilet paper to her face and cried softly in it, forgetting about her little predicament for the moment.

On the other side of curtain, Hunter had moved to follow her up the ladder with an exasperated call of her name, but Tech stopped him.

"Hunter," he called from the cockpit.

"She's hurt, Tech," Hunter huffed over his shoulder, one hand on a ladder rung. He need only go up one step before reaching eye level with the curtain.

"Yeah," agreed Wrecker, ready to follow after her as well. "We need to help her."

Tech shook his head. "The best way to help her in this case is to understand her."

Hunter and Wrecker paused in their journey to look back at their brother, holding up a holopad in his usual signal of having more information than them. They shared a look before reluctantly changing course to see what Tech had to say. Even Echo and Crosshair were leaning forward in curiosity.

"I started researching after Omega mentioned having pains in her abdomen yesterday. Coupled with her more sensitive emotions lately and the odd blemishes that have appeared on her face, I wondered if it wasn't all connected somehow."

Tech looked between all of them, dragging the explanation out as he always did, delighting in being the one to teach them something. Usually Hunter could ignore his brother's theatrics, but he was already on edge knowing Omega was hurt. He couldn't be so patient now.

"And?" he prompted with an annoyed furrow to his brow.

"There are a few explanations, but your mention of bleeding has confirmed my primary suspicion. Omega has started what is known as her menses."

The others only blinked in response. Tech held back a self-important smirk and continued to explain.

"You are all familiar with the concept of puberty, yes?"

They nodded slowly. Even with their accelerated growth, the clones had still experienced a degree of it.

"Well, with girls, it is accompanied by the start of their menstrual cycle, which is a process by which the body naturally discards the inner lining of the uterus, roughly every twenty-eight rotations. It is ultimately a sign that pregnancy has not occurred."

The air in the small space of the ship immediately became anxious as the others fully processed Tech's words.

"Oh."

"Uh...."

"Hmm."

"Oh my..."

Tech pushed his glassed up matter-of-factly, the only one unbothered by such things. "It's a natural bodily process for most female humans. And it does lead to the other symptoms we've been noticing from Omega. The cramps, the pimples, etc. All a normal part of the process."

"Is that true?"

It was Omega's voice that reached them, and they all turned to see her timidly standing nearby. It was clear she had overheard enough of Tech's lecture so that it wouldn't have to be repeated.

"It really is normal?"

"You know if Tech says so, then it must be true," said Echo with a friendly smile, the first to recover from the awkwardness, mostly to throw in a little jab at Tech.

Hunter found himself feeling guilty. Looking at how shy and scared Omega stood before them, he knew she was going to need their full support in figuring out this strange new part of herself.

"And it's nothing to be worried about," he affirmed, instinctually bending lower to face her, even though she was getting tall enough now where he didn't really need to do that. "I'm sorry I upset you earlier. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I know," she said, wiping at her eyes. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"So what do we do about it?" asked Wrecker. "She's just going to be bleeding forever?"

"Of course not," said Tech, his voice edged with annoyance. "Didn't you listen? It's a cycle. It'll run its course over the next several days, and then she'll be fine for about another month. It varies from person to person... In fact... You should probably have a calendar to track it, Omega."

While Tech got up to dig around in a chest of old holopads, Echo leaned over to look at the scans on the ship.

"There's an outpost only one short jump away, near a human-inhabited planet. Surely there will be some special supplies for this sort of thing there."

"And if you still need to blow off steam," said Crosshair, "we can test out that new blaster I got on those old clanker heads."

"Okay," said Omega, perking up with every offer of help from the boys. "I'm also kind of hungry..."

"I got you covered there, kid," winked Wrecker.

Hunter placed his hand on her shoulder. "We've all got you, Omega. We'll figure this out together."

She started tearing up again, only this time it was in relief. What had started as something scary and mysterious and embarrassing, had now turned into a rally of support and love from her team. Her family.

It also seemed like a great opportunity to be spoiled a little... She'd have to work on figuring that part out herself....

#star wars #star wars fanfiction #the clone wars #the bad batch #clone force 99 #omega #hunter #crosshair #wrecker #tech #cw: periods #my sweet baby girl #found family #i'm feeling creative in this chilis tonight

[dutchdread]

Hi again, I'm the same anon from your last ask. So my next question then is why would you consider it to be a bad story if Cloud ends up with Aerith in the end? You also say Cloud and Tifa supposedly have something going on, but even if they did, Aerith doesn't know that. Neither Cloud nor Tifa tell anyone, or even show that there's anything going on between them throughout the whole story. Did you see that in Remake that Aerith even asks Cloud if Tifa is someone special and he says no?

Thanks for the question. Your question is comprised of two parts, why Cloud ending up with Aerith would be a bad story, and then the secondary part about Aerith not knowing about the history between Tifa and Cloud. I think understanding the later will be helpful to understand the former so I'll start with that. This goes back to what I said in my last reply concerning the difference between thinking someone is a bad person, and thinking they're a bad character. First off, let me just make clear that I don't judge Aerith too much concerning her behavior in the OG, since as you rightly state, she didn't really know that there was anything going on between Tifa and Cloud, she probably knew there was some attraction there, but nothing about the extent or the history. And if in the remake it turns out she's actually blissfully ignorant I'll be more lenient there as well. However, in my opinion the remake heavily implies she does realize there is a thing between Tifa and Cloud. You mentioned Aerith asking if Tifa was Clouds girlfriend, and him replying "no". However, as always, there is context here, for starters, the scene doesn't end there and then. Aerith replies knowingly "but she's someone special". Moreover the scene is also only one scene in a series of relevant scenes concerning Clouds relationship with Tifa, which starts with Jessie asking about who Tifa is too Cloud, this plotpoint then continues through Aeriths flower. When Aerith gives Cloud the flower she mentions that his girlfriend will love it, then later when Aerith asks him who he gave the flower to Cloud says he doesn't remember, and Aerith calls him out on the lie. The question is then answered when Aerith goes to the 7th heaven and discovers Cloud gave it to Tifa, prompting a smile from Aerith. She figured it out, actually, she probably figured it much earlier, but now it was confirmed. She had a hunch about Tifa, just like Jessie, Cloud was defensive at first, then evasive, but ultimately, Aeriths hunch was correct, Cloud gave the flower to Tifa. He can pretend all he wants, Aerith knows. Personally, I think she smiled because it reminds her of the future. Throughout remake Aerith is hinted to know more than she lets on, and that's especially true concerning Tifa and Cloud. When Tifa is kidnapped she pushes Cloud to go after Tifa, calling Tifa Clouds special person. If I recall correctly she even uses the same terminology that she used to describe Elmyras husband. She actively tries to make Tifa jealous by calling Cloud her bodyguard, and then she straight up tells Tifa to follow her heart. She gives me the distinct impression that she knows perfectly well where Cloud and Tifas hearts lie, and is trying to push them into action. This is borderline confirmed during the Aerith resolution where she basically straight up admits to knowing more about Clouds feelings than she actually should, assuming you think that this apparition is at least somewhat related to the current Aerith in some manner. The thing that really clenches this in my opinion is a trace of two pasts, where Tifa straight up tells Aerith about her and Clouds history. If Aerith doesn't get it by then, then she's being willfully ignorant. But lets say she does indeed not know, that would to some degree absolve her as a person. But it would still make her a bad character, because WE, the audience, know. We know that Cloud is supposed to end up with Tifa, we know that's how the story goes. And when you rewrite old stories in such a way that you take things away from one character, just to give more to another character, you run the giant risk of insulting the characters involved. You see this in things like the star wars sequels, where they effectively character assassinated Luke Skywalker in order to artificially make Rey seem better. But there are two reasons why this doesn't work, for one, it tends to create Mary-Sue like characters who just get given everything, and two, it inherently causes the fans of the other characters and stories to resent the character that's taking it away.

People don't like people who are simply handed everything, even fictional ones.

In a sense, this is also why Cleriths so often seem to hate Tifa, because they feel like Tifa took their story away from them. The difference, of course, is that Cloud ending with Tifa is a part of the original game itself, while Aerith coming back to life and ending up with Cloud would be a 25 year retcon which would blatantly disadvantage one character in favor of another, this in turn would reek of favoritism, which in turn would generate bad blood in the player. A character who needs to take away from other characters in order to be put forward is not a good character. Good characters add to the characters around them, not take away, that's what Aerith in the OG does, that's what Aerith ending up with Cloud, would not do. This effect would then be magnified by Aeriths already over importance to the plot. Having the universe revolve around one character generally isn't good writing. One of the things that makes Lord of the rings so timeless and beloved is that Frodo is just a small hobbit in the grand scheme of things. Likewise, one of the key elements that makes FFVII so appealing to human nature is Clouds humanity and lack of importance. The fact that Cloud turns out to not be a soldier 1st class, but just a grunt who wasn't good enough, who still ends up being the one who saves the world, speak to the human spirit. Aerith living and ending up with Cloud wouldn't be just a small difference where the overall story would stay the same with only the love interest switched, no, it would inherently ripple effect into all other aspects of the story. From the smallest details to the overall themes of the story, from directing to the personalities of characters, everything would be effected and all of it would fall apart. I could go over a hundred examples but I'll limit myself to some of the smallest and largest. Stories have a flow, where what is happening follows logically from what came before. It's not that it's impossible to write a story where two characters that are roughly similar to Cloud and Aerith fall in love, get separated by death, and where the Cloud character mourns and pines for her after she's gone. The problem comes when you add in Tifa, Zack, and all the other context and details of the story. Consider Zack, if we take the concept of Zack as it relates to Cloud and Aeriths relationship and boil it down to the essentials we could see it as a story about a girl falling in love with a boy because he's channeling the spirit of her dead ex, the main internal conflict the characters need to overcome could then be the question of whether these feelings are true, or whether they are just the shadow of her feelings for the old boyfriend. On the surface, this premise works as the basis of a story. The problem lies in the execution. If you write such a story there are a few things you can and cannot do. For one, you have to make this love exceptionally obvious, you can't tell a story about whether or not feelings are true if you never even get to establishing the feelings in the first place. One of the key things you need to do for this is establish the two characters central importance to the others internal emotional arcs. The first thing you DON'T do is establish a second female character and have Clouds emotional arc revolve mainly around her. If you want to tell a story where Tifa and Clouds relationship turns out to just be friendship, while Aerith and Cloud turns out to be love, then you show the scenes establishing that. However, whenever Cleriths argue for a story like this they have to assert that Cloud no longer loving Tifa is just something that happened off-screen and is never mentioned. But if this were true, this would be extremely important to show. So again, if this is the story, then this is bad direction, aka, storytelling. Scene choices matter, if your story requires you to assume that the scenes you're shown aren't important, and that the crucial bits have to be imagined to happen of screen, then that's bad writing. And the reason you can't suddenly do it now, 25 years later, is

because of a thing called "set-up". Even if they were to change to story to suddenly direct it as such now, it would constitute a drastic change of direction, which means the larger 2-decade long story we've been told is no longer a single coherent whole. If the story in remake is that Cloud always loved Aerith, then why wasn't the ground work for that lain 25 years ago? If you want to say that the story is about Cloud loving Aerith, and ending up with her eventually, then you can't have Cloud not speak her name for the second half of the original game, and devote that time completely to establishing port-mortem that Cloud wasn't himself while with Aerith, and that his true self has deeply ingrained feelings towards another woman. And not some minor character who exists only as a plot-device, some fake hurdle designed to try to raise some fake tension, but Tifa, a character who is routinely established to be the "heroine" of the game, someone of equal importance to Aerith who cared for Cloud while he was in a coma, whose history with Cloud started his internal character arc, whose history with Cloud resolved his internal character arc, and who lives with Cloud 2 years later.

And the same thing goes for Zack, it was possible to write him as negligible when it was just FFVII, if you ignored the addition of Tifa and JUST focused on the Zack element as a side character. But the addition of Tifa and the existence of Crisis Core cause the narrative to become disjointed when trying to view it as a single story. This is why people so often want you to ignore Crisis Core, because they understand that if a conclusion of a story is that Zacks role isn't that important, then why did your story spend an entire game cementing the importance of Zack? One of the things I hear most from Cleriths is "why couldn't Cloud just get over his childhood crush on Tifa and fall in love with Aerith? It happens in real life" , or some other variation of "why couldn't this happen?" But this shows the problem with how they want the story to go, because stories aren't real life. Anything CAN happen in a story, but not anything should. Stories have a concept called " checkovs gun", if a gun is introduced into a story in the first act, it has to be fired somewhere down the line. If the gun turns out to not have a role in the story, why was it there? But the same thing doesn't apply in real life, in real life, chekovs guns almost never fire, with few exceptions, real life is a bad guide to how to write stories. Stories written like real life, generally suck. If characters in stories behaved like characters in real life, half their lines would be "uhhhhh", and half the scenes would be them sitting on the couch having meaningless unrelated events happen.

The entire flow, pacing, and sequence of events is wrong in a Clerith version of this story. In order to sell the idea that FFVII is a story about Aerith and Cloud getting together you first have to sell the idea that all these plot threats concerning Tifa essentially don't matter. But if they don't matter, then why are they there? What purpose do they serve? What purpose does Tifa serve? Or Zack? In order to "fix" their preferred interpretation, Cleriths need to get around this problem, which causes them to have to re-interpret everything that happens and twist it in order to create the appearance of a coherent story. This requires them to resort to minimizing characters, character assassinating characters, and generally misrepresenting everything that happens. I think there is no bigger indication of why Cloud and Aerith getting together would suck as a story than looking at how the people who propose this version of the story look at Cloud and Tifa as characters. What follows are some excerpts from the dumbest person I've ever debated.

This went on for over 200 replies, this is not a mentally sound interpretation of the story, but this is what you need to believe in order to get the Aerith/Cloud love story to work. You're forced to minimize Tifa and her importance to the story, and you need to demonize Cloud. So basically you have two options here, you either have to say "all this stuff with Tifa and Zack, doesn't matter", all their scenes, all those plot threats, they all aren't a part of the larger story being told and ultimately amount to nothing. Or two, you remove all those scenes or rewrite them to instead focus on Cloud and Aerith. And both those approaches suffer from the same basic problem, they're both effectively going "screw everything, all that matters is Cloud and Aerith". Which brings me back to my earlier point. If your story is pushing everything aside in order to hype up the main character, you're not writing a good ensemble story, you're writing a bad fan-fiction. This is the writing people HATE. Cloud is no longer a sad but likable character with complex motivations and feelings who wasn't as important as he thought he was, no, he's cliche self-insert main character that the world revolves around, who every girl genuinely loves regardless of whether or not it makes sense, even though he's a complete asshole who abandons children and takes advantage of women just because he's "lovesick". No other man could ever compare, a week with him braindamaged and you forget all about the man you pined after for 5 years. Aerith is not compassionate to a man who blames himself for his failings and thinks he'd do more harm than good, she's compassionate to a piece of human filth who refuses to go save children because he doesn't care about them. She's not just a girl with a big destiny and a tragic fate, no, the universe itself resets to make sure she gets laid. Tifa isn't a powerful woman who devotedly supports the man she loves through his darkest hours, instead she's a weak unimportant doormat without self-respect who even in 2 decades could not measure up to a week with Aerith. Zacks connection with Cloud doesn't come with complex implications about Aeriths feelings, Zack never really mattered, his entire story of getting back to her? Doesn't matter, it only exists to show how much Aerith must love Cloud to choose him over Zack. The entire lifestream reveal concerning Cloud? Doesn't matter, nothing matters, it's in the past. The central reveal of the story isn't important because Clouds true self suddenly likes Aerith now.....good writing. etc, etc, etc. Where Aerith was once a part of an ensemble cast, the heroine of the external plot, tasked with saving the world through her powers as an ancient, while Tifa as the equally important heroine of the internal plot saves Clouds through their shared feelings, now everything instead revolves around Aerith, and the other characters only exist in service to her, not as characters in their own right, but only to make sure she and Cloud gets together, like every hated mary-sue in history. The pain of her death? Gone, the impact and nuance of the story? Gone. Literally everything that made FFVII special? Gone. And concerning the small, even the little details would no longer be coherent, Cetras thematically guide people to the promised land, note: "GUIDE", but now Aerith would suddenly be the promised land herself. The through-line of Cetras "returning to the planet"? Gone, if Aerith doesn't die that doesn't link to the story anymore at all. Tifa's bar being the 7th heaven, aka, the final heaven, aka, the promised land where Aerith guides Cloud to? Suddenly a meaningless name. Tifa's last name "lockhart" being a direct hint towards the "tender feelings locked up inside Clouds hart"? Completely trivial, the feelings weren't that important to the story. And I could go on for hours, every aspect of FFVII, from small to large, would be fundamentally poisoned if Cloud ends up with Aerith.

I could rewrite the story to make it work, but that's the point, then you'd be rewriting the story in order to diminish every other character and story in favor of Cloud and Aerith. Which brings us back to it becoming a horrible fan-fiction where no one and nothing matters except Cloud and Aerith. It's ok to write unimportant characters, it's not ok to make your important characters unimportant in retrospect in order to wank off another character. Thanks for asking.

#cloti #FFVII #ffvii remake #cloud strife #aerith gainsborough

[beccanoodles]

Spike and Faye Pairing Analysis

March 2021

Ah the hit or miss pairing of the century! If you don’t love it, you probably hate it lol. I’m a very analytical person so I love analyzing works of art and overall enjoy deep discussions about them too. I have SO much to say when it comes to Cowboy Bebop (and oh I plan to), but I have decided to start with my very own OTP. Here, I am not really going to discuss Spike and Faye’s feelings for each other, but rather why I think people are drawn to this pairing and why I think they're totally valid. Get ready for a long read!😁

⚠️SPOILER WARNING!!! [Major Cowboy Bebop and the movie Out of the Past spoilers]⚠️

First off, let’s clear something up. I am confident most of us can agree that Spike was in love with Julia. Some people assume Spike and Faye fans are deranged and disregard Spike and Julia’s romantic relationship to try and make something of Spike and Faye that never was. While some people may have their various theories and opinions on this, generally, I don’t think anyone denies Spike’s love for Julia. As we will see, this pairing is not really driven by who loves who...let’s first look on the surface.

I don’t know your experiences with the series, but in mine, every time I show this to people it never fails for someone to say something along the lines of,

“Wait, they don’t end up together?”

“Why didn’t he kiss her!?”

“He should have stayed with her...”

and so fourth. 

Naturally, this pairing catches many eyes. 

Think about it, you are given two really cool, really hot and really deep characters that are really fun to see together! There are so many parallels between the two and they are arguably the strongest characters of the bunch. Granted, you can agree with this and still not ship them, but these aspects are part of what opens up the door for many fans of the pairing.

However, there is certainly more to this pairing than them simply looking good together right? As the years pass and I’ve now seen the show multiple times, my understanding of it has evolved in many areas, Spike and Faye included. 

Spike and Faye really couldn’t have ended up together. Sure, it’s a nice thought, but It would have been an entirely different show if they had. I don’t feel that the show should have happened any other way and I don’t think many other fans would either. 

So, what am I saying here?

What’s the point of this paring if I don’t think they should have ended up together? 

It is what's so frustrating about them, yet keeps you coming back and what honestly validates this pairing in my opinion. Spike and Faye are not driven by what is, but rather, what could be.  

I personally feel the themes of classic film Noir are not discussed enough when it comes to Cowboy Bebop! This is one of the show's major influences, especially when it comes to the plot and characters.

One of the common tropes of a film noir is that of a protagonist who is drawn back into his past and ultimate doom, usually by the “seduction” of a femme fatale. In these movies, the women are either a femme fatale [devious, dangerous, mysterious, greedy, troubled, or unreliable] or a woman of virtue [reliable, dutiful, trustworthy, conventional and loving]. 

I am going to use the 1947 classic, Out of the Past to make my comparisons from here on out.

In Out of the Past, Jeff is a former detective who gets caught up in a love triangle between a gangster and his girlfriend Kathie, sound familiar? He attempts to run away with her, but is betrayed and runs off to start a new life in a new town. Here, he meets Ann and falls in love with her, but of course, his past catches up to him and he is drawn back into the world of criminals (largely by Kathie’s involvement). This ultimately results in his and Kathie’s deaths and Ann’s heartbreak. 

Even though Kathie is the femme fatale in this movie, I found myself comparing her more to Julia’s role in the show, than to Faye’s and I found that Faye actually fit best in Ann’s role (this is a bit unusual considering Faye is typically seen as the femme fatale of this show).

Does that mean I think Julia was as ill intentioned as Kathie or that Spike fell in love with Faye? Well, not exactly, let’s look at it a bit further.

“The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can’t leave alone...Like an angel from the underworld or a devil from paradise.”

Most of what we get about Julia is from Spike’s point of view. From this, we learn she is at the center of Vicious and Spike’s conflict, but aside from that she is basically depicted as “The Virtuous Woman” of a noir. The colors around her are warm and she is shown caring for Spike. There is an innocence and modestly about her as well.

Yet, when we finally do meet Julia, we get a different image. We know she is tied up with dangerous men, but is she herself a dangerous woman?

She is certainly capable of betrayal. 

Suddenly she is a bad-ass-gun-toting woman in leather and black, surrounded by hues of grey and dark blue. Intentional or not, Julia is a major part of what lures Spike back into the past and ultimately to his death. In this case, Julia is the femme fatale of Spike’s story and thus, their relationship is doomed from the start.

Faye, on the other hand, is portrayed in somewhat of a contrast. When we first meet her, she is the clear cut femme fatale, appearing cunning, strong willed and seductive. However, we soon find that she has quite a bit of kindness and naivety hidden behind her facade. She uses the former tactics as a way of emotional (and probably physical) protection. Gren points this out in his conversation with her. 

Gren, 

“You’re just afraid they’d abandon you so you abandoned them. You distanced yourself from the whole thing.”

As the show progresses, we start to see less of her “femme fatale nature” and something more genuine. Think about it, between Hard Luck Woman and RFB Part 2 we don’t see much of Faye as her typical conniving or unreliable self, aside from changing the course of the Bebop maybe. Sure she takes off, but it isn’t at all for the same reasons she did in Jupiter Jazz or Speak Like a Child, for example. 

I would argue we actually see her more trustworthy and caring than ever. Since I don’t want to spend too much time talking about Faye’s character development (not here at least) I’ll give one example of this. 

When she returns to the Bebop after her encounter with Julia in RFB Part 1, she gives Spike the message, even though the outcome might hurt her (i.e. he leaves and/or dies). While she does first say “It’s gonna cost you,” she doesn’t really mean it because she tells him without hesitation only moments later.

This isn’t to say Faye good, Julia bad. Both women have their layers and even though we know way more about Faye, I don’t get the impression that Julia is selfish and cunning like Kathie was. But I do get the feeling she was enclosed in a world of crime and betrayal the way Kathie was. We really only know the basics of Spike and Julia’s situation. Who knows the details like motive or how long it lasted etc. etc. We can only speculate...

There is a scene towards the end of Out Of The Past, where Kathie tells Jeff to go away with her. This time it is her asking him, just like Julia asks Spike. During this she mentions,

“I never told you I was anything but what I am, you just wanted to imagine I was. That’s why I left you.”

This got me thinking...did Spike imagine Julia as something she wasn’t? Or something he wanted her to be that she just couldn’t be? 

It could explain why we get such contrasted images of her.

There are themes of this “dreamlike” relationship between Jeff and Kathie, similar to Spike and Julia’s “It was all a dream.”

The two of them were going to “live and be free,” probably something neither of them knew how to do and most likely wouldn’t have been able to get away with.

When Jet asks Spike if he can just forget the past, this is his answer.

Spike,

“There was a woman. For the first time in my life I saw a woman that was truly alive. At least that’s what I thought. She was the part of me I had lost, that part that was missing, that I had been longing for.”

I always wondered about this, because Spike is clearly talking about Julia, but right after is when Faye shows up. To me, that spoke volumes...

Faye is a woman who is terribly human and terribly alive.

Going back to Faye and Ann, I find their similarities shine not so much in the “Virtuous Woman,” concept, but rather in Ann’s dedication to Jeff and her optimism for the future. She is also the last person to talk to Jeff before he leaves for the final time, as if he were being presented with one last alternative. Spike spends his last moments with Faye as well, in which she basically begs him not to go and keep him in the present that she has now discovered for herself. She may be stuck, but she is definitely someone that yearns for human connection, love, and life.

The problem is, Spike and Faye are both set in opposite directions. Her’s leads to a future and Spike knows this because he points it out early on (My Funny Valentine). He also knows, his most likely does not. He has already dug himself too deep into this hole, if you will, that there is really no turning back. 

But let’s say none of that was an issue? What could be?

I sat and watched this movie (Out of the Past) with my mom. She didn’t know anything about it and didn’t know why I was watching it. I wanted her genuine reaction. The whole time she was getting mad at Jeff until the very end. I asked her why and she said that she wanted him to be able to live happily with Ann. I explained to her why he had to do what he did. She understood this, but still couldn’t help but be sad at how things turned out for him, when they could have been good.

Even though Kathie and Jeff are the “lovers,” of this movie, you don’t really want them to end up together. Forget that Kathie has a devious nature, regardless, you know where it has to end and you don’t want to see your hero die.

Like Kathie, Julia symbolizes Spike’s inevitable doom and Like Ann, Faye symbolizes his possible future. 

“I’ll be with you till the end”

                           “You’re the one still tied to the past Spike!”

                                                               “Why do you have to go? Where are you going? What are you gonna do, just throw your life away like it was nothing?!”

It’s two sides of a sad coin...

We want Spike to have a future and because we love the characters of the show, it would be really great if he could have it with them, but that is where the tragedy is. It's only an idea we can think about, a possibility presented to us as it was to Jeff and Spike before their deaths.

The bottom line is, when it comes to Spike and Faye you are really only given a taste. You are not given what you expect to see, which is why I say this ship is driven by what could be. As it is with most of the character relationships in the show, no major breakthroughs are made until the very end, when it's too late. Then it just feels like such wasted potential, but sometimes in life, that's how it is. And thus, we have been given a very classic noir here ladies and gentlemen!

So no, I don’t think people miss the mark when they ship Spike and Faye, nor do I find they invalidate the show by any means. I kind of like that Watanabe switched it up and didn’t do the expected, but left us those subtle hints. He didn’t outright give Spike another lover, but he gave us someone that represents what he could have. Kind of does that with the crew as a whole too!

UGH. I love-hate this show and I love this pairing! Thank you for reading my thoughts and I know this may not be the case or reasoning for everyone, but just based on what I have seen around the community and where this show draws inspiration, this is what I have concluded. I didn’t get into Spike and Faye’s feelings for each other because it gets a little more theoretical there, but I would like to do a post on my thoughts on that as well sometime. I also didn’t touch too much on Spike’s reasoning for choosing to face Vicious in the end, just because I know that will only lead into a whole other analysis lol. But you know I have my thoughts on that and certainly plan to share them 😎 Also, I know I basically spoiled it, but Out of the Past is such a great movie!! I think if you’re a fan of this show it's definitely worth a watch! There are so many more parallels to Cowboy Bebop that I didn’t even mention. Anyways, thanks again and talk to you soon!

#Cowboy Bebop #Spike and Faye #spike x faye #analysis #cowboy bebop analysis #pairing analysis #pairing #my ship #out of the past #film noir #did i mention #I LOVE THIS SHOW #YES i've been working on this for two weeks like i was writing a midterm essay for school #DON'T JUDGE ME 🤓😂 #OOTP is really good watch it #last scene gives me chills😨 #spaye #faye x spike #faye and spike

[epicene-humanoid]

some trans Jeff thoughts:

he realized he was trans in elementary school and just went fuck it I'll just start introducing myself as Jeffery and see if anyone decides to stop me (as we know, jeff winger can get away with almost anything)

he got top surgery the second he could afford it (around the same time he started at his law firm), and probably bribed someone to keep it a secret

"I'm jeff winger and i would rather look at myself naked than the women I sleep with" are the words of a man proud of his transition

he's really insecure about his fashion sense, which is why he mostly dresses like the douchey guys at his firm in the start of the show, he thought you can't go wrong with the sleazy lawyer look

he will never admit it but he feels super good about the dean hitting on him, because the dean is a (cis) guy, acknowledging that Jeff is more manly than him

i think he starts out stealth and comes out to everyone one by one, probably starting with abed because he knows abed won't judge him and will probably just see it as an interesting backstory.

abed just says it's cool and maybe worth a prequel exploring Jeff's transition, and jeff asks him to predict how all of the members of the group will react to him coming out.

abed's predictions:

britta will be over-the-top supportive and do a ton of research about trans history, probably put together a slideshow just to prove how progressive she is, and jeff will be a little bit weirded out, but also touched that she did all that for him, though he would never let her know that

shirley will be confused, because she doesn't know how someone she trusts and knows so well could be part of a group she was raised to hate, but ultimately realizes that there's nothing actually against the lgbtq people in the bible, and, as a cool character development arch, starts to advocate against use of the bible to justify bigotry

troy will just think it over and decide that Jeff's physique and coolness are even awesomer knowing how much work he'd had to put in to be like that, and respects Jeff's manliness even more

annie will give him a hug, say something sweet about how she'll always love him, and worry about his health, because even she read somewhere that taking testosterone makes you more likely to have a heart attack, jeff will explain that the risk is still only as high a cis guy, and she'll be the one to always remind him to take his shots

peirce will say at best say "jeff winger used to be a chick?" and at worst call him a slur, either way there's sure to be a lot of misgendering from him, and pestering to know Jeff's deadname (needless to say, Jeff just doesn't tell peirce)

the whole group goes out of their way to keep their beach trips a secret from pierce (the girls don't want him there anyways, he's too liable to be creepy) even though jeff knows that even if pierce saw his scars, all he would have to do is make up a story about some childhood accident and pierce would never question it

sorry this ended up being super long. can I hear some of your headcanons for him?

YES ALL THIS!!! yes yes i’m fully accepting this as canon oh my god

i’m about to type a whole ass ESSAY at midnight because i have been DYING to talk about this for months ajfdksljk,,, this is going to be obscenely long and i might end up adding even more to it as i continue to rewatch the show because there is truly no shortage of trans jeff content (especially when you’re trans and see transness in every little thing ajdkslfkjs)

spoiler warning for literally everything about this show under the cut <3

i 100% agree, i feel like he realized he was trans super young, especially since in the show we see him as a little kid a couple of times. 

like look at little jeff with the oversized sweatshirt and little ponytail!! that’s childhood trans fashion. not to be dramatic but part of me thinks that jeff’s dad left before he fully came out to his family (which gives him even more angst about it, because until that one Thanksgiving episode, he’s never able to prove to his dad that he’s a better man), but part of me thinks that his dad left after he came out (which adds that spicy i-should-have-stayed-in-the-closet guilt that he has to work through). 

either way, because his dad wasn’t there, he had to base his concept of masculinity on something else, which was becoming a lawyer!! there’s some line that’s like “after the dust and divorce papers were settled the only man i looked up to was [the lawyer guy]”. like, replacing your father figure in your mind with the concept of “a job where you can talk your way in and out of anything and distort other people’s concept of reality”? that’s trans.

 and the fucking THANKSGIVING EPISODE... i struggle to watch it without crying hehe <3 yeowch! the dichotomy of willy jr. being the “wrong” kind of man because he’s “too soft” but jeff also not being enough despite adhering to all the social standards of masculinity... fuck!! this whole scene of him telling his dad “i am Not well adjusted” and talking about how he gave himself an “appendix surgery scar” when he was a kid and he still keeps the get-well-soon letters from his classmates under his bed? oh my god. the implication of people loving him not despite his scars but because of them?? trans. i can’t think about this episode for too long or i’ll start yelling.

OH and this scene? where he talks about how his mom got him a girl costume for halloween?? and everyone said “what a cute little girl” and after a few houses he stopped correcting them?? and “once the shame and the fear wore off, i was just glad they thought i was pretty”?? THAT’S TRANS... the man needs validation oh my god... and then in all the halloween episodes we see he has these ultra-masculine costumes (a cowboy, David Beckham, one of the fast and furious guys even though he never watched the movies, a boxer with his DAD’S boxing gloves... god) costumes are about becoming something else and he always chooses to be hypermasculine and that is trans.

THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION EPISODE!!!!!!! being uncomfortable during P.E. is a queer experience. period. but him being specifically uncomfortable in the clothes someone else is assigning to him? trans. “are we gonna talk about clothes like a girl? or use tapered sticks to hit balls around a cushioned mat like a man?” TRANS. and him eventually stripping in public? celebration of transness. and the fact that he eventually becomes comfortable in both the uniform and his own style!! trans!! god i love this episode. 

AND AND AND!!! the gay dean coming out episode!!! where it’s the three of them discussing the best way for the dean to come out as gay despite not entirely identifying with that label!! so we have both frankie and the dean who are sort of ambiguously queer, and jeff who’s a stealth trans man who’s probably only out to only the study group at this point. this scene where the dean and jeff have this like eyebrow communication while frankie is talking is just so cute. queer-to-queer communication. “I am so curious” “oh?” “intellectually.” “oh...” ajfdksljfk this scene just screams high school GSA to me and i love it so much.

and SPEAKING of the dean!! i totally see you on that. i feel like jeff has some internalized homophobia/biphobia (like he’d throw punches over someone else, but when it comes to himself he has a lot of shame). and also seeing the dean so confident in all his different outfits/costumes has a weird affect on him bc it’s like “okay, the dean, a cis guy, can do that, but i as a trans guy could Not because that’s Breaking the Rules”. which, like, throwback to the halloween thing. of course there’s no right way to be masculine, but mr. winger does not know that.

another thing!! the episode where their emails get leaked? that includes his emails with his therapist. fuck!! he was outed to the whole world in that episode!! no wonder he was so fucking angry!! this whole episode (and really any time he mentions his therapist) is so interesting when you think about them as a person he talks to about his transition. OH which adds to the thing with the dean!! “and you told your therapist you wanted to be alone this weekend” and “not you jeff, i know you’ll be visiting your dad” ”I told you to stop reading my emails”. luckily his study group has his back and just makes fun of him for emailing astronauts lmao

and WHO can forget “they’re giving out an award for most handsome young man!!!!” what else is there to say about this line besides: he’s trans. you know he didn’t get awarded enough for being a handsome young man when he was a kid, and no amount of compliments when he’s fully-grown can really make up for that. some people crash a kid’s bar mitzvah to cope with the fact that they struggled to be seen as themselves when they were a teenager <3

also his weird relationship with pierce? where he kind of hates him (understandably lmao) but at times has this almost-friends-almost-father-son relationship with him? especially in this episode where he’s forced to bond with him and ends up having a good time by accident (at a barber shop no less, the perfect place to Be A Man with your Man Friend). idk what to say about him besides the fact that pierce says his mom wanted a girl when he was born and made him dress like a girl (and his middle name is anastasia!) so if they’re gonna do any bonding over transness it’s gonna be that. 

okay one last thing and then i’ll shut up for the night. this episode kills me (and almost kills jeff hahahahelpi’mcrying). it’s a very Trans thing to not be able to visualize your future self, it just is. growing up trans at the time he did? i don’t know what kind of future he saw for himself, but i’m so happy that he ended up with a group of friends who became his family and love him the way they all do. i’m so emotional over this asshole it’s ridiculous. 

in conclusion:

they’re trans, your honor <3

#community #jeff winger #trans jeff winger #GOD i'm gonna make a video essay about it if nobody stops me #yall know that youtube channel AreTheyGay? i want to be that but AreTheyTrans #the videos would just b like... jeff community. neo the matrix. bill and ted bill and ted. audrey little shop of horrors. jo little women. #maybe i should start that youtube channel sjdfklsj #thank you for prompting me to talk about this because i think about it twice a day #i might end up reblogging this and just adding different responses jeff has had to casually homophobic/transphobic things that happen #in the show #like the episode that last photo is from when the dean is like #'spring transfer student dance isn't rolling off the tongue so we're calling it The Tr@nny Dance!' 'much more greendale.' #OH AND ACCIDENTALLY KILLING PIERCE'S DAD!!! HOW DID I NOT MENTION THAT EARLIER SJFKLSJ #'you LITERALLY killed a father!' 'well not MINE dummy!!' #alright i need to do my homework now ajfklsdjfl

[caffeinatedseri]

The Strength of Selfishness

Each character in BSD has a degree of selfishness or selflessness in themselves, but the way this concept is executed opens discussion on the nuance of “selfishness,” or specifically the flaws in believing selfishness is an inherently bad trait.

Atsushi

Atsushi fits the description of selflessness, but I’d argue that he’s actually more selfish than he thinks he is (keeping in mind that being selfish isn’t necessarily a bad thing).

Akutagawa points out how Atsushi will needlessly risk his life in order to protect others, which sounds like a pretty heroic act, but it comes with a cost. Atsushi isn’t invincible, especially at this point in the story when he hasn’t fully mastered his ability, but his insistence on protecting others puts him in constant danger.

At the end of the day, Atsushi would have a greater chance of surviving many of the dangerous situations he puts himself into if he was more selfish by protecting himself before others.

However, Atsushi is also somewhat selfish in his motivations for acting so virtuously. 

Once again, Akutagawa points out how Atsushi only acts this way because of his deeply rooted belief that he has to risk his life for someone else in order to give his life value. You could argue that Atsushi only saves others as an attempt to prove to himself that he’s worthy, an inherently selfish motive. If Atsushi actually died, he would be endangering the people he could save in the future.

Selfishness also includes self-centeredness. Particularly with Akutagawa, Atsushi’s tendency to focus solely on himself becomes especially noticeable. Atsushi constantly doubts himself and his strengths; he also ignores his privileges and the struggles of others, particularly when he can’t completely understand them — hence why he views Akutagawa so harshly but sees Kyouka and Lucy as people who need to be saved. 

Despite all of this, Atsushi still creates a positive impact in other people’s lives. His innately selfish motivation is what drives him to protect others, and he ultimately succeeds in doing that (case in point Kyouka and Lucy again). 

Akutagawa

Akutagawa is pretty similar to Atsushi in how his past led to his inevitably selfish motives, but his manifests in a different way. 

Akutagawa has to be selfish to protect himself, due to a mix of his past prior to joining the mafia and Dazai’s teachings that collectively reinforced the belief that if he’s weak, he can’t survive.

This results in Akutagawa taking other people’s lives, a direct contrast to how Atsushi saves others, in order to prove his worth as a strong individual that deserves to live. However, this sentiment narrowly crosses the line of hypocrisy when Akutagawa does the very same thing that he criticized Atsushi for: looking for value in his life through other people.

Akutagawa also unnecessarily risks his life in order to prove his strength, which is arguably more dangerous and selfish than what Atsushi does. 

When Akutagawa fights Hawthorne, he practically eggs on Hawthorne to kill him, or at the very least fight with the intent to kill. Akutagawa was also injured before entering this fight, so running away would’ve been all the more reasonable than continuing to fight.

Drawing another parallel to Atsushi, Akutagawa has that very same resolve of risking his life unnecessarily to prove his worth. 

It’s undeniable that Akutagawa has killed many people — which is arguably extremely selfish — and loss of life really isn’t something that I want to push as morally correct. However, I would like to push the idea of redemption: finding a way to escape this messy lifestyle. I sincerely doubt that the incessant cycle of killing is any good for Akutagawa, or that it’s the life that he wants to have. 

With Atsushi and Akutagawa, both of their character arcs will develop accordingly to this balance of selfishness and selflessness.

Ranpo

Ranpo is characterized in a slightly selfish way, but this mindset comes with good reason (relating to Ranpo’s past). 

When Atsushi was kidnapped, Ranpo places priority on protecting the agency. If he were to meddle with Atsushi’s problem, which was technically a personal issue, then the agency as an organization would be put at risk. This isn’t necessarily a “wrong” mindset, but it is self-centered.

Of course, this is one of many examples to showcase Ranpo’s arrogance, but his arrogance is actually a form of self-protection. 

“So his father knew, after all. He understood that Ranpo possessed an extraordinary gift. He knew his son had the special ability to observe, remember, and uncover the truth in the blink of an eye. That was why he sealed it away. He didn’t want Ranpo to go astray, to ever hurt others and make the world his enemy.  His father wanted Ranpo to learn virtue and what’s right just like any ordinary person until he had grown up with good judgment and knowledge.” —  LN 3, “The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency”

Before Ranpo met Fukuzawa, he was just a young, lost boy who didn’t recognize his extraordinary talents. His parents taught him to be modest to allow him to develop as a normal person, but he never truly understood who he was in comparison to other people because he was orphaned at a young age.

Thus, Ranpo had to embrace his superiority, in an albeit dramatic way, in order to accept the world and himself. If he believed that people weren’t as intelligent as him, then he wouldn’t have to hate himself for feeling like an outsider to a world he doesn’t understand. 

Similarly to Akutagawa, Ranpo’s selfishness isn’t born out of hatred or negligence for others, it’s simply a survivalist instinct. 

Dazai

Dazai’s case is a little trickier to define, but I feel that he’s changed a decent amount throughout the series. I’ve seen some people argue that Dazai only helps others because of Oda’s dying wish, which would make his motivations for doing so inherently selfish. This rings true for Dazai before becoming a part of the agency, but I’d say he’s changed a lot just from interacting with the other agency members.

Dazai’s shown to be capable of the selflessness that involves risking your life for others, but because he’s Dazai, he’s most likely never going to actually die (he has taken necessary precautions to make sure he doesn’t die like in Dead Apple). In this case, Dazai was willing to risk his life for intel from Fyodor, similar to how he got captured by the PM intentionally for intel on Atsushi.

What he says here is especially important: “Certainly, people are sinfully stupid. But what’s so wrong about that?” The Dazai that was once isolated from others, that lacked a sense of direction and purpose in life, has grown one step closer to finding that purpose.

It’s no secret that character to character relationships have a big impact on everyone in BSD, but it’s especially relevant for Dazai who’s growth comes from learning about human nature. He and Fyodor both share a level of super intelligence that ostracizes them from the rest of society, which consequently makes them incapable of understanding other people.

Dazai’s statement here just shows how he’s willing to look past people’s mistakes — yes, they may be sinful and/or stupid, but that’s just a part of human nature.

And in this case, he acts in a stupid way by risking his life for someone else. Yes, it may be stupid, but this selflessness is also a part of being human.

I’d also like to add that Dazai was somewhat selfish in leaving the PM so suddenly after Oda’s death. As an executive, he undoubtedly had some responsibilities to handle, and not to mention Chuuya who was dragged into the mafia because of him in the first place. However, leaving the mafia was ultimately better for his development, and you could argue that the PM is doing just fine with Mori remaining as the leader. Thus, Dazai is another example of how selfishness isn’t harmful in nature.

Mori

On the topic of Mori, he’s a character who outright acknowledges his selflessness as a necessity for the mafia’s advancement.

As I mentioned before, selflessness is a stereotypically heroic trait, but it’s flipped around in BSD. You see protagonists with greater selfish convictions than the antagonists, who live their life based on this idea of selflessness. 

Of course, just because Mori is an antagonist, this doesn’t mean that selflessness is an innately “evil” trait. In fact, this selflessness is how he grows his organization and gains respect from his subordinates. Mori’s selflessness is used for the benefit of everyone else in the PM (ignoring the obvious crimes that the mafia commits of course).

Oda

Oda is often seen as the role model example for a “good man,” in the world of BSD — which is true to a certain extent. We certainly know how he was selfless in a multitude of scenarios, from saving the orphans at the Dragon’s Head Conflict, to his resolve to not kill anyone, and his push for Dazai to leave the mafia. 

However, I’d like to discuss Oda’s selfishness. Oda was well-aware of Dazai’s issues during Dark Era, and he seemed like the only person who would understand Dazai at that level. Despite this, he still chose to die. 

“(Dazai) is just a child who’s too smart. Just a crying child who’s been left alone in the darkness, a world of nothingness far emptier than the world we can see.”

— LN 2, “Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era”

Oda is an idealist first and foremost; when reality fails to match his ideals, it becomes unbearable for him to continue living on. 

Oda was selfish in his conviction to die, because he knew he could’ve done more for Dazai, but he chose to leave him with a dying wish rather than staying with him to potentially fill that void of loneliness.

(I’d like to mention that Oda wasn’t wrong for his choice, because Dazai ended up on the right path in the end. It was simply an act of selfishness that ended for the better).

Kunikida

Kunikida is an idealist, much like Oda, but he also draws close to being a realist at certain moments.

Kunikida shares the same selfless resolve as Atsushi: to save everyone. His ideals seem unbreakable to the point where he would risk his life and succeed in the end no matter what, purely because he’s just that committed towards his goals.

This treads closely to Atsushi’s selfishness. In this case, for Kunikida, it’s somewhat a part of his self-fulfilling prophecy to make his ideals come true, but he acts selflessly because of these ideals that he believes in. 

An important thing to note here is Fyodor’s grin, because Fyodor — as an idealist — is well aware of the fact that the greater the ideals, the loftier these ideals become in reality. 

“By that very logic, then Miss Sasaki was not responsible for any of these recent events! She didn’t even want a world in which all criminals are rightly judged! She only— Tell me, Dazai! Was it right for her to die? Is this the ideal world I’ve sought for…”

— LN 1, “Osamu Dazai’s Entrance Exam”

At the end of the Azure Messenger Arc, Kunikida realizes the flaws in his ideals when he fails to uphold them. By trying to save both Rokuzou and Sasaki, he ended up losing the both of them. No matter how hard he tried to save them, there was no possible way for him to achieve the level of “justice” that he desired.

This teaches an incredibly valuable lesson to Kunikida that shifts his mindset towards a more selfish direction.

Kunikida’s experience leads him to teach Atsushi, another person strongly motivated by ideals, to not follow the same path as him. You could interpret this as a sign of Kunikida’s declining resolve, but I prefer to view it as another form of self-preservation.

Kunikida very well understands the pain that comes from not meeting his ideals, which could easily affect to Atsushi considering how difficult it would be to save Kyouka.

The scene in which Kunikida goes to save Atsushi parallels what Kunikida told him previously: “Your boat can only carry one person. If you let someone beyond salvation come aboard, you will only drown together.”

Notice how Kunikida is in a boat with plenty of space, but out of fear that his ideals won’t be upheld, he’ll lower them to an lesser standard. Instead of trying to save two people, he settles for one, despite the fact that he has the capacity for two. 

This instance is a moment of selfishness from Kunikida, an act of self-preservation to prevent the inevitable pain that comes with unmet ideals. 

However, Atsushi subverts his expectations by pushing himself to save Kyouka regardless of his sinking boat, because Atsushi’s own ideals motivate him to do so. Kunikida teaches Atsushi to be careful with the balance of selfishness and selflessness; Atsushi teaches Kunikida the beauty in being selfless.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd meta #bsd atsushi #bsd akutagawa #bsd rampo #bsd dazai #bsd mori #bsd oda #bsd kunikida #idk what an idealist is tbh

[hamliet]

Metals and Heavenly Bodies: Why There Is So Much Metal in RWBY

So, why is RWBY so metal? 

RWBY uses metallic symbolism to explore the alchemical process (the refinement of metal into gold via the creation of the philosopher’s stone). Alchemy has seven metals that are ordered in terms of refinement: three base metals, one that is the most refined of base metals, and three refined metals. RWBY has been associating each metal with certain characters. It’s also been giving these characters their ultimate focus in the precise order of refinement.

Metals in alchemy are also associated with heavenly bodies, or planets (well, plus the sun and moon, because we’re dealing with ancient astronomy here). The planets, of course, are named after Roman gods, so they too can be associated with the metals, and RWBY directly correlates them.

NB: It’s very valid to critique tropes and subtext. This isn’t intended to invalidate any criticism but rather to offer a symbolic reading of the metal motif.

So, let’s dive in.

Base Metals:

Lead-Saturn

Associated characters: Qrow Branwen, Ruby Rose, Mercury Black

While I can’t think of any specific reference to lead in RWBY, there are a ton of references to the mythical Saturn. 

Saturn's father (Uranus) was a piece of work who hated Saturn’s mother and so took his son (and other children) and imprisoned them in a cave so that they could never see the sunlight. Saturn’s mother eventually persuaded Saturn to take a sickle and castrate his father. He then wasn’t a particularly great dad himself, becoming more like his father than not.

In alchemy in particular, we have images of Saturn with a prosthetic leg (see: above). This is where Mercury begins his arc. He’s abused by his father, who steals his semblance and refuses to allow Mercury to be his own person (effectively rendering him a prisoner). So, Mercury kills him, and then is taken in by Cinder and Emerald to be an assassin for them, an assassin just like his father. You can see the parallels. 

Saturn’s sickle is also often drawn as a scythe, which Death holds in the above image. A scythe is of course the weapon used by Ruby and by Qrow--specifically, Qrow is the person Ruby imitates and admires. But we know (and Ruby now does to) that Qrow is a flawed human himself; Ruby is better of becoming her own person rather than continuing to stay like her father-figure in Qrow (her own dad is great, but that doesn’t mean Qrow isn’t also a dad figure to her!) 

Qrow, of course, is self-destructive, believing his semblance is to bring bad luck wherever he goes. His name is “crow,” the bird symbolizing the first (black) stage of death and rotting in alchemy. His own upbringing can also be compared to Saturn’s. 

But, you see, Saturn isn’t actually a sign of doom and death. It is one of the symbols of the prima materia, the lead to be transformed into gold by the end of the alchemical process. It shows where the characters can grow, and indeed all three of them are along their path towards growing. 

Tin-Jupiter

Associated character(s): James Ironwood (maybe Weiss Schnee)

Well, I’m actually going to talk more about Ironwood and his arc in the next section. But in Ozpin’s circle, in which characters are based on The Wizard of Oz (a blatantly alchemical story), we have Qrow as the scarecrow, Lionheart as the Cowardly Lion, and Ironwood as the tin man. Jupiter is also associated with the Sublimation stage in the process of alchemy, which is where we are now. 

In case we didn’t get the allusion, RWBY has helpfully placed artwork of tin men on the walls in the background of Weiss’s room this season.

I’m aware that this screenshot isn’t from this season but it gets the point across. I also feel tin might well have an association with Weiss and where she was at in her arc after the fall of Beacon. 

Additionally, Jupiter is actually Saturn’s son in mythology, and is saved from being eaten by his father (look Saturn really wasn’t awesome). He returns to force his father to regurgitate his siblings, and Jupiter and his rescued siblings (yes they were still alive; it’s mythology) fight to dethrone their father. They succeed with the use of lightning, among other things. Saturn was then imprisoned in tartarus. You can see the parallels. 

Do note that the glowing sun above the head of the tin man on Weiss’s wall, showing Weiss is destined to become refined like gold. The golden sun is in sharp contrast to Ironwood’s allusion to the Dark Sun, but there’s a lot more to say about Ironwood in the Iron section. 

Iron-Mars

Associated characters: James Ironwood, Marcus Black, Mercury Black

First, let’s continue with Ironwood. I’ve noted before that iron is associated with war:

Iron in particular is ruled by Mars, the god of war, meaning it is associated with violence. It’s not a coincidence that pretty much from the second Ironwood is introduced, the concept of war comes up, and his entire character has gone on to be the embodiment of the military and violence.

In addition to seeing himself as a sort of be-all-end-all Jupiter figure, Ironwood of course is always expecting war. His arc is one of reverse alchemy, which is a thing. It means that instead of becoming refined, he’s corroding from Iron to Tin. I don’t see good things for him. 

Mars in mythology also becomes obsessed with Venus, which... you’ll have to read the next section for that ;) 

Marcus Black, of course, is an assassin, hence it makes sense that his name literally means “dedicated to Mars.” Mercury (our Mercury) becomes more like him in taking over his role as an assassin. He’s so broken from his father’s abuse that he refuses to become his own person and just falls into his father’s role. It’s tragic. 

So is Mercury’s arc reverse alchemy? No, I don’t think so. There’s more (of course) later on, but if we look at the stages of his development, we see he has moved from Lead to Iron. It’s progress. His leg is a focus for the early arcs of the story (he uses it, along with Emerald’s semblance, to trick everyone into turning against Yang), and only later did we learn his history with his father. Even if the events of course did not happen in succession, the story revealed the allusions one after each other. He’s also made progress in that he’s clearly emotionally attached to Emerald even if he pretends otherwise. Also... (see below)

The Most Perfectable Base Metal:

Copper-Venus

Associated character: Penny Polendina

As I also mentioned previously, Penny’s name references copper (a “copper penny”). The Summa Perfectionis, a thirteenth century alchemical text, calls copper “the most perfectable of base metals.” 

Venus in alchemical imagery is almost always wearing (or surrounded by, since she’s also often, well, not wearing anything) green. 

Green is in alchemy the color of the prima materia, the raw, immature material that will eventually be refined into gold, because green is of course symbolic of the earth, fertility, growth, etc.

As I wrote previously, in mythology Mars had a thing for Venus. I’m certainly not suggesting Ironwood has a thing for Penny in a romantic/sexual sense, but he does seek to control her, and like the Mars of myth, his pursuit of Penny/Venus leads to his humiliation (the Mars of myth gets caught in a trap--no literally a net--by Venus’s angry husband). 

In contrast to Ironwood, Penny, who is originally made entirely of metal, becomes human, while Ironwood becomes more metal--not necessarily literally, but in his spirit. He’s lost his humanity, or rather, gave it away, while Penny found hers. It makes sense to me that a story with spiritual alchemy at its core (which focuses in the Jungian sense on individuation/self-actualization, or fully coming into an understanding of the self) would have Penny literally transform into what she has always been: a final product, a real girl, the philosopher’s stone. 

Refined Metals:

Now these are going to be a bit more predictive. The allusions are clearly there, but how exactly those will play out I don’t know because if we look at these metals as steps in the process, we’re not quite there yet. 

Mercury-Mercury

Associated character(s): Mercury Black, (maybe Emerald Sustrai)

I think the name says it all. 

Kidding. Mercury as a metal is also known as argentvive or quicksilver. It, along with sulphur, form the basis of the alchemical process. They must be united to achieve the Philosopher’s Stone (it’s one of the reasons I am wondering if we’re going to get an important, Mercury-related event in a place named for sulphur or its other name, brimstone, in Vacuo; all the places we know of in Vacuo are named after types of stones including several that are sulfuric in nature). Mercury himself unites the two principles of the work, sun and moon (for who those are, read below). Mercury is the metal from which all other metals come from--he’s way more important to this story than we’ve seen yet. Most likely, he will eventually turn on Salem as well, and in a pivotal moment.

As a god, Mercurius is the author of alchemy. He’s the mythical author of the Emerald Tablet (which Emerald’s name alludes to; I actually don’t personally think Emerald alludes very much to Aladdin. Instead, I think her allusion is the Emerald Tablet and her Egyptian design is based on Thoth, Mercury’s Egyptian counterpart). Mercury is the spirit that gives life.

Lyndy Abraham notes that Mercury is “both destructive and creative” (oh look at the relics of Atlas and Vacuo) and that “the elusive, duplicitous Mercurius who consorts with the devil is at the same time a redeeming psychopomp” (”psychopomp” means spiritual guide) “The fact that he can freely participate in both light and dark worlds without taint makes Mercurius the perfect mediating bridge.” Jung calls Mercury “a symbol uniting all the opposites.” So yeah, Mercury should have a redemption arc that will probably be pivotal in the story.

If we follow the self-actualization endgame of spiritual alchemy, with true life and wisdom as the metaphorical philosopher’s stone here, I think it’s likely Mercury becomes more himself--going from being Lead to Iron (as he’s clearly spiraling right now, but also has a connection to Emerald) to Mercury. I would also suspect he’d get his semblance back to establish that he’s his “own person” (a major recurring theme of RWBY), and while, like with Yang and her arm, I don’t think he’ll get new legs, I think it’s pretty likely his semblance will enable him to fly (since mythical Mercury, you know, flies). 

Silver-Moon

Associated character(s): Ruby Rose (also Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Oscar Pine, Jaune Arc, and Summer Rose).

The most important character here is Ruby, obviously. She’s our MC and titular character! But Weiss, Jaune, Blake, Summer, and Oscar are all addressed here. But I think it’s obvious that Ruby’s defining trait is her silver eyes. They got her noticed by Ozpin and sent to Beacon early, they’re the reason Salem is targeting her, they’re what could destroy her (turning into a Grimm) or save the world (what’s going to happen). Silver is noted to be “pure” which is what other characters constantly comment Ruby is. 

Gold-Sun

Associated character(s): Oscar Pine (also Sun Wukong, Yang Xiao Long, Tai Xiao Long, Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, and maybe Jaune Arc)

The most important/obvious character here is Oscar. Oscar’s first name is a shade of gold and a type of fish that is most often brown or gold. He’s facing a similar dilemma to Ruby: the threat of merging forever with Ozpin (which clearly won’t happen; he needs to be his own person, as Ruby said). 

Both Ruby’s and Oscar’s individualizations are somehow instrumental to defeating Salem. 

#rwby #rwby meta #rwby vol 8 #oscar pine #mercury black #emerald sustrai #rwby theory #alchemy #james ironwood #weiss schnee #penny polendina #qrow branwen #ruby rose #ozpin #rwby volume eight

[sir-sunny]

(Green) crying headcanons just for you:

Hajime

-Tears everywhere. It’s almost like he leaks from his eyes. Think Ghibli only,,,a little less gelatinous isjdjdififog

-God this poor boys tries SO hard to stay quiet when he cries but it’s so hard,,,he’s like a typical teenage boy in the sense that he’ll sniffle and choke on sobs but you can tell it’s because he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s upset

-His eyes go red and puffy when he cries, and Chiaki thinks it’s because he’s tired (she suggests that he takes a nap and he accepts it in a heartbeat)

-It takes him a LONG while to be able to think about Izuru without crying. So much guilt inside his heart

-Angry crier first, embarrassed crier second. It’s pretty common to see him with a bright pink face and tears in his eyes

Nagito:

-Lowkey,,,can’t remember what it feels like to cry. He hasn’t properly cried in ages

-Super quiet unless he’s like, DANGEROUSLY upset. So upset that you’re afraid he might do something.

-One of the only sounds he makes is like, a low humming sound, like he’s trying to convince himself that he’s not crying, he’s not upset, you need to pull yourself together Nagito you’re meant to believe in hope-

-He’s a lip-quiverer,,,

-Said it before but Hajime is the only person on the island who can calm him down when he’s this upset. Ultimate Serenity and everything,,,

-Sometimes,,,when he’s calmed down,,,he gets hiccups,,,but like, not loud hiccups. The kind of hiccups that dogs get where their body just does a little hop,,,yknow the ones,,,

Sonia:

-Also an easy crier, she’s just good at hiding it because of her training in manners

-Somehow able to cry like a movie star; no blotchiness, no snot, no ugly sobbing (though her cheeks go rosy). She’s like an actual angel when she cries

-Most likely to cry at movies. Imagine her watching The Notebook for the first time and then imagine her hiding herself in her cottage for an hour as she bawls

-(This is self indulgent because I think it’s cool that her whole concept is that she’s based on Nirvana references) she cries when she listens to songs that she really likes, especially if they’re emotional/angsty/remind her of her childhood

Akane:

-Feels like she needs to hold her tears in because she doesn’t want to appear weak in front of anyone

-Lowkey hates crying, mainly for this reason, but also it clogs up everything and that’s just no good

-Surprisingly clean crier

-Usually when she cries, someone has to point it out for her to even notice

-Also quick to recover from crying, so at least she doesn’t have to experience it for long

Fuyuhiko:

-As we see in game, when he cries, he cries HARD. Tears everywhere, snot everywhere, sobbing everywhere, he’s not clean

-As also shown in the bonus scene in the funhouse with him and Akane, it’s pretty easy to get him to cry when he’s not putting up a front

-Poor thing cries like a lost child if he’s upset enough,,,someone give him a hug

-100% cries a lot more after his development on the island. Beforehand it was difficult to see him shed a single tear

-Peko’s known him long enough to know when he’s about to cry, and knows how to calm him down before it happens

Peko:

-Naturally stoic, so she doesn’t cry a lot

-Fuyuhiko is the one person who’s able to make her cry, like I mentioned before. Being called a tool her entire life? Dry eyes. Seeing Fuyuhiko cry because all this time he’s truly loved her for who she is? Niagara falls

-Honestly I just think that Fuyuhiko and a peko are mutual criers. If one cries, it sets the other off, and then it takes like 5 minutes for them both to calm down

Nekomaru:

-He’s all about being able to express yourself freely and not have to live in fear of being shamed for showing emotion, but even then, he’s just not a natural crier. It actually takes a bit for him to shed tears

-Oh but when he does shed tears, he’s a yeller. Just a lot of ‘OHHHHHH I’M SO UPSEEEEET’ that you could hear from the other side of the island

-Definitely cries for other people. He’s thankful for this because he wants everyone to feel as if they can be comfortable crying in front of people, and if they see someone as big and manly as HIM crying? It’s all good, friend

THIS IS ALL SO DELICIOUS

awhhwhhhh haijme's face getting all red partly because he's so worked up but also cuz he's just so embarrassed :((( and you KNOW these crying fits are exhausting,, his throat is all sore and his eyes are super dry afterward,,,,

nagito super silently cryingggg,, like usually ppl dont even notice. he barely has any tears in his eyes and he maintains a neutral expression on his face. but if u look reeeeaal close, he's worrying his bottom lip between his teeth so it doesn't tremble and his breathing is just a liiittle uneven

sonia always has little silk handkerchief on her so she can lightly dab her eyes the way they do in the movies

akane also gets defensive when people point out her crying, but unlike hajime, she can quickly pull herself together. (she gets herself to stop by slapping her cheeks and shaking her head)

yepyepyepyep fuyuhiko is the resident ugly crier. he just loses all dignity and essentially cries like a baby. he tries to talk and it comes out as pathetic whines and sobs so hard that he drools he just cant hold back :((

ooohuouh seeing fuyuhiko like that is what breaks peko, she just feels the panic well up in her chest and she cant stop the tears from spilling as she tries in vain to offer comfort to fuyuhiko

aawh nekomaru holds back the least of all alskjdhajgh if he feels those tears coming, he LETS them come, full force. he's loud and messy. he's not ashamed of seeking comfort from his friends (MAN everyone here should take some notes from nekomaru aksjdgjasfdj)

#nekomaru teach these guys how to let it all out!! #they need it so bad #green anon #dr #sdr2 #dr hcs #hajime #nagito #fuyuhiko #sonia #akane #peko #nekomaru #sunny speaks

[our-reb00t-boi]

For years I've "agreed" to the critics regarding the DmC reboot when it came to 2nd Vergil

I really didn't like what they did but never did quite put what exactly made me not like him. But just in recent years, probably after DMC5 came out, a few us friends talked about it and compared.

To me personally, it came down to two things:

I don't see any resemblance, ANY from the previous Vergil incarnation (well ok apart from being adapted from the first installments, but that’s a given). Vergil's Downfall may have been NT's adaptation from what they had gathered of 1st Vergil's past, especially from the manga, and that's the closest I can think of that are thematically similar. They saw mental turmoil about being a surviving offspring of an infamous figure and makes the character question their own place in the world. And this continued to 1st Vergil in DMC 5 which expands on his views, who has survivor's guilt and a deprecating view of himself, explaining his grindset to gain more power.

But that was the inverse for reb00t/2nd Vergil, at least by order of scenarios. He is already a powerful being, not by strength, but by position, wealth and knowledge. He is the exact opposite of his twin, who lived in squalor and hardship. He's a loaded guy soooo full of himself and thought himself highly, and in turn thought of the Nephilim race to be as such (I think he believes the unique conception of Nephalem made them a special race and should be the ones to rule, etc.) plus with the amount of research he probably had on what remains of the history of the Nephilim, and their opposition.

When he fell from grace is where some similarities are made with the 1st Vergil. So the scenarios are just inverted.

Now, after comparing him to the 1st Vergil, because 2nd Vergil had to match the theme of social commentary in the reboot title, they went for that "Rich Kid" trope for him. He feels like this oily, shrewd character, that I sorta compare with Prince Hans from Frozen and Ardyn Izunia of FFXV.

It's just me but I don't personally think NT were going for the action cool ambiguous aligned samurai anymore. To me it's still up there what they really wanted versus final production, and this reflects from (what I’ve seen) from their concept art book. There’s barely any info about the themes or experimentation before they finally settled onto something that was gradually close to how he’s presented in the game. It's no secret that NT and the Capcom team sent by Capcom more of did a "play it safe" thing because of backlash perpetuated by both NT and the audience.

So from what was presented, all I have is this wealthy young "self-made" millionaire who thinks so highly of himself and his morals, using this sophisticated veneer of smart vintage-looking fashion but ironically is spelling out just how so full of himself is. He thinks he knows more and holds that power over the Order, and in turn to Kat and to his own twin. He’s fashioned himself as some kind of beacon of hope, an angelic presence in a demon-infested and deluded world...

He's insidious. He's shrewd. He sounds soft-spoken, charismatic and well-mannered.... and it's all for show!

And now I know why I hate him. Well, no I don’t hate him the way the reboot haters do. I hate him because there are people like him in real life. He’s manipulative and cunning. He lures many who are in the Order in comfortable belief that they’re in the correct path/side. While fighting for what’s right is a very lofty thing to do that’s not a joke, reboot Vergil knows this deeply for his ends alone.

At the end of Vergil’s Downfall, he’s no longer putting up a veneer of being a holier-than-thou individual. Ultimately he’s accepted himself, though he’s accepted what he believes was holding him back. Well, good for him, now we can see what a selfish and narcissistic individual he really is. He’s actually back to doing what, I think, he does best: luring anyone through a false sense of hope that what he intends to do is equal to those who follow him. Under his leadership, he’s no longer holding anything back. He’s likely going to mold what’s left of the world after Mundus’ defeat.

Although I did mention “false sense of hope”, I think this time, with the scattered demons whose instincts range from being their own shrewdness to utter destruction, Vergil just sees those are going to be more genuine. He’s just like the rest of them now and it makes no difference, unless he says so.

The last two are speculations, but it doesn’t change what 2nd Vergil is and what makes him different from the 1st Vergil.

reboot Vergil is a tyrannical Cult Leader

#and that's what makes me hate him and fear him all at the same time #vergil #reboot vergil #dmc devil may cry #props to david de latour for bringing this oily tyrant to life #david de latour

[someobscurereference]

For one: whenever the concept of the Nohrians meeting the young trio comes up, my first thoughts are 1) Inigo being cripplingly shy and terrified of Xander 2) Severa being Extremely Unreasonable and Aggressive especially toward Camilla and 3) Owain gravitating toward Elise because she's reminiscent of his mother, because he's a mama's boy who probably lost his mom very recently and that's pretty fucked up!!

That being said, I'm screaming at the idea of Owain gravitating toward Elise because mother, Xander because cool sword, and Camilla because cool armor, and Not Trusting Leo because he's a Dark Mage and Dark Mage Means Plegia Means Grima Means Evil (almost always) and Leo being so upset about it. It turns the tables entirely, where Odin was originally the one who thought both Leo and Niles were so cool and they thought he was a weirdo idiot until he proved himself, now he thinks they're creepy and Evil and have to work for his trust. And I will always love the Nohrians realizing the trio were Fucked Up Kids and the idea of them watching the three of them take down a faceless with Brutal efficiency because of how much more dangerous Risen were...I'm so into this. AND!! The trio fucking hating each other!! They're so used to them being Best Friends and Inseparable and understanding each other on a whole different wavelength. And now? Sev and Inigo aren't very kind toward Owain's dramatics, Sev and Owain are Bothered by Inigo's flirtations, and Severa is just so harsh with both of them (and most people). Of all the people they could be stuck with, they would Not choose each other. I'm rambling but I'm so into it I'm so so into it. One of the previous asks you linked spoke a lot about Inigo, but if you could talk a bit more about Severa and Owain? Especially if their adult selves were involved with their lieges and partner retainers and how different the dynamic is now and the way they each react when realizing the trio went through something so clearly screwed up and beyond even what they've seen

(prev ask) Ayyy, glad you got a kick out of all of that, lol. And yes!! Leo Trio origins reversed!! With Niles and Leo being the ones who have to prove themselves to Owain instead of the other way around. And the Trio not getting along!! They're 100% there to save each other when they think they're in mortal danger, but as soon as they realize they're not in Plegia? Don't touch me, don't breath on me, don't look in my direction, any of you. Owain & Inigo can't be alone in a room together or else they'll scuffle, Severa stomps away whenever Inigo tries to compliment her, nobody wants to talk to Owain, etc.

Also sure! I spoke a lot about Inigo in that last ask because I wanted to be clear about what I meant with the shyness thing, but for Severa & Owain...

I don't know if they would have been in romance with their lieges before this! I obviously ship the royals & their retainers, but I don't ever see the appeal of that dynamic in deaging fics? I get the idea of like "oh, this is a new side of my partner I've never seen before," but the deaging part is such a huge part of the plot that I don't really see the benefit to that dynamic in these types of fics.

But just in general! The friendship/platonic shift!

I mentioned before about Camilla trying to dote on little Severa but struggling because Severa rejects her So Hard, lol. In general she'd want to dote on Severa because of her personality and how Severa is a tiny version of her beloved retainer, but the more it becomes clear that Severa has issues (especially re: family, which is a major reason Camilla feels the need to dote on Corrin), the more she wants to spend time with her and make some happy memories with her. Which makes Severa's rejection of this attention even stronger bc who the hell are you to presume you know her? And also you're not her big sister/mom/whoever.

Eventually, I almost feel like Camilla would?? I don't want to say "give up," but eventually you're going to get more flies with honey than vinegar. By which I mean the less Camilla tries to push the relationship, the more open Severa might be to spending time with her. But I'm not sure Camilla would get to this point within the timeframe of the Trio being deaged! I think this would take many days or perhaps even weeks to figure out. If the Trio return to normal before this, I think Camilla might feel different (Hard to say how... maybe guilty??) about the way her Selena dotes on her and wants her attention all the time vs little Severa rejecting her. But!! If the Trio stay deaged for a while and Camilla learns to stop pushing the relationship, Severa may slowly grow to approach Camilla on her own and may then be open to being doted upon once they understand each other more (bc she canonically wants all the foods and fun stuff Camilla is offering; she just wants it from someone she trusts. And primarily from her parents ((see: awakening supports w/ parents)), but they're not here).

tl;dr Camilla would have to go against her doting instincts if she wanted Severa to get comfortable with her. Otherwise Severa would avoid her/take advantage of the things Camilla is offering while not wanting to be near her very much.

Re: Beruka!

Unlike Camilla, who has a lot of sad and sympathetic feelings for Severa, Beruka really leaves feelings out of it. Which is probably to her benefit in this scenario, as she's approaching Severa's trauma's from a logical (perhaps even detachedly relatable) standpoint rather than sympathetic. She's more direct than Camilla, so Severa might be a little more comfortable with her, just because she knows what to expect.

Severa, for her part, may even seek Beruka out once she knows they're partners because (1) she wants to know what sort of person her future partner is and (2) she wants to prove that she's the better retainer than Beruka. Which of course she can't do because (a) Beruka would never compare them like that, nor Camilla and (b) Severa is younger, more hotheaded, and less skilled than her older self, so anything she tries to prove now, she'll probably fail at and will blame on her older self having more experience. This competetive spirit may start as an inferiority complex thing, but with Beruka never really fanning the flames, Severa may eventually calm down about it and just feel more driven to get better on her own/respect Beruka as her partner (sort of like her Cynthia Supports in Awakening, though a little different).

Leo & Owain, I already talked about. Owain will immediately take note of the fact that Leo & Niles are his future lord & partner, which he is very curious about, but once Xander, Camilla, & the other very cool people with melee weapons come into the picture, he's very drawn to them, which makes Leo jealous, lol. Leo dedicates himself to "solving" the deaging issue, using this as an excuse so he doesn't have to spend time around Owain and get compared to his "cooler" siblings. HOWEVER, joke's on him bc the fact he's avoiding Owain means Owain doesn't get the chance to quiz him even more and tell him about how cool Brynhilder is. When this finally happens, Leo feels incredibly foolish for trying to show off for Owain & avoid him in turns. Owain, meanwhile, may or may not have ever picked upon on the fact Leo was feeling weird about him at all (although he will admit he felt nervous around Leo at first bc Pelgian Mage Memories and had to take time to get over that).

Niles is a little hard to consider because I actually think?? He'd be good with young/immature folk when he's genuinely trying to be? (See: Niles's interactions with Elise & Nina). However, he can also be quite cruel to people who don't really deserve it (See: Mozu C & B supports) despite having a motto of only insulting "people who deserve it," (Peri Support). So!! I think Niles's interactions with Owain ultimately come down to how well he respects Odin/how good their relationship was. If they were besties when Odin gets deaged, then I don't think Niles will purposely try to make Owain feel bad, though a lot of what he says with metaphors & double meanings will probably go over Owain's head anyway. I also don't know if he'd purposely go digging for information or not?? Depending on how much he feels asking would be a betrayal to Odin's trust vs his own curiosity and all the hints Owain doesn't realize not to drop?? I think Owain would really determine what Niles does or doesn't learn about him. They have the potential to have a really good talk where Owain talks about his parents' deaths and the struggles he & the kids are going through and Niels talking about his own life on the streets. (BTW, despite Owain literally going through a war & both parent death, I think he might think Niles has the worse situation bc he's never known parental love at all, which baffles Niles).

Similar to Leo, I think Owain would be really cautious around Niles at first, both because he's an intimidating sort and because he takes cues from how everyone acts around Niles too. But!! Also just like Leo, if his future self trusted them, obviously that means something, right? So he'd approach Niles a bit more after a few days of settling in.

Niles & Owain's interactions are really hard to imagine because they depend on so many factors that I haven't decided upon! But hopefully the other ones make sense, lol

Thanks for asking!

#my text #asks #my fic #queue #fe14

[aster-ion]

Sylvie x Loki Might Not Happen and Here’s Why

***SPOILERS FOR LOKI TV SHOW***

1.  They are basically siblings

Even though they have different personalities, backstories, and physical appearances, that doesn't change the fact that they are the genetic equivalent of siblings. No matter what Timeline you're looking at, both Sylvie and Loki are the offspring of Laufey and whoever he had children with. We know this because they are Variants of the exact same person, meaning that if either of them were born to someone other than Laufey, they would have been pruned as a baby. And since they weren't, that means they must be just as genetically similar as siblings are.

Because of this, the idea of Sylvie and Loki engaging in any kind of romantic or sexual relationship is extremely disturbing to a lot of fans. It's too big an oversight to brush past, especially when the show has continued to remind us over and over that they are, in fact, both Lokis. Maybe if them being the same person wasn't such a major plot point, it would be easier to ignore the facts, but it is, and that means that Marvel is basically pushing either an incest or selfcest (depending on how you look at it) type relationship. And that’s extremely risque for a corporation as large as Marvel, especially with a character as beloved by fans as Loki. 

2.  It is terrible LGBTQ+ representation

And before anyone says anything, no, it is not because Sylvie is portrayed as female and Loki as male. I've seen a lot of Sylvie x Loki shippers say that the reason people don't like the couple is due to it being one between a male and female, but that's not true. Loki and Sylvie were both confirmed to be bisexual, meaning that they can engage in a relationship with anyone of any gender. It would be completely valid for either of them to pursue romance with someone of a different sex and still be bisexual. No one is arguing against that, and if they are, I definitely do not agree with them.

However, the problem comes in when you take into account Marvel and Disney's (who owns Marvel) long history of queerbaiting. There have been countless times that Disney advertises their "first gay character!" only for it to be a single line of dialogue or a brief shot. Marvel in particular has used the popularity of certain LGBTQ+ ships and headcanons in their fanbase to generate media popularity that they don't actually follow through with in their movies/shows. So when Loki was confirmed to be both genderfluid and bisexual in Episode Three, lots of people felt like they were finally getting a win for representation. 

But those people, myself included, appear to have been let down again. The first two official queer characters had so much potential to go off and be with anyone they wanted, but instead, the show has set them up to be in a romance with each other. Now, this wouldn't be problematic on it's own, but when you take into consideration the questionable nature of their romance from Point One as well as the fact that the show has explicitly referred to it as "twisted," it raises the question of whether or not this is actually good representation. Because the fact is, in one episode the writers went “look, it’s two queer people!” and in the next, they said “their relationship is disgusting and demented.” Marvel’s first bisexual characters being borderline incestuous/selfcestuous does not sit well with me at all.

All of this is made even more confusing when you take into account the background of the Loki crew, most notably, the director Kate Herron. She also directed the Netflix series Sex Education, which has quite a bit of very well done representation of all kinds. So how is she managing to fail so badly on this project? It makes me wonder whether she truly is just losing her touch or if this is all a misdirection. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter.

3.  It does not send the "self love" message people seem to think it does

The writers, director, and cast of Loki have said multiple times that the relationship between Sylvie and Loki is meant to act as a metaphor for self love. And in a way, that makes a lot of sense. Despite creating different identities for themselves over time, they are still ultimately the same person and therefore share a special bond because of it. And there's a lot of potential that can be done with that concept.

Loki is an extremely complex and intriguing character. He has experienced a lot of trauma in his past that has shaped him into the person he is today. And that person is clearly very broken. He has never given away or received any kind of love, with the exception of his mother and possibly his brother, Thor. Other than that, he's had no healthy friendships, romances, or perception of himself. It makes sense for him to be confused by this pull he feels towards Sylvie, who is both alarmingly alike and vastly different from himself.

Something this series does exceptionally well is breaking Loki out of his comfort zone. He is finally forced to see himself from other people's perspectives. It started with the file Mobius showed him in the first episode. Loki was able to view his actions apart from himself, and was hit with the realisation that he had been hurting people, and he didn't like that. 

Loki is also confronted by the existence of the Time Keepers and the TVA, who describe him as an antagonist and nothing more. To them, his role is to make those around him look better, even if that means he repeatedly gets the short end of the stick. Mobius mentions that he disagrees with this and that Loki "can be whoever and whatever he wants, even someone good," adding another layer of depth as to who Loki could be in the future of the series. 

Another huge moment for Loki's character development is while in the Time Loop Prison with Sif. Though he starts out annoyed with the situation and recalls not feeling apologetic when he cut off Sif's hair, the longer he is in the loop, the more he changes. Loki admits things to himself that we have never seen him say aloud, such as the fact that he is a narcissist that craves attention. Sif telling Loki over and over that he deserves to be alone makes Loki question whether or not he believes that to be true, allowing him an introspective moment where he really has to think about who he is. 

Now with all of that being said, I'd like to tie in why this is important to the writing of Loki and Sylvie. They act as a mirror to one another, representing both the flaws and strengths of "what makes a Loki a Loki." For once, Loki gets an honest, unbiased look at himself without layers of expectations or self doubt. On Lamentis, he calls Sylvie "amazing" and praises her for all her accomplishments. That's a huge moment for him because it shows that despite also finding her irritating, he can look past those traits and see someone worth being a hero underneath. And through that realisation, he begins to understand that he can also grow to love himself. That kind of character development for Loki is incredible to watch, and it's the kind of character development I want to see from this series. Unfortunately, them possibly engaging in a romantic relationship will ruin it.

Whenever I'm feeling insecure about myself and my abilities, the solution has never been to look at who I am through a romantic lens. Self love is an entirely different type of love from romantic love, so if the series tries to push this relationship as a romance, it will fail to truly represent the arc that they are trying to show.

4.  Nobody likes it 

This one's a little on the nose, but it's true. Almost no one likes this ship, and more than that, most people actively hate it. Yes, there is a small minority that like Loki and Sylvie together, but there is an overwhelmingly larger group that is disgusted and angry by the fact that the show paired them up.

After Episode 4 aired, I ranted for about an hour and a half with a friend about how much we didn't want them together. My aunt whom I have never texted reached out to me to say that she hated their relationship. My homophobic neighbour came over and told me that she would prefer any other romance to this. Friends that I haven't talked to much since school let out for summer have all agreed that they collectively dislike Loki x Sylvie. This ship has brought people together purely because everyone hates it more than they hate each other.

There is no denying that the general feedback for Loki and Sylvie being a couple has been negative, even if you support them getting together for some reason. So if there are so many people out there who don't like it, I'm confused as to how it would be approved by a team of professionals.

5.  The contradicting information we have gotten so far

Before the release of Episode Four, Kate Herron said that the relationship between Loki and Sylvie was “not necessarily romantic.” During the interview, she continued to refer to them as friends and people who found solace and trust in each other.

However, after Episode Four, the head writer, Michael Waldron, and other members of the crew spoke up about Sylvie and Loki. They said things like “it just felt right that that would be Loki’s first real love story” and “these are two beings of pure chaos that are the same person falling in love with one another.” These kinds of comments very heavily imply something romantic, directly contradicting what Kate Herron said. Even Tom Hiddleston, the actor for Loki, has assessed the situation, highlighting the differing viewpoints. He’s also said before that the end of Episode Four ultimately has Loki getting in his own way. 

Now, this could all just be a misdirection on either side to build suspense for the show, but as of right now, it is entirely unclear who is telling the truth. Though it is more likely that the statements made by Michael Waldron are more accurate (as he is the writer), there is still a slight possibility that Loki x Sylvie won’t happen. I’ll link the articles I’ve found on this topic below so you can read them and decide for yourself. 

Kate Herron Statement - https://www.cbr.com/loki-sylvie-relationship-not-romantic/ 

Michael Waldron Statement - https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/loki-sylvie-in-love 

Tom Hiddleston Statement - https://thedirect.com/article/loki-tom-hiddleston-sylvie-romance 

6.  It is still salvageable

The odds are not in our favour, I’m afraid. It is highly probable that the show will put Loki and Sylvie in a romantic relationship with each other. Yet there is still a way to salvage it and turn their bond into something incredibly satisfying. Like I mentioned in Point Three, the relationship between Loki and Sylvie has the potential to be incredibly empowering and provide both characters some much-needed growth. And I believe that while unlikely, it can still do that. 

The only mention of them being romantically interested in each other came from Mobius, who at the time was angry, betrayed, and doing anything he could to get Loki to talk. Then, at the end of the episode, right before Loki is about to confess something important to Sylvie, he is pruned. This results in no explicit confirmation from either Loki or Sylvie that they are in love with each other. The audience is left not knowing whether Mobius was correct in his speculations, and honestly, I don’t think Loki knows either.

Loki is no expert on love, as I explained earlier. It is entirely possible that he doesn’t grasp how he feels about Sylvie and defaults to romance because of what Mobius said. There is undoubtedly some sort of deep bond forming between them, and I would love to see that being explored in the next two episodes. I would love to watch Loki’s journey of realising that he doesn’t want anything romantic with Sylvie, and was simply confused by the new things he was feeling towards her. Loki even says “this is new for me” when talking to Sylvie at the end of Episode Four. Him momentarily believing that he wants to be a couple with her then shifting into them becoming friends who help each other grow is still a reality that could happen. And ultimately, I think that would benefit them both as characters as well as strengthen the overall message of the show.

In a show about self love, acceptance of yourself, and figuring out who you want to be, Loki very much needs people who support him. He has that in Mobius already, and now he’s beginning to have it in Sylvie as well. I just hope that it is done in a way that resonates with the audience and subverts expectations, which just cannot be done through some twisted romantic relationship. I’ve spoken to others watching the show and seen people talking online, and everyone seems to agree that Loki and Sylvie work much better as platonic soulmates or found family than a couple. 

Of course, my hopes aren’t that high up. While I’d love for this to happen, I’ve been let down by Marvel before and wouldn’t be surprised if they went for the easy route of pairing characters up rather than dealing with the emotions correctly. Still, I have hope for this series. Everything else about it is wonderful and perfect in every way. It has the potential to become a masterpiece and easily the best thing that Marvel has ever done. However, this romance would ruin it for me and so many others. We already feel incredibly disappointed by Loki x Sylvie being suggested, so I can’t even begin to fathom how people will react if the show makes it canon. I’m begging Marvel to please do better than this. They have a wonderful story to tell and a wonderful team to do it, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that they don’t throw that away. 

#marvel #loki #sylvie #mobius #loki x sylvie #loki x mobius #kate herron #michael waldron #disney #lgbtq #representation #tva #loki tv