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hookhausenschips · 1 month

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Masterpiece (Songfic Mini Series)

Word Count: 1,262

Summary: Tyler comes to terms with his mistakes. Can he be forgiven?

Warnings: very sad, groveling, illusion to cheating

Masterlist

song: Masterpiece by Motionless In White

Hook taglist: @shawtys-things, @gethooked, @hope4more, @redpool, @lovethathookhausen730, @dgcrimson-garcia, @brideofinfamy, @boneyjones7777, @saramusazzi99

Join my taglist here!

A/N: this is my interpretation of the song!

previous extra

Third Person POV

All the stupid lies and the stupid games

Left a vacancy in this picture frame

A prisoner by my own hands

'Cause if I can't have me, then no one can

The rain fell relentlessly outside, matching the tumultuous storm brewing within Tyler's heart. He sat alone in his dimly lit apartment, the weight of his mistakes bearing down on him like a suffocating blanket. Memories of his infidelity haunted him, tormenting him with the pain he had caused his partner, Y/N.

As he stared at the empty space beside him, Tyler's mind replayed the events that had led to this moment. He had succumbed to temptation, seeking solace in the arms of another woman when he should have been cherishing the love he shared with Y/N. The guilt gnawed at his soul, consuming him from the inside out.

I need to heal what I inflict

But I'll burn that bridge when I get to it

As I play roulette with a broken gun

I confess these sins with a sharp and spiteful tongue

But now, as he sat in the silence of his remorse, Tyler knew that he couldn't undo the damage he had done. He couldn't erase the hurt in Y/N's eyes, the betrayal etched into her every glance. All he could do was try to make amends, to beg for her forgiveness, and pray that she would find it in her heart to give him another chance.

With a heavy sigh, Tyler reached for his phone, his fingers trembling as he dialed Y/N's number. Each ring felt like a countdown to his own reckoning, a reminder of the consequences of his actions.

So how do I apologize

And put the tears back in your eyes

When every canvas that I paint

Is a masterpiece made of my mistakes?

"Hello?" Y/N's voice was distant, guarded.

"It's me," Tyler replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "I... I need to talk to you."

They sat in silence, the weight of their unspoken words hanging heavy in the air. Hook could feel Y/N’s energy, filled with a mixture of anger, hurt, and disappointment. He knew he had caused her pain, and had shattered the trust between them with his careless actions.

The long pause on the other end of the line continued for a few more seconds, as if Y/N were debating whether or not to hang up. But finally, she spoke again, her voice tinged with bitterness. "What could you possibly have to say that would make any difference now?"

Outlined in guilt, my portrait stares

In a gallery where the walls lie bare

Tyler closed his eyes, his heart breaking at the sound of Y/N's pain. "I know I've hurt you, Y/N. I'm sorry," Tyler whispered, his voice choked with emotion. "I know I've hurt you, and I don't expect you to forgive me. But I need you to know that I regret what I did more than anything."

Y/N remained silent, her gaze fixed on the floor. Tyler could sense the tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment.

"I never meant to hurt you," Tyler continued, his voice trembling with sincerity. "I was selfish and foolish, and I let my own insecurities and fears drive me to do things I'm not proud of."

But he refused to give up hope. He refused to let his past mistakes define him, to let them destroy any chance he had of making things right with Y/N.

"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness," Tyler said, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to earn it. I'll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I'm worthy of your love, that I'm capable of change."

As I modernize my antique ways

True colors can't escape the brush of fate

But his words felt hollow, meaningless in the face of the pain he had caused. Y/N had trusted him, had believed in their love, and he had betrayed her in the worst possible way.

The silence that followed was deafening, suffocating. Tyler held his breath, waiting for Y/N's response, praying for a glimmer of hope in the darkness of his own despair.

As the moments stretched into eternity, Tyler could feel the weight of his guilt crushing him, suffocating him with its intensity. He wanted nothing more than to turn back time, to undo the mistakes he had made and erase the pain he had caused.

But he knew that was impossible. All he could do now was try to make amends, to find a way to rebuild the trust he had so callously destroyed.

"I don't know if I can ever trust you again, Tyler," Y/N finally said, her voice trembling with emotion, "You've broken my heart, shattered it into a million pieces. I don't know if it's even possible to put it back together again."

So how do I apologize

And put the tears back in your eyes

On every canvas that I paint

Is a masterpiece made of my mistakes?

Tyler felt a pang of despair grip his heart, the realization of the depth of his betrayal hitting him like a tidal wave. He had destroyed the one thing that had meant everything to him and had pushed away the person he loved more than life itself.

The weight of her words are like a physical blow, each syllable driving home the magnitude of his betrayal. But he refused to give up hope, refused to let his own failures define him.

"I understand," Tyler replied, his voice steady despite the turmoil raging within him. "But please, Y/N... give me a chance to make things right. I'll do whatever it takes to earn back your trust."

Illustrate all my pain

And set it all ablaze

Burn

And set it all ablaze

There was a long pause, during which Tyler held his breath, his heart pounding in his chest. Then, finally, Y/N spoke again, her voice softening ever so slightly.

"I need time, Tyler," she said. "I need to figure out if I can ever forgive you."

"I want to believe you, Tyler," she said softly. "But I don't know if I can ever trust you again. You've hurt me in ways I never thought possible."

Tyler nodded, even though Y/N couldn't see him. "Take all the time you need," he said. "I'll be here, waiting for you."

So how do I apologize

And put the tears back in your eyes

When every canvas that I paint

Is a masterpiece of my mistakes?

As he hung up the phone, Tyler felt a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness of his own remorse. He knew that winning back Y/N's trust would be a long and arduous journey, filled with obstacles and setbacks. But he was willing to do whatever it took to make things right, to mend the bond he had broken with his own careless actions.

For in the end, Tyler knew that love was worth fighting for, even when the shadows of regret threatened to consume him whole. And as he stared out into the rain-soaked night, he vowed to himself that he would never again let his own weaknesses destroy the precious gift of Y/N's love.

And in the light of my demise

I see my failures in your eyes

Every canvas that I paint

Is a masterpiece made of my mistakes

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scribbleshanks · 1 year

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Kind of have a question about void besties AU, if ya don't mind those! How old was Hollow when they met Collector?

Because now I'm just imagining tiny Hollow playing with them and also being manhandled by the Collector

oh oh oh argiopi made a comic about their first meeting! Hollow happens to be of late teenage equivalent, the reason being as argi put it, "...I think they'd be a pretty different person if they had opportunity for a friend since they were very young, but i also couldn't place it too close to the sealing because when one person is conditioned to be so extremely reticent it takes a long time for bonds to form."

I quite like this headcanon as it would give time for Hollow and Collector to form an impactful relationship with each other, all while Hollow is just old enough to understand the weight of their purpose as Hallownest's savior, putting strain on their tentative friendship.

That being said, I can definitely imagine the absolute glee of Kingsmould Collector manhandling a much younger Hollow like a ragdoll if the events were different.

ah yes collector, proving yet again from the time of their construction that they have no chemistry with children whatsoever

#ask #void besties #hollow knight #scrib art #doodles

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fancifulplaguerat · 9 days

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As I continue to scratch like a little beast at the concept of fate in Patho Mark Immortell unfortunately needs to be discussed. Specifically Mark in Patho Classic, because he’s just so……. What the hell is going on with that dandy Mephistopheles. I have to know.

Mark is clearly cognizant of Patho’s narrative to an extent, and seemingly represents another play on “lines” as a mechanism for prophesying in Patho. As Artemy knows the lines in viscera as a Haruspex, Yulia/the Mistresses know cause-and-effect chains/threads of fate, Mark knows the lines as in theatre. Eva describes Mark’s performances thus: “Staggering, prophetic performances! They predict fates. […] Two ritual Masks pick a volunteer from the crowd. Mark looks at his hands, then shows them to the Masks. They improvise. Without a word they play out either the nearest future or the whole life of the person—depending on the price. And it always comes true!” Notkin says, “They say they tell your fortune, right? Might be just a game, might be note; it does come true. I think though that it’s Mark himself who manipulates the events to align someone’s life with his ideas. […] I mean, [his predictions] do come true, though not every time, and if they don’t, he explains it away as a metaphor, or says they did come true but we didn’t notice.” Notkin differs from Eva’s depiction somewhat; at least, he complicates whether Mark’s performances really come true, and this reliance on metaphor to me is reminiscent of an idea in Patho where obfuscation, story-telling, or performance are the most efficient means to communicate truth (lovely Nina is an apparent exception but I am not talking about that right now <3).

For instance, a Town child tells the player, “Mark—he knows the truth and is afraid to distort it. That’s why he uses masks, puppets, and riddles.” This echoes Katerina’s line, “I can’t leave my smoke and mirrors be […] Because I cannot lie when it comes to details… My lips literally cannot enunciate something that is untrue. Riddles and vagueness leave me a degree of freedom.” Mark himself voices something similar: “Like any game, play-acting is a mere shadow of Existence, a tiny fragment of it, a semblance—not a hollow semblance, mind you, quite the contrary, filled to the brim! Play-acting is fuller than reality... since it’s smaller.” To me, this gestures to how storytelling and theatre—with their ability to exaggerate reality—allow one to address issues in a roundabout way which can be more efficient than clear-cut truth. Simplicity is absolutely a necessary tool, but can inevitably hinder necessary nuance, and I think that is what Patho is getting at here. Similarly, it’s suggested that people *interpret* these plays rather than the acts being clear depictions of future events, e.g. when Mark talks about the bull in the Bone Stake Lot incident: “Everybody started to talk about it, interpreting and reinterpreting the… act. Just like they do with our very own Mask Act here. The prophetic excitement is growing by the hour…” just as he later says, “No, I am no longer a mime show interpreter.” All this suggesting that Mark perhaps interpreted simulacra or semblances, and this is how he understood Pathologic’s narrative.

Characters further suggest that Mark’s Masks did not merely show the future, but enforced it. Daniil says, “You were a puppeteer. Your Masks foretold our future—or maybe imposed it upon us; in all honesty, I don’t see the difference.” Maria similarly states, “his performances don’t show a person’s fate, they impose it,” and Lara says, “Mark’s mime shows seem to incorporate us too… everyone’s playing along to avoid disrupting the performance, and that’s exactly how he’s manipulating us.” I interpret this from the meta angle, because obviously the Theatre demonstrates the game’s events, which the characters act out because. Well. They are characters. Even Mark doesn’t appear above it all, as Lara says “I think it’s the Masks who play him and not the other way around,” and Mark refers to himself as an actor, such as when he muses that “I’ve been thinking about leaving this place of the dead for a while now, but I get the feeling that this is exactly the place for me to fulfill my part…”

Though, Mark obviously more often references the player’s role as an actor, which again points to his understanding of fate. Namely when he tells Daniil “[The next performance is] for you to decide. You are part of the lineup. The playscript is not yet complete, you see. […] Your fate isn’t bound yet. It will take time, effort, and of course your direct participation. Come to see us every evening. We’ll show how you’re doing bit by bit.” This dialogue is obviously stepped in the meta: the playscript depends on our actions, as the game unfolds according to our choices in words and deeds. This reminds me of how the Mistresses and Simon’s fortune-telling all seems to juxtapose predetermination alongside some kind of free will. That is, while there is room for a player to subtly influence the narrative’s progression, it is obviously all set out for us in the end. It has to end in a particular way, and it feels like this is what Mark understands. Namely when he discusses the three families with Daniil, and when Daniil asks which will be victorious, Immortell says, “You don’t need me to tell you that; the answer is yours. They're so different... Which one do you prefer? […] It's up to you.” Mark knows that the player must inevitably side with one philosophy according to their choices: choice decides the outcome, but that outcome is obviously already determined.

Mark instead tells Clara that she is “against the rules” because she is “an imposter and a changeling.” Against the game’s rules, presumably as Clara is the only character capable of breaking her fate and so going off-script, as it were, in Mark’s performances. In the secret endings, the gamemakers say that Clara’s twin was a “gimmick of choosing one’s own fate” and that “She was indeed conceived as a disease, an instrument of the Law… but she was born a thief. At the very moment of her birth, she got a chance to become someone completely different. The girl came into this world, having stolen for herself the fate of a miracle-worker.” From a mechanical standpoint, Clara is obviously unique in that she has a choice—most people probably know that curing all the Bound allows you any choice, but that aside, Daniil and Artemy have only one decision. So setting aside that Clara obviously is still bound by a preset narrative, she is capable of choosing to oppose her predetermination and thus the capital-L Law, as fate/inevitability/the Law are closely intwined and often conflated. Breaking the Law is indeed ‘miraculous,’ which is referenced in a dialogue between Imortell and Daniil about the Polyhedron:

Mark Immortell: […] First of all, I also believe in lofty ideals—don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. […] But recently I came to realize something that has blown me out of the water completely and made me reevaluate my worldview. So... I believe in Vlad's transformation. Bachelor: What did you realize? Mark Immortell: That fate can be overcome. I’m so tired of all this... You know, many people consider my shows to be mere tricks—but I know that’s untrue. They are daily reminders of Predetermination reigning over us... it’s depressing. But now I see that a miracle is not completely impossible. Bachelor: Please, go on! What makes it possible? Mark Immortell: It’s the Tower. The only thing that leads the plots of my performances astray is the Tower. The Tower—and everything that has to do with it... those are the only things that cannot be tossed and turned and manipulated like puppets. A miracle overcomes the inevitable. The Tower can do miracles. It all makes sense. Bachelor: I’m not sure it does. Mark Immortell: You will still have an opportunity to ponder it. The Tower is an ambiguous phenomenon. There’s no need to rush to conclusions. I have, as you can see, fallen in love with it... I think of it as my safe haven. But you should keep a cool head.

I am gleeful about this dialogue btw there is so much to work with here. For one, it maintains the link between opposing fate and the miraculous found in Clara’s character, as Mark’s conviction that “fate can be overcome” derives from the Polyhedron’s capacity for miracles. Again, then, the miraculous is positioned opposite inevitability and fate. But what is Mark’s actual relationship to Utopia and the Utopians? I have always wanted to throw up blood over Daniil and Mark’s final conversation. When he tells Mark, “I thought that the whole point of the Utopians’ ideology was neglecting the laws of fate and the limits it imposes upon us,” to which Mark replies, “You are correct, oh the keenest of the astute! So what? I have cognized this side of Existence from backstage, so to speak; from where the strings go and the machinery is hidden—and yet I willingly swore allegiance to the Utopia. Does that tell you nothing?” That line goddamn haunts me. It always reinforced to me that there is an undercurrent in this game that people should strive for utopia, even if it’s a perpetually doomed endeavor, given Saburov and Eva’s statements to this effect. Mark appears sincere in this, given his “I also believe in lofty ideals” or how he gives his life to Maria; Katerina claims that Maria is the only one who can influence Mark, and indeed we see his collusion with Maria in the Changeling Route.

But Clara throws potential doubt on Mark’s allegiance to the Utopians when she reports to Katerina, “He’s not one to side with either the Utopians or the Humble. He stands apart.” [or] “Maria thinks he’s under her charms and in the ranks of the utopians. He’s playing along [with her]. But that’s not how it really is!” I think Mark could well be playing along with Maria, considering a dialogue with Andrey where he suggests that Mark “Claims that the local mimes can tell the future. As for me, I think he’s making fun of the Mistresses—and, by extension, of us all.” Maria herself says of him, “He makes me anxious; his performances don’t show a person’s fate, they impose it. I’d really like to see someone grab and pull the puppeteer’s strings. […] one day I shall tame this crafty imp—no matter what it takes.” “Makes me anxious”?? Maria of Scarlet Mistress fame ??? This reminds me of Mark’s voice lines “There is a great ability in knowing how to conceal one's ability,” and “It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.” These lines need not necessarily be related, but imply a deceptive character that suggests he could be following Maria’s lead out of amusement.

Another suggestion that Mark is taking the piss is that he quotes Professor Pangloss from Candide, who represents the naïve optimism and theodicy Voltaire lambasts: “All is for the best in this best of the worlds” (Всё к лучшему в этом лучшем из миров/Tout est pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes possibles). The Utopians are not necessarily naïve optimists, but are dreamers who ascribe to the miraculous, even emphatically self-proclaimed rationalist Daniil. Theodicy also intended to vindicate divine justice, and Patho’s narrative involves its own ‘divine justice’ through plague; so Mark quoting Pangloss feels quite tongue-in-cheek to me.

Whether Mark is a sincere Utopian… As with everything, it’s open to interpretation. I think he is, given that dialogue with Daniil. Mark seems aware that he is only pulling people’s strings in that his performances reflect a predetermination that he is subjected to as much as everyone else. He appears genuinely intrigued by the miraculous (as in: fate can be broken) in his claim that he has fallen in love with the Polyhedron as Daniil or Eva. Likewise that he claims Clara is a “worthy opponent” as a miracle-maker, given that she defies fate and so overcomes the inevitable. I find it particularly notable that Mark considers the one thing that ‘leads the plots his performances astray’ his “safe haven;” but, I also think Mark is frankly cheeky about the whole affair because of his narrative awareness which also sets him apart from other characters.

#this one's for you Ruby #you understand my pain and suffering at being forced to think about Candide again #pathologic #mark immortell #patho.txt

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ddarker-dreams · 1 year

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Hi Lock <3 I don't know if this has been asked before but I had this thought yesterday at 5 am... What happens to Scara's darling after he wipes his existence from Teyvat? Would he try to pursue them again? If so, would there be anything he'd do differently than before? He knows what works and doesn't now after all...

hello ada !!!!

WHEW BOY... do i have some thoughts on this... let's see if i can get enough neurons firing to capture what i have in mind. some of this response involves conjecture on my part about genshin's overall lore, but i promise i'm going somewhere with it. pinky swear. stick with me.

one of the key takeaways from scara's archon interlude is the flow of teyvat's fate. at first, i found it very odd that scaramouche erasing his existence had so little consequence. i've always been of the belief that even the smallest, seemingly insignificant acts can have unforeseen consequences on the future (butterfly effect type beat). at first i thought mihoyo was being lazy by keeping everything in this teyvat 3.0 essentially the same with teyvat 2.0 (and tbh who knows maybe this is the case and i'm reading way too into it bc i overanalyze anything scara related), but then i wondered if this is a hint at the type of universe teyvat is.

then i considered the possibility teyvat is ruled by a type of predeterminism. while we don't know exactly what the heavenly principle are, apparently the original chinese characters for what's translated as heavenly principles can be read as destiny (and or fate). this make me wonder if teyvat has a set of 'rules' that, for whatever reason, must be adhered to. if something disturbs this delicate balance, the universe reorganizes itself in such a way that it closely mimics the universe before it.

ALRIGHT . all that to say.

wouldn't this spell the ultimate tragedy for scaramouche's darling? a delicious tragedy, but a tragedy nonetheless.

for some inexplicable reason, the story woven by fate for his darling is one of subjugation. the universe rewriting itself does not change the genre of their play. no matter what point they start at, the ending to their story has already been determined. in this teyvat 3.0, the kabukimono is still drawn to them, still obsessing to an unhealthy degree. perhaps it's not as bad as living under scaramouche's thrall, but bad is a relative term here, this is still no way to live. kabukimono is granted a set of advantages which scaramouche never had, namely his naïve personality lending itself perfectly toward manipulation. he embeds himself into your side and makes it so it hurts you to try and pull him out. he'll get tearful, apologize profusely for crossing another line, quietly pleading to not be left behind when you're all he has.

then comes the events of the archon interlude.

when the blank slate version of kabukimono takes on all of scaramouche's memories, coalescing into one, your close ties surprise the freshly awoken scaramouche. in teyvat 2.0, he hesitated while wading through irminsul; it had been you who pushed him to make the decision to erase 'scaramouche', the sole source of your woes. after gazing through your memories from your lens, he saw the extent of your despair, felt it reverberate in his hollow chest cavity. it occurred to scaramouche that you really would have been better off without him, painful as it was to admit it.

so he resolved himself to do right by you just this once. his first and supposedly last act of sacrificial love toward you.

except... that wasn't the case. 'wanderer' as he goes by now condemns himself for his foolish, wishful thinking. what a revelation this is! the messy threads that pull you together are ties that can never be severed. this is definitive proof. in this universe where you were meant to be free, you still found him, or to be more specific, he still found you. he's elated, he's thrilled. the energy that fills him at this realization is more invigorating than when he temporarily became a god. yours is a story whose script shall never be altered.

after departing from the sanctuary of surasthana, it doesn't take long for the wanderer to happen upon you again. it's as if your presence quietly calls out for him.... whispering, beckoning.

the first words he says to a somewhat confused you are as such:

"how good it is to see you again."

#yes i will write a full story of this one day. who knows when tho #yandere scaramouche x reader #scaramouche brainrot #answered #scaranya

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czarrish · 1 year

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reasons you should play scarlet hollow

SCARLET HOLLOW is a horror narrative game set in the dying north carolina coal mining town of Scarlet Hollow, where you play the cousin of tabitha scarlet (head of the mines), coming back to town after a family rift for your aunt's funeral. things are wrong in town, and as tensions simmer over working conditions in the mine, the dark secrets of the town start to boil over in the form of supernatural events. work with cryptid hunter stella, general store owner kaneeka and her witchy mother sybil, newcomer avery, hot dad librarian oscar, mysterious artist reese, and of course, your cousin tabitha to uncover the secrets of scarlet hollow--before they drag you and your friends into the depths.

WHY YOU SHOULD PLAY:

there are seven character traits to choose from (mystic, talks to animals, hot, street smart, powerful build, keen eye, and booksmart). you pick two, and they influence how you can react to situations and how people can react to you. i've done three playthroughs with different traits so far, and they have all been radically different. the second playthrough i did, i was blown away by how many things were fixable, or could be made so very much worse, or hadn't existed at all in my first playthrough.

going off of that: the choices that you make in this game actually matter. and not in a "you can have different buddies going into the final battle!" sort of way. in a life or death sort of way, in a brutal consequences for our heroes sort of way. there is at least one MAJOR decision in each chapter, which can end in multiple different ways depending on your choices, and they stick with you.

the characters have rich back stories, and you can tell that the writers planned this whole story out from start to finish before releasing chapter one. i just started a playthrough after finishing chapter four, and the events of that chapter are foreshadowed all over the place in ch1, which was released a year ago.

it's GENUINELY scary without relying on cheap jumpscares or gore tactics. so much of the horror in this game comes from the dread it invokes, and the implications for our heroes. in chapter four, i was literally hiding behind my hands for a large section of the game.

i need PEOPLE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS GAME because i am LOSING MY MIND over how good and game-altering chapter four was, and i am gonna die. thank you please do the damn thing

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promptthebear · 11 months

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🐰 Billy Russo #6 please

Easter Askbox Event 2023- Billy Russo x Reader

Prompt: If I have to ask again, I won't be this nice

Summary: Your ex, Billy Russo comes back to town. Instead of asking you out for a drink, he gets a little creative with your reunion

CW: Kidnapper/Prisoner dynamic, F!Reader, Reader has a male partner who isn't Billy, mild knife play, mild rope play, use of blindfold, spicy but not exactly explicit. Please let me know if I forget anything!!!

Where the fuck am I?

You clung to that thought as it pushed to the forefront of your clouded mind. It wasn’t a particularly helpful thought, but it was the clearest one you’d had since the world went dark. You still felt woozy, the throb in your head matching pace with your racing heartbeat. Your mouth felt dry, like you’d been swallowing dust, but at the very least you weren’t gagged…yet.

You’d been blindfolded though, that much you could tell. You could feel the cloth tightening and relaxing against your forehead as you moved your head from side to side. Each movement was accompanied by a stab of pain behind your eyes, but you grit your teeth and kept trying. At this point, whatever information you could garner, no matter how small, could be the difference between life and death.

Wherever you were, you were alone, or at least you hoped. If someone was there with you, they were quiet enough that you couldn’t hear them, which came with its own set of problems. You knew you’d been grabbed, but whether that was by professionals or amateurs still remained to be seen.

“Hello?”

You said this more for your benefit than anything else, not really expecting an answer. The sound reverberated and echoed back to your ears, but at most it only lasted for around thirty seconds. That told you a couple things.

You weren’t in a big space, but the walls were made of something that allowed sound to bounce around. Tile, or maybe concrete or metal. It felt cold, too, with a dampness that settled into your bones and made you shiver. It was likely you were in a basement or bathroom or maybe even a storage container.

“Hello?”

You called out again, louder this time. Just because there wasn’t anyone in the room with you didn’t mean there wasn’t someone outside who could hear you. When no reply came, you screamed, loud and long like you were auditioning for a horror movie extra. That’s when the hand clamped down over your mouth.

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up. NOW.”

The bubble of panic you’d managed to hold back with survival tips from all those true crime podcasts finally burst. Fear, icy cold and paralyzing, raced through your veins and settled into the pit of your stomach. You felt lightheaded, your breath coming in little pants as your heartbeat pounded in your ears.

Panic quickly gave way to adrenaline and you began to struggle, tugging at the rope that bound your limbs and wrenching your head from side to side to try and shake off the hand over your mouth. It was only when you felt the knife tip poke at the soft hollow in your throat that you stilled.

“That’s better. Now, I’m going to take my hand away and you’re going to be a good girl and be quiet for me, okay?”

The tone implied a question, but you knew full well this was a command. You nodded. almost imperceptibly, and tried not to wince at the sting when the blade nicked your skin. You could feel your captor’s eyes following the resulting drop of blood as it made its journey along the contours of your neck and down to your collarbones. You shivered, his gaze making your skin run hot and cold in turn.

“Seems you do know how to listen. Keep it up and maybe you’ll make it out of here before I put a red necklace around that pretty throat of yours.”

Threats should not make your toes curl or heat pool between your legs, but this one did. Something about the voice, masculine and with a confident purr, did things to you you’d rather not spend time unpacking just right this second. Your reaction didn’t go unnoticed by your captor, however. He let out a soft chuckle, the sound cold and totally mirthless, and you felt his fingers brush against the edge of your jaw, almost as if he was trying to caress you.

“You’re really fucked up, aren’t you sweetheart? More than that little JV, yacht club fiancee knows, huh?”

You gulped, the action pushing another trickle of blood from your throat. Who was this asshole and how the hell did he know about Bryce?

“Ooh, did I hit a nerve? I’m guessing Mr. CPA is too vanilla for you. You’re probably bored to tears every time you have to tolerate his sweaty fumbling. Am I right?”

You grit your teeth, keeping any semblance of a reply firmly locked away. There was no fucking way you were giving this asshole an answer. It was bad enough he’d grabbed you, you weren’t going to let him humiliate you too.

“Hey. I’m speaking to you.”

The hand that had stroked your face so gently seconds ago grabbed your throat in a grip that brought tears to your eyes. You made a sound, somewhere between a moan and a whimper. Your brain was too addled by the sudden decrease in oxygen to bother with actual speech.

“When I ask you a question, I expect an answer. If I have to ask again, I won’t be this nice.”

Your captor punctuated his statement by shaking you slightly, like you were a broken toy he was trying to make work again. The movement knocked your blindfold slightly askew, which freed up your vision enough that you could finally look this bastard in the face, and what you saw made your heart drop into Hell.

“Billy?”

“Hey babydoll, you miss me?”

Billy fucking Russo. A series drunken hookups, screaming matches in his penthouse and many other bad decisions replayed in your mind’s eye. The two of you had more or less “broken up” after he’d skipped town when the Punisher had started hanging around New York. Whatever beef the two of them had had been bad enough that Billy had stayed away for a good four years. In that time, you’d cleaned up your act, finished school and gotten engaged. None of which seemed to matter much to Billy, since he was here, looking as perfect as the day he left and grinning at you like a damn fool.

The fear that had been twisting your gut into knots gave way to pure, unbridled rage. You struggled against your bindings with renewed vigour, kicking out at Billy’s shin’s and trying to bite the hand at your throat without any results. If anything, your attempts at fighting back only seemed to amuse Billy further, widening his already massive grin to wolfish proportions.

“You could’ve just called me” you finally relented, your still voice a little breathless from struggling “You know. Like a normal fucking person would.”

“I could have, but I was feeling a little nostalgic, and if I remember correctly you used to love this.”

The reminder of your shared…”recreational” activities quickened your pulse and made your head swim. Of course Billy still knew which buttons to push.

“What do you want?”

Billy leaned down, his face so close to yours you could feel the telltale scratch of his stubble against your cheeks. He inclined his head slightly and brought his lips inches away from yours. The smell of his cologne filled your senses, making you dizzy as you were wracked with memories of pleasure and pain that left you wanting more.

When Billy finally ducked his head and bit down where his knife had cut you, you didn’t resist. Instead, you arched your back and keened, any sense of morality or consequences burnt up by the raging inferno of desire that blossomed in your gut. You could feel something pressing sharply against your thigh, though whether this was Billy’s knife or the other “weapon” he favoured, you couldn’t tell.

“Isn’t it obvious, sweetheart?” his voice was a heady growl, low and sinful in a way you knew Bryce could never match “What I want…is you.”

#easter askbox event #billy russo x reader #billy russo x you #billy russo imagines #billy russo

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novakaiserart · 16 days

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Rebirth Broke Me

i jusr finished rebirth and oh man i fucking love this game, it embellished the relationships between every character to well. worked on the plot so naturally and beautifully. i especially love how much they portrayed aerith and tifa, gave yuffie more of a connection to the group. i also adore how they explored the gi story and made it so much more relevant. i love how they worked out barret's struggles. absolutely in love with vincent, but i always did so lol. i saw some people complaining about cid, but imo i think he's putting up a good guy front just so he doesn't lose any business after his attempt at being a shinra pilot failed. i fully expect them to cover his story in part 3 and explore it more like they did with everyone else. im soooo happy we got to see cissnei, but so sad aerith and her didnt speak of zack :(. it's also cool we got to see some midgarian faces again even after the crew left. the trials had me actually crying, it was stunning. they really cooked

i was very confused with chapter 14 until I reached the end, but it makes sense to me. spoiler warning ahead ofc i believe aerith died. i also believe cloud is incapable of coping with the fact that she's dead, so he sees her still present with them. but i also believe she won't stay dead either, i think she was really there with cloud when they fought sephiroth. her line of "i'll pray to stop the meteor" tells me she'll come back. being a cetra and all, i think she'll find a way to return to the earth through the lifestream

my leading theory for the trajectory of the games currently goes as following; i believe that sephiroth went back in time to when it all started (crisis core time) in the hopes of changing how events played out, my biggest proof of this is his attempt at killing barret in remake and tifa in rebirth. he underestimated them in the og timeline and only took out aerith as he viewed her as the only threat, but he needs the others out the picture too sooner than later. especially tifa. hence why he constantly gaslights cloud about her being a fake or not being trustable; she's the only one that can help him put his mind back together. without her, cloud will always view the world through clouded lenses. but one thing changed about my theory with the whispers now being white and black; aerith followed him to stop him. she sacrificed her memory and recollections of events to make it back. the whispers were sephiroth and aerith's will fighting to keep the timeline intact, but they evolved and split into two factions. i also think aerith's white materia being hollowed out has something to do with that. i think she saw what he was up to from the lifestream (since shes dead in og timeline), sacrificed her memories to stop him once and for all. for a while i thought aerith was the one going back, but it wouldnt make much sense for her to undo what they did just to save herself and zack. it's possible this is an entirely different sephiroth, but i believe it's the one from the og timeline trying to reunite every world possible to make sure he wins everywhere.

it's hard to say for sure whats going on and we're only going to know once part 3 drops, but i know one thing for sure. neither cloud nor sephiroth are relliable narrators and their interpretation cannot be trusted. cloud's mind is still scattered, he's divided between denial and obedience to sephiroth. anything he says cannot be trusted. sephiroth is bad shit insane, he only accepts his view of the world. his vision is the only valid one, therefore what he says cannot be taken as matter of fact.

one final footnote i want to comment on is the "date" aerith and cloud had. yes, im a big cloti and aerti fan. also believe zack is the only right person for aerith, so maybe im coping but idc lol. i think it was all a dream or at least an altered vision of events. i firmly believe aerith still loves zack. she wrote to him for 4 years while he was taking a mako bath, waited for him endlessly day and night. she loved him dearly. but aerith is also one hell of a loyal person. i doubt she would ever be able to brush off zack like that. she also doesn't know if he died in the remake timeline. i think she projected her love for zack onto cloud; to relive the happiness she found with him one last time. she's been holding on to her grief for years, she still thinks about him. he dropped in one day into her life so suddenly and changed it for the better. as did she for him. he vanished the same way she found him. so when another soldier falls into her life the same way, carries the same sword as him, has similar mannerisms, reminds her so much of the man who she fell in love with; can we really blame her for wanting an escape of how much sadness she felt from zack being gone? i also dont believe for a second she used cloud to feel better about herself, i think she just wanted to feel the love he showed her again before she had to pass on. but cloud isn't zack, cloud could never love her the way zack did. aerith grew up without any real friends, no one that accepted her for being her. everyone viewed her as different or weird; but not zack. he was the first person to show her genuine care (besides her mothers). she misses him, as much as she's happy with all her new friends who also accept her for her; she wishes he was there too. i also don't believe that the real cloud has any romantic feelings for aerith. again, he took on the life of zack in his head. he feels drawn to her because of how much zack loved her.

it's really such a tragic story full of nuance and hurt. i noticed that zack and tifa are great parallels; both of them are the only ones truly capable of reaching inwards towards their respective partner. zack understood aerith much better than cloud ever could. tifa can touch cloud in a way no one could. but that doesn't negate the fact that cloud cares for all of them just as much. they all mean a lot to him and he means a lot to them.

also really appreciate how the devs still kept the canonity of tifa and cloud, but also gave the chance to fans of other pairings to be happy with the outcome and choose their path. its always been a divisive thing in the ff7 fandom, so its cool of them to try and make everyone happy

overall, im super excited for part 3 and i think i might recover from this by the time it comes out

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denimbex1986 · 5 months

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'With “The Giggle” finally hitting Disney+, the three David Tennant-centric Doctor Who specials have come to a close, with surprising and spoilerific results. We’ve known for ages that Neil Patrick Harris was playing a new incarnation of a 1966 1st Doctor villain, The Celestial Toymaker, but until now, nobody knew how that was going to play out. And of course, there’s the whole question of the 14th Doctor’s surprising regeneration. With deep dives into recent lore, the return of Mel (Bonnie Langford) from the 6th and 7th Doctor eras, “The Giggle” will give fans plenty to talk about for a very long time to come.

But, squeezed into all of this was one very telling line from the 14th Doctor, a kind of revelation we’ve heard before, but that truly helps to contextualize the more contemporary Doctors as being very different from the 1st Doctor, William Hartnell, for one crucial reason. Just because the 1st Doctor appears to be a literal grandfather, that version of our eponymous Time Lord is among the youngest, and least-wise of all our Doctor Who incarnations...

As Donna and the Doctor are trying to escape the domain of the Toymaker, the Doctor vaguely recaps the events of “The Celestial Toymaker.” As the Doctor explains, he allowed the TARDIS to slip into a “hollow beneath the under-universe,” which brought him in contact with the Toymaker. Interestingly, in the context of the original serial, this wasn’t the Doctor’s first meeting with the Toymaker; and that vague origin has never been outright depicted on screen. But, the more interesting revelation here is the way the Doctor talks about the events of “The Celestial Toymaker.”

“When I was young I was so sure of myself, I made a terrible mistake,” the Doctor says. Now, if you didn’t know he was talking about a William Hartnell-centric adventure, your mind might call up a vague younger version of the Doctor, perhaps even one of those secret “Timeless Children,” versions. But that’s not at all what the Doctor means here. He means Susan’s Grandfather, the 1st Doctor, the grumpy, gruff stick-in-the-mud. And the idea that gets reinforced here is fairly simple: The elderly Doctor was, in fact, the youngest and most immature version of all the primary incarnations we’ve seen.

Meanwhile, the more conventionally youthful Doctors — including the incoming Ncuti Gatwa — are considerably older than the Hartnell Doctor, meaning, they’re infinitely wiser and less immature. Part of this comes from more experience, but it also comes from the fact that the newer Doctors are, for lack of a better term, simply more Doctor-ish. Over the years, the Doctor has become more of themselves through a variety of critical points.

In “The Giggle,” the 14th Doctor mentions that he is “a billion years old,” which is significantly older than he was back when Donna first met him in “The Runaway Bride,” at a time which the Doctor usually cited his age as somewhere in the 903 range. Is the 14th Doctor counting all the time the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi) spent in the confession dial? Are we also adding in all the missing years from the time of the Fugitive Doctor (Jo Martin), and other “Timeless Child” or “Brain of Morbius” Doctors who have had their pasts erased?

In a way, whether they’re a few thousand years older than the Hartnell Doctor, or a few billion, it hardly matters. The newer Doctors are simply much older and smarter than the older ones. Just because William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton might seem like senior citizens compared to Jodie Whittaker or Ncuti Gatwa, the reality is those classic Doctors are the young punks. Those are the Doctors who made the mistakes and messed up space and time, and various galaxies. In this way, the story of the new incarnations of Doctor Who isn’t about a Time Lord’s constant quest to look young. Instead, it’s all about undoing our preconceived notions of what a responsible hero should look like, and realizing the one that looks the most like a revered elder, is also the person who was likely the most reckless.'

#William Hartnell #Patrick Troughton #David Tennant #Catherine Tate #Donna Noble #The Giggle #Ncuti Gatwa #Jodie Whittaker #Timeless Child #Fugitive Doctor #Neil Patrick Harris #The Toymaker #Melanie Bush #Bonnie Langford #Peter Capaldi #Doctor Who #60th Anniversary

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7grandmel · 10 months

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Todays rip: 18/07/2023

The expanse of meme in past was split, A fiendish trap has now been set; Behind a tree the villains sit, Terror of sport, the Robbie's Net.

Season 5 Featured on: The SiIvaGunner Spooktacular Halloween Horror Special: Curse of the Fallen Angel

Ripped by Blookerstein

youtube

In deciding what would be todays post, I had to make a REALLY hard choice between this rip and the equally as excellent When the Impnosktor is Void, both by the same ripper made under the same event. They're both absolute titans of Season 5 and rips that never leave my mind, but I have to play toward my We Are Number One bias just this once.

You may recall (or have just seen, thanks to the reposts) that I covered a We Are Number One post very early on into this blog's life, throwing bunches of praise onto Nape Mango's ability to wield it in Chillin' Like a Villain. While I did touch on just how cool its been for the YTPMV community to have the entire WANO stems and source files available for use, what I wish I'd sold home even more is what that has LED to: A bunch of WANO arrangements with moods and theming wholly different from the original's ska silliness. That's of course notable in Chillin' Like a Villain itself having a far happier, more holiday-cheerful vibe to it due to its original song's instrumentation, and on the complete opposite end of that you find...todays rip, that I won't be spelling out the name of for obvious reasons. This time, shit's SINISTER.

Through the mixing of WANO's instrumentals and the source track's organ backing, this insane boss theme manages to retain almost every aspect of its original oppressive mood despite being sung by Robbie Rotten from LazyTown. Its an absolute treat to the ears to try and decipher what parts of the original WANO are being used where in the song, so densely layered together specifically to create that same dark atmosphere. I think my favorite part althesame is the vocals - in a way, the goofiness of Robbie's original performance starts to fade out of focus thanks to this aforementioned atmosphere, leaving nothing but the overacted villain role performing with full sincerity. Near the middle of the song there's some really clever and well thought out spacing and added reverb to the vocals to specifically make them sync up with the hits of the original song, and it just hits so perfectly. Its not a mere mashup or an automated conversion, but filled with tons of these small little tweaks and layers of depth to ensure the song's full potential is realized.

I remember both this rip and its other potential candidate for the day having a sort of reverance upon being uploaded, due specifically to the sparceness of Hollow Knight rips on the channel before them. The SiIva team have a tendancy of responding to fan requests in a very tounge-and-cheek way, which they'd done previously in the season with Hollow Knight as well, but on this day - the Grimm Trouppe's 4th Anniversary, in the midst of the season's Halloween event - everyone was celebrating with genuine quality. Blookerstein is one hell of a guy to committing to this anniversary as hard as he did, and trust me, he WILL show up again in the future.

#todays siivagunner #season 5 #siivagunner #siiva #Blookerstein #hollow knight #grimm #grimm troupe #indie games #christopher larkin #team cherry #Youtube #Bandcamp #we are number one #wano #lazytown

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cthulhubert · 2 months

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Catching the Record of Lodoss War OVAs on some channel's "animidnight" block was a formative experience for young me, and its design choices were scarred into my mind as the fundamental fantasy aesthetic. Which, uh, didn't exactly make me an odd one out anywhere because it hews closely to the ISO fantasy mold (and indeed helped make the mold).

"Record of Lodoss War" (I'm using quotes to indicate the literal phrase) is one of those odd-ball translation choices that ended up being iconic, just ever so slightly nonsensical, it stuck in the minds of kids like me that watched it young. A transliteration of the Japanese is Lodoss-tou Senki. -tou just means island; "senki" could credibly be translated as (and this may shock you) 'war record'. It's a specific term in Japanese that refers to the record an officer or attached scribe kept of the battles a military force took part in ("battle chronicle" is also a good translationand by metonymy is used for "military history"). As you might imagine, it's still popular in manga and novel names.

It started out as, not quite a novel, but a "RePlay", a record of the events of a table top RPG campaign, published in a magazine (Comptiq focused on computer games, but apparently content was content, and Lodoss got hugely popular). The mid-eighties predecessor to Critical Role, basically. It did really well, which makes sense, given that the dungeon master and the players were all published writers (the DM would publish what's called the first domestic Japanese high fantasy novels, Rune Soldier, in the same setting). It started out in D&D, but would also be played in Tunnels and Trolls and RuneQuest. In 1989, they ended up publishing their own set of rules, called Record of Lodoss War Companion, and later, Swordworld RPG (2.5edition came out in 2018!).

A series that was inspired and distilled a lot of the concepts that were and would remain popular in high fantasy settings in both Japan and America and then probably inspired another generation of iterations when the anime came back to America.

Some day maybe I'll watch the anime again, it finally got an English Blu-Ray remaster in 2017. I've read the manga and some of the novelizations in the mean time and, to be honest, they were pretty middle of the road, nostalgia notwithstanding.

Thank you for reading my ramble that was intended to be a short introduction to a short video game review.

A 2D exploration platformer with RPG elements (levels, stats, different bows and weapons to equip).

Briefly: a beautiful game. No flaws, but nothing that stands out either.

This game is beautiful. If you like the pixel aesthetic at all, I think you'll also love it. Critical hit in my visual sensibilities. It looks like Symphony of the Night looks in my nostalgia painted memories. The only note: it doesn't exactly take any risks, design wise, but if it did, that wouldn't be very true to the source material would it?

The music works.

Combat is pretty fun, if a bit easy. There are seven elements, you get wind and fire options for your basic attacks, and spells and special bows for the rest. Swapping elements changes your resistances too. The different types of weapons (long sword, knife, two-handed, spear, and throwing) offer some variety, as do the attractive designs. That said, for a melee based game like this, I prefer slightly more technical and challenging combat. Hollow Knight's a good example of my sweet spot, and Blasphemous is also well in my strike zone.

Movement is basically okay. You have to feel like a badass when you leave an after image trailing behind you. The wind element comes with the ability to hover (move slowly in mid air at up to your maximum jump height above ground or water), and they do a couple fun things with that. Other than that, it's all pretty straight-forward, which is a little disappointing.

They do some fun occasional fun puzzles with the archery.

Individual room design was fun sometimes, but the overall map design was lackluster. Yet another victim of the trend where leadership says, "Adding metroidvania tag increases sales, so do it," and design can only respond, "If we take a linear game, fold the map up in a spiral, and occasionally make you back track, that makes a fun exploration experience right?" It's been done worse but it's still not great.

This sort of game tends not to have a lot of story, but what there was was pretty good. One of those cases where the writers have a "twist" in mind, but did not intend for the player to be confused about it at all, just the character. The dramatic irony still makes the pay off satisfying.

It took me about 12 hours to 100%. It's on PC for 20$, which might be worth it. The Switch and PS4 versions are full price games, which is faintly baffling for a game so short, no matter how pretty and nostalgic.

And that's why I've shared so many words with my dash over what's ultimately a decent game; because of the anchor its series dropped in my heart in childhood.

Thank you for reading.

#original #review #words #long post #record of lodoss war #steam says I've got 33 hours in it but that's because of a couple times I closed the game but steam didn't think I did #I replayed symphony of the night and super metroid recently (ugh... holy shit... a few years ago now)#to see if they held up as the gold standards of the nonlinear exploration platformers that they are in my mind #and they absolutely were; it's no wonder at all that they created a genre themselves #if only more movies and books from my childhood followed that trend #since I can't mention the 'metroidvania that shouldn't have been one' without thinking about the worst example of it:#dust an elysian tail would've been an okay beat 'em up game; adding the most lackluster 'metroidvania' elements possible just made it worse #everybody needs to take more inspiration from games like axiom verge and hollow knight #I hope tumblr's recent spurt of transmisogyny doesn't burn it down around us; where else will I be able to post this kind of nonsense?#and then ramble about it in the tags after?#after I posted this I clicked my record of lodoss war tag: it is 90% cute pictures of deedlit #and in every other one I also explain the translation of the title again 😂

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sukunasbabygirl · 2 years

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I've seen your "Uncle Phillip" AU and, after seeing the events of "King's Tide", I'm wondering about how things will play in this AU (Time-line), taking into account the events of Hollow Mind and forward.

Like, will the fight against Belos be different? And, if I'm correct, Belos was in THE OWL HOUSE during this AU's "Hollow Mind", so what's he gonna do when he wakes up? Storm out of the house?

What would he think, if he knew, of AMPHIBIA???

Also, beware the Crimson sigil.

-S.C.

This is going be an interesting one!

I’m going to focus only on King’s Tide events here, so unfortunately there won’t be much context for the other episodes yet. This is just because my thoughts have a tendency to become disjointed and I need a clear train of thought for something like this. I’ve also already spoke about the Hollow Mind stuff and uh… most of what I know about Amphibia is through osmosis from mutuals. Alas.

One thing I will say for context is Luz did still pull the Hunter trick! Philip ordered that both of them be taken to him, but Luz knew Kikimora would always prioritise Hunter first. Her brother has been through a lot lately, and she can’t even trust that her uncle won’t hurt him anymore, it’s just something she can’t risk. She’d rather put herself in danger than lose anyone else.

Part of her still wants to try and get through to her uncle as well, even if it becomes clear it’s too late for that.

I realise it will be best if I tackle this event by event so it’s more organised and readable? I guess? I’ll only be covering events that change, for example the stuff with the coven heads and Eda still happens very similarly to canon, so I won’t be talking about that. Alright, with that in mind, let’s get into it!

Collector’s Betrayal

Something I’ve briefly glossed over before is that Philip and The Collector have a sort of father-son relationship going on here. Philip got a little too used to actually being a decent parent and started acting similarly to The Collector as he did to a younger Hunter. The Collector isn’t sure what to make of it at first, they’ve never had anyone treat them like Camila and Philip do, but eventually he gets used to it and views it as a different genre of friendship.

They don’t even consider for a moment Philip might not go through with the deal, even Philip isn’t so sure about betraying them anymore. He always intended to, right from the beginning, but unfortunately the human realm has softened him and whether he likes it or not, he’s grown to be attached to The Collector.

Sadly, he still decides to betray him.

Here, it isn’t out of malice, rather a worried thought chain Philip found himself on. The Collector is powerful, dangerously so, and he was imprisoned for a reason. They don’t understand consequences, the severity of their actions or the limits to their power, all he knows is how to play, and they aren’t the simple childhood games Philip played when he was a boy. They’re chaotic. They’re destructive.

For a moment, he has to force himself back into his old line of thinking, push aside any feelings of care and protection he may have toward The Collector. All so he can throw them into the same abyss he threw countless members of his family in before.

This does still backfire on him later.

Luz vs Philip

Also know as: angst, angst and more angst.

Their reunion is a bitter one. The second she’s free from the ball, Philip doesn’t even get chance to finish a single word. She wastes no time, attacking him immediately. Similar to in canon, Philip doesn’t even try to fight back, and the only upperhands Luz gets are when he’s trying to plead for her to listen, when he’s distracted like that.

Philip, by this point, has doubts and regrets, and he isn’t even sure if he’s fighting for the right thing anymore. He’s so scared to admit that though, that he’s killed innocent people, and that he’s about to kill a whole islands worth… over nothing. There’s no going back for him now. He can’t stop the spell without The Collector. Luz finds this out at the worst time. See, here she’s running off pure emotions. She’s been betrayed, lied to, and she doesn’t know how to comprehend any of that so suddenly. She thinks Philip can still stop the spell, but she knows he’s completely lost in his own delusions, so impulsively and desperately as the fight drags on, with Philip not wanting to hurt Luz, she grabs the glove, an invisibility glyph so he lets his guard down, and she brands him.

It’s then that she finds out he can’t stop the spell. “I can’t stop it Luz!” Is the last thing he yells before he, for lack of better words, goes apeshit. Based on what we see in the show, with the palismen gone, Philip’s beast form is a mix of controlled and uncontrollable depending on what I assume is Philip’s emotions. Well, whatever it is, I’m going with emotions here, and he is going through a lot of them right now.

The main differences mostly begin when The Collector shows up. Before that, most stuff played out the same, albeit different dialogue as to be expected. These kids had met Philip multiple times before, and he had always outwardly treated them well, concealing his true feelings of resentment away from them. They never saw any of that. They only knew Luz’s weird but strangely fun uncle who was very good at getting them out of trouble thanks to his silver tongue. So this is even more terrifying for them.

Also I tell a lie, there is a major difference just before The Collector shows up. They manage to calm Philip down. He’s still in his beast form but he isn’t causing complete and total havoc anymore.

Luz, pushing aside the hurt she feels, walks up to him and asks:

“If you can’t stop the draining spell, who can?”

“I can!” A sudden voice chips in.

Who’s that Pokemon?

It’s The Collector!

Goo, Trauma and The Human Realm

Philip doesn’t ‘die’ trying to kill the kids. He dies trying to protect them. It’s meant be ironic really, that his last act before getting splattered against a wall by a kid on creative mode is protecting witches.

The on-brand for this show trauma as the section title suggests comes from the fact they all, once again, knew Philip. He’s Luz and Hunter’s uncle. King views him as an uncle too. The other three interacted with him similarly to how they interacted with Eda. Now, suddenly, he’s gone. There’s no time to process it either. And also the general trauma of this entire episode. These kids are way too young to be going through all this.

(Small edit: Because I was reminded, despite how much I hate watching these kids suffer… I’m doing what the owl house crew would have wanted me to - I’m implementing the splash zone. I’m so sorry Hunter.)

Now King, who’s holding back tears, has to jump in before The Collector tries anything. The Collector is super excited to finally meet Luz and Hunter officially, though he still seems a little upset by Philip’s death, saying how they didn’t mean to hurt him that badly. Before flicking a switch and returning to his playful self.

Things happen about the same as the show here.

The human realm I listed because Philip’s goo situation could go so many ways. We don’t know how Philip will reform, but I know I want him to reform as soon as he can for the sake of the kids. When I open my ask box again, which I will be doing after this*, I’m absolutely down to here thoughts and theories and see how they could work with the AU? I dunno it could be really interesting to think about!

*I haven’t answered every ask yet, but it’ll be pretty easy to manage now. There are some asks I just don’t really have answers for or I feel I’ve already covered the topic so if I don’t answer a specific ask I apologise for that!

I also answered this ask from memory so if I forgot anything I, again, apologise.

Finally:

A Very Minor Detail

Eda, disguised as Raine, has to hold back a snarl when Philip is standing in front of her. That’s it. That’s the detail.

I mean there is a lot of emotion behind that detail considering Philip was her friend, someone she confided in a few times, and yet he lied to and betrayed her, hurting her kids in the process as well.

There are a lot of small detail changes like that which I unfortunately can’t cover as my thought chain is slowly losing energy now. There are a lot with Hunter with though. He is having the opposite of a good time.

I hope this all made sense, if not I’m sorry but there’s no refund. Also I’ve probably made a lot of typos in this. Again, there’s no refund.

#the owl house #toh #the owl house au #toh au #emperor belos #philip wittebane #luz noceda #the collector #asks #uncle philip au

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shai-manahan · 2 years

Note

Hi Shai! I've been meaning to ask, I know you've said before that there's a reason Alonzo can be set to nb and not Wesley, so I was wondering how you envision your gender selectable characters while you're writing.

My decisions involving those options mostly got to do something with what I want and can represent. I'm not sure if this is what I'll do with my future IFs, too, but for Hollowed Minds, gender plays a huge role for the characters. Not because they conform to gender stereotypes, but because it’s simply a concept that’s deeply connected to who they are as individuals.

I'll start with Alonzo. I've been quite open recently with sharing the fact that Alonzo has an indigenous heritage. Their mother belongs to the Abiyan Agta (residing within the boundaries of Camarines Norte in the Philippines), and the fact that I have a similar heritage with them has made me comfortable doing something I wouldn't apply so eagerly with the other ROs to this extent: making the enby option selectable while having each gender choice for them to cause variations with regards to their past. I will explain this further later.

I will admit that I’ve been viewing Alonzo as an enby myself, even before I added the option for it (which I initially hesitated on doing so because I wasn’t sure at the moment if I could give them a proper enby rep), but I have always been firm on the decision to make them gender-selectable because I want to give the Agta some visible representation that they rarely get.

For some context, even amongst the Filipinos, Agtas have constantly received racist remarks for their skin and their way of living. It’s a group that always gets ridiculed – their lands have never been given the proper respect they deserve, and sadly, their culture is also considered to be an endangered one. Most of the Filipino media are whitewashed nowadays, too, and Alonzo’s character was the most wonderful opportunity I’ve ever had to do something different.

So here we are. While Alonzo has a set personality and appearance regardless of their gender, their love for their own mother has caused them to go through some internal struggles throughout their youth. The Agta as a group has its own societal framework involving the separate roles of men and women, so letting Alonzo be gender-selectable allows me to portray how it feels for a man, a woman, and especially an enby to love one’s own culture while struggling with the burdens it puts on the individual because of said connotations. (To be very clear, Alonzo’s mother was very supportive of them and helped them get through every single one of those; it will be further explored in Book 2).

To make it short, each of the gender choices for Alonzo will present you different forms of struggles that someone who has such heritage may have faced in the past, and how the experience still affects them to this day.

My answer for Wesley is a shorter one, I suppose. Wesley’s personality and sense of fashion, like in Alonzo’s case, is very much the same regardless of their selected gender. However, the difference is that Wesley will deny showing that when in public and in front of people they wouldn’t want to get close to. It’s a mixture of their parents’ tough upbringing and Richard’s warning about the elite, but as of the events of Book 1, they want to be seen as someone who’s gender conforming and nothing else. Their clothing, the way they style their hair, the way they move. Their distant attitude makes it hard to talk about it with anyone else aside from the MC, so it’s a constant struggle they are facing.

This is something that will change as we get further into the series, and I’m sure you’ll get to observe that, too! Now, the thing with Wesley is that I never really viewed them in a specific way, gender wise, which is why I’ve also once thought about adding a non-binary option. Sadly, it just… can’t work out that way.

Wesley’s parents may have somehow cared about them, but those two were not good people. It’s an understatement to say that an enby Wesley would have received the worst treatment from their own parents, and that isn’t something I’m willing to touch on right now. I’m someone who just recently identified as non-binary and will probably never come out irl so a trauma resulting from that as an idea doesn’t sit well with me as of the moment.

I think I’m fine with my decision of not making Wesley have a selectable enby option, as including it might just make the whole game a lot more uncomfortable with all the issues it will bring forth. Plus, aside from Alonzo, you’ll also get to meet more non-binary characters! I know it's not part of what you asked, but I gotta admit I'm excited about it.

As a parting take, I know that discussions on gender can always go wrong in so many ways, but IF is a very great medium to explore related nuances with care. There’s probably no foolproof way to ascertain that my views on this matter are even correct/acceptable, but these characters have always been dear to me, and while there’s nothing wrong about making gender-selectable ROs have the exact experiences no matter what their genders are, Hollowed Minds also tells a story about individuals traversing and struggling against the expectations that have been placed on them by the world they live in. Maybe the current demo does not show too much of that yet, but I hope that in time, it will.

I'm sorry this got too long, but in case y'all are curious about Owen and Jade, I can also talk about their experiences with gender and social conventions. I hope this response will be good enough to ease your concerns, though, if there are any. Thank you!

#e alonzo #f wesley #interactive fiction #hollowed minds series #hollowed minds book one #hollowed minds #choicescript #ask #anon #writing #wip #if game #if wip #dashingdon #interactive novel #this is... a very long one yes I know

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bluebellhairpin · 2 years

Text

Arthur Morgan X Reader

A/N: It’s only taken me a year to write something for my most favorite cowboy ever so hopefully it turns out good. - Nemo

Summary: Tension in the Van de Linde camp had been a long time coming. When that tension turns to a division at Beaver Hollow, you make your choice to stand with Arthur. For better - or worse.

Warnings: Gore, Guns, and Blood. Character death. Language. Angst with no happy ending. Spoilers for the game, if you haven’t played yet.

Listening to: ‘The Chain’ by Fleetwood Mac - “I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain.”

Masterlist || Ko-fi || Event Masterlist

You’d known Arthur Morgan for a very long time.

The both of you were very young when you’d been picked up by Hosea and Dutch, evidently joining the small, growing Van der Linde gang.

Life of an outlaw wasn’t easy, and the times you wanted to give it up and go hide yourself away in some cabin were more than you could count on your fingers. But you stayed. These people were your family, your friends. You wouldn’t give up on them, no matter how difficult some of them made it to stay.

But the person that kept you with the Van der Linde gang the most, was Arthur. It was always Arthur. Sure, others nestled into the care of your heart - Ms Grimshaw, Marybeth, Lenny, Abigail and little Jack - but he took up residence in that space long ago.

Lately, though, that single tie keeping you with the gang was straining. Not because of Arthur himself, not really, but because tensions were rising in camp. People started disagreeing with the leadership - though never mentioned aloud - and everyone was so tired.

Dutch said he had a plan, but even you were starting to wonder if he ever had one to begin with. No matter where you went, trouble followed. Laying low barely kept you safe for a few weeks - let alone long enough to gather enough money for Dutch to believe it was enough.

Would it ever be enough?

With everyone pitching in - thefts; robberies on banks, coaches, trains, homesteads; hunting; errands; actual honest work - money should’ve been flowing into camp. But it wasn’t. You were never safe enough, and there was never enough time. Time was one thing Dutch kept seeking more of.

Time, money and faith.

But your faith was wearing paper-thin.

Blackwater felt like the last straw, but it turned out to be the first part of the last straw. You didn’t know what you were waiting for, you were practically itching to leave it all behind, to actually start anew - without everyone else - but something always stopped you from following through.

Loyalty, perhaps.

It surely was not Dutch’s speeches.

But then more people died, and the wedge in the camp’s division pushed in further. It became clear some people wanted to leave - yourself included - while others kept belief in Dutch. For you, the turning point was the Saint Denis bank robbery.

It went awfully wrong, and led to not just Lenny dying, but Hosea too. Once news returned to camp about the historical failure, Sadie sprung into action with Charles and moved everyone away from Shady Belle, but you decided to simply move away. You’d spoken to Charles before you left, leaving word with him about what to tell Arthur when - or if - he returned. What to do if he came back.

Eventually they did come back, and Charles sent word to you about the return of the lost men. Guama they’d been, and returned acting different. Strange. The concept and idea of someone betraying the gang was on Dutch’s mind, and a finger was pointed at you when he returned and found you missing. Arthur, as kind-hearted as he denied being, was one who defended you, and after the Pinkerton attack on their camp you were no longer under question.

You didn’t even know where their camp would’ve been to send the agents to.

Word travelled to you continuously, bless Charles, and so you found out about the gang’s second move to Beaver Hollow. When word stopped, that’s when you got worried. Was Charles okay? Was the gang okay?

So you packed a bag and left. To go back. You were met with your old friends, old family, hoping to find good news, but instead found them pointing guns at each other.

“What the hell are you fools doing?” you yelled, walking cautiously towards the group. “I know you all have your differences but we’ve never gone about shooting each other for it.”

“And you’d know? You left!”

And so guns were pointed at you. As quickly as they all turned, they all scattered. In your confusion, you simply followed your gut. So you followed Arthur.

“I’ve killed for you, Arthur. I’ve killed protecting you.'' You said, “If you think I’m going to stop doing that because you want to be a hero and send both of us away then you’re wrong. I’d do anything for you, and that includes staying here. Right now, you need me more than John does.”

“Then you're sick.” he said, “No, insane, that’s what you are.”

“Yeah I’m insane. You’ve taken all the sickness for yourself. Look at you Arthur, barely standing on your own - say how fast do you think you’d react if Micah pulled a fast one on you, huh?”

You could tell Arthur was trying to block out your arguing, wanting you to leave with John rather than stay, barely paying you any attention until you mentioned his draw skill.

“Are you doubting me?” he asked, turning from the rocks to you.

“Yes.” you said, bowing your head in earnest, “And that doubt will continue until this is over, or you drop dead. I’d rather it be the former than the latter, which is why I’m staying with you.”

“No, you ain’t.”

“You can’t stop me!”

“You’re gonna get both of us killed.”

“The only way I'm going down is if they get me in my sleep, and I don’t intend on sleeping for a long while yet.” You turned away to reload your revolver. “So quit acting heroic, be a sad bastard for once, and stop arguing with me about this.”

“I’ve always been a sad bastard.” You smiled at him.

“No, you ain’t.”

You’d never seen so many Pinkertons in one place before. You’d never killed so many before either. The whole stand-off/fight was going rather well in your opinion, all things considered.

All up until you got shot.

Once on your front.

Once in the back.

You stumbled back, tripping over your own feet. The first thing you saw when you turned to fall was Micah lunging at Arthur. Then gravity kicked in, pushing you over the cliff face and down onto the ledge below.

Half the reason Arthur was holding so well in this gunfight was because of you, in a fistfight in this sick state he’d die. You knew that much. Even with the burning in your chest, ribs - heart - and the warmth seeping onto your shirt, you knew that Arthur would be a dead man without your help.

You’d started a long walk - but no that was too painful - a long crawl back to where Arthur was, only for both him and Micah to tumble down to the ledge, not five feet away from where you first landed. Leaning up against the rocks, you fumbled at your side for your gun, only to realize you’d dropped it back before you fell.

You had no way to help unless you got in and made a nuisance of yourself.

Ironic.

Micah always said you were more trouble that you were worth.

Watching them tussle, you reached down, wincing at the stretch of your wounds, and pulled a knife from your boot. If you aimed right, you could throw it at Micah and give Arthur the chance he needed.

You could feel the energy drain from your body with every drop of blood that stopped running through your veins. If you didn’t act soon you’d be too weak to get in a good enough throw. So you pushed off the wall, standing straight, took in a deep breath, and threw the blade right into the side of Micah’s right thigh.

It didn’t stick, but went through with a clean cut. A viable enough distraction for Arthur to break away and sock his opposition right in the jaw.

Unable to see past the blurring of your own eyes, you sunk to the floor, legs turning as weak as twigs under your own weight. You clutched your front, legs kicking out in front of you, and your head nodded down so you could watch yourself bleed out between your fingers.

You could barely tell what was going on anymore, with such a heavy head and your ears starting to feel like they’d been stuffed with cotton, and everything was feeling too hot. You only shifted after you saw someone approach you, giving you a wide berth to move towards the two men.

“Enough.” He said. It was Dutch. “That’s enough.”

You’d have spat on him if you could. It had been enough a long time ago. Nothing he could say could reverse what had been done. Stopping this feud now was practically pointless. It wouldn’t give him his money, or bring anyone back from the dead.

You hoped, as he walked away without a glance at you, that he’d never forget this day. That if you died here and now, that you’d get the chance to haunt him. Even if only for a short while, before you went to burn in hell.

A hand landed on your leg.

“Arthur,” you started softly.

“Don’t talk,” he rasped, coughing as he pulled himself to lay next to you. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

“Says you.”

“I knew you was a fool, staying.” He said, finally settled. “Didn’t think you was so big of a fool to get yourself shot. Twice.”

“I knew I was.” Both your voices were getting weaker. Quieter. You were both on the precipice of death and you both knew it.

“How?”

“I knew if it wasn’t Father Time, that got me, I’d end up dying for you, Arthur.” you turned, taking in his beaten and sickly face. “I may not have known it, but I guess I’d vowed a long time ago, to stick to you, ‘till death do we part.”

“You deserved better than this.” You let go of your wounded stomach, taking his hand in yours and holding onto it with all the might you had left. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize sooner. I’m so, so sorry.”

“I’m not.” you said. “There's few things I’d change, about how I lived my life, but sticking to you, Arthur, ain’t one of them.” You heard his breathing go shallow, even though his hold on your hand tightened.

A moment's silence passed, and he shifted his head to look past you instead of at you. Now too weak to speak, his eyes told you to look instead.

As you turned, your own eyes miraculously clearing one last time to let you see the rising sun, you felt his grip on your hand go slack. Cold fingers growing colder.

You were tired.

You’d known Arthur Morgan for a very long time, and the times you wanted to give up the life of an outlaw to go hide yourself away in some cabin were more than you could count on your fingers.

But you stayed, because you didn’t really want that life.

Not unless you had Arthur with you.

#arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan x you #rdr x reader #rdr2 x reader #red dead redemption x reader #red dead redemption 2 x reader #arthur morgan drabble #arthur morgan imagine #arthur morgan headcanon

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scarlett-vixen · 2 years

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N - Necklace with Beel and Angst please :)

First of all! What did my boy do to deserve angst :( Second of all!! Here you go! 😌

Prompt: N- Necklace

Pairing: Beelzebub x Gn!Reader

Genre: Angst

Beelzebub was notorious for visiting the kitchen frequently but ever since you left he had been visiting less often. The walk to the kitchen wasn’t as fun anymore, Beel used to stop by your room on his way to see if you wanted to join or afterwards to spend time with you, now he would stop in the hall and stare longingly at your bedroom door.

About 16 days had passed since you left, it wasn’t exactly planned or on good terms, the pain of watching you leave was still strong in his heart.

You’d finally had enough, you couldn’t stand the constant arguing, you were sick of all the events Lord Diavolo kept throwing, you were outraged with the never ending assignments you were given. You had a falling out with Lucifer, although very one sided, you packed your things and stormed out of the House of Lamentation heading straight for the Demon Lord’s Castle. You had demanded that you be sent back home, you were done, this was the last time you’d ever set foot in the Devildom.

“Don’t even think about coming to look for me! I’m DONE!”

The sixth born felt his heart drop, those were the last words you said before entering the portal and vanishing from their lives. From his life.

Normally Beel would grab his snack then leave immediately, today he did something different though, instead of walking into the kitchen he stood outside your old bedroom door and reached for the doorknob.

All the feelings he had for you came rushing back like a tidal wave, remembering all the times he had opened this door to invite you to go places with him, all the times he had carried you back to bed after a long day, every tender moment the two of you had on the other side of this door now filling his mind.

Beelzebub opened the door a little too quickly, desperately hoping this was all a bad dream, wishing that you would be there on your bed waiting for him like always. He looked around the empty room and felt his heart break a little more.

A room that was once full of laughter, of smiles, of sleepless nights and gentle embraces, now sat empty and hollow. All your belongings were gone, all your clothes emptied from the closet, all the shelves that once held your books were bare, in their place was nothing but dust and small cobwebs beginning to form.

Beel shut the door behind him and walked over to where your bed used to be. He hated that his brother had gutted the room after you left in a fit of rage but he knew that if your bed was still here it would only hurt worse. He looked around at the empty space, the original layout still vivid in his mind, there really was nothing left of you here. Nothing but his feelings.

He could still see your smiling face, he could hear your voice calling his name to join you on the bed, he could feel your hand in is while the two of you cuddled. The Avatar of Gluttony never felt as empty as he did right now.

Beelzebub started to leave when something caught his eye. The only thing still left in the room was the massive table where you used to do your homework, it had been too heavy for one demon alone to move and his other brothers had all been too upset to assist in removing it, underneath it was something small and glittering.

Beel picked up the object and immediately felt the tears in his eyes. A small gold chain with his name on the end of it, it was the necklace he had bought for you a few months into your relationship, you had put it on the night he gave it to you and never taken it off.

He remembered how you had proudly shown it off to his brothers, how you would play with it when you were anxious, how beautiful it looked around your neck. He remembered how happy it made him to see his name against your skin, no matter where you were or what outfit you wore, you always kept the necklace on.

Tears started to roll softly down his face, somewhere in the back of his mind Beelzebub had thought you might be lying, he thought maybe you just needed a break and once you had cooled off you would come back to the Devildom. That you would come back to him.

He held the necklace gently, it looked so small and fragile in his large hand, this was the last remaining part of you in the Devildom. He knew this was the only thing he had left to remember you, your voice would eventually fade from his memory, your scent would disappear from his jackets, his brothers would avoid talking about you to spare their own hearts. He knew this necklace would be the only evidence of your existence here a hundred years from now.

He knew you weren’t coming back.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #omswd #obey me beelzebub #omswd beelzebub #obey me mc #obey me beel x reader #obey me beelzebub x reader #obey me beel angst #kats 200+ event

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mdhwrites · 1 year

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I feel like something funny about people saying S2B was written with the shortening in mind, and so they had little time to spend, is that the majority of the time travel plot in Elsewhere Elsewhen is rendered redundant by Hollow Mind. The Savage Ages not being that bad, Philip always being a jerk, the Collector being revealed: all accomplished by the trip into Belos's mind and memories. The only thing the time travel thing does is explain why Belos hasn't gone after Luz, and set up Luz's arc of guilt for the rest of the series. Seeing that Belos is at his core pathetic and being beat up by Lilith was great, but he's also played completely seriously as a threat for the rest of the show. Even Luz's encounter against him in King's Tide draws more on the events of Hollow Mind then in Elsewhere Elsewhen.

I personally think Elsewhere Elsewhen is the worst episode of the show. It solidified that Lilith wasn't someone you could take seriously anymore and a whole new character, it ruined anything interesting about Belos' rise to power, it uses just a DUMB time travel mcguffin to have its plot, there's very little actually entertaining about it besides Luz's little jokes here and there, it RUINS the Isles in my opinion and anything interesting about them and... Yeah. It's a complete fucking waste of time. (It also introduces BS trauma for Luz which made me make a writing lesson blog about trauma in fantasy stories you can find here.) And I was saying that BEFORE Hollow Mind because... Yeah. Hollow Mind was always coming. It's impressive how redundant Hollow Mind makes Elsewhere Elsewhen but also, Elsewhere Elsewhen only has two minutes of screen time that is actually important. That progresses the narrative, in part for much of what you said. Though I do want to point out that the episode never paints him as pathetic. Physically weak perhaps but he somehow manages to trick the ex-head of the EC and Eda's apprentice with a bare bones scam and gets away almost scot-free for it. But that is not the larger problem. The problem is that the stinger at the end of Elsewhere Elsewhen is a waste. Of. Time. Let's actually talk about stingers for a moment and their uses and why Elsewhere Elsewhen's is the worst kind. First, of course, what is a stinger? It's a small thing at the end of the episode that is usually at least slightly disconnected from the rest of the episode and often serve as cliffhangers. This can be done in multiple ways like just five seconds of showing someone is watching, cutting away for a minute to a different character and what they're doing, etc. like that. Amphibia and TOH actually both start using them in S2 of their shows (just another WEIRD connection between the two where it feels like TOH is badly copying Amphibia's homework) and Amphibia does it better. Amphibia mostly does the building tension form of a stinger. This is because the stinger only ever is about Frobo (I haven't actually gotten to him yet, still only halfway through S2) and once with King Andrias and his chess board. Both are hinting towards future villains and have a tone of a looming threat but incorporating them into the episode would be awkward and so they're placed at the end as effectively a cliffhanger. TOH tried to do this in their first episode of S2 with the scrying potion. It was dumb and obviously just a fake out to be like "OOOH, BELOS! Luz won't see him again until S2B!" It's... Not as effective as Amphibia showing Frobo emerging and starting to follow the Plantars. I will give that the stinger of creepy Luz back home with Camila IS a good version of this sort of stinger. Another version is just moving the plot along. This is one that TOH does a lot more and to mixed effect. Escaping Expulsion, Them's the Breaks and Elsewhere Elsewhen (theoretically) are three I can name off the top of my head if you count them. The first is just functional. It gets the point across but also feels anti-Isles because sure, someone with enough money tooootally couldn't recruit enough greedy people to make their own army. The abomatons are totally a new concept for this place. Second has the problem of being ALL the plot we get on that front when there was so much more you could do with Raine and his rebellion. And Elsewhere Elsewhen, besides the issues I'll bring up soon, has the problem of making the reveal of Belos is Philip in Hollow Mind, which is done shockingly well, weaker. You can also use stingers to help add clues to a mystery and the like which creepy Luz theoretically does. I could probably also cite Gravity Falls but I haven't watched enough of that show.

All of these... are actually good uses of Stingers, at least conceptually. They have a function to the narrative. The version of Stinger that Elsewhere Elsewhen is... Is the only one that doesn't. It's the Stinger for the audience. It serves no other purpose than to give the audience information and shock that will HAVE to be gone over again. Notice that the rest of these are pieces of information that would be troublesome to tell in the main story. They're not vital but they foreshadow, expand or move a tertiary element forward. Philip being Belos was never something Luz wasn't going to find out. It's too big and it's too important. She would have always found out about the Collector too since Belos works with the little guy. These were elements that were ALWAYS going to be covered and in a grand and spectacular way. And you know what? THEY WERE!

In Hollow Mind, they just ignore the fact that they've already revealed all of this information to the audience and go the whole nine yards to make the reveal as big as possible. It's a good reveal even. But the audience doesn't gasp because they already knew. And for what purpose? Well... To post on Twitter about it. I'd really like to be nicer about this but that's really it. It's a Stinger purely to give the fans something to talk about. It doesn't serve any other purpose. AT BEST, if you're REALLY invested already, you get excited for Luz to find out herself. But if you're that invested (or invested enough to talk about this with more than a fellow fan)... You probably didn't need to be pandered to. You'd have rather gotten either those two minutes back or just had the entire episode focus on something ACTUALLY plot relevant. Which, I do want to admit one thing: It really fucking sucks that Elsewhere Elsewhen is filler because it's one of the way too few episodes dedicated to the effort of making Luz a way home, especially for how important Luz claims it is to her. Talking about the bad job they did with the portal door plot, or just how bullshit magic becomes in S2B simply to get rid of the Titan's Blood, are different blogs. For now... Elsewhere Elsewhen is a bad episode that is a waste of time. And the fact there are two episodes in S2B that I can call a waste of time is a real rough spot for the show to be in when at this point, yes, the shortening should have mattered. But really... Just look at the show. They were never going to prioritize in ways that made sense for needing to tighten up their story. Not when they've never had proper priorities. Last note: I am actually out of asks. This may lead to me slowing down with blogs, we'll see. *shrug*

#Elsewhere Elsewhen #Stingers #TOH #Rambles

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