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#and when she discovered that news. she was enraged.
ozzgin · 10 months
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Hi, first i wanted to thank you for doing my first request, it's amazing 😍. Since you did it so fast i wanted to ask for something else.
Could you do something with a Prehistoric reader. She's from the Jurassic like Pickle, she was frozen and brought back to life like him. However she's less agressive and a bit smarter than him. I kinda saw her like a big ( dangerous ) mama Bear, who likes those tiny humans.
I trust you for the rest, you can choose if you want to write about first meeting with fighters (which i find funny in the anime by the way ), how she was during Pickle's fight or what's her interactions with the fighters ...
Thank you for reading this , bye.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The speed may vary depending on how easily I can visualize the prompt, since I need a solid movie in my head before putting it into words. Not very efficient but so far it’s been working haha. :’)
Baki Characters x Prehistoric! Fem Reader
Featuring Pickle’s challengers: Kaiou Retsu, Katsumi Orochi, Jack Hanma and Baki Hanma.
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Backstory
A million thoughts raced the scientists’ minds upon discovering not just one, but two subjects perfectly maintained within the saline block. Were you partners? Would it be possible or expected that you continue your ancient lineage? While the idea was incredibly tempting from a researcher’s perspective, it was equally dangerous. They considered separating the two of you in order to avoid the risk, but they soon discovered that your help was needed to protect everyone else from the enraged prehistoric man.
The female specimen seemed to have a much more docile and cooperative temperament, with strong maternal instincts. Could it be that she viewed the much smaller modern humans as children? (Y/N) wasn’t that dumb. She could very well tell that these new forms of her own image are matured, but she could also easily asses how fragile they are based on their extreme fear and helplessness against Pickle. They haven’t showed any intent to attack her or Pickle, so she had no reason to be hostile. Pickle was rather frustrated by her frequent scolding, but his expressions seemed to indicate that (Y/N) always had a kind heart towards weaker creatures and it wasn’t his first time having to satisfy her pity. He begrudgingly accepted it.
The Meeting
Truth be told, most of the men had gathered in order to measure up Pickle’s strength. And he was eager to prove it after his quick encounter with Yuujirou’s mysterious techniques. It was only when you stood up and let out a warning growl that they realized the faint beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. Pickle had immediately cleared the way and even the Ogre himself grounded his stance, ready for anything. What a majestic creature, they all thought. Feminine beauty carefully chiseled into a powerful physique, adorned with muscles that would put any bodybuilder today to shame. The same arms that lovingly cradle infants with motherly devotion could easily crush bones and twist frail bodies.
The smell of fear lingered for aggravatingly long moments. You gently placed your large hand on Yuujirou’s shoulder and used the other one to point behind him. Only then did they notice the bright helicopter lights and pleading voices asking them to evacuate. You were looking out for them.
Kaiou Retsu
He’d love to challenge you. Truly. But not only are you a woman, you’ve also never shown Pickle’s excitement for battle. He respects your decision and would never impose his wishes on you.
After his fight with Pickle, he wakes up intact and notices you standing over his wounded body. A miserable smile spreads over his face as the realization hits him: you just don’t want to harm them. That’s why you never fight.
He’s not sure what hurts most. The damage Pickle has done, or his ego after realizing that all you have for them is pity. He’s going to need to find other ways to impress you.
Retsu later catches you trying to reproduce some of his moves and wonders if he’d be allowed to teach you martial arts. Or would that make you too dangerous?
Katsumi Orochi
Unlike Retsu, the damage he’s done to his arm couldn’t be prevented. You allow Pickle to remove the limb given the extensive injury.
Like a father that just played too hard with his children, Pickle follows you around apologetically, as if explaining he had no fault in this.
Katsumi is a little shocked to find you in his hospital room. Embarrassed to be seen in such a vulnerable state by someone like you, he waves his arm frantically and rattles the sheets, mumbling explanations and reassurances. You just stare in confusion. He forgot you can’t understand language.
You wonder if he can survive with one missing limb, as back in your day this handicap could’ve proven fatal in the long run. Should you provide the food for him? The hospital staff entrusts you to deliver Katsumi his meals after they noticed you hunting in the guest garden.
You insist on helping with grooming duties like hair brushing, though Katsumi had to thoroughly gesticulate he’s not as open to being naked in front of you. Please don’t assist him when he’s changing his clothes. Let him have the last remaining bit of manliness.
Jack Hanma
How stubborn! Jack is the first one to feel your mama bear anger. After the fight with Pickle he kept coming back for more, despite being barely conscious. Pickle was becoming increasingly afraid of upsetting you and would throw you worried looks, unsure how to proceed. Eventually you put Jack in a headlock and dragged him back to the hospital yourself.
The next time Jack wakes up, he notices you standing in the door frame, arms folded and flexed in a threatening manner. He can’t help but chuckle at the view. To think that a woman would have such an iron grip on him. Well, you’re no ordinary woman.
As before, you’re unsure of his recovering abilities. You attempt to feed him yourself several times and Jack has to politely suggest that he’s not as frail as you might think. Though somewhere deep down he might secretly enjoy being spoiled like this. He’d never, ever admit it.
Baki Hanma
Baki took you through a rollercoaster of emotions; from being worried that such a tiny, young boy insists on challenging the prehistoric man to squealing in shock at his unexpected strength. You couldn’t help but wonder if you’d be able to defeat him if you were standing there instead of Pickle.
Unlike the others, Baki has no issue relying on you. In fact, he’s almost shameless about it. Absolutely he is too injured to walk! You can go ahead and carry him. He’ll quickly wrap his arms around your neck and cling to you, grinning.
I think he’d really love the idea that someone as strong as you is also kind and likable. He doesn’t have to worry about proving himself or that you’d look down on him. He’s really craving this newly fond protectiveness of a mother.
He likes teasing Pickle by holding onto you whenever he sees you. The Jurassic man has been on the edge ever since you’ve started becoming attached to these tiny humans. He almost can’t get a moment alone with you. Which makes him extra irritable. You sigh at the two menaces that find new ways to mess with you.
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inkskinned · 1 year
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im gonna start a fight; and, at the same time, i need you to take this in the most good-faith way possible, but:
videos that involve body-checking and intentionally (and uncritically) show a mealplan of an unhealthy number of calories are just a revamped version of pro-ana food diaries.
and yeah, i know there's arguments. i address some of them under the cut. but at the end of the day, we're just coming back to romanticizing mental illness; we've just found a better platform for it.
this is already something we've done. we knew it was wrong and tried to stop it. and tbh. it just wasn't enough.
there are people who argue "well, what if you have an eating disorder, you can't help it if you don't eat!" except that as someone with an ED; we are not infants. we know what we're doing. part of having an ED is that you are like, maybe too self-aware. even if we can't help our own food choices, we don't need to fucking romanticize the disorder - something we've been warning you about since 2013. there are hours of setup, filming, and editing that go into these videos. they do not happen to fall into place randomly. there is a reason they are pieced together to be beautiful, bright, inspiring.
there's this woman who pretty much only posts daily plans under a normal amount of calories, and everyone defends her saying but it's better than nothing! and i'm like. except she opens those with images of her showing off her body and provides no context in the video or caption that suggests that she believes what she's doing is unhealthy. she has hundreds of thousands of followers on a platform designed for young kids and teens. i refuse to believe that by accident her content just happens to be cheery advice on "healthy" versions of starving.
for any other symptom of mental illness, we would be incredibly enraged by this kind of placid acceptance of a "tips and tricks" fast-start guide. imagine if people posted pink & pretty videos saying "best places to cut yourself" as if it was a fucking storytime. we, as a society, are so fucking fatphobic that we would rather accept blatantly harmful displays of self harm than admit that we are obsessed with a hyper-thin body type.
i am not suggesting someone never talks about their disorder. i talk about mine. actually, it's a plot point in my book.
here's the difference: i recognize it's a fucking mental illness. i am very careful to never mention a specific weight, eating pattern, or calorie plan. i always make sure to position it as something that ruined my fucking life. i do not put cheery music in the background and hearts and sparkles over my worst moments. i do not film it in bright light. i do not start each passage with an image of a thin body followed by "here's how to look like her."
eating disorders should not be framed as aspirational. and the problem is that society worships the "after" image, so long as you don't get too sick. there is a reason so many people who quit being "influencers" will later admit - i wasn't eating well that whole time; an obsession with food was completely destroying my life.
we let any uncredited, uncertified person write the most backwards, fucked up shit about how to get the body you desire! because the underlying, secret belief is: well, at least they're thin! and the real thing that fucking gets me each time - they make fucking money off of it. their irresponsibility and societal harm literally pays off for them.
"why do you care so much." "don't like it don't look." "so what if people experiment with new ways of thinking of food?"
thank you for asking. we're about to get extremely personal. it's because when i was 18 i discovered "thinspiration"/"thinspo." and it absolutely influenced, shaped, and codified my pre-existing eating disorder. i went from having some troubling habits and traits to being incredibly unwell within what felt like a matter of days. there were actual pages designed to train me on how to have an ED correctly. it was all so suddenly easy. i was sick; and the nature of the illness meant - i wanted to be sicker.
it takes an average of 7 years for a person to fully recover. i know this personally - even now, 10 years from the worst of it, i still fucking struggle. i am so much happier now and i eat what i want and i literally don't think about food at all (19 year old me would shudder) and yet - i still fucking know the calories of plain toast with butter.
an eating disorder is one of the deadliest types of mental illness. over 1 in 4 people with an ED will attempt suicide.
and i'm sorry. i just do not see the exchange rate of "high rate of engagement" versus "the value of a human life."
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. . .Osiris
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Osiris (Great and Beautiful is He) is the God of the Underworld; its King and Pharaoh ruling over the Duat. He is pictured here on the far left, His skin green and His body in mummiform. This is commonly how He is depicted; as a green-skinned, mummified man.
Son of Nut, the Sky Goddess, and Geb, the Earth God, Osiris was the first King of Egypt in accordance with Kemetic mythology, although there are stories that recount Geb, His father, being King before Him. There are a great deal of myths and stories that surround and involve Osiris, and I suppose it is important to at least skim over them before discussing hard facts about Him, as it gives some reference as to who He is and what the culture surrounding Him is like.
Osiris Myth
After the world was created, the Demiurge (who changes according to myth, and can be Neith, Ra, Amun, Ptah, or others) produces children; in the most popular form of this creation story, it is usually Ra who births the first Gods. They are Shu and Tefnut, Air and Moisture. Shu and Tefnut then form a union and birth two children of Their own: Nut and Geb, Sky and Earth. Nut and Geb were very much in love and refused to separate from each other, which, of course, caused a problem, because if the sky and the earth are eternally in contact, there is no space for anything to live and walk upon the earth. Ra made it so Nut and Geb were forever separated, by having Shu, air, stand atop Geb and hold Nut up as the sky. But Nut was already pregnant. When Ra discovered this, He was enraged, and forbade Nut from ever giving birth on any day of the year.
Nut cried to Djehuty (Thoth), and Thoth devised a plan. He went to Khonsu, God of the Moon, and set up a gamble, saying that every round of the game Senet Khonsu lost, He would have to give Nut some of His moonlight. Khonsu ended up losing so many times that Nut had enough moonlight for five days––five days that weren't in the calendar. This allowed Her to give birth on those five days, and on each day She had a different child; Ausir (Osiris), Wr-Heru (Horus the Elder), Sutekh (Set, Seth), Auset (Isis), and Nebet-Het (Nephthys). Nut and Geb were still forever separated by atmosphere (Shu), but the five Gods were birthed, and Osiris, as the eldest son, became King of the Living World.
As a side note, all Gods do have ancient Egyptian names which are different from Their Greek and now modern names. For convenience's sake, and to avoid confusion, I will use the names They are most known by; Their Greek/modern names. And as another side note, there are a lot of variations on this story. I will be piecing together a lot of different ideas but I will be leaving some things out for the sake of cohesion.
When Osiris came to Egypt, He found the people there to be chaotic and lawless. As King, He instituted laws and spread ma'at, which is truth, justice, harmony, and order. Egypt flourished under His rule and the people were incredibly happy, as all were equal, and with the fertility of the God-King, the crops were always bountiful and food was plenty. He brought not only law and prosperity, but also the right way to worship, and the teachings of agriculture.
Set, God of chaos, confusion, the desert, and of foreigners, and the youngest brother of the Ennead, grew to be quite jealous of His older brother. There are many variations and the most popular variation of this story comes from the end of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC), where Set fashions a fabulous coffin in the perfect measurements of Osiris, throws a party, and tells the party-goers that whomever the coffin fits may have the coffin as a gift. When Osiris fits perfectly, Set quickly shuts and bolts the coffin and throws it in the Nile (this version of the myth gives an origin to the idea that people who drowned in the Nile were holy). His coffin drifts downstream and into the Mediterranean, where it washes ashore in Phoenicia, in Byblos. The coffin wedges itself into a growing tamarisk tree, a tree which envelops the coffin. Eventually the tree is cut down and used as a pillar in the palace in Byblos.
Isis, Osiris' wife and sister, searched far and wide for Her husband, and did eventually find Herself in Byblos. The story is quite long and complicated, but in the end She convinced the King to give Her the pillar, and when she returned to Egypt, She hid Osiris in a swampy area of the Nile delta, and bade Her sister, Nephthys, to watch over Him while She went in search of healing herbs. But Seth heard that Osiris was back, and so after interrogating His sister-wife, Nephthys, He found Osiris, cut His body into pieces, and threw them into the Nile.
Isis was horrified at what transpired in Her absence, but She immediately set to work on finding the many pieces of Her husband with the help of Her sister, Nephthys. They managed to find every piece of His body except His phallus, which had been eaten by an oxyrhyncus fish, a fish that was thus forbidden to eat.
With the pieces of Osiris reassembled, and the healing powers of Isis in full power, Osiris was brought back to life, but incomplete. Isis assumed the form of a kite, and from above drew out the seed of Osiris, impregnating Herself with Their child: Horus the Younger. But Osiris, still incomplete, could not properly rule over the land of the living any longer.
This is why He is the ruler of the dead––He was once the king of the living, was killed, and was resurrected, and this is what every ancient Egyptian expected and hoped would happen to them: that they would die and be resurrected. In tombs and mortuary temples you will always see Pharaohs associating themselves with Osiris.
But this long myth I have just told you is not the only version of the story, and in my opinion, it is definitely the longest version of the story. Back in the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom there were several different versions; for example, Set's motive is different, ranging from revenge for Osiris kicking him, to revenge for Nephthys (Seth's sister-wife) sleeping with Osiris (which eventually births Anubis). Some texts claim that Seth took on the form of a wild animal, such as a crocodile or a hippopotamus, and killed Osiris that way. In others, Osiris is drowned. In some, the steps surrounding the coffin are skipped, and Osiris is simply cut up, and His pieces scattered around Egypt; a version which explains the many cult centers of Osiris claiming to be a place where Osiris is buried. Osiris' resurrection is also often helped along by other Gods such as Thoth (God of wisdom) and Anubis (God of embalming). In some versions, Set is killed for His actions. In most He is simply defeated and driven from the land, as chaos is necessary for balance and harmony, and thus cannot be killed. And the story that I have told is from the Late Period, recorded by Plutarch, and does not really go along with many Egyptian accounts, which often find Osiris' penis intact.
So that is the Osiris myth with all of its' intricacies and changing rhythms over the course of 4,000 years of Egyptian history. It embodies a huge amount of cultural practices and religious ideas within ancient Egypt, including the idea of truth, harmony, and justice, as well as resurrection, the afterlife, healing, and the workings of the cosmos. I've decided to leave out the later parts involving Osiris' son, Horus, and His fight with Set, for now because this does not directly involve Osiris, and that is our topic for this post.
Tradition, History, and Culture
Worship of Osiris dates back to the Old Kingdom, but the idea of Osiris is likely older than this. Before Osiris was actually Khentiamenti, an agricultural God centered in Abydos, a city which would later become the cult center of Osiris. Khentiamenti means 'Foremost of the Westerners', a title for the ruler of the dead, as the dead resided in the west, where the sun set each day. But Osiris Himself is not found mentioned in any texts or carvings until the 5th Dynasty, where He is depicted as a man wearing a divine wig. Later on He would take on the form we know Him best in––wrapped in a white mummy shroud, wearing an atef crown with ostrich plumes on the sides.
The mummy shroud He is depicted in forever associates Him with death and with the essential story behind Him, which is why I found it so important to start off with the Osiris Myth. This myth is also why He consumed and took the place of Khentiamenti; the name Khentiamenti, Foremost of the Westerners, instead became a title for Osiris as the King of the blessed dead. Another common epithet/name of Osiris is Wennefer (Omnophris), meaning 'The Beautiful One', 'The Beneficent One', and more archaically, 'One Whose Body Did Not Decay'. Among these names He was also called 'The Lord of Love', 'The King of Living', and 'The Eternal Lord'. From the Early Dynastic Period up until the end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, when Rome conquered Egypt, Osiris was one of the most highly worshipped and revered Gods of Egypt.
Osiris was associated with the Nile river, with its' renewal and life-giving abilities, as one of Osiris' domains and powers was fertility, as well as rebirth. Another of His duties, evidence of which originates in the New Kingdom, was to act as judge of the dead; being King, He sat on the tribunal with the 42 Judges in the famous Weighing of the Heart ceremony. In this ceremony, which took place in the afterlife, the deceased would have to stand before the court and place their soul up for judgement. If it weighed lighter than the feather of Ma'at, representing all justice, truth, and harmony, then the heart acted well in life and would be allowed eternal happiness in the Field of Reeds. If not, the heart, and thus the person, would be consumed by Ammit and committed to nothingness. So Osiris would sit in on this tribunal and judge who entered His kingdom, as it was His domain. In this role, and in His role as King of the Living, as well, He was the embodiment of harmony, law, and justice.
"Most of his appeal was based on his embodiment of the cosmic harmony. The rising Nile was his insignia, and the moon’s constant state of renewal symbolized his bestowal of eternal happiness in the lands beyond the grave. In this capacity he also became the model of human endeavors and virtues..." (The Complete Gods And Goddesses Of Ancient Egypt, p.307)
As I mentioned earlier, Abydos became His cult center, as it was the cult center of the God who came before Him, whose traits He subsumed. It became a very popular burial site, as legends would say that Abydos was where Osiris was truly buried, and the people wanted to be buried as close as possible to Osiris. At one point they believed an ancient tomb there––which was actually the tomb of an Early Dynastic King––to be the tomb of Osiris, which they much revered, and left so many offerings in clay pots that Arabs would later call the site 'Umm el Qa'ab'; Mother of Pots. But this was not the only burial site of Osiris; since many variations of the myth include Set chopping up and dismembering Osiris into many parts, ranging from 14 to 42 different parts. These parts were scattered across Egypt, so many cities and nomes could claim that they had a part of Osiris buried in their domain. For example, far in the south, the island of Bigah claimed to be the burial site of Osiris' left leg, and thus the source for the yearly Nile inundation.
Going back to the Osiris Myth, after Osiris died and became the ruler of the dead, His son took His place as King of the Living: the falcon God, Horus (Heru the Younger). After the brief bout of chaos brought about under Set's rule, Horus took over (after much deliberation from the Gods) and order was restored. Because of this story, Pharaohs would not only associate themselves with Osiris in death, but with Horus in life. Each Pharaoh, as they came to the throne, would become the living embodiment of Horus on earth, the son of Osiris. In this way, Isis was also the mother of every Pharaoh, and their protector. And, to added extent, each Pharaoh would have a personal name, and then a Horus name granted to them when they ascended to the throne.
"It is for this reason that Osiris is so often depicted as a mummified pharaoh; because pharaohs were mummified to resemble Osiris. The image of the great mummified god preceeded the practice of preparing the royal body to look like Osiris... The king's appearance as modeled after Osiris' extended throughout his reign; the famous flail and shepherd's staff, synonymous with Egyptian pharaohs, were first Osiris' symbols as the flail represented the fertility of his land while the crook symbolized the authority of his rule." (Osiris, World History Encyclopedia, Joshua J. Mark)
Osiris can also be represented by a number of physical symbols, such as the crook and flail that He carries in almost all representations of His earthly form. The crook, which is the striped hook He carries, represents power/authority, and is a symbol of the Pharaoh. The flail, which is the instrument in His other hand, represents the fertility of the Nile, and as an extension, the fertility of Osiris Himself. But the crook and flail, though both seen typically as symbols of Pharaonic power, are actually the tools of a shepherd. There is reasonable evidence, thusly, to suggest that the physical origins of the idea of Osiris may not be that of a great King, but of a ruler of a shepherd tribe in the Nile Delta, whose rule was so beneficent that it led to him being worshipped as a God. For Egyptologists, this theory comes from His association with Andjety, a predynastic God-King worshipped in the Delta who also bore the crook and flail as His symbols. This, however, has not and likely cannot be fully proven. But the postulation is still interesting nonetheless!
Osiris' ba soul had its' own culture of worship, a practice of soul-worship that is prevalent in the cults of several other Gods, such as Hathor (HwtHer). In this form, Osiris was known as Banebdjedet, meaning 'The Ba of the Lord of the Djed,' which in English terms means 'The Soul of the Lord of the Pillar of Continuity', as ba means soul, and djed is the symbol for a pillar, which represented the backbone of Osiris. Interestingly, the name Banebdjedet is feminine, as the letter t denotes a feminine word or name in ancient Egyptian; although there are also variations on this name that exclude the t in favour of the alternative, Banebdjed. Banebdjedet, Osiris' ba soul, was worshipped mainly in Mendes, a city in Lower Egypt, in the Delta.
This leads to an interesting point concerning the androgyny of Osiris, a subject I found while researching for this post. Osiris' fertility comes from His castration and then being healed by the mother Goddess, Isis. Not only that, but both men and women identified themselves with Osiris in death. Then the name for His ba personified as another God is feminine, although representations of Banebdjedet are overwhelmingly male. Before anyone attacks me, I am not claiming that Osiris is a genderless God or King––just that He has some traits of androgyny, which I find interesting and love to study in ancient cultures, and I thought it would be good to mention for anyone else similarly interested.
Worship, Festivals, and Cult Activities
When it comes to the practices surrounding Osiris' cult, we actually know a good deal of information regarding the activities of worshippers and priests. Osiris' cult and worship was so widespread and lasted long enough that it could be recorded by the earliest Greek historians, and remained carved in temple walls for thousands of years. Among the most well-known cultic tradition is the Osiris Bed.
The Osiris Bed is rather well documented, as it was an object placed in tombs. It was not a bed for the deceased to lie in, but instead a box made of wood or clay, moulded into the shape of Osiris, in which the fertile Nile soil was placed and seeds were planted. These boxes were then wrapped in white mummy linens, and the seeds sprouted through, representing the resurrection and fertility of Osiris, and the crops that grew each year in cycles. One of the most famous of these beds was found in King Djer's tomb, a King from the Early Dynastic Period; the 2nd King ever of the unified Egypt. Coincidentally (or, perhaps, not so coincidentally) King Djer's tomb was the tomb which pilgrims believed to be Osiris' burial site.
While the Osiris Bed is far from the only practice and tradition of the Osiris cult, it does show the rich cultural practices and symbolism present in His worship. Let's look at some other examples of the practices of Osiris' cult.
Similar to the Osiris bed were Osiris gardens, which were essentially the same concept; fertile soil was planted inside a vessel shaped into the form of Osiris, and seeds were settled within to grow. These beds were tended to during festivals instead of being buried in a tomb.
There were a great many festivals, and each of them quite popular according to their time period, dedicated to the story and symbolism of Osiris. Some festivals started with recounting the mournings of Isis and Nephthys, Osiris' sister-wife and sister, in the form of a drama acted out in a call-and-response format. Another drama acted out for the glory of Osiris was more in the form of an actual fight that anyone could participate in; it was modelled after The Contendings of Horus and Set, which I briefly mentioned as a long and drawn-out argument between Horus and Set over who deserved Osiris' vacant throne after He had died. On this occasion, people would battle out and reenact the events of the story until the side of Horus finally won and victory was achieved. Afterwards, the celebrations commenced in honoring the restoration of order, and the gold-encased shAwyt-nTr (the Holy Statue) of Osiris would be taken out and lavished with offerings. Osiris, in the form of this statue, would be paraded throughout the city of Abydos before being placed in a shrine outside, where He could participate fully in the festivities, and be admired by the commoners who would usually never behold the face of Osiris. This emergence of Osiris from the dark temple's inner sanctuary to the light of the city resembled and represented His resurrection from death into life again. Although this particular festival was celebrated mainly in Osiris cult center of Abydos, it was also celebrated in other cities such as Bubastis in the Delta, Busiris, Memphis, and Thebes, in Upper Egypt.
The Mysteries of Osiris was a series of plays performed annually, and in dramatic, passionate form. It was one of the most popular observances of worshippers, and it told the story that I first told to you––of Osiris' life, His death at the hands of His brother, His resurrection at the hands of His sister-wife, and His ascension into the role we now know Him for. The roles in this reenactments were often taken up by high-ranking officials, and afterwards, the Contendings of Horus and Set would take place, which I just mentioned. These plays would take place over several days.
One festival was called The Fall of the Nile. During this time, the waters of the Nile would recede, and the worshippers of Osiris would go into mourning. One of Osiris' representation on earth was the Nile, and the Nile represented His fertility and life.
Another festival was celebrated on the 19th day of Pakhons, one of the months in the Egyptian calendar, which is roughly equivalent to May in our Gregorian calendar. On this day, the followers of Osiris would go to the river with shrines containing vessels of gold and metal, and would pour water into the Nile, exclaiming, "Osiris is found!" Mud and spices were mixed and moulded into the shape of Osiris, as well, to celebrate His return. Another festival similar to this one was called The Night of the Tear, and took place during modern-day June.
The last festival pertaining to Osiris that I will mention is the Djed pillar festival, held in modern-day January. The Pharaonic court and family would participate, raising djed pillars to welcome Osiris and the harvests that coincided with His return.
One last and interesting tradition that may seem familiar to Christians, at least in a small way, was the baking of bread in the shape of Osiris; bread as the flesh of the God, a sort of predecessor of communion wafers. But in reality the traditions of the Osiris cakes are completely different, and there were several different ways of going about it, depending on which nome you were from. In Dendera, wheat-paste models were made in the shape of each of the 16 dismembered parts of Osirs, and each model was sent out to the town where each respective part of Osiris was found by Isis. In Mendes, figures of Osiris were made of wheat and paste. On the day of the murder, they were placed in a trough, followed by water being added each day for several days. Afterwards, this mixture was kneaded into a dough, put into a mold of Osiris, and buried on the temple grounds.
Conclusion
This has been a somewhat brief glimpse into the cult, history, and traditions surrounding the Great God, The Beautiful Lord Osiris. If I can clarify anything please let me know and I will do my best!
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missglaskin · 5 months
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au where Aegon and the reader get absolutely shitfaced after yet another chaotic family dinner and the reader admits sadness being unable to have a child and her frustration in Viserys refusing to wed her because the conflict it causes between the Reds, Blues and Greens as they vent about the family so Aegon offers up his…services…and it’s Alicent who horrifyingly discovers them hungover in bed the next day.
despite Alicent and Otto insisting they wed, the king refuses because of the tantrum the Reds and Blues will undoubtedly have. instead Viserys offers to legitimize the child but begs the Reader not to do it again.
In this instance, everyone might have been preoccupied with the recent incident (possibly between Aemond & Nyra's sons).  It would give reader and Aegon a brief moment alone, in his chambers away from prying eyes. The drunken conversation starts lighthearted with the two bantering before it turns somber. The reader confesses her frustrations; all she wants is to start a family of her own but no matter how wealthy her suitors are, how honorable and just they seem, they are all turned down.  
A tear even escapes her eye before she even realizes a hand is creeping up her thighs and when she looks back, his eyes are already on her. He inches closer and closer until she can feel his breath on her face and though he doesn't say it bluntly, he makes the offer. The offer to give her the life that she so much wants. Who made the first move is an uncertainty that lingers in the air as their lips meet. It was first marked by a hint of gentleness but it doesn’t like long before the kiss deepens, an exchange of eagerness. 
The reader being nowhere to be found the next day sent the family into a frenzy searching for her. Which as we know caused Alicent to walk into both of them the next morning. Aegon was met with Alicent's horrified expression as she gave him an earful; and told him how foolish he was to do something like this. She knew Viserys would soon hear the news, and she and Otto tried to be the first to break in an attempt to lessen the blow. 
When the news also got to Rhaenyra, she was enraged and demanded Aegon be punished, even exiled for defiling the reader in the way he did. Corlys, aware that he couldn't be as explicit as Rhaenyra, also suggests sending Aegon away for some time, perhaps even to Oldtown with Daeron. Alicent and Otto argued, on the other hand, to let the reader and Aegon just wed, even more now when the maesters confirmed the reader's pregnancy. 
However, the king refused even after the scandal reached the court. It becomes increasingly clear that the reader is with child from how her belly has gotten round and swollen over time. The family had to threaten to cut tongues off in response to any remarks made. After the baby was born, Viserys immediately legitimized them to the entire court.
The question is whether it will happen again. Aegon is not one to lose pursuit and has made it very evident that it is his child. It will only cause the rest to take precautions to make sure Aegon is never left alone with the reader. There will also be a focus on Jacaerys and Aemond, after all if Aegon crossed the line and got no punishment, then what's to say they won't do it as well.
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ashwhowrites · 2 years
Text
This is a short angst blurb that went through my head. I have never written a fan fic and posted it. So if you actually read this, then thank you! I hope it's slightly enjoyable and you like it <3
Master-list
~~~~~
"I'm sorry I didn't know."
"How could you have known Eddie? It's difficult to know I'm in love you when you've been ignoring me for months," she said, her gaze hard, and he felt small under it. He'd never seen a mean glint in her eyes before. She was always so soft and gentle looking at him; maybe that should have been his first clue.
"I haven't been ignoring you," he began, shaking his head to explain, but stopped as her gaze became even colder. "On purpose," he added, hoping to get that look out of her eyes, he was very unsuccessful.
"Yeah, you were just too preoccupied with your new cheerleader girlfriend," she scoffed.
As a result, his eyes have hardened. "I understand you're upset, but you don't need to drag her into this." And it was the wrong thing to say at the time when she laughed coldly.
"I am not throwing her into this. Eddie, this was created by her! She's not the angel who descended from heaven to sweep you off your feet; she's the dev-" But this time she was cut off with a scoff, "You're unbelievable." He started with, "This is between us. She didn't know you had feelings for me."
The next words were not what he expected, "but she did know." He looked at her completely lost. Everything used to be so normal. He picked his girlfriend up and they went to school. He sat beside Y/N at lunch and hellfire. She seemed fine, nothing like how she looked today. "I don't understand," she rolled her eyes, "she doesn't know. She wouldn't know. You didn't tell anyone," he added with a swing of his arms.
"Ask her Eddie. Ask her what happened on the night of your birthday. The night you guys got together and kissed for the first time. Ask her if she knew the reason I ran out the damn door right after you blew out your candles. " Her tone was tense, but there was a tinge of sadness in it. "That was the first time you chose her, and I was so naive to think it would be the last." He could see her eyes getting wet. How did he miss the fact that her eyes were never as bright as they used to be? When did the life in them vanish?
"I don't understand. You left my birthday on your own. You didn't even bother to say goodbye," he became enraged. He felt like he was a target and she kept hitting the bull's eye, She was attacking him without telling him exactly what was going wrong. "As I said, ask her Eddie," she sneered.
"No, you're right here, upset, so why don't you tell me?"
"I just figured you'd want an excuse to run to her," she bit back with a smile. But a smile Eddie had never seen on her face before. He discovered all the new ways her face could change in an hour.
"Cut the shit and say what you mean. I'm not going to pierce through your thoughts and read between the lines," he was sick of it. Why argue and fight if you're not getting to the bottom of why you're arguing in the first place?
"Have you ever noticed that I haven't been to the hideout to see you play on Tuesdays since that night?" Her tone was generally curious. And he felt like a jerk when he realized—he hadn't noticed—he hadn't noticed that her seat at the bar had been empty since his birthday. He was looking in the opposite direction, at her.
He didn't even bother to say anything; he fucked up and he knew it. He knew he couldn't lie or make up an excuse. He had to accept that she caught him. And by the look in her eyes, she knew exactly that she was right. She nodded, and a tear slid down her face. She was fast to swipe it away. She didn't want him to notice, but he did. And it made him tear up inside.
"Exactly what I thought," she said, with that damn cold laugh. He doesn't want to hear it anymore. He wants the warm laugh that made him smile and made his stomach feel like a zoo.
And the next words to come out of her mouth made him wish he knew all along how she felt. How to make her happy again.
"Just go ahead and pick her Eddie, but just understand for the first time in my life, since we've met, I'm not picking you"; she just walked away. She said it was the easiest decision of her life. She didn't look back or hesitate.
All that was running through his mind was what in the hell happened on his birthday
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one-time-i-dreamt · 2 years
Text
not a dream
I feel really angry. Long rant ahead, mentions of death, child death specifically, unsafe driving, entitledness, a horrible legal system, and much more. This will be a highly frustrating read to you. Skip ahead if you don't want to be bummed out.
A clip of a guy committing a traffic violation (overtaking cars in a traffic jam using a lane that's only meant for stopping in case of emergencies) on a bridge here in Croatia went viral here recently. Somebody recorded him and uploaded it to a popular car group.
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After it went viral, it was uncovered that he was fined for doing the same thing at the same place two weeks before this, so he's clearly a repeat offender and hasn't learned anything even after being hit with a fine.
I wish that was the worst thing about this story, but it's not.
After people dug out more information about the driver, they discovered that in 2019, he killed a 15 year old girl while speeding on a motorcycle that he legally wasn't allowed to own nor drive.
He was only 16 at the time and could legally only drive motorcycles that fell into A1 category (power up to 15KS), and the motorcycle he was driving was a sports motorcycle KTM Duke 390 (43.5 KS). He only just got his license for the starter motorcycle to begin with.
He was speeding 117km/h in an area where the speed limit was 50km/h and hit the young girl while she was crossing the road on a pedestrian (zebra) crossing. She was walking home with two girlfriends after attending the first concert that she was allowed to go to only with friends in her whole life.
How great must that night have felt for them before tragedy struck.
His victim flew horrifying 50 meters and died on impact, while the 18 year old female passenger on his motorcycle was hospitalized with serious injuries and was fighting for her life and was in a serious condition but managed to pull through.
He was 16 and a half at the time of the accident he caused and a news site managed to find an ad he left months before that, when he was barely 16, trying to sell his motorcycle because it "didn't suit him" but it was "brand new, a month old".
This was all in 2019. In 2021, he was finally tried in court and received a sentence of 3 years and 10 months in a juvenile prison, but his sentence was reduced after his lawyers put in an appeal.
He made an impact statement and said that he too was affected by the accident and that it changed his life both physically and psychologically and that he's suffering due to it because he has become an outcast in his town as a consequence.
His lawyer allegedly fought the verdict on grounds of psychological instability and disability, and won. I don't know if the culprit ever served any time. He's 19 now and got a BMW for his birthday from his parents. The same parents that bought him a motorcycle he was too young to handle.
Their little monster is an adult now.
He hasn't learned anything. He's reckless and doesn't care about others. He hasn't showed that he is sorry. He wasn't punished nor held responsible. He's only been thinking about himself in all of this.
How it impacted HIM. What it did to HIM. HIS health, HIS social life. He's driving his birthday present BMW around and still repeatedly breaking the law, and he's alive and he's free.
And 15 year old Magdalena Šimić is still dead because of him.
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I've learned of this story because of a post that Magdalena's mother, Sandra wrote, that somebody I know shared. I was horrified, sad and angry for the family, but I can't even begin to imagine how they feel in all of this.
Powerless? Broken? Enraged? They're still waiting for some kind of justice for their daughter. A justice that won't come until things change. How is it that this guy is allowed to have a driver's license? That he's completely avoided jail time?
A crime like this should not go unpunished and the parents of the culprit who bought him the murder weapon and allowed him to use it should be punished as well.
-Matea
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roseaesynstylae · 1 month
Text
So, the idea of the Bad Batch (minus Echo, plus Emerie) being the other half of the Nulls has consumed my goddamn mind. Therefore, as you do when an idea takes up residence in your frontal lobe for the foreseeable future, here's some headcanons.
The Bad Batch (except for Echo and Omega, who have no clue what's going on) hate the Nulls. As in, "murder on sight" hate them. From an in-universe perspective, there could be a myriad of reasons, ranging from feelings of abandonment to resentment over them having a better life. From a writer's standpoint, it's because I love me some good old familial dysfunction and angst.
The more...unhinged...tendencies the Nulls are known for manifests in the Bad Batch more as "let's jump off this cliff and use explosives to direct our fall!" and less as "hey, check out my new skin gloves!" Of course, if you push them too far, it's a different story. In order of least to most likely to pull a "lemme turn you into an art installation," it's Omega, Wrecker, Hunter, Crosshair, and Tech. Omega wouldn't do that, at least not at this point in her life. Wrecker, when enraged, goes for the just-hit-them solution. Hunter's a decent human being and usually wouldn't do something like that...Unless his kid's been kidnapped by a crazy Imperial doctor for the fifteenth time, on which point he starts becoming a little deranged. Crosshair hovers close to the line but wouldn't do it to someone unprovoked. Tech is a special case, in that he has to be pushed, but when he is, the results make the rest of the Nulls go "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST."
The Nulls want to reunite with their lost siblings and build a relationship, but that's kind of hard to do when said siblings (except Omega) keep trying to kill them on sight and none of them were built for intricate and deeply complicated emotional issues. Still, they persist. Eventually, they could probably get to the level of "awkward conversations" but it'll take a lot of work.
The Bad Batch have what makes the Nulls superior to regular clone troopers, plus their unique enhancements (which in this version are less defects and more Nala Se picking an attribute for each of them and cranking it up to 11). They feel that it makes them better than the Nulls, something they're not shy about expressing.
Emerie is the same height as her estranged (I can't think of a word that applies to this specific situation but this one will do) brothers, because I stan a tall queen.
Nala Se is smug as hell whenever she sees Orun Wa. "CT-9904 just broke all records for accuracy, CT-9902 discovered a new element, CT-9903 crushed beskar like it was paper, and CT-9901 tracked a man through five systems and a solar storm. What are your clones doing, again?"
There is no understating the sheer "wtf" that goes through the Nulls' heads when they first see Omega. But, of course, this is Omega. Imagine the cutest image of her you've seen, fanart or canon. That's what the Nulls see when they meet her. Unsurprisingly, the Nulls, who got the Mandalorian gene to adopt anything that isn't nailed down, go from "wtf" to "so smol 🥰" in roughly a minute.
Kal Skirata is in the corner. His attempt to interact with the Bad Batch did not go well. He casually calls Hunter "son," as he does with various characters, and the resulting explosion puts a thermal detonator to shame. Since it's clear that his presence is not making things better, he's sort of just in the corner.
The rest of Clan Skirata, and associates, are staying out of this. Gilamar and Vau took one look and retreated to the bar because they know better than to get involved. Everyone else witnessed one of the less acrimonious encounters and collectively decided that they are not jumping into the emotional equivalent of a pit of rabid wolverines.
Echo is the go-between. He does not want to be the go-between. But he's the only neutral party in this thing aside from Omega, and the rest of the Batch don't trust the Nulls with her.
Spare a though for 99. He raised four of these guys, often with the aid of leashes. Truly, he is an unsung hero of the Clone Wars
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scary-lasagna · 3 months
Note
Headcanons of Cruel!Slenderman and his proxies are chasing after the teen fem reader who is incredibly good at getting the pages only to find out at the end she was a ghost all along and she wanted to mess with them? You can just do slendermans POV
At this point I should make a character page about him cause he's getting pretty advanced on his capabilities!
TW: Gore
Cruel!Slender
Absolute vigorous screaming sounds.
Imagine wasting your already sparse energy, simply to just be fooled.
He is starving, living from meal to meal, never knowing when the next one might come, and this shit happens?
He is enraged, and throwing a proper sized tantrum.
Also, noting, Cruel!Slender doesn't do 'pages' per se, but rather camping out at landmarks.
Y'know the lovely tunnel, poolhouse, and the rock gulley in the game. He's not advanced enough to place pages yet, nor does he have the smarts for it.
However, he will camp out and stalk an area, with his branches intertwining and vining toward a spot in the open, camouflaging to look like something hidden by vines and leaves.
But really that 'something' is a tendril ready to spear whoever stumbles upon it. He'll also release some pheromones are humans are more drawn toward it.
But this takes effort, and more importantly, energy. He usually runs quite low, considering how large of a creature he is, considerably needing more food to keep surviving properly. On top of that, he's carrying the extra weight of his proxies.
And while he's throwing his tantrum, watching his proxies desperately attempt to kill this being, a tendril emerges, and spears right through this ghost, and ripping through the skull of his very own proxy.
The bone cracked and split in various places, their brain matter oozing out of the wound. Dead instantly. At least they won't have to suffer under his command anymore.
Slender slowly pulled the corpse toward him, inspecting it. He was curious why the other proxy has gotten so upset.
Meat is meat.
The teenage ghost only stared in horror, knowing that it was them who caused this.
The sickening crunch and squelch of spurting blood was the last thing they decided to hear before disappearing.
Slender bit off the proxy's head, and what a lovely meal he has discovered. Although, this means he needs to find a new worker.
But this body will last him a few days.
He has time.
And maybe, he'll even dip into the other proxy if need be, considering they're agitating him with the screaming.
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vibratingskull · 8 months
Note
First time making a request, so if I do something wrong, I’m sorry!
This idea is inspired by another request about Thrawn and his s/o reuniting in ep6 of Ahsoka, which I loved btw. So, s/o (reader) realised she/they were pregnant shortly after Thrawn disappeared and so when they reunite, Thrawn is meeting his child (that he didn’t know existed) for the first time and his s/o is so happy because she/they never thought they’d meet. I really want to see how Thrawn would react to finding out he has a child and that he missed the first 9(ish) years of their life, I feel like he’d be so soft towards his s/o and child but also so enraged (even if he doesn’t show it) that he missed so much of his child’s life. Either fem!reader or gn!reader is okay, whichever works for you!
Anyway, I hope this made sense. Have a great day!
You did good anon, don't worry! ❤️
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Thrawnxf!reader but no pronouns used
You place yourself between your daughter and the Great Mothers by instinct. You keep them at bay, holding her tiny hand in yours, she looks at them curious but they look at her like a predator would a prey. Casually, you reveal your blaster attached to your hips. You already got troubles to get Morgan to accept your daughter for the trip, you’re not gonna let some witches take her. 
They avert their gazes, slowly turning away.
Good.
Suddenly you hear a long loud hollow sound resonate in the sky. Your daughter presses herself against your leg, digging her nails in the fabric of your tunic.
“It is okay, Thooken.” you comfort her, caressing her head “It’s your father coming.”
She raises her gaze to you, you can see fear and apprehension but also a hint of hope.
“We’ll see dad today?” she asks with a little voice.
“He is the Grand Admiral, show some respect!” Morgan shouts over the noise.
You give her black look, she’s really getting on your nerves lately. The only reason you’re all here is thanks to you manipulating Ahsoka Tano to retrieve the map and recommending Baylan and Shin for the mission and she got the dirty habits to place herself as the leader of the expedition. One day you’ll end it all up with a bullet at the back of her skull.
“Cut her some slack, she can call him dad and however she pleases” you bite back “Contrary to you.”
She gives you a dirty look and you smirk at her in response. The exact same word resonates in both of your mind
Bitch.
You feel air movement in your back and spin to discover the Chimaera in all her glory. Your smile broaden. Thooker opens her eyes round like saucers.
“What’s that?” she mumbles.
“This is an ISD, sweety.” you take her in your arms, she grew a lot lately, soon you won’t be able to carry her anymore “This is the ship of your father.”
“Dad commands a ship this big?!” she goes into raptures.
“He used to command a whole fleet of ISDs.” you explain, kissing her cheek.
Her expression darkens.
“What if he doesn’t want to meet me?” she asks full of doubt “what if he doesn’t want me.”
“Oh, my sweet. Of course he wants to meet you. I am sure it is most dear wish.” You lie to her.
Unfortunately you didn’t have time to announce Thrawn the great news of your pregnancy back then, he never knew that was about to become a father. You wish you had the time, it would have been another reason for him to hold on for ten years, as of now you don’t even know in which shape you’ll meet him. Maybe he has been mutilated or became disabled, knowing he had a child somewhere in the galaxy would have given him comfort during dark times…
The Chimaera positions herself over the stone structure and slowly goes down, revealing to you an army of Stormtroopers in ranks, their armors seem patched up and hold on with red ribbons. You bite your cheek, life is not easy around here.
Suddenly they all start chanting the name of your lost husband.
That’s new…
Thrawn used to hate those displays of blind obedience. They had to adapt, it seems like.
A figure starts to descend the ally of stormtroopers, taking it’s time. 
You recognize him instantly.
Your husband.
Your loved one.
Thrawn.
Your heart sing and flutters at his sight.
You designate him to Thooken with a smile but she recoils over herself in your arms.
Morgan Elsebeth walks to place herself in the front and you can’t help but shake your head at her behavior. Baylan and Shin remain in the back, more respectful and humble.
“What was first just a dream has become a frightening reality for those who may oppose us.” he says with a smirk. “Great Mothers, I salute you.”
You smile blissfully.
Finally.
You are reunited!
What a blessing.
“Soon we should all escape this exile thanks to the help of Morgan Elsbeth.” 
Morgan bows with a smile.
“I am ever your servant, Grand Admiral.” she says with a fawning voice.
You remain in the back, managing your effect.
“They brought a prisoner.” one of the Mothers speaks.
“You never spoke of this.” he seems puzzled but not necessarily surprised.
They continue talking about Sabine Wren, Baylan reveals it’s thanks to him she’s there. Thrawn's attention is fully focused on them, giving you time to investigate Thooken’s behavior peacefully.
“What’s wrong, sweety?” you murmur.
“I am scared.” she pleas “What if he doesn’t love me?”
“Oh, my love.” you squeeze her tight “What father doesn’t love his daughter to death?”
She looks at you dead in the eyes.
“Tarkin.”
Ouch. Touché.
“He’s not Tarkin, sweety. He will love you like you’ve never been loved before, I promise.”
She circles her arms around your neck, hiding her face from everyone else.
“You are quite right… She will be of great use to us.” Thrawn nods with a light grin to Baylan before turning back to Morgan “What other great news do you bring to me on this day?”
Morgan seems taken aback, what great news? All news are bad lately, except yours.
“I have got one.” You announce clearly, revealing yourself to him.
His pupils widen at your sight, his light grin broadens.
“(Y/n), I was starting to wonder where you could be.” he says, amused and, you think, relief.
You come closer with love in your eyes, holding your daughter firmly.
“Who that might be in your arms?” he asks, tilting his head legitimately curious.
You turn your head to Thooken but she grips you tighter, refusing to budge.
“Little one?” he calls gently, he pushes a strand of hair behind her ears, revealing her blue skin to him.
You see him freeze. It lasted less than a second but you didn’t miss it.
“Thooken.” you encourage her.
Her grip loosen a tad and she deigns turning her head to meet her father. They cross their gaze and he stares at her, his knuckle grazing her cheek, with a shocked and puzzled expression. She immediately hides in the crook of your neck.
“She’s a bit shy.” you explain, caressing her back.
“It is quite okay…” he says lowly, still shocked. “She must be tired by this trip, as are all of you.” He exclaims for everyone to hear, recovering his serious demeanor. “You should use the remainder of the day to recover some energy. Captain Enoch, please escort them to their quarters.”
----------------------------------------------------------
“He doesn't like me!” You sweetheart laments, seated on the bed while you freshen up in the bathroom. You’re surprised the room got one.
“Of course he does. He’s just a little shocked.” you come back into the chamber “He never was really demonstrative, give him some time.”
She keeps her gaze low, she’s really sad. You come hug her on the bed.
“He loves you very much already, his whole world just got shaken up.”
She buries her head in the fabric of your shirt and you remain like that for a minute when you hear knocks on the door.
It’s Enoch.
“The Grand Admiral wants to see you both.”
you walk in the cold stone corridors of the citadel, following the curious trooper without a word. You finally reach a large door where Enoch leaves you.
“Ready?” You ask Thooken.
She just gulps.
You knock and open the door. Thrawn immediately stands up from his desk with an holographic map.
“(Y/n)...” He exclaims like he doesn’t believe it himself.
You throw yourself at him with a satisfied sigh, you hug him tight, revelling in his presence and scent. It’s been so long…
He seizes your face and kisses you languorously. You moan of pleasure against his soft lips, squeezing him.
“Ten years…” he whispers, eyes in yours.
“We are here now, love.” you caress his cheek “We can all go home now.”
He smiles at you before his gaze ends up on Thooken. He takes a step towards her, unsure like she would run away at any movement. She doesn’t move back but doesn’t move towards him either.
He kneels, placing himself at her level. He extends his hand to her, palm open.
“Let me see your face.” he gently asks.
She closes the gap after an hesitation. He holds her face between his two hands, all words seem to escape him.
“What is your name, young lady?”
“Thooken.” she reveals.
“Thooken.” he repeats “And how old are you?”
“9 years old.”
His thumbs caress her cheeks almost mind-absently.
“Maker.” He whispers “I had planned all the possibilities for today, but you managed to surprise me, Thooken.”
“It’s… a good thing?” she asks with a bit of fear in the tone.
“It is a very good thing. A marvelous thing.” He pulls her gently into a hug, manipulating her small body like the most fragile thing in the galaxy.
You smile when you see her hugging him back.
“Dad…” she mumbles with cracks in the voice.
“I am here my dear.” he comforts her, “I am with you now.”
“We are all together.” you say, putting a hand on his shoulder “And we will remain together.”
“Indeed.” he says with a hard tone “I will need to settle the score with Bridger. He robbed me of so much.” he spites.
He parts with Thooken and kisses her cheek before standing up to look at you.
“A chance we got his friend in a cell, she can be of some use to me.”
“I thought you would honor Baylan's engagement?” you frown.
“It was before I realized he deprived me of my child. I can not let that go unpunished.” 
You look into his red eyes to realize that his decision is taken and there is no changing his mind now.
You would almost pity Bidger.
But it is all his fault, after all.
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@Bluechiss @thrawnalani @justanothersadperson93 @al-astakbar @thrawnspetgoose
☆Tag list
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starrulet · 2 months
Text
My Experience with P5R
So, I went into this game with Zero Knowledge™ of what it held. I only bought it, because I knew you got to play as a phantom thief, everyone loves Joker and everyone had at one point called it the Perfect Game™ (oh, and it was on sale).
First Playthrough
Start up game. Absolute banger of a first hour. Everything is on point, this truly is the Perfect Game™ when it comes to graphical interface. Also, hands down best intro segment I have ever played. Immediately 100% invested in the game.
I write my name. I'm too lazy to look up something authentically Japanese online, so I name him KURO KNIGHT. I do not realize that small caps were available and this does haunt me for the next 100+ hours.
I discover the ability to "befriend" shadows. I attempt to befriend every shadow I meet.
Igor tells me to kill two of my personas. I am heartbroken and horrified by their execution. I absolutely hate the function and vow to never use it.
(Arsène is never sacrificed. At the time, I did not know this is uncommon for the first playthrough).
I max out the amount of personas I can currently have. I am heartbroken. I want to befriend all the shadows, but the game won't let me.
I am introduced to social stats. I make the wild assumption that these will passively effect the story for good/bad endings, as well as chances of success in Palaces (e.g. charm will increase likelihood of befriending a shadow, knowledge improves Third Eye, etc.), instead of being a "you must have stat 4 to pass to the next story segment" role. I immediately start investing hard on maxing my stats.
I do not know how to check Confidant Availability on the map. I only go to meet confidants if they've texted me.
(As you can imagine, this will royally screw me over later)
A teacher smacks me in the head with a piece of chalk. I'm told if I improve my proficiency, I can dodge it. Guess which social stat I start heavily investing in.
I am introduced to Maruki. I am told I have until November to max my relationship with him. He is immediately given priority over all other Confidants. Keep in mind, I only meet confidants if they text me.
I meet Kasumi. I'm not that interested in her, until I realize she only has a 5-star confidant bond. I decide to max her out, because that will be easy to reach.
I reluctantly start executing personas. Arsène is never executed, even though he's becoming so weak, I can no longer use him in fights.
While on the main menu, I notice Joker's shoes for the first time. And then I check and yes. Joker has the worst shoes in existence. I hate them. Everything about his phantom thief outfit is on point, except for those monstrosities.
I go ballistic over no one asking why "Pleasant Boy" heard their conversation about pancakes. I am angry. Enraged. I want answers, but the characters don't seem to catch onto the pancakes. I am deeply upset.
This is when I start questioning the intelligence and competence of the Phantom Thieves. It will effect how I perceive them later on.
I officially meet Akechi. I instantly take a strong liking to him, because he is the absolute WORST person to befriend as a phantom thief. The pancake thing makes me also super suspicious of him, further adding to him being a BAD person to befriend.
Akechi gives me the Sleuthing Instinct Skill. Akechi is instantly my favourite Confidant and I am determined to unlock the rest of the skills on his Confidant route.
A teacher throws chalk at me. I dodge. The whole class is amazed. I'm smug about it.
I meet "Becky". I die of second-hand embarrassment.
Why can I not gift Morgana sushi when I want to? Let me feed my cat sushi.
Every new palace, the Phantom Thieves are like "No! They don't have a persona, they can't help!" and "Leave it to us experienced pro phantom thieves B) ", only to end up relying on the formally non-persona user. I really don't feel like they're competent, since they suck at protecting civilians so much, that the civilian has to awaken a persona to save everyone or they'll all die.
I finally have enough guts to call up "Becky". When she arrives, the second-hand embarrassment is so strong, I exit the game without saving and have to replay the last two in-game weeks.
I realize that Yusuke, Makoto and Futaba are not listed as my Confidants. I panic and despair. I have failed my friends.
(I am unaware that minimal confidant bond does not mean we are not in-game friends and that not maxing out a Confidant Bond does not have too much impact on the story...)
The first time I ram into a shadow with the van, I burst into laughter. It was entirely unexpected.
I befriend Chihaya. I can't help but notice how much of a Meet-Cute this is and decide that I will pursue a relationship with her.
In Hawaii, I spend the day with Mishima and Ryuji. I am unaware that this is because I failed to develop higher bonds with other Confidants.
I get my first part-time jobs to complete Mementos quests. I wonder why anyone would bother with jobs, since you can get more money in Mementos than at work.
It starts occurring to me, that maybe I'm not supposed to blast through palaces in one run. There are benefits to multiple visits. I continue to complete palaces in one run.
I get stuck on my second boss - Haru's dad. Even grinding in Mementos does not save the day. I look up advice online.
I go out of my way to meet Hifumi. I cry. I want to max out her bond, she's instantly proven herself so useful.
I defeat the boss by the skin of my teeth. I never want to face that boss again.
Akechi officially joins the team. I am ecstatic, but I am dreading it. I love him, but I still have that pancake thing in my head and I am fully aware that the rest of the Phantom Thieves do not like him. AT ALL. Which can only mean the narrative has labelled him a bad guy (otherwise they would have quickly warmed up to him, like they did with Haru), which means he is only temporarily on the team, which means he will do something nefarious because the narrative said he must. Also, he is conspicuously the only one wearing white as a main colour. So. Further fuel for the "not part of the group!!!" fire. I am deeply upset by this. I still love him, even though I know I will have to soon accept his role in the narrative, whatever that may be.
A teacher throws chalk at me. I'm one step away from maxing out proficiency. It smacks into my face. The cold war wasn't over after all. The teacher has improved his aim.
I try to start a Confidant bond with Haru. She snaps at me and I'm so terrified by the reaction from the otherwise sweet and polite girl, I never attempt to talk to her again.
"I hate you." Akechi, as your only friend, please go see a therapist.
It's November and I haven't maxed out my relationship with Maruki. I am not getting opportunities to do so via text. I despair, because Maruki has grown to be a favourite of mine.
Maruki wants to bid me personally farewell. My Confidant Bond with him maxes out during our tearful goodbyes. I whoop and cheer that I got to the end of his Confidant route, oblivious to what this means.
Akechi says we should leave stealing the treasure to the last second. The team instantly agrees. I get mad, because when I try to do that, the team nags at me and complains that we should really do this ASAP, but when Akechi suggests it, it's fine-
The police raid Sae's palace and I assume they're cognitions from the nearby cognitive police station, not real police. From that, I deduce that the interrogation scene is taking place in the Metaverse and not the real world.
Yeah. I wasn't wrong, but I wasn't right either.
Endgame spoilers under the cut.
Endgame
The game keeps telling me to think carefully about my choices. I become paranoid. I am in interrogation and I become confused.
I am so confused by the game, I start thinking that maybe my instincts are wrong, and I end up ratting out my friends while being interrogated.
Sensing this was the Wrong Option, I exit the game and reload the last save file without finding out if it really was the wrong option.
I was right. It was the Wrong Option, since I am now watching the Right Option unfold. I am frustrated, because if the game hadn't been so insistent I "think carefully" and "consider my actions seriously", I would have instinctively not named my allies. BUT because it was nagging me, I thought if I went with the obvious option, I'd end up with the bad ending.
I'm an overthinker, ok.
Akechi comes to kill me. He looks utterly unhinged, to the point it crosses over into hilarity.
(Akechi gets one(1) plus point for looking incredible while killing the policeman. Like, that was insanely slick. Several thousand minus points for killing Joker though. And then nudging his head to check if he's dead, like Akechi, you shot him through the head what do you expect-)
It turns out, the Phantom Thieves did know about the pancake thing. But I'm 60+ hours into the game at this point and I do not have the mental capacity to retcon that much time to fit this reveal into a cohesive story. As such, despite making sense and the game setting up for this, my brain does not completely accept this plot reveal.
In other words, I would have strongly preferred it if we continued having 100% of the protagonists' perspective, instead of the 90% we ended up having, to keep the 10% (knowledge that Akechi will betray them, and the plan to fool Akechi) secret.
Like, no. We didn't need that to be a "plot twist". It was obvious from the start. Just admit it upfront next time.
I also don't buy into the Phantom Thieves being smart enough to concoct such a plan, because they've been making things up as they go along since Day 1 and have been heavily reliant on picking up new team members to survive Palaces and defeat Bosses. As said. By not addressing the pancake thing, my opinion of them being competent phantom thieves was shattered. I can't unsee their shortcomings, even if the pancake thing wasn't a shortcoming after all.
A part of me feels icky, because I know my first choice had been the bad ending. It now feels like the bad ending was the true ending, and I've cheated my way out of it, so the good ending that I'm approaching does not feel earned. The feeling hangs over me for a while.
Even though KURO is not dead, his absence in day-to-day life is shocking. It leaves a really big impact and a sense of dread.
I like KURO's incognito civilian clothes until I realize he's got nothing on under the grey hoodie. Child. Put some layers on. It's winter. What the heck, are you trying to die of hypothermia or something.
I miss Akechi. Not because I actually miss him, I miss what he contributed to the group: Getting the others to get all the way off my back about leaving the heist to the last minute.
"No guys, we can't go to Shido's palace until I've made enough coffee and curry! Yes, I'm serious!!!"
The Phantom Thieves are turned into mice. This is one of the best things to happen in-game.
Akechi has a psychotic breakdown in the engine room. I repeat to myself that this really could have been avoided if Akechi had just gone to a therapist.
Imagine my shock when I defeat Shido, but the game doesn't end. Staggering.
Igor orders Caroline and Justine to kill me. I panic, wondering if this was because I failed to max out my bonds with the Phantom Thieves and I am approaching a bad ending after all. Then I wonder if maybe this could be avoided if Caroline and Justine had a higher Confidant bond with me and I regret that it's still at an abysmal level 1.
It turns out that having level 1 doesn't stop the girls from apparently liking me. They cannot of their own free will kill me. I'm glad that it doesn't matter that I only have a level 1 bond with them, but this still feels jarring. My mind still equates bonds to levels of friendship, meaning we're still barely acquaintances at best. Plot armour for Joker has kicked in hard.
I make the wrong assumption that maxing out bonds has no impact on the overall story.
I am surprised that Morgana is not - in fact - human. At some point I had convinced myself he was a teen persona user, stuck in a coma. Or that he is the persona of a persona user, sent loose to help his persona user wake up again. I don't know when I developed that theory, but it's so strong that the truth throws me.
Unlike the pancake twist, I accept this "twist" without issue.
Over the course of the game, I have been strengthening Arsène like crazy. He is my strongest persona and has inherited many powerful abilities from the persona sacrificed for him.
I head into the final battle with Arsène equipped. It's satisfying to kinda defeat the final boss with him.
There's something kinda depressing about the cutscenes in the final boss battle. Almost like my confidants are... absent...
I am overjoyed when Akechi is confirmed to have survived, as he turns himself over to the police. I assume this is the result of maxing out my bond with him.
I love Morgana's cat portrait. No, I am not biased because he's a cat.
I assume the game will end. Then KURO wakes up in the counselling room. The game is not over yet.
Third Semester
Because I happened to max out my bonds with Akechi, Kasumi and Maruki, I get the third semester story part.
I am unaware of how lucky I am, considering I didn't max out any other bonds by December (outside of the automated bonds of Igor, Sae and Morgana).
I make use of the extra costumes the game has given me for the first time. I pretend there's an in-story reason: The alteration in the universe has also affected how they appear as phantom thieves. KURO is now running around in his starlight clothes, Akechi in the dance costume and Kasumi I'm never quite able to settle on. Why those particular clothes? I am unable to come up with a theory, beyond reality alteration.
I am thrilled that the game addressed Akechi's unhinged nature by having Kasumi question it, and didn't just act like nothing had happened.
I am delighted that, in Morgana and Futaba's absence, Akechi is my navigator. I have not enjoyed myself that much in a long time. He's terrible and that's what makes him perfect.
To be honest, it's in the third semester where Akechi is elevated to absolute favourite character in Persona 5. Prior to that, he was liked, but not favoured.
I am horrified that Maruki is the new bad guy. I am even more horrified by what they did to his hair.
I am glad that "Please see a therapist" is not something I can tell Akechi during the first and second semester, because - after what has happened to Maruki - Akechi would never let me live this down.
To be fair, Akechi would also accuse me of being a kleptomaniac, considering how I've picked every palace clean so far.
Genuinely shocked by the Sumire reveal.
Sumire apologizes for trying to kill KURO. I wish KURO had told her it's fine, because Akechi, his currently only other friend, also tried to kill him.
I spend third semester trying to max out my bonds with the Phantom Thieves and any other Confidants I haven't maxed yet.
I befriend Haru, but I never get passed level one with her.
I manage to get to level 9 with Chihaya. We become a couple. I assume.
I succeed in maxing out Takemi and Mishima's confidant bonds, but no one else.
I max out the Baton Pass with all Phantom Thieves (including Akechi and Sumire). I do this just because it's cool to have. I'm not thinking strategically.
During this semester I go to play billiards for the first time.
Because I'm playing billiards for the first time, KURO asks "What's a cue stick?" Meanwhile, Akechi - with whom KURO has played billiards several times, who KURO has even beaten at billiards - is just standing in the background. I pretend Akechi is exasperated.
I had already suspected it when it's revealed that Akechi is a cognition-human of the new reality. I am not surprised, since despite my love for Akechi, it feels like some of his nuance is gone as of the third semester. Him being a cognition built from people's perception of him (with heaviest influences being directly from KURO and the Phantom Thieves) explains that.
"This isn't trivial!" Mmh. Some grade-A angst right there, I love it.
Of course I choose to defeat Maruki. I may love Akechi, but not so much that I'd let everyone on the planet be brainwashed into someone's perception of true happiness. There's a difference between living and being alive. And also, Akechi doesn't want to live in this reality either, so....
I really, really hate Maruki's metaverse look. Like, at first, you think, well, a bit weird, but tolerable. Then you get glimpses of what's underneath the poncho and oh... oh no...
I am glad to have maxed out the Baton Pass with everyone, because this is the only reason I am able to beat Maruki.
Much like with all bosses from Okumura onwards, I win by the skin of my teeth. Unlike other bosses though, I get max HP and SP after completing a phase. I appreciate this, because otherwise I would have lost (most Phantom Thieves are in the low 80s, high 70s range).
I can't believe I end up in a fistfight with Maruki. They're not even attempting to dodge each other. It's like I'm watching an 18th century boxing match.
The Ending
It's Valentine's day. Chihaya doesn't give me anything. I am disgusted.
I'm told to say goodbye to all my friends. I exit and can only bid farewell to Sae, Takemi and Mishima. I am distraught.
Even though the cutscene has all the Phantom Thieves bidding me goodbye, I don't buy it. I couldn't bid them farewell on my last day, so this doesn't feel earned or real.
I realize I couldn't bid farewell because I didn't max out their bonds. So maxing out the bonds does have an affect on the story, just not one I could have predicted. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Maruki is a taxi driver. Dude. You have a university degree. You have a doctor title. Is this really all you could come up with?!
The game ends, I get the extra cutscene with Akechi and KURO seeing himself as Joker in the reflection. I interpret this as 1: Akechi is alive in some shape or form (with how and why being up in the air), and 2: the Metaverse cannot be destroyed, but the Phantom Thieves actions have lead to it being purged and cleaned. Hopefully, it will be healthier this time.
First Playthrough took me 110 hours.
NewGame+
I start the game so I can say goodbye to my friends. Yes. I am so mad that I couldn't say goodbye to Ryuji (and tbh, specifically Ryuji), I am replaying the entire game.
For real, if I'd been able to bid farewell to Ryuji in the first playthrough, I wouldn't have bothered with NewGame+.
And yes I've only mentioned Ryuji like a handful of times, but that's because I didn't really need to. Everyone loves him. It's a given.
I set the game to safety mode, because I just want the story.
This time I put a bit more effort into Joker's civilian name. I've grown attached to Kuro, even though I'm fairly certain that's not a name in Japan. In NewGame+ his name is Kuro Kichihei.
I enter my first battle in the Kamoshida's palace. I am frustrated that my stats are so low.
I realize I can equip end-game gear.
I'm crying, the shadows stand no chance.
I am too powerful. I fail to befriend shadows. I am forced to execute Arsène. This hurts.
I see the cutscene for executing Arsène for the first time. The Best Boy was with me to the very end in the first playthrough. It hurts to see him leave so soon in another timeline.
"It's no use! They're too powerful!!" Morgana cries. We have taken 2 HP damage.
I kinda wish I had set the game to easy mode, because I have a strong desire to know if this would be just as easy in normal mode.
I am determined to max out all bonds I form. While reading an online guide, I learn about checking Confidants Availability on the map. I feel like an idiot. I knew the blue rectangles meant a confidant was there, I didn't know they may offer up more information.
I discover there is a Confidant I have never even met in the First Playthrough. I go out of my way to befriend him. It's Yoshida.
Befriending him is... kinda stalker-y. Because I first find out where he frequents, get a job there to talk to him, and then I'm able to open up the confidant route. Like. I- I stalked him. So I could befriend him. No matter how you slice it, it's creepy.
I am in Madarame's boss battle. I am using personas at levels way higher than me, than the palace. I throw fire at all Madarames, the fire Madarames reflect it back at me. I am insta-killed. It's the only time I've died in the second playthrough.
I'm befriending and levelling up all previous Confidants, even though I know some of their skills carried over to NewGame+. I plan on befriending Chihaya again too, even though I'm going to pursue Makoto this time.
I do not open up the route with Chihaya.
I do open up Kawakami's route. I emotionally distance myself from the game to do so.
I discover I really love Kawakami and relate to her. It's unfortunate that the guy helping her is a minor and her student.
I spend a day hanging out with Ryuji. He mentions that his favourite characters are the rival characters. Um. Ryuji. Are you sure about that. Are you sure about that-
I open up Haru's route. She doesn't snap at me when I talk with her. I'm relieved.
As I finish Makoto's route, I suddenly wish I hadn't started a relationship with her. Because as she's pouring her heart out, this feels like she needed a friend, not a boyfriend. It's too late now though.
Meanwhile, I'm in Haru's early stages and I am displeased by the fact that she's still with her fiancé. My sympathy is not very high.
I finally understand why the Phantom Thieves kept asking me how I felt about the plan for Sae's palace. They weren't worried about the palace, or working with Akechi, they were worried about Akechi freaking murdering me.
Why is it an option to date Futaba if Sojiro is against it? Don't go against your dad's wishes, man.
Because I am weak, when Akechi sends me a text, asking me to hang out two days before he will murder me, I agree. Even though there are other Confidants whose bonds are ready to level up. Even though I've already maxed out my relationship with him. Even though it only unlocks a bless skill he will not have in the third semester. Akechi is still the favourite and does, in fact, get special treatment as a result.
As the Phantom Thieves re-explain how they suspected and tricked Akechi, I am able to better accept it and see how it fits into the story, partly because it's taken me 30 hours to get to this point, instead of 60.
I may accept the twist better, but the distaste remains and so I'm still not wholly happy with it. Maybe it's favouritism though. No. Who am I kidding. At this point, it's definitely favouritism. It's rarely strong enough to break the narrative though, so. Idk what you did Akechi, but you did it right.
I learn that if you have high bonds with non-PT Confidants prior to having to pretend to be dead, they will all reach out to you, to know that you're still alive. This made me very happy. And I did think it was strange in the first playthrough that no one outside the Phantom Thieves seemed all that bothered that I was dead.
There is substantial fear that I won't max out all my bonds before the end of the game.
I am particularly terrified that I will fail to max-out Haru and Shinya.
NewGame+ : Endgame
I enter Shido's palace. For the first time, I am no longer killing enemies with guns and attacks alone. Still wiping the floor with them though.
Haru seems to laugh at all my jokes. I wonder why Haru, Kuro and Akechi are not a more common trio in the fandom. You just know Kuro will tell a terrible joke, which Akechi will reasonably not find funny, but Haru finds hilarious, bursting into laughter, further exasperating him. I mean, tell me you don't see it. Tell me.
I max out the technical skill in billiards. I wish I could switch to normal, to see what the difference is (considering I never even touched it in the first playthrough).
Turns out I didn't need to worry about Haru. She maxed out within ten days.
At level 9, I'm thinking "Wow. Joker and Haru are such good friends :) " Then I reject her and she runs away. I suddenly feel bad that I'm already dating Makoto. So far, the only other confidant that got sad about rejection was Takemi. And she swallowed it like a champ.
I finally start exploring Shido's palace. I skip dialogue and cutscenes, so when Ann asks me if I remembered the plan, I answered "I forgot, actually...", making her exasperated. I have discovered being dumb is way more fun than being a know-it-all.
I rewatch Akechi's confrontation and once again feel second-hand embarrassment for the boy. This really could have been avoided if you went to therapy like a normal person.
I didn't notice how cool Akechi choosing to side with the Phantom Thieves was during first playthrough. I'm able to appreciate it this time.
Shido demands that Akechi be brought to him. Sorry Shido, unless Akechi somehow managed to drag himself out of the metaverse, you're not finding the body. Assuming he died. If he didn't die, well. Brace yourself, you're in for a shock either way.
Actually, that opens up a can of worms. What does happen to a being of the real world, if they were to die in the metaverse? They're a physical being, surely they can't just stay there? ? ?
I attempt to open up Chihaya's route, even though we're days away from the final boss battle. I forgot that there was a lot of running back and forth to unlock her confidant bond.
In other words, I do not achieve what I set out to do.
I've maxed out all my bonds, prior to the final boss fight. Except with Futuba and Kawakami. I accept my losses and wonder if I have time to max out three confidant bonds in the third semester.
I get a lot of new cutscenes in the boss battle, because I maxed out most of my bonds. Too bad I am not as invested in the story this time and so it's more of an annoyance than an "oh cool, so happy my friends back me :) " moment.
I'm in the boss battle. I defeat the god of control very quickly, it's laughably easy.
It's why I call BS when the plot demands the Phantom Thieves are exhausted and low energy, so that the crowd can overwhelmingly cheer them on.
My Phantom Thieves were still on max health and their SP was still fairly high. We didn't need popularity to mop the floor with the god of control.
From what I gather, Akechi is the absolute first sign of reality manipulation. Everything else follows after Akechi appears. That's weird. I wonder if there may have been other hints I missed, but I don't think so. Wait. Does Kasumi count?
It's the first time I get to spend christmas eve with a gf, instead of Sojiro and Futaba. It's surprisingly sweet and I stop regretting dating Makoto. Idk, I feel Joker and Makoto work well together.
"My sis told me last night [about Akechi]!" Yeah, right Makoto. I know you spent last night with Joker, you totally heard it from your sister and not him.
Tbh, with the way the story works, it seems that Joker and Makoto are in a secret relationship. Which I'm fine with, secret relationships are like. One of my favourite shipping dynamics.
NewGame+ : 3rd Semester
It seems I'm very heavily invested in the third semester, because I don't skip nearly as many cutscenes.
I wonder what it would be like to play P5 and go out of my way to be as hostile as possible to Akechi. Like, avoid him at all costs and always shoot him down. I doubt it makes a difference to the story.
Can you even unlock third semester if you don't max out Akechi?
I change their uniforms again, because I like pretending that third semester also affects how their metaverse selves appear. And the explanation for a more casual look? Maruki wants them to be ordinary teenagers, without the pressure of having to save the world. So their phantom thief clothes are partially affected by that (which does work, since Kuro's starlight clothes look like a more casual version of his phantom thief clothes, etc.)
Akechi: "I think we handled that rather well!" Akechi killed the shadow in one attack. Kasumi and I did nothing, just stood by and watched. Let me repeat that, we didn't do anything. There was no we, Akechi.
Akechi really does just straight-up peace out and let Joker fight Kasumi by himself. And then appears in the background after the battle, like he'd been helping in some shape, way or form.
It's still very funny to see Akechi go full-on villain in his showtime with Joker, while wearing a hat with HERO written on it in big, golden letters.
It stings to lose Akechi as navigator so soon, but because we're all way higher levels than we were in the first playthough (we're steadily approaching 90), the segment where he's navigator is much shorter.
Kinda weird how Akechi is open and even pushes for teamwork this time, when he strongly rejected it in December. :/ Almost like... This might not be the real Akechi...
I finish Kawakami's route. It's sweet. I'm really glad I swallowed my second-hand embarrassment, because this was worth it.
The NewGame+ was worth it, because lemme tell you, those third persona awakenings are hitting me right in the heart. Ryuji almost made me cry.
Yusuke's third awakening is so great, it's easily tied with Ryuji for best third awakening.
Really wish I could tell my friends that considering how I've forgiven Akechi, who not only betrayed me, but actually tried to murder me, I'm pretty sure I can get over them ignoring me for a few days.
I mean, the bar to upset Kuro is pretty freaking high. Akechi can potentially have failed to reach it, depending on how snarky and hostile the player wants to be towards him, but in both of my playthroughs he hasn't.
Hey, has anyone decided to keep Maruki's reality, purely to spite Akechi? Asking for a friend.
I now have a new fear: Failing to max out Futaba in time. I consider it a minor loss though.
I ask Haru to grow moonlight carrots. It's the first time I've asked her to grow anything. I promptly forget about them and never collect them.
Akechi and Ryuji argue while at Maruki's palace. And I have to decide whose side I want to take. As much as I favour Akechi, when we get down to it, I will always side with Ryuji. Also, Akechi getting flummoxed by my behaviour will never not be funny.
I finally befriend Chihaya. With 14 days left before the ultimate final boss battle. But I have nothing else to do in the evenings now, so I might as well try. As exepected, it doesn't get far.
There are nine days left and I have not yet maxed out Sumire or Futaba. The fear of failing is becoming increasingly real and intense.
It's kinda funny. In the First Playthrough, Joker had a supporting role in battle, reviving, healing and using support skills. He also specialized in Bless and Lightning attacks, and switched between personas frequently. In NewGame+ he's become a tank, specialized in Almighty and Curse attacks, and only uses, like, two personas really. It's such a stark contrast, almost like they're different people.
I'm ranking up Futaba and. Oh. Oh no. She has a crush.
What is it with men head-patting women as romantic gestures in Japanese media, that's always been so creepy to me.
Sumire confesses to Joker, which good on her, she's the only one to have done so. But I still wouldn't date her. Feels like a saviour crush, and I'm not into that jazz.
I fail to max out Futaba, but I'm ok with that. Sorry Futaba (and technically Chihaya).
Hey, if Maruki could bring back Okumura and Futaba's mum (and maybe Akechi), why couldn't he bring back the real Kasumi? Pretty sure that would relieve Sumire more than imposing a fake Kasumi personality onto Sumire. Or even switching out Kasumi for Sumire. Like, what's up with that.
Also, do dead people get their desires fulfilled? I imagine not. Which might be why Akechi is dead set on rejecting the reality. He's real enough to behave similar or identically to the real Akechi, and therefore aware enough to see that everyone has their "desires" fulfilled, except his. Unless his wish was to not go to prison, but he could have avoided that by just. Not taking Joker's place.
Or maybe it was that his crimes had never happened? Which kinda does work, seeing as he was released by the police and his crimes "swept under the rug". He doesn't act like someone that wishes he hadn't committed his crimes...
I just assume Akechi's deepest desire is not having a dead mum. Or a dad that actually loves him. So. You know. Sorry Akechi, even in the dream reality, you don't get a living mum or loving dad. Be grateful to be alive.
The fistfight at the end is just as stupid as it was the first time around. Don't get me wrong - I love that it's there. It's glorious. But still stupid.
Ok, the "Free Kuro from Juvie" is way more positive and uplifting when it isn't just Mishima alone in the street, trying to get Joker out of prison and Takemi giving one(1) interview. I am so glad I decided for NewGame+.
Ohya's freaking awesome. Love her.
Valentine's Day is too cute when you're spending it with someone.
It's February the 15th and I am being A M B U S H E D.
White Day is also very cute and very different when you've got someone to spend it with.
I do miss being able to give Sijiro something on White Day though. He deserves chocolate.
Kinda weird that the game keeps asking me who I want to romance, when. I've only romanced Makoto. Because I am loyal.
I can bid my friends farewell! Yay!!!! I'm finally happy.
Based on online advice, I go to the jazz club. And Kuro. Kuro. What do you mean you weren't Akechi's friend. You were the closest thing he had to a friend. That makes you his friend by virtue of being closer to him than anyone else.
I am so glad I chased up Kawakami. Her story was one of the best in-game. No, I'm not biased because I'm a teacher too. I'm not.
Move over Akechi, I have a new favourite and her name is Ohya. You go, you beautiful, independent, alcohol-loving lady!
When talking to confidants, I love that there's implication that the adventure won't actually stop for Kuro. At least, that's my interpretation, since it nicely builds into my head canon that Akechi is alive and that Mementos is purged, not erased (again, Akechi couldn't have died, or it'd be in the news...)
The game ends. I can start another NewGame+, this time with all stats already maxed out and over 6 million yen in my pocket. I don't, because I basically got the satisfying end what I wanted.
Idk, maybe in a year or something. Might replay it then, on higher difficulty.
Second playthrough took me 50 hours.
Man, that was wild.
23 notes · View notes
larluce · 2 months
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🤚 can I ask about the Loving the Dragonlord's son summaries??
Summary of the chapters of my still not published merthur fic "Loving the Dragonlord's son", sequel to "Protecting the Dragonlord's son" (SPOILERS!! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT THEM!!):
Chapter 1: Merthur date and courtship by Arthur. Arthur watching Merlin do magic and giving him magic books. People begin to criticize Arthur for having Merlin so poorly dressed and overworked, so Arthur wants to reduce Merlin's chores and make him dress better, but Merlin doesn't want to. They fight and Arthur lets slip up Merlin actually shouldn't have so much chores and he intentionally overworked him. Merlin gets mad and quits his job.
Chapter 2: Merlin wants to move back in with Gaius, but Arthur convinces him to stay in the antechambers. Merlin still doesn't forgive him thought and refuses to get back to work. Knights, servants, among others, ask him to please forgive the prince, because he's been to bad temper with everyone since they faught. He finally does it. Arthur mentions later there's no progress in the search for Morgana. Merlin remembers he still hasn't told Arthur he poisoned her and feels bad for making a scene about Arthur lying to him, when he's still keeping that secret from him.
Chapter 3: Merlin makes a new friend. A new servant that is from a village close to Ealdor. Jealous Arthur tells him he just wants something from him, but Merlin pays him no mind. It turns out Arthur was right, the servant is a Cenred spy who wanted to recruit Merlin as a spy too. Merlin, of course, doesn't accept the offer and shortly after tells Arthur about the spy, but the spy escapes. Since Merlin denied his offer, Cenred sends his men to be kidnap Hunith. They almost do, but she is rescued by Balinor and they have an emotional reunion.
Chapter 4: Cenred send Uther a letter telling him what he discovered. Uther doesn't really believe any of it, but still has Merlin arrested. Arthur searches for evidence to free him. In his search he meets Balinor again and with his help he finds the spy. Balinor makes Arthur promise he'll tell Merlin about him and they say their goodbyes. Arthur brings the spy to Camelot and he confesses. Merlin is set free. They send back the spy to Cenred. Merlin asks why would Cenred lie about his mom being seeing with the Great Dragon. Arthur tries to tell him the truth, but in the end he can't.
Chapter 5: In one of the searches for Morgana, Arthur finds the courage to tell Merlin about Balinor, but Merlin goes ahead and confesses to Arthur that he poisoned Morgana. Arthur becomes enraged and doesn't speak to him again, not even when they return to Camelot. Merlin receives a letter from his mother telling him about Balinor. Merlin goes to Arthur, excited to finally know something about his father, but he soon realises Arthur already knew and keep that secret from him. They fight again making a public scene. Furious with Arthur and Gaius for lying to him, Merlin moves in with Gwen.
Chapter 6: Everyone thinks that Merlin has lost the prince's favor due to the public scene and the fact Merlin left the prince's antechambers, but both Arthur and Merlin are too busy feeling sorry for theirselfs they don't realise that. Is not until a nobel man attempts to rape Merlin that Arthur realises. Reconciliation. First I love you's and first time.
I'll probably have to split some chapters in two, but for now the summaries are these.
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albentelisa · 2 months
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Hi i Love really you asks especially the ones about Jim Claire and Blinky
What if Claire was a changeling was the Older Sister of NotErinque
How she falls in Love with Jim and how she hiding being a changeling is up to
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Somehow, I have two changeling!Claire asks in my inbox and as they aren't contradicting, let's combine them!
So, as changelings, Claire and NotEnrique aren't related, but they created a sibling-like bond while going through the Janus Order training. Actually, they are extremely close in age by troll terms and no one has an idea which one is older, and they fight back and forth for the 'elder sibling' status (ironically, there's more evidence that it's NotEnrique, but Claire would rather die than admit it).
Claire gets a familiar, when Strickler decides to get more manpower. Claire wasn't his choice as a recruit (as she's too ambitious, independent, and smart for his liking), but Nomura, who went with him (as the new recruit was supposed to be her helper), insisted on Claire. That's why Claire and Strickler's relationship in this AU is extremely strained - as Strickler senses a potentially dangerous rival. On the other hand, Claire is close to Nomura - who is both her fighting master and family-like figure. Claire likes human culture and feels that Nomura is the only one who can understand. Nomura, on the other hand, sees her younger self in Claire.
In this AU Claire gets a crush on Jim first, but she tries her best to hide it because it's forbidden for a changeling to have feelings and because she isn't sure if Jim can ever accept her true nature (and Nomura's pessimistic views that changelings simply cannot be successful in love don't help). Claire likes that Jim is nice and honest, but decides to watch him from the sidelines instead of approaching. Because of that, she is unaware that Jim has a crush on her too.
The amulet's appearance is where everything goes down. Claire notices it before Strickler and realizes what it can possibly imply. That is why she abandons her previous tactic and approaches Jim in an attempt to befriend him. Claire's plan is to steal the amulet from Jim and save him from a highly likely death from Bular's hand (and well, from her point of view, it should be the best outcome for everyone involved). Alas, Strickler learns about Jim's new status too, deciding to approach Jim via Barbara (like in the canon). So, from now on it's a race between Claire and Strickler to get the amulet. Both think it should be easy - and both don't expect Jim to actually take up the mantle.
Mary and Darci (who are still Claire's friends) find her recent attitude odd and decide to investigate. Initially, they think that it's all because of her crush, but somehow they stumble upon too much, discovering the existence of goblins. Claire in her true form saves them but leaves without any explanation. So Mary and Darci know about magical creatures now, but not about Claire's true form (as they have no idea who their savior was).
Strickler decides to recruit another changeling to spy on Claire (as he doesn't trust her now). NotEnrique is picked, but Strickler is unaware of his bond with Claire. So, Claire ends up with an additional ally instead. It's a bright moment for her as she both has no idea what to do with Mary and Darci (she should kill them according to the rules, but she doesn't want that) or with her quickly developing relationship with Jim (as she realizes he actually loves her too). She starts to think about telling Jim everything and switching sides for good.
Much like in the canon, NotEnrique is the one who gets exposed first (though the one who catches him is Toby as Claire and Jim are at the concert then). NotEnrique pretends that Claire is just an unaware human girl, but gives some hints that Strickler may be inhuman (as he is from a separate faction). Jim is upset as he doesn't want to suspect his favorite teacher, but Toby goes to check the lead and ends up exposing Strickler. Enraged, Strickler comes to the dinner at Jim's house and tells Jim about Claire's true nature when Barbara is in the kitchen.
The timing couldn't be worse as Claire actually decided to confess to Jim the next day, but when they meet Jim asks her to take a gaggletack. Jim does it because he refuses to believe Strickler's words and wants to clear Claire's name, but for Claire, it sounds like an accusation. They are interrupted though - as NotEnrique arrives, announcing that goblins attacked Mary and Darci (those two were babysitting him).
Both Jim and Claire rush to help girls, and Jim discovers that his amulet is a fake one (as Strickler switches the real one with a copy like in the canon). Claire realizes she is the only one who can fight and has no other choice but to transform in front of both Jim and her two BFFs. She defeats goblins with ease, but Nomura arrives and attacks Claire. Jim can't help but watch (as he's still shocked from both the reveal and the amulet loss), and Claire is defeated and taken away.
In despair, Jim calls for the amulet one more time and it actually responds this time, but it's too late. Toby, Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, and Draal arrive and learn about everything that happened. NotEnrique, Mary, and Darci all plea Jim to save Claire, but Jim's allies are skeptical if they should help the supposed enemy. Jim himself wavers as he learns from NotEnrique that Claire is willing to betray Bular and that she saved Mary and Darci at some point.
Like in the canon, Strickler contacts Jim and proposes to him a deal - Claire's life in exchange for the amulet. Jim arrives, seemingly alone (but actually with a backup), and the battle begins. Claire is surprised to see that Jim has come, and it only strengthens her resolve to start a new life separately from the Janus Order. Alas, the Bridge is open and Gunmar is close to coming out, so Claire attempts a self-sacrificial attack to kick him back. When the Bridge is closed, she is trapped in the Darklands (Nomura gets sucked too as she tried to drag her student out at the last second).
There is a victory of course, but Jim is devastated. At first, he even thinks about reopening Killahead, but Toby and Blinky stop him (and NotEnrique also adds that his sis didn't risk her life so that Jim wasted her sacrifice).
Jim decides that he needs to become stronger to venture into the Darklands. He talks to previous Trollhunters (who are not happy that he wants to risk so much for an impure) and later learns about the Triumbric stones.
No one in Arcadia is suspicious as Claire is seemingly ok and attends school (it's Otto, posing as her). It drives Jim nuts as he cannot stand the fake (the same goes for Mary and Darci), but people just assume that Jim and Claire have broken up and Mary and Darci have taken Jim's side in that conflict. Steve starts to date fake Claire in an attempt to spite Jim (which has a totally opposite effect).
Strickler awakes Angor (as he fears for his own safety) and comes back to Arcadia. In this AU, Darci is the one who gets the Shadowstaff, while Mary gets one of Angor's daggers. As for Toby, he gets Warhammer before that as he decides to be a better sidekick to Jim.
Aja and Krel come to school around the same time as Strickler returns and the Trollhunters immediately suspect them of being changelings and Strickler's allies. A quick gaggletack check, however, dispels those suspicions (Aja and Krel have no idea what is going on, thinking it's just one of the local traditions).
Mary thinks that Jim should relax a bit (as he still feels guilty because of Claire and recently, there's an added stress from learning that Strickler bonded his life to Barbara's). She suggests going to the swing fling with someone, proposing herself, Darci, and even Aja (as she is friendly to Jim). Jim refuses politely, but this whole conversation makes him realize that he still has feelings for Claire (before he tried to convince himself he wants to save her only because she changed sides).
In the Darklands, Gunmar imprisons both Claire and Nomura and makes them battle each other every day to break them. After the fights, they talk a lot and Nomura shares her story about her relationship with Draal. She believes that no one can truly love a changeling, but Claire thinks that she could possibly be happy with Jim (the memories of their time together are the thing that helps her keep going).
Meanwhile, during one of the encounters with Angor, Aja and Krel get involved and the Team Trollhunters learn their true identities. Aja and Krel decide to join the local defenders.
While things look bright for the team at first, everything goes worse as Draal loses his arm in a fight with Angor. Usurna also invents a different story to make Aaarrrgghh go back (as no one is poisoned in this AU) - she arrives, pretending that someone attacked the Krubera tribe, and asks for a backup. Aaarrrgghh is seemingly the only one who can go, so he departs.
The team thinks that Strickler might have a different ally (the one who attacked Krubera) and realizes they need to deal with that too before venturing to the Darklands. There is also a deal with Angor in this AU, and Angor's soul gets destroyed, leading to Strickler coming to Jim for help. The outcome is still the same, with Barbara learning the truth, the binding spell broken and the Trollmarket under the attack. It's too much for Jim, as he goes to the Darklands alone in secret.
As for Claire, Nomura actually helps her escape one day, so Claire is currently roaming the Darklands. She is lost and has no idea what to do now. At some point, Claire stumbles upon the Nursery, and it helps her to formulate some vision of her future, She vows to return all the familiars back to their families, but first, she realizes she needs to save Nomura who is kind of her family.
Jim, on the other hand, finds Gunmar's prison - and ends up surrounded and captured. Gunmar realizes that the Bridge is open and sends some of his most loyal goons to investigate. And as Usurna pulls some strings to use her own loyal troops to guard the exit, she soon makes a deal with Gunmar. Usurna sneaks Gumm-Gumms inside the Trollmarket each time no one is close, and uses Gyre to transport them into a secret location in the forest.
The Team Trollhunters try to go to the Darklands to save Jim, but Usurna's position is too strong - she keeps feeding the locals' paranoia and even insists that it may be better to destroy the bridge (she plans to do it at some point, to limit Gunmar's troops and make him easier to control). After some time, Blinky and Toby make a plan to fool guards and go past them into the Darklands (Mary, Darci, and Draal go as well). In the Darklands, they meet Claire (who isn't happy to learn that Jim came to save her alone and most likely got in trouble). With her lead, they travel to the prison area and free Jim and Nomura.
While imprisoned Jim noticed that there wasn't much activity with Gumm-Gumms and that Gunmar stopped appearing altogether at some point. He shares it with everyone else, and Claire agrees that there are seemingly fewer guards than there used to be during her own imprisonment. The team investigates a bit, following a group of Gumm-Gumms and discovering that Usurna is a traitor, working with Gunmar.
At the same time, Aja and Krel, who stayed on the surface, stumble upon the Gumm-Gumm base in the forest and realize the possible extent of the catastrophe. They are not the only ones who discover the base that night as Steve (who finds Jim's disappearance suspicious and follows Aja and Krel) and Eli (who thinks that Aja and Krel are suspicious and follows them) both end in the wrong place. Aja and Krel have no choice but to tell them everything.
Two parts of the team reunite - only to witness Gunmar taking over the Trollmarket. Aaarrrgghh returns (he has been captured all this time and helps some local trolls escape). Still, there are too many trolls under the Decimaar's control now and the future looks rather bleak.
The team decides to go looking for more allies. Nomura contacts Strickler and proposes to recruit some of the wavering Janus Order's members. Steve and Eli argue about telling the citizens of Arcadia about the magic creatures, but Jim is reluctant.
As Darci never abused the Shadow Staff (unlike Claire in the canon), she has no link with Morgana. As for Gunmar, he discovers that Morgana is sealed inside the Heartstone but after considering the pros and cons, decides not to risk unsealing her (he decides to either look for a different, more controllable wizard to start Eternal Night or simply find some alternative to that one).
Morgana, however, doesn't plan to just wait. She orders the still loyal members of the Arcane Order to find her some temporary vessel and summon her soul inside it. The changelings pick up Barbara for it and kidnap her.
Strickler and Jim think that the Janus Order does it as revenge. They save Barbara, not realizing that she's already possessed. Strickler talks to Barbara, deciding to come clean about everything, but her reaction is surprisingly nonchalant (actually, he talks to Morgana that time). At first, he thinks Barbara is still mad at him, but as time passes, he grows more suspicious, discovering that she is meeting with Angor Rot (who she has revived).
Meanwhile, Claire is secretly researching the way to get familiars out like she promised and meets Douxie during her research. She learns that Douxie is Merlin's student and brings him to meet with the team. Douxie tells everyone that Merlin is still alive and just sleeping, so Jim decides to awaken him in the hope that he can help deal with Gunmar.
Strickler doesn't manage to inform anyone about his discovery as Morgana captures him. She contacts Gunmar and proposes an alliance while sending Angor Rot to recover Merlin's staff.
With Douxie's help, the team goes through the tomb's challenges without much trouble. They are unaware that Angor is pursuing them though. Angor ambushes everyone when they drop their guard, stealing both Merlin's staff and the Shadow Staff. When Merlin wakes up, he isn't happy.
The situation is dire. Morgana gets out as she forces Strickler to read the spell (threatening to harm Barbara otherwise). Strickler escapes with unconscious Barbara afterward (as Morgana goes back to her own body). All of that only gives Merlin more arguments when he convinces Jim to take his elixir.
When Jim disappears from his bathroom, Claire goes searching for him, and finds him in the forest, transformed and disoriented. She brings him back and encounters Merlin about it. Merlin, however, tells her she should be the last person complaining as he just erased the obstacle that prevented Jim and Claire from being together. Claire loses her temper and punches him, even though some cynical part of her mind feels that troll Jim isn't bad (she feels extremely guilty for that kind of thought though as she loves Jim no matter what). Claire is the one who helps Jim to deal with his new experiences as she can relate to his situation a bit. Yet, she realizes how stressful everything is for him, so she swallows her pride and goes to Merlin again, asking if there is actually no way to turn Jim back (or at least give him the ability to change forms). Merlin harshly tells her there's no way and to stop pestering him with dumb questions.
Before the final battle, Claire talks to Ophelia and Javier, telling them the truth. She expects them to be enraged, but after the initial shock, they accept her as their second daughter.
During the final battle, Jim defeats Gunmar and Claire goes against Angor Rot, who she convinces to change the sides. Morgana, however, is captured rather than sealed (as Douxie and Krel make a magic-cancellation device).
The familiars are out of the Darklands, meaning that the changelings lose their ability to shift. Morgana, who is powerless and imprisoned, mocks Merlin for his inability to deal with that problem. Claire, who overhears it, comes to her and learns that Morgana knows a solution. She promises to free her in exchange for helping her, Jim, and other changelings who switched to the good side, to which she agrees.
Morgana, while still bitter about Merlin, decides to give humanity a second chance and just live a quiet life. Angor doesn't trust her though and decides to watch her from the shadows. Merlin is against the idea - but, well, he has already lost any credibility, so his opinion is ignored.
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bestworstcase · 3 months
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Just found your post about gillian x jaune and I enjoyed it very much! Could you elaborate gillian being anti-theme ozma? Is it like, she’s committed not to GoL and his religion war but the people she loves and she acts in ozma’s manner on this issue? Thank you <3
when i say a character is anti-theme what i mean is they either don’t know or don’t believe the narrative themes. this is a broad / high-level way of thinking about character arcs in terms of a character’s relation to theme. for example, a lot of fantasy protagonists have character arcs about learning and embracing the story’s themes; think “hero discovers the true power of friendship” type of stories. 
one of the characteristics that makes rwby so interesting is that this theme/anti-theme paradigm is decoupled from narrative role, most notably in the case of salem and ozpin. 
salem understands the narrative themes. in fact, she articulates them at the beginning of the story with such precision that fans regularly describe what rwby is thematically about by quoting or paraphrasing her: “even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change,”  “there will be no victory in strength,” and “your faith in mankind was not misplaced: when banded together, unified by a common enemy, they are a noticeable threat.” salem also describes mankind as “strong, wise, and resourceful” and praises humanity’s “passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity.” these are ideas that salem truly believes. 
meanwhile ozpin professes to have faith in mankind, but in reality he is beholden to a god who explicitly views modern humans as inferior shadows of their predecessors and has commanded ozma to “redeem” them before the gods lest they be found unworthy of existence and destroyed. ozpin himself is also paranoid, deceitful, manipulative, and distrustful, because he has no real faith in people. 
and, if you listen to what salem actually says to and about him (including in ‘sacrifice’ and ‘divide’) it’s obvious that most of her fury is motivated by this: salem believes that humanity is worthy and that the divine mandate should be refused, and ozma’s dedication to his task of “redeeming” humanity enrages her. she’s angry both for herself and on humanity’s behalf.
her belief in the themes is also evident in her strategy and the scope of her war: she is very narrowly focused on the huntsmen academies and seems to be making an effort to minimize collateral damage, i.e. pulling grimm out of vale quickly while holding beacon, the surgical strike planned on haven, not attacking mantle (and having the hound send wild grimm out of the city), leaving menagerie in peace. salem is both desperate and ruthless, but her faith in remnant’s ability to survive and rebuild after she knocks the academies down is ironclad.
so, with that laid out, before discussing gillian i want to first elaborate on jaune being anti-theme salem. 
salem’s own story is defined by striving for freedom and justice: she escapes her tyrannical father’s tower; challenges the brothers, who are unjust; leads a rebellion; possibly brings humankind back and may have created the faunus through her transformation in the pool of grimm; rejects the divine mandate; and now she seeks to topple the huntsmen academies and create a ‘new world’ free from the divine threat of annihilation. 
connected to that, one of the central thematic conceits of her character is the power that storytellers wield over their audiences: ozpin explicitly uses fairytales as propaganda to control the narrative about her, framing her as an inhuman monster who cannot be trusted and desires only annihilation. fairytalesare not real, and the truth is hard to come by. salem is well aware of this and remarks upon it in her V1 soliloquy (“legends, stories scattered through time” that obscure “the forgotten past”). she does not, particularly, seem to like fairytales. 
as with hope and faith in mankind, this is another case of salem knowing the theme versus ozma believing the anti-theme. rwby values fairytales because they can express emotional truths, but the whole truth—the reality—is always more complex, and fairytales can also be weaponized as propaganda or tools of condemnation. it is important to understand that fairytales aren’t real, and treating real life like a fairytale only leads to pain. 
yes? okay.
jaune and pyrrha reflect salem and ozma; she’s the renowned celebrity athlete with a heart of gold, he’s the self-described “damsel in distress” and “lovable idiot stuck in the tree.” she helps him down from the tree and trains him to a level of competence, and like the original ozma, she dies tragically young. simple. 
but,
unlike salem, jaune is not motivated by a longing for freedom or anger at injustice. he comes from a line of soldiers and he wants to prove to his doubtful family that he’s good enough to uphold that legacy. he doesn’t want to be the damsel in distress; he wants to be the hero. he doesn’t want to be saved; he wants to be the one saving others. so he fraudulently enrolls in beacon academy and pretends to be something he isn’t. the tree is his tower—“i’m tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives,” he says, pointing wildly at beacon tower—but the thing is, he put himself there. during his character arc in V1, jaune is trapped in a cage of his own making, one he built out of childish fantasies about being the fairytale hero. 
further, if we compare jaune’s reason for wanting to be a huntsman against the rest of the kids:
ruby wants to help people and feel closer to her mother by being like the heroes in the stories summer read to her when she was small
weiss wants to atone for what her father has done in her family’s name and make things right
blake wants to make a stand against corruption and inequality for her people, even though she’s not sure how to fix it
yang craves adventure and self-discovery, and she wants to pursue it in a manner that will make the world a better place
pyrrha believes it’s her destiny to be a huntress in order to protect the world
nora doesn’t have a clear idea of what she wants, but she’s an intensely compassionate person who, like blake, stands up to injustice and advocates for people in need. 
ren wants to become the huntsman his village needed, someone who could have saved his parents and his home, and he’s following his father’s final advice to take action
jaune wants to prove to his family that he is good enough to become a warrior like his forefathers. 
jaune is the odd one out. he’s fiercely loyal to and protective of his friends, but he’s the only one who came to beacon for purely self-centered reasons. his arc in V1 is about jaune learning not to be craven and self-serving, to shelve his pride, let go of his cowardice, and do the right thing. 
all of this is anti-theme—or at least, the absence of belief in the themes. 
and that comes to a head when he’s stranded in the ever after in V9. see, salem’s belief in the themes—in the power of hope, the worth of mankind, and the importance of truth—is not just an abstraction. these beliefs are what drives her. for salem, emotionally, hope and righteous anger are one and the same. when she loses her hope, she remembers her anger; anger motivates her to act, and so reignites her hope. she has never given up because she has taken every horrific hope-shattering experience as a reason to get back up and keep fighting. every cruelty the gods inflicted upon her strengthened her conviction that resistance to their design was worthwhile. 
so
what happens if salem lacks that conviction?
salem believes heart and soul that change is possible and that these humans—this world—are better off without the brothers. in the present, she is hopeless and wrathful, and her desperation drives her to catastrophic extremes, but she is not stagnating: she’s fighting to change the world, freeing herself from exile and everyone else from the threat of annihilation. 
in contrast, jaune does not really believe in anything. not in the way salem does—he believes in his friends and he believes in doing his job as a huntsmen, sure. but where is his faith? where, after he’s stranded in the ever after, is his reason to act? after the moonfall, salem curses the gods and wanders the face of remnant alone until she reaches the pool of grimm, then throws herself into the darkness with the hope that it will change something; rather than fall into despair, she holds onto her conviction and searches for a way to keep moving forward. 
jaune… sits on a beach for years, passively waiting for something to happen. when alyx and lewis find him, he tries to be the storybook hero and his obsession with making sure that the story happens as it’s “supposed” to freaks alyx out so much that she poisons him. then he lives with the paper pleasers for years, playing pretend as their hero while he runs in circles. he’s trapped. he has no real purpose or direction. the tree is, once again, his tower—that tree is death! it erases you!—and just as before, it’s a tower of his own making. 
tellingly, his stagnation in the ever after transforms him into a resemblance of ozpin: paranoid, distrustful, manipulative, controlling of the very people to whom he has appointed himself a guardian. he finds himself in a world completely unfamiliar to him, convinces himself that it’s cursed and bad because it isn’t like the world he remembers, and rots. 
so, he’s anti-theme salem: a fractal repetition of her unmoored from her unshakable belief in the themes, who stagnates and is corrupted like ozpin because of his lack of faith. 
the natural converse of anti-theme salem is an ozma who does believe in the themes, because that’s the reversal of ozma’s relation to the theme.
presuming that i am generally anticipating gillian’s presence and role in the vacuo arc correctly, there are a few solid reasons to think that her thematic ties to ozma will mirror jaune’s to salem.
first, as the summer maiden—the maiden of destruction—her “moral” (per the fairytale) is “don’t view the world at a distance; take an active part in it,” and destruction itself has been consistently portrayed as a catalyst and agent of change. ozpin fears destruction and views it as the enemy of life itself—anti-theme. being the summer maiden, gillian would embody the thematic refutation to that idea.
second, the crown repeats the ozlem kingdom: both authoritarian cults founded and led by a pair of leaders claiming divine right to rule (ozlem on the strength of their magic, the asturias twins through their claim of royal blood), and both collapse when ozma / gillian are forced to choose between love and their cause. but they choose in opposite directions; ozma sacrifices salem and their daughters for the sake of the divine mandate, but gillian turns against jax at the last minute to save  his life (and her own) once it’s clear that he intends to go down fighting. unlike ozma, when the chips were down, gillian sacrificed her cause to save her brother.
third, the whole backstory between gillian and jax—as i’ve pointed out before—revolves around gillian’s absolute rejection of the idea that her brother’s frailty made him inferior. everyone else, even jax himself, sees jax as a parasitic weakling, pitiable at best and repellant at worst, but gillian is glad to share her aura with him and not only treats him like her equal but comfortably follows his lead. 
gillian’s semblance makes her terrifically powerful, with or without the maiden powers, and she was raised in a culture that worships power and abhors “weakness”—and yet. she mainly uses her power to support her brother and at one point during the climactic battle she even reflects that the power she grants her forces also leads them to be overconfident and reckless, to their detriment. her attitude toward power is very reminiscent of salem’s—and quite unlike ozma, who seeks out the relics in the hope of using them to overpower salem and goes to extreme lengths to try to keep the maidens and their power under his control. 
so while she clearly repeats ozma, gillian does not put her faith in power and chooses to follow her heart rather than let herself and her brother die for a doomed cause, and she might be the maiden who embodies destruction as a force of active change. all of this puts her thematically opposite to ozma in much the same way that jaune is thematically opposite to salem. 
and,
if she and jaune do wind up being narratively intertwined (romantically or otherwise), there is a lot of compelling reverse-ozlem ore here. a heroic anti-theme salem in juxtaposition with a villainous ozma who knows (some of) the themes. when jaune is at his best, he’s a healer; gillian loves her medically fragile brother. there’s an obvious narrative opening to bring these characters into orbit with each other and helping jax is an obvious step to healing what’s rotten in the state of vacuo. in the broader thematic sense, gillian as an ozma repetition being motivated to complete a villain->hero arc because they’re helping her brother (and because she’s been given a reason to question whether there’s any real truth or value in her “royal bloodline”) would also elegantly precipitates ozma’s apostasy arc. and then you have the possible ozlem reversal of jaune finding something to believe in through gillian just as ozma found something to live for in salem. 
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taehyungday · 11 months
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𝐅𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐂É- 𝚕.𝚍𝚑.
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𝗉𝖺𝗂𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀…𝖽𝗈𝗇𝗀𝗁𝗒𝗎𝖼𝗄 𝗑 𝖿𝖾𝗆!𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋
𝗀𝖾𝗇𝗋𝖾…𝗒𝖺𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗎
𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍…1350
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"F/N (father's name), you've lost the war. Your kingdom is now under our control." Seoul's King stated.
"Please don't do anything harmful to my family." F/N expressed this while bowing and crying.
"On one condition, I will not harm your family." The king addressed.
F/N had a hopeful expression on his face as he glanced at the King.
"If you don't hurt my family, I'll do anything." F/N remarked.
"I will appoint you as a temporary ruler of your kingdom and I will not hurt any member of your family, if your daughter agrees to marry my son."
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Seoul was Korea's most powerful kingdom. No other kingdom's army could equal the strength of the Seoul army. Seoul's monarch had only one son. His son's name was Dong-Hyuck, although he went by the nickname Haechan. Haechan grew up as a spoiled brat. He was always able to get anything he desired. And the King of Seoul was ready to give his son everything, just as he had promised his former wife to do for their kid. Haechan's mother died while giving birth to the king's son. Haechan's mother's dying wish was for him to be happy. And the king made it his mission to grant her final wish, even if it meant sacrificing all of his happiness and pleasures for his son.
Seoul and Busan enjoyed a good relationship. They used to invite each other to festivities in their own kingdoms.
That is how Haechan came to meet the Princess of Busan. He knew she was the single person who was intended for him the instant he saw her. The Y/N had enraged Haechan. The princess had enchanted him. Until he met her, he had never coveted attention. He tried everything he could to grab her attention, but Y/N was too preoccupied with another boy's thoughts. Lee Jeno. He was Busan's financial minister's son.. Jeno was loathed by Haechan for attracting Y/n's attention. He even resisted the urge to murder the boy. But he was certain that one day, Y/n's whole focus will be on him. She wouldn't think about anyone else but him. All he needed was a good plan to pull it off.
The first step in his strategy was to inform his father of his feelings for the girl. Haechan's father was overjoyed to learn that he was ready to marry. The monarch was also considering marrying his son, who would be king in a few years. He was overjoyed when he learned that his son fell in love with the daughter of his friend. He guaranteed Haechan's marriage to Y/n. But everything reached a peak when the king of Busan refused to marry her daughter.
After receiving the news, Haechan became enraged and heartbroken. His father, on the other hand, assured him that he would compel F/n to marry his daughter. Seoul's troops launched an attack on Busan. The battle was won by Seoul's army as it was larger and stronger. F/n had no choice than to marry his daughter at this point.
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"The Seoul Crown Prince has arrived." The guards made an announcement.
"It's a delight to finally meet you, darling," While kissing Y/handn's, Haechan spoke. Y/n returned his welcome with a small smile.
"Now, because our wedding is coming up in a few months, we need to get to know each other." Haechan was the one who talked.
"Can I speak with you, Prince Haechan, about something?" Y/n questioned, a little cautiously.
"Darling, you don't have to ask my permission." Haechan was quick to respond.
"I can't marry you."
Haechan was unsurprised. He was aware that this moment was approaching and had devised a strategy to deal with it.
"Why?" he inquired.
"I'm in love with someone else." She responded.
"Who is the lucky one?" Haechan asked.
"Lee Jeno is a childhood acquaintance of mine."
"Oh! I was thinking to myself that I would be able to marry such a gorgeous lady, only to discover that her heart had already been captured by someone else. But don't worry, if you don't want to marry me, I'll attempt to suppress my feelings for you and persuade my father to call off our wedding." Haechan answered.
How could Haechan be so good, Y/n couldn't believe. How could he appreciate Y/n’s marriage decision so much? She was overjoyed. She hugged Haechan without thinking. When she hugged him, Haechan was flabbergasted. He was overwhelmed with joy when his Y/n hugged him. He was confident that his strategy was working.
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"He had been poisoned."
My entire universe came crumbling down around me. I had the impression that my sadness would never go away. The world wasn't going to stop crashing until all that was left of me was dust. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Jeno was thrilled when he learned that Haechan would back out of his marriage proposal yesterday. They stayed up all night making love to one other.
Someone poisoned him today, however.
I just screamed and closed my eyes as a vision of Jeno's dead body flashed through my head. I wanted to scream so loudly that my bones would break.
Someone snatched me up and embraced me. I raised my eyes to see Haechan.
"Love, don't cry. Everything will turn out fine." While rocking me in his embrace, he said.
I couldn't stop crying.
"Whenever your world begins to crumble, you will always find me at your side."
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Jeno's funeral took place a few months ago. Without him, I was completely lost. Haechan was the only person who kept me sane. He was always by my side. He demonstrated how much he cared for me. I began to develop feelings for him.
"Y/n." My brother approached me with a worried expression on his face.
"Can you tell me what happened?" I asked.
"You should distance yourself from Haechan." He stated.
"Why?" I inquired about him.
"He's a lunatic. I believe he was the one who killed Jeno."
"What makes you think he'd kill Jeno? To me, he's been nothing but a sweetheart. Unlike my own family, he would always respect my decisions and would never pressurise me. He is the only one who is concerned about my well-being." Y/n was said.
"No, he-" er brother was cut off.
"Stop blaming me for everything." While entering the room with F/n, Haechan said.
"What?" Your brother asked, perplexed.
"I am quite dissatisfied with you, son." F/n expressed.
"What did I do?" Your brother had queried.
" We were told by the royal cook that you were spotted putting something in Jeno's dish. We found poison in your almirah today when we investigated your room." Haechan said.
"Wait, what? Everything was done by Haechan. I had nothing to do with it." It was said by your brother.
"It's time to lock him up." F/n directed the guards with a dejected expression on his face.
I couldn't believe it was my brother who was in charge of everything. Why did he kill my former partner, and tears welled up in my eyes once more.Haechan embraced me right away. He gave me a small smile as he gazed at me. Everything was going to be fine, I knew.
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"You may kiss the bride." priest said.
Haechan glanced at Y/n as if he was asking for permission to kiss her. Y/n gave a shy nod. Haechan kissed Y/n immediately after her agreement. They were both blushing profusely when they were pulled from the kiss.
Y/n was willing to give Haechan the opportunity to be her lover. She had created a strong bond with the Crown Prince.
Haechan, on the other hand, was smirking, knowing that his strategy had worked. How he devised a strategy to thwart everyone who was opposed to their wedding. Only if Y/n knew how many people he slaughtered in her name.
But they were in for a long intense night right now.
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randomstoryenjoyer · 10 months
Note
Could ya do the dragon cookies with a reader that has similar powers to a voodoo doll like any injures they get they can make another get
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Sorry if this isn’t really an ‘x reader’ if that’s what you wanted, but I tried to keep it positive for some of the dragons
A different type of power
Having been baked with a strange voodoo power, your dough has had this powerful ability for as long as you remember. Any type of injury or curse that befalls upon you is inflicted upon the one that gave you it! While your dough thankfully had a very improved regeneration rate, your attacker wouldn’t be as fortunate as you.
With a dangerous ability such as this, almost all cookies eventually learnt to stay out of your way. But luckily for all of them, you only had a very specific group in mind to pay a visit to…
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Pitaya Dragon Cookie would almost be in disbelief upon seeing you march up to his lair in the Dragon’s Valley and challenging him to fight, due to the fact that you were not armed or wearing any kind of armour. Determined to punish you for the under serving ego you showed, he was already charging towards you and striking you on your torso… only to feel an excruciating pain on his torso the second his weapon made contact with you.
By the time it was all over, Pitaya Dragon Cookie would be in full disbelief. How could such a weak-looking cookie manage to defeat him without even fighting back?! From then on, he’d view you in both respect and resentment. On one hand, you had managed to show him power through different means than sheer strength or agility, but on the other hand… he hated how you were able to defeat him without even having to properly fight. It felt like cheating, and yet he still finds himself wanting to continue holding spars against you. While he doesn’t really care how your voodooism works, he’s actually become quite happy with its existence, as it finally gives him a challenge that he plans on overcoming eventually.
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Ananas Dragon Cookie was no different, his eyebrow already twitching in visible anger as you strolled up to him so causally, as if you were daring to insult his grand lair and presence. All tolerance towards you was basically non-existent from the start, and it only got worse once he discovered why his attacks towards you were only causing him pain. It enrages him, how such a lowly cookie like yourself was able to make a fool out of the mighty dragon that he was and get away with it due to repelling back any sense he tried to knock into you.
He has his islands, his lair, his power and his influence over the denizens of the islands, while all you have is your little voodooism, and yet you were able to control him so effortlessly? He couldn’t dare retaliate against your utter disrespect, as small marks from when he first attacked you were still visible in his body. With his ego shattered thanks to the your power, don’t expect to be met with a warm welcome whenever you decide to visit his islands again.
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Lotus Dragon Cookie could already sense your unusual presence from the second you stepped onto their paradise. To your surprise, you were summoned to their palace by Hydrangea Cookie, where the dragon started asking you about your strange aura, seeming to be genuinely curious for the first time in a long while.
Eventually, with all the information she gained about your power, she’s pleasantly intrigued and surprised with this new revelation. How did this happen to you and how could she use this voodooism energy for herself? You’ll always be invited back to the palace whenever your return to the Lotus Paradise go have yet another interrogation chat with the Dragon, but she isn’t on planning on telling you the plan that she was hiding behind these meet-ups with you…
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Unsurprisingly, your encounter with Lychee Dragon Cookie resulted in nothing but sheer irritation from the dragon’s. It’s bad enough that they can’t try to fight you, as their body is not used to receiving pain due to how little they’ve ever actually had to take a fight seriously, but they can’t even get you to fall under their charm as well, as goodness knows what would happen to them if they did. Would they be stuck as a mindless slave to themselves? They absolutely did not want to test out their theory at all.
Lychee Dragon Cookie now has to endure you whenever you visit their lair and do whatever you want just to spite them. You were just a pathetic cookie, and yet you were able to one-up them like this?! This lead to them becoming more determined to find a way to bypass your voodoo powers so that you fall under their charm once and for all. They dream of the day that they’ll put you in your rightful place, adoring them like all the others in their cave…
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Longan Dragon Cookie had already taken notice of your existence long before you even approached their Lustrous Palace, but meeting you face to face was one of the more… displeasurable moments of their entire existence, to put it lightly. They see you as the biggest flaw in their great plan, knowing very well that turning you into stone would cause the same to happen to themselves. They craved the chance of using their strength to outright destroy you altogether, but it was still too risky, for who knows what might happen to them then if they reduced your body to crumbs
In the end, the unstoppable force has finally met the immovable object. Your presence had the eruptive effect of truly enraging the Ivory Dragon for what may be the first time in forever, and they it took them some effort to still be able to hold you in the same regard as all other cookies. You’re weak. Pathetic. A waste of space. And yet your darned voodoo powers are holding him back from fully achieving the nostalgic past. Although their expression hasn’t changed at all, behind their eyes is the most ferocious, scorching hate directed towards you specifically.
And so, your journey came to a finish. However, tales of the cookie who managed to stand against the legendary dragons and survive spread all over Earthbread, causing a wave of ruckus and inspiration for the next few months in places such as the Dragon City…
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aita-blorbos · 3 months
Note
AITA for accidentally killing my partner in a fit of anger?
ok so basically four years ago my friend P (25) and i (28) were building this super huge basement to make a statue room (we would build statues and then put them there), when we discovered this like small red fuzzy egg thing covered in vines. we both instantly thought it was super cute and began showering it with gifts and spreading its vines around the local area and even inside our house!
my situationship/husband/boyfriend/bff/silly rabbit S (24) hated it though. like he was really seriously creeped out by it. i was already attached to our new little egg at this point so i was really hurt and thought it would cause a divorce or something, so P and our mutual friend A and i decided to lock him up with it and see if he warmed up to it.
he did, but in a much worse way than i was expecting. when we broke him out, he'd turned bright red from his original diamond blue and all he wanted was to stay next to that stupid egg. it's like we weren't even friends anymore...
anyway i obviously drove myself further into devotion for the egg and decided to band together with my friends and take over the land with it. unfortunately, not many people seemed to like our methods of spreading the seeds of the egg around, nor did they like our more... aggressive methods, shall we say. eventually, it became too much for P and she left us altogether to form an anti-egg organisation (pro-omelette she called it); it really hurt the group morale, but the egg assured us that this was for the best. she wasn't a true friend anyway.
to get back in the good graces of the general public, we decided to host a banquet as an olive branch and apology for everyone.
a few days before the event, i visited S in the egg room (our plans to make it a statue room had been abandoned now that the egg had grown and taken over), and we had a huge argument. he didn't wanna talk to me at all, just wanted to be alone with the egg. he didn't understand that i was doing all this for him. every little thing i did in the past few months, sacrificing my friendships and hurting people and organising this event and preaching and devoting myself to the egg was just so he could come back to me.
but it was like he didn't even recognise me! (or i didn't recognise him, but what's the difference, really) our argument got so heated that i pushed him--it was supposed to be a light push, just to snap him out of it, or most probably just because i was angry and needed to let something out--but he was always so much shorter than me. he ended up falling into a pit of lava and losing his first life.
i wouldn't let this deter me, though; if anything, inwas even more determined to make sure all this wasn't just for naught. the banquet ended up being a smashing success for the most part, until we revealed its true purpose as a mass sacrifice to the egg and beheaded P's son. enraged, they killed A in retaliation despite being the one who betrayed US in the first place but that's a whole other thing. and then my son-in-law (long story), an anarchist with questionable ethics and some teenager showed up and forced us into hiding, containing the egg in the process.
i found out that S woke up on our shared island uninfected, which makes me feel a little better, but not much so. he killed me to release me from the egg's power too, and all the horrible things i'd done under its influence came crashing down on me when i respawned.
was all of this my fault? i feel like it was, but at the same time, i know i couldn't control myself. at least for the most part.
AITA?
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