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#so these notes include some of my thinking 👍
effemar · 1 year
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raise ur hand if ur a non-noble female character who’s been personally victimized by the narrative

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chenfleur · 3 months
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where the heart leads, the eyes follow
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summary. suddenly, jungwon is everywhere you look and part of every thought you think.
pairing. jungwon x y/n
genre. fluff, classmates to lovers, y/n inner turmoil 👍
word count. 0.9k
released. 03.05.2024
author's note. feedback is appreciated! i need to know how long it takes u guys to write drabbles i feel like i'm doing something wrong 😭😭😭 like why do they take me FOREVER
masterlist
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For some godforsaken reason, Yang Jungwon has always been there.
There. Right in your field of vision. Running the school festival's concession stand when you were craving funnel cake. Next to Nishimura Riki on the soccer field when your eyes dart to him, yet also next to Sim Jaeyun when they land on him next. Conveniently seated two columns to your left in your economics class, so when you turn to speak to your friends, you're forced to see a head of midnight hair.
It's irritating. A nuisance.
You hate how Jungwon is somehow always there, because when he is, he's the only one in the room you ever see.
His presence is permanent and permeating; it causes unfilled lesson notes and empty documents to stare up at you every class, begging for your attention while you beg for your attention to stray for once. To not leave a question set half-finished because he just carded a hand through his hair—to not feel your chest weakly twinge whenever he laughs at something his pretty desk mate said.
At some point, you begin to see Jungwon even on the days he isn't there. Even without a stimulus, you can see the lines of his figure that carve out the definition of his shoulders and the sharp inner corners of his cat-like eyes. Your brain is more familiar with the sight and thought of Jungwon than not, including him in an infinite number of mental paintings and films, as if he was as customary in your life as the changing seasons.
Life was better before this bullshit, you think in exasperation.
You hate how the subject at the forefront of your thoughts was just some boy—how he manages to seemingly go about his life so effortlessly while confusion, turmoil, fear settles in your gut.
What's going on? Is this some twisted joke? Why is he always there—
"Y/N?"
His voice comes from behind your open locker door.
You've never heard his voice this close before.
Your name sounds like honey dripping off his tongue, and yet you don't know what to think of it. The rapid beating in your chest and the uncomfortable churn of your stomach are giving you mixed signals.
Cautiously, you close the locker shut. Your voice comes out in a weak exhale.
"Jungwon."
A serene smile appears on his lips. "I wanted to say congratulations. If anyone deserved to speak at the district gala, it's you."
You blink slowly. "District gala?"
"Yeah! You got it, didn't you?"
That doesn't make any logical sense.
Sure, you'd wanted to represent your school and speak in front of the district's administration—but that opportunity has only ever rightfully belonged to one person, and he's standing right in front of you.
"I-I thought you were speaking at the gala."
Jungwon tilts his head at you in a way that makes you feel like your knees could give out. "Pretty sure the name the principal just said over the PA system sounded a lot like yours and nothing like mine," he teases, leaning against the locker next to yours.
Silence falls over the two of you while your gaze is trained on a floor tile, the process of digesting the fact that you'd be giving a speech at the district gala significantly slowed down by Jungwon's looming presence. He looks down at you, a fond speckle in his eye, before he speaks again.
"You can say no, but I have a favour to ask," he says softly. "I have a few parts of my original speech that I really want to make heard. I was wondering if you'd be willing to include them on my behalf?"
He's clutching a small piece of folded paper in between his slender fingers, holding it out for you to take.
You're sure you take way too long to react, shakily reaching out to take the paper from him. Your skin is set aflame when your fingers brush against his.
Trying to pinpoint the emotion Yang Jungwon evokes in you has led you to feel a billion different ones in the process, each one more conflicting than the last—
—and yet, in this moment, you let down your defences.
Letting yourself fall into the sea of stars behind his irises.
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Four months later, you're walking up to the stage's wooden podium, over the top of which you're greeted by an auditorium of three hundred different faces.
There's amazement, and then there's anxiety. It manifests in the dry gulp you take and the tightened grip of your hands on the sides of the podium. Your eyes frantically dart around for something to focus on, searching, searching—
Jungwon.
He's there, leaning against a far pillar with one hand in the pocket of his dress pants, and the other holding a glass of sparkling juice. There's a delicate, sterling silver charm bracelet wrapped around his wrist, a singular charm of your initial attached to it.
Your eyes flicker down to the near identical one on your own wrist, the charm with his initial glimmering under the chandelier lights.
With a clear of your throat, you redirect your gaze to the audience. Instinctively, it falls again on the boy against the far pillar.
The one with his phone camera pointed at the stage and the prettiest smile on his face.
Jungwon always seems to be there, waiting for your eyes to land on him.
Or maybe, in a room filled with people, he's the only one you've ever looked for.
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tinartss · 20 days
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some of tin's fav haikavetham fics (fic rec list!)🍓🍓
hello all i've always wanted to make a fic rec list and i feel like i've collected enough hkvh fics to make one now LOL most definitely i am forgetting to include a lot but here are a few of my faves!
notes:
check tags before reading👍
most if not all are sfw bc that is my vibe
sorted from least recent -> most recent
was gonna add little comments to each but i'm now realizing that would take up a huge amt of space so. just know that all of these changed the trajectory of my life. thank u fic authors for all u dođŸ«¶
then who? by heartslogos (T, 27k)
“Let me,” Kaveh would say with his eyes, his head, his hands. Let him what? Let him in, let him speak, let him stay, let him touch and see and listen — All of the above. Has it not always been so, the two of them like this, Kaveh and Al-Haitham? Kaveh: not quite asking, not quite taking. Al-Haitham: not quite answering, not quite offering. - Al-Haitham has been confined to bed-rest for a month. Kaveh assists. Al-Haitham recovers, they both do.
Asked and Answered by heartslogos (T, 55k)
It begins in the House of Daena, or at least, Kaveh thinks that that’s where it should begin. If one were to trace the flow of events backwards, it would lead to this moment. If Kaveh were Al-Haitham, he would insist on going further back. Further. Further. Further. All the way back, to the literal beginning of all of time and creation, possibly. But Kaveh’s brain only has enough room for so many creations at any given moment, and the works of others — while inspiring — historically don’t get students passing grades. Or even grades at all. When thinking about one’s relationship with their soulmate, it seems natural to think to a first meeting. A first introduction. Well. This can be said for any relationship. It all begins with that first brush — a name, given; a silhouette, glanced; a voice, heard.
the truest forms of love by heartslogos (T, 29k)
“Nahida said that the moment you touch the seeds is the moment you must stop speaking,” the Traveler says to him, standing between Al-Haitham and the door of the simple, small hut that is to become his and Kaveh’s for the foreseeable future. “Is there anything else you want to say?” The beak of the swan is foreign, cool and strange. Al-Haitham struggles not to flinch away from it as it slides along the side of his jaw, his cheek — imploring and fretful. One last and ineffective plea. Al-Haitham feels the warm weight of solid muscle around his neck, his shoulders — the fidget of wings, the beat of a heart. Al-Haitham’s fingers sink into soft feathers and the bones and muscles of a bird shift against his hands as he holds Kaveh close. What is there to say? Why bother to say something to someone who cannot say anything back? “Stand aside,” Al-Haitham says, slowly lowering Kaveh to the ground. “The sooner I begin, the sooner it ends.” - A story loosely based on the fairy tale of "The Six Swans".
house of cards by luminvies (T, 21k)
There is a scrap of parchment he'd created and abandoned all the way back when the two had been attending the Akademiya together. Sometime between then and the first month he has to move in with Al-Haitham, the list gets crossed out, scribbled over, crumpled up, carefully unfolded again, and revised. The working title for his tireless troubles: Ten Reasons You Cannot, Under Any Circumstances, Fall In Love With Al-Haitham.

And how Kaveh falls anyway.
through the grapevine by katarasvevo (G, 3.8k)
Theories are passed around in the form of whispers: Professor Alhaitham probably said something that angered Professor Kaveh. Professor Kaveh, unable to let the insult slide, decided to take revenge by interrupting his precious class time. A prediction goes around that in less than ten seconds, Professor Alhaitham will proceed to offend Professor Kaveh even more with a tactless comment, which will lead to Professor Kaveh and Professor Alhaitham murdering each other. The whole class will walk out today without needing to write the test, having been traumatized by the tragic demise of the two professors. It is not a very pleasant line of thought, but it is sadly the only logical outcome.
In which everyone is convinced Professor Alhaitham and Professor Kaveh are sworn enemies, unaware that their relationship isn’t at all what it seems.
the kĂŒbler-ross model on romance by luminvies (T, 10.8k)
Kaveh smiles up at the stranger. "Sorry, he's right! I am taken. By him. But he doesn't know it yet." What. "Wait, what did you mean by that?" Al-Haitham asks faintly. "Oh, that?" Kaveh scoffs. "You're a little dense. Obviously, I meant exactly what I said. I wouldn't want to be kept by anybody but you." "But we are—" Al-Haitham trips over his words, trailing behind Kaveh as he walks purposefully through the city. "We aren't. Together. Neither of us has confirmed anything of the sort." Kaveh gives him a derisory look. "And what, we don't act like it? Some things don't have to be put into words to be understood. Ah, I forgot. Haravatat. You probably wouldn't accept anything else any other way." "It is not logical to make assumptions without empirical evidence." "You scholarly types," Kaveh mutters. "Always so particular."
So. Al-Haitham is in love with Kaveh. This has got to be somebody's fault.
Cue the five stages of grief.
The Fall by heartslogos (M, 131k)
In the third generation of Lord Sangemah Bays when all is but a dream, Lord Kusanali, from their divine seat in the Sanctuary of Surasthana stirs and reaches their hands to the sky. They arrange their fingers to capture a square of sky, humming and singing to themselves as they put the patch of star and moon and cloud through the divine calculus before they translate it into the tongues of men to be made knowable, and perhaps even understandable — and with great fortune, actionable. “Summon the court,” Lord Kusanali says, “The Third Face of God has spoken. Hear the Word through me and make your peace. For the God Kings only ever speak thrice on any given subject.” The court of Sumeru crowds the Sanctuary of Surasthana. “That which waits in the Palace of Alcazarzaray can only be absolved through a union of souls and an exchange of hearts, a lifelong journey that ends only in death.” Lord Kusanali translates. And then, beatific, “What you need is a wedding.”
set alight by celestialfics (T, 2.3k)
Since he was young, Alhaitham has followed a self-imposed, unspoken rule not to touch other people unless strictly necessary. Over the years, there have been two exceptions. One was his grandmother, whose side he would cling to as she read him books on the living room couch. She would pet his hair, and he’d lean into the touch, not unlike a kitten blissfully being groomed by its mother. The other exception was an Akademiya upperclassman named Kaveh.
transparent night by kurigohan_to_kamehameha (G, 9.4k)
“Sir, kindly do not obstruct us,” says the matra sharply. “We are in the midst of carrying out an arrest.” “An arrest?” repeats Kaveh, incredulously. “You’re arresting him? You’re arresting him? Why, what in Teyvat has he done?” The Archon Rescue Operation is going as smoothly as it possibly can — that is, until Kaveh returns prematurely from his desert trip, and runs into Alhaitham at the absolute worst possible moment. Of course he would.
this is what happens in the absence of small-talk by pencanze (T, 17k)
Haitham and Kaveh, whose travels are leading them in opposite directions, meet as strangers in a caravanserai—a travelers’ guest house. Because even opposite directions have a point of intersection or overlap, don’t they? Some might even call that point a headfirst collision. And another thing about opposite directions: they still run in parallel, even long after they’ve crossed.
trishna by kurigohan_to_kamehameha (T, 8.2k)
Down the seventh-floor passage in Vahumana, past the statue of the sage Zolfikar, and behind the third door from the left; inside a small, abandoned seminar room in the Sumeru Akademiya is a mirror cursed to show the viewer their heart’s deepest desire. Kaveh’s father smiles at him, slowly, so Kaveh can see it happen; the corners of his mouth quirk upwards and his eyes twinkle. He’s moving, alive. Kaveh hasn’t seen his father smile – not the expression itself, preserved in an old Kamera shot he kept in his sketchbook, but the very action of smiling – in almost ten years. An Alhaitham/Kaveh X Mirror of Erised AU
if they ask my gain from this world’s harvest by patchy (T, 16k)
In the silence that follows, Alhaitham seems to interpret the end of the conversation. He takes a step back into his bedroom and starts to shut the door. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” Kaveh forces out, his voice cracking embarrassingly. The door pauses in its trajectory. Kaveh takes a deep breath. “But this is the last time,” he continues in a lower voice. “I’ll be out of your space by the end of the month.” Alhaitham pushes open the door.
The House, The Home, You and Me by sonotfine (G, 11.9k)
Alhaitham's books-hoarding situation continued to grow out of control. Kaveh magnanimously decided to offer to build a new house for him, with enough space for his ego and the books too. This was fine by Alhaitham. And, of course, he wanted it to be a house for two. -- On moving out of the old, moving on to the new, and moving forward together.
what it means to point true by luminvies (T, 9.8k)
It is biologically impossible for a man to replicate technological functions. As much as Kaveh (and colleagues) like calling Al-Haitham an index of niche and generally insignificant information on legs, he will never quite live up to the title. Here's a novel one: people must have taken to thinking of him as a human compass because they always seem to come to him when they're looking for Kaveh.
is that what I look like? by kurigohan_to_kamehameha (T, 3,8k)
Alhaitham grows a beard. Why? Who knows.
Three or Four (Or Possibly Five) Easy Steps to Living Harmoniously With Your Roommate by Bgtea (T, 28.7k)
The truth of the matter is, Kaveh has no idea how to read Alhaitham. He prides himself on being an expert at understanding people, his empathetic heart lending him the capacity to relate deeply with those around him (oftentimes to his detriment). But with Alhaitham, there is nothing for him to read; no clues from his cool expression for him to grasp. The man appears stoic all the time even during their petty bickering. Honestly, when was the last time Kaveh has seen the man do anything except smirk or frown? Does Alhaitham feel happiness? Has he ever seen the man laugh? Kaveh's mind is drawing a blank on the latter and it...bothers him deeply. -- Kaveh devises a plan to get Alhaitham to smile by being aggressively nice to the man (and also maybe if he makes Alhaitham happy, he can score a discount on his rent or something). Alhaitham thinks Kaveh ate some mind-altering mushrooms and is, understandably, confused and mildly afraid.
in weal and in woe by kurigohan_to_kamehameha (G, 26.7k)
“Oh, right – Alhaitham.” Kaveh claps a hand to his forehead. “Cyno, if you see him at the Akademiya tomorrow, don’t mention this to him, would you? I haven’t told him yet.”
“Told him?” Cyno asks slowly, a wary glint in his eye. “What exactly haven’t you told him?” “That I’m getting married,” Kaveh grimaces. “I wanted to tell him myself – I suppose I do want him at the wedding after all, you know – but I didn’t get a chance yet. You know what it’s like, trying to have a conversation with him.” It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. Kaveh is a single man. That's about it, really. or: the one in which Kaveh gets married, but not to whom you think.
the hypothetical shore by heartslogos (T, 10k)
When Al-Haitham was still a student in the Akademiya he wore his hair long. As long as Kaveh’s is now, perhaps a little longer than that, even. But unlike Kaveh's, Al-Haitham’s hair was just as quiet as he was, just as cool — like a stream of silver water, fresh from the mountain pass. To this day Kaveh remembers the exact moment he thought he might be falling in love with Al-Haitham and that, perhaps, it might not be such a terrible thing.
de insomniis by liyuen (M, 32k)
Kaveh and Alhaitham live together. Nothing ever happens. Nothing ever hurts. But sometimes, when Kaveh watches Nahida idly finish her homework, he gets the feeling that he’s forgetting something important.
Kaveh must have fallen asleep at his desk again, the morning light hitting his eyes like a slap. He blinked at the soft green blanket over his shoulders. When he stumbled into the hall, Alhaitham was sitting in the living quarters with his back to him, soundproof earpieces alit. He had a stupid moment where he wanted to call out to Alhaitham. What would he even say? ‘I’m having some trouble.’ ‘Is the blanket yours?’ ‘You were right, I’m in over my head.’ ‘Can you hear me out?’ ‘Help me. Please, help me.’ Stupid. He yawned and went to stumble his way to the kitchen. From his periphery, he thought he saw Alhaitham turn towards him with a look like he wanted to say something. But that, too, surely was just a very nice dream.
The Importance of Interruption by theSealby (T, 8.6k)
Years. It has been years, yet it could’ve been yesterday they were sitting side by side, thigh to thigh, eye to eye, filled with a contentment that their future selves have lost. Maybe it would be enough to have that again. Maybe correctness has no place here—has never been the ultimate goal between them—and Alhaitham finds himself asking a very different question than intended. “How would you like to come home?” ✄ Alhaitham loathes interruptions. (All except one).
To Dream in Shades of Green by Intensely_Reading (T, 55k)
“There are three suitors who you can romance in this game. You must complete all your requirements with one of them." “Who are the three potential suitors?” Kaveh asks warily. “Your three suitors are Tighnari, the blunt Palace Chamberlain; Cyno, the standoffish Captain of the Royal Guard; and Al-Haitham, the acerbic Duke of Vultur Volans.” There's a new invention from the Yae Publishing House that turns a user's dreams into light novel stories. Kaveh has the (un)fortunate pleasure of being one of its first users. Too bad it dumped him in a romance game.
The Theorem of Narrow Interests by lumielle (M, 36k)
Kaveh clicks his tongue. “Well, I hope you are also aware that with all these requirements, you don’t get a set (A+B), or even (A+B+C). Yours is a set comprised of the entire Sumerian alphabet!” Kaveh has had enough of Alhaitham always loitering around the house. In an attempt to get Alhaitham to go out more often, he jokingly tells him to start dating someone. Much to Kaveh’s shock, Alhaitham agrees—and promptly assigns him as his personal matchmaker. And even though Alhaitham’s requirements for his ideal partner are annoyingly specific, Kaveh refuses to back down from a good challenge. He’s confident in his abilities—that is, until his own feelings start getting in the way

Precipice by viiparyas (M, 37k)
Lately, his heart staggers at a precipice, just one breath from toppling over. Into what, he doesn’t know. After everything, after everything
 He can’t help but melt easily into the intimacy between them, whether it’s by his design or not.
Kaveh has won fame and renown through Sumeru, witnessed the dissolution of a corrupt government, traveled from the trenches of homelessness to the pinnacles of a fairytale paradise. And yet something deep between his ribs screams, more, more, more.
or, Kaveh discovering what he truly wants and finally reaching for it. (Spoiler alert: it's Alhaitham)
nazar by pencanze (T, 13k)
It’s like they’re in a globed world of their own, trapped within a glazed bead. Shatterproof, soundproof, impregnable and unbreakable to anyone else—anyone besides themselves. (On superstitions, friendships, and other things that shatter.)
case study of the scribe by Jazer (T, 25.5k)
"The consequences of obtaining knowledge is the overwhelming feeling of loneliness. "
In which Alhaitham realizes that a peaceful existence does not have to mean a lonely one.
People keep coming to Al-Haitham when they want to know where Kaveh is. Al-Haitham would be lying if he said he didn't know why.
silviculture by sunsmasher (T, 13k)
Kaveh’s face is bright, young, flushed, freckled, happy. He’s wearing an Akademiya uniform and is as tall as the last time Alhaitham saw him (fifteen minutes ago) which means he’s an inch or two shorter than the last time Alhaitham saw him, because the uniform boots are heeled. He’s staring at Alhaitham with the aforementioned flush spreading like dye over the silk of his cheeks. “Kaveh,” Alhaitham says. “Don’t freak out. I believe I’ve been displaced in time.”
spitefully yours by luminvies (T, 6k)
Dear Al-Haitham, I propose that we meet this Friday at sundown on the southeast edge of the city bordering Avidya Forest. This is a marital engagement. Please come prepared with your sword at the ready. With spite, Kaveh Al-Haitham sets down the letter, letting out a long sigh. After all, isn’t the answer to dealing with domestic disputes not marriage? Isn’t that entirely contradictory to the issue?
Kaveh sends Al-Haitham martial summons to sort out their issues. Unfortunately, he makes a small error in the letter.
The Art of Misunderstanding by Anonymous (M, 7k)
"Kaveh didn't consider himself to be vain. Yet he was becoming increasingly, upsettingly aware that most associates would disagree. Vanity, by definition, refers to an inflated sense of self-importance and pride in oneself. A vain person may believe themselves to be the best in the room. They may find it absurd that all eyes do not fall on them the instant they make themselves known. A vain person may put themselves on a pedestal, believing themselves objectively skilled in their field. And though Kaveh had trust and confidence in himself as an artist, he was caught entirely off-guard to hear that others thought of him as vain." ------ AKA, Kaveh misunderstands when he overhears an upsetting conversation between old classmates. His assumption is that they are attacking his character and commenting on his personality. In reality, they're talking about his looks. Everyone picks up on it, save for Kaveh himself.
Illness, Drowning, and Other Minor Inconveniences by EulerIHKH (G, 11k)
Faced with a uniquely difficult client, Kaveh is reluctantly forced to look for help in the one architect he considers more capable than himself: his mother. But soon enough, the turmoil of Kaveh's personal life begins to seep into their professional correspondence, forcing him to reevaluate his career, relationships, and identity.
love haitham and kaveh....love these fics....so many talented writers...thank you authors <33 def missing a bunch bc my organization on ao3 is horrendous but i can update this or make another list at some point....also i would highly appreciate any recs tyy🙏
( + bonus not rec but self promo of a hkvh fic i tried my hand at writing last summer but never shared oops. here she is if you're intrigued
a comedy of errors (T, 6.7k) )
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cindytoast404 · 4 months
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hatchetfield dashboard simulator
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🎧average-theater-enjoyer Follow
whoever got the last tickets to mamma mia i hope you fucking die
☄harbringeroftheapotheosis Follow
I have good news for you, op!
3,428 notes
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đŸŒșcryingonthefloor-deactivated20210424
running for honey queen this year, wish me luck!!!
đŸ›ïž queenb-deactivated20210503
Alright, Liz Cunningham from Clivesdale.
đŸŒ»fuck-clivesdale1935 Follow
GUYS OP JUST GOT DRIVEN OUT OF TOWN WHAT LMAO
đŸȘ¶birdwatcher Follow
To be fair, she was from Clivesdale. Anyway, respect for whoever got rid of her. You’re an icon.
đŸȘ»thetheoristsofhatchetfield Follow
oh my god this post is so interesting. there’s doxxing. both original commenters are now missing or dead. did some research and apparently the honey queen pageant winners have kept turning up missing every year. what is going on over there
☁floatingupabove Follow
that’s just the average beauty pageant experience
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đŸœtheonewhofeastsinthedark Follow
cannibalism 👍
72,263 notes
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đŸ“±alicewoodward Follow
does anyone else think we should shut down watcher world? i mean that place has gotta be violating at least 5 different safety rules, right
💜blinky’s-sniggles-deactivated20200104
ihaven’t eaten in a week! ::)
đŸ“±alicewoodward Follow
jesus christ don’t you guys have like. a union or something
💜blinky’s-sniggles-deactivated20201004
we would, but then he’d get mad! :::)
đŸ“±alicewoodward Follow
god. can someone get these bitches a lawyer
đŸ‘šâ€âš–ïžgarygoldstein-attorney Follow
Hi, Gary Goldstein, Attorney at Law-
đŸ“±alicewoodward Follow
does this town really only have one lawyer
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đŸ‘ïž watcher-world-official Follow
This is your friendly reminder to tell a Watcher World employee if you see a sniggle acting against the rules. This includes accessing social media of any kind, including tumblr. It is forbidden by the Watchers, and any sniggles caught using it will be reprimanded.
On another note, ticket prices are now 50% cheaper! Stop by for a weekend of fun. You’ll never want to leave!
43,464 notes
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đŸȘŽemma-the-crabby-barista Follow
some guy just walked into beanies and just ordered a cup of black coffee for once. see this is how it should be. no fancy drinks, make my life easier. tall random stranger i am in love with you
đŸȘŽemma-the-crabby-barista Follow
update: we’re dating
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đŸ–Œïž horror-lover Follow
okay but why is wiggly kinda
 😳😳
☁ floatingupabove Follow
THE DOLL??!???
🍏 uncle-wiley Follow
I literally sold my soul for that bastard and this still threw me for a loop.
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đŸ€“pete-has-been-waiting-for-five-fucking-years Follow
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Why is there blue in my hot chocolate.
☄ harbringeroftheapotheosis Follow
i recommend you drink it!!! :)
đŸ€“pete-has-been-waiting-for-five-fucking-years Follow

Okay.
đŸ€“pete-has-been-waiting-for-five-fucking-years Follow
i feel like singing.
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luffyvace · 2 months
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Dating ~ Sanji Vinsmoke ~ headcanons pt2
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Pt2 of my Dating ~ Sanji Vinsmoke ~ headcanons
(cuz I ran out of characters 😭) it’s the post before this but I’ll link here: Dating ~ Sanji Vinsmoke ~ headcanons
⚠(whole cake spoiler but you can read over it)⚠
Dating Sanji Includes respect.
this man respects you more than he respect nearly everyone. And I mean it! Your up there with Zeff! And that’s the man that saved his life!!
Dating Sanji includes boundaries.
Going into what I just said Sanji respects you, which means he respects your boundaries! Now he finds you very alluring so he might push them but he won’t EVER cross them! Especially since that dude is on cloud simp đŸ˜­đŸ€Šâ€â™€ïž
Dating Sanji includes forgiveness.
Tying into that Sanji might push your boundaries..so forgiveness with him is essential! Hopefully your not stubborn! 💓
⚠(whole cake spoiler)⚠
you’ll also need to forgive him for leaving the crew at whole cake- and for almost MARRYING someone else- despite the fact that he always proclaims his love for you and says he wants to marry you. 😐
Dating Sanji includes comprising.
As said, this guy is pushy! So compromising can help strengthen your bond! “Dearest darlinggg~ could we take a bath together??~” *nose bleed*
it’s simply much to early for this sort of thing and you know Sanji’s a pervert đŸ˜”â€đŸ’«
”how about you prepare me a bath and make me some food while I’m in it? I’m really craving some (fav food :3) right now :)”
”right awayyyyy my scenic beloved~ you know I love doing anything for youuu~ especially cooking~ 😍🧑‍🍳”
compromise :)
by the way when i say Sanji is pushy I don’t mean it in the overly annoying way I mean it in the negotiation way, like that thing where you go:
‘50 dollars!’ ‘20!’ ‘30!’ ‘35!’ ‘Deal!’ đŸ€
Like that type you know? He wouldn’t never actually cross your boundaries
.it’s more like (harmless) loopholes â˜ïžđŸ€“
Dating Sanji includes loyalty
very very very very very very obvious.
this man wouldn’t trade you for the world, and take that in because I mean that literally. Now if ykyk but whole cake was to protect you!! If it’s to protect you Sanji will find a way to minimize the damages instead.
anyhow- on a lighter note, you undoubtedly believe he will be faithful to you because you know it’s true and for that your grateful.
he’s always thinking about you 24/7- he doesn’t even have time to think about himself sometimes!! (He needs to)
Dating Sanji Includes active listening
top notch listener! As I said in part 1 he loves your voice so he could listen to you all day
he never gets bored or tunes out and you can tell! He consistently asks questions and maintains eye contact even if he’s doing something! :) it makes you feel so loved and heard 💗
Dating Sanji includes affection
only if you want it tho!! He has all love languages really (😭) but has no problem adapting to yours! So if this isn’t your forte, not to worry! He will never force this on you!
that’s talking about physical affection tho.
And there are many different types!
For the record- you get them all. 😊 he will emphasize on whatever’s your favorite to ensure maximum comfort <3
but this is where the communication from part 1 comes in!! You’ve gotta tell him what you like dear!! He’s not a mind reader 😃
Dating Sanji includes support
definitely this!!
he’s one of those guys who goes broke to support your dreams! (Remember the time Sanji almost sold Luffy out to the marines to buy Nami some PAPER?? Yeah..that’s you now)
everything is yours at the drop of the hat! Supplies?! He’s on it! (If you sell something) low sales?! He’s putting on one of those goofy mascots and twirling the sign around :) Karen Kustomer? Call security! (It’s Sanji- could you guess?!)
Dating Sanji Includes patience
this goes both ways truly..if your a bit more hot headed then you’ll definitely need this when it comes to him. He isn’t a idiot he just argues with Zoro too much
and Simps a lot too.. 👍
as for you I mean this in the sense that he already has plenty of it for youuuu!
he never gets angry at you for any reason.
I stand on that.
no matter how many of your shenanigans him and the crew have to go through, or how much chaos you’ve caused he’ll defend you to the end of it
”Oi! Why’d you have to go and do that?!”
”SHADDUP SHABBY SWORDSMAN!! my picturesque partner~ HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG!!”
😆
- You
(after causing chaos)
Dating Sanji Includes acceptance
self explanatory :3 he accepts you no matter who, how, where, what you are and he loves you through and through. From the highest point of your hair to the bottom of your feet đŸ€“đŸ˜±
all that jazz~ 💖👌
Happy b day Sanji!! I’m totally not late for this!
:3
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eldragon-x · 4 months
Text
🐊 krook 🔁 krook
🐊 krook
I don't remember following this Pokemon, they keep posting mushy inspirational screenshots and quotes
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🐊 krook
they were previously rottenworld? I see how it is. another idiot falling into the trap of telling yourself everything will be fine and the world is worthwile. im so sick of this. soon you will all see the ugly truth
2 Notes đŸ’ŹđŸ”đŸ€
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🍎 guildmaster-wigglytuff 🔁 kingofdarkness
🌑 kingofdarkness
Another successful day of working in Team Teal! ^_^ Funfact: I learned today that the team name was inspired by the color of the glow of the Time Gears ⚙ My team mates were hesitant to tell me more about it though.
🍎 guildmaster-wigglytuff
That's great, Darkrai! TOOM-YAH!
5 Notes đŸ’ŹđŸ”â€ïž
#guild associates #motivation #funfacts
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🍃 paradise-virizion 🔁 lopunnycharm
💗 lopunnycharm
Reblog this if you support trapping Pokemon in ruins! ✹
2.575 Notes đŸ’ŹđŸ”đŸ€
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đŸ€Ą paradise-emolga 🔁 lake-guardian
⚙ lake-guardian Follow
Pokemon are upset at me for including Team Charm on the list of explorers with issues. I'm sorry but you can't brush off their actions as "girlbossing". I promise you there are other admirable female dungeon treaders you can support, like Octillery or Virizion.
1.933 Notes đŸ’ŹđŸ”đŸ€
#wait I need to do something funny
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🍃 paradise-virizion
Having a moment, but I don't think I could ever express enough how much joining an adventure team has helped me. I was at a real lowpoint when I became a part of Team Scales and would reject everyone around me but thanks to them, I learned to open up and trust in other Pokemon again.
7 Notes đŸ’ŹđŸ”â€ïž
#delete later
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🌈 chasingafterhope
Sorry for my recent inactivity, I've been busy getting in touch with some old friends and moving to Air Continent. I don't know if I'm ever gonna start posting regularly again, might abandon this blog altogether, but I'm glad Pokemon appreciate it. Have a nice day!
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360 Notes đŸ’ŹđŸ”â€ïž
#personal #madoka tag
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đŸȘŠ dustnoir 🔁 forest-clock
🏅 expedition-society-official Follow
its been really dire lately if i'm honest. legendary pokemon all over the world are turning to stone and we still have no idea who could be behind it and im very worried for the kids here. i dont know why ampharos thought it would be a good idea to let them join i just feel like everythings getting worse
🏅 expedition-society-official Follow
wrong blog
đŸŒș forest-clock Follow
Time traveller here! It will pass but you have to make it through The Voidlands first 👍
485 Notes đŸ’ŹđŸ”â€ïž
#predictions #future posting #dark matter incident #friend tag #reblog #expedition-society-official
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bearw-me · 3 months
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𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐱𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐼𝐭𝐞'𝐬 đ…đ«đąđžđ§đ đ–đšđźđ„đ đ„đ§đ­đšđąđ„
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𐐒 includes : lute x gender neutral! reader (platonic) 𐐒 cw : none 𐐒 summary : what it would be like to be lute's friend + general hcs for her 𐐒 note : it only took me a second to realize i love lute no question.
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being lute's friend means never getting a text back from her. the most you'd get is maybe an emoji : 👍
she never thinks about what she says until she says it. . . leading to some funny- out of pocket moments
she's very work-oriented, and besides working out and sparring i solemnly believe she'd be horrible at taking care of herself.
ie: does not eat properly (junk foods and fast meals etc), not very high maintenance person in general, and doesn't sleep properly (which is probably why she gets or seems grumpy most of the time)
you've brought her out to do a ton of things, but you seem to notice that she actually loves rollercoasters.
yeah, she loves her adrenaline
fiercely loyal to you, even if she doesn't act like she cares
you can ramble for hours at her without Lute showing the slightest bit of interest, but when you stop she looks up from whatever she's doing and asks you questions to keep you ranting
that kind of friendship where the two of you don't have to do much when you hangout or see each other
if you consider: watching a movie with lute's legs laid over your lap, while the two of your criticize movies "hanging out"
. . . she loves it
lute embodies that adam quote of : being a bad bitch
gives you hard advice, meaning most times the truth is harsh and hard to swallow, but often true!
likes to push you when you need motivation, especially if you love something or love to do it
she can bring you food, tidy up your space and encourage you to keep doing it (she can be gentle when motivating you)
but she can also be a total hard ass if you don't get moving too (so you decide which side you wanna see)
(because she's so work-oriented) i think when lute got promoted to be Adam's second in command and the leader of the exorcists, you were the first one to know
because she could absolutely feel comfortable enough to laugh and scream as much as she could from the achievement!
her precious smile would be so big
like her wings and feathers are literally fluttering with excitement
lute: highly competitive too, games are to the death (or at least feel like they are)
lute always has a smug smirk when she's right
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while having this 'proof read' my friend sent me this and i NEEDED to post it. behold: the reader/lute friend dynamic
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factual-fantasy · 26 days
Note
Greetings as always Factual! You've been on a role answering asks lately-and I'm so glad to see you mention in a few that you've been doing better- and that you will soon have some doctors visits to hopefully get everything figured out, so this whole ordeal can finally be over! Till then, Keep on keeping on as always, and if you don't mind, I have a few small Asks as usual.
Firstly, regarding the Mario AU, you'll recall in the past confirming that King K Rool would retain his place as an enemy that threatens the Kongs of DK island from the outside in some shape or form- but i wonder, would your AU also contain an interpretation of the threat that came from within the island- the nefarious Tiki Tak Tribe?
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In the recent DK games, the tribe has slowly been revealed as an ancient race who was imprisoned in the islands volcano by unknown means- and upon escaping they sought to reclaim their kingdom, before being bested by the Kongs once more for the time being- though they continue to make cameos and appearances here and their- including a ride in the upcoming DK Nintendo world expansion! So would you perhaps incorporate them into your story as well? Or scrap them for the sake of simplicity? If you did include them, I wonder if DK and K Rool would unite to take them on as one- and perhaps you could find ways to connect them to the other kingdoms? For example, it'd be one heck of a reveal that it was KAMEK who sealed them in that volcano, so long ago...
On another note, thanks for answering my last question about Bash Buggy! Hope everything turns out well for him and his new life once the war's dust finally settles... And also regarding Transformers, I wanted to ask if you have yet seen the trailer for the new upcoming movie, transformers One, and what your first thoughts and impressions are of it?
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I've seen A lot of people already hating on it because of the trailers light hearted, comedic tones, or the more expressive character designs- but personally, I really like it so far! In my opinion, it's a welcome change of pace from the humorless, senselessly violent Bayverse movies, and their over-designed, chaotic character models- I think it really has potential- especially since they've confirmed it will have some more serious moments, and several Transformers prime characters will even be returning- including Arachnid, and the Vehicons! But what say you? Any hopes for it? Things you want to see?
Thank you! I'm hoping this is all over soon. Because this whole ordeal has completely wiped me out physically and mentally. It sure would be nice to finally feel better and go back to functioning like a normal human- 💀💀
As for the Tiki Tak tribe.. no idea what I'm gonna do with them.. I'd have to think about it. Kamek can't be responsible for everything <XD
As for Transformers.. I always liked the more serious tone that some shows/movies take. So I can imagine I wouldn't like this new movie because of that.. but tbh the only characters I care about is Optimus and Ratchet XDD as long as they're characterized well I think I can live with the movie 👍👍
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khytal · 10 months
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ok gamers I rewatched tristamp one more time in order to write a post about the soundtrack, and some of the stuff I found blew my socks off (even though I've seen every episode like 6 times) so buckle up because oh my god. oh my god
this will cover most of both volumes of the OST (which you can find on spotify), with a focus on wolfwood, and a little bit of vash, meryl, and the eye of michael
...and a very thorough breakdown of "drain arm" :)
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notes before I get into it: -I won't be analyzing the plant song because I. already wrote an entire separate thing about that haha (a link to that doc will be in the replies section of the notes if you're interested)
-you won't need to know anything about music theory, because I'm just pointing out where certain themes come up (with the exception of "duet", but I'll explain terminology there). timestamps will be included so you can listen for them as you read
-if you're obsessed with the OST like I am, most of this probably won't be anything new x) but I hope it's enjoyable regardless
-my credentials: I was a pianist for 10 years and an oboist for 7.5 years and I only had 1 semester of intermediate music theory but I got to analyze the 1st mvt of tchaik 5 and I think that permanently altered my brain chemistry
-the tracks I recommend being familiar with to have a better grasp on this post are: -> "whistling/blues harp in the wasteland" (vash's leitmotif) -> "reality" -> "childhood memories" -> "duet" -> "human subject" (eye of michael, or EoM, leitmotif) -> "drain arm" (technically optional)
-please don't take any of my interpretations/speculation as fact! you are absolutely free to come to your own conclusions I just have a lot of thoughts about the soundtrack lol 👍
here we go :]
EP1: -you can hear a variation of the plant song in "immigrant space explorer" (0:36-1:00)
-vash's leitmotif is first heard in "no man's land" (0:41-0:48)
-only about half of "mystery man" plays, and his leitmotif (0:38-0:51) is actually cut from the scene so it's not heard at all
EP2: -"escape" has vash's leitmotif from 0:18-0:31. they also took out the lyrics in the episode's version of the track x)
-it's possible that we'll hear "might is right" or a new arrangement of it if we get to see the rest of the nebraska family in future episodes, since there were posters of marilyn. I think people largely associate the song with EG the Mine but due to the track title and the fact that it first played in this episode, I feel like it's more about the nebraskas
-I'll talk about "childhood memories" in ep12 because it's related to rem's themes
EP3: -the plant song can be heard in "compatriots" (1:01-1:11)
-"reality" is first heard here, right before the episode in which wolfwood is introduced. keep this in mind for later :')
EP4: -"undertaker" has a dissonant sax part (0:48-0:54) that's similar to the one found in "irritation" (1:05-1:11), but it's an ascending passage rather than descending. it doesn't show up anywhere else so it might become a motif we'll hear in the future, but there's no way to know until the next part is released
-"planet zaji", from 0:55-1:04, has that one part from "time left" (1:02-1:09). it's heard while wolfwood's spinning the punisher around but I think it's just something that sounds cool, and you can't really hear it anyway because of the sound effects/dialogue. if zazie gets any additional themes in the future I might have more to say on this
-vash's leitmotif kicks in in "hungry !" (0:21-0:43) when wolfwood introduces himself at the end of the episode. I really like this track I hope we'll get to hear it again x)
EP5: -I don't think there's any meaning behind "shadow" borrowing from "worms network". I'm pretty sure it was just for mood (and to be fair it is a cool track)
-you can hear vash's leitmotif at the beginning of "boy and vash". this is the part where vash is escorting rollo back to the village
-"cyborg" introduces a new 4-note pattern (0:07-0:14) that I'm calling the eye of michael leitmotif. if hearing this reminds you of episode 6 then you already understand what I mean
-"dud" has vash's leitmotif as well (2:20-2:59), which starts playing when vash is begging rollo to wake up after wolfwood kills him
-only a small part of "human subject" (0:25-0:35) is used for the final scene, right when the windmills start turning. using the EoM leitmotif as a sendoff to the empty village is. really haunting
EP6 (this is a long one I'm sorry): -the EoM leitmotif can be heard in "reborn" (0:09-0:14, but it's easier to hear in 0:26-0:30). this is the opening scene where wolfwood guns down the deserter
-they do reuse "worms network" when livio first opens fire on vash but that's more for mood in my opinion. you could say it hints at zazie monitoring the sand steamer though
-we're probably going to hear "the desert rogue" again when the bad lads gang shows up in a future episode, possibly with a new arrangement for brilliant dynamites neon (this is one of my personal favorite tracks actually. it's a shame they didn't get to use the whole thing because 0:45 to the end is really cool)
-"boyhood" contains the EoM leitmotif and it's very in-your-face in this song (1:15-2:19). in the episode itself the track gets cut at around 2:10, but in the OST the piano motif from "orphanage" can be heard one more time right at the end of the song at 2:18-2:20. which is an evil thing to do. anyway
-"nicholas the punisher" is an arrangement of "reality". let that sit for a second, maybe go listen to those two tracks or something.
okay so we can look at this in a few different ways:
-> the end of episode 3 is of course a reality check, supported by the corresponding track being titled "reality" (even though it's fabricated by nai: to suggest and then prove to the people of no man's land that vash is indeed deserving of the $$6mil bounty; and to tell vash that his presence will pose a threat to humans). you know who else is supposed to be* grounded in reality? the pragmatic nicholas d wolfwood, who's introduced at the start of episode 4 *tristamp wolfwood hasn't quite found his resolve yet, as shown by his hesitation when livio appears
-> in the scene where "nicholas the punisher" is heard, vash is insistent on rescuing livio while wolfwood pushes back and says it's too late for him. he's clearly wishing he wouldn't have to eliminate livio though, and with "reality" as the foundation of this song, it presents wolfwood's inner turmoil in a new way for the audience: vash, who is physically right there trying to persuade him that there's still hope for his brother, vs his role as "nicholas the punisher" in sound, in his mind, and the "reality" that developed along with it (death is/can be a mercy, and sometimes it's necessary to sacrifice one life to save many)
(I also want to add that while legato's dialogue shows he intended for the orphanage to be eliminated through livio's death, it seems wolfwood didn't even realize that killing livio would mean more kids would be taken by the EoM for experimentation. he thought he had to choose between livio or the children, but it was a "test" of loyalty; and legato was attempting to obtain said loyalty by force)
-> outside of the episode, if you were to just listen to this track within the OST it's very representative of his character. contrary to "undertaker", which is fairly laid-back and....honestly kind of playful (and equally reflective of wolfwood's personality, when he's relaxed), "nicholas the punisher" is a more somber and contemplative piece. the fact that it's built on "reality" already suggests that he's someone whose beliefs conflict with vash's; and even without knowing that, both of wolfwood's themes contrast with the energy of "vash the stampede" quite clearly (even if I personally don't consider that track to be vash's official theme, it's still associated with him). I think it's really interesting that vash, the quieter one, has more raucous songs while wolfwood, the one with a sharp tongue, has calmer tracks :)
you might be wondering if "orphanage" is in "nicholas the punisher" and the answer is......yes, but actually, no. but kinda if you're delusional like me. this little pattern from 0:29-0:42 in "orphanage" is found in the low brass from 0:57-1:11 in "nicholas the punisher" (although it's in a different key and has a slight variation in the 2nd half). it's not quite the same, but both phrases start by going down a half step, then down a P5 interval (D->C#->F# for "orphanage", F->E->A for "nicholas the punisher"). lastly the sand steamer's leitmotif (I guess) is also present but that's. obviously because this is happening on the sand steamer lol
-"whom to kill, whom to let live" is just a faster/more tense arrangement of "orphanage" with saxophone over it. starting at 1:07 you can hear the worms leitmotif (1:31-1:34 in "worms network")
I can't say whether or not legato is already represented in the OST because he's currently not associated with any unique tracks, but they might tie the dissonant saxophone passage from "irritation" to him. it's first heard when legato stops wolfwood from escaping the facility, and as far as I can remember it's not played anywhere else. if he plays a bigger role in the next season, which I'm sure he will, I'll be keeping an ear out for this x) (I only mention the sax thing because I don't think he's represented by the sax solo that plays in "whom to kill, whom to let live")
EP7: -a little more of "the desert rogue" is heard when the bad lads make their way onto the sand steamer but it's very hard to make out over the gang yelling in the background lmao
-we're treated to the entirety of "human subject", for the scene where livio briefly returns to himself. if you somehow weren't convinced that those repeated 4 notes had anything to do with the eye of michael, this is the last instance where it's heard: the moment livio's overcome by whatever brainwashing was used on him by the EoM
-I think most people associate "time left" with ep12 but it's first played in this episode and I believe that it was primarily composed with the ion cannon sequence in mind (though a majority of the tracks in the OST only play once for specific scenes, with some songs being cut short and getting different parts played across 2+ episodes. "irritation" and "human subject" are examples of this)
EP8: -this one's a little hard to hear because the 1st note is implied in the C drone but vash's leitmotif starts at around 0:09 in "complicity" and runs all the way to 1:06
-it's also in "home" (1:38-1:57), playing at the moment luida hands vash the red coat :)
EP9: -I've talked about this before but I really like that there's 4(?) measures of polyrhythm (2 or more differing rhythmic lines that are played within the same time signature) when vash joins in, before the brothers come together on the same even rhythm. you can see how vash's quarter-note pattern doesn't line up with nai's quarter-note triplets, and in fact, neither of them ever land or start together:
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(for the sake of comprehension I wrote it out with a faster tempo to stretch the polyrhythm part over 8 bars instead of the slow tempo/4 bars. I'm not sure what the official tempo is. I think a sane person would write it at a faster tempo so that the part doesn't look stupidly cluttered but a good musician would be able to play it regardless. anyway-)
it sounds even more stilted because vash is playing on the offbeat. polyrhythm's such a great way to represent the brothers' relationship because it seems so chaotic but both lines are still in time together, following the same beats. they're so different but in the end they're still brothers who (are trying to) understand each other. and I love that vash is playing secondo, a more harmonic/supportive part, while knives has primo, where the melody/ornaments are. it says a lot about their personalities :')
since I don't know what the original sheet music looks like I can't say if this is true but you can hear that the plant song at 1:03 is played in octaves (2 notes that're the same pitch with one higher than the other). because of the nature of a duet, and the fact that this was played by the twins when they were little, the octaves were probably split between the parts. so vash was playing the lower octave of the plant song with his right hand, and nai played the upper octave with his left hand (we don't get to see this because it cuts to nai playing the song alone at that point). also: vash favors his right hand while nai favors his left
-now for something far less interesting: "last run" is a medley combining "ethics and morality", "compatriots", and "millions knives"
EP10: -"a cruel sight" seems to be unused. it was probably intended to lead into "bio-power reactor" in the scene where meryl and roberto meet elendira in the tank (given that it ends the same way "bio-power reactor" starts), but they cut it and just played a version of "bio-power reactor" without the melody
-elendira's themes ("elendira the crimsonnail" and "which is the monster?") seem to have some lyrics that're most audible in the beginning of the tracks but they're almost impossible to make out without some kind of editing software, which I don't have lol. they're already very quiet in the background and they echo, on top of sounding like they were put through autotune
also this is entering speculation territory but it makes me wonder if elendira's theme is going to evolve with her. we've seen some concept art with her having a more teenage appearance, so I think it'd be really cool if the vocals also changed accordingly
additionally she doesn't have the EoM leitmotif anywhere but she DOES have a proper 4-note chromatic pattern that descends from D in "which is the monster?" (1:32-1:35), which is the same note that the EoM leitmotif starts on. if we consider EoM's broken chromatic passage to represent the failed experiments, then elendira, with an actual chromatic passage in her theme, is a success
-"meryl's regrets" is ALSO an arrangement of "reality" :') this is the track that plays during roberto's final moment, which was. you know. the consequence of meryl running off in pursuit of the truth. the "reality" roberto had warned her about several times prior to episode 10. interestingly, while "nicholas the punisher" expands on the original track, "meryl's regrets" is a reduction--it's mostly just the baseline with some notes here and there. she doesn't have a theme yet, but 1:23-1:33 might be something we hear again if/when she gets a track associated with her
EP11: -"nicholas and meryl" is an arrangement of "boy and vash", with erhu echoing vash's leitmotif. I think it's a neat way to show through music that both of them are here because of vash :]
-the tracklist goes slightly out of order at this point for some reason. after "memory retrieval", "memory of geranium" is what plays in the final memory, when nai decapitates rem
EP12: -"memory of rem" is a combination of "childhood memories" and "memory of geranium". "childhood memories" is also found in "knives's piano", which is based on "duet". one fun way of interpreting this is that the "childhood memories" part of the duet is actually from rem, if she was the one who taught the twins how to play piano, which would make "duet" a musical representation of vash and nai's roots (pun intended. sorry). this also suggests nai misses rem, with how often he plays the piano, even if he thinks he hates her.
but "childhood memories" can also simply be seen as a theme that's associated with rem, nai, and vash's brief time together x)
-okay this is the part where I get to rant about "drain arm" because THIS SONG was literally the reason I decided I needed to rewatch stampede. I was listening to "drain arm" a couple weeks after the finale aired and I heard vash's leitmotif near the end and I was like "NO WAY!!!! HOW DID I MISS THAT"
as it turns out, it was cut from episode 12.
:)
not to worry though, I still have plenty to say about it. even if I'm a little disappointed. just. a little.
-> from 1:13-1:25, you can hear vash's leitmotif in the cello. this DID make it into the scene, and it plays when vash rises through the clouds
-> 2:44-3:10 is where some of the lyrics from vocal version of "millions knives" play: "remember how / we used to be / no turning back / sky's (skies??) falling down". although you can't actually hear the "remember how" in "drain arm" (at least not without blasting the song into your ears, which I don't recommend), it starts right when the image of vash and nai sitting in the geodome appears
-> we finally get the plant song at 3:36, when the condensed energy starts to leak out/charge. and then after it fires, but before nai dives into the beam, we hear "I still care for you" (3:44-3:52). and while it's originally from the vocal version of "millions knives", in the context of the scene I think it's a sentiment from both brothers: vash, who pleads for nai to let go and releases the energy away from him; and then knives, desperately reaching for the cube because he believes the success of his plan will ensure his family's (and especially his brother's) safety, the only ones he's ever cared about
in other words: plant song in cello = vash -> "I still care for you" -> continuation of plant song in low brass = knives. they're connected by this single sentence
-> knives's leitmotif (I didn't talk about it because it's only found in songs that signal his appearance, so it's really obvious, but yes he's got one of those) plays at 4:03 for the "nai is dead. you killed him" exchange
-> it goes back to a variation of the plant song at 4:29 (I LOVE the piano at 4:40-4:49 btw. it's so good. I could cry about it. probably)
if you've read my plant song analysis you might be wondering how to tell when it's being associated with the name millions knives instead of the plant race. since we know that a good chunk of the songs in the OST were written like a film score, the visual context (and/or the song titles themselves) can clue you in. "drain arm"'s use of the plant song is meant to highlight that vash and nai aren't human, so it's the latter
-> now here's the part that was removed, probably due to the runtime: vash's leitmotif in the cello again, from 5:03-5:09. if you revisit the part right before nai lets go of the cube, you'll hear that it skips these 6 seconds and goes straight to knives's theme ("but that's the plant song!" yes. we'll get to that in a sec). this missing bit right here?? fucks me up EVERY time. it's the most mournful his leitmotif has ever sounded, appropriately so, and it's absolutely criminal that it wasn't included. especially because knives's theme, the plant song melody, follows it up on violin as the cello continues to play a line in harmony.
and it's knives's theme because in this moment it's about him dying, not the plants. they spent a whole season tricking us into thinking that the plant song was knives's theme, and then they used it to send him off.
-> and then july city explodes o7
as much as I'd love to hear "drain arm" again for another chance to let the weight of vash's motif come through, I think it's too intertwined with this scene to be recycled. like. maaaaaaaybe they could use it for fifth moon if that's supposed to be the climax of the next part but they kinda?? already did the "fire a really big laser at the sky" thing? anyway yeah I'm totally normal about "drain arm". so normal
Extras: -the punisher and the double fangs have these cool sound effects when they transform and it kinda makes me think that their guns are built from lost tech, if the punisher's laser cannon wasn't evidence enough of this
-there's no equivalent of "sound life" in stampede, and I don't think there's going to be one. however, I do think that it would make a lot of sense if rem taught the boys how to play piano, because we could get something like:
-> rem asks vash about the plant song (the memory in ep12) -> she gives the boys piano lessons -> she helps them compose "duet"
-they didn't use "stampede out" for this season but I really hope we'll hear it in the next part. I know it's just a longer version of "escape" but it's a fun song :]
-this is. obvious but you can hear "gate" in "millions knives". no idea if they'll put "gate" into more songs, especially for vash now that he seems to have some control over it
-there's also something kinda fun with key signatures too: -> "millions knives" is in b minor -> vash's leitmotif is in d dorian (of course this changes depending on the key signature of whatever track it's used in) -> "undertaker" is also in d dorian -> I think songs associated with no man's land/humanity are usually in some dorian scale or specifically the key of a minor but this is solely based on jeneora rock since july city had its own unique theme so I'm not totally sure yet. "duet" is in a minor by the way -> "nicholas the punisher" is in d minor. if "undertaker" is tied to humanity (which is tied to vash) then "nicholas the punisher" is linked to the other side: knives, through the EoM. it adds another interesting layer to the contrast between wolfwood's two themes, but I don't consider this to hold any meaning lol -> I WILL say that b minor is the relative minor of D Major, so having knives and vash's songs be written in those keys was likely deliberate. and what makes it really interesting is that to get d dorian, you take a D Major scale and lower the 3rd and 7th notes by a half step
-I'm not 100% sure but I think plucked piano strings were used to create the low, scratchy string sound effect in some of the songs (one example is literally at the beginning of "irritation"). I think it's really cool that piano is everywhere in the soundtrack, but not necessarily by hitting the keys
-I am unbelievably excited for livio's/razlo's themes because they have the opportunity to do some REALLY COOL things with the music for them. we might not get them in part 2 (though I think we will) but whenever it happens I'll be so ready for it >:)
and that's all!! o(-< thank you for reading! if you actually took the time to go through all of this with the soundtrack pulled up, I'm. impressed. i think. anyway I'm a big fan of OSTs with strong storytelling and tristamp's OST is no exception :]
if you've got questions, feel free to ask ^^ I definitely didn't cover everything I just picked out whatever I thought was worth mentioning. which was uhhhh quite a bit x)
(also again if you're interested in reading the plant song analysis I did it's in the replies section of the notes 👍 I recommend reading it on a computer though)
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theywontletmebeprincipal · 5 months
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anyway here’s my cornley polytechnic drama society into the woods fancast because I think it’s the perfect sort of show for them to fuck up 👍
jonathan plays the baker, alongside sandra as the baker’s wife. I imagine this is shortly enough after peter pan that they’re still very bitter at one another. said bitterness absolutely shows onstage, but it fits the characters perfectly and the audience ends up thinking that they’ve just finally gotten good at acting. jonathan brings a homemade “medieval feast” to celebrate opening night and it poisons the entire cast
annie plays the witch. this was the only casting decision that was unanimously regarded as good until chris let it slip that he’d ultimately done it because she was “the loudest singer.” robert took great offense at this and, despite having no interest in the part before, began campaigning to play the witch instead. it did not work. annie’s witch costume has two layers to make the quickchange at the end of act 1 easier, but the top layer keeps falling off before the reveal is supposed to happen. her magic staff is supposed to emit a smoke effect but it keeps malfunctioning, and at a certain point she just gives up and tapes lit cigarettes (stolen from trevor) to it. this goes about as well as you’d think
dennis plays the narrator. everyone had assumed it’d be an easy role for him since he could just read all of his lines off his book prop, but this is proven wrong near instantly when he starts genuinely reading the book instead. when dennis actually does start reading from the script, it becomes immediately clear that he somehow has the director’s copy and the entirety of the rehearsal notes are read out loud, including several deeply personal things that chris has written in his script for convenience
dennis also plays the mysterious man, but he keeps forgetting which way he’s supposed to be related to the baker. over the course of the show he goes from father, to son, to brother, to father again, to distant cousin, to grandmother
chris plays cinderella’s prince, alongside robert as rapunzel’s prince. they spend the entire show trying to out-act one another, and it goes without saying that this ends up a complete disaster. robert makes any moment into an unplanned duet to try and prove that he could have succeeded in seducing the baker’s wife. chris shows up at rapunzel’s tower and attempts to choke robert out with her wig. they get in an opt-up battle at the end of agony (reprise) that ends with robert singing a note so high it shatters a stage light
in accordance with typical into the woods casting, chris also plays the wolf. he orders a very expensive “wolf suit” online from someone he thinks is a bespoke costume artist. it doesn’t arrive until opening day, and it becomes immediately clear that what chris has actually bought is a full on fursuit. it’s very hard to see in and he keeps running into the fake trees
robert is double cast as milky white. there is no practical reason for this whatsoever, as milky white could’ve just as easily been a puppet or some kind of cutout on wheels, and it’s very obvious the whole thing is just a power move on chris’ part. during the scene where milky white is meant to “eat” the props, vanessa misunderstands and literally feeds them to him. he chips a tooth on cinderella’s shoe
due to a lack of numbers, vanessa is playing both cinderella and rapunzel. her costume is split down the middle, and due to this she can only face in one direction as each part. this means that half of the time she’s facing away from whoever she’s talking to, and that she frequently has to walk/run backwards without turning her head at all. whenever cinderella and rapunzel talk to each other she faces straight forward. the break-off mechanism in rapunzel’s side of the wig doesn’t work (sandra ends up stealing a single, barely visible hair), so she’s also constantly tripping on her hair
max, being in a new relationship with sandra, desperately wanted to play alongside her as the baker so that they could kiss onstage. unfortunately for him, he is playing jack instead. although this is maybe the single most-fitting role he’s ever been cast in and he’s genuinely giving a great performance, the opportunity is ruined by his having to do every scene accompanied by robert’s milky white
lucy was supposed to play little red, but was pulled from the production the day before opening by her parents, who have banned her from performing with “robert’s troupe” after what happened in peter pan
consequently, little red is now being played by trevor, who is wearing a costume far, far too small for him. trevor manages to get away with reading his lines off papers pinned to the inside of his cloak, but he doesn’t know any of the songs, so sandra has to sing them offstage for him while he lipsyncs
all of the ensemble characters are played by a celebrity “guest” frantically switching between various comically large hats. chris tried to get francis back for this part but after some careful deliberation he determined that it would genuinely be easier to kidnap a famous person than to get francis to come back after the disaster that was peter pan. the tension is only worsened when, via a botched music cue, it’s revealed that francis is now an active member of trevor’s metal band
the giant was supposed to have been played by trevor via voiceover from the sound booth, but now that he’s onstage playing little red the part is left to approximately four members of the run crew who are desperately trying and failing to say the lines in unison. lucy breaks into the theatre sometime during the baker’s wife search sequence and takes over the giant’s part the next time she’s on, much to trevor’s dismay
the worst fuck-up award goes to annie, for accidentally knocking the supports out from under dennis’ narrator platform during last midnight and triggering a chain reaction in which every fake tree onstage topples each other one by one like some terrible, life-threatening game of dominos. honorable mention goes to chris for spending $6000 of max’s inheritance on a custom costume without actually seeing it at any point during the process
the worst injury award goes to max, for getting his circulation cut off and almost losing a hand after his arm got stuck inside the golden hen puppet midway through act 2. honorable mention goes once again to chris, who got stabbed with a bunch of glass shards when robert broke that stage light
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fayoftheforest · 9 months
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human kite & antisemitism
In the notes of my recent meta on Vampire Kyle AUs, a user reflected on how similar antisemitic stereotypes might overlap with his TFBW character as well. Since I also have some thoughts on this and enjoyed putting together the last lil post I thought I’d do another on this subject too :) 
South Park Fandom Wiki states that Human Kite is heavily inspired by Superman, “being a faraway alien with the ability to fly and to shoot lasers out of his eyes, even wearing a costume with the color red, yellow, and blue and a symbol in his chest to match.”  I think this is pretty cool! Superman was created by Jewish immigrants and is very Jewish-coded in his origin story, being “a refugee with the Hebrew-inspired name ïżœïżœKal-El’ who escaped a dying world and fought Nazis during World War II” (JewishUnpacked). I don’t know if Tratt were aware of these roots, but either way, I think it’s pretty neat :)
South Park Fandom Wiki also claims that Kyle playing an alien character “may be a reference to how Adolf Hitler did not consider Jews ‘human.’" This is. Uh. Less neat.
Similarly upsetting is the name itself, Human Kite, which is a play on words with the horrific ethnic slur “kike.” American Jewish Committee posits that the term “is derived from the Yiddish word for circle, ‘kikel,’ a reference to how Jewish immigrants at Ellis Island signed their entry forms: a circle as opposed to an X, which Jews associated with the cross of Christianity. Immigration officers described those who signed forms with a circle as ‘kikel,’ eventually being shortened to ‘kike.’”
Did Matt and Trey really create his entire character just so that Cartman could call him Human Kike that one time? I can’t say for certain, just in the same way I don’t have a direct quote from them confirming the reasoning behind their selections of names for Kyle and Ike. But I can tell you that if you put ‘em together and you get
 yeah. Yep. “Kike” again. Thank you, Tratt, very cool 👍Get a new joke maybe :/
Now, let’s talk specifically about his laser powers. Up until researching for this meta, I had presumed that Kyle’s ability to shoot lasers from his eyes was a direct reference to the Jewish Space Laser conspiracy popularised to the public by terrifyingly influential political figure Marjorie Taylor Greene. In 2018, Greene wrote a Facebook rant speculating that the California wildfires were caused by a giant laser floating in space, owned by the Jews. Very normal thing to believe :|
However, during my research, I realised that these timelines did not match up. As mentioned, Greene’s rant was shared in 2018, but didn’t go viral until 2021. Meanwhile, South Park’s The Fractured But Whole was released way back in 2017! What I had initially assumed was another antisemitic reference is in fact just a dreadful and ridiculous coincidence. Nonetheless, It’s still a commonality that’s worth pointing out, I think.
Just as an aside, I’d like to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to cousin Kyle’s version of Human Kite. Everything about him is an egregious Jewish caricature, from his irritating, snivelling voice to his long list of health issues. It’s not my fault that the limited Jewish gene pool has fucked me over, Tratt! Leave me alone! A meta about antisemitism within Cousin’s Kyle characterisation would be a mile long, so I’ll spare you that for now.
Anyway, what does this all mean when we’re creating fan content around TFBW? Must we just chuck the Human Kite persona into a blender and never speak of it again? Not necessarily. Speaking as a Jewish fandom member, I quite enjoy reading and writing Human Kite. It’s a fun character to play around with! Despite his unfortunate roots, I don’t believe including him is innately antisemitic. It just depends on how you go about doing it! If he’s not secretly running the world, controlling the banks and Hollywood, or consuming the blood of innocent Christians, you’re on the right track. 
You could even go for a little meta-commentary and acknowledge the antisemitic coding within the text! Here’s an example of how I did that in my upcoming TFBW reality swap fic (don’t question why there’s two of everyone, it makes sense within the text lmao)
“Wait, you’re telling me in an alternate reality we’re all aliens?” Kyle gawks at this funhouse-mirror version of himself, who’s busy gawking right back. “No, Kyle, just—just you,” Kenny says. “Oh.” Kyle narrows his eyes. “You know, it’s difficult not to interpret this with antisemitic undertones.” “What, like the Jewish Space Laser conspiracy?” Cartman asks. Mysterion frowns. “Jewish people have space lasers in your universe?” “No,” Cartman sighs and shakes his head forlornly, before muttering, “it’s a made-up rumour to perpetuate mistrust and hatred towards the Jewish community.” “Alright, don’t sound so disappointed,” Kyle huffs. “Guys!” Stan says. “Can we not start this argument again?” “I never said it was a cool rumour, Kyle!” Cartman snaps defensively. “Obviously it’s super harmful and whatever. All I meant was that it would have been cool if it were real. Because, like, space lasers are awesome! Right?” He looks to Kite, apparently presuming that they’re an authority on the matter. “Um.” Kite blinks, then says hesitantly, “I can shoot lasers
 from my eyes. And once I did sort of fly up into space and magnify the lasers to destroy Chaos’s tin foil factory. So, uh. Does that help?” Cartman’s face lights up and is split in half by an enthusiastic grin. “It helps a lot, actually.” Kyle groans and pinches his nose. “You have no idea how much education you’ve just undone, dude.” He opens his eyes to glower at Kite. Kenny glances at Chaos. “Tin foil factory?” Chaos waves a hand dismissively. “Outsourcing proved more efficient.”
There we go! A lighthearted little nod, which acknowledges potential antisemitic readings of Human Kite, without justifying or excusing it. It’s not at all necessary when creating fan content around Human Kite, but just know that that’s an option to you, if you so choose. Just make sure antisemites are the butt of your joke, and not Jewish people, lmao.
I’ll finish up by returning to my general sentiment that I held in my Vamp!Kyle post. If you conduct your creations with a basic level of awareness and self-reflection, you’ll probably be alright. Just stay in the know, and you’re all good to go 😎
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wildcatfourteen · 2 months
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how do you come up with such interesting composition? your pieces are always so captivating 💗
thank youuuuuuuuuu <33 and the truth is. idk. i am kinda just winging it and making a lot of adjustments as i go.... im not very orderly about it and have my thoughts kinda all over the place. heres some examples under the cut w what process pics i could find
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direction process goes >>>
first did a pencil sketch for big shapes. was just placing stuff down. i wanted to make ref sheets for an art trade but didnt want to make a traditional type bc i hate drawing ppl standing full body (bc im bad at it 👍) also i did not have specific outfits in mind and was going more for a reference of the general vibe of the characters, so i just wanted a full body pose + face close up. to avoid having to show specific details. bc i was cheating. was originally going to have multiple text bubbles around for the character facts
did like two sketches digitally. messed around a LOT with placement. the little emote heads came out of me feeling like it was empty and boring on its own and they are fun to draw so why not include them. the multiple text bubbles seemed like a bad idea now so i took them out and just did one text wall.
i actually dont like the text wall now and think breaking it up wouldve been more fun visually but that would've required effort i didnt wanna put in LOL
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^ i lost the pencil sketch for this one (i always do a pencil sketch) but it was actually just the two half body drawings at first with none of that shit at the bottom or the close ups until i was like fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk i gotta add smth around to make this look like theres stuff happening..... the idea was to draw the two main characters of the labb novel in some kinda comic format w panels around and i then. kept adding things until it seemed like i was getting somewhere. thats kind of my process for everything TT i think it helps to stay in a workshopping stage for longer if needed to get somewhere but i often get impatient LOL
im putting a stupid note abt this here bc im still annoyed at myself but in this novel, there was a bit about a crossword puzzle related to a murder case and i only thought of it afterwards that it would be kinda cool to put the sugar cubes in like a crossword puzzle formation....... why didnt i do that......
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^ and heres some of the process for this one, but i lost a LOT of the steps for this. the beginning was totally different. the character wasnt as pathetic and scared looking at first but then i was like uhhhhh lets draw him that way :)
the first pencil draft was from a different perspective and it was gonna have a mirror composition to it kinda? but i wasn't able to make that look appealing so i deleted it. it still had the curtains tho but then i also included stuff with framed mirrors + other frames around
i decided to instead make the curtains be the focus of the whole piece to not make it so cluttered. character's pose was so different at first it was so bad i dont even wanna remember it. i took out the frames entirely bc i didnt think they added much to the piece in terms of the atmosphere. since like. the more i worked on it w the character's + the goat's expressions the more it gave a 'being hunted' feeling to it and portrait frames dont fit that vibe. which feels funny bc u look at it and thats all u can think abt but i wasnt even gunning for that when starting out. BE FLEXIBLE. TRUST THE PROCESS.
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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 10 months
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Trimax Thoughts Vol. 5 Pt. 3
Here we go again. (Gah I'm so behind sorry guys) More thoughts on Vash's no good, very bad mental health, this time focused on trauma symptoms and his uncharacteristic lack of foresight and planning when it comes to confronting Knives.
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[ID: A panel from Trigun Maximum Volume 5. Vash is hunched over among the rubble. He is not drawn in extensive detail, being merely eyes, an open mouth, spiky hair and a mass of feather-like projections covering his whole body and culminating in a single large wing protruding from his back. End ID.]
Again, this is going to get a little heavy, and became quite long. You have been warned.
(Sorry, the image of fluffy Vash has very little to do with anything... other than the fact that he is actively having a breakdown in that scene I guess. I just really wanted to include that panel. Lol.)
To start with, at the very beginning of my read of the manga, I commented on how Vash clearly demonstrates some pretty textbook avoidant behaviours. Then I took note later on of Vash's concerning lack of self-regard, resulting in little thought being given to a future for himself after confronting Knives.
Well. It gets worse I'm afraid. 👍
Vash displays enough clear signs of trauma in the manga that I am convinced he actually meets criteria for a PTSD diagnosis (specifically surrounding July). I'm a student in this field, not a professional, but I'm going to loosely run over the trauma symptoms he displays. <-This is important for the point I am trying to make.
Category 1: Intrusive Memories
Flashbacks - Yeah, all throughout Volume 5 as the memories of what happened all come rushing back at once (with Hoppered and Meryl unfortunately caught up in his trauma-induced breakdown. rip you two I am so sorry)
Nightmares - A bit harder to say. There aren't nightmares about July it seems, on account of his having forgotten the event. He dreams about Rem frequently though, it can be assumed, only for her to be wrenched away from him shortly before waking. This was in Volume 1 of Trigun.
Severe Emotional and Physical Reactions to Reminders - Volume 2 of Trigun, shortly before Fifth Moon. Vash freezes in place when he spots the doctor, which clearly triggers some kind of faint recognition and sense of horror. He doesn't notice Knives approaching until he is right in front of him.
Category 2: Avoidance
Of Thinking/Talking About It - Vash notably doesn't actually question anything to do with July, which you would think he would, if he can't remember anything. He just knows that the city was destroyed and Knives was there - up until Fifth Moon, I don't think there was any doubt in his mind that it was Knives who was responsible. After this, he spends two years in hiding, out of fear of himself and a lack of desire to engage with reminders of his past.
Category 3: Negative Changes
Hopelessness - For a guy who wants people to have hope... he doesn't allot much to himself... :(
Memory Problems - The core issue before Vol. 5. Vash had no idea what happened in July. He even blocked out part of Fifth Moon.
Negative Self-Opinion - "I should never have been born." "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry" :(
Difficulty Maintaining Close Relationships - Always leaving people without saying goodbye. Still rarely calls Meryl and Milly by their names. People have to chase after him if they want him around.
Detachment - His go-to when everything gets too much. See the Leonof fight for a good example.
Difficulty Experiencing Positive Emotions - "Ya always smiled all cheerfully, but it was so empty it hurts just lookin' at ya."
Category 4: Physical/Emotional Reactions
Always on Guard - He can't use his real name most of the time. He trains all the time; has to respond quickly to ever-present danger.
Self-Destructive Behaviour - ...it's Vash. :/
Irritability/Angry Outbursts/Aggression - Very much so. Anger is a driving motive and we see this flare up whenever Knives is so much as mentioned. He even gets uncharacteristically short with Meryl when she tries to stop him from confronting him, and Vash does not tend to be very rational or composed in situations where he is genuinely angry. <- I will be coming back to this point.
Overwhelming Guilt or Shame - ...again. It's Vash. :/
Other Complications that can Arise:
Depression (this should go without saying. he's fighting so hard to feel every scrap of fleeting joy he can)
Suicidal Thoughts and Actions (I went over this before. These have cropped up in almost every volume so far and I expect this to get much worse)
Eating Issues (This appears to be Stampede specific, but I thought I'd mention it anyways)
So, uh. I hope this is enough proof. He clearly does have severe trauma, and well, that's not really a surprise, considering what actually happened. Vash inadvertently killed an entire city's worth of people. Absorbed them, even. Deeply traumatic for someone who doesn't want to hurt anyone at all - but this is not the only part of July that was traumatic.
Let's go back to the aggression part of the response - the "fight" aspect that sometimes arises when put in stressful situations that reminds one of their trauma. See, Vash's anger is something we as readers see a lot in the story but that's because we primarily see major scenes where he is pushed to his limits. In all actuality, for those parts in between, he's a chill and friendly guy. Does he get irritated? Quite easily. Does he always have a bit of simmering resentment in him? Sure. But this is not the explosive kind of rage we see when he is confronted with Knives. Usually, Vash is more prone to introspective melancholy or bitterness than violent rage - for as much as we see it, the latter is actually rather uncommon.
So, too, is the way he "confronts" Knives. Vash is typically very in control of himself; he's confident with his skills, clever and adaptable, and generally speaking, very good at planning out his next moves. In a gunfight, for as much as he would prefer not to be wrapped up in it, he is in his element. Even when there is uncertainty, he still eventually takes decisive action. ...except where Knives is concerned.
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[ID: Two screenshots from the Trigun manga. The first is from Volume 5 of Maximum. Vash aims his gun with a serious expression and says "I've finally caught up with you... Knives." Knives looks at him, taken aback. The second image is from Volume 2 of Trigun. Vash shouts as he raises his gun rapidly to aim at Knives, blurred with quick vertical lines to make the speed of the motion obvious. His expression is furious. Knives looks at him, part of his face shadowed, again, looking taken aback. End ID.]
...hello? Sir? Why are you just pointing your gun and like. Not doing anything? Like he keeps aiming his gun and then just... holding it there. Even Vash in Stampede fired on Knives' weapons. This guy, for all his rage, hasn't unleashed a single shot unless the situation forced him to. In fact, Vash's entire wording surrounding Knives and how he is going to stop him is also extremely vague. He says things like "settle the score" and "send him to hell", which, to me, initially implied killing him... but Vash has no issue using the word "kill", and he never actually says that about Knives. He says he's going to stop him, but fails to actually specify how. I cannot stress enough that this lack of foresight is actually deeply uncharacteristic of him.
But here's the thing.
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[ID: Part of a panel from Trigun Volume 2. Vash's thoughts are set on a white background. They read "We... I... should never have been born." End ID.]
He switches his wording here. The subject of the sentence changes from "we" to "I". Even in his mind, he can't muster that kind of sentiment about his brother. He's angry with Knives, even hates him... but I strongly disbelieve he actually wants him dead. Knives is his brother, man. That still means something to him.
You might be wanting to pause me here and ask why I framed the confronting of Knives as an aggressive response due to trauma, as opposed to just vengeance/retribution for Rem and for July. Yeah, well, there's an interesting contrast to be made here. Look up at the two confrontation images again.
Before July, Vash is level-headed when confronting him; angry, but in control. After July, he is yelling and openly bitter and wrathful. There's even a difference in him looking for information on Knives and his associates. In July, he's just asking around. There's none of the darkness we see in the series proper. By contrast, his mood does a sharp turn after July whenever Knives is so much as mentioned. More than that, there's this, too.
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[ID: Knives stands facing Vash so only the back of his head can be seen. His head is next to Vash's gun. Vash looks startled. A speech bubble shows two exclamation points. End ID.]
...Vash is... actually scared here. Knives is approaching him and he's frozen due to the feeling that something sickening happened, even though he's the one holding the gun. July was stressful and terrifying for Vash even before the angel arm went off, and dare I say, already traumatic.
Vash knew two things in that scene, and pretty much only two things:
His arm was transforming uncontrollably, something he had no clue prior to this it could even do.
Knives wanted him to "release" his power, which would "swallow" everything in the place they're in. Clearly Knives intended harm to others with whatever power lay dormant in Vash.
This is already a terrifying situation - body horror on top of the certainty that something horrible is about to happen if he loses control - and it shows. He is visibly panting and struggling with the exertion of trying to suppress it, and Knives is not helping in the slightest by asking him piercing questions like he is, taking advantage of Vash's vulnerability here to make him tip over the edge and somehow admit that it was all a lie and deep down he feels the same as Knives. Now, notably Vash doesn't deny occasionally feeling hatred for humanity - he just tells Knives to "stop it". But Knives, instead, doubles down with his questioning.
This is not the only time in this scene Vash has tried to get Knives to stop. Knives does not stop at Vash's distress. Vash tells him to stop, he doesn't. Vash points his gun at him (again, he doesn't fire), and Knives still does not stop. In a last ditch attempt to reason, Vash somehow psychically transmits the faces and feelings he has towards all the people who were kind to him - you can see some of the residents of July, Ship 3's Luida, Doc, Brad and Jessica, and probably others he's met on his travels. Knives loses it and shoves him on to the ground.
I think Vash was well within his right to take self-defensive action here - and indeed, I really think that's what happened when he fired the angel arm at Knives.
Look, I really like it when intentional mistakes are made and characters have to deal with the consequences, and I think there are scenes in which this can apply to Vash (namely, I can think of more than a few drawbacks to his passivity in early Trimax, and his conflict with Wolfwood holds a lot of complexity on both sides)... but I have to be real honest with you, I don't think this is one of those times. I disbelieve this was a fully conscious choice on Vash's part.
For one, we've established Vash does not actually want Knives dead. Second... I may just be reading into this too much, but again, there's something in the way the eyes are drawn.
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[ID: A set of panels from Trigun Maximum Volume 5. Knives is drawn with an intense expression; he looks confident, but there is a "thump" sound. Knives looks down, brows furrowed and sweating, to see the barrel of Vash's angel arm pointed at his chest. In the last panel, a gap between Knives' fingers reveals one of Vash's eyes, blank and devoid of iris or pupil. End ID.]
I'd initially thought the blank eye thing had to do with the release of Vash's power from the angel arm, but that appears to not be the case. It doesn't coincide with the charging of the arm - the arm is active and charged past the point of no return here with Vash's iris and pupil still visible during Fifth Moon, and we see Vash's eyes blank well before the angel arm forms in Volume 5, when he is undergoing intense flashbacks to the destruction of July. Vash's eyes even go blank when his powers are not active at all - again, during the start of his flashbacks.
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[ID: A set of screenshots from the Trigun manga. The first is from Trigun Volume 2. Vash's eye, with iris and pupil and a welling tear, can be seen between Knives' fingers, as Knives screams "Destroy them all! Vaaash!". The second is from Trigun Maximum Volume 5, where Vash is hunched over on the ground as his body sprouts feathers and lines appear on his face. He is in clear distress and his eyes are blank. The third is from Maximum Volume 4. Vash screams and throws his head back. A close up of his eye shows it is blank, welling with tears. End ID.]
I am about 80% confident, give or take, that the blank eye thing pertains to Vash's mental state - as in, how mentally present he is versus him being out of control and checked out of reality. He needs to be snapped out of it - thoughts of Meryl and how she needed help, Elendira's intervention... but there was nothing to snap Vash out of his panic and that flood of raw emotion during July. It was a spur of the moment automatic response - the angel arm is a gun, Vash is very confident with a gun to the point its basically instinct, he's being pinned and trapped and something he doesn't understand and can't control is happening to his own body, people might be about to get hurt - he wanted it to stop.
Unfortunately, the worst possible consequences were a direct result of his desperation. Vash's automatic attempt at self-defense took out an entire city and swallowed all the people within it.
I do think that if it was self-defense over an active choice, the outcome would be pretty much the same and doesn't weaken the scene. For one, this would mark pretty much the only time we see Vash act in close to pure self-defense. He has such a disregard for his own safety, it's incredibly heartbreaking to think that the one time he actually did try to defend himself, it resulted in such a horrible tragedy. It might explain why, after remembering bits and pieces from Fifth Moon onwards, he becomes even less compassionate with himself and even more prone to just... taking the pain. Second, the effect is the same as if Vash chose to fire the arm consciously, because due to Vash's terrible sense of self-worth, self-defense is not a reasonable excuse to him - even though it was a traumatic experience for him, even though he would likely understand someone else in his position, he is going to treat himself as though the blame lies solely on him, regardless of the automaticity of the action itself. Vash blames himself and whether or not the reader determines his actions to have been automatic or conscious, he is going to treat himself the same either way. He is going to forever carry that guilt with him no matter what the intent behind the arm's firing initially was.
With the context of July now, I don't think I can believe that his lack of willingness to kill is purely Rem's influence anymore. I think Vash truly, honestly, does not want to harm or kill anyone; his abhorring of (in his eyes) unnecessary violence is genuine. (This does not mean he never gets angry or hates people - we know he can and does!) But it's like there's a middle step between Vash's anger and Vash getting close to lethally pulling the trigger, and that middle step is "stop it".
Stop doing this. Stop hurting people.
Stop. Stop. Stop.
When faced with someone who wants to hurt others, who actively causes harm and won't listen to reason, Vash becomes dangerously hyper-focused. The closer that person is associated to Knives, the less control he has over his own anger, and the more he goes on the warpath. The problem is though, that Vash has made a promise to Rem, sure, but also he really doesn't want to hurt people, but then he also wants it to stop, and when your options are limited, sometimes the fastest and most effective way to make it stop is... to just kill the person. And I strongly believe this is why, in the heat of the moment, his usual calculated actions become less well thought out and almost vague, because... well... he's fighting with conflicting pieces of himself. His morality and his bleeding heart make him want to spare people, but that explosive aggression that is primarily a trauma symptom (!!!) is demanding he take immediate action to just make it stop.
That's really what it boils down to. All that aggression and emotion comes bubbling out of him, because he's just so tired... and because that's... well. Trauma.
(Yes, I will comment later on how Knives' anger is just as much a trauma response, but I'd like to have a little more info on him before I analyze too much on that front. Kind of fascinating how their go-to reaction is anger for the both of them, but put towards wildly different goals. These twins can fit so much mental illness in them.)
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in3rci4 · 2 months
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Can I Get An Angst With All The Boys, Basically They Never Believed The Reader, And They Get In An Argument Because They Thought Reader Drew Over Gwen's Homework ( I Saw It On TikTok ), And Basically In The End Moose Confesses It Was Him, But It's Too Late, After The Reader Said : " I'd Rather Get Kidnapped By The Grabber, Then Stay With You Assholes, You Think Everything's My Fault ", Reader Gets Kidnapped, And Like I Said, Moose Confesses, But It's Too Late, And They Regret It But It's Too Late? Sorry IF It's Too Much To Ask, You Don't Have To Do It If You Don't Want To, But I've Never Seen Someone Do That, So I Would Love What You Comes Up With ❀❀
Jsjskskdkdkk this is gonna be interestingly hard to do , but I appreciate that you trust my writing and sent your request , i really needed so I don't slow back đŸ˜­đŸ«¶
" IF I ONLY I KNEW , THE LAST TIME WOULD BE DIFFERENT "
PROMPT : Reader is confronted by the The Black Phone boys about something they didn't do , and that would be the last time reader would be seen alive before getting kidnapped killed by The Grabber
Characters included : Finney Blake , Gwendolyn Blake , mention of Susan / Suzanne { Gwendolyn's friend } Bruce Yamada , Amy Yamada , Robin Arellano , mention of the two jackass dudes on Gwen's vision about Vance , Vance hopper , Griffin Stagg , Billy Showalter , Buzz , Matt , Patt , Moose ( idk his last name )
Author's note : I'm really sorry if this isn't what you wanted , but I believed that in some cases it would be practical or better to write in different yet similar situations excluding Gwen's direct participation or writing the exact phrase you told me and changing it instead for every character, hope you like it anyway , I really enjoyed writing this 👍✹
WARNINGS ! : ANGST , DOMESTIC VIOLENCE , MENTION OF KIDNAPPING , DEATH , MINOR ABDUCTION , LONG ASS HEADCANONS , BULLYING , UNFAIR SITUATIONSHIP , RACISM , SLUT / FAT SHAMING , EATING DISORDER Âż? , THREATENING , ANIMAL ABUSE / DEATH , GAS LIGHTING Âż? MANIPULATION Âż? HOMOPHOBIA , MENTION OF SUICIDE , NO USE OF Y/N , PLATONIC / GENDER NEUTRAL READER , POSSIBLE SPELLING MISTAKES , VIOLENCE , BLOOD , ETC
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FINNEY BLAKE
His little sister is someone that will share everything with him , her celebrity crushes , her latest gossip , her favorite new book , etc , and he would listen everytime even if he didn't care that much about it
But Finney noticed that she was more quiet lately , but Gwenny would always say she was tired , and that's it .
Until one day she confessed his older brother that she had some of her notebooks pages scratched , tore apart and with really awful drawings and messages , some really gruesome to describe a little girl . Finney was of course mad , because did not only Gwen hide something from him , but there's someone messing with his sister that he knows she didn't mess with first
Gwen defended herself saying that she was trying to find who did it but she couldn't do it , until yesterday , when she asked her classmates once again who did it and they said that someone older enter her classroom when her backpack was still there
Suzanne , her best friend , added new information about the situation : She saw you entering to her classroom with color papers rolled up
He knew you from the mathematics class , so when he saw you escaping trough the empty hallways , he followed you , and decided to confront you
" Stop it , I need to talk with you "
You turned around and saw him grabbing tight his backpack shoulder strap
" You need to stop doing those things to my sister , she's only a 6th grader and didn't do anything to you , it's not ok to draw those disgusting things and write that stuff on Gwen's notebooks , you're older than her , you should know that "
On Finney's perspective , he was in front of a kid of his same age that has been bothering his sister not only in a anonymously way , but in a constant way too , trying , no , decided , to make them back off from her
But in your perspective , you woke up and didn't have the opportunity to eat even an apple as a breakfast because your parents started to bark at each other again and then you , when they couldn't find the keys of the car and saw you existing on your house
Who would guess that the only time you entered on a 6th grade classroom was to put some color papers for the kids by your art's teacher orders ?
You obviously got offended , and started to tell your version of the story , you were not only dealing with your family madness once again , but this too ?
When he saw you not backing off and not telling " the truth " he told you to stop playing the innocent / victim card and just accept what you " did"
You couldn't simple just pretend you didn't call slut shaming names to a child .
His insistence , the way he was talking , gas lighting you like your parents did before , triggered something in you that made you started to blurry your vision and just walk away when your tears started to fall down your face
Not exactly aware where you going , you walked away from school , and sat on the edge of the side walk hiding hour face in your arms and legs
That's when you heard a strange voice say
" Why's the river dear child ? Would magic make those tears disappear ? "
2 weeks after that encounter your missing person poster was all over the town .
One of those days once again , Gwen finds in her notebook a bad quality drawing of you dead with a speech bubble that had " It wasn't me" written on it
Finney was ready to walk home side by side with Gwen but she had a serious expression on her face this time , without saying nothing , she takes her notebook and shows the drawing of you to him
The siblings could never look at your photos again without feeling guilty , 3 days after you went missing the unholy trinity bastards of Buzz , Matt and Patt admitted the fault , making them feel stupid for not thinking about them as suspects of it in the first place
Specially Finney , who can't stop thinking that he was the last person that saw you alive , yet that time he made you cry , he made you go away
He was the one that has the fault for your gone , and he has to live with the feeling . All .His . Life .
BRUCE YAMADA
Coming back from chilling on a friend's house Bruce goes upstairs to change clothes on his bedroom but when he was on the hallway of the second floor he hears quiet sobs coming from his little sister's place
Confused , he puts his ear close the door to hear better and knocks at the girl's door , but there was no answer , she continued crying
Slowly , he opened the door of her bedroom , and found his little sister Amy sitting on the floor with her cheeks all wet from so many tears dropping from her eyes . Bruce had to admit that lately he and his sister weren't close like they used to , him being a teenager and stuff
But even then , he sat next to her and rubbed her back asking what happened and why she was so sad , he was expecting the reason to be a broken toy , a nightmare , a heartbroken from her playground crush , anything
Anything... Except that someone of his class was making fun of her and breaking her favorite school notebooks and pencils , the ones she cherished the most , and threatened her to stay quiet ... The little girl being too scared of even mentioning the names of the responsable... Or responsables...
" Don't worry Amy , I will make sure they stop bothering you , I promise "
The next day when the teacher sat down to look over some papers he asked permission to talk with everyone in the classroom about what happened , and find out who did it
" Y'all probably know I have a little sister , Amy , yesterday when I came back home she told me that someone in this class was mocking her in all possible ways and breaking her stuff like favorite notebook or color pencils . If you have a problem with me , I have all the time of the world to solve however you want to , i don't care , but messing with my sister and 6th grader kid ain't right , you're supposed to know better than that , unless y'all cowards that will stay silent and not tell me the truth in the face "
The teacher was too shocked to speak with the sudden serious attitude of the star student and the people sitting on their desks were unsure to speak or react since they didn't want to messed up more and makes things more difficult more than the situation already is
Until a girl said that he should go and tell the same exact thing to you , the " guilty " one , that has been gone the entire class after asking to go to the bathroom and probably knew he was going to find it out
You in the other hand were going about to have a breakdown and didn't want it to be around everybody that categorized you as the " ugly quiet kid " from the back of the classroom , you wanted some time alone , and went to the bathroom , where you cried over those horrible thoughts in your mind until your eyes were to dry to drop more tears
You washed your face and tried to compose yourself to not look " recently sad " and did your regular breathing exercise in these cases . Now done , you went outside the bathroom , and just in a few steps , you saw Bruce
You tried to give a closed lips smile to give the " I'm ok / friendly " facade , but he didn't return the gesture , he was in fact , not as happy and smiley as the usual Bruce , he was .... Different
" You should've know I would find it out sooner or later , when did I did something wrong to you ? What Amy's had to do with this ? Why involved her ? Why mess with her instead of just , I don't know man , tell ME those things ? "
You were confused and disoriented , you couldn't put the pieces together of why Bruce was being this harsh or what he was talking about , all you did was stare
" You're not gonna say something ? You have nothing to say after breaking her stuff , telling her to die , to stop eating and to leave the country where she was born ? To a innocent little girl instead someone of your age ?"
You tried to defend yourself but it was useless , the entire group blamed you to keep the spot away from them from being guilty and nothing could change Bruce's mind about it , after all , if you were innocent , why you went out of the class on the first place ?
You didn't have the energy to keep arguing or to stay while the principal or teacher called your parents and wait for the worse to happen , for something that you didn't do , so you walked out from school and decided to head straight to your best friend's house , your only safe place
But you never got there .
That night after the Yamada's were done eating dinner , Bruce knocked her sister's door , opened when he got Amy's permission and with a smile , he told her
" Hey Amy , I just wanted to tell you that I already told the bad person to stop bothering you and they promised to stop doing it , you don't have to worry anymore "
But the smile soon fade away when Amy's asked her older brother if he told the boyfriend of the girl to stop too
And then he realized what he done ... His mistake ....
That girl was his rival baseball team pitcher's girlfriend , and since they were afraid to put anything up with Bruce due his popularity , they came for Amy instead
He would ride his bike on the way to school hoping to see you again , to apologize and start over , but he never did , he never had the chance , only your missing posters like a painful reminder of who you were are .
ROBIN ARELLANO
He's used to be called all type of names , he's a dark skin hispanic boy living in the 70's after all , although he doesn't let himself be down for it anymore , and instead he learned to be proud of who he is
So when he would see racist slurs on his desks or papers with written messages on it on his backpack , he would only sigh because how tedious it was to clean those from his desk and sometimes laugh at the creativity of some insults
But the anonymous dutch bag didn't only stayed with him , oh no ...
Not surprised at all , it wasn't Finney who would admit having insulting messages written on papers that had a long list of homophobic slurs hided on his backpack , but Gwen , who told him what was going on with his friend
With a mixed feeling of anger and sadness , he only told his buddy that It'll be over as soon as he found who's the coward behind all this , and thanked the girl with candies
It was harder to find the fucker this time , no face , no voice , no nothing , except one thing , their hand writing
He may not be math's smart , but he's for sure an astute dude . When nobody was looking and the teachers were eating lunch , he entered the classroom and started to check one by one the hand writing of Finney's classmates , comparing them with the last " letter " that they left for him
Unlucky you , your hand writing was almost exactly like the one in the paper , and with your name already known , Robin was ready to clarify some stuff with you
On your way to school you heard someone calling your name , and by your surprise , the one calling you was the second toughest kid in school , and that caught the attention of other students walking on the streets . Walking towards you , calm yet with a serious expression Robin said
" You know my friend Finney , right ? Your classmate ? The one that has to deal with your bullshit every fucking day ?"
Oooooh's were heard from the kids and you honestly started to get scared because the situation felt unreal to you
" I'm getting tired of telling this over and over , you know ? Fuck with Finney again .."
He stops , just a few steps from you
" I'll fuck with you . Get it ?"
You couldn't just stay silent so you spoke your yourself
" Excuse me but I don't have any idea of what are you talking about "
For you he only nodded in silent after you talked , in the other hand , it was taking all of Robin's inner strength to not smack your face for pretending to be clueless about this
" Finney had to deal almost A MONTH with your paper shit that has your hand writing on it , so stop pretending you're innocent , cus you ain't "
You still couldn't believe what was going on , the whispers between the crowd that you didn't know when did it formed started to get louder , but your voice was still stucked in your chest that was pumping from the adrenaline
" Don't believe me ? I'll show you "
Suddenly your arm was grabbed and everyone gasped , Robin takes a paper from his Jean's pocket and shows you a paper that has the message " Better kill yourself like your mother did faggot trash " with yes , an identical copy of your hand writing , now how can you explain yourself at this ?
As soon as the young chorus started to scream for " Fight !" you feared the worst , so unintentionally your eyes started to water up and you plead to be left alone , that it was mistake , that it wasn't you
But he didn't believe you , instead , he started to shake you while keeping the paper close to your face
" If I ever saw your hand writing again on this shitty papers I'll make you read every fucking message you wrote after I beat the shit out of you in front of everybody in school , understood ?"
You tried to explain , you tried to make him understand that it wasn't you who did everything that he said
" I said , UNDERSTOOD !?"
Defeated , you nodded , and he let you go with a disgusted expression . Not being able to handle more eyes staring at you , you walked back to your home hoping your parents were still there and didn't went to work yet , so you could at least have a shoulder to cry on
But you never went back home .
1 week before Moose and Robin's fight and 3 after your disappearance another message was found on Finney's notebook
" your cocksucker friend got the wrong one fairy bitch"
Moose got what he deserved right after , but at what costs ?
You were gone , and everytime Robin walks in the street and sees your photo on the missing posters can't stop wondering why he didn't did the right thing and looked further instead of just blaming you
But nothing that he has to say would bring you back , ever .
BILLY SHOWALTER
Billy would focus only on paying attention in class , do his homework , study and repeated all over again , it was like that since he left the football team , and it wasn't bad either
He was on the middle ground between popular and invisible , and he was thankful for it , because he didn't have to deal with a lot of people or assholes that saw him as inferior to them
But everyone has to taste suffering once in their life , right ?
At first , in his desk he would find the usual vulgar drawings and slurs that were similar as the one written all over the men's bathroom walls . They were easy to erase , no big deal
Then the messages had his name on it , but he didn't felt like a personal attack to him , his name is a common name between boys , no panic
But the messages started to be written on his notebooks and school manuals , and those were harder to erase or ignore like the previous one
Billy was pissed , he didn't had the energy to deal with a bully and his school material ruined after working so hard in keeping it on shape , but his " consolation " was that the one doing this didn't even have the courage to show their face .
They were miserable people with free time on their hands that decided to make him their target , they must be really bored to choose him though . And nothing works better for these type of garbage than ignore them
The last part being ... half true .
When the insults got boring , repetitive and easily forgettable , the no name writer took a more serious turn , took the challenge of making him mad on their own hands
His concern grew up faster when the messages talked about jumping him in the hour of his paper news delivery , writing his house direction repeatedly and scary drawings of dead dogs
Now he couldn't let it slide . Not with his dog , not with his best friend , not with her . He needed to put a stop to this , needed to find who
He packed his stuff more slower this time watching over his shoulder wich classmates were faster to go and who stayed longer to leave
And you , he never noticed before , always were the last one to leave
He went to the cafeteria to buy a snack and time and went back to the classroom , he walked into the classroom and , oh surprise , you were there again
Billy didn't understand why you hated him so much , he doesn't mess with anybody on this god damn school , but now he doesn't have time to listen your reasons , now you will listen to him
" You better stop writing that shit on my notebooks and manuals or I will tell the teacher about your sick messages "
Confused , you tried to come back to reality after you zoned out for so long to understand the situation
" I'm sorry ? What messages ?"
He step closer but never too close to you , frustrated
" Oh come on man , you're the only one that stays after class in this place , the only one that takes a eternity to walk outside the classroom , I'm tired of your fucking bullshit ! I don't fuck with anybody or you in the matter , AND YET , I have to tolerate my notebook and manuals ruined because of you ! "
You tried to speak to clarify the situation but he interrupts you with a much louder voice , you never thought it was possible to see him like this
" I better not see you at the streets or I'll throw a god damn paper new on your face , less than anything to my dog , you better not touch my fucking dog or I'll do worse than that !"
Oh no .... A ... Dog ? .... Like .... The once you had but lost recently ?
Before Billy took his backpack from the chair , he looked at you one last time
" My parents and I work hard to get what I have , you know ? ..."
You felt sorry... This isn't your fault , it's so sad what he's telling you , but-
" I don't care if you insulted me or whatever , but don't fuck with animals , they can't defend themselves... So you better watch out what you do "
That left you with a bad taste in your mouth , someone wanted to hurt his pet , his companion in his daily life an mornings of delivering
School's over , you waited for your parents to pick you up while you were thinking of what Billy told you , you really needed to tell him tomorrow that you ain't the one he's looking for . You only stayed alone on the classroom because you were grieving by your own the death of your dog
But the day tomorrow never came for you .
The same day of your kidnapping , your classmates waited for Billy to throw rocks at him while he was riding his bike , he almost fell down , and Harper almost looses her eye for those bastards
When he came back home and his mother started to patch him up , he couldn't stop thinking that he barked at you for no reason , that he didn't even let you speak for yourself , how stupid he was for letting Harper be hurt by his incompetence
Seeing your photo on the paper news was like a kick on the stomach
" I'm sorry for what I said to you ... "
But it was just a piece of paper , while the real you was buried 3 feet under the ground of that man's basement .
GRIFFIN STAGG
Griffin at first was the perfect target for bullies . Kind , non confronting , quiet , a "weak " book worm that didn't anyone either to stand up for him . With time , the same bullies got bored of him , as if they were expecting a more dramatic reaction from him , but no , he would just let it happen , and that took the " fun " of bullying him they thought
And for for many years , he would be invisible for everybody , he told himself he liked being left alone and have his privacy , but deep down , it was the acceptance to the fact that he didn't have any friends , and nobody wanted befriend him neither , not like he felt he had a lot to offer
But at least he was in peace to study , eat and read whenever he wanted to . At least he has that .
Or well , he had .
He would found his backpack on the trash can , maybe a bully confused his backpack with another poor bastard ?
But It kept happening , so that was not a confusion anymore .
Sometimes his notebooks would be all scratched all over the pages until it was full black , some manuals of his had broken pages as well His mom better not find that out
Different from the past , he tried to make it stop this time . He tried everything , changing places where he kept his things , carrying his backpack whenever he could , even changing locker combination and writing them down on a secluded notebook
But no matter what he did , how he did it and when he did it , his backpack would always have a horrible surprise waiting for Griffin to see
It was almost like some poltergeist was messing with him at this point .
He was already frustrated from so many bullshit going on , but what sent him to the edge of explosion was that the book he got from the library , " The little prince " by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , got dipped in presumptuously dirty toilet water , a book that he needed to return or else the librarian would not allow him to take books anymore
The moment he thrown the book away back into the trash he rushed into the bathroom and cried from anger . Griffin could only ask himself , why ? Why someone wanted to ruined his life so bad ? Why after so long jerks remembered his existence ? Why or why this is happening to him ?
The next day after he had P.E he saw you taking his backpack out of the trash , and since he had so much frustration accumulated inside him , instead of rationalizing you helping him , he saw you as the persecutor of his misery , blaming you without second thought
He grabbed his backpack with disgust and anger and looked at your other arm where you held your books .... And saw the name of his recently bought book " Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury "
" Hey , that's my book , give it back ! "
You put both of your arms in front of the two of the books , the story and the big grammar manual
" What !? no ! it's mine ! I was just trying to get the backpack out of the trash ! "
He dropped his backpack harshly , he was not having it
" Cut me some slack , will ya !? I only wanted to read and do my homework like a normal person in school and you had to make my life a living hell ! The librarian lady don't trust me anymore because of you ! Give me back what it's mine !"
You tried to protect the book with your arms but Griffin with all the strength his body was grabbing your arms and trying to open them , you were really struggling to keep fighting much longer
The moment you dropped the books he took as fast as a light switch the one he was looking for , but you didn't want him to go away with your favorite book , so you both started to pull harder to get it
But the book was teared apart as you both fall into the ground , you with only the half of the cover , and he with the broken book
" Look what you've done ! You ruined another book again ! "
Frustrated at the boy's attitude you got up from the ground and went after the teacher's to call your family because " you started to feel sick " , and lucky you , they were planning on taking you out for lunch
Your family noticed that you were more quiet than usual , but you only said you were tired ... Tired of regretting to help someone and get your stuff stolen so much
Outside the restaurant , you saw trough the window a puppy that started to look around and seemed lost , you tried to tell your family about it , but you couldn't see exactly where did they go
You went outside , it was just a one sec thing .
You called the puppy and put your hand close to it so they could smell you . The puppy started to cry and move it's paws , as soon as you started to pet it they started to lick your hand , tickling your skin and making you giggle
In one sec you got outside to pet that cute little puppy , and in one sec , the bad wolf , the so called The Grabber , took you away .
Griffin wanted to kick himself when he saw the same book that he broke inside his backpack , deciding to tell his mom once for all what was going on so she could help him buy a new version of the book and give it to you
2 days later , your missing posters were all over the school path , making the boy scared of how fast this Grabber was taking kids away , making the boy sad for having two copies of the same book because he didn't checked his backpack first
Later on lunch break he found his backpack once again in the trash , hearing a group of girls giggle behind him
He wishes to go back in time to make things different , but that's something that happens on books stories only .
VANCE HOPPER
There was no doubt Pin Ball Vance Hopper was the toughest kid in school , and he knew it , proud of his status that gives him the ultimate " Don't fuck with me " power
A lot of people had tried to take his title away , many wanted to have the privilege to say they defeated him , but the more time would pass , the more feared he was , because he would win again , and again , and again .
So that being said , nobody wanted to even look at him in the wrong way , walking on eggshells whenever he's around , and that's how he likes it or how he got used to
Now tell me , if everyone in the entire school knew to stay on their fucking places , why the fuck he had his pencils stolen and broken in two ?
Now , he wouldn't wait to find out who , oh hell no , he's not gonna tolerate that shit happening
He started to ask and grab by the shirt any poor idiot that looked at him more than 2 seconds when he demanded explanations , but they would always answer the same thing
" No please , don't hurt me !" " I'm sorry , I don't want any trouble ! " Chill man , I don't know what are you talking about !" " please stop you're hurting me ! " And bla , bla , bla , bla , bla
But it didn't only stayed on messing with his pencils , no , no , no , the motherfucker started to write his locker all over with threats and a colorful variation of insults
But nobody saw who did it , nobody saw nothing , nobody sees shit when you need it , and that made Vance even more cranky than he already was
The no name no face fucker pulled up a move that nobody has dared to do before , touch his drawing notebook .
He couldn't find it anywhere , students were scared for their lives even if they didn't even knew that thing existed when he started to shout like a furious demon , teachers couldn't calm down the problematic student or make him explain calmly the situation
And then he walked out from the class , from school , without saying anything else , only coming back the very next day with a crowbar to open himself every fucking locker until he founded his notebook .
Teachers yelled at him to stop terrified , students were on a distant circle shocked about what they were watching but too nervous to stay close to Vance Hopper with a possible weapon on his hands , you being part of that confused and scared crowd
He opened 9 , 10 , 11 lockers , and no signal of the only drawing notebook that he has , number 12 .... Your locker , it busted open , and it inside had a similar looking notebook of his . He grabbed the notebook , checked the pages , and he confirmed that he got back what he was looking for
But Vance needed an answer , now .
" Whose locker is this , huh !? WHOSE FUCKING LOCKER IS THIS !? WHO STOLE MY FUCKING NOTEBOOK !?"
By your surprise , the people got away from you and kept starting at you in a way of saying " This is the owner of the locker "
He dropped the crowbar and speed walked towards you , and since you knew you wouldn't be able to defend yourself in any way, you started to run away , and so did him
You felt your feet almost slipping away , his angry breathing and foot steps sounds behind you , along with the distant sounds of the students keeping the track to see your public execution
You don't remember how exactly you did it , but you lost him , and got away hiding behind the school block's back place
Tired and with your legs and lungs burning , you lay yourself to the wall and try to compose yourself , never acknowledging that you were on the school's block , yet outside on the street
With your eyes closed and a body that had already gave everything to escape before , it was easy for the bad man to kidnap you inside his van .
The school suspended Vance for a week , nothing new he would say , but this time the police was more rougher than before the time they came for him
The majority of the people thought that the young man Hopper had something to do with your disappearing , and the police did too , but he told them the truth , and said he didn't even knew you were gone if he was on his house all day and that was .... Half true
He saw your missing posters all over the neighborhood , but he didn't care that much , he kept living his life while trying to beat his damn high score , another kid was lost in the town , so what ? He's too strong to be kidnapped anyway .
The police set him free , and he went to the Grab n' Go once again
Inside , Mrs Ellen wasn't there , and his dear pin ball machine had .... Had a crack on the glass of it !?
He looked around to see if somebody was there as well , but nobody was on the sight
If The jungle queen machine could speak , it would cry over the graffitis they made over the tigers on the sides
" Motherfuckers .... "
Two familiar boys entered inside the mall , one with straight brown long hair and other with a black curly hair and a bandage on his right arm
" Remember us dip shit ? We told you were coming for you "
The two had a pocket knife and a thirst for vengeance , vengeance that they should have kept anonymous
Angry like a wild hungry animal , he fought the two kids with his bare hands until carving once again on their arms with those tiny ass knifes whatever shit would come to his mind as if the first time wasn't enough for them
The kids ran away trying to keep the balance on their step , but failed due how fucked up their faces were and the pain on their arms
Vance sat tired on the ground with his hands covered in blood . Him seeing those two dumb shits run remembered him the last time he saw you
We really ain't nothing in this life , isn't ?
He chased you for nothing , and God knows where the fuck you are now , probably dead , never able to see the sun again
The lady of the mall screams in fear to see the blond messy hair kid like that after getting out from the washroom
" ... I would say I'm sorry if I could or if you were still alive , but that wouldn't change shit . What it's done , it's done .... "
The junior Pin Ball wizard thought as he heard moments later the police siren coming for him .
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novafoxz · 1 year
Note
Takes place when the Sumeru 4 (Alhaitham, Kaveh, Cyno and Tighnari) are still Akademiya students.
You're that one quiet, unassuming classmate of theirs who wears large, nerdy glasses and your main goal is to graduate without any attention drawn to you.
However, that backfires when one day, somehow, you forget to wear your glasses to class and all of your classmates realize just how pretty you are.
Ooohhh alrighty I’ll try working on that now.
I’ll do a modern-ish style for this.
——————
As you were sitting down In class you were trying to focus on the lesson. As you’re writing down notes you feel a bit nervous as if you can feel someone staring at you.
As you look around you see them staring at you. As you realise you forgot your glasses you feel extremely flustered by them looking at your bare beauty. (lol?)
Characters included: cyno, tighnari, alhaitham, kaveh and i also added another character In here ;)
𝐡𝐹𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐱𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐧 đ°đšđźđ„đ đ«đžđšđœđ­ 𝐭𝐹 đ­đĄđžđąđ« đ‚đ«đźđŹđĄ 𝐧𝐹𝐭 đ°đžđšđ«đąđ§đ  đ­đĄđžđąđ« đ đ„đšđŹđŹđžđŹ 𝐭𝐹 đœđ„đšđŹđŹ 𝐹𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚đČ. Part 1
(Aka they’re simping for you.)
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Cyno
Cyno isn’t one to pay attention to people much, he’s mosty focused on his own studies so it came a shock to himself when he realised he had a huge crush on you.
When he saw you walk in the room without your glasses today he couldn’t help but stare at you as he realised your facial features are even more beautiful then he expected. He was completely mesmerised by your beauty and couldn’t help but stare intensely at you.
As you turn around you can feel him staring intensely at you as you hold eye contact he awkwardly looks away as he becomes a bit embarrassed from you catching him staring at you. As you also turn away embarrassed you suddenly realise why he was staring at you.. you forgot your glasses! As you become more embarrassed you try to calm yourself down.
As cyno looked away he can’t help but look back at you again once he makes sure you aren’t looking at him anymore, he catches a glimpse of your flushed face and can’t help but feel mesmerised from your beauty again.
Later after class cyno confronted you in the empty part of the hallways.
As he grabbed you by the arm gently he looked at you in the eyes intensely as he spoke. “I’m going to be honest [name].. I like you I want to take you out on a date and I want to get to know you.” You can’t help but feel shocked at his boldness, as you become a bit nervous from the attention. you hear him speak again.
“It’s ok if you don’t feel the same, I just wanted to let you know.” Before he could walk away you grab his arm as you hug him suddenly.
“No! Ahem I mean.. yes, I would like to go on a date with you.” He can’t help but become shocked at your actions as he chuckles nervously.
“Great.. well are you free tomorrow?”
You nod as you stare into his eyes and blush slightly, you can’t help but feel excited to go out with your crush tomorrow.
(Ok my brain is kinda failing here so I’m ending that one here 👍)
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Kaveh
(Ok imma change it up here with kaveh’s part, please forgive me if I got anything wrong i’ve never worked as a barista)ïżŒ
As you were on your way to work you were rushing out the door as you were grabbing all your things you forgot your glasses but you didn’t know at the time because you were in such a hurry, as you were walking into the cafĂ© you were working at you got everything ready as you were ready to make some drinks.
You were just getting money from this job and nothing more, you were mostly focused on your studies. Most people would call you a nerd or a teachers pet or something like that but you didn’t really care but there was one person that you cared about in that school. You had a huge crush on kaveh, he was very interesting and handsome if you were being honest but you tried to occupy yourself with work and your studies to get over your little crush.
You doubted that he would be interested in you but you still couldn’t help but think of him more then you would like to admit.
As you were taking another order you saw a certain blonde haired boy walk through the door of the cafĂ©, you couldn’t help but notice his presence almost immediately. You got more nervous when you saw him immediately make eye contact with you and stare at you.
You got extremely nervous as you realised he was only staring at you, he seemed fascinated with your face which confused and embarrassed you more.
As he smiled at you he walked over to you as he speaks
“Hey your [name] right? I’m in your classes.” As you nod your head you scratch your neck awkwardly as you nod.
“Yeah that’s me. Did you want anything to drink?” You ask a bit awkwardly, he can’t help but chuckle at your nervousness.
“Yeah I’d like some coffee please.” As you nod you start to make the coffee for him.
As he stares more at you working he starts talking again. “I’ve ever seen you without your glasses before.. you’re really pretty.” As he says that you can’t help but tense up at the mention of you being without your glasses, as you realise you left them at home you internally facepalm at the stupid mistake.
He can’t help but chuckle at your reaction, as you give him his coffee he slides you a piece of paper with the money as he walks away. As you pick up the paper and money you read it as you realise he’s given you his phone number, you can’t help but become flustered again at the message he also wrote down.
You’re cute, text me sometime ;)
(I had fun with this one, also I am in a rush again so I’ll finish part 2 once I’m free again so watch out for it.)
@sailorstar9
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suffarustuffaru · 7 months
Text
my feelings on certain otto [redacted] flags in arc 8 👍
heyyy so this is gonna have major spoilers so ill put it under the cut 👍👍 again, this is all my opinion so youre perfectly welcome to disagree <3
ok so. i dont know if this is controversial to say or not but i dont think otto should actually permadie. instead, i think that he should have a fakeout death (also you know, deaths that get reversed by rbd if you want to go that route too). but not a PERMANENT one.
and ok i know anyone whos looked at my blog content lately would probably be like “oh you dont want him to die for real because hes one of your favorite characters ever???” and like no yeah, but its not that im opposed to punishing my favorites. im opposed to otto permadying because i feel like him permadying would be spitting on the purpose of both his character and certain themes in rezero.
otto is a very sacrificial person. hes a lot like subaru—he is willing to die for his loved ones. he would sacrifice anything, including himself. all of ottos deaths in rezero so far are reflected in that. he dies in arc 3 because he goes back to save subaru after pushing him out of the wagon in the white whale loop but he dies on the way back. he dies in arc 4 because he pushes subaru out of the way and gets killed by garfiel. otto writes a suicide note in arc 4 before confronting garfiel because hes perfectly willing to die for subaru. ottos been going on a darker path now, because now we know his absolute sacrificial loyalty extends to letting entire countries die, letting people subaru cares about die (louis/spica), and opposing subaru to the point where otto deems it his “reason for being”—aka his reason to be in vollachia, his reason to be in the emilia camp, and his reason to exist and live. otto is set up for a collision course with subaru, and this wont be ending well for him.
ottos faced consequences for his actions in the past—when him bringing the tome into priestella caused the siege, he was severely injured and left bedridden. this was a personal consequence for his actions there. but he hasnt faced any lasting consequences yet, especially when hes fully convinced that he himself knows whats best and is doing the “right” thing, and so hes perfectly set up to have lasting consequences at some point in the future. hes the perfect candidate for a permadeath, even—the arc 7 side stories brought him closure to the plot point of him being exiled from his hometown, and hes someone whos death will create ripple effects from his family and marone (who’ve featured in various side stories as well), the emilia camp (both as a friend and internal affairs minister), and subaru most of all (who, well, has rbd and is determined to save everyone, as we know, and subaru is aware of the possibility of otto ending up like chisha).
but i still have problems with otto dying permanently.
otto permadying punishes everyone around him more than it punishes HIM, the latter of which has been the buildup for his entire arc. otto permadying would only really have that as a narrative purpose—punishing the people otto cares about, particularly subaru. thats ALL that would be accomplished out of an otto permadeath when a fakeout death would not only still get the emotional impact across but also be a better writing choice in general.
as ive said, otto is prone to sacrifice. otto is prone to self-sacrifice on top of that. he always has been since his debut in arc 3. the way hes most likely to die is and always has been through self-sacrifice, especially for subaru, and especially since ottos death flags are a parallel to chisha (who died to save vincent). otto also parallels subaru a lot. more specifically, his current arc follows similar beats to arc 4 subaru or even greed if subaru - otto is, frankly, a control freak who thinks he knows best, refuses help from anyone else, and is self-destructive. but subaru gets called out by the narrative in arc 4 for going down this path, and greed if shows the complete consquences of this (aka - greedbaru ends up dehumanizing everyone, including himself, and tramples over other people's free will). so why is subaru allowed to learn the value of his life and continue trying to grapple with that lesson over the next couple arcs while ottos arc goes down the same path as subaru's but has the potential to end up with him ultimately dying?
then again - yeah, subarus the main character. and yeah, otto permadying wraps up his arc and character in a nice little bow. it's had a lot of buildup and would be a very perfect tragic character arc for him. however it is 1. i personally find this to be the more boring choice in a series where characters can die and come back to life, especially for a crucial side character to subaru like otto and 2. this is the more straightforward predictable choice given the Numerous Obvious Hints that something bad will happen to otto, namely permadeath, and 3. i think that the amount of characters being fridged for subarus character development should be kept to a minimum. we've already seen this with rem being gluttonyed. and being fridged for subaru's character development is something that otto would be very fine and happy with, so again, this is punishing everyone around him more than its punishing otto. ottos character arc buildup does suggest that he'll have to face consequences eventually. him permadying is not the most interesting narrative consequence that could happen imo, and given his parallels to subaru, i feel that this would not serve as a reflection of how otto is a dark parallel to subaru. otto permadying would be less a reflection and a warning to subaru and more so just otto winning over subaru in a story that supports subaru choosing companionship and trying to save everyone.
"what do you mean 'otto winning over subaru'?" otto is, again, a dark mirror to subaru. otto values his loved ones over everyone else, and he is willing to pay any price to save his loved ones. he is willing to destroy everyone else for their sake, and in arc 8, he has always tried to choose the more ruthlessly logical and practical choice over the morally right one that subaru embodies. otto goes nope, lets leave vollachia for dead but only take the people subaru cares about while subaru insists on saving everyone, as he always has tried to do since ARC 1. ottos even warned subaru in arc 8 - what happens if someone very close to subaru, like anyone in the emilia camp, gets hurt or dies all because they decided to stay in vollachia? otto permadying, especially as a result of the vollachia conflict, proves him right all along. that they shouldve chosen the more practical option over the morally right one. which i feel that would kind of miss the whole point of the STORY ITSELF supporting subaru trying to save everyone while holding onto hope and stayed determined since, again, ARC 1.
"but subaru needs to learn that he cant save everyone, and otto permadying would be a good way to show this." yeah. thats true. subaru needs to learn that he cant forgive and redeem everyone, subaru needs to learn that some things are just unavoidable, and that some things cant be forgiven. otto is very against subarus ideology to the point where hes decided his whole reason for being is to be against subaru. otto dying is very fitting, and if he does permadie, he'd represent the friend and loved one that you cant save - the friend that you try to help, refuses your help, and then ends up destroying themselves. its a very realistic, human thing. but 1. again, i think characters being fridged for subaru should be kept to a minimum bc the whole point of rezero is that they are ALL people with their own lives and 2. again, ottos parallels to subaru make this a little. odd, for lack of a better term. 3. subaru has other chances to learn that he cant save everyone, because ultimately the otto subaru conflict needs a middle ground.
so 1. about fridging characters for subarus development. again, its not as if you cant kill or hurt characters for another character. you can still do this. but i think this should be kept to a minimum - or at least have more than just "subaru will learn a lesson from this" as the narrative purpose behind it. subaru over the course of the entire main route learns that the people around him are just that - PEOPLE. not npcs or anything like that. and now once we get to arc 8, he has a lot of empathy for others. hes quick to forgive, especially because hes seen so many people at both their worst and best, and many of the worst times happened in timelines that no longer exist ergo those people are no longer those people. this is especially poignant in a series with so many damn side stories and side characters each with their own complicated lore; these are people. they still have lives outside of subaru. fridging characters for subarus development, i think, kind of undermines this if thats the ONLY reason youre gonna kill or hurt them.
especially when it comes to permadeath. it isnt a writing choice you can make lightly - especially in a series where, again, characters die and come back. so 2. given how much otto parallels subaru and his perpetual struggle with valuing life and valuing himself, neither of which otto values unless its his loved ones (and even then otto is willing to emotionally devastate them if it means theyre safe), i think an otto permadeath would kind of. undermine subarus struggle in that sense, imo - because otto is struggling with almost the EXACT SAME THING.
would it be interesting if subaru has to see otto end up permanently dying for similar reasons that subaru often dies for? would it be interesting if subaru has to see otto destroying himself in ways that hit a little too close to home? yeah. it would. and it WOULD continue that ongoing motif of otto mirroring subaru in the darkest ways. subaru has to look at otto and see not just himself, but see that he could end up like otto. but i think that this is ALREADY happening. subaru seeing the parallels with him and otto will happen, if it hasnt already, and it sure can happen without killing otto permanently. if otto tries to sacrifice himself and fails to do so, subaru can still see this and be impacted by it. if a fake otto death happens, subaru will still be destroyed by it. and of course, eventually subarus bound to figure out ottos thoughts and plans regarding louis/spica, along with everything else going on in ottos brain right now. theres no need to kill otto for good when all of the emotional weight behind it is still possible in many other ways without undermining subarus character development - because otto is going through very similar character development. and again, otto would be HAPPY to die for subarus sake. calling out subaru while letting otto do the same thing as subaru would feel a bit. odd. to me.
and 3. yeah. subaru has other chances to learn that he cant save everyone. he has multiple chances, in fact, and this already started with rem being gluttonyed at the end of arc 3/start of arc 4 (along with injuries that occurred in the white whale fight + crusch being gluttonyed). subaru learned that sometimes terrible things can happen and rbd wont be able to reverse it because his save point updated to AFTER it happened, and rem was a good example of this because she was the person he was closest to at the time. this continues on later, too - the injuries that happen in priestella, for one (such as the juukuliuses being gluttonyed, the dragon blood, numerous citizens, etc), along with subaru having to face this in vollachia when he tries to pull off his bloodless sieges and avoid as many citizen casualties as possible. or when he thinks about if todd can be redeemed only for todd to continue proving him wrong again and again. and this is on top of all the other people subaru befriends in vollachia, of course.
"but subaru needs a PERMANENT consequence." well, theres also the fact that subarus trying to save 50 million people, aka the entire population of vollachia right now, which is very much a herculean task. if he manages to save almost everyone but some citizens die, this would still get the point across. and if you need a bigger, more personal consequence to subaru than that - louis/spica is RIGHT THERE.
the current conflict over spica is already sowing the seeds for this, because this is a lasting, permanent conflict. people like julius and otto want spica dead and acknowledge that, given the amount of people she's hurt, that is the most likely scenario for her. people like the rest of the emilia camp acknowledge that spica is guilty, but that its difficult to punish her given her mental state right now and the fact that subaru and rem care about her. meanwhile subaru and rem themselves care for spica like a daughter and dont want her to be hurt or punished in any way. that being said, the louis/spica conflict - again, needs some kind of solution, and i dont think letting louis/spica scot-free is the right solution here from a writing perspective.
we already get robbed of an arc from louis in the sense that after she fucked around and found out (ie: experienced rbd for herself after messing with subaru), by start of arc 7 she just. became mostly a blank slate. of course its understandable that shes traumatized after experiencing rbd, but it is also kind of. a bummer. that we dont get an arc where she actually grows and changes gradually she just goes from Point A (pre-arc 7) to Point B (now having the mind of a toddler in arc 7+), but there is a slight intrigue to her now being a blank slate. how do you reconcile her past actions and past self with who she is now? is she still capable of doing those things she did before - is the person she was still in there? because you know, since she cant really communicate properly its hard to understand her straightforwardly too. but i dont think that louis should get off the hook - unlike many other people subaru has forgiven, she didnt grow. her past self basically got erased. and its not like all those people whove done things in other timelines that they wouldnt do now - things that ultimately only subaru was affected by because hes the one who knows and hes forgiven them of course. but louis? subaru and rem arent the only ones whove been hurt by her, theres SO MANY others whove been affected by louis and gluttony in general. every one of them has a say in what happens to louis, and her getting no consequences kind of misses the point.
that and. well, subaru can learn that he cant save everyone because 1. he is forgetting that he is not the only gluttony victim here ergo he is not the only one who has a say in what happens to louis and 2. if he sides with louis/spica over everyone else, this is going to have disastrous consequences for him. not just in the sense that you know, this is causing friction with his friends - and not even only in the sense that thisll cause a TON of uproar if this gets out publicly because again, a lot of people have been affected by gluttony - but also because theres the question of if that past louis is still there. or what happens if louis gluttonies someone on accident? or on purpose? can subaru still really side with her then? can he really save her when theres a LOT that shes done? and if someone like otto manages to kill louis and subaru is prevented from rbding - hes still going to be absolutely destroyed emotionally. spica is not freed from consequences just because subarus claimed her as his. and subaru is not freed from consequences after deciding to choose spica over many of his friends (julius is a BIG one, because subaru of all people knows how much julius - and joshua - were fucked over by gluttony). subaru cant save everyone. he has to learn that eventually, and spica is somewhere to start.
that being said, again, i dont want otto to win either when it comes to the vollachia arc in general. his habit of keeping secrets and doing things behind other people's backs and fading into the background whenever it suits him has gone on for a while, and he NEEDS to be called out for it. subaru and otto's moral dilemma conflict just needs to have a middle ground of some kind, and i really dont want ottos ruthless pragmatism to be the end all be all. but i also dont think subaru should win at EVERYTHING either, because his idealism needs to be reeled back a tiny bit. as it is in vollachia rn, its not sustainable and its not realistic. rezero is not a children's story about how no one dies and everyone's friends in the end, but it damn sure tries to be with its main route in the sense that the point is that you TRY to do that to the best of your ability. but if you cant - if youve exhausted all other possibilities and theres no other choice - then you just cant. the point isnt that you give up and abandon people to suffer and die. the point isnt that you hurt people on purpose either. the point isnt that you try to save EVERYONE even to everyones detriment. the point isnt that you try to be perfect and completely flawless at all times too, because thats not possible.
the point is that you do your best, try to save as many as you can, and thats enough.
"ok so if otto isnt permadying then how is he gonna get punished by his hubris???" easy. do EVERYTHING to hurt him shy of actually killing him permanently. that and like - if he decides to pull some shit similar to chisha and make a whole plan to sacrifice himself for subaru, but then he still lives afterwards... what do you do now? how do you live on now? thatd be more mortifying to him - living on and being emotionally vulnerable with everyone around him after planning to die - than ACTUALLY DYING. living and knowing all his loved ones see him as who he is in all his entirety - the good and bad and the really ugly - would, again, be a worse consequence for him than DYING. make him get close to death and then yank him back and youd get more interesting results than just straightforwardly killing him. because hes been planning for this since that time he wrote a suicide note in arc 4. if subaru doesnt get off the hook for this behavior, then otto narratively shouldnt.
therefore a fakeout death for otto would still get all the emotional weight and narrative punishment that a real death would, complete with being able to see the effect this has on subaru + ottos other loved ones. a fakeout death would be the perfect middle ground between a permadeath + letting otto live. and when otto comes back, he’ll still have to face consequences for his actions, including having to learn how to live for his loved ones, not die and sacrifice for them.
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