#there's a side of me that doesn't get shown on here that has been...changing recently

[lizaluvsthis]

SPOILER FOR THE NEW EPISODE! CHRISTMAS WARS! SCROLL OUT IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED IT YET!!!!

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"Hey Liz how'd that new christmas episo-"

*ME BREATHING HEAVILY*

Consider on Smg3 having a good point for hosting his own party (why cant he just throw a party with the dead memes? Like invite them in his cafe right aw-) thats exactly why. Dead memes cant re-enter the living realm. (Also the reason what happened during the 10th year anniversary episode because we DONT want that mess again?

So instead of dead memes he literally chose to host it WITH his new friends this time. Smg4's crew.

"But why tho? Didn't he hated them?" YES. but at the same time. Please dont forget his mere messages during IGBP on the line he says "But I've met your friends man..." again. Ask me WHY theres another reason he moved in next to four's castle?

(He doesn't want to feel alone again not only four was the reason but his friends too)

Okay but when after the castle and three's coffee shop got burned down by santa clause, where do you see that bright explanation from the crew.

AND LITERALLY. SMG3 IS ON TSUNDERE MODE ACTIVATION WHERE HE- BLUSHED- I mean its okay- its totally fine its perfectly normal.

Not for three. He never celebrated christmas in the early 2020 not even after the arc but four was kind enough to invite three in the recent years to make him have to experience whats special about it.

But three was too embarrassed from four's crew because they've shown alot of kindness towards him that he'd never experienced at all and this was his first time hearing it all out on them.

After he says "f-friends?!" He continues on playing "I'd rather die than have you guys as friends"

Which also meant he did. Almost. Die. Saving four.

Did you notice smg4 in this scene? Did you see the way he looked at three? Did you SEE how he giggled and laughed just by seeing his expression?

Heart tingles you know? And this IS also the first time he's done that.

Wait for it...

WAIT FOR IT...

WOW SMG4 THAT BACK HOLD AT THREE WAS SUPER SMOOTH I'M OBVIOUSLY BLIND TO MYSELF THAT I CANT "SEE" WITH MY OWN EYES.

And NOT ONLY THAT- EVERYONE'S REACTION WERE THE SAME PLACE EXCEPT WHO? MARIO.

WHO'S MOUTH IS OPEN AND MAKING A HAPPY EXPRESSION (that also means... HE HAD JUST WITNESSED FOUR BEING A F-KING FRUIT AGAIN-) (MARIO BEING A REAL SMG34 SHIPPER IS SO REAL)

Not only was it delicious- Three too was smiling at four, supporting his idea and not even LEAVING by his side. (Like have you noticed right after both of their places got destroyed- these two completely HAVE NEVER SEPARATED AND STUCK CLOSE TOGETHER?)

This also provens he's on the right role after all. His character development did improve his changing around his friends even after 2020th - 2022nd

Who knows that maybe four's crew knew that three wasn't so bad after all? That he was just in need of friends because he'd been so alone from time to time?

Still. He smiles. Not just for the holiday spirit, but to his new friends, and four to have on. (Mention of mario makes turkey for upcoming xmas episode four convinced EVERYONE from the crew including three, BUT HE NEVER LEFT BY HIS SIDE. Literally the moon is stuck with the sun)

Four and three? They both contacted atleast EVERYONE from town they know. (Even three never considered belle, whimpu, or the so called fake-other-versions of theirs who became his crew during 2020th wotfi he still has a heart to consider them all as being in part of his life.)

We never get a mistletoe scene sadly but we had a precious smg34 collection here...

Even after this hand taking, Three and Four looked at eachother together before they start to sway and celebrate the christmas holiday.

"Liz it's just two of them looking whats so important from that?"

You dont see these fruits being like that often, so its a very rare one in the new episodes. (Considered again. Three has gone soft. TOO soft for being with four's crew and being with... smg4...)

He wasnt even angry or done with this bs he still had that christmas spirit and all that matters is celebrating it with four and his other new friends.

OKAY THERE IM DONE I'M EVEN GONNA BE MORE ILL-

*insert audio losing pulse*

#smg34 #lizaluv #smg4 #smg3 #smg4 smg3 #mario #smg43 #smg7

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Not sure if this is where you want your asks to be sent or not, I'm new to your blog so sorry if this is the wrong place

There is another instruction for Wally that I haven't seen you talk about and I want to know your thoughts! Back in november, before the responses, the secret URLs (such as woxyve) had the word "delete" added to the end (ex: woxyvedelete) implying that they wanted Wally to delete the page. After this most recent update it changed again and now says nodelete meaning that Wally refused to do that task. Thoughts?

where else would asks be sent if not the Askbox! inbox! both!

i actually wasn't aware of this until a few days ago, when i saw a post pointing it out - i had never gone directly back to those pages. which serves me right! i'm gonna be double checking Everything from now on lmao

but my fucking GOD is it interesting. thus far Wally has been... fairly cooperative. he's had a moment here and there, such as closing the guest book and losing his patience a lil, but he does his best with the rest! especially with requests! so for him to straight up go "lmao nah" when asked to delete something...

characterization-wise, i think it's very telling. as of now, Wally has been commonly portrayed as a bit of a doormat - getting talked over, sitting off to the side, being a bit of a background character - in in-Home media. less so in his whrp/qa/You interactions, but he's still widely agreeable & willing. but him refusing to delete the urls gives major points to him Having A Spine. he's holding his ground. he knows what he's doing. he's not going to let the whrp shut him up. there's a Thought Process / Plan / Purpose being shown here, or at least hinted at. there's a sense of.... Control. of "this is the way we're doing things, this is what i'm saying and you're going to sit down and listen" it's just... such a shift from the Wally we see in his interactions with the neighbors. which again, lends credence to there being a time discrepancy, with whrp Wally being older and more "experienced" while past Wally is still figuring his shit [being alive] out <3

story-wise it adds some Delightful friction. like obviously there's already tension, what with the staff only page, "Let Me In", the mysterious black stuff, the guest book closing, and the whrp/qa being disturbed by it all. but Wally outright refusing to delete things is a Different sort of conflict. it's more... direct. which makes sense! his interactions with the whrp/qa are becoming more personal, too. but it lends to the feeling of a push-pull. as the whrp/qa investigates Wally and starts treating him like the person he is instead of a long-lost character, they're probably gonna clash (a lot) despite the apparent impulse to pursue Welcome Home. currently, Wally doesn't seem big on compromising. if he doesn't know what to do, it looks like he simply Won't or he'll do his own thing and be like "shrug". if he doesn't want to do something, it also looks like he simply Will Not.

of course, there's the strong possibility that the whrp Were Not Serious about it. the 'delete' command might have them testing the waters, poking the bear, etc. but then were they testing to see if Wally is there, or were they testing his level of compliance? both? a secret third option?

and if they Were serious about it... why? what is it about the marked urls that made the whrp go "get that outta here"? and why couldn't they delete it themselves? i mean, obviously they can't delete anything Wally adds, otherwise the extra stuff he's added probably wouldn't be there (unless the impulse / curiosity driving them is too strong to delete anything added). but there's still a why about it. what changed so fundamentally in the site's code - or laws of physics/reality - that made it impossible to alter Wally's additions?

it's just. i feel that there are a lot of implications in such a small interaction. it shows more than one would expect.

#I JUST. AGH #idk if i said any of this in a way that makes sense #how would/do the whrp/qa react to that? to him being like 'we are Not deleting this <3' #whether they were serious about it or not thats Gotta raise some feelings #were they scared? frustrated? shocked? vindicated? #MAN IM SO CURIOUS #wally said no! the whrp asked and He Said No! #i mean to be fair #from what we know about wally - both from shared trivia/thoughts and the main canon #he doesnt seem hesitant to say No in general #but still. with almost everything else asked of him he Tried. he made an effort. hm #homebogging #rambles from the bog #wh speculation #welcome home speculation #AND THEN - OH THIS IS A TANGENT! #about him flipping sally's portrait. HOW THE FUCK? its technically a 2-d image. there isn't a back #so did wally make a back - or did his Direct Interaction bend reality and make it so that there's one to show? #fucking Fascinating. i mean i already have a lot of thoughts on reality fuckery in this story but mmmmm man. implications. #or - oh or - are the character portraits The Characters. this is a crack theory but hm #the fact that there are tiny versions of some of the neighbors in their houses on the map. trapped inside. multiple franks. #you see what im getting at? #not to say that they're trapped in the site! but what if there's a direct Connection. the character and the art aren't explicitly separate #as implied with wally's 'every time you look into my eyes' / 'you draw mine' #if his art has a direct link to him - Is him in a sense - why wouldn't that be the case for the others #huh. i wonder if they'll ever sense it like he does. will they ever look back? will their pupils slowly start to look at the screen? #i mean the teeny eddie in the post office is looking straight out at us but yk. Inch Resting.

[mzoyagon]

People sometimes wonder if Doll's motive in The Promening was really to avenge her parents considering that worker drones are programmed to not care about death, but that made me wonder why Uzi cares. She wants revenge on humanity for sending the disassembly drones after them, so she obviously holds at least some emotion for almost every worker drone who was killed or wronged this way, especially her mother. She gets angry at her father for leaving her for dead (though I think worker drones do care about their own life, hence why Khan abandoned her in the first place). Khan is obviously traumatized by Nori's death, which is strange as he doesn't have as much in common with Uzi and Doll as they do. So then I wonder, who are all of the characters that care about the life and death of others (even if not everyone)?

Uzi, who is upset by the loss of her mother and wants revenge on humanity on behalf of the dead worker drones. Additionally, in Cabin Fever, she seems to hate the fact that she killed several of her classmates.

Doll, who wants to avenge her dead parents even if at the cost of other drones' lives. Additionally, she protects Lizzy in Heartbeat and keeps her alive in The Promening, showing that she does care for her friends.

Khan, who is traumatized by having to kill Nori and recently seems to have begun caring about Uzi. Plus creating whole mechanisms to protect your kind seems fairly "I care about death"y to me.

N, who cares deeply for all his friends and doesn't want to kill anymore.

V, who pretends not to care but seems protective of Lizzy.

Emily (the "final girl" in Cabin Fever), who worries about Darren and Rebecca after they've been gone a while.

Thad is an honorable mention, because while he isn't shown to explicitly care or explicitly not care when it comes to others dying, he does care about others, especially his friends.

So here's my thought... only one is a normal worker drone not counting Thad. Uzi and Doll are confirmed AbsoluteSolver hosts, Khan behaves oddly compared to other workers (sometimes prompting the theory that he also has AbsoluteSolver), and N and V are disassembly drones. Which can only have one meaning:

AbsoluteSolver hosts do not behave like worker drones, and that is why they care about death.

Information that you can apply to most side or background characters can't be applied to Uzi or Doll, and whatever is going on with him, Khan differs from the norm as well. Perhaps solver hosts aren't worker drones at all, and simply have the appearance of one in their early lives. After all, we know that N and V used to look like worker drones too.

How I interpret the behavior of worker drones relating to death is as follows: They were programmed by JcJenson to not care about danger or death because that lack of a survival instinct made them easier to dispose of (and still does today). Now that they're free, they can try to deviate from their programming, but the only ones who have truly changed and developed a sense of life and death are the ones who may not have been worker drones in the first place. One of the AbsoluteSolver's functions is to promote the survival of its host, and we can see this when it is so adamant on feeding and repairs. So it makes sense that the program also reprograms its host to understand that death is serious. That's why Uzi cares. That's why Doll cares, and that's why Doll wants revenge.

#murder drones #murder drones theory #murder drones absolute solver #murder drones uzi #uzi murder drones #doll murder drones #murder drones doll #mzoey the conspiracy theorist #that's my theory tag btw

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

I recently reblogged this thread recently and I have to say, it's mind blowing to me. This is a great thread but looking through the replies is mind numbing. Women have children. Aside from RARE exceptions this is a biological fact. The thing that causes this to happen? Sexual Intercourse. The thread is shown here:

Now. Let me start this off by saying that I don't have solid beliefs when it comes to Pro Life or Pro Choice. I really don't. I know several people I follow are pro life and would not be happy with me saying that but I mostly sit on the fence for this one. I lean more towards the Pro Life side of things but I'm honestly not 100% pro life. And I'm not good at articulating why. But that's something I personally have to live with.

However the reason I'm making this post is because of some comments I saw. Specifically from one person. Now, I didn't see the things they were replying too, but I can still approach what was said in the comments as they were statements that need no context to understand. I'll address them kind of together but also separately.

Here are the comments:

So let me make this blatantly clear. All of this is bullshit. All of it.

A fetus is a HUMAN fetus first and foremost. Meaning it is human from conception. And yes. Children have more rights than adults. Why? Because you can get charged for neglect towards a child. As well as other things. Kids have varying protections under the law that adults do not. So it's not, "More rights than a regular person". It's "More legal rights and protections than an adult."

A fetus is NOT a corpse. And even in the case of a miscarriage, there should still be a level of dignity given to the lost life.

"By allowing people to chose to terminate a pregnancy, that ensures both the parent and the child have equal human rights" No it doesn't. It means that the child has no right to life and the mother has a right to destroy said child before it is delivered. Even after said child is viable. When functionally a fetus is viable after a point in time where it can survive outside the womb. If it has to come out either way at that point, why kill it? Oh right, because you don't view it as a living human.

This here is a load of shit. Bodily autonomy stops the moment another life is added to the equation. "It means no one can use your body without your consent."

*SIGH*

YOU LITERALLY CONSENT TO THE CHANCE OF HAVING A CHILD THE MOMENT YOU DECIDE TO HAVE SEX. EVERY THING YOU DECIDE TO DO IN YOUR LIFE HAS CONSEQUENCES! IF YOU WANT TO HAVE SEX AND NOT HAVE KIDS GET FUCKING FIXED! And if you can't get fixed, the reason is because doctors have been SUED for letting people get fixed when they were too young to realized they'd eventually want kids. And after a LOT of legal issues most doctors will no longer fix people under a certain age without X amount of kids. Unless you opt to freeze your eggs first. However there are doctors that will still do it.

If you are so concerned, find those doctors. THEN when you decide ok now I'm ready, I hope you lose in court against the doctors or hospital you sue.

Nah. This is the sentiment of MOST pro choice advocates. It used to be "Safe, Legal, and Rare." Because back then, we understood life started at conception but very FEW exceptions were made. We did NOT call it "Just a clump of cells". We did not call it, "Just some tissue". It was, "As early as possible" "Not after a certain point" and "Put it up for adoption if you change your mind".

Now a days, it's "It's not a life at all, it's just some tissue, and it's only a baby when I PERSONALLY decide it is". <You all admitting you don't care about science or logical fact. It's human in it's developmental stages from the moment the egg is fertilized. And the only reason people DON'T want that to be the understanding is because people think it's their right to have consequence-less sex and have zero repercussions at all. It's people not wanting to take responsibility for their actions.

And here's the kicker. I have casual sex. I LOVE SEX. However, if I EVER got a girl preg and she kept it, I'd be a responsible adult and help take care of it. As the child would be half mine.

And contrary to the idea that denying a woman's ability do "Chose" is somehow, "Boiling women down to just their ability to give birth", No it's not. Not even remotely. It's just saying if you make a choice, and that choice results in a new life being created, you opted to make the choice that created it. It's not making women less than. It's holding men AND WOMEN accountable for their actions.

However, there is another element to this too. Which is another fun part of this WHOLE BS narrative. MEN are the only ones expected to have to be responsible. Both by society AND by law. They also, (in the west) do not have legal say over keeping the kid if the mother wants to get rid of it. So basically, your stance is probably, "Women should have carte blanche to have sex with NO consequences what so ever, but if the mother decides to keep her child the man has ZERO choice is if he has to pay child support in most of the western world. So again, we come back to this narrative of infantilizing women saying they can't be held to account for actions they themselves take. But others can be held to account for them.

How hard is it to stop having sex or don't have sex at all? Really though. Try being physically addicted to it to the point your mind actually gutter bombs into "It's fine I can stop living". A lot of Nymphomaniacs live that reality and often have to be on heavy medications to more or less kill their libido entirely. Except less than 5% of the world populace has that problem. It's a want that you are trying to pass off as a need.

This is an annoyed post mostly and probably moderately incoherent but honestly? This whole argument pissed me off. Women are not toddlers. Please stop pretending that being exempt from consequences is somehow "Empowering" and "A human right". It's not.

#discourse

[notfreetoday]

China's censorship of Justice in the Dark - some FAQ

photo cr @ 白夜飛行家 on weibo

Also known as The Abyss/Mo Du/Silent Reading (link goes to a great carrd made by a Mo Du fan) by Priest, the same author who brought us Guardian. The show was dropped on Youku China on the 18th of February and is now on Youku International (VIP needed from ep 3 onwards). 8 episodes have been released. There is no official release schedule yet, though the rumour is 5 episodes every Saturday at 10am China time. Total of 30 episodes, ending on the 11th of March (Yes rumours are this specific).

The English subs are AI generated, and they are not great. I hope they improve the subs as the show gains traction. (I watch on the China ver of the app, but I'll post any egregarious subbing errors if I come across them)

Changes made from the novel

The title, character names and premise has been changed. The ages of the some of the side characters/victims have also been changed. It's clear that scenes have been re-edited and re-dubbed, because some dialogue doesn't match the lip movements (WOH flashbacks anyone?) This is all to get pass censorship. A lot of the story, including the dialogue, has been preserved, and the changes aren't jarring.

Seems like there was a lot of uproar regarding the changes?

The show has been trending on weibo every day since it dropped, for good and bad reasons. Many book fans were upset with the changes on Day 1 and didn't bother watching pass the introduction of the premise, and there were complaints about the suitability of the actors' looks. By Day 2 the comments turned to "hey this isn't so bad??" And now everyone is just badgering youku for the next few episodes, cause they've literally released nothing else about the show since they dropped the episodes.

Has the story been sacrificed to pass censorship?

After watching 8 ep, I don't believe so. The novel covers sociopathy and the darkness of humanity - the show uses a "nuclear accident" as a reason for "genetic changes" in 1.3% of the population - causing these people to lose the ability to empathise with others. This is actually a very smart move because by blaming everything on a fictional, genetic mutation, the show can actually get away with showing the darker, more questionable parts of humanity, without having to censor it too much. The first case of the show mentions drugs and even has a short clip that heavily implies someone seizing from an overdose (you'll miss it if you aren't paying attention). There are underaged victims, and if they continue in this vein there will be more trigger warning worthy scenes from the book included. These things just don't get shown or talked about in c dramas - even if we don't talk about the BL, it's pretty crazy they managed to get this stuff out after the recent censorship changes.

Is the BL still.... there?

There are 8 episodes out so far and to me, it's working. We're not talking WOH level of chemistry here, but ep 3 onwards is when our CP starts paying more attention to each other. There is more than enough "candy" to find if you know what you're looking for. That said, it is not and will never be BL, just an adaptation.

Ok what am I looking for?

Glad you asked! Take for example the show's name change - from 深渊 (shen yuan) to 光•渊 (guang • yuan).

深 - deep 渊 - deep (often referring to a pool, so a deep dark pool, like in a cave) Shen Yuan comes from the novel and is translated as The Abyss, and represents Fei Du (Pei Su in the show)

光 - bright light Guang•Yuan is not a proper term by itself - it's a mash up of the words for bright light and deep pool. The light represents Luo Wenzhou (Luo Weizhao in the show), the one beam of light that penetrates Fei Du's darkness. Hence the English name "Justice in the Dark" is a pretty good translation.

The new names of the characters are Pei Su 裴溯 and Luo Weizhao 骆为昭. See the last character of each name? Su has the radical 月, for Moon in it, and Zhao has the radical 日, for Sun in it. The moon is considered Yin, and the sun is Yang. Together, they are Yin and Yang.

Hey maybe you think that's pushing it, but welcome to the life of a BL adaptation fan 🤣🤣

#justice in the dark #guang yuan #mo du #silent reading #the abyss #光渊 #cdrama #dangai

[darkcandy-starfait]

Theory: Ralsei is a Titan (or at least a Neo darkner)

Hey so. this theory and analysis has been long over due, I'm so sorry but I kept forgetting and getting sidetracked with school work.

Okay so many people have noticed how weird Ralsei is, he's honestly a whole can of worms on his own without considering every theory being made about him.

But I have had this particular theory in my for like almost a whole fucking year, so let me propose a weirder one: Ralsei is a titan.

What do I mean by that? Honestly, I kind of only half way know what that means, since this is more of crack theory but here are my points

We all know that Ralsei looks different between the first two chapters. But a few people have pointed out that Ralsei's transformation from chapter 1 to chapter 2 is rather strange, as the two look very different. Toby has said that Ralsei looking different was a recent choice made during development.

He first starts out as this black, fluffy figure in a ratty looking robe, with his hands mostly obscured, and a hat. but after he takes off the hat, he suddenly looks very different: white fur, and more boss monster like. in chapter 2 we see his robes are neater looking and his arms are visible with black sleeves.

I find this bizarre, because it's such a drastic change. Looking at his two forms side by side, it almost looks like two different characters. Like, taking off a hat should not change your form like that, even if it might be dark world logic.

Ralsei is also shown to disappear when he's downed in battles. Susie, Kris and Noelle all have sprites of them kneeling or collapsed on the ground when their hp reaches 0. But ralsei just... turns into a pile of his clothes, in both forms. Almost like he's made of nothing??

Ralsei also seems seems just show up in dark worlds without Kris or Susie bringing him there in his supposed object form. Other darkners like Rouxls and Lancer are physical objects (both of them are playing cards), and need to be carried in Kris' pocket to the Cyber World. Kris has to physically take all the objects from rooms and bring them back to the supply closet.

Since we still only have two chapters at the moment, what object Ralsei actually is in the light world is currently a mystery. Some say he could Kris' red horned headband (personal favourite of mine), or even the missing green crayon in the Dreemurr house.

I even theorised that he might be Kris' mysterious knife they always seem to have on them, which is why he's always in the dark world shortly after Kris and Susie arrive there. But we never see Kris' knife in their inventory anywhere, unless Kris is just. materialising the knife out of thin air???

This still doesn't change to fact that Ralsei, if he did have an light world object equivalent, would have to be carried around like every other darkner in order to travel to other dark worlds. But he doesn't. He just... shows up in Cyber World to help Susie and Kris without any explanation other than "I felt a dark presence."

Most interestingly, he later explains that darkners who don't belong in other dark worlds will turn to stone. All the Card Castle characters in the Cyber World turn to stone in chapter 2, but Ralsei doesn't. He does say that Castle Town's fountain is made of pure darkness, so that's why all darkners can live there.

Ralsei being Castle Town's ruler helps him in this case, and the fact that a piece of text in Toby's concepts for Ralsei's manual says that Ralsei's form is made from Castle Town's fountain. Makes sense that a being made from pure darkness would be able to live in every dark world. But here's another question I have.

WHY is Castle Town's fountain made of pure darkness? How did it get this way? Is it because the fountain has maybe been around longer, while others like Card Kingdom and Cyber World were created only recently? What makes a fountain pure darkness?

Well here we bring up some interesting lore from Queen in chapter 2. Queen says that she needs a lightner to help spread more darkness, by literally opening a dark fountain inside a dark world. In the Giga Queen fight, she calls it a Neo Fountain.

Berdly almost makes this a reality, only to be stopped by Ralsei, who suddenly drops the lore about the Roaring.

The Roaring is a prophecy of a sort of apocalyptic event, where opening more dark fountains and fountains within fountains could cause mass destruction. Giant beings known as Titans will form from all the fountains, and will cover the world in darkness, turning darkners to stone and leaving humans to fend for themselves.

Ralsei speaks of this like its either a prophecy that was passed down to him, or something he even witnessed first hand. Maybe that's why he has no subjects in Castle Town. But I want to go back to everything I've said here about Ralsei, the most important ones bolded.

• is able to change forms by the drop of a hat (haha)

• is supposedly made of pure darkness like Castle Town's fountain

• fades into nothing when he's downed in battles

• can travel between dark worlds without being brought physically in the light world

• doesn't turn to stone when in other dark worlds while many other darkners do

• knows about a catastrophic event where more fountains are made and giant beasts made from darkness ravage the land

That last part. When I remembered that Ralsei said that the titans are formed from dark fountains, and that Ralsei is a darkner of pure darkness... well that got me thinking: What if Ralsei is a young titan? His first form in chapter 1 could be closer to his true titan form, and he might be taking a new form in chapter 2 to appeal more to lightners.

(Side note Ralsei taking the form of a boss monster, the species that Kris' family is, is another can of worms I have to save when I talk about their connections.)

What if Ralsei is a product of a Neo fountain being created? What if he's the last remnant of a time when there were more fountains, when the sky was black with terror, and the land cracked with fear.

Like, NEO fountains are even talked about more in the Spamton Sweepstakes. When you play this puzzle on the website, and click the 3rd option on the bottom row, you are brought to a sprite of a chair.

We all know the chair, but the phrase in the window of this page definitely seems seems be hinting at the creation of Neo fountains.

What if that's Ralsei's deal. Even if he isn't a titan, what if he's some kind of Neo darkner? What if he's more darkner than darkners in general?

_

Honestly I'm fully prepared for this theory to be steam rolled over when the next two chapters drop, but it was fun and interesting to write nontheless! I'm interested to see if anyone else has their own theory about this or if you even had the same thoughts?

#ralsei #deltarune #theory #safeutdr #analysis #ralsei titan theory #this took way too long to make and i still had to include less images than i woulf have likes because of tumblr's stupid image limit #but. here it is. finally lmao #very interested to see what you all have to say about this! #long post #almost forgot that one djdkkf

[chawarin-panich]

Sand could have murdered Top and framed Ray for it and I would have helped him plant the evidence but I really really wish he hadn't said this to Ray:

because he could have just told Ray and left it up to him, he didn't have to make sure that Ray knew he was on a missive to act upon this information.

Because this doesn't just mean Sand knows Ray likes Mew. he's known, he's always known. The very first thing he asks Ray is "where is your friend with the glasses" even though we find out later that he knows Boston and quite well in fact. He could have said 'where is Boston?' but he mentions Mew the very first time they hang out because he knows to some degree that Mew is special to Ray. Sand saying this to Ray means that at this stage he knows just how much Ray likes Mew and that it's not a normal amount (I don't think he really understood how love and destruction go hand in hand for Ray but oh well) and he uses that information to wholly manipulate Ray and I wanted just ONE (1) thing in Ray's life, one type of love to stay sacred for him. And the way Ray clocks it is heartbreaking. Now I must be real with you I hadn't realized when I first watched the episode that Ray knew he was being manipulated but the great efforts of @kattyangel and other meta writers on here has shown me the light and it makes some of the things that Ray does so extremely bleak that I just...

Ray doesn't just change his entire demeanour, his freaking voice drops (and I will never not be in awe of Khaotung for the nuance that he plays Ray with). To think that he's been using his customer service voice with Sand this whole time is more than my poor heart can handle.

This is now the third time that Ray has said this and it's getting almost rote at this point. It makes me think of what this whole helpless child act is even for. And the fact that he is so quick to understand that Sand is manipulating him even though he has almost no idea - even after everything Sand has done for him - that Sand actually likes him makes me want to shave all my hair off.

What does Ray think his role in other people's life is? What does he think he needs to do to keep Sand by his side exactly? I might be reaching here but gosh I can't help but feel how entirely pointed this is now.

I originally thought that he said this because Sand is too recent to register as being significant. But if Sand was insignificant to Ray why would he torch Sand along with his friends? He could have just ignored him or pushed him away when Sand intervened.

Ray doesn't believe that Sand's feelings for him are genuine. When he calls Sand a whore, I think he truly believes that Sand followed him out because he was afraid of losing Ray's money and influence. I already talk about how Ray has been desperate for a chance to talk about them with Sand, to explain himself and Sand shuts him out here (yes I know Sand has said and acted accordingly in regards to not needing or wanting Ray's money but god my poor creature of love is hurting and traumatized leave him alone)

How can Sand go back to Ray? PLEASE - How can Ray go back to Sand? He was trying to build something with Sand that he himself didn't understand very well and maybe he wasn't going about it in the healthiest fashion and yes Boston torched it but Sand didn't have to nuke it quite like this

#ofts meta #sandray meta #ofts ray #only friends the series #ofts #my dearest and specialest baby boy!!!!! #nani's hot takes

[villainessxassassin]

How sweet

child!Riddle x child!reader

yes lets forget how dead this account was until now💀 Half way through writing I forgot I was writing for child!Riddle but everything works out in the end yeyyy -K.

✧|: Riddle being salty cuz he doesn't want a babysitter tutor at home so he's really mean to you at first but then you start doing all these really nice things that makes Riddle want to cry in a good way and now he doesn't know what to do.

༶•┈This will be part one (1/2?)

When Riddle thought all was lost, that he could never get to taste a sweet strawberry tart nor play outside with his friends ever again, his mother hires a... tutor? and you're the same age as him? like he's supposed to care, if anything he's even more displeased!

After the recent incident, young Riddle really couldn't think his life could get any more restricting than it already is. He can't play, he has to watch what he eats, he has to keep up with his academics, and now his mother's hiring a tutor to keep him company when she's not around?

"Do I really need this...?" It's been a few days since then, yet Riddle still couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes, not after what he did. He didn't want to anger her any further. "You certainly have a long way to go until you can gain my trust back, and what better way to show me, than with this." She gestured to you at her side, posture straight with a slight smile on your face.

The young boy has heard of you prior before your arrival from his mother. You as well have been placed in the same position as Riddle, yet unlike him, you didn't seem to dislike the idea of having to work twice as hard for both him and yourself. If anything, you looked very much delighted to be here.

With a small bow you then began to introduce yourself, but all Riddle was able to focus on with your voice fading out was the slight ringing in his ears that grew louder by time.

"Now, do try to get along."

.

A week has gone by. A week of you constantly pestering Riddle to work twice as hard. A week of extra papers piled up on his desk. A week of the very thread of his patience finally on the brink of snapping, or in short,

it was a week of pure torture.

Again, Riddle really didn't understand why you were needed here. He was doing just fine by himself, save for what happened and for the very reason WHY you are present here in the first place but he's changed! He's already been enduring this far without complaining, so surely that was enough proof he no longer had any ulterior motives in changing his daily routine his mother has given, right?

"You should've completed these papers by now."

And again, your annoying voice cuts of his train of thought. "You shouldn't be slacking, I've been given strict instructions to make sure you finish these on time", you say while taking the paper Riddle just finished and replacing it with another.

"I'm not some immature child, you don't have to tell me every time, my oh so annoying Tutor, and for one, I dont need a babysitter either." Despite the initial fear of his mother finding out he's been speaking to you in this disrespectful manner, (unbeffiting of the rosehearts name) this is the relationship you've made from the one week spent here together, and besides, you're both the same age! 'Formalities shouldn't be taken that seriously', Is what you said, but Riddle already had no intentions of refering to you in any high regard (because of his newfound bitterness with a hint of saltyness for those around him).

"Hey! I already told you to think of me more as your study buddy! I have my own homework to do too you know."

"You say that and yet you continue to nag at me like an old lady, how irritating."

"It's not nagging, I'm simply looking out for you."

Yeah right. Despite the happy display you've shown at your first meeting, Riddle knows it was all a play, that you're only here because you were forced into this position. With a sigh, Riddle finally finished the last of his homework, stretching his small arms up into the air to signal his victory over the sheets of problem filled papers.

"There, I'm finished. Now will you give me this time for myself or will you continue on with this pointless conversation?" With that the playful look on your face disappeared, and in it's place you let out a small laugh, but it lacked any sense of glee, accompanying it was a sad smile.

"I thought the conversation to have been... nice. You don't often come to openly chat with me, even if it's for things relating to outside of your academics. That's why your mother- I mean, that's why I—"

The chair scraped the floor as Riddle shot up from his seat, giving you a look that clearly showed his distaste for the topic you took on. You never broke eye contact as tension soon began to build up. It was moments after, Riddle finally chose his next choice of words, and did they stung, cutting deeper than any paper cut you've ever received. "Let me make one thing clear," your breathing was becoming heavy, but you hung onto his every word, "If you think being my tutor would give you some sort of privilege to speak to me like we're close, as if we're actually friends, then please leave."

You could only watch as he promptly made his way towards the kitchen, probably wanting to be anywhere away from you, is what you think. Sighing, this may come to be more difficult of a task than you expected, but you weren't just going to leave like what Riddle wanted. You've already made it this far into a week with him, so you're not going to give in and give up. Afterall, Riddle is your friend, you just need a bit more time in order to help him see it. To accept you were there for him.

You caught onto his final words, and that only was the beginning.

"I've had enough of people expecting me to be better,"

'You're a Rosehearts for our Great Seven's sake! this shouldn't be difficult for you to do right?!'

"To have others cut into my life without warning when I tell them not to, only to leave once I've been caught,"

'You can study later, come on let's play, and eat all the sweets we want in the meantime!'

"I need at least one person to do their job correctly, so make things easier for me, will you?"

#twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #y/n #twisted wonderland x mc #twisted wonderland x yuu #twisted wonderland #riddle rosehearts x reader #riddle rosehearts x you #riddle rosehearts #kishira writes

[marshmallowprotection]

Mystic Messenger 7th Summer Event Analysis

Anyway, you're all here because you want me to talk about what I speculate is going to happen when the photo drops because it will be the 17th when the image is revealed and that means we're going to start seeing it in the early hours of the 16th over here on this side of the planet.

So there is a little bit for me to talk about but not too much because there is not too many details going on but there is enough that I can speculate this or that.

Unknown is in the center of the image so he is the focal point. I am not upset about that because like I said earlier, I didn't expect to see him on the title screen ever again apart from being a cute little chibi. There is a difference between seeing him in the stylized chibi artwork and seeing him in the flesh if that makes sense.

I am about to change my icon on Discord so fast to be Unknown that it's not even funny.

When I noticed that he was clearly holding a guitar, the first thing that came to mind was that merch photo that I shared because it seems as though it is the same purple on the guitar. It is either a very deep red or that hot purple color. I tried to color sample what I could for the surface area of the guitar and it appears to be more pink than purple but you can expect given the fact that Saeran has magenta hearts.

I do miss what he was coded with purple since that is my favorite color but I've come to love pink as my second favorite color thanks to him as a character. See, that color started to appear more and more with Jumin since Jumin's hearts are purple, but it's always interesting to think about how some merch had Unknown with purple and then Jumin with blue back in the day.

I don't think anything is different about his outfit since he appears to be wearing his tank top and jacket, the only thing that stood out to me that was even remotely different was the fact that I couldn't tell if it was a red stripe on his pants.

He has a stripe on his pants but I don't know for sure if it was used here or not. They don't always draw him with his pants showing and when they do, sometimes it can be hit or miss if they add in that little detail. His boots aren't in this photo so I don't get to make a cowboy joke, unfortunately.

The zippers in his jacket aren't always drawn, either, so that is one thing that will never be consistent when it comes to art like this.

That's really all I can tell about him from what we're shown which is why I can't really say all that much about him except for the fact that he is giving lead singer of an emo band. I can't believe we came full circle and we get to appreciate him being the one that invites you to join his emo band. I, for one, I'm ready to join his band and I already have the set list. I'm ready for it.

As someone whose favorite band is Fall Out Boy, of course, I'm ready for it.

Cheritz will sometimes label things with Ray or Unknown, but we'll all know who it is once we scroll down and see who's in the photo. That's just a thing that happens but it bothers me. Ray is not Unknown, but sometimes he's been referred to as such in merch or media, and I do think Unknown was referred to as Ray a few times in the past and it always throws me off. Names matter!

I like when they're labeled appropriately!

I do think the little Twitter event we recently had for the anniversary when they showed us GE Saeran as Unknown, it was meant to be an Easter egg to prepare us for this specific picture.

Anyway, what really threw me off about this picture when I was trying to review it was the fact that it appears to be split into three parts. It would... be easy to assume that Unknown is on the stage with V but that doesn't appear to be the case.

I speculate in this situation that the picture is cut into three parts.

V is in the audience or he's trying to get into the music festival. Rika is trying to advertise with elixir with everything she has in her arsenal. Unknown is on stage doing his best to do what his Savior told him to do. They each have their own corner to play and that's interesting to see. I don't know what I expected when I saw Mint Eye Idol Group... and I still don't know what we'll see tomorrow.

Did you guys know that Monster energy will get musicians to drink branded cans that just have water inside to better sell the product to people? Yeah, that's the only thing I could think of when I saw this... and well, now all of you are going to be aware of it for the rest of your life.

Monster is already bad enough for you, and I don't think you want to hydrate with elixir at a concert.

At the very least, if you wanted to go on a trip, you're definitely going to go on a trip if you drink enough of that.

Because of the way the image is juxtaposed, I think Rika is off center stage or in the crowd trying to sell the product. I don't know where she is but it can't be on stage with him just because of the way the image is.

Which is what led me to believe that V couldn't be on stage with him because of his posture and the poster behind him. I don't know what the composition of this photo is going to be but from what I've already seen here in this blurry promo image, I think it's going to be really visually interesting.

Another thing I noticed when I was looking over the photo was the fact that I couldn't tell what V was wearing. There's a part of me that wondered if he was trying to fit into the crowd by wearing his believer robes. But, I don't know for sure. The color looks dark enough to be that, the only thing I could think of once I had that thought was one simple question:

What if it is band merchandise for Unknown?

There's another part of me that wonders if V is trying to hand out flyers because Rika told him to. Which again leads me to wonder who designed the soda can and the flyers because it certainly wasn't Rika. When she designed something for Mint Eye it is done in a stylized manner that does not lead itself to inviting somebody to join her.

I mean, I don't think you're going to join her when you see her idea of recruiting someone and it's this:

In universe, she thinks she is a great designer but everyone around her knows the only thing that she can make is what happens when you learn how to use clip art for the first time and you go overboard. I love it. I really do. It speaks to me. I think she's great at this style but ask yourself this question, Would you join a cult if this was the only flyer for it?

If something in universe looks good design-wise it's because she made Unknown, Suit Saeran, or Ray do it. I mean, yeah, can those designs be simple? Yeah, but they get the job done. I mean, look at those photos! I feel like I'm being led to Mint Eye, THE CULT, when these photos are given to me.

TLDR;

#character analysis #mystic messenger #mm #mysme #mysticmessenger #mod kait #jihyun kim #kim jihyun #rika kim #kim rika #saeran choi #choi saeran #unknown #unknown mystic messenger #unknown mysme #v mysme #v mystic messenger #rika mystic messenger #rika mysme #rika mm #v mm #unknown mm #i had to write this tonight because it will drop tomorrow

[blood-mocha-latte]

happy post-holidays and part three to @ep6bastogne, the finale is here!! have a happy new year and whatever coms next :)

find part one HERE, and part two HERE

OR read on ao3 all in one go :)

iii.  turn on the laugh track we'll see if it changes the scene maybe this is just the funniest version of us that we've ever been

15 December

The longer that time stretches between what’s become present and when Gene had shown up at the apartment, the more certain Babe becomes that Gene’s avoiding him.

The longer that time stretches on, Babe thinks he might be avoiding Gene right back.

The TV is murmuring absently in the background, Babe thinks it might be Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 

“‘M going out,” He says vaguely, fumbling with the buttons of his coat. He’s getting better, at wearing it. It no longer feels like it’s too heavy, like he needs to get it off before he starts to burn.

Bill doesn’t look up from the TV, dead-eyed in their singular sofa chair. Luz and Toye are out cold on the couch. 

“Aight.” Bill says. “Say hi to Doc, for me.”

Babe’s chest hurts.

“Me and Gene aren’t…” He says, and trails off. Bill drags his eyes away from the TV to look up, eyebrows raised. Babe shrugs, awkward. “Bye.” He says. Bill looks unsure of something. Babe doesn’t really care to know what.

“Okay.” Bill tells him back. “Be… careful, right?”

Babe pauses.

“Yeah.” He says. “I’ll see ya later, Bill.”

—

He doesn’t know what happened, which seems to be the root of all of Babe’s problems. 

He thinks, maybe, that he might not be friends with Gene anymore. He thinks, maybe, he’s fucked up.

The ingredients for maque-choux are in the back of his fridge, still, and he hasn’t texted Gene. Gene hasn’t texted him, either.

Babe’s not sure what the taboo is that seems to be so prevalent to him. Why he can't seem to text Gene if Gene doesn't text him, and why it makes him so miserable. He wonders who has more issues than him, and if they'd be open to giving advice.

“Babe!”

He hears a voice bounce off of the buildings and streets, and almost swears. 

It's like he's summoned him.

“Hey, Web.” He says, after a brief moment of wondering if he should just begin running away at full speed. He turns around and waves awkwardly. “How's it going?”

David Webster, who crosses the street quickly, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a car, waves at him brightly. He’s wearing black gloves, and Babe would make fun of him if he wasn’t certain that Web had already been bullied mercilessly about them and had decided to wear them, anyways.

“Hi.” Web greets him as soon as he hops up onto the pavement. He sounds a bit breathless, weighed down by approximately forty shopping bags, all in one hand as he reaches out his free one to Babe, patting him awkwardly on the shoulder. “How are you? I haven’t seen you since, uh…” 

Web trails off, waving a hand absently before shifting the bags more evenly. He blinks at Babe, as if willing him to get what he’s saying, so Babe just nods, hands in his pockets.

“Yeah.” He agrees. “It’s been busy, lately.”

“Uh huh.” Web says. He looks rather distracted, and starts walking side by side with Babe almost absently. “Did Joe say anything to you, recently?” He asks, out of pocket, then pauses. “Uh, when… when you saw him. He said something about going shopping…?” Babe wonders, vaguely, if this is a trap.

“About what?” He asks. The pavement is scraped pretty clean of snow, but there’s a build-up of slush against the curve and he kind of wants to step in it. “We mostly just talked about, like, hockey.” Web huffs through his nose.

“He’s being weird,” He tells Babe, and Babe in turn regrets his choice to not run away. “He’s like… asking about my family, and stuff. It’s weird. He’s being weird.” 

“You’re saying weird too much,” Babe informs him, and thinks about Liebgott’s thing with the present. “And I dunno. Maybe you should just, like. Talk to him.”

He’s not really one to talk, though. He thinks about Gene and his chest hurts. Web just huffs.

“Yeah.” He agrees. “We don’t really do that, though.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Yeah.” Web says again. He scrubs the back of his hand across his mouth. “Hey, I need to go to a bookshop. Do you, uh—”

“Sure.” Babe says, before he can think about it. “Do you need help with your whole…?” He gestures vaguely to the shopping bags, which look heavy, and Web blinks at him like he doesn’t realise that he’s holding all of them, and blinks a second time after a split second, eyes lighting up.

“Oh! Yes, please, could you actually—” He pauses, coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of the pavement, and Babe quickly ducks out of foot traffic to lean against the closest building. Web follows absently after him, searching through the bags. He offers one up to Babe without looking at the contents, busy rooting through a silver paper bag.

“I don’t know if I’ll see you again before Christmas, so I’ll just…” Web keeps muttering about something or the other, so Babe shifts the bag that he’d collected to his other hand distractedly. “Ha!” Web exclaims, straightening back up triumphantly.

He holds out a small box to Babe, eyes bright, and Babe blinks at him, taking it. “I — thanks?” Babe says, still rather confused, and Web nods, straightening back up and gesturing for Babe to give him back the bag. 

“Merry Christmas.” He says, and Babe stares at him. Web stares back, eyes pinned to Babe, which is a bit uncomfortable. “It, uh. I’m trying to get presents for everyone, this year. New thing.”

Babe would ask questions, but he’s learned it’s best not to. Webster’s sort of a wild card, in his books. “Uh,” He says again, patting down his jeans with his free hand. He unearths a stick of gum from his back pocket, cringing slightly, and holds it out to Web. “Yeah. Happy Christmas?” 

Web laughs and takes it, shifting all of his bags once more. “Thanks,” He says, and it sounds genuine. Babe wonders where Liebgott is and, if on the offhand, he would be willing to come and drag Webster to wherever it is they both are when they’re not bothering Babe.

Vaguely worried that the streets are getting more crowded, Babe turns on his heel and starts walking again, trying to remember where the bookstore is. There's roughly eight of them in the general area, but Bill made him go to one two days ago to find a book he’d found for Fran on their website because apparently Bill’s too good to order it online like a normal person, but also didn’t want to leave the apartment.

“Anyways,” Web says casually, and Babe blinks at him blankly. “He’s being weird. Joe is, I mean. Insanely weird. He asked me what my favourite colour was yesterday.” He wrinkles his nose, and Babe shrugs. That seems normal, to him, but what does he know. Maybe Liebgott’s secretly dying. Or it’s still about the present thing.

Oh.

“Wait,” Babe says, “Did you get something for Liebgott, too?” 

“Well, yeah.” Webster tells him. He shifts his grip on the bags, and something in one of them jingles. “But at the beginning of the month. When Hanukkah started.”

Babe laughs. “You’re an idiot.” He says, and Web’s mouth drops open, affronted.

“Well, I—” He starts to say, and Babe turns a corner. He can see the sign to the bookstore, now, and exhales, relieved.

“He’s trying to find you a present,” He tells Web, turning the box over in his hands. “‘Cause he feels bad. Because apparently, he’s only ninety-nine percent an asshole, and the other one percent is reserved for making me look through shops for shit you’d like.”

He’d figured that Liebgott would have been fine with the copy of Moby Dick he’d finally found, but Babe guesses that Liebgott was probably just as sick with Babe as Babe was with him and decided to go it solo, instead. Next to him, Web’s mouth is still open.

“Oh.” Web says. “I… that makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Babe says. Web sighs. 

“Well, at least I know why he’s acting so strange now,” He says, shifting his bags again. Finally upon the bookstore, Babe opens the door and lets Web go in first. A bell at the top of the door jingles. “I mean, I’ll just tell him to tie me up or something—”

“Too much information, Web,” Babe says over him, probably too loudly. A woman at the cash register raises an eyebrow at them. Web waves at her. “Too much information.”

“Do you need a book?” Web asks him, rather absently, shifting his bags again. Babe turns the box over in his hands again.

“Nah.” He says. He’s not a big reader. “Hey, should I—?” He begins to ask, holding up the box.

“Oh, yeah.” Web says, waving a hand dismissively. “Open it whenever. I’m not great with stuff like this, so I got Perco to help me. The note’s from me, though, but I don’t remember what I wrote. Excuse me, ma’am—” He turns on his heel, asking an employee for directions to a section on something about art history.

Babe turns the box over in his hands one more time, wandering absently over to an empty armchair in the corner of the shop and dropping into it.

The box is small, and black, and he tugs it open and blinks.

It’s a watch, and the thin notecard inside has Web’s handwriting on it, neatly scratched in pen. 

Dear Babe,

This is a brew metric, and I got the retro version because of the colours. I don’t know if you’re a watch person, but Joe made the mistake of saying that he doesn’t care, so I had to buy it so here you go.

Merry Christmas!

Babe blinks. The note takes on a rather aggressive tone towards the end of it, but he guesses it’s rather nice. 

He looks up, and Web is in the art history section, so he takes the watch out of the box, puts it on, and is wondering if he should throw away the box or not when—

“Babe?”

Babe jolts, startled, and looks over his shoulder. He almost doesn’t recognise the girl that blinks back at them, but he clears his throat and shifts to see her better.

“Renée.” He says, sticking up two fingers in an awkward wave. “Uh. Hey. How are you?”

Renée Lemaire’s hair is tied back on top of her head, her coat a light blue. She has her hands tucked into the pockets of it, and walks around the chair that Babe’s sitting in to perch in the one opposite him. Her eyes are doing… something, that Babe can’t read, and Babe wonders what Gene told her.

“How are you doing?” She asks him, maybe politely, hands clasped together in her lap. Babe blinks. Whatever he was expecting her to say, that wasn’t it.

“Uh.” He says. “Good?” He’s not sure if this is a trap or not. He doesn’t think it is, because he doesn’t think that Renée is the type of person to do something like that, but, well. He’s not sure if he’s thinking right. Renée nods.

She’s freaking him out, a little bit — Babe wonders if she’s looking for something, the way she stares at him. He shifts in the chair.

“Hey, do you—” He starts to say.

“How much do you—” Renée says at the same time, and they both lapse back into silence. 

Renée speaks up again before Babe can say anything. “How much do you read?” She asks him. Babe blinks. 

“Uh.” He says. He’d expected her to ask about Gene, or something else. Small talk… rather unexpected. Renée shifts in her own seat.

“I think that reading can help us figure out things in our life that have nothing to do with books.” She says, leaning forward in her own chair. She brushes her hands against her knees as she does. “Do you have your phone?” Babe blinks again.

“Yeah.” He says.

“Could I recommend some things for you to read?” Renée asks him, and Babe thinks that this is Web’s fault. He’s walked right out of normal and right into the world of strange people he’s met maybe three times in bookshops.

“I don’t, uh.” He says. “I don’t really read, you know? Books just aren’t…” Renée waves her hand.

“Books are fine, but I was thinking more of poems. Shorter things.” She says. “You know?”

“No.” Babe tells her, but shifts in his seat to fish his phone out of his pocket. He’s not sure why he does, but. She hasn’t mentioned Eugene and Webster is taking forever and Babe doesn’t want to leave him in the bookstore because he thinks that Web will emerge with too many things and might die immediately without any assistance.

He unlocks his phone and gestures with it, clearing his throat. “Where do I, uh…?” Renée shrugs. 

“Write them in your notes.” She says, matter-of-fact. Babe huffs.

“Right.” He mutters. 

—

Franz Kafka, Haruki Murakami, and Hanif Abdurraqib.

Babe stares at the names, and doesn't think he knows how to pronounce any of them.

“Hey,” Web says, and Babe jolts slightly, turning off his phone and looking up. “Ready to go?”

“Yep,” Babe says back, shoving his phone into his pocket and standing up at the same time. “Get what you were looking for?”

“Yeah.” Web tells him, but looks slightly lost. He holds up his new bag, which is accompanied by another five bags, so Babe steps forward to take a few before calamity strikes. “Uh, a book, for an old college friend. He lives…” Webster gestures vaguely, which could mean on the moon for all Babe knows. “...and I haven’t talked to him in forever, but. Might as well, you know?”

“Sure.” Babe says, because he doesn’t know what else to say. He slides a few bags onto his arm and up to his elbow like he’s sliding coat hangers onto a rack. Noticing Web’s gaze, down at Babe’s pocket, he wonders if Webster saw the list and scrambles to say something else before he does something Babe doesn’t want him to do, like ask about it. “What’s that guy doing now, anyways?”

Web waves his hand again. The bags more evenly distributed between the two of them (Babe’s arms may just fall off), he has the freedom to sweep an arm out airily, an absent Webster-ism. “Oh, you know.” He says, because Babe doesn’t. “Things. I think he writes for a sports journal, now.” Web wrinkles his nose.

Webster writes for a literary journal, which could be the same thing as a sports journal in Babe’s book, except for Babe would actually read a sports journal, but he doesn’t say that, mainly because he doesn’t want to accidentally step on a mine and blow up the entirety of Pennsylvania.

He can’t do that, yet, anyways. 

He wonders where Gene is. His head is starting to hurt.

Webster, thank god, ends up not accompanying Babe all the way back to his apartment or needing Babe’s help to get back to his own; Web had apparently texted Liebgott whilst they were still in the store about picking him up.

“I’ll tell him that he doesn’t need to go through the guilt spiral of doom when we get back to his place,” Web tells him, fidgeting with the wrists of his gloves, “But I figure that one last favour, first, helps more than it hurts.”

Babe, who doesn’t want to have to carry the sixty million bags that Web had given him to the other side of the city, just nods. He could have always just left Web at any time, but with this much shit weighing Webster down, he thinks that there may be more than a fifty percent chance that he would just immediately be killed on his own.

“Wait,” He says, after a moment, thoughts slightly delayed by the amusing ponderings of how, exactly, Webster could die in a fatal shopping accident. “You mean you and Liebgott aren’t living together?” Web shrugs.

“No.” He says. “I mean, we’re ‘living together’ but we’re not actually living together.”

Babe just blinks at him. Web shrugs again, as if to clarify.

“We’re living together, but not actually living together, because I still have my place, and I don’t want to move out, but Lieb still has his place, which is nicer, so he doesn’t want to move out, and if we were gonna live together, we’re gonna live at his place, so we’re ‘living together’, but, again, we’re not actually living together.” He says.

Babe’s starting to think that he should maybe just buy a treadmill to go on walks.

—

16 December

Babe unearths his laptop from underneath his dresser. It has dust on the cover of it and the ‘R’ key doesn’t work, but it functions well enough and he drags it out to the living room, dropping down into the sofa chair with a huff.

Bill’s sitting on the couch, and he raises an eyebrow at Babe, but doesn’t say anything.

“What.” Babe says, anyways, because when Bill’s not saying anything he’s saying more than he does when he won’t shut up.

“Uh.” Bill says, like he’s trying to think. “You seen the Doc, recently?”

“Nope.” Babe says, not thinking about Gene. Gene’s probably at work, anyways, so he’s not thinking of Babe, so why would Babe be thinking of Gene? “Why would I?”

He can feel Bill staring at him.

“Well.” Bill says, shifting against the couch. He’s wearing his knee brace, again, because his leg had started to bother him enough for him to give in to wearing it. He holds up a hand, counting off on his fingers. “He came over here, was upset, you two went into your room, and this place has thin fucking walls, Babe, so I’m very well aware that—”

“Oh my God,” Interrupts Babe, because he can. The back of his neck feels hot. Bill waves a hand impatiently.

“And then he’s gone before anyone else wakes up and you’re sulking and that’s weird. Henceforth, have you seen the Doc, recently?”

Babe powers on his laptop. He’s trying to ignore Bill, or, at the very least, appear haughtily indignant. He’s thinking he’s falling somewhat short of that. “We didn’t fight.” He says, rather defensively, because they didn’t. “We talked about Eugene going down to Louisiana and everyone from Pittsburgh maybe going down there sometime and that’s it. We’re friends, Bill, friends sometimes don’t see each other recently, When was the last time you saw Bull?”

He can feel Bill still staring at him, but he seems to relent when Babe just hikes the laptop up closer to his face and keeps not looking at him.

“Alright, Babe.” Bill says, after a moment, and sounds resigned. “Sounds like you’ve got it sorted.”

Babe wonders if Gene’s still wearing the yellow scarf.

—

Babe starts with Hanif Abdurraqib, because that’s the name he can’t figure out how to spell for the first few go-arounds, and he finds a poem on a poetry website that he hesitantly bookmarks.

He chooses one titled I Was Told the Sunlight Was a Cure, because the cure part makes him think of Gene, and then he remembers he’s not thinking about Gene at all.

—

—  I declare on the days I want to be alive I might drag

my drummer & my singer to your doorstep & ask you to dance

yes, you, who also survived the groaning machinery of darkness

you who, despite this, do not want to be perceived in an empire

awash with light in the sinning hours & we will dance — 

Babe blinks at that part for a moment, shifting against the sofa chair when he feels his leg start to fall asleep. Maybe the machinery of darkness could be like the Mustang.

He wonders if Gene dances. He wonders if Gene would agree to dance if Babe asked him to.

—

December 17

Babe finds another poem by Hanif Abdurraqib called The Prestige before dawn has even broken through the sky and clicks on it for no reason whatsoever. He tries to remember to print out the other poem when he has the time. He’d like to keep it for a while.

—

— No one will bury their kin when desire becomes a fugitive between us. — 

Babe blinks and has to look away from the words because his eyes are starting to hurt. He’s laying on his back, on his bed, with his hoodie pulled up over his forehead.

He wonders what fugitive means in this. Then he wonders if it means rotten.

He misses Gene.

—

He reads more and more Abdurraqib until his eyes start to burn and then he takes a break to eat and get some fresh air.

It’s cold, outside the apartment, and snow turned to sludge kicks up under his feet as he walks, walks. He’s not sure where he’s going.

—

He ends up at the bookstore, again (Renée isn’t there, but Babe didn’t think she would be. His chair is unoccupied and he drops into it gracelessly, tugging his phone out of his pocket.)

—

He looks up Haruki Murakumi but can’t find any poems, like Abdurraqib had, but he finds quotes, instead, and wonders if that’s the same thing. He slouches down in the chair in the bookstore.

—

— Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart. — 

It’s from something called Norwegian Wood, or so it says, and Babe blinks at it and looks up from his phone and looks up at the ceiling and wonders why Gene left, after he’d gotten stuck.

Babe had had a nightmare, after that. He’d torn everything off of his bed.

He wonders if maybe he should have asked Gene why. They never even talked about it.

—

— And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about. — 

Is the storm when he got trapped under the Mustang? 

Or would the storm be not sleeping with blankets, or going on walks everyday, or whatever else?

Babe has to leave the bookstore because Bill starts lighting up his phone about getting back to the apartment so everyone else can watch a movie.

The quote is from something called Kafka on the Shore, and Babe realises that Kafka is on the list in his notes app, too.

—

Kafka doesn’t really have poems, either, and Babe’s beginning to feel lied to, but he finds more quotes, and he begins to wonder if there’s any true difference.

His roommates are bickering happily again, and Babe sits on the floor where the recliner used to be, bent over his laptop. 

Toye swings around him on the crutches and drops down onto the couch next to Luz, kissing his temple absently, offering up a slice of pizza in one hand and throwing the other one around his waist. Bill groans, like the entire interaction had killed him.

Babe has a whole page of bookmarks, now, and a list of things he wants to print off because the one in his head was getting too big.

—

— Don't feel sorry for yourself. Only assholes do that. —

That’s another Murakami one, and Babe snorts so hard his throat kind of hurts, and Toye looks up at him with a raised eyebrow. They’re still all out in the living room, but it’s dark outside, and Bill is engrossed in a rerun of Elf and Luz is out cold, face squished against Toye’s shoulder, legs thrown over his lap.

“Nothing.” Babe murmurs, and Toye goes back to doing whatever on his phone, resting his own cheek absently on top of Luz’s head. Bill lets out a bleating laugh at whatever gimmick Will Ferrell prances through.

Babe feels… okay. 

He closes the computer when the back of his mind starts to get rather cloudy, and even manages to get invested in Elf. 

—

Elf ends and Luz is still asleep, and Babe is cleaning out everything piled up in the sink and trying not to grin as Toye tries to get him off the couch.

“Can’t carry you, right now, doll, you gotta get up,” He’s muttering, absently, as Luz groans, overly dramatic, arms around his neck. 

Babe goes back to drying out cups, shaking his head. Bill’s leaning against the counter next to him, doing absolutely nothing helpful, but he lets out another stupid bleating laugh. Babe kind of wants to laugh, too.

—

20 December

He goes to the corner shop he went to to get the maque-choux ingredients — they’d eaten most of the vegetables, because Babe thinks that him and Gene might not make the recipe, anymore — because they actually have pretty good food.

He runs into Eugene in the food aisle.

Gene doesn’t see him, because Babe had come up almost behind him, and Babe’s plan is to make a quick getaway so Gene won’t see him but when he turns on his heel the corner of his basket catches on one of the cans on the lower shelves of the aisle and clatters to the floor like a gunshot.

Gene turns around, and sees Babe, and Babe sees him, and Babe wonders what fancy words he could use to describe the expression on Eugene’s face. 

“Hey,” Gene says, accent drawing out the word. His shopping basket is tucked underneath his elbow, Babe catches sight of catfish and wonders if he’s making courtbouillon. 

“Hi.” Babe says back, and hopes he sounds like a normal person. Gene’s hair is the same black shock it always is, eyes just as dark as ever, and Babe doesn’t know what he wants to do but he knows it isn’t enough.

They’re friends, and they haven’t seen each other in days, and that’s why it’s awkward. Babe crosses his arms over his sternum – basket sticking out from his own elbow awkwardly – and lets himself believe that.

“How are you?” Gene asks him, and Babe responds with good and asks the same question in kind.

Crackly Mariah Carey plays over the speakers of the shop because of course it does, and Babe blinks at Gene and Gene blinks back and then Gene says “I’m leaving, to go to Louisiana. On the twenty-second.” 

It’s like a hole opens in Babe’s chest, and it’s not painful, and it’s not surprising, but it’s there and Babe wonders if Gene can hear the wind whistling through it.

“Oh.” Babe says. “That’s good.”

“Yeah.” Gene says back. “I think I’ll stay for as long as they’ll let me.”

“I’m happy for you.” Babe says, and Gene nods, eyes dark. He’s twisting his lower lip through his teeth, like he’s thinking, and Babe still doesn’t know what the expression on his face is. “Uh, I’ll… see you later?”

“Yeah—” Gene starts to say, and stops to pick up the can that Babe had knocked over what seemed like heartbeats ago. “Yes. Yeah, I’ll, uh. I’ll see you, Edward.”

Babe’s chest hurts, again.

“Yeah.” He says. “Bye, Gene.”

—

So Gene is leaving Philadelphia. And will stay away for as long as he can.

—

Babe starts reading Kafka quotes more.

—

— Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. —

Babe lays on his back in his bed with the blinds open to midnight. He thinks of Gene’s eyes and his chapped lips and his hair.

—

21 December

— I miss you deeply, unfathomably, senselessly, terribly. —

Eugene Roe is the only friend that Babe has ever had whose lack of presence makes the hole in his heart seem bigger.

—

22 December

“‘Lo?”

“Hey, it’s Spina.”

“Ugh, fuck, man, it’s, like, seven thirty in the morning, why are you—”

“Shut up, that’s plenty early.” Ralph Spina seems to be in a good mood. Babe wonders what Gene is doing. If Spina can see him. “Hey, Gene has this present for you, that he got, like, at the beginning of the month, I was wondering if you want to drop by and grab it?”

Huh. So Babe guesses Gene’s not wherever Spina is, then.

“Uh.” Babe says. “He got me something?”

“Yeah,” Spina says, oblivious to the complicated whatever of emotions that Babe’s going through. “A book, I guess. Something about Kafka?”

The hole in Babe’s chest whistles. “Huh.” He says. “Like, something he wrote, or—”

“No, it’s by someone else… I think a Japanese guy? Ah, here it is. Kafka on the Shore.” 

Babe’s been in his room, getting ready, and he drops down heavily at the corner of his bed. “Oh.” He says. Spina huffs.

“Yeah.” He says. “Something about you liking it, or something. He got it on, like, the third, man.”

“Oh.” Babe says again, not really listening. Spina hums his vague agreement and keeps talking, and Babe tunes him out, staring at his comforter in the corner of the room. (He’d tugged the other sheets back onto his bed. He was too cold at night.)

He thinks about Eugene, and then thinks about thinking about Eugene, and then blinks.

They go days without seeing each other, without texting each other, but Babe thinks that he makes up for that time, possibly every minute that fills the gap since he was born and since he met Eugene, with thinking about him.

He thinks about Gene’s chapped lips, and his dark hair, and his eyes, and his smile, and everything else, and suddenly feels very, very warm.

“—’sides, it could be worse, because—”

“Spina?” Babe interrupts him, pushing himself up off his bed. He can feel his heart in his chest, and it almost hurts. “Where’s Gene?”

“Uh.” Spina says, and it’s enough hesitation for Babe’s blood to start to go cold with realisation. He pulls his phone away from his year to check the time and date. “He’s packing. He’s leaving in, like, ten minutes, man. Already ordered an Uber and everything.”

Something that isn’t panic but a close relative to it lights up the inside of Babe’s head all sorts of warning colours, and he swears and almost hangs up, stumbling over his carpet in his haste to get out to the living room. 

“Spina, I gotta go.” He says, almost jogging over to the front door, jamming his shoes into his feet. Bill’s sitting on the couch, because of course he is, and he looks up from his phone with a raised eyebrow. “Just… don’t let Gene leave early, okay?”

He doesn’t hear Spina’s reply, too busy shoving his phone into his pocket and wrestling the door open. 

“Gene, huh?” Bill starts to ask, but Babe’s already out the hall and slamming the apartment door shut behind him.

He skips down the steps of their apartment quickly, careful not to slip, and realises as the cold bites into his arms that he forgot his coat.

He elects it unimportant, stares down the street as soon as his feet hit it, and starts running.

—

14 November

“No, see, it’s—”

Babe interrupts himself, grinning too hard to see Gene’s trembling hand properly. “You’re not taking this seriously!” He accuses Gene, turning his cheek against the pillow to nose at Gene’s temple, the others hand still tight between both of his. “I’m doing you a huge favour, reading your future for free, and you’re not taking it seriously!”

Gene laughs again, as quiet and warm as he ever is, and turns his lips against the shell of Babe’s ear. “I’m takin’ this seriously,” He says, “but there’s not a lotta ways of me responding seriously when you tell me I have ‘attractive palms’.”

He says the last two words like he’s making fun of Babe, but Babe knows he isn’t and huffs, affronted, anyways.

“I said that you have the most aesthetically-pleasing hands I’ve ever had the honour of staring at.” He says, matter-of-fact, and Gene hums like he doesn’t believe him. “‘Course, you’re just a very aesthetically-pleasing person.”

The hand not at Babe’s face is running over his bare hip, fingers tapping out absent melodies against the skin there, and Babe leans into the touch as Gene regards him, eyes serious and lips chapped and quirked up in a smile. “Not so much as you are.” He says, so close to Babe that he’s slightly blurry.

Babe hums and gives up on reading his palm to roll over on top of him.

—

22 December

Almost a month ago he got trapped under a car, almost a month ago he nearly died, almost a month ago Gene kissed him and promised he wouldn’t get lost and then left him alone in the dark and a week ago Babe fucked up and he just realised how.

He’d grabbed his sneakers, because they were the first things he saw, and they’re filled with ice water and heavy and soggy and he’s sure he’s running like an idiot and it’s fucking freezing outside and he doesn’t care because Gene is only a few blocks away and Babe has to tell him this in person, has to get to him before he gets out into the Uber.

His heart both soars and crashes into the pavement when he sees carefully Eugene pulling a suitcase down the staircase; wound through with twinkling lights and burnt out bulbs.

“Gene!” Babe shouts, chest burning. 

Gene looks up, eyes wide, and when he sees Babe, his face does the same exact thing that it’s done the last few times that Babe’s seen him.

“Gene!” He yells again, and speeds up.

Gene leaves his suitcase on the stairs and moves down the rest of the way, and his feet hit the pavement at the same time that Babe starts slowing down, icy sludge spraying from under his feet as he slides to a dragging stop in front of the staircase, staggering against it. He looks up, and is finally close enough to see Gene, and Gene looks radiant and… well. 

“What the fuck.” Gene says, and Babe realises he’s in a t-shirt and sneakers and sweatpants in 30 degree weather and waves it off to stand up straight, taking a deep breath.

“I have to tell you some stuff,” He says, “and it’s not gonna make a lot of sense, and I need you to stick with me, here.”

Gene shifts away from him, like he’s going to grab his suitcase. “Edward,” he says, and the frustration that bolts through Babe at his given name almost warms him up. “I’ve got a car coming any minute now—”

“It won’t take long—” Babe promises over him, and realises, maybe for the first time, that the aching in his chest is something desperate. “I, just. I need to do this, and I didn’t realise that I did, and now I’m—”

“Babe.” Gene says, and Babe blinks at him and then blinks again and then suddenly can’t stop from opening his mouth.

“I’m my own drummer and my own singer and I’m asking you to dance with me, I think.” Is what comes out of it, and Gene stares at him like he’s insane so Babe shakes his head and clears his throat and tries again.

“I mean, I like you.” He says, and thinks of storms and memories and words and poems and quotes and people and the shore. “Like, not as a friend. And I thought as a friend, but you’re the only friend I have that I think about everyday, and that I go crazy for, and I like you like I want to be more than your friend, and it’s—”

“Babe—” Gene starts to say again, and Babe shakes his head, holds up a hand, because the hurting in his chest is desperation and he needs to get it out, needs to tell Gene, needs to shake it into him because it’s going to burn him alive.

“No, I just, I need to—” He says, and has to stop and huff through his nose. He tries to collect his thoughts, and takes a deep breath. “You asked me to go down to Louisiana and I thought just as friends because I thought we were just friends, but we aren’t, are we?”

Gene blinks at him. The twist of his lips looks almost imploring. “Babe,” he says, a third time. “I thought that you didn’t want to be anything but—”

“I didn’t know anything!” Babe exclaims, which is a little loud, so he winces slightly and tries again. “I didn’t know that we were friends, I didn’t know that we were more, I thought… I thought that it was just… whatever we were doing and didn’t think.”

“I thought we were just friends, too.” Gene interrupts him this time, and Babe wants to touch his jaw. “I thought we were, and then we were changing, and it scared me in November and I left, but it didn’t scare me anymore but you—”

“You left again.” Babe says, and doesn’t mean it as an accusation. “You left again, after November, and I was confused, and I thought we were friends, but we’re not, because we’re more, or — or at least I want to be more, because I like you—”

Gene’s watching him with wide eyes, wide and dark and bright and light and the tip of his nose is read and so are the shells of his ears and Babe’s chest hurts and he knows why and he opens his mouth again and doesn’t even try to stop himself from rambling.

“I like how red your nose gets when it’s cold outside.” He says, and Gene blinks and steps back half a pace, as if surprised. “I like how you refuse to call me by my goddamn name, no matter how many times I tell you that only the nuns call me Edward.” He says, even though Gene’s called him Babe now almost as much as Edward in this single conversation.

“I like how you make food that’s fully capable of killing me.” He says, and thinks of the spice in the courtbouillon and how Gene had grinned his soft, gentle grin when Babe had felt his face heating up from the spice. “I like that you always forget to bring gloves outside.” He says, and thinks of Gene’s red knuckles. 

“I like how your lips are almost always chapped, no matter what you do.” He says. “I like the colour of your eyes. I like how cold your hands are. I like that I can never stop thinking about you, no matter what, because you’re all I ever want to think about, Eugene, even before November, even before everything that happened, because you’re you and I like you.”

He takes a deep breath, and realises for the first time just how cold his feet are. He ignores it, because Gene’s staring at him again and Babe’s distracted by everything from his hair to his eyes to the way he has his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket, elbows held out high, for some reason.

“Babe.” Gene says, and Babe staggers slightly against the fairy light staircase and then Gene is kissing him, and his hands are freezing and on either side of Babe’s face.

It’s a chaste kiss, as far as kisses go, because Babe’s maybe freezing to death and also so high on adrenaline he thinks he could bench press Bull, and his own hands fly up to Gene’s face and kiss him again, and again, and pull back enough to kiss the corner of his mouth, and his cheek, and back to his mouth, and—

“Uh, excuse me, are you Roe?” 

Gene pulls away from him, eyes wide and lips chapped and Babe’s chest still hurts and Gene turns to the Uber driver, hands leaving Babe to pat down his pockets, talking faster than Babe thinks he’s ever heard him talk.

“Yes, yeah, sorry about that,” He’s saying, and he sounds almost breathless, and Babe would be almost proud if he wasn’t so cold and also wanting Gene to come back over right now before he actually dies. “I, uh, could you wait, a moment? I have, like, ten dollars, if you could give me a moment to…” He trails off, and the driver takes the money and shrugs.

Babe misses the rest of the transaction because he’s shifting his feet back and forth and hoping he doesn’t lose a toe. Then Gene’s back near him again, and it’s significantly weirder because there’s an Uber driver waiting on them. But Gene kisses him again and Babe kisses back and then kisses the corner of his mouth and his cheek again and pulls back just enough to rest his freezing forehead against Gene’s, and he can’t stop smiling.

Gene is so close to him that Babe’s eyes are slightly blurry, and his smile is as gentle and as soft as it ever is and when he asks, “did Renée do the thing with the poems?” Babe’s laugh bursts out of him so warmly it’s like sunlight.

He runs his thumbs over Gene’s cheekbones and closes his eyes, their foreheads still pressed together, to say, “I’m gonna write you poems, now. She’s opened me up to a whole world of possibilities.”

Gene smiles and it seems tired, so Babe pulls back and kisses him again, and then says, hole still in his chest, “don’t stay in Louisiana until they want you to leave. I want — I want you to come back and take time off. I want to do that, like you said earlier.”

It’s Gene that pushes forward to kiss him, this time, and his breath is warm and puffs against Babe’s cheek and Babe has missed him so, so much and somehow never even realised that he did. “Yeah,” He says. “Yeah, of course—”

“And we can make the… the maque-choux—” Babe says, starting to ramble, a little bit, and Gene huffs a laugh.

“You remember that?” He asks.

Babe nods, rests his forehead against Gene’s and says, “I couldn’t forget. I couldn’t forget, the ingredients were in the fridge, I bought them the next day you texted me,” And Gene laughs and kisses him again.

“We’re gonna fuck up again.” Gene says, after that, which would be out of pocket if it wasn’t Gene and if Babe didn’t know exactly what he meant.

“I don’t care.” He said, and shifted from having his hands on either sides of Gene’s face to lock his wrists behind Gene’s neck, watching his eyes and thinking a mile a minute and saying, “I don’t care, I don’t give a shit, and we’ll fuck up and it’ll be fine and we’ll talk about it and it will be worth it because it’s you—”

“And you’re you.” Gene reminds him, his own hands having migrated to either side of Babe’s neck, and Babe laughs and bumps his nose against Gene’s.

“Yeah, and we’ll figure it out.” He says, and it suddenly feels more serious. He watches Gene’s eyes some more and lets himself feel warm. “We — it won’t be perfect, and we’ll have issues, and it won’t always be good and we’ll figure it out and it’ll be us.”

And Gene is quieter, too, like he’s also realising the solemnity, and then he’s nodding and kissing Babe again and he says, “I won’t leave again.” And it makes Babe laugh and maybe it’s a little wet because there’s an Uber driver, like, five feet away from them waiting to help Gene do just that.

“Yeah, you will.” Babe says, and wonders what poems and quotes and words there are about that. “You will, but it’s okay, ‘cause I’ll understand why, and I’ll have to leave, sometimes, but we’ll both be back and it won’t be perfect but it’ll be us and we’ll figure it out.”

Gene’s watching him, again, and the corner of his mouth is quirked up and Babe watches him and is warm, warm. “Yeah?” He asks, almost like a joke, and from behind them, the Uber driver clears his throat so Babe just nods and runs a thumb over Gene’s chapped lips and lets himself smile before kissing them.

“Yeah.” He says back, and Gene steps away and drags his suitcase off of the stairs and Gene kisses him again and then is moving towards the Uber. “Yeah, we’re gonna figure it out.” He says, and says it more to himself. He watches Gene shove his luggage into the car and turn back once more and Babe almost stumbles in his move to meet him and Gene’s hands are cold on either side of his face.

Gene pulls back and regards him seriously, face solemn, eyes warm. “I like you, too.” He says, and Babe’s laugh almost startles him.

“Oh, thank God.” He says, and Gene kisses him again. “I was a little worried.”

—

Gene eventually has to get into the Uber, and Babe eventually has to kiss him one last time, but the hurting in his chest isn’t so bad anymore and he wonders if the crushing he’d been feeling since the Mustang could maybe slowly become less. Everything is always less, when it needs to be, with Gene.

Babe scrubs a hand down his face and wonders if he can use the printer at work to print off the Harif Abdurraqib poem and turns on his heel and heads back to his own apartment.

Fuck, his feet are cold.

And… oh.

Well, he still has to find Eugene a Christmas present.

#rie writes #hbowarsanta23 #band of brothers #hbo war #eugene roe #doc roe #babe heffron #baberoe

[archivalofsins]

hello it's me once more :3

what do you think about how the "confession scene" (what if I liked liked you) probably didn't take place in the bar?

after that scene ends, he's sitting in a fancy leather sofa (not featured in his house) with the drink still there, placed in a brown/lower end table (also not featured in his house), meaning the confession scene and the next scene after that both took places at the same location, not at his house. you can somewhat see the collar of kazui's shirt in the reflection of the glass and while it's very vague to say for sure, it doesn't seem like he's wearing the outfit in the bar either, he's still wearing his casual clothing (as seen from the next scene too)

Oh, one of my favorite scenes. I didn't discuss it in the post I did covering Kazui recently but it's really interesting.

Firstly we not only know this isn't the bar by the couch but Kazui's glass as well.

And the clothes he's wearing. In half when he's at the bar he wears his suit, and I don't think that's changed in Cat as we see that version of himself through the champagne glass when he's sitting in his casual clothing with his wife.

We also know that these casual clothes are the ones that Kazui more than likely committed his sin as he's shown wearing this in the anniversary art. It would be simple to state that the apartment we see on stage in Half is just that a stage. However, the simplest answers to get to aren't necessarily the right ones.

Kazui shows us throughout both of his videos that he views his life as a constant act. So, everything on the stage in Half is based off of a real location Kazui has been to. This is best illustrated here,

We're shown his wife standing in front of the balcony from the home set Kazui is sitting in earlier during Half cementing to me that this is the real layout of the home they shared.

It seems that what I at first believed was a sign of some level of dissociation from his actions within Kazui seems to be another illustration of how he separates lies from the truth something expanded on within Cat.

The stage shows the acts and facades he puts up in his everyday life while the theater seats that he's sitting in reflect the reality or truth of the situation.

I feel this is illustrated and directly paralleled or called back to in Cat through these scenes.

The apple sitting between him, and this shadowed out figure mirroring what happens when he's eating out with his wife in Cat perfectly. The figure made of words at the end of Cat standing in for this still unknown individual.

His dejected figure in the audience mirroring how he leans against the steering wheel at the beginning of Cat. The scene we see right before being shown this in Half,

The most prominent display of Kazui's wedding ring throughout his first song.

Also, when the Kazui on the stage in Half signals for the one in the audience to look to the side this happens. Then when it's alluded to him telling his wife something near the end of half despite the lyrics implying, he didn't tell her anything she's no longer on stage but in the audience with him

So, off the stage within Half seems to represent the reality of situation and not the idealized version Kazui wishes to present. So, what does all this have to do with your ask?

We never see the area he confesses in within Cat on stage in Half. More than likely, the area you highlighted is also off stage.

This space is never shown within Half, as you pointed out he's not wearing the clothes he usually wears at the bar but his casual everyday clothes. Then as I pointed out, the cup we see him using in the bar during Half and the one in Cat are different. All of this leads me to believe this is a third location that wasn't shown to us on stage in cat possibly because it was off stage or the audience seats all along.

Putting more weight behind this lyric in Half,

"Where did I go wrong, probably from the beginning."

As Half starts with Kazui sitting down there.

However, while this is a different area, he was still given the usual drink he gets when at the bar. This means he's more than likely at his friend's house. You know the one who's working behind the bar in Half. Someone who would logically know what sort of drink Kazui likes. Also, some bartenders have bars, alcohol, and mixing equipment in their own homes and use their skills outside of working hours to entertain guests.

It's common to go to a more casual location or the residence of a friend and get completely hammered there instead of in public. In fact, some people find drinking in a more residential and private setting more relaxing than doing so in a public setting like a bar.

Kazui shows moderation while at the bar with the other woman in Half.

Only having his one drink while she orders two.

We can tell she ordered two because the bartender is cleaning out her previous glass in the second image. All this while Kazui hasn't even finished his first one. So, he's not one to drink a lot publicly which makes sense with all the lies he's telling.

He very well could be anxious about getting drunk openly and accidentally doing or saying something he shouldn't.

However, in a trusted friend's house who may have a comforting presence people have a tendency to slip up or over indulge. In other words,

"I just wanted to ask, so it’s out in the open. I just got a little greedy."

Recently I was at two drinking parties, one in public and another at my home. At both two of my friends did something like what Kazui did here. Using the jovial and relaxed atmosphere to get something off their chest or discuss something that'd been concerning them.

Once someone gets a few glasses down regardless of setting you'll either hear romance talk or "Ya, know what's been bothering me" to which all I can do is go oh shit here the liquor goes again. This is why I hold this shit in and drink moderately.

Drinking is not something one is naturally good at. I got good at that shit through trial and error. I had a training montage over the course of years, started casually drinking at home. Went whelp got drunk, do you have the urge to get chatty, kinda- well guess what time it is rhythm game time! Got drunk on accident this is a great time to play kingdom hearts melody of memory vector of the heavens on proud mode. Because no one is catching me slipping if I don't catch me slipping.

Basically, people get chatty the more alcohol they drink and individuals who are more anxious or wary tend to be a bit hesitant about getting drunk outside of specific settings. Especially when they don't have a good grasp of their tolerance level and they are afraid of doing something embarrassing or saying something they shouldn't while under the influence of alcohol.

They would rather only do so around trusted companions and when going out probably would make themselves the designated driver to avoid being urged to drink in excess.

So, even though I don't believe Kazui was drunk when he went,

"Phew, oh wow I’m drunk. Hey, so what if I said I liked-liked you, what would you do?"

If he did go over to his friend's house to get comfortably and right wasted there's no reason for whoever owns this house to not believe him. He is also shown looking properly hungover before the end of Cat,

So, something seems to have caused him to drink past his limit at some point. I speculate that's related to whatever answer he got when he asked that question though.

I think the scene is interesting because in both Half and Cat it's implied to have happened before he ever began lying which recontextualizes Kazui's character a lot to me.

#milgram #kazui mukuhara #mukuhara kazui

[craetor]

L analysis / theory-ish

in the year of our lord 2022 because things don't make the bittest of logic & I'm here to serve autism conversation meme aka INTJ-to-INTJ bluetooth connection, telling tumblr, once more, of Him. But fr yes here's another analysis of canon content hear me out

.

Recently I've come across the Death Note Short Stories books and with it, these panels.

It seems odd how often L would state, just as bluntly: "I am justice", "L is justice", as if taking pride in some kind of double standard.

One could argue that this was his main goal during his early years (considering he might have felt somewhat high and mighty after preventing WW3), but that would mean L let go of the fact he initially wanted to use his intellect to benifit a larger good later on. Except... As recent as the beginning of the Death Note timeline, during the case of the LABB, a certain lightheartedness about his all-around approach was rather apparent, i.e. whenever he asked Misora if B "was cool", which anyhow quickly plummeted as his ideology came into question. It's inexplicitly stated that his motive for spending time on his work at all, especially on an extremely uncomfortable case as the one of a vengeful successor, or, you know, the ones involving crying survivors that reportedly haunt him daily, is following a code of "kindness", or perhaps even 'goodness' or 'justice'.

Was L forging the truth in the panels above to arise a response that would've been harder to get through full transparency? Giving the kids of Wammy's House a motif of casualness for what it means to step into L's footsteps is nothing but a making sure his successor is capable enough to have fun with it (be enough like him to use their anonymity in 'unfair', yet sufficient ways, enabling them to reach their goal with all the brattiness their smarts will grant them) and quelling the work towards a too high goal if they're not on board with doing well for themselves in face of The Burden (because, wouldn't you know, that was basically all this meeting was anyway. See end of this post for context).

I really thought it was odd for L to undermine the work he takes pride in.

In L Change The World (book one), L's literal dying duty is to save the world. It can't be ignored that it's s spin-off, but it can't be ignored that it'd be silly if the main goal of the book would be out of character. If it was his hobby, as he said, and his goals were selfish, he could've just set up in a comfy place somewhere, get his bearings, uncaring for the future of his successors (literally what he did care for in the panels shown above. This gathering is from the time he knew he might be killed by Kira soon) and watch the world crumble, but instead he went to, yes do what he loved, but fulfill a duty he felt he had. The unnecessary pain throughout the plot really can't be described as anything but passion and a sense of destiny. His ways aren't morally white, but they're well-meaning and genuine. Often arguably self-sacraficing.

It's more believable that L is splaying a facet he sees in his work & mentality. Being a detective is always bound to some sort of irony, to choose to call it 'righteous', and the measures necessary to reach a goal in such field. L recognizes this well and has no need to hide it, especially towards a room of potential proteges that will soon have to deal with that same irony by literally becoming him in the eye of the public. This actually arises the question if Near truly understands L's ways at this point. Short Stories could have served as Near's arc to understanding L's emotional side that, in the end, brought about his downfall and, for the lack of it, Near's victory. The announcement Near makes, addressing Cheap-Kira (which I adore btw) doesn't befit L at all. Yes, the new Kira has killed many (enough to warrant L's attention at the very least) and it's an honor thing for Near to go after them as L, but it's too experimental. It serves as a provocation and lure, but nothing deeply authentic. At this point the new Kira hadn't challanged L whatsoever, so the 'disinterest' thing just seems like Near shooting into the dark, less quiet & undercover than L really loved to go about things, mostly to evaluate how to go after certain cases in the first place & already semi solve them before even going public with it, at most prepping a provocation like this if something can't be clearly deduced by observing present events alone. (Read tags for fix-it-type criticism of this specifically)

Structure edit: 10.7.2023

#even though it was the almost same approach L took and it succeeded this time #near's broadcast was just unnecessary. literally talk to the police about that in private god damn. #no baby. 'you are an abominable murderer' is no BETTER reason to hijack TV stations. #keeping quiet is the ultimate cold shoulder & the ultimate surprise when C-Kira Does get caught without much fuss #It's just such a pathetic way to fall & the most eye-roll way. AKA L's way through and through #my writing #character analysis #death note #l lawliet #near death note #he could have simply ordered TV stations to state things like that IN HIS NAME #how absolutely snotty would that have been.... #the 'talking sense into them' approach did work just it wasn't L other than the 'you're just a cheap copy' thing #the same thing Light pulled when he learned about Near if you think about it #wherefore yeah ok authentic but i'm doubtful if that was the thought Near had #you know the thought.... THE thought. the *YOU'RE not my soulmate >:(*

[synthsays]

Wembley Backstory Headcanon

⚠ TW: mention of abuse ⚠

I wrote this a while ago so ignore whatever spelling or word mistakes it may have it was written on a whim in the middle of the night ;-; so without further ado here's my take on wembley's ✨️ f-ed up backetstory ✨️

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

So gobo is shown to at least frequently yell at wembley (assuming the cartoon is part of the canon) as well as the other characters with examples of him[wembley] covering his face and otherwise protecting himself from said yeller. This could mean one of two things, he has this as a natural reflex OR it shows past experience of someone who was yelling at him also wanting to cause harm physically. Now fraggle family dynamics are weird within the show. But fraggles are proven to have family because of traveling matt & gobo. Now Wembley is shown to be, most likely, the youngest of the group. And has been shown living with gobo since the beginning of the show. It is assumed the fraggles who are related live together, going off of gobo living with Matt since he was little. But Wembley shows no relation (besides being best friends) to gobo. Wembley might have been previously living with other fraggles, may or may not be his family, that verbally and possibly physically abused him. Going further out on a limb, this may have been the cause for his wembling problem, for one reason or another. To continue, Wembley may have run away from home to live with his best friend gobo, given he had a recent vacancy in his cave due to Matt leaving. Wembley is still yelled at by gobo every once and a while, but doesn't seem to mind besides "protecting" himself. One thing I forgot to mention earlier is a possible reason wembley's "wembling fits" get so bad.

Wembley is shown to desperately want others' approval aka for others to like him. This may also be a sign of trauma, perhaps. Because his friends yell at him he tries to make them happy by agreeing with them all the time. This causes problems however when he has to choose between them. Not wanting anyone to be unhappy (aka "hate" him) be basically short circuits his brain trying to decide. But then his friend yells at him for fainting or wembling too much. This may cause all of them to leave, or at least change their mind. They think of Wembley as a burden sometimes, even though many times he faints it's just from him trying to make everyone happy. In some instances they will gaslight or even bully him, which really can't be good. Not trying to be rude to the rest of the fraggle five, they've just made some bad choices regarding wembley. In some episodes it's shown that Wembley has low self esteem, but he still tries to look on the bright side. This low self esteem may be because of his friend's bad habits of making fun of him[wembley]. Wembley sang a whole song abt "who would want to love a wimp like me?" Poor wembley. Continuing my personal theories, this low self esteem may have also come from the previous abusive fraggles, not really mattering if they were related or not. If I remember correctly, I think Wembley thinks he deserves this, or at least that it's normal. Wembley is also often seen putting others before him, even if they may not have done the same. For a few rare times you can see Wembley snap from his normal happy self, crying or making angry outbursts at others. This may be a sign he bottles up his emotions, as well as gobo stating Wembley is sensitive. This may link to the "abuse" theory.

End Quote.

#boom that happened #i told you id still post fraggoe stuff <:] #poot wembley... #no offense to the rest of the fraggle five btw #sorry gobo mokey red and boober stans I had to make it abt me and my fav lil guy's tramua 😌 #fraggle rock #fraggles #wembley fraggle #headcanon #not so silly headcanon #tw: mentions of abuse #✨️trauma✨️ #angsty wembley is so silly #synth is a silly creature

[obsessivelollipoplalala]

hey, how do you know that? "One of Brian’s main traits is that he defends people he likes to the death and that won’t change. He’s been that way his entire life. He’s loyal to a fault and is pretty gullible in a lot of ways, honestly." Not being mean I just wanted some examples??

Lol it's simply something I've observed over the years. There are examples I can name off the top of my head, such as him excusing Freddie being outright rude to fans with "oh but he had to rest his throat, you see <3 that's why he told them to fuck off <3 Freddie threw away a whole box of gifts from Japanese fans because he doesn't like clutter in his life <3" (side note: compare that action to the current drama lmao). Honestly, that is so, so simpy, it's hilarious. I don't have the links to the interviews where he's said this handy (I'm pretty sure he's talked about it more than once), but let's be real: Freddie was rude a lot! But Brian swoops in like "b-b-but he was actually focused on recording!!!"

I can't find it right now, but there was a time back in Brian's twitter days when he publicly snapped at someone for insulting Anita's singing, and then apologized (I think he initially called the person a "bitchy little worm" lol). Anita was on this competition show in 2011, Strictly Come Dancing, and she was actually worried that Brian would get big mad and intervene if the judges got too harsh on her:

Now, vehemently defending his wife and Freddie are to be expected, and unsurprisingly, this extends to Queen. Brian is very defensive of the band and their work, and anything closely associated with it; that's why I think he's defended the film so much, because the project meant a lot to him and he thought it was a net good for Queen and Freddie, so he wasn't interested in accepting much criticism of the film and defended it publicly on more than one occasion.

He's shown this behavior towards other people he likes yet doesn't know as well, especially colleagues in the industry or, more recently, scientific colleagues like Walt Cunningham, who just died and got a nice little tribute post by Brian despite being a jackass climate change denier (and Brian very obviously feels strongly about climate change, so for him to like the man despite his flat-out wrong view on something Brian cares about a lot says something). Back in the movie days, Brian even got into hot water by still following Bryan Singer on instagram and snapping at someone who commented on his profile and told him to unfollow--again, I think this is because Singer was associated with a project that meant a lot to Brian, but to his credit, he actually issued a lengthy public apology that seemed genuine to me, who at the time, was not a fan of Brian lol. This goes to show how this trait is a double-edged sword, because it's sweet when he defends Freddie and Anita, but it's bad when he defends people who shouldn't be defended (although, I do believe him when he says he didn't realize following Singer on social media would be seen as supporting him. People do need to remember we're talking about a senior citizen here).

And so, I think Brian's defensive nature leads him to assume the best of people because he really doesn't want to think people he likes have done wrong or are bad. It's also a mindset he seems to have about people in general; after the 2020 US election, he made a video talking about how shocked he was that so many people still voted for Trump. Brian more or less came to the conclusion that Trump voters must be seeing something different, their news sources must be wrong and leading them astray, and we should create some kind of independent truth council. I could not believe how naïve he was with this post. Like...obviously, even if you could create a totally unbiased source of truth, morons and political conspiracy theorists just wouldn't believe it! Lol. And in general, I think Brian has a difficult time believing that there could really be a large amount of bad people in the world (I think this influenced his political campaign to appeal to people's supposed "common decency" too), but it's like...as someone who has lived in America her whole life and is extremely political invested, I can confidently say that no, Trump voters really are just awful fucking people. They're not led astray, they willingly walk off the cliff because the GOP tells them what they want to hear about women and minorities. I swear, I'm not going on a tangent lol. The point is, Brian wouldn't accept my conclusion here. I think it's genuinely hard for him to accept that there are a lot of people who are simply bad actors in this world, and that's about people in general--apply that to people he actually likes? Yeah. No. You'd have to tell Brian someone committed murder and show him the body before he'd accept that they're bad.

This is also why I think it's incredibly telling that Brian has held ill feelings towards Paul and Barbara for the rest of his life, because he's not a spiteful, angry person who writes people off easily, he actually defends people too much a lot of times, but that's getting off topic lol.

Does this all make sense?

#brian may #replies #Anonymous

[marshallpupfan]

My Marshall Collection! (June, 2022)

It's been a while since I've shown off my Marshall collection! Things are a little different now, so I figure now's as good a time as any!

For those of you that missed it, I recently replaced my old display case because the sides were starting to bulge. Fortunately, I was able to find another one for a low price, not to mention it looks much nicer, too! It was about six inches wider though, so it couldn't fit in the same spot. To give everything more space, I ended up rearranging my entire room to place my collection on the opposite wall. Imo, I think it looks better than it did before!

And much like the last time I posted pics of my collection, I figured I'd briefly talk about each section. Well, let's get started!

Over on the left, you'll find the majority of my plush dolls, as well as a few other things here and there. Not too much has changed, except I was able to make the shelves on the wall much wider, so now I can fit more up there whenever I purchase more plush dolls (or other items, such as a few Marshall backpacks I have my eye on).

Over in the corner, you'll find some books! For these, I decided to focus on ones that center around Marshall, or he's the biggest pup featured on the cover. In truth, I'll be replacing this bookshelf eventually, since there's not much room left for the other books I plan on purchasing. Hopefully I'll find something that'll work out better.

This mini shelf seen one of the bigger changes. Previously, it had a bunch of plush dolls, but I decided to relocate them in order to make room for DVDs! Much like the books, I focused on ones about Marshall or he's the biggest pup featured on the cover. And similar to the books, I have a few more I plan on buying despite the little room I have left. Yeah... I'm not sure how I'll solve this issue yet. lol

This smaller bookshelf is a new addition. I originally had other plans for it, but because my new display case is too tall to place the larger plush dolls on top again, I had to relocate them here.

In the middle of my collection is my TV, once again showing off my Laptop wallpaper! And of course, my Ready Race Rescue theatrical poster is right above it! There's a window right behind it, so just pretend those are theater curtains or something. lol

On the right, we've got my new display case... but before that, take a look at the items on the wall next to it! Also, I had to retake this picture later, and I totally forgot to turn the TV back on. Oops!

Here, you'll find my EMT Marshall wall art, the badges that came with some figurines, two walkie-talkies, artworks sent to me by a friend, and a bunch of framed pictures I printed off. Seeing as how the new display case doesn't stick out as far as the old one, I was able to fit in a few more, though I replaced a few, too. The new pictures include Sheep-disguise Marshall, EMT Marshall, Marshall sleeping with Squeakin'Beam, Marshall covered in stickers, and still one of my personal favorite outfits, Marshall in his Rescue Knights armor!

On the bottom of the Display case, we've got Marshall's many vehicles! I decided to rearrange them a bit differently this time, so most of them are all together now. I had to stick two on the floor, but I kinda like it like that.

Because the new display case is wider, I was able to get both his Ultimate Fire Truck and Movie Fire Truck on the same shelf. I decided to place the True Metal vehicles in front of them. The smaller, plastic vehicles were placed elsewhere.

Above that, you'll find the majority of the figurines! Many of them are Marshall wearing his usual fireman gear, but of course, there are so many other outfits on display, such as him in his Ultimate Fire Gear, his Pup-Fu Gi, all versions of his Mighty Pups super suits, Rescue Knights, Dino Rescue, Moto Pups, etc.! That new step shelf I made for them a few months ago doesn't fill up the entire shelf, so I stuck one of those big toys at the end to fill up the space. I think it works!

Nearing the middle, we've got the biggest shelf housing most of my bigger, non-plush items. The Marshall-shaped shampoo bottle (imported from the UK), two bubble makers, ceramic piggy (puppy?) banks, bobble heads, an alarm clock, that large piñata I always struggle to find a spot for, that large multi-color face lightbulb, among other things. The smaller vehicles were relocated here, since there wasn't much room for them with the other vehicles.

Many other various items are right above that, including a talking coin bank (also imported from the UK), coffee mugs, bath toys, a bunch of Christmas ornaments, some candy dispensers, etc.. Admittedly, this is my favorite out of all the shelves.

Nearing the end of my collection, we've got this final shelf displaying additional items, such as the lunch boxes, Good2Grow bottles, the many mini figurines found in those mystery boxes. etc..

Last, on the very top of the display case, we've got the final batch of plush dolls, including the one I recently found for $1 that I cleaned and sewed up!

=============================

And there you go! As Tumblr has a limit of ten images per post, I'm unable to focus on everything I wanted to talk about, so hopefully this does the job well enough. But to think, they've released so much merchandise of one character... and yet, I'm still nowhere close to owning everything of Marshall! Crazy thought, huh?

To say this least, I see this collection as a testament to just how crazy I am about the character. I know I say this often, but this spotted pup really is my #1 favorite animated character of all time! He means a lot to me, which is why I made these MarshallPupFan accounts, why I post daily pics of him, why I enjoy showing off his merchandise, and why I even went as far to purchase my own Marshall mascot costume to represent him in my town's parade (that plan's still pending, however). Seriously, I just love this character to death! In my eyes, he's one of the greats, and I can't imagine PAW Patrol being anywhere near as good without him!

As always, I hope you all enjoyed seeing my collection again! 😁

#PAW Patrol #PAWPatrol #Marshall #Marshall Paw Patrol #MarshallPawPatrol #Paw Patrol Marshall #PawPatrolMarshall #The spin off TV series should've totally been about him lol

[partytime33]

Me ranting about the Mario Movie

MAJOR SPOILERS!!!! I just finished watching the movie and I'm gonna go on a massive rant, how could this not have spoilers. Also, "minor" swearing and Bowuigi shipping.

Lets start with the characters shall we?

Okay, first off, Chris Pratt wasn't as bad as he could've been, so no complaints there.

Luigi, purest bean who ever lived, SO WHERE IS HIS PLOT RELEVANCE??!??!?!

Peach is such a BAD-ASS! YOU GO GIRL!! YOU AIN'T NO PRINCESS YOU'RE A MOTHERTRUCKING QUEEN.

Toad, Good, really enjoyed his parts.

Donkey Kong, Funny at points but overall is just annoying.

Cranky Kong, Good! Considering how bad his son was.

That leader Para-trooper with the blue shell armour, excellent. Will talk about him later.

Now, to get to the big one, everyone already knows that Jack Black was amazing in the trailer, and Jack Black is. The problem is Bowser's motives. SPOILERS STARTING PROPERLY NOW.

Bowser's lines have changed slightly in the trailer. The biggest dip is when he's questioning Luigi, who takes half the movie to get to his castle, and Bowser says;

"I'm not sure if you know who I am. But I'm about to marry a princess, and rule the world."

Then Luigi replies with his typical unenthusiastic "yay" (which if you ask me is so monotone because he's disappointed that this beast is taken) with the chin tilt we know and love.

Basically, Bowser's entire reason for ruling the world is because he loves Peach and stole the super star just to impress her enough to ask for her hand in marriage.

This is redeemed slightly, because he plans to just use the star and destroy the mushroom kingdom if she refuses his marriage proposal. But it cannot make up for the cringe-fest that is shown for a good portion of Bowser's scenes.

There was a clip of Bowser playing a piano, which, further confirmed the rumor that Bowser would have a song. This rumor turned out to be true, with the most awful song in recent movie years. (Lyrically wise, Jack Black fricking killed those notes)

The song is like; ooh Peach, you're so cool, come live with me and rule. Ya da ya da, heterosexual love interest which no one could care anyless about. Then Kamek comes in and tells him about Mario, to which Bowser responds with, "is the princess into him?" And if that isn't enough, the next scene Luigi is FINALLY IN BOWSERS CASTLE!!! AND GUESS WHAT?? GUESS F*CKING WHAT?

ITS THE ONLY BLOODY SCENE THE TWO OF THEM INTERACT. ITS JUST THE INTEROGGATION AND THAT'S IT!!!!

Nothing else whatsoever!! Bowuigi Fandom, I'm sorry for the disappointment, there is the full body spin and the mustache rip and the chin tilt and then Bowser shoves the precious bean to the floor! That's it!

And you wanna know what we get instead? KAMEK DRESSING UP AS PEACH FOR BOWSER TO PRACTISE PROPOSING. WHAT IS EVEN THE POINT OF LIVING???

(I'd like to add here that the blue Lumalee has more lines and makes all the penguins depressed and insane)

NINTENDO WHERE DID KAMEK COME FROM? IF YOU'RE GONNA BE GAY ABOUT STUFF BE GAY WITH THE ACTUAL STUFF WE CARE ABOUT F***!!

And then, Nintendo, you have the AUDACITY to shove Luigi to the side? His whole plot relevance is just to give Mario an excuse to go on the big adventure with Peach! Sure he has that redemption bit at the end because he was "too scared".

There are SO many cliches in this movie, like family doesn't believe in start up company, slow-mo scream (there were FOUR of those.) And they use the phrase "Mamma mia!" SO TERRIBLY!

What really sucks is that the world building and animation style is GORGEOUS! It looks so good and is ruined by it's basic plot and cliche characters.

The Mario family is introduced, which adds physically nothing to the plot or the other characters. Foreman Spike is also in this, but is not used correctly. What I think should have been done, is that Spike actually sent the brothers down to the mega-pipe place after they left his company for the plumbing job and was hoping to get revenge on them for doing so!

But no, he's just used to make the brother's doubt themselves, which you know, THEIR FAMILY DOES MINUTES LATER.

On the plus side, my final note and my favorite part of the movie. The blue para-koopa who's incharge of the Koopa army. When the gang's on the rainbow road the para goes after Mario himself and tries to kill him. However, instead Mario and DK destroy his kart, it goes up in flames and the two celebrate. But then, out of the fire, he walks forward, an inch from death and yells, "You can't escape meee!" And get this;

You know how he's the only Koopa (seemingly) with a blue shell instead of green or red?

And you know how in the trailers we see when the Koopa get stomped they turn into shells?

"You can't escape me"...

He turns into, a blue shell, flies high above Mario's head and smashes down onto his kart, pretty much taken straight out of Mario Kart, sure it's a seemingly obvious gimmick, but that's what made it so worth it.

Right, felt good to spend an hour ranting about a movie made for kids! Didn't know what I expected from the company that made The Grinch, but thank you, for humouring me with your time and attention.

#mario movie spoilers #mario movie #super mario movie #super mario bros movie