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word-wytch · 1 year

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Don't Stand So Close To Me — Chapter 5

Eddie x Teacher!Reader

Chapter 5/? 3.2k. Series Masterlist

✏︎ A lesson in rock history and the things you can say with a thumb.

✏︎ Series Summary: Forced to move back home to Hawkins after your fiancé cheats on you, you begin to fall in love again with an audacious 20 year old metalhead, only there’s one problem — he’s still in high school and you’re his English teacher.

While you struggle starting over in a place you never thought you would return, Eddie struggles feeling stuck in a place he can’t manage to leave — until you offer to help him. Of all the lessons learned, the most important are the ones you teach each other.

✏︎ Series CW: forbidden romance, slow burn, smut (18+ mdni), true love, internal conflict, student-teacher relationship, 10 year age gap, mutual pining, sexual tension, emotions, drama, angst, character development, happy ending :)

Chapter warnings: drinking mention

“Happy Monday!” chimed Ms. Click, fixing her coffee on the counter in the teacher’s lounge. “How was your weekend, sweetie?”

You turned to her as you nestled the glass coffee pot back onto the warmer. “Oh, you know. Just catching up on errands and chores. Same old, same old.” Oh, and wrestling with thoughts I really shouldn’t be having about my student. You figured it was best to leave that part out. Though if you were being totally honest you had done more of that than anything else this weekend. You couldn’t believe yourself.

“Oh I hear ya, it’s real easy for things like that to just take over. Pretty soon you feel like you’re just living the same week over and over again and then whoops! 20 years go by!” she said with a loud and slightly pained laugh.

You smiled weakly. “Yeah, time really does fly.”

“It does if you’re not careful! You’ve got to treasure every precious moment while you can,” she said, giving a gentle pat on your forearm before turning to leave.

“I try to,” you said, turning to open a new carton of milk for your coffee. You watched it swirl as you poured it in and thought about Eddie Munson again. You wondered what a what a weekend was like for him, what sort of trouble he might get into. You thought about him cruising down the road in his van at night, blasting his music and driving way over the speed limit — not a care in the world. You thought about being a passenger, about laughing with him as he took his hands off the wheel to play air guitar to a song you didn’t recognize.

“Hey!” she said Diane in a little whisper, waving her hand between you and your coffee.

You jolted upward and turned to her. “Oh hey! Sorry, I’m a total space cadet today apparently.”

“It’s Monday, you’re allowed,” she said with a warm chuckle. She leaned back against the coffee station. “Sooo, your birthday is on Friday. It’s the big 3-0 right? Have any plans?”

Yes, that. You hadn’t forgotten, though you secretly wished you had. “I’m shocked you remembered!”

“Well, birthdays are circled on the office calendar,” she said, folding her arms with a little smirk, “I can’t give myself that much credit, but we should really do something. It’s a big one.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Honestly I hadn’t given it much thought.”

“There’s always Pal Joey’s. At the very least I can bake you a cake and we can just get drunk together, right?” she said with a playful chuckle.

You laughed, “Yeah, I don’t need anything extravagant. Just something low key would be nice. Actually, I have a friend I haven’t seen since I moved back over the summer. She’s been busy with her small kids, I bet she’d appreciate getting out for a night.”

“That’s the spirit! Ok, got any preference for cake flavors?”

You thought for a moment, a smile playing on your lips as you brought a curved finger to them, “Surprise me.”

______

You set off down the main hallway like you did every morning, careful not to slosh the remainder of your coffee too hard as you walked. You dodged the usual obstacles — kids with headphones on not paying attention, couples leaning against their lockers, jocks giving a football a few passes before another teacher reprimanded them.

You were about halfway there when you smelled it — cigarette smoke. Not the sort of smoke left over on clothing, but actual active smoke coming from someone nearby. You glanced around to see if you could catch a plume and that was when you saw him.

You didn’t know his name but he must have been a junior at least. He was more than six feet tall, an athlete, as you could tell from varsity jacket he had on.

“Hey! No smoking in the hallway,” you said firmly as you approached him at the lockers.

He looked at you like you were a small child threatening to tattle on him. “Or what?”

“Or I’m giving you detention. Put it out, now.”

He rolled his eyes at you, “Ooh, so scary.” His friends around him chuckled.

You swallowed, feeling small all of a sudden. “I’m serious, put it out right now.”

“Jeez, calm down, bitch.” His friends erupted in laughter, practically tripping over themselves now.

Your eyes narrowed, heart beating into your throat.

“The fuck did you just call her?” a voice cut through from behind you.

You recognized it before you whipped your head around to see him. “Eddie —”

He marched up to the athlete in front of you. “Here, let me make it easier for you.” He snatched the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it on the ground to stomp it out. There were daggers in his eyes. “Say it again.”

He looked at Eddie with a mixture of shock and confusion. “Jeez since when are you a goody two-shoes, Munson?”

“Principal’s office, now,” you said, pointing at the athlete.

He rolled his eyes again. “You gonna have your pet escort me?”

You glanced over at Eddie, you could practically feel the heat coming off of him as he glowered behind you like a shadow. “No, I can do that myself, unless you’d rather have security escort you. Your choice.”

He sighed. “Fine, Jesus.”

“I can take it from here, Eddie. Thank you.”

He glanced back and forth between the two of you, looking hesitant. “If you say so,” he conceded softly.

You smiled at him with gracious eyes, then turned to the athlete. “Come on.”

Eddie bent down to grab the cigarette off the floor, his eyes did not leave you.

“I can take that,” you said, extending your hand.

He placed the flattened cigarette into your palm, slow enough for you to feel the calluses on his fingers as they lingered for a short moment. Yours curled around them just enough to brush the back of his knuckles as his hand left yours, as if they had a mind of their own. Your heart skipped a beat and you found the courage to meet his gaze again.

“Thank you.”

He bowed his head slightly, “Sure thing.” His eyes were dark and intense, like there was something more he wanted to say.

You swallowed and broke his gaze. “Alright, let’s get going before I’m late for my own class.”

You walked swiftly toward the principal’s office, the two of you silent in the noisy din of the hallway as the athlete kept pace reluctantly beside you. You were halfway down the hall when you felt the urge to glance over your shoulder.

Eddie was still standing where you left him, still as a statue amidst the chaos of the hallway, watching you with careful eyes.

______

Eddie watched you from the back of your fourth period English class, as he did every day.

He watched as you as you paced about, the way you leaned against the desk as you sifted through your notes. He noticed how thoughtfully you chose your words, how eloquently you spoke.

He wondered what you were like outside of school — what you would be like at a concert, a bar, a restaurant, a movie. He wondered what sort of observations you would make about the world around you. What sort of things you would want to talk about outside the strict confines of this building, outside your role in it. You were always so good at keeping the face you’d put on that morning. He wanted to see you without it.

Wanted to see you first thing in the morning, the sleep still in your eyes. Wanted to see you in pajamas making coffee. Wanted to feel the warmth of your skin still heated from your bed, to peer over your shoulder as you cooked your eggs, to tickle you until you turned around to kiss him.

“In chapters 13 though 15 we can see that he’s both too scared to call Jane and too scared to sleep with Sunny, even though deep down it seems he wants to. Holden alienates himself as a form of self-protection, which is a motif in the novel,” you explained. “A motif,” you scratched the word onto the board, “— is a recurring structure, contrast, or literary device that can help to inform the reader of the text’s major themes.”

You turned toward the board to finish writing the definition. It was then that Eddie saw Patrick’s arm extend behind him with a folded piece of paper that Jason promptly snatched.

You paused, glancing toward the back of the classroom at the movement.

Jason and Patrick froze like statues.

Your gaze lingered a moment, then you continued, turning toward the board again.

Eddie watched out of the corner of his eye as Jason opened the note slowly, trying to minimize the crinkle of the paper. He stifled a snicker and took his pen to it, scribbling in haste.

“Now, what are some other motifs that you may have noticed so far?” you asked, turning toward the class.

Jason froze again, sliding his notebook over the paper slowly, leaving some space to continue writing discreetly at the bottom.

Eddie felt his pulse rise and shot Jason a threatening glare.

Since when are you a goody two-shoes, Munson? The words rolled around in his head. As much as he hated to admit it, there was some truth to them.

The truth was that he had smoked in school before. More than once. The difference was he never got caught. He had been disrespectful on more than one occasion toward the faculty. He’d never called anyone names, but he’d certainly rolled his eyes, certainly given them a hard time. He’d sneak out, skip class, pass notes, run down the hallway — he even shot a spit ball at Gareth once, but only because he deserved it after flaking out on Hellfire because some girl invited him over to work on a project.

Jason caught Eddie’s glare and made a face at him, passing the note forward to Patrick who snickered when he opened it.

You whipped your head toward the back corner of the room and locked eyes with Patrick. “Excuse me, is something funny?”

Eddie’s eyes bored into his desk. He could feel the heat creeping up his neck.

“No ma’am, sorry,” said Patrick, straightening up.

Your eyes lingered a moment suspiciously but you let it go, sighing in annoyance as you turned back toward the board.

The note passing ceased after that.

It wasn’t until after the bell rang that both Jason and Patrick made eye contact with Eddie again. This time it was in the midst of laughter as they were leaving.

______

By the time Eddie Munson had plunked himself down in his usual spot on the other side of your desk, you were admittedly exhausted. You hated to be one of those pedestrian I hate Mondays people, but today really took it out of you for some reason.

Maybe it had something to do with the war you were waging in your mind over the man sitting across from you, but when you saw his sweet oval face again you felt the energy suddenly return to you, like a second wind. Like a breath of fresh air.

“Thank you for… intervening earlier today,” you said graciously as you filed away the papers on your desk, clearing the space.

Eddie gave a single nod. “I wanted to put it out on his face, but uh, pretty sure that’s also against the rules, so…” he said with a little chuckle.

Even behind his joking you could tell that he meant it. It stirred something in you, like a growling in the pit of your stomach. Something dormant and primal. You looked at his strong hands as he fidgeted with the pen in front of him, then your eyes traveled up to his forearms. He was wearing that flannel again with the sleeves rolled up and you wished you could ignore it, but instead you imagined what they would feel like wrapped protectively around your waist.

You cleared your throat and tucked your hair behind your ear. “Yeah, I’m afraid so,” you said with a little smile. “You know, you would think that after eight years of teaching I would be used to that sort of treatment but it still catches me off guard sometimes.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows curiously, “Eight years?” he asked. You could almost see him doing the math in his head.

Your stomach dropped. “Yeah, um, I actually turn 30 on Friday,” you said with a nervous chuckle.

Eddie balked, “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

He smirked, his eyes narrowing, “No way. I mean — sorry, it’s not a bad thing! It’s just hard to believe is all.”

“You want to see my drivers license?”

Eddie laughed, “No, no. It’s just that… you don’t seem like it to me. Not looks wise anyway. Maturity wise you’re probably closer to uh, 500 — you know, like an elf.”

You snorted. “Thanks. That’s so much better.”

“No, I mean like Arwen old, not Galadriel old,” he said, stumbling over himself. “Sorry I’ll stop, I’m a dumbass. It doesn’t matter. It’s just a number anyway.”

There was a strange relief that came over you when he said that, more than you wanted to admit to yourself.

You had to laugh. “Arwen old, now that’s something you don’t hear every day.”

“Well, take it as a compliment. I mean you’re —” he gestured to you, up and down with his hand, his eyes widening.

You knew what he was going to say. No, you wanted to think you knew, but did you really know? You knew you shouldn’t press but you wanted to hear it. Your mouth betrayed you. “I’m what?” you asked softly.

Eddie swallowed. “You’re…” he blinked, his dark eyes darting back and forth between yours. You could see the gears turning in his head, weighing the options of what to say next. “You’re timeless.”

Timeless. Now that was a word you were not expecting. Not too bold like beautiful, or cheap like pretty. You were tempted to commend him on his vocabulary choice.

“Timeless,” you said in quiet awe as a smile crept across your face. “I’ll take that.”

Eddie relaxed into his chair, seeming pleased with himself.

“Alright, what’s on the agenda for today?” There was a guilt that nagged at you for prompting such an intimate moment with your student, but then again, was he not the one who prompted it with his gesture? Still, it was your responsibility to be the bigger person, you knew that. And yet…

Eddie was doing well enough in your class. He was turning in his homework and did well on the last quiz. Today you decided to focus on History again since that seemed to be his biggest challenge, which meant that Eddie was now seated beside you — and that was another challenge.

Eddie Munson had a way of being around you that was hard to ignore. It was the way he looked at you from beneath his lashes, the way he almost put his shoulder behind yours as you both crowded over the textbook. You swore you weren’t imagining it.

It was when you pointed at a line in the text, the way he inched closer to it, turned his head toward you ever so slightly, his face inches from yours.

You could smell him again. The sweet musk of his skin, the soft scent of whatever he put in his hair. He was so close you could feel the gentle puff of his breath against your face. Your curious eyes dropped to his lips — so incredibly plush with a perfect cupid’s bow. Your animal brain betrayed you and you imagined, for just a split second, what they would feel like against yours. What he would taste like.

You cleared your throat, face flushing as you broke the tension. “So, did you do anything fun this weekend?”

There was a gleam in Eddie’s eyes. “Yeah, actually. Mercyful Fate was playing in Indianapolis on Saturday. Really good show.”

You nodded curiously, “Hmm, I’ve never heard of them.”

Eddie smirked, “Yeah, I figured not. I mean — most people haven’t unless they’re into metal. Which, I don’t want to make any assumptions, but…” he chuckled.

“You’re correct,” you said with a little laugh.

His eyes were tender, “What kind of music are you into?”

You hummed and glanced down at the textbook again thoughtfully, “Let’s see… I like all sorts of stuff. Older stuff like Van Morrison and Simon and Garfunkel, newer stuff like The Police and Tears for Fears. Oh and I love Joni Mitchell, especially Joni Mitchell. Her music is poetry, truly.”

Eddie hummed thoughtfully, “All good artists.”

“I mean I’m not opposed to metal. I just haven’t heard enough of it I guess. I do really like rock music, actually I love Led Zeppelin. I mean that’s not metal but,” you said in jest making the rock horn symbol with your hand.

Eddie laughed, eyes crinkling, looking at you like you were an adorable child who just said something funny. His hands came around yours impulsively, tucking your extended thumb in across your two middle fingers. “Like this,” he said sweetly.

You swallowed, face flushing. His hands were so warm, the softness of his palms surprised you. They lingered for a moment, clutching your hand before letting go to demonstrate.

“This,” he formed the symbol with his hand, “Means rock. This?” extended his thumb, “Means ‘I love you’ in sign language.”

You chuckled, tucking your hair behind your ear. “Rookie mistake I guess.”

“It’s ok, it’s a common one. It’s not exactly been around for that long. Dio was actually the one who started doing it like five or so years ago. See, he’s super Italian and his grandma would do it like this as a sort of… spell, I guess, to keep the evil eye away.” He demonstrated, pointing his horns at you. “But then Dio kept doing it on stage, sort of adapted it into a symbol for rock.”

You nodded curiously, “See, you’re teaching me something now.”

He smiled, “I do know a few things, might not exactly be useful things, but…”

“All knowledge is useful. In fact I think it’s a shame that we place so much value on grades. I mean honestly, most of this stuff you’re not even going to need to know to get through life. I can tell you that for a fact. I mean I know I’m not supposed to be saying that, but…”

Eddie nodded, his eyes were soft and distant. “I wish more people thought like you.”

You could feel the heat rushing to your face again. You met his eyes and smiled softly.

You turned your attention back to the history textbook. After another twenty minutes, when it was clear that your attention spans were starting to wane, you called it for the evening.

You and Eddie left together again, out to the parking lot through the shortcut by the gym. Not a soul in sight in the hallway. He held the door open for you as you left.

Eddie was parked next to you this time.

“See you tomorrow,” you said, waving at him over the top of your little car as you unlocked it. The autumn wind kicked up, tousling your hair and scattering leaves across the parking lot.

“See ya,” he said, throwing open the door to his van.

He flashed you the rock horns again — thumb extended.

______

A/N: I just wanted to take this moment to thank every single one of my incredible readers — you guys. Every person who comments and shares each week, even the people who don't. I see your little hearts and it fills me with such joy. I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful audience that I can engage with and gush about my story with in real time. You make me feel like Charles Dickens.

My hope for this story is that it can reach as large an audience as possible, so if you can help me do that by sharing it, I would be endlessly grateful. I love you guys. 💚

Quick side note — if you don't see your name listed here but asked to be tagged it's because it would not let me tag you and I wanted to make room for the tags that are working!! tumblr only lets me tag a certain number of people so the list will be continued in the comments!

Taglist: @mermaidsandcats29 @toxicjayhoo @ooo-protean-ooo @jadequeen88 @wroteclassicaly @inknopewetrust @msgexymunson @bebe0701 @latenighttalkingwithgrapejuice @bibieddiesgf @idkidknemore @alizztor @godcreatoreli @shotgunhallelujah @ethereal27cereal @munsonsgirl71 @luna-munson83 @eddiemunsonsbitcch @tlclick73 @emxxblog @siriusmuggle @sidthedollface2 @dollalicia @lma1986 @catherinnn @maximizedrhythms @eddiemunson4life420 @readsalot73 @ruby-dragon @3rriberri @princess-eddie @nightless @eddiemunson011 @eddieswifu @thew0rldsastage @quinnsfineline @chaoticgood-munson @edsforehead @hanahkatexo @eddiemunsonsbedroom @chainsawmunson @beep-beep-sherlock @emily-roberts @averagemisfit03 @slay-and-gay @vintagehellfire @haylaansmi @newlips @munsins @sllooney @lunaladybug734

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson older reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x teacher!reader #don't stand so close to me #my writing

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gattnk · 1 month

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As long as we insist on forgetting the past, we'll need teachers like Omnia and Gnosis to remind us of our history.

Would you look at that, I'm done with all the canon teachers from the cartoon! I'm only missing those from the comics now, and then the humans and locations. I really liked how season 2 dedicated time to expanding the Golden School and included more staff, Omnia and Gnosis were fun characters to redesign.

Omnia and Gnosis had pretty solid character designs: the contrast between them in terms of shape and colors was especially good, and I wanted to retain and expand on these traits to the best of my abilities.

I started by simplifying their original shapes as much as possible, and then I exaggerated them further. I took some inspiration from mountains to further define their designs (I'm currently reading a nice book on world geography and it seeped in).

After making Omnia taller and lankier in her design, she reminded me of China's Tianzi mountains; they inspired me to make Omia's hair cloud-shaped, since these famous pillar-like mountains often touch the clouds.

Meanwhile, Gnosis' flat and bulky body reminded me of the mesa formations found in Colorado's Grand Valley (USA). His horns and wing claws start with a flat shape and then curve upwards almost vertically, like the butte formations often found around plateaus and mesas.

Their original color palettes were honestly among my favorites in the series, so I kept them for the most part, though I sought to simplify them even further. Omnia's key colors (pastel green, soft pink and white) were easy enough to figure out, but Gnosis took a lot of testing; at one point I considered switching him to purples and oranges, but I'm glad I stuck to earthy browns, yellow and orange, and added a washed black to the roster for contrast.

Like Arkan and Temptel, Omnia and Gnosis are much older than they seem: Omnia sports two sets of wings and a carved halo (I was inspired by the Ohm symbol because... OHM-nia, :B), and Gnosis has clawed wings and a tail. These traits mark them as older Eternals.

Just like Terence and Scarlett, these two professors got assigned as Academic Deans to their very own Universal Law and History faculty! their clothes are a bit more old-fashioned in a way to reflect this. They are definitely my most normal-looking pair of teachers.

With this I think we're halfway through with the Golden School staff, since we're only missing two more faculties. They're sketched out and everything, I just need to figure out the colors next. Don't forget to check out my AF rewrite fic, I'll Fly With You, if you haven't yet. I'm pouring my soul into it and I'm currently working on the next chapter :D

#my art tag #angel's friends #angels friends #IFWY #character redesign #omnia #gnosis

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saigawrites · 1 year

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Title : Genshin characters as highschool students.

Note : This will probably mostly relate to central asian students. Also, most of the interactions are platonic :) Characters that look older will be teachers cuz it's strange for me to imagine them as students😥

Tags : crack, fluff(?), headcanons.

Warnings : mentions of vaping, insulting, alcohol.

Characters : Xiao, Scaramouche, Childe, Zhongli, Venti, Kazuha.

Xiao is the type of student that follows the uniform rules strictly, a well-ironed shirt, a tie neatly sitting on top, with a good-looking blazer. Has good grades, kinda one of those lonely mysterious excellent students who look very pretty while literally putting no effort😭.

We have this thing where starting from 6 or 7th classes will have to go out patrolling on break time. Basically to watch and scold students if they run, misbehave or don't follow the dress code. So I imagine Xiao taking the patrol very seriously, like man would lecture you for a solid 10 minutes when you slightly quickened your pace in the halls💀. I swear, he would enjoy patrolling so much, he would continue to do it even when it's the other classes turn.

Scaramouche is the type of student who has beef with the whole school. With this behavior he would not survive our schools, man would get slandered on daily basis😰. You know, we have this type of insta acc's where you can send anonymous letters inside of your school, like confess to a crush from the other class, right? Scaramouche would literally get hate letters all of the time. Every second post on this account would be about him☠. Either ppl insulting the shit out of him, or defending him with their life, with his pretty privilege I think he would have at least some amount of fans.

In my opinion, scaramouche is those type of people who tried vaping once, didn't like it and started hating and dissing everyone around him who vapes.

Venti is the student who spends his break time in the toilets, vaping with his friends, maybe even drinking. Remembering there was a case in my school where some students hid some beer behind the toilet walls😶. Venti would try to do something like that too, for sure. Also I think he would be very interested in the drama around, involving himself in some conflicts accidentally.

Kazuha is the type of student who vapes, but hides it surprisingly well, the only person knowing being Venti. Generally has a good reputation in school, being a chill student that can get along with literally anyone. Could be one of the Scaramouche defenders, or could be not informed on the drama at all. The one who you always see in the art classroom, hanging out there with the art teacher, talking with your class about the meaning of life, philosophy, and all those other artsy things.

Childe is the PE teacher that never, and I mean NEVER, spares you. You have your PE uniform? Run 10 circles on the 500 metre length. Oh, you don't have your PE uniform? Do 500 squads in the uncomfortable school uniform and then don't have the permission to sit on any benches, you don't deserve them. He's the type of teacher who has the most useless lessons in school, but acts like they are the most important ones. Some ppl simp for him, and you can see why, but you still think it's kind of sus how he acts when his students compliment him🤨.

Zhongli is the sweet and kind history teacher, who puts a lot of effort in your studying and let's you draw things and write stories on your tests if you've done them early😭. Actually appreciates all of the goofy little drawings and stories and thinks of them as the warm memories. Also the one who always greets you whenever you see each other while passing, but somehow doesn't remember your name and always misses it😐.

I think I'll this one on here, let me know if should make a part 2!! This was very fun, and I honestly didn't expect to write that much😶.

#genshin impact fluff #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader fluff #genshin x you #high school genshin au #scaramouche x reader #childe x reader #zhongli x reader #kazuha x reader #venti x reader #venti x you #xiao x reader #xiao x you #childe x you #childe x gender neutral reader

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lurkingshan · 5 months

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Shadow episodes 8–14

Well, that went to some unexpected places! I’m not sure it entirely held together in the end, there were definitely some dropped threads and weak spots in the cast, and the back end wasn’t as tightly paced as the first half. I still enjoyed watching this show overall but the back half didn’t live up to the hype they built with this release schedule, unfortunately. And not gonna lie…I kinda hated that ending.

Some initial reactions:

As I mentioned back when I finished part 1, this show is emphatically not a bl. There is no romance and the protagonist is not, in fact, gay. I do think this show marketed itself to bl fans and did a little dishonest baiting on that front and I will side eye it for that. It does have several explicitly queer characters and themes, however, which is probably why it’s on Gaga.

They disappeared Danai from his own fucking narrative! I was already bummed by him disappearing into a shadow coma for most of the last two episodes; it already felt like he vanished from the resolution of his own story. And then that final reveal that he never actually came back and Trin has somehow managed to possess his body. So the end for Danai, the character we’ve been following this whole time, concluded with him passing out on stage during his attempt to expose Anurak during the play and then getting squashed by Trin in the shadow realm? Thanks, I hate it!

The reveal of the shadow as the forest spirit (not to mention that goofy ass costume) was also kind of a letdown; I have no idea what this forest ghost has to do with the backstory they showed us for Danai and his family, and I ended the show still unsure of why this spirit glommed onto Dan in the first place. The complete dropping of the family trauma theme is especially egregious to me; I was so interested in everything they set up for Danai in part 1 but they left most of it on the table. Strange writing choices.

The final reveal of Brother Anurak’s whole deal lacked juice (and as the story continued it became clear the actor playing him was not strong enough for the role). Nice guy tries to do what’s right and fails and cries about it for twenty years is just kind of boring as the ultimate reveal of a spooky mystery story. And I didn’t really expect the haunting to be about state-sanctioned murder in the end. While I appreciate that the show is referencing real history and making a (somewhat garbled?) political statement here, this direction for the story felt like an awkward fit with the beginning, which was more about family trauma and homophobia.

I thought Trin’s story was the best executed part of the show. Fiat was great in this role and his plot and characterization stayed consistent throughout.

Poor Nai. The way Dan gave him that total stone face and zero reaction to his attempted kiss was almost worse than an outright rejection. And then the show added insult to injury by having Dan say he liked Cha-aim after all. You expect me to believe that shadow fucker is a straight dude who wanted to date the insipid girl? Okay show!

Anan was a pretty decent antagonist for most of the show (I hated that dude and his evil ass teacher girlfriend) but I thought him getting another girl pregnant and then murdering her together with the teacher kind of came out of nowhere? And ultimately his story didn’t connect to the larger reveal, he just exited stage left before the big dramatic climax.

After part 1 aired @wen-kexing-apologist tried to tell me my boy Josh was evil, and I was not having it. *Captain Holt voice* Vindication!!! Josh is just a garden variety dumbass teenage boy. I always believed in you, boo!

All the teachers were, in fact, sus. Not a single decent educator among them.

Fluke Natouch is very, very pretty.

And that’s all I got! I can’t honestly say I recommend this show to anyone who hasn’t already watched part 1, but for those of us who already arrived here I look forward to reading about the things you noticed that I didn't. This show has style and some of the cast is great, but the writing just didn’t hold up.

#shadow the series #thai drama #shan shouts into the void

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littlerosetrove · 22 days

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So the show and the writers DO know how to write a decent love interest!!!! Are fucking kidding me??!?!?!? fghvbjkhgfgchv. OKAY LISTEN AND BARE WITH ME.

Bucks love interests - Abby was developed because she too was a main character in season one. But after her? - Ali was barely present then gone. - Taylor Kelly was never interesting or compelling, definitely not to me. She was a selfish asshole the entire time we knew her, and her back story didn't garner much sympathy points because it showed her hypocrisy. - Natalia was a death doula that never got developed. No clue why she did or said anything in season 6.

Yes I'm going to bring Eddie into this because he's relevant for sure.

Eddie's love interests - Shannon was definitely an interesting character. In some ways we never really got to know her, but overall? Yeah still got some clear ideas of who she was as a person and a mom (a bad one). - Ana was a teacher, nice, but terribly bland (and low-key ableist). Her only interesting moment was the Iconic breakup scene. - Marisol. We still know jack shit about her beyond her weird connection with her brother, and liking DIY.

AND SO I'm finding fascinating that Buck's newest love interest, Tommy, in predominately one episode (though yes he was in 7x3, and had a few scattered scenes throughout season 2) has had a pretty dang decent amount of character development already.

Like. Like just in two episodes of season 7 we can tell that he's been a firefighter for years, has a history with the 118, has been in the army and so connects with Eddie on that level, has had a connection with Chris at some point, is confident, ready to help at the drop of a hat for Chimney and Hen in particular, is very friendly, social, is respectful (ex: when he waited to get the clear from Buck that he's interested, and then made a move), mature, and I could probably go on.

Part of my point is that I honestly appreciate that, finally, in this case for Buck, he's getting a love interest that the writers are putting in effort for. I think it's, yeah, important to do so since *gestures* this is a queer story they're telling. I'd hope that they'd put more care and effort into this, you know? Gosh I hope I'm phrasing this right.

And just. Again I find it weird and funny that, idek, when it's a guy (love interest)??? Oh now they can make an interesting and far more developed character???? Okay okay okay. Interesting. Okay.

And I think the last thing I wanna say is....... I. Y'all. I like Tommy. I don't hate or really mind the Buck and Tommy of it all. I think a big reason for this is, as I just laid out, that Tommy has been developed and just seems like a good guy. No, I don't think they're any kind of end game. No, I don't want Tommy to even get hurt because Buck is still confused about Eddie and currently avoiding delving all that, but. But yeah. While Tommy and Buck last? Yeah sure, I'm cool. I'm happy that I feel fine about it, because I sure have not cared for really any of Buck's other previous love interests (or Eddie's.)

I'm way more confident about Buddie canon, just a by the way. But we're getting there! Give it time!

#911 spoilers #9-1-1 #Evan Buckley #Tommy Kinard #Eddie Diaz #my thoughts

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imnotgrimimjustagrumpyreaper · 1 year

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Is one of thomas' Sanders sizes literally just the Sanders from vine that wore the su shirt and Jung out with the vas 😭?

I'm gonna use this ask as an excuse to introduce you to all the sides LOL

I’m gonna preface this by saying that this will be LONG and also it has been a while since I rewatched the series or refreshed myself on some of the older stuff

I’m also gonna go ahead and give a quick rundown of my history with the fandom. I was like 12 or 13 when it first started? I didn’t have vine at the time so I just watched vine comps on youtube LOL but I was already like a causal a fan of Thomas Sanders. It wasn’t until the third episode which was a crossover with Lily Singh (I was a Lily Singh and Liza Koshy fan back in the day) that I started watching the series though. I got really into it after that and it was one of the first fandoms where I was like actually a super active member (You can look at the comments on some old prinxiety fanfics for proof of that LOL) I don’t remember exactly when I fell off but I fell off from the fandom for a good while around the Christmas episode where they all sing together through no fault of the series itself. I still watched the series but I didn’t like actively get into it or anything like I used to. Then the asides episode “Flirting with social anxiety” like REALLY dragged me back in hard and suddenly its like 13 year old me woke up as a 18 year old with the freedom to peruse tumblr as much as I wanted and I was back into it HARD. I try not to be ashamed of it but I know its one of those fandoms that gets a lot of shit for both valid and super not valid reasons. Long story short i’ve been a fan for years and unless things catch on fire worse than they already are I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to jump ship.

Not a side but a character: C!Thomas (which I think is who you're specifically referencing?) (and yes there was a vine where he met the VAS LOL, “Who ate my fries?” )

So like I said I’m pretty sure Thomas was big on way Vine before he was really big on Youtube. He did other stuff on Youtube before SASI but SASI has sorta become his flagship. A lot of his characters that he uses for instagram and yes indeed the sides originated on vine. The one I think you’re specifically referencing is a weird one because its not one of the sides. Thomas wore his Steven Universe shirt A LOT way back when so its how a lot of early fans took to drawing him and to some extent still do. This is a weird one like I said hafljad. So Character Thomas or C!Thomas is what fans call the version of himself Thomas portrays in SASI. This sort of relatable everyman online persona he puts on. I’m glad we do this is a good and healthy way to separate the show from the the man and it makes it a lot less weird to see like an in-depth post speculating about Thomas’s mental health when there’s a little C! In front of it to let you know its the Thomas as portrayed in SASI. Like I said the reason you still see the SU shirt even though I can’t remember the last time Thomas wore it and honestly I don’t even really think fans draw him in it anymore is that a lot of the art and fan content that like has the most notes and stuff is from the heyday way back when when he WAS still wearing the SU shirt. So yeah SU shirt guy isn’t one of the sides that is C!Thomas.

The basic plot of Sanders Sides is that its a guy standing in his living room with various aspects of himself talking about life. It did the very modern western cartoon thing of starting out a lot more episodic with some smaller long running plot threads being slowly introduced and then spinning wildly off the rails with a higher budget and musical numbers and intricate grand storytelling as the show went on but the basics are still the same hflajf.

Logan

Logan is another character that made the jump from vine and our first actual side on the list! He started as “The Teacher” character. Now it gets confusing down the line as we talk about the old Vine characters and their side counterparts but with Logan I’m pretty sure “The Teacher” is dead and gone so we don’t have to worry about that.

Sanders Sides characters all belong in name HELL. Its not really a problem with Logan or the other sides like it is for one of the them specifically (cough cough looking at you JANUS) but we’ll get there.

*The place it causes issues and possible confusion is in shipping. When you see the ship names pop up like “Logicality” “Intrulogical” “Prinxiety” etc the early ones were established popular pairings way before the sides had names so Morality + Logic = Logicality and later ships like “Intrulogical” kept up the name scheme. Where it gets weird is the later ships though where some characters did have names and some didn’t or people just wanted to abandon the naming scheme altogether and just use their names. The WORST culprit of this that I’ve seen happens to be my own dearly beloved “Dukeceit” or “Demus” or “Receit” or “Trashnoodle” Both of the characters were introduced late in the game so naming conventions were DEAD and Janus didn’t get a name for A LONG ASS TIME so its just like I said NAME HELL (it suits them though). I can’t even imagine what poor Orange’s ship names are going to look like.*

Back to teacher man who I’m afraid I’m treating just as badly as the series whoops…Long story short when the series first started the characters didn’t have names they had roles. So Logan made the jump from Vine as “The Teacher” character and became “Logic.” That is still his role but not what he gets called as a thing that got introduced later was that the sides had names and them telling their name to Thomas was like a very big series deal with a lot of meaning. Logan was the first to get a name.

So Logan is logic, his color is dark blue. One of the OG three (later four). He’s like the part of Thomas’s brain that wants to focus on work and being productive. He struggles with understanding his much more “Feeling based” companions. A lot of his angst is derived from Thomas’s career being so creativity focused a place where he feels he doesn’t really have much to contribute and Thomas’s continued struggles with (mental health) being productive and having a good work flow. A lot MORE of his angst is how often he is talked over, belittled and outright ignored by everyone. Logan deserves a lot better and with where we are in the series right now he’s gonna snap soon so hopefully he’ll get it. Logan is a bit of a funny case in the fandom. In the early days when it was just the four sides (aka when I was in the fandom the first time) he was the least popular side by a long shot. However, this did a full 180 and I would now argue he is the MOST popular side, which caused some cognitive dissonance because by the time the team made a meta-joke about him being the least popular, that shift was already well under way.

Patton

Is the “Dad’ character from Vine. The “Dad” character is our first instance where we see a split between SASI and Thomas’s other stuff. I’m pretty sure “Dad” still pops up in some of his skits but like infrequently, but when you see “Dad” in a skit it's not Patton unless stated otherwise. So there’s that weird split I was talking about LOL. Patton made the jump from Vine as the “Dad” character and then became “Morality.”

So Patton is Morality. His color is light blue and he’s the second side to get his name. One of the OG three (eventually four). Patton is a really interesting character, it's all too easy to label him Thomas’s “Heart” but I feel like that’s an oversimplification. He is Thomas’s judgment, he is Thomas’s sense of right and wrong and yes he is most of his mushy gushy feely stuff. Patton is the “Dad” but in a very real sense he’s also pretty childish and I don’t say that to demean him. He struggles with being blinded by nostalgia and black and white thinking. His main source of angst is that he feels unprepared to be Thomas’s morality now that Thomas is grown up and it's not so easy to tell what’s right and wrong anymore. However, a good source of angst for him is ALSO his deteriorating relationship with his once very good friend and son figure Virgil.

Patton is a complicated one to talk about because of how much perception of him in the fandom has shifted over the years. There’s always a tendency for the super cheerful friendly one of the bunch to get “Bullied” by the fandom (I’m guilty of it too) and in the early days there was a small pocket that didn’t like him or found him annoying or whatever. However, he was always, I would say, one of the more popular sides, I think he may have even been the most popular behind Virgil at that point.

This has definitely changed in recent years largely due to the introduction of the “Dark Sides,” especially Janus. There was always this tendency for the fandom to infantilize Patton and smush him down to his base components and it was easier to do so early on before Janus. His main role in the story besides being the sort of lovable goofy “White dad guy” who would scold the other sides for cursing (but might accidentally do so himself) was bringing Virgil into their little found family. However, he’s had a bit of a negative character arc lately that I believe we’re on the tail end of now.

The fandom generally skews young so we’re just as bad about black and white thinking as Patton is. Janus was introduced as the liar to Patton’s honesty and the selfishness to Patton’s selflessness and Patton made a bit of an ass of himself through the rocky introduction process. This is true but it's also true that Janus was directly goading him a lot of the time to try to make him seem bad. So yes Patton has the capability to be a jerk but he was also a jerk under duress. This is also what led to his relationship with Virgil now being so rocky (mostly). We haven’t gotten a conclusion to that yet. I can’t really look at Patton centric posts without them being super divided between the Patton defenders who still love him and the “Patton is the real villain” crowd. Nuance is dead, Patton villain AUs are at an all time high and Patton defenders tend to turn it around and shit on Janus (I may not like Moceit like at all but god bless the enemies to lovers crowd working their asses off here). While he isn’t my FAVORITE I don’t think he deserves this at all and I hope things look up in the future.

Roman

Roman is an interesting one on the name front. On vine he was “The prince” character and he jumped to sasi as “Creativity.” But he was still actively called the prince a lot of the time and dressed like a prince, I think it was a little while before we actually got confirmation of what exactly his official title was? This discrepancy comes into play with his ships (which I PROMISE I will stop bringing up eventually LOL). I’m not sure if its just because “Creativity” is a bitch to work into a ship name or because of the thing I mentioned earlier but Roman’s early ships like the juggernaut “Prinxiety” (Prince or “Princey” x Anxiety) and Logince (Logic x Prince). His later ships however like the ever popular sister ship to my beloved dukeceit, Roceit (Roman x Deceit) do not share this descrepency as they simply chose to use the names.

So Roman is creativity. His color is red and he was the third side to get his name. One of the og three (eventually four). Roman is not just creativity, he is as his name and color suggest Thomas’s capability for romance and romantic love. Now, I don’t remember the last time I saw “The Prince” character pop up in an instagram short or anything but where the same characters different but also characters drama rears its head for Roman is a little series called “Role Slaying with Roman.” The best way I can put it is the whole C.A Cupid MH EAH thing except not really because there it was canon she was the same person who had crossed over into the other world??...Role Slaying with Roman is basically just Thomas’s take on a DND podcast in which he (this is speculation) used Roman as a way to draw in his pre-existing fans by making him his player character. The universes are completely separate, the Romans are completely separate but they are both Roman. The fandoms have gotten pretty good at tagging for this but still I know it is confusing and it is a lot. As far as popularity in the fandom goes he has always been pretty middling and I think it suits him! He deserves to be higher but I think its pretty fitting that he has never ever dipped below the half way point of adoration. Roman is a theater kid extraordinaire, a sweet, slightly selfish, goofy himbo with big big dreams. He is a lover-boy and a bleeding heart. I HAVE to mention his early on rivalry with Virgil and subsequent friendship arc because its one of my favorite parts of the series but I think that about sums it up. Virgil is like the cause of all of Thomas’s stage fright and self doubt so of course the two are going to be at odds. Roman is very antagonist to Virgil because he can be scary so Virgil was antagonistic back but they slowly come to understand each other in a really believable and sweet way culminating in this absolute GUT PUNCH of a speech from Roman in the season finale and UGHH. Ever since they are besties who are constantly friendly bickering; they have a surprisingly healthy and supportive relationship and I love them dearly. Roman continues his trend of being deeply antagonistic to the dark sides by absolutely simultaneously adoring Janus because of his (sarcastic) flattery towards him and hating him after he figures out he’s lying. Janus made his debut in the series by impersonating Patton for a whole episode and it sort of made a fool of Roman and ever since it has been a very one sided rivalry with Roman absolutely HATING Janus. There is also this thing with a callback that he is very conflicted on and it made the whole thing so much worse. He has a hero complex and to him Janus is the villain and that is all he’ll ever be. I feel like it may also have something to do with…Who Janus brings with him but we’ll get there :))))). I feel like I’m talking about other people a lot in Roman’s section but that is where he shines, his relationships to ALL of the other characters are so nuanced and liable to change, especially now with everything that is currently happening in the series. Roman’s main sources of angst have been Thomas sacrificing opportunities for creative success for various reasons, not feeling like he can be Thomas’s “Hero” anymore (similar vibes to Patton) and Nico. Thomas in canon has recently started dating a man named Nico and…Wellll…Let’s just say things seem sweet now in a understandably bumpy but still favorable road…But the whole fandom can smell a break up coming that would push everyone including and especially our favorite prince over the edge. Hopefully he and Virgil don’t get back on the rocks!

Virgil

OH VIRGIL. Virgil Virgil Virgil… Originally the “Anxiety” character on Vine Virgil made the jump to SASI and became “Anxiety.” His is the character where you will see the most confusion with or at least it was before Roman. The confusion comes not only from “Anxiety” still being a pretty frequently used character in Thomas’s other content but also from the hoodie and his first arc. When Virgil first appeared in the series (although I don’t know if the episode technically counts?) was episode three in the crossover with Lily Singh I mentioned before. Both Thomas and Lily often spoke about dealing with mental health so Thomas’s anxiety character made an appearance in the episode as a (seemingly) one off antagonist for them to defeat (of course with the mentioned caveat that anxiety was not something you CAN defeat but still the point was he was an obstacle to face). Virgil in that appearance and every subsequent appearance throughout season one appeared in a grey plaid hoodie. However, after being “Redeemed” later on he swapped out the grey hoodie for a more patchwork custom purple hoodie. The Anxiety that appears in Thomas’s relatable instagram content still wears the grey hoodie and (I think) has a sign taped to his chest that simply says “Anxiety.” But the distinction can be hard to make so the confusion was always there and he was definitely the character where it was the most confusing until RSWR.

I think I have a lot to say about Virgil unfortunately. He is undoubtedly a fandom tour de force. In the early days finding a fander who’s favorite side wasn’t Virgil was a chore. He isn’t my favorite anymore but he still means a lot to me. I was a scared and dumb little kid with a family that mocked you for using words like “Mental health” and Virgil was the first time I ever saw a nuanced take on anxiety. He helped me come to terms with my own anxiety and not hate that part of myself. Despite the series later failures with handling nuance and mental health I stand by Virgil being a fantastic character. Besides all that he was just an angsty emo teen Zuko figure who loved MCR and Nightmare Before Christmas of COURSE he was popular. He is the only one I think could give Logan a run for his money (I would say maybe Janus but Janus also has a fair number of passionate haters).

Virgil is anxiety. His color is purple and he was the fourth side to get his name. When I say “original three eventually four” he is that fourth I am referring to, he has been around much longer than the two newer sides but also wasn’t in the first two episodes. Our first “Dark Side” on the list but also not really! That gets a little complicated lol. Virgil used to be a dark side, a concept introduced with the introduction of Janus. The dark sides are like the less desirable parts of Thomas, aka his anxiety and others we’ll get to later. Virgil, however, has been confirmed to be a “Neutral” side which will factor in later. Virgil is not just Thomas’s anxiety he is Thomas’s fear in general. We have seen that without him Thomas cannot function, he keeps him safe, he is fight or flight, he seemingly has control over more basic reflexes too or at least keeps them sharp and without him Thomas quote “Doesn’t fear death.” Which isn’t really a bad thing #deathpositive but in this case that refers to him not valuing his life and taking dumb risks like not locking his door or looking both ways to cross the street which is not good. Virgil’s whole arc first season was finding this nuance and coming to be accepted and it is still some of the series best. However, as time went on Virgil stagnated just a hair there wasn’t really anywhere else obvious for him to grow, he was on decent terms with the other three sides. I think this was about the time his popularity dipped slightly but I wasn’t around to see it. ALL of that changed however when Janus popped up and dragged all of Virgil’s history with him. Virgil wants so badly to forget that he was ever “Like them” he worked so hard to get away from being a dark side, from being seen as a threat to Thomas and now Janus waltzes in and just reminds everyone, literally. No literally those two have personal beef and Janus loves taunting Virgil over how he’ll always be a dark side. This is also where what had previously been Virgil’s strongest relationship crumbled, partially? I don’t know if its quite clear what exactly is the root cause but its definitely got something to do with these two factors. One, Patton simultaneously implying that all dark sides were unforgivable by the way he treated Janus but also two, treating Virgil as if he’d never been an antagonist in the first place, just generally not handling a (albeit very difficult situation with much grace). But also Virgil is definitely coded the youngest of the sides I think, he’s the most teenager and as such he acts like a teenager. Virgil (speculation) doesn’t like that Patton would imply he’s just a sweet helpless innocent baby, as much as he would love to distance himself from the dark sides I think someone else erasing that history for him invalidates him. On a less deep level it is a very typical teenager snapping at their parent and giving them the cold shoulder sort of deal LOL. They will work it out. Him and Janus though? His other parent figure? That seems like it may be another story.

Remus

OGH REMUS. I have two favorites and he is one of them. That being said there is some…Stuff to say about Remus. Remus was the second out of the two sides made specifically for the series and not being pre-existing characters to be introduced. However, he was the first of the two to get his name so that’s why he comes first on the list. He is the only side to date that has (and likely ever will) given their name the very first time they appear/meet Thomas and I love him for it. As much as I love Remus as a character, him as a concept is…Flawed…

See, the dark sides seem to be doing the Virgil thing but ramping up in intensity. The series' whole thing seems to be that every part of you can be good and is necessary; you just have to work with yourself not against yourself. Janus is a good example of this. He isn’t a mental health thing like Virgil, but he is something that is often demonized: he is Thomas’s selfishness and the series had a wonderful and deep and complicated conversation about that and what the balance is of prioritizing yourself but still being a kind and giving person who does right by others. His whole arc (which isn’t even quite over yet, hopefully) is probably the best thing the series has ever done and I LOVE it.

Remus on the other hand…Woof…So. Here’s the thing. Remus represents intrusive thoughts. The way they’ve spun this is that he’s also Thomas’s capability for more adult oriented creativity, darker stories and sex scenes and stuff. He’s all the stuff that Thomas has locked away as a creator who has made his whole brand kid friendly. AND THAT is a deeply deeply interesting conversation to have! However, he’s still intrusive thoughts. Now I can tell you as someone with severe anxiety that anxiety is no damn joke, chest pain, nausea, weak immune system, panic attacks, insomnia NO FUN. However, a big factor here is that anxiety isn’t demonized like intrusive thoughts.

I’m going to speak out of my ass here for a bit based on discourse I’ve seen but….There is a lot of nuance here and I deleted a whole paragraph because I feel like I can’t speak with experience on the matter. I haven’t really dealt with intrusive thoughts since I was a pre-teen and my memory there is practically blacked out. A lot of the issues come with just being slightly tone deaf I think and a lot of the other issues come from the person they consulted to write Remus who as I understand it isn’t a great person. Then there was the issue with fanders tagging Remus related posts with “Intrusive thoughts” and clogging up a tag that should have been dedicated to a serious mental health thing with their blorbo. All in all it was just a mess.

Overall I don’t feel like this is a topic Thomas was fully prepared to handle. As such Remus has sort of been reduced to a joke character which is fine? I guess? I don’t know in his debut episode that was sort of the conclusion: that you shouldn’t take him seriously. BUT, the thing is he has so much damn potential as a character. Remus. I love Remus and I think there’s a lot there, like I said the conversation about feeling limited as a creative is one I think would be very interesting but I don’t think its ever going to happen. It feels like Remus was meant for more but due to the (rightful) backlash he received he’ll never get it. Its like the series has backed themselves into a corner in my eyes. If they want to make interesting Remus content with the aspect of him that they can talk about in an interesting and nuanced manner they have to reckon with the fact that they tried to tackle a demonized mental health issue and people weren’t happy with the way they did so. MAYBE I’m just a jaded fan who’s sad my blorbo isn’t gonna get the spotlight but I don’t know. In all the supplemental material we’ve gotten since he cropped up he’s been sort of like the lovable outcast buffoon side character that’s just sort of tolerated by everyone and OCCASIONALLY we’ll see a moment where he makes Thomas feel like shit. And I’m like?? Where did THIS come from? It feels like Remus is a song where the last note never played. I LOVE to see him pop up and eat spaghetti with a straw but I’d also love to see him get treated like a character which they really can’t do because they decided to make him intrusive thoughts. MAYBE this legendary alleged four part season finale that’s SUPPOSEDLY on the horizon will give me what I want. But I don’t think so, it feels like the series has already moved on. And honestly? I wouldn’t blame them if they did.

The problem is is that the way the series is set up where “Every part of you has a role” is that at this point Remus doesn’t. It feels counter intuitive to what I think the series is trying to say to have ALL THESE OTHER CHARACTERS with so much nuance and good and bad qualities and then have that one guy over there who’s flat as a piece of cardboard by design. If they want to go the Virgil route with Remus and stick true to their (presumed) message and have that interesting conversation I want they have to deal with the fact that they made him intrusive thoughts. They’re going to have to have a very uncomfortable conversation about just how seriously and with how much value they should treat Remus considering what they’ve made him represent and face more backlash. And I don’t think they’re ever going to and honestly I don’t know if I want them to….UGH sorry its just MNNGHHHH.

Anyways. Remus. Remus is…Lets call him “Dark creativity.” Which I believe is his official title. His color is green. He is the second out of the three new sides to be introduced and the first to get his name. He is canonically twin brothers with Roman and they are the only sides to canonically have a familial relationship with another side (although this is debatable). Remus is insane, clown car horn honking outside your window at three am insane. He is random and silly and gross and I love him. He cusses, makes sex jokes and has constant props and gags galore. He is also prone to anger and has a temper. He hates being ignored which unfortunately…Remus’s most interesting relationship is probably with his brother Roman although its never really been explored. Its the classic golden child vs fuck up dynamic with Thomas being the parent. Its unclear how Remus actually feels about his brother so far although he did bash him over the head in his debut episode, classic sibling behavior. Roman hates Remus. He hates that Thomas has (sort of because like I said, WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN) accepted Remus and he fears that people may see him and Remus as being alike in any way. Remus hasn’t had much to say on this matter so…A final note on them is that there is a very popular fan theory regarding their history. There is a line in the show about them having “Split like an amoeba” I believe it was which led a lot of people to think they were one person. That. And the fact that their titles are the prince and the duke…Both implying a higher power…

Logan is the character with which Remus has had the most interesting interactions (hello intrulogical shippers I see you). The dark sides all have light side counterparts, the most direct example is Patton and Janus but Remus is an interesting case. While Remus’s light side counterpart is Roman the side that actually balances him out is Logan. Logan like I said is logic. How do you defeat unreasonable nonsense violence that your brain is spitting at you because its bored? With logic. So the two have a love hate dynamic, they’re very frosty but I think Remus is regretfully fascinated with Logan and fixated on messing with him specifically and I hate to admit it as someone who has a DIFFERENT otp but yeah there is a LOT of tension there (I am so sorry Remuskinn, if you’re reading this). My favorite dynamic with him is one we technically haven’t even seen play out yet in canon but MNNGHHHH. I love them. I have to get into shipping for a minute. So my otp is seen as basic for a very funny reason. The most popular ship in the fandom is an oldie but a goodie “Prinxiety” which is Roman x Virgil. I am sorry to logicality shippers but Logicality Logan x Patton was basically seen as a default if you already shipped Prinxiety. So when Remus and Janus were introduced the people who already shipped Prinxiety and Logicality picked them up as the third duo to complete the default set fhadlfjl. So they are seen as basic despite not really being all that popular? I love them. I’ll give you a bit more on the name because I think its funny. So, the two most popular options are “Demus” and “Dukeceit.” SO. The options for the Remus half of the ship name are as follows: “Remus,” “Duke,” and “Intrusive Thoughts.” He gave away all three in his debut episode which set ship namers into a frenzy because oh god there’s so much to work with what do we pick. For some reason “Intrusive thoughts” + “Deceit” never really caught on although I think “Intruceit” is fine if an ungraceful mouthful. So we get ‘The Duke” + “Deceit” = “Dukeceit” and “Deceit” + “Remus” = “Demus.” Other options are “Receit” “Intruceit” “Janmus” “Trashnoodle” and more. Remus was the main one complicating things here but I also feel like the conflict between the old and new shipping conventions in the fandom was just at an all time high title vs name war. This was only made worse by the fact that Janus didn’t even HAVE a name yet and wouldn’t until well over a year after being introduced. In short: they don’t really have a set name and tagging for them is hell. But in all honesty the chaos suits them.

Now like I said, we haven’t seen them interact in canon: technically. We’ve seen them interact once or twice on screen in questionably canon content but as of yet they haven’t spoken a word to each other in a main series episode. We are working with scraps here but OH BOY are they filet mignon trimmings JUICY JUICY JUICY. There was a tiktok that Thomas reacted to a while back before even the semi-canon stuff had come out that was to the “Let’s not be to hasty, still I think he’s rather tasty” audio that he said was pretty much a perfect fit if that gives you any idea of them LOL. They have a Jessy and James ISH dynamic in that they’re a dynamic villain duo. They simultaneously have so much in common but also are opposites attract. Remus is all about loud bleating honesty and Janus is the secretive one who keeps his cards close to his chest. Remus fucks around and finds out and Janus is sick of his shit and cleans up his messes. BUT the beauty is he sticks around anyway. There’s a scene in the “incorrect quotes” video where Janus is keeping Remus company during a hospital stay and I think that’s very telling. I identify a lot of with Remus as someone who’s prone to saying shit that makes people look at me funny. Overly honest and kind of a jerk. As someone who is “Unlovable” and gross. So the fact that there is someone who sticks around on purpose and seemingly enjoys his company makes me feel all mushy gushy inside. It's that “There’s someone for everyone” thing. Even beyond shipping their mostly unexplored but semi-canon friendship means literally EVERYTHING to me and the second their dynamic is fucked up is the second I probably can’t stomach to watch the series anymore. Dukeceit fans work with what we got which is NOT A LOT but hey! All I can say is “There’s a snake in my ass” LOL.

Back on topic: Remus fans work with what we have too which is also not a lot and though I’d like to have hope that that will change in the future I don’t think there is any ground for that hope to stand on…At least there’s always fanfiction.

Janus

Janus is arguably my actual favorite character. I just love him SO goddamn much. First of all he has the COOLEST design because his face is literally half snake half human so freakin COOL. I love him. There is so much room for headcanon with that. Like? Does he wear so many layers because he’s all full of secrets or is he just cold because snake? Love love love it.

I will say that Janus is also not free of controversy largely due to some unfortunate ties to anti-semetic stereotypes that I am definitely not qualified to speak on. Janus. Janus is Deceit and his color is yellow. He was the first of the new three sides to be introduced and the second to get his name. He is the side with the current record for longest time between introduction and name reveal which like I said I think sits at over a year. This suits him perfectly and also his name reveal is one of my favorite moments in the series. His name also not only suits him perfectly but fits very nicely into the current trend of dark side names just being a smorgasbord for Remus to make filthy jokes out of (I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Uranus to be next LOL). Janus is Thomas’s capability for deceit, to tell lies to not only others but also to lie to himself. He is also his capability to be selfish. Janus is a character where its unclear exactly where his morals lay. He seems like a wrong things for the right reasons kind of guy but the beauty is we don’t really know. He desperately wants to take care of Thomas and to be recognized as a valuable and good part of Thomas. He wants him to blow off work and take a nap once and a while but also maybe to commit some arson. He is all secrets and shadows. He has so many fun motifs: Jeckle and Hyde, shadows, snakes and snake eyes. GOD I LOVE HIM. He’s also super well written too. There’s this fun thing where he seems incredibly intelligent and don’t get me wrong he probably is smart but he’s also bullshitting 90% of the time about as hard as your average uni student writing a 10 page paper. Every single one of his sources he cites is usually deeply flawed, he’s scrabbling for anything he can use to make himself seem smart and capable and all knowing. He also has this super fucking sick thing where he has six arm, six shadow arms Dr. Facilier style that he can use to make the sides “Silence” themselves ala Pearl from Steven Universe and slap a hand over their mouth and it is DOPE. He seems like a bit of a marxist so respect there, he’s been seen reading marxist lit lol. He is sarcastic as hell and you have to watch his tone to see how serious he’s being at any given moment LOL. OH! Also it's generally accepted that he has the power to suppress the other dark sides, letting Thomas lie to himself about them not being there which is why they didn’t start popping up until after he showed himself. So oh my god there is a LOT there too. All in all everything about him is just SO COOL.

A lot of his angst seems to come from (since he’s my favorite you have to take everything I say with a grain of salt) the fact that he is in fact deceit and as such no one really ever trusts him. Everyone distrusts him and calls him a monster and all that shit.

People are really indecisive on Janus. He is super popular but he’s one of the sides where the love and the hate are about split equal. Since he is deceit a lot of people think he’s bullshitting at all times and is secretly just a villain. Not only do I think this goes against what the series seems to be about but everything we’ve gotten of him in the supplemental material thus far (keenly his character playlist) seems to suggest the opposite. He is GENUINELY trying to be accepted. Don’t get me wrong the way he went about this was a mess. Like I said way back in Patton’s section he goaded and manipulated both him and Roman into being their worst selves and making them question their own morality, which in a way is a good thing but come on man. He’s not so blameless but everyone who thinks he’s JUST a one note villain is as blind as poor Roman. Janus is grey not black or white. He’s a flawed and complex character. He’s funny and charming and there is SO much potential for angst. I could write a whole other 10k words just on his playlist alone and also before I forget to mention it he has THE COOLEST theme music but GOD all this to say Janus is the best. I love him. I hope his arc isn’t quite over there’s so much more I want to see from him before he steps out of the spotlight.

???🍊???

Speaking of characters stepping in and out of the spotlight.

So. When Janus was introduced he brought a whole lot of new lore with him. We got this new idea called “Dark sides” the fact that our beloved guys weren’t just sides they were the “Light sides.” Patton and Janus have pretty direct parallels and Roman and Remus and twins. So the dark sides are all connected to and the counter parts of the light sides. This lead to a whole thing with the fandom trying to figure out Virgil. Was he technically a light side or a dark side? How many other sides were there? Was Virgil the dark side that was opposite to Logan? No. No he wasn’t. Thomas confirmed that Virgil was a “Neutral” side and is the only neutral side. Which left one more spot to be filled…

For a while there was debate on what color he was. We knew he was going to be a color of the rainbow based on the pre-existing color scheme. Most people immediately went to orange although there was a small pocket of the fandom that thought it may have been pink. This is because the color pink often appears as an entity on merch. But, pink is C!Thomas, that is the color that represents him (there is another character in the Thomas canon who’s color is pink but he’s not a side).

We don’t know a lot about Orange. People debated his existence for a while until he was all but confirmed by the confirmation that Virgil technically wasn’t a dark side. He has now in fact been directly confirmed by the series via a series of teasers. Most exciting of which is Logan’s eyes glowing a bright orange.

Orange. Purpose unknown and color orange. Name has not yet been revealed and neither has the character himself. We can speculate and it seems to be the case the orange represents anger. This ties into Logan as Logan has been shown to repress a lot of anger in the past. He is ignored and belittled a lot by characters that he can’t help but think of as less intelligent than him. So orange is anger or rage.

The dark sides have been building in intensity. Janus is definitely the most intriguing so far and the one that had the most focus in the narrative but Remus is the scariest. Parts of his debut episode are literally like horror adjacent. Janus was a force to be reckoned with Remus is a force that you CAN’T reckon with…So the idea is that oh boy where does that leave orange? And considering that he’s waited to reveal himself until the four part season finale? OH BOY…Well…🍊

This is almost 10k. I had more to say but honestly I am out of energy even for info-dumping lol. If you are reading this why?? But also thank you ahfkjdahfkja. I’ll probably reblog this at some point with the rest. I’m sorry I used this ask to yell about my blorbos but it made me feel good to do so hfldjafhld. So to answer your question again: Yes but also no. He is C!Thomas.

#the word of grim #long post #sanders sides #sander sides #logan sanders #patton sanders #Roman sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #orange side #thomas sanders #C!thomas #asks #answered #mutual #witch kitty #sanders sides critical

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viridiave · 1 year

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so Octopath 1 is still really good

After having played through (almost) all of both Octopath games somehow I'm feeling nostalgic about the first game already

Octopath Traveler 2 delivered on all its promises of more interaction between the travelers - down to the battle quotes they have, acknowledging each others' help and contributions. The stories especially are improved upon so much that it's actually kind of amazing to see just how seriously Square Enix took the criticism from the first game!

But I also still just like to look back on the first game and the stories that I loved and with that overly long intro it's time for me to rant about my top 4 picks for the stories from the first game lET'S GO

There's actually a LOT that I love about the first game's stories even as they're contrasted by the stories of the second but I only have real thoughts about these top 4 picks - SPOILERS! FULL STEAM AHEAD!

4) Cyrus Albright (or, when static characters fucking rock when their philosophies are given generous nuance)

Starting from the bottom of these top 4 is Cyrus's story - but honestly the gap between his story and the bottom half of all 8 stories is pretty damn huge

I'll admit right away that Cyrus's Chapter 4 has elevated his story in my eyes over the others, but as far as I'm aware his story's climax is one that most of the fandom can agree is one of the peak moments of the first game. His passion and philosophy for education had everything going for it in terms of set-up and atmosphere and - can we like? Talk about the Ruins of Eld???

A secret, ruined library filled with tomes lost to history. Tables and chairs scattered in rooms like it was meant to be some sort of school once. And here's Cyrus - a professor with a deep love of history and knowledge, walking among its walls and witnessing for himself just how much was hidden from the world. How must this man feel, walking into this beautiful Eden filled of Trees of Knowledge. With its walls decorated with warnings of death, doom, and destruction. Knowing that the end of his journey is at the heart of this paradise.

Cyrus's story in my opinion is fucking amazing at telling us who he is, and this final dungeon is the culmination of that - down to the atmosphere of his dungeons. It doesn't start at Chapter 4 though, I'd argue it starts all the way from Chapter 1 - which I have. A very intense love-hate relationship with solely because of Therese - but it's just actually really good? It just frustrates the shit out of me is all

But Chapter 1 tells us that Cyrus is a teacher. It tells us that he's a really GOOD teacher, who is passionate about his profession and is beloved by his students for both his patience and his good looks. He's incredibly dense to that second part, and his colleagues understand that but it doesn't stop them from holding a grudge against him. He loves books and the idea of knowledge being free to all and is, in his own words, 'philosophically opposed' to the ideals of his superiors. He is stupid with women and romance and people use this to their advantage. He is incredibly forgiving towards his student who literally tried to ruin his life by accusing him of pedophilia and doesn't understand that she did it because she wants to hop on his dick.

And Cyrus is like this for the entirety of his story - a sort of static character that's really just on a journey to return a library book. Even then, just because his character doesn't develop (or at least in ways that would be immediately obvious to us), there's something to be said about the steadfastness of his personality despite all the atrocities that he encounters. Chapter 2 shows us what kind of people he trusts. Chapter 3 shows us his fury as a teacher who cares intensely for his students. Chapter 4, then, gives us Cyrus - raw, unfiltered, and passionate as he tears into Lucia for her egocentric and dangerous elitist views on education with both his words and his magic.

His story ends gloriously in a way that's very distinctly Cyrus. He comes across the terrible secrets hidden within the tome that he's been searching for all this time, wondering if even something as evil like this deserves to be shared with the rest of the world. Cyrus, the Scholar, says yes - if only so he could protect the bright future he sees for mankind. At the end of his story, he's back at the Academy to start working towards said future, starting his lecture with a TRULY great excerpt from Susanna Grotoff's Knowlegde is Light.

oh hey speaking of Susanna Grotoff!

3) H'aanit (or, simple stories are great actually! especially when the characters actually fucking matter!)

See, I'm one of the people who honestly did not mind the weirdass ye Olde English speech that permeates the bulk of H'aanit's story. I think it's a weird design choice, but I can deal with it. I feel like that's one of the reasons people really don't like H'aanit, or her story.

One of the other reasons I think people don't like her story too much is because it comes across as too simple - almost Tressa-esque in its depth, because when you boil it down H'aanit's story literally is just to hunt a monster. It's a veritable eldritch horror of a monster sure, but the game also doesn't really tell you what the true significance of this act is until you beat try beating its postgame that's structured like ass. It's a woman with a weird accent and a snow leopard hunting down a quarry.

But I'm a firm believer in 'just because stories are simple, doesn't necessarily mean they're bad or without substance', and though it doesn't have the same level of philosophy that elevates Cyrus's story from just 'guy trying to return a library book' - it more than makes up for it with the way it handles its characters.

H'aanit's story has bar none the best, most organic, and heartwarming character interactions in the game and I am VERY prepared to try and fight people on this. You don't have to go very far into her tale to see this - from the way that she speaks with Z'aanta and Eliza alone, you can form a pretty solid image in your head about what kinds of people they are. H'aanit is the straight-laced, stoic, yet socially-awkward apprentice to Z'aanta's eccentric and cheerful trickster mentor persona. Eliza balances them both out, being a responsible friend to Z'aanta and a laidback friend to H'aanit. In Chapter 2, we meet Natalia - and I realize Chapter 2 NPCs don't get a lot to them, but honestly I found Natalia to be the refreshing earnest everyman character in H'aanit's fairly noble quest of legendary quarries and lost masters. Natalia is a good friend to Z'aanta and is very kind to H'aanit, and even feels guilty that she can't do more to help her.

Then we get Chapter 3 and we meet Susanna Grotoff - who is CRIMINALLY fucking underrated. Susanna is the elusive scholar who Cyrus quotes at the end of his story, and is also apparently a Seer - which she admits right away to H'aanit is a load of bullshit. But H'aanit trusts her implicilty because of this admission, and oh yeah Alaic's here too. I'll admit I didn't really warm up to Alaic right away, until postgame happened and we get to see him open up to our Travelers about how he and Susanna met. Honestly I could go on for hours just describing these two but we still have Chapter 4 and - oh my god the King shows H'aanit such immediate trust and respect and he's a decent ruler I like him a lot

I think that's the key ethos here though - everyone in this story treats H'aanit with no small amount of respect and gravitas. Her reputation as Z'aanta's apprentice might precede her, but come Chapter 3 where she's bested a dragon and she has become his equal, and then defeating Redeye to surpass him - and she is viewed by others who know her with awe for her abilities.

Despite this level of prestige though, H'aanit remains much of the same. H'aanit remains a stoic and steadfast huntress who is still socially awkward, being hesitant to show and receive familial affection. At the end of her story, she comes back home satisfied knowing that her master is saved, and she begins to tell stories of her own. It ends with her beautiful piano theme in the background, sounding as though she's just gotten done telling the end of her story to the local village children to lull them to sleep - and not to worry, because she will be happy to tell it again. It's a very quiet resolution to a fantastical journey, and I think its celebration of stories and interpersonal relationships elevates H'aanit's tale over Cyrus's in my book by JUST a bit.

2) Alfyn Greengrass (or, when the break the cutie trope takes the broken pieces and reforges them into something stronger)

Ok look I'll say it right away - I know how divisively people feel about Chapter 3. Chapter 3's very existence hangs on stupid decisions made by the characters, like, Ogen, maybe just TELL Alfyn that Miguel is a criminal - and MIGUEL, M A Y B E DON'T DO THE HORRIBLE THING WHILE ALFYN IS STILL IN TOWN HELLO??? YOU COULDN'T AT LEAST W A IT ANOTHER FEW DAYS???

even with those feelings I still think Alfyn's story is great.

There's a lot that I can say about Alfyn that I wanted to say about Cyrus and H'aanit - and it's that this truly feels like a story that's tailor-made for him, to tell us who this guy is and how he deals with the bullshit he encounters. Alfyn's story is written almost episodically and it does kind of make sense given his motivation. He's just a guy who wants to go around and help people - it doesn't particularly matter where, just that he gets to do good. And we do! See him do that! Kind, studious, and well-meaning Alfyn sacrifices a lot for his patients as we see in both Chapter 1 and 2, and he's very passionate about his craft and is softhearted to the point that he forgets to collect payment for his treatments. He believes so wholly in his apothecary's ideal (formed by his own memories of Graham saving his life for no charge at all) that honestly? His Chapter 3 almost falls over backwards trying to destroy this idealism.

Miguel Twinspears has been memed to death and Ogen is questionable. Just to get that out of the way. To get more stuff out of the way, I don't think the game really intends for its players to agree with Ogen and his cynical views about the weight of lives. This is the entire point of Ogen - to be a foil to Alfyn, who is naive, boundless, and indiscriminate in his generosity. Miguel, as cartoonishly evil as he is, is still VERY MUCH capable of existing in the real world. Alfyn hasn't yet fully matured, and both Miguel and Ogen were the story's solutions to making him croak. The best part about that gambit is that it worked - sending Alfyn into a depressive spiral until he finds a resolution in Chapter 4.

Miguel is unabashedly evil and takes Alfyn's kindness for granted - he is Alfyn's first taste of true malice. Ogen's cynicism forces Alfyn to question everything he knows about being an apothecary, and it's very important that these two concepts were introduced in parallel. This is the chapter that forces Alfyn to reconsider the implications of what it means to have the power to save lives - for god's sake a CHILD nearly died because Alfyn chose to help the wrong person despite the warnings around him. Here's the thing though - Miguel being a jackass isn't Alfyn's fault, and that's something that Ogen's philosophy neglects to account for. There's very real conversations to be had about accountability here but my god this post is getting way too long and I still have one more character to gush over

Chapter 4 picks up right where Chapter 3 left off, where we find Alfyn lost as to what he's meant to do. THEN we get Ogen on his deathbed and surprise it turns out he's not indiscriminate about his philosophy because he applies it to himself as well because yeah. murder is horrible. granted there's also conversations to be had here about horrible medical malpractice but that's WAY out of my expertise so -

now by all accounts, after the events of Chapter 3, would it have made sense for Alfyn to give in and let this man die for his sins? hell no. Because that's not who Alfyn Greengrass is - and as Alfyn asserts, it's also just not what apothecaries do. It's a powerful kind of acceptance that's fueled in part by Zeph's (homoerotically-charged) encouragement and the memories of the man who saved him - and this drives him to face down a creature of legend just to make a cure for a man with a broken soul.

can we also just take a minute to gush about how Alfyn's journey starts and ends with him trying to find a life-saving ingredient and how it has layers to it because Ogre Eagle feathers were the key ingredient to both his and Ogen's cures - lighting the spark in Alfyn and re-igniting Ogen's will to live - and apothecary is fighting a WALKING PANACAEA. THIS IS A COOL FIGHT GODDAMNIT.

i'll. gush more over Alfyn once I finish up my essay on Ophilia and Temenos. but for now we still have one more story.

1) Olberic Eisenberg (or, resolving a midlife crisis is worth it when I care so much about the sad old beefcake)

for those who know me, this might be mantit bias. And verily I say unto you, that's partially correct. for others, this might be Eisenbright bias. and you are also correct because I will admit that my appreciation of both Cyrus and Olberic's stories is elevated a considerable amount when I think about just how synchronized they are as role models when the future is concerned

(SERIOUSLY. PLAY THEIR CHAPTER 4s SIDE BY SIDE. THEY'RE IN PERFECT PARALLEL ABOUT THEIR OATHS TO THE FUTURE DESPITE BEING SO DIFFERENT AND BEING ON DIFFERENT SIDES OF THE HISTORY BEING WRITTEN - the person who writes the history and the person who lived it - AND THEIR DIFFERENT TALENTS AND ABILITIES AND-)

okay I'll be real and say I did not expect to care so much about the old guy so much going into this game, but I actually will. struggle to articulate how this story has made me feel, but I will say that Olberic's story is the only one from the first game to have given me any sort of extreme reaction that wasn't frustration over Cyrus's Chapter 1. I cried for other stories, but Olberic's had me genuinely at the edge of my seat and jumping for joy whenever I see Erhardt pop up in Riverford to aid him.

To be honest, I don't really know what it is about Olberic's story that I can call the edge that it has over the seven others. Cyrus's story had excellent presentation for both his philosophy and his character. H'aanit's was the perfection of simple storytelling. Alfyn's was thought-provoking and had me emotionally invested in his plight. Writing it out, I think I can say Olberic has all of the above - at least, in my opinion. I can't very well say he has much in the way of developing side-characters though -

- well okay. The blond elephant in the room is the glaring exception.

Erhardt is half of Olberic's story and is consequently his primary motivation throughout his journey. The introduction of Erhardt is through a recurring nightmare that Olberic has of the day Hornburg fell - culminating in the moment Erhardt fatally wounds King Alfred. Olberic's Chapter 1 does a very good job of telling us who he is, and where he stands in his story - he was once a renowned knight beloved by his Kingdom, until it fell due to the betrayal of his brother-in-arms. He is now in hiding at a humble farming village named Cobbleston, having kept his past and name a secret for 8 years. Olberic is brought low by loss, and is plagued by nightmares and grief that he doesn't share at all with the people he's now taking refuge with. It's also very clear at this point that Olberic considers himself as little more than a man with a blade - purposeless now that he has failed to protect what mattered most to him. It's not until a lead on Erhardt is revealed to him that he feels alive in any way, as Gaston notes.

As Olberic goes on his journey, he starts having doubts about his decision to avenge his homeland once he starts learning more about Erhardt. To Gustav, Erhardt was troubled, but warm to him and his fellow vagrants, as well as a trustworthy friend. To Wellspring, he is similar to Olberic - having found purpose in protecting the town from lizardman threats. These doubts culminate in what is - to my opinion- perhaps the single best scene in the fucking game.

Watch it in Japanese, by the way. It's only then that you'll get to experience the full brunt of the emotions and sheer burdens that both Olberic and Erhardt carry because Jesus CHRIST they went hard on the delivery for this scene.

After slaying the Lizardman Kings, Erhardt and Olberic meet back up again to have their long-overdue talk about why Erhardt decided he'd kill King Alfred. To most people his backstory isn't anything new, really - he lost his hometown to the fires of war, and King Alfred had failed in protecting it. Out of vengeance, Erhardt decided to join Werner's company and act as the mole in the ranks of the knights of Hornburg so he could bide his time until he could finally kill the King. The thing that sells this scene however, is the sheer agony and regret in Erhardt's voice as he tells Olberic everything - and tells him that he regretted living a lie, that all he could remember now was the times he spent with the knights and with Olberic as friends and brothers-in-arms.

Now what happens next is. Strange.

It's at this point in the story that the player feels TRULY disconnected from Olberic, where Olberic's own desperation comes to light as he demands to cross swords with Erhardt in the form of a Challenge prompt that you can't refuse. Olberic states very clearly that he finally understood why he wielded his blade, and you would think that was the end of it - that it wouldn't have needed to come to blows anymore. But Olberic is neither being a paragon nor a villain here - he's being human in the only way he knows how - in the throes of battle. Erhardt himself obliges, understanding that it's only through this that either of them could have closure from the events that changed their lives forever. They fight, all while Olberic's character theme plays in the background.

Now. This scene is interesting to me in a lot of ways. Erhardt had basically done to Olberic what he thinks the Kingdom of Hornburg had done to him - rob him of the only home he had ever known. He then assimilated himself into the ranks and despite his mission he came to see it as home too, soon enough. Despite that, it didn't stop him from killing the King - but seeing his revenge through only left him hollow. I could draw several comparisons here to both Primrose and Olberic regarding this stance on revenge, but right now just know that Olberic could have very well ended up like him if he were an angrier man. Olberic right now is simply a man consumed with grief and loss and left with no real way of dealing with it other than this. And by the end of the battle, Erhardt yields - and Olberic spares him, ending the duel and resolving instead to avenge his Kingdom through confronting the man behind Erhardt's machinations.

admittedly, I didn't think Werner was compelling enough as a villain - but I DID appreciate his horrifying pragmatism, clawing his way to the top by any means necessary and sacrificing an entire Kingdom in the process, and then going on to take over an entire district and host public burnings every month. charming guy. I do find it thematically interesting that Olberic's final opponent is a tyrant who just does not give a shit about the people he governs over though - you really couldn't get any more antithetical to King Alfred than this. Also fitting that he would be one of the key players of the revolution to free Riverford from Werner's reign and wOAH HOLY SHIT ERHARDT FUCK Y E AH

that. that was the scene I jumped out of my seat for, yeah.

by the way uh. so the line 'Your blade may be unbending, but did the man not break?' is extremely good. If there was any way to succinctly summarize Olberic Eisenberg before that climactic moment, that would be it.

this is gonna be the part where I gush about Olberic's resolve into looking forward to the future and - it means a lot more than just him vowing to continue using his sword to protect others. It means that he's finally starting to free himself from the hell he's been dealing with for the last 8 years. It's him finally accepting that he's MORE than the blade he wields. It's him accepting that he has somewhere to return to and protect and hold dear to his heart - and he realizes this while trying to help people take back their own homes with the support of the best friend who had lost his home twice -

i really like his story, and I really like Olberic. Him returning to Cobbleston for a while as he goes on a new journey and being embraced by Philip is incredibly satisfying. This man deserves his fucking rest and holy shit this post is 3800 words long

>>> tl;dr go play Octopath Traveler 1

#octopath traveler #cyrus albright #h'aanit #alfyn greengrass #olberic eisenberg #octopath #octopath spoilers #literally just me ranting for almost 4k words #go play the first octopath it's still great #i should have just written an essay but #listen i totally could except i'm in the middle of finals submissions so rip #and i'm already writing an ophilia and temenos essay so

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absolutebl · 2 years

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10 BLs Worth Sticking With Despite the Start

Sometimes I had to really stick with a show despite myself to make it trough. In a few instances, I actually dropped a show and then someone convinced me to try again.

1. 2gether

It’s not secret that I think GMMTV’s big guns 2gether is overrated. But it tops this list because I think I had to try this BL 6X before finally getting though the first 3 episodes. Honestly, had there been any other new BLs (there wasn’t much back then) I probubly never would have watched 2g. I absolutely loathe the character of Green, such a caricature of predatory gay, not to mention punching down humor on femme. I have real issues with the start of this show. But I actually kinda enjoyed the rest of it.

2. DNA Says Love You

I really did not like the first episode of this recent Taiwanese drama. I think it has to so with the fact that Amber isn’t introduced until the very end, and he holds this BL down. But even saying that, the first half of this series drags for me. I’m just not into the paranormal investigator aspect, I find it boring.

3. He’s Coming To Me

I just remember finding it pretty dull until the two leads get together as adults, and I only ever rewatch the second half.

4. Oh Boarding House!

In general Japan and Korea are pretty good on their hooks (they don’t have as much time for fart around with as Thailand). But I wasn’t into this one as it didn’t know if it wanted to be a sitcom or a BL. Once it decided to be a KBL I really enjoyed it, but I doubt I will ever rewatch the first few eps.

5. Gameboys

I could not get into the premies of this one. Too close to home in terms of quarantine at the time and also I’ve never been one for online gaming or dating. And I could not see how they would manage all chemistry dynamics with separated characters. They defied the odds, and I was impressed, but it took me a while and it’s not a rewatcher for me.

6. HIStory 2 Right or Wrong

An odd one to pick, but I think many are with me that it’s the neglectful parent aspect I found really off putting. I got over it because I like the pair dynamic so much, but it’s still hard to watch a single dad be that much of a deadbeat and still sympathize with him finding love. This is the reason I don’t rec it as much as I normal would for a BL that hits all my buttons (age gap, teacher student, out gay, accepting bi, tiny family).

7. So Much In Love

One of those Thai pulps I don’t talk about much because its hard to find and not good. Except... I really liked the premise, I enjoyed the leads and the horror elements. It’s on this list because I am glad I gave it a chance and stuck with it. And if it ever got picked up by GaGa I would probubly watch it again.

8. Ingredients the series

Ooof it’s so SLOOOOOWWWWWWW. But then, I switched off that part of my brain and was like, ahhh.... this is the bubble bath BLs, just relax and enjoy.

9. Love Sick

Becha didn’t guess this one? Look, go back and rewatch that first ep. OMG is it lousy. Nothing happens, it’s chaos, there’s too much time spent on other couples. It’s a terrible opener. Fair though, because it didn’t know what it was, or what it was doing yet because it was the one to break that ground in Thailand.

10. Why R U?

Topping the list. What can I say? I HATED SaifahZon. Like deeply disliked Tommy’s character in the first ep, their dynamic, just everything about them, and originally were to lead-out this show out. I didn’t like it at all until the focus turned to FighterTutor. And honestly it was mostly Zee who won me over. (Those soft soft eyes of his.) Have I come around to SaifahZon? Mostly... I still prefer FIghterTutor tho.

Honorable Mention

Secret Crush On You - I basically had to stop/start, fast forwards, finagle my way through the first 6 eps of this show. And some of the rest of it too. It’s too cringey for me, yet the queer rep is so wonderful. The struggle is real.

Triage - it’s airing right now and I never rec a BL I haven’t finished. But I hated the time loop premise going in (I am NOT a fan of Groundhog Day). ALSO I had seen and actively disliked the short it’s based off. ALSO I was never a huge fan of this lead pair. And yet it was just high enough concept and well enough done in a medical setting (my weakness) for me to REALLY TRY... It took me three eps to get into, but now it’s one of my current favorites. I hope they land it well, it’s really pretty special.

Vietnamese BL in general. Look they don’t really have a system down yet, so they often open a little weak, slow, or awkward. Because this is their style, I kinda always give the a pass on the first few episodes. But we all have to be okay with this if we are going to watch VBL because it doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

(source)

I am genuinely curious, what are some of yours? What did you start and then stop? What made you drop it? Why did you pick it back up again?

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lolotheparagon · 3 months

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Sofia the First Season 4 in a Nutshell

Oh boy... Season 4. The one with the Wicked Nine story arc.

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Day of the Sorcerers - 1/10

For some inexplicable reason, the writers wanted to redeem Cedric and finish off his story arc of being a villain, DESPITE 3 ENTIRE SEASONS OF HIM CHANGING PASSIVELY OVER TIME AND BECOMING A GOOD GUY AND A GOOD TEACHER TO SOFIA AND THE CHILDREN, BUT NOPE WE GOTTA HASTILY CONCLUDE THIS CHARACTER ARC. SO LETS HAVE HIM TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM AND ACTUALLY NEARLY SUCCEED ALL BECAUSE THE BILLY WEST WIZARD AND A BIRD PERSUADED HIM WITH VERY LITTLE CONVICTION. Its fucking hilarious cos at the third act, all it took to get Cedric to stop usurping the throne was Sofia giving him a glare like a child angry at her dad for not picking her up from soccer practice. And despite nearly taking over the kingdom, Cedric gets a second chance thanks to Sofia and her mum and everything just goes back like nothing happened. WOW ITS ALMOST LIKE THIS WHOLE EPISODE WAS COMPLETELY FUCKING POINTLESS.

The Secret Library: Tale of the Eternal Torch - 2/10

Remember, kids. If you have a history with invaders constantly trying to take over your home at every opportunity, befriend them! Its always good to share your land, even though its your land by right! Thank god we're dealing with dragons here not people, otherwise this wouldve been REALLY FUCKED UP. I mean this is fucked up, but still.

The Crown of Blossoms - 9/10

Finally, an episode that didnt make me wanna gouge my eyes out! A wonderful lesson about not using other people's valuable treasures for a festival and you should rightfully give it back to them. Even the boring Clover being greedy sideplot doesnt bother me.

Pin the Blame on the Genie - 0/10

Oh great, another episode about the Culturally Fucked Up Genie Police and the kid genie getting needlessly harassed and villified by the public all because of one racist wizard's opinions. Btw its established that the Genie Patrol have prison cells for misbehaving genies, WHILST THEYRE IN THEIR LAMPS. So its a prison within a prison. WTF?!

The Mystic Isles - -5/10

So, this is the famous Mystic Isles special...Honestly, for a world that's supposed to be where all magic originates, this is pretty dull. Like isn't the world of Sofia the First already magical as fuck? There are magical creatures everywhere in Enchancia, what makes this place so special? Also I really dont like the alicorn Skye, his oldtime medieval mannerisms get older after 5 minutes and it really feels like the show one-upped poor Minimus, since he was Sofia's first flying horse. Oh yeah and Sofia wants to be part of the Crystal Justice League or some shit, cos we need SOMETHING for our main character to do!

The Mystic Isles: The Princess and the Protector - 4/10

A tough fairy named Chrysta becomes Sofia's mentor into becoming a glorifed cop for the EverRealm and because she has this preconception of Sofia being this spoilt snob because she's a princess, Chrysta proceeds to not teach her anything and snark at Sofia throughout the majority of the episode. In any other series, this would be hilarious but here, I just feel sorry for poor Sof. I really grew to like Chrysta later on but this was NOT a good first impression.

The Royal Dragon - 6/10

Crackle and Sofia in Spyro form joins a dragon summit and the former fight with her egocentric rival in order to get people's attention cos her rival always steals people away from her before she can even make friends. Ngl I was expected to hate this episode but it was worth it to see that Crackle's rival is just as insecure as she is and made up half her boasting was made up so people would be friends with her. Also Sir KMR the Knight appears again to play schoolyard pranks on a bunch of dragons cos he's a petty bitch lol

The Mystic Isles: The Mare of the Mist - 6/10

Minimus is understandably pissed off that Sofia arrived with a brand new alicorn TM as her new best friend and tries to string along both of them on her new mission to find this mystery horse for a test. I dreaded this episode was gonna go with Sofia gaslighting poor Minimus into thinking Skye is the better companion and he should deal with it. But No. Sofia couldnt even finish her test cos the mystery horse she was looking for chastises her for not considering Minimus' feelings and favouring Skye over him. I like that, it really puts Sofia in a humbling position and helps her realise how important Minimus is to her.

Through the Looking Back Glass - 9/10

Its a good Cedric episode so its already a step up and we get to see Calista again, which is always fun. We find out the actual reason why Cedric has had this reputation from everyone, especially his sister Cordelia, that he was this bungler who would never amount to anything, and its revealed to be a completely accident which Cordelia forgives him for and apologises for all the teasing and petty rivalry she had with him over the years. Its a very sweet victory for Cedric and I honestly wish THIS was the final episode of his character arc than Day of Sorcerors cos it really shows how much he's improved as a person since Season 1 and that he doesnt need to take over the kingdom to prove his worth. Side note: I love how Sofia and Calista team up to clear Cedric's name and its cute to see Sofia act like a big sister to Calista.

Princess Jade - 8/10

Wasn't expecting a non character like Jade to get her own spotlight episode but here we are and its really sweet! I love how Jade was originally excited to go to Royal Prep to be with her bestie Sofia when they found out Jade's a descendant of royalty but quickly grows to hate it when she realises she'll never see Ruby or any of her village friends that much anymore, her entire life is changed upon this revelation...AND THEN WE GET A FUNNY AS HELL SIDEPLOT WITH AMBER BECOMING A MASTER ARCHITECT. Why wasnt this an entire episode alone about Amber being into architecture, that is wicked cool?!

Ivy's True Colors - 0/10

Ooo, the villain Princess Ivy's getting a redemption? Skip

Too Cute to Spook - 10/10

And we now return to our scheduled programming of serotonin-filled spookiness cos this time Sofia, Lucy and her toxic witch friends are doing trick or treating and Calista wants to join in but they dont want her to join cos she's too adorable to be scary and they're worried she'll "cramp their style." But Calista just wants to have friends and make Sofia happy. Man, I miss when Sofia the First episodes were like this.

Pirated Away - 8/10

After crashing into a pirate ship by accident, Miranda, Sofia and Amber have to help a bunch of geographically challenged pirates find a golden figurehead so Sofia and the family can see a meteor shower along the way. We get to see Miranda being a bad ass mum, Amber learning to respect her mother's word and have a heart to heart talk with her and a lesson about just fucking listening to people.

The Mystic Isles: The Falcon's Eye - 5/10

Oh goody, another Mystic Isles episode and this time, Sofia has to search for the Wicked Nine, a bunch of magical items belonging to the greatest Disney villains of the past to stop the villain from the Mystic Isles special, Prisma from gaining all their powers. Cos apparently Sofia the First really needed a daedric artifact storyline.

The Mystic Isles: The Great Pretender - 4/10

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The Mystic Isles: A Very Mystic Wassalia - 7/10

Okay, the fact Chrysta has spent the whole of Christmas with Sofia doing protector tasks in order to distract herself from her incredibly lonely life cos she has no family or friends to spend the holiday is truly sad. I really felt for her when Sofia rounds up everyone in the Mystic Isles for a Christmas party. Just...awwww.

The Birthday Wish - 10/10

Sofia has a shit birthday so she wishes for a redo of her birthday and she gets it...40 times over. Yknow that segment with Huey, Dewey and Louie in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas? Its basically that but with Sofia slowly going insane. The biggest highlight is definitely Sofia getting more exasperated and pissed off with each repeat. Its so rare to see Sofia mad or even angry cos Sofia's a very grounded kid who's got a big heart so seeing her being pushed to the limit is hilarious. And as always, there's a good lesson about looking on the bright side of things, which is especially true since Sofia still had a pretty good party to begin with, despite how chaotic things got.

In Cedric We Trust - 8/10

I feel like this whole episode was an apology for Day of Sorcerors cos this ep tries to address the fact Cedric nearly usurped the throne a few episodes ago and Roland's not happy about that. But unlike a lot of kids shows where the villains make shoddy attempts to atone for their actions and the characters just immediately forgive them without any repercussions, Cedric is nowhere near the levels of vile monster levels of Starlight Glimmer or Catra so im a lot more on board with Cedric's redemption cos he's got a far better track record of being a good person than any 2010s redeemed villain combined. Also Cedric earnestly trying to restore Roland's trust not just to get everyone to trust him again, but also because the two shared a friendship together when they were children is very sweet. I kinda wish that was explored a lot more in the show earlier. I wouldve loved more Roland and Cedric bonding.

The Mystic Isles: A Hero For The Hoodwinks - 5/10

Clover wants to be a hero like Sofia so he pretends to be one after hitching a ride to the Mystic Isles and manages to garner a fanbase of flying hedgehogs. Trust me, its not as exciting as it sounds.

The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies - -5/10

Another boring Chrysta episode, this time its about Chrysta having a bad experience with other fairies cos they all thought she was too rough and tough and not delicate enough to be a fairy. I mean, good for Chrysta to embrace her femininity but I really dont care at this point.

A Royal Wedding - 10/10

Aunt Tilly's wedding? Okay sure, but what if there was a main plot where its revealed Amber is actually the heir to the throne, not James, causing him to have an identity crisis and immediately tries to humilate Amber in front of the whole reception but nothngs working cos James still thinks Amber is her season 1 self, not her current self who's mastering all her royal duties like a pro and not caring about getting her dress dirty. So he accidentally summons a sea monster, which causes havoc at the wedding and can only be calmed with the promise of cake. So Amber, Sofia and James work together to stop said sea monster and the twins reconcile, James makes up for his actions and Amber dubs her brother First Knight. A heartwarming episode with a dash of crazy shenanigans thrown in. Finally, James gets a good story right before the show finishes.

The Royal School Fair - 3/10

Its nearly the end of school for Sofia and the gang but the former doesnt know what school she wants to go to after finishing Royal Prep, so everyone tries to get her to join their personal fave school rather than one of them sitting down with her and actually working it through with her. Oh and for the cherry on top, Amber signs Sofia up to join a school WITHOUT HER CONSENT and despite being called out for it, Sofia decides she wants to go there anyway. OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE. WRITERS, YOU HAVE ONE JOB, DONT TEACH KIDS TO BE COMPLACENT WITH PEOPLE'S BAD BEHAVIOUR.

The Lost Pyramid - 4/10

Sofia and the gang are exploring the inside of a pyramid, where they have to rely on different senses other than their eyes to solve the pyamid's riddles? Nice! A blind princess who's also an archaeologist?? THAT IS SO FUCKING METAL I LOVE THAT AND OH MY GOD, HILDEGARDE. GO AWAY!

Return To Merroway Cove - 2/10

"Remember, kids. If your parents are infantilising you and don't think you're capable of handling more difficult tasks, prove them right! That'll show 'em! Wait..."

The Elf Situation - 8/10

Sofia encourages James and Amber that just because a peace summit is looming over them and that they're trying to prepare being future monarchs with newfound responsibilities, doesnt mean WE CANT HAVE FUN. And she's right! You guys are in your early teens, enjoy life while you can before the ! Btw i love how 3 kids managed to solve a years-long rivalry with two elf clan leaders in one afternoon when the king took years to get them to reconcile but to no avail lmao. Especially when the two elf leaders in question were mostly petty squabbling and got along the moment someone suggested to do something fun. See, Sofia's always right!

Forever Royal - -6/10

The sheer mood whiplash from an absolutely wholesome first act that wouldve been a great bookend to the series with Sofia graduating Royal Prep, Amber training to be queen, James becoming a full-fledged knight in training and everyone in Enchancia is all coming together to celebrate how much our main character has grown over the couple of years...only to spend the last two acts of the special hastily wrapping up the entire Wicked Nine story arc with a brand new villain instead of the one we've been building up over and the season, complete with higher stakes, a world-ending threat and ending with Sofia defeating said villain like a Kingdom Hearts cutscene spiritually reminds me of this

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CONCLUSION

Oh boy this was a difficult season to get through. S3 had a weird story arc with the Secret Library, but at least that wasnt NEARLY as intrusive as the Wicked Nine arc, where it clearly felt like Craig Gerber tried to crowbar it into the season, especially for how out of place the usual episodes are. Craig said in one of his podcasts that the Wicked Nine was meant to be a serialised story arc for the whole season but Disney shot him down, saying that it'll be too complicated for a pre-school show. And honestly, I fully get behind Disney on that. But Craig had enough creative power to jam that shit in so we're stuck with a boring ass daedric artifact plotline that meanders until the finale, clogging up what couldve been a decent season to wrap up the series.

Still, apart from that awful last season, I really recommend Sofia the First. It's such a cute, fun show that has its problems and defnitely isnt for everyone as its very straightforward in its themes. But if you like musical numbers, silly characters and cute saccharine stuff like me, you'll like this show just fine.

Peace out, bitches

#sofia the first #Youtube

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hcartachesx · 7 months

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CALLY, 31, CST; SHE/HER. | if you’re hearing SOON YOU’LL GET BETTER BY TAYLOR SWIFT playing, you have to know KATE TJONG (SHE/HER; FEMALE) is near by! the 40 year old ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER has been in denver for, like, HER ENTIRE LIFE. they’re known to be quite SELF-LOATHING, but being NURTURING seems to balance that out. or maybe it’s the fact that they resemble KRISTIN KREUK. personally, i’d love to know more about them seeing as how they’ve got those KIDS FLOCKING TO THEM, MOTHERLY VIBES, AND COVERING PAIN WITH A SMILE AND ENDLESS WORK vibes. and maybe i’ll get my chance if i hang out around the MONTBELLO DISTRICT long enough!

Trigger Warning for teen pregnancy, cancer, pediatric cancer, child death, depression, grief, & suicide

Basic Info

Full Name: Katherine Grace Tjong Nicknames: Kate, Katie Age: 40 Birthday: June 30th, 1983 Zodiac: Cancer Occupation: Elementary School Teacher (5th Grade) Schooling: University of Denver Hometown: Denver, Colorado Ethnicity: Dutch, Chinese-Indonesian, Chinese-Jamaican Languages Spoken: English, some Indonesian Gender: Cisfemale Pronouns: She/Her Sexuality: Heterosexual Relationship Status: Single Living in: Montbello District

Family Info

Maternal Grandparents: Hendri and Amoy Subagyo (nee Fong) met in Indonesia as children. They grew up together and got married very young. Hendri and Amoy moved to America with the help of Hendri’s brother, Badri, who had already immigrated there. Badri got Hendri a job in a construction company and Amoy began working as a seamstress before having their daughter, Alice Subagyo. Hendri died at the age of 46 from a heart attack and Amoy moved back to Indonesia eight years ago. Paternal Grandparents: Silas and Grace Tjong (nee Peris) met after Grace’s family moved to Boulder, Colorado when she was in high school. Silas and Grace bonded over a shared history of being Chinese-Indonesian with both speaking Indonesian. They were married after college and had three children together. They still live in Boulder, though they often travel the world. Parents: Paul and Alice Tjong (nee Subagyo) met at the University of Denver, where Paul was a teaching assistant and Alice was in her third year. They got married only a year later after Alice fell pregnant, though their marriage didn’t last. When their daughter was only nine, they divorced. Paul remarried four years later and is still with his current wife, whom he retired to Florida with after being a high school history teacher for many years. Alice remarried several times and had many different jobs. She lives in Colorado Springs, but often visits her daughter in Denver. Siblings: Kate has three stepsiblings through her father’s remarriage, though they are not very close as they were nearly adults when their mother married her father. Son: Eric James Tjong, who died at the age of eight years old from cancer Pets: None

Physical Info

Hair color: Dark Brown Eye color: Hazel Height: 5’4” Tattoos: None Piercings: One in earlobes Character Inspo: Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), Olivia Benson (Law & Order SVU), Haley James Scott (One Tree Hill), Ella Montgomery (Pretty Little Liars), Emma Swan (Once Upon a Time), Regina Mills (Once Upon a Time), Bobby Nash (911), Melissa McCall (Teen Wolf), Mia Jones (Degrassi), Elena Gilbert (The Vampire Diaries), Mustang (Red Rising), Elain Archeron (ACOTAR), Cami O’Connell (The Originals), Tessa Gray (The Infernal Devices)

Background

Kate was born in Denver, Colorado during the happier times of her parent’s marriage. Though those happy times did not last very long. She didn’t know a time when her parents weren’t fighting with each other, but they doted on her often. It was honestly a bit of a relief when they divorced. Kate stayed with her mom, but often visited her father. Their home was in the Lakeridge District. Her mother didn’t finish college after she fell pregnant and had a variety of odd jobs over the years. From a waitress to a substitute teacher to a daycare worker. Alice got married several times, but again, these often didn’t last. Alice seemed to want a better life than they could give her, one she felt she couldn’t achieve on her own.

While her mother’s life was a bit more chaotic, her father’s life was much calmer. He settled down with an older woman who already had kids mostly grown. They lived a quiet, happy life and are still together. They were never very rich, but Kate never felt like she was lacking for anything. Both sides of her family connected her to her Chinese-Indonesian culture, especially her mom given her status as a first generation American in her family. Her grandparents being close by helped as well and she appreciates where she comes from, though she does not speak much Indonesian. However she does often cook foods she learned from her family.

Growing up, Kate was one of those people everyone liked. Her kind nature and genuine attitude towards people drew them to her. Ask around people she graduated with and they would say she was always nice. Most didn’t know her that well, but they at least had a kind word to say about her. She was encouraged by friends to join the cheerleading team freshman year, which is how she met her first love. He was on the football team, though he was often on the bench those first few years. But during the first game when she was cheering and he was sitting on the bench, they chatted a bit and they ended up agreeing to a first date. From there, they were inseparable.

TW: Teen Pregnancy

They were the It Couple, the ones everyone talked about being together forever. You often didn’t see one without the other. As they got older, he became a football star and soon they were the ones winning homecoming king and queen, prom king and queen, all the things. They had all their firsts together and talked often about the future together. But reality quickly shifted when Kate fell pregnant just before graduation. She was terrified and wasn’t sure what to do, as well as being afraid of her family’s reaction and his. At first when she told her boyfriend, he was freaked out, but agreed to be there for her. They tried to tell their families together, but his family had always disapproved of her. They had never really accepted her and had hoped for better things for their son. He had gotten a major scholarship for football to a school out of state and wanted him to go there. They wanted Kate to get rid of the baby. Due to pressure from his family and them getting in his head, he told Kate he wasn’t ready to be a father, that he needed to go away to college and pursue his dreams. It broke her heart and they ended things.

He left and never came back, while Kate changed her plans, living with her mother and attending the University of Denver. While her mother wasn’t happy about her pregnancy, she still supported her daughter. She managed to attend some summer classes and most of the first semester so that she could take off the second semester and take care of her child. Her son was born in December and from the moment she laid eyes on him, Eric was everything to her. Since his father wanted nothing to do with him and neither did his paternal grandparents, she never told them about the baby or anything. Occasionally she saw them around town, but they never once asked about their grandchild. Kate’s parents were a huge help when it came to raising her son. They would take turns watching him while she attended university and worked. Her grandparents often came to help with him as well. And while it took a bit longer than normal, she managed to graduate university and become a teacher.

She loved children and was always good with them, so being a teacher had been her plan for years, especially thanks to her father’s influence with his own teaching career. She began teaching the first grade and absolutely loved it. Outside of her work, she fully devoted herself to her son. He was her entire life. She didn’t really date or even attempt to do anything without him. And while they struggled, they were happy together. Until Eric turned six years old and became very sick. He began having trouble eating, growing thinner and thinner, and unable to keep food down. At first, Kate thought it might be some sort of stomach bug, an ulcer, anything other than what it turned out to be.

TW: cancer, pediatric cancer, child death

After many doctor’s visits, Eric was diagnosed with pancreatoblastoma, a rare pancreatic cancer. He had tumors in his pancreas that had been growing for quite some time slowly. They began treatment quickly, starting with surgery in attempts to remove the tumors. During surgery, they found they were unable to remove some of the tumor, so he began chemotherapy. It was a long battle for two years with many ups and downs, but eventually, Eric just became too weak and the cancer too strong. He passed away at the age of eight, devastating his mother. It broke Kate to lose her son, the most important person to her. It was like she lost her entire life when he was gone.

TW: depression, suicide, grief

She fell into a deep depression after her son died, all of it crashing down on her. She took a sabbatical from work and was barely able to leave her bed or home for almost a year. Her friends and family were worried for her, especially after one found her ready to end her life to be with her son. They encouraged her to attend grief counseling and she did. It took a long time for her to get to a place where she could get out of bed, that she could be a normal person again. The pain was with her always, but she could manage it. She came back to teaching eventually, her coworkers welcoming her with open arms. At first it was hard being around the kids, realizing her own son would never reach their age, would never grow older.

Over the years, she has managed to put herself back together. She is a great teacher and still has kids coming up to her to this day, saying she was their favorite teacher. In her social life, she very much keeps to herself, still never having really been with or dated anyone since her first love. She attempted a few dates, but they never worked out.

Personality:

Kate is a very kind and empathetic person. However, she is also very shy and quiet at times. People would describe her as the girl-next-door, the one everyone likes and gets along with. After everything happened with her ex, she became more independent, more hard working to provide for her son. Once he passed away, she became even more reserved, keeping to herself more often. In recent years, she has thrown herself into all sorts of things to avoid feeling lonely and depressed. She volunteers at the theater, doing all sorts of odd jobs for Felipe, including using her old piano skills whenever needed. She is always coming up with fun things for her class, trying out new hobbies, and participating in every sort of city event she possibly could. During the summers when she isn’t teaching, she often even volunteers with the daycare center or library with children’s programs.

#kate tjong #kate intro #chq.intro

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