#draco yaps

[dracomusic325]

Grizzly: You start hearing the sounds of the ocean. Your vision slowly starts to come back. Like this void, this chaos that you were just in begins to disappear. You hear the creaks of a ship and you realize you're standing on, not a dock, but a plank that leads onto a ship. And you know what this is. And in front of you is the back of a big goliath, gray-skinned. And you stand there for a moment, you look down and you have your swords in your hands, but they just kind of like fizzle out. And you're not bones, you're just Chip in this moment and you hear him speak. You haven't heard his voice in so long.

Arlin: How many times does this make now? Hundreds. We keep reliving the same moment. You're gonna try and kill me. And I'm still gonna love you, buddy. You're not gonna change my mind. I'll never, ever regret pulling you onto this ship. No matter what this place tries to make me believe. You're my son and you'd never hurt me. Come on. Let's run it back again. I can do this all day.

Chip: You know. Some people call it a chip. It's an easy mistake to make.

Grizzly: There's a moment of silence. And he begins to turn around.

Arlin: I haven't heard that one before.

Chip: I think you have.

Arlin: Kinda a silly name.

Grizzly: And you guys lock eyes. He's re-lived countless fake versions of this memory. And he doesn't see- You can tell for the first time when he looks at you, he knows this is real. He slowly approaches you, grabs the back of your head, and pulls you into his chest.

Bizly: I don't even know that I would hug him back right away. Just kinda fall into it.

(This fucking scene makes me cry, I'm going to curl up into a little ball and sob again)

[dracomusic325]

Okay, so I'm re-watching Riptide and I'm currently at the Noctis Arc of the campaign and I have some thoughts about Kuba Kenta's curse, specifically how Chip and Gill both handled the nightmares. Because there are some things I've noticed and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

So, Chip deals with his nightmares from the end of 62 to episode 70, which is 12 episodes, not even including in-game days, so it was for a while. For in-game days, I'm not entirely sure, because I can't recall if it was ever said how long they had been sailing until they found Ichabod (the GOAT). But I'd say at least a week or 2. As for Gill, he gets scratched and bitten in episode 90 and I think the nightmares start in episode 91, maybe 92 (I'm not there yet lol) and he got cured at the end of episode 98.

Now obviously, Chip only got scratched on his chest and back, but Gill got scratched and bitten, BUT THAT'S A RAMBLE FOR A DIFFERENT DAY. What I wanted to focus on was how they handled the nightmares, and this could have everything to do with Gill seeing how it affected Chip, but I still wanted to share my thoughts about it and see what the jrwiblr has to say about it!

Chip seems so determined not to experience the nightmares and/or get rid of the nightmares. He stayed up for 3 days straight, he mentioned how he didn't want to go to sleep again during episode 64, and everything else in the episodes that follow until he gets cured (again, not there yet, I'm watching the Humble Beginnings one-shot). My point being, he is actively fighting against the curse at every chance he can, never once succumbing to it. Sure, it hurts him physically and mentally, but he doesn't give up.

As for Gill, it kinda seems like he's the opposite. Like, sure, it could be him remembering what Chip experienced, but Gill's first nightmare was constantly seeing Edyn being brutally slaughtered in some way with a message saying "I'll be back" in blood and how no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't save her. I can't recall the nightmare he had during episode 95 (or if that was the Edyn one and I'm getting confused), but in episode 97, he sees Chip die brutally, he sees Jay get disintegrated, and when he wakes up, all he can do is scream about how he saw Chip and Jay die and then tries to kill himself. To me, it honestly seems like Gill is more accepting of his fate than Chip was. And I have a lot of thoughts about why I think that is.

Gill was raised to be a weapon, he says it himself in episode 63. He also mentions how he doesn't really know what the prophecy that he was told (initially, before episode 110) entails or what his destiny truly is, just hoping that something will start to make sense as he travels around Mana. So, maybe the reason he's quicker to give up is that he believes that this truly is his destiny? That his death could result in the prophecy being fulfilled. Here's the prophecy Gill was told growing up, btw:

A hero born of moonlight, storm, and sea

They shall rise or fall to bring unity

They will be tested or bested by evil's hand

And by their choice, one will remain, sea or land

The third stanza is kinda what's supporting me on this train of thought, because it mentions that he will either be tested by evil's hand or he'll be defeated by it (Kuba Kenta is a fiend and that's one of Gill's supposed enemies, btw!). So, it would kinda makes sense that he'd just give up and accept that he was going to die, it was stated in the prophecy after all. And I could be wrong about this, but it's just something that's been on my mind during the Noctis Arc.

I dunno, that's basically my thoughts on it. What do you guys think? And feel free to let me know if I missed any important details, because, again, I'm on a rewatch and I haven't gotten to Gilly's nightmare problems just yet! Just don't forget that I am hooman, so I will make mistakes! Alrighty, it's almost 3 AM, goodnight!

[dracomusic325]

Imagine hating on me while I'm in my room fujoshi-ing out over Fish & Chips and SlimeKnight

Like, I'm such a big yuri enjoyer, but I've been very yaoi-pilled recently, and I am blaming it on Charlie Slimecicle, bizlychannel, and Wifies, it's all of their faults

[dracomusic325]

I'm projecting my period cramps onto Elder Odelath. Who's with me?

[dracomusic325]

Thinking about the Black Rose Pirates one-shot again because I freaking can lol.

Specifically, the fact that when Grizzly told Bizly that he had to choose between Arlin and Chip on who gets back on the ship, he immediately chose Chip without a second thought or any hesitation. No matter what, Arlin was always going to choose Chip over himself. Because he loves Chip, he always has. Even when he first met Chip, who begged Arlin to join the Black Rose, even after he said no, saying it wasn't safe for him. He gave Chip the coin that he kept with him for years afterward and gave him his name. Gave him a home he never had. And when Arlin saw that flashback and it ended with an older Chip stabbing him, he knew that that wasn't Chip. Chip would never hurt him.

And even with ALL THAT, Chip blamed himself for Arlin getting stuck in the Black Sea. He fully believed that it was his fault that Arlin ended up stuck in the hole. But it was ultimately Arlin's choice to save Chip, who didn't choose to fall off of the ship. And all while he was searching everywhere for Arlin, all he could think was that it was his fault Arlin was missing. I mean, in the intro to episode 16, when he's "talking" to Arlin, all he can think about is how he can't handle this without Arlin, how he wanted Arlin to captain the ship, how he felt like he wasn't the pirate Arlin wanted him to be.

There's just something so interesting about how the moment something bad happens that is because of something Chip did or something that happened to Chip, he immediately blames himself for it. When Gill drew the Donjon card in the Feywild? Oh, well, Chip got the cards and practically handed him the cards, so it's his fault. When Ollie got cursed after using Niklaus's Compass? He gave Ollie that compass, so it's his fault. Arlin is trapped in the Black Sea? He nearly fell off of the ship, and Arlin saved him, so it's his fault. But it never has been his fault.

The moment he reunites with Arlin, after 10 years of not seeing him and months of searching and he realizes that destroying the egg attached to Arlin would kill him too, all he could think about was how he wanted to leave, tell Gillion to stop... but he couldn't. Because he preferred losing the man who gave him everything over sacrificing the entire world. It was one life for the cost of many others that could've been lost. And he didn't want to do that because searching for Arlin was the whole reason he started sailing around Mana in the first place, the one person he wanted back more than anything, but he knew that this was the right choice.

When Chip and Arlin are pulled out of the vision and onto the floating platform in front of it, I wonder what was running through their minds. Chip, with part of his skull exposed, looking exactly as he was: undead while Arlin looked barely alive, emaciated and torn up as Grizzly said. They both look at each other and just see how fucked up they look. And then the entity locks on Chip, ready to take him as a vessel, and Arlin screams out to Chip. I can see Chip holding up his arms as some kind of an attempt to block the entity, knowing that it's for naught, waiting for it to hit him, and it doesn't. And when Chip looks over to Arlin, Arlin loses consciousness, probably forcing himself to stay awake and upright because of Chip, but seeing his son isn't going to become a vessel, he relaxes and gives in.

Their relationship is so special to me. Arlin reminds me of my own dad, a man who looks intimidating and cruel, but is very kind when you get to know him. And when you do, you can't help but feel safe around him. Sure, he gets upset from time to time, as many people do, but you know that he'd never hurt you. Meanwhile, I find myself relating to Chip a lot, which I've mentioned before in the past. He's so determined and set on finding the one person who gave him a life he never had, and when he does, he ultimately chooses to spend the last few moments this person has instead of trying to save him. It resonates with me because if I were in this circumstance, I think I would've done the same. But yeah, T H E M. I need Chip and Arlin to reunite again and just hug and then Chip excitedly introduces Arlin to Jay and Gill, a man they both know that Chip loves and cares about more than anything, given how much he talked about him. I NEED IT SO BAD, AS SOON AS THIS UNDERSEA ARC IS OVER, I NEED CHIP AND ARLIN TOGETHER AGAIN, AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!

Anyways, I've rambled about these two long enough and I fucking cried going back through the transcript of 116 to find the description Grizzly gave of Arlin after being freed from the mass. This show fucks me up emotionally all the time, I can't escape it. Alright, I'm gonna go curl up in a little corner and watch more Riptide, bye bye

[dracomusic325]

OKAY, SO!! I just went through the one-shot/Riptide Prequel with the Black Rose Pirates, and knowing what I know now as of episode 116 of Riptide, I wanna share my thoughts after going through the one-shot again

SO!! During the scene where Arlin, Finn, and Drey descend the staircase that leads to the room where the confrontation with Captain Rose happens, we see each of them relive a memory. Finn's was when he left the Undersea, Arlin's was when he adopted Chip, and Drey's was when he joined the Black Rose Pirates. And y'know, wholesome shit, I guess, but that's not the point I want to make. Because after the memory happens, all three of them have to roll a Wisdom Save (individually, obviously).

After Charlie rolls the Wisdom save, Finn sees office supplies wrapped around his ankle like a chain that then breaks, and he continues going to the Oversea. For Drey, nothing out of the ordinary happens, and the memory continues as usual. However, Arlin failed the save, which resulted in him seeing an older version of Chip attacking him, trying to kill him. That version of Chip said, "Thanks for nothing, old man. I never needed you anyway." And then Arlin comes to, and they continue down the steps, and Arlin briefly mentions what he saw. Grizzly even points out that Arlin's still thinking about the memory, specifically about how it ended, because that DEFINITELY didn't happen before. But, they continue and eventually find Captain Rose and blah blah blah, NOT THE POINT.

Now, during episode 116, Chip, Gil, Gryffon, and Drey find Arlin tied up by the tary substance that came from the egg at the end of the one-shot. He has been constantly raging and fighting against it, and the egg is stuck to his body, which I believe was his chest specifically. And later, Chip goes up to him and goes into Arlin's mind. Arlin mentions how a fake version of Chip was going to try to kill him, and he was still going to love him and all that shit that made me SOB when I watched the episode. But going back to the one-shot, that's how the memory Arlin had ended. So, what I'm wondering is what if Finn or Drey had failed the save? What if that was how it resulted in them being separated sporadically? Because, remember, Finn was in Canella as Apple, Drey was in the center of the B.L.O.C.K., and Arlin was in the exact same place he was when they were hit with the tar.

So, would their placements have been different depending on how well they succeeded the Wisdom save? Drey got the best result, followed by Finn, and then Arlin. And TECHNICALLY, the Riptide Pirates found Drey first in the B.L.O.C.K., turned Apple into Finn, and then found Arlin in the Black Sea. So, would the order have changed? Would they have found them in a different order? Would Finn still have turned into Apple? There are just so many other possibilities of what could've happened depending on how well the saving throws went, and I'm super curious about how they would've changed the story entirely! But yeah, that's by nearly 5 AM thought on this. I'm going to go to bed; feel free to share your thoughts lol.

[dracomusic325]

Omfg, I cannot see the words Fish & Chips normally anymore, all I can think of is the goddamn fish man and the orphan bastard who have WAY TOO MUCH ROMANTIC TENSION IN CANON-

And I can't be normal about it either, because I'll see it or hear it and I'll just think, "Oh mah gaw, Fish & Chips, like the guys from the hit D&D podcast Just Roll With It: Riptide!" It is becoming a PROBLEM- I AM TOO FNC PILLED TO LIVE MY LIFE NORMALLY ANYMORE, ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT IS GILLION TIDESTRIDER AND CHIP "BASTARD" JAMES KISSING-

Charlie and Bizly did this to themselves, istg-

[dracomusic325]

My best friend ( @ves-crow ) may or may not have gotten me into Searching For/Destroying A World That Doesn't Exist, and I may or may not still be thinking about it AND I MAY OR MAY NOT BE OBSESSED WITH ONE OF THE QUOTES

(Spoilers below cut)

"You are real. You are special. Remember who you are."

LIKE- DEREK LEFT THAT, NOT EVEN KNOWING IF AVERY WOULD END UP IN THAT AREA- AND IT'S SUCH A SPECIAL QUOTE TO ME!!

I don't know, just the image of Avery, lost in a trance, walking around planting flowers, emptying and refilling the well(s) (can't remember if there was more than one well), and drowning himself over and over again and then he stops and sees the signs and something just... clicks, and he's back to normal again.

I dunno, I'm not able to like anything Minecraft related normally at this point-

Also, the fact that Avery knew NOTHING about Derek while Derek knew EVERYTHING about Avery just- it breaks my heart! Doomed yaoi in my Minecraft ARG? More likely than you think!

Another random quote I like

"Isn't it ironic that a king loses to a lord?"

(I think that's the quote, I'm eepy and have a shitty memory, so I could just be paraphrasing-)

Okay, I'm gonna go not be normal about this Minecraft ARG/Horror thingy, bye-bye