#glubabbles

[philosplasty]

sylus in a shadow the hedgehog costume when

[philosplasty]

xavier's very first days working at the bookshop and someone comes in asking for spicy recommendations and he gives them cookbooks

[philosplasty]

raf & mc's dynamic is great bc if you had to boil it down in a tropey way it's strangers to childhood friends to strangers (onesidedly pining) to initially quietly-resentfully arranged marriage friends to lovers slow-fast burn to WIDOW and CORPSE and then strangers (one side pining knowingly, one side pining unknowingly) to lovers to [???!?!] to strangers (onesidedly wistful) to boss & bodyguard / colleagues / tactical allies (informal) to friends to mutual (initially begrudgingly on his part) piners to lovers even deeper than ever before because holy shit they finally have way more than ONE MONTH & [??] together and theyre so different overall—but through this ALL a certain mf is still destined to DIE—so then theyre strangers again then supposed to be on opposite sides again and too much else happens for there to quite be actual love but theres a bond that cannot be reduced to one term. theres a bond that cages and burns and paralyzes and grows and festers and thrives adamantly and cannot be killed even if he has to or tries (with care) in one way. theres a bond of heart n soul magic a leash as much as it's an anchor and a naturable part of themselves, begun willingly then beared through as if it were sadly lost but surprise they

they

[philosplasty]

imagine rafayel sending a seagull to check in on mc but sylus is doing the same thing with mephisto and mc glances out the window just in time to catch them trying to peck each other to oblivion

(a bird friend of xavier's secretly watches from a lot farther with less thoughts in its head)

[philosplasty]

thinking about rafayel and the process of loving mc

how in forgotten sea he only had a month (+ however long they may have known each other as kids) and her loving him was treated like a requirement but he had a resigned air to that part of it, how he wasnt supposed to love her as much as he ultimately did

how he loved sea witch mc bc she was the same mc but amnesiac but all the traits that remained and eventually returned. probably similar applied to siren's song's mc

so basically memories influence a lot of this, but he has kept an eye on linkon mc so long he ofc knows that how much even more she is different. but even then he'd know every similarity still fatefully there and memorize every new thing just as well, and even if hes way more wary about love now let alone the two-way kind he cant help craving what he was repeatedly robbed of before,

sure that surely there is an end to that cycle (and mc's cycle of being born into the most shitty situations too where ppl keep wanting to use her even after shes freed of the worst, and he does not want to be one of them as the sea demands bc it uses him doesnt care if she was manipulated into that betrayal or how he still felt (and the risks he takes are calculated) where they can at least remain alive n good company longer,

but ofc he falls all the way again bc shes so sweet and fun and strong blahblah and it's extremely better than ever but then god the world dies and more centuries pass and shes a recyclable fucking princess on philos and hes so so worn and yet-!!

[philosplasty]

rafayel the kind of guy to prefer physical art over digital but give him ms paint and a few hours with either trackpad or separate mouse and he can be like one of those mfs managing to make the most blended intricate looking masterpiece

[philosplasty]

imagine the first time rafayel sneezed

[philosplasty]

girldad rafayel in the sense his daughter is a trans girl and he gives third degree burns to whoever is weird about her

boydad rafayel in the sense he raises his son with the same options and adoration and quality time he'd give a girl

girldad rafayel caring after who turns out to be an archetypical butch lesbian into things like wrestling n racecars or whatever and he doesnt understand every single hobby but he tries hard to the same way he tries mastering n supporting mc's hobbies and he handmakes her a carabiner shaped like a fish

genderfluiddad rafayel hes like "omg theyre just like me fr"

dad rafayel whos like "whats a girldad" and mc is like "well when it's a-" and hes like "ohh i know a cool new term for dads who are girls sometimes! like others have terms like tomboy i see. i guess i am a girldad:)"

hes super careful about which environments he puts his kids in so that they dont automatically absorb weird human-majority-typical mentalities. maybe even partly homeschools them if he has the time