#***concise not considerate i’m so dumb!!!

[act-nat-ural]

Occupied

Chapter Two: The Identity Crisis

(if you want to be added to the tag list lmk!)

chapter 1 \\\ chapter 3

You feel your blood turn to ice. It wasn’t just dumb luck that brought these men to your door, it was a thought-out destination. You narrow your eyes at the man, suspicious of his tone.

“I’m the one who should be asking you that, sir. I’m house-sitting for him. Now, what the hell are You doing here?” You say impatiently. It was easy to forget that they were intruding on you due to the commotion of the bleeding man on your table, yet you remember that they haven’t even properly introduced themselves nor explained their presence.

Two of the men make eye contact with each other, the other nodding in some type of confirmation. The one you were speaking to, the one with the facial hair, raises a single eyebrow at you.

“Enough of the intimidation, miss. It's not going to work with me, so let's drop it and have a civil conversation. Now, if we were to phone Mr. Baker would he confirm your story?”

Ohhhh shit.

No, no he wouldn’t. He doesn’t know you are here, he thinks Eliza is the one house-sitting. You would try to explain the situation but you aren’t sure that these men would believe you. Should you lie? No, you’re almost certain you would get caught in a lie. You can feel the sweat dripping down your neck. You need to think of something and quickly.

You decide the best course of action is to tell the truth. Technically, you haven’t done anything wrong. You still haven’t forgotten that you don’t even know why you have your explain yourself to these men, but you will get your answers soon enough. You must’ve taken too long to get your thoughts in order because by the time you get ready to speak the man in front of you is looking awfully impatient.

“No. No, Adam doesn’t know I’m here.” You state, slowly and concisely. He narrows his eyes at you and goes to speak but you cut him off. You explain the situation and how his sister said you could stay there in her stead, how you are a friend of the family. You look around while you speak, not wishing to gaze straight into his scrutinizing glare. That’s when it catches your eye.

Aha.

You grin and step around him, careful not to walk into the small blood puddle that’s formed on the floor. Damn, you weren’t looking forward to cleaning that up. You reach the wall on the opposite side of the room and snatch the picture frame straight off the shelf. Universal Studios, 2019. Eliza’s family had taken pity on you due to your not having been before and brought you along on their trip. Luckily, there was photo evidence.

“Here.” You hand the framed photo to him, pointing at your grainy face. “That’s me.” He visibly relaxes and hands you the photograph back.

“Sorry for the interrogation, love. You can never be too sure about these types of things.” He apologizes, appearing to be sincere. He’s softened up considerably since you confirmed who you were.

“Thas’ it? She could still be a bloody stalker, cap. Breakin’ into the poor man’s home or somethin’. Lass seems to be the type.” The man on the table slurs out. You scoff. What the hell is wrong with these people? Where are their goddamn manners?

“Listen, buddy, I am most certainly not a stalker. And I’m not the one who’s laying on someone else’s table bleeding out, and not saying why they’re here!” You exclaim, exasperated.

“‘m not bleeding out anymore, hen.” He grins wolfishly, gesturing to his stitches. “Glad to ken you care about little ol’ me.” You just huff and roll your eyes in response. 

“Is someone going to clean that up? Because I don’t think it should have to be me.” You ask, referring to the mess on the tiles. “Also, you still haven’t said your names and what you are doing here.”

The man that the others refer to as captain sighs and nods. “Alright. We’ll explain. Could you show ‘im where you keep the bleach?” He asks of you, nodding his head to the masked man. Jesus, you almost forgot about him. It was hard not to with how quiet he was.

You nod silently and head to the laundry room out towards the back of the house. He follows closely and silently, not attempting to make any type of small talk. You bring him to the cabinet containing the cleaning fluids.

“I’m not exactly sure where it is, I haven’t needed it yet.” You explain a little shyly. He just nods and gets on his knees, searching the small cabinet. You almost don’t notice the blood seeping out of his upper thigh, eyes widening in realization.

“Oh my god! I can get it, just sit down!” He pauses for a moment before listening, sitting off to the side. You find and grab the bleach, quickly closing the cabinet doors. You face him and say, “I’ll go fetch your friend with the first aid kit, alright? Just… don’t bleed on the floor.” He does nothing but grunt in confirmation.

You speed walk down the hallway, bleach in hand. You wouldn’t normally be in such a hurry but you aren’t exactly sure how long his leg wound has been open for. However, when you reach the door to the dining room you hesitate. You can hear the others having a heated discussion in the other room.

“Captain, please listen to me. Telling her our names could have serious consequences. What if someone were to get a hold of her and question her? No offense, but the girl doesn’t look like she can keep a secret.” You hear one voice plead. Offense taken.

“Gaz, I hear you, but she’s seen our faces already. We knew the risks heading here and we did so anyway. Besides, don’t think we’ll be leaving here so quickly. Soap isn’t going anyway with that gash in ‘im and we both know Ghost had a hole in his leg.”

Soap? Ghost? Gaz? What the hell are these names?

You are about to interrupt when you feel the familiar sensation of someone staring and burning into the back of your head. You turn and see nothing but black. You crane your neck up and see a skull staring down at you.

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II | November 16, 2008 - 11:30PM | Special

Time for more re-re comedy for gay nerds. Hey--HEY! That wasn’t very nice. Don’t say stuff like that! Okay. I am sorry. I forgive you. Thanks. 

Robot Chicken Star Wars! It’s one of my least favorite things. I ain’t never seen this stuff, and I wish I didn’t decide I had to watch it for a blog that no one reads. I wonder if I will do an exhaustive breakdown of each sketch? Um… HOW ABOUT NO. This shit sucks and just because it’s segmented doesn’t mean I have to be! Segmented, I mean.

Okay, so here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna rank my top three and bottom three sketches. This is going to be very hard, because I don’t like any of them, really. And, because I don’t like any of them, really, I will likely just be picking stuff borderline at random. Also, I skipped over some real short ones for consideration cuz who cares. Here, both lists are worst to best. 

BOTTOM THREE (WORST TO LEAST-WORST) 

Luke's Lack of Perspective. This is the one where Leia scolds Luke for being sad about Obi-wan dying because her whole planet was vaporized. The premise is lame, and also they cast the real Carrie Fisher, who has old lady voice and sounds nothing like her younger self. You can tell they pitched her up a little to try and make up for it. It’s just distracting, and the sketch isn’t even worth recasting.

AT-AT Drag Race. I couldn’t even really make much sense of this one. There’s a weird edit in it that I remember thinking implied that it was a dream? Which it wasn’t, obviously, it just was edited awkwardly and the joke is just “wouldn’t it be funny if guys raced AT-ATs?" and who gives a fuck. I did like the visual of the AT-AT clicking it’s heels, though.

Going Out Like a Punk. This is the one where Uhh. I forgot his name, no really. I almost typed “Cowboy Bebop.” The bounty hunter guy that everyone loves just because he has a cool name that I forget what it even is. Bop-Bop Peranu, I think it is. Anyway, he’s in the Sarlac pit (I remembered that no prob) and talking about how he didn’t go out like a chump. This one seems like it’s aimed squarely at annoying dorks who think they’re clever for making the same observation. I watch television to get away from shitheads like this! Cartoons, mostly, but still! 

[EVERY OTHER SKETCH IS TIED FOR THE MIDDLE]

TOP THREE (WORST TO FIRST)

 Palpatine's Trip. Depicting Palpatine's annoying travels to the Deathstar, paralleling the annoyances of regular Earthly air travel. He gets annoyed by the chair placement in the throne room, and as indignities mount he says, to some one, “here, watch me tempt fate. (mock exasperation) could this day get any worse? (casually) I think I’m safe, because I said that ironically.” The punchline is he gets tossed by Vader, like at the end of Star Wars: The Last Crusade. I just really like the tempting fate/irony joke!

Anakin's Happy Place. Decent premise depicting Anakin slaying children at the end of Episode III. It's the darkest scene in all of Star Wars, and I was fine with what they did with it here. The joke at the end is a little dumb, but it’s fine. It’s Robot Chicken.

Mouse Droid. My favorite, because I could imagine making a fan-edit of the original Star Wars with zero changes except you add the insert shots of the little mouse guy driving the droid. I like when mice drive stuff. That's basically the only reason I liked this.

This has an “extended” version available, but I just watched the version on HBOMax. This is probably worse than the first special, but I don’t want to think about it too long. All of these sketches are dumb as shit and for dorks, which I DEFINITELY am not one of. Go to hell!

EPHEMERA CORNER

Clerks: The Animated Series (November 14, 2008 - 11:00PM)

This could very easily be a whole goddamn thing. It will probably be longer than other EPHEMERA CORNERs, but I’ll still try to be concise. Clerks the Animated Series was an animated spin-off of Clerks, the scrappy, vulgar, independent comedy from Kevin Smith. It’s cult success lead to him inexplicably having a career, including two direct movie sequels to clerks. This cartoon only lasted six episodes, two of which aired on ABC. They came out on DVD shortly after, with a racist audio commentary track for every episode.

I literally taped the Super Bowl because a website reported that the Clerks Cartoon was going to get a commercial during it. I diligently taped the two episodes that did air. ABC decided to air the fourth episode, which was a parody of courtroom dramas (and had a very funny non-sequitur ending allegedly completed by the Korean animators without any input from the American writers). After that they decided to air the second episode, which heavily referenced the first episode. It’s main concept was that it was a clip show, and Dante and Randal spent a significant portion of the episode flashing back only to the first episode, which hadn’t actually aired. 

The show was a fairly typical animated comedy of it’s time. The vulgarity was tamped down in favor of absurdist gags and cultural references. Mostly, it worked. There were some really funny ideas, and the commentary tracks had some really fun tidbits about planned episodes that never happened. Honestly, if I weren’t already privy to the doomed nature of the show, or we lived in the alternate dimension where this was allowed to continue for multiple seasons, I would probably aspire to write for this thing. With a few exceptions, the humor was even more on my wavelength than Kevin Smith’s movies.

Weirdly, I don’t think I ever actually watched this show on Adult Swim. I remembered it as a Comedy Central acquisition. When Adult Swim first aired, I really admired the fact that one could watch Fox’s Sunday Night cartoon line-up, switch to Adult Swim, and then when Adult Swim was over you could switch to Comedy Central and watch reruns of South Park, Duckman, and this. It was a real special time to have cable. Hot damn.

I really do wish this lasted longer. Deserved at least half the success of Family Guy. In my ideal world, this show takes off and Kevin Smith stops making movies. He only revisits the "canon" View Askewinverse in occasional comic book mini-series. You ever read his comics? His writing style comes off better in those, I think.

PLEDGE: The currently-ignored Adult Swim 2022 blog will return on some kind of non-daily schedule. I’ll finish out Baby Blues, and then do this. Happy, KON?? 

MAIL BAG

Time for some mail. Good lord. 

you gotten the adult swim 2021 group dm all riled up about xtacles. are you gonna do anything to fan these flames???

I dropped some bombs Hulk style, and things seem to be under control. You are right, they were out of line and it pissed me off!

dino and scott are excellent as mr burns would say. i forgive anything in their problematic past as long as they become the banner, ta ta for now

Despite the fact that one of them was nice to me once, and the other one made out with my friend (which is arguably also nice), I simply can’t. I like racist stuff, so I’m keeping the Minor Guys or whatever that show was called. Bye!

cahpo

?

so far it seems the only shows you like are space ghost, assy mcgee, and xtacles. i guess venture bros and morel orel made you cry, if that's a good thing. Anyway, just a like observation from this looky loo. Bye!

It is sorta fucked up that a TV show can make people cry. Should be illegal. But, hey, look out for the end of the year when I rerank all the Adult Swim shows. BYE!

and we say bye bye now

Bye bye! 

Bye bye!

Goodbye.

[pigeonplays]

i have so many thoughts about EA’s statement abt paywalled content, some of which conflict. something really needed to be done about completely unreasonable “early access” content (like a month or more for a public release??) perma paywalled cc, creators tracking and doxxing those who distributed the files. i think we forget that at the end of the day a lot of this community is young people, charging 20 bucks for 1 cc set is morally disgusting esp when the people paying these are probably mainly teenagers/college aged people, & EA is already bleeding us dry.

but also it sucks this will hurt modders who actually make the game so much better and put in so much effort (like lumpinou or cc creators releasing entire sets w very reasonable early access) i think the takes like “why did they ever depend on this as a job” etc are kind of hurtful, specifically abt people who actually put work in. i’m not talking abt slight mesh edits and stolen meshes,, but idk making mods & cc do take legitimately so much time and work, as a hopefully future artist who is hopefully going to be largely dependent on like youtube ad revenue, and very possibly something like Patreon, it is a little disappointing to see takes like “get a real job.” it makes it really clear people just don’t value specific type of work bc they don’t see it as legitimate. but it is totally possible i’m letting my future goals paint that view.

but also i’m equally tired of every single post on my dash being a early access piece of cc i wouldn’t get for weeks, and overall i think my take is just that i hate it ever got to this point. i wish that we never monitiezed this hobby community so deeply. i miss exchanging free cc on simblreen and when it felt like the biggest simblrs on the platform cared about the game, before they all just became patreon cc creators who only post when they’re promoting a cc pack. this isn’t meant to @ anybody in particular (except creators like f*lix and s*xam and others like that, fuck those guys fr.) but really just my late night musing abt how this community has changed since i first joined and a bit of sadness for the implications this will have on mod creators who are legit the saving grace to my game, but also that i’m glad that we finally will have some system for the really exploitive people. and some apprehension that this will actually stop those people and not just prevent aforementioned modders who do work hard.

[putseraphinaonthaphone]

Groupchat pt. I

CW// recreational drug use, group sex, poly dynamics, virgin reader, queer reader who uses she/her pronouns and feminine descriptors, intoxicated sex

It was an interesting group of friends that you had. Well, 'friends' was a stretch, but you had a groupchat. The name was simply 'fuckers' because for some reason Bakugou was allowed to name the chat. You had the same group of stoners you ended up partying with every weekend, getting high off the strongest shit you could buy and letting loose to work off the stress of the week. It was cliche but true, you blew off steam getting high and dancing like a slut-- self care. Somehow it had evolved to more of a four person party that wasn't really a party, but you played music, smoked, and the boys watched you dance while devouring the healthy but tasty food you prepared because when you're high everything tastes 100 times better and you'd been on a restricted diet because of your chronic health issues since you were a teenager. When you'd explained this in the group chat, the most concise response you got was "so you'll cook for us?" Stoners were just your people honestly. Or maybe it was these stoners.

Bakugou mellowed out considerably after a few blunts, and he offered to blow up whoever made you cry the first time you met coming out of a party to smoke after you had a call with your best friend from back home. He'd told you that your dynamic as friends only worked if he was single. You didn't know if you'd ever have another friend like him. And there was Bakugou, offering you a blunt and violence that seemed like just the kind of friendship you craved in that moment.

Shinsou was one of the few people who came to the party simply to find people to smoke with. He rarely talked, but he was really good company you thought. He always brought indica strains-- your personal favorite as well as his you found out. Sometimes you guys talked about how it was cruel to have so many dreams but so little energy to pursue them. Sometimes you guys went back to his place and smoked yourself into a sleepy haze that always ended up in the warmest cuddles you've ever experienced.

Dabi had a viper's tongue and an even worse attitude than Bakugou. But he was cool, you bumped into him at a party when you were looking for another smoker to borrow a light from. You were feeling caustic after a phone call from home. "You got a lighter bro?" He seemed a bit amused by your masculine energy wrapped in a lush femme presenting form, like he was relieved to finally seeing someone interesting. "You look like you got all sorts of daddy issues, why haven't we met before?" His tone was both flirtatious and condescending at the time. "Whatever gave it away?" You snorted as you lit up your blunt, white grape game wrappers. But your tone was flirtatous as well as you handed your blunt to him, "We're meeting now. To shitty dads who deserve to sleep in the bed they made."

Shoto was the anomaly. You saw him around your department, guessing he was an upperclassman in your major. And one day he was at Dabi's place when you all got together to celebrate finally getting an off campus hangout spot. Apparently Dabi was an old friend, kind of like an older brother to Shoto. They definitely had a thing going on, but thinking about it too long made your face burn. His preppy appearance was shattered when he wore a short sleeve shirt instead of his usual button downs, and you saw the traditional japanese tattoos that made a full sleeve in white ink. You also noticed his silver gauges that were almost hidden by his white hair and when he pushed his hair back you saw more piercings on his ears. But when he smoked you under the table you decided you were almost in love.

If you happened to hope that one day at least one of the hot but dumb fuckers you smoked with took the hint of your many personal dance shows and fucked you, that was no one's business but your own.

You worked through the week, bullshitting assignments- but well because you were a fucking genius in your field, and on friday you decided to just wear a bra, shorts and an over shirt to the party with a beanie on your shaved head to complete the look. The pregame was at Shoto and Dabi's place this time, a short walk if you thought about the liquor and weed waiting for you. You weren't prepared for the brisk wind to meet you when you stepped out of your dorm.

"Hoes don't get cold." You chanted under your breath as you started walking. Your construction boots kept your feet warm, but the black booty shorts that were frayed at the edges left your lush thighs and your entire legs exposed to the cold wind. But after a few more minutes of walking you gave up- you weren't a good enough hoe, and you were cold. So you bit the bullet and put into the group chat:

smokerdeepthroat 11:19pm

Someone come pick me up, I'm freezing my literal ass off.

blueflamer 11:22pm

Walk bitch.

boomboi 11:24

Cash gas or ass, you know the drill.

smokerdeepthroat 11:25

Y'all can run a train on my ass if someone just picks me up before I freeze to death.

sleepystoner, icyhot, boomboi, blueflamer | read

Shit. You hadn't actually meant to send that. And of course the one time Shinsou checks the chat had to be now. "Fuckers," you grumbled under your breath. At this point it was almost like calling them your boys in a fond tone, and that thought had you almost puking onto the concrete. The fact that you were blushing was completely irrelevant.

Before you could freak out too much- internally of course, you were not going to be caught simping with one of them on the way to pick you up- you heard the familiar roar of Bakugou's car coming down the street. The bass of his emo ass rock music shook the street and you were climbing into the car before he could yell at you to get your ass inside.

You might have moaned at the heated seats, rubbing your hands over your freezing thighs. "Thanks Bakubro. It's cold as fuck and I was too excited to pregame to bring a jacket."

"A jacket isn't the problem. Your ass is hanging out." His words as usual were followed by a plume of smoke. His crimson eyes trailed over your body and a heated smirk curved his lips. "But that just means easier access for us."

"Y'all dusty ass hoes know I was joking-" You tried to bluff, tried to deflect with bravado as you took the blunt from him. But your hands shook, and Bakugou met your gaze with a quiet intensity that was somehow worse than his explosions.

"You dance like you need a dick in you. And only for us. We waited for you to make your choice, but this is less complicated." Damn it, he was smoking the horny weed. But if you were honest all weed was horny weed to your squad. There was an eroticism in the craving just one more hit. Just one more epic high. Just one more shudder of pleasure, as touching yourself to the thought of the boy's eyes on you when you got back to your dorm was as much a part of your friday night ritual as the weed.

Whenever you started smoking you felt yourself happily descending into hedonism. Bakugou's voice certainly wasn't helping. Your throat was impossibly dry- from the smoke, from desire- as you admitted quietly,

"I'm a virgin." You weren't going to apologize, compromise or argue. It was a statement and he could take it or leave it.

Bakugou wasn't an idiot. But he also was a possessive bastard in a way that made you wet even though you rolled your eyes at it.

"I'll make it good for you when I pop your cherry. I met you first, I'll take you first. I got you." It wasn't a promise, it was confident statement you knew he would stop at nothing to make a reality. His relentlessness was something that drew you to him in the first place if you told yourself the truth. He shifted gears smoothly and rested his warm hand on your bare thigh as he drove you back to the off campus house. You smoked half the blunt listening to his music and getting wet from his hands wandering higher and higher up your thigh.

You walked in to the house and realized how much you'd underestimated how serious Bakugou's words were. It seemed like it was a long time coming when you walked into Dabi's low lit living room to find him with his hand on Shoto's dick, Shoto's hand on his, and Shinsou lazily palming himself.

"It's about time you got here, you can't just drop shit like that in the chat when you're not here to bend over for us." Shoto's white and red hair was a mess, and given that it looked like the two of them were edging each other (sadists), his fucked out face made sense.

"She's a virgin, Icy Hot, you're gonna have to wait. I gotta open her up first." You in the mean time were going to start the music while smoking a bit hurriedly, hoping you were well and truly high before they actually started to run a train on you.

"Play the dick down playlist." Shinsou rasped from the couch and you wanted to cry at the head assery you had to put up with from these morons. (/s) But they're your morons, some lonely part of you whispered.

"It actually better have good music on it." You griped, but yeah, you were feeling the impact of whatever Bakugou had given you to smoke because your words weren't as harsh as you meant them to be.

"I call dibs on her ass cherry." Dabi's low voice cut throat the soft grunts from Shoto.

"Next time." Bakugou muttered watching the way you started to dance, having shed your overshirt to simply dance in your shorts and bra. None of the boys danced with you, a rule you'd had to put in place when they literally started fighting like children over who's turn it was to dance with you. Somehow it hadn't gotten better, these jealous bitches would sulk if you didn't give them all equal attention during your provocative performance. You solved this by closing your eyes and not looking at any of them while you let your body follow the nasty beat of the playlist. Sometimes you murmured lyrics if you remembered them and all four men were enraptured by the sight of you surrounded by smoke and dancing like a ancient goddess that could command them all in an instant.

It was moments like these that made you think maybe you were all a little more than friends by now. More than just groupchat contacts. But friends. Maybe more?

The blunt you finished yourself, until you were light headed and craving more. More music, more bass to move your hips too, maybe something to move your hips against. You didn't hesitate when Bakugou patted his thighs.

In fact, the weed in your system convinced you it only made sense to take your shorts off before straddling him. Better that than having to stop just when you're finally getting what you want right? You forgot you were just wearing some lace boyshorts with pale pink roses framing your luscious curves and dusky skin until you heard;

"Slutty girl." It was a groan as Shoto's grip on Dabi's cock tightened from the view of your fat ass sitting on Bakugou's lap.

"Nah, not yet. She's just needy." Katsuki smirked when you blushed from his words, even as you started grinding down on him in revenge. The choked moan that escaped him and the cocky glare you turned on all of them made all of them crave you that much more.

"You're needy to fuck me too, you all are. Don't forget that, explosion bitch."

"Point made. But watch it, little girl. It's gonna be a long night." His words were low and raspy from smoke, and even thought it should have been a threat your pussy gushed and soaked your panties anyway.

Four pairs of eyes watched your every move, drinking in the sight of you half naked, boldly staking your claim on all of them-- which only made them want to return the favor. Claiming you over and over until you wouldn't deny you belonged to them.

A long night, huh?

To be continued.....

[ruined-my-dramatic-entrance]

Hat’s Off to You

Platonic fluff, a bit silly or OOC but not a crackfic lol, 1659 words TW: S!Janus

“What’s going on here?” Patton asked as he popped up.

 After rolling his eyes and a moment of hesitation, Virgil replied, “Princey brought up some dumb idea about Janus having some weird secret hidden under his hat and now he and Logan are debating it.”

 “Well, what’s all hat about?” the moral side inquired further with a grin.

 Though Patton had expected Virgil to at least smirk at this, the latter instead protested, “Please, just get them to stop for now or something…”

 “Okay, kiddo. Sorry about Pat — uh, I mean that,” Patton corrected himself quickly before turning his attention to the other two.

 “I still think it’s probably something weird and evil, like some devil’s horns or — or pointed ears,” Roman insisted, gesturing to the vague areas that those body parts would be placed on himself.

 “If Janus were to be hiding something underneath his hat — which I still have very significant doubts about — then it would probably be a result of his half-snake composition, such as a lack of hair on that side of his head, covered by scales,” Logan chimed in with an even tone.

 “Well, yeah, maybe, but it still could be something… much more sinister that reveals how Thomas truly visualizes Deceit in his mind,” the prince suggested with a deep curiosity.

 “Wouldn’t that be you, Roman?” Patton asked with an innocent smile.

 “Wha—? No, I’m not a liar! I’m an actor but I am not Deceit,” Roman dismissed, clearly offended.

 “No, that’s not what I meant, and I was talking about Janus, not evil,” Patton said, subtly reminding Roman to be kinder about the side in question. “I meant that the way Thomas views Deceit as a concept would be your creativity, kiddo,” he explained.

 Roman paused for a moment. “I… suppose you’re right,” he agreed.

 “That would make sense, though it would still have the influence of how Thomas feels about the concept of Deceit in genera—” Logan tried to elaborate, but was cut off by Roman.

 “By Artemis’s beautiful bow, I think I know!” the creative side exclaimed with a wide gesture.

 “You’ve… decided on a guess?” Logan prompted, frowning slightly in curiosity and pushing his glasses backwards as he scanned Roman with his eyes.

 “Oh, brother, what is it now?” Virgil groaned, pulling his hood up over his head.

 “That’s the spirit! What do you think, Roman?” Patton encouraged excitedly.

 “Wolf ears,” Roman answered simply, as if the answer was obvious.

 “Uh… might’ve misheard you there, Kiddo,” Patton fretted, leaning in a bit closer in hopes of understanding Roman’s words better.

 “That… is an interesting guess. I suppose I could see some reasoning for this,” Logan mused, placing his knuckle against his lips in thought.

 “Please tell me you’re not actually considering this, dude,” Virgil pleaded, pulling his sleeves over his hands.

 “No, no, I’m serious!” Roman persisted, holding out his hands in a “wait” gesture. “From my best understanding of how Thomas views deception, he gets consistently stuck on the phrase ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ and sometimes he imagines liars as having certain wolf traits,” he finally explained. “Though, he usually only does that past 3am,” he added with a slight shrug before looking towards the rest of the group for approval.

 “In addition to that, Janus does seem to... work alone, if you will, with his varying goals for Thomas — a lone wolf, perhaps,” Logan elaborated, “Wolves are also regarded for their intelligence and have very complicated social dynamics, maybe tying into Janus’s ability to use charisma to his advantage. Symbolically, wolves are also regarded as confident, which he definitely exhibits.”

 “Come on, you don’t actually think Janus would have something as… as stupid as that,” Virgil disagreed, rubbing the back of his neck. Logan narrowed his eyes at the way he stumbled over his words.

 “Virgil, I expected you to be less… concerned about this matter — furthermore, to mock him for it,” the logical side deduced, tilting his head slightly in confusion. “So… either you’re embarrassed about something similar or something is wrong here,” he declared, causing the room to fall silent for a few seconds.

 “What’s wrong with Virge, Logan? Don’t just leave it all… ominous like that! It’s scary,” Patton fretted, looking at the side in question with worry.

 At that moment, Virgil showed up, shoving aside the “Virgil” that had been there before, who was pushed into the wall and reverted back into his true form.

 “Did someone say ‘scary?’” Virgil asked nonchalantly, giving Patton a quick glance before returning to glaring at Janus.

 “Deceit!!” Logan yelled, pointing at Janus.

 “Yes, yes, we’ve noticed, Logan, no need to sound the alarm, especially not so loudly,” Janus remarked.

 “Virgil!” Patton and Roman exclaimed in unison with smiles.

 “What was he doing here? What did he say?” Virgil asked, voice serious and impatient.

 “Nothing much! Since I got here, he was just denying some of Roman and Logan’s theories about what’s under his hat,” Patton recounted.

 “Yes, padre is right; that’s all the snake has done, nothing particularly evil or sinister,” Roman confirmed with a slight nod as if his valiant watch had kept Janus in check, whereas in reality he hadn’t really noticed.

 Virgil snickered. “You mean ‘cause he’s insecure about this?” he asked with a mischievous smile as he managed to snatch Janus’s hat, revealing a pair of… dark wolf ears.

 “Hah! I knew it! I called it! That was me, I was right. Got it before Logan,” Roman announced proudly before clearing his throat awkwardly and growing quiet to listen.

 “Only because it was your interpretation of symbolism,” Logan muttered under his breath, petty.

 “Aww, you’re like a teddy bear!” Patton commented with a gasp, “Or a puppy! Why would you hide this? We wouldn’t make fun of you for something so cute and nonthreatening!” He paused suddenly, realizing that he had just spoken the exact reason. “Ohh…” He grimaced slightly in guilt.

 “Yes, well, isn’t this lovely. This is exactly what I wanted, Virgil, thank you,” Janus complained in annoyance, shooting the man in question a pointed look. “It’s obvious that this is totally a part of myself that I like and wanted to share with the group.”

 “Janus, we won’t make fun of you for it, especially if you’re so insecure about it,” Patton reassured, looking around the room for agreement and receiving nods from everyone… as well as muffled snickers from Roman and Virgil.

 “Grandma, what big ears you have,” Roman murmured quietly under his breath, unable to resist the temptation.

 “What does it matter anyway? It’s clear I’m viewed as but a beast or a — a monstrous creature. Why would words make that any different?” Janus retorted to Patton, both his eyes and his phrasing giving away his hidden sadness.

 “Well, Janus, you of all sides should understand the power that words can hold,” Logan reminded tersely.

 “Regardless, Thomas could have at least chosen something scarier rather than just… an amalgamation of different animal symbols out of confusion,” Janus griped, gesturing into the air in frustration.

 “Weird is better than scary if it’s constant. Trust me on this one,” Virgil insisted, though his expression turned to one of slight… sympathy?

 “Trust isn’t exactly my strong suit,” Deceit responded, casting an unpleasant glance across the rest of the room. “I wonder why?” he added sarcastically.

 “It’s not my department either but…” Virgil trailed off, sighing. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this to you of all people,” he muttered. “But… I know what it’s like to feel different and unnecessary and — and like you’re built to just be weird, to just be the outcast,” he admitted, avoiding looking into the half-snake’s eyes. “I know what it’s like but… it’s not like that here, not with them. Not with us,” he assured, fiddling with his sleeves.

 “I think we all owe Janus an apology,” Patton pointed out. “I’m sorry for not respecting your privacy,” he said, looking at the aforementioned man with empathy.

 “I apologize for my earlier behavior. I was curious but not considerate,” Logan chimed in concisely.

 “I… suppose I’m sorry too,” Roman agreed, though he opened his mouth to say something else and closed it a moment later.

 “I guess I shouldn’t have… done that,” Virgil mumbled, handing Janus his hat back. “But you shouldn’t have impersonated me either.”

 “Very well, very well… I’m sorry for taking your place and deceiving you,” Janus replied, “though it did take them quite a while to catch on…”

 “It is indeed odd that Janus’s impersonation of you is much more accurate than of me or Patton,” Logan commented, frowning again in contemplation.

 “And that Virgil already knew about Janus’s ears,” Roman added, looking at Virgil in confusion.

 “Well, I —” Virgil began nervously.

 “— The little brat has done this before, you see,” Janus excused as he interrupted the anxious side. “It was terribly irritating,” he recalled about the false event, examining his nails through his gloves. “And yes, I’m afraid that the emo is the simplest to mimic -- it’s dreadfully easy,” he mocked, though said emo looked up at him when he realized that Janus had just… covered for him and his past as a dark side. That was not anywhere near what Virgil had expected.

 “Ah, that would make sense,” Logan accepted with a slight nod.

 “I, for one, still can’t decide whether his fluffy little ears are scary or, uh, adorable,” Roman admitted.

 Janus scoffed and examined his nails through his glove. “If you’re disturbed by this, wait until you find out what Remus hides under his mustache,” he pointed out.

 After a beat of silence, every other side in the room turned to him in a mixture of surprise, fear, and disgust, all exclaiming some variation of “hold up,” “wait,” or “what?!” Except for Patton, who simply remarked, “Well, I suppose we must-ask him later” with a chuckle.

[lady-griffin]

I Entered a Dangerous Dungeon

Acchan’s Story

Acchan’s story was very touching and sad. I thought the anime did a great job adapting her POV chapters concisely into this episode.

I love the scene of Acchan reading Past Katarina’s last text message and breaking down crying.

That got me right in the feels.

One slight criticism, is that in the Light Novel we learn that because of Past Katarina, Acchan has made many friends and is able to live on without her best friend. Because of the positive impact Past Katarina had on her life and how much she changed it for the better. 

So, while in the anime, Acchan does say she will live on without her best-friend, I feel like it doesn’t come across as strongly as it did in the Light Novel.

That being said. I thought Acchan’s story went really well with the flow of the episode.

In LN Vol.2 her POV honestly felt disruptive and broke the flow of the story for me. So definite kudos to the anime for fixing that.

The text message scene got me, but so did Past Katarina’s funeral.

It’s easy to forget, with Katarina’s silliness, density and antics, that she died tragically young in her former life. 

So well done on the anime’s part for hitting me right in the heart with that reminder.

--

Sadness and friendship aside. I like how Fortune Lover appears in Katarina’s Past Life.

The poster on Acchan’s wall gives the impression that Prince Geordo and Prince Alan are the two main love interests or the more primary capture-targets. 

As they are more front and center than Keith and Nicol.

But since this is Katarina’s story, Keith takes precedent over Alan because of his closer proximity and relationship to Katarina.

There’s also something I really like about Past Katarina struggling to succeed in the Prince Geordo route in the game and technically dying because of it. 

It feels like her new life is good karma or the universe trying to make it up to her…so to speak

As in Katarina’s new life she easily wins over Prince Geordo without even trying and by being herself. Hell, she doesn’t even notice that he’s in love with her or that anyone else is. 

I’m probably looking way more into that detail than is actually needed, but I just like that small detail to Katarina and Geordo’s relationship.

The Exam Plot

Sophia want to see Katarina after her sad dream (memories) was very sweet and touching. I just love their friendship and how it has cross time, worlds and lives. It’s beautiful.  

I don’t think the Exam Plot is from the Light Novels (6-9) and it wasn’t in the manga or Light Novels (1-5). 

So, kudos to the Anime for introducing this exam plot and exploring more of the academic life for Katarina and her friends.

I loved their school uniforms for the exam.

It was nice seeing them in the same outfits and they all look pretty damn good in them. 

I don’t know why I really like their uniforms so much, but I really do. I just really do.

As much as I love their day-to-day outfits, I would not be mad if this was their school uniform and what we saw them in for the majority of the time. 

But that’s probably just me. 

Katarina is 100% right about the insanity of this exam.

--

But thanks to this crazy exam we got to see more magic and it was great.

I’ve always felt like the Light Novels and the Manga didn’t elaborate or explore on this being a magical world and the fact that all of our main characters have magic (at least in the First Year/Game Arc). The later novels (3-5) do elaborate a bit further. 

In Fortune Lover, it’s clear that magic was just a mechanic in the game to explain why all these characters were in the same school and a slight twist to making Maria different and special, as well as make Fortune Lover different from other Otome games.

And if I’m not mistakes Katarina even says the same thing about Fortune Lover. 

Fortune Lover gave a limited view of this world. Even when it came to Maria Campbell’s life and background, but the actual Hamefura story explores the world to a much greater extent.

So, it always seemed liked a wasted opportunity not to do the same with magic.

As it never really felt that magic matters for certain characters at all. 

For example in the Light Novels’ Character Profiles -- Sophia is said to have Earth magic and Raphael is said to have Light Magic…

But clearly that doesn’t really matter, because the anime (and maybe manga) can easily change their original types of magic to Wind Magic (I’m assuming it was Raphael who used that wind-tunnel to save Sophia and Katarina). 

HOWEVERE, there does seem to be a mistake in Sophia’s profile as it’s just Katarina’s in regards to her likes, dislikes, etc. 

Sophia’s Profile in Vol.5 (english-translation) is more than likely wrong in regards to her magic. Which might mean Raphael’s magic in his profile is also wrong. 

So, we should take that into consideration. 

My point being that I’m very happy that the anime is taking different route with how it handles magic in comparison to the LN/Manga. 

It’s been a huge improvement.

--

Katarina is so fucking dumb (I love her). 

Not only does she push the red button on the floor without even thinking about it for even a second, but in addition, her contributing to the group with her earth-bump was hilarious and adorable. 

Plus, her picking the most poisonous mushrooms that ever existed was just so stupid and so amazing.  

I also love how both Mary and Sophia are pretty fucking dumb when it comes to Katarina (and really only when it comes to her).

Mary is fully prepared to eat deadly mushrooms as long as Katarina is the one who prepares them and Sophia just hops right on board.

And Sophia was really the only who was genuinely complimenting Katarina for her earth-bump move in the exam. Which is just so sweet and also so dumb.

I love the three of them so goddamn much + Maria being the only one of the girls not willing to the deadly mushrooms. 

While I am a bit disappointed that Katarina’s videogame knowledge wasn’t of any use to her in the exam, I did genuinely love Geordo pushing her towards the the path they decided to take. 

I also enjoyed Alan saving Mary and her slighty blushing and him looking slighty embarassed as well. 

I will say I was disappointed that we only really saw the boys be capable during the exam, not any of the girls. Except for when Sophia helped Nicol locate Katarina…but still.

And of course, Katarina found the magic-stone because she needed a tool to help her gather mushrooms. That’s 100% Katarina. Though, a part of would have prefer it if Katarina was very knowledgable about plants in general and knew that those mushrooms were deadly. (either way it works for me)

And the one councilmember in her head (happy) seeing a lizard as food was fucking fantastic. 

I love the noble girls being jealous of Katarina and talking about her. 

It’s nice seeing them before the big accusation scene happens. Just by showing the noble girls being mad and jealous of Katarina feels more organic to the story.

Plus, Maria noticing the Dark Magic behind Katarina. 

I’m very happy with the past two ‘filler’ episodes building up to the two big climatic scenes and events.

--

The main problem I had with this episode is that - 

The Exam Makes No Sense…

I know that not unusual for anime or plenty of other stories, but the exam really makes no sense.

Aside from one group, basically everyone else is basically set up to fail. Right?

If you find the magic stone than you pass. If you don’t find the (one) magic stone, then you fail. 

The exam isn’t really testing what they’ve learned or improved upon. 

It’s more based on luck and the amount of magical power one has. 

Which seems unfair, as we know that a good portion of the magic population is closer to Katarina’s level of power than Keith’s, at least in LN, but maybe it’s different in the anime (or maybe I read the LN wrong).

I guess it’s possible that even though the team that finds the magic stone automatically passes, the other teams can pass based on how they navigated through the ruins...maybe. That would make more sense.

Though, it’s very possible that Alan, Mary, and Maria didn’t pass the practical exam because they weren’t on Katarina’s team.

And while I doubt that will be addressed later in the anime - If Alan, Mary and Maria actually failed the practical exam then that would be a great reason for why they arrived late during the accusation scene.

They weren’t there because they had to retake the practical exam or do another one.

So, even if the anime doesn’t say that’s the reason, that’s going to be my headcanon for right now.

ALSO

The teachers literally split the top students of the entire grade into two separate groups…

I’m not exaggerating. 

The students who get picked to be on the Student Council (the harem) are the ones who ranked the highest in the evaluation exam at the beginning of the school year.

First Year Rankings

1. Geordo Stuart (Canon) 2. Maria Campbell (Canon) 3. Alan Stuart (Canon) 4. Keith Claes (non-canon) 5. Mary Hunt (non-canon) 6. Sophia Ascart (non-canon)

We don’t actually know the rankings of Keith, Mary and Sophia but since they’re also on the student council, we know that they must be ranked 4-6. We just don’t know the exact order. .

Having the highest ranked students in two groups, basically feels like setting up all the other students for failure.

Then you have Katarina who is right smack in the middle of the rankings (#80) as part of one of the two groups.

That gives me the impression that Geordo and Keith basically demanded that Katarina be on the same team they are on, not realizing the other was doing the same.

Which is par for the course.

As all the members of the harem (minus Maria), threatened the teachers that if Katarina didn’t get permanent permission to be allowed in the Student Council chambers, then they would all resign from the student council (Manga/LN).

I know I’m thinking about this too much. 

And that of course the main characters are going to be together, because they’re the main characters. But still...

Really with just one or two lines from the teacher would have at least solved one of the illogical problems here.  

Teacher – “We have place several of these stones in the labyrinth, your goal is to find one of them. If your team leaves the dungeon without finding a stone, your team fails.”

Or something to that affect...

As much as I love Geordo and Keith being exasperated by Katarina and protecting her.

This also could’ve have been a nice opportunity to introduce Katarina’s non-council friends. Rather than us just seeing them right before she gets accused of bullying. 

But again, it does make more sense to have the main characters to be teamed up together...because they are the main characters. I just can’t help but point out the logistical problems for this exam.

Though maybe the anime will build off what’s been established in this episode...maybe.

--

Overall, I really enjoyed this episode. 

I was hit in the feels right away, laughed so hard, and it was just a lot of fun.

And of course, I was very happy to see the anime is adding its own stuff to the story and elaborating beyond the Light Novels and Manga.

[the-last-cuddlebender]

So you just refuse canon and bumi and Kya were lying or were just dumb not to realize what was really happening and perfect dad aang didn’t favor tenzin so much and he wasn’t the special one who got all the trips and time with him and was the favorite and every air nation person didn’t revere him and his mother didn’t adore the baby of the family who gave her grandkids and youre right I had to look it up but pema was o n l y 16 years younger and a man doesn’t leave a long term partner to hook up right away with a girl if there wasn’t something going on before even if maybe they didn’t get close to f#cking or maybe it was the worshiping from her that he liked and it was enough even if he really didn’t have anything going on with her but for you tenzin is this perfect victim who never done anything wrong like aang and who only suffered by everyone else being mean and wasn’t loved enough for your liking but this is your hc and to be fair you can have any you want. Bumi was the oldest and he was a non bender that must have been crushing but he kept being a good person and loving his family. Kya was the middle child who was gay and who probably was a bit confused and a bit lost and still was the most caring person ever to anyone and was always willing to help and who even went to stay with her elderly mother. tenzin was the miracle child who got all his parents attention, an island and grow up to expect to be special and a leader who was rigid on his teaching and rules and was also sort of a shitty teacher who also treated a girlfriend/oldest friend like crap not because of the break up but how he did it. That’s all tenzin not just poor baby defenseless never done anything wrong tenzin but if that’s what you want I’m glad he isn’t as loved as you think he should be because with the bits we got his siblings are much more interesting and even better people

(I assume you’re referring to this post about a previous ask, and I’m happy to discuss)

Hi, anon! There’s considerably more for me to unpack here, so bear with me. I’ll try to keep my response contained to a few points:

some child (< age 12) psychology

Katara and Hakoda’s relationship

some pretty dang neat-o history facts that explain more than you think (because my diploma has to be worth something lmao)

(I’m trying to be concise, so if I sound short, please know that’s not my intention. I just wanna save this from becoming a novel. I also just burnt myself with NaNoWriMo, so it may kindof ramble idk)

To start, I don’t refuse the “canon” of the Kataang family, so take that as you will. I gave my argument completely within the lines of TLOK canon because I figured that was what you were after. And I can make an argument for something while not arguing against the opposition. A good argument should be able to validate itself. I never went after Bumi or Kya, and I never would. I love their characters to bits. I was focusing on Tenzin.

Nowhere in my previous post did I say that Tenzin is a ‘perfect victim’ who never did anything wrong. I’m discussing the reasons why I think his character should be explored and appreciated more. He is an extremely complex character just like the rest of the cast. To box him in as “the favored one” is narrow-sighted at best. He’s human. There’s more to him. He didn’t ask for his lot, but he makes of himself what he can with it, just like Bumi and Kya. He by no means had a cozy time (and he has the stress-lines to show it).  

You say that Tenzin was “expect to be special and a leader.” That alone makes me want to know more about him and how he grew up with that weight on his shoulders. That kind of expectation can destroy a person. It’s very a-la the pressures of the first-born in a monarchy crumbling under the stresses of learning to rule. Tbh, I think that’s why Tenzin was written as the youngest, so that the cliché wouldn’t be as obvious.

I have NEVER said that Bumi and Kya were lying or were dumb. I was discussing kid-Tenzin and how/why kid-Bumi and kid-Kya perceived favoritism (all while remaining within the lines of TLOK canon, too). Perception isn’t a bad thing. It’s just someone’s interpretation of the world. Idk if you think there’s a negative connotation to the word, but there’s not. Person A can look at the sky and see the moon and Person B can look at the sky and see a void that makes them feel small and insignificant. It’s just a difference of perception. Just because they’re different doesn’t make one or the other inherently wrong. Different truths are more than capable of co-existing.

FIRSTLY, about Aang passing:

Kya wasn’t the only one to help Katara after Aang passed. Aang left a void in MANY ways, both as a family man and the Avatar. Bumi, being in the military, guarded the world in his stead. Tenzin took up the mantle in the City and on the island. Kya took on the emotional safety-net.

Katara was Aang’s best friend, partner, and second-in-command. She was just as renowned as him. I can imagine the world expecting her to shoulder his burdens in the wake of his passing. She was the Mighty Katara, after all.

ALL of her kids helped her through his passing, in their own way. Being a shoulder to cry on is just one facet, and all three kids helped her beautifully.

Some psychology:

I’ll explain why I think Bumi and Kya perceived favoritism (which every kid does, myself included. It’s natural and somewhat instinctive for siblings) as best as I can. I’m not a psych major by any means, but I can lay down what I know and remember from my classes.

I’m not saying favoritism doesn’t exist in families. I’m talking about family dynamics in situations where favoritism is subjective because it objectively isn’t there. (Others might define favoritism differently, I suppose. But these are my thoughts)

Children (again, I’m talking <12 here) perceive the world differently than adults. They have incredible imaginations and a pretty tame survival instinct. Give a kid one of those mind-bender jigsaw puzzles, and they’ll have a higher chance of success solving it because their minds haven’t grown enough to be constrained by reality. They’re mad geniuses who haven’t been developed enough to be closed off from the possibilities. That’s what makes childhood so precious. 

That’s why even Gyatso wanted to wait until Aang was older to learn he was the Avatar. You have to let the mind grow and fall and dust itself off before you fence it in. This doesn’t discredit or underestimate kids, either. They are extremely capable. I’m just talking about their lesser known psychology.

“Developed” is also a word that doesn’t have negative connotation here. I’m speaking clinically. Some cognitive and executive brain functions aren’t developed until 25. It doesn’t devalue ability or understanding. It’s just a word.

Kids internalize things differently than adults, especially when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Perceived favoritism among siblings (in situations where there objectively isn’t favoritism, of course) is a classic example. Kids need only be a few years apart for this to be seen. If a two-year-old gets a younger sibling, they can regress to breastfeeding because of the perceived favoritism they see being given to the youngest. Mom isn’t going to let the other kid starve, but the kid doesn’t know that. 

This isn’t just in infants, though. And as it can be seen with the Kataang kids (they were all kids when Tenzin went on the trips with Aang, and kid-Tenzin is my focus here): Bumi and Kya don’t ‘know’ that Aang is saving time for them, too, when he isn’t there. All they see is Dad gone with Tenzin and leaving them behind. And by ‘know’, I don’t mean to insult their intelligence. They comprehend why, but their instincts don’t. Siblings have a lot of strange instincts, not just Cain Instinct. Object permanence is critical until critical and abstract thinking are properly developed. Before then, it’s a “I believe what I can see” mindset (in the simplest terms...I don’t wanna wax eloquent about the nuances of it rn. I can see people taking this as me discrediting kids, but I’m not. I’m just trying to explain the Point B missing between Points A and C presented in the show).

Katara:

Children don’t start developing abstract thinking until about age 12. It’s part of their cognitive development. That’s when they start developing critical thinking (and scientific method and etc.) and the understanding of relationships between verbal and nonverbal ideas. Before then, seeing dad take their youngest sibling on field trips would 100% feel unfair, no matter how the situation would be explained to them. They literally can’t understand it.

***Katara: If you want an example, look no further than when Katara confronts Hakoda in The Awakening. Katara knew Hakoda had to go when he did (2 years before the show, by the way, making her 12). She really, really does understand, even when she’s older. But it still hurts, and she doesn’t know why. That’s because the damage has been done. She perceived his leaving differently when she was younger and it internalized differently as a result. She feels a little abandoned even though she knows Hakoda didn’t and why he had to go. Its affects don’t go away, though (as seen in the invasion). 

I never said that Kya’s and Bumi’s feelings would go away or were untrue to begin with. It was real to them, and that’s all that matters, just like Katara’s feelings being real to her is all that matters. Hakoda understands that. Aang would, too.

Is that Aang’s fault? It depends on what your definition of a good dad is and whether or not you give him room to make mistakes. Personally, I think he’s a great dad to all three of his children, even in the canon of TLOK. He just isn’t given a proper analysis in the show. 

Time spent together does not equal time spent loved. Otherwise, school teachers would be more of a parent(s) to a kid than their actual parents.

The acolytes:

The acolytes of The Southern Air Temple being all “Avatar Aang had more kids?” and completely side-lining Kya and Bumi is not in any way a testament of Aang’s or Katara’s characters. That’s the acolytes’ characters. Aang and Katara have no control over what the acolytes do/do not want to believe or think, no matter how many times they would have corrected them. They fangirl over the airbenders in the scene you’re referring to. Even the fangirls in the comics completely side-lined Katara as Aang’s “first girlfriend.” Their behavior in TLOK never surprised me.

Teacher!Tenzin:

Tenzin being a poor teacher was a good thing. It meant he could grow with his equally-poor student so they would become something better together, as mentor and pupil. I found that idea for growth to be pretty darn cool.

Devaluing the opposition:

“The bits that we got his siblings are much more interesting and even better people” objectively, sure, I could agree, but if I met an interesting and awesome person for a short window of time, I wouldn’t believe they were interesting and awesome 100% of the time. Bits of a person do not define their character. Every person has a capacity for just as much good as evil—it’s a variable that stretches equally in either direction.

*********************************************************************

History-fun-time with the-last-cuddlebender woohoooooo

(a.k.a. I’ll address my thoughts on the “Tenzin being given the temple” and Tenzin-Pema situations, as you’ve presented them, as delicately and concisely as I can)

Importance of different generations:

If we go on the theory that TLOK mirrors more than just the industrial shifts of the real-world at the turn of the 20th c., then the age difference between Tenzin and Pema isn’t abnormal. (It wouldn’t be abnormal until even the early 1990s.) I have to use some anecdote to explain this, so bear with me:

Their age gap is strange to us because we’re used to things progressing so quickly. History as it’ll be written about the generations from the mid-90s onward will be very, very tricky. Generations now-a-days aren’t as easily defined because of the colossal leaps in technology from the past twenty or so years. 

Loosely, a generation is a group of people defined by relatively the same “changes” that happened in their lifetime (or whose effects affected their early development). There have been way too many changes in technology (which we know has a much stronger effect on a person’s early development now than ever before) in recent decades for that formula to hold up anymore, otherwise there would be a new generation every 4 years. 

An age gap like Tenzin’s and Pema’s feels so much stranger to us because our generations are so tightly layered. 4 years could mean a world’s difference when, back then (and I explain what I mean by “back then” further down), it didn’t change much on the dating scene. Life was more or less the same as they both grew up. It was far slower to change. And everyone in TLOK was growing up in the void of post-war for several decades. The technology jump didn’t (arguably) happen until just before Asami (if still holding up the comparison to modern day), so an age gap even in-universe wouldn’t be abnormal at the time they were dating.

(Even my parents got married at almost the exact same ages as Tenzin and Pema, the only difference being that my mom was 26 not 25. Most people I know are in the same boat. It’s just a generational disconnect)

Kya, Bumi, and Katara weren’t kicked out so Tenzin could be “given” the island (needs time period explanation):

I know TLOK says it got its inspiration from the 1920′s (the inspirations are there), but, if I were to date it, I would say that it’s moreso set in the mid 40′s-ish. (Kuvira ESPECIALLY reminds me of a not-as-known-as-they-should-be person from that time).

Among others, the size of the radios and Tenzin/Pema sleeping in one bed are some easy hints to me about TLOK being set in the mid-40s (if we’re using New York City as the template for Republic City). 

Even in the time of FDR’s earliest Fireside Chats, the radios were monsters that had to be kept in the corner of the living room. Towards the mid-40′s, commercial radios were becoming compact, and the radios in TLOK are pretty darn small. 

The Cathedral Radio used in TLOK wasn’t created in mass in the real world until 1933, and people didn’t have the means or money to replace their massive radios with smaller ones until (arguably) after the New Deal (1933-1939). Thus, I say the 40s.

Tenzin/Pema sleeping in the same bed also supports this time period because it wasn’t uncommon for couples to sleep in separate beds leading up into the “I Love Lucy” era of the 50s (the separate beds were for too many reasons to talk about here because they were a fad--for even medical reasons--for about a century). 

^^^setting the time period is needed to prove why I think Kya and Bumi left of their own volition, why they would do it, and why it was actually quite normal

Kya and Bumi weren’t kicked out of the temple. In real life, it was a trend up until the mid-40s for families to stay in the familial home, some even long after marriage. After that, however, multiple factors encouraged the want and fostered the need for young adults to leave their home as soon as 18. Kya and Bumi would be influenced just the same given the parallels with the time period.

Not all families did. The big (mostly industrial) cities were the first to do this. TLOK mirrors this with Bolin and Mako’s family staying together. 

Republic City, like New York City, was years ahead of these kinds of changes, so they started the one-bed shift and kids leaving the home just before the 50s. (This isn’t to disregard the cultural influences bellying the four nations. I know that familial homes are a characteristic common to Asian cultures since the US is more oft to sending elderly into nursing homes and such--and I’m having a blast learning about Asian culture since my specialty in college was medicine in Europe and the West--, but, here, I’m working on the assumption that the world in TLOK is migrating towards a Republic City standard, and the comics seemed to be hinting at that from as soon as just after the war, not to mention in TLOK.)

Again, kids leaving the home at the age of 18 is a very new thing that’s pretty specific to the US (in the time the trend first started) because of the new opportunities that were so suddenly afforded to younger people post-war. These opportunities were in all areas of life, not just economic (economic arguably being the least contributing factor imo), but that’s a historical essay for another time. 

My point is, kids leaving the familial home began as a choice in a post-war (100-year war, in TLOK’s case) world that encouraged them to do so.

Bumi and Kya were not kicked out so Tenzin could be “given” Air Temple Island. Bumi joined the military, and Kya traveled the world. They CHOSE to leave because there was opportunity to do so (that hadn’t been there for 100 years). They wanted to find their own destinies (and be the nomads they were born as...I always found it to be a great irony that Tenzin, being the poster-child to carry the legacy of the Air Nomads, never really got the chance to be a nomad. It’s sad, really, and potentially another reason why Aang took him on one-on-one trips since he knew Tenzin would be stuck with his legacy?).

Katara (again): As for Katara leaving the island, I believe that, among other reasons, Katara left Republic City because the light pollution made it difficult to see the stars she had grown up with. In real life, the Milky Way used to be visible to the naked eye everywhere in the world, and I think that change would be reflected in TLOK by default. Katara would probably find comfort in something as consistent as the stars and the Aurora lights in her old age. Plus, the city was probably too loud for her, and snow muffles sound pretty darn well.

TO BE CLEAR: This is not a justification. This is an explanation. I’m taking no “side”, here, because I’m not invalidating the opposition to validate my own. These are just my thoughts for how I see Point A becoming Point C in a way that keeps in line with TLOK canon.

*********************************************************************

Final thoughts:

You and I “perceive” Tenzin and his family differently, anon, and that’s okay. That’s just our interpretations of the show. I’m not calling for Bumi and Kya to be torn down so Tenzin can be uplifted. I’m talking about Tenzin (kid-Tenzin) in particular. His character is his character, and his value shouldn’t have to proven by devaluing Kya and Bumi. Likewise, Kya’s and Bumi’s value shouldn’t have to be proven by devaluing Tenzin. Just because they’re “more interesting” than Tenzin doesn’t make them interesting people (meaning that line of logic is flawed. i.e. lesser evil isn’t good because it’s lesser; it’s still evil. They should be interesting if the comparison is taken away, and they absolutely are and for their own reasons). Their characters should able to stand in an isolated argument, and they absolutely do, make no mistake. I love them to pieces, and nothing I’ve said about Bumi and Kya has made them inferior. I love them to death and have written more about them than Tenzin. It wasn’t until I started thinking about Tenzin that I realized his potential.

Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi were never “given” anything, and I doubt they would ever want it to be. They all had it rough, and they all deserve love. Bumi fought for a name in the military. Kya carved out her place in the world. Tenzin dug in his roots and planted the seeds for a garden he thought he wouldn’t be alive to see grow.

Me believing Tenzin should be appreciated more does not mean I believe Kya and Bumi should be appreciated less.

...just like Aang giving Tenzin one-on-one attention does not mean he didn’t give Kya and Bumi one-on-one attention, too:)

.

.

.

Again, this isn’t an attack on any character, person, or fandom! I’m not a psych expert, either, and I apologize if it sounds like I’m delegitimizing kids and their experiences. I’m trying to do the opposite. I can go more into detail about Kya and Bumi, but this post is a novel already and I'm too burnt out to add more.

I’m just trying to give Tenzin as much love as Kya and Bumi🥰 I love all the cloud babies equally (as I should😤), and I wanted to toss out my two cents for discussion because I don’t see the cloud babies being loved equally in fandom (kindof ironic)

If there is some hidden childhood!tenzin content please hmu I beg🥺

[wiseabsol]

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? 6. Favorite character you’ve written? 14. What does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?) 15. How do you deal with self-doubt when writing? 19. How do you cope with writer’s block? 24. Do you remember the moment you decided to become a writer/author? 33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like? 34. Unpopular writing thoughts/opinions?

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? 

My favorite part is when you make discoveries about your world and your characters as you write the story down, and when you write something and go, “Oh, there we go, there’s the solution to this problem that was going to come up later.” For example, I recently had an evil mentor toying with a magical item while giving a lecture to his pupils. The magical item was mundane--essentially, just putty that you could mold into whatever shape you wanted, then solidify, then switch back to putty to reshape. And as I was writing that down, I went, “Oh, THAT’S what my protagonist is going to knock him out with down the line. That’s way better than her using a lamp. Excellent.” 

My least favorite part about writing is getting started. Once I’ve cleared the hurtle of the blank page, writing becomes much easier and more exciting. But getting myself to start has become much harder since I developed my editor/critic’s brain.  

6. Favorite character you’ve written? 

In one of the text-based rps I’m writing with my best friend, I’m playing a shapeshifter named Sparrow, who is charming, funny, flirty, politically-savvy, and super vain about his appearance (think a courtesan-type character). He also has one of the most gut-wrenching backstories of any character I’ve ever written, and is struggling with triggers from that backstory. His romance with my best friend’s character is also my favorite romance that I’ve written with her, and it came as a surprise to both of us, since we were just testing out the characters at the time.   

14. What does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?) 

I do a lot of brainstorming and outlining, though my outlines aren’t plot-related ones so much as very detailed character summaries. I’ve honestly been struggling with plot lately, but I’ve been doing better character work, so I’m winging it more now. While I usually have a general idea of how the story goes, the actual writing of it clarifies the details and makes changes to my plans. On the bright side, the results are less stilted than my old work, since they’re not chained to plot outlines, but stem from the characters more organically.  

15. How do you deal with self-doubt when writing?

I’ve started telling myself, “Fuck it, let it be messy, I’ll fix it later.” Letting go of perfectionism is hard for me, but doing so has been helping.   

19. How do you cope with writer’s block? 

Honestly, the best way to cope with writer’s block is to just try something and see if it sticks, or leave yourself a note and skip ahead in the story to something you want to write. However, as I mentioned in an earlier ask, I haven’t been able to do much writing lately. And that’s hard, because I feel guilty for not writing, and I know if I just do it, I’ll feel better. Which is a bad mindframe to be in, especially because this year has been awful. I’ve been telling other writers to be gentle on themselves, because it’s hard to be creative when you’re stressed, but I struggle to take my own advice. So right now, I’m trying to give myself permission not to write, and to instead focus on other things. Editing. Reading. Playing videogames. Baking. Doing house/yardwork. Something to still ticks things off of my to do list, but also things that I can look at and see, “Yes, you did get something done.” It’s not a perfect system, and it does fall into the productivity trap, but it’s what I’m trying. When the stress passes, maybe then I can dive back into writing.  

24. Do you remember the moment you decided to become a writer/author? 

I think it was when I was applying for undergraduate college. I wrote in my application essay that I wanted to write stories that would show my readers that things can get better for them. I was writing as a hobby before then, but I think that’s when I decided that yeah, I wanted making stories to be a part of my future, and I wanted to write stories that I could publish someday. 

33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like? 

Mostly I end up rewriting the chapter or story in question. Draft one is for realizing and getting down the idea of the thing. Draft two is refining it to that thing and losing all of the flab that the story doesn’t need. Often I have another file on the side where I paste in what I’ve cut out, in case I change my mind and want to add it back in later, or in case I can use it in another project. I also save the original messy draft and do the cutting in a copied file. That way, I can reassure myself that the original still exists for me, and I can reread it when I’m feeling self-indulgent, but I’m also only giving the best version to my readers.  

34. Unpopular writing thoughts/opinions?

-- Writing every day is a good idea, and does work well for the writing process, but it’s an unrealistic standard to hold yourself to, especially if you have a day job, kids, and other adult responsibilities. Don’t feel guilty if you can’t write every day. The guilt is just going to make you freeze up instead of returning to the work. Be gentle with your expectations for yourself.  

-- If you’re including triggering or sensitive subjects in your work, and are planning to share that work with others (and ESPECIALLY if you’re planning to profit from that work), you should be doing your research about those subjects, portraying them as accurately as possible, and asking yourself if your story really needs that content to work. It is also a good idea to employ sensitivity screeners for that content, especially if you’re writing from a place of privilege and/or don’t have personal experience with the issues that you’re depicting.

-- Once the work is out there, no one has the right to ban it. They can be critical of it, yes. But not ban it.  

-- Writers of privilege must include diversity within their work, even if they’re scared of getting their depictions of people from other genders, races, classes, religions, and so on wrong. And they will get it wrong. When that happens, just apologize and try to do better in the future. But staying in your lane is a bad idea, for three reasons: 1.) You should be striving to have empathy for others, and you can’t do that if you’re only writing about people who are similar to you. 2.) Writers of privilege have an easier time getting their work published, and so should be trying to push the market/publishing industry into a more diverse direction. And 3.) You should be showing readers of privilege that the world is a diverse one, rather than catering to their narrow worldview.

-- Getting defensive when someone is critical of your work is perfectly natural, but it’s also dumb. It’s so, so dumb. You have made a product, and no product made by human hands is perfect, and every writer has blind spots. So when someone is critical of your work, try to keep this in mind: this is not an attack on you. Let yourself feel the hurt in private, and eat lots of ice cream, and when you’re feeling better, look at the criticism and ask yourself: What led the reader to this conclusion? How can I fix it? What can I learn from this? This is assuming that the critic is working with you in good faith, by the way; sometimes they’re completely off of the mark, or are upset because you didn’t give them the story that they wanted. But if someone is going, “Hey, this is a little racist/sexist/homophobic/ableist/etc.,” sit up and listen. And for the love of god, don’t fight them over it. You’ll make yourself look like an ass. 

-- Don’t workshop your story too early. Try to get a full draft down before you submit something for consideration. For one thing, you’re still figuring out what your story actually is. For another, writing workshops, while useful, have a tendency to pull your work to the middle / make it more acceptable to a general audience. Sometimes this will soften and even kill your bravest writing. Instead, use writing workshops as an opportunity to find writers who understand the themes you’re aiming for and the subjects that you’re discussing. Their input will be what you need.  

-- With the current laws about copyright infringement, getting paid for your fanfic is a bad idea. If you want that to change, then fight to make the laws more lenient. As if it, you’re risking screwing over other fanfic writers by doing that. Does that suck? Yeah. But that’s also the reality we live in right now, and you’re not going to have a good time if a corporation like Disney slams you with lawsuits.

-- Genres like fantasy, science fiction, horror, romance/erotica, and murder mysteries are real literature. Saying they’re not has its roots in classism. 

-- There is no such thing as apolitical writing. 

-- Poets are underrated. Support them. Most of the time, they’re doing braver and more socially-important work than you are, and they’re doing it concisely, too.     

-- Your first draft is going to suck. This is a good thing. You learn a lot more from bad prose than from good prose, more often than not. 

-- Having your work rejected by publishers really is nothing personal. Sometimes it just wasn’t a good fit for them at that moment in time. If they’re interested in seeing more from you in the future, though, keep them on your list and send them something else during their next screening period. They don’t say that unless they mean it.         

[anewkaiju]

Top Chef Los Angeles Recap: Episode 1

These are strange times. There has always been an element of the unknown to our day-to-day, but typically it's only ever discussed or thought about in terms of limitless potential and never-ending, never-ceasing possibility. Of course, there's also always been a flip side to that element of unknown. You know it. The dread-inducing one. The one no one ever wants to bring up, delve into, wrestle with, or even talk about really. It's hard to say for sure, but that may be where we are now. Or maybe it isn't, and all will be well eventually. This shit is so strange and is going to take time to figure out, but we all have to figure it out and our best chance at figuring it out is considering our community and working together. So, we got that going for us.

These are also strange times that require certain measures to be taken to keep everything hammered down and in place. Put another way, a little TV is needed in order to provide some sort of sense of stability. Put yet another way, it'll help keep shit together. Which is how, we have ended up here. For reasons that are not entirely clear to me (yet) an idea formed in front of me that this latest season of Top Chef (the 17th one) needs to be written about. So, here we are.

The first thing to note about the new season of Top Chef is that it is an All-Star season, which just means that these are all contestants who have been on the show before and have now been invited back. This raises immediate questions in my mind concerning how one becomes a Top Chef All-Star. On what basis exactly is a chef measured to make this sort of call? This doesn't feel like something we can compare to the NBA's All-Star selection process. There, they have the fans for the starters and then league coaches and members of the press vote for the reserves. So, with this cast, are we supposed to believe these are fan favorites or have these chefs been chosen because the people who watch food most closely believe them to be the best? Little of both?

One of the other things about Top Chef and watching Top Chef, at least for me, is that maybe that stuff doesn't matter. You could try to handicap this show and identify the frontrunner and the number one contender and track everyone's progress through that lens, but that grows old eventually. In my mind, the show is at its best when someone is dialed in and making what feels like the best food they've ever made in their entire life. A lot of the time this individual making what feels like the best food they've ever made is painted as the underdog, and that's fine. Watching an underdog zig and zag their way through a competition, defy the odds and then take the title makes for pretty good entertainment. It's also one of those things where there's a lot of talk about James Beard nominations and "features in Food & Wine magazine" and it all sounds really impressive, but what do those accolades actually mean, and more importantly for our purposes, what do those accolades mean for TV? Where's your resume when you're cooking in the snow on the side of a mountain? Also, what does pedigree matter when so often on this show the judges slam someone for cutting corners or ignoring fundamentals? It's also important to note that I know almost nothing about food aside from what I have discerned from watching this show.

How food is thought about and talked about on TV and the internet has changed considerably over the last few years. In the early to mid 2000s, 'good cooking' was more often than not presented and defined as all about splashy presentation, style and a million other things going on at once. The term "celebrity chef" originated around this time to describe someone who is now famous because they cook. Your signature could just be a wild looking plate. This isn't meant to put down food artists, but perhaps some passes were given that shouldn't have been. It's like if you could talk it up enough and find the right wrapping for it then, magically, no questions are asked and what you are putting out into the world doesn't have to be fact or quality checked. This all works on the timeline too as this was also a period in history were there lots of bad rappers at the top (50 Cent, Ja Rule, etc) and the NBA was mired in this weird post-Jordan funk.

It's almost as if things had to pivot back in on itself. These days, simplicity is celebrated. Or maybe it has always been essential and I am just dumb. Either way, let's call this foggy idea the Chef's Table Effect. Now, with chefs, you want to know about their approach to food and what their mindset is like. We want to know how they look at food and how they get it. We want to learn about real, living, breathing chefs and not just be told about someone who is now famous because they cook. In early seasons of Top Chef, there were more personalties, people who just wanted to rub elbows with celebrities and put their names on restaurants. Over time, that has subsided some and when it does happen it comes across as much more transparent. The good chefs emerge no matter what. Their personalties reveal themselves in their own time (call this the Kawhi effect if you must,) and because they are making 'good' food it's all that much more enjoyable/rewarding to watch. We are in this time where food is considered in more serious terms, and as a result, we get more grounded, thoughtful food TV programming. I like to think of it as more of an actual uprising. Everyone collectively all at once had one too many exploding shrimp cocktails bathed in brandy and bedded in dry ice and began asking questions about what we are doing here exactly. With that in mind,

The episode itself was fairly straight-forward. The chefs show up. They are asked to do a mise en place, which is like a prep work drill essentially but since this is a competition show there's a real emphasis on speed and accuracy. There were artichokes, oranges and almonds, and it was explained, that the first five chefs to break down their artichokes would form a team and be allowed to leave for a kitchen right away. When this happens, all remaining chefs would stop with whatever artichoke business they may have left and shift their attention to the oranges. Once five chefs had handled their oranges sufficiently they would then become the second team and then be allowed to head for the kitchen. Everyone left with the almonds would take on the mantle of the third team, and be allowed to move to the kitchen once they were all finished. This opening challenge served mostly as a shakeout session to get things moving and for viewers at home to see if anyone is trying out a new style, whether it be a cooking flourish or a new haircut.

After the mad dash mise en place, the chefs are once again sorted into teams, although, this time around, they go into five teams of three as opposed to three teams of five. For the main challenge of this episode, each team has been asked to make a cohesive, family-style seafood meal over a single open flame and an open flame only for a table of esteemed, established chefs and cuisine writers.  

here is what they presented:

Melissa: Grilled Swordfish with hot & sour sauce, ember grilled radicchio and fresno chiles

Karen: Grilled scallops, gingered plums, nuoc cham and nappa cabbage slaw

Angelo: West coast oyster with smoked bacon rice porridge

Bryan: Sea urchin, spot prawns with hibiscus ponzu and burnt avocado

Joe: Sesame and semolina flatbread with clams, fried garlic, sea urchin, pickled peppers and miso parmesan aioli

Lee Anne: Shoyu Tare Glazed Halibut with charred sweet corn and cabbage, sea urchin and uni miso beurre blanc

Gregory: Charred salmon with grilled peaches and roasted chili dressing

Jamie: Steamed mussels with ember scaled cream and toasted bread

Stephanie: Brined prawn with charred tomato sauce and roasted corn dressing

Jennifer: Spiced tuna loin over grilled kale with red pepper tahini sauce

Nini: Grilled scallops, carrots, tomatoes with charred brussels sprout & fennel salad

Kevin: Eye of swordfish braised in chorizo with coal-roasted onion, olives and peas

Lisa: Charred shrimp and scallop ceviche with candied squash, mushrooms and avocado

Bryan V.: Sablefish with corn porridge and charred leeks

Eric: Chesapeake boil with grilled prawn

It's striking looking at all of these dishes written out. Granted, this is being written from a position of hindsight, but it's so clear which dishes were a hit and which were not. Again, I'm not very bright so this isn't a food know-how thing. It's just a words thing. The most composed, concise dishes were the ones that elicited acclaim. This should maybe be a working rule. If the description of your dish runs over a line long, then you might be in trouble. (You might be looking at Lisa's dish and noticing that it runs over, but it's just barely. She's a great chef who is being oddly slept-on already. She went all the way to the final in her season and has a very no nonsense, quiet drive.)

Anyway, the judges loved Gregory, Jamie and Stephanie's meal with Gregory taking the overall win. Joe, Lee Anne and Bryan had far and away the least liked dish. The challenge called for a family-style meal, indicating that everything will end up on the same plate, so the two sauces made that one flatbread mad soggy. Joe went home for it. (Lee Anne ran into some issues on the grill, but these things happen and Padma said there was a lot to like about her dish. Lee Anne was also on the very first season of Top Chef and the last time anyone saw her was a few seasons back when she surprise-returned. In that episode, the challenge was to cook over an open flame in four feet of snow on the side of a Colorado mountain. Lee Anne was four months pregnant. After she knocked out her dish, she seemingly achieved clarity and announced to everyone that she was going home to prepare for the birth of her child.)

For whatever reason, it tends to take a few episodes before the show really starts moving. There will probably be a few more wild-sounding challenges under even more wild-sounding circumstances. Based off of the "this season on Top Chef" tease shown at the end of the episode, the competitors visit at least one museum and at least one stadium. The official title of this season is Top Chef: Los Angeles which would suggest that everything will be contained to the city of Los Angeles as opposed to the entire state.

There was also a moment in the tease where actor Danny Trejo, star of Machete, Machete Kills and the forever-stuck-in-development Machete In Space, can clearly be seen visiting the Top Chef kitchen which is wildly encouraging.

[iwants0up]

Cool For The Summer: Part 3

Weiss didn't think she should attend Ruby's family meeting, but with enough begging, Ruby convinced her to at least stand in a corner while the meeting was being held.

Right now they were on their way and a pit of anxiety twisted in the Schnee's stomach. She really shouldn't be going, but Ruby was too scared that someone, namely her sister, was going to die that day. The Rose told Weiss all about Claw and her confrontation with Yang. The whole thing reeks of ill will and well kept secrets. Who specifically is keeping the secrets? Unknown, but Weiss has a strong suspicion there is more to Claw than her bad temper and anonymity.

Upon arrival they find everyone standing on the steps leading up to the vast manor of the Rose/Xiao Longs. Including a certain masked woman. Claw was holding hands with Yang, seemingly relaxed despite the mask hiding her face and the long cloak and hood making her features less distinguishable. 

Their chauffeur opened the door for them and Ruby exited, then Weiss. The people turned to look at them and Tai-yang came forth, smiling a big smile that caused crows feet in the corner of his eyes. "You're here!" He exclaimed at a stupidly loud volume, wrapping Ruby in a welcome, if not just slightly unexpected, hug. "We've been waiting," he added with a faint edge.

"I know, and I'm sorry." Ruby said quietly, moving closer to Weiss once her father relinquished his hold on her.

“And I see another one of my daughters brought an unexpected guest!” Tai-yang chuckled, though now his words were soaked in disdain and untold hatred. He moved away swiftly, rejoining the conversation with Yang and Claw.

The two girls made their way up the steps and to Qrow, probably the only person in the family who supported Ruby in her endeavor to not become a gang leader. “It’s a dirty business” he always said with a drunken smile “be proud to keep your hands clean, the world needs more people like you.” 

He was talking to another Claw clone with fervor. “I can’t believe the Scorpions actually thought they could cross your territory line! You have one of the most formidable boundary patrols there is!”

“I know,” the masked woman replied smoothly. “It was a dumb move made by the dumbest of them all. I do, however, believe that they thought they could make it through for some unknown variable. What do you think; do I have a mole on my hands?”

Qrow took a swig of fire whiskey, straight out of the bottle. Wiping his chin where some of it dribbled down, he replied, “it’s probable. Knowing them, though, it wouldn’t be someone who has been in your ranks long.” 

“Hmm, I’ll take that into consideration. Thank you, Qrow.” And with that, the clone dispersed first into a kind-of black smoke, then vanished completely.

“What is it with Claw and her clones?” Ruby asked when Qrow finally noticed her standing there.

“I would think it would be so she can’t be assassinated.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think Yang would sleep with a coward.” Qrow laughed at that and pulled Ruby into a quick but warm hug. “I’ve missed you,” he said quietly.

“I’ve missed you too, Uncle Qrow. Hey, do you know why dad called this meeting?”

“Nope, and neither does he.” The man burped and finished off the bottle.

“What does that mean?”

“He got an anonymous call saying someone in our family was a traitor and when everyone is gathered here, more information will be sent.”

Ruby didn’t like the sound of that but she couldn’t comment as just then her Uncle noticed Weiss. “Weiss Schnee. huh? Well, whatd’ya know.”

The girl held out her hand, taking a steadying breath in and out. “Pleased to meet you.” He didn’t shake it, just turned his gaze to his niece's small form; “Ruby, what is this?”

“She’s a friend.” Was all Ruby revealed and the hard look she gave Qrow signified that that was all she’d reveal and no amount of pushing will change that.

“Stubborn. Just like your mother.” Qrow walked away, stumbling up the rest of the stairs and staggering over the threshold of the huge mansion. No more words could be exchanged before Tai-yang’s voice bellowed out, “everyone! In the house. Now!”

So everyone filed in, first family, then the servants who had been standing outside with them.

The procession continued into a large courtroom, though Ruby and Yang nicknamed it the “Chamber of Untold Horrors” when the red-head was just three years old. It seemed boundless when they were children, now it just seems like a sad, empty room. The paintings that serve as the wallpaper seem to prove that this place was once a gay area and the designed wood flooring made it seem as if balls were once held here. Ruby can almost hear a waltz of some kind if she tries hard enough, but alas, this room will no longer hold anything that brings any sort-of joy. And it hasn’t since long before the artist was born.

Tai took a seat on a chair in the middle of the room and everyone else stood by the walls in front of him (asides from the servants, they stood behind him). “Someone in this room is a traitor. It is as simple as that. Either one of you is a traitor or I got an email from someone who’s intentions were just to fuck with me. In all honesty, I find the former to be more likely. With enough work and time anyone would know that I could track them within a few days and so the risk would be too high. I have not read what their next message says yet, I want to do that out loud so the traitor may hear their own demise.”

A dramatic pause.

“Here we go then.” He opened the email and began to read; “dear Tai-yang, you heeded my advice and got the family together, very good. I’ll get straight to the point. Ruby Rose is the person you are looking for. Weiss Schnee is no friend, but a lover. And the nights they have spent together are innumerable.” Tai paused and met Ruby’s gaze, she was too shocked to say anything. He continued. “Though that is not her main offense, her main offense is that she has spent time at the Schnee manor, even gone so far as meeting the girl’s mother, Willow. In this time she has heard plans the Schnee family are making against other gangs, even your own gang, the Black Knights. Has she said anything? No... she has... not.” Ruby was sure there was more, but Tai stopped there and looked up at his youngest daughter. “Is any of this true?”

It was true, Ruby can’t lie. But it never even crossed her mind before, it was just the normal rivalry, it’s not like they were planning to kill her father or anything. But how does she explain that? How does she tell her father that she withheld information from him for a reason as petty as ‘it’s the norm’?

“I-i, I don’t...”

“It’s not.” Weiss stepped forward, hands on her hips and a haughty attitude for good measure. “My family would not be so dumb as to discuss plans in front of the daughter of the leader of a rivaling gang. Especially one the plans were about. I assure you, Tai-yang, your little informant didn’t even take the time to make their lies plausible. And I’m personally insulted by this affront .”

Tai-yang paused, looking between Ruby and Weiss. “I want to hear it from her.”

There was nothing Weiss could do now, and everyone knew that. Ruby won’t lie, lying makes her feel bad, it leaves a pit in her stomach and she always ends up confessing anyway because she feels so guilty. 

“I~”

“Leave her alone Tai.” Qrow piped up, wiping his mouth from what was either liquor or vomit, nobody could tell as he just entered the room. “I heard everything from the hall and I think the Schnee is telling the truth.”

“I want to hear it from her.” The man growled, standing up. “Well?”

With everyone sticking up for her, Ruby was really starting to question if she should attempt to lie or not. Why were they making this so difficult?!

“No,” she said hesitantly, not looking her father in the eye.

“No what?” His voice was harsh and impatient, it reminded Ruby of the day she said she was moving to Mistral for the year and her father demanded answers. He wouldn’t stop yelling and saying the answers she provided weren’t good enough. She needed to be clear, concise, and she was anything but that.

“No,” Ruby proclaimed, firmer this time. “I never heard any plans.”

“Why should I believe you?” 

“What?” Ruby squeaked, taken aback.

“Why should I believe you?” Tai asked again, moving forward a few paces.

“Tai,” Qrow started.

“Don’t!” The word boomed and echoed through the almost empty space, sending shivers up people’s spines.

Calm and quiet, Claw stepped forward. It was only a step and yet it held so much meaning; “watch yourself, or I may not like what your doing and stop you.” Yang did the same, though she didn’t stop at one step, she went all the way until she was standing in front of her fuming father. “Back off.” Her eyes were red and even Tai knew not to mess with Yang when her Semblance was activated. He backed off, but more words flew off of his dagger-like tongue.

“She has slept with our biggest enemy, kept secrets from us and now she might even have been aiding them in their quest to eliminate us. If you want to protect her, be my guest. But when she hands that Schnee play-thing of hers the knife to drive into all of our backs... don’t blame me.” 

.X.X.X.

“What?! How could you? How could you keep that from me?!” Ruby screamed in tears as she backed away from a crying white-haired woman. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” And in a flash Ruby was gone, rose-petals left in her wake. All that was left was a weeping Schnee and a broken promise.

“Why did you tell her, why, why?!” She asked herself over and over again. “You knew what would happen!” Some secrets just aren’t meant to be told and the one about Ruby’s mother, was obviously one of them.

you can find part 2 here and part one here

[kursed-pixels]

;EYYYY GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS

Thats right, it;s time for the unveiling of my Super Special Project!

So. As my followers in my Discord Chat are probably well aware of by this point, this is a project I;ve been planning off and on the last few months (all year, even, as short as that;s been!). This is something I intend to devote a LOT of my free time towards, IRL granting, and it is likely that this universe will be expanded upon greatly in side-comics or images. How often or how long those will be I couldn;t possibly say - I don;t even know how long THIS will be! But what I can give you is a bit of background knowledge:

I;m sure a lot of you remember the Ask Error Blog that has since gone on hiatus. You know, the really amazing one with the Error that kidnapped the ORIGINAL Blueberry. Error’s a pretty rememberable guy and all, and his creator twice as much so, so it’s pretty likely that you’ve at least run into a panel or two - if not, that’s okay! You can start read the original kidnapping here: https://askerrorsans.tumblr.com/post/136372469821/sits-down-for-story-time“>https://askerrorsans.tumblr.com/post/136372469821/sits-down-for-story-time

To put it simply, there’s only a couple of things you need to know for my AU since I am essentially disregarding the much older post I previously created on a whim regarding Verseswap (hence why I’m not posting anything other than the cover right now!); </p>

ONE, yes I will be sticking with this graphite, sketchy style for the comic. If you have an issue with this please present me with a concise and logical argument as to why I should change it and I shall take it under the consideration and respect it deserves. </p>

TWO, This Is NOT @loverofpiggies Blueberry. Yes, certain events are heavily based off their comic. Y e s, this has Error and he is most certainly Not Mine. But like I mentioned before, this is BASED off their Error Askblog- NOT a possible continuation for how it could have ended. I will try to keep my mingling with their universe to a strict minimum out of respect for them as the original content creator in regards to Blueberry and Error (who, Again, obviously isn’t mine). </p>

THREE! Please send me Asks or PMs if you are at all confused by the AU that is Verseswap! I know that my world building for this is complex and that not everyone understands the strict complexity of the multiverse. Thats totally okay! There is NO dumb question, nor do I mind the occasional repeat. All asks in regards to Verseswap will even be tagged as Verseswap to make everything nice and organize. :)

Edit: hey! Realized I didn’t put this before but all updates will be on Friday’s. :)

[eeveelutionsforequality]

Hey, just wondering what your stance on MAP/Peadophiles is? The posts you’re talking about are fairly long winded and I would like to know.

It's not really a topic that I can afford to dumb down or simplify my opinions on, I'm afraid - if I don't include all of the nuances of my stance then I'm quite likely to be misconstrued.

Three important things before I begin: 1) I am not a MAP, I'm a CSA survivor and abuse survivor and I, and many professionals, believe what we believe in regards to NOMAPs because this seems like a potentially effective way to prevent CSA. and 2) My opinions do not represent or speak for the opinions of Mod Flareon, who is also active on this blog. and 3) I'm dyslexic, very tired, and my predictive text is fucking up, so I apologize if my wording isn't perfect here. Being somebody with OCD (which causes severe and uncomfortable intrusive thoughts) and other mental health issues, I understand what it's like to have disturbing thoughts that you cannot control and would never act upon, so I can somewhat sympathize with how the world at large does not understand such things and vilifies innocent people for things that are not their fault - Tumblr especially seems to be a hub for the kind of people who enjoy demonizing the brainwaves of others, rather than basing judgement on the harm (or lack thereof) that an individual has elected to cause via action.

I was initially going to give you the benefit of the doubt in how I responded to this question, but two minutes of scrolling on your blog has shown me that you wouldn't give me the same courtesy - given that you want to "limit" Lecter's "reach" because he said that trans people can be MAPs, and are still LGBT+ despite being MAPs (because being trans makes those individuals LGBT+, regardless of anything else about them).

Judging by the post after that, I need to take my explanation of my position all of the way back to the terminology itself. "Minor Attracted Person" is actually a more understandable term than "Minor Focused Chronophilia", which is another way that you could potentially word the grouping of nepiophilia, pedophilia, hebephilia and ephebophilia. Conversely, "Unconventional Campfire Enthusiasts" is substantially more vague - none of the terms within the title you proposed adequately convey what is going on, while "Minor Attracted Person" describes exactly what is going on - and your label would include a lot more than simply the action of arson (which is an action, while your proposed label describes a very vague state of mind), such as people who enjoy dancing naked around campfires or people who sing Spongebob songs around them. What you proposed is more like saying that you could call child molesters "Unconventional Kid Enthusiasts" (with MAPs being more akin to people who like fire in your analogy), which I think is a pretty telling and disheartening mistake. Suffice to say that your comparison sucked (that said, it started me singing Firestarter, so thank you), and I think that the term "MAP" is a clear and concise way to group those particular chronophilias.

The next term that I want to address is "non-offending" - this term is specifically and exclusively referring to legal, criminal or sexual offenses against minors. You reblog things that define being rude, insensitive, etc, as being "offending" (like reblogging the post of somebody who didn't want to be reblogged from) - I think that really belittles the severity of the word "offending", which means child abuse, it means that an individual has sexually abused a child. I really don't want the shit that happened to me as a kid to be lumped in with and compared to "He reblogged from a 17 year-old one time", for obvious reasons. It's fine to say that somebody's being rude, a dick, unfair, etc - I'm in no way saying that reblogging from somebody who doesn't want to talk to you is a nice thing to do, it's not - but there's no need to accuse them of a term that means something much more serious, when they haven't done that thing. Calling people "offending" when they are not only serves to make it easier for them to say that your side doesn't care about victims and that your side unjustly paints innocent people as monsters - because you are unjustly, perhaps unintentionally, painting somebody who hasn't harmed a child as a child abuser.

About 50% of child molesters (people who assault pre-pubescent children) are minors themselves, and the peak age to commit that crime is 14 - the repeat offense rate is low (given how high repeat offense rates are for other crimes), especially in these cases (the Ted Talk on the topic, here: https://youtu.be/h2iV3Gf0lVA which I highly recommend that you watch, said that 97% to 98% do not offend again within that young demographic, so rehabilitation works and by extension prevention could well work even more effectively). Estimates put situational offenders (people who are not MAPs) as the majority of offenders, while preferential offenders (people who are MAPs) are estimated to make up between 20% and 50% of offenders - with the general populace being made up of substantially less MAPs than people who are not MAPs, that means that MAPs are still more likely to offend (against children specifically, but not necessarily more likely to rape in general), but it also means that attraction is not the sole risk factor or the sole cause of offending, and that the path to preventing CSA is more complicated than simply preventing MAPs from offending. Estimates of the number of people with these chronophilias in the general populace have put the rate of offending within the MAP population as low as 2% - but I'm going to be honest and say that I think that some of the estimates of the prevalence of these chronophilias in the general populace fall victim to some of the same flaws that the studies that found higher rates of preferential offenders fall victim to (testing genital reaction is unreliable, and thus results in estimates of the number of MAPs in both that I think are just unreasonably high), however it seems definitive that the rate is still far from being even a majority. Offending has been shown to be linked to other psychological and situational/life issues like dependency on drugs and alcohol, poor impulse control, history of abuse, and so on. Like all of these things, attraction is a risk factor - something to take into consideration, be aware of, be mindful of - but it's not the deciding factor, it's not the sole cause, and it's not an inevitable prophecy.

Pedophile and child molester are not synonymous - one describes a psychological phenomenon, one is a crime, an action. The former is an unchosen collection of thoughts, an attraction, and in most cases is as likely (according to the research that I've seen) as any other attraction to be entirely resistant to conversion therapy or being "cured"; the latter is an action, a behaviour that causes incredible harm, and something that a person (especially with the correct professional intervention) can prevent themselves from doing. It's important to remember that the attraction does not inherently come with any kind of desire or urge or fantasy, and neither it nor desires would indicate an intent to act on the attraction, and the presence of the attraction definitely does not indicate or convey the person's moral position on acting on said attraction (I think that it's important to separate desire from intent - as human beings, we all want things in theory sometimes without wanting them in reality, emotionally want things but know that we can't or shouldn't, and we can even be wholly against those things ethically - you may want to eat the nice chocolate bar in your friend's lunchbox in theory, but in reality you would never take something from your friend like that and you have no intention of eating the chocolate bar, no matter how much you want it, how much you fantasize about eating it, and so on). For example, a person can fantasize about killing their bully, they may even have the desire to kill their bully, but that doesn't mean that they have the intent to kill their bully, it doesn't mean that they think that killing their bully would be ethical, and it doesn't mean that they will kill their bully. You can suffer from suicidal ideation, fantasies and desires, without ever attempting suicide and without even having the intention to attempt suicide. An attraction may entail daydreams, fantasies, etc, but it does not tell you what somebody's behaviour will be, what their moral opinions of that behaviour are, or even what they want to or intend to do in reality. We as human beings, all of us, can't control our attractions or even necessarily our thoughts, but we can control our actions - not only that, but it's actions that cause harm to others, not thoughts, be those actions creeping on somebody or committing atrocities against somebody.

I think that the goal of the NOMAP community is to create a space that fosters a healthy outlook on the world, a space that fosters a healthy understanding of the science and psychology of consent (and why kids cannot consent, and why it's important that MAPs do not act on their thoughts), and a space that fosters a positive attitude, willpower, and mental stability - which, in turn mitigates the other risk factors that I mentioned. Nobody's going to go from a good person to a rapist overnight just because they took up heroin, but the steady decline of one's health and willpower that comes with heroin, the depression, the financial strain, other circumstances surrounding them, etc, may eventually have the power to warp their outlook on life, their connection to reality, and send them down that dark road - a function of the NOMAP community is to prevent people from falling into bad places and adding more risk factors into the mix. Another function is to provide tips to people for how to find a trustworthy therapist and how to broach the topic with said therapist - if it's safe and/or necessary, it's important to speak to a professional about worrisome struggles. Another function of the NOMAP community is to prevent the radicalization, especially of younger or more vulnerable MAPs, by pro-contacts. The power of indoctrination, radicalization, manipulation, misinformation, and/or a charismatic liar are never ever to be underestimated - it's not just their victims that abusers can manipulate, and they're just as capable of getting into the head of a slightly uneducated late-teen who's just discovered their attraction, who's already isolated and vulnerable to being led to believe that the sick pro-c community is the only place that truly cares about them. The NOMAP community aims to debunk pro-c arguments, to stop people from falling victim to the pro-c rhetoric, and to catch the attention of lost MAPs before they are roped into that sick ideology.

I have many other opinions on MAPs - my stance is not one of just picking a side, not on this topic and not on any other topic, and I try to address each issue as it comes - but unless we can agree on the basic framework that feeling an attraction towards an individual does not mean that you will cast morality aside and make like a viking (you are capable of not raping the adults that you are attracted to, so you know from firsthand experience that attraction alone does not render somebody a rapist), then you'll likely disagree with almost anything I say past this point.

~ Vape

[extraneousdominomask]

Fox Cop-uli #3

[CMFox has logged on]

UGH

Uh, hey Everything alright?

Nick I don't want to distract you

but if you're willing to hear some GARBAGE

oh heck yes

I'd really appreciate having a - okay, great, thank you

Any time! Hit me with The Gossip

so, basically

we're collaborating with this hotshot inspector from overseas

Real egoist  

fantastic

They always are

Law enforcement is one of those careers where people develop real attitude problems

(watch out for that)

._.

But get this

he was told to keep me abreast of all developments via email

fine

except despite how I CLEARLY introduced myself as Inspector Carmelita MONTOYA Fox

like you always do

He managed t- LIKE I ALWAYS DO 

He managed to somehow take down my email address as ""CNFox"

N, as in November

so the IDIOT has been sending important updates ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE

I MISSED TWO DAYS OF INFO BECAUSE OF THIS JACKASS

MY USERNAME IS FIVE LETTERS LONG HOW DO YOU MESS THIS UP!!

Dear god

I WANT TO PUNCH HIM

Can you?

NO I'LL GET IN TROUBLE

Can you... secretly punch him?

DO NOT TEMPT ME

Heh! Yeah, that's moronic Has he given you any other trouble?

Nothing unusual

Typical level of macho bull

He happens to be a horse, but you know what I mean

I do.

Honestly

I purposefully chose the most concise, simple email address possible...

Right? Bogo makes us all use Surname-First Initial which is boring but I don't mind too much, cause "WildeN" sounds awesome like a vampire or something

Heh, yeah

Modern, but classy Not too far in either direction Wilden keeps up with the changing times but maintains that old-world gothic flair

...Are

you writing vampire fiction based on your email address

Heck yeah I am

You amaze me, Nicholas Wilde

You seem so cool on paper

yet the more you reveal of yourself

the more it becomes evident that you are a huge dork

Joke all you want, Carmelita Wilden's licentious adventures are going to make me rich Kits these days love their vampires

I think that was kits a considerable number of days ago, actually

Oh? So what's the latest trend?

I don't know

Obnoxious music?

That's every generation

Disrespecting law and order?

carmelita no

E-cigarettes?

Ah, that sounds about right That and acting silly on the Internet Speaking of!

[WildeN has changed username to: OfficerBlueberry]

Well, well

Desperate to stay hip, Wilde?

Give me some credit, Carmelita! I'm naturally young at heart, that's all

[OfficerBlueberry has changed username to: FoxyHustler]

evidently

:) Um, I hesitate to bring this up

If you have a question, ask it.

I value honesty in any relationship

Thanks I just - this dumb jerk you're dealing with Has he given you any trouble over being a fox?

Well

I don't think so

It's hard to tell sometimes

yeah

but like I said, it's just the usual stuff

Okay. Good to hear

I won't pretend my experience is perfect

I've had some rough moments because of my species, but mostly it's awkwardness 

at worst

Nothing like what you must have gone through

Yeah [FoxyHustler has changed username to: OrangeLightning] The ZPD's been good to me, by and large I guess Judy bore the brunt of it

Yeah...

I'm riding her tiny coat-tails in one ways than one. [OrangeLightning has changed username to: FoxCopuli]

What? 

What even is that one?

Fox Cop-uli! Because I'm a fox cop! It's a pun on "vox populi"?

...no

doesn't work

No respect! No respect at all for my genius

Heh

Thanks for this, actually

I feel better now

Both for venting and for watching you be a dork

Glad to be of service, Inspector! You're always free to bear witness to my idiocy

Seriously, Nick

Thanks 

[FoxCopuli has changed username to: XxXSpicyNickXxX]

OKAY THEN BYE

[CMFox has logged off]

:(

[lostepitaph]

About stupid people.

My contempt for the stupid is acting up. I thought I outgrew this. 

That being said, when I was a very young child, as early as elementary school, I held an enormous contempt for stupid people, mostly because it was my less-intelligent peers that tended to hurt me the most. 

I couldn’t really understand their decisions as to why they would whine about money to buy a toy when they were given an allowance they could save but spent on snacks. Or why they were about to do something really dumb like climb a tree and cry when they couldn’t get down. Or why they were putting insects/dirt/dog crap in their mouths when it was unsanitary. 

And yes, I knew what the word unsanitary meant at the time. I was reading books such as the Concise Encyclopedia of the Human Body out of my own accord as early as the 3rd grade, even if I couldn’t understand more than half of the words. 

Naturally, being a tad bit smarter than my peers and having very few common interests as I was a hardcore non-fiction bookworm, my peers and I did not get along. I didn’t understand them, and they didn’t understand why I was such a stuck-up arrogant brat that didn’t like to do anything fun. 

Sadly I wasn’t mature enough to know how to blend in or be more considerate to others or not to be arrogant with my intelligence which likely had a LOT more influence on my inability to make friends at that age, but that’s not how my younger self saw it.

And as the years passed in the school system, my intelligence and that drive to prove myself was the only thing I had, and every year I hoped that by going into a new class, I’d find new people to meet and possible make friends with. But all I ever seemed to find were people who disparage my efforts. It made my contempt for stupid people all the more worse.

It took years to slowly change my stance on intelligence and not simply have it as “if you don’t look at it my way, you’re an idiot.” It took me a long time to realize that there’s many kinds of intelligence than the ones I possess. 

You can be intelligent in the art of socializing. Intelligent in actual art. Intelligent in math. Intelligent in enjoying life. Intelligence at knowing how to do your job well. And it took me a long time to learn that intelligence is not just a matter on what’s on your report card, how much you earn, or even your perceived success. 

Despite thinking myself intelligent, I’m not all that smart, huh.

But it is a lesson I’ve learned.

So I’m always surprised when that utter contempt and disdain I feel for the less intelligent comes back and how toxic my inner voice gets. I remember that old bitterness, vehemence, and loneliness that just stabs into me.

And then I have to wonder if I truly grew at all. 

[rock-and-compass]

Rock and Compass Watches Once Upon A Time – 6.15: A Wondrous Place

Overview

Emma struggles to come to terms with Killian’s apparent departure from Storybrooke. Despite her reluctance, she is tricked into a girl’s night out at the local bar that ends up having some serious consequences. Meanwhile, in the Enchanted Forest, Killian desperately tries to find a way home but gets a little side-tracked when he runs into Jasmine and Aladdin

Discussion, Thoughts & Speculation

Another episode that seemed to elicit very mixed feelings. One thing for sure is that this fandom is very passionate about Emma Swan! I love that she is the character that gets a reaction and causes conversation. Personally, I enjoyed the episode and found Emma’s reactions very understandable and very in character.  It provides a fascinating character study of a particular aspect of Emma Swan – something we don’t get nearly enough of. The show should do more of this kind of thing; the characters are the absolute strength of the show and sometimes it feels like depth of character exploration gets sidelined in favour of plot contrivances and maintaining the thin veneer of peace and harmony between characters who have a lot of unexplored baggage that could be mined for a wealth of narrative gold. The adventures in the Enchanted Forest and Agrabah were fun, a little convoluted at times but, well, this is Once Upon a Time – why go for simple when you can hit up needlessly complicated. The episode has a strong, reoccurring theme of lost and found, but perhaps most interesting, is the undercurrent of manipulation that seems to be swirling just beneath the surface…

Emma reaction – During the previous episode, Emma clearly and concisely lays out her requirements and expectations for her relationship with Killian:

·         Trust is mandatory

·         Secrets are not on.

·         It must be a partnership of equals

·         They must be able to lean on one another and support one another

·         The must face issues (both internal and external) together.

Emma sees this relationship as a partnership built on mutual love. She is very realistic. She doesn’t expect it to be all rosy and rainbows all the time, but she does expect them to be each other’s support system and be for each other the one person they can always depend on no matter what. It was a powerful thing to see her vocalise and be very clear about what she needs from their relationship and what she wants as the foundation for their marriage. Emma wanted Killian to think on this - which he does – and then for him to return home to talk things through with her - which he doesn’t, thanks to Gideon.

But Emma doesn’t know that.

And so during this episode we see Emma fall back into some old habits and, indeed repeat the mistake that Killian made – she doesn’t trusting him. Not that Emma doesn’t have cause to doubt – she has a missing boyfriend and an eye witness account. People have been prosecuted with less. But where it gets really complicated is when we venture into Emma’s head and the complex mix of emotions and feelings that are literally doing her head in. We know Emma Swan well enough to make a pretty educated guess as to what these are. The episode lets us use that knowledge to interpret her actions rather than hit us over the head with obvious emotional exposition.

Front and centre to Emma’s response is the ingrained fear of abandonment that has been with her since childhood. For her, the promise of connection and constancy has repeatedly led to rejection, so much so that she developed the strategy of withdrawing behind protective walls, trusting only herself and never allowing anyone access or opportunity to hurt her. In turn, she has no expectations of other people, they are held at a distance and should there be a risk of breach, then she runs and avoids the danger. All of this functioned to keep her protected. We know that her time in Storybrooke, her parents and Henry have helped her start to break down these emotional crutches, but it is with Killian that she has achieved real success. You will notice that those stipulations she gave Killian last week are the absolute antithesis to her former emotional strategies; isolation is replaced by partnership, mistrust becomes trust, walls become a shared home and self-reliance has become connection. She has opened herself to love because the benefits outweighed the risk.

But…

That risk has backfired. Apparently. This man, with whom she ventured forth on an expedition of growth and change, for whom she has risked everything has seemingly let her down in the worst possible way. He’s abandoned her. And he did so just after she has set out her very clear list of expectations. She has said what she wants and he has run. So here’s the mix; she’s partially blaming herself for speaking up; she’s caused this with her demands. Add to this that she’s feeling stupid and embarrassed – she just freaking announced her engagement and now he’s gone! Multiply that by a good dose of her kicking herself for letting this one get beneath her guard and making her vulnerable, plus there’s the worry - she loves him and she doesn’t know where he is, and of course, there’s a huge slice of anger because he fucking left!. So this is the war going on in her brain – she feels let down and she’s sad and it’s all so new and raw because it’s only just happened and she’s not ready to talk about it, not until she’s processed it for herself.

I will admit, the text doesn’t give us much in the way of hope. It asks us to bring all our pre-existing knowledge of Emma to the table and build our own reading of her response. Would it have been nice to have had a scene where Emma momentarily considers that something else might be going on? Sure, a moment of hope would have been helpful . . .  but maybe that’s the point? We’re watching Emma struggle with her instincts, just as we watched Killian struggle with his last week. Sometimes the best lesson is being wrong.

Emma packs up his stuff, knowing full well that these things are important to him – they are literally all he’s accumulated over the course of a very long life – and it makes it all the more confusing to her. But she packs them anyway. This puts her in control of a situation where she doesn’t have any. It allows her to box up her feelings too. She���s retreating behind a hastily constructed personal wall, she internalises and chooses not to discuss or wonder or even consider any other possibility. This is what always happens to her -she gets abandoned. She’s just feeling like the dumb bunny for letting it happen again. The part of the scene where she examines the ring that Killian gave her in Camelot is, I think, an important one. Henry is occupied with his music, Emma is in the safety of her own home – most of the artefacts are put into the trunk with minimal consideration, except for the ring. The ring is special to her too. He gave it to her in Camelot to ensure her safety, to ensure that she came back to him. It’s a ring he credits with his long survival, or at the very least “It’s a reminder that you’ve got a piercing-eyed, smouldering pirate who loves you.”  It’s the ring that she used as a talisman to find him in the underworld. We remember all this, so of course Emma remembers all of this too! The ring is representative of all they’ve gone through together and its significance only adds to the confusion and sadness. Henry’s question, the call for her sheriff services, they both serve to bring her back to reality, steel herself against the pain and refuel the anger. Cue curt command to have that chest of crap out in the shed before she gets back.

Emma is not impressed to find that the callout is a fake and part of a plot to manoeuvre her into the bar. Its manipulation – even if it is well-intentioned. I’m pretty sure she only stays because of her tipsy Mother’s pleading and immediately she is badgered about the need to “stop holding everything in”. My question here is why is it so important for Emma to share her woes at this particular time and place, and indeed why does she have to at all? These demands are such a gross invasion of her privacy, it’s no wonder she doesn’t yield to Regina’s interrogation! Surely Emma is entitled to deal with things at her own pace – it’s only been a day! It’s not like she’s bottling – she’s just not ready to talk about it yet, at least not to anyone who actually knows her…

It’s often said it’s easier to talk to a stranger about personal things and despite all Regina’s attempts to get Emma to talk, it is to the bartender that she eventually gives a small glimpse of her feelings. And what she reveals is disappointment - it seems like Killian is not the ‘survivor’ she thought her was. She thought it meant stickability but now fears it just meant that he knew the right time to move on. The disappointment and the belief that he doesn’t love her anymore cause the tears. Snow sees her wiping her eyes and is instantly at her side with soothing words. Emma doesn’t want to be seen crying – she doesn’t want this to lead to further discussion of her feelings and so she gives her companions an ending – she says that this is what she needed to see that it’s time to move on. It seems a bit callous, and very premature to be making such a decision – yesterday they were engaged and now she’s talking “moving one”? They’re only words. Words she doesn’t mean, words whose function is to fob off her intrusive friends. The lie of those words is made beautifully clear when she lets herself back into her house and the first thing she sees is the trunk still there, front and centre of the lounge room. Nope, he’s not going to be that easy to forget and there will be no moving on any time soon.

Emma takes the chest out to the shed and of course, is forestalled by a small fuzzy voice calling her name. The call on the shell-phone is everything that Emma needs – it arrests every fear she’s had since Killian disappeared. He’s safe. He has not run away. He loves her.  He is a survivor in the way she hoped; he’s steadfast and true and he is working his hardest to get home to her. Oh, and her requirements for a functional relationship, they didn’t scare him off either.  Gideon has made a grave mistake in messing with Emma’s family and trying to blackmail her. He may think he holds all the power in this situation but she is not going to take any of this kindly. Let’s hope she wipes that weasel grin off his weasel face. If Gideon legitimately wanted Emma’s help, why didn’t he just ask for it?

Where’s the patented “Hope Speech”? – It is very noticeable that no one give Emma a hope speech. These things get trotted out at dark moments with stunning regularity to buoy hope, to encourage, to dispel fear, to keep one on a steady path, to resist temptation. They are Snow’s speciality. David and Henry are pretty good at giving them too. Regina may not have given many but she sure has heard a few. But Emma does not get one. Why not? It is tempting to feel aggrieved on Emma’s behalf - after everything she’s done no one can spare her a kind word or express hope that things will work out? But to take an alternative perspective, maybe it’s not that they didn’t want to do it, maybe there was just no opportunity?

·         David – David fares best here. He gets a pass for a couple of reasons – He’s just found out that Hook did kill his dad a while back, so I think he can be forgiven for not coming out with the hope speech right off the bat. Add to this the fact that Emma and David are very close and very similar – he shows instant compassion for Emma when he finds that Hook has apparently left, he puts aside his own feelings to be there for her. He gets why she needs to keep busy and is cooperative with the sudden desire to digitise all the police records. David knows that a ladies night with half-price liquor is not what Emma needs; He knows she doesn’t want to talk about it yet and he gives her the room and space to process in her own time all the while being unquestionably supportive. David is the one to whom Emma would probably willingly open up when she was ready to talk. Hope speech would have followed. I think it is incredibly interesting that David is literally gotten out of the way and sent to sleep in Snow’s place all so the girls night out can proceed…

·         Henry – It is impossible not to compare Henry, slumped on the couch glued to his phone and earbuds in, to the Henry that we saw prepare a care basket for Regina when she was suffering with a broken heart that one time. Why is Henry so detached this time? I don’t think he is. I think he’s just being a teenage boy. I also think it’s an indictment on the kind of relationship he has with his both of his mothers – With Emma he’s the kid in the relationship, with Regina he functions as a pseudo parent to her. With Emma he doesn’t have to worry about her heartbreak resulting in general curse-type mayhem and vengeance. With Regina, he does. Plus, that care package was creepy and weird… happy to let Henry lounge on the couch being fifteen.

·         Snow – Snow was, up until the Girls Night Out under her side of the sleeping curse – she was asleep. Emma does not tell Snow about the situation with Hook herself. David might leave a few details in a handover note but, the fair assumption is that Regina is the one to tell Snow and co-opt her support for drinkie-poos at Aesop’s Tables without Snow having Emma’s side of the story. Surely Snow would be the safe bet for a ‘hope speech’? Nope, no joy there either – By the time Emma arrives at the bar, Snow is very tipsy indeed. She’s in no condition to give hope speeches.

·         Regina – Regina doesn’t usually give hope speeches, she gets them. But more to the point, Regina is very clearly operating on her own agenda that has absolutely nothing to do with trying to instil a little hope into Emma. . .

A Girls Night Out – It’s Regina’s bright idea. A night for the ladies – for her, Emma and Snow – two for one drinks at the local bar. Right from the get-go Regina feels ‘off’. She’s acting strangely and it instantly puts one on alert. Despite the long and winding road that Emma and Regina have travelled in one another’s enforced company, they do not have the kind of relationship that consists of pre-planned commiseration drinks and getting tanked at the local public establishment. They might have shared the odd impromptu shot, but nothing like this.

Snow is included in the scheme as bait. Snow’s presence is dangled enticingly to make Emma feel more comfortable and inclined to accept the invitation. Emma and Regina don’t spend a lot of time together unless it has specific purpose; this invitation to go drinking together is odd but would be even odder if Snow wasn’t also there. David, as mentioned earlier is dismissed also to ensure Snow participates. Despite all these machinations Emma rejects the whole idea. She wants to keep to herself, keep busy and deal with this in her own way and thinks that Regina should be busy trying to break her parents curse anyway. But Regina is not so easily swayed from her mission and goes for a more direct approach – “I know you’re hurting and I know you’re trying to hide it because you’re….Emma, but you can’t just run from this!” Emma’s reply is glib and dismissive “I didn’t run. Hook ran. So there’s nothing more to say.” Regina makes a bold and unreasonable demand to be granted access to Emma’s feelings and Emma reacts with flippant hostility. She does not enjoy being pushed and she won’t be forced into discussing what she does not want to discuss. She’s not looking for sympathy or to commiserate. She wants privacy. I must admit that I loved the last shot of this scene – Emma sitting at her desk finished with the conversation, Regina standing beside it looking way more peeved than the situation warrants, before Emma finally shoots her a look that dead-pans ‘you’re still here?’ Love it!

Emma is tricked into the night out despite her refusal. And once there she is prodded for revelation. But it’s not done via natural conversation – we don’t see the three ladies sitting together having a drink and talking like friends do. For people who know each other they seem like strangers – it doesn’t help that Snow is having trouble keeping her alcohol-fuzzied head off the bar, but neither does coercion as a method of invitation. Boundaries are being over-stepped and for me, the big question is why? Why is Regina being so pushy and demanding with Emma’s thoughts and feelings? Why is she so determined to get Emma to open up that she would resort to manipulation and trickery? The simplest answer is that Regina is trying to be a friend. I have difficulty with this explanation because I can recall precious few occasions where Regina has been genuinely interested in the feelings of another when there is no benefit to her. And those odd occasions usually involve Henry. So what gives here? What does Regina stand to gain by poking at Emma’s wounds? What’s in it for her?

Regina’s actions are overbearing and manipulative, which in turn, invites suspicion of her motives.  Why is she so keen on getting Emma to this particular bar that she would go to the lengths she did to get her there? Logic says that if she was genuine, she would accept Emma’s disinterest and try another tact (I don’t know, take Snow and a bottle of wine around to Emma’s house later in the evening?). But she doesn’t. She concocts a bar-brawl and gets Emma bought here on false pretences. So WHY?

Okay, I’m going to put it out there – What if Regina is invested in making Emma cry. Gideon’s plan is convoluted and has zero chance of succeeding without some assistance. In the other side of the story we’re watching Killian fighting to get home, he’s going to get there sooner rather than later. This gives Gideon-as-Aesop a very limited window of opportunity to get Emma to visit the bar and to cry – neither thing she shows any inclination to do without some very pointed manipulation. Regina fulfils that duty, gets her to the bar, gets her drinking and then proceeds to interrogate

Regina: I’m trying to figure out what it will take to get you to open up.

Emma: Open up what? I’m open. Hook left. It sucks

Regina: How do you feel?

Emma: Like it sucks.

Regina: Right, but are you mad, sad. Do you feel like throwing things or…crying your eyes out?

Emma: I don’t know – neither, both, all of it

Regina: I thought I was tough to crack.

Well firstly can I just observe that Regina has never been ‘hard to crack’; she loves talking about herself and will do so whenever given any opportunity. And secondly she never actually engages Emma in natural conversation. She is merely musing aloud about what it will take to get Emma to cry and seeing that saviour’s tears are the object of the game then I’d say that makes Regina’s motives here pretty darn suspicious. Add to this, when Emma does get her melancholy on and tear up for the bartender Snow comes over to offer comfort, Emma is embarrassed at being caught wiping her eyes and says “well you got what you wanted” and Regina, who is beside Snow, looks directly at the serviette (see picture below). Emma even reiterates the point “Regina, you got what you wanted.”

The obvious question is why would Regina be doing this? Why would she be helping Gideon? At a guess, he’s threatened her… or more likely Henry and she’s offered him an alternative? I personally think it would have something to do with that newly refreshed darkness in her heart – it was not a gradual build up like the first time, when each horrible thing she did slowly blackened her heart over many years – nope this was one big hit, an overdose if you will, and it will be interesting to see exactly how this affects her behaviour. I suspect that Regina wants her town back and that she will do just about anything to get it. I know this is just speculation but honestly, if this show misses the opportunity to explore the effect of that influx of darkness on Regina in order to pretend that all is sunshine and lollipops then it will be very disappointing. She can’t have got her darkness back for nothing.

Agrabah’s Hero  - Jasmine’s story is largely about her journey to realise that she is Agrabah’s hero. The flashback to her adventure with Ariel reveals the mistake she made that led to Agrabah’s disappearance while the part set in the present day is all about how she fixes that mistake, becomes a hero and reclaims her name.  Like Jasmine, Killian is also on a quest of identity; it may be involuntary and he may have already decided to go home and face his demons before Gideon intervened but now that he’s here, he’s sort of compelled into it. And it’s looking like its going to be a very worthwhile experience for him…  The predicament of Jasmine and Aladdin and their need to find a way home gives Killian an opportunity to show his quality and be the man that Emma knows him to be – the one he lost sight of momentarily when confronted with the murder of David’s father.  The initial angry panic (due to being pissed off at being trapped in another realm and the fact that he knows exactly how Emma will be reacting to his disappearance back in Storybrooke) gives way to calm determination when he realises that his route home will not be direct and that he needs to help Jasmine and Aladdin find their home first. Jasmine and Killian have a lot in common - they are clearly paralleled as they have been throughout the entire arc:

Both love a saviour and have a romance that is not going altogether as planned, largely due to their own actions. Neither feel ‘good enough’ for their significant other because of mistakes they’ve made in the past and thus feel they don’t deserve to be loved. 

Despite this Jasmine and Killian gain much of their strength and bravery from Aladdin and Emma respectively. They make them want to be better people.  

Both are trapped away from home and are on a journey to rediscover the hero within.

They both have a ring of failure – She the ring of Agrabah as a reminder of how she failed her people. He, a returned engagement ring as a reminder of how he failed Emma.

Both have looked to ‘run away’ from their problems and dispose of items that are connected to their problem, but are not the cause of it – the lamp for Jasmine and the memories for Killian. The unforeseen consequences of a wish are not why Jasmine is stranded and feeling worthless. And Killian’s internal guilt and a refusal to believe that he might be forgiven are the millstones around his neck.

Not confronting their fears has led directly to them losing everything – home, and the people they love.

Both will take risks if they need to �� a wish, a chance that they convince Jafar to assist them… showing that the coward thing is not indicative of who they really are but is a temporary setback due to circumstances that they need to address.

It’s not surprising that Killian and Jasmine are shown to have a natural comradery and understanding for each other. Their conversation aboard the nautilus is the most honest and productive that we see throughout the episode – it flows through a give and take of information and experience and there is a genuine desire to help one another through this rough patch. At the end of Jasmine’s story she faces and defeats Jafar, which enables her to see how she can get Agrabah back and sort things out with Aladdin – Love is the answer to both in the form of a true love’s kiss. Killian is yet to get his Hero’s epiphany … in the next episode perhaps – something to do with Neverland and unfinished business there? And, like Jasmine, will the reward for facing his past be something that will help him break Snow and David’s curse? Narrative symmetry screams that it has to be Killian and not Regina who finds the answer.  Emma and Killian’s inevitable TLK has been foreshadowed for such a long time and I’ve always said it would be saved for a big moment – maybe the sleeping curse is that moment?

Transitions – The transitions from one scene to the next in this episode are fantastic. On nearly every occasion they make a deliberate point, that more often than not contradicts the prevailing opinion in the previous. This is particularly evident with Jasmine and her journey to realise that she is the hero of Agrabah but there is also some very effective examples from Emma and Hook too. Particularly good is the transition from the opening scene of Emma telling David that Hook “just sailed away” to be completely contradicted by the scene of the Nautilus getting sucked involuntarily into the swirling great portal. Consistently when Killian gets accused of running we transition to a scene of Hook being desperate to get home. When Emma suggests her mother’s bar room antics are a good thing to distract her “from that thing she would like to be distracted from” we cut to a close-up of Killian’s face. Particularly delicious is the cut from Regina trying to get Emma to dish on “that no good pirate” to Hook and Jasmine talking and with him being anything but ‘no good’.

Aesop’s Tables –the writers of the episode has gone to the trouble of renaming the local bar and making Aesop the bartender (Yeah I know that it’s Gideon in disguise, but I’m going to assume that Gideon is just making use of an existing situation rather than starting from scratch – that would be too ridiculous!)  Why Aesop?  It has to be for a purpose and I think that purpose is the drinks named for fables. Three fables/drinks are highlighted:

·         The Dog and the Wolf - A starving wolf meets a well-fed dog and compliments him on his healthy appearance. The dog tells the wolf of his domestic life of ease and invites the wolf to his home. As they go, the wolf asks about a bald patch on the dog's neck. The dog tells him that it’s caused by the collar he has to wear at home. The wolf leaves, deciding that his freedom is too steep a price to pay for an easy meal.

·         The Fox and the Grapes - a fox tries to eat grapes from a vine but cannot reach them. Rather than admit defeat, he declares that the grapes are undesirable. (the origin of the saying “sour grapes”)

·         The Ant and the Grasshopper - one version is about a hungry grasshopper who begs for food from an ant when winter comes and is refused. The moral lesson is about the virtues of hard work and planning for the future. But there is a second version where the ant is seen as the bad example. In that one the ant was once a man who was always busy farming but never satisfied with the product of his own labour, so he steals his neighbours' crops at night. This makes the gods angry and so they turn him into an ant. Yet even though the man changed shape and species, he didn’t change his habits. The moral of the fable is that it’s easier to change in appearance than to change one's nature.

So those three stories are interesting and invite some connections and questions. In regard to the Dog and the Wolf, I find myself asking who, in Storybrooke is feeling that their freedom is being curtailed by an easy existence? Regina springs to mind, she’s been on her best behaviour for the last few years – Henry in exchange for “being good”. That deal has bought other benefits too – friends, family and status but has that fresh addition of bulk darkness to her formerly pristine heart made Regina change her tune and decide that the cost of not being free to do what she likes in her town is too great? The second version of the Ant and the Grasshopper would also seem to be applicable here.  The Fox and the Grapes could easily be a reference to Emma – not that she’s bad mouthing Killian, but she is showing a determined obstinacy against seeing any other reason for his disappearance. Of course, It could also be a meta comment on fandom and the tendency to demonise what you don’t like – combat shipping and sour grapes are a particularly vile combination. I also think it’s interesting that “Aesop” employs a fake fable – “the Artist and his Wife” - to get Emma to talk. He does what Regina couldn’t do by giving her something to empathise with. But it’s a fiction, a trick – just like this whole scenario in the bar from start to finish.

Back in Black – Some big wardrobe changes in this episode. Gone are Emma’s florals and whites, replaced by a look that is pure season one – tight black jeans and top. The confidence and happiness she’s been feeling of late is gone and she’s back in protective mode. Regina too makes a few changes – she’s back in black too, little bit sexier than she’s dressed of late, much heavier make-up. That darkness that’s back in her heart is making an impression. She wears a new hairdo to the bar, and if that’s not an invitation to take special note of what she’s up to then I don’t know what is.

Angry at the Magic – When Emma thinks that Regina is going to offer her a magical solution to mend her broken heart, she is . . . well, let’s just enjoy the irony that Emma expects Regina to be the bearer of a short-cut. Okay done . . . quite aggressive in her rejection. She’s not happy with magic at the moment. The use of the dream catcher would be the prime target but one has to suspect that wishes, and magically aged up brats must be contributing to the short fuse too.

That pesky curse – Regina says she’s working on it but she doesn’t seem overly pressed by the need to break the curse if she can put it on hold to pressure Emma into revealing her emotions. Shouldn’t the curse be of upmost importance? I can’t help but think of the woodcutter…

A dish served cold – Jafar and Gideon are both shown to be manipulative and deceptive pieces of work with both of them masquerading as another person to get something they want. In Jafar’s case, initially it seems that his end goal is power and the desire to rule Agrabah but once the full story is revealed, it is actually just good old fashioned vengeance that is his true motive. I wonder if Gideon’s big talk of being the saviour of the Dark Realm is really just an excuse to get his revenge on the Dark Fairy....

[hekate1308]

Routine

More Season 12 AU because I can’t stop myself. More Destiel in this one, I swear!

Now that he doesn’t have to worry about the Men of Letters wiping out the Win – wiping out his friends, Crowley can actually relax in his room.

It actually feels kind of nice to just let go. He knows it’s the spell, but he’s safe now. Dean has seen to that.

And Dr. Hess was dumb enough not to take any precaution in case he got found out and captured. Didn’t think they, or more specifically Dean, had it in him.

How wrong she was.

He’s lying on his bed, eyes closed, imagining what he’ll do to every single member of the Men of Letters when he’s free, hearing their screams, almost feeling their blood run over his hands, when Dean knocks at the door.

“Crowley? You decent?”

“Yes. Don’t be too disappointed”.

Dean opens the door.

A gasp leads Crowley to open his eyes.

He actually looks pale.

“Jesus, Crowley, you know you don’t need to breathe. I almost had a heart attack.”

Oh. Right.

That’s what you get for mediating.

“Anyway, here”.

Dean holds up a bottle of Craig.

“Thought you might as well enjoy yourself.”

“So you’re going to bring in Hess and my mother on a rag?”

He chuckles.

“Might be a bit impractical. How are you doing?”

“Much better than before” Crowley replies, honestly. He might be locked up, but he was doing way more harm when he wasn’t.

“Still... You hated it the last time.”

“The last time I was in a dungeon in the bunker. This is luxury compared to that.”

Dean nods.

“Call if you need anything, alright?”

It soon turns out he doesn’t have to. Every occupant of the mansion checks on him at least once a day.

Cas, who seems to have come to the conclusion that life without caffeine isn’t worth living, brings him a cup of coffee each morning.

“We’re working on the spell” he tells him every day without fail, “We’re going to break it.”

Oh, Cassie. If anyone knows what it feels like to be controlled, it’s him.

“I know. Just tell Squirrel to take a break, will you? He looked pretty run down yesterday.”

“He’s sleeping in today” he tells him firmly. Crowley grins. He can imagine that discussion.

“How does it feel?” Cas asks.

He shrugs.

“Not that bad, really. Things are usually easier when free will is not involved.”

“Yes, but not better.”

“Never that, feathers. Never that.”

Sam is... a bit of a surprise, really. He’s warmed up to him considerably, but Crowley still didn’t expect him to seek his company when he’s confined to his room.

“Does that look like a lamia attack to you?”

Typical of Moose. Always needing a reason to come talk to someone. Not like Dean, who simply spends time with people because he wants to.

“No idea. Did you show it to Dean?”

“Of course. He doesn’t know either.”

It didn’t use to be “of course” but Crowley doesn’t mention it.

Even Mick visits him regularly.

The former man of Letters is usually polite and concise, “Sorry but I don’t want you to learn anything that can harm us”, as he explained.

Crowley can see why he was the only piece on the board smart enough to leave their little killer club.

The point is that even locked into a giant trap he is as much part of life in the mansion as he was before. Except that he doesn’t learn what’s going on with their network and the Men of Letters, just in case.

He worried very little about Hell. Even before this, he went there less and less often. Ever since he killed Lucifer, there has just been little reason to go, aside from reminding everyone who’s in charge. And he’s never liked being the leader of a bunch of pitiful black-eyed cry babies anyway.

If anything, this experience has taught him very well where he stands.

One day, he gets a surprise visit.

It starts with strange noises coming down the hallway; he tenses until he recognizes Dean’s voice amidst the cursing and the banging.

“Can’t believe... I survived... three freaking apocalypses... to carry this thing for miles...”

“It’s not that far, Dean.”

Even Cas sounds exhausted.

“Guys... guys – careful!”

Another bang. Sam hisses.

“You okay Sammy? Mick, can’t you make sure...”

“I can barely see the corridor!”

“Stop grinning” Dean complains.

It makes sense when the door opens and Mel is carried into the room in a bathtub, as happy as can be.

“I am never doing that again” Dean announces.

“We have to take her back later” Cas reminds him.

“Hi Crowley” she says, still grinning.

“Mistress of the waves”.

“There it is. Knew something was up when you didn’t call me that.”

She squints.

“Yeah. There’s something on his soul... must be the spell. A dark spot... Sorry I can’t tell exactly. I can only barely make out demons’ souls, and humans are completely unreadable.”

“I hate to disappoint you, but my soul, or what is left of it, is dark as a matter of course.”

“You’d be surprised” she replies cryptically.

“But still... here’s the thing: The spell, while powerful, doesn’t seem to have a very firm hold on him.”

“I’ll be the first to tell you it does” he presses out. “I’ve been trying...”

“I didn’t mean that” she sounds apologetic. “I think it’s easier to get rid of it once you know how, that is all.”

That’s some good news, he supposes.

Mel stays for a bit longer, eager for a chat.

Crowley doesn’t seem to be the only one who enjoys her company. Mick certainly appreciates her visit.

It’s remarkably easy to tell. After all, he looks at her and Dean the same way.

It was a nice thing of her to literally drop in and come see him. He’s starting to develop cabin fever.

God, he needs this spell to be gone.

Not knowing where they stand exactly with the Men of Letters is infuriating. From the little information Dean gave him, it looks like they could win this war any day, but he wants to be sure.

Soon. The boys will find a way out of this.

Dean promised.

Once again, her son doesn’t show up.

Rowena is aware that Dr. Hess is growing more impatient with each passing day.

Her own fault. She should have given Fergus more specific instructions. That he has to do anything to bring them a report, for instance. Or make him incapable of acting differently than he usually would.

She could have done so herself, but...

He’s still her son. She might hate him most of the time and enjoyed breaking what was left of his heart, but blood’s thicker than water, and she enjoys the chaos of giving him a fighting chance.

Someone who clearly doesn’t is Mary Winchester. She’s still livid about the decision to exclude her from the spell, and she’s rather eager to finally destroy every monster in existence, so the free pass Rowena is supposed to get annoys her beyond all means.

One day, she corners her in the hallway.

“Where is he?” she hisses.

“Fergus? If I knew, you would, dear.”

“How can we be sure of that? You might be working with him...”

“That would be a rather bad decision, honestly. Because as soon as he’s free, he’ll come for me. Aided by your sons, no doubt.”

“They are... misguided. By your son, among others. I’m just trying to save them.”

She’s still convinced of that, apparently, not realizing that much of her motivation stems from the distain for the hunting life she thought she left behind.

“Of course you are. By destroying everything they hold dear.”

“They’re used to this life. That is all. Once they can go and be normal, they’ll...” Mary breaks off.

“I’m not discussing my family with a witch” she spits out.

“If you think that’s the worst thing I’ve ever had thrown at me... Fergus was always very creative. And I’d rather be a witch than something else”.

She moves past Mary.

Right as she’s about to turn the corner, she calls over her shoulder, “And at least I openly despise my offspring.”

She hears her march off and smiles. Undoubtedly Mary will do what she usually does to blow off steam and go kill something.

Rowena suddenly finds she vastly preferred her sons’ company to hers.

Dean was downright adorable when he had amnesia.

No wonder Fergus has a weakness for them, really.

A weakness...

She turned him week when she performed that spell. He must hate it. He always hated being told what to do, even when he was just a wee bairn in Scotland.

There was a reason she tried to sell him for three pigs once. He never forgave her for that.

Not that he’ll ever forget what she did to him now. Her son can hold a grudge.

She was right about Mary. She ends up disappearing for a few days and comes back splattered with blood and gore, a manic gleam in her eyes.

Rowena shudders. If the boys were like this, she wouldn’t be alive anymore.

Even so however, she and Mary Winchester aren’t that different.

That thought stops her in her tracks.

It’s true. They are both betraying their children.

At least Rowena knows exactly why and is honest about it.

But, watching Mary argue with Dr. Hess once again, she’s not so sure that’s a good thing, either.

Mary Winchester is starting to annoy her. She doesn’t see the big picture – she’s just as mistaken as her sons are, only in a different way.

If she could, she’d go on a killing spree right now, and Dr. Hess has never been comfortable with unreliable colleagues.

She made an exception for Mr. Ketch because he was useful and knew when to obey orders, but that was it.

Mary Winchester might soon turn out to be as much as liability as her sons ever were.

If so, she’s looking forward to dealing with the consequences. Mick Davies has taught her something.

No more weak links.  

Just another day in the life.

His boyfriend is talking to their werewolf buddy on the phone, his other best friend is still locked in his room, his brother is cleaning the weapons they used last night (nasty wendigo, thank God Tara noticed the signs and alerted them) and their newest addition is studying an old Hebrew document.

Yep, just another day in the life.

Even if Garth’s news that nearly every werewolf he knows is ready to support them is a little overwhelming.

Mick storms in just after Cas hangs up, looking frustrated.

“Nothing. And I know the spell must have ties to the Bible, but I never got high enough in the organization to learn about it – “

“Hey, don’t worry about it, man. We’ll find a way.”

“We always do” Cas confirms.

Mick sighs.

“not being able to help... It’s just frustrating.”

“Welcome to the club. You’ll get used to it”.

“At least he’s in a pretty good mood”.

“I think “not being told what to do” right now trumps everything, concerning Crowley.”

“You... know him very well” Mick begins, glancing at Cas.

“There were rumours...”

“If you mean the one where I turned into a demon and we spent a few weeks bffing it up, that’s true.”

He doesn’t even bait an eyelid.

He’s really growing used to all of this.

“Thank you. I was wondering.”

“You’re taking it pretty well.”

“I know you. I know you are a good man. The indiscretions of your past don’t matter in context.”

Dean sniggers a little at Mick describing his turning into a demon as “indiscretions”, causing him to blush and take his leave.

Cas’ arms circle around him.

“Don’t do that” he murmurs.

“Just having fun”.

Cas’ arms tighten.

“He’s younger than me”.

Oh.

“Cas, are you – are you actually jealous? Of Mick?”

“No, of course not.”

He sounds a bit grumpy and Dean turns around to kiss him.

“How about we agree we are all adults here and trust one another?”

Cas looks slightly ashamed of himself. Dean kisses him again.

“Come on. We got a King of Hell to save and the British Nazis to take down.”