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gwenyn28 · 2 months

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Debunking the „Invisible Strings“ Theory and more

Invisible strings – who hasn’t heard about that in any fandom? The true love. Faith. Soulmates. A forever kind of anything. This is what every fan wants for their favorite ship, right? Especially when it is two characters who have a built up. Share a story.

And if this theory turns into more, into the aforementioned “soulmatism” after these two characters got together, who wouldn’t be head over heels for it?

In my former post I explained some basic screenwriting rules, especially the “Show don’t tell” one. You can read it here if you want to.

Because there was and still is a big discourse in the fandom about the “They are made for each other and they are their endgame” I want to look at a few things concerning these theories and what happened on screen through the lens of the “Show don’t tell” rule.

Let’s start with the biggest part and what is mentioned in the post’s title.

The Invisible String Theory

To understand what I am talking about I will give you a short summary what this theory is about.

“Buck and Tommy are connected through invisible strings. Tommy left the 118 and Buck joined, taking his place metaphorically speaking and also literally speaking because he now sits at Tommy’s former seat at the 118’s dinner table. Later on, on a call where there was a big gas leak and a house was almost exploding (Eddie was inside with a kid, hiding in a bathtub) Chimney who was off duty at that time called Tommy to help. Tommy flew past that call to spill water all over the place and Buck looked up, watching his future boyfriend. There is also a connection through the episode “Buck actually” where Buck met Thomas and Mitchell, an older gay couple, who died together. Mitchell and Buck talked a bit about love and Mitchell said the famous phrase “You don’t find it, son, you make it.” Connecting this to Tommy due to the name of Mitchell’s love (Thomas) and because Tommy’s favorite movie is “Love actually” (said in one of the ‘Begins’ episodes).”

So, these are the main points for the theory. If I forgot any detail, I apologize. But it wouldn’t change that much about my interpretation if the summary had more details.

First of all: I could quite easily debunk and kind of nip this whole theory in the bud with one big point. Tommy coming back for season 7 was a last-minute decision. He was not the first choice so this thing between him and Buck being planned years ago? The seed being planted back then? Doesn’t fit.

Tommy (as a love interest for Buck) was kind of plan c (?) if I recall it correctly.

First idea was to bring back Lucy Donato. She can fly a helicopter (we saw that in the bridge rescue in season 6). Her not being available due to the actress’ new show was a last-minute thing. It can be seen on the form Hen submitted at Harbor. In the form the name of the requested pilot is “Lucy Donato” and not “Tommy Kinard”. That shows that the switch was not planned early and kind of made last-minute. If Lucy would have been brought back as an old new love interest for Buck, we will never know.

Second problem was that Natalia’s actress was also unavailable. Her character and Buck were in a relationship at the end of season 6 and this would have lasted into season 7. But instead, due to the lack of availability, they broke up over hiatus and she was never mentioned again. Therefore, Buck was without a big storyline and without a love interest. Because Tim, the showrunner, had it already in mind that Buck would and should realize some things about his sexuality (Buck has always been queer/bi-coded and Oliver has played and/or decided to play him like that) they decided now would be the right time. Buck’s story arc wouldn’t need that much time and so it could fit into the shortened season.

To get Buck to this realization that he could be attracted to men as well as women, there was a catalyst needed. Tim said in one of his interviews early on in season 7 that he didn’t want to invent a completely new character for that. Therefore he “recycled” an old one – Tommy. To give Buck an entry-level relationship that he can explore this new side of him a bit. But he also said that it wouldn’t be anything more than that. Even Lou, Tommy’s actor, stated the same in an interview he gave that Tommy was kind of the practice round for Buck.

And don’t mind that Lou mentioned in the same interview that Tommy was first brought back to be a love interest for Eddie but then they switched it to Buck, probably because to the reasons above.

To sum this part up:

Tommy being Buck’s soulmate and this being the plan in the long run doesn’t make sense when you look at the way of decision making.

But okay, benefit of the doubt. Let’s still look at the theory in detail.

Buck joining the 118 and sitting in Tommy’s seat

Mitchell’s husbands name

Episode title vs. “Love, actually”

I admit that these three things could be interpreted as something with a deeper meaning. But it could be also interpreted as nothing. Let’s dive into the screenwriting for a moment.

Like I said before it is quite essential to “Show don’t tell”. These three points might be big in the part of that ship’s fandom but the casual viewer doesn’t remember any of that. If it had been important and the show had wanted to lean into the theory they would have used some narrative devices. Like flashbacks. For example:

The moment Buck learns that Tommy’s name is Thomas we could see a short flashback to Mitchell and Thomas and the conversation Buck had with the former. Or another flashback where Tommy sits at the table and then fades and Buck sits down in the same spot. So that the general audience would make this connection. That they would have their “oh” moment, realizing that Tommy and Buck are really connected on a deeper level and made for each other. Or at least that there is something more to their relationship.

But we don’t see any of that. Just the hardcore fans remember the episode “Buck, actually” actually. Because for us these moments with Mitchell are so important and a valid part in a lot of fanfics on both sides. The casual viewer? They probably won’t even remember the episodes they watched three weeks ago. An episode that aired in 2018? Well… just no.

Buck looked up at the plane

For this point I will take off the screenwriter’s hat again because I can explain it without any screenwriting rules.

We know that Tommy is a helicopter pilot who works at Harbor. He also was a pilot in the army. I am sure that not many people know that but if you are a pilot doesn’t mean that you can fly anything that goes up into the air.

Imagine the same with a driver’s license. Just because you got your license for a normal car you are not automatically able to drive a truck, a tank, a motorbike, a bus etc. Most vehicles need special licenses so that you are able to drive them.

And the same goes for anything that flies. Tommy is able to fly a helicopter and he has a license for that. But being able to fly a plane? Okay, screenwriter’s hat on again because I noticed that I need this for the next few sentences. It is possible that a person has more than one license. And Tommy could be one of them, being able to fly a helicopter AND a plane. But again. We don’t know and nobody told us that he can. We know him as the helicopter pilot. Connecting him to the plane? To make this connection someone would have to mention it on the show that the audience can see “Oh, Tommy flew that plane and saved them all”. And screenwriter’s hat off.

Chimey said that he called Tommy for help and I totally believe he did that. Because Tommy is connected to people who can help with air support. So, it was Chimney’s obvious choice to ask him. But it makes more sense that Tommy asked someone else to fly that plane to help instead of flying it himself due to the aforementioned license thing.

And if we now think that it’s more likely that someone else flew that plane, the theory that Buck looked up to see his future boyfriend flying in to save him (and others) makes no sense anymore. (And yes, I ignore the point that kind of everyone was looking up because there was a damn fucking plane coming to the rescue and nobody says that the pilot is Bobby’s soulmate… or Hen’s… or any of the other people who were around back then.)

I think I properly explained why the “Invisible String Theory” might be a nice fandom created idea but it makes no sense in the long run, realistically speaking on a tv show level. Too many things don’t add up and make no sense storytelling wise.

Let’s hop on to other things in that context.

2. The whole “Evan” thing

Fans and the general audience alike know what kind of relationship Buck has with his given name. He never says he hates it. But he shows it more than once or it is shown that his chosen name holds a special place in his heart, and not his given name.

Buck talks with his parents as they visit him at the station. When his father calls him “Evan” Buck interrupts him and tells him that his name is Buck. People who know him call him “Buck”.

When Buck is down after the I think the warehouse fire Athena talks to him and cheers him up. She gives him a pep talk and ends it with “That’s what being Buck means to me.”

In the coma episode coma!Bobby and coma!Buck talk before Buck realizes that he should escape this coma dream. It is about his name as well. That he is Buck. And not Evan.

There are a few other examples, I just listed the three most obvious ones, I think.

In conclusion we can say that Buck prefers this chosen name over his given name for several reasons. He accepted being Buck and not just Evan.

Now Tommy comes in and calls Buck Evan all the time. We even know that Lou has been told to just call Buck Evan as Tommy and not Buck. Why could that be?

People are saying that Buck reclaims his name, being called Evan is him being more mature. Or even that it is something special because only Tommy is allowed to call him Evan. But are these really the reasons? I doubt it.

We know that Buck has a complicated relationship with his name as stated earlier (family issues etc.). Why would he all of a sudden want to reclaim this name, to show him being more grown up? After the lightning strike and the follow up coma we saw him already grown up. Grown into the name, being comfortable with being Buck. Because being Buck is enough. Why would he all of a sudden decide that now he wants to be called Evan again after the audience has already experienced his growth in season 6 where he feels good as Buck, not Evan? And even if he wanted to be called Evan now for reasons, why would he not tell everyone to switch the name?

From a screenwriter’s perspective it is quite simple. Tommy being the only one calling him Evan is important. But not in the way people think it is. Not because it shows a special connection or because of a deep bond. On the contrary. Remember the phrase Buck said to his father. “People who know me…” It is more of a “Tommy doesn’t know Buck” thing. With this simple action the general audience notices that something is off between Tommy and Buck. Because the audience knows Buck’s preference and some might even remember all the reasons why (most might remember that it has something to do with his family).

“Language” is a very effective narrative device. Using certain words or how characters talk to each other can deliver a message for the audience. Screenwriters use this device so that they don’t have to actively say something but the audience will still get it. In this case: Nobody has to say that Tommy ignores Buck’s chosen name and that something feels off about it, the audience sees that he does and that it is.

Now people might say “But Buck hasn’t stopped him” and yes, I agree. Buck has not stopped him with the whole “Evan” thing. It could be simply because he still has to get used to his first relationship with a man, exploring stuff etc. Or it could be deeper and be rooted in his abandonment issues, unconsciously scared that if he tells Tommy to change the name that Tommy will leave. And Buck failed another relationship.

There could have been some possibilities to explain this name thing. Like Buck telling Tommy explicitly that he wants to be called Evan. Or Tommy asks Buck about it because he notices that he’s the only one calling him Evan and Buck states that he is okay with it because he likes it when Tommy does (this could have given a nice little look into their relationship and could have been a sweet moment.)

But nothing like that happened. We just hear Tommy call Buck Evan every time he appears on screen. And this is intentional, the intention behind even backed up through the instruction for Lou not to say Buck.

“Show, don’t tell”. Tommy uses the “wrong” name for Buck while the audience knows what Buck prefers. So, it feels off for people who watch the show and we get to see a relationship where both parts aren’t really on the same level.

3. Buck’s big “coming out”

There are people who complain about the way it was shown on screen. They argue that Tommy could have told Buck how he looked. And they are mad at him for that. That it was a forced coming out and that it was a shitty move from Tommy etc.

I don’t agree with that. Because I wouldn’t look that deep into it. In the end this scene had just one purpose - a subtle coming out for Buck. We know that they were already running low on time that episode, cutting of scenes almost worth one complete episode. So, Buck coming out to everyone else besides Maddie and Eddie? Would have taken too much time. The “soot face” scene was more effective and delivered the message to Buck’s friends and the audience. That Buck is out now.

I want to focus more on another part of the hospital scenes. The one when Buck and Tommy kissed. (And no, I don’t want to talk about that it was kind of out of character for Buck to leave Maddie’s wedding to go see Tommy because that is something else to discuss at another time maybe.)

Hardcore fans were happy about this scene and yes, I get it. Tommy promised to be at the wedding and he was. And they kissed. Great. Your ship sailed at that moment. But the moment people went deeper in and romanticized it that Tommy came to see Buck even after he fought a fire, I have to put my foot in.

Let’s put off the shipper’s googles for a second.

Tommy being at the hospital was just for one purpose. That Buck could come out to his friends and that the audience knows that he is out now to everyone and doesn’t have to hide anymore. Nothing else.

Because if we look deeper into it, there are some questions. Tommy works at Harbor. They usually do the air support. Why would he arrive at the hospital with a fire engine in full turn out? If you are on-call duty you usually aren’t for a different job. Compare it to a doctor maybe. If you are on call as an eye doctor you wouldn’t be called in to do a brain surgery. Especially such an expert like Tommy, a pilot, wouldn’t be used for normal fire-fighting that could keep him occupied when an emergency occurs that needs a pilot.

Therefore, him coming in with a turnout full of soot, having just fought a fire, was solely for getting the soot on Buck’s face. Their kiss was to remind the audience that they were still seeing each other even after their failed date and the coffee-date to get out the invite for the wedding.

There was no deeper meaning behind it and the writers used that scene to deliver a subtle coming out without Buck telling everyone.

Interpreting it as “Tommy came to see Buck even if he worked so hard in these past hours” and “he didn’t even go home to clean up himself because he wanted to rush to Buck” is looking too deep into this. (And just to mention, even Buck cleaned up and switched clothes although his sister’s wedding had to be cancelled because the groom was missing and Maddie was going crazy about it. But Buck went and cleaned himself up.)

4. The Bachelor Party

Yes, I know. There is a big controversy about it, especially Tommy’s reaction. Let’s analyze this.

Tommy didn’t dress up even though Buck told him that the party was 80s themed. Instead of just saying that he didn’t have much time and couldn’t find a fitting outfit, he stated “They had Henley’s in the 80s” in a very condescending tone and made somehow fun of Buck and Eddie for their Miami Vice costumes. “What are you, the Wedding singers?” (reference to a movie where the two people who are meant for each other are with the wrong people but that is not the point here).

The point is that Tommy did not put any effort in it. The audience knows how Buck can get with these things. Remember Clipboard!Buck and him being Firemarshal. The audience even saw in the previous scenes how important this party was for Buck. He really wanted to throw it for Chimney and was totally into it.

Tommy reacting so poorly was a mood dampener and we could see that in Buck’s (and Eddie’s) reaction.

Now, people explained that he was on call and that this was why he didn’t dress up. Usually, if you are on call, even as a First Responder (or especially as one), you have to switch into a uniform to work. Doctors, nurses throw on their scrubs, police officers wear their uniform, firefighters theirs etc. He could have easily worn something different. Tommy did not know if he would be called in or not. But he decided against it, wore a Henley and made a joke about Buck (and Eddie) being dressed up.

How can you analyze this from a screenwriter’s point of view?

If they had wanted to establish the relationship between Buck and Tommy further, we would have been shown stuff that would let the audience have another “Oh, they are into each other” moment.

For example: Tommy could have worn something colorful or fun, just a shirt or something and they could have had a sweet little exchange about it. Or he could have explained to Buck in a normal way why he decided to go with the Henley. Or, and that is a major point, he could not have been on call in the first place and could have partied the whole night with Buck (and Eddie, or even without Eddie to give us more couple time). But he did neither of that.

It was an intentional choice to not dress him up and let him even act kind of condescending towards Buck concerning the outfit. It was also an intentional choice to make him leave. Him staying could have shown the two of them in a more relationship way, how they act around each other, how much fun they have together. But the writers refrained from this to a. show the disconnect between Tommy and Buck and b. not to dive deeper into their relationship and to show it to the general audience.

The bachelor party was the fifth scene we saw Buck and Tommy together – the first one at Harbor when they were interrupted by Eddie, the kiss in Buck’s kitchen, their failed date, the coffee date and now the bachelor party.

In none of these scenes the writer’s focus was to establish their relationship. For the audience it is still not really shown what kind of relationship these two have, especially not that it is such a lovely one like some fans claim it to be.

While I mentioned all their scenes until now, I want to go back to one and talk about this one as a last point.

5. Their first date

In episode 7x04 which is completely from Buck’s (unreliable) point of view we got the kissing scene when Tommy asked Buck out for a date. Ignore the “My attention? – I guess.” for a moment even though it probably is important. Remember, anything is intentional and not just because they had no clue what else to write. But this is not what I want to focus on here.

The whole episode was from Buck’s point of view and the audience learnt that Tommy is a lot like Eddie. They have so much in common – the military, Muay Thai, repairing cars etc. The audience learns that Buck seems to like Tommy who is similar to Eddie and that they kind of click.

Now we jump to the next episode and Buck’s and Tommy’s first date and the writer’s intentions switch. While thinking that Buck and Tommy would be a good fit after the last episode the audience now learns that there are differences between the two of them.

I don’t want to excuse Buck’s reaction, the “hot chicks” comment was misplaced. But thinking about it you could at least understand it. He is not out yet, just noticing his attraction to guys a few days prior and is now on a date with a man for the first time… and bumps into his best friend. It is just human that he panics and says something stupid. Still, it was needed that he apologized for that.

Tommy’s actions on the other hand were more than just a bit misplaced. His “closet” comment could have outed Buck in front of his best friend. Luckily, Eddie (and Marisol) was oblivious enough that the comment flew past their heads. Immediately after, Tommy ended the date and ordered himself an uber.

Again. Until then I could explain this by “he is mad at the comment Buck made, feeling like being shoved back into the closet” etc. I would agree. I wouldn’t be on that level myself because I think rudeness shouldn’t be countered with rudeness but okay. Everybody acts differently.

Now, to really end the date, the writers made another intentional choice. They could have shown that Tommy still cares about Buck, that Buck is important to him. They could have made him say something like that Buck isn’t ready and that he understands him but doesn’t want to go back into the closet. Something like that. He could have shown some empathy. He could have explained his want to end the date so that the viewer could relate and understand him.

But instead, the writers chose Tommy not to talk to Buck. Until the moment the uber stopped at the curb, Buck (and the audience) is still thinking that they are going to the movies. Then Tommy abruptly ends the date and drives away while Buck stands alone at the curb, staring at the leaving car. (Concerning his abandonment issues this is kind of heartbreaking.)

Every message, every action Tommy did after Buck’s comment could be explainable on its own. But sum everything up and it leaves the viewer with another off feeling – the closet comment, ending the date without saying so, leaving Buck on the curb.

Even later on when Buck met up with Tommy again at the coffee shop, Tommy did not apologize. I wouldn’t go that far and say that Tommy is gaslighting Buck. But he explains his actions with “You are not ready”. He probably doesn’t see that he did something wrong or that he could have handled the situation better.

The viewer starts to think about that relationship and that they maybe did not click that much like everyone thought at first. Nobody probably thinks that Tommy is a villain here. Just that he is probably the wrong fit for Buck.

There are a few more other scenes between Buck and Tommy and each one of them can be analyzed through the screenwriter’s lens. But probably there won’t be anything new that hasn’t been stated already. So, just a short summary of three scenes that are worth a comment.

During the medal ceremony when Buck is happy about the award (it is obviously his first) Tommy makes a comment – “Enjoy it while it lasts.” This shows another time that they are not on the same level and they don’t really match. Tommy just sees himself and cannot be happy for Buck. Therefore, he makes that slightly deprecative comment and Buck face falls.

While Bobby is in the hospital, being dead for 14 minutes and now in a coma afterwards, Buck is worried sick. Everyone knows that Bobby is his surrogate father. He wants to share this with Tommy who turns it into a joke, not really taking Buck seriously and listening to his concerns and fears. And Buck’s face falls again.

While Hen and Karen try to interrogate Tommy about his intentions with Buck (kind of a shovel talk), he deflects and makes jokes that are misplaced.

If you look at all of these things mentioned above - from the name calling, comments and certain scenes - from a writing perspective you can see that these were deliberate choices. There were enough moments to really establish the blooming relationship. To make Tommy likable.

First, he could have been on screen more so that the audience would see their relationship like we do with all the other couples. For example, like Athena and Bobby dancing together on the cruise ship. Did it add to the storyline per se? No. But it showed them being a couple and in love. There could have been small little scenes like that with Buck and Tommy. But the writers and the showrunner decided not to show any.

And remember. For the general audience things have to be shown that they will be able to relate to the characters and accept things into the narrative. So, if there are no e.g. domestic scenes between Buck and Tommy, nobody will believe they have a sweet little domestic relationship.

Second, the few scenes they had Tommy could have been written differently. Except in 7x04 where we saw the whole story through Buck’s eyes, he was always stiff and condescending, making misplaced comments and jokes. The writers could have given him lines where he e.g. supports Buck after he is worried about Bobby. Or an apology at the coffee date where they both decide to start over. There were many chances to make him a fit for Buck, to give him scenes and lines for the audience to relate to. So that we can see him as the fit for Buck people claim him to be.

But, the show did neither. There was just a limited number of scenes and the lines Tommy had were never really supportive or sweet towards Buck. All in all, the writers went full in with the “Show don’t tell”. They painted a certain picture of Tommy for the audience to understand that Tommy might not be a bad guy but just not a fit for Buck.

And in the end, this is what counts. What is shown on screen and the writer’s intentions with this.

Not what someone comes up with as a headcanon or what people assume happened off screen.

Disclaimer in the end: I just want to say that this post isn’t about the casual part of the fandom. The people who just watch the show, enjoy the ship and are happy about anything. As long as they are respectful and live the “ship and let ship” lifestyle, I am completely fine with it.

This post is more about the hardcore five people who try to shove down these theories and “canon” events as a given we have to believe and accept and “how dare you ship something else???”. People who act superior and think they can be dismissive and condescending and whenever you don’t agree with their point of views you are called names, slurs and a lot of different other things.

#media literacy #screenwriting #analysis #911 abc #911 show #911 season 7

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ethereousdelirious · 1 year

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Sicktember 2023 Day 16

Prompt: Consulting the Internet

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Characters: R.emus, J.anus

Wordcount: 1,260

Notes: Honestly never thought I'd write fic for this fandom? Not sure why, I just never seemed to have any ideas. So this was fun!

It felt so wrong highlighting their names in those colors haha

Morning came and with it, a strange silence. Janus made a coffee in the eerie peacefulness and sat in the living room, the perfect picture of serenity.

He didn't really need the caffeine, so he let the coffee do nothing but ward off the morning chill; his nerves buzzed enough at Remus' absence.

It wasn't totally unheard of for Remus to retreat into some far corner of the subconscious mind, pursuing some abstract, playful project. But usually there were signs. Some mumbles about gravity or blood pressure, a feverish spark in his eyes and fingers twitching nervously about his lower lip.

Remus had given no hints about this, whatever it was. This silence. This absence.

Janus swallowed and stood, leaving his coffee on an end table.

Remus was probably wreaking havoc on Thomas' subconscious, nothing more. Nothing to worry about.

Which was just as well, because Janus wasn't worried. Just a little… concerned. Concerned about potential damages done. Nothing more.

He forced himself to walk slowly through the subconscious space, a nonchalant stroll through the usual alignment of hallways and doors. He checked them all, languid motions growing jerkier the closer he got to Remus' door.

So he was a little worried. Sue him about it.

He didn't bother knocking, just took a deep breath to brace himself for whatever horrifying unreality awaited beyond that unassuming green door.

It opened easily, without its usual ominous creak, upon a perfectly ordinary bedroom.

Janus swallowed and stepped inside.

He looked around carefully, noting the tasteful, simplistic colors. Remus' room looked like a page from a furniture catalogue. A pale green rug sat in the center of the room and a pristine soccer ball rested in the corner beneath a jacket on a color block coat hook made of wooden letters spelling out ‘REMUS’ in cheerful capitals.

Janus checked behind the door first. Then the closet, then the curtains. Anywhere but the bed with that peaceful figure tucked tight under the covers. Because that wasn't Remus.

It couldn't be.

But Janus was quickly running out places to look. In a final show of defiance, he looked under the bed (and found only a neat row of shoes and soccer cleats), before finally facing the inevitable.

"Remus?" he whispered, addressing the short crop of brown hair sticking out from the crumpled line of the comforter.

No response.

Janus bit his lip.

Raising two hands in a gesture of surrender, he summoned a third and shook Remus' shoulder.

Fuck.

"Hey, Remus." Putting his extra arms away, Janus shook Remus again with real urgency, miserable at the damp heat flaring up against his palms.

"Sleeping," Remus muttered, freeing an arm to bat at Janus. "Don't touch."

"Just look at me for a second, would you?" Janus said, pulling his extra arms out again so he could cross them in irritation while continuing to badger Remus.

Remus muttered something incomprehensible and rolled over, glaring up at Janus with bleary eyes. "What?"

"Hi," said Janus, stricken at the sight of Remus' pale, sweaty face. Mind racing, he fell back on the simplest thing available to him: the truth. "You're sick."

"So I've been told." Remus coughed into the covers, forehead wrinkling.

"That's exactly what I meant," Janus muttered, brain shifting into autopilot. He reached out for Remus' forehead only to receive a pointed twitch and a baleful glare.

"Don't touch," Remus said again. Then he coughed again, like he was stuck on loop. The fit lasted longer this time, though, and Janus balled his hands into fists and did not worry because he knew exactly what to do.

Worse than the coughing was the silence when Remus rolled over and pulled the covers back up. He was never quiet. Never still. Not like this.

Unsure of what else to do, Janus sat in one of the pristine beanbag chairs against the wall and imagined an iPhone in his hands. He had to strip off his gloves to use it, but he was beyond the point of caring, letting them fall to the floor in favor of shifting his focus to the phone. He could use it as a focus point to search Thomas' memories if he could just get his hands to stop shaking.

Eventually, he managed to type in a string of keywords, scrolling through the results and taking deep breaths. Fever… medicine… hydration… rest… He could practically hear Logan’s metered, even voice and see him adjust his tie: ‘If Remus is sick, he needs to rest. Make sure he gets plenty of fluids. You can administer medication to mitigate any potential discomforts, but be careful to check the dosages.’

Yes.

He could do this.

His initial discomfort at the situation had been shock, nothing more. He certainly wasn't worried.

Even if the room was still a little unsettling. There wasn't even a spare bear trap laid out where some unsuspecting soul could step in it.

"Say, Remus?" Janus eyed the bed hopefully, but Remus barely moved.

"Whaaat?"

"I couldn't help but notice your room appears to be missing several of those lovely torture devices of yours."

"Don't care."

God, he really was sick. Janus got up again, eyes darting from the phone to what little of Remus' face he could see. Tylenol and orange juice should do the trick.

"Remus, I need you to sit up for a minute."

"So you don't need me to sit up?"

Little shit. Janus was already fighting his nature speaking in straight lines like this. Remus should have known that. Shouldn't have respected it.

Whatever. At least he had spoken a full sentence. That was progress.

Still, Janus sighed and planted his hands on his hips. "Sit up, would you?"

Remus rolled over and fixed Janus with a baleful glare. With his hair all tousled and his mustache hidden under the comforter, he looked very much like a high school boy who had slept in past his alarm.

He blinked a few times, hard, and a little of the grumpy confusion left his face. Accordingly, the lights flickered and dimmed. "Hi, Janny," he said, falling back on the nickname he always used when he was too tired to come up with a better one.

"Are you done being difficult?" Janus asked, crossing all six of his arms.

"Never," Remus said, and coughed into the comforter.

"Well, sit up then. Let me help you be difficult for someone else."

Remus scooted up against the headboard, his arms shaking. The comforter fell away, revealing a sweat-sticky black T-shirt bearing his emblem in neon green. "Oh, my," he mumbled, "I hope nobody takes…" He blinked, irises flashing, like he'd forgotten where the sentence was going halfway through speaking it. "I hope… nobody takes advantage of me… in my weakened state.” he trailed off into barely audible half-sentences punctuated by little coughs. “Pins my hands down… takes my pants off… six arms…”

Janus rolled his eyes, but humored him just the same, imagining two Tylenol and a glass of orange juice in his hands. "Open your mouth."

Remus coughed a little, but he turned his head to the side and muffled it, displaying a frightening regard for social niceties. "Open my mouth what?"

Janus took a deep breath, praying for patience. "Open your mouth, slut."

"You could at least pretend to be into it," Remus grumbled, but he opened his mouth and let Janus drop the Tylenol behind his teeth.

Across the room, a dark puddle began to leak out from beneath the closet doors and Janus' breath came a little easier for it.

#ethereous writes #sicktember 2023

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 1 year

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Threads of Fate: The Prince of Gotham

by stardcxg Satanism, Demons, and Hell. Some of the few things Deia has to deal with as the Daughter of Lucifer himself. She didn't ask for any of it yet here she was years later as a ballet dancer at Gotham's most prestigious Ballet school. Trying her best to live a good life everything is soon cut short when her partner is injured just 6 months before their big performance. She couldn't return back to her father like this. Soon Deia gets a letter in the mail and it seems like all her devilish problems have been solved except the fact that she has a new partner by the name of Damian Wayne. He wants nothing to do with her and so does she except he's her only way of becoming one of the world's greatest Ballet dancers. Damian didn't want this either. He wanted nothing to do with her he never even showed up for their first lessons and was soon forced to by his family, after spending more time with her though Damian finds himself dug deep into something he can't seem to get out of. Two people from completely opposite worlds are brought together under terrible circumstances can they make it through being partners? It's only for 6 months after all. But is it worth it when evil ruins things even more? Words: 3157, Chapters: 1/40, Language: English Fandoms: DCU (Comics), Batman - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: F/M Characters: Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Duke Thomas, Alfred Pennyworth, Selina Kyle, Talia al Ghul, Trigon (DCU), Clark Kent, Zatanna Zatara, Joker (DCU), Diana (Wonder Woman), Cassandra Cain, Lucifer, Angels - Character, Original Characters Relationships: Damian Wayne/Original Character(s) Additional Tags: Aged-Up Damian Wayne, Damian Wayne is 16, Slow Burn, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Partners in Crime, Getting to Know Each Other, Toxic Standards, Dark, Blood and Violence, Rituals, Depression, Attempted Kidnapping, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Damian Wayne Has a Heart, Damian Wayne is good a ballet, Overprotective Damian Wayne, Sex, Unrequited Lust, Making Love, Sad and Sweet, Gore, Assassination Attempt(s), Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, mild obsession, Sacrifice, no beta we die like wally, I will add more tags as the story goes on, Deep talk about God, Deep conversations and Thoughts, I don't know a lot About Ballet so Bare with Me, Fate via https://ift.tt/gG9Xw8b

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the caped crusader #gotham #dcu #dc #ao3 #ao3feed

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zorilleerrant · 3 years

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the number of kids Bruce Wayne has being controversial in all sectors of fandom is so funny to me. like he definitely has at least one! but the number can go up a lot more than that. I mean. just a fuckton. I’m attempting to go from most to least fanonical but that’s a bit of an opinion question

Dick Grayson - Bruce’s original ward. often the only one people know about. pretty much always represented in any Batman media set later than the origin story/training montage. (even implicitly exists in Gotham!) the child that’s not in question from any perspective except queer sociological history.

Tim Drake - explicitly adopted by Bruce. uses his name now, and commonly referred to as Wayne or Drake-Wayne in fandom contexts. will exist in pretty much all Batfam adjacent works, but not as well liked in wider circles of fandom. the second most likely to exist in canonical media outside of comics.

Damian Wayne - Bruce’s only biological child in the main timeline of the current comics continuity. regularly refers to himself as Batman’s son and as the heir to the Wayne name, bloodline, and destiny. however, much of the fandom prefers to think of him as Dick’s son.

Jason Todd - repeatedly referred to by familial terms, to, by, and about Bruce. however, they’re at odds for much of his appearance since his return, and as such many people don’t consider him a true member of the family, treating this as having opted out.

Duke Thomas - lives with and is guided by Bruce. however, has two living parents that he loves, with narrative implications that they will someday recover and resume a parental role of some sort. suffers also from recency and separate comics stories.

Cass Cain - treated by Bruce like one of his children by most definitions. however, generally portrayed in a mentorship relationship rather than a familial one, often as a friend of one of his children. suffers from recency although appears with Batman more.

Steph Brown - a Robin, a Batgirl, and constantly in stories with Bruce. however, many people don’t like to include her as one of Bruce’s children on account of the whole romance with Tim.

Harper and Cullen Row - definitely in a protected position under Bruce and part of the Batfamily for Harper’s run, but also written out of the narrative since then.

Claire (and possibly Hank) Clover - lived with and was treated parentally by Bruce (although Hank was not), both part of the Batfamily, but also appeared for a short run and written out.

Carrie Kelly - a Robin, looked to Bruce as a father figure, but widely hated during her run and promptly forgotten. even when later writers attempted to bring her back she was not allowed to return to a Batfamily role. also she had a family, if a bad one.

Barbara Gordon - almost universally depicted in even the smallest of family meetings or family portraits canonically, inarguably a core part of the Batfamily but not necessarily the Waynes. referred to in familial and pseudo-familial terms by most of the Batman main cast, invited to events intended to include only family. however, has a father that she gets along well with and who is in his own right a major character, and fans don’t want to discard that relationship. but probably mostly due to dating Dick or Bruce in many timelines.

Terry McGinnis - referred to as a son by Bruce, lives with him in the manor, made heir to his fortune and property. however, does not exist in the main timeline, and future continuities are at odds with each other, so is often considered only Bruce’s son within his own canon. interestingly, Matt McGinnis, despite living with and being parented by Bruce, and spending some time as Robin, doesn’t ever seem to be considered as Bruce’s son or part of the Batfamily.

Helena Kyle - Bruce’s biological daughter, although whether she was raised by him varies by continuity. does not exist in main continuity, only alternate timelines and universes, etc. where her backstory varies wildly. most of the fandom doesn’t know or care about her even though she’s my favorite, and even though BatCat is a popular ship.

other members of the Batfamily. while generally considered other relatives of Bruce, younger and especially child members of the Batfamily are often referred to or treated as Bruce’s children in the fandom, despite having their own families. this is highly variable.

other members of the various Batkids’ teams. not generally counted among Bruce’s children in any segment of fandom. one or several may be special favorites of a creator, though, and this is not an atypical way to add members to the Batfamily or the Waynes.

children of the DC universe generally. not fanonical, but very common to see content putting one or more of these children under Bruce’s care. there are popular tags about it on ao3.

children of superhero universes generally. it’s not considered central Batfamily content but it’s a popular kind of crossover.

any kids from any media with non-ideal family circumstances. especially the traditional dark haired light eyed orphan. look at this point Bruce isn’t even the one with the problem the fan creatives are.

#look i said something #batman #batfam

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agerestorybits · 3 years

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Ok, just throwing this out there and I do not mean this in a bad way

Do you think Thomas is tired of sanders sides?

It feels like this project was supposed to be a fun, quirky, small thing that got too big and now it's ALL he's supposed to do

Dude made small funny videos and you can see that enjoyment shine through when he makes a TikTok/YouTube short you can also see genuine enjoyment and when he works on Roleslaying with Roman

I might be looking too deeply into this but

He does a lot more than Sanders sides and he enjoys being seen for that HOWEVER that's what people know him for and think about and wants him to make

Sanders sides at the start was literally just him standing in front of a camera going 'look I used to made funny short videos but now I have to move to YouTube and I don't know how this is supposed to work so here's some characters I did before.'

It started out as a funny little thing

And now it's huge and every single episode has to matter and every line has to have deep lore implications and there isn't room for error without fans going "What does it mean??"

(side note that is totally fine, over read into everything that's half the fun of fandom just don't go demanding from the Creator)

Not only did he not have some super important deep dramatic plotline from the start, he flat out just doesn't seem to be enjoying it

But there is a story element to it and the story isn't over just so he can't be over it

It's an art project that is taking too long, it's becoming his identity and I can imagine getting quite sick of that

he does something else and people jump on it and talk about how/what/why/where the 'sides' shine through and I can imagine that can get dehumanizing after awhile

So we move forward to present day, fans are getting tired and restless and upset about not getting new content and being told "soon" or "we're working on it" which is a whole other can of worms since it seems that Thomas is trying so hard to make and keep promises that, honestly, would be better if he didn't

These may seem a bit left field but Markiplier has a new high effort project going to be released on April 4th 2022 he is excited, he's let people know when it comes out as soon as he could, things like these are why he started youtube

It will probably have at least one or two bits with 'markiplier egos' in it, not all of them, not even most if them just a couple bigger names and then moving on

His is an artist, and he has the freedom to make whatever he wants, he's allowed to make a video and there isn't people looking and commenting that "looks like x is really taking the spotlight"

He's having fun with it, there is a light in his eyes and an excitement and he's made something and he wants to show it to us because he wants us to have fun with the silly thing he made

Now jump back to Thomas he doesn't seem as excited, he is trying so hard and hanging in by a shoestring to get stuff done that involves Sanders sides, he doesn't like he enjoys it anymore he is burnt out on this project

Which means he should step away from it and do something else refresh and come back to it when he is ready the problem lies in that he can not step away

He can work on something else but people are going to be saying "wow that's a neat thing you did but when are you going to get back to what we are REALLY here for" that probably causes guilt and anger and stress and frustration that tie back to that one thing he is trying to take a break from

You can't get away from something when everyone is talking to you about it reminding you that you have to do more

Sanders sides is a big thing to put together, there are costumes and props and lighting, editing, scripts, makeup, he needs a crew, writers, he's (almost always) the SOLE actor

Who killed Markiplier/ A Date with Markiplier/ Markiplier T V were all projects that were very similar, very fun and entertaining

Both artists, both make fun entertaining content, One of these people seems to actively be excited for what they are making, the other seems less and less interested in it

One of them feels like he can be honest with his fan base and tell them when things are happening and why they are being pushed of, the other is vague, there's isn't that layer of trust or respect for the artist

I wanna hear what other people have to think about this I really do so feel free to reblog or tag or comment or just tag me in your posts about this

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #discourse maye #long post #something ive wanted to say for awhile

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literateleah · 4 years

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the paradox of emily prentiss’ audience perception and character design

some of y’all about to be real mad at me, but it must be said:

emily prentiss’ character design makes no sense: my personal opinion + an objective analysis

i think it can be challenging to separate the versions of characters we have in our little brains from actual canon content, but doing so is important for understanding what those characters are truly like, especially within the context of their environment and in contrast to others around them. plus developing a deeper understanding of the media we consume is super fun and interesting! with that being said: emily prentiss should not work for the fbi and here’s why (in three parts regarding who’s responsible: cbs, paget, and fans) (sit down and grab a snack i promise this is over 3k words)

quick disclaimer: i don’t dislike emily at all! that’s my girl, i just looked closer and realized some funky things the writers did and felt the need to analyze her of course: so let’s get into it

part one: what cbs did

cbs set the stage for emily’s introduction on the heels of the departure of lola glaudini as elle greenaway! lola has clarified that she decided to leave the show because filming in los angeles was not the best environment for her personally, and after one successful season on a major network (but not much established long term plot or drama beyond elle’s departure as a character) a consistent ensemble cast was required- particularly because the bau had been criticized for being predominantly male in the first few episodes of the show and not much development was given to penelope or jj yet. enter emily prentiss.

for the duration of seasons 2-3ish, emily was framed as a chip off the block that was elle greenaway, just slightly…richer? in her first few episodes emily was hesitantly polite but ambitious, clean cut, intellectually concise and held her own within the team. she seemed equal parts intimidated and frustrated by her male superiors (gideon, hotch) but certainly proves herself among other profilers. her childhood was explored only within reference to her strained relationship with her mother (which was only ever referenced once more after the fact) and we received a short overview of her educational and career history in her first few episodes. emily fit right into the hole elle had left, and didn’t have many major storylines yet.

seasons 4-6 brought a bit more development and depth to emily’s character! she begins dropping more snarky remarks, one liners, and socially deepening her relationships with the other team members. this seems more within the lines of elle’s design, but emily arguably took more time to grow into her place within the team. during the foyet arc she was vulnerable and supportive, and the doyle arc gave her some independence and agency she didn’t have previously. this era also solidified her appearance and persona as more edgy, which falls in line with general fanon perception of her character (especially when compared to jj or penelope). i can’t address this era or season 7 without mentioning that cbs was actively trying to remove paget from the cast, similar to how they did to aj cook as well. paget has spoken about this instance before, and i believe it slightly affected her portrayal of her character, and “lauren” was somewhat of a goodbye for both paget and emily (thus why she wished for mgg to direct since they were best friends).

season 7: in my opinion, one of the best seasons for emily. she was wisened and deeply wounded by her experiences with doyle, which was understandable of course. she returned to the team she loved and learned to appreciate life in a different way, remaining mature during this time period as well! though her departure was a bit less than graceful and sudden at the end of this season, it made sense compared to some other exits the team had seen.

now *sigh* all the rest.

paget as emily appears in two separate guest appearances (once in s9 and once in s11, and she is referenced offscreen as well) before permanently reprising her role as unit chief of the bau. these appearances were most likely to boost ratings and get the team back together (i.e. 200) or just to pepper in international cases (tribute). emily’s personality remains pretty consistent here, just more mature and comfortable in leadership positions (seeing as she is running an entire branch of an international law enforcement organization). then season 12 hit.

upon the departure of thomas gibson as hotch, cbs reached out to paget to see if she would be interested in fulfilling her role as emily within a longer term unit chief position. i’ll get into why this is wack in a few paragraphs, but the remainder of her time on the show is spent on a mature portrayal that seems very distant from her previous versions. emily is more authoritative, gives orders with ease, and has no qualms about leading a team of agents or even receiving promotion offers as director of the entire bureau.

thus concludes a general summary of the canon content cbs gave us as viewers. now let's talk about what they didn’t give us, regrettably

the primary aspect of emily’s design that comes to mind for many is her queer coding. though not much was to be expected from cbs, a prime time cable tv network, each of her relationships on the show (all with men) seemed oddly forced, and without much chemistry as compared to the SOs of other main characters. rumors of scrapped plotlines have floated around about what may have been, but the ultimate lack of acknowledgement of any queer characters in the main ensemble still leaves a feeling of disappointment to audiences, and leaves more to be desired as for how emily navigates social bonds.

part two (sidebar): what paget did

i think it could be agreed within audiences that paget brewster’s portrayal of emily made the role what it was! her dry witty delivery and emotional prowess combined with sitcom acting experience made her performance a mainstay for years. i think she did the best she could with a confusing and at times flat characterization, and brought the role to life.

paget also heavily contributes to fanon indirectly with her comments outside of the show (press, cameos, twitter etc). her general continued interest and fondness for the role post production affects fan perception, particularly in what she chooses to elevate and comment on. she and aj have both spoken about viewing jemily content, and paget and thomas have both also commented on hotchniss. most cast members feel free to comment on their characters in the appropriate timing, and seem open to discussing fanon ships and theories outside of canon!

part three: what fanon did

as we can tell from this fan space as well as the presence on insta, tik tok and twitter, fans LATCHED onto emily super quickly. she’s remained a favorite over the years, and this fan persistence is what brought her back so many times after leaving (so many times). in my opinion, queer coding and a bolder female trope (in contrast to her female counterparts) are the main pulls because they resonated with so many fans- new and old. with that being said, newer fans of the show in the past year in particular have been heavily influential in fanon, solely because of the large influx of fan content and popularity of it.

fan content began to take coding and bite size moments and snippets from the show as canon, and cemented it into much of the content and discourse they created. these small pieces of emily’s character are significant, but have become magnified by how easily they are to share and edit. for example, a collection of catchy one liners from emily over the seasons makes for a great video edit intro, or gifset! there’s absolutely no problem with this content, it just all combines to create a certain fanon perception no character escapes (this isn’t a phenomenon limited to emily or the cm fandom!)

these droves of content also solidified emily’s personality as much more defined, but at the same time, simplified it in a way that’s slightly harder to explain.

fanon: more emo/goth than canon basis

fanon: more introverted/anti social than canon basis

fanon: more violent/chaotic when canon emily is relatively well mannered and doesn’t start many conflicts (particularly in the workspace)

fanon: much less maternal when canon emily displays desire on multiple occasions (even crossing professional borders) for children, particularly teenage girls (possibly projection)

(again, nothing wrong with this interpretation at all and it still varies! This is just a generalization based on most of the popular content i have seen)

part 4: why it doesn’t work

let me start with this: emily prentiss does not like her job.

we don’t receive much in depth information about emily’s internal feelings and thoughts towards her mother beyond resentment. this stems from wanting to make it on her own, as a professional and as an individual (cough cough college deposits). this makes emily’s insistence on proving herself to authority figures in her earlier seasons is interesting to watch in different circumstances. she cites her experience and denies help from her mother when justifying her placement in the bau to hotch, she is extra vigilant about being helpful on her first case with gideon, etc. nevertheless, emily forges her own path outside of diplomacy and becomes a successful profiler and agent, with the help of her privilege, wealth and name whether she likes it or not. but if we read between the lines and fill in the blanks cbs neglected, these ambitions may subconsciously be oriented towards pleasing her mother.

example one: emily’s authority issues go further than just “rebellion” or “anarchy”, she frequently questions the ethics and sustainability of the work that the bau does. every team member does this, but emily much more so than anybody else.

in “amplification”, emily almost breaks federal protocol to inform civilians of anthrax threats. she butts heads with both hotch and rossi on this front, and ends the episode with having a conversation with rossi about the ethics of lying in their line of work. emily resigns to a solemn “it be like that” and moves along, accepting this reality.

on multiple different occasions emily laments to derek about the darkness she sees on the job, and it’s shown that this gets to her quickly on particularly bad cases. this is another contradiction of the design that she can supposedly “compartmentalize” better than others on the team, when she cannot unless the lives of others are at risk (doyle arc, s7 finale).

emily also responds in this way to many cases involving children, a similarity to jj many don’t notice upon first watching the series. “seven seconds” and “children of the dark” come to mind, during the latter in which emily is prepared to cross multiple professional lines to adopt a teenage girl left orphaned by the case, until hotch stops her and establishes that her emotions can’t rule her judgement on the job. regardless of hotch’s thoughts about her attempted caretaking abilities, these actions and impulses deeply contradict the typical bureaucratic pathways of the work the bau does.

the looming reputation of her mother’s diplomatic history hangs over emily, and after going to law school and working for the cia, she most likely did want to forge her own path as far away from being a socialite: being a spy. her inner nature doesn’t always reflect this profession, and leads me to believe that with her knowledge of psychology, law procedure and care for children: emily prentiss might be more inclined to working in social work, placing suffering children and teenagers in homes they deserve.

and finally, the hill i will die on: emily prentiss was an bad unit chief

this wonderful post touches on my general sentiment, but there were many reasons as to why emily prentiss’ career arc makes little to no sense (plot holes included).

first: her background. emily attended chesapeake bay university as well as yale and achieved a ba in criminal justice. keep in mind that though timelines evidently don’t exist in the cm universe, emily prentiss is ONE YEAR older than aaron hotchner (for context). in her first episode, she professes that she has worked for the bureau for a little under ten years in midwestern offices- something the audience laters knows to not be true. emily worked with the cia and interpol as a part of a profiling team and undercover agent up until roughly TWO YEARS before her canon introduction. plot holes and time gaps aside, this makes me wonder, why didn’t she just say the cia was a backstop without revealing the highly confidential nature of her work with doyle (similar to jj’s state department backstop and cover story)? penelope or hotch could have easily accessed her file and seen that she did not in fact have experience with the bureau in midwestern offices recently, and given the fact that erin strauss set up her bau placement, i’m presuming these formalities or references were overlooked.

second: her experience within the team. emily worked as a part of the bau with the bureau for roughly 6 or 7 years. after this, she is invited to run the entire london branch of interpol, one of the most renowned international law enforcement organizations. i’m surely not the most knowledgeable on requirements or standard timelines for such matters, but with the fact that emily had never led a team in her life (not in the bau or interpol previously) and had roughly 10 years of field experience, i don’t believe she would have ever realistically been considered eligible to run the whole london department.

third: her return to the bureau. fanon depiction of their relationship aside, if you believe aaron hotchner’s last wish before going into witsec was to entrust his team to emily prentiss, you’re dead mistaken. bringing emily back was clearly a pull for ratings after the loss of two main characters (hotch and derek), but logistically a bad decision. let’s suppose emily has had 4 or 5 years of experience in london now, this established authority position would be unlikely to change at the drop of a hat, even for old teammates or friends. also considering how close they were after a decade of working closely in bureaucratic and field contexts, i firmly believe hotch would have referred jj for the job of unit chief but that’s another discussion for another time.

emily’s reign as unit chief is odd, because of the many chaotic storylines crammed into it. but amidst bad writing and viewings plummeting, emily’s character is completely flattened. completely. emily is unrecognizable, both in appearance (that god awful wig) and personality. at times she acts as a complete wise authority, giving orders and delegating local authorities as hotch did. but at other times she makes multiple illegal, emotional, and incorrect judgement calls based on personal circumstances that lead to further chaos (deleting the recording of her and reid’s mexico conversation and reprimanding luke in “luke” for the exact same thing she did in season 6 even though she enabled her to do so come to mind).

i’m not sure if this is due to paget trying to find her footing in the role again, or the writer’s bad decisions towards the end of the show wrecking any previous design for their ensemble. then, there’s the infamous “wheels up” scene in s13e1. notoriously cringey, this seems like a vague caricature of something rossi would say many years in the past (the same goes for her pep talk in “red light” in the hunt for diana reid). these moments are meant to mature emily in the audience’s eye, but instead completely removed her from who we understood her to be, and made her an unreliable leader.

part five: and why it does

in theory, emily was a bolder foil to jj, similar to elle who she arguably replaced at first. she came into her own, and stands as a more uniquely developed character than almost any other in the main ensemble. she isn’t as maternal or domestically inspiring as canon jj, less bright and sunny than penelope, not quite as stoic or intimidating as derek or hotch. And yet at the same time, she’s a fairly blank slate. stripping fanon content away entirely, canon emily has few defining traits (all of which are constantly changing), and that may be the key to why we love her so much.

#long post #emily prentiss #ITS HERE #and its a doozy #read if you'd like #leah writes #if there's typos i apologize #this was a fever dream

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themaribatpit · 3 years

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Jasonette July Day 20: Then Perish

Written by: The Maribat Pit @jasonette-july-event Prompt: Then Perish (Part 1) Rating: M (violence, minor character deaths) A/N: We wanted to finish Jasonette July with a bang. The second half will be posted tomorrow for the Saturday Challenge. We’ve appreciated all your comments and kind words, we really do read every one. It genuinely means a lot to us and encourages us to continue writing together. As a fandom you have been nothing but kind and supportive, and we enjoy bringing you fics great and small with a wide variety of genres, dynamics, and iterations. Also blame DC fanboy for the memes in this fic. Marinette loved to travel, she had traveled all over the world from New York to Shanghai. Today, she traveled with her parents to Gotham City to visit her parents' friends, whom they had not seen in many years. Sabine was initially afraid to visit Gotham City, due to its crime rate and ever-growing list of criminals. Tom reassured his wife, saying that his big stature would scare any would-be criminal from harming them, that the trip would be short and they would visit Metropolis afterwards. Marinette wore the Ladybug Miraculous, just in case something were to happen. As the family got off the taxi at Park Row, everyone felt something was off. "Park Row really has...changed." Thomas muttered. Sabine held on to both her husband and her daughter, "I think we should leave." she said. Soon shadows began appearing around the corner, then came the yelling, and soon after came the gunshots. Thomas grabbed his wife and daughter and ran to find shelter from a hail of bullets. Marinette looked back to see many civilians, men, women and children caught in the middle of this gang war. She needed to be a hero, her father could take care of her mother, she needed to save those in danger. She freed herself from her father's grasp and ran behind a corner, she whispered "spots on" and transformed into Ladybug. Diving and flipping across streaking bullets everywhere, she flung her yo-yo to drag any unfortunate bystanders into an abandoned building. While in a building with innocent civilians, she peeked her head out the window to see a monstrous man. Wearing a blood red helmet and wielding two pistols, he systematically killed everyone before him. His flips and kicks were graceful yet brutal, the cries of pain and pleas for mercy made her shudder. She couldn't fight him, no, she was afraid to. It would be best to find her family, she did all she could and got bystanders to safety. She quietly transformed back into Marinette and went to look for her family. She ran back to where she last saw them, she scoured the streets shouting "Maman! Papa!" hoping that using her French would help her parents find and identify her. She soon ran into the Red Beast, as she began to turn and run back before she saw the two people at his feet. “<No, no no no, please god no.>” she whispered to herself, tears building in her eyes. There lay her parents, in a pool of their blood with bullet holes between their eyes. Marinette dropped to her knees, silently crying. The Red Hood either didn't see her, or chose to spare her and decided to walk away. Marinette ran to her parents, grabbing them both and shaking them. "<Don’t leave me, please don’t leave me>” she wept. Later, she was picked up by the GCPD. They escorted her on the flight back to Paris along with the remains of her parents. When she arrived, she was approached by the Aide Sociale à L'enfance (ASE). They told her that she'll be staying at a nearby orphanage until after her parents' funeral. Then she would then be sent off to live with her only remaining relative, her Great-Uncle Wang in Shanghai. On the night before the funeral, Marinette was unable to sleep. She curled her legs to her chest while she sat on the mattress. She has spent the past few days researching the mysterious Red Hood, crime boss and self-proclaimed Prince of Gotham. She read article after article of his meteoric rise to power, first conquering Black Mask, then The Penguin. Nightmares plagued her whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the Red Hood tower over her parent's lifeless bodies, covered in their blood. She was worried about being sent off to a foreign country tomorrow evening, while barely even speaking any Mandarin. All the while knowing that once she is on that flight to Shanghai, her parent's killer would without a doubt walk free. Morning comes, yet Marinette still thinks of what she should do. Could she really go to Shanghai to start her life anew, not knowing the language and allowing her parents’ killer to go on unpunished? At the funeral, while standing over her parents’ graves, she remained silent. The priest, ASE agents and her friends all came to pay their respects. Each of her friends approached her to give their sympathies, but she did not listen to a word they said. The Red Hood weighed heavily on her mind, and she made her fateful decision. To run, run and never look back. She had prepared a backpack containing the Miracle box with all the Miraculous, along with a few essential supplies and money. She turned into Multimouse to sneak on board a passenger aircraft to make her way to Gotham City. Jason knew, better than Batman, that fighting crime sometimes meant getting your hands dirty. What started as a petty squabble between two rival gangs grew into a bloodbath. He missed Roy at times like these, Artemis and Bizarro were still missing, but he held out hope that they would one day return to this Earth. A teenage girl with an impressively sturdy yo-yo had burst onto the scene, trying to get civilians to safety. He was a bit too preoccupied with the battle to get a good look at the girl. Knowing Bruce, the next time he’d see her, she’d be under his wing. Sadly, there were two civilians that neither of them could save, a large, burly looking man and a tiny woman. The person who shot them with frightening accuracy had got away, moments later a teenage girl had arrived on the scene. There was a brief flash of fear in her eyes when she saw him, and she would have just scurried away if only he hadn’t been at the very spot where her parents lay dead. The girl was inconsolable as she fell to her knees and wept, pleading with them in French. Red Hood walked away, thinking it would be best to leave her to grieve. There wasn’t a whole lot he could say in English that would make her feel any better, never mind in French. He watched from a distance as the GCPD arrived to pick up the pieces, Red Hood watched from the shadows as police officers and an interpreter tried to get the girl’s side of the story. From what he gathered, the girl’s name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng and her family owned a bakery in Paris. Her next of kin was a relative in Shanghai, and it sounded like the best option for her would be to go and live there. The plan was to ship her and her parents’ bodies back to Paris, and let child services take it from there. He would have probably told her to get as far away from Gotham as possible, away from the clutches of a certain someone who was also orphaned in Crime Alley. He saw her cradle what looked like a small pink doll to her face as she wept, before he turned and walked away. A week later, Jason had a break in the case. This was all caused by some low-level members of the Falcone and Maroni families continuing their decades-old battle. As far as everyone knew, the crime families swiftly executed the men responsible and went about their business. Two crime families were unable to keep their lackeys in check, and now the people who weren’t lucky enough to be whisked away by Yo-Yo Girl, were now either dead or wishing they were. He thought back to poor little Marinette, wondering where she was now. Bruce confronted him at the Iceberg lounge shortly after the incident, to which Jason explained that the perp had got away. He had killed people before, and that wasn’t stopping anytime soon, after all it wasn’t that long ago that he tried to kill the Penguin. “This may surprise you Bruce, but the Red Hood isn’t the only one who uses guns in Gotham '' he snapped. There were some lines that even he did not cross, lines that he had drawn for himself. Judging by the accuracy of the gunshots, this was no accident. Their daughter was probably starting a new life, probably on the other side of the world. Still, he wished he could have said something to the girl, a simple “Hey, it’s gonna be all right” probably would have sufficed. Little did he know that Marinette was making her return to Gotham City. She would have her revenge on the Red Hood, and this time she had nothing to fear and nothing to lose. After her very uncomfortable 10 hour flight from Paris to Gotham City in the cargo hold, Multimouse quietly sneaked out of the crowded airport without alerting anyone. Marinette wandered around Chinatown, thinking of her next step. She was thinking about how she would have to go through the city with a fine tooth comb to search for a lead, likely starting small with his men in the streets. Before she could put the earrings back in her backpack, Tikki begged her to reconsider what she was doing. “Please Marinette, you need time to heal, to grieve,” she pleaded, but Marinette didn’t need the powers of healing, luck and creation. If and when she encountered the Red Hood, she wanted to bring him death, misfortune and destruction. After all, that was exactly what he had brought her. With a stroke of luck, she overheard someone getting a beatdown. "You get your ass outta here, this is Red Hood's turf. If you wanna sell that shit, you gotta give the boss his cut." Marinette whispered "Plagg, claws out" and transformed into Lady Noire, before sneaking up behind one of the Red Hood’s men. He released the person he was beating, and chased him out the alleyway. She took this opportunity to swing her staff, hitting the back of his neck and sending him face first into the ground. He immediately tried to stand up, as he stood on wobbly legs he took out his knife from his jacket. "Oh shit, Catwoman?!" he yelled. Lady Noire used her staff to sweep him off his feet and slammed her staff onto his face. "Where is the Red Hood?" she growled. "Screw you bitch!" the goon retorted. Lady Noire had a feeling that he wouldn’t tell her the location of the Red Hood, so she decided to try a different approach. "Fine then, why don't you give your boss this simple message…" Before she could finish her sentence, she heard the telltale click of a gun being loaded. She turned around and started spinning her staff, creating a grey shield to deflect the storm of bullets that were being fired at her. She moved her hands at a rapid pace, and frantically pushed back against the hail of bullets. As the bullet storm subsided she looked up and saw, up on the fire escape, was the Red Hood with an assault rifle. The Red Hood casually tossed his gun aside and asked "So, what's this message you have for me, Catwoman?" He gracefully did a forward flip and landed in a crouch. "Wait a minute..." he said, the first thing he noticed was that this person was tiny, 4’11 or maybe 5’ on a good day. Her eyes were a bright acid green with dark slits like a real cat’s pupils. "You're not Catwoman, you're too short to be her, for one thing.” he remarked “also she usually has a whip instead of a staff, who are you?" Lady Noire gritted her teeth, "You killed my family" she answered with a low growl. "Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down Kitten?" Red Hood's taunts made her snap. She screamed "YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" The Red Hood stared at her, as he crossed his arms. "I don't even know who you are, what's your beef with me?" He asked, Lady Noire lunged at the Red Hood with her staff, she swung wildly to try and hit him. He dodged most of her strikes with ease, “Is that the best you’ve got? You’re gonna have to try harder than that.” Where she might have lacked in skill, she made up for in determination. She wasn’t pulling any punches, he had to give her that. He caught the staff under his arm, and punched Lady Noire with his free arm. As he went on the offensive, he slapped her staff aside, and came at her with a series of punches and kicks. “So, what do you want Kitten? Money? Jewels? A very big ball of string?” he joked. “All I want is revenge,” she spluttered. “Get in line Kitten, you’re in the city that runs on vengeance” he retorted. Marinette was lucky that the suit gave her enhanced speed, strength and endurance. She always loved how the Lady Noire suit felt a lot lighter compared to the Ladybug suit. Though she shuddered to imagine what her opponent would do with this power. He raised his leg to end his combination with a forceful downward kick, Lady Noire raised her staff up to a horizontal block to stop the kick. Upon contact with the kick, the staff split into two, and then Lady Noire launched into her counter attack. She was striking the Red Hood with a flurry of blows with both halves of her staff. "Escrima sticks too? Looks like we have a Nightwing fan here” he smirked under the mask; this new girl was just full of surprises. He brought his arms to the sides of his head in a defensive posture, blocking the onslaught of strikes from the escrima sticks. Red Hood then grabbed Lady Noire by the back of her head, placing her in a Thai clinch. He launched a powerful knee to her face and sent her reeling back. He drew his pistols and fired a torrent of bullets at her. Lady Noire had to dodge, weave and use her staff to deflect incoming bullets. One bullet even grazed her cheek. She then pointed her staff at the Red Hood and extended it with so much force it slammed him against the wall of a nearby building. Without giving him any breathing room, she then retracted the staff. She launched herself towards him and then dropkicked his face straight into the wall. His helmet cracked against the tremendous pressure. "It's now or never” she thought, as she cast Cataclysm and swiped at one half of the Red Hood’s helmet. She saw the helmet dissolve and reveal the target beneath. She noticed that underneath the helmet he wore a red domino mask, not unlike the one she usually wore. She would have time to think about how overly dramatic that was later, as she used her other hand to pick up the knife on the ground that the other goon left behind. She jumped on top of the Red Hood, “Now perish!” she cried out as she thrusted the blade towards the exposed part of his face. Red Hood recovered quickly and caught her hand holding the blade. As the two struggled for the knife, Lady Noire tried to swipe at him with Cataclysm again. Suddenly, she felt the power of 50,000 volts coursing through her, as the Red Hood activated the taser hidden in his chest piece. She powered through, running purely on anger, grief and adrenaline. She was only able to struggle for about a minute, before passing out from the pain. Red Hood flipped Lady Noire’s unconscious body aside, before he took off his helmet to inspect the damage. "The hell?." he pondered, "So, indestructible staff that can do double duty as a shield, and the ability to disintegrate things with one touch. Let's find out who you really are." He slowly stood up and looked down at her unconscious body. He tried to peel away her domino mask, yet it would not come off. He tugged on the mask, even to the point of lifting the unconscious girl off the ground. He released the mask, and let the body drop with a small thud. The Red Hood began talking to himself "She either superglued the mask on or it’s something else. Considering all that she can do, I'd say 80% chance it's magic and 20% a lantern. Either way a 100% pain in my ass". He heard a small beeping noise and gingerly lifted her hand up off the floor. As it emitted black and green energy, he noticed that she had a ring on. The beeping came from a small picture of a paw print, which was missing a few pads. If she was a lantern, that ring was going to run out of charge any moment now. He took out his phone and called the Iceberg Lounge. He requested that they send for a van to pick him up and his new guest. He requested that the Su Sisters get her cleaned up and ready. He needed to find out who sent her and who she worked for. He took out the special handcuffs that Batman designed when dealing with metahumans. As he walked towards Lady Noire about to cuff her, he heard some more beeping, followed by a bright light surrounding her. Her suit and mask disappeared, leaving behind a small girl in pastel pink clothes who was probably no older than 15 or 16. Her long braid changed back into a couple of shoulder-length pigtails, and she had a pink backpack on her back. Jason looked inside the bag, there were a few sets of clothes, a wallet and an antique Chinese jewelry box. He wondered if that ring was just one of many tools in her arsenal. Jason's eyes widened, he recognised her as the girl he saw a few weeks ago when the turf war in Crime Alley broke out. "What’s she doing here?" he said to himself aloud, “ Idiot” he muttered. He remembered following the girl and her GCPD escort to make sure she boarded her flight back to Paris. She was supposed to be with her remaining family. Yet she came back to, no, ran away to Gotham City. All for revenge. He checked her wallet and saw the name printed on it, he sighed, this just confirmed that she was the same girl. When she had her revenge, what would she do then? He wasn’t the undisputed master of thinking things through, but even he thought she was a fool to come back here. Gotham City didn’t have the best track record dealing with orphans. He knew this from personal experience, but there was that time where many were rounded up and sent upstate to juvie, for the crime of trying to survive on the streets. He would have been in the same position, had it not been for his own fateful encounter in Crime Alley. He shuddered to think what her other option would be in a place like Gotham City, becoming a Robin. Part of the reason he wanted her out of Gotham was so that Bruce wouldn’t get any ideas about taking her in. When the car arrived, he scooped up the girl in his arms and carried her towards it. Marinette woke up with her heart beating frantically in her chest, the first thing she saw was a bright light. She was dead, she had to be, the last thing she remembered was confronting the Red Hood and now he had killed her. She slowly sat up, she looked down to find that someone had changed her clothes, she was wearing light blue pajamas. She started to look around, to her left there was a large floor to ceiling window where she could see a city at night with bright twinkling lights. On the table next to her was the Miracle box, she quickly grabbed the box and looked through it. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw that all the Miraculous she brought with her were still there. Suddenly, Marinette heard someone clear their throat. At the foot of the bed, stood a rather large woman who had a bundle of clothes in her hand. Next to her was a blonde woman with pink highlights who had a tray of food. “Oh good, you’re finally awake” the large woman said gruffly, she set the clothes down on the edge of the bed. The blonde girl set a tea tray down in front of her, along with a couple of pastries. Marinette’s heart sank at the sight of the croissants, they reminded her of her parents and their bakery. “Eat up and get dressed, the boss wants to see you later” the blonde woman told her, before skipping to the larger woman’s side. Just as the two were about to leave, Marinette piped up, “Um, where am I?” she asked, “Who is your boss?” “You’re in the Iceberg Lounge in Gotham City”, the large woman told her gruffly. “The name’s Suzie, this is one of my sisters, Candy. Our boss is the owner.” Marinette gave an awkward wave as they left, and Candy returned it with a more cheerful one. She took a bite out of the croissant, it tasted cold and dry. However, if she was going to defeat the Red Hood, she’d need all her strength. She put Plagg’s ring back in the box and reached for Ladybug’s earrings; she needed a new tactic. When Tikki appeared in front of her, she also quickly looked around the room before looking back at Marinette with a concerned look on her face. “I couldn’t do it,” Marinette explained “he managed to stop me and I ended up back here”. Tikki’s eyes were sympathetic as Marinette held her closer to her face, “Are you sure you still want to go through with this?” Tikki asked. “For now, I have to get changed and go upstairs to meet the boss. Maybe he’s the one who found me after the fight was over” Marinette theorized as she gave Tikki the cookie from the tray. While Tikki quietly nibbled at it, Marinette stood up and walked over to the edge of the bed. Inside the small bundle of clothes were a simple white blouse and black skirt. They were a little big, she would probably hem it if she had her sewing machine. Moments later, a tall woman with dark hair led Marinette into the penthouse, a large room with a desk in the corner. A tall man in a suit stood with his back towards the door, overlooking the sparkling city skyline. She slowly stepped inside, looking around the room as she walked towards the man. “Um hi, who are you?” Marinette asked as she apprehensively walked towards him. She couldn’t help but feel small in that grand high-ceiling room. “I am the owner of the Iceberg Lounge,” he explained. “I guess the question I should be asking is…” he turned towards her and Marinette saw he had a domino mask over his eyes and a red half mask covering his nose and mouth, “who are you?” He threw something at her and she caught it. She looked down and saw the Red Hood’s helmet, half of it looked as though someone tried to tear the metal open. Then she remembered everything she had researched about the Red Hood, and the fight that took place not long after she arrived back in Gotham. “You…” she hissed. To be continued...

#jasonettejuly2021 #jasonette #maribat #ml x dc

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littlx-songbxrd · 4 years

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Chain of Iron:Death theory

As the awaited release date for Chain of Iron approaches and the fandom decends into pure madness, I want to put in my last two cents of overthinking before I stop having coherent thoughts

So we all know this is a second book, and second books bring the absolute pain in the shadowhunter chronicles. There is likely going to be a death from the mains considering the theme of this book, and I am here to throw my theory and reasons as to who I think it might be. Im here to sadly theorize about why I think Christopher Lightwood might not make it past the last hours

1. Tatianas revenge

Right now, Tatiana wants revenge after all our main families: the carstairs, herondales, fairchilds and both branches of the lightwoods. For the lightwood-collins theres barbaras death. For the herondales her daughter has been manipulating their son for over 6 years. Theres a theory that the fairy poison Mathew bought that caused Charlottes misscarriage could be traced back to her. And there are other theories that Elias dissaperance between chog and choi could have something to do with Belial. As of right now the only family who is yet to recieve any permanent damage or tragedy are the lightwood-herondales. Which is really ironic considering its the only family that has two bloodlines Tatiana wants to harm. Not only that, but theyre also the children of who Tatiana blames directly for her fathers death, Gabriel. It seems fishy to me there hasn't been any permanent damage in their family, and I dont think that is gonna last for long

2. The family tree

The family tree states that Grace Cartwright (Aka Grace Blackthorn) marries Christopher Lightwood and theyre the ones who continue the line that leads to Alec and Isabelle. Now Cassandra has said varius times the family tree can be misleading, and I am a firm believer this is one of the misleading ends. Why this lie was created, I'm not sure, but lets analize some things. As of right now there are 5 lightwood children. At least 3 of them can pass down the lightwood name. Of those three, if we take into account that Thomas may not have kids due to being gay, that still leaves two branches of lightwood kids that may continue on. As of present time we only have word of one line, Alec and Isabelles. And Robert isnt said to have any cousins, theres no mention in the future of another lightwood line. So the idea that both Alexander and Christopher have kids is pretty unbelivable considering theres only one lightwood line in the future. Unless Alexander goes on to have only girls and Christopher has only one boy, it seems more likely the family tree is wrong. Isabelle and Alec are confirmed as of the bane chronicles to be decendants of Gabriel lightwood (Isabelle makes a reference to looking up her great great grandfather Gabriel Lightwood and telling magnus he was hot in the last story of the book)

So its already confirmed they're a) the last decendants of the lightwood line and b) that line stems from Gabriel. If we based ourselves solely on the family tree and Christopher being the one carrying the line, that would have been believable enough not to raise any red flags. Christopher IS the son of Grabriel Lightwood, able bodied and seems to have a general attraction to women (I mean, we all know hes aro/ace but lets stick with canon). There isnt anything pointing to him not being able to marry and have kids. Where the red flags raise for me is with Alexander

Alexander wasnt in the original plans for the family tree, he was added when Cassie started writting the last hours. If you take into account his role in chog, there really was no reason to add Alexander Lightwood. He doesnt seem to do anything, hes a 3 year old kid, you can very well delete him from the narrative and nothing would change. So why did Cassandra add him?? Why did she decide to make Cecily and Gabriel have another kid ?

To me, it seems a lot like the baby carstairs situation . The family tree says Alastair carries the carstairs line, Alastair is a gay man so he cant have biological kids, theres another unplaned baby to carry the line. It seems to me Christopher carrying the lightwood line is a lie, and Alexanders role is to carry it in his place. I even found a little info from an ask wayy before chain of gold came out where it said Alexander had green eyes, but in the book she changed it to blue eyes. The exact same shade the modern day lightwoods seem to have. A trait hes more likely to pass down than his lavender eyed brother who supposedly "marries" grey eyed grace

3. Character Arc

Characters in literature need goals, things to work for or work towards through the story in order for them to develop. We call those things character arcs, and it seems we have all ignored how christophers may have indirectly ended. If you read his short story, or just overall analize his character, his main goal is simple. He wants to create something that will help the nephlim through science. His personal character arc is that he wants to prove himself and his skill to the clave using his passion to be a hero.

An arc that could have been expanded all through the series, and ended with him using his skills in the end to defeat belial in some way, proving his passions worth. Through the story we could have had a glimpse at his struggles, how he was put down, the failed attempts, fustrations etc. This all could have rounded christopher as a character, and brought more satisfaction to the end goal of his arc which is proving the value of his science. But instead, his arc in book seemingly already ended? Because he did it, he figured out a way to combine science with his duty and saved the entire enclave from the demon poison. He is now acclaimed a hero for his skills. All the other characters have things to finish going into chain of iron, Christopher doesnt. Why would she end an arc that could have taken through the entire series in just one book? Christopher is the only secondary character with a defined personality and a lack of arc to look foward too in following books. This could all point that his arc was rushed because it was being cut short

4. Lightwood blood

There has been a lot of theories going around about Thomas being the one who gets killed in this book, which is resonable considering the unerving amount of forehsadowing we've had to him getting himself caught up in something. But I raise you this, why would CC be giving us so much assurance that Thomas was going to get hurt if she was going to kill him? Not only would she be reaveling one of her most devastating murders, she would basically be spoiling a very big part of her own book. Thomas death would affect everyone, if she WERE to kill him she wouldnt be indulging us in our Thomas death theory as much as she has. Itd be too expectable, I actually believe that by giving us all the info she has she has more or less confirmed he wont die.

I believe this is all a decoy. Shes giving us foreshadowing towards something bad happening to Thomas, to cover up the very big reality shes planning to kill someone else. Theres a very big chance that for the resurection, theyre gonna need Jesses families blood. Same way Malcom needed blackthorn blood to raise Annabel. As of rightnow there arent any blackthorns (by blood) left alive, the only blood relatives Jesse still had are the lightwoods. So we already know Thomas gets captured by the murderer (referenece to the art), but it is most likely he gets rescued. People speculate he most likely got captured for the resurection Tatianas trying to do, because of his lightwood blood. But if Thomas escapes, Tatiana still needs her families blood. And I'd like to point out this is also where the fact she hasnt taken permanent revenge on the lightwood-herondales would come in. Theres a good chance that if the murders are releated to her, and she cant have Thomas, she wont stop at just Thomas.

5. Story relevance

In all sense of story, Christopher is the perfect candidate to kill. As hard as that is to say: he's a secondary character, who has a well defined personality, loved enough by the fans that there would certainly be a shock factor following his death, important enough to the story that there would be a big impact to the narrative, and interwined enough with the main characters to cause emotional distress in the story. His arc is indirectly done, this author has a history of killing lightwoods, there isnt much to discourage the possibility he might be killed besides the faulty family tree. And as I said, that tree has been stated multiple times to be misleading

Bonus prove

6. Christophers cut-out

Same way were analizing the hell out of a broken spear, why are we not talking about the skull on christophers?

(Sorry couldnt get better quality pics)

The truth is, I hate this theory as much as everyone, Im genuinly hoping chain of iron proves me wrong. But there are 5 deaths comming, and not all of them can be side characters. Cordelia Lucie and James all have main character protection. I already explained why Thomas dying is unlikely. Anna, Ariadne and Alastair have gay protection (and I think some asks about Alastair dying were pretty much answered with a discreet no)

If there are mains dying, Christophers the most likely to go

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megs-mostly-past-random-fandoms · 4 years

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The Best of Roommates

Here’s a fic! It was originally supposed to be a John Laurens fluffy piece, but it turned into something else instead. *Familiar Characters are NOT mine!*

Fandom: Hamilton: An American Musical.

Warnings: Modern AU, fluff-ish??, Matchmaking

Pairings/Characters: Hamilsquad(ish) x reader(platonic), John Laurens x Alexander Hamilton, implied Thomas Jefferson x reader at the end

When you started your first term at university, you immediately decided that living on campus was not your thing. That was how you found yourself living off campus with one Mr. John Laurens. He was a year or two ahead of you and a pre-law major. He wanted "fight for the little guy", as he put it. Honestly, the two of you got on pretty well. And you adored his two best friends, Herc and Laf. You were the four Musketeers and you knew you'd do anything to keep them happy. Something you'd have the opportunity to do when John met…him.

You smiled to yourself when you heard the door open. The new term had started and John's last class ran later than yours, so you were already home cooking. "Hey, John! How was-" you cut off when John came strolling in with a giddy smile on his face, followed by Herc and Laf who were chuckling softly.

"What's with him?" you asked them, pointing to John. Herc started making obscene movements with his pelvis while Laf merely smiled and placed a hand over his heart. "Our dear ami has met the love of his life today!" Your head whipped around to John and you grinned. "Shut up," he muttered as a light dusting of pink appeared on his freckled cheeks.

"Who is it?!" you asked immediately. If Herc and Laf were this invested, this person must be something. John's blush deepened and he looked away as he muttered something. Herc rolled his eyes. "Hamilton. The guy's name is Hamilton. He's been here a while, but mostly keeps to himself, writing all the time, unless he's got something to say. The professor paired them up as co-counselors for a mock trial next week. Poor Laurens can't even speak to the guy."

John let out a groan as he flopped down onto the couch. You arched a brow. John had never been like this before. Dramatic, yes, but never over a guy. "Invite him over," you said simply. John's gaze shot up to you. "Are you insane, Y/N? I can't talk to the guy. I get a little tongue-tied." You shrugged a little.

"You have to work with him on this mock trial. Invite him over to prep for it. At some point, the three of us will make an excuse to slip out and you can he can spend some one-on-one time where you’re comfortable." Herc and Laf agreed whole-heartedly. John always put others before himself. Now it was his turn to be happy. You suddenly felt yourself being pulled into a hug. "You're the best, Y/N!" You chucked and rolled your eyes.

*short time skip*

Alexander Hamilton was…interesting, to say the least. He was opinionated and loud. When he took a stand about something, everyone knew it. He would make a great lawyer. His personality seemed almost the opposite of John's, but even so, you could see the fight in him and you liked that. Not to mention, he and John looked positively adorable together. You and the others liked him immediately and it was clear to you that he had some serious heart-eyes for John.

After introductions were made, the five of you sat around talking for a few minutes. Laf was quietly encouraging John to make a move. Herc was trying to get as much information out of Alexander as possible. He took his job as the "dad" of your group very seriously. Meanwhile, you were just trying to figure out the best way to get the three of you out of there so Alexander and John could be alone for a bit.

"Well," you started after a bit, making a little show of getting up and stretching, "I gotta go. I've got a project of my own to work on. I'm supposed to meet Jefferson tonight." Alexander made a face. "Thomas Jefferson?" he asked. You chuckled a bit. John had told you all about Alexander's hatred of Jefferson. "Yeah. I know how you feel. Which is why these knuckleheads," you continued on, pulling at Herc and Laf's sleeves, "Are coming with me. So I don't strangle the man." John flashed you a grateful smile as you practically dragged the others out the door.

Since you didn't actually have a project with Jefferson, you and your friends decided to grab some food and caffeine, taking your time to sit and enjoy it. "Do you think they will be happy together?" Laf asked, making the women at the table behind you swoon. You shrugged. "I don't know, Laf. All I know is that John deserves to be with someone who makes him happy. I've never seen him smile about anyone else the way he does when he talks about Alexander."

"What about you? Anyone you've got your eye on?" Herc asked. You choked a little on your food and shook your head. They didn't need to know, at least not yet. "I only have eyes for you, Hercules," you replied sarcastically when you could talk again. He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Besides, I think we should focus on Laf next. I saw he had his eyes on Peggy Schuyler." Laf looked down at his plate and rubbed the back of his neck. You and Herc laughed a little before shifting the conversation and relieving your friend of his embarrassment. When you finally ran out of topics for the day, you returned to your apartment while Herc and Laf made their way back to the dorms.

You quietly unlocked the door and opened it. Your eyes widened slightly at the sight before you. Clearly, no studying had been done at all. Papers were scattered to the floor and even from where you were standing, you could see a fresh hickey on your roommate's neck. Somehow, the two of them managed to arrange themselves to sleep on tiny sofa, with John practically draped on top of Alexander. Their eyes were closed and Alexander had his arms wrapped around John. Your plan had worked it seemed. Smiling to yourself, you pulled out your phone and took a pic.

Quietly closing the door behind you, you sent the pic off to your friends with the caption, "Y/F/N, Matchmaker Extraordinaire!" They both replied quickly, making you smile. You walked away from the apartment, feeling better knowing that you had helped your best friend and the best roommate you could have asked for find happiness.

Your phone ringing brought you out of your little bubble. You glanced at the caller ID and beamed once more. "Hello, Darlin'," the voice on the other end greeted. You chuckled at the Virginian as butterflies erupted in your stomach. "Hey, Thomas. I'm on my way over." After all, John wasn't the only one who needed a little joy in his life.

(a/n: I really don’t know how this changed from a fluffy Laurens fic to a Hamilsquad matchmaking fic, but it did and I really hope you like it!)

#hamilton: an american musical #hamilsquad #hamilsquad x reader #john laurens x alexander hamilton #thomas jefferson x reader

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wouldpollyapprove · 4 years

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Girl Worth Fighting For

Request: Can I request number 6 from the fluff prompts with Tommy ? Thank you !

Requested by Anonymous

Pre war!Thomas Shelby x Reader

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: Language, mention of violence

A/N: This took ages to write even though it’s short. Anyway, I’ve been working on a few ideas and I can’t wait to start writing them. I’m going to try and finish up all my requests and then I plan on finishing up a few of my series. And in this fic the reader is supposed to be his fiancee but I was too lazy to go back and fix it, so keep that in mind.

Masterlist

Tommy flinched when the fabric glossed over the cut on his cheek, Y/n firmly grabbing his jaw so he couldn’t move out of her reach. He didn’t have to spare a glance to see her eyes were like daggers, lips set in a straight line. She wouldn’t easily get over this. “Are you nearly done?” he asked, praying she would loosen her grip that was certain to leave a bigger bruise than the one that was under his left eye.

“Are you done getting into fights?” she snapped and turned to dip the clothe in whiskey before bringing it back to Tommy’s tender skin.

Looking at the floorboards beneath him, he didn’t blame Y/n for being angry. He was a peaceful man and fights were out of character for him. Five in just a two week period was not only out of character but concerning and his girlfriend was tired of it. She was the one that had to clean his wounds, no one else. Y/n was the one that had to see him in pain as she stitched him up. “You know I can’t predict these things,” he told her, gazing up at her face, though angry, it was still soft.

Rolling her eyes, she continued to clean his wounds, wiping the blood off his face. “That may be so, but you don’t have to accept every fight that comes your way,” Y/n scolded him. “I want you in one piece.”

“I know, I know,” he glanced up at her, hoping could meet her eyes, but she didn’t give him that luxury. When she was finished, Y/n threw the rag down, letting Tommy wrap his arms around her waist, his head resting against her belly. “This will be the last time… I promise.”

Later that evening, Tommy and his brothers slipped off to the Garrison. They’d had a long day and with the impending threat of war, they needed something to take their mind off the cloudy future. Watching her lover slip out the door, Y/n sighed as Polly grabbed a bottle of whiskey she kept hidden behind a few pots.

“Let them pay for a glass, we’ll be drinking for free,” she smiled, setting the bottle on the table and went to grab a couple of glass. Finn was fast asleep in his room and Ada was pining over some boy, so the women knew they’d be drinking in peace.

A glass full of amber liquid was pasted over to her and Y/n grateful accepted it. She needed it after the day she had, having to deal with Tommy’s dumb ass. What possed him to get into fights was beyond her. “Tommy got into another fight today,” she said, in love with the feeling of the liquor stinging her tongue.

Polly sighed, rubbing her temple. It was rough putting up with Shelby boys, even rougher when she had to be their stand-in mother. “You think that boy’d learn,” she muttered.

“Tommy never learns.” Y/n’s words caused the woman across from her to raise a brow in confusion.

Leaning forward, Polly set her glass of the table. “Tommy didn’t tell you, did he?”

“Tell me what?” Y/n questioned, wondering what secret the man she loved was keeping from her. The pair shared everything with each other. Y/n knew everything about Tommy just as he knew everything about her. There was no room for secrets in their relationship. Believing that she was being kept in the dark hurt. Tommy trusted her, or so she thought.

“Dalton-” Y/n cringed at the name of her ex-boyfriend, one she never wanted to hear again. “-has been speaking ill of you and, as my nephew is a fool in love, he has taken it upon himself to shut the man up.”

Y/n chugged the last of her whiskey and leaned back, unsure what to do with this new information. She hadn’t heard from Dalton in ages, not that she wanted to, but to know he was spreading hate made her want to throw her glass against the wall. His childish behavior, his tantrums, when he didn’t get his way, were the exact reason why she had left him. “Tommy’s a lover, not a fighter, Pol. Why would he do that?”

The older woman shrugged. “Must believe you’re a girl worth fighting for.”

That seemed to be an acceptable answer, one that brought a smile to Y/n’s face. Her heart raced at the thought that Tommy would do such a thing for her, though she wished he wouldn’t. It was the thought that count and that was all that mattered to her.

An hour or so later, the boys returned home, John was clearly tipsy as he laughed at anything and everything as the brothers entered the house. Tommy smiled at his brother’s behavior before they all stopped in their tracks when a fit of laughter rang down the hall.

“That sounds like Pol…” Arthur started, stripping his coat off.

Tommy nodded, doing the same. “And Y/n.”

The three men quietly entered the kitchen, where Y/n had cleaned Tommy up hours before, to find Polly and Y/n laughing, the younger woman almost falling out of her chair. Tommy was by her side, catching her before she could hit the floor.

“Tommy!” she exclaimed, whiskey on her breath. “You’re home!”

The man chuckled, helping her to her feet, allowing her to lean against him for support. “That I am,” he smiled before his eyes fell onto the empty whiskey bottle on the floor. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Y/n nodded, clearly excited by the idea, and let her boyfriend guide her up the stairs and into their shared room. Tommy helped her with her clothes, letting them fall into a pile on the floor. “I fucking love you,” Y/n pulled him down for a kiss.

Pulling away, he laughed as he raised the covers for her, “Shut up and tell me this when you’re sober,” he teased. Sliding her legs underneath, Y/n huffed and laid against the pillows, watching Tommy undress. How she had become lucky enough to be with a man like him was a question that could only be answered by god. But she was glad their paths would cross and she hoped Tommy knew that he was a man worth fighting for as well.

*~~*~~*

Let me know if you would like to be added to any of the tag lists.

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Peaky Blinders: @simonsbluee

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#peaky blinders #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinders imagines #peaky blinder imagine #the peaky blinders #thomas shelby imagines #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby #tommy shleby imagines #tommy shelby imagine #thomas shelby #thomas shelby imagine #thomas shelby x reader

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beauty-and-passion · 3 years

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Hmm, I remember you wrote about Roman's pet and Janus' association with a specific snake species. But what about the rest of the team? In terms of whom do they resemble / are associated with from the animal world? Or what kind of pet could they theoretically have?

Oh, I think I talked about it here and there, so I’ll take the chance to better talk about it now :D

Roman: I already dedicated an entire post about why I think he could be a phoenix and I still haven’t changed my mind. A phoenix is cool and majestic, it's magical and it literally dies in the fire, to be reborn from its ashes - just like Roman should. so it's a great animal for him.

Patton: a giant frog with abs. Yes, I know, it’s probably the last thing we all imagined, but that’s what we got.

Jokes aside, that’s a great animal for Patton. Frogs are usually associated with transformation, change, fertility and prosperity. Transformation and changes are two big issues Patton had to face, by his own admission: at the end of POF, he said to Thomas how difficult it has been for him to cope with the idea that Thomas was growing up, things were changing and he had to change as well, by giving more mature answers to more mature questions.

While fertility and prosperity can both be associated with his figure. Patton calls himself a father and a father, as the name suggests, is someone fertile, someone who has been able to produce an offspring (in Patton's case, his kiddos). So not only a frog fits from a thematically point of view, but also character-speaking.

Logan: a raven. Why? Because ravens are cool and their appearance fits someone tall and formal like Logan.

But more importantly, ravens are fucking clever. Their brains are among the largest of any bird species. They communicate with each other, have problem-solving skills, are inventors (aka they're able to use small instruments like sticks to get food) and have a good memory (if a raven buries some food somewhere and other ravens see it, they remember the place and steal the food).

Also, when they're young they play together and with other species like dogs and wolves as well. They're even able to make their own toys with sticks! So yes, Logan would be a perfect raven.

Janus: he’s a mangrove snake, because Joan said it was their first inspiration. And when Joan said it, I said yes. Janus’ appearance and behaviour are perfectly fitting for the mangrove snake and I wrote an entire post about this too because the snek boi deserves appreciation.

Virgil: I know the fandom is divided between cat, spider and some other animal, but I think Virgil would be a tarantula. Why? Because it would have a lot in common with the other two dark sides' animals:

is a predator

is venomous

is incredibly dangerous for humans

is commonly considered scary and to be feared

And even if we see cats as predators, they're not venomous and we're not so scared of them, to run away as soon as we see them. But I know I would run into another continent, if I see a tarantula in my home.

Remus: he's an octopus and I love it because octopuses are funky marine predators and they're FUCKING CLEVER.

Octopuses are marine Houdinis: they can escape from everything - even from their own aquariums to search for food or come back into the sea. They can navigate through mazes and, more than once, they were able to value a situation and react accordingly. Also, they have both short- and long-term memory and that's huge, considering they don't even have a skeleton.

Oh and by the way, the blue-ringed octopus is among the most venomous animals on the planet, so they're not just cool animals, but also extremely dangerous when they want.

Orange: I think a scorpion would fit very well. It works from a chromatic point of view and, most importantly, it fits all the other characteristics: it's a venomous predator, it's dangerous for humans and scary because of its nature.

Also, I have two different stories about scorpions, that show the double nature of this animal.

The first one is from my father: when he was young, he got stung by a scorpion. And it was an extremely venomous one, so he was immediately treated at the local hospital.

And yet, the aftermath was terrible. He’s 60, he experienced a lot of different kinds of pain in his life, but he always says THAT pain was the worst he's ever felt. The scorpio stung his hand and it doubled in size in a matter of minutes. And, for the following days, it was as if every nerve was on fire: sleeping was impossible, he was in pain all the time. And it took a very long time, before the pain finally managed to fade.

The second story is from my brother. One summer he was on vacation and, after a long day at the beach, he came back to the hotel to take a shower. And in the shower, just chilling in the corner, there was a tiny little scorpion. It probably wasn't even dangerous, but I would've still run away screaming. My bro, on the other hand, took his shower, while keeping an eye on the scorpion.

And the animal completely ignored him. It didn't even go away. It was just chilling there. And when my brother picked it up with a stick to put it in the garden outside, the scorpio just climbed on the stick and let my brother do it.

Maybe I'm a bit biased, but I like the idea that the last side can be both incredibly dangerous and absolutely harmless. A bit like every other predator, after all XD

#sanders sides #ask #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #orange side #thomas sanders #animals #another nice ask #very useful

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danny-chase · 3 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Batman (Comics), Batgirl (Comics), Batman and the Outsiders (Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain & the Batfam Characters: Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, Dick Grayson (briefly), Barbara Gordon (briefly), Tim Drake (briefly), Bruce Wayne (Mentioned), Jefferson Pierce (mentioned) Additional Tags: Batfamily (DCU) Feels, The timeline is a mess, feelings of discomfort, Feelings of Not Belonging, Crocs, POV Cassandra Cain, late night bathroom girl talks, no beta we die like Cass, dreams of alternate timeline, timeline converging, Confusion, Eventual Fluff, Nightmares Summary:

The one where Cass know something is wrong with her Crocs, and it spirals into more being wrong with her world.

Cassandra never thought much about what she wore, it’s not like it mattered much in the grand scheme of things. What was ‘right’ to wear, ‘wrong’ to wear, she didn’t really know, she just picked what she liked, and that was that. Barbara helped keep her closet in three neat sections: clothes for fancy things – charities or dances, clothes for blending in outside, and clothes for training. It was simple, easy, efficient. She didn’t have to think about it.

But here she was, pacing back and forth in front of her closet. It wasn’t the clothes she was confused about, but a pair of shoes. Light blue, with holes. Duke called them crocs. Crocs. She turned the word over, again and again in her mind. She remembered picking them out, but the memory was blurry, she had this eerie feeling they were wrong somehow.

She’d had this feeling before – that something was wrong with the world, with her. Her costume sometimes felt wrong, like it didn’t quite belong. She shifted, irritated, from side to side. Sometimes, she talked wrong too, thought wrong. Everything, some days, just felt wrong.

And here she was, standing on her hands, glaring at her crocs. Her crocs that were wrong, but they couldn’t be wrong because she’d gotten them with Duke. She remembered – she was sure she remembered.

It had been a cloudy day, her arm stuck in a sling. Bruce had said she was training too hard, she should take it easy, and she had disagreed. But then he brought up Duke. Duke, who had been injured by Karma. Who was so angry and hurt, but she never knew what to say to fix things. And Bruce hadn’t known either. But all the same, they had to try something.

He gave her money and instructions. Take Duke to get food at the mall. It had been easy, fun. He was upset, but took the time to make her laugh, thanked her for spending time with him. They’d spun through racks of clothes, posing with sunglasses, and trying on random things, then swapping. They bought him a short shirt that showed off his belly button. A… crop top, he’d said. And she, skipping through the aisles had stopped in front of the blue crocs.

She’d felt strange then, like the world was wrong, and somehow, she felt drawn to them. Duke had looked at her as though she was crazy when she tried them on but shrugged and told her she had great tastes in fashion (lie). He’d been getting tired, the more they walked, but he smiled all the same, told her she looked great in them (not a lie). And she bought them, now here she was, feeling the same feeling of wrongness.

Sometimes, she felt like a different person.

Sometimes, she felt like Duke shouldn’t be there.

Sometimes, she missed people she met once.

And sometimes, she stared at the blue crocs, with an inkling she’d seen them before she’d ever stepped foot in that store.

She’d been feeling well this week. Things were going well with her team, things were going well for her. She had almost finished her latest book, when she was struck by the feeling of wrongness once again. She gripped her hair, squeezing her eyes shut, burying her head in the side of her chair.

She was Cassandra Cain. She was herself. She wasn’t wrong. This was her, wasn’t it? This was her life.

But even her name sounded wrong in her head. Cassandra felt right, Cain felt wrong. But if not a Cain, who was she?

She was powerful. Strong. That was right. She’d taken down ten men last week in hardly any time, and it felt so right!

But sitting in a chair reading felt wrong.

It was so confusing. She didn’t understand, why this but not that?

Throwing the offending book across the room, she stamped to her closet. Flinging open the door, she glared at the shoes. The crocs glared back, there little holes mocking her.

The holes.

The holes were wrong.

The color was right.

She was getting somewhere. The holes were wrong, the color was right. But again, why this and not that? Clenching her fists in frustration, she threw her head back, wanting to scream but holding it in. Instead, she grabbed her costume and headed out.

Cass had dreams, dreams of being in a city she didn’t recognize. Spending time with people she didn’t know. And the people she did know were different. Tim was smaller in her dreams, and Dick was older. Bruce was… he felt more familiar. And Barbara – she didn’t know why, but Barbara was always in a wheelchair. But she hadn’t been there for that, had she?

Every time she saw the bats, they felt wrong. Different. Maybe different was the right word. Was she the only one feeling like this? She couldn’t tell. She told Duke once, and he shrugged saying something about déjà vu. But the word didn’t feel right.

Barbara was worried. “You can talk to me, Cass, what’s wrong?” But how could she explain what was going on? Bruce whispered to Jeff about how she was quieter… withdrawn. He’d said withdrawn. But she wasn’t trying to change, wasn’t trying to… withdraw. The world was just confusing, she couldn’t keep focused with this immense feeling of dread shrouding her.

In the dreams, sometimes a girl gave her tea. In a little shop. In the city she’d never been to. And she woke up screaming because it always faded away into a wasteland.

And for some reason, she kept calling Stephanie Brown when it happened.

Tonight, she’d called again.

“Cass, bad dream? Are you okay?” She felt like she’d known Steph for years.

“Everything’s wrong.” She confessed. Steph hummed. The line was quiet. She should hang up, she usually did. Usually just said yes and hung up. But, Stephanie’s voice was comforting, it was good to know she was safe.

“Wrong like, things are going wrong right now? Or like, things feel… off.” Cass sucked in a deep breath. Maybe, just maybe, someone else understood.

“Off.” She replied.

“Like… things aren’t quite, right?” Exactly.

“Like… people are… different?” She explained.

“Like they didn’t use to be there.” Steph agreed.

“Or were there longer.” Cass breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t wrong. Something was wrong, or well… off. But, whatever it was, it wasn’t in her head. The world was wrong. Not her.

“Do you ever dream about things that never happened, but it feels so real you’re certain it did?” Cass nodded, then realized she was using a phone.

“Yes.” She sat in silence for a moment. “Can I… come over?” Steph felt right, an beacon in the midst of the chaos of the wrong world.

“Please.” Steph sounded just as eager to stick together.

“Coming.” She hung up the phone, and snatched up a bag, flinging open the door of her closet, and grabbing some clothes for tomorrow. The blue crocs leered at her, so she shoved her feet into them. Maybe Steph would know why they were wrong.

Steph sat on the edge of the toilet, and she sat on the rim of the tub.

“This feels right.” Cass decided. Steph nodded.

“I don’t know why but you’re right.” She plopped her head in her hands, tired and agitated, but excited. “I feel like I know you, but like we only met a few months ago.” She made a thinking face.

Cass thought too. She took in Stephanie’s face, and closed her eyes. The burning town came to mind.

“Were you in…” She trailed off; it was a dumb question. Steph would have died with the girl who gave her tea if she were there.

“Go on.” It was stupid. “I’m not going to judge, throw anything out there, no wrong answers.”

“In my dreams, there’s a city.” She opened her eyes, staring into Steph’s face. “It burns, and I’m there, with you.” Steph tilted her head.

“In my dreams, sometimes I die.” Cass winced.

“Me too.”

“Could it have happened in the city? I don’t know, maybe we had like past lives there or something?” She suggested.

“I’m me when I die.” Cass asserted. She always died fighting, nowhere near the city.

“Me too.” Steph sighed. “It’s so frustrating. I don’t get it.” Cass nodded.

“I feel wrong.” She added.

“Literally, same.” Steph shook her head in frustration and made to leave the bathroom. “Okay, good night’s sleep, we’ll work on it again tomorrow.”

Cass wanted to scream. She wanted to know, to know right now. Wanted to get this figured out.

“Whatever.” Was all she got out, Steph shrugged indifferently.

“Sleep will help your brain work better. It’s a scientific fact.” Cass followed her out into her bedroom.

There were purple crocs inside her closet.

She stepped closer.

“Cass, what are you-” Steph kept talking, but Cass couldn’t hear her anymore.

The holes on the crocs were filled.

Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled out of Steph’s room, her mind whisking her away into a memory she’d somehow forgotten, a memory that didn’t feel wrong - a memory that felt right a memory that-

The purple crocs were in her hands, she was in a small store, a crocodile painted on the wall behind her. Stephanie was laughing at Tim. He was wearing green crocs. Barbara was in the corner, chatting with Dick from her wheelchair. They were smiling fondly at each other. Love painted across everyone’s faces.

And she, was so happy. She was standing still, basking in the afternoon glow of the sun, and the warmth of those around her.

“Thanks for holding those for me, you want a pair too?” Steph bounced in front of her and plucked the crocs out of her hands, giving her a friendly wink.

“I think you should get bright blue ones.” Dick suggested. Barbara snorted. They both were looking at her fondly.

“If she gets blue ones, you have to get yellow.” She pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s only fair.” Tim agreed. “As long as no one gets the same color we should be good.”

A pair of blue crocs were dropped in her hands. Her heart was expanding in her chest.

“Okay, everyone, she needs charms too, move it people!” Steph cried happily. Everyone dug in the bins surrounding them. Little icons, little… charms. The word sounded right. The blue crocs were right.

The memory faded out, and she found herself quickly falling asleep.

She woke up before Steph. Silently, she tiptoed downstairs. Her crocs were full of charms.

#Cassandra Cain #Cassandra Wayne #Stephanie Brown #batfam #my writing #Dick Grayson #Barbara Gordon #Tim Drake #Duke Thomas #Cass and Steph are best bros even though they don't know it yet #Late night bathroom talks are the shit #Like you haven't lived until it's 1am and you're talking about shit with your homies sitting on the edge of a tub #I miss Cass being a bigger part of the family

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