#I like all of these characters FINE in THEIR OWN STORIES

[viperwhispered]

Notes on Jamil's speech patterns

I was supposed to just pick out some examples of typical Jamil lines. How he speaks, the vocabulary he uses, things like that. Something I could easily refer to when writing to get the tone right.

But then it kinda blew up, oop – because it’s hard to talk about how a character speaks without also dipping into why they say whatever they say.

Plus then I wanted to get examples of Jamil in different moods, and could not resist some poignant things that were more related to his character or backstory rather than strictly the speech patterns themselves, so… It expanded a bit.

Anyways. Some things I noticed he tends to do:

Sighs (more than I realized)

Snarks

Tch (though could be a more general twst writing choice too)

Stutters when he’s flustered / embarrassed / caught of guard (what a cutie)

Goes ahem like an old man when he’s trying to get back on track in those off-kilter moments

Kinda formal with his manner of speech and choice of words (especially in servant mode) (I always worry I exaggerate this but he sure does do that)

But there’s still some animatedness with the way he emphasises words, for example

(so long-suffering and ready to bark out directions to Kalim oh boy - the way the directness just comes through when he loses it)

sugarcoating his opinions if he doesn’t feel like he can say them plainly (tyrant becomes rigorous, etc.)

sarcasm, sometimes with a side of deadpan, sometimes with a smirk

“Good grief” (another thing I didn't realize was that much of a catchphrase)

Very mild on the level of insults & swears honestly, (I mean, "drat"?) but I imagine this is more of a result of the game's rating (I guess for in-game reasons we can say he's been very conditioned by his upbringing)

I put the screenshots that seemed telling, and some related notes, on to a google sheet. That way one can filter and order it in various ways.

The sheet is probably best viewed on a computer or another larger screen, the screenshots might make it a bit difficult to navigate on mobile.

I did go in with the assumption that Jamil might speak differently pre-overblot (when the servant mask is firmly in place) and post-overblot (at least those occasions where he allows himself to be more honest). Like, there’s the sycophantic (as Leona calls it) flatterer, versus when Jamil’s honestly voicing his own thoughts. Which also shows in how I chose to categorize the screenshots.

Of course events are a bit wibbly wobbly in relation to the main story so can’t be placed in the timeline in the same way, but there are still those occasions where it seems you can tell the difference between the servant mask and a Jamil who’s not saying things just for the sake of appearances.

So, to explain the logic of the sheet:

First column has a screenshot of something Jamil says. The second two columns give the source.

The column for whether or not this happened before or after the overblot is only really used for main story things, since event stories are kinda murky timeline-wise.

Next is whether Jamil seems to be putting on the servant mask or speaking more honestly. This is where get more to interpretation territory, and I’ve not applied it to every screenshot (either because that didn’t seem like the relevant part for that line, or because I couldn’t tell).

The last column of the sheet is where we get most to my personal interpretations. So of course you might read these lines differently than I do, and that’s completely fine, these are simply the aspects that seemed poignant to me. Some notes are simply pointing out specific word choices or style of speech, others delve more into character analysis side of things.

Totally fine if you want to copy this file or modify it to your own needs. All I ask is that you don’t pass off anything I wrote as your own thoughts.

Order of lines is based purely on the order the pics were in my screenshots folder, so guess this is also an insight on the order I played things in, lol.

Tagging some jamil peeps in case y'all find this useful:

@crystallizsch @diodellet @moonyasnow @twstgo @lex752

@majestickitty @viperbunnies

[cripplecharacters]

Is it okay to use the word “hobble” if the character in question is said to be very new to using a cane, so they’re not really used to it yet?

Hi lovely asker!

I think the word "hobble" is fine to use in this situation and also just is an okay word in general to use if that is the specific way that the characters stride is. A "Hobble" is more walking in a side to side way kinda like the way a penguin walks but usually it's described in a way where the person is usually putting more weight or one side of their body than the other which makes that "Hobble" sorta stride.

Here's a few more words or phrases I could think of to best describe that "Hobble" sorta stride -

Rocked

Staggered

Teeter-tottered

Unevenly

Sway

You can also describe the way that the character is walking and say -

They moved their cane forward, leaning into their side as it bore most of their weight before they eased off.

Or some good old metaphorical language like "They walked—

"As if on a see-saw"

"On a boat"

"Like the ground were uneven"

And here's some of my own that I've said about myself when in these instances -

"One with the penguins"

"Dancing the cumbia"

If you're doing how your character is feeling about the way they're walking, saying "awkward" is fine because it often is a awkward feeling getting used to a new mobility aid. They also might feel "Off", "more/less steady", or that it's "difficult/different". Or it might be the "Where have you been all my life" realization for them but they still need some time to get used to things.

Their stride is going to appear different as the story progresses too (if this is the case for your character). So they're going to get more comfortable in the use of their mobility aid and that will reflect in the way they move, walk, handle it, and over all confidence of mobility and the way they feel about it too!

Lastly, I think certain negative connotative words are best to avoid here all around like "lame/lamely", "crip/crippled", "hindered" etc. But also funnily enough those words don't give a lot of imagery or description into how the character is walking, do they? Guess it's best they're avoided all around! 😁 Hope this helps!

~ Mod Virus 🌸

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I didn't want to say that here since you love Leona now but I actually hate that lion guy😭😭 I feel like he would bully me for just existing!

Like this part in book 3 when he made us fight his dorm members so we could stay in the dorm makes me look at him like this 😒 like sir I'm magicless and homeless and physically weak and you want me to fight your muscled dorm members + they have magic!😭😭 Why?! At this rate I would have slept in one of the class rooms instead 😞I mean it was Grim do the fighting but still! But that's not the only reason I have other reasons why I hate him 😭 (I'm scared of him lol)

I have beef with that lion guy😞

I don't see myself loving him any soon but who knows maybe one day I would feel in love with him like you 🫢

Lemme tell you this right here and right now: I have learned from observation that there are no bigger L*ona haters out there than L*ona stans themselves 💀 We They will say, "Leona Kingscholar is literally the fucking worst character not just in Twisted Wonderland, but in all media that has ever and will ever be conceived. Hate that guy, what a shitty scumbag," one moment and then turn right around and kiss our their lion merch with all the tender love and care a human could possibly lavish an object with.

ANYWAY, that's beside the point. I don't like this character of which you speak of.

Early main story Leona is definitely the type to bully the crud out of others 💀 To be fair to him though, honestly any dorm (other than Heartslabyul) would have been reluctant to house a pair that they have little to no personal connection with. The students at NRC are known for their pride and reluctance to help each other out, right? Night Raven College also has a culture of "the strong obey the weak", so to have Yuu and Grim "earn their keep" by demonstrating their strength makes sense. The other dorms would have probably demanded similar things of them, regardless of how downtrodden and dreary their circumstances are. It's not like Azul or the mob students showed Yuu and Grim any mercy before. Most of the student population is not nice or welcoming, especially if there's nothing in it for them to gain. In this case, Leona would be gaining two temporary students that aren't deadweights to him. Of course, that doesn't justify what he did/said in book 3 or any of the other things he did/said. It doesn't mean you have to like the guy for what he did. It's just that I don't know if that one scene is a specific-to-Leona asshole move. I do want to point to the Episode of Octavinelle manga too; in that, Leona doesn't make Yuuta fight mobs to sleep over, he accepts Yuuta's cooking abilities as a substitute. This loops right back around to what I was saying about "earning your keep" and how most NRC students won't want to help you out unless you have something to offer them in return. For Yuuta, that was his culinary skills. For in-game Yuu and Grim, it had to be combat prowess. Is it cruel in comparison to letting them sleep over in return for nothing? Yes, absolutely. But is it in character for them to be selfish about it? Also yes, absolutely. I think it's fine to have as a characterization moment--though whether you enjoy this or not is up to the individual fan.

I get that he's not going to appeal to everyone. Leona definitely comes off as intimidating and he has plenty of other traits to loathe. Every character will have people that dislike them or even outright hate them. That's completely normal and should be expected, since everyone has different experiences, tastes, and perspectives to bring to the table--each equally as valid as the last. Feelings can change over time, feelings can stay the same. Whatever happens, it's fine! No one decent is going to hold a (water) gun to your head and force you to like L*ona. Enjoy fandom in your own way!

That being said 💦💦 I will advise that you avoid sending messages of, "I actually HATE this character that you happen to like" into people's inboxes. It's okay to have a different opinion than the fan you're expressing the opinion to, but you should keep in mind that it's not always appropriate to voice it or to press the matter. I might be generally indifferent about discussing why we like or dislike certain characters, but others might not be so happy to get a message that could be considered bashing on their favorite(s). Again, just be mindful of others and their boundaries!

[profoundbondfanfic]

Hi!! This might be a weird request, but I hope it's not too confusing: I love Destiel, but I get really frustrated trying to find fic where one or the other character isn't super confident/smug/Dommy most of the time. To be honest, I'll always be hung up on that scene at the end of It's The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester, with the two realising their similarities in chasing after absent father figures. Could you rec any fics where they're both damaged and vulnerable and learn to be kind and open?

Hello there!

Here are a few that might fit:

don't care where you've been by thanks_tacos (Explicit, 328k words)

Dean's life is finally changing. After years of enduring Alastair's abuse, the alpha dies and Dean's married off to the next alpha the system pairs him with - Castiel. The man is strange and distant, but not exactly bad, and Dean's determined to be on his best behavior and not mess up the chance he was given. Soon enough, though, he fucks up anyway and has to call the alpha for help. Castiel's lived his entire life without an omega by his side, and he was fine with that. He doesn't know how to proceed once he's suddenly married to a beautiful man who's obviously been through a lot. Omegas were always a confusing subject to him, so he tries not to interfere much - neither of them is there by their choice. But when Dean calls for help, he understands he's going to have to set some things straight and engage more.

Everybody Needs the Light by opal_bullets (Mature, 46k words)

In the summer of 2005, a gruesome hunt leaves a lonely and hurting Dean to take refuge in a remote Minnesota motel. He only means to stop for the night, yet finds himself compelled to stay. Maybe it’s the old, well loved lodge, or his cozy little cabin, or the spectacular views off the cliffs of Lake Superior. Or maybe it’s Castiel, the guy who runs the place. Dean’s falling for him fast, but there’s more to complicate the matter than the family business. Something strange is afoot in the Northwoods…Is Cas just caught in the crossfire, or is he the one standing at the center of it all?

First by FriendofCarlotta (Explicit, 25k words)

Romance novelist Castiel Novak is recovering from an addiction to painkillers and he’s struggling to settle back into life post-rehab. His therapist suggests visiting a local farm where anyone can spend an hour or two in the calming company of rabbits. The farm’s owner, Dean, is himself a recovering alcoholic… and a huge fan of Castiel’s books. A story of recovery, romance and rabbits, told in a series of firsts.

For Evermore by casblackfeathers (Explicit, 110k words)

There's no place like home. This was a line Castiel used to know by heart when he was a kid, watching The Wizard of Oz and believing fairytales were real. At thirty-one years old, he isn't a kid anymore, and it has been twelve years since he has known what home feels like. Twelve years. That's when his world had come crashing down and he had left his hometown, Holly Springs, with the broken pieces of what he once was to build a new life in San Francisco. But as circumstances force him to come back to the only place he swore he would never return to, Castiel is finally forced to face everything he once knew and loved. Especially when said everything is made of spring-green eyes and a stardust of freckles, wrapped in all the memories Castiel was not able to erase from his heart. After twelve years, Dean is as mesmerizing as Castiel remembers, but the scars of what was broken still run as deeply as the marrow of his bones, and Castiel will do everything he can to protect himself. After all, his favorite movie also taught him that 'until hearts can be made unbreakable,' he can’t listen to his own.

Have Love, Will Travel by squeemonster (Explicit, 94k words)

Castiel Novak is a reclusive writer with a childhood so tragic it's left him terrified to leave his home—until his overbearing brother, Gabriel, drags him out for a night on the town full of booze and strip clubs, and he encounters Dean Winchester, a mesmerizing and mysterious stripper with secrets of his own. Both men find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other, and soon Dean's private dances for Castiel become much more, as both men confess their troubles and find solace in each other's company. But neither can seem to find the courage to take their relationship further than the intimacy of the club's VIP Room—and just when Dean's own brother gives him the excuse he needs to finally admit his feelings, Dean discovers something that brings it all crumbling down. Will they find a way past their demons and their trust issues, and back to each other?

IPAMIS OL OLPRIT by emmbrancsxx0 (Explicit, 56k words)

The Winchesters, Castiel, and Jack discover the Men of Letters hid away a weapon that may be able to kill Michael. The only problem: it can only be used with John Winchester's blood. When Rowena performs a spell to temporarily bring John back, Dean runs into another problem. His father doesn't approve of his angel, and Castiel isn't too impressed with John either.

Nine Times We Met (And One Christmas We Parted) by almaasi (Explicit, 54k words)

On the last day of school before Christmas vacation, Mr. Castiel Quinn discovers that one of his young students has smuggled male pornography into the classroom. Upon being told that the photos belong to the boy's uncle, Castiel vows to himself that he will keep the other man's preferences a secret. It's 1947; a man experiencing attraction to another man or fantasising about his sexual touch are transgressive faults, which could potentially result in imprisonment - or worse. But then the uncle walks in. The photos are of him: Dean Winchester, a rogue with an empty pocket and a child to feed. Castiel doesn't know it yet, but his life is never going to be the same again. Years pass between chance meetings, but even though they live their lives apart, Dean and Castiel's story is proof that absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.

six hundred sundays (and many more) by sobsicles (Mature, 15k words)

Dean starts falling in love with him on a slow Sunday morning under slanted sunlight that slips through the gaps in the trees.

Solitudes by ilovehowyouletmefall (Mature, 21k words)

Dean and Castiel understand each other more than anyone else. They misunderstand each other more than anyone else as well. After Cas is nearly killed by Ramiel, Dean is coming very close to acknowledging that he wants something more from Cas than friendship. Cas, however, feels the weight of his responsibility very heavily. When Dean asks Cas to stick around longer, Cas says he needs to keep looking for Kelly, leaving Dean feeling dejected. But Cas agrees to help out on one more hunt before he leaves. Neither him nor Dean realize that the monster they're after can make their worst nightmares come true. OR: Dean thinks Cas is killed. Cas is there to witness the aftermath.

Something by the Sea by destielpasta (Mature, 30k words)

After suffering the horrific cost of being cured from demonhood, Dean and Cas settle down in the small town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, buying a run-down shack near the beach to call their own. Dean attempts to get into a normal routine– fixing up the kitchen, chopping wood for the fire, and picking out paint colors– all with the pleasant backdrop of Cas’s company and a beach fifty feet away. These things prove themselves to be fragile, however, and the past haunts Dean in the form of nightmares and strange phone-calls from an untraceable number, along with the far-from-innocent history of their new house.

The Evil that Men do by MalicMalic (Explicit, 174k words)

When Dean learns his girlfriend found the man that raped her all those years ago, he is ready to make him feel the exact formation of Dean's knuckles, but Bela had some other ideas in mind. Dean is not what you might call a good guy, but even some things are too much for him. And then the worst thing happens - Dean learns they made a mistake. The guilt will consume him, making him change his foul path, but nothing will ever seem enough, even when he gets a chance for redemption.

The Greatest of These by DoctorProfessorSong (Teen and Up, 9k words)

When Jack pulls Cas from the Empty, his vessel is damaged. Jack is working on it. In the meantime, Cas is stuck hanging around the bunker in his Trueform. In other words, the fic where Dean takes Trueform!Cas on little dates and the author has way too much fun with angel lore

[eternalegolas]

You dismissed @trrenchertrash's argument with no counter-argument until just now when I called you out on it. Being dismissive in a discussion is a bad faith response. I can extend good will far enough to accept that it wasn't intentional but that doesnt absolve it of being in bad faith. The same way you have ignored an entire paragraph of my response, which i will simply repost again for you.

If your issue with "hope" being the theme of the original Star Wars film is because you find it to be underdeveloped and simplistic, I would remind you that theme as a literary device is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative (which the answer of "hope" covers) and is also often able to be expressed in a single word. In which case an argument that "hope" is too simplistic, implies a fundamental misunderstanding of literary theme and does not apply here. ...

You don't have to like it, thats fine. You are entitled to your own opinions and tastes but to dismiss what is objectively there based on your own personal opinion is disingenuous. And Lord of the Rings is absolutely about love. It is not the only theme in Lord of the Rings but it is a main one, which is very in line with Tolkien's intent to portray his own Christian values in his story.

Additionally, the existence of a character feeling hope is not the same as having hope as a theme in a story. Lots of characters have hope for various different things in The Phantom Menace, and yet hope is still not a theme of that movie because thats not how themes work. Hope existing in a story is not the same as a story being about hope. Almost every film includes learning from failure as well. If characters got everything right the first time we'd be surrounded by some pretty thin plots. The premise even exists in A New Hope, with Luke failing to deflect shots from the combat remote in the beginning, to then successfully destroying the Death Star on the same premise. That doesn't make "learning from failure" a theme of A New Hope.

Technology vs faith is is a weak theme with little supporting evidence in the movie because its not actually a theme in that movie. I'm unsure why you're holding onto the premise despite having disproved it yourself. You are seeking complexity at the expense of understanding what is being shown to you.

... Just because the themes aren't shrouded in layers and layers of complexity doesn't negate their value. Star Wars is meant to be an easily digestible and fun story for all ages. None of that makes it shallow in any sense.

Again, you can dislike it, thats your prerogative, but your personal opinion does not equal an objective fact. I laid out the existence of hope as the theme of A New Hope and you ignored that to refer back to your position of "its too simplistic", completely dismissing that i had already addressed that point as well, which is, you guessed it, disingenuous.

People scream “show don’t tell!” all the damn time, but the second a show actually DOES just show you stuff and make you use your brain to piece things together you scream “bad writing! Bad writing!”

Fuck you. You don’t want a story to “show don’t tell,” you’re literally angry they won’t just spoon feed you the answers on a silver platter.

[illustrationist-of-the-stars]

Do you think that twst characters worry about Yuu!Aventurine because of his luck?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

Like, have you seen the guy?

But for real tho, he'd absolutely try to weaponize his luck or just use it as like a whim to win games or somehow get himself into dangerous situations that specifically try to harm him or make him lose but in the end would just get out of it unscathed somehow.

While physically he'd be fine, mentally and emotionally? Yeah, that's a whole other story...

A lot of the other guys will be quick to catch onto his self-destructive behaviour and his constant brushing off of their concern or downplaying it that they don't have to worry since he'll always be the victor in the end but it just worries and frustrates them even more.

The most overprotective out of all them would most likely be Grim, Adeuce duo, Jack Howl, the Tweels, Ortho Shroud and Riddle Rosehearts suprisingly.

Grim's a given tbh, I don't think I need to elaborate how he he'd react to that sort of behaviour. Like sure, maybe a bit of enabling at first since he didn't care as much or is oblivious back then because it brought in tons of money and money equals more tuna cans, right? Yeah, well. Little guy's gonna have a rude awakening once he realizes what it took for all those tuna cans lmao

For the Adeuce duo and Jack Howl, it's mostly being constantly of proximity with eachother that makes them aware of Yuu!Aventurine's behaviour and they try their hardest to stop it or get him away from getting noticed by less savoury eyes like: Ace and Deuce beating up any mobs from just instigating fights/duels with him, Jack using the excuse from the Headmaster to be his constant bodyguard and being the voice of reason of him to stop a few gambles that risk to much, etc etc

For the Tweels, while Jade is in it for the entertaing and surprise factor that comes with Yuu!Aventurine going into all types of situations and games and getting to be the winner in all of them, he'd certainly wouldn't want his one source of good entertainment to get eaten by the sharks aroud here so he'd discreetly steer him away from such situations that he isn't certain should be good for a fellow Rainbow Fish like him.

As for Floyd tho, well- he'd absolutely squeeze or manhandle the guy if he isn't cooperating with him like he's supposed to, or maybe like, vaguely threaten his autonomy because he surely doesn't need it when he can't run when he needs too lol

Ortho Shroud would just use facts and logic to reason his way to get Yuu!Aventurine to atleast give up a gamble or just take time for himself to just relax for awhile.

Riddle Rosehearts would also absolutely use his authority as dorm leader to get Yuu!Aventurine to stay over at the Heartslabyul dorm and relinquish his autonomy for a few days because he CLEARLY doesn't know how to live properly and it's in his best interest to teach him the ways to care one's own self correctly and no, he has no say in this- it's final. (Dude's not even part of Heartslabyul tf-)

(I also think Leona would also may or may not threaten turning Ramshackle into sand if he doesn't stop running himself ragged soon...)

So yeah, all in all- it would be a constant worry since it's sort part of Yuu!Aventurine's surface identity and he isn't willing to be vulnerable enough with some of them most of the time so they'd just decide to just discreetly protect him from danger caused by outside factors or by his own ruinous making, rip.

[canonizzyhours]

Something that always strikes me rewatching OFMD season 2 is that Auntie's so clearly set up as a foil for Izzy, but I think it's supposed to be in a way that reflects well on Izzy, and this COMPLETELY backfired for me (as someone who went into the season expecting him to be redeemed & being fine with the idea!).

I think Auntie's meant to set up the father figure interpretation of Izzy by having a relationship to Zheng that's clearly similar to the Ed-Izzy relationship while also being much more obviously parental. She scolds Zheng for having fun instead of focusing on her career goals, she disapproves of Zheng's budding love for Olu who she thinks isn't good enough for her, and while it's hard on Zheng it's also all clearly coming from a place of love. So I assume you're supposed to look and this and think, if I can see Auntie sympathetically, maybe I should consider whether Izzy too is ultimately coming from a place of genuine parental-type love toward Ed.

But the thing is Auntie works as a sympathetic character BECAUSE of how nothing she ever does toward Zheng is even a fraction as horrible as the way Izzy treats Ed. She speaks harshly to her but never veers into verbal abuse, she never seems to be deliberately triggering Zheng's trauma or deliberately encouraging her to view herself as a monster who neither needs nor deserves love, she never tries to straight up murder Olu as Zheng watches in helpless terror, she never actively betrays Zheng to the navy while telling her this is for her own good. And Auntie never for one moment comes across as though she'd even be capable of any of that, either. Because she actually does care about Zheng!

So it comes across to me - and I know it's unintentional - but it comes across like Auntie's presence in the story is saying to me, "this is what a relationship like Ed & Izzy's would look like it were ACTUALLY based in genuine love and loyalty. This is how Izzy would treat Ed if he actually did care about him." Izzy's behavior reads as WAY more abusive when we have a counterexample right there! It just makes it feel much more obvious that Izzy's not motivated by anything like even actual concern for Ed's well-being (even if misguided concern), the way Auntie is toward Zheng, but by the fact that keeping Ed trapped in the Blackbeard role even if it's killing him benefits Izzy. (And we're told that explicitly, while there's never really any suggestion that the reason Auntie's overinvested in Zheng's career is because of the ways she personally benefits from it.) If Auntie's here showing us what an overly strict and demanding but ultimately loving surrogate parent acts like, then I can't help seeing Izzy in contrast as the kind of nightmare narcissist stage mom whose "love" is based on viewing their kid entirely as an extension of themself, and who didn't give a shit about their kid's OBVIOUS SUICIDAL DEPRESSION until it started causing problems for them. And that honestly makes him WAY harder to forgive than back when I saw him as just a scheming henchman with a weird crush on his boss.

So basically at the end of season two I always feel like the show is asking me "If you can forgive Auntie for the ways she was too hard on Zheng, why can't you forgive Izzy for what he did to Ed?" and I am left replying "Well, you kind of just explained it, actually? I was kind of ready to forgive him until you talked me out of it?"

#436.

[tabithatwo]

I miss your opinions on twitter! and i wanted to ask you something (no idea if you’ll ever see this 😭) but do you think that the condescending way jackie acted towards shauna was because shauna is an unreliable narrator and that didn’t happen at all? bc i genuinely think that shauna’s bitterness towards jackie was justified (until the moment she had sex with jeff), i always think about that post of yours saying that the audience sees jackie like shauna did helpless little lamb or heinous bitch…

So honestly I have watched s1 an ungodly amount of times and studied every jackieshauna scene and I don’t think that jackie did anything that isn’t the most boring basic unavoidable occasional snark within a best friendship. She’s not perfect by any means, people really simplify her character both positively and negatively, and I actually think people diminish how fucked up she could’ve become out there. But the thing that I think happens is people taking what shauna says during their fight at face value instead of really digging in to what’s toxic between them.

For example, Shauna says “You're so obsessed with yourself, I'm surprised you're aware other people even exist.” It makes sense that shauna would say that. She thinks that’s true. But if you take it at face value and think “ah yes jackie is self absorbed and ignores shauna” you’re ignoring the rest of the show.

Firstly, that’s projection. Shauna even writes in her journal in s2 “I used to think jackie MADE me feel this way, but…” SHAUNA is obsessed with jackie. Shauna can’t think about anything without jackie entering her thoughts and influencing her. She thinks that is something that jackie is DOING to her, when it’s really just the nature of their relationship. They built this codependent entanglement together, brick by brick baby!!

And secondly, we KNOW jackie isn’t obsessed with herself over shauna. She is CONSTANTLY thinking about shauna. She gives shauna her last bite of food, she pulls her off of the burning plane, etc etc. Jackie’s biggest creation of tension in their relationship is actually that she cannot stop clinging to shauna. Shauna is quite literally her will to live, once jackie feels she’s lost Shauna’s love she gives up on life entirely. Almost all of their little spats actually relate to jackie suffocating shauna with how MUCH she cares. But Shauna can’t see that, it’s hard to see when you’re in it and when you have your own equally codependent behavior going on.

This took a round about route, but basically I wouldn’t call it unreliable narration necessarily. I think SHAUNA is an unreliable narrator in her own mind, twisting things in amazing ways with not just jackie but everyone lol. But no, I don’t think the show is giving us unreliable narration in the sense that what we see on screen between them didn’t happen that way.

I think a lot of viewers have surface level analysis of the show that makes THEM view or remember things in a way that doesn’t really align with the story. Which is fine, that’s a thing, not everyone is studying the show, memory doesn’t serve us particularly well with things far more important than scenes from a television show lol. But when people do analysis in fandom that feels based on a surface level read of a watch that was perhaps a long time ago, it does lead to conclusions that a lot of people who have really dug in will roll their eyes at I think.

As far as whether it is justified goes, I don’t really have many opinions on justification of feelings or actions, it’s just not an area of interest for me. You could give me any event from this show and I could probably argue for and against it being justified, I just don’t care much about that aspect personally!

[what-have-i-unleashed]

so.... the murder player trio from this post a while ago.... i want to write something about them so here it goes...

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:11 PM]: OMG GUYSSSSSS!! 🖤🖤🖤 70d4y k1ll_sans 74lk3d 70 m3 ⁉️⁉️ m3 ‼️‼️ h3 n071c3d m3 😮😮😮 my 50n 15 641n1n6 53n713nc3 17'5 50 c00l 1 f33l l1k3 1 c4n d13 h4ppy n0w 💥💥

SugarWoe

[6:17 PM]: oh my god. mimi, PLEASE. i'm too old for this.

DASH1002

[6:20 PM]: what the fuck am i reading

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:21 PM]: h3h3 😁😁😁 1'm ju57 7ry1n6 0u7 4 n3w 7yp1n6 57yl3. d035n'7 17 l00k c00l?? 🥰🥰

SugarWoe

[6:23 PM]: mimi. i'm begging you. as a friend and your elder. stop this please.

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:24 PM]: y0u ju57 w4n7 70 k1ll my 51lly 5mh 😒😒😒

DASH1002

[6:24 PM]: mimi i cannot tell what you're saying i'm using text-to-speech to listen to you guys right now what the hell is h three h three beaming face with smiling eyes emoji

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:25 PM]: fine!! no more cool leet speak... for now anyway. only because dash is too busy to look at our chat right now smh 😒😒😒

SugarWoe

[6:25 PM]: thank you mimi. anyway, what were you saying?

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:26 PM]: oh right!!

[6:28 PM]: okay soooo. y’all HAVE to hear about what happened in my game today. it was WILD. i was just doing a casual run with k1ll_sans. vibing, wrecking NPCs, blah blah blah you know the drill. and out of nowhere, he turned to look at me and started to talk to me aaaaaaa 👀💥⁉️⁉️

[6: 29 PM]: it was so cool you HAD to be there!! i didn't program that in! he did it on his own! k1ll_sans is a creepypasta character confirmed yayyyy!!! 💗💖❤️‍🔥

DASH1002

[6:38 PM]: are you sure your game just didn't glitch because it sounds like one to me

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:46 PM]: dash, you’re so boring 😤😤😤 this isn’t just a bug!! he’s LEARNING. like, evolving past what i coded him to do. something big gonna happen 🖤🖤🖤

SugarWoe

[6:51 PM]: you know, mimi? this is the point in a creepypasta story where you definitely should be throwing away that copy of the game. it will haunt you.

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:52 PM]: sugar not you too 💔💔💔 why am i friends with two killjoys 😔😔

SugarWoe

[6:53 PM]: i'm a killjoy for pointing out an obvious horror trope?

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:53 PM]: YOU ARE!!

[6:54 PM]: k1ll_sans is not gonna crawl out of my screen and murder me. he’s like, my little cyber-child! he loves me 🖤

DASH1002

[6:56PM]: famous last words

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[6:56 PM]: and even if he did kill me for all the torture i put him through, i'd still forgive him 😁😁����

[6:56 PM]: DASH 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

[6:57 PM]: you're such a hater 😒😒😒 at least sugar will get me. do you, sugar???

SugarWoe

[7:02 PM]: oh, absolutely. i love the idea of your little gremlin of a creation gaining sentience just to talk to you about nothing at all.

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[7:03 PM]: (i'd ignore that last jab) THANK YOU. finally!! someone with taste!!!!

SugarWoe

[7:05 PM]: but also, if he starts asking you about things like “freedom” or “the nature of humanity,” maybe… unplug your PC for a bit.

DASH1002

[7:06 PM]: yeah before he jumps at you through the screen with his edgelord knife

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[7:09 PM]: he’d never!! 😡😡 😡 he’s my baby!

SugarWoe

[7:13 PM]: i think dash meant that you should be careful about potential malwares. nothing to worry about, i hope.

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[7:15 PM]: awww thanks for the concern, sugar 🖤🖤🖤 this is why you're my favorite non-gaymer friend 🥰🥰

SugarWoe

[7:16 PM]: i love you too mimi!

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[7:16 PM]: love you even more 💖💖💖💖

DASH1002

[7:20 PM]: sorry to interrupt the heartfelt love confessions but i'm gonna stream the game now if you guys wanna see me kick sans' bony ass again

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[7:21 PM]: hope you lose for the 67th time, detestable dash 👎👎👎

SugarWoe

[7:21 PM]: mimi... be nice...

xXx_ki11er_mimi_xXx

[7:22 PM]: ack sorry sweetheart (since apparently we're a thing now according to dash smh)

SugarWoe

[7:23 PM]: oh in that case you should call me sugar then :)

DASH1002

[7:23 PM]: enough flirting i'm playing the game now

SugarWoe

[7:24 PM]: sorry dash! i'm in the stream now!

[the-anon-scp-confessions]

I FUCKING HATE THIS FANDOM SOMETIMES IM SORRY IM SORRY BUT I HATE IT.

The horrible way some of y’all Look at some of the Scps is insane to me because someone put a whole lotta effort in for SOME OF YALL just too be like “oooo mommy balblabla” FUCK UP.

Also are we forgetting there’s no set canon if you see clef on say cool if you see him another cool if you see him as a mix FUCKEN GREAT WHO CARES

“I hate Clefdraki” Cool sweet I don’t care “I think __ file because I think it ruins things” cool great have an opinion idc ITS YOUR CANON

Another thing is how SOME OF YALL TREAT SCP-4231 again whatever you want to be canon in YOUR CANON is fine but it’s not about that because I’ve seen y’all make some INCREDIBLY shitty comments about what clef went through in that because in short “he’s a man that can’t happen to man” which is bullshit btw and I’ve seen so many people say it’s “Mischaracterisation” which yes seeing clef soft is odd and out of character for him NOW but back then he had no reason to be the guy we see in that general canon (since in this one he’s not in fact just the devil here to strike fear into everyone who has the misfortune to meet which I also LOVE because hell yeah dude) in this canon he’s a lot more emotional (example Hawaiian shirts) and goofy and I love this version of clef because it’s clear while he is scary and intimidating at times he’s also just an annoyance and a selfish Jack ass

Also the jokes about “hahah new fans” is fucking annoying guess what I’ve been into this on and off like my whole ass FUCKING LIFE AND I STILL DONT KNOW JACK ALL CAN WE NOT DO THIS YALL??? It’s funny sometimes but it’s starting to just be some of y’all doing the equivalent of “name three albums name ten songs bla bla bla bla” but with the Scp foundation also please please PLEASE STOP GETTING UPSET WHEN THINGS CHANGE??? Oh no the Scp that’s been around for like 13 years is being changed around yeah no shit that’s what’s gonna happen if THAT MANY PEOPLE are making content about it???? So can you all please please please shuuut uppp

Long story short please yall stop basically gate keeping this and acting like your canon is the true one we all get opinions we all get our own way of seeing so and so but we also have to respect others opinions and the time that went into writing the articles and even the fan creation

because shocker to none the wiki is from the community we as the community keep the Scp wiki going no need to try stomp it out because so and so hasn’t read an Scp file you can only get by sacrificing your right kidney and exactly 37.40 percent of your second born sons eye ball at 3:40 to the scarlet king

I’m writing this at like 2:07 am so sorry if this is hard to understand or came out wrong I’m incredibly tired lol uh stay safe take care of yourself and whatever you’re working on right now if anything you got this bro

.

[catghoststories]

Unscripted Kiss - A Sally x Julie One-Shot

Summary: Frank and Eddie like each other. Sally doesn't know this. She also doesn't know that she has a crush of her own.

Words: 1,576

Pairings: Sally Starlet x Julie Joyful, Eddie Dear x Frank Frankly

Characters: Sally Starlet, Julie Joyful, Frank Frankly, Eddie Dear

⭐ AO3 Link Here, and You Can Also Read the Full Story Below! 🌺

~⭐🌺~

~ Unscripted Kiss ~

“Me?  And Frank?  Kiss?”

Sally groaned, throwing her hands up into the air.  “Yes, Julietta!  It’s the romantic climax of the entire play!"

Julie sat on the ground, her pink and white dress fluffing up around her.  “But Frank just ate a cough drop!  I don’t want that to be my first kiss.”

Sally’s eye twitched.  “Julie…”

“I'm not kissing her.”  Frank crossed his arms, looking equally unimpressed.

"Franklin, you must!  It’s in the script!”

"I mustn’t do anything," Frank snapped.  He fiddled with the buttons on his suit jacket like he had all afternoon, before finally yanking it off over his head.  "And for the twentieth time, it's Frank!"

A chuckle from behind Sally snapped her last bit of patience like an old violin string.  “What's so funny, mailman?”

“He has a name, you know.  Do you know any of our names?  I'm beginning to think you don't.”

Sally glared at Frank before turning her ire back onto Eddie, who didn’t notice.  He sat cross-legged on the grass between their houses, Sally's manuscript in one hand, the costume he was sewing in the other.  “Miss Starlet, I was just thinkin’.  Wouldn't it be better if the princess professed her love to the prince before kissin’ him?  Seems a bit outta nowhere otherwise.”  He licked his finger and turned the page.  “Just thought it'd be a bit more romantic-like.”

“Aww.  That'd be cute!” Julie agreed.

"If it delays the inevitable," Frank sighed.  Julie giggled.

“Ugh!”  Sally threw her script onto the ground.  "You peon!  As if you know anything about the theater!”  But she knew for a fact that Eddie did.  Annoyingly, the mailman was the most well-read out of all them—excluding herself, of course.  “You do it, then, if you're such an expert!"

Eddie's grin evaporated.  "Ma'am?"

"You heard me.  You be the princess.”  Sally curled her lips, feeling smug.  “You kiss Frank.”

To her utter satisfaction, Frank looked mortified.  "What!  Why me?"

"Why not?  You’ve been complaining about this scene since I cast you.  Perhaps Edward can make it better for you, hm?"  Sally wielded her rolled-up script.  "Go ahead, mailman.  Show us how it’s done."

"All righty, then."  Eddie stood and dusted himself off.  He approached Frank, stopping a respectful distance away.  He took off his blue mail cap and held it in his hands, as if about to enter his house of worship.  "This okay with you, Mr. Frankly?"

Frank lowered his eyes.  "It's fine."  

He can barely speak! Sally thought with glee.  It wasn’t often that she got a leg up on both the mailman and the neighborhood grinch.

But her attitude changed when Eddie brushed Frank's bangs out of his eyes.

"You had some glitter on ya."  Eddie gave a lopsided smile.

Frank snorted.  "Did I?”

"It was probably from me.  Y'know, from the papier-mâché flowers I was makin' earlier?"

Frank’s sour look dissipated, replaced with a light flush.  “Oh yes.  I think you did a wonderful job.  You always have such nice color choices, Mr. Dear.”

Sally watched this exchange with a frown.  They’re awfully friendly, all of a sudden.  “Edward, if you're going to do this, get on with it.  We don't have all day!"

"Kiss kiss kiss!" Julie cheered, her tiara toppling off her head.

That got Eddie's attention.  “Right!”  Despite Sally’s request, he yet again arranged Frank’s hair, then stepped closer.  “Mr. Frankly—I mean, Mr. Prince—I want you to know that I love you.  Always have, always will.”  He touched Frank’s cheek, then leaned forward, gently placing his mouth over Frank’s.

Sally was sure it would be over in a second.  But Eddie’s free hand found enough time to make its way down to Frank’s slender waist.  She was sure Franklin would push him off, but he didn’t.  Instead, he held onto Eddie's large shoulders.  They didn’t kiss just once, either.  Eddie pulled back and returned two more times, once on the lips and once on the cheek.

Sally got the strong impression that this was not their first time doing this.

"All right, cut!” she said.  “That means stop!”  But the two paid her no mind.  They had entered a scene of their own, in a different time, a different place.

“Was that all right for you?” Eddie said softly, when they were finally done.

Sally didn't hear Frank's answer, because Julie interrupted.  "Wow, that looks fun!  I wanna try!"  She jumped up and straightened out her dress.  "Sally, now you be the prince, and I’ll kiss you!"

That shocked Sally even more than the previous display.  She stumbled over her words like she never had before.  "What?  Why me?" 

Julie looked at her as if she'd grown a second head.  “Well, I can’t kiss Frank, and I can't kiss Eddie now, either, because I bet he also tastes like cough drops.  So you!”

“I can’t!"  Sally crumpled up the script in her hands, her last line of defense.  "It’s not in the play!”

“It’s okay to improvise sometimes,” Eddie said, his hand still wrapped around Frank's waist.  Frank's were still on Eddie’s shoulders, but when he saw Sally watching, he quickly removed them.

“But I'm the director!”

“Isn't the director supposed to know how to do everything?” Eddie suggested helpfully.

"Yeah!" Julie agreed with aggressive cheerfulness.  "Oh please, Sally?  I really, really, really need to practice!”

Sally now entered a scene of her own.  The lights dimmed, the audience went silent.  The other actors left the stage.  A monologue.

Are you being foolish again, Starlet? an old voice whispered.  Are you cracking under pressure?  Are you thinking with your heart instead of your head?  That was always your problem, wasn't it, Sallinda?

Sally placed a hand on her stomach and exhaled.  She then ran a finger along each of her sixteen star points, making sure they were all on straight.  "Come here, Julietta."

“Yay!”  Julie gathered up her oversized dress and ran towards her.  Sally couldn’t help but be flattered by her enthusiasm.

Julie stopped in front of her and patted down her hair.  To Sally’s surprise, she seemed fidgety, nervous.  She then remembered that this would be Julie's first kiss.  Well, she'd have to make it a good one.

Sally flitted aside Julie's blonde locks before realizing it.  “It was all over your face.  I didn’t want it getting in the way!”  But she felt embarrassed as soon as she said it.

Julie laughed, a perfect sound, as if ripped straight from a recording.  “Thanks!”

"Hurry up.  We don’t have all day," Frank heckled.  Sally scowled at him.  She noticed Eddie’s hand still hadn't left his side, despite the return of his grumpy demeanor.

Sally shook out her shoulders.  "Could you please close your eyes, Julietta?"  She didn’t want Julie to see how nervous she was, either.

"Okie dokey smokey!"  Julie did so.  Now she looked calm, at peace, like Sleeping Beauty.  Sally took her in, her green eyelids, her button nose, her wide mouth that said so many funny things.  She knew she’d probably never be this close to her again.

“Don’t forget your confession,” Eddie said.  Sally’s heart stopped before she realized what he meant.  Oh.  The play.

“I…really like you, Julietta.  Princess.”  She couldn’t bring herself to say love as easily as the mailman had.  

Sally waited for Julie to move first, per the script, but she didn’t.  So Sally closed her eyes and kissed her instead.  They didn’t open their mouths, but that was somehow better, since Sally could draw closer, hide in Julie’s long bangs.  She waited as long as she could, taking solace in her beauty, her heavenly warmth.

When she pulled back, Julie's cheeks were rosy.  She looked at Sally like she was a star, not just in name only.

“Are you all right?”  Sally grew worried at her uncharacteristic silence.

Julie fluttered her delicate lashes.  “Yes!  Thank you, Sally!  That was really nice!”

Sally smiled, but of course Eddie shattered the moment with his loud voice.  “Say, that was pretty good!  Although Julie's the one who's supposed to make the confession.  An’ she’s supposed to kiss you first.  But I liked your version, too!”

Sally turned to sass him but was caught in Frank’s fierce gaze.  He didn't say a word, but he didn’t have to.

Sally stared back, hoping to match his intimidation.  Do you know what I am, Frankly?  Just like I know you?

Frank watched her a moment longer.  Then he plastered on a fake smile and chirped, "Was that fun for you, Sally?"

Sally gritted her teeth at his annoying falsetto.  "No!  It was all wrong!  All of you, start over again, from the top!"  She went to snatch her script from the ground but paused, staring at the words on the page.  She thought about Julietta’s hair brushing her cheek, a golden curtain, behind the stage, where she could finally feel like herself.  But she shook her head and smoothed out the pages.  “Don’t just stand there!  Act one, scene one!”

Julie startled to attention, but she still hugged Sally before hurrying back into place.  Frank gently removed Eddie's hand from his side and accepted his suit jacket with a sigh.

They returned to their roles, Frank the prince, Julie the princess, Eddie the stagehand, Sally the director.  But as the play went on, Sally couldn’t focus.  All she could think about was how she wished she had cast herself as the prince instead.

~⭐🌺~

Thanks for reading! Stay warm out there!

[kultklassickiller]

Prada You Chapter 13

Summary:

In the summer of 1998, sparks fly between Nyeya and Jey.

Nyeya is an 18-year-old around the way girl. Jey is older, paid, and fine. He is also the leader of the infamous Prada Bois alongside his twin brother Jimmy.  The two have chemistry. However, Nyeya has plans outside of her attraction. With a birthday around the corner and dreams of living a good life, Nyeya sets her sights on enjoying the perks of Jey's money and hood celebrity.

But baby girl has no clue what it takes to really be down. Nyeya is about to learn some hard life lessons at the expense of her 'Prada' priced dreams.

Pairing: Jey Uso x Nyeya (Nye) Green (OC)

Author’s Note: This story is happening in an alternative universe. It features the current and original Bloodline members along with other WWE stars. So, the characters are themselves, but some things are switched around for the stories sake. This was originally written with all original characters, but I think it could work better this way. Hope you guys enjoy it and I actually finish it...

Warning: Please be advised that this chapter contains harsh/foul language, mentions of murder, and some toxic language.

Disclaimer: This work of art is fictional in nature including the original characters created by me. I do not own any of the existing characters or lyrics from songs referenced in this story (if any). All rights belong to their respective owners with the exception of my original characters. This work is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to cause harm.

Want to read from the beginning? Click Here

If you wanna join the taglist for this story, just let me know! Taglist: @theusotwinzcom @nbanenefrmdao

Chapter 13: Crumble

The hum of the fan in the corner of my room couldn’t drown out the faint voices floating up from the open window. I was folding laundry, trying to distract myself, when I caught pieces of the conversation. It was the neighbors from downstairs, their familiar cadence unmistakable. I paused, laundry forgotten, as their words sharpened into focus.

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t about no money,” one of them said, her voice hushed but firm.

“Then what was it about? “Cause Melo wasn’t no trouble for them. That boy was tryna change his life around for his mama sake,” the other asked.

“Disrespect. That’s all it takes with those Prada Bois. You cross the wrong one, and it’s over. Carmelo must’ve pissed one of them off real bad. Probably Jimmy, you know he got some screws loose.”

I crept closer to the window, the knot in my stomach tightening with every word. Disrespect? That didn’t make sense. Carmelo wasn’t about that; he wasn’t the type to poke a bear unless he had a reason. But the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt.

“So crazy,” the second voice murmured. “Killing someone over something so petty. But that’s the Prada Bois for you. I wish the laws would do something about them, but I know ain’t nothing gone change until a war happen and it start affecting the right people.”

Their conversation faded, but the unease clung to me like a second skin. I couldn’t stop replaying it in my head, trying to fit the pieces together. If Carmelo had died over something as petty as disrespect, what did that say about Jey?

----

The next morning, I was in the kitchen making breakfast when Michael wandered in, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“You need to learn how to cook, dude. I can’t keep doing this,” I said, flipping a pancake onto his plate.

He mumbled something that sounded like an insult before sliding into a chair. As I turned back to the stove, he spoke up.

“Oh, damn. I almost forgot. That dude you cheating on Jey with gave me 50 dollas to give you something. Let me go it.”

My mouth dropped open, “I know you ain’t accusing nobody of shit. And how you even know about what me and Jey got going?” My hands were on my hips as he ignored me to head back to his room.

He entered the kitchen a minute later with a folded-up piece of paper in his palm. I walked over to grab it out his hands, but he pulled his hand behind his back. “I should charge yo’ ass but since you made breakfast I won't.”

I rolled my eyes, snatching it out of his hand. “Where’d you get this?” I asked, my voice tight.

“Damian. He rolled up on me yesterday while I was hoopin’,” Michael said with a shrug. “Pulled out a fifty for me to give it to you and not say shit about it. But if y’all gon’ keep sneaking behind Jey back I’ma need more money.”

“Michael, shut up. Ain’t nothing going on with me and him. And tell me how you know I’m in a relationship with Jey?”

He smirked, “Girl, who you think I am? I know shit and all y’all business out here anyway. I told you to leave his crazy ass alone but you gon’ learn.”

My face heated. I couldn’t believe Jey had me out here like this. And Michael was another loose end I wasn’t expecting. I turned my attention back to what was in my hands and unfolded the note, my eyes scanning the short, sharp message:

Meet me Downtown tomorrow night at 10. At parking garage by the train station.

My stomach twisted. Damian wasn’t the type to reach out. He went through the trouble of getting Kiyah number and calling her to paying Michael to give me a note. Whatever he wanted to say, it had to be important. My curiosity peaked.

“When you gon’ tell mama you messing with that old ass man,” Michael asked, his voice curious but laced with something else. I didn’t like it.

“When I’m good and ready to,” I lied, tucking the note into my pocket. “Just keep your mouth shut and we good.”

Michael gave me a look, “You ain’t got to worry about me telling her but the way yo’ business in these streets like pavement somebody else will.”

I walked back to the stove, though my appetite had vanished. He was right and I hated when his ass was right.

----

The sun was just beginning to set when I left the beauty supply store later that day, a small bag of items swinging at my side. The air was warm and heavy, the streets quieter than usual. I had just turned the corner when I heard the low rumble of an engine. I looked up to see Jey’s car idling at the curb.

“Nye,” he called, leaning out the window. “Get in.”

I hesitated, clutching my bag tighter. “I’m good. I’ll walk. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

I continued walking, trying to ignore him. I wasn’t about to argue with this man again in public. What Michael had said this morning stuck with me. I had to move smarter, control my emotions.

But Jey wasn’t taking no for an answer. He pulled up alongside of me, going the same pace as I was.

My annoyance with his antics was at an all-time high. I could feel tears pooling in the corner of my eyes. Not from sadness, just anger. We got a block down the road before my emotions got the best of me.

“What do you not understand? I don’t want to talk to you. I ain’t got shit to say and neither do you. I’m not getting in that car with yo’ looney ass. You done acted a fucking fool with me in public one too many times, Jey. Like go do that nut shit elsewhere.” I lashed, chest heaving.

Jey calmly put the car in park and hopped out. I stood there, eyeing him and street up ahead. I was two blocks from home. I could run but I couldn’t outrun him in no car. He must’ve sensed I was thinking about running. And slid an uncovered tatted arm around neck, holding me hostage.

I looked up meeting his eyes. “Let me go, Jey. I can walk home.”

His eyes darkened. “Nyeya, I ain’t asking no mo’. Get in the fucking car or I will help you get in the fucking car.” His arm had tightened around my neck as I struggled to get away.

We were so close I could feel his hot breath against my ear. “Nyeya, I will show my ass. You said you didn’t want that right. Cool. Get in the car. Now.”

There was no mistaking the edge in his voice. I knew better to push further so I stopped struggling. I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat. He shut the door behind me and jogged to the driver’s side, getting in. We pulled away, leaving the scene.

“Why you been dodging me?” he demanded, his grip on the steering wheel tight.

“I’ve been busy,” I said, staring out the window.

He scoffed. “Busy doing what? Thinking about how much I’ve done for you and how little I get back? Thinking about putting yo’ hands on me? Oh I see, you busy tryna leave me, huh. You done lost yo’ damn mind girl.”

That hit a nerve. I turned to him, my voice sharp. “You think throwing money around makes up for everything else? It doesn’t, Jey. Money don’t excuse your behavior. You got me out here looking crazy. I don’t how you get down with them other hoes, but I told you how this was gon’ go. You act stupid, I’ll act dumb.”

He slammed a hand against the steering wheel, the sound making me jump. “You don’t appreciate shit, do you? You think you can just take and bounce? Nah, Nyeya. I told you upfront what this was, and you sat your little ass right there making promises to be here. And you think I wasn’t gone hold you to it. Ain’t no leavin’.”

“I didn’t ask for this!” I snapped back. “Nothing about you said you was gon’ have me out here looking a fool. You making it hard to stay with your bullshit. Get it the fuck together and maybe I can keep my promise. I ain’t sign up for this shit if this is what it is. You got it. Fuck them promises.”

The silence was deafening. Jey gripped the steering wheel tight, his knuckles pale. His eyes never left the road.

“You think you can just walk away? Like this shit don’t matter?” His voice was cold, sharp.

I stared out the window, refusing to engage.

“You ain’t going nowhere, Nye. It’s me and you, baby.”

When he finally pulled up to my building, he leaned close, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’m giving you 48 hours to get ya mind right. Answer the phone when I call. I ain’t asking, Nyeya. I’m telling you.”

I got out, slamming the door behind me. I didn’t look back.

---

The following night, Downtown was alive with energy. The city lights flickered, casting shadows that seemed to chase me as I stood by the parking garage. Damian’s car slid into view, headlights cutting through the dark. Without a word, he leaned over and popped the passenger door open. I slid in, and he pulled off without hesitation.

The hum of the engine filled the silence between us. Finally, Damian spoke.

“You good? After what went down on the Fourth?”

I hesitated. “I’m fine.”

Damian scoffed quietly. “Nah, you ain’t. But that’s none of my business. Listen, Nyeya, you need to leave Jey alone. For good.”

I crossed my arms, leaning back against the seat. “We just on the outs right now. Jey’s just been done wrong too many times. He’s guarded, but it’ll work itself out.”

Damian’s laugh was hollow. “It won’t. Jey doesn’t change. He just makes people regret crossing him.”

I exhaled slowly, the weight of his words pressing down on me. I stared ahead, unsure if I even wanted to ask, but the question clawed its way out.

“Did the Prada Bois kill Carmelo?”

Damian’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. His silence stretched thin.

“Damian. Tell me the truth.”

His jaw clenched before he finally spoke. “Yeah. We did.”

The air left my lungs. “Why?”

“Because Carmelo crossed a line,” Damian said flatly. “Jey doesn’t tolerate disrespect. It doesn’t matter how small it is. If he feels threatened, it’s over. Things get handled.”

I swallowed hard. “Are you saying Jey put that hit out?”

Damian stared ahead, unblinking. “I didn’t say that. But you know Jey. Nothing happens without his say-so.”

“No... Jey wouldn’t do that. Not to Melo. Perhaps, Jimmy did.”

Damian let out a frustrated sigh. “You really think he wouldn’t? Open your eyes, Nye. This is who he is. This is who you’ve attached yourself to.”

The city lights blurred past us, but everything felt distant, unreal. Memories of Jey’s cold stares, his possessiveness, his unpredictable rage swirled in my mind. The pieces were there, fitting together far too well.

But I couldn’t let myself believe it.

“You need to get out while you still can,” Damian muttered. “Before you end up in too deep. Unable to walk away.”

I turned to the window, my throat tight. The truth was suffocating, but denial felt safer.

And that terrified me even more.

[im-salad-man]

I LOVE MALEVOLENT SM BUT WHY ARE ALL THE WOMEN DEAD OR PLOT PROPS (spoilers up to ep 49 under cut)

I know Harlan Guthrie voices everybody, but like. Where are the women. I know it’s not fair to expect him to put his voice through a filter and heavily edit hours of footage but like, he doesn’t have to do that for us. He can voice a woman who just has his voice, as he’s occasionally done. Idk what he’s said about this, I guess I should do my research to see what his reasoning is. It doesn’t make me dislike malevolent, it just leaves me with some longing for what could have been.

The thing is, there ARE women in the story, but the way I see it, they are mostly either monster or plot device characters. (“Monster” meaning nonhuman, not evil characters). They often are either nonhuman or have very little agency. And the truth is, there’s nothing wrong with a character like that inherently.

Yorick didn’t have agency for a while, and he’s nonhuman, and he’s a very charming addition to the story. But we also have male characters like Oscar and Noel, and the friar (briefly), Daniel, and of course John and Arthur. Many aspects of their personality are just to build realism and humanity, and not solely to move the plot forward, and they have agency, their choices matter. This even applies to Larson, the Butcher, Percival, minor characters and antagonists. The amount of female characters which exist purely to die or be dead just kind of annoys me. Anna stanczyk is not really a character yet (though she may become more significant), and her potential death is held over Arthur’s head as a consequence for his actions. Emily MacFarland is dead before the story starts, and she is a plot device with no written personality that I picked up on (which, again, would be fine if it weren’t so common). Lily (the nurse) exists only as a symbol to bring John into his humanity, which is important, but Lily is not a “real” character. Amanda Cummings is leverage for Arthur’s guilt, being indirectly responsible for her death, and she has no personality I remember hearing about, and again, she is dead before we meet her, and that is the most important thing about her. Same for Kellin’s sister. The old woman who stole the baby, the cultist ghost (?) woman that Arthur killed, the witch, Marie’s sister (host of Mr scratch), Mr scratch herself/alexander the owl, the mother of darkness, Alia, are all nonhuman/monster. These are all cool characters, but they’re not women in the way that humans are women. It just leaves me emptyyy like where are they. They can sound a little different, it’s ok, like you can just make a female character. (Disclaimer, I know there are male characters who died pre-canon, and male plot devices. This is just to say, most of the female characters are pre-canon dead, and most of the pre-canon dead characters are female.)

This leaves Faroe, Bella, and Marie. Marie has depth and charm and exists as her own real person. She is powerless but not for lack of effort or free will. She tells Arthur he’s a good person, and her words carry weight. She had to accept Arthur’s help before she could be helped. I love her I love her so much. Bella being revealed to not love Arthur was important in her personality and her agency as well. Framing her not purely as a victim and source of guilt for Arthur, but as someone trying to improve her circumstances when society is not built for her to be independent, this makes her a real character, even if she’s dead before the story starts. And FAROE. Faroe was so close to being purely a plot device, and then our boy decided to pull maybe my favorite writing choice of the entire series: making it canon, not just faith/hypothetical, that Faroe believes with conviction that her father deserves to live, even though he is responsible for her death. This, especially contrasted with the other boy who chose to slaughter the entire village that killed the stranger who tried to save him from drowning, gives free will and agency not only to a female character, but to a child. It makes a clear statement that children, while young, are people in the same way anyone else is. They have the capacity for immense acts of forgiveness and brutality, which makes Faroe’s CHOICE to forgive significant. While I do want more live female characters, I think it’d obviously be a poor writing choice to bring Faroe back, and I don’t expect this to happen. I just want more live, vibrant female characters. We know that Guthrie can do it, because he has, I just want MORE of it, and I wish they could be ALIVE to interact with Arthur. If anyone has read this far and I’ve made a misstep lmk, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[li-an-nie]

The origin of Isagi’s talent and a message for us (ft. Naruhaya & Kaiser)

I've been thinking about this for quite a long while... and today I finally want to share with you my theory – or rather explanation – for Isagi Yoichi's character and where his talent for adaptability comes from, as well as our own takeaways we can draw from Kaneshiro's characters.

This is a lot, but I think it shows how powerful the story of Blue Lock really can be!

Transformation

People often like to joke about Slursagi - how this ordinary guy with the seemingly most ordinariest of parents has so far spit out some of the wildest insults on the field haha. Well, sadly I don’t have an explanation for all of that, but I do have one for his incredibly fast and exponential progress in Blue Lock. I mean, we all know by now, as Naruhaya has said before and as was kinda picked up in the most recent chapters – it's his innate aptitude for adaptability, learning and change. Destroying yourself and then rebuilding your best version. Abandoning everything else and thinking of yourself as just a means to an end. While everyone else in Blue Lock had good enough soccer skills to manage just fine on their own so far, this is the method Isagi had to use in order to keep up with all the other players.

(see Ch. 53)

The question is just, where did this amazing talent come from? Is this a learned skill or a mutation, as Ego talked about? Is it nurture or nature?

If we look at it, the other guys in Blue Lock have all these sad backstories, traumas and toxic family relationships and whatnot. Yet Isagi has come so far, despite his ordinary background. Or rather... because of it. Or rather... only someone with a background like him could actually pull this off..! Why? Because Isagi has something that many of us don’t – unconditional love and support.

Again, this is just my own interpretation, but think about the term ‘destroying yourself’ first – what the hell does that even mean (if we ignore the edginess in that statement)?

(This is going to get super abstract, and even I don’t 100% know what I’m talking about, but hear me out first.)

It can mean so much – destroying your personality, your preconceptions of the world or a field, your prejudices, your obsessions, your pride, your fears, your regrets, basically anything that is capable of holding you back. Most people can’t simply do that. Naruhaya couldn’t. We all have inhibitions about certain things, no matter how hard we try, it often feels impossible to let go of certain thoughts and emotions. We're tethered to the past, afraid of losing our ‘self’ we’ve built in the process. There’s always a fear – if we fail, if we slip up, we might genuinely end up with nothing but our own ruin and failures, and that’s why we can never really go 100% of the way.

But Isagi can.

(see Ch. 55)

Origin

Isagi grew up in an ordinary household. But I'd say his family, his parents are actually far from ordinary.

We see it in the spin-off novel first, where Isagi’s incredible spatial awareness was apparent from a young age, making him very timid and much like a scaredy-cat in the beginning. But instead of scolding or condemning him, his parents always tried to understand and support him. And the same applied when Isagi first expressed his desire for a soccer ball.

(see BL Spin-Off - Isagi Yoichi Ch.2)

It doesn't matter if he's a crybaby, as long as he grows up healthy. For the first time, their timid, only son showed them what he wanted to do with his own will. That alone was enough to satisfy them completely.

With that out the way, this scene you probably remember from the manga is more than enough to illustrate everything (Ch. 152).

"You’re still our son, whether you’re special or average. What makes me happy is that you’re doing what you want, and giving your best at it."

"Whether you win or lose, no matter what… we’ll always be there for you, Yocchan."

"So live your life as you want."

Jesus Christ. If that’s not the most loving and supportive parents in the world, then what is?

Isagi’s parents have simply no expectations of him. They love and support him so unconditionally. They encourage and adore him, and they will always think of him their precious son, no matter if he wins or loses, if he chooses to live an average person’s life or risk everything to become the best striker in the world. Isagi knows this, and he grew up like this, he grew up with a certainty that no matter what you will still be loved. That’s why he can sacrifice everything of himself – because ultimately, under that everything is something that will never leave, and this certainty is what enables him to push so far in the first place. He developed a mindset that could push itself to its limits, and it directly impacted not only his life decisions but his evolution on the soccer field as well.

(see Ch. 55)

Naruhaya, on the other hand, had the same talent for adaptability, but he wasn't able to go as far as Isagi. Because unlike Isagi, there were things he had to protect, the stakes were too high – his sisters, and their precarious financial situation. Even though a dire situation like this should enable him to push himself even further, that stake is also exactly what held him back in the end. In his case, it matters so much whether he wins or loses. When it starts to matter, you ultimately become afraid of what will happen if you do lose, and for him that meant so much more than just the end of his dreams. Isn’t it natural to feel more under stress when the stakes are higher?

Opposites

So because of this foundation that Isagi has, he is different than the rest. This would kind of speak against the assumption I had at the beginning of Blue Lock, that his ordinariness is meant to represent all of us. With basically the message that anyone can evolve and transform themselves for the better, just like Isagi. But to be honest that was already thrown out of the window through the spin-off, where you see that Isagi was already gifted as a child. And I’m not even sure if this was supposed to be Kaneshiro’s intended takeaway to begin with, but there’s another way this message can fit together. The missing piece lies in Kaiser.

Because yeah, we all saw what Isagi realized in Ch. 282 was basically following the same thing Kaiser did 20 chapters before (discard everything but your original ego).

If we take into account what we know Isagi, it becomes all the more heartbreaking and ironic when we actually see Kaiser do the same type of evolution in Ch. 262 for the first time – I quote, “past achievements, pride, everything he ever won”, literally the joy he felt about becoming human, he was willing to destroy and throw it all away, he became zero, despite knowing that if he fails that’s all there would be left – zero.

(see Ch. 262)

He’s always had zero, and the soccer ball is the first thing he ever truly ‘gains’. After his career takes off, he slowly acquired more and more, fame, money, achievements, you name it. This would be the first time he possesses so much, but he doesn’t know the pain of losing something yet, because he never had anything before to begin with. Kaiser built himself a high mountain out of things he never had, but then was willing to risk the pain of losing everything and roll back down into that pit of nothing again, all for the sake of his goal. If that's not strength, then what is?

And it’s also a direct contrast to Isagi.

Isagi and Kaiser are opposites, they’re extremes coming from completely opposite worlds and family backgrounds. And yet they are also exactly the same, because they had the same strengths and resolves and were able to undergo the same kind of evolution. One has all the love and one has none of it, one never questioned being human and one never believed to be one, yet they both were able to discard everything of themselves and rebuild a better version – all for the sake of their goals.

Takeaway

So coming back to the message, how does that apply to us, the average person? Isagi and Kaiser represent a spectrum, and if you ever feel stuck somewhere in life, then remember – you are somewhere in between those two worlds. Doesn't that mean that you're capable of the same kind of change too? I also don’t think it matters whether you’re a genius or talented learner, because in real life there’s no clear line between those things anyway. Every one of us excels at something and every one of us has to learn and adapt in other areas. But what Blue Lock ultimately shows, is that no matter what background, age or ambition, in the end, the thing that can push us forward the most is our own dreams and ego. We are all capable of change.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk!

[kybercrystals94]

Of Scene Breaks & Plot Twists (Pt. 2)

Read here on Ao3!

<<Previous Part | Next Part >>

Rated: G | Word Count: 2035 | Summary: The plot has the audacity to thicken...

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who had wonderful ideas for the furthering of this story...I have allowed those seeds of inspiration to take root, and now we have a multi-chapter fic taking place!

“This is ridiculous,” Hunter says. “Do something!” 

I frown and tsk, folding my arms over my chest. “You didn’t want my help, remember? I’ve been in the way.”

“This is your fault!” 

“What? I am creating a moment of conflict for the heroes to overcome and grow through. It’s good storytelling.” 

“No, you did this to make a point,” Echo contradicts.

I gasp, scandalized by the blatant accusation. “Do you honestly think I would compromise the mission for something so petty as that?” 

Four out of five of them make various noises of affirmation, which is fair, because they are right. Doesn’t mean I have to admit it. 

Wrecker, the only one who didn’t say anything, speaks up, “Uhm, guys? Does it look like our ship is melting?” 

All eyes return to the foul creature gumming hungrily at the Marauder. It looks like there might be some meltage. Possibly. Perhaps there will be some damage after all. 

Oops.   

“My ship!” Tech wails, taking a stumbling step forward.

“Our ship,” Crosshair corrects him in a muttered breath. 

I’m slack jawed. Now this is a plot twist…even for me. 

“Stop this,” Tech demands, turning sharply to face me. “Make this stop right now.” 

“That wouldn’t make sense for the narrative to just make a creature disappear into thin air,” I explain, “that’s not how writing works.” 

“Then scene break,” Hunter orders, “Or plot twist. Or whatever it is you do with your writer magic.” 

I chew on the inside of my cheek nervously. I suppose there is one thing I could do, even though it would mean…ugh. It’s my own fault. 

“Fine,” I say, reluctantly, “Here’s a plot hole for you. It should react to your blasters now…” 

The boys don’t waste any time testing the theory. On the bright side, the creature does react to the blaster bolts. Downside is it reacts violently and rushes straight at us instead with horrific speed.

We scatter like roaches, and I find myself stumbling over alien terrain completely and utterly defenseless. I don’t have armor, a blaster, or even common sense to spare. I hear the boys behind me, voices tinny through their helmets’ modulators. However, not a single syllable they call out solidifies into an identifiable word to my panicked ears, so I continue my headlong sprint to the boulder I’ve set my eyes on. 

I have to think. I need just a moment, undistracted, to come up with a solution. However, my writer’s block appears as immovable as the jutting stone I skitter behind on frantic, wobbly legs. Blood roars in my ears, pounding in time with my thrashing heartbeat. I press myself against my stronghold, attempting to mold my spine to the natural wall. This is terrifying, being included in the chaos. I almost feel awful for all of the vague, awful missions and injuries I’ve put the characters through. 

Almost. 

The boys will think of something, they always do. 

I realize, suddenly, that I could jump ahead, insert a scene break and find myself tucked inside the Marauder hurtling through hyperspace. Sure, the Batch will have something to say about it. However, it is better than – 

“Look out!” 

Darkness claps over my vision suddenly and I know nothing more.

**

“Can we name them something besides writer person?” Wrecker asks, watching from his perch in the gunner’s mount as Tech and Echo examine the individual laid out on the fold down cot in the main hold. 

Crosshair huffs from his place at the nav computer. “They aren’t a pet, Wrecker.” 

“What about Scribbles?” Wrecker suggests, undeterred. “That’s kinda cute, isn’t it?” 

“That thing is anything but cute. They’re a menace.” Crosshair gnaws on his toothpick thoughtfully. “We should call them Hazard.” 

“Naw, I still like Scribbles. Let’s vote!” Wrecker jumps down, boots crashing to the durasteel floor. “Echo, Tech, which do you like better?” 

“I have no wish to participate in such an election,” Tech says dismissively, pouring over the results of the med scanner on his data pad. 

Echo says, distractedly, “Eh, I like Scribbles, I guess.” 

“Ha!” Wrecker crows, “Two against one! We win.” 

“Hunter hasn’t voted,” Crosshair refutes cooly. “Then it’ll be two against two, which will cancel out naming the writer person at all.” 

“Hunter!” Wrecker calls out, and before any three of the other members can scold him for being too loud, Wrecker is ambling into the cockpit to seek out their sergeant. 

“Please tell me they aren’t going to make it,” Crosshair says with a wry grin to no one in particular. 

“As if we’d be so fortunate,” Tech shoots back without missing a beat. 

The dark humor earns a sharp look from Echo, but Crosshair’s enhanced eyesight doesn’t miss the microexpression of amusement that twitches at the edges of Echo’s disdain. “They have a concussion,” Echo says, “but they’ll be fine.” 

Wrecker comes bounding back from the cockpit, grinning wildly. “Hunter said we can call ‘em Skribbles.” 

Crosshair hums doubtfully, fully aware that Wrecker did not give Hunter both options available to him; however, it isn’t worth the argument it will cause if he makes the accusation. 

“What are we going to do with them?” Echo asks. “Do they just disappear after a time? Or…” 

“How would I know?” Tech asks irritably. “I am more concerned with the replacement panels I will have to get and install for the ship.” 

“At least she’s still flyable and we’re not stuck on that maker forsaken planet.” 

Tech rolls his eyes. “That is not the point. The point is that this writer -” 

“Scribbles,” Wrecker reminds him. 

Tech regards the giant coolly for a moment before continuing, “- has made our lives difficult for no other reason than to relay entirely fictional accounts to others in their universe. It is criminal.”  

“I still wanna read them,” Wrecker says, “Maybe we’ll get some ideas.” 

Echo scoffs. “Name one idea they’ve had so far that we’d ever want to use again.” 

“We come up with dumb ideas too, sometimes,” Wrecker says defensively. “They said something about writer’s block. Maybe they’re sick with it.”

“I believe that is a reference to creative obstruction,” Tech says. “It is not a real ailment.”

Wrecker shrugs. “But maybe we could still help ‘em.”

“Absolutely not,” Crosshair interjects. “We aren’t helping them with anything. The faster we get rid of them, the faster we get back to our normal lives.” 

“They did say they’d leave once we finished this mission. We can give them our mission report with all the details, and that’ll be good enough,” Echo says. 

Hunter steps into the hold just then. “We’re about four standard hours out from the rendezvous,” he says. “Any chance we’ll be rid of Scribs before then?” 

“Their name is Scribbles!” Wrecker protests. 

Hunter rolls his eyes. “I don’t care what their name is. How long until they’re gone.”

“I do not believe we have any control over when they leave currently,” Tech says. 

Crosshair grumbles, “Only because no one will agree to the airlock idea.”

He is ignored…again.

“Well, ask them when they wake up,” Hunter says. “And be careful not to irritate them. We’ve had enough plot twists for one day. I’m going to try and get caught up on some reports…I trust you can handle everything back here?”

Tech sniffs indignantly. “We’ve been handling it.” 

“Just make sure they don’t do anything stupid before we finish the mission,” Hunter reiterates. 

“Yes, sir,” Echo says before a squabble can break out. Which is the last they need. 

Like Hunter said. They’ve had enough plot twists for the day.

**

Returning to consciousness is strange. It isn’t quite like waking up. It’s confusing, disorienting. My head is throbbing like it’s got a heartbeat of its own, a rhythmic ache that seems intent on splitting my skull open. I groan. 

“Ah, it appears they are waking up.” Tech.

“‘Bout time, Scribbles! We’ve been worried about ya!” Wrecker.

“Speak for yourself.” Ugh…Crosshair.

“Both of you, shut up. You’re being too loud.” Thank you, Echo.

Memories trip across the threshold of my mind, tumbling into a pile that I try to sort into a timeline. It’s all I can do to open my eyes. I do so, reluctantly, squinting against artificial light that pours into my retinas. “What happened to me?” I ask. 

“What is the last thing you remember?” Tech asks. 

I blink slowly at the ceiling’s shadows glaring down at me. “Uhm. I remember the creature…being behind a rock…and that’s it.” 

“You were rendered unconscious after being struck by some falling debris,” Tech says, his explanation impressively informative and vague. “You will be fine. It is a minor injury.” 

I wince, reaching up to brush my fingers across an impressive lump. “What kind of falling debris?” 

“Wrecker threw a rock at the monster,” Crosshair supplies. “Supposedly, he hit the wrong one.” 

I’m too miserable to roll my eyes, although the sentiment is there. 

“Sorry about that, Scribbles, I really didn’t see ya back there,” Wrecker tells me earnestly. 

“It’s okay, Wrecker,” I mumble. If it had been anyone else, I would doubt it was an accident. 

Wait…Scribbles. 

That is the second time Wrecker has referred to me as Scribbles. 

“Why’re you calling me that?” I ask. 

“You like it? It’s the name I gave ya, instead of calling you Writer Person.” 

Huh. I guess that is an improvement. I manage a grin, “Yeah. I do like it. Thanks, Wrecker.” 

“So, when can we look forward to you leaving?” Crosshair asks. 

My head must be really foggy, because I forgot that was an option. I could just leave. 

“You know what,” I say, pushing myself up with a groan. “You’re right. I should go. It’s been fun…sorta.” 

“What about your story?” Wrecker asks, and I can practically feel the dirty looks he must be getting from his brothers. Yeah. I’ve harassed them in person long enough. 

“I’ll manage somehow,” I assure him. 

I think of my laptop, keys under my fingertips, the rattling of words being typed on a word document. I think of home. I think of sleeping off my migraine, because this must be a migraine. There’s no way I actually have a concussion, that I was actually injured in a fictional world made up of my own imagination. 

But the fictional world doesn’t slip away, and the real world doesn’t slide into view. 

I am still sitting on an uncomfortable cot on the Marauder. 

If I thought I was scared running from that globby creature in the last scene, I’m terrified now. 

Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic…

“I think they are having a panic attack.” 

Wake up, wake up, wake up…

“Scribbles, are you okay?” 

This is just a dream. A lucid dream. I’m fine. I’ll wake up with a terrible headache…I don’t have a real concussion…I’m not really here…

“Hey, kid, you need to slow your breathing. You’re going to make yourself pass out.” 

I am vaguely aware of hyperventilating, so I catch the next exhale in my throat. 

“No, don’t…don’t hold your breath. You still need to breathe.”

You have to choose…I’m gonna either hold my breath or hyperventilate...

“What’s wrong with them?” 

“Does it look like we kriffing know?” 

“All of you, be quiet. You aren’t helping. Hey, Scribbles or whatever your name is, listen to me.” 

The voice is close, right in front of me. I force myself to focus. Focus. 

“You’re not able to leave, are you,” the voice says. It isn’t a question. 

I don’t know whether I’m supposed to nod or shake my head. I decide to bob my head once and hope that the voice knows what it means. 

“Alright,” the voice says. “Got it. We’ll figure this out. One hundred percent success rate, right?” 

I take a shuddering breath. My vision is still blotchy. “Right,” I manage to mutter. 

“Good.” I am now able to recognize that it’s Hunter who has been speaking. 

Aww. He’s such a good dad. Just like with Omega.

“Uhm, hello,” a small, familiar voice says. 

I might start panicking again, but going off the startled shouts of the soldiers around me, I’m not the only one. 

Because I might’ve just made Omega enter the chat. 

Plot twist. 

TBC

A/N: *checks sundial* It's been a hot minute since I've posted anything...and of course, my chaotic crack-fic is what gets an update first. Sincerest apologies. I have been struggling to find time to write...but because this one is literal chaos incarnate, it's been easier to write it in the snatches of time I find...I promise I am still working on my other WIPs...they are not abandoned!

I am literally writing this with no plan in mind...makes it *~*authentic*~*...and also chaotic!

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[tookishcombeferre]

Okay, it took me a moment to gather my screenshots from the various Wiki pages. I couldn't get a decent one of teen Cedric. But, here we go.

I also have theories about this, and it might sound nuts, but hear me out.

So, we know that in the universe of Sofia the First that magical artifacts of the Princesses exist, and that it seems that the histories of the Disney Princesses intertwine with the lore of the Sofia the First universe.

This is what they set up with Vor, at least, to my understanding. And, the presence of Merlin from The Sorcerer's Stone and The Good Fairies from Sleeping Beauty would also seem to suggest this theory.

Now, it also seems to be that with the right set of words and tones just about *anything* can become a curse, hex, or spell. New potions, spells, and whatever are being invented all the time.

So ... hypothetically ... some really unliked kid at Hexley ... with the right/wrong combination of some misplaced (or intentional) words and actions from some bullies gets hit with a spell meant for ... oh ... something like freezing a heart?

And, out of embarrassment, or sadness, or bitterness, or fear, or some combination of all of those things, he might decide to, say, hide his magical healing instead of revealing the fact that he's cursed to anyone?

Yeah. I could see that happening. That sounds accurate to Cedric's character. He's the "no one's going to believe it happened, so why bother?" type.

I have visuals to explain my thought process here. So, one second.

Obvs. I own nothing. Disney owns the images. I pulled all these images from the Cedric and Anna character Wiki pages.

Here's where we're going to start as our base images for Cedric. This is before the two tiny streaks he had in his hair on the day of The Incident spread. So, even though in the second image he's nervous, and tiny, he's still like, fine? I think this was from the "Sorcerer's Secret" flashback. So, not only that, he's got a supportive teacher in his corner. He's doing alright. Life is okay. This is our base.

But, before we get into comparing skin tones and hair and all that stuff. Let's talk about what we *know* about freezing spells, how they're healed magically, and all that from the Frozen universe.

Grand Pabbie says in Frozen "You're lucky it was her head and not her heart. The heart is not so *easily* changed, but the head can be persuaded."

Now, this seems to imply that the heart CAN be changed, just not *easily.*

Secondly, we also know when frozen heart, head, etc. curses are healed the white/ frozen color *remains* in the body.

After Anna was struck by Elsa, the streak of white remained in her hair. The physical change remained permanent.

Now, what has changed between our first two images and later Cedric?

A whole heck of a lot of white in his bangs, that's what.

It's a call back to Cruella, sure. However, let's think about this character a little more shall we?

The younger sibling left in the shadows of an incredibly powerful older sister, who just sort of doesn't pay said sibling any mind anymore, but the older sister still probably cares about the younger sibling a decent amount, magical accident occured in childhood leaving the two of them on the outs with one another, and it turns out it was just a big misunderstanding caused by an overbearing dad ...

Where the heck have I heard that story before?

So, with the that comparison drawn, I want to look at the physical characteristics of a frozen heart because there's some interesting things to point out.

Cedric's season one skin tone, as mentioned by OP, also looks a lot like this -

We also see Cedric in that second posture a lot. His arms drawn up close to the chest. And, that's consistent throughout the seasons. Whenever he bows, his arms are almost always up. (Sadly, I don't have a good screenshot for proof, but you can see it in the first screenshot above.)

So, let's run with this theory that at some point Cedric's heart was frozen and fixed magically.

It's entirely possible whomever magically healed Cedic's curse was powerful enough that it only left the two larger markings in his bangs, or the curse was caught early enough that it never progressed quite as far as Anna's curse did.

Though, hair aside, I also began to wonder, what would a magically repaired frozen heart *be* like?

Would it be more prone to breaking? To becoming stoney and evil? To not understanding how to love and be loved?

Physically, would there be consequences?

What Frozen seems to imply about frozen hearts is that they need true love to be cured. They need an act of true love to thaw them.

That's something, that given Cedric's history, likely would have been hard, if not impossible, to come by in his young life.

Hence, why the curse likely would have had to be cured magically through a sort of "loophole" in the first place.

So, convincing a heart that it is loved magically, especially one as broken as Cedric's, would have been difficult.

So, I had to wonder if that's where the scheming came in?

Are the "evil dreams that always comforted me" what his frozen heart latched onto?

Or, did something else happen that made him latch onto the schemes and evil dreams because something happened to his last tethers to goodness?

Did someone say something at some point and Cedric's already fragile heart just had enough and went to stone?

Was the teacher in the Sorcerer's Secret flashback the one who saved him?

Or, was it someone else?

These are all questions I have absolutely no confirmed answers to but are really fun hypotheticals.

I mean, this is all a hypothetical anyway. No one has confirmed this. I just like thinking about it.

(I have personal HCs about how this all could have played out and how this affected Cedric's evil scheming. But, like, have fun with your own hypotheticals and HCs before reading my fanfics where I tell you mine.)

You'll also recall the first presentation of Anna's frozen heart curse, after her hair, was her *hands?* It's possible the reason Cedric wears compression-like gloves is because the magical healing post frozen heart curse couldn't fully repair his *hands.*

I also noticed Cedric's occasional issues with running and physical activity. I think it's in the episode that they turn James into a baby that he has a hard time chasing the dog down? That also, to me, lent credence to this particular theory.

However, the thing that really made me hone in on this theory was what Anna says to Olaf as she's freezing.

"I don't even know what love is."

This could very easily describe Cedric's entire arc in the show. He doesn't. He has no idea what it means to love or be loved. It's his entire question. In the end, it's what he's searching for, and it's what he finds.

He finds it as Sofia's mentor and teacher. He rediscovers it in his relationship with Roland. He discovers love in the act of teaching at RPA and helping James with special effects at the play. He discovers it in protecting and teaching his niece as a sort of parental figure to her. He even discovers it in rekindling a relationship with his *sister.* What started EVERYTHING to begin with.

(I feel like the teacher with the tack on his seat in The Incredibles right now.)

As Cedric starts to learn what *love* is, he starts to heal. He starts to look less like the above images and more like this.

Now, it's not perfect for him. He never fully loses his bangs. He never fully goes back to "normal."

And, my theory on that is because his heart was repaired *magically* as Anna's head was repaired *magically.*

When a curse is repaired magically, it cannot be undone. It is forever there. So, things can improve, however the physical reminders are still there. (In Cedric's case: his bangs, the fainting after freeing Sofia from the Amulet, etc.)

So, my theory is that the more Cedric accepts love, and shows love, the less the magically healed curse would affect him. The more he integrates into palace life the more hands there are to take care of him and show him the love he would literally need to survive. However, because the curse was healed by magical means, there would be very few ways to actually fix it.

Thus, this theory attempts to explain why Cedric turned evil, why his redemption arc took as long as it did, some of the allusions to his potential physical health issues in the show, and why his character design looks the way it does.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Can we talk about the fact that in the debut movie and in first season Cedric looks literally sick? He's not pale/his actual skin color. He's grey next to other characters. He looks like he didn't had a proper meal in days and is not sleeping well either, he doesn't even look like has strength to get up. He wasn't okay

I think this was a design choice done on purpose to subtly add to his "villain" look but still, considering what we discovered about this character later on, kinda looks like a mental health issue