#Taylor and Cass are so silly

[abeinginsand]

Taylor rainy day hcs

Taylor loves being in the rain, but I imagine his mom would ask him to take an umbrella, at least sometimes? Or Cass may sneak it into his go-bag other times, so he doesn't forget it.

Most often the umbrella is not used properly.

He's used it as a stealth item to hide from and avoid classmates and teachers that he doesn't like around town. Its a go to way to avoid awkward or annoying conversations. Taylor also enjoys striking poses with it on occasion, works great as a second sword of sorts. He can try super cool dual wielding poses or use the sturdy umbrella as a makeshift cane on the rare occasions he forgets his own at home.

When the rain gets extremely heavy and/or his legs are feeling extra achy that day. Taylor will sit down some place and rest the umbrella against something so he can sit under it. Probably play on his phone for awhile while listening to the rain drops. Probably gets an Uber back home when the rain stops! It depend on how long the rain lasts or how hard he zoned into his mobile games.

Or on the rare occurrence he isn't alone, he'll offer the umbrella to the other classmate (if they don't have one). Its mostly only happened during field trips or at the end of a school day. After the offer, they'll go their separate ways. Sometimes the person will return the umbrella while occasionally it'll need to be replaced. He's got money though and he wasn't really using it much anyway so that part doesn't phase him. To add to that, his mom is usually really happy when he says he offered an umbrella to someone, especially someone that happens to be a girl. She's been giving him the signature Swift fam "you've got this" thumbs up a lot more lately. If he's honest, sometimes the idea of romance is...a lot when it's not a strict 2d interaction. He stops offering the umbrella to people for a few months.

Things are different when his new sidekicks come into the picture. Firstly, when it rains, Normal offers him an umbrella at the same time as Taylor was offering it to him. They ended up accidentally hitting each other haha. Though Taylor's hand stung more than Normal's did given he was not wearing a mascot costume. The two get past some awkward apologies and talk about either music or school gossip.

With Scary, she skeptically accepted the umbrella but asked why he didn't use it for himself. No one's asked him before and Taylor passionately rambles about his love for rain and rainy day scenes in stories as they walk through town. Though sometimes Scary does tease that he must not be worried about getting sick from the rain because idiots don't catch colds, right? He takes some psychic damage with an on cue anime sound effect. Teasing aside, Scary is the first to send him a text on an actual sick day--usually a short, "you're alive, right?" type of message which is nice in its own way.

The first time getting caught in the rain with Link doesn't go at all like Taylor was expecting. Link doesn't have an umbrella like Normal did and doesn't ask why like Scary had. Instead, Link arches an eyebrow and looks at the blue with white polka dots umbrella in his friend's outstretched hand for few minutes and then back to Taylor.

He says, "Thanks and okay, we should share it though." Taylor slowly agrees and the two share it while he remains surprised. It was the first time he'd shared an umbrella with someone since his childhood friend moved away. He was so used to walking alone or keeping some distance when with a person that he'd forgotten sharing it was a thing. Link holds the umbrella above them as they leave school. They talk about sports games and anime, joking around and occasionally playfully jabbing each other with fingers or elbows.

When the rain gets harder though, Link bolts forward to find the nearest open shop. This ends up dousing Taylor with water pretty good! He makes some sound that he hopes the natural rain bgm covered up and runs after the athlete. They end up racing each other which was initially frustrating but ends up pretty fun. For some reason, running in the rain alone or with a friend gives this cozy, familiar feeling too just like sitting by a fireplace or campfire does. Maybe it was because he used to play in the rain with his mom a lot as a kid.

Lastly, Taylor walking with Hermie during a rainy day leads to a teaching lesson. They both had umbrellas and, like certain punk seekers of darkness, Hermie asked why Taylor liked the rain so much. Hermie chimes in to Taylor's rambles with his own fav rain-related stuff and mentions a certain musical number. One of the few musicals that Taylor knew that weren't anime related! Anyways, Hermie proudly shows off his performing skill by doing atleast some of Singing in the Rain which Taylor thinks is pretty cool. The two practice some of the steps for awhile until the rain stops.

[flowercrowns-n-punks]

I think bout lovesong enough

That i just have an pure domestic happy au with them.

An au where its pure fluff mainly little to no angst which is rare.

But Single parent nick left with a baby taylor & not knowing what the fuck to do and not wanting to be like his dad

Runs off to Sparrow whose basically a single parent [qpps with rebecca n she surrogated tot hero & baby normal.

Anyways!!! Nick & Sparrow Bestie Co-Parent to lovers

Domestic happy life!!!

you guys ever think about lovesong

[sliipppy]

I keep thinking about how modern comics feel like a setback in terms of progression even though they paint themselves to he progressive.

I'm convinced modern Batman writers don't know anything about the Batgirls and include them just to include them. (Ahem Tom Taylor, but it's not just him. He's just the most glaring.)

Nobody who read Birds of Prey prefers Barbara as Batgirl rather than Oracle. I can GUARENTEE it. I don't think people realize quite how influential she is.

For Cass and Steph. Idk it's like they're just...not remembered who they actually were. I wish we got to see more of the Steph Jason parallels thar War Games and Under the Red Hood set up. I wish she was treated like a serious character rather than just quirky and silly. I wish Cass could be like Cass, lol. It's so crazy. Remember when she was "The One Who is All" that title is way too hard for writers to just fucking forget hello?! I wish we could see more of her and Shiva and her relationship with Babs too. Like the Batgirls are there as background characters in modern runs. They'll have one or two lines if we're lucky, but they're never really dived into. This was my problem with Batgirls. I remember someone saying that it felt like filler for Tom Taylor Nightwing, and it sorta hurts how accurate that was. I felt like the Becky Cloonan didn't really bother to go back and read Birds of Prey and Steph and Cass' Batgirl runs. Like, idk I feel like those are "required readings" for those characters, right? Like why are we forgetting all the characterization already laid in front of us.

Random rambling. Mainly, I am sad about modern Batman comics. Which is why I don't read them, but then it's like, "Yay! Misogyny!" In old comics too, so it's kinda a lose-lose. I get annoyed at fans for always pushing 'batboys' and straight up ignoring the girls, but it's partially DCs fault for literally either forgetting they exist or boiling them down to one personality trait and/or a love interest.

[gayjaytodd]

the batfam's fave music genres:

Dick: pop girlie through and through - big abba fan, loves britney and tswift, seeing yoncé live is the best thing that ever happened to him

Jason: musical theatre nerd - he looooves newsies so much, used to dream abt being a broadway star; occasionally dabbles in folk music and leftist protest songs (he knows the lyrics to both Solidarity Forever and The Internationale)

Tim: 2000s emo/pop punk guy - loves mcr and green day, simple plan for when he's feeling particularly angsty, nirvana when he's angry at the world

Steph: extremely eclectic tastes, her fave playlist goes from skrillex to taylor swift to cardi b to disney to daft punk to tupac to

Damian: big k-pop fan - loves bts (but would never admit it ever) - but mainly listens to arabic rock

Duke: he's a boyband guy through and through - nsync, backstreet boys, one direction, jonas brothers - if they're a group of men making silly pop songs, he's into it EDIT: have been informed that duke canonically likes heavy metal that critiques the american prison/judicial system (which is so fucking cool)

Cass: heavy metal, death metal, gothic metal - her favourite band is Nightwish

Bruce: he likes 'old' music - frank sinatra, billie holliday, the andrews sisters, johnny cash - and, somewhat incongruously, Marina Diamandis

Others:

Babs: she loves opera and has a particular fondness for prokofiev and wagner (inherited from her dad, they used to go to the Gotham Opera together)

Selina: latin pop - gloria estefan, enrique iglesias, ricky martin, selena - as well as reggaeton and salsa (she loves to take bruce salsa dancing bc he's a pretty good dancer and can throw her around a bit)

Clark: he loves country music - johnny cash, dolly parton (he met her as superman and got her autograph), shania twain, orville peck - but he mainly listens to podcasts bc he's a nerd (affectionate)

Talia: like damian, she enjoys arabic rock but also arabic folk music, bollywood music, and frank sinatra (like selina, she likes to take bruce dancing except it's swing dance instead of salsa)

[whentheleavesfallfromtheoak-blog]

my thoughts on unraveled!!

i liked it :) spoilers under cut

okay first off, dex never made keefe a panic ring?? INSANE. I thought they were friends now :( then like also how at Disneyland he wants to get dex a pin like aww so sad :( also Keefe is sooooo down bad for Sophie I love it. he's yearning and delusional just like I was praying for him to be. thank you Shannon. not thankful about the fox though. i really really wish it'd played a bigger part I mean come on! I thought it'd be like they walk around together like Keefe would have some company on his searches in london it coulda been soo nice ugh

cass paintings were crazy. high-key low-key really wish we got to learn more about this. Convo with Keefe's dad was also crazy. when did he become helpful? tbh I dont hate him as much now but like a lot. the painting thing really helped humanize (elvenize?) him. still a bad dad though :/ also the hot Cheetos omg Keefe is just like me fr. AND him thinking abt Fitz??? LOVED. I missed their friendship so badly and didn't even realize omg

Alvar return was insane. not to brag but I did think he was probably alive but in the lost cities??? would never have guessed! I do feel a little disappointed, just because I'd been hoping for Keefe to make friends with humans which never really happened. still, I guess it needed to be another elf for him to work on his abilities. speaking of: I feel like Shannon kinda blew past the voice control part of keefe's new abilities. I was expecting for him to learn how to use it and stuff instead of just pushing it down. I wonder if that's part of why his empathy is like messed up now that I think about it. also like alvar getting his ability back is crazy. kinda makes me nervous for him though cause he could get caught! he'd have to have like really good control with it and be super super careful

loved the stuff in Australia :) Eleanor was definitely unexpected, I really really really wish she'd explained her dads stuff or like literally ANYTHING. but whatever. maybe shannon will tell us in 10! ooo if she ever does spin-offs I would def read Eleanor's. and Cassius'. and Grady's. actually like most of the characters now that I think about it

Taylor swift mention was cool I guess but I'm kinda upset about the timeline now it was supposed to be like 2015 and its not! I'll get over it I guess but...

and then finally the bonus chapter!!! not much to say lol but I love them so much they're so silly and nervous it was so cute and amazing to read again! I remember when I read that bit in stellarlune I was literally kicking my legs and twirling my hair. I love them!

[1moreff-creator]

DR:OS CH1 Part 6 First Impressions

The first trial's coming to a close! I'm equal parts nervous and excited to see how this all ends! Let's not dilly dally any longer, we got a murder to solve! >:D 

Also the docs got changed so I can actually properly play along with all the mechanics!!! Gigantic W.

CWs here.

Let's go!

“Mark: …I think I know where the murder actually happened.” Right, this was the cliffhanger. Question is, do they know of the carpet in the casino, or are they talking about something else?

“Mark: Yeah. If you think about it, we’ve talked about the locations of all the body pieces earlier, right? There are five of them. So, what if each of them is connected to the murder in some way?” Alright, uh, I'm not actually following lol. 

[Mixed Matches] Ah, the one venus hates, right? Awesome xD Let's see how the hell I format this for the Tumblr post. I'll put the options first, then the letter statements followed by what I'm matching them too.

Options Given: Upper Common Room - Movie Theater - Customer Service Area - Casino - Infirmary

[A. Where the killer picked up many critical supplies for their general murder] I'm assuming this is Customer Service Area? 

[B. Where the killer picked up many critical supplies to cut and sew the body.] Alright, Infirmary, right? We talked about this.

[C. Where the victim was killed] Uh… Well I've been going with Casino the entire time, feels silly to change that now. Also sorta process of elimination.

[D. Where the victim’s body was sewn.] Movie Theater, we've discussed this.

[E. Where the killer wanted us to think the victim was killed.] I mean, I guess Upper Common Room? But what did they do to make the cast reach that conclusion? I guess maybe they just banked on the idea that the cast would believe Cass wouldn't stray too far from their room at night? Yeah, I guess that can work. 

[Checking actual answers] Hey, I got everything right! Cool :D

My question would be what makes Mark think the killer would put the boxes in rooms connected to the murder as opposed to any random room, but maybe that'll be brought up. 

“Vanessa: But, why would the killer draw attention to the Casino like that if they didn’t want anyone to find out that the murder happened there?” Yeah that.

“Taylor: Do we have any other reason to think it actually happened there?” [Evidence Select] 

Are we finally bringing up the Damp Casino Carpet? :'D

[Damp Casino Carpet] Yipee! Got it right!

“Ellis: Harper, didn’t you say that the carpet was kinda wet in the Casino? Boom, that’s murder evidence. Probably.” Most convincing protagonist ever xD

“Vivi: Blood is actually pretty easy to wash out! If you have, like, cold salt water, it wouldn’t be that hard to get rid of the traces of actual blood, at least not without better investigation equipment.” Did not know this! Thanks for the info, now I know even more ways to murder people and get away with it! :D

“Aidan: The murder location doesn’t actually matter, so long as it doesn’t contradict with what Jeff, our only known witness, says.” Damn. He's not wrong, it's just that I'm not used to seeing this kinda reasoning in fangans :v. Hopefully this isn't somehow suspicious behavior where he's gonna be the killer, but surely not, right?

“Aidan: Cool. Time to start accusing people, then.” Pfft. How blunt. I actually can't think of anything truly incriminating for any character, though we've yet to discuss the motion sensors.

“Robert: Then… how do we figure out who the killer is?” [Nonstop Debate] No idea where this one's going.

“Vanessa: Ugh, it’s like there’s nothing left to talk about…!” Shoot this with Floor Movement Tracker, right? Surely?

[Floor Movement Tracker → “there’s nothing left to talk about”] Right again!

“Ellis: Uh, yeah there is? Nobody’s brought up those weird movement-tracking sensors on the stairs and elevator connected to the laptop in Cass’ Room. The ones that Mark found?” Ellis no one knows what you're talking about xD I love that he's kinda bad at showing evidence in comparison to other dangan protags, it's funny.

“Davis: …Cass was tracking us. Why would they…?” I wonder if he has bad experiences with people tracking his movement, aka stalking. 

“Harper: If Cass ordered the materials one at a time in their own name, I doubt any of us would have really noticed. Plenty of simple orders fill the order list on a day to day basis. Perhaps Cass put it together herself.” This makes me wonder if people are gonna try to eventually ban use of the Costumer Service Desk specifically to lower the amount of orders they have to sift through during trials. I think that could go very poorly in a number of ways, such as people ordering stuff to other people's rooms to cast doubt on them… No idea if any of this is gonna happen or not, just throwing it out there as a possibility. 

“Mark: It’s generally better not to leave loose threads, but we have to pick one of the two topics anyways. So, I’ll go over what we found out.” [Nonstop Debate] Let's see!

“Paris: And Cass would be the only one to know?” … You know how my theory is that only Paris and Cass knew about it and Paris is the killer? Uh, don't know how to feel about her saying this in that context, but sounds kinda sus.

{Btw, yes, I've chosen to give each character a "secondary color" for color coding purposes when it comes to Nonstops, so I can still use the usual colors for weak and agree points :p Admittedly, these secondary colors can get pretty odd, as you're gonna see, sorry about that}

“Jeff: The second one has to be to put the body box in the Upper Common Room.” I can see a world where we shoot "Black Sheet + Bloody Dolly” here, if we're going with the idea they used them for moving the body parts and not just the body from the casino to the movie theater. But the latter is a possibility, so.

“Taylor: If there’s no way to avoid it, then that’s probably true…” But I'm gonna say we shoot Floor Movement Tracker at this, since that truth bullet includes the fact that the trackers can be avoided.

[Floor Movement Tracker → “no way to avoid it”] Yeah, got it right.

“Paris: Totes~ After all, Cass wouldn't ever trigger it.

Aidan: Why?

Paris: Uh, ‘cause they knew it was there, obvi. They placed it in the first place.

Aidan: That’s not what I mean. What I’m asking is, why would Cass avoid the sensor?

Paris: Why wouldn’t she?” Okay is it confirmation bias or why the hell does everything that come out of Paris’ mouth so suspicious? Antonia makes a great point, it'd be best for Cass to register her own movements too. 

“Davis: So we can trust that Cass would hit the sensor whenever they passed from Common Room to Common Room! Great job.” I don't know how I feel about jumping to this conclusion honestly… Like it very well could be right, but I feel we're accepting it without much evidence.

“Vivi: Then why would they hit it at 6?

Ellis: Because it’s always a good time to hit it~” Ellis please xD Also I love how everyone just knows to ignore them at this point. 

[Progressive Deduction] Yes please I'm confused. 

[1. Which trigger of the sensor must have been the killer?] From what the characters have been talking about, I'll say b. The 6 AM trigger?

Oh I don't get to know if I'm right or not unless I look at the trial doc? Funny. 

[Right answer: b] Yep, got that right.

[2. What has to be true if the killer only triggered the 6 AM trigger?] Either “they avoided the sensor at least once”, which is what I've been thinking, or “they lived on the fourth floor” and just didn't use the dolly and sheet for transport of body parts. I'll go with a. They avoided the sensor at least once?

[Right answer: a] Woo! Got that right! 

[3. What could explain the inconsistencies in our theories?] Clearly, it's d. A genie?! Just kidding xD I could see it being either "purposefully messing with our sense of timing” or "only noticed the sensor after triggering it at 6 AM", since they wouldn't have been able to enter Cass’ room without the E-Handbook locked in the timer box with the legs. I'll go with a. The killer is purposefully messing with our sense of timing because it was my original theory. 

[Right answer: b] Ah, well, I had to get one wrong. The killer only noticed the sensor after triggering it at 6 AM. Fair, that was my second guess.

“Mark: If the killer didn’t know the sensor was there until 6, they couldn’t have avoided it earlier that night, right? So unless it was them who triggered it at 1 AM, the killer is from the third floor.

Kennedy: Then it sounds like we’ve got a real suspect list.” [Evidence Select] Wait what? I… What are we talking about? Can we use the Map of Floor 3 as a Truth Bullet?

Actually, now looking at it, there is a bullet symbol next to "Map of Floor 3" in the E-Handbook.

So… Yeah! Map of Floor 3, surely!

[Map of Floor 3] Yay I was right! :D Glad I noticed that bullet symbol xD

“Robert: Is there… really nothing left to talk about? Who do we vote for…?” Gonna be honest, this is one of the only times in any dangan/fangan I've genuinely felt the desperation of feeling like there's nothing left to talk about and no clear suspect, so good job with that, venus! 

“Vanessa: …Okay everyone, thinking time! What’s still left out there?” [Question Completion] Alright, let's try out this minigame!

[Words: was - Cass - at - out - night - why] Well this is obviously "Why was Cass out at night", right?

[Why was Cass out at night?] Yep, got that right! This one's fun, even if it's simple :D

“Mark: …How would the killer know Cass was usually out at night, anyways…?

Harper: There seems to be a lot on all of our minds. It might be productive to go around and say whatever we’re thinking.” [Puzzling Pieces] Okay please, I am so confused and (although I haven't been quoting her) Paris has been saying a few non-suspicious things so I'm entirely lost. 

Also yay I actually have the template for the answer this time! :'D Thanks venus and accirax, it's genuinely super fun to play along with these things, especially now that it's not as scuffed as last time! :D

[Template: __ was __ the __ __ at __ in __] Uh… "Cass was following the culprit recklessly at night in secret.” Sounds kinda goofy, and still doesn't explain why the culprit would be out at night. "Jeff was why the culprit killed at night in secret"? Sounds nonsensical. "Cass was worried the culprit planned at night in secret."? Those last two words are tripping me up. But I think they have to be "night” and "secret”, I don't see anything else that fits. "Cass was worried the culprit killed at night in secret"? Nope. "Cass was why the culprit killed at night in secret"? Not that either. I give up, I don't know what this is.

[Cass was following the culprit out at night in secret] Oh wait I was almost right with my first guess! I just kinda didn't think to use “out” like that, sadge. Well, close enough for me to be happy with.

[Following discussion] Geez this is getting weird! 

“Mark: It still feels like we’re missing something big here…” [Nonstop Debate] Save me minigames… Minigames save me…

(I wonder how many docs are gonna be created just for this fangan lol) 

“Vanessa: I’m sure Cass was doing something for all of us!

Vanessa: Like stopping a crime from happening or something.” Yeah, Cass is growing on me as we talk about all this. 

“Paris: Making a tracker with various supplies, following people around without getting spotted at nighttime…

Paris: It does definitely seem like Cass had some kind of secret agenda going on~” Although I'm starting to lose track of what Cass had going on lol. What is happening???

I have genuinely no idea for this one. The one I think we probably have to shoot is:

“Noah: Like, yeah, sure, we can lie to each other or whatever, but there’s no reason Cass should be able to do these things!” 

Maybe Cass’ Profile, since all the profiles seem to be truth bullets too? She likes "getting info", right? Maybe Customer Service Desk to explain how she got the sensors?

Really hope it's not Antonia's Profile on:

“Grace: Not necessarily. Cass could have also been following the blackened because she already suspected them of planning murder.”

Uh… "Cass’ Profile” at “there’s no reason Cass should be able to do these things!” final answer. 

[Cass’ Profile → “there’s no reason Cass should be able to do these things”] Oh I'm so good. I'm goated. I'm actually really happy I got that right, this one was hard xD

“Ellis: Ultimate Agent… hey, wouldn’t it be funny if I was right from the get-go and Cass was really a spy all along?” Now this would be a hell of a twist, ngl. 

“Aidan: Before Cass gave me her name or her talent, she led into the words “Ultimate Agent” by talking about other people’s work. They were making sure that I was already thinking about fucking commerce by the time they had to say it.” Holy hell. I gotta go back and check out Cass’ introduction now. Hell, I feel like rereading the entire ass chapter just because of this :D

“Mark: Some kind of investigation. On a place, or a person.

Harper: If we’re right about Cass following the killer, I would expect it to be a person.” I do not like how close we're getting to implying it was Antonia. Watch it it, venus. 

“Taylor: “If I can’t delete the notes, I have no control over their secrecy. I couldn’t hide my true actions from anyone if they cared to check.”” Fair point, but we really are not addressing the whole "impersonating a dead person” thing, huh? xD

[Hangman's Gambit: _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ] "The mastermind", yeah? Still hating where this one's going. 

Wow, ZERO hesitation xD I mean I did the same thing but y'know, still funny :p

“Noah: Well… if Cass was probably investigating the mastermind, and the person Cass was investigating caught on and decided to kill her… doesn’t that mean that only the mastermind would have incentive to kill? 

Aidan: Not… necessarily. It’s possible the culprit just saw Cass following them around and thought she was going to kill them. It took us this long to figure out that Cass was investigating the mastermind. What would you think when someone was sneaking around behind you in the middle of the night?” I DON'T LIKE HOW CLOSE WE'RE GETTING TO ACCUSING ANTONIA.

“Kennedy: If we’re right about all this, we have a pretty clear suspect list. The answer is “who Cass suspected of being the mastermind.”" [Evidence Select] I want to throw myself in the ocean.

That said, this isn't actually "Select a person", which is odd. Am I supposed to say Antonia's Profile? Is this indication she's not the killer? Maybe? :') 

[Antonia’s Profile + Mark’s Profile] Oh wait I completely forgot she also suspected Mark. Lol xD

“Ellis: Oh, I remember. It was me, Antonia, and Mark.” It was Ellis!!!1!1!

“Antonia: Paris was also present during that conversation, though she was simply observing rather than being interrogated. For the sake of this line of logic, I would assume she’s in the clear.

Mark: Ellis is clear, too. She lives on the fourth floor.

Taylor: Are either of you worried about the fact that that leaves you as the only two suspects? Like, at all…?

Antonia: Hm? Not particularly.

Mark: Obviously I’ll have to prove my innocence, but from my perspective, it’s nice to know who the killer is.” Oh, wow. They are good. If one of them really is the killer (and I'm thinking Antonia unfortunately), they are amazing at hiding it actually.

“Antonia: Then, allow me to state my case, please. I assure you, I’m not the one responsible for all of this.

Mark: If that’s how we’re doing this, then I’ll defend myself, too.” [Third Party Analysis] Well, time to try this one out! Gonna be honest, this is the one I absolutely did not follow the explanation for when I first read it, so I'm hoping actually playing it will make it make more sense. 

That said, while I was reading up the rules, and before I get into this, something occurred to me. It's something that had rung a few alarm bells earlier, but… where did Mark get Cass’ E-Handbook? I took them at their word for it being in Cass’ pockets with her legs, but no one's ever verified that. If Mark's the killer, it's possible they actually kept hold of the notebook the entire time to ensure they could introduce the existence of the motion sensors, and we can catch them on that lie. I can't think of much direct physical evidence pointing to anyone else, including Antonia, so... Are we really Antoni-back, or is it still Cisner-over? 

On a completely separate note, how the fuck do I translate this to Tumblr? Uh… well, I'll try, but sometimes you can't stop the scuff. Here's my “distill” section:

---

Antonia: 

Concession: “I understand that Cassidy’s fixation on my talent and our resulting feud may make me appear more suspicious.”

Defense: “I’ve become close to some of my fellow contestants. For instance, Vanessa reminds me of my younger sister. I would be unable to willingly sign her death warrant, even indirectly through the Class Trial.”

Attack: “If you think it through, it’s clear that Mark must be the killer. They’ve been disengaged from whatever activities are going on for a long time, and thus wouldn’t have any problems with attachments when it comes to killing.”

Proposal: “Perhaps they were wandering, but when confronted by Cass and committing the murder, Mark finally “woke up?” Mark has been much more focused starting this investigation. Isn’t the sudden shift suspicious?” 

Mark: 

Concession: “I totally understand why it might be hard to trust me. After all, I’ve been struggling to gather my bearings after losing all of my memories, and I don’t have any way to 100% prove that I’m telling the truth about forgetting.” 

Defense: “I’ve been completely out of it for the entirety of the killing game before this point, so I’m not sure how I would’ve come up with and executed this precise of a murder.” 

Attack: “Besides, I don’t really trust Antonia. She’s a very smart and well-spoken person, and yet she hasn’t really been helping us solve this Trial.”

Proposal: “Plus, while the killer obviously did order some items for their murder, they also used a lot of what was already here in the Resort. Maybe Antonia’s experience with casinos would help her plan her murder based on the existing items?” 

---

Okay, I'm pretty confident with that. That was easier than I'd thought it'd be. I skipped some lines for brevity btw, but I won't consider myself wrong as long as me and accirax have the same quotes plus/minus a few extraneous sentences. Now the final part, which I'm very unsure about right now. 

Uh… Well, I have an idea. I don't like it, because it seems we're going Antonia!Culprit, but I'll try:

Inquire: Customer Service Order List -> Antonia's Proposal

That Truth Bullet mentions the items were ordered on day 3, so if she's saying Mark "woke up” to commit the murder, they must have woken up on day 3, which is not very solid. I'm not too sure about this though. 

[Cross-checking the Distill section] So I actually used longer phrases than accirax, but all of the main points are the same. I did well I think! Now what I fear.

[Customer Service Order List → Antonia’s Proposal] I hate being right. 

“Antonia: I have more, as well. If I may continue my arguments…

Harper: Please, be our guest.” [Nonstop Debate] A Nonstop right when she says she'll defend herself? It's Cisner-over.

Okay wait, there's a shred of hope here. You remember that point I brought up earlier about Cass’ E-Handbook? Maybe we can shoot Cass’ E-Handbook at “Taylor: So Mark’s investigation makes them suspicious…?”, because we've never verified where they got the handbook from. I'm gonna be wrong about this one btw, but if you give me a chance to defend Antonia, I'll take it. 

[“They’d be able to skew the interpretation in their favor” → “they would plan everything out in this way”] I tried. Well, I would never have gotten this one anyways because I hate Time Bullets, so. 

“Ellis: If Mark was trying to make the sensor work in their favor, they could’ve done a way better job. They could have lied and said that the sensor was impossible to evade, or just not brought it up to anyone at all. Then, we’d have no reason to suspect the people who live on the third floor!” Unfortunately good points. 

“Aidan: It doesn’t help anyone to blindly defend someone because you like them. This is where our logic’s taking us. If you want to defend her with actual logic, be my guest, but if you’re just yelling, all you’re gonna do is turn people against her.

Vanessa: Why would that turn people against her…? 

Aidan: Because you’re not backing it up. If belief is the only thing you’ve got, then it makes it seem like belief is the only thing there is.” Dude. Aidan. Is cooking. “If belief is the only thing you’ve got, then it makes it seem like belief is the only thing there is” goes insanely hard actually.

“Vanessa: Well, you’re wrong!

Antonia: Vanessa, if you’ll allow me to handle this–

Vanessa: No one should be accusing you like this! I’ll… convince them they’re wrong! Yeah, that’s it!

Antonia: Vanessa–

Vanessa: Don’t worry, I’ve got you!” [Freestyle Feud] Vanessa please you're making me lose even more hope T_T 

Also get ready for some silly rhymes, given I'm gonna play along with this lol. I'll list Vanessa's statements first in green, followed by what I would write in purple, followed by what's in the doc in pink. If you can't differenttiate those colors, uh. Good luck?

“V: Toni’s given you a bunch of reasons why she’s definitely in the clear!”

"Me: Yet she's given us no solid evidence for why our doubt should disappear!”

[Canon: "I hate to tell you this, but we shot those down, dear."]

“V: There’s nothing about the crime that lands suspicion on her!”

"Me: You're wrong, there's not many that Cass would investigate.”

[Canon: "The choice of victim speaks to their feud. That’s reason enough for these things to occur."]

{Wait you can rhyme with yourself??? That's a secret technique accirax just pulled out xD. Admittedly you kinda have to read mine weirdly for it to rhyme so we'll call it even :p}

“V: Toni wouldn’t be willing to put all of us to death. She wouldn’t leave me behind!”

"Me: We've known each other just for days, you can't claim to know her mind.”

[Canon: "We only really met her a few days ago– we don’t know what she has in mind."]

{Hey same rhyme :D}

“V: There’s been nothing but Cass’ ideas that accused Toni for the entire Trial’s duration!”

"Me: Yet with the Casino as the murder's true location, the Monoquin File lie helps only the Dealer's situation!”

[Canon: "If Cass died in the Casino, Antonia would benefit the most from the Monoquin File’s change of location!"] 

Not gonna lie, I had to cheat and look ahead for that last one because I had no idea what I was supposed to say to that last point because I actually kinda agree with Vanessa xD Anyways, that was silly as hell, but I enjoyed it quite a bit lol.

[Antonia's plea for more time] She's very convincing. Maybe I'm delusional, but I genuinely think there's a chance she actually isn't the killer, no matter how hopeless it seems. The handbook could still come in clutch, though by now I'm starting to accept it probably isn't important. This feels like a setup for the Closing Argument more than anything else. 

“Mark: To make sure there’s nothing we’ve missed, or forgotten, or skipped over… we should recap what we’ve figured out. Look at all of it in the context of our killer, and see if it makes any sense.

Ellis: Leave that to me, babe.” [Closing Argument] Yep. Goddamnit.

(Also I just clocked that the link changes when you click it, which I did not know was a thing actually. Like it had happened a few times while I was reading, but I thought I was clicking different things and just wasn't noticing. Apparently venus and accirax are just wizards of Google Docs xD)

I don't know how scuffed this one's gonna be on Tumblr, we'll see. I'll just give out the final order I would put the bullets in:

1. Customer Service Order List (Antonia orders the items on day 3)

2. Floor Movement Tracker (1 AM trigger)

3. Monoquin File #1 (Stab in the stomach with poison)

4. Damp Casino Carpet (Presumably the blood got washed quickly)

5. Bloody Dolly (Transport to Movie Theater)

6. Jeff's Account (Weird noise from Movie Theater)

7. Chopped Body (Dismemberment begins)

8. Locations of the Body (Parts are spread around)

9. Timer Boxes (They open at 8:15 AM)

10. Vivi's Autopsy (This one's weird. The information given here is effectively the same as the Monoquin File #1, I'm just putting it here because technically the autopsy itself happened last)

A lot of these feel kinda ambiguous ngl, but I don't hate this order. 

[Checking right answer] Ok, so. Mostly right. I just mixed up the order of the carpet and effectively flipped the Monoquin File and Autopsy, which is what I worried would happen. I'll take it, because I need something to latch onto now that I'm sad :( /positive

“Ellis: Using some… very unattractive skills…” You could have at least let the Ellis/Antonia ship live T_T (/silly)

“Ellis: Going [to the Upper Common Room], the killer didn’t notice Cass’ trackers until they used Cass’ e-Handbook to look inside her room and saw the laptop setup. They had already triggered it once at 6 AM on the way in, but purposefully evaded the sensor on the way out in hopes of creating suspicion that someone on the top floor was the killer instead.” So. The handbook, because I need to figure out what happened with it or I'm gonna lose sleep over it. I went back to Part 4 to see exactly what Mark said about it.

“Ellis: Wait. Where’d you get your hands on that?

Mark: …In the pants pocket. Of her legs.

Ellis: You found their legs??” 

If the handbook was with Cass’ legs, then the moment the killer locked the timer box with the legs, the handbook would have been inaccessible, meaning the killer couldn't have entered Cass’ room after that point. Assuming said killer is Antonia, this carries the implication that she hid the torso before locking the box with the legs… which makes sense! Since the body was dismembered in Floor 3, it actually makes perfect sense for the killer to hide the torso in Floor 4 before hiding the legs, provided the legs were on the first floor or something. Alright, concern solved. 

That said, especially combined with that little hesitation Mark had before saying "In the pants pockets”, this little odd thing definitely helps create an AU where Mark is actually the CH1 killer! And yes I was already thinking about that because I'm very normal about the characters I like :)

[Vote] I'm voting Mark Idk about y’all xD

“Monoquin: It seems we’ve reached a verdict. Antonia Cisneros, the Ultimate Dealer, is the correct killer of this case.” Well, the delusion was fun while it lasted. 

"Ellis [Thoughts]: Sigh. Why do the hot ones have to die young?” Just kidding everyone, ship's back on!

“Antonia: There wasn’t much to it, really. Ever since this game started, I’d planned to kill someone at some point. That’s why I ordered those things, just in case. But, when Cassidy began suspecting me… Well, the more she hurt my credibility before I executed the crime, the worse my odds would be of winning. I moved the timetable up.” Yeah, that makes sense. 

“Antonia: Because I didn’t want to play with fire. The establishment wants one winner, and the house always wins in the end.” Where’s the gif of the guy writing pure fire when you need it? xD (<- I'm laughing not to cry)

“Ellis [Thoughts]: The killers lost, for now. Is it so hard to believe that the person who evades both victimhood and killerhood would be the one true survivor in the end? …Do I have to beat the mastermind to be the last one standing?” Oh hey, we're moving priorities already, cool! 

“Paris: Well, you should probably get used to it. It’s not like it ends here~

Taylor: Huh?

Paris: There’s still more, right? The execution?” Okay so maybe she's not the killer but Paris is completely insane, no? What the hell???

“As [Antonia] struggles for her footing, large, metal sheets painted to look like playing cards begin to fall from above her. She darts from place to place on the roulette wheel with impressive grace. But as more of the fallen cards land on the roulette wheel, making the surface more uneven, she moves slower, being more careful about the placement of her heels.” Bro she's doing this shit in heels? Genuinely crazy. 

“If I asked the Desk for giant playing cards made of metal, would they give them to me? What about a poker chip sharp enough to cut skin?” Yeah these are normal thoughts to have after All That xD

“Taylor: “Don’t be upset, darling–”

Vanessa: Stop that!” Oh hey we're finally addressing how insane it is for them to do that! Fantastic, I wish they keep doing it and fucking with everyone's feelings :D

“Jeff: Why are we still here? I’m leaving.” Yeah he would say that, huh?

[Mark and Ellis talk] Aww… cute.

“Why am I crying?” Ouch. 

“Ugh. I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student, for crying out loud! Things should automatically fall in my favor. And I’m not enough of a failure to just toss good things away when they come to me. I should have this in the bag. And, hey, if everyone’s off their game… as long as I’m on mine, that should make it even easier!

I got through two deaths today… What's thirteen more? Everything is going just how I wanted it to. Just how I expected it to. Now all I have to do is sit back and relax.

A little more water falls onto the floor.” We really turned the writing up to 100 this part huh? Awesome /gen.

-

Man, what the hell do I even say? That was just straight up an amazing part. The reveal of Cass’ true talent has made more interested in their character than I've ever been (I might have some kind of theories about that but those might have to wait for a dedicated post), Vanessa's breakdown over Antonia's death was fun to see, the execution was very well done even if I didn’t really talk about it much here, and of course, the reveal of the culprit itself. Ever since the cast started talking about Cass suspecting the killer, I started feeling super nervous and engaged. Admittedly, I was pretty lucky to consider the CH1 killer my favorite going into the trial, since it meant I could get a lot more invested in the conclusion of it, which I hope was properly reflected by what I've written for this post. And yes, I think it's lucky I was emotionally invested in the CH1 killer, because it makes me suffer more, and isn't that what we all want from fangans? :D

On the topic of Antonia, I really loved her this Part. She was a girlboss all the way through, and I especially enjoyed the Third Party Analysis against Mark and the things she said after the trial. I really love blackeneds who are actually good at being blackened, so that was great. Mark was awesome too, again especially during Third Party Analysis and post-trial. Very curious to where they're gonna go now that they seem a little more lucid. 

You might be wondering why I don't seem so distraught that my favorite just died, but here's the thing.

I've watched/listened to/read/seen playthroughs of six fangans which have made it past CH1 as of the writing of this post. Another 1 and 2, Despair Time, Eden's Garden, Tetro Pink, and now One Shot. My favorite, or at least the character which was my favorite while I watched CH1, has been the CH1 killer in four out of the six. That's a two thirds hit rate on specifically the CH1 killer being my favorite when they die. That's impressive! That's statistically unlikely! At this point it's just funny, I just have to accept I'm cursed and move on. Why did I ever even predict Antonia being anything but the CH1 killer?

Speaking of predictions, the predictions game! I predicted Antonia to be the CH5 killer, which gives me 4 chapter points! Pretty bad, but at least I didn't get role points. Adding in the 3 points I got from predicting Cass as the CH2 killer, that gives me a total of 7 so far! How does that compare to the other prediction games currently posted on Tumblr dot com?

Well, Jonas had 4 points from their Cass guess, but they predicted Antonia as the CH4 killer, meaning they got only 3 chapter points here. That means we are now tied with 7! There's also the prediction board bronze-ocs submitted as an ask to av-multifangan, which was posted just a few hours after I posted my CH1 Part 4 reaction which talked about these predictions. Funnily enough, though, we actually both predicted Cass as the CH2 killer and Antonia as the CH5 killer, so we're also currently tied. Great minds think alike ig :p Finally, accirax guessed Antonia as the CH5 victim, which gives her 2 role points and 4 chapter points, which combined with the 7 points she'd gotten from guessing Cass as the mastermind, gives her 13 points so far. She may be currently last, but don't count her out of the race! I personally believe in the accirax comeback, don't know about you.  

In any case, this was an incredible part, and I’m more excited than ever for CH2! See ya’!

Canon Notes:

Staff Members - Customer Service Desk - Monoquin’s Hands - Killing Game Explanation - Monoquin File Lies

Personal Notes:

Clockmaker’s Intuition - Kennedy’s Spiked Rings - Noah’s Earbuds - Robert's Queasiness - E-Handbooks’ Permanent Messages and Notes - Soundproof Rooms

[hermanunworthy]

!DNDADS S2 EP46 SPOILERS!

im getting to listen to this right as it drops. and frankly. i am TERRIFIED. ive heard about Bad Things Coming and i fear this episode may kill me. pray for me guys

- WTF DOES THIS TITLE MEAN. WHY LINCOLN

- NO ONE WILL DIE THIS EPISODE #AFFIRM

- MATT. NOT THE TIME.

- THE CLUSSY???

- WILL BEING AN ADAMANT CASS DEFENDER. U ARE SO REAL MAN

- I HATE LISTENING TO THIS AT HOME IM LAUGHING TOO LOUD ALREADY

- THE MOANING. QUIT IT ALREADY IM GONNA CRY

- SCAMSTER ORIGIN STORY WTF????

- we already knew this. but. evil. they are so silly and awful

- 3/4 NOOOO I WAS HOPING FOR HERMIE DAD ARC..... but ofc were not gonna get it

- NOT WILL GETTING EXCITED ABOUT ACTUALLY FIGHTING TAYLOR. FUCK

- SWIFTLI AND NORMSCARY YESSS

- WILL WHAT IS THIS VOICE UR DOING

- the fact that theyre not remembering hermie as the actual next in line is killing me im ngl

- FREDDIE RANDOMLY MAKING NPCS W DUDEBRO VOICES IS MY FAVE THING

- MATTS LAUGH WHEN HE ROLLED THAT NAT1. GOD I FELT THAT IN MY SOUL

- OH *ABRAHAM* LINCOLN??? IS THAT WHO THE TITLE IS REFERRING TO 😭

- WTF IS THIS EPISODEEEE I KNEW THEYD DO SOME CRAZY DUMB SHIT TO GET OUT OF TJIS

- HERMIE HERMIE HEMRIE

- WHY ARE U ONLY JUST NOW REMEMEBRING HERMIE

- ISTG IF THAT IS HERMIES ONE ONLY LINE THE WHOLE WPISODE IM GONNA KILL

- NOT TAYLOR INHERITING THE CLOSE FIGHT BETTING INSTINCTS

- FIND JODIE????? IM GONNA DIE

- hang on hold up. breakfast break

- ANTHONY "BC HE PUNCHED U REALLY HARD" "YEAH FUCKED UP RIGHT??" IM CRYING

- WHAT IS THE FANART FOR THIS FIGHT GONNA BE LIKE.

- NORMALS IN DEATH SAVES NOOOO

- "HIM LOOKING BACK ON HIS LIFE, HIM GETTING DUNKED ON 24/7" STOP IT WILL STOP IT I DONT NEED THIS RN

- oakicks nation were winning ig

- "THATS BRISK BABY" SCREAMING

- SO THE JEZZBALL WASNT BC OF HENRY.... ☹️

- NO NO NO PLZ DONT HURT NORMAL MORE

- PLZ IM SO STRESSED I NEED NORMAL TO BE SAFE

- MATT IS JUST SO UNHINGED THIS EP

- IS LINK GONNA KILL SHMEGAN???

- RON IS STILL HERE???

- TAYLOR IS SO USELESS NOW HELPPP

- THIS EPISODE IS SO DUMBBBB

- NOT ANOTHER EXPLODING HEAD DEATH

- NORMAL IS OKAY!!!!

- HE LOST HIS MUSTACHE LMAOOO

- david lovesatan will NEVER be jodie foster >:[

- NOOOO THEYRE GONNA TAKE DOOD

- SHMEGAN IS DEAD

- NORMALS GONNA GET FUCKING HIT AGAINNNNN I CANT DO THIS

- DOOD UNLEASHED?????

- THIS IS DOODS 100% EXPLOSION FOR ALL MY FELLOW MP100 FANS OUT THERE

- .....is it too early to say that this episode is NOT as bad as i feared

- bc i seriously thought henry would be coming back and shit would happen w hermie and it would be super awful evil but ig thats NEXT episode. god

- TY BETH FOR REMEMBERING HERMIE 🙏🙏

- WHERE ARE THEY???

- okay fbi office okay..... okay....

- WHAT???? HERMIE?????? WHAT

- WHAT

- WHAT

- AM I GONNA GET SOME AWFUL HERMIE CLIFFHANGER. I WILL KMS

- WHY IS HERMIE CHOKING WHAT

- WHY IS HERMIE BLEEDING OUT?????

- IF HERMIE DIES I WILL DIE. DONT DO THIS TO ME WHAT IS HAPPENING

- HERMIE GOT SHOT

- OH GOD OH NO

- ANTHONY. COME ON.

- HERMIES CALLING OUT FOR FUCKING NORMAL??????

- WHAT THE FUCK

- PLZ DONT KILL HERMIE PLZ

- NO

- GUYS.

- GUYS

- IM GONNA KMS

- HERMIE IS DEAD.

- HERMIE LIKES NORMAL BACK AND HERMIE IS DEAD.

- guys im done

- i literally cant even process this i cant even cry yet im just

[gffa]

I have such a complicated relationship with the softer aspects of characterization in DC comics, like one of the reasons I don't read much of Wayne Family Adventures is because it's just not scratching that itch of what I personally want, the biting drama of the mainline comics is where it's at for me. (I am glad WFA exists, though!! it's cute and fun and a great entry point for those who want to start there or just for those who enjoy it!!) But then I'll turn around and any Soft Batfam Characterization in the comics will get me right in the feelings place, like I think one of the reasons I enjoy Taylor's Nightwing so much is because, look, over the 20+ years I've been into comics, I have been put through the fucking wringer with Dick and Bruce's relationship, there's no way I'm seeing some Soft Dad Bruce and In A Pretty Good Place Dick Who Hugs His Dad and not grabbing onto that with both hands and holding on with a death grip. I have earned this!!! This is my reward for all the pain I went through because of Knightfall! All the pain I went through because of Battle for the Cowl and RIP! All the pain I went through because of Nu52! I WAS THERE, I LIVED THAT PAIN. IT IS MY TIME IN THE SUN NOW. It is also very, very easy to clip a lot of these moments out for posting on tumblr, like it's sooooo easy to post a panel of a hug between Batfam members and slap a crying emoji on there, because that is how I feel in the moment, I love that stuff! I wouldn't make it through the meaner storylines without it! But it often probably seems like I'm just here for the Soft Batfam stuff like because I enjoy Taylor's writing doesn't mean I'm not also eating up the absolute batshit drama of Gotham War or kind of losing my mind at Gotham Nocturne being so much better than I first realized or suddenly I'm just now sitting up in interest at World's Finest: Teen Titans because of a conversation I had about the darker aspects of it with a friend. I love the silly stuff, I love the idea of Dick and Cass baking together in a super silly little story, I love that Dick and Jason said "I love you" to each other in that recent backup, I am delighted with every issue of World's Finest I read that is light-hearted, I'm okay that the current Nightwing series doesn't have a whole lot of dark depths being explored, because for me it's balanced out with all the other storylines I've read/am reading It's just--

It creates a sort of conflict in my head, where I love the more complicated relationship dynamics, I love the meaner edges of the characters, I love the hard bites they take out of each other, but those are often harder to talk about compared to how easy it is to cry about how cute the softer panels are, it's easier to talk about the moments of the characters having good relationships because my entire reason for being here is the Three Ring Circus of Batdad Issues That Dick Grayson Has Just Right There On His Sleeve For The World To See, but also I get kind of tetchy when that softer content is expected to be the norm in the comics, as if the characters having hard edges at times is out of character and that the only way to write them is softer. (This isn't about preferences, but about putting that expectation on others, feel free to dislike it all you want, that's fine!! but it's not ooc for the characters to be shitty to each other and be assholes sometimes and for others to enjoy that kind of drama.) It's hard because I enjoy the softer moments in the comics, but I also kind of glance askance at some of them, like, these moments scattered across the stories make sense, characters who are just assholes all the time are ones that aren't very fun for me to read about, people can be assholes and sweethearts, I think it makes for richer characterizations, but I don't want it to be like that all the time, either. And all of that is kind of hard to put into words, especially when I'm very aware we're reading comics, which have a whole genre of Comic Book Logic (things do NOT work like they would work in the real world!) and Comic Book Structure (the nature of so many different authors and some truly batshit apparent decisions by editorial make everything an incoherent mess that I cannot even try to make a singular vision) that affect things, too.

[thedeviltohisangel]

You mentioned John taking Cass to the Eras Tour in your Modern AU - which begs the question which of Taylor’s albums are John and Cass’ favorites? And what Era do they dress up as at the concert? Also friendship bracelets - John spends HOURS creating the perfect ones. I can see them taking Sunday drives blaring “All Too Well” as they both sing along. Or Cass has a bad day and he’s singing “Love Story” to her as they’re lying in bed. OR Cass has to go on a trip and she leaves John a note that contains lyrics to “All of the Girls You Loved Before”.

John probably doesn't listen to Taylor Swift a lot until Cass. I picture her taking control of the aux at all times without any kind of discussion.

Cass is probably a Fearless girl at heart. Those are the songs she sings loudest and dances to craziest so it becomes John's favorite as well. Because he sees it through her.

I can see her doing a really pastel girly Lover era outfit for the actual show. Looking like a sugarplum fairy. John makes really cheesy bracelets about her being cute and silly and how much he loves her. Cass makes him one and he wears it and never takes it off.

Their car sing alongs are unmatched. Full blast speakers. Full blast singing. Fully developed choreography.

Modern John and Cass just have so much FUN together. Unbridled FUN.

[babacontainsmultitudes]

Okay while it’s late and we’re sharing headcanons

I kinda maybe sorta have a silly and somewhat elaborate little set of scenarios that play out in my head- Sparrow-centric cause this is me we’re talking about... And I guess it goes something like this:

When little Hero starts getting into anime, Sparrow absolutely draws her favourite characters for her, and he’s quite good at it. She doesn’t ask him to do this nearly as often as she gets older, since it starts to feel a bit embarrassing, but she’s kept every single drawing he’s ever made for her.

Cut to the present/a bit into the future. Taylor (”woah Taylor’s part of this??” hell yes), who’s gotten into the habit of inviting himself over, ends up coming across some of these old drawings. He asks Hero about them, and she explains that her dad drew them for her. Cut ever so slightly further into the future, and Taylor presents a very surprised Sparrow a long, long list of commissions. He assures Sparrow that his mom will pay for them, but Sparrow doesn’t charge. Actually, it’s kind of nice having something creative to do with his time, and it reminds him of when Hero was younger and they used to do this, so he’s happy to oblige.

Sparrow doesn’t charge, but he actually does find himself talking on the phone with Cassandra. See, as aforementioned Taylor is over quite a bit now, and whether it is to hang out with Normal, Hero, or both of them Sparrow is never certain (now that he thinks about it, Norm and Hero seem to get along much better these days)- but Sparrow in my head is 100% the kind of parent that would make little fucking trays of snacks for his kids and their friends. Eventually, he catches on to the fact that Taylor is a bit of a picky eater- perhaps both for sensory reasons as well as from having braces. Well, no big deal, his kids have always been that way too! So, he calls Cassandra to ask her about Taylor’s preferences/habits… And Cass being Cass, always on top of things and being so close with her son, writes up a long-ass list for him.

And it’s nice, having someone new to talk to, especially someone who doesn’t have a problem with their kid interacting with yours. For the first time in a long time, Sparrow’s made a new friend!

Taylor’s lists have gotten longer. Sparrow doesn’t question it. Taylor doesn’t say anything on the matter either- Hero asked him not to tell when she first added some requests of her own to his list. And… Some items on the list are unaccounted for altogether, almost as though someone has been adding to it from afar. Weird.

[cookies-over-yonder]

a thousand words left unsaid

dedicated to @iersei

Taylor and Link explore the undiscovered depths of the Swift household basement. ✧*.♡.*✧ DnDads Halloween Week Day 3: Things Left Abandoned

ao3

The Swift household is pitch black on the inside from the looks of it, and Link isn't quite sure why. He had planned to hang out with Taylor tonight, but wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary.

"Come inside," Taylor says with a mischievous lilt to his voice.

"Um, why are all the lights off?"

"It's spooky ," Taylor hands him a flashlight, and holds his hand, guiding him into the depths of the darkness.

Link chuckles a little. "Okay, but what are we doing?"

"We're exploring, obviously."

"But this is your house."

"True, true, but this is also a haunted mansion, and there are nooks and crannies unfamiliar to even me ," Taylor says, putting on this spooky narration voice that has Link cracking up again.

"Whatever you say, Taylor."

They head down to the basement, and Taylor opens a closet full of boxes.

"These boxes have been unopened since time immemorial…" he says.

"Whatever you say."

"And we are going to discover what's inside!" he shouts, picking up the first box and dropping it on the ground with a loud thump .

Taylor pulls out a switchblade and slices the tape on the top of it, and Link kneels down with him to lift up the flaps of cardboard.

"What do we have here?" Taylor asks, as they open the box to reveal a stack of dusty old novels.

"Books?"

"Ancient texts!" Taylor corrects, lifting one up and dusting it off. The cover reads Twilight . "These will be useful for our future journeys."

"Should we look through the rest of the books?" Link asks, playing into Taylor's adventure. He's so cute when he gets all roleplay-ey.

"No time! We must search through the other boxes," Taylor answers, bringing a couple more down from the closet. They all seem to be stacked haphazardly on top of each other.

Taylor passes Link his switchblade and resolves to use his sharp nails to slice the tape.

"Ah, more ancient texts!"

"Same here."

The two continue looking through the boxes and finding books neither recognize, save for some old editions of manga that Taylor keeps aside rather than putting them back in the boxes, and…

"At last! The final two."

One is bigger, and stacked atop the other. Link grabs it and starts to open it, while Taylor grabs the other one, dusting it off to do the same.

This box has a pair of shoes in it. They're big sneakers that were probably once white but now rock a slightly icky shade of yellow. There's a soccer ball next to it, also slightly yellow, and there's a little heart drawn on it in what appears to be black sharpie.

Nothing else is in the box.

"There's shoes and a soccer ball in mine, what about yours?" Link asks.

And from Taylor, there is nothing but a small gasp.

Link looks over, and he's got his flashlight pointed toward what looks like a picture frame.

Link scoots over and up close beside him to get a better view of what he's looking at, and oh .

It's a picture of Nicky, smiling and holding a baby in his arms, in a white frame with hearts drawn all over it, and at the bottom, in neat printing, it says, My Boys .

Taylor is quiet, except for increasingly shaky breaths.

"Taylor, I…"

What could Link even say?

And then it's too late, because Taylor puts the photo down on the floor and digs through the box with far too much aggression for a silly haunted mansion adventure.

There's a jersey, and some sweatshirts, and a beanie, and Link thinks he hears paper rustling, and Taylor pulls out what appears to be a letter in a tri-fold from the bottom of the box.

He unfolds it with shaky hands, and clears his throat.

Link doesn't think it a good idea, but he's not going to stop him.

And Taylor begins to read.

"Dear Cass, I'm so sorry I had to tell you this way, but I did it to keep you two safe," Taylor sucks in a breath, his voice shakier by the second, "I have to leave, I'm in trouble, and I can't let anything happen to you because they're after me. I've put money in the envelope, and I'll keep sending it for as long as I can."

Taylor stops for a second, and with what little light there is, Link can see tears start to slide down his face.

Just as Link opens his mouth, Taylor continues:

"I know Taylor won't remember me, but please give him a hug and a kiss on my behalf. I love you both, and… and…"

Taylor sucks in a shuddering breath, and breaks down in sobs.

Link is quick to envelop him in a hug, not caring that the paper crumples between them.

"Taylor, hey, hey, hey, it's okay," he soothes, carding his fingers through Taylor's hair.

Trembling violently in Link's grip, Taylor only whines and sobs harder, sucking in breath after breath as if he can't quite fill his lungs.

"It's okay, it's okay."

"It's not! " he shouts into Link's chest, shaking his head vigourously before whining again.

"Okay, maybe it's not, but I'm here okay? I'm here with you, and it's going to be okay."

" Link , I—"

Another sob rips through him, followed by the sound of Taylor nearing hyperventilation.

"Taylor, Taylor, breathe. Breathe with me okay? Deep breaths."

Taylor nods, and follows Link's lead in breathing deeply. It takes a while, and each little squeak and pained noise from Taylor struggling so much breaks Link's heart more and more, but eventually, he calms down, back to little whimpers and sniffles.

"That's better," Link hums, holding him close. "See? You're okay."

"Uh-huh…" Taylor mumbles, tear-laced and wobbly, before pulling away.

"This is my fault," he says, before putting the letter back in the box, on top of the clothes.

"Hey, no it's not."

Taylor whines again, swiping at his tears.

"Why don't we go upstairs and watch a movie?" Link asks, running his hand up and down Taylor's arm.

"Okay…" Taylor mumbles, moving to close the boxes full of books and collect the manga he found.

Link grabs the picture frame and moves to put it on top of the letter, but not before reading the last line Taylor couldn't get through:

I love you both, and maybe in another timeline, things could have been different.

- Nicky

[rightpastnowhere]

MORE. FOR U

Ok ok ok we all collectively will not shut up about how Percy is endeared by Vex's ears, right? well UNO REVERSE CARD! His lil round human ears are so fucking cute to Vex. It's also very funny for her to parse out how sensitive they are vs half-elven or elven ears.

In modern AUs their taste in music seems very different at a glance but meshes SUPER well. Percy is rocking to MCR and anime intros and Fallout Boy and old rock'n'roll (that his dad and Julius loved), Vex is grinding to pop and country, and everyone is like 'surely not' until they pull up to give Pike a ride and are just blasting a Taylor Swift song together (she joins in obviously). Or on a train sharing earbuds and the poor folks the next seats over can hear Monster by Skillet from there and these two are mouthing along and sharing Dramatic Looks.

Trinket keeps bringing cubs home. He's a male bear, bears don't raise cubs in pairs (males don't participate at ALL), but he's a Ranger companion and lives as long as Vex does. And given he's a fit specimen he's probably the sire of a lot of cubs in the area (Vex and the Grey Hunt have got to watch out for inbreeding effects KJTRNHRKN). So every now and then he'll find a hurt or abandoned or sick cub and bring it back, and Vex nurses it back to health (and Dan too), and suddenly they Have Another Bear. Oh Dear. Sometimes Vex and Trinket make a conscious effort to train the cubs to live in the wild and release them a ways away once they're old enough, but the three bears we see in C3 is Only The Beginning.

The first time Percy tried really growing a beard, Vesper made Unhappy Faces when he'd give her kisses and in a fit he shaved it all off. He needed some talking-tos about it. His baby girl was SO upset and it make HIM upset OKAY -

It's advised that guests do not wander the halls of Castle Whitestone alone at night. They assume, naturally, that this is due to Ghosts or Restless Spirits - no the de Rolos are just. like that. Cass would rather everyone avoid the trauma of hearing them having a good time. Also the kids' darkvision means they have shining pupils if light hits them in the dark and someone fell down the stairs once so there's that too.

Percy fucking agonizes over blue now. Getting a gift to match Vex's feather takes up at least 3-12 hours of a given project. At this point he has custom paints mixed for it and will scour stalls and shops for gems of the right turquoise.

He also owns way more fur than he'd expect, because Vex is a ranger and can at least make a decent muffler or trim for mittens or ruff for his winter coat out of some of her more impressive catches. His favorite, though, is a tiny fur thing that's badly worn. Vex insists it's a bird. *it does not look like a bird,* it looks like a pointed rock with two bead eyes. It was the first thing she tried making him and it, well, it didn't come out as she'd expected. He still stims with it often, it practically lives in his pocket - like she was in Pandemonium, when VM were transformed into birds. She says she hates it, but his earnest adoration for this little silly thing she made really makes Vex so damn happy.

OH MY GOD SHE WOULD LOVE HIS EARS,,, HIS LIL ROUNDED EARS,,, SO SOFT N ROUND,,,,,,,, OMG

YOUR MUSIC TASTES FOR THEM ARE SO IN LINE WITH WHAT'S IN MY HEAD NGKJRNGK. vex imo has the most chaotic playlists because there's just one for all of her music. it switches from lizzo to mumford & sons without rhyme nor reason. and they WOULD be taylor swift stans with pike i LOVE THIS. AND GOD,, THE MENTAL IMAGE OF HER AND PERCY DRAMATICALLY LIP-SYNCING LIKE HUGE NERDS..... MY CROPS ARE WATERED. MY SKIN IS CLEAR

THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING NGKJRNKJGNR i simply think vex deserves an entire legion of bears who love her, and many of them on the castle grounds. only the best for the grand mistress of bears. (trinket mimicking vex's adopting behavior is SO CUTE I'M GONNA CRY)

percy upsets his baby One Time and suddenly he must change everything about himself. i love him so much i cannot stand it

NKGJNKJENG the de rolos fuck nasty and it is a burden upon those who think themselves to be fearless... my heart goes out to the unlucky few who dare. ALSO THE FUCKING. QUARTER ELVES. JUST LIKE A BUNCH OF CATS IN THE KITCHEN AT 2AM WHEN YOU WANT A SNACK. IS PERFECTION.

GERKGNERJN percy will do anything to maintain his wife's aesthetic

VEX CRAFTING HIM THINGS...... PERCY KEEPING HER FIRST LIL BAUBLE BECAUSE HE LOVES HER................ STIMMING WITH IT CAUSE IT'S SOFT................................ picturing vex finding out and endeavoring to acquire so many soft things, making him a bunch more knick-knacks once she's better at it, wearing soft clothes, just, oh my GOD she loves him SO MUCH

thank you again for this absolute unfathomable joy, i squeaked out loud at least 3 times, i am full of serotonin once more

[isas-bathbombs]

tis the damn season by taylor swift is literally cassandra’s neutral ending aftermath in her pov (if the mc chooses to stay in contact)

these r just silly ideas!!!

‘So we could call it even / You could call me babe for the weekend’

i don’t think cass would outright cheat on her nyc girlfriend (and mc wouldn’t let that happen), but she’d definitely do so emotionally?? maybe she didn’t realize it at first, but she knew deep down no one would ever compare to her star

‘I'm stayin' at my parents' house / And the road not taken looks real good now / And it always leads to you in my hometown’

cass finally did it, she’s making a name for herself on broadway. and yet she still made frequent visits to her hometown even when she didn’t have a reason to. she made sure to see mc every time she was there as well

‘Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires / Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out’

even when cass did realize she still had feelings for mc, she still can’t do shit. she’s left permanent damage, she feels like she’d just ruin things even further by trying. she can’t just expect mc to fall back in her arms like she didn’t just hurt/abandon her. she barely even salvaged their friendship, how can she expect her to still love her after all that??

‘I won't ask you to wait if you don't ask me to stay’

and so, she chooses to wait, for any sign or any indication that mc would want her back. she’d be willing to wait

‘So I'll go back to L.A. and the so-called friends / Who'll write books about me, if I ever make it / And wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles I'm fakin' / And the heart I know I'm breakin' is my own’

she waits, but nothing comes of it (or at the very least, she didn’t notice anything). mc is moving on, and cass is letting her. she wants to fight, but she also doesn’t wanna scare her away either. but i think mc would know, she could always tell. she was always the one who understood and saw through cass’s acting

‘To leave the warmest bed I've ever known / We could call it even / Even though I'm leavin' / And I'll be yours for the weekend / 'Tis the damn season’

and what happens next?? idfk 🙁 anything could come out of it

[tracybirds]

friendship is magic and i'm thinking hard about tracy fam and their relationships <3 this is simply a list of possibilities for me to use to pick and choose :D Named characters are background characters, then I'm listing the circles they run in

just some silly fun for a thursday morning, gonna go do dishes and maths now :D

SCOTT

Marion Van Arkel

Kat Cavanaugh

Asher and Finn

Toshi Murakami

tracy industries people

uni friends (the man needs people to geek out about maths with)

personally i don't think he kept in touch with any air force people but i guess there's them too

VIRGIL

Cass McCready

online engineering community (as in Nutty's V.T. Green bc i'm never not obsessed with that fic)

art group

orchestra friends

jazz band buds (Virgil is in a jazz band and they meet up monthly for jazz band shenanigans)

JOHN

Ridley O'Bannon

Tycho Reeves (trust me on this one, I know they didn't really interact but also trust me)

space fam (neighbours group chat but the neighbours are all in space.... they have a chess tournament once a year)

stingray fandom friends

astrophysics nerds

GORDON

Robby Shelby

Buddy and Ellie Pendergast

Scraps

enviro friends (*cough cough* @gumnut-logic's Raoul Island crew)

old swim team

WASP buddies

ALAN

Brandon Barrenger

Conrad

cavern quest / gaming friends

homeschool "pen pals"

Alan needs more friends the poor kid must get lonely :'(

KAYO

Wayne Rigby

Doyle

Andi Houseman

GDF buds that Rigby introduces her to

she has the whole tracy fam so it's a little different for her i think bc she gets to live with her best friends* all the time

BRAINS

Moffie

a select few other science friends

his sister's acting friends that have adopted him (based on the linked headcanon)

GRANDMA TRACY

Kip Harris (get it Grandma!!!)

i like to think she's in an aviation club

also doctor friends :D

give me a stitch and bitch for grandma lol

keeps in touch with all the kansas friends <3

JEFF

Lee Taylor

Colonel Casey

Ned Tedford (once Jeff comes back and they go rescue this hapless man AGAIN, Jeff invites him back for dinner and they become good friends I'm holding onto this one)

air force buddies

rich people pals

Penelope's Dad (Hugh????)

*disclaimer that my personal interpretation of kayo is that she's a good friend who is like a sister and the six of them casually refer to each other as such but isn't actually adopted bc her dad by all accounts is still alive and all that and personally I found the way TAG handled that weird.... but my experience is that I call my two best friends sisters without a trace of irony bc our families were closely intertwined and i've known them since birth and grown up with them. I even lived with them for a time as a child when my parents couldn't look after me. That's what Kayo and the boys feels like to me and is obvs very influenced by my own experience of being sent to live with another family while growing up.

[scented-morker]

HAPPY LATE THANKSGIVING TO MY BAEEEE HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A GREAT HOLIDAY AND IM SOOOO READY FOR CHRISTMAS IM IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT HOPE COLLEGE IS GREAT GETTING THAT DEGREE AS YOU SHOULD

ALSO A LONG TIME AGO U ASKED FOR HARRY POTTER FICS SO HERE ARE SOME!!!!!!

london boy, harry potter (THIS IS SUPER GOOD OKAY SO WHAT IF VENUS IS JUST INSERTED AS A FOURTH PERSON TO THE GOLDEN TRIO WHAT ABOUT IT I EAT IT UP EVERYTIME)

stars, Ron weasley (I realized a lot of fics have STARS AND PLANETS AS THEIR CHARCTERS NAME but I like cass CAUSE SHES COOL)

okay strangely enough, all of these fics have taylor swift lyric references

share me some of yours if you ever eeeeeverrr get to replying back we all know you're a busy gal living her life

HELLO BAE I HAVENT HAD SERVICE OR WIFI FOR A WEEK SO I REREAD THE SERIES AND NOW IM BACK IN MY OBSESSION… THANK YOU SM FOR THE RECS, SOME OF MY FAVES ARE GAME ON WHICH IS A JAMES FIC AND THEN CAPTAIN ABOUT OLIVER WOOD AND RN IM READING SHADOWS OF DEVOTION WHICH IS HALF HARRY AND HALF DRACO AD ACTUALLY SO GOOD!!! I’ve been working on my Oliver fic again and thinking about rewriting my Alula fic… I’m also getting way more into the Slytherin boys… I’ve quickly developed a love for Theodore Nott 😭😭 this is silly but I want to know if you’ve taken the test to see what house you’re in? I’m a hufflepuff and I feel like you probably are too 😭

[abeinginsand]

Hey! If you're still doing those character asks (no stress if not!!!), how about Nicky?

Heya baba :D!! Yes, these are still open and thanks for the ask~ <3

Nicky:

Nicky is another character I find very easy to relate and project onto. There's his relationship with his dad of course that reminds me of my mom and I. And being home alone due to work schedules in general. But there's also that strong desire to impress his family! Getting lost in trying to enjoy their interests while not leaving much room to openly explore his own. He, in any timeline, struggles with identity along with emotional vulnerability which feels very realistic. While I think Nicolas may have felt a bit more comfortable opening up, there were still moments where he was unsure like how he knew Glenn was a stranger but somehow familiar or how confused and troubled he was at the thought of his dad maybe being a hell demon in disguise. Sometimes I think Nicky is still feeling lost, never certain about his place in the world. Lots of bottled up frustration at everything that's happened and desperately wanting to make his own path but not wanting to lose anyone by doing so. And yet, he loses people anyway: his mom in one timeline, his dad Glenn faded from his memories temporarily, losing his closest friends, and finally-- Having to leave his own kid alone to keep both Cass and Taylor safe from the chaos that's always nipping at his heels. It all makes me so sad :( Seems like he would have loved to be there for Taylor before! Hope they get to bond more...wishing them happiness! I do wonder why he never like called or wrote a letter or something--probably to be extra safe (along with the memory stuff)? But consider...he has this box in his bedroom full of unsent letters that he writes every year. And they are basically like journal entries--stream of consciousness stuff about his thoughts about Cass and Taylor etc. From talking about an item that for some reason reminded Nicky of them. Or reminiscing some anniversary or date or silly inside joke. And even the first time he taught Taylor how to jump in rain puddles and Cass showed their little guy how to shake rain off like a dog might. They were all drenched and giggling that day, running back home hand-in-hand and Taylor between them. Whenever his emotions start overwhelming him, he rubs at his eyes and calms the swaying flames in his hair and on candles nearby. He carefully places the letters back in that box. Tells himself he'll work up the courage to set up a safe, stealthy plan to send one next year. (He may have some letters written for other people too. Though certain ones are a bit burned). So yeah, Nicky cares very deeply for his loved ones and is intensely protective! I think that's really sweet and cool...and love the soft and silly sides he has too! For the canon and bullied squares, I'm thinking mainly of his friendship with the other boys. I really wish we got more info on how they all interacted together. Though I think all the headcanons about the group dynamic are fun to read and brainstorm too!! Oh yeah!! I know there's the weird only visit hell once thing unless you're demon(?) but for my ideas...I imagine it wasn't always like that so it was easy for his friends to visit and hang out with him there before. But after the betrayal and the fbi getting more persistent, the stipulation came to be for safety reasons. Seems like his relationship with Jodie is rocky at best right now yet Jodie remains protective of him anyway (as shown with him destroying part of the fbi group in anger) so seems reasonable to do.