#and their roles being reversed as to who’s believed dead

[quibbs126]

I’ve seen some people suggest the idea of TF One Starscream and Megatronus Prime having been a couple, and while I’m not entirely sure whether I ship it (the potential skystar here has a grip on me), I will say the sheer comedy of the situation makes me strongly consider it

Like I just love imagining Megatron’s reaction to this information being this

He is mortified and really doesn’t want to believe it’s true

But also in some seriousness, I do like the idea with how it relates to Megatron. I remember some months ago someone having a ficlet on here with this ship, where basically Starscream feels like he has to be responsible for and protect Megatron because he failed Megatronus, and because he sees Megatron sort of like a son they never had (or at least I think, it’s been a while since I read it and I don’t know how to find it again), and I like that idea. It’s interesting and also works with the concept that this Starscream is significantly older than Megatron

[ecoterrorist-katara]

The tragedy of Katara’s parentification

Sokka and Katara were both parentified, and it’s a profoundly life-changing thing for both of them. One of the saddest things in ATLA, though, is how Sokka sort of got to outgrow parentification, but Katara never did.

Sokka’s told to be the man. The provider, the protector. He’s not so good at the former (his hunting failures are a consistent source of comic relief), and he takes failures of the latter very, very hard. He doesn’t manage to save Yue, and that wrecks him. After Yue, he becomes extremely protective of Suki in a way that’s borderline offensive to her. He’s willing to do anything to protect his friends and his family, including something as irresponsible as breaking into the Boiling Rock. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Sokka is the only one of the Gaang who unambiguously kills. The rest of them may technically have clean hands because of cartoon logic, but Combustion Man is very dead, and Sokka is the one who killed him. We don’t know how he feels about it, because the show never goes there, but I have a pet theory that Sokka is so uncharacteristically (remember he was team “leave Zuko to freeze to death”) against Katara confronting Yon Rha in The Southern Raiders because he’s the only who knows what killing feels like and wants to protect Katara from it.

But by the end of the show, Sokka’s in a place where he can start to let go of his need to protect. Objectively, all his friends are unbelievably powerful and can take care of themselves, including his sister and his girlfriend. Suki is the one who saves him in the final battle, representing not only a reversal of his initial cartoonish misogyny, but also demonstrating that he is worthy of protection. And of course, he and his friends saved the world, so there isn’t really an enemy that he has to protect them from anymore. Sokka’s loved ones create the conditions under which his parentified behaviour is no longer necessary. Sokka would still have to take the first step to stop seeing himself as the one who has to lay his life on the line, but at least it’s possible for him.

But not Katara.

Katara had to take on the mom role after their mother was murdered, which meant she was responsible for domestic labour and emotional support. Sokka says in The Runaway that her role was to keep the family together. Unlike protection, that’s always a full time job regardless of the war. We see Katara spending more screen time than anybody cooking, getting food, mending, and generally doing women’s work. We see Katara giving everyone emotional support, including strangers and her enemy. We see Katara putting aside her own discomfort and her own hurt in The Desert because if she falls apart, they all die. Nobody ever showed her that she doesn’t need to be the only one who cooks, or that somebody else can be responsible for the emotional wellbeing of her friends, or that — god forbid — someone else can actually be responsible for her emotional wellbeing.

That’s why I never cared for the Ka/taang argument of “he teaches her to be a kid again!” Putting aside the fact that Katara ends up taking care of Aang a lot more as the series goes on, the whole tragedy of parentification is that you can never again be a child. That part of your childhood, your god-given right, is robbed from you. It is extremely precious and important to still be able to be a kid, but breaking free of parentification is not about seeing yourself as a kid. It’s about breaking free of being responsible for everyone’s feelings and behaviours.

For Katara, that responsibility is not problem of perception, but of reality. Unlike Sokka, who was told and shown that his loved ones are capable of protecting themselves, Katara has zero reason to believe that her loved ones are able to feed and clothe themselves and not fall apart emotionally. Between Toph and Sokka who emphatically don’t want to do this work, it all falls on Katara. Telling a parentified child that they just need to loosen up is akin to telling an overworked mother that she needs to just relax (“happy Mother’s Day! You get a break from chores, which you will catch up on tomorrow because nobody else is doing them”). It doesn’t accomplish anything if nobody creates the circumstances under which it’s possible to let go of responsibilities. A lot of Zutara fans, spanning all the way back to the early days of the fandom, like the “Momtara and Dadko” trope where Zuko also does chores. Why? Because even without the concept and language of parentification, many fans recognized that Katara’s performance of domestic and emotional labour is inequitable and probably very taxing.

Growing out of parentification is about more than just letting go of old expectations: it’s also about finding a new way to value yourself beyond the role you grew up with. I’ve said this before, but it’s very important to acknowledge that just because a kid is parentified doesn’t mean they’re actually good at being a parent. In fact, it’s probably a given that they’re not, because they’re kids performing roles that are developmentally inappropriate! Sokka remains a shit hunter; he becomes a decent fighter but he’s still miles behind his friends. A big part of healing from his parentification is finding another area — strategy, engineering, project management (what else do you call that schedule) — where he actually excels, to which he can dedicate his time and from which he can derive satisfaction and a sense of identity. For Katara, fighting for the oppressed and combat waterbending give her that. Crucially, however, Katara does not stop being a girl when she becomes a warrior. She’s still responsible for domestic and emotional labour. Unlike Sokka, whose protector duties were more or less relieved as the series went on and he found new ways to contribute to the group, Katara continued to perform her old role in addition to her new one (which is depressingly realistic btw, look up feminist theory around the concept of the second shift). Still, it’s important that she found these new ways to value herself and her contributions…

…which disappear in her adult life. Where’s adult Katara fighting for the oppressed? Where’s adult Katara enjoying her status as a master waterbender? Where’s Mighty Katara? Where’s the Painted Lady? Where’s the person who vanquished a whole Fire Lord?

What do we know about adult Katara? She’s no longer a rabblerouser or an ecoterrorist. She did not translate her desire to help the downtrodden into a political role, like being Chief or on the United Republic Council. She’s not known as the best waterbender in the world, only the best healer, even though her combat abilities are what she took the most pride in. Even as a healer, she established no hospitals, trained no widespread acolytes (except Korra, I guess?), and made no known contributions to the field.

What Katara is known for…is being a wife and a mother. The same role she was forced to take on at age 8. One which she performed for the next 80+ years.

[lustlovehart]

I just wanted to let you know that I've been obsessed with your monster and reverse!monster au 💓 I've been rereading the posts over and over again lol you're a great writer!

I was just wondering what you think would happen if the reader for each au was somehow swapped. Like monster!reader replaces hunter!reader in the monster au and vice versa. Would the monster boys be happy to have a monster darling who they wouldn't have to worry about scaring off, or still prefer the caring mortal reader? And would the hunter boys like hunter!reader more and fight about keeping them in their own ranks?

I guess they would all still be obsessed regardless lol

Thank you for your writings and don't forget to take breaks and rest!

This is such a fun idea ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎ (This ended up being way longer than expected)

The appeal with both of the au’s is the Odd one out kind of thing. As the others are taking a deep interest in you due to their status of being different from you, MH!Reader feels the opposite way, wishing to stem away from the dangers of the unknown (Despite the occupation of Monster hunter holding its mysteries, and the species of monster having their own ways.) This is essentially the make up of both Au’s. Buut, With the roles being swapped around, It surely sounds fun, because now, the cast and you are the same species, making it so they’ll have to find a different reason to become infatuated!

MH!Reader is appealing to the Monster!Twst cast as they’re a human who hunts their kind, while still harboring some form of sympathy towards them. Even with the acts of murder and all that evil stuff, they could fall into your arms, you might be horrified, but you’ll still hug them all the same.

But! If you were to swap them out with a Monster!Reader, you’d need to do something different too! Perhaps you’re the kind who travels instead of staying in one place. In this case, I think you’d have to do something along the lines of protecting humans this time! In the monster world, it’s an all for one thing, fight to survive. At first, when you protect the human they’re about to devour, they assume you’re just trying to steal their meal. But when you tell the thing to run away? They’re convinced you’re a fool.

But when you continually step in their way to stop them? Then they’ll be intrigued. If you’re a low ranked beast, they’ll gladly swipe their hand and let you drop dead. But, you’re ranked just the same as the 7 highest bounty beasts (Or so rumors says) so they can’t simply toss you away. That’s when you peak their interest. Someone as (rumoredly) powerful as you, take pity on humans? It’s pathetic… yet their actions speak the opposite.

“So, You stalk monsters you think are pathetic right? Do you attempt to sleep with them too?” Depending on who you’re talking to, you either receive a sway of the hand, or words of adoration.

The only one who is not affected by this change is Rollo. Just like his Human counterpart, he believes you to be absolutely vile. The way you save humans though is entirely the opposite. So… he’s extremely conflicted.

On the other end, you have MH!Reader with the reverse cast. It’s the same situation, where you spare a monster from the kindness in your heart. But, instead of it being them this time, they’re essentially spying on you as you let your heart get in the way. Truly… they should be executing you for such treasons, but they can’t bring themselves to do it. In this case, I like to think they had their eye on you before your first failed mission, but only when that happens do they actually engage in their interest.

Your status as a specialized hunter (Though everyone just calls you Crowleys favorite), leads to many admirers in the organization. Though, you didn’t think you’d receive 7 different letters (Plus a couple of extras from the newbie), all requesting you to transfer to their unit. They’ve only been talking to you for a few months after that job, you questioned why they were all scrambling for you attention at every turn. Maybe they just needed an extra member…? (no they’re obsessed.)

Riddle insists having someone like you in their group would be beneficial for both of you. You get less sporatic jobs, a more organized scheduele, and he gets to see you. Ace and Deuce would calm down a whole lot too… He has the highest chance of acceptance, but with the way Trey and Cater slump against the door at your answer, he understands he must try much harder. Especially if he’s going against the others…

Leona tells you if you join him, you’d get harder jobs, but will get way more rest than usual. You won’t ever see the first draft of the letter where… Your thoughts disperse when you notice Jack in the corner of your eye, the shadows overcasting him as if he’s a wet puppy. He doesn’t move from his spot when he turns his head, quietly asking if you’re gonna join.

Azul by far has the most convincing letter of request. What is it? You get a better pay and much better work benefits. Truthfully, if this was anyone else eyou’d take him up on the offer. But… Knowing him and those twins, less than ideal business transactions… you don’t think you will join them. Azul buries his head in his hands on the other side of the door, Jade sighing in disappointment while Floyd shifts from a happy mood, to a complete opposite vibe.

Kalim doesn’t actually send you a letter, he bursts in through the door just offering you the position straight up. The one who sends the request is Jamil. His offerings are rather on the standard side in truth. There’s a slight increase in your wage, but the true appeal is his offering to help assist you in your missions. Kalim may be in charge of the Scararbia unit, but Jamil is so capable��� Though, you’re a bit off put by the feint smell of iron. You hope he didn't pen this after a job…

Vil is by far the most proper when he writes his letter. You’re sure this is those acting skills he has cooked up, the ones he uses to lure in unsuspecting monsters… He writes with a certain primness, yet a slight desperation that makes you feel inclined to join. You’re close to actually considering joining, but then a chill runs up your spine. You know the feeling all too well. Someone’s watching you. It’s definitely Rook. You set the paper down, leaving the room without showing any sign of knowing he’s there. He sniffs paper when you’re gone, leaving a second letter by him. You don’t read it.

Idia has the shortest letter of all. He lists what he can give you in bullet points, and then below just has a single sentence. “Please join.” Compared to everyone else, it’s the least worthy letter of acceptance. Yet, he’s the only one who gets an in person visit. He’s walking back and forth, tightening his head to the point of suffocation. He’s in a complete panic, why would you ever wanna join him? He’s the unit with the least talkative members… you’re gonna wanna leave the moment you join—

He stops his thoughtless rampage when you pull his head free from that hood. Everyone sees this happening too by the way, and suddenly they’re wishing they did whatever it was he wrote down.

Malleus is the exact opposite. He has the longest letter ever, 5 pages?? The first three are him praising your skills, your looks, you intellect, your kindness, your— It’s too much to process. You don’t even have the chance to finish the letter before Sebek basically hoists you overs his shoulder all of a sudden.

“Malleus is waiting for your arrival! As a new member you can’t be late!” Your head turns quickly towards Lilia and Silver, heavy confusion evident on your face. You… You didn’t even…! Wait, did they just assume you’d say yes to him?? (Lilia knows you didn’t. When you’re alone with him he’ll let you decide. But, convincing you with a little persuasion wouldn’t hurt would it? After all, he hopes you join them as well)

Rollo basically cucks everyone 💀. When you’re looking through and actually considering, he sits next to you. His fingers gently grab your hand and pull you away from the papers, his eyes imagining fire to set to those wretched requests.

“Why would you join them?” His mouth ghosts over your knuckles, never touching them, but connecting somehow. “I believe you’re everything without them.” Rollo attempts to block out the other 4 who nod in agreement. (He doesn’t wanna accept his alone time with you is being interrupted by Fellow, Skully, Neige, and Chenya 💀)

[threepandas]

Bad End: Hidden Heir

Next ->

The Duke's family had very distinct eyes. It was genetic. An aggressively dominant trait at that, though it tended to die off, after a few generations out of the family. Supposedly a "blessing of the Gods". Spring to be exact. Bounty and luck. And the family certainly WAS bountiful.

In all the best and worst ways.

Wealth, corruption, children and bastards. It was a family so aggressively ALIVE, it could only be Spring's blessing that made them so. Pouring mania and madness into their veins like sweet sunlight. Whispering glory and riches, into power addled ears. They burst with life. Even as they endlessly destroyed themselves.

They were fictional.

Fascinating set dressings, for the stage play of someone else's story. Unimportant beyond their role in world building. As the origin story and power base of a character lead.

The Story ITSELF didn't even occur here. But rather, in the capital. Where the players of significance had gathered.

And I? Oh I was some minor antagonist, so insignificant to the plot, I genuinely could not remember which of seven different women I actually WAS. It had been an ongoing series. Otome Isekai. Reverse harem.

And I was either in the ORIGINAL original novel, the isekai'd plot novel, the anime adaption, OR a horrifying fever dream. My memory was largely useless. But? I did remember the characters. The archetypes.

And the fact, that the author had clearly been going though a Yandere phase.

My region of the Reverse Harem collect-o-thon? Horrifying! Red flags everywhere! No one here should date, leave room for fantasy Jesus, have we considered the joys of being a NUN? Yes. Yes I HAVE thought about it.

I was pretty sure I'd never make it. End up dead or captured by some sort of Nun Yandere. Or God Yandere. Possibly both. Assuming the bandit yanderes don't get me first. It... it was very stressful, living here.

Luckily? I knew when I could leave.

Or so I thought.

Because my house? The Dukedom? Had the "yandere butler who is secretly an heir." Who starts out with loyal dog behavior. A little highly possesive master and servant play. Then rises to become a Duke. Presumably? That is when I die. Or am disowned.

Death is most likely. Since my role was "minor antagonist" and I was to be mean to the sweet, earnest, Harem possessing Protagonist. Don't see WHY I would. Live and let live. Good for her etc etc. But regardless? Best to avoid, just in case.

The problem? Who do you think Mr Illegitimate Heir serves before she gets here? The OTHER possible heirs? Of course not! They'd "oops! Hunting accident~☆" him in a heart beat. Father isn't stupid. And my sisters? Issues. Violent, violent, issues.

He ends up with ME.

Father, WHY.

Obviously, I ignore him. I see nothing. I hear nothing. There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Mmmmm, tea. Good book. Ignore his creepy staring. His creepy, creepy staring.

Thankfully? I never really ran out of Totally Legitimate reasons to send him away to learn or do something. Proper tea making. Door maintenance. Eastern embroidery. Something, anything, and off you go! Bye bye~☆!

Unfortunately. He got faster. Better and better at learning. Mastering skills. Coming BACK. Showing up to stand in the corner, silent and looming, like an omen of death. Those damn eyes. The fucking family eyes!

I don't have them. And NOT as, my Father would have me believe, because I "take after my Mother". But because I am not genetically related to the Duke. I have GOLD eyes. When I wear the right shade of green? I pass. So I am condemned to forever wear green. Don't even really like it much. But?

I am pretty damn sure? I was just... pretty.

A lovely, orphaned, golden eyed child that COULD pass as his. So why not? It was a whim that payed off. Unlike in the original stories, I imagine. Since I am by FAR the best behaved child in this entire house. Ha! Suck it, bio-kids, the adopted one's the favorite! Maybe should have been less lil bitchs.

....I carefully do not say.

Those are INSIDE thoughts.

Fuck. He's still LOOMING. Isn't he? Go awaaaaaay. Where is Protag-chan? Come be doe eyed and busty! Trip adorably! Go "kyaaa~" or something! I feel body heat and freeze. He's leaning over my shoulder to pick up the teapot, pour me another cup. I can FEEL the barest graze of his knuckles against my back, from where he's gripped my chair. The smell of his aftershave almost hauntingly pleasant.

Like he KNEW exactly what smells I liked most. Went out of his way to find one that best suited my preference. Coincidence. Please, PLEASE be a coincidence! I do not turn my head. Keep my eyes locked straight ahead. Barely breathing.

He steps back.

The new pot is sharp and herbal. Almost bitter. I force myself to drink. Can't see a sugar dish, and REFUSE to turn around and ask for one. Ignore. IGNORE. My pounding heart calms. My muscles slowly start to relax.

It... it IS weird, though, now that I think about it? That Protag-chan hasn't reached the Dukedom yet. She should have. God only knows I sent Creepy to the capital enough times, with enough highly specific instructions, that he should've had his meet cute's and dates by the dozen. Been half way in love. So... why...?

Huh.

Dizzy.

The taste of tea sits wrong on my tounge. I stop drinking as the world sways. Letting the cup fall from my hand. Splatter, roll, and shatter. I try desperately to stand. A gentle gloved hand catches my elbow, supporting me. I turn. Giddy eyes. Triumphant, wide, spring green eyes. Too green to be gold, too gold to be green.

An almost cruel, mocking, yet loving grin.

Another hand slides around my waist, braces me against his side. Gleeful little murmurs, too pleased to be reassuring. You. You did this! You DRUGGED ME!

I can barely move, body relaxing against my command, going limp, as he draws me close. Presses his face against the side of my head, against my temple. A deep, shuddering breathe, that he savors like wine. I try to pull free but can not. Feel his lips pull into a vicious grin against my skin. Hands begin to run in gentle, claiming, exploration.

And at last the drugs kick in... the wo..rld..

G..oes..

Dar..k........

[acesw]

Knowing our Arcanists 6: Bkornblume

Welcome to entry six of my series: "Knowing our Arcanists"! This is a series in which I introduce and tell the stories of our fellow characters in Reverse: 1999. Today's character is: Bkornblume!

Bkorn's got a funny nickname, since its just a mash-up of blue and kornblume. (cornflower) However, she's got quite the short yet nice story, so I'll at the very least make it worth. Lets get started.

Bkornblume is a German arcanist born in the 1980's, born on February 9th. While I have no direct understanding of her arcane skill, I can at distinct that her skill involves sound, and is able to hear smaller sounds (like whispers) that are usually left unheard in the bigger melody.

She's a spy who works under the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, known in English as the Minister of Security, or more commonly known as the "Stasi." They were the state security and secret police of East Germany, who placed eyes everywhere in the former state.

East Germany has been known for its oppressive rule and its insistence for uniformity. The Stasi were meant to maintain state authority at the time but it was notoriously known as being one of the most oppressive police states, overlooking the lives of the state's civilians with intense surveillance, torture, and intimidation.

Most will conform, some will not. Of course, Bkornblume was not one of the people who wanted to immerse in her part of the role in this era. She's merely a listener who does her job as one.

Bkornblume grew up in Berlin, becoming part of the Stasi and is well-known for her arcane skill. She doesn't enjoy this job very much, but she also does to some degree as she's a good listener. She'll leave a bit of unheard commentary about everything she'll hear.

Her daily life tends to be just her listening and transcribing, but it can be said that she enjoys distracting herself and tends to delay her travels to work to take in the scenery. She's also spied on too. But she feels that she would be more uncomfortable if there weren't any eyes on her.

At one point, she had purchased her scarf (and the elk brooch that came with it) in a shop that was closing down. While not remembering the price, it costed a month's salary "and a funny joke which was rarely heard in East Berlin."

Bkornblume is a conformed and optimistic individual. However, she holds a quiet rebellion in her heart, dreaming of a world where everyone can practice freedom of speech. But with a colourful dream far away because of the dull walls around her, she'll only ever do the little things that she could do in her job. Calling for help, making that commentary, but especially endlessly writing. Even then, she's aware that she can't change everything in one go, so she'll try step by step as she speaks out for others.

It can't be denied that Bkornblume spent most of her time "alone," but she enjoys having those eyes on her. She would have wondered if she were dead if not. Like I said earlier, she's greatly optimistic in everything she does, and even believes that she's some sort of "undiscovered radio host." She wishes to become one in the future to comfort others in late nights. Bkornblume hopes that she's at the very least observed and acknowledged.

She's also a greatly mundane and relaxed person, enjoying the simplicity of life and even interacting with simple "contraband" that never really seems to be harmful, like flowers.

Bkornblume finds admiration in the pieces of wildlife that bloomed from old cracks, identifying them time to time such as cornflowers and chrysanthemums. She'll always find some in the most niche places and will share where to find them.

The cornflowers—kornblume in German—are why she took up her current nickname, as she had wanted to distinguish herself from the "countless other unfeeling names" like SCH KA/#.

She empathizes with others greatly and wishes to help them directly, but she can never cross the monitor to take action now can she? She'll shift around the stories of other people in her reports, and no beneficiary ever thinks twice about it as her reports are detailed and easily convincing. Her kindness reaches quite far despite her ways of wanting to express it being a little unethical.

She'll hear anything and everything meant to be hidden away, but hopes for a free world and will choose to grant peace and freedom to the innocent and defiant against such oppressive control.

[coraniaid]

reverse unpopular opinion meme: xander?

[Reverse unpopular opinion meme]

I like to consider my opinion of Xander Harris as being particularly complicated and nuanced, but – engaging in some critical self-reflection for just a moment – I think the objective truth is probably more that I’m just instinctively and aggressively contrarian about it.  I find that I tend to strongly disagree with most of the online takes about Xander I see, almost regardless of whether they’re pro or anti.  

I mean, on the one hand I do think it’s more than a bit silly to pretend, as many people seem to do, that Xander Harris is [somehow?] uniquely and only a Joss Whedon self insert [despite being written by multiple people] in a way that none of the other characters [that Whedon also created and that appear in the show Whedon created] apparently are. Or to ignore the fact that very often the audience is clearly meant to think that Xander is in the wrong and disapprove of his actions.  (You obviously aren’t supposed to be cheering for him when he lies to Buffy about Willow’s message about Angel in Becoming, for an easy example; or to be clapping and applauding him when he cheats on Cordelia or leaves Anya at the altar either.) And I think it would be wrong to dismiss the fact that Xander starts the show as a dumb but (mostly) harmless teenager and that, not only does he gradually mature and improve as a person as he grows up, he also [perhaps uniquely for this show?] manages to do so without killing even one person.    

But equally I would be lying if I didn’t admit that many of my least favorite episodes of the show are either Xander-centric episodes (Teacher’s Pet, The Pack, Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered for example) or episodes in which Xander plays a non-trivial role in exactly the parts of the episodes I most dislike (his treatment of Buffy in Dead Man’s Party, say, or his speech in support of Riley in Into The Woods).  The haters are right to say that Xander does often treat his female friends and partners abysmally, often in ways that the show doesn’t seem to acknowledge or which it briefly acknowledges only to brush them off with no consequences.  There certainly are times when the writers expect the audience to cheer for Xander a lot more than I personally want to, or when he says something gross and sexist which is just meant to be funny and that the writers simply didn’t think critically about at all.  And the flipside of Xander being written by a range of different writers is that his character growth is often slow, halting or inconsistent (which, while arguably realistic, is not particularly fun to experience).  And unlike some of the fandom I don’t really believe anything Xander does can be handwaved away by him being deeply affected by what happened to his “best friend” Jesse in Season 1’s The Harvest: in fact I would put money on a majority of the show’s writers having no idea who Jesse was.

Anyway, none of that preamble is really in the spirit of the ask game, is it?

Um.  Five things I like about Xander, then.  No hedging or clarification except for what I heavily imply above (oh, and also the comics aren’t canon and don’t mean anything and actually don’t even exist … I mean, uh, what comics are we even talking about?).

I think the show resolves the initial Season 1 “love triangle” (in which Xander is really into Buffy and she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings or even seem to notice them, while similarly Willow is really into Xander and he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings or even seem to notice them) in about the best way it possibly could have done.  Buffy and Xander don’t ever get together and there’s never really any suggestion that they might – one or two odd moments in Season 2 aside, I guess? – and Willow musters the self-respect required to firmly reject Xander when he tries to ask her to the dance that Buffy had just turned him down for in Prophecy Girl.  Not only that, but Willow goes on to have a serious relationship with a guy who isn’t Xander and then comes out as a lesbian and continues to have serious relationships with woman who aren’t Xander, right up to the end of the final season.  And this happens all while the three of them stay very close friends; in fact Buffy and Xander at least are clearly better friends in the second half of the season than they were at the beginning of the show [when, after all, Xander had only just met her].  Whether or not that was planned from the beginning – and to be honest, I think the Buffy fandom as a whole wildly overestimates how much of the show was planned from the beginning – I think that’s a pretty unambiguously great way for that particular subplot to have be handled.   (Although the funniest and most geometrically pleasing resolution of the Season 1 love triangle would, of course, have been for Buffy and Willow to end up together.)

Speaking of Buffy and Willow, for all his faults Xander is consistently written as somebody who cares about his friends and wants them to be safe and happy.  As well as the obvious big moments – helping to save Buffy’s life in Prophecy Girl; his speech assuring Buffy that she’s his hero in The Freshman; repeatedly assuring Willow in Grave that he’ll always love her, even if she ends up killing him or destroying the world; that moment in Season 7 where Buffy sends him away to look after Dawn because she “needs somebody [she] can count on” – I think it’s fun when we get to see the three of them just hang out, in those quiet little moments they get to just all be kids together.  I am very firmly in the camp that thinks Buffy should have friends and be allowed to not be treated for an idiot for liking said friends or wanting to spend time with them.�� Whatever else you can say about it, I think it’s obvious that this is how the show’s writers expect you to engage with the show.   That’s part of why I’m more forgiving than some people of episodes like I Robot, You Jane or Bad Eggs or Amends: these are all episodes in which I can believe that Xander is fundamentally a good kid who Buffy would want to be friends with, and that he’d grow up to be somebody she’d still want to be friends with as an adult.    

Some people online – mostly not on Tumblr – talk a lot of rot about Xander getting self-defense training or somehow reconnecting with the military persona he had in Halloween or otherwise Learning How To Fight, and I can’t overstate how glad I am that the show didn’t go in this direction.  Xander makes sense as a character precisely because he isn’t a fighter.  Because he doesn’t occupy that more stereotypically masculine role: because he is the one who gets rescued and brings in baked goods and that the other, more powerful but emotionally repressed characters can go to to talk about their feelings.  Because he is the person who, by the end of the show, can best reassure Dawn that she doesn’t need to be a Potential Slayer or have superpowers to be special.  This idea that Xander complains too much during the show about not having special powers and that the “solution” to “fix” this is to have him go out and get some (as opposed to this being a deliberate character arc in which Xander learns to accept that he’s never going to be that sort of person) is not one I have a lot of sympathy for.  The show already has a human male character who is trained as a fighter so he can go on patrol with Buffy: he’s called Riley Finn and he’s insufferable. 

Although the fandom as a whole loves to massively oversell how “abusive” the Scoobies respective parents are, I do think that Xander’s home life is a key part of understanding who Xander specifically is as a person.  And – again, however deliberately planned from the beginning or not it was – there’s something nicely disturbing about how we never get a big dramatic reveal about how awful Xander’s parents are: it’s just something that the writers just slowly build up to – from the idea in Season 1 that Xander doesn’t regularly eat cooked meals at home (“do your parents even own a stove?”), to Xander joking about his dad trying to “send [him] to some Armenians once” early in Season 2, or calling home to say he’s going to be out all night and having his mother clearly not recognize his voice, through to Cordelia revealing in Season 3 that he admitted to her that sleeps outside during Christmas to avoid his parents drunken fights  – until by Restless we can see Xander having nightmares about being trapped in his parents basement and having his father come down the stairs and we don’t need to have anything more than that explained to us.  I think that’s all really effectively done, and while I don’t think it excuses te way Xander behaves I do think it does a lot to make sense of it.

Again, while I think it’s possible to drastically overstate the Mind/Spirit/Heart metaphorical reading – I don’t think this is something the writers were consciously thinking about most of the time and I don’t think the reading of the show in which everyone is reduced to a part of Buffy’s own psyche is even particularly interesting except perhaps as an intellectual exercise – I do think it’s a reading that works pretty well for Xander. (Actually of the three elements, that’s surely the one that’s easiest to see: I’ve never been completely sure why Willow is the Spirit rather than the Mind.)  Yeah, Xander can often be petty and jealous and selfish and hypocritical and refuse to analyze his own feelings: that doesn’t rule him out from being Buffy’s metaphorical heart, it’s evidence that he is.  Buffy can be all of those things too!  (I think I am rather more fond of Buffy herself than you are – she is my favorite character on the show, after all – but I don’t like Buffy because she’s flawless and perfect; I like her because she’s interesting and realistically flawed, and very often flawed in the same ways as her friends.)

[creeperman247]

alright, so, we all know that the ending to the whole phyrexian arc was really disappointing, but honestly one of my biggest gripes is what they did with urabrask.

the phyrexian praetors were twists on the stereotypical color roles; elesh norn turned white's order into tyranny, vorinclex turned green's nature into a "perfected" nature, jin-gitaxias turned blue's desire for progress into a desire for progress at any cost, etc. urabrask took reds emotion, most commonly anger, and turned it into emotion, most commonly compassion, which is a super interesting direction to take it. he shut off weapon creation from the rest of the phyrexians, he sheltered the mirrodin rebels, he even went as far as to think that compleation should be a consensual process, that if it truly was perfect, everyone would become willingly compleated eventually, and that the other praetors forcing compleation upon people was a sign they didn't really believe in it. he shows that, unlike what basically everything else would lead you to believe, the phyrexians are not inherently evil. (it is also important to note that despite what wotc seemingly really wants you to think, compleation isn't "a fate worse than death," at least not when consensual, it is shown that compleated people maintain their original personalities and memories.)

so, what did they do with this incredibly unique character (who is my favorite character in the entire lore honestly)? they had him lead a revolt that went nowhere and got him killed, doing nothing in the process. what a massive waste.

so, here's my idea on how the ending should have gone: urabrask leads the revolt but is outnumbered and overpowered. however, instead of being killed, he escapes and flees the plane through the planar gate (perhaps with the help of one of the compleated red planeswalkers.) he ends up hiding and/or on the run for a while, and then the whole "phyrexians invade every plane" thing happens. a bunch of planeswalkers kill elesh norn like in the current story, but this time elesh norn isn't stupid and the phyrexians don't shut down just because she's dead. however, her dying gives the rest of the planes hope that this is a winnable battle, and they begin to push back. this then gives urabrask and the red phyrexians the space to begin fighting alongside the planes to defeat the rest of the phyrexians, and, once the rest of the phyrexians are defeated (obviously over the course of multiple sets with more cinematic battles and such, instead of cramming it all into 1 set) urabrask takes over as the new leader, and ushers the phyrexians into a new age of kindness where they aren't the villains for once. urabrask educates the compleated planeswalkers about compassion and such and undoes the teachings of elesh norn (which really wouldn't be that hard honestly? the planeswalkers don't really have a reason to not believe him, especially more naturally compassionate ones like tamiyo, and even meaner ones would probably listen better once the first few do). if for some reason, people really think important characters like jace being compleated (and otherwise exactly the same) is a bad thing for the story, then there can be come character arcs where some of the planeswalkers realize that they don't actually like being compleated and some people come up with some way to reverse the compleation process, probably with the help of urabrask himself due to the whole consensual compleation ideology. plus, this new story allows for all sorts of followups: instead of the phyrexians just being gone with no chance of coming back because the oil no longer works, you can have the red phyrexians exist as denizens of mirrodin, living alongside the natives, and even as allies in other story things, like having them help fight against emrakul or something. and because the oil still works, there will be leftovers of the other phyrexian factions all over the place, so you could have them reappear occasionally as both major or minor villains.

and of course, make sure to give a few sets that go over the consequences of the multiverse-wide invasion instead of just glossing over them.

[ladykailitha]

Never Hold Back Your Step... Part 16

Here we are at the end of an era. I can't believe it's over. Even when engagement dropped off, and it lost it's luster, I persevered and got it done. I sad it's over, but grateful too, you know? I don't have to worry about fitting it into canon or make Nancy play nice.

I do plan on finishing the story. I'm just juggling other stories at the moment. I have four current WIPs and they take priority right now.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

~

“Sing it.”

Dustin’s eyes went wide and looked around him, looking for support.

“Sorry, man,” Eddie said, “I’m with her. You haven’t spoken to her in a week and now you’re only calling when you have a problem. Suck it up and sing the god damned song.”

Steve hid his grin behind his hand, so Dustin sighed and started singing the theme song to The Neverending Story. It was a lovely duet.

Or at least it would have been had Eddie not been singing back up, terribly, horribly, and deliberately off key.

Steve was a little surprised at how well the little twerp could sing, if he was honest. Hell, if the kid wasn’t so wrapped up in the nerd stuff, he probably could do it professional.

Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he stumbled that direction. He started pawing at Eddie’s jacket.

Eddie turned around to ask him what was wrong, but he saw it too.

“Shit.”

Everyone else turned too.

“Shit,” Dustin echoed. He grabbed the walkie talkie and tried to get their friends on the line.

“SKEEERAAAHHH!” was all he got back in response.

“You and Erica stay here,” Steve snapped. “You two still need to get Hopper and them through to the base. Eddie, Robin, you can come with me or stay here, but we’ve gotta go now.”

Robin and Eddie immediately fell in line behind him.

“Sorry, Eds,” Steve said, “I’ve got to drive. It’s only way I can–”

Eddie nodded. He knew that in that moment it wasn’t about concussions or being beat to hell. It was about getting the people who needed him. He slapped the keys in Steve’s hand and slid in the back of the car.

Robin hopped in the front seat and Steve got into driver’s seat.

“Seat belts, everyone,” he said through gritted teeth. “This going to be a bumpy ride.”

He threw back in reverse and hightailed it out of there.

~

CRUNCH!

Steve stared ahead at the now flattened Camero in shock. He couldn’t believe he had just done that.

“Everyone okay?”

Robin looked at him with wide eyes. “Ask me tomorrow?”

“No, no, I am absolutely not,” Eddie hissed. “But better fucking Hargrove than me.”

They all scrambled to get out of the car.

“So what’s this one called?” Eddie asked looking up at the giant flesh monster.

“Dustin and them call it Mind Flayer,” Steve replied.

“So we’re going to try and kill this thing?” Robin asked, looking at Steve in concern.

Steve nodded and then started heading for their friends. “Before it kills El, yeah.”

“Let’s do this shit,” Eddie said, hurrying to catch up, Robin hot on his heels.

~

Well that could have gone worse.

Hopper dead. Billy dead. Mind Flayer, also dead. El lost her powers. Also bad. Steve definitely had a concussion and a broken cheek bone. That was going to be a bitch to heal, there was no doubt about that.

A couple of weeks later, Erica called up Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Eddie.

“Who’s up for a Scoops Troupe My Little Pony GURPS?” she asked when they had all shown up at her house.

They all stared at her for a moment like she was crazy.

Then Eddie’s eyes went wide. “Ooh, wait, I’ve heard of this. It’s like D&D but is get six sided dice and a point system.”

“Sounds like fun to me,” Robin said. “I don’t know what either of those things are, but taking my mind off the monsters sounds brilliant right about now.”

“It stands for generic universal role play system,” Erica said, proudly. “One of my friends was out visiting family over the Fourth of July and got to go to the convention. I’ve been doing some research and I can totally make it My Little Pony themed.”

She scuffed the ground with her shoe. “But before I played it with my friends I wanted to try it out first, you know? Work out the kinks?”

Steve was all ready to say no until she brought up her friends.

“Yeah, all right,” he huffed. “I’m in, too.”

Erica jumped up and down, clapping her hands excitedly.

~

They all met up at Steve’s.

Steve provided the treats and sodas and Erica provided the story telling.

Robin mostly fooled around and Dustin didn’t take it very seriously. He got into character and all, but he was very silly with it. Making inside jokes from the show and just trying to make Erica laugh.

Steve just held on for dear life and whenever he got too overwhelmed by it all he would refresh the drinks and goodies.

Eddie, though? He got really into it with his pony called Metal Fire, he was asking all kinds of questions and Erica was eating it all up. Sometimes he would ask a question and she would just laugh. Because there wasn’t an answer yet.

But between the two of them they made it all the way to the big bad, Lady Applejack. Dustin threw down his pencil when she was revealed to be behind it all along as he had been saying for the last four hours not to trust her.

Erica sat back giggling and just unable to stop. It was late at night so Steve called Dustin and Erica’s moms to see if they could spend the night. Claudia was fine, but Sue had to be convinced. It didn’t take much, just a nice conversation with Robin that she would keep an eye on her.

That night when Eddie and Dustin were cuddled together on Steve’s bed, Eddie asked him if he had fun.

Steve thought about it for a moment. “It was a bit overwhelming,” he admitted. “I couldn’t imagine playing D&D if it’s harder.”

Dustin scoffed, but Eddie smacked the back of his head. “Hey, you and I have been playing these kinds of games for a long time and he hasn’t. Cut him some slack.”

Which after some major grumbling, Dustin did.

After they were sure he was asleep, Eddie murmured, “It’s okay if you didn’t enjoy it, Stevie. It’s not for everybody and that’s okay. Just like sports aren’t for everyone.”

Steve huffed out a breath of laughter and then settled into drift off to sleep, surrounded by two of his dearest people.

And later, he would admit that he did have fun. But mostly because it was one die instead of multiple dice and was really simple.

He knew from dating Eddie and being best friends with Dustin that D&D was not that.

~

The summer passed slower after that. The days seemed to last longer and time drifted like a leaf down a gently flowing stream.

There were pool parties and barbecues and just learning to laugh again. El was even more withdrawn now that Hopper was gone. Joyce had taken her in and Steve knew money was getting tight for them, now that she had three kids to feed.

Eddie was getting more anxious as the summer wore on. He was told by the new principal that he had to graduate this year or he would be forced to drop out and take the GED.

Steve knew it was going to be a rough year for him and really wanted to support him. But didn’t know how.

He barely passed himself with Nancy’s help. But between him and Wayne they were going to try their hardest to make sure Eddie got at least a passing grade in every one of his classes.

The first day of school finally arrived and Steve found himself with a new best friend. Or like she called it platonic soulmate.

Even Eddie found it amusing and a little freaky how in sync they were. All the time.

Steve showed up at her house and honked the horn. She came running outside, carrying her trumpet and backpack, as gangly as newborn giraffe.

“Dingus!” she cried happily. “You didn’t have to pick me. I could have taken my bike.”

Steve shook his head. “Nah. I wanted to check up on the squirts and figured this was the best way to do it covertly. Like a ninja!”

Robin swatted at him playfully. “Using me to look at after your children. Disgusting!”

Steve laughed as he reversed the car and started toward the school. “Come on, you love me!”

She paused to think about it. Steve swatted her arm playfully and she burst out laughing. “Yeah, yeah. Of course I love you. Just don’t tell your boyfriend.”

“He knows and is surprisingly chill about it,” he said with a grin and a half shrug. “I think he thinks that as long as we’re together it’s easier for him to find me.”

“That is surprisingly chill,” Robin said. “And unhinged, but okay.”

Steve pulled into the parking lot and let her out. She pointed over to the front of the school. “See? Your children are fine.”

He looked over at the front doors to see all but Erica of his children. El and Max were listening to Max’s new Walkman. Probably that new Kate Bush tape Nancy gave her to help her sleep. The Party were harassing Eddie about Hellfire.

He could tell it was about D&D because Eddie was waving his arms excitedly and they were all listening to him with rapt attention. All four of them. Which meant D&D.

“Yeah, okay,” he said with a small smile. “I’ll see you after school?”

Robin smiled at him fondly. “Yeah, dingus. I’ll see you after school.”

~

Eddie held on to him like a leech. It was the one Saturday they had together and probably would for a long time.

“No...” he whined. “You can’t go. You need to stay here and snuggle with me. You promised.”

Steve sighed. He had promised, but Robin called a little bit ago saying that she had an in at the local video store and they should go.

“I’ll tell you what,” Steve murmured. “Let me go call her back, tell her to grab a couple of applications for us to fill out tomorrow and go. Then I’ll come back here and snuggle with all day. As promised.”

Eddie looked up at him skeptically. “You sure?”

Steve rolled over and grabbed the phone next to his bed. He dialed Robin’s number. “Is Robin there?”

Once he got her on the phone he told her the plan and though she grumbled a little bit she ultimately agreed.

Steve hung up literally minutes later.

“See?”

“You’re a regular hero, aren’t you?” Eddie said, rubbing his nose along Steve’s throat. “You never faltered, never held back your step for a moment. Not when you were needed. I never really thought about it, but I think you’re my hero.”

Steve blushed. “I’m really not. I don’t have superpowers. I’m not trained in several martial arts. I’m not smart or even brave really.”

Eddie rolled over on top of Steve to look him square in the eye. “You care a lot and if I’ve learned anything in this world, that is greatest superpower there ever was, sweetheart.”

Steve looked up at him in awe.

“You really believe that?”

Eddie kissed him deeply and then collapsed on Steve with a huff and a grunt. He wrapped his arms around him and buried his head into the crook of Steve’s neck.

He vowed then in there, he would keep the keeper. He couldn’t be brave all the time. What happened was frightening as hell. But he had Steve with him every step of the way. He would protect this beautiful boy. This knight of his heart.

“I love you, Stevie.”

Steve kissed the top of his head. “I love you, too, sunshine.”

~

Tag List: COMPLETED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @blondie1006

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @angels-of-hades

7- @mugloversonly @y4r3luv @greeniebean911 @birbsauce @acingthecounts

8- @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars @ravenfrog @dreamercec @sadisticaltarts

9- @clockworkballerina @bluelightsinthevoid @blcksh33p1987 @i-go-pink-in-the-night @mamafaithful

10- @w1ll0wtr33 @samsoble @urkadop

[celticcrossanon]

BRF Reading - 15th of May, 2024

This is speculation only

Cards drawn on the 15th of May, 2024

Question: Are Meghan and Harry actively trying to kill The King?

As I was shuffling the cards for this reading, two cards flew out. I was going to draw one card for Meghan, one for Harry, and one for them as a couple, plus the underlying energy, but those two cards told me everything I needed to know.

This is a two card reading

Warning: This reading contains some of the ugliest energy I have ever encountered in all my years of tarot reading. Please prepare yourself before you read it and do not read it if you are feeling at all upset/despondent/shaky/insecure etc. You need to be protected by God/Jesus/the angels/the universe/whomever you call upon to protect you before you read this reading.

Answer: Yes

Card One: The Three of Swords

This is the card that flew out of my deck as I was shuffling. One look and I had my answer.

The Three of Swords is a card of grief, heartbreak, despair. It shows King Agamemnon being killed in his bath by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover.

Clytemnestra brooded over past injuries done to her by the King until she decided to kill him. In this card she represents Harry, with his belief that the BRF has ''victimised' him (e.g. by taking away his military honours).

Her lover, Aegisthus, believed his family has been betrayed by the father of Agamemnon and had been conceived to take revenge on the family. He represents Meghan, with her belief that the BRF has hurt her (eg no one asked me if I was Ok, no one cared about my mental health, they are racist and all her other lies) and her desire for vengeance on them.

The picture shows the death of the rightful King by Clytemnestra and her lover. I am taking this as the death of The King at the hands of Harry and Meghan, in answer to my question. Harry and Meghan want to kill The King. They want to inflict the grief and heartbreak and despair of his death on the BRF.

Card Two: The Eight of Swords in reverse

The energy of this card is of stress. The reverse position has intensified the upright energy (as it sometimes does) instead of reversing the meaning of it. It also adds a delayed time element to the energy.

Harry and Meghan want to use stress to kill The King. They wants him to feel trapped, hemmed in, unable to move or escape, especially mentally. This card can represent someone who is trapped/paralysed by their thoughts and who feels helpless, and that is the energy of the card - what Meghan and Harry want to invoke in The King.

There is a very strong relentless energy to this card - Meghan and Harry will not give up until The King either a) abdicates in their favour (yes, I know that is not possible, but we are dealing with two delusional people here) or b) drops dead from stress - stroke, heart attack, cancer, they do not care.

There is a vicious energy to this card that lashes out repeatedly until the desired object is achieved - an energy I can only describe as stabbing, over and over again, until the person is dead. There is a chant going through my mind of 'stab stab stab kill kill kill' as I type this. The 'stabs' are emotional and stress wounds.

These two cards tell me that Meghan and Harry have planned to kill The King and they will not stop until it is accomplished - and then they will turn their attention to Prince William.

This is truly ugly energy - vicious, self-centred, and laser focused on their desires with no thought of anyone else.

Because it is so ugly I asked for a third card as confirmation, just to make sure I am on the right track about this, as it is a horrible thing to say about anyone.

Confirmation Card: King of Cups in reverse

The King of Cups is the card for Scorpio, and as such it represents King Charles, who is a sun sign Scorpio. In the reverse, it shows King Charles in decline, weakened, not strong and happy (that would be the card upright). The card represents King Charles in his role as a person, father/husband/uncle etc, and not in his role as King. To have it in reverse as a confirmation card is a definite yes. Harry and Meghan want The King to die and they are actively trying to bring this about.

Just in case there is any doubt, the card after this was The Seven of Swords.

The Seven of Swords - deceit, trickery, lies, scheming - with the pictures showing Orestes creeping into the city/palace to kill his mother for murdering his father. The card showing a son in the act of murdering a parent and the meaning of the card - thief, lies, deceit, scheming - confirm the message above and add to it - Harry and Meghan are trying to kill The King so they can steal what is his for themselves.

Notice that all the suit cards I am pulling are Swords - the suit of thoughts, plans, and strategies. Another confirmation. There is no emotion involved here (that would be Cups) - just a cold and merciless desire to remove someone who stands in the way of their plans.

This is revolting energy and I am going to stop now.

A note of hope - just because Harry and Meghan are actively trying to do this, there is no guarantee that they will succeed, especially if we pray for The King and for Prince William and his family and/or we send them protective energy. St Michael the Archangel is a good angel to ask to protect them if anyone is so inclined.

[theemissuniverse]

HOW DARE YOU!!! WHAT DID KUNG LAO DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THAT ANGSTY ASS PIECE???? HELLO, I DEMAND A SECOND, THIRD, ALL THE PARTS AND HE GETS Y/N BACK BC WHAT THE FUCK!!!! IMA KNOCK YOU OUT, IM FEELING SO MANY THINGS RN!!!!

“MEANT TO BE” KUNG LAO X FEM!READER PART 2

This is part 1

A/N : LMAOOO NOT YALL THREATENING ME. I’m going to make a part 3 next

WARNINGS : still angsty

MASTERLIST 1 , MASTERLIST 2

There was a massive change in Kung Lao’s performance. When training, Kung Lao was actually letting Raiden beat him. That was when they knew things were bad.

Raiden slams Kung Lao down to the ground and Kung Lao had emotionless expression on his face. Raiden sighs. “You have to actually try, Lao.”

“What’s the point?”

Raiden helped Kung Lao up. Johnny and Kenshi both wandered to them. Johnny pats Kung Lao on the shoulder. “Why don’t you take five buddy?” Kung Lao shrugged and walked over to sit on the bench. “Okay…this is not good.”

“I’ve never seen him so upset over a woman before.” Raiden said. “He’s used to getting rejected.”

“Yeah well, they have been dating for awhile.” Kenshi stated. “What happened again? Kitana kissed Kung Lao?”

“Yes, but he didn’t kiss her back. I don’t think (Y/N) believes him.”

“We gotta get them back together.” Johnny said. “They’re meant to be together. I mean she’s the reason why Lao is actually tolerable now.”

Raiden nodded. “That is true…” The three turned their attention to Kung Lao who was holding the necklace he gave you. “I have a feeling this will get worse.”

Liu Kang walked over to them. When he noticed you weren’t around he was a bit confused. He looked over to Kung Lao. “Kung Lao, where is (Y/N)?”

“No, no, no!” The three shouted but it was too late.

Kung Lao started to cry again as he stared at the necklace. “I don’t know. Probably happier without me.”

The three sighed and Liu Kang looked confused. “What did I do?”

“(Y/N) broke up with Kung Lao.” Raiden explained.

Liu Kang had a look of sympathy. “That is unfortunate. I would’ve thought it not possible.”

When he said that, Johnny gave him a curious look. “What makes you say that?”

“In every timeline that I know of, the two are bound to be together.”

“If that’s the case then this is probably just a petty break.” Kenshi said.

“It is unlikely. (Y/N) does not tend to go back to relationships she deems as unfit for her.”

“What do we do?” Johnny asked the two. “We gotta get them back together. I can’t see him cry like this.”

They all turned their attention back at Kung Lao who was still sobbing with the necklace.

Raiden hated seeing Kung Lao like this. He was his best friend and it was just completely out of character. He didn’t know if Kung Lao would be okay without you. “Lord Liu Kang, where does (Y/N) stay at?” When Liu Kang looked unsure to say, Raiden felt the need to beg him. “Please Lord Liu Kang. You told me that in the other timeline, the roles were reversed. You were Kung Lao’s best friend. Which means that you know that him being like this is scary. Scary to me. Please.”

He had a point. Liu Kang knew that. He was in Raiden’s shoes at one point which meant he knew exactly what was going on with Kung Lao. It would take a lot to pull him out of the depression. “Alright.”

When the three arrived at the house, they were confused. It was a really beaten down house in a bad neighborhood. You just didn’t seem like the type to live there.

“You sure we got the right place?” Johnny asked unsure of the area.

“We did.” Raiden simply said and knocked on the door.

The three waited patiently until the door was opened. “I don’t want your Girl Scout cookies-“ You stopped yourself when you had seen it was your three friends.

You looked like a mess. You had a dinghy robe on. You looked like you were dead. You had dried up ice cream around your lips.

“Sheesh. Break up face is not a good look on you.” Johnny said.

You huffed a little. “How the hell did you guys find me?”

Before anyone could say anything, you heard your mother speaking in the background. “Who’s at the door sweetie?”

“No one, mama!” You tried saying but it was too late. Your mother was already coming to the door in her wheelchair.

“Are you (Y/N)’s friends? I’m so glad you’ve finally stopped by. I was a little worried thinking she didn’t have any friends. Come on in.”

You sighed at your mother for having a big heart and opened your door wider so they could walk in.

When the three walked in, they weren’t expecting how small your house actually was. It was actually very neat and tidy.

They walked in further and saw a little girl, about eight years old running around the house. “No running! How many times do I have to tell you?” You yelled at your little sister.

Your sister, Presley, didn’t reply. She just looked at the men behind you. “Ooh. Are one of these boys your boyfriend?”

You hit her upside the head slightly before sitting on the couch. “No. And I don’t have a boyfriend anymore.”

“Wasn’t your boyfriend a descendant of a champion? And you broke up with him?” Presley said as if she couldn’t believe it.

You grabbed the ice cream that was on the table and sat back on the couch. “Go away. Play with dolls or something.”

Presley was about to walk out of the room until she reached to Johnny. She smiled brightly at him. “Hi. My name is Presley. I’ll be legal in 10 years if you wanna wait for me.”

Johnny laughed at what she said. You took off your slipper and threw it at her and she ran away. “Out!”

“Kids have low standards.” Kenshi said and Johnny smacked his shoulder.

You let out an annoyed grunt. “Sit down I guess or whatever. Mama, that’s Raiden, Johnny, and Kenshi.” You said, pointing at each one.

Johnny sat on your left side while Kenshi sat on your right. Raiden sat on a chair that was nearby.

Your mother came into the room and wheeled to you. She set a plate of cookies on the table. “I’d figure Earthrealm’s greatest fighters are hungry.”

“Sweet. Cookies.” Johnny grabbed a cookie off the plate and immediately started to eat it.

Raiden smiled at her. “Thank you, Ms. (L/N).”

“Oh please. Call me, Mama (L/N).”

“Mom. I love you but please go away. Forever.” You told her while eating the ice cream.

“Alright now. I’m just glad you’re being social.” Your mother said while going off into a different room. “And don’t be eating all my ice cream!”

Everyone turned their attention towards you. “You wanna tell me why you’re at my house intruding on my misery?” You asked them.

“(Y/N), we need you to snap out of this funky depression and go back to Kung Lao.” Johnny told you.

You scoffed. “Why would I do that?”

“Well for one, you’re obviously depressed.”

“I’ll get over it.”

“(Y/N), you’re eating ice cream out of the carton.”

You shrugged. “So?”

Raiden decided to speak. “According to Liu Kang in every timeline, you and Kung Lao end up together. That has to mean something right?”

“It will just be the first time this has happened then.”

“I can’t accept that.”

You sighed a little. You put your feet on the table and ate more of your ice cream. “What’s the point? He’ll find somebody better no way.”

Kenshi decided to chip in. “In Kung Lao’s world, there is no better. There’s only you.”

“Well he’s stupid because there is.”

That’s when Raiden thought about it for a moment. You had to be more upset about something. There was something else to all of this. “You’re not that upset about the kiss are you? Because he didn’t kiss her back. You’re upset about something else. What is it?” When he saw you stop eating ice cream, he knew he was nailing it. “What are you afraid of?”

You placed the spoon back in the carton and sighed to yourself. You couldn’t even meet him in his eyes because you were embarrassed. “What if he finds out the real me?”

“What’s the real you?” Kenshi asked.

“This house. My family. Everything is just so…different from his world.”

Raiden stood up from the chair and sat directly between you and Kenshi. “(Y/N), trust me, Kung Lao is the last guy to care about any of that.”

“Not to be that guy but he’s not exactly Mr. Millionaire himself.” Johnny added.

Raiden placed a hand over your shoulder. “He loves you for you and he’ll keep loving you. None of that matters.”

The feeling of regret consumed you. Did you make the biggest mistake of your life? What if you could never have him again?

Tears started to come out of your eyes. “Well it doesn’t matter because it’s over. Kitana won. She can have him.” You got up from the couch and walked into your room before closing the door.

The three of them sighed in unison. “Now what?” Johnny asked.

“We have convince Kung Lao he still has a shot.” Raiden said. “We have to tell him the truth. That (Y/N) believes she’s unworthy of him.”

“Okay, what about the Kitana thing?” Kenshi asked.

Johnny thought for a moment before the idea came to his head. “Raiden, go to Kung Lao and get into his head. Kenshi and I will go to Outworld to talk to Kitana.”

Raiden looked unsure. “You really think that’s going to work?”

“It has to.”

[redclercs]

DELICATE✰ CHARLES LECLERC.

x. what a shame she's fucked in the head.

— the one where they tell you what your word is worth.

❝𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦❞ —𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘵, 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵.

warnings: abuse downplay, bashing towards taylor swift (i obviously adore her pls don't come for me haha), online bullying, new york inaccuracies, corny taylor references per usual, etc. 2k words + articles

in my head there's a mix of begin again and cornelia street playing as background music.

masterlist ✢ next

NO one likes a mad woman, but not for the reasons Taylor Swift made you believe in the lyrics of her 2020 song. Although we are definitely afraid y/n might get 'more crazy'.

Honestly, who gave her the right to speak like that about Aidan Kim? As it turns out, the three-year relationships she willingly stayed on was a 'dead-end' one, and Aidan "abused" (and I cannot stress the quotations enough) her through several stages of their shared time.

Well, I call bullshit.

How is it that after Aidan Kim helped her build whatever she has going on that people call a 'career' she wasn't bothered about being told 'how to look and how to act' (direct quote from her own video, by the way).

Breaking up with your sneaky link and calling him your friend won't save what you did before, y/n, it's the oldes trick in the book. Everything she said in her Youtube video, one I regretfully watched despite the knowledge that I won't get those 45 minutes of my life back, is rehearsed and calculated and just tried to paint the real victims in a bad light.

Playing the victim worked for Taylor Swift in 2009, 2017, 2019... but we surely won't let it happen again, right folks? y/n needs a new tactic to crawl back from the hell, because we're not believing anything that comes out of her mouth anymore.

It's true what they say, an untalented actress makes an untalented liar.

By Lia Yim

Victoria Presley is worried about best friend's y/n y/ln's well-being after the actress 'completely ghosted her' since moving back to New York.

"One day we were fine and the next, she had packed her bags and left my house," Presley said in an exclusive interview with iNTouch. "I'm not going to lie, I was deeply hurt by her actions. I offered her my home as a safe haven and she left without explanation."

y/n had been living in Victorias Los Angeles home since mid-February until this month when she returned to her infamous SoHo apartment, one she shared with Aidan Kim until their breakup.

"I can find it in my heart to forgive her, of course," 'Vic', as she's known on social media, added. "Right now, I just want my best friend back. I want the y/n I've known for years and not this person she became since Matilde Bassi and Charles Leclerc inserted themselves in her life."

Victoria Presley, the founder and CEO of Presley Beauty, is the daughter of Luke Presley and Claire Walker and has been in the influencing business for a few years now.

"If y/n ends up reading this, I want her to know that I will support her decisions but not in the way her new 'friends' are doing. I just want what's best for her."

SEE ALSO:

→ Vic Presley on having to start from zero: "I'm not a nepobaby!"

→ A look inside y/n's SoHo apartment, the one Aidan Kim paid for.

→ Is Charles Leclerc's career going downhill thanks to y/n?

By Beatrice Mann

With y/n y/ln's latest controversy, the whole world has turned their backs on the actress. But, is it really that bad? Or is it just because she's a woman in the business?

The online community's hottest topic is y/n's Youtube video where she speaks on her relationship with Aidan Kim, her friendship with Charles Leclerc and, most importantly, how all of this has affected her career. And I want to tell you all, y/n is right.

If the roles were reversed, Aidan Kim would be thriving on a newly unlocked 'Heartbreaker' persona and y/n would still be constantly humiliated for not being 'wife material'.

I believe y/n deserves much better than what she's getting. The woman admitted she escaped a relationship where her partner LAUGHED at her and manipulated her actions for his comfort. And people are still siding with the man? Seriously, people, use your brains and dig up your morals!

The only thing we're communicating to younger generations by constantly doubting women's words and putting them in the spotlight for standing up for themselves, is that only men's words are worth something.

June 14th, Manhattan, New York.

It isn't much of a surprise when Charles calls you while you're trying to get your Moka pot to work that morning. It's your third attempt at it and the previous mornings you've left it alone with tears in your eyes to walk down the street and get Starbucks coffee. You might be a little too attached to that coffee maker.

Charles got to New York city the previous night, and reminded you that you promised to show him around more than once. You intended to keep your promise, thinking you would have more time before the day came.

But as you walk to the restaurant where you decided to meet him, you can't help but think how exciting it is that you get to show the city you love so much to Charles. And just like that morning in Monaco, you can't help but remind yourself that this is a friendly get-together.

Charles has slowly, but surely, become one of your closest friends in the middle of the frenzy that your life is. With your ex-best friend saying you walked out on her and your failed fiancé insisting that it was you, who acted like a 'total psychopath' towards the end of your relationship, you have more fingers than people you can count on.

You watch him carefully as he smooths the napkin on his legs twice and then drops in on the table again, fidgeting with the loose threads in the corner.

Your wristwatch says it's 10:00 am, which is the exact time you agreed to meet. You wonder how long he's been waiting if there's an empty cup of coffee in front of him.

"You know, it's also rude to be too early for a meeting," you say as a form of greeting once you approach the table.

This startles him enough to drop the napkin on his lap again, proceeding to scramble to return it to the table before pushing his chair out to get up.

You chuckle, but before you can say you were joking, Charles is engulfing you in a hug. Your stomach flutters because of the way he holds the back of your head with his palm. It feels like you're being reunited after months instead of just two weeks. Time doesn't feel real sometimes, you would know.

"Soleil!" he says excitedly, putting his hands on your shoulders. "It's so good to see you,"

"It's nice to see you too, Charlie."

There's the nickname again. You've tried not to think too hard about it. Is it a European thing to call your friends that? When you asked him about it the last time he called before taking his flight to New York, his response was a simple 'it suits you'.

Charles pulls your chair for you and grabs your purse to place it on the empty chair between you two. He grabs his napkin again, pulling one last time on a thread before smoothing it down and forgetting about it.

"How are you?" Charles asks, a bright smile on his face. It falters in a barely perceptible way because he doesn't want to give you bad thoughts, which seem to come automatically every time the question is asked.

"Well, I'm okay," you assure in a soothing tone, "Still looking for jobs. And you?"

"Alright. Lots of work in the simulator and I'm hoping this is a good weekend,"

"Are you sure you'll be okay getting to Montreal tomorrow?" you smile at the waitress that approaches your table, "Can I have some coffee, please?"

"Of course," Charles assures, with a gesture of his hand. He's getting to Montreal at seven in the morning and running straight to his motorhome. "There's time for everything."

"What do you want to do, then?"

You don't want to exhaust him by showing him around New York, he has a long weekend ahead. To be honest, you really wonder what compelled him to make this stop instead of going straight to Canada. Sure you had talked about him coming to New York, eventually. Not a day before he had to start his Grand Prix weekend.

"Anything you want us to do," he replies, the single-dimpled smile on his face. "I'm open to anything."

"MoMA? Central Park? Something not so touristy?" you suggest, before thanking the waitress as she places a hot cup of coffee on the table.

"Just show me the places you like, y/n, don't stress about it." Charles laughs, eyes returning to the open menu in front of him. "I only care about hanging out with you."

"Thanks," is all you manage to say as you sip the scalding coffee, you do your best not to wince as it burns your tongue and down your throat. "Let's do it then."

"So, what do you think? Everything you expected and more?"

You're taking a walk in Central Park after Charles agreed to see the Alice in Wonderland statue. It's a warm morning in New York and although you haven't been walking around for that long, Charles seems content enough with what he's seen.

"It's very... you," Charles replies, and you're sure he means it as a compliment, but New York can be really ugly too. "In a good way!" he adds when he sees your expression.

"Thank you, Charlie." you laugh again. It's easy being with Charles, laughing with sincerity and really being in what's happening in the moment.

You didn't lie when you said you weren't afraid of speaking up anymore, but the dread of actually doing it is inevitable. Your words are being twisted and marked as false because Aidan is far 'more loved' than you are. Not to mention Victoria's interview about your lack of reciprocity to her humble feelings

You're still thinking about suing her. But it hurts to know that she was your best friend a week ago.

A few people stop you both to ask for pictures and autographs on the back of phone cases. A few of them ignore you, others smile politely at Charles before asking him to take their picture with you.

"I'm really polishing my photographing skills," Charles jokes as you walk away from a group of young girls who gush about how much they wish they could dress like you.

"Sorry if it bothers you," you whisper, looking at him only from the corner of your eye.

"Of course not, y/n. They ask nicely, and you're okay with it." he shrugs.

There was one time when a teenager, around fourteen or fifteeen, asked Aidan if he could please take a picture of her and yourself. It was an innocent question, she had already acknowledged him as 'that guy from Star-5' and how he'd been in Supercut with you.

But just by the way you saw his expression change, you told the girl a selfie was a better option, you would hold the phone yourself if she was okay with it.

You didn't hear the end of it for the rest of night. Aidan berated your career for the first time of many, saying it was frankly offensive that he’d been treated that way. It didn't matter that you told him the girl was barely a teen and she hadn't been rude. Still, he was more famous than you, he didn't deserve to be made felt like the opposite.

"What are you thinking?" Charles asks, touching your shoulder gently to make you pause your walk.

You really don't want to admit you were thinking about your ex-boyfriend. Not that it matters, Charles knows you think about Aidan often in a mostly negative light, but it feels weird to say it here. So you shrug and sigh. "I wish I thought of nothing, to be honest."

Charles squeezes your shoulder in a half hug. He doesn't push your boundaries, although he wishes he knew what was actually going through your mind.

─────────

It's when you two are having dinner in a restaurant in SoHo that Charles asks the question that has been eating him away since he landed in New York the previous night.

"Do you want to come to Canada with me?"

"Am I not blacklisted from the paddock?" you tease, although Elix is gone. You wonder if Ferrari people blame you a little bit for their sponsor dropping them.

"Absolutely not," Charles frowns, "And you would be my guest, you get to be in the Ferrari Suite like always."

"Thank you, Charlie–"

Charles tries not to seem disappointed as he waits for the 'but' to follow, so he drinks from his wine.

"—but I have some back to back things to do this weekend," you do regret not being able to make it, you loved the few Grand Prix you were able to attend and you would love to see Carlos too. But you have booked a few interviews with people who, more than anything want to consume gossip, but have disguised it as 'letting you tell your truth in more depth'. You cannot back down from what you started.

"That's okay," he assures with a quick wink. "You know you can come to races whenever you want to, though, right?"

"I can?" you raise both eyebrows and Charles rolls his eyes. "The benefits of having a Ferrari driver as a friend. I should have befriended you sooner."

"Very funny," he says as he hides his smile behind his glass of wine again. "Do I get invited to the Red Carpets?"

"You kind of befriended me at the downfall of my career. It's going to take a while for you to be on a Red Carpet."

Charles clicks his tongue and shakes his head. "You're only just getting started, soleil. Don't say that."

You hope he's right, because you have castings lined-up for next week too and you don't want to call him, or Mati, or your mom, crying about how unwanted you feel.

You shrug, drinking from your own wine.

"I'm being serious, y/n," Charles' tone is stern for a moment, yet not aggressive. "You have a lot of wonderful things to do in the future."

"Yeah, thanks." you dislike yourself for ruining the mood yet again, but Charles isn't bothered as he smiles at you once again.

"I mean it,"

He does, and so does Mati, and your mom. You are bound for great things, although they're taking time to find you right now.

"I know. Thank you Charlie, you're very kind. I hope you have a good race this weekend."

Charles huffs. "Yes, me too. Wish me luck?"

"I feel like I jinx you more than help you, Charlie."

"You didn't wish me luck in Spain, look how that went," he fakes a shudder and you snort. You hated every minute spent in Spain after FP3.

"Good luck, you'll do great." You pat the hand that he keeps on top of the table a couple times and before you can take your hand back, he grabs it, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Your heart races and you take a deep, sharp breath, like that would help it go back to normal. You have tried not to overanalyze everything about today, from the way Charles looked to the words he said, to the way your body responded to it. You don't want to go down that specific spiral.

"Thanks for stopping by," you take your hand back and keep it busy with your almost empty glass of wine. The alcohol has turned your cheeks warm. "You really want to see New York, huh?"

"I really wanted to see you," Charles replies, nonchalantly.

And you know you'll be spiraling, despite your best efforts.

─── team principal radio: ❝thanks for reading! also thank you so so so much because last chapter got to 1k+ interactions and i was beyond shocked!! it means a lot that you're enjoying delicate!♡❞

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[howlsofbloodhounds]

"dead dove with color and killer"

killer's happy ending... derailed? 🥺😢😭

[cw: mention of abuse, abuse apologia]

honestly that feels plausible. killer's perception of what a functional friendship must be so messed up from his experience with chara and nightmare. he thinks a relationship is between a controller and a controlled. i imagine killer imagines his relationship with color as the first time he willingly submits to the role of being controlled. because he trusts color to handle him with care, to have his best interests at heart, to reform him into a good person.

but sometimes, there's this insidious little urge in killer to usurp color, just like he has with chara and nightmare before. but no, it's not for bad reasons this time - this time, it's for the other person's wellbeing. he has good intentions. he needs - he wants - to protect color from all the bad things that color finds himself in. what good is being someone's tool if your owner can't use you properly?

Cw: abuse, dead dove do not eat, and also yandere type of shit and blood and violence in the edit/audio

Just in time for me to have came across this audio and edit lmao.

But yeah you get it!! This fucker lives and breathes in his trauma that totally isnt trauma if you asked him.

and like. i can picture him trying to teach color how he feels is the proper way to use him. provoking color is snapping and yelling at him, praising him and thanking him whenever color does something to punish him for “acting out” and “disobeying.”

its like a reverse of color reforming killer. where killer is trying to teach and reform color into being someone he’s not because he thinks itll keep color safe. come on, say something harsh and demeaning. break my arm, shove me into the walls, show me my place.

and like..he gets unbelievably confused and irritated when color doesn’t or attempts to be kind to him. he hasnt does anything to earn that, unless it is part of colors game. (In which case he’d kiss colors feet cause yes he’s learning!)

and like whenever killer lashes out or hurts color he always does it from what he believes is a place of devotion and care. color wont take the rest, he keeps trying to help people who use him, he keeps being hurt by the world because he doesnt understand how it works. its ok, killer will teach him. he will break colors legs if that means the man will finally allow himself to rest, and he cant go out where someone can once again try to hurt him.

and he’s never “needlessly”—in his definition—cruel. he always apologizes so sincerely for causing color any pain and always does his best to take care of him and never ever ever denies color what he needs or whatever he wants (except if that’s to leave killer, or to help fools who are using him damnit.) he never plays any games with colors food and drink and baths and clothes and bed.

and it only lets up when color is forced to adapt. stop trying to give killer any say over anything or control, command him to do what you want. make him do what you want. if you want to give him kindness and he attempts to argue back, sharply remind him that you make the rules here, not him.

and like..killer is sickeningly pleased when color adapts. proud of color even.

and color..he feels sick. color cant help but wonder if he should’ve helped killer at all. or if this is the only way he can help him; by making “proper” use of him, even if color must use his authority to..adjust the rules a bit.

and like..imagine after color is forced to punish killer..he like. breaks down. starts sobbing and crying and shaking and like killer, bloody broken mangled killer, is smiling and crawls in his lap and hugs him. wipes away all his tears and heaps endless praise on him.

..aw man this timeline makes me unbelievably sad.

[brucewaynehater101]

In reverse Robins, technically Steph would be the second Robin, she would be in Jason's pixie boots and come back devastated and vengeful. Tim would either still be stuck at the one who has to put all the pieces together with people throwing all his effort and work back in his face because of the loss of a loved one and him not being them, or maybe in Barbara's position, crippled, traumatized, and having to rebuild himself both as a civilian and vigilante

Then Jason as the Replacement, the one who has to live up to his multiple predecessors, who has to mediate between two (mostly) grown men, who believes that Gotham needs Robin, needs the hope that Batman brings to the city

Bored with Red Hood Tim, give me Oracle Tim, give me a Tim who's forced to create his own mantle instead of taking on someone else's name while he gets the job done

You are absolutely correct. Why didn't I think about it that way? If we are reversing Robins, Duke would be a very temp "Robin" before Damian, who is older, takes over the role. They wouldn't be called Robin, but whatever mantle they end up passing down.

Duke would be it for like a minute or two (maybe his gang is inspired by Batman, wants to help the crusader, and then Duke settles into being his own role). Damian would then come into the picture, take up the mantle Duke discarded, and need to be Batman's partner (Duke doesn't need to. Damian needs the constant presence of Bruce both so he can get to know his dad and so that he is guided on Bruce's version of vigilantism).

Damian goes off to do whatever (maybe he does a few years in the LoA similar to what Bruce did but obviously different).

Bruce stumbles upon Steph, who's Spoiler, and negotiates with her to take up Damian's discarded mantle. Steph, who has her mom, never actually joins the Waynes. She also never truly bonds with Damian (who's away and not approving of her taking "his" mantle). Duke and her get along, but he typically works the "day shift."

Then Steph spots Tim stalking her on a roof. At first, creeped out, she hits him with a brick. Then Tim shows her the photos of the other Bats and the evidence he's collected of cases. Steph begrudgingly grows fond of the little stalker.

She doesn't have the best relationship with Bruce and is still a little miffed he forced her to be a vigilante under his watch (instead of continuing to be independent). Because of this, Steph keeps Tim to herself and away from the Bats. Tim doesn't want to be a vigilante anyways.

Steph shows Tim some moves to keep himself safe while he collects evidence and becomes a stalker. Cass gets adopted around this point and becomes the only Wayne aware of Tim's presence. It's a secret between the three of them.

Tim even introduces Steph to Helena Bertinelli. He met her while he was gathering clues for a case. While Tim and Helena are closer, Steph admires the older woman and her way of vigilantism. Steph can't copy it cause of Bruce, but Steph doesn't find it to be wrong either.

Then the whole mess with Black Mask happens, and Steph "dies."

Tim, who's devastated at the loss, sees Bruce losing it. He, despite the many jokes and promises he made to Steph, offers to take up her role in order to leash Bruce.

Bruce, who finds out the dead person he considered a daughter had kept a whole side of herself from him, pushes Tim away even more. Tim gets sent away, learns from Shiva, and stubbornly forces Bruce into healthier methods of grieving.

In the end, Tim gets captured by Joker, and the Joker Junior arc happens. While Tim isn't physically disabled, the torture and brainwashing makes returning to the field incredibly difficult. Tim has a hard time keeping himself present when he's not at home (and sometimes struggles even then). He has laughing spells and other shit. Tim has to pull himself from the field because of this.

Bruce, on the other hand, goes off the rails again. Tim, who can barely get out of bed some days, gives up. He can't keep managing Bruce's mental well-being on top of his own.

Tim moves out to the clock tower and spends a while moping (understandably). That is until a villain tries to pull some shit online, and Tim discovers another way he can help without being a liability in the field.

Tim nearly orders a hit on Bruce when he finds Jason in the same role that killed Steph and disabled Tim. Duke talks him down and promises to always look out for Jason. Maybe Damian comes back as well.

While Tim isn't able to go in the field, he can still train. It acts as a soothing routine to him. He ensures that Jason is always able to escape and drills into his head that running away is always better than dying. There are worse things than dying, too.

Then, while Jason is "Robin", Steph comes back as "Red Hood." She would probably do a play on words as Black Mask instead for her name. I'm not sure what her training arc would be like, but I like to imagine that she teams up with Helena sometimes.

Tim, through his connections with Helena and Harley, still creates the Birds of Prey.

Anyways, hope this is a decent timeline! There's more that can be added for each of the Batkids, so feel free to add what else you think should happen

[variousqueerthings]

as someone doing my (deliberately very slow) second watch of s2 of due south with the expectation that s3-4 will be something to save for the new year somewhen, there's something very interesting about knowing a very little bit about those seasons: ray goes undercover in las vegas i believe, and leaves the show as a main, but returns at times. how many times? i don't know, don't tell me -- meg gets a cute butchy haircut that makes her and fraser's gender vibes even more intense -- there's a new guy and he is also ray, but the other one, and i get the feeling that there's a bit of role-reversal in who is getting whomst to take better care of themself... maybe

i think the way i've ended up watching the show (in no small part because im semi-communally watching with @gjdraws and eventually @hunkydorkling (no rush)) as being nice and drawn out, means ive really gotten to bask in the vibes of s1-2. they're beautiful establishing seasons that also stand on their own -- if the show's myriad of cancellations had stuck, one or two seasons would have worked (altho it would have been sad, because you do get the feeling that there is more story to tell)

it also means im definitely in a very different show to the majority of fandom, hence why ive avoided the tags and read very little fic (altho, some fic!) and only follow a couple of people, because the show, to me, is about fraser and ray vecchio because it's the only show i know (so far) and ive been marinating in that show for a few months now, to the point that im interested about how it'll feel when ray kowalski comes along

i expect i'll enjoy watching his dynamic with fraser, i expect it'll be different, and i very much expect it to feel like something that only exists because of everything that happened with fraser and ray in s1-2, because everything that fraser has gained that i feel may be relevant to that new dynamic -- self-confidence in interpersonal relationships, the ability to open up to people, the ability to stand up to people, a more grounded self, a greater self-awareness about himself as a person in the world and not just an instrument, a little battered but having begun undergoing some longer healing processes in relation to his father and victoria (and those prior relationships dealing with feelings of abandonment and manipulation/violence) -- started with ray. sometimes it literally started with ray Very Pointedly Banging A Drum about some of those things

there's a lot that's not ray ofc: his sense of right and wrong, his sense of purpose, his politeness, his gentleness, his confidence in his abilities, his single-mindedness/stubborness, his general lack of propriety (especially while solving a case) because social behaviours don't seem to be that intuitive (or important) to him (although he has that old fashioned properness to him when he's not licking things he picked up off the ground) -- but some core shifts have happened that im curious about how they'll interact with the sort of person ive gotten a sense new-ray will be (more standoffish and closed-off, initially at least, is what i think)

it's very fun to imagine how ray's influence will indelibly be on fraser, even when he's not literally there. i get the feeling that, to me, he's always gonna be the third in the room to an extent, because that's what he probably will be to me as i watch -- he's the first person outside of fraser's immediate family that truly affected him for the better and he did it by just. deciding that fraser was his responsibility, from day two (on day one i think he was still gauging him a little + he needed to make up for accidentally insulting his dead father, but hey, second impressions is what matters the most!) and then he stuck to that remit

and my first presumption/prediction is that fraser will sort of... pay that forward in a way

[gabessquishytum]

“Most people would describe their lovers the same way

Beautiful, funny, smart, incredible, perfect

But you my darling are grotesque

You are the creature that stalks the night

You steal my blood

tear my hair

and poor wax in my wounds

I need not put you on a pedestal for you already placed yourself there

We are not two princes equally fallen in embrace

You are a king and I am your subservient

And you like it that way,

But only sometimes

Sometimes you crawl to me in the dead of night

an emperor without his clothes

begging for succor from my measly human form

I like it that way

There is no comparing you to a summers day

For you are the cold winter that steals daughters away

Cold and bitter yet inevitable

As I Persephone

You are Hades

And when winter comes I meet you

King

I have been told you used to be worse

Patrons of hell your love hath borne witness

But I believe not the bird creatures and the hellish denizens of my dream life

I believe you

You come on your knees shouting

“Teach me! Teach me!”

You are not a king to me

You are a human

As human as they come

With the belief a god is trapped in your bones

I am your master in the land above the dead

Your eyes see only what I tell you is there

It’s only fair isn’t it?

For the roles reverse in the dreamlands

You are a monster

With gnarled teeth leaving trophies in my skin

Claws that curl round my jaw

I love you oh otherworldly being

Yet I question if you love me too

For I am man

You are king

But not always

I fall in love with the days when the king is striped away to reveal

A Dream,”

Dream closes the book,

perhaps it was unwise to look into a book titled “Every single one of Hob Gadling’s Thoughts about Dream of the Endless in Alphabetical order” but really who could resist a title like that? It’s not his fault that literally every single book ever including only vague concepts is in his library.

He should talk to Hob about this and correct some assumptions immediately. He would never beg for succor, the nights he slips from the Dreaming because he is overwrought are his business!

-🦎

Oh, poor Dream. Didn't you know that it's not a good idea to read the poetry that lies within your lover's heart? You may not like what you find there...

Hob is, of course, mortified that Dream would have access to his thoughts. He sits there with his head buried in his hand as Dream critiques each line:

"I am not grotesque and I have never stolen your blood - you mistake me for some twopenny vampire!"

"Well - I didn't mean it literally-"

"I do not require succour, nor for you to... "teach me"!"

"I'm sure you don't love, but it's more of an extended metaphor..."

"You are certainly NOT my master. I believe that I serve the dreamers as a collective, that is my function - but I do not exist to serve your pleasures!"

"Of course you don't, love. I know that. I'm sorry."

"I should hope so. And the most ridiculous part of all, "I question if you love me too". How can you ask such a thing? Would I be here if I did not love and ardently adore all that you are?!"

At this point Dream is red in the face. He slams the book shut, and Hob takes his hands very gently.

"There will be no more poetry, dear. I promise. Now can we go upstairs and have a cup of tea?"

Dream allows himself to be led upstairs, tucked onto the sofa, and plied with tea and biscuits. And he is satisfied that he has put Hob Gadling in his place - there will be no more nonsense.

Hob strokes his hair, and silently smiles.

[nctnanajaemin]

my brother's bestfriend pairing: lee jeno x na!sister reader chapter six word count:1.2k warnings: cussing, fighting, mentions of blood.

you are currently eight weeks pregnant, and you and jeno are telling jaemin today because on a rare occasion, none of the other guys are over.

you knock on jaemin's door, "jaem. can i talk to you? it's serious. "

"uh- i guess, but jeno's here."

you walk into his room and see jaemin on his bed and jeno sitting in jaemin's gaming chair.

you walk over and sit down on the bed. "i have something important to tell you.. but please don't get mad. "

"i won't get mad as long as you haven't done something insanely stupid."

"promise me you won't be mad."

jaemin rolls his eyes. "okay, whatever. i promise."

you take a deep breath, bracing yourself for his reaction. "i'm pregnant."

jaemin immediately starts laughing.  "you expect me to actually believe that?"

you pull the pregnancy test and ultrasound out of your hoodie pocket, holding them out to him.

he stops laughing and stares at the test and ultrasound in your hands. "you're being serious?"

"yeah. i'm eight weeks."

jaemin looks from the test and ultrasound back up to you. "oh my god." he's silent for a moment before he speaks again. "who's the dad?"

"that's the thing.... it's jeno."

"please tell me i fucking heard her wrong and you did not get my little sister pregnant." jaemin says, looking over at jeno.

jeno nervously shakes his head. "no, you heard her right..." 

jaemin gets up and walks over to jeno. the second jeno stands up jaemin throws him against the wall. "i told you to stay the fuck away from her!"

"i know you did, but-"

"but what?!" jaemin yells in his face.

you get up and try to pull jaemin away from jeno but he doesn't budge. 

jeno waves you off. "it's fine. just let him get it out."

jaemin keeps jeno against the wall, his fist clenched but not making any moves to hurt him. "how long has it been going on?"

"four years."

"four years!? four fucking years, jeno!? how could you do this to me, to her? i fucking trusted you!" jaemin screams, punching jeno in the face.

"i'm sorry."

"you're sorry? you're sorry?! that doesn't fix the fact that she's fucking pregnant!" jaemin yells, punching him again.

"i know it doesn't!" jeno snaps. "but i'm still sorry!"

"you are dead to me." jaemin spits out. "dead. to. me."

jaemin throws one last punch before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

jeno slumps down against the wall, holding his nose. 

you quickly grab some tissues and kneel down in front of him.

"i'm sorry." you tell him, holding the tissues to his nose.

"it's not your fault. i deserved it."

"no you didn't." 

jeno winces as you dab at his nose. "i betrayed his trust."

"just because you betrayed his trust doesn't mean he had the right to put his hands on you."

jeno sighs. "i know. but i still don't blame him for punching me. if the roles were reversed i would have reacted the same way."

you carefully clean the blood from his face. "still. i don't like seeing you hurt. especially when you've been hurt because of me."

"i'll be fine. it's just a bloody nose." jeno says, placing a hand on your thigh. 

"and a black eye."

"it'll heal. this isn't the first black eye i've gotten, probably won't be the last."

you sigh, tossing the bloody tissues in the trash and taking jeno's face in your hands, gently tilting it from side to side to inspect his injuries. "you're just lucky he wasn't wearing his rings."

 "i know." jeno gently pulls your hands away from his face. "stop fretting over me, i'm not gonna break."

"i'm going to start telling you that when you worry about me."

"i have a reason to worry about you. you're pregnant."

"and? you're injured." you point out.

jeno rolls his eyes. "a few bruises and a bloody nose isn't the same thing as carrying a human being inside your body for nine months, princess."

"yeah, yeah. whatever. let's go get some ice on your eye." you tell him, standing up.

jeno stands up after you and follows you out of the room.

--------

it's been a few days since you told jaemin and he has yet to talk to either of you. 

you and jeno are currently sitting on the couch, watching TV, when mark, renjun, and chenle walk in.

mark looks at jeno's black eye and his eyes widen. "dude, what happened to your face?"

"jaemin."

"jaemin? what'd you do to piss him off?"

"more like who i did."

mark's eyes go to you. "oh." he says, slowly. "you didn't..."

"i did." jeno says.

mark looks at you, then back to jeno, then back to you again. "holy shit dude."

"how'd he find out?" renjun asks, sitting down on the other couch.

"we told him." 

renjun looks horrified. "you told him!? why on earth would you tell him!?"

"we didn't really have a choice."

"what do you mean, you didn't really have a choice?"

jeno looks over at you, silently asking if it's okay to tell the guys.

you nod, and jeno turns back to the rest of the guys. "she's pregnant."

"wait, wait, wait. hold on a second." mark says, holding up his hands. "you're pregnant? like... you have a baby growing inside of you, pregnant?"

you nod. "yeah, eight weeks."

"eight weeks? how did this even happen?"

"well, mark, when two people-"

mark's face turns bright red. "no- yeah, i get how it happened. i meant how did you guys even end up together?"

"technically we're not together, but we started hooking up at your twentieth birthday party."

"my twentieth birthday party? that's almost five years ago."

"and not one of us knew?"

"i mean two of us did." chenle says, making mark and renjun look at him.

"wait, you knew?" mark asks, looking dumbfounded.

"yeah. i've known since the start."

"why didn't you tell us?"

"i take my secret keeping serious."

"clearly." mark mutters, rolling his eyes before turning back to you. "who else knew?"

"jisung, but he only knew because his nosy ass read my diary."

they all laugh, and the sound of someone clearing their throat makes all of you look over.

jaemin is standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face.

 "can i talk to you?" he asks, looking directly at you.

you nod and stand up, following jaemin out of the room. he leads you outside and turns to face you as you shut the door. 

"i'm sorry for how i reacted. i was angry and felt betrayed. it was just a lot to process at once, and i obviously made some choices that i'm not exactly proud of. I just... I never expected this, like are you two serious?"

you shake your head no. "we aren't together, no, but jeno and I are committed to doing what's best for the baby and we're still figuring everything out."

"he was the one friend i really didn't think i had to worry about when it came to messing around with you. it's going to take some time for me to forgive him."

"i know, and i get it. i'm not asking you to forgive him right away and i don't blame you for being upset and needing time to process everything."

"i'm sorry." jaemin pulls you into a hug. "you're going to be a good mom, i know it."

chapter five | chapter seven

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