#and to see what he would have done with 3b had he not wanted to wrap up certain loose ends of his creation before his departure.

[madsway]

now that i've taken in the entire show and am about to rewatch simply because i can............... i'm so pissed that dave erickson got fired because damn........

[anthracite-writes]

Obey Me! One-shot; Personal Maid Cafe Service

Leviathan x gn! reader || SFW || TW//CW: uses male termonalogy [ uses the term "Bulter" insted of maid and once use of the word "Handsome" but thats about it] - General Summary: Working your usual shift after school hours to earn a bit of grim on the side at one of the popular maid cafes in the Devildom, you are requested by one of the guest - not expecting who you would meet on the other side of the private room door.

NOTE // I want to shoot my shot at a one-shot fic so why not? Sorry in advance if the story seems choppy and doesn't flow correctly. It's my first time in a long time attempting at short fiction and writing in second person - this might be a one time thing for writing second person for one-shots. Let's just say I'm using this as a little exercise to ease myself back into writing these type of stuff. again, sorry in advance if this isn't a good one shot.

You were in the middle of checking out a group of guests you were assigned to for the day, waiting for them to finish with their transaction at the counter, fidgeting with the sleeve of my uniform slightly as you started to zone out a bit - wondering what the brothers were up to back home. “Y/N, you got requested in private room 3B. It’s Party of one.” one of my co-workers said in a hushed tone, squeezing past you to grab a couple menus, “Well, not exactly requested by name - but they requested a ‘butler’ to serve them.”

“I’ll see to it then, thanks for the heads up.” You said softly as you heard the transaction go through. You flash a smile at the group of customers, handing them they’re recipe upon their request and wishing them on their way.

You step away from the counter and grab the menus and head to the hall lined with doors in the back of the cafe, straightening out the dress vest and fixing the tie of the butler uniform you had to wear in a subtle manner, occasionally greeting guests as they passed you. It wasn’t usual that a guest would request a butler as their server for their experience in this maid cafe, hence the lack of ‘butlers’ in this location. Or any other maid cafes for that matter. It was extremely rare for maid cafes in general to even have any other gender than female employees since more often than not these themed restaurants are more directed to the male demographic. It was extremely lucky you found this job listing on the bulletin in the House of Lamentation. And it did pay extremely well, which you was happy about as well, no longer needing to rely on the allowances Lord Diavolo gave you as the human exchange student at RAD.

I finally reach the room I was assigned to, closing my eyes and taking a breath as you hyped yourself up to entertain another guest. ‘okay… here we go again.’ You put your hand on the door knob, going in without even looking who you were serving though the fully glass door, just wanting to get this private room guest done and over with. Going into the room, you flash a smile at the guest. “Welcome home, masterrrr…” Your words dragged as eyes widen at the sight of the guest, the guest equally as surprised - hearing the Avatar of Envy start to stutter from his usual nervous habit.

“Y/N… I, um.. Er… H-hi…” Leviathan stuttered, his cheeks going red as he flustered up. Both of you were in the same boat, way too stunned to speak from surprise and shocked.

“Hi…” you’re voice trailed, closing the door and pulling the privacy curtain over it, “You can’t tell anyone I work here-”

“Please! You can’t tell my brothers, they won’t let me live it down!” Levi begged, cutting you off mid sentance before looking away from you as he fidgeted with the sleeve of his jacket you usually see him wear around the house when he’s out of his room.

The two of you stared at each other, awkwardness filling the air before you finally spoke, “Okay… I won’t say a word about you being here if you don’t tell anyone I work here."

Levi nodded feverishly in response, happily agreeing to those terms. You take a shaky breath and continue with your usual greeting, walking over to the table and putting down the menus.

“Welcome home Master. What can I start you off with for drinks?” you say, looking at him with a soft smile.

Leviathan’s cheeks became a darker shade of red as you spoke and only worsened when you smiled at him, “Please um… can you just call me by my name?” He requested, looking at you nervously.

“It’s kinda my job to call you 'master', Levi… you of all people should know that.” You say with a soft voice, trying to put the shut-in sitting in front of you at ease.

“I-I know that much, Y/N… it’s just…” Levi trailed off though, trying to find the words and trying to not mess this up, “It feels weird hearing you of all people saying that to me…” he averted his eyes from yours, focusing on the menu in front of him.

You couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh, “Well… I do remember you talking about how you want to have the full maid cafe experience one time, so allow me to help you with that experience. Again, it's part of my job. It’s kinda a requirement.” You reasoned with him, straightening out your uniform, fixing the gloves on your hands to make sure they were taut against the shape of your hand.

Levi bit his lip,  “F-fine… I guess it’s fine…” he mumbled, his tangerine orange eyes looking up at you, looking at your uniform then meeting your gaze. “Uh… I um…” He began to fidget, his eyes starting to avoid you and looking pass you.

“Levi, take your time. Don’t push yourself too hard. I’ll wait,” You say with a soft tone, folding your hands in front of you.

The demon nodded slightly as he took a breath, “Can I get water…? Please?” His voice trembled, looking up at you at the corner of his eye.

“Of course master, I’ll leave you alone with the menu and I’ll be back with your water.” You turn on your heels and walk to the door, looking over your shoulder as you take hold of the door handle, checking on the lavender haired male you were serving. He was looking down at the menu, occasionally looking up to see if you’ve left before averting his eyes back at the menu. You couldn’t help but just smile a bit, you can see he’s trying to push himself to be more social and you couldn’t help but feel for him, you take a breath before you exit the room.

~~~

“Um, Y/N…?” Leviathan chimed up, getting your attention, walking over to his side.

“What can I do for you, Master Leviathan?” You say, looking lean down slightly as you wait for his response.

Leviathan’s cheeks rosy up from how close you were to him, clearing his throat a bit before he spoke, looking up at you from where he sat, “I… uh… I just wanted to tell you that I uh… I think your uniform looks nice…” he said through stutters, “y-you look really handsome… I mean! I, uh…”

You felt your face heat up from his comment, letting out a soft chuckle from the flattery, “Thanks, I’m quite fond of the uniform myself.”

Levi cleared his throat again, “A-anyway, I figured out what I want to eat…” he said, showing you the menu and pointing at what he wanted, you can see that his hands were trembling from all the nerves he must be feeling. You simply responded with a nod, pulling out the pocket note pad and pen from your pant pocket, taking note of it. “I’ll be right bac-” “Y/N… can I make a request of you…” Leviathan cut you off, immediately getting flustered, “S-sorry! I didn’t mean to cut you off! I- um…”

“Leviathan… Master, it’s fine…” You say, looking at him with a soft expression, “You’re the one in charge here, remember?”

The demon gulped down hard and nodded, “R-right… well um… is… it possible if you can um… if you can stay here… with… with me?” he stuttered, his gaze averting away from you as he fidgeted the hem of his shirt.

“Of course master, I’ll just put in your order first if that’s okay. I won’t leave the room, I’ll do it remotely, okay?” You said with a smile, turning and walking away from him, making your way to the tablet on the wall next to the door, putting in his order as the room fell to complete silence - the sound of you tapping on the screen the only thing audible.

“Um… Y/N?” You hear the male behind you call out.

You let out a hum in response to let him know you heard him, “Yes? What is it, master?” you call back, sending the order off to the kitchen.

“Can… can you sit with me?” He requested, looking down at the table as his leg shook. You turned around, seeing how anxious he was. Without a word, you walk back to the table and pull out the seat across from the male, sitting straight up, hands folded in your lap. Levi looked up at you wide eyed as if he was a deer in the headlights, not expecting you to accept his request. “Are… you just doing this to make me happy…?” He mumbled, looking at you from the corner of his eye.

“No, I’m doing this out of my own free will. I don’t usually accept these kinds of requests when I’m on the open floor area of the café since it’s kinda against the rules. But in private rooms, those rules don’t apply but I still have the right to reject requests. Besides, I’ll happily sit with you. “Though, I do have something to ask you if you don’t mind.” You add.

Leviathan looked back at you, his eyes softening, finally relaxing his nerves after all this time, “S-sure… I don’t mind, what is it?”

“Why… Did you request a butler server? Were you aware I worked here?” You asked, seeing Levi immediately start to fluster up.

“No! It’s nothing like that, I knew you worked - I just had no idea you were working here!” He raised his hands in protest before sighing, putting his hands flat on the table’s “I-I was just curious is all… nothing else to it. I wasn’t expecting to see you in such a place… dress up like…”

“A butler?” You said through a chuckle. Leviathan lips curled slightly in a small smile as you finished his thought and nodded.

“Yeah, you can say that…” he said with a slight chuckle in his tone, “Is… it okay if I request something from you again, Y/N?”

“You don’t need to ask every time you want to give me an order, you know? You say though a chuckle. Leviathan’s cheeks turned red from your words, a slight pout on his lips.

“Well… Is it okay if I request that we share what I ordered?” The demon asked, looking away from you as his face deepened in colour.

“Like… you want to split your meal with me?”

Leviathan looked at you then looked away with a slow blink, “Yeah… I mean, there’s nothing to it! I… I just assumed you’re kinda hungry and dinner won’t be ready by the time you get off your shift.” He muttered under his breath, yet loud enough to hear his reasoning, “You can say no, I’d understand… why would you want to share food with a yucky otaku like me-”

“I’d be happy to take you up on your offer, Master Leviathan.” You say softly, cutting him off. He looked at you with pure shock, his orange hue eyes glistening with silent joy as he processed what you just said to him. After a while of silence he gulped, parting his lips as if to say something to you only to be shut down by your pager going off.

~~~

You step out into the busy streets of the Devildom, letting a sigh of exhaustion from finally getting off your shift, you sling your bag over your shoulders and turn in the direction to go back to the House of Lamentation, stopping in your tracks as you see the familiar otaku waiting outside the cafe, his back against the brick wall as he scrolled through his phone. “Levi?” You call out to him, getting his attention. A faint smile forming on his lips when his eyes meet yours.

“Hey, Y/N… you’re finally off the clock?” Levi says with a slight stutter, putting his phone away in his pocket and pushing his back off the wall and walk over to you, hands in his jacket pocket in an attempt to look cool.

“How… have you been waiting out here?” You said with a chuckle, seeing the shut-in’s pale skin slowly turn red at your question, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down at the stone streets.

“I uh… don’t get the wrong idea, I was just passing by after visiting a couple shops to pre-order stuff and just window shop, ya know?” The lavender-haired male said through stutters, shoving his hand that he was rubbing against his neck into his pocket again. “I just… wanted to stop by, see if you were done with your shift and I um… I…” His eyes slowly drifted back to you, the small smile on your lips while you listened to him speak made his face heat up even more, and it didn’t help you were still in your work uniform - adding onto the cuteness factor to him. He takes a deep and shaky breath as he closes his eyes, trying to relax himself, “I… was wondering if you’d like me to walk back to the House of Lamentation… “But not in the cliche-normie ‘I want to walk home with you because I like you’ way… just for convenience sake! Since we’re both heading home now.” He added, eyes wide and cheeks red as he tried to reason.

“And what makes you think I want to go directly home?” you say in a teasing manner, Levi's posture stiffening up at your words at his face deepens with colour. Leviathan started to stammer and stumble over his words, unsure how to answer. You let out a soft chuckle, walking past him, nudging him playfully. “Come on, let’s head home.”

Levi’s eyes brightened and he swiftly joined your side without hesitation, keeping pace with your steps so the two of you were walking side by side. “It… it was nice to hang out with you after school. Just the two of us I mean, even if you were working…”

“I liked it too, it practically didn’t feel like I was working at all.” You said with a smile, continuing to look forward as the two of you walked down the streets leading back home from the shopping district of the Devildom. Little did you know, Leviathan was looking down at you from the corner of his eye, admiring how you looked in your uniform - reminding him of some animes and mangas he’s read, you looked almost like those characters to him.

“I… um… Maybe I can come by again, so we can spend more time together and all…” He suggested, scratching his neck out of habit when he felt anxious.

“Well, personally… I wouldn’t mind if we hung out after I finished my shifts and when I get days off.” You suggested in a casual manner, Levi taken back by your words.

“H-huh?! You would want to hang out with a boring shut-in like me?” He questioned you, looking at you in surprise with a hint of joy glimmering in his eyes.

You nodded in response, “I mean, yeah. I know that going out to a place like the maid cafe I work at is quite nerve racking with your social anxiety and all so… how about I suggest this. “I can let you experience a maid cafe in the comfort of your own room. I do know how to cook and make a couple things on the menu and I don’t mind wearing my uniform for you. That way we can spend time together and you can have the maid cafe experience whenever you want to. I’d be like… your personal butler in a way.” You looked up at the Avatar of Envy, awaiting his response. Levi’s face cheeks were dusted with pink as he thought, looking back at you with a slight smile.

“I.. I would really like that, Y/N. Thanks…” He said with a smile, “Well, as you are my ‘personal butler’, is it only to make a request…?”

You let out a soft chuckle as Levi immediately went with the idea, “Sure, go ahead.”

“Can… can I hold your hand while we walk home?” He said, his voice trembling before he shook his head, “forget I said anything, why would someone like you want to hold hands with an otaku like me? It was a dumb question, you don’t have-”

Without saying a word, you bushed the back of your hand against his before taking it gently in yours, gently lacing your fingers in the spaces between yours. You felt Leviathan stiffen up slightly then relax, his hand gently taking yours in return, a small smile forming upon his lips, knowing this was just the start for you two. The start of a friendship about to bloom.

[moistvonlipwig]

so how many of these little hearts am i allowed to send you :D (maybe we can start with 💖)

💖: What is your biggest unpopular opinion about the series?

I'll assume you are asking about Supergirl. ;) I kind of have 3 that I couldn't pick between and I have a Lot to say about all 3, so this is going under a cut for anyone who doesn't want to see me kvetching about one of the worst-written CW superhero shows for *checks word count* 3681 words.

Opinion number one is that I like Lena/James as a ship. I think they had good chemistry and the thorny history between them makes for an interesting launching point for a relationship. I prefer them as a ship to Kara/James (which is fine and cute, but it doesn't compel me -- plus it's much more in the vein of modern rom-com romances vs. Lena/James which is written more like a screwball comedy romance which I infinitely prefer) and to any non-Supercorp Lena ships. While I admit the build-up in 3A isn't particularly well-done and the implosion of the relationship in S4 didn't do it any favors, I think they're really good in 3B and there's a lot of potential there for a super interesting relationship. (And, I mean, when it comes to Supergirl, which is Very Bad at romance and honestly not even particularly good at friendship, I think 'they have good chemistry, some great scenes, and there is solid potential for them to have an interesting relationship' is kind of the best you're gonna get. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

And to turn this into more of a kvetching session: I truly don't begrudge people for not liking them as a ship -- as I said, there are some serious writing problems afflicting their relationship. But I will say that, even putting aside the more egregiously and blatantly racist strains of the fandom and how they talk about the ship, I get frustrated with the way a lot of fans (even nominally pro-James ones) tend to dismiss the relationship (and Lena's feelings for James in particular) out of hand.

A lot of fans love to talk about Lena "not caring" that James was Guardian, but, like, she did care? She didn't get mad at him because she had no actual reason to. She and Guardian had no beef! He did not maintain two separate relationships with her as both himself and his alter ego Countess Boochie Flagrante! Wild how NOT doing that can greatly improve an alter ego reveal, lol. And the scene with James telling Lena he's Guardian ends with Lena opening up to him in turn about the fact that she herself manufactured the kryptonite. And then they kiss about it and they have sex. That, uh. That is not the reaction of a woman who does not care what her boyfriend just told her, that is the reaction of a woman who is deeply touched that he trusts her (which, it's both sad and telling that that kind of trust is not something she just Expects from a significant other) and who wants to share part of herself with him in return.

And a lot of fans also love to talk about Lena breaking up with James as if it were something she did on a whim because he ethically disagreed with one of her projects. But, um. She explicitly did not break up with him because of that. She told him that was why they were breaking up, but several episodes later she explicitly tells Lex (and thus the audience) that she actually broke up with him because she was scared of him breaking up with her once he found out she was helping cure Lex. Again, this is both a sad and telling moment about her character, that she would rather not give someone the chance to respond to her with grace because she so greatly fears that they will fail to do so, to the point that she would rather sabotage a relationship she treasures with her own hands, so that at least she will be in control of the loss she suffers. And it's a character beat that you miss entirely if you are dead-set on pretending that Lena didn't really care about James.

What's, shall we say, interesting is I don't really see this kind of casual, pervasive dismissal of Kara's relationship with Mon-El, which was much more of a trainwreck on all fronts. Even people who hate that relationship generally take Kara's feelings about it seriously. They don't deny that Kara felt strongly about Mon-El (whether they take the position that she was actually in love with him or that she just convinced herself she was). Why the difference in approach, when if anything, Lena's feelings about James are made more blatantly clear by the text than Kara's often extremely contradictory feelings about Mon-El are? ...Well. I can certainly think of one reason.

Opinion number two is that I don't care about the Danvers sisters relationship. I think there is a potentially interesting set-up to their relationship, where Alex was essentially parentified as a teenager and forced to rearrange her whole life around keeping Kara safe. The inevitable consequences of this -- that Alex has neglected her own happiness and devoted her life unhealthily to protecting her sister, and harbors some unspoken resentment over this fact, and similarly that Kara has had to contend with her older sister trying to manage her life and control her choices well into adulthood, and harbors some unspoken resentment of her own over that fact -- are touched on somewhat in S1 and S2 and then summarily dropped by the show. As the show went on it became clear that the Danvers sisters relationship was one in which no consequences existed: they could do anything and say anything to each other and by the end of the episode they would have a feel-good Danvers Sisters Couch Scene.

There are flaws in how the Kara & Lena friendship was written but one thing I will praise about it is that every interaction they had mattered and had tangible consequences to their relationship. Kara's massive fuckup re: the kryptonite debacle mattered two seasons later in a show that sometimes struggled to remember what happened in the previous episode. I might object -- strenuously, in fact -- to how their conflict was resolved and framed in S5 but at the very least they didn't outright ignore the things that happened between them. When one of them did something that hurt the other, that impacted the relationship. This is in sharp contrast to how the Danvers sisters relationship is written from around S3 onwards.

Two story beats in particular really stand out to me here. Firstly, there's the S4 plotline in which Alex forgets that Kara is Supergirl -- which is an actually rather clever storyline with some great emotional beats...while it lasts. Then Alex gets her memories back and it's like nothing ever happened. People complain a lot about the writing of Once Upon a Time, and rightly so, but at least on that show, when characters had their core memories magically erased/replaced with other memories, and then had their original memories returned to them a season or half a season later, it actually affected their characters. They had to grapple with who they were with their fake memories, and who they were with their real ones, and which self they liked better, and which aspects of their selves they wanted to embody going forward. Not so with Alex Danvers. If you watched S5 without having seen S4 you would not know she spent the last half season not knowing that Kara was Supergirl.

Secondly, and even more egregiously to me, is the events of 5.08 "The Wrath of Rama Khan" and the emotional aftermath, which is to say, the complete lack of an emotional aftermath. Not only does Alex spend a good chunk of 5.08 wanting/trying to nuke Kara's best friend -- which is significantly worse than anything Lena does to any of Kara's friends, and you can imagine that if Lena had indeed done anything on that level then the show never would've had Kara let it pass without comment -- but she manipulates Kara in the process, and specifically in a way that echoes one of Kara's fundamental traumas from her backstory. By using Kara's genuine attempt to reach out to Lena as a Trojan horse to lower Lena's shields (so, again, she can point a nuke at her), she not only thoroughly sabotages any possibility of trust and reconciliation between Kara and Lena for the foreseeable future, she also uses Kara in the same way that Alura used Kara to capture Astra, which Kara was rightfully furious and heartbroken about when she found out about it.

In the hands of better writers, this could've been a stroke of storytelling genius, the catalyst for the long-awaited collapse of the Danvers sisters relationship that was so desperately needed so that they could build it back up again from a better foundation. But you've seen the show, you know what happened: Kara barely blinked. Alex might as well have just eaten the last hot pocket instead of, you know, betrayed Kara like her mother did in order to nuke her best friend, for all that Kara reacted to it. To me, that was the ultimate death knell for the Danvers sisters relationship, the moment that cemented once and for all that this was not a relationship in which actions had consequences or in which anything the characters said or did to each other mattered in any way. So...why should I care?

And thirdly and finally, my hydrogen bomb of an unpopular opinion: I don't like Cat Grant. Which is nuts, because I SHOULD like her on paper. Her character archetype is usually my FAVORITE character in a line-up. Cordelia Chase, the self-proclaimed "nastiest girl in Sunnydale history," is and has always been, from Episode 1 of Buffy, my favorite Buffyverse character. (And my second favorite female Buffyverse character is Lilah Morgan, who is basically just "Cordelia but an evil lawyer".) Regina George is an indisputable legend no matter what bizarre format they turn Mean Girls into next, and I always root for her and am kinda sad when Cady successfully sabotages her. Regina Mills of Once Upon a Time fame is even more of an indisputable legend, a badass mass-murdering HBIC who took no bullshit and coddled no bitches. Miranda Priestly, on whom Cat Grant is clearly based, is an amazing, iconic film character -- and despite what Supergirl 5.01 "Event Horizon" would have you believe, she was not the '''villain''' of The Devil Wears Prada. Discworld's Granny Weatherwax is one of the greatest characters ever written and is also, like, my idol. I love me a good bad bitch. So...why don't I like Cat Grant?

Part of it is that I don't find her as purely entertaining as a lot of the other characters on this list -- I just don't think the Supergirl writers were skilled enough to craft a character who is mean in a way that delights and amuses me as opposed to rubbing me the wrong way. I think she is frequently cruel in a way that I just personally struggle to find humorous or iconic, particularly given her status as Kara's boss, and it doesn't help that Kara often seems so affected by Cat and invested in what she thinks of her. I think if Kara were written in a way that gave her more power in their interactions, where she didn't truly need or care about her job at CatCo and thus, while she might not snark back at Cat in the workplace, she was also unaffected by Cat's barbs, I wouldn't mind their interactions so much. (This is why I enjoy Andrea and Kara's back-and-forth much more -- they seem to genuinely be on equal footing.) But the way Kara and Cat's dynamic is written, Cat really does have all the power, and the fact that she often uses it to emotionally terrorize Kara grates on me.

One of my biggest gripes with Cat is how so much of the '''humor''' around her character is her deliberately mispronouncing people's names. And, uh, as someone with a non-Anglo name, I don't think that's fucking funny! (And once Cat realizes Kara is Supergirl, I actually think it becomes extra ghoulish to do this, since she must then surely also realize that "Kara" is a name given to her by her dead family from her near-extinct culture. Like I know this is just a case of the writers not thinking the implications through, we're not meant to look so deeply into it, but the implications are really bad.)

Consequently, I don't think it's '''sweet''' when Cat finally deigns to call Kara by her actual fucking name at the end of S1. That moment honestly reminds me so much of that time in S1 of "The Good Place" (aka back when I liked "The Good Place" lol) when Eleanor repeatedly mispronounces "Senegal"/can't bother to remember that's where Chidi grew up, and then at the end of the episode she's like, "I have a present for you: Senegal." And Chidi is like, "Um, that's not a present, that's basic human decency." Like...exactly!!! Cat pronouncing Kara's name correctly is the bare minimum, it is not something that Kara should have had to earn, and it is extremely grating to me that the show itself seems to think otherwise.

Which ties back to one of my fundamental problems with Cat Grant, which is the framing of her character. All the other characters I listed above are framed as very complicated characters (Granny Weatherwax, Regina Mills, Miranda Priestly, Cordelia Chase eventually) or as outright antagonists (Regina George, Cordelia Chase in S1 of Buffy, Lilah Morgan, Regina Mills as well because she contains multitudes). Their status as difficult, proud, not-very-nice women is part of their complexity and/or antagonism, and as a defender of women who are not very nice, I gravitate to them in all their messiness. To quote phoukanamedpookie, one of my favorite meta writers, in this excellent post: "I genuinely find ['difficult' female characters] likable, often specifically because the narrative doesn’t tell me that I’m supposed to like them." (Emphasis mine.)

But you ARE supposed to like Cat Grant. And Cat Grant is not actually portrayed as particularly complex -- she is instead framed as an aspirational feminist role model for Kara. I wouldn't go so far as to say that her meanness is not portrayed as a flaw at all, but I think it's telling that every time the show allows Kara to actually get mad at her for her cruelty, the episode ends with Cat giving some speech about how women have it harder than men and Kara realizes that actually Cat, by being mean to her, was being a great feminist girlboss mentor the whole time. Which, like. What. And there's a scene where Cat talks about the double standards between men and women and she complains that Perry White can get away with throwing chairs at his employees but people call her a bitch or whatever. And, like, double standards are real, I'm with you there girlie, but, you verbally abuse and disrespect your employees on the daily, often to the point of tears, and you still have your high-powered influential well-paying job -- what more do you want?

There's a great line in the Mean Girls musical -- which is weird to type out, because it is not on the whole a very well-written musical -- where at the end, Regina tells Cady, "I know I was harsh. And people say I’m a bitch. But you know what they would call me if I was a boy?” And Cady enthusiastically chimes in with, "Strong." And Regina says, "Reginald." That line is so stellar precisely because it acknowledges the double standards while also poking fun at the obviously false idea that Regina was actually some kind of amazing feminist this whole time. That sense of humor about her status as a 'mean girl' is what I think was missing from the framing of Cat Grant -- we're meant to really take her seriously as a character who is legitimately a good mentor and feminist, whose critics truly are just sexist.

Which leads me to another major issue I have with Cat's character. Supergirl as a whole is very much in line with, like, 2012-era pop White Feminism™. It never really stops being like this; even when it tries to pivot to discussing other issues, it never goes beyond mainstream understandings of those issues to make any serious structural critiques, even when it doesn't get mired down in allegories that don't quite work and trip over its own feet in the process -- presumably because said structural critiques would call into question the fundamental assumptions upon which the show is built. (Much love to Azie and the effort she and J. Holtham put into 6.12 "Blind Spots", which was easily the show's best attempt at tackling any social issue, but by nature of only being one episode, it could not result in meaningful structural changes to how the Superfriends operate beyond "thinking about racism more", and the episode ends with a promotion of Robin DiAngelo's insufferable pop anti-racism self-help book White Fragility aka my villain origin story.)

That being said -- I think S1 and S2 are kind of the worst offenders when it comes to Supergirl's pop white feminism, not necessarily because the show gets any better about it later (although it was surely an improvement when they actually started incorporating women of color into the main cast starting with Sam Arias in S3), but because S1 and S2 are really fucking obnoxious about it, especially S1. And Cat Grant is THE mouthpiece for Supergirl's shallow, grating, capitalistic, overwhelmingly white understanding of feminism. While the single most cringey pseudo-feminist one-liner in the show is probably Alex's "No touching without consent!" from the series finale, most of the others come from Cat.

Just as an example, there's the bizarre monologue about how Kara is wrong to be offended by the obviously infantilizing name "Supergirl" (in contrast to "Superman"), because Cat is a girl, and girls are cool, and are you saying you don't think girls are cool? If you think it's wrong to call women "girls," you're the real sexist! Or, again, all her speeches about the double standards she's faced in her career -- and yet no interrogation of how Cat herself makes things so much harder for the women working for her (and, largely due to Supergirl's cast line-up at the time, absolutely no lip service given to the fact that women of color have it even harder). Or the egregious line about how Barry, Kara, Winn, and James look like the "attractive but nonthreatening cast of a racially diverse CW show" -- which isn't about feminism but does speak to the show's total lack of self-awareness about its racial makeup. And you could say these are structural problems with the show, not just with Cat, and you'd be right -- but given that Cat is so often situated as the mouthpiece for what the show thinks feminism is, and that we are meant to see her as a wise, progressive mentor, it becomes very difficult to separate her character from those structural problems.

And speaking of having trouble separating my feelings about her character from the structural problems with how the show uses her character...let's talk about Andrea Rojas, and how S6 thoroughly demonizes her with the end-goal of propping Cat Grant up. Andrea Rojas/Acrata is a Mexican hero in the comics; in Supergirl, they randomly make her Argentinian and they introduce her in S5 as more of a grey hat. Then in S6, the demonization begins.

The show (even in S5) emphasizes over and over how obsessed Andrea is with "clicks" and yellow journalism, which the show (and fandom) insists isn't what CatCo Should be about. Except...that was also Cat Grant's vision for CatCo! She also ran the magazine based on celebrity gossip and sensationalized reporting! It was James and Lena who took the magazine in a more serious direction. Andrea is shown to engage in increasingly unethical business practices throughout S6, culminating of course in William's narratively pointless death due in part to her actions, and Cat taking over CatCo again in the last episode is seen as a righting of this wrong (because, you see, Cat cares about turtles now, for some reason). This is despite the fact that Andrea is consistently shown to be a better and kinder boss than Cat was; not only does she actually call people by their real names, but when Nia falls asleep in front of her, Andrea very nicely tells her to take a mental health day. Cat would not have done that! So we have this bizarre storyline where we are meant to see Andrea as essentially this unethical interloper into Cat's rightful position -- even as they have literally the same goals, and even as Andrea is objectively a much better person to work for.

And look, I don't know how Julie Gonzalo identifies racially -- I know enough Argentinians to know that many of them who look like Julie do actually ID as white -- but even if she doesn't identify as a woman of color, the Latina identity is still a deeply racialized one in the United States. And it just does not sit right with me that one of Supergirl's only Latina characters -- and the one who is most consistently and strongly identified with her Latina heritage, and is based on one of DC's few Latina heroes -- gets demonized and 'put in her place' to prop up a blonde white Anglo woman as the one who should 'actually' be in power, even with her history of abusing that power at every turn.

Fandom doesn't help in this regard -- many (NOT all, fandoms are not monoliths) Cat and Supercat fans, and even a significant chunk of Supercorp fans, do NOT like Andrea and consider her much like the show does, as a usurper of the rightful throne of CatCo. I try not to let fandom affect how I view characters if I can help it, but when it's a narrative the show itself falls into, it gets a bit harder. Again, this isn't Cat's fault in-universe, but it is very difficult for me to extricate my feelings about how the storyline played out with my feelings about Cat -- especially since I'm already disinclined to be favorable towards her character. If I already liked her, I'm sure I'd be more forgiving, but, well, I've never claimed to not be a filthy hypocrite.

So yeah. I don't like Cat. Whoops. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[fatalism-and-villainy]

I think one thing that always bothers me about the Red Dragon arc is - well, it’s a common talking point in the fandom that each half of season 3 represents Hannibal and Will, respectively, living the lives they’d ideally want but without each other. But the thing is, we don’t actually really see much of Will “living without Hannibal.”

Like, in 3A, we get an entire episode of Hannibal’s life without Will, one in which Will doesn’t even show up (and for a season premiere, that’s an even more radical departure from the status quo - we feel Will’s absence as much as Hannibal does) but it feels like there’s this void of negative space where he is. And the contours of that void are so brilliantly and subtly suggested through the flashbacks to Gideon, which contextualizes the preparation of Bedelia (the inadequate substitute for Will Graham) and underlines Hannibal’s need to have others bear witness to his artistry (again, something only reluctantly done by Bedelia, and done in a manner unsatisfactory to him by Anthony Dimmond, the episode’s other unsatisfactory replacement for Will who gets recycled as a macabre valentine for Will). So Gideon saying “if only that someone could be Will Graham” feels like the culmination of what everything that has until now been unspoken has been leading up to.

And in 3B, we don’t really get any kind of analogue to that with Will. In some ways, that makes sense - given Hannibal’s Hannibal-ness, it’s possible to devote an entire episode to his murder and identity theft shenanigans and get some entertaining television out of it. But the life Will is living is a lot more mundane, so it’d be pretty boring to watch forty minutes of him fixing boats and playing with his dogs and eating dinner with his family.

But I do think there should have been something to indicate potential cracks there. We could potentially have had some bits of Will’s life interspersed with the expositional sections of episode 8 that were dedicated to Hannibal being a little shit while in prison, maybe featuring Will being haunted by murder (in the form of the disturbing visions the show is so good at) or missing Hannibal and feeling out of sync with Molly and Walter somehow (as opposed to waiting to get back to Will until literally the equivalent of the first chapter of Red Dragon). Or, they could have been included in flashback form in episode 9 alongside Hannibal’s memories of Abigail (especially in keeping with the themes of family, and Hannibal’s cruel contrast of the family he tried to give Will with the family Will chose for himself).

I get that time constraints were a concern, but ideally, this sort of thing would have helped a lot. Because what we actually get is somehow, simultaneously, Will leaving his family (apparently on a suicide mission) without any kind of mention of them at all, and Will seeming perfectly content with them without much qualification. (And even the book gives us more potential cracks in his marriage - both in it being made clear that Will never expected the marriage to last, and in the “maddening politeness” he endures near the end. The show does give us a little bit of that with the friction between Will and Walter after Dolarhyde’s attack, but Molly still isn’t as angry or distant with Will in the wake of that attack as she should be for me to really buy the dissolution of that family.)

So, all of that is to say that, while 3B has grown on me quite a lot, I think it fails to show us the Hannibal-shaped negative space in Will’s life. And I don’t buy the argument that we should just take it for granted that of course Will couldn’t live without Hannibal. Just as with the Minnesota Shrike, I need to see a negative to fully see the positive.

[luulapants]

I'll do anything to not be productive today. Send me asks for unhinged overcomplicated and controversial analysis of objectively bad media pls.

//

Death in teen wolf

First of all, people out here patiently waiting for me to rediscover any love for Teen Wolf are practicing a sort of faithful devotion that apocalyptic cults would envy. You are stronger than any US Marine.

As for your question, this is a great example of why it's hard to engage Teen Wolf in any sort of genuine critical textual analysis without conflating production bullshit with authorial intent.

Because death has no textual meaning in Teen Wolf. Let's start with what I consider to be the "Engaged" era of S1-3b, after which creator involvement decreased and production went to shit.

Major deaths in this era: Kate, Peter, Mr. Lahey, Victoria, Matt, Erica, Harris, Ennis, Boyd, Kali, Jennifer, Allison, Aiden, the Nogitsune

Of these, 50% were "season villains" featured heavily through the season and killed at the end. Of the rest, two (Lahey and Harris) were minor antagonists. Of the remaining five deaths that we might actually care about, two (that we know of) were because actors wanted to leave the show, not because of narrative intent.

And, of course, we must acknowledge that over a third of them came back from the dead. Why? Because it made sense in the narrative? Or, as I suspect is the case, simply because the actor was popular and/or asked to come back.

Now look at the number of characters who "left the country." I like to think of this, sardonically, as a Teen Wolf euphemism for death the way that "going west" or "riding off into the sunset" is a euphemism for death. Isaac was sent off to a nice farm in France where he'll have lots of room to run around, you see?

When a character died vs. "left," we had about equal odds of them coming back, and those odds had nothing to do with whether their resurrection/return made sense in the TW universe or narrative and everything to do with whether the right handshakes happened off-screen. Theo came back from Literal Hell while Kira, who ostensibly went to live in a cave a day's drive from Beacon Hills, was never seen again. Stiles is such a fan favorite, he can literally never be properly written off, despite the fact that the actor is almost certainly never returning. I haven't watched the movie, but I know Derek dies at the end, probably because Tyler Hoechlin was a producer and doesn't want to return - but in this franchise, death is no escape, baybee!!

What's my point?

In the S4 deadpool plotline, one-episode characters were dying left and right. By S5 there was a literal pile of dead bodies, to the point that, by S6 when people were being disappeared from Beacon Hills, my first thought was, "How is there anyone left to take??" My point is that, for minor characters, there was no emotion or humanity in death, only plot. For major characters, there wasn't any plot either, only contract disputes and popularity surveys. Of course they killed Boyd instead of Isaac. Isaac was a pretty white boy and therefore a fan favorite. Daniel Sharman got to keep his job until the second he didn't want it (half a season later), at which point Isaac went to that farm in France, meanwhile Sinqua Walls got fired and Boyd died.

My point is that Teen Wolf was a poorly-produced scripted show by a network that had never done a scripted show before, which lived and died by market research and product placements and which had no internal stability. My point is that, in an environment like that, it is nearly impossible to create a story with a cohesive narrative intent or any thematic value, and the cast of the movie is proof that, even out from under the shadow of MTV, the story cannot recover. That cast list, I bet you anything, is identical to the list of TW actors who were still sending Jeff Davis Christmas cards at the time he closed the deal with Paramount. I loved Allison as a character, but she didn't come back from the dead because that was the story that needed to be told. She came back because Swamp Thing didn't get renewed.

Death doesn't mean anything in Teen Wolf.

[im-up-to-shenanigans]

Hey there, Santa again!

I'm glad to hear you had a good Thanksgiving, and I hope this week is off to a good start!

I hear you on season 3. It's so good!

What are some of your favorite moments, from season 3 or outside of it? Personally, I love the finale and softer moments! And the goodbye scene in Going Home was so heartbreaking, but done so beautifully.

What are some favorite tropes of yours to read?

Do you have a preference between 3A or 3B?

You mentioned you're good with anything set in season 3. Do you have any particular preference as far as when, or whether it's canon compliant or divergent? Do you tend to read one more than the other? If so, would you prefer me to write in what you more commonly read or in what's less common for your reading?

Do you have any favorite characters or ships in OUAT besides Captain Swan? Is there anyone you wish we saw more of or anyone you wish they had included in the show? I wish we saw more of Tinker Bell, myself—she was so great and we only got about half a season with her!

Unrelated to the show—what are some of your other favorite movies, shows, or books? Any favorite Christmas movies or songs?

If there's anything you feel I've left out or anything you just want me to know, feel free to include anything extra as well!

I look forward to seeing your answers! I'll get to work on that fic and see what I can come up with. I'll send more asks throughout the month as needed. If you'd like me to send any just to check in, I can do that too!

🎄 Until next time! 🎄

Hi, Santa!! My week's been pretty good, hope yours has, too 😊

Favourite moments... hmm, let's see. Well, cannot go wrong with the entire season 3 finale lol. I love the kiss in 3x5, the "when I win your heart" moment, the goodbye at the town line, the "if it can be broken, that means it still works" moment where she so wanted to kiss him (i know, she told me), ugh just... them in season 3.

outside of that season, i love the entirety of 2x6. love all their little domestic moments in s4. love the middlemist kiss in season 5. i have so many more but this is getting long enough lol

i think i love canon divergent and compliant pretty equally, so i think just write wherever the muse leads you and i'll be stoked! i do prefer 3A, but i love 3B so much too!

some favourite tropes: pining pining pining! i also lose my mind over a good secret relationship (an underutilized trope imo). a cs specific trope i can never get enough of are those AUs where they hook up once sometime during 3A and then when he comes to find her in 3B, whoops! looks like they have a baby together now haha. (but i know kidfics aren't everyone's cup of tea, so don't feel like you have to. this is one option of many that i enjoy!)

i also love me some good angst! that moment in 3x19 where everyone thinks Killian was lying and don't want to trust him? AAAHHHH we need way more fics exploring that little moment! not just between CS but also Killian with David (and Snow!! more fics with a friendship between them too!!)

other favourite characters: i love the charmings! i adore their relationship with each other, and i always eat up any moments they have with Emma (and Henry!) i'm with you on Tink! wish she had way more time here, as well as Mr Smee!! Killian and Smee are always so hilarious together, and i think the two of them + Tink would've been an amazing trio to explore. I love Belle! CaptainBeauty is actually my brotp in this fandom!

other favourite shows: well, as you can probably tell by my posts lately, i love Criminal Minds lol. other shows i enjoy are Miraculous Ladybug, the Justice League/Unlimited cartoons, Phineas and Ferb, Psych, Grimm, and probably more that i can't think of right now.

movies! my favourite movie ever is Megamind (no i haven't watched the sequel. or the follow up cartoon, no i don't plan to). other favs include: Road to El Dorado, The Princess Bride, Encanto, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Toy Story 1-3 (not 4), and many more!

now for books! i actually don't really have specific favourites here? but i love reading fantasy, romance, thrillers, and murder mystery! give me any of those, and i'm down lol

Christmas movies: i'll be honest, i'm not really a person who watches a lot of The Christmas Movies™️. i think most of them are ehh :/ however, i am also the girl who will watch every single Christmas romance movie (Hallmark or otherwise). i think i just like a little romance this time of year lol

but i do watch The Santa Clause movies (starring Tim Allen) pretty much every year. sometimes i skip #3 (definitely the weakest imo), but #1 is solid. #2 is my absolute favourite and i will watch it every year without fail

Christmas songs: i actually prefer a lot of the older songs. the classics, if you will. but more than that, i prefer Christmas Carols. the ones that sing about the birth of Jesus. (think Silent Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, etc etc). there's something so special about them that songs like Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Jingle Bells or [insert literally any modern song by a pop artist here] just don't have imo. i could listen to the carols all year round, even when i get sick of the songs that are played on the radio this time of year :)

feel free to slide into my asks any time you want, although it might take me a few days to answer them lol (i'm not actually on tumblr much, and sometimes my notifications get lost whoops)

i hope you're having a wonderful holiday season 💗

[frostyhelltime]

I Said Don't Touch My Hair

Basically someone fucks with curly haired GN!Reader's hair and promptly finds out.

Characters Listed: Alastor, Vox, Lucifer.

Warnings: Violence, but it has Vox and Alastor being pissed off, so what did we expect?

Author's Note: I have really curly hair, 3A or 3B typically. And it frustrates me to no end when people just walk up to me and start touching my hair without even asking. Especially if I spent a lot of time making my hair look extra nice that day. So I got to thinking I wonder what the guys would do if someone approached their lover and did something like that?

If anyone wants me to do this for additional characters let me know. I just thought I would start with these three.

Also hope you like the graphics! I made them myself!

Alastor

It's a distinct possibility this person doesn't even get to lay a hand on you, actually. Ever cognizant and aware, especially when it comes to possible threats to you, he likely has this person on his radar before you do. He is the type of person that's typically five steps ahead of everyone else, and he prides himself on it.

It's during a pleasant stroll on the way to Cannibal Town to have tea and coffee with Rosie that some fool accosts you.

Rosie has been pestering him for the better part of a month to introduce his little paramour and he has finally given in because you were just as excited to meet one of his friends.

In fact you had been so excited you made sure to put extra care into your curls today, wanting to impress. He knew from you only partially jokingly berating Angel when he played with your hair that you didn't like it mussed up when you actually put serious effort into their appearance.

But he can't find it in himself to be annoyed or anything of the sort at the people he passes by when he sees your bright smile as you walk, arm in arm, together. He's also smiling as well, of course, but looking at you the smile turns more soft and genuine for a split second, a chuckle on the tip of his tongue about some joke you made when he sees some stranger's hand reaching for your curls.

Although his smile remains ever present, the scrunch of his nose and furrowing of his brow belay his true feelings.

"Ah ah ah. Don't you know it's improper to touch someone without their permission?" His voice rings out with a thicker layer of static, freezing the demon who stupidly hadn't even realized exactly whose arm you were on. He's annoyed at the way his voice takes on an extra edge of static as you turn around to face the poor soul who probably wasn't much longer for his world. He doesn't like that it could be apparent he's so annoyed. Oh well.

"How repulsive." He mocks, delighting in the clear terror they were feeling as they back up and away from you, as if that will save them.

"Don't worry though, my good fellow. It's a mistake I'll be sure you don't make twice. Someone has to teach you some manners, after all." His voice drops low, letting his form shift taller, antlers elongating and becoming more angular, neck craning forward and stretching to reach the man who was already attempting to run away, maliciously excited grin growing closer and closer.

You release his arm, knowing he'll be back once he's done. You also know he would be even more upset if your clothes got ruined by the blood of this poor uneducated sinner who he plans to teach some manners, and goodness knows the last thing this demon needs is another reason for Alastor to be mad at them.

With a twist and a rip of his claws, once, and twice, the sinner finds themselves violently robbed of their hands and begins blubbering for forgiveness. Alastor blinks at the pathetic creature and brings the hands closer to his maw. He swallows the two offending hands without even a second thought, tilting his head to look at the sinner quivering in delightful fear as if pondering what to do with him next. He takes another step forward and is about to continue when he hears your voice ring out.

"Alastor dear, we're going to be late. I'm sure he's learned his lesson. We don't want to keep Rosie waiting, do we?"

"Ah you're right. We can't be late, it's so impolite. I'm afraid I won't get to continue your lesson." He sighs and then tuts at the sinner frozen in fear, who is still unsure if he's actually going to get to live or not.

Alastor's eyes shift from yours to his prey and his claws give one final rip through flesh as if to punctuate his 'lesson', pulling open the demon's chest with practiced ease before he retreats.

"I hope you found my lesson on etiquette quite educational." Alastor chuckles to the man good naturedly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place.

And with that he's rapidly returning to his normal form, his arm laced through yours again and he's continuing the conversation from before, mood brightening when you thank him and kiss his cheek for protecting you.

Vox

Vox doesn't even see the person coming. No one other than you tends to exist in his peripheral when you're together.

He had been planning awhile, wanting to really wine and dine you for your anniversary. Remind you how good it is to be with him and all the wonderful perks that come with dating the CEO of VoxTek! Of course you knew, but he liked to spoil you and remind you how good he is to you all at the same time and an anniversary was the perfect excuse. Which is also why you're extra dolled up, curls perfectly coiffed and a backless outfit with a cutout in the shape of, a V, of course to entice him for the time you'll spend together...after dinner.

You're listening half mindlessly and half focused as he talks. There's something just nice and relaxing about his ecstatic chatter and it never failed to make you feel at ease.

He's currently talking about his latest idea for a new show that he thinks will be a hit as you two walk, his arm resting on the small of your back on your bare skin. A subtle but possessive claim to you.

A claim that one poor idiot either doesn't heed or doesn't see.

Either way their hand is reaching for you and snags on your curls almost immediately, causing you to jerk back and yelp in pain, frustration and annoyance evident on your face. Though it compares little to the immediate upset it causes Vox.

You think he didn't mean to snag it, only wanting to feel it, though it doesn't much matter now what his intent was.

The guy doesn't even look remorseful since he doesn't seem to even think it's a big deal until he realizes Vox seems upset as well and then he's apologizing, but apparently it doesn't seem sincere enough for Vox.

The tall man quickly steps forward, barely needing to take any steps at all before he snatches the man's hand with sheer brute force, his other hand beginning to gently untangle your hair and pulling it out of this idiot's grasp. You found it such a funny contrast between the grips of his two hands that if you weren't so pissed you would have laughed. As soon as the man is untangled from you, Vox has him picked up and slammed into a wall, electricity crackling from him as he does, errant sparks burning the man's skin without Vox even trying.

"Listen here you piece of shit, do you have any idea who you just fucked with?" His eyes narrow, electric sparks growing bigger and hotter as he speaks. The man just shakes his head no, trying to apologize to try and save his own skin.

"Now, you're going to apologize to my sweeatheart and you're going to mean it." He growls, dropping the man down in front of you as carelessly as he would a sack of trash. Even belly down the man tries to scramble to get up and run but Vox's foot is pressing down and keeping him pinned before he can succeed.

"I'm running out of patience..." He warns, narrowing his eyes, and then the man is changing gears and giving his best attempt at as remorseful of an apology as he can muster.

You are pissed but take pity on the man, not letting his torment get more drawn out. You're certain Vox won't just accept an apology so you might as well let him get on with it, and not extend the suffering.

You kindly accept his apology as you continue to fix your hair.

As soon as the acceptance leaves your mouth though, the man has such a large amount of electricity shot through him so violently that he's almost glowing, a smoldering corpse left in the dust of the smoke that had arisen from the electric burns, which Vox steps over to check on you, making sure you're okay.

You are of course fine, and assure him as much and it seems to placate him a bit that you aren't actually hurt.

He hurls one last insult of "Prick" before he leaves, his hand gently on the bare skin of your back once again, although he pulls you closer than before so you walk almost hip to hip. He would certainly pay more attention to look out for any other idiots that thought they could get handsy with you tonight.

Lucifer

Another one who sees it before it's coming. He's always aware of everyone and everything when he's out with you. Dating the king of hell certainly had some perks! But it also came with a big fat target on your back. Although you never minded. You knew he was always looking out for you and wouldn't let anything happen.

It's part of why you never noticed anything amiss, you always felt so safe around him that you did sometimes let your guard down. It was easy when Lucifer was so sweet and goofy, even when he wasn't trying.

Needless to say, his hyper vigilance that most never noticed beneath the silly facade comes in handy now, his eyes catching someone approaching you from afar as he walks towards you but still too far away to hear anything they might be saying to you.

You were waiting for him, patiently as ever, to meet up for a date. You looked so beautiful, standing there and smiling down at your watch since you knew he would be there any minute now. It made him giddy just seeing you there.

But despite how far away he is, as soon as he sees them reaching for you, he's beside you in a flash, crossing the distance and using his cane to block their hand and push it away from you before it ever makes contact.

"Hey hey hey, what are you doing? That's so rude." He laughs, smiling at the man, who seems genuinely shocked to see the king of hell in front of him suddenly. He is smiling but there is an air of annoyance in his smile, as if he's trying to keep it casual and struggling. He's not unnecessarily violent, and usually just a casual signal that you were with him was enough to have people keep their distance. He's pretty confident the sinner will just turn and run.

"Lucifer!" Your happy voice chirps at him, only barely registering someone had been reaching for you, and clearly not even registering it as a threat now that he was here.

"Sorry I'm late. I...got distracted." He says sheepishly, shifting his attention from the sinner to you, especially since the sinner jumped back as if the cane had been made of pure fire, running off as quick as he can. But not before mumbling out a shakey "S-Sorry!" Seems Lucifer was right on that bet. He wouldn't have to worry about them bothering the two of you anymore, he's sure.

But you just smile and wrap an arm around his, clearly not the least bit annoyed by the interruption.

"...What does this new rubber ducky do?" You only halfway joke, having a pretty good idea what could have distracted him, and just as quickly his face changes from apologetic to excited. You smile seeing how his face changes; you were right on the money it seems.

"Shoots spikes like little pointy bullets!" He grins like a child excited about their latest toy, and he's guiding you now, away from this person who almost caused trouble if he hadn't been there in time.

"Ooo, after dinner can you show me? That sounds so cute!" You smile, leaning down to kiss his cheek.

"Although I know you don't need any spikes to save me, my king." You whisper to him teasingly, his face flushing just a little bit red at your playful use of his title as you headed to your date.

[bloodieash]

Hello, Oc Bingo buddy it is I @endless-oc-creations here to ask you five questions!

What inspired you to create your ocs Maddie Foxblood and Elle Ravencross?

2. What can you tell me more about them?

3. Do they have a love interest? If so what's your favorite thing about their relationship?

4. Who are their close friends?

5. Do you have a line from one of your wips you want to share?

Have an amazing day!

1.) So because Maddie was a remake of Juliet O'Riley her inspiration would technically be a picture on pinterest describing the differences between sirens and mermaids... how one is made by a love of water and the other is created by violent deaths in the water but as Maddie moved away from the siren thing (and I would one day really like to write a siren based off of said post) the inspiration for the two of them together became Clary's line about Jace and Johnathan being opposite ends of the same experiment. 2.) Oh I have a lot of random facts about Maddie and Elle that are still coming together, but here are a few I know for sure. On the experiment front Elle is the Angel while Maddie is the Demon. When Elle dies the way that Maddie brought her back was by triggering (through their parabatai bond) the angel blood in Elle bringing her back and kicking her healing into over drive. This cost Maddie all but her parabatai rune. Maddie can still be runed now, but they don't last. 3.) So I suck at writing romance so in the actual fic it may not show up as well as in my head, but I do have ships for both of them. 3a.) Elle is head over heels for Izzy. And probably my favorite thing about their relationship is the fact Elle studied science just to impress Izzy. Like here is a girl who is better at social studies and history and she's just like I'm going to learn everything I can about science just 'cause Izzy likes science. The thing is she does actually know a lot about weapons and could have just as easily used that, but she chose learning something new. 3b.) And Maddie is shipped with Jace. The thing I love about them is just how incredibly soft they are together. The way I see them in my head is just soooooo soft. 4.) First and foremost they are each others' best friends. 4a.) Elle also made a few friends while she was stationed in Athens, specifically Mari Stormshade who was there with her when she died. Though, if asked, she'd still say she's closer to the Lightwoods. 4b.) Maddie while exiled to mundane society she was throwing herself at every shadow world thing she could find in the hopes of running into Elle or anyone else really so she wound up doing things (mostly translating texts and stuff of that nature) for Camille which threw her in close proximity of Raphael. They schemed to oust Camille together and if asked Maddie would say he's her closest friend besides Elle. 5.) maybe a couple even if I haven't officially written them down yet. 5a.) "You need to be careful of the Shadowhunters Clary." Maddie warned her voice low. "They have a sink or swim mentality." Clary scoffed. What was that supposed to mean? "And how would you know?" All Maddie had done since Clary had met the shadowhunters was disappear. Even the night Clary's mom had been taken Maddie hadn't been there, but the Shadowhunters had been. "I drowned!" 5b.) "Tell them what you said." Clary's voice was low, dangerous. Maddie wasn't sure what message she was trying to get across, but she knew she wouldn't like it. "Tell them what you said in the other world!" Maddie's skin itched at the order and her jaw clenched. "I said a lot of things Clary. We were there for over twelve hours." "'I've been in love with you since I was ten years old.'" Clary pitched her voice in a mock of Maddie's. Maddie went cold. She knew which conversation Clary was referring to. How much had she heard? Did she know who Maddie had been talking to? Maddie swallowed thickly, but she refused to yield. She could already see Elle, Jace, Izzy, and Alec watching the argument like a sports match of some kind. She couldn't let them know. Couldn't let him know. Not about this. "Half of what I said Clary wasn't even me. Are you telling me you didn't feel it? The other you trying to reassert herself. Trying to take back the life you invaded?" "'We can't do this. You can't do this Jace. Not if you're not serious.'" Clary continued one. Tears pricked at Maddie's eyes, but she refused to shed them.

[lesfeldickbiblestudy]

  Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 3 * PART 2 * BOOK 72 THE BIG PICTURE SALVATION & GOOD WORKS - 2 My, it’s good to see everybody.  We’ll go right into program number two.  You can turn with me to Romans chapter 5 verse 1, and we’re going to continue for a few moments yet on this glorious Gospel of the Grace of God, and how that it’s by faith plus nothing in what Christ has done on our behalf. Those of you joining us on television, we’re just an informal Bible study.  I don’t try to grind an ax with anyone.  We just want folk to see what the Book says.  Look at it with an open eye.  You know, I always have to be a little bit aware of clichés, like—don’t empty your brain and then not be aware of what replaces it.  I don’t want you to do that, but on the other hand open your mind to carefully search the Scriptures.  We’ve had I don’t know how many people write that they prayed, definitively, “Lord, just open this Book so that I can understand it.”  And then along comes my teaching and there it is.  It’s plain as day.  I mean it’s really not that difficult. So, those of you out in television, if you will join us, we will read a few verses here in Romans chapter 5 which will carry on that same theme. Romans 5:1-3a “Therefore being justified by faith, (plus nothing) we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:…” In other words, as soon as, especially in Paul’s ministry, those pagans believed the Gospel and came out of that paganism, what did they face?  Immediately it was persecution! And I’m always so amazed that they stayed with it.  Because not only were they persecuted by their fellow pagan Gentiles, they were persecuted by the Roman government, and they were persecuted by the Orthodox Jews—who, of course, hated the name of Jesus Christ.  And yet they stayed with it.  That’s where Paul was commending them. All right, I want to get down to at least verse 8, and then we’ll continue our thoughts for just a moment on how this glorious work of the cross is all we need for salvation.   All right then verse 4: Romans 5:3b-6 “…knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4. And patience, experience; and experience, (works) hope: 5. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God (There’s that term again.  It’s the love of God.) is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us. 6.  For when we were yet without strength, (While we were yet, as we saw at the end of the last program, while we were sinners.  We had fallen short of the glory of God.  So--) in due time Christ died for (What kind of people?) the ungodly.”  He didn’t die for the good people.   He died for the worst of sinners.    And then verse 7: Romans 5:7-9 “For scarcely for a righteous man would one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”  All right, now that’s the kind of language that you do not find anywhere but in the writings of the Apostle Paul. All right, let’s go to I Corinthians.  And that’s going to be our subject matter for at least the first half of this program - a continuation of the Gospel of the Grace of God and that when a sinner believes it, immediately the Holy Spirit places him into the Body of Christ.  And that’s the only membership that counts for eternity.  Are you a member of the Body of Christ?  You can be a member of umpteen other denominations and that won’t cut it unless you’re a member of the Body of Christ.  That’s the only thing that counts for eternity. All right, I Corinthians chapter 1, oh, my goodness, I guess verse 17 is a good place to start in this particular chapter, because again, we want to emphasize that work of the cross.

  Verse 17—now remember who Paul is writing to.  He is writing to Gentile believers down there in the wicked city of Corinth.  And he says: I Corinthians 1:17-18a “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;…” The lost world around us, they think we’re nuts.  You might as well be honest.  They think we’re weird to believe that that horrible work of the cross is all we need for eternity?  But you see - that’s what the Book says. I Corinthians 1:18 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.”  The same power that he referred to in Romans chapter 1 and that is given to those who believe.  All right, then for the sake of time, I’ll skip a verse or two here.  Come down to verse 22. I Corinthians 1:22a “For the Jews require a sign,..” Now, unless you’re a Bible student that just doesn’t mean much.  But if you go all the way back to Israel’s early days, God is going to bring them out of Egypt, and He’s going to do it through one man, like He does so often.  But how was He going to prove to the Nation of Israel that Moses was God’s man?  How?  Signs and miracles.   So that’s the beginning that we have in Scripture that Israel was always presented with signs and miracles to prove that this was the real thing.  That it wasn’t just some slight of hand.  It wasn’t something done in a corner.  It was the real thing. All right, now you remember that in Moses’ case, what did God tell him to do?  “Throw your rod on the ground.”  And what happened?  It became a serpent. Then God had Moses pick it up.  And it became a rod.  Then a little later, to make further proof, he put his hand inside his tunic and pulled it out and what was it?  Covered in leprosy.  He put his hand back in and takes it out and it became just as clear as it could be.  Well, those were signs to prove to Israel that Moses was His man. All right, now you jump all the way up to Christ’s earthly ministry.  Why all the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of signs and wonders and miracles?  To prove to Israel who He was.  Israel always required a sign.  What did the Pharisees tell Jesus face to face?  Show us a sign.  What was Jesus’ answer? “No sign will be given but the sign of Jonah, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so must the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”  What was that?  A sign.   All right, so now Paul reminds us as he’s writing to Gentiles that the Jews were always requiring a sign. I Corinthians 1:22b “…and the Greeks (the Gentile world) seek after (What?) wisdom:” How many degrees do you have?  How many books have you written?  How much wisdom have you gained from the university?  That’s all the Gentile world could think about.  All right, so Paul is using these two as a comparison.  Israel always said, show us a sign.  The Greeks, especially the intellectuals said, show us your education.  Remember Mars Hill?  That’s where that took place.   All right, so this is what Paul is referring to - the Jews require a sign, but to the Greeks it’s foolishness, because they required wisdom.  All right, now in verse 23 Paul said we’re not going to hang on either one of them.  We’re not going to claim miracles and signs and wonders.  We’re not going to claim to have four or five degrees behind my name.  What does the next verse say? I Corinthians 1:23 “But we preach Christ (What?) crucified, (That’s where it’s at.) unto the Jews (who were looking for signs and wonders, He was--) a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24.  But unto them who are called, whether Jews or Greeks, it’s Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” He fulfills both sides of the coin.  And that’s where we’re way ahead of the game.  We don’t have to look for signs and wonders.  We don’t have to look for a multitude of degrees and education.

  We’ve got them both at salvation.  God has poured out His power in the person of the Holy Spirit, and He’s also given us that peace that passeth all understanding, and it’s not foolishness because it is so, so real. All right now let’s come on up a little bit further to the little book of Galatians chapter 5.  And again we’re just stressing how that during this dispensation of the Grace of God it’s without works.  You can’t do anything to merit God’s favor.  The little Book of Galatians was written because some of the Jewish people from Jerusalem were coming into Paul’s little Gentile congregations and telling them that they couldn’t be saved if they didn’t practice circumcision and keep the commandments.  In other words, you had to add works to their saving faith in the cross.  So, Paul had to write this little letter of Galatians to refute all of that and to remind his Gentile believers up there in Galatia that it wasn’t by works; it’s by faith and faith alone. All right, now I’m going to bring you in at chapter 4 verse 30.   He had just finished using Ishmael and Isaac as the two opposites in the Old Testament.  Ishmael was of the flesh.  Isaac was of the promise of the Spirit.  Two totally different scenarios.  All right, now using those as comparisons, if you remember the story, when Ishmael started taunting little Isaac, what did Sarah demand?  Kick them out!  Get them out of here.  I won’t have that seventeen year old taunting my little five year old.  Get rid of them.  So, what did God tell them to do?  Take them out into the wilderness.  Cast them out.  All right, now that’s where we pick it up then in chapter 4 verse 29. Galatians 4:29 “But as then (just like between Ishmael and Isaac) he that was born after the flesh (Ishmael, who was now 17 or 18) persecuted him who was born after the Spirit, (that’s Isaac, now about 5) even so (Paul says) it’s now.”  We’ll never get away from the persecution of the unbelieving world.  It’s impossible.  All right, verse 30: Galatians 4:30a “Nevertheless what saith the scripture?...” And that’s one of my favorite statements.  Don’t go by what I say.  Don’t go by what your preacher says.  Don’t go by what your denomination says.  What does the Scripture say?   Look at the multitudes out there that are following gimmicks.  They’re following false teachers.  They’re falling for it.  That would never happen if they would stay in the Book.  You’ve got to stay in the Book. Galatians 4:30-31 “What saith the scripture?  Cast out the bondwoman and her son: (Who represented legalism.  Do this, do that, you’ve got to this and then God will do that.  No.  You cast that out.  You kick it out the backdoor as far as you can kick it.) for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.  (Now verse 31, here’s the answer to the allegory.) 31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, (We’re not associated with a works religion.) but of the free.”  Now then, verse 1 of chapter 5 and, oh, I love some of these verses! Galatians 5:1a “Stand fast therefore in the (What?) the liberty…” You don’t have a whole bunch of rules and regulations hanging on you.  You’re free of all that.  You’ve been set free by the Grace of God.  Now, that’s not license.  I always have to follow that right up.  That doesn’t mean we just go out and do as we please.  No.  Because as soon as we became a believer who came in?  The Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit becomes our gyroscope.  He keeps us on a level plane.  He keeps us from going out into the things of the flesh.  He keeps us from listening to the false teachers.  He keeps us on course. Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”  Well, in simple terms, what was the yoke of bondage?  The Ten Commandments.  The Law.  And Peter even admitted it years later that, yes, it was a yoke of bondage that even our fathers couldn’t bear.  The best of Israel couldn’t handle it because it was so severe.

  But, oh, under Grace, we’re set free from all of that.  We have nothing but the Spirit of God to direct us and to keep us where God would have us.  All right, then verse 2, here comes the meat of the problem. Galatians 5:2 “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, (to gain salvation like they were telling them.  If you’re going to follow circumcision--) Christ shall profit you (How much?) nothing.”  Nothing!  Now listen, this is dangerous language.  This affects most of Christendom because they’re adding something.  It may not be circumcision.  But they’re adding something.  And when you add something, God says I never knew you, because I’ve done all that’s necessary. You know, I’ve got a lot of illustrations.  You can think of them.  Lay awake some night and just think of a good illustration of how someone could say to you, “Have I done all that I’ve done, and that’s not enough?” I’ve got one I dreamed up one time where I had the mother prepare a fabulous meal for all her family. She labored for two or three days to put this glorious meal on the table for the family. She bought the best of the vegetables and found the best meat, found the best of everything and was never so meticulous in all of her preparations.  They sat down and they enjoyed the meal, and then after it was over, one or two of the guys says, “Well, I’ve got to go down to the hamburger joint and get a milkshake!”  How do you suppose that mother would feel?  After all I’ve done to prepare a meal that should have satisfied them to the end and then they’ve got to go to a greasy-spoon and get something else?  Isn’t that exactly what we’re doing with the Gospel?   Here God has done it all.  It’s perfect!  And then we go and do something just as ridiculous.  But that’s Christendom tonight.  All right, read on. Galatians 5:3 “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, (As part of salvation, because that was the problem in Paul’s day.) that he is a debtor to do (How much?) the whole law.”  If you’re going to keep the Law, you’ve got to keep it all!  And what man can do that?  Nobody.    So if you do that-- Galatians 5:4 “Christ has become of no effect unto you, (His work on the cross falls into nothingness if someone tells God it’s not enough.) whosoever of you are justified by the law; (or by any kind of a works religion) ye are fallen from grace.”  That doesn’t mean you’re saved and lost.  It means that you have never really appropriated the Grace of God. I’ve only got one or two more and then I want to get on another theme, if at all possible, for the next couple of programs.  Ephesians chapter 2, now this is, of course, one of Paul’s prison ministry letters.  While he’s in the prison in Rome he writes these glorious letters of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and so forth, under the duress of the dungeon and of the Romans all around him. As I pointed out in my class the other night, while he was in prison in Rome was he just sitting there crying his eyes out, why can’t I be reaching somebody?  You know what he was doing?  He was getting salvation to his Roman guards.  I know he did.  Because those Roman guards in rotation ended up serving in the palace of the emperor and in the Philippian letter what does Paul say?  “Greet the fellow believers in the palace.”  Well, how in the world do you suppose they ended up with believers in the palace?  Ol’ Paul was always witnessing to the guards that were chained to him.  And when they rotated into service in the palace, they did the same thing. So Paul’s ministry expanded even from the dungeon.   Are we doing that? I told my class the other night.  I am as bad as any of you.  You get up against somebody and we get what?  Tongue-tied.  Oh, and we should just be able to let it flow.  But it’s so hard.  But anyway, here we are in Ephesians chapter 2 in his prison letter. Ephesians 2:1 “And you (writing to another congregation of Gentiles) hath he quickened, (or made alive) who were dead (spiritually) in trespasses and sins: 2.

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience;” We were no better than the rest of them. Ephesians 2:3-4a “Among whom also we all had our conversation (or manner of living) in times past (before we came into this glorious salvation) in the lusts (the desires) of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4. But God,…” God moved in.  And, oh, that’s what thrills us in our letters, over and over and over, day in and day out.  How they’ve been in church all of their life, caught our program and in three or four programs, sometimes in one, God opens the Scriptures, and they enter into this life.  And they just can’t…they can’t express themselves of what a joy to now have the assurance of salvation without having had to do anything for it but to trust it and believe it. Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (He made us alive.) together with Christ,   (Why?) (by grace ye are saved;)”  We don’t deserve it.  All right, now I’m going to jump down to verses 8, 9, and 10. Ephesians 2:8a “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:…” Not something that you’ve thought, well, I’ve got to go and do this.  You know, I think I put this on the program 15 years ago.  Iris and I were reading library books when we were first married.  Didn’t have television and we weren’t as steeped in the Word as we are now, so we would read a library book once in a while.  We read about this one little lad, a 14-year old up here, and his experiences in the mountains of the Ozarks.  But this is the one I wanted to tell you. One day he told his little buddy, you know, Sunday morning I’m going to go up and get baptized because I know that that would make Mom and Daddy so happy.  Well, isn’t that most people?  Nothing of the work of the Spirit.  Nothing of the power of the Gospel.  As a kid, he just got the idea: I’m just going to go up and get baptized to make Mom and Daddy happy.  Hey, that’s not it. That’s not it, but it’s by Grace, the Grace of God – unmerited favor.  We didn’t deserve it.  But Christ suffered and died and shed His blood so that He could extend this kind of salvation. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the (What?) gift of God:”  And you don’t work for a gift.  You don’t lift a finger for a gift.  It comes by the unmerited love of whoever is giving it.  And that’s God’s salvation.  “…not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”  Ephesians 2:9 “Not of works, (Boy, that cancels a lot of people, doesn’t it?) lest any man should boast.”  Well, you’ve heard me use that in an illustration, haven’t you?  Wouldn’t Heaven be awful if everybody got there by working their way?  How would you like to meet them on the streets of gold, and they had to stand there and tell you all they did to get there?  Once I could handle or maybe twice.  But what if I happened to meet him three times in a short period of time, and I had to stand there and listen to all he did to gain Heaven’s portals?  It’d be awful.  But see, not a one of us is going to be able to do that.  Not a one of us is going to be able to say, you know what I did to get here?  I did nothing.  I just simply believed what God had done on my behalf. All right, now this is going to get me ready for the next half-hour fortunately.  So, “Not of works, lest any man should boast,” but it doesn’t stop there.  That’s salvation.  But we’re not saved to sit.  We are saved to what?  Serve!  Next verse. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, (As a result of salvation God has made us a new person.  God has made us what we are.  We’re His.  We’re a child of God.) created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

”  It has nothing to do with salvation, but as a result of salvation, now we do things that bring honor and glory to His name.  Whatever it is.  Just the main routine things of life and you do it for God’s glory, I’m sure God is going to put it to your account as good works. All right, reading on to the end of the verse, “…which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  That is your daily life of good works.  Now that doesn’t mean you’re constantly trying to do something for someone else.  It’s just in your daily experience of life in the home, or at work, or whatever the case may be.  You are constantly pumping out that which has been put within you to do things that bring honor and glory to the Lord’s name. All right, now that’s going to introduce me to the next half hour.  We’ll look at it just briefly.   I Corinthians chapter 3 and we’re going to deal with the good works in the life of the believer.  We’re not saved by them, but they’re going to be a result.  I Corinthians chapter 3 and this is just an introduction for the next half hour—verse 9. I Corinthians 3:9a “For we are (What’s the word?) laborers (We’re not sitting in a recliner.  We’re busy.) together with God:…”  He’s our partner in this everyday walk of the Christian life. Never forget that.  We’re not alone.  The Holy Spirit is empowering us, and we have the Word of God to direct us; so that everything we say, think, or do is going to be in that direction.  We’re going to bring honor and glory to His name.

[liliaeth]

So you basically didn't watch Scott in s3b up to s6b?

Just curious.

See Scott was never a Mary Sue, (or Gary Stue if you want to go for the male version)

In order for that to be the case, all of Scott's actions would have had to be treated like they were the right ones. As if even his mistakes ended up being the right thing to do.

None of that was the case.

What you're missing, is that Teen Wolf never once treated being a True Alpha as a prize. It wasn't a 'top achievement' at which development ended.

It wasn't about getting a power up, it was about gaining more responsibility, and how Scott dealt with that responsibility that he was burdened with.

How unlike Derek, and Peter he didn't use the alpha power as a power grab. And how unlike say Stiles, Scott actually got held accountable for his mistakes. When Scott did something wrong, there were actual consequences, and he couldn't just run away from those, or pretend they didn't happen. Which is pretty much the opposite of a Mary Sue.

People make the mistake of seeing 'forced to kill' as character growth. But it isn't, especially when there's no real consequences for it.

One of the reasons I personally don't like Stiles, is because he lacked character growth. Throughout six seasons, Stiles never really had to grow up, never got held accountable, never was held to his mistakes, or made to learn from them.

the moment I realized Stiles was a total Mary Sue, was in s5 when the sheriff acts as if 'Stiles had to forgive Scott', because Scott hadn't done anything wrong to Stiles. Stiles was the one who hurt Scott...

But the show still acted as if Stiles was the poor woobie who got hurt. We even saw that in the Lies of Omission scene, which was blocked intentionally to put all sympathy on Stiles, even after Stiles viciously attacked Scott, after Stiles had betrayed Scott, and the pack...

And there was not even a hint either there, or in 5b that Stiles had to make it up to Scott for his betrayal of Scott. Stiles gets to assault Scott, gets to act as if he was the victim, and of course fandom ate that up, because they completely ignored that Stiles was the one who'd done wrong, not the one who'd been wronged. And that very much made Stiles a Mary Sue, which fandom happily copied.

Contrast that to Scott, who could no longer just be part of the pack, but had to take on the responsibility. First in 3b, when he has to make a decision on whether to let Stiles die, because he's a threat.

Scott of course chooses to do what he can to protect Stiles. But because he does that, because he puts his friend over saving others, Allison ends up dying.

If Scott had killed Stiles, instead of trying to save him, Allison and Aiden would have still been alive.

And Scott has to deal with that. That is far more meaningful than just killing someone.

In s4 we see Scott learn from Derek on how to be an alpha, and he makes mistakes with Liam, trying to copy Derek at first, which leads to failure, and then getting better at it.

But then s5 happens, and Scott's compassion leads him to once again make a mistake. A mistake that Theo takes advantage of.

The problem is, Scott is doing everything right at the start of s5. he's being careful about Theo, he gives him a chance, sure, but never to the point of taking unnecessary risks. It's only as Theo has already done more to prove himself to the pack, than Derek had in all of s1-s3 put together, that Scott starts trusting him. And it still leads to Theo poisoning him, Theo turning Stiles against him, and making the entire pack abandon Scott...

And Scott has to deal with that.

Scott makes the mistake of putting his claws in Corey's neck, and he is instantly called out on it by Lydia. And it turns out that doing this wrong thing, doesn't even help to save Liam and Hayden. It's just shown as wrong all around.

And because he did that, Corey didn't trust him when it was needed, and ran with Mason after they found out Mason had 'the Beast' inside of him. If Scott had not done this mistake, they might have been able to save Mason. Probably not, but they might have had a chance.

Consequences...

And Scott then learns from them. When he' dealing with Meredith later that season, he hesitates to use his claws to see in her neck. Because he learned from his mistakes. And she has to take his hand and make it clear she wants him to do so.

Scott never was a Mary Sue, and his character growth didn't end after 3a, it was just one step in the road of him growing and developing as a character, as a leader

It's one of the reasons why Scott is one of the three characters on Teen Wolf with the most character growth of any of the characters on the show. Scott, Lydia and Derek... and it was never about either of those three getting 'superpowers'

I really don't care for the "true alpha" thing, and there are plenty of other people's posts about why, but I can't stop thinking about what it does to Scott and his character.

like, seasons one and two he's constantly fighting for NO ONE to be murdered, because he believes that you can't justify it and it's wrong. fair enough. this insistence places him at odds with people he might otherwise get along with, solidifying him as an underdog. even his alliance with Derek is tenuous, as Derek sees murder as necessary to keep people safe and Scott doesn't. but BECAUSE he's an underdog he has to work with the people around him and convince them why they shouldn't kill, he isn't powerful enough to stand on his own.

but in the later seasons.... he doesn't have that??

as the true alpha, his power hinges on him not killing people. while it would be unreasonable to say that his former stance is completely GONE, pessimistic fans (like me, hello hi how's your day) can make the case that he doesn't kill because he would be less powerful if he did, at least in part. it COMPLETELY cuts the teeth off his moral argument, which sucks because the show still has at least twelve more moral arguments left.

hes also completely LOST the underdog angle. he and Derek are finally chill, thankfully, but he's suddenly the most powerful cool guy in the area, the first of his kind in years, with super special powers just for him. about a season before he lost a fight with a guy who had been a werewolf for all of two seconds. and you know how before he had to convince other people to join his side and work with his plan? yeah no now he can just yell at them and they'll do whatever he says, magic rules.

No matter how you feel about season one and two Scott, it's undeniable that he is fighting an uphill battle that just kind of plateaus as of Season Three. and I love season three, but I feel like, if it did happen, it should have been closer to the end of the show

(And for all the talk about the McCall pack being weird and unconventional, they still fall in that same power structure that EVERY PACK EVER falls into. I think it would be more interesting if they didn't and their pack is even MORE of a mess to werewolves. take, for instance, the underlying subplot of seasons 1-3 that Beacon Hills doesn't have an alpha (at least a good one sorry Derek) and is there for ripe for the taking. a big reason that Derek wanted Scott in his pack was that he didn't want to be seen as weak or targeted by hunters, even other werewolves. they don't get along but they HAVE TO or else they straight up DIE. But then in 3A they suddenly have an alpha (at least a good one sorry AGAIN Derek) and that plotline is dropped. they're still being hunted, but that anxiety about being a good enough pack is gone. which is weird, right? wouldn't you want to increase that tension?

imagine if they didn't actually HAVE an alpha. They still consider each other pack, but that's not good enough for anyone but them. especially at the start of season four? no alpha, their former alpha has gone MISSING, they haven't told anyone, they have to go get him but every second any of them is away the more their town is in danger, and oh FUCK our former alpha is a TEENAGER NOW?? AND NOW HES BASICALLY NOT WVEN A WEREWOLF??? not only having to deal with the mercenaries and Kate but also other werewolves trying to nudge into their territory?)

[blushiinghoney]

"plan hea" | g.w

summary: George made a bet.

content: worth part 2, a bit of angst, gender-neutral, not house specific, ambiguous ending.

warnings: none, may suffer edits in the future.

a/n: someone asked for a part 2 so i delivered, i hope you enjoy.

p a r t 1 - worth

m a s t e r l i s t

[do not repost or copy my works to other sites - i did it myself, you can check it out on MY ao3]

George has always felt like he had to prove himself to others. He thinks it all might've started as a brotherly competition with his twin, always trying to compete for their mother's attention, and in the first years of school - when they still cared enough - they'd compete to see who got the best grades, who did the best spells, who learned to ride the broom faster.

And then came Quidditch. The tryouts were good for the both of them, both being able to get on the team. And it was fun, until somehow, things changed.

Fred, although was his twin, was the complete opposite of him. He had this outgoing personality, a natural flirt, and an unreachable confidence. While George, would much rather keep to himself. So, it was inevitable that even if they had the same face, everyone started to pay more attention to his older brother.

Because of that George thought that if he competed with everyone else, everyone 's attention would turn to him, if even for a moment. That's how the bets started, he'd make bets with everyone about everything. Once he had to make Professor Snape's underwear appear in class, and there was that time he bet Ron he could spend the night in the Slytherin dormitories - he did, and even took one of Draco's socks to prove it.

But there was one time he completely lost his mind.

It was a Gryffindor party after another game win. And George isn't sure how the conversation turned to another bet, he was too drunk to understand anything clearly at that point. His brothers had bet him on taking someone out, the first person that walked through the door at that moment, which had happened to be y/n. Now, George had always had a crush on them - not that he had ever told anyone. So his drunk brain thought this was the best opportunity, and while his rational side tried to make him think clearly, his drunk mouth had already said yes.

The next morning, when he realised what he'd done, he freaked out. But after coming to his senses he made a plan:

The "Happy ever after" (maybe)

Step 1 - approach calmly

Step 2 - ask y/n out

Step 3A - don't cry if they say no

Step 3B - don't freak out if they say yes

Step 4 - make out if yes

Step 4 - have nice date

Step 5 - fall in love

Step 6 - get married

Step 7 - have two kids

** be honest about the bet, and accept cruel fate

** try not to cry when they break up with me for being a bad person

** feel guilty for the rest of my life

Yeah, that seemed like a good plan, he just had to figure out how to bring the bet thing. 'Cause he couldn't get married on a lie, but maybe everything would go so well that he wouldn't have to talk about it or they'd just laugh about it, yeah, that's it.

The first date had been amazing, and it only made George like them even more. And soon one had turned to three, and then it had already been a month of dating. But still he hadn't brought up the but, even though he really wanted to. He felt bad, and really wanted to be honest, it's just everytime he tried, the words would get stuck in his throat and his mouth would get dry.

He was scared.

But in his plan he failed to see the possibility of y/n learning about the bet, from someone other than him. So it was a surprise that one morning, they'd just come to him and handed him 5 galleons.

“Here, 5 galleons, because apparently that’s all I’m worth to you”

No. No. No. This couldn't be happening.

George tried to speak, but they'd already left. How would he fix this? Could he? For the next few days he'd try to speak to them, to explain anything. But it was pointless, he had screwed everything up.

So although it hurt, George admitted defeat, and stopped bothering them, after taking the money out of his pocket and dropping it at y/n's dorm door. It was only fair, he thought. Life, unfortunately, continued and he had to learn to live without y/n by his side.

Until, on a random wednesday, someone was knocking on his door. And he was surprised to see y/n, standing there still in their uniform, waving something in their hand.

"Happy ever after huh?"

"I can explain…", George was so embarrassed, how did they get that?

"Yeah, you do have a lot to explain", then just walked into his dorm.

[beanieman]

HI this might be really hard to understand cause im sending this in my phone and i thought of this while on a walk so SORRY IF IT IS

i thinkt that shin's first trial is what gives him the 0.0% chance to win. shin is a very cunning and smart individual, he knows how to hack and do lots of other things that woupd be vital to escape, he even comes close to escaping with everyone due to his hacking ability. why would he be given a 0.0% chance to win when he had so much going for him? i think its because the percents demonize sara, and show her to be ruthless, since she has such a high percent compared to everyone. demonizing sara part of the reason why a lot of the cast dislikes shin, excluding kanna. before the first main game shin is a respected individual and nobody particular has any problems with him. during the first main game, he constantly points out sara and claims shes with the kidnappers, and its obvious that everyone cares and trusts her as they all come in to defend her. it could also be that shin gave joe the sacrifice card to see how it would ruin sara, and maybe make her show her true form. he couldve also done that to take away a support of sara's to try and make her chances of winning even less. doing this and him beibg deemed suspicious after the first main game are big factors into him getting voted/being among the four preliminary vote cadidates. IDK WHERE IM GOING WITH THIS BUT I HOPE YOU CAN GET THE MAIN IDEA 👍👍👍

I do get the main idea, but I have a different interpretation if you don't mind me adding onto this post! Also even if I don't agree thank you for you the ask! /gen

I think Shin's trial is an advantage instead of what gives him zero percent. With the papers, he could see everyone's danger levels and assess how to handle them. For example, from the start, he's the only one who knows Sara is more than she seems. He also knows he can trust Kanna since she's a weak person, much like him.

What I think Shin was SUPPOSED to do was see the numbers and, therefore, ally with Sara. This idea works because the game tried to disadvantage Sara by giving her allies, so a Shin and Sara team up would lower Sara's odds and make Shin's higher, which would level out the game. However Shin is so paranoid he constructs his own demises by antagonizing Sara.

You also mention that Shin had a lot going for him, so it's odd that his number is so low. While his hacking is useful, he still has REALLY bad social skills. We see this during the first main game, where he doubles down on Sara being a villain instead of backing off and apologizing for accusing her and Joe of working with Kai. So I don't think his skillset has anything to do with his lack of survival rate. It's his personality that's the issue.

It's also worth mentioning that Midori says in 3B that the game is even now because everyone was given anchors and advantages to have a fair shot at winning. So his first trial wouldn't be set up to kill him because the game wants him to have the same chance to win as someone like Sara.

So I disagree, but I thank you for the ask! I love talking about anything YTTD related.

[peterpparkerwrites]

peter parker fic recs

it’s been a while since I’ve done a fic rec post (since I had my old account actually lol) so this is long overdue. some of these I read years ago and still love, some are new and I fell in love immediately. I’ll be putting my thoughts on the fic / author with each link, and a summary if the author supplied one. hope you all enjoy these pieces of art as much as I have :) 

this will be updated with new fics as I find them, because my fic recs tag isn’t working for some reason and I want you guys to see what I’ve been reading, too! I won’t reblog it too often but when there are some new additions, I will be sure to so the author can get the attention they deserve.

these are in no particularly order, but I put a keep reading tab because it got quite long. please show these authors some love and feel free to send me your favorite fics (or your own) because I need to read some more! and I’d love to just keep adding to this post!

enjoy :) x j

peter parker x reader

hope and heartache - @venomsilk - masterlist

there’s something indescribably broken in your new neighbour. no one living in this building has a happy story, but the boy in 3b’s got ghosts in his eyes that he can’t hide, not even underneath his polite manners and awkward smiles. you didn’t plan on trying to figure him out, but star wars puns and scribbled napkin notes might open the road for both of you. if only he can afford to let you in.

this fic has no way home spoilers

I knew going into this I would absolutely love it - s always does such a fantastic job of writing dialogue, description, and generally just making the reader feel every emotional possible. this fic was no exception. I have time and time again found myself tearing up at her fics, which is hard for me to do (after writing angst after angst piece, one tends to not get as emotional reading). if you like a more descriptive fic rather than a dialogue heavy one, this writer is for you - and if you love being pulled into a story and left wanting more, she is definitely for you. 

skyline - @astronomyparkers - masterlist

this fic is a little old but I remember it time and time again, it was one of the first peter fics I read as I started writing for him myself and it really was an inspiration for me. leyla is such a gifted writer, and while I don’t think she has posted fics in a while, every single one on her masterlist is a gem and this one is just a personal favorite. the way she writes is so so beautiful and well thought-out, it should really be considered a crime not to read her works of art

time after time - @softspideys - masterlist

peter parker is your worst enemy, but he’s also your soulmate. life is funny that way.

this is my comfort fic. my emotional support fic. this fic has held my hand and walked me across the street. lol no seriously, this one is also an older fic but again one of the first ones I’ve read and fallen so in love with. the banter, the enemies to lovers, the angst and the character development! so so good, and I love kara to bits and all of her work is just so amazing. please check her out, like right now immediately

the beauty next door - @kelieah - masterlist

your next door neighbor is, to your surprise, always there for you when you need him

now everything kelly writes it amazing, but this was so cute and so peter that it’s become one of my favorites. in all honesty it is hard to find a writer that nails peter’s personality well enough to me, but kelly clearly does - the dialogue and description of his is always so spot on in every fic, but this one especially! please go check out all her works, because they’re all so so great

old scarf - @peterbenjiparker - masterlist

peter parker is alone at christmas, but spider-man is with you, sharing chocolate cookies under a broken streetlight.

this is a no way home fic

m is so good, every fic just blows me away. this fic both cured me of my no way home withdrawals and also left me wanting more. it hurt, it was cute, I loved it so much. every other fic on this masterlist is also equally as amazing and worth the read!

far from you - @hey-marlie - masterlist

y/n stark is really not here for this european school vacay because in this post-endgame world, she’s mourning the loss of her dad. but one (1) sticky boi peter parker is just trying to be the friend he once was while also trying not to flirt too much because if she rejects him (which she wouldn’t, not that he knows that) while they’re in venice holy hell he’ll just pitch himself off the gondola right then and there. basically, y/n has been distancing herself & peter misses her & this school trip is a great way for him to coax her back into the real world & y/n really loves peter but is super sensitive and scared to lose him & also mysterio shows up at some point ugh  @ nick fury leave ned leeds alone

where to begin with marlie, my god. for starters, she’s published a whole ass book, so that should tell her immediately how talented she is. her spider-man series (there are multiple now, but when I first encountered her, she only had the one “far from you”) are so above normal fan fiction that it’s hard to even call them that. marlie has a way of fleshing out characters, dialogue, description, all of it, so that you forget you’re reading a tumblr.com fic and instead you think you’re reading an award winning novel. I’m not kidding in the slightest. it’s obvious by the attention to detail, the strive to be character accurate while still making the story her own, and the creativity and love that marlie puts into her stories. if you ever read a fic, please read hers. it may ruin other fics for you, but that’s okay - they’re so worth it

him, not me - @madmadmilk - masterlist

j (hey name buddy) is so so funny. this fic and all her fics are cute, funny, soft, sometimes angsty - and I will just eat that shit up. one thing I love so much about her writing is that she portrays relationships, crushes, and friendships so realistically and normally. it’s not displaying something perfect and unrealistic that many fics do - and that makes them so much better. I love being able to genuinely relate to the reader and the characters she writes, and j absolutely nails that every time. if you like tom fics, hers are also god tier. highly recommend everything she writes

stuck with me - @celestialholland - masterlist

you were just searching for his phone to let may know he’d be crashing at yours...you didn’t expect to find a letter addressed to you.

ugh I just love mutual pining. this one is so soft and sweet, and I’m such a sucker for friends to lovers, hurt/comfort, patching up fics - and this was all of that. addie just kills it every time! she has some other great fics on her masterlist as well, highly highly recommend

clarity - @bi-writes - masterlist

oh I just love everything b writes. as a sucker for a good soulmate fic, clarity just blew me away. it was so beautiful and heartbreaking, and I just love how she wrote this. priority is also another fave - I think out of everyone, she really does a great job of encompassing the responsibility peter feels and the inner conflict he has. suchhh good fics

bloom - @duskholland - masterlist

let me tell you. as obvious by the last rec I am a soulmate fic fiend, and this one is one of my all time favorites. the idea of seeing color when you meet your soulmate isn’t a new one, but h did such a cool twist on it by telling the love story through each color discovered. it’s just so crazy good - please go read it, immediately.

~

to be continued

[bloodstainedstar]

✮ – He wasn’t avenging. 

He wasn’t avenging.

That was more like…helping. Giving back to the community. Sort of.

Let’s start over: not long ago, Sharon approached him with an idea, helping Bucky set up a program that helped him save criminals who wanted to leave the life of crime. Former HYDRA scientists and specialists (and he was touchy about this) or just other criminals altogether, people who had done really bad things but felt pushed to do it without seeing another way out, people with a family, girlfriends, boyfriends. And he believed in redemption, hell—he had redemption himself all things considered. It was a case by case situation and not all of them avoided jail time. But it was a start.

So instead of ditching the mantle of the Winter Soldier and trying so hard to erase a part of who he had been, Bucky decided to embrace that fully…just adding a bit of a twist. The uniform was rather similar, his silver metal arm full on display, the shinny red start that seemed to have been painted with blood pressed on top of each of the metal plates around his shoulder. He kept the mask, the goggles—he liked that some people could actually recognize him and feared him. Bucky was doing dangerous work, good work, but he wanted these people to truly understand what it meant to get out. That if they tried anything, he would be on their tails.

The Winter Soldier did not forgive even if he wasn’t into killing anymore. Or, rather, he tried really, really hard not to. Sometimes things happened.

You couldn’t save them all.

By the time he climbed into the third floor of an old apartment in Queens, New York City, he wasn’t exactly surprised when the door of the apartment 3B pushed opened suddenly, and a very agitated man in his fifties wearing a suit (that was way too small for him) was coming out of the apartment and gasping in surprise to see Bucky. A sigh of relief followed shortly after.

“Oh my God—thank God, thank you”, the man said, hands on his knees as he crouched slightly to breathe and try to fight the panic attack most likely waiting for him right around the corner, wrapping its sneaky claws around him.

Bucky knew HYDRA’s men would be waiting, and they weren’t stupid to seize the entrance but perhaps they had already figured out a plan was in motion. Their escape route would be compromised soon, and they had to move fast.

“Let’s go, they know I’m here”, the soldier quickly pushed him to move forward, the man carrying a briefcase with him as his only luggage and hurriedly making his way upstairs to reach the emergency exit leading to the rooftop with Bucky in front of him, pistol up as he scanned every corner, every single crevice around them.

Now, Bucky was more of a sniper rifle kind of guy or even a MK47 but he would have less time to use his hands while having to protect his guy should he had to do do some close combat against the men who were after him. It was funny how he didn’t care about bystanders then, and now having someone to protect was turning to be quite the liability.

Carefully opening the door to the rooftop his eyes quickly moved to asses their terrain, noticing HYDRA’s men weren’t…there. 

Except for one.

A man, completely alone, black outfit—was that some type of military gear? 

Could his intel be wrong and HYDRA had decided last minute to send a single assassin to finish Johnson off? Well—

They had done that with him in the past, hadn’t they? This guy had to be good, very good, the super soldier type of good, otherwise HYDRA would be wasting their resources and time. Perhaps they wanted to make him stall to surround him and take him.

No, he couldn’t lose focus and allow the what ifs scenarios to control him right then.

“Take cover, don’t move until I tell you”, he told Johnson, the man quickly hiding behind the wall next to the door of the rooftop, sometimes peeking with curiosity, nervously clutching at his briefcase.

Bucky kept his pistol up and kept his distance. He wasn’t exactly like the old Winter Soldier who would have analyzed quickly and threw himself at an offense to make a kill, no. He was curious, wanting to understand what kind of threat this man posed.

“You with HYDRA?” He asked, loud enough for the mysterious man to hear. His pistol clicked, letting him know he wasn’t joking around. 

closed starter for @bloodstainedstar

Khan's plan to smugge his crew into safety by putting them into the very weapons he had designed had failed on him; Just when he'd thought he could do it, that everything would go according to plan, the promise of a better future so close he could taste it on the tip of his tongue...

...He'd been discovered by one of Marcus men, and that man had managed to notify the Admiral about his intentions before Khan's hands had brought an end to the unfortunate one's life.

The mentioned one is dead now, yes, but security is onto him and Khan has no other choice but to escape alone, without his people, the ones he holds most dear - because if he doesn't, he will end up being stripped and tied to a biobed, turned into a slab of meat that gives all it has for Marcus to use for his own, sick plans to start a Klingon war.

As much as it pains him, the thought of leaving without the men and women he'd promised to protect - he runs, leaves, manages to steal a shuttle and, somehow, ends up in space. Time feels like a bit of a blur, so Khan doesn't recall every single moment that has happened - he's here, and he has to make some new plans---

---But then, something else happens.

Suddenly, the Universe... opens up in front of him. Quite literally so, as if it tears itself apart, causing blue eyes to widen at the foreign sight. Khan has never seen something like this and he's stunned by the sight, lips parting...

That's when everything happens in such a quick succession that it's hard for even his superior brain to keep up; A white light appears, swallows him, his shuttle shakes and a thousand warning alerts pop up, vanish, pop up before all of the systems are failing. Khan blinks and squints, squeezes his eyes shut at a sudden G-force causing bile to rise inside his throat---

---And then, like that, his shuttle is falling toward another planet that looks remarkably similar to Earth.

What...?

Khan, still confused by everything that has just happened, scrambles to try and get the systems back online but to no avail. The continent grows with the seconds that pass and he gets closer, closer, closer; His shuttle is briefly picked up by a current of wind, it seems, allows it to sail a bit but it's still very much about to crash-land in the middle of what seems to be a rather big city - part of him wonders if no one is actually noticing the aircraft falling like this, if, perhaps, he's too fast for any defense system to react.

He does know, though, that he needs to leave this vessel before he'll hit something with it - bright irises scan what he can see from his position and he makes a split-second-decision he isn't too sure about whether he'll regret it or not.

But, he actually opens the door to his right and---

---Jumps.

The shuttle continues to fly without him, lands somewhere a but further away while Khan flies through the air, toward what appears to be a rooftop of a bulding; He curls his body, lands with his shoulder first and rolls himself off this way, but the impact is still quite rough. He rolls and rolls and rolls, the force of his movement pulling him along - and he manages to hold onto the edge of the building at the very last second before he falls, fingers grabbing onto the stone as he dangles off the side.

Blinking, gasping, Khan needs a second to process this, the whole of what has just happened; He groans, then pulls himself up and back on top of the roof, still catching his breath while allowing his gaze to roam as he crouches there...

...Where the fuck is he? It looks like earth from what he can tell. But... This city is unfamiliar to him.

[princeescaluswords]

Scott's Dark Arc in Season 4

I’ve seen fans of Teen Wolf wonder when Scott was going to go through his ‘dark arc.’  After all, Derek and Allison had theirs in Season 2.  Stiles had his in Season 3B.   My belief is that Season 4 was Scott’s dark arc; it simply didn’t look like the others and so it didn’t look like what the audience was expecting.  You see, Scott was never going to turn into an obvious monster.  Instead, he was going to turn into his father.

To elaborate, Scott was never going to become a serial killer.  He was never going to install his pack as a tyrannical regime with himself as the Holy Lord at its apex.  He was never going to abandon his friends or innocent people.   His arc was never going to be that cliché.  Instead, it was going to be something every person has to grapple with sooner or later.

Scott’s dark arc was about making excuses.

After all, Rafael McCall made plenty of excuses.  He drank to deal with his job.  He abandoned his family because he made a mistake.  He stalled an impeachment process, playing with Noah’s life, simply to find a way to talk to his son.  He was going to bail on that very same chance because Scott wasn’t immediately receptive to him.  Rafael always had an excuse not to do what he should have done.  He wasn’t a fiend either.  He was neglectful but not cruel.  Callous but not sadistic.  Absent but not a dead beat.   In a way, he’s a much more practical, realistic antagonist.  Which is why Rafael’s redemption, his attempt to make up for his mistakes wasn’t fighting the good fight but “I’m keeping my promises this time.”

As fans of Scott McCall (as well as Derek and Deaton and Kira) have pointed out, Scott’s heroism doesn’t come from having the right answer or being the mightiest warrior, it comes from him never giving up.  I don’t really need to repeat the speech from The Divine Move (3x24) do I?   What Season 4 gives is opportunities, temptations for Scott to give himself an out. 

It starts in Muted (4x03).  After the terror, pain, and loss of the first three seasons, Scott is ready for this semester to settle down.  He’s going to play lacrosse, he’s going to date Kira, and he’s going to start working toward his future.  As he tells Derek in I.E.D. (4x05), “this was the semester I was supposed to be able to focus on school again,” but what he really means is that this is the season when he gets to be who he always wanted to be. 

So, it’s very fitting that his dark arc starts with him injuring Liam out of frustration at tryouts.  In Season 1, him wanting to get a good night’s sleep before tryouts serves as the dividing line between who he was and who he was forced to become.   As the action starts, he’s eager to have something for himself, which Stiles tells him is okay, but throughout the episode, we sees Scott’s frustration grow as he sees that chance taken by a cocky freshman.   Scott is confronted with the opportunity to make his first excuse.  While using the alpha power would be cheating, it’s his power, earned through pain and suffering.  Stiles, as Stiles often does, points out that it’s not fair that Liam might “steal all your glory after you worked your tushie off.”

Scott’s aggression causes an injury on the field, though as Stiles also points out it is an accident and not a deliberate misuse of Scott’s power but it could have been.  And there begins the temptation for Scott in Season 4: not to bathe his claws in the blood of his enemies but to put what he wants above everything else.  And there are things he wants beyond captain of the lacrosse team.  He wants to concentrate on his schoolwork.  He wants an actual relationship with Kira.  He wants a roof over his and his mother’s head as well as his best friend’s family not being crushed by medical bills.  He wants a chance to get into a good college.  He wants to drink and party at the bonfire rather than making sure everyone else is safe.   “That sounds fun too,” Malia tells him sarcastically.  

He could have all these things, and to get them all he has to do is relax his principles a little.  Doesn’t he deserve to?  So what if he takes shortcuts like recycling Derek’s words that didn’t work on him so he doesn’t have to come up with his own?  Scott being confronted with opportunities to make excuses is embodied in four particular instances: the money, the nightmares about Liam in Time of Death (4x08), the battle in Monstrous (4x10), and the final battle with Peter in Smoke and Mirrors (4x12).

Garret’s money is the most obvious case.  Without context, stealing money from someone else is wrong.  In context, it’s not so clear.  Garrett and Violet received that money for killing innocent werewolves, and they were paid for it from a dead pool that is offering 25 million dollars for Scott’s head.  The McCall family is in danger of losing their house, in dire financial straits and the Stilinski family isn’t much better.  The money is ultimately Peter’s, the person who caused all his terror the first place.  Scott contemplates keeping it, contemplates making the excuse, until he is confronted by his mother in A Promise to the Dead (4x11).

Then there’s Liam.  Liam is a problem.   Scott didn’t want a beta (and contrary to fan theories, there was no indication he needed a werewolf beta in his pack or there would be dire consequences).   Liam is stubborn, has a disorder that makes him dangerous, is a target for assassins, and is not sure even if he wants to be in the pack, though he would still be Scott’s responsibility during the terrible dangers of Kate being back and the Dead Pool.  But a solution had presented itself to Scott through Derek and Deucalion in the past.  “Tell him, Kali, tell him what it’s like, killing one of your own.” “Liberating.”   Also contrary to fan theories, Scott isn’t immune to the urge to kill.  It’d be easy; after all, Deucalion got away with it, Peter got away with it, Derek got away with it.   Scott has always done the right thing when they haven’t, and in return he only gets more responsibility, but that’s why he’s the alpha.  It could all go away if he compromised this once.  It is an enticing excuse.  “Let me help you,” intones the Mute, “Let me show you what to do.”

And with that ringing in his ears, Scott goes into the battle at Argent Arms.  He’s taken on this responsibility because someone had to.  He’s going to fight, and the enemies going to be gunning for him.  “You’re still number one on the dead pool.”  These renegade hunters were trained to kill him, but they can’t even try to kill him out of hatred.  They’re going to kill him, his friends, and innocent people who can’t fight, simply for cash.  It’s self-defense, but it’s only self-defense if he has no other choice.  Up on that table, slashing at that hunter, he has every reason in the world to tear that stranger in half.  He gets close.

The dark arc completes itself in La Iglesias.  Scott has no reason whatsoever to spare Peter’s life except his own principle that every life has value.   Peter managed to crawl back from the dead only to demonstrate that he’s learned nothing.  He’s stolen power, corrupted others, and done the same things he did in Season 1 again in Season 4.  From Peter’s own speech, there is no reason to believe that he wouldn’t do it again when he got the chance.  This decision is right after Scott has been transformed into a mindless killing machine (again!) and forced to hurt the girl he loves.  He is angry.  He should be angry.

All Scott has to do is make the excuse that is right in front of his face.  They always are.   “I moved out the next day,” says Rafael.  “I was out of my mind,” says Peter.  “I can if they’re willing!” says Derek.  “That the only way to save one person is to kill another,” says Deucalion.  “I know a werewolf’s nature,” says Gerard.  “To stop them from ever hurting anyone again,” says Jennifer.  “To win the game.”    Everyone else has good reasons for what they did.  So does Scott.  No one (especially me) would have been upset if just this once he tore Peter’s head from his body to end his threat once and for all.  

But it would be an excuse.   It would be leaving and sending an e-mail later.  Scott knows that the right thing to do is to “think that there’s something about him that can be saved.”    Even though this is Peter.  This is the man who took his dreams from him and replaced them with nightmares.   But when Scott knocks Peter out and turns to look at the altar where he lost his humanity for a bit, he knows he’s done the right thing.   And the Dark Arc concludes.

[the-blaze-empress]

Questions I now have, and the theories of my answers

All the names mentioned are the characters, not the streamers btw

-- -- -- MASSIVE DSMP LORE SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT -- -- --

1. What was Purpled’s motive? We know he wants the revival book, but why? We know he’s mad at Quackity for blowing up his ufo and that’s understandable, but why does he want the revival book for himself? Is it power? Is it the symbol of having it? Is there someone he wants to bring back?

2. What did Ranboo do/what was he framed for? What the fuck did Ranboo do/get framed for that not only made Sam put him in prison, but use his own child as blackmail? Sam swore he wasn’t going to let Ranboo anywhere near the prison, even when he wanted to be locked up. Why now? Why break something he had seemed so steadfast against? Why did he feel he needed to use Michael against Ranboo? Because it wasn’t a spur of the moment thing, you need to plan that shit. And, following on...

3. Why did Eret give Michael to Sam? If he knew what Sam was going to use Michael for, I’m pretty positive she wouldn’t’ve done that willingly. Eret wants peace and to heal relationships with people they’ve harmed. Letting Sam use an innocent child to blackmail and threaten Ranboo is not something Eret would do. I see three possible explanations, each posing their own questions;

3a. What does Sam have over Eret? What does he have over Eret that would make her give up the protection of her friends’ child? Is it something to do with Eret’s past? Something Eret doesn’t remember?

3b. Why is Eret working with Sam? And why is he working for such means? Is it because of why Ranboo was in prison? After everything they’ve done to rebuild after the final control room, why go against their morals like this? This is not Eret as we know her.

3c. How did Sam know where Michael was? If Eret didn’t give Michael over to Sam, then how did Sam know where to find him? That we know of, Eret has told literally no one, including chat. How did Sam know?

Of course, Sam might just be lying. That is still a possibility, but if it’s not when why the fuck did Eret do that?

4. What happened to Ranboo’s other two lives? Because it’s heavily implied he had them. Heavily. I’m gonna present the evidence that he had them before I start speculating, for people who don’t think he had them.

Z: Z is connected to Ranboo, we been knew. How, we don’t know, but they are. Just before the lore (I think, I didn’t check twt before the lore), Z tweeted a short video of three hearts. This is the first key ‘frame’:

Three hearts. Three lives. Then we skip ahead a couple seconds.

Two of the hearts fade to nothing.

And then the final heart breaks.

This is the loss of a life. That much is abundantly clear, and confirmed by the lore. Ranboo died, Ranboo lost his final life. Which makes it clear that these hearts are Ranboo’s hearts, and he had three

EDIT: so uh look what i just found

Ranmail: There’s something suspicious about this ranmail message:

Specifically, the “one life” with the quotation marks. Implying that that’s not everything. That that’s not entirely true.

With this information, where the fuck did Ranboo’s other two lives go? Has he simply been alive long enough for them to fade? Is that even how it works? How did he lose them?

5. Ranboo’s Limbo This is less a Big Question, more a series of small ones, speculations, and oh shit moments.

Why is there the sound of an ocean in the bg of Z’s video? Is this harking to Ranboo’s limbo?

Wilbur said we better hope against all hope Ranboo doesn’t die (bitch knew, that fucker) because his limbo is torturous. Boo is not in limbo. Is Ranboo?

How did Boo see Ghostbur? We know ghosts and their corporeal counterparts are different people (see; Ghostbur and Wilbur, Glatt and Schlatt), and we know one exists in limbo, while one in the overworld. Boo (or Ghostboo, whatever he’s gonna be called) is in the overworld, and is an assumed ghost of Ranboo, since Ranboo is fuckin dead. Ghostbur, however, is in limbo. Was Boo in limbo for a bit before Ranboo?

6. The fuck were Foolish and Fundy up to The all black outfits. The black horses. The Withers. What (and I cannot stress this enough) the fuck were they doing. And why. Where were the withers they spawned? Why were they wearing the outfits from Q’s lore from a bit ago? Foolish didn’t you way you were renouncing these ways? Fundy my boi? So many questions/

--

I think this is all I have for now. Any more questions I have that I think of I’ll add as I think of them

Also if yalls like this sorta stuff I have so much shit I wanna talk about and Tumblr has given me the power and format to tell so many people