#anyways me coming up with her backstory ties so many things in

[lyraarylfyrefly]

oh no! i had thoughts about one of my characters. i decided her name is/was Idris which does NOT help cause i still don't have an actual name for her

she's heavily linked to flat out destruction and escaped a death cult that instilled the idea that she was only meant for destruction

she escaped when she was like 12 and both idolizes and hates the person who seems to be the cult's prophesied savior who will either end the world or the cult bc it was meant to be her and she's glad it wasn't.

she subconsciously believes that she can only destroy and makes herself miserable because of it

she decides to become a magical girl bc maybe then a monster can kill her but she lies to everyone (including herself) and says it's for the money

she's great at fighting but never strategizes unless direct fighting is not an option

she inherently thinks everyone but her relatives from the death cult are better people than her morally

she thinks she's a weapon, and she thinks she doesn't deserve anything she's ever gotten since she escaped

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

ppl please. You are making Vaggie stupider than she is in canon

"Why didn't Vaggie know angel weapons could kill angels, when Lute used one to permanently gouge out her eye-"

Because Lute also ripped off her wings, seemingly permanently, WITHOUT using a weapon.

It makes sense that Vaggie would figure only other ANGELS can HURT angels. And that's still not the same as KILLING ONE.

You can say "well if she was scarred then by it then she should've assumed a real attack could have killed her" but why? In hell, Sinners can be TORN APART and pull themselves back together. Why wouldn't Vaggie assume that she can take damage up to a point but still not die? Or that she would just reform again afterwards?

"It was a writing mistake to have Vaggie not confess her past to Charlie before they went to heaven, no believable character would do that-"

It was a character flaw, one many other characters in the show have, and it is very true to life that longer you keep a secret about yourself- especially one you're afraid people will hate you for- the harder it is to admit to it.

We know she feels like her only point in existing is to help Charlie. She said it. And later it ties in perfectly with her backstory of losing everything about herself and being found by Charlie, of rejecting her life killing Sinners and devoting herself to supporting the dream of saving them instead.

We also know the last time she "failed" people in her life she was hurt and abandoned by them. We know her FIRST plan was to NOT go to heaven with Charlie, to try and make some kind of excuse.

But then she couldn't come up with a good excuse. And she couldn't bring herself to say no to her supportive and loving girlfriend. And then they were in heaven, facing a COURT HEARING to decide the fate of SOULS, that her girlfriend would have to argue a case for-

Does that really sound like the best time to drop an emotional relationship truth bomb?

Sound. Not "was". Would it have FELT LIKE a good time to come clean to Charlie about being a former Exorcist.

HOW would it have FELT like a good time for that to Vaggie? Especially after Adam and Lute got through telling her how being scarred and crippled by them was her fault, being left down in hell by them was her fault, and her girlfriend will ALSO hate her if the truth comes out?

THIS IS A SHOW. ABOUT PEOPLE. WHO MAKE CRAPPY SELF-SABOTAGING CHOICES (look at Angel Dust) AND THEN HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH THE FALL OUT OF THaT

THATS THE SHOW

THATS. THE POINT OF THE HAZBIN HOTEL

it's not "bad writing" when a WOMAN does it TOO without an essay explaining her every thought leading up to it!

like im sorry her scenes were rushed, im sorry they had worse animation and story boarding and pacing than the guys' moments get, im sorry she didn't get more focus, im sorry she isn't a fav character of the show creators-

but she IS well written. tbh all of the characters in the show are.

they do things that makes sense based on what they've been through, and what they feel, and what they want, and that's. that's good character writing.

i don't LIKE a lot of the characters but they're still WELL WRITTEN

I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT VAGGIE- BUT ONLY BECAUSE IM OBESSEED WITH HER AND WANT TO CRAWL INSIDE HER SKULL! SHE IS, IN THE SHOW, A PERFECTLY BELIEVABLE CHARACTER

bad writing would have been- her getting angry at Charlie for being upset about the secret! it would've been her CAVING to Adam's blackmail and arguing against Angel Dust to save herself! It would've been her moping on the top of the hotel while Charlie was angry with her instead of actively doing what she could to help, like she did!

i've lived through SO MANY badly written characters DO NOT try telling me VAGGIE is one of them- i remember the horrors. THIS is not THAT

......anyway

im probably gonna regret posting this aren't i

[acotarfrustrations]

An ongoing list of ACOWAR grievances I'm keeping track of while I read (because there's too many to make a post about all of them) pt. 2

I'm on chapter 15 now and feeling the urge to complain again so here we go

1) the writing is way too overdramaticized. Like every other paragraph is some remixed version of feyre going "I wondered whether it would be eggs or bacon for breakfast. But when I looked at Rhys I realized that he was giving me my own choice. My mate, my high lord. In our home. With our family. Every thing was always my choice" and its CONSTANT, LIKE OH MY GOD GIRL SHUT UP

2) every thing about Lucien's plotlineand the elain mating thing. I HATE this subplot with a PASSION

3) feyre immediately fucking rhys when she got back instead of going to see her sisters

4) feyre and rhysand acting like they've ben separated for forty centuries instead of a month

5) the contradictions about how the high lord thing works. Like it was established that its a government position given to you through basically fate and being chosen by the cauldron or whatever which is why siblings kill each other for a chance for the throne and yet they just went to a priestess and swore feyre in as high lady?? It makes her title not feel real like it's purely ceremonial. It doesn't even make sense that she would be able to be HL of the night court as she has no more ties to that court than she does any other court. Is it because she's mated to Rhys? I don't understand the HL lord at all, it just keeps changing

6) the fact that Feyre, Rhys, and Cassian tell Lucien about their tragic backstories and everything that's happened to feyre at the NC and he just immediately does a Feyre™️. Like he's suddenly "Oh yeah you had a horrible childhood and took feyre into your found family without letting her explore relationships outside of the IC, that totally makes up for all the evil shit THAT IVE SEEN YOU DO WITH MY OWN 2 EYES. wow i cant believe youre not evil even though you killed 50 winter court children and sexually assaulted your mate and mind raped her constantly to get her to like you"

7) the way they're treating Nesta. It has been a MONTH since she was stolen from her home, brought amongst a race that she is terrified of and THAT ENSLAVED HER PEOPLE, and was forcefully turned into ONE OF THEM and the IC is acting like she's being unreasonable for not wanting to talk to them or to mate with Cassian. WHY THE HELL WOULD SHE EVEN BE THINKING ABOUT CASSIAN RIGHT NOW?? WHY THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL BAD FOR HIM? Instead of him worrying about how his mate is doing regardless of his own comfort he's like WOE IS ME, SHE DOESNT WANT TO FUCK ME?????? GET OVER IT ASSHOLE?? WHY IS FEYRE EVEN LETTING CASSIAN COME NEAR HER AND ANTAGONIZE HER?? DOESNT SHE LOVE TO FLAUNT HER HL STATUS AROUND?? THIS IS THE TIME TO USE IT, PROTECT YOUR GODDAMN SISTER FROM HIM? ITS SO OBVIOUS THAT SHE DOESNT GIVE NEARLY AS MUCH OF A SHIT ABOUT NESTA AS SHE DOES ELAIN!!

8) the fact that sjm didn't keep cassian's wings shredded. Him learning to live with that would have been a badass character development but now sjm doesn't want me to have good things

9) the mating bond in general. I think it could be a potentially good plot device but no one ever employs it well and sjm is definitely the most egregious with it

10) the fact that the ic never gave consequences for their fucking actions. Feyre dies in acotar? Turn her into a fey and give her ALL of their powers. Stealing a precious artifact that they didn't even end up needing and getting a bounty on their head in the summer court and then getting that court invaded? That's fine because feyre is SOOO brave and says things that are common fucking sense which makes her SOOOO smart so we obviously need her as an ally so we'll just rescind the blood rubies. Getting the spring court sacked? That's fine we didn't like them anyway. Rhys and feyre's bond gets snapped? Well they didn't know about our super secret mating bond that is actually the only thing that gives our characters chemistry so we still like each other. Rhys causes irreparable damage to every court for 50 years and kills 50 kids? Well that's fine he was being held hostage and hey! We don't know he actually killed those kids 😡 Feyre, a 20 year old girl who's been fae for like 6 months and training for even less goes up against thousands of years old beings? She beats them effortlesslessly! Rhys gets sexually assaulted for 50 years! Well he planned all of it so it has no negative consequences on him. Cassian gets his wings shredded? Well he worked really hard and they're fixed now 🥰. Rhys FUCKING DIES?? Well that's no problem, tamlin can just resurrect him, nvm the fact that there's no reason why he WOULD. like no harrowing situation is ever interesting cause we all know sjm isn't actually going to do anything to the ic

11) "my mate" STOP SAYING IT PLS IM BEGGING

12) "males and females" STOP SAYING IT PLS IM BEGGING pt. 2

[vykker]

Oddworld Headcanon 2/?: Where do new Queens come from?

In Soulstorm we're introduced to the Keeper, a female mudokon who is a little old granny with an awesome and cute design. I was so delighted by her!! This got me thinking about 2 of my favorite things, Oddworld and Girls. We've known about the existence of queens for a long time, but where do they come from, and is/was the Keeper a queen?

When you start learning about irl animals and their queen systems you end up with a ton of interesting possibilities. For instance, you have queen bees, who are just regular female bees who were fed a special jelly [royal jelly] and put in a special, roomy honeycomb to turn into queen bees. However, hives may have more than one queen at a time, in which case the two young queens instinctively fight to the death.

Soulstorm leans heavily on the bee aesthetic for the keeper & the Sanctum where she resides. It could be that mudokon tribes produce multiple queens, but only the one with the strongest will/chosen by fate gets to become queen. Even though becoming queen doesn't seem so great to me as a human, to mudokons it's probably the highest honor one can earn. I imagine it would be crushing for a female to NOT become a queen, especially if it's something you've been hyped up about your entire life, have presented as being the highest possible achievement and so on.

But getting back to the bee thing- mudokons don't make honey, by which I mean, they probably don't have a chemical way of ensuring an individual is able to become a queen, in the way that bees can choose who gets to eat the royal jelly. [Though, if they could, you KNOW the industrialists would be selling it. I used to work at a store that sold royal jelly for like 50 bucks in a little jar. It was weird.] Thus, I feel it's probably random chance if a mudokon is born a "princess" or not.

Being born a princess does not ensure one will become a queen. The transformation into a queen is probably tied to ritual in mudokon culture regardless of whether it's pure biological randomness or not, and although it would be healthy for a tribe to have a few princesses as insurance rather than one, I also believe NOT being "picked" to be queen can be very depressing and alienating for them. This could be a possible backstory for the Keeper; either 1. she was not chosen to be queen, which she took as a personal failure for many years before devoting herself to becoming the Keeper; or 2. she fled from her tribe in order to NOT become a queen, and suffers from guilt now that her species' only surviving queen is being kept captive & she's way too old to become queen now.

Anyway, I believe you could apply similar logic to the other queen-centric races, HOWEVER, I think things are a little different depending on each queen's species and role in society. For instance, I imagine mudokon queens born of Sam would be highly sought after and prized. However, it would not surprise me if they all fail to become queens, just due to the industrialists failing at meeting their needs in captivity. Even if a princess were kept in relative luxury, being separated from the land and nature would prevent them from ever becoming queens.

I would imagine things as being similar for sligs- however, I personally imagine slig eggs being produced at a much higher rate, since it's mentioned that queen Skillya has 5 ovipositors, so maybe there's less stress around trying to find the next slig queen. Or maybe she can recognize what they are and keeps crushing them on purpose. I think Skillya would feel very threatened by another girl being called "cute" in her presence.

Now glukkons, I believe, actually have it worse out of all options. Lady Margaret is just one glukkon queen- there's implied to be more & its further implied that there are queen glukkons higher up the chain than her. However, I cannot imagine a glukkon queen choosing to share power with an incompetent daughter. Glukkons don't like to share power even in the best of times!

Thus, I believe that when glukkon princesses are born, the queen's in-house surgeons sterilize them temporarily, putting their reproductive organs on ice to completely eliminate the possibility of them starting their own lineages or hijacking the company. Competition between glukkon princesses is UNFATHOMABLY brutal. Whereas their brothers are just competing to become glockstars or whatever, the princesses are competing to become dynasty builders. Thus, a glukkon princess has to bust her ass from the day she's born to impress her mother & torpedo her sisters' efforts. Then, finally, when the current queen is too old to keep working, her favorite daughter is promoted to queen, uterus privilege no longer revoked, the vykkers thaw out her reproductive parts & put her back together again.

This would make Lady Margaret even scarier in my opinion- if her position as queen was not just pure happenstance, if she had to do absolutely atrocious things to her fellow princesses to get where she is today- you'd understand why she grasps on to power so tightly, why she refuses to forgive even the slightest weaknesses in her sons, considering all she has been through to get to where she is today. It would be rather boring if Lady Margaret became a queen just from a biological dice roll, right? Instead, imagine her as a vicious, power-hungry monster who FOUGHT to be queen, with a line of glukkon princesses below her, anxious for her to retire or die already so they can have the ultimate promotion- and she KNOWS it.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts. Since we met the Keeper in Soulstorm I am INCREDIBLY hopeful we will get to meet more girls in future games. I would especially like to meet a no-nonsense 80's style glukkon business woman with shoulder pads, I think I would die of happiness. What are your headcanons for Oddworld's queens? I really wanna hear them!!!

[gf-brainrot-central]

Background details/me blabbing about my askblog yaaay!! Mostly because it's difficult for me to get motivated as it is! Plus maybe after being inactive for 2 years (rip 💀) this will help pique interest? Idk I just wanna talk about my sillies tbh. And the Axolotl needs a break you know? My guy's watching over an entire multiverse.

First off. The post about my LGBTQIA+ headcanons here: https://www.tumblr.com/craycray-wolf/737090570384703488/while-in-wait-for-the-book-of-bill-already-hard?source=share

It's still accurate to how I feel about the characters...mostly. In the time since I made this post, I have since been converted to "Grunkle Stan is bi" and I'm now preaching the Good Word 🤟

Anyway with that now amended, here's some stuff!

I originally made the majority of the posts about where everyone is now back in 2022, when I intended to have the blog launched as part of the 10th anniversary of Gravity Falls airing.

Well clearly that didn't pan (🩷💛💙🍳) out but maybe it was so it could instead coincide with all the revelations from TBoB! Life is kinda a beautiful thing sometimes.

Anyway point being, I'll have to tweak the timeline a bit. Which is fine because I wanted Dippin Dots and Mabes to hold some jobs before college anyway so really my lack of updating is just an excuse for this. That's the major point I could think of but if I didn't properly consider others please sound off 📣 (yes I'm a cringe emoji user AND I'M PROUD)

Soos and Melody are still attempting to conceive because they want at least one bio child if they can but they're working on adoption.

Many assume Gus Burnside to be missing or worse dead. But maybe... he's still out there somewhere...with his physical body fulfilling a deal. But y'know! No one can say for certain!

To be completely honest I'm still figuring out my interpretation of Bill's backstory. Sorry about that.

Though the reason the Axolotl has contacted our dimension to begin with has to do with his concern...about a certain someone. And who better to give a helping hand than the fandom and the Zodiac?

Since Stan taught Wendy how to hot wire vehicles and whatnot, they one day found a fairly intact Harley motorcycle in the dump. They fix it up together and Stan declares it hers. This is where her Harley previously mentioned in other posts comes from.

When did this happen? I've always assumed the Stans come back to land from time to time, including some summers. So likely during summer but a holiday could work too!

Mabel loves being a passenger. Dipper not so much unless he clings tight. Wendy installs a seat back at some point and this helps ease his anxiety. A little. He likes seeing the scenery though so he'll bare through it if asked to ride. Not to mention he cares for Wendy and thus doesn't want to deny her sharing her joy.

Robbie probably figured out he wanted to be an anime artist while doodling in college classes he wasn't paying attention to. Either he was in generals or some other degree at this point. He only drew in private during high school.

THIS NEXT SECTION WILL BE SHIPS 🚨 YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Pacifica during her high school/diner years thought she like liked Dipper. And well, she was Dipper's rebound crush so at around 15 or so they dated for a while. Pacifica however eventually realizes she's actually a lesbian and was misinterpreting her care for Dippin Dots, as well as thinking she only had so many options initially. Dipper realizes it was to cope with Wendy.

Therefore they cut off romantic ties on good terms and continue to be good friends.

(I have nothing against Dipcifica, it's cute. I'm just personally a Mabcifica person and enjoy my lesbian Pacifica hc)

In their early college years Mabel and Pacifica become girlfriends, LET'S GOOOOOO

Candy and Dipper have began to catch each other's eyes... they've healed from the events of Roadside Attraction in the years since and now they can have a healthier relationship in several ways. I WILL DIE FOR THIS SHIP OKAY

Fiddleford and Ford are sweet old man boyfriends. Though romance baffles Ford it makes enough sense with Fiddleford.

Stan is Stan. Though maybe all of his family coming out awakes something in him... something new to explore about himself...

Past Billford will likely be discussed at some point, though they haven't been a thing for decades and it was toxic to begin with.

Grenda and Marius are of course married ❤️ Candy, Mabel, and Pacifica were her bridesmaids. Mabel and Candy were piling over each other trying to get the bouquet, though Wendy catches it. Uninterested in marriage she throws it back out and reflexively Dipper catches it. After confused for a solid moment he tosses it and finally Pacifica then catches it.

_________

SHIP SECTION FINISHED ⚠️

The Pines Twins revisit Gravity Falls every summer until their high school graduation. Well *maybe* they go one more after graduation but then they have job schedules to contend with.

One of those summers (probably when the Mystery Twins are 15) their parents surprise them with a visit! But then they start to question everything because y'know. Weird town.

Eventually the truth comes out about everything, and they better understand their kids.

It wasn't the easiest summer but an important one.

They let their children return because they know how dearly they love their time there, albeit with ground rules established.

As for their jobs, Mabel was a barista and Dipper restocked shelves at a grocery store.

Dipper now has come to care for his birth name and birthmark. He still likes going by Dipper but he insists that only those close with him use the name. The only reason he still wears bangs is that his hairstyle is just comfortable and familiar. This also keeps his birthmark special as only some get to see it (in full).

Mabel still loves knitting and sweaters, but she's experimented a lot with fashion throughout the years. She now has more variety in her wardrobe than sweaters and skirts.

The twins live in dorms with a couple roommates and return back to their childhood home during holidays and summer. They intend to live in Gravity Falls once they get all their education/credentials.

Waddles is an old man but still kickin'. The parents were initially upset with his presence but were convinced by Stan to begrudgingly keep him. They grew to care for the piggy as well.

The family cat (Sniffles) has since passed :(

They have a dog (Honey) now though! She was a puppy from a dog Dipper once dogsat. The owners didn't realize said dog was preggo. It was a whole thing. Anyway Mabel loves putting her in cute outfits that match Waddles, something she used to do with Sniffles.

Mabel is a k-pop multistan (originating from Candy and Grenda introducing it to her) and absolutely loves drinking boba/jelly milk tea. Dipper likes the sound of k-pop music but isn't a fan the same way his sister is. He likes milk tea but the boba pearls themselves freak him the heck out.

There's a lot more but I'm blanking 🤪

[ju-vondy]

What I envision for our dearest Jason Mendal ❤️✨

So... I LOVE being delulu and once Beemoov takes an eternity to give us info/story about the characters I decided to create their backstory myself and I'm living in this world Imy mind created right now. I love complex things and I know Beemoov would never put something so "deep" in the story but well... I can't help; I hope you guys enjoy what I created!

♦ Jason's family is strict, but only the "male" part of it: Jason loves his mother with all his heart and her family (which is called Jowenson, they live abroad) is amazing, but his father's family (the Mendal) is a total disgrace. Like, a real crap. Do you know those tough and conservative parents who teach their children not to cry? Those men who are aggressive and punish with beatings when their child makes a mistake? Who say that love is a weakness? Well, that's the style of family we're talking about here when it comes to the Mendal… Jason despises and hate them with all his might.

♦ The Mendal are pioneers of Amoris City: so they're that kind of family who smell like old money, power, autority and stuff like that. It all started with the foundation of a radio when they first arrived at Amoris. The years passed by and their "empire" only arose as they invested in many innovative ventures, and their fortune only grew. It didn't take much for them to dominate journalism and the local press. Turns out that today they're called "Mendal Group" and are involved in so many things... Media, politics, banks, real estate. They are a highly respected family.

—> There's a scene in my fanfic where Candy's mother (named Edith) says: "Your father was thrilled to work with the Mendal Group, you know? I remember how he talked about their influence... How much they could shape public opinion and influence political decisions," Edith said, with a touch of bitterness in her voice. "After he passed away, I thought it best to sell his share in the company. I didn't want to be tied to them or be part of all that."

—> Why am I bringing Candy and her mother to this explanation? Because well... In my mind their families were close in the past and they even studied together at primary school. (Don't judge me, it was the only way I found to make Candy and Jason approach without seeming weird… HUEHUEHEU I'm quite curious to see what they'll do in the game, though) The funniest part of it is that Jason and Candy don't remember that because guess what? A traumatic event happened in their lives so their mind kind of blocked most of their childhood's memories.

It leads to the other point:

♦ There was an car accident that put Jason's father in a coma: When Jason's father (I named him as Gregory Mendal btw) became incapacitated due to the Accident, Viktor Mendal (the middle brother), was the vice-president of the Mendal Group and assumed the presidency after the general council unanimously approved. Actually, the presidency always followed a 'father to oldest son' thing (nepotism, why not? haha) Anyway, Jason was designed to take the title for himself… But since he was too young, Viktor ended up assuming the presidency 'temporarily until Jason reached the age to run the business, (if he proved capable, of course…)'

—> Not only that, Viktor also took responsibility for looking after Jason (without anyone asking LOL). Initially, it seemed like Viktor was doing "his best" for his nephew so he could be a good leader, this whole succession thing. He taught Jason about the family business, about leadership, and how to handle the pressures of being at the top. However, as Jason grew older, Viktor began to show his true colors. He was ambitious, and his hunger for power only worsened over time. ~That only got worse when he lost his wife and convinced himself that it would be a good idea to be with Jason's mother~

—> Jason ended up becoming a rebellious young man despite being studious and dedicated. What happens is that there was so much pressure on our poor boy that he ended up having a breakdown at a certain point. 'Do this' 'Don't do that' 'Be perfect' 'Get good grades' 'Blah blah blah'... Jason never really liked everything the Mendal stood for. He always found it a drag to attend luxury dinners, close deals, and pretend to be someone he wasn't… Besides, the absence of his father left a void that no one could fill... And his uncle's arrogant and repulsive demeanor only disgusted him. So, at certain point Jason kind of let himself follow the "fuck you guys" and went down some wrong paths in his early 18-20 years old. He worked in the family company as a trainee for a couple of months but Viktor took advantage of Jason's poor behavior (late parties, hangover, arrived late at meetings, etc etc) to convince the board that Jason was not capable, not 'worthy' of being the leader of the Mendal Group.

—> Jason kind of got pissed off when that happened, and then comes the whole thing about him working at the city hall and all (which I'll explain later if you want to hear it, hehe), but anyway... His uncle 'betrayal' was the turning point for him to 'wake up' and want to be someone in life. He worked hard on himself to be no longer that irresponsible young man he was being. Of course today he attends to club parties, throw yacht parties but that is only for showing status and "maintaining" the bounds with his close friends.

So, basically...

♦ Jason created Goldreamz to get away from the shadow of the Mendal family and prove to his uncle he didn't need his family to be succesfull: He wanted to prove that he could build something from scratch, without the support and influence of the Mendals. And, of course, he wanted to rub that success in Viktor's face. Today, Goldreamz is a prominent company, and Jason continues to work hard to keep it at the top. However, his relationship with his uncle Viktor remains an open wound. Each success of Jason's is a reminder of his determination to exceed his uncle's expectations.

Now let's move on to the last but not the least:

♦ Jason's personality is just a mask to protect himself: Deep down, Jason is just a little boy wanting/crying for attention, wanting to have a real father and family. So, he just wants to be… Loved? I think so. Because of his uncle's teachings and so on, he thinks love and kindness is nonsense, a weakness… A lie. Viktor instilled in him the notion that showing vulnerability would only invite manipulation and harm. Consequently, Jason adopted a facade to shield his true self from others.

However, this mask of arrogance and indifference is not who Jason truly is. It is a carefully constructed barrier, designed to protect the fragile heart that beats underneath. In essence, Jason's personality is a defense mechanism born out of a need to protect himself from a world he has been taught to distrust. And deep down he constantly battles the internal conflict of wanting genuine connections while fearing the repercussions of revealing his authentic self.

Interestingly, the proof of this duality is evident in Jason's behavior around his mother and younger brother. When he is with them, Jason's tough exterior melts away, revealing a softer, more caring side. It’s as if he wants to set a different example for his brother. Jason faces a big inner turmoil , torn between the persona he feels he must maintain and the person he wishes he could be.

Ah, now a bonus: in my fic Candy's father was in the Accident [once he was kind of a business partner of Gregory] and he died. Edith moved back to her mother's home country, Brazil, and Candy grow up there. (yes of course I use my stories to share about my country u.u) Only years later Candy's mom return to Amoris, but she never bothered to look for the Mendal to reconnect.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

If you liked what you've read 'til now I hope you check my fanfiction! I've posted 11 Chapters by far. Currently, I'm publishing one chapter per week as I write everything in Portuguese (which is my native language) and than I translate it to english carefully to not leave holes. By the way, my writing in English is not as good as it is in Portuguese so please take it easy on me ;-;

I hope you have as much fun reading as I have while I'm writing! Thank you so much for paying attention to what this crazy author have to say ❤️✨

[glacierclear]

im sorry i need to dump all my thoughts about ada x leon somewhere for personal fulfillment reasons,

big disclaimer: resident evil canon/lore is inconsistent and my feelings/thoughts on all this is NOT me stating it as fact. It's 99% speculation and me interpreting context. I'm just having fun!

it's really wild that i started my resident evil experience hating Ada. I did not understand her character and the way she's portrayed is very inconsistent and confusing (probably on purpose) and, like many others, I assumed the choices she made and the pain she inflicted on others was malicious and intentional.

But something clicked recently,,,I understand now that she didn't choose this life. She doesn't WANT to be a spy. She doesn't WANT to be a mercenary. Everything she was and everything she had was taken and stripped from her. She doesn't even have a real name anymore. I think seeing the small insight of her backstory in the biohazard manga really put all the pieces together and brain blasted me with understanding. Her entire character (to me, at least!) revolves around survival and self-preservation. She is a SELFISH character, not because of ego or power, but because of a LACK of power. She no longer has autonomy over her life in a way that matters and so the only thing left for her is to stay alive.

And I just think that ties so beautifully with Leon's struggles. Both of them being forced into this life where they have to live and die at the hands of the people who control them. And, listen...listen...it's overdramatic as fuck and a VERY idealistic/romanticized interpretation of their relationship, but honestly it makes me hella emotional thinking about Leon potentially being one of the few things in life Ada wants to live for other than herself. Him being the only person in the entire series who has ever shown her genuine, selfless kindness and care,,, and the fact that her circumstance and the trappings of her life forced her to betray him and she has to live with that guilt and has to come to terms with the fact that she will never genuinely connect with people because who even is she anymore? She has no sense of self.

And her entire campaign in RE6 resonates me in such a weirdly poignant and impactful way. RE6 has some WONKED UP writing and it's so silly and stupid; but I think if it was tweaked a little bit it would be a genuinely moving story about a woman losing her agency and bodily autonomy to a violent man who wants to own her and her fighting with his fabricated, demented vision of her. It's a manifestation of his greed and possession...and then she kills her clone and immediately after she sees Leon again and his first immediate instinct is to protect her and sacrifice himself again for her and throw himself into MORE bullets for her even after the betrayal of RE2 ........ and then after that she finally snaps and FINALLY chooses to fight for HER morals and HER justice by killing Simmons' bioweapon.

Like, listen, I hate the trope of "woman traumatized being saved by a man" in most cases, but something about the way I see Leon and Ada just makes SENSE man.

The fact that she specifically goes out of her way COUNTLESS times to protect him and save him and none of it is enough to get him to forgive her. None of it will ever be enough but she keeps trying anyways. Like, damn, his entire mission is Spain is only possible because Ada saved his ass like...four times??? And you can make reasonable arguments that she doesn't care about him he's only important for her mission, and to be honest I think that interpretation is also valid, but for me personally I just think she cares about him so much but it's in his best interest to continue believing she doesn't care.

And I just want them to be happy. But it will probably never work out between them, just due to everything...they can't escape their lives. They're both kept alive by two opposing morality systems. Leon's guilt and unyielding need to fight for truth and innocence and to protect everyone he's lost and everyone who depends on him. And Ada to hold onto herself and what whittling remains of self-identity and independence she still has when it was all taken from her, even to the point of someone making a damn clone out of her.

Man I just love them so much I'M SO EMOTIONAL!!!!!!!

[mcytshipsandmore]

hello hello I came here to be an absolute weirdo (as I always am) ANYWAYS have you ever like. made a huge au and thought a lot about character interactions and relationships and feelings and backstories and like. to the point where talking about a SINGULAR character arc (of one of the 8 main characters) takes you at least an hour cause there are so many things and it's so tied up to the stories of others.

Ye. That's me. I made a huge au once and I'm going insane about it for like. A year and a half already. That's not the main point. THE POINT IS. relationship between two specific characters are so beautifully complicated and emotional that I now ship them. THEY DON'T MAKE SENCE IN CANON. NEVER EVER. but in this specific au they are my everything, I've succefully broken them, made them think the other one is dead, reunited them, put them through the emotional shredder, non-au-canonicly married them and they just rotate in my head without stop goddamit I hate them so much. They. They are the Scar/Martyn. From my fantasy "rec2" au that I can't shut up about and can't stop thinking about. they are killing me and now you know about them too.

ha! you thought it was all? no. get loved silly. hope you're having a great day. I'll make it better, here, have a cat. her name is Salt btw. REALLY SUITS HER, SHE IS GODDAMN SALTY LADY

CAT!!!!!!

Anyway yeah no I totally understand that, as someone who is a dedicated fic writer, I too have worked on something for so long that I come up with ships that dont make sense in canon but!!! If they would just meet!!! (as in I thought about shipping Jimmy Solidarity with Baghera Jones for a bit)

Scar and Martyn as a ship, I can certainly see what you mean, they would be quite the rare pair!

-🍫

Why the fuck do you sound like an ai you smelly fart -⭐️

[ask-uts-earthspark-au]

what would the terran's reactions be to like.... megatronus prime/the fallen or liege maximo?? or any of the 13 originals tbh, and that in alot of continuities op is kind of implied (if not straight up said) to be the thirteenth?

Yknow, actually this gives me a great opportunity to somewhat explain how my AU has the Primes.

I may write a fic off of this, actually.

Anyway: here we go.

Prima

All are somewhat enamored with the whole concept of them basically being their god. Finds their rumored appearance quite cool, and finds it cool that the Matrix is in their sword.

The Fallen/Megatronus Prime

Not quite so fond. Weird, creepy, none of them like him. Thrash genuinely could not roll his optics any harder at his ‘tragic backstory’ that people wrote to make him sympathetic.

Alpha Trion

Kinda interesting. Kept track of history, ran an archive, held onto the matrix between Primes after the others were all dead, originally thought to be basically immortal with how long he lived? Even though he wasn’t actually a true prime, apparently. And did eventually die, but body was never actually recovered. Mysterious, and kind of interesting, overall.

Nexus Prime

Cool as balls. There’s not much else to say, they just think he’s cool as hell. Still don’t quite understand the whole combining thing, but it sounds a little cooler now.

Vector Prime

There are so many possibilities, that it simply blew their tiny newspark processors. Probably the coolest so far.

Solus Prime

Tied with Vector. Originally from the original myth, they weren’t too interested. But hearing the bit from Optimus completely separate from myth, they immediately loved Solus. Thrash loves the hammer, Hashtag thinks it’s very girlboss of him to even exist, Twitch loves the whole ‘can make really cool weapons with the hammer’ thing, Jawbreaker thinks the story overall is pretty inspiring, and kinda cute (albeit somewhat tragic) that he died very quickly after his partner, and was the one who caused the ‘partners/conjuxes come to the hall as well’ thing, Nightshade is very enamored with him being trans. Overall, it’s a hard tie with Vector.

Amalgamous Prime

The shifting bit is awesome. They understand the Decepticons a bit better, and understand better why they even exist in the first place. HT also thinks he has mad rizz for having seduced an Autobot like that.

Liege Maximo

The fact that this bitch is meant to be like their version of satan is kinda… they’re honestly perhaps 5% impressed, at most. And the whole ‘point of origin for all decepticons’ is really laughable to them.

“…at least he’s kinda sexy…?” - Jawbreaker

Alchemist Prime

Kinda boring, but also super cool in that chill uncle way. Also fun that he fucked off from the war and ran a bar. Amazing. Quality decision making skills.

“Like Tarantulas, but in a holy way. And a lot more popular/intimidating.” - Nightshade

Onyx Prime

They think he’s kinda cool, being a big beastformer space pope. Nightshade and Jawbreaker especially like him.

Micronus Prime

Twitch thinks he’s kinda cool, being probably as little as her. Really shows that someone as small as her can be great like that.

Quintus Prime

They all have a unique fascination with him, even if pretty boring. Nightshade is especially interested by the fact that he’s the scientist of the bunch.

Thirteen

The original written myth of Thirteen is incredibly bland to them, and Thrash remarked that clearly they didn’t do a good job. However, when brought the idea of them being Amalgamous’s sparkling, a shifter just like him, and agender, they were all far more interested, and found them a little bit cooler. However, with still so little known, they’re not very interesting compared to the others.

Nova Prime

The fact that he’s known for having not been the best person, yet still respectable enough as ‘The Master Kindler’ and having reintroduced Kindling to table now that the wells were dying, really interests them. Also find it cool how Nova is genderfluid.

“Girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep. 👌” - Hashtag

Sentinel Prime

They’re pretty confident that the very fact that Optimus refused to say his name is enough to say he’s clearly not a very good person, and being told of all that he’d done in his time, they all decidedly hated him.

Optimus Prime

Optimus refused to share very much about himself, beyond his own achievements throughout his reign. They think even higher of him than before. Megatron later revealed that a downside is that he is a loner/introvert & a/antisocial, and usually rather cold/not very personable with people outside of his personal circle of ‘loved ones’.

Rodimus Prime

Nothing was said to his current location, but was noted that he is currently ‘in-training’/not fully a ‘Prime’ yet (won’t be until Op steps down/passes), generally quite polite and sweet if shy, quite strongly religious but really quiet about it, Captain to a crew on a neutral ship, remains neutral himself rather than aligned, a peacetime leader compared to Optimus being a ‘wartime leader’, and technically the true Prime of the reign the Terrans were born under, so they’d be Rodimus’s rather than Optimus’s.

Twitch is even more fond of him, and the others a little more impressed/interested into the prospect of doing a little research into him and those comics.

«—-–-—»

This is canon divergent, so things don’t completely align up with canon.

I happen to HC Solus as TransMasc/FtM & had a female lover, Amalgamous as the original Decepticon leader & have had an ex-Autobot lover + two sparklings, Alchemist as being a ‘peacetime leader’/kept the peace until he died (of old age), and Nova as having revived the practice of Kindling and very protective over sparklings + genderfluid.

Thx.

[purplebass]

Lila's Backstory Theory

As I talked about Lila with @bluecichlid, they raised a good point about her backstory. Lila was first introduced to us as a thief, but she seemed educated and even well-read.

So this theory deals with the possibility that Lila's mother might've been an aristocrat or had a title and Lila doesn't even know about that or has completely concealed this bit from her past and V wanted to use it in the future and that's why it never came up.

@my-ruthless-zoyalai I'm tagging you too because you asked about this theory!

This isn't something to take from granted in XIX London, because we know that around that time, if you were a peasant, you either worked in a factory as a child or you were a thief. You can take a look at Dicken's Oliver Twist to see how orphaned children lived in London (it is set 30 years after Lila was a child, but things hadn't changed much for kids). If you were a poor kid, you didn't have many options to survive. Surely, school and education was the last thing on Georgian kids' minds. There were exceptions, of course, but I don't think that's the case with Lila.

Lila often says that her mother read William Blake's poems to her before bed. This is so specific, and while Blake had published his poems before Lila was even born and he was pretty known, would a peasant appreciate him? No offence to Georgian London peasants, but I doubt it. A lot of peasants didn't even know how to read, and poetry is harder to understand.

Lila's mother might've been an estimator of literature, but my idea is that she might've come from a rich family and that is why she was familiar with Blake. I'm not saying a filthy rich family, but modest enough for Lila's mother to be educated and pass a little of that culture down to her daughter. She might've even been an aristocrat with a title in decline, for all we know. Because aristocrats didn't work. They only inherited a fortune and if they weren't careful with their money and didn't make any investments, the money would end. So Lila's mother might've had a dowry/small fortune when she married Lila's father, but he squandered all their funds on alcohol and possibly other things and they had probably a lot of debts. Maybe Lila's father was not an aristocrat and by marrying him, her mom lost her dowry. I don't know. Lila's mother might've also died because they didn't have the money to pay for a doctor or medicine.

ETA to add: Lila's parents might've had a reversed "Persuasion" by Jane Austen situation. Her parents might've opposed their marriage because they came from different classes, but they got married anyway. In Persuasion, the fmc wants to marry the mc, who is a naval officer, but her father opposes because they come from different social classes. Seven years later, the situation is reversed because the fmc's family is in debt and they need money and the mc became a rich and respectable captain. In the end they get married and the fmc joins the mc on his voyages on his ship. Maybe something like that happened to Lila's parents as well. Have you ever thought that Lila might've wanted to become a captain because her father was tied to the naval world? Also, this "Persuasion" situation also reminds me of Kell and Lila's seven years after situation. He is also a prince who decided to travel aboard a ship to be with the person he loves, who is a captain. Lila stayed with her father because he was the only one left, but without her mother's protection (because it's clear Lila remembers her mother fondly and still grieves her) she was left at the mercy of her absent father until he literally sold her to pay a tab. After then, she began her thief life/identity.

So what I think is that Lila might be an aristocrat and have a title, but maybe she 1) doesn't even know 2) she knows but she never told this to anyone because it's a part of her Grey London life and from a past she chose to leave behind. When Lila meets Kell, he also hides that he is a prince until they are in Red London.

Parallels that seem to sustain this theory

Lila has parallels with other characters. Not just Kell, but also Alucard. Parallels might be a clue about personal stories.

Lila the hypothetical "poor aristocrat" was sold by her father to pay a tab and this event marks the official beginning of her "thief/commoner" identity.

Kell the hypothetical "poor commoner" was sold by his parents because he was Antari and this event marks the official beginning of his "prince/magician" identity.

When we meet Alucard, Lila also believes he's just a privateer, but then we find out that he is a royal and he was falsely accused of being a pirate because of his father and brother.

You can see how the stories of these three characters seem to mirror each other in different ways.

In Threads, there were two moments that stuck with me that also reinforced this "Lila is an aristocrat" theory.

In this book, Lila "took on" Alucard's previous identity of a privateer. But she's also an Antari like Kell. She is also an aristocrat by association with an acquired title because at the palace everyone knows that she is Kell's partner. They call her "lady" and she hates that and the palace life. On another post I wrote how she might hate this because she doesn't like labels nor wants to just be "Kell's lady", which is true. But what if Lila used to live in a pretty house with servants doing things for her until her father brought their family to ruins? So maybe that's why Lila finds the palace so triggering and runs out of it most of the time. Does it remind her of her lost childhood?

This last bit is totally mere speculation. Lila might not even know about her heritage, and maybe she will meet her father again in future Threads, and that's how we will know.

The second bit that might've hinted (or maybe I saw too much into it) is a line Ned tells Tes when she's about to leave. He asks her to say hi to Kell and Lila, and says something like "Kell is a prince, but Lila is not a princess." I don't believe she is a princess but this is a title, and it may be a hint: 1) she has a title she doesn't know about 2) she will become a princess if she marries Kell? Because the title of princess can be acquired by marriage. The title Alucard has in Threads, "consort," is also a title used to refer to the partner of a royal who isn't a monarch in his own right.

This is mere speculation for now, but I hope we do get answers in future Threads, it would be amazing to know more of Lila's backstory!

[lynne-monstr]

I finished love game in eastern fantasy and i have a lot of thoughts. spoilers ahead!

let's start with the good.

it's a fun cute show with lovable characters and it's easy to watch. also the opening theme song is a banger. i had a great time with it! the love story was cute and the visuals were fun (well except for the swimming through space scene that i giggled the whole way through because yeah.)

i enjoyed the main romance. the actor who plays mu sheng has so many great facial expressions and was a joy to watch. also i'm a sucker for a grumpy man falling in love with a sunshine lady and this show delivers on that trope. also, I want to wrap liu fuyi up in blankets because i love a stoic dude with a kind heart.

the kneeling and hair tying scenes made me go absolutely feral. yeah yeah that's the good stuff. it's about the tenderness it's about the intimacy it's about the fledging growing trust of a very prickly dude with mommy issues.

(bonus for the half demon sexy man look, they really knocked it out of the park with that one!)

omg the drunk scene between mu sheng and fuyi was one of my favorite things ever. in my heart they are bff now.

my main critique of the show was the the characters were basically swept from plot to plot with little consideration given to how the plot impacted them as characters. I wish the show had dug deeper.

miao miao declares her love for another man to the marquis and then in the next breath gets love whammied and absolutely no one thinks that's strange. (okay yes mu sheng did his frantic search for curses which was chefs kiss, but then that line of thinking just gets dropped.) and then the bracelet curse is broken and it's like the whole arc never happened. did any of her friends ever find out what actually happened to her???

mu yao plans not one but two suicide missions and no one says anything to her. even after the fox demon arc where she experienced her man dying in her arms, it's like having that experience just rolls off her.

the two antagonists (trash demon mom friend who tells kids it's their fault for being born and old reclusive master who solves problems with genocide) have a quick moment of oops I did a bad thing sorry and get immediately forgvien by the narrative.

okay anyway, getting to the part that made me want to write up this post in the first place. The Ending.

i really enjoyed the author plot twist and how it tied in to a bunch of little hints dropped throughout the story. (and I did kind of see it coming because of that! how satisfying!) but the actual ending left me a little frustrated.

in my ideal LGIEF ending, miao miao would "wake up" from her martial arts dream and instead of continuing to live a sad life where she's unhappy and has a job that walks all over her, she takes the experiences she had in the novel and stands up for herself. tbh having her not remember (is this the THIRD amnesia plot in the show, oh my) is a bit overdone at this point, so i'd have her keep her memories of her time in the novel. we know from her backstory that she's never had a problem standing up for others, but now she's learned to stand up for herself. give my girl some character growth as a result of her adventure! she stands up to her shitty boss and attends the book signing not just because she's supporting her favorite author but because she's determined to get back her man.

and then i would extend the ending by ten freaking seconds and GIVE US THE REACTION SHOT WE DESERVE. i cannot believe they ended it like that, betrayal betrayal! jail for show for one hundred years!

also i would include a shot of mu yao and fuyi in the real world because i love them and they are part of the bff polycule and deserve to be in the epilogue. what's the point of hammering home that they are an inseparable team of besties for life and then breaking them up.

anyway, all of this maybe makes it seems like i didn't enjoy the show, and that's not true. it's because i enjoyed it so much that i lament a lot of its lost potential.

if you're looking for a fun romp of a drama, I highly recommend this!

[milaswriting]

*SPOILERS FOR CH 10*

I can't say I'm too worried about Walter or Jordan simply because to me, it makes no sense for Zillah to hurt someone she might need in the future. Despite all that talk about MC not being the "Chosen One" (whatever that means) and not being "unique", they are still tied pretty deeply to the city that is her playground. Unless she plans on moving out any time soon, I don't think she would be stupid enough to burn that bridge before she crossed it. For me, it's merely mental games, trying to show what she is capable of, or perhaps I dare say some sort of hedgehog "huffing and puffing" where she tries to look like a bigger threat than she actually is. I did catch that she is only half-Fae so she certainly is not the most powerful person in the city in terms of magical power so she has to find other ways to be strong. Plus, Tahara did allegedly almost put her away so she is clearly not infallible or without weaknesses that a mere human can't use against her. Let's hope she doesn't get too cocky lol

Anyway, really loved this new chapter and the new things you added, I am definitely seated for what comes next. 💕

This makes me debate how many of you chose the option to check on Walter, asdfghjkl (*hint* if you haven’t then take the chance, I want to see reactions to it *hint*).

Zillah backstory is that she’s really, really worked for everything she has in life. Pretty much shunned any human side of family she has left, changed her name, went to a totally new city and now has a life there. The ruthlessness has always been there, and she got a lot of shit for being half-supernatural so she knows it can piss people off (which relates to A sort of).

Zillah isn’t without weaknesses, but if she falls through the cracks she’ll pick herself up and take someone down.

[muninnhuginn]

For the character ask meme, Anya from spy x family? :0

hi! thanks for the ask ^^. weirdly, I think anya's probably the spy x family main I've thought about the least? there's plenty to her so idk why I've not thought through her entire deal more, maybe just because the child experimentation angle will be grim and we're lacking so many pieces of her backstory rn. but even with that, there's plenty there. so anyway, good choice is what I'm saying. this gives me an excuse to not get distracted by loid and yo--

anyway anyway, answers below cut because this got long:

My first impression

This is gonna sound bad considering I only got into the series when the anime started coming out which is fairly recent all considered, but I genuinely don't remember? I'd probably seen memes involving her before I actually started the anime or manga, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what they involved.

My impression now

She's young and that colours pretty much all of her actions. But it also means she has a huge capacity for growth and allows her to create that change in others too (the obvious one being Loid but you see it with others too). And Spy x Family may be a slow-burn but we're starting to get some of that pay off in terms of character development.

Hmm, what else, I guess she's pretty determined. Thinking of that post about how "Anya would be unstoppable if not for the small fact that she's five". So yeah, her logic is questionable at times (most of the time) and she's got abandonment issues and she's hindered by her age. But she's found a family now and it's clear she wants to keep them and wants them to keep her too.

Favorite thing about that character

I think the aspects that cause Anya the most trouble are those which she hasn't shared with anyone. Her powers, her background in general, her age. They're all tied together and her fear of abandonment (likely exacerbated by her foster families) prevents her from seeking help when they cause her issues. Loid knows pieces, but he's missing some really key bits of information and he has no idea. So it's neat that this character who arguably holds the most knowledge about other people's secrets cannot share her own.

Least favorite thing

I really don't like to think about some of the stuff that if you follow logic Anya must have been exposed to through her powers. There's some aspect of her not being able to comprehend all thoughts, but I imagine there's a lot that gets through which is just, quite frankly horrific.

There's that scene fairly early on where Loid and Anya come across a rally and there's some pretty yikes stuff being thought by those attending. In that scene, the focus is more on how crowds tend to overwhelm her given her powers, but between that and whatever's going on with Melinda, well, it's pretty clear she can and will hear things that would be uncomfortable for *anyone* to hear, never mind someone not even six years old.

Favorite line/scene

Maybe Ania mini-chapter. What does it all mean?

Favorite interaction that character has with another

Loid-Anya cruise subplot. She's not lost the abandonment issues, but she sure has Loid wrapped around her finger and takes full advantage of it. She's just trying to help Yor, but she's making Loid completely suffer for it and it is hilarious.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more

Handler. They've had a couple of interactions in canon and Anya reminds her of her own daughter which is already such a dynamic to start with. Anya seems to like Handler too. It's a mutually healing relationship, but also funny to consider them both driving Loid up the wall with stress.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

Maybe Steven Universe? Something about kids with atypical family setups who are too young to be involved in this stuff getting involved regardless and setting themselves up for trauma down the line. Wanting to save the world, but not yet understanding what that entails. Their powers being tied to something beyond their control; something that will absolutely come back to bite them.

In terms of personality though? I'm kind of blanking.

A song that reminds of that character

(Might have to follow it through to Youtube to get the subtitles to work)

This is one of those where it's more the vibes than the exact story, but I think the whole 'family to family until you find a home' and 'seems cheery but actually quite sad' and some of the stuff around 'helping' all fit in a way.

An unpopular opinion about that character/A headcanon about that character

(Merged this with 'headcanon' because I realised my read of the situation here could fit that and I blanked on *actual* headcanons but they'd probably mostly revolve around sensory overload from her powers so)

Not sure how unpopular this opinion actually is, because I don't tend to lurk in those places, but I genuinely don't think Anya at this stage is "into" Damian in any way. And though I doubt it'll pan out that way, I would very much prefer if she stays uninterested in him in that way? I do think it'd be neat to explore the fallout when Damian realises she was trying to befriend him for his connections given that's already been brought up as something that'd upset him. But I'd rather their dynamic lead to genuine friendship rather than romance. For now, Damian's crush and Anya's awkward overtures as she tries to progress the mission do entertain me, as do the small moments where they interact genuinely. But I just find the idea of a crush when they're that young actually working out to be... well, pretty unbelievable?

Favourite picture

Ahh don't make me pick. She has too many good faces I'm not sure how I could narrow it down. I'll just go for.... her "heh" face, but genuinely way too much choice. (Also, there are some more serious options like when she realises Loid's reason for coming to rescue her in ep/ch1 or her reaction about the whole "Ania" spelling. But again, can't pick)

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

OKAY I finally found the original post about Angela being Jane Ives and an alternate timeline El so I'm gonna link it here then go over some key points on both sides!

most of the against points are based on the original post by the lovely @/henrysglock, who is definitely the reason I'm considering every angle on this! but a couple are just me.

[This is also within Timeline Theory, there's a few different blogs about this which I'll gladly link if anyone stumbles upon this and needs catching up]

AGAINST:

Angela doesn't have any specific references to timelines, clocks, alternate universes, etc. tied with her that I know of except that she wears a watch, like so many characters do anyways. honestly the fact Angela isn't coated to hell and back in multiverse imagery should count as line, three reasons, because everyone ends relevant is SO heavily coded.

Yes the watch is her inverse version of the timememoryfuckery Sara hairband, but this could simply be to indicate the presence of timememoryfuckery with Sara in the first place.

There are other things her presence could narratively suggest, including foreshadowing for mothergate via Sleepaway Camp [I hope I got that right?] [Side note the fact Edward and El BOTH had to pretend to be someone and that fakeness is represented by Angela for them both is sO juicy]

Literally what is she doing in California if she's a number???

Does she have psionic sensitivity passed down from Terry and if so how did she not recognize El for what she is? (and vice versa- though that can be explained by El's lack of powers)

The reason El and Angela have visual parallels is because El was copying Angela, and the reason they're opposites is because El can never truly become normal like Angela or her Jane persona.

For:

It is very clear that El is not Jane/ El is not the birth daughter of Terry Ives, there's already other posts on this.

the watch is her version of El's hair band from Hopper that belonged to Sara- and isn't there a shitton of timeline/memory fuckery there?

There's little backstory for Angela. it's very clear there is something she is afraid of/something going on that motivates her, but what is it?

^^even for a similar one-season character, Troy, we actually see his mother and learn that he is afraid of losing face and disappointing her or being a victim of bullying

She parallels 002 visually, not exactly a point for or against, but sus as fuck.

Her behavior also resembles 002. She wants to scapegoat El and be the teachers favorite kid just like 002- but what is Angela afraid of? Where did she learn this behavior? every other antagonist has a very clear reason for acting like they do EXCEPT HER. We don't even know who called the police on El for her!

Visual parallels between El and Angela, but Angela is the opposite version because she's from a different timeline!

Why make Angela's outfits parallel Karen and Virginia of she isn't a Creel? [based on the Karen is Virginia theory via @/aemiron-main]

Angela is fixated on Hopper, which I just personally think is giving lab-kid.

Her name is ANGELA for fuck's sake!! Angels in ST have a positive connotation, with Mike being banned after one, with Max singing about one to El (foreshadowing El helping her live) and Victor saying an angel saved him, so WHY would Angela be named that unless there's more to find out? I speculate that this is in relation to Terry's locked-in syndrome, since she asked for Jane to come home, but it could also be in reference to El being an 'angel' via Max.

The whole point of having multiple versions of Henry/Edward is the themes of how a similarly situated person can become a totally different person based on circumstance, how the world/the pressures of society wants to squash people, and those stresses turn out different people, rather than them inherently being one thing from the get-go. in the case of Henward, every version of them has thus been shrouded in mystery, but Angela is super clearly there existing so the show could use her as a very clear/consise easy of initially delivering that theme along with peeling back several hundred layers of henward bullshit. what could hammer home the "nobody is inherently evil or fundamentally good" theme than showing everyone a universally hated girlbitch with a kill count of zero and a rage-and-sorrow filled mostergirl with the soul of a puppy and the personality of a saint and forcing them both to face how similar they really are? I phrased this super badly but basically they're built to prove a point and it would be so badass if the writers pulled this off.

A while truckload of stuff with her hair color that already has a few posts on it [mostly also courtesy of @/henrysglock I believe ] [including some on how it works with the timeline stuff in general and some about El and Jane specifically]

I honestly give this theory a 50/50 chance since it isn't a specific plotline or lore, but rather a possibility within a likely lore theory, if that makes sense. Like if ANY variation of Angela being Terry's daughter or a lab kid or an alt El or anything similar would count to me, I'm just looking at many possibilities that I think coexist. The one thing I know for sure is that she's more important than she's letting on, so more than anything I'm open to the theory changing if I find out another compelling reason why Angela is important. I am super curious because I think her and El's relationship as foils is sO fascinating as well as having more potential.

[justinewt]

London, Punk Capital - MONEY HEIST: KOREA Chapter One

[MONEY HEIST: KOREA MASTERLIST]

Next Chapter (SOON)

Summary: When Jin-sol, a promising young sportswoman decides to send her whole life away, going as far as faking her suicide to get under the radar, and crosses paths with the Professor, she finds herself involved in the plan of an ambitious heist that reveals her true colors. The target: the Mint of the Joint Economic Area. 

Words: 5k

Warnings: Money Heist: Korea season 1 (episode 1), 1st person pov, mention of suicide: FAKE suicide (no blood etc), loss, backstory, screams, hostage-taking, tauting, guns

DECEMBER 2023

At only 18, the path I was going to take was already mapped out. Plans to major in Sports studies and have a brilliant career as a combat sports athlete. I practiced Taekwondo since I was 6 years old, and it was my dream to become a professional in this sport. My dream, to represent South Korea at the Olympics one day. If I had been born in North Korea and lived in poverty, like my mom did, I wouldn’t have had so many opportunities and options but ultimately, I chose to throw away one of the only things I was good at and end it all and give up the life of freedom she risked hers for. Years ago, my mother, a hardworking but private woman, died of overwork and left me in the care of my uncle. I was 10 years old. Nobody had ever told me anything about my biological father, even though she had known him quite well and my uncle was the closest thing I had to a dad anyway so after I found myself orphaned, he adopted me and I started to call him dad because I wanted to feel like my peers, who had their parents. But he died too, and not that long ago. He was a college professor and taught in the department of business and economics at the Seoul National University. This smart and caring man was the last family I had. Losing everyone just made me realise an honest life wasn’t always worth it.

The wind was blowing that night. I let my bag fall on the floor of the Mapo bridge sidewalk and took off my jacket, making sure my identity papers and suicide note were in the pockets. It was actually not my plan to take my own life. My only wish was to completely disappear from the radar screens and let life surprise me with whatever it could come up. I heard my grandfather died in a robbing, in the 90s. Maybe I could do that too, without the dying part obviously. This new life choice was a complete turnaround, but it was my choice. Living an underground life in the guise of a dead person wasn't just anything. I was calm as I tied my hair in a bun above my neck, staring into the distance. Cars drove by but no one pulled over to come and stop me and that was for the best. The bridge was notorious for suicides and dozens of telephones and signs to deter people from commiting were set up along both sides. Glancing around, I leaned on the railing, lifted my leg and tipped my body over to the other side, resting my feet on the ledge. I didn't even really want to kill myself; it was just to give the illusion of it, and despite the fact that it was good that no one was bothering me, I wanted someone to witness my fall so that they could then confirm to the authorities that I was the person who jumped. I was not yet such a famous sportswoman, few people would be sad to hear the news, maybe my old friends from middle and high school but that was all. Everyone would forget me, ultimately.

I tried taking deep breaths. Despite the bright lights all over the bridge, the water looked dark beneath my feet. After a minute of staring down at the Han River, I heard someone calling out to me. This was my cue. I didn’t even look at the person trying to talk me out of it, closed my eyes, held my breath and let go of the railing. My body fell forward, and I plunged into the water. For a brief moment, I forgot my plan and let the water carry me away but eventually, I swam. I swam all night long and hid under another bridge, far from the one I jumped off of. The police would check the bag and jacket I left, get a testimony from the witness and quickly rule it out as a suicide. They would try to find my body but after a few days of being unsuccessful at doing so and with no one stepping forward, like a family member or something, they would stop searching and I would be fine. I just needed to lay low for a bit. I hid in seedy hotels and dyed my hair red. On my ID, I had bangs and black shoulder-length hair. It was now quite different, and it changed my appearance a lot. I left Seoul and went where the wind took me. And the wind took me to Mungyeong where I joined an illegal fighting ring. I ran into some cool guy who became like a brother to me. You’ll meet him eventually. He is not especially sharp-witted but he's fun, I'm sure you'll like him. Just so you know, I’ll refer to him as 오빠 “oppa” most of the time. It’s Korean for brother.

We would fight at every illegal fight club we could find and never lost. He eventually beat up the gamblers who had bet on us and we left. He had told me his father was constantly in and out of prison and he was the last person we expected to see. Gamblers had lost lot of money because of the both of us and had sent their dogs after us. He played with them while I tried to fight them off. So much so I always had to urge him to keep moving. I was way younger but the most serious of the pair. We had slipped between two buildings, which roofs we were running on just a moment before, trying to escape them but we got stuck. These guys were above and below us. A few cursings came out of our lips as the wall exploded. We protected our faces and looked to the side. A man was sticking his head out of the hole made by the explosion. It was his dad. He helped us get out of there and we ran away. That’s when we were introduced to a man calling himself the Professeur, 규슈 “guyshu”. When I met him, the first thought that went through my head was that he reminded me of my uncle, but it wasn’t what this meeting was about. He needed us to join his plan, which was to rob the Mint in the Joint Economic Area. We were in. He had assembled a whole team of people like us, and he brought us together to where our hideout was. The place where we would learn all about his plan until the D-day came around.

I had no idea how he found this place. A whole hotel complex, abandoned. Perfect for us. As we walked down a tree-lined path to reach the disused resort, I looked at the faces around me. We were 10 in total. For the first day, we settled in the hotel swimming pool. The professor had set up a whiteboard and we sat around it, in an arc. I sat on a cube with the number 6 on one side and next to me was a stern man in a suit. I wasn’t in such fancy clothing, just wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER in red writings, a faux leather skirt, a pair of pantyhose and combat boots. There was this little thing I hadn’t left behind when I faked my own suicide, and it was a gold ring that my mom gifted me. It was a ring she had herself been gifted, by her older sister for her 18th birthday. She had written in the letter she left me, that when triplets are born in North Korea, boys get silver daggers and girls get gold rings, as a gift from the government. Until I read this, I had no idea my mother actually had three older siblings. The 50-year-old ring hung from a thin cord tied around my neck.

“Before we start, I wanna make this clear.” The professor started speaking. “From now on, regardless of age or where you’re from, we’ll all speak informally. We’ll use code names to call each other instead of using real names.”

“I can do code names, but what about respect?” Oppa’s dad raised his hand. “What’s the reason for that?”

“It’s safer that no one knows. It’s out of serious precaution for each other’s identity. How about we use city names?” He walked over to a small table and grabbed a globe from it. “It can be a city you wanna live in once the job’s over or a name that you like the sound of. It’s up to you, so pick one.”

Gyushu sat down and the first of us that stood up was the other youngest of the group. W ewere called the “maknae”, literally meaning the youngest. He turned the globe and put his finger on the city of Rio de Janeiro, sketching an excited smile, chuckled and moved his body like he was dancing the samba. That guy who looks like your typical K-pop idol is Rio.       He’s a horrible dancer, but apparently, he’s an amazing hacker. Then came oppa’s turn. I already told you, his story.

“Denver. I’mma go with that one since it’s near the Rocky Mountains. You guys know Rocky. It’s, uh… It’s my favorite movie of all time.” He punched the air, making the sound effect to accompany his gestures. Faced with his little show, his father seemed quite embarrassed.

“Just so you know, that movie is set in Philadelphia.” The professor's intervention caused Denver to stop, and he awkwardly brushed the hair from his face.

“Oh- oh, really? Philadelphia. Phil… That’s a bit long. Denver sounds a lot stronger, right?” His father then picked Moscow as his alias. I did say he was in and out of prison in the years prior to this day but he also used to work in the mines, so naturally he’s a digging expert. That’s why he’s here. And where was here? The dead-end that was his life.

“Has anyone here ever been to Africa before? The cradle of civilization. Words can only try to describe. Did you know the area’s famous for diamonds?” This woman who introduced us to her ass as she chose her alias was Nairobi. A pathological liar. A forgery master, claiming to have been a part of every major crime, but I didn’t take her word for it. She was probably nothing more than a con artist. She went back to her seat and two fellows walked towards the globe, squabbling over its use, pushing each other around. That jolly pair was Helsinki and Olso. Fixers from Yanbian. Word had it that they wiped their entire gang and left. Next was the man in the fancy suit sat in the chair next to me. He went up to the globe, his hands in his back and picked it to take a look at it. Berlin. He had this gift for making people nervous, but he didn’t intimidate or scare me. He was from the Kaechon camp in the North, where only the dead are free. How he got here is a mystery that made him the most wanted man in the history of North Korea. I hopped on my feet before he even came back to his seat and crossed his gaze when he handed me the globe, stepping away. His eyes lingered on me as I turned the globe and put my finger.

“London.”

“It fits you.” I nodded, giving the professor a smile as I returned to my seat. The last to take an alias was Tokyo. She had come down here from the North after being discharged from the army.

“Out of all the places, why pick Tokyo?” Denver enquired.

“Because we’ll be doing bad things.” Some of us chuckled at the remark. I sketched a smirk.

“Yo, that’s really smart.”

“She’s right.” The professor stood up and she walked past him to go back to her seat. I leaned on my knees, listening to him. “We will be doing bad things. We are going to pull off the single largest heist in history. The North opened up its economy, and every Korean was promised that they’d benefit from this, but in reality, only the rich got richer. It’s time for us, the ones left with nothing to claim what’s ours. This is why we’ve formed this team. I’m going to make this clear. Not a single person will get hurt. Our goal is to steal four trillion won and then we’ll disappear. We’re giving the public the best show they’ve ever seen, live and in their faces. And they’ll have no choice but to root for us all.”

“There’s no way that’s possible.” Rio said.

“Okay, let’s say it is possible. Where are we gonna find that much money?” Nairobi wondered.

“The target for our heist… is gonna be…” He marched to a table covered with a red fabric behind us and pulled it off. The others stood up to see while Berlin and I just pivoted in our seats. “… The Mint.”

FIVE MONTHS LATER

We all had to stick to our roles to make this plan work. I was one of the only ones to have no real decision-making power, but I was fine with it. It had been decided that Berlin would be the on-the-ground chief of operations, so I had to follow his orders and those of the professor to the letter, but my job did not end there. I didn't have a mere supporting role in the heist. What I had to do was a lot more vicious. We knew that there would be We knew that the hostages would not only be Mint employees, but also students from Myeongseong Foreign Language High School, where the US Ambassador's daughter was studying. She would be our key hostage. The most valuable of all. And what I was to do, prior to the heist, was get close to her and in order to do so, the Professor had provided me with a whole new identity to join this school, and more specifically the class she was in. I assumed a new name and wore a realistic wig that really gave the illusion that I had bleached my hair, but not to the point that it was white or platinum, but kind of straw blonde, with blunt bangs falling right above my eyebrows. It really changed my face. I wasn’t really into the whole going back to school thing, but I had to do it. At first, I was in school for about 90 percent of the time but once the professor brought us all together and we started working on the plan for the heist, I didn't go there as often anymore. One obvious excuse was that of the so-called chronic disease from which I suffered, or rather from which the student I played suffered and that I had to go abroad for a long time.

At the same time as preparing for the robbery, I was doing homework remotely and chatting with the classmates I had “befriended” to keep up appearances. I must have been very convincing in this role since I had totally succeeded in my mission and Anne Kim really seemed to consider me a friend. She was one of the people who texted me the most, often asking how I was doing and if I would be back in time to come with them to visit the Mint.

“It’s great you’re doing better.” Anne said as she was taking selfies in front of the Mint. I looked to the side and watched the students getting off the bus and nodded with a soft smile.

“It was hell having to stay in the hospital.” A group of girls then came running towards us, disrupting our quiet conversation and one of them grabbed my shoulder to bring me closer to them and take a picture of us. Right after the camera click shuttered, they ran back to the group of students. I stared at them. I couldn’t wait to take off that wig and stupid school uniform and take my place among the robbers. This little role-playing game had gone on long enough.

“Um, later can you send me the photos?” Anne and I turned our heads as we heard a classmate's voice rise near us. I hadn't even noticed he was there while we were taking the group photo. “You have insta, right?”

“I don’t.” Anne looked him up and down and took my arm to bring me with her to our classmates, standing two by two in line in front of the entrance to the Mint building. I was really getting tired of having to act like a 17-year-old teenager, but I played along and stood with her as the teacher invited us to follow her inside. With a quiet sigh, I looked behind us and saw two women standing by a tree. Nairobi wore a purple wig and was smoking, and Tokyo wore a light blonde wig. As I climbed the stairs, I held her gaze before walking into the hall and looking ahead. They now knew that Anne Kim and I entered the building, and surely told the rest of the team.

“Please stay in line as you follow me.” A lady greeted us at the entrance and guided us into the Mint, walking us down the monetary exhibition hall, telling us about the story of South and North Korean’s currencies. I wasn’t exactly paying attention to everything she was saying but rather waiting impatiently for when I would finally be able to swap roles. For now, I kept that jaded expression on my face and walked beside Anne. She stopped in her tracks to take a photo of a politician with a Snapchat filter on. The teacher reminded her not to take pictures and wait until the tour was over. We continued to follow the group and I saw Anne take a turn in the direction of the toilets. Glancing at our comrades, I slipped away, wanting to keep an eye on this precious hostage. I quietly opened the door to the restrooms and heard Anne speaking in English in one of the stalls. She was on the phone with someone, complaining about school, her uniform and her dad. Rolling my eyes in annoyance I turned around and the moment I let go of the door, I heard gunshots ring out. I was taken aback and jumped but quickly, a smirk appeared on my face, and I walked with a determined step while everyone ran and screamed around me. Nobody paid attention to my behavior, far too poised for such a situation. My fellow robbers were finally there, threatening the students and employees with their guns. When I found myself among the students, I started acting scared and let out a few screams of terror. I saw Tokyo arrive, she took off her wig and looked around. She held her gun against her shoulder, the barrel pointed in the air. When she met my gaze, she grabbed my arm and dragged me away. I cried out.

“Where’s the girl?” She spoke in a scolding manner, raising her voice and I did my part.

“In- In the restroom.” My body was shaking so much that I struggled to line up those three words and my voice broke into a sob as I answered. Tokyo looked at me with great surprise, eyes widened. She tightened her grip on my arm and looked me down, trying to hide that she had been unsettled by how intense but realistic my acting was. she let go of me, pushing me away unceremoniously before going to get Anne Kim. I lost my balance and the teacher caught me and brought me back to her and the students, asking me if everything was okay but I didn't answer, pretending to be so shaken that I couldn't answer, but on the contrary, her fear was very real. The robbers, dressed in red boiler suits and masks inspired by traditional Hahoe masks. Only Nairobi, with her purple wig, had yet to put the outfit on. As agreed, Berlin was leading the group. Despite the masks, I also knew very quickly which one was Denver since I saw him out of the corner of my eye wanting to approach me when he saw this distress on my face, and I also saw his hair tied in a bun. He had let himself be deceived by these artifices, but Berlin had prevented him from approaching me while they put blindfolds around the eyes of the hostages, lined up in two groups facing each other.

I was the last to be blindfolded and Berlin stopped in front of me, without a sound. I couldn't quite look him in the eye, but I stared at him anyway and all that fear I was faking was gone. His fingers lingered on the thread of my necklace and after holding the ring between his thumb and index finger for a hot second, he slowly lowered the blindfold over my eyes. They could have left my sight, but Tokyo had not yet returned with Anne, and it was important that the illusion remain intact for a little while longer, until the real moment of the reveal. Only then would they raise the curtain on the fact that I was one of them, and not a hostage. The latter were also shaking with fear and beyond this noise pollution, I heard footsteps coming towards us and I immediately thought of Tokyo. I didn’t need to see to have the confirmation that she had brought Anne. I heard the latter grunt when Tokyo pushed her after blindfolding the teenager. Berlin’s voice then rose as he took a few steps.

“Hello, everyone. I’m the one in charge here. I apologize for the invconvenience, but you are our hostages.” They whimpered, holding hands, shaking, but I stood still and listened to Berlin as he walked in front the hostages. “We each go through all sorts of moments in life, both good and bad. During the bad moments, it feels like the sky is falling down, but after some time, you’ll realize it was nothing. Each of you will have that experience, as long as you follow our orders. Many years from now, this will be an exciting adventure story that you can wow your grandchildren with. But in case any of you are thinking of causing trouble, let me tell you just one thing. I truly love when that happens.”

“Empty your pockets.” Moscow then ordered. The two hostaged that were holding my hands let go and I let out a sigh while they gave their access cards and cell phones, which were being put away in a box when suddenly, one of them rang, or so I thought but I quickly realized it wasn't a cell phone ringtone. I lifted the bottom of the blindfold and saw a landline phone on the reception counter. It was this phone that was ringing so loudly. I could also see that my fellw robbers had taken off their masks and Berlin was looking at all of them when the director of the Mint raised a shuddering hand.

“What is it?”

“That could be from headquarters.” He told him, trembling. “If we don’t pick up, th-th-they’ll know something’s going on.” The woman standing next to him gave him a shy blow with her hand. Berlin must have seen it but chose to act as if it was not the case.

“You know, I like your face. I feel like I’ll grow to like you. Answer the phone.” His voice suddenly grew harsher, and he grabbed the woman’s hand. She whimpered as he led her to the phone and was panting. He got her to calm down and take a deep breath and put her hand on the phone.

“This… This is the Minting Bureau.” Berlin and Denver exchanged a look. “We’re experiencing network difficulties." The woman's voice rose, taking on an aggravated tone. She told them off before hanging up abruptly. Berlin sketched a smirk as he properly replaced the phone on its base and took her hand.

“So, was it important?”

“It’s, um… it was nothing.” He looked at her and nodded with a large, drawn smile. His hand on her shoulder, he led her back to her place among the hostages.

“It wasn’t important. We won’t have any problems now, will we?” The woman and the Mint’s director nodded nervously. Berlin clapped the latter on the shoulder, and he whimpered, sticking to his secretary in fear. He then walked away from them and gave me a look as he passed in front of me. The blindfold he had put over my eyes was now up on my forehead, but obviously, since I wasn’t an actual hostage, he didn’t really care and waved at me to follow him. I smiled, knowing that I was going to leave this high school uniform. When they would remove their blindfold, Anne Kim would probably start to panic when she saw that I had disappeared, and she wouldn't recognize me behind my mask. She had no idea I had been wearing a wig for several months and that I was this red-haired robber. We would leave her the surprise and the pleasure that her good friend never actually existed. As we moved away from the hostages, Denver, Moscow, and Rio left the lobby and headed for the Mint vault. I watched them as I took off my blonde wig and let go of it into the bag from which I had retrieved the red suit, boots and Hahoe mask I was going to wear and walked to the nearest restroom. I had taken an earpiece as well.

It would probably take a few minutes for the three others to take care of getting the vault open. I quickened my pace as I walked down the hallway and pushed open the bathroom door and dropped the stuff on the floor before taking off my skirt and blazer. Once the suit was on, I pulled up the zipper to the waist, put on the combat boots and tied my hair in a low bun before washing my face. Without this light makeup, I looked more mature already. In front of the bathroom mirror, my eyes fell on the ring hanging from my neck, the one that had caught Berlin's eye as I stood among the hostages. I stared at the reflection holding it between my fingers and after a few seconds, I sighed, put my arms through the sleeves of the suit and put the mask on my face. I then shoved the uniform into the trash can and grabbed the bag to tie it before heading back into the hall. Berlin watched the room from the central stairs and glanced at me as I returned. I grabbed a gun and slung the handle over my shoulder, finally taking on my role as one of the robbers. The hostages were shaking like leaves as the rest of my peers walked across the room carrying bags filled with banknotes retrieved from the vault opened by Denver, Moscow and Rio while I was gone off to the restroom to change. Berlin pressed his earpiece, and I heard him in mine speaking to the professor.

“Professor, we’re going out now.” Behind my mask I watched him slowly descend the stairs. Moscow and I walked beside him. An alarm went off and the thud of the main door opening echoed all the way to us. Seeing the director lifting his blindfold and sneaking a peek around him, we came to a halt and upon realizing that we had seen him, he jumped and looked down. This man was such a coward but what happened was a perfect example as to why I had to keep my mask on for now. To keep the element of surprise. Berlin smiled and looked at Moscow and I and while he slowly walked up to him, I looked at Anne Kim. She was just a couple feet away. I didn’t feel bad for lying to her all those months, but I was well aware that somewhere deep inside me, she had become my friend and I hadn't had one in a long time. I did an immediate head turn when I heard him rip the blindfold off the director's head. The latter was shuddering. He leaned forward and whimpered, squinting his eyes really hard.

“I didn’t see anything. I swear.”

“You can look. Mmh? It’s okay, mm? I said open your eyes.” Berlin grabbed the man’s head and held him in place. “Do you wanna know what we’re up to? Is that it, huh?”

“No. I swear!” He whined, keeping his eyes shut in fear. I was watching him with a jaded expression on my face. I found him to be of a really irritating and annoying character. One time, he acts as if he thinks he's master of the world and there he is, shaking and yelping like a wounded dog. “I know absolutely nothing, and I don’t wanna know anything—”

“No, no. I like you, my friend, so let me tell you exactly what we’re doing right now.” He patted him on the shoulder and took a step back, pulling out his handgun and aimed at his head. “We’re going to have a gunfight with the police, and people are going to die, like in movies.” The director opened his eyes and looked at the weapon, scared for his life. “BANG!”

He fell to his knees, yelping and whimpering and the other hostages clamored at the loud noise made by Berlin, while he chuckled. I would have laughed with him if I didn't have to make sure that Anne Kim wouldn't hear and recognize my voice, but the situation was, from my point of view, very funny. This moment of Berlin having fun terrorizing the hostages was really setting the tone for the whole heist, and I couldn't wait to see what was next. Everything had been carefully planned, down to the smallest detail. The Professor was prepared to any eventuality. He had emphasized from the beginning that it was important no one gets hurt or dies. Killing or hurting people wasn’t the plan. We tackled the subject during one of those study session in the swimming pool of the abandoned hotel complex where we had established our headquarters. As always, we were seated around him, in front of the whiteboard covered with maps, a model of the Mint on a small table next to it. Arms and legs crossed, seated between Rio and Berlin, I was slumped in my chair, fiddling with the ring around my neck as I watched and listened attentively to the Professor.

“When the police arrive, act as if you’ve been caught while trying to flee, and shoot at them, and retreat back into the building to hide…” He moved his hand towards the model of the Mint. “…like a rat caught in a trap.”

“But why exactly do you want us to fire into the air?” Denver wondered.

“I told you. Our plan is to not kill or hurt anyone.”

“But it’s not like anyone plans to die.” Nairobi stated, followed by Rio, backing up her words. My eyes went from one to the other without really turning my head.

“She’s right. Who knows what’s gonna happen? Couldn’t we just kill a few if the situation calls for it?”

“Absolutely not. This is crucial for our plan to work.” I heard Berlin laugh behind me.

“Our plan? Sounds like your morals are getting in the way.”

“What’s with all the comments?” Tokyo spoke, and he didn't seem so amused anymore, staring at her. She looked at everyone and let her gaze fall back to Berlin, raising her eyebrows. “Our job here is to execute the Professor’s plan. If you can’t, then leave.”

And I agreed with her. Which is why, like the brothers and Moscow, I was among the few to not say anything during the lesson. I was not to question the Professor's words and orders. I had promised. Because it didn’t matter the reason, when the Professor told us to jump, we asked how high. From the hall, where only Berlin, Moscow and I had remained with the hostages, we heard police sirens in the distance, a brief silence and then gunshots. The hostages gasped and screamed, as usual. The police were firing back at them and we heard from our earpieces that something had happened in Rio but we couldn’t see what was going on. In the following seconds, they must have pulled back inside the building since the closing of the door was engaged. Now that news of an armed robbery over the Mint would spread, the real heist could begin. Officials from the North and the South would scratch their brains really hard to find the best way to resolve the situation. The Korean Peninsula, the only divided country on earth, was soon to be unified after all. An unprecedented situation was unfolding inside a unique zone called the JEA. Short for Joint Economic Area. Korea’s neighbors weren’t the only ones paying attention… the whole world was watching.

Bags full of red suits and masks were lined up on the floor. The rest of the team was back in the room after the exchange of gunfire with the police a couple of minutes ago. I stood next to the two brothers, near the bags. I was slightly behind, my face still hidden. The surprise would soon be revealed to my dear school friends.

“My dear hostages, please take off your blindfolds.”

“Come on, everyone. You can take ‘em off.” Denver raised his voice, urging them to do so while Berlin walked in front of them. They eventually took them off, hands shaking. My eyes were on Anne Kim who was just taking notice of her surroundings after removing her blindfold. She would quickly notice my disappearance, and most likely comment on it.

“It’s so good to finally speak with you all face-to-face. There’s no need to be afraid. We are all trapped inside the same building together, which means we have to work together, hmm?” He sketched a large smile and nodded at us to bring the bags. Standing beside Moscow in front of the stairs, he watched the others proceed to give red jumpsuits to the hostages. Anne Kim was looking around her, frowning.

“Where is Park Ho-Yeon? What did you do with her?” She demanded answers. Berlin smirked and turned to her, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. Back to them, I continued to give suits to hostages right in front of her.

“Who?” Berlin asked her, acting as if he didn’t know what she was talking about which he wasn’t supposed to so she must have mistaken his tone for mockery regarding her concern for her friend. He was, in a way, actually mocking and taunting her like he did with the director. Faced with his intimidating gaze which she held, she repeated herself.

“Where is my friend? The one with the blond—”

“What friend?” When she heard my voice, she went silent, probably not knowing what to think anymore. Time stopped for a few seconds. As I swiveled towards her, I slid my mask over my head and discovered the look of profound stupor on her face. She was shocked. Mouth open, she couldn't hide her shock. I took a few steps towards her.

“Ho-Yeon, you’re… with them?”

“My name’s not Ho-Yeon.” Berlin walked up to us, laughing and patted my shoulder, looking at Anne Kim, with a broad, amused grin on his face. This look of betrayal I saw in her eyes followed me as I walked towards the stairs with him.

“We have no intention of hurting any of you, trust me.” He then declared; hands clasped. He spoke with a smile. “Each and every one of you will return home without a single scratch, as long as you fully cooperate with us. I give you my word. Let’s just have some fun.”

Soon, the first day of this unprecedented robbery came to an end and night fell. We had been occupying the Mint for over 11 hours already and the whole world was kept in suspense, looking at us, wondering what was going to happen next. But people weren't the only ones racking their brains to figure out our next move. Even the task force was most likely confused. The one with the true upper hand was not the North or the South. It was the Professor. He developed plans and factored in everything. Like I said, he had planned everything, down to the smallest detail. The Professor came up with solutions for every possible situation and then a backup plan for each of those possibilities. I found it all very impressive and to be apart of it was beyond great and exciting. It had all just started earlier this day and I was already having a blast. All those months invested in preparing for this heist had been worth it. I was sure of that.

“They’ll be there very soon. Proceed as planned.” We were warned by the professor over the phone, that a military raid was coming to get us. We talked about this situation during our classes, which would happen if the North took over in the Task Force and they would never agree to negotiate with us. They would try to suppress us no matter what, and they would try to do so in secret.

“There is a total of five entry points. The main gate, the rooftop, the underground garage, the emergency exit on the side, and last but not least, the loading dock. If you remove the main gate and the rooftop where they’re likely to be seen, they’ll use the other three to enter.” Berlin raised his hand.

“Okay so let’s say we know when they’ll enter, thanks to the information from that woman.” I might have forgotten to mention it but yeah, the woman in question was the negociator, Seon Woojin. When I said the North took over amid the Task Force, I omitted that it would happen if she was sidelined. “How do we stop the Special Operations Unit when they have so many points of entry?”

“Well, that’s a good question.” He had this calm and collected look on his face, like he had it all figured out, which he had. I remember he asked us what we thought was the best strategy when we’re surrounded by enemies. We were only 9 robbers, but we had plenty of people at hand to repel the soldiers, without even having to fight. We outnumbered them, thanks to the hostages disguised as robbers. What they would see, no matter where they tried to get in from, would be masked people in red jumper suits holding guns towards them. With Rio in the office, watching the cameras, we were all with different groups of hostages turned into robbers for the subterfuge and the soldiers would never be able to tell a real robber with a gun from a hostage with a fake one. They would be forced to retreat. And it’s exactly how it happened. We handled the situation exactly how the professor told us to and everything went like clockwork. Everyone was then led back to the main room where there was a heavy silence among the hostages. Berlin, towering above us from the top of the stairs, broke the silence. I stood with my peers, on the other end of the room, right across the stairs.

“Now, my dear comrades, take off your masks.” He smiled as he watched them do as he said but quickly regained his seriousness. “Thanks to your cooperation, the police completely aborted their mission to raid the building.”

“Yes!” Moscow cheered and Denver and I chuckled.

“I want to applaud you all for being courageous and for your exceptional teamwork. We could not have done this without you.” He sketched another broad smile and slowly clapped his hands as he descended the stairs, and we joined in, walking in front of the hostages, mocking them with our smirks. We clapped strongly and eventually, one after the other, the hostages clapped along, and I laughed, meeting Berlin's gaze. We were both all smiles. The hostages didn’t look as happy as we did, obviously but how they felt went flying over my head. You can call me insensitive and self-centered, which I don’t think I was, but that still was the last thing I cared about. I did what I was asked to do, follow the Professor’s orders. I did my part and was satisfied. We had successfully prevented the raid, and the Task Force would be forced to recall their negotiator and forget about the use of force to enter. And with one of the hostages happening to be the daughter of the US Ambassador to Korea, that was no longer a possibility at all.

[To be continued…]  

Next Chapter (SOON)

Published (03/25/2023) by Andrea

Taglist: @cathrin2405​ @kika64

[mechanicalinertia]

STMPD Reviews Black Lagoon Fanfiction: BigCountry75's Redneck of Roanapur

This one was recommended to me by a dude on the Black Lagoon subreddit, and I clicked on it somewhat reluctantly. It started well enough, I flipped through a few later chapters and it was pretty cool, but it's 288K words, folks. Moby fucking Dick is 209K words. And while it's true that many, many fics are longer than Moby Dick, or indeed most officially published works, there was just something about it. I was reluctant to read an OC-centric Black Lagoon fic, though, because new-guy-comes-into-town-and-fucks-shit-up rarely works in BGC fanfic, so why should it work in this case?

I needn't have worried. Redneck of Roanapur is well-written, fairly competently characterized, and like Bullets, my previous review, relentlessly fun. Reading it over the past two weeks on-and-off has been a fairly good experience, and, too, an exercise in how (in my eyes) to make a fic defined by one Cool Original Character really work.

In that light, if I want to talk about RoR, I have to talk about its main character, a dude from the boonies of Michigan known as Country. No, really, that's the name he gets, nothing else. And, well... okay, the one thing that might sink this fic for you is that when it's told from his first-person perspective, his, uh, accent is written down in the prose. This can be annoying at times, but in all honesty it isn't as annoying as you'd think it would be, because as far as quasi-authorial inserts go, he still describes things clearly enough to make everything work. His spelling's intentionally off, but his grammar isn't. Ergo, I can read it without being annoyed.

So: Country is an ex far-right militiaman who ditched his former comrades in True Patriotism, and in his effort to leave the country stole a goddamn WW2 B-24 and hightailed it blindly to Roanapur. Yeah. That's it. That's his backstory. He gets his hands on another WW2-era fighter plane later, too.

Okay, so compare that to other various OC-centric Lagoon fics which will not be named, ones starring ex-CIA operatives and elite soldiers with more conventionally troubled pasts and their skills mostly centering around the shooting of guns. They're cool in the loosest sense, but I find most of them incredibly boring, and the fic has to work harder to get around that more often than not. (Success is possible, but I've only seen like one guy pull it off.) Country is more interesting to me because a) his backstory is more out-there but still plausible, it's a backstory you don't see every day, and b) he has a unique set of skills that other characters in Lagoon don't have to the same extent.

I mean, think about it. Those two elements are what make an interesting Black Lagoon character in the actual franchise. Roberta with her FARC training and maid getup; Balalaika's Soviet paratrooper glory days and how far she's fallen; Ginji the yakuza who can literally deflect bullets. There's something that makes all these characters more than just ex-spooks or mercs with training. Some eccentricity. Some wackiness. Some small amount of historical grounding. Country has that, even if his backstory isn't super important. Country has his WW2-era planes, which are fun as hell to watch him and Lagoon Company use. So, he fits right in.

Anyway, Country lands in Roanapur, gets hooked up to the Lagoon Company to use the B-24 as a courier aircraft, and pretty quickly things get weird. See, not only does Country piss off the head of a non-canon crime syndicate pretty quickly in a bar fight, but said syndicate head is tied to a nameless Doctor and his equally nameless Benefactor, who are searching for guinea pigs to do immortality / resurrection experiments on. The Doctor resurrects Hansel and Gretel successfully, they escape, they wind up at the airfield Lagoon Company now occupies. So they're hanging out, raised by the team to not be total murderous monsters, and eventually they attract the attention of the Doctor and his Benefactor, who turns out to be a powerful American politician with ties to Extra Order, the Not-Executive-Outcomes PMC from the first arc of Lagoon. Pretty soon, Lagoon Company and their patrons are duking it out with that one non-canon syndicate and EO in short order, culminating in an epic battle for the fate of the city, all of which is just incredibly fun to read in its sheer paramilitaristic ultraviolence.

Anyway the fic swings between that violence and a lot of surprisingly cutesy shipping. Country falls in love with Sawyer, for one, and that doesn't feel weird, doesn't feel self-insert-y, it makes sense for how the characters are being written in that context... Rock and Revy finally get together... Shenhua and Lotton get together, which I'm kinda iffy on but what the heck... Chang and Balalaika hook up in secret... Even Eda and Dutch pair up as secret agents! So everything is very slice-of-life-y when military planning and blowing things up isn't the order of the day. Oh, and Leigharch comes back towards the end, which is great because I always liked him. In fact, I think that's the main flaw in the fic: the ending feels way too cute and tidy for something like Black Lagoon, a franchise where endings, I feel, need to be ambiguous at best and depressing as hell at worst. It undermines the fun one has reading Country and the Lagoon Company operate a bomber to blow the everloving shit out of a PMC submarine base, or drug fields, or mansions, or whatever. It's an ending that feels at once natural for the fic, but not as earned as it could be.

But beyond that, Redneck of Roanapur is a simple, long, but super-fun thrill ride. If you're looking for something silly to read over the long summer months, flip through this and enjoy yourself.