#because of the devices that THEY gave to their children instead of parenting

[totallynotsloughjykk]

lord if I see someone talking about how free and blissful being a kid is I'm gonna tear my hair out. "you're 13 what do you have to worry about besides school" climate crisis? economy falling over continuously? government who wants to exchange my future for momentary gain? my parents getting old?? my younger sister's well-being?? my friend's mental health and my own?? you didn't care about these things and left the younger generation to deal with the consequences of your actions

"go play with your dolls" I WISH!!! all my responsibilities and worries would've been school and toys!!! trust me when I say I'd love to be stupid and corny and fun with my friends at the mall but your negligence and poor planning will end up leaving me with no future unless I decide to do something about it myself

[doodle-pops]

Better Than The Stars

Caranthir x reader

Request: Hi Mina! Can I request a one shot where Maedhros or Caranthir are married after being reincarnated and they're struggling with people opinions about their children (hair color, their patrents past, Fëanor...) meanwhile their wives don't care even more because they're noble and know about their society (plus Nerdandel Is supporting). However lots of fluff and family actitude 🩷 thank you!!!! - @foreverandadaydarling

A/N: A pleasure to create this piece on your behalf dear. Enjoy!

Warnings: female reader, angst, comfort/happiness, reborn!Caranthir, arguments, Caranthir wanting to separate

Words: 2k

Synopsis: There were days when even the great son of Feanor required reassurance that your choice to be a family was genuine and not out of guilt.

Pulling the blanket over your shoulders, you stood in the doorway, watching your husband tediously slave away, attempting to garden. A chore that once came easily during his youthful and glorious years of peace was now foreign and laborious. You would have been fine with assisting him, but quick he was to assure you that you shouldn’t be the only one labouring around the household. Your response? A simple smile and a pat on his shoulders before leaving him to his own devices.

It was now spring, and Arien’s rays were barely peeking through the clouds to relieve the winter coldness. What little crop you two managed to save during the previous seasons was now getting the opportunity to grow. Winter was harsh for you two since you no longer lived in the comfort of your parent’s homes or the lavish life you once did in Thargelion. Returning to Valinor, branded as outcasts or the darkened ones, most of your family turned blind eyes to many of the returned—as did the former servants of his house. Most were quick to beg for forgiveness and repent their rebellion towards the Valar and were easily forgiven; however, their compromise was to never serve under their house again.

You, along with a few of their spouses, openly chose to remain at their sides after their rebirth, believing that if they were given a second chance at life, then there was still good left in them. Unfortunately, your choice of dwelling with him left a stain on his heart when he realised the life you would have to live with him—giving up the lavish treatment you once had.

“Ease up on the hoe—the handle already has a crack, arimelda.” Halting his swing mid-air, he turned to gaze at you with soft eyes, but behind them, you saw the distant look of regret.

Yes, he regretted you being dragged along with him in a swirl of chaos and destruction. He promised you the world when you both wedded and instead, he brought death, pain, and heartbreak. Though you knew the true reason behind his actions, hence the force being placed on the handle with each swing the tool made with the earth.

His children.

Your two daughters became the newest victims of the backlash the House of Feanor faced. A brief excursion into Tirion’s market yesterday left them scurrying back home with tears streaming down their ruddy cheeks, a precious trademark that made them all the more magnificent in their father’s eyes. Keeping the incident a secret from him all day yesterday to maintain peace was broken this morning upon mindless eavesdropping as his girls hush-hushed the harsh words. His first instinct was to fly into Tirion and have his daughters pinpoint the individuals before giving them a good old-fashioned taste of his mind, the classic Moryo style.

Had it not been for his daughters' pleas alongside yours, the House of Feanor would have left another mark on their reputation.

Sharply exhaling and relaxing the flare of his nostrils, he gave a pained smile. “Ah, sorry, I didn’t notice. I’ll fix it when I’m finished.” And yet, his smile didn’t reach his eyes as it once did.

“No need, just go easy on it.”

Offering him a genuine smile, one that reached your eyes, he dropped the hoe.

He still couldn’t understand, to this day, how you could be happy amidst the life he had you living. You deserved the riches he bestowed upon you in Thargelion. Whatever you wished for, he would have been able to grant—be it the largest diamond, a platter of fruits, or the finest material for your clothes. Not this broken life of struggling to bring in a good harvest or being cursed at when you went into town for produce and meat. Even the relationships with a few of his brothers felt strained, the harsh, cold, blank stares you would give them whenever they visited.

You still hated them for persuading him to retrieve the Silmaril, even though you knew he had no choice. You just wished it had come at a later date so more time could have been spent. At least his mother did her best to reach out and act as a guidance counsellor when she could. Her words were harsh at times, despite the honesty behind them and bias towards her sons, giving recognition to her wisdom. But not once had she persuaded any of her daughters-in-law to leave her sons. That was the sole decision she left you ladies to make; your choices were your consequences.

Frowning, deep in thought, he parted his lips to argue. “Why—”

“Don’t, because I will give you the same answer as I always do. I just want to be with you. I’m happy with you,” you reminded with a single huff.

Returning a breathy laughter, wanting nothing more than to scream and yell at the now nonchalant and lackadaisical you were treating the crisis, he curled his fists into his trousers. “Really? Is that the life you genuinely want with me when we have children? If it were you and I, then I would be less inclined to leave, but we have a family who have now become victims! And for what?! Looking like me and coming from this accursed family! This is not the life I want for them and you!”

“Then you would prefer us packing up and departing after expressing your gratefulness upon your rebirth that we stayed?!” you snapped, lowering your tone to prevent your girls from picking up that their parents were arguing.

“Yes! Yes, I would have preferred that instead of having to listen to the vile comments targeted at my children and you!” He shook his head and turned to gaze at the dirt ground. Standing in the troughs he had dug, he felt insignificant for the first time in his life. He felt lost as if his purpose had been stolen from him.

Maybe if I covered myself with dirt and grew, I might be able to start over again? I’d be able to regain a purpose in life.

“Do you genuinely believe I would leave you so easily? Have I not walked through fire and gotten burned to prove my loyalty? Is that not what this family is all about? Do you honestly want to chase us away because of naysayers? I’ve said it time and time again, I don’t care about other’s opinions of us. What happened to the Morifinwë who didn’t care about other’s opinions?”

“He died long ago and has no intentions of returning now that he has children!” He allowed himself to stand there in the dirt and lifted his head to gaze at the overcast above. “You could return to your family, taking our daughters with you, and atone for your actions. You all would not have to struggle or be hated—everyone would adore you all, a life of luxuries and opportunities. You were never hated, always loved, so why do you still stay when the situation shows no sign of bettering?”

If the Arien was out, I’d be able to sprout properly. But even she would not wish to cast her rays upon a person like me—they were too beautiful to be wasted.

Tugging the blanket tighter around your body as a brisk cold wind blew through the garden, you shivered. Listening to the branches quake and shiver from the intensity of the violent wind, you could observe and ponder how long your actions had troubled his mind. He didn’t drop his head from the sky; he kept it facing upwards and left his hands curled into fists at his sides, controlling his temper. Opening his mouth to respond, he quickly snapped it shut, unable to provide an appropriate counter.

It was something he had done less and less since his rebirth. It was the most eerie change in his persona. Gone was the easily angered Caranthir, replaced by a mellowed and soft-spoken person. Still, he’d grind his teeth or grumble under his breath at the hate, but always bit his tongue because he knew it was the truth and there was no point in fighting it. Yet, there was anger behind your decision to remain at his side. You could have left him, never to be heard of again, and lived in a peaceful paradise.

“Because we would not have been at peace if you were not around. To hear our children ask for their father, why wasn’t he coming around or if he didn’t love them anymore are questions I would like to avoid. I want our girls to grow up knowing and seeing you in a different light compared to how others perceive you.” Your voice was soft and considerate, and his tensive posture was relaxed when it reached his ears. “I want them to know that their father was kind and loving, and someone who made an effort.”

Relaxing his fingers from their tight grip, he wiggled them around to alleviate the ache. Lowering his head to your level, he turned to confront you. His forest green eyes pierced into yours, seeking warmth and honesty behind your words. And you allowed him to—there was nothing to conceal. He deserved to witness the truth for himself.

“I want peace and I also want happiness Caranthir. Do you remember our vows, happiness and sows, for better or worse, through the good times and bad? I chose you from the start and I will continue to choose you until the end of time—we will stand with you until the end of time.” Walking out the doorway, you stepped barefoot onto the dirt. Grimacing because of the coldness of the earth seeping through your pores, you continued to walk until you stood before him.

Extending your hand, you tenderly grasped his freckled one and raised it until it met your lips. Returning a smile to him, of which he was unaware, you kissed the back of his hand before reaching your other hand to encircle his waist. Despite the stern and unyielding expression on his face, your actions were the exception that broke the ice, causing him to blush slightly. This was one occasion when he could not deny being captivated by your gesture.

Raising your head to meet his gaze, you captured the longing, desperate reassurance in his stare.

“Sometimes I wonder who is the more stubborn of the two of us.”

“I have never been happier Moryo; you make me the happiest person in the world.” Saying this, you took his hand encased by yours and rubbed it against your cheek before repeating the gesture upon his ruddy cheeks. “Your daughters love and want you in their lives; don’t push us away.”

“Even in this state of living when I can no longer provide the best?”

“You always give us your best.” At the whisper of your words, a warm wind blew through the gardens and wrapped its cool arms around you both, pushing you into one another. Within that moment, two extra pairs of footsteps were heard rushing out the backdoor. Lo and behold, the sight of two miniature versions of both of you came scampering out of the house to rush for a group hug. Never one for missing out on family hugs whenever they saw you both embracing.

The moment they ran out of the house giggling was the moment a flutter of warmth flowed into his heart as he gazed at his two loving children clinging to you both. Their short arms struggling to encircle your bodies as they squeezed your waists tightly added appreciation to the warmth. Arien’s rays took the most opportune moment to shine her light upon you both, encasing you in a swirl of golden light. A light finally shone upon you both, maybe a sign of acceptance or prosperity, or both.

Laughing at the action, Caranthir could not help but gaze lovingly at them, giving their heads small pats and then at you—finally, he was seeing the honesty and beauty behind your words in your eyes. Choosing him wasn’t out of sympathy or shame, it was all love and contentment.

“Then I will continue to give you all my best meldanya…for staying at my side.”

“You are all that I need.” Pulling him closer, you rubbed his nose against yours and gently pecked his lips before grinning at his blushing face.

“Can I have a kiss too atya?”

“Me too, I want a kiss please!”

With a smile emanating from the depths of his heart, Caranthir gazed at his girls tip-toeing with their lips puckered for their kisses and chuckled. Some things truly never change.

Top of Form

“Alright, line up for your kisses!”

Masterlist

Taglist: @lilmelily @ranhanabi777 @rain-on-my-umbrella @mysticmoomin @asianbutnotjapanese @sakurayaxd @batsyforyou @involuntaryspasms @ladyenchanted @hermaeuswhora @aconstructofamind @stormchaser819 @addaigio @lamemaster

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

Omg what if yves and reader are both in high school (their are seniors and both are 18) and had to take care of a fake baby as a final project for like 20% of their grade and it just so happens that reader and yves are partners (totally not because yves threatened or bribed the teacher nonono) so yves invited reader to stay at his place for the next two weeks (which of course reader’s parents where more then happy to agree because yves is the smartest, richest, and totally nicest student anyone has ever met) to “parent” the fake baby, like I can totally see yves not only acting like a father but a husband to and he will also act like reader just gave birth to the fake baby (it doesn’t matter if reader is a female or male), he will say things like “no reader you can’t do the dishes, why? Because you just gave birth and need to rest so why do you go play with Sammy (that was what yves named the fake baby) ok? (Sorry if I have bab English it’s not my first language)

💔 sorry anon but when I created Yves he is a child hater and at least late 20s. So having him as an 18 year old classmate is out of the question.

Though, him disliking children doesn't mean that he is going to outwardly and severely abuse his child if he ever has one with you. He will just be neglectful, only spending enough of his time and money to keep the child alive and disciplined. His research on the child is slightly more than the information gathered on your friends: enough to keep them predictable, but not enough to keep them happy.

Yves's priority is you and no one else. Offspring to him are replaceable, you are not.

However, if you were assigned such work, ironically take any chance he gets to make your assignment harder, of course discretely. This is to thoroughly discourage you from ever wanting to have babies on your own.

He would rig the doll so that it will cry often at dangerous volume levels. Yves would hide the keys needed to stop it from screaming, making you go insane with sleep deprivation. You could be doing everything right (i.e. feeding the doll on time, supporting it's neck when carrying it, gently handling its body), but you would soon find out nothing works.

It just keeps crying and the dratted device will only stop at random, seemingly no pattern to it's behavior. Mimicking the behavior of real babies.

It is highly unlikely Yves injected himself completely into your life at 18, 19 or even at 25. As he is a man who also believes that your youth shouldn't be spent on chasing relationships, romantic or otherwise. Instead, it should be focused on your education, honing your skills, grasping the world around you, forming your own identity, becoming wiser and mature.

So he mostly operates behind the scenes during your formative years, occasionally appearing here and there to either guide you through hardship or to subconsciously influence you into wholly accepting him later in your life.

He is in a twisted sense, your guardian angel. Or guardian devil, depending on what the situation calls. Regardless, you wouldn't know that he was behind nearly everything that went wrong or right in your life.

Yves only wants you to be happy and safe. But he is still his own person with desires. He can be selfish.

He knows you inside and out, you can handle a couple days of sleep deprivation. He quadruple checked your files and ran some computer generated simulations before making that decision to tamper with your doll.

A small price to pay for a lifetime of child free bliss.

[ginger-grimm]

MY THOUGHTS ON THE 4TH AND FINAL SEASON OF TUA: SPOILERS AHEAD

Sharing just cause I need to get it off my chest. I haven't shared opinions on TV shows in a while because most new stuff is just so uninteresting but I've watched this show since s1 first came out, almost. Opinions will be all over the place, don't feel like ordering them per episode.

Season was too short, everyone is well aware of it, but the storyline was so cluttered that it just didn't hit the same

Character motivation and characterization of everyone was all over the place in general. Why are we wasting a whole episode on a coupling no one was going to like? Why is the family split up for the majority of this final season?

I hate pretty much everyone's ending. Luther should have been given Viktor's storyline with Reggie to have his dilemma come full circle. I enjoyed him having a bit more comedic relief as opposed to his annoying attitude in the earlier seasons but there is so much he could have done besides being comedic fodder with Diego. Like, hello, he had a wife that went missing and I guess he never actually looked for her? Or he did and he gave up and got over it just like that? I wouldn't know since she was mentioned twice and only in a wistful tone as if she died. Put him with Reggie to resolve his daddy issues finally. Literally anything else. Diego spent the season in an unappy marriage with a shitty job, essentially chasing his glory days once again and he died with zero closure with his wife and the mother of his children. Allison's husband left her and she fell back into old patterns with her daughter and never really made up with her family and none of her issues are resolved. Klaus spent the season with a pointless villain who took up way too much screentime. Five took his brother's wife and was entirely out of character this season. Why is he nice guying after Lila when there is an apocalypse around the corner? Ben died having done literally nothing this season. None of his self conciousness was resolved, there was no real depth given to him and his storyline with Jennifer came and went. Viktor spent the entirety of the season with Reggie for some reason when really he should have been reconsiling with his family and mending his relationship with them. Lila died on the outs with her husband and in a weird "relationship" with her brother-in-law and also being entirely out-of-character. It's truly a disservice to everyone in the maincast.

I didn't mind the ending in general, I figured they would have to sacrifice themselves to fix everything they fucked up once and for all. I only question how Claire, Grace, Coco, and Carlos are alive even if they were "saved" by the trainstation. Their parents never existed and therefore they shouldn't either.

Wish they would have explored the trainstation more. It's a cool device but where did it come from and why now?

Gene and Jean were such wasted villains. Again, blaming it on the season being too short and too much focus on unnecessary storylines but the concept was there, they just squandered it.

What was the point of Reggie and Abigail? What is Abigail's real motivation? Is she evil or just ambivilent towards it all? I guess I enjoy that she wanted to fix her mistake but why wouldn't they give these two at least a flashback to show where they came from and how they got here?

The vibes this season in genral were off and I can't totally explain why despite the season being rushed and too short.

I honestly tuned out during the whole Five and Lila thing because, yeah, it was gross and it sucked and it ruined three great characters. I'm honestly moreso just questioning Lila as a mother. I get she was unhappy with Diego, I figured this would happen once they got married and became parents, but she genuinely seemed to love her kids. So when she gets lost in a subway for seven years she should be fighting like hell to get back to her kids instead of fucking her brother-in-law, right? Right?!

My favorite part was honestly the relationship that Klaus had with Claire. It just feels to me like everyone else was so far removed from her for some reason despite most of them being close enough to show up to Grace's birthday party?

The stakes were there but they essentially poofed away by the end of episode five.

I liked the ending to be honest, it was pretty serene and again, I think it makes sense for them to die to save the world, since they are the reason the world keeps ending. It was also nice to see the continuation of characters we saw appear throughout the series (minus Ray and the Sparrows).

Also enjoyed getting to see a young Umbrella Academy one last time.

All in all the season was not good, but I enjoyed getting to see the cast and characters again, even if they weren't entirely themselves. Also the ending wasn't horrible, so that's sometimes. I think it could have been made infinitely better if they had taken more time and if they had maybe tried to get up to ten episodes to mellow everything out and properly end everyone's storylines in a more satisfying way.

[hyperactivewhore]

I despise both Renesmee Cullen's and Hope Mikaelson's existences. Both characters are plot holes and shouldn't exist.

Renesmee Carlie Cullen is the daughter of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. She's half-human and half-vampire, and in Twilight, it was explained that only male vampires can have children with female humans. But that doesn't make any sense because vampires in Twilight don't have any blood in their bodies. Then, Stephanie Meyer explained that the venom that is in their bodies works similarly to the bodily fluids that are in humans. But if that was the case, then Bella shouldn't have gotten pregnant. She should have become a vampire after having sex with Edward. Renesmee is called 'half mortal and half immortal' by Aro, but how can a person be half mortal and half immortal? She's either mortal or immortal. She can't be both. Does she age, or does she not? Can she live forever, or does she have the lifespan of a human?

Now, onto Hope.

Hope Andrea Mikaelson is the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall-Kenner. She's a werewolf, vampire, witch tribrid. In the pilot episode of The Originals, it was explained that since Klaus was born a werewolf and became a vampire because of magic and not by drinking the blood of another vampire and dying with that vampire's blood in his system, he was able to conceive. Vampires in The Vampire Diaries are infertile and can not have children, and while Klaus is the world's first werewolf-vampire hybrid, he's still part vampire. He shouldn't have been able to have a child, which was confirmed in Legacies. The only reason Hope exists is because Malivore. So, if Malivore never existed, Hope would have never existed. She wasn't born because her father was created differently from traditional vampires, but because it is her destiny to defeat a mud monster.

Both characters are great (more so Hope because she was given her own show, and I grew to like her over Legacies' 4 season run. Renesmee was kinda there. Her CGI in the movies creeped me out, and she absolutely did nothing in the book), but their existence goes against the canons of their respective movies/books and show.

It's funny because both are created as plot devices to Bella and Klaus and they're meant to be the magical powerful baby of their universe, but their existence alone just makes it look ridiculous by breaking every single canon law.

As you said, Renaissance came out of nowhere. She was soo incredibly intelligent from the very first moment her parents made her, but apparently not smart enough to control her own strength seeing she broke several Bella's bones (like honestly, what the hell) and this demon spawn craved human blood for absolutely no logical reason other than Edward being a vampire. Ratatouille also could not be seen in the ultrasound or any other thing: she had a impenetrable amniotic sac because yes, exactly, her daddy is a vampire!

Honestly, I kinda feel bad for Ravioli. I've never finished reading Breaking Dawn (and I won't), it was such a corny book and I could only bring myself to the third part, where Bella spends time with baby Rasputin but I've heard interesting things to how the Cullen rise this sim. Apparently, Bella and Edward couldn't care less about their daughter, because as always they were more obssesed with each other and Rosalie did all the parenting, because the love birds couldn't be distracted with their CGI spawn. If I'm correct, Edward even called Bella more beautiful than Rim Job right in her face and instead of being mad, because their kid was right there, Isabella was just like "gosh edward, ily sm 😘😜😍"

Parents of the year.

Stephenie Meyer didn't care about Bella and Edward being parents: she just wanted the aesthetic that came with it, and she pulled the reasons of the human-vampire pregnancy out of her ass.

Actually, when I was in my twilight phase, I read a fanfic where Bella got pregnant, and the reason was a little more "coherent" than what Meyer gave: Having died so young, Edward's body "froze" his sperm and because he had remained a virgin for over a hundred years (lmao), he was able to get Bella, the first and only woman he slept with, pregnant. It's still shitty, and bad, but if they wanted them so badly to have a kid this was a better reason.

I just can't take Twilight books seriously. Apparently, there are no black vampires for a barely explained reason that is clearly racist (if I remember, the venom that vampires inject you during death just... removes your skin color), the mistreatment to the werewolves is just terrible, and there's Ratatunga too.

Now, moving to Hope Andrea Mikaelson, the white witch that is hated and loved in equal measures by the fandom. Oh my, this is gonna be interesting.

I have my moments with Hope, to be honest. Sometimes I completely adore her, and sometimes I just can't stand her. Her existence was completely pulled out of Pl*c's ass, who wanted to have her own version of Renameme so badly. Klaus shouldn't have even been able to procreate in the first place, because he was killed before Esther binded his werewolf side. Though vampires in tvd are more alive than dead, but that's a whole different thing. But clearly my point still remains.

I like Hope Mikaelson a lot more than Ragnarok Cullen, Summer Fontana/Danielle Russell and Mackenzie Foy are all really amazing and beautiful actresses who did great with the role they were given, but their characters completely broke canon. I like the tribrid more though because at least, she wasn't a fucking sim that aged five years in a week unlike Nestlé. The only way I could ever like Radioactive is by having her completely loathe her parents and family, especially because she was born in 2006 aka she's part of Gen Z.

Both characters shouldn't even exist in the first place, and Hope's existences is as much of a plothole as Riptide's. Renesmee gets more hate simply because of how she was in the womb and also because of how fast she grew, but they're both plotholes and shouldn't have been created no matter their popularity.

[serafiel-jacobs]

A (not so) welcoming winter (Fanfic)

A new chapter of my main series <3

It was finally December, soon the start of many festivities, Pinocchio was given a brief explanation of what Christmas is and the new year celebration, it was during last December that Krat was still in crisis, around that time was when the hotel was attacked and his father was kidnapped, there was no time for celebrating back then.

In previous years at Hotel Krat, on the first Saturday of December, an event was held to celebrate, getting invited to the party was something special, the most elite of Krat being the ones to attend, Venigni and Geppetto had always been invited to attend, this year Eugéne would be invited as well, not only because she was friends with Antonia but her skills had earned her a great reputation. Pinocchio was obviously invited, alongside Gemini, at first, Pinocchio was shy about attending, he didn’t really think he would fit in with all those people, Eugéne reassured him to just be himself, she had never attended a party like that before, “It’s a bit exiting don’t you think? I’m sure you’ll do great, you are a very kind boy Pinocchio” it’s what she said.

The party was held at night, so they had plenty of time to get ready, Geppetto had bought Pinocchio special clothes for the occasion, “and don’t ruin these ones” Pinocchio just rolled his eyes. On their way to the hotel, Pinocchio still felt a little nervous, his father reassured him that nothing bad would happen, “Just stay by my side, stay by the side of anyone you know, you don’t have to be with me all the time, I’m sure Antonia would love it if you spent plenty of time with her”

They arrived early, yet a good amount of guests were already there, and even more had arrived by the time it started, Antonia was there at the front, alongside Polendina greeting everyone, “I’m so glad to see you here my boy” she said as she gave him a kiss on the forehead, at that time Pinocchio couldn’t stay by her side, she had to finish greeting the guest, an hour after the event started is when she was available to talk with others, Pinocchio stayed next to his father, Geppetto had gotten closer to some of the people he had worked with in the past, extending the typical pleasantries, Pinocchio was always too anxious when it came to greetings, so Geppetto had decided to introduce his son on his behalf.

“This is my son Pinocchio, I’m sure you’ve heard about him before” Pinocchio was just behind his father, almost as if using him as a shield, he might have been getting better at talking with others but the special occasion made him nervous, he wasn’t just interacting with everyday people, the guests had special reputations.

“Of course we have Geppetto, you never shut up about him,” one of the men said, “Your father is very proud of you young man”

That made Pinocchio smile, he was starting to calm his nerves.

“My little Pinocchio is such a good boy” he paused and smiled “Most of the time, you see he has the bad habit of-“

Pinocchio got red in the face, “Father, don’t tell them that!” Geppetto laughed, oh how he had been waiting for the opportunity to tease him like that. All parents must make their children a little embarrassed from time to time.

Very soon the conversation became about business, when talking about the project, they were mentioning some sort of prototype of a device that could help heat up things, without the assistance of a person handling it, as to avoid the usual harm that it came when handling heat.

“Tell me, what’s the hottest thing you can think of?” One of the men asked them.

Pinocchio quickly replied, “Oh I once went to Venigni Works, lots of hot things in there”

Geppetto on the other hand, thought of his late wife, but that wasn’t something appropriate to say, so instead he agreed with his son on the matter. Some time went by, and Geppetto could tell Pinocchio wanted to see the others, so he gave him a signal for the okay to go somewhere else, after all the conversation was going mostly on the side of business rather than typical chit chat.

Next, he wanted to check on Eugéne, but when he got closer, she was at a table talking with a man and a woman, they seemed to be experts in the field of weapons as well, Pinocchio could tell that the conversation was intense, all of them had a lot of passion when talking. Pinocchio decided to catch up with her later, and that’s when he realized his mother was no longer occupied at the entrance, she was speaking with a group of women, some on the older side like her, while others on the younger side, they all flocked around Antonia, talking about their daily lives and mundane matters, Polendina was there but he was quiet, letting the other speak, Pinocchio got closer and when Antonia noticed him, she called out for him, insisting she sat by her side, just like his father did, Antonia introduced Pinocchio to the group.

“Oh so you are Geppetto’s son? How handsome you are! Why I could give you a kiss right now!” A young lady said to him.

“Um, thank you” Pinocchio replied.

Suddenly he felt an angry aura inside of him, that must be Sophia, sometimes he could feel what she was feeling and vice versa, they could communicate with each other, the best way to describe it was telepathically, but it wasn’t quite like that.

“Sophia, is everything okay?”

“Oh yes, don’t worry, I was just… a little annoyed at something, that’s all”

Pinocchio took her word for it, and he felt the aura disappear; Gemini knew Pinocchio too well and had realized what had happened when he stayed quiet, although he was a bit surprised, he didn’t think Sophia was the jealous type. Gemini had the mental image of an angry blue butterfly attacking the young girl, he had to contain his laughter.

Pinocchio mostly listened to the conversation, every time his mother would talk about something, they all would agree with everything she said, and he found it a bit strange. He didn’t participate much in the conversation, but he could tell that his mother was happy to have him by her side.

An older woman began to change her tone, wanting to head the conversation in a different direction, “By the way, have you girls heard? Mrs, Elanor is having an affair”

A few women gasped, followed by words like “Are you serious” and “No way” but it was said strangely, not as if they were actually shocked to hear it, but more as if, they were excited to hear something like that.

Antonia, gently stoked Pinocchio’s hair, “My dear boy, why don’t you go and talk with Venigni? I’m sure he would love to see you”

Pinocchio followed her advice, he wanted to see Venigni, and Antonia didn’t want him to hear tasteless gossip like that.

It wasn’t hard to find Venigni, his voice was very recognizable, Pulcinella was there too, standing by Venigni’s side, although he was as quiet as Polendina was.

Much like before, while sitting down with him, Pinocchio noticed people would agree with everything Venigni would say, it was so weird for him, sure, Pinocchio would love to hear Venigni talk, but he could tell that some of the people there actually didn’t like to hear him talk, in fact by some of their faces, it seemed some people didn’t even like Venigni at all. He felt uncomfortable about it, he wanted to stay with Venigni but the whole ordeal made him feel weird about it. He excused himself from the table, he went outside to the garden to clear his head, in there, she found Eugéne taking a break as well.

“Pinocchio, taking a break from all that talking as well?” She smiled at him, also a bit overwhelmed about the situation.

“Yeah, it’s a bit too much”

“I’ve never been in a room with so many people before, but at least I had that very pleasant conversation about weapon craftsmanship, it was so intense, most of my time was spent talking about that”

“I’m glad to hear that” Pinocchio smiled at her.

“Meow”

Pinocchio looked the the ground, Spring had hid themselves in the garden, clearly not being able to be inside. The cat purred and rubbed themselves in Pinocchio’s feet, Pinocchio picked her up and started to cuddle her, Eugéne gave the kitty a few pats on the head as well. After some time, Pinocchio gently put Spring back down, and it went on its merry way, probably to find a place to sleep.

“Pinocchio your shirt is covered in cat fur now” Gemini scolded him.

“It’s alright don’t worry, I’ll help you get it off” Eugéne helped him shake his shirt, thankfully they got it off easily, usually cats' fur tends to stick in clothing.

“Instead of heading back, how about we talk, for just a little bit more?” Eugéne thought it was best to have a few more moments with each other.

Inside, guests had begun to spread gossip, it’s no surprise that plenty of those who are considered part of the elite, would have snobbish views and look down on others, not all guests were participating in it, but the harshest voices tended to be the last ones.

“What is Geppetto thinking bringing his puppet in here? Does he think playing pretend would replace his son?”

“Did he really help find a cure for the petrification disease? I find that hard to believe, he looks so clueless about everything”

“First Venigni first brings his stupid puppet everywhere and now he brings another? It’s because no one can else actually stand him I bet”

“I get that Antonia is grateful that the thing saved her life, but she didn't have to invite it into our conversation” 

The others ignored those words, Venigni, Antonia, and Geppetto were used to insults and assumptions about others. As soon as Pinocchio stepped back inside with Eugéne, the gossip stopped, it always happens that way, those who gossip and judge others like that don’t have the guts to actually say those words in front of the one they are insulting.

Hours passed, and the party had ended, it was late at night, and all the other guests had left, now they could all have a pleasant chat together, even if not for long, as they needed to head back home.

Yet they could tell something was troubling Pinocchio, “Is something wrong buddy? What’s on your mind?” Gemini was the one to ask.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he said at first, but then thought about it for a few seconds, “Um well, people were acting kind of, weird? I don’t know, sorta like-“ but Pinocchio couldn’t exactly describe it.

“Like they were trying to get on our good side,” Venigni said, he already knew what he was thinking.

“Son, sometimes, there are people that don’t like you, but they try to get on your good side just because they want something out of you, or because they want the status that comes about of being associated with you” Geppetto explained to him.

“But, why do things like that matter? Should others be friends with others because they like each other?” Pinocchio was genuinely confused, he didn’t get why someone would be that way, sure, he understood that even if you don’t like someone and they are rude, you still don’t have to stoop to their level, but he didn’t understand this.

“There are a lot of sycophants out there my boy” It was Antonia’s time to speak.

“Syco what?”

“Sycophants, people like that are up to no good, but when it comes to dealing with matters of high status, you’ll have to constantly deal with them” Antonia always knew what to say.

“It’s best to ignore such rude comments, they are the ones that end up looking bad in the end” Venigni spoke up this time, “Mind you if someone is saying harmful things about you, things that aren't true and others start to believe them, don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself”

Pinocchio nodded along

“You always know who your true friends are, besides when try to constantly appease you like that, it becomes quite obvious” Eugéne was now the one talking, everyone wanted to help Pinocchio to understand better.

“Meow”

The cat was back again, happier now that all the other guests were gone.

“Kitty!” Pinocchio quickly picked him up again, the cat was purring, happy to receive cuddles again.

Pinocchio felt a warm aura in his heart.

“Make sure to give her lots of cuddles for me” Sophia spoke to him, she loved to see how Pinocchio would smile at the simplest of things, how happy he was about the world around him, how eager he was to learn about everything it could offer.

Pinocchio laid Spring back down and started to belly rub her, “these are on Sophia’s behalf,” he said to the cat while smiling.

“Miss Sophia’s behalf?” Polendina asked.

“Yeah, I can talk to her, sort of” Pinocchio wasn’t sure how to explain how it worked, he didn’t know how it worked, Sophia even confessed to him that she didn’t exactly know how it worked, just that it had something to do with the Ergo they shared. It's not as if they can talk all the time, or feel what the other is feeling all the time, it has its moments, and Pinocchio was glad he could share this day with her.

“Please, tell her we all miss her and wish her the best” Pulcinella had been very quiet until now, even Polendina made small talk when regarding Antonia, they were both not the most talkative, but Pulcinella was even quieter, most of the time he spoke it was directly at Venigni, he was more of a listener, and Venigni sure needs someone to always listen to him, but Pulcinella doesn't mind, he loves hearing him speak after all; “and hopefully to see her again once more”

“Why yes, Miss Sophia always has a place here in the hotel, should she ever decide to come back” Polendina chimed in again.

The aura disappeared again, Pinocchio could tell that the moment was bittersweet to Sophia, but thankfully more sweet than bitter.

“A long-distance girlfriend, you must be really happy about that right buddy?” Gemini tried to tease Pinocchio.

“Yes! It’s so cool to talk with Sophia from so far, I wish everyone could talk like that with their friends! I bet everyone would be so happy”

…

All were quiet for a moment, Polendina and Pulcinella looked at each other as if telling each other “Maybe someone should really tell him” but they figured out their friend would figure it out eventually.

“Did I say something wrong?”

Geppetto gave him a faint smile, “No, son, it’s just getting really late, we should head back home”

[niiwa-angel]

The older I get, the less tolerance I have for bad or lazy parents. Like, you are the adult, you have the power, you need to actually put the effort into raising a functional human being, not just complaining about how hard it is to control your kids

Like okay Michelle, your 14 year old son has been skipping school so much that he's failing all four of his classes this semester. Instead of whining about how he needs to go to school, you actually set up some consequences at home for being truant? Block the WIFI on all of his devices and take him to the public library to do his school work. Hover over him until all his missing assignments are done. Make him do chores from the time he gets home until bedtime every time he skips class. Actually step up and parent.

Your daughter has no drive to take care of herself, is 17 and still needs mommy and daddy to make peanut butter sandwiches, get them water from the tap, and throw out all their trash? How about you start TELLING her to get her own shit instead of doing it for her? Why not take some initiative and plan family cooking nights to teach her to support herself? Don't just sit there and whine, change the pattern you created.

All the mothers of incels posting shit like "I don't know where I went wrong! I gave him everything!" That's the problem ma'am, you spoiled him, you never made him take responsibility for anything, you excused every single poor trait as him being "special" rather than a dick. You blamed women for not putting up with his shit rather than having a tough love conversation to let him know that he was the problem!

Grandparents raising their grandbabies because their own adult children are too busy drinking, partying, fucking off to raise their kids? That's their own fault. 1. Should have put more effort into your now adult children the first time around and 2. You should be making it incredibly uncomfortable for them to mooch off them. Make them pay for your time, get Social Services involved, don't just roll over because you can't be bothered to have hard conversations.

Obviously some kids are just awful and can't be taught but the vast majority can be, it's parents not wanting to put in the effort to push change. It's ridiculous.

[starlingsrps]

nora eloise hastings (bailey), forty three

nora is the daughter of parents who ran off together to get married at sixteen and the granddaughter of people who also ran off at sixteen so she would just like a little more credit for the fact that she at least was seventeen.

she’s the first to say that her parents were idiots. she was born in raleigh and spent the first ten years of her life being alternately smothered, ignored, or dropped off with her maternal grandparents in chapel hill. isaac and etta barber gave her some sense of stability and when she was dropped off with them for the last time at age ten, it was the best thing for her.

she hasn’t seen much of them since, just here and there for holidays as a kid and they never met hank or the kids. her mother died three years ago and her father sent her a note to tell her and that’s been about it ever since.

her grandparents meant very well and, as an adult who’s raised two kids, she sees that now. she was used to being left to her own devices though and suddenly having a bedtime and chores and having to go to church was ridiculous. she chafed and gave them hell when the fight felt worth it but was, at the end of the day, a reasonably good kid.

being pretty always felt like it was going to be her way out. she comes from a long line of knock outs and as a teenager, she figured she could parlay that into…something. never mind that as far as marketable talents, she was kind of shit out of luck but she'd figure that out later if she needed to.

hank hastings wasn't her first foray into romance as a form of teen rebellion - she wasn't supposed to be dating at all but that went in one ear and out the other. her grandparents had the audacity to like him and approve but just had their restrictions. nora would just like to point to john's existence as an example of how easy those were to get around with a will and a way (the will was being horny and seventeen, the way was the back stairs and jumping the last two steps because they squeaked).

the barbers were a lot less approving when nora was the third in line to get pregnant as a teenager but hank didn't bolt, even if nora kind of wanted to. obviously, with hank because frankly, she would have preferred just about anything in the world instead of telling his parents and her grandparents. it all worked itself out is how she ends that chapter of the story when she's telling it. they got married and she left school before she was showing and they had john right before she turned eighteen. he went to west point and she spent that first year going stir crazy living with her in-laws.

it wasn't all bad to start - in fact, she has a lot of good memories. being a wife and mother has (was) always been fulfilling for her. she's happiest when she has people to take care of and tend to. with john and violet out of the house, she volunteers a lot through the red cross and has the best victory garden on the block. once they were settled on a base, nora had friends and had ingratiated herself with whoever the hell it was they needed to ingratiate themselves with cute kids, a great family pie recipe, and a big smile.

violet was a little more planned than john and she was older so she thought it would be different or easier. it was definitely different - the crushing anxiety after violet was born made her feel like she was losing her mind but they were just getting settled in texas and she didn't have much of anyone to lean on. her grandmother just told her it would take some time to get her pink back now that she was older and she couldn't explain it to hank because he had a million things going on outside of the family. the home was her job and she decided putting herself back together was part of that. she doesn't know how she managed, only that she did.

she loves her children and there's nothing she wouldn't do for john or violet but she is very, very glad to have only them.

the days? long. the years? very short. all of the sudden, john was a teenager and violet was making medicines out of every liquid in the house. in the same week, her grandmother died and hank announced the transfer to puerto rico. if it had been one or the other, she imagines she would have managed to get through but both at the same time was her breaking point. she needed time and knew from experience that that wasn't something she was going to get. so she went back to chapel hill for the funeral and stayed there.

in retrospect, she knows that she probably could have been just a little bit more diplomatic about it but was also in absolutely no frame of mind to be diplomatic one last time. nora is a woman of unlimited grace and chances but she's also stubborn once she digs her heels in and she meant it when she said she wasn't moving again.

she built a life for herself and the kids in chapel hill in the house she grew up in and she's proud of herself for that. she has to be proud of herself because sometimes, it feels like she's the only one who is. she got the back steps fixed so they didn't squeak, cried when john graduated, cried again when violet got a scholarship to duke and turned twenty without even glancing at the notion of becoming pregnant as a teenager. if she questions her decisions in the middle of the night, she doesn't question her children. they're the best things she'll ever do.

nora is warm and charming and has always been generous with her time and affection. her door is always open to anyone who needs it and she's quick to take in anyone and anything that needs help. she especially makes it her business to seek out the new mothers in her neighborhood that need a hand because she remembers all too well how hard it is.

sometimes, she feels very old and then remembers she's barely forty three. it's been a lot of life and she's finally starting to feel comfortable with herself. she's never really been on her own before and there are days that it feels lonely and days that it feels like freedom. her time is her own for the first time and sometimes she's glad there's a war on so she has ample volunteer opportunities to keep her busy.

[earthsickwithoutyou]

Saw III 2006 - (contains spoilers)

This review may contain spoilers.

Okie dokie, time to try and evaluate this one. UHHH. There are great strengths and some jarring weaknesses.

Strengths: As a whole, I admire Whannell's writing in raising the suspense and tension to absolute fever pitch and keeping us guessing the whole time. There's also no denying that while I'm not a fan of how over-the-top Jeff's plotline was, the story and performances tug the heartstrings.

We got more Amanda. That is my baby girl who never did anything wrong in her life and was rejected by the surrogate father figure who twisted her mentality while she was recovering from hard drugs and trauma (which HE gave her!). So sassy, so cute, Ily Amanda 🥰

Characters were deeper and easier to root for at times: I believe this is because Jeff and Lynn were both good people. That has its pros and cons, though...to be discussed soon.

Traps were genius; particularly memorable were the angel and freezing devices; the pig one was just freaking gross, and the rack was horrifying.

Leave it to Jigsaw to bring back the most cruel, unjust form of torture from Tudor England. WOW so random yet so fucking mean for no good reason. That's Jigsaw alright, check check check (he designed all of these no matter who built them and carried them out; he also designed the entire game for Jeff and Lynn).

However, still have to rank that trap as a plus for the genuine fear factor.

We got a lil bit of my boyfriend Eric Matthews back, albeit in sequences that were a bit confusing in places. But it was enough to hold me over until I continue the rewatch and get to my husband, Peter Strahm.

The SCORE was tremendous in this one. I loved the way the movie quietly brought in the "game over/main theme" music, which is totally iconic, throughout the film instead of only at the end. Every time it happens I have to bob my head and dance a lil.

WEAKNESSES: It's no secret I hate it when movies spend long, indulgent amounts of time on the suffering of children or parents who lost their children tragically. First of all, and most problematically, it's repetitive, which after a while, naturally gets monotonous, punishing on the viewer not in the fun way, and irritating.

Secondly, there is no need to repeatedly hammer home the awful loss of that young boy, especially since -- as the supposed spark that sets off the whole game -- Jigsaw could not give a fuck that this kid died. Cah-learly.

If Jigsaw had one tiny bit of empathy in him, at least there would be some redeeming factor to this plotline. I understand that it's intended to be bleak, etc. But bleak works better when it's balanced with enough reasons to make it feel earned.

Jigsaw became sort of obsessed with poor Jeff, because it was easy to project his twisted hero complex by deceitfully forcing the man through room after room of torment "to prove you can spare a life and stop living in the past."

If I were Jeff and Jigsaw made me BURN the belongings of a cherished loved one who passed, I, too would use one of the cruel implements he so helpfully supplied at the end of the film.

Asshole behavior across the board. John is perfectly happy with these results. He barely cares when Amanda dies, because he had come to see her as too unstable/unpredictable to be a trustworthy continuer of his legacy. Cuz he really loves fooling himself that most of his traps are escapable. What a LOSER.

He smiles when Jeff comes for him with the saw, despite the fact that he fucking knows this is gonna kill Lynn, who helped him and had already suffered enough, plus who he seemed to almost connect with a tiny bit. That's like besties for him. But no, off with her face! Why? Because John HAS to be right. He wants to prove that Jeff is never going to live a good life, but will, instead continue striving for foolish revenge? Well, hey, bud, maybe don't fucking torture him and his wife and mess with his already-unstable and traumatized head. He goaded Jeff into killing him so he could lie there like Saint Jigsaw with a halo going "*oh, dear, I so hoped that he was going to change.* But he chose wrong, game over, goodbye innocent bystander who won her game and should be allowed to live. My rules only matter when they are entertaining and gratifying to me and mah ego."

After forcing us to suffer agonies along with Jeff, the ending just feels like a mean punch in the face with no redeeming virtues. I also find it hard to believe Jeff made it THAT far in his completely unfair game, having mercy on all those other people (even if he was too slow to act a couple times) and then suddenly he turns his back on progressing in and getting out of the game.

He's dumb enough to listen to Saint Jigsaw telling him not to do that because others will suffer and "our lives" are in the balance, and then go through with it? Since when?? Because true facts, my mans never would have made it all the way through to his Holiness' room if he was that stupid. PLEASE.

Direction was solid, I could do without the Mtv "edgy" / yellow acid rock video vibe that randomly comes in, but on the other hand, it is also super endearing.

I'm so excited to move onto Saw IV, my fave! Peter I'm coming for you 😍

from Letterboxd - Virginia Mae https://ift.tt/NXg0wIM

[yaazuha]

TR BOYS AS DADS!

request: “hey ! can i get the tokyo revengers boys (timeskip ofc!) as dads? you can choose who !”

ofc! (ily bae<3) i put draken in here for you btw!

pairings: ryuguji ken, mitsuya takashi & kazutora hanemiya x reader. (timeskip)

warnings fluff!!! literally that’s it, it’s so cute LMFAOSB

RYUGUJI KEN (DRAKEN!)

the “go grab me a” dad.

you can’t tell me draken wouldn’t use his kids to his advantage. if one of them are going downstairs, they better be quick! if not, you’ll hear ken-chin over here yell—

“hey, grab me a bottle of water while you’re down there!!”

don’t think you’re safe either. draken would need you to oil his scalp correctly at night, or lay out his clothes for him for work tomorrow. he’s a grumpy man in the morning, so scavenging for clothes while his eyes are adjusting to the light is never a good combo.

draken can just be a lot little dependent on his family, which is okay!

overall, draken would be a great father!! he was basically a parental figure not only to mikey, but to toman in general, so he’s got a few tips and tricks that can work on his kids.

impulsively decides to teach his children how to walk if the remotes across the room, so that they can get it for him <3 even if it’ll take some time.

at least he doesn’t have to get up and walk all the way over there, just to return to his regular spot.

“dad—”

“dad—”

“just, put ya’ leg in front of the other,”

“dad, i’m twelve,” your daughter huffs, rolling her eyes at her fathers antics. she was trying her best to hide her laughter, trying to come off as ‘angry’ with her father. “do you need me to get something for you?”

draken pushed himself back against the headboard, propping his feet up on the bed. he nodded, pointing over to his phone on your side of the room. “yea, my phone’s on their side of the room.”

after your daughter retrieved draken’s phone, she skipped over to him to hand him the device, in which he smiled in return. “you’re my favorite!” he expresses dramatically, grabbing her head and bringing it over to kiss her forehead.

“could you also grab me a snack from downstairs—”

“dad!”

TAKASHI MITSUYA !

the ‘family man’ dad.

mitsuya’s always been a family guy, even from a young age. raising his sisters gave him an advantage to raising kids.

attends and participates on every family oriented days. bring your child to work day? he’s dragging both of your children to his job. daddy/daughter day? career day? he’s participating every year.

keeps little photo’s of you and the kids around his desk at work. keeps a photo in his wallet. has everyone’s baby pictures (including yours and his!) on the refrigerator.

makes homemade tapes to show your kids when they’re older, and even at their weddings.

makes sure to save money on the side for their college tuition & funds. college isn’t something he’ll force on his children, but he would like them to attend so they can have great jobs.

teaches his kids how to cook, and gives them certain days out of the week to cook for you and him. it’s a fun little challenge to watch them play and have fun in the kitchen.

“i think we should put milk in it,” your son stood in front of the open refrigerator, ducking his head down to look at the ingredients. “because that’ll make it thicker.”

your daughter, who’s younger than your son, and is also currently on a step stool to reach the stove, shook her head. “no! daddy says to use heavy whipping cream instead!”

“uh huh,” your son responds, grabbing the heavy whipping cream from the door and walking it over to your daughter.

you couldn’t help but laugh, setting down your wineglass. you and your husband were seated at the bar of your kitchen, watching your kids make your dinner. “she’s a little bossy, isn’t she?”

“damn right she is,” mitsuya responded, resting his chin in his palm. he looked over from his daughter, all the way to you. “she acts just like you— literally a mini you.”

you scoffed, raising your wineglass to your lips once more. “you’re no better, your son won’t stop checking himself out. look familiar?”

mitsuya looked over to his son, who was currently attempting to look at himself on a metal spatula. both you and your husband began to laugh, watching your daughter scold her brother for not helping.

they were really just miniature versions of you two.

KAZUTOTA HANEMIYA <3

the ‘spoiling’ dad.

kazutora wasn’t really ever experienced with children.

he also didn’t want his children to hate him, especially for his past. therefore, he decides to spoil his children. it’s not hard, especially with one little girl.

if his babygirl wants to play with his hair? he’ll give her some rubber bands and bows. if she wants to play with his earring, he’ll tie his hair up so she can claw at it like a cat.

he’s sat and watched countless episodes of cocomelon and other children shows, but he never complains. anything for his daughter <3

keeps his girl attached to his hip, all the time. dare to put her down and she’d throw a fit. she wants her daddy all the time, sometimes it even makes you jealous.

chifuyu loves when kazutora brings his daughter to work. she’s very friendly with the animals, especially the cats, and it helps keep them calm when need be.

she definitely reminds chifuyu and kazutora of baji <3

has a secret pinky swear with his daughter, normally they have to use this whenever you say no to something; and he can’t bare to see the disappointment on his baby’s face. that means a little sneaking out…

“no ice cream before dinner, guys!” you yelled.

once your bathroom door closed shut, kazutora dropped to his knees in front of your daughter. “we’re gonna have to be quick, ‘kay?” he raised his eyebrows, lifting his hand between the two. “what’s our plan?”

your daughter cleared her throat, playing at kazutora’s sleeve. “gotta get two cones of ice cream before mommy’s out the shower,” she bounced on her small feet with a smile. “one chocolate and one vanilla!”

“good girl!” he smiled, balling up his fist and extending his pinky out. “c’mon, you know the drill.”

and she did, this was their good luck charm! her pinky looped with kazu’s, twisting their hands around until he left a kiss on the back of her hand; and she pressed a kiss to his.

once the hold dropped, his hands went under your daughters arms and hoisted her up, setting her on his hip per usual. his palm resided on her butt, balancing her on his side and he went to grab his keys.

“we’ll even bring back mommy somethin’, yeah?” kazutora whispered, feeling his daughters small hands play in his ponytail.

the front door shut, and the two of them were gone. though, your back was pressed to the door, listening in on the conversation. you smiled to yourself, shaking your head softly.

such a daddy's girl

© paradvs (2021) original work. do not reuse, remake or translate without permission.

[daughter-of-sapph0]

have you people ever heard of Zammis fucking Clark? let me tell you all a wild story about my favorite hacker, aka, SlipStream

so this guy hacked vtech in 2015 (vtech makes kids electronics and smart devices) and stole the data of over 6 million kids by complete accident.

the hacker, known as slipstream, found that vtech's website was using fucking abode flash for their logging page, which is notoriously bad because of its vulnerability to sql injections, which basically means putting malicious code in the box instead of your password. and it fucking worked. he had root access, and downloaded as much as he could before disconnecting. it was only afterwards when he realized he had collected the data of millions of users. emails, passwords, home addresses, full names, and tons of texts and videos sent by children who were on average 7 years old! slipstream basically went "holy fucking shit this is so bad! this is a serious fucking coppa violation! I need to report this immediately!!!" so he contacted a reporter who contacted a friend to verify that the leak was legit. and after like a week of trying to contact vtech, the reporter finally got through, and vtech said they didn't even know about the attack until they were contacted. what the actual fuck

so the news gets out. vtech is in serious hot water. they shut down their servers completely for two weeks, and also secretly update their tos to say "hey if we get hacked and your data gets stolen, it's your fault for trusting us and you are not allowed to sue us. okay? :)" slipstream eventually gets tracked down and arrested by the English authorities, but is released with basically just a slap on the wrist as it's a first time offense and he hadn't sold any data nor had any intention to sell the data. vtech, also basically got a slap on the wrist from the us government. for having a highly vulnerable website, collecting the data of children under 12, not notifying the parents, and not encrypting any of the data, what are they forced to pay for this serious violation of privacy? 10 cents per kid. that's it. that's how much the us government considers your private and personal data to be worth.

anyway, that was 2015. what happened since then? well vtech is still a profitable company for some fucking reason. they claim to have undated their security, but I fucking doubt that. what about slipstream? well he went on to have a normal career and give up on hacking forever... I'm fucking lieing! he hacked mother fucking Microsoft! he leaked press releases, emails, and development versions of unreleased operating systems!

and then he went on to hack Nintendo in their biggest leak of all time, known as the Gigaleak. yes, THAT Gigaleak! the same Gigaleak that gave us so much information of development versions of Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, and more. the same Gigaleak that showed off never before seen beta content. the same Gigaleak that confirmed that Luigi was planned but unfortunately cut from Super Mario 64! that Gigaleak.

he was again arrested, this time by europol, but didn't go to prison because he was autistic and they were worried about his safety. so they let him free without any computer or internet restrictions. and guess what he does. he (allegedly) hacks fucking North Korea and leaks their operating system Red Star OS 3.0, which has been so secret that before slipstream's leak, we had only a few blurry screenshots of it! (I say allegedly, because Wikipedia doesn't have a citation, but I'm pretty sure it's true as other sources for the leak cite his twitter username)

so yeah, that's the story of SlipStream. a guy who hacked multi billion dollar international corporations and god damn North Korea, all before the age of 25

[tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors]

Y'know, I could almost sympathize with Virgil's parents since it seems like they really didn't have the resources to help Virgil safely control his powers (when he was petting Zoe's hair I was really scared he was going to accidentally kill her), and so putting him in a specialized facility could really have been the best option they had to help him. But just suddenly dropping him off with barely a few sentences of explanation, hardly ever contacting him after that, and cutting off his communication with his siblings entirely to boot? That's crossing waaayyy over into Super Awful Parenting territory. And I can't help but wonder what Zoe thought about the whole thing afterwards, and if she wondered what happened to her brother or even could have recognized him in the news reports.

there wasn't a good place to put this in the fic itself, because its Virgil's POV and he doesn't really know, but there are actually other options besides institutionalization for people with powers like virgil

theyre not great options, because the peacekeepers are an inherently corrupt and exploitative agency and they all would have landed virgil with a debt anyway, but there are options.

among other things the Argalls could have requested to accomodate Virgil were:

house remodeling or subsidied moving to another house entirely that was reinforced to keep him from breaking or damaging things,

various power inhibiting assistive devices (Virgil actually does use a rudimentary version of these when he's a homeless teenager - he fashions very heavy weights with metal and rock and wears them under his clothes. he's too strong for it to hurt him, but it does slow him down enough to help) and the peacekeepers can sometimes develop custom ones (that they often use for Evil reasons but sometimes useful ones)

even just training would have helped

All of these were options the peacekeepers gave virgil's parents and they chose to institutionalize him instead, because they are the kind of people who think that you can opt out of certain kinds of kids. they "didn't sign up" for an anomalous kid when they had children, and so they view him as an obstacle to their "normal" life

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

Hi I’m sorry for all my anti-Jurdan tantrums lately… but I’m not anti-Jurdan more anti-Nicasia yet I can’t make peace with the fact that Cardan still cares about Nicasia despite the fact she tortured Jude. So I have to ask, do you think Nicasia and Cardan are still friends despite the fact she tortured Jude?

to answer your main question: maybe not friends, per se, but i think there will always be an understanding between Cardan and Nicasia. they are each other's longest standing allies/accomplices, that kind of bond isn't one broken lightly.

but i want to talk about the rest of your ask because there's a lot to unpack there.

you seem to be hung up on this "Nicasia tortured Jude" narrative. and while that may be your reading of it, i don't really see it that way.

Orlagh was the one who kidnapped Jude. Orlagh was the one who held her captive. Orlagh was the one who gave her less than humane living conditions. she is the queen of the Undersea. if Jude had been meant to be treated with decency while there, she would have been under no one else's command than Orlagh's. instead, Jude stayed in a cold, dark unfurnished cell and drank sea water and was given very little food for weeks. because of Orlagh.

if you think Nicasia had any hand in Jude's treatment while she was kidnapped in the Undersea, if you think Nicasia is anything more than a pretty pawn to a cold and ruthless queen, i'm sorry but that is a plain misreading of the text.

anger at children who are literally trying to Figure It All Out, is often sorely misplaced in this series, and it breaks my heart that people wouldn't have a more nuanced understanding of their situations. we should be directing that anger at the people who are usually the ones directly responsible: the parents and guardians.

just to be clear, the only thing Nicasia did directly was punch Jude in the stomach once and take away her air bubble for five seconds. that doesn't exactly scream "torture". that was a brief altercation catalysed by anger, and perhaps also jealousy.

Nicasia thought Cardan, her ex-lover and longest known friend, was being romantically manipulated by Jude somehow. and though Jude wasn't manipulating Cardan's feelings for her, Nicasia was under that impression and was called to rock her shit for it. it's dramatic irony–quite a useful and entertaining literary device.

also, need i, for the millionth time, remind us all that Jude has done far worse than punch someone in the stomach.

–Em 🖤🗡

more theories & analysis

[fluffywolverine]

so season 6 of lucifer came out.

there were some things that i liked, but generally i hated it. i believe that was SUCH. BAD. WRITING and it left me frustrated. so i decided to write down all things that pissed me off and sometimes i try to fix this by giving other ideas that – in my opinion – would have made the story better. Check my points out and feel free to add your points of view. without further ado: let’s talk.

- imma start with the big one – fucking time travel. ok I generally hate this trope in the media, because it’s complicated and often leads to some logical mistakes – and they happened here. so rory time travels because of her anger which was caused… by her anger?? i think this was unnecessary. it also brings trouble with this whole free will vs. fate discourse. lucifer says, that he chooses free will… but at the same time he goes the path of his fate. he disappears from rory’s life, because he HAS TO in order of the events of the season to happen. just because he chose to do it, doesn’t mean it’s free will.

- lucifer becomes the very thing he desperately didn’t want to become. “bUt It WaS fOr ThE gReAtEr GoOd” screw this bullshit, if writers wanted to make it better, they could have easily do so. they could have altered the rules of time travel so that his choice of staying could have resulted in rory disappearing. yes, that would have been heart-breaking, but it would have been a great lesson for lucifer, that he can’t make the same mistakes his father did.

- chloe and Lucifer get a child without even talking about it. “bUt MaYbE tHeY tAlKeD aBoUt It We JuSt DiDn’T sEe It” you may say. but the point of writing anything  - whether it’s a book or a script – is to show any thing that matters. and talking about having kids is one of the most things any couple should do. also not every couple needs to have kids and forcing deckerstar to have it feels so far-fetched. this thread was very unnecessary.

- rory herself is a big problem. to begin with – she wanted to KILL her FATHER. i get her frustration, but commiting a murder?? just because he wasn’t there for her?? I would have thought that chloe taught her better, taught her that, like, killing people is bad. turns out she did not. secondly… she just isn’t necessary here. i elaborate later so in conclusion – her thread could be altered with michael’s and it would have made much more sense. i also don’t like the actress (why was she blinking so much??) so i certainly didn’t help.

- of course ella has to end up with a boyfriend. because earlier she always ended up with “bad boys” and now, without any help, she is just able to have a healthy relationship! yay! for me this creates a toxic view, that in order to be happy one HAS TO be in a relationship, because being alone is aLwAyS bAd. well, it’s not.

- i also have troubles with lucifer starting up a foundation for her. firstly, he didn’t ask her. secondly it – AGAIN – shows, that anything good ella got, was because of another man. firstly because of her relationship with carol, secondly because of lucifer’s idea. it could have been so easily altered! there could have been a scene of a conversation e.g. with amenadiel where she expressed a will to do better and be better for someone (given that she sees a lot of dark in herself). amenadiel could have then told her, that she is an inspiration and that it is her biggest strength. that could have been where ella came up with an idea to start a foundation blah blah – it’s just a rough idea but I believe that written well, it could have been so much better;

- and the last thing about ella – of course she had to find out about celestial stuff because sHe WaS tHe OnLy OnE rEmAiNiNg. umm what about trixie? i'll come back to her later. ella was portrayed as the only one believing in god and having her seeing that he really exists ruins the concept of faith. it’s not about knowing something exists, it’s about believing in it.

- WHERE THE FUCK IS MICHAEL. i must admit that i loved this character AND I CAN’T STAND HOW AWFULLY HE WAS TREATED HERE. so at the end of season 5 lucifer says “everyone deserves a second chance, even you michael". and what does he do then? COMMANDS HIS TWIN TO CLEAR THE FLOOR IN HELL. yes, i agree that michael should have been punished for his rebellion plan, but… he already has his wing cut off. now he’s stuck in hell, with no way out and is he supposed to learn his lesson? this is cruel. instead of this the entire season could have been centred on him – his journey to self-acceptance, learning how manipulating someone is toxic and starting to realise how to be a better person. at the end he could have become god (because amenadiel is such an obvious choice), which would create a beautiful connection – michael in heaven and his twin in hell.

- lucifer doesn’t feel like being god and that’s cool. damn. people died for him to win this place and he’s like “actually you know guys i’m not the right person bye”. while i believe that anyone should step out if they have a reason, but at the same time lucifer should have faced any consequences of his decisions. falling frog and kool aid in the river are not enough.

- adam’s plot feels just quickly sketched, not actually written. i really appreciate this take on toxic masculinity but it all felt too fast-paced. it’s good that they show this idea of “strong and not-showing-any-feelings man” kind of attitude, but it is impossible for ANYONE (especially The ManTM) to change their mind in a matter of a few days. it takes weeks, months, years even, especially given that adam is like a gazillion years old, he should have especially taken a long time to process this.

- carol is just too pure to exist. he’s also one of the most boring, plain and one-dimensional character i’ve ever seen. i feel like they gave him a problem with alcohol because the writers were like “hmmmmm he has to have some weakness. LET’S MAKE HIM AN ALCOHOLIC”. we don’t see any signs of his everyday struggle, why did he fell into this problem, how did struggle. it just feels like a dull plot device to show that he has flaws. oh and also he’s so pure that he doesn’t mind ella BREAKING INTO HIS HOUSE. acceptance should have boundaries and violating someone’s personal space isn’t right.

- why did they forget about trixie again? yes, i know that scarlett estevez had another project but this does not justify the bad writing. the girl lost her father and we only see her crying once because of that. no signs of this affecting her everyday life, not showing any consequences of her relationships with other people, not  glimpse of any change in her behaviour. oh and also she loses lucifer too because time travel! great idea, writers! losing another close to her person would have been soooooo good for her psychic for sure.

- i also hate the idea that suddenly rory becomes the only child they care for. where is trixie when they spend their day on the beach? where is she when her mother dies? did writers forget about her as well as they did about michael?

- amenadiel being a police officer is… problematic. i was looking forward to this thread, i was kinda scared too and it turned out… meh. i’m white and not American, so this of course does not involve me at all, but i felt like this was not enough. harris basically said that there is nothing they can do to make it better for black folks. even though chloe and amenadiel want to make everything more just, we don’t actually see any change. the only thing is that harris becomes a detective (right? i’m not sure if i understood it correctly, so correct me if i’m wrong, please) which is a total contradiction of what she said before. suddenly she does not have to protect people anymore?

- in season 5 they stated that heaven and hell need to be fixed, as the system is unfair and unjust. at the end we don’t see any change, the only thing that is different is lucifer helping damned souls. it doesn’t help at all! these people still go to hell, they still suffer and there’s nothing that changed here! plus there is also this thing, that a sociopath who murdered people in cold blood goes to heaven (because he does not feel any guilt) and a person abused by her parents/partner/whoever goes to hell (because have been manipulated to feel guilt).

- dan making amends with trixie while… there wasn’t really anything to make amends about. like, most of the parents make mistakes while upbringing their children, but does this make them unworthy of heaven? i would have preferred dan to slowly regain his self-consciousness, how he positively affected the lives of people around him and by doing so – through conversations or maybe reliving some of the memories, he could have proved to himself that he is worthy of love and redemption.

phew, what a ride. i really liked dan being reunited with charlotte (it went just as i imagined) and mazeve dynamics. i even felt like they are finally a real life relationship – with people hurting each other by not understanding each other, but then talking and seeing other’s perspective. generally though, i’m very disappointed.

sorry for any mistakes, lacking commas etc. writing a text this long in not my native language was not easy.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Gabriel Agreste: Interesting Villain, Horrible Character (400 Follower Special)

I'm honestly surprised more people didn't want me to talk about Gabriel, especially with how often I rag on how horrible of a person he is. But, three character analysis posts later, and we're going to talk about why the main villain of Miraculous Ladybug is a real letdown.

Gabriel Needs to give the Whining a Rest

The interesting thing is one of the few things I actually liked in Season 3 was Hawkmoth. His plans actually made sense (for the most part), and by playing the long game, he managed to turn Chloe against Ladybug and deprived her of several key allies. Granted, Season 4 immediately undid the latter, but I was still impressed by his strategy.

Generally, one of the better aspects of Gabriel as a character was just how over the top he was as Hawkmoth. Keith Silverstein is clearly giving it his all with his performance, and he is just so enjoyable to watch as a cartoonish supervillain.

And therein lies the first major problem with Gabriel as a character. While he is fun to watch as a simple supervillain, the show tries to give him more depth and unintentionally makes him worse.

In Season 2, when it was revealed that Gabriel was Hawkmoth, many fans speculated on what he needed the Miraculous for, until the Queen Bee Trilogy showed it was to save his possibly dead wife, Emilie. The idea of that is so the show can give more depth to its main villain, and I think it's an interesting idea in concept. After all, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

The problem is just how radically different Gabriel is normally compared to how he is as Hawkmoth. He always goes on about how he's “doing this for Emilie”, but it's hard to really sympathize with him when you consider he constantly gives evil monologues and evil laughs, really getting into the supervillain role. And let's not forget all of the “I'm going to wear Ladybug's skin as a suit” faces he loves to make.

Clearly this man is the picture of mental stability.

Gabriel's motivation for being Hawkmoth when compared to what he actually does as Hawkmoth is shady enough, but the thing is that the writers clearly want the audience to at least feel a little bad for him. They want to make the audience sympathize with him despite the way he acts with or without the mask. Without Miraculous Ladybug, he is routinely putting innocent lives in danger and never once shows regret for his actions. All he talks about is how “he's doing this for Emilie”, or that “he'll get their Miraculous soon”. There's no real reason to feel bad for him other than “because the script says so”.

Let's compare Gabriel to Malcolm Merlyn from Arrow. His big plan in the first season of the show is to create a machine that will cause an earthquake to destroy a crime-infested portion of Starling City, claiming to be trying to help everyone, but it's clear he is only doing it out of revenge for his wife getting killed by a criminal from that part of the city. In addition, throughout that season and future seasons, he always makes sure his plans lead to him benefiting in some way, showing he isn't just some noble man trying to achieve his goals with a less than noble method.

If we got some moments that showed that what Gabriel was doing was selfish, it would make him a more complex villain. But we don't get anything like that. What do we get instead? Well...

I Could Really Care Less About Emilie Agreste

We have known Gabriel's motivation has been to save his wife for a little over two years at this point, but at the same time, it's hard to believe that motivation because of how underdeveloped Emilie is as a character.

There have been a total of two lines in the entirety of the show that explain what happened to Emilie, and they're both vague as hell. One of them was from “Feast” that implied Emilie used the broken Peacock Miraculous.

Adrien: My mom used to have dizzy spells… just like Nathalie.

And the other that outright tells the audience what's happening to her in a clip show that most people will skip.

Nathalie: As I've watched Emilie falling deeper into an endless sleep, my sadness for her has deepened, too

That is literally all we get for an explanation, and nothing else. We have no idea of what she's like as a person or what her relationship with her family was like other than Gabriel and Adrien saying they miss her. Other than the way the narrative says she's important to Gabriel and Adrien, we don't really have a reason to care about her as a character. There have also been some lines that imply she went along with Gabriel's questionable parenting techniques, like how he was apparently only homeschooled as a kid (Origins) and never had a birthday party growing up (The Bubbler), so how do we even know if she's a good person? In fact, why not set up this question as a mystery to make the audience wonder if Gabriel has another reason to bring Emilie back?

It ultimately turns Emilie into a plot device and not a character that Gabriel and Adrien only bring up to make the audience feel bad for them, and meant to justify Gabriel's actions by saying that he's “doing this for his family”.

But hey, if he's doing this all for his family, surely Gabriel's redeeming traits come from his relationship with Adrien, right? Right?

As a Parent, Gabriel is Far From the Best

I've talked about this briefly before, but parenting in Miraculous Ladybug is written in such a black and white way, even by the standards of this show. Parents are portrayed in one of two ways. They're either amazing people who love and support their children unconditionally, or they're awful people who treat their own children like trash. And much like a lot of things in this show, there are times where the latter is treated like the former.

There are so many times where the narrative insists on making you see Gabriel as a troubled, but wellmeaning person who tries his best to be a good parent to Adrien, but it is far from the truth.

I'm not going to beat around the bush. Gabriel is a terrible parent. Like, he is awful at being a parent in so many ways, even before you find out he's Hawkmoth. In his first appearance, “The Bubbler”, he delegates getting Adrien a birthday present to Nathalie, his assistant. He literally can't be bothered to take time out of his schedule to get his own son a present for his birthday. And as the show goes on, he becomes more controlling and forbids Adrien from going out with his friends in other episodes (Captain Hardrock, Silencer). While this could be used to show Gabriel getting worse, it's never acknowledged in-universe, with Adrien continually defending his father essentially keeping him on house arrest.

“But IOTA!” You might say. “Gabriel has made efforts to bond with his son in some episodes.” While that might be true, most of those come right after his Akumas have almost gotten Adrien killed. He only hugged Adrien and made an attempt to learn more about him after Simon Says invaded their home, he only decided to watch that movie Emilie was in with Adrien after Gorizilla nearly dropped him off a building, and he only hugged Adrien again in public after he was turned into a gold statue by Style Queen.

In fact, let's talk about how Gabriel acts in the Queen Bee Trilogy. He actually decides to quit being Hawkmoth, but it's not because he realizes all the damage he's caused. Instead, he gave up because his “magnum opus”, a stronger than usual Akuma that only got the advantage on Ladybug ironically because of dumb luck, failed. Sure, he says he can't keep putting his son in danger, but he rarely ever acknowledges that he does so in the first place. When Riposte wanted to fight Adrien, Hawkmoth did nothing to stop her other than giving her a stern warning earlier on and nothing else. Where was this attitude earlier?

Hell, even then, he immediately goes back to being Hawkmoth as soon as he sees an opportunity, not even a day after his “mAgNuM oPuS” blew up in his face (because I guess Scarletmoth was just Plan B). If he made such a big deal about caring for his son, why didn't he try harder to spend time with him? Has he ever had doubts about what he's doing before? If Chloe didn't show up as Queen Bee, was he going to follow through on his promise and try to be a better father to Adrien instead of trying to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous?

And yeah, the whole irony is that Gabriel is doing this for his family when he is unknowingly fighting his own son, which could lead to some interesting drama if done right. The idea of how Gabriel would react to his son being Cat Noir could really lead to some internal struggles for him to go through. But then we got “Cat Blanc”, which shows just how terrible of a character Gabriel is.

In an alternate timeline where he found out his son was Cat Noir, what does Gabriel do? Does he try to steal Adrien's Miraculous while he's sleeping? Does he reconsider his actions or realize he was endangering Adrien's life?

NOPE! He just decides to akumatize him all while emotionally tormenting him, before causing the end of the world.

This is honestly one of the most appalling things I've ever seen in any TV show, because it's basically an abusive father ordering his son to listen to him all while referencing his (kind of) dead mother to back up his point. And rather than use this to show how despicable Gabriel is, the episode decides to blame Marinette for this happening. Yes, according to the show, her present to Adrien caused several events to happen which caused Cat Blanc, but this logic makes no sense. It's like blaming the JFK assassination on the man who sold a gun to Lee Harvey Oswald, instead of, you know, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Not only was this episode yet another excuse to blame Marinette for something that wasn't her fault, it leads into the biggest problem I have with Gabriel as a character.

Sympathize with Gabriel? Surely, You Jest

After everything I've gone over regarding Gabriel as a character, after all the awful things I've talked about, are you really surprised that I don't feel bad for him at all?

Gabriel is just an awful character and a despicable human being, but the show just keeps wanting me to feel bad for him. It's just so hard to when you consider everything he's done has made him anything but sympathetic. I'm just saying, it's kind of hard to feel bad for someone who tries to start World War III with the only justification being “i'M dOiNg It FoR mY fAmIlY”, especially when he treats his family like crap.

The writers go out of their way to show how horrible Gabriel is as Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth, but they think because they throw in a few moments where he looks conflicted, we'll immediately feel bad for him. What makes so many people interested in seeing Chloe become a better person is that they can tell she's the victim of a troubled upbringing, and know that because she's only a teenager, she still has room to grow as a person, represented by having more honest moments of vulnerability. Gabriel is a grown man who once caused the apocalypse because of how terrible of a parent he is, and has even fewer sympathetic moments than Chloe does. Which one of these two is supposedly irredeemable? The answer may surprise you.

But the frustrating thing is that this kind of villain could have worked. Instead of making him this mustache-twirling psychopath, show how much Gabriel regrets what he has to do, but keeps pushing onward despite all the lives he's risking if it means that he can save his wife. Instead of making Gabriel like Lex Luthor, make him like Mr. Freeze, who is basic a better written version of him.

But as it stands, there's a good reason why Gabriel gets little to no respect as a character in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, as a villain, or as a father.

[panharmonium]

THAT is the importance of an adult who Understands.

one of the things that i always come back to when i think about sasuke is that sasuke has virtually everybody in the village fooled.  you couldn’t find a more messed up kid in all the hidden leaf if you tried, but you wouldn’t know it to look at him, because he can’t afford to acknowledge or display weakness - firstly, because weakness means he isn’t strong enough to take on itachi, and secondly, because signs of struggle on sasuke’s part might mean that an authority figure tries to involve themself in his life, and sasuke doesn’t want anyone interfering in something he sees as a personal quest.  he doesn’t see himself as a child who needs to be looked after by adults; he sees himself as an adult in a frustratingly small body, and he wants all the other adults to leave him alone and let him do what he needs to do.  he doesn’t want meddling.  he wants everyone who has the power to potentially keep him from getting what he most desires to remain oblivious to his true state of mind, to not look too closely, to never see a child in distress, because if he ever lets on that he doesn’t have his shit together, it’s possible that one of the leaf’s less negligent grown-ups will swoop down on him and start trying to intervene/“parent” him, which to sasuke’s mind just means “get in the way.”  

sasuke, who has long felt like he’s already an adult dealing with adult problems, won’t tolerate that.  so he masks his issues, to the point where he has virtually everyone around him completely deceived.  his regular schoolteachers don’t worry about him - he’s a high achiever, he gets perfect grades, he’s top of his class in everything, he doesn’t make trouble.  his classmates don’t worry about him - they buy the ‘i’m so cool, nothing fazes me’ act and worship at his feet, even as he demonstrates that he wants nothing to do with them.  the rest of the leaf village doesn’t worry about him, either - they see him as a source of village pride (and a source of entertainment/drama, like when they’re all so excited to watch The Last Uchiha fight for their nation during the chunin exams).  even though sasuke is so messed up on the inside, the exterior facade he presents to people is specifically designed to prevent any wondering about how he’s doing.  as far as the world can see, he’s doing Just Fine (and while everyone is busy not wondering about his health, he can get down to the business of getting his revenge).

sasuke’s strategy for relating to other people is, essentially, the opposite of naruto’s approach.  naruto, in his early childhood, draws as much attention to himself as possible, causing all sorts of mayhem, in the hope that someone, somewhere will see him.  he makes trouble and causes problems precisely because he desperately wants someone to acknowledge his pain, and that’s how he ends up landing iruka as an adult support figure, because iruka notices what’s happening and decides to get involved.  sasuke, in contrast to naruto, doesn’t want anyone to acknowledge or even notice his pain, because if they do notice it, they might try to stop him from pursuing what he thinks is the only way to alleviate it.  that’s not an acceptable outcome for him, so instead of making a scene and calling attention to himself, he hides in plain sight. 

sasuke doesn’t want people to get involved in his life.  he wants to be left to his own devices.  he doesn’t think he needs (read: deserves) anybody’s help, and some tiny part of him knows that a Responsible Adult might raise their eyebrows at what he’s doing to himself, so he uses his “high-achiever, too cool for school” persona to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.  and he almost succeeds - until kakashi enters the picture.  kakashi, who can’t be fooled.  kakashi, who has known from Day One, Minute One exactly what goal is driving all of sasuke’s high achievement, and who knows that sasuke is NOT okay, in either the head or the heart.  kakashi, who in the above gifset can tell that sasuke is having a crisis without even turning around.  kakashi doesn’t need to be shown evidence before he gets concerned.  he’s known from the very start that sasuke is struggling, because he lived through similar pains and tried to cope with them in similarly unhealthy ways (remember: “useless things like emotions only get in the way”/“having too many ties in this world will only lead you astray” + “everyone you’re talking about has already been killed”/“they’re all dead...because i wasn’t strong enough to save them”).

sasuke still tries to put up the front.  a few scenes prior to the above gifset, sasuke is the one who is making fun of naruto for freezing up - you’re not hurt, are you...scaredy-cat.  and he completely fools his peers with his attitude - sakura’s got stars in her eyes, naruto’s super jealous; both of them think sasuke’s So Cool and Super Powerful and Not Afraid of Anything!

but when sasuke himself is confronted with a serious, imminent threat to his life (one against which his supposedly “advanced” skills are useless, one from which he can’t protect himself; aka, one where he’s suddenly reminded that he’s actually a twelve year-old genin and his safety is out of his control, just like it was the night his family was murdered), he’s the one who panics.  the other kids are scared, too - but sasuke completely loses it.  he almost kills himself to get away from the intensity of his fear.  *cough* it’s the ptsd *cough* but anyway -

kakashi is able to sense this without even turning around.  he’s preparing to fight an aggressor under the least ideal circumstances possible - they were supposed to be on a mission where it was four people protecting one man, but because tazuna lied to them, they’re now in a situation where it’s one man protecting four people, including three children - and even with all of that competing for his attention, kakashi is still focusing closely enough on each individual kid to sense that sasuke is going off the rails.  without even turning around, he knows.

we all remember this, right?

it doesn’t matter how much of an act sasuke puts on.  kakashi has been there.  he knows better.  he can’t be fooled.  he calls for sasuke by name and pulls him back from the brink.

kakashi interrupts this crisis so effectively.  not only is he able to snap sasuke out of his panic, but he’s also careful to then extend his reassurance to everyone present, accomplishing the dual purposes of calming everyone else down and also redirecting attention away from sasuke’s more extreme reaction, which the others haven’t noticed yet.  it’s deftly done.  it addresses sasuke’s crisis on an individual level without putting him in the spotlight.  it works.  the way sasuke relaxes in that last gif...man.

calm down.  i’ll protect you with my life.

i’ve already talked a little bit about how much it would mean for somebody with sasuke’s particular history to hear that (especially when those words are spoken by an adult who follows through on the promise every single time), but here i just want to focus on the fact that the only reason sasuke is lucky enough to receive this reassurance in the first place is because kakashi isn’t fooled by sasuke pretending he doesn’t need to hear it.  kakashi and the kids are very new to each other at this point, but even so, kakashi still understands sasuke better than any other adult in the hidden leaf.  he’s the first authority figure who sasuke hasn’t been able to trick into obliviousness - sasuke can’t pretend away his problems in front of someone who used to have all those same problems himself!  kakashi is too savvy to be waved away with the whole ‘i’m super advanced for my age i don’t need any help don’t look behind my mask’ charade.  kakashi invented that game.  he knows it’s one you don’t want to win.  he won it himself, when he played it, and winning just meant that everybody took him at his word when he acted like he was fine and nobody ever gave him the kind of help he needed.  he’s not going to let another kid get away with the same self-destructive shenanigans, not when he’s around to call their bluffs and be the kind of support structure he himself could’ve benefited from when he was younger.