#big theorizing spree

[chrisrin]

ANOTHER GEMSTUCK DESIGN!!! THIS TIME, JADESOL!

[isa-ghost]

phil and cellbit hcs?

VESPER YOUR MIND...

qPhil headcanons masterlist

When Phil needs answers on something, he goes straight to Cellbit (at least pre-Purgatory, he's switched to Bagi over the months bc they've gotten much closer).

Another reason he's so pissed abt the reset is bc the Feds took them the fuck away from The Order, which had all of Cellbit's tools for figuring out the weird new shit they encounter on QI

ANOTHER reason Phil hates the reset is bc there's not much weird shit going on over here? It's just?? Capitalism?? There's nothing to take pictures of for Cellbit. And he really misses dropping an entire goldmine of new pictures for theorizing on Cellbit and watching how excited he gets about it :(

See, Phil and Cellbit were close prior to Purgatory; look at the Order, Phil picking his domain (idr their formal names), etc. But Purgatory did.. something. I mean, it did something to all of Bolas, but something extra to these two's friendship. The leader role, the way Cellbit fell into a sort-of second in command & substitute when Phil wasn't around, Phil (was meant to be) rescuing Cellbit & Baghs. It was teamwork and brothers in arms shit to a degree they'd previously not reached. It's permanently intensified their bond and trust in each other. Which I can't wait to see unfold if Cellbit keeps getting worse. >:D

It's a 50/50 if Phil is concerned about Cellbit's (re)rising murderous tendencies and potentially "resurfacing" cannibal habits or if he's just like "Haha, friend is stabby, lookit him go. :)"

I have a hot take. Roier to Etoiles in Purgatory is Cellbit to Phil. Loyal attack dog more than happy to create bloodshed for their equally scary leader. The authority aspect has kinda gone away post-Purgatory but Cellbit will still kill a man if Phil says do it. Phil wouldn't ask that of him if he didn't have a good reason.

Phil is super awed and inspired by Cellbit's building skills. Idiot will be like "damn, wish I could build like that" as if he can't. Bitch you just refuse to!!! (I want these two to build something big and sick together so bad)

I don't know how things would've played out if Cellbit was present for EK possession things but I know it would've been fucked up and intense. And I can't explore it in AMFMN because Cellbit & Baghera are still missing in it. 😔

That said, Cellbit gets told Phil was possessed by some old piece of shit he used to know and is immediately like "Phil I will fight god for you, I don't give a FUCK"

Phil absolutely loves watching Richas take on more and more of Cellbit's unhinged traits. He's a bit worried he's gonna become a little ball of murder too, but Richas has like half the fucking island as parents, he'll be fiiiiiine.

I don't remember if qPhil knows about the Purgatory 2 murder spree stuff but I like to think he doesn't yet because boy would his reaction be spicy :) If he does know and I've forgotten, he 100% didn't entirely process just How fucked it was.

As close as they've become and as,, kinda chill? Phil has been about the whole murder thing?? He's still deeply worried about Cellbit in other ways post-Purgatory. Dude's seemed withdrawn, he can't remember the last time he saw him with Roier, and just overall things have been different to a degree Phil is sure isn't normal or a slow bounce-back period. But every time he has a free moment to check in, Cellbit's never around.

Actually, as Cellbit gets worse, I think Phil will go from chill with how things have been worsening to Oh Fuck because he's gonna see a lot of his Antarctic self in him. It's not like Phil isn't proud of that era or anything, but. Mentally and emotionally? Being cold and merciless like that takes a toll. One Cellbit shouldn't subject himself to.

Phil cannot for the life of him Not laugh whenever Pac brings up the whole. Leg eating thing. Pac is so out of pocket about it nowadays bc it happened so long ago and Phil gets whiplash from the casual jokes every time. I think if Cellbit made jokes about it Phil would keel over.

Just out of spite and for the sake of clarity: Phil is not Cellbit's fucking parental figure. Cellbit is not his son. They are grown ass men. They are friends. Colleagues. Confidants if we wanna stretch things a bit. There is nothing familial about their bond.

[sphnyspinspin]

Can I ask a genuine question about RBA? Like, does everyone think that when Wedge revealed that he used to be a decepticon and how the other recruits reacted to it, it was because all info and history about decepticons being majorly altered or erased? I get that in that episode a lot of the choices made were interesting. How each recruit reacted differently to even hearing about what a decepticon was. Especially Hotshot’s being openly critical of decepticons. But I mean……can you blame him?

Put yourself in that kid’s shoes for a second and imagine knowing that an entire race turned against your entire world and plunged said world into a total catastrophe. I don’t even think that many of the older generations even remember why Megatron started the war in the first place. And I mean the REAL reason. I admit Megatron’s intentions were for bettering society, and he couldn’t really accomplish that with his status. Except when you you really look back on the flashback sequence in TFP, he wasn’t really on the “try to reasonably convince these powerful leaders into abolishing a harmful government,” and it was more of a, and correct me if I’m wrong, “fiercely question why the state of this government is absolutely corrupt and make a very violent point about how to correct it immediately,” Okay I think I might’ve botched it a bit. But you get the point right? When Megatron actually wanted to go to war, it wasn’t about freeing the oppressed, it was about proving a point in the most cynical and violent way possible. That’s why when he was freed from Unicron, he actually understood what it meant to be oppressed.

Back on track, now picture a post-war kid being born on Cybertron. Now that they aren’t immediately forced into a caste or function, they get to explore the world around them. Seeing what they like and figuring out who they are and what they want to do, and maybe finding a mentor or two. And seeing what kind of post-war kids this continuity brings to the table, we’re talking about Strongarm, Sideswipe, Wedge, Whirl, Hotshot, Hoist and Medix. We’ve all seen what they can be like.

And I’m theorizing is that in this era in RBA, new-borns are so busy exploring and being well, new borns, I don’t think a history book is what is going to catch their eye first. Instead they learn from the world around them, maybe overhearing a couple conversations, running into the wrong crowds, and maybe being born into a different part of Cybertron where the decepticon influence is more profound.

Okay, okay, Wedge, we all love Wedge, but I personally headcannon that maybe he wasn’t exactly born AS a decepticon, but maybe he was taken in by a couple decepticons who uh….showed him the ropes. Then blah, blah, blah, a bunch of young dumb crime spree after crime spree and then big man Oppy shows up.

Or maybe if he was literally BORN as a decepticon, that just gave a whole new meaning about how the caste system worked in ye olden days. It also might’ve influenced ACTUAL culture stuff on Cybertron.

I don’t think I’m making any sense. Please help me out @novafire-is-thinking @viewer-of-many @thegirlwhoflies26

[byersbootyshorts]

Revenge Is Sweet - Epilogue

Two years after Spencer and Harley's killing spree, Spencer begins to feel agitated again, leading the couple to make a big decision.

Word Count: 677

Warnings for this chapter: mention of drugs, mention of murder

Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter

Two Years Later…

The team were at Rossi’s house. They’d had a quiet day at work (for once) and were ending it with an Italian feast. They were sat around the table, laughing at Emily’s drunken slurring and listening to Rossi’s recipe for carbonara.

Spencer looked around the table and smiled to himself. He felt Harley squeeze his arm affectionately. He looked at her bullet-sized scar, visible through her sleeveless dress. Now they both had scars that needed to heal.

Penelope must have noticed Spencer looking at Harley’s shoulder because she said, “Do you ever think about those unsubs anymore?”

“Who?” Spencer asked, snapping out of his trance.

“The Dilaudid Duo.”

After the storage container explosion there’d been an extensive investigation into who those unsubs were. News companies all over America had covered the story and, much to Spencer’s dislike, they had dubbed them ‘The Dilaudid Duo.’” Luckily for Spencer and Harley the investigation was inconclusive.

Penelope had theorized that Harley wasn’t in fact shot by a random mugger, but it was actually one of the unsubs attempting to kill her. Obviously no evidence came up to support this, but the whole team were pretty convinced of it. Well, everyone except JJ.

Ever since she accused Spencer and Harley, JJ hadn’t been the same. She was distant. She didn’t trust them anymore. Even now, two years after everything happened, she still barely spoke to them. Spencer was convinced that she was still secretly investigating the case; trying to find a tiny shred of evidence that would convict him. But Harley assured him that she could look for the rest of her life and never find anything. The explosion had obliterated everything.

“Um, sometimes,” Spencer finally answered Penelope’s question. He’d been able to forget his crimes relatively easily after the explosion. He’d locked them up in a box at the back of his mind and had stored them there ever since. However, recently that box had been opening again. But not because he felt remorse, or guilt. It was because he felt compelled to do it again.

Spencer felt it was stupid to assume that after he’d executed his revenge plan, he’d never go through anything again. His most recent traumatic event had been being kidnapped by a cult who wanted him to be their 300th victim. After that incident, he’d slowly been letting his need for revenge take over him again. He hadn’t mentioned anything to Harley yet, but she could tell.

Later that night, Spencer and Harley returned home from Rossi’s dinner party. They silently got changed and climbed beneath the warm sheets of their bed.

“I heard Penny talking to you about The Dilaudid Duo,” Harley said, screwing up her face at the awful name. Why were news outlets always so insensitive when it came to naming killers?

“Yeah, she just asked me if I think about them. And by them, I guess I mean us,” Spencer replied.

“And do you think about us? About what we did?” Harley asked, although she already knew the answer.

“Yes, I do. Especially now, after everything that’s happened.”

Harley brushed her hand along Spencer’s face and pushed his hair out of his eye. “I know, darling,” she whispered, leaning forward to kiss him. “I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better.”

Spencer sighed and turned over so he was lying on his back. He weighed his options in his head. He knew what he wanted to do. He knew what would definitely make him feel better. He just didn’t know if he had the courage to suggest it.

Luckily for him, he didn’t have to.

“Spence, what if we do it again. Get our revenge, I mean,” Harley said hesitantly.

Spencer smiled, relieved that Harley felt the same way he did. He nodded, already thinking about who would be their next victim. About who would satisfy his vengeful need.

The couple fell asleep that night content that they might once again feel some peace. Because, as they’d learned, revenge was oh so sweet.

Tags: @wifeyreid

[velvetineblue]

𝖛𝖘;  a lesson in CRIME  .

are criminals born or made? a question that can only be theorized, never answered in certainty . . . but they are human, like everybody else.  to treat them otherwise is to deny the complex grey matter of humanity. yes, it’s true that a man who gives freely to the needy, can just as freely take what was never theirs to claim: even, a life. and sometimes, they sleep just fine at night. the scariest thought is the likable ones; the ones you can’t write off as damned, broken individuals, too far gone to be saved; those brutish undesirables who don’t belong with civilized society, fit only to ROT behind rusted metal bars. no, the dark truth is that most are no different than you and i. they commit their sins, they make the gravest mistakes, but there’s nothing man can’t justify. they moralize, they minimize; ( ‘we accept the politicians who poison the water, but we punish the individual who poisons a stranger’ ? ) they cope; they grow numb to the horrors of the world all around them. ( especially when it’s a world they’ve been born into; their birthright . . . ) statistically, we’ve all walked past a killer and never even known it. you might have even been friends with one. they look like everybody else: like you, like me, like the comely young man with the smile so bright it beams like streetlights in the dark. . . 

KNOWN ASSOCIATES UNDER INVESTIGATION:

gioven tseng. in the underground circles, taiyang’s father’s name carries with it a hefty weight. he is a man with swagger and the strength to back it up; a man who protected the former boss of the criminal organization dubbed ‘Black Fang’. he had been offered the chance to have his charged dropped, in exchange for giving the feds INFOMATION about the underground crime world that he was a part of . . . but he REFUSED this deal, leaked nothing, and in turn, sacrificed 10 years of his life to prison. but doing so earned him even more respect and loyalty in the underground scene. shortly after he was released from jail, he became the new leader of Black Fang.

taiyang tseng. his son was hardly shaping up to be a ‘heir apparent’. though he was well-acquainted with the members, the world, & well-practiced in petty, ‘victimless’ crimes ( acts of lawless rebellion, mischief, and revenge for perceived injustice ) he remained outside of the gang, choosing not to involve himself, outright rejecting any status in the organization for many years. living under his father’s rules or in his shadow did not appeal to him, nor inheriting ‘respect’ merely because of who his father was. he wanted to make his own way in the world, as he had for the ten years that his father left him in the dust, choosing to be loyal to his non-blood family ( the gang ), instead of his wife and son left alone at home.

ara jung.  after a lifetime of violence, lies, hypocrisy, and the will to escape it all, she is one of the only REAL tastes of happiness he can remember: and certainly the sweetest of them. a beautiful young woman with a guarded heart, captivating wit, and big dreams, she became his hope, and his home. high on hopes, but low on cash, the couple took the expression ‘thick as thieves’ to the next level: beginning a spree of crimes that solidified their reputation as capable and talented thieves. they may have began with innocent intentions of ‘redistributing the wealth’ from the undeserving and into their own pockets ( as well as the pockets of the needy ), but you would have to be blind not to see the rush and the thrill they got from their ‘misdeeds’. a job gone wrong forced them to go from strictly ‘independent’ robbers, and instead into the protection of the Black Fang organization. they would then go on to become official gang affiliates, and if tai is the ‘heir’ of the gang, then she would undoubtedly be considered the future ‘heiress-in-law’ ! the heir is loyal to her above all else, and would stop at nothing for her or her protection, which adds an extra level of danger to this crime prince and princess duo.

[tachosnachos]

Tomorrow ep 8

I just went down the twitter rabbit hole and I can't get out of it.

SPOILER AHEAD

Twitter theorized that Park Joong Gil is Koo Ryeon's husband in the past life, this one I think it's already popular but the next theory is going to blow people's minds. So...Koo Ryeon married Park Joong Gil. Park Joong Gil had to go to war, meanwhile, Koo Ryeon was pregnant with their child. Because she was pregnant during the time he was away from home, rumours start about the child not being his, which explains the scene where she was being hit by rocks. In this scene, her hair is up which would mean that she is married. Park Joong Gil comes back and finds out what happens to his wife. He could be triggered after the war, hence going on a killing spree. This is why he said "I will kill anyone who talk bad (talking about his wife)" and Koo Ryeon comes to see her husband and ask him "Is this how you were thought to wield your sword?", this is his nightmare scene. The next part we don't know much yet, but it's been speculated that she killed herself with the child still in her womb from all the things that has happened. This is the one that got me: People believe that Jun Woong is the reincarnation of their child. 🤯

When he first came to Jumadeung, the director told him he has a hard time finding jobs due to bad luck from his past lives, it could be because of his death from his mother's suicide which as already established is a big no no. Koo Ryeon was sent to hell for taking her life, her red string severed because of it until the director comes to strike a deal. Maybe the deal is for her to see her husband and child again, but not knowing who they are. Either she doesn't know who they are or she knows she's looking for someone, but she doesn't know who she was looking for, which is why she didn't realise she already found them. The director said to Joong Gil that nightmares may be from past regrets and his regret could be not saving his wife and son, which is why he is so against suicide while she sympathies with people who are on the verge of taking their lives.

If these theories are true that would mean the scene where the Joong Gil and Jun Woong were scammed by cults is literally them saying "LIKE FATHER LIKE SON"

*screams*

Someone is saying that in the webtoon, Koo Ryeon had two children and everyone are speculating that it could be Ryung Goo. If this is true and is the reason why in the intro there's a thin red line across each character, symbolizing that each character could be connected to one another and this a FREAKING FAMILY DRAMA THAT NO ONE KNEW WE WERE WATCHING...I AM GOING TO DIE.

This is too much theorizing I can't, I'm on an adrenaline rush.

Edit: Sorry to burst your bubble people. From one delulu to another, I’m very sorry to say that this trope ain’t happening. We get half a family drama *cue sad music* 😞

[mysticmoon02]

Borderline Personality Disorder

One of the symptoms of borderline personality disorder is “impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self damaging”.

Not everyone with BPD is impulsive but impulsivity is considered a “severe” symptom because the consequences can be so extreme.

Let’s try to better understand this symptom

What it looks like

BPD impulsivity usually shows up as what we call “delay discounting”.

This means people with BPD tend to prefer the immediate award, no matter how big a reward (or consequence) in the future may be.

People with BPD also have a hard time ignoring negative emotions, which make it very hard to think clearly while upset.

Examples of delay discounting.

going on a shopping spree when you have bills to pay next week.

Using substances tonight when you have an important test in the morning.

Rage quitting your job after a disagreement with the manager.

Staying up late doing something fun but you have school early tomorrow.

How it works

First, the person with BPD has an unpleasant emotional experience.

When presented with any chance to change the way they feel, they take it without thinking about the consequences.

The impulsive behavior changes the negative emotions in the short term, which reinforces the behavior and makes it more likely next time.

Why does it happen

Delay discounting is theorized to be caused by a combination of two factors:

Genetic impulsivity (roughly 50%) +

Childhood adverse events (roughly 50%) =

Preference for immediate reward

The more trauma you had growing up, the more likely you are to be an impulsive adult.

Trauma teaches us that things aren’t fair, the world isn’t safe, and people aren’t trustworthy.

So why wouldn’t you take what you can get, when you can get it?

And why would you believe that something better is coming?

I want to end on a hopeful note.

Just because we know that genetics and childhood experiences contribute to adult impulsivity. Doesn’t mean you are doomed to be this way forever.

Mindfulness practice, medication, DBT skills, therapy, and a variety of other factors can help you become less impulsive.

It’s hard work but know it’s worth it💜

[jcmorrigan]

I don’t know how much meta or theorizing there is about VTSOM Chapter 4 already, so if this is already something that’s been brought up, I apologize in advance.

But I wanna talk about the cup.

All of this is conjecture and theorizing. I don’t claim any of this to be true. But this connection clicked in my mind and it explains the whole ending and why the next two chapters are another route, so I want it out there.

Let’s start at the end. Infiltrator and their red-text friend (I had mistakenly been calling Infiltrator the red-text one but then realized it was the other way around) are discussing that Vanora only destroyed the Edgeworths because she’d received ONLY the memories of herself being Myers’ right-hand and vowing to kill them. She never saw herself being anything else but a bad person. And that the alternate route, in theory, is gonna be her getting the whole picture of her past and realizing what she can change. (I think the implication is they want her to work with Vincent to bring down Myers, judging by the way they said the two were “turned against each other.”)

Now back to the cup. When Vanora finds it, she’s in a room that Vincent has built specifically for her to solve puzzles in. Everything in that room belongs to him, and this is made VERY clear by the subsequent reveal. The books are his. The photos are his. Everything there is his. But when the cup falls out and breaks, he has what appears to be a mild panic attack. As though he wasn’t expecting the cup. As though it’s the one thing in the room he didn’t put there.

But of course, to say that would be to relinquish his sense of control over the situation.

He’s told Vanora to use her memory powers to access the cyborg room. She uses the cup as the catalyst for it. The cup leads her to a memory of Myers, in which she sees herself calling Myers “like a father” to her while the cup perches on his desk filled with hot chocolate. The cup definitely belongs to Myers, and it is attached to the strongest memory of her being on HIS side of the conflict.

Furthermore, in that memory, she’s able to see documents that give her the solution to the cyborg room puzzle. But here’s the thing. Myers gave her a big old “hint hint” as to what she might find. Those documents would’ve made NO sense to her until months later, when she was in that basement with Vincent. In the timeframe of the actual memory, she would’ve walked out thinking “What was that about?”.

When she comes back, she’s able to solve the puzzle, but also gets her little specter telling her to “kill that man” (i.e. Vincent). She didn’t have that reminder until she’d touched the cup.

So, to distill my points:

-Infiltrator and friend say that Vanora only got the bad memories of herself doing Myers’ dirty work.

-The strongest of these memories triggered when she touched the cup, and afterward, she received a vision that encouraged her to keep on that path. That cup held the bulk of her memories about “the mission.”

-Why would Myers invite her to a private meeting to show her things that wouldn’t be relevant until months later to her? Unless...he knew she would be coming back to that very point in time, using an item that he’d planted at the scene for her to read.

-Vincent was surprised to see the cup in his perfectly planned room. It belonged to the man Vincent is trying to destroy.

What am I saying? I think Myers or one of his associates (we now know he has several agents; Vanora was supposed to be one, he has Chaser, Dino is obviously Janitor, and Infiltrator was originally on his side) planted that cup in Vincent’s puzzle room, somewhere it would fall and catch Vanora’s attention. Myers invited her all those years ago so he could tie the memory to that cup. When she found it, months later, it took her right back to a mental confirmation that she works for Myers and no one else. Just like he planned.

I think Vanora’s entire little murder spree at the end hinged on that very cup. That it was an act of sabotage by Myers. And that the alternate path will take her somewhere she can become a better person because she will find other things to trigger her memory before she ever finds that little white mug.

[bleachbleachbleach]

Can you talk about some favorite ships/pairings you two have in common? This blog is so fun btw!

Aww thank you! We're glad you find it fun to visit!

Unfortunately it's not a very shippy blog, and neither of us really align our fannishness in that way. We don't have any inherent love for any particular ships, so it's mostly about our interest in whatever the fanfic/art chooses to do with it! Also 💖💖 GEN 💖💖~

As far as ships we specifically have in common, the three we've come to on our own and legitimately talked about the most in this, the year 2022, are:

BRMverse: Byakuya/Aizen/Hitsugaya

See: This post, this post and this post, which is really all the explanation this one needs. But for the sake of being thorough, some important context: If you haven’t seen the Bleach Rock Musicals, the #1 thing you need to know is that everyone is very definitely fucking absolutely everyone else. It is one big horny tuneless orgy. Whether you ship anything outside of BRMverse or not, every ship is canon in the World of BRM. This isn’t part of the ship in question (BRM!Hitsugaya is perpetually on a spree) but like, there is also no gen explanation for this:

Like, WHAT IS THAT. WHAT WAS THAT.

WHAT IS THIS FACE:

BRM is an entity unto itself, but BRM!Hitsugaya is an Entity. I love him.

BRM/Manga Spreadverse Xover: Byakuya/Zaraki/Hitsugaya

The irrefutable proof of the canonicity of this pairing is in the fact that Byakuya and Zaraki have color-coordinated their outfits here:

Did they leave the house together? Make arrangements beforehand? Psychically gravitate toward the same color combination? Who knows but they're on a wavelength. Please also note that if cared for differently, Zaraki's hair could mimic Byakuya's. In this scenario, maybe Sasakibe, Zaraki’s #1 bathhouse bro, helps him out with this. Just imagine: The Kuchiki-Zaraki wedding, Zaraki in full kenseikan. Byakuya in... bells? 

Where is Hitsugaya in this equation? Well, uh.... idk, there are dragons on Zaraki's shirt and he was in the previous thruple. After Aizen's defection, BRMverse Byakuya and Hitsugaya needed someone to fill the Aizen-shaped hole in their lives (.̷̦̔.̴̣̅.̸̰͝A̴̺͠Ń̸̞D̴̯̒ ̷̳̑T̸̜̈́H̴̖͆Ḛ̴̈́I̸̻̅R̵̦̆ ̵̗̍B̵͎̀Ẻ̶̼D̸̺̒.̷̪͒.̵̢̕.̸̟́). Also, the three of them legit bonded during the Reigai arc. Maybe he's their polyamorous weekend warrior who comes over on Sundays to play boardgames and eat brunch.

Bleach, No Caveats: Hisagi/Akon

Okay, this one is more serious. I would totally write this one. (edit: after writing the entire spiel I realize it does not sound serious. I promise you if I wrote it it would be severely serious.) 

Akon has the hookup on torrents from the Living World, and is somewhat well-known in various circles for being a big movie buff. He's also the only one in Soul Society who has watched all of the Fast and Furious movies with Hisagi. We're talking all 9, AND the two shorts, AND Hobbes & Shaw. Akon does not like the Fast and Furious movies. He only tolerates them. But there is no truer expression of love than watching all of the Fast and Furious movies with someone. What does Akon get out of this? Well, Hisagi immediately volunteers to watch any movie that Akon wants to watch, too--which is a blank check that no one else in all of the 12th has ever agreed to, with good reason. And Hisagi will sit through Akon’s long meditations on film theory and the French New Wave, and its connections to similar movements after the Iranian Revolution--and seems to mostly understand them, to boot.

But the main boon here is Hisagi's own meditations on The Fast and the Furious--the postmodern cinematography of 2 Fast 2 Furious, etc. Most of it has absolutely no basis in any reality, but that's what makes Hisagi's takes so interesting. He can take the clunkiest, most thematically vapid flick and turn it into an ambitious theorization of... Paul Walker's T-shirt colors? Thrilling.

Akon often makes a point of weaving subtle references or lines from the Fast movies into conversation with Hisagi, just so Hisagi knows he was paying attention. Memory for random and inconsequential detail is Hisagi's love language, so... If Akon so much as utters the phrase "precision drivers" it's blush city.

To demonstrate how serious we are about this, I want to point out that Hisagi/Akon’s Dieselsexual relationship is one of this blog’s longest-standing headcanons:

Akon’s birthday gift to Hisagi was agreeing to watch “the new Fast and Furious” with him (given that the release of Fast movies over the last 20 years has been very consistent, this holds valid for basically any point in Bleach canon).

Hisagi’s style cues were clearly inspired by The Fast and the Furious, too.

[raamitsu]

⚠️ tokyo revengers chapter 216 spoilers ⚠️

well i'm just going to do some revisions lol. everyone might have read the chapter already + some theories going on around the same time. there will be a little bit of spoilers for chapter 217 so read it at your own risk.

so i'm gonna start with the big reveal of senju's actual gender, a woman... a badass woman 😌

beforehand, in chapter 215, senju told takemichi to wait for her @ harajuku at 3pm. then, in chapter 216 they went to do some shopping spree together. she had takeomi's black card and told her to do something ladylike.

so who's takeomi ? before this, he was known as one of the living legends along with wakasa and keizo. he's the vice president of the first generation of a gang called black dragon.

then, it was revealed by senju to be her big brother. their family name was akashi, and senju revealed her real name instead of her professional name that she used when she's in brahman. she wasn't just hiding her gender identity but faking her name as well...

what's more shocking is that sanzu, the tokyo manji kai's ex-vice captain of 5th division who currently joined kantou manji, was also senju's big brother. furthermore, sanzu's real name was revealed to be haruchiyo akashi. apparently sanzu was just a fake name as well.

fun fact: there were a few theories about the relation between sanzu and senju when senju was introduced for the first time in tr verse. people thought they're siblings only by the same eyelashes and it ended up being canon by the author LOL

this means after the sano's, we have another family issue to keep up with 🤣

akashi family: the mysterious three siblings.

the members: takeomi, haruchiyo, and senju.

next, this panel where senju talked about how sanzu didn't even interested about them. the way senju talked about him, it seemed like he got something that make people curious: why would he did that?

one reliable source said that sanzu was the second kisaki, well... you know what it is. the way he lied to mucho about being the only child in his family, knowing very well he had another two siblings, not even when he faked his own name too, this proved that he's a manipulative and dangerous person.

when he was killing mucho, he said something about "fooling them all along." that just showed how mysterious he could be. if you think about it, there were no stories about him before and in the tenjiku arc. right after the arc ends, his little backstory was introduced in chapter 206. it was the beginning of his plot. no wonder senju called themselves the mysterious three siblings...

so they're actually were having this kind of conversation while the two enjoyed their day together going around places. when senju was about to go home, she showed an interest to hang out and eat ice cream with takemichi in another time. then, takemichi giggled with the way senju put the popsicle stick in her mouth like a pacifier and asked her to throw it to him. suddenly, out of nowhere, a new vision appeared: senju's death.

probably most of you have read the theory:

the popsicle stick was familiarly shaped like a katana, looked at it with a glance and we saw it ; which only brought us back to chapter 206 where sanzu was using a katana to kill off mucho. that was one hell of a foreshadow! people theorized that sanzu probably is the one who kills senju.

sanzu aka haruchiyo akashi with his katana.

i can say that the future that takemichi foresaw will possibly happen if he doesn't do something to change it. another one to support this theory, when senju was visiting a store with the "suicide" signboard above. (i forgot the name of the person who made this theory but it's all thanks to them we got another lead!)

noticed the jacket? it's quite similar to the one mucho wore when he played chess with sanzu in the same chapter where he also got killed 💀👀

i was wondering, if these theories ain't correct then idk what else anymore. wakui cannot just give us something so easy to notice and predict then *BOOM* plot twist 😭

in the end of chapter, takemichi was shocked with what he just forsaw. well, me too.

btw, i read some spoilers for ch217 from the same source that :

takemichi's friend, yamagishi will be involved in the next chapter to explain about the backstory of sanzu and his scar. (this dude also knows too much, aren't he?)

there is something going wrong with the akashi siblings (too obvious) especially sanzu.

another obvious speculation is that sanzu could be involved with senju's death.

i have some questions :

— if only "sanzu kills senju" theory is true, i'm wondering why and what makes him so motivated to kill her sister? is it only because he is so dedicated to protect his king, mikey, that he doesn't give a damn about others?

— why mikey is so damn important to him? they aren't family to begin with, and they're not even a close relative.

— other than being manipulative, is sanzu could possibly delusional too ?

— the whereabouts of hanma is still unknown and right now i have another person in mind who could possibly be another time leaper. so i wonder if it's true that there is another time leaper or is there something different that might be very complicated to deal with?

— something or someone kinda bugs me a lot even though they don't get a lot of plots.

that's all for today! looking forward to chapter 217 today 😆

[thecleverdame]

Caught - Part One

Sam x Reader

Summary: You're arrested and interrogated as an accomplice to the notorious Winchester brothers.

Warning: Talk of past violence, death of parents, rape and abuse.

Words: 3.5k

Beta:  ilikaicalie

Part 2, 3 & 4 are available now on my Patreon for a monthly pledge of 2.50. This pledge includes early access to all my stories and Patreon exclusive content.  >> CLICK HERE <<

-

“Y/N.” Detective Marlow says your name as if you’ve been sent to the principal's office, slapping a file folder on the table in front of you with the flare of a television detective. “I have to admit, I’ve been looking forward to the day I got to talk to you in person.”

“Well,” you sit back in your seat, holding out your hands for her to uncuff you. “I hope I live up to expectations.”

“I have no doubt you will.” She grins, unlocking the restraints. “I’d ask if I need to worry about you, but you’re not the violent one. Sam and Dean take care of the dirty work, don’t they?”

You try not to react when she says their names. The police don’t really care about you, but they’ve got a hard on for the Winchesters. Bringing in the famous brothers would make for a pretty sizeable notch in someone’s belt, commendations up the wazoo.

This bitch wants the big prize.

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.” You blink and she snorts in response.

“That how you wanna play it?” She pinches her lips, nodding to herself. “You know, you don’t have to be afraid of me. I know what happened to you. I’ve got a pretty good idea of what you’ve been through and I want to help you.”

“Whatever you think you know, you don’t,” you spit back.

“Tell you what,” Marlow offers. “I’m just gonna ask you some questions and you can choose what you want to tell me. Sound good?”

“I don’t think I have a choice.” Shifting the chair you look around the windowless room, a touch of claustrophobia setting in.

“Did Sam kill your family by himself or was Dean with him?” She hits you with that one out of nowhere.

Your entire body goes stiff, closing your eyes for a brief moment and sucking in a breath to control your emotions. It’s been almost five years but it never gets any easier.

“Get fucked,” you grit, leering at her.

“I’ve got a theory about the boys,” she continues while you find a chip in the paint on the wall, a focal point to keep yourself grounded. “Everyone thinks Dean is the crazy one, a real piece of work. But I think Dean’s the only one who’s gotten caught. I think Sam is the real monster. He’s a sadist and murderer. Sam likes to hurt people.”

“Dean does have questionable impulse control,” you smirk, forcing any reaction other than crawling under the table. While you come off as having a tough exterior the truth is that you’re not good at this kind of thing, your anxiety is spiraling, heart rate picking up to a gallop.

“Let me tell you what I think happened and then you can fill in the details.” She flips the chair around, straddling it. “We theorize that Sam picked you out ahead of time. He stalked you, watched you for weeks. We have him on CCTV waiting for you to leave the gym, following you home from the grocery store. Sam watched you for a long, long time. He waited until the perfect moment and then he broke into your apartment and slaughtered your parents and the family dog.”

“You don’t know anything about what happened that night.” You swallow the grief that instantly bubbles up from your gut.

“But we do know. We know he dragged you out of the building kicking and screaming.”

She methodically pulls several photos from the folder, placing them in a line face-up on the table. They’re a series of still shots from the grainy black and white security camera in your parent's apartment building. In the first picture, Sam has you by the arm, both of you are covered in blood. His face is stoic but you’re in obvious distress. In the second you’re pulling away from him, trying to run. In the third, Sam has you slung over his shoulder.

“I know you didn’t want to go with him.” She taps the last photo of your ass in the air.

“You don’t know shit,” you murmur, clasping your hands together in your lap.

“Everyone thought you were dead. We assumed Sam used you for whatever he wanted and left your body somewhere. You were in the wind for almost five years. You can imagine how surprised we were when we ran prints from the museum B&E and it came back with three matches. Sam, Dean and you.”

“Honestly,” you shrug. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Five Years Ago...

You’re ninety-nine percent sure you’re having an out of body experience.

The car jerks as the big guy in the driver's seat hits the accelerator. The gears shift stubbornly, your body lurching forward against the seat belt. It’s a car he hot-wired a state back. It seems possible he might not even know how to drive a stick, but that’s not stopping him from pushing the speedometer past 90 miles per hour...then 100. You wonder for a split second what kind of damage there would be if you jumped from a vehicle at this speed. Visions of flayed skin and bloody pavement snap you back to the reality around you.

Please God, don’t let him be some kind of sadistic killer. You owe me.

You sit, hands folded tight in your lap, and watch the cityscape whizzing past. Squinting as the wind whips through the open window. The two of you are driving fast and far: destination unknown.  The sun is beginning to set over the horizon, throwing a golden glow that would be picturesque if your mother’s blood wasn’t drying under your fingernails.

“Where are we going?” Your voice falls deadpan, flatlined like the rest of your dormant body that refuses to move. There are a myriad of questions that you know you should be asking; for instance, a simple:

Who the hell are you?

What the fuck happened back there?

Can you pull over so I can puke?

A whole other side of your brain whispers for you to be quiet. Maybe he’ll let you go if you just sit still and shut up.

“Who are you?” You let your eyes stutter to the side to cheat a look at him. His grip on the steering wheel is so tight his knuckles are turning white, skin ready to split like a cheap dress tearing at the seams.  

After a moment his mouth twitches, followed by a cock of his head.

“I’m Sam.”

The dark aggression in his stare has vanished. The blood-chilling glare he wore standing in your home earlier that night is just a memory. Judging by the fact that you’re still in one piece you hope he’s not an immediate threat.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he confirms right on cue.

His voice is surprisingly soft for all the yelling he’d been doing at your house. Memories of his booming voice mix with bloody screams – your mother pleading, begging for her life. Then the gurgling sound when her throat was - you push it back out of your head. It’s too much.

You catch a glimpse of yourself in the rearview mirror and it’s only then the realization hits that you’re having a panic attack. Your body feels like dead weight, calm as a cucumber; however, your reflection clearly shows your red, swollen face covered in tears and shaking violently.

This all feels like waking up from a dream.

Your body begins to hyperventilate and you’re powerless to stop it.

“Where are you taking me?” you plead in labored breaths. “You have to pull over, I have to…I have to call my aunt.”

“I can’t do that.” He chews his lip and looks at you with genuine concern. “You need to calm down, you’re gonna pass out.”

“My family…” your words are swallowed by your throat as you struggle for breath.

He reaches over placing a large hand on your thigh, squeezing to get your attention. “Hey, look at me...right here…I’m gonna make sure you’re okay, stay with me…”

He’s still talking when your vision goes hazy and you fall into an abyss. The last physical sensation you have is his hand violently shaking your arm and then everything fades to black. Out like a light in the passenger seat of a stolen BMW, next to a strange man with a destination yet to be determined.

Present Day

“He really did a number on you, huh?” The Detective places both forearms on the table, leaning closer. “I’m not even going to pretend that I know what you went through the last couple of years. I can only imagine the kind of horrors the Winchesters put your through. But I need you to think clearly now. This your chance to get your life back.”

She thinks Sam abducted you, they all do. The police are convinced that Sam murdered your family, kidnapped and raped you and then somehow brainwashed you into staying with him. You’ve read the police reports and seen the warrants for his arrest. They think he’s the worst of the worst.

“Sam would never hurt me.” You sit back in the chair. “He’d never make me do anything I didn’t want to do.”

“Oh really?” She pouts out her bottom lip, turning over her iPad. “I wanna show you something.”

She swipes her fingers over the screen, pulling up a video and turning it around for you to watch.

It’s a bloodbath right from the get-go. Dean shoots a man, the overnight front desk at a shitty motel, in the back of the head at point blank range. Sam not far behind and he’s got you by the arm.

You glance up at Marlow, shifting in your seat, unsure of what you’re about to watch.

The three people on the screen are not you, Sam and Dean. They’re leviathan that crossed the country on an interstate killing spree that nearly got you all arrested. But there’s no explaining that to the detective.

Sam stops to yell something at you. The video is silent but you can see Fake Sam in your face, pointing a finger before shoving you backward violently. When you stand up and shout back at him, he slaps you across the face so hard you spin and collapse to the ground.

Fake Sam pulls you back up as you fight him, grabbing you by the hair until you have to stand on your toes. He releases your hair as one hand curls around your throat. Your mouth opens and closes like a gasping fish, clawing at his hands. Once you’re compliant, he bends you over the desk, pinning your arms above your head.

You look away, unable to keep from sneaking glances as the Sam on the screen pulls your jeans down and rapes you.

If you didn't know better, you’d think he was a monster too.

“You wanna see the money shot or should I stop now?” she asks, tapping the screen to pause the video. “Toward the end, things get even harder to watch. You must have said something to really piss him off because he...well I’m sure you remember. But he’d never hurt you right?”

The leviathans did this on purpose, it was all part of a series of calculated acts to make Sam and Dean look like the worst possible guys on the planet. It did the trick, they’re still at the top of the most wanted list.

“We’re into roleplaying,” you retort, feeling the heat of frustration rise in your cheeks.

“Yeah,” she snorts. “I bet.”

Five Years Ago

Your father’s voice brings you back, calling out of the pitch black and beckoning you back to the land of the living. He sounds the same as when he woke you up for school when you were a kid. Every morning he’d whisper the same thing; open your eyes sugar, time to face the world.

When you come to, the pounding in your head hits you like a freight train. Then the immediate overwhelming odor of alcohol that makes you want to wretch. You squish a sour face, slowly opening your eyes after a series of painful blinks.

The big guy is still there. It was no dream.

Sam is still behind the wheel, but now the car is parked in the lot of a Walgreens. He’s pouring a bottle of rubbing alcohol over his bleeding knuckles like it’s no big deal. You watch in silence as he holds his arm over the pavement and pours again until blood washes away, his hand glistens in the night air.

A minivan pulls up beside you, Sam watches carefully as an intoxicated middle aged man stumbles toward the store.  From the full moon overhead you guess it must be well into the night. You clear your throat and he looks back at you.

“You alright?” Sam asks.

He sounds half concerned and half accusatory. As if all this was an inconvenience, somehow your own fault.  Like he hadn’t thrown you over his shoulder and carried you kicking and screaming away from your dead family.

“I uh,” you shake your head. “I don’t even know how to begin to answer that.”

“Fair enough,” he nods matter-of-factly and offers you a battered hand mirror from his lap. “I took care of your arm while you were out, you might want to do your own face.”

You glance down to the bandage around your forearm. The assailant sliced you open like melted butter. Lifting the edge of the bandage you can see a series of crude stitches as you cringe.

“That’s gonna be a really awesome scar, dude, thanks,” you huff, shaking your head.  Whoever this guy is you should have known he wasn’t going to swing by the emergency room.

“You were out and you just kept bleeding. Sorry.” Sam’s tone is forced. He’s trying to remain cordial, but his non-verbals are howling ungrateful bitch.

The mirror is dirty, but clear enough to get a stomach churning look at yourself. You’re not surprised to find your right eye is swollen, a nasty shade of black. It almost looks as gruesome as the split in your upper lip. Your face inexplicably begins to throb for the first time when you see how bad the damage is.

“Here,” Sam hands you a freshly opened package of aspirin and a bottle of water. You sit in silence as you shift in your seat, wiping your eyes out of habit only to discover your cheeks are wet.

“I didn’t even know I was crying. Jesus Christ.” Your tongue darts to the cut on your lip sending a jolt of pain to every other battered part of your body. “I just, I need you to tell me what���s happening, I don’t…”

“You’re in shock, it’s totally normal after what you just went through.” He doesn’t look at you. You could be wrong but he sounds…irritated. “We can talk about the rest later, when you’re not so worked up.”

“Yeah, well, thanks for helping, or saving me or whatever that was.” You stumble to find the right words.

Sam doesn’t answer; instead he runs a hand through his hair and turns the key in the ignition.

Present Day

“She’s not talking.” Detective Marlow bites off the end of a granola bar, watching you through the one-way glass.

“Does that surprise you?”

“The Winchesters did a number on her.” Marlow’s eyes never leave you, running a hand over her jaw. “This shit we saw on the tapes is just the tip of the iceberg. She’s lived through hell, she survived with those two psychopaths the only way she knew how, she assimilated. You can’t blame her.”

“You’re probably right,” Buck nods. “Poor kid got passed around by two brothers.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Marlow looks at Buck. “Sam Winchester doesn’t strike me as a guy who likes to share his toys. I don’t see him letting Dean anywhere near his little obsession.”

“Well, either way, she’s gonna be a tough nut to crack.” He hikes his pants up under his gut. “We opened her phone. Most of her texts have been erased, but there are a few videos on her Google Drive.”

“Videos of what?”

“Sex, sucking and fucking. Nothing out of the ordinary if Sam wasn’t a world class psycho. But watching these you’d think they were a couple of newlyweds.”

“It looks consensual?” Marlow nods. It doesn’t surprise her. After years of tracking the Winchesters and looking into your disappearance, she’s become convinced that you’re suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. It does make it harder for her to work her angle, she wants to turn you. Get you to talk and kill two birds with one stone. Put the Winchesters behind bars and rescue you from years of assault and abuse.

“You tell me.” Buck taps the screen and a series of moans float out from the speakers.

“Fuck, Sam, so good like that.” Your voice whines.

“Jesus,” Marlow takes the phone, watching a homemade porno of Sam’s face buried between your legs, two bigs hands hooked under your knees, keeping you spread open as he eats you out with unrestrained enthusiasm.

“Please,” you beg, two hands in his hair. “Fuck me.”

“Anything you want, baby.” Sam’s head pops up from between your thighs, smiling with a glistening chin as he crawls over you like a predator, thick shoulders flexing as he gets closer to the camera. “You need my cock tonight?”

“Need you so bad,” you pant, pulling him down into a kiss.

“I don’t need to see any more of this, not right now anyway.” Marlow pushes the phone away.

“That’s not even the good part.” Buck slides the video forward, stopping toward the end.

Sam’s fucking you from behind, curled over your back as you arch back to catch his mouth in a kiss. Your voice is clear as day as you mumble against his lips, “love you so much.”

“I haven’t watched them all yet, but it’s not the only profession of love on these tapes. However this started, she’s all in now. You’re gonna have one hell of a time painting her as the victim to the DA.”

--

“I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot.” The detective sits down across from you. “I understand you’ve been through more than most people would be able to handle. You don’t think you can trust me and I get that, I do. But all I want is to understand what happened to your family and what happened to you.”

“Stop trying to sweet-talk me.” You glare, clenching your jaw. You hate talking about your family. Sam’s been the only person who can get you to open up about it without falling apart.

“Help me understand why you’re protecting someone who would do such awful things to you?”

“I already told you,” you grit. “Sam isn’t this terrible guy you’re making him out to be.”

“We both watched the same thing.” She taps the iPad. “Look, no judgment from me. You’ve spent a lot of time with the guy. I think, given your circumstances, it’s natural to develop feelings over time. We can talk through this, help me understand what’s really going on here. Why are you covering for him?”

“You wouldn’t understand if I explained it to you.”

“Why? Because you love him?” she presses.

You can’t help your reaction, eyes darting up to look at her face.

You’re not entirely sure Sam is even alive right now. He was in the middle of a knock down, drag-out battle with the Devil himself when you were picked up by police. The last thing you said to you him was see you in a few and now you wish you’d picked a more profound choice of words.

“Because, it’s...complicated,” you shrug, staring at the table.

“Complicated like falling for the guy who beats you? Forced himself on you?” Her voice softens, leaning in. “You know Y/N, just because you’re having consensual sex with him now, doesn’t mean what he did to you back then wasn’t wrong.”

“Fuck,” you mutter, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks. You know full well they must have hacked your phone. You should have deleted those fucking videos. “That guy, the one who hurt that girl in the video, that wasn’t Sam and it wasn’t me.”

“Oh?” Marlow nods, sitting back in her seat, crossing arms over her chest.

“Oh?” You parrot back, sick of her condescending tone.

“I think we need to stop.”

“Why the sudden change?” Your eyes narrow, senses on high alert.

“Full transparency,” she leans forward, sliding her chair back. “I’m going to ask for a psychiatric evaluation.”

“You think I'm crazy?” You snort.

“No, I think Sam and Dean Winchester did a lot of damage. And we need to know exactly how much.”

[aion-rsa]

Ghost Adventures Checks into the Cecil Hotel: Zak Bagans on Investigating the Crime Landmark

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In Stephen King’s novel The Shining, the Overlook Hotel is an expansive structure with a dark past, located in the remote Rocky Mountains. Despite its opulent beginnings, the hotel becomes a place where brutal murders occur, madness sets in, ghosts lurk, and evil itself is a permanent occupant.

Relocate King’s Overlook to Downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row, and you have its closest real-world equivalent: the Cecil Hotel. The hotel’s checkered history, and lore involving curses and ghosts, has made it a dark tourism landmark situated at the crossroads of true crime and paranormal fascination. But despite lots of interest on the internet, the Cecil, since rebranded as Stay on Main Hotel, has never officially permitted cameras inside for a paranormal investigation.

Until now. Enter Zak Bagans.

(Disclaimer: I have previously worked with Zak Bagans on television shows, and currently appear as an expert on the Travel Channel series Paranormal Caught on Camera.)

Executive producer and star of Ghost Adventures, the long-running paranormal reality series on Travel Channel, Bagans leads his team of investigators on an exploration of a location he calls “spectacularly frightening” in Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel, a two-hour special streaming exclusively on the new Discovery+ service.

For fans of the ghost-TV genre, Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel boasts evidence of scratches, disembodied voices, light anomalies, a faucet seemingly turned on by an invisible force, and more. But regardless of one’s personal beliefs about the unexplained, the special lives up to its hype of a “first time ever” examination of the infamous hotel.

Bagans tells Den of Geek the special is also a culmination of a decade-long pursuit that began “before Elisa even died.”

The “Elisa” that Bagans refers to is Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian student with a kind, sarcastic sense of humor who loved fashion and Harry Potter; she frequently blogged observations about guys she liked, figuring out a place in the world, as well as her own insecurities and mental health struggles. Lam was a daughter and sister, and a real person on a journey of self-discovery before her life ended too soon, and she made the Cecil internet famous. 

While on a solo trip to California in 2013, she went missing and died while staying at the hotel. An elevator surveillance video showed the young woman acting erratically as she pushed buttons, paced in and out of the elevator, and even appeared to be hiding from someone. Her body was discovered in a rooftop water tank weeks after she disappeared. Despite her death being ruled accidental, with her bipolar disorder deemed a contributing factor, questions remained as to how Lam could have gained access to the roof or closed the lid to the tank from within.

But before that two-and-half minute viral video made Lam a popular topic for podcasts — and before American Horror Story: Hotel drew inspiration from the landmark’s past — the Cecil’s reputation was more tied to tragedy than travel despite its beginnings in 1924 as an LA destination, complete with a grandiose lobby.

Multiple suicides took place at the Cecil as well as infanticide and the unsolved murder of Goldie Osgood in 1964. Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, was reportedly seen in the hotel bar in the days leading up to her murder in 1947, and two serial killers are known to have stayed there – including Richard Ramirez, who committed a murder spree in the 1980s, and the investigation of whom is the focus of the Netflix documentary series Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer.

“I knew the history of Richard Ramirez there, and the deaths, and knew it was a big creepy building,” Bagans says.

Although prior attempts to gain permission to film there had been rejected, he thinks maybe the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing shutdowns convinced the hotel’s owners to allow it because of the location fee paid by production. “Or maybe they had things happening to themselves and had enough of it,” Bagans says.

Either way, Cecil fits neatly into Bagans’ pursuits, and it comes as no surprise that the hotel has long been on his bucket list. He has a fascination with the darker sides of this world — as well as the next. When not investigating the paranormal on television, he collects and exhibits haunted dolls and possessed possessions, along with “murderabilia” from serial killers, such as drawings by Ramirez.

“I collect his things. I have his death row TV, his sketches, his clothing,” says Bagans before adding, “I study these people.” Bagans says he even visited the Concordia cemetery in El Paso, Texas, where Ramirez “got started” and was said to practice satanic rituals.

As a result, Bagans believes that Ramirez was engaged in a “top-tier possession” with the horrors he was committing ultimately in the devil’s name. Bagans doesn’t give a pass to the murderer but does theorize that the serial killer was generating more negative energy and entities at the hotel.

Saying he believes the Cecil is “saturated with dark energies,” he thinks Ramirez’s satanic rituals added an evil residue to the building. Interestingly, however, Bagans also thinks there’s something supernatural about the grounds upon which the building stands.

Though he references The Shining, he says he also thinks of the Cecil like the vampire-infested strip club in From Dusk Till Dawn. In the final shot of the film, it’s revealed the club sits atop an Aztec temple. Bagans equates the hotel to this, saying it’s part of some ancient “machine.”

“I’ve been to a lot of places throughout the world, but when you walk through the doors of the Cecil Hotel, you know there are other doorways to other worlds,” he says. “If we were to see deeper dimensionally, you would see all these other doors and rooms, and I believe it goes way down into the earth and draws a lot of energy through the earth. It is then magnified by the dark energy and criminal activity of Skid Row, and amplified by the rituals [serial killer] Jack Unterweger and Richard Ramirez did.”

For the Discovery+ special, Bagans says he wanted to be delicate when discussing the circumstances of Lam’s death. He references the hotel’s history of suicide, and murder attributed to temporary insanity, and believes malevolent energies fed off her mental illness and influenced her.

It is admittedly a problematic theory for skeptics and non-believers of the paranormal, but Bagans — like many with lingering questions about Lam’s strange death — looks to her past behavior as telling. Lam had previously disappeared and required treatment but wasn’t known to have suicidal ideations. There were no unusual drugs detected in her system and the initial cause of death was deemed inconclusive.

“It didn’t make sense she was having a manic episode,” he says. “From my research, no one was able to say she had had a manic episode this bad before. If she was having an episode and acting that bad, how could she have taken such a calculated journey to end up in that water tank under that manic sense?”

While Bagans strives not to diminish Lam’s death, he says, “that building has the power to mess with your mind.” During the investigation he says teammate Aaron Goodwin was overcome with feelings of rage, and that his interviewees, including a crime scene photographer, were so disturbed they often needed to leave the hotel.

“You don’t know what you’re feeling there. There’s too many spirits, too much energy.”

Indeed, during the course of the special, the Ghost Adventures crew believe they encounter several spirits, including those of Lam, Ramirez, Osgood, and more. 

For Bagans, investigating Cecil, or even conducting interviews about it, only serves to charge the battery of this machine. But, quoting his favorite film, 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, he says, “there is much to be learned from beasts.” Bagans is seeking to understand the unknown despite the risks.

Whether or not viewers of Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel choose to share his paranormal theories about the building — or simply view it as a strange nexus of true crime — Bagans says there is no denying its inescapable reputation.

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“You can renovate it, change the name, or paint it a different color, but you’re never going to erase the darkness of the Cecil Hotel.”

Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel is available to stream on Discovery+.

Subscribe to Den of Geek magazine for FREE right here!

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[sk8terzz]

OK WAIT VAMPIRE AU AND IM LIVING FOR IT i have a shit ton of headcanons so,,,

here’s a quick summary

Humans hunt vampires and they’re often outcased/killed, although there’s been more recently since they’re learning from a young age to disguise themselves and can now hide their teeth.

also there's a couple types of vampires: some who melt in sun but have wings and can eat normal diets and those who don’t melt in sun, don’t have wings and need a little bit of blood in their diets (but it can be from like,, animals. It doesn’t have to be humans)

the vampires who melt in the sun (ILL CALL EM MELTY BOYS) are super rare so unless stated otherwise, whenever i say “X is a vampire” i'm referring to the not melty ones with no wings

setting/time/almost everything is the same. They are just. Vampires. (THEY LOOK DIFFERENTS TOO SFBDJHG)

also ships include: adrinette/ladynoir, djwifi, julerose, kimax, myvan, nathaniel/marc (I FORGOT THEIR SHIP NAME) and chlolix (chloe/alix)

You can send me ask if you want more details on certain things but yeah

if that interest you there’s more stuff under the cut

here’s what everyone is because its easier

Marinette: vampire *MELTY BOY

Adrien: vampire *MELTY BOY

Nino: human

Alya: half vampire thing?? Idk it just feels right *the sun hurts her skin a little, and she has little wings*

Chloe: vampire

Sabrina: human

Alix: vampire

Kim: human

Max: human

Rose: human

Juleka: vampire *MELTY BOY

Nathaniel: human

Lila: human

Mylene: human

Ivan: vampire

Everyone else is a human except for marc, nathalie and adrien’s mom *MELTY BOY

- marinette feels rlly bad about being a vampire (ALSO she a melty one)

- “TIKKI IM A VAMPIRE BRO I CANT BE LADYBUG”

- can go in the sun for about a minutes before it begins to really hurt so being ladybug isn’t awful cause she can hide in the shade most of the time

- ALWAYS HAS A SUN CAP ON (when she’s marinette) she just wants to be in the sun bro

- some guys start a theory that ladybug’s a vampire and she’s SCREAMING LIKE BRO HOW DO THEY KNOW but it was a joke

- alya is like,, super weird about vampires cause she was taught her whole life to hate vampires by nora because she thinks they’re super dangerous

- at first alya’s like “yeah suck it vampires” and then she learns she’s actually half vampire and she’s kinda like

- “fuck”

- almost rejects the miraculous lb gave her cause she was like “no im kinda vampire”

- but lb just goes “yeah me too so what”

- ALYA FREAKS SHE’S LIKE FUCK YEAH VAMP GANG

- nino’s super chill with her being a vampire!! he finds it rlly cool lol

i feel like i could go into more detail about their relationship but That’s Another Story For Another Day

- adrien kinda hates being a vampire (esp a melty one) and hides it from everyone but plagg

- his dad would kill him for being a vampire because then his son wouldn’t be perfect and that’s not good enough

- felix figures out he’s a vampire but doesn’t tell anyone

- felix isn’t a fan of vampires but respects his cousin and keeps his secret

- hiding his wings is so annoying like??? He wraps them around his body and wears a cap all the time is the WORST

- also same thing as lb he can go in the sun for about a minute as chat noir before he begins to melt

- again i can go into more detail about chat noir/ladybug and marinette/adrien but im trying to keep this kinda short

- CHLOE OH GOD chloe is so scared

- don’t get me wrong she still is mean and petty but she’s really scared someone will find out shes a vampire

- and someone does

- BUT ITS ALIX AND SHES ALSO A VAMPIRE LMAO

- alix is super chill with chloe and is like “hey man i know ur a vampire but i am too”

- after this they both end up getting feeling for each other lol

- THEY BE DATING but that’s a secret

- chloe’s mom knows she’s a vampire because she saw her fangs when she was born which is part of the reason she doesn’t like chloe

- in this au audrey never warms up to chloe instead chloe learns to not give a shit about what her mom thinks (with the help of marinette and ladybug) and tells her off before her mom leaves for new york

- her mom still keeps the fact that chloe’s a vampire a secret from everyone tho

- cause outing someone as a vampire is actually so low that even thought like yeah,, not everyone likes vampires but like no one’s gonna like u either bc you outed them on something so personal and something they trusted you with

- sabrina doesn’t care if chloe’s a vampire she still really cares about her

- but sabrina wouldn’t like it if anyone else was a vampire

- also another thing about chloe she tends to act like she hates vampires to avoid detecting from the Vamp Police 

- ig the vamp police is like sabrina’s dad who really hates vampires and actively looks for them (which is part of the reason sabrina isn’t a big fan of vampires either.)

- they’re not called the vamp police it’s just the police but i like saying that

- like i said before alix is Vampire and basically learns who’s a vampire in the class super quickly

- she knows what to look for when someone’s hiding their identity and knows she’s not the only vampire in the class

- she also figures out everyone’s super hero identities (which is why she gets the rabbit miraculous)

- max knows from stats that it’s likely that there's a couple people in the class who are vampires

- KIM DIDN’T ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT A VAMPIRE WAS BECAUSE HIS FAMILY THOUGHT IT WOULD SCARE HIM SO THEY NEVER TOLD HIM LMAO

- max had to teach him (with the help of alix) what a vampire was but it took like an hour

- the only reason kim actually learned something is because his boyfriend told him that if he paid super close attention (after running through the whole presentation like 3 times) he would give him a smooch

- after that kim grew a big brain and learned everything

- both of their parents and ondine would be super accepting if they were vampires tho

- but they’re both human

- also a little more lore its not biological if you’re a vampire or not it’s purely chance

- Its kinda like being born lgbt ig

- ALSO EVERYONE IS SOME FORM OF LGBT but i have my own hc for that

- lgbt vampires are incredibly oppressed like they can’t go out into the street *pensive*

- ANYWAYS juleka is a melty vampire and rose is a human

- rose’s family is super into hunting vampires 

- rose invited her gf over for a family dinner and the whole time they talked about killing vampires

- juleka doesn’t hate being a vampire and thinks it’s really cool

- SO SHE DRESSES LIKE A VAMPIRE???

- rose had marinette design juleka a sun hat similar to hers because juleka kept forgetting she melts in the sun and went out in it more times then she should’ve

- juleka’s a little bit more outgoing in this au and drops hints that she’s a vampire because she thinks it’s Epic

- rose has to remind her that not everyone thinks it’s epic

- nathaniel is really passionate about vampires and wants to learn more about them

- HE POPPED OFF HARD WHEN HE LEARNED HIS BOYFRIEND’S A VAMPIRE

- nathaniel is so supportive of marc it’s rlly cute

- he has to stop himself from mentioning his bf’s a vampire bc he remembers not everyone thinks it’s as cool as he does

- marc loves that nathaniel is so supportive

- when he first saw nathaniel drawing the class of vampires he just went “fuck he’s the one”

- 100% nathaniel draws marc looking super vampire during class

- i’m just now thinking of akuma’s but like here’s kinda how it would work

- They’re basically the same as they were before (being all evil and shit,, basically the same powers) but i think there would be some story changes??

- lady wifi would be less concerned with lb’s identity and more with if she’s a vampire or not because the cause of her akuma would be her theorizing if lb’s a vamp or not

- causing chloe to make fun of her and say stuff like “cool people can’t be vampires they’re stupid and serve no purpose in life”

- lady wifi doesn’t manage to rip of either lb’s mask for her fake teeth because the costume change also adds fake human teeth to replace the real ones (and you can’t take them off like the mask)

- but lady wifi doesn’t know this so she assumes lb’s not a vampire which she’s disappointed with but alya doesn’t remember this

- BUT the media and chat noir think that she’s not a vampire

- reflekta’s design is a little different but that’s about it

- The change with lady wifi is the only akuma i can think about rn but if i do more headcanons about this i might go more into detail on stuff like that

- CHAT BLANC IS ALSO DIFFERENT

- the build up to the akumatisation is basically the same but adrien realises that lb is marinette and also a melty vampire cause he she’s her melt a little when she leaves the room

- after marinette breaks up with adrien he runs in and transforms 

- after the reveal of adrien’s mom and stuff adrien reveals his wings and tries to kill is dad

- gabriel is disgusted by his son and tells him how disappointed his mother would be

- then chat gets akumatized and stuff

- instead of hitting the moon he’d hit the sun so that he didn’t need to struggle with being a vampire anymore

- he sucks the life out of hawkmoth and claims that he and lb can be together now that there’s no daylight but she says she can live like this which is when he kills her and goes on a murder spree

- then he just sits atop the eiffel tower in complete darkness until past lb shows up with bunnyx and she fixes everything

- his motives are more about disappointing his mother this time and being ashamed about being a vampire

- and also that his wish would be to make it so nobody is a vampire so people wouldn't have to feel ashamed about their identity and hide it all the time

- lb teaches him to love himself and his identity as a vampire and how proud his mother would’ve been of him

- ok enough about chat blanc 

- lila is a human and she acts like she loves vampires 

- but she actually hates them

- she’s super touchy with adrien and he’s even more uncomfortable now cause he knows she’s lying and would hate him when she found his wings

- all the vampires have seen this act before and tell their s/o’s so basically everyone’s against lila except for like maybe sabrina

- no one thinks she’s cool because i hate her

- she still lies about going on rides with prince ali and other stuff 

- WOULD TOTALLY OUT SOMEONE AS A VAMPIRE

- absolute jerk

- her family is known for hunting vampires but she claims she’s different

- ok but ivan is just a sweet vampire trying to keep his identity a secret and mylene is just his support human gf who loves him just the way he is

- ivan doesn’t hate being a vampire but also doesn’t like it cause he’s worried that everyone will say stuff like “i bet you’re a vampire” “you’re a villain and you’re cruel, just like vampires” and other stupid stuff

- he is just a soft man

- MYLENE DEFENDS HIM WITH HER LIFE

- mylene thinks him being a vampire is super cool!!

- they kiss a lot and ivan is worried he’ll bite her but she’s ok with it

- sometimes ivan wishes he was a melty vampire so he could wrap his wings around mylene to cuddle her and stuff

- they are v cute valid couple

- gabriel knows nathalie is a vampire and she knows he knows but neither of them make comments on it

- nathalie does really like vampires and doesnt mind being one herself

- she knows adrien’s a vampire and helps him hide it

- his father likes to know everything about adrien so he tried leaving cups with blood in them in his room to see if he would drink them

- and if he did cause he didn’t know his father was testing him nathalie would just refill them

- she starts keeping blood around the house and gabriel assumes it’s just for her cause he isn’t educated and doesn’t know the difference between rare vamps and the common vamps

- but it’s for adrien

- ALSO LIKE LAST ONE BUT one time lb and chat went out at night to hunt for blood cause they were thirsty but they ran into each other and it was rlly awkward

- but they’re both rlly oblivious and convince each other that they were out for a nightly stroll cause they couldnt sleep

[ratherashleigh]

yall, katie mcgrath did not one, not two, but three interviews this week. i’m shook.

obligatory supercorp content:

"I think that's why people have taken it to heart, because in us making it our own, I think people have been taking it for themselves. Yes, it's similar to what you've seen before, but only in its infancy. I think where it is now, it's become something individual and it's become something that is just theirs, and it's just the show's, and it's just the fans', which I think is what makes it compelling and what's made it so popular as a relationship, that it just exists now as its own thing."

i think what she means is the fans don’t give a shit what the show does, and that’s okay?

"I feel pretty good this year because Lena may not know, but Alex has lost her memory and if Alex doesn't know that Supergirl is her sister, then I think it's OK that Lena doesn't know," she says. "When that happened, I was like, this is amazing, it's no longer all on my shoulders. Her own sister still can't tell, so I'm fine now. I'm like walking in and feeling great now, now that I'm not the only one who doesn't know."

i can actually imagine katie seeing this and i’m cackling.

"See, this is the thing. You don't have just one person with a loaded gun behind Lena's head. The bullet is the knowledge that Kara is Supergirl, and before, it was Lillian who had that, but now you have Lex, who's even more of an unknown quantity, and he's holding that information, and it's almost the information that will completely destroy Lena. He could pull the trigger anytime, and that's an amazing dramatic point to have in a show of at any time, if that trigger's pulled, what that would mean not only for Lena, but what that would mean for Kara and Supergirl. So it's this sort of extra added switch to a bomb that could go off at any time."The common goal of finding and catching Lex helps bridge Lena's relationship with Kara and her relationship with Supergirl, McGrath says. "That kind of unifies them…so you get a more friendly relationship with Lena and Supergirl then you had for a season and a half, and then at the same time, the betrayal of Eve has had the result that I think Lena becomes a whole lot closer to the people that she does trust, and the main person she trusts is Kara, so ironically what that has done is it has brought her closer and more trusting to Kara, which from a viewer's point of view, because you know that Kara has been keeping a secret from her, is so bittersweet to watch because you see Lena start to rely on her even more, but at the same time you're going, oh god, but only if you knew. So it's just an amazing, dramatic quality and this extra sort of delicious ingredient to this whole storyline."

IT’S FINE I DON’T WANT TO CRY OR ANYTHING.

“If and when she finds out that Kara is Supergirl,” McGrath agrees, looms large over Lena right now. “I can’t tell you when it’s going to happen … but if it did, I think the results of that are utnold for what that could mean for Lena, her psyche, her emotional wellbeing, her friendships.” Unlike the recent betrayal by Eve, with her true friend Kara, “I think it’s a greater betrayal, and I think it will have more lasting results on her.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Ironically, what it does is, rather than make her more wary of the people she trusts, it makes her cling onto them even more. So her relationship with Kara is ultimately strengthened by it because she’s driven toward the people she trusts because she’s had yet another person taken away from her — which, especially with Kara, for the viewer watching it, is so heart-rending because she’s growing closer to the friend who she trusts when ultimately the viewers know that this person is also lying to her, for very good reasons and not to hurt her or anything.

is it stupid to hope that last bit matters?

[When we spoke to you at the end of your first season on the show, you said you were happy that Lena was the only person who didn’t know Kara’s secret because it made their relationship special. Two years later, we find out that even Lex knows her secret. Do you still feel that way, or are you dying to join the club now?] No, I still feel that one of the loveliest parts of the Lena-Kara relationship is that Kara can be human and frail and not a hero with somebody — that she can just be Kara Danvers, rather than having to be Supergirl. I think that’s a wonderful thing for Kara to not always have to be the person who has to solve every problem and face the world. I think she needs that. For as long as it may last, I’m very happy for it to be Lena that has that relationship with her. Up until Alex had her mind wiped, Lena was the only person who could have that relationship with her. For Kara, it’s not the same with Alex because Kara knows what’s missing in the relationship and Alex doesn’t.

and literally none of this answer is about how lena. rip me.

anyway, the wild part of this interview spree is that one of them was with the mary fucking sue.

One such factoid that emerged was that Lena’s birth mother was Irish, like McGrath herself. “This is an illustration about how lovely and sweet our writers are,” McGrath laughed. “They do put in little things for us to make us smile.” Further than that, McGrath gushed, “This is why we’re so lucky with this job, that everybody on it cares about you as a human being.”

mhmm, yeah. that’s why they did that.

In the most recent episode, “House of L,” we learned that Lex, like everyone but Lena at this point, knows Supergirl is Kara Danvers. How did that happen? McGrath theorizes that Lillian Luthor told him. “He didn’t figure it out on his own because he’s no smarter than Lena is,” 

S C R E A M I N G.

Lena knows how to prepare herself for hard days, even so, and some of that preparation comes down to the gorgeous fashion McGrath gets to sport (sometimes in places where a cocktail dress isn’t appropriate, but we’re not complaining). No Lena outfit has made as big an impression lately as the plum three-piece suit she wore to work with her brother: “I think, when a woman wants to feel elegant and powerful but in control, a very beautiful, tailored three-piece suit goes a long way to making you feel that … and I think that was part of what was going on there with Lena.” McGrath actually brought the idea of the suit to the costumers, inspired by photos of Cate Blanchett in suits that were “sill feminine but totally in control.” Indeed, Lex may have his “Lexo suit,” but Lena has perfect couture, and I think we all know which one is better.

this interviewer is all of us. and all of us is gaaaaay.

ew:

At the same time, though, Lena will be dealing with her guilt over, well, everything that’s happened: the mayhem that Lex’s nefarious deeds cause, Red Daughter’s existence, and James experiencing the side effects of the Harun-El serum. But she won’t let that guilt get her down.“A lot of what drives Lena in the second half of the season is this need to fix those wrongs that she feels responsible for,” McGrath says of how Lena will react to Red Daughter. “[This] is an ongoing theme within the show: Her research, [which] is created for good, is taken and perverted, and it is often the source of all evil for the series. This has happened again to her. So much of the world is dealing with the results of her actions again. So she becomes very focused to fix it, and a focused Lena is a force to reckoned with.”

not for nothing, but i keep trying to think of a real world equivalent to this specific conundrum and it’s like... people who build weapons probably don’t operate under any illusions that what they’re doing is going to hurt people if used by the wrong people (and lol that in this instance the wrong hands were lena’s. and by lol i mean holy fuck.) but like... is lena mark zuckerberg?

(also i think this interview was done by email, otherwise it’s super weird that a lot of katie’s quotes include parenthetical asides.)

[I knew Lex was playing Lena, because it’s Lex Luthor — but I found myself sort of wishing he wasn’t, especially in that moment when he tells Lena about the time he met her mother. How did you feel playing that moment?] He had me in tears. I was weeping down my face. We didn’t do that [scene] many times because I was crying so much. In that moment, I think he made Lex very human, and I don’t think we were expecting that. I don’t think we were expecting a vulnerable, human, relatable Lex Luthor, and I think that’s what’s really interesting about what Jon Cryer has done with Lex. He really [shows] all of these very different sides. There are moments, like you said, where you’re like, “Oh, maybe he isn’t a bad guy. Maybe there’s hope for him. Maybe we’re going to see a Lex Luthor that might be a hero.” (And maybe you don’t want to see another person be horrible to Lena, but that might just be me projecting.)

so anyway, i have this headcanon that lena believed using the harun-el on lex would actually fix him in the head, but this makes just feel bad for lena. like, at the end of the day when someone says they need her, she’s going to bend over backwards to provide. ugh :(

I think her confidence is completely shaken, but at the same time, it has hardened her resolve. She is a woman that when she is faced with a problem, she doesn’t retreat from it — she attacks it. Yes, this has completely shaken her, but it has focused her mind to go forward and to fix the problem. Her drive and her focus to fix this is sort of second to none.

please get this girl therapy.

Although Lena and Supergirl are coming at the same issue from different points, they ultimately have the same end goal. They both believe in helping people and the greater good and saving mankind, which are all lofty goals.

good answer. i wish this is where this answer had stopped when she was talking to e. see below.

(What I love about my job is that I can sit here and talk about this like that’s normal. Honestly, sitting here half in my pajamas talking about saving mankind is a good day. But I digress).

look, girl, you’ve put me through the ringer with this series of interviews but lmao i love you.

and finally, e! online.

warning: there’s a clip from the upcoming ep that autoplays right at the top.

ANYWAY THIS INTERVIEW IS THE WORST.

"They both believe in the greater good and helping humanity," McGrath says. "They just come at it from two completely different sides, like the left wing and the right wing, but they ultimately both want the same thing and the search for Eve and this need to catch Lex sort of unites them and you see them all working together, but at the same time in doing that, Lena is still dealing with the secret that she helped Lex, and she has to carry that through as well."

i would like to go back in time and never have read this sentence with my own eyes. ms mcgrath is forbidden from interviews for another two years, thanks bye.

Lena definitely feels some guilt, but she's also been betrayed, and McGrath says we won't see her "totally deal with it.""I think she can't. I think if she starts to unpick it, she'll unravel completely, so what you get instead is it pushing Lena to be extremely focused on catching Lex and catching Eve and a focused Lena Luthor is a very dangerous thing. With her single-minded pursuit, you should be very wary, and I think that's what they've done is rather than her sitting around and unpicking straight away all the stuff that's happened, it's just lit a fire under her to go fix it, because she feels so responsible.

this part is fine. totally fine. katie has some genuinely good insight into lena’s ongoing trauma and how that drives her, BUT THEN.

But not only does she feel responsible, but she can't tell anybody truly 100% why she is responsible, because she would have to admit that she was helping Lex."

EXCEPT NO. NO NO. sorry, this is spoilers from the clip, but LENA WAS GOING TO TELL ALEX. AND ALEX SHUSHED HER. CONFLICT THROUGH INTERRUPTED COMMUNICATION IS HACKERY. don’t defend that shit katie.

"So I will say that the Lena you get in the show is not going to be what you've expected, and a focused Lena is a very dangerous thing, but that doesn't necessarily mean what you think it might mean. Or it could!"

oh no, she’s totally drunk the kool-aid.

"I don't know if I could like, hold my own in a scene with Jon Cryer and Brenda Strong. I think I would just like, melt into a puddle of Katie on the floor and just be like, I don't know what I'm doing, you guys just talk and I'll watch over in the corner."

giiiiiiiiirl.

also whoever wrote this kept spelling it Tessmacher.

[sebeth]

Young Justice: “Down The Rabbit Hole” and “Schooled”

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

 The seventh issue of Young Justice “Rabbit Holes” takes place in Gotham City on July 31st.

“My name is Artemis. And this is my life. My life. Waiting. Waiting for something to happen. For something to change. My life is a bus stop.”

Artemis is waiting at a bus stop.  Artemis’s mother, the original Huntress, has been released from prison.  The wheelchair bound woman exits the bus: “Artemis? Is that you?’

“Your father?”

“I reminded him it was today but…”

“I understand.”

I feel we should pause for an info drop on the mainstream DC universe Crock family.

In the main DC universe, Artemis Crock is the daughter of the Huntress and Sportsmaster.

Sportsmaster’s name is Lawrence Crock.  He was a Golden Age character and fought the original Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Wildcat (Ted Grant) and he was a member of the Injustice Society.

I don’t remember if the circumstances of Lawrence’s death are revealed but afterwards the Council, a mysterious criminal organization, took his remains and cloned his body numerous times to use as their enforcers.  The Council did the same thing to Paul Kirk, the second Manhunter.  I wonder if Gregg Weisman was inspired by the Council storyline – specifically its use of cloning heroes/villains – and applied it to the Light storyline? He clearly has an extensive knowledge of the DC universe. Paul Kirk’s battle with the Council was fairly well-known by Bronze Age DC fans so I could see Weisman being aware of the event.  Superboy and Guardian are the exceptions as their creation (or cloning in the Guardian’s case) was straight out of Cadmus/Return of the Superman storyline. But Roy and the attempted cloning of the YJ heroes – yeah, that’s straight out of the Council storyline.

Small spoilers for Sportsmaster-related moments in “The Golden Age” in the next two paragrapghs.

Lawrence has a small part in “The Golden Age” an elseworlds that is mandatory reading for anyone who loves the Golden Age heroes of the DC universe.  Lawrence is on a robbing spree – he is attempting to earn enough money to be able to see his daughter again.  The girl’s name isn’t mentioned but this storyline was written several years after Artemis’s creation so it could be her.

Sadly, Lawrence will never see his daughter again as he sacrifices his life to save a little girl from being murdered by the main bad guy. I’m intentionally not mentioning said villain’s name because it’s the main bombshell of the series.  If you haven’t read it – 1) read it and 2) Don’t go looking for spoilers before you do.

Paula Brooks was the original Huntress of the DC Universe. She was a frequent foe of Wildcat and the Justice Society.  Paula’s romance with Sportsmaster might have been one of the earliest villain-villain romances in comics.  

Paula had a notable one on one fight with Helena Wayne: Golden Age-Huntress vs Silver/Bronze Age-Huntress!

Post-Crisis, Roy Thomas retconned Paula’s past and had her be the heroic Tigress, a member of the Young All-Stars, before she later turned to a life of crime. Paula idolized Paul Kirk and had him sponsor her admittance into the All-Star Squadron. Paula’s reasons for turning “evil” were never explained – possibly she fell in love with Sportsmaster and fell from grace as a result? It was long rumored/theorized that Paula had a fling with Wildcat (Ted Grant) and a child resulted from that union. A child that he remained unaware of.  Wildcat’s long-lost children rumor was later brought into the JSA series – unfortunately, Paula wasn’t the mother of either boy.

Artemis grew up in her parent’s footsteps.  She used her real name, “Artemis” as her criminal alias. She joined “Injustice Unlimited”, a group consisting of the children of the Injustice Society, and battled Infinity Inc.

Artemis began a relationship with the latest Icicle.  Side-note: Geoff Johns made Icicle a very sympathetic character who came very close to turning into a “hero”.

Artemis would later marry Icicle and give birth to their son.

In another “like mother, like daughter” moment, Artemis would later change her alias to “Tigress” due to another character with the same name becoming more popular than the original.  The writers changed Paula from the Huntress to the Tigress due to the creation of Helena Wayne/Bertinelli.  Artemis would become Tigress due to the debut of Artemis in the Wonder Woman series.

Artemis and her mother are changed to half-Asian and Asian in the Young Justice universe due to an addition to the family that is not cannon in the main DC universe.  But we’ll talk about Cheshire later.

Back to the issue…

We establish the length of Paula’s prison sentence when she states dinner is better “than I’ve had in the last six years.”

Artemis is around 15/16 years old in the first season. Paula’s imprisonment occurred when Artemis was 9/10 years old. We know Cheshire split soon after Paula’s imprisonment and Sportsmaster is running around as an operative for the Light…10 years old is a very young age to essentially raise yourself.

We see Artemis’s bedroom that she clearly shared with Cheshire.  It’s pretty bare bones but there are two posters on the wall – an Alice In Wonderland one and another that has a dragon/martial artist combo.

“This is my life. Preparing for a battle that never comes. What I wouldn’t give for a rabbit hole to tumble into.”

Artemis’ ruminations are interrupted by Sportsmaster’s return.  Lawrence calls out “Daddy’s home” and then realizes Paula is in the house.

“Oh, yeah…Paula. Forgot you were coming home.”

“Overjoyed to see you too, lover.”

Yep, the bloom is definitely off this romance.

“I meant to visit.”

“Even a postcard would have been nice.  Artemis wrote once a week.”

“She did? You’re kiddin’.”

“Stop rolling your eye. It’s all that got me through.”

“Look, the way the game played out.  It could have been either of us.”

“But it wasn’t.  I took the falls.  Both falls.  I did the time.  But I’m back now.  And Artemis is my priority.”

The conversation establishes Paula’s injury and paralysis occurred in their final heist.  I wish we had more details – did it happen while battling a hero or the cops?  Was the injury caused by a fall, a bullet?

Paula kept quiet about Sportsmaster’s involvement – was it due to love for her husband or the desperate desire for the girls to have one free parent while she was imprisoned?

Paula continues “I lost one daughter while I was gone.  I won’t lose the other.  I need to set some ground rules, Lawrence.”

“Six years you’re away and now you’re taking over? While you were gone, I raised her, trained her, toughened her up!”

Did Paula participate in the girls training before she was imprisoned?  Probably not Artemis but possibly Cheshire?  Maybe not with the goal of training future criminals but in general self-defense?  Paula didn’t fall off the criminal bandwagon until her paralysis and imprisonment – did she want the girls to follow in her footsteps before that?

“I’m giving up the life. You have to give it up too.”

“Or else what?”

“Or else you’re out of here.”

“Then I guess I’m out but, Baby, you’re kiddin’ yourself if you think you can save Artemis from the life. She’s one of us.”

Lawrence is both right and wrong in that statement. Also, way to fight for your marriage and family, Lawrence!

I said the Crocks’ apartment is pretty bare bones.  Lawrence is clearly not putting money into their home.  Is Sportsmaster hiding it away to avoid suspicion?  The Light would have to pay Sportsmaster some serious money for his time. I’m assuming Lawrence is hiding the majority of the money is an anonymous bank account.  Pretty sure if he spent big money on his home and possessions any local cops, federal agents, and heroes would make inquiries on how he obtained it.

Speaking of local heroes…it’s pretty ballsy of Lawrence to have the family located in Gotham City. Batman’s pretty snoopy, “World’s Greatest Detective” etc.  Batman isn’t like most heroes – he can and will track down all of their known hideouts and locations.  Lawrence has to have a supreme confidence in himself to live in Gotham City. Particularly as he is one of the main operatives for the Light.

Batman has to be aware of the Crocks – he is one of the main sponsors for Artemis’s admission into Young Justice and the Gotham Academy.  Yet Bruce doesn’t appear to have any knowledge of Sportsmaster’s connection to the Light.

Artemis, having overheard her parents’ conversation, decides “This is my life.  I’m not waiting anymore.”

Artemis throws on her costume and heads out into the night to fight crime. She spends the nights of July 31st to August 2nd stopping a variety of crimes.

The fifth episode of Young Justice, “Schooled”, opens in Metropolis on August 3rd.  A bridge suffers a physical defect causing multiple crashes and cars heading over the side.

Bruce, watching from a nearby building, presumably in Metropolis and not Gotham City, hits a switch to reveal the Batman suit.  

The location of Metropolis varies from continuity to continuity or the media.  Sometimes it’s in Delaware, sometimes it’s across the bay from Gotham City, other times it’s near Smallville – which is located in Kansas.

To sum up:

Gotham City – New Jersey

Young Justice HQ – Happy Harbor, Rhode Island

Metropolis – Wherever the writers want it to be.

I don’t like the “bay” approach as it puts Metropolis too close to New York City in the DC universe. One of my main enjoyments of the DC universe is the heroes are spread out across the United States as opposed to the 95% are located in New York City, 4% percent in Los Angeles, and 1% elsewhere route of Marvel Comics.

The near Kansas approach is ridiculous as I can recall that took place around ocean docks.  Kansas – and the Midwest in general – has a notable lack of oceans.

Delaware is the best location for Metropolis.  It has ocean access and enough geographical distance between other heroes’ bases of operations.  Look, Batman may tell other heroes to “stay out of his city” but there is no way he wouldn’t be interfering in Superman’s business if they were essentially neighbors. Yes, it’s hypocritical, and no, Batman doesn’t care.

Back to Metropolis where Bruce is witnessing the impending destruction from a Wayne Enterprises building – let’s assume he’s in town on business.

Bruce is about to change when he sees Superman head for the bridge.  Superman is better equipped to handle the bridge repair.  Clark braces the bridge and begins welding repairs with his heat vision.

Superboy leaps onto the bridge and hauls listing cars back onto the bridge.  Bruce witnesses the situation from the Wayne Enterprises building.  He decides to sit the crisis out as the Supers have it handled.

Superboy is not happy with Superman interfering with his rescue of the bus.

“I had that.”

“I didn’t want to take the chance.  As it is, your landing could have destabilized the entire bridge.”

“It didn’t.”  

“But it could have. We don’t yet know the limits of your powers.”

“Well, maybe you could, you know, help me figure that out.”

“Batman’s got that covered.”

“Yeah.  I know, but…”

Beep-beep.

“Superman.  Wait, Arrow.  Slow down. What’s attacking?  No, I’m definitely available.  Coordinates? Acknowledged.  On my way.  Sorry, Super…boy.  Duty calls.”

Beep-beep.

“Already got the alert, Bruce.”

“I know, Clark, but we need to talk.”

The scene is both heartbreaking and frustrating.  Conner is so desperate for a connection with Clark.  Metropolis is not Conner’s home base.  So why was he in Metropolis? Was he visiting the Guardian and company at Cadmus? Or was he strolling the streets hoping to chance upon Superman?  

Dick would be the only member of Young Justice to be aware of Superman’s secret identity but I doubt he would tell Conner. Cadmus is completely unaware of Superman’s real name so hoping for a chance encounter would be Conner’s only option for contact.

Conner is quickly switching from heartbreak to anger as indicated by his expressions.  Conner’s anger is justified – he hasn’t done anything wrong and surely didn’t ask to be created/made into a weapon.  Conner’s situation is similar to an adopted child attempting to make contact with their birth parents.

Clark…it’s time to put on your big boy pants and deal with Conner.  I cut you some slack in the immediate aftermath – it was a shocking revelation and violation of genentic material but a man who can halt alien invasions, handle erupting volcanos, and go one-on-one with Darkseid can deal with a confused child.

I’m curious on how the scene would have continued without Green Arrow’s interruption.  Clark was hedging (“Batman’s got that covered) but he didn’t immediately flee out of terror like he did in the second episode.

Finally, Bat-dad is watching and he is not happy.  You’re in trouble, Superman.  Bruce knows all about children conceived without your consent – his experience involved a drugged sexual violation – and he accepted Damian.  So, no, Bruce isn’t going to accept any excuses.

I’m going to break this post into two parts as I’ve typed up six pages and we still have over 20 minutes of the episode to go along with a few pages of the issue.

[tushiewrites]

Title: Casefile #456, Crime Report #67. 

Description: The tired looking former head of the local Crime Force shook his head, “We had no way of predicting any of it. It came out of nowhere. How the fuck do you begin to even comprehend the situation we were in?”

The man across the table from him continued to write in his notepad, “Would you care to detail the early beginnings of the timeline, from what you pieced together, Mr.Winters?”

Notes: Their blood; Their goals; Their purpose; All completely alien to the best of us.

And yet we stand, unable to even begin when they have already crossed the finish line.

The paw prints in the mud the only mark they left that they were ever here.

Happy birthday @deuiles

“August. August 14th is when we first got hard physical evidence of the spree, I think.” he says, running his fingers through his hair. “We didn’t believe it at first due to how absurd it was.”

This man, formally known as Crime Director and former head of said group, was largely known as “Captain Winters” by the populace. It became a bit of a  moniker to both norms’ and members of the police force. 

“It was hard enough dealing with a bunch of clowns with masks. But this entire thing? It was almost like a joke.” Winters says, staring forward blankly at the man across from him. This man, known as Ross, was tasked with writing down and cataloging the events of the past two months.

“I remember when I arrived on the scene, we originally thought it was some escapade by the same buncha fuckin’ losers. Those clowns gave me nightmares for weeks before this all started to go down.” he says, tapping his temples as if trying to remember. “Then I arrive at this bank, right? I get there, I fuckin’ get there and all the tellers are flipping the fuck out despite the scene being secure. So I talk to the first one that comes up to me outside of my own VIP squad...”

Winters sits straight up as he tells this part. His weary form looking a lot more exhausted prior to it.

“The fucker looks me right in my eyes as I carry my shield and says, ‘A BEAR! A BEAR AND THE STAR EYED GIRL! THEY CAME THROUGH HERE AND NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU COULD STOP HER!’”

“So of course at that point I cock an eyebrow, so I reply ‘Please calm down sir. This scene and crimesite is now secure.’ while fuckin’ walking away.” Winters shrugs at this, “Maybe if I listened more I could have prevented all that happened next...” 

He sighs loudly, directly after. 

“Mr.Winters,” I begin, tapping my pen on my notepad. “Please continue to describe the following events. Specifically what happened on August 20th.”

At the mention of this, Winters eyesbrow twitches. His shoulder tense up, and he seemingly has an aura of irritation in his frame.

“...It was a bad one they told me going,” he relaxes as he says this, seemingly returning to his former depressed mood. “I assumed it was the Payday gang like every other call. We never really payed attention to the concerts that were going on during this, did we?”

At the mention of this, I let out a chirp.

“Ah, yes, the concerts you wrote about extensively in your reports. They were from overseas, correct?” I ask, pen readying.

“Yes, from Japan or some similar other eastern country. They were largely composed of idol groups. I heard they were pretty big.” he says, showing slight disgust at the latter part of his sentence.

“I remember rookies at the station being excited for the two... groups? I think they were separate. Fuck if I know what the youth of today is into.” he says, spitting venom with every word. “Early on we didn’t consider the heists took part just prior to every show they had.”

“The analysts early on theorized that members of the crowd used them as cover to commit them in some way. Man, if only we fuckin’ knew the truth back then, huh?” Winters once again spits, this time with minor disbelief. “I don’t know how those fuckin’ two girls met, but soon as they did, it must have set off something in both of them.”

Winters gets up from his chair, reaching into his pocket for a lighter and cigar. He inhales deeply, before unleash a large cloud of smoke.

“I arrived on the scene expecting a fight. When I got there, all I saw as a massacre. They must had collided before any of my team even got there, since it was a bloodbath.” He shakes his head with a weary smile. “All those clowns? Fucking dead. They never stood a fuckin’ chance at taking down those two at the height of their moment.”

“They probably were both after the same heisting shit. There was some truckload of diamonds or some shit being shipped to some location. On the way there, it was ambushed and a shoot out occurred. What the clowns didn’t expect though, was a fuckin’ bear to ruin their day.”

“Mr.Winters, please describe the suspects at the time.” I pipe in, briefly interrupting his monologue. 

“Yeah, Yeah... one of them, which we suspected as was a man at first, wore this fuckin’ obnoxious pink bearsuit with some weird band uniform. To this day, I will never know how she managed to lug around a fucking minigun while wearing that thing.” He inhales deeply again, letting the nicotine soak in his lungs before letting out a steady stream of grey smoke. 

“There was that one, and then the one that pissed me off the most, was this real tiny girl. She didn’t wear shit beyond whatever idol trash she normally wear to her shows. The techs on the case told me she wore reflective star makeup to avoid being I.D.’d from cameras. That little shit was insane and carried out some imported shotgun with incendiary rounds.” He sighs loudly, then carries on.

“Me and my Squad are assaulted instantly. One of my personal battalion, a vet named Jim whom I had been working with for two years, gets lit on fire instantly. I begin to shout, ‘Hostiles! Cover all flanks!’ but before I know it, I hear the rev of a fuckin’ minigun behind us.” He shakes his head as he talks, face twisting in frustrating. “The little shits had boxed us in an closed in area. They didn’t just outsmart us, they intended on killing us right then and there.”

“Before I know it, a hail of molten hot lead was unleashed on us from behind. All I remember is that fucking look in the fake cutesy shit looking eyes of that bearsuit. Despite the fact they were suppose to be adorable or some fuckin’ shit, they were the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.” He remarks, showing both a genuine look of fear. “As we’re assaulted from behind, that little shit with the shotgun lets out a howl of excitement and tosses a beer bottle at us. The tip of which was on fire.”

“Chris, another vet I had worked with for a real long time. Poor fucker goes up in flames instantly as she starts yelling at us in some fuckin’ moonrune language. Except for the last part. She says that in straining English due to how hard she was laughing inbetween every sentence.”

This time, my eyebrow raises at this. 

“What did she say, Mr.Winters?”

He laughs bitterly, and looks me dead in the eye from across the room.

“AH! YOU ARE MOTHERFUCKERS!” He says, flatly.