#bonus points for petty arguments about it

[dieplz]

one of my fav ship dynamics is rich person x working/lower middle class person. especially if the rich person's love language is gift giving.

"oh your car broke? here have the best car available on the market. the clothes you're wearing are terrible btw. have something that costs more than you make in a month. oh you're getting fired? no worries im buying the company you're working for."

it's even better if it's enemies to lovers.

[whump-n-comfort]

when you read a fic that gives you a hyper-specific whump scenario that you know would either A.) take forever to find in another story or B.) hasn't been written at all so the obvious conclusion is that you have to write it yourself

[gingerly-writing]

Secret Santa

this is a secret santa post for @creweemmaeec11!! your prompt was:

Villain is usually very flirty and confident, and then during a mission where hero goes undercover at some fancy event with Villain as their fake date, all of the sudden Villain starts acting really scared and nervous because of something at the event then has to help reassure/calm them down, and its cute. Bonus points if you can somehow work in a hidden power reveal.

I'm pretty proud of how I tackled this one, so without further ado, let's go for it!

-----

The Guild's winter gala sparkled.

Superhero moved through the frosted festivities like they were born to be there, like the whole event has been crafted just to make them look good. They floated majestically half a centimetre above the fake snow, crystal heels glittering as they strode. Their long dress swirled about their ankles, fading from white at the neckline to an icy pale blue at the hem, shimmering all the way down. Cold lights reflected angelically across their cheekbones and the diamond tiara balanced in their perfect hair.

They looked like the monarch of winter, the belle of the ice ball. Even the sharpness of their face fit.

They didn't even have cryo powers, for pete's sake.

Villain trudged along next to them, fighting the urge to wrap her arms around herself. Her suit was wet around the ankles, and a chill crept up her spine. Did they have to be so enthusiastic with the fake snow and dry ice? At least her tie went with the theme, ice blue to match Superhero's dress. That hadn't even been her idea, of course. Superhero had insisted, and now Villain found herself grudgingly glad of it. She didn't need to look any more out of place than she already did.

"Unhunch," Superhero demanded. Not forcefully. It was just they didn't make requests—they asked, but already expected their desired answer.

Villain straightened automatically, then scowled about it. "That's not a word."

"That's not an excuse. Stop skulking about." Superhero's gaze roved across the ballroom, picking out heroes new and old. Allies, petty rivals, good friends, threats. Assessing and scouting. Hunting. "It makes you look like you don't belong."

"I'm good at skulking. Probably because I don't belong."

Superhero turned on her, skirts whirling. "You do." Not an argument, just a statement of fact. "How long have you been my ally? My friend?"

Villain shifted uncomfortably. "The government classes me as-"

"This isn't the government, it's the Guild. And we don't give a festive fig what they say." They bent down to eye level, forcing eye contact. "You belong here. Just like I do. Just like everyone does."

"Alright, alright, I'll unhunch!" Villain looked away, faking nonchalance, but she couldn't quite hide her smile in her collar. Superhero's reassurances—hell, any scrap of their attention—always felt so good.

The touch of Superhero's hand on their forearm radiated through them like an electric shock. Villain startled.

Superhero smiled at them. Their smiles were always tiny, secretive little things, teasing at the corners of their mouth. "Come. I want to show you off on the floor."

"...the dance floor?!”

“How many times have you offered to take me dancing?”

Villain chatted a lot of nonsense while she was flirting. Like, a lot a lot. “Yeah, on a rooftop or an anonymous nightclub. Not here, in front of everyone we work with and half the people we fight!”

“You’ll be fine,” Superhero decided, and tugged her out onto the floor. 

Other couples were already swirling. Scientist stumbled past with her favourite henchman, and both of them were laughing. Thief and Detective were handcuffed together and glaring as they swayed side to side—it was always something with those two. Hero twirled by with his daughter balanced on his shoes, the little girl grinning ear to ear, blue flames engulfing the pair of them. 

Villain found herself in traditional hold with Superhero, her frenemesis taking control. She stepped after her automatically, swayed when directed, and dipped when pushed. She came up blushing and desperate to hide it. How was Superhero so damn good at this? They weren't even trying to flirt, and yet Villain was on the verge of swooning. So completely unfair.

That was partly why the onslaught of sheer terror caught her so off guard. One moment her body was flowing between Superhero's hands like water, and the next she was ramrod straight with all the hair on her nape standing on end.

Superhero frowned. "No, don't seize up like that! You were doing so well."

"I didn't...mean to?" Villain's mind spun faster than her body ever could. The suddenness of the new emotion, as if artificially imposed...could it be? Her gaze shot around the dance floor, through Hero and Scientist and- there. Twirling through the chaos, seemingly without a care in the world: Antihero.

Now the ice shooting through her veins felt real.

Superhero watched her with those cold-winter-sky eyes. "It's not the dancing," they ascertained. "What's wrong?"

"It's fine," Villain gritted out, forcing her feet to keep moving in time with the music. "Really, it is. We should just-"

Superhero held up one of Villain's hands in both of theirs. She was trembling. "You aren't scared of anything," Superhero told her. "Not even me, which I admit is quite aggravating at times. So forgive my worry, but you're not dancing your way out of this one. What. Is. Wrong?"

"Antihero." It came out like a church confession.

"The empath?" Superhero's brow wrinkled, then smoothed as they realised. "Oh, of course. She's feeding you undiluted fear."

"She's such an asshole," Villain said by way of agreement. "She's decided that I encroach on her territory when I team up with you. Apparently the Guild is only big enough to house one quasi-villain." And Villain had said no when Antihero had requested a teamup, but that seemed like too much to confess. Almost like admitting there was no one else Villain wanted to work with except Superhero.

"So she's just making you afraid-"

Oh how Villain wanted that to be the case but- "No. I'm actually- her powers give me the freaks. She can make you hate someone you love, fall in love with your enemy. Fear your best friend and idolise your rival." She shuddered. "And there's literally nothing you can do to stop her. Distance helps, but three foot thick steel walls or going underground or even knowing it’s not real don't make it go away. Trust me, I've tried."

Superhero span them so they could stare at Antihero. Villain forced them to keep spinning.

"Don't glare at her! Don't draw her attention. You don't want-"

"Better me than you-"

"Don't say that. Don't say that before you've felt it."

"I've dealt with telepaths before."

Well that was faintly horrifying. "She's just as bad, if not worse. Insidious powers with a vindictive personality to boot. Don't antagonise her. I don't want- both of us can't be messed up at the same time." Villain squeezed Superhero's hand tight. "Just don't. Please."

Superhero's full attention turned back to her with all the force of an ice storm. "Alright. For you."

The fear didn't ease, but Villain knew she was relieved somewhere under there. "Thank you."

"But I'm not going to let her torment you either."

"What do you..." The fear abated. All at once, like a theatre curtain falling between her and the rest of the room. No. Like a cocoon around her and Superhero. Villain stared up at her frenemesis with huge eyes. "What...how...?"

“You know what my powers are.”

She did…sort of. She had watched fire wash over them without burning, ice cover them without freezing. Punches bounce off them and bullets rebound. Villain had always assumed it was pure invincibility dialled up to 11, just like everyone else. That’s what it said in Superhero’s Guild and government files too. And yet… “I’m thinking maybe I didn’t grasp the full extent of what you can do.”

Superhero smiled wide enough to show teeth, their eyes glittering. “Good. I like to retain the ability to surprise.”

Villain let Superhero guide them through a spin and into a dip. Her body flowed, the tension dropping away. She felt…protected. Safe. “Antihero won’t like this,” she warned. “You’re making yourself a target.”

“Let her come. It’s been a long time since someone gave me the opportunity to remind everyone why I was designated ‘super’.”

Wow. Well, that was terrifying and hot. 

Fake snow drifted down all around them, catching in Superhero’s hair like tiny diamonds. Villain stuck her tongue out to catch some and grimaced at the taste, and Superhero chuckled at her. With the shield of their powers, the dancefloor felt like their own personal snowglobe, the two of them perfect dancers twirling forever hand in hand.

[somewhere-in-the-rain]

Controversial opinion: I really like the new Fourth Wing bonus chapter. Do plot inconsistencies annoy me? Yes (I’m still not over the fact that Baide seemed to change gender halfway through Fourth Wing with zero explanation). Does Xaden being pathetically down bad for Violet cancel that out for me? Absolutely.

A few things I’d like to address:

The main plot inconsistency: Xaden and Liam being fostered by Lewellen after the execution. I didn’t notice this at first, but apparently it was said somewhere else they were fostered by Duke Lindell. A part of me thinks we might get an explanation for this later on in the series, but it may just be that Rebecca Yarros wrote this like a fan fiction at 3am and didn’t fact check properly.

There was a lot of exposition for a bonus chapter. This is the thing that made me go “ummm you really wanna tell us this now?” because unlike the other two bonus chapters, we got a lot of background information for the story: Imogen dropping daggers as the reason she wasn’t present in the briefing room, and Xaden and Liam being taught battle strategy as kids. Nothing major, but still stuff that dropping it somewhere else in the main books as well or instead would’ve been better.

Xaden being completely certain of his love for Violet, then not telling her for another six months. I mean it’s like he just begrudgingly accepted it at some point after they kissed (probably because Sgaeyl bullied him into admitting it). Don’t get me wrong, reading about Xaden being pathetically in love with Violet actually made my year, but it still pisses me off that he waited that long to tell her in Iron Flame.

Things I liked about the chapter:

Xaden and Liam. “Yours are better” I LOVE THEM. Also the way Xaden sees Liam as a brother 🥺

Sgaeyl mocking Xaden. Her imitating Xaden pining after Violet was incredible, I can’t wait for more of her in the next books.

Xaden taking any opportunity to slander Dain. Not them just having staring contests across the briefing table lmao.

Xaden being pathetically in love with Violet. This one needs no explanation. I love the boy obsessed trope and will hear nothing bad about it.

I just really love reading Xaden’s POV. He’s so sarcastic and petty, I genuinely adore him. I will always be happy when we get a new bonus chapter, arguments about capitalism and international availability aside.

This bonus chapter felt like reading a fan fiction, but my god was it entertaining. And I read to have fun, not to close a book and think “excellent, a new range of pretentious talking points for my next garden party”.

Read the chapter here.

[leiascully]

Girl your “love is dead” anon got me tweaking! I don’t want to disrupt your fictober flow - but I have a prompt request for later. Can you write some petty fight or argument about Jerse or Diana while they’re already together, preferably set after s7? I’m not in the mood for their usual “we’re gonna be mature and discuss it maturely” - I want some petty and petulant heat of the moment fight. Bonus if there’s smut — SINCE MULDER AND SCULLY ARE HOT AND IN LOVE AND THEEEE SHIP BLUEPRINT with so much sexual tension and chemistry even after 30 years, and even if they weren’t soulmates you can’t look at them and honestly think they don’t have hot sex ANONN!!

It should be a nice afternoon. Mulder's over at her apartment. They're watching baseball. She's on maternity leave. She's relaxing. And yet every single thing in her life is irritating. Her body doesn't feel like her own. She didn't sleep well, because her belly is inconveniently big. Every craving she's had lately seems to exacerbate her heartburn, and she has to pee all the time, and even her walks around the neighborhood make her short of breath. She's tired of stretch marks and she's afraid of hemorrhoids, especially since it's harder to turn to wipe at this point.

Mulder seems blissfully unaware of all this and she's glad about that, but irritated too. It was only weeks ago that he was still icing her out like it was her fault he'd been buried. She knows that's the trauma—God knows she felt some of it herself after her abduction—but it's still frustrating as hell.

She prayed so hard for this pregnancy, but being pregnant comes with its own strange burdens, even during the moments that she's not afraid for her life and her child. She prayed for Mulder to be returned to her, but not for this alternately blithe and bitter version of him who's sometimes acting like nothing's wrong and sometimes seems to blame her for all of it. A quarter of the time, he's so solicitous it's as if he thinks pregnancy has broken her. A quarter of the time, he seems like he's about to bolt. The other half of the time they're together, it's like he ignores the whole situation, except for the occasional quip. But she never gets to forget it.

Whatever happened to him seems to have reset their relationship, and that also pisses her off. Seven years of foreplay, and all for what? For him to act like now that she's pregnant, she's the Virgin Mother? Especially now, when her hormones are at extreme high tide and she just wants to be railed within an inch of her life? He just sits there looking like the man who used to eat her out until her whole body ached from coming too many times, and watches baseball like he doesn't remember the way he thrust against her when he was pretending to teach her how to play.

There's a sharp crack from the tv, the sound of a ball hit hard and fast, and Mulder whoops. Scully jumps in her seat. The fact that she's startled makes her seethe.

"What do you think?" he says, turning to her. He's grinning widely. "Is it finally time for me to get NY tattooed on my ass?"

Anger bubbles over inside her. He said the same thing when he saw her tattoo for the first time. "Fuck off," she suggests, almost cordially, and starts to heave herself up from the couch. She can read in bed or something. Drink pathetic herbal tea at the table. Anything but sit here and want what they used to have.

"Hey, whoa." He catches her arm. "What did I say? Do you not want me to get a tattoo?"

"Far be it from me to suggest you do anything with your body," she says frostily, sort of crouching on the edge of the sofa. "Although I can't imagine you extending me the same courtesy."

"What's this about?" he asks, putting the tv on mute.

"You never miss a chance to needle me about my tattoo," she says. It's a completely unfair statement, the kind of deranged nonsense that only couples say to each other, and she didn't even mean to put "needle" and "tattoo" in the same sentence.

His face clouds. "It wasn't about that."

"No, of course it wasn't," she says, looking away from him. He's still holding her arm. "Because you don't care what I do unless I'm fucking someone else, even if you don't want me."

"I don't want you?" He finally sounds a little bit angry. Good. She wants to stoke those fires. Maybe he'll kiss her, maybe he'll storm out: either way, they'll have reached a tipping point. Something seems to click in his brain. "Are you fucking someone else?"

"Would it be your business if I were?" she challenges him.

"I guess not," he says, but he's got that stubborn set to his jaw.

"If you're not going to make it your fucking business, you should leave," she tells him. "It'll save me the effort of boxing up your stuff the next time some leggy brunette from your past shows up."

"Not pulling any punches, huh," he says, breathing fast. She hates the way his chest looks in that t-shirt. She hates the way his jeans strain over his thighs as he shifts.

"You never hold back when you're kicking me when I'm down," she says, looking at him levelly, and it's not fucking fair and she knows it, but none of this is fucking fair. She has everything she thought she wanted and all of it's just not quite right. She's half an inch from bursting into angry tears.

"What the fuck is happening right now?" he asks. "I thought we were watching baseball." As if he doesn't remember the way he talked to her about Ed Jerse. He remembers. He remembers everything.

"Just go," she says, turning her face away. She puts one hand on her belly, as if she could calm the roil of lust and resentment and disappointment.

"Uh uh," he says. "You don't get to kick me out before I leave you. I know that trick." His chest is heaving now.

"You've left me before," she says in a low voice.

"I'm not fucking doing it now," he tells her, anger crackling in his voice. "Diana's dead, if you remember."

"It wouldn't be the first time you've abandoned me to chase a ghost," she says, and it's a low, low blow.

He flinches like she slapped him. She didn't mean Samantha, of course she didn't. But there were other ghosts along the way, and she knows he knows that.

"What do you mean I don't want you?" he asks, the words rasping out of him.

She shakes her head. "You haven't so much as kissed me on the cheek since you got back."

"Scully, I want you all the fucking time," he says, and the intensity in his eyes and his voice hits so deep she feels it in her bones. It's like he's really looking at her for the first time since the hospital. Her lips part. She watches his eyes drop to her mouth. Fuck, she wants him so much even that makes her wet. "I didn't think you wanted me anymore."

"I want you so badly," she says, almost whimpering it, and she hates herself a little for that, for being so weak in him, but he pulls her forward and crushes her against him and his mouth is against hers at long fucking last and God, that's exactly what she needed. To be held by him, to feel him against her, really and truly here, really and truly hers.

"Please," she says, and he's already tugging her into his lap. She straddles him, the ridge of his cock making itself known under her thighs. She's wearing some t-shirt dress and leggings her mom got for her and she hates it, she absolutely hates it. She misses her sleek suits and her jeans that didn't have an elastic panel in them and being able to wear any of her sweaters without feeling like she's stretching them out in the bust. She misses the body Mulder couldn't stop touching. But he can't seem to stop touching her now, either: his hands cradle her tits, slide down her back, mold themselves over her hips. He even touches her belly, very gently, but like he's maybe a little less afraid of it.

"Can we...?" he asks.

"If we don't, I might die," she tells him, and kisses him. He kisses her back like her mouth is the only thing that can save him. His tongue is in her mouth and God, she missed it. She missed everything about him. Even the smell of his skin is intoxicating. She grabs him around the neck like she'll float away if she doesn't hold on.

They kiss until she's dizzy with need. She breaks away and sits back on her heels, panting a little. "That was a joke. About dying."

"I got that," he says, "but we can't take that chance." His hands skim up her thighs, under the hem of her giant unflattering t-shirt. She lifts her hips and her arms so he can pull it up and over her head. Immediately, his eyes are on her tits, and then his face is buried in them, his lips wandering over her skin. She moans as he thumbs her nipples through her ugly maternity bra. They're so sensitive and he knows exactly how to touch her somehow. He always did.

"Is it weird if I suck on your tits?" he asks, the words muffled by her cleavage. In answer, she lifts her nipple to his mouth and moans again as he tongues her through the fabric. Fuck, it feels good. She grinds on the bulge of his erection. She's come just from this, but not for a long time. She moves faster, torn between wanting to hump him into oblivion and wanting to come with him inside her, his skin against hers. The second possibility wins out. She crawls off his lap.

"Everything okay?" he asks. His eyes are hazy with desire and his hair is mussed. He looks so much like Mulder-Before that her heart squeezes and she almost wants to cry. They're not who they were. But they can be themselves again.

"No," she says, and gets to see his panic face. "You've got way too many clothes on."

"You got me," he says, stripping off his shirt. His scars are fading, much less livid than they were in the hospital. She studies him with an appreciative eye as he undoes his jeans. He's still got it. He wiggles out of his jeans and helps her peel out of her leggings and her maternity underwear.

"How do we do this?" he asks.

"However we want," she says. "Mulder, pregnant people can have sex." She is very, very slightly worried given how many problems she's already had, but not enough to stop. They deserve one fucking break in the midst of all of this, one thing that's still the same.

"Lean back," she tells him, nudging him toward the corner of the sofa. He goes where he's told, his cock bobbing as he moves. The slightly reclined position makes room for her stomach. It might not be the most comfortable, but she wants to look at him. She straddles him again, up on her knees. His hand is between her thighs, sliding between her folds. He swears in a low voice when his fingers find where she's wet. She echoes him when he brushes his slick thumb over her clit. It's like Fourth of July fireworks and twinkling lights on Christmas morning all at once, but inside her body.

"I want you," she tells him, looking down at him.

"You got me," he promises. "I want you so much, Scully."

"Show me," she says, sinking down. He guides his cock into her. God, it's been too long. She's tight, and even though she's so wet for him, it takes a minute to take all of him. She eases herself down and down and down the hot length of him. She moans as she takes him deeper, spreading her knees on the sofa to get another half-inch. Finally she's resting against his thighs and she's so full she thinks she could come just like this, just feeling him all the way inside her. He puts one hand on her face, as tender as if it's their first time. In a way, it is, all over again.

"I missed you," he whispers, and she bursts into tears as she starts to move. But she's laughing and crying at the same time, riding him. She lets herself be loud, lets herself be messy. He should see how he undoes her. But his mouth is open and desperate under hers too. His hands tremble on her skin.

"I missed you so much," she says, the words broken up by kisses and by the way he thrusts up into her. She loves feeling the strength of him under her. She loves his arms around her. His bare skin against hers is what she's been craving the worst her entire pregnancy. She has brief flashes of what it would have been like if he'd been here the whole time: the way he would have caressed the slight swell of her growing belly, the delight in his eyes feeling the baby kick.

"It's not too late," she says, and he groans in agreement. She's close. She sits up so she can ride him hard, grinding her pelvis against him. His fingers find her clit and she gasps, a sharp noise. He grins up at her.

"Hips before hands," she pants.

"I knew you loved baseball," he says roughly.

"Just the nice piece of ash," she says, and he flicks her clit just right and she's coming, shivering around his cock. He throbs inside her, thrusting up like he can't help himself. It's all she can do to grip his thighs with her knees as he pounds into her, but she won't shut her eyes. She needs to see him. She watches his pleasure build. His mouth is open and his cheeks are flushed. There's a light in his eyes she hasn't seen since Before.

"Come on," she urges. "I need this."

He makes an inarticulate noise that's about half her name and comes hard, his thighs like steel under her. She holds him as her muscles flutter in delicious empathy. His eyes are shining as he looks up at her. A tear rolls down his cheek. She catches it on her thumb and brings it to her lips. He laughs, sounding surprised.

She climbs off him. It's a slightly difficult process, but he braces her with his hands and that helps. She retrieves the detested t-shirt dress and wads it under herself to shield the couch from any sticky residues. They both lie back against the cushions, breathing hard.

"What were we fighting about?" she asks.

"Whether I love the Yankees more than I love you, I think," he says, sprawling next to her.

"You do," she says. "But that's okay."

"I don't," he says. "I don't love anything more than I love you, Scully. Not even ghosts."

She meets his eyes. His gaze is steady. "Okay," she whispers.

"Okay." He nods. "As for things I might have said about anyone else you were fucking, it's not an excuse to say that I was insanely jealous, but it does explain it a little. Sorry I was a dick."

"Sometimes we were both dicks," she says. "I think that's how love works."

"You wanna find out together?" He holds out his hand.

"Yeah," she says, taking it. "I do."

On the television, a baseball soars into a cloudless blue sky. It's a grand slam.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

There was no Redemption or Damnation. Chloe Doesn't Actually Have an Arc at All

Does Chloe have an abandoned redemption arc?

No. Absolutely not. She also doesn't have a “damnation” arc or really any arc at all. She is a font of wasted potential for both redemption and damnation who never gets a true chance at either path. To explain what I mean, I have to first discuss the two types of redemption arcs and also how damnation arcs work. I’ll be doing this by discussing the guy who started the redemption arc trend, Zuko, and why his story doesn’t work for people like Chloe.

The Two Types of Redemption + Some Bonus Damnation

There are two general paths to redemption: redemption through a change in worldview (the easy path) and redemption through a change in self (the hard path).

Redemption through a change in worldview is what happens when you take a character who is a fundamentally good person and give them a messed up worldview, usually through their upbringing. The story will see that worldview challenged, resulting in the character changing how they view the world, but that’s about it. They don’t really have to make major changes to themselves at a fundamental level.

This is Zuko’s path. He’s born in the Fire Nation and raised to think that the Fire Nation is good. He also has a strong sense of honor and wants to do right by his people. When he’s included in a war council and told that the army leaders are going to willingly sacrifice Fire Nation troops, he stands up and says that’s wrong. This act results in him getting banished. During his banishment, he gets to see the rest of the world and learn that the Fire Nation is, in fact, NOT good. This ultimately leads to him switching sides because he has a strong sense of honor and wants to do right by his people. Who he is and how he acts never really changes.

Chloe is not like Zuko. She is a selfish, egotistical, petty, spoiled brat. For her to be redeemed, she has to accept that fundamental aspects of her character are deeply flawed. This might involve some changes to her worldview, but that’s only a tiny piece of what needs to change and I’m honestly not sure that she really has a messed up worldview. There are multiple instances where it’s clear that she knows that she’s being mean or bad and just doesn’t care.

This brings us to the topic of damnation arcs. For something to be a damnation arc, a person has to be presented with a choice between good and evil and they have to choose evil. Zuko actually has one of these. At the end of the second season of Avatar, Zuko is given the choice to join the good guys or to join his sister and be accepted back into his family.

He chooses his sister.

That’s a damnation arc because Zuko truly had a chance to change sides. The scene would play very differently if Zuko had to choose between staying in exile and joining his sister. Joining his sister would still be the wrong move, but it’s no longer damnation. It’s just doing a bad thing vs doing nothing (though it can be argued to be somewhat damning since Zuko is going against his own morals). Along similar lines, Zuko is redeemed when he chooses to abandon his family to do what’s right even though it costs him everything he wanted: his family, his girlfriend, and his home.

This is where Chloe’s “damnation” and redemption arcs fall apart. There is no point in the series where she’s actively given a choice between good and evil. She only ever makes choices between inaction and evil or inaction and good. Does that make her a good person? Hell no! But it does make the argument that she had an arc fall very flat. She never gets better, but it's hard to say that she gets worse.

Chloe’s Choices: The Good and The Bad

Chloe becomes Queen Bee without anyone saying she was fit for the role. She just finds a miraculous and uses it. The way she uses it is selfish, egotistical, and petty. In other words, it’s just Chloe being Chloe. While the actions she takes are horrible and definitely deserve punishment, they’re in character. She’s not acting worse than normal, she’s just being herself, but with superpowers. If she’d been given the miraculous and been charged to be a hero, then her actions would be damning because she would be choosing to go against her charge. But she’s not. She has no charge.

To really assess if Chloe has potential to change, you have to look at what she does when she’s given the choice to be good and this is where things get messy.

This is how Chloe’s first encounter with her miraculous ends:

Ladybug: I have to get the Miraculous back, Chloé. (in the background, Nadja's van arrives) Chloé: Give me a second chance, please! Nadja: (holding a tablet with Audrey on it) Audrey Bourgeois, tell us live how you feel about what just happened. Audrey: (on the tablet) According to me, Chloé just clearly demonstrated that there is nothing exceptional about her. Cat Noir: (puts a hand on Chloé's shoulder) I know that you did the things you did to impress your mother. Ladybug: Anyone can make mistakes, even a superhero. What matters is how you fix them. I personally made one by losing that Miraculous. Don't make the mistake of not giving it back. Act like a hero. Cat Noir: And show everyone how exceptional you can be. (Chloé hands Ladybug the Miraculous) Ladybug: Thank you. Chloé: (the duo are about to run off) Ladybug? Cat Noir? (the cameraman moves closer) I'm sorry.

Chloe doesn't fight to keep her miraculous. A few quick lines are all it takes for her to hand it over. When Ladybug gives Chloe the chance to act like a hero would, Chloe acts like a hero. The same can be said of every subsequent time when Ladybug gives Chloe the bee miraculous. Every time Chloe is called upon to be Queen Bee, she does the job to the best of her abilities and acts as a functional member of the team. She's not incompetent. She doesn't put the team in danger so that she can be in the spotlight. Heck, the very next time she gets it, Chloe willingly admits that her father’s akumatization was her fault.

Chloé: It— it was me. I hurt my daddy's feelings. Because I want to leave Paris, forever. Ladybug: Because of what happened in school? I'm sure Marinette probably didn't exactly mean what she said. Chloé: Oh, it's not just her— actually, I don't even care about her— it's because I have no reason to be here: nobody likes me; I have no friends. I'm… useless. Ladybug: (remembering what Adrien told Marinette earlier at school about Chloé) A friend once told me: nobody is useless, Chloé. Chloé: It's easy for you to say that. You're Ladybug, a superhero. You serve a purpose. Ladybug: Yes, I can fix up all the messes. You said it yourself in your documentary. Chloé: (gasps) You saw it?! Ladybug: (nods) Mm-hmm. Chloé: Oh! I'm so embarrassed. That film's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. I realize that now. Ladybug: Don't worry Chloé. You can fix your own messes, if that's what you want. You, too, can serve a purpose, but you have to want to. Chloé: (sniffles) I do want to.

When Ladybug asks Chloe to be a better person, Chloe is a better person.

This is why I say that Chloe has a perfectly functional view of the world. She knows when she’s doing something wrong and is able to do good when challenged to do so. Even on the civilian side, we see that Chloe is willing to be a little better when given the proper motivation. In Despair Bear, Adrien says he’ll end their friendship and so Chloe actively tries to save that friendship even if she hates every minute of it. Similarly, in Zombiezoo, Chloe sacrifices herself so that Ladybug can win.

Now, none of this is a redemption. It is, at best, the foundation for a redemption. We see that Chloe has the potential to be good when challenged to do so by the right person or circumstance, but she’s not trying to be better outside of those moments when she’s challenged. For her redemption to really start, she has to choose good over evil. She has to start improving when Ladybug isn’t watching or when Adrien isn’t threatening their friendship. For it to be a damnation, she has to choose evil over good.

She is never truly given that choice.

The two big scenes where Chloe gets “worse” are at the end of Queen Wasp and at the end of Hearthunter. However, in both of those scenes, no one gives her a choice to be better even though she’s primed and ready to make that choice.

Queen Wasp: When the Civilian Moment Should Have Happened

At the tail end of Queen Wasp, Marinette has the choice to go to New York with Audrey or stay in Paris. She chooses Paris, but brings Chloe with her to try and repair the relationship between mother and daughter. Here, Marinette gets to really see just how little Audrey cares for Chloe.

In a show where Chloe has a character arc, this should be the moment when she’s given a choice. She’s just spent the whole episode trying to get her mom to love her and it’s gone nowhere. Marinette, our hero, is standing right there, fully capable of saying, “You know what Chloe, your mom sucks and you don't need her validation. I know some people who already think that you're awesome. Come on, let’s get you back home and I’ll call Adrien and Sabrina to meet us there.”

Instead, this is what happens:

Marinette: I think you're wrong. A huge part of your life is here in Paris, too! (she steps aside, showing Chloé and Butler Jean) Audrey: Chlorene? Uh— Chloé? Chloé: (looks at her mother, then at Marinette in a guilty manner, then back at her mom) Why don't you love me, Mom? Audrey: But… Uh— Of course I l-l-love you. Marinette: (groans) You're also wrong about your daughter not being exceptional. In fact, Chloé is exceptionally mean. She's the worst person I've ever met. She may be more heinous, pompous and selfish than you. Compared to both of you, even a rock seems more capable of love. (Audrey and Chloé are furious with Marinette for telling mean things to them.) Chloé and Audrey: (shouting) How dare you⁈ (gasp and look surprised at each other) Marinette: See? You're both much more alike than you think. (walks off; humming)

…our hero, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I’m not saying that Chloe’s poor behavior is Marinette’s fault. Chloe’s choices are her own, but it’s hard to say, “why didn’t she change?” when even Ladybug doesn’t seem to want her to. If no one is actively encouraging Chloe whenever she does better, then it's 1000x harder for her to get better. Fake it til you make it is a huge part of self improvement. Being a better person for validation or selfish reasons often leads to meaningful change and is a legitimate way to start a self-driven redemption arc. (Go watch The Good Place if you want a prime example of this.)

Hearthunter: When the Hero Moment Should Have Happened

Hearthunter and Miracle Queen are supposedly the end of Chloe’s “damnation” arc. The moment where she makes the wrong choice and, to be clear, Chloe does the wrong thing here. Helping Hawkmoth is a bad move and she deserved to face some consequences. However, the choice to help Hawkmoth has the weirdest setup for a “damnation” arc that I’ve ever seen.

In Miraculer, we get this line from Gabriel: all I need is for [Chloe] to lose all hope in Ladybug. To become angry enough so I can akumatize her.

This is also the episode where Chloe rejects an akuma (Chloé: No, Hawk Moth! I am a superheroine! I am Queen Bee! Ladybug will come and get me when she needs me! I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU!), the episode where Lila helps manipulate Chloe into doubting Ladybug, and the episode where Ladybug tell’s Chloe that she’ll never be Queen Bee again, setting up the tension for the season final.

However, even though that tension is set, the thing that turns Chloe to the dark side is… her parents being akumatized. Not some random akuma that Chloe wants to help with. Not Hawkmoth just randomly showing up with the bee. No, we have both of Chloe's parents as the victim of the day and Ladybug actively chooses Ryuuko over Queen Bee, making Chloe the first and only hero who doesn’t get called in when a loved one is in trouble.

All of that leads to this:

Hawk Moth: Chloé Bourgeois, rejections hurt! (Chloé turns to face him) Your talents deserve to be recognized! Ladybug and Cat Noir's reign has gone on long enough. It's time for Paris to have a new queen, and the Queen Bee on my chessboard is you. Chloé: You've akumatized my parents! If I had my Miraculous I'd- Hawk Moth: (puts up his hand and interrupts) You're right, but I did it for one reason only. So that you would finally realize that Ladybug will never give you the Bee Miraculous again. I, however, always keep my promises. (shows her the Bee Miraculous in his hand) Chloé: This isn't real! How do you have it? Hawk Moth: Try it and see for yourself. You're Ladybug's greatest fan. You've helped her, you've trusted her, and what has she done for you in return? Chloé: (gets angry) Nothing! She couldn't care less about me! I'm done with her. She's irrelevant, utterly irrelevant! (reaches out to grap the Miraculous, stops) I want you to deakumatize has my parents first!

Just like with Queen Wasp, Chloe does the wrong thing. She didn’t have to take the bee. She didn't have to stay selfish, egotistical, and petty. But at the same time, this isn’t really a damning act. It's an act that makes her unsuitable to be Queen Bee again, but she wasn't going to be Queen Bee anyway. She wasn't choosing to be a villain over a hero. She was just choosing to be selfish at a time when she's been actively manipulated and when her parents are in danger.

In other words, this is just Chloe being Chloe. She’s acting the same way she did when she first got her miraculous. If no one is going to believe in her, then why should she be a better person? Why shouldn't she just stay the same? She's arguably no worse than she was in Queen Wasp, the consequences are just greater because of Hawkmoth's plan and the powers he gives her. The only real change is that she no longer idolizes Ladybug so Ladybug no longer has a chance to encourage Chloe to be a better person, but Ladybug never did that anyway, so what does it really matter?

Once again, none of this is to blame Marinette. She doesn't have to try and make her bully a better person. That's a huge ask. But with no one actively trying to make Chloe better even when she shows that she can be better when given the right motivation, it's silly to say that Chloe had a damnation arc or really any arc at all. She ended where she started and, if that's all they wanted to do with her, then they should have just left her as a one-dimensional mean girl instead of making her one of the most developed characters in this bloated mess of a show.

Personally, I would have liked to see a redemption arc because I enjoy morally grey characters and it would have been nice to have someone on the team who wasn't a kind, sweet, goody-goody (for a team with 18 freaking members, there's really no moral diversity, which is boring). It also would have stopped Chloe and Lila filling the same basic role for 3 seasons, which was stupid. (Why do you think Lila showed up so little? It's because Chloe could do almost everything she could do and do it better.) Second choice would be don't develop Chloe, leave her as a petty mean girl and give her focused screen time to Nino and Adrien. Their relationship is barely a thing and that's disappointing considering its strong setup. Cutting Lila and giving Chloe a true damnation arc would have also been far more satisfying.

[lyingintheclouds]

— the art club

because me and my petty self want to claim this headcanon :’)

mei and mitsuba haven’t been shown interacting aside a short time in picture perfect arc and it’s such a waste because their parallels are so absolutely interesting and i’m in love with the idea of sibling relationship shijimitsu

like

so

but

once, mitsuba tried to find a place to stay within the seven mysteries and kinda got rejected by most of them. however, the one he wasn’t shown interacting with was with shijima, and they get along together well enough, looking at their interactions in picture perfect...

not to mention these parallels;

they’re both 'fakes'. the second unoriginal versions of people who used to be alive, people who used to be there and talk to others and make an impact on the world.

their original selves were both artists. they drew what was important, immortalizing it in their photos and paintings and sketches and film. original mitsuba’s ghost took a picture of kou before getting turned into no. 3 by tsukasa. original mei drew her ideal self, in a tower, and created her second self. both these things were important to them.

their second selves were created because their original selves had a wish. to live on, and to have & stay with friends...

and slowly, their second selves started to grow indifferent to their original selves’ forms of expression. shijima seems to only draw for functionality instead of for her own enjoyment or curiosity or expression, but her art has so much more meaning now that they create more than just an impression of life—they make life. and mitsuba doesn’t even know anything anymore, amnesia go brrrr (ty @ocelotlesbian for pointing this out)

i have so much to say about how shijima’s art is being used more as a tool for convenience instead of how the original mei used it—even natsuhiko & tsukasa are trying to annoy her for stuff—and not to mention the things they could do with this ability if someone thought about it enough (she, tsuchigomori, yako & the clock keepers are so completely broken i can’t even—these are the mysteries, of course, but i’m so glad they’re passively watching everything unfold because if they took matters into their own hands it’d be absolute chaos look at the clock keepers arc)

and i henceforth i headcanon

these two siblings doing art together afterschool in an art room. do we normally see mitsuba in hanako’s bathroom after school? no... and he’s scared of tsukasa. absolutely traumatised. ignore the afterschool episodes, i want mitsuba to turn on his heel and walk straight to the art room, skipping the fourth step.

after he has his melancholy talks and tear-filled arguments with kou he goes over and whines to shijima and they watch a movie on a projector and eat ice cream from a minifridge.

bonus points if mei uses her sketchbook to draw tissues for them. they literally have infinite ice cream and tissues

after the aquarium trip, i don’t think he could return to kou’s house (teru) & he also loses more energy the further away he is from the school SO i’d like to say he walks over, finds shijima & just cries to her the entire time about how kou is being difficult

shijima (unbothered queen) hands him her sketchbook w a drawing of a tissue box inside and 'mhm's every few minutes

it’s such a nice dynamic i love them so much

WHAT IF THEY RELEARNED THEIR PAST SELVES’ HOBBIES TOGETHER

like mitsuba learning how to hold a camera w his hand

shijima teaches him how to sketch, they go on small trips around the school at night to look at items in the moonlight

mitsuba absolutely destroys any supernaturals in their way (i need shijima to force him to eat occasionally and he will have to listen)

no but shijima is perfectly able to handle them herself

cue shijima pulling a sword from her sketchbook and slicing supernaturals into pieces

but what if their past versions met in some sort of afterlife and mei teaches him to sketch & mitsuba shows mei his favorite photos and anglings and they watch birds & draw them and take photos and think about their lives and-

bonus: YAKO.

yako’s stairs are said to lead up to the art room 👀

so what if...

(i’ll finish this later lmao)

i need this to be canon. sibling mei & mitsuba. pls.

thank you for reading ♡ drink some water~

⚠︎ — update log

01/10/25 — put in extra stuff + fixed some inaccuracies

[beanghostprincess]

Don't mind me just casually dropping a thought nugget-

Anyway Ussop and Buggy both with MEGA imposter syndrome energy, somehow the cross guild and strawhats cross paths and declare a truce ((maybe it's a simple island, maybe Buggy's just "feeling nice" and so doesn't instigate, who tf knows-))

Anyway, Ussop and Buggy having a brief moment of a heart to heart, maybe Ussop overhears a Cross Guild "argument" ((ie: Croc threatening Buggy)), and he's actually... concerned? About this guy?? I mean yeah Buggy has done some bad shit and all but he helped Luffy with the whole Impel Down Thing. Luffy is a good judge of character, and if it wasn't On Sight this meet up, then obviously Buggy is a halfway decent dude.

So it becomes Pinocchio Jesus trying to subtly give therapy to a feral cat clown man on the outskirts of a party.

And when Buggy inevitably drops a "it's just the way it is, kid, they're stronger than me, I can offer nothing", Ussop has a moment of oh. You're like me, aren't you, Buggy?

((Bonus points, Luffy alternating between inhaling food, playing around and being absolutely GLUED to someone (Zoro, Buggy or Crocodile, in that order of frequency).

Eventually Lu decides to give a Grand Retelling Of Events, and he calls Buggy "one of the harder people I fought" without hesitation bc, to Luffy, he WAS. Buggy was the one who hurt his hat, who gave him a challenge STILL IN THE EAST, and who was tenacious and smart in ways he didn't GET. mihawk and Crocodile both are Doubting until Luffy gets into the Impel Down events and they... are beginning to Wonder. Buggy was underestimated when arrested, on a higher level, but even those levels have good security. And Buggy was out and mid escape when Luffy found him.

How did THAT happen?

And actually... he was starting and running a business in two years - one they integrated into with... very little push back or struggle. Mihawk may not be as business oriented, but both can tell that the math isn't... mathing precisely as expected.

Luffy, so infectious with energy, in that hat, in that shade of red - well. Buggy's been lonely for so long, and he's tired. What's the harm in dropping a few of his many, many guards?

Luffy is over the moon bc as far as he's concerned, the moment Buggy helped him, they became Friends, and when he learned he's an ally or smth of Shanks'? That's it, Buggy, you're being assimilated into the found family. Good luck, pal.

Croc and Hawk meanwhile are the Pikachu meme inside, trying to find the EQUATION to account for?? All??? This????

The rest of the strawhats are either cackling, watching on in amusement or cheering on as Buggy does some simply little card tricks or juggles smth or other. He passed Captain's Vibe Check, Nami's only slightly petty about the money.))

Just. Ussop (and thus Sanji) looking at this exhausted clown man and saying "we're adopting you. Yes, you're older than us. No we don't care. Sign here plz"

Luffy going "we're friends, no need to fight!! ... unless you wanna 👀👀"

Meanwhioe Mihawk and Zoro are making Prolonged Eye Contact ominously between sips of their alcohol of choice.

Just. Buggy being strong armed into Friendship and The Inescapable Ordeal Of Being Loved while his business partners are left to Wonder and Think and be subjected to the biggest, most aggressive sideye either have ever experienced by this gaggle of pirate gremlins who have for some reason decided Buggy is the Coolest and Best Ever, Actually.

This is amazing. I've always said Luffy and Buggy would end up getting along at some point if Luffy knew how much Buggy has gone through, tbh. And Usopp would feel so much pity for him, honestly. They're on the same boat here (shitty self-esteem and imposter syndrome boat). This is great bc I can imagine Crocodile and Mihawk's faces and it's,,, So funny,,

[favcharacterpoll]

ROUND 6 MATCH 7: SOUNDWAVE VS. KERMIT

Soundwave, who's on thin fucking ice, faces Kermit the Frog, last remaining bonus contestant.

Soundwave Propaganda:

"In like every show ever once he's not there/kidnapped/dead the entire Decepticon fucking faction goes to shambles. Ex: in transformers: Prime, (SPOILER!)

once he was "banished to the shadow realm" Megatron literally died and they lost the war 💀💀"

"Soundwave never loses in a poll"

"SOUNDWAVE MY BELOVED his back is so so sore from single-handedly holding up the Decepticon cause every vote for him is 1 more ibuprofen tablet given to him"

"Soundwave is the funniest fucking character in transformers because he's literally the straight man in every situation he's in with the decepticons, because all of them are absolutely incompetent at their job due to them being too focused on infighting. When Megatron died in FOC Soundwave was the one who literally put him back together and by extension, fucked everything over for everyone else because in this specific continuity Megatron just happened to be addicted to space meth.

However it can be so easy to see Soundwave as emotionless because of his straight-man role and his monotone speaking patterns, but Soundwave has plenty of emotions that he displays throughout the years, most notably being when he's dealing with the cassettes (aka his children), and can range from being soft-spoken with them, to full-out enabling their violent tendencies and letting them go ham at beating the shit out of teammates (shout out to that one g1 clip where Soundwave tries to hold back his kids for like a single second before saying "fuck it" and letting them go for the eyes).

Even outside of the cassettes though, he's very expressive in his own way. In fact, he's the KING of pettiness and sass when he wants to be. He literally plays his own supervillain music when walking the halls, he's not above insulting the other deceptions when their arguments are bullshit to him, even when faced with the destruction of the world he was like "nah" until he saw his boyfriend getting injured and went "REAL SHIT" (there's literally memes about this it's so funny). Speaking of friends, he actually has a lot of interesting dynamics with the people around him, especially when it comes to the decepticon high command. He's described as Megatron's most trusted advisor, he's somewhat amicable with Starscream (who's his own brand of frustration), and he and Shockwave even seem to get along pretty well (to the point they have a biologically fucked up tube son together?? It's been years since I've watched Siege but I swear that was what lead to Soundblaster), and did I mention he's gay? I'm pretty sure he and Cosmos are in a relationship together in the IDW comics or at least have a mutual attraction, it's cute.

Also speaking of IDW Soundwave: he likes elephants. They're his favourite animal and he loves them to the point where after he died in the comics, his kids specifically started targeting elephant poachers because they knew Soundwave would want that.

Have I mentioned he has a cat dad in the IDW comics. Like his dad is a literal robot cat that found him when he was having a sensory overload in the middle of the streets. Have these panels from when his dad died and he wasn't even there to see it! He just knew 💖

And have I mentioned he's met Fluttershy? Because he canonically met Fluttershy and let his cassettes play with her (while DELAYING HIS MISSION. THAT'S HUGE IN SOUNDWAVE LANGUAGE.)

There's also him being the reigning champion of best robot husband, but that's a whole other situation which is also really funny."

Kermit Propaganda:

"Kermit is the best ever and I love him ❤️"

"Kermit is sag aftra"

"ofc i support kermit the frog he’s a small business owner he’s an artist he’s an actor he’s a union man he loves his wife he’s a babygirl literally he is the perfect man"

[sexhaver]

hate have to keep talking abt cakegate but the stupid ass reaction to that post is making me more mad than that Reddit post ever could. truth is idrc and i don’t think it happened the way OP said anyways but like. the amount of people making assumptions to justify victimizing OP vs the amount of villainization the gf gets thrown for baking a cake? like earlier on i kept seeing ppl say shit like oh she clearly made the cake to embarrass him and im ????? how tf did u get that from the post

im also losing my God damned MIND at all the people acting like she somehow brought this on herself by asking what was wrong. i already got into an argument with someone in the notes and had to block them over this so im going to put this less generously than i might have otherwise: if you can't read that story and conclude that OP was pouting specifically to make his gf ask him what was wrong so he had an opening to be petty, you are not emotionally mature enough to be drawing conclusions about it. exhibit A:

bonus, unrelated exhibit B (the least popular opinion at this point was that OP did nothing wrong):

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

as a follow-up to the bad end siblings take:

put them in Heroes. i wanna see them get into disproportionately disastrous arguments over like. who got the bigger slice of pie at dessert or something. i wanna see them blow up a courtyard because Alear didn't shut the door to Eveyle's room. I wanna see them get into playground slapfights because one of them suggested shooting the other out of a cannon at the enemy army.

i just need like. really wacky petty silliness. like "i should not be laughing at these two fighting because this is incredibly concerning behavior but also this is the most entertained i have ever been" kinda silliness. bonus points if it's like. not even a fallen or legendary banner or something. put them on a fucking. Halloween banner.

actually i think Christmas would be a lot funnier. especially if the other Christmas units are all happy and nice and joyous about Christmas and these two are the only ones bitching about it. it's the "arguments at the Christmas family dinner" except it's just these goobers ruining everybody else's Christmas just by existing within each other's proximity

-- horror anon

.

[helix-enterprises117]

Halo Reloaded: Klutz (+ Bonus Story)

Long before they were the towering titans of Spartan lore, before the augmentation, the armor, and the endless battles, they were kids. Kids with the weight of the world, or at least the fate of humanity, unknowingly resting on their tiny, yet unnaturally strong shoulders. In this prelude to their legendary status, Fred and Kelly, both eight and brimming with the sort of energy that could either power a small city or lead to its accidental destruction, found themselves embroiled in a spat so intense, it could only be described as epic—for an eight-year-old, at least.

The bone of contention? A gadget. Not just any gadget, mind you, but the sort that had buttons, lights, and made beep-boop sounds. It was the sort of tech that in the hands of skilled Spartan children could simulate battles or, in the wrong hands (namely any of their own on a bad day), end up as a very expensive paperweight.

Fred, with the sort of conviction only seen in children arguing over toys, stated, "You always do this, Kelly. I was clearly here first. Like, dawn-first. You were probably still drooling on your pillow."

Kelly, hands akimbo and eyes ablaze with the fire of a thousand suns—or perhaps just the fiery temper of an eight-year-old denied her toy—shot back, "In your dreams, Fred. You wish you were as dedicated to waking up early as I am. That gadget was mine for the taking. Finders keepers, losers weepers."

John, the youngest and usually the quietest of the trio, wandered in, curious about the commotion, only to find himself in the midst of what could very well have been the opening salvo of World War III, if it were to be fought by particularly articulate eight-year-olds over a training gadget.

The argument escalated, words flying faster than a Spartan in full sprint, until Fred, in a moment of passion (or perhaps just to prove a point), reached out to snatch the device. His fingers barely grazed it before it took a leap of faith, liberated from the confines of petty human squabbles, only to meet its untimely demise against the unyielding ground. The gadget, in a final act of defiance, scattered into a million pieces, each beep and boop falling silent.

Silence reigned, both children staring at the debris field that was once a cutting-edge piece of UNSC technology.

"Fred! You klutz!" Kelly exclaimed, half in horror, half in a begrudging respect for the chaos Fred had managed to unleash.Before the blame game could spiral further, the towering figure of Mendez loomed into the doorway, his shadow casting a pall over the room that could chill the bones of even the most seasoned soldier.

John, caught in the middle and still processing the rapid turn of events, found Mendez's steely gaze upon him. "Well, John? What happened here?" Mendez's voice was calm, the calm before the storm.

John, with the innocence of youth and the uncertainty of being put on the spot, stammered, "Uh, I think Kelly was... uh, doing something, and then... bam?"

Kelly's jaw dropped. "What? No! He's making it up! I didn't do it this time!" she protested, her voice hitting octaves only dogs could appreciate.In a desperate bid to avoid the wrath of Mendez (which could range from extra laps to a stern talking-to that could make a grown man cry), both Fred and Kelly, in a moment of panicked solidarity, pointed their fingers at John.

"It was definitely John," Fred chimed in, throwing his friend under the proverbial bus with a sheepish look that screamed 'Sorry, buddy.'

Mendez's eyebrows arched, a silent verdict passed. John, the sacrificial lamb, followed Mendez out, his small form a mixture of confusion and the dawning realization of betrayal.

Left alone, Fred and Kelly glanced at each other, the remnants of their argument lying forgotten among the pieces of the now-defunct gadget.

"Guess we kinda messed up, huh?" Fred muttered, scratching the back of his head in a universal sign of 'oops.'

"Yeah," Kelly sighed, her earlier fire replaced with a flicker of guilt. "Sorry for calling you a klutz."

"And sorry for, you know, actually being a klutz," Fred replied, a grin creeping onto his face.

As they started picking up the pieces, literally, the incident morphed from a potential friendship-ending disaster to just another tale in the saga of their Spartan training. The lesson? In the grand scheme of things, gadgets come and go, but friends—especially those who can forgive your penchant for accidentally destroying said gadgets—are forever.

---

John trudged behind Mendez, his feet feeling like they were made of lead, into what felt less like an office and more like the coliseum—only here, the lions were replaced with officers bearing the full might of UNSC disappointment. The air was heavy, charged with a sort of electric anticipation, as if the very walls were bracing for the verbal barrage to come.

Mendez, with the practiced ease of someone who had given more lectures than there were stars in the sky, didn’t bother with the usual pleasantries. He went straight for the jugular. “John,” he began, the name not so much spoken as it was launched like a missile, “we’ve gathered here not to talk about what was broken—though, by the stars, it was expensive—but about the breaking itself. The sheer, unadulterated recklessness.”

John’s eyes, fixed on his scuffed boots, couldn’t have looked guiltier if he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Except this jar was worth more credits than he could count, and the cookies were top-secret UNSC tech.

An officer, whose name tag read something unimportant because all John could think was ‘this is it, I’m done for,’ piped up. “Let’s cut to the chase. We're not running a charity here, son. That equipment you 'supposedly' destroyed? It's worth more than your weight in platinum.”

John’s mouth opened, a feeble attempt at defense forming, but what came out was barely audible. “But I—”“But nothing,” Mendez cut in, his voice a crescendo of frustration. “This isn’t about who did what anymore. It’s about you being here, right now, and the fact that a piece of invaluable equipment was turned into a very expensive doorstop on your watch.”

The officers took turns then, as if this were some twisted tag team match, each one delivering their own brand of scathing critique. Words like “disappointment,” “liability,” and “failure” were thrown around with such casual precision, John felt each one like a physical blow.

The tears came then, unbidden, streaking down his face in silent testament to the crushing weight of their words. This wasn’t how heroes were made; this was how dreams were crushed, beneath the heel of authority and the harsh light of reality.

Mendez, perhaps sensing he had a broken spirit rather than a Spartan on his hands, softened slightly. “Look, John. This isn’t the end of the line. But it’s a damn serious bump. Spartans are built on trust, on the understanding that every gear in the machine works flawlessly. Today, you were a cog that jammed. Don’t let there be a next time.”

With a dismissive wave, Mendez signaled the end of the tribunal, and the officers filed out, leaving John in the echoing silence of the office, the aftermath of a storm. The door closed with a soft click, a definitive full stop on the day’s events.

John made his way back to his quarters, each step heavy with the sort of weariness that had nothing to do with physical exertion and everything to do with the soul-crushing realization that sometimes, your best isn’t good enough. The corridor stretched before him, a path back to a place that felt less like home and more like a cell.Inside his room, the reality of his situation settled in with oppressive finality.

To him, there was no grand lesson learned, no silver lining—just the bitter taste of failure and the understanding that in the grand scheme of things, he was expendable. A tool that, when broken, could easily be replaced.

As he lay in his bunk, staring up at the cold, unfeeling ceiling, John realized that the path to becoming a Spartan was littered with more than just physical trials. It was a journey that demanded everything, and sometimes, that meant facing the fact that not all were destined to reach the end.

The lights dimmed, mirroring the dimming of his spirit, as John closed his eyes, not to dream of victories and glory, but to escape the harsh reality that today, he had been found wanting. In the silence of his quarters, a young boy’s aspirations seemed to fade into the darkness, a sad, stark reminder that... well, not all stories have happy endings.

@ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask, @authortobenamedlater, @ageless-aislynn.

[loveislandthegame]

thoughts on today's volume ! sienna is annoying, and it's even worse because she'll continue to harass you regardless of whether you're pursuing your OG LI or not . i'm not trying to get back with jin (unless claud's somehow still unavailable at the next recoupling)

MC needs a "leave me alone, bride of chucky" option. moving on

next up is snog marry pie. once again, theo is flirting with me despite MC showing no interest in him ? i'll talk more about this later. for now i had to let him know that i'm Mx. Steal Your Girl

my wife !! i'll be wearing a wedding suit though, don't get it twistedddd 😏

i snogged kyle, married claudia, pied liam, then used the bonus pie on sienna. hazel pied off jin for some vague reason, "you know what you did," type stuff. and i mean ... sorry to the loyal girlies, but i actually hope OG LI did something major. it'd be sad & frustrating among other things if FB decided to set up yet another black woman islander as a petty, jealous villain

i can't lie, this argument was funny af. bonus points for this actually being unique dialogue (i think they should kiss...👀)

and what is this black swan (2010) halloween costume from shein-looking ass dress ???!!!! i think this rivals the season 7 suggested prom monstrosity as the fastest "see other options" selection i've ever made. this outfit is not the one, two, three, or four

next challenge is "couple goals 2.0," a bit lazy there😖

for the most part i've glossed over liam's dialogue cus he genuinely has nothing of value to say, but what ?? i've never gotten steamy with theo . in fact, i barely see the dude because (outside of casa amor) him and claudia share the same "slot" for private chats and alone time. not to mention the only person in this entire villa who's ever done anything with MC outside of a challenge is claudia (my MC didn't even go in the hideaway)

once we came back from casa theo began having a really obvious crush on my MC (don't get me wrong, i think he's gorgeous. i just avoid him specifically because the overlap of his & claudia's routes) and i know some people have complained about claudia flirting with them in casa amor on a straight theo route. i don't know if this is intentional, or if this is just the game falling apart. knowing FB it's probably the latter

venus girl you're so messy ... (acting like i didn't choose these options😭)

speaking of mess, i did expose sienna for hooking up with oakley . (mainly because she had the nerve and audacity to insinuate that i did bits with kyle in casa when we didn't even sleep in the same bed) i didn't reveal that it was theo who caught them, tho people should put two & two together based on him trying to get MC to stop talking lol . i kinda regret it, because oakley is trying to spin it as MC being the one that's somehow "out of control," but i'll just see how the next volume goes before i decide to do a replay. if they're exposed during movie night i'll go back and keep it a secret 🤷

enough of that though, we got a steamy scene with claudia 👀 plus some more confirmation that she's 100% focused on us ... i don't know when the next recoupling is but hopefully within the next couple of episodes, i'm tired of being forced to lead people on 😩

next volume is movie night ! i pray for some branching here, but i wouldn't be surprised if it was some ridiculous clip that can make everyone, even the loyal girlies, look "bad." throwback to vicky getting pissed at my movie night clip of giving bonnie a hug 🙄

[ukigumos]

Ship Bias

UKIGUMOS - »❝浮雲❞«

(claps hands together)

I was going to say 'I'll keep this brief', but then I'd have to put on a clown costume. So instead, I apologize beforehand for this absolute mess of a tangent. This is a painfully obvious list of ships but here we go.

TLDR:

18->80, 1880, 8018, 80->18

BONUS:

1833/3318, 1859/5918

Detailed desc under 'read more'.

18->80

The appeal of the ship in general is mutual respect and trust, not needing to hide/change anything and their shared traditional Japanese aesthetic. My favourite part of any ship is the pining, so I tend to lean heavily towards bitter-sweet outcomes / one-sided ships. Yamamoto Takeshi is so compatible! He's friendly, caring and clever! But Hibari? Oh no. He hates authority figures. He hates being tied down and restricted. He hates weaklings. He hates owing people. Contradictions are confusing. He hates so many things, it makes it hard for him to really bond. Everyone treats Hibari like he's this troublesome delinquent (I mean, HE IS) or someone to be feared. Most reactions to him are: "EEEE, it's Hibari!" (cowers), "Ugh, this guy." (done), etc. Yamamoto seems to be the only one who is genuinely happy to see him at all. He's also the only one that's happy to hear that Hibari has gotten stronger and even says he wants to fight him again (i-is he a m-masochist?). The point I'm trying to make is that: Yamamoto doesn't want Hibari to change or to behave in this way or that way. He doesn't try to 'fix' Hibari's behaviour and accepts him as is and likes him for that. And I think Hibari reciprocates (mostly) those feelings too. But because Yamamoto is so popular, and Hibari is a moron, I think for the most part, Hibari would sit there pining and pining and pining. He doesn't know how to love or be loved, so this longing feeling and this desire to watch over Yamamoto is very ??? Which is why I tend to lean for a very 18->80 approach.

1880

Reciprocated 1880? Good stuff, good stuff. I think as a couple, they'd keep each other entertained rather well. Admittedly, I have a tough time writing dominant muses but the Hibari that lives in my brain is very much a needy weirdo. He gets cuteness aggression towards Yamamoto LOL. Hibari and Yamamoto both like fighting. Yamamoto can keep up with Hibari and vice versa. I think Yamamoto would be a good influence to Hibari too, gently challenging him about opinions here and there. Overall a solid ship and I will not shut up about them if given the chance (Exhibit A)

8018

I have a massive 1880 bias but that does not mean I don't appreciate a good Yamamoto top (slapped). Their height difference is everything.

80->18

Again, me and my angst loving self. This is also tasty, but it's VERY hard for me to register a world where Hibari doesn't love Yamamoto. I think Yamamoto pining is extremely tasty regardless.

I don't particularly have any ships I genuinely like outside of 1880/8018 because I can't unsee Hibari's gay gaze and his bias towards Yamamoto. Saving him over and over and over is one thing but entrusting your school duties to him, turning up to his ring conflict battle then getting second hand pain and then interrupting a crowd (that he hates) to be like 'what are you talking about, that's Yamamoto Takeshi' is??? Ok, we get it, you're down bad.

Bonus:

These are more like, ships I can tolerate / see the appeal to and won't be too opposed to explore.

1833/3318

They're both senpai! And it seems like they know how to handle each other for the most part. I just have concerns that Hibari would find him too loud LMAO. But they're both morons so maybe they have the chance to share a brain cell.

1859/5918

It's a pretty cracky ship, but I just think it'd be interesting. They'd probably get into petty arguments a lot.

[hekateinhell]

sending this well after you've probably gone to bed HOWEVER i am always ready to report for louis/armand/lestat duty so HERE GOES:

Every time they get in a petty fight, someone rearranges the vinyl collection at Trinity Gate. Louis organizes alphabetically by artist, Armand organizes by genre, and Lestat organizes chronologically. The music room is a goddamn war zone.

When Lestat is an Extra Extra Good Boy (or just in need of some tlc in general) Louis and Armand make the best mani-pedi team. Louis takes a foot and Armand takes a hand, then they switch for the opposite side. 

Somehow Armand gets ahold of the tattered old TVL band shirt that Louis used to sleep in. He lounges around the house in it and has both Lestat and Louis drooling in SECONDS (bonus smut points if Louis and Lestat both take turns fucking him in it)

Also this is just Louis/Armand but listen i've been thinking a lot lately of how strong Armand is!!! Like I know the fun thing about his character is that he's got the craziest mental tenacity for someone trapped in a small/young body, but I do think people sleep on how physically strong he is as well. Anyway, all I'm saying is: I want to see him hoist Louis up against a wall and fuck him <3 I want Louis to get overpowered and dicked down by someone half a foot shorter than him LOL it would be good for him!!!!!!

ASHLEYYYYY OH MY GOD I LOVE ALL THESE SO MUCH YOU ALWAYS HIT ME WHERE I LIVE!!! 😭😭😭

i love thinking about what their domestic life would look like LMAO canon or human AU because all three of them complement and contrast each other so fucking well, i'm all over that all day every day!!!! asksfkdsgj rip the music room 💀 i hope to god nobody gets petty enough to fuck with the library and louis's meticulously thought out system of displaying his books that only he knows (lestat gets petty enough, armand knows better -- tbh idk if he actually ever gets mad at louis? as easily as lestat sets him off, louis has the opposite effect. but for argument's sake, i think if louis did piss armand off, armand would react by pretending he's fine but he would immediately start being infantilizing and weird. really, really emphasizing the "sweet, dusty louis" every other sentence like he's marius talking to a wain victorian orphan).

NO BUT THIS IS SO SWEET!!! not to get too serious but for canon fic i think about court era!lestat a lot and like how he comes right out and says to marius "you don't want a prince in me, you want a figurehead, you would be the ruler here" and really just all the times he sounds so Tired & Done™️ in general with everything. lestat getting some TLC from his consort and madame de pompadour on the regular is harm reduction at its finest lbr. i wanna see armand and louis giving him a perfumed bath a la QotD but without the trauma (and like in Air Catcher too now that i've triggered the memory, i love your brain so much DO YOU KNOW HOW OFTEN I REREAD THAT FIC 🥹)

OH MY GOD STOP PLEASE!!! i wanna know like was armand intentional about wearing louis's lestat shirt? in his mind, is this The Next Logical Step in their threesome relationship? was he expecting a reaction or was he just looking to self-soothe and instead of going for one of louis's baggy sweaters that would hit the thigh on armand, he just grabbed the shirt? regardless, i hope they dped him 🫶🏼 (i totally need this to happen both in canon verse and in teen au future verse)

NO ASHLEY YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND LMAO NOBODY KNOWS BECAUSE I HAVE TOO MUCH GOING ON TO ACTUALLY WRITE BUT THE SMUT MACHINE NEVER STOPS AND LATELY I JUST WANT ARMAND TO TOP EVERYONE!!!! i wanna see the short king bend back those long legs and go to town on these catholic boys! 🤧 armand is the ultimate switch and he is, in his own words, NOT A WAIF. he can lift that bag of bones easily!!! ❤️ and i remember we talked about like top/bottom dynamics with lestat and louis--either physically or just energy wise--and how it would probably take a considerable amount of time and effort for louis to heal enough to relinquish that control to lestat again following the RR years and all that went down... i'm thinking like if i wanted squish armand in there and I DO, it would be a good step in that direction for louis to practice being open (get it? i'll see myself out) with armand first (literally expanding on PL canon here just adding the sex LMAO). tl;dr: it would be good for both of them if armand fucked that sad, wet man (as a treat) ALSO ALSO SEE MY FAVE "ARMAND FUCKS LOUIS" FICLET THAT IS WAY TOO FUCKING SHORT

[shirogane-oushirou]

[cw mentions of ableism. talking / venting about the sharing vs non-sharing shit (i do not lean towards supporting one "side" over the other); starts out relatively neutral-toned but i start to sound frustrated part way through. i also have a more personal ramble at the very end that has a separate cw list. it's also long... don't feel obligated to read. i just needed to say things and be Done with it.]

man. i'm ready for all of the sharing vs non-sharing back and forths to stop.

to be clear: this isn't some "i'm above this argument" thing. on the contrary; i completely see where both "sides" are coming from! i simply mean it shouldn't be so difficult for a select few shit-stirrers to Get that selfshipping is a personal thing, and we should be able to ship in whatever way makes us most comfortable.

if someone is non-sharing, they should be allowed to create those boundaries without being harassed or called "immature" or "delusional" by sharing people. beyond how supremely ableist that is, nobody has the right to say they can't view their f/os in a certain way, no matter if other people don't understand those feelings.

if someone is sharing, they should be allowed to share their feelings for a character openly with other sharing people without being sent hate from non-sharing people who think they're "loose" or who want to be their f/o's "one and only". shaming people for being open to sharing is fucked from multiple "sexual / romantic purity" and "anti poly-[sexual / romantic / platonic] relationships" angles, and nobody has the right to claim sole and total ownership over a character they did not make.

and yet, every couple of weeks, we get posts from a vocal minority making a huge fuss over "the other side", when it's just a vocal minority FROM that other side ALSO making a fuss. and then those vague posts leave their intended orbit and cause more mis-worded posts and misunderstandings and off-the-cuff bigoted statements, and the cycle starts again.

we should theoretically be able to respect each other while focusing that energy on, oh i dunno, chasing harassers out of the community? getting selfshippers who aren't part of a specific marginalized group to help selfshippers from that group when they're harassed, maybe?? especially when the sharing vs non-sharing Thing very often coincides with bigotry; people who are harassing others tend to not just stop at being petty or mean, they make it personal.

and -- not as important but a nice little bonus -- i would think that working towards a community that's more safe for everyone in it would also "coincidentally" (/s) get rid of the shit-stirrers, whether because they were kicked out or because they realized what they were doing and grew as people.

---

[cw ableism, vague death ideation, non-physical self harm mention]

i was originally gonna put this bit in the tags, but i think i should put it under the cut bc it's a little personal + it got too long.

also, i try to stay in my lane and not discuss details about delusions or how to approach them -- i've only experienced them a couple of times, so i'm not going to claim to know much about them -- so if i've overstepped, PLEASE let me know and i'll edit or remove anything i've misspoken about.

but coming from someone who went too deep into selfshipping in the past and worries about the mental health of people who do: It's None Of Your Business!!

delusions aren't morally "bad" or "wrong". holding deep feelings abt a character isn't inherently delusion-based and also isn't morally "bad" or "wrong". and neither of those is the same as -- speaking from experience (above content warnings come into play here) -- being obsessed with a character to the point that you self-isolate and emotionally self harm because you wish so badly that the character was real and you believe there isn't a point to life if you'll never meet that character... and this is also not inherently delusion-based and ALSO not morally "bad" or "wrong".

these separate things -- delusions, deep feelings, and unhealthy obsession -- CAN intersect but just as often don't. none are immoral, and all are deserving of being approached with compassion and respect, in whatever way is most appropriate.

negative, harmful ACTIONS that some people take in these states are worth bringing up to them when it's safe to do so, depending on the details of their situation, but the states themselves don't have any moral weight. ie, if someone's harassing others for sharing their f/o because they're in a dark, obsessive place, that is a morally negative ACTION, not a morally negative mental state. they need to take responsibility for harm they've CAUSED, not for what they're experiencing internally.

but if you're calling people "immature" or "delusional" as an insult, something tells me you're not really considering that! whether through malice or just a lack of compassion, you don't see worth in how another person approaches this community.

you aren't better for thinking of a character a certain way, and neither is the person you're being ableist towards. if no harm is being done to you or others, you're just being a dick for the sake of being a dick. listen to other people, learn, and do better.

if you think someone is genuinely in a bad mental place because of selfshipping (wrt isolating and self harm), approach them as another human being. meet them where they're at. don't patronize them, don't call them "delusional", treat them like someone who has their own thoughts and values.

they may want help, or they may not, and you have to respect them for their choice no matter what YOU think is right. there is no truly right way to approach someone who's in a dark place, but you can at least avoid saying things that FOR SURE will make them feel talked down to, belittled, or shamed. if they aren't ready now, maybe they will be ready for help in the future, and shutting them down will make them less likely to seek that help.

(i was also going to put THIS in the tags but i should probably put it here: when i say 'learn and change' i mean it as a positive. people have the capacity to learn and grow and become better; if you've said something in all of this that can be read as harmful... consider why it's harmful and why you said it.

you aren't the same person you were a year ago. 5yrs ago. 10yrs ago. you have grown and you will continue to grow. but if you can be more aware of it and grow more purposefully and consciously? all the better.)