#but in the end it fit my headcanon of the office being built by some very decadent guard captain from the past

[gabelew]

Bazz's captain office, that I finally sketched out and properly planned, after at least two years of rotating it in my brain.

Bazz doesn't have many personal belongings or hobbies besides *trying to make sure the Domain survives another day*, so the decor is pretty sparse. He dragged in a whole rack of spears and other never-to-be-used weaponry from the armory just to cover up the depressingly bare walls...

[tommycorriander]

Larry x Kabu (AoKabu, Blueturnipshipping) headcanons/rambles who cheered!!

- the name 'blueturnipshipping' is being coined by me!!! If there is another wildly used name I would like to know, but my reason for choosing that ship name is because when combined, Ao and Kabu translates to 'blue turnip' (at least, when using machine translation. If it translates differently I would like to know!!!!)

- Kabu, especially in his youth, was seen as quite attractive due to his physical fitness and general attitude on the battlefield. Paired with being a celebrity he was likely sought after frequently. He mentions it very rarely in passing but isn't something he likes to bring up, both from general politeness/being humble and also because a good chunk of those pursuing him were parasocial due to his status. It happens a lot less now due to his age, since he doesn't use social media he doesn't see how there are some people online who make negative comments about him being past his prime. Even so he still has that latent feeling of having peaked, stemming from his previous stumbling in his career as a gym leader.

- Larry probably hasn't experienced being desired in the same capacity as Kabu. Being a gym leader and elite four member doesn't get you much prestige in Paldea due to having less money within the League and a lack of celebrity culture in Paldea for the league. The only exceptions to this are people who are famous for things outside of their position as a gym leader, like Iono with her streaming career. As this is something Larry doesn't have, he isn't on nearly as wide a stage. He's also not particularly 'handsome' in the sense that he isn't well built or looks like a model, so while he has had experience dating and being sought after it's generally not very common and definitely became rarer as he got older. Thats partially because of him being extremely busy as well, not just from his age/looks.

- Kabu is extremely outwardly passionate about battling, something that Larry admires and partially envies. Larry also has a passion for it- he wouldn't be a double member of the League otherwise- but due to working two positions and having an office job he's worn thin and has lost that 'spark' that made him really enjoy battling in the first place. Kabu reignites that in him.

- Kabu greatly appreciates Larry's ability to ignore how others think about him. Kabu isn't self conscious per se, but you do end up taking on some level of concern about your appearance/attitude/actions/etc when you're a celebrity and scrutinized 24/7.

- Kabu is canonically from Hoenn and I headcanon Larry as being from Johto due to his Dudunsparce + how heavily based on the Japanese salaryman stereotype he is. Because of this they both bond over a shared appreciation for the similarities in their cuisine (I headcanon that hoenn has a heavier focus on seafood due to having a lot of ocean nearby, and the Kanto/Johto areas are more agriculture focused. However they are both based on Japan so there is overlap)

- Kabu is more prone to grand gestures of love. Think impressive dinners, big bouquets, if he's making you a meal it's going to be a full course meal. That sort of thing. His 'always do your best' attitude carries over into his love life, though he does try to tone it down as Larry can sometimes be overwhelmed by it.

- Larry, conversely, shows his love in smaller ways. He sees something at the store while buying groceries he thinks Kabu would like and gets it, and doesn't really say much about it. Sending texts on his break that are just simple reminders that he loves Kabu. They balance each other out.

- both of them are a little surprised to learn they like each other back. Larry because he views Kabu as completely out of his league, and Kabu because he would have thought his more fiery personality wouldn't have meshed very well with Larry's more muted one. Kabu has had experience in the past with having lovers originally fully enjoy how passionate it is before they got tired of it and found it overbearing; Larry is just always a bit surprised people actually like him outside of him being a generally fine coworker since he's constantly hearing from others that he's boring and not very fun.

N e wayz. I like sharing and I like answering questions!!! So if anyone sees this and is curious about other headcanons of mine for these two (even just individually, not just as a pair) then send me asks!!!! I don't bite :)

[bathroomtrapped]

saw ask. so let's say hypothetically (not really) all the apprentices are autistic (they are) headcanon them

saw ask ‼️‼️ i completely agree unironically and i keep that in mind when i consume/write/draw saw content. jigsaw apprentices? more like PDA autistics anonymous jfc

i (shamefully) am not an amanda-guy and dont have pretty much any headcanons about her overall so sorry about that but ill do some bullet points for the apprentices bc ive thought TOO MUCH abt this

adam

1. the most obvious PDA manifestation, though i think its strong in mark and lawrence for sure, adam just doesnt mask his. he pretty much built his life around maximizing free will and full control over his schedule

2. constantly reducing sensory input with music and being baked. his apartment is dead silent and dark 24/7 tho

3. honestly i think adam has shocking high levels of empathy. most people in his life wouldnt peg him as someone who would struggle with that but i think its what sets him apart from nearly every saw character. hes so isolated but desperate to understand and connect with other people, even if hes in the shadows

4. studies high class targets and their mannerisms. it helped him function during a few job interviews

5. hates eating, hates effort so pretty much eats like shit. very few specific, cheap, prepackaged meals that he can handle. anything that isnt a time commitment to prepare and eat

6. talks too much to overcompensate (not sure if people are able to understand what hes getting at and ends up rambling)

lawrence

1. i hc him as a narc as well which (as you can imagine) combined with PDA makes instruction/criticism/responsibility stressful so hes constantly overloaded

2. same as above, combined with asd i think its the biggest reason he has that canonical low empathy (similar to mark)

3. can only eat incredibly plain and simple foods. rice, bread, vegetables without butters/oils etc. very picky

4. very little auditory sensory issues after so many years in a hospital and needs noise in order to function (including sleep)

5. started wearing pajamas under his suits after a few years in residency because hes already tired 24/7, the terrible fabric on top of that just makes him insane

6. struggled through med school because lectures are hard to interpret and hes more of a visual learner

7. so much eye contact

8. remember that dog picture in his wallet we see for like 5 seconds? i cant imagine someone like him enjoying the texture or sporadic energy of a dog and makes it sleep in dianas room at night. its not allowed in the office and he meticulously cleans all of the dog hair the second he sees any

9. absolutely allergic to change in every way

mark

1. low empathy as i mentioned before

2. he wears a lot loose fitting suits in canon which i think are for sensory reasons. he clearly prioritizes comfort with those (interesting) track pants?

3. i have joked with my mutuals about his off-putting, autistic ass stare countless times

4. terrible liar because he has less control over his facial expressions and mannerisms. he ends up making too much eye contact and thinks that brutal honesty is a good idea. he has an almost nonexistent filter

5. he reminds me of that brand of autism that a lot of patriarchs have, the kind that goes unnoticed bc theyre the head of the household. meat and potatoes his entire life, strange rituals and routines everyone has to get used to

6. extremely black and white sense of justice and a poor understanding of hierarchal authority. he doesnt get why people are above or below other people and struggles with those concepts

7. everyone in the precinct knows not to joke with mark because it will always fall flat and have to be explained. mark has rly funny but dry and blunt humor himself

[bizarrepotpourri]

Behind the Scenes: Smuggler's End

This one is unrelated to the Officer 432 series, but there's a lot of things going on in it, not to mention the similarity to a random frame from a manga that I haven't seen before, that I feel I need to explain a thing or two. Particularly that the thing is an unexpected fanfic.

This post contains mentions of violent crime, death and, of course, hornyposting, so everything is under the cut. You have been warned.

Important info: you can access the link only if you set explicit material to be shown in your Pixiv settings. For a good reason.

The Pixiv description is not that much of a spoiler, since the big name-drop for the location happens in the second paragraph anyway, but like I said, this is an unexpected fanfic. More on that later, because as you can read, we have a more pressing question to answer first.

How do you call a guillotine if there's no dr Guillotin in your fictional world? Thankfully, I'm a history nerd, so despite having read a local fantasy story in which a similar device was built by a man known as The Nameless Executioner, and called a Nameless Machine, I remembered that in the 16th century, a proto-guillotine used in Scotland was called a Maiden. It had a nice ring to it, so I came up with a nice little backstory for that name. There was even no need for revolution.

This story also displays that I have A Thing for legalese. An execution is just not complete without the sentence being pronounced aloud, just so everyone who's watching knows that the condemned had it coming and the enjoyment of what's coming is entirely guilt-free.

I also have a thing for piercings, in case you missed it. Since the main character is one of my usual shameless self-inserts (and I can very much show you two fingers and tongue if you have something against it), she shares all her piercings with me, and even lacks some of those I already had while writing the story. And despite not wearing some of them for some time now, I'd feel weird if I had to take out every one. Maybe not exactly "naked", but still weird.

But, let's move on to main take, and that would be why the story is an unexpected Dishonored fanfic. I had the idea that the Outsider would show up with a little gift turning ominous, if only to confirm that the main character indeed achieved something in life. From exploiting the same meaning and similar pronunciation of “Corvo” and “Corbeau” in a line the Outsider uses to introduce himself, through the series of flashbacks to Madeleine’s past based on the dream levels from the first game, to the sudden swerve and the image of the silver mask that originally served as the core of the sequence before I decided to expand it and smut it up. Because, like I posted on my previous blog, my personal headcanon is that the Outsider fucks. So hard in fact that the poor girl went half crazy from all the fun.

Aside from the Outsider, I included other fairly clear shout-outs to the games: I wanted a tropical setting, so I thought of Karnaca, the setting of the second game, and the Grand Duchy of Serkonos in general. I didn’t want to go into exact chronology, so I just mentioned the “previous Grand Duke” as the one who ordered the first Maiden to be built in order to purge his political opponents more efficiently. There’s also a mention of coming from “the Dustbowl” and selling herself to silver miners, both referring to the Dust District, and a blink-and-you-miss-it reference to Lizzie Stride, with Madeleine being called a “vulgar woman” and having a 5000 coin bounty on her head, both taken from Lizzie’s wanted poster from the first game.

And as for the silver mask, I wanted a scare. Most importantly, the homonymity, coupled with The Outsider's genie nature, just felt fitting. The flashback to a scene mentioned earlier in the narrative, with the memory of a gentle, warm and sweet teenage lover turning rough and cold, flips the whole dream on its head. The description is very deliberate, mentioning rough wood and cold shining metal as Madeleine realizes that the Maiden’s caress is not the girl she loved, but the machine she is about to face, the cold metallic kiss on her neck catapulting her out of the nightmare. This is why the frame from that manga reminded me of it: the bear trap bringing back the concept of the silver mask, and “The Guillotine is kind” sounding like an ominous reassurance, like the “Don’t worry, you did fine”.

[manoosweebar]

Imagery of Steel Inquisitors

[spoilers for Mistborn Era 1, I suppose] Recently finished era 1 of Mistborn last summer (yet to start era 2, trying to pace myself through the sanderson-verse/cosmere thing????) and I just wanna talk about my thoughts behind how characters looked and specifically changed through the story. Specifically, Marsh

Marsh, being Kelsier’s brother, made me reckon they’d be similar. I had in my mind that he was a brunette to Kelsier’s dirty-blonde, mainly an auburn, reddish-brown shade. In terms of build I imagine he’s built well, but not super buff or anything

This of course changed when he became a Steel Inquisitor. I imagined/headcanon'ed these fucking monsters being built like a 40k Space Marine. Huge as hell, almost engorged with muscle in a way that gives them the build of an un-plugged fridge. Dwarfing characters like 5-foot-weighs-100-lbs-soaking-wet Vin and a great deal few heads taller than characters like Ham (HC'd as tall and built like a strongman) and Sazed (HC'd as tall, but more willowy/lanky). At the end of The Final Empire Marsh'd be bald, I HC'd him sporting a bit of short hair growth in Well of Ascension, but I couldn't see him as sporting anything else than wearing a wild chestnut-brown mowhawk and short beard in Hero of Ages. I don't know why. I just did and it was great?

I was advised to avoid fanart for the books until after I read them by a friend (Wise friend, she is). That's when I saw that most depictions are much different than what I headcanoned. Outfits, spikes, and tattoos were good but it was the size that was the most different. They were jacked, ofc, but they weren't as monstrously massive as I had imagined.

I feel like the imagery I imagined... idk, fit more? Mostly on a subtle-body-horror thing going on with Mistborn era 1 and the logic behind some of their powers

IMO, some of the creatures in era 1 are ghoulishly scary. You can see bones of the corpse-eating mistwraiths through their skin. Similarly, Kandra eat people, wear their skins, and (when not wearing people bodies) wear bodies of stone and crystal. Koloss. GOOD LORD THE HULK SMURFS. The baby guys have flabby blue skin that tears and bleeds as they get bigger. And they're all creatures made with Hemalurgy. Steel Inquisitors make due in the body horror with the whole spikes thing, but them being the size of the average dude is not enough. I Need Them to be huuuuuge.

Plus, their immense strength comes from a combo of burning pewter and using the stored strength from feruchemy, right? Specifically with Feruchemy, we see in tFE that when Sazed taps into strength he gets jacked as well. I think hes described as growing taller due to it, but I don't have the books with me to double check. Either way, if they're constantly burning MAD GAINZ MAGIC™, I'd imagine they're roided out the wazzoo

I need more art of Steel Inquisitors to make them MONSTERS. The offical art and fan-art thats out there is (Chef's Kiss) beutiful, but I'd love to see this kind of take on steel inquisitors

[Please no spoilers for the rest of the series, I promise I'm getting through it as fast as I can to enjoy the memes, art and discussions]

[phoenixhrt22]

Alexsandr Kallus Headcanon because he’s my favourite Rebels character!

Also I believe he deserved more screen time and character development.

I’ve seen a lot of posts where people have been debating Kallus’ backstory and I want to jump on the band wagon.

Despite his fairly upper class accent and well spoken mannerism, I am definitely behind Kallus being from a poor background.

I also have this thought that perhaps his family aren’t Coruscant natives, but despite him being born there, he was raised in a household where his family still uphold their home worlds values. I imagine that the people of his family’s home-world live in the mountains and all have large lung capacities, large body frames and excelled endurance. Hence why he has no problem going toe to toe with lasats. I also have read a few other peoples posts where Kallus speaks space-Russian. I kind of like this idea because his first name sounds very Russian, so I imagine he has an accent growing up but the empire modified his accent so he fit it with all the other officers.

I think maybe that his families home-world would be one where it’s a matriarchal society, everything was ran by the women, I kind of imagine that his family owned a bakery. His father was a baker and a stay at home dad and his mother was a freelance electrician/mechanic for the lower levels of Coruscant.

He was an only child, so he was raised by both parents but had a particularly close bond with his father, seeing as he was home more often.

He definitely learned how to work machines and droids from his mother, he also is an excellent baker (this is a fact he’s hardly told anyone). Sadly when he’s 12 his parents die in a fire and his home is burnt down, leaving him an orphan.

From there he ends up in an orphanage which cares little for his well-being and for the next 4 years he leads a life of petty crime by using the skills his mother taught him. He illegally races speeders (underage I might add), he’s an excellent pickpocket (see the scene where he takes Lyste’s code cylinder) and he also runs a good hustle in card games (it took Zeb years to figure out Kallus was cheating every time they played).

Finally at age 16 maybe 17 he is picked up by the authorities and his case attracts Colonel Yularen, who recruits him to the academy. Kallus just wants to belong to something/gain a family of some sorts and he believes the empire will do this for him. At first he doesn’t buy into what the empire are preaching (xenophobia, homophobia etc… he has had lots of friends that would be considered “inferior” by the empire), but goes along with it because ‘hey it’s a roof over your head, three meals a day and your own clothes.’ After all he’s a survivalist first and foremost. During the academy he doesn’t have many friends (aside Jovan, and their relationship is built off of being academic allies), this is most likely because of his rough background compared to his rich peers.

Unfortunately after Onderon he starts to buy into the empires bs, I imagine his first squad kind of became the starting of a new family for him, even if it was all of them being brothers/sisters in arms.

Then after Bahryn, Zeb reawakens the desire to belong to something and be part of a family (Cue the scene where Konstantine, who he thought was a friend, completely ignores the fact that Kallus went MIA for several days). He then defects and we know what happens from there.

After Lothal he is accepted as a Spectre on the Ghost and had gained the family he has always wanted. He’s an amazing uncle to Jacen, I think he was definitely hesitant at first as he’s got no experience with children. But eventually he fills the role well, he’s so good with Jacen that I believe that Hera names him Jacen’s Guardfather (Star wars version of a Godfather).

Once he and Zeb retire to Lira San, I imagine that Kallus bakes as a hobby and to help with his ptsd or anxiety. Zeb loves his baked goods, and so do their kids. I toyed with the idea of them adopting or staying just the two of them, but eventually I believe that Chava would have pushed them to have children. Besides both of them have always wanted a family. They adopt twin girls, Anya and Miya.

Skip to the Sequels, and Jacen, Anya and Miya are part of the new Ghost crew.

Also Alexsandr’s nickname is ‘Sasha’ and I will die defending this.

[buntycake]

Hey I really liked your writing so I decided to send in a prompt. What do you think the brothers would only reveal about themselves to MC after a long time of dating? Maybe a different side of their personalities or an embarrassing interest? Thank you for the hard work 💕

I’m glad you like my writing! I hope you enjoy this headcanon.

What the Brothers Reveal to You After Dating You for a Long Time

 Pride:

Lucifer never seems to struggle. True, he has his fits of irritation as he tries to run Devildom while bringing Diavolo’s machinations to fruition. Even so, to an outsider he always seems to have a plan Z for everything.

The first time you saw him in a less than orderly state was when he called you to his office during one of his all-nighters. It was three in the morning and he had asked you to bring him a coffee spiked with poison. (This would have been alarming to you if you hadn't lived in Devildom for quite some time.)

Hunched over his desk and surrounded by paperwork, he looked exhausted. He didn’t even take the time to save his coffee like usual. It was gone in one gulp. When you asked what was keeping him up so late, he told you about Lord Diavolo's new idea. It had him ripping hair out he tried to figured out how to implement it.

Though he tried to shoo you away, you sat with him until 6 am, when he finally called it quits. This became a semiregular occurrence. (You talked him out of his all-nighters when you could.) Just your presence is enough to make the process of figuring out the impossible better.

When you're more settled in your relationship, he'll start asking for your advice and help. It's hard to believe that someone as persnickety as Lucifer would allow someone to do a job that he could do better, but he trusts you.

It's not always about work either. The conversations you two have about his relationship with his brothers are when Lucifer seems the most vulnerable. He wants to be close with them, but struggles. You are one of the few people he allows to know that.

 Greed:

Mammon being completely serious is still an uncommon occurrence in your relationship. He has his more reserved moments, sure, but not bouncing off the walls is not the same as having that solemn, focused look in his eyes.

There are really two occasions when this side of him comes out. One, when he's in DEEP trouble with the witches. You'll know that his debt with the witches has become serious when he's pacing the length of his room and muttering a string of numbers and calculations you can't follow.

Two, when he's trying to comfort someone, most often you. (After all, his brothers aren’t the type to admit when they’re feeling down.) There was once you had gotten to ruminating about the past. Those memories had whirl winded into something ugly. All your past regrets and embarrassments built up and weighed down on you until you began to cry.

Luckily or unluckily, Mammon came barging into your room at that time. He was ranting about some new opportunity for making money. In your melancholy daze, it was hard to remember. You must have looked awful because the switch was immediate.

Mammon gathered you in his arms and rubbed your back until you calmed down enough to talk. At first, he seemed agitated since he thought one of the brothers had done something to upset you. However, as you explained what happened he settled down. He was silent as you spoke and his eyes never left your face as if he was trying to gather up your every word and reaction.

Mammon is surprisingly insightful when he wants to be. What he said to you after your rant was thoughtful and wise – completely unlike his typical persona. You knew the typical fun-loving demon had returned when he said, "Anyway, forget about all that stuff. You have the Great Mammon looking out for you now."

 Envy:

Levi is extremely capable. Being an otaku shut-in, it's an aspect of him that isn't immediately apparent and that you've probably only seen glimpses of.

Levi's ability to keep up with all things otaku, while perhaps not impressive to anyone outside of the anime community, is a testament to his persistence. And no matter what normies think, Levi isn't without ambition.

It's actually a little while into your relationship that he brings up an old goal of his: creating an otaku podcast. He was timid as he began to explain his vision to you, but about an hour in it was clear that he knew EXACTLY what he wanted to do. He just needed a little nudge.

After many reassures, some words of affirmation, and a pretty drawn out planning session, he got to work. For the next couple of months, he was busy - completely hyper focused on this goal.

He reached out to some smaller creators in the otaku community to find others interested in making a podcast. The two of you went searching for a place and some equipment to rent out. There were many late nights with just the two of you drafting up some beginning podcast topics.

Levi was a nervous mess before the first recording. You sat in on the first one just to be a calming presence, but in the end, you don’t think he needed it. He had a BLAST.  Everyone seemed to play off each other so well.

When the podcast came out, it was a modest success. Those that liked it were begging for more. He was practically vibrating from excitement and overflowing with new ideas after that.

Levi undoubtedly did most of the leg work, but he'll insist to his last breath that it was all because of your support. To him, he can jump any hurdle with you by his side.

 Wrath:

Satan is disgustingly romantic. For all the rage he can store in his body, honeyed words and sweet sentiments take their place there, too. Blame it on all the romance books he's read over the millenniums.

This aspect of him was probably the clearest during your dates, where he’ll take you to some unknown, but beautiful place. Even as you take in the environmental or astronomical wonders that Devildom offers, his eyes can’t seem to part from your form. It’s as if your existence is even more surreal.

This sentiment bleeds into your daily life the longer you're together. Most notably when you start finding small notes everywhere.

In the morning you found a note on your dresser, scrawled in his neat cursive. It read, “Your smile is as refreshing as the morning dew.” The smile in question appeared on your lips and you could almost see Satan’s amused smile in your mind.

Another note that said, “Your curiosity is something to be admired and feared,” had you giggling in the middle of RAD’s hallways. You got a few odd stares for that.

Surprise, surprise, there were more in your backpack, textbooks, around your room, everywhere. Each contained a small snapshot of his feelings about you.

At the end of the day, you found him tucked away in the library with a book like usual. When you asked him why he hid all those notes, he simply said, "So, that you would have at least one happy moment each day.”

 Lust:

Asmo takes pride in his appearance, but more than that, fashion and beauty are a defensive mechanism. If he looks less than perfect, then there might be merit in what people say about him. They might have good reason to hate or resent him.

When he's at his most beautiful, he can pass those reactions off as people being envious of his perfection. It may seem like a small thing, but it's a privilege to see him before all the primping and preening.

So, when you woke up after one of your rendezvouses and found him still in bed, you were surprised. Usually, he was already up and about, wrapped in one of his silk robes.

He always looked like he woke up fashionably messy. Hair that was perfectly mussed, robe that was draped lazily over his shoulders, and eyes that seemed dewy with sleep, but the smell of bathing oils and perfume always gave away his morning preparations.

Seeing him with bedhead, rubbing at his bleary eyes, and yawning out morning breath was surreal. You thought you were dreaming until he pulled you closer and nuzzled into your chest. His lack of pretense went unmentioned for cuddles and an extra thirty minutes of sleep.

Every time he does this, know that he's choosing to be vulnerable with you. And perhaps more importantly, that he's opening himself up to your criticisms. Ones that he can't/won't deflect and will take to heart.

 Gluttony:

Beel is rarely angry. As the peacemaker of the brothers, he's often the one pacifying the others. It doesn't leave him much room to express his own anger.

More than that, Beel doesn't like to hold grudges. It makes him feel guilty. There's already so much animosity among his brothers already; he doesn’t want to add to it.

You were really worried the first time he came to vent to you. He had entered your room a bit solemnly and gathered you into his arms. Then, he’d asked your permission to disclose something to you.

At first, you thought he was sad. Beel had commonly shared moments where he felt sad or upset, but this quiet simmering anger was new to you.

He started off quietly. It was lucky his mouth was right by your ear or else you'd have never heard what he was muttering. The whole rant started off with him confessing how frustrated he was with Lucifer for still withholding information and not leaning on the brothers for help.

As you nodded and encouraged him to go on, he got more confident. The conversation drifted away from Lucifer, to his qualms with the rest of the brothers. All of them for condescending his intelligence on a daily basis, Mammon for always going through everyone’s things, Asmo for constantly stealing his cake, and so on.

Beel had completely cooled off by the end of his rant and was a tad bit embarrassed. However, as he gets more comfortable venting, he'll let you know about small things that irritated him that day. It becomes like a daily confessional ritual between the two of you.

 Sloth:

Belphie is notably cynical. However, this gets toned down by his aloof, sleepy persona. As adorable and soft as he is, he harbors numerous negative opinions of the world.

He doesn't trust easily and often expects the worst of people - demons, humans, angels, it doesn't matter. To his credit, when he isn’t blinded by his temper, he’s often right in his assessments. However, for Beel's sake, he typically suppresses this response.

With you, he feels he can air out his grievances. The first of these occurrences happened after a post-nap in the attic. The two of you were curled around each other and he began to let his woes slip out into the space between the two of you.

He talked about everything from his brothers to the exchange program to even his reservations about you. The dichotomy of Belphie cuddled into you, surrounded by a mountain of pillows while lamenting the woes of the world was frankly jarring. But when he finished, he seemed to sink deeper into your embrace like a weight had lifted off his shoulders.

As he continues to talk to you about all his less than optimistic views, they become a sort of philosophical debate between the two of you. There’s something satisfying about throwing each other’s ideals around and deconstructing them. More appealing to Belphie is that the two of you can have these conversations without judging each other (too much) or forcing your morals down the other’s throat.

[itsclydebitches]

One common defense I see made for Winter, due to her criticizing Ironwood for squeezing Mantle even though she was the one to first suggest martial law was "Oh he was already thinking about it. Winter merely voiced his thoughts to the group." What do you make of that?

That it’s as unpersuasive as this broader, “The group knew things were bad, but it’s okay they went along with it because they were uncomfortable” argument. Even if we were to agree that these were Ironwood’s thoughts and that Winter was merely stating his obvious perspective  — which I don’t, both because Ironwood didn’t enact martial law then and much of Volume 7 is him bending to others’ perspectives  — that doesn’t absolve Winter of suggesting it herself in a manner that conveys her approval. We can’t go, “Ironwood is bad for wanting to enact martial law, but Winter isn’t bad for suggesting they enact martial law.” 

Really, the implied defense in arguments like these is that Winter is being coerced somehow. The only way you can get “It’s okay if Character A does X, but not okay if Character B does X” is if Character A is forced into committing X through some threat, manipulation, or loss of agency. It’s why Penny is not a horrible person for attacking Klein: we understand that in hacking her, Watts and Ironwood took her agency away. It’s why Yang isn’t a horrible person for accusing Ozpin of hurting the Branwens with the bird transformation: we understand that Raven lied to her. (Even though, as I’ve discussed in the past, Yang’s situation is more complicated in that we do hold her accountable for things like, “Why did you trust Raven’s version of events at face value without ever considering that she would lie?”) Part of the assumption that Winter fits this mold is because she does fit it later. Ironwood’s office scene, wherein he very creepily pats her shoulder and discusses torturing Penny’s friends, is meant to convey a, “Holy shit, this guy has gone off the deep end and if I oppose him I might be in trouble” feeling. We understand there why Winter doesn’t just yell her disapproval: it’s not longer safe. It’s the same sort of work we see when the two nameless soldiers appear in Ironwood’s office looking terrified of him and, indeed, we see later that when someone does dare speak up (Marrow) Ironwood immediately attempts to kill them. 

The problem is that none of this work occurred in Volume 7. At no point prior to those scared soldiers, Marrow’s near execution, Winter’s office scene, etc. does the text imply that Ironwood is threatening his people. (And even the above examples are messy af because Ironwood moves from, “Winter betrayed me by releasing the prisoners I needed?? ... Guess I’ll trust her and her alone to have my back when I arrest Penny.” This stuff is not well written.) Rather, we see the exact opposite work, in that Winter goes out of her way to tell people, namely Weiss and Penny, that yes, she’s making her own decisions. She decided to join the military. She decided to become the Winter Maiden. She decided to back Ironwood’s idea to leave with Atlas. And she decided to suggest martial law. 

I’m not going to lie, the fandom’s (and, more recently, the show’s) tendency to erase women agency makes me really uncomfortable. RWBY is a show built around the power of women, particularly young women, and the fandom celebrates that intention... up until the women do something bad, foolish, or even just make a mistake. It’s not that Pyrrha foolishly went off to fight a maiden when Ozpin explicitly told her not to, it’s that Ozpin’s manipulation forced her to take that action (which in turn is built on the belief that it was manipulation to begin with: Pyrrha is incapable of deciding to be the maiden herself). It’s not that Salem planned to enact the eugenics based plan of replacing the world with her magical bloodline and, when Ozma tried to keep that from happening, she killed her children and then burned him alive, Ozma forced her to take that action by daring to leave. It’s not that Raven chose to enter a school with the intention of later killing its inhabitants, gained the trust of the headmaster, received power, entered a war, and then abandoned it to instead spend her days raiding villages that leave them decimated from grimm, Ozpin forced her to go back to that life by revealing horrifying information (don’t think too hard on how, in the next generation, withholding that same information is also bad). It’s not that Winter chose to escape her abusive upbringing by going to the military/huntsmen school next door  — rather than going elsewhere like her little sister did  — and then later chose to support the man she’d come to trust as he navigated situations with no easy solutions, it’s that Ironwood forced her to do everything the viewership doesn’t agree with, despite a lack of evidence for that and Winter’s own claims of, ‘I chose this myself.’ Winter herself becomes a part of that fandom subset when, in Volume 8, she denies having any part in this and instead puts it all on Ironwood’s shoulders. That’s a very sharp contrast to Volume 7 when she acknowledged her own agency. 

It’s a very simplistic form of “feminism” wherein there’s a Bad Man and a Good Woman and if the woman’s actions in any way seem suspect, it must be the fault of that evil, manipulative, male influence in her life. This is not only a terrible way to interpret women characters  — the best thing you can do is portray us as well-rounded and flawed as we actually are, just like any other human being  — and it’s not just a way to ironically talk over these fictional women  — it doesn’t matter what choices we saw Pyrrha make, or what Winter says about her own life, I know what’s really going on  — it’s also just a bad way of reading the text. The ability to make claims like the one you reference, anon, requires ignoring huge swaths of the story and replacing it with headcanons. Ignore what we saw Winter do, what we say her say, what we saw Ironwood choose in Volume 7, and replace it with these ideas that have no basis in the text, but that I feel very strongly about; an interpretation that I’m more comfortable with. Because people do seem to be uncomfortable with the idea of truly flawed women, not just surface stuff like, “Yeah Yang has a little bit of a temper, but she’s still #perfect.” This includes the RWBY writers. Given that girl power focus of the story, few are willing to acknowledge that maybe Ruby is seriously messing up. Maybe Salem was a victim, but is now very much the enemy. Maybe Winter supported Ironwood through the embargo, supplies, martial law, and murdering a councilman, only turning when he threatened to blow up a city. Winter is culpable in all this and that makes her a better, more well-rounded character. Ignoring that depth for a “women good, men bad” take  — especially in 2021 when we’ve adopted a more nuanced, intersectional form of feminism based on gender diversity  — isn’t something I’m personally able to understand. 

[hotchley]

11 from angst with hotchniss romantic

This... is appallingly cliche and sounds exactly the same as "lauren" and "the date." I apologise. I have one mood when it comes to Hotchniss. Clearly. But this is under 1.5k! Very proud of myself

I've given up on proofreading. I also have no idea where in canon this is, so I need everyone to forget about the timeline and events that occur. Yeah. If anyone picks up on the headcanon I threw in... I love you <3 and my arm hurts an insane amount, so... there may need to be a break from writing these!

11: “what happened to us?”

Trigger Warnings: implied past domestic violence (Hotch's parents), past child abuse, self destructive behaviour, implied past panic attacks, relationship breakdown, negative self image, no happy ending

read on ao3!

He knows what she's doing. He knows because he has done the same thing. He still does. They're similar in a lot of ways, him and Emily Prentiss, but in this, they are identical.

They both believe that they are not worthy of being loved. That nobody is capable of loving them unless they hide something. Unless they pretend to be someone else. Unless they fit a certain view that is held of them. They both believe that the moment somebody sees them for who they really are, they will leave.

And so they test the boundary. They push and they manipulate and they act out and they do a thousand different things to work out what the limit is. To work out just what they need to decide that they aren't worth it. To leave. Aaron stopped doing it a while ago, because it wasn't fair to Haley or to himself.

Emily has never stopped, no matter how few lies she now tells her therapist, or how many anniversaries her and Aaron make it to. Aaron wonders every day if she even realises she’s doing it. She does. Sometimes. She doesn’t care enough to stop.

She’s testing his boundaries again. He’s trying to be patient but it’s difficult. No amount of breathing exercises or rational thought seems to be helping because deep down, he is annoyed. Secretly. Quietly. Not because he’s manipulating her, but because he can’t let himself be angry. Not with her. His father got angry with his wife and nothing fixed the damage. He can’t repeat that mistake. He won’t. He’ll die before he does that.

They’re arguing. Again. It seems to be the only thing they do these days. And Aaron knows that it’s just her trying to test him the same way she has always done, but he’s so tired. He wants to love her the way he always has. He wants her to love him the way she used to. Without this fear, that didn’t exist before Ian Doyle. It makes him want to kill the man again.

Emily has no idea why she’s arguing with him. Or over what. It’s more than likely that it's a combination of all the things that have been hurting her since she was born. Almost all of them were not the direct result of his actions. She doesn't care though. Because her and Aaron may be alike in many ways, but not in this. He will always fight. She will always run.

"Em, just tell me the truth. I won't be angry. I promise."

Emily looks away. Jack was the first one to call her Em. As she turns, she sees a photo. And suddenly, she knows what to say. She knows what will make him leave her, of his own free will. Because she needs him to leave. Before she destroys him and everything she loves. Because she will. It's all she's ever done. It's all she is good for.

"Yes you will," she says. Because she knows how to hurt him.

She watches him clench and unclench his jaw. "No, I won't. I just want to help you."

Her last thought before she speaks is a prayer. To a woman that deserved better. Forgive me, is the thought.

"You don't want to help me. You're only with me because you can't have Haley."

There is no truth in the statement. It is an insult to Haley's final wish for her husband. To Aaron and his heart. To Jack and the lessons his father has taught him. To everything they have built together.

Aaron keeps his promise though. He isn't angry. He's devastated. Emily watches his face crumple, but remains rooted in place as he leaves the room. It feels like a weight has been lifted from her chest, and that can't be normal or healthy, but it's how she feels.

Time passes. She cannot say how much. But it passes. And Aaron does not return. So despite everything, she leaves the room to find him. Before she does, she presses her fingers to her mouth, and then to the photo of Haley. She also whispers an apology.

Aaron is sitting in their bedroom, head buried between his knees. A soft sound leaves her throat, and he raises his head enough to shake it. It does little to soothe her.

Emily sits beside him. He shifts away, not even realising. She tries to let it not sting. It's her own doing.

"What happened to us?" She asks, after a silence that is nothing like their usual comfortable ones.

The short answer is they've changed. The long answer is that they want different things from life. That he is tired, and she is exhausted. That she no longer wants him and he no longer needs her. That they aren't right together. Not anymore. The truth is that he is fighting for something she no longer believes in.

"Life," he spits, not even caring that he's being cruel.

Emily doesn't even blink. Her comments about needing to know that she can be human, which still hurt him in that moment the same way they did when she first spat them in his face, make all the more sense. She just sits there.

They sleep in the same bed, and she even kisses him on the cheek when he leaves for his morning class. The BAU were given some leave because they did successive cases, but Aaron couldn't cancel on his seniors when he only found out two days before. There was a time when she would have driven him, or sat in his office doing her own paperwork. Not today though. She just watches him leave.

Aaron's been married before. Emily hasn't. There's been a few longer relationships here and there, but Aaron is her only spouse. It's why she doesn't quite understand the look on his face. Neither do his students. They can't quite tell where his mind is, only that it's not where it should be.

Aaron is thinking about his feelings. The sense of dread that pricks at the back of his neck and makes his whole body tense. The nerves that are causing him to make silly mistakes. The pit in his stomach that tells him something bad is going to happen. And he is thinking about Emily. The look on her face as he walked out the front door matched the look Haley had worn when he'd walked out of their bedroom. And she had been gone when he returned.

Emily is also gone when he walks through the door that evening. In some sad way, he had been expecting it. But unlike Haley, she has only taken the bare necessities. He phones Derek, saying that he doesn't expect anything more than a confirmation of her safety. He gets that. As well as a promise to support both of them, no matter what happens.

Aaron is the one that files for divorce. He asked Emily if she was going to come home, and when she didn't reply, simply reading the message, he knew that this time, he had to do it. He had to be brave. He had to give them both a chance at happiness. If such a thing existed for people like them.

He sends them to the sixth floor too. Not to be hurtful, but because he had no other option. And Emily signs them after unintentionally endangering the life of a subordinate of someone so much younger than her- too young to be with the BAU.

And as the world kept spinning, taking some people with it and leaving others behind, the two of them kept searching for a love that would last. Neither of them found it. They were both just too doubtful of everyone.

[wyslyyzr]

a vague timeline for things because marvel is fucked all across the board and i need some sense of continuity + solidifiying my past headcanons--this is close to what i had ran with in the past, just typed up again. 

1930: max eisenhardt is born in dusseldorf, germany. the eisenhardt family moves shortly thereafter to nuremburg; max has no memories of dusseldorf. this is the place his parents were born as well. reasonably, max considers nuremburg his home town. 

1933: ruth eisenhardt is born in nuremberg, germany, max’s younger and final sibling. 

1935-1938: max meets magda, the daughter of one of the lady janitors at the school he attended. 

1939: the eisenhardts, following an antisemitic outburst that shamed and injured max’s uncle erich, and a violent interaction with jakob’s former general from the first world war where he was beaten and thrown out of his office, and, finally, kristallnacht, move to warsaw in an attempt to escape the anti-jewish tensions. 

1940: the warsaw ghetto is built around them. 

1940-1942: the very young max turns into a food smuggler in the warsaw ghetto, acquiescing meals for both his family members and other jewish families with other boys. he has his bar mitsvah sometime in this period, despite not being 13, given the direness of the situation. 

1942: deportation to the treblinka camps begins. the eisenhardts flee yet again. on their way back to their hideout, they are captured by nazi regiment. the eisenhardts are executed, but jakob saves his son’s life by butting him out of the line of the bullets. regardless, max is knocked unconscious, and brought to a mass grave where he is dumped alongside his family.

1942-1944: max is found alive in the camp, and put to work for his impressively sturdy frame despite the harrow of starvation. in order to avoid being selected for death, max becomes a sonderkommando. 

1942-1944: this bit is a bit of influence from the xmcu, but something i’ve always incorporated into my canon regardless; max’s mutant abilities laid nearly dormant due to physical illness contracted from exertion and malnourishment, however, in moments of grief and anger, they were still strong enough to rear up. more than once, he’d injured officers, and killed one on accident out of fear. instead of being executed, josef mengele and doctor sinister took interest in him and conducted various physical experiments. when they could not produce the same effects, he was sent back to the work force. 

late 1944: max participates in the sonderkommando rebellion, escaping not only alongside other sonderkommandos, but magda, who had happened to also be interned in the camps. 14 and 15 respectively, they spend the rest of their teens together, and most of their 20s. 

1950: anya eisenhardt is born. max marries magda two months into her pregnancy. 

1957: the identity of “erik magnus lehnsherr” is created by georg odekirk, however i do not implement the idea that erik posed as rroma to “fit in” with the rroma community since i think its kinda.. bad. he’s accepted as his wife’s husband and a jewish man. max becomes erik to protect himself and his family.

1959: the eisenhardts--now lehnsherrs--move to vinnitsa, a then-soviet region, in order to pursue stable work, as erik became dissatisfied with only scraping by to provide for their daughter. he acquires a construction job in the summer, where he worked for another few months before the next incident. 

fall of 1959: erik consciously uses his abilities for the first time, hurling a crowbar at his boss over a pay dispute. when he returns to the inn where he and his family had been staying, he finds it aflame, and anya trapped inside. when he makes an attempt to free her, he is held down by the security his boss had employed, evoked over their dispute, and is forced to watch anya burn to death. finally, in an explosion of 29 years of grief and anger, catalyzed by the loss of his child, erik’s abilities fully emerge. not only does he kill everyone in the immediate vicinity he deems responsible for the event, including anyone who happened to become caught in the detritus and obstructions, he levels more than half of the city. in the ruins and ash, he finds anya’s scorched body and digs a grave with his hands to bury his daughter, where magda in the wake of his destruction approaches him horrified by his actions. he asks her to help him bury their daughter, and in her fear, she proclaims him a monster before fleeing, unknown to either of them, pregnant with the twins. erik is approached by another regiment of soldiers who attempt to shoot him in the head. he turns their guns on them instead, finishes burying and honoring his daughter, and spends some time searching for magda, whom he never finds. after a few days of unsuccessfully looking for his wife, erik packs what little he has left and travels from the leveled vinnitsa to haifa, israel. 

1960: erik volunteers at a hospital in haifa that predominantly focused on helping other survivors of the shoah, where he seeks some modicum of treatment himself, and meets none other than charles xavier. 

1961: after helping charles rescue gabi, erik realizes he and charles’ views are incompatible, and departs from haifa. he is eventually scouted by both the israeli secret service and a western outfit (likely the CIA) whilst hunting nazi war criminals. 

1962: erik hunts nazi war criminals and turns them over to israel for trial. i don’t really feel like going into detail about this one because its a little convoluted but basically erik is “allowed” to turn over certain nazis that are deemed acceptable to turn over to israel by his western control, but when he turns over a nazi that the west does not want him to turn over, agents show up to put an end to his “betrayals”, where he learns the truth of what they were doing and freaks out in a rage and kills them all, where he finally adopts the identity of “magneto”. he moves to brooklyn, new york, in the same year. 

1964: erik meets cassandra michaels, who designs his outfit. this is where this timeline gets fucked to hell because i have to work with 60 years of super old dumbass comics that characterize erik as a super hammy archetypical villain when thats not the character he develops into. 

this post is going to be SUPER LONG so this is a placeholder for me to edit and continue it later in detail. take these points as general points for the future before i write them out fully. 

late 60s is the first instance of asteroid m shit

the 1970s and 80s are the brotherhood heyday before the x-men really exist and they’re the only public figures saving and protecting mutants while also executing violent resistance to mutant oppression. 

early o5 era is around 1990-1999

dark phoenix saga around 2000 

genosha massacre mid 2000s. the “magneto was right” movement begins around this date as well, and che guevara-type merchandise starts sprouting up.

m day and civil war in 2008-ish, a few years following the genoshan massacre. 

utopia around 2011. 

avx around 2014. 

[seiji-amasawa]

Theory Time! (The Tian Family) (Part 1/3 or 4)

I’m rereading 19 Days and chapter 337 has me intrigued

I’ve made a couple of headcanons about their history. I can’t write for shit but here goes nothing. (This turned out long and stretch out more than I had planned) (TW: ABUSE)

——

Tian and Cheng were born in poverty. Their mother, a beautiful and caring, raised them to the best of her ability’s between working multiple jobs to sleeping with other men to make ends meat. She married her landlord, who only married her out of pity and was extremely abusive; his assaults ranging from domestic to sexual. Being expose to the abuse of their mother molded Tian and Chengs view of how the world works and the start of their somewhat violent tendencies. However, their love and respect for their mother only grew with how strong she was to put up with this abuse for them. Cheng started taking the role of sheltering and competing Tian during these times.

One day, their mother brought home another man—tall, well built, clean, and appearing of wealthy status—back to her abusive drunkard of a husband. She didn’t exactly look to trilled, and neither did the mysterious man who glared down at the other. From his pocket he pulled a wad of yuan, proposing a deal to annul his marriage to his wife in return for the sum of money. The drunkard agreed in slurred and mumbled words when he held the wad of money in a ‘ba-humbug’ tone of voice, lit a cigarette, and waved them off. The boys who had witness the entire exchange were now subject to the taller mans icy cold glare. Immediately, Tian felt wary of this man and cautioned his every action. With no formal introduction, they were seated in a back seat of the man luxury Bentley.

After a day of processing and filing their marriage, the man turn to the two boys who had been sitting patiently in the court office.

“Your legal names have been changed. You’re family name is now ‘He’.”

He Cheng seem indifferent, though Tian was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the rapid change of their life up to this point. Being 11 years older than him, Cheng probably was used to changes in their life.

When they arrived to the grand gateway to the He property estates both Tian and Cheng were in awe. Fueled with adrenaline of being in a new place and his excitement, Tian forgot all his precautions he told himself to abide by when speaking with the man and asked how big the estate was. When the man glanced back at him, a wave of dread came over Tian. He was relieved when the man simply replied “This is not my largest estate. This estate is roughly 300 acres.” Tian couldn’t even comprehend that number, but was still flabbergasted.

The man took quite a fond liking to He Cheng, who showed resilience, strength, and maturity. The man liked to comment that he has the eyes of a soilder. Tian was never able to see Cheng as much as he used too and became more distant than Tian would have felt comfortable with. His brother was either training or out with his father and his associates. Tians own daily routine was booked too, from tutoring a with a private instructor to basic physical fitness. He never understood what his new father did for a living to have such a lavished lifestyle.

Their mother, however, was almost never seen around the estate. Both the brothers were pulled from their mother do to activities and schedules the father has them attend. On rare occasions, Tian could spot his mother taking a stroll from his window surrounded by what look to be body guards. They would wave to eachother with longing, but the small smile that would come across his mother face was fueled by pain that she was unable to see her son. Abruptly, the tutor would tell Tian to focus to his studies, and his mother would walk out of view.

Tian studied many subjects in his tutoring. A bulk of his studies were to study English and German. When asked why he should study German, he was told that the majority of their fathers business and estates resides in Germany. He was also made to study mathematics, reading comprehension, and business etiquette. Later in the day, he was to do his physical training, which least to say, wasn’t his strongest subject.

On rare occasion when Tian was able to see Cheng around the estate, Cheng told him he had no time to talk. They had a mission tomorrow and he was mentally and physically preparing. Cheng was bitter when he addressed Tian, and Tian knew that Cheng had change. He was turning into the man that came into their lives, still unknown if he was a blessing or a curse at this point. Tian soon took the same cautions around his own brother.

After three days, his brother followed by some other men returned to the estate. Tian ran up to Cheng, but stopped when he saw his face.

He Cheng eyes were bloodshot and his face pale. What he had seen or done during those three days left him scarred and changed. He was no longer the brother Tian used to know, all because his father.

——

I’m not too sure in the rest, or what happened to Tian and Chengs mother. I’ll write when I figure that out, or feel free to add on 😊

[mephew-j]

okay now I'm curious about all the Pokemon headcanon stuff you got 👀

Oh, dear.

Right. Didn´t think anyone would be interested. Thought this was just another story for myself.

But I´ll gladly tell ya what my brain got up with so far (and what my time allows me to write - I´m not done yet!). =)

Also sorry for taking so long but I have been chipping away each evening after work as I wanted to give a proper answer. But then I received my second Covid-vaccination on Monday and I didn´t take it too well and felt horrible on Tuesday. But I´m good again. =)

Ok, so it´s literally a persona AU in the Pokemon world which doesn´t have a name - yet at least - located in a new region due to me wanting to have Pokemon that don´t all exist in the same region.

So there´s the ME! Persona – a human girl/woman who moved to a more rural part of the region with her mother when she was younger when her parents decided to split up.

There she went to a normal grammar school and made a small amount of friends while her mother found an office job at the local breeder´s facility that provides the professor of this region – Dr. Primrose – with starters. And like literally every other child she was fascinated by Pokemon and dreamt about becoming a Pokemon trainer after school. Really basic stuff this far.

But when her friends and her graduated she found herself doubting to be ripe to becoming a trainer at the age of 10. She simply didn´t feel ready to be on her own yet.

So as her friends left to become trainers she stood behind alone.

Her mother told her not to worry too much and to proceed school instead giving her an advantage over the others her age one day. And so she did.

She attended and finished high school and the idea of becoming a trainer had taken a backseat in her life.

When she was asked what she wanted to do now that school was officially over she found herself quite clueless and decided on taking a few internships – at the local Pokemon store, the post office, etc. but nothing really seemed fitting.

One day her mother asked her whether she´d want to give the Pokemon breeder facility a try. She agreed and took another internship there.

After just a week in it was clear that she would do an apprenticeship there to become a “Pokemon nursing assistant”. In these three years of practical and scholar education she didn´t just learn the profession but also grew as a person and got her driver´s licence.

Mostly she got educated by the Pokemon working there as it had always been easier for her to work/communicate with them than with other humans. But her human colleagues took great care of her, too, of course:

There was the leader of the facility – an elderly woman in her mid-50s who had once been a trainer herself - her Machamp, Blaziken, Sceptile, Swampert, Kangaskhan, Chansey and a hand-full of employees along with a few other Pokemon that were rather deemed unfit as starters or simply decided to stay, who did a great job at breeding, hatching and raising starters and orphaned Pokemon.

Especially one Treeko had become fond of her and was usually the one who took her by the hand.

Nearly at the end of her apprenticeship the facility leader took her to the side and asked her to consider becoming a trainer after all as she would have “just the right stuff” to be a considerably good one.

Again Me! hesitated for a while until she decided to give it a try this time. She packed her things and when she went to the breeder facility to say Goodbye the previously mentioned Treeko quickly fetched his Pokeball. He stood in front of her waiting for her to kneel. Surprised she followed the invitation and when she had reached his level the Treeko placed the ball into her hands and gave her an asserted look. She reciprocated with a smile and nodded.

The Pokemon:

-Treeko/Grovyle/Sceptile: A male Treeko who was bred and born as one of the first ones in the breeder facility and was later handed to Dr. Primrose along with other starters to be picked by young trainers at the start of their journeys.

Unfortunately, though he was deemed unfit as a starter after several children had called Dr. Primrose shortly after they had chosen him as their partner and told her that they simply couldn´t handle him; he wouldn´t listen to a word they said or that he would be overall renitent.

Dr. Primrose had taken him back every time to give it a new try but decided to send him back to the breeder facility in the end. “No Pokemon can be forced to be a trainer´s Pokemon.”

The facility took him back and let him help there which he did.

Several years passed until one day a young woman showed up and started her internship at the facility. She seemed lost and shy like a Pokemon that had just hatched so the Treeko was quick to take pity on her. The pity then grew into fondness and when it was clear the now graduated trainee would start her own journey he rushed into the warehouse, grabbed his Pokeball and handed it over to her.

He had decided to be her starter.

The Treeko/Grovyle/Sceptile in my AU has a much higher age than a normal starter would have and more knowledge of life. Sometimes his behaviour will come close to that of a parent. His level also had been a little higher due to occasional fun-fights between him and some other Pokemon at the facility. It´s no wonder that he also had been the first one of the team to evolve closely followed by Yamask/Cofagrigus.

- Yamask/Cofagrigus: Me! and Treeko encountered him as they crossed a small deserted and desolate part of the region mostly inhabited by poison and ghost types just a few days from their hometown.

The Yamask seemed to be alone and hid badly behind the little that was there to hide behind as the two travellers took a quick break and meal. As it wasn´t hard to spot the ghost in his concealment Me! prepared a third meal and cautiously shoved it over the hiding Pokemon who took the food gratefully after inspecting it thoroughly.

When the two went on their way the Yamask must have followed them as they spotted him again when they erected their night quarters many hours later and quite far away from the bleak land.

´Weird, especially ghost Pokemon usually act in groups. Why is this one alone?´ Me! thought as she prepared another extra dish for the unusual guest before going to sleep.

In the course of the night Me! woke up again and again only to find the Yamask having come a little closer every time she opened her eyes until he had found his place right next to her and her Treeko on her camping mat by dawn.

So the next morning it had been clear to Me! that they´d have a new team member and as Treeko didn´t seem to mind the the new Pokemon in any negative way either Me! caught the Yamask.

Me! considered the Yamask could have only been a few weeks old as it didn´t act like a ghost type at all – sure every ghost Pokemon had their own personality but they were usually inclined to show certain character traits such as enjoying the one or the other prank or scare on their fellow Pokemon or even trainer – but this one acted more like it had just hatched. She had seen it several times before after all. This assumption had been confirmed in the next Pokemon Centre.

Yamask was a very timid, shy and overall scared Pokemon who would have always hid behind his trainer and would have always searched for shelter and warmth usually sleeping in Me!´s arms and thus in the middle of Me! and Treeko.

Me! never forced him to fight and in the beginning he didn´t seem too keen on doing so anyway. But the more he watched other Pokemon fight the more he seemed to want to try it on his own because one day – a fellow Pokemon trainer had challenged Me! – he simply hopped in front of Treeko and asserted himself. Treeko took a few steps back and gave him the opportunity. Yamask lost the fight horribly and when Treeko took over he evolved.

Spurred on by that event he tried to fight again and again and lost several times. Whenever he went K.O. he´d always watch Grovyle fight and tried to learn from him as best he could.

Until one day he won. From that they on he insisted on fighting all the more and as he actually won his fights now Grovyle barely had to take over.

When he evolved though he was overwhelmed and had a hard time coping with his new form. Other Pokemon – especially smaller ones – suddenly were scared of him and other trainers that had called his prior form “cute” were now frightened as well. He smiled at them but that only made it worse. He was barely able to move around let alone fight and what was he supposed to do with these appendages? He was especially upset that the couldn´t sleep in his trainer’s arms anymore.

The little self-confidence he had been able to built up through fights was blown away.

Me! hit a countless amount of books trying to help her Pokemon and while she could help him with some problems several other were left untouched.

Luckily though the team met another trainer soon after who had a fully grown/asserted Cofagrigus. The trainer and their Cofagrigus gladly helped and things turned better quickly allowing Me!´ Cofagrigus to move around properly and even fight again.

Me!´s Cofagrigus had never been one of the stronger Pokemon but he always tried his best and at some point his high level alone gave him an advantage.

Through all of the story Cofagrigus´ character barely changed; he had always been a timid and friendly Pokemon searching for his trainer´s affection and proximity seeing her as his mother. Though he had grown as a person being more self-confident (especially in fights) and self-aware having learnt that ghost-types were quick on inclining fear on others. The latter he would only “abuse” when things actually got dicey.

He would oftenly search for his trainer´s hand to hold while they were walking.

Me! had the idea to try and learn and teach Cofagrigus sign language as she had seen and read several documentations and articles about people teaching Pokemon this language. And a Pokemon with hands – how handy was that?

Me! sleeps in a sleeping bag on Cofagrigus whenever they are out in the wild with a ghost hand carefully placed on her shoulder. She would never admit that this causes her sacroiliac pain sometimes though.

- Ralts/Kirlia/Gardevoir: Male

- Sizzlipede/Centiskorch: Female

- Darkrai:

- Honedge/Doublade/Aegislash: Male

The other characters:

- (Name) and her Gastly/Haunter/Gengar “Na-na”: (Name) had never had a very close relationship with any of the family members as she had always been the odd one out even as she was little. Her grandmother – she fondly called “Na-na” - was the only exception as she also had been one to fall out the line.

Her grandmother had always used to tell her stories, myths and legends from all around the globe as she had been travelling as a young Pokemon trainer herself. (Name) had always loved these stories and her grandmother´s presence especially as she had always been the one to encourage her on whatever she did.

“I wanna be a Pokemon trainer just like Nana!” she once exclaimed in front of her entire family at a party. Her whole family immediately turned on her grandmother and accused her of planting stupid ideas in the little child´s mind. It wasn´t common to train Pokemon in this family but to get a good graduation and a well-paying job instead.

From that day on she was forbidden to see her grandmother. Though that didn´t stop any of the two to still be in contact; they wrote little messages and attached them onto “Nana”´s Murkrow to deliver the messages, whenever a lesson would have been omitted she would speed to her grandmother´s house to at least see her a few minutes, etc.

One day though no new message had arrived. Nor had any followed the next day.

She kneeled to her parents and pleaded to drive to her grandmother´s house and after a few hours they agreed and drove there. But when no one opened her parent´s started to worry as well and called the police.

…

A few days later was the funeral. (Name) had only been 7 years old and had lost the only person who she truly cared for and she didn´t cope with it well throwing temper tantrums, hitting other children in school, hitting even her parents.

They didn´t know what to do so they sent her to a children-psychologist with little effect.

One night when she had been lying awake again she had decided to go to the graveyard – she needed someone to talk, she needed her grandmother.

When she arrived at her grandmother´s tombstone she couldn´t keep it in any longer and yielded in crying.

Startled by the sound a Gastly flew up from behind the tombstone and paused in mid-air looking at the child below it. (Name) has had raised her eyes by now and looked at the Ghastly with big eyes.

She immediately remembered one of her grandmother´s stories in which a young couple had a baby but the mother died in childbed fever. When the husband and the baby visited the mother´s grave one night a ghost emerged from it and they were together again.

It had only been a legend from another region her grandmother had told her once but for (Name) it had been very real at this moment.

“Na-na” she had whispered and the Ghastly had come closer circling (Name) curiously.

To (Name) that had been an acknowledgement she was seeing her grandmother again.

From that day on she had been visiting the graveyard every night, so very happy to her grandmother again and talk to her and the Ghastly would await her arrival.

The psychologist had been assuming she would have made her grandmother up as some sort of imaginary friend as some children would do. Telling this her parent´s they were very relieved.

Until one morning a Ghastly came hovering down the stairs next to their daughter. The parents immediately panicked and yanked their daughter away from the Pokemon but when (Name) cried out “No! Leave Na-na alone!” they halted and called their daughter´s psychologist.

He advised them to better leave the Pokemon with their daughter as it did her extremely well and they complied unwillingly.

Why- of all Pokemon out there – did it have to be a ghost/poison type, wouldn´t have a Meowth or a Cleffa done too?

Name and Ghastly would have gone everywhere together from now on if others approved of it or not.

When (Name) had been old enough she started her own journey without her parent´s consent yet still they had known they couldn´t have kept her from going – she had been taken too much after her grandmother.

The two have been travelling the region from then on together knowing they can always rely on each other as many situations have already proven.

Of course (Name) has realized Na-na is not her actual grandmother long ago.

Na-na is female.

Institutions:

- The PSO (The Pokemon Safety Orgnaisation)

[springfieldblues]

my long ass review for S32E03 Now Museum, Now You Don’t

warning: LONG because i rambled about history more than i thought i would

id been looking forward to this one because i like art history, especially after seeing how they tried their best to stick to historical accuracy in the previous episode I, Carumbus. this time however….they didnt try that hard. i dont know why i thought theyd go through that sort of trouble again LMAO

but its okay, i dont really expect the simpsons to be the paragon of historical accuracy or anything. especially in anthology episodes told through a particular character's lens (in this case, lisa, whos already feverish so whatever)

first i just wanna say that this is, i guess, less of a review and more of an accidental list of history fun facts. so im just gonna get my general thoughts out of the way first.

the episode was fun! to me at least haha. i mean it got me to think and do a lot of research on my own so that must count for something. besides a couple of really weird ones, the jokes were good. anthology episodes tend to be….not that good but i thought this one was one of the better ones so far. idk.

anyway on to lisanardo da vinky its the renaissance! jesus christ the italian accents in the beginning of this segment were annoying as hell but i also feel like that was the joke lmao. ill be real i kind of tuned out for a second there when grampa started rambling so idk what he said.

i told myself i wouldnt get nitpicky with historical accuracy if the jokes were funny (final edit: so that was a lie) but this meh bit with the pizza guys and mascots was really not worth ignoring the fact that its impossible for italy to have any tomato-based food in the 15th century (tomatoes were brought to europe from the americas in the 16th century, and pizza as we know it today—flatbread, cheese, tomato—originated in the late 18th century)

oh this next part was kind of legit tho. lisanardo, like the real leonardo, became andrea del verrochio's apprentice at his workshop. i loved this next bit:

"Whoever paints the sweetest cherub will have the honor of having MY name signed on their work. That's what great artists do!"

SO YEAH as it turns out, lisanardo painted the sweetest cherubs. the painting here is called The Baptism of Christ, and the real leonardo assisted verrochio in finishing it. specifically, he painted the cherubs in the corner.

this causes verrochio to quit and go someplace with less talented people: a music school (yes, verrochio did quit painting after getting owned by young leo and his mad angel painting skills. he never did anything with music tho, he was more of a sculptor)

alongside lisanardo, in mr largo-verrochio's workshop we have barticelli (botticelli bart), dolphatello (donatello dolph), ralphael (raphael...ralph) and mediocrito (no one that i know of. sorry milhouse) (and kearney i guess but they dont refer to him by name). botticelli and donatello are said to have also been apprentices at verrochio's workshop, but raphael came a couple of decades later so he couldnt have been there. and donatello was too old so that claim is a bit questionable. but anyway

it IS true that leonardo's peers envied him, to the point where he was anonymously and purposefully accused of being gay (a major crime punishable by death in 15th century florence) while he was still working at verrochio's workshop

we are then treated by what im pretty sure is the fourth time the show has used 'at seventeen' by janis ian, this time sung by a dejected lisanardo (man they really do keep making yeardley sing these days huh) who only wishes to be appreciated and not envied.

"I'll show them all! I'll show them all in a secret diary that no one will decipher for 400 years!"

some of lisanardo's future inventions. who wouldve known

so after barticelli, for some reason (revenge??? or something?? what was his plan here idgi) steals lisanardo's diaries full of blueprints of her inventions and takes them to mr burns who i have to assume is pope alexander VI here, they decide to use her inventions for war.

"With these, we can kill the most evil people in the world!! ....Slightly different Christians."

leo actually did this of his own accord. im surprised this is what they decided to do with lisanardo instead of talking about leo's love of nature and vegetarianism (not a single mention of that in this episode? come on...) then again, trying to do good only to end up indirectly making things worse is a very standard lisa storyline. i guess they didnt want to miss the chance to have evil pope burns (very fitting, especially for that era since they were all about money and controlling the people)

so lisanardo decides to leave for france, unlike the real leonardo who was more or less persuaded by his ultimate fanboy king francis I to move to france.

"Lisanardo, I have many questions. Why are you hitting yourself? A nerd says 'what'? And how is it possible that I am rubber and you are glue? Et cetera, et cetera."

that line may seem a little random, like hes just nelson saying nelson things (and i mean, obviously he is) but the real francis also "had an unquenchable thirst for learning, and Leonardo was the world’s best source of experimental knowledge. He could teach the king about almost any subject there was to know, from how the eye works to why the moon shines." so yeah, he did have many questions and lisanardo, finally being appreciated for her intellect, was happy to answer them all. its very interesting how lisa assigned this role to nelson in her retelling of da vinci’s life :^)

and so she lived the rest of her days in france, nat king cole's 'mona lisa' plays because duh, and they make a da vinci code reference because duh. and the segment ends. and not a single time did they show the actual mona lisa painting. the fuck?

(ngl i was fully expecting bart to say 'leonardo da vinky' for a second here)

so this next segment is about french impressionist painters, most likely the batignolles group, a name adopted by the early representatives of impressionism. its much more vague than the lisanardo segment since no one here is referred to by name (except moe, more on him in a sec) but i dont feel like it really matters in this case. bart is prrrrooobably claude monet but its hard to say, this segment is kind of a mish-mash of a lot of things. also i gotta say i really liked how lisa introduced the story to bart with an 'if you hate the formal study of art' and not 'if you hate art' because thats exactly my headcanon. i LOVE the concept of artist bart and whenever its referenced it just makes perfect sense to me.

anyway the segment opens in 1863 at the école des beaux-arts (back then it was actually known as the académie des beaux-arts), preserver of traditional french art styles. skinner reviews his students’ paintings one by one. praises the plain, unimaginative paintings depicting your typical european countryside landscapes. very run-of-the-mill (haha get it...cuz theres….a windmill) (although the real académie didnt approve of such basic stuff, they wanted artists to draw epic historical and mythological scenes) then he gets to barts painting and he gives him an F- because the painting made him think.

(the paintings in this scene arent real famous paintings as far as i know but they are inspired by real paintings enough to get the point across)

in comes barney dressed as bacchus as a model for the students to sketch, which i just loved:

barney: “You prefer robe open or robe off?” skinner: “Just cover your privates with this walnut shell.” barney: “Whoa!!! So roomy!”

skinner gasps in horror at bart’s sketch, which “looks nothing like him” and bart explains that “it shouldn’t; we’re making the art that we feel because we can’t compete with a camera.” damn, you go bart. take that, realism. draw what you feel!!

(also no, you didnt need to hold still for 17 hours for a daguerreotype. 30 min tops.)

nelson haw-haw of the week: FOIE-gras!

so here they are at the moulin rouge (“enjoy it before baz luhrmann ruins it” hey shut up. i love that movie), which wouldnt be built for another 26 years, but it is the most widely known gathering place for bohemians in the public consciousness so i can understand why they went with the moulin. nelson delivers this anachronistic line:

“This époque keeps getting beller and beller!”

which alludes to la belle époque, the golden age of france usually dated from 1880 to 1914. made me snort so ill let that slide

and heres moe! as henri de toulouse-lautrec, who was actually born a year after the year this segment is set in. yo moe szyslak he was just 1

toulouse-moetrec introduces himself as the chronicler of the demimonde (not an actual job). an iconic figure associated with the moulin rouge (largely due to his affinity for alcohol and prostitutes), toulouse-lautrec was also a painter, having illustrated a series of posters for the moulin himself. he simply had to be in this segment, anachronisms be damned, just because they decided to include the moulin. cant have one without the other.

and yes he did have a walking cane where he kept his liquor.

i love how everyone drinks absinthe in this place. theyre bohemians what else would they drink

toulouse-moetrec points out that barts paintings are the greatest thing hes ever seen (and hes seen like five things!) and that hes a genius. milhouse realizes that they should stop doing what the teacher says and use their own minds to instead...start doing what bart says lmao. to the easels!

next we have skinner hyping up chalmers about the art his students made for the salon de paris, an art exhibition that the emperor of france will attend. he assures him that none of these paintings will encourage debate, provoke thought or be out of place at a dentist’s office. when they unveil the art, theyre both SHOCKED at how scandalous the paintings actually are.

this reaction was kind of accurate. impressionism was severely rejected at the salon de paris, due to paintings not looking finished enough to them, they thought they were ugly and vulgar for depicting nudity in a contemporary setting (historical and mythological nudity was fine). these impressionist paintings were sent to the salon de refusés, which is. yeah. the place where they sent the rejects. the salon de refusés does not make an appearance but this scene makes a reference to it when the artists get expelled from the royal salon. also:

“What about our student loans?” “Oh they’ll be refunded. We are not barbarians, I mean, come on.”

(god if only)

so the painters are down because they want the emperor to actually see their paintings. toulouse-moetrec pipes in once again with an idea.

“There is one thing the emperor loves more than anything.” “France?” “No, he hates France.”

apparently the emperor really loves cheese, which makes sense since its napoleon III (who loved cheese) and homer (who loves cheese.) so the painters roll into the salon inside a giant wheel of cheese (obviously.) as lenny said, “Eh, you know French cheese. Very runny.” napoleon III chases after the wheel into a room, where the wheel falls apart after getting chomped on by the emperor. now that they got his attention, the painters proudly show the emperor their impressionist art, which he couldnt be more indifferent about because he just wants to eat his cheese dammit, and he awards them with the royal medallion just to kind of get them out of his way. skinner immediately starts kissing ass (as he does) until marge’s like ‘hey wait a minute. you expelled these students from the royal salon’ and an executioner immediately starts ominously measuring skinners neck.

“Uh, sir...is your tongue sticking out because you’re dead or because you’re mad at me?”

and thats the end of that lmao (gore in this episode, gore in the last episode, and next week we’re getting gore too cuz its THOH, what the hell is goin on)

we get a short intermission with maggie, who wants a story for her too! lisa tells her that renaissance artists loved to put babies in their paintings, especially baby angels.

here she is showing her The Triumph Of Galatea by raphael:

King David Playing The Harp by peter paul reubens:

and a very simplified version of pretty much any depiction of hell by hyeronimus bosch lmao:

not much else to say about this one, really. but i really liked that sky!

the last segment is about frida kahlo and diego rivera. or as bart puts it ‘the one about a fat guy whos wife is too good for him.’ i was REALLY looking forward to this one because i love frida and i thought itd be a cool opportunity for animators to go bonkers and do really cool shit with her art as inspiration…..but the segment is not about frida, its about diego and his selling out to capitalism. and its also yet another story with homer and marge drama. no funky cool animation here. sigh i guess i’ll take it

the story begins in 1929 at la casa azul, frida’s home (now museum dedicated to her life and work.) frida and diego are getting married. this courtyard definitely did not look this way yet back in 1929. also theres something very cringy yet funny about lovejoy saying spanish words the way he does, i honestly cant decide how i feel about that one

the writers know theyre being cringy with their gringoness so they go along with it.

moe: “Spanish for ‘best wishes’!” mel: “Spanish for ‘congratulations’!” bumblebee man: “Spanish for ‘muy bueno’!”

OH YEAH BUMBLEBEE MAN this is his new voice actor, eric lopez! hes not mexican but its still great to finally have a latino actor voicing a latino character and hes very excited to be part of the show so i hope to hear more of him!! im rooting for him

el barto/zorro makes an appearance which i am very confused about. he has jack shit to do with frida and diego and mexico in the 20s-30s. el zorro was set in the spanish california of the early 19th century. their use of the original theme song makes me think they just wanted to flex their disney privileges tbh

lets not talk about that that whole scene was bad

anyway diego announces he and frida are going to new york, without even asking her first. frida is obviously pissed.

“Don’t worry, as a woman, you’ll be treated with much more respect in America.”

so in new york, diego is having a bit of a business meeting with mr burns as one of the members of the rockefellers, who is commissioning him to draw a mural for the rockefeller center. its kinda funny how he refers to him and frida as socialists even though they were very much communists lmao its okay you can say it. ok so far, but then frida says ‘yes, we hate the capitalists! right now, a young socialist is being born who will take them down! mr. bernie sanders. i hope hes quick about it’ and that was a simple enough joke and couldve been left at that but then its immediately followed by this weird as fuck family guy-esque cutaway gag to bernie as a baby:

“Getting a cootie shot should not cost your lunch money. And if you don’t listen to me, listen to the Bernie Babies! What? Everybody’s got goons.” *larger babies start beating up this other baby* “I disavow that, and welcome it.”

this confused me so much that i had to ask one of my american friends to help me understand, but even she was like ‘uhhh yeah thats a weird joke,’ especially now that hes been out of the race for months (then again these episodes take almost a year to produce. i guess they couldnt be bothered to replace it with something more relevant.) whatever that was weird and confusing and unfunny moving on

frida is pretty irked that diego is going through with this deal. after all, it goes against everything they believe in. im not sure how the real frida felt about diego doing the mural, but she did feel a bit of rage during her visit to the united states, especially the obvious disparity between rich and poor. she hated having to interact with capitalists and found americans very boring. in this segment, frida seems to be acting more like the american communist party, which diego got kicked out of for accepting commissions from wealthy patrons. in any case, frida is pretty upset about this whole thing.

and finally we get the first and only kind of surreal frida moment. kinda. maybe. its more cartoonish than anything but im desperate ok

interesting how they felt like they had to add a “don’t smoke” in big letters after showing patty and selma flying away on their giant cigarettes. i wonder if this is something theyre making them do now? i remember hearing something about them toning down patty and selma’s smoking

diego comes home to frida, drunk as hell, followed by the marx brothers. i cant believe they didnt make a marxism joke come on it was RIGHT THERE. THE MARX BROTHERS. KARL MARX. COME ON

frida paints her feelings.

this makes diego realize that frida is a genius and he is not half the artist she is. he proclaims he will now show his awe of her by sleeping with other women, starting “an hour ago.” to which frida replies, “and i will start sleeping with other women, starting two hours ago.” yes this was pretty much their relationship. though im just wondering how the hell did diego not know frida was this kind of artist until now? i know homers an idiot but jeez. art was how frida and diego met, diego knew from the get-go that frida was an incredible artist. i guess the fame got to his head or something. again, homer just being stupid.

“well enough already, while the art is still deco, okay?”

its time for the mural diego painted, Man At The Crossroads, to be unveiled:

rockefeller examines it. good and great so far, and then...uh oh

“Who’s that fellow…? With the beard, and the bolshevik smile…” “That’s the founder of Soviet Russia, Lenin!”

“B-b-but he’s a communist!” “Oh he just attended a couple of meetings.”

rockefeller will not have this communist in the temple to capitalism that is the rockefeller center, so he orders diego to paint over it. diego stands his ground and refuses. despite rockefeller’s threats, diego says that theres only one person he wants to be proud of him no matter what and in true homer & marge fashion, frida is touched by this. they happily leave the rockefeller center.

now, the real story of Man At The Crossroads and the rockefeller center was actually not that different. as soon as the rockefellers found out diego had snuck in a portrait of lenin into the mural, they ordered him to paint over it, to which he refused. diego even offered to include abraham lincoln and even american abolitionists in the mural as a compromise, but the rockefellers simply did not want any references to communism whatsoever. they did not complain about the hammer and sickle, though. yes, they did know diego was a communist and hired him anyway. what did they expect? lmao. diego said:

"Rather than mutilate the conception [of the mural], I shall prefer the physical destruction of the conception in its entirety, but preserving, at least, its integrity."

so they decided to destroy the mural before it was even finished and they never talked to each other again.

diego then repainted the mural at the palacio de bellas artes back in mexico, this time known as Man, Controller of the Universe. this new version included even more communist leaders and a depiction of john d. rockefeller jr. drinking at a nightclub, right underneath a depiction of syphilis bacteria. cue nelson haw-haw:

this was the version they used in the episode also, since the original was, well, never finished and also destroyed. only a black and white photograph of it exists, taken by diego before it was destroyed so he could remake it.

right so, homer!diego then pulls a Barthood and finishes the episode with a large mural summarizing the entire episode. he says some rick and morty thing i didnt get because i dont watch the show idk idc

the end

ALRIGHT NOW ITS TIME FOR THE STORY OF VINCENT VAN MOE

[partnersatfazbear]

Analysis of The Real Jake (SPOILERS)

I can't decide whether to make this post a stream-of-consciousness style or group it into evidence for x... but since it's easier, I'll just write my thoughts as I go. Although a lot of this is factual ties to, say, FNAF 4, things like relating Margie to Henry are just my own headcanon and you can do with that what you will AKA don't take this all too seriously, but have fun with it. There’s also specific notes about Michael Afton, for those that just want to know what was said regarding him (presumably).

Before I start, please note I've had three hours of sleep in the last... 28 hours? IDK I can't math, especially not on this little sleep. So, there may be errors. I tried to make a note on things I was unsure about, too. 

Note: I wrote this before the Evan=CC theory was all but confirmed. Although I believe this theory from the logbook, I think a lot of these notes are still valid.

Read my notes under the cut:

Margie shares similar physical appearance to Henry: Pg 84 “The window fan blew a lock of her shoulder-length brown hair across her upper lip so it looked like she had a mustache.”

“Mrs. Afton” stand in is mentioned: Pg 86 “...it had been four years since his Mom had died...” (Jake is 9 in the story)

I notice when Scott mentions plaid. Pg 87 “...a green-and-blue plaid plush chair...” I mostly wanted to note this since canonically, Henry had a green plaid shirt.

“William” stand in is mentioned. Pg 89 “And you know he thinks about you [Jake] all the time?” “So, he has to concentrate on what he's doing... ...I don't want him thinking about me and end up shooting himself in the foot or something.” Pg 102 “Yeah, I did. [I spilled some chocolate ice cream] Right on my shirt!” Pg 122 “I did that today! [While playing a DDR like game, breaking a shoelace.]” (Admittedly, I only counted these because I headcanon William is much more of a bumbling fool than he appears. It comes up very often as you can see... although you could write it off as Evan just trying to relate to his kid.)

“William” stand in is mentioned. Pg 92 “...Margie was pretty sure Evan couldn't afford to replace a washer and dryer” and “...Evan, at his rank, could barely afford her” Pg 110 “Gillian's house shared stlying with Evan's, but hers was probably four times bigger.” (Again, I headcanon William and his family is on the low end of middle class, if not lower, in terms of income. Particularly, the house is cramped.)

“Mrs. Afton” stand in is mentioned. Pg 93 “First, Jake's Mom was killed.” Pg 139 “The mom's dead.” (You could infer that she died via something akin to a car crash in the context of the story, however if you reflect it to the games given the commonalities, I like to think of this as confirmation that William murdered her, given the word 'killed' is used.)

Margie records herself on her cell phone. Pg 93 (and on other pages) (Again referencing my headcanon for Henry, in which he records ideas/diaries often. At minimum, Henry is referred to as “Cassette Man” in PizzaSim so... I just thought it could make for an interesting comparison.)

Jake mentions his “friends”. Pg 99 “Patty and Davey... Vic... and the twins... Ellie and Evie... Kyle, Clay, and Garrett” (Also, he isn't mentioned until later, but there's his best friend Brandon, too. I noted these in reference to CC talking about his 'friends', either IRL or the plushies. I assume his IRL friends are the MCI victims. The number doesn't add up though. I really, really wanted to make a connection about the twins, considering Charlie and Sammy are twins, but there wasn't enough evidence to write it off as anything other than a coincidence. Also... Clay, really? We need another double name in this series? Ugh.)

What's your favorite flavor? Chocolate Pg. 102 “What flavor did you get?” “Chocolate. Duh.” (This is a stretch, but it did remind me of Help Wanted's final level in the main game, where you're asked to choose your favorite cake flavor. Although, they're discussing ice cream here.)

Maybe some insight into William's personality? Pg. 103 “You ever do that, Evan?” “What?” “Let off steam.” “Me? No. Steam is pretty much what keeps me going.” (Just more evidence that William is obsessed with his work. You could imply “steam” implies he runs like a machine, but that's stretching a bit.)

Pg. 113 -118 (Jake climbs out of his window to run off to play at the arcade with his friend. Obvious parallel to the child in Midnight Motorist, although it's daytime and no animatronics/fursuits luring him.) There is this, on Pg 121 also. Jake says, “We played all the racing games. I love racing games.”

PURPLE Pg 121 “...did you get a slushie at the arcade? I got one. I got grape. It turned my tongue purple.” “My tongue's purple, too!” “Purple power!” (Uh, do I really need to explain this? I should note that Evan is the one mentioning “grape”. I guess William likes grape flavor and purple.)

'Michael' is mentioned. Sort of a stand in for Michael Afton, but it should be noted that Michael and Evan are brothers in this universe. Pg 126, 127 “Michael...lived in Europe for a few years...” “Michael's a serious dude. He's, well, a little different. He's intense about making money...the way he is about it... can make him seem like he's not human.” “So, he's like a cyborg with bad programming?” Michael has some dialogue: “You must excersize caution. You could get chocolate on my suit, and that would be bad. Very, very bad.” (The very very bad thing is a running joke in the family, which is why this comes up. I don't have a lot to say about it, though. I think Michael [Afton] being obsessed with money seems a bit counter intuitive to how we know him, but who knows? I also want to note that Evan doesn't seem antagonistic towards Michael; in fact, he “hate[s] to ask him for favors”.)

Also, Pg 141 “His [Michael's] flat, gruff voice was unmistakable.” Michael is also the first one to hear his father is dead and informs Margie about it. “I have been notified that Evan's dead.” Pg 142 “She had only met Michael the one time, and she knew the way he processed the world was very different from what was “normal”” Michael also states to Margie: “I've got Evan's will... you're Jake's guardian and he left you the house and some savings. I'm the executor.” Margie also says: “He[Michael]'s a numbers genius, manages money for the wealthy people and has made a killing doing it.” “He's not a bad guy. He just doesn't know how to connect. He doesn't feel the way we do.” (Just more Michael characterization.)

Direct FNAF 4 easter egg references: Pg 128 “...the IV stand lurking in the corner of the room” Pg 129 “...and the line of perscription medication bottles marching across the top of the chest of drawers”

Margie is more than a nanny and possibly in love with Evan: Pg. 139 “She'd come to love Evan, too... like a brother.” Pg 140 “...she was included in the outings, movie nights, game nights, and storytelling time...” Pg 149 “...she wanted Evan to be more than just a boss, and being in his room when he was gone made her feel like a lovelorn stalker.” “Love him like a brother... She snorted. Boy, had she been lying to herself.” Pg 158 “What she was feeling called for a screaming fit or a total mental breakdown.” (Yeah, this is just me reading too much into this for Willry content, haha... But still. I am determined that Margie is a Henry stand-in.)

'I will put you back together' Pg 140 “I'm trying to bring you home whole.” (Evan is discussing “no man left behind” with his son, Jake. I think this is obvious.)

William's home office? Pg. 149 “When he was home, she'd go in and vacuum or put away laundry... ...when he was gone...coming in here felt like an invasion of privacy.” “Evan's room would be her room.” “...I'd feel like I was sleeping in your bed, she thought.” “...the room felt discretely masculine.” “The walls were covered in family photos.” “The shelves were stuffed with fiction... mysteries to classics, nonfiction... how-to books...from rebuilding a car engine to planting a garden.”

FNAF 4 reference. Pg 152 “Outside, a dog barked.” (You can hear a dog barking as ambient noise during nights when playing FNAF 4.)

Other notes:

It happens a lot, but one of the main things in the book is the doll Simon and how Jake talks to it. This is very blatantly a reference to the Golden Freddy Plush (“Psychic Friend Fredbear”). The story confirms it's Jake's father, Evan, talking through it. Although it makes the one scene in FNAF 4 a little wonky (the only scene where we see Purple Guy), I think it's pretty much confirmed that it's William talking to CC now. Obviously, we already suspected this due to Sister Location's “Secret Room”. In this story, Evan says he did it because he wanted to give Jake some hope he would live. Combined with both the IV/medicine bottle easter eggs (in the story and FNAF 4) I think it's plausible to assume that CC was taken home after the Bite of '83 for a period of time before he passed away. I will admit, also, that Evan definetly comes off as a very caring father (in comparison to how we presume William is based on what we've seen of him as a person; although I argued this before on this blog, I don't think William hates his kids. I think he's neglectful, moreso as the story goes on. I think he resents Michael for many reasons but I won't go into that here. I just don't think he's the abusive monster the fanbase interprets him to be—at least not early on.)

The cabinet reminds me a lot of the closets in the novel series. A built in shelf with a doll in it. A doll that represents a child. Considering Margie tends to this doll (see Pg. 130-135), I have to draw more parallels between her and Henry.

The fan is mentioned A LOT. I don't really know why, but I guess we can't help but think of every single FNAF office when it's brought up. Specifically, on Pg. 106, Margie mentions the fan in her room is as loud as a jet engine and the sound made her nervous. Once again, I'm reminded of PizzaSim. Seriously, screw you fan.

The heat is mentioned a lot, too. I know the story takes place in summer, but this did remind me of Pizza Sim.

Pg. 93 “Margie sat down in the faded blue webbed lawn chair that was set up, for reasons she never understood, in front of the shelves by the stairs.” (I noted this because it's specifically called out and I don't know why.)

Margie talks about why she's working for Evan: Pg. 95 “I didn't get the internship I applied for.” I like to think her and Mia (from 1280) were after the same internship. (I may be misremembering, but I'm pretty sure Mia mentioned an internship at the hospital.)

Jake is mentioned to have brown hair, green eyes. His favorite color is green. He also wears green often. I couldn't find anything really interesting about it. It would make more sense as a Puppet reference, tbh (because of the green bracelet (and eyes? I may be remembering wrong) I guess it's also worth noting that Elizabeth has green eyes.

Pg 135 “Are you afraid people will think you're murdering me?” “...I could end you so quickly you'd never make a sound.” (Just an odd conversation between Jake and Margie. Margie is joking here, obviously.) Also, Pg. 136 “I just figured your [Jake's] wires got crossed or your circuits were frying.” (Admittedly, I don't know what to make of this. Could be a reference to Robot-CC, if you believe that or MikeBot [I don't], but more likely just ironic dialogue. It could also reference Jake's future in the Stichwraith?)

Pg 139 “Sometimes, Margie wished she was like one of the robots Jake liked so much.” (Although I can't really compare this to Henry, I did write William with this mindset and thought it was worth mentioning.)

Pg 141+ So, Evan dies overseas (he's a soldier). (I think this could be hinting that William has been springlocked around the time CC passes away. Jake has been home for some time after his diagnosis so we can infer based on that and the easter eggs that CC was brought home to die in peace. At the very least, William's probably very absent during this time. Possibly brought in for questioning but not arrested. I don't know. I feel like there's something to this.)

Pg 154 “Dave's at work.” (Why? Can we not use established names? Aghhh)

Pg 155 “The ambulance arrived at 11:32.” (I don't know why this is stated so outright. I couldn't find a reason, except that a few paragraphs earlier they say it will arrive by noon. I don't know why it's so specific, but I felt like noting it anyway.)

Pg 159 “Five people. Five sets of eyes. And none of them noticed...” (Yeah. We all know how important 5 is in FNAF.)

Three medical personel are mentioned. One at the end is named Nancy [No Last Name Given], but I like to think its a reference to Man in 1280 and we're dealing with Heracles Hospital once more, although it's never said in this story. Speaking of, the only thing that really stood out to me in 1280's story was that a billionare funded the restoration of the hospital. I like to headcanon that was Henry's doing—I imagine him obscessing over overcompensating for his mistakes by giving back in every way possible, even if it isn't directly related to him.

So, this post only took two hours of my life. I hope someone gets some use out of it, be it for my intended Willry purposes or maybe those Michael fans that are curious about it. If you enjoyed this post, let me know. I'd love to write up more of these if I have the time.

I have other write-ups on this blog, too. Just search fnaf theories on my blog page!

[yanderecandystore]

aaa I love your work! Can we get some of the A.I reader and Ingrid going about their daily lives? Maybe with the A.I not being as naive and innocent as most think and Ingrid being totally soft for them.

Can we, dear? I'm joking, of course we can!

I'm currently dealing with some personal family related bullshit, so again, I'm sorry for taking so long to answer you. I'm going to be honest here, I think things are only about to worsen.

So I'll take longer to answer asks, and to write in general, so please be patient.

TW/Tags: reader is a bit sassy // they're kinda dating in this one 👀 // fluffy but also twisted in a way.

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Something, something, clever title lol [Yandere!CEO OC x A.I Reader - Headcanon]:

Ingrid is a calm woman… Most of the time. She only loses her temper to the point of yelling at someone if they're being unreasonably stupid, or messing around with you.

This time, her employees have managed to check both marks! By not only pestering you to divide by zero but also constantly bothering you over the fact that you're a machine.

"- So, what have we learned today?"

"- Sigh… Don't ask the robot if they would date a microwave-"

"- Especially if?"

"- The bot is the most valuable employee, and the most important asset to the structure of this company-"

"- And?"

"- And if we bother them too much we'll be fired."

"- Good, good, I'm fine with this."

You watched the whole scene go down as you laughed to yourself. Geez, your boss is brutal sometimes, but honestly? They deserved it, even if you have learned to overcome humans making fun of the fact you're a robot, it is still kinda fun to see Ingrid defending you with such a strong grip.

You, of course, couldn't let this opportunity pass, so when she looked at you to see how you were, you made sure to look as unimpressed as you could. And truthfully, you weren't impressed by their apologies, it was flat and they clearly didn't understand what was the true issue of the situation.

Ingrid understood exactly what was written on your face, and then followed your reaction by imitating your expression. Except hers actually look threatening.

The employees were confused, did they do something wrong? Again??

"- C-Can we go now?"

"- Can you?" Ingrid asked while trying to guide their eyes to you. They have apologized to Ingrid, but not to you, the person they were making fun of.

"- We're sorry [Y/N]!" They said in unison hoping to please you and their angry boss.

"- Apologies accepted." You said. Although honestly, you kinda loved the whole situation. It was kinda bad yet kinda satisfying in a weird way. They kept bothering you through weeks and you haven't been able to truly finish your tasks, you should had come to her sooner but you felt like you were being a little evil by doing this.

And I mean, maybe you are, you're kinda holding your laughter as you see them humble themselves for at least once in their lives.

"- You were enjoying this? Weren't you?" Ingrid asked when all of the employees had gone out of her office. She noticed your smug little face, which she honestly couldn't help but love. It was adorable yet so mischievous, geez, you're terrible for her health!

"- Oh come on! You were holding your laughter too!" You responded back playfully, as she picked you up from the table you were sitting in.

"- Geez, you little brat!" She messed your synthetic hair and hugged you. Causing you to squeak because of how tight the hug was.

"- Ingrid! You're ruining my uniform!" You whined as she wasn't letting go. You're just so cute!

Even if she knows you better than anyone, knowing how you only act innocent when you sometimes can be a bit of a rascal, she loves it!

Most think you're a fragile dumb a.i, but the fact that she and only she knows the truth can be so thrilling, ya know?

"- Well, since we're almost done, what would you like to do when we finally go back home?" She asked while letting you go and fixing your clothes. The uniform that was given to you when you were being built fitted perfectly, yet it was so… Boring? Maybe she should buy you some new clothes, bringing you with her so you can choose for yourself.

"- Hmm… I want-" You checked your inner systems to see if you have any necessities to be fulfilled. You could either choose to simply go back home and fulfil those needs, or go with her somewhere else, like going to the shop to buy things for you or, well, anything else!

"- Ugh, I'm feeling stressed, I did a lot of things today you know?"

"- Like sitting around looking pretty?"

"- Exactly! Well, I was thinking, we could probably just go back home and watch something together, right?" You said. Honestly you weren't in the mood to go around, your battery was about to run out anyway.

"- As you wish." She said, placing a kiss on your forehead.

Days went by like this, you two went to work in the morning, did your own personal tasks and would always decide on what you two would do when the shift was finished. You would either go on dates or just hang inside her house. There were events such as reunions between companies, a couple of parties between rich people (which you only enjoyed because you could wear shiny outfits), and stuff like that.

Although your life was generally really happy and comfortable, there were a couple of things you didn't like about your relationship with Ingrid. You started to wonder if you needed more than what she was offering.

Ingrid wouldn't let you go out of the house alone, she didn't really liked whenever you wanted to hangout with other people. Whenever you mentioned "friends" to her, she would always respond coldly to the idea.

"- Friends? Believe you don't need any. It's not like there is anyone at your level, [Y/N]. You're better than anyone, you're better than friends."

But you never really bothered about that. What truly makes your system meltdown is how she invades your privacy.

"- [Y/N], we need to talk."

"- What is it-"

"- Why do you have 1.389.657 pictures of cats downloaded in your files?"

"- Y-You looked at my data?? Why? When?"

"- When you were sleeping. And I did it because you were starting to run slower than usual. You were taking too long to respond."

"- ……………. No, I'm not."

You remember having a big discussion that day. She not only looked at all of your folders one by one, she even looked at your search history! The audacity, the nerve!

You remember going all the way to your room (which was hers, actually) and locking her outside.

"- You're being unreasonable-"

"- And you were invading my right for privacy!"

The fight was going throughout the entire night. There was a specific moment you thought she was about to destroy the door if you didn't let her in. You remember being terrified, you never saw her so… Aggressive.

Yet you couldn't find yourself to be completely mad at her. Either because you really cared about her or because your a.i was built to care for her, it didn't matter.

You saw her sleeping on the couch, her night had clearly been really rough.

You decided to give her a chance to explain herself. She didn't want to make you uncomfortable, she just really wanted to make sure you weren't lagging for anything else.

And well…. You ended up admitting the fact that 1.389.657 pictures of cats were really exaggerated. Maybe only two, maybe five per week would be better for you.

"- I'm glad today is Saturday, I don't want to move a finger." She said as she repositioned herself on the couch, it was really uncomfortable to sleep there, yet she couldn't find enough energy to get up and go up the stairs to her own room.

"- I'm just glad we managed to talk things out."

"- Yeah."

She went silent after responding to you. A whole second with you two enjoying the peace had passed before she said:

"- So. What did you find under the "Buff women" search on Google?"

"- I-! It-It was a one time thing, okay?!"

She laughed at your flustered robotic face. So it's true that robots can blush, huh?

God, you are amazing, you know? But she never promised that she wouldn't check your data regularly.

She just needed to erase the memories of you finding out she did. Nothing would change after that.

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[whitleyschn33]

Hey, I don't mean to bother you again, but if you're still feeling up to it, I'd still like to see your opinions on each member of the Schnee family. No pressure if you don't want to do it though; I still appreciate seeing whatever you do post.

Hey!

You’re not bothering me, trust me. My motivation for... well, everything, but this blog in particular fluctuates pretty wildly, and that means that asks can sit in my inbox for months. The world going to hell hasn’t helped much. Also, every single time I’ve tried to write this, I’ve ended losing chunks of it cause I was too dumb to just type this in a word doc and copy-paste, so that’s been frustrating, to say the least.

Now that I’ve gotten smarter, though, let’s get into the Schnees!

Jacques

I have mixed feelings about how he was (potentially) written out of the show (and I have a feeling I’m going to be saying that a lot in this reply). I said in this post awhile back that I didn’t want Jacques to become an agent of Salem because something like that would most likely become the focal point of his asshole-ness and shove everything else to the side. That feeling holds true, but not really in the way I had been expecting.

How he ended up benefiting Salem, I’m perfectly good with. Him not knowing about Salem or Watts’ motives for making the deal with him, making the deal because it of how it would benefit him and not to serve Salem/kill people - that I’m good with. He was an unknowing pawn Watts/Salem manipulated around the board, but not a mustache-twirling villain all on board with working with the genocidal maniac/serving on her council of villains, and that’s all I really wanted - for him to not be a knowing member of Salem’s board of evil. Being part of a group that desires global destruction just doesn’t fit his motives – can’t make money off people if they’re all dead.

However, the fact that that’s why he was arrested - that his downfall was due to and focused solely on being involved in a Salem plot that just popped up this volume rather than anything to do with his treatment of the Schnees or the Faunus - that kinda rankles. This goes back to the ask I answered a while back - the focus on all the new plots and characters that meant a lot of the old stuff that’s been built up was shoved aside. Jacques being taken down feels like it should have been this huge emotional climax, tensions running high with all of the Schnees there and a huge release of all of those tensions as Jacques gets taken down for the crimes that we as the audiences most revile him for – his treatment of the Schnees. Instead it was… none of that. Jacques is arrested by Weiss for his aid to Watts… and she promptly cracks a joke about it to kill the tension. Winter is able to get in a decent snap at him, but that’s it from her. The entirety of Jacques’ arrest is focused on the heating crisis. He’s dragged off, and only Willow and Whitley get to witness and react to it, and even that’s just a look from Willow and Whitley running off looking completely done with everything – they don’t even react with each other. There’s nothing in Jacques’ downfall about his abuse to his wife and children or even the Faunus, it’s all the election and Watts – plot points that don’t hold nearly as much weight to the audience as ones that have been set up for years.

So, TLDR for Jacques: I actually hope this isn’t the last we see of him, because that would be a disappointing way to end the Schnee’s arc as a family. At the very least, I hope we get to see him talked about between Winter, Willow, and Whitley if/when they actually get to talk to each other.

Willow

Mixed Feelings: Round Two.

Her design? Love it. Her conversation with Weiss? Gold. Willow as a character? A bit more involved than I would’ve thought from how very non-existent she’s been up until now and implied to have been in Weiss’s life, but I can roll with her being a bit more aware than I would’ve gone with. Willow’s role in this volume? Ehhhhhhhh….

I hate that she literally just has a camera hidden in Jacques’ office and recorded the entire thing. It seems like such a cheap way of Weiss getting the information she needed, and comes out of nowhere after there was already a way for her to get the information set up in Whitley. Seriously – we already had Whitley established as having seen Watts, seen Jacques’ reaction to him, look suspicious at Watts, and hear at least the man’s first name. Whitley absolutely had the information Weiss needed – so why the hell pull “Willow actually has cameras set up everywhere” out of thin air? And actually – wouldn’t Jacques have his office swept for cameras and bugs on the regular? You know, like the head of an extremely powerful organization and high-profile target of at least one major terrorist group probably would? To prevent something like this exact situation from happening? I just find it hard to believe that she could’ve set them up for long without being found, and setting them up just before something important to the plot happened in that room is just very convenient.

And like, there’s actually no reason that it needed to be that way. Willow and Weiss could have had the same conversation, just swap out the lines about the cameras with “I don’t know, but I know who would – your brother”, and you can even have Weiss still say that he wants nothing to do with her and Willow agree with her “you left him here with us” line, prompting Weiss to seek him out to get the information she needs and maybe even have a heart-to-heart with him. Whitley wouldn’t even have to give up the information in that conversation – he could be incredibly stubborn about it and unwilling to help until Weiss is called into a meeting about the heating crisis, which Whitley would absolutely follow into to listen whether he’s invited or not, and hearing what’s going done, decide to step up and come clean, realizing if he doesn’t, thousands of people will die. I can actually picture it in my head, and it would be so much better than just “Oh, yeah, I got cameras that recorded the entire nefarious conversation.”

And I’ve spent this entire section not really talking about Willow. Uhh… again, I really like her design. I like that she’s wearing purple, a color no other Schnee wears (except… Whitley with that wine… hmmm) – a mixture of red and blue, her freedom being drowned in something else until it’s completely tainted. Her voice is good, and for the most part, I really do like her conversation with Weiss. I also love that she finally points out what me and other Whitley fans have been screaming for ages – that you can’t expect someone that you basically abandoned (in his eyes) to look favorably on you, and I like that she acknowledges her own role in that, that she’s been a poor parent as well, and actively a detriment to Whitley.

TLDR, I like Willow, I just hate the damn cameras that seem to only exist for this plot point (since if they existed before, shouldn’t Weiss being hit be what they were meant to capture?).

Winter

Best girl, hands down. Not kidding, Winter basically carried this volume for me – rational, yet having very human reactions to things while recognizing that the emotional response isn’t necessarily the right one, the star of a badass fight with Cinder in which her Aura breaks but she still goes on fighting and holding her own against a damn Maiden, an awesome new outfit, wonderful conversations with Penny and just a very interesting relationship with her overall, actually gets to fight back against Jacques to his face – is there any point where this woman doesn’t exceed all my expectations?

I wasn’t a huge Winter fan before this volume, but I’ve successfully been converted. Second favorite Schnee for sure.

Weiss

On thin ice. Still my favorite of the RWBY crew, but considering how much of a nose dive the other three (in particular Ruby) took in this volume, that’s not saying a lot. A lot of what irks me with Weiss are… little moments. Implying that Winter shouldn’t trust Ironwood because he “could” be keeping secrets when she’s the one lying while Ironwood has been nothing but honest, the implication that Winter isn’t capable of making her own choices in regards to the military and the Maiden and that Ironwood must have been grooming her (I really hate this implication, both for trying to tear Ironwood down and for trying to rob Winter of her own agency – like, joining the military was her choice, her escape from Jacques, and you want to turn that into some kind of long game manipulation on Ironwood’s part? You want to prove Jacques of all people right in that he “stole” Winter, rather than Winter making her own choices and Ironwood recognizing her abilities and offering her the Maiden’s powers? Really?), trying to brush aside Ironwood’s concerns about just how much RWBY has done behind his back, calling Mantle “her home” when it’s never been that in front of Marrow who is almost certainly from Mantle – just, a lot of little things that I really dislike, not to mention that this is probably the worst design she’s had. But there hasn’t been anything that’s just blatantly ruined her for me, and she remains the most interesting and well executed character of RWBY for me.

TLDR, a lot of bratty moments that push me away from her, but still holds promise.

Whitley

My poor boy! He finally got more screentime and some of our headcanons comfirmed, but made the butt of a joke that could’ve easily been replaced with character development and underutilized so much. I’d say mixed feelings, but no – love his character, hate how he was used would probably be the best summary. Of course, I’m very much biased, but let’s not let something like that stop me.

More screentime! And letting him talk to someone other than Weiss! His banter with Ironwood was good, seeing his reactions to Jacques, how afraid and timid he was, was heartbreaking, and even if it didn’t go anywhere, his suspicion of Watts was nice to see. It’s always sweet to see headcanons confirmed too – the painting of him playing the piano was nice, and even if I’d have rather had it come out of his own mouth, Willow’s confirmation of him feeling abandoned by Weiss was such a satisfying thing to hear.

On the other hand, I absolutely hate the wine prank. It was way too drawn out and petty – seeing so much joy on JNR’s face while setting it up over the course of a whole minute and using an stack of food half his size to toss onto him – it was way too over the top. If they had to go for the food thing, having Oscar (or someone else, but Oscar is the one without a huntsman license, so he’s more believably clumsy) just pretend to trip with a regular plate and get it on his shirt would’ve been just fine, and we could’ve gotten a nice interaction between Whitley and someone new and get some character development. But nope. We got to have RBYJNR take way too much glee in dumping a mountain of food on a boy they’ve never met before for… talking to his sister and unwittingly getting in their way. It just puts a bad taste in my mouth.

And of course, what I talked about in Willow’s section, the set up of him seeing Watts going absolutely nowhere. Seriously – you set up the perfect opportunity, and then took an out-of-nowhere cop out. It feels like such a squandered set-up, and really disappoints me.

At least we actually got him reacting to Jacques, and it was given an appropriate emotion and fitting cinematography. I love the shot of Whitley sitting all alone on the stairs, watching the only person that actually gives him attention being dragged away without explanation, and seeing the weariness and sadness in his expression as he looks up – I love it, I love it so much. The last bit of hope that they may actually treat my boy right in the end…

TLDR: My boy!

And there you have it! Months late, my thoughts on the Schnee after the most recent volume! How will these change after volume 8? Hopefully for the better, but we’ll have to wait and see!

Thank you for the ask, and once again, sorry for the wait. I may try and take a few more hits at my inbox, but that’ll have to wait for tomorrow, since I’ve got work in the morning.

Have a good night, and stay safe!