#he's just like me fr i also do inexplicable things with the power of love by my side like getting up every morning

[beanghostprincess]

I love how the reasoning behind Sanji's inexplicable powers breaking the laws of physics is always "the power of love". Born to Disney, forced to shonen, as they say.

Op 1107 Spoilers:

[shookethbrooketh]

my pointless gatsby essay

a few days ago i mentioned that i was reading the great gatsby for class and that i wrote a paper on nick’s sexuality. some of you expressed interest in reading it, so now that i’ve finished reading the book and added in some feelings about the ending, i’m posting it so you all can read! 

a couple things: i literally wrote this for no reason. we had assignments similar to these for another book we read where i just wrote my opinions about one particularly stupid part of the book, and i wanted to it here so i just...did. if it makes the experience more hysterical for you, you should know that i let my teacher read this, and she read the beginning in the middle of my class (without my knowledge) yesterday and then i do not think she read any more. she agreed with me, though, so it’s a win. 

also, i actually honestly think nick is just gay, but the argument i made here is that he was bisexual because a) i was only about halfway through the book when i wrote the majority of this and at that time he seemed to be quite into jordan, and b) i really did not feel like trying to defend the point that he was not at all into women. you’ll be able to tell when you push ‘read more’ that i definitely had enough to say without that. it’s a solid 1250 words. have fun. 

The day I finished reading Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby, I took to Google in search of reassurance that other people were asking the same question I was. It became clear to me that I was not alone when I typed in “Is Nick fr,” and there it was: “Is Nick from Gatsby gay?” The answer is...complicated. Although he begins dating Jordan Baker midway through the book, there is still widespread confusion surrounding Nick’s sexuality. Why, you might ask? He’s got a girlfriend--end of story. Right? Wrong. Although life would be a heck of a lot easier if it did, human sexuality doesn’t work like that, so here we are. The fact of the matter is that Nick is a heavily closeted bisexual, and he is being absolutely used by Gatsby for that. 

There are a few non-Gatsby-related clues that Nick is bisexual. For starters, he introduces each new character, male or female, with intricate and often physical detail. He narrates effectively about the physicality of characters regardless of their gender; for example, this description of Tom: 

“Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body--he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage--a cruel body.” 

This quote, quite frankly, made me violently uncomfortable the first time I read it, so clearly either Nick would not mind being taken down by Tom or we need to have a serious talk with F. Scott Fitzgerald. Not to mention the odd scene where Nick disappears for FOUR HOURS between midnight and 4:00 AM with the sole memory of standing beside a bed with a half-naked man who was earlier described as feminine and was holding  a “great portfolio.” Let’s just say that by the end of Chapter 2 some alarm bells were going off in my pea-sized brain. 

Now for the real argument: Nick is clearly infatuated with Jay Gatsby. He wrote two entire paragraphs--one in Chapter 3 and one in Chapter 4--simply about the captivating, caring nature of Gatsby’s smile. He even details later in Chapter 4 how he “held out” against Gatsby’s smile, as if it was some force drawing him into something he refused to be a part of. Overall, the entire situation of Nick and Gatsby’s first meeting screams “21st century fanfiction.” Simple, normal Nick gets invited to a fancy party and chooses to go. He starts talking to another simple, normal man who offers to take him out on the water in the morning, and it feels as if everything is falling together when suddenly he realizes his “date” is actually the party’s affluent host. He is left alone with the female friend he came with, and suddenly he becomes almost obsessed with the man he was speaking with, asking his friend about him with a sudden sense of urgency. I’ll be fair--that is an utterly ridiculous analogy. Still, it checks every box, and it seems as if Gatsby is as aware of it as I am. 

Gatsby has this odd mystery about him--every move he makes is tactfully chosen, and he seems to have a global knowledge of anything related to Daisy. Because of this, it is clear that the only reason Gatsby is friends with Nick and Jordan is because he believes he can use them to get closer to Daisy. He uses his inexplicable charm to draw Nick in and convince him to help Gatsby get the girl he’s been lusting after for years. In his one valid statement in the entire book, Tom told Nick this at the end of the book: “[Gatsby] threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy’s…” This statement, in and of itself, can be taken in a romantic light, but it also shows how Nick has been a bit manipulated by Gatsby. I will acknowledge that Gatsby displays many extremely relatable qualities that come together to create a characteristic I like to call “disaster gay” (literally the entirety of the panic in Chapter 5). However, Nick is the only main character in the novel who displays heavy bisexual tendencies, and Gatsby seems to be using this to his advantage. 

Finally, Chapter 9 is an emotional experience for all of us. Nick is profoundly affected by Gatsby’s death as he is left to grieve almost completely alone. Although he says in Chapter 8 that he never really liked Gatsby, his narration in Chapter 9 tells a different story. Even with Gatsby gone, he feels as if it’s him and Gatsby against the world. He’s found himself suddenly in charge of Gatsby’s funeral, growing more and more distraught with each person that disrespects the dead Gatsby. Most tellingly, he feels as if he had to care for Gatsby, or at least find someone else to be with him. Nick has this inexplicable obligation to Gatsby that screams “unrequited love” forcefully at me until I become emotional. 

All this being said, the most interesting part about it all is that I’m completely and wholly wrong. Anyone who says that F. Scott Fitzgerald would have written a bisexual narrator in the 1920s is utterly kidding themselves. Human sexuality wasn’t even perceived as more than “one or the other” until much later in the 20th century. The truth of Nick’s sexuality lies not in the text but in the reader’s perception of said text. The simplest answer to this difference in perception and reality lies in the identity of the reader, but even that doesn’t wholly explain the situation. If the narrator were a woman, chemistry between her and Gatsby would be clear to many more readers. Of course, that shows that, as is, the perception of the relationship is dependent on the reader’s experiences in life; however, it also shows that some of the misconception lies in the general culture of the 21st century. 

The vast majority of the examples I provided for Nick’s bisexuality were really written to establish mystery surrounding Gatsby’s character (or simply because Fitzgerald’s writing was excessively descriptive). He clearly had no intention of sending the message that we receive today, but in 21st-century culture, mystery and romance are often intertwined. We’re so used to correlating mystery and romance that sometimes one can come off as the other. Regardless, the best part of fiction is that it’s completely fictional. Nick can be whatever readers make him into (aside from blatant, major misinterpretations), and choosing to spend my time after we finish the book reading academic papers about Nick’s sexuality is both well within my rights and perfectly valid. 

Some side notes: 

In my research for this, I ended up on Ao3--not to read anything (spoilers, y’know), but to see how many works there were on this and what specifically was going on there, but, despite my attempts, I still managed to spoil Gatsby’s death for myself. Just so we all know the sacrifices I’ve made here. || Update: Now that we’ve finished the book, I’ve taken to reading here, and I think this is what's going to keep me sane during what I’m choosing to call the coronacation. 

I’d also like to say that I’m very suspicious of Catherine and her tendency to run off to random places across the world with other women, but we never heard anything from here again, so this is all she gets.  

[takaraphoenix]

How does the Shadowhunter society work? Like, actually work?

I don’t even mean the clusterfuck that’s their leadership - where the Lightwoods are “dethroned” to be replaced by Lydia, who then inexplicably and without real explanation is replaced by Aldertree, who then is replaced by the Inquisitor herself, who just appoints her own grandson literally just based on him being her grandson, who then nominates his parabatai really only based on that even though the whole gods damn point of this game of musical chairs was to remove the Lightwoods from power. Okay, no, I actually also mean that because that was just a mess through and through.

You don’t... apply for jobs I guess? You just get chosen? Like how Isabelle suddenly became Weapon’s Master - whatever the fuck that even means.

Also, is there like... a job limit? I mean, Isabelle is the Weapon’s Master. She is however also apparently their head forensic scientist. And does autopsies. And she also takes over in the medical wing if need be, because we have literally never seen an actual doctor in the Institute, it’s mostly whoever has time. And she is an active-duty Shadowhunter going out on missions.

They... They don’t... have like... different departments, huh? You can just... dabble in all the jobs!

I mean, at one point it was implied that Jace is “head of security”, but once again, what does that even mean because he’s just constantly out on missions too. Shouldn’t the head of a department be... I don’t know... available to oversee stuff?

And what even is the Inquisitor? She’s first introduced as judge and jury for Isabelle’s trial. Making it look like she... personally... comes every time a Shadowhunter is on trial? Is she a judge? Is she the only judge?

And are there even trials? Like, for Downworlders? Because they skipped right to the execution with Clary - and all the Downworlders and supposed traitors from Valentine’s side. There was no trial there.

But over the course of the toher seasons, it looked more like the Inquisitor is the equivalent to the president. The absolute head. In charge of everyone.

Which brings me to their legal system. The president is your judge and jury. That seems kind of shady. But then again! They also threw Jace into the dungeon for getting abducted and tortured! And then they tortured him a bit themselves! So there’s that.

There’s also the shady way with which they handle their terrorists. You know, the two who got to lead the New York Institute with a bit house-arrest only. Even though head of an Institute is implied to be an important position. And Hodge too, just a bit of house-arrest and the whole “don’t talk about it” rune. I know this one is intentional to show just how shady and actually down for Valentine’s core ideals the Clave really is, but... it still stands as something questionable.

Because... throughout the show they all do seem very serious about putting Valentine behind bars and treating him as inherently wrong (also implied by the whole immediate execution thing mentioned above). So, what brought that change of heart on?

But I’m getting off-track. The main point I wanted to get to was: How do they pay for stuff? How are they paid? Are they even paid? Does money exist?

I mean, seriously. They’re squatting in an “old abandoned church”. So they don’t pay legal property taxes. They’re not like... pretending to be some kind of firm that works in that building, glamouring it as, I don’t know, a lawyers’ building or whatever, and having a kinda legal business front.

They keep themselves glamoured from mundies.

So, were do they get their stuff? Clothes, food, technology, heck, furniture and the ten thousand candles Jace keeps in his bedroom?

They have this hyper advanced technology that is never explained. Because that is not magic, it’s technology. The whole holographics, the computer-system that seems more advanced than ours. So you’re telling me they have absolute genuius inventors there, but don’t make money off of it?

If they did, if you’d tell me that they like make brilliant stuff and sell versions it to the mundie world - with like a flippant note about how they invented smartphones or something - and that’s how they finance stuff, I’d buy that.

Or heck, the thing I had kind of automatically assumed in early season 1 - that members of the Shadow World infiltrate the mundane world. Like Luke and Alaric. That the two werewolf-partners were intentional and not coincidental. Downworlders, working in law-enforcement, in hospitals, in the fire-department, just generally everywhere important to have a literal Shadow World to our mundane world; including Shadowhunters. Them, working as actual law-enforcement and specifically taking the non-mundane cases.

Y’all know Grimm? Love that show. Super stupid, hella lazy world-building on the bestiary side, but the whole concept of the supernatural hunter working as a cop, with his captain also being part of the supernatural world and thus helping by pulling some strings? That.

I kind of assumed that to be implied when the captain was also a Downworlder, but then the captain got killed and Alaric got killed and Luke got that useless mundie partner. Just, imagine for a moment, if the Shadowhunters did live integrated into the mundane world, but in the shadows of it. Isabelle as the forensic scientist or head medical examiner of New York even, the “head of the Institute” as the captain of the department, of both the Shadow World side and the mundane side, Jace and Alec as detectives working together. Cases are being shuffled around by the Shadowhunter in charge of the precinct so the mundies get the mundie cases and the Shadowhunters get the actual Downworlder stuff.

But they live cut off from humans and they are “lucky” that Luke is a cop and they can get inside case information from him, which makes Luke look shady and also kind of insane because he’s talking to thin air since Jace and the others only show up to a crime-scene glamoured.

They don’t have jobs in the mundane world though. They don’t interact with the mundane world.

So, where do their clothes and food come from? Do they have some oblivious mundie delivery guys bringing food to the church...? Do they... grow everything themselves? Do they make clothes themselves?

Are there Shadowhunter seamstresses and bakers? Is there a shopping mile in Idris?

Because the way they make it look, with the dwindling number of Shadowhunters - based on them dying young during missions and not producing enough heirs to compensate for that and not having the cup to make more Shadowhunters - I sort of got the impression that every Shadowhunter has to take a soldier career. Either you go into active duty, or you become an Iron Sister/Silent Brother, or a politician.

But they have a cafeteria. It’s not like that’s enchanted like the dining hall in Harry Potter, right? So, do they have Shadowhunters on staff who are cooks? Janitors? Since the whole weapons-cleaning thing was being used as a “punishment” for Jace, do they just... take turns? Have a chores-schedule and everybody gets to clean up and cook like once a month...? Do they have Downworlders in the positions they themselves see as below them, like the janitorial staff?

Does... does money even exist in their society? I’m really curious about that, because it would imply that they have an economic system. And I really did get the impression that they were a pure race of soldiers, battling demons with no sense of procedures on how to qualify and apply for a job - I mean, Clary just flat-out moves into the Institute and starts going on missions without any training at all, without a screening, without... without, yeah as dumb as it sounds, a job application.

Are there pay-checks? Are those actual jobs? Is there money? How does it work?

The point of this post really is that I’m an absolute sucker for world-building and this world-building absolutely sucked.

Seriously, I do love the conceptual idea of the Shadow World, but at no point was it actually established how it fits into our world. It was just vagued at that it stays hidden and glamoured, but how? How does it co-exist? How does it, as an independent society work?

Heck, that goes even deeper than jobs and politics. Why do they all speak English? Why don’t the Nephilim have their own native tongue, considering they use “runes” for their magic, which was in fact the writing of early day Germany (albeit different runes, of course)? Or, at the very least, why don’t they speak pre-dominantly German and&or French, considering Idris is physically located between France, Germany and Switzerland.

Why do all Shadowhunters automatically speak English like that is the dominant language of their society? Be that new arrivals like Aline, Helen, Aldertree, Lydia, Sebastian. You can pull that stunt if you put your fairy tale country into the USA, like so many do. But if you put it into Europe and give a very specific location, you should let that influence things. I mean, what’s practical about them speaking English? The ones outside the US, that is - it does make sense that the Lightwoods and the staff in the New York Institute speak English. The Inquisitor, the reinforcement we’re getting, the Silent Brothers in the City of Bones, heck the scene where Clary is sentenced to death? Why would they speak English?

And don’t come at me “It’s the dominant language!”, because... why would that matter to Shadowhunters? They’ve shown they’re an old-fashioned society, very stuck in their old-fashioned ways. They would 100% not go trendy with “uh all the mundies learn English as their second language nowadays maybe we should raise all our kids English-speaking??”. They’d continue speaking their own native tongue throughout, they’d among themselves talk in their native tongue and certainly not in whatever language the mundies of that region are speaking considering that they don’t interact with mundies.

And that native tongue should be either an original Nephilim-language, German, French, or even an original conceptual mix of German and French that came together over the centuries, because the fact that Idris lays where it does implies that the first Nephilim created were, in fact, German, French and Swiss, probably also some Italians and Austrians.

There’s no way that centuries ago, the Angel grabbed a bunch of Brits, made them Shadowhunters and then dumped them in newly-created Shadowhunters Country to form a settlement there and speak pre-dominantly English. That’s... incredibly ridiculous.

And I know “the first Shadowhunter” is named John Shadowhunter, but that in itself is a fact I want to forget because it might just be the singularly dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in the realm of world-building and I’ve encountered sparkling vampires. Seriously, I had assumed the job-title “Shadowhunter” came from them, quite literally, hunting shadows. No. It had to be a super fancy perfectly coincidental name of the very first Shadowhunter? Yikes on that one.

And, again, that really very English name makes little sense considering where Idris lays. She did bother to give her villain the most on-the-nose German name, so why not Jonathan Schattenjäger, then? Or, you know, do the more sensible thing and not put your fantasy country slap-dash between Germany, France and Switzerland. It could as well be on a glamoured, hidden from mundie sight island off the shore of England. Make it a reasonably English-speaking country and also have it better hidden because... how exactly does that even work? Is it like Grimmauld Place that just folds in on itself or whatever? Time Lord technology? Because a country, even a small one, just... there, in the middle of Europe? But no one can see it? How is that explained for the mundies?

See, I’m not even saying that they all need to speak German/French, or that CC had to invent a whole new language. I’m just saying that, with where she places Idris, those would have been reasonable things to happen and no one forced her to put Idris where she put it, there is no actual real reason why it needs to be specifically there and three things - name of the first Shadowhunter, how it’s hidden from mundies and the language are - would have very easily been explained by simply not putting the country where it was put. But if you make something take place in a specific place, you have to take that place’s specific culture and other parameters into consideration in how your world forms.

I just... these things are world-building 101 questions. How is the leadership structure in this society, what kind of money-system do they have, what language do they speak.

And sure, I have only read the first book and CC might still surprise me with some mindblowing world-building that explains it all - but to be quite honest, the fact that Hodge and three underaged teenagers were all the people manning the New York Institute, my questions about the economics of this still stand, maybe even more so than before because uh... child-soldiers are fine I guess?? No need for actual, non former terrorist adult staff!

This is just... something that frustrates me. Sure, your world doesn’t have to be 100% because it’s still fictional. But there are some corner stones about your fantasy world that should be solid, that should be set. In the books and in the show, that is.

And... not many things about how the actual world works were as much as even just mentioned. And that really frustrates me, because to me, the most important part are the characters, and the second most important part is the world. An inconsistent and badly explained world is really very frustrating for me.

[ifanfictiondreamerworld]

Ratchet and Kim Possible Chronicles: The Polaris Epidemic-Part 33

After the long flight, they arrived on the planet Yerek. They landed on a large cliff with consisted of an abandoned settlement, then they got out. Just then, Ratchet looked up and spotted something. Ratchet: "Guys, look!"

Kim and Clank looked up and saw exactly what he did: there was an incredibly massive monitor high up and near where they stood. The screen displayed an image of Adrena Lynn, herself. She had a nasty sneer on her face. Adrena Lynn: "Well, if it isn't Kim Possible? And you must be Kim Possible's alien friends." Kim: "Alright, just what are you doing here, Adrena Lynn?"

Adrena Lynn chortled gleefully a little. Adrena Lynn: "If you guys really want to know, then come find me; I'll be waiting."

The screen shut itself off. Ratchet: "Come on, let's go after her."

Kim had the infobot transferred to her and attached to her back. Clank attached himself to Ratchet's harness, then the duo rushed off.

They made their way through the deserted area. Everywhere they went, they would come across one bizarre occurrence after another. There unusual earthquakes taking place, machinery everywhere that were inexplicably switched on and off, strange creatures materialized in front of them, which they were forced to fight, there were even lots of deactivated robots everywhere that were switched on mysteriously, as well as some that were in pieces and then reassembled, which they also had to fight off. It was indeed their most bizarre fight through yet. Ratchet: "Geez! There are a lot of freakish things going on around here! This must be one powerful witch running this sector!" Kim: "Yeah, assuming the rumors are true. But still, with all of this happening, it's no wonder why this place is deserted. Seems almost like a perfect place for someone like Adrena Lynn." Clank: "But Adrena Lynn is cowardly, is she not?" Ratchet: "Yeah, she actually is. I'm guessing this is another one of her attempts to make herself seem more fearless than she really is; most likely a pathetic attempt at that." Kim: "Oh, that sounds so much like her; she is pathetic, after all." Ratchet: "Yep." Adrena Lynn: "Hey! Who are you calling cowardly and pathetic?"

Soon enough, they spotted another screen near by. Appearing on it was Adrena Lynn's image. Ratchet: "Well, look who decided to show her face again? Or rather hide behind a monitor since hiding behind a fake image is what you do best." Adrena Lynn: "Oh, well, aren't you a funny one? Your compatibility with Kim Possible is so apparent, it's sickening!" Kim: "Alright, just what are you up to?" Adrena Lynn: "Hm! I was thinking of bringing forth something very dangerous and thrilling, and what better place to do it than on a planet that's rumored to have been completely taken over by an evil witch? It's so fr-EAKY!" Clank: "Uh, is that a catchphrase of hers?" Kim: "More or less." Ratchet: "That's so obnoxious. Your catchphrases are better, Kimberly." Kim: "Oh, it's nothing, really. Coming up with trendy catchphrases is so effortless; it's no big." Ratchet: "So not the drama?" Kim: "Yes, precisely."

Kim and Ratchet did a high-5 with each other. Adrena Lynn: "Hmph! Well, let's see how smug and overconfident you guys will be once you come across my challenge. It is without a doubt massive, dangerous, death-defying and so fr-EAKY!"

The screen shut off. Ratchet: "I would love to tear that arrogant sneer off of her face." Kim: "So do I. I may have faced off against her once, but that was more than I would ever want to deal with." Ratchet: "I can see why; she's really annoying." Kim: "Hm, the worst is still yet to come. I'm not looking forward to what she has in store for us, but we don't have a choice in the matter." Ratchet: "No, we don't. We need to find out what she's up to."

Kim looked at Ratchet and nodded once, then rushed out and continued on through the chaos.

They fought through more bizarre enemies and encountered even more bizarre occurrences, such as large objects, buildings, even landmasses all around them levitating. Kim: "Whoa! What's with this freaky place!?" Ratchet: "Huh, this witch must have some really strong powers to do this!" Clank: "Ratchet! Miss Possible! I am detecting a massive amount of an unknown force at work. I am not familiar with these energy readings." Kim: "Hm…could we really be dealing with a magical witch?" Clank: "It is possible, Miss, uh, Possible." Ratchet: "Yeah, I believe so, too. Heh! Several years back, I wouldn't have thought that such a thing would be real, that is until we encountered the Zoni." Kim: "I know, right? They were awfully mysterious." Clank: "Yes, there is much about them that even I do not comprehend fully." Ratchet: "Who does?" Kim: "Well, we can't let this get in the way of finding Adrena Lynn." Ratchet: "Yeah, I agree with you on that, Kimberly. Let's keep going."

After a long and painstaking search through the massive and eerily bizarre area, they were finally able to find Adrena Lynn. She had situated herself at an abandoned orphanage that was clearly falling apart. She stared down at them with a nasty sneer on her face. Ratchet: "Adrena Lynn! So, we finally meet face to face!" Adrena Lynn: "Well, hello there. You must be the alien thing that Kim Possible has taken a seriously gross liking to. That is just fr-EAKY! Never had I thought that you would be involved in a relationship with an alien! An alien! You've made yourself out to be the biggest fr-EAK of nature that anyone has ever come to know, Kim Possible. It's so disgusting and absolutely repulsive that it makes me sick to my stomach just looking at you!"

Ratchet stepped forward a bit. Ratchet: "At least she's not a spineless coward who fakes her own stunts just to make herself look more spectacle than she really is. Even if what you say about her is true, she still is and always will be a lot better than you!" Clank: "Quite right. Miss Adrena Lynn, you are a charlatan and a con artist, fabricating many dangerous feats while claiming to be that incredibly amazing stunt woman when you clearly are not. You have indeed failed to live up to your nickname." Ratchet: "Oh, for sure! And the only other thing that I find about you that could possibly be worse than all of that is that you encourage kids to mimic your stunts, regardless of their safety. You are just about one of the worst and most pathetic human beings ever!" Clank: "I concur!" Kim: "Well said, guys!"

Adrena Lynn growled very loudly. Adrena Lynn: "Well, aren't you 2 quite mouthy? Hmph! Let's see how confident you guys will be one you attempt my most spectacular and death-defying stunt imaginable!"

She then pulled out a remote and pressed 2 buttons on it. From there, 2 monitors were brought up. As the group looked at the screens, they became shocked with what they saw. Kim: "What…what is that!?"

On both of the screen were images of 2 buses; one on each screen. Adrena Lynn: "What you guys see here are buses carrying 2 sets of innocent civilians: one bus is full of orphaned alien children, the other contains regular humans; many of which I invited to be the first ever to take a lovely little tour into space. As you can see, they are both suspended high above a massive valley that sits below these cliffs. If I were to flip this switch on this remote, then I will have the power on both of these buses shut off, thereby sending all of these people to fall to their doom!"

Kim was greatly shocked by this. Kim: "No…! You…you can't be serious!" Ratchet: "There aren't really civilians on those buses, are there?" Adrena Lynn: "Are you willing to risk the lives of all those people to find out if I'm bluffing?"

Ratchet glared at Adrena Lynn without saying anything. Adrena Lynn: "Now then, here's my little challenge: both buses will be set to drop unless you are able to reach them in time. But here's the catch: they are both several minutes away from this spot at the same distance from here in different locations, so there is no way that you guys will be able to reach both of them in time. So, you can only save one of them. Oh, and one other thing: since the 2 of you are so lovey-dovey with one another, neither of you will ever be allowed to part from each other. That's right, no splitting up, otherwise I will cut off the power and have both buses fall to their doom." Ratchet: "You're sick!" Clank: "This is immoral and a blatant disregard towards humans and other life forms alike." Adrena Lynn: "Aw, what's the matter? Is this challenge too much for any of you to handle? This is merely a test to see if Kim Possible values humans or aliens. If she would choose to save the humans, then she would be hated by aliens everywhere and never be allowed to visit another alien world ever again, but if she were to save the aliens, then she would be deemed a traitor to humans and be hated amongst her own kind. Either way, it would be a tremendous loss on her part. Although, I would be certain that you aliens would encourage her to choose alien lives over humans." Ratchet: "I would never do that to her!" Adrena Lynn: "Oh, we'll see about that."

She flipped the switch on the remote. Ratchet: "NO!"

From there, a timer appeared on both screen, then they started to count down. Adrena Lynn: "You guys have 10 minutes. Who shall fall to their doom, the humans or the aliens? Oh, and one more catch: no outside help from your friends, especially your computer whiz kid or both buses will fall."

Ratchet glared at Adrena Lynn once more. Kim, distraught, rushed off immediately. Ratchet took notice of this. Ratchet: "Kimberly!"

He ran off after her as Clank attached himself to Ratchet's harness.

He was able finally got close enough to her to get right in front of her. He grabbed her and held her by her shoulders as he looked directly her. Ratchet: "Kimberly, get a hold of yourself! I know this looks bad, but we can't just rush into this! We need to think our way through this!" Kim: "But…but I…we…we don't…have…a lot of…we have to…we have to…keep going…" Ratchet: "I know that! But we can't let this get to us! This is clearly Adrena Lynn's way of messing with you! Whatever happens is not your fault! Don't ever think otherwise! We will find a way around her twisted game. There is a way to save them both; we just have to figure out what that is, but you need to calm down. Don't forget that I'm here and I will never let you handle this alone! I made that promise to you, after all, didn't I?"

Kim stood by for a brief moment, taking in everything that Ratchet said to her. Kim: "Yeah…you did…" Ratchet: "That's right, you may be Kim Possible, the girl that can do anything, but that doesn't mean that you have to handle everything by yourself. I won't let you."

Kim smiled for a bit. Kim: "Of course…thank you…Ratchet."

He smiled as well. Clank: "Ratchet, Miss Possible, I just received an encrypted transmission. We must make our way due North." Ratchet: "What? But why?" Clank: "We do not have the time for that. We must hurry; Adrena Lynn could be on to us." Ratchet: "But what does that even…"

Suddenly, Kim grabbed Ratchet by the hand. Kim: "Let's go!"

She ran off as she kept a tight grip on his hand. Ratchet: "Hey! Kimberly! Wait!"

They rushed through the area at great speed. The phenomena everywhere became even worse as a lot of the floating objects and debris came at them continuously as well as the earthquakes becoming more frequent, but that didn't stop Kim. She kept going and never let go of Ratchet's hand, not even once. The stakes were really high, so she just kept on going. She seemed more serious than she had ever been.

They continued on through until they stopped and stared out at something that made them awestruck: they were able to reach one of the buses. Ratchet: "That…that's the bus that carries the humans!" Kim: "Come on! We have to rescue them!"

Just then, the bus took off and flew away. They were confused as they watched this happen. Ratchet: "Wha-? What the…?" Clank: "My sensors indicate that bus was never in any real danger." Kim: "What!?" Adrena Lynn: "Oh, sorry, that was the wrong answer."

Soon enough, they noticed a small monitor nearby, displayed on it was an image of Adrena Lynn. Adrena Lynn: "And now all of those orphaned aliens shall meet their doom. Say good bye."

She was about to flip a switch. Kim: "NOOOOO!"

And with that, they watched on another monitor as the other bus dropped like a rock. The group stood by, devastated by this. Just then, the Kimmunicator went off again, Kim answered it. Kim: "Wade! We have a problem! A bus carrying some young alien orphans is falling to the valley very far below us! None of them will be able to survive that fall!" Wade: "Not to worry, Kim; I'm already a step ahead. I've just sent Aphelion to your location right now."

Shortly afterwards, Aphelion arrived and opened its cockpit window. Aphelion: "Hop in! I'll take you to that bus right this second!"

They got into the ship, it closed its window and they flew off. Ratchet: "I get the feeling that it didn't matter which one we would go for; she would have made either decision seem like the wrong one." Kim: "Yeah…I think so, too…" Clank: "Hm…curious…my sensors were able to confirm readings of humans on that bus, but…the other readings that I have been trying to pick up on were scrambled. I could not ascertain anything else; even who those humans were." Ratchet: "Huh, that's strange. I wonder why that is. Could Adrena Lynn be hiding something about their identities?" Kim: "Hm…that is possible…what didn't she want us to find out?"

Within little time, they were able to reach the bus. Ratchet: "There it is! Let's get to it, you guys." Kim: "Right!" Clank: "Certainly."

They approached the bus at great speed. Often times, the strange phenomena, such as materialized flying creatures (the least annoying kind) and large pieces of floating landmasses would attack them constantly, but they fought through them with ease. Thankfully, they were very, very high up, so it would have taken a really, really long time for the bus to fall.

They finally got close to the bus. Ratchet: "Clank, activate the tracker beam. Kimberly, send a transmission to that bus, tell them…"

Just then, a tracker beam shot out of the bus and attached to their ship. They were very surprised to see this. Ratchet: "Whoa! Those must be some really smart orphans!" Wade: "Um…it's much more complicated than that. Just make sure that bus gets to safety. I'll tell you guys everything once you do."

They flew towards a cliff and gently landed the bus on to it. They landed their ship near the bus and got out. Wade: "Good thing I took action when I did, otherwise things could have gotten a lot worse." Kim: "I don't know what it is you did, but you really have saved all of those alien orphans." Wade: "Well…I wouldn't exactly call those aliens orphans. Actually, there's only 1 orphan in that bus, who you guys would surprisingly find, is not an alien." Kim: "There only 1 orphan that's not an alien in a bus full of aliens…? Wait, you don't mean…" Lilo: "Hi, guys."

They looked over and spotted Lilo and Stitch standing outside the bus, waving at them. Soon enough, some of Stitch's cousins stepped out and waved at the group with them. Stitch: "Hi!" Kim: "Lilo! Stitch!"

They ran towards them. Ratchet: "What are you guys doing here?" Lilo: "Wade asked us to help him out with something that he felt didn't seem right." Stitch: "Ih! And good thing we did!" Ratchet: "No way! Is this really true!?" Wade: "Yep, that's right, a while back, I picked up on some data that seemed very weird. There was a bus scheduled to send some orphans to that sector. Considering that it was a very dangerous and forbidden sector, I knew that it involved something bad, so I intercepted the data and had the orphans switched out for Lilo, Stitch and the other experiments. All of those orphans were kept safe." Kim: "Oh, thank goodness." Ratchet: "You've had this set up for quite some time, haven't you?" Wade: "You've got it. Sorry I didn't tell you guys about it. I couldn't risk my plan being found out and then have things get even worse." Ratchet: "That's OK, Wade. If anything, you were able to protect innocent civilians; that's worth keeping us in the dark." Kim: "And we've found out what Adrena Lynn was up to, so this is a successful mission as far as we're concerned."

Ratchet and Clank both nodded. Just then, there was a loud noise being heard. They looked up and saw a leaving the planet on a shuttle. Ratchet: "Huh, that must be Adrena Lynn leaving the planet." Kim: "Yep, there she goes." Clank: "I am guessing that she has fulfilled what she needed to have done."

Ratchet turned his head towards another direction and spotted something else. Ratchet: "Yeah, she did. Look."

Kim and Clank turned their heads as well and spotted exactly what he saw. Clank: "Oh."

There was another of the mysterious towers and no doubt the last one. Kim: "Well, surprise, surprise." Wade: "All of this was nothing more than just another distraction." Kim: "Yeah, we already knew that before we came here."

Ratchet folded his arms a little and sighed as he hung his head down a little. Ratchet: "It was a ruthless one at that."

Kim placed one hand below her elbow and the other on her face as she tilted her head down. Kim: "Yes…it was…at least no one was in any real danger." Clank: "Yes, that is true." Ratchet: "Hey, thanks for helping us out again, Lilo." Lilo: "Certainly, you know that we're always happy to help you guys out. Right, Stitch?" Stitch: "Ih, always happy to help." Lilo: "OK, we need to get going, but call us again if you need us." Stitch: "Bye."

Lilo, Stitch and Stitch's cousins got back into the bus, the bus then took off and flew away. Kim: "We should get going, too. I want off of this planet! Now!" Ratchet: "So do I." Clank: "Same here."

The infobot was returned to Wade, then the group got back into the ship, took off and left the planet.