#he's like Connor they are way way younger than they physically are and don't have the life experience yet

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

Conner and bizarro finally meet

on a random lonely day in the Kansas country side, Conner is rocking in a rocking chair reading a book lex got him. it's a big fat comic collection about this guy who works with the FDA for some reason and he's honestly just enthralled. there's a whoosh sound and suddenly Jason and bizarro appear, Jason has his arm over the shoulder of bizarro as he waves over to Conner. Conner is pretty confused who the other guy is.

Conner: hi Jason, who's with you?

Jason: oh this is bizarro, he's kind of my son.

Conner: since when?

Jason: since ages, lex basically was going to kill him but we accidentally broke him out of his containment. long story short he's here he's my son.

bizarro: *waves* bye! I'm bizarro

Conner: hi bizarro

Jason: don't mind him he's words are a bit backwards, something about the programming didn't quite work. all negative verbs and such are positives and all positives are negatives. we are working on it right buddy?

bizarro: I'm resting on it!

Jason: speech therapy is hard, he's perfectly normal he just has some mixed up brain functions. lex actually managed to reverse alot of the degenerative disease problems, so you know bizarro is just struggling with a few things. he's doing way better than before though right buddy?

bizarro: I'm not fine, I'm doing bad! red is doing a bad job

Jason: aw, thanks. I try, we really have to work on the negative verbs, but it's fine we can try again later. anyway I wanted you to meet your brother bizarro!

Conner: *holds out hand* nice to meet you bizarro, what do you like to do?

bizarro: I hate… reading books and watching movies, it’s not fun.

Conner: oh! I love reading books, I have some if you want one.

bizarro: I’m not interested, I hate reading. No thanks!

Conner: wait here I’ll go get one!

Conner runs into the house to go grab some books, he didn’t really know he had a brother but this was kinda cool. Even if it came out of nowhere.

Conner: I have.. Julia Gillard’s cookbook, pride and prejudice, moby dick, and.. bionicules? Honestly I don’t think I’ll read them again so you can have them, my gift!

Bizarro looks at Conner and smiles, he takes the books and starts reading them on the floor of the patio.

Jason: I know I should have called you, but we never have the chance to meet up.

Conner: it’s fine, honestly. I was just reading some comics, been a long week. Just wanted to soak up some sun, since Lex was nagging me about it.

Jason: Lex??

Conner: oh I didn’t tell you, yeah we are kinda trying to fix things between us. I think it has something to do with the whole kryptonite induced cancer, thing. He surprisingly actually does not mean any harm to me, it's so weird.

Jason: damn, even Lex of all people is trying to mend his relationships. Never thought I’d see the day.

Conner: oh it was weird, he came up to the house and actually apologised to me. Lex. APOLOGISED

Jason: NO WAY, I don’t believe you *crosses arms*

Connor: I wish I had it on tape, but no he did. It was so weird, then he told me he actually was pregnant with me.

Jason: wait… *murmurs* when would that have been.

Conner: oh a couple years ago as I’m about 4-5 now.

Jason: oh yeah he did basically disappear for a whole year one year, kinda thought he had some sort of horrible injury or assassin on his tail. Didn’t really think he was having you?

Connor: honestly I would not know, because again didn’t exist yet.

Jason: that’s actually around the time bizarro was made actually, well a year or 2 beforehand.

Connor: yeah makes sense, wait. bizarro is older than me?

bizarro: I'm younger than other superman.

Connor: true I do think your older than me, does lex keep saying anything about dissolving DNA to you guys?

Jason: on yeah that's what originally happened to biz over here, right buddy?

bizarro: me DNA re- reconsti- reconstituted.

Connor: oh damn, that most be why he is motherhen'ing so bad. "you really should be checking for it every 2 weeks" as lex says to me fortnightly now. ugh annoying.

Jason: really? guess I'll take his advice that does unironically sound like a good idea. Connor, well this has been nice. but we have to go or we are going to miss family dinner. see ya

Connor: honestly nice that you dropped by, nice to meet you bizarro!

bizarro: hi other superman!

Connor: you can call me Kon if you like

bizarro: hi Kon!

Connor: see you both enjoy the books! I'm sure bizarro will enjoy them

Jason: oh totally pride and prejudice is my favourite, I was looking for a copy for biz actually it's a wonderful gift, nice seeing you! see you next time for the space pirates?

Connor: always, those fucking space pirates though

bizarro: I love space pirates, they are the best

Connor: lol you're so right, bye guys!!

bizarro + Jason: bye!!!!

prev | current | next

[punkeropercyjackson]

Minus the 'Hero of the Great Prophecy' copout,Luke Castellan is such a well-written villain because he's so real.Not sympathic but that he's so awful in the way so many real cishet white men in power are and historically have been always been.Luke is a fascist.He's a misogynist.He's a racist.He's even a serial pedophile

Luke started grooming Silena before the series even started by taking advantege of her crush on him by flirting with her because girls that age don't know any better,oh he's different,we're different.He had the effect on Annabeth too but much stronger due to being her older brother figure and pseudo-dad,raising her since she was 7 and confessed to her at 16,on his deathbed,due to wanting to haunt and have power over her ONE last time.He wanted her to know what he'd thinking the whole time he was pretending to see her platonically.Thalia was 2 years younger than him pre-tree and he still liked her at 15 to his 20s.I'd go as far as to do a Lolita comparison,with Thalia's death giving him that little girl fixation to 'replace' her and let's not forget that while Kelli's age isn't stated,she passed as Percy's classmate when Percy was 14 and wasn't even technically a high schooler and there's no mention of no Mist Kelli showing her as older.It's implied he straight up SLEPT with her and maybe even did it multiple times judging by how long she was in the Titan's Army.She was also the only black girl member and that's absolutely relevant

And he was way closer to the Stolls than he was Chris but targeted him,the mestizo boy,even though Travis and Connor would've been easier to get to join him.The first camper he killed was Beckendorf and he gaslight Silena into thinking he wouldn't only for Beckendorf to be have been only a tool to him.He had zero respect for Ethan,the japanese/wasian boy,and unless you count Alabaster from the side books,the named Titan's Army's male members were all boys of color.The named girls were the lil white girl he hit on to fuck it up for everyone and the ambigiously aged but young looking black girl he made his bedmate because he saw her as a sexual being unlike her.Everybody likes saying he was so obsessed with Percy because he was in love with Percy and use it as ship fuel but the real concrete subtext is that he only saw Percy as an equal because they were both intended as white men.This is really the only logical explanation as really,the guy you knew for not even three months over your years long companions??????Who just so 'happen' to be girls.Luke was NOT slick!!

The Titan's Army is a military by definition.It's an army,the members are soldiers,they were created for the The Second Titan War.A war Luke started over personal trauma for vengeance and openly stated he dosen't care if he hurts anyone(see his Good Kid Reprise)for his own goals and functions on a cryptofash ideal('destroying society to built it from the ground up' and see his Good Reprise again but the last three lyrics specifically).Luke believes himself superior to everyone because he 'sees the truth' but perpetuates the cycle of abuse with it and does nothing to fix society,help the people he's the 'Champion' for or even to depower the high authority.He kisses up to an EVEN HIGHER and also WORSE authority to get power for HIMSELF!He wants to be a gods stand-in,not their opposite and that's why he treated everyone like shit.His speeches?That was propaganda on his part,not radicalization.'Western civilization is a disase'says the cishet physically abled blue eyed blonde white man who's constantly described as traditionally attractive after he groomed a HUGE chunk of troubled kids i.e minority kids who get abused for it no matter how hard they try to be good,because THAT'S what Percy meant when he said he was a troubled kid in The Lightning Thief-it's an insult and he was reclaiming it as a lower class audhd survivor of multiple kinds of abuse.He truly believed he was 'not like other half-bloods' and that everything he did was a means to an end when he meant to end it all for everyone,not be a saviour

As a biracial afrolatina who has multiple neurodivergent disorders including autism and with bpd and ptsd,is transgender and gendernonforming and was raised by the VERY white side of his family,i'm genuinely impressed with how good of commentary Luke works as on white supremacy and accompanying bigotries-Yes,misogyny like i said but also ableism/eugenics with his hurtful words directed at Tyson who's implied to have Down Syndrome and if memory serves i'm pretty he took a dig at Grover's crutches and possibly even Hephaestus' own physical disability and i'm not exactly sure if i'd say that includes queerphobia on his part but he is a VIOLENTLY cisheterosexual character in his actions so the subtext is pretty obviously there.As discussed by tons of other lgbt Pjo bloggers,Silena and Clarisse are an Achilles and Patroclus parallel and Thalia fits the bill for MANY transfem and alt lesbians norms and a more niche reading is Percy as an accidental transfem narrative that actually holds a lot of water with the most blatant one being her proving to Zoe she's not a normal man at all,which is a constant trait of hers but it was made it a plot point in The Titan's Curse and Annabeth as a comphet butch lesbian thanks to how gay her and Clarisse,Piper and Reyna interact with eachother and while i don't ship Percabeth,transfem Percy and lesbian Annabeth are complimentary in evidence for obvious reasons(even if YOU don't ship Percabeth either!)

Luke Castellan is real.Luke CastellanS are real.The word for them is 'colonizers'.I love how he's written and potrays the ugly truth of whiteness as an intentionally perpetuated structure,not 'the natural order',and i hate how Rick in his own cishet physically abled white maleness couldn't stop being a pussy and let Percy be the anarchist revolutionary to his full potential he deserved to be.Not surprised considering this is the same who disrespects greek culture so hard and has from the start in addition to the very long list of everything else but i'm allowed to still be dissapointed and wish Pjo had been thought up by an autistic black person since that's what Percy is realistically supposed to be so write what you know principal would've helped big time.Luke Castellan is sympathic and relatable if he's the only kind of person you think deserves sympathy and chances but not anyone else out of your own sheltered experiences

[halliescomut]

Love Sea Ep 6 Post-watch Thoughts

- Overall, I think this was a really good episode. There was a lot that happened. Story was moving super quickly but it was good. It was entertaining. I liked it. I might get somewhat confused on actual timeline chain of events, but it's fine.

- We do kind of pick up where we left off where they're shopping in the mall for new clothes for Mut, and we see a little bit more of compromise happening between the two of them.

- I like the storyline that revolves around Mut calling P'Vi to ask about Prin and us learning more about both who print is, but also through the course of showing those conversations we learn more about who Mut is, which is the more important part. I think us as the viewer who are seeing all sides of this would forgive Mut for prying into Rak's history, but I think it's important that Mut recognizes that it's important for Rak to be able to tell his own story.

- Short intermission to apologize for the misinformation from my episode 5 post. Prin is Rak's cousin, their mothers are sisters. I wasn't paying attention to the actual words being spoken, and I'm pretty sure she just called Rak 'Hia', which in Thai is translated to mean older brother but is really a title/ term for older males, generally family members, though not always. It is also important to note that in this case she's using it almost sarcastically and so it doesn't actually indicate the level of affection that its use in everyday Thai life would indicate. I will comeback and link a language post about the term hia and other common Thai words here.... eventually.

- I was kind of surprised to learn that Rock's father is straight up just a paid man, a gigolo. I thought they were using the concept more as a euphemism and that he was more along the lines of like a gold digger. That's not to say there's anything wrong with that line of work, but it's very clear through his behavior that he was using it to manipulate Rak's mother as well as probably multiple other women. I'm not necessarily surprised to find out that there was an aspect of physical abuse, to go with the emotional that was happening. I do have an appreciation for how it was presented. And when I mean by that is while we did see like a flashback Mame didn't have a child actor act out that abuse. We are learning now that having young children even talented actors who are very young act out those kinds of situations is detrimental to them even if they're not necessarily aware of it. So the small snippet we got was fairly vague and while we do see the younger version of Rak crying with the wound, he's not having to act out the actual act of abuse and I think that's a good thing.

- I was excited when we got the preview last week that we were going to see and meet Kom directly, and we do get to hear Connor but we don't get to meet him and I'm not sure if we will or not but I would like to. One thing I appreciated specifically about the conversation between Kom and Mut is that you can tell Kom doesn't think Mut is stupid, but he also knows him well enough to know how soft-hearted he is and you can tell. He's worried that this is a case of him kind of picking up strays in a way. He's concerned that Mut doesn't see the slippery slope, and wants to protect him.

- I think the jealousy, storyline or story beats more accurately are interesting because we saw references to jealousy in the last episode, but here it's much more direct. Why? I think they're interesting is kind of how they end up being handled. Rak doesn't want to admit to himself that he's jealous because he knows that's basically a confirmation that he truly likes Mut and that it's more than just the agreement and it's more than just sex, so he wants to pretend that he's not jealous at all and so he kind of swings in like the other direction of trying to be nonchalant, which doesn't truly succeed. Mut Is kind of toning down his jealousy or attempting to kind of because he doesn't want to come on too strong. He's already been very direct about his feelings for Rak, but he's still holding back a lot of the time because he doesn't want to push too hard too quickly. It makes the scene of them getting into bed and Rak cuddling against Mut more amusing but also endearing. In the end they're both getting what they want, but neither wants to truly admit it. (Also Rak's grumpy nonverbal direction to Mut was just flat out adorable)

- Bringing the niece into things was fun. The actress is very adorable. I do think we're playing a little bit too much into the precociousness trope and the niece being treated a little bit too much too much like an adult. And this is not necessarily horrible, but it's an easy pitfall for a lot of storytellers. I recognize that every kid is different, there are plenty of kids who get talked to and treated like adults, but just because a child is very smart and can understand more mature subject matters, even vague ones, it's on the adults to maintain the appropriate level of maturity. So basically just because she can understand what their arrangement is, I don't think Mut or Rak should have been as blunt about it as they were, and I also feel like they encourage that behavior rather than shutting it down, which I think would have been the more appropriate tactic.

- In relation to that, I did like how Mut more offered his services in terms of picking up the niece (whose name I've forgotten, sorry) rather than just asserting that he would do it. Both Mut and Rak have histories with unstable homes, so they do want to be decision makers, have control, but Mut recognizes that putting the choice in front of Rak and letting him decide is important to building the trust between them. You can also see in the acting in this scene, the way. Fort and Peat look at each other and portray the characters, that Rak is recognizing that Mut has an awareness of the seriousness of the situation and how much Rak's family means to him. Rak understands that Mut is willing to do the task, but also that he's committed to making sure the niece is safe because she matters to Rak, and by proxy matters to him.

-I'm kind of done with P'Vi as a love interest for Mook at this point because of the lying storyline. Besides being unnecessary, because Vi could just confess to Mook her feelings, those types of lies sit wrong with me because I'm from a superstitious family. You're setting yourself up for the universe to make your lie a truth. But I truly think nothing would be lost if Vi had simply come to Mook and explained that she's lonely and that she wants company, even if she's too scared to confess her true feelings. That's an emotion and a feeling that's pretty much universal and that Mook would be able to sympathize with and I think would be more willing to be company to Vi because she's being honest.

-We did get a short little spicy bit towards the end of the episode, which was kind of nice after them being basically cockblocked the whole ep. It was short, so there's not a lot to read from it, but there was a level of playfulness, especially on Rak's part that we haven't really seen before, and I think it bodes well.

-Sidenote question for ppl who read the Love Sea or Love Sand novels- we're given the implication that Connor and Tongrak might have had a sexual relationship in the past. And I say implication because what Conner says as far as the subtitles is, "who do you think hugged him at night when he had writer's block??" Which given what we know about Rak's writing process, would lead you to believe that he's not talking about them just cuddling in bed. So is there, in the novel, clear confirmation that they were in fact in a sort of friends with benefits situation before Conner met Kom? I'm just curious because this isn't a subject that Mame has delved into before, at least not in her shows, so I'm curious.

As far as the preview for next episode, I am excited to see Boss and Noeul in what appears to be a weird twist of them playing themselves in a way, but I think it's fun. Another visit from Prin and I'm assuming a clearer idea of whatever it is she's after.

I think that's all for now. As I stated at the top I thought this was a really good episode. I thought it was excellently paced, to be honest, which is something that Mame struggles with sometimes. I think as far as seasonal pacing, we're doing pretty well as far as things being fairly reasonable and realistic in terms of the level of emotional intimacy. The lack of clarity in the timing made it feel like Mut and Rak were becoming too comfortable emotionally too quickly, especially in episodes 2 & 3, so it's good to see things a bit more even this last couple episodes.

[whalehouse1]

@thefaeriefeatherdark Sorry, I just haven't had either the time nor the energy to write up a response to your thoughts on the AU and I apologize because this is basically stream of consciousness and not edited, but a few things about my 3 Superboys AU, which thanks to Jon is technically 5 but another time.

Okay, the Superboy AU has actually gotten worse thanks to Leah Williamson (long story, but now we have two Jons). But to answer your questions as best I can given my limited Super family knowlege. Connor is a Cadmus creation, he is straight up the series origins. Made by Cadmus with Lex's funding with Lex's and Clark's DNA. The main difference is he is the first attempt at being cloned and Cadmus lies and tells Lex the clone had deteriorated once he was out of his clone tube. If you want to add Contessa to this, you could have her doing this to spite Lex. I know nothing about her besides what you said in your post, but I'm sure she has good reasons to be spiteful to Lex. And you know to try to keep and groom a Superboy on her own.

As for Lena Thorul, I know nothing about her, but since I am a fan of random characters from Kara's original series (I want that trade if it will ever exist), I don't see any issue with her being involved. My only issue with Kara in your idea, is I hc her around the ages of the original Teen Titans from the comics. At most a year younger, only because I think it's funny that Dick will call her an old hag even though he's physically older, but she's older than even Clark by a decent amount.

I mean all three are Clark and Lex clones, so they will look alike, but as Connor and Kon do have other's DNA mixed in with them (Maik is the only 100% just those two's DNA), they're can be variation. I think Connor looks distinct enough, it could have just been the cartoon style, but he seems more muscular and taller. He's more of a football player, while Kon is more Baseball player in terms of general build (it's a very bad description, but the best way I can explain it without drawing it, sorry). And Maik is 12, he's baby shaped. But he's basically built thicker than Jon, but not really by much since again, babies. Connor doesn't have the earring like the other two do, but I think Maik in terms of appearance does get mistook as Kon's younger brother since they look a lot alike. Maik has much better fashion sense though, cause is it Kon if he is dressed well? Maik has the gray eyes from the movie cause they're very striking compared to everyone else's bright blue ones. I also just like grey eyes and there's not a lot of of them in comics. So Kon and Maik will look alike and will argue about who stole whose look, but it comes down to just their age and clothing. I think Maik will end up looking a bit more different when he gets older, but I think those two will resemble each other the most with the eyes and fashion being their difference sadly. As for their outfits, don't they all need those super awesome jackets? Connor sadly gets his black shirt and pants, it's boring, but you know which Super it is when you see this. I did liker Kon's outfit in Kelly's run and YJ98, but Maik's would start out as the same as in the movie, but I think he would keep a more subdued coloration in his outfit. I also think as he gets older, he would make his costume more punk-rock than just spiked shoulders. I'm not sure how exactly, but I like him having a music industry plant type of idea behind his creation and so I want to incorporate music styles into his older costume if that makes sense.

Well, we have how many Flashes now? It should be fine, right (laughing in DC's inability to give codenames to established heroes for mantle passing)? They would get new codenames, but I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Also their names would have to use some of their personality and stories (Nightwing coming from Clark's story, Troia coming from Donna's stay on the Greek Moon planet thingy, Tempest coming from his water magic, etc.). So that would take a bit to get a good codename for them. But them and both Jons would evolve into having their own codename. Kara at last could go for Superwoman (since as far as I know there isn't one running around (watch me be wrong and there's like 5).

Oh, I completely forgot about Matrix. I want to say since the goal of this AU is to give Ma and Pa Kent the biggest amount of grandchildren, I want to at first instinct say yes, but from what I remember about that, it's still just Kara just merged with another. Also, I just didn't enjoy the bits I've seen of it. But since I haven't read the whole story, I'm not going to say definitively no, but that was just a weird bit of Supergirl's history to me, but not enough for me to just, "yay, no" it. If you want those, ask me about Nightwing XD.

As for the "it's gotten more complicated" it might actually be more fun for you, since you like the paternity bit more, but again I haven't had a chance to read Kon's solo yet (I've been reading from the beginning and I haven't made it to Superman comics yet and until the 90's, there's not really any writer who I'm just going to skip (I can't with Dixon anymore. He can write good plots, but he's such an awful garbage person and it bleeds through too much for me. And actually between him and Fitzmartin, I almost started to hate Tim, but one of his fans actually helped me with that), so I still have awhile and time is a dick. But to the actual point, Connor is the first actual clone, but he isn't "alive" to the world as Contessa is keeping him a secret from Lex and so Lex decides to cut his losses and tries again and that's how we get Kon, but Kon on top of Lex and Luthor's DNA also has Westfield's DNA in the mix. So he'sd the first clone the world gets to know. As for where Contessa and Cadmus is storing Connor, I'm not 100%, since I really, really hated the clone tube, so they probably have a facility underground that they "trained" him in so that he would be perfect for their nefarious schemes. He 100% will keep Wolf, I don't know if it would be from an Outsiders' mission or a one off mission with the Titans, but he's getting Wolf. And I'm fine with him on the farm, the Supers can come and go from there and since it's centrally located, it's not a bad place for him to join up with others. He doesn't have flight, but he's fast and can jump. Also he can get the stickers from Lex again and one of the heroes could probably figure out a way to replicate them without the addiction issue, there's enough scientist to figure it out. I know absolutely nothing about Indigo, but as long as she isn't going to take him to the Legion of Superheroes I'm fine with it (still bitter about that arc with Kara in the show, it just never sat right with me). But I do like your idea of him staying at the Outsiders HQ until Clark invites him to the farm. I think Connor has more of a relationship with the Kents than Clark, because Clark just doesn't know him and after Kon doesn't know how to deal with this new, but older clone. And he has to deal with raising Jon, so he can't just drop everything to help raise this kid he never knew existed. I think it makes him more understandable than what YJ did with him where he just came off as a prick. The powers are right, the heat vision and cold breath aren't as strong as Clark or Kara's, but that can be enhanced with the shields and that's ofc where the flight comes in as well. I do think he has the most strength out of the three in terms of raw physical power. Kon's TTK though obviously wins in terms of actual strength.

Now, because I just want to make things over complicated for no reason, I get you like cybernatics, but as I'm not a big sci-fi fan, when Maik was being cloned, in an attempt to see if they could remove the kryptonite weakness, they had some red kyrptonite in the room where they were cloning him. He still has the weakness, but instead it warped his Kryptonian abilities to an extent. So for example, he has heat breath and frost vision. His superstrength isn't as strong as the others, but (thanks to your boiling water Kara thing), I think he has the strongest durability out of the Supers. This wasn't meant to contradict you, I just think it's funny Kara doesn't want to get him hurt, but if he's not around kryptonite, the kid could get punched by every other Super at full strength and he'd barely feel it. He's still strong and could punch a hole through a solid steel building without a problem, but he's losing the arm wrestling contests. He is also the one Lex had the most see-over on though so he is the smartest since he was basically being taught by Lex approved tutors and that. He also since he actually is the one clone that "got to be a kid" and if the aging thing was retconned, I'm fine with it, he started out as an actual kid, so he and Jon actually are one year apart (Jon's a year older, kid Jon, not teen Jon, as I said it got complicated, but another day), and he would have absorbed some of Lex's "morals", so he could have a good character arc of growing out of that greed inspired mindset and learning to see humans as humans. I do think the Danvers would be a great set for this. The Kents would be too, and they 100% get to help with their grandson, but the Danvers had Kara, who was a teen when they adopted her, with (depending on the timeline) good or bad Kryptonian ideaolgies and previous connotations on Earth and its inhabitants. So they have more experience with that than the Kents. Also, since he and Jon are essentially the same age and Maik starting as an antagonist, that would be a good start for them since it would give a chance of kids figuring out things and influencing each other and given what Jon has been through, it's not like he's 100% rainbows, unicorns and sunshine. He's been through the ringer, possibly more than any other Super, 3 years under Ultraman torture will do that to a person. More so, being left for dead and having to watch that person living your life. But yes, as Kon would have YJ and Connor would be best (for me personally) for the Outsiders with helping out the Titans and YJ at times, Maik would fit in perfectly with the amount of child heroes that exist right now. He might feel redundant if he joined up with Damian and Jon and the people I have on their youth team I have, but what's the harm in having two supers? But even excluding that fact, there's a large amount to make a team out of. And heck, he could even start on my Damian team, butt heads with him (not hard to do) and take a few with him to make his own team and get some of the others Damian couldn't recruit. Even more fun if it splits up the West twins so Wally and Linda have to listen to who has the better team at dinner at least twice a week. And for villains, they would have to fit a theme for him to grow, so if I were to write stories for him, I would want to figure out a good balance for that. I would have to think of a few examples, but someone targeting him for being Lex's son, clone, "hero", "weapon" wouldn't be bad, someone who isn't able to control their actions for one reason or another, I think an evil Toyman would be good to as well, a villain who wants the spotlight (like Punchline, but not as annoying, sorry I just don't like her), he'd be very good for a social media type of villain or a eugenics villain. There's potential for others, but for villains, I think the moral theme for the story should come before their gimmick for a good story (can you tell I'm a batbrat?).

As for the DNA samples, I think it'd be a cute story that Maik and Jon are wanting to be the babies (the twins come in after this so it's all pointless), and also just worried that since Cadmus and Lex both have had access to controlling all three clones, with each one being a stronger control (Maik even having a microchip just in case that Kara made inert whether through Kandor or heat vision, doesn't matter, but one of those), teaming up and Jon using some lockpicking skills he get from Damian and Maik knowing the layout of the building, breaking and entering and destroying the DNA samples Lex has and scanning the building for anything he could possibly use for more DNA and eradicating it. It doesn't even have to be a stressful comic, just a fun little one of them having fun destroying untold and unsolvable property damage to Lex Corp. Everyone wins. And I'll give you this for the cybernetics and Lex being more involved with him, we can give him electric touch. So he could be a human taser or stronger. Lightning has been shown able to incapacitate the Supers, so it wouldn't be a bad thing for Lex to put into the one he has the most control over, until he defects. But now relooking at the timeline you gave me, I don't know if Contessa could have been around for all three cloning attempts. If so, Maik could be the one she doesn't lie about to Lex, but if she couldn't have been in charge for Connor, the pettiness isn't needed. But I do like them lying to Lex that Connor was a failure, so when he finds out he's still alive and functioning, he tries to be a "good" dad with the stickers and to give him resources that Connor knows better than to accept after the incident with the stickers.

[chaithetics]

❌ + ✅?

Thank you Nonnie!Appreciate you! Such great, interesting questions that I had to really think about my answers!

❌= I really struggled to think of tropes I won't write, I don't like writing angsty (other than grief-adjacenty ones lol) and jealousy pieces, but I will write them, they're just not as enjoyable to me and take a lot longer and more out of me if that makes sense? Other than that the only other ones I can think of are things like dub-con and toxic/unhealthy dynamics.

✅= I really had to think of this one! Such a great question! Funnily enough though I did notice something a couple of days ago that relates to this! I was reading some of the fics I've posted which I basically never do as I hate reading my pieces and the more I do it the more I end up not liking the fics (I read one of my Stewy fics a couple of days after posting and have struggled every day since not to delete it). But I noticed almost a reference/callback between Don't Let Me Go and Covert Conversations THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNINTENTIONAL. In Don't Let Me Go (which is probably my favourite one, I only want the best things for the lovely nonnie that sent that request in) when reader is breaking down in the church she talks about drinking wine to calm her nerves and that there's bound to be wine around as it's a Catholic church and Connor essentially is like "I don't think you can do that/I don't think there's wine here for you to drink." and he's stating this to her in such a simple but empathetic way. Then in Covert Conversations, she curses in the Church and Connor understands why she's saying it and validates her feelings but essentially says "I don't think you can say that in here." It's such a weird little connection but I quite like it, it's canon that Connor's very much a father-figure older brother and has such a soft spot for his younger siblings and I think they often come across in such simple yet deeply empathetic and validating interactions physically and verbally. So I feel like it does that and there's something about it happening with that in mind in very similar scenarios, the empathy, validation, element of emotional distress. I love writing those characters and I want it to feel as natural and realistic to them as possible and there's just something about a loving older sibling. Gosh that turned into a rant! Sorry Nonnie!

More generally, I think interesting family dynamics and a bit of an element of grief often appear. Interesting family dynamics makes sense with Succession but it's definitely there in other fics I've done like the Tommy Miller series (to be finished, I am so sorry for those delays, please forgive me besties) and it was something I will explore in the Dieter Bravo series (when I get back to that, again, sorry besties). But as a child of trauma I relate to it a lot and it's something I ironically really like writing and focusing on in my Succession fics.

If you any others have noticed any themes/connections, I'd love to know. I'm genuinely interested in that haha! I hope this provided something interesting to read! Thank you for sending this ask in and I'd love to discuss this more and hear any of your thoughts/questions 💗

[rubyvhs]

part nine, in a good way [jensen ackles]

series masterlist | main masterlist

nine,

C'mon I know this. Explain S phase. I know this. DNA replication. I know what he's talking about but all I can think of is yesterday. All I can think of is Jensen driving me home, kissing me, texting me after.

Getting me lunch, clothes, paying for our drinks... everything he did yesterday. I'm wearing his jacket even today because God that cologne can kill.

But that's not the point. The point is... S phase? What's S phase? Right, DNA replication. So... hydrogen bonds break then... 

But his hand on my neck yesterday, pulling me closer while we kissed. My first kiss ever. With Jensen Ross Ackles. Then him saying he wants to do it again later. What's later? He said Sunday but it's his busiest filming day, maybe it's for drinks again? I wouldn't mind, but I'd rather we go eat.

"Pens down!" My eyes widen and I place my blue ink pen down into the table, hearing it clatter and my whole future crashes with it. I haven't finished quarter of this paper. I thought the exam was two hours?

"Laila," the TA ‘tsks’, Connor, as he looks down at my paper, "you didn't finish this question. It's easy, you should know it."

"I do, just don't have time." He looks around, seeing most of the students getting up and handing their paper to the professor at the end of the class. He motions to me to quickly write it down and I don't think I've ever written so fast in my life.

I manage to finish the six mark question just in time for him to take my paper and hand it to the professor without much suspicion. I pack up and while I'm walking out he winks at me. 

Choosing to ignore the shit exam, I call Gen so we could go out for anything really. Usually set would be my go-to but since yesterday with Jensen there's something holding me back from casually walking into set, maybe afraid that our dynamic would change. I haven't been there since we talked.

I change my mind half-way through writing the message to Gen. I don’t want to let what we did yesterday affect me this much. He's probably working normally, focusing on his fucking job, so why can't I focus on my future? This is so stupid, I don't do this. I don't let romantic feelings get in between me and my grades. Not since I failed a whole year because of a boy back in middle school, not happening again, ever.

I decide to do what I usually do on Fridays, study on set with Jared. I won't change my routine.

+

"Hey, Lils." Rachel calls out and immediately she hugs me. "We haven't seen you in forever."

"Two days, Rach." I let out a laugh as we let each other go.

"Two days too many. C'mon, we're getting lunch. Or they're making lunch— either way!" We walk over to crafts where lots of tables are set and most of the cast is sitting in groups. She drags me over to the table with Gen, Jared, Misha and Alex.

"Hey, guys." And for the first time in the history of ever, my seat is between Jensen and Rachel. And I actually sit in it. "How's filming?"

Misha smiles at me— that's the most noticeable response to my action, anyways— but everyone else just answers my question then keep talking about scenes and plans for the weekend. 

Then, "Lils, how was your exam?" Gen's question makes me freeze for many reasons. One, it reminds everyone how much younger I am than them, something I like not bringing up as much as physically possible. Second, it puts me under the spotlight and I can not lie for the life of me.

So I hum and nod, hoping that's an acceptable answer for the whole table (who probably don’t care that much anyways). And thankfully they shrug it off and keep talking. 

Two seconds into random conversation Jensen scoots his chair closer to mine, whispering into my hair, "How'd you do today?"   

Smiling, I face him to look as honest as I can, "It was fine. Just didn't have enough time to finish it." He seems genuinely concerned as he puts a hand on the back of my chair. 

"Yeah? You think you'll do well? 'Sides, you said this is a mock, when's the final?" I'm not actually sure when I said it was a mock but the fact that he remembers is giving me butterflies in places that shouldn’t have so much feelings in them. My heartbrainlungs.

"Hopefully I'll pass. But yeah, just a mock. Final's in two weeks." I keep my voice low so as to not disturb the rest of the group, but Gen is already giving me a look and I can feel Rachel's eyes burning into my side. 

"Laila, you sure you're on for Sunday?" Damn, this again? "And don't go defensive on me—" 

"I know, Jensen. I'm not. Yeah, Sunday's good," and for extra measures, "and today had nothing to do with our date yesterday."

"Date, huh?" The corner of his lips pull upwards as he leans back in his chair and I roll my eyes. I go to shove his shoulder, like I would with Jared or maybe even Misha, but quickly decide against it and look down at my bag instead with a small laugh. 

Now that grabs the entire table's attention. Before I can explain anything— thank the Lord— a PA runs up to us, calling on Jared, Jensen, Misha and Alex. 

The four men leave and that allows my two girls to huddle up next to me, screaming for an explanation. God, this feels like high school all over again.

"Nothing, we're just friends now. Who went on one date," I flinch back a little before adding, "and have another one planned for Sunday." They both explode into a fit of giggles and now I really feel like it's high school.

"You're joking! You have a date with Jensen, again?" Rach's question is both due to curiosity and... concern?

"Yeah. So what?"

"So... Lils, we talked about this. You told me I'm right." She says exasperatedly, and I can see it in her eyes that she's as concerned as an older sister would be, but still.

"Yeah, so what—"

Gen clears her throat. "Right about what?"

"Jensen's older than me."

"Well, no shit."

"See?" Rach points at the brunette, "Genny agrees."

"That what? That they're a bad idea? No way! Jensen and Laila could be good for each other, the age thing is just a little bump in the road. They need to talk about it ‘s all." I have to hold in a laugh at how ridiculous her suggestion is. Me? And Jensen? Communicating? Why? Have I lost my head?

"Guys, we don't even know if me and him are, like, getting serious, it's just a tiny date." Of course, I'm only saying what I think Jensen wants. I've never been on a date, never had a boyfriend, never kissed or had my first time. Jensen is my first everything if he decides he wants me for the long haul— but he's had all that. And more. He has kids. 

I can't think about this. If I do, I'll drop everything and block Jensen's number and maybe even overreact by killing myself. 

Great. Sunday is going to be great.

part ten

i want to change the oc to x reader when I’m done with the whole thing, what do you guys think? tags: @kr804573 @n-o-p-e-never

[cheekypriest]

If someone had told James that soon be visited by a detective and the pair of them would walk away with each others' phone numbers for external reasons outside an investigation, maybe he wouldn't be completely shocked by it, but it certainly wouldn't have been one of his first guesses either. Though given the sort of person he was, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility, strange and amusing things happened to the priest more often than he cared to admit, particularly within certain circles. Not all of his peers looked so kindly upon his unorthodox manner, even if it did garner results. James was likely just as well known for his skills as he was for his mouth and the sheer amount of wit that seemed to relentlessly pour out of it.

For a moment, the thought of demons and the Devil were elsewhere, tucked away for another time. He wouldn't be so naive to imagine that the detective would have forgotten all about it, there was no such luck, it would wriggle its way back to the forefront of the man's mind soon enough and thought would swallow him whole all over again. But what was there? He'd been offered some semblance of an answer, the teasings of one without going neck deep and dismissed them in his own way. So, he'd have to find other ways to rationalise it, just as everyone did when they didn't know or couldn't accept the seemingly impossible.

Not that he blamed him, of course, the Brit had been in his shoes himself, a nonbeliever, the circumstances were very different but it was all the same at the end of the day. One moment it seemed like fantastical nonsense, then the next, it felt like being thrown into a horror movie that refused to come to a final close. There really was no halfway, you were either fully in on it or not at all.

So far there were many layers to the whole interaction, a genuine care for the man, genuine interest, but also that need to be there if something did go wrong and a strange middle-aged priest was needed. As seemingly unlikely as it might seem on the face of it, it wouldn't be the first time that someone turned to him to make sense of what they couldn't wrap their heads around -- - on varying levels.

"Off and on, really. But I'm an old man, put my head down for a few seconds and I'm sleeping like a baby." That was just another outright lie, one that the Northerner had a feeling Connor would see from a mile away. It wasn't much of an attempt, he wasn't deliberately trying to cover it up but it just came out easier than groaning on about how off his body clock was more often than not which certainly hadn't gotten easier the older he got. He'd even reached the state where he sometimes needed a quick nap in the afternoon, it wasn't too often but enough to make him pause for a moment and realise that he wasn't getting younger. Not that he could really forget every time looked in the mirror at that silvery-haired man looking back at him.

He could've sworn he had a full head of black hair just a few years ago. "Don't get old... that's all I'll say." Though he couldn't quite stop himself from smirking anyway. It didn't actually bother him too much, his main worries were his mobility going forward, the necessity of running or even getting into a physical altercation did come up more than most would imagine when looking at him in his daily attire. He still exercised every day, each morning greeted by push-ups and most evenings with the regular run in an old hoody and sweatpants. He wasn't unfit, not even in the slightest, but he couldn't ignore that little extra bit of effort it sometimes took to get off a particularly comfortable sofa if he'd been sat there for a while.

What was he even playing at? Flirting away with a handsome young man who had his whole life ahead of him, the guy could have whoever he wanted, surely had people falling over themselves just to talk to him let alone spend any real time with him. What could he possibly see in the old cheeky priest?

Yet there it was again, that eagerness to meet that almost surprised James with its sincerity. He'd even stay if he wanted to, the Brit could close the door, pretend nobody was home and sneak off with the detective to dig further into that fascinating head of his. But given his work, it was probably best they have a little time to themselves, get things in order. Most of all, the Englishman had to decide his next move. "Christ, if you look any more presentable you'll make me look like some haggard old codger..." Though he paused for a moment, pointing at the other with his index finger. "And don't go saying that's how I already look. My pride's about all I've got left in this world." Another of his jokes, although maybe it was obvious by now that James didn't exactly hold himself in high regard. Not because he didn't think he deserved it, he didn't particularly care, he didn't do his work for acknowledgement or praise, he just wanted to help people and it was as simple as that.

"But... I like the sound of that. How about we meet at my place? Just a few buildings down. Quaint little house that I'm squatting in until the usual bloke comes back from his holidays." Yet another lie to add to the pile, though that was likely somewhat apparent as well. He'd leave it up in the air as to whether or not he was trying to be serious or not. "Keep an eye out for the holy mailbox... you'll know what I mean when you see it. Cute, if not a touch gaudy for my taste, but still... no accounting for taste." He teased thinking about the little dove and a cross that would definitely give it away and the fact that James wasn't exactly accustomed to there being any literal signs that someone of his constitution lived in the vicinity. Aside from his attire, he preferred a more -- - casual approach.

"If you do decide to come back to mine for a couple glasses of wine, suppose I'll have to break out the good stuff, won't I?" He couldn't even pretend to be disappointed at that point, rather enjoying the thought of sharing a decent bottle for once, especially with such good company. "Oh, I don't know about talking... I'm a shy soul, you know." A smirk left him as he barely managed to hold back an outright laugh, suddenly pushing himself to his feet yet never took his eyes off Connor. "Well, Detective Connor Arkeit..." He announced with one of his sly looks settling into his face, offering the man an open palm. "It's been a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to really getting to know you." His smile widened to one side. "Don't worry, mate, I'll go easy on you."

There was something to be said for how effortlessly the priest had compromised Connor's defenses, leaving at least a part of him vulnerable to those ocean eyes & cheeky smile. The way James had stared him down with that flirtatiously bemused expression, leaned delicately into the meager space which separated them & called him a sinner had him feeling some type of way. Though the detective maintained the facade of the composed yet intensely interested bystander, that stare made his heart skip a beat. This sudden unexpected elation remained practically invisible on the surface, the youth ever conscious of how he was perceived, what of his inner thoughts might be revealed should he lose that little bit of control. Yet if one looked, it was obvious that his efforts were, at least partially, in vain. Dark eyes stared as pupils pitted, minutely widening a second later. Eyes that glanced towards those smirking lips, returned to meet watchful blue. A breath was drawn, shallow adams apple bobbing as the detective swallowed reflexively.

Connor would have been lying if he claimed that he didn't like the sound of that mild accusation coming from James' mouth. He expected there were a great many things that would hold a certain kind of essence to them which would be absent if another uttered them in his direction. It was a little surprising, not only that another person could so easily match him beat for beat, but could best him in this way. Connor didn't easily fluster. If the returned snark & ​​​​playful wit which had been offered up like sarcasm was his second language hadn't been a clue as to his mental fortitude, the absolute calm rationalism in which he responded to suggestions of supernatural evil were proof of a strength beyond his years. The detective was a bold creature, relentless when he decided upon something he wanted. Apparently, the priest was just as bold. That was well appreciated, admittedly refreshing. As he was so entirely incumbent towards his entire life & every aspect therein, it was nice to have someone else take control, just for a little while.

Silently, the detective mused over just how in control James fancied himself being. The mention of a suggested openness to experience in being restrained had his mind delving into less than pure subjects. He wondered if the priest would be surprised if he knew that the detective was well educated in the art of picking cuffs. The idea had him laughing lightly. James teased about the lack of comfort, & immediately he thought of the devout participating in self-flagellation as a means of penance through humiliation. Pointedly, he kept that to himself, as it felt just a little over the line. For the time being, that was. He made a note to ask the older man sometime if he enjoyed little acts of humiliation in the bedroom.

One could only speculate as to whether or not he was being facetious or sincere. After all, they didn't know each other all that well, having just met barely an hour before. As comfortable as the priest made Connor in his presence, the detective was still feeling him out, trying to determine their compatibility. He liked him, & the religious ideation wasn't at all a turn off, which was rather perplexing for the detective who was so firmly rooted in science-based reality. Maybe it was the casual nature of it all. James clearly took to his job with a level of undeniable professionalism, but he wasn't entirely serious about it. It was refreshing as it was endearing. It only managed to intrigue the younger man more, made him want to look deeper, to find the man beneath the wit & handsome looks.

He hoped the priest felt the same about him when all was said & done.

“I take it that you have troubles adjusting to a schedule,” he quipped, a softly cheeky smile slowly returning to his lips. It made a kind of sense, if James worked for the Vatican. He expected that the job required a fair bit of travel, & while Connor wasn't exactly a well-traveled kid himself, he imagined that jetlag was a hard thing to get over when one had to adapt to new time zones so frequently. They would likely get along in that sense. The detective as a bit of a night owl, as the nature of his own job was very much a 24/7 affair.

Speaking of which. “I should probably get going…” He said this, though he made no move to ease himself from his borrowed chair & stand, perfectly happy to stay as long as it was socially reasonable. Even so, he sought to explain himself. “Technically, I get off at five. It just depends on what cases come our way.” Meaning the DPD's, of course. While he might have had a set time to clock out & leave the office, there had been many a late evening spent or a phone call coming in at some ungodly hour that had the semi-insomniatic boy rolling out of bed & pulling up to a homicide scene in desperate need of coffee. If luck were at all on his side that day, things would go smoothly & he would be free to pursue this new venture with a handsome foreigner in peace. Though there was another consideration to be made; as it was, his only obligation was to return to the station to update his report. A very minor update that would have little bearing on the case. “I could also end my day right now. Though, I have a report to finish…” He was tempted to hang around, maybe push his luck.

No, he needed to go. Give them both a little space, a little time to prepare. Connor was certain that the priest had better things to do than spend all afternoon flirting with a pretentious cop giving him wanting stares. The same cop who should have given himself a little more time to mentally prepare, try to separate this odd case from the man before him as best he could.

Finally, he sat forward again, & presented a suggestion. “I've got a better plan; I'll go finish up at the office, & I'll call when I've made myself a little more presentable.” As if he could be any more immaculate. Connor looked as well put together as they came, not a hair out of place. But he wanted to have a chance to change out of his work clothes & fully disconnect. Take a shower. There was a new cologne that he'd recently bought that he wanted to try. “I could pick you up, if you want. Or meet you there. Or here.” The thought of a brisk walk together during the early evening brought a coy smile to his lips. “This might be my home, but that makes you a guest. So, I'd like to try your favorite place. Or anywhere you choose.” Connor wasn't really a huge fan of burgers & fries. He supposed that made him a bad American, though one couldn't blame him, as he'd grown up so close to the border with Canada. That, & his upbringing had been something of a posh one. Nevertheless, he was endlessly adventurous.

& after that… “I wouldn't mind staying for a glass of wine.” The last time the detective had spent an evening enjoying wine & conversation, it was at his best friend's fathers estate. This certainly wasn't that. This was, hopefully, something more. “I'd stick around & listen to you as long as you're willing to talk.”

[wrightiverse]

Hello and this is me annotating/doing director's commentary for the last chapter of Crowd as a victory lap. There's no indulgence like self-indulgence.

“I’ll just make my hot young boyfriend help me,” Robin teases. “When I’m eighty, you’ll only be sixty-nine.”

I love to take a thing from the beginning of a story/scene and revisit it at the end. In this case, 'hot young boyfriend' is a light callback to 'sexy-ass, significantly younger boyfriend' back at the beginning when Robin was sad about the empty nest situation. This is, I think, the first time we specify their exact age gap. It is also the exact age gap I have with my own partner, because I’m very lazy like that. (None of this was written with any reference to what's gone on in the podcast over the last year or so, which is good because it sounds like the whole aging thing for Glenn could have gotten really confusing. Wrightiverse Glenn came back right after Ravenloft, none of that other stuff happened to him. It's all good. Canon is optional.) * * * * *

It’s not like the men in his family have much luck in that area, anyway; Glenn never met either of his grandfathers, and Bill didn’t make it much past fifty.

I think Meryl actually lived for hundreds of years and is still alive in Faerun and they should totally meet, but Glenn doesn’t know all that. * * * * *

Aesthetics aside, it didn't seem like there was much for Glenn to look forward to in middle age and beyond. Nick would grow up and wouldn’t need his dad anymore, and Glenn would be all alone.

From Glenn’s second chapter in Crowd, when Robin is sad about Connor leaving for college:

“I want him to be independent,” Robin is trying to explain into Glenn’s knee, “but also I don’t want to be all alone.” Glenn flicks his ear reproachfully. “You're not all alone. I’m right here, dumbass.”

Sometimes what seems obvious when we're explaining it to somebody else doesn't feel as obvious when it's our turn. Admittedly, Glenn is coming to this with a different set of experiences than Robin is. More on that later. * * * * *

His career would go to shit, because getting old only works for rock stars if they’re actually bluesmen in disguise, like Keith Richards.

I think I got this theory from something Chuck Klosterman wrote, probably Fargo Rock City. * * * * *

He starts his grounding exercise without even thinking about it. Five things he can see: one, an information sign for the city park. Two, a freshly-painted bike rack. Three, some big public art sculpture that looks like a giant rusty hairbrush…

This particular grounding exercise came up earlier in Crowd. I didn't make it up for the story, it's real and many people find that it works well. Feel free to try it! The exercise he alludes to when they’re on the beach, creating ‘safe spaces’ out of vivid memories with lots of sensory details, is also based on a real thing. Lauren, his therapist, is named after the therapist who worked with me on my own PTSD and taught me that and a lot of other good stuff. At least based on my own experience, I can highly recommend EMDR if you can find a good practitioner. * * * * *

It was a hella sweet gesture from the kid.

Connor’s introduction in Name has to do with him carrying shirts past Glenn, and one of those shirts becomes important later to Robin. Given how big the GC3 actually seems to be, I don’t think Connor did the majority of their merch. I assume they used a regular printer and Connor just did small runs of fun custom stuff when he feels like it, meaning not much changed after Glenn quit. * * * * *

Of course, Robin is the only member of the family wearing the shirt right now, because Robin is the only one who doesn’t care that it isn’t cool to wear merch from the gig at the gig itself.

I have no idea how widespread the ‘no wearing merch from the gig at the gig’ thing is, but that’s the rule I learned. * * * * *

Robin is chatting away about something, but it’s hard to follow with all the noise and distraction around them. Glenn decides to let it ride, and allows himself to zone out and just watch Robin talk.

As requested by my brilliant co-author, this is a callback to when Robin spaces out watching Glenn talk on their first date. Both Robin and Glenn are consistently very prone to tuning out when the other one is talking, but neither of them particularly care. As Glenn says on their dinner date - sometimes a man just wants to think out loud for a while and get a ‘hell yeah’ in response. * * * * *

It's vastly unfair that Robin looks so good in direct sunlight, but he probably pulls it off because he's the one person in Los Angeles who isn't trying to look younger than he actually is.

Glenn should spend less time in WeHo. * * * * *

There’s already more gray in Robin’s hair than when they met, although Glenn will only accept partial blame for that. Either way, the old man’s on track to be a full-on silver fox before he even hits fifty.

It felt necessary to drop a reminder that despite how Glenn talks about him, Robin is not actually that damn old. I mean, I'm sure that sounds very old to some of you, but when you're in your mid-to-late 30s like Glenn, somebody in their late 40s is not unreasonably decrepit. I think it has more to do with their respective energies than actual birthdays. * * * * *

“What is it?” Robin has noticed Glenn’s gaze, and he touches his own face to check if there's something on it.

Glenn grins. "Nothing, just ogling."

This is another callback to their first date:

“Do I have something on my face?” Glenn asks, and rubs at his mouth.

“No, you’re good.” Robin says. “You’re great.”

Because I adore a full-circle moment, that's why. * * * * *

“Your eyes were intense," Robin laughs. "It looked like you were going to start growling redrum at me."

This is my own fault for saying in the last chapter that Glenn was rambling about Kubrick moon landing conspiracies when he comes back from his walk. I tried like seven different ways to get them on the subject. I still don’t know if it feels natural. * * * * *

Glenn stabs an accusatory finger toward Robin. “Did you suggest not doing the show because you knew I’d argue with you and talk myself into doing it?”

Can’t outro this story without at least a little argayment.

Glenn usually finds him in the bathroom at the end of the night, looking grumpy about being up past his bedtime and holding some girl’s hair back while she barfs.

With what we've learned about Robin over the course of Crowd, we now have the context to understand that for Robin, this drunk girl is very much the ghost of Christmas Past. I don't imagine he goes to many of these parties.

* * * * *

It doesn’t bother Glenn a bit. Life isn’t a movie, the cheerleader doesn’t have to put on leather pants and start smoking in order to get her bad boy and her happily ever after.

I know that there’s more going on in Grease than that, but consider: would Glenn know that?

* * * * *

He and Robin are very different people, and they always will be. They don’t make sense on the surface, but they both know who they are, and who they are fits together perfectly.

Circling back to Robin at the end of Name, expressing his anxieties:

Robin rests his forehead on the steering wheel, avoiding Glenn’s eyes. “Like I don’t make sense for you, and everybody can see it.”

Some of the circles that I closed in Crowd were ones that were opened in Crowd, but some went back further. * * * * *

Love bubbles up in Glenn like a shaken-up soda, and he finds himself standing up suddenly and grabbing Robin’s shirt collar to tug him down for a kiss.

I wanted to mirror the ‘Hot Dad surges forward to kiss him, hard’ thing from the beginning, but given the established height difference, Glenn can’t just go for it unannounced unless he’s gonna stand tippy-toe. Thank you @whotaughtyougrammar for this art of what happens when Glenn tries the collar-tug and Robin doesn't notice fast enough.

* * * * *

Robin is caught off guard and stumbles half a step back, managing at the last second not to drop his drink. “One second, sweetheart, just one second. You surprised me. What was that about?”

Glenn gives him a lopsided grin. “Luck?”

“Oh, well, then. For luck.”

Luck and how to change it is a big theme throughout the whole series, both in the sense of ‘good fortune/unearned blessings’ and ‘random, unforeseen chance.’ More later about that. * * * * *

When Glenn presses his tongue forward to slip between Robin’s lips, he tastes lemon and sugar.

Same as the first time they kissed, when he’d been drinking whiskey sours.

* * * * *

“Right, yeah,” Robin breathes, but he doesn’t let Glenn out of his arms quite yet. “You know,” Robin adds, “Nick was telling me earlier that he’s going to sleep over at Grant’s tonight.”

So I'll be there when you arrive / The sight of you will prove to me I'm still alive / And when you take me in your arms / And hold me tight / I know it's gonna mean so much tonight * * * * *

She’d found him there, and she'd saved him, like she always did.

We didn’t know Morgan’s name when we first wrote the scene where they discussed her in Name, so we wrote around it as though Glenn was reluctant to name her out loud. We maintained this throughout the rest of Crowd except for the line where Glenn says that he’ll tell Robin about the phone call with Morgan. Felt right. Her presence is very much felt but Glenn, at least, is not in the habit of talking about her unless he has no other option. * * * * *

They ran out of the venue and down the street, hand in hand and giggling like kids playing hooky.

@shrack was the one who began writing our Glenn with very physical methods of showing affection. I liked it a lot as a vibe and carried on with it. He and Morgan are also very young here. Glenn would be 21 or 22 at the oldest, which is barely older than Connor is now. I've always attributed some of his immaturity to the fact that he became a parent pretty young. (Glenn is 36 when Name starts and Nick is 13, meaning Nick was born when Glenn was 23 and probably conceived when Glenn was 22.)

* * * * *

It was like falling in love with every single person in the crowd, all at once. Glenn felt like he would never be lonely again as long as he could have that feeling.

Facing twenty thousand of your friends / how can anyone feel so lonely? * * * * *

By then, the GC3 performed in venues so cavernous that Glenn couldn’t see anything outside his own spotlight. He could hear the audience roar approval at him, making a wall of sound that he could feel like a physical force. It was loud enough to drown out the screaming in his head, loud enough to let him forget that she wasn’t out there among them. It was the closest he could get to forgetting, so Glenn did it as much as he could.

Part of a success that never ends / But I’m thinking about you only... * * * * *

Slowly but surely, he’d been learning how to go through life with his mind and heart focused on someone else’s well-being. It didn’t come naturally: that wasn’t the kind of family either of them knew. Still, they’d promised each other that they could do better than how they were raised.

I am never here for iterations of this dynamic that assume Glenn is the fuck-up and Morgan was the perfect parent. They both became parents at exactly the same moment, you know? The world does not need one more story with an incompetent sitcom dad and his smoking-hot wife who does all the actual parenting. * * * * *

Nick is long since asleep, but Adele fucking Close has stayed up until these sickening hours of the early morning.

Conveniently, Glenn’s brain has overwritten all his memories with the correct name and pronouns for Nick, because writing around it is a pain in the ass otherwise. * * * * *

“Hello, Glenny.”

Bill calling Glenn “Glenny” that time at Ravenloft really stuck with me. I don’t know if they ever revisited that in the actual podcast, but it was so slimy and chilling somehow. * * * * *

“I fucked up,” Glenn says bluntly, and his mother narrows her eyes ever so slightly at his cursing.

Glenn gets in his own head early in Crowd about comparing himself to Penny, and Robin later worries about putting himself on ‘the same level’ as Morgan. Neither of them are quite galaxy-brained enough to realize that there’s more than one person in Glenn’s life who uses a lot of terms of endearment for him, considers themselves old-fashioned, and wishes everybody wouldn’t swear so much. * * * * *

“Thank you, mother,” Glenn grits out. He sounds absolutely nothing like himself, not that she minds. “I appreciate your help.”

I assume that part of the reason Glenn has such a hard time offering genuine apologies is that when he was growing up, too much of his apologizing was forced rather than sincere. * * * * *

“You are out of chances. If you continue to neglect this child, I will get the state involved, and I will take custody myself. I’ve already spoken to the Freemans, and I have their full support.”

Morgan’s parents are not mentioned very often and don’t seem to be a big part of the Close boys’ lives. I imagine that whatever tenuous relationship Glenn had forged with them post-accident was pretty much destroyed by Adele forming this alliance with them and telling Glenn about it. * * * * *

Her patient demeanor is meant to remind him that she's here to clean up his mess again, like she always does, and his proper response is humble and apologetic gratitude.

And that is why Robin being patient can set Glenn off so bad, such as after the bike accident when they were arguing:

Glenn doesn’t really hear most of what Robin’s saying. It’s all just soothing, pointless stuff in that obnoxious tone that means Robin thinks he’s the smart, calm, mature one here and Glenn’s the immature asshole who lost his temper again. He’d never say it, but Glenn can tell what he’s thinking.

I hope it came across clearly in that part that Robin doesn’t actually see the situation that way and isn’t saying or thinking anything to that effect, but Glenn feels like he is because he’s had this somatic/emotional reaction triggered. Spatially he's arguing with Robin, but his body and a lot of his brain thinks he's arguing with his mom. Trauma can be like that. * * * * *

His mother keeps talking like he didn’t say a word. “We can all stay in each others’ lives, Glenny. I’m not trying to cut you out, I’m trying to help you. I know you think I’m a monster, but I’m just trying to do what’s best for my family.”

Sometimes the monster will tell you it's not a monster. * * * * *

From that night forward, Glenn will always know that he’s not a good person, because he almost takes his mother up on the offer.

I don’t think being tempted by this offer means Glenn’s a bad person, but we write Glenn as somebody who wishes he was a good person but is really afraid that he isn’t. He was at a very low point here and he needed help. Feeling drawn to the only help on offer, even if it was from a toxic source, is pretty understandable. * * * * *

"I'll get Nicky ready for school tomorrow and you can sleep in. We’ll finish talking about this when you feel better.”

Man, I hate that abuser thing when they start being sweet as soon as you muster the energy to fight back. You get a little bit of steam built up and then they dodge you like a matador so that it dissipates again. To be clear, Nicky isn't Nick's deadname or anything, it's just the somewhat baby-ish diminutive form that Adele uses for him, like how she calls Glenn "Glenny." * * * * *

“Family is important,” his mother says sadly. Just before she closes the door, she gives him a look that’s an exquisite mix of regret, tender affection, and a tiny spark of hope. Adele would have been a great actress, but Glenn can’t imagine who that particular performance was for.

Performance skills run in the family and Adele comes by her acting chops honestly, although she doesn’t know it. I picture one of those situations where a young woman from a good background gets pregnant by some rakehell actor and her family covers up the scandal by raising the baby as a new sibling. That would mean that as long as Adele’s ���older sister” never spilled the beans, nobody in their family at this point knows that they’re related to Meryl. If Nick ever decides to do one of those ancestry DNA tests, things are going to get interesting. * * * * *

He certainly didn’t find it very compelling. Family? All the family he will ever need is sleeping soundly down the hallway, tiny arms wrapped tight around a stuffed plush Babar.

I wanted Nick to have a stuffed animal that was sort of his parallel to Mr. Lion. Robin is drinking with Mr. Lion in the beginning of Crowd when he’s upset about losing Connor to college, and Mr. Lion appears again when Glenn comes in to talk to Nick and Connor after Robin’s accident.

“I… I guess I don’t know.” Nick looks down, avoiding eye contact by staring into the darkness under Connor’s bed. Mr Lion is under there in a clear plastic box, along with some other stuffed animals. Even when Nick first met Connor, the stuffed animals were already banished underneath the bed instead of on top of it. But over the years, Connor’s never thrown them away.

Mr. Lion is one of the various ways we played with the theme that Connor is, as Nick puts it, “somewhere between a kid and an adult.” Connor is a very confident and clever guy, but you don't magically get a giant box of maturity and life experience on your 18th birthday. At various points, he asks both Nick (at the campus concert) and Glenn (after Robin’s accident) to try to understand that he's still growing and figuring stuff out. Nick has definitely been deprived of some chances to be a kid, but in some ways Connor has as well. He started hanging out with Glenn after Penny and Robin split up, and although he and Nick obviously hit it off, Connor was closer to Glenn for a while. In a different universe, that might not have turned out as well - I mean, tell me you wouldn't side-eye that arrangement in real life. I sure would. Robin just sort of flings his hands up at the role Connor plays for the Close boys, but I strongly suspect that shit would not have flown on Penny’s watch.

It’s funny - he thought Connor was so grown-up when they met, but the guy was only 16 when the Wrights moved in next door. He wasn’t much older by the time he was over at the Close place almost every day, helping Nick with homework or cleaning questionable leftovers out of the fridge. It didn’t strike Nick as weird at the time, It was just another thing about his life that wasn’t like anybody else’s. He never questioned what was in it for Connor. Back then, Nick didn’t even realize how lonely he himself was - he wouldn't have figured out why a kid whose parents had just gotten divorced might want to come over to the chaotic Close apartment to get away from the quiet in his own home.

Everybody was doing their best, and everything worked out for the best, but Connor over the course of the stories is sorting out the balance that works for him in terms of responsibility and playfulness. Fortunately, now that he has less responsibility for Nick, he can enjoy Nick more as a friend and brother. In Name, Robin and Glenn both sort of assume Connor will act as a babysitter to Nick while they go off on their first date; by Crowd, Connor is hanging out playing Smash with Nick and Grant as the gents get ready for their dinner date, but he's there socially, as a peer. Him being goofier and more immature also frees up Nick to do the same, since if Connor is cool and Connor is being playful, then "it's not a little kid thing, it's a bro thing" They both get to be kids now in a way that they weren't before, and I love that for them. Anyway, the point of Mr. Lion and why I wanted to give Nick a stuffed animal as well was to draw the parallel between the sons more directly and to anchor the stuffed animal component. So far there hadn't been any moment in which an actual kid was holding an actual stuffed animal.

[supermiraculousladybug]

The Disturbing Dark Truth about Cat Noir.

Cat Noir is the loveable dorky flirtatious jokester from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir who loves to flirt with Ladybug and making her laugh by using jokes and puns but is he really a jokester or is he using jokes and puns as a coping mechanism to escape the abuse , neglect , cruel and harsh world he's born in? But whatever it is it's obvious that everything in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir is nothing but a figment of Cat Noir's imagination and is actually an abused mentally unstable boy with special needs who sees the world differently than others due to having a childish-like personality and sorta kinda behavior.

Family Life Income.

Born to a prostitute with an unknown father, Cat Noir comes from a lesser fortune poor family who are struggling to make ends meet and making money. He's an complete opposite Adrien Agreste who lives a life of luxury and wealth while Cat Noir lives a life of slums and poverty but growing up in a ghetto-like town side of Paris wasn't easy it's full nothing but violence , rape , robbery , burglary , aggravated assault , total violent crimes , motor vehicle theft , total property crimes , battery , prostitution , street gang , kidnapping , sex trafficking , child trafficking , street gang violence , bribery , fraud , racketeering , drug trafficking and vandalism but it's sad to see Cat Noir grew up in a horrible neighborhood side of Paris where this "village" is one of the worse shanty town neighborhoods that evolved ghetto crimes which it gave Cat Noir paranoid trauma for life.

Clothing , home life and house.

Clothing.

Since Cat Noir grew up in the slums of Paris, his mother barely could afford clothes so she made his clothing from a left over fabric from a trash can and gave him her old clothes which surprisingly it fits him. So technically he shares clothes with his mother but it's sometimes he wears his dad's old clothes. His mother is a seamstress so it makes sense she made Cat Noir's clothes.

Home life.

Cat Noir comes from an abusive household where it's just him and his younger half brother, Connor get punished by their mother because they're both born male and look like their fathers but it's just their mother but sometimes their stepfather would beat them because he dislike their fathers and both Cat Noir and Connor look like their dads thus their stepfather abused them physically.

House.

Cat Noir lives in a small shack house that is a mixture between a cabin and a cottage that is located in a Western Shanty town, one of the worst ghetto neighborhood in Paris , France. In the Western Shanty town, they have cheaper old wireless TVs from either the 90s or 70s and have old TV show programs from 1920s-late 1990s but for cartoons from 1910s-late 1990s as well. Cat Noir and his family slept on an old abandoned dirty mattresses that are so uncomfortable to lay on and often the children (mainly Cat Noir) gets bed bug bites at night. Cat Noir and his family sat on old abandoned couch but mainly his mother get stoned and drunk on that couch.

Forced child labor.

From age 9-12, Cat Noir was forced to be a sex slave stripper against his will but he was taken out of school by forcedly "dropping out" during the 4th grade and ever since then the principle of Françoise Dupont Elementary School was and still wondering why Cat Noir wasn't at school like he's suppose to be. Then he was sold to Copycat, a pedophile neighbor who has sexual fantasies of Cat Noir and sexually abusing him but Copycat a lot of horrible things and stuff to Cat Noir

Molesting Cat Noir.

Raping Cat Noir.

Giving Cat Noir bruises , scars , chafing or bite marks and bleeding in/on his genital area.

Masturbating Cat Noir's teeny weeny peeny.

Smacking Cat Noir's bottom in sexual way.

Forcing Cat Noir to dress up as a french maid for sexual purposes.

Forcing Cat Noir to be in bed with him.

Removing Cat Noir's clothes so he can just have "fun" with him.

Turning Cat Noir from a sex slave to a house slave.

Raping Cat Noir in his sleep causing his insomnia to be worsen up badly.

Touching Cat Noir inappropriately from his whole body to his teeny weeny peeny.

Using sexual punishments on Cat Noir.

Using erotic spanking on Cat Noir's bottom for sexual purposes.

And Smacking Cat Noir's bottom as a form of sexual harassment.

Due to this harassment it causes Cat Noir to be extremely afraid of adult men because of the fear that they could sexually abused and harassed him even tho they're not gonna do it but Cat Noir was and is traumatized by this experiences it made him think they would do it without excepting it but he didn't want to be around grown men and not even his male aids he can't trust but everytime a grown men sit next to Cat Noir, he would cry because he amused they would molest him.

"Operation saving Cat Noir from a child molester"

In October of 2013, 12-year-old Marinette Dupain-Cheng was looking for the 10th and last child to be sold to a pedophile but it was no luck, until a random guy shows up to Marinette and tell her where that kid is but once she found him passed out on the floor, it turns out he's the boy that Ladybug was talking about and he was wearing a black tank crop top-like shirt and a blacker granny panties-like undergarments although he was underweight and severely malnourished. After Marinette notice the poor living conditions Cat Noir was in, she decide to take Cat Noir to the hospital immediately to get medical attention, once she and Cat Noir got to the hospital everyone knew Cat Noir was one of 10 children who were sold to pedophiles by their parents for money and were sexually abused. When Cat Noir woke up in a hospital bed, he sees Marinette and went speechless because he didn't know how to interact with people very well and Cat Noir mistaken Marinette for Ladybug because she and Ladybug looked like and because Cat Noir is insane-like crazy, he's unable to know the difference so it went like this

Cat Noir after he woke up: *seeing Marinette* Ladybug?

Marinette: no i'm not Ladybug🤔.

Cat Noir: *confused* then who are you?

Marinette: my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, what's your name?

Cat Noir: *realizing* wait Marinette as in Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of the best baker in Paris?

Marinette: yes

Cat Noir: nice to meet you Marinette🙂😄😊.

Marinette: same here😁.

Cat Noir: well then i'm Cat Noir Athanase Blake-Kyle.

Marinette: *realizing* wait your Cat Noir? As in Cat Noir Athanase Blake-Kyle, son of a seamstress prostitute?

Cat Noir: *sigh* yes I'm the son of a hooker who steals your man for no reason😓.

Marinette: so what's with the outfit you were wearing?

Cat Noir: I work as a stripper and a sex slave😣😖😟😫.

Marinette: why?

Cat Noir: to help my mom make ends meet.

Marinette: I get it but why as a stripper or sex slave?

Cat Noir: I had no choice but to be a sex slave stripper and because my mom wanted me to work in the sex industry due to me having a material of being someone's object or toy.

Marinette: so what you're basically someone's property or something?

Cat Noir: yes i'm nothing but everyone's "favorite" little toy to "play" and have "fun" with.

Marinette: were you uncomfortable with it?

Cat Noir: honestly yes because I don't wanna hook up with someone I don't know for money.

Marinette: so you were forced to do this against your will?

Cat Noir: yes exactly that's what it is.

Cat Noir: *bursting into tears* then 3 years ago, I was 9 years old when my mom sold me to an artist for money😭.

Marinette: wait how old are you now?

Cat Noir: *stops crying and sniff* I just turn 12 not so long ago.

Marinette: i'm 12 too.

Cat Noir: wait so we're the same age then?

Marinette: yeah

Cat Noir: What a coincidence.

Marinette: We're born in the same year but just 2 months apart.

Cat Noir: What do you mean by "we're born in the same year but just 2 months apart"?

Cat Noir: When is your birthday?

Marinette: My birthday is on July 22, 2001 and yours?

Cat Noir: interesting my is on September 25, 2001.

Cat Noir: *realizing* you're right we're born 2 months apart.

Marinette: that's right

Cat Noir: What does it mean?

Marinette: it means i'm 2 months older than you and you're 2 months younger than me.

Cat Noir: make sense

Cat Noir: But I was born 2 months premature.

Marinette: What do you mean "2 months premature"?

Cat Noir: I was originally suppose to be born on November 25, 2001 but I came out 2 months premature.

Marinette: Oh so you're a preemie?

Cat Noir: yes

Cat Noir: *arms and legs starting to shake uncontrollably*

Marinette: are you okay?

Cat Noir: *arms and legs still shaking uncontrollably* yeah why?

Marinette: because why are your arms and legs shaking-like crazy?

Cat Noir: *arms and legs still shaking uncontrollably-like crazy hard* sorry I have tremors.

Marinette: Tremors?

Cat Noir: Yeah I still have tremors since birth but sometimes i'll get seizures.

Marinette: Oh that it explains while we were on our way to the hospital, your whole body and head was shaking for 3 minutes.

Marinette: *realizes while reading facts on the article called "Crack babies" on the internet* are you a crack baby or something?

Cat Noir: Crack baby?

Marinette: Yeah are you?

Cat Noir: What's a crack baby?

Marinette: A crack baby is a baby born to a crack addict mother who used crack cocaine during pregnancy.

Marinette but you're a 12-year-old boy who still have seizures and tremors.

Marinette: so I guess you're a crack kid.

Cat Noir: What's a crack kid?

Marinette: A crack kid is when a mother who smokes crack while having a kid, when the kid is born it will be a crack baby/retarded or have problems.

Marinette: So that's what you are, a crack kid because your mother smoke crack cocaine while she was carrying you in the womb.

Cat Noir: it's not the only thing have because of my mommy's neglection action.

Marinette: What do you mean?

Cat Noir: mommy is not just a drug addict but she's also an alcoholic and smoker too.

Marinette: I look at a picture of your brain and I realize your brain is small , malformed , severely damaged and is permanent damage in your brain.

Then after that Marinette took care of Cat Noir in the hospital by being a mother figure towards him with her maternal instincts because it is something Cat Noir's mother never done before since she always ignoring him and Cat Noir needed a good parental figures and guidance in his life due to having bad parents, he doesn't know better but then again Marinette knew Cat Noir has a hard time understanding other people and everything around him in general.

Cat Noir is an autistic individual who can't understand everyone's social cues very well due to lack of interaction he barely had. Cat Noir was diagnosed with Low-functioning Autism , Asperger's Syndrome and Severe Autism or Level 3 Autism since he was 5 weeks old and due to his diagnosis, he has troubles of looking people in the eye , having interacting with others , living up to everyone's expectations of him what he should or shouldn't do including Ladybug's expectation of him how he should or shouldn't act when he's in public or when it comes to Ladybug forcing him , understanding boundaries or personal space , asking people what he wants or permission or where he wants to go , understanding sarcasm , when other people's jokes or when they're joking or when others don't understand his jokes.

Is Ladybug really convinctive , manipulative and abusive towards Cat Noir?

Ladybug and Cat Noir have been friends since 3rd grade but as they got older it was Ladybug who outgrown Cat Noir because she's more mature than Cat Noir due to him being immature , childish and baby-like but one of her other friends told Ladybug she's better off with someone who's more mature not someone who's baby-like person who can't handle "big kids" stuff and she frequently prefers hanging out with mature guys than Cat Noir so she decide to avoid Cat Noir at all cost and she forced him to grow up to act his age so their so called "friendship" isn't ruined in fact she verbally abused him for not maturing and acting his age in which Ladybug would yell at him and insulting his baby-like personality. Ladybug convinced Cat Noir his imaginations are real and she does it so often that the more she convinces him, the more Cat Noir believes it but then it got to the point where Cat Noir thinks everything he believes in his imaginations are a reality. Through every episodes of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, Ladybug gets easily annoyed with Cat Noir's childish-babyish personality even tho he acts like a child or baby at times, he can't help it and be he's pressured to be "normal" , "average" and "perfect" that it's starting to stressed him out. In the New York special, Ladybug is excited to go to New York City with her classmates for French-American Friendship Week but she realizes she needs to tell Cat Noir about her absence and she gave cat plush toy with a ladybug-printed remote bottom on it but Cat Noir presses the remote button several times in excitement, making the toy in Ladybug's hand squeak and he presses the remote button again which it made Ladybug groan in annoyance. But when Cat Noir was in New York City, Ladybug was angry at him because he's suppose to be in Paris and is too insane-like crazy to come due to the risk of being put into a mental asylum or hospital.

Altho this is a big theory, it's obvious Cat Noir has a problem and why it seems unreal so I hope like it.

[mwolf0epsilon]

The only thing Joey loves more than playing god and Henry Stein, is fucking with people's heads.

Summary: In which two older men relentlessly tease a younger coworker to the point it becomes detrimental to the object of their "affections". AKA Norman doesn't know how to feel about his attraction to Sammy, and Joey likes to fuck with people. Tom doesn't help in the slightest.

---

[[MORE]]

Sammy was exhausted. Both physically and mentally, as he'd had another frustratingly long day "correcting" scores he'd been working on for weeks and enduring the band's incessant incompetence.

Oh, and there were also Norman and Joey who, for some mysterious reason, had decided to begin tormenting the hell out of him.

Overall a regular day at the studio, but one that ended up grinding his gears in the most painful way possible.

"Abigail, I'm home..." He called out to his younger sister, now well on the way to womanhood at the ripe age of 15, and ready to "face the world" or so she'd said (nevermind that she still got anxious when he was late).

"Dinner will be ready soon! Take your shoes off mister!" She called out from their tiny kitchen. In her desire to prove herself quite grown up she'd taken to cooking for him whenever he came in late from work, as opposed to keeping him on his feet like when she was still unable to reach the stove properly.

He had to admit, at least what she made was palatable. For all that he was good with an instrument and a tune, Sammy lacked tallent in the cooking department. Still he'd miss those nights where he'd make "drowned pasta burnt Bolognese" for the both of them to enjoy. But not as much as he missed his mother's cakes.

"What are we having?" He put his coat on the hanger and kicked off his shoes. The floor looked a bit slick from Abby moping it no doubt. She still hadn't gotten the hang of getting the excess water off of the mop.

"I thought we could mix things up and have breakfast foods for dinner. Like when I was six." She explained, seeming rather chipper. "Those were fun nights."

"That they were..." He joined her in the kitchen, enjoying the smell of cooking bacon and eggs, as well as warm toast and fresh orange juice. He'd kill for some whiskey though.

"They also cheered me up everytime, so I thought it could work for you too, Sambo." And there it was. Astute observation on her part, Abby always knew when he was down in the dumps for real. Getting harassed at work was definitely one way to get him a little under the weather.

"Don't call me that."

"Oh why not? I think you'd like a good samba. I've seen you dance Sammy, you could light up a room with just how happy you get shaking about." She smiled genuinely at him, but there was a hint of concern in her eyes. He smiled back as she placed a plate in front of him, and smiled wider when she gave him a bottle of licor rather than the juice she was having for herself. "Just a little treat, so you feel better."

"You're a little angel, you know that?" He ruffled her hair and chuckled bitterly. Yeah, an angel. Unlike those good for nothing-- Patience Sammy. No need to get upset while eating a meal with his sister.

"Everyone needs one guarding their back." Abigail stated before tucking in, looking up at him with a mouthful of eggs and bacon. "So. Spill. What's got my grumpy brother in a perpetual A?"

"Abby, don't talk with your mouth full." He chastised, ignoring her usage of musical keys to coax the issue out of him. "It's really nothing to worry about. Just work being bothersome."

"It's not nothing. You usually grumble when it's just work. This is clearly something else if it's making you quiet." Abby insisted after swallowing her food. "Samuel Lawrence Jr is not a quiet man."

That he wasn't, and that was the give away here. She knew how to read him like a book and it was honestly pointless trying to skirt around it. Abigail was a Lawrence after all. And a Lawrence was as stubborn as a mule out in the field.

So... He relented and told his sister.

"It's stupid. It's so freaking stupid!" He covered his face with his hands, frustrated and embarrassed. "Joey and Norman have been acting like petulant children! Mocking me openly, leaving little notes teasing me, heck even talking behind my back about how much they dislike me! What's worse is it's spreading! Even Thomas Connor has taken to mouthing off to his GENT subordinates, and people laugh whenever they see me! It's... It's disheartening! And very distracting!"

He sighed.

"It's stupid..."

"No it's not!" Abby startled him, the look of anger on her face giving him pause. "You're getting bullied! It's not stupid to feel bad about it."

"It is if you're a grown man. Grown men don't feel sad when their coworkers talk behind their back. That's..." Wimpy? Queer stuff? Worthy of a beating? His father would sneer at the thought of his only son being a wuss about this sort of stuff.

"Sammy, you're allowed to be sad if people are assholes to you."

"Abigail Marie Lawrence!"

"Don't pull that card with me. You know I'm right! They have no right to make you feel so rotten!"

She was right. They really didn't have the right to do this... But there was nothing he could really do.

Well, actually there was, he just couldn't do it to Drew of all people. But Norman and Thomas were another story.

-

"You know you deserve this don't you?" Lacie Benton sighed as she dabbed Norman's swollen eye with a wet cloth. Besides her, Jack was helping sling his arm until he could have a doctor check it out for him. He'd landed pretty bad on it and, although he doubted he'd broken it, he couldn't quite move it from the pain.

"I know..."

"If you'd just told him instead of going off being so childish... Oh Norman what were you thinkin'?! Invitin' that devil t' start sayin' those things?! You should know better!" Lacie ranted on, frowning at the roughed up older gentleman she was currently caring for.

"I... I panicked. I still don't know how to address my issue with Sammy." He tried to explain. "I didn't think it'd escalate into him going crazy and comin' ta rip my throat out for it!"

"This is Sammy Lawrence we're talking about Norman. He was raised by a racist Catholic man that taught him gays and blacks are evil." Jack pointed out. "Resorting to 4th grade pettiness to show your crush you like them was definitely asking for Sammy to lose it and get revenge."

"An' Drew joinin' in on the "fun" did no good. I swear that man realized you were gettin,' sweet on him an' thought it'd be just swell t' ruin your days." Lacie huffed irritably.

"Thomas didn't help with the betting poll either. Everyone took the week to piss off Sammy, I swear to God..." Jack sighed.

"My fault. I shoulda' been more sensible... Kid hates me for sure now."

"Depends if he remembers. You both fell down the stairs pretty hard." Lacie reminded him. "Which reminds me, you should be expectin' a call soon. Your brother had to take that kid's poor sister to the hospital to check on her ornery brother."

"Oh... I'm dead for sure. If not by my brother's hand, it'll definitely be by my niece and nephew's..." He pauses, considering his options "Or worse... They'll set Sammy's sister on me! She can be real scary when she's mad!"

Needless to say, after indeed getting yelled at over the phone by Abigail Lawrence and having to apologize to Sammy while he dealt with a broken leg, Norman didn't tease the music director all that much after that incident. And whatever bets Thomas made became less public for fear of losing another molar. Sammy Lawrence had one hell of a right hook!

Joey still went out of his way to be a jackass though. He much liked teasing his favourite employees, and nothing would change that.

[duskdog]

In some ways, this is a really weird scene. Like, this could have gone so wrong? Mia is several years younger than Connor at least, and mentally/emotionally compromised at this particular moment. And, given her childhood, I don't think it would be a stretch to say that she may struggle with what boundaries and healthy familial relationships mean to her. She's never actually known either of those things. But somehow it works, and I think it only works because it is specifically Mia and Connor. Mia exists in this weird space where physical affection means both nothing to her, and everything. Nothing, because she's done it a thousand times before and not once was it ever a true expression of love to her. Everything, because... well, the exact same reason. She can glean meaning from this, but also not necessarily expect it to go anywhere. And Connor has already established himself as a safe person to her, and already has specific place in her life -- their relationship is already pretty firmly set, and there has never been any dancing around it or flirtation on Connor's part. By this point, they already have enough trust in each other for Mia to let him shoot through her damned shoulder, so this? Yeah, I wouldn't have made the same choice Connor did here, but it works for them. I've always wondered what Ollie was thinking looking out the window, though -- assuming he can't actually hear what they're saying. Maybe he had a reaction that I no longer recall, but I don't think so.

green arrow (2001) #44.

[paceywittergayboatman]

Tomgreg post that isn't nice about tomgreg if you idenfy within the tomgreg girl or tom girl dont look

Something that I think is really important for me think about Tom Greg

Is the contrast between Logan and Frank and Kendall and Stewy vs Tom Greg

We know Logan and Frank have been together for a long time we also know that they raised like at least two kids together I think shiv and Ken are arguably both are kids and we also know that they are loyal to one another and the only time does a betrayal it's because Frank is concerned about Logan

Stewie and Kendall despite their issues are like stewy has always wanted Kendall away from Logan and even though they're not talking they still come back and give each other support when it comes to the connection to the company and I don't I think that's stewy knows that Kendall isn't ready to leave until he's waiting it's like a love that could last forever Stewy never tries to take Kendall away from his family but it is his first prerogative to make sure Kendall is safe first and Kendall siblings don't have a problem with him other than shiv and that is a particular one that isn't about his General Behavior

Succession recently established that Tom is an opportunist has been always will be and this also affects his relationship with Greg and so can you have loyalty if you're using somebody like that the answer is no

More than that the siblings think he's kind of weird Connor doesnt really care so he doesn't really matter but Roman immediately sees that there's something about Tom that feels off and feels untrustworthy and he never gives Tom the satisfaction of really seeing thar until the finale and its not romans choice

Kendall doesn't really mention tomgreg when even when he's trying to like convince Tom to come to his side he doesn't use Greg so clearly he doesn't really think that its sustainable and this is the man who tried to get shiv over to his side by hiring Lisa

Then we have shiv and I think this is complicated Tom and her love each other but she clearly doesn't want him to know everything which could be part of the lesbian uncomfortableness she never never defend him in the way that he wants shows that she thinks that he is not trustworthy in the same way so he's not a ride or die

Now I want to add to the fact here that shiv and not does not like Roman and Gerri relationship even if she's just saying and now it's clear that it was bothering her and she just happened to be able to use it

Also important here Roman doesn't like Greg but if we think of Roman feeling like Tom and Greg are weird because they remind him of him and Gerri not to mention like the the door parallel like younger guy older person and it's uneven power dynamics from even a visual from somebody else looking at it

The thing is is that there's that line from Tom where he's like what has anybody in his family done for you and if you look at the aforementioned pairings family is never something that they use against their partners ever it's all so manipulative it's manipulative to be like I am better than your family especially because Tom has been verbally and physically abusing him for like a lot of time hes known him

So I do think it's interesting also to say that Tom's Behavior slowly has started to be really similar to Logan's if it was supposed to root for Tom why would Its Behavior be like Logan and the thing about him is that he's written to be kind of like just a privilege brat but you know I he's just a guy and now he's like acting like Logan

My point here is that if we were at the audience supposed to root for Tom or Tom Greg they would have created a dynamic that was more functional and that they wanted to last but from the beginning the way that the ship has been frames it's not good so you're not supposed to root for it that's one thing you can do for it but that's not the end goal from a textual standpoint